Chapter 47 I Want to Become an Immortal
Chapter 47 I Want to Become an Immortal (Sixteen)
The old woman slowly led the two through the courtyard covered with moss and weeds. The doors of the side halls on both sides were closed. With the dim flickering candlelight inside, they could see through the window lattices that there were densely packed tablets displayed inside. The plaque on the left read "Jingshi Hall" and the plaque on the right read "Yingling Hall". On the corridor in front of the door, strange red lanterns were hung high, casting a dark bloody light.
Passing through the courtyard, in the center is the main hall of the ancestral hall. Above the door hangs a golden plaque with the words "Chongdao Chengxian" (worshiping Taoism to become an immortal). The smell of incense is very strong, and there seems to be quite a few figures sitting in the dark inside.
"I'll take you to the disciple room first." The old woman said word by word.
The disciples' rooms can only be reached through the courtyard behind the Chongdao Temple. Rows of low houses are quietly located under the gray bamboo forest.
The exterior walls of the room were painted with peeling gray-white paint, the doors and windows were closed, and there were cobwebs everywhere, giving off a feeling of being long abandoned.
There are big red lanterns hanging in front of every door, some are lit and some are not.
"You, live in room 20." The old woman pointed at Liu Sheng and said, then said to She Chan, "You live in room 57."
She Chan asked quietly, "Can't we live together?"
"You two can't live together." The old woman raised her head slightly, her mouth with its gums wrapped around it curved and shrunk, revealing a strange smile.
Although the two felt that the wording was strange, since it had been said, they still obeyed the principle of not offending strange creatures easily.
Like the dormitories, there were small wooden signs with numbers on them hanging in front of the room doors. Liu Sheng quickly found his room.
The lantern on the door was dim. I pushed the door open gently. The sharp creaking sound of the door hinges seemed extremely harsh in the night.
It was dark inside the door, and I could only barely see the furnishings in the room with the red light from the red lantern on the neighbor's door.
The room was very small, and the air was filled with an old, musty smell. There was only room for a bed, a table next to the bed, and a chair, with no room for anything else.
There were two half-burned candles on the table, and the wax under the candles had cooled and solidified.
The bed was covered with a yellowed, old mattress with traces of grease in the shape of a human. Fortunately, Liu Sheng brought the sheets from the dormitory, otherwise he would not have dared to sleep on it.
The old woman asked them to put down their luggage and come out, and took them to the main hall, as only the main hall had spiritual veins.
So Liu Sheng simply put his things on the bed and went out. When he walked out of the room, the lantern on the door had already lit up, casting a strange red light.
……
When they arrived at the main hall of the Chongdao Temple, the old woman stopped and stood far away, pointing at the cushions in the temple and lowered her voice: "Go in and find a seat. You are not allowed to talk here and you are not allowed to change seats."
Then he tremblingly took out two porcelain bottles from the cloth bag at his waist and handed one to each of them: "This is a fasting pill. Eat one every day and you won't be hungry. After you finish, come to me for more."
Then he took out two incense sticks of medium length and said, "The most important thing is to burn incense first. When the statue opens its eyes, leave immediately."
Liu Sheng and She Chan nodded silently to show that they understood, then took the fasting pills and incense sticks and walked into the hall.
When the old woman saw the two people enter, she turned and left, disappearing into the yard step by step.
In the center of the main hall of the ancestral hall is an offering table. Behind the table, against the wall, there is a shrine that is extremely tall, enough to reach the beams of the house. In the shrine is a clay statue, about two or three people tall. The paint on the statue's body has become dull and mottled, and its face is hidden behind layers of crimson curtains. It is blurred under the dim candlelight, giving people a sense of fear that cannot be looked directly at.
So how do we tell what counts as opening the eyes?
In the center of the altar is a brass incense burner filled with incense sticks. Some are old incense sticks, while others are still burning, some long and some short. The aroma of sandalwood smoke lingers.
The row of tributes placed in front seemed to be some bloody pieces of meat. They looked quite fresh and someone must have replaced them regularly.
There were more than a dozen cushions inside, and most of them were occupied. Everyone sat cross-legged and formed a seal outside the candlelight. Their faces could not be seen clearly, like silent statues. Only the rise and fall of their chests could explain their breathing. Liu Sheng and She Chan followed the instructions and burned incense first, inserting it into the copper censer, and then found two adjacent cushions and sat down.
In this strange and bizarre environment, Liu Sheng originally thought it would be difficult to get into the state, but as soon as she sat down, she felt a cool and nourishing breath flowing into her body from under the cushion.
She quickly closed her eyes and meditated, trying to mobilize her energy according to the formula of the "Seven Mysterious Spiritual Energy Sutra".
She seemed to have some talent in this area, and she quickly restrained this disobedient energy into the correct meridians and started it circulating.
With each circulation, the aura became weaker. After Liu Sheng circulated three cycles, the aura finally faded and dissipated in the body.
Liu Sheng immersed himself in the experience and found that his body seemed to become lighter. Perhaps this was the effect of the spiritual energy that cleansed his hair and marrow.
A constant flow of breath came from under the cushion. There must be a spiritual vein under the ancestral hall.
Liu Sheng did not dare to waste any energy. He concentrated on drawing the Qi into his body and cleansed his meridians with the spiritual energy over and over again.
After all, we don’t know when the statue will open its eyes, so we have to hurry.
As time passed, the darkness in the ancestral hall gradually sank, and as the candlelight flickered, it seemed that an invisible force was flowing in the air.
Liu Sheng felt that her spiritual energy was flowing more and more smoothly. Every acupuncture point in her body was excitedly welcoming the spiritual energy from the outside world. Her mind became more and more focused, and she could almost touch the essence of the spiritual energy around her...
At this moment, Liu Sheng's heart skipped a beat. An indescribable fear rushed from his spine to the top of his head. His scalp went numb and his hair stood up instantly. A premonition of extreme danger surged into his heart like a tide.
Liu Sheng could feel a cold gaze locking onto her from above the altar.
Liu Sheng was startled and looked up at the altar.
The statue's face was still blurry, and the shadow on its face was even darker, like a deep black hole.
But Liu Sheng knew that the statue was opening its eyes.
She remembered the old woman's warning that she must leave the temple immediately when the statue opened its eyes.
She quickly glanced at the other people in the ancestral hall and found that they had also left their state of cultivation.
Liu Sheng and She Chan looked at each other and understood in their hearts that it was time to leave.
Just as they reached the door, they suddenly heard a few slight cracking sounds behind them, as if something was breaking.
Liu Sheng poked out the strange eyes of the small tentacles behind him, and saw deep and dark whirlpools forming on the dark and hazy face of the statue. It made people dizzy, as if they were about to fall into these abysses.
Liu Sheng did not dare to hesitate any longer and pulled She Chan along with the other disciples to rush out of the ancestral hall.
Looking back, the Chongdao Temple was plunged into darkness, rising and falling in the dark fog, as if it was breathing.
It was a bit complicated near the end, so I had to rewrite it several times.
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(End of this chapter)