Well Water and Mirror Painting

For the next two weeks after that night, I couldn't stop thinking about the feeling I had when her lips touched mine. After careful contemplation, I came up with three possible explanations.

A: After she covered my eyes, she must've found some unknown object on the ground and smeared it on my lips.

B: After covering my eyes, she spat on her fingers and wiped it on my lips.

C: After covering my eyes, she kissed me.

After careful calculation, I determined that the likelihood of option one was about 5%, since there was nothing on the ground to pick up. The chance of option two was about 13%, but that made no sense at all—why would she do something like that in such a charged atmosphere?

The final option, however, had a probability of over 85%, meaning she really did kiss me. God as my witness, she was the first person to kiss me, other than my mother. Don't laugh—I'm sure 98% of people's first kiss is from their mother.

But after that night, Du Feiyu went back to her usual indifferent self, ignoring me as she always had. I didn't dare ask her what had happened, but I could feel that she was smiling at me more often. Just that small change made me more determined than ever to go to Harbin.

At this point, it was too late to cram for the exams. Considering my current memory, catching up on a year's worth of lessons was impossible—it would be like dreaming in broad daylight. But as the saying goes, "cats have their own ways, and rats have theirs." I decided to take an unconventional approach. After all, I was the only known heir of the Three Pure Scriptures, a person of the Dao. Given my current Dao cultivation, I thought I might be able to call on Master Jiu for help. The fifteenth day was just around the corner—time to prepare.

I went to the supermarket and bought a cool little mirror, the kind with a matte back and a skull design on the front, which I liked. Back home, since my house was a single-story, and the well in the yard still worked, I filled up a soda bottle with well water. Everything was ready, just waiting for the full moon.

On the fifteenth, with a round moon in the sky, I gazed up and muttered a line from a classic Gu Long novel. It was nearly 1 a.m., and the time of the ugly hour was approaching. My family had long since gone to sleep. With the soda bottle and mirror in hand, I quietly opened the door and sneaked out, heading to a secluded spot in an alley.

"This should do," I thought. "Master Jiu, you have to show up. You're my only hope now." I unfolded the mirror, wrote Master Jiu's name and birth details on the back, and concentrated all my energy. By now, I could feel the flow of qi around my body whenever I focused. It sounds mystical, but it's really true. There's a lot about the human body we don't understand. Here's a little trick you can try for yourself: Open your right hand, then fix your gaze on it and focus all your attention on it. Soon enough, you'll feel your right hand warming up. Some might call it a psychological suggestion, but it's fascinating—give it a try if you're interested.

Once I felt my energy had gathered enough, I began trying to channel the surrounding qi into the mirror. I started pouring water onto the mirror's surface, then rubbed it with my finger, murmuring softly, "Wei Fengjiao, Wei Fengjiao, Wei Fengjiao."

This had to work—I was counting on it for my future happiness. I thought to myself. Sure enough! As I rubbed my finger on the mirror, the image began to grow blurry and murky (obviously). But I still didn't see Master Jiu's face. Damn it, this thing isn't working—maybe my skills aren't enough, or there's some other method required?

Just as my patience was starting to wane, the mirror started to change. I could see visible "qi" rising from the surface of the mirror. My heart leapt with joy—this might just work. I whispered, "Master, Master, are you there?"

The mirror was still blurry, but Master Jiu's voice came through.

"Xiao Fei, have you been practicing well these days?"

It worked!! I was overjoyed to hear his voice again. I quickly responded, "Of course, Master! I missed you so much. How are you over there? Why can't I see you?"

And there was static in his voice! This was unbelievable. The poor sound quality made me think of certain domestic telecom companies. Master Jiu grunted and replied, "I'm doing well here, and I've even managed to land a job as a ghost messenger. You don't need to worry about me. It must be because you haven't been cultivating properly. That's why you can't see me now. You didn't come all this way just to miss me, did you? What's the matter? Speak up."

I really admired this old guy—nothing escaped his notice. So, I told him about the exam that would determine the course of my future, and asked if there were any talismans that could help me.

Master Jiu immediately became angry and scolded me, "Useless! You haven't worked hard on your own matters, yet you want to rely on talismans? Let me tell you—talismans are for helping others, not for cheating! No! No!"

He was mad, but I was ready. I had a plan for this. I quickly turned on the waterworks, pretending to be tearful, and said, "Master, I'm unworthy of your teachings. Please forget what I said earlier. But if I fail this exam, I might end up begging for food. Ever since I came back to life, my soul has been damaged, and I can't remember any words. I know this request is unreasonable, but my family depends on me to take care of my 80-year-old grandmother and others!"

Heh, Master Jiu probably doesn't know there's a TV show in this era called Hundred Schools Forum. This 'strategic retreat' move was designed to shift his focus to my soul injury. I didn't believe this old man from the last century wouldn't fall for it.

Don't judge me for using such low tactics on my own master. We were from two different eras, and I was just using a way he could understand to communicate. It's like how many elderly people can't relate to our generation's way of thinking. If they were alive today, they'd be nearly a hundred years old, so some things are just lost in translation.

Sure enough, Master Jiu went silent. That's a good sign—once he's quiet, it's easier to handle. This is a communication skill I've learned. Let me explain why silence is good in negotiations: imagine it's like a 1v1 battle in an online game. Both sides are low on health, but I have a silence skill ready to go. Once I silence him first, he has no chance to respond—he's finished! So, silence is always the key. Of course, this is a ridiculous analogy, but it works in my case.

After about five minutes, Master Jiu sighed and said, "Xiao Fei, seeing your sincerity and knowing that this isn't entirely your fault, I understand you were forced into this. Fine. I'll give you a talisman from the outside realm, but this is a one-time exception."

It worked! I was ecstatic and quickly expressed my thanks.

Master Jiu then taught me a talisman from the outside realm, meaning it wasn't part of the orthodox Dao teachings. This talisman itself didn't have much power, but it was extremely useful for certain things. For instance, the "Sixteen Mouths Spirit Awakening Talisman" he taught me. As the name suggests, it didn't require the usual talisman drawing with heads or tails. All you had to do was recite the spell and write the character "口" (meaning mouth) on yellow paper, 16 times. Then, when you read a book holding the talisman, all the written information would be transferred into the talisman. When you needed to recall this information, you could hold the talisman in your left hand.