019 Superstition

Hearing Li Huowang's words,Bai Lingmiao opened her eyes wide and said,"Yes,yes!My grandpa told me not to run outside the village.He said the people outside the village are extremely wicked.If they catch a child,they'll skin the child alive and put the child in a dog's skin,then train the child like a dog.Since children are smart,they can use this'dog'that understands human language to perform acrobatics on the streets.Poor kids!Once their bodies stick to the dog's skin,they'll never grow up."

Li Huowang frowned slightly and shook his head."No,I'm not talking about these old-wives'tales used to scare little kids.I'm referring to something like Lord You."

"Something like Lord You?Let me think..."Bai Lingmiao frowned as she began to ponder."Most of the stories my grandpa told were quite jumbled.Most of them were about snakes in the mountains eating people.Stories like Lord You are really rare."

"Then who told your grandpa the story about Lord You?"

Bai Lingmiao stared at him innocently with wide-open eyes."Of course,it was my grandpa's grandpa who told him.Then my grandpa told me,and I'll tell my grandchildren in the future."

Li Huowang scratched his head.So,this story was passed down through generations.It seemed he had miscalculated.

"Senior Brother Li,I know one,"a frail young man leaning against the wall and listening intently suddenly spoke up.

This young man had deformed joints.One of his shoulders was higher than the other,and his whole body was twisted.Even in the material storage room,he was quite"conspicuous"in appearance.

"Senior Brother Li,my surname is Zhao.I'm the fifth in my family.You can just call me Zhao Wu."

It didn't matter who told the story.Li Huowang walked up to him and said,"Okay,go ahead."

Zhao Wu looked around furtively and deliberately lowered his voice."I've heard from the older generation about a kind of strange thing you're talking about.It's called the Grand Granny."

"Grand Granny?What does it look like?"Li Huowang quickly searched his mind but couldn't find any relevant images.He also had no clue just from the literal meaning.

"ShhSenior Brother Li,don't be so loud.Keep your voice down.This thing is very strange.I heard that the Grand Granny can hear you.If you keep talking about it,they'll come looking for you!"

"Oh?"Hearing this,Li Huowang perked up.

"I heard from my cousin that it looks different to everyone.Some say it looks like a long-eared goblin,while others see it as their deceased elders.The only thing in common is that anyone who stays beside it for a while will turn into a Grand Granny too!"

Li Huowang stroked his chin thoughtfully."This place is really strange.There are all sorts of weird things.Okay,do you have any more?"

"Yes,there is.There's also the Husband-Wife Fish.This thing is also strange..."

From Zhao Wu,Li Huowang learned a lot of strange terms,and these were all the ingredients he planned to use in the elixir for immortality.

"You really know a lot.Thank you.This information is helpful to me."If he only mentioned highly poisonous elixir ingredients,Master Danyang might notice something amiss.But by adding these things that even he couldn't identify,the story would be much more believable.

The key was to make it sound incomprehensible.Once something was beyond people's understanding,it would seem profound.

Hearing Li Huowang's words,Zhao Wu smiled happily."I heard all these from my cousin.He's a peddler.He's been everywhere and knows a lot."

"Alright,it's almost time.I'm going back.You guys stay quiet and wait for my news."Li Huowang took a deep breath,stood up,and walked outside.

He had only taken a few steps when a tall figure at least 1.9 meters tall blocked his way."I...I...I..."

Li Huowang recognized this bald-headed man.Everyone in the material storage room called him the fool,the one with crossed eyes and drooling.

It wasn't entirely accurate to call him a fool.He just stammered,was slow-witted,and had a low IQ."I...I...I also know something!"

Li Huowang sighed,reached out,and patted his bald head,then turned and walked towards the door.

Asking a fool was no better than making things up on his own.

Early the next morning,Li Huowang was summoned to Master Danyang's residence."I've almost mastered the Inner and Outer,Great and Small Circulation cultivation methods you mentioned.Now tell me about the elixir to be taken with the cultivation method."

"Yes,Master."Li Huowang walked up to the stone slab and pretended to observe it again."Well...Two hearts of the Grand Granny,refining their essence?Master,what does this mean?"

Master Danyang,with an unpredictable expression,paced back and forth in the room,muttering to himself,"Is this really the way?Does the path to immortality really require such evil things?"

"Master,what is the Grand Granny?"

"Don't worry about it.Keep going."

"One Husband-Wife Fish,take its gills and soak them in two taels of arsenic..."

Combining what he learned from Zhao Wu with his modern knowledge and the energy from staying up all night,Li Huowang came up with a systematic way to achieve immortality.

After Li Huowang finished telling his made-up story,he saw Master Danyang getting extremely excited and muttering to himself.

However,when he listened carefully,he was immediately stunned.

"Yes,it can't be wrong.Arsenic is cold in nature,so it must be neutralized by the hot-natured Husband-Wife Fish.Brilliant!And using the Grand Granny in the elixir.Why didn't I think of that before?Since humans can be used in elixirs,why can't these evil things?"This guy actually started to imagine the balance of the elixir's medicinal properties.

Li Huowang found that Master Danyang could be very smart at times,but extremely stupid at others.He didn't trust anyone but the set of ideas in his own mind.

If there was one word to describe it,it was superstition.In a world without gods and ghosts,superstition about them represented ignorance.In a world with gods and ghosts,superstition was still ignorance;it was just about different things.

Just then,Master Danyang reached into his sleeve and took out a copper Taoist bell with a missing corner,the kind he had seen in zombie movies used to control zombies.

As he started to shake it vigorously,the ear-piercing ringing immediately filled the air.Li Huowang felt a splitting headache and instinctively covered his head and gritted his teeth.

This strange ringing of the copper bell not only affected his hearing but also his vision.

Everything around him began to twist and deform,and the whole world seemed to be shaking violently like an earthquake.

"What's going on?What is Master Danyang up to?Did I make a mistake?Has he found out?"

Just as Li Huowang was thinking this,he saw that the corners of the table,the edge of Master Danyang's Taoist robe,and even one side of the heavenly book beside it-in fact,the edges and corners of everything he could see in the room-seemed to come alive and slowly gather in front of Master Danyang as they wriggled.

It was hard to describe what this thing formed by the edges and corners of objects looked like,but one thing was certain:it was alive.

Li Huowang thought he was seeing things.He shook his head vigorously.To his horror,instead of disappearing,the thing split into two as he shook his head.