Part-Time Taoist Priest 16.1

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Ghostly Candlelight – Part 1

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Niuyang Residents Forum

[Niuyang Anecdotes]

Title: Did anyone pass by Golden Osmanthus Street yesterday?

Content: OP is still scared since then. I’m only posting this during the day. Around 11 p.m. last night, I was heading home from work via Golden Osmanthus Street. When I passed by Baoyang Temple, I heard some chanting from within so I took a peek through a gap in the gate. And I saw a lot of people crowded inside. I thought, it’s this late, why is there still such a crowd? But when I looked a little closer, these people’s feet weren’t touching the ground! Then I suddenly remembered it was the Ghost Festival. The chanting Taoist priest was performing a ritual!

1l: ??? That is scary as heck, is it for real?

2l: Wtf stop kidding! Golden Osmanthus Street is next to Dawn Plaza. There are people dancing there every night. Even ghosts would be scared away.

3l: I don’t think there was anyone dancing last night but that area was indeed very busy.

4l: OP, you are hallucinating. Go to the hospital.

5l: Baoyang Temple again? Two days ago, there was a post asking if their talismans work. Are you people their bots?

6l: Uh, OP have you had bad luck recently? If your fortune is bad then you shouldn’t go out at night during the Ghost Festival, or else you’ll see these things. Luckily you saw them at a temple ceremony……

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18l: I work near Baoyang Temple. This place is really divine. An employee of a company downstairs was cussing loudly outside the temple and he had bad luck for days. It only got better after he went to burn incense.

19l: There was a rumor previously that Baoyang had no mosquitoes. I visited and there really weren’t any mosquitoes. And I discovered that they are actually quite pitiful, they are so poor that they only have one priest. They probably don’t have the money to hire bots?

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45l: …I believe it somewhat. My aunt was there last night. She didn’t see any ghosts but she told me two worshippers suddenly felt cold halfway through the ceremony and felt there was something around them. And after my aunt went home, she dreamt of my grandfather (Yesterday she went and made a spirit tablet for my deceased grandpa). She said that in her dream, grandpa was smiling at her and told her to take care of herself.

46l: Aaaahhhh! The poster above, stop scaring me or else I’ll think it’s real!

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Xie Lingya closed the web page. He heard there was a post on the local forum regarding the Ghost Festival ceremony yesterday, so he went to have a look at it. He didn’t usually visit this forum but having seen it now, it was quite useful for understanding the reputation of Baoyang Temple. 

The title of this post only mentioned Golden Osmanthus Street and not Baoyang Temple, so it took Xie Lingya a while to find it. Scanning through the post, he found that he wasn’t the only one who witnessed the ghost feast.

But unlike him, the OP of this post probably saw the ghosts because his luck was bad or his vitality was too weak.

People like this were rare. For example, He Zun, who had also experienced a case of bad luck recently, strongly sensed the ghosts but did not see the scene himself. It indicated that  OP’s luck was worse than He Zun’s.

Someone in the comments already reminded OP to be careful on that night of the seventh month, so Xie Lingya did not read further.

Although Baoyang’s ceremony last night was not big, it received good reviews. The participants, whether worshippers or bystanders, all benefited from the experience. The next day, many worshippers came to tell Zhang Daoting that they had dreamt of their deceased loved ones.

After that, they became even more devout. They asked Zhang Daoting about ways to cultivate and some even asked to volunteer in the temple. As Baoyang was still lacking manpower, they naturally did not refuse.

Frequent visitors of Baoyang also heard about what happened at the ceremony. It became the hot topic of discussions for a few days. Those who did not attend the ceremony were regretful while the participants felt an inexplicable sense of responsibility to tirelessly tell everyone about their experience.

The event was spread by word of mouth and with the publicity from the heated discussion on the local forum, Baoyang Temple became even more mystical.

Compared to worshippers, people without religious faith were more interested in the urban tale of a girl’s ghostly encounter during the Ghost Festival.

At night, Xie Lingya paid another visit to the ghost at the construction site, Ding Aima. “Did you stop by yesterday?”

Ding Aima replied, “I kept hearing the bells ringing from your temple. But I didn’t want to go because I felt that it was summoning me to go die… Oh no, I mean to go be purified.”

The summoning of souls during the ceremony, naturally, wasn’t forced. If the spirit did not wish to leave the world, they wouldn’t be summoned.

“You heard it from so far away? Yes, it was indeed a purification,” Xie Lingya said. “I didn’t manage to interview the other ghosts. I was too inexperienced. I don’t know if I will get another chance next year. But from what I saw, all the ghosts were at peace after the purification, so it shouldn’t feel bad.”, 

“That’s beside the point. More importantly, it sounded like they had lost all joy of living!” Ding Aima said.

Xie Lingya: “ ??? “

Lost all joy of living? The heck are you talking about?

As Ding Aima continued, a trace of longing shone in his eyes. “I think I will continue to be a ghost. It seems like those who got purified had no longer any purpose in life… I worked because I wanted to live in a big house. The construction here is finished and they’ve begun decorating the interior. It won’t be long before I live in this big place without paying a single penny.”

Xie Lingya was envious after listening to Ding Aima. Yes, envious—this place’s decoration would definitely be much better than that of their temple.

“Forget it, if you’re forced, there’s no point.” Xie Lingya checked the time. “I’m heading back. No one is feeding the wild ghosts in this part of town. If you want to eat something, come to the back door of our temple. We will place food there tonight.”

Ding Aima swallowed his drool. “Ok!”

This was probably the only complaint Ding Aima had with being a ghost—all the food he could only see but not eat.

Ghosts and spirits of the realm of the dead could not eat food that wasn’t offered in prayer by people of the living realm. There was a saying, ‘A meal can fill a person for a day and a ghost for a year’.

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It was the 16th day of the seventh month, so the temple gate was shut early. In the backyard, Xie Lingya was teaching Zhang Daoting the art of drawing talismans. Unfortunately, not everyone was as talented as him. Zhang Daoting said, “Ah, although I was ablede to memorize those rituals and hand signs, drawing talismans is just too difficult!”

Such complicated symbols needed to be drawn in a single stroke while keeping intensely focused. It would take him a long time to practice a single talisman let alone the hundreds upon hundreds of talismans of the Taoist sects.

Xie Lingya required him to at least be able to draw the signature talismans of their temple.

Shi Changxuan was contacting his mentor next to them. Rumor had it, although the mentor was a scholar, he had done many years of research and had some understanding of the real situation in the religious circles. He was also well-acquainted with Shi Changxuan’s family. He called Shi Changxuan to check in on his living situation.

Shi Changxuan informed his mentor that he would still be staying in the temple for the foreseeable future. He did not say much before hanging up.

“You haven’t visited the college yet, right? It is quite big. I will give you a tour when school opens,” Xie Lingya offered eagerly. Before Shi Changxuan could reply, the sounds of commotion came from the back gate. Xie Lingya got up to check it out.

Outside the gate, standing amongst a crowd of peddlers and merchants, was a young police officer. The police officer was Officer Wang who was in charge of their area. Beside him was a crying young girl who seemed to be a student.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Lingya asked.

A fruit vendor who recognized Xie Lingya replied, “Hi, Xiao Xie. This girl lost her purse in this area. It contained three months’ worth of living expenses. This is a blind spot for the surveillance cameras, so they are asking around if anyone saw who took it.”

But everyone understood that it was unlikely to be found.

Officer Wang saw Xie Lingya and asked him too, “Xie Lingya, was your back gate open? Did you see anything?”

Xie Lingya was about to say that they rarely opened the back gate but a thought came to his mind. “Wait here for a moment, I will ask some others if they saw anything.”

He ran back inside and drew the Spirit Official’s Divine Eye on his forehead with cinnabar. When he went out again, he saw what he was hoping for—just as he thought, Ding Aima was squatting on the steps of the temple and wolfing down food. Next to him were two wild ghosts fighting with him. The three ghosts were fighting with one hand while trying to eat with the other.

Xie Lingya: “……”

The others saw that Xie Lingya returned with a drawing on his forehead and asked puzzled, “What happened to your face?”

“Ah, don’t mind this, I’m just playing, haha,” Xie Lingya replied.

He looked at Ding Aima again who was stuffing rice in his mouth. Another ghost pulled on his lips, causing a third of the rice to fall out of his mouth.

Ding Aima glanced at Xie Lingya. Knowing what he wanted, he spoke while continuing to chew, “A man of about 30 years took it away when no one was looking. He was wearing blue jeans and a yellow top with a monkey printed on the chest. I think he was also wearing a red bracelet.”

So Xie Lingya said to Officer Wang, “Wang-ge, I’ve asked. It should be a man around 30 years old who took it. He was wearing blue jeans, a yellow top with a monkey print and a red bracelet. See if you can find him in the surveillance footage.”

The girl was immediately filled with hope. The onlookers were also saying how lucky it was that someone saw what happened. 

Officer Wang also thought it was lucky, not only was there a witness but the details were remembered with such clarity. He quickly asked Xie Lingya to thank the witness on his behalf and wanted to bring the girl to see the surveillance footage.

The girl stared at Xie Lingya and blushed. She said softly, “Um…”

Although there was a strange symbol on Xie Lingya’s forehead, making him look a bit silly, the red cinnabar made his complexion even fairer and his eyes even more charming. She mustered up the courage to ask, “Can I have your contact information? I would like to thank you when I find the purse.”

Everyone smiled knowingly and thought this girl was really clever. Even if she didn’t find the purse, getting a boyfriend was not bad either.

Officer Wang was speechless—she was still crying a moment ago and now she was in the mood to flirt. But he did not rush her.

Some bystander teased, “This place is a Taoist temple, you know?”

The girl was crestfallen. She really didn’t know this was the back gate of a temple. Since this person was living here, was he a monk?

“Oh, but Xiao Xie is not a priest,” another person added.

“……” The girl felt like she was on an emotional roller coaster.

Xie Lingya felt a bit awkward—this girl looked only to be a high school student. “You’d better go look for your purse quickly. If you want to say thanks, just come to Baoyang Temple to look for Zhang Daozhang.” Xie Lingya just tossed the problem to Zhang Daoting without any guilt.

“Alright then, thank you.” The girl took another longing glance at Xie Lingya before leaving.

Zhang Daoting and Shi Changxuan were sitting in the backyard. Although they couldn’t see what was happening outside, they could hear the voices vaguely through the open gate, including Xie Lingya’s free credit to Zhang Daoting, but they couldn’t say anything.

When Xie Lingya returned, Zhang Daoting asked curiously, “Boss, when did you see the person taking the purse?”

Clearly, they had been sitting here since they’d finished dinner to learn how to draw talismans. Moreover, Boss asked the young girl to thank him, but he had never even opened the back gate.

Xie Lingya tossed out a lie, “I learned X-ray vision, so I could see it. If you learn to draw ten types of talismans, I will teach it to you.”

Bewildered, Zhang Daoting turned to Shi Changxuan. “Shi Daozhang, is this for real? Does the ‘Divine Eye’ really exist?” He thought since Shi Changxuan was from a Taoist family, he would know more and he didn’t look like someone who jested.

Shi Changxuan shook his head. “Nothing so mystical.”

Zhang Daoting: “I knew it…”

Shi Changxuan: “He probably just asked the ghosts outside the gate.”

Zhang Daoting: “……”

No, wait! That was very mystical too!

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Another few days passed, and it was time for Quedong College to start the new term. Xie Lingya eagerly accompanied Shi Changxuan to the registration.

Xie Lingya was a local and a student of Quedong College for four years, so he knew the way very well. Although he didn’t know anyone from the Department of Philosophy, he could still act as a guide and help with the registration process.

On the way, Xie Lingya ran into a few of his juniors. The first question they asked was, “Senior, I heard you became a priest?”

Xie Lingya: “…Nonsense! I am just working in a Taoist temple!”

Xie Lingya first interned in Baoyang Temple and later helped Cheng Jie with an exorcism.  When Cheng Jie told others of his experience, he said that Xie Lingya introduced Shi Changxuan to him because Xie Lingya mentioned he would continue his studies after his internship. But somehow, the rumor mill turned the story into ‘Xie Lingya has become a priest’.

The juniors were relieved—this sounded more likely. After all, temples also needed accountants. What they did not know, however, was that this type of establishment usually required their accountants to have the same religious beliefs; some even required them to be jushi (lay practitioners).

“I heard that your temple is also selling talismans. Some of our schoolmates bought some. Do they really work?” Baoyang Temple had become quite famous in Niuyang City, even these juniors had heard of it.

Not only are we selling them, they are even drawn by me, Xie Lingya thought. 

Xie Lingya answered, “You can go try for yourself whether they work or not. Just mention my name and get a 20% discount.”

“Haha, that’s awesome.” But everyone was still concerned with one other question; who was that handsome man next to Xie Lingya?

Xie Lingya considered Shi Changxuan’s introverted personality. For the short time that Shi Changxuan had stayed in Baoyang, he had lived simply and didn’t even use his phone much. Therefore Xie Lingya only gave a brief introduction so the juniors who wanted to get Shi Changxuan’s contact were too embarrassed to say much.

Seeing the situation, Shi Changxuan said nothing, apparently silently assenting to his actions.

Bidding farewell to the juniors, Xie Lingya accompanied Shi Changxuan to complete the registration. Then they made a tour of Quedong College before heading back.

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When Xie Lingya returned to the temple, he did not see Zhang Daoting in the front. He asked a volunteer about his whereabouts.

After the Ghost Festival, three worshippers had volunteered to help out at the temple. They took turns to work at the temple, helping out with issues like registration, lightening much of Zhang Daoting’s burden.

The volunteer answered, “Zhang Daozhang went to the back with some people to help them with their problem.”

Help them with their problem? Could they be worshippers? Xie Lingya was puzzled. Together with Shi Changxuan, he headed to the room in the back. There, Zhang Daoting sat opposite two professionally dressed men.

When the two visitors saw Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan, who were in casual clothing, they thought they were also here to get help with a problem, so they said, “Can you wait outside first? We have not finished our chat with Zhang Daozhang.”

“No no. You have misunderstood. This is our temple’s… person in charge, Xie Lingya Shixiong, and also Shi Daozhang, who is lodging with us. He is a huoju priest of the Zhengyi Sect so he doesn’t dress like a monastic priest,” Zhang Daoting quickly explained. He let out a sigh of relief that the two of them had returned.

Noticing Zhang Daoting’s reaction, the two visitors realized that Xie Lingya was an important person. Nowadays Buddhist and Taoist temples in many scenic areas were run commercially. Their owners often knew nothing about the affairs in the temples, but Xie Lingya was different.

In front of guests, Zhang Daoting addressed Xie Lingya as Shixiong since Xie Lingya had taught him some things, but they actually treated each other as equals. The two visitors felt that Xie Lingya must belong to the religious circle as well.

Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan sat down on the sofa. Xie Lingya asked casually, “Are you here for a ceremony?”

The older man who looked to be about forty years old said, “…More or less. We are from Yi Shui Mining Company. We’d like to invite Zhang Daozhang to look at our feng shui and perform a ceremony.”

Queshan Province was rich in minerals, in particular gold and jade. Yi Shui Mining Company belonged to the state-owned Queshan Mining Group based in the provincial capital. They owned several mines in Niuyang. If it was this type of company, it wasn’t surprising if they were of the Taoist faith.

Niuyang produced gold, silver, and coal, so many places had characters such as gold and jade in their name. Most of the mines in Niuyang were located in non-urban areas or counties under its jurisdiction.

Xie Lingya’s father, who worked in the county capital told him that people from the mining areas were more superstitious. Many mines didn’t allow women in the mines and had many taboos. In these areas, unlicensed witch doctors could charge even higher prices than orthodox temples like Taihe Temple for performing rituals.

Things had changed over the years. Back then, during the Cultural Revolution of the 60-70s, any affairs related to the supernatural were banned. Until the 90s, people still believed that these superstitions were wrong and could not be discussed in public, even burning joss paper for Ghost Festivals was done secretly. Now, the people in the mines were once again paying attention to these customs, albeit in a more subdued way.

The ritual was one thing, but Xie Lingya wasn’t knowledgeable about feng shui. Zhang Daoting, who was also troubled by this, added, “Bos— Shixiong, it’s like this: one of their mines is having a supernatural disturbance. They suspect that it is a problem with the feng shui because they had just recently added a new building. They heard about our Ghost Festival ceremony from a worshipper, so they hoped that we could perform a purification ceremony and also take a look at the feng shui.”

This explained why they weren’t looking for priests in the county—Baoyang Temple’s thrilling Ghost Festival ceremony had attracted them here.

Xie Lingya knew little about feng shui. He had only been working on talismans and other minor arts recently, therefore even if he was willing, he could only do half the job. However, he knew that Shi Changxuan was proficient in the art of geomancy and feng shui;  that last time during the incident with He Zhun’s uncle, he had shown some of his skill.

But Shi Changxuan was only lodging here. According to the Taihe priests, Shi Changxuan didn’t accept jobs easily. When Xie Lingya convinced Shi Changxuan to live here he also said that he didn’t need Shi Changxuan to do anything.

At this moment, Xie Lingya emboldened himself to look at Shi Changxuan and stammered, “Shi Daozhang…”

Shi Changxuan: “……”

He turned to the visitors and said, “Do you have a photo?”

A picture? They realized he was probably referring to a photograph of the building. They quickly took out a tablet and let Shi Changxuan look at a video. “This here is Willow River Mine. This building here is new. We didn’t get anyone to look at the feng shui when it was built. Now it doesn’t feel right.”

Xie Linya inquired, “What in particular doesn’t feel right?”

When they just arrived and saw the appearance of the temple, they thought this place may not be reliable. But after speaking to the worshippers here and seeing the miraculously mosquito-free environment, they changed their minds. Hearing Xie Lingya’s question, they tried to explain as best as they could.

“Xiao Liu, since you work in the mine, you explain,” the older man said to the younger man around thirty sitting next to him.

Mr. Liu nodded and said, “During the construction, there was already an incident. Luckily no one died that time. When the building was complete, a worker died in the mining shaft. After he passed away, weird things began happening in the shaft. And a while ago during a power outage, someone in the office… saw a ghost and fell sick.”

“Before that, our mine had zero incidents for six years! Back then, the chain of the coal conveyor had broken. The maintenance worker fell down the shaft while repairing it and died. Aih! It was too strange, and after that, there were many disturbances, so we suspect it is caused by the feng shui of the new building. We want to ask if there is any way to fix it. Then we want to have a ceremony to purify the spirits.” 

Mining had always been a dangerous activity and had many safety issues. Moreover, the mining shafts were dark and prone to causing claustrophobia. That was why many working in the mining industry were superstitious.

Willow River Mine had no safety-related incidents for six years. The incidents only started after the new building was completed. From the mining shaft incident to the haunted office, even if there was nothing wrong with the feng shui, they should conduct a ceremony.

Shi Changxuan watched the full video and said, “Judging from the video, everything is in order. The new building is built on the central axis. The courtyard is flanked by the old buildings, which blocks the wind and concentrates the qi, in addition to giving balance to the architecture. The mountains in the back have the shape of  solid platforms and do not clash with the new building.”

“Yes, yes. People used to say the shape of the mountains around our mine is good,” Mr. Liu nodded fervently. “But the new building is the only change we have.”

Shi Changxuan shook his head and continued, “I am only inferring from the video. Mining empties the mountain. Moreover, the building’s interior is not shown. It is not definitive.”

If there were obvious problems, he would be able to tell from the video. But if it was an issue in the details or hidden areas, then he needed to investigate at the scene.

The older man said, “That is why we need to trouble the master to visit the mine and help us solve this matter. We’ll take care of all related expenses for the trip and the commission is one hundred thousand yuan.”

Shi Changxuan didn’t look interested but Xie Lingya was very interested in the amount offered. He asked hesitantly, “Must the ritual be three days long?”

Their temple was short of manpower—if they left for three days, they would only have volunteers taking care of the temple. It wasn’t convenient.

Mr. Liu: “Um… yes, it must be for three days.”

Xie Lingya looked to Shi Changxuan again. Other than the issue of time, they also needed Shi Changxuan to deal with this matter with feng shui.

Shi Changxuan stated, “I am only free on the two days of the weekend.”

Xie Lingya was elated, “That is enough. So, Daoting will stay back in the temple, and Shi Daozhang and I will go together.”

The visitors were here to invite Zhang Daoting, but it seemed that Baoyang Temple’s internal decision was to send Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan. They agreed anyway. A—after all, Zhang Daoting called Xie Lingya Shixiong and Shi Changxuan had demonstrated his prowess just now.

Mr. Liu asked again, “Could we leave earlier, Shi Daozhang? If we could go on Friday, that would be best.”

Shi Changxuan replied indifferently, “No. I have class on Friday.”

Visitors: “……”

Although they tried to convince themselves not to judge their skills by their age, when they heard Shi Changxuan mention class, it still felt out of place. It seemed Taoist priests needed to go to school too…

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Translator: Velvet
Editors: Darkchocolatesan, Miiya
Proofreader: Taalia

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