This Taoist Master is too Frivolous

“The theft of the old man’s bones was a vendetta in the martial world, and it should be different from your case.”

The old man’s bones had been dug up then by the people from the Lu Shan Sect, who sent Wang Wei and his disciples to find the “Supreme Purification Seal” and confirm the old man’s death.

As for himself, he had killed Wang Wei to retrieve the bones.

Of course.

Officer Wang was just an ordinary policeman who had retired from the front lines; there was no need to mention all this to him.

As for assisting the police in solving the case?

Xu Yang shook his head and said, “Officer Wang, you are the professionals in solving cases. I’m just one who deals with the dead. Besides, I am blind now, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

He paused and added, “Unless it’s a peculiar case.”

Xu Yang couldn’t be bothered with ordinary cases, but peculiar ones were different. If he found the “Yin spirits or malevolent beings” behind it, he could earn some merit!

“Whether it’s a peculiar case or not, I can’t be sure… that’s why I came to consult with Master Xu.”

Officer Wang gave a bitter smile and asked for advice, “Master Xu, I want to know what can be achieved by digging up someone’s bones? We’re still in the dark… without understanding the motive for the crime, we can’t even start.” The motive for stealing bones?

Xu Yang thought for a moment and said, “The greatest value of bones is that they can be used in medicine… It’s documented in the Compendium of Materia Medica that ‘The human skull is round like a cover, the skullcap is like heaven, and it is where the divine spirit resides’. It suggests that the skullcap can be used in medicine to replenish the spirit.”

“Using bones in medicine?”

Officer Wang shuddered, his scalp tingling, “Who would dare to take such a medicine?”

“Many of the Chinese medicinal herbs have names you wouldn’t recognize… for example, Jinzhi is actually human feces, Wuling Zhi is rat feces, Yeming Sha is bat feces, Wang Yue sand is rabbit feces, and then there’s Bai Dingxiang, Jishi Bai, Bai Matong, which are sparrow feces, chicken feces and horse feces respectively.”

Xu Yang jokingly said, “So sometimes when you tell someone to eat shit, if you go by Chinese medicine, it might actually be for their good.”

Officer Wang:

He felt that he might not be able to drink Chinese medicine in the future.

Yun Mengxi on the other hand, listened curiously and asked in amazement, “Xu Yang, can these feces really cure diseases?”

“Of course!”

Xu Yang said, “There are twenty-three different prescriptions using feces to cure diseases recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica. There’s a recipe called ‘Lao Ji Gu Zheng’, also known as ‘Fu Lian Chuan Shi’, which is very effective. It uses five liters of fresh human feces, one liter of urine, five liters of fresh millet rice, half a cake of yeast made on June 6, sealed in a porcelain bottle, kept in a sealed room for 27 days, it does not smell bad. Take one dose every morning and again at noon, it has a miraculous effect.”

“That’s disgusting?”

Yun Mengxi was almost about to vomit, she asked, “What does this prescription do?”

“According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, this prescription is very effective for the treatment of tuberculosis… there’s also Bai Longsha, which is actually white dog feces. It can be taken to cure sores, stomach pain and it’s also an antidote.”

This was all knowledge that Xu Yang had gained from learning witchcraft in order to manipulate life from an old witch.

He did not dwell on this topic too much, then he continued, “There’s also evil sorcery, likes to use bones for cultivation… Those skilled in witchcraft can even use bones to curse people, causing their relatives in the human world to have bad luck or even disasters.”

After a moment of contemplation, Xu Yang asked, “Officer Wang, are there any connections between those three sets of stolen bones?”

“No.”

Officer Wang shook his head and said, “All three cases happened in rural areas, the three families are in three different towns, I’ve looked into it, they have no intersecting connections, and the stolen bones are of both genders, the earliest has been dead for nine years and the latest one died three years ago.”

Xu Yang frowned and asked, “Is there any common feature between these bones?”

Officer Wang thought carefully and replied, “If I was to suggest a common feature… there actually is one, all three victims died between the ages of 18 and 23. According to our investigation, they all died of unnatural causes, one was in a car accident, one drank Glyphosate… and the last one drowned himself.”

“18 to 23 years old…”

Xu Yang’s eyes flickered and he said, “At this age, they should not have gotten married before they died, correct?”

Seeing Officer Wang nod, Xu Yang immediately said, “I think I know what these grave robbers are after!”

“What?”

Officer Wang was startled.

Xu Yang enunciated clearly, three words: “Ghost Marriage!”

Ghost marriage, also known as Ming marriage, bone marriage, or spirit marriage, is a folk custom, mainly divided into two types, dead and dead, and dead and living.

People of the old times believed that a solitary tomb in the ancestral grave would affect the prosperity of the descendants, so some large families would arrange ghost marriages for the “single” deceased to prevent the appearance of solitary tombs in the ancestral graves.

This was pure superstition.

In fact, it was deliberately propagated by those “geomancy masters” of the ancient times who wanted to earn more money. Over time, it became accepted as truth. This custom began as early as the Han Dynasty and was forbidden in ancient times.

The Book of Rites mentioned the prohibition of reburial and marriage of the dead, meaning that “ghost marriage” was useless, wasted money and effort, and should be prohibited.

But how could such a custom be abolished in ancient times?

After Cao Cao’s favorite son, Cao Chong, died, Cao Cao engaged the deceased Ms. Zhen to be Cao Chong’s wife and had them buried together.

The period of greatest prevalence of ghost marriages was during the Song Dynasty.

According to Kang Yuzhi’s “Zuo Meng Lu”, parents whose unmarried sons and daughters died would entrust a “ghost matchmaker” to propose marriage. After casting a divination and getting approval, they would make ghost clothes for the deceased, hold a combined marriage ceremony, and bury the bones of the man and woman together.

Until the end of the Qing dynasty, this custom gradually diminished.

However, there are always exceptions. In the “Bay Province”, even today, the custom of “Ghost Marriage” still persists.

Xu Yang remarked, “If it really is a Ghost Marriage, then the case would be simple…It’s very different from normal marriages. The rules of Ghost Marriages are far more plentiful. Due to the combination of wedding and funeral, it won’t be a small affair. They’re usually held at night. A bit of investigating might yield some clues.”

For some reason, the man who had just visited the funeral shop flashed through Xu Yang’s mind.

This fellow was sneaky, clearly not of reputable character, and constantly smelled of yin energy and decay, typical of someone who’s often dealing with corpses.

What’s crucial is that even when Yun Mengxi had him at knifepoint, he left after only a threatening word. Such behaviour is not normal in modern society… most people would at least report to the police after escaping!

“This…”

Officer Wang said, “If the bones for Ghost Marriage are stolen, I suspect they won’t dare to be too conspicuous. The rural population is small, and their cemeteries are located in the mountains. If they held the event at night, it’s hard to be discovered by others.”

“Just because humans can’t see it, doesn’t mean others can’t.”

Xu Yang said, “Ghost marriages are likely to attract unclean entities. I will try to investigate it… Ah, right, Officer Wang, about two hours ago, a middle-aged man came to my shop. You might want to look into him.”

“Middle-aged man?”

Officer Wang asked, “Do you have any identifiable features of him?”

As soon as he asked this, he regretted it.

How could Xu Yang, now “blind”, know the features of the visitor?

Xu Yang thought for a moment and said, “He is about forty years old, about 170 cm tall, has slightly dark skin, and wore a gray short-sleeved shirt on his upper body. There was a cross symbol on the chest, but the curvature of the cross was wrong. It might be a counterfeit Nike bought from a street stall.”

“He wore black pants on his lower body, and his shoes were white… Also, he has a mole on his left face, which is quite noticeable. You should be able to find him on the nearby surveillance camera.”

Officer Wang was stunned, and for a moment, thought Xu Yang was pretending to be “blind”.

Little did he know, because he sensed the yin energy on that man, Xu Yang ‘saw’ him with his spiritual power.

Using spiritual power to inspect was far more detailed than relying on the naked eye… If Xu Yang wished, he could even see through people’s clothing and reveal the ‘lethal’ objects hidden beneath.’ p>

“I’ll let my people check right away.”

Officer Wang immediately took out his phone and made a call.

When he hung up, Xu Yang asked, “Oh Officer Wang, where did you place Yinglong’s son and mother? Since I cannot see and am free, I thought to pay a visit.”

How could someone go ‘see’ when they were blind?

Officer Wang found the statement peculiar but nonetheless gave Xu Yang an address.

Soon, another police car arrived.

Officer Wang went out to direct the officers, instructing them to pull the surveillance from the vicinity of the funeral store. As per Xu Yang’s description, a middle-aged man was soon identified.

Xu Yang said, “The man came to buy a wreath and a paper man. I sensed something off about him, and after I asked a few more questions, he left… He might have visited other funeral stores. Officer Wang, you could assign people to investigate.”

He then locked the shop and returned home with Yun Mengxi.

On the way home, Xu Yang called Yue Yuluo… Even before they attended the Daoist Convention in Xi’an, Xu Yang had bought Yun Mengxi and Yue Yuluo phones.

The call was answered.

Yue Yuluo had returned to the ‘ maternal home’, and was currently with her elder sister. Upon picking up, she sweetly said, “Husband, what happened?”

Miss Yates leaned in to inspect the video call, then exclaimed in surprise, “This is the legendary mobile? It’s really magical… Brother-in-law, you must buy me some when you get the chance.”

Xu Yang agreed without hesitation.

Miss Yates then said, “Yuluo already told me everything… I don’t care about your other wives or concubines, but if you dare to let my Yuluo suffer even a bit, I won’t let you off!”

After chatting idly for a while, it was mostly Miss Yates asking questions and Xu Yang answering.

Like

“Have you set a date?”

“Planning a big celebration or a small one?”

Xu Yang said, “I’ve been having some health issues and can’t see for the moment, so the wedding date has to be postponed. But since we’re having it, naturally it has to be grand… I am planning to invite experts from the yin and yang realms to attend the wedding with Yuluo and the others. I hope you can come too.”

“Naturally, I need to be at my sister’s wedding,” said Miss Yates, “I will also invite friends from the Ghost Market to attend… Junior Harrison, you mustn’t embarrass me by underperforming!”

After a few words, Xu Yang asked, “Big sister, you’ve got many people under you, and lots of good information. I want to inquire about something… Have you heard of any family in Wu City recently holding a Ghost Marriage?” “Ghost Marriage?”

Miss Yates said, “Such a small matter, I wouldn’t have the time to pay attention to. But I can help you ask around, see if any of my little ghosts have crashed the party…”

PS: Here is the second update, and also, using feces in medicine is indeed a true practice, you guys can go online and check it out. A reader from our group said he tried sheep feces eggs, and it worked great for him.