Chapter 12 :Second-hand Taoist Talisman

“So those spiritual lights are auras, I understand.
I also saw the couplets, door gods, and inverted fu characters pasted on the doors of those houses, all emitting a red glow that complemented the aura.
Are those also Dharma artifacts that amplify the aura?” I recalled the scene I had just witnessed.

“Those things, they’re not quite like Dharma artifacts.
If you insist on a comparison, they’re more like talismans, folk talismans.
Indeed, they are also used to protect homeowners from attacks by spirits and monsters,” Ou Zhiqin explained.

I had heard of talismans.
Legends said that Daoist priests could subdue monsters by drawing a few incomprehensible symbols and pasting them on the creatures.
I had also heard of door gods.
People would draw images of famous ancient generals on paper and paste them on doors, believing this would scare away demons and ghosts.
But from my perspective, it wasn’t about scaring them away, but rather the door gods’ aura would block the demons.
Moreover, the red glow formed by those couplets and door gods instinctively felt more solid and reliable than the spiritual light of ordinary houses.
If the spiritual light enveloping a home was a stone wall, the red glow at the doorway was like a steel security door.

“If these are equivalent to talismans, then what if we get a lot of couplets and door gods and stick them everywhere in the room?
Wouldn’t that create an impenetrable defense, like a copper wall and iron bastion?” A plan suddenly came to my mind.

I had seen on TV how Daoist priests, when exorcising demons, would stick talismans everywhere, practically sealing off doors and windows.
If couplets and door gods had a similar function, then simply covering the doors and windows with them should be able to block the Painted Skin Ghost.
I felt that the red glow at the entrance was no weaker than the spiritual light of my jade pendant.

“Haha, Brother Xiao, do you really think couplets and door gods are talismans?” My wild idea amused Xiao Qing.
“Unfortunately, I only said their function is similar to talismans, but they are not talismans in essence.
Their principles are completely different, as far apart as heaven and earth.”

“Spring couplets and inverted fu characters are most effective when pasted during the Spring Festival.
Essentially, they condense the vibrant and lively human energy of the festival to form a special aura that protects the household for a year, warding off evil and inviting good fortune.
The aura dissipates in about a year, so new ones must be pasted every Spring Festival.
Pasting them at other times is useless, which is why they are called Spring couplets.”

“Door gods aren’t necessarily time-limited, but door gods have another limitation: they only guard doors.
Pasting them elsewhere is useless.
Moreover, the most effective door gods should be carved on peach wood boards, not drawn on paper.
This is the origin of the ancient poem that says, ‘always replacing old talismans with new peach wood.’”

I listened and asked with a bitter smile, “Since these Spring couplets and door gods are all pasted at the entrance, while the entrance is very solid, the spiritual light in other parts of the house isn’t as strong.
Powerful spirits and monsters could break through from other places, right?
What’s the use of only reinforcing the main door?”

In my opinion, only the red glow at the entrance reached the intensity of the jade pendant’s spiritual light.
Even Xiao Qing’s home’s aura was slightly inferior to the jade pendant, so whether it could stop the Painted Skin Ghost was truly hard to say.

“The main door is usually for deterring gentlemen, not preventing villains.
Aside from some spirits and monsters having specific restrictions that require them to use the main entrance, the Spring couplets and door gods at the entrance can also prevent the owner from being possessed by evil spirits when entering, or purify some malevolent energy.
Having them is better than not having them,” Ou Zhiqin said.

“Do spirits and monsters also have restrictions?” I asked, confused.
I had always thought these supernatural, mysterious beings were eerie, unpredictable, and omnipotent, impossible to guard against.

“Of course they do!
Depending on the type of spirit or monster, they have all sorts of bizarre and different restrictions.
For example, the Painted Skin Ghost that attacked you reportedly must first tempt the victimized man, make them accept a confession or a relationship, and ideally bring them home before it can attack you,” Ou Zhiqin explained.

No wonder, no wonder Xia Yubing would actively confess to me and repeatedly ask if I liked her or try to entice me into a relationship with her.
So, there was this kind of restriction.
I really regretted it.
If I had known earlier that she was a Painted Skin Ghost in disguise, I definitely wouldn’t have agreed to her.
If I had decisively refused, perhaps I would be safe now.

Unfortunately, there are no “ifs.”
It was impossible for me to know that Xia Yubing was a Painted Skin Ghost before then.
The only chance was to trust Xiao Qing and not meet Xia Yubing, but now, it was useless to say anything.

At this point, Ou Zhiqin continued, “Never mind that Spring Couplets can’t replace talismans, where would I get so many Spring Couplets anyway?
It’s not even close to the Spring Festival.
However, while I don’t have Spring Couplets, I do have quite a few talismans.”

“Huh?
Where did you get so many talismans?” I watched in surprise as Xiao Qing pulled a box from a drawer.
When she opened it, it was full of yellow-apricot talismans, covered with incomprehensible red scribbles.

“I searched for them online.
I looked for them to research the styles and functions of Daoist talismans.
Back then, I printed dozens of each type.
I never thought they’d actually come in handy at a time like this,” Ou Zhiqin said with a bitter smile.
At the time, she was just preparing for any unforeseen circumstances.

“Huh?
Printed ones?
Are those even useful?” I had heard that to draw a talisman, a Daoist with magical power had to personally draw it on yellow paper with cinnabar ink, without a single wrong stroke, for it to become a valid talisman.
If printed ones worked, what would Daoists be for?

“They’re certainly far less potent than talismans personally drawn by a Daoist master, but as I said before, as long as the form is correct, even mass-produced items have some effect, just like Dharma artifacts.
And, I also have a genuine one.”

Saying this, Xiao Qing took out all the printed talismans.
Underneath the pile in the box was a crumpled talisman, but as soon as she took it out, I could feel the huge difference between it and the printed ones above.
Unlike the red ink of the talismans above, which was directly printed on the paper, the symbols on this talisman were clearly drawn.
The symbols were slightly raised, and the red glow flowed with brilliant colors.
This was truly a talisman drawn with cinnabar, and the texture of the solidified cinnabar was completely different.

Moreover, the yellow paper was old, whereas all the printed talismans were brand new, and the paper quality was also different.
The paper of this Daoist talisman seemed to be maobianzhi (rough-edged paper), which means paper made from bamboo pulp.
The biggest difference was the spiritual light.
The printed talismans only had a very faint layer of spiritual light, while the spiritual light on the genuine Daoist talisman flowed, as if forming its own cycle.

As the saying goes, comparing goods reveals their worth.
The difference between these two types of talismans, placed side by side, was as vast as heaven and earth.
I asked curiously, “Xiao Qing, where did you get this talisman?
Which Daoist temple did you get it from?”

“How could I?
It’s very expensive to ask a legitimate Daoist priest to draw a talisman.
I bought this used talisman from a second-hand market for research,” Ou Zhiqin explained.

“Ah?
There are second-hand talismans too?” I asked, surprised again.
Today, I had heard too many incredible things that I couldn’t have imagined before.

“This is a used, second-hand talisman.
A Daoist would paste it somewhere to form a barrier, and after a period of use, the talisman’s spiritual power would fade.
The Daoist would replace it with a new one, but the old talisman isn’t completely useless.
Some middlemen collect them at low prices and sell them to ordinary people.”