Huang Erye, seeing Liu Dashao’s confusion, continued, “The origins of Qi Men Dun Jia trace back over 4,600 years ago to the time when the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan, battled Chi You. Back then, the ancestor of humanity, the Yellow Emperor, and Chi You engaged in an unprecedented war at Zhuolu. Chi You stood seven chi tall, with an iron head and bronze body impervious to blades and spears. He could summon wind and rain, and on the battlefield created thick fog that disoriented the Yellow Emperor’s army.
One night, around the third watch when everyone was asleep, a sudden earth-shaking sound and intense light startled the Yellow Emperor and his men awake.
They hurriedly got up and rushed over to investigate. They saw a rainbow slowly descending from the sky, from which emerged a radiant celestial maiden holding a jade box nine inches long and eight wide. The Yellow Emperor accepted it, opened it, and found inside a heavenly scripture inscribed with divine characters—the Longjia Shen Zhang (Dragon Scale Divine Chapter).
Based on the book, the Yellow Emperor crafted the south-pointing chariot, which ultimately helped him defeat Chi You. Longjia Shen Zhang not only contained methods for forging weapons but also recorded many military strategies for commanding troops. Thus, the Yellow Emperor instructed his prime minister, Feng Hou, to expand it into thirteen chapters of military tactics, twelve chapters of Gu Xu Fa (solitary and empty methods), and 1,080 formations of Qi Men Dun Jia.
Later, it was passed down through Jiang Taigong of the Zhou Dynasty, the old master Huangshi, then to Zhang Liang. Zhang Liang summarized and simplified it, thus forming today’s Qi Men Dun Jia.”
Liu Dashao exclaimed in astonishment, “Could it really be that powerful? But… what does that have to do with me?”
After hearing Liu Dashao’s words, Huang Erye looked at him with his small eyes and said, “Qi Men Dun Jia is indeed extremely powerful, but after Zhang Liang summarized it, most of its true techniques were lost. It’s not just any secret manual of human sects—it’s a genuine heavenly scripture.
Therefore, out of ten thousand people, perhaps only a dozen individuals worldwide can truly master it. However, after taking the Xuanpin Pill, you have gained the wisdom root necessary to learn Qi Men Dun Jia. That book was secretly taken by you when those two were fighting years ago. It’s hidden inside that tree hollow now—go and retrieve it.”
After listening to Huang Erye, Liu Dashao stood up and walked toward the tree hollow. He reached inside and after a while touched something hard. Thinking that must be it, he pulled it out and saw it was a book bound in some unknown beast’s hide.
Huang Erye said, “After taking the Xuanpin Pill, all the characters you don’t recognize and all the passages you don’t understand in that book will become clear to you at a glance. Go home and study it carefully—don’t waste my painstaking efforts. Come find me in this grove in three days—remember!”
With that, he turned and ran off.
Liu Dashao held the book and walked home, his heart filled with complex emotions. Everything had happened so suddenly—he hadn’t even fully grasped it yet. But if Huang Erye wanted him to study Qi Men Dun Jia, there must be a reason. He decided he should go home and research it.
When he arrived home, his parents, the honest Liu couple, were already up.
Seeing Liu Dashao returning, Liu Laoshi smiled and said, “Son, you’re up early today! Where did you go?”
Liu Dashao made up a quick excuse, “Oh… I… went out for some exercise, hehe!”
With that, he turned and went back to his room.
Dog Egg was sitting on the kang, looking somewhat upset.
Upon seeing Liu Dashao enter, he grumbled, “You went off and left me behind!”
Liu Dashao grinned, “No I didn’t! Let’s go play later!” Then he ignored Dog Egg and sat on the kang himself, opening the book Qi Men Dun Jia.
The book was made of beast hide, and felt pleasant to the touch.
Opening the first page, he saw written: “Yanbo Diaoshou Ge” (The Song of the Fishing Hermit in the Misty Waves).
Without thinking, Liu Dashao began reciting:
“The wonders of Yin and Yang’s reversals are hard to fathom.
The solstices return to the one and nine palaces.
If one grasps the principles of Yin and Yang,
Heaven and Earth lie within one’s palm.
The Yellow Emperor fought Chi You,
The battle at Zhuolu raged endlessly.
Once he dreamed a heavenly god bestowed talismans and secrets,
He ascended the altar to offer sacrifices with reverence.
A divine dragon emerged from Luo River bearing a chart,
A colorful phoenix carried scriptures from the azure clouds.
Thus, Feng Hou was ordered to elaborate these into writings,
From then on, the art of Qi Men Dun Jia began.
Originally set as 1,080 formations,
Taigong reduced them to seventy-two.
Later, in the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zifang refined it further,
Perfecting it into eighteen superior techniques.
First, arrange the nine palaces within your palm,
With fifteen patterns arranged inside.
Then divide the eight trigrams into eight solar terms,
Each governed by one of the three primary energies.
The Yin and Yang遁methods follow the principles of advance and retreat,
The three primordial energies of one energy remain unfathomable.
Five days form one cycle,
Following the energy and surpassing the divine is the rule.
Identify the nine palaces as nine stars,
The eight doors follow the nine palaces.
Jia in the nine palaces marks the ruling star,
The corresponding door of the ruling star becomes clear.
The door upon the ruling star is the active gate,
Changing every ten hours as a basis…”
At that moment, Liu Dashao felt heat radiating from every pore in his body.
Turning the next page, it introduced the hand seals for incantations:
“Lin (Approaching): Clasp both hands tightly, extending and connecting the index fingers.
Bing (Soldier): Continuing from the previous seal, place the middle fingers over the index fingers.
Dou (Fight): Continuing from the previous seal, retract the index fingers, extend and connect the middle fingers.
Zhe (One Who): Continuing from the previous seal, extend and connect the thumbs, index fingers, and little fingers, keeping the rest clasped tightly.
Jie (All): Continuing from the previous seal, retract all fingers tightly, with the left hand in front.
Zhen (Formation): Continuing from the previous seal, clasp both hands tightly, with the right hand in front.
Lie (Array): Continuing from the previous seal, form the wisdom fist seal.
Zai (Existence): Continuing from the previous seal, extend all fingers, palms outward, connecting thumbs and index fingers.
Qian (Before): Continuing from the previous seal, form the meditation seal.”
These hand seals were vastly different from those in Zhang Enpu’s book. Liu Dashao silently followed the instructions, forming the seals one by one.
Dog Egg, puzzled by his actions, asked, “What are you doing?”
“Exercising!”
Just then, a piece of paper fell from the book, fluttered in front of them, and landed on the floor.
Dog Egg blinked, picked it up, and handed it to Liu Dashao.
Liu Dashao took it and saw the words: “The Three-Day Promise.”
He thought to himself, “This must be Huang Erye’s reminder in case I forget.”
Liu Dashao closed the Qi Men Dun Jia book, shut his eyes, and recalled the “Yanbo Diaoshou Ge,” carefully contemplating its meaning.
This song was likely a summary of the essence of the Qi Men techniques. Liu Dashao finally understood why Qi Men Dun Jia was considered so rare and difficult to master.
It turned out that the Qi Men techniques arranged all things in the world into regular cycles, allowing everything to be interpreted through military strategy. Viewing all future events as battles enabled one to skillfully apply the Qi Men techniques.
Perhaps it was due to the effects of the Xuanpin Pill that made these techniques seem so simple to Liu Dashao.
Seeing Liu Dashao silent, Dog Egg picked up the Qi Men Dun Jia and flipped through it. Unable to understand, he put the book down, stared at Liu Dashao with a helpless expression, and said, “What are you reading? I can’t recognize any of those characters. I’ll just go back to reading your annoying ‘Bi Lu’!”
With that, he picked up the “Tianshi Biju” (Records of the Celestial Master) and began reading, resting his chubby face on his hand.
Liu Dashao read a few more pages, which discussed divination techniques. After skimming through a few chapters, his head began to ache, so he called Dog Egg to go out and play.
Outside, the ground was full of puddles. Liu Dashao and Dog Egg sat on a large rock, both silent. Each had his own thoughts. Liu Dashao was wondering how Zhang Enpu was doing, who that old evil Taoist might be, and what Huang Erye’s true intentions were in making him study Qi Men techniques.
Too many things he couldn’t understand. Liu Dashao found himself getting more and more confused, with no answers.
As Liu Dashao was thinking, he heard faint whispers. He turned to look at Dog Egg, who had his eyes closed and was dozing on the rock. So who was talking?
Liu Dashao looked around and saw a line of ants crawling along the ground, each carrying something—probably food.
At that moment, he heard tiny voices: “Strange, it shouldn’t have rained today. Now our nest is flooded!”
“Exactly! We’ll go argue with that old turtle tomorrow!”
Liu Dashao understood—they were ants complaining about the rain flooding their nest. It seemed like they were moving house.
He softly said with a smile, “That rain was something I asked for.”
The ants clearly froze for a moment, though Liu Dashao couldn’t see where their eyes were.
One of them said, “Who is this kid talking to?”
Another ant replied, “He can’t be talking to you! Do you think those foolish humans can understand us?”
“True, let’s keep moving!”
They all sounded the same, making it hard for Liu Dashao to tell them apart. They continued on their way.
Liu Dashao continued, “I’m not foolish—I’m talking to you, little ants!”
After Liu Dashao spoke, the ants all gasped in unison. The last ant in line was so startled that he dropped his load, then quickly picked it back up.
Liu Dashao imagined they were staring at him.
One ant finally said, “You… you can understand us?”
Liu Dashao replied, “Yes, I can.”
After that, he heard a series of astonished whispers among the ants.
Liu Dashao asked, “Where are you all going?”
One ant answered, “Your little immortalship, the rain this morning washed away our nest. We’re moving!”
Liu Dashao felt a little embarrassed. It seemed his morning prayer for rain had caused them a lot of trouble. He drew a nine-palace grid on his palm and performed a divination technique he had learned from Qi Men Dun Jia—the “Nine-Palace Palm Formation Method.”
After calculating, he said, “You should head southeast, which is the opposite direction from where you’re going. That way, you’ll be safe. If you continue on your current path, you’ll face ‘drowning without beams,’ which is dangerous.”
Upon hearing this, the ants all exclaimed in unison, “Thank you, little immortal, for your guidance!”
Then, they turned around and headed back.
Dog Egg was awakened by Liu Dashao’s voice and asked, “Who were you talking to?”
Liu Dashao smiled, “Just you. We should go home—it might rain soon.” And with that, Liu Dashao and Dog Egg returned home.
Back home, Liu Dashao continued reading the book. For parts he didn’t understand, he carefully pondered them, reading them over and over until he grasped their meaning.
Dog Egg was still engrossed in the “Taiyi Tiangang” that Liu Dashao had brought. Liu Dashao sat on the kang continuing to study Qi Men Dun Jia. In just one day, he had read through most of the book, and his memory was flawless.
Liu Dashao closed the book, shut his eyes, and decided to attempt the “soul projection” technique he had just read about. He formed the hand seal—touching the thumb and index finger together, with the little finger curled upward—and chanted, “Heaven and Earth follow the natural order, coming and going through the mysterious gates. Yin遁!”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage