“Why couldn’t I draw that spirit-summoning talisman just now?” Mei Qing murmured to himself, recalling his repeated failures to draw a particular talisman earlier.
“What spirit-summoning talisman? That’s called the ‘Yiqian’ talisman! Even I don’t understand it,” Zhang Shisan replied helplessly. “At first I thought maybe it was because it’s a third-grade talisman, beyond your current ability. But now, since you’ve successfully drawn the Vajra talisman, that theory clearly doesn’t hold.”
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Shisan slapped his thigh and said, “Forget it! We’ll do it the hard way. I’ll draw each talisman from the beginning for you to watch, and you learn one by one. Any you can’t draw, we’ll set aside and figure out why.”
Without hesitation, Zhang Shisan started drawing talismans one after another. According to his theory of talisman drawing, teaching an apprentice in such a haphazard way was unheard of. However, Mei Qing was no ordinary apprentice, so conventional methods naturally wouldn’t work. Moreover, Zhang Shisan genuinely wanted to uncover the secret of Mei Qing’s talisman-drawing ability as soon as possible, so he decided to make an exception under the circumstances.
Zhang Shisan drew talismans while Mei Qing learned beside him. Although Mei Qing had only briefly listened to Zhang Shisan’s explanation of the essentials of talisman drawing before, it had been a revelation, greatly enlightening him. Additionally, he had drawn many talismans the previous night and had gained some experience. Therefore, now that he was drawing talismans again, his speed had improved significantly. Soon, he had completed over a dozen talismans.
Everything went smoothly until they reached the “Dao Xu” talisman, which repeatedly failed. Mei Qing carefully thought about it, comparing it with the earlier Yiqian talisman, and gradually formed some ideas. However, since he wasn’t certain, he didn’t say much, merely asking Zhang Shisan to draw some more complex talismans.
Zhang Shisan had already started drawing mid-level talismans, such as the “Ju Yun” and “Zhi Yu” talismans, but none of them posed any difficulty for Mei Qing. However, when he came to the “Tian Sui” talisman, Mei Qing had some thoughts and, as expected, failed to draw it successfully.
Mei Qing stopped drawing, took a deep breath, and nodded. Zhang Shisan noticed that Mei Qing seemed to have realized something and impatiently asked, “What’s going on? Mei Qing, have you figured something out?”
Mei Qing nodded and said, “If I’m not mistaken—” He placed the three talismans he couldn’t draw together and carefully examined them several times before continuing, “The reason I couldn’t draw these three talismans is that they contain characters I don’t recognize. Although I copied them, I lacked the spiritual connection required, so they failed.”
“What!” Zhang Shisan jumped up, scattering talisman paper everywhere. “You mean—you can recognize the heavenly script and thunder seal on the talismans?”
“Heavenly script and thunder seal?” Mei Qing frowned. “I thought it was called ‘yun’ (cloud) script. Whatever it’s called, it’s just a variant of ancient Zhuan script, nothing too difficult. I probably recognize about eighty to ninety percent of it.”
Zhang Shisan stared blankly at Mei Qing, unable to believe what he was hearing.
Mei Qing wasn’t wrong. This script was indeed an ancient cloud script. However, when used for drawing talismans, many sects preferred to call it “heavenly script and thunder seal.” The term “heavenly” was used because this script was said to be used by ancient immortals, and no one could recognize it anymore. The term “thunder seal” came from the fact that many sects’ top-level and most commonly used attack talismans were thunder talismans, and this script was called “thunder seal” by these sects, gradually becoming a standard.
Hearing Mei Qing say he could recognize this thunder seal, Zhang Shisan couldn’t help but be shocked. However, his mind raced, not lingering on how Mei Qing could recognize the thunder seal, but rather on why Mei Qing could easily draw talismans when he recognized the script, yet failed when he didn’t recognize it.
Could it be—Zhang Shisan suddenly recalled a sentence he had once seen in an ancient book, which he had previously dismissed as nonsense. But now, it seemed like the only possible explanation.
The sentence was: “Talismans have no fixed form; they gain spirit through qi.”
The meaning of “gaining spirit through qi” was easy to understand. However, the first part, “talismans have no fixed form,” was something Zhang Shisan had always rejected.
As mentioned earlier, there are five essentials to drawing talismans: mind, body, qi, brushwork, and appearance. “Mind” refers to sincerity; “body” refers to proper posture; “qi” refers to the essence of Dao; “brushwork” refers to the techniques of brushstrokes; and “appearance” refers to the form of the talisman, with balanced composition.
Talismans were said to be extremely sensitive, where even the slightest deviation could lead to significant errors. Therefore, when Zhang Shisan saw the phrase “talismans have no fixed form,” he naturally considered it nonsense.
But now, after hearing Mei Qing’s explanation, Zhang Shisan suddenly understood why Mei Qing could effortlessly draw so many talismans. Since Mei Qing recognized the thunder seal on the talismans, drawing them was like writing characters. Imagine someone writing the character for “fire” naturally thinking of the image of flames, or writing the character for “water” naturally imagining the flow of water. This was the natural awareness formed from years of writing.
Therefore, since Mei Qing recognized these thunder seals, his intent naturally followed his brushstrokes, just like a master who had practiced talisman drawing for decades. Moreover, he had no preconceived notions, allowing his mind to flow naturally, making the talismans come alive effortlessly.
However, when he encountered characters he didn’t recognize, even if he could guess the correct character, his mind would only contain the effort of reasoning, lacking the natural recognition required. Without the support of spiritual intent, the talismans naturally failed repeatedly.
“Grasping the meaning, forgetting the form… essence connecting essence, spirit relying on spirit…” Zhang Shisan muttered to himself, suddenly recalling various inexplicable passages he had read in Daoist scriptures over the years. He completely forgot that Mei Qing was still in the room, fully immersed in the brand-new world brought about by his sudden inspiration.
Mei Qing saw that Zhang Shisan had become oblivious to his surroundings, deeply absorbed in exploring new theories, and had completely forgotten his presence. Therefore, he quietly got up, preparing to leave. He had drawn many talismans in the past half-day, and the effect of the “Qing Xin” talisman was about to wear off, making him even more exhausted, so it was time to rest.
He quietly opened the door, tiptoed out, and gently closed the door behind him. As he turned around, he was blinded by the bright sunlight outside. A shiny bald head reflected the sunlight so brightly that he couldn’t open his eyes.
A kind-looking monk with a baby-like complexion was gazing at him affectionately.
“Ah… Master Ku… I’m feeling completely drained…” Mei Qing weakly explained in a hoarse voice.
Master Ku’s smile widened, and then Mei Qing reluctantly followed the monk’s graceful steps away.
“Haha! Haha! So that’s how it is! So that’s how it is!”
Shi Mengzhu had been busy all day, helping with the funeral arrangements for Tian Niu—although there wasn’t much for him to do, as the de facto lord of the small village by the harbor, he still needed to be present to maintain order during such an important event.
Finally, after a long day of work, Shi Mengzhu was eager to return home to visit his old friends. Just as he entered the courtyard of the guesthouse, he suddenly heard a strange cry from Zhang Shisan’s room. Then he saw a figure rush out of Zhang Shisan’s room, pause briefly in the courtyard, and then head straight to Master Ku’s room.
“Mei Qing! Old monk, you’ve taught him for half a day, now it’s my turn!” Zhang Shisan shouted loudly. Then came a sound of resistance. Shi Mengzhu looked and was greatly surprised to see Hou Shen standing like a bamboo pole in front of Master Ku’s door, unable to move, only making “Mmm” sounds and rolling his eyes to signal Shi Mengzhu.
It turned out that when he saw Master Ku taking Mei Qing again to teach him Buddhist teachings, he was worried that Mei Qing’s body wouldn’t be able to handle it. So he tried to sneak over and rescue Mei Qing. However, as soon as he reached the door, he felt his whole body stiffen and couldn’t move at all. He had been standing there for half a day, his legs numb, cursing the old monk in his heart countless times, but unable to speak, he could only endure it.
Shi Mengzhu didn’t understand what was going on, and he couldn’t undo these techniques, so he hurriedly walked toward Master Ku’s room.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Zhang Shisan and Master Ku each holding one of Mei Qing’s arms, glaring at each other like two roosters ready to fight, neither willing to give in.
“Old baldy! You’ve had him for half a day, isn’t it my turn now?” Zhang Shisan was furious. “Even your Buddha teaches in turns, right?”
Master Ku’s gaze was calm and serene, his spiritual presence as soothing as Buddhist chants: “The Dharma Realm arises interdependently, mutually inclusive, like Indra’s net, infinitely interconnected—since the Dharma is infinite, how can there be turns?”
“Go to your infinite interdependence!” Zhang Shisan was furious. “Since the day I met you, you’ve been spouting the same old theories of the four Dharma Realms, the six characteristics, and the ten mysteries. Can’t you come up with something new? I don’t care, the apprentice isn’t necessarily yours, so why are you holding onto him?”
Master Ku remained unmoved, continuing to chant in a calm and steady spiritual voice: “There is no hindrance between principle and phenomena, nor between phenomena and phenomena; they proceed in sequence while being harmoniously integrated…”
Mei Qing barely managed to pry open his eyelids and, in a muffled voice, said, “Esteemed seniors, may this junior say something?”
“There’s no place for you to speak here!” Zhang Shisan said mercilessly.
“Pure in body, speech, and mind, wise, joyful, and eager to learn.” The venerable master’s thoughts echoed earnestly.
“…King Shizong destroyed Buddhism, and Empress Wu discarded Daoism; indeed, there is reason behind it…” Mei Qing said indignantly.
Confucius said: “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire. Fellow Daoists… knowing that it cannot be done, yet still insisting on doing it—could this be what is referred to?” Shi Mengzhu, shocked by the scene before him, sighed and shook his head.
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