Chapter 13 Talisman Drawing

‘Yes, she did! What’s wrong?’

Those were the words that almost came out of my mouth. I felt uneasy and nervous at the same time, thinking that Liu Longting might find out about my pact with Mountain God. The pact where I agreed to keep Mountain God, and in return he would get rid of Liu Longting for me. If Liu Longting does find out, he would not give any mercy to both Mountain God and I. Who would give mercy to their killer?

At this stage, I started to regret making the pact with Mountain God. Come to think of it, I had not been treated badly by Liu Longting. Even though he forced me to perform sexual favors, I was the one who was enjoying it anyway, so why would I want him dead?

“She did find me,” I responded to Liu Longting.

“How did you manage to deal with her, especially when you don’t have any power?” Liu Longting asked.

I figured that it was not wise to tell him the truth nor was it a good idea to lie about it. After some consideration, I responded, “I didn’t fight with her and was rescued by someone else. The person warned Chang Cuihua that her husband was in danger and that she should go and save him. After hearing that, Chang Cuihua left.”

I thought Liu Longting would press on the subject but surprisingly, he stopped there. He did not even ask who saved me. Instead, he asked me to call Yinggu when I reached home, tell her that the matter had settled, and pass her a note for safekeeping. He also mentioned that he would teach me how to draw talismans so that I could protect myself in times of crisis.

I felt a little surprised by his response. I never thought that he actually cared about me. This made me feel even worse about the pact I made with Mountain God. Hence, I wanted to wait for the right time to call off the pact with Mountain God.

When I reached home, Grandmother greeted me with the sweetest smile. She seemed happier than I was that I became a shaman. After a while, her smile started to fade away as she seemed a little troubled. She then started talking about Grandma Li who lived downstairs. She said that Grandma Li visited her yesterday to thank me for helping the village. She brought plenty of gifts, including a few stacks of cash. Grandmother tried rejecting the gifts but Grandma Li was very persistent and insisted that Grandmother kept the gifts as a small gesture from the village for my help.

I wanted to ask Grandmother to let me have a look at the gifts. If the value of the gifts were not excessive, we could keep it, but before I managed to open my mouth, Grandmother pointed at my face and asked, “Jingjing, I haven’t seen you for the past two days, and your face…”

I quickly reached out to feel my face. “What’s wrong with my face?”

“Since when did you have so many black moles on your face?”

Black moles? Impossible. My skin had been in good shape all along, especially my face. I rarely had pimples. How was it possible for me to grow so many moles within this short period of time? Could it be dirt?

I then quickly went to the bathroom to wash up. As I lifted my head, I saw five or six black moles that were the size of sesame seeds. They were not just on my jaw, they were all over my face. The biggest one was next to my ear and it was as big as half a fingernail!

I washed my face with soap but it did not help. I went on to try scrubbing them off with face scrubs but it was futile. The only place I went during the past two days was Ma Jianguo’s house, and my face was still okay back then. When did it become like this?

Could Ma Jianguo have done something to me? Or was it Liu Longting?

Liu Longting had entered the Fairy Hall so I did not have the chance to question him about my face. Hence, I went on to do my task first which was to give Yinggu a call. Maybe Yinggu could tell me what was wrong with my face.

Yinggu answered the phone with an excited tone, “How’s my girl doing? Has the matter been settled?

“How optimistic of you. This was not an easy task. I only managed to complete the one over at Tieling. Liu Longting asked me to report it to you. He’s currently resting at home. We used two days to finish the job.” Afterward, I asked Yinggu, “I thought you wanted to do this yourself? Why did you give it to me? I just recently became a shaman. Are you not afraid that I’ll mess it up for you?”

I felt that the atmosphere became slightly awkward. She tried changing the subject by saying, “Do you know that I’m doing all these just for you? Why are you asking so many questions? The more orders you receive, the faster your karma will accumulate. Speaking of completing orders, do you feel any different?”

“Apart from the fact that I had unexplainable moles after my trip to Tieling, I did not feel any different.”

Yinggu sounded a little shocked when she heard me mention the moles. She then said, “Based on my understanding, unexplainable black moles mean that your body is experiencing deficiencies. It can be caused by loss of blood essence or maybe some other stuff. It’s a sign that you need to replenish these substances, just like how a calcium-deficient kid needs to take calcium pills.”

How could I have possibly lost blood essence? Besides, I had never heard about deficiencies causing moles to grow.

“Also, are you still carrying Liu Longting’s baby?” Yinggu asked.

That question got me all fired up. I responded angrily, “Yes, he’s not willing to get rid of it. Now my belly has grown a little bigger. If it gets any bigger, I really don’t know what else am I going to wear.”

Yinggu responded, “No wonder. Let me talk to Liu Longting. I’ll ask him to transfer some Spiritual Energy to you. You’re a human and the baby that you’re carrying in your belly are snakes, both are different types of animals. As little snakes grow, they need their own type of Spiritual Energy. Liu Longting is rather irresponsible. You’ll need to talk to him more often. If the sage does not get along with the shaman, the shaman will end up suffering, which means you’ll suffer.”

I would not have known any of this if it was not for Yinggu. I felt angry at Liu Longting for not telling me. I wanted to confront him about it but since Yinggu had already told me everything, I thought it would be pointless to confront him immediately. After I ended the call, I followed Grandmother to look at the gifts from the villagers. The gifts were estimated to be worth around 60 thousand.

60 thousand to get rid of a Mountain God—that was not too bad.

I asked Grandmother to keep half of it and donate the other half to the less fortunate, or children, whichever she preferred.

I then went on to take a bath. After my bath, I scheduled a meeting with the next troubled family. I then went to look for Liu Longting. He previously said that he would teach me talisman drawing, and once I learn it, I would be able to show it off any time. People would be impressed and stop thinking that I was just a bystander.

I put on a mask and went to Fairy Hall. After all, I did not want to let him see my ugly face.

As I entered the Fairy Hall, he transformed into a white snake. He laid next to a censer, inhaling smoke coming from the burning incense. When he saw me, he transformed back into his human form. He then asked me to prepare some ink and brush. The talisman itself did not have much power—the true power comes from the type of spells written on the talisman. The stronger the spell, the more powerful the talisman. However, I was not well cultivated so I could not learn any spells at this stage.

Even so, I could learn how to draw on talisman first. The technique used was rather challenging. Liu Longting drew an oddly shaped object and asked me to do the same.

My hand started shaking as soon as I held the brush. When I drew, everything went haywire. Liu Longting could not bear to watch my drawing so he grabbed my hand and guided me. While drawing, he told me, “Don’t grab the brush so tightly. Loosen your grip and your drawing will be a lot better.”

His cheek was almost touching the side of my head. I could feel the flow of his breath traveling across my face. I was not sure if it was my head playing tricks on me but I could smell something sweet from his mouth. The smell slowly put me into a trance.

With his hand still grabbing onto my hand, he drew something that appeared to look like the word ‘forbidden’. The black ink reminded me of the moles on my face. I asked Liu Longting, “Wise Fairy Liu, could you pass me some of your Spiritual Energy?”

If Liu Longting agreed to pass me the Spiritual Energy, I believe the moles on my face should disappear.

“You want it now?” Liu Longting asked.

“Yes.”

As soon as I finished my sentence, Liu Longting immediately lifted my skirt and grabbed me from behind. He held my body against him.

“This is the word forbidden. Its purpose is to stop something from entering or leaving. It can also trap a thing in its place. Keep practicing and you’ll master it eventually. You’re not allowed to leave until you master it.”

After finishing his sentence, he continued to do what he was doing. I was on the verge of going crazy. I drew for a few hours and finally came up with one that was satisfactory.

At that point in time, I was very afraid that my Grandmother would walk in on us. I then quickly went out to grab a broom to act as if I was helping him to sweep his room. I also told Liu Longting that I had already contacted the next troubled family and asked him what was a suitable time to leave.

Liu Longting took my broom away. He told me that I could leave anytime and he would not be joining. He said that he would be heading to his home and would only return after a few years.

Me, alone? All I knew was how to be a bystander, I do not know anything else!

As he sensed that I was worried, he grabbed my chin and calmly said, “This is a small task, you can handle it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taught you how to draw the forbidding talisman.”