Chapter 47: Secret Arts of Maoshan

The next morning, Yang Sheng brought Mrs. Pan's ashes to You Kee Restaurant.

Chan Yau looked up at him, pointed casually at a corner, and placed a bowl of glutinous rice in front of Yang Sheng.

"Come on, Brother Yau, can't your restaurant change up the staple food for once? Aside from glutinous rice, it is always glutinous rice. How about making some stir-fried rice noodles with beef or something?"

Chan Yau lit a cigarette and snapped impatiently, "Does stocking ingredients not cost money?

That idiot Ah Shing took a few months just to barely learn how to make glutinous rice. If I asked him to stir-fry beef noodles, I am afraid he would turn it into beef jerky.

Besides, the regular neighbors around here are used to the food at You Kee. Who would be picky?"

Yang Sheng silently took a bite of the glutinous rice. While chewing, he handed the plastic bag containing Mrs. Pan's ashes to Chan Yau.

"I ran into Mrs. Pan from the third floor yesterday. These are her ashes."

Chan Yau frowned. "There is no Mrs. Pan on the third floor.

The Chungking Mansions are full of old folks, not many young ones—at the very least, there is definitely no one on the third floor."

"She lived in Room 344. After I slew her, her body rapidly aged and turned into flying dust.

Upon checking her room, I discovered that she was actually wrapping dumplings with infant meat. I am not even sure if those were dead babies."

Chan Yau let out a long breath, his brow tightly furrowed. "What Mrs. Pan? It should be Old Mrs. Pan.

That old hag was no good even when she was young, cheating behind her husband's back with this person and that person.

When her husband found out, she even seduced a police station sergeant to have her husband locked in prison. After he got out, he was both crazy and crippled.

Later, as she aged and lost her looks, she moved into Chungking Mansions, living off the fortune she had accumulated in her youth.

I haven't seen her in a long time. I never expected her to get her hands on such evil sorcery.

The infant meat you saw should, to be precise, be unborn fetuses.

Legend has it that unborn fetuses carry an innate breath of primal energy, untainted by the mundane world. If consumed with secret techniques, it can restore one's youth and grant eternal youthfulness."

After hearing this, Yang Sheng lost his appetite and directly put down his chopsticks.

This stuff was too detrimental to his appetite.

"Brother Yau, were there this many ghosts in Chungking Mansions before? Why does this place feel less like somewhere humans should live?"

Chan Yau let out a scornful laugh and mocked, "People can barely afford to live, and you are still picky about where to stay?

It's already not bad that they don't have to sleep in the park or on the streets.

Remember, wherever there are living people, the *yang* energy is heavy. Even if the location itself is a place of great *yin*, a portion of its power will still be suppressed by the *yang* energy.

The land of Chungking Mansions was originally a gathering place for *yin* energy. After its decline, human traffic dwindled, and the people living here are all the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled. How strong could the *yang* energy possibly be?

So, it's normal for there to be a few more ghosts."

Having said that, Chan Yau furrowed his brow and added, "You must know, however, that most ghosts are merely spiritual bodies spontaneously generated by the convergence of *yin* energy, and ordinary people cannot see them.

They are also incapable of affecting normal people; at most, only when a dying person's *yang* energy is about to extinguish can they faintly perceive them.

However, the ghost infant and Old Mrs. Pan are clearly not ordinary ghosts. They were created through evil sorcery, which is truly rather strange.

Tonight, I'll close the shop a bit earlier and patrol with you."

With Chan Yau's combat prowess, having him patrol together meant Yang Sheng wouldn't have to worry about any major danger tonight, at least.

"By the way, this is the item I promised you."

Chan Yau suddenly tossed a quaint book to Yang Sheng, but the book looked damaged, with half of it torn away.

"Maoshan sorcery requires someone with an innate affinity for spiritual energy in order to cultivate it.

Yet now, the mortal world is dusty and full of turmoil, resulting in far too few people possessing an affinity for spiritual energy.

I never expected that your body's killing aura could actually possess an affinity for spiritual energy and activate talismans.

However, my lineage does not take in disciples, and our teachings are incomplete. There are only these few talismanic secret arts; take them and read them if you wish to learn.

Don't expect me to guide you in great detail, either. How much you can learn depends entirely on fate and comprehension."

Yang Sheng immediately put away the ancient book, cupped his fists, and said, "Thanks, Brother Yau."

Chan Yau waved a hand dismissively and scoffed, "Cut the formalities. If it weren't for the fact that you patrol every night and help Chungking Mansions solve its troubles, I wouldn't bother dealing with you."

Perhaps accustomed to seeing Chan Yau and Yang Sheng whispering together, a nearby diner couldn't help teasing, "Ah Yau, you're getting up there in age and still haven't found a wife. Do you fancy handsome young fellows like this?"

Chan Yau turned his head and cursed, "Big Head Keung, your meal can't even plug up your mouth? Go eat shit next time!"

At that moment, a kind-faced, sixty-something elderly woman walked over to Chan Yau and said, "Ah Yau, my old man's pension hasn't been collected this month. Can I pay you for his meal expenses together with next month's?"

Chan Yau waved a hand. "Auntie Mei, why are you being so polite? Your accounts are always crystal clear; just come settle whenever you feel like it."

Auntie Mei smiled at Yang Sheng and said, "You must be the security guard taking over Water Uncle's night shift, right? If your uniform gets torn or needs any mending, feel free to come find me."

Yang Sheng nodded. "Thanks, Auntie Mei."

After Auntie Mei walked away, Yang Sheng glanced at Chan Yau. "Brother Yau, you really are cold on the outside and warm on the inside."

Chan Yau retorted irritably, "Dealing with a bunch of idiots every day, I couldn't laugh even if I wanted to.

Go back and wait for me. I'll come find you myself tonight."

Yang Sheng wore a rather peculiar expression. Why did those words from Chan Yau sound somewhat off?

Back in the security guard room, Yang Sheng finally took out the ancient book and flipped through it.

"Remnant Scroll of Maoshan Secret Arts: Records a portion of talismanic arts within the Maoshan secret arts. Can be learned slowly, or you can choose to spend 50 points to meditate and comprehend it once. Each time increases mastery by 1–10%, depending on the reincarnator's comprehension and luck.

Note: Because this secret art is a remnant scroll, the mastery cap is 50%."

Yang Sheng carefully perused the Maoshan secret arts. After reading for about an hour, he ultimately decided to use points for meditative comprehension and learning.

Maoshan talismans were infinitely complex; even the talisman paper itself involved a great deal of nuance.

Previously, Yang Sheng had assumed all talisman papers were yellow, but in reality, talisman papers came in many colors. Yellow and white talisman papers were the weakest in power, while blue and purple talisman papers ranked above them.

The talisman paper Chan Yau had used to seal the ghost infant back then was purple.

Above the purple talisman paper were silver and gold talisman papers. These two metallic colors could not be forged simply by using gold or silver; they required special methods to seal the forces of the greater *yin* and greater *sun* into the talisman paper before they could form.

Moreover, the higher the grade of the talisman paper, the stronger the spiritual energy extracted when it was utilized. Insufficient spiritual energy could even result in the caster being sucked dry of vitality.

And that was just regarding the talisman paper itself; the techniques, hand seals, and spiritual energy fluctuations during talisman-drawing all required long and repetitive practice. This was undeniably a highly systematic method of cultivation.

Left to his own devices, it might take Yang Sheng a whole year just to grasp the basics.

He had no time to waste now, so Yang Sheng directly chose meditative comprehension.

"Meditate and comprehend once."

"Maoshan secret art mastery increased by 7%. Note: Mastery below 10% cannot be used normally."

"Meditate and comprehend again."

"Maoshan secret art mastery increased by 8%, for a total of 15%."

Gaining 15% mastery through two meditations was sufficient for Yang Sheng's current needs.

This remnant scroll of Maoshan secret arts primarily recorded talismanic techniques, totaling several dozen types of talismans.

However, most of them were auxiliary talismans, which were useless to Yang Sheng.

Only three types were genuinely useful to Yang Sheng and could be applied for offense:
The Exorcism, Soul-Suppressing, and Five Thunder talismans.

Among them, the Exorcism talisman could suppress ghosts and evil entities; the Soul-Suppressing talisman primarily targeted spiritual entities and could also be used on humans to suppress their three souls and seven mortal souls.

The Five Thunder talisman was a lightning art similar to the Palm Thunder, capable of inflicting severe damage on malevolent and evil ghosts, though it required affinity for water and wood spiritual energy to be cast.

As it happened, Yang Sheng had obtained both water and wood spell-borrowing spiritual seals from his previous two encounters, allowing him to execute it.

There was also a talisman-drawing technique within the Maoshan secret arts that Yang Sheng intended to practice diligently, boosting his mastery through combat and cultivation:
Drawing talismans with blood.

Drawing talismans on paper required a medium, and different talisman papers required worrying about the intensity of the backlash.

However, there was a method that required no concern for backlash, and that was using blood as the conduit to draw talismans in the void.

Biting the fingertip to release vital energy and blood, then manipulating spiritual energy to draw talismans in mid-air—talismans cast this way possessed immense power, at the very least rivaling blue talismans.

Furthermore, the upper limit was determined by the strength of one's own vital energy, blood, and spiritual energy.

The only drawback to this talisman-drawing method was that it consumed vital energy and blood, but in exchange, it granted formidable explosive power, making it a perfect fit for Yang Sheng's combat style.

Of course, Yang Sheng was uniquely positioned to employ this method routinely; most Taoist priests possessed abundant spiritual energy while their vital energy and blood were relatively weak.

Take Chan Yau, for instance—he had a lean and slovenly appearance.

If he were truly to bleed and draw talismans, he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

Thus, Yang Sheng silently and repeatedly traced talismans in his mind. By 11:00 PM, Chan Yau punctually knocked on Yang Sheng's door.