Volume 5

desperate gambler

Chapter 17 Jianghu Witchcraft

Twenty years ago, Ma Youzhai was a monk; ten years ago, Ma Youzhai was a Taoist priest.

He followed Big Thumb's circus for ten years and performed witchcraft. He used his fingers to light lanterns and recited incantations to make eggs float in the air, deceiving many audiences. Finger lighting is actually very simple. It is made with 50 grams of potassium chlorate and 50 grams of sulfur.

The powder is mixed together and sticks to the finger. When the lamp is blown out, the smoking wick still has a little spark. If you touch it with your finger, the lamp will light up again. There is a magician in western Hunan who draws a lamp on the wall.

, it lights up with a match. This is because he drilled a hole as big as a mung bean in the wall in advance, and put a piece of camphor in the hole. When playing with magic, he used a match to light up the lamp painted on the wall.

Making eggs float in the air is a trick everyone can do.

Open a small hole in the egg, pour out the egg white and yolk, inject dew with a needle, cover the small hole with grease paste, and the egg will slowly rise under the sun. The trouble with this trick is the collection of dew. In summer,

Ma Youzhai would often run to the fields before dawn. He would hold a can and shake the bushes and grass leaves to collect dew, and at the same time he would get wet from the dew.

After the circus disbanded, he returned to the village. There was a witch in the village who was a great dancer. Every time he walked past the door of the witch's house, he would curse: You stinky old women are so poor that they are fooling the devil. He also ordered his

Three children spat at her. No one dared to mess with the witch in the village. The villagers were in awe of those who approached the gods.

One day, the sun was shining brightly, and the witch was leaning against the doorframe, eating melon seeds. Ma Youzhai walked past her and asked, "Why, you didn't go out to play the zither?"

The witch rolled her eyes, curled her lips, tilted her head to one side, and continued to eat melon seeds.

Ma Youzhai stopped and cursed: "Basket (dialect, swear word, meaning genitals)."

The witch sneered and tilted her head to the other side.

Ma Youzhai was so angry that he pushed the witch into the yard, closed the door and raped her.

From then on, the two singles lived together, with a little fire burning in their hearts. The witch had been a widow for many years, and Ma Youzhai had a strong sexual desire, which prompted them to form a temporary family. The witch had two children, and Ma Youzhai

Youzhai had three children, and five children also became a huge pressure in life. Ma Youzhai had to pick up the hoe again and work in the fields. In his spare time, he worked with witches to ward off demons and exorcise evil spirits.

The reason he dressed up as a Taoist priest was because his hair had grown longer.

Ma Youzhai and his wife, who is called the Fairy Goddess, are often invited to perform the Great God Dance. The Fairy Goddess wears a mask, a sacred hat with colorful tassels hanging down, a shaman suit, a bell tied around her waist, and a drum held in her left hand.

The right hand holds the drum whip. Ma Youzhai plays the gongs and drums, and the fairy dances and sings:

Hey... I picked up Wenwang Drum with my left hand,

Round and round, hey,

Swish, loud and clear.

Eight strings, tied on four sides,

Money is hung on the sheep string.

Helanglang.

In my right hand I picked up the East China Sea, the South Mountain South,

The whip that drives the sea and the mountains is hei.

Not too long, not too short, one foot three.

red rope wrap,

Green belt wrapped around,

Colorful streamers float down,

Helanglang.

The passing gods pause for a moment,

Swish.

I will pick you up at ten miles away and welcome you at eight miles away.

Wuli grabs the reins of your horse.

look hi,

The main door is decorated with colors, and the small door is decorated with red.

A felt was laid on the floor to the main room.

Wow, swish.

If you live in a temple, keep the temple door open.

If you don’t live in a temple, come home!

My home is in the west of Duotanggulou,

When the fairy dismounts and registers for the number,

Swish swish swish.

The gourd blossoms are all white,

Which great immortal came down to earth?

Most of the time, she invites Zhong Kui, and sometimes she invites Guanyin Bodhisattva, mainly based on the master's needs. If the master is ill in bed, then the longevity star Antarctic Immortal or the Judge of Hell should descend to earth. The Jade Emperor usually does not come.

, unless the owner is very rich. Once, she got hungry while dancing, so she invited the Fire Tiger God, and she became a tiger, jumping, grabbing, and eating up all the tributes.

After the dance, Ma Youzhai not only collects money from the host, but also sells a pack of incense ash as a panacea to the onlookers.

Ma Youzhai thought this was a way to make money, so he whittled a mahogany sword, dressed up as a Taoist priest, and drew talismans to catch ghosts. He could make eggs float and light lamps with his fingers, which made him more famous than just jumping.

The wife of a great god has become a famous semi-immortal. Only those who are willing to spend a lot of money can hire her. Once, an old man from other provinces came here because of her fame. When he entered, he took out 2,000 yuan and said that his son was possessed by an evil spirit.

, if Banxian can help, he will give another 3,000 yuan after the matter is completed.

The old man told a strange thing.

The old man called himself Li and contracted a fish pond in the town. A few days ago, his son went to swim in the fish pond. When he came back, he was possessed by an evil spirit. His eyes were dull and his speech was dull, as if he was a different person. What's more serious is that

My son became afraid of water and didn't even dare to wash his hands and face. He went to several hospitals, but the doctors couldn't do anything.

After listening to this, Ma Youzhai nodded and said, "This is a water ghost possessing me."

Old Man Li asked: "Can you drive me away?"

Ma Youzhai said: "We can't drive them away unless we catch them."

Old Man Li asked: "What should we do after we catch this ghost?"

Ma Youzhai said: "Fried!"

The next day, a frying pan was set up in the yard of Old Man Li's house. Many people in the town came to watch, and the children climbed up the tree. Ma Youzhai held a peach wood sword and wore a green robe.

Embroidered with the Tai Chi Yin and Yang diagram, with fluttering beard and hair, he looks like an immortal.

Ma Youzhai looked at the oil pan and asked Old Man Li to prepare more firewood. After a while, the oil pan started boiling. Ma Youzhai put his hand into the hot oil pan, and the audience in the yard let out an exclamation,

Ma Youzhai said as if nothing had happened, "Burn it again and the fire will become stronger."

In fact, the oil in the pot was not boiling. Ma Youzhai quietly added chemicals such as borax into the pot. Due to the chemical reaction, gas would be produced and the bubbles would swell above the oil surface, causing the oil to boil and roll.

Phenomenon, and the temperature of the oil is not high at this time and will not cause harm to people.

Ma Youzhai asked Old Man Li's son to lie down on a mat, then placed a piece of talisman paper on Old Man Li's son's chest and asked him to close his eyes and not open them. Ma Youzhai cleaned his hands and burned incense, and began to practice the method. The audience was quiet.

When I came down, I saw him mumbling words and walking around Old Man Li's son. Suddenly, Ma Youzhai shouted loudly and slapped his hand hard, and a blood-red fingerprint suddenly appeared on the paper. He stuck the talisman paper on the peach wood

On the sword, he shouted: "Caught!"

Ma Youzhai pinched the sword formula with his left hand and held the sword in his right hand. He quickly pressed the talisman paper at the end of the sword on the incense table. Then he stood the sword in front of his chest and stared at the talisman paper intently. At this time, he began to pant, as if he had caught something.

Ghosts are a very tiring thing. After a while, the onlookers saw smoke coming out of the talisman paper at the end of the sword, and it actually burned. Ma Youzhai took out a handful of glutinous rice from his arms and threw it on the incense table. The glutinous rice also

It's on fire.

Finally, Ma Youzhai put the burning talisman into the oil pan to complete the entire ghost hunting process.

A bloody fingerprint was made on the paper. This is mainly due to the action of a chemical reagent called phenolphthalein. When phenolphthalein meets an alkali, it will turn red. Ma Youzhai took advantage of this simple chemical reaction. He sprayed phenolphthalein on the talisman paper in advance.

, let it dry, and it still looks like a good piece of paper. Then when doing the method, dip your hands in some alkaline water, pat it on the paper, and a red fingerprint will be there.

So, how can the talisman paper spontaneously ignite? In fact, it is very simple. Ma Youzhai sprinkled some light yellow powder on the incense table in advance, which is sodium peroxide. Sodium peroxide will burn when it meets water and carbon dioxide. He patted the talisman paper on the incense table.

on the paper, dip it in sodium peroxide, and exhale pantingly against the talisman paper. The exhaled gas contains carbon dioxide and water. When it reaches the ignition point, the paper will burn. The glutinous rice has been stirred with sulfur powder in advance, and the sulfur comes into contact with the sodium peroxide.

Burning will occur.

A few days later, Old Man Li's son miraculously recovered and returned to his former lively and cheerful self. Ghost hunting was a great psychological comfort to him. He saw a corpse at the bottom of the fish pond and suffered from it.

Frightened. The corpse swelled into a giant, with wires wrapped around his waist, and stones tied to both ends of the wires. He didn’t know who the deceased was, or who killed him and threw him into the fish pond. He just

Late one night, the body was dragged up and a pit was quietly dug to bury it.

He didn't tell anyone about this.

In 1996, the witch died and Ma Youzhai's children grew up.

On April 5, 1997, Qingming Festival, three guests came to Ma Youzhai's house. They were Brother Thumb, Ding Busi, and Shan Ya.
To be continued...