The Days I Walked as a Yin-Yang Master: Secrets and Spirits

The term "Three Clears" refers to the highest deities in Taoism, namely Yuqing (Jade Clear), Shangqing (Supreme Clear), and Taiqing (Great Clear). These three revered figures reside in the Three Clear Celestial Realm and are the supreme gods of the Taoist heavens. They are: Yuqing Yuan Shi Tian Zun (Jade Clear Primordial Heaven Lord), Shangqing Ling Bao Tian Zun (Supreme Clear Spiritual Treasure Heaven Lord), and Taiqing Dao De Tian Zun (Great Clear Daoist Virtue Heaven Lord).

I'm sure everyone is familiar with these three immortals. To put it simply, the Three Clear Books are said to be the Taoist secret arts left behind by these three immortals when they attained enlightenment. These books record the various arcane techniques each of the immortals mastered. They are divided into three volumes: The Three Clear Cloth Symbol Spell Book, The Three Clear Cloth Mysterious Arts, and The Three Clear Cloth Divination.

Due to the passage of time, these three mystical books have long been lost. The Three Clear Divination book that helped my grandparents was obtained by Mr. Liu's ancestors years ago in a serpent cave. It contained the profound art of divination, and anyone who practiced it could perceive the will of heaven. Mr. Liu was extraordinarily gifted; he combined the divination hexagrams with the talismanic arts he'd learned to create a new talisman: "Shan Tian Da Xu Kai Zhen Hua Fu" ("Mountain Heaven Great Accumulation Formation Talisman"). Unfortunately, I heard that Mr. Liu's family underwent some upheaval, and by the time of his generation, the Liu family no longer helped people with divination.

The "Mountain Heaven Great Accumulation" is one of the hexagrams. Great Accumulation means the accumulation of power, signifying that when the formation is activated, there are no more obstacles. It is said to have originated from the time of the Shang dynasty when the immortal Guang Chengzi broke the "Ten Deadly Formations" in a battle by summoning the Fan Tian Yin (Reverse Heaven Seal), which dispelled the formations and saved the day.

As for the Three Clear Talisman Book that Ninth Uncle taught me, it contains the talismanic arts left by Ling Bao Tian Zun, the Supreme Clear Immortal. Talismans are the foundation of the five arts—mountain, medicine, divination, fate, and physiognomy—and serve as a medium to communicate with the heavenly (spiritual) realm. If used properly, they hold immense power, as evidenced by Ninth Uncle's ability to alter the flow of underground water. However, the more powerful the talisman, the higher the price to be paid. As the saying goes, "What is of the heavens cannot be done by human hands," or in simpler terms: "There is no such thing as a free lunch."

The remaining Three Clear Mysterious Arts book contains the ancient, nearly lost arts of Qi Men Dun Jia, a method that only the gifted could learn. This technique is said to be extraordinary, capable of amazing feats like creating paper horses or turning beans into soldiers, with the ability to enter the heavens and the earth.

I had heard of Qi Men Dun Jia back in high school. Once, it was even featured in a program on Central TV. It's an extraordinarily complex system that works through the combination of "Qi," "Men," and "Dun Jia," which results in seemingly miraculous phenomena, even enabling one to foresee the future.

Unfortunately, the Three Clear Mysterious Arts has long been lost. It is said that Zhuge Liang, the "Sleeping Dragon," was skilled in this technique, and the formations he set up were unparalleled in their mystery. He even created wooden oxen and flowery horses to assist him. However, due to the passage of time, it's impossible to verify these tales.

Two days later, Ninth Uncle saw that the time had arrived—it was now the "Chou" hour in the mortal realm, the darkest part of the day when yin energy is most potent. It was time for me to deliver the dream message to my family. He told me to sit on a chair and, after explaining exactly what my family needed to do, he placed his right hand, pointed like a sword, on my divine temple.

He instructed me to close my eyes and, in my mind, call out my family member's name three times. Once that person fell asleep, I would be able to enter their dream.

I closed my eyes, filled with anxiety. In that moment, I knew who I wanted to give the dream message to, so I silently whispered: "Grandmother, grandmother, grandmother."

A moment of darkness, and then a faint light appeared. I walked toward it. As I walked, I saw my grandmother lying on the bed, already asleep. Her hair had turned even whiter. I don't know why, but tears started to fall. Everything I had experienced in the past few days was just too surreal—it was beyond what I could bear, especially at the age of seventeen. Seeing my family again, my first reaction was to cry. Maybe I was just too weak.

But I knew that this wasn't the time to cry. Ninth Uncle had told me that the dream message would only last for five minutes. After that, I would automatically return to the Yin City. I wiped away my tears and gently pushed my grandmother. "Grandma, wake up."

My grandmother opened her eyes and saw me standing before her. She actually started to cry, and sat up, stroking my face. "Xiao Fei, when did you wake up?"

Looking at my grandmother, I couldn't stop the urge to cry, but I held it back. I couldn't cry now; I had to wait until I returned to the mortal realm.

I whispered to her: "Grandma, I'm not awake yet."

She immediately asked what was going on. Time was too short for me to explain everything, so I simply told her that if she wanted me to wake up, she had to write my name and birth date on a yellow chicken between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM tomorrow, then tie a chicken claw to a ninety-meter-long red string. After that, she needed to release the chicken at the nearest intersection to the hospital. When the chicken had run ninety meters, she should shout my name nine times, quickly reel in the string, and then rush back to the hospital with the chicken. That would bring me back to life.

My grandmother had many more questions, but the five minutes were already up. I felt a great force pulling me back, and I could only shout at my grandmother with tears in my eyes: "Don't forget! Grandma!"

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the Yin City. I looked up at the gloomy sky. Souls dressed in black walked in and out of the "Half Step More" inn, their faces emotionless. I suddenly realized how terrifying death truly was. Once you die, it means you have to leave behind so much—things that seemed insignificant when alive, but after death, you realize their true value.

"For the first time in my life, I realize how important family is to me. I miss home," I said to Ninth Uncle.

Ninth Uncle nodded and patted my shoulder. "It's not too late to realize that. You'll have plenty of time for it in the future."

For the next ten days, I focused on learning the Three Clear Books from Ninth Uncle. It wasn't for demon-slaying, or the inheritance of heavenly books, or maintaining world peace—none of that concerned me, and I wasn't interested. What I cared about was repaying Ninth Uncle's life-saving grace. A true life-saving grace.

But the Three Clear Books were so profound, how could I, a young boy, learn them all at once? So I memorized the entire book, planning to study it more deeply after returning to life. Remarkably, in this state, my ability to memorize was terrifyingly fast. It wasn't exactly photographic memory, but after reading something four or five times, I could memorize it, and once it was in my mind, I couldn't forget it, no matter how hard I tried.

In just seven days, or fourteen hours in the mortal realm, I had memorized all 365 pages of the Three Clear Talisman Book. This accomplishment made me reflect on my life. If I could go back to the mortal realm with such abilities, I'd be unstoppable. Forget Tsinghua University or Daqing Oilfield—I'd be able to go anywhere I wanted. But Ninth Uncle told me that my memory was exceptional because the knowledge had been etched into my soul and would never be forgotten. However, once my soul returned to my body, everything would return to normal. And because my soul had been separated from my body, it had sustained some damage, and my memory would eventually decrease.

This made me feel a little down.

Since I didn't need sleep, after I had memorized the Three Clear Books, Ninth Uncle began teaching me the basics of Taoist arts. He made me sit on the chair, clasp my hands behind my back, and asked very seriously: "Xiao Fei, before I teach you the Taoist path, I must ask you one more question. Those who follow the Tao are fated to encounter the 'Five Disasters and Three Deficiencies,' one of which will inevitably happen. If you walk this path, certain regrets will occur. Have you truly thought this through?"

How could I have thought this through? When I think of Mr. Liu's great powers and how he still ended up with a fatal deficiency, dying young, I didn

't want the same thing to happen to me after I returned to life. But despite my weak nature, I have a stubborn side. My father always taught me that if you don't repay someone's kindness, you're not worthy of being called a gentleman. While I'm no gentleman, Ninth Uncle had saved my life. He had waited so many years for me. How could I not fulfill his final wish? Besides, the "Five Disasters and Three Deficiencies" combined are just eight factors. I didn't believe I'd be that unlucky. With an eighth of a chance, there's no way I'd hit the deficiency.

With that thought, I firmly told Ninth Uncle:

"Master, I've thought it through. I'll learn."