Mrs. May’s Survival Diary

Chapter 3 – Evangelism

Rong Yinshuang couldn’t remember how she got to the Taoist temple. She ran into the temple and saw that Da’er and Mo’er were still sleeping soundly. She fell to the floor and took a few seconds to catch her breath before she looked around for the ghost Taoist. She was shocked when she saw that the ghost Taosit was looking at the things she had brought back with a sad face. She took a deep breath to calm her mind and then said, “I’ve brought you everything you want. You can take away the spell from my kids.”

The ghost Taoist looked at Rong Yinshuang, waved his hand, and said, “It’s a sleep charm, and they’ll have more energy when they wake up tomorrow. Let them sleep.”

Rong Yinshuang reached out and touched the two children. When she did, she saw that they were indeed fast asleep. Because the weather was a bit muggy, the two kids had a layer of sweat on their foreheads. She looked around and saw some paper. Then she folded it in half and used it to fan her kids.

The ghost priest sighed when he looked at his things, and then he saw Rong Yinshuang fanning her children. With a wave of his hand, he made a cool breeze blow toward the two kids. It wasn’t as cool as it had been before, but it wasn’t as hot either.

“It looks like you were meant to have this sword. It is willing to help you fight against ghosts. God’s willing.” The ghost Taoist said while looking at Rong Yinshuang.

Rong Yinshuang didn’t understand what he said at first, but when she saw the sword, she remembered that she had 32 copper coins in her purse. Then she understood what the ghost Taoist said, hurriedly took her purse, and gave it to the ghost Taoist. “This is for you. There are 32 coins in total. I’ll give them to you.”

The ghost Taoist looked at the purse and said, “32 coins? It’s not worth anything. You… you really ruined my sword.”

The ghost Taoist’s words surprised Rong Yinshuang. She was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do.

After a few seconds, she heard the ghost Taoist calling for her. “Okay, they’re still sleeping, so come out, I need to talk to you.”

Rong Yinshuang knew this was a ghost Taoist who knew how to cast magic. She had been in a lot of crashes in the last few days, so she didn’t think this strange thing was so strange. Anyway, she was not even afraid of dying anymore. ‘Am I still afraid of ghosts?’ Thinking that Rong Yinshuang looked down and saw the unclaimed purse. Since it wasn’t hers, she chose to keep it on the ground first.

Rong Yinshuang was afraid that the two kids would catch a cold, so she took off her coat and covered them. Then she got up and got ready to leave.

Before she could leave, the ghost Taoist came back in through the wall, pointed to the pile of things on the ground, and said, “Bring those out as well.”

Only then did Rong Yinshuang realise that ghosts couldn’t touch anything in the human world.

She carried the package into the yard. Not knowing what she was supposed to do, she just stood there stupidly. After a long time, the ghost Taoist finally yelled, “You kneel down! Why don’t you treat me like your teacher? How can I pass on my skills if you don’t worship me as a teacher?”

“…”

Rong Yinshuang experienced a lightning-like sensation. ‘What did this ghost Taoist say?’

“Kneel down!”

Hearing the roar, Rong Yinshuang dropped to her knees.

A normal person would find this very strange. A woman who looked like she was in trouble, with a messy bun and messy clothes, kneeling in an empty yard.

“I am Wu Daoshi of Yuqing Mountain, the 28th generation’s heir to the Yuqing Authentic Sect. In your hands are a sword made of mahogany wood and a jade gourd. If it is replaced, money will be left behind, which is why it is called the “money mahogany sword. I used to hold this sword, which gave me more than a thousand gold taels. You played for 32 coins tonight, but that’s fine. This sword has always known who it belongs to. It will always follow you and watch over you, as long as the owner is still alive. It went out of its way to help you tonight, which shows that you were meant to be together. Let’s drink blood.”

[T/L: 吴道士 / Wu Daoshi— It is the name of the ghost Taoist. “Wu” is his surname, and the meaning of “Daoshi” is Taoist priest.]

“…” Rong Yinshuang thought she didn’t have enough brain power because she didn’t know what to do with the sword.

“Use the sword in your hand to cut off your right palm. From now on, this sword will be your only Dao sword. Don’t be afraid. Do you understand what a rare chance this is? Do you realise how valuable it is? Get going! You have to drink your blood and make a deal. Quickly, quickly!”

Rong Yinshuang was in a dilemma. Her thoughts were all over the place, and her heart was beating very fast. Rong Yinshuang knew that she was at a big turning point in her life. She could actually throw the sword away and run away with the two kids. And as the ghost Taoist had sealed the Taoist temple to prevent other ghosts from entering, he also couldn’t get out, so he probably won’t chase her as long as she can get away.

But now they were penniless and had nowhere to go. She was just a woman who was pampered by her husband when he was alive, and she had never done anything to earn money, so how could she take care of two kids?

What she experienced tonight was very strange. From the moment she jumped into the lake, everything became very strange. First, she saw a horrible-looking water ghost in the water. Then she ran into an abandoned Taoist temple and met a ghost Taoist. It seemed like her life was going to turn upside down.

She looked at the sward, gritted her teeth, and cut her palm. As soon as the sword hit the skin, a scarlet light showed in her palm; her skin looked like it was burned and cracked, and red blood poured from the cut.

Seeing that, the ghost Taoist commanded her again, “Smear your blood on the sword. You are the 29th generation descendant of the Yuqing Sect, you should make a blood union.”

Rong Yinshuang did what he said, and when she saw her own blood on the black sword, she suddenly realised that the sword itself wasn’t black but had been soaked in the blood of nearly thirty people before it turned black. She was the 29th owner of this magical sword.

Surprisingly, the cut on her hand didn’t hurt. First, the blood flowed in a scary way, but the cut quickly vanished.

After the ghost Taoist finished the so-called “Blood Sucking” ritual, he told Rong Yinshuang to put the sword on the ground in front of her. He then told her to sit cross-legged with her hands spread out and gather at the dantian. After she did that, she felt cold all over, and she lost control of her mind.

When Rong Yinshuang was in a virtual environment, she felt as though someone else was controlling her body like a puppet. She couldn’t control how she moved or what she did. Following the other strings, a steady stream of heat flowed into her body. Her blood mixed with the heat and moved through her whole body.

Rong Yinshuang couldn’t put into words what this feeling was like, but she had a vague idea that this was the Taoist monk giving her mana.

[T/L: “Mana—an impersonal supernatural power that can be transmitted or inherited.]

The process seemed to take a long time. When Rong Yinshuang had taken in all of the energy, the Taoist priest’s voice came back into the virtual space. “The magic power has been given to you. All of the information you need is in the book. You can only learn and understand slowly. I don’t have much time left, so I can only tell you these things. You will stay in this Taoist temple when I leave. There is something magical about this place, but I can’t say for sure. You and your sons are safe here, but it’s fine to make sure that no other ghosts will bother you here. Things that don’t belong in this world can be seen. I don’t know how you would face those things, but you must remember not to follow the demons, and you must not hurt the Yuqing Sect’s reputation.”

In the chaos, Rong Yinshuang said yes to Wu Daozi’s request. Then she heard Wu Daozi say, in a quieter voice than before, “I have one more thing to ask from you.” The voice paused, then said, “Use that sword to save me.”

Only then did Rong Yinshuang notice that something lifted her hand and the mahogany sword pierced Wu Daozi’s body. This was different from when she had put down that bad spirit before. Wu Daozi’s whole body shone with a bright golden light, and the golden light lit up his body. Then it slowly turned into powder and left this world forever.

Rong Yinshuang didn’t realise she was totally out of energy until that moment. She lowered her head and passed out.

…………..

Early the next morning, the bright sun and the children’s voices woke her up. She felt like she could see better when she opened her eyes again. It wasn’t as dark as she thought it would be. How she lived in the future would depend on how hard she worked to get through the past.

As she sat cross-legged, a few shiny metal pieces caught her eye right in front of her, and a single thumb-sized gold nugget fell there. Rong Yinshuang got down on her knees to pick up the gold piece and weigh it. Even though she didn’t know the difference between firewood and rice in the past, she could still tell gold, silver, and jewellery apart. Rong Yinshuang felt more and more sorry for Wu Daozi as he looked at the gold on the ground.

Under the sun, Rong Yinshuang smiled in a strange way. Her life would go on, no matter what happened.