C1 Entering the Profession

Before the Land Management Law was officially implemented in the country, many places were carrying out the burial of the dead.

In a certain county in the north of my hometown, the burial of the dead was more popular.

According to the local custom, after a person died, they had to stop the coffin for seven days.

During the day, the main family would guard the spirit, and they would show filial piety to their children and guests to thank them for coming to visit. At night, some families would invite us to guard the spirit for seven days.

Don't think that just because you have the guts, you can be a Vigil Keeper. There are many things that you need to know.

For example, in terms of guarding the spirit, there were "one time", "three times", "five times", and "seven times".

The "one time" meant that the soul left the living body on the day of death.

The "five times" meant that the soul would wander around the place where the dead had been to for the rest of their lives.

The "seven times" meant that the soul would think about whether it would step onto the Bridge of Helplessness or enter the Rebirth.

The "one time" meant that the souls would leave the living body on the day of death. The "five times" meant that the souls would wander around the places where the dead had been to for their entire lives.

The "five times" meant that the souls would think about whether they would step onto the Bridge of Helplessness and enter the Rebirth.

The "seven times" meant that the souls would leave the dead on the day of death.

The saying, "When the sun rises and the moon sets, one can cut off the sun and the moon", was referring to this.

The story began when I was eighteen years old. That year, I officially entered my master's sect and became a guardian of the spirit!

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My name is Zhang Deshui, and I live in Hengdao River, which is more than fifty kilometers away from the county.

Although it was remote, there were quite a few households here, about two hundred households.

In the first two years, the weather was bad. A year of drought followed by another year of floods, and the harvest of the fields was very little.

Relying on digging wild vegetables and eating Yuemu money, they could still survive. However, their lives were too bitter.

I had a twelve-year-old brother and an eight-year-old sister. The two of them missed the white noodles and dough sticks from the previous year, so when they ate rice and vegetables, they would scream like two living donkeys. It was very annoying.

Look at my father. The wrinkles on his forehead made the two of them cry even more.

Just as I was about to celebrate my eighteenth birthday, my father called me to the small house and discussed with me, "Deshui, from today onwards, you are also an adult. Why don't I find you a job to earn some money to support your family?"

After saying all this, my honest and half-dead father crossed his fingers and stared at me uneasily.

I knew that my father was worried about me. Since I was young, I had always been skinny. When the wind was strong, I had to find a big tree to hug.

Right now, he was worried about me!

Actually, my father was thinking the same thing as me. To be honest, I really wanted to go out and earn money.

Many of the young men in the village who were around my age had gone to the city to work. Some of them were carpenter, some were roofers, and some were laborers. Their lives were not bad, and the drought disaster did not affect them much.

Unlike our family, we had to rely on the heavens to feed us. Once the heavens did not show us any good, our entire family would be starving.

However... with my small physique, what could I do?

My father seemed to have seen through my thoughts. He pointed in the direction of West Mountain and said softly, "Deshui, look... How about you learn to guard spirits with your Uncle Liu?"

Hearing my father's words, I was stunned for a moment. A deep look appeared in my mind.

The Uncle Liu that my father was talking about was a strange person. He lived on the waist of West Mountain all year round and did not cultivate the land. His way of earning a living was to guard spirits for others.

Uncle Liu's physique was comparable to mine. He was also thin and bony. He looked like a pine tree pole supporting a piece of clothes.

I had never seen Uncle Liu smile before. His eyebrows were drooping, and no matter how I looked at him, he looked like a gloomy mourning face.

I was a little hesitant and asked, "Uncle Liu, can you let me fight for a job with him?"

I was a courageous person, but I did not have any taboos towards guarding spirits. I was just worried that Uncle Liu would not accept me.

"Deshui, you don't have to worry about this. As long as you agree to it, I'll leave the rest to you!" my father said.

In fact, it was me who knew Uncle Liu too little. He had already taken in three disciples in the past few years. This year, one of his disciples had left, so he revealed this vacancy and let me pick up the leftovers.

The matter was settled just like that.

That afternoon, my father mysteriously carried a small cloth bag and led me to West Mountain.

Before he left, he even borrowed some money from his neighbors to buy two boxes of "Black Five Star" from the small shop. He considered it as a gift for his master.

When we arrived at West Mountain, my father told me to wait outside. He went into the house and whispered something to Uncle Liu.

After the time it took to smoke a cigarette, my father came out and told me to listen to Uncle Liu's words and study the skills of a guardian spirit. He then set his heart to make more money.

I thought it was a joke, but on the surface, I agreed.

After my father left, Uncle Liu stayed in the house and did not show his face. A girl walked out from the house and smiled at me. She said that she wanted to take me around to familiarize me with the environment.

Her surname was surnamed Hsu, and her nickname was Hsing. She was two years older than me. I could call her by her nickname or call her second sister.

Along the way, Hsing was very talkative. She talked a lot, and I could not even interrupt her.

I secretly took a few glances at her. Her figure was very good, and coupled with her blue and white shirt and light blue jeans, she looked like a city girl.

There was a delicate fragrance on her body. It was neither too strong nor too light, but it was nice to smell.

Her eyes were big, her nose was delicate, and her mouth was very small and cute.

In any case, among all the village girls that I have seen, none of them could compare to her. Let alone being thrown eight miles away by Hsing, they would probably be thrown into the pit of the dung by her.

Hsing said: "Master has told me that when I walk around with you, you will ask me to become your disciple. After that, I will officially become your disciple."

Since we are of the same age, I won't be so reserved anymore. Finally, I got the chance to talk. I asked, "Hsing, why do you think that the Vigil Keeper also has a sect? Isn't it just guarding the night spirit for the deceased family members? There are still a lot of things to learn?"

Hsing paused for a moment and did not answer me in a hurry. Instead, she looked at me with a smile, but her eyes were like she was looking at an idiot.

I was a little angry in my heart. I thought that it was as if there was a mountain between us. I didn't understand this industry, so I came to ask you.

No one was omnipotent, right? If I asked you, do you know how many b*stards can be born in a sow's nest?

Maybe she saw that I was not happy, Hsing pursed her lips and said, "Little Junior Brother, this profession is not easy! There are a lot of things to learn and remember."

As if recalling something unhappy, Hsing's voice was a little low. She changed the topic and asked, "After this, you must remember what Master tells you. You must not be careless."

"Little Junior Brother, you know our Big Senior Brother, right? His death is..."

When Hsing's tone stopped, I was stunned. My father only said that Uncle Liu had one less disciple, but he didn't say that he was dead!

Could it be that the Vigil Keeper would encounter some danger?