Transcending twenty students at one time was a big deal. I had no experience in this field, so I asked Xiao Ning, the professional, whether there was a way.
Xiao Ning said, "A century ago, the Maoshan Sect did perform this kind of great magic working, transcending dozens or even hundreds of wandering souls at one time. But society is changing rapidly now, people"s lives are becoming better and better every day. Starting from my Shifu"s generation, no one has that kind of experience."
After sighing, he looked at me with blind faith. "But I believe in Teacher Shen. I"m sure you can do it."
With the approval of the one I cared for, I immediately pounded my chest as if I"d lost my soul. "No problem. I have my bag with me. Tomorrow I"ll focus on preparing the lesson. I"ll definitely think of the most perfect way to make everyone go be reborn together."
Xiao Ning smiled and kissed me. Maintaining our above the neck policy, we rolled around half the night before going to sleep.
In the morning, I woke earlier than Xiao Ning as usual. I thought of my promise the night before and was worried enough to lose my hair.
I looked at Xiao Ning"s sleeping face and my heart tightened. Too many things had happened yesterday. I"d stayed in the hotel all day and had forgotten to buy the ointment. A little red b.u.mp had come up on Xiao Ning"s face. He"d been scratching it in his sleep, too.
I went downstairs to buy ointment and band-aids. After applying the ointment for him, I stuck a band-aid onto Xiao Ning"s face to keep him from unconsciously scratching and ruining his looks.
After finishing all of this, I decided to go back to my apartment to get Teacher Liu. Teacher Liu was rich in experience, so he should know what to do.
Xiao Ning"s car was still parked in the parking lot at Farther Sh.o.r.e Estate. I had to drive the car back.
This time I had learned my lesson. I absolutely couldn"t let Teacher Liu be out in the sun, or let him touch my blood.
Back in my room I picked up my laptop and the lesson plans I"d written in the past, put them in my bag with Teacher Liu, swept the room, and left a little reluctantly.
If all the students could transcend tonight, the school would be defunct, and I"d lose my job. My free housing would be gone.
Thinking back to my experience looking for a job, I patted my face. No matter how hard life was, I had to face it bravely.
I was driving Xiao Ning"s luxury car for the first time. I had no idea what I was doing. I"d gotten my driver"s license when I was in university and was a driver of five years" standing. But in reality I"d hardly touched a car in all those years. The whole way I was terrified of damaging such an expensive car.
Xiao Ning was already awake when I got back to the hotel. He"d piled up a large stack of books in the living room and was sitting crossed-legged on the floor flipping through them.
"What"s this for?" I was startled by the stack of books taller than I was.
"These are some copies of ancient books I had sent back to H City," Xiao Ning explained. "I"m going through them to see if there"s any way to ma.s.s transcend ghosts, and I have found some, but all of them need many people to form the array. There isn"t a s.p.a.ce large enough now, so they"re not very convenient to perform."
I also picked up a book of scripture about reincarnation, read for a while, then felt drowsy. It was even faster than reciting Marxist principles...
Wait, reciting?
"I"ve thought of a way!" Raising the scripture, I happily patted Xiao Ning on the shoulder. "Today, we"ll simply have the students recite! This reincarnation text isn"t long. I"ll read it aloud, the students will follow along on their copies, they"ll keep reading, and then they"ll transcend, right?"
"This is my first time hearing about fierce ghosts reading reincarnation texts themselves... However, it should be possible. After all, if it"s Teacher Shen making them read it, they won"t dare not to read." Xiao Ning was in support of my idea.
The text really was very short. If you read it out quickly it"d take about five minutes. Xiao Ning told me that in general, in order for the scripture to take effect, the Daoist had to recite it repeatedly, accompanied by magic power; the greater the power, the greater the effect. But if a ghost"s resentment was too heavy and its obsession remained in the real world, no matter how great the magic power, the only effect would be to destroy its soul.
"It"s actually the same with teaching," I said thoughtfully after listening to him. "If students don"t want to learn, however skilled the teacher, however vivid the lectures, however many times they"re repeated, the students still won"t learn anything. But if the students have a powerful interest towards a certain subject and spend time and effort on it, even if no one teaches them, they"ll still learn it on their own. So I think that the effect of having the students read the scripture themselves should be better than a forced recitation by a Daoist."
If it were me, however handsome Xiao Ning was, if he was beside me reciting reincarnation scriptures, I would still want to sleep.
"Somehow I think that makes sense. We can have a try." Xiao Ning nodded, picked up the scripture, and went out to make copies. When we went to cla.s.s at night we could give one to each student.
Meanwhile, I picked up my previous lesson plans, recalling the cla.s.ses I had taught before. Of the three points of establishing a correct world view, there was one I still hadn"t finished teaching.
An upright person had to do well from start to finish. This last cla.s.s was the deciding moment. I should finish delivering my last lecture.
After going through my books, checking my materials, and writing down my lesson plan, I looked at the time. It was only four in the afternoon.
I opened Teacher Liu and saw the first lesson plan I"d written. I thought that Teacher Liu might also need to establish a new world view; after all, he was also a ghost who wanted to be reborn.
I copied the remaining lesson plan into Teacher Liu, so the lesson would be complete for him, as well. Then I wrote some of the good things I"d encountered during my life in the notebook, little by little.
A person"s past experiences const.i.tute his present worldview, and that worldview determines what choices he will make on the road ahead. My past had shaped the person I was now. I hoped that my experiences could give Teacher Liu some good impressions, make him love the world and be willing to live in the world as a human, to return once more to her embrace.
I wrote all the way until 11 PM. I hadn"t expected that I"d had so many beautiful experiences in my life. I was really blessed.
Xiao Ning watched me write. He was very quiet, not disturbing me at all.
Without noticing, I filled up 95% of the book. There were only two or three blank pages left. I saw that there was still time and decided to copy down the reincarnation scripture.
I had only written the first character when the notebook closed itself, toppled from the desk onto the floor, and in front of my eyes once again became Teacher Liu.
Teacher Liu seemed a little different from yesterday. Smiling, he said, "Wait, I"ll write the rest of the scripture myself when we"re in cla.s.s."
Xiao Ning was stunned. I was pleasantly surprised and said, "Teacher Liu, you"ve figured things out?"
Teacher Liu nodded, smiling. "You"ve written all over me. If I still couldn"t figure things out, I"d be failing to live up to Teacher Shen"s kind intentions."
"I didn"t write anything in particular, just some common things ordinary people often see," I said awkwardly, scratching my head.
"They"re common, but they"re also beautiful. And the beauty isn"t because of the events, but because they"re beautiful in your eyes," said Teacher Liu. "Those who"ll blame everything under the heavens but themselves will think even a blue sky with white clouds is mocking them. For Teacher Shen, stormy weather is all for helping you temper your will. I"ve always lived with the agony I experienced at my death. Whatever I saw was full of blood. But with Teacher Shen"s lesson plans for leading people onto the true path and his own views on the world recorded in the notebook, written on my heart, engraved on my very soul, what grudges and resentments can I still have? Over a hundred years have pa.s.sed. If I still stay tangled up in these little matters of the past, then I am really blind."
I handed Teacher Liu a copy of the reincarnation scripture. He took it, looked at it, and said, "Let"s go attend this last cla.s.s. In the cla.s.sroom I"ll write down the scripture along with the students."
The three of us went down to catch the bus. The driver was waiting at a bus stop near the hotel.
Xiao Ning"s faced turned white, but he was still the first to take a firm step onto the bus.
Xiao Ning could face his own shortcomings and bravely overcome them. It was one of his good points, and also one of the reasons I loved him.
The driver seemed to know that this was the last cla.s.s. He snorted and said, "I hope this is my last time driving a living person. Don"t get on the bus in the future. I haven"t had any business in a month."
"Yes, yes, yes," I said quickly, smiling apologetically. "I guarantee this"ll be the last time. So Qi-dage, drive a little slower. It"s really scary to go 150 kilometers per hour in the city."
The driver smiled complacently. "Teacher Shen, if I can scare you, then I"ve really made my name among ghosts. After this, let"s see anyone dare try to lord it over this bus and not pay because they"re a fierce ghost."
Today he was in a good mood and talked a lot. He also said to Teacher liu, "When I was alive, you were already riding ghost vehicles. I"ve been dead for decades, and you"re still riding in a ghost vehicle. I hope I won"t have to drive you again after this."
Teacher Liu said, "I hope so, too. I hope you can get a permanent position as soon as possible."
The four of us looked at each other and smiled. At this moment, there hardly seemed to be any difference between the humans and the ghosts.