Definition
- **Heavenly Scripture (天书)**: In Chinese folklore, *tianshu* refers to a celestial text that allegedly contains the secrets of immortality or supreme power. It often appears in Daoist mythology as a document revealed by gods to chosen humans. Here, the joke is cruel and dark: Danyangzi *claims* to have one, but is illiterate, so he's been fed a lie by the very creature he uses to read it. - **Pictographic Script**: The text Li Huowang struggles to read is described using terms that suggest very ancient Chinese writing forms (like oracle bone or seal script). The novel uses this to reinforce the idea that Danyangzi's "Daoism" is a hollow shell—he has an ancient artifact he can't even read, relying on a supernatural prisoner to interpret it. - **Vase-Girl (瓶女孩)**: This is a dark literalization of a folk performance trick called "vase girl" (花瓶姑娘), where a performer's head appears to be attached to a vase, implying a mutilated body hidden inside. *Dao Gui Yi Xian* takes this old carnival illusion and turns it into a horrific reality: a living human whose body has been sealed and mutilated to serve a purpose. It's classic body horror rooted in a very specific piece of Chinese performance history. - **Internal Alchemy vs. External Alchemy (内丹/外丹)**: These are two major branches of Chinese Daoist alchemy. Internal alchemy involves refining the body's own energies (jing, qi, shen) into an immortal essence. External alchemy involves mixing minerals, herbs, and compounds in a physical cauldron. Danyangzi claims to combine both, but the "scripture" Li Huowang finds reads entirely like a Buddhist sutra, suggesting the old man is either entirely self-taught and wrong, or his entire system is built on the vase-girl's fabricated readings.