Chapter 051: Bare Feet Shunning the Sun

How could that be?

Wasn't Granny Er's daughter dead in the village?

I remembered Er Pang telling me before that he was planning to get engaged to this girl, and she was also studying in the city.

Could it be that she was murdered on her way back to the village?

If that was the case, wouldn't it mean that Granny Er's daughter didn't die in the village, but right here, and then her soul returned to the village...

In the village, that man with the goatee performing the soul-calling ritual with Granny Er...

He wasn't calling back Granny Er's soul!

It was because his own daughter had died away from home and hadn't returned, so he used the bond of mother-and-daughter connection between Granny Er and her daughter to summon the daughter's soul.

That explained why I had noticed up on the mountain that the closer I got to the graveyard on the hillside, the more paper money there was.

Because the ritual to summon the soul was being performed right in the graveyard.

And then they walked down the mountain to search for the wandering soul.

Instead of her dying in the village and having her soul summoned at home.

That finally made sense.

However, using the bond of parents to summon a child's soul required the parents to be alive.

Without vital breath, it would be utterly useless.

And that precisely explained something else.

When I first met Granny Er, she wasn't dead at all.

But how to explain seeing Granny Er and her entire family at the grave mound after I reached the cemetery?

No.

It still didn't add up completely.

Yet, one thing was now a hundred percent certain to me.

That goatee-wearing Taoist priest was problematic, and it was highly likely that he was the one who had murdered Granny Er's entire family.

Because the goatee was in the village.

And the goatee was also the one practicing evil sorcery on the road right now.

Among all of this,

he was undoubtedly tied to it all...

My fists clenched tightly.

Goatee, you better not let me find out that you caused the destruction of our entire village. Otherwise, the moment I catch you, I will slice you to pieces with my own hands!

"Tiangang, are you alright? Why did you take so long?"

Er Pang called out as he started walking over.

Seeing this, I hurriedly flipped the corpse back over.

Er Pang seemed to really like this girl, so it was better to keep this from him; knowing wouldn't help solve anything anyway.

It would only add needless trouble.

Dealing with the evil sorcery on the road and safely arriving in the city was the top priority right now.

I immediately stood up.

Walking toward Er Pang, who was approaching, I said, "I'm done looking. Don't move around in this pitch-black darkness and take another tumble, because I certainly can't carry you on my back."

Er Pang didn't suspect a thing.

He stood right where he was.

Once I reached his side,

he immediately lowered his voice and asked, "What should we do with these two corpses? Should we tell the others? Should we call the police?"

I shook my head and replied, "Why stick our noses into this trouble? Even if we call the police, we won't be able to explain everything clearly. Let's stay out of trouble; dealing with dead bodies is the authorities' job. Getting a foothold in the city once we arrive is what matters most. Aren't you trying to avenge your father?"

At the mention of that,

Er Pang's eyes grew resolute.

"Alright, I'll listen to you. Let's hurry and get into the city!"

I nodded.

After that,

it took us a long time, but we finally managed to climb back up from the gravel path below onto the main road.

It had been easy for Er Pang to go down, but coming back up was difficult.

It was that same strong man who came over to help pull Er Pang up.

Everyone immediately looked at me.

"Little master, what happened down there?"

"Yeah, we are all terrified. Can we actually leave now? This place is way too creepy..."

"Didn't that chubby kid say something was wrong earlier?"

Their gazes fixed on me were filled with entreaty.

However, I noticed

that the female companion standing beside the short-haired girl raised her head slightly and looked at me.

She had very large eyes,

yet her pupils were of a strange color.

Just by being looked at like that for a split second, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

The truck driver, rough on the outside but observant within, immediately noticed my gaze on that girl.

"Little master, is there something wrong with that girl?"

Everyone else turned their heads to look as well.

The girl immediately lowered her head and resumed her normal appearance.

I glanced back at the female corpse in the truck.

She raised her eyes to look at me,

and gave a slight nod.

Composing my expression, I smiled at the crowd and said, "It's nothing. My brother here is just a bit cowardly; he thought he saw a nocturnal rodent digging tunnels. The incense offering down below has been dealt with, and we're just one last step away from being able to leave."

Having said that,

I quickly changed the subject.

"Driver brother, where is the ash?"

The driver immediately replied, "Right here!"

As he spoke, he pulled out his cigarette case.

Opening it, I saw half a case of cigarette ash inside.

"I saw that the little master was gone for such a long time, and since it's so windy here, I was afraid it would blow away, so I put it in the cigarette case. Do you think this is enough?"

I nodded and smiled, "Enough."

Then, I turned to address the crowd: "Now, everyone get back in the vehicle. No one is to make a sound. I will be getting in shortly as well. Once we're aboard, the driver must start the vehicle immediately and drive forward normally. While driving, absolutely no one is to speak, and you must not let the ambient vital breath of the living be detected. Understood?"

Everyone nodded blankly.

Seeing their reactions,

and fearing that some accident would occur to delay our entry into the city, I repeated myself twice more.

Once everyone understood completely,

I had them board the vehicle.

Then, standing outside the truck, I looked up at them and asked, "Is there anyone in the truck born in the Year of the Rooster?"

The crowd shook their heads one after another.

I nodded and was just about to leave when

the voice of the female corpse sounded softly: "If you don't speak the truth, get the hell out!"

As soon as those words were spoken,

my brows knitted together instantly.

Someone was lying.

I immediately stared at the people inside the truck and shouted, "This is a matter of life and death! Who is hiding the truth?!"

Seeing that I was angry,

they exchanged uneasy glances with one another.

Finally, that short-haired girl timidly raised her hand and whispered, "Handsome, I... I was born in the Year of the Rooster. Please don't leave me behind; I really have a very important job interview tomorrow. I'm begging you..."

As she spoke, she looked at me with her large, pitiful eyes,

which were watery and seemed on the verge of tears at any moment.

Helplessly, I said, "Who said I was going to leave behind anyone born in the Year of the Rooster?"

"Huh? You're not?"

She looked at me, her expression relaxing, "Then you should have said so earlier! I was born in the Year of the Rooster, so what?"

She had actually assumed I was going to abandon those born in the Year of the Rooster.

I was utterly speechless.

Her imagination was truly wild.

I stated firmly, "Once the vehicle starts, close your eyes and do not peek. On my command, no one is to speak, and you are not to open your eyes either, or you will bear the consequences!"

"Understood, little master!"

"We will definitely obey!"

"You can start now!"

I finally let out a sigh of relief. This van full of people was impossible to worry less about, and it was a good thing the female corpse, being a ninth-rank fortune teller, was keeping watch.

Otherwise, they really would have gotten me killed.

Returning to the roadside once again,

I took the cigarette case and slowly poured the ash onto the path that had been previously covered with cinnabar, forming the character for "life".

It was just barely enough.

I looked at the intersection ahead,

and formed a hand seal.

"Clear heavens and serene earth, the River Diagram manifests its spirit, the Luo Geng compass opens wide, the twenty-four mountains face toward the light, heavenly flowers bloom, the gate of life opens!!!"

A flash of white light swept past.

The character for "life" formed by the cigarette ash on the ground trembled slightly.

The reason for using cigarette ash

was because humans smoke, ghosts consume candle offerings, and deities smell incense.

Cigarette ash represents the vital breath of the living.

To open this path of the living,

there must be sufficient vital breath, and the path of the dead must not notice it—which was why I forbade them from speaking.

As for those born in the Year of the Rooster,

it was because the crowing of the rooster heralds the dawn, which would still draw the attention of the nether path.

The evil formation had been broken.

To return to the normal path, one had to achieve: sufficient vital breath and avoidance of the ghostly realm.

Only then could the gate of life be opened!

I turned and walked back to the vehicle. The crowd wore tense expressions, not daring to let out a loud breath.

Some even covered their mouths with their hands.

"Thud!"

I closed the truck door securely.

Uttering not a single word,

"Vroom—"

The driver started the vehicle as promised, and it slowly began to move forward...