Chapter 131: Who Let Him Come?

People are all of the same ilk; once someone takes the lead, others naturally follow. Someone let out an "Ouch!" and then they all began to cry out, "My stomach hurts! I must have eaten something bad tonight, oh, I can't take it anymore!"

"Ouch, mine hurts too! It must have been that plate of beef tonight. I told you, that family is so stingy—they must have served us the leftovers from the funeral a few days ago."

That was all it took. Suddenly, everyone had a stomachache. Without waiting for a response, they scattered like a defeated army of puppet soldiers, abandoning their gear and fleeing in every direction. In the blink of an eye, only Cha Wenbin and I were left. He looked at me, I looked at him, and for a long while, neither of us spoke.

Finally, I couldn't hold it in anymore and spoke first: "Master, if you ask me, this mess has nothing to do with us. Look, even their own family members have washed their hands of it, so why are we meddling?" I stood up and tugged at him. "Let's go, let's go back. Let them do whatever they want; I’m going to burn that wretched house down tomorrow."

If Cha Wenbin were the type to just walk away, he wouldn't be Cha Wenbin. He was actually quite fond of sticking his nose into other people's business. If I could actually boss him around, I would be the leader, not the one tagging along with him.

"Let’s go, stop blustering. If you really won't go, I'll go alone." With that, he stood up to leave. I wasn't about to let him go by himself, so I quickly followed. "Fine, you win. After we finish this, I’m planning to spend some time in Guangzhou. I can't keep wasting my life here at home. Zhu Zihao said we might be able to start some business together."

"That’s your business; I can't concern myself with it." His response was always firmly rooted in his own thoughts. I knew that until we found Fatty, Cha Wenbin’s heart would never be at rest.

"Actually, I want to find him too, but..." This topic was sensitive, and I dared not say more. In truth, we had been planning to go out for a while. Yuan Xiaobai had even called from overseas a few days ago, saying she was finishing her studies and returning home, and she wanted to invite us to travel.

Along the way, we walked one behind the other—him in front, me behind. I felt much more comfortable walking at night with him; I never felt any fear. I believe people have an aura, and you can tell at a glance if someone is righteous and dependable. He was that kind of person.

When we reached the vicinity of the Great Temple, we encountered that damned cedar tree again. I warned him, "There’s an owl in this tree. It’s been picking on me all night; it nearly tore my scalp off. Do you think this bird might be something unclean too?"

"Xiao Yi, the way I see it, this mortuary in Hong Village is not that simple. I thought it was strange that day—who plants such a huge cedar tree at the entrance of a mortuary? It’s clearly intended to block the light and deepen the yin energy in that house. Although a mortuary is for the dead, it was designed like a dwelling for the living. No one wants the corpses kept inside to undergo any changes. We’ll have to ask around about the history of this place later."

I replied, "Don't bother asking. Our ancestors just moved into what was already there. There wasn't a soul in sight when we arrived. Hong Village has been around for a long time; who knows which dynasty or generation built such a thing."

"Something is wrong; it’s not that simple. After we finish this, you must spend a few days walking around the village with me. It would be best to climb the high mountain so I can see the layout of this village. However, I’ve heard a legend about the bird you mentioned. In ancient times, people actually regarded owls as guardian deities. Such birds were usually carved onto the gates of tombs to suppress the yin energy of the dwelling, so they were seen as symbols of death, but the original intent was benevolent. If this bird has obstructed you repeatedly, I don't think it’s evil; I think it’s trying to stop people from entering this mortuary. It is the guardian of this place."

Cha Wenbin’s idea caught me off guard. In my mind, a bird is just a bird. Could it have consciousness and the ability to think? Besides, in this desolate wilderness, who would train a bird to act as a sentry?

"You're overthinking it. It’s a wild bird. Who would feed it to make it listen?"

"Not necessarily. There are many secret methods from ancient times for training beasts. I’ve heard that in the Bashu region of the southwest, there is a type of snake called the Deinagkistrodon that was specifically raised to guard tombs. A few years ago, when they were planning to build the Three Gorges Dam, a group of archaeologists encountered strange things. There was a tomb on a cliff, and one of the people who went there was from Beijing—someone with a bit of influence. As soon as he went down, he was bitten to death by a snake. Later, Master Long stepped in to handle the matter. I didn't get to go, but Kuangfeng told me that many people died back then. Those snakes acted as if they were being commanded; they would launch ambushes and raids. In the end, they fought their way through, killing hundreds of snakes to open the tomb passage. And guess what? They found the walls on both sides of the passage covered in twisted, snake-like patterns. Someone who understood ancient scripts said these might be the long-lost 'insect-bird' characters of the ancient Qiang people. They made a rubbing of it to study, and later, someone deciphered a few characters, discovering that it appeared to be a spell—roughly one for controlling snakes."

I am most afraid of two things: snakes and toads. As soon as these creatures appear, I go numb. With Cha Wenbin’s description and the mental image it conjured, my head began to throb. I quickly changed the subject: "We're here. Are we going in, or just lingering at the door?"

"Do you still have the talisman I gave you?" he suddenly asked. I felt my pockets. Damn it, that’s strange—it was gone!

I searched myself up and down, turning every pocket inside out, but I couldn't find it. Where did it go? I suddenly remembered: "Oh no, when you left, I went back to get something, and I probably pulled it out and left it in my father's room."

Cha Wenbin sighed and said, "No wonder it targeted you. I gave you two Celestial Master talismans; there's no reason it should have dared to touch your shoulder."

"Then give me two more!"

"Those were two 'All-Heaven Three Purities' talismans. They can only be drawn at the midnight hour on the first day of each lunar month. You, really..." Cha Wenbin was left speechless by me.

"Then I'll go back and get it." "Forget it. What's done is done."

The door was open, just as it had been when I arrived. I pointed to the room where the coffin was kept. "That’s where it happened. The coffin is fine; I saw Gao Cheng inside."

He watched me holding my gun and handed me a small rod. "That thing of yours is useless. This is a ritual ruler. If something happens, use this to strike."

I took the rod and inspected it. It was square and long, with characters I couldn't read carved into all four sides—it felt like Taoist incantations. It was heavy in my hand. I later learned that this was the famous Heavenly Canopy Ruler! It is one of the ritual implements used in Taoist ceremonies to suppress spirits and ward off evil; it cannot be used recklessly, as it is ranked among the five great ritual tools of the altar. This object was left behind by Ling Zhengyang, the founder of the Tianzheng Sect, and passed down from generation to generation. If the old master knew Cha Wenbin was using it to protect me, he would probably crawl out of his grave to curse him.

"Is it effective?" I asked.

Cha Wenbin rolled his eyes. "Look at it—four edges and six faces, each carved with the Twenty-Eight Mansions, the Sun and Moon, the titles of Ziwei, the titles of the Heavenly Canopy, the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper, and the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper. The Southern Dipper grants life, and the Northern Dipper determines death. Life and death are measured by this single ruler. For evil spirits and demons, you only need to strike them with this, and their fate is yours to decide. Don't you dare break it; it’s a family heirloom made of pure-yang peach wood."

Looking at the item in my hand, I finally felt like I could stand tall. If he had given me this earlier, I would have smashed Gao Cheng right in the forehead!

We slipped into the room. The coffin was still there. Cha Wenbin circled it once, frowning. "Someone has moved it."

I said, "I saw him touch it with his hand. Is that okay?"

"I mean, the coffin is empty!" After saying this, Cha Wenbin suddenly lifted the lid with force. With a loud "clatter," it hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. I leaned in and took a look. Good heavens, inside there was nothing but tattered fabric twisted into a ball, along with some bottles, jars, and metal objects—likely burial goods from his life. The bedding had been thrown aside, just like someone who had just woken up from sleep... the inside was completely empty.

I truly admired Cha Wenbin. How did he know it was empty? But wait—if that was the case, didn't it mean there could potentially be two of those things running around?

Cha Wenbin lit a candle and placed it in the northwest corner of the room. The flickering candlelight made me feel uneasy. He said with a hint of self-reproach, "I was careless. I should have placed a 'Heavenly Net' around this coffin. But even that would have been useless—he is a living corpse. You can't trap him. If he gets out and starts causing havoc, we will have committed a grave mistake."

I suggested, "Why don't we call the police? That guy was right, you know."

Cha Wenbin shook his head. "Since ancient times, there have only been three recorded cases of living corpses. This is the fourth. Regardless of whether it's true or not, do you think they’d be of any use? In the past, Zhu Di was an Emperor, and Zhang Sanfeng was who he was—even they couldn't do anything about it. What can we possibly do? I know now that Gao Cheng was the catalyst. He only took Gao Cheng's life because he needed someone to help him open this coffin! Xiao Yi, we’ve been played!"

He took out a few copper coins. I counted three. By the candlelight, he tossed the coins onto the ground, repeating the process three times. I knew he was casting a divination. Soon, he sighed and said to me, "The hexagram I just cast is not very good."

"What hexagram?"

Cha Wenbin said, "The 'Gu' hexagram of Mountain over Wind. I remember the lines of this hexagram: 'The image within the hexagram is like pushing a millstone; what is smooth becomes a disaster when turned. There are many things in the heart that change; everything done in haste leads to error.' But at this moment, what is smooth and what is reversed? It means we aren't without a chance to change things, but if we take one wrong step, we could lose everything. We must not panic now."

"Doesn't it tell you to go with the flow? Going with the flow means following your heart—do whatever you want. In my opinion, we should set it on fire right now and be done with it."

"No." Cha Wenbin rejected my idea. He said, "We call this a mortuary because that’s what you told me at the beginning. But you don't actually know what this place is, do you?"

"Well, I heard it from the elders."

"But the elders have only been here for a hundred years. A hundred years ago, there was no one here, but this house was already standing. In other words, no one knows what this place was originally for. We were biased from the start, misled by the legends of the elders into thinking it was a mortuary. But looking at the tree, it clearly resembles a yin dwelling. If it truly is a yin dwelling, such a large above-ground structure was either for tomb guards or a temple. You calling it the 'Great Temple' holds seven or eight parts of truth."

"And then?" I didn't understand what he was getting at.

"I’m wondering why I suggested bringing the coffin here in the first place. It felt like a voice in my head was telling me to. Now that I think about it, it’s very strange. I’m not from Hong Village; why would I suddenly think of such a place?"

"That’s right." With Cha Wenbin pointing it out, I realized: "I don't think I ever told you about this Great Temple. How did you know about it?"

As these words were spoken, good heavens, our minds felt like they had exploded. With a buzzing sound, everything went into chaos...

Note: Goodnight. Three chapters today, over ten thousand words. It’s been a while since I've done this. I'll continue tomorrow.