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墨書 Inktalez
I hurried over, swallowing hard as I reached out to strike at the three ghostly figures.
I had initially thought those spirits were insubstantial, but to my surprise, when I extended my hand, I actually slapped the first ghost right on its chest.
Immediately, I felt a jolt run through my hand, as if it had been electrified.
I quickly withdrew my arm, and the ghost abruptly looked up at me, baring its teeth in a snarl.
Startled, I remembered that I still had some Black Dog Blood with me. I had brought it up the mountain after dealing with Lian last night, just in case she showed up again. Seeing these three menacing figures now, I decided to throw the Black Dog Blood at them.
There was only a small plastic bag of Black Dog Blood. Once I splashed it out, the three ghosts screamed as if they were being burned by flames, emitting green smoke and retreating backward.
Seeing how effective the Black Dog Blood was and realizing these spirits were weak, nearly falling apart from just a splash of it, I breathed a sigh of relief.
However, there were too many ghosts, and I didn’t have enough Black Dog Blood left. I placed the bag on my father's head and then ran down the mountain.
At this point, I was ninety percent sure that this was all the work of Master Ma! The idea of luring Lian was complete nonsense; he was here to summon ghosts!
I wondered where Master Ma had gone now.
I raced down the mountain, completely confused about what was happening. I needed to find Old Xu and ask him what was going on.
I ran quickly, forgetting my flashlight. Fortunately, the mountain was mostly clay with little stone; my feet sank into the mud as I sped down to our village, heading straight for Xu Bansian's house.
Upon arriving at Xu Bansian's home, I found him lying on the sofa. Relieved, I rushed over and said, "Grandpa Xu, something bad has happened."
"What is it? Isn’t Master Ma supposed to be no match for Lian?" Xu Bansian struggled to sit up and asked.
I shook my head. "No, Grandpa Xu. I suspect that Master Ma is up to something. He made us sit in that grove on the hillside and then lit a fire..."
"That forest... Yinpo Forest?" Xu Bansian interrupted me with a question.
I nodded.
Xu Bansian slapped the sofa. "How can we go there! So many people died during the Anti-Japanese War; there are countless restless souls. Even during the day, it's not safe, let alone at night!"
I quickly said, "Grandpa Xu, don't panic. You need to hear my news; it's even worse."
Xu Bansian looked at me intently.
I continued, "That Master Ma is not a good person. After he had us sit down, he lit a fire pit that smelled terrible. He added Willow Branches, Sophora Branches, and Cypress Leaves to it, and once it was lit, the stench was overwhelming. He was trying to attract spirits, but I noticed that the people from our village seemed like they were in a deep sleep, sitting there motionless. Moreover, large swathes of dark ghosts were drifting out from deep within the forest..."
"Ugh... cough cough cough..."
Suddenly, Xu Bansian spat out a mouthful of black blood. He wanted to speak but was too anxious to get the words out and ended up coughing up more blood.
After coughing for over ten times, he wiped his mouth, which was stained with black blood. He didn't seem to care and tightly grasped my arm. "It's over, it's over! That Master Ma is not trying to attract spirits; he is... he is trying to raise corpses!"
"What do you mean by raising corpses?" I asked.
Xu Bansian was frantic. "That fire pit is not for attracting spirits at all; it contains Corpse Oil! That's why it smells so foul when ignited. Corpse Oil is toxic; although its toxicity isn't as strong as Corpse Poison, it can still make people lose their minds just from the smell. The Cypress Leaves, Sophora Branches, and Willow Leaves... these are all things that attract ghosts! This Taoist... this Taoist has no morals; he wants to turn everyone in our village into zombies!"
I swallowed hard. "So, will we all become Zombies because of those ghosts?"
"Yes! Those ghosts will be drawn to the smell of Corpse Oil and Cypress Leaves. They will absorb our three souls and seven spirits. At that point, everyone in our village will become soulless Zombies!" Xu Bansian coughed violently again and spat out fresh blood.
I asked, "Then what should we do now, Grandpa Xu?"
Xu Bansian waved his hand and sighed. "There's nothing we can do now. That Taoist is too powerful. You should leave quickly; get out of the village tonight and call the police to arrest him."
I was frightened by Xu Bansian's fear, but I couldn't leave now. If I left now, the entire village would truly be left without any living souls; everyone would become Zombies!
The entire village!
I said, "Grandpa Xu, is there any other way? My parents are over there too... Oh, right, Grandpa Xu, those ghosts are afraid of Black Dog Blood. If we bring Black Dog Blood over, we can definitely get rid of those spirits."
Xu Bansian looked at me, his eyes filled with surprise.
I asked, "What's wrong?"
Xu Bansian shook his head and said, "You... you can see them? Aren't you scared?"
"I can see them; they're all over the place, dark and dense. Of course I can see them." I was a bit puzzled, then added, "Grandpa Xu, I'm scared too, but this isn't the time to be afraid. Oh, by the way, I already put out the fire pit with urine."
Xu Bansian nodded and patted my arm. "Fei, you're really something. And, well, Fei, actually people can't see ghosts. You truly are special. Right now, the only ones who can save these villagers are us two."
I didn't have time to ponder the meaning behind Xu Bansian's words. I said, "Grandpa Xu, what should we do?"
Xu Bansian stood up. "First step is to lure those ghosts away; we can't let them possess anyone anymore. You've already put out the fire pit, which is good—at least no more spirits will come up. Second, we need to deal with that Taoist priest."
I thought about it; it seemed like I couldn't accomplish either task.
Xu Bansian continued, "There's a black dog at Wang Mazi's house next door. We'll go kill it and take its blood; you carry it for protection."
I replied, "Grandpa Xu, just having dog blood won't help; there are too many ghosts. Black Dog Blood can't drive them all away."
Xu Bansian explained, "We're not using Black Dog Blood to drive them away; it's for your own protection. At critical moments, it's what keeps you safe. These filthy things are most afraid of dog blood."
As he spoke, he ran into the house and came out with a large bundle of incense. "Ghosts like dark incense. You take the Black Dog Blood with you; when you reach the Mountain, light this big bundle of incense in the windward direction. Those ghosts will naturally leave the villagers and go to where the incense is burning."
I understood and said, "Okay, I can definitely do that."
Xu Bansian declared, "I'll handle that Taoist priest."
"Ah?" I was startled. Xu Bansian could barely walk straight, and he wanted to deal with that Taoist? Did Xu Bansian have a shotgun hidden at home?
Xu Bansian pushed me, saying, "Enough, let's go get the dog blood. We need to hurry; otherwise, once the villagers' souls are sucked away by those ghosts, it will all be too late."
I agreed.
Next door at Wang Mazi's house, a big black dog was lying there asleep.
It seemed that Xu Bansian had completely disregarded his own life and body. He moved quickly, picked up a hoe, walked over to the black dog, and with one swift motion, he decapitated it.
I rushed over to collect the blood.
With the dog blood in hand, I grabbed a large bundle of incense along with gasoline and a lighter, and ran towards the mountain.
Xu Bansian followed behind me, urging me to go ahead while he would catch up shortly.
I felt that Xu Bansian was doomed; he seemed to be burning through his life force like a candle.
However, I couldn't afford to pity him now.
Holding onto the items, I headed straight for Yinpo Forest. Upon reaching the edge of the woods, I quickly assessed the wind direction and realized it was blowing from the southeast. I made my way in that direction until I reached an upwind spot in the forest. There, I doused the incense in gasoline and lit it.
The strong scent of smoke wafted through the air, and soon a chilling wind blew past my neck.
I shivered and glanced back, only to be horrified as my legs went weak; there were countless ghosts behind me.
I plunged the bundle of incense into the ground and sprinted toward the trees ahead. After running for several dozen meters, I turned around and saw that hundreds of ghosts had surrounded me. These weren't just the villagers' spirits; there were also others from deeper within the forest—those who hadn't been drawn by the smoke from the fire pit before were now emerging as well.
I crouched down on the ground, clutching the black dog blood in my hands. I wondered why I had never seen these ghosts before and why so many strange occurrences had happened since I returned home!
The forms of those ghosts were somewhat different from what was described in books; they were humanoid but appeared blurry and bloated, like distorted shadows.
The ghosts surrounded the incense, and it burned particularly fast, visibly consuming itself. The spirits seemed to be competing to inhale the smoke, jostling for position around it.
I crouched in the distance; it was a bit dark. Although the moonlight was bright, it was too far away for me to see clearly.
I wanted to take this opportunity to return to our village and check on everyone. Just as I began to rise, I noticed a dark figure rapidly approaching from afar, making a "clap clap" sound as it ran.
I immediately lowered my body and remained still. Soon, I recognized that the figure rushing towards me was Master Ma.
Master Ma moved quickly, as if he had trained for this. In just a few steps, he reached in front of me. Upon seeing the bundle of incense, he snorted coldly and drew a sword from his back.
Seeing Master Ma's actions made me even more hesitant to move. I suddenly felt that the ghosts were not truly frightening; what was terrifying were people! Master Ma looked like someone who had undergone rigorous training, possibly even a martial arts master. If I stepped out now, he would surely stab me with his sword!
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