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墨書 Inktalez
The words of Er Dan resonated differently in everyone's hearts. The female corpse had already been buried, so how could the head appear in this place? Old Shao turned to look, and under the beam of the flashlight, the stone tablet was covered with dense yellow talismans, fluttering gently in the breeze. It seemed that if they were blown away, the evil spirits buried beneath would break free from the ground.
At that moment, Er Dan was leaning against a stone tablet, grinning foolishly. Beneath his feet lay a grave mound. Yet, Er Dan showed no fear at all; perhaps for him, death was just an opportunity to enjoy some braised meat, not a bad thing but rather a good fortune that could fill his stomach.
Sometimes, being a carefree fool wasn't so bad; at least there were fewer worries.
In reality, aside from Yuan Jun feeling a bit scared, the others were not particularly frightened. They had been around death for a long time and had never seen a corpse rise from its grave.
Old Shao looked down at the ground beneath their feet. As the flashlight beam moved, his gaze seemed to penetrate the earth, revealing skeletons scattered throughout the chaotic graves.
It was quite normal for a village to have numerous graves. The elderly often chose their burial sites while still healthy, planning to rest there after a hundred years. This selection process usually involved a feng shui master finding a good spot to bless future generations.
However, no one would choose to be buried alongside so many corpses in such a manner. It was clear that the bones buried here were definitely not those of the village's elders. But whose bones were they?
Old Shao sighed inwardly. In just a few hours since arriving in the village, he had discovered a female head. He wondered what else might happen in the days to come.
The anxious group remained silent as they left the cornfield.
At this moment, it was four o'clock in the morning.
Both lights in Er Dan's house were on. Upon inquiry, they learned that Qiuju Niu was simply too frightened. When she first arrived thirty years ago, she had felt an eerie presence in this village. Now being left alone in her house made her nearly lose her nerve. But going back to that cornfield terrified her even more; after all, she was the first one to see the head.
Yet it remained uncertain whether Qiuju Niu had seen the same head.
The group no longer felt like lying down and quickly washed up.
Just as dawn broke around five o'clock, a clear sound of bells suddenly echoed through the village. The sound was faint and seemed to come from the village entrance.
"Listen!" The sharp-eyed Jiang He was the first to stop his actions, standing at the entrance.
Before long, the sound grew louder, and everyone could hear it.
The moon was still behind the mountains, while the sun was about to rise.
Members of the project team walked out of the village and soon spotted a crowd of dark heads in the distance. These heads were gathered around a single person. Through the gaps between the many people, Jiang He saw that this person was approximately 1.75 meters tall, dressed in a long robe. In his left hand, he held a Bagua Plate, and in his right hand, he shook a copper bell continuously.
The crisp sound was emanating from this copper bell.
A few people approached.
Jiang He squeezed into the crowd to take a look and saw that the Taoist priest appeared to be around fifty years old, with deep wrinkles on his face and squinting eyes, as if he had not fully opened them to see anyone. As he walked forward, he mumbled something: "With the achievements of the Daoist temple, relief will come; amidst the turbulent sea of suffering, under the altar are many beings. In August, when autumn winds rage fiercely, one remains oblivious; northerners stand alone, while wild geese do not return..."
Li Sanhan followed closely beside the Taoist priest, whispering in his ear: "Master, just a little while ago, after a woman's scream, that head appeared. I placed it in the courtyard, waiting for you to handle it."
"Nonsense!" Upon hearing Li Sanhan's words, the Taoist raised his eyebrows and changed color. He scolded, "There are three lights: sun, moon, and stars; the earth has three forms: high and low. When a person dies, they do not see these three lights. Graves must be level; do you not understand this simple principle? With both sun and moon present now, you placed a head in the courtyard—are you inviting ghosts?"
Hearing this, Li Sanhan's expression also changed. "Quickly! Wrap the head in cloth and hand it over to Master Gao for handling."
As he spoke, Li Sanhan kicked a villager hard in the rear, prompting him to hurry off.
The High Taoist also hurried forward, circling around the crowd.
At that moment, something dark was thrown out from a courtyard. The dark object flew over the wall and landed heavily on the ground before rolling several times and coming to rest near the crowd. Jiang He focused his gaze and realized it was indeed that head—how could a head fly out?
A villager suddenly screamed: "Ghost! It's a ghost!"
The Taoist's expression was grim. "This is bad, this is..."
Just as everyone was in a state of panic, a woman in her forties stepped out from the doorway. She was stout and short, but her robust build was evident, unlike the false bulk of Qiuju Niu. Just by looking at her arms and legs exposed by her short sleeves and shorts, it was clear that she possessed considerable strength.
With a loud voice, she shouted, "Damn it, Li Sanhan! What are you doing bringing that woman's head out to the yard? Aren't you ashamed? The person is dead, and you plan to keep holding onto a dead person's head while you sleep? For heaven's sake, don't forget how you became the village chief with your behavior!"
Li Sanhan felt humiliated in front of the woman, his face turning various shades of blue and purple. He was both anxious and angry but couldn't find the right words. "My wife, why are you out here? Don't you usually sleep until noon? What do you mean I'm holding a head to sleep? Last night, this head just appeared; there must be some evil spirit involved. That's why I called Master Gao!"
The woman glanced at the men surrounding the village and snorted coldly. "Ghosts? I wasn't afraid of her when she was alive; why should I be afraid now that she's dead? Get lost! I'll throw the head out for you; deal with it however you want."
With that, she walked through the gate, but her scolding voice lingered. "Get back inside and sleep! Is this something you should be dealing with?"
It sounded like she was reprimanding her child.
At that moment, Old Shao analyzed three points: first, this woman was known to the villagers; second, Li Sanhan's child must not be very old, which didn't align with the usual timeline for childbirth in the village; third, the woman had been dead for some time but not too long; otherwise, even if someone had handled the head, decay would have been inevitable.
The Taoist regained his composure and said, "While the sun hasn't risen over the mountains yet, quickly wrap the head in cloth and set up a tent at the graveyard."
"What are we going to do?" Li Sanhan asked again.
"Open the coffin and handle the corpse," replied the Taoist.
Then he looked at the project team members beside him and asked, "What about these people?"
Li Sanhan turned to look at everyone. His eyes scrutinized several members of the project team before he finally said, "It's nothing; just some tourists visiting the mountains. There are quite a few of them these days."
The Taoist nodded. "I know about that. What do they call it—chicken friends or horse friends?"
"Traveler," Li Sanhan corrected.
"That doesn't matter, but I always charge upfront," High Master said.
Li Sanhan nodded and replied, "No problem."
The villagers were busy setting up tents, while a few were preparing breakfast. Li Sanhan arranged for several villagers to follow the project team, ostensibly to help, but in reality, it was just to keep an eye on the team members.
During a break, Li Sanhan approached the project team with a simple purpose: to ask for money.
Old Shao handed Li Sanhan a thousand, which covered meals and accommodation. Old Shao was puzzled about how money could be spent in such a place, as it was an area without even a shop; most things were self-sufficient—grains, vegetables, watermelons, apples, and so on.
Old Shao knew that without money, his group would have been kicked out by Li Sanhan long ago.
After a simple meal, the villagers finished setting up the tent. It wasn't large and covered seven or eight tombstones. Beneath one of these tombstones was where the body should be buried.
Er Dan was a woman who had already been buried once; now she was to bury this head again.
A circle of people surrounded the open space, and the atmosphere was tense.
Master Gao took two steps back, muttering, "One Qi in chaos fills my form, Yufu steps push forward into Yin and Yang, returning to the earth to tread the six hexagrams, stepping on the celestial path to align with the nine spirits. Subduing demons and evils alike, may the gods bless my stealthy passage; may all calamities not invade!"
The crowd listened in confusion. Just then, High Taoist pulled out a talisman from his bosom and recited a couple of incantations. The talisman began to twist on its own and instantly turned to ash.
Wiping the sweat from his face, High Taoist said, "For burial, there are many graves here; we fear we cannot suppress the evil energy. If we want to resolve this completely, we must find the one who tied the bell. As they say: life depends on fate, luck on fortune, feng shui on geography; virtue is built over time through good deeds and study. Your fate is weak; your luck insufficient; in this remote place with poor conditions and bad waters, there’s little feng shui to speak of. What should be done and what shouldn’t should always have some fixed principles."
After he finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
General Shao felt that there was more to the High Taoist's words than met the eye.
"Dig," Li Sanhan commanded.
A few villagers grabbed their shovels and got to work. They hadn't dug very deep when they uncovered a grave mound beneath a stone tablet. A dilapidated coffin appeared before everyone, made from the poorest quality wood, with one of its boards already caved in.
The High Taoist spoke up, "Where is that man? It's best if he handles this kind of thing. In a moment, we will open the coffin lid, but no one is allowed to look at the corpse. He must stand with his back to the coffin and place the head where the neck should be, then close the coffin lid. That will complete the task. Afterward, I will perform a ritual here to guide the soul."
Hearing this, Li Sanhan shouted, "Nobleman! Nobleman!"
He called several times but received no response.
"Where has he gone?" Li Sanhan frowned and after a moment added, "He might have gone hunting in the mountains; there aren't many hunters left in the village, and he is one of them."
The High Taoist furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment before saying, "Well, let's see who is willing. This is a virtuous deed; it could lead to having sons in the future."
"I'll do it," Li Sanhan said.
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