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墨書 Inktalez
Gravekeeper
I listened intently, convinced that this Taoist indeed possessed some skills.
Master Ma: "This location was originally good, and the burial time was not an issue. However, the accompanying Yin Marriage poses a problem. Moreover, before her death, Lian must have had unfulfilled wishes and lingering Resentment! You see, there is a stream nearby, but Lian drowned, which means she harbors Resentment towards the water. Behind us is Fortune Mountain, where there stands a century-old locust tree. The locust tree casts shadows and hides spirits, which can easily provoke Resentment and lead to a corpse rising! Additionally, at a quarter past three, it is precisely when the earth's energy sinks. With Yin Marriage nearby, it can easily trigger Corpse Transformation! … Hmm? What is this?"
Master Ma suddenly changed his expression. He bent down and picked up an Iron Pickaxe, digging beneath the coffin. There lay a black Big Cat.
The Black Cat was pinned to the ground with nine iron nails, its eyes wide open and not yet fully decayed!
"This... this is Xu Bansian's Black Cat!"
"How did it end up under the coffin?"
"Why would Xu Bansian place his Black Cat here?"
The surrounding villagers murmured in discussion.
Master Ma abruptly jumped out of the pit: "I'm sorry everyone, but I won't take this job. Please take care of yourselves; Poor Daoist is leaving now."
"Master Ma!” Hao Dafu quickly grabbed Master Ma's arm. “What do you mean? We were getting along well!” Hao Dafu forced a smile.
Master Ma shook his head, his expression grim. "Village Chief Hao, it's not that I don't want to help; it's that I'm powerless against this situation. The corpse clearly has been intentionally disturbed. Do you know that corpses are most afraid of Black Cats! Now that the Black Cat is pinned down with nine nails, its malevolent energy has entered the corpse. Coupled with the burial location and timing... sigh, this isn't just Corpse Transformation, it has already become a vengeful corpse! Poor Daoist truly cannot do anything about it; I ask you to let me go."
"What? You... you mean Old Xu did this on purpose? But how could that be possible..." Hao Dafu's face turned pale.
Master Ma waved his sleeve: "I knew you wouldn't believe me. Furthermore, this Corpse Transformation, influenced by Cat Evil, is incredibly fierce. I am powerless against it. Farewell."
"Don't! Taoist Priest, we believe you!" Hao Dafu once again clutched at Master Ma's sleeve.
The villagers who followed Hao Dafu were also terrified. When they saw a Black Cat lying in the coffin, tortured to death, even in this Big White, they felt a chill run down their necks.
The villagers surrounded Master Ma.
Master Ma sighed, "Ah, you all are making it very difficult for Poor Daoist."
"Master Ma, you don't need to feel troubled. As long as you can subdue my daughter, we villagers will agree to any request you have," Hao Dafu said, clearly frightened.
Master Ma thought for a moment and said with difficulty, "Alright, once this vengeful spirit takes form, the number of deaths will only increase. Anyone who attended her funeral and remains in this village will die. To subdue this corpse, the first step is to capture the one who created it!"
"Alright! It must be done."
"I never expected Xu Bansian to be such a person."
"He has no children or family; he must think he is dying and wants to take our villagers with him."
The people around were filled with righteous indignation, eager to capture Xu Bansian right away.
At that moment, I shivered. Honestly, I was a bit confused. Clearly, Master Ma had some abilities, and I found his words quite reasonable. Plus, seeing that Black Cat made me suspect that Xu Bansian had done this on purpose.
But then I thought again; I could be certain that Xu Bansian was not responsible for this at all. It was simple—last night Xu Bansian was with me dealing with Lian, and he had been injured. If I hadn't been there, he would have died himself. Moreover, when Dog Sheng and I went to find Xu Bansian, I could see from his face that he had no idea about the Corpse Transformation.
I watched as the villagers surrounded Master Ma like madmen, gritting their teeth in anger. I estimated that soon Xu Bansian would be torn apart by these people.
Thinking of this, I quietly stepped back into the crowd and then ran down the mountain. I needed to hide Xu Bansian first; I felt that someone was deliberately framing him…
I ran quickly until I reached Xu Bansian's home.
Xu Bansian was still lying on the sofa, looking very weak. The bruises on his arm had not faded; instead, they seemed worse than before.
I now realize just how powerful the Corpse Poison really is. Xu Bansian was just scratched by Lian, and despite having bled him and applied rice, it still didn’t help.
I said, “Grandpa Xu, are you… are you not going to make it?”
Xu Bansian opened his eyes and smiled at me, nodding slightly. “It’s fine. After all, I’m going to die anyway. If I have to die, then so be it. I don’t have much to hold on to.”
I crouched in front of the sofa and helped Xu Bansian sit up. “Grandpa Xu, was the Black Cat in the Grave your doing?”
“Black Cat? Big Black? My Black Cat? It’s been missing for a while; it’s in the Grave?” Xu Bansian perked up, looking at me. That Black Cat must have been his only companion.
“Yes, Grandpa Xu. It was nailed to Lian’s coffin with Nine Iron Nails.”
Xu Bansian opened his mouth in shock and suddenly stood up. “This is bad! No wonder Lian is so fierce. I thought it was because of her resentment, but it turns out she’s been possessed by Cat Evil! The Black Cat is most likely to trigger Corpse Transformation, especially since Big Black was tortured to death! This person… this person has malicious intent!”
I knew Xu Bansian wasn’t behind this. Supporting him, I said, “Grandpa Xu, things are a bit complicated now. Everyone thinks you did it since you chose that Grave site and presided over the Yin Marriage, and the dead cat belonged to you. It won’t be long before they come to kill you. Grandpa Xu, we need to hide.”
Xu Bansian looked dazed.
I understood that he couldn’t accept this situation right away. “Grandpa Xu, don’t space out! We need to get through this first; we must find out who framed you.”
Xu Bansian nodded. “Not only did he frame me, but he also killed Big Black, and he wants everyone in the village to die at Lian’s hands!”
I didn’t have time to ponder these matters now. I helped Xu Bansian out the door; we couldn’t afford any delays. It wouldn’t be long before the villagers came down from the mountain.
I glanced around and said, “Grandpa Xu, it’s too late to leave the village now; let’s go hide at my house for a bit.”
Xu Bansian agreed.
Right now, Xu Bansian was very weak; I estimated he wouldn’t last much longer. Thinking about this made me feel a bit sad. In all of Shantai Village, he was the only one I could talk to and share my dreams with.
I helped Xu Bansian into my house.
My mom and dad were both out, and only my younger brother Dayu was at home, but he hadn’t woken up yet. Taking advantage of this, I brought Xu Bansian into my bedroom to hide him.
“Bro! Brother! Is that you?” Dayu shouted from the room.
Our village had a very relaxed schooling system; it was mainly just to fulfill the national nine-year compulsory education requirement. The kids would often skip school for various reasons—sometimes it was pouring rain, other times it was too sunny, or if someone in the village was getting married or mourning a death, they wouldn’t go to class either.
I cleared my throat and said, “It’s almost ten o’clock; hurry up and get out of bed.”
“Bro, I’m hungry! Hurry up and make me some food!” Dayu continued to yell.
I couldn’t be bothered with him and walked straight out the door.
Outside, I happened to see Dog Sheng’s dad running toward Xu Bansian’s house with a few strong men.
I quickly hid myself and felt relieved when I saw them rush past.
Before long, the entire village echoed with Dog Sheng’s dad’s shouting and cursing.
At that moment, the village head and Master Ma, along with a large group of people, came down from the mountain, all heading toward the Village Head's House.
I blended into the crowd and followed along.
The noise at the village head's place was intense. Dog Sheng’s dad was bare-chested, wielding a large stick as he shouted loudly, “Xu the Old Dog isn’t home! He must know that his secret is about to be exposed, so he ran away! That old dog really knows how to escape!”
I wanted to see how Master Ma would handle this situation. As I looked up, I noticed Master Ma frowning slightly, clearly puzzled by something.
Master Ma looked at Dog Sheng’s dad and asked, “Could it be that someone from Mountain tipped off Old Xu?”
"Father," he said, "we can't. We were the first to come down, the first to arrive at Xu the Old Dog's house. Besides, we live in a remote mountain village where the signal is poor, and Old Xu doesn't even have a phone. There's no point in thinking about it, Master Ma. Xu the Old Dog must have known that his misdeeds were about to be discovered, so he ran away."
Master Ma seemed a bit distracted as he scanned the crowd below.
For some reason, I felt a sudden wave of anxiety as I looked at Master Ma. I quickly moved closer to my father and hid behind him.
At that moment, the village chief, Hao Dafu, approached. "Master Ma, let's not worry about Old Xu for now. He’s probably already left the village. The key issue is that my daughter has turned into a Corpse Transformation. What are we going to do? How can we stop her from harming others?"
Master Ma nodded and spoke loudly, "Everyone, don't worry. Although Lian is terrifying, she is still a Zombie and can only come out at night. This evening, when the sun sets, everyone should follow me up the mountain to perform a ritual. As long as we reach the mountain and sincerely conduct the ceremony together, I guarantee everyone will be safe and we can subdue Lian."
"Great! Thank you, Daoist," Hao Dafu exclaimed, nearly bowing down in gratitude.
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