The movement of the residual soul and the passing of the torch

Three years later, some people dared to set foot in Meixi Town during the day, but no one dared to stay until dusk. The stone tablet at the town entrance was re-erected by the clan members. It bore the Chinese characters "Meixi," with a small line of inscription added to the side: "Here rest the souls, beware of entering at night." Su Nian came twice a year, once on the day the fog cleared, and once on the anniversary of the seven men's departure. She always brought a newly crafted Red Sun Talisman and poured a cup of rice wine beside the remains of the locust wood pile—it was Chen Yan's favorite drink.

On the anniversary of her death, Su Nian had just sprinkled rice wine on the ground when she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her fingertips. She looked down and saw the remaining crimson ash in the copper box glowing faintly red, as if disturbed by something. Even more unnerving, the ground beneath her feet shook slightly. A faint black vapor seeped from the soil beneath the remains of the locust wood stake. She knew that scent all too well—the scent of the black-robed evil witch's corpse poison!

"Impossible..." Su Nian clutched the copper box tightly, the Red Sun Talisman on her fingertips instantly burning. She squatted down, parting the dirt, and unexpectedly saw a blackened vine. A translucent corpse insect crawled on it, its tentacles waving toward the sky, as if responding to something. She looked up suddenly. The fog in the distance had gathered again, but it was no longer a thick, resentful fog. Instead, it was a strange, gray-purple mist, spreading toward the center of the town.

Su Nian rushed back to the clan overnight. When he pushed open the elder's door, he found him dazed, holding the fragment of the evil core. The fragment itself was emitting a dark gray-purple glow, mirroring the fog in Meixi Town. "He didn't completely disperse it," the elder's voice trembled as he handed the fragment to Su Nian. "It was his body and most of his soul that were burned, but the scar under his left eye held a strand of his life soul. It attached itself to the corpse insect and followed the black vine into the ground."

Su Nian's hands were cold. She remembered what the black-robed man had said, "Zhao Yu didn't kill me a hundred years ago." It turned out that the evil witch had already made a backup plan. "What should we do now?" she asked. The elder sighed and pointed out the window. In the moonlight, several half-grown children were gathered around an old locust tree, holding simple peach wood swords, imitating the movements of the "Red Sun Fire Breaking Curse" she had taught them that year. "You have taught me what I should teach you for three years now," the elder said. "The fog in Meixi Town will not dissipate just once, and our 'overcoming adversity' has never been a matter of one generation."

The next morning, Su Nian stood under the old locust tree with five children standing in front of him. The oldest was sixteen years old, named Lin Ye. He held in his hand the half compass left by Chen Yan, with a firm look in his eyes. The youngest was twelve years old, Chen Xi, the distant granddaughter of the old Gu Master Chen. She was carrying a cloth bag embroidered with a Gu insect pattern, which contained the "Yang Gu" she raised - a variety specially designed to restrain corpse Gu.

"Remember this," Su Nian opened the copper box. Inside were seven newly made Red Sun Talismans, each stained with a bit of the Red Flame ash from that time. "The Evil Witch's soul thread is reborn by absorbing resentment. Now that the wronged souls in Meixi Town have been reassured, he can only rely on the Corpse Gu to gather his energy. First, you must destroy the black vine root that hides his soul, then use the Yang Gu to lure his soul out, and finally, use the Red Sun Talisman to burn his soul thread."

Lin Ye took the compass, and the broken needle on the dial turned slightly, pointing in the direction of Meixi Town. "Sister Su Nian, can we make the fog dissipate completely like you did back then?" Chen Xi asked softly, the Yang Gu in her hand gently squirming in the cloth bag, as if in response. Su Nian squatted down, touched her head, and pointed to the soil under the old locust tree: "The evil core fragments are here, and the guardian spirits are here too. You are not going alone."

On the day of their departure, Su Nian escorted them to the Earth God Temple at the foot of the mountain. The temple gate had been repaired, and a simple talisman had been painted in cinnabar on the broken arm of the Earth God statue. The candles on the stone table had been replaced with new ones, which Lin Ye had brought in advance. "We'll bring back new candles," Lin Ye said, holding the compass to his chest, "just like Senior Chen Yan did back then, leading everyone home."

As the five children entered Meixi Town, the fog thickened, but without the stench of decay of the past, it carried a hint of the scent of vegetation. Su Nian stood outside the temple, watching them disappear into the mist, clutching the broken compass in her hand. The words "He who helps others must first help himself" inscribed on the dial by Chen Yan shimmered in the sunlight.

She recalled how three years ago, she had also walked into the fog, her people worried about her. Now, she was the one waiting outside, awaiting the return of a new "savior of misfortune," bringing light. The wind blew past the temple's door, and the candles on the stone table flickered gently, illuminating the cinnabar talisman on the statue's severed arm like a beating heart.

Will the fog in Meixi Town ever dissipate again? Su Nian didn't know, but she knew that as long as there were still people willing to hold a fire and walk into the fog, the evil spirits hiding in the darkness would never dare to emerge. And this fire would pass from their hands to Lin Ye, Chen Xi, and then to the next generation, until one day, the fog in Meixi Town would never gather again.