Chapter 45: Retirement Day 45 Such a niche text, so special...
Half an hour had passed since Taiwei Sanren finished his ritual. A flying insect from outside the shed struck the incandescent lamp, burned, and fell onto the ice coffin, where he swept it away with his whisk. Gazing at the girl emerging from the transparent coffin, he stroked his long white beard, sighing inwardly. He then stopped Yanyan's father from trying to slip him some money, saying gravely, "You're welcome. I'm doing this on behalf of others. Please take care of yourselves."
He bowed to Yanyan's parents, his black and gold Taoist robe swaying slightly as he walked out of the mourning hall.
The old man and his group witnessed the entire process of his ritual. They all came over to express their gratitude. The old man even said, "I knew it. The Taoist priests at Liuyun Temple are all good Taoist priests!"
Taiwei Sanren was slightly stunned, feeling quite guilty.
Seeing that it was getting late, the people guarding the body did not exchange pleasantries with Taiwei Sanren anymore. Instead, they kindly urged him, "It's getting late, Taoist priest, please go back to town and rest. We are here to take care of you."
Taiwei Sanren nodded in agreement and, as he walked toward the door, spotted Cheng Heyi sitting at the table. He had clearly been waiting for him. As soon as he saw him step out, he stood up and approached, saying softly, "Daoist Taiwei, Qiqi said she had to leave for a while and asked me to take you to the hotel to rest."
Wuyanzhuang was a small town with only one hotel. The soundproofing wasn't great, and the building looked a bit shabby, but it was quiet. And the owner, despite having large tattoos, was incredibly honest and welcoming. Cheng Heyi had stayed at this hotel twice in a row.
Worried that Taiwei Sanren might refuse, she added, "I heard from Mingxin that Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture is nearly a ten-hour drive from Wuyanzhuang. It's getting late today, so it's not practical for you to go back directly. Why don't you go to the hotel and rest first?"
Although Taiwei Sanren is a Taoist priest, he is old after all. After following Sang Qiqi through all the trouble tonight, breaking the formation and performing rituals, he is indeed a little tired.
After saying thank you to Cheng Heyi, he went to the hotel in town with Cheng Heyi.
At the same time, in the underworld.
Sang Qiqi hurriedly crossed the River Styx and stepped into the first hall. She was immediately frightened by the sharp howling inside and took three steps back.
Lin Yanluo, who was sitting in the main seat, holding the gavel, saw her suddenly appear and disappear at a glance. He didn't feel that his eyesight was blurry because of Sang Qiqi's speed. He said expressionlessly, "Since you're here, it's just right. The palace is short of staff right now. Come and help comfort these children."
Sang Qiqi: “……?”
All her life, she has only ever beaten children and never coaxed them!
She shook her head and raised her hands to refuse three times: "I can't. Don't call me. I'm dead."
Lin Yanluo: “…”
You've been dead for twenty years, and I haven't seen you lying peacefully in your coffin.
Lin Yanluo let out a breath.
He interrogated nearly twenty children, each of them young. Newborn babies could only hum and whine, and even if they turned into ghosts, they wouldn't be very lethal. After all, they knew nothing, so there was no such thing as resentment. Three or four-year-olds were different. They were sensible, but only slightly, and could use their wailing skills to blow the heads off every employee in the First Hall.
After just half an hour, Lin Yanluo's head was buzzing, as if there were tens of thousands of mosquitoes singing karaoke, making him wonder if his eardrums would be pierced.
Seeing his already ferocious face grow even more menacing with distress and irritation, Sang Qiqi vaguely guessed the reason for the children's howling. With a slight twitch of her lips, she pointed without sympathy at Cui Jing, who had a little ghost in his arms, a ghost perched on his head, two on each shoulder, and four more on his legs. "Look how well Cui Jing gets along with the little ones," she said. "Why don't you just let him interrogate them?"
Anyway, it is not uncommon for leaders to be hands-off.
Lin Yanluo: "I'm not that kind of leader."
Sang Qiqi mercilessly exposed his true nature: "Because you are stingy!"
Lin Yanluo: “…”
Although Sang Qiqi's words were always irritating, Lin Yanluo had to admit that after bantering with her for a while, the irritation in his heart completely disappeared. He took a sip of water and said to Cui Jing, "I'll give you a raise. Can you take care of these kids?"
Cui Jing: “…Okay.”
With his salary buff secured, Cui Jing placed the children he was holding on the ground, pulled out a pen and paper, and began to record the children's experiences. The children seemed genuinely fond of Cui Jing, clinging to him and refusing to leave, their fang-filled mouths obediently closed. Even though their facial features couldn't be clearly seen, they tilted their heads upwards, silently gazing at Cui Jing.
Cui Jing rubbed their heads.
Sang Qiqi and Lin Yanluo each had a cup of Mengpo soup for the whole family, moved a low stool and sat in the corner of the first hall, discussing in a low voice the news they had received from the evil ghosts and water ghosts.
"That evil ghost was quite stubborn at first, but when Jingyu came back and stabbed it twice, it couldn't hold it back anymore and told everything."
Jingyu came back and slashed it twice.
Such a niche text, such a special treatment.
Sang Qiqi bit the straw and asked, "So what did it say?"
Lin Yanluo: "It's different from the group of little ghosts Cui Jing is investigating now. This evil ghost's real name is He Lifeng. You may find this name unfamiliar, but he is the idiot who first proposed using young children as sacrifices to worship the river god when a flood occurred near Wuyanzhuang a hundred years ago."
Sang Qiqi was a little surprised, but also felt it was expected.
Among the many little ghosts sealed in the formation, only this evil ghost has the most mature thinking, which is enough to show that it should have been an adult in its previous life, or even if it was not an adult, it should have been a teenager of fifteen or sixteen years old with his own way of thinking, otherwise its hatred and resentment would not have arisen so quickly and would not have become so strong.
"After He Lifeng made this rubbish suggestion, the villagers of Wuyanzhuang split into two camps. One group didn't have any children at home, so they felt it was none of their business. Even if sacrifices were necessary, they wouldn't sacrifice their own children. Therefore, they arguably supported He Lifeng's proposal. The other group was quite the opposite, but the floods were getting worse. After much hesitation, the newly appointed village chief finally made the decision and made a list, recording the names, ages, and order of sacrifice for each household's children."
"The newly appointed village chief?" Sang Qiqi did not miss Lin Yanluo's description, and guessed in her heart that there was probably some story behind it.
As expected, Lin Yanluo explained, "The old village chief sacrificed his life saving people during the flood. The new village chief is the old village chief's nephew. Although they are related by blood, their character is completely different from the old village chief. If the old village chief were still alive, the tragic sacrifice in Wuyan Village would most likely not have happened."
"You probably know what happened after we followed He Lifeng's suggestion and began sacrificing children to the river god. The flooding did indeed ease, and everyone believed the sacrifices were effective. In the following years, whenever there was a flood, Wuyan Village would invite so-called witches and Taoist priests to perform rituals and throw children into the water."
"The turning point occurred when the master of Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture passed by Wuyan Village. However, before that, some villagers whose children had been forcibly taken away could no longer tolerate the abhorrent act of sacrificing children."
With the incident of sacrificing young children to the river god, families with children were terrified, and families without children also began to panic as time passed.
Yes, their children are already in their teens and have nothing to do with young children. But in a few years, children in their teens will be able to find a partner, get married, and have children. Then, won't the children born still have to be sent to the river god?
"There was a woman in Wuyan Village named Zeng Xueping. Her family was a butcher, so-called a butcher. Although her daughter was already sixteen years old and did not meet the criteria for offering sacrifices to the river god, she was fed up with the village's behavior and decided to take action."
He Lifeng, who originally proposed this idea of divine punishment, was the first to bear the brunt of the consequences.
Zeng Xueping invited He Lifeng to drink under the guise of her father's family. As soon as he entered the yard, Zeng Xueping stabbed him unconscious with a butcher knife. Zeng Xueping could usually carry a pig weighing several hundred pounds, so carrying He Lifeng was no problem. Without wasting any time, she took He Lifeng to the reservoir and threw him in.
The only fate for the unconscious He Lifeng was naturally drowning.
Sang Qiqi couldn't help but clasp her hands together when she heard this: "This woman is also a heroine."
As he spoke, he suddenly thought of the nature of the underworld and frowned, "Wait a minute, when Zeng Xueping entered the underworld, she wasn't also taken to the small hell to be punished, right?"
Lin Yanluo glanced at her and said, "I don't know. It was still early, and I'm not the Yama of the First Hall."
Sang Qiqi thought so too and was about to nod, but she heard Lin Yanluo's tone change and suddenly said "but".
Lin Yanluo: "I remember you said that the master from Liuyun Temple said that he had an accident when dealing with the resentful souls and was unable to send them to the underworld for reincarnation, so he chose to use the formation to seal them."
"Are the two related?"
"A little bit." Lin Yanluo explained, "I checked. During the time when the master of Liuyun Temple was dealing with the vengeful spirits, an accident occurred in the underworld, and the Ghost Gate was closed."
"What kind of accident is this? The gates of hell are closed."
Lin Yanluo subconsciously glanced inside the main hall of the First Palace, then leaned slightly towards Sang Qiqi and said in a low voice, "Someone is plotting to usurp the throne and killed the previous Lord of Fengdu."
Sang Qiqi: “……?!”
There is such a thing?! How come she has never heard of it?
Perhaps because her expression was too straightforward, it was obvious what she meant. Lin Yanluo twitched his lips in amusement. "Isn't it normal not to have heard of such things? Just like you haven't heard that the current one also killed the previous one to sit on the throne of Fengdu. But there is a big difference between the two. The former's usurpation of power is clearly ill-intentioned, while the latter can be said to be eliminating harm for the people."
Sang Qiqi: “…”
Okay, don’t talk about it anymore. She doesn’t really want to hear these secrets.
After all, as the saying goes, the more you know, the faster you die.
She decisively changed the subject: "Please get back to the point."
Lin Yanluo was quite sensible and brought up Zeng Xueping again. "The gates of hell might not have opened at the time of Zeng Xueping's death. If they hadn't, Zeng Xueping wouldn't have been able to enter the underworld and would have likely become a wandering spirit. Whether or not she was recaptured later is another matter. Anyway, that's how He Lifeng died at the hands of Zeng Xueping. After waking up from the water, he realized he'd fallen into Zeng Xueping's trap and turned into a ghost. He wanted to eat Zeng Xueping alive, but unfortunately, the reservoir trapped him completely."
He wasn't the only one in the water either.
The ghosts of the dead children were among them, and they would cry when they saw him, which scared He Lifeng at first. But he soon realized that swallowing the ghosts could boost his strength. Perhaps one day he could escape from the reservoir and find Zeng Xueping for revenge.
"But seeing as there are still so many little devils left, He Lifeng probably didn't get to eat many of them, right?"
"Yes, the little ghosts are not stupid. They will come to him and give him food when they see him. What's more, these little ghosts have known each other for a long time before he arrived. If they work together, they can bite the stupid He Lifeng until he cries."
Therefore, He Lifeng's transformation from an ordinary ghost to a powerful one was related to his own resentment that he had nowhere to vent.
"What happened next is even clearer. The government wanted to build a reservoir, but it was never successful until the Grandmaster of Liuyun Temple happened by and kindly sealed away the many imps in the reservoir. During those years of being sealed, He Lifeng grew increasingly angry, his abilities constantly growing, until this time the formation was broken and you beat him half to death."
Sang Qiqi sneered, "If I had known that this bastard was the one who proposed sacrificing the children, I would have beaten him to death."
When Lin Yanluo heard this harsh remark, he reacted faster than his brain and said immediately: "Don't always beat up little girls..."
The words he hadn't spoken were choked back at the sight of Sang Qiqi's clenched fist. Everyone in the First Hall knew that Sang Qiqi's fighting prowess was completely disproportionate to her looks. Beautiful as she was, she'd beat up demons without mercy.
Even the muscular executioner from the Seventh Palace was knocked unconscious by her punch during the underworld sports meeting.
Lin Yanluo recalled the past and coughed awkwardly, pretending to clear his throat. The next second he changed his words: "I mean, little girls should exercise more and learn some real skills occasionally, otherwise they won't be able to resist bad guys. People like you are very good, and everyone should learn from you."
Sang Qiqi spread her five fingers with satisfaction and unclenched her fists.
Lin Yanluo silently wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead, thinking that it was truly rare for a leader to achieve this level. What leader could afford to be threatened and attacked by their employees every day?
"After talking about He Lifeng, let's talk about the water ghost."
Listening to this natural urging, Lin Yanluo muttered again -
Not only was he attacked by the Iron Fist, but now he was even being reversed, unable to distinguish between the Big and Small Kings! Which subordinate would so confidently order their leader to report the situation?
But he still spoke: "The water ghost is called Xie Fei. He is a simple-minded unlucky guy with underdeveloped limbs. After quarreling with his parents, he came to the reservoir to relax. As a result, a wild boar ran out from the mountains and knocked him into the reservoir without any preparation. He drowned."
Sang Qiqi: “…”
It's really bad luck, it's totally unfair.
But it seems that there are still some things that don't make sense.
"His death was caused by a wild boar. It would make sense if, after becoming a ghost, he attacked the boar, lured it into the water, tied its legs, and watched it drown. But the opposite was true. The ghost officials thoroughly cleaned the reservoir before taking the little ghosts back to the underworld, but there was no sign of a wild boar. Of course, it's also possible that Xie Fei, in his rage, not only drowned the boar but also devoured its soul.
It's typical that even a ghost won't let you go.
Lin Yanluo rolled his eyes without any trace of Yanluo's image: "Does he have such ability?"
It wasn't like the wild boar came to the reservoir every day to attack people. After attacking Xie Fei, it had already run away into the mountains and disappeared. Even if Xie Fei really wanted to take revenge on the wild boar as Sang Qiqi said, he didn't have the chance.
"So he's a pure psychopath?"
"No, he said that when he was drowning and struggling, he saw someone passing by the river. He asked for help, but not only did the person not save him, he also urinated on his head."
Sang Qiqi: “?”
Lin Yanluo coughed lightly and said, "I asked Cui Jing to investigate. It turned out that the man who appeared by the river that day was a drunk. He was so drunk that he thought the fish swimming in the river was a big fish. He urinated on the ground, took two steps, and then passed out. He was not found until the afternoon of the next day by the villagers. He saved his life."
From Xie Fei's perspective, he was frantically struggling in the water. Not only was the water covering his face, but it was also pitch black. How could he see clearly? It was perfectly normal for him not to notice the life-saving straw that had finally appeared on the shore was a drunk. Furthermore, this straw was truly unique; he had never heard of someone urinating on a fish's head after being drunk.
"Anyway, Xie Fei thought the drunk was doing it on purpose. He hated him for not helping and even adding insult to injury. Then he became a pervert and gradually developed the habit of taking advantage of people's unpreparedness and then abusing them."
"Cui Jing also helped investigate the reason for the conflict between Xie Fei and his parents. This guy used the life-saving money that his family had prepared for his grandfather to play cards. When his father found out, he slapped him. Of course, he refused to accept this injustice and started fighting with his father on the spot. In the end, he was defeated by his father and was beaten out with a broom."
That's why I went to the reservoir to relax.
Sang Qiqi: “…”
She really thought this guy had become a psychopath after an accident. After all, he was a scumbag to begin with. She wasn't surprised at all that he became a psychopath.
"So where is he now?" Sang Qiqi asked.
"The Third Hall's Little Hell of Shoveling Skin, you still want to find him?"
"I want to know where the ghosts of those children he dragged into this situation have gone." This was also the main reason why Sang Qiqi hurried back to the underworld from Yanyan's funeral. As she spoke, she glanced at Lin Yanluo and asked curiously, "Lin Yanjun has been the King of Hell for so many years. He shouldn't have missed such a small matter, right?"
Lin Yanluo glanced at her twice and chuckled twice.
Now that he has something to ask for help, Lin Yanjun is silent. Why doesn't he think about the threat he made with his fist just now?
"I've asked around, and he's already handed over most of the children to He Lifeng."
Pop.
Sang Qiqi slapped her thigh.
She knew that Xie Fei could use the formation as his own shelter, which must be related to the big ghost inside. Otherwise, as soon as he got in, he would have been eaten clean by these resentful evil ghosts.
Since it was not eaten, it meant that Xie Fei must have reached some agreement with He Lifeng. Now it seems that the content of this agreement is also very clear.
"He Lifeng was trapped in the formation, and presumably restricted by the Liuyun Temple's Grandmaster, preventing him from devouring the other ghosts within? So when he realized that Xie Fei, an alien ghost, could provide him with food, he struck a deal with him."
Lin Yanluo nodded.
Sang Qiqi frowned and thought for a while, and suddenly thought of the key word in Lin Yanluo's words just now: most.
"You just said that most of the children were offered up as sacrifices. What about the rest?"
"Here." Lin Yanluo pointed his finger to the corner of the hall.
The entire hall has four corners, east, south, west and north. Tall statues of Yama are stacked in the east and west directions. The north and south directions are the main gates. Now, behind the north gate, two figures are huddled together with their heads lowered, looking uneasy and anxious because they are unfamiliar with the environment in front of them.
When Sang Qiqi looked over, she paused suddenly.
Lin Yanluo looked as if he had seen through her intentions and snorted, "Aren't you here to look for those two kids? Zhang Lin and Zhang Yan, right? That kid named Zhang Lin is a smart guy. After being thrown into the formation by Xie Fei, he escaped all the way and was not caught by He Lifeng."
To them, the Liuyun Temple Grandmaster's formation only covered the area of the lake's island, but this was not the case for the imps within the formation. Their environment was complex and volatile, and the area was vast. Finding a hidden imp within such a formation was not easy.
"Of course, this also has something to do with luck. When Xie Fei threw Zhang Lin in, He Lifeng was struck by lightning, so Zhang Lin escaped."
"Struck by lightning?"
"The Grandmaster of Liuyun Temple is no ordinary person. Not only did he restrict He Lifeng from devouring other imps within the formation, he also punished him with lightning strikes every three days. So He Lifeng was struck by lightning every few days, wondering when he could escape from the formation."
No wonder Taiwei Sanren bluntly stated that he couldn't seal the little ghosts back and restore the formation. This Liuyun Temple's master really had some skills and a lot of insight.
Sang Qiqi sighed twice, then listened to Lin Yanluo continue, "That brat named Zhang Lin not only escaped on his own, but also snatched Yanyan away when she was thrown in. However, this time, it wasn't so easy to escape. Fortunately, you arrived in time, otherwise, they would have become He Lifeng's food in a short while."
What a smart and capable kid.
Sang Qiqi sucked the last pearl out of the Mengpo soup, then naturally stuffed the cup into her boss's hand, said "help me throw it away", and stood up and walked towards the corner of the north gate.
Although her movements were gentle, Zhang Lin and Yanyan were clearly on edge, and the slightest movement could cause them to react violently. When they noticed Sang Qiqi approaching, they both looked up. Zhang Lin held Yanyan behind him and took a step back together.
Sang Qiqi patted the ground in their favor and took the lead by sitting down cross-legged. Her eyes swept over Zhang Lin's defensive face twice, and the corners of her mouth curled up as she praised him, "I heard that not only did you escape He Lifeng's clutches yourself, but you also rescued your sister from the next village? That's amazing! He Lifeng is the most powerful of all the little devils."
It was clearly a gentle compliment, but Zhang Lin looked at her with a strange expression for several times. After a moment, he said, "Are you trying to get close to me? I'm thirteen years old and I don't believe it. Stay away from us."
His mother taught him since he was a child that if a stranger gently praises you, it definitely means he has bad intentions and might be a wicked person with ulterior motives.
Sang Qiqi's smile was stiff.
It's rare for her to act like a gentle and caring older sister, yet she's still despised.
The brat deserves a beating.
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