Chapter 28
Zhang Song fumbled around for a while and found a secret compartment. He wiped the dust off it, opened it, and took out a scroll. He got down from the stool and we all looked at the scroll, which was tied with a black rope.
"Is this it?" Zhang Song asked.
Erma took the scroll, untied the rope, and a white tiger appeared on the paper.
"How do you know?" Zhang Song asked.
Mao Jianming and I were also very curious.
"This is recorded in the Lu Ban Book. It is considered a kind of evil-averting technique. Hiding a white tiger portrait in the beam of a house can cause the hostess to suffer from many illnesses. With this painting, we can be sure that Wu Lianyong used Lu Ban's technique to harm people. In addition to this white tiger portrait, there should be a human doll buried under the hostess's bed." Erma said.
We immediately entered the hostess's room and worked together to move the bed. Erma knocked on the floorboards one by one, and one of them indeed sounded hollow. Perhaps due to age, Zhang Song pried the floorboards apart without much effort. Inside, there was a wooden doll. The hostess's name was inscribed on its chest, and her birth date was on its back. Two needles were inserted through its eyes, and an iron nail was placed on its forehead.
Erma picked up the doll and said, "The needles inserted into its eyes will cause the person being cast into a spell to become dizzy and hallucinate. The iron nail on its forehead will forever nail the mistress's soul to the place where she died."
I immediately pulled out my phone and searched the Dai Viet case. I remembered the names of the victims: Zhang Yan, the one who jumped from the building, and Li Fei, the one who died in the underground garage. Looking at Zhang Yan's ID number, it matched the birth date on the back of the doll.
At this point, Zhang Yan’s death is definitely related to Wu Lianyong.
"What do we do now?" I said.
"Today I will perform a ritual to see if I can help their two ghosts to be liberated. We will consider the rest later," said Erma.
After listening to Erma, I realized that there were two ghosts.
We fixed the floor and moved the bed back into place. Erma took the doll and the white tiger portrait, and we left the room.
When we arrived at my house, Erma told us that the white tiger painting was no longer useful, but it was an evil creature and could cause particular harm to women, so she burned it at my house.
Erma also told us some knowledge about Lu Ban's skills.
We all know Lu Ban, also known as Gongshu Ban, who is now generally regarded as the founder of architecture, carpentry, and the forefather of opera troupes. According to legend, he invented a wooden kite, but his wife fell to her death while using it. Grieving, he wrote a curse at the beginning of the "Lu Ban Book," "If you want to learn this art, you will be extinct." In folk parlance, this means "missing one key," or "five drawbacks and three deficiencies."
There are many legends about Lu Ban's skills, such as the upper and lower volumes cannot be practiced at the same time, if one already has "five disadvantages and three deficiencies", learning Lu Ban's skills will be twice as effective with half the effort, etc.
Erma then explained that the Lu Ban art of exorcism can be divided into auspicious exorcism and suppressive exorcism. Auspicious exorcism, such as placing copper coins with the back side facing up at either end of a beam, can bring both fame and fortune, while hiding laurel leaves in the beams can help academic success. Suppressive exorcism, such as blocking nails in beams, can bring unrest to the home, and burying a hair knife under the foundation can lead to the destruction of a family.
Anyway, Lu Ban's techniques have both advantages and disadvantages, and people who use Lu Ban's techniques may also be retaliated against.
I'd only read about Lu Ban's magic online before, but after Erma's explanation today, I was surprised by how much there was. Erma then asked about their birth dates and said Zhang Song needed to avoid us at night. Puzzled, Erma explained that Zhang Song's birth chart was "Dragon, Tiger, and Roaring Tiger"—meaning the "Chen" and "Yin" elements coexist in his birth chart. Ghosts wouldn't dare approach people with this type of personality, and if he were around, Zhang Yan's ghost would likely stay away.
At night, we returned to the eleventh floor. Since the eleventh floor had been locked up long ago, the lights on this floor were no longer working. We used flashlights to watch Erma summon spirits.
She first put the doll on the ground, then took out a talisman from her cloth bag, placed the talisman on the doll, closed her eyes, made a finger gesture, and the talisman ignited without fire.
I saw the needles on the puppet's eyes and the nails on its forehead coming out little by little.
As the talisman papers burned out, they all fell to the ground, making crisp sounds.
The corridor was completely enclosed, and yet a wind suddenly began to blow. It was the so-called "sinister wind," a chilling sensation that stung even the thickest clothes. Suddenly, a puff of green smoke emerged from the puppet, transforming into a woman: Zhang Yan.
After making such a fuss for so long, I finally met the real culprit.
Erma said sternly, "Today I will help you escape, and you will be reincarnated. Don't bring disaster to the world again, or I will make your soul fly away!"
"Young Master, I won't accept this." Zhang Yan said.
"When a person dies, it's like a light goes out. Even if you are unwilling, what can you do? With your ability, I'm afraid you can't do anything to him." Erma said.
Zhang Yan was stunned when he heard Erma's words, and then said viciously: "I would rather never be reincarnated than let him die. I know I don't have the ability to do this, so please help me, little master."
Erma was reluctant to get involved, but Zhang Yan continued, "Master, please help me this time, since I saved your friend before."
"Oh." Erma sighed, took out a jade bottle from her cloth bag, which was about the same size as eye drops, and put Zhang Yan into the jade bottle.
At this moment, a dark energy suddenly emerged from under his feet, and a black shadow emerged from the ground and flew quickly into the jade bottle.
"Hmph!" Erma sneered.
She then made a Five Thunder Seal with her hands and chanted, "Jade Purity begins to turn green, unity becomes reality. Thunder God of Heaven and Earth, subdue demons and exorcise evil spirits!"
A bolt of lightning shot out from her finger, heading straight for the dark figure. With a crash, the figure was knocked to the ground. Its body was covered in streaks of lightning, and it let out a shrill scream.
Erma said, "Since you have fallen into this trap, don't blame me for being rude."
When the ghost stood up, it roared and said, "Why should she always get better than me? I won't accept it!"
When I saw its face clearly, I knew it was Li Fei. And the "she" she was talking about must be Zhang Yan. There must be a story between them.
Erma said, "I don't want to meddle in your affairs, but you absolutely shouldn't have hurt my sister."
"Hahaha, your sister?" Li Fei said.
Erma didn't waste time talking to her. She pulled a soul-destroying talisman from her cloth bag and threw it at Li Fei. The talisman stuck to Li Fei's body. As the talisman burned, Li Fei's ghost let out a shrill scream. But no matter how it struggled, it couldn't escape its fate of being torn apart.
Erma covered the jade bottle.
"Bang!"
The Zhang Yan puppet on the ground suddenly exploded.
Erma took the jade bottle and said, "Let's go back first."
Mao Jianming and I hadn't reacted to what had just happened yet, and were still thinking about it all as we followed Erma into the elevator.
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