Chapter 303 Jinjiang
Before coming to Baizhi Lake, Taoist Li had already read the files of all the villagers with the surname Bai who could be traced.
The photo of Zheng Shumu in the archives was taken when he was interviewed by a magazine many years ago.
Although he is not very old, his face with regular features is full of sinister and viciousness. He lowers his head and his eyes looking towards the camera are full of disgust for the world.
So when Taoist Priest Li learned about Carpenter Zheng from the southwestern ghost exorcist, he was surprised but not surprised.
People with that kind of face must have gone through a lot of hardships before they could succeed.
But what Taoist Priest Li never expected was that Zheng Shumu was actually the most important person in the Baizhi Lake incident, and was even related to Li Chengyun who died many years ago.
The ghost was shocked and angry. Thunder and lightning struck from the dark cloudy sky, trying to kill Taoist Li.
However, the wood sculpture with a living mouth and eyes that looks exactly like Zheng Shumu is determined to save Taoist Li at all costs.
From the words uttered by the wood carving with its last bit of strength, Taoist Li finally learned that the reason Li Chengyun died that year was to sneak into the old Fengdu under the Baizhi Lake and retrieve the ebony statue to suppress the evil spirits in the Baizhi Lake.
Yan Shixun and others also followed the ghost energy and found the location of the old Fengdu, and were already dealing with the ghosts.
"You are... an acquaintance of Mr. Yan. I cannot let you die here. Otherwise, I will not be able to see you again, Mr. Yan."
Zheng Shumu pulled at the corner of Taoist Li's clothes, and the wooden sculpture's mouth opened and closed, with blood flowing from the corners of its mouth. He dragged the half-dead corpse that was struck by lightning, and every word he spoke was extremely laborious. He even had to rely on Taoist Li to stay standing.
But even so, he still swallowed a mouthful of blood foam with difficulty, took two deep breaths, and continued: "Please, and the exorcists outside, leave here immediately. This will become the starting point for the ghosts to destroy the human world. Everything will be razed to the ground by the ghost energy."
"I understand that you, like Mr. Yan, want to deal with the ghost path. But please don't waste your life unnecessarily."
At the cross-section of Zheng Shumu's body that was split in half, the internal organs that were originally in the abdominal cavity all flowed out because there was no obstruction, and intestines were dragged all over the ground. The strong smell of blood mixed with the smell of burnt flesh was so unpleasant that it went straight into the nose.
But he no longer cared about his own situation. Even though he became weaker and weaker as his soul was destroyed, he still tried hard to hold on and told Taoist Li the truth that he had seen, trying to persuade them to leave.
Taoist Priest Li saw Zheng Shuli's condition. He frowned, pinched his fingers, and wanted to cast a spell to stabilize Zheng Shuli's soul.
But he was rejected by Zheng Shumu.
"Mr. Chengyun knew he would die from the beginning, but he still chose to die. I should have gone with Mr. Chengyun at that time, put aside my hatred, and do something to stop the ghosts. But I have a sister."
Zheng Shumu smiled bitterly: "I can't bear to give up this hard-earned happiness and peace with my sister. I greedily want more time."
"But now, it's time. It's time for me to use this soul to atone for the sins of the Southwest."
"Please believe me."
Zheng Shumu grabbed Taoist Li's robe tightly with such force that his wooden fingers even tore the robe apart.
He looked at Taoist Li persistently, his tone even pleading: "Baizhi Lake is controlled by my sister, Old Fengdu, Ghost Road, Avenue, Shadow Play, and several other layers. Now it has completely deviated from its normal track. Even I don't know how many layers of the world it has formed."
"Those Taoist priests may be dealing with ghosts, but it is more likely that they are Taoist priests trapped in other places. You are now killing each other. This is what the ghosts like to see."
"But it is something we absolutely cannot do."
Zheng Shumu's body was slowly sliding down. His severely damaged soul was unable to support the wood carving, and he was one step closer to death.
But even so, he still refused to look away and stared directly at Taoist Li, feeling anxious because of Taoist Li's lack of reaction.
"With Mr. Yan and Monk Chengyun in the ghost world, there will be no problem. I believe that Mr. Yan, who rescued me from hell, can definitely stop the spread of the ghost world. So, please believe in Mr. Yan as I do, and please protect your own life first."
Yan Shixun's previous questioning of Zheng Shumu was so thought-provoking that Zheng Shumu was shocked to the point of being unable to recover for a long time, and at the same time, those words were deeply engraved in his soul.
It was he who condoned Zheng Tiantian's actions, and he was also guilty of the travelers who died in Baizhi Lake.
But it is not too late to mend the situation.
When Zheng Shumu chose to die with his sister, he firmly believed that
I will never let another life die in front of him again. I will never allow the evil spirits to spread and the southwest to fall into disaster.
This is also the reason why Zheng Shumu would save Taoist Li at all costs.
Taoist Priest Li looked down at Zheng Shumu and actually saw an earnest pleading look in his hollow, dark eyes.
However, he did not follow Zheng Shumu's advice and give up fighting the ghost, but turned around and evacuated immediately.
Instead, he stretched out his hand with a determined look and held the hand that Zheng Shumu extended to him.
"Everyone who came to White Paper Lake was prepared to die here. Death is nothing to fear for me. The only thing that is scary is losing the way to hold on."
Taoist Priest Li's hair and beard were all white, gently blowing in the wind, and his confused eyes were filled with an unshakable firmness.
"Thank you for your reminder. I'll let the others pay attention. But retreat? We can't do that."
Zheng Shumu stared at Taoist Li in a daze, and suddenly realized that the beliefs held by these Taoists were not something he could dissuade.
His obsession dissipated, Zheng Shumu could no longer hold on and slowly slid to the ground.
His body, which was charred by the thunder, had turned gray and was lying on the ground in a pool of blood and flesh. The wooden sculpture was also twitching slightly at its joints, as if it was in a state of disorder after losing control.
But there was a smile on Zheng Shumu's face.
At the cost of his soul being torn apart, he finally got rid of the control of the ghost with his complete death. He could die peacefully without having to hurt anyone again.
As for the southwest that he was concerned about...
Oh, God, I have resented you all my life, questioning you and wanting to know why I am the only one who has lost my family and is displaced. But now, I only beg you, please, bless Mr. Yan, and make him successful.
Zheng Mushu thought quietly, and finally his body suddenly stiffened and he was completely motionless.
The flame burned on the body of the wooden sculpture, and in an instant it became a raging fire.
With the thunder, everything turned to ashes.
Taoist Priest Li lowered his head, the flames reflected his face red. He only sighed softly, then suppressed all his regrets towards Zheng Shumu, and looked forward with a serious expression.
In the very center of the mourning hall, there was a coffin, and paper money braziers were scattered on the ground around it, rustling slightly in the wind.
After seeing clearly who was in the coffin, Taoist Priest Li's eyebrows jumped and his face turned cold.
——The person lying in the coffin was not a corpse at all, but a wooden sculpture with a living mouth and eyes.
The most important thing is that the wood sculpture looks exactly like him.
Taoist Li understood clearly that the ghost had become completely enraged after discovering that his attack failed. He lost the leisurely and calm composure of a cat playing with a mouse and wanted to give him a warning and kill him completely in a rage.
And control him.
Just like other wood carvings with living mouths and eyes that he had seen, the corpse was stuffed into the wood carving, and the soul was controlled by the ghost, like a wooden puppet.
Taoist Li sneered, raised his sleeves, walked forward with his hands behind his back, and kicked over the brazier full of paper ashes placed in front of the coffin.
Sparks scattered.
When his cloth shoes stepped on the ground, spider-like cracks immediately spread out, as if with a tremendous force.
This is tantamount to a provocation to the ghost behind the scenes.
The consequences of angering the ghost, the flames on Zheng Shumu's body were still burning, making crackling sounds, and the smell of burnt flesh was spreading. The tragic example was vividly presented before their eyes.
But Taoist Li was fearless, he looked straight ahead, and even wanted the ghost to appear immediately.
Since Yan Shixun was dealing with the source of the ghost path in the old Fengdu, he wanted to cut off the source of the ghost path's power and make it completely lose its source of power. He couldn't stand still, and it was even more impossible for him to hide in a corner alone when the blizzard came.
He wants to stand in front of everyone and block the mountain of wind and snow for people.
Not a hiding flower.
Since he cannot go to the old Fengdu now, the very least, things outside the old Fengdu should be left to him!
At least before Yan Shixun returns, he cannot allow the ghost path to continue to spread.
Although Zheng Shumu was worried about their safety and persuaded them that the ghost path existed in Baizhi Lake, this was actually good news for Taoist Li.
As long as he could restrain Guidao as much as possible and prevent him from withdrawing most of his attention and power from Baizhi Lake, Guidao would be fixed here and unable to move far to the southwest.
"We can't let the younger generation think that we old guys are useless."
Taoist Priest Li snorted coldly: "Lian Po is old, but he can still eat ten jars! Just wait and see, you sinister rats, dare to claim to be the way of heaven?"
After the great changes, there were no longer any male wood sculptures to be seen in the mourning hall.
All that was left was the wooden sculpture of a woman standing in the hall looking at him coldly.
There was also the ghost baby who was protected by Xie Lin at the critical moment.
The ghost baby lowered its head, staring blankly at the wood chips scattered around her, as if it was unable to accept the complete destruction of Xie Lin's wood sculpture.
When she finally reacted slowly, her entire body carved out of wood began to tremble more violently, and the wooden joints collided with each other, making a "creaking" sound.
“Ahhhhhhhh!!!”
The ghost baby raised its head and screamed, wanting to cry in pain.
Then she opened her bloodshot eyes, stared at Taoist Li, and quickly pounced on him, pointing her sharp palms directly at Taoist Li's heart, muttering something incoherently. The small wooden sculpture that looked like Yan Shixun, which she held in her other hand, was immediately wrapped in blood-red mist under the spell.
The art of warding off evil!
Taoist Li's eyebrows jumped as he noticed the movements of the ghost baby.
He approached the ghost baby without any fear, as if he wanted to have a real fight with it.
But just as the distance between him and the ghost baby was getting closer, he swiftly turned sideways, brushed past the ghost baby, and rushed towards the wooden carved woman on the mourning hall.
Taoist Li rolled up his sleeves and flew forward, striking the woman directly in the stomach.
He recited scriptures, but did not mention anything related to the ghost-killing spell. Instead, he kept thinking about plants and living things.
In the face of ghosts, the talisman has long lost its effectiveness. If you continue to use the talisman rashly without flexibility, it will only bring disaster to yourself and be counterproductive.
So Taoist Li immediately changed his mindset, abandoned the talisman, and began to recite scriptures, praising the plants and living things, and begging all the living things around him to help him and lend a hand.
This method has never been used by Taoists in thousands of years of records. Compared with the current crisis, the situation in the past when talismans could be used to exorcise ghosts has suddenly become much easier.
Taoist Li's choice seems to be a desperate one.
But he was not panicked at all. He just acted according to his plan step by step, with his brows and eyes still calm.
First, a bright spot of light lit up in the dim and pale mourning hall.
Then there was another dot, like a flying firefly, bright but weak, as if it could be extinguished at any time, but it stubbornly stood firm in the cold mountain wind, trying to illuminate a little space.
Then, a little light after a little light gradually floated and lit up above the mourning hall.
Suddenly, the entire mourning hall seemed to be surrounded by fireflies, and all the insignificant points of light were trying to drive away the darkness and let the light come again.
Even if they were scattered by the fluttering white banners, the light spots stubbornly gathered together again.
Even if it is small, I am persistent and refuse to give up.
These light spots gathered into a ball of light and soon illuminated the surrounding space.
The light gathered more and more, and soon illuminated the entire mourning hall, like a candle flame swaying in the wind but refusing to go out.
The light of fireflies can be compared with the sun and the moon.
All living beings try hard to survive, and are unwilling to give up hope for life until the moment of their actual death.
These persistent insistences were all attracted by the earnest request of Taoist Li to recite the scriptures. Even if it was weak and ignored, the creatures wanted to fight for a possible future for their own world.
This belief was able to gather because of Taoist Li's existence and attention. The little bits of light finally accumulated into a huge force, converging in Taoist Li's hands, and ultimately formed an effect more powerful than the talisman.
Guidao never expected that Taoist Li could achieve such a level even in a desperate situation where all talismans and exorcism methods were ineffective. Even the bright light formed by the faint light spots was so dazzling that it illuminated the entire mourning hall as bright as day.
The white flag fluttered violently, but there was no longer any shadow for the ghost to hide in, and everything was clearly illuminated.
In just a moment, Taoist Li's sudden action caught the ghost off guard. Shocked, he was unable to react in time and could only watch Taoist Li rushing towards the wooden carved woman. The ghost energy that he wanted to intercept was all shattered and dissipated into smoke and dust under the light.
Taoist Li's eyes were sharp and fierce. Although he didn't have a peach wood sword in his hand, it was much sharper than a sword blade.
His palm moved closer and closer to the belly of the wooden carved woman. The woman screamed in fear and instinctively stretched out her hand to protect her belly, wanting to summon the ghost baby to protect herself.
However, the ghost baby was still immersed in the shock of the successive deaths of Xie Lin and Zheng Shumu, and was even more unable to calm down towards Taoist Li. In a rage, it lost all reason and roared like a wild beast. It was completely unable to accept the woman's orders. There was only Taoist Li's figure in its eyes, and it attacked him without any plan.
But he was blocked by the light and couldn't even get close to Taoist Li.
The wooden woman, having lost all her means of protection, retreated again and again in fear, protecting her belly, but eventually she bumped into the tablet engraved with Taoist Li's birthday and name, and had nowhere to retreat.
The altar was shaking, the tablet swayed from side to side and finally fell off the altar.
As the tablet fell to the ground and shattered, Taoist Li's palm had already touched the wooden sculpture of the woman.
His arm was wrapped in brilliance, like a blade, and it effortlessly penetrated into the belly of the wooden sculpture, and continued forward without any resistance like cutting tofu.
With a "puff!" sound, it pierced through the round belly of the wooden sculpture.
The wooden carved woman froze suddenly, and all the movements of protecting her belly and struggling and screaming stopped.
The thick black rotten corpse water splashed all over Taoist Li's face.
Taoist Priest Li, however, did not seem to be disturbed at all. He maintained his original movements with a firm gaze, not missing a single detail of the wood carving.
He could feel that what his palm touched was a soft, sticky substance.
It's not a wood carving or a rotting corpse, but... a ghostly aura.
The wooden carved woman opened her mouth and made a "ho ho" sound, and the joints of her limbs twitched and trembled, which looked horrifying.
Blood was also flowing from Taoist Li's mouth. The blood was an ominous black color and dripped onto his Taoist robe, staining it.
There was no fluctuation in Master Li's expression.
As he approached the wooden sculpture of the woman, Guidao was desperately trying every possible way to stop what he was about to do.
However, the more this happened, the more Taoist Li became more determined and certain that his judgment was correct. He had found the key to the Ghost Dao's control over Baizhi Lake.
But at the same time, the broken tablet still caused great harm to Taoist Li.
The purpose of the wooden sculpture with movable mouth and eyes, which is carved after a living person, is to replace the living person and exchange identities.
Whether it is the wooden sculpture in the coffin in the mourning hall, or the tablet with the birth date and name written on it, under the control of the ghosts, these all represent Taoist Li himself.
The smashing of the tablet is equivalent to the death of Taoist Li.
At that moment, Taoist Li felt as if someone had punched him hard in the chest. From his body to his soul, everything was severely injured. The pain was so severe that his eyes went dark and he almost couldn't control his body.
However, Taoist Li still relied on his strong willpower to endure it without even a cry of pain. He continued to move forward without any hindrance, not missing the opportunity to get close to the woman.
He knew very well that this attack had a great chance of success, simply because Guidao had not anticipated his action and was caught off guard by the suddenness of the incident.
But if he gave up now and turned to take care of his own safety, it would play into Guidao's hands, allowing Guidao to catch his breath and have time to guard against him.
At that time, it would be impossible to get close to the wooden carved woman, or even hurt the "fetus" in her belly.
This is something that doesn't require a decision at all.
From the very beginning, Taoist Li did not put his own life on the scale.
All he was thinking about was how to defeat Guidao.
Taoist Li's palm accurately grasped the only hard object in the sticky mud. Judging from the feel, it seemed to be a small wooden sculpture.
……No.
It's not a wood carving, but a small statue of a god.
It is an incarnation of the ghost, just like an ebony idol.
It's just that the ebony statue is a talisman, but it is an evil object. When it was really born, Baizhi Lake and the southwest were completely covered and controlled by evil spirits.
Taoist Li sneered and pulled the arm of the small statue out violently.
Pus and blood were splattering, and the smell was extremely foul.
The light that was originally wrapped around Taoist Li's arm was all retained in the belly of the wooden sculpture, disturbing the woman and making her scream miserably with her mouth wide open.
Taoist Priest Li quickly lowered his head to take a look at the small statue he was holding tightly in his hand.
Even though it was covered in blood, one could still clearly see the statue's features. It seemed kind and compassionate, no different from the statues in ordinary Taoist temples.
But upon closer inspection, one would find that the statue does not have any righteousness at all, but is filled with evil spirits. Even its smile is malicious and weird. It is not a statue of a god at all, but just the embodiment of evil.
Taoist Li sneered and clenched his fists tightly.
“Crack… snap!”
The little statue's neck was immediately broken by him with his bare hands.
Taoist Priest Li had a stern look on his face. His hands, old but still powerful, slowly crushed the small statue into pieces, and wood chips fell from his hands.
The wooden woman seemed to have all her strength drained away, and she fell to the ground with a bang.
Smashed to pieces.
There was complete silence in the mourning hall. All the wailing of evil spirits stopped abruptly at this moment, and there was complete silence.
Taoist Priest Li slowly stood up, gritted his teeth and endured the blackening vision in front of his eyes, turned around calmly and scanned the entire mourning hall.
Dark red blood gushed out from Taoist Li’s chest, quickly spreading out as a sticky bloodstain on his Taoist robe.
Although the little statue is evil, under the ghost way, it is like a righteous god of the great way, and has all the power that a righteous god should have.
When mortals destroy statues of gods, it is no different from blaspheming the true gods. Naturally, they will incur the consequences and hurt themselves.
Taoist Priest Li had anticipated this, but it did not affect what he did to the small statue at all.
——The moment the small statue was shattered, Guidao’s control over Baizhi Lake and the southwest was greatly weakened.
For Taoist Li, this was a very cost-effective exchange, and there was no need for any calculation or hesitation.
Taoist Priest Li became suspicious when he first saw the bulging belly of the wooden carved woman.
After all, the ghost baby had been born, so why was the woman's stomach, which should have been empty, filled again?
A ghost baby was born in the belly of Carpenter Zheng's wife. Even though this was not her wish before she died, it was the best container for the ghost to live in.
In addition to ghost energy, "Gods" can also be born into the world in a dignified manner through this method.
Even the avenue cannot interfere.
Unfortunately, all of Guidao’s plans were shattered after being seen through by Taoist Priest Li.
The ghost baby also quickly decayed as the power of the ghost path weakened. The cutely carved little girl fell to the ground and was covered by the startled and falling paper money.
She struggled to get up but failed. She would never have a brother to reach out his hand, pull her up and whisper comforting words to her again.
Taoist Priest Li glanced at the ghost baby and his heart was not even moved.
He is not a compassionate person, and he will not help someone without asking the cause when seeing an injury.
Taoist Li felt that this person, who controlled human-shaped statues to attack living people in various places, killed the person who handled the Baizhi Lake case, and killed many people who passed by Baizhi Lake in the past few years, deserved to be put to death and was definitely not someone he would save.
Black blood was still gushing out from Taoist Li's heart, and his entire Taoist robe was soaked from the inside out, with blood even dripping down the corners of his robe onto the road he was walking on.
His face quickly turned pale and gray, but his movements were normal, as if such a serious injury could not hinder him.
The cloth shoes were stained with blood as they stepped on the cold bricks and stones.
Taoist Priest Li looked straight ahead and walked out of the mourning hall with his hands behind his back.
He only paused for a moment when he passed by the coffin placed in the center of the mourning hall, glanced over, and then uttered "Huh".
"What a carving, it's so ugly."
Taoist Priest Li said disdainfully: "It's not even as good-looking as me in person. It's better for this kind of thing to disappear as soon as possible."
After saying that, dots of fluorescent light suddenly fell into the coffin.
The wooden sculpture with a face similar to that of Taoist Li immediately caught fire with a "whoosh!"
The fire swayed along with the mountain wind, ignited the fluttering white flag, and then quickly spread throughout the mourning hall.
The raging fire is unstoppable.
The paper money scattered on the ground and in the air was also ignited by the flames and turned into a wisp of ash, leaving only a little black ash, curled up and collapsed.
The wooden carved woman and the ghost baby, who were lying on the ground unable to move, were quickly surrounded by flames.
But this time, no brother will come to block another attack for the ghost baby.
Taoist Priest Li took one last glance at the mourning hall, and watched as the wooden sculpture of his own face suddenly turned over and sat up in the coffin, screaming miserably and holding onto the coffin in an attempt to jump out, but he could only twist his body and be engulfed by the flames, gradually turning black.
The sound of sparks popping was heard.
Taoist Priest Li withdrew his gaze.
He stood behind the gate of the yard, reached out and grasped the tightly locked door lock, and pushed it gently. The door slowly opened with a creaking sound.
The voices that were isolated outside the yard immediately poured in.
The anxious shouts of the Taoist priests were heard.
Taoist Priest Li narrowed his eyes, turned his back to the sea of fire, and looked outside the courtyard.
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