Chapter 24: Soul-wounding
"We're back! We've got a lot of stuff!" Before Qi Xiaopang even showed up, his voice arrived first. Before the door was even opened, the sound had already made Xiao Meiqiu frantically pull at the door in the yard.
As soon as the gate was opened, a palm-sized puppy rushed out, wagging its tail wildly and jumping around in circles at the two people's feet, like a lively and cute furry stumbling block.
Qing Bai reacted quickly and took a step forward while Xiao Meiqiu went around Qi Xiaopang to successfully escape from the battlefield.
"It seems like we've had a good harvest?" Ai Chan was still sitting on the doorstep, looking towards the gate with a smile on his face, as if he had not changed his position during the time they were away.
But what they said seemed to have a hidden meaning, and it was not just referring to the tomatoes in their hands.
After hearing this, Qing Bai unconsciously raised his hand and touched his forehead. He didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but he always felt that there was still a little warmth and coolness there.
"It seems we have gained a lot." This time, not only did it become a declarative sentence, the monk sitting on the doorstep also nodded seriously.
Qing Bai put down his hand and ignored him, walking towards the kitchen with the bamboo basket full of tomatoes without looking away.
The transparent umbrella's predictions haven't been made clear yet. He doesn't know how profound this monk's Buddhist cultivation is, but he's known for his eloquence. It's said that he was a key figure in the school's debate team when he was in college. As long as he doesn't want to tell the truth, he has a hundred ways to confuse people and make them forget their original intentions. In the end, he still has to say "Master, I understand" amidst the bald man's chanting of "Amitabha, may the Buddha have mercy on me." He's truly an expert in pyramid schemes... Or perhaps the essence of religion is pyramid schemes?
Qing Bai tried hard to suppress his overactive thoughts. He had to find a way to pry open the monk's mouth today...
A good solution wouldn't come quickly. When Qing Bai left the kitchen, he saw Fat Qi, eloquently recounting to Ai Chan his thrilling, bizarre, and terrifying experiences outside. However, his imagination was unbridled, and he often went off topic. Even a trivial matter could be turned into a storyteller's tale, let alone a major one.
It was also a coincidence that when Qing Bai came out, he was talking about the ninth year.
"...That guy is so handsome! Tall, long legs, and a handsome appearance! Of all the people I've met, only Brother Qing can rival him!" At this point, Fatty Qi lowered his voice, sounding a little furtive, "Even Brother Qing couldn't resist the initiative to strike up a conversation and ask for his contact information!"
Qing Bai: “…”
Ai Chan was sitting in a good position, with a panoramic view of the entire courtyard. He saw Qing Bai the first time, but he did not remind Qi Xiaopang, who was facing the kitchen door. He even asked, "It's rare for him to take the initiative like this. Aren't you happy?"
Qi Xiaopang sighed, looking very worried. "It's not a question of whether I'm happy or not. It's about those nine years. He...he didn't seem to be human."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole courtyard fell into silence. Even Ai Chan didn't know how to respond. After a long pause, he uttered an ambiguous question: "Why do you think so?"
Qi Xiaopang frowned and said, "He asked Brother Qing to burn a letter to contact him..."
"You know how to burn a letter, right? You write a letter without an address, a stamp, or a postman. Just write his name, then burn it, and he'll receive it... How could such a dark way of communication be used by a living person?"
Ai Chan seemed convinced and said seriously, "You have a point."
"Is that so..." Qi Xiaopang sighed again. He was really worried. "If it's a ghost, it won't work, but if it's a human, it will be even worse."
"How do you say that?"
"Ghosts are just a race... No, ghosts are all transformed from humans. We can't say they are races. They are different in form and state of existence. But if he is actually a living person, then his behavior is just making fun of my brother Qing! The nature is different...?" After talking for a long time, Fat Qi realized that the monk in front of him had not opened his mouth just now, and the question came from behind.
Turning around, he saw his 'amused' brother Qing looking at him expressionlessly.
Qi Xiaopang was inexplicably timid and blurted out, "Of course my brother Qing is very perceptive and intelligent. He definitely wouldn't be the type to be easily fooled!"
"That's hard to say," said the cicada lightly. "Even the smartest people can make mistakes sometimes."
First he saw Brother Qing behind him but didn't remind him, and then he sabotaged him when he was trying to remedy the situation. He really misjudged this bald donkey!
"...When?" Qi Xiaopang's voice was resentful.
Ai Chan smiled and said, "Of course it's when you're willing, right?"
Qing Bai also smiled: "Master Aichan is right."
It was just that the word "Master" was pronounced very strongly, which successfully froze the smile on Ai Chan's face.
Looking at the two people smiling at each other, Qi Xiaopang shuddered quietly, feeling that the air was filled with the flashing of swords and the shadows of knives.
Since Qi Xiaopang had already taken the initiative to explain their encounter today to Baldy, Qing Bai simply took advantage of the situation and asked directly, "Tell me the truth, how did you know in advance that I would receive the order for umbrella delivery?"
"Takeout order?" Ai Chan looked puzzled, as if she really didn't know. "I don't know."
Qing Bai didn't say anything, just looked at him silently.
Ai Chan was helpless: "I really don't know."
"Then let me bring an umbrella when I go out." Qing Bai was already prepared to argue with this monk who always had a lot of self-excuse for the saying 'monks don't tell lies', so he spoke calmly, "You can't really tell me to bring a sunshade because the sun is so strong, right?"
Even calmly speaking, these words were full of mockery.
Qi Xiaopang's confusion didn't stop him from continuing, "Isn't that umbrella transparent? How does it block the sun?"
"That's something I'll have to ask Master Aichan..." Qing Bai took a moment to glance at Fatty Qi, who was unconsciously assisting him. "Next time, I'll buy a better quality umbrella... Forget it, I'll buy it myself."
Qi Xiaopang: “???”
Ai Chan finally put away the helplessness on her face and spoke under Qing Bai's gaze: "Okay, I'll explain... I really don't know about the takeout order, but I know you will encounter something when you go out today, and that thing can only be collected with an umbrella."
That thing? The filth that Jiu Nian mentioned? Qing Bai asked calmly, "What is that thing?"
Sad Cicada: "Filth."
The names are exactly the same, but I don't know whether this is the official unified term used in their metaphysical circles, or just a common way of saying things to deal with people.
Qing Bai knew he couldn't get anything out of him about the filth, so he simply changed the subject: "Do you know what the bird song I heard was?"
Qing Bai spoke with certainty, and did not intend to beat around the bush about the birdsong and the cicadas. He said bluntly, "Have you heard of the Xianghong bird?"
Qing Bai shook his head.
Sorrowful Cicada: "The Xianghong bird was originally called the Wounded Soul Bird. It was transformed from the wronged soul of someone who was mistakenly killed. Unable to avenge their vengeance, it cries day and night at the grave, haunted by resentment, unable to enter the underworld or the cycle of reincarnation."
Someone who was killed by mistake? Someone who couldn't take revenge? But neither of these two points fits the description of the delivery man at Changqing Cemetery nor the little girl who accidentally fell into the water.
Seeing Qing Bai's puzzled expression, Ai Chan seemed to know what he was thinking. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, but her face rarely showed any smile. "That's just what's written in the book. The book also says that the Soul-Scaring Bird is shaped like a chicken and has feathers like a phoenix."
Then, following this simple description of its appearance, it is said, "The emperor hated its name and rejected it, but loved its feathers again."
It seems that the final value of this bird, which can only express its grievances through wailing after death, is just the bright feathers on its body. No one cares what kind of grievances and resentment those bright feathers are formed from... But that's true, after all, I can't understand it.
“…it is better to have no books than to believe in them completely.”
Ai Chan pulled back his somewhat scattered thoughts and continued, "But the Soul-Swallowing Bird is indeed a ghost bird. Legend has it that the first Soul-Swallowing Bird appeared after the Yellow Emperor killed Chi You. His tiger and marten accidentally injured a woman. The woman struggled for seven days and seven nights before finally dying. Afterwards, her soul transformed into a ghost bird, wailing at graves, calling itself 'Soul-Swallowing'."
"In the early years, it might have been as the book said, but time has changed. In today's harmonious socialist society, the 'rule of 'the king wants his minister to die, the minister has to die; the father wants his son to die, the son has to die' is no longer the norm. There's no such thing as 'revenge cannot be taken.' Even if the laws of the Yang world are inadequate, there are still the laws of the Yin world to make up for it. At worst, one can even be reborn as an evil ghost..." At this point, Ai Chan paused for a moment, lowering his eyes to glance at the thermos cup that was quietly resting beside him. "So, rather than saying it's the reincarnation of a wronged soul, it's better to say it's the reincarnation of resentment."
Qing Bai murmured: "Grudge..."
"Yes," the mournful voice affirmed. "Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, doubt, love, hate, passion, and suffering, the heart's lingering attachments... all transform into resentment after death."
"Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt..."
The delivery man risked his life to save others, his heroic act was publicized in the newspapers, countless strangers sent him flowers to mourn, and his body was buried in the best cemetery in Shangjing, but his soul was still trapped in the heavy rain, unable to escape. Praises for his merits were pouring in, but he squatted under the eaves, only worrying about not being able to deliver the food because of the rain, and what to do with his son's tuition... At the moment he sank to the bottom of the water, would he have a hint of regret?
"Love, hate, passion, and bitterness..."
The naughty little girl accidentally fell into the river and drifted for many days. When her soul returned home, she saw her relatives sad and blamed herself. However, her relatives let go of their grief, burned clothes and buried them, and dug up wine. Even her only sister who missed her without hesitation was forgotten due to illness. All traces of her existence in that home were erased bit by bit, and she was slowly forgotten by her family. Even her real name was not engraved on the tombstone. Would she blame them?
So, it's all resentment...
After a long silence, Qing Bai raised his eyes and asked, "Why doesn't the Soul-Scarred Bird enter the Netherworld or the cycle of reincarnation?"
Ai Chan shook his head and said, "It's not that we can't enter, it's that we can't enter. The moment they transformed into the Soul-Scarring Ghost Birds, even if the two Soul-Catchers came in person, they wouldn't be able to stop us."
"After all, it's the soul that's being seduced, not the bird." Ai Chan looked deeply at Qing Bai, "And you don't understand."
Qing Bai: "Don't understand?"
The mournful cicada lowered its eyes and clasped its hands together: "'The grave is wailing, its own wounded soul is crying'... In the past, other people, gods, ghosts, demons, spirits, and monsters could occasionally hear the sound of 'wounded souls'. I don't know since when, even 'wounded souls' can no longer be heard."
Qing Bai's heart sank, and a sudden itchy pain tingled in his forehead. He forced himself to endure it and asked in a low voice, "What do you mean?"
Ai Chan raised his eyes to look at Qing Bai, his gaze slowly moving upwards, finally stopping at Qing Bai's forehead. This monk, unlike a monk, finally revealed a bit of compassion that belonged to Buddha at this moment: "Telepathy can heal a wounded soul... Without spiritual resonance, a wounded soul cannot cry."
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