Chapter 8 Revenge
"Well, legend has it that the sound of the male flute can please the gods, while the female flute can summon the dead. Many cults are attracted to it, and some even specifically kidnap pregnant women and sell them to these cults."
Xu He paused for a moment before continuing, "There are very few mother-and-child flutes that can truly become spiritual instruments. They usually need to be placed in the ancestral temple of their birth for at least three years to cleanse away the resentment they held in their lifetime."
Xie Liang looked at Xu He with admiration. "So, the mirror in the soil should be used to suppress the resentment of these corpses. It's just that it's been there for too long, and the resentment has overflowed. So at night, this resentment turns into monsters, and they keep looking for the missing leg bones, or preying on anyone who can be captured by the mirror."
Xie Liang thought of Li Xi's smile before her death, and also of the dream he had not long ago, and added: "Perhaps they will still bewitch people, weaving a beautiful dream or a nightmare in the mirror to take people away."
"Yeah." Xu He's voice sounded faint, but it seemed full of affirmation for what he said.
The two men quickly cleared out the bones in the yard, borrowed a lot of wooden boards from the villagers, made four simple coffins, and put the corpses into them one by one.
Xie Liang thought about it and put the mother-and-son flute he was carrying into the corresponding coffin, hoping that the bodies of the mother and son would be complete after their death.
As he burned paper money, he said, "I know you died unjustly, but every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor. We are only responsible for repairing the ancestral hall and then leaving. Please forgive us for not disturbing you unintentionally." As he spoke, he bowed several times.
Near dusk, Xiao Ha and several others who had been repairing the ancestral hall came back together, carrying food brought by the village women.
When Xiao Ha and his companions saw the coffin in the yard, they looked at Xie Liang and Xu He in confusion and asked them what was going on. Xie Liang then recounted the whole story.
"Oh my god! Damn it! The village chief and that evil monk are so vicious!" Li Dong cursed with disdain.
"It will be finished tomorrow night. Do you two still need to keep watch tonight?" Dai Tian looked at the corpse in front of him and asked Xie Liang with a numb expression.
"Well, you guys go and have a rest. We'll go back to the room after dinner and take a nap before coming over." Xie Liang pinched his eyebrows and responded.
Xiao Ha and his colleagues who were in charge of repairing the ancestral hall had not eaten or slept well in the past few days and had to do high-intensity physical labor. They were all exhausted and went back to their rooms to fall asleep.
Xie Liang finished his meal early and planned to go back to his room to take a nap. He asked Xu He, who was eating, to call him when they finished eating and went to the ancestral hall.
After Xie Liang entered the room, he lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
In a daze, Lin Lan was holding the baby in her arms, with her parents standing beside her, expressing their gratitude to Xie Liang.
The four of them stood under a tree in the yard, their figures gradually faded away. Xie Liang suddenly woke up and saw Xu He sitting beside the bed.
"Are you having a nightmare?" Xu He asked softly.
"No, it's not a nightmare." Xie Liang said, raising his hand to rub his sore eyes, and suddenly found that there was a flute in his hand that should have been in the small coffin.
Xie Liang told Xu He about the flute. After listening, Xu He said that it was a gift from Lin Lan to him, and it was a fate, so he should accept it with peace of mind.
After Xie Liang accepted it after hearing Xu He's words, he walked into the yard and expressed his gratitude to the skeleton in the coffin. Then he carefully put the flute close to his body.
As night fell, repairs to the ancestral hall became urgent. The old NPC who had brought them into the village would arrive to inspect the work before tomorrow. Without further delay, Xie Liang and Xu He borrowed a lantern from the old man and headed to the ancestral hall to keep watch.
There were gusts of cold wind along the way, but Xie Liang no longer felt the fear he had when he first arrived here. He was more thinking about how to solve the problem.
The sky was filled with stars, and the Milky Way hung in the sky like a gorgeous silver ribbon, shimmering with soft light. Xie Liang and Xu He lay on the roof of the ancestral hall, gazing at the starry sky and chatting casually.
"Guess when that idiot down there will notice that his flute is missing." Xie Liang joked.
"I don't know." Xu He said in a low voice, looking at Xie Liang's profile reflected in the starlight.
The night was uneventful, and Xie Liang fell asleep on the roof without knowing when. As the sky brightened, the rays of early morning sunlight reflected on his face, making his cheeks look as sweet as a rosy apple.
When Xie Liang woke up, he found Xu He sitting beside him looking at the sunset glow in the distance. He didn't know whether he had already gotten up or hadn't slept at all.
Xiao Ha and his companions soon arrived at the ancestral hall to clean up and begin the final finishing work. Xie Liang and Xu He also joined in the busy work, and all the tiles were turned over by the afternoon.
Several people sat at the door of the ancestral hall, feeling the cool autumn breeze. The relaxation after completing the task made everyone feel relieved and their mood was no longer so depressed.
Sure enough, in the afternoon, the old man who had brought them into the village appeared at the entrance of the ancestral hall. He walked around the hall a few times, climbed onto the roof to inspect it a few times, and then came down and said gloomily to Xie Liang and the others, "You're awesome. You can leave tomorrow, hehe..."
"What do you mean? Why do we have to wait until tomorrow? Didn't you say you would send us away once the repairs were completed?" Dai Tian asked with a dissatisfied look on his face.
"Why are you in such a hurry? It's not safe at night. The village chief has just returned. Let him take you there tomorrow." After the old man said this, he walked away staggeringly.
After hearing this, Dai Tian angrily punched the wall and muttered to himself, "We still have to get through tonight. Staying in this damn place for even one more second is torture!"
"Brother, just get some sleep and it will be tomorrow." Li Dong comforted him.
"I'm hungry again..." Xie Liang hadn't had a full meal since coming to this strange place. He looked at the sunset in the distance - thinking that he must make a delicious meal when he returned.
They returned to the courtyard before it got dark. Since the old man had already recognized that their task of repairing the ancestral hall was complete, Xie Liang and Xu He naturally did not need to keep watch tonight. They lay in bed and waited for tomorrow to come.
At night, the late autumn wind rustled the ancestral hall's banners. Huiyuan and two of his disciples sat on cushions in front of the Buddhist shrine, while the village chief, suppressing his anger, said, "You were the one who told me an evil spirit had been born. You killed Lin Lan and her son, and you still..." Village Chief Lin Hai trembled with anger.
"Lin Lan's curse before her death has come true. There hasn't been a drop of rain in the village for three whole years. You said you have a solution, but what solution do you have?" The village chief said as he shook Huiyuan's shoulders with both hands.
"I killed the mother and son. Don't forget that it was you who killed the two old ones." Huiyuan said as he slowly opened his eyes.
He stood up, walked straight to the shrine, and opened the gorgeous brocade box.
Suddenly, Huiyuan's eyes widened, and he looked at the empty brocade box and asked angrily, "Where are the things inside?"
Lin Tian, who was on night watch, replied: "I didn't touch anything!"
The village chief looked at Lin Tian's nonchalant look and asked, "Has anyone entered this room in the past few days?"
Lin Tian thought for a moment and said, "Was it your two outer disciples who took it, Master? They were the only two who came in!"
"What outer disciple!" After hearing this, Huiyuan slapped the Buddhist shrine hard, and the shrine broke into pieces.
Seeing this, Lin Tian blankly recounted what happened that day.
After hearing this, Huiyuan quickly walked out of the ancestral hall and checked the formation he had set up three years ago.
"It's bad, it's over..." Huiyuan quickly returned to the ancestral hall, drew a circle with clear water in front of the main hall, sat down, and placed several ritual instruments in front of him. Behind him were the densely packed ancestral tablets of the Lin family ancestral hall, including Lin Wenliang's tablet. They swayed, as if waiting for something.
At night, Xie Liang heard some noise in the yard. It was the sound of several simple coffin lids being lifted onto the ground.
Xie Liang and Xu He looked at each other and stood up from the bed at the same time. They lay down by the door and looked into the yard. They saw that three of the four simple coffins that were originally covered with wooden boards were open, and the door that was originally locked was also open.
"Could he be going to seek revenge on that evil monk? Let's go and take a look." Xie Liang tugged at Xu He's sleeve.
"Um."
The two soon arrived at the ancestral hall and found the door open. The headache-inducing sound of chanting came from inside.
"Oh my god, this sound is like a fly, it gives me a headache!" Xie Liang covered his ears and lay down at the door, looking into the main hall inside, only to see three dark brown skeletons crawling on the ground, as if struggling in pain.
Lying on the ground next to them were two corpses wearing the same clothes as the evil monk. They looked like they were the evil monk's disciples.
The two corpses had deep gashes in their abdomens, their internal organs ripped out, and deep red blood stained the ground. Their white intestines dangled from the village chief's shoulders, while he lay trembling on the ground, mumbling something non-stop.
"They really came for revenge, but it seems they can't defeat them, no..." Xie Liang said as he stretched his neck to look towards the main hall. He saw the magic weapon placed in front of the evil monk.
"It's the mother flute." Xie Liang whispered, "If we keep this scourge, who knows how many people it will harm." Xie Liang moved to the side, picked up a few stones, and threw them into Hui Yuan's mouth that kept opening and closing.
The stone drew a beautiful parabola in the air, and then fell steadily into Huiyuan's wide-open mouth as he recited the scriptures.
"Hit the mark!" Xie Liang said in a low voice.
Hui Yuan was caught off guard and a stone got stuck in his throat. He covered his throat with both hands and started coughing continuously. His eyes were wide open and he stared at where Xie Liang and the others were.
Xie Liang was quick to pull Xu He back behind the door. "That's terrible! They probably didn't notice us!"
The three corpses crawling on the ground were no longer suppressed by the sound of scriptures. They crawled up from the ground, and their five fingers made into claws, grabbing towards Huiyuan's belly.
At this moment, Huiyuan unexpectedly swallowed the stone, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and quickly picked up a female flute in front of him and began to play. One of the corpses took the opportunity to grab a piece of flesh from Huiyuan's leg and put it into his mouth to chew it in a creepy manner.
As the sound of the flute began to play, the tablets behind him began to fall.
Urged by the flute sounds, the tablet on the ground shook more and more rapidly and violently, and a group of translucent ghosts gradually appeared above it. They hung their heads and surrounded the three corpses that were biting Huiyuan.
"It looks like we can't win against them. What should we do?" Xie Liang said anxiously as he looked at the group of translucent ghosts not far away.
"No, the spirit body is translucent, so the power of the mother flute should not be very great." Xu He said softly.
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