Although he never mentioned it, I know that it has always been a thorn in his side.
After all, the ant was his good brother. Although he didn't do it on purpose, it indirectly damaged his body.
I saw Tianhe's hands gripping the steering wheel; due to excessive force, the veins were bulging and the joints were white.
I sat in the passenger seat, clutching the human skin sachet in my hand.
It was bulging now, a stark contrast to its shriveled appearance when I first got it.
The closer I got to this mass grave, the more I felt that the human skin sachet seemed to come alive.
Every time my fingers brush against that cool, smooth surface, I can feel a faint, almost imperceptible pulsation emanating from it, as if something is breathing inside.
In the back seat, Master Zhang Jinqiao remained with his eyes closed, meditating, with a dark blue cloth bag lying across his body.
Even as he was nearing his destination, he remained expressionless.
Li Huai huddled in the corner, glancing out the window every now and then, his face pale.
I looked up and could already see mounds of varying heights.
"We've arrived at the mass grave."
I took a deep breath.
Upon hearing this, Daoist Zhang Qingxiao finally opened his eyes.
The instant he opened his eyes, I seemed to see a glint of light flash across them.
"Okay, we've finally arrived."
The Taoist priest stretched his limbs, seemingly preparing for a tough battle.
I couldn't help but say:
“Master, if that ghost Taoist priest doesn’t actively cause trouble, we can just ignore him, right? We can give the human skin sachet to the ghost bride, let Old Knife rescue her, and then we can retreat.”
"Chen Yan, we've already come all this way. Wouldn't it be a waste of time if that ghostly Taoist priest came all this way?"
Master Zhang Qingxiao didn't take it seriously and insisted on having a duel with the ghostly Taoist.
Since we're already here...
Upon hearing that familiar phrase, I couldn't help but twitch my lips.
I've always said that before, and Li Huai and Luo Tianhe both deeply resent it.
Now I finally understand how offensive it is to say those words.
As we spoke, the car had already entered the outer perimeter of the mass grave. Luo Tianhe turned off the van, removed the keys, and we got out in the dim light.
As soon as we got out of the car, we realized that the night wind was biting, as if it could crack a person's bones, and the air was filled with the smell of rotting soil and withered leaves.
“That’s it.” I pointed to a tall tomb in the northeast corner. “Old Dao and my Thunderstrike Sword are both there.”
Upon hearing this, Master Zhang Qingxiao took out an ancient compass from his cloth bag and held it in his palm.
As soon as the compass was taken out, it began to spin wildly, eventually trembling as it pointed towards a tall locust tree in the distance.
"The markings here are even stronger than I expected." The Taoist priest frowned. "Be careful, follow me."
I think that tall locust tree, which resembles the element, is exceptionally tall, as if it violates the laws of biology, with its branches reaching towards the night sky like ghostly claws.
Ignorance is bliss. Last time Luo Tianhe and I came here, we didn't notice anything unusual.
He was quite carefree, and in the end, he chose a grave and buried Old Dao there.
If we hadn't encountered the ghost bride and the ghost Taoist priest, we might have thought this was just an ordinary mass grave, and acted even more recklessly.
Luo Tianhe carried a large cloth bag he had prepared beforehand, filled with paper money, and scattered it as he walked.
This is what we agreed on last time.
Moreover, this place is full of wandering ghosts, and almost no one burns paper money or offers incense here, so our actions can be considered as a matter of courtesy.
Master Zhang Qingxiao glanced at our actions, clenched his fingers as if calculating something, but ultimately did not stop us.
The soil beneath our feet was soft and slippery, and we sank deep with every step. The surroundings were eerily quiet; we couldn't hear a single insect chirping, only the sounds of our breathing and footsteps.
However, perhaps because of the burning of paper money, we traveled peacefully without encountering a single wandering ghost blocking our way.
When we looked back, we saw that although we had scattered paper money all the way, not a single piece was left on the ground.
We couldn't help but shudder; the ghosts here seemed desperate for money.
Something's not right.
When they were still more than 20 meters away from the tomb, the Taoist priest suddenly raised his hand to signal them to stop and said in a low voice.
I followed his gaze and my heart sank.
In front of the grave, a white candle had been lit at some point. The candle burned quietly, but the flame was a ghostly green, like a will-o'-the-wisp.
My eyes widened in surprise. We had been looking this way the whole time, but we hadn't seen any candles!
Now, looking back at the paper money along the way, this candle appeared.
As we approached, we discovered that, in the light of the white candle, a line of writing appeared, made of a dark red liquid:
"Skin is skin, flesh is flesh, and soul is soul."
The handwriting was crooked and twisted, as if it were written with blood from fingertips, and it was slowly wriggling, as if it were alive.
I don't understand, what does this mean?
Meanwhile, Master Zhang Qingxiao's expression grew increasingly solemn.
"Are you sure you buried Old Knife in this tomb?"
Luo Tianhe and I nodded at the same time. This place is quite conspicuous. We chose this place because we were afraid of remembering the wrong place.
"Hehe, perhaps this is fate. We can't avoid him. This is the skinner's spell. He is marking this graveyard and declaring ownership."
Luo Tianhe immediately became anxious: "That old knife..."
“He must be being watched, after all, he’s the only living person here, and he’s more conspicuous than a torch in this graveyard.”
The Taoist priest spoke slowly, as if he had expected this.
Before the Taoist priest could finish speaking, the tomb suddenly trembled, and then a crack appeared in the middle. Instantly, an extremely cold airflow surged out from the ground, carrying a strong stench of decay.
Then a pale hand emerged from the crack, its fingers stiffly bent, its skin covered in black lividity.
Then came the second hand, which braced itself against the edge of the crevice, pushing outwards as if trying to climb out.
This bizarre scene terrified Li Huai, who turned pale and retreated repeatedly.
This reminds me of Plants vs. Zombies, a game I played as a child.
And those two hands clearly belonged to Lao Dao!
We still remember the lividity on his hands; although it was black, it was oozing yellow pus.
"Old Dao!"
Luo Tianhe tried to rush over, but was pulled back by the Taoist priest.
"Don't go over there! Are you out of your mind?!"
The Taoist priest shouted, then quickly grabbed a handful of cinnabar from his cloth bag and sprinkled it around.
The cinnabar exploded into tiny sparks in the air, as if the writhing characters had been scorched.
However, the things inside the tomb had completely crawled out.
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