The gloomy realm was deathly silent; even our breathing was extremely faint. Only the low sobs of the wet woman and the faint laughter of the children echoed in the air.
Using the desire to dispel the vengeful spirits to buy time to escape may seem like an opportunity, but in reality, it is a perilous path fraught with danger!
"Why do we have to do this?" Daoist Zhang Qingxiao suddenly asked, his sharp gaze fixed on the red veil.
"If you can even set up a Yin Realm, resolving these obsessions is definitely not difficult for you. What exactly is your purpose?"
I'm also very puzzled. If all we can do is hide, there's no need for us to stay here.
Seven days later, the skinner will still be chasing us. Moreover, if we only stay for three days, we will exhaust our yang energy and leave, which will make the situation even worse. It is better to leave now.
The ghost bride turned her veil towards me, and I could feel her cold gaze piercing through the blood-scarred red silk and landing on my face.
"You used the Soul Yin Skin Technique, which damaged your soul imprint. It is difficult to repair using ordinary methods. However, if you can successfully resolve the obsessions of these three vengeful spirits and use the merit of their salvation to nourish yourself, perhaps your remaining soul can still be saved."
My heart skipped a beat. She was showing me a way to repair my soul imprint.
"Why did you help me?" I couldn't help but ask.
Now I understand what it means to hide in the Yin Realm for seven days, to offer Yin items in exchange for time to hide, and to convert the souls of the dead to obtain a wisp of Yin energy to stay in this place.
This is all just a smokescreen.
The ghost bride remained silent for a moment.
The gray-white mist in the Yin Realm seemed to have thickened, making her figure somewhat blurry.
Finally, her cool voice resonated in my heart.
"It wasn't me who helped you, it was you who helped yourself."
I'll help myself?
Does it mean I would rather peel off my own human skin than hand over the human skin sachet?
I wanted to ask more questions, but she didn't give me the chance.
With a wave of her red sleeve, the outlines of the three vengeful spirits suddenly became clear, drifting from the edge of the underworld to a spot not far in front of us.
At the same time, the ghost bride's figure began to fade, and along with the paper maids and the bridal sedan chair, they gradually blended into the gray-white mist, like a faded ink painting.
"Remember, three days is the limit!" Her last voice came from all directions, "The first one, start with the old man, his obsession is the weakest, and also... the one that hurts the most."
As soon as she finished speaking, she vanished completely, leaving only the five of us and the three vengeful spirits waiting quietly in the underworld.
The pale light shone on the old man's pale green oil lamp, reflecting the livid spots on his face that seemed to still be writhing.
Honestly, the old man's lividity didn't look as bad as Old Knife's; at least there was no pus oozing out.
But I could tell at a glance that this old man had been dead for who knows how long; he was truly dead!
But Lao Dao, at least to us insiders, still seems like a living person.
The wet woman's sobs grew clearer, and the puddle at her feet continued to expand.
The child in red was still squatting there, playing something, seemingly all alone—no, all alone, like a ghost—having a great time.
Luo Tianhe took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
"How can we resolve our obsession with these three things? Master, do you have a solution?"
Knowing that converting this ghost could help me repair my soul, Luo Tianhe is now taking it seriously.
Master Zhang Qingxiao walked up to the old man holding the lamp and observed him carefully.
The old man kept his head down, showing no reaction to his approach, and simply held the green oil lamp steadily in his hands.
“The obsessions of vengeful spirits are often related to the cause of death or the things they cared about most in life.” The Taoist priest answered Luo Tianhe’s question while observing. “To resolve them, we must first understand what their obsessions are, but this requires communication.”
"That's the problem. How can we, a bunch of living people, communicate with ghosts?" Li Huai said, feeling distressed and somewhat helpless.
"There are many methods, such as summoning the soul or entering a dream. Both the cobbler and the Taoist priest have similar methods."
I nodded. The Taoist priest was right. My grandfather had indeed taught me a method called "Guiding the Soul and Asking Questions."
Special incense and talismans can be used to communicate with the remnant soul to a limited extent, but this is only for those who have recently died and whose souls are still intact.
The three beings before us are clearly old souls, filled with deep resentment, and pose a great risk.
But we had no other choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.
“I need incense, talisman paper, cinnabar, and blood,” I said.
Luo Tianhe immediately began rummaging through his backpack and found a small bundle of incense sticks.
What a coincidence! If we hadn't agreed last time that we would make offerings to these wandering ghosts and spirits this time, we wouldn't have thought of bringing incense.
It just goes to show that good people get good rewards.
"I have yellow talismans," Master Zhang Qingxiao said, taking a small box of cinnabar from his cloth bag and handing it to me.
As for the blood, there's no need to do it. I gave a wry smile and dipped my hand on my back.
Li Huai grinned, "A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. At least now we don't have to bleed money out of us."
Listening to his nonsense, I immediately glared at him angrily:
"Get lost! You should be enjoying this blessing!"
After saying that, I couldn't be bothered to pay him any more attention. I dipped my hand in the blood-red cinnabar and drew a complicated talisman for communicating with the spirits on the yellow paper. Then I lit three incense sticks.
The smoke curled upwards, standing out clearly in the gloomy, gray air.
The three vengeful spirits twitched their noses, and then the three lit incense sticks quickly disappeared.
Humans eat, ghosts inhale the fragrance.
I need to ask quickly, otherwise they'll have already inhaled all the incense.
I took the three incense sticks and went to the old man.
This time he reacted. The moment I got next to him, his body trembled slightly, and he slowly raised his head.
I couldn't help but shiver.
The old man's entire face was covered with dark brown lividity, his eye sockets were sunken, his eyes were cloudy and white, but there was a strange, ambiguous smile on his lips.
As he looked at me, my lips moved, but my voice was incredibly dry, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.
"The light must not go out, it must not go out..."
His voice echoed in the gloom, carrying a deep-seated obsession.
"Why can't it be destroyed?" I tried to keep my voice steady and asked the question according to the method of guiding the soul, following his obsession.
"If the lights go out, she won't be able to find her way home. If she can't find her way home, she won't be able to come back..."
The old man murmured, as if liquid was seeping from his cloudy eyes—not tears, but yellow bodily fluid.
"Who is she?" I asked.
The old man suddenly became agitated; his hands, holding the oil lamp, began to tremble, and the green flame flickered violently, as if it might go out at any moment.
"My little girl is lost! I'm lighting a lamp so she can find me if she looks at it! She can't go out, she absolutely can't go out!"
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