In some remote mountainous areas in the south, women in Miaojiang raise hundreds of poisonous insects in clay pots and menstrual blood, seal them and place them in a damp place, and cast spells. After daytime, the poisonous insects kill each other, and the last one is called Gu. , The spell made with Gu can make the lover wholeheartedly, and can also make the enemy have nightmares, madness, and even death. The woman who raises Gu walks alone, often muttering to the air, and passers-by avoid it.
Nanyang lowers its head, looks for the newly dead fetus, pours corpse oil on puppets, and puts them in the home with human blood as offerings. The baby ghosts imprisoned in it can keep the house prosperous and dazed, but the caster himself will suffer retribution, and there are also signs on the wood. Engraving the horoscope of birth date and cursing others to death.
Incantations flourished in the Ming Dynasty, when the eunuchs in Dongchang rebelled, ministers reported each other, and even dared not speak loudly, and made eye contact every day, and incantations developed and expanded as a branch of Taoism to retaliate against political enemies. A Yan said that the Taoism used to exorcise ghosts and save people is declining day by day, but the sorcery has lasted for a long time. It must be said that it is the tragedy of the development of Taoism.
On Saturday morning, the weather was fine, the sun was shining brightly but not to the point of being sinister, and Qingdai from the distant mountains was silent under the blue sky. A black A4 passed by quickly in the country tree-lined lane, raising smoke and dust all over the place. Startled by the car, the puffed-out white goose flapped its wings and stretched its neck to hide behind the fence.
The car stopped at a small farmyard in the northwest corner of the village.
A tall Shuzi tree in the courtyard stretched out its dense branches, which looked extraordinarily vibrant. In contrast, the whole courtyard seemed strangely decadent. A well was covered by a millstone, and the path paved with stones was long. Weeds were all over the place, the doors of the three adobe houses were closed, and the straw curtains covering the doors and windows were covered with dust.
Everything was very different from a month ago. Lin Yan remembered that the last time he came here, hens and rabbits were raised here, and the sorceress in blue calico was kneeling on the futon with her eyes closed, and the small courtyard was full of the mysterious atmosphere of the countryside. . The current courtyard gives people a barren scene that the owner has been away for many years. In fact, the new tomb in the back mountain has just been built less than a month ago. Rural people firmly believe that the houses in which strangers live are blessed by gods, sheltered from wind and rain for decades, and once the owner dies, the gods will leave with them. Therefore, empty houses often collapse and be damaged within half a year.
"When Xiangu was in the village, the children were sick and had a fever, the adults were bewitched by evil spirits, and young people were looking for her when they got married. They asked for a lot of money, and the calculations were quite accurate." The village chief said with a cigarette between his fingers.
The village head of this village knew Yin Zhou's mother. He heard that Yin Zhou brought people to pay tribute to Er Xiangu, so he specially waited at the entrance of the village to meet them. It took ten minutes to drive from the village head to Er Xiangu's house. They were so smoked that they squinted their eyes, while Lin Yan and the little Taoist turned their heads out of the window every half minute to take a breath. The village head was the only one in the smoky car, but Lin Yan could almost see The complaints of three people and one ghost flew over the roof of the car like a curtain.
If ghosts can also complain.
Lin Yan found a roll of incense from the Taoist priest's bag and lit it, placed the incense burner at the door of the earthen house, and bowed respectfully.
"The fairy aunt had an accident not long after we left last time. She should have come to offer incense long ago. There are so many things at school that have delayed her until now." Lin Yan dusted off the straw curtain, and the accumulated dust fell on his head and face. "Cough, cough, here, is there no one here?"
"Where is someone in charge? You little kids in the city don't know. God told you to trade fuji for food in this business. The fairy girl came out in her twenties. In less than ten years, the man and two sons in the family died, and the only ones left She herself, she didn't even keep it." The village head stuffed the yellow striped shirt into his trousers, "Don't feel embarrassed, every fairy girl in the village can't get rid of this fate."
"Let's go, let's go, don't you guys want to go to the grave to have a look? We don't erect monuments here, we just build a stone platform. As long as the villagers remember, I will take you up there."
The sun was getting hotter and hotter. Several people broke off a branch each and pulled the grass to guard against snakes, while stepping on the rugged path up the mountain. Rural cemeteries are not as neat as urban cemeteries. Instead, each family claims their own. Every time a person dies in the family, they are buried next to each other. A protruding mound of soil and a large stone are the grave mounds. The piles can’t be seen, the grass is full of light blue flowers, and the jujube trees grow in a mess. When walking, you need to pay attention to your steps so as not to disturb the old people.
Er Xiangu's tomb was in a remote corner, the mound was very fresh, except for a crooked wreath, it was no different from the old tomb that had been deserted for many years.
This scene made Lin Yan a little guilty. He burned a large string of paper ingots in front of the grave, pulled them with a branch, and said silently in his heart, Grandma, if you are still alive, please come back and tell us who hurt you. We will give you justice.
The village head took the Yuxi gift from Lin Yan and squatted in the distance to smoke. Lin Yan winked at the little Taoist priest and said softly, "Start?"
A Yan nodded, and took out a crumpled photo from her pocket, which she found in the frame of Er Xiangu's house just now, the fairy in the photo was still very young, wearing a cotton padded jacket and staring blankly ahead.
"It's not a good time now, the sun is too high, and the sun is burning in the mountains, so ghosts may not be able to come out." A Yan said, jumped up and grabbed a jujube tree sticking out above her head, and took the paper from the bag. A soul-calling flag was hung on it, and he patted the dust on his shoulders, "There are photos, and there are bones. Well, brother Lin Yan, I also borrow your birthday horoscope."
Before Lin Yan could ask, the little Taoist had already handed him a dagger. It was different from the mahogany sword he usually used. This one was forged from solid practical metal. The handle of the knife seemed to be old, and the tip of the blade was exposed in the sun. Shining bright white light.
"Holding this for a while may be a little uncomfortable, but don't let go." A Yan instructed: "I, I will read a sentence and you read a sentence."
Yin Zhou burst out laughing, and felt that it was not a good time to laugh, so he quickly turned the laughter into a series of coughs in his throat.
In fact, Ayan never stutters when talking about Taoism and spells, Lin Yan muttered.
Time passed by every minute and every second, and it was almost noon. The jujube trees in the mountain could not block the scorching sun. After standing for a long time, a layer of sweat broke out on the bodies of several people. The village chief couldn't stand the heat and went to a nearby house to drink After tea, Lin Yan stood in front of the grave with a dagger in his hand, wiping the sweat streaming down his cheeks with his shoulders, hoping that this time would end soon.
The little Taoist began to chant, the voice didn't sound like there was any real content, but the slow speed of speech was not difficult to learn, Lin Yan held the handle of the knife, and chant along line by line. Unexpectedly, less than half of the mantra was recited, Lin Yan had already begun to feel something was wrong, the temperature around him began to drop, hot sweat condensed on his back, he kept shivering like a sunstroke, and a cold air came from the knife When the handle came, first the temperature of the palm was absorbed, and then the whole arm, shoulders, from the spine to the back of the head were numb, as if the hand was not holding a dagger, but a knife placed in the bottom shelf of the freezer. year of frozen fish.
The soul-calling banner above the head began to move.
"It's so cold." Lin Yan gasped, and scanned the surrounding silent mountains, "Have you recruited a soul?"
"Okay, I seem to have found her." The little Taoist hesitated, "Huh...strange..."
After chanting two more incantations, the bone-eating cold had spread to his calves. Lin Yan's upper and lower teeth creaked and chattered, and he squeezed out a sound from between his teeth: "Ah...Ayan, are you sure it's okay...it's too cold …”
As the chanting continued, the little Taoist gave him a sideways glance, his eyes were filled with coldness. Lin Yan could only force himself to recite the mantra intermittently, and cold sweat broke out heavily from his forehead.
"Hold on for a while, the soul is bound by something, I want to snatch it back." A Yan gritted his teeth, a piece of talisman paper was pasted heavily towards the blade, and suddenly the cold rushed to his face like a tsunami, and Lin Yan's whole body shuddered. As if being pricked by a very thin steel needle, blue veins popped up on the painful forehead.
"What are you doing, surnamed Yan?!" Seeing Lin Yan's bruised lips, Yin Zhou also felt that something was wrong, "This time, you can't be pulled down, and people can't have accidents. Lin Zi, that ghost who followed you!"
"It's almost here, don't let go!" The little Taoist's face flushed sickly, and he quickly chanted the mantra, and the soul-calling banner above his head was blown tighter and tighter by the wind, and there was a crisp crackling sound, and the whole piece was covered with The tasseled cloth was torn in half horizontally, and it fluttered down on the old grave in the distance.
"No, it's okay... Ayan, hurry up..." Lin Yan was so cold that he couldn't control his tongue. He tried to move the hand holding the dagger to it, but found that the skin had been frozen into the metal and it was difficult to separate. With his hands extending to his calves, Lin Yan staggered backwards and was stepping on the slope of the grave, staggering and about to fall backwards.
A force supported his back, and Xiao Yu's voice sounded at the right time, deep but not allowing him to resist: "Let go."
Xiao Yu's hand covered the back of Lin Yan's hand. Compared to the temperature of the dagger, his palm was actually warmer, which just rightly blocked the cold air pouring into Lin Yan's arm. A Yan's expression changed instantly, and he shouted loudly. : "Stay away!"
"I'm fucking fighting with you..." Lin Yan closed his eyes suddenly, and pressed his palm against the blade. Suddenly, the piercing coldness pierced his palm to his forearm like ten thousand steel needles. At the same time, the coldness behind him It swelled in an instant, and when he opened his eyes again, Er Xiangu did not appear. On the contrary, Xiao Yu used a completely irresistible force to break Lin Yan's wrist, and forcibly pulled the sharp weapon used to exorcise ghosts from his hands. Picked it out.
The moment Lin Yan let go of the dagger, it was as if he was fished out of ice and thrown into the fire. However, he didn't care about his body's reaction. Lin Yan and Yin Zhou, who was anxious at the side, were both stunned by what happened the next moment. They saw Xiao Yu approaching Ayan step by step with a dagger in his hand, his extremely cold eyes killing him. There was a lot of concern, and when the palm of the knife came into contact with the handle, there was a scorching sound of flesh, but he didn't care at all, grabbed Ayan's collar with one hand, and stabbed the dagger hard at his left eye with the other hand!
Lin Yan's brain exploded, he subconsciously rushed over to hug Xiao Yu's waist, and dragged him back with all his strength, but something was wrong with the little Taoist priest, his usual cowardice disappeared, and his eyes were burned with anger Flushing red, he turned over and broke free, and quickly took out a handful of cinnabar and sprinkled it towards Xiao Yu, his voice changed its tone because of the trembling: "An evil animal is an evil animal, you must not be kept!"
"What the hell is going on!" Yin Zhou couldn't see Xiao Yu, but only saw the little Taoist priest rolling on the ground alone to avoid a shiny dagger. Shout at Yin Zhou: "How the hell do I know, you hold Ayan back!"
He had never seen Xiao Yu so angry before. The noon sun was harsh and glaring, the ghost's whole body exuded a faint black aura, his knuckles were protruding, and his claw-like dark fingers grabbed the back of the little Taoist priest's head. Lin Yan thought that I saw it wrong, and closed my eyes hard, but the scene was still reflected on his eyelids. The place where the ghost was standing was a mass of black and blue, while the position of the person was a mass of jumping orange flames, entangled together, that The orange-yellow flame gradually fades away...
Later he realized that people have yang energy and ghosts have yin energy. When he is extremely concentrated, he can directly perceive the two ends of yin and yang without being confused by vision. A door of profound art that has been closed for a long time.
But the situation at that time was extremely dangerous, Xiao Yu strangled Ayan's neck with one hand, the dagger cut inch by inch into the little Taoist's blocking arm, and the hand holding the knife came into contact with the evil blade that was designed to subdue evil spirits, and it was roasted until it turned black and yellow, Ayan's face turned purple, and her eyeballs bulged out. Lin Yan didn't dare to hesitate for another moment, and rushed over to protect Ayan behind him. With a crisp clang, the dagger fell to the ground.
The little Taoist broke free from the clutches of the ghost, clutching the bleeding wound and moaning intermittently: "Brother Lin Yan... Fairy... Fairy's ghost is trapped... I can't recruit..."
Lin Yan supported the little Taoist priest's shoulders, his eyes were shining, deer-like weak eyes were completely different from those when he was casting a spell. "Curse...be careful." A Yan whispered, before Lin Yan asked what was going on, his thin body couldn't bear the excessive physical exertion, and he rolled his eyes and passed out.
Lin Yan and Yin Zhou looked at each other in blank dismay, both stunned by the inexplicable ending and speechless.