Song Shichang walked into the Ju'an Pavilion and subconsciously glanced at the well in the yard. He couldn't help but recall the evil spirits in the well. Then he looked at the trunk of the jujube tree in the yard.
"This jujube tree gathers spiritual energy all year round and is surrounded by spiritual wind, which can cleanse the turbid air. Your Ju'an Pavilion is really not simple."
Ji Yuan closed the gate and replied with a smile.
"It is this jujube tree that is not simple, not my Ju'an Pavilion. Please take a seat, Old City God. You and I are just in a perfect position to invite the stars and the moon to drink together."
"Haha, Mr. Ji has invited me, so I dare not disobey!"
Song Shichang stood in front of the stone table, waiting for Ji Yuan to close the door and come back, and then he naturally sat down at the table with Ji Yuan. The latter had already placed the wine cups for Song Shichang and poured a glass of rich-colored Huadiao wine.
"City God Song, please come in!" "Mr. Ji, please come in!"
After drinking a glass together, Song Shichang's slight nervousness disappeared. Ji Yuan was still the same Ji Yuan, but he himself was a little obsessed.
"Ning'an County has been peaceful for decades. In addition to the stability of the living world, the care of the underworld is also crucial. The old city god also plays a great role."
"That's not true. Yang alone cannot make anything, and Yin alone cannot make anything. They always complement each other."
The old city god said modestly and picked up a piece of cake to taste it.
Ji Yuan was not quite sure why the old City God came to visit today. After all, he was not a mortal and had a different concept of time. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t seen him for more than ten or twenty years. But he was not in a hurry. He would always state his purpose anyway. Who knows, he might just come to visit.
The two chatted casually for a while. Song Shichang talked about the not-so-big changes in Ning'an County, while Ji Yuan talked about some things he had seen and heard that were not too exaggerated.
Before he knew it, it was almost midnight. Song Shichang looked up at the stars in the sky and could vaguely feel the power of the stars descending. In a trance, he even felt that there was a little starlight surrounding Ji Yuan's body, but when he used his magic eyes to take a closer look, there was nothing special.
"Mr. Ji, my Ning'an County is a remote place. As the city god of the county, I have a narrow vision and little knowledge. I know very little about the vastness of the world. I have only seen a small part of its splendor. You are the most powerful person I know."
Ji Yuan did not refute this. There was no need to be humble because this was indeed the fact.
"Song came here this time because he actually wanted to ask Mr. Ji a question."
"City God Song, please speak."
"Um!"
Song Shichang nodded and spoke slowly.
"I, Song Shichang, have been the City God of Ning'an County for quite some time. I was lucky enough to survive the fall of the previous dynasty. It has been more than three hundred years now. Although my cultivation is shallow, I am content with what I have. Protecting the yin and yang of Ning'an County is my wish."
"Lord City God is so righteous!"
Ji Yuan bowed his hands to show his respect. Song Shichang did not dare to accept the gift, and immediately responded with courtesy the moment Ji Yuan bowed his hands.
"Sir, you are too kind. This is the job of the City God. I am not saying this to show how great I am. I am just talking about the years. I have been the City God for hundreds of years and have witnessed the birth and death of countless people, as well as the disappearance of countless ghosts. Gradually, I have begun to have doubts in my heart."
Song Shichang looked at Ji Yuan's increasingly serious expression, organized his words and continued speaking.
"After death, ordinary people go to the underworld. With family members offering sacrifices to them, they can spend their life in peace. Without family members to take care of them, it will be a little desolate. However, unless there are special circumstances, the soul will dissipate sooner or later. When the underworld life ends, the spirit will disappear first and then the three souls will be separated. The human soul will be annihilated, and the earthly soul and heavenly soul will enter the earth and ascend to heaven, and disappear in heaven and earth."
"Um."
Ji Yuan nodded in response to show that he was listening. In fact, he listened very seriously. Compared with this kind of professional knowledge, he was definitely not as good as the old City God Song Shichang.
Song Shichang did not ask the question he wanted to ask directly. Instead, he told Ji Yuan about the records of the underworld in detail, using some representative souls over the years as examples.
Among them were evil people, good people, ordinary people, and even quite a few ghosts and officials who ultimately could not survive for long.
It was also the first time that Ji Yuan had such a detailed conversation with the same underworld ghosts about ordinary souls in the underworld. Although people died, the underworld was still a society, and they were still very dependent on the world of the living, but their final destination was still the same.
After listening for a long time, Ji Yuan was not impatient at all. After listening for a long time, he could even vaguely sense the question that the old city god wanted to ask.
"The soul disappears like a lamp goes out. When the human soul goes out, the heavenly and earthly souls are always connected to each other. It is normal for them to ascend to heaven and descend to earth. However, Song accidentally discovered that at some point, the heavenly soul can carry the remaining breath of the human soul with it!"
Ji Yuan sat upright and interrupted for the first time.
"May I ask the old city god, how many times have you seen this kind of thing?"
Song Shichang recalled and said.
"This kind of thing is extremely rare. Since I accidentally discovered it more than 200 years ago, Song has been paying attention to the disappearance of ghosts in the underworld. After seeing it again, I even sent two chief officers to stay in the ghost town to monitor this matter. Including the first time, there have been a total of seven times in more than 200 years. Of course, we dare not say that we have missed it."
"Seven times."
Ji Yuan frowned and thought, who knows how many people and ghosts must have died in the past two hundred years. With such a huge base number, and only seven cases were found under the careful observation of the underworld, which shows that this phenomenon is really very, very rare.
“In fact, there is more to it than that.”
Song Shichang drank the wine in the glass again. The wine absorbed the water vapor and dissipated. He seemed to be a little drunk, and then he continued speaking.
"About six years ago, Song met a man in the Chenghuang Temple."
"A cultivator?"
When Ji Yuan asked this, Song Shichang shook his head in response.
"No, he is just a mortal, a mercenary businessman, and he seeks wealth. He is nothing special. But he is similar to a special soul that disappeared decades ago..."
Song Shichang paused and looked at Ji Yuan, and Ji Yuan had already guessed it.
Sure enough, what Song Shichang said next was within Ji Yuan's expectations.
"They are actually 80% similar. In other words, if it weren't for the age difference, the similarity would probably be 100%!"
People have both facial features and soul features. The former can be changed by disguise, or a son may resemble his father, so it is not surprising that they look alike. However, the soul feature is unique and is one of the ways that ghosts and gods often use to observe people. It is somewhat similar to the art of looking at qi without the prediction and deliberation.
Song Shichang recalled his initial shock, but he did not show much surprise on Ji Yuan's face. He was slightly stunned, thinking that perhaps Mr. Ji really knew.
"That merchant was staying at an inn in the county town. To verify this, I appeared in his dream that night and confirmed that he had no blood relationship with the dead ghost. He was a person from Kyoto who came to Ning'an County to collect the documents. However, this soul... This incident shocked me greatly. Song also took the opportunity to ask the Great City God of Desheng Prefecture, but he didn't know either."
Song Shichang looked at Ji Yuan, who had been listening quietly without showing much surprise.
"Mr. Ji is a person with great supernatural powers. When he woke up from his dream, he didn't know how many years had passed. Can you help me solve this problem?"
There is no such thing as reincarnation in this world, but it does exist. In fact, if one's cultivation reaches a certain level, it is possible to do such things, but it is also extremely difficult and dangerous, not to mention ordinary ghosts.
So Ji Yuan was actually not as calm as he seemed on the surface. It was just that he had heard so many things about reincarnation in his previous life that he had some resistance to it.
After thinking for a while, Ji Yuan considered it over and over again before speaking.
"I wonder if Old City God Song has ever heard of the two types of water movement associated with the dragon family?"
"Water? Two kinds?"
Song Shichang frowned.
"If a dragon has cultivated to the point where it wants to transform into a dragon, it will find the right waterway and the right time, and it will create a storm and run away. This is called running away. There is another way, but I don't know."
"Yeah, that's right. The other one can barely be considered a secret of the dragon clan. Haha, of course, it's not a secret that must be kept secret."
Ji Yuan smiled and explained.
"In fact, when a dragon is about to die, most of them will not want their dragon soul to become a ghost. Most of the dragons and dragons will choose to have the last escape in their lives, transforming their own essence and vitality into a ghost and leaving..."
Ji Yuan combined the experience of seeing the black dragon escape the water that year and the discussion with Lao Long on the matter, and told Song Shichang in detail. The latter also looked enlightened.
"So, if a dragon has really good luck and talent, it is still possible for it to reappear in the future. Although the dragon's body may be different, it will retain its original personality and most of its memories. It can be considered a reincarnation."
"Reincarnate and rebuild, reincarnate and rebuild..."
Song Shichang murmured and repeated this new term twice, and Ji Yuan continued speaking.
"In fact, those with high cultivation levels may have more heavenly means. I won't speculate about the immortals, but some demons are good at this. They call it being possessed by the devil, but in fact only some situations are suitable for this name, and another small part... In fact, it should be called 'taking over'."
Although Song Shichang was hearing the two words that Ji Yuan threw out for the first time, they were very concise and to the point. Combined with the content of the preface, he could almost understand what they meant at once.
"So what I saw is similar to this?"
"Well, if the souls are really similar to this extent, then it can indeed be considered reincarnation."
Ji Yuan did not mention "reincarnation" because this is an accidental event, while reincarnation is an event that requires active choice.
Song Shichang had been puzzled by this matter for a long time. After hearing Ji Yuan's explanation, he realized that it was a "normal phenomenon."
"Then can those ghosts whose heavenly souls take along the aura of human souls and dissolve into the world together have an afterlife?"
Ji Yuan shook his head.
"Dragons and dragons can only fight for a chance with their lifelong cultivation. Do you think that an ordinary ghost who has run out of energy and soul will have a chance?"
Song Shichang suddenly realized.
"That's right, thank you Mr. Ji for clearing up my confusion."
After getting Jiyuan's answer, Song Shichang felt much more comfortable, and the subsequent conversation became casual and leisurely.
Before dawn, the old city god stood up and prepared to leave, and Ji Yuan saw him off to the door.
The two sides greeted each other and said goodbye, but Ji Yuan stood in front of the courtyard gate in deep thought until he could no longer see the old city god's back.
A ghost who has run out of energy, relying on a wisp of soul energy from the remaining villagers, can return to heaven with his soul and have an afterlife? This is not a story about the six reincarnations in the previous life. The difficulties and dangers involved are definitely extraordinary. Even dragons and dragons only have a slight chance, let alone human ghosts.