Zhang Qiudao closed the door, turned around and raised his index finger: "Shh, hide first." Then he saw Mao Zhen, frowned slightly, but there was no time to ask, so the three of them hid in the closet together. The next moment, the door of the house made a violent "bang bang" sound, and the thing outside the door seemed to stop banging quickly because it didn't hear the terrified screams from the house.
Chen Yang and the other two heard a heavy sound coming from outside after a while of stillness, like the sound of stones rubbing against the ground. Zhang Qiudao grabbed the two and said, "They haven't left yet." The thing outside came back not long after leaving, and this time it opened the door with a key.
The heavy sound of stone friction was particularly clear in the room. Chen Yang saw through the gap in the cabinet that the thing outside was wearing extremely heavy stone-soled shoes. The soles were covered with cinnabar to ward off evil spirits, and every time they rubbed against the ground, they made a harsh sound. The thing was holding a bloody axe in its right hand and was walking towards the cabinet.
Chen Yang put his hand on the long whip at his waist, while Zhang Qiudao held his arm and shook his head slightly at him. The thing outside really bypassed the cabinet, split the table and the bed, and did not find the "living soul" it was looking for, so it turned and left. When it left, it closed the door. After a while, the door suddenly opened again. The thing poked its head in to check, muttered a few words, and then closed the door and continued to check the next house.
Chen Yang opened the cabinet door and looked at the damaged table and bed, as well as the cabinet that had not been checked or damaged. He asked Zhang Qiu, "What is that thing? How did you get into trouble?"
Zhang Qiudao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I accidentally ran into this house while running for my life and offended him. He is a brainless monster. No matter how hard I try to shake him off, he will keep chasing me." He pointed to the damaged table, bed and the intact cabinet, "The bed and table were damaged because I was hiding in them before and was later discovered. So every time he looks for me, he thinks I'm hiding in the table and bed. The cabinet is because I haven't hidden there before, so he doesn't know."
Chen Yang only saw the lower half of the thing, which was estimated to be about two meters tall. Although he didn't see the upper half, he believed Zhang Qiudao's words because the thing closed the door when it came in and left. It didn't use an axe to chop the door when it hit the door, but found a key to open the door. It can be seen that it is different from the ghosts in other houses.
Zhang Qiudao looked at Mao Zhen and asked Chen Yang: "Who is he? A ghost in the tomb?" None of the Taoist priests who had come in his memory looked like Mao Zhen.
Chen Yang: "Mao Zhen, the Heavenly Master who died here more than 20 years ago, Mao Xiaoli's uncle."
Zhang Qiudao's skeptical attitude did not change: "Mao Xiaoli's uncle is in a vegetative state and is still lying in the hospital. He is indeed in a state of soul separation. If you are really Xiaoli's uncle, Mao Xiaoying should recognize you."
"Mao Xiaoying is also in this house?" "I'm still alive?" Chen Yang and Mao Xiaoying asked in unison, the former surprised and the latter delighted. Zhang Qiudao immediately turned his head and looked suspicious: "You are a living soul, you don't even know that you are alive?"
Mao Zhen waved his hand and said, "My soul has been away from my body for more than 20 years. Every year, it is corroded by the resentment in the Yin House and has long lost contact with my body." He sighed and said, "When I first realized that I had lost contact with my body, I thought I was really dead and was depressed for a long time. It was also during that time that the sixth house in the Yin House was built. So I happen to not know the owner of the sixth house and its internal structure, so I can't help you."
Chen Yang pondered for a moment: "Is this house the sixth one?"
Mao Zhen: “Yes.”
Zhang Qiu said, "Leave the room first. We will be discovered by the axe ghost soon. Although he has no brains, he has a dog's nose, so I was chased so closely. Just now, when I entered the room, I used the invisibility charm at the door to hide the Yang energy in the room. But the effect will not last long, and he will soon return and find out that we have been in the cabinet. Leaving now is a good opportunity to go find Mao Xiaoying."
The three of them opened the door and walked out of the corridor. The corridor was so empty that even if they moved lightly, they could still hear their footsteps. Zhang Qiu said, "Let's go to the third floor. There are no ghosts living in the rooms on the fifth floor, but the axe ghost will keep looking for them, which is very annoying. Let's take the elevator, not the stairs. If we take the stairs, the axe ghost will keep following us and there is no way to get rid of it. However, the elevator is at the end of the corridor, and we need to pass by the room where the axe ghost is. Once we walk past it, we will definitely be discovered."
Chen Yang walked forward: "Which room is the axe ghost in?"
Zhang Qiu said, "I don't know." He stopped and pressed against the door: "Listen." After a few seconds, he stood up: "Not here."
Chen Yang and Mao Zhen did the same thing, walking lightly and carefully looking for the room where the axe ghost was. They put their ears close to the door of the room almost close to the elevator, but did not hear any sound. The closer they were to the elevator, the fewer rooms there were, which meant that the probability of the axe ghost being in those rooms was greater.
Chen Yang shook his head at Zhang Qiudao and Mao Zhen, indicating that there was no sound inside. But when he was about to stand up, he caught a glimpse of the peephole on the door from the corner of his eye. He saw something in the peephole suddenly move, and he suddenly realized that it was an eye. The next moment, his body reacted faster than his brain, and he quickly stepped back. A sharp axe suddenly appeared where he had been standing.
It turned out that the axe ghost had discovered Chen Yang and his group, and in anger he had directly hacked the door from the inside, with the axe embedded in the door. Chen Yang shouted, "Run!" As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Qiudao and Mao Zhen had already run towards the elevator, pressed the elevator button and waited for the door to open. The axe ghost had already run out, pestering Chen Yang and not giving him a chance to escape.
The axe cut many deep marks on the wall, and each time it passed through the wall, it would bring up a string of sparks. Along with the sparks, there was also the angry roar of the axe ghost after being fooled. When Zhang Qiudao heard the out-of-tune roar, his face changed: "Oh no."
Mao Zhen was puzzled: "What?"
At this time, the elevator door opened and the two entered. Zhang Qiudao shouted to Chen Yang, "Come in quickly!" Chen Yang ran towards the elevator while avoiding the sharp axe of the Axe Ghost. Halfway through, he suddenly heard a large number of sharp and disgusting sounds near his ears. The sound was like long nails scratching a blackboard or a shovel scratching an iron pot. It was extremely harsh and unpleasant, and it was endless. It was like a large piece of sea water pouring into his ears from all directions. There was nowhere to hide and it was very painful.
Chen Yang tried his best to dodge the axe, and his legs almost went limp because of the disgusting sound. He pulled out the long whip from his waist and wrapped it around the axe ghost's axe. The axe ghost was over two meters tall, and when it blocked the corridor, it was like a small mountain, tall and terrifying. His whole body was shrouded in black, and his face could not be seen clearly. All he knew was that in contrast to his huge body, his palm-sized head looked particularly deformed.
The axe ghost was extremely powerful, and used the force of the axe to pull Chen Yang over, trying to grab his neck and twist off his head. Chen Yang also took advantage of the force to be pulled over, and stuck the Five Thunder Spirit Talisman in the palm of the axe ghost to detonate it, and stepped on the axe ghost's shoulder and lifted his black hood. Suddenly, he found that there was a big hole in the back of the axe ghost's head, and it was empty. There was really no brain marrow or anything like that.
The axe ghost noticed that his black hood had been lifted, and he covered it in panic, ignoring Chen Yang for a moment. Chen Yang took this opportunity to escape, fell to the ground and quickly slid into the elevator, and the elevator door closed. The axe ghost looked back and saw the closed elevator door. He ran over and tried to pry it open, but when he found that he couldn't pry it open, he roared in anger and turned around to walk down the stairs.
The elevator door opened, and the three of them had already reached the third floor. In the corridor on the third floor, the lights flickered strangely. The doors of each room were as narrow as the prison doors of the last century in the West. They were tied with three or four iron chains outside and nailed shut with iron nails. The three of them walked forward and heard harsh sounds coming from the doors on both sides. Sometimes when they passed a door, that door would suddenly make a violent bang. Sometimes they could hear the sound of swallowing saliva or licking something with the tongue from inside.
The evil spirits imprisoned inside all became active when they smelled the breath of living souls.
Mao Zhen said: "Every house has an owner. The fifth floor is where the owner lives and entertains guests. Generally speaking, ghosts are not allowed to live in the rooms on the fifth floor. But there may be some people with bad tastes. For example, the hostess of the nameless house will deliberately arrange guests next to the room where ghosts live. In order to scare new guests, she believes that the brain of the living soul after being frightened will be very active, and it will taste very delicious at this time."
Chen Yang thought about what happened in the room and how the hostess used an iron rod and hammer to chisel open people's heads and suck out the brains. She was indeed a pervert.
Mao Zhen continued, "But the owner of the sixth house is the axe ghost just now. I heard that he has no brains and relies on brute force. Therefore, he is the most loyal and abides by the rules. The fifth floor will never hold evil ghosts, so the source of resentment likes to live in the sixth house the most. Because it is quiet here, and there are no greedy and disgusting evil ghosts."
Hearing this, Zhang Qiudao glanced at Mao Zhen casually, and then said, "Go to the room at the end. The keys to all the rooms on the third floor are hidden there. It is also the only place where no evil spirits live."
Mao Zhen stopped and gave Chen Yang a knowing smile. Chen Yang looked at Zhang Qiudao's back as he walked in front of him, his eyes unclear. Zhang Qiudao turned around and asked, "Why did you stop?"
Chen Yang and Mao Zhen continued to walk forward until they reached the room at the end. Zhang Qiudao opened the door and walked in. Seeing this, Chen Yang asked, "It's not locked?"
Zhang Qiu said, “I was here before, and I didn’t lock the door when I left.”
Chen Yang: "Each Heavenly Master will appear in a different house. You and Mao Xiaoying both appear in the sixth house. So, who of you two will appear in the sixth house first?"
Zhang Qiu said, "We are not."
Chen Yang: "What do you mean?"
"I originally appeared in Wubei Mausoleum, which should be the third house in order. I couldn't see any ghosts in that house, and was pushed into a dark room by a dark hand. Those rooms are tombs. When I was locked in, a group of old ghosts appeared outside and carved the door. It seemed that they regarded the door of the room I was in as a tombstone and the room as a tomb, trying to trap me to death inside. Later, when I ran out, I learned that the name of the house was Wubei Mausoleum, and it was a large mausoleum." Zhang Qiudao closed the door.
Chen Yang observed the small room in front of him. It was also decorated in an antique style, but there were not many decorations. Instead, there were mostly wine bottles, wine jars and torture instruments.
Mao Zhen said, "I know about Wubei Mausoleum. I went there when I first came in. Later, when I was imprisoned, I asked my ghost friends next door. They said that the house in Wubei Mausoleum was built to house ghosts who were buried alive. Those who were buried alive must be skinny and look like a group of old ghosts. They would push people who accidentally broke into the tomb into the tomb and carve a tombstone outside. After the tombstone was carved, the person was completely locked inside."
Zhang Qiu said, "That's true. When I escaped, the word 'tomb' was just one piece of soil away from being complete."
Chen Yang: "It sounds thrilling." He leaned over and held the wine jar, opened the lid, and saw a body inside. He paused, then closed the lid again.
"Hi!" Mao Xiaoying suddenly walked out from behind the wine jar at this moment, scaring everyone.
If it weren't for the fact that Mao Xiaoying was his future brother-in-law, Zhang Qiudao would have wanted to pick up the wine jar and smash it over. Mao Xiaoying also knew that she had scared them, and she explained awkwardly: "I thought you knew I was here."
Chen Yang: "If you don't speak, how can we know?"
"Oh, okay." Mao Xiaoying then stared at Chen Yang and Mao Zhen, and asked Zhang Qiudao: "Brother-in-law, are you sure they are really one of the heavenly masters who came in?"
"Wait." Chen Yang's suspicious eyes wandered between Mao Xiaoying and Zhang Qiudao: "What did you call him?"
Mao Xiaoying: "Brother-in-law."
Chen Yang was surprised: "Xiao Li agreed to be with you?"
Zhang Qiu said: "Not yet. Still pursuing."
Chen Yang: “Huh?”
Mao Xiaoying laughed and said, "It doesn't matter, I will catch up sooner or later. I have confidence in you, brother-in-law. You are very good. I will call you brother-in-law in advance. I will practice a few more times and I won't call you wrong when I go out." He sighed and was very pleased: "Really good, young talent."
Chen Yang: "... Didn't you just meet? How do you know that Zhang Qiudao is so outstanding?" Are you no longer sure? Is it really okay to call him brother-in-law so casually? Mao Xiaoli obviously hasn't agreed to Zhang Qiudao's pursuit yet, why is Mao Xiaoying so impatient? Chen Yang was full of doubts but couldn't ask them out loud, feeling uncomfortable.
Mao Xiaoying said as a matter of course: "The fact that he discovered Xiaoli's good points, fell in love with her, and pursued her proves that my brother-in-law is very good."
Chen Yang: So casual.
Mao Zhen rolled his eyes: "Because most of the women in the Mao family are obsessed with Taoism, harmony or making money, and are not keen on getting married and having children. So most of the women in the Mao family have grown up to be aunts. Every time a girl in the family reaches the age where she can have a boyfriend, the men in the Mao family hope that they can fall in love early."
Mao Xiaoying was surprised: "How did you know?" After a pause, he said: "You look familiar, have I seen you somewhere before?"
Chen Yang: "He is your uncle."
"My uncle is still in the hospital. I go to see him every month. He is not so handsome. He looks like a pretty boy." Mao Xiaoying said seriously. But his words shocked Mao Zhen. He held his face and screamed: "Isn't my body in the world as handsome as it is now? Am I old?"
Chen Yang: "Wake up, you have been locked up for more than 20 years. You are already in your 40s in the world of the living. Not only that, as a vegetative state, you can only absorb liquid nutrients such as glucose, which makes your body skinny. And you haven't moved for more than 20 years, so your body is probably atrophied. The fact that you are not ugly as a ghost does not mean that you have good genes, but that your relatives treat you well."
Mao Zhen was instantly filled with despair and depression: "Why should I live? I might as well die."
Mao Xiaoying: "Is he really my uncle?"
Chen Yang: "According to him, yes. So we came to ask you to see if you recognize him."
"Of course he doesn't know him. He was lying in bed when I was born. By the time I could remember, he was no longer handsome." Hearing the word "not handsome", Mao Zhen completely lost the motivation to live, while Mao Xiaoying continued, "Luckily, our family has the habit of taking family photos every year, and all three generations can be included in the photo. My dad said that my uncle was so conceited when he was alive that he would definitely not be happy to take a photo of himself lying in bed, so every time the photos were taken, the uncle in the developed photos looked like he was young, and they were photoshopped in."
Then Chen Yang saw Mao Xiaoying take out a folded photo from her pocket and was immediately surprised: "You still carry family photos with you?"
"No." Mao Xiaoying said as she unfolded the folded photo: "When I came in, my father told me to see if I could find my uncle. If I could find him, I should bring him back, so he asked me to bring the photo to recognize my relatives."
Chen Yang: "It's really a rainy day preparation."
Mao Xiaoying opened the photo, while Chen Yang and Zhang Qiudao came forward to look at it. Comparing the appearance of Mao Zhen in front of them with that in the photo, they found that they looked exactly the same. Even their smiles were very similar, sunny and cheerful, confident and dazzling. This was once a genius.
After Mao Xiaoying confirmed that the man in front of her was really her uncle, she was very excited and wanted to hug him: "Uncle, let's hug."
Mao Zhen pushed Mao Xiaoying away coldly, not wanting to hug her at all. He had lost interest in recognizing his relatives. The most important thing was that he was hit hard by the fact that he had become old and disabled from his once beautiful appearance. He lost the motivation to continue living in a short period of time.
Mao Xiaoying said: "It's okay, as long as uncle wakes up, he can rehabilitate. If you work hard and successfully rehabilitate, you can restore your figure and appearance. Believe me, uncle, you can still be a handsome uncle even if you are in your forties. Handsome uncles are very popular now."
"Really?" Seeing Chen Yang and Zhang Qiudao nod, Mao Zhen managed to regain some spirit. He said to Mao Xiaoying, "Don't call me uncle. I'm still young. I'm only eighteen."
Mao Xiaoying: "Okay, uncle."
Chen Yang laughed, and the next second everyone heard the sound of stones rubbing against the floor outside the corridor, coming from far away and getting closer. "The axe ghost is coming."
Mao Zhen couldn't stand it anymore and hissed, covering his ears: "The sound of his stone shoes rubbing against the floor is so unpleasant. Why does he wear stones as shoes?"
Chen Yang: "In ancient times, when burying people, some people of high status would use jade to make shoes. If jade was not enough, they would use stones instead. The shoes he wore were stone-soled shoes, which were rarely seen in tombs, because few ghosts could wear such heavy shoes and still walk. Therefore, when such shoes appear in tombs, the tomb owners are usually military generals. The soles of such shoes are painted with cinnabar, which has the effect of kicking ghosts and warding off evil spirits. Now we are all living souls, and we will be hurt if we are kicked by such stone-soled shoes."
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! With the loud noise, everyone knew that the axe ghost was completely enraged. He was not afraid to release the evil ghosts in the small room and split the door to find Chen Yang and his friends. This axe ghost had no brains, so he didn't think that Chen Yang and his friends might not be able to enter those small rooms at all, but this also left them with nowhere to hide.
The door of the small room was smashed open with a hole, and the axe ghost looked inside through the fist-sized hole. Some evil ghosts tried to escape from the small hole, but were either chopped in half by the axe ghost or kicked to death by his stone-soled shoes. In this case, even though they could escape, the evil ghosts did not dare to move.
Chen Yang quietly closed the door that had been opened a crack, turned around and said to the others: "It's not easy to deal with."
Mao Zhen: "If the source of the resentment wakes up, he will definitely choose to live in the sixth house. If we want to find the source of the resentment and seal him, it is best to hide in the sixth house."
Mao Xiaoying: "I heard from President Chen Qingdai that the source of the resentment will take the initiative to find us. Maybe he has already appeared next to a certain Heavenly Master, using an identity that can make us let down our guard."
Mao Zhen's expression was serious. "But if he appears beside us on his own initiative, we will lose the initiative. We must be one step ahead of him, transcend his resentment, and seal the source. By the way, who among you can 'break the city'?"
The so-called "breaking the city" is a ritual for Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to liberate the souls of the dead. In some areas of the world, they will pretend to be Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and invite monks and Taoists to hold a grand "breaking the city" ritual. Because Wuliang Yinzhai is one of the incarnations of the city of wrongful death under the jurisdiction of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the "breaking the city" ritual can be used to liberate the souls of the dead.
Mao Xiaoying's eyes flickered: "We all can."
Hearing this, Chen Yang raised his eyes and nodded: "Yes, all will. When we perform the salvation, all the ghosts of the cemetery will be attracted. They also want to be reincarnated, but we cannot save all the dead souls with our ability alone. Once the resentment of the cemetery is saved and the source is sealed, they will not be able to return to the world of the living and will be trapped in the underworld again, so they will come out to make trouble when we are performing the salvation."
Zhang Qiu said: "So everyone will be saved, just to prevent the dead souls from causing trouble. If one falls, there will be a heavenly master to take his place."
Mao Zhen seemed to be unaware of the temptations of several people. He said as if he had suddenly realized something, "So things have changed now. In our time, only the most outstanding Heavenly Masters could learn the method of 'breaking the city' and performing the salvation. Only one Heavenly Master was needed to perform the salvation. The other Heavenly Masters were responsible for protection. This was also a protective measure to prevent other Heavenly Masters from being lured by ghosts because of their lack of concentration."
Chen Yang: "It's hard to seduce a Heavenly Master nowadays." He said as he looked at Zhang Qiudao and Mao Xiaoying, who both nodded at the same time, confirming that Mao Zhen was not lying. Facing Mao Zhen's doubtful look, Chen Yang smiled harmlessly: "Because we are excellent."
The author has something to say: Breaking the City: In the folk beliefs of southern Fujian and Taiwan, there is a popular ritual called "Breaking the City" which imitates the activity of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to rescue the souls of the dead in the City of the Wrongful Death. "Monks and Taoists are invited to perform it, which can call upon gods and Buddhas to rescue the souls from the City of the Wrongful Death. The wronged souls are waiting for the murderer to arrive, and seeing the suffering of the victims will help to relieve their hatred."