【Texture】(107, 108)

page views:1 Publication date:2023-03-23

Word Count: 16139
Author: Wandering Traveler
First published on March 10, 2016
Chapter 107
After I knocked lightly on the door six times as agreed, Li Jing's head popped out from the wall beside the door
, then he jumped over the wall and into the courtyard.
After he came in, he took off his canvas backpack and
took out the peach wood sword, talismans, incense burner, and other magical artifacts he carried for exorcising demons. At the same time, he asked with some concern,
"Uncle Yan, even if we know this house is shrouded in yin energy, is it appropriate for us to come in and deal with it like this?
If the owner comes back, they might mistake us for thieves and hand us over to the police."
As he spoke, he handed me a pack of cigarettes.
I took the cigarettes, then took out some money from my wallet and gave him an affirmative answer.
"Don't worry, even if the lady of the house comes back and bumps into us, she won't dare call the police. As for the reason, you
'll find out yourself by going into the inner room on the left side of the main house..."
Afraid of wasting time, I hadn't
explained the specifics of what happened in the house to the young man during my previous call to Li Jing for help. I only told him that the house was shrouded in malevolent energy and needed to be
dispelled through ritual. I asked him to bring the necessary ritual implements and talismans.
Halfway there, because I was waiting in the yard and quickly ran out of cigarettes, I sent him
a text message asking him to buy some. So, in reality, young Li Jing still didn't know what had happened to me or
what had transpired in the yard.
Li Jing noticed me busy unpacking cigarettes to satisfy my craving, so he didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he turned and removed
the cloth wrapping from the rectangular bundle he was carrying on his back, which was almost as long as he was tall.
When he unwrapped the cloth halfway, revealing most of the contents, I realized that the young man
was carrying a bow and arrows…
Li Jing carefully draped the quiver and bow over his shoulders, then followed my
instructions to enter the room to the left of the main house to investigate. He then emerged with a grave expression.
“Too cruel…so incredibly cruel! Such a young child…how could he do this…”
Although young, Li Jing, as a demon hunter, had experienced many terrible and horrific things.
Therefore, he showed no fear of what he saw; instead, he displayed anger and heartache
.
I exhaled a long puff of smoke and asked him uncertainly, “Judging from the
way the little girl died and the red clothes she was wearing, I suspect someone used her life to perform some kind of
evil life-span-transferring magic. However, I’ve only heard Old Han mention this kind of magic before.
I can’t be sure if it’s true. What do you think?”
Li Jing nodded, agreeing with my assessment.
"It must be a ghostly life-shifting spell. I checked the ground and the roof beams; there were traces of wax and cinnabar on the ground
, and smoke marks on the roof beams. Although I don't know much about the specific casting process of this kind of evil magic
, such a young child, besides her lifespan, probably wouldn't have anything that would attract someone's attention
..."
At this point, Li Jing lowered his head, and I noticed that his eyes were a little red.
I shook my head. Li Jing was young after all; although he was very brave, his ability to regulate his emotions was limited.
Seeing the little girl die tragically, driven by sympathy, he ultimately couldn't control his emotions.
Li Jing himself realized this, and after blowing his nose, he asked me, "Then, Uncle Yan
, what should we do next? Should we call the police to come and investigate the scene and collect the little girl's body?"
I shook my head with a wry smile. "If the police come, do you think we can explain ourselves clearly? So,
forget about notifying the police. The neighbors will probably find out about the problem in this yard sooner or later. Let
them notify the police to handle the legal aftermath. We two here should just focus on
solving our own problems."
Li Jing nodded, agreeing with my statement. However, I could also see from his matter-of-fact expression that
this kid lacked his own opinions. But thinking about it, it wasn't surprising. He had always followed Wang
Lie and Han Zhe, and the decisions were made by these uncles like Wang Lie and Han Zhe.
He was just a follower. Even now, with me, he still habitually decided to
act according to my "Uncle Yan's" instructions.
"I called you here mainly to have you find a way to dispel the malevolent energy shrouding this courtyard, lest it continue to
spread and affect the entire village. Also, I checked the house, and the malevolent energy seems to
be emanating from the ground beneath the master bedroom on the right side of the main house. I plan to pry open the door to that bedroom floor and
check what's underneath. If there are any evil spirits lurking there, try to eliminate or drive them away.
If it's for some other reason, we'll have to find a way to seal it off, cutting off the channel through which the malevolent energy flows out
..."
Li Jing nodded repeatedly at my plan and arrangements, and then we quickly got to work, taking
various magical implements and beginning to inscribe magic circles around the courtyard, setting up incense burners and talismans.
Exorcism rituals are considered basic skills in Wang Lie's line of work. Although I was only a novice
, I had learned some of the general methods from Wang Lie and Han Zhe. Moreover, Li Jing was
more proficient in these rituals than I was. So, in about ten minutes, the two of us
set up several magical arrays in the courtyard to dispel the evil spirits.
After that, I had Li Jing begin chanting incantations and performing the dispelling ritual in front of the incense burner and candlesticks placed in the center of the courtyard
. At the same time, I instructed him to watch over Xu Yue, who was lying on the stone table. I then took a sickle and went into the
main bedroom on the right side of the inner room to check the ground.
After painstakingly prying open the first few bricks with the sickle, the rest of the work became much easier. Before long,
a dark hole, about a foot square, large enough for a person to pass through, was revealed in the ground.
Within my Crimson Lotus Eye's vision, wisps of black, malevolent energy emanated from the area.
I frowned and went to the small room opposite the master bedroom. Just as I had expected,
the layout of the house, the purpose of each room, and the items inside were exactly
the same as in my old house in Qingyuan Town. In a drawer in this room, I found a spare flashlight.
By the light of the flashlight, I could see the situation inside the dark hole...
The hole was about two meters high, and at the bottom, I could see a narrow passage
extending diagonally downwards. The floor of the passage was even paved with bricks,
consistent with what I had seen using my Crimson Lotus Eye's X-ray vision.
I sat on the ground, smoking and pondering.
The passage seemed very long, and I had no idea where it led. A wise man avoids dangerous places, and I
hesitated about whether to really go in and explore. After all, I was almost forty years old, and I had long lost
the curiosity of a young man. When considering problems, safety was my top priority.
Just as I was hesitating, Li Jing entered the room carrying a bow and arrows, and immediately noticed
the dark hole exposed in the floor after the cleaning.
"Uncle Yan, is this where the Yin energy came from?"
I nodded. At the same time, I asked him, "Is the ritual complete? How well did the dispelling go?"
"Complete. Except for a small amount of residue that needs time to degrade and erode, most of it has been
neutralized by the power of the talismans and magic array. As long as it doesn't increase further, it shouldn't cause any harm here."
As Li Jing spoke, he untied the longbow from his back and was about to put it into the hole...
"What are you doing?"
I immediately stopped him.
"With the bow on my back, I can't go down. Only by taking it off and putting the bow in first can I go down..." Li
Jing blinked, explaining somewhat inexplicably.
"Did I say I was going to go in?" I frowned and looked at him.
"But...but if we don't go down and block it at the source, all the previous rituals will have been for nothing! Before long,
the yin energy that's been surfacing will just gather again..."
Li Jing looked puzzled.
I pursed my lips and said to him, "This passage is very strange. I don't know how long it is, or where it leads. I
also don't know what the dangers are once we go in. For safety's sake, I'm thinking, is there any way or
item that can block the yin energy here?"
Li Jing paused for a moment, then realized what I said made sense. After thinking for a while, he said, "As for magical artifacts,
the Taiji Qiankun Mirror should be able to block the yin energy..."
As he spoke, he took the flashlight from my hand and shone it on the walls on both sides of the passage.
"Find two of them and stick them on the walls on both sides of the entrance to this passage...wait...no, Uncle Yan, look!
There are grooves on these walls...and they're octagonal...this, this...could it be..."
I also saw the groove marks on the walls below when the flashlight shone on them, and immediately understood
the reason for Li Jing's surprise. I knew about the Taiji Qiankun Mirror that Li Jing mentioned; it
was an octagonal, antique-style bronze mirror used for exorcising demons and suppressing evil.
Judging from the grooves remaining on the walls below the hole, someone had probably originally placed
two Taiji Qiankun Mirrors or something similar at the entrance to block the continuously surging Yin energy from the passage. But clearly
, the two mirrors that were originally there were gone…
"…Phew,"
I sighed. I suddenly realized that I had to go down into this passage to investigate
.
Presumably, someone had used a method similar to mine to block
the Yin energy in the passage. But someone had taken the artifacts that were originally placed on either side of the wall. Therefore, my method of placing artifacts to
block the Yin energy again wouldn't work. It's simple: if an artifact arrangement can be destroyed once, it can naturally
be destroyed a second time. Assuming the previous magical artifacts here were deliberately sabotaged,
the moment Li Jing and I left, someone might come back and remove them. Therefore, to completely resolve
this constant flow of Yin energy, we must find another way.
Seeing Li Jing's young and inexperienced appearance, how could I let such a young man risk his life? Neither
morality nor sense of responsibility would allow me to do so… Thinking this, I stood up.
"Hmm, it seems I must go in and check it out…"
Li Jing, of course, had no idea what I was thinking. Seeing that I was about to go down, he eagerly volunteered
.
"Uncle Yan, I'm thinner than you, and this hole looks quite narrow. It might be more suitable for me to go in!"
"Don't talk to me like that. You're still young. Listen to me here! Someone has to stay here to guard it, and that
woman in the outer courtyard needs someone to look after her. So, I'll go down... Didn't they tell you I'm Honglian? What is Honglian
? Even ghosts are afraid of me... So, it's more suitable for me to go down."
After all, I'm the elder, and Li Jing could only helplessly obey my orders in the end. We agreed on two hours
. If I didn't come out of the hole after two hours, Li Jing would, according to my plan,
first try to take Xu Yue away from this courtyard and return to the city. We would wait for Ye Tong to return tomorrow, meet up with him, and then make further plans.
I took a flashlight in one hand and a sickle in the other and crawled into the hole. As I
walked along the narrow underground passage, apart from the eerie atmosphere that rushed towards me, the passage
was empty. Moreover, after walking a short distance, I found that the passage was actually getting wider and wider.
After groping my way forward for seven or eight minutes, I suddenly realized that I had emerged from the narrow passage
and found myself in front of a horizontal, square tunnel.
The tunnel was about three or four meters long from bottom to top and five or six meters wide. I had
entered through an opening on the side of the tunnel, which stretched far outwards, pitch black and seemingly endless.
Shining my flashlight left and right, the muscles in my face trembled uncontrollably.
This tunnel immediately reminded me of the passageway in the prison cell beneath Phoenix Mountain.
"How is this possible? Could it be that the Phoenix Mountain prison extends all the way here?"
This thought flashed through my mind, and images of the swiftly moving, eerily moving corpse puppets
and the terrifying zombies that had appeared at the sacrificial pit quickly appeared. I turned to try and crawl back through the passage I had entered.
Just as I was about to turn, I suddenly realized I could clearly hear the sound of flowing water coming from the ground. This sound made me instinctively lower
my flashlight and shine the beam towards the source of the sound…
Looking at the sunken stone channel in the center of the ground, with water flowing through it, I quickly realized
where I was.
"My God… this is truly unexpected! The tunnel from that bedroom leads to this place
… isn't this a section of an ancient sewer?"
Realizing this, my heart quickly calmed down. At the same time, I used the flashlight beam
to carefully observe my surroundings.
A famous foreign figure once said, "The sewer system symbolizes the conscience of a city." Compared
to the comprehensive and multifunctional permanent
sewer systems in some advanced countries, integrating sewage treatment, flood control, and other functions, the planning and construction of urban sewers in our country are currently far from satisfactory
.
While factors such as urban planning standards and economic strength certainly play a role, the fundamental reason is
that the government has never prioritized the construction and planning of sewers.
After all, the planning and construction of a city's sewer system is not a task that can be accomplished overnight. It requires years, decades,
or even long-term investment and construction. For local officials, this offers virtually no benefit to their careers.
Furthermore, the lack of continuity in government policies means that once local governments change, the various planning policies of the previous administration
are difficult to maintain and implement. This has led to a situation where, although some officials recognize
the importance of sewer construction for a city, they cannot ensure that their successors will continue their work.
Even so, some
ancient urban water conservancy projects in our country's history are worth mentioning in the history of urban construction.
The most famous of these is the Fushou Canal in the ancient city of Ganzhou, Jiangxi!
The Fushou Canal was built by Liu Yi, a famous water conservancy expert of the Northern Song Dynasty, during the Xining era. To this day, it remains
well-preserved and continues to function, protecting the ancient city of Ganzhou from floods for nearly a thousand years
, making it a model and masterpiece of ancient water conservancy engineering.
Like Ganzhou, the city where I live also built similar flood control and drainage
projects in its history. However, few people know about this now.
The local ancient sewers are not famous. Firstly, their construction was relatively late, according to local records, during
the late Southern Song Dynasty. Secondly, their efficiency was far inferior to that of the Fushou Canal in Ganzhou. After the sewers were completed
, they could handle minor floods, but they still could not guarantee the safety of the city during major floods. Furthermore, due
to war, natural population migration, and other reasons, the main residential areas of the local residents have undergone several large-scale
changes, and this water conservancy project has been severely damaged. Therefore, in modern times,
the fact that there are ancient sewer remains in the area has gradually been forgotten.
Now, realizing that I have unexpectedly entered this ancient sewer, I naturally
began to examine it carefully with curiosity.
In fact, I had heard about this ancient sewer before. Many years ago, as a journalist, I
participated in a social seminar organized by the local government to revitalize the local tertiary industry. At the seminar, someone
suggested using the ancient sewer as a gimmick to promote the city and increase its visibility.
The municipal government even invited experts in history and urban promotion to investigate and verify this.
After the experts arrived, they ultimately rejected the suggestion.
The main reason was that the ancient site was severely damaged; what had been discovered were fragmented pieces
, unlike the well-preserved Fushou Ditch in Ganzhou. I was certain that the section of the sewer I was currently in
was merely a remnant, undiscovered portion.
However, judging from the still-flowing water in the center of the channel, this section of the ancient sewer
seemed to still be functioning as a drainage system.
After a moment's thought, I turned to the right and walked along the edge of the sewer for two or three minutes until I
saw a landslide completely blocking the passage. No one could proceed; only water could still seep
into the rubble at the bottom of the landslide…
After spending three or four minutes confirming that there was nothing noteworthy except for the pervasive, malevolent aura
, I turned back and headed down to the left of the tunnel.
Passing the entrance to the tunnel I had come from earlier and continuing to the left for a few minutes, a fork in the road appeared before me
… both the front and left passages…
I stood at the T-junction, using the power of the Crimson Lotus to observe the flow of malevolent aura in both passages.
After observing for a while, I discovered something that puzzled me.
Yin energy surged from both the front and left passages, but
it appeared differently in my Crimson Lotus Eyes' vision.
The yin energy flowing from the front appeared as black as ink; according to my understanding of yin energy
, the energy surging from the front was the true Yin Sha Qi, with a very high
proportion of malevolent energy. The energy emanating from the left, however, was different, appearing as a faint blue. It was almost imperceptible
as malevolent energy, and its aura felt almost identical to the Xuan Yin Qi emanating from Xia Jiang…
These two different types of yin energy converged and mixed at this three-way intersection, drifting down the path I had come from
. The pure yin energy seemed to have diluted the intense
Yin Sha Qi from the front to some extent, which is why the Yin Sha Qi I had seen in the courtyard and passages appeared as a relatively lighter black.
Otherwise, if this malevolent energy coming from the front were to emerge directly from the exit of the courtyard along the passage
, it would only take a very short time to envelop the entire Li Family Village.
However, this is just my feeling and speculation. After all, I only mastered the Red Lotus Detective ability
three or four days after returning from Chengdu.
I can't confirm whether the Xuan Yin Qi on Xia Jiang's body is the same as the pale blue Yin Qi surging from the left passage in Red Lotus's eyes. It's just that this Yin Qi, in my careful
perception, is quite similar to the aura that Xia Jiang usually exudes.
Of course, it's only similar. Because I can still distinguish the differences, but
I can't quite put my finger on what exactly is different. I stood at the crossroads for a while, feeling and thinking. I squeezed the scythe in my right hand hard, and then 　　walked down the main passage
without hesitation . 　　The reason is simple: although the Yin Qi coming from the left is also Yin Qi, I can't feel much evil 　　aura from it. But this black Yin Qi containing strong baleful energy in the main passage is the source of the bad consequences. If 　　there really is some kind of evil demon in this waterway, it must be hiding in the main waterway. 　　The monster that had appeared in the courtyard earlier , capable of merging with the invisible tide of blood, must have escaped along the main waterway. 　　Although this was still just a feeling, I firmly believed it. So, I leaped over 　　the branching channel on the left and stepped into the main passage. 　　The dark, deep waterway twisted and turned, branching several more times along the way. However, 　　most of them, like the previous right-hand end, were blocked after a short distance, while others showed no sign of malevolent energy flowing out, 　　so I simply ignored them. 　　As I walked, I unknowingly entered a strange physiological state. 　　The dark, quiet sewers instilled a certain degree of fear in me. At the same time, a chilling aura 　　flowed around me, and my body, perhaps instinctively trying to resist the cold, involuntarily heated up. The psychological 　　fear and the surge of heat within my body generated a kind of excitement. 　　I realized I was subconsciously anticipating something, like a hungry, bloodthirsty hunter 　　searching for its prey… 　　Driven by this state, I forgot everything, only knowing to keep moving deeper into 　　the waterway following the direction of the malevolent energy. The two-hour agreement I had made with Li Jing was naturally and completely forgotten 　　… 　　I don't know how long I walked, but the malevolent energy in the waterway grew stronger, 　　and the temperature throughout the waterway became increasingly cold. The bottom of the central channel reflected 　　the light from my flashlight, clearly indicating that a thin layer of frost had formed in some areas due to the temperature. 　　Suddenly, the beam of my flashlight illuminated an unknown object—a dark 　　mass appearing in the recessed trough in the center of the waterway. 　　I immediately stopped and shone the flashlight repeatedly to confirm what it was. After seeing what it was 　　, I felt nauseous. 　　A rotting corpse… 　　a highly decomposed corpse, mostly submerged in the sewer water! 　　The shape of the body confirmed it was a human, not an animal. The deceased was likely 　　completely naked, wrapped in what appeared to be a sheet or towel. 　　I cautiously approached the side of the corpse… Through my Crimson Lotus Eye, I saw wisps of faint Yin 　　energy seeping from the body. These wisps rose into the sewer, 　　merging with the Yin energy flowing from deeper within, and then flowing towards the passage I had come from. 　　Noticing this, I couldn't help but take a deep breath… 　　Yin energy can arise from many causes, and its growth from a rotting corpse is one of them 　　. However, I learned from Han Zhe that while the corpses of the dead, and even various animals, do 　　produce some Yin energy, the amount is always very small. Normally, once produced, the yin 　　energy would quickly dissipate on its own or be decomposed and diluted by the constantly flowing natural energy between heaven and earth, 　　posing no harm to ordinary living people. 　　However, the yin energy emanating from this rotting corpse was clearly far greater than that of an ordinary corpse 　　… 　　Then, I discovered several abnormalities about this corpse. 　　“I can’t smell the stench of a common rotting corpse? Moreover, normally, a highly decomposed corpse like this would be crawling with maggots, but 　　there’s not a trace of maggots 　　in the cracks of the rotting flesh on this corpse . And with a corpse here, it should attract a lot of 　　flies… This is a dark and damp sewer, not a dry and open desert… Ugh, 　　could it be because of the cold temperature here? Flies can’t survive?” 　　After realizing that the corpse didn’t smell and didn’t breed common parasites, my nausea 　　disappeared by more than half. After all, people's avoidance of rotting corpses isn't always out of fear, but 　　more often due to the discomfort they cause to the senses. This particular corpse didn't emit a foul 　　stench, nor did it spawn any repulsive maggots, so I approached further, descending into the central ditch of the waterway 　　for a closer look. 　　"Seems to be a middle-aged man... bald... of average height..." 　　I'm not a professional forensic doctor; I could only draw these basic conclusions from the corpse's appearance. 　　Then I casually shone my flashlight deeper, and saw 　　another corpse several meters away, also submerged in the central ditch... 　　My eyelids began to twitch uncontrollably. 　　Chapter 108 　　Continuing forward for several dozen meters, I could feel the muscles in my face tightening. 　　The reason was simple: in the short stretch of the central ditch, more than ten rotting corpses lay scattered about 　　. 　　And in the remaining sections of the waterway, new corpses continued to appear. 　　After examining the first few bodies, I quickly discerned some patterns. The bodies appearing here...

All the bodies were adult males. Most were completely naked at the time of death; those who were clothed
were usually only wearing shirts or vests, and their lower bodies were invariably naked.
The woven material wrapped around the first corpse, such as a sheet or bath towel, was not
present on every body, but it was present on almost all the truly naked corpses, except for one or two.
Although the bodies were in various positions in the central canal—prone, supine, sideways, or lying—no
two were very close together; they all seemed to be at least four or five meters apart.
There were no instances of two bodies placed close together.
Furthermore, I saw symbols drawn with cinnabar on some of the bodies. These
symbols were not unfamiliar to me; most were Tantric symbols, while some were not, but I vaguely remembered
seeing them in other Tibetan Buddhist monasteries I had visited before—they seemed to be
unique to Tantric Buddhism.
"What on earth happened here? Did someone use this ancient sewer as a murder and body disposal site?"
I stopped advancing, because if I wasn't mistaken, the next long stretch of the sewer was likely
filled with similar corpses, just like the one before me. And now, I could finally
confirm the source of the malevolent aura in the sewer.
Undoubtedly, the dense malevolent aura permeating the sewer was
"produced" by these rotting corpses. A single corpse obviously couldn't generate such intense malevolent energy; rather, it was
the combined and condensed malevolent energy emanating from numerous corpses that ultimately formed this terrifying malevolent aura.
Initially, I suspected that these corpses might be ancient remains, after all, this
sewer was first built during the Southern Song Dynasty, and according to local records, it seemed to have been repaired in the early Ming Dynasty. Since it
existed in ancient times, it was plausible that some unfortunate ancient victims remained in the sewer.
But this idea was quickly overturned by the evidence. Although most of the dead were naked,
the few corpses with clothes on their upper bodies, and the style and
materials of the sheets or towels used to wrap them, clearly indicated that these dead were people living in the modern world.
"Judging from the malevolent energy emanating from a single corpse and the concentration of malevolent energy observed earlier, there
are probably hundreds of such corpses constantly generating malevolent energy in this waterway... This is terrifying! But recently, I haven't heard of
any cases or incidents involving a large number of missing or dead people here. If there had been, that
old man Zhao Yongyi and those policemen like Tang Zhengbo would probably be extremely busy by now, and it would
have caused serious public panic in the local area... Where did these corpses come from? And why
did they appear here?"
I stood there silently pondering... Just as I was getting lost and confused, I suddenly heard 　　the sounds of living people talking and walking coming
from deeper into the waterway .
I blinked, quickly switched off my flashlight, and pressed myself
against the wall of the waterway, disappearing into the darkness…
Why? The reason was simple. I had discovered
the entrance to the secret passage in the bedroom of the Li Family Village courtyard by accident; entering this place was unintentional.
The conversations and seemingly unhurried footsteps coming from afar proved that the people coming
were most likely not accidental intruders like myself. Since they weren't accidental intruders,
they must have some connection to the corpses here and the related events.
If they discovered me, a conflict would likely erupt immediately.
Before I could understand the ins and outs of the current situation, hiding myself was the wisest course of action.
The waterway wasn't straight; the extended passages all had curves. I wasn't worried that they would
notice the beam of my flashlight beforehand.
Just as I expected, the people coming didn't notice the presence of others in the waterway at all, continuing
their casual conversation as they walked towards my location
… Six people in total.
Two people, one at each end, carried two lamps, while four others carried what appeared to be a stretcher
in the middle.
Illuminated by their lamps, I could roughly make out their
features from a distance of several dozen meters. The person at the front carrying the lamps appeared to be a woman; her features were difficult to discern from this distance, but her
long, flowing hair and white dress clearly identified her gender.
The five people carrying the stretcher and following behind, judging from their black suits and ties, were highly likely male.
Realizing that they seemed to be steadily advancing towards my location without any intention of stopping,
I braced myself against the wall and began to back away, because any closer and I would inevitably be exposed to their
lamplight.
Fortunately, these people weren't walking fast, and they were chatting and laughing as they went, allowing me to calmly retreat
while observing their every move and listening to snippets of their conversation…
"…Not there yet?"
"…Eighty-six, I guess. The last one should have been one hundred and two." "
…Adding this one hundred and three, five more will be enough! Finally, we can relax and rest."
"Yeah…we've been busy for almost ten days…"
"By tomorrow at the latest, we'll have the last five."
"…Even if we have enough, it won't be enough! We still have to wait seven more days for the Buddha Mother to absorb the energy. And because an opening was made in
Li Family Village, some energy was lost. It's uncertain whether the Buddha Mother will be satisfied after seven days!"
The voice was a woman's, seemingly the one at the head of the group.
"Tch, I just don't understand. Was it really necessary to open a door in that woman's house?
Wasn't the Buddha Mother only interested in that little girl from the Peng family? Now that things have come to this... is it still necessary to deal with that woman
? The Buddha Mother even politely accepted her offering just now?" a man asked.
"...Sigh... The Buddha Mother said that woman's background is a bit unclear. Just in case, before leaving..."
"We still need to win them over a bit beforehand," the woman replied.
"What exactly happened?"
"It's all because of that side passage in the underground tunnel under her house… I heard from the Buddha Mother that
there's something strange about that side passage; a ghostly, yin energy keeps seeping out. It's mixing with the holy energy we're creating here
. The holy energy the Buddha Mother absorbs must be pure, without any impurities mixed in. Otherwise, if we
open an opening to let out the impure holy energy mixed with that ghostly yin energy, the Buddha Mother won't be able to absorb the holy
energy here. So the Buddha Mother led us to check if we could find a suitable place to open it, and we discovered that
there was already a passage leading outside. When we opened it up, we found that the exit was actually the bedroom of the woman surnamed Peng
. And…" Two Yin-Yang Mirrors, used to ward off evil and seal away negative energy, were inlaid on either side of the exit. These weren't things
ordinary people could obtain from temples or Taoist monasteries. According to the Buddha Mother, only
highly skilled magicians could create and possess them. The Buddha Mother suspected that this woman surnamed Peng might have
connections with some kind of sorcerer. The Buddha Mother was aloof, and while she might not necessarily fear that sorcerer, she didn't want to make an
enemy of him… So, well, we've arrived…”
I listened carefully in the darkness, and only after the woman leading the way indicated that we had reached our destination did I realize that I
had unknowingly retreated to a position even further back than where I had initially discovered the first corpse.
Under the direction of the woman in charge, the four men carrying the stretcher
forcefully overturned it about five or six meters away from the first corpse I had discovered. Another naked male corpse, wrapped in a sheet, was thrown into the central
ditch…
The woman, carrying a lantern, rolled her skirt up to her waist, walked barefoot into the water, and, holding a vermilion pen,
began to draw various strange symbols on the exposed skin of the still-undecomposed corpse. She
spoke as she drew.
"The Buddha Mother is now somewhat regretful. She said she didn't know that this woman surnamed Peng's house
was connected to the ancient sewers, and she never imagined that this woman might have some background or connections. If she had known earlier, she wouldn't have
let her worship that little girl. After all, there are plenty of benefactors vying to please her; she
could have easily found someone else..."
"...I see. No wonder the Buddha Mother was so polite to this woman... She even accepted
the deposit slip and property certificate offered by the woman with a beaming smile, and deliberately kept her there to bestow favors upon her. However, that little girl is already
dead... It's only a matter of time before this is discovered. If that monk over there finds out, he'll
definitely come looking for trouble!" A man in a suit carrying the stretcher stood to the side, watching the woman's movements, and spoke at the same time
.
"That's not necessarily true. What was the Buddha Mother's purpose in keeping her by her side to worship Buddha? It was to keep her under
surveillance and then arrange for people to go out and investigate this woman's background. The Buddha Mother's magical powers are profound;
she wouldn't even give ordinary sorcerers or Taoist priests a second thought. But I've heard that there's a
truly powerful master living in this city! Even the Buddha Mother is extremely wary of him… I heard that this person once fought against Emperor Ruizong
. He was unharmed but severely injured Emperor Ruizong. Emperor Ruizong has been living in seclusion for the past few years to escape
this person's pursuit. The Buddha Mother is worried that the sorcerer connected to this woman is this person. If so, we
'll probably have to reconsider our actions in this area." The woman in white explained calmly, multitasking.
She turned her head midway, seemingly noticing the fear and timidity on the faces of the men, and then
continued in a contemptuous tone.
"Look at you all... what a stiff face! I told you, you're really scared?"
"We all know the Buddha Mother's power. But you're saying even she's afraid of that guy...
isn't it normal for us to be afraid? We work for the Buddha Mother because if anything happens, she
'll protect us. If the police caught us, we'd all be..."
One of the stretcher bearers expressed some dissatisfaction with the woman's contempt.
The woman's status was higher than the five men in suits, so her words carried a reprimanding, even threatening
tone.
"You can only say these things to me! Don't say them to the Buddha Mother or the other Yoginis
. One, two, three, four, five... look, there are five of you. If others find out,
they might use you five to fill this last hole in a fit of anger."
The five men in suits looked at each other and remained silent.
The woman sighed softly, realizing the severe psychological pressure her words had put on them.
"I'm not trying to scare you. Once you follow the Buddha Mother, you absolutely cannot doubt or disobey any of her words
or decisions! I know you're all uneasy, so I'll tell you some information I know.
Apparently, the Buddha Mother is wary of that fellow living in this city, so she never brings us here or
even to the surrounding cities to spread the Dharma. But there's a reason she came this time… The Buddha Mother has actually long coveted this
ancient sewer in the city. You see, this sewer has been abandoned by the locals for a long time. Apart from the
few sections that have been discovered, most of it remains unknown. Moreover, although it's abandoned, it still
connects to several tributaries of the surrounding rivers, making it a true gathering place of feng shui. For the Buddha Mother, it's
the perfect place for her to perform the initiation ceremony. Ganzhou in Jiangxi is also good, but the sewers there are too famous,
and they're regularly cleaned and inspected, making it impossible to avoid attention. So the Buddha Mother has never considered Ganzhou
."
"The reason she brought us here is because the Academy sent a message to her. They said that guy seems
to have his eye on the Academy and his group, so he left the area. The Buddha Mother estimates that he'll be
entangled with those people from the Academy for quite some time. That's why she decisively brought us here to handle the Holy Energy Initiation ceremony. What does this mean
? It means that everything is already under the Buddha Mother's control! So, you don't need
to worry about anything at all..."
The woman's words were like a reassuring pill, causing the five men in suits to breathe a long sigh of relief.
One of them, with a playful expression, said casually, "So that expert isn't here now
? Then there's really nothing to worry about. In that case, why should the Buddha Mother be polite to that woman? Tomorrow
we should be able to gather 108, and in seven days, the Buddha Mother will give the initiation. After that, we'll just pack up and
leave... Is it really necessary to be so cautious?"
The woman didn't answer immediately. Instead, she bent down, finished drawing the last few symbols on the corpse, turned around, and returned to
the edge of the steps. She put the lantern aside, clasped her hands together, knelt on the ground, facing the corpse, and muttered
incantations. Then she stood up, twisted her body, and performed several physical movements that would be difficult for ordinary people to achieve.
These movements should all be some kind of yoga posture...
After all, yoga has become quite popular in recent years, with various yoga studios springing up everywhere, and even some TV programs
teaching yoga. I may not have eaten pork, but I've seen pigs run. Based on my memory of TV programs and some yoga
pictures, I was certain of this.
As the woman posed in various yoga postures, the corpse, mostly submerged in the ditch, began a startling transformation.
The decomposition process, which normally takes a long time, rapidly
unfolded on the body within mere seconds. However, once the woman stopped posing, the corpse's
decomposition ceased at a certain point…
The woman, carrying her lantern again, examined the corpse's condition, nodded in satisfaction
, and then returned to the five men in suits, answering their earlier questions.
"You lot... now I understand why you're all still stuck
doing these menial tasks and errands. You're all brainless idiots. Besides that expert
, there are other mages and similar figures in this city. Although the Buddha Mother looks down on them, getting involved with them
will inevitably cause trouble for us here. The Buddha Mother treats that woman well
because she doesn't want any complications to arise, at least not before the initiation ceremony is complete!"
The man who asked the question seemed to have a different opinion on the woman's statement, and retorted, "If you
really don't want any complications, in my opinion, wouldn't it be better to just get rid of that woman? We brothers can
take her out, find a secluded ravine, do it to her, dig a hole, and bury her—no one will know."
Upon hearing this, the woman immediately put her hands together and chanted a Buddhist prayer. She then looked up and cursed, "Forgive me!
Buddha Mother, have mercy! How could I have committed such a sin! Such thoughts should never be entertained!" After saying this, she quickly
lowered her head and began chanting, which sounded like a Buddhist scripture.
Hearing the woman's words and watching her actions from afar gave me an extremely absurd feeling
!
To some extent, I suddenly felt that I had grasped the true essence and thought of a certain religion…
What was it called in that religion again? I think it was something like "sudden enlightenment"!
The five men in suits, in my opinion, probably felt the same way, but they seemed quite afraid of
the woman in white before them. Therefore, under the influence of the woman's "solemn appearance," they all made a gesture of clasping
their hands together and mumbled along with her chanting.
After chanting the scripture for a while, the six of them, led by the woman in white, turned and walked into the depths of the waterway
.
Seeing this, I was about to follow when I suddenly noticed a figure appearing on the steps of the waterway across the channel
. The figure clearly hadn't noticed me, also lurking in the darkness. After the woman in white led the five
men in suits away, this figure immediately sprang into action, following them on the other side of the waterway
…
I couldn't help but take a deep breath. I thought to myself, "That was close. Luckily, I'm usually a bit slow on the uptake.
I didn't act immediately. Otherwise, I wouldn't have noticed this shadowy figure first; it would have been the other way around
."
At the same time, I felt a sense of unease about this suddenly appearing figure.
"This shadowy figure, like me, is lurking in the darkness, observing and monitoring the actions of these Buddha Mother's subordinates. Based on
this, he's definitely not their accomplice. Since he's not an accomplice, he's very likely an
enemy of that Buddha Mother and her gang. Whether he's good or bad is hard to say, but it's clear that this damned Buddha Mother
and her gang are definitely not good people! Their current heinous and callous
acts confirm it! This shadowy figure tracking and monitoring these guys, in a sense, is on the same side as me
... Hmm, I don't need to fight the snake spirit; I'll just follow the shadowy figure. If he's
like me, planning to sabotage this Buddha Mother's initiation plan, I might be able to secretly assist him
and lend him a hand at a crucial moment..."
Having made up my mind, I silently lifted my foot and began
to follow along the stone steps beside the ditch.
Earlier, without the white-clad woman's knowledge, I had secretly implanted a wisp of red lotus flame into her body.
Now, I didn't need to worry about losing track of the other party due to distance. So,
to avoid being noticed by the dark figure from before, I deliberately increased the distance between us. I slowly
made my way along the sewer, constantly tracking and locating the flame in my mind.
After advancing for about a kilometer, I found a passage on the left wall of the sewer that resembled the one I
had entered earlier.
The flame had turned a corner at this location, then veered to the left.
I leaned against the entrance, listened carefully, and observed my surroundings, confirming that no one was around.
The dark figure in front of me had likely entered this passage before turning on its flashlight and confidently going in
.
This passage was slightly different from the one I had taken down from my cousin Xu Yue's yard.
The passage in my cousin Xu Yue's bedroom had sections with brick walls and stone slabs on the floor. It had clearly been
there for some time and had been deliberately arranged and reinforced. The current passage is different from that one.
The passageway was much wider, but the surrounding area was covered with exposed soil and gravel.
Traces of excavation tools were visible in some areas, indicating it had been recently dug.
After assessing the surroundings, I
turned off my flashlight again, worried that the shadowy figure following me would spot it, and proceeded forward by feel.
The passage seemed to extend upwards. After traveling only ten meters or so, a dim light appeared ahead
… At the end of the passage was an opening large enough for one person to pass through. A flat
object blocked the opening, but a gap was visible at the edge, through which the dim light filtered in.
I placed my hand on the flat object and found it was a wooden plank. With a slight push,
the gap between the plank and the opening widened. After confirming there was no sound or movement outside the plank, I increased the pressure, and the plank 　　moved outwards
with my force … 　　Once I crawled out of the opening, I realized I seemed to be in a basement. The wooden plank I 　　pushed aside was actually the back of a wooden shelf used to store items. This shelf 　　was clearly used to conceal the entrance to the passage in the basement. 　　Realizing this, I immediately turned around and pushed the shelf back to its original position, sealing 　　the passageway in the same way. 　　The basement wasn't large, about ten square meters, with a dim chandelier hanging from the ceiling. 　　Besides the shelf used to conceal the passageway, there were some jars and pots. 　　I casually lifted the earthenware bowl covering one of the jars, and a sour smell of pickled vegetables wafted out 　　. 　　We have a local custom of storing pickled vegetables in cellars, so these jars were probably just ordinary pickling 　　jars. 　　After confirming that there were no other noteworthy items in the basement, I slipped to the door and 　　went up the earthen steps behind it to the room on the next floor. 　　Once up, I found it was a separate single-story house, and judging from the water tank, stove, and other items inside, it was a 　　kitchen. The most striking sight was a man in a suit lying sprawled on the ground, unconscious… 　　I bent down and checked his breathing, confirming he wasn't dead, just unconscious. 　　A rolling pin with obvious impact marks next to his head clearly indicated it was the culprit 　　. 　　"It must have been that shadowy figure from before me… That guy seems pretty skilled! There were no 　　signs of struggle; this poor guy was probably knocked unconscious without any reaction…" 　　The kitchen door was open, and I quickly stepped outside. Outside, I found a courtyard 　　surrounded by a wall. The kitchen, a single-story building, was located in a corner of the courtyard. 　　A few meters from the kitchen was a long, narrow brick-and-tile house. The house's shape was clearly that of a local farmhouse 　　, with even festive red lanterns hanging under the eaves. 　　Long, blue bricks paved the flat ground, and a gravel path led to the side of the longhouse. 　　Several peach trees were planted on both sides of the gravel path. 　　I blinked, somewhat surprised by the scene before me. 　　I had expected this passage to lead to some kind of "tiger's den" or "dragon's pool," but instead, it looked like a 　　rather elegant farmhouse. 　　Behind the longhouse, I could see several two-story houses. 　　"Where is this? It doesn't seem to be a private residence. It looks quite large. Judging 　　from the palace lanterns hanging from the corners of the houses, the peach trees in the yard, and the two 　　small European-style streetlights standing beside the gravel path, it looks more like a farmhouse resort or a garden club 　　..." 　　I pursed my lips and looked around at the light. Having spent half a day in the sewers, it was now almost 　　dusk, but clearly not a good time to use a flashlight. I quickly stuffed the flashlight into my pocket 　　, then unzipped my clothes and hid the sickle I was holding against my chest. 　　I started walking along the gravel path out of the small courtyard where the kitchen was located. 　　Following the path, I quickly bypassed the longhouse that blocked the kitchen. The doors and windows of the longhouse 　　were open, and I could clearly see the tables and chairs piled up inside. 　　Next, I bypassed a two-story attic adjacent to the longhouse. The ground floor of the attic was also open on all sides 　　, piled with numerous tables, chairs, and various odds and ends. Only after bypassing this attic again, in the third building, 　　also a two-story attic, did I see signs of human activity. 　　From the second floor of this attic, melodious music drifted out, seemingly Buddhist chanting. Accompanying 　　the gentle chanting, I heard a woman's voice rhythmically giving some kind of instruction. 　　"Exhale...good...inhale...good...relax your body...relax your mind too..." 　　Through the open window on the second floor, I vaguely saw a woman in white leading 　　about a dozen women in yoga poses in that mortal room. 　　I stared dumbfounded at the scene before me, the 　　word "yoga training class" popping into my mind. 　　Just as I was feeling a bit lost, a gentle female voice came from behind me. "Sir, this is the women's practice area. Men are not 　　allowed to enter without permission 　　, except for staff ." 　　I hurriedly turned around and saw a petite, sweet-looking young woman with long, flowing hair standing 　　behind me. She was wearing the same white dress as the woman from the sewer. A 　　metal badge with the word "Instructor" was pinned to her chest. 　　"Is...is that so? I'm sorry...I...I don't know! After coming in, I was wandering around and 　　somehow ended up here..." 　　I grinned, deliberately feigning a silly expression. 　　My expression and tone were extremely affected; anyone with eyes could see I was faking it. The woman in white didn't point it out, but smiled at 　　me while letting out a soft chuckle. "Alright, sir... I understand."

Students often try to sneak over here, intentionally or unintentionally. However, I must tell you, you've clearly
come to the wrong place. This study room, and the two over there, are mostly for middle-aged and elderly women.
What you're looking for isn't here…”
The woman in white winked at me, with an expression that said, “You know, I know,” her voice sweet and
intoxicating. At the same time, her eyes revealed a charm that only men could truly appreciate.

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