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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 21 Soul-Sealing Ghost Coffin
I thought to myself that my purpose for coming this time was to find Duan Yang and persuade him to let Wang Qingshan’s Daughter go, thus dissolving the Ghost Marriage contract. Just right, this Duan Yang seemed friendly, so there was no need for me to be forceful. I stepped forward with a smile and said, "So you must be Mr. Duan Yang, right?"
Duan Yang glanced at me and then politely waved his hand towards me while tilting his head to ask Wang Qingshan who I was.
As soon as I shook hands with Wang Qingshan, I furrowed my brow. I thought to myself that the Villagers were indeed not mistaken; this Duan Yang had a problem. The moment I shook his hand, it felt icy cold, devoid of any warmth, clearly indicating he was not a living person.
Seeing me take the initiative to greet Duan Yang, Wang Qingshan seemed to understand my intention. He quickly put away his distressed expression and introduced himself, saying he was Qianqian’s cousin, named Pan Shenbao, and that he had come specifically to accompany me.
The Qianqian mentioned by Wang Qingshan was actually his Daughter.
After hearing Wang Qingshan’s introduction, Duan Yang smiled and politely said, "So you are Qianqian’s cousin. Hehe, come in, come in..."
Once inside the house, Duan Yang turned on the lights. The Living Room indeed looked very upscale as Wang Qingshan had described. Some of the furniture appeared a bit old-fashioned, but it didn’t seem outdated in this Living Room.
However, even though the lights were on and the room was bright, I could still feel waves of Yin Wind within the house, and there seemed to be some faint mist filling the air, giving a hazy feeling under the light.
Duan Yang remained as enthusiastic as ever. After inviting us to sit down, he served us tea and chatted with Wang Qingshan, creating an illusion that this person before us was not dead at all. He asked Wang Qingshan why Qianqian wasn’t coming along and offered to send someone to fetch her.
Wang Qingshan replied that Qianqian had been unwell lately and couldn’t make it.
Upon hearing this, Duan Yang appeared somewhat worried and anxious, saying he wanted to go see Qianqian right away. This startled Wang Qingshan, who hurriedly said it wasn’t necessary and changed his words to say that Qianqian was fine.
I asked Duan Yang, "Don’t you know why Qianqian is having health issues?"
Duan Yang shook his head and said that Qianqian hadn’t mentioned anything to him. He had been visiting her house every night recently, and she seemed fine; he hadn’t seen her complain about feeling unwell.
Hearing this made me think: Could it be that this Duan Yang didn’t realize he had harmed Qianqian? Or was he deliberately trying to fool us here? He still wanted to deceive us, but we already knew he was not a living person.
At that moment, I remembered seeing the White Shadow outside the Villa earlier, so I asked him if he was the only one at home, what about his parents?
Duan Yang said that his parents were also at home. Wang Qingshan was taken aback and asked why he hadn't seen them come out.
Duan Yang replied that his parents hadn't gotten up yet. He suggested that he could go wake them up quickly and that we should stay for dinner tonight.
After saying that, he turned and went upstairs to call his parents, reminding us to wait a moment.
Once Duan Yang left, Wang Qingshan anxiously asked me what we should do next.
I said not to rush; let's see what they want to play first. After his parents come down, we can talk to him about breaking off the engagement. If they don't agree, then we would have no choice but to confront them.
Actually, I still had a doubt in my mind. If Duan Yang wasn't deliberately trying to fool us, how could he not know that Qianqian had been harmed because of him?
As we sat in the Living Room waiting and waiting, we still didn't see Duan Yang or his parents come down. We began to feel uneasy, wondering why it was taking so long for him to wake his parents.
After waiting for another ten or twenty minutes, I finally couldn't sit still anymore. I told Wang Qingshan to wait here while I went upstairs to check.
Wang Qingshan said he wouldn't dare stay here alone, so he insisted on coming with me upstairs. I thought about it and agreed; this haunted house had not only seen the death of Duan Yang's family but also other tenants. Leaving Wang Qingshan alone in the Living Room could be dangerous if any Evil Spirits showed up, so we carefully walked up the stairs together.
The Second Floor had several rooms, but none of them were lit. Even the room that had been lit before was now dark. The entire Second Floor was shrouded in darkness.
This made me feel even more uneasy because Duan Yang had said he would go call his parents, yet the Second Floor was pitch black with no sign of anyone. I listened closely but heard no voices. So, I headed straight for the first room on the left side of the Second Floor. According to my memory, this was the room where I had seen a light on and someone looking at us through the window when we were downstairs.
I tiptoed to the door and pressed my ear against it to listen for a moment. Not hearing anything inside, I grasped the doorknob and gently twisted it, finding that it wasn't locked. Slowly, I pushed the door open.
With a creak, the door swung open, but it was completely dark inside; I couldn't see anything at all. At that moment, as soon as I opened the door, a gust of Yin Wind blew past me.
Wang Qingshan quickly took out his phone and turned on the flashlight to look for a light switch by the door. Soon enough, we found the switch and turned on the light. What unfolded before our eyes truly shocked us, even though we had mentally prepared ourselves for something unusual.
The room was quite large, fitting to be considered a master bedroom. It was very empty, lacking a wardrobe, bed, or desk, and in the middle of the room stood two large coffins!
What was even more bizarre was that these two coffins were white, or rather, they were paper coffins made from white paper, which was quite terrifying. At one end of each paper coffin, there was a large character "Yin" written in black ink, looking extremely eerie.
Seeing such a strange scene, both Wang Qingshan and I gasped in shock. Wang Qingshan asked me what was going on and how there could be two paper coffins here.
Coffins, also known as longevity coffins or old coffins, are commonly made from ten pieces of wood but can also be made from twelve pieces, referred to as "twelve yuan." The ten-piece coffin consists of three pieces for the lid, three for the bottom, two for each side, and five to eleven pieces of other precious wood for the ends.
In rural areas, coffins are usually crafted around the age of sixty to prepare for one's eventual passing. There is a saying: "At thirty, you should have a coffin ready," implying that by the age of forty, one should prepare their longevity wood. If not prepared and something unexpected happens, it would be too late. Therefore, Hakka people typically make their coffins during their lifetime, calling them "longevity wood" or "longevity vessels," symbolizing blessings and longevity. Because of this, once the longevity wood is completed, families with good means will hire painters to decorate it with oil and write "Fu" (blessing) on the top and "Shou" (longevity) on the front. Red paper is used to write phrases like "Blessings as vast as the East Sea" and "Longevity as high as the South Mountain," signifying blessings and longevity.
But have you ever seen a coffin with the character "Yin" written on its front? Moreover, coffins are usually made of wood; who would use paper to make a coffin?
I was certain that at the other end of the paper coffin, there must be another character written in ink—"Cang."
I didn't immediately answer Wang Qingshan's confusion; instead, I quickly walked to the other end of the paper coffin and indeed saw a large character "Cang" written in black ink. I couldn't help but exclaim: "Soul-Sealing Ghost Coffin?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Qingshan asked me what a Soul-Sealing Ghost Coffin was. I explained that it refers to a coffin that can hide one's soul inside without being discovered; this is an ancient evil technique that few know about today and even fewer use.
You see, coffins are typically made from wood; however, these coffins before us are made from paper craft. It is said that wooden coffins are meant for the living—when one dies, their soul returns to the Underworld while their body is buried in a wooden coffin. In contrast, items made from paper craft are meant to be burned for spirits; thus, a paper coffin cannot contain a living person but is intended for ghosts.
Some individuals wish to avoid entering the Underworld after death or being captured by Yin Chai (the ghost messenger). They will create a paper coffin and write "Cang" and "Yin" at both ends using magic before lying down inside it. This way, when they die, their souls cannot escape the paper coffin. Even if Yama marks their name with an X in the Book of Life and Death and sends Black and White Impermanence or Ox-Head and Horse-Face to collect their souls, they will not be found because their Yin Yang is hidden within the paper coffin.
Of course, only those who understand Yin Yang can achieve this because they can foresee their fate and know when their life will end; thus they lie down in the paper coffin awaiting death. Otherwise, if one does not know when their life will end, who would willingly choose to die before their time? If they wait too long to hide inside it and die before getting into the coffin, their soul will be taken away by Ghost Messenger. Therefore, such individuals do not find themselves placed into paper coffins by others but rather choose to lie down inside them while sealing them shut until they suffocate.
Perhaps some may wonder why they would prefer not to enter the Underworld after death but instead hide in such coffins?
Indeed, not everyone wishes to descend into the Underworld and reincarnate. For instance, some people who have committed many wrongdoings or those unwilling to leave the World of the Living may fear entering the Underworld. The latter are held back by attachments while the former fear punishment for their past sins; they believe that if they descend into Hell Punishment after death due to their misdeeds, they will suffer endless torment without any chance of rebirth.
I once heard my grandfather tell a story about an incident during Early Liberation involving a butcher who had finished slaughtering pigs at someone's home. After dinner that night, he set off on his way home carrying his tools along a dark road. On his way home, he had to pass by an old Stone Pavilion where he heard voices coming from inside.
He thought to himself, who could be in this pavilion in the middle of the night? He speculated that the person inside might be up to no good, so he quietly approached the Stone Pavilion. However, when he saw the people inside, he was startled.
There were two figures, both towering at least two or three meters tall. One was dressed in white and the other in black, both wearing ancient attire with tall hats. They held soul-reaping chains and white mourning staffs, and a long red tongue dangled down from their mouths, looking quite terrifying.
At that moment, the butcher was greatly frightened, realizing he had encountered Black and White Impermanence. He wanted to run, but his legs trembled in fear and he couldn't move.
Then he overheard the two Ghost Messengers talking inside. The one in white said, "Why hasn't Butcher Zhang arrived yet? The time is almost up."
The one in black replied, "Don't worry, he'll come. He went to another house to slaughter pigs; he has to pass by here on his way home, so we just need to wait."
Hearing this, the eavesdropping butcher gasped because the name Butcher Zhang referred to him—he was the only butcher in this area.
At that moment, he saw the figure in white suddenly pick up a book and start flipping through it. Then he said to the one in black, "This Butcher Zhang is a great evil person. He has been learning to slaughter pigs since he was fourteen years old and has been doing it for forty years. Originally, his lifespan was supposed to be eighty-seven years, but now it has been reduced to fifty-seven."
The one in black responded, "This is all retribution. For someone who has killed for so many years, living another forty or fifty years is already a blessing for him. Once we take him to the Underworld, he'll suffer greatly—skinning him alive, extracting his organs, boiling him in water and frying him in oil, having snakes bite him and dismembering him—each method will make him suffer for hundreds of years so that he understands what it feels like to be killed."
Upon hearing this, the eavesdropping Butcher Zhang dared not listen any longer. He turned around and ran straight to a familiar Sorcerer's house, begging for help.
The Sorcerer finally told him that if he wanted to avoid the punishments of Hell, he could only hide away. He advised Butcher Zhang to use a Soul-Sealing Ghost Coffin to escape the punishments of Hell but warned that death was inevitable tonight. Fearing the punishments of Hell mentioned by Black and White Impermanence, Butcher Zhang resolved to follow the Sorcerer's advice.
In the end, the Sorcerer made a paper coffin for him to lie in. Ultimately, Butcher Zhang suffocated inside the paper coffin. Although he died, his soul did not get captured by the Underworld; it lingered around the paper coffin.
Of course, in the end, the Sorcerer did not have a good outcome either. Interfering with Yin Yang principles led him to face retribution; he lived out his later years blind and crippled.
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