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墨書 Inktalez
Human Sacrifice
Huzi and I followed the shadows to the rooftop. Under the bright moonlight, Li Fugui stood with his hands behind his back, coldly gazing at the corpse of the Old Man hanging inside, unmoved.
“How could it be Grandpa?!” Tears suddenly welled up in Huzi's eyes.
I angrily punched the wall, unable to hold back my curse: “Heartless bastard!”
Seeing me curse his grandfather, Huzi stormed out in a rage, and I quickly chased after him, saying, “Hao, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to confront your grandfather. Even if he didn’t kill the Old Man, he’s still involved!”
“My grandfather isn’t that kind of person. Let’s take a closer look and find out who the real killer is,” Huzi insisted, pulling me back.
I shook Huzi off and shouted at him, “What kind of person do you think your grandfather is if he just stood by and watched the Old Man hang without intervening?”
“He wouldn’t just watch the Old Man hang without doing anything unless there was some unavoidable reason. My grandfather may have a bad temper, but he’s not a senseless killer,” Huzi replied.
“Your grandfather isn’t a senseless killer? Huzi, you’re really amusing. Do you know how Huang the Lame died?” I stepped closer to Huzi, questioning him impatiently.
Huzi didn’t answer; he was waiting for me to continue.
“The reason I got the Feng Shui Secret Record is that your grandfather killed Huang the Lame. He did it simply because Huang’s words offended him. Huang believed that the Ghost Killing incident’s murderer was your grandfather, and your grandfather couldn’t be bothered to explain; he just killed him!”
“Even now you still think your grandfather is some kind of good person? In the Ten-Year Catastrophe, he was the leader of the Red Guards. How much blood is on his hands? Even Zhou Manman’s ghost can sense the murderous aura surrounding him. Back then, he protected the teaching Old Man and now he has taken his life; he thinks it’s only natural. Do you see any problem with that?”
Huzi's face grew increasingly pale as he looked at the anger in my eyes, his brows slightly furrowed and his jaw twitching.
"I still don't want you to go find him," Huzi said in a low voice.
I turned my face away coldly. "Are you afraid that my honesty will hurt his feelings, or are you worried that he might kill me in a fit of rage?"
Huzi fell silent, watching my retreating figure as if I were a stranger.
His shadow was stretched long by the moonlight, extending ahead of me. I saw him wipe away tears and recalled the time in school when I had said in front of our friends, "Your grandfather is a bad seed; don’t come looking for me anymore."
Back then, Huzi had stood across from us, staring blankly at me. It was only when he turned to leave that he dared to wipe his tears.
I wanted to go back and comfort him, but now we were both in our twenties; such sentimentality between brothers felt excessive. I thought about his words and ultimately held back my anger, choosing not to seek out Li Fugui.
I never imagined I would regret hurting him like this.
Later that night, I lay in bed, tossing and turning unable to sleep. Although Li Fugui had a bad reputation, he usually showed respect for Old Man. It was rumored that Old Man had avoided being persecuted back in the day thanks to Li Fugui's protection.
But how could Li Fugui watch Old Man hang himself without intervening? What kind of hardship could make him stand by while someone he respected died silently?
And who had Old Man been talking to before he hanged himself? Was he mumbling to himself, or was there someone invisible present? Even Zhou Compass's abilities couldn't restore the scene from that moment.
Suddenly, I sat up in bed, recalling Old Man's last words.
"I remember back in the day, you loved these books the most. That year, you were still quite young, and suddenly you rushed over to ask me to help you hide this Dao Book, promising to return it later. I wonder if it's too late now."
"Dao Book?!"
In the years past in Futu Ridge, only Old Scholar possessed the Dao Book. However, Old Scholar disappeared in the second year of the Ten-Year Catastrophe, his temple burned down and reduced to ruins, with a few copies of the Dao Book secretly hidden by Guo the Blind.
Old Man is not older than Old Scholar, but many people in Futu Ridge during the Ten-Year Catastrophe could be referred to as children by Old Man. Back then, Guo the Blind was nearly thirty; Old Man could not be him. So who else could have had access to the Dao Book?
It could either be a villager who snatched the Dao Book from Guo the Blind, or it could be Guo Huaiyi, the son of Guo the Blind. But Guo Huaiyi was executed ten years ago; how could he possibly still be alive?
"Zhou Compass can record even masters like Li Fugui, so why can’t it see someone speaking in secret? Could he be a ghost?"
I recalled the strange way Old Man took books from the bookshelf. Before he passed away, he instructed me that if he were no longer around, I should burn his favorite copy of Three Kingdoms for him.
I stood up and went out again to visit Old Man's house. In his bookshelf, I found that old, tattered copy of Three Kingdoms, bound in blue silk. As I flipped through it, I unexpectedly found something.
It was an old, yellowed piece of paper.
Written on it was a cryptic and difficult-to-understand Taoist text titled Ghost Gate Secret Technique, known as Yin-Yang Rebirth.
Taoists divide a person's soul into Yin and Yang souls. The Yin soul refers to the spirit that returns to the Underworld after death, heavy with Yin Qi, lingering without reincarnation for a long time. The Yang soul, on the other hand, is a spirit that cannot return to the Underworld due to some special reason after death.
The Yin-Yang Rebirth Technique detailed how to separately reincarnate and revive both Yin and Yang souls. The difficulty for a Yin soul to revive is nearly akin to exchanging one life for another; only a great Taoist master can perform it because it is equivalent to Revival. And Revival is a taboo within the Daoist Sect, violating natural laws.
Summoning the souls of the dead from the Underworld, even for a Daoist Grandmaster like the Old Scholar, would cost ten years of life. Not to mention attempting to use the Yin-Yang Rebirth Technique to resurrect someone who was meant to be dead.
A Yang Soul refers to a soul that, after death, remains in the human realm for more than seven days due to some special reason. This soul has absorbed too much Yang Qi and cannot return to the Underworld. If such a soul does not find a vessel to inhabit, it will gradually dissipate in the Yang Qi of the human world.
Preserving a Yang Soul is challenging. The Yin-Yang Rebirth Technique does not elaborate on this, but it does introduce methods for reincarnating a Yang Soul.
Reincarnating a Yang Soul is relatively easier than that of a Yin Soul because a Yang Soul is already part of the Yang Realm. Although Revival may incur condemnation and could cost lives, this technique allows another's life to substitute for it, provided that it is a living being. This process is known as Human Sacrifice.
The practitioner of Human Sacrifice seals a recently deceased weak soul within a ceramic jar and then places the nurtured Yang Soul inside the jar for it to absorb. This significantly reduces the dissipation of the Yang Soul until it reincarnates or encounters something with spiritual essence to continue existing.
The method for reincarnating a Yang Soul involves Yin Marriage.
At this point, the content abruptly ends, but I suddenly realized something. I burned this section of the Yin-Yang Rebirth Technique and also burned the Old Man's favorite Three Kingdoms in front of his spirit tablet. The clues left by the Old Man pointed directly at Guo the Blind.
Guo the Blind had set up an elaborate trap.
A trap so vast it seemed boundless.
I even thought back to the Bus Crash Incident and realized that its instigator was not Zhou Manman but rather Guo the Blind's scheme. Regardless of whether Huang San'er and his group bullied Zhou Manman or not, everyone on that bus would die.
The only ones who miraculously survived were me and those seven idle individuals led by Huang San'er.
I also suddenly recalled why Widow Li's son, Li Tong, was hanged by Guo the Blind. It was not out of kindness to save Zhou Manman; instead, he intended to use Zhou Manman for Yin Marriage.
Zhou Manman was different; not only was she beautiful, but her spirit was also powerful. She could minimize the repercussions of the Yang Soul Rebirth Technique and act with impunity.
Zhou Manman was a person who had already died, her soul merely inhabiting a body that no longer belonged to her. Her only chance at survival lay in continuously absorbing Yang Qi to strengthen her soul; otherwise, her physical form would decay beyond recognition. Guo the Blind didn’t need to control Zhou Manman; he knew she would inevitably resort to murder.
Once Zhou Manman's soul grew strong enough, he would naturally claim her soul to pair with a Yin spirit.
Before his death, Huang the Lame asked Guo the Blind if he had known who the female ghost was all along. Guo the Blind did not answer, as the timing was not yet right.
I suddenly realized that I had fallen into Guo the Blind's trap since returning from university. At that time, Guo the Blind had been invited by my mother to call my soul back and had been watching me closely. Later, he even approached me directly while I was under a black veil.
He recognized Zhou Manman as the female ghost but did not stop her from being near me. Perhaps he thought she would endanger my life by consuming my Pure Yang Energy, but he never anticipated that Zhou Manman would fall in love with me.
Guo the Blind had woven an intricate web, with everyone from beginning to end falling under his calculations.
A chill ran down my spine. While it was still dark, I needed to use the Zhou Compass to uncover what had truly happened back then.
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