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墨書 Inktalez
"Master, what do you mean by that?" Uncle Yang exclaimed loudly.
Wei Ning asked, "When did your daughter pass away?"
"Yesterday," Uncle Yang replied. "Because our family is poor, we couldn't keep her for long, so we hurriedly sealed the coffin. Why do you ask?"
Wei Ning said urgently, "The Seven Days of Mourning have already passed. How could you seal the coffin? Even someone who could have been saved will die like this!"
Uncle Yang trembled as he said, "Brother, are you saying my daughter is not dead? Is there still hope for her?"
Wei Ning sighed and replied, "It was possible, but by sealing the coffin in such a hurry, even a living person could be harmed. Even a great immortal would find it difficult to save her now."
Upon hearing this, Uncle Yang froze in shock and slammed his head against the coffin, crying out, "My daughter, it’s my fault! It’s my mistake." The crowd rushed to stop him, but Uncle Yang's head was soon bleeding. Wei Ning regretted speaking up; he wished he hadn't made the old man despair.
At that moment, Uncle Yang's wife approached tremblingly and asked, "Master, is it true that my daughter really… really has no hope?"
Wei Ning sighed again, unable to deceive the poor couple. "If I had been here yesterday, perhaps I could have saved her. But now…" He shook his head cruelly and said, "All I can do is ensure she can reincarnate. That is all I can manage."
Yang Granny stood silently by, softly weeping.
Then Uncle Yang stood up and said, "Brother, I entrust this to you. My daughter's life was short; it was meant to be this way. I only ask that you help her avoid… avoid such things in the next life. May she reincarnate smoothly and not be born into a poor family like ours again… I will bow to you." The simple-hearted country man truly knelt before Wei Ning.
Wei Ning hurriedly helped the elderly couple up and said anxiously, "Please don’t do that. Just let me do my best."
Uncle Yang wept, saying, "Master, you know that those who commit suicide seek a substitute. So, I will die now, and let my daughter find me a replacement." With that, he took a piece of rope from the room and pretended to hang himself. The others hurriedly stopped him, and another wave of crying ensued.
Wei Ning, unable to bear it, said, "There's no need for this, Grandpa. Even if you die, it would still be a suicide, and who would be your substitute then?"
Uncle Yang thought for a moment and replied, "That's true. Then... dear wife, just kill me. Go ahead."
Sighing, Wei Ning said, "Forget it. I have a way; we can find a ghostly substitute."
"A ghostly substitute?" Uncle Yang asked in confusion.
"It's simple. We just need to find the Yin Toad."
"The Yin Toad? What is that?"
Here's how it works: sometimes when a person is buried, it disturbs the toads hibernating underground. The toads are too afraid of humans to jump out. As people dig deeper, they may become trapped under the gravestone. If a particularly lucky toad manages to break through the grave slab and enter the coffin where a recently deceased person lies, it will have no choice but to eat human flesh since it usually feeds on nothing else. Once a toad has tasted human flesh, it becomes addicted to the flavor and will only crave more. However, since toads fear humans, they won't enter houses directly. Instead, they emit sounds similar to human voices outside to lure adults out before sneaking inside to lick children away. Sometimes, if they are extremely hungry, they might even lick adults. Anyone licked by the Yin Toad will develop symptoms resembling chickenpox and will soon die.
Thus, the Yin Toad is considered an ominous creature. If someone commits suicide, placing a Yin Toad at the site of their death and jumping three times before killing the toad allows the deceased to escape into Reincarnation.
"But where can we find this Yin Toad?" Uncle Yang quickly asked.
Wei Ning replied, "The Yin Toad is much larger than ordinary toads due to its diet of human flesh; it's easy to recognize."
"Isn't that just a bullfrog?" someone chimed in nervously.
"Uncle Yang, think about it. Has anyone in your village ever suffered from this strange disease that causes swelling all over the body? Or has there been any case of a missing child?"
Uncle Yang shook his head and replied, "It seems not."
At that moment, a well-meaning person raised their hand and said, "I remember that the Lan Family at the Village Entrance seemed to have lost a child last year."
Wei Ning quickly nodded and said, "Although I can't be sure if there are any Yin Toads nearby, we should still go look for them. It would be best if we could find one."
Uncle Yang promptly took Wei Ning outside. Following Wei Ning's suggestion, they first arrived at the largest pond in the vicinity. It was winter, and all the toads had already gone into hibernation. Where could they find a toad, especially a Yin Toad that grew up on human flesh?
Wei Ning walked around sniffing and nodded, "It seems there have been traces of Yin Toad activity here, but they should have gone into their burrows to hibernate by now. Let's check out Grave Hill."
Uncle Yang led Wei Ning up to Grave Hill. Wei Ning first surveyed the area before starting to search among the graves one by one. Suddenly, he stopped at a fist-sized hole and pointed, saying, "This hole looks strange; it might be the nest of a Yin Toad. However, finding this Yin Toad might require opening a coffin, which is somewhat..."
Uncle Yang's expression turned troubled. In the village, opening a coffin was considered very taboo, so he hesitated for a moment. Wei Ning said, "Although opening a coffin is inauspicious, I can perform a ritual; it shouldn't be a big problem. I just don't know if this family will agree."
Uncle Yang glanced at the name on the tombstone and said, "I should be quite familiar with this family's son. I'll go ask them if they agree. If they don't consent, we absolutely cannot disturb their Ancestral Tomb; that would be an affront to propriety."
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