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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 109: Soul Calling Paper Figurine
From my guess, this Mound must have been an unusual place in the past; otherwise, it wouldn't have such heavy Yin energy.
However, the old man shook his head and said, "This place has been like this since I was a child. It was only ten years ago that a transformer was built here. But a young man died while constructing this transformer; perhaps it shouldn't have been disturbed."
Seeing that the old man didn't know, we had no way to proceed. However, saving the person was urgent. I took out three white candles from my bag and lit them, placing them in front of Dog Egg. Then I lit three incense sticks and also placed them in front of Dog Egg.
Yes, I was going to call back Dog Egg's soul. Now that Dog Egg's spirit had been taken away by something unclean, if we didn't call it back quickly, over time, it would drift too far away to retrieve.
There is a folk belief that if someone is seriously ill or has been overly frightened at night, they can lose their soul. In severe cases, they may fall into a coma; in lighter cases, they may appear dazed and confused. At this time, it is essential to call back the soul as soon as possible. In some places, relatives call out the person's name; in others, they use a soul-calling chant or take the clothing of the person who lost their soul and walk with a long bamboo pole while shaking the clothing and calling out the person's name, urging them to return.
Nowadays, most people use the method of calling names. For example, when children are frightened in many places, mothers often call their child's name and say "Come back, come back," which is part of the soul-calling custom.
However, I didn't want to use this naming method; instead, I had a more professional approach: using a soul-calling talisman. So I took out brush and ink along with yellow paper and drew a Dizang Soul-Calling Talisman. Then I formed a hand sign with my left hand while holding the talisman with my right hand and began to chant: "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, by the decree of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, this talisman serves as a guide; let the incense and candles illuminate the path; souls return home, souls return home..."
The reason I lit candles and incense was that when souls go missing, they are in a state of confusion and have no awareness. The candles serve as guiding lights for them to find their way home. When people are lost, they tend to move toward light; lost souls do the same. As long as I kept the candle flames lit and chanted their names, they would be able to follow the light of the candles back.
After finishing the soul-calling chant, I began calling out Dog Egg's name: "Dog Egg, return! Dog Egg, return..."
However, for some reason, after calling out for quite some time, there was no response; the candles remained still. After calling for a while longer without any reaction, I couldn't help but loosen my hand sign and sighed helplessly: "It seems Dog Egg's soul has drifted too far away; we can't call it back now."
Indeed, I wasn't scaring anyone; once a soul drifts too far away, it's very difficult to bring it back. If nothing unexpected happens, that person would just be gone like this.
Upon hearing me say this, everyone's faces turned pale with fear. Dog Egg's mother even knelt before me in tears, begging me to save her son and continue trying to call his soul back.
I felt somewhat helpless; it wasn't that I didn't want to help but rather that the soul truly could not be retrieved.
At that moment, Cao Qilong suddenly spoke up: "Let me try again."
Hearing this made me curious. I had used the most powerful soul-calling technique from Yin-Yang Dao; even with the Dizang Soul-Calling Talisman, it hadn't worked. Could he possibly have an even more powerful method? But if so, why hadn't I heard of it?
Curious in my heart, I turned to look at him.
Cao Qilong's words seemed to bring a new ray of hope to the desperate villagers. Everyone looked at him, and then he said, "Quickly go find me a piece of white paper; I need to make a Paper Figurine."
As soon as everyone heard this, an elder hurriedly shouted to the crowd, "Who has white paper? Hurry and find some!"
At that moment, a villager shouted back, "I have some!" After saying that, he dashed home.
While waiting for the villager to bring back the white paper, I couldn't help but curiously ask Cao Qilong, "Senior Brother, what are you planning to do? The soul has already gone far away; do you really have a way to call it back?"
When I asked this, Cao Qilong seemed a bit puzzled. He replied, "Don't you understand the Paper Figurine Soul-Chasing Technique?"
"Paper Figurine Soul-Chasing Technique?" I was quite surprised and shook my head repeatedly. "I haven't learned the art of controlling paper; I only know some ordinary paper crafting techniques and Yin-Yang arts."
Upon hearing this, Cao Qilong suddenly realized. He said, "No wonder you didn't know. The Paper Figurine Soul-Chasing Technique uses the Paper Figurine to search for souls. As long as we follow the Paper Figurine, we can find the soul. However, it also depends on Dog Egg's fate; if his soul is still in the living world, there is hope. If it has gone to the underworld, even if the Paper Figurine goes there, we cannot go to the underworld to bring the soul back."
After his explanation, I became even more curious about this art of controlling paper. It seemed that I really needed to learn it well; there was quite a lot to it.
Cao Qilong seemed to see through my thoughts and patted my shoulder, saying, "Don't worry. Once this matter is settled, I'll teach you some when I have time. We have plenty of time; it won't take long for you to learn the basics."
I smiled gratefully. At that moment, the villager who had rushed home for white paper returned, panting as he handed a large sheet of white paper to Cao Qilong. Then, Cao Qilong began crafting the Paper Figurine with that sheet of paper.
Cao Qilong's paper crafting skills were very proficient. In no time at all, he transformed a piece of white paper into a Paper Figurine. This Paper Figurine was life-sized and looked remarkably human-like. If you looked closely, you would realize that this Paper Figurine resembled Dog Egg who was lying on the ground.
Indeed, at first glance, it really did look like Dog Egg; even its height and facial expression were somewhat similar. Seeing this made me admire Cao Qilong even more. His skills truly lived up to being a successor of paper control.
Once the Paper Figurine was completed, Cao Qilong asked an old woman for Dog Egg's birth date. After obtaining it, he wrote Dog Egg's birth date and name on the Paper Figurine and then began chanting incantations. Once he finished reciting the spell, he took up his brush and drew eyes on the Paper Figurine. Then he pointed his finger and tapped the forehead of the Paper Figurine while shouting loudly: "Command!" Suddenly, the Paper Figurine blinked its eyes and came to life!
This display of magic stunned everyone present; some were surprised while others were frightened. Indeed, in their eyes, being able to bring a Paper Figurine to life was akin to being a living deity.
At that moment, the villagers' gazes towards us changed from respect to awe.
With the Paper Figurine now animated, Cao Qilong gestured with his fingers and murmured something to it. Then he stomped his foot on the ground and shouted loudly: "Rise!" The Paper Figurine then jumped and started hopping towards the village entrance...
When the Paper Figurine left, Cao Qilong immediately rushed to everyone and said, "Dog Egg's soul has left the village, everyone quickly follow me in the direction of the Paper Figurine to find it!"
After saying that, he led me towards the village entrance, followed by a group of young people, while those who stayed behind guarded Dog Egg to prevent any further accidents.
Although the Paper Figurine was not running very fast, it was not a living being and wouldn't get tired. So after chasing for a while, we inevitably fell a bit behind. However, since lives were at stake, we couldn't afford to worry about that and sprinted to catch up.
This chase took us out of the village and onto a mountain path outside. After running for about ten miles on the mountain road, the Paper Figurine finally stopped in front of a Stone Pavilion.
"Dog Egg's soul must be inside the Stone Pavilion!" Cao Qilong said to me, then quickened his pace towards the Stone Pavilion, and I followed closely behind.
Soon, we arrived at the Stone Pavilion, where we saw a dark figure crouching in the corner, trembling and looking very scared.
We knew this person was Dog Egg's soul. Cao Qilong shouted at him, "Dog Egg, what are you hiding for? Hurry back!"
At his shout, the figure visibly trembled and then obediently stood up like a child, looking confused as it entered into the Paper Figurine that had Dog Egg's birth name written on it.
After that, the Paper Figurine seemed to change into another person; it became dazed and stopped running, instead following us back to the village in a stupor.
Upon returning to the village, Cao Qilong cast a spell to return Dog Egg's soul from the Paper Figurine back into his physical body. He then instructed the villagers to take Dog Egg back home...
Although Dog Egg's issue was resolved, I knew that there were bigger problems in this village!
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