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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 114: Spirit Suppression
Heibuchang saw that I still hadn't figured things out and angrily raised his crying stick to hit me, but this time he was stopped by Baibuchang beside him.
Heibuchang, still furious, said, "You, of all people! You're supposed to be a Yin-Yang master, and you've been living in this village for several days. You can't even see that there are graves in all four directions—east, south, west, and north. Don't you find that strange?"
I nodded. "When I first arrived here, I did find it odd that the area around the village was filled with graves. However, later I thought it was the Four Ghosts Coffin Raising Formation, so I didn't think much of it. Is there something else significant about these graves?"
Heibuchang began to scold me. "Didn't you ask the villagers? In this village, the four major graveyards are arranged according to the elements: Wood Element people are buried in the east, Gold Element people in the west, Fire Element people in the south, and Water Element people in the north. Wood, Gold, Fire, and Water represent the Four Symbols. These Four Symbols form the four focal points of the Hundred Grievances Locking Yin Formation. Didn't you notice any of this?"
Upon hearing him mention the Four Symbols and how the graves were arranged according to the deceased's elemental attributes, I finally understood.
The Four Symbols in Yin-Yang theory refer to Wood, Fire, Gold, and Water. As the saying goes, "Taiji generates two forms; two forms generate the Four Symbols." Taiji represents unity or chaos; the two forms refer to Yin and Yang, which give rise to the Four Symbols. In traditional Chinese culture, Qinglong (Azure Dragon), Baihu (White Tiger), Zhuque (Vermilion Bird), and Xuanwu (Black Tortoise) represent the Four Symbols: Qinglong represents Wood, Baihu represents Gold, Zhuque represents Fire, and Xuanwu represents Water. They also correspond to the four cardinal directions: east, west, south, and north. In the Twenty-Eight Mansions system, the Four Symbols are used to delineate heavenly stars and are also known as the Four Spirits.
Traditional Chinese orientation places south at the top, unlike modern maps where north is at the top. Thus, when describing the positions of the Four Symbols, one would say "Left Qinglong (East), Right Baihu (West), Front Zhuque (South), Back Xuanwu (North)," which corresponds with elemental associations (East Wood, West Gold, North Water, South Fire).
This means that in this village's graveyards located in all four directions—because they align with the deceased's elemental attributes—they do not contain ghosts from the Four Ghosts Carrying the Coffin but rather embody the Four Spirits: Qinglong, Baihu, Zhuque, and Xuanwu. In Taoist tradition, they serve as guardian deities specifically tasked with protecting temple gates. For instance, at Qingcheng Mountain's Tianshi Cave (an ancient Taoist temple), there are two shrines built on either side of a majestic gate: one houses a powerful statue of Qinglong named Meng Zhang Shen Jun on the left and a fierce statue of Baihu named Jianbing Shenjun on the right.
Realizing this made me gasp; I knew I had indeed gotten into trouble. I said, "Is this really a Hundred Grievances Locking Yin Formation? Are the Four Spirits guarding this formation?"
Seeing that I finally understood, Heibuchang coldly exclaimed before continuing: "It's not just that! In Yin-Yang theory, the Four Symbols also refer to seasonal natural phenomena known as Shaoyang (Lesser Yang), Taiyang (Greater Yang), Shaoyin (Lesser Yin), and Taiyin (Greater Yin). As it is said: 'Taiji generates two forms; two forms generate Four Symbols; Four Symbols generate Bagua.' Here, these Four Symbols represent a cycle of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—day and night extremes—effectively creating an artificial world where trapped Evil Spirits believe they are in a real world while outside is daylight; that's why they dare not come out to cause trouble."
I broke out in a cold sweat at that moment and thought about how I hadn't taken a closer look earlier. At the same time, I felt quite wronged; why didn't those villagers tell me that these graves were arranged according to old people's elemental attributes when I asked them why there were so many graves around?
At this moment, Hei Wuchang continued to teach me.
It turned out that the reason there was no water here and the river had dried up was that the spring had been deliberately driven away. This is because in terms of feng shui, water can gather energy. This place is heavy with killing intent, resentment, negative energy, and ominous energy. If there were water, it would be a disaster; the energy of those restless souls would gather, and who could suppress it? Therefore, there cannot be water here to prevent the gathering of killing intent, resentment, and ominous energy.
However, I now realized that I knew nothing and had inadvertently brought the spring back. Now water could gather energy, and the evil spirits' killing intent and resentment could accumulate. Moreover, since I had broken the Hundred Resentments Locking Yin Formation, it was strange that the village did not descend into chaos.
Upon hearing this, Hei Wuchang was left speechless with anger, while Bai Wuchang laughed and said, "You really have some guts! You’ve not only disrupted the feng shui here but also broken the formation and brought back water. It seems you want to create a feng shui treasure land to help those restless souls break free!"
Hearing this made me feel utterly embarrassed; I wanted to find a hole to burrow into. I thought to myself that I was indeed too talented, having caused such a disaster without even realizing it.
Bai Wuchang continued, "This village is indeed a Cursed Ground, but most of its resentment is due to the Mound's yin pit. Although cutting off the water here prevents energy from gathering and there is the Hundred Resentments Locking Yin Formation composed of the Four Symbols suppressing it, some resentment still inevitably leaks out; it has just been greatly reduced. As a result, when you saw it later, you thought it was the land of 'Four Ghosts Carrying the Coffin' without considering that this overwhelming resentment could even condense yin dew under the sun. Just how much negative energy must exist for that to happen? This village has existed for over a hundred years; with such a place of overwhelming yin energy in the village, logically speaking, all living beings should have perished long ago. So why are there still living people?"
Indeed, if even Mound could condense yin dew, then logically speaking, as many people as there were should have died; such places absolutely cannot retain living beings.
At this moment, Bai Wuchang continued, "This is your mistake: you only believe in Dao Fa without considering the underlying principles. As they say, 'Dao is the fruit; Li is the cause.' Without understanding the cause, you cannot determine the fruit. This is your grave error."
After listening to Bai Wuchang's explanation, I finally understood that over these years I had focused too much on the Five Elements and had not considered their principles.
At this time, Cao Qilong suddenly spoke up: "Since this isn't the Four Ghosts Coffin Raising Formation, why do souls still get taken away by ghosts at night?"
Hei Wuchang couldn't help but raise his crying stick as if to hit Cao Qilong, scaring him half to death. In the end, Hei Wuchang only pretended to hit him but didn't actually strike him down. He scolded, "This village is like a coffin; Evil Spirits take you to their altar! Do you think they can invite you like a grand guest?"
"Take people to an altar?" Upon hearing this, both Cao Qilong and I were startled. We wondered why ghosts would want to take people to an altar.
The Black and White Impermanence did not answer us but said, "In any case, you will know soon enough. This trouble you have caused must be dealt with by yourselves." After saying that, the two of them disappeared from the spot...
After the Black and White Impermanence left, we stood there in a daze for quite a while. Cao Qilong asked me, "Junior Brother, what should we do now? We were just trying to help the villagers, and yet we've attracted such a huge mess. Even the Black and White Impermanence have come; it seems we've really gotten ourselves into trouble this time!"
I felt even more disheartened. You see, I had previously thought I understood Yin and Yang and Dao Fa, which led me to make a big mistake by mistaking the Wanzang Pit for a crime committed by the God of Kilns, bringing the Black and White Impermanence upon us. Now, I had mistaken the Hundred Grievances Locking Yin Formation for Four Ghosts Carrying the Coffin; this was truly a self-destructive path. So I sighed and said to Cao Qilong, "There’s no other way now; we need to think of a way to remedy this! According to what the Black and White Impermanence said, all of this trouble stems from that Mound in the center of the village, so we need to deal with that Mound."
"But the Black and White Impermanence also said that it's a place where grievances accumulate; even during the day, it can gather Yin resentment. Do you think we can handle it with just the two of us?" Cao Qilong expressed some fear.
I understood Cao Qilong's concerns. Indeed, we had no confidence in dealing with such a dangerous place. However, the trouble had already been caused, and there was no escaping it now. So I said, "At worst, we'll die; we can't just abandon the villagers for our own lives, can we?"
Cao Qilong stomped his foot and made up his mind, saying, "Alright then. After all, life is just one life; whether it's early or late, we will die eventually. We have nothing to worry about in this life; today I'll accompany those Evil Spirits for a bit."
I forced a smile; yes, nothing to worry about. I exchanged glances with Cao Qilong and then ran towards the Mound in the center of the village...
Before long, we arrived near the Mound. Looking ahead at it, our expressions changed drastically because it had completely transformed. The area was brightly lit; on top of the Mound was a large long table set up with an incense burner. In front of the incense burner were offerings like pig heads and whole chickens, while below were crowds of people as if some sacrificial ceremony was taking place.
"What... what is going on?" Cao Qilong was immediately stunned.
"I don't know, but those are definitely not humans!" After saying that, I slowly walked towards the Mound...
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