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墨書 Inktalez
With another loud thud, I crashed into the wooden wall again, the impact making me see stars for a moment. Leaning against the wall, it took me a while to regain my senses. Turning my head, I saw my master crouched on the ground, panting and gripping the Great Seal tightly, his gaze fixed on the side door next to the shrine. He muttered, "Still couldn't catch you."
"Master, you knew it was coming," I said as I helped him up, my voice filled with confusion.
He nodded, glancing at the Death Spirit trapped within the Soul-Trapping Formation. Slowly, he said, "It has intentions toward this Spirit God and will definitely come to take it away. That's why I didn't place any seals on that door; I wanted to let it through. But I didn't expect its strength to be quite formidable."
I looked into the Soul-Trapping Formation and saw it was empty. Could it have been taken by the White Shirt Spirit? My master said, "Don't look anymore. The Bricklayer is still inside. To try and take a Spirit God right under my nose is simply a fool's dream." It was clear that he was somewhat irritated by this Spirit God.
Seeing my master like this stirred a surge of blood in me; I felt an overwhelming urge to rush in and give that White Shirt Spirit a good beating. If only I could do something about it, I would have confronted it long ago.
"Master, what should we do now?"
After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Since it's determined to have this Bricklayer, we won't let it succeed. You will send it away while I protect you. If it comes again, I'll block it for you." I nodded and opened my master's Cloth Bag, quickly setting up a Soul Sending Array outside the Soul-Trapping Formation.
Chanting the spell, Call of Souls, I summoned the Death Spirit from within the Binding Formation once more.
"Is it time? Shouldn't I be leaving?" Before I could speak, the Death Spirit asked proactively.
I nodded without pausing my actions and said, "That Spirit God has ulterior motives towards you. I'll send you away to where you should go. If you have any last words, tell me; I'll do my best to fulfill them if possible."
Surprisingly, the Spirit God showed no resistance and appeared completely relaxed as it spoke in a low voice: "Thank you for helping me find peace. I never imagined I'd leave this world in such a way. As the old saying goes, dust returns to dust. I know where I should go; in fact, I've long known that staying in this old house goes against the natural order. If possible, please tell my wife and two sons that I'm sorry for leaving them. I'm fine now; I'll always watch over them from above and tell them not to worry." After saying this, its body began to weaken as if accepting its fate without question. It made sense; aside from this choice, there was no other path available. Forcing it to remain in this world as a Wandering Soul would not only defy heaven's will but also mine and my master's. Being inherently kind-hearted, it would never choose such a path.
I nodded and began chanting Send Soul while my master stood with his back to me, intently watching the small door beside the shrine.
As its figure slowly faded away and disappeared, I successfully sent it off. Even though we had once been enemies in battle, I held no resentment in my heart; it too was bound by spirits. Moreover, its request for me to convey those words to its family—I'm gone but I'm fine—was meant to reassure them. Reflecting on this made me question: Was it truly fine? It had worked hard all its life and left suddenly before enjoying any peace; it wasn't fine at all—it just didn't want its family to know how unwell it truly was.
Until the Death Spirit was sent away, there had been no further movement; perhaps its fear of my Master far outweighed its need for this New Soul.
I packed up my things and asked my Master, "What should we do now?"
My Master glanced at his watch and replied, "You didn't bring anything, and it's already Midnight. It was difficult to catch it before, and now it will be even harder. Let's head back for now; we'll come back tomorrow night to deal with it."
I nodded and began to gather the items on the ground. My Master added, "Take the talismans too; we'll set them up again tomorrow night."
Once everything was packed away, we didn’t retrace our steps but instead opened the door to the Main Hall and stepped outside. My Master walked ahead, but after taking a couple of steps, he suddenly stopped. Turning back to look inside the Main Hall, he shone his Flashlight directly at the White Shirt Spirit standing beneath the altar. The White Shirt Spirit glared at my Master with a resentful expression. Ignoring its anger, my Master snorted coldly and turned to leave. Just as I was about to follow him, I heard the White Shirt Spirit let out a loud snort from behind us, a sound that resonated clearly. It felt as if the voice came from all directions, as if the speaker were right beside me. The volume of that snort was significant enough to provoke several nearby dogs into a frenzy of barking. The dogs in the Village were notorious for being noisy; once one started barking, the others would join in.
Even with all the barking, I couldn’t lose face. It had snorted at My Master, so I had to respond. Facing the door of the Main Hall, I took a deep breath, tilting my head back until I felt slightly dizzy before releasing a powerful snort that expelled all the air I had just inhaled. The effect was indeed satisfying and quite relieving. After finishing my snort, I lifted my head and turned to leave without giving it a chance to retaliate.
I hurried a few steps to catch up with my Master, who chuckled and said, "You rascal! Your voice is so loud you nearly scared me." I grinned and replied, "If I don't snort back, what's the point? Haha." With that, we quickly made our way up the mountain. It was getting late; if we didn’t return soon, we wouldn’t be able to deal with that White Shirt Spirit tomorrow night.
As we left the village amidst the chorus of barking dogs, I asked my Master, "How can we send it away? It has already taken lives; what will happen next?" My Master said, "Everything has its fate determined by unseen forces. The Bricklayer has a calamity awaiting him—he will be killed by the White Shirt. The White Shirt also has its own calamity: after being sealed underground for over a hundred years, it will emerge to kill the Bricklayer. For both of them, this series of events is predestined. Of course, this calamity for the White Shirt serves as a prelude to its next fate, which is punishment." My Master paused suddenly and then exclaimed softly.
I asked in confusion, "What is it, Master?"
My Master stopped walking and said thoughtfully, "I suspect that White Shirt Spirit was once a Taoist practitioner."
This sudden halt nearly caused me to bump into him. I steadied myself and said, "Master, are you saying it recognizes the Soul Summoning Array and the Soul-Trapping Formation? But that doesn’t make sense! If it truly was a Taoist practitioner, it wouldn’t have been unaware that when you were dealing with spirits earlier, the nearby Soul-Trapping Formation wasn’t activated. If it really recognized you then it wouldn’t have resisted your Soul Guiding. It should have attacked you directly at that moment."
"Not quite," my Master explained patiently. "The Soul Summoning Array had already activated; it was even more restrained than before. Even if the Soul-Trapping Formation wasn’t active, it could only mean that I couldn’t do anything to it; likewise, it couldn’t do anything to me either. However, you had restrained the Bricklayer, so from its perspective, you could come over to help me at any time. It never had much of an advantage; if you came over to assist me as well, there’s a high chance it would fail. That’s why it wanted to escape; it has nothing to do with whether or not the Soul-Trapping Formation is activated."
It turned out to be like this. I nodded thoughtfully, "If it really is a Daoist, what should we do next?"
My master chuckled and continued on his way, leaving behind a single remark: "Where there's a will, there's a way. Let's go back and get some sleep; we'll deal with tomorrow's matters tomorrow."
The next morning, after breakfast and morning practice, my master came to my room and said, "Let's go down the mountain and visit the Bricklayer's house. Didn't he ask you to deliver a few messages to his family? Remember to bring your work bag and also take your Five Spirits with you."
"Take my Five Spirits, Master? Mine is just an average one. That White Shirt Spirit is something even you can't handle. If I bring out my Five Spirits, it can only cheer from the sidelines," I hurriedly replied. This was no joke; I had finally managed to summon a Five Spirit and keep it by my side. I couldn't risk losing it over this matter.
My master opened his own bag and showed me the compartment where he kept his Five Spirits. Then he lifted his Cloth Bag and turned to leave. His intention was clear: I have a superior Five Spirit here; you can bring your average one along to learn from it. Realizing this, I quickly set up a ritual to summon my Five Spirit and placed it into the Cloth Bag. Such a good opportunity should be cherished; as for the dangers, they should be avoidable. After all, one cannot catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's den.
By the time we arrived at the Bricklayer's house, it was already noon. There was no one home; it seemed they had gone out to work in the fields. A large black dog lay at the entrance, barking furiously at us as we approached their home. We didn't have lunch habits on our side; breakfast was usually around seven or eight in the morning, with lunch around three or four in the afternoon, and if we were in a good mood, we might have dinner at around eight.
We called out a few times at the Bricklayer's house, but there was no response from inside—only that large black dog barking at us. I began to recite the Dog Repelling Spell, but my master stopped me and said, "Don't chant; let it bark. This will bring its owner back."
Thank you for the two diamonds from Sunlight Shines Through Your Eyes, thank you for the diamond from Cheng Jie Jie, and thank you for the fine wine from Qing Qiu.
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