Chapter Thirteen: The Coffin and Shroud

  The coffin actually emitted a smell like human rot, how could it not make Nan San shocked? The old butcher behind him also smelled this smell at this time, but he didn't dare to come forward. He ran into the room and took out the only flashlight, then threw it to Nan San. In fact, this person has been afraid of three things since a few thousand years ago: one is darkness, two is coffins, and three is evil people. The first two are psychological effects. So the old butcher only dared to watch from behind, even if he had ten times more courage, he wouldn't dare be like Nan San.

  Nan San took the flashlight and shone it towards the coffin. The dark wood coffin had a faint blood-red glow under the dazzling light, but it was unclear. As soon as his right foot stepped into the house, he felt a wisp of yin wind lingering around, which in Taoist terms was a ghostly wind that condensed but did not disperse.

  San San carefully observed the room and found it was empty, with only two long wooden chairs placed beside a coffin. It seemed that the singing voice earlier could only be explained by this coffin. However, he didn't dare to take it lightly and approached the coffin cautiously.

  This thing is indeed as old and tattered as Lao Da said, you can even see inside. Nan San shone his flashlight into the gap and found it was empty, which made him even more suspicious. If there's nothing in this coffin, where did the singing come from? There's no time to draw a circle and sit down now, so Nan San pushed the coffin lid open with force. A loud crashing sound, the coffin lid was flipped to one side.

  At the same time, a black smoke emerged, Nan Sanping concentrated his spirit and used his wooden sword to deflect it. This was corpse poison, which would naturally occur in old coffins buried underground after a long time. But what made Nan Sanping's heart tremble with fear was that there was nothing inside, and it was old and broken, so how could there be corpse poison?

  Nan San's expression was unusually serious, his hand stroking the edge of the coffin, his eyes closed as he carefully sensed something. After a moment, he turned off the flashlight and exited the room. The old man outside saw this and anxiously asked, "What's wrong, is there something wrong with the coffin inside?"

  Nan San did not answer directly, pointing behind the village office and saying: "Go get some glutinous rice and incense sticks."

  Lao Da Dao realized at this time that Nan San was going to cast a spell, and although he was afraid, he didn't dare delay. He quickly went to the back to retrieve two things from the discarded items. After receiving the glutinous rice and incense sticks, Nan San first scattered a circle of glutinous rice around the coffin, then inserted the incense sticks into each corner of the room. Finally, he took out a soul-calling talisman, which was one of the Taoist spells. With the talisman in hand, Nan San chanted: "One spirit enters Greedy Wolf, ziwen; two spirits hide in Giant Gate, chouwen; three spirits store in Lucky Position, zhongzhongwen; four spirits curve in Literary Village, sizhongwen; five spirits store in Honest and Chaste Position, sishangwen; six spirits face Military Mansion, weiwuwen; seven spirits break into Army Camp, wuwuwen. Three souls cover and hide, siwuwuwen, hurry up like a law enforcement order."

  The incantation ended, but the singing voice in the coffin suddenly sounded, and it was particularly eerie in this desolate wilderness. The originally mournful and melodious singing voice suddenly became shrill and harsh, even Nan San, who had mentally prepared himself, couldn't help being startled, let alone Lao Dao, whose legs were already trembling with fear.

  The old man's trembling body approached the south, wanting to find some sense of security. However, before he could get close, he saw that the blue coffin suddenly changed, and a drop of bright red blood flowed out from the edge of the coffin. The old man was so frightened that his mind went blank, and he asked: "What's going on?"

  "This thing, to put it bluntly, is a mixture of human bones and blood. The stench earlier was the unique smell of a highly decomposed body. I'm afraid this is another vengeful spirit."

  As soon as he heard that the coffin was made of human bones and blood, Lao Da was shocked. He had never seen such a strange thing before. In his mind, he thought that he couldn't stay in this rural inn for long. Tomorrow, he would have to discuss with his superiors about changing posts, even if it meant guarding wheat fields, which was better than this.

  But as the blood seeped out, Nan San's talisman also took effect. The bloodstain reached the edge of the glutinous rice and emitted a burnt smell. In a daze, one could still hear a painful cry. Nan San drew out his ink-wood sword, his calm face and cold eyes fixed on the coffin: "Vengeful spirits and little ghosts, why are you causing trouble in the county government office?"

  As soon as the third sound was made, a blood-red palm print suddenly appeared on the edge of the coffin, exactly like the one before. It continued to slap against the coffin, covering it entirely in no time. Nan San quietly gazed at the palm print, hastily sat down to draw a circle, and opened his heavenly eye. He saw that there was a black human shadow on the coffin, blurry like a silhouette, but missing its head. Judging from the figure, it seemed to be a young woman.

  This vengeful spirit can't speak, Nan San guessed that it must be the separation of the three souls and seven spirits, or it was restricted. It is said that humans have three souls, namely Tian Hun, Di Hun, and Ren Hun, and seven spirits are named Shi Gou, Fu Shǐ, Que Yin, Tun Zei, Fei Du, Chu Hui, and Chòu Fèi. And this Tun Zei is in charge of the mouth, without it, the little ghost probably can't speak either.

  "I see that you have a heavy yin energy, and the evil spirit's energy is three times heavier. I'm afraid you might be killed by someone. Can you tell me your birth date and time? Let me calculate your fortune." Nan San was known for being able to tame small ghosts, so he didn't want to use force. Luckily, this little ghost seemed reasonable, and the blood-red palm print slowly gathered into a line of text. The old man with the knife wasn't clear about what was going on, and he didn't even dare to breathe loudly from the side."

  Nan Sanzi carefully took a look at the red font, and his heart had a number. He calculated with his fingers, positioned the compass, and spat a mouthful of blood on the compass. The needle above stopped and turned suddenly, and finally he stood up and said to the little ghost: "I'm afraid that the head buried outside with the ghostly pattern is probably yours, don't worry, I'll try to give you justice."

  Lao saw the situation and was confused, he didn't understand what was going on. He also knew that as an outsider, he couldn't possibly comprehend these things. So he followed San out of the village inn, and then asked impatiently: "San, what's going on? Why did you come out?"

  Nan San turned his head and stared at Lao Ba Dao, his eyes deep and profound. He opened his mouth and said: "The coffin indeed contains a female ghost, who was murdered by a group of people. Her body was dismembered and scattered, probably no more than a few months after her death."

  As for why the coffin looked so dilapidated, Nan San couldn't think of any reason for the time being and could only attribute it to someone having tampered with it. Only after inquiring about what was going on did Old Blade finally understand what had happened. Then he asked where they were headed next.

  Nan San fell silent again, which made Lao Dao feel annoyed. He thought to himself, "This young man is as dull as a wooden stake, with no follow-up to his previous sentence." He had no choice but to reluctantly follow Nan San to the thicket where the ghost-patterned hairpin was placed. As soon as he saw this strange object, he exclaimed in shock: "What's going on here?"

  This ghostly seal looked calm and ordinary in the daytime, but when night fell, Lao Daozi only discovered that the two red sticks emitted a blood-like glow, and the patterns on the stone seemed to come alive. This scene made his little heart thump again. Nan San pointed at the two red sticks and said: "Later we will cut off that black thread and break this ghostly seal."

  "It's easy, just cut it with a knife." Lao Ba said dully.

  Nan San gave a disdainful glance, shone his flashlight on the thread and said: "You make it sound easy, this thread is connected to the five senses of humans. If it's broken, I'm afraid the skulls buried here will explode, and at that time, the little ghost in the coffin will come looking for you."

  Listening to Nan San's words, Lao Ba Dao also knew that he didn't understand anything, so he shut his mouth and stopped talking. Nan San also shifted his gaze to the grass thicket, searching around before finding a talisman, which was thrown here during the day.

  It turns out that Nan San is quite capable, and as soon as he saw the ghostly aura, he felt something was off. He cast a spell to search for hidden objects underground, initially guessing it was a corpse, but now it seems like it's just a skull. He called over Old Ba Dao, and together they dug at the location indicated by the spell, digging almost a meter deep when suddenly a strand of hair appeared. Old Ba Dao was startled, and with all the terrifying scenes he had experienced tonight, his nerves were on edge, leaving him somewhat traumatized.

  Seeing Lao not moving his knife, Nan San had no choice but to take matters into his own hands. As he dug deeper, the skull gradually emerged from the mud, and when it was finally clear, Nan San muttered to himself, wondering why this skull was so well-preserved that if it weren't for the lack of breath, it would look just like a living person.

  This is a woman's skull, looking like she was only in her twenties. The five orifices are connected by five black threads to a red stick. If the threads were cut, the skull might explode instantly. The only way out is to cut the black threads between the red strings. Lao Ba Dao had never seen such a skull before. If Nan San weren't by his side, he would have been scared out of his wits. He stared at the woman's skull, and suddenly it opened its eyes, staring straight at him.

  "Ghost! Oh no, a ghost!"

  Nan San shook his head and patted him on the shoulder, comforting him: "Don't be afraid, it's just a natural reaction, not some ghost!"