Chapter Five Past Deeds

  Where did this tomb come from, and why was it buried under the Snake King Temple? At this moment, Ershu's brain was already not enough to use, and he could only stare at Nan San. Here, apart from him, there really wasn't anyone who could solve this matter.

  Nan San's expression turned serious as he stared at the tombstone in the ruins, then called out to Er Shu and Lao Ba Dao to use their iron shovels to dig downwards. With a mix of fear and curiosity, Er Shu and Lao Ba Dao didn't dare to slack off, and soon they all saw the tombstone. Who knew what was underneath? After exerting some effort, the two men's hearts grew more and more startled as they dug deeper. Why? Because beneath the tombstone lay a coffin, which Er Shu, who had dealt with such things for years, naturally recognized. But surprisingly, this coffin was made of stone.

  Second Uncle originally wanted to work with Lao Da to lift the coffin up, but it was really too heavy. With just the two of them, they probably wouldn't be able to do it. He couldn't help but ask: "San Nan, what's inside this coffin? Why don't we open it and take a look?"

  Nan San shook his head, reached out to feel the stone coffin, and then said: "Don't be reckless, you two come up first, there might be evil things inside this coffin."

  As soon as they heard about the evil object, both Second Uncle and the other person had a reaction, jumping up in fright. It's normal for people to be afraid of fear, especially with this mysterious coffin. Nan San saw the expressions on their faces and smiled slightly, then asked Second Uncle what was going on with the Snake King Temple.

  Second Uncle rubbed his temples, he was the village's manager, and naturally familiar with Lingjiao Village, but only heard a little about She Wang Temple. He told Nan San that She Wang Temple seemed to have been built during the Ming Dynasty. During the Anti-Japanese War, Japanese people often acted in this area, according to the old villagers' stories, the last worship of She Wang Temple was ten years ago, when an 18-year-old girl from the village hanged herself inside the temple because she had secretly eloped with someone else. What happened afterwards, Second Uncle didn't know either.

  After listening to Ershu's account, Nan San was slightly contemplative and also felt that this matter was suspicious. He immediately instructed the two men to sprinkle five yellow papers at the four corners of the Snake King Temple, hang a copper wind chime at the main entrance, and tie six emperor coins under the wind chime with red strings. After completing these tasks, Nan San glanced at the stone coffin and said to Ershu and Lao Daodao: "The little ghost may not come out during the day, we have to wait until nightfall. I want you to burn fire in the pit dug yesterday, remember, no matter what you see, don't come in."

  The two of them also knew what San San was going to do next, so they didn't dare ask more questions. For now, there was still some time before nightfall, and San San could only ask Er Shu and the others to sit down and chat for a bit. Perhaps it was because they were curious about San San's background, but Er Shu expressed his doubts in his heart, while Lao Da Dao on the side also had a look of curiosity on his face.

  Nan San looked at the two of them and said, "I'm just a minor Daoist who has learned a bit about spiritual power. To put it nicely, I'm a successor to the Pure Brightness Dao; to put it crudely, I'm what outsiders would call a 'shaman'."

  What is Jingming Dao, originally a branch of Taoism, the Zhengyi Taoist sect. Also known as Jingming Zhongxiao Dao. It first appeared during the Southern Song Dynasty's Shaoxing period. The founder was Li Yu. Jingming Dao, the key lies in the teachings contained in these two words: What is Jing? Not stained by things; What is Ming? Not touched by things, not stained or touched, loyalty and filial piety are naturally obtained. It flourished during the Yuan Dynasty and declined at the end of the Qing Dynasty.

  His eyes dimmed as he looked at Shan Lin and said, "I'm just an orphan. If my master hadn't helped me escape a disaster over a decade ago, I would have been persecuted to death by now. What a pity!"

  Originally, Nan San's parents had sacrificed themselves in the war, leaving him alone. He was later adopted and raised. In those years, perhaps the only pure land was a secluded place deep in the mountains and forests. Unfortunately, during a great upheaval that swept across China, under the collapse of feudal superstition, Nan San was also forced to flee and wander among the people.

  At this, Second Uncle and Old Blade both fell into deep thought, able to feel the sorrow in San's words, and couldn't help but sympathize. If only they had known earlier, they wouldn't have brought up this topic, and just added to the sadness. The three of them sat on the steps in front of the Snake King Temple, chatting and discussing the stone coffin, watching as the sky grew darker. San stood up and said: "Alright, it's time to take action, remember, the fire in that pit must not be extinguished."

  Then he closed the big gate again, and Erbo and Lao Da took a look at each other, brought some firewood to the pit and ignited it. The two sat on the side staring at the Snake King Temple. As for Nan San, he was naturally preparing to deal with the little ghost. After closing the door, he stared straight at the stone coffin.

  Suddenly, a faint tremor sounded in the silent black night, making one's heart skip a beat. It seemed that something inside the stone coffin was pushing it with a rhythmic motion. Nan San didn't dare to be careless and took out his ink sword, holding it horizontally across his chest. He then counted on his fingers and glanced at the copper wind chime, which suddenly emitted a pleasant ringing sound. The Six Emperor Coins also began to tremble.

  Nan San saw the situation and suddenly stabbed his wooden sword into the air, a string of blood splashing out. A white snake was seen falling to the ground. Nan San then stared at Feng Ling and Liu Di Qian, his left hand calculating with his fingers, searching for the hidden small snake. This snake was indeed strange, it couldn't be seen with the naked eye, truly bizarre.

  As the snakes grew more numerous, Nan San furrowed his brow and took out a talisman from his bag to suppress evil spirits. He slapped it onto the stone coffin, and the snakes hovering around him slowly dissipated. Suddenly, Second Uncle outside let out an "ah" and Old Blade shouted: "Snakes, they're her snakes!"

  It turned out that the snakes emerging from the pit outside were indeed snakes. Nan San had already made this move, calculating that there was a passage under the Snake King Temple leading to Lingjiao Village, so he ordered Ershu and others to burn the pit with fire to prevent the snake from escaping.

  Just as Nan San was about to remind Er Shu to be careful, the stone coffin suddenly shook violently, and cracks spread out on its surface. Then, with a loud "bang", it burst open. Nan San dodged too late and was hit by a flying stone on his forehead, causing a trickle of blood to flow out. But he didn't have time to bother with that, and instead hastily retreated several steps. After the smoke cleared, the scene inside the coffin was revealed.

  At this sight, Nan San's expression changed and he was stunned. Inside the stone coffin lay a skeleton, twisted at an eerie 90-degree angle. But what truly shocked him was that the skeleton was wearing red clothes when it died. Most people know that if a vengeful spirit who died by hanging is wearing red clothes, wouldn't it become a malevolent and ferocious ghost? That's why Nan San felt surprised, but he forgot why this stone coffin would be broken open in the first place.

  At this moment, fortunately, Ershu and the others did not come in, otherwise they would have been scared to death. Only then did a girl's voice sound beside Nan San's ear: "What are you looking at?"

  The voice was cold and gloomy, like a cellar. The listener felt a chill run down their spine. Nan San hastily looked around, but found no one in sight. He gripped his wooden sword tightly, then took out some soot and a bottle of transparent liquid, which he applied to his eyelids. Next, he drew a circle on the ground with his wooden sword, sprinkled it with realgar, and sat down cross-legged. When he opened his eyes again, the scene before him seemed much darker.

  But what Nan San was really staring at was a ghostly figure on the edge of the stone coffin, wearing red clothes and looking at him with a gloomy face. Seeing this thing, Nan San coldly snorted: "Little ghost, occupying the Snake King Temple to do evil, harming people's lives, with deep karma, still not stopping."

  But she saw the girl's face pale, ignoring Nan San's words, her eyes slightly red: "Withdraw your hand, do you know how the people in this village treated me, forcing me to hang myself, not killing them is already lucky, why bother coming to coerce me even after death!"

  "Life and death have long been destined, why bother staying here, unaware that the resentment is getting heavier, and the underworld will fall into severe punishment." Nan San said coldly, from the conversation with Er Shu earlier, it was already known that the little ghost here must be the girl who hanged herself to death back then. A person who died a terrible death, the resentment itself is heavy, plus the killing energy, I'm afraid this girl will have to go through a period of skinning and extracting tendons even if she can eliminate her own karma.

  But no matter how Nan San persuaded her, this female ghost refused to listen and instead sneered: "You're just an ordinary person, meddling in too many things."

  As soon as the voice fell, the female ghost brought up a gust of yin wind towards Nan San. Seeing that the female ghost was not giving in, Nan San got angry and stood up. The female ghost's shadow disappeared before his eyes. Nan San pulled out a Qian (a type of ancient Chinese coin) and threw it at one place. A miserable cry was heard, and a wisp of green smoke rose. This Qian was the currency of the Qing dynasty, having passed through the hands of countless people, with extremely strong yang energy.

  Nan San stood still, but saw that the Snake King Temple's four corners also rose with a wisp of yellow smoke at this moment. The female ghost was in a panic and wanted to escape, but was blocked by Wu Huang. Nan San calmly said: "I pity you for dying miserably, so I won't disperse your soul body. Let me spare your life."

  Nan San shook his head helplessly, then took down the copper wind chime, pasted a soul-calling talisman, gently shook it, and then found an earthen jar in the Snake King Temple, sealed it inside, and pasted the symbol paper on it. After doing all this, Nan San finally felt relieved. Fortunately, today was the day of the Hook Chen image, so the resentment on the female ghost's body was not heavy, otherwise it would have been difficult to subdue her.