Chapter Twenty-Two Absolutely Not A Good Thing

  Climbing up the waterfall, walking through the water curtain into the cave, Fu Chuan returned here for the second time. He was calm and only feared seeing that wild monster again. Xing Chengtian, an archaeologist, entered this place as if he had entered a huge treasure trove, excited beyond measure.

  Xing Chengtian looked around, tapping the walls of the cave to the left and right. He told Fu Chuan that this cave was definitely hollowed out, not excavated by human hands, and it connected all the way to the village.

  Fu Chuan asked, "Then why are there German-made weapons here?" Fu Chuan said, kicking the box of weapons at his feet. Xing Chengtian picked up a gold coin from the ground and said, "They must have been found by someone later."

  "You must be the first person to enter here in decades."

  Fujiang looked at Xing Chengtian and felt puzzled, "Why say that?"

  Xing Chengtian looked around and sighed, saying: "This place has ancient texts written on the walls all around, which were used for sacrificial purposes. However, these texts were later referred to as divine words by people. It's as if even if the villagers knew about this cave, they wouldn't dare enter it, fearing desecration of the gods. These weapons should have been left behind by someone who accidentally stumbled upon this place and used it as a temporary stronghold."

  Fuhe naturally didn't understand that period of history, so he asked: "Who do you think should have found this place?"

  Xing Chengtian walked to the skeleton next to the weapon box, picked up a water bottle hanging on Bao Gu's body and took a look. He said: "Look at the date on the water bottle, it should be the end of '49. These people found this cave, probably scattered during the war and accidentally discovered this cave. There are so many treasures in the cave, they can't not take them. But look around, the gold coins don't seem to have decreased, and the golden utensils, jewels, jade stones and other precious things are all placed there. You can't tell me that they only took away a part of it."

  A whole room full of gold and silver treasures, how could those soldiers possibly just move away normally?

  Fuhe heard this and felt that there was some truth to it, but he still had doubts in his heart. "Why didn't they take these treasures away? Where did they go?" Xing Chengtian shook his head, then threw the water bottle away. He said: "I don't know about that."

  As night fell, they decided to set up camp in the cave and stay for a few days, hoping to find some clues. The starlight was sparse, and Fu Chuan walked out of the waterfall, where there was a large stone that he could climb on to look at the outside scenery. In fact, if someone who didn't know better saw this primitive forest under the moonlight, they might think they were in a fairyland at night. But only Fu Chuan could see the lurking and stirring evil energy in the woods. What puzzled Fu Chuan was that he still had no idea what kind of thing he was dealing with now.

  Fuhe took out the Bagua plate, then silently recited the name in his mouth. This place is a spirit-congregating array, and it's considered one of the cleanest places near the village. Perhaps this place won't be affected by the invasion of evil spirits and can summon the ghost.

  The bright moonlight spilled onto the Bagua disc, and after a few seconds, the Bagua disc began to move. Fu Chuan said: "Where are you?"

  It's obvious that there must be a ghost around to make the Bagua disc move, so Fu Chuan asked again: "Where are you? Show up immediately!"

  Fu Chuan's nape suddenly felt a chill, he turned around, and what he saw was a ghost with a distorted expression behind him. Although it was distorted, Fu Chuan could still recognize who the ghost was. "You've finally shown up."

  "Leave." The ghost's words were for Fu Chuan to leave this place. Fu Chuan asked concisely, "Why?"

  The ghost glared with its eyes and said, "You can't save us."

  "Who else? Besides you, who?" Fu Chuan was a stubborn bone, the more others told him not to care, the more he insisted on getting involved. "Tell me what happened."

  The ghost looked at Fu Chuan, his face gradually cleared up, and his tone also softened, "Do you really want to know?"

  "Yes," Fuchuan said.

  "You're not a believer in God," said the ghost, "even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it."

  "How would you know I wouldn't believe if you didn't say?"

  Fuhe didn't believe in gods or Buddhas, although the Fu family had been slaying demons and exorcising evil spirits for over a thousand years. The ghost sneered with a sinister smile: "You don't have your ancestors' faith, so no matter what I say, you won't believe it."

  "Love to say or not." Fu Chuan still didn't want to serve, turned around and pinched out the long bright lamp beside him. The ghost finally put away its nagging and said: "Okay, okay, I'll tell you."

  In the dark cave, outside the tent, there was only a bonfire. The ghost stood in front of them and Xing Chengtian looked at Fu Chuan, asking in a low voice: "Is it the ghost that brought you here?"

  Fu Xiang nodded and then raised his head to ask: "You know my uncle, you've looked for him before, right?"

  The ghost nodded and said, "But he says he can't do anything about it."

  "I really want to know why my uncle refused you," Fu Chuan asked.

  The ghost suddenly looked at Fu Chuan with sorrow and said, "Your uncle told me that he didn't have the ability to help me get out of trouble."

  "Who trapped you?" Xing Chengtian interrupted and asked.

  The ghost suddenly became agitated upon hearing this, and its expression also turned fearful. It said: "I don't know either, after the plane crashed we all thought we hadn't died, and kept wandering in the forest, there were many people, we all thought we had escaped disaster, only that we couldn't find a way out."

  "We have been searching for a way out in the woods, but we haven't found one after a long time."

  "You mean you didn't know you were all dead, and at the time thought you weren't, so does that mean you're still wandering in the forest?" Fu Chuan asked, and he also wondered if this was the case, then this old man must be thinking of inviting him to help them attain liberation.

  "I'm not going to be a Bodhisattva."

  Xing Chengtian glanced at Fu Chuan, his expressionless face, but just then the ghost shook its head and said: "Things are not that simple."

  Xing Chengtian and Fu Chuan echoed each other, letting it continue to speak. The three sheep had long since crawled into the tent and fallen asleep. The ghost said: "I don't know how long we've been wandering in the forest, but when we talk to each other, it's like we can't hear anything, yet we can clearly see everyone talking, everyone is desperately searching for a way out, but they can't find one."

  Fujiang thought it was time to get to the point, "Alright, tell me how you knew you were already dead."

  It said: "Because I saw our corpses all hanging on the plane wreckage, and also on tree branches, scattered everywhere, hands, feet, all over the ground."

  Fujiang suddenly realized what had caused them to see their own corpses for so long, and only then did they realize that they were already dead. When people die, if it is a natural death, they will slowly pass away, and their consciousness will be very clear about their own death. However, if it is a sudden or rapid death, it is possible that when they become ghosts, they may not be aware that they have died, and still think they are alive, just like in the case of a plane crash.

  "What happened later? You know you're dead, and after death, you can go to the underworld to report. Why are you still lingering in the mortal world?" asked Fu Chuan.

  The ghost suddenly burst into tears and wailed: "Do you think we don't want to go down and report? Do you think we want to be helpless lonely souls?"

  Fu Chuan didn't understand, and it seemed like there was something unspoken. Fu Chuan asked, "What is controlling you?" From the moment the ghost appeared, Fu Chuan had seen that its hands were bound by red iron chains, a sight only visible to someone born with the ability to see through both worlds, like Fu Chuan. Others, even if they had opened their heavenly eyes through practice, would not be able to see the chains on the ghost's body. "You are being locked up."

  Fu Xiang walked past, walking to the front of the ghost, he pulled out a yellow talisman from his body, and then pressed it between its palms, muttering incantations. After that, the iron chain fell to the ground with a loud noise. Xing Chengtian did not see what had fallen to the ground, but saw some sparks burning on the ground before quickly disappearing.

  "What my ancestors didn't dare to do doesn't mean I don't dare to do it!"

  Fu Xiang has always been confident in himself, especially in front of these ghosts and monsters. He had long since trained himself to be fearless over the years. What does he have to be afraid of anyway? These things should be the ones who are afraid of him.

  The ghost stared at him in shock and then said: "You are more daring than your uncle."

  Fu Xiang smiled and said, "Get to the point."

  "It said: 'Actually, we didn't know what it was either. At that time, we were wandering in the forest. When we realized we had died, we all felt like our bodies were going to turn into a puff of smoke and drift away. But no, we followed that light all the way, all the way, until we arrived at a place none of us had ever been before.'"

  Fuhe looked at it and interjected, "After a person dies, they can still maintain their pre-mortem appearance in the mortal world with a wisp of their former vitality. However, as this vitality dwindles, they will eventually turn into a puff of smoke and disappear into the underworld."

  "That streak of light is something that controls you, deliberately luring you in. Ghosts love light the most because they can't bear to part with it, so they're like moths flying into flames, knowing full well that as soon as they touch sunlight, they'll turn to dust and disappear. Yet they still want to try. That streak of light should be harmless to you."

  It nodded and said: "Yes, you've all guessed correctly, but I'd rather not have gone in myself."

  "Do you know what it is?"

  "For decades, I didn't know that we were always just hearing its voice without seeing its form. For these decades, it has been forcing us to bring in people from the past and then sucking out their souls."

  "What kind of thing needs to absorb souls?" Xing Chengtian looked at Fu Chuang unclearly, and Fu Chuang summarized: "Absolutely not a good thing."