Chapter 20: Blood Eye Dissolves and Comforts the Lost Soul

  He heard his words and quickly looked towards where Miao Wang was pointing, and indeed the place where he had been pricked by the needle was rapidly dripping with corpse water.

  My heart is greatly shocked, if we don't hurry up and handle it properly, the corpse will change. At this time, the blood in his eyes seems to be more than when the coffin was opened. Once the corpse changes, it may become a terrifying blood zombie. When that happens, it will be difficult for me alone to deal with the nine other old men who have also changed.

  "Alas, another unexpected turn of events." I sighed inwardly, "Forget it, forget it, don't bother with any more ghostly apparitions, let's just focus on preventing this old guy from turning into a zombie first."

  For safety, I had to take out six more talismans from my bag and stick them on the back, chest, palms, and soles of Miao Wang's feet. Then, I inserted cinnabar into his ears, nose, mouth, and anus to prevent this old guy from running away as a soulless corpse. After finishing, I put the body in the coffin and stuck a talisman on it to calm the corpse.

  My heart slightly relaxed as I looked at the well-covered coffin. In my mind, I silently recited: "Although I couldn't find out why your eyes were bleeding tonight, I've sealed you in so tightly that even if you wanted to turn into a rice dumpling for now, it's impossible. It seems like I'll have to find another time to dispel the resentment in your heart and make everything all right. I'm really sorry about this; I had no choice but to do it."

  After examination, no cause of Lao Miao Wang's bleeding eyes was found, nor any signs of being manipulated by others. Suddenly remembered that the eerie aura from earlier might still be helpful to me.

  At this time, Lao Liu's incense in his hand was almost gone and would soon be extinguished. He was anxious and could only quickly take out the compass from his travel bag to see which direction the ghost or monster that had just come to disturb him was from.

  The compass needle pointed to the southeast, and in that direction, only a dark shadow was seen standing in the corner of the southeast. Upon closer inspection, it was surprisingly Miao Wang. He had his eyes tightly closed, his face looked miserable, as if he had suffered greatly, and could not distinguish between east, south, west, and north.

  "It's probably a soul escape, fortunately only one soul came out and there are still two souls and seven spirits left in the body. At that time, use the soul-calling technique to let the soul return to the body." I exclaimed in my heart. I quietly walked to his front, strangely he didn't sense me at all.

  At this time, I suddenly had a question in my mind: Is Lao Miao Wang blind?

  With doubts in my heart, I came to Wang Changlao's side and asked tentatively: "Is Miao Wang blind?"

  His eyes widened in surprise: "How did you know about Guǐ Dào?"

  "Is it?" I said in a low voice, looking down at him.

  "This old thing was startled by my cold eyes and hastily replied: 'Yes, this is a secret within our clan. When King Miao was 50 years old, he suffered from some kind of eye disease and his vision deteriorated day by day. In the end, he went blind. Only I know about this matter, not even the other elders are aware of it. Over the years, I have secretly visited famous doctors to treat the king's eye disease, but there has been no effect. To avoid affecting his status within the clan in his later years and to prevent those with ulterior motives from stirring up trouble, most of the clan's affairs have been handled by me. Last time, when the king passed away, I heard that there was a famous doctor there, but before I could arrive, you had already gone. You should also know that if this matter is revealed to others, the consequences..."

  His face looked very sorrowful. I couldn't help but secretly sigh and say to him with a harmonious expression: "If you had let me know about this matter earlier, the King of Miao's eyes would not have shed blood."

  Although those of us in this line of work are doing it for a living, the employer's purpose is to send the corpse back to its hometown so that the deceased can rest in peace. The ancients said: "A fox dies on a mound." The common saying also says: "Fallen leaves return to their roots." People especially cherish their homeland and follow the tradition of 'parents are not far away'.

  That old Miao Wang died in a foreign land, his eyes closed in death, and after death, he must have been infinitely miserable. After being driven back to his hometown by me, although he clearly felt the breath of his hometown, but unfortunately couldn't see it, having been blind for so many years, even after death, he couldn't take one last look at the hometown where he had lived for many years. Therefore, I shed tears, but where do the dead get their tears from? There's only a sense of resentment in my heart, and all I can do is let blood carry my tears.

  Wang Zhang seems to have known that I found the key to solving things, and he was staring at me with a thirsty gaze. At this time, the incense had been extinguished for a long time, and although I didn't know what time it was in this stone hall, I thought it wasn't far from dawn.

  I gathered the elders and said to them, "The matter is clear. Tomorrow, prepare a ritual to summon the old master's soul and find his closest relatives to mourn for him. You must not have done this before, otherwise, the old master would have rested in peace long ago. Let Elder Wang lead the way, offer more incense and kowtows to tell him he has returned. Be sincere, I think the old master won't hold any grudges against you. After all, dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth, yin and yang cannot communicate, and all things have their own destination." The elders nodded in agreement after hearing my words.

  Out of the holy land of the Miao people, outside it is early dawn, birds that have just woken up are chirping loudly as if afraid others won't know their whereabouts. These birds are truly pitiful, unintentionally exposing their own targets and providing opportunities for animals that hunt them.

  "It seems these little birds are also some reckless things." I sighed.

  After finishing breakfast, as usual, Wang Changlao accompanied me to the resting room. The room was nicely decorated and the bed had a tiger skin quilt made of pure silk. Before sleeping, I once again instructed him that today's ceremony must be done well, try to let all men, women, old and young in the clan participate, and they must be sincere, so that the Miao king can feel it.

  "By the way, it seems like something is missing in your holy land?" I asked unintentionally.

  "Ah, that's another matter we'd like to trouble you with," said Wang the elder with a sorrowful face. "Our clan's sacred object, the Snake Spirit Pearl, has been stolen by someone. If you could help us retrieve it, we'll be eternally grateful. Lately, too many things have happened within our clan and I'm already feeling overwhelmed... Alas..."

  "Let me have a good rest first, I'll think about it and we can talk again at noon. I also have some small matters that I need your help with." After hearing his words, I stretched my waist comfortably and thought to myself that I shouldn't rush to agree with him, but rather consider it carefully before speaking.

  "What can I help with? I will definitely do my best." asked Wang Changlao excitedly.

  "Maybe we'll have a chance to talk again." Seeing that I didn't immediately agree, Elder Wang didn't press the issue and told me to rest well before leaving the room.

  At noon, I woke up from a good sleep, feeling refreshed and invigorated. Breathing in the fresh mountain air made me feel like I had shed my old self. As soon as I stepped out of the house, I heard wailing sounds shaking the sky within the village. I knew that Wang Chang Lao and the others had begun to pay their respects to Old Miao King. Walking over to watch, all I saw was a sea of black-clad people kneeling on the empty ground in front of the village. The coffin of Miao King had already been carried out at some point and placed high up inside a temporary funeral pavilion.

  Taiqian Wang, the elder, led all the men and women of the village to kneel in front of the Miao king's coffin, wailing and crying out loud. There were also a few people kneeling in front of the coffin, crying even more sorrowfully, shouting something in the Miao language that couldn't be understood. Those people should have been the Miao king's relatives when he was alive.

  Everyone wore a white mourning dress, looking very solemn. I think this should be able to comfort the spirit of the deceased Miao king. After all, the people here were once his subjects, and if they became blood zombies, it would also harm their own subjects. After the funeral, the matter of the Miao king can also be put to rest.

  At this point, he didn't think much more because his stomach was already singing the Empty City Plan. He thought about going somewhere to get some food. After filling his stomach, one person was very bored and could only plan to continue sleeping.

  In the afternoon, Elder Wang rushed into the room with an excited face and said to me: "The eyes of the Ghost King really didn't bleed again, so we can seal him in his coffin now. After finishing this matter, we should choose a new Miao king. However, about the Snake Spirit Pearl, can you help us?" After finishing speaking, he looked at me with eager and sincere eyes.

  "It's easy to say, but I'd like to ask you a few words first and see if you recognize them?" I said with a smile, then wrote the ancient characters from Master's letter on the ground.

  Looking at the ancient characters on the ground, Wang Zonglao pondered for a long time, shaking his head as he looked.

  "Do you recognize it? But the ancient characters of your clan?" I anxiously waited for his answer, really hoping he could recognize it and asked hastily.

  "This character looks like our ancient Miao script, but I can guarantee that it's absolutely not an ancient character from our tribe. Brother Gui is so eager to know the origin of this character, there must be a reason for it!" Elder Wang looked at me with suspicion.

  His words left me greatly disappointed. If this lead is cut off, then the curse that my master suffered from will be impossible to lift. The sorrow in my heart involuntarily surged up.

  "Look at you, Ghost Brother, your face is full of shock and surprise. This character must be extremely important. Although I don't recognize this character, I know someone who absolutely recognizes it. But what about the Snake Spirit Pearl?" Wang Changlao hesitated to say.

  "Alright, let's consider it a deal then. I'll help with the Snake Spirit Pearl." No choice but to agree with him for now. It turns out this old thing is also good at reading people's expressions and sensed the urgency in my heart, truly a cunning old fox.

  "The Ghost Brother will surely think that I, the old man, am treacherous. You are a superior being, and few people can surpass you in terms of Taoist skills and martial arts. The Snake Spirit Pearl is a sacred object related to the life and death of our Miao Village. If we can get the help of Ghost Brother, it will be a blessing for our Miao Village. For the sake of our entire Miao tribe, I had no choice but to do this. In the future, I will definitely apologize to you, brother. If there is anything that requires my assistance in the future, I will not hesitate." Seeing me with a look of disdain, the old man hastily explained with a guilty conscience.

  I can empathize with his feelings. I know that the Snake Spirit Pearl is a sacred object in their tribe. Of course, asking me to lend a hand also shows his trust in me. But since he was able to take the Snake Spirit Pearl from the powerful Miao Village, he's definitely not an ordinary person. All things need to be carefully considered, so I said to Wang Lao: "You go wake up Knife Scar first, and we'll discuss the matter of the Snake Spirit Pearl tonight. As for this ancient character, you can tell me about it after the Snake Spirit Pearl matter is resolved."

  Seeing me nod in agreement, Old Man Wang was very pleased and didn't say much more before busily going to instruct people to prepare dinner and calling for Scar.