Volume 1 Chapter 40 Soul

  "He's now nothing but a shell of his former self, no different from ordinary people." Third Uncle sighed.

  "What's a heart soul?" Hong Jun asked, "I only know of the three souls and seven spirits, but I've never heard of a heart soul."

  "Ordinary people have three souls and seven spirits, referring to 'heavenly soul, earthly soul (or conscious soul), human soul'. The three souls exist in the spirit, so when a person dies, the three souls return to the three paths." Old Qi took over the conversation.

  The heavenly soul returns to the Heavenly Road, arriving at the spatial Heavenly Road. Since the heavenly soul is only a good conscience and is also an indestructible 'Wuji', due to the causal entanglement of having a physical body, it cannot return to its ancestral home, so it can only be taken away to a temporary place on the spatial Heavenly Road, temporarily detained by its master god. This is what is called the 'Heavenly Prison'.

  The earth soul returns to the underworld, arriving at hell. Because of the earth soul, one can know all the causes and effects of retribution for the main soul. It can also refer to the good or evil deeds done by the physical body in the world, so after the death of the physical body, the earth soul again enters a place where right and wrong are judged.

  The human soul wanders between the graves, because the human soul is originally the 'ancestral virtue' of the surname passed down through generations. With the seven po in the body, its nature and behavior are determined by the po force. After death, it returns to the grave to face the god tablet, coming and going on the road that people take, relying on a temporary abode.

  Because he was a high-ranking ghost messenger, he had not only three souls and seven spirits, but also an additional soul called the heart soul.

  Third Uncle coughed slightly and continued, "The heart and soul are the foundation of transformation. As long as the heart and soul do not perish, he can be reborn again and again, transcending life and death. However, his three souls and seven spirits have transformed into blood and tears. When he is reborn again, he will no longer be able to find his own three souls. Although he won't become foolish like ordinary people, because the three souls and seven spirits carry his memories, without them, he can no longer recall his past lives. Even with a body possessing divine powers, he will not be able to use them, and from then on, he can only live as an ordinary person for thirty years. Therefore, when we knew that drop of blood and tears was the transformation of his three souls and seven spirits, we guarded it extra carefully, hoping that one day, the blood and tears could transform back into the three souls and seven spirits, return to his body, and let him become the all-powerful yin-yang ghost messenger once again."

  "Can't blood and tears be turned back into three souls and seven spirits immediately?" Hong Jun asked.

  "It can't be done. Once the three souls and seven spirits have left the body of a transformed being, they will become an independent entity. This entity may remain ignorant and unaware for its entire life, or it may be born with wisdom. But regardless of which, if it is willing, then even the original transformed being cannot make blood and tears turn back into their own soul and spirit." Third Uncle said, "This is what 'spilled water can't be gathered again' means. If you cut off a piece of flesh from your body, how can you make it return to your body?"

  Hong Jun nodded: "Oh, I understand. But if so, how long will you guard?"

  "We are ghost messengers, not reincarnated, so we can exist in the underworld for a long time. So, there's plenty of time, ten years, a hundred years, or even tens of thousands of years, which means nothing to us. Therefore, we're prepared to guard for a long time until the blood and tears are transformed into a soul again." Third Uncle coughed violently, and Hong Jun hurriedly poured him a glass of water.

  "A single drop of blood and tears, even if it's the soul of a transformed being, is it really that important for all four of you to guard?" asked Hong Jun after Third Uncle swallowed a few mouthfuls of water and coughed up some phlegm.

  "That's the soul of Huajing, not an ordinary thing. It's said that the soul has condensed part of Huajing's divine power. If it falls into the hands of a cultivator or a demon and is refined and swallowed, their powers will soar, even to the point of dominating the world. Not to mention its effect on reviving the dead. It's truly not something trivial. That's why many people and ghosts covet Blood Tears. If we hadn't hidden it in the back of Yingshan, a place where ordinary people and ghosts can't go, and if the four of us weren't protecting it with all our might, Blood Tears would have been refined by those with ulterior motives." said Third Uncle.

  Hong Jun nodded. So that's it, this drop of blood has such a great use. This is much more powerful than the ginseng from last year.

  "But because of a drunken mistake, my four brothers and I ended up in the mortal realm, with three dead and one injured. From then on, there was no more news about Xiaoguanzi and Xueli. Ten years ago, before Lin Daolong sent me back, he had asked around everywhere, but despite his vast connections, he had a flaw that prevented him from entering the underworld, so he could only ask fellow Taoist friends to investigate, but still got no news. To this day, I have no idea if Xueli is still alive." San Shu sighed, "Alas, we really failed to repay the kindness of Huajing who saved our lives with a single finger back then."

  "What about the one finger?" Hong Jun found that there were so many questions waiting for him in this headache-inducing matter. He didn't want to ask, fearing it would disrupt Third Uncle's narrative, but he couldn't help himself.

  Luckily, Third Uncle smiled and explained the situation with just a few words: "At that time, my brothers and I took a wrong turn and mistakenly entered the Refining Fire Mountain, which was a place for refining emotions. How could we, as ordinary ghosts at that time, enter such a place? When we realized our mistake, we were already surrounded by yin fire, and it seemed like we would be reduced to ashes. Luckily, Hua Qing discovered us and extinguished the yin fire with the cost of one finger, saving us."

  "Do you still remember the Journey to the West? Sun Wukong asked the White Horse to urinate to save the king, but the White Horse refused. It said that even if a fish drank its urine, it could transform into a dragon. Although the body of a demon is not as magical, it's also not something ordinary people can compare with. However, the yin fire on Mount Huoyan is no trivial matter either - it's pure yin fire, and even if you poured all the water from the East Sea on it, it wouldn't be extinguished. So, even if I were to transform, I would only have to cut off my right pinky finger and throw it into the fire to stop the flames from spreading."

  "Oh." Hong Jun nodded as if he understood and yet didn't understand at all.

  "Right, don't all ghost messengers have a heart and soul?" Hong Jun suddenly thought of this question.

  "No," San Shu shook his head, "even ghost messengers are divided into three six nine grades, only those close to the king of ghosts have a heart and soul. For someone like me who is just a low-ranking ghost messenger, I don't have a heart and soul. Moreover, even for ghost messengers with a heart and soul, each one is different. It's just like human names, they vary according to the ghost messenger's personality and abilities."

  "Oh." Hong Jun nodded again, seemingly understanding yet not quite.

  "Do you know why I was squatting at the corner of the village entrance wall today?" Old Jia suddenly asked Hong Jun, looking at Rui Xin.

  Hong Jun shook his head.

  "I am waiting for you."

  "Wait for me, how did you know I was coming back? Did Mom and Dad tell you?" Hong Jun asked.

  "No, it was your third uncle who told me." said Old Qiao Tou.

  "Did Third Uncle tell you?" Hong Jun suddenly realized that he had forgotten something again. This time when he came back, Third Uncle was drinking with Lao Diao Tou as if waiting for him specifically. Did they have something to tell him?

  "That's right, you guessed it. We've been waiting for you because we have something important to tell you." Third Uncle said suddenly, startling Hong Jun greatly. How did Third Uncle see through his inner thoughts?

  Luckily, Third Uncle immediately dispelled his doubts: "I don't have the ability to see through your thoughts, I was just guessing. Put yourself in my shoes and think about it - if you were me, you would also have such doubts."

  Hong Jun wiped the sweat, both hot and scared. He now believed that there were ghosts in this world, but he dared not believe that anyone could see through people's thoughts. If such a person really existed, it would be more terrifying than having ghosts. Because standing next to such a person is directly naked.

  "So, what do you want to tell me?" Hong Jun asked. He knew that today they would finally get to the point.

  "I am an ordinary person." Old Di's head still moved slowly, speaking at his own pace, "Have you heard this phrase before? Heaven's secrets cannot be revealed."

  Hong Jun nodded, isn't this nonsense? He had known this sentence since he was at least 7 or 8 years old. Wait a minute, he suddenly understood the meaning behind Old Chui's words. Could it be that Old Chui said this sentence to tell him something about the secrets of heaven?

  Lao Jie still didn't get to the point: "Do you think that the affairs of the spiritual realm are something us ordinary people can casually guess at? Do you know why so many fortune tellers and diviners lead a life of loneliness and their descendants don't have peace? Revealing too much about heavenly matters will bring retribution."

  Hong Jun suddenly realized that these were mentioned in many books related to divination, going against heaven and leaking heavenly secrets would harm one's yang life. Upon hearing this, he understood that Old Chui was making excuses, it seemed that he knew something, but for this reason, which was quite justified, he didn't plan on telling him anything.

  Just as Hong Jun felt disappointed, Old Chai suddenly said another sentence: "Take a look at the base of your right little finger."

  Look at your little finger? What's wrong? Hong Jun didn't ask out loud, he looked puzzled and raised his right hand, palm up.

  "Ah." He exclaimed in surprise.