Chapter Sixteen: The Night Road is Full of Flowers

  Lao Qian waved his hand and said: "I'm afraid of his grandma's ball, come on. What time is the eclipse?"

  I say at midnight 12 o'clock, when the yang energy is collected and the yin energy is fully extended.

  Old Qian nodded.

  I and Old Qian deliberately laughed loudly as we walked towards our residence, when we entered the house, Zhang Mei had already laid out breakfast, but it was not like usual, very sumptuous.

  But I was shocked to find that there were three rows of dishes on the table, with a total of nine bowls, which is exactly how they are arranged during worship in rural areas.

  I nudged Old Qian's elbow and said, "Sister-in-law has worked hard today, so many dishes, I'm afraid we're not worthy of enjoying them."

  Zhang Mei still looked pale and said: "They're just some small dishes, you've been gone for a long time, I made a few more."

  I pushed the dishes away with a clatter and then arranged them in a circle again, saying "This is better."

  Zhang Mei trembled and didn't say anything. She just asked: "What about that coffin?"

  Lao Qian said: "Nothing, Director Zhao is busy and has left."

  I'm fed up with this Zhang Mei, who has repeatedly made a fool of me and Old Qian. First it was the tofu, now it's the nine big bowls. If I don't give her some warning, it seems like this house won't be able to tolerate us two anymore.

  I suddenly stood up and said: "Sister-in-law is hardworking, why don't I dance for sister-in-law to see."

  Lao Qian stared at me in surprise, but I ignored him and looked straight at Zhang Mei.

  Underfoot, the lotus flowers are stepped on, and the body is dancing. As I move my body, a gentle breeze suddenly rises in the house, and I know that the copper bell is powerful, so I am correct. My left hand lightly points to Zhang Mei, and my right hand reaches into my bosom to tightly grasp the copper bell.

  As soon as Zhang Mei and I locked eyes, her face changed drastically, and she almost lost her footing. I stopped and said, "Sister-in-law, in the future, can you make our meals a bit cleaner? Also, don't go to so much trouble."

  Zhang Mei's face was ashen, and she nodded in response.

  This warning of mine is not to be taken lightly, with my foot on the lotus flower, it's a righteous and spirited stance, my hand stroking the bronze bell, is the start of an attack, if you dare to harbor evil intentions again, the bronze bell will strike, don't blame me for being ruthless.

  After dinner, He Qian and I went upstairs. He Qian still asked me in confusion, "What's going on?"

  I said: "Now I can tell you, don't you think that Zhang Er's widow has been treating us like ghosts all along? This is called stirring up evil spirits, and if it goes on for long, it will harm our yang energy. At that time, something might really happen and it won't be good."

  Lao Qian nodded in agreement with what I said and waited quietly for the time to come.

  Near midnight, I and Old Qian quietly went out and came to the stone coffin in front of the construction site.

  A deathly silence, the stone coffin stood upright, an eerie atmosphere. Old Qian gripped my hand tightly, his whole body trembling, I whispered: "Don't be afraid, we two have strong yang energy, yin ghosts still fear us three points."

  I've already clearly seen it during the day, at the north end there are two footprints, I think they're the gate of life left behind, at the south end there's a blurry knife shape, I think it's for the sake of the begging spirit knife, absolutely it's the work of the Shadowless Gate.

  I kicked out with one foot, hitting the two footprints on the northern head. Suddenly there was a loud rumbling sound, and the copper bell in my arms shook violently. At this point, I couldn't care about anything else, and I kicked out three more times, with continuous booming sounds. Suddenly, an even louder crash sounded, and the stone coffin lid fell to the ground with a clang. Myself and Old Qian were shocked and retreated several steps.

  Only then did the black fog rise, forming a group and rising straight up, followed by white fog gathering into a ball, exploding with a loud bang. There was no more sound, and the stone coffin returned to silence.

  I and Old Qian plucked up the courage to walk closer to the stone coffin, only to find that inside it was lying an old man, emitting a faint white glow, but with a complexion as if he were still alive. Suddenly, Old Qian shouted, "It's the Old Man of South Village!"

  Clothes and shoes are like new, complexion is ruddy, left hand holds a wooden stick, called "hitting dog stick" when sending the soul on the road in the countryside, right hand holds a rice ball, called "opening throat rice" in the countryside, the deceased has opened his throat and will not starve to death. However, it just stands still and motionless.

  I've also figured it out, damn it, it's not someone else, but the old man from Nan Village, and also Fengchen Residence from the Bagua Tree Formation. I'm actually relieved now, what the hell do you want to play again?

  "How much longer will you keep pretending?"

  Lao Qian was so scared that he held my hand and became a limp noodle. Luckily, I let out a loud shout, which also boosted his courage, and he shouted: "I'll play you to death!" I stopped Lao Qian, just like I did back then, not understanding anything, just blindly shouting.

  A faint humming noise began to rise, and the old man in the stone coffin slowly floated up, suspended above the coffin. Suddenly, he sat upright in mid-air, his eyes gleaming as he stared at us two. Old Qian let out a loud shriek of terror. I quickly grabbed hold of him, still standing on the lotus flower, and pinned him down to its center.

  "You're still determined to go through with it?" I said sternly.

  "Who is Feng Chenju? You disturb my ancestors' graves, and our descendants will not be at peace." However, it was an old man's hoarse voice, not the vigorous voice of Feng Chenju.

  I suddenly understood, it turned out that Feng Chen had been borrowing the true body of this old man who had passed away, and was wandering around Nan Village causing trouble.

  "I was about to cross the bridge, but a figure blocked my way, saying that my ancestral grave had been disturbed and that future generations would have no home to return to. He told me to go back. I didn't think it was true, but indeed you people have disturbed my ancestor's spirit, blocking my path across the bridge into the afterlife." The old man spoke slowly, his body still floating in mid-air, and as he floated, the wailing sounds around him grew louder and more intense.

  Not good, Wuyinmen is going to make trouble with this.

  I bowed deeply and said, "Please don't blame us, old sir. The situation arose from a certain cause. There is an evil cult causing trouble, it's not that we are acting rashly."

  "Those things can help me cross the Naihe Bridge, but that long sky is urging me to go home, I don't want to disturb others again." The old man's words were urgent and anxious. "That person is very strange, he carved a knife at my life gate, blocked my life gate, and even changed the stone coffin, trapping my true form, I can't move!"

  As expected, the knife was for Feng Chen's residence, and Lao Zhai couldn't enter the spiritual realm to rest. The heart of Feng Chen's residence was not good, wanting to lure the yin ghost to make trouble, block the Nan Village project, and force the appearance of the Ling Knife.

  Suddenly a gust of dark wind blew up, and red dots flickered around. Not good, the small fry of Wuyin Gate want to take advantage of the situation.

  I pulled Old Qian, and we both jumped into the stone coffin. The old man's body sank heavily, and he fell beside us. Old Qian was too scared to care at this point. The old man was still stiff and scary, but his eyes were fixed on us two.

  The old man's sunken eye sockets, however, had two bulging eyeballs that shone with a faint white light. The stone coffin was narrow, and the light from his eyes pressed towards me and Old Qian, making the back of my neck feel chilly. At this moment, I couldn't care less.

  "How can I help you?"

  The old man said: "There is a kind spirit who will escort you all the way, and when you reach the bridge, you can go on your own and won't be bothered again."

  Old Qian dragged me along, and I barely avoided collapsing.

  "You will tie the copper bell to your wrist, hold my staff, this is a probing yin staff, it can lead me to cross over." The old man was anxious, and had already seen the white air on his body becoming thicker, thinking that time waits for no one.

  I followed his words and acted. Holding the Lingyu staff, I lightly tapped on the footprints at the northern end of the stone coffin, and with a loud rumble, it opened wide, revealing a downward staircase.

  I pulled Old Qian forward, the old man followed behind, and we went down the stairs. Behind us, I heard a loud rumbling sound, the stone coffin lid slammed shut. I thought it was pitch black, but a white light shone straight ahead of us.

  I learned from Daozhang's style, walking and reciting, "Two people in the mortal world, borrowing the Tao to ferry spirits, both have kind hearts, don't disturb us."

  Lao Qian muttered, "What the fart, is this human language or ghost language?"

  I stopped Old Qian and said: "We have entered the underworld, you may not believe it, but don't speak carelessly."

  Lao Qian was shocked into silence.

  All along the way, yet there are rare flowers and weeds, fragrance assails one's nostrils. What kind of netherworld is this? It's obviously a Peach Blossom Spring!

  An old man behind him said: "This is the road of flowers, entering the underworld, getting rid of the hardships of the world, it's a kind of comfort."

  I finally understand now. No wonder when I was a kid in the countryside attending funeral rituals, there would always be a "Zan Hua" section with singing and dancing, it turns out that there really is a road of flowers.

  It was one of the rare smooth ones, and I arrived at a bridge, with gentle flowing river water, and the bridge was also covered with flowers.

  The old man said: "I have arrived, I will cross the bridge and ensure that my children and grandchildren are worry-free. Thank you to the righteous spirit messenger for escorting me."

  This is the second time I've been called a righteous spirit messenger, the first was Qing Shan Dao Zhang. Forget it, anyway it's all about accumulating good deeds, doesn't matter what kind of messenger or not, just don't scare me and that's fine.

  At this moment, I suddenly remembered something and said to the old man: "Tomorrow, Zhao will find a geomancer from the countryside in the village. At that time, come to super pass, can't move the stone coffin, can't raise the soul, what to do?"

  The old man said, "Don't worry about this anymore. The envoy has escorted me all the way and has already helped my soul cross to the Naihe Bridge. It's a great virtue now. Tomorrow, just follow that Mr. Yin Yang and make trouble. The stone coffin will move, and the earth will loosen too. There's just one thing to remember: that old Taoist, yes, you call it Fengchenju, but it's actually very sinister. Be careful, after the stone coffin moves, you must relocate it to the south and reposition it. Don't destroy it, or it might bring disaster. As for what happens next, it's all up to fate, and I won't say anything more."

  I nodded and felt reassured in my heart.

  I parted with the old man and returned with Old Qian by the same route, fearing that something unexpected would happen, but fortunately nothing did.

  Re-enter the stone coffin, and with a loud bang, the door closes behind me. The road I just walked on is gone. A loud rumbling sound comes from above, and when I look up, I see the sky. The lid of the stone coffin opens, and Old Qian and I come out.

  Something strange happened, Lao Qian and I had just come out of the stone coffin, when suddenly a white mist rose up, fell into the coffin, and actually formed into a human shape. Astonishingly, it was lying flat on its back, and it was the old man from earlier! Damn, we'd just sent him off, and now he's back?!

  "What's the point of coming back?"

  Silent and soundless. The old man's face was ashen, still a stick of incense and a rice ball. Suddenly understood, it turned out that the body was still in the coffin, no wonder the old man asked us to reposition it earlier.

  After a moment's thought, there was a loud bang, and the coffin lid closed again. The surroundings returned to calmness, as if nothing had happened.

  Lao Qian's face turned pale as he asked me, "Didn't we just take a trip to the underworld?"

  I said so.

  "Relying on your righteous and sturdy body, you go around spreading kindness and virtue. When will I break your copper bell? Let's see if you still dare to be so arrogant." A low and ominous voice echoed through the air, followed by a cloud of black mist dispersing towards the south.

  It's the voice of Feng Chen. I said loudly, "I'm not as despicable as you, and I don't collect people's hearts, so just stop messing around." Thinking that he wouldn't listen anyway, I might as well just say whatever. At this moment, I suddenly realized that the smooth journey was actually thanks to the fact that everyone thought I was a righteous spirit, and it was lucky that Daozhang Tongling always helped me at critical moments.

  Lao Qian didn't ask any more questions, just like when I first started learning, there were always many questions, but once you really enter, you find that the world of yin and yang is still governed by a grand principle. Lao Qian has already entered, so I put my mind at ease, saving me from worrying about him again if any strange things happen.

  He went back with Old Qian. Old Qian took the initiative to say: "We still have to pretend that nothing happened."

  I laughed and said: "Your brain, if you don't flirt with girls, it's really wasted."

  Lao Qian also smiled. Back to the residence, it was still quiet. Sneaking in and going to bed, waiting quietly for that crucial moment tomorrow, what would happen, I had no bottom line. It just felt like when the house was like a piece of paper, but it was even more eerie, and it would have to be broken sooner or later.