Soul Departed 007

  The grand mansion of the Lao family, with its green bricks and black tiles, had all its large red lanterns replaced with white paper lanterns. The beams were covered with plain white cloth, and all members of the Lao clan and the Pang family wore black clothes to show their mourning.

  On the third day after Grandma's passing, Lao Ya and I, along with other relatives from the side branch, were finally allowed to see her off on her final journey.

  Everyone lined up in a long queue, 109 people, a number of ominous length. Loya and I were asked to line up at the end.

  The good grandmother was loved by everyone in the big house of her husband's family. She passed away and everyone felt uncomfortable.

  But just as the team had advanced halfway, they felt a clear sense of something being off.

  When they went in, their faces were filled with sorrow and grief. However, when they came out, their complexions turned deathly pale, and there was more fear than sorrow on their faces.

  Luya and I exchanged a puzzled glance, unable to figure out what was going on inside, so we just waited.

  Lao Ya was the same, when she went out, her body was visibly shaking, her face was pale, as if something terrifying had happened inside, and she didn't even have time to exchange a glance with me.

  Lao Ya's body was somewhat limp, and Fu Yao supported her as she walked away. Before they left the yard, Fu Yao gave me a meaningful glance, which made my heart even more anxious.

  A dull voice came from the room, it was the eldest uncle.

  Although I had imagined many things, the situation inside was something I never could have anticipated.

  As soon as I entered the house, a familiar stench and a strong smell of blood, exactly the same as the two times at school.

  The old woman died of illness, how could there be such a strong smell of blood in the mourning hall?

  It's unlucky to have the foot of the coffin facing the door. When someone has passed away and is placed in a mourning hall, there are rules to follow: the head faces the door, with a book covering the face and a pair of scissors on top of the book to suppress the corpse energy.

  Behind the screen with the character "奠" on it, my heavily injured good grandmother appeared in front of me in a prone position. My grandfather, uncle and second uncle looked at me with gloomy faces.

  "Egret, you're just in time." The elder handed over a peach wood nail.

  Er Bao was hiding, but a knife stained with dark red blood was clutched in his left hand.

  I'm sure my face is now as pale as Lao Ya's, my hands are trembling and can hardly hold the peach wood nail.

  "What's going on?" As soon as he spoke, he found that his voice was also trembling, his vocal cords were tense, and he could hardly make a sound.

  The two uncles looked embarrassed.

  The silence lasted for a long time before Grandpa finally spoke up.

  "Egret, this is the last resort that Ah Hao can think of. By using a method that violates all taboos after death, become a wandering soul and help you ward off evil."

  "Lost soul?" I've heard of lost souls, spirits that willingly become vengeful ghosts to fulfill their desires, only to be cast into the Avici Hell after achieving them, reliving the most painful moments of their lives every day, considered the most pitiful of souls.

  "Enduring the blade of the person he had shown mercy to in his lifetime, finally using his own soul to block the evil spirit that was going to harm you, and nailing a peach wood stake into its heart, thus sending it away. Grandfather spoke each word slowly, every word filled with pain, 'Go, Ah Hao, all of this is for your sake.'"

  The peach wood nail resembles an adult's index finger, with incantations carved all over it. The bronze hammer handle is carved with eighteen scenes of ghosts suffering in hell.

  They are not heavy, but once in hand, they are hard to grasp, both hands are powerless, and almost fell to the ground.

  The good grandmother had the most benevolent face, but now her face was covered in bloodstains, making her look extremely ferocious. Her eyes were wide open, staring at me with an unblinking gaze, and her cloudy eyeballs seemed to hold endless resentment.

  Trembling hands can't be lifted, it's simply impossible.

  What have I done wrong, why must it be so severe, and why must it end in such a way?

  Grandfather wrinkled his brow, and with a slight wave of his hand towards my uncle, my uncle received the order. He grasped my hand, and with a swift motion, the peach wood nail entered Grandma's heart. The half-coagulated dark purple blood splattered all over me.

  It wasn't an illusion that good aunt's almost withered hand suddenly grasped my wrist. That tactile sensation, I will never forget for the rest of my life.

  The bloodstains in the room, on the blade, on my clothes and skin, all evaporated quickly like alcohol in the air. The originally withered corpse of the good wife suddenly collapsed and gradually became a skeleton wrapped in human skin.

  Things in front of me are no longer clear, as if they were mosaiced, with black spots appearing. In the blurry shadow, only Fu Yao's rushing figure and his concerned eyes remained.

  Night, no stars, dark to the extreme, quiet to the extreme.

  The pen in his arms had been emitting a warm heat since nightfall, like a hungry beast that had been dormant for a long time and saw things.

  Everyone in the bedroom had been scared away by the bloody blood, leaving only Zhou Meng.

  Inheriting the blood and spiritual power of the Mengshi family, as Master Zhou Meng said, she is probably the most outstanding dream interpreter among the nine generations of ancestors.

  In today's peaceful years, humans are the devils, and those little monsters have all fled to the depths of the mountains and forests, fearing that one day they will be exterminated by humans.

  This bizarre phenomenon surrounding the medical university was Zhou Meng's first truly independent event where she used her own power to prove herself.

  The long-dormant brush of criticism has been stirred up, and she too has been stirred up.

  The brush of the dream pointed to the 102 dormitory where the incident occurred.

  She tried to tread lightly and was preparing to sneak into Room 102 to take a look.

  The lights in the corridor are very cooperative, suddenly bright and dark, all kinds of horrible "gusts of evil wind" also appear in the passage at this time.

  The door of room 102 was tightly locked, with police warning lines still surrounding it outside.

  Zhou Meng clearly felt that the temperature of the brush in his hand had risen even higher. "When soldiers are about to engage in battle, they all array themselves before advancing." The brush drew a long frame on the door, emitting a pale moonlight glow. Following this light, Zhou Meng passed through the iron door of the bedroom like an apparition, unimpeded.

  My head hurts, my eyes are blurry. It was just a dream, yes, just a dream.

  Lao Ya and Fu Yao both stood by my side.

  "Hard life, you finally woke up?" The old mother duck's face was excited, her two eyes shining like gold, as if a fly had seen a cracked rotten egg... Hmm, the metaphor is not quite fitting, she is the fly, I am not the rotten egg, yeah, that's what I mean.

  Fu Yao still didn't speak, but there was a hint of joy in his eyes.

  Lao Ya and Fu Yao exchanged a glance, and then Fu Yao intuitively left.

  "It's really an unmarried couple, so tacitly understanding." I threw a 'I understand' glance at Luoya.

  Lao Ya didn't get angry, but instead said with an even more sarcastic tone, "Wow, the vinegar taste is so strong, are you eating dumplings today, it's so sour."

  The wooden door creaked open with a "creak", and Grandfather walked towards me with a solemn expression, holding a delicate brocade box in both hands. The brocade box was exquisite, but it made people feel uncomfortable in their hearts. Fu Yao followed behind him with no expression.

  Grandfather handed me the brocade box and left without a word.

  Lao Ya heavily grasped my shoulder and followed Grandpa out with Fu Yao.

  The strength in my hand vanished into thin air, the brocade box fell onto the quilt, opened up, and a dark red peach wood nail as thick as a finger dropped out, rolling to my side.

  It wasn't a dream after all.