radicalducati Chapter 92 Lifting the Coffin
Chapter 92 Lifting the Coffin
In the distance, five people had already gathered in the square.
Hearing a sound, everyone looked in the direction of the sound.
Several servants pulled a wooden cart from a distance, with a pile of paper effigies on it, and the remaining servants were carrying some other things in their arms.
After the item was brought before the five men, the head servant spoke up, saying, "Tonight, I trouble you all to go to the Lou family cemetery in Fengshu Village and bury this paper coffin; then go to the mass grave and retrieve seven coffin nails to take back."
After the servant finished speaking, he gave each person a piece of black cloth and handed over a completely black rooster.
None of the five people went to take it. When Lin Tian saw this, she was about to go forward to hug the chicken when Su Wang rushed ahead of her, grabbed the chicken and hugged it to his chest, and then looked at Lin Tian with a smug look on his face.
Lin Tian glanced at him sideways and said coldly, "This is a soul-summoning chicken, used to communicate with the dead and summon spirits. If you want it, take it."
Upon hearing this, Su Wang's smile instantly froze.
He hesitated, wanting to hand the chicken back to Lin Tian, but when Lin Tian reached out to take it, he inexplicably gripped the chicken tightly and wouldn't let go. He then scoffed, "Tch, don't try to fool me with that. You think you can play mind games with me?"
Hearing this, Lin Tian was speechless for a moment, and then simply let go of her hand.
Seeing that the soul-guiding rooster had been found, the servants handed over the spirit lamp and a small celadon bottle.
Li Zheng stepped forward to take it, but was stopped by Zhao Hu, who was standing beside him, without making a sound.
Lin Tian knew that a woman's yang energy could not suppress her yin energy, and touching it would bring bad luck, so he asked Su Zixu to take that small celadon bottle, saying that it would not harm people.
The Soul-Bright Lamp thus naturally fell into Zhao Hu's hands.
Although Lin Tian did not openly mention Li Zheng's actions last night in front of everyone, the fact that he was a treacherous villain had already spread among them.
Finally, the servants handed two red cloth bags to Zhao Hu and Li Zheng respectively, explaining, "You two gentlemen are born in the years of the Rooster and the Dog."
They are born with abundant yang energy, which can suppress yin evil.
"I will trouble you two to first go to the Lou family cemetery in Fengshu Village and properly bury the paper coffin. After that, you can go to the mass grave and retrieve seven coffin nails."
Zhao Hu's eyelids twitched, but Li Zheng remained indifferent. The two of them took the red cloth bag and put it away.
The items had been distributed, and everyone put on their black cloth coats under the direction of the staff. Lin Tian also covered his face with a black veil.
Before long, several servants worked together to lift the paper coffin down.
A strong, fishy stench wafted over, and Lin Tian glanced at the coffin before frowning slightly.
She recognized that the coffin was made by her master, but the craftsmanship was too rough, as if it had been made in a great hurry.
Something must have happened; thinking of this, her heart couldn't help but jump.
Under the unified command of the leader, the team quickly took their positions and formed a line.
Zhao Huli stood at the very front of the procession, acting as the guide, while Su Zixu stood directly in front, carrying the head of the coffin.
Lin Tian and Su Wang stood on either side of the coffin's tail, each carrying a corner of it, holding paper money. Only Li Zheng stood alone at the very back of the coffin, holding the silent soul-guiding rooster.
The spirit lamp must be held in front of the paper coffin, and its height must not be lower than that of the paper coffin. It must not be swayed from side to side throughout the process, and it must never be extinguished, otherwise the spirit will not be able to find its way.
The four people carrying the coffin must be wrapped in black cloth and must not touch the paper coffin with their bare hands.
Once everything was arranged, the servant handed Zhao Hu a map showing the coordinates of the Lou family tomb, then stepped back a few paces and solemnly instructed him on the rules:
"Once the coffin is lifted, it is a great taboo to let it touch the ground, and it must never get dirty during the journey."
"The coffin must be carried on its journey in silence. No looking back is permitted, and no stopping is allowed. The journey must proceed at a steady pace along the path, heading straight for Fengshu Village."
As the words fell, the night grew even darker. The pale moonlight spilled onto the ground, casting an eerie, cold glow.
All was silent, even the wind seemed to have vanished, the whole world was oppressively quiet, eerily quiet.
The coffin was lifted.
With a silent signal, the four people worked together, and the paper coffin was steadily lifted.
To Su Zixu's surprise, the paper coffin was much heavier than he had imagined, as if it contained not a paper figure, but a real corpse.
The four people behind him followed Zhao Hu's steps and slowly walked out of the courtyard gate, heading east.
They walked for two miles, but nothing happened.
The surroundings were eerily quiet along the way, and Li Zheng looked down at the chicken in his arms.
Since it set off, it hasn't made a sound, only constantly turning its head as if looking at something.
After a while, the group stepped into a grassy area, where the grass was almost knee-high and the path was full of potholes.
"Gurgle..."
The black chicken suddenly crowed softly, its voice hoarse and muffled, as if it were crying.
A mournful cry shattered the silence, and mist began to spread across the grass.
When Yu Guangzhong and Lin Tian inadvertently glanced at the open space not far away, Lin Tian's body involuntarily trembled.
In the mist, there were several faint gray shadows, faceless and only with blurry, hunched outlines, moving along the ground.
Hearing the black chicken's crow, the gray shadow was drawn to them and slowly approached their group, rubbing against the tips of the grass as it crept toward the end of the coffin.
Seemingly fearing the head of the coffin where the yang energy is stronger, they deliberately linger at the tail of the coffin where the yin energy is weaker.
Lin Tian suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck, as if someone was gently blowing on his back.
Her master had told her that if the coffin encountered evil spirits at the end of the journey, she should scatter white paper money to cut off the road.
Without a word, Lin Tian quietly pinched out a stack of paper money, flicked his fingertips slightly, and gently scattered it along his side.
The moment the paper money hit the ground, it swirled and rolled without wind.
The gray shadows that were approaching the end of the coffin suddenly stopped, as if blocked by something, and shrank back several feet.
Seeing this, Su Wang followed suit, picking up a few pieces of white paper money, flicking them with his fingertips, and scattering them on the ground behind him.
Lin Tian knew this was only a temporary solution, as the gray shadows continued to linger ominously in the distance.
They are waiting, waiting until the paper money is all scattered.
The group had now reached the middle of the wasteland.
Su Wang and Lin Tian walked along, scattering money as they went.
The paper money fluttered to the ground, forcing the few gray figures on the ground to retreat again.
White paper represents Yin, which can block wandering spirits; scattering money to pave the road will keep Yin away.
The silhouette of the gray shadow ghost flickered in and out of focus under the pale moonlight, its form twisted and distorted, as if filled with resentment and anger.
However, because of the paper money, they dared not rush forward rashly.
Before the two could even catch their breath, another unexpected event occurred: Su Zixu and Li Zheng encountered a problem.
The black chicken in Li Zheng's arms suddenly emitted a low, suppressed gurgling sound from its throat.
The chicken's head was buried tightly, and its feathers were taut, as if it were in extreme fear.
At this moment, Li Zheng's back was already soaked with cold sweat, and he could feel something dirty following behind him.
And for some reason, he felt his legs getting heavier and heavier.
He seemed to be drunk, and the line in front of him began to distort.