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墨書 Inktalez
Wei Ning murmured, "How could a soul be lost? How is that possible?"
It turned out that humans possess three souls: the Spirit, the Life Soul, and the Ghostly Soul, also known as the Three Souls of Earth. The Life Soul resides three feet above the ground when a person is alive, while the Spirit dwells within the body. Human life begins when the Life Soul enters the womb, distributing energy across the seven chakras of the body: the Crown Chakra, Third Eye Chakra, Throat Chakra, Heart Chakra, Solar Plexus Chakra, Sacral Chakra, and Root Chakra. This makes it easy for a soul to leave the body, which is often referred to as "losing one's soul." If the God of Joy has lost its soul and is left with only its Ghostly Soul, it becomes a Zombie. This can frequently happen when a Corpse Driver walks away. Before the Life Soul departs from the body, it is difficult for the Ghostly Soul to leave. Now, with all three souls of the God of Joy present but one Ghostly Soul missing, it was indeed strange.
There were two possibilities: one was that a powerful individual had used dark magic to forcibly drive out the Ghostly Soul from its body, akin to the Maoshan Ghost Raising Technique; the other possibility was that something unclean in the vicinity had attracted the Ghostly Soul away.
Wei Ning first sealed all seven orifices of the God of Joy to prevent any further loss of its soul. However, he was perplexed by this missing Ghostly Soul. Furrowing his brow and scanning his surroundings, he suddenly said, "Are you someone who always keeps things very clean?"
Wu Haozi replied, "I'm just a lonely person who can barely afford food; I hardly have time to clean. I even get lazy about washing my face."
Wei Ning pondered and said, "That's odd. Why is your home so clean? There's not even an ant around."
Wu Haozi thought for a moment and then slapped his forehead. "You're right! I've never seen cockroaches or rats in my house; that's quite strange."
"Something's off. Move your bed."
Wu Haozi quickly moved his bed aside. Indeed, beneath Wu Haozi's bed lay a thin layer of moisture. It was summer and extremely dry; how could there be moisture accumulating under his bed?
Wu Haozi found it strange too but usually didn’t pay attention to such matters.
Wei Ning wiped his finger on the ground and sniffed it before saying, "Let's dig and see."
"Alright." Wu Haozi quickly grabbed a hoe and began digging vigorously. After digging over a meter deep, Wei Ning suddenly said, "Stop." He jumped into the pit and carefully cleared away the dirt with his hands. Sure enough, after a short while of digging, he encountered something hard. Clearing away more dirt around it revealed a common earthen jar used by farmers, covered with red cloth and sealed tightly with mud. However, a tree root had penetrated inside. Wei Ning opened the jar and pulled out an object.
Both Wei Ning and Wu Haozi gasped in shock.
Inside was a child who appeared to have been stillborn. Its eyes had been gouged out, its ears and limbs severed by sharp instruments—much like the ancient tales of "human pig."
Even more disturbingly, its umbilical cord had not been cut and was entangled with the tree root. It looked both terrifying and pitiful.
Who could commit such an atrocity?
Wei Ning could no longer bear to witness the scene. Carefully, he placed the figure back on the altar and took a deep breath to calm his emotions. "Nine Sons Filial to Their Mother," he said, "I can't believe there are truly people in this world who practice such sinister formations. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that such heartless individuals exist."
Wu Haozi looked bewildered, staring at Wei Ning. "What?"
Wei Ning asked, "Have there been any particularly strange occurrences or unusual people visiting here in recent years?"
Wu Haozi thought for a moment and replied, "Not really. I've been living here alone, as you know; someone like me doesn't have many friends." He chuckled self-deprecatingly and continued, "But I think a couple of years ago—maybe the year before last—an old blind man came by and insisted on staying with me for a few days. I didn't want to at first, but he was quite generous and offered me a thousand yuan. Considering the money, I let him stay while I slept on the street for three nights. He stayed in my room for three days before leaving. I’m poor here; aside from this bed, I have nothing."
Wei Ning nodded. "This evil formation must be closely related to that person. By the way, do you have a Feng Shui Map here?"
The so-called Feng Shui Map is a geomantic chart based on ancient Chinese principles of feng shui, which differs from our usual understanding of maps. A Yin-Yang Master can usually interpret a Feng Shui Map at a glance, providing insights into the flow of energy and identifying auspicious locations.
Wu Haozi replied, "I should have one, but it's with the village chief. I don't know if he'll lend it to us."
"Let's go," Wei Ning urged as he pulled Wu Haozi along.
Wu Haozi knocked on the village chief's door. A middle-aged man emerged and immediately slammed the door upon seeing Wu Haozi. "Get lost! Go away!" he shouted disdainfully before shutting the door with a loud bang.
Wei Ning realized just how unwelcome Wu Haozi was in this place.
Wu Haozi seemed accustomed to this treatment and knocked again. "Flying Sparrow, it's important! I really need to speak with the village chief."
"Get lost! Don't linger in front of my door; you're bringing bad luck!" came the reply from inside.
After several more attempts to knock, Wu Haozi grew tired of shouting back and shrugged. "See? They definitely won't help us. Wei, let's just go back and think of another way."
He started to drag Wei Ning away when suddenly an elderly voice called out from inside, "Is your surname Wei?"
Wei Ning understood the question was directed at him and quickly responded, "My name is Wei Ning."
"Do you know Wei Qiuxi?"
Wei Ning's ears perked up at the mention of his grandfather's name, and he exclaimed loudly, "You’ve seen him? He’s my grandfather?"
"Really? You’re the gentleman from the Chen Prefecture Wei Family? Flying Sparrow, go open the door."
Wei Ning hadn’t expected his grandfather’s reputation to be so widespread that even the village chief of this remote village recognized him.
As Wei Ning entered the house, he saw several people sitting around watching television; they appeared to be a family. The women in the household busied themselves pouring tea for Wei Ning, reluctantly pouring a cup for Wu Haozi as well.
An elderly man in the room, looking to be in his sixties, was likely the village chief. He said, "A long time ago, probably during Wen Geqian's time, your grandfather once visited me, so I recognized him. How is he doing now?"
Wei Ning's expression darkened. The old man seemed to assume that Wei Qiuxi had passed away, bringing up painful memories. Wei Ning quickly laughed it off and said, "You young man, how did you end up with Wu Haozi? It’s best to keep your distance from people like him."
Wei Ning recounted the events that had transpired and added, "So, I want to take a look at your village's Feng Shui Map to determine the locations of the other eight children."
The village chief pondered for a moment and said, "Such a thing exists? Wait a moment; I’ll get it for you." After a short while, he returned with the Feng Shui Map. Wei Ning examined it and nodded. "I guessed correctly. Look here, Wu Haozi’s home is right here, exactly where the Evil Energy is strongest. And this one too—village chief, you need to gather people immediately and dig up these children. If we delay any longer, it could lead to serious trouble."
The village chief pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Wei Ning. Wei Ning quickly waved his hand in refusal. After smoking half of one himself, the village chief spoke again: "At this late hour, if I wake everyone up, they will definitely have objections. You need to explain what this 'Nine Sons Filial to Their Mother' formation is all about and what harm it poses to us. Otherwise, I won’t be able to justify it to them."
Wei Ning nodded and replied, "To be honest, I’m not entirely sure myself. I only heard my master mention that this Nine Sons Filial to Their Mother formation is extremely sinister because it has been practiced for a long time and causes significant damage to one's moral standing. So far, no one has been known to practice it; this should be the first instance."
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