Ropa manchada de sangre en el Festival de los Fantasmas

Capítulo 4

What's the big deal? Will it take two months?

Two months? That's not enough. It might never be over.

What? Ah Qiang, what are you talking about?

No, it's nothing. Actually, I still don't know how to resolve this.

Hey, Qiang...

I was just talking nonsense, Dad. Just pretend you didn't hear me.

When are you going home?

It might take a long time... a very long time... I'm afraid you won't have the patience to wait any longer. Dad, please take good care of yourself, Mom.

Please take care of me. Goodbye.

The bewildering phone call ended with a seemingly joking remark from A-Qiang. Now, reflecting on it, those last words were clearly a final farewell to his parents: goodbye, goodbye on the road to the underworld, goodbye in the netherworld—wasn't that a long time coming? Three days ago, A-Qiang already knew the truth about "Donglu's injustice and urgent retribution," and at the time, the entire class didn't share this consensus. What sudden event prompted A-Qiang to make the decision within three days to abandon magical suppression and instead commit mass suicide? At that time, four people in his class had already died inexplicably. Logically, to prevent further casualties, the attack should have been suppressed as soon as possible. But the outcome was the opposite; there must have been another unknown turning point during those three days.

After saying goodbye to his cousin A-Qiang's house, He Jianfei's thoughts became even more chaotic. The complexity of the fifty-year-old injustice had exceeded his comprehension. "Three days... mass suicide... phone call... the truth..." He Jianfei murmured, the day when the truth would come to light seemed so far away.

Old Li then recounted the results of his investigation over the past few days at his home: "I went to A-Qiang's house, but it had already been sold to someone else, and I haven't heard of any miraculous events. Also, I discovered two rather strange things. A-Qiang's relatives are almost completely unaware that he has magical abilities, and even a few of us who used to be close to him only thought he knew a few fortune-telling tricks. I asked him how he learned these things, but he always changed the subject. If you hadn't told me about the Three Flowers Protection Technique, I really wouldn't have known that A-Qiang possessed such powerful magic. In short, A-Qiang is quite secretive about the origin of his magic."

Upon hearing this, He Jianfei's mind went blank. Because of the female ghost's disturbance, he had completely overlooked this crucial and obvious issue. Even though he, He Jianfei, was considered exceptionally intelligent and had been taught by the foremost master of magic, he could only suppress ordinary evil spirits. At A-Qiang's age, there was absolutely no way he could have mastered the Three Flowers Body Protection technique, unless he had started practicing it in his previous life. This meant—A-Qiang's magic contained a significant secret!

After waiting for a while, seeing that Old Man Li was very quiet, He Jianfei said, "What's the other one? Tell me! You haven't forgotten, have you?" Old Man Li stammered, "This... I'm afraid I'll scare you to death if I tell you. I've already been scared once." He Jianfei laughed, "I've seen more ghosts than you. What am I afraid of? Tell me." Old Man Li hesitated for a long time before saying, "A-Qiang... doesn't like to play with other people. He often goes to... ancient, chaotic graves... to dig!" He Jianfei's eyes widened like mooncakes: "What? What? Say it again??" Old Man Li had no choice but to repeat it. He Jianfei's mind was immediately in turmoil. This A-Qiang was too strange! Could his magic be from digging? Or was he the reincarnation of Yama, the King of Hell? Looking at Old Man Li, he smiled wryly and said, "Your friend is truly extraordinary. I think this matter is far too complicated." After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Where are those ancient tombs?" Old Man Li replied, "They're not far from A-Qiang's house. I went to check them out..." He was about to continue when He Jianfei waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "Anyway, we'll have to go see them sooner or later tomorrow. It's not too late to talk about it on the way. Old Man, you must be tired. Why don't we rest?" The two then went to their respective rooms.

Many of the once bustling areas with numerous bungalows and courtyards have been razed to the ground, ready to be developed into commercial buildings. He Jianfei looked around, and Old Man Li pointed to an old house by the pond and said, "That's the house where A-Qiang lived before he died."

It was a typical courtyard house with a single-story layout. The yellowed bricks and moss-covered tiles spoke volumes about the age of this ancestral home. He Jianfei carefully examined the house, then shook his head and said, "There's no ghostly aura. Where are the ancient tombs?"

Old Li pointed to the northwest and said, "It's behind that hill. There are not only graves there, but also many dilapidated pre-1949 temples, I don't know what minor gods they were worshipped in. I once went into one of them to take a look, and the one on it had a blue face and fangs, it didn't look like a god, it looked more like a demon." He Jianfei nodded and said, "This is a key place. The more it is like this, the more likely there are hermits who live in seclusion."

Sure enough, amidst the wispy white mist, stood rows of crumbling, dilapidated temples. Some were so small they couldn't even be called temples, more like shrines. A few burnt, blackened beams leaned precariously into the loose earth, and several crows perched on them, cawing mournfully. Two or three small, yellowish-green blades of grass stubbornly peeked out from the cracks in the walls next door, swaying gently in the wind. Occasionally, a few bricks would fall, raising a cloud of dust.

He Jianfei said in surprise, "The atmosphere is indeed a bit unusual, but it's also strange that so many temples have been built here. A day cannot hold two masters, and a temple cannot house two gods. How could such a small plot of land have over a dozen temples? Even the most ignorant people wouldn't go to such lengths!" Old Li interjected, "Perhaps people back then were forced by poverty and couldn't afford to buy land, so they just piled up temples for so many gods together." He Jianfei shook his head and said, "Xi'an is the ancient capital of six dynasties, with a very deep cultural heritage. Even the poor wouldn't do this. Besides, if they wanted to worship, why not worship the Buddha or the Three Pure Ones, instead of these minor deities? In my opinion, wouldn't it be better to build a medium-sized temple on this plot of land?" Old Li finally understood the deeper meaning in He Jianfei's words: "You mean, these were man-made?"

He Jianfei said, "We can't be sure yet. Where is the temple you went into?" Old Man Li looked around and shook his head, saying, "I don't remember. These small temples are scattered haphazardly. I just wandered in randomly." He Jianfei said, "That's fine then. Let's visit each temple one by one."

They chose the nearest small temple and went inside. The temple's entrance was dilapidated, with only half a rotten, worm-eaten wooden door sparsely draped over the frame. He Jianfei touched it lightly, and it collapsed with a crash. A large spiderweb covered the path leading into the hall, but there wasn't a single spider on it. He Jianfei noticed that some of the webs were still new, which puzzled him. His gaze fell downwards, and he found several shriveled spider corpses on the ground. He Jianfei picked up the corpses and squeezed them: "It's like they've been drained of blood? Could it be..." Just as he was thinking this, his face darkened, and Old Man Li's voice came from inside the hall: "No, not this one."

Upon hearing this, He Jianfei entered the main hall and saw Old Man Li looking up at the statue. "This statue also has fangs, but it's not as ferocious and terrifying as the one I saw before." He Jianfei examined it carefully and exclaimed, "Truly strange! This statue wears the colors of earth god's robes, and even the official's belt is sculpted lifelike, without the slightest difference. Why is it sculpted as a demon?" Old Man Li couldn't figure it out either, saying, "Perhaps the people in this area worship evil gods?" He Jianfei sighed and said, "There are many famous evil gods in the divine realm, but I don't recognize this one. I'm afraid it's not a righteous god." Old Man Li asked, "Then what does this have to do with A-Qiang's death?" He Jianfei said, "It's not clear yet, but this area is indeed unusual. Something must have happened before the founding of the country. Moreover, Senior A-Qiang's home is very close to here. There are many possibilities that might have had some influence on Senior A-Qiang."

They passed several temples, all identical. Aside from their different clothing, some were kitchen officials, others mountain gods, but all wore fierce, glaring expressions, like demons from hell. He Jianfei discovered spider corpses one after another, feeling very puzzled, but he kept quiet.

Wandering around, they had unknowingly examined all dozen or so small temples, but they still hadn't found the one Old Man Li had mentioned. He Jianfei picked up a large rock in an open space and sat down to rest, complaining, "Are you sure you really went in, or did a ghost appear in your dream? We searched the place thoroughly, and although the statues were also blue-faced and fanged, they weren't as terrifying as you described." Old Man Li was also secretly puzzled, saying, "How could a dream be so vivid? I remember running out in fright as soon as I saw that statue. Oh, right, I remember there was a red character on the wall of that temple, but I didn't look at it carefully in my haste. It's just a small open space, how could it be gone?"

He Jianfei said, "You might walk out of this open space if you keep walking. Since we can't find it, there's no need for us to linger here. It's getting dark, so let's go out and ask some elderly local residents. Since there's that red sign, it should be easy to find out."

The two got up to leave, but after taking only a few steps, Old Man Li suddenly said, "Oh dear, I forgot my key on that rock." He Jianfei had no choice but to wait for him to go back and get it, but then he noticed that Old Man Li suddenly trembled violently, and his voice became extremely shaky: "That...that temple...is back..." He Jianfei was shocked when he heard this and quickly turned around to look. Sure enough, there was a dilapidated little temple in the place where they had just rested, and there was indeed that red character on the temple wall.

Old Man Li was terrified, his hands and feet turning cold. "The place we were sitting just now was empty, nothing... how... how did a temple suddenly appear out of nowhere?" He Jianfei stared fixedly at the temple. The red characters were shrouded in mist, making it impossible to make out what they were, but a sinister aura he had never seen before emanated from it. In a hazy state, He Jianfei seemed to feel someone beckoning to him from inside the temple, and involuntarily, he moved forward step by step. Just then, the relic necklace he wore on his chest suddenly emitted a golden light, shooting straight towards He Jianfei's temple. He Jianfei was startled and paled instantly. In a flash, he pulled a handful of gravel from his pocket with his left hand and scattered it everywhere, forming the Big Dipper formation. With his right hand, he grabbed Old Man Li and shouted, "Quick!! Run!" The relic suddenly shone brightly with golden light. He Jianfei knew the sinister aura was dangerous and secretly cursed himself. He broke the prayer beads on his hand and flicked them into the temple. With this delay, He Jianfei and Old Man Li finally escaped from the open space.

Old Li, panting heavily, leaned against the wall for air and asked, "Is that temple... a god or a demon?" He Jianfei groaned, "If we hadn't escaped in time, and if I hadn't acted quickly with my magic, we would have already received an invitation from the King of Hell. It's such a pity about my string of prayer beads; I don't care whether it's a god or a demon now." Old Li asked curiously, "Since that temple is strange, why were you hesitant to go in, your feet pacing back and forth?" He Jianfei, still grieving over his prayer beads, said, "Alas, don't even mention it. I didn't want to go in, but that..." "That temple has the power to attract souls. If it weren't for the relic, I probably would have been sucked in. By the way, you must have been lured in by it last time and 'unconsciously' walked in." Old Man Li said, "But I didn't die!" This was also what He Jianfei couldn't understand the most. After a long while, he said, "Let's see later." Old Man Li said, "So what do you plan to do now?" He Jianfei said, "Since my magic power is not as strong as its, I have no choice but to ask my senior brother to go down the mountain tonight. Tonight we'll find a house at the foot of the mountain to stay in and ask about the situation in this area."

Chapter Seven

After making the call to his senior, He Jianfei took a shower and walked out of the lobby. He saw Old Man Li talking to an elder. He Jianfei chuckled to himself, "Perfect! After talking with two white-haired gentlemen, there's less of a barrier between them. If I were to talk to him, I'm afraid he wouldn't understand me, and I wouldn't understand him. I'll just listen from the side."

Old Man Li asked, "Brother, please tell me in detail, what's the story behind those dilapidated temples?" The white-haired man immediately became smug, "You're lucky you met me. If you'd met someone else, they certainly wouldn't be able to explain it." Old Man Li quickly poured a cup of tea and said, "Please enlighten me, brother." The white-haired man stroked his beard and said, "These things were told to me by my grandfather. He said that a major event happened here at the end of the Qing Dynasty. You know, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were revolutionaries everywhere. Qing soldiers were arresting people everywhere, without interrogation, just grabbing those who looked like them and beheading them as a warning..."

He Jianfei was getting increasingly impatient: Didn't Old Man Li tell him which university he graduated from? Couldn't someone who wasn't familiar with history get in? He glanced at Old Man Li again; he seemed to be enjoying the conversation. He could only console himself, "Old people love to ramble on about trivial matters. He Jianfei, just bear with it. Consider it a preview of your later years."

Fortunately, the white-haired old man was still somewhat lucid, and soon he got back to the point: "Some quack feng shui master told us that this piece of land was a gathering place of five evil spirits, perfect for suppressing evil spirits. The county magistrate believed it and chose it as the execution ground. That day, a yellow wind blew, billowing smoke filled the air, and a gloomy fog hung in the sky. Before dawn, the soldiers brought over two hundred people. Let me tell you, there might not have been a single revolutionary among those two hundred people! My grandfather squeezed into the crowd to watch the spectacle."

The spectacle of the white blade coming down and the red blade going up was nothing new. But when they got to the fifth batch, a madman knelt down in the middle, his eyes rolling back in a blaze of white, a truly terrifying sight! Although the ropes were tied tightly, even drawing blood, he seemed impervious to pain, struggling desperately, revealing two rows of eerie, jagged yellow teeth, shouting to the sky: "I'm innocent! I'm innocent! I don't want to die! I have an elderly mother, a wife and children! I'm not a revolutionary!" This angered the county magistrate, who threw down a token and ordered the execution. Just as the white blade was about to fall, the madman shouted again: "I'd rather die at the hands of a corrupt official like you! You wait, when I die I'll become a vengeful ghost, and I'll kill anyone I see!" As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately bit off his tongue and committed suicide.

Strangely enough, the moment he died, a sudden gust of wind swept through the area, snapping flagpoles and overturning incense burners. The magistrate was terrified, running for his life, yelling, "Back to the palace! Back to the palace!" Even stranger, the hundred-plus men who hadn't yet been executed all collapsed with a "whoosh." The coroner, upon inspection, saw a pair of teeth marks on each man's neck. Everyone was terrified, screaming, "A vengeful ghost is coming!" and scattering for their lives. How could humans fight against a ghost? Large numbers of them fell. Fortunately, my grandfather had some knowledge; he lay down among the corpses and pretended to be dead, thus escaping this ordeal. Only when the large contingent of soldiers arrived did my grandfather dare to rise and report the truth. That muddle-headed governor refused to believe him, convinced my grandfather was insane, and chased him away.”

Old Li clapped his hands and said, "That's how it is! Those temples must be for the dead. And those temples were built for that vengeful ghost." The white-haired old man laughed and said, "You're only half right. The matter isn't over yet! The governor didn't believe it. He reported an accident and rushed off to the capital to face his fate. It was only the common people who suffered. People died one after another, and every night you could hear hundreds of people crying. The city's population dwindled by more than half in three days. My grandfather had no money and couldn't bear to part with the old ancestral house, so he had no choice but to endure the hardship. One day, an old Taoist priest came with a disciple. He said that the vengeful ghost here was powerful. He ascended the altar and performed a ritual. His hair was disheveled, and he chanted a lot of nonsense. He said that he wanted to build a temple and bury some kind of 'road snake.' He also said that only when there was no more vengeful spirit here would there be peace."

Old Man Li asked, "What does building a temple have to do with a vengeful ghost?" The white-haired man shook his head and said, "Who understands these Taoist priests' tricks? Just do as they say." Old Man Li continued, "That Taoist priest just now said that there shouldn't be any more grievances, but that's definitely impossible. In the next fifty or sixty years, China was in chaos due to war, and the number of people who died during the Japanese invasion was probably more than at the end of the Qing Dynasty." The white-haired man laughed and said, "Brother, you're right. It's just that nothing happened. Last year, we invited several Taoist priests to come and see, and they said that the vengeful ghost had absorbed a lot of grievances and had become a monster. Logically speaking, even a 'passage snake' couldn't suppress it. Nobody could explain why things were so peaceful. We thought we could live in peace from then on, but who knew that more than twenty years later, it started to haunt us again, often wailing and howling. Fortunately, no one died, but it was still quite frightening. Even at night, when there were hordes of them, no one dared to go there."

Seeing that there was nothing more to ask, Old Li chatted for a few moments before thanking him and taking his leave. After turning a corner, he saw He Jianfei still standing behind the pillar. Old Li smiled and said, "You finished eavesdropping? Any thoughts?" He Jianfei replied, "Don't put it so harshly. I couldn't come out, so I listened from the sidelines. It's not convenient to talk here; let's go back to our room."

Just as He Jianfei returned to his room, his phone rang. He picked it up and said, "Hello, who is it?" "Your grandma!" "Oh, Yinzi, why didn't you call me back?" "My pager was dead. What do you want?" "Nothing, just wanted to ask if you know anyone who, in their early twenties, knew the Three Flowers Body Protection Technique or had reached the Three Qi Gathering Void realm." "Yes, you know him well, don't you?" "Ah! Who is it? Tell me quickly! I can't remember anyone like that!" "Bodhidharma, he knew it at 16..." "Hello, handsome guy?" "Yinzi, I'm serious!" "I'm serious too. You can check the Buddhist scriptures if you don't believe me." "It's okay, honey, you can go to bed now." "Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean by this..."

He Jianfei dejectedly put down his phone and said to Old Man Li, "It seems that Senior Qiang's magic power indeed has many unspeakable secrets. Perhaps this is the biggest reason why he would rather commit suicide than suppress the vengeful ghost." Old Man Li said, "It's one thing for him to commit suicide alone, but why drag a whole group of people into it? If one person dies, Dong Lu won't let go; if twenty-three people die, she still won't give up." He Jianfei sighed, "He probably hasn't thought of this yet. Dong Lu's resentment is truly too deep!" Old Man Li said, "By the way, what kind of snake did those two Taoist priests bury in the story? What was it?" He Jianfei laughed, "What 'passage snake'? The white-haired old man misheard. Actually, it was a copper deer tongue shape, called a 'copper deer tongue,' a magical artifact specifically used to suppress vengeful ghosts that have accumulated grievances for many years. I once thought of using it to deal with Dong Lu, but then I gave up." Old Man Li said, "If only we could find the successors of those two Taoist priests from back then." He Jianfei said, "Does anything ever seem that easy?"

As they talked, it gradually got dark, and the two went to bed.

The night deepened. Several crows perched on withered branches, their gleaming eyes appearing particularly terrifying in the darkness. A faint, mournful cry pierced the stillness of the night, but this did nothing to dispel He Jianfei's drowsiness. He gradually drifted off to sleep. In his dream, he saw the dead Zhang Chuanxun, his face covered in blood, appear before him, weeping and pleading his grievances, clinging to him desperately. The sound of the summoning bell grew increasingly shrill, then the scene blurred, and He Jianfei awoke with a start.

He Jianfei had just opened his eyes when the scene before him startled him; this was no dream. The summoning bell that had hung by the window the night before was still ringing incessantly. A dark figure stood at the doorway—no, a dark figure was floating there—everything was exactly as it had been the night Zhang Chuanxun had died. In a panic, He Jianfei glanced to the side and saw Old Man Li chanting something. He immediately broke out in a cold sweat, quickly sat cross-legged, and took off his relic necklace, chanting, "Prajnaparamita." Because of the protection of the Diamond Sutra, the dark figure only floated around but could not get close to him. The commotion continued until dawn before the dark figure finally disappeared.

He Jianfei, having calmed down from his shock, took a deep breath and looked back at Old Man Li, who was still fast asleep. He wondered to himself: Why did the vengeful ghost refuse to take his life? After Old Man Li got up, He Jianfei didn't mention anything about what happened last night, but only discussed with him how to pick up his senior brother.

Master Chanyue didn't arrive until 3 p.m. After greeting Old Man Li, he said to He Jianfei, "Is that temple really that powerful? You're not trying to trick me into coming down the mountain, are you?"

He Jianfei said, "If I wanted to coax someone, I wouldn't have waited until now. What magical artifact did you bring?"

Master Chanyue chuckled and said, "Don't be surprised when I take it out."

As he spoke, he pulled out a bowl that shone brightly with rebirth.

He Jianfei exclaimed in surprise, "The temple's most precious treasure—the Purple Gold Bowl?! Bring it here, let me have a look."