Chapter 934 - 277: Fierce Ghost
Chapter 277 [Fierce Ghost] (6600)
Something’s wrong!
It’s not just incense ashes!
Chen Yan caught a whiff of something unusual from within.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he immediately identified it as the scent of paper thoroughly burned out, and moreover... it was...
"Talisman paper?"
Chen Yan didn’t recognize it at first because the remaining little bit of ash was too small, and the residual scent was minimal.
Additionally, the scent was overshadowed by the strong smell of incense ashes.
But since his physical body had been modified and enhanced, his five senses were extraordinarily sharp.
Upon careful identification, he still discerned a familiar scent—the smell of talisman paper burning!
Talisman paper mostly had a faint yellow hue.
But this yellow wasn’t colored with any ordinary yellow paper dyeing process.
It was turmeric!
This is one of the most basic materials for talisman paper.
If it’s high-grade talisman paper, the material is even more particular; superior cinnabar is mixed into the pulp, and for better effect, top-grade soot should be added.
For instance, the talisman paper Chen Yan carried was obtained from Chu Keqing and was of the highest grade.
Of course, for rural families like Li Guohua’s, they couldn’t afford high-quality talisman paper—a single upper-grade talisman paper costs several dollars.
Li Guohua’s family was so poor they could hardly get by, unable to afford such good things.
But Chen Yan couldn’t mistake the smell of turmeric.
No scents of cinnabar or soot.
Only turmeric.
This was the lowest quality talisman paper, the crudest method.
·
At nightfall, the sound of insects came from beneath the ridge behind the house.
Chen Yan sat quietly on the roof of the house next to Li Guohua’s, watching Li Guohua’s house.
At midnight, when the Yang Qi between heaven and earth was at its weakest, Chen Yan suddenly opened his eyes wide, his pupils fixed on Li Guohua’s house.
Under the power of the Celestial Eye and the "Illusion Breaking" divine techniques, he could see faint wisps of black mist swirling out from the rooftop of Li Guohua’s house.
Very faint, not the black of ghostly aura.
But a kind of...
"Resentment." Chen Yan muttered with a frown.
The little girl returned home around eight in the evening, washed up quickly, and went to her room to rest, without much interaction with Li Guohua.
It was clear that the father-daughter relationship was somewhat awkward.
In the middle of the night, a light suddenly flickered on in Li Guohua’s room. A moment later, it went out again, and Li Guohua hobbled out, cautiously turning off the light and silently walking into the yard.
"Why, why...you’ve had your revenge, why do you still haunt me... why, why..."
Li Guohua paced back and forth in the yard, mumbling under his breath.
After a while, as if making a firm decision, he abruptly turned back to the house, and a few minutes later emerged carrying a bag of things.
This time his steps seemed much firmer, quietly pushing the courtyard gate open, carefully shutting it behind him, and walking towards the back of the village...
·
Li Guohua walked haltingly but quickly in the dark.
After walking for over forty minutes, he followed the river pond upstream to where it ended at a hillside.
Circumnavigating the foot of the hillside, he arrived at the southern slope, and broke a branch from beside the woods to serve as a cane, hobbling up the hill.
Midway up the southern slope, hidden behind a sparse patch of trees, grave mounds gradually appeared.
In the darkness, Li Guohua took a flashlight from his bag, and under the rings of light, the sight of grave mounds made one’s heart skip a beat.
Having walked quite a distance, Li Guohua was panting, but after a brief pause, he lowered his head, examining each grave carefully, counting and identifying them.
Finally, he reached the far right edge, standing by a grave mound not far from an old withered tree.
He stared at the grave mound with a complex expression for a while.
Soon, Li Guohua knelt before the tombstone, shakily extracting items from the bag he brought, arranging them one by one.
A white porcelain bowl was reverently placed in front of the tombstone, and he sprinkled two handfuls of white rice inside, gently compressing it.
Li Guohua tremblingly took out three sticks of incense, inserting them into the rice in the bowl, then took out a lighter to ignite them.
After doing this, Li Guohua knelt, exhaling deeply.
He lit a cigarette for himself, took a couple of puffs, and silently watched as the incense burned quietly in the evening breeze, its fragrance swirling around.
"I say, haven’t you had enough?"
Li Guohua’s hoarse voice echoed over the grave.
"You were harmed by his family and I avenged you, why are you still entangled with me?"
"Every day you haunt my dreams, leaving me restless every night."
"My daughter has begun to wonder if I’m going mad."
"You’ve had your revenge, I ask nothing in return, but you can’t harm me."
"There’s always someone responsible for grievances, this reasoning cannot be denied!"
"Let’s end this, shall we? Please let me go!"
"I still have a daughter to raise; I can’t go on like this."
"Day by day, neither a person nor a ghost. I must live!"
"I must live! I must live!!"
In the darkness, Li Guohua knelt before the grave, sometimes pleading, sometimes cursing, his expression alternating between sadness and anger...
After going back and forth like this for quite a while, Li Guohua finally stood up again.
There was a hint of anger in his eyes: "This is the last time I speak with you! Don’t come to haunt me again! Otherwise... I can avenge you, and I can also resort to other means!