Xiao Yunluo thought the salt in the yard was already strange, but when she entered Pei Lianxue's bedroom, she didn't expect it to be even more messy.
All the windows in the house were covered with talismans drawn on red paper, and red beans were scattered everywhere on the ground, so she almost had nowhere to step.
And what about Pei Lianxue?
She was currently cowering on the bed, holding a rooster she found from somewhere and shivering, with several willow branches stuck in her hair, as if she had been flying on her sword at low altitude in the willow forest.
Xiao Yunluo stayed for a long time before finally asking, "Lianxue?"
"What?!"
Pei Lianxue flinched and hurriedly hugged the rooster a little tighter.
Cluck--
The rooster squawked with wide eyes as if having a hard time.
Seeing that it was Xiao Yunluo, Pei Lianxue loosened her grip and spared the rooster.
"Yunluo, is it you?"
Xiao Yunluo tiptoed around the red beans on the ground and walked to the bedside. "What are you doing?"
"I saw a ghost last night. There was a girl's dismembered body buried in the bamboo forest not far away. I saw her ghost."
"... Ghost?"
"Yes... I even stepped on her..."
?
Hearing these words, Xiao Yunluo's eyes narrowed into slits, and her face wrinkled, making her look like a mother-in-law.
The term "ghost" was generally only used by commoners who did not know that there were immortals and cultivators in the world.
After a cultivator died or when he was dying, his soul left the body and his consciousness was very weak, so it often floated to the realm of commoners. Some people saw them by chance, they called them ghosts, and the term was passed from mouth to mouth.
In fact, most souls posed no threat after leaving the body, just like eggs without shells that break at the slightest touch. The soul would wander in the world, and within a few days, it would be absorbed by the spiritual energy of the earth, which was the so-called "return to dust".
Moreover, the Black Star Sect was built on top of the Immortal Spiritual Mountains . Even if there really was a lost soul that floated around here, it would be directly transformed into dust before stepping through the Black Star Sect's mountain gate.
Xiao Yunluo thought for a while. Could it be that an old disciple of the Black Star Sect passed away last night and Pei Lianxue happened to bump into her? But what about the dismemberment?
Could it be possible... That there was a major murder case in the Black Star Sect in the past?!
She was silent for a while, then looked at the rooster in Pei Lianxue's arms that looked like it had been tortured all night. "And why are you holding a rooster?"
"Brother told me that ' when the six essences are wiped out and the souls disperse, the ghosts are frightened when the golden rooster crows. ' That means ghosts are most afraid of the rooster's crowing and will flee in panic when they hear it."
"So?"
"So, all I have to do is this."
Pei Lianxue tightened her arms around the rooster, and he immediately raised its head and let out a miserable screech.
Cluck-- Cluck--
Xiao Yunluo sighed. "And the red beans, the salt, and the willow branches on your head?"
"Yes, I know about it from a sister in the Hundred Lotus Sect."
"..."
Six dots floated above Xiao Yunluo's head, but looking at Pei Lianxue's red eyes, it seemed she was so scared that she didn't sleep all night. After thinking for a while, she said, "Tell you what, let's go to the place where you saw the ghost yesterday and offer the ghost a rite of passage. I learned it from some scriptures."
"Well..."
"You said a girl was... dismembered?"
"Uh-huh." Pei Lianxue nodded like pounding garlic.
Xiao Yunluo held her chin thinking for a while and continued, "If that's really the case, I'm afraid it's been a long time. Let's go and solve this first. After that, I'll tell the elders of the middle peak about this matter and ask the disciples to come over and investigate. If it is really a murder case that happened here... that is not a trivial matter!"
"Well... then, I'll prepare some stuff."
"I'll go back and get some things too."
The two agreed immediately, quickly split up to prepare the ritual materials, and then went together to the bamboo forest where Pei Lianxue practiced with the sword last night.
They brought a peach wood sword, red talismans, red candles, a copper coin sword, a fine purple and gold incense burner, a small mahogany table, and a tufted cattail.
After setting up the altar, Pei Lianxue killed the rooster and splashed its blood everywhere in the bamboo forest. Meanwhile, Xiao Yunluo sat cross-legged in front of the altar and sang the Sutra of Increasing Blessings and Longevity that she had memorized.
"With the accomplishment of the ritual, release will be successful. This host is reverently offering incense and worshiping... The wild geese will return one day, but the souls of the dead will return no more."
After Xiao Yunluo recited it five times, she and Pei Lianxue bowed together.
"May you rest in peace!"
...
After the two had finished, it was already time for morning classes. Soon, they saw many disciples eating their breakfast while flying towards the academy.
Pei Lianxue also wanted to send breakfast to Ye Anping, so she left first.
Thinking of what Pei Lianxue said last night, Xiao Yunluo hesitated for a while before catching up to her and calling her: "Lianxue...wait..."
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"Can I... come with you to see your brother? I prepared some pastries and stuff... I want to apologize to him... Last time at the physiotherapy center, I..."
Hearing this, Pei Lianxue suddenly became alert and frowned hard.
Seeing her expression, Xiao Yunluo quickly defended: "No... no, you misunderstood. I have no designs on your brother at all. I just want to get to know him."
"... Just to know him?"
"Yeah, I swear."
Pei Lianxue hesitated but finally nodded, "Alright then..."
Then, the two left the bamboo forest and went back to the house to change clothes.
As soon as they left the bamboo forest, the barefoot girl went to the altar where the two had just been.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The girl looked at the altar, the red beans, and the chicken blood on the ground around it. Six dots appeared above her head like some LEDs, flashing from left to right.
"Gah..."
A quack-like sound came from the sky, and a golden-crowned parrot hovered above the girl's head for a while, then landed on her shoulder.
The parrot stared at the altar in front of the girl, cocked its head, and six dots appeared above its head as well. Then it opened its beak, flicked its tongue, and shouted: "Sacrifice to the spirit!! Sacrifice to the spirit!! Great filial piety!! Great filial piety!!"
The parrot's duck-like voice echoed through the bamboo forest.
The girl took a light breath, "How rude."
The parrot echoed, "Rude! Rude!!!"
"So are you."
The girl waved her little hand, and like a cannonball, the parrot plunged into the bamboo leaves piled nearby in a parabola, leaving only a few floating feathers on the girl's shoulders.
And then, the girl softly said, "Go take a look."
"Take a look! Just look!!!"
The parrot jumped out of the pile of leaves, shook off the leaves on its body, then spread its wings and went after Pei Lianxue and Xiao Yunluo.
After it left, the girl stared at the altar in front of her for a while, squatted down, took a piece of rice cake from the altar, and threw it into her mouth.
"(Nom nom nom)"
She chewed twice, paused for two breaths, and swallowed.
Then, she reached out and took another piece.