nownovels Chapter 237 Borrowing a Coffin to Enter a Sedan Chair
Chapter 237 Borrowing a Coffin to Enter a Sedan Chair
Chapter 237 Borrowing a Coffin to Enter the Sedan Chair (4000 words)
As he uttered the last word "斩" (cut), he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
At that moment, the entire black and gray line of the stone path trembled in unison, as if an invisible force surged up from the ground.
The cinnabar vapor at the edge of the gray circle suddenly condensed into a crescent-shaped light red wall, encircling the paper child, paper thread, broken coffin, red cloth, red sedan chair, and the paper masked man on the other side.
"The circle is sealed off!" Zhou Heng couldn't help but shout in a low voice.
But the masked man, as if he had expected it, slowly opened the booklet and waved to the red and white procession behind him.
In an instant, all the paper faces, paper hands, paper banners, red sedan chairs, and white lanterns all tilted forward an inch.
Then they all spoke at once: "Register!"
"Registration - Part 1"
"Sign up--
'
The sound was like the tide, crashing over us in layers.
Zhou Heng and Wang Cheng'an felt their eardrums throbbing and their vision blurring.
Suddenly, Lu Yuan shouted in a low voice, "Close your eyes!" "Cover your ears!"
"Song Qinghe, arrange it!"
"Lin Zhaoxuan, lightning rises half an inch, yet doesn't touch the ground!"
Everyone immediately obeyed the order.
Taking advantage of that moment, Lu Yuan flipped his palm up, his five fingers forming a very stable seal, with the short knife placed horizontally in his palm.
He chanted an extremely slow, deep ancient incantation for suppressing evil: "The sun and moon shine, heaven and earth are settled!"
"Yin and Yang are separated; righteousness and evil are at peace!"
"I will use the pure energy of Taoism to shatter your dualistic illusions of red and white!"
"I'll grant you a way, but I'll also destroy your name!"
"Borrowing your name, I sever your form!"
As he finished reading, he suddenly looked up, his eyes sharp as knives: "Break!"
Before he finished speaking, Lin Zhaoxuan, almost relying on the tacit understanding he had developed with his fellow disciples over the years, instantly pressed the Thunder Token forward.
雷」
A bolt of bluish-white lightning shot out from the command, but instead of striking the masked man, it struck a red cloth stake behind the red and white procession.
"Snap!"
The red cloth stake exploded on the spot.
In that instant, the entire red and white team seemed to have had their spines pulled out, and they all trembled.
The paper-faced figures simultaneously let out an extremely shrill scream, and the red sedan chair tilted violently.
The red and white paper face inside suddenly split open with a "snap," revealing a long gash and black lines scattering outwards.
The paper-masked man, when illuminated by lightning, suddenly revealed a section of wooden bone below his neck.
He is not human.
It turned out to be a paper shell, only more elaborate and more intricately crafted.
Zhou Heng was greatly shocked and was about to step forward with his sword when Lu Yuan had already rushed to the edge of the gray circle, slashing horizontally with his short sword and shouting fiercely, "You've set up a road trap, I'll dismantle your road today!"
As the blade flashed, a slit was immediately cut open in the chest of the paper-masked man.
There was no blood in the crack, only handfuls of moldy paper money and black ash, falling out with a clatter.
Song Qinghe finally understood and exclaimed, "This person in charge is just a paper puppet!"
"The real thing is down there!"
A chill suddenly intensified in Lu Yuan's eyes.
"right."
"It's just a mouthpiece."
"The real hearth is now on its way."
Just as he finished speaking, the "thump" sound from underground suddenly rang out again.
This time, it's closer than last time.
It's heavier.
It's like the water in the entire cellar is being slowly stirred up by an unseen hand.
Suddenly, a pale, bluish foot fell out from the split red sedan chair.
When that pale, bluish foot fell out, the entire red and white procession seemed to suddenly recover from the pain deep in their bones, and they all shuddered.
Immediately afterwards, a soft rustling sound came from inside the red sedan chair.
It wasn't footsteps, nor the friction of a curtain.
It's like thousands of sheets of paper turning over in the dark at the same time, with a cold, sticky feeling of being softened by water, slowly crawling out.
Lu Yuan's expression changed, and he shouted sharply, "Take three steps back!"
"Don't let it hit the ground!"
But this was still a step too late.
The moment that white foot touched the ground, it didn't touch the soil. Instead, it tiptoed lightly, as if someone had just stepped out of a sedan chair.
Then, the second foot slowly stretched out as well.
Above that was a section of a wet white skirt.
The white dress wasn't new, but the hem was adorned with a circle of red tassels that had long since turned black, making it look like a wedding dress and a mourning dress had been forcibly sewn together.
Beneath the hem of her skirt, a pair of embroidered shoes were faintly visible, their toes pointing outwards. However, the shoes were not made of silk, but rather resembled three layers of old, damp paper pasted on them.
"There's someone else inside the sedan chair—"
Wang Chengan's voice trembled.
"No."
Song Qinghe stared at the continuously drooping skirt, her face turning pale: "That's not a person."
Lu Yuan's eyes were as cold as frost.
"It's a 'sedan chairwoman'."
"In the folk customs outside the Great Wall, ghost marriages include welcoming the bride and sending her off, as well as paper maidens who ride in sedan chairs to ward off evil spirits."
"But this thing isn't as simple as a paper doll."
"It's a 'marriage curse' created by sewing together all the resentment, evil spirits, and lonely souls from the road, and then nurturing it with the energy of both joyous and mournful occasions."
As soon as Lu Yuan finished speaking, a hand suddenly reached out from under the white dress.
Her hands were slender, but her knuckles didn't resemble a woman's; they were more like a puppet's joints. Her skin was so white it was almost transparent, and a half-wet yellow paper was stuck to the center of her palm.
Two characters were written in black ink on the yellow paper: "Passing Through".
The hand slowly gripped the edge of the sedan chair, and then the curtain was lifted inch by inch.
Everyone felt an extremely cold white mist rushing towards them, like the earth that had buried a corpse in winter being lifted up, making even breathing painfully cold.
The person sitting in the sedan chair was not a face.
Instead, it was a shadow entangled in white gauze, red thread, and black hair.
The silhouette resembled a bride, with a tattered red veil covering her head. Beneath the veil, however, were no facial features, only a flat, smooth sheet of paper, as if it had been pressed out.
Right in the center of that flat paper, two black dots slowly emerged.
The black dot stretched outwards, resembling an eye.
Next is the bridge of the nose, and then the mouth.
A face "grows" little by little from under the white paper.
Lu Yuan's pupils contracted sharply, and he whispered, "It was revealed."
Lin Zhaoxuan's expression also changed, and his fingers gripping the Thunder Token tightened slightly: "The evil spirit manifests?"
Lu Yuan said in a deep voice, "Yes!"
What you saw before was its outward appearance.
"What emerges now is the true master of this path."
As Lu Yuan spoke, his face was fully revealed.
It was an extremely strange face.
The left side resembles a woman, wearing wedding makeup, with slightly red lips and a wisp of white hemp hanging from the corner of her eye.
The right side, however, resembled that of an old man, with bluish skin, deep wrinkles, and eyes that looked like they were filled with water.
The two sides of their faces were incompatible, yet they were forcibly sewn together by a black line that ran from their foreheads to their jaws.
"this----"
Zhou Heng's throat tightened: "What on earth is this thing?"
Lu Yuan did not answer immediately, but stared at the paper in the sedan chair, his eyes no longer showing any interest.
"It is the same as the position of joy and sorrow."
"9
"Some people lump together people who die on their wedding day, people who are buried on their funeral day, and even things that shouldn't be put in a coffin, all into one category."
"It's not a single evil spirit, but the 'face' of the railway bureau after it took shape."
The paper-faced man opened his eyes.
In that instant, the red and white banners on both sides of the stone path lowered by an inch at the same time.
It looked like they were worshipping.
"Sign up-"
It opened its mouth.
The voices were no longer the chorus of the past, but rather individual, clear, and with a hint of gentle laughter.
"State your name."
"Whoever arrives first, goes through the door first."
Zhou Heng laughed angrily, "It really thinks we're here for a feast!"
Lu Yuan suddenly raised his hand, signaling him to be quiet.
Because right after those four words, "State your name," were uttered, the eerie wind that had been driven back by the lightning and fire on the stone path began to flow back again.
A faint fragrance wafted in the air.
The incense was neither sandalwood from the temple nor agarwood from the altar.
Instead, it smelled strange, a mixture of paper ash, rouge, beeswax, aged cotton, and the chill of corpses, making one feel increasingly suffocated the more one smelled it.
"Can you smell it?"
Lu Yuan said in a low voice.
Song Qinghe nodded, her face growing increasingly grim: "It seems—the wedding hall and the mourning hall were both open at the same time."
"Not bad," Lu Yuan said coldly, "It's not just targeting people now."
"It's about turning the entire stone path into its main hall."
"Once the main hall is opened, if anyone who comes in announces their arrival, their soul will be recorded by it."
"Once your name is remembered, the underworld will recognize you."
Lin Zhaoxuan's heart skipped a beat: "What if we don't report it?"
"Then it will register it for you," Lu Yuan answered decisively. "Even if it registers the name it wants, you still have to go."
A chill ran down everyone's spine.
At that moment, the paper face slowly raised its hand.
A red pen appeared in its hand at some unknown time, its handle slender, but its tip seemed to be dipped in black blood, and it slowly pointed it at the crowd.
Then, it pointed at Zhou Heng.
"Zhou Heng".
Zhou Heng's expression changed instantly, and he almost instinctively gripped his sword and took a half-step back.
Paper Face chuckled softly and continued pointing at Wang Cheng'an.
"Wang Cheng'an".
Wang Cheng'an felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He opened his mouth to curse, but Lu Yuan grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't answer!"
It's too late.
The paper face continued to slide downwards.
"Xu Erxiao".
"Song Qinghe".
"Lin Zhaoxuan".
It called out each name one by one, its voice so soft it sounded like it was reciting a family genealogy or writing a funeral invitation.
Everyone's hair stood on end upon hearing this, and they dared not even breathe too heavily.
Lu Yuan's eyes darkened, and he shouted, "It's counting soul registers!"
"Don't let it nail your names to the door register!"
After saying that, he suddenly pulled out a yellow talisman that had been folded in advance from his bosom. The talisman was made of bright red cinnabar, and there was a line of black ash pressed on the edge of the paper.
Lu Yuan flicked his wrist and slapped the talisman, not at the paper face, but directly into his own palm.
"Snapped!"
The talisman ignites upon touching the palm, but instead of flames, it produces a wisp of very faint golden smoke.
Using the golden smoke, Lu Yuan flipped up his right hand, his five fingers like hooks, and uttered a series of fast and deep thunder magic chants: "Heaven has its name, earth has its register!"
66
"Humans have birth dates, and ghosts have death dates!"
"My name is not mine, my history is not mine!"
"I'll borrow your magic pen, and use it to sever your school's magic pen!"
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
Before he finished speaking, he flicked his wrist, and the golden smoke rushed towards the paper face along with the wind from his palm.
The red paper pen that Paper Face had already extended was about to touch the paper when it was immediately stopped by the golden smoke.
Lin Zhaoxuan seized the moment, and the Thunder Order rose again. He pressed two fingers of his right hand horizontally against the order's surface and shouted, "Nine Heavens Thunderfire, decree the severance of Yin names!"
"Thunder is the pen, lightning is the ink!"
"The Heavenly Book will not be recorded, the Ghostly Book will not be preserved!"
"fall!"
A streak of blue-white lightning instantly shot out from the command, but instead of striking anyone, it struck the red paper pen in Paper Face's hand.
"Crackling"
The red paper pen exploded into a pile of fine paper scraps on the spot, like a string of torn red bones.
The smile on Paper Face froze instantly.
Immediately afterwards, the white mist inside the sedan chair suddenly surged, as if something had been angered. The sedan chair curtain billowed up with a "whoosh," and the entire red sedan chair began to shake.
"It's going to flip the table!"
Zhou Heng gave a low shout, and his longsword was drawn half an inch from its sheath.
Lu Yuan raised his hand and pressed down on the hilt of his sword, his voice cold and sharp: "Don't rush."
"When it flips over, the bottom is exposed."
Sure enough, the next instant, all four legs of the red sedan chair suddenly sank.
It wasn't that I was being pressed down, but rather it felt like something was pushing upwards from under the sedan chair.
"Thump!"
A muffled thud erupted from the ground.
This time, even the vermilion light barrier swayed.
Immediately afterwards, a hand forcefully pried open a corner of the wooden plank at the bottom of the sedan chair from below.
The hand was bluish-black, with thin lines like blue veins bulging on the back of the hand, and bits of red cloth wrapped between the fingers.
As soon as it was opened, a strong, earthy smell wafted out, like the seal on a cellar being lifted.
"There's a hatch down there!" Song Qinghe exclaimed.
Lu Yuan's expression finally changed.
"It's the entrance to the tomb."
"It used the sedan chair to lift things up from the ground."
Having said that, he abruptly turned his head and shouted sternly at Lin Zhaoxuan, "Send another thunderbolt, this time to strike the bottom of the sedan chair!"
"Don't hit my face, hit the door!"
Without hesitation, Lin Zhaoxuan twirled the Thunder Token in his palm, his eyes suddenly darkening as he shouted, "Heavenly Gang leads the way, Earthly Fiends return to their seals!"
"Thunder opens the dark earth, fire illuminates the cracks in the soil!"
"Lend me a blow, and I'll break down your grave!"
"Imperial Edict!"
A blue-white lightning bolt struck down in response.
This time, the lightning bolt was no longer thin, but thicker than before, like a lightning snake suddenly flipping over, striking straight at the bottom of the red sedan chair.
"boom-!"
A cloud of charred wood chips exploded from under the sedan chair, and the red curtain was instantly thrown upwards.
Just as the sedan curtain was lifted, everyone finally saw what was actually lying inside.
It's not a corpse.
It was a shrunken black lacquered coffin.
The coffin was no more than an arm's length long, but the paint on it was as black as if it had been poured on with oil.
Seven red ropes were wrapped around the coffin lid, and at the end of each rope was a copper coin. The copper coins were rusty, and the four characters "Taiping Tongbao" could be vaguely seen on their surfaces.
The most fatal flaw was that a peach wood nail was nailed to the center of the coffin lid.
The peach wood nail was half blackened, but the nail head was slightly raised as if something was pushing it from the inside.
"Shrink the coffin!"
Lu Yuan's eyes suddenly turned cold: "So the furnace core was used as a guise for a coffin!"
Lin Zhaoxuan gasped, "How did this thing get in the sedan chair?"
Lu Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "Because this is not an ordinary road spirit."
"This is the procession of the coffin through the door."
"Some evil schemes involve hiding a real coffin inside a wedding sedan chair, so that the living see red but not black, joy but not sorrow."
"Only when we reach the entrance of the earth's vein will we use the auspicious energy to flush out the coffin and release the contents inside."
Song Qinghe felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this: "The thing pressed down in that coffin, that's the furnace core?"
Lu Yuan stared at the shrinking coffin, his eyes narrowing dangerously: "What's pressed down inside the coffin is the opening of the furnace core."
"6
"The real hearth is no longer in the coffin."
"It's using this coffin now, preparing to crawl out and find its way."
Before the words were even finished, the lid of the collapsing coffin slowly rose an inch.
"Ga"
The sound of the wooden planks rubbing together was like someone slowly sitting up in the coffin.
A wisp of extremely thin black smoke seeped out from the crack in the coffin.
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