Taking a deep breath, I threw myself forward and leapt towards the copper rod, intending to grasp it.
Old Gong suddenly screamed, "Master, don't touch!"
My hand was almost on the copperware, and I quickly pulled it back, missing by a hair, and landed heavily.
Lan Ying also jumped, looking at Old Gong with a strange expression.
"The copperware is an object that wards off evil spirits and bad luck; it might be a talisman and cannot be touched?"
"Not all copperware can ward off evil spirits and bad luck; some Taoists can even wield swords and draw talismans even after death," Old Gong said with a meaningful tone.
My pupil slightly contracted, and I immediately thought of the old Taoist on the mountain behind Chigu Village. He had climbed onto me, and indeed he had drawn talismans. Moreover, he had used a half-foot copper sword.
However, he had also suffered damage.
"Something evil is sleeping here," Old Gong said, his eyes wide.
"Ghost?" My face turned pale.
"Ghosts sleep in places where there are things to ward off evil spirits. It's hard for them to sleep well. As for now, this seems to be a good thing, but if taken down, it might be a troublesome item," Old Gong said with some depth. After thinking for a moment, I asked: "Do you mean this isn't copper?"
"Wrong. It might be something that ghosts get confused by? You'll also be bewitched?" Lan Ying's tone slightly changed.
I suddenly felt enlightened, as if I had been awakened.
"What kind of ghost is in here? Is this thing placed here as bait? Touching it makes it easier for a ghost to possess you?" I spoke rapidly.
"Only after eating incense can a ghost live in a shrine statue. The last time, I wanted to enter that image, but it was not me who was in charge. Staying in one place every day and looking at a group of men without women is uninteresting," Old Gong's demeanor showed both yearning and contempt.
Pausing, he added, "The ghost hasn't woken up because it's the weak one that wakes up. It hasn't had incense or yang energy for many years. Even a person would have to lie down if they were drained, right? This place has been neglected for too long."
Although Old Gong's words were still a bit mysterious, they were manageable for someone to understand.
"So, this ghost can't wake up by itself, so it uses such things to force people to touch them. If they touch it, it might absorb their yang energy? And the ghost will be disturbed."
"Hmm... Miss, if there's both, the little mistress isn't as smart." Old Gong muttered softly.
"Little big miss?" Lan Ying was taken aback.
"Oww... My stomach hurts..." Old Gong crawled into the night pot.
Lan Ying, however, looked bewildered and didn't understand.
"Old Gong has a stomach? He isn't just a head, right?"
I slightly furrowed my brow, but my face showed no change.
"Whatever should be there is already there, but I don't know why he's still just a head. He always gets his connections mixed up."
I glanced again at the exposed part of the copperware with the corner of my eye.
Frankly, it had an uncanny attraction.
How to describe it? The four laws mirror is very powerful, a real person-level talisman. Even the half-foot copper sword from that old Taoist master was amazing. High Sky Pavilion was well-known throughout the yin-yang world, so could the talismans here possibly be weak?
Even if it has been tainted by ghosts, the essence is still that of a Taoist. However... the ghost in the statue, as Old Gong has already pointed out, is that ghost doctor. If we were to wake it up, we might not die but we would definitely lose a layer of skin.
I forcibly suppressed the temptation, which was essentially greed.
"Maybe my parents passed through here back then and didn't touch anything. Not touching was the right thing to do."
"It seems like they entered the mountain from here. They tried to dig a tunnel when they were halfway up, but someone died."
"But I'm not sure about the situation in Gao Tia Temple."
"And... I might have misjudged earlier. I thought this place could be the graves of some ancestors of the Daoist sect of Pass Calamity Temple, and the distance was one reason, while High Sky Pavilion was another."
"There's still something off, and I can't explain why the Daoists of Pass Calamity Temple would take action."
My words made me feel like there were clouds in my head, and I couldn't figure out many things clearly.
"Now that we're here, if we go to the right place, Yang Guijin won't it wake up? Once that happens, everything will be solved. God's manifestation doesn't need you to think so much. It will only make our actions complicated... Grass Mouse, it seems like we've found Yang Guijin. Follow me!"
Lan Ying's eyes lit up, and she immediately walked in a certain direction.
I put away my scattered thoughts and followed Lan Ying.
We quickly arrived at a door on the left side. Lan Ying's expression slightly changed, and she let out a low groan.
"Grass Mouse... has been broken."
My pupils slightly narrowed. Was it broken like this?
That means there's danger at the location of Yang Guijin?
Before I could open my mouth, Lan Ying had stepped into the doorway.
The dimly lit hall where the god statue was worshipped had completely darkened in this passage. Lan Ying took out a flashlight and shone it straight ahead, illuminating the deep passage. At the end was what appeared to be a door.
After we quickly walked over, we found that the door was actually slightly ajar.
I stepped slightly ahead of Lan Ying and pushed the door open with a hand. The weak flashlight just barely illuminated the entire room.
This room was particularly strange. It was square on all sides, but the top had a round arc.
The main hall outside looked fine, but inside this room, there was a sense of oppression.
Yes, it's oppressive! The height of the walls doesn't exceed one and a half meters, and the round arc is a bit higher, but not more than two meters. A person standing inside would almost have to touch their head.
It felt like being in a tomb.
There were small holes on both sides of the room, and inside them, there were actually coffins...
Yang Guijin was in front of the wall opposite us.
There was also a depression inside the wall, and there was a coffin in it.
By the side of the coffin, there was a person who was twisted in abnormal ways, as if he had suffered great pain before dying.
Yang Guijin was kneeling there, shivering uncontrollably and still crying……
The crying in this cramped environment was haunting.
"You said, if I came back, you'd take me away."
"You've come back, but you're not human anymore."
"How can I leave now?"
"You're lying, and you're deceiving both people and ghosts!"
"Tell me, don't you think you deserve to die!?"
"But if you deserve to die, why don't you know how you died?"
Yang Guijin abruptly raised his hand and slapped himself in the face, making a crisp slap sound!
In the next moment, he suddenly turned around and stared at me and Lan Ying with a ferocious expression.
"Together?"
Yang Guijin was clearly possessed by a ghost.
"Are you here to take me away?" Yang Guijin's wrinkled face was full of anticipation.
This emotion was very strange and eerie.
I was pondering what this ghostly thing meant when...
Yang Guijin suddenly widened his eyes and let out a scream: "You... Luo Muye... Isn't it... Gu Qing?"
"N... no... not..."
Yang Guijin's hand trembled as it reached out to his own face.
His lips quivered, and his thick tears flowed down.
"It's the child... for so long..."
My heart started beating rapidly.
This ghost knows my parents!
No, she was one of the companions back then!
They haven't even entered the tomb, yet people are starting to die?
That's still not right!
Could it be that this Daoist temple is already within the range of the tomb?!
I was about to speak.
She suddenly let out a sharp scream, and Yang Guijin lunged at me like a madman!
