"Grandpa, this kid isn't lying, is he?"
I woke up late this morning, and it's exactly noon now, so Lao Gong has a moment to appear.
He had his head on the dashboard, seriously speaking, and grinned at Ma Wang, making a ghost face.
Terrified, Ma Wang floored the accelerator, and the car shot out a long way on the road, frightening oncoming vehicles that kept flashing their lights and honking loudly.
"You're always dragging corpses, but when you see Lao Gong, you're scared. What's wrong with doing good things in broad daylight? Don't be afraid of ghostly spirits, kid. Did you do anything bad?"
Lao Gong elongated the pitch of his voice.
"No... no..." Ma Wang's face turned pale, and he was mumbling a string of words that I couldn't understand.
"Go back." I whispered a sentence, and Lao Gong finally disappeared.
Ma Wang took a long time to calm down, and he was too afraid to talk to me.
Moreover, his cognitive ability was indeed not very good, and he did not associate my previous question with the suspicion of him. The appearance of Lao Gong made him more afraid than reflecting on whether there was anything wrong with him.
Ma Wang was not lying. If he had bad qualities, the Lama wouldn't have chosen him to perform sky burials or to come pick me up.
The news from the owner of the roadside breakfast shop might be somewhat biased, but it would not deceive people. It was the villagers who were asking for compensation who had deceived both him and Ma Wang.
As for why the accident happened, it was quite simple: two people had died, both women had hung themselves, and it was still unknown whether it was suicide or murder. The man was definitely unwilling to let it go and would retaliate in some way.
This was originally a trivial matter, but it turned into a huge fuss.
Shortly after, we left the county and walked on the wide national highway. We saw herds of cattle and horses on both sides, as well as higher mountains in the distance with snowy peaks. The scenery itself was healing, but it was also filled with a sense of oppression.
"Ma Wang, has anything else happened?" I looked out the window and asked another question.
What he mentioned is, in my opinion, not enough to lead to a reincarnation of Chán Ren. The event is absurd and despicable, but it's not something that affects the overall situation.
That's like the Grandmaster of the Female I is Chán Ren, who only appears when it concerns the life and death of Sì Guān Mountain and interferes in the event.
It was much like the previous grand ceremony when many Daoist schools tried to kill me.
Just like how the Grandmaster Lei Ping appeared because the immortal Tian Shou Dao Ren was about to walk a path of no return, and because the deformed spirit ascension Daoist, Gao Tian Dao Ren, was to be reborn.
Chán Ren is like them, capable of bearing solitude.
Ma Wang's face was stunned, and he said, "Gongbu? There is nothing more powerful, the Buddhist monastery protects the Tibetan land, everything is very calm."
Ma Wang mentioned "Gongbu" twice, so "Gongbu" should be the ghost they are talking about.
I remained silent, turned my head to look at the sky, but I was afraid to see any auspicious signs.
However, since the Lama said it was possible, then the probability of the event happening is high. Otherwise, he would not have let me out. This itself is an adventure. It can only be said that the timing has not yet arrived?
Quiet, we need to calm down.
I stopped looking out the window and closed my eyes to rest, reciting the Pure Mind Spell.
……
Ma Wang's village stood amidst a landscape of undulating hills, with a wide river flowing by on one side. The riverbank was lush with green grass and numerous wildflowers.
As the vehicle entered the village, many people looked up and some followed us.
A few minutes later, we stopped in front of a white house. He told me to wait in the car and not to get down, then he got out on his own.
After that, he opened the trunk, and several people came out of the white house and approached the car. They seemed nervous and were talking to Ma Wang in a tense manner. Eventually, they lifted the body out of the car and carried it into the white house.
This scene caused people in the distance to dare not approach. It was as if these bodies should not be brought back.
Soon, Ma Wang returned to the car and continued driving forward.
The village was quite large, not inferior to the towns in our areas.
Ma Wang also explained to me that in normal circumstances, the bodies sent for sky burial cannot be brought back. If this is done, it means that the deceased had sins in their previous life, which defiled the Five Lama Temple. Fortunately, this time the temple was closed, and there was also me in the car. Otherwise, these several bodies would have been in trouble, and those who sent them would also have been held accountable.
I nodded, understanding that one custom cultivates a person in a certain place.
The car stopped again.
"The family of Gongbu who caused trouble is right here," Ma Wang paused and said.
There was a large courtyard outside, with several horses tied up inside. There was also a cowshed beside it.
There were about seven or eight people standing at the gate of the courtyard, eagerly looking at the car, especially at my side window.
"I didn't say I wanted to come here," I shook my head without getting out of the car, "Go to your house."
Ma Wang's eyes were filled with confusion and surprise.
"Let's go!" I said with a slightly heavier tone.
Only then did Ma Wang drive the car forward again towards the front.
I could see from the rearview mirror that none of the people at the gate of the family were exceptions and they all chased after the car.
It wasn't until Ma Wang accelerated that he was able to leave them behind.
"Why?" Ma Wang asked me in a very puzzled way.
"It's the intention of the Lama," I replied.
The confusion in Ma Wang's eyes was even greater.
"Are they lying?" Ma Wang asked me again.
I was silent for a moment before saying, "Do you think a stranger would willingly provoke a conflict with a group of people? However, this has nothing to do with lying or deceiving you."
I couldn't tell Ma Wang the Lama's exact words, so I had to continue to remain silent.
The car stopped again, another yard appeared, which was similar in structure to the other yards in the village. There were barns for cows and sheep, and a small child was running around in the yard. A woman was also busy with some chores.
The car drove off the main road and into a flat area beside the barns, where it came to a stop.
Ma Wang led me into the courtyard, where the woman seemed to be very devout. She first bowed and greeted me with a polite question.
Then he looked in the direction from which we came, and a group of people were running quickly towards us.
Ma Wang's face looked very ugly, with a trace of iron gray.
He whispered a few words to the woman, who also jumped in fear, and led me into a house in the courtyard.
Inside the house, a fire was burning, making it very warm. Through the slightly misty window, I could see Ma Wang standing guard at the door. His face looked even uglier.
After the villagers caught up with us, he waved his arms and shouted something, which I couldn't understand at all.
However, the woman looked very nervous, and she kept her hands joined together in a prayer-like gesture.
After a while, Ma Wang returned to the house from the courtyard gate. He didn't smile, just felt embarrassed and humiliated. He quietly told me that he had sent away those who did not tell the truth.
I looked out the window, and those people had not left. Instead, they were kneeling on the ground, bowing and kowtowing towards the house direction. Their faces were filled with a dead silence and despair.
Ma Wang was making a phone call next to me, which seemed to be notifying someone in the village.
After the phone call ended, Ma Wang told me that no matter whether those people left or not, the village would not forgive them. They had asked him to lie to the Lama, which was a big sin! They would be severely punished!
For some reason, I felt a surge of palpitations and asked with a furrowed brow, "What is the content of the punishment?"
In addition, I seemed to see a person standing by the side of the road under the embankment, who was slightly familiar.
He was watching the group of people and also seemed to be looking at the window in the yard.
Is he looking at me!?
Of course, he couldn't see my appearance clearly!
