The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 549: Salvation? I am incompetent, so I'd better let this house burn down!
The flames rolled.

Shen Le felt that he had never seen such a fierce flame.

Even when he was in the Secret Realm of the Whirlpool, watching the firebird spread its wings and pounce towards him, or even when he was mending the sky under the sea, watching the volcano erupt and pulling the foreigner's big black fish down to fill the hole, he had never seen it.

In just a moment, the house in front of me began to melt, first the beams, the beams that had hanged countless women, began to twist and deform, and then collapsed like a piece of mud that had been soaked in rain;
Then, on the beams, there were illusory white silks, cloth strips, and ropes. Some were white, some were red, some were brand new, some were tattered, and some had bloodstains on the edges...

They kept burning, one burned out, another grew out, and then another burned out, and more ribbons hung from the beam.

The beam seemed to have turned into some kind of centipede-like monster, with endless ribbons of cloth growing out of it.

As each stick burned out, thick black gas rose into the air, quickly joining the flames and becoming new fuel.

What made Shen Le feel a little relieved was that there were specks of white light in the black air, which kept spreading upwards.

From those white lights, he could vaguely see smiling faces, faces that were relaxed, relieved, and finally free from sadness and resentment. They nodded, chuckled, and rose up and left.

After all the strips of cloth were burned, the flames finally reached the roof tiles.

The tiles curled and cracked, falling like rain. The edges of the four corners of the sky, bounded by the tiles, gradually retreated outwards, revealing the bright skylight bit by bit.

Then, those intricate carvings, those beautiful paintings, those small grid-like, luxuriously decorated, yet suffocating rooms...

Everything began to explode, fall, and fall into the sea of fire. The flames came from the back to the front, the third one, the second one, the first one...

Every building, every beam, the illusory tablet in the center of the second mansion, and the chapel on the left side of the first mansion that had not yet been demolished, all fell into the sea of fire.

The overturned incense burner, the spices stored in boxes and chests, the agarwood screen standing in the hall, each one was engulfed by the flames, bursting out with a strong aroma.

And within the fragrance, there is another scent intertwined and rising at the same time:
It was the silk curtains embroidered with flowers in the room, it was the thick Persian Isfahan carpet on the floor, it was the beef and roasted lamb that were never eaten in the kitchen and at the banquet.

The stench of burning protein was so strong that it was suffocating. Shen Le even suspected that such a strong smell was definitely not just the burning of the decorations that he saw.

There was also Ah Zhen's body, the body of the owner of the mansion, and the bodies of all the people in the Pu family who were related to this mansion.

Even more, there were those killed Mongols, those men, women, old and young who were killed by the Mongols, women who committed suicide by jumping into a well, babies who were thrown into a well by their mothers and whose bodies were buried at the bottom of the well...

Flames burst out from everywhere: from the beams, from the rafters, from all the wooden furniture.

From the cracks in the thick brick walls, from the bricks, from the mud and moss at the bottom of the well, and from every brick on the well wall.

The flames rolled, and every leap and every explosion seemed to be shouting:

"burn!"

"Burn them all!"

"The cleaner the burn, the better!"

Burn away all the sorrow, burn away all the anger, burn away all the hatred...

The burning sound is like a building collapsing, and the white earth is so clean. Then, let’s decide what to do with it next!
Shen Le cheered secretly. He walked slowly in the flames, watching the walls collapse, the bricks and tiles crack, and the flames engulf all traces of the past.

The flames gently parted around him, accompanying him and illuminating the details of the entire house. His only question was:
Has this fire ever happened in history?
Was it his hallucination, or did it really exist and did the entire mansion really burn down, so that the Huang Clan Ancestral Hall had to be rebuilt on the ruins?
He tried hard to recall, but found that he could not remember any relevant records: he didn't know whether there was no fire in history or the parties involved were too secretive about it.

Fortunately, as the flames swept through the entire house, Shen Le discovered that the range of his movement had begun to loosen and was no longer confined to the entire house.

He walked out slowly, stood in front of the screen wall, looked up at the gate of the ancient house, and watched the house with the gate tower and plaque removed engulfed in flames.

Countless people were running and shouting, carrying buckets and pulling water carts around. Some were desperately pouring water in, while others had already begun to demolish the surrounding buildings.

But no matter how hard they tried to put out the fire, the flames in the old house showed no sign of dying out, but there were no sparks that would burst out and ignite other houses around...

"Amitabha……"

A loud Buddhist chant rang out. Shen Le looked back and saw an old monk hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd and came to the door of the ancient house.

He stared at the flames in the gate for a long time, his old face full of sadness.

After a moment, he sat cross-legged, twirling a large string of thickly patinated sandalwood beads, and began to recite the scriptures word by word.

Shen Le narrowed his eyes slightly. Perhaps the old monk was really capable, or perhaps he was in a special illusion, he actually saw the golden light on the old monk.

The golden light was soft and heavy, not dazzling, nor did it illuminate the heaven and earth. It just steadily enveloped the old monk half a foot away.

He lowered his head and recited the scriptures for who knows how many times. Finally, he opened his eyes and threw the rosary towards the old house.

As soon as he let go of it, the string of 108 beads kept growing bigger and longer, covering the entire house.

The rosary, expanded to its limit, circled above the mansion several times and suddenly sank downward, as if to completely contain the flames.

The flames did indeed sink, inch by inch, foot by foot, until they were lower than the eaves and the courtyard wall.

All the people watching, especially the low-ranking official from the Huang family and the Huang family members standing behind him, breathed a sigh of relief at the same time and sincerely thanked the old monk:
"Thank you, Master... Master——"

Master, you have worked hard. Master, your magical power is boundless. Master, you have suffered great loss today. I, Huang, will do my best to serve you...

Before he could finish his words, a palace lantern and a white silk silk suddenly appeared on top of the flames.

The flames rose up instantly as if a basin of boiling oil was poured over it, and the entire string of beads exploded amid loud exclamations!

The flames quickly licked up again, licking the roof beams and the courtyard walls. Through the gate, Shen Le could clearly hear the screams and pleas for mercy from inside:

The bodies of those Pu family members were burned at a faster rate and turned black. Soon, they were scattered into pieces of broken bones and ashes, which sank into the mud in the courtyard and disappeared.

The old monk was so frightened that his white beard trembled. He recited scriptures continuously and finally summoned back the scattered rosary beads and made them fall into his palm one by one.

Shen Le stood nearby and looked carefully. On each rosary bead, the charred burn marks occupied most of the area, and the cracks on the beads were lined up, almost penetrating into the center.

They rolled around in the old monk's palms, on his robes, and under his feet, weakly. Even someone who doesn't understand the ritual at all can tell from this scene:
This rosary is useless, completely useless.

"Ugh……"

The old monk recalled the rosary beads one by one and looked at them carefully, his white beard trembling. Even if they were all useless, he was reluctant to throw them away, so he took out a small cloth bag and stuffed them all back.

Only after he had collected all the rosary beads did he chant the Buddha's name and shake his head at the Huang official:
"This old house... has been filled with stench and resentment for many years. I'm afraid that before it burns out and dispels the resentment, it will be useless to rely on human intervention..."

Official Huang sighed deeply and bowed to the old monk to express his gratitude. He stared at the ancestral hall with a look of pity on his face:
Burned!

It just burned like that!
They had clearly fought their way back, the Tartars had clearly been driven out, the barbarians who had occupied the family ancestral hall had clearly fallen into the mud, and the family ancestral hall could clearly be taken back...

After cleaning it up and removing some things that shouldn't be there, such as the Hu people's chapel, you can redecorate it and reopen the ancestral hall to comfort your ancestors.

At this critical moment, how come this ancestral hall...burned down?

"A blessing in disguise." A hand pressed heavily on his shoulder.
"Brother Huang, even though the main culprit has been executed, this house is still full of gold and silver, and agarwood and sandalwood, which still attracts attention. This burn will clean it up, and everyone will know that there is nothing left..."

"Thank you, Brother Li, for your comfort." Official Huang bowed to the man sincerely. He turned his head and stared at the mansion, his eyes red and tears streaming down his face:
I don't know if it was because of the smoke, the roasting, or the sadness and pain from the bottom of my heart. Shen Le breathed a sigh of relief:

It's good to burn it. It's good to burn it. Let all the dead die and all the grievances be released. Then, everyone can be clean and do what they need to do. Isn't that good?

"Master, please try your best." He talked for seven or eight times, then turned back to beg the old monk:
"After all, this was once the Huang family residence... I'm afraid that burning it too much will hurt the kindness of our ancestors, and people will say that our ancestors are angry and refuse to bless our descendants..."

If your ancestors are unwilling to bless you, the moral character of this generation of descendants is very questionable.

From this, we can infer that your children go abroad to study, your children take the imperial examination, your children become officials and get promoted...

When a new dynasty is first established, everyone is striving to seize official positions, power, and spheres of influence. If you are slow, your family will become weak and fall into the dust.

Shen Le could almost understand the thoughts of this official surnamed Huang:

No matter how much it costs, we must buy time and calm down public opinion!
"Alas...you, what are you doing..." The old monk sighed and tried to persuade him. Shen Le pouted beside him:

You can't persuade him, he is Party A, you are Party B. You have the right not to accept the order, and you also have the right to slack off, but you probably can't make him change his mind -

He would also say, “I think the first version is the best, so let’s go with the first version!”

After several rounds of arguing, the old monk finally gave in. He sighed and put forward his own request:
“This house is filled with deep resentment, and I alone cannot appease or relieve it.

If Huang Tanyue is determined, I will go back to the temple and hire a few more helpers, and Tanyue will also hire some more experts..."

The Huang family had no shortage of money, or perhaps, in order to return to the ancestral temple, the clan had probably already raised a large sum of money. If they were willing to spend money to buy a house, they would also be willing to spend money to hire someone to perform a ritual:

In less than an hour, ninety-nine monks and seventy-seven forty-nine Taoists started the water and land ceremony outside the mansion.

In addition to the monks and Taoists, there was also a group of Taoist nuns, holding various flags and carrying the Mazu sedan chair, who also walked around the outside of the mansion.

Shen Le looked carefully at the flags and curtains. They were dim and even had patches on them in some inconspicuous places.

Alas, after so many years of war and sea ban, the Tianhou Temple—should it not be called the Tianhou Temple at that time? It is also poor and needs to make money...

They still have a long way to go. It was not until the Yongle period, when Zheng He sailed to the West, that they would ask for permission to rebuild the Tianhou Temple. At this moment, they can only rely on various rituals to support themselves.

The water and land temple outside was busy with music and dancing for a whole day and night, and the raging fire in the house also burned for a whole day and night.

Fortunately, their prayers and prayers were effective, and the flames gradually subsided from three meters to two meters, from two meters to ten meters, and from ten meters to five feet.

When it reached five feet high, the prayers outside suddenly became louder, with the sounds of cymbals, drums, the beating of tokens, and the chanting of scriptures, creating a huge wave.

In a moment, the wave turned into a golden light, covering the house and trying to suppress it. With a slight sound, the fire was extinguished, the walls collapsed, and the bricks and tiles were charred:

On the foundation of the three-story mansion, only twelve charred pillars stand quietly, recording the cruel past that the mansion has experienced.

"call……"

Shen Le let out a long sigh of relief. After watching the whole scene, he was very satisfied:

Sure enough, the resentment in this house has not been completely eliminated. Under the salvation and sealing of the Buddhist and Taoist sects, it has simply been deeply restrained, waiting for the day when it will revive again:
Tell me, why do you want to save it?

Wouldn't it be enough to just let it burn out?
It has become like this now, and it has caused so much trouble for our repair work——

Even if there is only a little bit of resentment left, you let it sleep underground for hundreds of years, and look, you raise it again, you mess it up!

He walked towards the mansion. One step, two steps, three steps, he stepped over the threshold and stood in the courtyard. Before he could find the source of his resentment, the light and shadow in front of him changed, and he returned to reality again:
...Okay, you won't let me continue watching?

So next, if we can capture all these grievances, will the house be repaired safely?

Alas, the practitioners nowadays are really inferior to the previous generation. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Buddhist and Taoist schools were able to work together to seal the resentment in this mansion;

Several hundred years later, these same families - perhaps with the addition of a Guanyue Temple - came here and made seventy or eighty rounds, and the answer they came to was "nothing unusual"!
Oh, what does it mean “no abnormality”?
Or is it "Although there are abnormalities, there is nothing to do"?
Or maybe something should be done, but there's nothing we can do?
Or “We could have done something, but now it’s too late”?
——Didn’t your ancestors tell you what they did? Even if they didn’t tell you, couldn’t they leave some written records in the temple, monastery, or Tianhou Temple?
Even if it's just a note in the account book of receiving the money, and also a note of why the ritual was performed in the first place...

Shen Le complained bitterly, but it was of no use. He still had to work and purify the mansion.

He thought for a moment, took out the pen holder, and placed it on the ground. He tapped the pen holder a few times, and the finger-sized ornament grew in the wind, turning into a giant object one meter high and one foot in diameter.

After a moment, a number of silk skirts flew out from the pen holder:
"Sisters, I'm counting on you now." Shen Le clasped his fists and bowed to them one by one, almost bowing:
"I haven't found a way to communicate with this mansion... or rather, with the resentment accumulated in the mansion. Could you please talk to her? Talk about the current situation?"

For example, the world has completely changed now, and several dynasties have been replaced. The previous resentment can be put aside - after all, the two groups of Tartars have been driven out;

For another example, in this world, at least in this country, no girl would be forced to commit suicide because she lost her virginity, or be executed by her family and then claim that "she committed suicide";
For example, we shouldn't inexplicably...

Being invaded by foreigners...

That era has passed, and we have stood up...

The women in skirts danced lightly around Shen Le, then left. Luxurious long-sleeved shirts, dignified skirts, passionate dance costumes, light hunting suits...

They went in and out, one courtyard after another, one house after another, dancing with their sleeves raised as they moved forward. Shen Le pulled his ears and thought he heard a faint song:
Are you singing?
Is it singing and dancing, letting this old house and the women who died in it see this new era?
By the way, can you take me one - can you, let me see them?
He walked slowly forward, looking around. After a moment, a woman in a silk skirt flew over quickly, circled around him twice, and gestured:

"What do you want? You want to start a live broadcast? - Do you have the live broadcast equipment with you? With it? Do you need electricity? No problem, no problem, I'll go ask, and then pull the wires for you..."

He first called his tutor and got the reply, "Just broadcast it casually, it doesn't matter, it's not aimed at ordinary people anyway."

Then he took out five or six extension cords and plugged in all the girls' live broadcast equipment, including speakers and lights.

There is no place to fix the lighting board, and we can't just buy two robot dogs and let them run around carrying the lighting board.

Shen Le could only summon the clay figurines, asking them to become smaller, squat under the lighting board and hold the pole...

"Are you done? Are you finished? Can we start the show? - Good! Three, two, one, start!"

Playing the piano, playing the flute, dancing, painting. Dressed in a few silk skirts, they presented a perfect performance, with graceful dancing and singing...

Shen Le couldn't hear the singing, but there was a special device that recorded it and transmitted it to the live broadcast room for the monsters who were watching the live broadcast to hear.

Judging from the comments in the live broadcast room, the singing must be quite pleasant to the ears, otherwise there wouldn't be a bunch of people giving likes to the song.

However, what Shen Le was more concerned about was the fluorescent lights that were rising up in the whole old house. Some were blue, some were white, and they seemed a bit like phosphorescence, floating towards them:

Is it you?

Are you still conscious?
Are you...listening?

Fluorescence floats. Some fluorescent lights change color slowly, from blue to white, from white to gold, and then from gold to slowly dissipate, slowly blend into the air, and disappear;
Some of the fluorescence remained unchanged, just slowly circling around Shen Le;
However, there is also a group of fluorescent lights whose color gradually darkens until it becomes a dark black.

Those fluorescent lights kept bouncing up and down. Every time they tried to pounce on me, they were formed into a light net by other fluorescent lights and bounced away directly...

"Well... I feel like I can't handle you guys... Whether it's saving you or eliminating you, I can't quite handle it..."

Shen Le scratched his head in confusion. After a long while, he finally let out a long sigh and took out the mansion model:
“Come, come, come! Come here! All the resentment, all the spiritual light, all the power to transcend it and seal it, please come here…”

Some of the fluorescence gathered automatically, quickly fell into the model and disappeared. Some of the fluorescence that had become dimmed kept colliding, but could never break out of the trap.
Shen Le sighed, and had to stand up and walk slowly along the wall, along every place where resentment might remain:

"I'll catch you!"

"I'll catch you!"

“I tried my best to catch it!!!”

Perhaps it was because they witnessed the process of the house being liberated and sealed, or perhaps after a round of restoration, the spirits in the house were awakened and more dormant spirits surfaced.

This time, when Shen Le used his mental power to try to capture the aura of the ancient house, something strange actually came into his hands:
It was a faint golden light, a faint white light, rising from the beams and pillars, from the bricks and tiles, from the perimeter of the house and from underground, from every place.

Like silk, like light, like fog. Shen Le grabbed one, then another, and transformed it into a small net at his fingertips and palms:

"Hey, you guys are not...still here..."

Shen Le grinned and took a deep breath. Was this the power that had saved, purified, and sealed the ancient house?
The remaining ones, or those who never disappeared, have been sleeping in the house and have not been discovered or disturbed by him?
"Okay, from now on, let ordinary people be ordinary people, and extraordinary people be extraordinary people." Shen Le muttered, and used force with his five fingers to drag outwards.

The net came from far away, from big to small, and finally, it condensed at Shen Le's fingertips, turning into a three-foot-long, two-foot-wide, and one-foot-high, fine and dense light cage.

If you look closely, you can see tiny symbolic symbols floating in the light threads, hear the endless sound of Buddhist chanting, and smell the faint scent of sandalwood - and the subtle but distinct scent of sea breeze.

After all these years, this sealing power has really been working!
It's a pity that there is no permanent existence, nor eternal power. Shen Le looked carefully and clearly saw that the light cage had small holes and cracks:

"Hey, if you're really worried, just go live in the model. Take these guys who make you worried - go!"

He swung and pushed hard. The light cage expanded rapidly, instantly covering all the fluorescent light, sinking into the depths of the model and disappearing.

(End of this chapter)