The invincible female ghost is a bit love-struck.

Chapter 293 Returning Home

Behind the gap, a clump of black fetal flesh was revealed, pulsating slowly.

That thing had no facial features, only mouths, densely packed on its surface.

Every mouth was chanting the same phrase: "May all our wishes become gods."

The sound traveled from afar, reaching the roof beams from beneath the stone temple, and then from the roof beams into everyone's ears.

In the direction of Xiaomantun, the red rope that had just been loosened was tightened again.

Some villagers screamed, some knelt down, and some rushed to their doorsteps, trying to relight the extinguished lamps.

Zhou Heng stood outside the stone gate, shouting through the wind and snow, "Master Lu! Someone wants to relight the lamp!"

"Stop them! Don't hurt anyone!"

"They're pulled by a black thread; there's no stopping them!"

"Then let them see the black line!"

Lu Yuan pressed the blade against the main line leading to the mountain's belly, pressed his left thumb against his middle finger, straightened his index and middle fingers, and placed his palm down, forming the "Showing Line Technique".

"The line is not visible to the eye, but visible to the heart."

"7

"If the heart does not recognize it, then the thread has no proof."

"Borrowing fame as a thread, borrowing fear as a rope."

"Today, I've revealed my true colors!"

As the final words fell, Lu Yuan slammed his fist on the ground.

A beam of white light shot out of the stone gate along the stone bricks, passed through the snow, and headed straight for Xiaoman Village.

Every red rope in the village came into view.

Those weren't ropes, but thin black snakes, their heads pinned to the villagers' wrists, their tails embedded in the ancestral altars, wellheads, and graves.

Upon seeing this, the villagers all retreated in fright.

The woman holding the child looked down at the black snake on her wrist and, startled, let go of it.

The black snake didn't land; instead, it climbed up her arm.

"Don't be afraid!" Zhao Shun shouted from the village entrance. "Master Lu said that once you recognize it, it can't be disguised as a life-saving rope!"

"Put the child down, put your hands together in prayer position, and say your own name!"

The woman was trembling all over.

"My name is Li Guilan."

The black snake paused for a moment.

The black lines on her body immediately loosened by an inch.

"Read it again!"

"My name is Li Guilan! My husband's name is Zhao Shun! My child's name is Zhao Xiaobao!"

She kept calling out, and the black thread began to fall off her wrist.

Seeing this, the surrounding villagers also began to recite their own names.

At first there were only three or five people, but later the sound echoed throughout the entire street.

"My name is Chen Gui!"

"My name is Liu Ximei!"

"My name is Zhou Dacheng!"

"My name is Zhao Xiaobao!"

The flesh inside the black stone contracted violently, and the wind around the stone temple immediately became shrill.

"Shut up!"

"Your names belong to the mountains!"

"Your lives and deaths belong to the lamp!"

A dark shadow burst forth from the crack in the black stone, transforming into a long, jet-black arm that lunged straight at Ah Sheng.

Song Qinghe held the bronze lamp horizontally in front of her chest and formed the "Soul-Protecting Seal".

Bring your right index and middle fingers together, press your thumb against the first joint of your ring finger, and support the bottom of the lamp with your left palm.

"The lamp illuminates the soul, and the fire protects the heart.

97

"The soul never leaves the body, and thoughts never leave the body."

"If an evil hand comes, it must first pass through this fire."

"town!"

A ring of blue flames flew out from the bronze lamp, protecting Ah Sheng in the center.

The black arm collided with the blue flame and immediately shrank back a few inches.

Ah Sheng's face turned even uglier.

"It's not trying to catch me."

"It wants the character '生' on my chest."

Lu Yuan looked at A Sheng's chest.

The blue "生" character was gradually bulging outwards, as if a hand was about to tear it away from under the skin.

"Are the characters you're using your own?"

"It is now."

"Then I'll guard it myself."

Ah Sheng bit his lip and sat down cross-legged.

Lu Yuan placed a copper coin in front of his knee, with the coin facing up.

"Copper is the boundary, earth is the root."

"If you can't hold on to it, then keep an eye on this coin."

"The character '生' must not leave the body before it lands."

Ah Sheng nodded, put his hands together, and repeated the hand seal as Lu Yuan had done before.

"My life belongs to me."

"My body belongs to me."

"My path leads nowhere."

The black arm lunged again.

Song Qinghe greeted them with a lantern.

The firelight collided with the black mist, causing the entire Gen Temple to shake.

Her wrists were numb from the shock, but she didn't take a single step back.

"Lu Yuan, the line is about to break!"

Lin Zhaoxuan shouted.

He, Wang Chengan, and Xu Erxiao are still blocking the bus route leading to Xiaomantun.

The line had sunk into the stone platform, as if it were grown into the stone.

Wang Chengan's abacus frame was deformed from being squeezed.

"It's not a thread!"

"It's full of names!"

"There are too many names; we can't just cut them off," Lu Yuan said.

Lin Zhaoxuan looked up: "Then how do we determine it?"

Lu Yuan looked at the eyes on the black stone, then suddenly turned and walked towards Mr. Meng.

Mr. Meng had just sent his father's remains out of the stone gate when he turned around and saw Lu Yuan standing in front of him.

"What is the ritual for maintaining the altar that your father left behind?"

Mr. Meng's face turned pale.

"I can't say."

"If you don't speak, it won't just be the people here who die tonight."

"The method of guarding the altar is not a set formula."

"It's a name."

"Whose name?"

Mr. Meng looked at the mass of black fetal flesh.

"The first donor."

"explain."

He said his surname was Meng.

Full name.

Mr. Meng closed his eyes.

"Meng Shoushan".

"Guard the mountain?" Wang Cheng'an frowned. "That name sounds like someone who guards the mountain."

"He wasn't originally called that," Mr. Meng said. "He had his own name."

"But after entering Genmiao, Heishi told him that by abandoning his old name, he could guard the mountain gate for the entire village."

95

"He gave up his original name and changed it to 'Guardian of the Mountain.'"

Lu Yuan asked, "What was his original name?"

Mr. Meng's lips trembled.

"Meng—Wenbing."

Suddenly, the fetal flesh inside the black stone emitted a muffled thud.

All mouths closed at the same time.

Lu Yuan understood.

"It's not afraid of the cutting line."

"It is about returning the true name of the first donor."

"Once Meng Wenbing's name is restored to its rightful place, the subsequent worshippers will no longer be a continuation of the mountain guardians, but rather layers of false names being added on top of each other."

Mr. Meng shook his head.

"It has already swallowed the name."

"It swallowed it, and it can spit it out."

Lu Yuan walked to the black stone and stuck the broken knife into the edge of the stone platform.

"Mr. Meng, stand behind me."

"What are you doing?"

"Call me father."

"He can't hear."

"Say it three times."

Mr. Meng clasped his hands tightly and slowly stood still.

Lu Yuan pressed his left thumb against the base of his index finger, and placed his right index finger horizontally in front of his eyebrow, forming the "Summoning Name Seal".

"Heaven has a name, Earth has a name."

"Mountains, rivers, plants, and trees, each has its own name."

"Do not make doors for the dead, nor locks for old names."

"With blood as the guide, with voice as the proof."

"Meng Wenbing, return to your rightful place!"

Mr. Meng opened his mouth, his voice hoarse: "Father, my name is Meng Jun."

The black stone did not react.

Lu Yuandao: "I'm not calling yourself."

Mr. Meng closed his eyes.

"Meng Wenbing!"

The ground of the stone temple suddenly trembled.

One of the eyes on the surface of the black stone cracked open, revealing an old human face.

The face was covered in black mud, and the lips opened and closed, but no sound came out.

Mr. Meng took a step forward.

"Dad, I've come to take you home."

The face in the black stone raised its hand and pointed at Mr. Meng's chest.

There was a black "孟" character there, slowly rotating.

Lu Yuan grabbed Mr. Meng's shoulder.

"Say it again."

With red eyes, Mr. Meng shouted, "Meng Wenbing!"

This time, the whole mountain heard it.

The villagers of Xiaomantun stopped calling out names.

In the birch forest, the red cloths on the dead trees fell to the ground all at once.

Inside the main cave in the mountainside, the remaining lights gradually went out.

A cloud of black smoke suddenly billowed out from the crack in the black rock.

Three words emerged from the smoke: "Meng Shoushan".

Lu Yuan raised his sword and lightly tapped the stone platform with the back of the blade.

"This name doesn't belong to him."

"Give it back to Blackstone."

Mr. Meng extended his right hand and pressed his palm against his chest.

"Meng Shoushan is not my father."

"Meng Wenbing is the one."

As soon as he finished speaking, he violently tore open the front of his shirt.

He peeled off the "Meng" character branded on his skin, along with the black mark.

The black mark fell to the ground and transformed into a small wooden plaque.

The front of the wooden sign reads "Guard the Mountain," while the back is indistinctly written "Wen Bing."

Lu Yuan used the tip of his knife to lift the wooden plaque and stick it to the crack in the black stone.

"The old name belongs to the Lord."

"The pseudonym has been dethroned."

"The debt of guarding the altar shall not be passed on to future generations."

"Return!"

The black stone began to tremble.

The countless mouths within that mass of black fetal flesh opened again, emitting mournful cries.

"You are not qualified!"

"Meng Shoushan voluntarily offered his name!"

"He's willing to stay and guard the mountain!"

"He's willing to entrust his descendants to me!"

Lu Yuan looked up.

"It's a voluntary act, and the incarceration cannot be continued for generations."

"A dead person's wish cannot be signed on behalf of a living person."

"A father providing for the mountain is not the same as a son providing for his life."

He formed the "severing seal" with both hands.

With your left palm facing up, place the index and middle fingers of your right hand together, with the fingertips pressing on the web between the thumb and index finger of your left palm, and then slowly pull them outwards.

"A contract is established on paper, and a wish arises from the heart."

"No paper, no proof; no heart, no contract."

"Those who use the ancestor's name as a seal, and whose names are continued by later generations."

"The previous contract ends here; no further contracts shall be made."

"cut!"

The two characters "守山" (Shou Shan, meaning "Guard the Mountain") on the wooden sign were split in the middle.

The black stone emitted a deep rumble.

The red lines leading to Xiaoman Village were instantly loosened, and the black marks on the villagers' wrists fell off one by one.

The second line leading to the birch forest spontaneously combusted.

However, the third line leading to the main cave in the mountain suddenly tightened, dragging the entire black stone down into the ground.

Lin Zhaoxuan shouted, "The Root Temple is collapsing!"

The stone bricks sank down one by one.

Countless black roots emerged from the cracks in the black stone, entangled the stone platform, and also the stone gate.

Xu Erxiao severed the black root that was coming towards him with a single sword stroke.

"If we don't leave now, we're all going to bury it here!"

"One more to go!"

Lu Yuan looked at the third bus.

The line leads to the main cave inside the mountain, and seven blood-red characters float on the line: "Name, Wish, Life, Death, Home, Shadow, Offering".

The character “生” has faded, the character “名” is cracking, but the character “愿” still shines.

Ah Sheng suddenly opened his eyes.

"I wish to be in Xiaoman Village."

"What?"

"It's not the villagers' wish, it's the wish of the lamp."

"After the second light went out, it took away all the words that everyone hadn't finished saying."

"Those wishes did not return to their hearts."

"It was hidden inside the wick."

Lu Yuan looked at the bronze lamp in Song Qinghe's hand.

The lamp flames were swaying in the still air.

Deep within the heart of the fire, faint, tiny voices could be heard saying, "We want our children to stay healthy."

"I want my family to have enough food."

"I want the dead to come back."

"I want the snow to stop."

"I want the road to be open."

These are all people's true desires.

An evil god may not be able to force a person to make offerings to it, but it can collect a person's unspoken desires and reshape them into prayers.

Lu Yuan extended his hand.

Give me the light.

Song Qinghe did not hand it over immediately.

"If the light goes out, those wishes will dissipate."

"Let it spread back into their hearts."

"They will be afraid again."

"Fear is in the human heart, not in an evil god."

Song Qinghe handed him the lamp.

Lu Yuan took the bronze lamp, protecting the lamp with his right hand and forming the "Devotion Incantation" with his left.

"May your wishes originate from your heart and return to your original heart."

""

"People seek food and clothing, not to worship the black stone."

"People seek peace, not to sacrifice their lives."

"When a person seeks help from a relative, a ghost is not allowed to substitute."

"May my heart not be incense, nor a lamp."

"return!"

He turned the lamp upside down.

There was no oil in the bronze lamp, only wisps of black smoke.

As soon as the black smoke touched the ground, it turned into countless tiny specks of light, which flew out of the mountain through the cracks in the stone gate.

In Xiaoman Village, the villagers suddenly stopped.

Someone saw a small white light appear under the eaves of their house.

Some people hear words they haven't spoken for years resounding from their hearts again.

Holding her child, Li Guilan cried and said, "I only hope he is safe and sound; I don't pray to any mountain god."

Zhao Shun stood by the well: "I only hope my family lives; I won't trade anyone else for them."

An old man held up an extinguished lamp: "I miss my son, but I don't want him to stay in the well."

The sounds came one after another, like the tide returning to the riverbed.

The character "愿" (wish) in the Root Temple began to fade.

Lu Yuan held the lamp with both hands and finally recited: "The will of the masses shall be returned to the masses, and the will of evil shall be returned to evil."

"Man does not live for God, and God does not live for man."

"I'm willing to withdraw!"

boom!

The third bus route leading to the mountainside finally broke.

The black stone tilted backward and crashed onto the stone platform.

Outside the stone temple, the lantern bearers slumped down one by one, their white lanterns falling to the ground, their blue flames melting into snow water.

The black fetal flesh rolled out from the crack, but before it hit the ground, it was locked by seven beams of white light.

Those seven white lights were the Big Dipper Locking Gate Formation that Lu Yuan had set up earlier.

The voice from the black stone grew low and distant: "You have cut off three sources of sustenance."

"But there are more than three places outside the pass."

"The Yijing well in Majiagou is still there."

"In the Guandi Temple to the north, the incense is still burning."

"As long as there are people ringing the bell, I can come back."

Lu Yuan walked to the black stone and raised his knife, aiming it at the lump of fetal flesh.

"Are you afraid of dying?"

"I will not die."

"Then why do you keep hiding in the well, the cart, the lamp, and the memorial tablet?"

Blackstone remained silent.

Lu Yuan said, word by word, "Because you don't have your own form."

"I don't have my own name."

"They have no desires of their own."

"You're just piecing together people's fears and pretending it's a god."

"Today I will not cut your stone."

"I will kill your name."

He placed Gu Chuan's wooden plaque, Meng Wenbing's old nameplate, and a piece of yellow paper with "Public Wishes" written on it side by side on the stone platform.

With the left hand forming the "Name-Fixing Incantation," the broken knife in the right hand is placed horizontally on the three objects.

"Gu Chuan returns to the earth."

"Meng Wenbing has returned to the earth."

"6

"The will of the people is fulfilled."

"The name of the mountain god is not found in the black stone."

"The form of the evil god is not found on the altar."

"Those who become gods by borrowing the names of many"

"Take off your name today!"

"peel!"

The seven eyes on the black stone opened simultaneously.

They made no sound.

The entire Gen Temple suddenly fell silent.

The black aura on the three items peeled off inch by inch.

A sigh came from Gu Chuan's memorial tablet, which then turned into white light.

Meng Wenbing's old nameplate was cracked in two, revealing a ray of warm yellow light.

On that yellow paper inscribed with "the wishes of the people," all the ink disappeared at the same time.

The shape of the black fetal tissue began to crumble.

The countless mouths that once covered its body closed one by one, until only a fist-sized black stone remained.

Three blurry characters appeared on the stone surface: "Nameless Object".

Lu Yuan raised his sword to strike, but suddenly a tremor came from beneath his feet.

A deeper crack opened up from behind the stone temple.

There was no black water or human face in the crack.

There is only an old iron bell hanging on the ground.

The bell is wrapped with red ropes, and the names of various villages outside the pass are engraved on its face.

At the very bottom, three words are clearly visible: "Majia Gou".

The iron bell suddenly started to shake on its own.

Boom—

The sound traveled through the mountainside and northwards.

In an instant, the black marks on everyone's wrists in Xiaoman Village shrank simultaneously.

At the edge of the distant snowfield, a line of ghastly red light appeared.

It is not a lamp.

Countless lamps were lit one after another along the mountain ridge.

Mr. Meng stood outside the stone gate, his face ashen.

"It sent its last root to Majiagou."

Lu Yuan sheathed his sword and turned to look north.

"Not the final root."

"It's a new door."

Ah Sheng walked to his side.

There's something under the Yijing well.

"You saw it?"

"A red rope, and a wooden plaque."

"What does it say?"

Ah Sheng remained silent for a long time.

"It has your name on it."

Suddenly, wind and snow poured in from outside the stone gate.

The black stones in the stone temple throbbed gently on the ground, like a heart that was not yet completely dead.

Lu Yuan put it into the inkwell box, pressed the lid down with three copper coins, and then wrote the character "封" (seal) on the surface of the box with cinnabar.

"Take this stone with you for now."

Wang Cheng'an asked, "Where are you taking it?"

"Take it back to the village first and bury it in the birch forest where there are no ancestral graves."

"It's not dead yet?"

"The nameless are the hardest to die."

"What should we do then?"

"Let it cool down slowly in places without power supply."

Xu Erxiao sheathed the broken sword.

"Senior brother, how far is Majia Gou from here?"

Mr. Meng said, "It's thirty li. If we take the old post road, we won't make it before dawn."

Lu Yuan glanced at the black footprints in the snow.

"Traveling along the post road is too slow."

Lin Zhaoxuan pointed to the back wall of the Taoist temple.

"There is a horse path behind the wall, which used to be used for transporting timber. Although the snow is deep, it leads directly to the north."

"That road is impassable," Mr. Meng said hastily.

Why?

"At the end of the horse trail, there is a dilapidated temple dedicated to Guan Yu."

"The Yijing Well is located behind the temple."

"The deity worshipped there is not the mountain god."

"What are we offering?"

Mr. Meng looked toward the red light in the north.

"To honor Guan Yu's loyalty and righteousness."

"What could be buried under the table were all the names of refugees."

Lu Yuan retied the red cloth around everyone's wrists.

This time, he tied the knot tightly.

"Who says loyalty and righteousness can't be borrowed by evil gods?"

He looked up at the mountain ridge in the wind and snow.

"Walk."

The group left Genmiao.

Mr. Meng held Meng Wenbing's remains in his arms, while Gu Chuan's wooden plaque was handed to Zhou Heng.

The three rescued children were carried on the backs of Lin Zhaoxuan and Wang Chengan, while Xu Erxiao was responsible for clearing the way they had come.

Song Qinghe carried the broken bronze lamp, while Asheng followed on Lu Yuan's right.

As I walked out of the old Taoist temple, the stone gate behind me closed by itself.

A very soft voice came from under the door: "Lu Yuan."

Lu Yuan did not turn around.

Ah Sheng heard it.

"What did it say?"

"It's calling you."

"I know."

Why didn't you answer?

Lu Yuan gripped the broken knife tightly.

"Because my name is my own."

The red glow in the north grew stronger.

From the depths of the snowfield, a bell suddenly rang out.

thump.

Another sound.

thump.

As the third sound rang out, everyone's shadows simultaneously turned north.

On the snow-covered ground of the old post road, a wooden sign had appeared out of nowhere.

The wooden sign was half-buried in the snow, the characters written in bright red.

"Lu Yuan, a human sacrifice."

Lu Yuan walked over and used the tip of his knife to lift the wooden sign.

The back of the wooden sign also bears the inscription: "Majia Gou Yijing, waiting for you to come home."

After reading it, Lu Yuan put the wooden plaque into his sleeve.

"It wants me to go."

Song Qinghe asked, "Are you guiding us?"

"It's also a protest."

"Shall we still go?"

Lu Yuan gazed at the red light gradually illuminating the horizon.

"It used the name of the Guandi Temple to bury the bones of refugees."

"Borrowing loyalty and righteousness as a lock, borrowing local writers."

"If we don't go, Majiagou will become the second Xiaomantun."

Xu Erxiao looked up.

"Then let's go."

Wang Chengan patted the abacus frame.

"The score isn't settled yet."

Lin Zhaoxuan tightened the ink line.

"The road hasn't been closed yet."

Zhou Heng carried the child on his back.

"People inside the pass must not let it be buried in the well again."

Holding his father's remains, Mr. Meng whispered, "I'll take you there."

Lu Yuan looked at him.

"They're not taking us."

"You're the one who has to pay off the debt."

Mr. Meng nodded.

"I'll go by myself."

The group traveled north along the old post road.

The wind and snow gradually swallowed their figures.

Behind them, the offering lamps in Xiaoman Village were no longer lit.

But further away in the direction of Majiagou, a broken bell rang nine times in a row without anyone striking it.

As the ninth note fell, a hand emerged from the wellhead of the well.

A red string was wrapped around her wrist.

A wooden sign was tied to the end of the red rope.

In addition to the three characters "Lu Yuan", a new line of small characters was added to the wooden plaque: "Name, Wish, Life, Death, Home, Shadow, Offering".

After the seven characters, the last horizontal stroke slowly falls.

"Going home."