SWDnovel Chapter 7 Blood-Red Kongming Lantern
Chapter 7 Blood-Red Kongming Lantern
Lu Yuan has been in this world for a year, and the strongest evil spirit he has encountered is a ten-star.
That was a hanged ghost.
At that time, he went deep into the mountains to search for ginseng and was almost strangled to death by that thing. If the old man hadn't arrived in time, he would have been a skeleton in the forest long ago.
Since then, Lu Yuan's calves would instinctively tense up whenever he saw something like a rope or noose.
That became a shadow over his entire life.
However, it's important to understand that the star rating displayed by his [Demon Slayer] system fluctuates based on his own strength!
As his cultivation deepened, the ten-star hanging ghost from back then now appeared to be at most a six-star ghost.
But this "human-faced, two-legged sheep" in front of me...
Eight stars!
This is absolutely the most terrifying evil spirit Lu Yuan has ever encountered so far!
Moreover, the human-faced, two-legged sheep is not a ghost, but a spirit.
Such evil spirits are often more ferocious and difficult to deal with than ghosts of the same kind.
Eight-star spirits...
Lu Yuan secretly estimated that this thing's strength was probably comparable to that of a three-star Celestial Master!
Alas!!
What on earth is Zhao Qiao'er up to?!
They even brought in an eight-star evil spirit...
……
About an hour later.
Wang Chengan led his group back from the foot of the mountain.
The person in the lead was an elderly man with gray hair, who was the owner of the business.
When the landlord staggered to the grave, he glanced into the pit, then knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face, his sobs becoming hoarse.
"Father!!"
The group of filial sons and grandsons behind him also knelt down.
The cries of wailing mingled with the smoke from burning paper money, permeating the cold mountain wind.
Lu Yuan and the other two stood quietly to one side, eyes downcast, like three emotionless stone statues.
After the incense stick burned out and the crying gradually subsided, Lu Yuan stepped forward and, together with Wang Cheng'an, helped the old master up.
It's time to pay the bill.
Ten yuan each for the three of them, a hard-earned sum.
In addition, there are fifty yuan, which is for incense offerings to Zhenlong Temple.
"Taoist Master..."
The old employer paid the money, his swollen, red eyes fixed on Lu Yuan, and asked in a trembling voice:
"Father... will there truly be peace after this?"
Lu Yuan shook his head slightly.
Amidst the sudden pallor of the family's faces, he took out a folded, yellowed talisman from his sleeve and slowly unfolded it.
"Though the body is destroyed, the resentment has not been dispelled."
Lu Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly drowned out the howling mountain wind.
"The spirit that Old Master Xu transformed into was no ordinary corpse demon, but was born from the combination of 'stagnant earth energy' and 'blood kinship obsession'."
Ordinary rites and sacrifices may actually nurture lingering resentment, causing it to reignite.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the Xu family was horrified, and the old master's lips trembled so much that he almost knelt down again.
Lu Yuan immediately stopped his former employer and said directly without keeping him in suspense:
"From now on, the rituals for offering sacrifices must follow the 'Three Aversions and Four Seasons Cultivation Method'."
"This method does not require offering incense or burning paper money. What you are worshipping is truly to 'turn resentment into peace and evil into blessing.'"
What is the "Three Aversions and Four Seasons Refinement Method"?
Generally speaking, a typical Taoist priest would pause deliberately at this point and stop talking.
The meaning is quite clear: they're asking their employer for more money.
But Lu Yuan was different from the other Taoist priests; he didn't ask for money, but instead said directly:
"Every year at the third quarter of the hour of Zi (11:45 AM) during the Frost's Descent—this is when the chilling atmosphere of heaven and earth is at its strongest, which can suppress the restlessness of yin spirits."
"The sacrificial site should be set up in the northwest of the mansion, at the 'Injury Gate' position—zombies rise from the earth, and their evil influence needs to be dispelled by using an inauspicious location; it should not be near the ancestral hall."
The group of people from the host family listened in astonishment, yet dared not miss a single detail, nodding frantically to take notes.
Lu Yuan continued slowly:
"The offerings are three items: one liter of aged glutinous rice, which must be measured using a copper measuring cup; seven rusty iron nails, which must come from the coffin; and a bamboo tube of clean water that has not yet been opened."
"Glutinous rice suppresses the corpse's aura, iron nails lock the soul's steps, and bamboo water connects to the nine netherworlds."
"After the ceremony, glutinous rice was poured into the dry well, iron nails were buried three feet under the locust tree, and the eldest son was required to drink half of the bamboo water, with the remainder being sprinkled around the altar."
Lu Yuan paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.
"Recite the 'Relief Mantra' while performing the ceremony."
The moon opens the way, the earth official pardons the dead, the corpses return to the earth, and the spirits are transformed into a gentle breeze.
Recite it only three times; reciting it more than once will attract negative influences, while reciting it less than once will weaken the power of the mantra.
If, during the ritual, condensation seeps from the offering table or the iron nails vibrate on their own, it is a sign that the evil energy is about to dissipate, and this talisman must be burned immediately.
At this point, Lu Yuan handed the talisman in his hand to his old employer's trembling hands.
"But if the bamboo tube bursts or the glutinous rice turns black... it's a case of resentment turning back on you."
The whole family must retreat to the "Life Gate" in the due east direction for seven days, keeping the doors and windows tightly closed and not lighting any lamps at night.
Looking at the terrified Xu family members before him, Lu Yuan slowly summarized:
"After twenty-four years of ancestral worship, all lingering resentment can be transformed into ancestral blessings."
Only when the ancestral tablets are moved to the ancestral hall will true peace be restored.
After Lu Yuan finished speaking, the group of businessmen, filled with gratitude, immediately knelt down to express their thanks.
To be honest, although they had heard of the "White-Robed Taoist" of Zhenlong Temple.
When I actually saw Lu Yuan and his two seventeen- or eighteen-year-old friends come to my door today, I still couldn't quite believe it.
After all, he's too young; he's inexperienced and unreliable.
But looking at it now, this isn't a Taoist priest at all, he's clearly a living deity!
The old boss was so excited that he trembled all over and was about to lead everyone to kneel down in worship, but Lu Yuan stopped him.
"From then on, if the birthday of any of the Xu family's descendants coincided with a 'double mourning day,' they would all be required to offer a peach wood buckle during the memorial service."
The old man was born in the Year of the Tiger, and his corpse reappeared in the Year and Month of the Tiger. Tigers fear peach wood, which is called "using life to overcome death, and using kinship to bind resentment."
With that, the job was perfectly completed.
As soon as Lu Yuan finished speaking, the old boss excitedly offered another thirty yuan as incense money.
"Master, please have mercy! This is a small token of the Xu family's appreciation; we hope you will accept it!"
Lu Yuan accepted the money without any qualms.
Lu Yuan has been like this ever since the day he followed the old man and became a Taoist priest.
Lu Yuan felt that since he had taken people's money, he had to get everything done for them.
It's not fair to say that they deliberately skipped the final step and then tried to scam someone out of money before doing it.
If you encounter someone who doesn't have money and can't pay the final bill, then what's the difference between doing nothing and not doing anything at all?
Lu Yuan always says everything first. If you have money and are willing to give more, then Lu Yuan will naturally accept it. Nobody in this world turns down money.
But if not, it doesn't matter. Lu Yuan won't hide it or deliberately leave a source of trouble for your family.
It was this uprightness that made Lu Yuan famous in Fengtian City in just one year.
At this moment, Xu Erxiao and Wang Chengan had finished packing up the magical artifacts and stuffed them into the box.
Now the three of them can go down the mountain to have a bowl of hot wontons, then find a place to sleep, and continue their journey early tomorrow morning.
Before leaving, Lu Yuan glanced back in Zhao Qiao'er's direction.
Ok?
I don't know when it started, but a Kongming lantern rose from a distant mountain peak.
Just like the Kongming lantern that Xu Erxiao lit before.
Kongming lanterns are not very useful for warding off evil spirits; their main purpose is to serve as a warning.
It means that at night, they would tell ordinary people from afar that something strange was happening there, that a ritual was being performed, and that strangers should not approach.
Ordinary people would take a detour if they saw these lit Kongming lanterns from afar.
It's like the corpse-transporting ritual at night, where people keep shouting, "The dead are on their way, the living must avoid them."
Besides serving as a warning, the Kongming lantern also has another function.
That is……
Ask for help.
Not all Taoist priests possess Lu Yuan's [Slaying Demons and Eliminating Evil] system.
Not all Taoist priests have the ability to estimate the strength of evil spirits in advance.
Not to mention, even Lu Yuan, who possesses the ability to slay demons and monsters, cannot guarantee that every job will be safe and sound.
Because no one can guarantee that nothing unexpected will happen along the way.
When members of the Taoist sect encounter dangers they cannot resolve, they will change the color of the Kongming lantern.
The light from the Kongming lanterns changed from a warm yellow to a blood red!
Just like...
Now it's like this!
The warm orange glow of the Kongming lantern in the distance was suddenly and unexpectedly stained with a deep crimson color!
hum!
A blood-red lamp hangs high in the night sky, emitting a chilling, menacing light!
They are calling for help!!
We urgently request assistance from all Taoist practitioners in the vicinity who can see the blood-red Kongming lanterns!
Something really bad has happened!