Wang Jun was clearly taken aback by my threat, but then he started to laugh.
"Haha..."
His laughter confused me. What was so funny? I held the knife, and he was the fish, yet he seemed to think there was a twist.
After his laughter subsided, Wang Jun gasped for breath, looking at me as if he'd laughed himself silly. "Kid, I'd believe it if your brother next to you could kill someone, but you? I don't think so!"
I turned to look at Zhang Dabiao's attire and then at my own. I finally understood why Wang Jun had said that.
Zhang Dabiao naturally exuded a bandit-like aura, with distinct facial muscles, resolute eyes, a short stubble on his chin, and a fox fur robe. He looked like he possessed a "kingly presence." In the past, people would have believed him to be a notorious bandit.
In contrast, I was wearing cheap clothes from a street stall, costing less than two hundred yuan in total. Most importantly, I was only eighteen. Though I had some dark stubble around my mouth, it wasn't prominent. Combined with my slender frame, it was no wonder Wang Jun didn't believe I could kill, and frankly, I didn't believe it myself. His mockery was natural.
Though I was seething with anger, I hadn't forgotten the purpose of my visit.
I then said to Zhang Dabiao, who was watching coldly from the side, "Brother Zhang, you rest here for a while. I'll handle the rest."
Zhang Dabiao nodded, cautioned me to be careful, and then turned his gaze to the red coffin beside the large pit.
I took out the map and, based on the houses drawn on it, calculated the position of the first "life nail" in the front yard. There, I found a large vat, about three to four people in size.
The vat was filled with rainwater, and a peculiar musty smell emanated from it as I approached. It was impossible for Zhang Dabiao and me to move it ourselves.
I directly grabbed the digging tools that Wang Jun and his men had used and smashed the vat with one blow. The water, black and stagnant from who knows how many years, instantly spilled onto the ground, filling the entire courtyard with a foul stench. Sudan Fiction Network.
"Kid, what the hell are you doing? Why are you smashing the water vat for no reason? Damn it, it stinks!"
The water vat was not far from where Wang Jun had dug the pit, so most of the water flowed into it. This made Wang Jun curse immediately.
"Let me give you a bath first, so you can go on your way clean."
"I %$#..."
I ignored his curses and, after the water drained, picked up the shovel and started digging.
According to my calculations, Sun Chuang's "ying po" (soul) was most likely buried near the "life nail," as this was the position of the coffin's head and the place with the weakest yin energy.
The ground, having been soaked by the water, made digging easier, though the smell made me feel nauseous from time to time.
"Ding!"
"Found something."
I didn't know what medium was used to confine Sun Chuang's "ying po." Fearing I might damage it, I set aside the shovel and, suppressing my nausea, dug with my hands.
"Huh?"
After a few scoops, two fist-sized clay jars appeared before me. The mouths of the jars were sealed tightly. When I shook them, I heard a "dong dong" sound from within.
"Brother Zhang, come and see what this is."
Zhang Dabiao stopped examining the red coffin and walked over. He took the jars and, after a glance, said, "Infant coffins."
"What are they? I've never heard of them."
"Just think of them as coffins for babies. They're not common in the north, but more so in the south."
Hearing Zhang Dabiao's explanation, I almost threw the infant coffins I had just received.
Fortunately, Zhang Dabiao was quick and caught them.
"Don't throw them away if you don't want them!"
I looked at Zhang Dabiao curiously. "What do you want these for?"
"It's a secret. I'll tell you when the time is right."
I didn't press further. Instead, I took out Sun Chuang's hair from my pocket and wrapped it in a soul-summoning talisman, then began calling Sun Chuang's name.
After calling out three times, I found no response.
This made me frown.
"Not here? It shouldn't be. Did I calculate it wrong?"
After greeting Zhang Dabiao, I took my shovel and a pickaxe and went to the backyard to look for the other two locations.
I then found the "binding line" position. This time, there was no water vat. Instead, there was a stone tablet nearly as tall as a person, with inscriptions that had become blurry, indicating it was very old.
I moved a few stones from the side and used the pickaxe as a lever. It took considerable effort to lift the stone tablet.
Digging this time was more difficult, but I dared not use the shovel to dig carelessly, fearing I might break the medium containing Sun Chuang's "ying po." If the medium were broken, it would be equivalent to killing his "ying po," and I didn't want to bear that karmic debt.
After digging almost everywhere the stone tablet had covered, I unearthed a stone box near the inside.
At first, I couldn't tell what it was. But after clearing away the dirt, I realized it was a small stone coffin, intricately carved with patterns.
I tried to push the coffin lid, and to my surprise, it slid open easily.
Inside the coffin was a straw effigy. On the effigy's face was a yellow paper with facial features drawn on it, along with Sun Chuang's name.
I carefully took out the straw effigy and tested it with Sun Chuang's hair. Indeed, there was a reaction.
"Finally found it."
I placed the soul-summoning talisman containing Sun Chuang's hair close to me. Immediately, I felt a faint spiritual energy drift from the effigy into the talisman.
At that moment, the seal with "Sun Chuang" written in seal script flashed red and suddenly burned, causing my heart to sink.
Before coming here, I had held onto the hope that Sun Chuang's "ying po" might have been taken by an evil spirit, as feng shui masters wouldn't typically harm ordinary people.
Even if someone offended a feng shui master, the master would at most use a minor spell to cause them a small financial loss. I had never heard of anyone daring to use soul-capturing methods.
This is because soul-capturing violates natural law, and in old age, one is prone to "five deficiencies and three lacks" (a state of lacking certain things in life). Therefore, feng shui masters usually stick to their professional duties to accumulate merit.
Now, it seemed the situation was much more complicated than I had imagined.
I carefully placed the soul-summoning talisman containing Sun Chuang's "ying po" inside my clothes and then returned to the front yard to find Zhang Dabiao and inform him of this matter.
As I reached the porch, I saw Zhang Dabiao running towards me.
"Brother Zhang, what is it..."
Zhang Dabiao didn't speak. He pushed me back as I took a step forward, closed the main gate between the front and back yards, and then lowered the bolt.
Before I could ask what was happening, a cold voice came from outside the gate.
"You bunch of useless idiots, you can't even handle such a small matter. What good are you?"
Wang Jun's voice was clearly trembling. "This... you can't blame us entirely! I don't know how they ended up here."
"How many of them are there?"
"Two."
"Where's the other one? Went to the backyard."
The cold voice sounded a little anxious. "Damn it, hurry up and find them."