Chapter 124: Blocking Ghost and Soul-Raising Jar

Although I had recovered somewhat, I still felt mentally drained. When they asked me about it, I stayed quiet for a while before saying, “I once heard a legend from my Master. Very few people in the folk know about it. The reason I was able to quickly figure out what we encountered was because I thought of that legend.”

Su Rou was being rather considerate and, while I was speaking, handed me some water. “Have a drink. Clear your head.”

The water, left standing for a long time, was already a little cold. It flowed down my throat and immediately made me feel much better. I drank a few mouthfuls and handed it back to Su Rou, then said, “Fine. Let us rest here for a bit before moving on. I will explain it to you in detail.”

In ancient times, there was a legend that circulated only within a very small group of practitioners. It was called using ghosts to guard gates.

This method could only be performed by skilled mystics of that era. Ordinary people could not do it.

It was usually used to protect royal tombs or hidden treasure vaults.

The choice of ghost was also very important. One had to select a ghost with the ability of what is called ghost wall trapping. This ability causes people to experience an illusion of direction, making them think they are moving forward when in reality they are not moving at all, or are trapped in a familiar place unable to find the exit, or unable to reach their destination no matter how they walk.

Ghosts are a broad category. They are all ghosts, but just like humans, their abilities differ. Some are filled with overwhelming resentment and can cause sudden death upon sight. Others are skilled at using their cold aura to make people physically unwell. This kind of disorienting ability was not particularly rare, and such ghosts were not too difficult to find.

Usually, they came from abandoned graveyards, where the dead could not return home, had not been properly transcended, and were still searching for their homeland. That was the most basic way to find them, though there were many exceptions not worth discussing.

When I reached this point, Su Rou asked somewhat confusedly, “Why would they go through all that trouble to use a ghost?”

“Heh. You think just anyone is qualified to do this? Even those who are qualified might not be able to find someone willing to perform such a ritual. Why? Look at our situation now. Why do you think? We are completely lost in the tomb passage, trapped here until we die. Isn’t that the best kind of protection?” I felt his question was almost childish.

“Then how do they actually trap a ghost here?” Ling Ruyue blinked her large eyes. Her question was clearly more thoughtful than Su Rou’s.

“I always ask you about Gu techniques and you say they are secret,” I replied, unwilling to be generous with this little stingy girl.

“Oh…” Ling Ruyue dragged out the sound, then blew a strange whistle at Hua Feifei, who was lying weakly against the wall. “Feifei, come back…”

I closed my eyes and quickly said, “Generally speaking, they use a soul-retrieving talisman to capture the ghost, then place it inside a soul-nourishing jar, and set it in a corner. Along this passage they carve a soul-locking formation. It is not actually complicated, but it is extremely damaging to karmic balance, so very few practitioners are willing to do it. Many are forced into it under coercion.”

“Oh, Third Brother, why are you closing your eyes? Feifei is tired, I am letting it rest.” Ling Ruyue said innocently, while putting Hua Feifei into a bamboo tube and feeding it a couple of black pellets. I had no idea what they were.

This girl really knew how to act innocent. I was completely fed up. At least Su Rou was more loyal. He patted my shoulder and said, “Alright, San Wa Er. I know opening your heavenly perception is exhausting. I accept it when you bit me. I knew something was off with you back then. You must have had a reason. But next time, give me a signal before you bite me, alright?”

“If I gave you a signal, you would not let me bite you.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you are even more afraid of pain than I am.”

While Su Rou and I bickered, Ling Ruyue watched from the side, blinking. After we finished, she said, “Third Brother, shall we go find that soul-sealing jar and take a look? I know about blocking ghosts. I want to see how that sealing jar differs from our Gu jars.”

“I also know about ghost wall trapping,” Su Rou added. “I wanted to ask earlier whether we had encountered it. This is not new. There are several stories about it in the village. Once daylight comes, everything is fine.”

“Of course things are fine when daylight comes. When yang rises and yin fades, what ghost would still be active? But did you know that even at noon you can still get confused and trapped by ghost wall effects? I will not go into detail. My Master said this kind of thing is not complicated. You just need to dig open the tomb and let light in. Large archaeological digs do exactly that, excavating layer by layer to avoid this kind of problem. As for tomb robbers, many have died from this, though they also have their own methods of dealing with it.”

After saying all that, I felt a bit tired again and took another sip of water.

It seemed Su Rou’s preparations were not entirely useless after all.

While Su Rou and I continued talking, Ling Ruyue grew impatient. “Third Brother, are you going to accompany me to find the soul-raising jar or not?”

I thought to myself that this tomb was already dangerous enough. We had barely moved and already encountered a blocking ghost. I really had no interest in indulging her curiosity. But this girl could only be coaxed, not forced. I said, “That soul-raising jar is definitely different from your Gu jars. It is made from clay mixed with human ashes. Besides, once we leave, we might even see one in a corner somewhere.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let us go.” Ling Ruyue looked excited. This girl really did not seem to know fear.

I stood up and said, “We can go, but we are heading back. We cannot continue deeper into the Hungry Ghost Tomb.”

“Third Brother, we are already this far. We are not continuing? The blocking ghost has been dealt with. We will find Grandma and the others soon,” Ling Ruyue said unhappily. I was now certain she truly did not understand fear at all.

Even when she briefly regained clarity earlier, her only reaction was to complain about me stuffing something into her mouth, not fear.

“San Wa Er, I think Ling Ruyue has a point. Let us keep going,” Su Rou unexpectedly added.

That made no sense. Su Rou had clearly been afraid before, so why was he now encouraging this?

My personality was already less decisive than my Master’s, and I was easily influenced. Hearing them both, I started to hesitate.

My Master once said that hesitation was my greatest obstacle in cultivation. He was absolutely right.

“Su Rou, be honest. Why are you so eager?” I asked seriously. I needed to know.

“What else could it be? I want to see gold and silver treasures! A tomb this big must have treasure!” His eyes lit up.

This guy’s obsession with money had clearly reached its peak.

“But this is a Hungry Ghost…” I began, then suddenly remembered something my Master had said. This tomb was a tomb within a tomb. The Hungry Ghost Tomb might be built upon something else.

Thinking of that, my curiosity was also stirred.

“Fine. Let us go find my Master and the others. But I am worried there may be more than one blocking ghost. Keep the agarwood beads with you. If anything feels wrong, put them in your mouths. As long as it cannot confuse us, there should be no other danger.”

Seeing that I agreed, both of them nodded happily. Although Ling Ruyue looked dominant, I was clearly the one making the decisions.

The three of us then walked out of the chamber we had already entered twice before. The moment we stepped out, we froze.

Because the tomb passage revealed its true form. The path we had walked for the first five minutes was real, but after that, we had been walking in place just a few steps outside the chamber.

The overlapping footprints on the ground said everything.

This blocking ghost was incredibly powerful. Not only could it trap us in place, it could also make us continue walking without realizing it. I even suspected that without Hua Feifei’s venom, which could harm ghosts, we might not have been able to deal with it. My middle finger blood alone would probably not have been enough.

“Look, the soul-raising jar!” Su Rou shouted.

Indeed, in the corner ahead of us was a jar. In front of it, the passage split into three forks. This was the true structure of the tomb passage.

At the same time, I saw complex rune markings on the ground and walls, along with a piece of jade embedded in the wall. On it was carved a strange symbol, a furious demon-like face formed with just a few strokes.

I was certain that jade was the formation core.

We approached the soul-raising jar. It looked similar to a container for ashes, except its color was pale and grayish, mixed with cremation remains. Ling Ruyue opened the lid with a small hole and found it empty.

“There will not be anything inside. Do you think ghosts have physical form?” I said absentmindedly while staring at the jade.

“Ghosts are indeed formless, but that is not always true,” Ling Ruyue muttered softly. I did not pay attention.

At that moment, I made another interesting discovery. Although I was not very skilled in formations, I could still see that there was not just one soul-locking formation here, but also a smaller yin-gathering formation. Two formations were operating simultaneously, both powered by a single formation core.

“No wonder this blocking ghost is so strong. Soul raising, ghost raising, this person is truly ‘raising’ them,” I said in shock. But there was something else I did not tell Ling Ruyue and the others. Formations require a magical artifact as their core support. There is no such thing as power without a source.

That is to say, the stronger the power stored in the artifact, the longer the formation can last. The jade embedded in the wall must contain extraordinary power.

As I thought this, I unconsciously walked toward the ancient jade in the wall and told Su Rou to give me his knife.