Chapter 50: Sealing the Tomb

This time, Old Man Jiang’s actions made everyone feel that it was far too simple. Even I, as his disciple, felt that compared to his usual dazzling techniques, this time his actions were unusually plain.

He simply took the glutinous rice, examined the stone gate from left to right for a while, then found a spot and used freshly steamed glutinous rice to stick the talisman onto it.

What was that supposed to be?

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, but no one dared to question his actions. Only I, at the moment the talisman was pressed onto the stone gate, vaguely saw a red exotic beast embedded into the gate.

This silver talisman was definitely not simple. Even I could feel that much.

That sensation lasted only for an instant. When I came back to my senses, I realized I had been focused on Old Man Jiang’s actions earlier and had not really paid attention to the stone gate. Only now did I notice how strange it truly was.

How should I put it? The outer frame of the stone gate was carved directly into a giant mouth, belonging to some unknown creature, with two sharp fangs that looked especially terrifying.

The gate itself was covered in eerie relief carvings. I could not tell what they were, but they were all small figures under half a meter tall, thin and skeletal, yet with distended bellies, surrounded by leaves. Strangely, all their faces had overly protruding noses and sharp fangs.

The carvings were extremely lifelike. Anyone who looked at them would feel the same impression. They were hungry, terribly hungry. You could almost see them drooling, staring at anything with greedy eyes, wanting only to devour it.

All of these carved figures were worshipping a coffin. On that coffin was engraved an eerie smiling face, neither fully smiling nor not smiling, its expression extremely strange, as if it were clearly greedy yet forcibly pretending to be compassionate. It was just a simple face with no extra detail, yet everyone somehow felt that the owner of that smile was a woman.

At the center of the coffin was carved a heart dripping blood. The first glance at that heart made people unwilling to look a second time, because ordinary people could clearly feel its malice.

This was not my wild imagination. Su Rou beside me proved my thoughts very well. “San Wa Er, when I look at that pig heart thing, why do I feel like it thinks the whole world owes it something? Like it is here to collect debts from me.”

I could not explain this phenomenon. I did not understand it either. But those eerie sensations disappeared shortly after the talisman was placed. The stone gate became ordinary, and I could no longer feel that cold, sinister aura.

After placing the talisman, Old Man Jiang walked back and only said one sentence. “Bury it again. It is best to inform whoever is in charge here. Whatever is built here, do not let ordinary people come close. If something happens, no one can bear the responsibility.”

After speaking, Old Man Jiang took Su Rou and me by the hand and walked out.

“Master, where are we going?” Was that it? Was it over already?

Old Man Jiang ignored me and turned to Old Wu and his disciple. “Coming to my disciple’s house for a cup of tea?”

“No need. We are going to the town to buy some dry tobacco leaves from Old Lin. If we go late, there will be none left. Come another day with your disciple. I will treat you both to something good.” After speaking, Old Wu left with Xiao Ding.

“Old Lin’s dry tobacco leaves, huh. How does that Old Wu know about such good stuff?” Old Man Jiang muttered to himself, then still pulled me and Su Rou away.

I protested. “Master, that is it? Where are you taking me?”

“Where else? Back to your home. What do you mean, that is it? We still have to come back tonight. Are we just going to ignore those wandering souls?” Old Man Jiang let go of my hand, pinched my cheek, then continued walking.

At that moment, Su Rou was so excited his fat body was trembling. “Master Jiang, I have never seen a real ghost before. Can you bring me tonight?”

I was completely speechless at Su Rou. I had never noticed he was this brave. Today he actually wanted to see ghosts voluntarily. What was that about?

“No way! I have no reason to drag you out in the middle of the night. Want to see ghosts? Heh, as long as you stick with San Wa Er in the future, you will have plenty of chances,” Old Man Jiang refused directly.

Su Rou looked a bit dejected, but then thought about it and realized it made sense. If he sneaked out at night, he would probably be punished by his father and not allowed to eat for a week.

Fine. Today had already shown him plenty of new things anyway. Thinking of that, Su Rou quickly became excited again, returning to his usual carefree self.

As for me, I was still thinking about that stone gate, so I asked, “Master, what exactly were those carvings on the stone gate? Why did they make me feel so uncomfortable?”

Hearing this, Old Man Jiang’s expression darkened. For a moment, he did not answer.

I waited patiently for his reply. Su Rou, meanwhile, had somehow pulled out a wrinkled bag of boiled potatoes from his clothes and was now eating them with loud chewing sounds.

I waited for a long time and still did not hear Old Man Jiang respond. When I looked up, I saw him staring directly at Su Rou’s “ruined potatoes.”

“Fat boy, what are you eating?” Old Man Jiang asked with a smile. The expression made a chill run down my spine.

“Boiled potatoes,” Su Rou said while stuffing them into his mouth.

“Are they good?” Old Man Jiang pressed on.

“Boiled, with a bit of salt, tasty,” Su Rou replied while eating.

After a moment of silence, Old Man Jiang suddenly roared in anger, “Fat boy, give me some!”

Su Rou and I were both startled. Su Rou almost dropped the potatoes in his hand.

“You really are something. I asked you so many times and you still would not give me any,” Old Man Jiang grabbed the potatoes from Su Rou and began eating them loudly while muttering to himself.

Su Rou looked like he was about to cry. I felt like my master had completely ruined my dignity as well. Su Rou was my good brother, and right in front of me my master was stealing potatoes from a child.

My mind was in chaos, so I quickly changed the subject. “Master, you still have not said what those carvings were.”

Probably because he had eaten the potatoes and was in a good mood, Old Man Jiang chewed and answered very directly, “Hungry ghosts. Things that eat anything and everything.”

Su Rou suddenly coughed violently, spraying potato bits everywhere. He even had some coming out of his nose. It was a truly miserable sight.

After coughing, Su Rou and I looked at each other. We did not need to speak to understand each other. The one who was currently shamelessly eating stolen potatoes, especially stolen from a child, might actually be the real “hungry ghost.”

But neither of us had the courage to ask Old Man Jiang that question.

Old Man Jiang finished the potatoes without a care, clapped his hands, smacked his lips, confirmed there were none left, then cleared his throat and walked ahead with his hands behind his back, looking rather proud of himself.

I sighed helplessly at Su Rou and followed quickly after him.

“Master, are hungry ghosts really ghosts?” I asked. The carvings on the stone gate had left too deep an impression. These hungry ghosts felt different from ordinary ones.

“Hungry ghosts is just a name. Strictly speaking, they are not ghosts. They are a kind of creature. Buddhism and Daoism explain them differently. The figures you saw carved there were the offspring of hungry ghosts. The coffin they worshipped, the one buried inside, should be the mother of ghosts. Do you know where the folk tales about ghosts eating people come from? They actually refer to hungry ghosts, not the spirits of the dead,” Old Man Jiang explained.

I shivered at that. At this point, I was already somewhat numb to ordinary ghosts, but creatures that eat people still terrified any child.

I glanced back at Su Rou. Goosebumps had already risen on his neck. He was even worse off than me.

I wanted to know more about hungry ghosts, about the so called mother of ghosts, and what these beings truly were in my master’s eyes, but I did not dare ask anymore. Su Rou probably did not dare listen anymore either.

Fortunately, Old Man Jiang did not wish to elaborate further. He only said, “Over a hundred years ago, hungry ghosts had almost disappeared from this world. I did not expect there to still be such a tomb here…”

He sighed.

“That place is dangerous. You two should stay away from it. Understand?”

Both Su Rou and I nodded obediently. Who would willingly go near something like that, something that eats people? Just thinking about it made my heart turn cold.