Chapter 198 The Old Village Chief’s Purpose

"You five ghosts, listen to my command. I am following the order of the founder of Mount Mao to perform a ritual to find the ghosts here."

Li Daoxuan spread out the stone in his hand and placed it in front of the five ghosts. The five white shadows circled around the stone, and soon they turned into human forms, nodded, and left.

Not long after, the five ghosts reappeared, bringing with them a white humanoid figure.

The human-shaped white shadow was covered in white mist. He was lying on the ground, curled up, and motionless.

Li Daoxuan looked at the white shadow carefully. It probably looked like a child. When he saw his face, he suddenly remembered where he had seen him before.

This ghost must be the drowned child.

During the Spring Festival, Li Daoxuan came to Lijia Village for the first time and met this child. The child was lively and was the child of a blacksmith. The next time he heard about him was when Li Yanming talked about him drowning in the pond.

I never thought that I would see the soul of this child here. It seems that it has been sealed in this stone by someone. As for the person who cast the spell, I think it must be the Japanese wizard.

Holding the stone, Li Daoxuan looked at the other clay dolls in the room, and then he understood what these things were used for.

Thinking of the large number of clay dolls in Changde's house, he couldn't help feeling angry.

It seems that this Japanese wizard is very bold and wants to seal all the people in Lijia Village in clay dolls.

Just as I was thinking about it, I saw the ghost lying on the ground slowly dissipate, then turn into a wisp of white smoke and merge back into the pebbles.

The five white shadows beside him knelt down, as if waiting for something.

Li Daoxuan naturally understood what the five ghosts wanted. He took out a copper coin from his arms and threw it to the five ghosts. When the five ghosts saw the copper coin thrown by Li Daoxuan, they stopped kneeling and immediately stood up and rushed to the copper coin.

Not long after, the small copper coin turned into a small pool of copper water and disappeared into the bodies of the five ghosts.

The figures of the five ghosts seemed to become clearer as the copper coins disappeared.

They bowed to Li Daoxuan again and then disappeared into the house.

The smoke cleared and the chilly wind dissipated.

Li Daoxuan stood quietly in the hall, still holding the pebble that contained the soul in his hand.

After putting the pebble into his pocket, he looked at the other clay dolls. He used his magic eye to examine them one by one, then used a dagger to make a small hole in the bottom of the clay doll and took out the pebbles he found from the clay dolls one by one.

After he took out all the pebbles he could find and put them into the bag, he felt it was heavy.

He sealed the clay doll again, trying his best to make it without any flaws. Fortunately, the holes were all at the bottom, so even if it was not sealed again, ordinary people would not be able to find it unless they turned over the clay doll.

After finishing these things, he continued to look around the room.

That Japanese wizard was able to leave quietly, so I guess there must be a secret passage here.

There were only a few places where secret passages could be placed, and the room was spacious without any complicated furnishings, so the hidden secret passage was soon found behind the hanging scroll.

The means of this secret passage is not sophisticated. It is simply covered with a scroll. As long as there is some air flow, the scroll will sway.

You can see where you are going by lifting the painted wall. The secret passage is dark and lightless, like a huge mouth quietly swallowing up all the light.

"It seems that this is the secret passage." Li Daoxuan looked at the secret passage, hesitating whether he should go down.

If the Japanese wizard had set an ambush there, it would be dangerous for him to go in with his current preparation.

But if I don't go, my action of taking the stone might alarm that person, and then it would be extremely difficult to discover the secret of this secret passage.

Now he is in the dark and this Japanese wizard is in the light. It is a good time when the enemy is in the light and we are in the dark. If he misses it again, Li Daoxuan doesn't think he will find a good opportunity in the future.

After weighing the two options, Li Daoxuan finally decided to enter the secret passage to find out what was going on.

The moment he jumped into the entrance of the secret passage, he could see clearly where the secret passage led to.

This secret passage does not lead straight forward, nor does it have steps extending downward. Instead, as soon as you enter the secret passage, it leads vertically underground like a wellhead.

Li Daoxuan looked down and saw a ray of light under the shaft. He could see that there was a gravel area under the secret passage. The source of the light could not be seen, so he thought that there must be a passage extending to the light under the shaft.

Without much hesitation, Li Daoxuan jumped down, landed on the ground lightly, and slowly walked forward.

The secret passage is so large that it can even accommodate an adult walking normally.

Every few steps, there is a niche carved out in the stone wall with an oil lamp inside. The light under the vertical shaft that Li Daoxuan saw just now came from here.

There was dirt and rubble on all sides, which were probably the residues that had not been cleaned up during the rough excavation. The ground made a creaking sound when people stepped on it, which could be heard clearly in this secret passage.

Li Daoxuan couldn't help but frown, and he gathered his energy on the soles of his feet, covering his shoes and soles so that there was no sound when his feet touched the ground.

Walking slowly in the secret passage, he held a dagger in one hand and a yellow talisman in the other, alert to all directions and prepared for any unexpected events at any time.

After walking less than a hundred meters, I saw a bend. After turning the bend, I saw a bluestone road not far away. The oil lamps on both sides were more densely spaced than before, making the secret passage ahead brighter.

Li Daoxuan stood in front of the bluestone road, looking carefully at the marks on the stone slabs. When he saw the tiny footprints, he took a step forward.

Along the way, Li Daoxuan was very cautious, fearing that he might have been set off by some trap, but fortunately, nothing special happened as he worried.

Facing the bluestone road that suddenly appeared, Li Daoxuan still did not dare to be careless. However, no matter how meticulous the Japanese wizard was, he forgot that his feet would leave traces on the bluestone slabs. Now, as long as he followed the footprints on the bluestone slabs, even if there were traps later, Li Daoxuan would be able to avoid them.

We walked along safely and soon came to an open space.

Li Daoxuan looked at the open space, which seemed to be a basement. He walked in slowly with his back against the wall.

What caught my eye was a coffin, emitting a cold glow, and it did not seem to be made of wood.

The coffin was still surrounded by clay dolls.

Li Daoxuan looked with his Dharma Eye and saw that there was more or less white smoke on the clay dolls. It seemed that these were the ghosts of the people harmed by the Japanese wizard, but he didn't know why they were stored here.

Without touching the clay dolls for the moment, he looked into the coffin again.

A cold breath blew over him, and Li Daoxuan suddenly felt like he was in the cold winter.

He calmed himself and looked at the coffin again. It was actually a bronze coffin. Inside the coffin, a little boy was lying on the ice with a pale face. His clothes were clean, and he held a smaller clay doll on his chest in his hands.

The little boy had a piece of white jade in his mouth, with words written on it.

It is said that if gold and jade are in the nine orifices, the dead will become immortal.

This practice of the deceased holding a jade in his mouth is often seen among high-ranking officials and dignitaries, but the little boy is not well dressed and is not a rich man. Why is he here, not only holding a jade in his mouth, but also lying in a bronze coffin?

Li Daoxuan was full of doubts, and then he looked at the little boy carefully. He saw that his features were familiar, and he seemed to be similar to the old village chief, and he suddenly had an epiphany.

"Could it be that he is the deceased grandson of the old village chief?"

"Why did the old village chief hide him here? And he surrounded him with so many clay dolls. Since he didn't want to bury him, could it be that he really wanted to use his magic to resurrect his grandson?"

Li Daoxuan stared at the little boy in the coffin and felt that his guess was correct. The old village chief probably wanted to borrow the Japanese wizard to bring his grandson back to life.

Although I don’t know what the Japanese wizard said to the old village chief, even a heavenly master would find it difficult to resurrect the dead.

The cycle of heaven and earth lasts forever. As long as a person lives in the world, life is life and death is death. Even if he is as accomplished as Zhuge Kongming, he is powerless to save the world. Even if he uses the Seven Star Lamp to prolong his life, he can't go against the will of heaven.

Is there any magic in the world that can bring the dead back to life? Of course there is.

But the price paid is not something that anyone can accept.

He looked at the clay dolls, each of which represented a human life.

"Is it really worth it to sacrifice so many lives to resurrect your grandson? Aren't you afraid of being punished by God?" Li Daoxuan sighed to himself.

(End of this chapter)