Chapter 2: The karmic obstacles of this life are resolved in this life, while the causes and effects of the next life are repaid in the next life
降! Three Realms Samadhi Assembly! Nine Words Manifestation! "In the hand, the Immutable King Seal is formed, unleashing a roar: 'Manifest!'"
He chuckled and waved his hand, saying, "It's not as mysterious as you make it out to be. We are merely a group of people who engage in transactions with wandering spirits. Most of the time, we just chat with them, and when we go out, we ask them for a favor. It doesn't amount to anything extraordinary."
The rope has unknowingly come loose at some point in time
The man was momentarily taken aback, but then he gripped the knife handle tightly, pressing the cleaver down with all his might. His eyes bulged, his cheeks puffed up, and his teeth ground together with a sharp clatter, yet the knife seemed as if it were stuck in stone, unable to budge an inch
I never expected the old man to insert the pipe into his lower back and then ask such a question
Chen Pizi immediately shuddered all over and cried out: "I say! I will say anything! It was Wang Datou from the neighboring village who said that he saw your banner while traveling at night, so he knelt down and kowtowed, even slapping himself, and then he was spared his life, so... so..."
So you did the same? The old man with the fierce eyes laughed twice, recalling the villager he encountered the last time he was stocking up. Perhaps this is the Wang Datou that Chen Pizi mentioned—indeed, that guy's head is quite large
I was originally without substance, pulling the lead without boundaries, celebrating the opening of the door to auspicious clouds, the auspicious smoke blocking the dead door, initially manifesting the mysterious origin, to connect with the auspicious and responsive mechanism, the ethereal source of transcendence, drifting naturally and clearly... Please, the ghostly messengers of the underworld, restrain the spirits, rescue all sins, transcend all calamities, subdue solitary souls and wild ghosts, proceed to the three paths of reincarnation, and eliminate karmic obstacles to repay causes and effects
After cursing a few times, the anger surged up, and he lunged at Ma San again, throwing punches and kicks with great ferocity, seemingly eager to beat him to death. Surprisingly, Ma San did not dare to fight back; he merely curled up, covering his head with his hands, howling like a pig being slaughtered.
"May you all seek your own blessings!" The old man's hands began to move rapidly, as he continuously unleashed the Ten Wheels, Thousand Leaves, and Three Seals. "Whether you live or die depends on your own fate!"
In any case, there were all sorts of names being called, and for a moment, the place was filled with cries and wails, each one more tragic than the last, each one more fierce than the previous
The old man looked at the gang member in front of him, who resembled someone pounding garlic, and took a few steps forward: "By the way, why were you just lying on the ground slapping yourself? What does that mean?" He ignored the group of bowing individuals and casually pulled out a stick of incense from his pocket, throwing it one by one. Strangely enough, although the thin incense sticks floated out with little force, they surprisingly stood upright and firmly inserted themselves straight into the solid soil upon landing—standing tall and steady like flagpoles, swaying slightly.
Those fellows had been paying close attention to the conversation between the old man and Chen Pizi. Upon hearing this, they could no longer contain themselves. The first to jump up from the ground was Dao Er Ye, followed by a group of men who scrambled to their feet one after another, their eyes filled with fear as they stared at the old man—"Run!" It was unclear who shouted this.
Grant me power, grant me manifestation, let the karma and grievances be resolved today—thank you, Master of Yin and Yang, for allowing us to take revenge
Do you know who I am? Come, tell them!
Just as they had barely shouted out this sound, the scene in the sound field suddenly changed dramatically. That exclamation of 'good' was stuck in their throats, unable to escape—these individuals exchanged glances, and a chill rose behind them!
The old donkey moved its steps slowly and unhurriedly
The old man puffed on his dry tobacco and then asked with a sideways glance: "You usually engage in quite a bit of killing and looting, so why are you afraid of ghosts now?" After saying this, he shook his head: "Unfortunately, you have misunderstood. Ghosts? ... Hehehe ..." He seemed to find it an enormous joke, laughing uncontrollably, and without saying much more, he simply pointed with a hand that sparkled with an extraordinarily strange meaning.
Can one escape? The old man murmured softly, his hands quickly flipping through the pages
You are the master of the Que'er Mountain City God Temple! Chen Pizi seemed to be responding to the old man while also explaining to others. He raised his eyes to glance at the Daoist priest and immediately lowered his face again: "You are all extraordinary individuals, deities, and bodhisattvas! You usually command ghosts and monsters as if they were domestic animals, I know..."
"Please spare my life, sir..." "I have both the elderly and children at home..." "I was forced to come here..."
Those people immediately scattered like a pack of rabid dogs and rushed out
Creak, creak, creak
Because they almost simultaneously saw countless white smoke clouds appear before them, surrounding the vehicle from a distance of several meters. The smoke continuously shifted and rolled, revealing clear and distinct facial features and expressions.
With his gesture, it seemed as if the entire season had suddenly changed
In the countryside, there is a legend that if a ghost is struck by a pendant carved from jade depicting Guanyin, Bodhisattvas, or divine beasts, it will be utterly destroyed and never reincarnate. Therefore, many bandits at that time wore such items, hoping to ward off the vengeful spirits of those they had killed should they come seeking retribution. The call of the leader seemed to remind everyone, and the group of men hurriedly took off various talismans from their bodies, including five-zhu coins, peach wood Guanyin, stone-carved Buddha heads, and books of incantations. They did this in hopes of fending off the vengeful spirits of those they had slain. The assortment was chaotic, with everything imaginable, though the apparent value of these items varied greatly.
The old man with bulging eyes did not look at them; he simply waved his hand towards the distance: "You, you recognized our Ghost Market flag, didn't you? It's you! Come here."
The person who slapped himself, Chen Pizi, kept staring over here. Seeing the old man wave his hand without any delay, he scrambled over and knelt in front of him, exclaiming, "I didn't lay a hand on anyone, Master, I didn't lay a hand on anyone, I didn't..." After howling a few times without hearing the old man speak, he suddenly jumped up from the ground and kicked Ma San, who was behind him, squarely in the face, sending him sprawling on his back. He cursed, "It was him! Master, it was him! It was his idea to steal your car, and he was the one who stepped on it; it was all him..."
The old man paid no attention to that scene, solely focused on smoking his dry tobacco. After finally satisfying his craving for the dry tobacco, he knocked the smoking pipe a few times against the car board and said: "Stop it, or you might end up killing someone."
The people in this ghost market all possess certain skills, but everyone is here to escape the world and pass the time; no one intends to be a savior or meddle in others' affairs—however, if they were to encounter someone truly vicious, it would not be surprising if they dealt with them swiftly.
The initially suspended white smoke transformed into incomplete and fearsome humanoid figures, which bowed in mid-air towards the old man with the glaring eyes, and then, with piercing screams, charged towards the group of bandits!
"Grievances have their sources, and debts have their owners; the cycle of cause and effect ensures that good and evil are rewarded. After you take your revenge and fulfill your wishes, you may each return to your own cycles of reincarnation!" The old man with the fierce eyes sighed again and intoned in a half-singing, half-reciting voice:
The only one still showing any signs of life was that old man with bulging eyes. He reached down to his waist, pulled out a pipe, and fumbled to light it with a match. After taking a satisfying puff, he burst into a raucous laugh, resembling a duck being pinched by the neck.
Hmph
After singing the mournful cries beneath the night, the echoes had not yet fully subsided. He no longer glanced back, merely tossing a handful of paper money for the dead, lighting three incense sticks and placing them among the pile of paper. With that, he took his seat in the vehicle and tapped the smoking pipe, saying: "Let’s go"
Suddenly, the incense sticks that were thrown out erupted into a towering flame, incinerating all eighteen sticks into ashes in an instant. The ashes soared into the air, as if countless invisible hands were catching them in midair. In that moment, a multitude of voices shouted in unison:
I... I was somewhat at a loss on how to respond to that question, mumbling and stammering, my voice was soft and indistinct, and no one could hear clearly what I was saying
The sound suddenly lost some of its fearfulness and gained a bit of confidence
This fellow's face turned completely red. Suddenly, he loosened his grip and retreated a few steps. Steadying himself and taking a closer look— that heavy cast iron cleaver, weighing several pounds, was actually suspended in mid-air like the chaff lifted by steam while cooking, completely motionless
No one noticed this scene
The old man with bulging eyes quickly finished throwing out all the incense sticks in just a few moves. He clapped his hands, but seeing that this fellow was still chattering away, he couldn't help but feel annoyed, and his expression immediately darkened.
Ah?
It is unclear who was the first to throw down their knife, but it quickly spread like a plague. A group of men dropped their weapons and fell to the ground, beginning to plead for mercy
This statement seems like a humble consolation, yet when spoken, it instantly frightens several men to the point of losing control. What is there to talk about with a ghost? Just this one sentence could terrify an ordinary person
"What on earth are you?" After years of wandering around, the Dao'er Ye had seen quite a bit, but at this moment, he suddenly recalled something. He quickly reached up and pulled down a jade Guanyin pendant that he had snatched from somewhere. Holding the pendant in his hand seemed to embolden him a little, and he pointed at the old man, shouting, "Are you human or ghost? Speak honestly, or I will smash you with this jade pendant!"
Did the emotions make this old man with bulging eyes seem like a ghost
In the stillness of the night, the sound of Chen Pizi slapping his own face became even clearer. This scene, the harsh sound of slapping, the car full of funeral items, and finally the knives suspended in mid-air crossing each other... A group of people was left in shock
The old man was well aware that Wang Datou had survived not because, as rumors suggested, he knelt and kowtowed or slapped his own face, but because that person was indeed a simple and honest farmer, without any vengeful spirits or malevolent ghosts following him, thus there was naturally nothing to worry about. In these chaotic times, with rampant banditry and disorder, thieves and robbers are as numerous as the hairs on a cow. Even an honest person might, on a whim, decide to play the role of a bandit. To put it bluntly, who among us does not have a few lives on our conscience?
The old man with bulging eyes exhaled deeply, stretched out his hand to form a circular gesture, and said: "Wang Datou is able to preserve his life, not because of his actions, but because..." At this point, a trace of indescribable pain flashed in his eyes: "...because he has never killed anyone, thus he is not haunted by vengeful spirits seeking his life"
No longer caring about the hellish battlefield transformed from the wilderness behind, the pagoda of the hundred demons' snow hatred!
Hearing this, Chen Pizi felt a surge of joy in his heart, but he did not dare to let the old man see the expression on his face and immediately knelt down again, burying his head deeply in his lap: "Master, spare my life, spare my life!" It seemed from the old man's words that he was unwilling for him to kill Ma San, which meant that they might be spared. In this case, wouldn't he also have a chance to survive?
The scorching summer has vanished without a trace, and the entire world has suddenly plunged into the depths of winter. The bandits clearly see the white frost crackling on the blades of grass beside them, and their breath forms visible white clouds. The cold creeps down their necks and wrists, penetrating their clothes and chilling them to the bone—despite their usual audacity, at this moment, they are all breaking out in a cold sweat, and the timid ones among them, like Ma San, have even wet their pants.
Ding!
... just like today
These ghosts are the wronged souls who were heartlessly mutilated, disemboweled, had their livers taken, and were decapitated by bandits. They have been following but unable to take revenge. Now that they have the opportunity, their overwhelming fury immediately erupts. After rushing forward, it is unclear what they did, but the heart-wrenching howls suddenly echoed across the desolate plains, resonating through the skies