The invincible female ghost is a bit love-struck.

Chapter 259 Pulse-Suppressing Nails

Chapter 259 Pulse-Suppressing Nails (4000 words)

These are not just random words shouted by ordinary rural shamans; they contain legitimate Taoist principles.

First, he borrowed the Four Sages to calm his eyes, then the Three Pure Ones to control his body, then suppressed the seven orifices and two gates, and finally opened the path to ask the altar.

Although it lacks elaborate rituals, it already follows the orthodox Taoist approach of "first securing oneself, then discerning the qi, and finally entering the game."

After Lu Yuan finished reading, he took another step and turned, and he was able to see clearly the direction of the wisp of white smoke.

"Two zhang to the southeast."

There's something over there.

Before he could finish speaking, he had already rushed over.

The others hurriedly followed.

On the left side of the ravine, there is a half-collapsed mound covered with moss on the outside, but hollow inside.

Lu Yuan squatted down, reached out and gently wiped the edge of the mound, his fingertips immediately covered with a layer of grayish-white incense residue.

"really."

He whispered, "There's a small incense burner inside."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Heng immediately became extremely anxious: "Incense shrine?"

'

"Who buried him here?"

Lu Yuan didn't answer, but instead reached out and slowly dug a little bit away from the edge of the mound.

Sure enough, inside the mound was a tiny earthen niche, square in shape, not made of stone, but of yellow mud mixed with mortar and pressed down, with a simple wedge made of wood on the outside.

There was no statue in the niche, only three things.

A piece of charred incense root.

A small bundle of hemp rope tangled into a knot.

There was also a piece of paper cutout the size of a palm.

The paper cutout was a strange shape. At first glance, it looked like a person, but upon closer inspection, it didn't. It had long, thin limbs and a rather large head.

Around her neck was a knot made of red thread, like the folk method of making voodoo dolls, but with a touch of old mountain tricks.

Song Qinghe took a half-step back in shock: "What—what is this thing in the town?"

Lu Yuan's gaze turned cold: "It's not 'suppress,' it's 'feed.'"

"This isn't about suppressing evil spirits, it's about blocking the mouth."

Zhou Heng's scalp tingled: "Gag?"

Lu Yuan picked up the paper cutout and examined it in the daylight: "There are some old tricks in the mountains. They're not afraid of you breaking the rules or overturning the banquet, they're just afraid you'll reveal their secrets."

"So they would bury these small incense shrines in the shadows, with a passageway at one end and the ground at the other, relying on incense and paper figures to sustain their breath."

"On the surface, it looks like it's warding off evil spirits, but in reality, it's prolonging the life of that thing underneath."

Lu Yuan turned the paper cutout over, and everyone then saw a small black and red fingerprint pressed on the back.

The imprint was uneven, as if it had been pressed on with a hand dipped in some kind of dirt.

"Look at this seal."

Lu Yuandao said, "These are not the hands of an ordinary paper craftsman."

"It's an evil mark that someone personally pressed."

"Once it's installed, the paper figure is no longer a paper figure, the incense is no longer incense, and the shrine is no longer a shrine."

"It became a mere shell to borrow air from."

After he finished speaking, he put the paper cutter on the ground, then took out a blank piece of yellow paper, a few strands of vermilion rope, and two pebbles from his bag.

A tiny makeshift altar was temporarily set up in front of the earthen niche.

This arrangement, though small, is extremely elaborate. Two stones, one on the left and one on the right, form the entrance. A cinnabar rope lies across the center line, and yellow paper is folded down to block the leakage of yin energy from the entrance of the earthen niche.

As Lu Yuan set them out, he whispered, "This is a 'Blindfold Seal'."

"It's not a grand formation, it's just to temporarily lock up this breath."

"So that it won't smell the aroma and run away again."

After he finished doing all this, he stood up, held his fingers together in the air as two, gently touched the entrance of the earthen niche, and chanted in a deep voice: "No flying clouds above, no evil gates below."

"The Azure Dragon is on the left, and the White Tiger is on the right."

"The central paper is made of yellow paper, and the outer paper is pressed with red cord."

"Mouth closed, breath closed, passage closed, heart closed."

"Evil spirits do not leave the niche, nor do malevolent spirits leave the earth."

"The old flames of Gushan have come to an end."

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Close!"

As the last word "closed" was uttered, a very faint and short "poof" sound actually came from the earthen niche.

It was as if a smoldering fire inside had been abruptly extinguished.

Everyone was shocked.

Zhou Heng's hair stood on end: "Is there something breathing inside?"

Lu Yuan's expression remained unchanged. He simply tucked the paper scissors back under the yellow paper, his voice as calm as ice: "It was incense that borrowed the excuse."

"Inside this small jar, there is a wisp of old ink."

1

"Some people use it as a spy on the road. Whoever passes by and gets a whiff of its aura will easily be led astray."

At this point, Lu Yuan slightly raised his eyes and looked deeper into the distance.

"This is not the main altar."

"It's the tongue at the front."

"The truly eloquent ones are yet to come."

A mountain breeze blew slowly in from the other side of the valley, carrying a faint, cool fragrance.

Lu Yuan suddenly frowned.

He could smell it; it wasn't just the smell of incense ash or the smell of burning offerings, but rather a very faint sweet and fishy odor mixed in.

It was cloyingly sweet and faintly fishy, ​​like candle wax mixed with some kind of blood.

As soon as he smelled that aroma, he knew that the situation behind it was probably much deeper than he had imagined.

"Walk."

Lu Yuan said in a low voice, "This is just the outside mouth; the real mouth is ahead."

No one dared to delay and quickly continued to follow.

Just as they were about to leave the ravine, a soft "click" sound came from the mound behind them.

It looks like a piece of wood has broken.

It was as if someone had gently knocked on the door from underground.

Lu Yuan paused, then turned around abruptly.

On the sealed earthen niche, a tiny black shadow slowly rose from the edge of the yellow paper.

Like a strand of hair, it slowly emerges from the inside.

The next instant, the dark figure shrank abruptly and silently slid into the ground beneath the yellow paper.

Zhou Heng's face turned pale instantly: "They...they ran away?"

Lu Yuan stared at the patch of earth, a chill suddenly rising in his eyes.

"It heard us coming."

After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and gently patted the dust off his clothes, his voice low as if it were being suppressed in his throat: "This journey has only just begun."

At the end of the mountain road, deeper into the pine forest, the faint sound of a wooden fish drifted from an unknown source.

thump.

It's very light.

It sounded like someone was tapping slowly from a great distance.

But that one sound made the air in the entire valley seem to sink.

No one spoke; they all felt that the creatures in the mountains were finally beginning to open their eyes.

Upon hearing the sound of the wooden fish, Lu Yuan stopped moving an inch.

What people fear most in the mountains isn't open flames or blatant evil spirits, but rather the kind of sound that comes from a great distance with a gentle tap.

It may not sound like much, but when it reaches your ears, it feels like a direct hit to the heart, making you involuntarily tense up.

Moreover, the breath he had sealed in the gully was now starting to stir.

The shade around the mound seemed to radiate outwards in layers, and even the grass at your feet seemed to inexplicably bend in the same direction.

Wang Cheng'an and Xu Erxiao, who had been relatively calm, couldn't help but swallow hard and whispered, "Brother Lu, why is the wooden fish making that tapping sound?"

"That sounds creepy."

Lu Yuan did not answer immediately, but looked up and gazed deeper into the mountain path before whispering, "It's not a wooden fish."

"It's knocking on the intersection."

Everyone was taken aback: "Knocking on the intersection?"

"What do you mean?"

Lu Yun raised his head slightly and said, "It means that the thing inside knows that we moved its tongue."

"This is a test, and also a knock on the door."

"In the old ways of the mountains, some places of worship do not rush to cause trouble. They will first use knocking, wind turning, and smoke returning to see if the people outside are in a state of panic or if they are on their feet."

"If you act recklessly, it will take the opportunity to suppress you."

"If you don't cause trouble, it will keep quiet for now and wait for the next wave."

Song Qinghe's face turned pale, but she still forced herself to ask, "So what do we do now?"

Lu Yuan raised his hand and gently pressed it down in front of the earthen niche.

"Don't leave yet."

"Since it's knocking, we have to follow its rules."

"We can't let the tricks of the trade in the mountains go to waste."

After saying that, Lu Yuan took out three items from his bag.

A small piece of red thread, an old copper coin, and a piece of yellow paper folded into a square.

The red thread was left over from last night, the copper coin was the one that had been covered in black dust, and the yellow paper was the empty paper that was used to seal the eyepiece earlier.

He placed the items one by one in his palm, his expression calm.

"You all take three steps back."

"Don't step on this dirt line."

"No one should speak; listen to my ritual."

Everyone quickly did as instructed.

Lu Yuan first placed the copper coin on the ground, which landed about a foot in front of the earthen niche.

Then the red thread was pressed onto the copper coin, and the ends of the thread were pulled to the left and right, forming a very small arc.

Finally, he folded the yellow paper into thirds and placed it behind the copper coin, making it resemble a small flag.

The arrangement looks simple, but it is actually very elaborate.

Copper coins belong to the metal element and are used to suppress negative energy; red thread belongs to the fire element and is used to bind negative energy; yellow paper belongs to the earth element and is used to suppress negative energy.

When the three are combined, they form a small "borrowed position to seal the door".

Zhou Heng stared wide-eyed, then whispered to Lin Zhaoxuan, "Is this considered a formation?"

Lin Zhaoxuan stared at the objects and slowly shook his head: "It's not a grand formation, it's a response formation."

"He's just temporarily using something on the ground to block it, to prevent the other side from continuing to try to find the door."

Lu Yuan had already steadied himself, his left foot slightly turned inward, his right foot planted firmly in the center, and his hands formed a perfectly executed altar-raising mudra in front of his chest.

With the two thumbs touching and the four fingers interlocked, the palms are hollow and not fully closed, as if the whole person has sunk their breath into the ground.

Then, he began to chant a spell, his voice not loud, but exceptionally clear, each word so powerful it could withstand the mountain wind: "The sky is clear and the earth is bright, the sun and moon illuminate the road."

"Four divine generals, halt my steps."

"There is a dark gate in front and a hidden entrance behind."

"If the incense offerings are evil, cut off their head immediately."

"I now borrow soil, copper, and red rope to seal away sound, air, eyes, and roads."

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Close the door!"

As he uttered the last word, "close," Lu Yuan pressed his hands down sharply.

That invisible energy seemed to be forcefully suppressed by an unseen hand.

The faint sound of the wooden fish that had been echoing in the valley actually stopped for half a beat.

But it only paused for half a beat.

The next instant, an even louder "thud" came from the distant mountains and forests.

This time it was no longer light and airy, but rather like someone hitting an empty stone heavily with a wooden mallet, making the surrounding leaves rustle and tremble.

Immediately afterwards, the wisp of white smoke deep in the mountain valley suddenly veered upwards, as if someone had picked its head up with a needle.

Lu Yuan's eyes turned cold: "They're here."

Zhou Heng subconsciously took half a step forward, but was stopped by Lin Zhaoxuan.

"Don't move!"

Lu Yuan had already reached out and pulled a yellow talisman from his bag, then traced a line on the back of the talisman with his fingertip.

He uttered a very short imperial edict in a low voice, then slammed the talisman onto the ground.

"rise!"

The yellow talisman landed with a thud, sticking firmly to the front of the copper coin, like an invisible mouth that fiercely bit down on the escaping yin energy.

Immediately afterwards, the soil at the mouth of the ravine began to tremble slightly.

The shaking was very slight, like someone scratching the soil underground.

Song Qinghe's expression changed, and she whispered, "Something down there has woken up."

Lu Yuan stared at the soil surface: "It's been moved."

"We just sealed that niche, but it wasn't satisfied and started adjusting the air vents elsewhere."

"This shows that the main altar in front is connected to the tongue here."

As he said this, his right hand had somehow formed an extremely complex hand seal.

Press your thumb against the base of your ring finger, bring your index and middle fingers together and slightly bend them, tuck your little finger inward, face your palm outward, and tilt your wrist slightly.

It resembles a hand seal, or perhaps drawing an invisible thread through the void.

Upon seeing this, Lin Zhaoxuan immediately realized it wasn't an ordinary gesture and whispered, "Is this the Qi-Asking Technique?"

Lu Yuan nodded, his eyes never leaving the ground: "I'm not asking for directions, I'm asking for the answer."

"To see where its main altar is, you have to first see which way its air vents return."

As he spoke, he slowly pushed his hand, which was forming a hand seal, forward. His five fingers remained still, but his knuckles trembled slightly, as if he were plucking a very thin string in the air.

Then, he closed his eyes and recited a very short but old-fashioned incantation in a deep voice: "Ask the blue sky above, it will not answer; ask the yellow earth below, it will respond."

"Mountains have their ranges, and soil has its spirit. Lend me a wisp of true breath to illuminate the evil ways."

19

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Open your eyes!"

, 7

The moment the words "open your eyes" were uttered, Lu Yuan's pupils contracted sharply.

He saw it.

It wasn't seen with the eyes, but rather "seen" in the mind through the echo of that question.

Just a few dozen steps into the valley, the terrain invisibly sinks into a very shallow funnel shape.

In the middle of the funnel, a small stone nail was buried at some unknown time. Black thread was wrapped around the nail, and the other end of the black thread extended into the soil, as if leading to a deeper underground.

Beneath the stone nail, a faint reddish aura emanated.

That's not the heat of fire, nor the earthiness of soil, nor simply the smell of incense.

It was a mixed aura, mingled with blood, incense, and the yin energy of an old corpse.

It is heavy, sticky, and cold, like an invisible layer of oil, flowing down along the earth's veins.

When Lu Yuan opened his eyes, a chill was already in them.

"There really was a nail."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Heng's voice trembled with nervousness: "What nail?"

Lu Yuandao: "Pulse-pressing nails."

"One of the darkest things in the mountains."

"It's not about anchoring the ground, it's about anchoring the road network."

"Once the energy channel is blocked, the energy must flow to one side and eventually into the main altar."

Lin Zhaoxuan's face immediately darkened: "So that means the path we're standing on has been altered?"

Lu Yuan nodded: "Yes."

"And it wasn't just a day or two."

Lu Yuan slowly exhaled: "This place wasn't temporarily used to hide evil spirits; it was nurtured inch by inch according to old rules."

"Some people first nail the road, then offer incense, then establish the tongue, and then nurture the altar."

"By the time people outside see it, it will have already grown inside."

Song Qinghe's heart tightened as she listened, and she couldn't help but ask, "Can this nail be pulled out?"

Lu Yuan did not answer immediately, but first looked at the shadows of the trees around him.

The mountain breeze had subsided, but the morning mist had somehow crept back in, like a grayish-white cloth, hanging down layer by layer from the forest.

The woods, where birdsong could be heard before, were now completely silent, the only sound being the breathing of the people.