Opening my eyes to see a ghost

Seeing it had been dealt with, I let out a deep sigh of relief and bent down to pick up the Ancient Copper Coin.

The saying that 'the pain in the fingers affects the heart' is indeed true; the sharp pain in my fingertips filled my eyes with tears, which swirled around as if they might fall at any moment.

I put my index finger in my mouth and used saliva to stop the bleeding, which worked quite well, and after a while, the blood stopped flowing. However, the pain still came in waves with the rhythm of my heartbeat.

I shook the three of them vigorously, shouting loudly, but no matter what, I couldn't wake them up. In the end, having no other solution, I went alone to the village to call for some adults.

At first, the adults didn't believe what I said, claiming that Xiao Huang and the others, although mischievous, would never go into the forest at night. Only after my persistent pleading and even promising that Master Li would accompany us, did around a dozen people take their torches and lanterns and follow me.

Passing by the Taoist Temple, I called for Master Li. Seeing the crowd, he didn't ask many questions; he seemed to grasp the situation and rushed to the forest with everyone.

The adults had long legs and could walk fast, so after a short while, they saw the old locust tree swaying in the wind.

When I went to call for help, I had only mentioned that Xiao Huang and the others had fainted in the forest — I hadn't brought up the female ghost. The villagers' hesitation before was due to the fact that they knew that unclean things would appear in the forest come nightfall.

Master Li led the way at the front of the group, signaling for the others to slow down and observe the situation before taking any further action.

Walking around the old locust tree, Master Li said there was a great deal of resentment here and a hint of blood in the air, advising everyone to be careful. After taking out the Compass, Master Li also appeared puzzled; why was there such a strong resentment without the presence of any spirits?

Seeing no danger, Master Li let the adults carry Xiao Huang and the others back and instructed them that upon their return, a simple soul-calling would suffice.

Soul-calling involved a relative holding the child sitting at the doorway facing outward, while another relative would stand by the door with a large soup spoon, knocking forcefully on the door frame and calling out the child's name, "So-and-so, come back." After calling about a dozen times, the relative would then touch the spoon and pat the child's forehead with it, which should do the trick.

Master Li asked me to stay behind with him, and we didn't go back with the villagers.

Master Li asked if I had encountered anything unusual earlier, such as walking in circles unable to find a way out. I pointed to the cloth strips tied around the trees and told him I indeed had, and no matter where I went, I always ended up back at the old locust tree.

Master Li explained that this was a "ghost wall." It was his negligence in forgetting to teach me how to break such a spell.

Ghost walls, as the term implies, are illusions created by ghosts to confuse people, making them walk in circles in a fixed place, unable to get out. Not even someone with Yin-Yang Eyes can see through it.

As for breaking the spell, that's even simpler. First, you can take off your underwear and put it on your head, leaving just one hole to see out of.

Second, you must be a virgin. If you encounter a ghost wall, take off your pants, urinate, then pull up your pants and walk away; you'll be able to leave.

When Master Li asked me how I had managed to get out and send a message, I recounted in detail the events that had just unfolded.

Hearing that I was nearly strangled to death by the female ghost, Master Li was first startled, then shook his head and looked at me with a chuckle, leaving me unsure what he was really thinking.

"You're lucky, kid, and quite clever," Master Li remarked. Every time he praised me, it was accompanied by a rap on the head, and this time was no exception.

I, of course, knew what Master referred to by saying I was lucky and clever. Lucky, because the red bellyband saved my life; clever, because I managed to think of using the willow branch as a whip to strike the ghost in a moment of desperation.

I asked Master Li why he didn't follow the villagers back, to which he replied that the malice was too deep here, and he needed to find a way to seal or dispel it.

When I inquired why I couldn't see the malice, he explained that it was because my spiritual cultivation was shallow, but that I would be able to see it eventually.

After Master's divination and investigation, he confirmed that the malice came from the ancient locust tree. As for why the tree exuded malice, even he didn't know, though he speculated it might be because the tree was about to become a spirit. He maintained that if the entity were not removed, it would surely produce evil spirits like the Evil Spirits.

Master drew a large circle to enclose the locust tree in the center and took out a yellow talisman from his cloth bag to place in the eastern position within the circle. He then pressed an Eight Trigrams Mirror on top of it and chanted some incantations, saying that this "Evil-Binding Curse" could temporarily seal the malice within the circle, preventing it from spilling out.

Then Master instructed me to return with him and said we would deal with it at noon the following day.

However, we hadn't gone far when we saw about a dozen people lying on the ground not far ahead, apparently eating something. Lanterns and torches had been carelessly thrown to the ground. Upon closer inspection, they were the adults from the village.

Upon seeing this, Master Li exclaimed, "Damn it," saying they must have been affected by the malice and feared they were all possessed.

When Master and I approached, one villager cheerfully said, "Master Li, come and eat some rock candy, just look at all of it here on the ground, we have no idea where it came from." While speaking, he kept stuffing more into his mouth.

Upon closer inspection, what they were eating was not rock candy at all; they were clearly eating sand, shoveling it into their mouths handful by handful, enjoying it as if it were delicious, with a look of utter satisfaction on their faces.

Master Li stepped forward with determination, his right hand loosely clenched, with his index finger, thumb, and little finger extended to form a triangle, creating the Three Purities Seal. He pressed it towards the crown of their heads, and strangely, as soon as he touched them, they immediately fell unconscious.

After all of them had collapsed, Master Li turned them face down over his thigh and started to pound on their backs forcefully.

Ugh...

After spitting out a bit of sand, the first man slowly regained consciousness. After resting for a while, he followed Master Li's example and started hammering on the backs of other villagers.

By the time dawn broke, everyone had come to, each of them dripping with cold sweat and deeply shaken.

At noon, accompanied by Master, the village head led a hundred or so villagers to the locust tree. The sky was clear and sunny everywhere else, but above the old locust tree, the clouds were dark and dense. The village head ordered the villagers to douse the tree with kerosene and set it alight. One torch was thrown, then another, but the expected raging fire did not ignite; not even one branch would catch fire.

Seeing this, Master shook his head and said it seemed the tree had accumulated some power and the elements of the Mortal World could no longer harm it. Perhaps, he suggested, trying the fire from the heavens might work.

The villagers all pleaded with Master Li to deal with the tree quickly to avoid further disasters. Master Li soothed the villagers, telling them not to panic.

Master Li bent his little finger over the back of his ring finger, used his middle finger to press down on the tip of his little finger, pinched the mount of Mercury with his thumb, and pressed his ring finger down onto his thumb. His thumb's nail shell was concealed, and his index finger was straightened out.

He chanted, "Lightning and fire streak from the south, the wind's flame reaches to heavens; by imperial order, I summon the heart king, swiftly, as decreed by law."

PS: Here are some book recommendations, "Urban Tianzun," "LOL: The Ultimate Analyst," "My Lowly Ghost Agent Life," "Extreme Martial Tianzun," "Military Madness in the World," "True Dragon of Our Generation," "Return of the Demon King," "Divine Level Awakening," "My 23-Year-Old Beautiful Landlady," and "My 23-Year-Old Beautiful CEO"...