Chapter 214: Like a Peach Blossom Spring
It is normal for an official seal to remain intact after being stored for a thousand years.
But official uniforms are out of the question.
Even if for some special reasons the official uniform was preserved in the tomb, it would be impossible to lift the official seal.
Official seal!
It was a symbol of the orthodoxy of the court. The seal of the prefect represented the emperor's administration of a region. It weighed more than a thousand pounds to a ghost. Not to mention picking it up, it was even a problem whether they could get close to it.
Why in ancient times were ordinary people not allowed to walk around freely at night, but police officers and detectives were allowed to patrol? It was because they were wearing police uniforms and carried an evil aura that made ordinary ghosts afraid to approach them.
This is the case for a constable's uniform, not to mention an official seal.
Moreover, the Han Dynasty was an orthodox dynasty with a long history, so the official seal had a greater inhibitory effect on ghosts.
During his lifetime, Li Qian was just an aide to the prefect Chen Qian. Officials of that era generally had aides and retainers, so it was not uncommon to have an aide who could summon spirits.
But even if he could summon souls, he still couldn't move the official seal. Only a ghost king-level strong man could take the official seal of a governor.
But this Li Qian is just an evil ghost.
Lin Ye looked at Li Qian and said, "If you don't want to tell the truth, then don't say it."
A flash of light passed by, and Li Qian's body was split in half by a long sword, and then turned into a ball of ghost mist and dissipated on the spot.
After killing Li Qian, Lin Ye waved his hand, and the confused looks on the faces of these ghost riders and soldiers disappeared. These ghost riders and soldiers exchanged glances with each other, and finally, led by a ghost rider, they knelt down towards Lin Ye.
"Thank you, sir, for awakening our spiritual wisdom!"
These soldiers awakened by Li Qian obeyed Li Qian's orders like puppets and had no independent consciousness, but their consciousness did not disappear and they still had memories of what happened after being awakened.
"What's your name?" Lin Ye asked the leading cavalryman.
"I am Wu Er, and I was a garrison commander in the army when I was alive."
In the Han Dynasty army, fifty people formed a tun, and the leader was called the tun chief.
"Now that the war is over and the world is at peace, it is time for you to return to the underworld. I will show you a way."
"As ordered by the Lord!"
Soldier Wu Er saluted Lin Ye again. Lin Ye formed seals with his hands and pointed towards the void. On a hill not far away, there was a cloud of black fog lingering, covering the entire hill.
"Thank you, sir, for opening the passage to the underworld."
Soldier Wu Er looked at Lin Ye with gratitude, and then began to walk towards the top of the hill. Wei Yang standing beside him had only just come out of his previous shock.
"Open...open the passage to the underworld..."
"There are roads leading to the underworld in various places. In the past, the City God and the Underworld were in charge of these passages. But with the disappearance of the Underworld, many passages are no longer visible due to the changes in the world. However, some passages still exist."
Seeing Wei Yang’s shocked expression, Lin Ye explained.
In ancient times, there was a City God Temple in every place. The City God was responsible for the passage of ghosts from all over the place to the underworld, but now the underworld has disappeared, so problems arise.
The first problem is geographical changes. The passages to the underworld are generally places with more yin energy, but now there are high-rise buildings everywhere, which has caused some passages to the underworld to slowly disappear.
The second problem is that in the past, the underworld was in charge of the passage, and ghosts could directly enter the passage as long as they arrived. But now that the underworld is gone, the passage is closed.
This was also the reason why Lin Ye couldn't find his way home when he first encountered those ghosts in Rao City.
However, this problem does not exist in Helan Mountain. It has not been developed yet, and the passage to the underworld still exists. It is just that without the maintenance of the underworld, the passage is closed. Lin Ye simply reopened the passage to the underworld.
After refining the City God Seal, opening a passage to the underworld was not a big deal for him.
In the past, what Taoist priests and monks called "saving the souls of the dead" was actually just opening the passage to the underworld and then sending the ghosts to the underworld.
As for the so-called ability to reduce punishment for the ghost of the deceased in the underworld, it is simply impossible to do. Some so-called masters say that rituals can eliminate the sins committed by the deceased during his lifetime, which is complete nonsense.
Unless the master is willing to transfer this bad karma to himself.
Both Buddhism and Taoism have similar descriptions of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, and they are so detailed that they describe what kind of sins a person committed during his lifetime and what kind of punishment he will suffer in hell. If it could be so easily eliminated, wouldn't that be a slap in their own face?
"Thank you, Consultant Lin, for your guidance."
Wei Yang expressed his gratitude to Lin Ye. Regarding the salvation and some matters in the underworld, the records in the appraisal institute were very vague.
"Then Consultant Lin, are we still going to the territory of the Manul tribe now ?"
"Go, but before you go, meet the governor first!"
Lin Ye opened his hand, and an official seal slowly floated in his hand from the place where Li Qian disappeared.
"Governor of the North"
This is Chen Qian’s official seal as the prefect, and in the Han Dynasty this area belonged to Beidi County.
Wei Yang looked at Lin Ye walking forward with some confusion. He wanted to ask Consultant Lin how to find the prefect's tomb. After all, the Helan Mountains were so large that many tombs had been buried deep underground.
"Advisor Lin, do you know where the governor's grave is?"
"Isn't there someone here to lead the way?"
Lin Ye looked forward, and Wei Yang looked intently , only to find that there was indeed a black shadow on the hill in front of him. The black shadow appeared on the hill in front, but it arrived here in just a few minutes.
An old man with a white beard walked up to the two of them, bowed and asked, "Did you two get lost in the mountains?"
Wei Yang was about to answer "No", but Lin Ye said first: "Yes, we are going to Liyang Village. Do you know the way, old man?"
"Liyang Village? You've taken the wrong road. It takes a whole day to get to Liyang Village from here. It's getting late now. If you don't mind, why don't you stay in our village for one night and set out again tomorrow morning. It's very scary in the mountains at night."
"Thank you very much, old man."
Lin Ye agreed, and the old man happily led the way. Perhaps because there were few outsiders in this deep mountain, the old man was in a very good mood. Along the way, he took the initiative to introduce the situation in the village to Lin Ye. Wei Yang, who was standing aside, was stunned.
The village where the old man lived was called Xun'an Village. In order to avoid the war, the whole village migrated to the deep mountains and lived a life of men farming and women weaving.
Soon, the three of them arrived at the entrance of the village. It was called a village, but it was actually a canyon. The stone walls at the entrance of the valley were covered with long vines. The old man broke the vines apart, revealing the three words "Xun'an Village" carved on the stone wall.
"Please come in, two distinguished guests."
The old man smiled and spoke, but Wei Yang whispered to Lin Ye: "Advisor Lin, do we really have to go in?"
"I can't let them down by inviting me so warmly."
Lin Ye strode into the canyon with his father-in-law. Wei Yang hesitated for a moment, but finally walked in.
It’s not that he is timid and cautious, but this is not a village of living people at all, it’s a ghost village.
The old man was wearing ancient clothes, and he also said during the conversation along the way that they were people from the Han Dynasty. Because nomadic tribes often invaded, robbed the village of food and harmed the villagers, the people in the village fled to the Helan Mountains.
From the Han Dynasty to the modern times, more than a thousand years have passed, and these people are all ghosts.
The more attentive this devilish village chief was, the more unsure he felt.
As soon as Lin Ye and Wei Yang stepped into the village, many villagers came to greet them. These villagers were very enthusiastic. According to the villagers, there had been no outsiders in their village for more than ten years, and the villagers were very happy about their arrival.
The first ones to come up were the children in the village. They seemed to be not afraid of strangers and kept pestering Lin Ye and Wei Yang, asking about the outside world. Wei Yang didn't know how to answer for a long time. Although these children looked lively and cute, he had seen no less than a hundred terrifying photos of ghost dolls during the training when he entered the appraisal institute.
The identification institute showed them the scary photos of ghost dolls so that when they encounter some ghosts, they will not let their guard down because of the cute appearance of the ghosts. Many ghosts can maintain their appearance before they commit crimes.
"Advisor Lin, I..."
"The child is so enthusiastic, which means you are popular with children, which is a good thing."
In response to Wei Yang's request for help, Lin Ye just smiled slightly, and the village chief also called on the villagers to start preparing a village banquet for Lin Ye and Wei Yang.
"Children, don't scare the guests. Be polite and tell them your names."
The old village chief saw Wei Yang was embarrassed as he was surrounded by children, so he stepped forward to help.
"My name is Maodan!"
"My name is Maoqiu!"
"My name is Maomao!"
…
After hearing what the village chief said, the children told Wei Yang their names very seriously. Wei Yang knew that these were the children's nicknames. However, this was very normal in ancient times. Many children might only use a nickname for their entire lives. Because the village was very remote and there were no scholars, it was difficult to give them names, so they were given simple, easy-to-remember nicknames.
"Maodan, take your brother to help your mother, don't make trouble here."
A man came over, and the children scattered after hearing what he said. However, before leaving, they still said seriously:
"Uncle, you have to remember our names."
"Uncle, my name is Maomao. Don't forget, I have a mole on my face."
"No...I won't forget."
Wei Yang was so stuttered by the serious expressions of the children that he replied. Seeing this, the man smiled and said, "Children in our village have never seen outsiders. Please don't be surprised, guest. My name is Mao Eryue, and I was born in February. I have a scar on my forehead, which I got when I hit a stone when I was a child."
The man lifted his hair, revealing a triangular scar on his left forehead.
Wei Yang was a little embarrassed. If he wanted to introduce himself, he even showed his facial features. Was this the custom of this village?
Wei Yang spent the entire afternoon memorizing the names and characteristics of the villagers who came to say hello.
At night, the villagers prepared a village banquet. It was a rich feast of mutton, chicken and a lot of wild vegetables from the mountains. However, Wei Yang didn't dare to eat anything. He knew that everything made by ghosts could not be eaten and many of them were dirty.
Wei Yang also noticed that Consultant Lin also did not pick up the dishes with his chopsticks, but only tasted some of the fruits and vegetables served to him. Wei Yang followed suit and only ate the fruits and vegetables.
On the contrary, the villagers ate happily and with relish. It was obvious that they usually couldn't bear to eat such a sumptuous meal. The children were of course the most greedy. Several of them stared at the meat in front of Wei Yang with envy. Wei Yang thought for a moment and handed the plate of meat to the children, which made them cheer, while the adults scolded them and looked at Lin Ye and Wei Yang with embarrassed expressions.
At this moment, the moon has also climbed to the middle position, like a disk.
Under the bright moonlight, the children were laughing and playing, the adults were scolding and swearing from time to time, while the village chief and several old men sat there, stroking their beards and watching with a smile.
"Advisor Lin, this... why do I feel that our experience is a bit similar to the Peach Blossom Spring?"
Lin Ye did not respond to his question, but instead asked: "Did you write down the names and characteristics of the villagers who just introduced themselves?"
"I've made a note of it."
Although he didn't know why Consultant Lin asked this, Wei Yang nodded confidently. Being able to join the appraisal institute meant that he was better than ordinary people. He was chosen by the appraisal institute because of his strong memory.
"Just write it down. The banquet is over and we should get down to business. We can't eat and drink for free."
As soon as Lin Ye finished speaking, the full moon suddenly hid in the clouds, and the entire canyon was illuminated only by starlight. Wei Yang suddenly found that he could no longer see the faces of the villagers.
Outside the canyon, there was the sound of swords and horses.
