Chapter 77
Ding Ding frowned and said, "Don't ask me now. I don't like guessing."
I sighed, nodded, and could only continue listening to him tell the story.
Tintin was staying in the yard at the time, like an outsider. The other ghosts were busy setting up the mourning hall, but he was the only one standing there stupidly, doing nothing.
Until the green snake that had bitten him before suddenly crawled in from the yard and outside the house. In its body, which was as thick as a bowl, there was a straw man wrapped around it, and it came to Ding Ding, twisting and turning.
Tintin didn't dare to go over and provoke it, as the previous experience was still fresh in his mind. He just stared at the green snake, not knowing what it was going to do. It came to him and suddenly threw the straw man at his feet.
Tintin was puzzled, thinking that it seemed to want to give the straw man to him. He was curious, and finally carefully picked up the straw man from the ground. Fortunately, the green snake stayed beside him, and although it had a bloody mouth, it did not mean to bite him.
He took a closer look at the straw man and found that it was very delicately made, not as crude as the scarecrows placed in the fields to scare sparrows. Every straw string was carefully selected, and even the facial features and limbs were complete. The more he looked at it, the more incredible it seemed.
Tintin stood aside and found that the straw man was the same height as himself, and even the size was not much different. He suddenly had a strange feeling, as if the straw man was himself.
At this time my mother came to his side, and Tintin was stunned for a moment. Because of his previous experience, he was a bully who only bullied the weak and feared the strong, so he behaved very well. I think if my mother and the ghosts present were weaker, Tintin might suddenly show his ghost catching skills.
Fortunately, he also knew his limits and knew he couldn't act rashly at this time, especially since his life was at stake.
My mother told him that there was only one way to save him, which was to find someone who was born on the same day, month and year as him to die in his place, like a stand-in, to pass him off as the real thing.
When I heard this, I was a little surprised. Isn't this equivalent to saving a Ding Ding, but harming another innocent person ?
Ding Ding glared at me and slapped me on the shoulder, causing me to scream out in pain. He said, Tan Xi, you are a person of low quality. Don't interrupt others when they are talking!
I wanted to kick him off the bed, but I didn't have the strength to fight back.
Tintin said that he had thought about this question. Although he might be able to survive, he still felt a little guilty, so he was a little embarrassed. He was not a man of chivalry. If he could survive, he would definitely not refuse directly. But he couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart, and was a little hesitant for a while.
But my mother seemed to see through his thoughts, laughed, and said that this was the best way, but she didn't have much time, and it was not certain that she could find someone with the same birth date as Ding Ding that night. In other words, although this method was useful, the conditions were insufficient.
Tintin also understood the problem. He realized that he had been thinking too much about letting others die for him. He couldn't help but worry again.
But my mother seemed to have taken everything into consideration, and I felt that even if she had buried me alive, and even if Lin Tian had been used as a living sacrifice and almost died, my mother would not do such a thing as hurting an innocent person who had nothing to do with the incident.
But since she wanted to help Tintin, she must have already planned everything. It was impossible for her to tell Tintin the method and ask him to kill someone to die for him later.
My mother told her that there was a compromise. Although it was also a substitute death, Ding Ding would also have to pay some price.
Tintin asked hurriedly what it was, and my mother pointed at the straw man next to her and said that she would rely on him to die in her place. But the straw man was a dead thing after all. He lacked vitality and soul, and was just a filler. But there was no other way.
I thought about it, and it was as if an electric current flashed through my mind. I said, when I was in the coffin, I saw the one hanging on the human-faced tree. Wasn't it you, but a straw man?
Ding Ding nodded and said, yes, it was the substitute.
I was a little surprised, and after recalling it carefully, I realized that was not right. I saw it clearly at that time. The skin, facial features, and everything were no different from a real person. How could it look like a straw man?
Ding Ding rolled his eyes at me and said, "Tan Xi, Tan Xi, you've been with me for so long, how come you still have so little experience?" Not to mention that there was already a soul living in the straw man at that time, even if there wasn't, think about the paper man you met before. Didn't he look like a living person when you first ran into them?
I hurriedly said, "Wait a minute, I'll sort out my thoughts."
When Lin Tian and I first saw the paper man, although he couldn't talk, we really couldn't tell that he was any different from an ordinary person. Although he was dressed a little strangely, we didn't take it seriously at the time and just thought it was just someone's bad taste. It was only when Lin Tian saw the guy turned into a paper man in the rearview mirror that we realized something was wrong.
Could it be that things like straw dolls and paper figurines could be so difficult to tell apart between humans and ghosts?
Tintin shook his head and said that it was not difficult to distinguish. In fact, there was still a big difference between it and the real person, it was just that you and Lin Tian could not tell the difference. If you say that it is difficult to distinguish the real from the fake, can it be compared to the Painted Skin next to you?
As he said this, he looked at me with contempt. I thought of Lu Yao and felt a little embarrassed, so I quickly smiled to cover it up.
Tintin went on to say that my mother's method at the time was to disguise the straw man as Tintin, and Tintin put some blood on it to make it smell like a human.
These are simple to say, but they also require the existence of a soul to die in place of the deceased.
I hurriedly asked him where to find this thing. Could my mother pick one out for me from all those ghosts?
I originally thought that this was unscientific. After all, those ghosts were all subservient to my mother. If you let someone else die in your place, it would be hard to convince the public, based on common sense. If it wasn't handled properly, the ghosts might even rebel.
But Ding Ding asked me back, saying that besides doing this, do you have any other way?
I shook my head and asked how I would know.
Ding Ding said earnestly, Tan Xi, actually I admired your mother very much at that time. I have also tried to raise ghosts and control ghosts, but it is indeed troublesome. But your mother can control so many ferocious ghosts and make them all convinced. For me, this is something I have never dared to imagine.
I nodded and said, "Don't even mention that I saw it with my own eyes. Even when I heard about it, I already felt incredible. But according to my uncle, this should be more due to the blood amber."
Ding Ding snorted disdainfully and said, "So what if it's blood amber? Don't you think about yourself ? You have encountered so many ghosts and monsters, and there is not a single one that surrenders to you?"
As soon as he said this, the hanged ghost frowned, then looked at me and pointed at himself.
Ding Ding and I were speechless when we saw him like that, but I was somewhat happy in my heart and reluctantly regarded him as the first one.
But what Ding Ding said makes sense. I know how many ghosts I have encountered now, and I can't even tell them apart. But I haven't seen the scene of thousands of ghosts coming to pay homage as my uncle said. To attract ghosts, blood amber may be the key, but what to do after attracting them, I don't know.
Ding Ding said that blood amber attracts hundreds of ghosts, but the premise is that you have to have the ability to control hundreds of ghosts, otherwise you are just looking for death. Think about it, if it were you, walking on the street, and suddenly you were attracted by a pile of feces, but you couldn't control your actions and rushed towards the feces like a madman, what would you think in your heart? You must want to flush the feces into the sewer eighteen times, so don't blame those ghosts who are suddenly attracted to want to kill you, others are also helpless.
I cursed and said, "Damn it, why don't you find a better metaphor? No matter how incompetent I am, I am still a level higher than feces!"
Ding Ding's face turned red with embarrassment. He raised his hand and shrugged, saying that it didn't matter and there wasn't much difference.
I'm helpless and can only say, "Don't talk about this. Just continue."
Tintin said that he was also very concerned about the issue of souls at the time, because there was a human-faced tree here. Now, apart from the hundreds of ghosts in the yard, there were no other souls nearby.
Fortunately, my mother had arranged all these things. After letting Ding Ding bleed, she suddenly asked Ding Ding to tie himself and the green snake with a red string. At this point, I hurriedly said, "I understand now. The soul is the green snake, and the red string is to tie your other souls together."
Ding Ding looked at me and said, "You know nothing!"
My expression froze, and I immediately decided not to speak anymore.
Although both are soul-binding, the green snake is an animal after all, and Tintin is a human, so Tintin also understands that using the green snake as a surrogate soul will not .
But my mother was very sure and only asked Ding Ding to take off his clothes. Ding Ding was stunned for a while, but he did it anyway. He then found that the place on his shoulder where he was bitten by the green snake had grown some green scales.
This scene scared Tintin so much that he didn't know what was going on and was somewhat worried.
But my mother told him that if he wanted the green snake to die for him, then at least their souls had to be merged into one, so that there would be no risk. In the future, these scales will continue to increase, just like the green snake will grow on Ding Ding's body in another way. This is the price Ding Ding has to pay!
But my mother didn't dare to make a conclusion about what would happen in the end, because this method had never been tried on other people. Ding Ding thought about it and felt that this was better than going out and killing people himself. In the end, he agreed.
Only then did I understand the origin of the snake scales on Ding Ding's body. The current area has increased a lot compared to his description. I can't imagine what it will look like in the future.
I asked him, what is your situation now?
Ding Ding tilted his head back and thought for a while, then said, “The way I am now is called a snake spirit!”
