Volume 1 Chapter 20: Corpse Rope
"Brother, I'll go!" Liu Zining wiped his tears, went over to hug his brother, and asked him to take good care of our parents. Father Liu was so anxious that he couldn't speak. Mother Liu had suffered a series of blows and had just woken up. Seeing her daughter going out to die again, she fainted again.
"Little girl, come here and I will explain something to you." The dead face nodded slightly at Liu Zining, showing approval.
Liu Zining took a hair tie and tied her hair into a ponytail, saying, "You give me your orders."
I couldn't stand it any longer, so I went up to pull Liu Zining down and said, "Why are you interfering in this?"
Liu Zining's eyes were red, he shook his head and said, "It's okay."
I said angrily, "What do you mean it's okay? Once you go, you can't come back!" My sister Ning is too upright. As long as she grits her teeth and says she won't go, what can these people do?
I waved to my uncle and said, "Look after my sister Ning." I turned to the dead face and said, "I'll go."
Liu Zining was surprised and refused to let me go. But since I was going, Dead Face naturally chose me first and nodded, "Very good."
Uncle San walked up to me and glared at me fiercely: "You are looking for death!" But he had said in front of so many people that I had my own say on my own affairs, and he couldn't go back on his word.
I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, you're lucky and have a long life." But even though I said that, I was still extremely nervous and my calves were almost cramping.
When I thought about this incident again a few years later, I realized that I was indeed influenced by hormones and had some feelings of being a hero saving a beautiful girl. If it wasn't for the beautiful and gentle Ning sister who got into trouble that day, if it was her brother Liu Zian, I would definitely not be the first to do this.
The dead-faced man waved his hand, asked me to come over, and handed me a piece of pale yellow jade, asking me to hang it on my chest.
"This is the Heart Protecting Jade, and this is the Heart Purifying Bamboo Talisman." He then gave me a small piece of purple bamboo with a complicated spell engraved on it. "It is currently known that the devil girl has at least two abilities: Heart Splitting and Charming. When you get out, put the bamboo talisman in your mouth."
Seeing that I accepted it, he took me to a place where no one was around and taught me a spell that was neither too long nor too short. He read it once and asked me to repeat it. I only memorized the general idea the first time, so he repeated it again, and the second time I memorized it completely.
"Your aptitude is really good." The dead face nodded and told me to recite this spell silently in my heart after I go out. It can clear my mind, protect my body and break through delusions.
After I turned back, my third uncle came over and looked at me deeply, then handed me a ball of gray-white hemp rope as thick as chopsticks, and told me to use the rope to tie up the little devil if I had the chance.
I think this rope is really shabby. I’m afraid it can’t even tie up a person, let alone a terrifying being like Liu Nan?
Uncle San patted my head and said, "This is our family's treasure, don't lose it!"
I really don't think so. The dead face next to me suddenly said, "Corpse rope? I didn't expect you to have this thing in your hand."
Uncle San just hummed and said nothing.
I was a little surprised, thinking that he could even recognize a dead person's face, could this rope really have some origin? But after looking at it for a long time, I couldn't see anything worthy of praise about this broken rope.
"In that case..." Dead Face took out a palm-sized cowhide bag and handed it to me, "This is fine-scale sand, which can cover the ghost's eyes. If you have a chance, throw it into the girl's eyes."
I opened the bag and saw that it was filled with about half a bag of dark black powder, but when I looked closely, there seemed to be a faint glow mixed in. I had never heard of fine scale sand, so I glanced at my uncle and saw him nod, so I put it away.
The dead face was slightly adjusted, and a gap was opened at the main entrance to form a life gate on the Seven Star Soul Sealing Formation. All I had to do was to use her as bait and lure that ghost girl Liu Nan into the formation through this opening.
I admit that I was just impulsive. As soon as I left the Liu family's house, my legs were shaking and I regretted it so much. Look at me, I might have to face the King of Hell this time!
The outside and the inside of the Liu family mansion were two completely different worlds. It was already past the second half of the night, and the dark clouds in the sky had parted, and a crescent moon could be seen hanging in the sky, with a few sparse stars. The moonlight poured down coldly, illuminating the surroundings with a white and dim scene, and the scenery was vaguely visible.
I have personally experienced this feeling once before, when I was guarding a coffin at home. I could not hear the barking of dogs or the meowing of cats, nor the chirping of insects. Everything was completely silent, and the whole night was like death.
My heart was beating very fast, and I looked around carefully. Apart from the dead silence, I didn't see anything unusual. I wondered, could it be that Liu Nan was too sleepy and went to sleep? Of course, I knew I was just talking nonsense, but I was very nervous at that time, and I started to have random thoughts for no reason.
I took a deep breath, tried to calm myself down, shook my hands to loosen my muscles, and began to walk around in circles to observe the surroundings. As soon as I turned around, I saw a red shadow flashing in the woods not far ahead. In fact, I was very familiar with this red shadow. I had watched over her for days and nights without sleep.
But now in my eyes, she is the most terrifying existence. She is wearing that bright red satin skirt, with long black hair, a little messy, covering most of her face, and walking towards me in the moonlight.
I don’t know if it was because I was too nervous and had an illusion, but I originally thought she was walking very slowly, but in the blink of an eye her figure seemed to have moved forward a long way, so that when I was still hesitating whether to turn around and run, the red shadow had already appeared in front of me.
Damn it, if you don’t run now, you’re a bastard! At this point, I had no other thoughts in my mind, and I was about to run to the Liu family mansion. At this moment, the ghost girl raised her head slightly and glanced at me through her falling black hair.
My heart skipped a beat, as if I had been hit by a sledgehammer. My vision went dark and my whole body went numb. At the same time, I heard a crisp "crack" and reached out to touch it. The heart-protecting jade hanging on my chest had broken into several pieces.
Perhaps it was because my life was at stake at that time, I suddenly felt blessed and closed my eyes immediately. I suddenly realized that this devilish girl was probably using her eyes to split people's hearts! This time I was lucky, and I had a piece of heart-protecting jade to serve as my scapegoat. Next time, the one that splits into eight petals will only be my own heart!
I closed my eyes tightly and ran towards the Liu family mansion in my memory, but after a few steps, I tripped and fell on the ground. When I got up, I couldn't tell east from west.
I didn't dare to open my eyes. If I was unlucky enough to meet the eyes of that evil girl, I would be dead. But after closing my eyes, the whole world was pitch black, which became particularly terrifying. I didn't know if the evil girl was standing in front of me, or hiding behind me, holding a knife and about to stab my neck.
The thing that tripped me just now seemed to be a human leg. When I came out of Liu's house, I carefully memorized the terrain. There were no major obstacles in this range.
At first I thought it was the ghost girl who tripped me, but soon I realized something was not right. Because our profession is special, we sometimes have to work at night or in a dark tomb. My uncle once supervised me to do blind training. Without relying on the eyes, I hold my breath and concentrate, relying on my ears and nose to distinguish the surrounding situation.
I noticed that there were rustling sounds coming from different directions around me. Judging from the frequency and amplitude of the sound, it seemed like something was slowly stepping on the grass, and there was a pungent odor in the air. I have smelled this kind of smell many times, so I am very sensitive to it. This is the odor of a corpse, and it is a rotting corpse!
I was shocked. I held the Qingxin Bamboo Talisman in my mouth and silently recited the spell that the dead face taught me. As the spell was repeated, I felt the center of my forehead become cold, and I felt much more awake. But when I listened carefully, the rustling sounds coming from all directions and the smell of rotting corpses in the air were still there.
I originally thought it was an illusion, that the ghost girl was bewitching people, but now I find that it seems not to be the case! I couldn't help but shudder, and cold sweat broke out all over my body. I wanted to run directly to Liu's house, but at this time, I couldn't tell the direction at all. If I acted recklessly, I might end up dead. For example, I would crash into a rock and die, or I would trip over something and be stabbed to death by a branch. I have seen this happen many times.
Just as I was distracted, a pair of hands touched my neck. The hands were cold, slippery, greasy, and had a certain damp smell. I couldn't bear it any longer, so I screamed and ran away. But the hands swept across and directly strangled my neck.
The force was so strong that I choked and almost spit out my tongue. I couldn't care about anything else at this time. I hugged those hands with both hands, kicked the ground hard, and rushed backwards. I felt my back hit something soft and round, and I immediately realized what I had hit.
The thing that was strangling me was definitely not that devilish girl Liu Nan, because the little girl's breasts were not that big, and her body was not that tall. I punched back, and felt that I hit a sticky mass. I took the opportunity to twist her arm and pried it off her neck.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a grim face. It was a female corpse, no more than 30 years old, with half of her face rotten. The stench of corpse rushed straight to my head, which was particularly disgusting.
If I hadn't been used to dealing with corpses so often, I'd have been scared to death if it had been someone else. The female corpse's two white eyeballs were exposed, staring straight at me, and her half-rotten mouth made a "huh" sound, and her white teeth chattered as she bit me.
Fortunately, the female corpse was more than half rotten, with only a mass of rotten flesh on its body. I struggled hard and slid out from the rotten flesh. I rolled over and took a look, and my heart sank immediately!