Aunt Yang was almost scared to death by Si Tong's ghostly appearance. Then she heard someone outside the door shouting for her to open it quickly.
Without further heed to my warning, she pried my fingers off her and, shouting "Help!", crawled and stumbled towards the front door.
"Auntie!!"
I finally managed to push off Si Jiangchen's heavy body and got up from the ground.
Si Tong was still clinging to my wound like a huge leech, greedily sucking my blood. I grabbed a ghost - suppressing talisman from the altar and slapped it on his forehead.
Si Tong finally went still, like a puppet with a broken spring.
However, the outer courtyard gate had already "clanged" open. I heard Aunt Yang shouting urgently, "Help! There's a ghost in our house... There's... Aaaaaaaah!!!"
She seemed to be talking to someone, but suddenly her urgent voice turned into a scream.
I saw Uncle Yang standing there blankly, and a wisp of his soul actually walked out of his body...
I cried out in horror, "Uncle Yang, don't go!"
Uncle Yang's soul turned around. There was a helpless bitter smile on his pale face. His lips moved as if he said "Thank you", and then he suddenly vanished into the darkness!
"Smack!"
Just as Uncle Yang's translucent soul disappeared, the curtain rustled. Aunt Yang screamed and fell into the room.
"Out there, there were clearly two people. How could they just disappear in the blink of an eye?!" Aunt Yang was shaking like a leaf. She reached out and grabbed her husband's arm, crying, "Old man, what should we do... Are we going to die?!"
In Chinese customs, there has always been a saying: "Don't turn back when called at night, and don't answer the door after two calls."
It is said that when walking at night, if someone calls your name from behind, don't turn back.
A person has three flames on the head and shoulders. When walking at night, these three yang flames protect them, and the wandering ghosts and spirits dare not approach to harass.
However, those little ghosts who covet the souls of the living are not willing to let people go easily. They will use tricks to tempt people to turn back. Each time a person turns back, one of the flames on their body will go out. When all the yang flames on the body disappear, in the darkness, it is the time for the ghosts to do whatever they want!
And "not answering the door after two calls" is even more terrifying.
The soul - reaping envoys from the underworld will come to call a person when their yang lifespan is almost over.
This usually happens at noon or in the dead of night.
If someone suddenly calls your name outside the door and then falls silent after two calls, it may be a trap set by the soul - reaping envoys.
In folk legends, there are countless such stories, and in Dayu Village where Aunt Yang and Uncle Yang live, such a situation really happened.
Just a year ago, there was a family in Dayu Village with only an only daughter. She was just twenty years old at that time. In order to take care of her parents, she didn't choose to go to school but found a young boyfriend in the town. The two families had exchanged betrothal gifts and planned to hold the wedding after the Mid - Autumn Festival.
Unexpectedly, misfortune struck on the night of the Mid - Autumn Festival that year.
The girl's family was enjoying the moon in the yard. Suddenly, she stood up and answered several times, then went out to open the door. Outside, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Except for the dim street lamps shining on the ground, there was not a single person in sight.
The girl went back to the yard somewhat puzzled. Her mother asked her what was going on. The girl said that someone had called her name just now, sounding very urgent, calling twice in a row.
So she got up to check, but unexpectedly there was no one outside.
The other family members didn't hear anyone calling the girl's name. Although everyone had a faint sense of uneasiness in their hearts, they didn't want to spoil the festive mood on the Mid - Autumn Festival, so this matter was left unresolved...
Unexpectedly, this was the beginning of the girl's disaster.
The next day, the girl gave her ID card and the amount of the betrothal gifts from the boy's family to her parents, saying that she was leaving these to them clearly, so as to avoid any confusion in the future.
The girl's mother was even more frightened. Why did the things her daughter said and did seem like a last will?
After finishing all the explanations, the girl was about to go out.
How could her parents rest assured? They locked her at home forcefully.
However, when her mother opened the door for lunch at noon, she found that her daughter had escaped through the window. There was a note on the table saying that she was going to find her fiancé.
The parents were anxious and called the in - laws. Sure enough, the father - in - law in the town hadn't seen the girl come.
The two families searched along the only road in the town together.
Finally, at a remote T - junction, they found the girl's... body.
She was riding a scooter. Somehow, she was dragged under a big truck. Her entire skull was crushed by the heavy wheels, leaving only a layer of skin.
The mother and the mother - in - law fainted on the spot. A happy event instantly turned into a funeral.
The girl's family was completely devastated. The mother was crazy every day, telling everyone that if she had watched her daughter well that day, this wouldn't have happened...
This incident caused a great stir in the village. Everyone was teaching their children and the elderly that if they heard someone call their name at night only twice, they must not answer!
However, now Uncle Yang and Aunt Yang had forgotten this taboo in a moment of crisis and went out to open the front door themselves!
"I... I saw two people standing under the lamp shadow when I opened the door!"
Aunt Yang's face was paler than a ghost. Her trembling voice told me, "They asked me if Yang Liansheng lived here."
"What did you say?"
Although I had seen Uncle Yang's soul leave his body with my own eyes, I still couldn't help asking.
"I said... I said 'Yes'!"
Aunt Yang's fear had reached its peak. She even forgot to cry. "They looked at each other and said, 'That's right! Are you Li Zizhen?' I said 'Yes'! Then, they just smiled at me and disappeared in an instant!"
The soul - reaping envoys!!!
I already knew in my heart the identities of those two underworld officials.
They were different from the yin messengers who captured the souls of the dead. They were a kind of underworld official specifically responsible for capturing the living souls. For those who were about to die a violent death, they could capture their living souls a few days in advance. On a specific day, that person would surely die!
Feng Zhenzhen, who I had encountered before, was dragged to death by a car. This should also be one of their methods.
However, these soul - reaping envoys didn't capture the souls of those whose names had already been crossed out in the Book of Life and Death in the underworld.
There were also precedents of people who were destined to die a violent death but managed to escape.
Since there was some leeway for manipulation, it was easy for them to engage in malpractice for personal gain!
The soul - reaping envoys were the most despised existence among the underworld officials.
The saying "Money makes the mare go" was exactly about them!
Now, Si Jiangchen had been backlashed by the Yin Five - Thunder Curse and had lost consciousness. What I was about to face were two yin messengers who might have been bribed by the evil Taoist priest who had killed "Xiaoshanzi"!!