"What a tiny coffin! What could it possibly hold?" Er Shuai, who knew nothing about metaphysics, stared at the two small coffins and asked out of curiosity.
Gu Yuan didn't even bother to glance at him. He just turned around and took the coffins into the house.
Since he wasn't going to explain, I gave Er Shuai a brief explanation.
This kind of thing was obviously part of the art of maleficium. As recorded in ancient books, one should write the birth dates and times of two people on a piece of white paper, then use a dead person's hair to make a scarecrow, and finally pierce the paper with the birth information into the scarecrow's glabella with a needle.
Then this scarecrow would take the place of the cursed person. In ancient times, countless disasters were caused by the practice of making voodoo dolls.
However, the person who cast this spell used a method similar to making voodoo dolls, except that they used a coffin instead. By using the gloomy and malevolent qi in the coffin, they intended to weaken the three spots of yang fire on Granny Chu and Gou Dan'er.
In this way, the two people would be like frogs being boiled in warm water. They would die without any signs, and even when they reached the underworld, they wouldn't know how they died, so they wouldn't think of filing a complaint.
I told Er Shuai about this, and he listened very attentively. He seemed really interested in these things, and his eyes sparkled as he looked at me.
He kept staring at me even after I finished speaking.
I even began to wonder if there was something on my face.
Just as our eyes met, a dark shadow suddenly appeared between us.
Gu Yuan showed up out of nowhere and blocked directly in front of me.
I withdrew my gaze and looked up at Gu Yuan. His face was cold, and his look at me was quite intriguing.
My gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds and then I quickly looked down. I tilted my head and was about to call Er Shuai to come in.
Just as I was about to speak, Gu Yuan frowned. He grabbed my wrist with one hand and pulled me into the room.
"You..." I wanted to say something, but I found that I could only open my mouth and make no sound. I turned to look at Er Shuai, but Gu Yuan immediately turned my head back. He wouldn't even let me look.
What on earth was Gu Yuan up to?
I tried to break free, but he whispered in my ear, "If you're a servant, you should act like one."
At that moment, I really regretted what I had said earlier. Why hadn't I said that I was the master and he was the servant?
Gu Yuan led me into the room by the wrist. At this moment, Granny Chu and Aunt Zhang had both got off the kang. They were looking at the two small coffins, not daring to touch them.
"Should we open them?" Granny Chu asked Gu Yuan.
Gu Yuan nodded. He glanced at me sideways and said, "I'm going to open the coffins now. From this moment on, you're not allowed to leave my sight, and you can't be more than one meter away from me at most."
"Why?" I blurted out and found that I could speak again.
Gu Yuan was being so strange. What was he really doing?
Granny Chu seemed to see through something. She said to me, "Since the great immortal says so, there must be a reason. Just listen to him, miss fairy."
At this time, Er Shuai also walked in from outside. Gu Yuan gave him a sidelong glance and then pulled me closer to him, saying, "No more than half a meter away."
"Huh?"
I thought to myself that this distance was a bit too close, but I didn't say it out loud. After all, saving people was the most important thing now.
Gou Dan'er was still lying unconscious on the kang.
Gu Yuan seemed quite happy to see me lowering my head, pouting, and picking at my fingers in annoyance.
Seeing that I was a bit unhappy, Er Shuai was about to step forward and ask me what was wrong.
Gu Yuan said to me, "We need to find some virgin boy's urine to dissolve the spell and then open the coffins."
"Ah?" I was completely confused. Where could I find it?
As soon as Aunt Zhang heard this, she immediately took over the conversation and said proudly, "This is not difficult. My son is a virgin. He doesn't even have a girlfriend yet."
"Son, go and get some. Hurry up."
Aunt Zhang's words left Er Shuai at a loss. He just stood there looking embarrassed.
Granny Chu quickly said,
"Er Shuai, what are you waiting for? If you are a virgin boy, go and get some urine. Once we open the two coffins, my little grandson is counting on you to save him."
"I... I... I..." Er Shuai stammered for a long time but couldn't get the words out.
"Are you or aren't you? Er Shuai, it's a matter of life and death!" Granny Chu asked anxiously.
"I... I'm not." After Er Shuai said this, his face turned as red as a beetroot, all the way to his ears.
Not only was he embarrassed, but Aunt Zhang also looked awkward. She shouted at Er Shuai, "You stupid boy! Didn't you tell me you didn't have a girlfriend?"
"Mom, we broke up a long time ago. There's no need to tell you about this." Er Shuai frowned and told Aunt Zhang to shut up.
Gu Yuan didn't ask any more questions. He turned to look out of the window. By now, it was starting to get a bit light.
"Now help me find a virgin boy."
Aunt Zhang glared at Er Shuai and said to Gu Yuan, "Er Shuai, go to your second uncle's house and find your younger brother. Get some virgin boy's urine."
Not wanting to listen to his mother's nagging anymore, Er Shuai turned around and ran out to find someone.
It didn't take long before Er Shuai ran back.
He poured the virgin boy's urine on the talisman papers on the coffins. Once the papers were soaked through, I took out three incense sticks and placed them on the coffins.
When the incense ash had burned out, Gu Yuan waved his sword finger, and the two small coffins were opened. Two plumes of black smoke floated out of them.
I quickly took out a crystal jar and trapped the two clouds of black smoke inside, then immediately closed the lid.
The corner of Gu Yuan's mouth twitched slightly as he said, "Not bad. You're getting more and more proficient."
I gave him a smile in return. Nowadays, I was no longer the inexperienced junior I used to be.
Sure enough, just as I had said, there were two scarecrows in the coffins, with a silver needle stuck in each of their shoulders and heads.
Gu Yuan scattered the incense ash that had just burned out on the scarecrows, then made a slight cut on his palm, and two drops of fresh blood dripped onto the scarecrows.
With a "bang", the scarecrows and the coffins burst into flames together.
The flames were tinged with green, and the coffins shook constantly on the table, making a clanging sound, as if the scarecrows inside were struggling desperately. After about ten seconds, the coffins had turned into a pile of ashes.
"You're really a living immortal!"
Aunt Zhang looked at the two coffins and couldn't stop praising Gu Yuan's skills. Her face was full of disbelief.
"Is it lifted?" I asked Gu Yuan.
He nodded at me and asked me to get two bowls of water. He put a bit of the ashes into one bowl and let Granny Chu drink it.
Then he took the other bowl and walked into Gou Dan'er's room. He fed the water to Gou Dan'er, and then muttered incantations. Two balls of light, one red and one blue, appeared in his palm.
He gently lifted his hand, and the two balls of fire flew back to Gou Dan'er's shoulders.
As the two balls of fire lit up, the golden flame on his head gradually grew stronger.
After about ten minutes, sweat began to break out on Gou Dan'er's forehead, and he kept muttering incoherently.
"Don't... Dad... don't hit me... Dad, I feel so bad..."
Er Shuai quickly asked, "What's wrong with him? Is he having a nightmare?"
"Master Gu is probing Gou Dan'er's memories at that time," I explained to Er Shuai.
After a while, Gu Yuan laid Gou Dan'er back on the kang and said to me, "Let's go."
"Where to?" I quickly asked.