PNB Chapter 58 Corpse-Suppressing Talisman, Peeping
Chapter 58 Corpse-Suppressing Talisman, Peeping
The young man squatted by the pit, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose:
"Mr. Zhang, do you think this might be something that can be used to suppress evil spirits?"
Is it the idea that you believe there are bad things underground, so you build a temple on top to suppress them?
Zhang took out a cigarette case from his work clothes pocket, shook out a cigarette, put it in his mouth but didn't light it.
"I have something to tell you, but don't tell anyone."
This morning I managed to get some information from an acquaintance at the Provincial Institute of Archaeology.
This isn't the first time this type of stone has been unearthed in these mountains. A batch of these stones was unearthed during the construction of a quarry road in the 1980s.
But it didn't glow back then, and people didn't recognize it; they just treated it as waste rock to fill the roadbed.
"So what is this stone made of?" the young man asked curiously.
"How should I know!"
Engineer Zhang lit a cigarette, gestured with his chin towards the pit, and said, "Take a look at the talismans on this stone slab. Does anyone understand them?"
"I don't understand." The young man shook his head.
"When Taoists draw talismans, which talisman do you see drawn like this?"
The talismans are all stacked one on top of another, with each stroke curving upwards at the end; this is a variant of the corpse-suppressing talisman.
You know what a corpse-suppressing talisman is, right? It's specifically for suppressing living corpses.
The young man unconsciously took a half step back, almost slipping on the gravel behind him.
He adjusted his glasses: "Engineer Zhang, the more you talk, the more uneasy I get. It's so late, can't we talk about something else?"
"I only told you because you asked," Zhang chuckled.
"However, these are just guesses. We'll let the people from the province see them when they arrive tomorrow."
Let me tell you, if we dig through that slab of stone tomorrow and find something underneath, the whole mountain will have to be sealed off.
Those of us who are there will all have to sign confidentiality agreements!
"A confidentiality agreement? Is digging up a temple really that big of a deal?"
"Digging up a temple is unlikely, but how can you be sure it's just a temple?"
Bai Sheng's clone listened to every word.
Thoughtful.
……
Another clone walked slowly along the village road.
The village isn't big; all the houses are close together.
Firewood and farm tools were piled up in the yard.
Occasionally, a few barks could be heard from not far away.
Bai Sheng had only been eavesdropping along the way and had no intention of lingering.
I slowed down as I passed a cluster of low brick houses.
"Holy crap? I can't believe I ran into this!"
Through the half-open courtyard gate, I caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.
It's that village woman!
At this moment, the village woman was in the corner of the yard.
A makeshift shower room was set up.
The metal partition reached up to their shoulders.
Her wet hair and a section of white shoulder were exposed.
Steam from the hot water rose from above the metal sheet.
The scent of shampoo wafted out from behind the courtyard wall.
Bai Sheng had no intention of spying.
He planned to use a clone to sneak away.
Suddenly, a man's voice came from inside the house.
Fangfang—
I've brought you the towel.
A man opened the door and went into the yard, wearing only his underwear.
He draped the towel over the metal partition.
But instead of leaving, he leaned against the side and lit a cigarette.
He chatted with the beautiful woman in a casual, informal manner.
Bai Sheng stayed behind, wanting to hear if there was any important information.
Before they could exchange more than a few words, the beautiful woman reached out and tugged at his arm.
The metal door creaked open.
The two shadows overlapped under the lamplight.
"...Damn it, they didn't talk about anything useful at all."
Bai Sheng rubbed his face on his sofa, then controlled his clone to turn around and leave.
Canvas shoes stepped on the gravel ground outside the courtyard wall.
It knocked over the bricks that were haphazardly piled up against the wall.
pat!
It made a soft sound.
Bai Sheng: "...Are you just placing bricks like this?"
Almost at the same time,
The man's alert voice came from inside the house:
"Who?"
The footsteps approached rapidly.
The courtyard gate was suddenly ripped open.
The man rushed out shirtless, carrying a carrying pole in his hand.
He glanced around and then walked a few steps to either end of the alley.
There was only a stray dog rummaging through the trash can near the gate of the courtyard.
Its tail flicked slowly twice.
"You stupid dog, you ruined my good time!"
He spat on the dog.
Another kick
The dog whimpered and ran away.
The man turned and went back into the yard, bolting the door shut behind him.
On the roof,
The clone crouched low and lay motionless on the roof tile.
Watching the man enter the house,
Bai Sheng leaned back on the sofa and let out a soft sigh of relief.
I was almost chased by a shirtless villager...
He waited a moment,
I listened to the sounds coming from the yard.
Once the men in the yard started working,
He silently controlled his clone to leap off the roof and quickly leave along the village road.
The next morning,
It was still dark.
Bai Sheng controlled his clones, which were hidden in the ruins.
I found a lush old pine tree and climbed it.
They hid in the tree canopy less than twenty steps from the pit.
In fact, even if one hid two hundred paces away from here...
Bai Sheng's clone, with its extraordinary perception, was also able to hear what they were saying.
But he was not satisfied with just hearing about it.
If given the chance, he would even like to give it a try.
According to Engineer Zhang...
People from the province arrived today.
The sun gradually rose.
Two black minivans bumped along the quarry road.
Stopped outside the warning line.
The first to get off were the young man from yesterday and Engineer Zhang, who stood by the car waiting.
Then three men in dark jackets got out of the first car.
The leader was an elderly man with gray hair, wearing gold-rimmed glasses.
A man and a woman followed behind.
His expression was serious.
Engineer Zhang stepped forward and shook hands with the old man, his gesture very respectful.
"Professor Sun, it would be a trouble for you to make this special trip."
Professor Sun didn't exchange pleasantries and went straight to the edge of the pit: "Where's the thing?"
After leading them to the edge of the pit,
Professor Sun looked down into the pit for quite a while.
A man carrying a metal box,
Open the box.
Inside is a portable ground-penetrating radar.
Zhang squatted down next to Professor Sun. "Professor Sun, this temple is a Buddhist temple. What kind of explanation is it to have Taoist talismans placed under a Buddhist temple?"
Professor Sun shook his head: "Who told you this temple is a Buddhist temple?"
Look at the carvings on the top layer of blue bricks; they are all Buddhist scriptures, that's for sure.
But the talismans on the stone slab below were not drawn by Taoists.
These people were likely folk Taoist practitioners; after the mid-Ming Dynasty, official Taoism declined.
Many sorcerers dispersed among the common people, and their magic was a mixture of Taoism, Buddhism, folk witchcraft, and everything else.
These people draw talismans without any rules or methods, only caring about their effectiveness!
Engineer Zhang nodded thoughtfully.
Professor Sun gestured to the man carrying the metal box to begin setting up the ground-penetrating radar.
"You should be prepared to report this to higher authorities; this is not something the province can handle."
Engineer Zhang asked, "So what do we do now? Should we keep digging?"
"Let's check the radar first."
Professor Sun walked to the side of the ground-penetrating radar screen.
The waveform curve on the screen is still jumping.
A dense ring of echo signals appeared at a depth of approximately nine meters.
He stared at the circle of signals for a while, then turned to Zhang and asked:
Have you taken any environmental measurements in this area recently?