The Exorcist

Chapter 36 Burial Objects in the Lotus Vat

"Water tank?" Bao Datong's eyes widened in surprise, "When did a water tank become a cultural relic?"

"It's possible. If it's very old." Wan Li said, "But cultural relics are usually burial objects unearthed from large tombs. I don't know archeology, but the burial water tank seems a bit strange. I heard from others that in Xi'an In a place like this, if you just dig with a small shovel and dig a few times, you might be able to find something good, but the water tank—why does it sound so—so—"

"I didn't say it was a very precious water tank with great archaeological and craft value." Ruan Zhan said helplessly.

"Then you said it's a 'cultural relic'? It sounds so noble!" Bao Datong blinked, "Don't be pretentious, okay?"

Ruan Zhan sighed lightly, not knowing what to say. These people only listened to what he said and kept making guesses based on their own ideas, giving him no chance to explain.

"When I say that these three lotus jars are 'unearthed cultural relics,' I mean that they were indeed dug out of the soil, and they do have a history of two to three hundred years, or even longer, and it is true that some strange things happened. . This is a metaphor, do you understand?"

"That means these three water tanks have no value. The only thing worth studying is the strange things caused by these three water tanks?" Bao Datong asked.

Ruan Zhan nodded, "Yes. These three water tanks are large and full of lotus flowers. If there is material value, that is, why can those bright red lotuses painted on the tank be buried in the soil? It hasn’t changed color in so many years.”

"You said these three water tanks are very big, then what are they used for?" Xiaoxia, who had been silent, interjected, "Is it named the lotus tank because it is filled with lotus flowers? Or is it used to grow lotus? What if Regarding supernatural events, I have heard people say that in some places, water jars are used as shelters for the dead, right?"

"Wait!" Wan Li interrupted Xiao Xia and turned to look at Ruan Zhan, "You said there are three water tanks?"

"It's three."

"We now have two demons possessing children. There won't be a third one, right?" Wan Li was shocked. Just these two are enough to kill people, but three more? Wouldn't that kill them?

"If you don't keep asking questions, you will understand after listening to my simple explanation." Ruan Zhan was tortured by these three people and felt powerless.

This is one of the reasons why he doesn't like to be close to people. If there are many people making trouble, problems cannot be solved quickly. Sometimes one person can get things done better.

"Say what you say, we won't interrupt anymore." Xiao Xia Lawanli sat on the edge of the bed and glared at Bao Datong again.

Seeing that the three people finally calmed down, Ruan Zhan said slowly, "I just said, because with this address, I found the place where the accident happened quite easily. But people in small places are more superstitious, and with that incident The strange things still left a legacy, so the locals did not dare to tell them at first. They thought that I was looking for trouble just like the reporter from the big city five years ago. From this point, we can conclude that Zhang Zixin did come from Those who have disappeared in this place have at least been here and done some things that people hate and ghosts hate.”

"It'll be easier if we have contact!" As soon as Bao Datong spoke, he received a pair of flying knives from Xiao Xia and quickly stopped.

"But a big reward must be brave. In addition, something happened in the village at that time. The village chief's grandson lost his way on the mountain on a rainy night. He was a little confused after returning home. It had been causing trouble for more than half a month, so I helped They told me what happened that year." Ruan Zhan continued, "Xitoudian is relatively dry, so five years ago, they wanted to build a reservoir, which was actually just a reservoir. Fortunately, Some water can be stored during the rainy season. For this matter, the county only provided a small financial allocation, and all the labor was provided by the village itself. But because this matter will be beneficial to everyone after it is completed, as long as there is The able-bodied families all contributed their efforts to dig the reservoir. Everything went smoothly until one day, a villager dug something hard. Everyone was very excited at the time and guessed it could be a treasure or something. You must know that the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are also a The farmer accidentally discovered it when he was digging his own vegetable field. But just when everyone was looking forward to the prospect of getting rich and famous, a few strong laborers had already dug out the thing buried deep in the soil. As soon as this thing was unearthed, everyone I was disappointed and strange at the same time, because they were three things called lotus jars locally, and they were not very special or precious. What was strange was just why someone would bury such lotus jars at such a deep place."

"Let me interrupt." Bao Datong whispered, and gestured with two fingers to prove how insignificant his intervention was, "If the reservoir is dug, it should be during the day, but I want to know what day and what time it is. Have you asked if things have seen the light of day? This is very important!"

"How could I forget this? After that thing comes out, whether it is evil enough or not, the day and time are very important." Ruan Zhan said, and then told Bao Datong these details, and added, "Because this thing is too scary, So the villagers even remember that the weather at that time was not very good and very gloomy, but it never rained.”

"What's next?" Wan Li reminded Ruan Zhan to continue.

"Those three lotus tanks were one big and two small. The big one was in the middle, and the two small ones were separated to the left and right, just lying sideways. Although this unearthed thing disappointed everyone, because of such a mysterious appearance, the village chief still The commander lifted the three water tanks out of the pit. After carefully polishing off the soil on them, the villagers saw the difference between the lotus tanks. Not to mention that the lotus painted on the tank was buried deep in the water. It is still so fresh after such a long time, as red as soaked in blood. Even the lids of the three water tanks are not ordinary things. Generally, the lids of water tanks are made of wood or the same material as the tank body, but this The three cylinder heads were made of a kind of light yellow stone, with strange black lines on them like charms. At that time, people said that the cylinder heads were probably made of jade, which would be worth the old money. When someone said this, others said that the lotus vat was buried so deep and must have been a long time ago. The lid of the vat was just so valuable, so there was no telling whether it contained gold or silver. Look at the time when the vat was brought up just now. , it took four or five strong laborers to lift it, and there must be a lot of things inside. Since everyone said so, the village chief took the initiative to carry the three water jars to the ancestral temple in the village, and then after dinner that day, in front of the whole village A person’s face opens a vat.”

"Big bad news!" Bao Datong said, startling Xiao Xia.

Ever since he heard Ruan Zhan talking about the days and hours, he had been frowning, and he didn't count with his fingers like the Taoist priests in movies and TV shows. He didn't know what he was thinking. Now he heard Ruan Zhan say those things. The villagers were opening a vat in the ancestral temple and suddenly a sentence came out.

"Yes, it's a serious crime." Ruan Zhan nodded.

"The day you just told me was the day in the Gregorian calendar. I calculated for a long time before I figured out that that day was originally the seventh day of the seventh lunar month in the lunar calendar." Bao Datong said, "When they were unearthed, it was cloudy and not raining, so the air condensed and did not go away. , ended up being carried to the ancestral temple, borrowing the yin energy there, and not opening the tank until late in the evening. It was simply a matter of time, location, people, and everything was taken advantage of. Not to mention that they were inherently fierce, but they were not fierce. Things can also bring evil spirits. Now the good things are getting worse and worse, so we have eaten a lot and thank you."

"Don't be afraid, we are the terminators of the boss." Wan Li smiled, "Azhan, please continue, what is in that water tank?"

"That night, all the villagers came to the ancestral temple in great excitement and opened the cylinder under the auspices of the village chief. Everyone was very excited at the time, but they didn't expect that the cylinder lid could not be opened, as if it was sealed by something invisible. Even if we asked several of the strongest young men in the village to work together to move it, it would not work.

But the more this happened, the more everyone felt that there was a treasure inside, so they tried their best to open the cylinder. It was almost midnight when a reckless young man finally couldn't stand it any longer and ran home to get a big hammer. Knocking off the stone cylinder cover, but it was hot and sweaty, so his hand slipped and the hammer hit the big cylinder in the middle, breaking the cylinder into pieces!

As soon as the water tank cracked, the heavy stone lid also collapsed, sending dust flying to the ground. When the scene calmed down, the people around instinctively dispersed. Only then did everyone see that the water tank was completely broken, and the stone cover was also broken. There was no gold or silver in the tank, only a withered skeleton. It was smashed to pieces by falling rocks!

At that time, many people were frightened. They did not expect to carry someone's 'coffin' to the ancestral temple in the village, and they turned around and ran away in fright. But some brave people stayed and took a closer look at the broken jar. They found that the dead bones in the jar were scattered and the teeth were missing. However, there was a golden bell biting between the few still intact teeth. Next to the broken tiles There were several pieces of jewelry buried with him, and there was a whisk with a copper handle engraved with incantations on the ground. It was obvious that he was an old Taoist priest before his death.

With the temptation of gold and silver, and so many people present at the same time, people were not so afraid at once. Even the people who ran to the door came back, curious about this old man's life experience and wondering why they were buried. In the village, it is more about greed and coveting of wealth. We can't blame them. The natural environment of Xitoudian is harsh, the people are very poor, and naturally they are extremely eager for money. Now that these things have been discovered, although there are not many, everyone suspects that the two small jars are the burial objects of this veteran, and there must be more belongings!

So everyone first put away the belongings around the old Taoist, including the golden bell in his mouth, and then tried to open the two small jars. However, for fear of damaging the treasures, they could not smash them like the big jars. After such discussion, someone tried to move the stone cylinder cover. The strange thing was that it was impossible to open it just now, but now it could be moved easily. When the villagers were surprised and happy, a child's voice suddenly came from the tank and called "Mom!"

At that time, because the scene was noisy and there were parents with their children, although everyone was startled, they soon thought it was the children in the village who were shouting. Their desire for wealth made them ignore it and start making noises. Just opened the cylinder cover. And when those who stood closest saw what was in the tank, they all screamed in surprise, jumped far away, loosened their hands, and the stone tank cover fell again!

This time, the lotus vat was not completely shattered, but split into several pieces as if it had been split open. There was an unknown silk net mixed in the vat, which made it shatter but not fall apart. From these cracks, everyone saw that there was no gold or silver in the two jars. Instead, there was a five or six-year-old child sitting cross-legged in the jar. Because when they carried the vats into the ancestral temple, they were arranged according to the dug positions, so men were on the left and women were on the right, so they could see clearly.

These two children were not just a pile of dead bones like the old Taoist. Instead, they were brightly dressed, with picturesque and lifelike faces. They were sitting there cross-legged with their hearts raised to the sky. It was obvious that they themselves were the ones buried with them.

The villagers were frightened and ran home quickly. No one reburied the two children in the middle of the night. But that night, the voices of two children kept shouting in the village, Mom! Mother! None of the dogs in the village barked in the middle of the night, and some villagers were so frightened that they didn't even dare to get out of bed when they heard a child knocking on the door and calling for mother!

The next morning, when the sun rose very high, the village chief, accompanied by several respected people in the village, led a group of strong laborers to the ancestral temple. They wanted to bring the three digged out people back to the earth, and they also specially invited a local goddess who was said to have magical powers because she was an immortal. But as soon as they approached the ancestral temple, they felt that something was wrong. Not only was there a strong smell of blood, but there was also dark red blood dripping from the door of the ancestral temple into the inside.

Everyone was frightened, but they had to take a look at the situation, so they lit torches in broad daylight and entered the ancestral temple under the leadership of the goddess and the village chief. As soon as I entered the gate, I saw a lot of dead dogs on the ground. Each one had its throat bitten by sharp teeth and sucked all the blood. Not a single dog in the village was spared. I just don't understand why those dogs died last night without even barking. Got here. In the temple, the appearance of the pair of children who looked as if they were alive had also changed. Except for the blood stains on their mouths, the entire corpses had begun to rot. It seemed that their bodies could no longer be preserved due to exposure to light and air.

The goddess said that because they were protected by the souls of their ancestors, the two little ghosts had left, but because they had been alarmed, they had to be buried in a grand ceremony again, and they had to be buried far away from the village. It was best to cross the border. of a river. This can make things difficult for the people in the village. You must know that Xitoudian is dry land, and the surrounding villages are the same. Besides, if you bury this fierce god in other people's homes, others will definitely not agree. If we still have to cross the river, we have to go hundreds of miles to find such a place.

While everyone was discussing what to do, they found three more lotus jars that were relatively common in the area, and put the three ancient corpses in them respectfully, praying that these ghosts and gods would not punish them because of the unintentional offense of the villagers. But this is of no use at all, and the ancestral protection mentioned by the goddess has no effect at all. The old man had never made a fuss, but the voices of the two children appeared again that night, knocking on the door from door to door looking for their mother, and the children's black handprints were found on the doors of some houses the next day. But it would be okay if it was just like this. In fact, from that day on, people began to die inexplicably in the village. Either some people were walking well, but they fell to the ground, hit their heads on rocks, and died on the spot, or some people were unknown. Bai hanged himself, and good friends suddenly drew swords on each other. People who were close to the three water tanks at that time were even more crazy and sick. Even the village chief with a super strong character, although he didn't Big deal, but my wife is crazy.

Now everyone was scared and thought that they would send these three plague gods away no matter what. Their village was very poor, and they originally wanted to share the money by selling the few pieces of jewelry around the old Taoist, but now they realized that they were not destined to receive such unexpected wealth. So he secretly sold the jewelry to an antiquities dealer who came to privately collect antiquities. With the huge income, he tried to find a way to bury the contents of the three lotus jars to the other side of the river five hundred miles away. "

"Are they okay from now on?" Xiaoxia asked after hearing what Ruan Zhan said.