Chapter 8

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Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 8 - Drive Away the Ghost

If a city had existed for thousands of years, no matter how prosperous it looks on the surface, some people still believe in legends and some corners of the city still retained the oldest mysterious customs. Once Lin Yan had left the police station, he drove northwest. The surrounding people were gradually thinning out, and the mountains were foggy at dusk. When the entire trail was almost enveloped by the dense fog, Lin Yan finally found his destination at the foot of the Xishan Mountain.

Lin Yan stopped the car and compared the photos he found on the Internet with the scenery in front of him. This was it. A small temple without a name was built on the side of the mountain. Two white lanterns in front of the door and the candles had been replaced with electric lights. It looked very ominous in the night. By the well in the yard, there was a holy spirit banner hanging on a jujube tree with a crooked trunk next to it, the strands of cloth fluttering in the wind.

Although the appearance of the small temple was fairly inconspicuous, it was quite famous among supernatural enthusiasts. It was different from ordinary Buddhist temples for worshipping gods and praying for blessings. This ancient temple had only one purpose, and that was to exorcise ghosts. Most people always thought that where there was a temple, there was a spiritual aura. It is true for an ancient temple on the mountain, but this temple was built on flat ground. From the perspective of feng shui, the mountain belonged to the light Yang energy. The temple was built in the middle of the mountain to connect with the clear and righteousness, and was more accessible to the gods; the depression in the earth gathers the dark Yin energy. This temple was built in a low-lying place in front of the mountain to attract the lonely spirits and wild ghosts, and they won’t disturb anyone in the area. Because of this, there was a saying that the temple should not be demolished. Xishan Temple was a mass grave in ancient times, and it experienced lots of grievances. This small temple had been preserved to this day because of its special function.

Lin Yan glanced at the rustling banner hanging at the door and silently turned his car off.

This was the riskiest thing he could try according to the information he had found on the internet.

Having called in advance, the master of the temple had been waiting outside. When Lin Yan approached, he greeted him with a smile: “Sit down, do you want to pray for peace or do dharma ceremonies?”

The man wore an earth-yellow robe. He didn’t shave his hair, keeping it buzzed down instead; he looked 70% like a monk and 30% like a Daoist priest. Lin Yan looked at the furnishings in the temple; the limestone walls, the concrete floor, and an old wooden table with faded clothes on it with incense burners and fruit offerings. There was a strong scent of sandalwood that lingered in the room. Lin Yan took out a lighter and gestured to it. Seeing that the master had no objection, he took out a cigarette and lit it. After taking a drag, he said in a deep voice, “Neither, I want to kill a ghost.”

He didn’t know if it was a psychological effect, but Lin Yan felt that as soon as he spoke, cool air washed over him. The temple master was taken aback, and quickly said: “You can’t talk nonsense here, they’ll hear you.” After speaking, he looked back at the door for a long time, and couldn’t help but frown. “What a heavy hostility. This man died violently and he’s been dead for a while.”

Lin Yan glanced in the direction indicated by the master. It was an empty space and he couldn’t see anything.

“I’ll say it outright. Guest, you have less than three months left to live.”

“Master, you must be joking.” Lin Yan tried to keep his voice calm, but his fingers trembling unconsciously.

“A-Yan, pour a glass of water for the guest.” The temple master shouted into the back hall, then turned to Lin Yan and said, “Since you came all the way to my small temple, it must have taken a lot of effort, but let’s talk not beat around the bush and get to the point. How did you provoke such a life-threatening ghost?”

Lin Yan didn’t know what to say.

The host said indifferently: “I’m used to seeing these silk clothes. I think this Ming Dynasty shirt is a bit cordial.”

Ming Dynasty shirt… The familiar words evoked something in Lin Yan’s memories. He couldn’t keep in his gasp. Did the strange man really see ghosts? He couldn’t help but think of the archaeological practice he had mentioned to Yin Zhou. He was responsible for the cleaning of the main room of Pit No.16. He kept turning over the materials every night for a week with just the light of a miner’s lamp. Next, they excavated a camphor coffin sealed with 64 copper nails. The coffin was covered in thick, black lacquer. He leaned over the coffin and used a soft brush to clean the corpse. He peeled off nine sets of mouldy and decayed mortuary clothes layer by layer and patted the body for the funeral objects scattered in the gap between the bones…

“Last month, I did enter an ancient tomb from the Ming Dynasty in Shanxi…” Lin Yan said in shock.

“Like the sutras say: everything has a consequence.” The temple master smiled and asked for Lin Yan’s birth date. He made some calculations and said strangely: “The four pillars are interspersed in Yin. The Four Pillars of Destiny has roots in the gateway of the universe. Based on the universal retrograde, this person has heavy Yin energy. No wonder he found you.”

“This person died in a terrible accident, with resentment born in his heart from it. His spirit has felt like this for too long. A lonely soul becomes an evil spirit no better than a beast. I am afraid it will be difficult to survive this spirit.”

Lin Yan interrupted him: “Can you do something about it?”

The temple master replied: “I can only disperse his spirit which means that he would no longer be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation.”

Lin Yan lowered his head and squeezed his hands together softly. He thought of the madness and aggravation of the things in the elevator, the shameful memories in the living room, and the face of the grandmother in the morgue. He clenched his fists and said fiercely: “He killed someone. I don’t know when the second or even the third victim might be. Why should I be kind and save his soul? He forfeited his life with murder; he deserves this.”

“I don’t care who he is, I just want him to go back to wherever he came from.” Lin Yan said coldly: “Send him away, I’ll pay whatever you want.”

The host sighed, and took out a stack of yellow paper from under the table: “Whoever says that ghosts can be cruel; people are just as cruel.”

While they talked, the little disciple sped out from the back hall carrying the tea tray and respectfully handed the tea to Lin Yan. He put the remaining cup in the tea tray next to the fruit tray on the incense table. He lowered his head and said, “You are a guest, you must be thirsty too. Please drink.”

Lin Yan was taken aback, wondering why this voice was so familiar. The little disciple met Lin Yan’s gaze. He was taken aback, and then smiled: “It’s you.”

With a lean figure, pale and slender face, and wearing a nondescript blue earthen cloth robe, it turned out to be the strange Daoist priest he had run into during the day.

Lin Yan’s mind was confused, wondering whether this was a Buddhist temple or not. Why did a Daoist priest show up?

“This-, this is my master.” He turned his face to the temple master and bowed his head: “Lin Yan is my university classmate.”

Lin Yan vaguely remembered this Daoist with the last name Yan. When they were in their undergrad, the two were in the same department and their dormitory was on the same floor. Normally, Lin Yan was looking down in class so he didn’t see him. However, he was introverted, uncomfortable in social settings and had stuttering problems. He was never seen at school-organized activities. He never participated, so his classmate Lin Yan couldn’t even remember his real name for four years. The title of Daoist priest was as impactful as thunder. At that time, the freshmen had just moved into the dormitory of the school. Within a few days, there were rumours that there was a weird man on the same floor who was burning paper while muttering to the air in the dormitory. He also liked to make some ghost-like talismans and stick them everywhere. After a while, the guys in the dormitory couldn’t bear it anymore, so they forced him out. They changed the locks on the doors to keep him out all night, threw his things out of the windows in the dormitory. He lasted half a semester before they drove him out of the dorms.

This story was told as a joke in the department for a long time. The most troublesome thing for Lin Yan as the dorm supervisor at the time was the issues with this Daoist priest. No matter how hard he tried to force the strange Daoist priest to stand up for himself, he would never fight back. He lowered his head and dealt with whatever happened after that. Later, when his course got more intense, Lin Yan couldn’t take care of him, and slowly forgot about the whole thing.

“You-, you just call me A-Yan,” The Daoist priest whispered. “I don’t mind.”

After concluding on a price, A-Yan brought out a red lacquer box from the back hall. The temple master ordered the contents to be laid out one by one; yellow paper, sacrificial incense, cinnabar, a short knife that seems to be several years old, and some bottles and jars with unknown contents.

“After everything is done like how I say, this wicked creature will have cultivated a physical body. Now is not a good time, and I’m not completely sure about this. If something goes wrong, we may have to deal with it here.” The temple master faintly commanded: “Set the array.”

The master and apprentice went to work. Lin Yan had never seen something like this before and felt like it was out of a movie. He saw the temple master lock the doors and windows and evenly sprinkled the incense ash on the window edges and the door cracks, placing a copper coin at various intervals. After that, the doors and windows were closed with red ropes. The whole room was connected by the ropes. Finally, a thin layer of cinnabar was spread on the floor, and the yellow paper and short knife were placed on the table for later use.

“The red rope wards off evil spirits and prevents anything outside from coming in, and anything inside from getting out.” The temple owner said: “The negative atmosphere in the mountain at midnight is extremely strong, and the cinnabar brings light. After a while, the wild ghosts in the mountain will come running in anger to this conflicting energy.”

Lin Yan suddenly became nervous: “What do you mean, ‘wild ghost’?”

“Some are lone souls who don’t believe that they are dead, some are poor people who had no one to collect their bodies, and some were killed and are waiting to get resurrected. It doesn’t matter, the trouble is with the one following you.” The temple master gestured towards the centre of the room. So far, the development of the matter had completely exceeded the limit of Lin Yan’s imagination. He didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded.

“This can isolate yin and yang energy, and ghosts will not be able to find you if you sprinkle it on your body. Remember that you will not be able to speak or breathe afterwards. No matter what happens, do as I say.” The temple master picked up one of the jars from the table. He unscrewed the lid and sprinkled all the stone powder on Lin Yan’s body. Seeing Lin Yan’s nervousness, A-Yan gave a hesitant smile: “The temple is very dark, give it a minute and you’ll be able to see. I was so scared the first time I saw it.”

He took out a piece of cypress wood from the basket. He used the knife to engrave Lin Yan’s birthday characters and then cut out a small paper man to paste on it. His hand moved delicately. The little red paper man stretched in his hands, grinning. But there was an indescribable weirdness on the table.

As the night grew deeper, the mountain breeze blew the leaves of the jujube trees in the courtyard. There were no people in the area for dozens of miles. The ancient temple was lit with faint lights. Lin Yan thought, if someone passed by at this time and saw three people in the room sitting in a red line around an oil lamp, they would have to be extremely frightened.

Time passed by, and there was no change in the surroundings. Lin Yan took out his phone and checked the time. It was 11:30 and they had been waiting for almost two hours, but the temple master and A-Yan remained silent, as though they were meditating.

The flame on the table moved.

“It’s here,” A-Yan said, and then motioned Lin Yan to pay attention to what was behind him. Lin Yan turned around and saw that there was nothing unusual. Then he saw it.

There are obviously only three of them in the room, but there were four shadows on the wall.