Chapter 41

After listening to Song Liuyan's story, my heart became filled with a mix of emotions. I felt immense sympathy for the poor girl in front of me! She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, who should have had a life that others envied, but one incident took her life. Not only did she lose her life, but her soul also became an eternal slave.

I took a deep breath, and my view of the world changed.

"You have been affected by the Zhou Dynasty's Prison King Technique!"

"Prison King Technique?" Song Liuyan blinked, puzzled by the term.

"During the Western Zhou period, when a pharmacist retired, he asked the Zhou King for three hundred palace maidens to accompany him. After returning to his hometown, he made those three hundred maidens take medicine daily. Later, they died one after another, and he buried their bones in a coffin tomb. When he reached the end of his life, he instructed his descendants to bury him with those three hundred maidens. Later, a fangshi (a type of Taoist practitioner) revealed the reason behind this."

"The medicine the pharmacist gave the maidens was called the Dragon Soul Pill, made from a plant called White Dragon Grass, which is said to grow only where a dragon has urinated, making it extremely rare. After taking the Dragon Soul Pill, a person's soul would not forget their memories upon death. Not forgetting their memories is equivalent to not truly dying, and not truly dying means not going to hell, but instead wandering in the world forever! However, he did not give them the chance to wander; instead, he created a false hell, the coffin tomb I mentioned earlier. He trapped them there, waiting for his own death. After he died, he descended into the hell he created, becoming the king of that hell, while the maidens had to serve him even in death. In life, he did not enjoy the treatment of a king, but in death, he clearly did. This is why it is called the Prison King Technique."

"After this story spread, many officials and nobles followed suit, leading to the practice of family members being buried with the deceased. It wasn't until the Qin Dynasty that the practice of live burials was abolished and replaced with terracotta warriors."

I had read about this in a book left by my grandfather, and I found these stories very interesting. I never imagined that what I thought were just stories actually existed in the world!

Indeed, stories come from reality!

After listening to my explanation, Song Liuyan's eyes sparkled. I had resolved her doubts, but I had also given her a more distressing answer. "I never expected it to be like this! If the Prison King Technique is not broken, will the trapped souls never be able to leave? Will they have to serve that person forever and ever?"

I did not hide anything from her and nodded sincerely!

What started as a case of yin-yang coexistence had unexpectedly led to this.

Suddenly, Song Liuyan began to cry, her tears streaming down her face. She seemed to have lost her will, collapsing onto the table, sobbing in sorrow.

Hearing her pitiful cries, I wanted to comfort her, but seeing Wang Shuo's body, I immediately dismissed the idea! I was afraid that if she got too emotional, she might suddenly hug me.

Two men hugging each other, that's a scene I couldn't even imagine.

"Master!" Suddenly, Song Liuyan stood up again, staring at me with tears still on her face.

"Although I have wandered for many years, I have never harmed anyone! Even when I killed Wang Shuo's two family members, it was because their killing aura was too strong, which triggered the sha qi (negative energy) in their bodies, leading to their deaths. If they hadn't had such strong killing auras, they wouldn't have died. As for the bald monk, it was entirely his own fault. He tried to dispel me with his seal without even asking any questions! I was afraid, so I killed him."

The two men who usually guarded Wang Shuo while he slept must have been involved in many killings, so they had strong killing auras! Killing aura can suppress ghosts, but it cannot suppress sha qi. When sha qi is triggered, it turns into killing, and the killing is countered, leading to their deaths.

The monk I met yesterday clearly had no real skills. He must have often used his seal to kill ghosts without cause, which led to his own downfall. This was not Song Liuyan's fault.

I nodded and said, "I know you are not evil by nature."

"Thank you!" She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Alright, stop crying. First, tell me how to find your bones!" I tried to comfort her in this not-so-effective way, but fortunately, it worked, and she stopped crying.

"I, I, I don't know how to find them! I only remember the place is called Hujiawan. I heard about it many years ago, but I don't know how long ago it was."

Just a place name, this is like looking for a needle in a haystack!

"Hujiawan! In the south, at least it's in the south. If it were in the north, I would have to go all the way to the north." I muttered to myself, trying to comfort myself.

"Do your bones have any distinctive features?" If I find that place, I should be able to find her bones, as it is now considered a haunted and dangerous site. I believe no one lives there.

However, she mentioned that there were many bones and many women who had died there! To find her bones, they would need to have some distinctive features.

"Yes!" She said excitedly, "When I was a child, I broke two of my ribs while walking. Although they healed, I sometimes still feel pain."

I was speechless for a moment. "You've been dead for so many years, your ribs might have already broken! Even if your ribs didn't break, others' ribs might have. This can't be a distinctive feature. Think of something else, like..."

I was at a loss myself, as I didn't know what kind of feature would be useful.

With so many bodies and bones, how could I find her distinctive features? Besides, she would need to have some distinctive feature for me to find it!

I had an idea: spirit bones!

I quickly asked, "Birthmark? Do you have any birthmarks, the kind you were born with?"

Places with birthmarks often have prominent spirit bones, where the memories of the previous life are deeply imprinted, causing the birthmark to appear. When my grandfather and I went to pay respects at the graves on the mountain, we saw something like ghost fire glowing. Later, my grandfather told me that it was the spirit bones of the dead glowing.

Spirit bones are something people are born with. Everyone is born with a spirit bone. It is a mark from their previous life, and those with prominent spirit bones indicate that they lived in their previous life and died with great regret.