Free Web NovelChapter 837: Chapter 618: Lonely Tomb_2
"Exorcising the Ancestor?" Chang Chuchu said in a panic, "Just with the few of us?"
"By yourselves, of course not, but you have this." Xiang Fengchen sneered coldly, taking out his own paper package from his bosom, emitting a scent of burning incense, "Use this. Once you detect something abnormal, sprinkle it. Whether you can find it or not is another issue; as long as you have this, the Feng Shui here will be disrupted temporarily. The Ancestor will follow his instincts and leave this place, seeking a better spot."
"Inside it is incense ash, then can’t we prepare more and scatter it everywhere?" Lou Huixiang, seeming to have grasped a lifeline, became emotionally agitated. After all, he was the second in line tonight, and it would be a lie to say he wasn’t scared.
After a previous conflict, Xiang Fengchen’s observation of this person was extremely poor, and he reprimanded, "Open the paper package, and look with your dog eyes what exactly is inside?"
Facing Xiang Fengchen, Lou Huixiang dared not talk back. He took the paper package from his body, opened it, first sniffing closely without detecting anything wrong until he touched it with his hand, and then his face suddenly changed. He felt some particles that felt like sand or debris in the incense ash; pinching and looking closely, his pupils violently trembled the next second.
"Bone ash?!"
"This incense ash has bone ash mixed into it!"
No wonder the color of the incense ash was somewhat strange.
However, very soon, Lou Huixiang realized something was off. These particles resembling bone debris were too brittle; pinching them with a fingernail immediately crushed them. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
"This is not the debris of adult bones; it’s from an infant burnt before it is fully formed, only such things can touch the Ancestor and make him manifest," Nalan Shuo explained, who obviously knew about this long ago. "The infant is not taken randomly; it’s a close blood relative of the Ancestor, also a descendant of his."
"Burning the corpses of descendant infants?" Chang Chuchu felt somewhat shocked.
Nalan Shuo gently shook his head.
Chang Chuchu seemed to realize something, her expression turning darker, until Jiang Qingluan spoke faintly, "It is by extracting the infants that have not yet fully formed and then burning them. Mixing the bone ash produced in this way with incense ash gives it such effectiveness."
Now Lou Huixiang understood everything. No wonder the bone debris was so fragile, clearly the bones of an infant not fully developed.
The methods of Earl Mansion were appalling, so ruthless even towards their own people, let alone to outsiders like them.
In other words, whether the Earl Mansion’s plan succeeds or not, they won’t let them leave. Their only fate is to be killed and their bodies stuffed into the clay statues in the temple.
Of course, if they could find the disciple who escaped from the Magician, they might still have a chance to turn the tables.
The backlash of such a blasphemous Evil Technique once broken is unimaginable; even the entire Earl Mansion might be its funeral accompaniment, and this was their only chance.
It’s a matter of life or death now.
Time passed by the second. Xiang Fengchen emphasized a few key points until the distant sound of a dull clapper rang out.
The time was up.
"Leave incense before you go; whether successful or not, the next person will depart after thirty minutes." Xiang Fengchen pulled out an ordinary incense stick given by the incense candle shop owner during the day, took one out, and held it in his palm to pass to Nalan Shuo. This incense stick was rather long, used for timing. Thirty minutes was all the time they could control.
Nalan Shuo casually took it, lit the incense, and immediately inserted it into the small incense burner, then, already dressed, Nalan Shuo adhered to the agreement and was the first to move. Yang Xiao wanted to come close and say something but was deterred by the look from Nalan Shuo.
Carrying a White Lantern with the character ’longevity,’ Nalan Shuo walked out of the room, out of the courtyard. The night was deep, and Earl Mansion was large, making it no easy task to find the other courtyard without a guide. However, thoughtfully, lanterns were hung outside the courtyard door every few meters, like cold, pale markers guiding Nalan Shuo into the abyss.
A gust of night wind blew, causing Nalan Shuo to wrap his clothes tighter. The white longevity lanterns swayed with the wind, making rustling sounds.
After a while, Nalan Shuo stopped, raised his head, in front of him stood a large black gate. At that moment, a wooden clapper was suspended outside the gate by a hemp rope, which looked very old, having endured decades of weathering. However, what unsettled Nalan Shuo more was the manner in which the wooden clapper was hung—it was suspended right in the middle of the black gate’s eaves, like a Hanged Ghost, gently swinging in the night breeze.
The hemp rope that tied the clapper had peculiarities; the end of the rope was a strange dark brown, like dried blood from long ago, and the knots tied to the clapper were also very uncommon, triple stacked, used for lifting coffins.
The gate was not completely closed; a gap was left in the middle. Taking a deep breath, Nalan Shuo carried the lantern forward, pushed the door open, and stepped into the courtyard.
The courtyard was as desolate as ever. Just stepping through the gate, he vaguely felt a surge of Evil Qi rushing toward him, and at the same time, the atmosphere in the courtyard felt somewhat strange.
This peculiar scent unnerved him, but looking around, he could not find the source of the strange scent. The feeling was like it came from all directions.
Before leaving, he and the others agreed on the first exploration area, which was to the left of the entrance according to the clockwise direction. Carrying the lantern, he walked step-by-step, always alert to his surroundings, ears perked up, for after all, he did not know what exactly the strangeness Steward Wu spoke of was.
