The soil on the grave, also called guardian soil. What does this mean? The so-called soil on the grave, inside is the bones of the deceased, the deceased's bones coldly looking back home, green grass covering the grave.
To put it simply, the meaning is that a handful of soil on the grave is actually the remains of the dead, or in other words, the soil on the grave has long been mixed with the remains of the deceased.
In many folklore stories we have heard, when a person dies, they go to the underworld to report, and before finally drinking the soup from Meng Po after crossing the Naihe Bridge, they will go up to the viewing platform to take a last look at their hometown and loved ones.
But it's not like that. The rules in the underworld are far more extensive than we know. If the deceased has not reached the end of their natural life, they cannot go straight to the Naihe Bridge, but must wait on the Yellow Springs Road until their natural life spans end before they can go to the Naihe Bridge.
So, the deceased's bones coldly look back home. This means that when the deceased reaches the viewing platform to take a last look at their hometown, most likely their bones have already turned cold, and even rotted, with green grass growing on the grave.
This is also the reason why the soil on the grave is also called the soil that guards the corpse, because when the deceased looks at their own body on the platform, most of the company is the soil on the grave.
Since it is called the soil that guards the corpse, it naturally has a close connection with the corpse. Because of this connection, I can locate Long Lanxiang's body through the soil on the grave.
While I was contemplating, Wang Qian and I had already returned to the town. Suddenly, I was startled by Wang Qian's shout: "Ah... Duanmu."
I was lost in thought, and suddenly heard Wang Qian's scream, so I quickly looked around. Finally, I saw Wang Qian staring at me angrily, and then said helplessly, "Captain, do you know that you'll give people heart attacks if you frighten them like this? What's wrong?"
Wang Qian glared at me angrily, "Can you focus on what you're doing? You said you could find Long Lanxiang's body, so where is it?"
"Wang Captain, why are you even more anxious than me, what's wrong, are you interested in Long Lanxiang?" I couldn't help but pat my chest, almost suffocating. Being together with Wang Qian for so long might actually drive someone crazy. After giving Wang Qian a fierce look, I ignored her.
I arrived at a secluded corner, and spread the grave soil in my hand. Then, I took out a paper butterfly from my bag. After taking out the paper butterfly, I circled it around the grave soil three times to the left and three times to the right, and then drew on it three times in a row. After that, I threw the grave soil and the paper butterfly into the air, chanting: "Dust to dust, soil to soil, the living search for the mountain, the dead guide the way."
With a loud command, the paper butterfly instantly fluttered and flew up into the air. The grave soil fell to the ground like raindrops.
The spell I just chanted was actually a spell used to search for a grave. However, the paper butterfly is a tool used to search for a person. Daoism is so wonderful, in fact, the spell for searching for a grave can also be used to search for a body, but if a paper person is used, it won't be able to float very far, so I used a paper butterfly instead.
As I watched the paper butterfly fly up, I looked at Wang Qian and said, "Hey, you're interested in Long Lanxiang's body, right? Hurry up and follow."
At that moment, while Wang Qian was watching the paper butterfly flying, she was completely dumbfounded, pointing at the paper butterfly and stammering, "This...this is too incredible, isn't it? How did you do it?"
Ignoring Wang Qian, I suddenly threw a ten-dollar bill at her and said, "I'm hungry, get me something to eat, let's eat while we walk."
As Wang Qian was still foolishly looking at the ten-dollar bill, I quickly walked after the paper butterfly.
By now, the sun was shining and it was already noon. There was a lot of hustle and bustle on the streets of Laowa Town. However, for these ordinary people, they would definitely not care about the paper butterfly flying over their heads.
The paper butterfly flew very slowly, much slower than a real butterfly. But even though it was slow, I had roughly determined the direction in which the paper butterfly was flying.
"Hmm." I couldn't help but frown, because it seemed that the paper butterfly was flying in the direction outside the small town?
How could it be, could it be that Long Lanxiang's body had been taken out of Laowa Town?
As I tracked the paper butterfly, I thought back to the grave site just now. Upon careful reflection, I realized that the soul-calling flag inside the grave site was already quite old, the bamboo pole was rotten and broken, and the white soul-calling flag hanging on it showed signs of decay.
It seemed that Long Lanxiang's body had been dug out many years ago. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sigh, wondering where the body was now.
With that in mind, I looked up at the paper butterfly in the sky. As I did, my heart suddenly shook, sending ripples through me. I saw the paper butterfly, which was about to fly out of the town, suddenly stop and slowly land on the roof of a building.
"Duanmu." Just at that moment, Wang Qian also caught up, holding two hot steamed buns, and panting, said, "You'd better remember this, this is the last time, if you dare to boss me around again, I'll make sure to deal with you when we get back to school."
"Oh." Upon hearing Wang Qian's voice, I turned around, grabbed a bun and started eating it, saying, "What do you mean, bossing around? Captain, it's all fuzzy to me. I boss you around, and if you don't go, isn't that it?"
When Wang Qian heard this, she was about to explode, but her eyes suddenly lit up when she saw the paper butterfly on the roof not far away. "Duanmu, the paper butterfly has stopped, is it broken?"
"Uh." I glanced at Wang Qian, and then stuffed the bun back into her hands, saying, "If you're broken, the paper butterfly won't be, let's go and retrieve the body."
"What?" Taking advantage of Wang Qian's stunned state, I had already walked up to the building where the paper butterfly had landed.
This is a three-story small building commonly seen in the small town. What's special is that there is a wall surrounding the house and two iron gates installed. The iron gates were tightly locked and the yard looked a bit dilapidated.
"It seems like no one has lived here for a long time," I hesitated, "How come I never noticed this house before?"
Wang Qian asked beside me, "Duan Mu, are you sure this is the place? How did we easily find Long Lanxiang's body? Who could have dug out Long Lanxiang's body? It's too bold."
I couldn't help but glare at Wang Qian, "Section leader, what are you saying? If it weren't for my skills, would you have thought of finding Long Lanxiang's body here?"
Ignoring Wang Qian, I started to run, pushing off the wall with one foot, and then jumped over the wall without hesitation.
Then my eyes began scanning the yard, immediately sensing a strange atmosphere everywhere in the yard and in the house in front of me. I even felt like I was being watched.