When I finished speaking, the stolid faces of those people suddenly showed a hint of ferocity. With a buzzing sound, a cold wind swept through the door, and leaves began to fly everywhere.
These people stood in the darkness, their faces indiscernible, only the vague shapes of six or seven people standing upright. They were dressed in tattered clothes, and their hair was messy.
But in that moment of seeing them, I already understood and said futilely, "You are the spirits of those who died in this village, right?"
Without hurrying to leave, I simply placed Wang Qian on the ground and covered her face with the cloth that had been previously soaked with urine.
Then, I stood up and had already taken out the joss paper from my bag.
At that moment, a hollow and old man's voice came from outside the door, "You are right. We are all the unfortunate spirits who died in this village. You, as a living person, can only talk and pretend, how can you know what it means to die a tragic death?"
I shook my head and sighed, "That's not necessarily true."
As I spoke, I unfolded the ghost money and joss paper, and continued, "But, you have no descendants, the village is deserted, and no one worships you. Also, the entire village has been sealed by the Gate of Ghosts, and you cannot be reincarnated. It is indeed tragic. Since I have encountered you today, I will consider it a kind deed and offer you some incense."
Helplessly shaking my head, I lit the joss paper and threw the ghost money outside the house, placing a handful of incense at the threshold. Just then, Pang Dun panted as he leaned on three people and came over.
Seeing me burning the joss paper, Pang Dun immediately started cursing at me, "Duan Mu, the village is already in such a state, why are you burning incense? Instead of wasting your efforts, you should come and help me."
As he spoke, Pang Dun, panting, walked over to my side. As a result, when he looked outside, his expression instantly changed dramatically. First, there was astonishment, then his legs began to tremble, and with a loud yell, he quickly hid behind me.
"Don't make a fuss." I gently pushed away the arm that Pang Dun had grabbed.
Seeing Pang Dun's appearance, I almost couldn't help but laugh. However, my gaze remained fixed on the doorway.
As I burned the joss paper, the faces of the six or seven spirits gradually became clear under the light of the fire. However, their appearance was not very pleasant. They all came closer and began to sniff the incense with their noses.
"Phew." I breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they were willing to accept the incense I burned, it meant there was room for negotiation.
"Duan Mu." At that moment, Pang Dun, trembling, patted my shoulder and said, "What are they doing?"
I looked at Pang Dun speechlessly and said, "They're having a meal. Ghosts are just like people, they need to eat. Otherwise, their souls will become weaker and weaker, and eventually even if they are not collected by someone, they will disappear from this world. Inside this incense, there is something that can replenish their soul energy."
"Oh," Pang Dun said foolishly, "After they've smelled our incense, they should let us pass, right?"
I nodded, "That would be best. Otherwise, I'll have to use some force."
As I finished speaking, the light from outside the door dimmed. The figures of the six or seven people once again became blurry and indistinct. After sniffing the incense, they stood upright once again, their faces fierce as they stared at me and Pang Dun.
At that moment, I stood up, and my hand had already reached into my bag for my dog-hair whip. Then I said in a deep voice to the ghosts outside the door, "I offer incense to you. If it's not enough, I will definitely come back to worship you in the future. But for now, can you move aside?"
"Teeheehee." At this point, a hoarse, eerie laughter came from outside the door again. "Do you think that this small amount of incense can compensate for the tragic events that our village experienced? The entire village, seven or eight lives all died tragically. Do you think that burning a little incense paper can settle it?"
"Hmm?" I furrowed my brow, a bit angry. "The tragic events in your village have nothing to do with me. I offer you incense simply because I want to accumulate some good karma. If I don't want to give it to you, don't expect to get anything from me."
"Move aside." I suddenly roared, "Whether you live or die, it's none of my concern. But if you continue to block the way, don't blame me for being impolite."
"Kekeke." Another hoarse laughter was heard from outside the door. Afterward, the spirits of these villagers all raised their heads and raised their claws, looking at me fiercely, saying in unison, "Ghost Rider's Gate, death befalls a village, the village is already gone, so you should accompany us in death as well."
"No good." After saying this, these spirits finally came in, rushing towards me and Fat Dumpling. Fat Dumpling let out a loud cry and had already taken several steps back in fear.
I stood silently in place, watching the spirits approaching, feeling helpless. "Kind words can't persuade these damn ghosts. Originally, I pitied your tragic deaths and wanted to help break this Ghost Rider's Gate for you, but you ungrateful villagers still want to do harm and take our lives. Evil spirits like you, if left in the world, will only cause harm. Since that's the case, I'll take you to the judgment of the heavens today."
As I spoke, I reached into my backpack and unexpectedly found a hard object. Then without hesitation, I grabbed the object and threw it towards the door.
Shh, at the moment the object was thrown, the wind around blew harshly, causing pine needles to scatter.
At that moment, the spirits of the villagers who had originally lunged towards me actually all let out a scream, then uncontrollably flew towards the door.
"Hehe." I coldly laughed and looked fiercely at the spirits, saying, "Evil things are indeed effective against evil spirits. That Nie Wei caused the deaths of a whole village and turned your bodies into impure yin. You ignorant dead ghosts can't distinguish right from wrong. Today, I'll teach you how to behave."
With that, I suddenly yanked on a rope.
The hard object I had thrown was the Soul-Seeking Claw, the one I had obtained in the river. Originally, I was planning to destroy the Soul-Seeking Claw, as it was a harmful item. But these villagers were really getting on my nerves, so I decided to just give the Soul-Seeking Claw to them.
The rope in my hand was connected to the tail of the Soul-Seeking Claw. After I pulled, the Soul-Seeking Claw was directly yanked up and hung on the door beam. The spirits of the villagers caught by the claw were also hung alongside the Soul-Seeking Claw on the beam.
"Wu wu." A miserable wail, the hung spirits of the villagers began to plead for mercy. "We didn't know there was such a method from a master, please spare us from our tragic deaths, let us go."
"Hehe." I sneered, saying, "You didn't know any better and still want me to spare you? Just stay there. If you're lucky, someone may come to rescue you. If not, you'll wait to be hanged for a hundred years and be scattered, the moment your souls disperse."