For so many years, Wan Mingguang’s soul had possessed this oil lamp. It was unclear whether the lamp was driven by his resentment or if his resentment had been growing under the influence of the lamp.
Did he hate it that much? He didn’t even know it himself. He actually didn’t want the whole village to be buried with him. He was satisfied watching these teenagers die one by one and watching the whole village suffer for this.
If it weren’t for the sudden intrusion of people like Xia Hongshen, he wouldn’t be where he is now.
He looked at the man standing in front of him. This man was his cousin. Since when had his cousin turned grey-haired and couldn’t even walk steadily? So much time had passed, but it was as if he was always trapped in that past and couldn’t get rid of it.
Wan Mingguang looked at Song Jun. He had noticed him since these people entered the village. This young man had very abundant spiritual power, even more abundant than the oil lamp he possessed, which made him yearn for him. This young man also knew his past; he was very anxious now, and this young man was looking at him and trying to persuade him.
The oil lamp had been extinguished, and Xia Hongshen’s finger touched the wick. He could take back this wick at any time, but at that time, he himself would lose his shelter, and even his soul would disappear from this world completely.
Actually, he should have expected such a day. From the day he decided to take revenge, he had already seen his own ending.
Wan Mingguang closed his eyes. His face was smooth and handsome, with soft lines. At the same time, the wailing villagers quieted down, the burning pain disappeared, and the blisters on their bodies also disappeared.
The surrounding fog became thicker and thicker until the figures of the villagers were buried in the fog, and the figure of Wan Mingguang standing opposite Song Jun became indistinct.
Wan Mingguang stopped, but Song Jun could still feel his resentment. He didn’t let go of his grudge; it was just a hopeless compromise.
At this moment, the old man standing in front of Wan Mingguang suddenly knelt down and said to Xia Hongshen, “Please let my cousin go. He was killed and he is innocent.”
It was a pity that Xia Hongshen didn’t feel compassion.
The old man said, “He didn’t kill those people; they were all killed by me! In order to avenge him, I bribed the medium back then. I exploited the villagers’ fear of their ancestors, forcing them to kill and collect lamp oil. It wasn’t Mingguang’s doing; it was all my doing!”
Song Jun looked at the old man in surprise, and Wan Mingguang’s eyes began to tremble.
The old man said, “I will pay them with my life. Please let my cousin go!”
When he finished speaking, he bumped his head against the pillar of the ancestral hall next to him. Blood immediately spread from his forehead. He closed his eyes, slid to the ground, and died immediately.
Wan Mingguang watched all of this in a daze, just not saying a word.
Xia Hongshen said, “Longshao.”
The long whip was immediately retracted and transformed into Long Xing standing next to Xia Hongshen.
Wan Mingguang’s body lost its restraints, but he still stood motionless.
“Do you still resent?” Xia Hongshen asked him.
Wan Mingguang didn’t answer. He just suddenly felt confused and overwhelmed and lost the purpose of continuing to survive.
Xia Hongshen looked at his expression and nodded. He suddenly raised his hand, dispelling the fog that filled the sky and also dispersed the ghosts who wanted to swarm him.
Song Jun grabbed Xia Hongshen’s arm nervously, and Xia Hongshen said, “Don’t worry, I won’t eat him.”
Xia Hongshen raised the oil lamp in his hand and said to Wan Mingguang, “Come here.”
Wan Mingguang’s body began to shake, and his soul was leaving the body, as if he felt the attraction from the direction of Xia Hongshen, and finally slowly floated over and possessed the oil lamp.
The body of the young man possessed by Wan Mingguang also slipped to the ground and lost consciousness.
Xia Hongshen placed a seal on the oil lamp, then threw it to Long Xing and asked him to put it away.
Song Jun grabbed Xia Hongshen’s hand and didn’t let go, meaning to ask him what he planned.
Xia Hongshen told Song Jun, “I will take him out of here.”
Song Jun was relieved when he heard this.
As for these villagers, although they did not die of fear and fire, they would pay for the lives of so many innocent teenagers they had killed.
Because the roads were cleared overnight, when the sun climbed up the mountain, vehicles from the county public security bureau also drove into the mountain village.
The elder of the village and his son supported the crazy wife and came to the police to surrender.
The county public security bureau immediately reported the situation, and the city bureau promptly sent reinforcements. Guided by the elder of the village, they unearthed more than twenty sets of remains, all belonging to those who had lost their lives at a young age. Now, only bare bones remained.
Song Jun and the others were sent down the mountain, mainly because Song Jun’s tongue was seriously injured and needed to go to the hospital for treatment.
While Song Jun was undergoing treatment, Xia Hongshen called Yun Po and told him that there was big business on the mountain.
Yun Po angrily exclaimed over the phone, “Screw your big deal! Have you paid up?”
Xia Hongshen said, “Didn’t you accept Fengliu’s money last time?”
Yun Po yelled, “Is that your money?”
Xia Hongshen said expressionlessly, “Fengliu is mine. There’s no question about his money.” After saying that, Xia Hongshen hung up the phone.
Long Xing went to the small supermarket outside the hospital and bought a few bottles of water. He then gave one bottle to each of them.
Xi Anling took the milk tea she asked for. After twisting the lid for a long time without opening it, she stretched out her hand and handed it to Xia Hongshen.
Xia Hongshen took it and unscrewed it for her, then gave it back to her.
After waiting for a while, Song Jun came out of the treatment room. His tongue was anaesthetised and had stitches. Although it didn’t hurt so much now, it would be difficult to eat in the coming days.
After leaving the hospital, they went to the Public Security Bureau to cooperate with the investigation.
They all tacitly ignored Wan Mingguang’s incident and only said that they felt that the atmosphere in the village was not normal. Later, when they went to the ancestral hall on the mountain, they discovered lamp oil mixed with human fat and were besieged by the villagers.
The matter was settled, and their car’s tires were changed, and they drove down the mountain. At that time, although it was late, Xia Hongshen decided to drive back, even if it was going to be midnight when they returned to the city.
On the way back, Long Xing and Xia Hongshen took turns driving.
Song Jun was sitting in the back seat. Because he couldn’t speak, he leaned on Xia Hongshen’s shoulder and fell asleep after getting in the car. Along the way, Xia Hongshen got out to switch seats with Long Xing and drove. Song Jun then leaned on Feng Junyuan’s shoulder, continuing to sleep. Fortunately, Feng Junyuan didn’t mind his presence.
It was indeed midnight when they returned to the city. Long Xing showed his work ID to the security guard at the school gate and asked the security guard to open the door for him. He drove the car downstairs to Xia Hongshen’s dormitory.
Song Jun was so sleepy that he didn’t even know the car had stopped. He woke up because Xia Hongshen directly picked him up and carried him out of the car.
Song Jun woke up suddenly and struggled to get down.
Xia Hongshen didn’t force him; he put him on the ground and said goodbye to Long Xing and the others.
Song Jun also walked to the car and wanted to talk to Long Xing. Unfortunately, although the effect of the anaesthetic on his tongue was over, he still couldn’t speak very clearly.
Long Xing said to him, “I know what you mean. Go back and rest early. I will see you again in a couple of days.”
Song Jun nodded.
He and Xia Hongshen returned to the dormitory together. In fact, they had been in the mountain for two days, and they hadn’t washed themselves properly. Now, they had time to take a comfortable bath, but Song Jun felt too tired. He thought about changing the sheets and comforter in the morning. Once back in the room, he lay down and fell asleep immediately. As for whether Xia Hongshen went straight to his own room or not, Song Jun had no recollection.
The next day was already Tuesday, and he only had the second class in the morning.
Song Jun woke up and saw that it was already past ten o’clock. Even if it was for the second class, he was still late. After some hesitation, he simply buried his head and fell asleep for a while.
After getting up, Song Jun sat on the edge of the bed and was stunned for a moment. He thought of Wan Mingguang and wanted to know what Xia Hongshen was going to do with Wan Mingguang.
Since he hadn’t had time to take a shower, Song Jun put on the dirty clothes from yesterday and went to Xia Hongshen’s room in his slippers to knock on the door. However, no one answered him after knocking for a while.
Bu Hui suddenly opened the door of his room and poked his head out to see Song Jun, “You’re back, Junior Brother?”
“Senior Brother Bu,” Song Jun called out. His tongue was still a little sore, and his words were slurred. “You didn’t go to the hospital?”
Bu Hui nodded, “Senior Brother Xia went out early in the morning. Maybe he went to work in the teaching and research office.”
After saying that, Bu Hui walked towards him, “What’s wrong, your mouth is hurt?”
Song Jun opened his mouth and showed him her tongue.
“Oh,” Bu Hui said, “this poor thing, don’t talk anymore. Rest well, and have some porridge for lunch.”
Song Jun nodded.
In the afternoon, Song Jun took off all the sheets and quilt covers, went to the school bathroom to shower, and threw all the dirty clothes and sheets and quilt covers into the laundry room.
After tidying up, Song Jun planned to go to the lab and meet Xia Hongshen.
He had just come out of the dormitory when a young man passed him by, and the two of them bumped into each other accidentally.
“I’m sorry,” Song Jun apologised subconsciously. He turned to look at the boy and saw that his skin was very white, and his hair was curly and dyed yellow. At first glance, he looked like a mixed race.
The young man also looked at him and left without saying anything.
Song Jun continued to walk to the Forensic Medicine building. He found Xia Hongshen in the office upstairs, knocked on the door, walked in, and asked, “Senior Brother Xia, how are you going to deal with Wan Mingguang’s matter?”
Xia Hongshen didn’t answer, turned the swivel chair to face him, and waved for him to come over.
Song Jun walked over and stood in front of him.
Xia Hongshen said, “Open your mouth.”
Song Jun opened his mouth.
Xia Hongshen looked at the wound on his tongue and wanted to lick it for him.
Song Jun didn’t know what he was thinking, so he asked again, “Will Wan Mingguang be punished?”
Xia Hongshen suddenly reached out and hugged him, let him sit on his lap, rubbed his face against Song Jun’s neck, and said, “He did something wrong. Shouldn’t he be punished?”
Song Jun felt that this position was extremely inappropriate! But he was a little reluctant to part away from Xia Hongshen as he felt Xia Hongshen rubbing his neck. He hesitated and then asked, “What kind of punishment should he receive? Although he did something wrong, in that situation, if it were me, I would probably retaliate like crazy.”
Xia Hongshen asked him, “Then what do you think is appropriate?”
Song Jun said, “I don’t know, at least it shouldn’t be too harsh a punishment.”
Xia Hongshen thought for a while and said, “I gave him to Yun Po and asked him to take him back to the temple. He was suppressed in the temple, chanted Buddha’s name, practised, and washed away his sins.”
Song Jun was a little surprised when he heard this, “Is it possible?”
Xia Hongshen said, “Yeah.”
The spiritual power imbued in the wick of the Thousand Years Lamp over the years persisted even after removing the wick. The lamp itself now possessed spiritual energy. Wan Mingguang’s ghost was attached to the oil lamp. All that was needed was to hand it over to Yun Po to take back to the temple. After his cultivation and merits were complete, perhaps they could guide him to another reincarnation.
Song Jun finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard what Xia Hongshen said. He suddenly became concerned about their position. He was worried about what he would think if someone came in suddenly.
He thought it was time to find an excuse to leave, so he reached for his phone to check the time, but when he reached into his pocket, he found that the phone was not there at all.
Song Jun was taken aback and rummaged through several of his pockets, but he was pretty sure he had taken his cell phone with him when he went out because he stood in the corridor and checked the time when he closed the door.
He lost his cell phone!
Losing a phone wasn’t a huge deal; it wasn’t valuable, and the model was outdated. However, what concerned him was the phone charm Xia Hongshen had given him – it was a fragment of the Thousand Years Lamp!
Song Jun simply didn’t dare to look at Xia Hongshen. He was afraid that Xia Hongshen would be angry if he found out about this. The piece of Thousand Years Lamp he worked so hard to find was now lost again due to his own carelessness.
But it was impossible not to say anything. Song Jun finally made up his mind and said to Xia Hongshen, “It’s over. I lost my phone.”
Unexpectedly, Xia Hongshen had no reaction.
Song Jun then added, “The fragments of Thousand Years Lamp are still hanging on the mobile phone…”
Xia Hongshen finally gave a ‘hmm’, “I know.”
The author has something to say:
I personally feel that these chapters are written quite smoothly. Later on, the horror element might not be so horrible, with a greater focus on advancing the main plot.
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