Chapter 203
Chapter 203
I was startled when I heard that Anning could become an Underworld Escort after death.
“Doesn’t that mean she can take up the post as soon as she dies?”
“How could it be that simple?”
Seventh Master shook his head. “In order to help her sister, Anning indirectly harmed people-and more than one at that. After she dies, she will definitely be punished. The Earth Soul, one of the Three Souls, records all the good and evil a person committed in life. Only by accumulating Hidden Virtue can she offset her sins. When the Hidden Virtue she has accumulated exceeds her evil deeds, she can be spared punishment.”
I was curious. “What exactly is Hidden Virtue…?”
Seventh Master explained, “Hidden Virtue means doing good deeds without publicizing them, performing acts of kindness without anyone knowing. In modern terms, it means doing something good and then keeping your achievements and name hidden. That is how you accumulate Hidden Virtue.”
“And performing Exorcism for the dead, handling matters of Yin and Yang-those also accumulate Hidden Virtue.”
“However much Hidden Virtue you accumulate can offset a corresponding amount of sin. If there is any left over, it can even bring blessings in your next life-that is, karmic reward. The Huainanzi: Lessons of the Human World once said, ‘Those with Hidden Virtue will surely receive visible reward; those who act in secret will surely gain a shining name.'”
I fell into thought.
Back when my dad and my grandfather passed away, Seventh Master had said they couldn’t reincarnate.
But the Hidden Virtue I accumulated could help them reincarnate sooner.
It seemed I would have to accumulate more Hidden Virtue from now on.
As we were talking, Anning came back from the bathroom.
We returned to Liu Jing’s home once more.
The yin energy here was even heavier than the last time we came. In the middle of summer, stepping inside felt like entering a cold storage room.
Anning and I were already traumatized by this place. Fortunately, Seventh Master was here. If he hadn’t been, neither of us would have dared come back.
It was nighttime now, so there was no need to hang blackout curtains. We simply pulled the original curtains shut to cover the windows, then closed all the doors.
“At the moment of life, there is death; at the moment of death, there is life. All things share one abode; life and death take the same form.”
Seventh Master recited the words in a sonorous voice, then scattered a handful of paper money.
“Child, we’ve come to send you on your way. When a person dies, it is like a lamp going out. Life is like drifting; death is like rest. You shouldn’t cling too much.”
“If there is anything you can’t let go of, come out and talk to us.”
When it came to gods and ghosts, Seventh Master had long since seen through it all. To him, it was as ordinary as eating and sleeping.
It was just as he had said at the beginning: at the moment of life, there is death; at the moment of death, there is life. Everything was merely the natural order. Take life lightly, and regard death as rest.
But Liu Jing did not appear. We all knew she was still inside this house, but she refused to listen.
People all had obsessions. Even that Wang Guofu had one-his obsession was money.
Obsession could give a person perseverance, but it could also drive them mad.
Seeing that Liu Jing still refused to come out, Seventh Master’s expression turned grave. He began forming a Palm Formula.
People often talk about “counting on one’s fingers,” but what is usually being counted are the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. It is also called the Heavenly Stems Palm Formula, or the Earthly Branches Palm Formula.
This Palm Formula is simply a way to make certain data easier to memorize and calculations easier to perform.
At that moment, Seventh Master calculated to Zi Water of the Earthly Branches. If he himself was the center palace, then Zi Water was behind him.
And right now, Anning was standing behind him.
He froze for a second, then suddenly spun around and grabbed Anning by the throat, barking, “You were trying to ambush me!”
The sudden move scared the life out of me. For a moment, I couldn’t react at all.
But soon, I saw that Anning’s pupils had vanished. Only the whites of her eyes remained.
So Liu Jing had already appeared-she had simply possessed Anning. She wanted to ambush Seventh Master.
After being exposed, Liu Jing instantly became hideous, glaring at Seventh Master with a face full of venomous resentment.
“You already ran off scared last time. Why put yourself through this?”
Seventh Master sighed and advised her, “Once a person dies, everything from their life loses all meaning with their passing. Love, hatred, grudges, and attachments no longer have anything to do with you. Since you’ve chosen this road, you have to keep walking it.”
Liu Jing refused to accept it. Two streams of tears appeared on her venomous face.
She was still clinging to the things from when she was alive, and she also hated us for invading what had been her home.
Some people went straight to the underworld the moment they died, without lingering in the mortal world for long. Presumably, their obsessions weren’t that deep.
Those with deep obsessions ended up like Liu Jing.
“I want to wait for my husband to come back…”
She spoke through her tears. She also knew that the Old Man in front of her wasn’t someone she could afford to provoke, so she didn’t dare throw a fit.
Even ghosts knew how to bully the weak and fear the strong.
“He is not your husband.”
Seventh Master said sternly, “Your family and friends from when you were alive are no longer your family and friends. You need to understand this: your ties with them in the mortal world have already ended. There can no longer be any connection between you. Do you understand?”
It was the first time I had seen a ghost cry so heartbreakingly.
And she wasn’t just sad. She was filled with regret and fear as well.
I had seen a passage about this in Mysteries of the Six Yao. It said that after a person died, if an Underworld Escort took away their Earth Soul, they would remain in a constant state of confusion. That state was similar to when a living person was delirious, and it would continue until they had finished walking the Yellow Springs Road.
Without that state, once a Ghost realized it was already dead, it would become terrified. If the person had committed suicide, there would also be regret. In that case, they would not obediently finish walking the Yellow Springs Road.
And Liu Jing, at this moment, had clearly already regretted killing herself. Perhaps she also regretted killing her own child.
“I… I don’t want to be dead anymore… I want to come back to life…”
She choked out to Seventh Master, “I want to live properly, just like before. I don’t want to die.”
Seventh Master sighed. “When you’re alive, you can choose to die. But once you’re dead, how can there be any logic in coming back to life? That’s common sense. Even the King of Hell, who governs life and death, couldn’t bring you back from the dead.”
Liu Jing suddenly dropped to her knees and pleaded through her sobs, “Please, let me come back to life.”
Seventh Master remained stern. “I’ve already told you, coming back from the dead is impossible. Besides, although you’re already dead, you can still enter reincarnation. I’ve also heard about what happened to you when you were alive. Since you were someone pitiful, why cling to this one lifetime? You were the one who gave up on this life. Why insist on repeating the suffering you went through before?”
“Many souls don’t know, after death, that they can start over. They don’t know reincarnation is possible. Because of that, before they reincarnate, they have to experience a brief period of fear and a brief period of regret. You could be considered lucky, because I’ve already told you in advance.”
“If you insist on clinging to this, you’ll only end up ruining your own chance at reincarnation. Tell me, what would be the point of that?”
Seventh Master was truly being extraordinarily patient. Maybe it was because he found Liu Jing pitiful.
His attempts to persuade her were also far more effective than ours.
Liu Jing seemed to have understood Seventh Master’s reasoning and was no longer clinging to her obsession, but she still had one request.
“I want to see my husband one more time. I want to have one more family reunion meal with my husband and my mother-in-law.”
Hearing this request, Seventh Master and I looked at each other.
The request wasn’t excessive, but Liu Jing’s husband and mother-in-law might not want to see her.
When Liu Jing left, she had taken the child with her too. Her husband and mother-in-law probably hated her to the bone.