“After the baby washes up, they will grow to be more obedient~”
The midwife continued saying its blessings. Shi Tao came back and found that the ghost baby was looking at him with a gloomy pair of eyes. The ghost baby was wiped with a soft cloth.
“After the baby washes up, they will grow to be more obedient~”
The midwife repeated itselff. When it peered into Shi Tao’s slender eyes, it was almost as if it was gnashing its teeth, with a harsh and cruel expression in its eyes.
What’s going on again?
Shi Tao stiffened due to anxiousness and looked blankly at the midwife and the ghost baby in his arms. Suddenly, he understood what was happening.
“Yes, yes.”
Shi Tao stuttered. He coughed and spoke smoothly, “What you say is right.”
“As both sides of this gong shine, the baby will be an amazingly famous person when they grow up.”
The gong brought by the midwife was filled with water soaked in herbs from the porcelain basin. It placed the ghost baby on the weighing scale and cleaned him with a delicate towel dipped in herbal soaked water.
“Yes,” Hou Feihu replied. Every time the midwife said something, he answered with a “yes”. Although he only said one word, Hou Feihu’s tone was firm, sincere, full of strength, and subconsciously convincing to one’s ears.
“When the gong rings out loudly, the baby will grow into a famous figure.”
“Yes.”
The midwife said the auspicious blessings. When the midwife finishes the baby’s washing on the third day custom, it should be a lively time for the family to get together. Every time the midwife said an auspicious blessing, everyone would loudly echo it and laugh joyously. They believed that doing so would truly bless the baby with the opportunity to grow up well and healthy, happy and safe for the rest of their lives.
For them to experience such an attraction implies that Pingping loves her child, Hou Feihu thought.
Perhaps, as the ghost that possessed Miao Fangfei had said, the child born to Pingping had never experienced the washing on the third day custom or been blessed by their family. They had been viewed as fetal flesh, and villagers and outsiders had eaten themt.
The main focal point of the second attraction was the ghost baby. The washing on the third day custom and the beating of the three dynasties banquet were conducted to fulfill Pingping’s wishes.
Hou Feihu’s heart suddenly sank, and his breathing became heavy.
In that case, what exactly did Zhao Hongtu and the others’ babies represent?
The washing on the third custom day was almost over.
Miao Fangfei looked at the midwife, who was holding the ghost baby in one hand and the weighing scale on the other. It knocked three times on the porcelain basin. The midwife had a sharp voice like a fox, and sounded very pious now.
“As the weighing scale is knocked, the baby will never be afraid of anything~”
“When the weighing scale is knocked twice, the baby will be bolder than heavens~”
“When the weighing scale is knocked thrice, the baby will roam the world healthily~”
.
Why am I crying?
Miao Fangfei realized that she was shedding tears unconsciously. A strange emotion, similar to mourning and anguish, was overwhelming her. These were not her own feelings. Miao Fangfei was well aware of this.
The current circumstance was quite similar to when she was possessed by the ghost, yet it felt different because Miao Fangfei didn’t lose consciousness this time and was still aware of what was going on.
[Ghost baby’s affinity (10/10)]
[The spiteful ghost Pingping is very satisfied with the washing on the third day custom items you have prepared. You will receive an extra reward of “Memory Fragments”.]
[Pingping’s memory fragments recorded part of Pingping’s past and her miserable life.]
Wei Xun waited at the entrance to the mountain cave, relishing the procession of the washing on the third day custom. When the custom was performed, the ghost baby laughed and waved its hands at him. Its skin tone, which had originally been blue and gray, became normal. He appeared to be a normal and attractive baby, despite being a bit skinny.
“Pingping is really a miserable person,” Wei Xun commented whileholding a booklet in his hand. It was the second Pingping’s diary that Wei Xun had gotten after killing the zombified flying fox king.
[Name: Pingping’s Diary (2/3)]
[Quality: Scene (can only be used on this tour and cannot be taken out of the tour)]
[Function: Obtain some information]
[Note: Pingping’s diary recorded her past events in different periods.]
He wasn’t like the tourists, who had to use their brains to figure out what had happened in Pingping’s life. After reading Pingping’s diary, Wei Xun understood the gist of every aspect of the attraction.
The tone of the diary entries in this section was more upbeat than before. The previous diary entries of Pingping, who was an adult, were full of hatred and resentment. In this part of the diary, although Pingping was sad about her brother’s death and worried about her father taking her as an heir, the overall tone of the diary entries were still relatively positive. Pingping was also worried about how to better inherit the inheritance of her family.
She knew that her constitution was more inclined to Yin energy, and that she could not have enough Yang energy like a man. She would get sick after staying with the corpses for long periods.
But father said that he had a way.
Get married to a netherworld spirit.
As the illusory phantom of the zombified flying fox king had said, her father asked Pingping to marry her brother, but what the diary recorded was different. Pingping didn’t want to escape her marriage.
[This is my responsibility. Only I can inherit it]
In Pingping’s diary, there were few men she had affection for, but she was determined to devote her life to inheriting the family’s secret skill of driving the dead.
She was a good girl with a strong sense of responsibility.
But Wei Xun knew that Pingping had been pregnant with a child, and he knew that what the illusory phantom of the zombified flying fox king said was false. Pingping must have encountered something crueler and crazier.
At this point of the diary, the diary recorded that the night before Pingping married a netherworld spirit, Pingping was surprisingly nervous. When she took a walk to calm her feelings, she accidentally heard her father talking with the villagers, saying that to change Pingping’s physique, she needed to “Bring Yang energy into her body”.
What does “bring Yang energy into her body” mean?
The next part of the diary was filled with large patches of ink. The madness and despair revealed in the ink was shocking. Wei Xun directly flipped to the last page. Just like the previous diary Wei Xun received, her handwriting became crazy and scrawly, revealing deep-rooted despair and madness.
[They all have to die, they all have to die!!!]
“Uwa, uwa——”
The white and delicate baby extended out its hands to embrace Wei Xun. Yu Hehui, on the other hand, was firmly holding the baby in his arms.
After the washing on the third day custom was over, the midwife didn’t leave. It stared at the ghost baby and drooled. Then the slender fox looked at Yu Hehui and Wei Xun, dragging its shrill voice.
“Such a noble kid was born in our dynasty; in the near future, we will be able to look forward to another virtuous descendent born from the child.”
“The court is full of sounds of congratulations, and the guests wish blessings for the child; with an additional rare treasure in the house, everyone is filled with joy!”
After that, a white fox dashed out of the black robe and ran deep into the forest.
“I, why am I here?”
Yu Hehui looked around blankly and didn’t seem to know why he was in the cave. Seeing III-9 outside, he trotted all the way behind III-9, holding the ghost baby, appearing like a chick seeing its mother hen.
“Guide, Guide III?”
“Hm?”
Wei Xun put away Pingping’s diary. He’d only read it twice and always felt like there was something wrong with the information. Wei Xun awoke from his trance when he saw Yu Hehui racing over with the ghost baby.
It was reasonable to expect that Pingping’s diary would be related to the scenic spots, such as the incident at Little Dragon Farmstead, which was tied to Pingping’s past. The diary discovered at the second scenic spot should logically chronicle how Pingping had secretly fled Cordoned-off Village and hidden in the cave to give birth to her child. How did the villagers find her? How did she retaliate when the child was devoured as fetal flesh?
The diary that Wei Xun got as a reward only described the matters related to Pingping’s marriage.
One part of the diary was missing.
Between her marriage and the incident in Little Dragon Farmstead, there should be a portion of the diary describing the ghost baby.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
Wei Xun could multi-task. While thinking about Pingping’s diary, he was also paying attention to Yu Hehui. Yu Hehui didn’t look surprised or flustered when he saw a fox running out of the midwife’s black robe.
“When I was young, I was chosen by Third Grandmother Hu. I’m not afraid of this.”
Yu Hehui smiled shyly and explained to Wei Xun that their hometown’s specialty was riding for the immortals. To put it simply, the act of riding for the immortals was to let the spirits and monsters in the mountains possess their bodies. Third Grandmother Hu and Third Grandfather Hu were fox spirits.
Third Grandmother Hu was a senior fox spirit with a lot of mana. The strength the white-haired fox held couldn’t even be compared to Third Grandmother Hu’s grandson. Yu Hehui was naturally unfazed.
“What a pity that we are in the wilderness. Only monsters and spirits came to congratulate me when I conducted the washing on the third day custom.”
Yu Hehui shook the ghost baby in his arms, but the ghost baby didn’t respond. It was still holding out its hand for Wei Xun to embrace it.
Wei Xun stretched out his hand and the ghost baby immediately firmly grasped his fingers, but Wei Xun felt as if he was surrounded by a gust of wind. The feeling felt as surreal as the gloomy sensation he experienced previously.
Now that the ghost baby has washed away its resentment, it should disappear. This was because the ghost baby existed due to the resentment. Since the resentment dispersed, it would disperse.
“What will happen to the ghost baby?”
“It should disappear.”
Yu Hehui sighed and looked at the ghost baby with pity, “Its soul is unstable and it’s too weak. It will be submerged by the black waters of the mourning stream. Unless it can pass through the Mourning Stream, the ghost baby can’t be reborn.”
Mourning Stream, the fourth scenic spot as announced in the tour itinerary, has already appeared.
Yu Hehui held the ghost baby and walked to Cordoned-off Village with Wei Xun. The two exchanged only a few words along the way. When they were nearing the village, Wei Xun suddenly asked, “Yu Hehui, you’re a resentful spirit. Where did you come from?”
“What? Guide III, what are you talking about?”
Yu Hehui was confused. He subconsciously hugged the ghost baby in his arms tighter and looked around in panic. When he spoke, he stuttered, much like the way his brother spoke.
“Re-resentful spirit? Where am I from? Is my body possessed by a resentful spirit?”
Yu Hehui didn’t seem to realize that he shouldn’t be in this tour group.
Wei Xun raised his eyebrows and recalled Yu Hehui’s figure when he left side by side with the midwife. Both their backs appeared very thin.
If the tour guide died during the tour, they would become a monster like Wu Laoliu.
Then what would happen if……a tourist died during the tour?
“Let’s go,” Wei Xun said casually without explaining what he had just said. Yu Hehui was stunned for a moment and followed him blankly.
“After the washing on the third day custom is completed, a grand beating of the three dynasties banquet will take place.”
In front of Cordoned-off Village, Miao Fangfei and the others held the ghost baby in their arms and listened carefully to Wei Xun’s speech.
“The beating of the three dynasties banquet will be held next to the Mourning Stream, but the rainstorm the day before yesterday overturned the ferry over at the other side of the Mourning Stream, making it impossible for the guests of Tea Plain Miao Village to come.”
“We have to pick them up.”
The Mourning Stream was situated to the left of Cordoned-off Village, just across from the Little Dragon Stream. It was such a large river that it couldn’t be seen in its entirety at first glimpse. The dark river was raging, and the water flow was erratic. The other side could only be seen distantly.
A blood red ferry was on the side of Cordoned-off Village, undulating up and down along with the waves.
Only a special boat would be able to sail on the Mourning Stream. The boat was quite narrow. Miao Fangfei and the others tried to squeeze in, but it could only hold two adults and two babies at once. The ghost babies began wailing as soon as they departed the village. According to legend, no one should weep on the Mourning Stream or they would be carried away by the Dragon King.
“It’s like that ferry game.”
When the five people gathered to discuss, Miao Fangfei tried to rouse their spirits. “The game with three ghosts, three people, moving from shore to shore. If there are fewer people and more ghosts, the ghosts will eat people.”
Miao Fangfei initially stated this to boost everyone’s spirits. After all, everyone was exhausted after experiencing so many attractions. But when she said this, Miao Fangfei’s heart began to pound.
The crux of the beating of the three dynasties banquet…was it really the banquet?
After the washing on the third day custom, the resentment of the ghost babies has disappeared, and the three dynasties banquet was also meant to give the ghost babies a blessing. But this seemed too repetitive.
Pingping’s wish, from Pingping’s point of view, what does Pingping want?
The ghost babies’ souls were too weak. After the resentment was gone, they wouldn’t be as strong as they was previously.They would vanish if this continued.
And there’s the Mourning Stream……
“The ghost babies cannot be reborn unless they can pass through the Mourning Stream.”
Yu Hehui whispered. Miao Fangfei and Hou Feihu looked at each other and deeply pondered on what he had just said.
Should they really pick the babies from the other shore to attend the beating three dynasties banquet?
Or take the opportunity to send the ghost babies through the Mourning Stream while everyone’s attention is attracted by the beating three dynasties?
“Why haven’t they come yet?”
There was still time. This matter needed to be discussed. Miao Fangfei looked across the river, but she didn’t find Wang Pengpai and the others. She couldn’t help but worry.
“The washing on the third day custom should have ended long ago……they wouldn’t be in danger, right?”
.
At the same time, Wang Pengpai and several of the others were hiding in the animal pen below Wu Laoliu’s stilted building. They did not dare to move an inch.
The author has something to say:
The chanting phrases used in the washing third custom came from the book, <<The Mysterious and Big Xiangxi>>
The Travel Services: We recycle and reuse great masters. Deceased tourists and deceased tour guides can all be recycled and reused!
Thank you Little Angels for your support, mua mua!