Chapter 135: with translation of chapter title

The transaction wasn't finished; it was just the girl unilaterally wanting to pawn these eyeballs, and she had set a condition.

A few days later, if she comes again, I can refuse then.

It's just a pity about those eyeballs.

It was gouged out while still alive, placed here, and will soon lose its vitality.

If the girl later regrets it, she won't be able to put them back even if she tries.

I sighed, what the hell is all this!

I got a small bowl, put on gloves, pinched the bloody eyeballs up and placed them in the bowl, wrapped it with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge.

After cleaning the bloodstains on the counter, I felt no sleepiness, walked out, stretched a big yawn, then looked toward the hexagonal palace lamp under the west corridor.

When Yu Nian sister left, she left half of the souls in the thousand-soul banner to the hexagonal palace lamp, causing the Merit Light inside to increase greatly, already surpassing half.

But even so, the mysterious cat didn't return to the hexagonal palace lamp; it preferred staying with Liu Junyan.

Now that the west room door is open, Liu Junyan meditates; the mysterious cat either sleeps in the offering niche or curls up on Liu Junyan's crossed legs.

Once, I even saw it dozing on the shoulder of the Copper Coin Person.

It's utterly unrestrained.

Only Fu Wan's tiny spark remained in the hexagonal palace lamp, wandering in the ocean of Merit.

If this continues, I even doubt that one day Fu Wan's soul could recondense into a solid form and reappear in this world.

If that day comes, I truly don't know whether it would be fortune or misfortune for her.

Perhaps everything is predestined in the dark.

Since the Dang Pu reopened, the soul offering has had more than one soul, yet only Fu Wan's trace of essence remains—could this not be fate?

I waited and waited; by four o'clock Li Qingying still hadn't returned, and I fell asleep leaning on the counter without realizing it.

In the early morning, I was awakened by a shout; Li Qingying had come back.

I jumped up in shock, turned toward the sound, and saw Li Qingying standing before the fridge, her face full of disbelief.

I asked, "Elder Sister Qingying, what's wrong?"

"What is this thing?" Li Qingying asked, "Did you put it in?"

I understood in my heart; Li Qingying must have been startled by those eyeballs. As I walked toward her, I said, "Last night a girl dug them out in front of me, saying she wanted to pawn them to me, but she left without even filling out a pawn ticket. I feared they'd spoil, so I put them in the fridge—have they gone bad?"

While speaking, I had already reached the fridge.

When my gaze met the small bowl of eyeballs inside the fridge, I froze.

Those marble-sized eyeballs were not only not spoiled, but now completely transparent, surrounded by a faint Merit Light.

Yes, it's exactly the same Merit Light as in the hexagonal palace lamp!

I suddenly recalled the girl's words from last night: she said…… she was pawning this pair of Buddha Eyes.

At the time the situation was too sudden and frightening; after she spoke, she ran off, and I never noticed anything wrong with that sentence.

Now I realize, the problem is huge.

"Buddha Eyes?" I murmured, "What are Buddha Eyes? The eyeballs of a Buddha?"

Li Qingying was even more bewildered: "Xiao Jiu, what are you talking about? I can't understand."

I then recounted last night's events to her; Li Qingying frowned, "I'll call Jin Wuya to ask; maybe he knows."

Watching her busy back, I inexplicably felt a bit odd; Elder Sister Qingying and Jin Wuya have seemed to be in frequent contact lately.

Soon Li Qingying hung up, shook her head at me: "He doesn't know either; he said he'll help ask someone who might understand."

I nodded, then asked: "How did you two fare last night at Gui Shi? Did you find what you needed?"

"Jin Wuya met a fellow trader at Gui Shi who had connections to get it," Li Qingying said, "so after leaving Gui Shi we ran another errand with that person and exchanged for two bottles of oil, enough to last me a while."

No wonder she came back late.

Her whip had been well maintained lately, but in this big battle, facing an opponent like Bai Xianer, it was bound to suffer damage.

After breakfast, we each went back to our rooms to rest a while.

In the afternoon, Dou Zhile brought Dou Jinsuo to the Dang Pu; both were covered in dust and looked quite disheveled.

I quickly brought them to the main hall to sit down; Li Qingying served tea and asked what had happened to them.

"We were also involved in the fierce battle by the Zhu Pan River earlier," Dou Zhile said.

I nodded.

Before I left the Dang Pu, I still heard him clashing with Bai Xianer; after I went out, however, I didn't see him.

These past two days, the door of the Dou family coffin shop has stayed shut, and I've been wondering why.

Thinking of that, I asked: "Then what happened? Did you go after Dou Zhifu?"

Dou Zhile apparently didn't expect that I didn't need their explanation, and he looked moved: "Yes, this time he came back not only aiming at me, but also aiming at the Dou family's ancestral transmitted fragment of the Lu Ban Book's dark volume."

Dou Zhile said, the Lu Ban Book, also known as the Lu Ban Classic, is a wondrous book combining ancient building techniques with mystical arts, long lost.

It is said that the Lu Ban Book is divided into a bright volume and a dark volume.

The bright volume records orthodox artisan skills, while the dark volume records witchcraft spells, including curses, appeasement, hemostatic incantations, and so on.

"Our Dou family has received the favor of the Gray Immortal, inheriting Lu Ban techniques, but since the Immortal Clan failed their tribulation, the Dou lineage has declined generation by generation; folk rumor says the fragment of the Lu Ban Book's dark volume is hidden in our Dou family ancestral tomb, many want it, yet no one has found the entrance to our ancestors' grave."

Dou Zhile's words suddenly reminded me of something.

Initially, the town magistrate brought Dou Jinsuo up the mountain to invite Dou Zhile out of seclusion; after Dou Zhile firmly refused, the magistrate circled that mountain for a long time, as if searching for something, ultimately returning empty-handed.

Now it seems the magistrate might have been looking for the entrance to the Dou family ancestral tomb.

Thinking of that, I asked: "Is the Dou family ancestral tomb buried in that mountain, right?"

"Right." Dou Zhile said, "Not only is our ancestral tomb buried in that mountain, but the Gray Immortal also hides in the tomb; he and the…… oh, no, that's wrong—like the Seventh Lord, he suffered Heavenly Punishment."

My brows involuntarily furrowed.

The Gray Immortal has been in that ancestral tomb for many years, always peaceful.

Dou Zhile suddenly spilled the family secret to me in full, which could only mean one thing; I asked, "Has something happened to your family's ancestral tomb?"

"Yes." Dou Zhile gritted his teeth and said, "Dou Zhifu, that white-eyed wolf, deserving death a thousand times, he failed to use the Bai Family's hand to kill me, harboring hatred in his heart, he actually laid a deadly hand on the ancestral tomb."

I was shocked in my heart: "What did he do? Did he find the entrance to your family's ancestral tomb?"

"No, he couldn't find it." Dou Zhile said, "But he carried Bai Xian'er's physical body into the mountains; that rotten hedgehog is adept at digging holes—I don't know where it dug—and it has ruined the feng shui of my family's ancestral tomb..."