Chapter 152: Dotting the Paper Person's Eyes

Yu Nian immersed herself in her own world, muttering while constantly calculating, her fingers flying.

My steps suddenly halted, a wave of dizziness washing over me.

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through my mind.

The four ancient ferocious beasts are, respectively, Taotie, Chaos, Taowu, and Qiongqi.

Qiongqi resembles an ox and a tiger, and enjoys eating people.

Taowu is huge in size, with a mouth like a wild boar, vicious and cruel.

Taotie has a human-like face, with eyes growing under its armpits, its cries like a baby's wail, insatiably greedy.

Chaos, however, is a stranger existence: it has eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, and likes to cling to those with vicious virtue.

Yu Nian said the four great ferocious beasts have already appeared two, but what we know now is only this Ox Tiger Mountain before us; where is the other?

Could it... be in Huicheng?

This makes me think again of what Yu Nian said when we parted last time.

She said she also had something to protect, and my guarding the pawn shop was indirectly helping her.

Connecting the dots, it's easy to reach a conclusion—Yu Nian is in Huicheng, guarding one of the ferocious beast evil formations!

Their three generations stayed in Huicheng, two generations died there miserably, all because of the ferocious beast evil formation!

That... Yu Nian's eyes...

Suddenly, I understood her.

She doesn't not want those Buddha Eyes; she's afraid she can't guard them.

The ferocious beast she guards does not allow her to have eyes.

So, what she guards should be... Chaos?!

This guess is bold yet surprisingly reasonable; I really want to go ask Yu Nian right away.

But I held back.

The timing is wrong.

When we safely get through this immediate danger, I will sit down and have a good talk with Yu Nian.

Yu Nian calculated for a long while, yet seemed not to have gotten the answer she wanted.

Afterward she just stood there, long-time "gazing" at Ox Tiger Mountain, unknown what she was thinking.

I turned back, preparing to go home to continue making paper people, when I saw Liu Junyan also always looking our way.

Our eyes met; I could read some information in his gaze that matched my thoughts.

He must have guessed too, right?

After 2:30, I finished the paper person; Yu Nian stuffed the hair, nails, etc., that Li Qingying obtained from Guo Zhen into a folded yellow paper packet, then placed it inside the paper person's chest.

Then she dipped a brush in cinnabar and wrote Guo Zhen's birth date and time on the back of the paper person.

Meanwhile, on the paper person's chest she similarly drew a cinnabar symbol.

That symbol was drawn with dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, one continuous stroke, showing Yu Nian's profound skill.

Although Grandma also taught me to make paper people and draw symbols, those were only superficial; unlike Yu Nian, who received the true transmission of the Yu clan.

After finishing these, under Yu Nian's direction, I dressed the paper person in a set of clothes Guo Zhen often wore.

Next came the wait.

However, we didn't wait long; not long after darkness fell, Li Qingying's call came through: "Xiao Jiu, Guo Zhen has woken up, sitting at the dressing table putting on makeup; she says she will get married tonight."

The phone was on speaker, everyone listening.

Liu Junyan immediately said: "Don't disturb or stop her; after she is fetched, you all come directly to meet with us."

Li Qingying agreed one by one.

After hanging up, Liu Junyan said: "We can now give the paper person eyes."

In the paper craft trade there is an iron rule: whether making paper people or cutting paper people, one must not draw the five features on paper people, especially the eyes.

Once the eyes are dotted, the paper person gains a soul and is to come alive.

But now we not only need to draw the five features on the paper person, we also need to inlay that pair of Buddha Eyes onto its face!

Yu Nian directed my actions.

I am not unfamiliar with dotting the five features on paper people, but this time I am especially nervous, because I clearly know this paper person is linked to Guo Zhen's life!

I took a deep breath, steadied my mind, dipped the brush in cinnabar, and carefully traced.

At the moment the Buddha Eyes were inlaid into the paper person, a gust of yin wind rose around it, fleeting.

Then it was placed on the main hall altar, with incense and candles also offered before it.

Li Qingying and Jin Wuya headed our way while also keeping an eye on the situation at Guo Zhen's side.

Guo Zaimin said that around nine o'clock, after Guo Zhen finished dressing, she left the house.

The couple dared not stop her, quietly following behind Guo Zhen, watching her get into a car, then immediately calling us.

Before eleven, the people from Hui Moqiong's side sent back news: the car had reached the foot of Ox Tiger Mountain, Guo Zhen got out holding a strip of red silk, and was led up the mountain by a great lama.

At that moment, everyone's spirit instantly tightened to the extreme.

What was to come has finally arrived.

The following time was undoubtedly the hardest; we could do nothing but wait helplessly, staring fixedly at the paper person standing on the main hall altar.

The chanting from the Dao field drifted over again, but this time there would be no so-called heavenly auspicious sign.

The outside street was very quiet, households closed their doors.

After waiting about half an hour, the paper person on the main hall altar suddenly moved.

It trembled slightly.

Immediately after, yin wind stirred around it, the Buddha Eyes became clear as if flashing light, waves of sandalwood scent surged from within, soon our whole courtyard was enveloped in a faint sandalwood aroma.

At that moment, the courtyard gate was knocked on.

Pa……pa-pa……

At first, the knocking had a rhythm, but soon it became urgent, faster and faster, like a death summons.

Along with the knocking, a mechanical-sounding voice rang out: "Open the door, I've come to take my Buddha Eye, open the door quickly!"

I stiffened suddenly.

To me, this voice was both unfamiliar and familiar.

This… this is clearly the corpse that came to Dang Pu that night demanding my Buddha Eye!

She actually also came to the small town and found the small courtyard.

She is… coming here following the Buddha Eye!

Li Qingying also heard it, and she and Jin Wuya immediately went to guard the door.

No matter what, we cannot let this corpse enter the gate tonight.

Just as our attention was drawn to the knocking, Yu Nian suddenly said: "The scent has changed."

I wondered: "What?"

"The scent has changed." Yu Nian repeated, pointing at the paper figure and saying, "The sandalwood scent is impure; Xiao Jiu, quickly check if the paper figure has any changes."

The paper figure remained standing there, appearing unchanged.

But after Yu Nian said the scent had changed, I seemed to smell it too.

In the sandalwood scent emanating from the paper figure, it seemed mixed with some other odor.

I sniffed carefully; there was a faint fishy stench, and also seemed to carry the smell of burning paper.

Soon I discovered what was wrong with the paper figure.

"The chin! The paper figure's chin has turned black!"

At this moment, a black vapor gradually emerged on the paper figure's chin, not as if burned by fire, but as if someone were holding a candle and smoking it beneath the chin…