Dai Luan bent over and only picked up half of the branches that had been thrown to the ground casually, but her face was exposed from between her legs, facing the direction of the pillar. She looked surprised and looked as ugly as if she had eaten a fly. Mu Wan also felt strange. He carefully looked at the direction she was looking at, and it seemed that it was just the tree scar.
"There's nothing..." She came closer and gradually tilted her head, "It's just a bit... huh?"
Mu Wan's half-twisted neck froze, and his face looked ugly.
Shan Hai felt that he might have guessed correctly.
"Taoist Master Lin, look at this...this, look at this backwards, it seems..."
"Looks like a human face, doesn't it?"
"You, why are you...is this also a monster?"
"It's a monster... I can only say it's a strange statue."
Shanhai also walked over, facing the strange lines. He also tried his best to tilt his head. The pattern of the scar did indeed look like a ghostly and terrifying face - only it was upside down. If Dai Luan hadn't discovered it by chance, he would have almost not recognized it.
"It's the reverse pillar."
"There must be some bones down here." Dai Luan thought of the Qi family.
"...No. In some places, reverse pillars are deliberately used to ward off evil spirits. But in this case, it is obvious that the carpenter was careless and reversed the end where it originally grew, and it became an inverse pillar. It is also the cause of the family's humming. One of them can grow a human face and can dream, just to tell the owner that it has been turned upside down. It’s just..."
"only?"
"It seems a little strange... let's go back and elaborate."
The girls didn't understand why Shan Hai was so cautious. After returning to the hut, he closed the door in broad daylight, found a brazier from under the bed, asked Mu Wan to light it and put it on the ground, and asked Dai Luan to fill a bowl of water.
By the light of the fire, he carefully placed the branches on the water. The wood was floating on the water and did not sink. However, they quickly turned in one direction, and the branches pointed at the place where the reverse pillar was.
"Why is it so complicated? Isn't it about inverse pillars? Let them find someone to perform rituals and sacrifices, or tear it down and rebuild it?"
Mu Wan felt that he was making a fuss out of a molehill. And with so many things prepared, I don’t know what they are going to do. Shanhai didn't say anything, and threw a talisman into the brazier. The fire turned green for an instant, and then quickly recovered. Only then did he speak.
"There shouldn't be such a big complaint against the reverse pillar. If the pillar was simply turned upside down, the growing branches would not spread to other pillars. This proves that its evil spirit has penetrated into the entire house. What's more, , regarding the reverse pillar, there are only sayings about Jiaming, human face and dream-telling, and it is the first time I have seen long branches. I am afraid that things are not as simple as we thought. Moreover, I don’t know if you have noticed, the Bai Gu family has no children. They are very resentful. It is true that a house does not have a soul to be reincarnated.”
"You mean, there is a murder case in their family? Based on the information you asked me to inquire about, it does sound strange. But aren't the families of these larger clans quite chaotic? Why should we care so much?" Mu Wan didn't think so Duo said bluntly, "So it's a monster, right? If it's a monster, you can kill it. Get rid of it and leave. It's as simple as that."
"Good luck and thanks to Fei Na." Dai Luan agreed.
"Is this what I taught you?" Shanhai asked sharply, but she stopped talking.
"I really don't understand, why do you care so much? It's true that I've traveled less in the world, and I'm not as good as you, but I'm more open-minded than you? No matter what you do with money, anyone who doesn't take money is considered a big deal. Mercy, not to mention the aftermath..."
Shan Hai also ignored Mu Wan's somewhat angry words. He grabbed a branch from the bowl and threw it into the brazier to test.
"Ah! Ah-ah..."
Everyone shuddered. The branches in the brazier suddenly made a strange noise, much noisier than before. The sound was like a person being burned, struggling in the fire, making a harsh whine.
It's really scary.
Shan Hai subconsciously grabbed the water bowl on the table and poured it on. The fire was extinguished, and after it was extinguished, the screaming ember-like tail sound could still be heard.
"I think that if there really is such a so-called principal wife... where is he now? Thinking about the worst, maybe the person has disappeared and turned into a wood spirit. These anomalies are meant to tell others something..."
"... Just ask them." Mu Wan finally relaxed.
At the dinner table, the family was full of joy and brought out the realgar wine in advance, saying they wanted to get drunk before resting. After some miscellaneous chats and two glasses of wine, Shan Hai thought it was time to raise the topic. However, he was not very good at chatting. The old lady and his wife were so talkative, and they both drank too much, so it was quite difficult for him to interrupt.
"Excuse me for being rude, but there is something I want to ask. I haven't seen the young master or the eldest lady in the past two days. Is it because they are not at home, or..."
"Ah, uh..."
The atmosphere suddenly became much quieter. Shan Hai clearly noticed that Bai Gu's wife's expression changed. Her husband seemed to want to smooth things over, but didn't know what to say. On the contrary, the old lady may have drunk too much, but she had no taboos.
"Hi, my daughter-in-law has been married for so many years and there is nothing wrong with her, but she just can't conceive a child. I don't know if it's because she's weak or something. She finally got a bulge the year before last. After taking care of her for more than half a year, one day she was The branch tripped over and the child was knocked out... It's really scary to say that a child who was so good turned into a lump of wood..."
"mom!!"
Baigu's wife's face turned as white as lime, and she yelled at her mother-in-law. The old lady was indeed drunk, so she waved her hand, as if she was interrupting her, and went on talking to herself. She couldn't tolerate her status being dictated by others.
"I'm sorry, my mother... my mother drank too much. At her age, she just drinks a little. When she drinks too much, she starts talking nonsense..."
Young Master Baigu quickly stepped forward to explain. He hugged his wife tightly and comforted her like a small animal.
"What's going on, what's going on, don't let me tell you! You're really unlucky. If I had known, I would have let her stay behind..."
"who is she?"
Mu Wan, who was still drunk, stood up, causing the chair to rattle. The eldest young master quickly shook his mother's arm.
"Stop talking, really stop talking, just say a few words less..."
"So who is she? Is she the wife of the bride?"
Shanhai also stood up slowly, his voice rising a degree. The old lady was half sober and suddenly realized that she had said the wrong thing. But the wine didn't completely calm her down. She just said in shock:
"Ah, who? Who did I say? What...what did I say?"
Shan Hai and Mu Wan looked at each other. Then he cleared his throat and said loudly and solemnly:
"I felt strange from the moment I walked in. You were so certain that there was a ghost in the house, as if you knew where the ghost came from. Let me tell you straight: My wife has never had children because the resentment in this house is too heavy. I couldn’t get pregnant. I gave birth to wood because I was cursed by the wood spirit. Of course, I wasn’t sure if it was really the wood spirit. I thought it was caused by the inverted pillar. You know, this is the dead wood that serves as the pillar of the house. It's abnormal to have branches sprouting. I guess none of you have noticed the reverse pillar, but my apprentice saw it when he was wandering around. There was a human face growing on the wood. I already knew it in my heart, but... this reverse There’s something wrong with the column.”
"……what is the problem?"
At the dinner table, which had been quiet for a long time, Dai Luan, who was halfway through eating, suddenly froze. She carefully made a mistake, still holding the steamed bun in her hand, and looked sideways at her master. Although Mu Wan remained calm, he did not expect Shan Hai to say these words.
Have a problem with the inverse column? what is the problem? He didn't mention it at the time.
"Although the name of the reverse pillar is reverse, the fact that it has a human face is not false, but... that face should be upright. And the face on your pillar is indeed reverse-this only means one thing. "
"It means...it was already growing on the tree before it was cut down."
Dai Luan added stumblingly.
"So that's not an inverted pillar at all - it's a human-faced tree." Mu Wan understood, and her tone was very unhappy, "You're just telling us now?!"
There was a clanging sound outside the door, and someone threw pots and bowls on the floor. Mu Wan shouted "Who is it?" and the door was slowly pushed open. What was revealed behind the door was the frightened face of the cook.
"I, I, I will serve the food, serve the food... Oh, why was I so careless? I will, I will make it again..."
The cook ran away, not caring about the mess on the ground. And those three people obviously understood what Shan Hai just meant. At this time, they were completely drunk, and they all stared at him with pale faces, and the chopsticks in their hands were trembling. The color of the mountains and seas did not change, and he continued:
"If you want us to help, you can. But you must make it clear what you are hiding. You must think carefully about whether there have been any wasted lives in this house. If you are unwilling to tell, then we will set off tonight. "
"I wish you... a smooth move?" Dai Luan coaxed inappropriately.
"Don't bother, let's say it, we must say it." The old lady panicked and suddenly ran out of ideas. She urged her daughter-in-law, "Tell me, tell me what happened back then, tell me!"
Bai Gu's wife became a hot potato for her husband. He pushed her away from his arms in a panic, and half pulled and half pulled her to stand up. She stood blankly like a fledgling that had left its nest, looking around the dinner table. At this time, Shan Hai sat down, turned sideways, and softly explained to Mu Wan:
"You have such a temper. If I told you right then, you would insist on leaving and stop helping them. If I didn't tell you now, how could you stay at the dinner tonight and listen to them talk about the cause and effect? .”
"you……"
Mu Wan was indeed angry, but after careful consideration, Shan Hai's words were right. He had figured out her temper, and Mu Wan had to swallow it. He stopped saying anything and just stared at the little bird-like daughter-in-law, begging for an explanation with his eyes.
There was silence in the room.
