Chapter 174: Chapter 147: Witchcraft (1)

Yu Da composed himself and continued speaking to Sang Que.

“The emergence of witchcraft predates the Taoist sect’s skills and the Buddhist Sect’s laws. People live to have enough to eat and wear, and to have shelter. Witchcraft emerged to pray for peace and shelter from various ghosts and gods.”

“From ancient times to the present, witchcraft has always had two purposes: one for ghost worship and the other for ghost repulsion. Generally, if some ghosts have not harmed people, or are considered good ghosts that bring benefits, people will worship such ghosts, hoping they stay and continue to protect them.”

“In some places, if there is a bountiful harvest and the population thrives, with few illnesses and no natural disasters, grand sacrifices will be held when the autumn grains are stored, to thank the local ghosts and gods for their protection. This custom has existed since ancient times. Ghost worship includes family sacrifices, clan sacrifices, and wild sacrifices. Some are completed in a day, while others require several days and tens of ceremonies. Each state and locality has its own different customs, and you’ll understand after you visit more places.”

“But you must remember, local customs of ghost worship are different everywhere. Apart from using living people for sacrifice, which is not allowed, you must not interfere with or destroy other customs, even if you don’t understand or agree with them. Otherwise, losing your life would be considered light; it’s very possible that your family may be cursed and face misfortune for generations.”

Sang Que nodded while chewing on a pastry, but couldn’t help but wonder, didn’t the Prime Minister, Taoist sect, and Buddhist sect also destroy the Xuan Dynasty people’s tradition of worshiping the Witch Lady? What kind of misfortunes and curses did they suffer then?

It seems like the Witch Lady lacks temper, as even the Evil Suppression Bureau she founded was handed over to others so easily.

Yu Da took two bites of tofu pudding. “Ghost worship may involve worshiping good ghosts, but ghosts, by their nature, are not constant. A ghost could be a good spirit one moment, and due to unknown changes, become an evil ghost the next. For example, have you seen Earth Ghosts before?”

Sang Que nodded, she was very familiar with them.

Yu Da said, “In fact, ancient Earth Ghosts weren’t like they are today. When Earth Ghosts first appeared, they were called ’Earth God’ and were good ghosts commanded by the Mountain God. In ancient times, people would choose an auspicious day and time during spring and autumn planting to go into the fields, stick in chicken feathers, sprinkle chicken blood, and pray to the Earth God for pest-free lands and abundant harvests.”

Sang Que understood now; no wonder the Earth Ghosts in Black Mountain Village always went to eat chickens whenever they appeared, it was a primitive habit.

“But as for why Earth Ghosts became what they are today, the reason cannot be traced. Without the protection of Earth Ghosts, fields now easily end up with Corpse Mud Evil, which turns people who step in into corpse mud, as well as Wheat Evil and Rice Evil.”

“Including Water Ghosts, which also started out good. There are many such examples, which is why monitoring local customs and sacrifices is the responsibility of the Evil Suppression Bureau’s Day Travel agents.”

Hearing this, Sang Que put down her spoon and asked, “Old Yu, I’ve always been curious about something. Earth Ghosts and Water Ghosts are everywhere, can’t be captured, and have no traceable origin. Haven’t they reached the level of Ghost Gods?”

Yu Da finished the last spoonful, the chili made him sweat profusely, and he took out a handkerchief to wipe his brow.

“No, Earth Ghosts and Water Ghosts at most have strength above Sixth-level Evil Ghosts, but no matter how strong they are above the sixth layer, they cannot become Ghost Gods. Ghost Gods are called Ghost Gods because they are both ghosts and gods, possessing both the terrifying power of ghosts and the protective abilities of gods.”

“People have both reverence and fear for gods. To become a Ghost God requires the fear of living beings and their sincere incense. Water Ghosts have the fear of living beings but lack the corresponding incense, so no matter how powerful they are, they are still just ghosts.”

“Speaking of which, the Earth Ghosts turning into this form, where offering them food can fulfill wishes, might be a way to indirectly absorb the incense from the people, but it’s still not enough.”

Sang Que also finished eating and took a handkerchief from her bag to wipe her mouth.

She reviewed the knowledge in her mind: in the Deceit Dynasty, the upper three layers of the Nine Netherworld are called Evil Spirits, which can be eliminated through their strength. The middle three layers are Evil Ghosts, which cannot be completely eliminated, only temporarily imprisoned. The Evil Ghost Bureau is the place for imprisoning Evil Ghosts.

But the middle three layers of Evil Ghosts can be reduced through dismemberment, reverting them back to the Evil Spirits level, then eliminating the main body after dismemberment, causing the other parts to be destroyed along with it.

Just like the Yin Child, even though its eyes, tongue, arms, and heart were dismembered out, the main body of the Yin Child still exists, and the dismembered parts continue to exist as yin objects. Only by eliminating the main body of the Yin Child will these dismembered parts also disappear together.

Wait!

Sang Que suddenly thought of a point: since the Yin Child can be dismembered into yin objects, why doesn’t the Evil Ghost Bureau, which holds so many ghosts, dismember them in bulk to create yin objects?

Or perhaps, that’s exactly what the Evil Ghost Bureau does, which is why there are so many yin objects in the Evil Suppression Bureau.

Only, such dismemberment surely comes at a cost; the Yin Walking General from Qinzhou dismembered a Yin Child, leading to the destruction of Fengning City, and his own fall from the sixth level to the fifth.

Hold on!

The hand of the Yin Child itself has the ability to dismember!

Yan Daozi used Ming Zhang and yin objects to cultivate a corpse, intending for Ming Zhang’s body to bear the backlash from the yin objects.

So!

Could it be that the Yin Child was created by the Evil Suppression Bureau as a tool specifically for dismembering Evil Ghosts?

At this moment, Sang Que felt as exhilarated as suddenly smelling peppermint oil when about to doze off, her mind was clear and refreshed.

Sang Que felt she was close to the truth, though her thoughts might be wandering off track.

She recalled this to remind herself that when Evil Spirits enter the Ghost Level, between the third and fourth layers is a great divide, and when the Ghost Level enters the Ghost God Level, between the sixth and seventh layers is another significant barrier.

“Once you’re done eating, come with me. Today, Landlord Zhang’s family in the east of the city is holding a ’child welcoming’ ceremony, which is also a type of witchcraft ghost-repelling and blessing ceremony. I’ll take you there to see.”

Yu Da stood up to leave, and Sang Que quickly followed.

“Old Yu, I’m curious. How many Ghost Gods are present in the world today?”

“On the surface, just the Daoist Lord and the Longevity Buddha. Although our Prime Minister is still alive, with the incense he receives, he likely already holds the rank of a Ghost God. The rest is unknown, as there are people who openly worship one but may secretly be worshiping another.”

Yu Da said, suddenly glancing at Sang Que.

Sang Que felt a bit guilty but kept her expression perfectly composed, not revealing a hint.

“Old Yu, there’s something else I’m quite curious about, can Evil Ghosts be artificially created?”

Sang Que wanted to know if the Yin Child was created by the Evil Suppression Bureau.

Yu Da stopped walking, “Sang Er, that’s a very dangerous idea. Don’t bring it up in front of others again.”

Sang Que quickly explained, “I’m just curious.”

Yu Da continued walking, “Aren’t all Evil Spirits and Evil Ghosts in this world born from human desires?”

Sang Que sighed in her heart; of course, she knew that, but she was talking about another kind of ’creation.’

Forget it; she’ll buy some snacks and ask Granny Zhuang later.

“I told you earlier about ghost worship, now let’s talk about ghost repulsion. In ancient times, repelling ghosts required a witch who could communicate with ghosts and gods, but after centuries of evolution, now anyone in the Evil Suppression Bureau’s Day Travel and Night Travel can perform ghost-repelling alone using a witch’s magic artifacts and rituals.”

“There’s also a group ghost-repelling method similar to Nuo opera, but we’ll discuss that later. When the Taoist sect repels ghosts, they mostly use yellow paper, peach wood swords, talismans, copper coins, chicken blood, and such items.”

“Witchcraft also requires mediums and artifacts for ghost repulsion, and the witch’s artifacts are more common and easier to obtain. There’s a common folk method for repelling ghosts, using chopsticks in a bowl, Sang Er, you’ve seen this before, right?”

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