Chapter 73: Ghostly Qi

After the meal, Li Qi and Squire Wang set off.

On the way, Squire Wang kept looking at Li Qi, trembling and not daring to speak, only carrying the things Li Qi needed and leading the way.

But Li Qi wasn't planning to stay silent the whole way.

"Mr. Wang," he greeted.

"Master Li!" Squire Wang jumped, his fat body shaking, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, and quickly stopped to look at Li Qi.

"I see you're sweating a lot; carrying these things must be tiring. Let me take them," Li Qi extended his hand, trying to take the basket from Squire Wang's back.

Squire Wang instinctively tried to dodge, saying, "No, no need..."

But how could he possibly avoid Li Qi, who wasn't a cultivator? Li Qi easily grabbed the basket, put it on his own back, and said with a smile, "I'm strong and fit; carrying a few dozen pounds is nothing. Why are you fighting me over it?"

"Well, well, thank you, Master Li," Squire Wang smiled flatteringly, still very nervous.

Joking aside, this was someone his mother considered a high-level expert.

To Squire Wang, his mother was already a god-like figure who could predict the future, yet she still called this young man, who was younger than him, "senior apprentice."

How could Squire Wang not be nervous?

Back then, holding onto Li Qi and not letting him go was already his greatest courage.

"By the way, Mr. Wang, what does the area around the tomb look like?" Li Qi asked.

When it came to this matter, Squire Wang didn't dare to keep quiet, knowing it was a matter of life and death for his family. He quickly said, "Mother said that the place has a 'mountains come, water returns, noble longevity, and wealth' layout, with 'lustrous soil, lush vegetation, complete and secret formations, and a gathering of shapes and holes,' which can be considered a prime location with the power to nurture."

"Hmm... According to this, the person should have already been reborn. Why is the soul still trapped in the tomb, unable to reincarnate?" Li Qi countered.

Logically, a person should be reborn seven days after death. If you don't want to go, the underworld officials will still take you.

Unless there is an immense grudge, wanting to stay, the underworld officials might pity your injustice and allow you to stay for a while to seek revenge.

Or, if you have high cultivation, even though your body is dead, when the underworld officials come to take you, they will turn and run at the sight of you. They would be grateful if you don't chase them.

But according to the old woman Wang, the person buried there was of the eighth rank.

Eighth rank is strong, but far from enough to resist the underworld officials.

Yet, the tomb has a great layout that can dissipate grudges. What kind of immense grudge could this person have that even this layout can't dispel? Or is there something else sinister in the tomb?

"I, I don't know. Unlike Master Li and Mother, who have divine powers, I'm just an ordinary person..." Squire Wang smiled bitterly.

Li Qi nodded, acknowledging this, and began to ponder and think.

He first touched the willow branch tied to his waist, which he always carried with him, a powerful tool against ghosts.

Then he weighed the long knife wrapped in cloth in his hand, which was infused with Malevolent Qi and Military Qi, making it extremely fierce.

Finally, he took a deep breath, which lasted for a full minute.

His lungs had been tempered by Water Qi, so his breath was long and his stamina abundant, without any shortness of breath.

He had also reviewed how to deal with ghosts last night, and Shen Shuibei had assured him that he would be fine, so he was confident.

They chatted about some details along the way and soon arrived outside the city. After passing through a village with terraced fields, they entered a mountainous area.

Baiyue is known for its mountains, often referred to as the "Ten Thousand Great Mountains," with very little flat land. Even the fields are terraced or sloped, so this mountain didn't seem particularly unusual.

However, upon closer inspection, one could see that the mountains were gathered, with a steep and dangerous momentum. The mountains stretched down to the flat land, where the water converged, known as the "lower mountain water."

But Li Qi wasn't sure what use this had.

However, when Li Qi viewed it from the perspective of "qi," he noticed something.

The soil was lustrous, vegetation lush—indicating the beauty of the land, with qi flowing harmoniously in large and small waves, continuous like silk threads connecting. This abundant gathering of qi indicated auspiciousness.

It was like a vessel filled to the brim, overflowing; this described the accumulation and concentration of qi.

The qi of the mountain roots and water veins converged here, giving birth to a vitality.

Li Qi couldn't help but notice that even without expertise in feng shui, this was clearly an excellent location.

"Mother said that this landscape aligns with the five elements, fostering prosperity and wealth, which is why we chose this spot..." Squire Wang explained at this moment.

"Alright, but let's set up the altar first. Stand back, just in case there's any trouble," Li Qi instructed.

Squire Wang immediately moved away; having experienced unexpected incidents before, he was truly fearful.

And so, Li Qi began setting up the altar.

Ancient texts stated: "The Yue people have customs that worship ghosts, and during their rituals, ghosts are often seen, proving effective."

This meant that the Yue people had traditions venerating spirits, and their rituals frequently involved sightings of ghosts, making these methods often successful.

But what exactly were ghosts?

As a Wu Zhu (Wu practitioner), Li Qi knew well that ghosts were essentially a form of qi.

The book "Wu" records: "When stars fall as if still in the sky, it is not stars but qi that creates this appearance. When people see ghosts resembling dead individuals, it is actually the aggregation of qi, not truly the deceased."

In other words, the sight of falling stars leaving trails across the sky isn't due to actual stars but rather qi creating such phenomena. Similarly, when people see ghosts looking like dead beings, it's qi manifesting as such appearances, not real corpses.

Therefore, as stated: "A dead person cannot borrow a living body to appear, just as a living person cannot borrow a dead soul to vanish."

Now, when someone dies, their skin decays, and although their essence may remain, how can their spirit animate or manifest through a deteriorated form? A dead person cannot borrow a living form to appear, nor can a living person borrow a dead soul to make themselves disappear.

Another saying goes, "Humans are objects; objects are also objects. Objects do not become ghosts when they die, so why should humans uniquely become ghosts after death?"

Thus, "Exhausted essence dissipates, decay leads to disintegration into dust. Essence departing from humans does not merely leave them earless and eyeless; decay results in disappearance, becoming invisible and ethereal, hence called 'ghosts'."

This passage means that ghosts are indeed a form of qi. The life force of humans is their essence; when they die, their essence fades, leaving behind remnants. As essence leaves the human body, it doesn't simply mean losing senses; instead, it decays and vanishes, becoming intangible and invisible, thus referred to as 'ghosts'.

Ghosts and humans are not the same. Once a person dies and becomes a ghost, they are no longer who they once were. A ghost is merely residual remains, ashes and dust.

Even if someone possesses profound cultivation and retains consciousness and memories after death, they have already diverged from their original existence.

Death is final; a ghost is no longer the original person.