Chapter 238: 送终

Seeing the hanged ghost so close, Li Huowang almost instinctively drew his sword.

Just as he was about to exert force, he abruptly stopped.

Li Huowang realized that the entity wasn't looking at him; it was inanimate! The "Rope Son" was not it!

Li Huowang's gaze shifted slightly upward, toward a very blurry mass overhead, something with only a vague outline.

Connecting this with the previous rumbling sound, he thought to himself, "This hanged ghost is just a part of it! Perhaps just one of its fingers! The giant in the darkness is the 'Rope Son'!"

Since it didn't immediately attack them, it was clear the Daoist's spell had worked.

Once he understood, Li Huowang held his breath and carefully re-examined the female corpse before him.

The female corpse's clothes were red, but in the oppressive darkness, they appeared an eerie blackish-red.

Judging by the wrinkles that almost obscured her features and her streaked gray hair, she was an elderly woman.

The old woman hung motionless in mid-air, her waxy, shriveled eyes fixed on Li Huowang.

Soon, half an incense stick's worth of time passed. Li Huowang's guess was correct; when he remained still, the female corpse made no movement, hanging there like a puppet.

In the darkness, everyone present froze in place. Were it not for the faint wisps of white breath proving they were alive, they would have been indistinguishable from stone statues.

At that moment, Li Huowang experienced for the first time what it felt like for days to drag on like years. His limbs ached and felt numb.

In this state, an unknown amount of time passed. Accompanied by the creaking sound of the rope digging into flesh, the hanged ghost slowly ascended, gradually moving out of Li Huowang's sight.

Li Huowang's gaze followed it as it slowly departed, watching it eventually merge with the extremely blurry colossal entity in the darkness.

Li Huowang still didn't know what the female corpse meant to the "Rope Son" – whether it was a part of its body or merely an adornment. "'Rope Son'? Why would such a thing be called 'Rope Son'?"

The trembling sound from before started again, but this time it was gradually moving away rather than closer.

Time passed slowly, and as the trembling sound faded into the distance, the oppressive feeling finally dissipated.

"Whoosh~" Firelight illuminated the pale faces of Li Huowang and the others. It was a yellow talisman, ignited by flame, its lower end held between two fingers of the Daoist from before.

He first glanced at Li Huowang's exposed ribs, then chuckled, "Fellow cultivator, the 'Rope Son' has gone. We are safe now."

As the glow from the luminous stones illuminated the others' faces, everyone collectively let out a sigh of relief.

The others looked at the Daoist, their expressions softer than before; their shared ordeal had brought them closer.

When he saw their surprise at his peculiar appearance, Li Huowang was about to explain.

"Heh heh, it's fine, it's fine. I am Han Fu, a disciple of the Luojiao sect. Greetings, fellow cultivator." The slender Daoist bowed to Li Huowang, once again revealing his mouthful of rotten teeth.

His yellow and black teeth grew haphazardly, crisscrossing, their roots tightly encased in yellow tartar. The strong halitosis emanating from the gaps between his teeth caused the others to discreetly step back a few paces.

His breath was extremely foul, not just ordinarily bad, but worse than a latrine.

Although the man seemed to have poor hygiene, Li Huowang felt no repulsion towards his rotten teeth after his experiences at An Ci Nunnery.

Li Huowang was less concerned with whether his teeth were foul or fragrant, and more interested in the identity he had just revealed.

"Luojiao? What kind of sect is that? Is it a branch of Daoism?"

Li Huowang didn't ask this question directly, as it might reveal his ignorance. Instead, he returned the Daoist bow. "I am Xuanyang of Qingfeng Temple. A pleasure to meet you."

Since the other person was willing to communicate and seemed to bear no ill will, he might be able to find a way out through him.

"Oh? You're also a Xuanmen disciple? How unusual. Seeing your skin peeled back like that, I thought you were an Aojing Sect cultivator," Han Fu remarked, proving to be exceptionally chatty.

"I was indeed an Aojing Sect disciple in the past, but I recently left for personal reasons." After concocting a casual excuse, Li Huowang looked at Han Fu and thought.

"Where is the person he was just talking to? Was he taken by the 'Rope Son'? But why doesn't he seem sad at all? No, I can't ask him directly, or he'll know I was eavesdropping."

Li Huowang wasn't bothered about a stranger he barely knew. He pointed behind him to the Black Grand Sui wrapped in his own skin.

"My master sent a few of us disciples here to find a medicinal ingredient. We ended up getting lost and fortunately encountered you, Daoist. It's our good fortune. Elder Brother Han, please trouble yourself to lead us out of this place."

Li Huowang's words not only stated his purpose but also subtly implied that he had powerful backing, warning the other party not to entertain any ill intentions towards them.

As Li Huowang scrutinized Han Fu, Han Fu was also observing Li Huowang, from top to bottom, then from bottom to top.

Finally, after a brief pause at the copper coin mask on Li Huowang's face, he chuckled and said, "Alright, no need to be so polite. We're all cultivators. Let's go, I'll lead you out. You can't just wander around here; be careful not to lose your physical body while walking."

Stepping forward to follow Han Fu into the darkness, Li Huowang thought for a moment before asking, "Daoist Han, what kind of malevolent entity was that just now? I've never encountered anything like it before."

Having finally met someone knowledgeable, Li Huowang naturally seized the opportunity to learn as much as possible. Without a master to teach him, this was his only method.

Han Fu seemed very open and unreserved. As soon as Li Huowang asked, he immediately began to answer.

"That's the 'Rope Son.' Some people who grow old with no children to care for them, or whose children are unfilial, they say they can call upon it to help them live out their final years and perform their funeral rites."

Hearing this, Li Huowang immediately thought of the female corpse from earlier and asked with some surprise, "Does that thing truly help people live out their last years and handle their funeral rites?"

"Haha, do you think people are foolish? It's all self-deception. Anyone with eyes can see that such a thing couldn't possibly care for the elderly."

"But old people are useless anyway. They can't work, can't farm, just waste food. So, when the time comes, the neighbors pick an auspicious day, parade with gongs and drums, carrying a sedan chair, and 'send' the old person to the 'Rope Son'."

"As for the house and property the old person leaves behind, heh heh, well, of course, everyone divides that up among themselves."

At this point, Gouwa, standing nearby, interjected, "I know about this. In our village, it's called 'eating the last household'."

"Exactly! That's 'eating the last household,' but how unpleasant that sounds. 'Sending them to the 'Rope Son' for their final years and funeral rites'—doesn't that sound much better?"

Han Fu's sarcastic words filled Li Huowang with a simmering anger, a tightness in his chest, an urge to vent that he didn't know how to release.