Chapter 71: The Visitor’s Drum

The master’s simple sentence aroused my great interest in the broken soul ladder.

And on this quiet night, it was also suitable for chatting about all kinds of things. The master didn’t have to hide this kind of thing from me. Seeing that I was interested, the master smiled softly, took his own pipe, and I quickly and attentively filled it with tobacco leaves.

After lighting the pipe and taking a puff, Master’s mouth opened.

“Speaking of the Broken Soul Ladder, we have to talk about the Shengmiao village on the mountain. What is Shengmiao? I don’t need to explain it to you, do I?” The master always speaks in this slow tone… like telling a long, ancient story.

Influenced by this tone, I also became quiet. After I took out a cigarette and lit it, I nodded to show that I naturally knew about the Shengmiao, which is a hidden Miao village that almost never comes into contact with the outside world.

“The origin of this Miao village is very simple. It can be said that the most orthodox inheritance of the Chinese Wuji family is this village.” The master’s nose emitted two thick streams of smoke, and the pauses in his words indicated his seriousness.

“Master, but you said that the inheritance of the Wuji family has almost been cut off. How can this be…?” The ancient legend of the great witch breaking the inheritance is not only the master’s claim, but also a fact recognized by the entire circle. Of course, there are still a few so-called descendants of the Wuji family, but they are all the fringes of witchcraft. The real essence of what is not already has evolved into Taoist things, or has disappeared in the long river of time.

But Master said that this village has the most orthodox heritage?

In fact, I still believe in it because I have seen the witchcraft of the Black Rock Miao Village and the witchcraft of the Moon Weir Miao Village. In the end, it really feels a bit childish because everything is based on the mysterious Gu technique.

And since Qiangzi’s last appearance, I have seen a different kind of witchcraft. Coupled with the battle in the town during the day, I saw them fight again, and I really felt the difference… This is the basis of my belief.

Facing my question, the master looked complicated and pondered for a long time before saying, “Yes, everything about the witch family is ultimately not inferior to my Taoist things, and some of the ancient essence is even better than Taoism… After all, the origin of all Chinese magic comes from the witch. I said that their village is the most orthodox heritage, but I only said that they have inherited some of the essence of the real witch family. However, this is still different from the real continuation of the witch family’s heritage.”

I nodded, I naturally understood what my master meant.

Even if the essence of something is a cake, you have really eaten it if you open the box and take a bite, rather than just standing outside the window and seeing what it looks like.

Nowadays, many so-called Wuji lineages are like people who only know the packaging of the cake. That is why they are recognized by the circle as having broken the Wuji lineage.

This hidden village in the mountains is the one that has actually eaten the cake, even if it was just a small bite.

“Do you understand?” The master looked at me with a pipe in his mouth. Perhaps he felt that he had not expressed himself well enough.

“I understand.” I took a puff of smoke and said with a smile. In fact, I was somewhat relieved. If I could, I would really like to see the ancient essence of China’s culture continue to be passed down. We should not look at everything in history with a narrow perspective, always thinking that we are standing in a higher position than them today, and that the past is not worth cherishing.

Is this really the case? I must admit that many Taoist priests in ancient times were as capable as we are today, and there were even many legendary great powers… Even the technological power that we are proud of today has been “slapped” by some discoveries in the tombs.

A sword in the tomb of the first emperor of China, for example, is so precisely forged that people today are amazed after measuring it, and they can’t figure out why the ancients had such forging technology!

Even some of the unpublicized, rumored self-restoring memory metals, like the sword that was bent and then automatically restored to its original shape, or the fruit that was preserved in a certain liquid for many years… doesn’t all of this make us think about something?

We need to develop and move forward… We also need to remember the past because we need to pass on the tradition.

So, I was relieved to hear that this village still has the orthodox inheritance of the Wuji family.

As if sensing my thoughts, the master also smiled and continued, “When I first discovered this, I was really shocked… I didn’t expect the Wuji family’s heritage to still be here, preserved in the form of a flame. As long as there is a flame, there is hope… As for the Broken Soul Ladder, it is the oldest product in this village. I heard that the Broken Soul Ladder was designed by the oldest ancestor of this village… and the people in this village all admit that in terms of inheritance, it still needs talented people to inherit and carry forward. At least after that ancestor, no one has been as good as him.

“So what exactly is the Broken Soul Ladder?” I really wanted to know what the Broken Soul Ladder was like, and how it had to be walked in a special way.

“The Wuji family has a very famous witchcraft called the curse, you know? There is a curse on the ladder of souls. If you don’t walk in a specific way, the more mistakes you make, the deeper the curse. It’s not impossible to end up with a shattered soul… I heard that if all the curses on this ladder of souls are concentrated and superimposed together, it will be impossible to end up with a shattered soul. The soul will be tortured forever and ever.” The master’s expression didn’t look like he was joking at all.

This made my heart cold again, and I couldn’t help but glance at the ladder not far away, which looked so ordinary. I didn’t expect that this ladder was not weaker than the secret passage of the Snake Gate, and in some ways it could even be said to be more powerful.

“Will the curse act immediately?” We escaped from the town, so I’m naturally a little worried about the problem of the pursuers. If it acts immediately… as long as we climb up, there’s no need to worry.

“Of course it will act immediately, so once you climb up this ladder, you don’t have to worry about the problem of being pursued.” The master said with a pipe in his mouth.

“But what if you accidentally hurt an ordinary person?” I suddenly remembered that there was no town guarding the entrance to the mountain before, and there were even a few sparse households… what if you accidentally broke into this ladder?

“Don’t worry, ordinary people can’t even get past the hundred steps… because this ladder has a small curse hidden in it. It will make ordinary people mentally disturbed, repeatedly going up and down, and not remembering what happened. So ordinary people won’t go beyond the hundred steps… and the curse is getting deeper and deeper. Even if a stronger ordinary person manages to go beyond the hundred steps… they will retreat because of the first small curse. The initial curse is not that powerful, and as long as you leave in time, the curse will automatically be released. The master explained a few words to me.

I have to say that the design of this broken soul ladder is too ingenious. I couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

“Actually, it’s too specific. How could a Taoist and an outsider like me possibly understand it all… You just need to know that there is only one way to enter this village, and that is through this Broken Soul Ladder… Don’t think that you can just wander into the mountains and enter this village. The entire mountain range has been there for so many years, and naturally they have their own arrangements.” The master said with emotion.

This reminds me of the attitude of the old man guarding the mountain. It seems that he really didn’t want to harm us at the time… he didn’t let us go up the stairs, and as for going up the mountain, he also reminded us not to go there.

Of course, there is no problem going up the mountain. It’s good that we didn’t encounter anything. We can just consider it an adventure… If we had encountered anything, in all these years, how many people have disappeared while exploring the mountains? And where else would ordinary people go to explore the wild mountains in the uninhabited area except for the tourist routes?

“Master, that old man…” Having said so much, I remembered the old man who guarded the mountain, and I naturally also remembered the old man who was the caretaker. I felt a little guilty… I had thought about trying to save him, but in that situation, there was no way to save him. Now that we are temporarily safe, of course I am worried.

“Don’t worry about this. The people in the town can still hold out… The old man guarding the mountain naturally knows how long it will take us to get to the mountain. He told us to let the people in the mountain come, so naturally he is confident that they will be able to hold out until then.” The master said this with a calm and confident tone, which made me feel a little more relieved.

As long as the people in the town can hold out, the old gatekeeper will be safe for the time being… because during a major battle, who will bother to deal with him?

“But Master, how long will it take us to get to the village?” I couldn’t help but ask… Are we going to be stuck in the mountains for a long time?

“Wait, I’ve already beaten the guest drum… it’s up to them to come quickly,” said the master.

The drum of the guest? Is it the drum that stands at the end of the stairs?