Chapter 188： just want to be free

In the early days when the scenic spot was closed, many police and search and rescue team members searched around Ji'an Temple, and it was not like no one went down the cliff at the back of the mountain.

But due to Ah Pup's intervention, no one could see the hidden village.

It’s not that Ah Pup doesn’t covet their flesh and blood, it’s mainly because most of them travel in groups and have extraordinary skills. If they attack rashly, they may cause trouble.

In this way, the search and rescue efforts that year yielded no results, and no one knew where the missing tourists had gone.

Later on, the scenic spot became deserted.

As rumors of the disappearance spread, no one set foot here again. Even the relevant departments only set up offices at the foot of the mountain.

Until now, Pei Anzhu has stepped here alone.

After finishing Ah Pup's story, Pei Anzhu looked at her for a while and then asked:

“Last question, you should have been sealed in the middle of the formation by the Taoist priests with your body and soul, but why did your soul leave your body?”

Logically speaking, Apu is half human and half ghost, so she will not die easily.

It seems unreasonable to say that her soul left the body after death. This is what Pei Anzhu is curious about.

Ah Pup didn’t hide it either and said:

“I am originally half human and half ghost. After cultivating to a certain level, I can decide for myself what state I want to exist in.”

“I gave up my human body and kept my ghost soul.”

“I originally guessed that the Taoist priest’s formations and talismans sealed my body. So if I break away from my body, can I get out?”

"But I didn't expect that the sealing formation he created back then was so powerful. It tried everything and blocked all my escape routes. The formation sealed my body, and the talismans on the stone wall outside blocked it. My soul."

So, even if Apu breaks away from her physical body, she cannot get out of the square bottom of the well. She can only gain freedom within a limited range.

If Pei Anzhu hadn't come here for the bones of Tao family ancestors, she didn't know how long she would have to wait before she could hope to see the light of day.

Pei Anzhu was silent for a moment and then said:

“Ah Puppet, I can let you out.”

After hearing this, Ah Pup's face was filled with joy: "Seriously?"

Pei Anzhu nodded and said:

“But after you go out, you cannot gain absolute freedom.”

“What do you mean?” Ah Pup’s face changed.

Pei Anzhu explained:

“From Willow Village to Living Village, throughout these hundreds of years, both your mother and yourself have been victims of human greed.”

“The Taoist priests caused everything that happened later because of their greed; the villagers eventually suffered the consequences because of their greed. And you, mother and daughter, are the victims of their greed.”

“Your mother has completely died, so I won’t mention it, but even if you are a victim, it cannot change the fact that you sucked human flesh and blood and committed crimes.”

"This is the past that cannot be changed, and it is a debt of karma, so even after I let you out, you only have two choices."

“First, I will send you to the underworld and suffer torture in the eighteen levels of hell. After your sins are redeemed, your memory will be washed away and you will be reincarnated as a human being.”

“Second, sign a master-servant contract with me, follow me, do good deeds and meritorious deeds with me, and use meritorious deeds to wash away your sins, but only if you listen to me.”

"Ah Puppet, I can understand your despair of being sealed here for hundreds of years without doing anything. I also know that the first time you drank human flesh and blood was because those men violated you and inspired the ferocity in your body. , not your intention.”

"I know better that the reason why you are eager to increase your strength is to escape from this cage, so I don't think you will be willing to go to the underworld to atone for your sins. Because this is just going from one cage to another."

"Then, staying with me is your best choice. I will restrain you and discipline you, while also allowing you a certain degree of freedom."

"You can go and see if the world today is the same as what you saw in your mother's memories; you can go out to taste delicious food and see all kinds of things in the world... I think these are all things you have wanted to do, right? "

Ah Pup lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking. After a while, she nodded: "Yes, I just want to go out and be free."

"As long as you can help me get out, I am willing to sign a contract with you. From now on, I will be at your disposal, and you will be the only one who obeys your orders."

Pei Anzhu smiled slowly, and she quickly signed a master-servant contract with Ah Pup.

This is a blood contract certified by the law of heaven. Once it is violated, it will be struck by thunder from the sky. For a being like Apu, thunder from the sky is the biggest nemesis.

So, Pei Anzhu is not afraid of her breaking the contract.

After the contract was signed, Pei Anzhu quickly issued the first order:

“Remove the blinders you have deployed around the Living Village and let this village return to the world. I have some friends who will come up to liquidate the crimes of the Living Village.”

"Okay." Ah Pup responded, then closed his eyes and slowly breathed all the deathly air that permeated the village into his body.

As the dead air around them gradually thinned out, the outline of the village began to emerge.

The villagers of the Living Village were the first to notice the changes in their surroundings. They saw that the originally gray sky above the village had changed from the turbidity of the past to become clean and clear.

The sunlight, which was originally blocked by the air of death, projected from the sky and shone on them.

A severe burning sensation hit them. Their bodies, which should have died long ago, were corroded by the sun and the pain was bone-shattering. The air was filled with a putrid smell.

They panicked—

“What’s going on? How did our bodies become like this?”

“Isn’t even the village safe now?”

“Is the ancestor from the bottom of the well about to come out? We have given her the last sacrifice, what else does she want?”

…”

The sound from the ground reached the bottom of the well without any concealment, and a sarcastic smile appeared on Ah Pup's face:

“Look, this is humankind! Human beings with two ends, superficial and duplicitous!”

“In the past, when they learned that they were about to die, they desperately begged me to help them save their lives; later, when they learned that they could only live as neither humans nor ghosts, they begged me to free them.”

“But now, when it comes time for them to be liberated, they are not willing to do so.”

“Fear, fear, and nostalgia for the world, but without the courage and calmness to die calmly, this is greed.”

“This village is rotten from the ground up. Their greed has never changed. It’s a pity that the Liuxian who used to protect this village is not worth it.”

Pei Anzhu didn't respond to this question. After Ah Puppet absorbed all the death energy, she spoke:

"You wait at the bottom of the well, and I will let you out after I resolve the matters above."

“Then don’t forget it!” Ah Pup looked nervous.

Even though she has lived for hundreds of years, she is just a child who grew up trapped here. She wants to be free, but she is also worried that Pei Anzhu will never come back.

"Don't worry." Pei Anzhu smiled at her.

Then, she walked directly below the mouth of the well and performed a water control technique. Soon the bottom of the well changed, and the well water appeared like a whirlpool under her feet.

Soon, the vortex gradually rose, sending Pei Anzhu to the ground.

The villagers in the Living Village looked at this scene in shock: the sacrifices that they had originally thrown away now appeared in front of them in good condition.