Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Content Warning; horror
He saw clearly lying under the bed a humanoid stone statue as big as an adult’s forearm. The carving was a bit rough, but its facial features were distinct. And this humanoid stone statue only had one foot.
It was not that one foot was broken, but that only one foot was carved during carving, which looked extremely weird.
In the dim light under the bed, its empty eyes faced Xie Lingya, and the frayed corner of its mouth looked like it was sneering…
“Lingya, can’t you get up?” Cheng Jie looked at Xie Lingya lying there motionless, and for a moment he was afraid that he had been injured by the fall.
Why would Cheng Jie put such a weird thing under the bed? Xie Lingya looked up with a strange look on his face, “…Did that stone statue you picked up before have only one leg?”
Cheng Jie and Fan Fang were both stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion: “How did you know?”
After the two of them finished speaking, his heart was beating wildly, and he felt something was wrong. Thinking of Xie Lingya’s eyes, they immediately looked towards the bed. Cheng Jie said in a trembling voice: “What’s under the bed?”
Fan Fang also looked like she was about to faint.
At this time, the curtains in the bedroom automatically started blowing without any wind, and the air conditioner turned on by itself, blowing cold wind outside. Xie Lingya jumped up and shouted: “Get out!”
Cheng Jie and Fan Fang turned around and ran to the living room, it was a good thing that they both had talismans on them, but Xie Lingya didn’t have any talisman on him, so he made the Lingguan Jue gesture with his hand and jumped to the living room to grab the Three Treasure Sword.
“Ah!” Fan Fang screamed when the house-protecting talisman on her body actually burned on its own. She threw the talisman away in a hurry.
This was definitely not a guest ghost, and a simple house-protecting talisman could not do anything to it. Xie Lingya regretted that he had not known otherwise he would have brought some spiritual ancestor amulets, but he didn’t even bring cinnabar or talisman paper here.
The grains of rice on the ground were motionless, and there was no trace of them at all, but Xie Lingya knew that this evil thing with unknown origin must be around, and if he broke the talisman, he must want to attack Fan Fang.
Not knowing the specific direction, Xie Lingya could only swing his sword horizontally: “It is everywhere, and the Tao is everywhere!”
With a “hiss” sound that was not like a human sigh, all the rice grains were blown away by the sword energy, formed a ring shape, and then the half-open patio door creaked.
Xie Lingya conveniently affixed another house-protecting talisman to Fan Fang, raised his sword and stared, but there was no movement, and the air conditioner in the bedroom had also switched off.
Xie Lingya posted all the remaining house-protecting charms in various places in the house, but there was no response.
Cheng Jie and Fan Fang were so scared that they hid behind him. The changes that happened with Xie Lingya’s sword and talisman just now left no doubt in their hearts. Xie Lingya was definitely capable.
Fan Fang thought of the sound of the terrace door and said with a cry: “Then, is the guest ghost gone?”
“It should be gone for now, not completely gone.” Xie Lingya corrected, although he didn’t know what it was, but through horizontal comparison, since he could break the house-protecting talisman, it was impossible for him to be hit even once, and it is more likely to have escaped. Also, it can’t be a guest ghost.”
“But the monk said…” When Cheng Jie thought that the monk had not accomplished anything in the first place, he immediately silenced himself and said in a broken voice, “What on earth is that? Is it related to the stone statue? Will it come again?”
Xie Lingya didn’t know, so he simply dragged the monopod statue out from under the bed. Cheng Jie and Fan Fang looked at each other, their faces extremely ugly, while Fan Fang almost fainted, and kept retreating from the statue.
They had obviously thrown this thing away a long time ago, but it actually appeared under their bed again! The thought of having such a thing lying under the bed without them knowing for so many days made them feel even more suffocated.
Xie Lingya placed the stone statue on the floor of the living room and put two talismans on it. When there was no response, he confirmed, “It must have escaped outside. I don’t know if it will come back.”
If he had known it was a trick and it was not a guest ghost, he would definitely not have come here happily and casually. Alas, he was still inexperienced. Now he didn’t know how to proceed because he didn’t recognize what it was.
Of course, after thinking for a long time, Xie Lingya felt that the most incredible thing was…
“How could you recognize this as an ancient work of art? What a weird foot!” Xie Lingya asked Cheng Jie.
Cheng Jie said with shame: “Was I not thinking of Venus with broken arms[1].”
Xie Lingya: “…”
Fan Fang choked up. Xie Lingya suspected that her husband’s actions might have made her cry.
….
Now he had no choice but to ask for off-site help. Xie Lingya took out his mobile phone and made a video call to Shi Changxuan.
About half a minute later, Shi Changxuan answered the call. He was probably sleeping. The background was the bedroom and only his hair and a bit of forehead appeared on the screen. He seemed a little confused as to why Xie Lingya sent him a video call so late. “…Huh?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Taoist Master Shi. You’ve already taken a rest,” Xie Lingya said apologetically, “I’m in a hurry here, and I’d like to ask you to help me take a look. Do you know what this is?” Saying this, he pointed the camera at the stone statue.
After three or four seconds, Shi Changxuan’s face appeared on the screen, and he said clearly: “One-legged five-pointer.”
“One-legged five-pointer? What kind of monster is this?” Xie Lingya said, “I am with a senior here. It was picked up in the mountains and was originally thrown away after being brought back. It came back on its own and kept causing mischief. It seemed to have been scared away by me just now.”
Shi Changxuan said: “In some areas in the south, it is called Wutong[2], and in some areas it is called Muke. There is also a one-legged god. That’s why you can’t throw it away, because it’s easy to invite a god but hard to send him away.”
Cheng Jie and his wife said in surprise: “Is this a statue of a god?”
“Mandrill ghosts and the like are demon gods worshiped by the villagers. That’s all.” Shi Changxuan replied, “When they are sacrificed to, they bring wealth, and worshiping the five-legged Wutong can make the owner’s family rich overnight. You only invited the god back but didn’t worship them, so the five-legged Wutong is causing trouble.”
Because some folk spirits were greedy for incense sacrifices, they would fulfill the wishes of the people in exchange for sacrifices, but they were not true gods, instead they were demon gods.
Cheng Jie was a little excited after hearing this, “So it just wants a sacrifice. Once it gets it, it will stop making trouble, and it will also make us rich?”
Cheng Jie’s wife was a little frightened. She didn’t dare to sacrifice to it anymore. Didn’t he listen, it was not a serious god at all, but a demon god.
Shi Changxuan said coldly: “If it were just like this, there would not be fewer and fewer people worshiping the one-legged Wutong, and they wouldn’t even abandon it in the wilderness and let you pick it up. In addition to festivals and New Year’s Day when it only requires the sacrifice of pigs and sheep, every three years, one person must be sacrificed.”
Cheng Jie suddenly shuddered, and all his thoughts disappeared. He waved his hands repeatedly, “Please, please let it go.” He looked at Xie Lingya for help.
Xie Lingya then asked: “Daozhang Shi, is there any way to send it away?”
Shi Changxuan said: “Wutong can’t be sent away easily as it is narrow-minded and will avenge itself. The people who worship him are thus slightly dissatisfied. If you show respect, you will also be punished. And if you hurt it, it will probably be even more careful.”
You are not afraid of thieves stealing from you, but you are afraid that thieves will target you. Xie Lingya said gloomily: “I thought it was a guest ghost who was causing trouble, so I didn’t take so many precautions. What you mean is that we can only kill it now. How can I lure it out?”
Shi Changxuan thought for a while and then said: “The five-legged Wutong is very greedy. You can pretend to be a sacrifice and lure it out again. Except….”
Xie Lingya didn’t feel very confident after hearing this. He didn’t understand the process of praying and offering sacrifices. He was afraid that something would go wrong, so he simply said: “Daozhang Shi, um, have you finished your work at Chaodu? Can you come and help?”
Shi Changxuan fell into silence for a moment. Xie Lingya almost thought that his phone was stuck. Was this question so difficult to answer?
After a long while, Shi Changxuan lowered his eyes and said: “…Okay. Don’t throw away any blood and excrement. We will use them together as sacrifices and pray at the third watch. Women should not be present unless necessary. If you are hit by the Wutong and get pregnant, you will still have a stillbirth. There must not be lights in the house during the sacrifice… nor the person performing the sacrifice must put on a shirt.”
Xie Lingya: “…”
Xie Lingya sighed: “Wutong is really a nasty demon god.”
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The Venus de Milo is believed to depict Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, whose Roman counterpart was Venus. Made of Parian marble, the statue is larger than life size, standing over 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) high. The statue is missing both arms.
[2] Wutong Shen or Wulang Shen are a group of five sinister deities from the southern region of China. Their cult began in the Tang dynasty and are usually depicted as one-legged demons. By nature wanton and lascivious, the Wutong often disguised themselves as handsome gentlemen to seduce unsuspecting and vulnerable women. Women who were ravished or possessed by these creatures lost consciousness and endured painful fits and convulsions lasting for days, even weeks, which often brought them to the brink of death.