Chapter 806
“Why would the deceased need a toll for the journey? It’s clear the path will be dull and the ensuing pain torturous, so I send those who will live alongside them on the registry, that they may rightfully be buried as companions.”
“That they may be buried as companions.”
The poor slowly start to pull out dolls from their bosoms, accompanied by ominous words.
The appearances of the dolls vary.
They placed the cheap dolls, sharing no commonalities save for their human form, beside the doll buried underground, bowed twice, and then gathered the soil to cover them.
“….”
“….”
“….”
After the funeral, silence engulfs.
The incense, slowly burning down, desperately flickers a bright red dot in the darkness, attempting to assert its existence, but the once blooming line of white smoke thins, signaling its lifespan is about to expire, and finally, it breaks away as white ash, dropping to the floor.
Does the flickering of the small flame signify a moment of reflection?
Thus, one funeral is completed for one stick of incense.
But how could it end with just one person when there are many?
One person does not simply experience one death, and until death becomes familiar, it mercilessly cuts to drive people into loneliness. There isn’t just one loneliness to settle for one person…
“….”
“….”
“….”
Another doll is drawn from the bosom of the poor.
Even as time passes, freshly drawn blood still steams; the brush plunges in once more, inscribing yet another name upon it.
A name of a complete stranger to those present here.
Perhaps it belongs to someone intertwined with them in secrets.
“I report to Yeomra. The deceased has completed their allotted lifespan as recorded on the registry and, when the time came, met with Wuchang Ye and Wuchang Fanmugu, guiding them to the registry….”
And as another stick of incense ignites, the ritual recommences.
…
…
…
Time flows.
The blood in the bowl diminishes, revealing the bottom, and the steam that once wafted away disappears, leaving a cold, solidifying handful of congealed blood. The brush, repeatedly dipped in the blood, has hardened, failing to serve its purpose, and all the dolls brought by the poor are buried in the ground.
Dolls inscribed with human names.
The countless other dolls buried beside them.
The dolls buried without a mound resemble the hidden graves of power holders who feared their tombs would be robbed, and even devoid of offerings, those dolls buried with them serve as companions in death, so truly how could they possess such graves without divine selection?
Dare anyone think they can lead so many attendants to the underworld unchosen by the heavens?
This is an altar.
This is a tomb.
This is a ritual to pave the road of curses.
* *
Anyone who practices the custom of burial with attendants will not escape ruin, and those buried with humans will not find peace for their souls, and the makers of dolls will have no descendants.
Confucius said, “Those who first made human-shaped dolls shall have no heirs.”
He stated that those who first created a human doll would not have descendants.
Death is undoubtedly inevitable; how could it be deemed proper custom to bury living people alongside those who have died under pretenses of mourning? Pressing palace ladies and eunuchs to hang themselves, drugging them to sleep, pouring mercury on them to kill them, or luring them into tombs only to starve them to death—how could anyone expect to enjoy endless glory for countless ages by doing so?
Those who died alongside will delight in tearing their master apart in the afterlife and inflicting eternal suffering, while the palace ladies and eunuchs, holding the cloth and silk entwined around their necks, will choke their master’s throat, hanging them one by one whenever descendants come. Those injected with mercury, their bodies not decaying, will find no rest, and even in becoming the deceased, they will not forget their resentment, continuing to act to avenge their grievances on later generations, thus the family of the tomb’s owner will not escape destruction.
The starving will become hungry ghosts, gnawing at their master’s flesh, regretting every grain strewn in the world, ripping it apart to prevent souls from ascending to the sky, forcing them to suffer immeasurable agony over eons.
Replacing humans with dolls holds no difference.
This gruesome and horrific custom cannot simply be alleviated; how can one hope for good words while leaving room for resurrection in later generations? When there are opportunities to obliterate it, postponing results in its rebirth, who but one could be blamed?
Despite being unable to obliterate it, those who shaped dolls to place in their tombs, wishing to enjoy the afterlife while receiving their service, how could they expect heaven not to be angered, still clinging to power even in death, believing they’re under heaven’s choice and favor?
Those who create human dolls will have no descendants.
Those buried alongside human dolls will have no descendants.
Those who imitate burial with attendants will have no descendants.
* *
Curses, contrary to their infamous reputation, are truly exceedingly intricate.
Thus, there are countless wrongful methods that flood in, rendering real execution ineffective, and even if carried out, without resentment or cause, one cannot expect significant efficacy, and whether successful or not, a staggering cost must be paid.
Those who wish to cast a curse must excavate two graves.
The enormity of that cost is also immense, and failure means the one cursing bears the parts to be cursed, often enduring tortures worse than death. Furthermore, even if one goes through the horrific expense to perform a cursing ceremony, it could easily be mitigated or defended against by external factors.
Truly, it is a power fraught with flaws…
Yet despite that, the fear surrounding curses stems from the fact that, with the acceptance of the drawbacks, one could reach beings beyond reach.
Even surrounded by a thousand guards, it is of no use, and wearing armor made from dragon scales offers no assurance when one isn’t afraid of blades that can pierce flesh. Someone in a high position, with a limited view of the world, fears the unseen arrow from the darkness—how terrifying it must be for a power holder living in ignorance!
Thus, the powerful have feared curses and devised innumerable methods.
Donning divine objects, wrapping themselves with densely concentrated energy as a barrier, relying on various folk beliefs to eliminate the thoughts of curses, keeping items made from materials with the powers of purging and exorcism close, even placing their dwellings in auspicious sites for protection—furthermore, controlling information to prevent the execution of curse rituals or disseminating absurd information to dilute or contaminate such practices, they have exerted all possible efforts.
It has undoubtedly been effective.
The fact that power holders continue to live despite considerable tyranny is the living proof of this.
But if rain leaks through and the roof isn’t fixed, has the problem really been resolved?
As long as they do not behave uprightly and bring hatred upon themselves, the saying “dripping water wears through stone” will hold true; resentment will pierce their bodies like droplets.
As stated, even with armor made from dragon scales, the blade of a curse can pierce through it.
No matter how solid it is, can it eternally block a blade honed by resentment?
Though variations in toughness exist depending on the location, the scales, and the intensity of resentment, if the resentments accumulate indefinitely, can dragon scale armor truly withstand them?
That is the principle of curses.
Like a single droplet creating a flood, countless resentments can burst forth at any moment.
Therefore, embrace the curse.
Accept the fire arrows of vengeance sharpened by rage.
“Those who practice the custom of burial with attendants will not escape ruin.”
Dolls, being mere imitations of human form, cannot replace true people.
Wooden dolls, clay dolls, mud dolls—these are all forms made to represent humans.
Thus, at funerals, those buried alongside the deceased can indeed encapsulate their essence.
How could a doll, inscribed with a name in blood, fail to replace that person?
How could those buried alongside the deceased fail to fulfill the role of those with attendants in death?
“The ones buried with humans will not find peace for their souls.”
Thus, the principle of curses forms.
I pave the way with resentment and shoot arrows honed by hatred.
“The creators of dolls will bear no descendants.”
This will sketch a path painted in pale, thick, and muddy smoke.
It will be akin to clouds that cover the sky and the dusk spreading across the land.
