Grave Moving Brigade - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Harassed in Sleep Paralysis

Chen Ling rushed faster and faster, and the copper bell in his hand shook and jingled continuously.

The Sanqing Bell was once Zhao Xunchang’s personal magic weapon. It had been used for many years and had a strong resistance against evil spirits. Ordinary spirits would hide away upon hearing the sound of the bell.

But, the spirit he had encountered today was different. Not only did it not hide, instead it also followed him all the way.

Chen Ling took several deep breaths and repeatedly told himself to stay calm. In case he panicked and fell, not only would he have to spend money on medical treatment, but it would also affect his new business.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, the other party had no intention of harming him, otherwise it would have pounced on him long ago. Why would it just follow him so quietly?

After figuring it out, Chen Ling’s movements were no longer stiff, and he safely arrived at the courtyard with the ringing of the bell.

A lamp was left on in the yard, but the light in Zhao Xunchang’s room was off. His snoring sounded unbridled from the crack in the window like thunder.

Having run into spirits twice in just one day, Chen Ling had no energy to clean himself up. Still, he took a quick hot shower, climbed onto the bed nimbly, and wrapped himself in his blanket like a cicada pupa, leaving only a pair of eyes and nose exposed.

Zhao Xunchang’s snoring was the best form of hypnotic lullaby on those nights when he couldn’t fall asleep due to fear. Chen Ling felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and his messy thoughts were quickly drowned out by sleepiness, turning into a dark, irresistible nightmare.

In the dream, Chen Ling felt as if his body was trapped and the surroundings were cramped, as if he was trapped in a container.

The pitch-black surrounding, with an indescribable chill, penetrated his skin from all directions and penetrated into his mouth and nose. A hand brushed past him calmly and gently, and stopped on his exposed thin neck.

Chen Ling opened his eyes wide, his lips and teeth opened, and Adam’s apple moving up and down betrayed his intention to call for help.

Then the hand suddenly moved and covered his mouth almost fiercely.

The strange breath brushed across his jaw and cheek, going all the way up and passing over the young man’s eyebrows.

In an instant, Chen Ling was certain that the person who was suppressing him was the same ‘person’ who had suddenly appeared in his study room before, and the one who followed him home before. At this moment, the thing sniffed at him like a ferocious beast that had been hungry for too long and was anxious to eat.

Chen Ling was conscious but couldn’t open his eyes to wake up.

Another nightmare with sleep paralysis.

After nearly two months of peaceful life, Chen Ling had almost forgotten how ferocious and bloodthirsty these things were.

He struggled desperately, but as soon as he moved his hands and feet, they were fixed, as if there were invisible nails nailing his limbs firmly to the bed.

A strange and terrifying aura hovered over his face. Chen Ling held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut, as if as long as he couldn’t see it, he could pretend that it didn’t exist. But sooner or later, the self-deceiving appearance would be exposed.

With a ‘hiss’ sound, the collar of the T-shirt hanging on his collarbone was torn. The breath slid along his neck to his collarbone, with a tendency to go to his heart next.

Danger was approaching, and Chen Ling could clearly feel his heartbeat quickening.

Violent pulsations hit his ribs fiercely, ready to burst out of his chest at any time. Chen Ling could not hold it in any longer. His breathing became rough and heavy, burning, with a fresh breath, all spraying into the invisible hand.

A light sneer sounded in the air, and a cold male voice spoke close to his ear, with a gentle tone, “Why are you so scared?”

Chen Ling: “…”

‘People scare people to death.’

‘Similarly, if ghosts scare ghosts, they should also be able to scare each other to death.’

‘Why are you so scared? Just try it yourself and you will know!’

Chen Ling had a lot of accusations in his heart but couldn’t say them out loud. He mobilised all his strength to save himself. He closed his teeth and bit the tip of his tongue.

His Master had once told him that professionals paid attention to the three-pointed blood to exorcise evil spirits. The three-point blood refers to the blood from the fingertips, tongue tips, and heart tips. The blood in these three places is the essence of human blood, which contains pure yang energy. If the situation allows, it is most convenient to use blood from the fingertips, because the pain is the least.

However, in the current situation where he couldn’t move, Chen Ling only had the middle option.

The tip of his tongue was bit and the sweet and metallic taste of blood immediately gushed out. Fortunately, he couldn’t make a sound, otherwise he would have cried out in a cowardly way.

In order to prevent the blood on the tip of his tongue from being wasted by accidentally swallowing, Chen Ling opened his mouth to spit it out.

In an instant, the open lips were pinched by two fingers and closed again.

Chen Ling stared in shock, his Adam’s apple rolling up and down, and he swallowed half of the blood in his mouth.

The most terrifying thing was that the thing actually squeezed two fingers into his mouth and hooked his tongue, which was still bleeding.

The cold air spread down along the root of his tongue, and the voice that had just spoken rang out again. This time, the voice was right in front of him, and the strange breath flowed slowly into his lips which had been pried open with a strong sense of abuse.

Since becoming Zhao Xunchang’s disciple, Chen Ling had heard a lot of stories, especially those about female spirits in the mountains who sucked people’s essence. Unexpectedly, he encountered a male version today.

Just when he was shouting ‘It’s over, it’s over’ in his heart, the breath from the opposite side suddenly stopped attacking.

Immediately afterwards, there was a loud bang in the air.

Chen Ling was shocked and sat up suddenly from the bed.

Zhao Xunchang retracted his foot that had kicked the door panel away, and rushed to the head of the bed holding a lightning-struck seven-star wooden sword. He looked around vigilantly, and the vigilance between his brows gradually turned into confusion.

Chen Ling wiped the dense sweat from his forehead, grasped the torn collar of his shirt, and said in a hoarse voice: “Master.”

Zhao Xunchang didn’t reply. He clenched the hilt of his sword and walked around the room again and again. Finally, he squatted in every corner and sniffed, but found nothing.

He walked back to the bed, put the sword in his hand on the bedside table with a snap, and sat down. “I clearly felt that there was something in your room just now, how come it disappeared just when I arrived?”

Chen Ling was too embarrassed to say that his mouth was teased by the other party’s fingers, and picked out two key points: “I was in sleep paralysis, but the Sanqing Bell you gave me doesn’t seem to have any effect.”

By his calculation, it is the third time that the Sanqing Bell had misfired!

Chen Ling quickly told his master about what happened in the study in the evening and how he was followed when he returned home on the rainy night.

When the Sanqing bell rings the first time, it is to warn that spirits and monsters would come.

Then the Sanqing bell rings again to ward off evil.

Zhao Xunchang had great confidence in the magic weapon containing the aura of evil that had been used by his ancestor, so he passed it to his only disciple. What is going on now? Was he slapped in the face?

He reached out and took the copper bell that his apprentice had placed next to the pillow. He shook it gently, and the room was filled with the sound of the bell.

It wasn’t not broken, it was still in good condition.

Zhao Xunchang rubbed his brows, not wanting to think in that direction, but the facts were before him, and there was only one possibility for Chen Ling’s current situation -The evil creature was unfathomable, and the Sanqing Bell had no reaction and was completely useless against it.

The situation was a bit tricky, so the battle-hardened Zhao Xunchang took it seriously. He immediately left his apprentice’s room, brought over a large number of his own magical instruments and tried them one by one. When he saw that there was no reaction, he pasted all kinds of talismans to exorcise and ward off evil spirits all over the room.

After doing all that, he placed the Sanqing Bell with the blessed talisman paper next to the apprentice’s pillow and said, “The room is safe now. Nothing should happen now. Go to sleep.”

How could Chen Ling have the heart to sleep? As soon as his master left, he knelt up and turned on the small bedside lamp.

The warm yellow light provided a touch of warmth to the dark room. Chen Ling did not get out of bed. Instead, he leaned over, opened a drawer, and took out two yellowed, thread-bound ancient books with frayed binding threads.

The dark blue cover of the ancient book had decayed and would tear if one moved it with even the slightest effort.

Chen Ling turned the pages carefully, taking note of the key points as he read. The knowledge was inspiring, and even in the middle of the night, he became more and more awake the more he read. The slight fear that had surged in his heart had long since disappeared.

At 5:30 in the morning, a faint red appeared in the distant sky. Half an hour later, the first ray of sunlight broke through the horizon.

Chen Ling went to the kitchen to steam the dumplings bought from the supermarket for his master, then opened the gate and walked up the mountain.

On Yuhe Mountain, the workers got up to work before dawn. At this moment, one by one, they were carrying a large dryer out of the tomb with their bare chests.

The pit that was wet by yesterday’s heavy rain had dried up. Someone was mixing cement according to the proportion nearby, while others were going down the mountain to carry up the natural marble slabs that had been cut and polished overnight.

Half past eight in the morning was the auspicious time calculated with the help of Zhao Xunchang.

The marble slab was neatly placed into the waterproof pit, fixed with cement and the gaps sealed. In an instant, the appearance of the tomb, which was made only of loess, increased dramatically.

Chen Ling was very satisfied with the newly developed luxury house for the Jiang family’s ancestor which also included a good mountain view. He immediately called Mrs. Jiang.

This time, the call was connected quickly.

When she heard that he couldn’t contact her last night, Mrs. Jiang apologised saying that her phone was soaked in water and turned off automatically.

After hearing the young man say that the pit had been enlarged but he wouldn’t charge extra, Mrs. Jiang thanked him repeatedly and asked, “Mr. Chen, when are you coming over? I’ve already bought everything you asked me to buy.”

Chen Ling said, “About half past nine.”

He still had one thing left to do.

According to the boss’s request, the contractor took people to the village to get two large bundles of straw, and then divided them into seven small bundles.

Chen Ling borrowed a lighter from him, lit a bundle and threw it into the grave.

This ceremony is called Warming the Acupoints, just like inviting relatives and friends to warm up the house before people officially move into their new home. The purpose is to make the house prosperous, so that the people living in the house can be happy and have good luck.

The bundles of straw were burned to ashes, and Chen Ling jumped down himself to clean out the ashes.

As he was climbing up, the contractor looked at the tomb decorated with marble and said with a smile, “Mr. Chen, this tomb is really nice. Not only is it grand and bright, but it is also very spacious. It is said to be a single-person tomb, but in fact it is more than enough for two people.”

Somehow, Chen Ling suddenly remembered his dream from last night.

Isn’t that suffocating dark space just like lying in a pitch-black tomb?!