ILSITM Chapter 37

Modern people reading ancient books often find descriptions of demons and ghosts.

Did demons and ghosts really exist in ancient times?

I’m an atheist and don’t believe that there are demons or ghosts in this world besides humans.

However, after traveling to the Kingdom of Silla, I changed my previous opinion, because I encountered demons and ghosts in the Kingdom of Silla.

During the Tang Dynasty, Taoism was introduced into the Kingdom of Silla. One of the most important reasons was that the Kingdom of Silla hoped to use Taoist magical instruments to satisfy the people’s demand for subduing demons.

Returning to the Tang Dynasty from the Kingdom of Silla, Wen Rourou and I chose to walk.

The scenery of the Kingdom of Silla is very beautiful, so we walked and stopped.

Along the way, I started a live broadcast.

When fans saw me and Wen Rourou together, they left messages one after another: “The beautiful Wen Rourou and the beautiful scenery of the Kingdom of Silla are a perfect match”; “Tian Dong and Rourou are a match made in heaven”; “Brother Tian Dong, marry Sister Rourou quickly…”

Seeing the fans’ messages and blessings, I felt a little shy, and Wen Rourou also became more bashful.

One day at dusk, Wen Rourou and I walked into a village.

Walking on the village road, I discovered a peculiar phenomenon: the village was in complete silence, and I didn’t see a single person, or even hear a dog barking.

At this time, smoke should be rising from the chimneys in the village, and we should be able to smell the aroma of food as we walked along the village road.

But we neither saw smoke nor smelled the aroma of food, but instead saw a blood-red sunset on the horizon and smelled an unpleasant odor in the air.

On one side of the village road were village houses, and on the other side was a small river.

“Hide!” a voice came from nowhere.

Wen Rourou and I looked around for the source of the sound, but didn’t find anyone.

“Hide!” the muffled voice sounded again.

Wen Rourou and I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a hand sticking out of the bushes on the opposite bank of the river.

The hand in the bushes waved at us, signaling us to go to the other side of the river.

The river was more than thirty meters wide, clear and transparent, and we could see the stones at the bottom of the river.

Wen Rourou and I went down to the river and swam towards the opposite bank.

Just as we were about to swim to the middle of the river, I heard someone shout loudly behind me: “Don’t go over there! Come back!”

Wen Rourou and I stopped and turned our heads to look back, and saw a thin young man standing on the village road.

He held a dharma bell in his left hand and a dharma mirror in his right hand.

Then, he pointed the dharma mirror at the bushes on the opposite bank and began to shine it around.

He shook the dharma bell while chanting incantations.

With a “clang,” the dharma mirror in his hand was hit by a sudden steel pellet and fell to the ground.

The thin young man looked shocked.

Then, with another “clang,” the dharma bell in the other hand of the young man was also hit by a steel pellet and instantly deformed.

At this moment, a person suddenly jumped out of the bushes on the opposite bank of the river.

Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy holding a slingshot in his hand.

For us modern people, slingshots are just toys for children to shoot birds, but in ancient times they were considered concealed weapons.

Slingshots were originally used for hunting. The ancients called them “shooting.” Later, because slingshots were easier to carry than bows and arrows, could cause considerable damage at medium and short distances, and made less noise when fired, they were classified as concealed weapons.

Standing on the village road, the young man looked across the river at the boy and cursed, “You little brat, are you human or a demon?”

“You hold a dharma mirror in one hand and a dharma bell in the other, but you can’t even tell the difference between humans and demons, and only know how to put on an act to fool people,” the boy with the slingshot said disdainfully.

I finally understood that it was a misunderstanding. These two people both regarded each other as monsters.

With a “splash,” the boy jumped into the river, quickly swam to the middle of the river, and shouted for Wen Rourou and me to swim back.

At this time, the sky had darkened, and after the three of us swam ashore, I saw people holding torches in the distance, walking towards us.

Then, I saw more and more people holding torches, all gathering towards us.

“Why are these people holding torches and walking towards us?” Wen Rourou asked the boy in confusion.

“They are all people from our village and the neighboring villages. During the day, they hide in the dark, and at night, they gather together to catch demons and exorcise evil spirits,” the boy said, blinking his big, dark eyes.

“Are there demons and ghosts here?” I asked.

The boy said that demons and ghosts used to appear here frequently.

Since a Taoist priest came here some time ago, these demons and ghosts have disappeared.

Before leaving, the Taoist priest left them many magical instruments and taught them how to use the instruments to subdue demons and exorcise evil spirits.

As the boy spoke, he couldn’t help but wave his arms and stamp his feet.

The young man who had been teased by the boy earlier was now infected by the boy and laughed along with Wen Rourou and me as he looked at him.

The people holding torches walked towards us, growing in number.

“Where did you two come from? What are you doing in our village?” a bearded middle-aged man in the crowd asked, looking at Wen Rourou and me.

“We are from the Eastern Tang Dynasty and are now returning to the Tang Dynasty,” I replied politely.

“Demons and ghosts often appear here. If you walk at night without magical instruments to protect you, I’m afraid there will be many dangers along the way,” the bearded middle-aged man warned.

The thin young man was from a neighboring village. After hearing what the bearded middle-aged man said, he took the initiative to invite us to stay in their village.

“Why don’t you go to my house? There’s only my grandma at home,” the boy said, urging us to stay.

The people holding torches also echoed, saying that we should sleep at the boy’s house for the night and leave tomorrow morning.

Unable to resist everyone’s earnest persuasion and the boy’s warm invitation, and considering that Wen Rourou was timid and afraid of the dark, I followed the boy to his house.

The boy’s house was actually just a dilapidated thatched hut.

The boy went into the house first and lit the lamp.

Wen Rourou and I entered the house and saw a stove, a water tank, and a large earthen bed, but we didn’t see the boy’s grandmother.

Just as I was about to ask, the boy said with a smile, “My grandma is hiding in the tunnel.”

“Tunnel? Where’s the tunnel?” I asked curiously.

The boy moved the water tank away, revealing a hole in the ground that was slightly smaller than the mouth of the water tank.

The boy called into the hole, “Grandma, we have guests!”

Then, an old woman climbed out of the hole, smiling at us.

“Should we sleep on the earthen bed tonight, or in the tunnel?” Wen Rourou asked.

“You and my grandma sleep on the earthen bed, and I have to go out to patrol the village later,” the boy said.

After Wen Rourou and I lay down on the earthen bed with our clothes on, the boy took his slingshot and a bag of steel pellets and went out.

After the boy’s grandmother blew out the lamp, she also got into bed.

In the middle of the night, I suddenly heard shouting outside.

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