Chapter 885: Chapter 642: Legendary (Happy Year of the Snake!)
But he couldn’t comprehend the meaning of the third phrase. When facing despair, go upward—what was it asking him to ascend? Was it asking him to enter this small temple in front of him that looked off? But if it were just about entering, why wouldn’t it say, when facing despair, enter or proceed?
"Fu Jue Temple..." Nalan Shuo took a deep breath.
"Mr. Nalan, what exactly is this place?" Standing in front of the temple, Fang Zhou didn’t even dare to breathe heavily, feeling a strong sense of evil from this place.
"This isn’t a temple; Fu Jue Temple is just a name. This is a shelter built for the homeless Lost Souls and Wild Ghosts nearby. You can think of it as... a Ghost Shrine." Nalan Shuo’s voice was very low, as if worried about disturbing something here.
As soon as the words "Ghost Shrine" were spoken, a chilling wind suddenly swept through the courtyard, making Fang Zhou shiver involuntarily and look around in panic.
Nalan Shuo’s face also looked grim. The presence of Fu Jue Temple here implied that the nearby area wasn’t peaceful—filled with Unjustly Deceased Ghosts, and potentially inexplicable supernatural occurrences that might add to their current troubles.
Even though the Divine Turtle Shell suppressed the ancestral coffin, it was just a temporary measure. Should an accident disturb this balance, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Keeping an eye on the temple door, Nalan Shuo abandoned the thought of entering and turned to walk away, reminding Fang Zhou, "Keep an eye out for a thick piece of wood or a ladder, possibly with talismans or something similar attached to it. Let me know if you see anything."
The two of them started moving around the courtyard. Nalan Shuo appeared calm, but was actually frantic. The longer they lingered, the more likely something unexpected could occur. The caretaker outside, Lou Huixiang, wasn’t very capable, but was quite cunning.
Fortunately, in less than two minutes, they found a wooden ladder near a wall corner, hidden under a foot-tall patch of weeds. If they hadn’t approached close enough, it would have remained undiscovered; it seemed like it hadn’t been tended to for at least 10 years.
Nalan Shuo lifted the ladder, and Fang Zhou hurried to assist. They broke the vines and weeds entwined around it and dragged it out.
Once they got to a clear area in the courtyard, Fang Zhou could see that the ladder was made of a kind of pitch-black wood that, surprisingly, hadn’t rotted or been eaten by termites.
Moreover, it wasn’t made from one whole piece or a few pieces of wood joined together; it was a discontinuous assembly, wrapped with old talismans and adorned haphazardly with red cloth strips inscribed with strange characters, resembling some kind of ancient witchcraft.
They first moved the ladder to the front of the smaller temple before, at Nalan Shuo’s instruction, one lifted the front and the other the back of the ladder. They positioned it vertical to the temple door, then walked it over to stand behind the courtyard door, turning it upside down in a very bizarre fashion; the narrow end rested on the ground and the wide end leaned against the top edge of the door frame, effectively barricading the door after being toppled.
This strange sight filled Fang Zhou with question marks, but he knew Nalan Shuo wouldn’t waste time on pointless actions.
"This ladder is called Juefu Ladder, also known as Juehu Ladder, made from the split coffins of seven extremely ill-fated people. The coffin represents the boundary between life and death, the last stop before entering the Netherworld. Therefore, this ladder, made from the wood of such ill-fated coffins, serves not just humans, but ghosts as well."
Looking up at the ladder that was obviously inverted, top-heavy and awkward, Nalan Shuo whispered, "Narrow top for humans, wide top for ghosts."
Hearing this, Fang Zhou felt a chill in his heart. By that logic, with the ladder positioned upside down here, it seemed to be waiting for a ghost to climb up.
Could it be... that there was a ghost nearby?!
But soon, Fang Zhou understood Nalan Shuo’s intention. Although not certain about the presence of a ghost, to be cautious, he deliberately inverted the ladder, blocking the only path out of the yard. Thus, when they passed by in the carriage from outside the yard gate, should a ghost rush out from the small temple, it would be drawn to the inverted Juehu Ladder, climbing upwards and thereby buying them time to escape.
However, just when Fang Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly realized something profound. The third phrase in the prophecy wasn’t referring to Fu Jue Temple, but to this very Juehu Ladder in front of him—it was telling him to climb it!
"Mr. Nalan, this ladder looks sinister, and you said people could use it. For what purpose might they use it?"
"To avoid ghosts." Nalan Shuo spoke succinctly. "Since the Fu Jue Temple is built here, it suggests that this area isn’t peaceful. If passersby encounter an Evil Spirit, they can run here for refuge. However, they must be quick to get to the ladder, set it against the temple, climb it, and then remove the ladder to save their lives."
After stating this, Nalan Shuo seemed to remember something and sighed slowly. Fang Zhou picked up on the implied meaning in that sigh.
This was the principle, no doubt, but achieving this would be as hard as reaching the sky since one must be alive to run to the temple while being chased by a ghost—an almost insurmountable task.
The dilapidated state of the temple corroborated this; overgrown with weeds, the ladder hadn’t been moved in years, almost merging into one with the vines and weeds.
"What are you thinking about?" Suddenly, Nalan Shuo looked at him.
Caught off-guard while pondering the prophecy, Fang Zhou nearly blurted out about the Feng Shui Master who had left him a note, but remembering the prophecy’s last line—averse to charity—he swallowed his words.
