《A Guest in a Ghost House》


 Chapter 1 Three Strange Photographs

    It was the mid-afternoon and it didn¡¯t look like anything was going to change. Several hours from now I¡¯d probably still find myself here: hugging my legs and staring blankly into space with all the lights turned off.


    ¡°Tap-tap,¡± a polite knocking came from the door.


    I looked up. Staring at the door with a trace of fear lingering in the air around me, I felt the stiffness in my body, a side effect of staying in the same position for too long.


    I didn''t want to open the door, but I knew there was no getting around it.


    Creak.


    I opened the locked door and saw a deliveryman looking for something in his sidecar. He must have heard the sound of the door opening, because he said, very politely and without raising his head, ¡°Excuse me; please wait a minute.¡±


    I nodded slightly and leaned against the door frame. I did not urge him; I even hoped he¡¯d take his time.


    However, the deliveryman quickly raised his head and joked with me, ¡°Here it is! Hey man, I gotta say, your decadent lifestyle is getting worse.¡± He said taking a look at my appearance and surroundings.


    The deliveryman''s words were said with a tone that expressed familiarity. Anyone who delivered a letter every three days would become familiar with the recipient, even if it was just a one sided relationship.


    I didn''t want to get to know him, and always dreaded seeing him.


    The deliveryman handed me a white envelope and said with smile, ¡°If you wouldn¡¯t mind signing right here?This is your pen pal, right? A letter every three days - very punctual! Having a pen pal is really rare in this day and age.¡±


    I ignored him, taking the white envelope and gazing at it. I then retreated back into the room, closed the door, and locked it.


    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll just sign this for you,¡± the deliveryman said with a loud voice from outside. He left immediately afterwards.

 Chapter 2 Trying to Get Away

    I stared at the letter and sat there all afternoon, until the last rays of the sunset directly hit the envelope through the open window.


    I stretched out my hand. To be honest, I never wanted to learn what on earth could be found inside. Nevertheless, I still couldn¡¯t help but pick up the envelope, as if something had possessed me to do so.


    I slowly tore the envelope along the dotted line and a few photos slid out; three photos in total.


    Sure enough, there were three photos as there always were. They fell on the bed neatly, as if they had been carefully arranged and nearly perfectly aligned.


    I hesitated for a long time. Finally, I couldn¡¯t help picking up these photos as my hands trembled and the sky outside quickly darkened.


    There was a photo that represented life on the very top. In this photograph was an image of an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl standing by a flower bouquet, making a peace sign with her right hand. Her body tilted slightly toward the bouquet, with a smile as beautiful as a flower blooming in the spring.


    It was beautiful. I took a deep breath and put the first photo aside.


    The second picture was taken on a dark riverbank, where a girl in a white dress was lying against a rock. Her scattered hair covered her face and her slender feet were powerless in the water, appearing to bob up and down with the current.


    I couldn¡¯t see the face of the girl in this photo, but I knew this was the same girl from the first photo.


    The last photo was also taken on a dark riverbank, and there was also a girl in a white dress standing in the river, the water barely reaching her waistline. Her head was turned with a beautiful smile just like the first photo. There seemed to be nothing special about it, but it felt a little strange.


    I looked at it carefully and finally realized that the girl was standing with her back to the camera, and her head was turned a full 180 degrees.


    My heart thumped faster and a chill ran down my spine. I hurriedly tucked my back against the wall, which made me less afraid.


    The photos fell on the bed as I moved toward the wall. The third photo, which should have landed on top, had strangely landed at the bottom. Once again, the three photos were stacked neatly on the bed.


    I looked at the box, slowly backing away towards the bed. For the past three months, I have been receiving a letter from that deliveryman or a colleague of his every three days.


    There was always only a recipient¡¯s address with no sender and a picture of an eye that looked like a child¡¯s drawing.


    In addition, each letter would contain three photos. No matter how I threw them, the three photos would always be stacked neatly: a photo of life, a photo of death, as well as a very strange photo. The only difference was the person in each set of photos; some were young or old, male or female.


    I took a long breath and looked at the box. In the beginning, I had thought it was just a prank done by one of my friends. However, when I had once showed it to the owner of the printing shop across the street from me, he told me that these were just overexposed waste photos. That he couldn¡¯t make anything out on them at all. That¡¯s when I started getting a little scared. See, the photos appeared very clear to me.


    I decided to get a second opinion, hoping the owner of the shop was messing with me. I had asked a lot of people - my friends and my neighbors - but everyone said the exact same thing same as the printing shop owner¡¯s.


    Was everyone lying to me? Was I living my very own Truman Show?


    Obviously, I knew that it was impossible for so many people to be in on something like this. Yet I couldn¡¯t help but wish I was in Truman''s world. At least then I¡¯d know everything was fake.


    Whatever it was that I was facing, it was real. At the very least, my fear was real.


    It was dark outside and the alarm clock went off at 7:30, right on time.


    I slowly picked up the TV remote at the head of the bed and turned on the TV. The local news channel, which had been the channel on the TV for months, hadn¡¯t changed.


    I quietly watched the reports that seemed meaningless, until a news report appeared stating that a crowd of joggers found a body near the river this morning. Police rushed to the scene, and after a forensic medical examination, the victim was determined to be an 18-year-old female and the time of her death was about 1:00. The possibility of suicide had been ruled out. At the present moment, the identity and cause of death of the victim was still being confirmed...


    After watching the news, I turned off the TV. The people in those photos might not all appear in the daily news, but a large portion of them did. Those who didn¡¯t appear in the news might not have been found yet. From the moment I received that day¡¯s photos, I knew that person in the photos was not likely to be alive. The whole thing was becoming routine.


    I turned on all the lights in the room, even the desk lamp and a flashlight. I had fixed the flashlight in place with a few thick books, shining its beam at the foot of the bed.


    As time went by, the sounds of the outside world gradually dwindled, with only the occasional roar of passing cars disturbing the silence.


    I felt like I was about to collapse. What kind of prank was this?


    I suddenly wanted to pee, and slowly got out of my bed. The door of the bathroom was not closed and the lights and water heater were also on, but as I peed, I glanced around and the empty room made me unwell.


    After peeing, zipping up, and raising my head, I was startled by my reflection in the mirror. What kind of life was I living?


    I rushed out of the bathroom and threw the heavy box of letters to the ground. Envelopes scattered across the floor and several photos fell out. All of them were neatly stacked on the ground and the top one was always the same. A photo representing life and of a person smiling.


    ¡°Come on man! What are you doing?!¡± said voice muffled by a wall that separated my apartment with my neighbor¡¯s. At that moment, I hoped all the ghosts in the photos would come out and tear me to pieces. After all, I was depressed; I would go crazy at this rate.


    ¡°It''s almost midnight! What¡¯s the matter with you? Why aren¡¯t you sleeping?¡± the neighbor''s verbal abuse could be heard through the wall.


    I sat on the ground, kicked away the envelope that was closest to me, while tears began to flow down my face and onto the ground. It¡¯s very embarrassing to admit that¡¯s what was happening, but I¡¯ve never been a brave man. The worst thing I¡¯ve ever done was skip school.


    I just continued to sit on the floor that night. No, I had to leave. I couldn¡¯t t stay there anymore.


    I carelessly packed some clothes and hurried out of my house.


    ¡°Wu, are you going on a trip?.¡±


    I looked up and found it was my neighbor, an old woman. It seemed like she had just come back from her morning exercise and was smiling at me.


    I nodded slightly and said, ¡°Yes.¡± Not caring whether she heard me or not, I just quickly took a taxi and fled the house where I had been living for 5 years.


    I went to a hotel on the other side of town. The hotel was not very classy, but there were a lot of people, and outside the window of the room I chose was a night market stall, which would be open until 2 or 3 in the morning every day.


    The room I picked was originally used by the hotel owner for storage, so most people wouldn¡¯t choose it. However, I had no other choice. When I insisted on this room, the hotel owner was very surprised.


    I unpacked and went to bed early. Although the noise of people playing drinking games and talking outside was very loud, it was really the best night¡¯s sleep I¡¯ve had ever since I began receiving the letters.


    It was also the only day since then without nightmares.


    In those few days at the hotel, I always let the noises outside lull me to sleep. I felt a lot better about myself after some rest and even went out shopping one day. After all, it was the first time in months that I was in the mood to go out to the street.


    Around noon I found a small cafe outside and ate something. Afterwards, I went back to the hotel and stayed inside for a few days. At that point, I was very familiar with the hotel owner. Every time he saw me come in, he would smile and say hello to me, and I would also reply to him with a rare smile.


    As I was about to walk past the counter one day, I asked, ¡°Mr. Tang, do you have mail for me?¡±


    Mr. Tang, the hotel owner, paused and said, ¡°Mail? No. If I get any mail for you, I¡¯ll let you know.¡±


    I shook my head hurriedly, ¡°No, thanks.¡± I waved to Mr. Tang with a bright smile and walked back to my room, followed by his surprised and confused gaze.


    No mail was a good thing. I seem to have cast away the stone that had been weighing down on my heart. Even as I was opening the door, I felt my hand had become a lot more relaxed.


    However, when I opened the door, I was stunned. A familiar white envelope was quietly lying on the floor inside, seemingly having been pushed in from under the door.


    I felt my body go stiff. No, no way. Mr. Tang had said there was no mail.


    I forced myself to swallow and stooped to pick up the letter. Then I quickly turned and got out of the room. Approaching the front desk, I waved the envelope in my hand and asked loudly: "Mr. Tang, didn¡¯t you say no one had sent me anything?¡±


    Mr. Tang seemed startled by my exaggerated reaction and carefully said to me, ¡°Yeah, sure. What''s the matter?¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s with this letter?¡± I didn''t know what the expression on my face looked like. However, when I saw Mr. Tang stand up and knock over his chair, he seemed to be very scared. I was silent. If there really was someone who could take such photos, wouldn¡¯t it be easy for them to send me a letter?

 Chapter 3 Opening the Envelope

    I kept silent for quite a long time before finally opening the letter. There were three photos inside, as usual.


    The first one: a 6-year-old boy with a ruddy face and a worn white school uniform, with a red dot in the middle of his forehead. He was making a funny face and there were many parents and kids behind him. The last thing I noticed was a banner in the distance that said ¡°Happy International Children''s Day, June 1st.¡±


    The second one: a little boy stuffed into a very small space, his limbs twisted. His bending thighs pressed on his small head, his face was as white as snow, and there were frost flowers on his hair and eyebrows.


    The third one: a little boy standing alone in the street. His clothes were bulky and bulging, looking very strange. He was surrounded by a white mist and both his hair and eyebrows were white.


    My hand shivered violently and the photo fell down. I¡¯d seen a lot of these weird photos, and although they were extremely creepy, I had never been as scared as I was now.


    The background in the third photo was too familiar. It was in front of my hotel.


    Would anyone come to kill me?


    My fear was really beyond words, but I quickly put the pictures back into the envelope, walked out of my room, and went over to the front desk again.


    ¡°Mr. Tang, do you have a 5 or 6-year-old boy around here?¡±


    Hearing my words, Tang, who was watching TV, got startled. When he saw that it was me, he retreated slightly and thought carefully, ¡°A little boy? There is a little boy in the hardware store next door. What''s the matter? Has that naughty boy been making trouble again?¡±


    I shook my head and trotted out. I knew the hardware store next door. Its owner opened the store during the day and closed it early to go home at night. After that, street peddlers would set up their booths outside his shop for the night market. I could clearly hear the owner of that hardware store cursing at them for leaving their trash at his doorstep almost every morning.


    I walked out of the hotel and saw that the hardware store was open. A very strong man with a big, thick face was sitting at the door, smoking and rubbing his toes, an expression of enjoyment on his face.


    A middle-aged woman was carrying things around the store and would sometimes scold that man, ¡°You should go and die! You let me work by myself and never come over and help me!¡±


    Seeing the big and tall owner of the hardware store, I hesitated for a moment but still forced myself to walk up to him and ask, ¡°Excuse me, Sir. Do you have a 5 or 6-year-old son?¡±


    The owner nodded subconsciously, then looked at me strangely and rudely said, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The owner stood up. He was not tall, but his very strong figure still made me take two steps back.


    When the middle-aged woman saw the situation, she hurriedly put down her things, came out and grabbed her husband, ¡°My kid went to play at his uncle''s house. Do you.....¡±


    Her husband interrupted her and said, ¡°Hey, boy, if you have something to say, say it. What do you want?¡±


    I didn''t want to say any more, but the little boy''s lovely face swayed my heart and made me hesitate while saying, ¡°Go and find your son. He? he may be in trouble.¡± After saying that, I didn¡¯t stick around to see the owner¡¯s reaction and just hurried back to the hotel.


    ¡°Motherfucker, do you want to die!?¡± the owner shouted after me, followed by the woman''s soothing voice trying to calm her husband.


    I went straight to my room and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I had no other choice. I too, would be furious if someone had said that to me.


    As night fell, I put the envelope away and listened to the noises of the night market outside. Sure enough, I was always more daring in crowded places, even if I exposed to such strange things.


    I watched the news that night and there were no reports of a boy being killed. I had figured the owner of the hardware store had listened to me and went to the uncle, but still couldn¡¯t find the boy. Yet the news confirmed nothing.


    When I received the photo, I knew that the fate of the little boy had been sealed.


    ¡°Tap-tap,¡± A few knocks came from my door. I looked at the clock on the wall and it said 1 AM.


    Who could be looking for me so late at night? Strange as it was, I was not afraid. Outside the open window, there were some young men drinking.


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Wu, it¡¯s me,¡± outside the door came the voice of Mr. Tang. Although it was strange that Mr. Tang came to visit me so late, I still got out of bed and went to open the door.


    As soon as the door opened, several policemen rushed in and shouted, "Don''t move!¡±


    Before I could react, I felt a pain in my arm. My hand was twisted behind me and I was pressed against the wall by a policeman.


    I turned my head that was pressed against the wall with difficulty and saw several policemen searching my room.


    Mr. Tang was standing on the side, looking at me in fear and shaking his head.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± My face was pressed against the wall so my voice was a little stifled, but no one answered. A policeman picked up the white envelope, pulled out the photos and looked at them carefully. Then he threw them away and nodded at the other officers.


    I was finally released. I stretched my neck, which had been held with great force and sat by the bed as these vigilant policemen asked me questions.


    A young policeman took out his badge and held it in front of me, ¡°I''m with the Criminal Police of the Public Security Bureau. My name is Wu Jian. I need you to assist with an investigation.¡±


    I rubbed the hand they had hurt when they initially barged in. I did not clearly see the papers that Wu Jian had just taken out, but I did not doubt his identity. In this era, the only ones who dared to break into other people''s rooms and search them like this, except for those who were about to catch a cheating spouse red-handed, were the police.


    Seeing that I wasn¡¯t speaking, Wu Jian took my ID card from another policeman''s hand and took a closer look.


    He said with a smile, ¡°Wu Rui. Hehe, we were family 500 years ago. By the way, you live in this town. Why are you staying in a hotel?¡±


    I had no idea what happened. I was wondering why the police came to find me. When I heard Wu Jian''s question I replied casually, ¡°I just came here to do something. It''s convenient to stay in a hotel.¡±


    Wu Jian smiled again, ¡°It''s only 30 minutes by bus to your house?¡± He just looked at me meaningfully.


    Uh, he was right. I couldn¡¯t help but regret my quick words and didn¡¯t know how to answer him.


    Wu Jian did not seem to care about my answer. He said to me, ¡°Do you remember speaking to Niu Xuanming today?¡±


    ¡°Niu Xuanming?¡± I was stunned for a moment, then realized that it was probably the owner of the hardware store next door.

 Chapter 4 Inquiry

    ¡°Please trust me when I say I just had a feeling his child would be in danger?¡± I didn¡¯t sound confident saying those words and my voice trailed off at the end.


    Wu Jian laughed, ¡°I trust you. Really! I just want you to come with me.¡±


    Two policemen grabbed my arms from either side. He had almost cuffed me a few minutes ago, he obviously didn¡¯t trust me.


    I could only blame myself for being so impulsive. However, I never did anything wrong and the police couldn¡¯t frame me. Although I believed that to be true, I was just as scared of the police as anyone else. Moreover, there was no way I could explain the situation clearly.


    It was my first time getting into a police cruiser. Soon, I was being taken to the police station, sirens blaring.


    Two policemen brought me to a room with a table and two chairs, asked me to sit down, and left me in there by myself.


    Wu Jian entered the room with two cups of water, put one down in front of me, and sat down across the table from me. He adjusted the camera by his side.


    He smiled, saying ¡°It¡¯s late. You better tell me everything so we can get this over with.¡±


    Things weren¡¯t looking good. Although I knew he didn¡¯t trust me I said once again, ¡°I just had a really weird feeling that child would be in danger. I am not the murderer.¡±


    Wu Jian nodded seriously, ¡°Hm, just a feeling, huh? All right, there¡¯s just a small problem. I never said the child was dead.¡±


    I froze. I wanted to slap myself across the face. Now there was nothing I could do to rid myself of his suspicion.


    It was as if Wu Jian could read my mind. Shaking his head with a suspicious look, he said ¡°You don¡¯t know the child and his family. So, I¡¯m just curious as to how you knew that the child had been hanged?¡°


    That child was hanged? That wasn¡¯t right. Could I have been wrong? Was there another dead child somewhere? Was this just a coincidence? What the hell was going on?


    Wu Jian leaned in closer so his mouth was close enough to my ear so he could whisper his next line, ¡°You¡¯re surprised?¡±


    His closeness made me uncomfortable, so I pulled back sobbing, ¡°I know nothing! I just had a feeling the child was going to be in danger!¡± I must have sounded hysterical.


    Wu Jian went back to his seat as if he agreed me, but then he said nodding, ¡°Why did you hang the child?¡±


    I broke down, though I was speechless. All I had seen was the picture of a six-year-old child folded up into a narrow space. I didn¡¯t know why he was hanged.


    My voice became louder as I became more and more frightened, ¡°I am not the murderer! It was just a feeling!¡±


    Wu Jian signaled for me to shut up, stretching his finger next to his mouth, ¡°Let¡¯s calm down. No need to rush this. It¡¯s three o¡¯clock right now and dawn isn¡¯t due for a few more hours.¡±


    Wu Jian took a picture out of a pile of files, saying: ¡°This cute child is just 5 years old. But he was hanged. Don¡¯t you think he¡¯s adorable?¡± he put the picture in front of me.


    The young boy was sitting on a golden wooden elephant, waving his hand. It was the same boy who appeared in the photographs I had received in the envelope.


    I was baffled. What happened? The picture I saw had shown the boy dying differently.


    I stared at the picture. Wu Jian said, ¡°He¡¯s cute, huh?¡±


    ¡°You said he was hanged?¡± I felt strange. I considered accepting that I¡¯d be a suspect if there was proof that the horrible picture I received was fake. After all, I knew that I wasn¡¯t the murderer. I just wanted to believe that there wasn¡¯t anything following me around.


    Wu Jian spread his hands, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    I almost told him about the picture. Nevertheless, I knew that would be a mistake. I kept silent.


    Another policeman entered the interrogation room, glancing at me. He stopped and whispered in Wu Jian¡¯s ear.


    A shocked expression took over Wu Jian¡¯s face. He looked at me and said: ¡°Take a break and think about that cute child¡¯s face. I¡¯ll be back.¡±


    He stood up and hurriedly went out with the policeman who had just come in.


    I didn''t think to wonder about the reason Wu Jian had left. If the child had in fact been hanged as Wu Jian said, the picture I had received might have been a sick joke. I chose to believe that was the case.


    Or was that boy put into the narrow space after he was hanged? Maybe he was hanged after he was killed?


    I fell asleep with all these thoughts and doubts running through my mind like a horror movie on a loop.


    I jerked awake from a nightmare to find Wu Jian eating bread in front of me.


    Seeing I¡¯d woken up, Wu Jian pushed the rest of the bread into a plastic bag in front of me. He swallowed and said, ¡°Having a nightmare?¡±


    I shook my head. I could not see the weather outside since there were no windows in the interrogation room.


    ¡°Is it dawn already?¡±


    Wu Jian finished the bread in his hand in a hurry, nodding, ¡°It¡¯s ten o¡¯clock.¡±


    Wu Jian took out a tissue and wiped his mouth, asking ¡°What did you use to hang that boy?¡±


    I was speechless. This officer was clearly dedicated to his job. I wanted to tell him off, to scream at him, but I restrained myself. Not out of tact, just out of fear. All I could manage to muster was a feeble response, ¡°I never murdered that boy.¡±


    Wu Jian nodded, ¡°I trust you.¡±


    Why was he always saying that so sarcastically?


    Wu Jian seemed to know I didn¡¯t believe him when he said that, so he tried again, ¡°Really, I do trust you. The murderer was caught yesterday. It was the child¡¯s uncle. Honestly, I was just curious about why you felt that boy was in danger.¡±


    Hearing that the murderer had been caught, I took a deep breath, murmuring, ¡°Good, good.¡±


    Wu Jian waved his hand in front of my eyes, ¡°You never answered me.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just?like I said, I had a feeling.¡±


    Wu Jian looked a little surprised to hear me stick to my story, ¡°Anything else?¡±


    I considered for a moment telling him everything about the picture. Finally, I shook my head no. He needed to believe that it was just something I had felt.


    Wu Jian¡¯s expression revealed that he thought I was lying, then said with after sighing, ¡°I know you won¡¯t tell me the truth.¡± He paused for a moment and continued, ¡°Fine, you can leave here, but you cannot leave the city. This is my card, in case you remember anything new.¡±


    He then passed a white card to me. Seeing me pick up it, he said in a low voice, ¡°Call me next time you feel like something is going to happen. Oh and ummm, that boy was not hanged. I lied.¡± After that, he blinked once and looked down for a moment, lost in thought.


    The picture had been real. However, now was not the time to think about that. I stood up, nodding at Wu Jian. Of course, the nodding was out of politeness. It would be foolish for me to call him. I couldn¡¯t do something stupid like that. Not in the position I found myself in.


    Finally, I put the card into my pocket, knowing it was for no reason.

 Chapter 5 The Family

    When I finally made it to the front door of my house I put the key in the lock and froze. I clearly remembered that although I wanted to get away as fast as possible, I had locked the door on my way out.


    Now, however, the door was obviously unlocked. Before I could come up with a potential explanation for this, the door quickly opened. A middle-aged woman appeared in the doorway with a garbage bag in her hand.


    ¡°AHH!¡± she screamed, startled by my presence. The garbage bag flew in a high arc over my head and scattered all over the ground.


    She placed her palm on her chest and exclaimed, ¡°You should knock before barging in like that!¡±


    It took me a moment longer to recover, ¡°Mom, what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I came to see you. By the way, you haven''t been home these past few days. Where have you been? Hurry up and put the garbage by the door after you pick it all up and come in as soon as you¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t go anywhere, my company just arranged for me to go on a short business trip.¡± I couldn''t tell Mom that I had been fired.


    See, my mother was a single parent. My father died in a car accident when I was in high school. To make things worse, my brother and sister-in-law had also died, leaving only my mother, Li Cui, as well as my brother¡¯s infant daughter, Wu Xue¡¯er to fend for themselves.


    It was my mom who supported our tri-generational family with her meagre income from working in a restaurant. When I got the job I used to have, the situation began to improve. Naturally, I didn¡¯t want my mother to worry about me.


    My mother examined me carefully and looked at the various pieces of luggage on the ground, displaying a trace of doubt. She became concerned, ¡°Wu Rui, are you uncomfortable? If your job is exhausting you, you can get another one.¡±


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m fine. By the way, where is Xue¡¯er?¡± I interrupted her. When I saw my mom about to help me pick up my luggage, I hastily snatched it up in my hand.


    Mom picked up the bag behind her and said, ¡°There''s no one who can free me from worry. She''s in bed with an IV drip in her arm.¡±


    ¡°Why does she need an IV drip? Is she alright?¡±


    At that moment, a high pitched child¡¯s voice came out of the bedroom, ¡°Uncle! Uncle!¡±


    I hurriedly went into my room and saw that Xue¡¯er was lying in bed, looking at me with a pitiful look.


    I took a few steps forward, conveniently dropped the bag on the ground by the bed. I put my hand on Xue¡¯er¡¯s forehead and could immediately tell that she was burning up. ¡°Xue¡¯er, why do you have a fever?¡± I asked her.


    Xue¡¯er replied unhappily, ¡°You don¡¯t love Xue¡¯er anymore. I came to see you but you weren¡¯t here.¡±


    ¡°Xue¡¯er, listen to me. I had to go to work.¡±


    I laughed and made faces at Xue¡¯er, who shrank her neck and dared not speak, making her giggle.


    Mom also couldn¡¯t help but laugh before saying, ¡°Why haven¡¯t you unpacked your things yet?¡±


    It occurred to me that my bag contained the strange letter I received at the hotel and the interrogation receipt I got after going to the Public Security Bureau. I didn¡¯t want to let my mom see it, so I picked the bag up from the ground, slowly opened it and said, ¡°Mom, could you wash an apple for me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re an adult and you still make me wash apples for you? You¡¯re too lazy, you know that? I wonder what else you¡¯re unable to do on your own?¡± Although my mom¡¯s sounded exasperated, I knew she always loved an opportunity to feed her son. She was a mother, after all.


    I crouched on the ground, took out the receipt and the envelope from the bag, and began looking for a place to hide them.


    Suddenly, mom''s voice came from the kitchen, ¡°Do you want me to peel it, too?¡±


    I looked back towards the kitchen, Mom was standing at the door, ¡°No, thanks.¡± I felt like a thief who had been discovered, trembling in fear.


    ¡°OK,¡± she said shaking the water droplets off the apple and coming towards me.


    I looked at my mom with a smile as I tossed the receipt and the envelope under the bed with my hand.


    ¡°Uncle! I¡¯m finished! I¡¯m finished!¡± Xue¡¯er screamed on the bed. I hurriedly got up and looked. There was no solution left in the IV bag, so I skillfully pulled out the needle from her arm. There were only three people in my family, so I had to learned how to do a little of everything.


    After I pulled out the needle, Xue¡¯er felt renewed and full of energy again. She suddenly seized my hand and began to shake it, ¡°You were not home. You were not home!¡±


    My mom came up to the bed, handed me the apple, and said to Xue¡¯er, ¡°Looks like someone¡¯s full of energy again! I but you¡¯re ready to act crazy again, huh?¡±


    Xue¡¯er shrunk her head, still holding my hand and looked at my mom saying, ¡°I want uncle to press on my arm, or the blood will come out.¡±


    I had no choice but to use one hand to hold the apple and the other to press on the place which had been pierced by the needle.


    Mom was about to say something when she saw the bag on the ground and bent down to unpack it. I was a little nervous, but relieved that I had already thrown the envelope and the return receipt under the bed.


    However, when my mom took the bag over to the bed, she was holding the white envelope in her hand. I was horrified to find that the envelope had not landed under my bed.


    As I was trying to find an excuse to get the envelope back, the photos in the envelope dropped neatly on the bed, showing a 5 or 6-year-old boy making a funny face.


    My mom was startled and quickly realized that she had accidentally picked up the envelope upside down.


    I put the apple on the bed right away and reached for the photos, but mom picked them up first, leafed through them and then looked at the second one longer than I felt comfortable with.


    I prayed she couldn¡¯t see it. She can¡¯t see it. She can¡¯t see it. Although part of me knew that the contents of the photos couldn¡¯t be seen by anyone else, I still pleaded helplessly in my mind.


    However, fate is a cruel comedian that put me on a path of which I could not return...


    My mom shrieked in fear and the photos fell neatly on the bed. Her trembling voice could hardly get the words out, ¡°What is with those photographs? They¡¯re terrifying!¡±


    ¡°Mom, you can see them?¡± I felt my heart tighten and the hair on the back of my neck began to rise.


    My mother¡¯s mood shifted to anger and said, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m blind? What¡¯s the deal with these photos?! Tell me the truth!¡±


    I tried to explain by taking Wu Jian¡¯s business card out from my pocket, ¡°It¡¯s a friend of mine who¡¯s a cop. Last time he came over, he forgot to take them with him. He¡¯s been looking for them since, but they were here all along!¡±


    Fortunately, my mom hadn¡¯t seen the third photo. I don¡¯t know what I could have possibly said to her if she had.


    Xue¡¯er''s spoke up, ¡°I want to celebrate Children¡¯s Day, too!¡± She was about to reach for the photo.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch it! Xue¡¯er!¡±


    My desperate cry scared her away. I didn''t care why Xue¡¯er could see these photos as well. I just hurriedly put them back in the envelope and held it in my hands.


    I hesitated and said, ¡°Well, Mom, I''ll send him these photos as soon as possible. He¡¯s probably looking for them.¡±


    My mother relaxed a bit but was still visibly upset. ¡°Then go and be quick about it. It¡¯s got to be bad luck to have these photos in your house.¡±


    It seemed that my mom''s first impression of Wu Jian had become the same as mine: distressing.

 Chapter 6 Legend

    An old neighbor walked towards me with a handful of green vegetables.


    I forced a smile.


    It occurred to me to ask her to take a look at the boy¡¯s picture before I left.


    I quickly turned around and held up the picture in front of her, ¡°Aunty, do you know this boy?¡±


    My neighbor glanced at the picture. She looked at me with suspicious eyes and said, ¡°The picture is blank. Is this a prank?¡±


    I took a deep breath that refused to come back out and apologized to her, I felt a darkness covering my heart like a widows veil at funeral: My family is so unlucky. Why are these things happening to me?


    I didn¡¯t want to give up just yet, so I asked a few more people.


    Some were acquaintances, some were strangers, but nevertheless, the photos were completely blank to them.


    With every confused stare I got from people that must have thought I was mad, I felt a coldness growing in my heart. It wasn¡¯t easy for me to face the facts. I still wondered, why could my mother and Xue¡¯er see it?


    I¡¯d rather endure all this horror on my own than get them involved.


    I came back home with a forced smile after I hung out in the streets for a long while. We ate a fancy dinner, though it felt like I was chewing wax. I said good bye to my mom and Xue¡¯er with mixed feelings.


    There was nothing I could do but send them away since Xue¡¯er had to go to school on Monday and my home was far away from her school.


    I put the envelope I had hidden in my pocket into the box with the other envelopes. I had to figure everything out, even if it led me to my death. Now that my family had the risk of getting involved, I had to make sure they would never get hurt. Ever.


    I tried to detach myself from the fear and confusion that clouded my mind. I knew I had to properly consider everything that had happened to me so far and come to a serious conclusion about what was going on.


    I sat down and attempted to recall every last detail. Let¡¯s see, I received a letter once every three days. There were three pictures every time. The first one was always normal. The second one was always strange, and judging by the angles of the shots, the pictures could not have been taken by the murderer.


    Who took the pictures? What did the third one represent? A ghost?


    Every time I received the pictures, the person in them was already dead. Therefore, there was nothing I could do to save that person. Did they just want to frighten me or did they think I enjoyed getting these pictures?


    I wasn¡¯t getting anywhere and I knew it. I classified all the pictures on my bed according to when I received them and their type, looking at the third category of picture, which were the strangest and most terrifying ones.


    I had never looked at the pictures in detail, because I was so scared of them. Now as I scrutinized them, I realized that I was familiar with many of the locations where they were taken. After all, I lived in the same city.


    Most importantly, there was a vague outline of a house in the background of every picture. It looked like two photos were printed on top of each other.


    I fought back my horror. I made out the vague outline of a white, European-style house with Chinese influences. The house was not tall, and only had three floors.


    The more I saw the house in the picture, the more familiar it seemed. However, I could not remember where I¡¯d seen it. Since it seemed so familiar, the house couldn¡¯t have been too far away from my house. I rarely went very far away from my home; I was an indoors kind of guy.


    I stood up and went towards the computer, posting in the local BBS. As a veteran in the BBS forums, my posts always attracted attention.


    There were many idlers who used the forums and my post had accrued many replies before the evening was over.


    MoonStar: First comment!


    Diao Jihou: Second!


    Da Da Fang Fang: Looking to buy a house?


    ?


    Skipping the nonsense, I saw a piece of useful information at the bottom:


    Rujia Buddha: The original poster meant the ghost house in the middle of town.


    Seeing that last message, I couldn¡¯t help but get excited, ¡°I think I just found a lead?¡± I hurriedly replied to the comment: @Rujia Buddha The ghost house is white and has three floors.


    Rujia Buddha replied immediately: If you add my WeChat number, we could talk about it.


    I rushed to my phone and opened up WeChat to add Rujia Buddha as a contact.


    I asked the same question as soon as I added Rujia Buddha¡¯s number.


    Rujia Buddha: Do you plan on exploring that house? It¡¯s a really evil place.


    I wrote: No, I just saw a picture and I wanted to know where it was.


    Rujia Buddha: Send me the picture.


    It was impossible for me to show him the picture. No one could see it even if I decided to show it. So I replied, ¡°I don¡¯t have the picture anymore.¡±


    Rujia Buddha: Alright, wait a moment.


    After that, he sent me a picture. When I clicked on it, I recognized the ghost house, although the angle of the shot was different and the outline of the picture I had was very vague.


    I¡¯m sure every country has its own ghost stories. The story of this ghost house was one such location with ghost stories tied to it¡¯s name, and it was actually a fairly popular story in my hometown. All my fears and worries must have caused some lapse in my memory.


    It was said the ghost house was once a brothel built in the early Chinese Republican era. However, its name has since been forgotten.


    It came to an end when the Japanese came to destroy it. Many prostitutes were tortured to death in the ghost house and their bodies were thrown out of the house. There were many dead people left behind after the Japanese left.


    It was a pity for the big house to be empty, poor people could not buy it and the rich simply didn¡¯t want to buy it. They figured too many people had died there. This is why the house had become a wasteland over the years.


    When the city swallowed up Kaoshan Village, where the ghost house was located, many buildings around it were destroyed, but the ghost house was left untouched.


    As the city developed, the ghost house¡¯s street became the center of the city. As the city grew more prosperous, the wild ghost house welcomed its first business. Nobody knew what it was called, because no one wanted to go there. About 21 people died in the ghost house without apparent reason within the first seven days, including tenants, workers for the design companies and laborers.


    The stories about the ghost house spread quickly. The government covered it up, but still, no one dares to go into the ghost house to this day. Even the businesses in the neighborhood had to close down.


    After all, life was more important than having a good location in the city.


    I was even more scared after making sure that the vague outline of a house in the photos was indeed the same as the ghost house.


    Perhaps if I¡¯d been there before, I would not have been scared of the house. Since it was still a mystery to me however, the very thought of it had my heart racing.


    After a lot of contemplation, I decided to leave home and go to Kaoshan Village, which was now called Kaoshan Road.


    In the past, my mom made a living so that she could care for Xue¡¯er and me. Now it was time for me to carry everything on my shoulders, or else, I could probably end up dead. I grabbed my things and went to Kaoshan Road.


    When I arrived, I found out that the road was very crowded in the day time. After some searching, I found the white wall that guarded the front of the ghost house. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that the urban legends about the companies in the neighborhood that had moved their businesses away from the house were false. They had not closed down as the legend claimed and even appeared to be making several sales. They were all open, including a watch stall to the right of the house. A gap of about 2 meters separated the haunted house from the watch stall.


    To the left of the haunted house was a shop with sign that claimed they sold graveclothes. Inside, a old woman with white hair sat inside swatting away at mosquitos attempting to land on her.

 Chapter 7 The Old Woman in the Shroud Shop

    Although the ghost building was scary, it was practically a tourist hotspot because of its popularity, and many young boys and girls even took photos with the haunted house in the background.


    I hesitated for a moment and came to the conclusion that if I wanted to find out something about the three photos, the shroud shop was probably a better bet for getting some information than the watch stall.


    As soon as I approached the door of the shroud shop, the quiet voice of the old lady in the store could be heard, ¡°They just take photos. Those people just love taking photos!¡±


    At the mention of photographs, I felt my heart grow cold. I glanced at the people still taking photos and forced myself to ask the old lady, ¡°Excuse me dear elder, what do you mean about the photos?¡±


    The old lady glanced at me with her muddy eyes and continued to swat at the flies.


    Judging from the reaction of the old lady, I knew that she heard what I had just said, yet she still didn¡¯t reply. For a while, I also didn''t know what to say to her. If it was the other shop, I could pretend to buy something and exchange a few words with the vendor, but the key point was that this was a shroud shop, meant to supply people clothes for mourning.


    Fortunately, the old lady spoke first, ¡°Young man, come in and take a seat.¡±


    I nodded, glanced at the wreath and shroud on the wall, and walked into the shop slowly.


    The old lady pointed to a stool and asked me to sit. She then picked up a funerary golden paper ingot and handed it to me.


    I wanted to cry, but held back my tears and took the gold ingot. I suddenly realized that the old lady was treating me as a customer. I noticed that her gold paper ingot was of high quality. When my family members died, I had seen a lot of funerary golden paper ingots. However, none of them was as delicate as this, which looked like so genuine.


    The old lady nodded with a smile, revealing her toothless mouth, ¡°Buy some, please. These are only available in my shop, It¡¯s something they would want.¡±


    They? I was startled by the old woman''s words, but quickly realized that ¡°they¡± referred to dead relatives.


    So I explained, ¡°Dear elder, I didn¡¯t come here to buy golden paper ingots¡±


    The old lady shook her head, ¡°Are you certain you didn¡¯t come for them?¡±


    Of course I hadn¡¯t come for them! It was never my intention to come for them! I could no longer understand what the old lady was talking about.


    ?


    I came for them.


    ?


    Who were ¡°they¡±?


    ?


    ¡°They¡± want golden paper ingots?


    The old lady must have noticed my glance, as she said with smile, ¡°That''s it. I was beginning to think I was getting too old and had gotten it wrong.¡±


    Although the street was less than 3 meters away from where I sat, was full of people enjoying the nice day with the sun high in the sky, I still felt cold all over my body. My teeth were quivering and I couldn¡¯t speak for a moment.


    The old lady took the golden paper ingot from my hand and tried comforting me, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. Don¡¯t be afraid.¡±


    I plucked up the last of my courage to ask her, ¡°Dear elder, you know something, don¡¯t you?¡±


    The old lady smiled at me again, revealing her toothless mouth, ¡°I know, but I also don¡¯t know. It¡¯s my neighbor¡¯s business, so perhaps it¡¯s best I don¡¯t get involved.¡±


    ¡°Dear elder, you speak the truth, but isn¡¯t it a little inappropriate to regard them as your neighbors?¡±


    The old lady stopped talking and just took out a large stack of paper from one side and slowly began making more golden paper ingots.


    I tried several times to speak with her, but she only smiled. She either said nothing, or would say something irrelevant.


    When the old lady finished folding her paper ingots, she stretched out her hand to get some more golden paper.


    I hastened to speak, ¡°Dear old lady, do you think if I bought them some golden paper ingots, They won¡¯t come after me anymore?¡±


    The old woman took back her outstretched hand and simply said, ¡°They won¡¯t¡±


    I nodded and asked tentatively, ¡°Dear elder, can I burn some at your place?¡±


    She shook her head and said slowly, ¡°You burn it for them, not for me!¡±


    I thought I had said something wrong, but fortunately the old lady didn''t mind, so I apologized to her and asked, ¡°Must I burn it at the door, dear old lady?¡±


    The old woman continued to shake her head, ¡°At the door? No. You have to get in the house. You will find a ceremonial fire basin in the hall and burn it there. Really, young people these days don¡¯t know any of our traditions at all?¡±


    I didn¡¯t care at all about the old lady''s preaching. I was not afraid of burning it at the door. At most, I would be laughed at or detained by the police. However, going into the house? Although I had decided numerous times to confront it, I was still petrified of going in.


    The old lady seemed to read my mind and as she laid out the folded golden paper ingots, she began muttering almost as if she was talking to herself, ¡°If you said you would burn them an offering, it''ll make them angry if you don¡¯t. Now I¡¯ll get you a bag?¡±


    She stood up and went into the back room.


    I wanted to cry. At that moment, I even suspected that the old lady had opened her shop there in order to sell her things with the help of the haunted house¡¯s fame.


    My thoughts were interrupted by the old lady''s voice coming from the back of the store, ¡°People are dead. Why are they still taking photos?¡±


    The photos! I was shocked to find that the old lady knew about the photos.


    This was the final straw. I got up and headed for the dark back room.


    As soon as I reached the door, the old lady came out and glared at me as if she were very unhappy with my attempt at trespassing.


    Nevertheless, I didn''t have time to concern myself with what the old lady was thinking and instead, I just asked hastily, ¡°Dear elder, do you know about the photos?¡±


    She stared at me again and waved me back to my seat. Then she took out a large bag and put the newly folded ingots in it. She put a lot of things in it, even a pair of little shoes and clothes. I also heard her counting to 108.


    The old lady spent a long time putting it all in the bag. Afterward, she passed me a box of very old-looking matches from the counter and said, ¡°All right. All the things are here. Remember to light them with the matches¡±


    I took it blankly and habitually asked, ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°10 Yuan¡±


    I was stunned that all these things only cost 10 Yuan. Although I didn''t know the market value of the items very well, I did know that so many things were surely more than 10 Yuan.


    Perhaps the old lady noticed my blank expression, because she repeated herself, ¡°10 Yuan¡±


    Finally, my mind came back. I hastily took out 100 Yuan from my pocket and handed it over since I didn¡¯t have any change in my pocket.


    The old lady took the money, threw it in a box and said, ¡°Remember, tomorrow at midnight, you must go to the house and burn these in a fire basin.¡±


    12:00 at night? Was she trying to scare me to death?


    The old lady saw that I wasn¡¯t moving and frowned, ¡°Why are you still here?¡±


    I extended my hand and pointed to the 100 Yuan I had just given her. The old lady looked at the 100 Yuan note and said, ¡°No change. You can¡¯t get change¡±


    Even though I figured she was just trying to rip me off, I really didn''t think it was necessary to argue with such an old woman.


    Then I quickly asked the same question again. I gave her so much money, she could at least tell me something I wanted to know?

 Chapter 8 Rujia Buddha

    "What?"


    It seemed like the old woman was going to keep quiet no matter what I said. She slowly continued to fold more golden paper ingots.


    ¡°I gave you more money than you asked for, but you still won¡¯t speak to me. I wasn¡¯t born yesterday; you can¡¯t just rip me off.¡± It was no use. She just continued to fold her ingots.


    I was getting hungry while waiting around for the sun to go down. Finally, I stood up and picked up my belongings left the store.


    The old woman didn¡¯t want to tell me anything else and I had no idea what else to do. I went back home and put the paper ingots and paper clothes in the box with the letters. After that, I quickly cooked something for dinner.


    After finishing the meal, I sat in front of the computer with a full stomach. The WeChat app was flashing. I clicked it. It was Rujia Buddha who had sent me a message.


    Rujia Buddha: OP, did you visit the house?


    Rujia Buddha: OP, are you online?


    I saw the timestamp. The messages had been sent at noon. So I hurried to reply: ¡°Yes, I was forced to buy some stuff.¡±


    Obviously, Rujia Buddha was still online. He replied immediately: ¡°Forced to buy stuff? Did you visit the ghost house?¡±


    I replied: ¡°Yes, I was at the shroud store next to it. That old woman was cunning. She made me buy a bunch of stuff for no reason.¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°Shroud store? There is no shroud store by the ghost house. The police would never allow that kind of store to exist in the city center.


    I was stunned and quickly replied: ¡°It was next to the ghost house. There was a watch stall on one side and a shroud store on the other side.¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°OP, you might be drunk. I am in the building opposite the ghost house, the phone store. There is in fact a watch stall, but there is no shroud store. I can prove it¡±


    Shortly after he sent the message, Rujia Buddha sent me a photo.


    According to the sky, the photo must have been taken just a few moments ago. The street was still crowded. The ghost house stood quietly among many dim street lamps. The building next to it was a dilapidated shack. There was a huge hole in the wall letting in the dim light of the street lamps.


    Looking through its open door, I could see the shack had the same layout as the shroud store.


    I felt a chill run up my spine, and my whole body became cold. At that moment, my blood felt like it was frozen and I could barely move.


    There was no shroud store.


    WeChat was still ringing. The sound seemed to ring further and further away from me. In my mind I could still clearly see the old woman in the shroud store smile, opening her toothless mouth.


    I was getting upset, his picture seemed to mock reality.


    The burning cigarette butt hurt my hand. That¡¯s what it took to wake me up from my stupor, so I went back to the computer. A string of messages from Rujia Buddha had been delivered to my phone.


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°Did you really find a shroud store, OP?¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°Wait a moment.¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°I asked around. It seems there actually was a shroud store at the time when the brothel still existed. It was destroyed by the Japanese during the war, though.¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°I am not certain whether the owner of the shroud store was an old woman.¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°You might have met a ghost. How exciting!¡±


    Exciting! I forced a smile. I wouldn¡¯t go as far as calling it exciting. I thought for a moment and chose to answer Rujia Buddha. I told Rujia Buddha everything that happened.


    I needed a person who could listen to me, make me feel alive in the world.


    Rujia Buddha¡¯s reply was strange.


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    Me: ¡°You think I¡¯m lying to you?¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°No, I didn¡¯t mean that. OP, do you really plan to burn the paper money?¡±


    Burn the paper money? I immediately became hesitant. The old woman told me to burn paper money. Now, I thought it seemed like a trap, pushing me into a huge web.


    What would happen if I didn¡¯t do it? The image of my mom and Xue`er appeared in my mind. As the only man in my family, could I let them get hurt by those strange things because of my fear?


    Rujia Buddha continued writing after I hadn¡¯t replied for a while.


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°OP, I believe it¡¯s your responsibility as a man to not let your family get hurt. You should go. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    Me: ¡°You¡¯ll come with me to the ghost house?¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t you think meeting a ghost is exciting? OMG, although I¡¯m still pretty scared, I will gladly go as a friend, for moral support.¡±


    Rujia Buddha¡¯s words made me feel like we were just going to explore. It was difficult to understand his train of thought. Many people loved to watch horror movies, but I¡¯d probably be frightened to death if I met a real ghost. I hated having to make such a horrifying decision. It reminded me of the story of Lord Ye, who claimed to be fond of dragons but was scared out of his wits when a real one appeared.


    Me: ¡°Are you scared at all?¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°A little scared. I¡¯ve been wanting to go in the ghost house for a long time, but I¡¯ve never been brave enough. I was hoping you could help me scratch this off the bucket list.¡±


    Rujia Buddha was offering me help so he could scratch something off his bucket list.


    I didn¡¯t answer him right away. Rujia Buddha continued to write.


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°OP, I don¡¯t think the ghost wants to kill you, judging by the pictures you received and your visit to the shroud store, I think there must be another reason. Are you curious at all?¡±


    It¡¯s said that curiosity killed the cat. However, I had become less scared after talking to Rujia Buddha.


    Me: ¡°Fine, let¡¯s go together.¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°Um, but don¡¯t trick me or mug me, otherwise?¡±


    Me: ¡°Never.¡±


    Rujia Buddha: ¡°Bring the photos. I will wait for you tomorrow night at the phone store opposite the ghost house. The owner leaves at 9 o¡¯clock. We should discuss things clearly then. Alright, it¡¯s time to clock out. See you tomorrow.¡±


    His portrait went dark before I could reply. I looked at the time on the computer, it was half past nine.


    My horror faded away after hearing his jokes. It was still early, so I researched the ghost house.


    There was a lot of information about the ghost house. Most of them were from others¡¯ posts on forums. It was impossible to find any information from news reports.


    I worked up the courage to go through those posts. Many horrible stories in the forums were pure fiction, but I could discern a small kernel of truth in some of them.


    The story of the ghost house became clearer. At first, the ghost house was indeed a brothel. It was true that many people had been killed there, tortured by the Japanese. It was true that many people who wanted to live in the ghost house died. Nevertheless, there many other stories that proved to be false.


    The strangest thing was that I found a ground plan of the ghost house in the supernatural BBS titled ¡°Zui Tang Chinese network¡±.


    The lines were drawn by hand. However, I could make out the whole layout of the brothel.

 Chapter 9 The Venture

    In the afternoon, after a hasty dinner, I went to Kaoshan Road. I found it to be bustling with people after 7pm. Although the shopping street wasn''t crowded, it still had a good flow of people.


    Lit by the streetlights, the ghost house was just like a black hole, absorbing all the light that shown on it. The dilapidated house next to it, which had appeared to me as a shroud shop the day before, looked like a giant beast that would swallow anyone who came near. I looked at the wrecked door as if it was the gateway to another realm.


    Opposite the ghost house were several cellphone shops. Rujia Buddha didn¡¯t tell me which cellphone shop he worked in. It was still very early, so I didn¡¯t get in touch with him right away. I just wandered aimlessly on Kaoshan Road, if I hadn¡¯t been carrying a large bag of gold paper ingots, paper figurines, and candles, I would have been no different than any other shopper.


    As time went by, the shops on Kaoshan Street closed one after another. I wondered if the businesses of Kaoshan Road always closed early because of the ghost house


    At nine o''clock, less than one third of the shops on the street were still open. There were two cellphone shops opposite the ghost house which were still open. Several salesmen in each shop were all greeting their last few customers.


    I didn¡¯t know who Rujia Buddha was or what he looked like. The salesmen of both shops were very busy and I didn¡¯t want to interfere with their business, so I just sent a message to Rujia Buddha from my cellphone.


    After I walked around the block again and came back, only one of cellphone shops was still open. At the door, a young girl, about 18 or 19 years old, in close-fitting jeans, was showing a cellphone to a couple.


    I stood there confused. Had Rujia Buddha already left? I guess I couldn¡¯t expect much from him, was human nature and no one had an obligation to shield a stranger from the wind and rain.


    I stood silently under a street lamp and observed the cellphone store and the couple who¡¯d finishing buying the cellphone and walked off deeper into Kaoshan Street, carrying a delicate bag.


    Just when I thought the last cellphone shop was about to close, my phone sounded the familiar ¡°incoming message¡± sound. I took out the phone and looked at it. It was a message from Rujia Buddha.


    Rujia Buddha: Sorry. It¡¯s been a really busy day. Where are you now?


    I was surprised, and went back to the door of the cellphone shop. The beautiful girl was looking at her cellphone and it seemed that she had no intention of closing the shop.


    ¡°Rujia Buddha?¡±, I shouted from outside, uncertainly.


    ¡°Are you the winning house owner?¡±


    I had no idea what she was talking about, but then she chuckled, walked up to me, and looked me up and down. ¡°I am Rujia Buddha, my real name is He Xiaoru, but you can just call me Xiaoru. Did you bring the photos?¡±


    My head was spinning a bit and I was feeling a little dazed. I was trying to piece together the fact that the Rujia Buddha person I had been communicating with all this time with such interest in ghosts and monsters was such a delicate looking girl.


    While I was attempting to make sense of it all, my hand subconsciously handed her the backpack with the envelopes. He Xiaoru took it quickly, put it on the counter, opened it, and looked at them one by one.


    After going through all the letters, she looked at me with a little disbelief, ¡°Are you sure there¡¯s something in these photos?¡±


    I nodded feebly. He Xiaoru thought for a moment, reached for a picture and put it in front of me. She had me describe the contents of the photo, and I explained them to her in detail. She just nodded.


    Then it seemed that she had come up with something. She threw the photos she was holding into the air. She saw the photos fall on the ground neatly and looked at me with surprise.


    I wondered if I had just imagined it, but I could have sworn I saw a hint of excitement in her slightly curved eyes.


    He Xiaoru took the bag from my hand again and looked at the gold paper ingots, paper figurines and candles inside. She reached inside and took out a gold paper ingot and said to me, ¡°Well, I believe you. I originally thought you just wanted to use these things to get close to me.¡±


    I was speechless. In my mind, the big and strong Rujia Buddha would be giving me a sense of security. Instead, I was staring at a small young girl. Not to mention, she also looked very unreliable.


    I thought about it for a moment and I asked one last time, ¡°Are you sure you really want to come with me to the ghost house?¡±


    He Xiaoru looked at me with a frown and said, ¡°Of course. Do you think I''m the kind of person who doesn''t keep their word?¡±


    I scratched my head. ¡°Well, judging by the excitement in your eyes, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re telling the truth.¡±


    He Xiaoru put down the gold paper ingot in her hand and said, ¡°It''s only 10:00. Should we watch a horror movie first?¡± Before I could answer, she went to the front desk to take out her laptop.


    Well, He Xiaoru¡¯s thought patterns did seem to be different from those of ordinary people.


    After watching the horror movie, He Xiaoru was finally ready to depart, a flash of excitement on her little face.


    The so-called preparation was nothing more than taking out two flashlights from the front desk cabinet, as well as a slender iron rod. I wondered what she wanted to do with an iron rod.


    Even though part of me felt that I couldn¡¯t really count on her, I don¡¯t know why the fear in my heart seemed to dissipate. That is, until we reached the gate of the ghost house.


    Both He Xiaoru and I had a flashlight in hand, we turned them on to shine some light on the gate of the ghost house. The gate had long been destroyed, with half of it slanting and hanging off to the side. Seeing through the gap, we could see that the front door of the ghost house and the yard were full of weeds and vines.


    It wasn¡¯t until that moment that He Xiaoru finally began showing some timidity and I could the sound of her swallowing some saliva in the silence of the night.


    ¡°How can we get in? The gate is always locked¡±, He Xiaoru whispered to me.


    To be honest, in such a silent and horrible place, I wished her voice would be as loud as the sound of her swallowing, it would at least show some presence.


    I pointed my flashlight at the place where the lock should be and said with surprise, ¡°There¡¯s no lock.¡±


    He Xiaoru was stunned and followed the beam of my flashlight. There was no lock on the gate, it was even opening and closing slightly in the breeze.


    He Xiaoru¡¯s voice stuttered, ¡°I?it... it¡¯s usually locked.¡±


    It felt like shortly after He Xiaoru finished saying that the temperature around me dropped by several degrees. That was when I noticed the fear in her face and I began to feel bad for putting her up to this. ¡°Should I go in alone? I¡¯d understand...¡±


    I really did believe that He Xiaoru had no need to get involved with my situation. After all, none of this had anything to do with her. Though I still hoped that she would come in with me. After all, I was petrified as well.


    Luckily, He Xiaoru just shook her head firmly saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go in with you.¡±

 Chapter 10 Burning the Paper Money

    The white paint on the building was peeling off and the red roof tiles looked ready to fall off. There wasn¡¯t a window without damaged glass. However, the door was in good condition still, guarding the secrets within.


    I walked into the yard with He Xiaoru. The soft sand rustled like dry leaves.


    The light of the flashlights spread around. I was worried that something would go wrong.


    He Xiaoru swallowed loudly.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± A voice cracking with fear reached us.


    I almost threw the torchlight in my hand, the voice had not come from He Xiaoru or myself. It came from the distant corner of the house.


    When I calmed my wits, I shone my flashlight in the direction the voice came from. A sixteen-year-old boy used his hand to block out my flashlight, shining his own flashlight at me with his other hand.


    All of us felt relieved when we found out everyone present was a human being.


    The boy seemed relieve from the bottom of his heart and began walking towards me. He trampled on the rustling sand, followed closely by two other figures.


    The boy walked in front of me. Seeing He Xiaoru¡¯s pale face, he looked at me and said, ¡°Hey bro, are you out here exploring?¡±


    I finally had a chance to examine the boy. I had guessed correctly; he was about 16 years old and wore a tracksuit with green spots. It was dirty from climbing the wall.


    The other boy was of a similar age to the first one, and also wore a tracksuit. A young girl of the same age hugged his arm tightly, staring at me timidly.


    ¡°It¡¯s easy to get scared to death around here...¡± He Xiaoru said, ¡°You sure are brave to explore this place.¡±


    The boy laughed, ¡°You too.¡±


    He Xiaoru laughed as well, ¡°We¡¯re just heading to the main room.¡±


    The boy laughed, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what we were thinking of doing.¡±


    I was speechless. I felt like I was from a different world than everyone present, though I was just 20 years old.


    Everyone introduced themselves after greeting each other. The three kids were from the same middle school nearby. There was an article about the ghost house online, so they decided to check it out. The leader of the group was Chen Kai. The two who were hugging each other tightly and were following him were Wu Di, Chen Kai¡¯s friend, and a girl named Kitty.


    I saw Wu Di hug Kitty closely. I was guessing that Wu Di probably wanted to go to the ghost house to get a chance to get real close to his girlfriend. A common thing for couples their age.


    Seeing me walk towards him, Wu Di pouted towards Kitty, who leaned her head onto his chest, making it quite clear to me what he had in mind.


    He Xiaoru didn¡¯t take any notice of me, she was already going on ahead with Chen Kai. Wu Di, Kitty, and I followed after them.


    He Xiaoru had already given me the impression that she was brave, but I soon learned that Chen Kai had more courage than the rest of us. Walking up to the front door, he kicked it in with no hesitation.


    Bang.


    The sudden sound in the quiet night frightened me. I had to admit, his careless attitude was pretty cool.


    The main room of the ghost house was huge. There were two spiral staircases on either side of the hall, clearly worn by time. There was trash everywhere. Many desks and chairs had fallen over. It appeared as if the desks and chairs had been pushed to the sides of the room.


    Chen Kai invited He Xiaoru to explore upstairs. The ground floor was huge, yet I could see her easily with the shine of our flashlights. He Xiaoru kindly refused his offer with a smile and wished him good luck.


    I had to admit that the funny chatter between He Xiaoru and Chen Kai earlier had eased the horrible aura the ghost house was giving off.


    I felt like there was a generation gap between us, especially after I said a few words about staying safe. Then I looked for the ceremonial fire basin that the old woman in the shroud store had mentioned.


    It was easy to find. There was a round bowl in the center of the hall, equidistant from the two spiral staircases.


    I called He Xiaoru over, walking towards the basin.


    I¡¯d never seen a ceremonial bowl like this one before, it was immense. It already held some ashes, as if it had already been used. Upon closer examination however, the ashes appeared to have fused with bowl over time. Whatever had been burned here, was done so long ago.


    I put my bags beside it, taking out the yellow paper money and throwing it into the bowl. He Xiaoru squatted beside me, tearing the paper money.


    The scene looked like a typical couple worshipping their ancestors, if it weren¡¯t for the creepy surroundings.


    He Xiaoru attempted to set the paper on fire with her lighter, ¡°Why isn¡¯t it burning? What kind of paper is this?¡±


    He Xiaory¡¯s grumbling made me remember something. I took out the matchbox that was given to me at the shroud store, ¡°The old woman said we should burn it with these matches.¡±


    I opened the matchbox. There was only one matchstick inside.


    Luckily, the match lit up the contents of the bowl right away. A light pink flame sprung up, a small eddy of smoke appearing above the fire, sending paper ashes up into the air.


    Seeing this scene, I took a big gulp. Although I knew the airflow was cause by the temperature of fire, I was scared of it. I hurried to throw the golden paper ingots into the fire.


    ¡°So are you going to ask them to let you go and stop sending you photos?¡±


    I ignored the dust, knelt on the floor and bowed my head to the ground, kowtowing three times and murmuring, ¡°Please let me and my family go, oh spirits.¡±


    The old woman in the shroud store gave me many things to burn. It took a long time to burn them all. I took out my phone carefully. It was almost one o¡¯clock.


    He Xiaoru had fallen asleep beside me. I couldn¡¯t believe it, we were in a ghost house and here she was, peacefully napping beside me...


    ¡°Hey, did you fall asleep?¡± I pat He Xiaoru lightly on the shoulder.


    He Xiaoru shuddered and looked up, ¡°No way!¡±


    She said as she discreetly wiped away the saliva at the corner of her mouth.


    She looked cute. If not for her, I wouldn¡¯t have been so calm.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. The paper money is all gone.¡±

 Chapter 11 Terror

    I couldn''t see the second floor. There was a railing at the top of the staircases, with some of the room visible through it. At the same time, the entrance to the house was open and all the windows were broken, so there was nothing to drown out any sound.


    "Did they leave?¡± I asked uncertainly.


    He Xiaoru looked around and said, "Leave? No way; where could they have gone?"


    Where? I had no answer. Although the ghost house was broken down, the interior was very well maintained. There should have been a back door, but I didn¡¯t believe they went out that way. The back of the ghost house was surrounded by a park, and the back door was facing a small artificial lake in that park.


    He Xiaoru and I looked at each other for a moment before we started calling out their names. Our voices spread far away into the night sky. Our voices could probably be heard from He Xiaoru¡¯s mobile phone shop, yet there was no response.


    "Let¡¯s go upstairs." He Xiaoru said to me after a while.


    I nodded. They were just kids, I couldn¡¯t leave them in potential danger. Not to mention He Xiaoru had helped me a lot, so I couldn''t refuse her request. More importantly, although their disappearance scared me, the whole aura of the ghost house was not as scary to me anymore.


    So, we went up to the second floor with our flashlights on.


    Once we were standing in the corridor of the second floor, I found that the second floor was much larger than it seemed from downstairs. At the top of the staircase was a small hall with a room on each side.


    He Xiaoru and I slowly walked towards the nearest room. We entered a small parlor with a sofa and chairs.


    On the right side of the room was a collapsed European-style wooden bed. Beside the bed was a white European dresser with a large, cracked mirror above it.


    On the left was a table and chairs, evidently a place to eat. The table was covered with dust, with bowls and chopsticks still on it.


    We found no trace of Chen Kai and the others in that room, so He Xiaoru and I slowly withdrew to the next room.


    As I turned around, it seemed as if a white figure flashed in front of the dresser. Looking at it, I realized it was only a piece of an old curtain billowing in the moonlight.


    Had I imagined it? I must have imagined it. I got a little closer to He Xiaoru ¨C I wasn¡¯t trying to take advantage of the situation - the hair of my back had literally stood on end.


    In the second and third rooms we learned the pattern of the house was the same, except for the items that were broken, those were different. Oddly enough, the dresser in almost every room was the best preserved.


    Looking back, she seemed to shiver a little. I asked softly, "What happened?"


    She turned around, gave me a reluctant smile, and shook her head, "Nothing. Let''s keep searching."


    I looked through the railing. The fire in the ceremonial bowl was still burning, even though there was nothing else left in it.


    I looked at her a little puzzled, but continued on to the next room.


    In the small room was a rotten sofa with a huge hole torn into it, the European-style wooden bed on the right could just barely be identified as a bed. Again, the dresser was still in good condition. I didn''t know why, but those dressers creeped me out.


    I turned around and checked the left side of the room. I felt my feet go numb and nearly collapsed, but He Xiaoru held my back with both hands.


    "What''s the matter?¡± She couldn¡¯t yet see what was in front of me since my body was obstructing her view.


    For a moment I stood there speechless, pointing and gasping for breath.


    I still can¡¯t fully describe the fear I felt when I saw what was before me.


    There was a table with bowls laid out on top of it. Chen Kai and Wu Di were sitting on chairs that each had one of the legs broken off. Their glassy eyes stared at the empty bowls and they were acting as if they were eating a meal.


    "Ahhhh!!!" He Xiaoru¡¯s shrill scream echoed in the night and hurt my eardrums.


    Chen Kai and Wu Di did not react and continued eating their invisible meal.


    I rubbed my ears with my hands. He Xiaoru stopped screaming, but her face was white and cold sweat appeared on her forehead.


    I didn''t know how to comfort her. I just went with what I¡¯d seen on TV and pressed He Xiaoruin to my chest, rubbed her back. I don¡¯t know if I was imagining it, but her body was terribly cold.


    After a moment, He Xiaoru calmed down and pulled away from my arms. She pointed to Chen Kai, "He¡­ They¡­"


    As she left my arms, I shuddered. I was frightened half to death.


    Looking around carefully, we slowly walked toward Chen Kai, shouting, "Chen Kai, Wu Di!¡±


    The two did not respond. Illuminating the table with our flashlights, we saw the bowls were filled with some half-solid goop. Their chopsticks were covered in disgusting residue.


    I clapped and shook Chen Kai''s shoulder, but Chen Kai didn''t respond. I handed the flashlight to He Xiaoru and grabbed him, trying to drag him away.


    Chen Kai was just a thin teenager. Although my strength was not impressive, even pulling an adult off a chair shouldn¡¯t have been a problem for me, but Chen Kai seemed to be nailed to the chair. Though I pulled with all my might, he remained motionless, chopsticks in hand.


    "Just stop them from eating." He Xiaoru¡¯s mind had finally regained some clarity.


    I thought about it. When Chen Kai was about to use his chopsticks to pick up the vegetables, I forced his hand to open.


    Chen Kai stopped eating. I was busy internally celebrating the success of He Xiaoru¡¯s plan, but then she grabbed my hand, her teeth chattering. I glanced at her curiously and noticed she was staring, terrified, at Chen Kai.


    I turned my head and saw that Chen Kai was looking right at me with terrible, blank white eyes.


    He Xiaoru and I screamed off the top of our lungs as we ran out of the room, sprinting quickly down the stairs into the main hall.


    Then the fire in the bowl went out, leaving only a few sparks behind.


    As the fire went out, I could clearly see a small figure crouching beside the bowl, as if it was looking for something. We stopped.


    I got goosebumps and tightly grasped He Xiaoru¡¯s hand, not knowing what else to hold on to.


    "Is that Kitty?¡± asked He Xiaoru with a trembling voice.


    The light of the flashlights flickered for no reason. I trembled violently, holding onto He Xiaoru, who was walking towards the crouching figure.


    The clear voice of a girl came from the small figure. ¡°I can''t find it. Can you help me look for it?" she sobbed.


    Although I hadn''t heard Kitty¡¯s voice earlier, I assumed the young voice belonged to Kitty and felt some relief. I tried not to be so nervous, but remained vigilant, keeping an eye out on the area around the ceremonial bowl.


    "Kitty? Is that you? What are you looking for?¡±


    The figure on the ground cried, "Brother, can you help me look for it? I can''t find it!"


    "Kitty, don''t cry. I''ll help you. Are you looking for Chen Kai?¡± I said.


    The girl on the ground shook her head. "No, my skin is gone. I haven¡¯t been able to find it for a long time."

 Chapter 12 Xiaoru disappears

    It wasn¡¯t Kitty, but a skinless monster whose blood vessels had burst as the red liquid poured all around it.


    Xiaoru and I screamed loudly, running as fast as we could towards the street. The monster¡¯s cry reached my ears, "Brother, you promised to help me find Kitty!"


    I ran faster. As soon as I reached the end of the front yard I fell down on the street and felt blood pour out of my head.


    The lights in the street began to flicker, making the whole street feel like a nightmarish scene. I felt pain everywhere. Blood got into my eyes, I couldn¡¯t open them anymore, even though I tried many times.


    Blue and red lights flashed alternatingly. There was a loud sound, but I couldn¡¯t recognize it.


    My vision blurred, my surroundings were noisy and were getting louder. I felt like I was being raised up by others. It was clear that I had failed to run away.


    My whole body was in pain. I regained my consciousness faintly. I awoke to a familiar voice, "Are you awake?"


    I tried to open my eyes. I was lying on a bed. The weather outside was sunny. Wu Jian was sitting by my side, smoking a cigarette.


    I tried witting up with all my strength, while Wu Jian just watched instead of helping me. My forehead became sweaty.


    "What''s wrong with me?" I licked my dry, cracked lips.


    Wu Jian flipped his cigarette, saying casually, "You¡¯re fine; you just fell down. Then landed on a stone. You¡¯re not dead..."


    Obviously I wasn¡¯t dead. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t be in the hospital, or in so much pain.


    "Why were you in Building No. 108 last night? Did you have another bad feeling?"


    Building No. 108? Wu Jian¡¯s word confused me for a while.


    "Oh, I¡¯m referring to the ghost house you often mentioned while you were out."


    The memory of the ghost house came flooding back into my mind, making me shiver despite the warm sunlight.


    "Are you frightened?" Wu Jian¡¯s tone remained insipid.


    I nodded silently, "What happened last night?"


    "What a coincidence! That¡¯s what I was about to ask you. Why don¡¯t you tell me the beginning, middle, and climax? I can fill you in on the details of the end."


    I hated the way he talked to me.


    I hesitated saying anything, but I still replied. "Even if I do tell you, you won¡¯t trust me."


    "I trust you." Wu Jian¡¯s words remained firm.


    I had already heard "I trust you" many times from this guy. I wasn¡¯t impressed.


    Wu Jian noticed the silence. Putting out his cigarette, he began to speak.


    Did I mention I hate the way Wu Jian talks?


    "What about Xiaoru?" I asked.


    Wu Jian¡¯s eyebrows curved inward to display a questioning look, "Who is Xiaoru?"


    Now, I was also confused, "She¡¯s the girl who ran out of the ghost house with me."


    "My colleague said he only saw you running out of the ghost house."


    "Only me? But where is Xiaoru? I remembered clearly that I held her hand as I ran out."


    Wu Jian got serious, "You mean there was a girl who went inside the ghost house with you?"


    I nodded immediately.


    Wu Jian took out a pen and notebook. "Tell me everything you know."


    Now that Xiaoru was involved, I explained everything, no matter how strange it was.


    His face changed ceaselessly as I talked. In the end, his face was blank, yet baffled. That was the first time I¡¯d seen that look since I¡¯d met him.


    For a long time, Wu Jian just stared at me with a strange look.


    His eyes began making me uncomfortable, so I said, "Whether you trust me or not, it¡¯s the truth."


    "I trust you, we¡¯ll take a break now. I¡¯m going to step outside." Wu Jian stood up and went outside.


    I didn''t want to say any more anyway after hearing him say the word "trust" again. As he was stepping out, I shouted after him, "What about the others?"


    Wu Jian opened the door and stepped out, saying without turning his head, "I¡¯ll tell you about that later."


    Although my head hurt, it wasn¡¯t serious. My head was bound with gauze instead of stitches, and I looked like a patient.


    Wu Jian returned the next afternoon. He lit a cigarette after he stepping into the ward.


    I started getting concerned with his silence, "What''s going on?" I asked.


    Wu Jian didn¡¯t look up, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    "Xiaoru, Chen Kai and his friends, and¡­ the ghost house.¡± I hesitated.


    Wu Jian picked his eyebrows, "I¡¯ve searched for He Xiaoru. She was an employee in a phone store across the street. However, we could not find her. As for those three children, they are all dead. There is a lot of gossip about No.108. It is said the government plans to destroy that building to control the situation.


    "What do you mean?" Now it was my turn to ask.


    Wu Jian stared at me with a sad look, "He Xiaoru hasn¡¯t come to work for several days and there¡¯s nobody at her home. I¡¯m trying to contact her family now."


    I fought an urge to slap his face. Why hadn¡¯t he started looking for her relatives immediately?


    Wu Jian seemed to know what I was thinking and continued, "Don''t worry. My colleagues are already searching. By the way, do you know how those three children died? The forensics doctor believes the boys ate themselves to death. However, their stomachs were empty. The strange girl''s body was riddled with bullet holes. She seems to have been killed by a machine gun.¡±


    Hearing his words, I was stunned. The cause of death of those three, young, teenagers was beyond my imagination.


    "Now, I¡¯m curious as to how it¡¯s possible that you stayed alive and where He Xiaoru is.¡± He sighed. ¡°I hate these kind of cases."


    "Are there many cases like this one?" I asked, kind of hoping I wasn¡¯t alone.


    "Not many, but strange cases like this one show up occasionally. Don¡¯t change the subject! Tell me how you managed to stay alive."


    I shook my head, because I really didn''t know. Perhaps, it was because I had lit the paper money for them, or because I never went to the second floor on my own accord.

 Chapter 13 Releasing the master

    After thinking for a long time, I wasn¡¯t any closer than I was before. "You¡¯ve searched the ghost house, right?" I asked.


    Wu Jian nodded, "Why do you ask? I doubt He Xiaoru is still in the ghost house. It''s impossible. We''ve looked all over, though I''m going again this evening just to be sure.¡±


    I hesitated for a moment. What did he mean by going again this evening?


    Wu Jian stretched the muscles in his arms, "It is said that the ghost house is very different at night than in the daytime. Our people have never been there at night, so I plan to go there this evening."


    "You¡¯ve never been there at night?"


    "We''re human, too you know. It''s a scary place."


    The police were just ordinary people and no one was unafraid of the ghost house, especially after such a strange murder.


    Before I could ask Wu Jian about the police¡¯s arrangements for the evening, he quickly put out his cigarette and threw it under the bed.


    I looked on in bewilderment as the door of the ward opened and a nurse came in. She sniffed the air, frowned, and looked at me and Wu Jian with suspicion.


    Wu Jian looked back at the nurse curiously. "Hello. What''s the matter?"


    The nurse took out a white envelope and handed to me. "Express delivery for you."


    I was stunned. I had gone to the ghost building and the burnt paper figures and golden paper ingots; why was I still receiving the letters?


    Seeing that I did not respond, Wu Jian took the envelope and looked at it.


    The nurse seemed to want to speak, but chose not to say anything at all. She went over to the window, opened it, and left.


    After looking at the envelope for a long time, Wu Jian asked, "Is this one of the letters with the three photos you talked about?"


    I looked at the doodle-like eye on the envelope and nodded feebly. Wu Jian seemed to want tear the envelope apart. After a moment''s thought, he handed me the letter, "It¡¯s best you do it yourself."


    I took the letter, tore it open, and three photos fell neatly on the dining table.


    Wu Jian leaned over," Can you really see something in these photographs?"


    I nodded and picked up the first picture.


    The first one: a 15-year-old girl sticking out her tongue and trying to reach the ice cream in her hands, smiling brightly.


    Third: the little girl standing in front of a mottled white wall, her face expressionless. The white wall was visible through the many holes in her body.


    Kitty? I suddenly thought of what Wu Jian had said about Kitty''s death. I described the details of the pictures to Wu Jian.


    Wu Jian had reached the same conclusion. He whispered," Kitty?"


    I nodded. It seemed that Wu Jian and I were on the same page, but why did I get Kitty¡¯s photo, rather than Chen Kai¡¯s or Wu Di¡¯s? Was it a clue, or was the photo just a random selection of one of the many deaths?


    The most important thing was that I had done everything according to the old woman''s instructions. I had gone in at 12 o ''clock into the main hall of the ghost building and burned paper figures and golden paper ingots. Why hadn¡¯t that worked?


    Wu Jian lit another cigarette and took a huge drag. "Wu Rui, you can¡¯t hide anymore. If you¡¯re the only one that can see the photos. That means only you can solve this mystery."


    I didn''t want to hear Wu Jian say it, but I knew in my heart that he was right. If I hid away, those ghosts might trouble my mother or Xue¡¯er.


    I quietly asked, "How many people will be there tonight?"


    "Me. And you, of course.¡± Wu Jian''s words were very casual.


    "Just us two?!¡± I couldn''t help crying out.


    "This is a personal decision, thogh you can rest assured that I will find a master to help us," Wu Jian said confidently.


    When I heard ¡°master¡±, I felt a little relieved. Since ghosts really existed, there would certainly be masters; otherwise the world would have been overrun by ghosts by now.


    "What kind of master?" I asked.


    "A fortune teller. He was fighting someone over 5 Yuan and was detained by the police. I happened to meet him at the station."


    Well, that didn¡¯t seem good enough. A man fighting over 5 Yuan - a master?


    Wu Jian gave me a look, "What''s wrong? I''m a cop; why would I know any masters? Besides, he could tell at a glance that I''ve recently come in contact with ghosts. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s your average Joe."


    I couldn¡¯t understand why Wu Jian trusted this guy. I didn¡¯t believe anything this so-called master said; he sounded like a fraud.


    Wu Jian ignored me and stood up. "I have to go. If there is nothing wrong, we¡¯ll go there together tonight. I will go to the police station to get the master. See you at the gate at 10 o ''clock in the evening." With that, he waved and left.


    Although I still lay in the hospital bed, I had no serious injury. It was ok for me to leave, but to go to the ghost house again?


    Then again, Xiaoru was missing because of me. I also wanted to understand why I still hadn¡¯t escaped the curse of the three photos after burning all those things for the ghosts. The only thing that worried me was the master Wu Jian was going to bring along tonight.


    Should I try to contact a master myself? Although the city was small, I often heard bizarre witch stories from my mother. Mom had always been a little superstitious, probably the thanks to the elderly generation.


    After carefully thinking it over, I gave up. Only mom could contact a witch and if I asked her to, she would definitely ask why. What¡¯s more, I looked like a mummy in all these bandages. If mom saw me like this, I would immediately lose my freedom.


    Perhaps the master Wu Jian mentioned really was skillful. I just had an uneasy feeling about getting him out of the station. I guess we¡¯d see when the time came.


    I went through the discharge formalities quickly, carrying a large package of medicines. I didn''t go home. Although my mother was not likely to go to my house at this hour, I didn''t want to take the risk. As for going to the hotel, come on. Mr. Tang was more likely to call the police than to open a room for me.


    Although there was more than one hotel in the city, the problem was I didn''t have any money. The hospital fee was paid by Wu Jian. Thinking about it, I turned back to the hospital.

 Chapter 14 Indeed, a Master

    Using up all the money I had, a nice taxi driver drove me to Kaoshan Road even though I was missing one Yuan. I forced a smile and said goodbye to him then turned to see Wu Jian smoking on the sidewalk. There was another person next to him. He appeared to be just under 1.8 meters tall. He was strong, with a round face, but he looked young. He was also smoking.


    This man must be Wu Jian¡¯s partner. This was good news, I felt safer with more than one policeman. That got me wondering, where was the master? I looked around. It was night out. There were not many people, and they were all rushing along on their way. It seemed they weren¡¯t related to Wu Jian in any way.


    I stepped forward so that I¡¯d be in Wu Jian¡¯s line of sight. He threw his cigarette on the floor. ¡°You¡¯re here. How about we grab a bite to eat? It¡¯s still early.¡±


    I was really hungry, and there was no way I was going to be eating at the ghost house.


    The young man by Wu Jian¡¯s side spoke before I could say anything, ¡°Good idea. I am hungry now. We can drink later. I haven¡¯t had a beer in several days.¡±


    Several days? I didn''t have the nerve to to say anything out loud, I just stared at Wu Jian questioningly. Wu Jian just picked another cigarette out of his cigarette case and finally remembered to make introductions. ¡°Oh, this is Huang Xiaolong.¡± Then he pointed at me, ¡°This is Wu Rui.¡±


    I stretched my hand hesitantly and shook hands with Huang Xiaolong. He let go of my hand and said, ¡°Come on brother, let''s have a drink.¡± He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me along into the nearest cafe. Wu Jian lit his cigarette and followed suit.


    Huang Xiaolong pushed me down a chair, sitting on their other side, shouting at the owner, ¡°Boss man, some barbecue! A cold beer too!¡± Then he turned his head and asked me and Wu Jian, ¡°You two want a cold one?¡± We nodded. Noting that the owner was busy, we found the cooler and picked out a few beers ourselves.


    Then I asked Wu Jian in a low voice, ¡°Is this your colleague? Where is the master?¡±


    Wu Jian looked at me questioningly, ¡°What do you mean? That¡¯s him.¡±


    ¡°You mean Huang Xiaolong?¡± I almost yelled.


    Seeing Wu Jian nod made me realize the world was out to get me. I forced a smile, ¡°Um, why don¡¯t we go there some other day?¡±


    ¡°It seems you don''t trust me.¡± I hadn¡¯t realized Huang Xiaolong had appeared behind my back, beer in hand.


    I was a little embarrassed. I had just said something bad about Huang Xiaolong. He had a bottle in his hand and I worried the vulgar master might hit me over the head with it.


    I just gave a hollow laugh, ¡°Um...¡±


    I felt like he was just trying to come up with an excuse for not being able to cheat people or make any money himself. As for him being ¡®capable¡¯, I chose to ignore it until I saw it myself.


    Huang Xiaolong seemed not to mind other people¡¯s opinion, though. In that sense, he really did carry himself like a master.


    The two men became chatty after drinking a couple cups of beer. Though the topic of conversation at the table was not what I was expecting. They talked about how strong they were and the people they had beaten in fights.


    I felt like they chose the wrong profession. If they had chosen to be hooligans, their careers might look promising.


    Just when we had finally began talking about tonight¡¯s plan, the second case of beer arrived. The two men were emboldened by alcohol. Fortunately, they could hold their drink. They were still acting sober, even if they were talking a bit louder than when we had first arrived.


    Huang Xiaolong raised his bottle and dedicated a toast me, finishing it in one gulp. I got the hiccups trying to keep up. ¡°Alright brother, take it easy,¡± Huang Xiaolong said. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. Have I told you about my father and mother?¡±


    I shook my head. Huang Xiaolong asked another question, ¡°Do you know Ma of north China and Mao of south China?¡±


    I shook my head. I seemed to have remembered hearing of them somewhere, the two names sounded very familiar.


    Huang Xiaolong shook his head disdainfully. ¡°Mao of south China is the name given to a person named Mao Xiaofang who lived in the Mao Shan area. Ma of north China refers to the dragon exorcist.¡±


    It all came back to me when he mentioned the dragon exorcist ¨C I had hear that name in a teleplay produced many years ago. The title of the teleplay was My Date with a Vampire. I was not very familiar with the successors of the Mao family, but the surname of the dragon exorcist was Ma.


    I said in a low voice, ¡°The dragon exorcist¡¯s last name was Ma, that¡¯s why they call him Ma of north China. I remember her name being Ma Xiaoling.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong gave me a disdainful look. He gave a snort, ¡°The surname of the dragon exorcist was actually Long or ¡®dragon¡¯. Ma means ¡®horse¡¯. The reason for this name is the extensive grasslands of the North. Most of the people in the area rode horses, that¡¯s why Ma is such a common surname there.¡±


    I nodded silently. I had to act sincerely convinced by his strong explanation. I turned my head to Wu Jian, who was eating, ¡°Mr. Wu, why don¡¯t we go on another day?¡±


    Wu Jian looked at his watch and glanced at the case of beer. ¡°There are only three more bottles left. Let¡¯s finish them, it should be time to head off by the time we¡¯re done.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong opened three bottles at once while my heart began beating a bit faster. Each man picked up a bottle ¡°Drink up, drink up. We¡¯ll continue drinking when we return.¡±


    We raised the bottles and downed the beer.


    ¡°Drink it up! You¡¯ll forget all your sorrows when you¡¯re drunk.¡±


    I worked up my courage to finish the beer.


    After putting down his empty bottle, Huang Xiaolong grabbed my shoulder. Then he dragged me away, saying loud enough for Wu Jian to hear ¡°Alright brother, tell me something about the ghost house.¡±


    It was too late for me to refuse; I was already being dragged by Huang Xiaolong across the street. As soon as we made it across the street, he didn¡¯t ask any more questions. As soon as he saw Wu Jian paying the bill, he told me the truth, ¡°Uh, look, I¡¯m not being cheap. I just forgot to bring any money...¡±


    I looked back at Wu Jian¡¯s and sighed softly. It seemed that Wu Jian had been cheated by Mr. Xiaolong. My worry turned to anger when I remembered I¡¯d be going into the ghost house with that phony master. Why would Wu Jian make me come here?


    Wu Jian paid the bill and lit his cigarette, ¡°Let''s head off. It¡¯s almost twelve o''clock. We¡¯re just in time.¡± He led the way in front of us.


    Huang Xiaolong grabbed my shoulder again and moved forward. Recognizing it was too late to turn back, I asked ¡°Um, Master Huang, will you catch the ghosts?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong frowned and said, ¡°Just call me by my name, brother. You are my bro, now. Don''t call me ¡®Master¡¯.¡±


    Fine, this man didn¡¯t care about me showing respect. I rephrased and repeated my question.


    ¡°No. I just want to see what the ghosts look like.¡± said Huang Xiaolong with a distant look.

 Chapter 15 The Company of Beauties

    After a long time, he said quietly, "So much resentment here." He would have sounded more impressive if he hadn¡¯t burped immediately after.


    I hesitated for a moment. Making my last-ditch effort, I said to Wu Jian, "Brother Jian, we could come back another time."


    Wu Jian glanced at me but did not say anything. He started going up to the gate of the ghost house. Huang Xiaolong comforted me by patting me on the back and I followed suit.


    The house was as dilapidated as always, covered in litter. Wu Jian stood at the gate of the courtyard but did not enter. "I was the one who locked the gate once we left last time, but it looks like the chain disappeared and the lock is gone."


    Wu Jian''s voice was casual, as if he was mentioning a random factoid, but I felt a chill in my spine.


    Huang Xiaolong took out a palm-sized sword out of his bag. With a shake, the sword suddenly extended to arm¡¯s length. It looked impressive, but I knew it was just a collapsible sword prop. Still, it was better than nothing. Now we could only hope that the master was reliable, though I¡¯d really given up hope.


    Wu Jian looked at the sword in Huang Xiaolong¡¯s hand. Saying nothing, he took out a flashlight and walked directly toward the ghost house. Huang Xiaolong and I followed closely.


    The moment we stepped into the ghost house, everything around us suddenly lit up. The originally dilapidated main hall blossomed, and a great crystal chandelier sparkled with light on the ceiling. Brand-new tables and chairs were arranged in rows.


    I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, secretly chanting in my mind, ¡°It¡¯s an illusion, it¡¯s an illusion, everything is an illusion.¡± Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong were startled as well, looking around alert.


    "Oh, here come guests, Sister Hua¡¯s greatest pleasure!¡± a charming voice said. I saw a 30-year-old woman wearing a cheongsam coming towards us with a beaming expression. She loudly said," Girls, we have visitors." There were numerous delicate, charming and cool voices all around.


    I felt like I had come to a place I shouldn''t be going to. Of course, there was no way this place was the inside of the ghost house.


    Wu Jian whispered, "Wait and see the change.¡± He smiled and nodded to Sister Hua.


    When she came close, she touched Wu Jian¡¯s chest with her hand. "Sit down here," she said. Then she drew Wu Jian to a nearby table.


    I felt my knees buckle; I was frozen in place. Huang Xiaolong saw this and dragged me to Wu Jian¡¯s seat.


    "Brother, you promised to help.¡± A familiar voice rang out beside me.


    "What?" I asked, shaking.


    "To look for my skin."


    A monster of flesh and blood suddenly appeared in my mind. I cried and fell back heavily on the floor. Then I saw a 15 or 16-year-old, petite, white-skinned, very handsome girl standing beside me.


    Huang Xiaolong, startled by my cry, was about to stand up, but was stopped by a cheongsam-clad beauty. Sister Hua stood over me, saying coldly, "Our guest is not satisfied with Xiao Lingdang?"


    Xiao Lingdang¡¯s pretty face displayed a hurt expression. How was I supposed to respond? I just blurted out, "Satisfied, satisfied, I¡¯m very satisfied."


    Sister Hua''s voice returned to normal, "Please be satisfied. Xiao Lingdang, hurry and pick up the guest."


    Xiao Lingdang hurriedly stretched out her slender arm and wanted to lift me up, but I slipped away, "I can stand up myself."


    I then climbed up hastily and sat on a stool, frightened, looking at Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong for help.


    Wu Jian hinted at Huang Xiaolong with his eyes, but Huang Xiaolong did nothing, only talked with the beauties around him. However, his hands on the table were trembling; it seemed he was not so calm under the surface.


    I couldn''t help but sigh in my heart. All he could do was talk. I had to pin all my hopes on Wu Jian.


    Fortunately, Wu Jian did not let me down. He pushed away the wine the women gave him, and said with a slight cough: "Umm, Sister Hua, have you seen a girl named He Xiaoru recently?"


    Sister Hua cackled, but her voice was as bleak as the cold wind of hell, "You came to look for her, huh?"


    He nodded his head, but did not dare to speak up again.


    I looked at Xiao Lingdang, who was looking at me hopefully, and lowered my head. I said, "I''ve burned the paper for you. Can you let her go? She''s innocent."


    When she heard me, she seemed to find something very funny. She laughed, and then said in a charming voice, "Innocent. It was because you gave the money that we waited on you, and the little girl thing, alas, was not easy.¡±


    I was a little confused by what she was saying, but I went on, "What do you want so you can let her go?"


    Sister Hua said, "I¡¯ll have to think about it carefully, but the night is too short. Why must you waste your time seeking a young little girl¡­?"


    Young¡­ I could not help glancing at Xiao Lingdang, who seemed to be a minor.


    Huang Xiaolong let out a terrified scream, I quickly looked up to see him covering his mouth with his hands to silence himself. The beautiful woman he had been speaking with was dragging something out of Huang Xiaolong¡¯s cup with her hand. I saw the woman¡¯s slender fingers pick out a white worm with an embarrassed smile and then put the worm on her head. The worm quickly crawled into her hair and disappeared.


    Sister Hua scolded her, "Yan¡¯er, you are not allowed to release that thing, remember? You have frightened a guest."


    Yan¡¯er responded with an aggrieved tone, "Xiao Pang has accompanied me for nearly 100 years. My body used to itch and it was Xiao Pang who ate away the itchy rotten flesh." Yan¡¯er brought her head towards Huang Xiaolong¡¯s chest and said: "Guest, you do not blame Xiao Pang, right?"


    Huang Xiaolong glanced at the black and smooth hair under his nose, forced his head up, and looked at me with a sad face: "No, no, no."


    After seeing this scene, I was thoroughly disappointed with Huang Xiaolong. I still had no leads on Xiaoru, and he wasn¡¯t as tough as he was trying to make it seem. I spoke up once again, "Sister Hua, He Xiaoru is my friend. Please let her go, and I¡¯ll burn you all the paper money you desire."

 Chapter 16 Pimp, My New Occupation

    Sister Hua pretended to be shocked, "Oh, my. Great wits and short memories. You promised Xiao Lingdang to find something for her."


    It all made sense now. Glancing at Xiao Lingdang expectantly, I nodded, "I will. Absolutely! Um, I will find it."


    "Now, about that promise." Sister Hua said, "What do you think of the Fan House?"


    Fan house? I was puzzled for a moment before I realized it was the name of the ghost house. So I said hastily, "Good, it¡¯s very good. It¡¯s nice."


    Sister Hua was surprised at my decisive answer. She giggled "Excellent. You can work here. The ghost house lacks a waiter."


    I felt my whole body grow cold. I was paralyzed, my mouth had involuntarily dropped.


    Sister Hua giggled again, "Don''t worry. I still need you to burn paper money for us. It has been a long time since I bought new shoes.¡±


    Sister Hua¡¯s words made me feel more at ease. Even still, I was not so brave that l could live in the ghost house. Moreover, elderly people believed we shouldn¡¯t trust the words of ghosts. But I had to agree with her at first, to save Xiaoru. I would never come to Kaoshan Street again and neither would she.


    Sister Hua must have known what was on my minds. Her voice became bleak, "You should keep your promise."


    My heart was bleeding, but I still nodded, "If you let He Xiaoru go, I will keep my promise."


    "Okay." Said Sister Hua slowly.


    Darkness came over my eyes. I fell down like a bag of bricks. The resplendent and magnificent scene disappeared. There was now only a flashlight revolving on the floor.


    Wu Jian also fell down. However, he quickly jumped up, picking up the flashlight to shine all around. The light fell upon the prostrate figure of a person in the distance. When I shone a light on the face of the figure slumped on the floor, I screamed out, "Xiaoru!"


    Huang Xiaolong stood up painfully and yelled, "Hurry!"


    The word woke Wu Jian and me up. Wu Jian stepped forward and picked up He Xiaoru. "Let''s leave here immediately!"


    After we stumbled out of the ghost house, Huang Xiaolong looked at his watch. "Unbelievable, it¡¯s only one minute past twelve."


    We had gone in at ten minutes to midnight. Although we had stayed in the ghost house for a long time, it was now only one minute past midnight. I felt a little scared at the time distortion. There was a lot we didn¡¯t know about ghosts.


    Looking back at the closed gates of the courtyard, I left Kaoshan Street with He Xiaoru, Wu Jian, and Huang Xiaolong in a hurry.


    There was a cigarette in Wu Jian¡¯s mouth, but he didn''t light it under the angry glare of the nurse. Meanwhile, Huang Xiaolong kept chattering to himself. I heard him say that if he had brought an appropriate weapon, he would not have been caught off-guard.


    I kept silent, staring at him. If he had showed his talent of speaking, perhaps the ghosts in the ghost house would not have had so much control over him.


    After lying on the hospital bed for a whole night, He Xiaoru woke up slowly. Her parents had arrived by then. One of them thanked me and then sent He Xiaoru to another hospital, a bigger hospital in the provincial capital. There was no copportunity for her to talk with me. She mouthed ¡°WeChat¡± in my direction as she left.


    Once she was gone, Wu Jian stood in front of me, comforting me and slapping my shoulder, ¡°It¡¯s a good idea for her to go to another city. At least, she will be away from the ghost house.¡±


    I nodded silently. Huang Xiaolong walked towards me, ¡°Don''t worry about me, bro. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Then he left the hospital. He made a steadfast gesture in the doorway, looking back at us. I figured that was the last we¡¯d see of him.


    As Huang Xiaolong¡¯s figure receded in the distance, Wu Jian helped me up saying, ¡°Let''s have breakfast.¡±


    I nodded.


    Seated across from me in a nearby diner, Wu Jian said, "Do you plan to live in the ghost house?"


    I shook my head, "I should probably leave for a while."


    Wu Jian seemed to feel uncomfortable with my decision. I could tell he just felt worried and said, "Aren¡¯t you going to burn the paper money and help Xiao Lingdang find whatever it is she lost?"


    I hesitated, still feeling scared. "No."


    Wu Jian nodded, "Yeah, it¡¯s probably a good idea for you to keep away from the ghost house. Be careful, though. Sister Hua said the ghosts will not let you go if you cannot keep your promise."


    I said, "I am going to live in a temple. A temple should be useful against ghosts."


    Wu Jian asked, "How will you explain this to your mother?"


    I didn¡¯t know what to say. What about my mom and Xue¡¯er? I could hide from the ghosts, but my mom and Xue¡¯er could also see those pictures. Not to mention, I had forgotten to ask about those pictures¡­


    I told Wu Jian what I had just remembered. Wu Jian laughed bitterly, ¡°You can leave with your mom and your niece, or...¡±


    I understood what Wu Jian wanted to say. But would my mom and Xue¡¯er leave with me because of the ghost house? If I knew anything about my mom¡¯s personality, she would just invite witches and wizards to the ghost house to fight the ghosts. Could they win? I didn¡¯t think so. Those people were just like Huang Xiaolong, a load of frauds.


    I was confused about what to do.


    Wu Jian slapped my shoulder, ¡°If we cannot avoid it, let¡¯s face it head on. We cannot hide from it forever. Besides, I really believe those ghosts won¡¯t harm you. Just as Sister Hua said, they want somebody to burn paper money for them.¡±


    I nodded feebly. I also felt confused. I don¡¯t know when he had joined me, all I knew is that suddenly Wu Jian wanted to face it with me. It would be wonderful if the ghosts would stop harming human beings from now on. That was something both he and I wanted, it¡¯s what had brought us together.


    I shook my head as if to clear my mind. The noodles in front of me were cold. I couldn''t eat, I had no appetite. After shaking for a moment, I managed to regain my balance.


    Since I could not avoid it, I should face it. I had already been to the ghost house a couple of times. I¡¯ve become braver. Although I¡®d be scared, I would not be scared to death like I was before.

 Chapter 17 Preparing for Entry

    There was an old, undeveloped street where it was common knowledge that funeral goods were sold. The families on this street would put two benches and a sign in front of their gate to do business, some would sell handicrafts such as small toys. Of course, most of them would sell funeral supplies, thus the locals would call it the funeral goods street.


    The taxi stopped at the street corner; there was no way for the car to get in without getting trapped. The narrow road was occupied by hawkers on either side and even if the car was be able to squeeze in, it would ha e a really difficult time getting back out.


    I paid the driver and got out of the car, following the crowds down the street. Today was market day and many people had come from the surrounding villages and towns. It was crowded and both sides of the road were practically paved with pieces of plastic sheeting which displayed assorted goods such as tiger bones and other folk medicine. Even many funeral stalls ¨C practically abandoned most of the time ¨C were crowded with people.


    I went directly to the largest funeral store in the middle of the street. I had been to this store before, but that was a few years ago. It looked as if it had been renovated recently; it was a lot cleaner than the other stores. There were many people inside, many of them wearing mourning clothing and sobbing.


    I would have come another time if I¡¯d known it was going to be this crowded. However, I was already there and I didn¡¯t want to make the trip again, so I carefully passed through the stalls and stood in front of the Hall of Tianshou. After countless polite ¡®excuse me¡¯s and ¡®pardon me¡¯s, I finally made it into the store.


    The guy in the shop saw me in and gave me a look: "I''m sorry; there are a lot of people here today."


    I nodded, then picked up a golden paper ingot. The quality of the golden paper ingots in this store was not bad. Although not as carefully made as that of the shroud shop next to the ghost house, it was better than a few of the other shops and stalls I¡¯d passed. Compared to the other funeral good¡¯s ingots, they seemed to be of superior quality. The ghosts in the ghost house would hopefully be satisfied.


    I asked the shop assistant to give me a bag and began putting paper money and golden paper ingots inside. I felt like l needed to take more than last time to show my sincerity and commitment to the ghosts. I also hoped that it would guarantee my safety..


    I didn¡¯t take the card, instead I just stared at the old man unhappily. Usually, funeral shop owners wouldn¡¯t even greet customers out of respect, imagine the audacity of this guy to give out business cards for customers to call him. It was bad form, as if he was looking forward to the death of someone''s family members.


    Seeing my reaction, the old man tapped his forehead, "Look at me, I must be confused¡­ Young man, please don''t mind me, you just don¡¯t look like you¡¯re in a good place, so I just...."


    Before the old man finished, I saw another man step out from behind the counter. He looked very similar to the man, but he was wearing casual clothes. The old man that was casually dressed pulled the other old man aside and said to me: ¡°Young man, I''m sorry. This is my brother; don¡¯t pay too much attention to him. Come, I¡¯ll calculate the price for your purchases."


    This old man was sweet, even though I assumed it was all just customer service for the benefit of the business. I handed over the shopping bag and he punched a few buttons on his calculator. "Young man, it comes up to a total of 374 Yuan. Let¡¯s make it 360 for you today."


    I nodded, paid for my goods, took the bag, and then took one last good look at the old man before walking out into the crowd.


    I couldn¡¯t afford a taxi back; it had cost over three hundred yuan to buy the paper money and without my job, I had no steady source of income. Although I had saved some money over the past few years, it was only about ten thousand Yuan. At this point, I could only afford renting out a restroom, and a small one at that. It was obvious, that I¡¯d have to start saving up money somehow. Luckily, the funeral street was not far from where I lived; it was just a 20 minute walk.


    I walked slowly down the street on my way home. I¡¯d bought the paper money; that meant the first condition was fulfilled. As for the second one, I didn''t really know how to prepare for it. How I was supposed to help a ghost find its skin?


    My real concern was about living in the ghost house. My mom came to my house at least once a week to help me clean up the place. If my mom found out that I wasn¡¯t living there anymore, she would know something¡¯s up.


    When I got home, I still hadn¡¯t come up with an idea, so I decided to just put it off.


    Putting the papers and candles inside the cupboard, I hurriedly turned on my computer. Sure enough, a message from Xiaoru was waiting for me on WeChat. It had been sent a few hours back.


    Rujia Buddha: Hello?


    Rujia Buddha: I¡¯m in the hospital for another examination, how boring.


    Rujia Buddha: They know I¡¯ve been to the ghost house and now I¡¯m grounded. I can¡¯t go out for a while. Are you all right?


    Rujia Buddha: I lost my phone. This was sent to you from my younger brother''s cell phone. I¡¯ll contact you in a while.


    After reading the messages, I felt my heart soften. To be honest, although the time we spent together was very short, I felt as if I had known her for a long time. Sure, it also helped that she was beautiful.


    I returned a message asking her about her health, but she didn¡¯t reply. She must have returned the phone to her younger brother.


    Sitting in front of the computer, I didn¡¯t know what else to do. Then I heard the front door open. I stood up quickly, but before I could reach the door, I saw Mom walking in carrying a bag of food. When she saw me, she said loudly, "Why aren¡¯t you at work today? Come and help me with this."


    I quickly stepped forward to take the bag, "Mom, why are you here?" Mom usually came on Saturdays or Sundays. She didn''t typically come here just to take care of Xue¡¯er.


    Mom slumped her tired hands, "What, so I¡¯m not welcome here? Last time I was here, I saw nothing in your fridge. I brought you something to eat, and stop eating instant noodles!" She frowned at the cup of instant noodles in the trash can.


    I shrank my neck and hurriedly carried the bag to the kitchen. I thought about how I was going to go about telling my mom that I was moving out. I certainly couldn''t say I was moving to the ghost house.


    When I returned, my mother was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Why didn''t you go to work today?"


    An idea occurred to me, "The company wants me to go on a business trip. I¡¯ll be away for a while, so they gave me two days¡¯ leave to pack things."


    Mom frowned, "How long will it take?"


    I blurted out, "a month."


    Mom said, "Why so long? What for?¡±


    "It''s not a business trip actually. It''s a company training." I thought of a better explanation.


    Mom nodded. "What about your salary?"


    Ah, pay¡­ I was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly replied, "As usual."


    Mother just nodded, "That¡¯s good. Next month, Xue¡¯er will take up dancing lessons. They cost 1000 Yuan. Why didn¡¯t you tell me you were leaving? I bought so much food...¡±


    More than 1000 Yuan, that was so much money¡­ Whatever, I could afford it. I quickly told my mom to take it back. Mom grumbled, helped me pack up a lot of clothes, and left.

 Chapter 18 A Dirty First Nigh

    I took out the bag with the paper and candles out of the cupboard. When I about to leave, I saw a white thing among the gold and red candles. I stared at it. It was a business card.


    I picked up the business card. There was a name on it - Ge Xianshou - and a phone number. The back of the card had a small symbol, like a stamp. I immediately identified it - it was from the Hall of Tianshou. I remembered the old man in the Chinese tunic suit from inside the nice funeral shop I had visited the day before. When had he put the card in my bag? I could have sworn I never took it from him.


    It didn¡¯t matter anyway. I threw his business card into the trash can.


    It was 11 o''clock when I arrived at Kaoshan Street. There was almost no one around and all the stores were closed. Only the streetlamps were lit. I took a deep breath, standing in the gateway to the ghost house. I had never been here alone before. I had to admit, not having anyone with me made it significantly scarier.


    I hesitated for a moment before going through the gateway, but eventually I pushed aside the gate and entered the courtyard. Not wanting to linger outside, I entered the main hall quickly. The hall looked was dimly lit only by the beam of light coming from the flashlight in my hand. It was as lonesome as I was. I dared not raise my head as I went forward towards the ceremonial bowl. I silently hoped the scene from last night would occur once more. Even though I knew they were ghosts, I¡¯d be less scared if they took those forms.


    The paper money and candles from the Hall of Tianshou were different than those from the mysterious shroud shop. They burst into flames as soon as I used my lighter. It was not difficult for me to burn them, so I let out a sigh of relief.


    The light and warmth from the fire comforted me. However, everything around me suddenly became very bright when I put the last bit paper money into the bowl. I covered my eyes with my hand.


    A burst of laughter rang around me. My heart rate accelerated. I opened my eyes, ignoring the urge to keep them shut. The sudden appearance of Sister Hua in front of me was so startling that I stumbled back two or three steps.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    I had crashed into something behind me. I turned my head back and saw that I had crashed into a table, knocking over a few cups. Transparent liquid was spilling slowly along the surface of the table.


    A young, beautiful girl standing by the table said shyly, ¡°Uncle Liu, please excuse him. He is new. Don''t mind him.¡±


    Mr. Liu twitched his nose and said: ¡°A living person?¡±


    The beautiful girl said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind if he¡¯s a living person or not!¡± The beautiful girl picked up a cup and poured wine into it, handing it to him.


    The man she called Uncle Liu didn''t pay any more attention to my shivering form and continued enjoying his delicious wine.


    I felt a sudden pain in my ear. When I turned around, I saw Sister Hua was twisting it. She said, ¡°If you hadn¡¯t burned the paper money for me, I¡¯d eat you right where you stand. Follow me.¡±


    She pulled me away as I was reluctantly dragged behind her. On the way, I saw many people in the hall of the ghost house. Then I remembered, they were not human. They were all ghosts. They were all drinking happily, but in a strange silence.


    Sister Hua dragged me to a seat next to the back door. Then she let go of my hand and asked me to sit down. She said to me, ¡°Today, I will teach you the rules. This is the Fan House. The doors open at 11 o''clock; you should come here on time to do some trivial things. It¡¯s easy.¡±


    I nodded, but I never asked her whether the time she meant was 11 o''clock in the evening or the morning. I asked cautiously, ¡°Um, Sister Hua, why are you making me do this?¡±


    ¡°You don''t need to know that now. But you should work hard. If you do a good job, I will give you money to buy things. It is a profitable job.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t quite sure if I should believe her. I wanted to ask something, but I was scared of angering Sister Hua. After all, she was a ghost. After some thought, I finally spoke my mind about the question burning on my mind, ¡°Sister Hua, do you know about the pictures, those sets of three pictures?¡±


    I had not yet finished my sentence when Sister Hua interrupted me, ¡°Oh, that¡­ it is none of my business. However, you should know that I put you on duty here just because somebody asked me to protect you.¡±


    I was bewildered. I always believed those envelopes were from the ghost house. However, Sister Hua denied any involvement with them. I felt there was no point in doubting her; Sister Hua wouldn¡¯t lie to me, since she didn¡¯t really want to harm me. But what did she mean by helping somebody protect me? Just when I thought I was about to get some answers, everything got a little more complicated.


    Sister Hua sighed, ¡°Do you know the different types of ghosts there are in the world?¡±


    I looked up towards Sister Hua, not knowing anything on the matter. To be honest, I didn¡¯t believe anybody really knew the answer anymore.


    ¡°When people die, they become the ghosts. If the ghost has feelings of bitterness, we call it a resentful ghost. If the personality of the ghost is evil, we call it a demon. If the ghost is stubborn, it is called a haunting ghost. Here, we are spiritual ghosts, neither good nor bad. We just want to enjoy the world. There is also the last type, a ferocious ghost. Ah, they are such pitiful creatures... They are...¡± Sister Hua sighed and ended her sentence there.


    I was very curious. Looking at Sister Hua, I asked: ¡°Sister Hua, ghosts don''t kill human beings, right?¡± I was hoping Sister Hua would say no. At least then, I would feel a bit more at ease.


    Sister Hua used a hand to cover her mouth, letting out a giggle. After a moment, she said, ¡°All ghosts can kill human beings.¡±


    Sister Hua¡¯s words sent a chill down my spine, but I forced what was probably an ugly looking smile.


    At that moment, someone called out to Sister Hua from outside. Sister Hua responded and turned to me, saying ¡°I¡¯m going out. Yan¡¯er will explain the rest to you.¡±


    Yan¡¯er, I was suddenly reminded of the female ghost who kept a worm in her hair. My face soured. A silvery voice rang out behind me, ¡°Yan¡¯er is accompanying the guests. Let me tell him.¡±


    I turned my head and saw the small figure of Xiao Lingdang in front of the door. Sister Hua seemed surprised, nodding, ¡°Okay¡­ Xiao Lingdang, teach him properly.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang nodded seriously. Sister Hua turned around to tell me, ¡°Take this serious.¡± and floated out the door.

 Chapter 19 Ghosts Talking About Ghosts

    Xiao Lingdang nodded happily and said, "Every day we¡­"


    "Wait a minute,¡± I interrupted. "Xiao Lingdang, I don''t know if you heard what Sister Hua said. She was telling me about the ghost classifications; resentful ghosts, spiritual ghosts, and so on. She left before she finished."


    "Really? Xiao Lingdang cocked her head and said, "Okay, but I don''t know what to say¡­"


    "Tell me more about these ghosts," I said quickly.


    Xiao Lingdang nodded, "Resentful ghosts are ghosts who were full of anger when they died. They¡¯re very bad for the living. They generally do not take the initiative to kill, but if provoked, they will become very fierce.


    "Evil ghosts are born evil. Well, not all of them, but most of them have a natural impulse to do harm. One kind of evil ghosts are hanged ghosts, which must find a host and are destined to kill.


    "Clinging ghost just do what they did all the time while they were alive; they¡¯re very boring.


    "Spiritual ghosts are us - not willing to go to hell, just wanting to live a good life. But this comes with a lot of problems.


    "Vengeful ghosts are those who were too angry or tortured. They want revenge, but they are pitiful and cannot appear in a human form.


    "By the way, there are also grievance ghosts, also called grievance souls and they are different from the others. They are allowed out of hell to exact revenge on their enemies. They are fierce but limited, and very rare. I met one once."


    Xiao Lingdang introduced all the ghosts again, so I had a general impression, but some points were vague, so I asked: "Xiao Lingdang, do all the dead become ghosts?"


    "No," Xiao Lingdang shook her head. "No, dead people become souls, which will be taken away to hell. Only if they are not taken within the first seven days will they become ghosts."


    "Why wouldn¡¯t they be taken away?" The more I knew, the more questions I had.


    Xiao Lingdang said, "All kinds of reasons, such as hiding, or Hell¡¯s enforcers not being able to take them away."


    I nodded and asked, ¡°By the way, Xiao Lingdang, do you know about the pictures?"


    Xiao Lingdang was puzzled, ¡°What pictures?"


    At that time, Sister Hua¡¯s cold voice came, ¡°You don''t have to know now."


    I turn around sharply, looked at Sister Hua, and smiled unnaturally.


    Sister Hua''s voice became enchanting, "Looks like you have guests. Go attend to them." She left again.


    Xiao Lingdang said, "Let''s go, or Sister Hua will be angry.¡± Then she took my hand and pulled me away.


    Xiao Lingdang was pretty cute and I was not as scared as before. I let Xiao Lingdang take my hand and followed her. "Xiao Lingdang, what kind of ghost are you?"


    The beautiful woman looked at me with a smile: "My name is Lulu. You are a newcomer, right? Please bring this to the guest right over there by the table.¡± She pointed.


    I smelt the fragrance of the beauty and could not help but sigh. If only they weren¡¯t ghosts...


    I took the tray Lulu handed me, which was a roast chicken. It smelt appetizing, and looked just like a real roast chicken. I quickly remembered the first time I saw Yan¡¯er, and my appetite disappeared immediately.


    I made my way between the ghosts, grilled chicken in hand. Most of the ghosts maintained a human appearance. Although they were pale, they were not too frightening. Occasionally, though, I spotted a split head or jaw, which made me jump in fright. I was almost frightened to death on some occasions, and would just rapidly turned my head to avoid staring.


    I lowered my head, put the roast chicken on the table and said, "There you go." Just as I was about to leave with the tray, I heard a voice call after me. "Wait."


    I stopped. I looked up and saw a fat middle-aged man in a suit and tie looking at me curiously. He kissed the beauty beside him and said, "You also hire living people?"


    The beauty smiled, "Yes, this is our Fan House¡¯s specialty."


    The fat man nodded. "I see, I see." He pulled out a large stack of bills from his pocket and dumped them on my tray: "For you." With that, he began to laugh with the beautiful woman next to him.


    I went back to Lulu, breathing heavily. Lulu chuckled, "Scared?" As she was about to retrieve the tray, she saw the pile of money. "Wow, that¡¯s a lot of money."


    I waved my hand, "Here you go."


    Lulu stretched across the counter to grab the tray with the money and kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks."


    I nearly jumped out of my own skin, staring at the beautiful Lulu and swallowing with difficulty.


    Lulu giggled.


    The ghost house¡¯s business was booming. I brought out countless orders of all sorts of food and wine. I became numb to seeing so many ghosts.


    Ghosts were obviously more generous than the living. Although I didn''t like the fat man, I got a lot of money from him. However, it all belonged to Tiandi Bank, so I had to give it all to Lulu, who was so pleased she wanted to kiss me every time, but I wasn¡¯t into it. After all, she was a ghost.


    Eventually, the ghost house¡¯s guests starting filing out; over half the people in the hall left. There were only a few dozen beautiful women standing at the front of the hall waiting to get instructions from Sister Hua.


    Lulu was ready to go, but I stopped her and asked, "Lulu, the guests don''t stay overnight?"


    Lulu''s ever-grinning face turned into a frown, her long hair waved with no wind and her smiling eyes narrowed into thin cracks.


    I swallowed; I didn''t know what to do.


    Lulu replied coldly, "We are not whores.¡± She threw the money I had given her at my chest.


    All the ghosts stared at me. I quickly squeezed out a smile until they turned back around, then leaned over the counter and almost fell to the ground.


    When I picked up all money, Sister Hua was done talking. Lulu went back to the counter and seemed to have calmed down a bit. I put the money on the counter and pushed it her way. "I was wrong to say that. Please accept the money."


    Lulu snorted, ignoring me. So I said, "Should I throw it away, then?"

 Chapter 20 Absent on the Second Day

    When I turned my head, Sister Hua was standing behind me. She looked at me with a smile. There were several female ghosts beside me. However, I only recognized Xiao Lingdang and Yan¡¯er.


    I waved my hand signaling that wasn¡¯t it and to leave it be. I definitely could not tell them why Lulu became angry.


    Yan¡¯er pretended to be sad, ¡°You just gave money to Lulu. We didn¡¯t get anything...¡±


    I explained myself, ¡°I will give Sister Hua money to divide between everyone next time.¡±


    All the female ghosts thought that was a great compromise. Sister Hua felt like it was time to rest, ¡°Alright, take a break.¡± Then she turned to me, saying, ¡°Come back here early tonight, or you can have a break here if you wish.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang walked towards me with a sad look. ¡°Brother, you promised to find something for me.¡±


    I nodded. Suddenly, everything around me went dark. Sister Hua and the other ghosts disappeared. Everything around me became dilapidated and silent. However, I was not scared. Anyone would become brave if they had gone through that scene last night.


    It was 5 o''clock in the morning when I looked at my watch. I was awake the whole night. I was nervous and tired. I went home immediately. I had never seen the several dustmen who swept the street at this hour. They stared at me in shock as I passed. One of them fainted. I was too tired to notice.


    I fell asleep as soon as I came back home. I don''t how long I slept, but I was awakened by a phone call. It was Wu Jian. I got up after arranging a meeting with Wu Jian. After all, it was the afternoon. Although I wanted to sleep more, my belly could not stand the hunger.


    I met Wu Jian at a noodle bar. The capable and experienced Wu Jian had swollen eyes and a pale face.


    I imitated an advertisement I saw on TV. ¡°What''s wrong with you, man? What happened, Bro?¡±


    Wu Jian glanced at me, ¡°I was on guard last night. I had no time to sleep. What''s wrong with you? You look like hell.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t believe that I was getting mocked by him when I was the one trying to make fun of him. I told him everything that had happened the night before.


    ¡°So it was you...¡± Wu Jian said with an accusing tone.


    I didn¡¯t understand, ¡°Me? What did I do?¡±


    Wu Jian thought it was simultaneously funny and annoying, ¡°I had finished my shift this morning. Then, I got a notice that a strange event happened near the ghost house, so I rushed over as fast as I could. It turns out a street sweeper had a heart attack. There were a ton of witnesses. They said they had seen ghosts, so we searched the ghost house again, but there was nothing there.¡±


    I opened my mouth, but I was too shy to say anything, so I just ate my food silently.


    I almost choked on the food I was chewing on and coughed heavily a for a couple of seconds. ¡°Buy the big villa with three staircases and a big garden located in the central area of the city?¡±


    Wu Jian nodded and said, ¡°Not too shabby, eh?¡±


    I said feebly, ¡°Brother, do you know how much that house is worth? It¡¯s gotta be at least ten million, not even accounting for its historical value. Even if we both pooled our money together, we couldn¡¯t afford to buy a space in the washroom there.¡±


    Wu Jian said, ¡°Remember last time, I told you the government wanted to sell the ghost house to ease the situation. No one wants to buy that house, but if you¡¯re not afraid...¡±


    I nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not really afraid to buy it, but why would I? To live in the ghost house alone? Regardless, I haven¡¯t got much money.¡±


    Wu Jian said, ¡°The value of the ghost house will continue rise. There are ghosts in it now, but there may not be ghosts there in the future. You might be able to leave it to the next generation. Anyway, I¡¯ll ask about the price. I know the government is hoping people can live in it at some point. That¡¯ll stop the rumors.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I might not live long enough to get married,¡± I answered him flippantly. Wu Jian had nothing to say.


    I considered it. I guess it wouldn¡¯t be that bad to live in the ghost house. At least I wouldn¡¯t need to commute from my home to work. I had told my mom that I was on a business trip. It would only cause trouble for me if mom found out. I¡¯d be alright if I could somehow get paid with actual money.


    After I left Wu Jian, I hung out on the street for a while. Last night, had I met with a bunch of ghosts. Now I wanted to be around actual living people. After wandering aimlessly for a while, I got a call from Wu Jian. He told me the price for the ghost house, but as soon as he told me the price, I scoffed.


    ¡°It¡¯s actually ten million? If I had ten million Yuan, I would give it to my mom instead of buying the ghost house. I¡¯d die for ten million. Most people can¡¯t get ten million in a lifetime.¡±


    Wu Jian knew I was right, but he brought up a good point. ¡°I know, but listen: The government is holding a public auction in an attempt to sell the ghost house. The government will depreciate it¡¯s value if no one is willing to buy it. If anyone tries to buy it, you could ask the girls in the ghost house to frighten them. The rumors will take care of the rest. Eventually, the government will likely sell you the ghost house under the pressure of the rumors. But tell them not to harm anyone, just frighten them!¡±


    I didn''t know whether or not that plan would work. I couldn¡¯t promise that the girls in the ghost house wouldn¡¯t harm anyone, I was just starting to get to know them.


    I had to think about it.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re actually considering this.¡± I said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just take some time to think about it¡± he said. Then we said goodbye and hung up.


    Buying the ghost house wasn¡¯t a priority anyway. I¡¯d pretty much moved to the ghost house already, although people would likely just think of me as a brave squatter. It was unlikely that anyone would try to kick me out.


    I hung out until 10 o''clock and then I ran to the ghost house. I stopped just across the street. I looked on and saw that there was a Taoist blocking the gateway accompanied by many tearful people standing behind him. They were crying and telling each other how horrible the ghost house was. I could hear them vaguely, even though I was across the street. The Taoist was attempting to recall the spirit of Chen Kai.


    Police lights flickered. Several policemen were attempting to persuade these people to go home. In the end, it was futile and only provoked an argument. Eventually, the policemen retreated after exchanging a few useless sentences.


    Then, I noticed the figure of Wu Jian. I walked towards him and pulled him aside.


    ¡°Do you ever rest?¡± I was a little bit concerned for his health.


    Wu Jian yawned lazily. ¡°You don¡¯t think I want to? I was up all day. Something would happen every time I¡¯d lay down. Well, are you going to work or not?¡±


    I pouted, pointing at the crowd blocking the way into the ghost house. ¡°How am I supposed to get in? I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to be able to make it tonight.¡±

 Chapter 21 A Man in a Long Gown

    I thought for a moment, shaking my head. I didn¡¯t want to wait for the ghosts to come for me, no matter how good my reason for being absent was.


    There seemed to be a group of news reporters in the distance. The police were trying to stop them, but the victim''s relatives were calling the reporters over.


    Wu Jian¡¯s face was bitter. He hurriedly said, "I¡¯ll go have a look." He hurried off.


    The reporters and the victims¡¯ relatives made things worse. One of the reporters, who was answering a call, was stopped by the policemen. It seemed that news of this event would be blocked.


    I took out my phone and saw it was already 12 o ''clock. I probably wouldn¡¯t get to work on time, but I couldn''t just leave. If I left and those people also went away, then the ghosts might come after me. I decided I should go to them on my own accord after the commotion died down.


    I don¡¯t know when it happened, but the street lights became dim and the wind picked up, and the dead leaves on the ground shook, making a rustling sound. Since everyone was arguing, they didn''t seem to notice it.


    Standing on the side, I saw it, and other spectators seemed to notice it, too. Seomthing was slowly withdrawing from the crowd.


    I glanced at the gate of the ghost building. Brandishing a wooden sword, the Taoist priest went on chanting. I waited for that something to scare him.


    "Dang, dang, dang"


    A melodious bell rang, and everyone froze. Even the arguments stopped. When a woman was about to restart the altercation with the police, a sandy voice shouted, ¡°Where did the bell come from?"


    The bell that made the sound must have been huge; it was obviously not the kind of sound mobile phones or media players could reproduce. However, there was no clock tower on that street. The hair on my back stood on end. My hands clapped together, my heart was silent. Sister Hua, you may frighten them, but please don¡¯t frighten me.


    The crowd in front of the ghost house was restless. Even the police looked panicky, but they stood strong and tried to calm everyone down. Perhaps because of the efforts of the police, or perhaps because there were many people, no one made a run for it even though everyone was pale-faced and scared.


    All of a sudden, the Taoist priest in front of the ghost house cried out, startling everyone and drawing attention to himself.


    The Taoist priest laughed and said, "There is no need to panic! They¡¯re just a few little ghosts."


    At that moment, a man in a long gown looked down at the ground and said in a strange voice, "Is it true that there is an imp?"


    The Taoist priest laughed, "Of course." The preacher''s voice came to an abrupt end when he looked at the speaker. I saw that the Taoist priest quiver and cautiously approach the man, stooping and looking to see what the man looked like from up close.


    The man''s voice suddenly became distant and was now accompanied by a slight echo: "You want to see me."


    He slowly raised his head. My vantage point wasn¡¯t so good and I couldn''t see the man¡¯s face, but the monk let out a strange cry and fell over the altar, overturned on the ground. One of his feet had kicked the gate of the ghost house and fallen on the long weeds.


    The crowd seemed to show no reaction. The Taoist screamed again. It seemed that one of his legs was being pulled by something invisible toward the ghost house. Although he tried to grab onto something to save himself, it was useless because of the insurmountable power of the invisible force.


    People started to react. Suddenly, countless screams rang out and the crowd began to scatter, but the few policemen at the back of the crowd still tried to rush toward the Taoist, fighting through the throngs of people running for their lives. Before the police officers could get to him, the Taoist priest let out a desperate bellow that reverberated across the street, and disappeared, leaving behind only a few streaks of blood.


    I felt cold all over, but held back the urge to escape. Others could run, but I had to come to work every day and couldn''t run away.


    The figure in the gown had disappeared. The police officers also ran to their squad cars, and disappeared with screeching tires and roaring engines. Finally, the street grew quiet. At that moment, my mobile phone rang. I reached for it, but saw a shadow blocking the street lamp in front of me. I looked up, and suddenly my whole body was frozen; I couldn''t move a finger.


    I saw the gown man standing in front of me, less than half a meter away. his metallic, gray face had two dark eye sockets with no eyeballs. Blood was slowly flowing from the eyes sockets. Instead of a nose there were only two holes, with a white worm crawling through them.


    "You have a lot of nerve." The echoing voice sounded distant.


    I was self-composed. The little white worm made me think of Yan¡¯er¡¯s Xiao Pang, and my fear dissipated quite a bit.


    "I¡­ I am the pim ¡­ uh, no, I mean I am a servant of the Fan House." In my shock, I almost said I was a pimp.


    The figure seemed to be surprised at my answer. He grabbed onto my shoulder, and before I could react, I felt a gust of wind and everything went bright.


    I opened my eyes, which I did not remember closing. I was already in the Fan House, but today the Fan House had no guests; Sister Hua and a bunch of beautiful women were sitting around a table.


    "Sister Hua!" I cried out as if meeting a loved one.


    Sister Hua was stunned for a moment, seeing me come over, but ignored me, and said to the person in the long gown, "Yo, a guest is coming."


    The man smiled faintly. His face was not quite what it had been at first. He turned into a handsome, dignified, middle-aged man.


    The man smiled at Sister Hua and said, "I found an interesting man out there. Is he one of yours?"


    Sister Hua looked at me and said, "Yes, but he missed work today."


    The long gown man let go of me, surprised. He took a long look at me, then walked over to an empty table, no longer paying attention to me. Well, sure enough, they both had pet worms. They had something in common.


    Sister Hua looked at me and said, "You skipped work today."


    I didn''t know what punishment I would get for absenteeism, but I still had to say, ¡±Sister Hua, I wasn¡¯t shirking work, I just couldn''t get in. Don¡¯t you know what happened outside?"


    Sister Hua impatiently waved her hand, ¡°OK, OK, go serve food. Next time, just climb over the wall to get in, or you¡¯ll be sorry."

 Chapter 22 Saving a Taois

    I sat beside the bar counter, dismissing Xiao Lingdang who would always make sure to remind me, ¡°You promised me¡±. Just then, I remembered that my phone had been ringing just a few moments ago. I had forgotten about it after being interrupted by the man in long gown.


    I took out my phone immediately. There was a missed call from Wu Jian and a text message from him.


    I opened the message. There was a short sentence, ¡°Are you on duty? Please save that Taoist!¡±


    Taoist? Right, the Taoist! I realized it after I saw the short message. A Taoist priest had been dragged into the ghost house. I shivered. I was so familiar with Sister Hua and Lulu now, I almost forgot that they were ghosts who might harm human beings.


    I could understand Wu Jian. Although I believed that Taoist was a charlatan, he was a human being. Moreover, if I could persuade those ghosts not to harm human beings, I would be safe. Xiao Lingdang said they were all spiritual ghosts, after all.


    I coughed, turning around and looking at Lulu. I smiled and said, ¡°Um, Lulu?¡±


    Lulu rolled her eyes and turned around. The sight of her plump breasts jutting towards me made me swallow loudly. She had been a woman any man would want to marry.


    It was such a pity that she was a ghost.


    Lulu might not be the right one to respond. As for the others, Yan¡¯er got together with the man in the long gown. Moreover, I was not familiar with her. I dared not to ask Sister Hua. It seemed my only option was to ask Xiao Lingdang.


    Looking around, I saw Xiao Lingdang sitting in the corner alone. I walked toward her immediately.


    ¡°Xiao Lingdang.¡±


    ¡°Humph.¡±


    Oh, how dare this young girl give me a bad look? Well, ok, they all dared to look at me that way.


    I immediately tried to please her, ¡°Xiao Lingdang, what''s the matter? Who wronged you? I¡¯ll take care of him!¡±


    Xiao Lingdang looked at me angrily, ¡°I don¡¯t speak to people who never keep promises... Humph!¡±


    Things weren¡¯t so bad if she was still willing to speak to me. It meant the situation could still be remedied, I suppose.


    ¡°Who never keeps their promises? I¡¯ll teach them a lesson!¡±


    Xiao Lingdang said in a sobbing tone, ¡°You. It¡¯s you.¡±


    I looked around guiltily. Xiao Lingdang¡¯s voice attracted several sisters'' attention. They all looked displeased. Their hair fluttering in the wind. I shivered, and quickly said, ¡°Xiao Lingdang, I am just kidding. I came here to ask you where your skin is.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang looked doubtful, but she still said, ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°Um, Xiao Lingdang, since you don''t know, how can I help you? Say, the man you caught is imprisoned in the shed, isn''t he?¡±


    Xiao Lingdang said doubtfully, ¡°We haven''t got a shed.¡±


    Um, people in the TV shows always kept their prisoners in the shed. The old saying was true: believing everything books said was as mindless as believing in nothing.


    ¡°Where did you imprison him?¡±


    Xiao Lingdang tilted her head and thought about it for a moment. ¡°I don''t know. He might be on the third floor.¡±


    The third floor? The ghost house had three floors. However, I hadn¡¯t been to the third floor. Although there were two staircases that led towards the third floor, both of them were broken.


    I said curiously, ¡°Why is he on the third floor?¡±


    Xiao Lingdang answered very quickly, ¡°Because Sister Xiaozui and the others are on the third floor.¡±


    ¡°Sister Xiaozui?¡± I repeated doubtfully. I became friends with the female ghosts because I gave away all my tips. However, I¡¯d never heard that name, Xiaozui.


    I continued to ask, ¡°Xiao Lingdang, who is Sister Xiaozui£¿ Why don''t I know her?¡±


    ¡°Sister Xiaozui is on the third floor. However, she never comes down the stairs.¡± Xiao Lingdang said it as a matter of course.


    It occurred to me that everything I bought in the old woman¡¯s cerements store came in 108 sets. However, I had only met about 40 ghosts so far. What about the rest? Might the rest of them be on the third floor? However, what were they all doing up there?


    ¡°Xiao Lingdang, how many sisters are on the third floor? Why don''t they go down the stairs?¡± I asked curiously.


    Xiao Lingdang became gloomy and said in a sobbing tone, ¡°Many sisters are on the third floor. Sister Hua said Sister Xiaozui does not want to be a spiritual ghost.¡±


    I was shocked. She was reluctant to be a spiritual ghost. Was she a resentful ghost, a stubborn ghost or a ferocious ghost?


    I spoke out my doubts. Xiao Lingdang told me that all those ghosts were definitely resentful and ferocious. Therefore, nobody in the guest house could bother them.


    My heart felt cold. Saving the Taoist seemed to be beyond hope. If I went to the third floor, I would be killed by them.


    Seeing me stay silent, Xiao Lingdang said, ¡°Brother, will you go to the third floor?¡±


    I shook my head immediately. Are you kidding me? I already felt scared on the first floor, let alone the third floor.


    Xiao Lingdang looked at me with a strange look. It seemed that she did not understand why I asked about the third floor, since I didn''t want to go up there. I tried idea different approach. I tried my best to save him, because the Taoist was as alive as I am.


    ¡°Xiao Lingdang, did you see the Taoist who was brought into the ghost...uh, the Fan House just now?¡±


    Xiao Lingdang shook her head, ¡°Nope.¡±


    I didn''t know how to respond. Fortunately, Xiao Lingdang got curious, ¡°Brother, is he your friend? I can ask around for you.¡±


    I nodded, and then shook my head. I explained under Xiao Lingdang¡¯s doubtful eyes, ¡°He is my friend''s friend. Xiao Lingdang, please try to help me.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang nodded, but then she gave me an aggrieved look, ¡°But you never you¡¯re your promise to find my skin for me.¡±


    I broke out a sweat. I laughed, ¡°Um, fine, I will help you find it. However, where is it?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know where my skin is. I can only remember feeling pain. When I stopped feeling the pain, I was here.¡±


    I tried to comfort Xiao Lingdang, telling her, ¡°Xiao Lingdang, your skin might be in this building. Later, I will search the rooms one by one. I will find it¡±


    Xiao Lingdang nodded. ¡°Well, thank you. Brother, I will find the Taoist for you. I will not let them bully him. ¡±


    Great! I took care of the task that was given to me by Wu Jian. However, I became gloomy when I remember that I still had to find her skin. I thought I should get Wu Jian to help me with that.


    However, I first had to keep Wu Jian safe. I told Xiao Lingdang, ¡°Xiao Lingdang, my friend who is the friend of the Taoist, he is good at finding things. I will have him help you find it tomorrow, but you and your Sisters cannot frighten him - especially the Sisters on the third floor.¡±

 Chapter 23 Grandpa Huangs Beautiful Granddaughter

    I didn''t really react to the ¡®hey¡¯, but ¡¯waiter¡¯ made me turn around on reflex. Lulu already wore a scowl, so I hurriedly ran over. "Lulu, what is it?"


    Lulu put food down on the counter and then turned away from me. I asked, "Well, Lulu, could you please tell me what to do with it?"


    I immediately realized how stupid my question was - there was only one occupied table in the Fan House at the moment. I lowered head and hurriedly took away the dish.


    Sister Hua also sat at the table, raising a toast to the long gown man. I put down the dish, and was just about to walk away, but then I heard Sister Hua¡¯s voice. "Wait."


    I turned around and looked at Sister Hua in confusion, but she ignored me and continued the toast. I looked at Yan¡¯er questioningly, but I saw that Yan¡¯er was pouring a glass of wine on the table. I stretched my head for a closer look, only to see two white worms on the back of the wine bottle.


    Ugh, she was so kindhearted...


    Sister Hua and the long gown man downed the drinks in the hands, and Sister Hua carefully wiped her mouth with her hand. ¡°Grandpa Huang has something to tell you."


    I was stunned for a moment, and then turned my eyes to the long gown man, Grandpa Huang, who smiled a little. "There is a little thing I need your help with. I will pay you."


    Considering there was payment involved, although I didn''t know what Grandpa Huang wanted me to do, I nevertheless became a model listener. Listening was a matter of attitude, but doing - that was up to ability.


    Grandpa Huang seemed to be very satisfied with my attitude and quietly explained: ¡°I have a granddaughter who¡¯s currently in a relationship, but the man she loves is of poor character and addicted to drugs. I am very worried about my granddaughter. I appeared several times to try to expose him, but the man pretends too well, and my granddaughter completely fell in love despite my efforts. I have no idea what else I could do, but you¡­ if you can separate them, I will make it very much worth your while.¡±


    Normally, I would refuse such an offer, because I had no experience in love. Well, not completely, but my only past relationship had failed.


    I soon changed my mind when Sister Hua said that Grandpa Huang''s granddaughter was a beautiful woman.


    I promised to help Grandpa Huang, he was generous enough to give me a hefty gift in advance: a big, fat pile of cash that he threw on the tabletop. I wanted to go and count it, but soon gave up; I didn''t think my high school-level mathematics knowledge would suffice. Of course, it would have been perfect if the head of the Jade Emperor weren¡¯t printed on each note.


    When I saw the money on the table was gone, I walked up to Sister Hua and carefully asked, "Sister Hua, is this money so important? I could burn you some more tomorrow.¡±


    Sister Hua looked at me disdainfully, "Last time you burned me money, I could only use a small part of it."


    My face was blank. Sister Hua kneaded her chest and explained, "You have to remember, ghost money can be fake too. A lot of people are burning counterfeit notes for their dead relatives..."


    I wanted to know more about ghost money, but my eyes were drawn to Sister Hua¡¯s actions. She stuffed so much ghost money into her bra but her breasts were still perfectly shaped. Amazing!


    Seeing that Sister Hua wanted to go, I hurriedly said, "Sister Hua, is Grandpa Huang''s granddaughter really beautiful?" I¡¯d been dying to ask for a long time, but I couldn¡¯t do it before Grandpa Huang left.


    Sister Hua was stunned for a moment, then snuck a glance at my bottom half and giggled. "Excited to find out?"


    I immediately got embarrassed. Luckily, Sister Hua did not continue to flirt with me, but lazily stretched out a hand and said, "I have seen her before. She¡¯s very beautiful, no worse than Yan¡¯er.¡±


    I glanced at Yan¡¯er, who was feeding Xiao Pang, and couldn''t help shuddering. Sure, Yan¡¯er was beautiful, but she kept a dead insect in her hair every day.


    I hurried back to the bar, but before I could sit down, Xiao Lingdang looked at me with a sad face.


    I said, "I know I have to help you find your skin, don¡¯t worry."


    Xiao Lingdang shook, "Not that."


    I was surprised. Xiao Lingdang always asked me to look for her skin... So I asked curiously, ¡°Don¡¯t you want your skin anymore?¡±


    "No"


    "No?" I was a little confused, but tears already welled up in Xiao Lingdang¡®s eyes.


    I immediately felt the surrounding big sisters with their murderous glares. The temperature seemed to drop. I hurriedly asked, "Don''t cry; what¡¯s wrong? Tell me, don''t cry."


    "I didn''t make any money today¡­" sobbed Xiao Lingdang. Then came the waterworks...


    I immediately covered her mouth and cried, "My god¡­ Don''t cry; tomorrow I will give you all my tips, OK?"


    Xiao Lingdang still had an aggrieved expression, but she nodded and wiped her tears away.


    I was relieved, but I still felt the temperature growing lower behind me. I turned around and saw Lulu staring at me. I almost peed myself. "Tomorrow your tips are mine,¡± came her cold voice. Not waiting for my reaction, she returned to her work.

 Chapter 24 Buying the Ghost House

    I whispered, ¡°Xiao Lingdang, have you found that Taoist?¡±


    Xiao Lingdang nodded, ¡°I heard Sister Xiaozui let him go.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang was efficient. I nodded thankfully, and then I asked her, ¡°So did that Taoist leave here?¡±


    Xiao Lingdang nodded again, ¡°Um, Sister Xiaozui has thrown him out the back door.¡±


    Good. Good. I breathed a sigh of relief. However, I felt like I had forgotten something.


    Shit!


    ¡°Xiao Lingdang, isn¡¯t there an artificial lake near the back door?¡± I asked nervously.


    Xiao Lingdang glanced at me curiously, ¡°Yes...¡±


    I cursed secretly, taking out my phone quickly and sending a message to Wu Jian. Whether or not I could save that Taoist depended on luck. Although I seldom went to the artificial lake, I knew how big and deep it was. Every year there was a news report about someone drowning in it.


    It turned out that the Taoist got lucky. I later received a long message from Wu Jian. The message had two parts. First, my warning had come in just in time. Although the Taoist was in the hospital, he was in good condition. Second, he wanted me to contact him immediately.


    I thought about it for a moment, but never called Wu Jian. It was 11 o''clock in the morning, so I had an hour before lunchtime. I wanted to go to sleep and regain my energy for work. I muted my phone, and then fell asleep.


    When I woke up, it was 5 o''clock in the afternoon. There were 30 missed calls from Wu Jian. I sat on the bed, looking at the phone in my hand. I had one hour before dinner. Could I go back to sleep? Just then, Wu Jian called again. I picked up because I wanted to ask him to help me search for Xiao Lingdang¡¯s skin.


    Wu Jian¡¯s voice came into my ear: ¡°Are you laying eggs at home? Why didn¡¯t you pick up? Where are you now? I will pick you up immediately. There¡¯s news about the ghost house. Time¡¯s almost up, so I have given them your name.¡±


    Wu Jian spoke quickly and hurriedly. He hung up as soon as he got the address. Less than 10 minutes later, Wu Jian¡¯s squad car appeared in front of my house. He told me to get in the car, and started off in a hurry. I watched the speedometer. It showed 80. It wasn¡¯t too fast, but we were in the center of the city. I fastened my seat belt discreetly. I asked him in a low voice, ¡°What''s going on? Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°I will tell you later.¡± Wu Jian spoke briefly. I didn¡¯t want to bother him, so I just looked out the window at the passing scenery. Although I worked at the ghost house, I didn''t want to be a ghost myself.


    Eventually, we stopped in front of the Administration Service Hall. Then I relaxed my tense toes. I had cramped up because I was so tense.


    ¡°Here he is, here he is; I am so sorry,¡± Wu Jian said to a bald middle-aged man in a meeting room. That middle-aged man glanced at me, waved a hand, and pulled me in.


    There weren¡¯t many people in the meeting room. The important-looking men in the center seemed familiar. There were about 8 people around the table. Some of them were smoking leisurely.


    Wu Jian kept silent, and made me sit down in an empty seat, smiling at those important men.


    The meeting room became quiet as we entered. A fat middle-aged man clapped his hands, attracting everyone¡¯s attention, saying ¡°It is late, so I want to leave as soon as possible.¡±


    A person in the center frowned, ¡°Mr. Zhu, did you take everything into account?¡±


    Mr. Zhu shook his head, ¡°Secretary Yang, I have a lot of money now. I don''t want to buy that ancient building.¡±


    I didn''t know Mr. Zhu. However, he had to be a very important person, since he left without saying goodbye. Now, I understood why Wu Jian brought me there. The ghost house was being sold by the government. But surely he knew I could not buy the ghost house...


    I whispered to Wu Jian, ¡°Bro, do you want me to buy the ghost house? I can''t afford it.¡±


    Wu Jian whispered, ¡°Don''t worry. The price is not high, and the government allows installments.¡±


    Installments? I glanced at the documents on the desk. There was an ancient building that covered an area of 6000 square meters. I fainted. My salary was barely 5000 Yuan even when I still had a normal job, let alone now. I might have saved up 60 thousand Yuan if I didn''t eat or use public transport for a year. At that building¡¯s price, I might be able to buy it when I was one thousand years old, not even accounting for interest.


    Could I survive that long? I believed that the world of the living was sometimes more dangerous than the world of ghosts.


    Several men at the meeting table had left while I was being absent-minded. The rest of the important-looking men looked angry. One of them turned his head to me, ¡°Captain Wu, is this the one who was interested in the ancient building?¡±


    Wu Jian nodded, kicking me under the table. I immediately showed a complaisant appearance.


    The man who spoke seemed to be satisfied with me, smiling and saying, ¡°My name is Cheng Yifan. And you?¡±


    After I introduced myself, Cheng Yifan realized something, ¡°Captain Wu, Kaoshan Street is the busiest street in the city¡­¡±


    I interrupted him immediately, ¡°Sir, I am a local. I know it is the busiest one, but I don''t know the price of the ghost house.¡±


    I said those words, not because I planned on buying the ghost house, but because I wanted to leave like the others after casually saying something.


    Cheng Yifan corrected me, ¡°It is an ancient building. It covers an area of 6000 square meters...¡±


    I became unhappy. Fortunately, an important man in the center didn¡¯t want to put up with lengthy explanations. ¡°Magistrate Cheng, it is late. Please make a long story short.¡±


    Obviously, his position was higher than Cheng Yifan¡¯s. Cheng Yifan spoke briefly, ¡°The price of the ancient building starts at 60 million. Because we think the purchaser will have to invest a lot of money for the development of the ancient building, we decided to reduce the price to 10 million Yuan. ¡±

 Chapter 25 Searching for Her Skin

    I touched Wu Jian, "Hey, can you do me a favor tonight?¡±


    Wu Jian nodded. "Buy the ghost house first," he said. Looking at the committee across the table, he whispered, "I have inside information. What happened last time scared a lot of people and now there are all kinds of rumors running about. Some even made it to the Internet, and the municipal government is under a lot of pressure. They don¡¯t care about the money, they just want someone to move in and put an end to the rumors."


    Well, it was OK not to pay right away. After all, the ghost house was a big place. If I bought it, I would technically be a multimillionaire.


    While I was lost in thought, Cheng Yifan and the others seemed to have come to a decision. He cleared his throat and said, "Well, this ancient building is a cultural landmark, so any renovation mustn¡¯t alter the original appearance. The cost of the renovations will be very high, so we have decided, after due deliberation, to set the price for the ancient building at 5 million, with the stipulation that the building must be put into use as soon as possible."


    Cheng Yifan¡¯s offer obviously drew the attention of a few businessmen, but after exchanging a few glances, they gave up on the idea. As for me, there was no difference between five million or fifty million. I couldn''t afford it all the same.


    Cheng Yifan¡¯s face was grim, but he had little else to say. He announced that bidding for the ghost house will be postponed and left together with the other representatives.


    Wu Jian said to me, "So far so good. I was really afraid some idiot would buy the ghost house. Come, I¡¯ll treat you to a snack."


    Although I didn¡¯t know why Wu Jian was so keen on me buying the ghost house, I was more interested in Wu Jian''s treat than buying the ghost house. He ended up treating me to a bowl of noodles.


    It was still early when I finished eating. I told Wu Jian about Xiao Lingdang¡¯s problem and he promised to help out. We roamed the streets for a while before heading over to the ghost house.


    The ghost house was ghastly as usual, but after coming there to work every day, I no longer felt fear. As for Wu Jian, I didn''t know why, but I could see excitement in his eyes. Had something happened between him and the female ghost that accompanied him last time? Gross.


    Nothing happened when we entered the ghost house this time. The bright lobby did not appear, and everything around us was still broken down and dilapidated.


    Though slightly afraid in my heart, I was mostly really tired. After Wu Jian answered a phone call and had to leave, I collapsed limply against the wall of the ground floor main hall. Just then, everything around me suddenly went bright. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It wasn¡¯t even 11 o ''clock yet, so why was the Fan House opening up?


    I looked up and got startled. A group of women surrounded me, doom in their eyes. They didn''t show their true, terrifying, ghostly forms, but fear nevertheless bloomed in my heart.


    I looked around and chuckled meekly, "Umm, what can I do for you?"


    Suddenly, a deafening cacophony of voices struck me, making my ears ring. I couldn¡¯t make out a word they were saying. The girls seemed to notice this and quieted down. They voiced their complaints one by one.


    The first one was cold-faced Lulu, "What the hell are you doing rummaging through the house with some random man?¡±


    I was stunned for a moment. Regaining my sense, I hastily smiled, "Ah, sorry, sorry, I was trying to help Xiao Lingdang find her skin."


    A less familiar female ghost chimed in, "We would have eaten you if it weren¡¯t for Xiao Lingdang. It¡¯s not here."


    I was again stunned, "Not here? Where is it, then?"


    Another ghost joined in, "How should we know?"


    Xiao Lingdang¡¯s voice came from somewhere at the back, "The elder sisters have already helped me look all over this place. My skin is not in the Fan House."


    I was about to faint. You could have told me earlier! Wu Jian and I worked our asses off, but somehow we were sure the skin was somewhere in the Fan House. If it wasn¡¯t there, how was I supposed to find it? The world is an immense place!


    Looking around at the still-aggrieved ladies around me, I could not help showing a bitter face, "Dear sisters, I was wrong. Excuse me.."


    The girls seemed satisfied that I had learned my lesson. Sister Hua said, "Okay, okay, that¡¯s enough. Get ready to open up, everyone. Wu, come with me.¡± After a pause, she added, "Xiao Lingdang, come here."


    I had never thought Sister Hua¡¯s voice could be so beautiful. Seeing the crowd scatter, I hurriedly walked over to Sister Hua with a smile.


    Sister Hua nodded and then told me and the silly Xiao Lingdang how to properly look for her skin. Xiao Lingdang and I looked at each other awkwardly, because Sister Hua¡¯s method was surprisingly simple ¨C If Xiao Lingdang passed a mouthful of her Yin Qi to me, I would be able to feel the skin within a certain range and not stumble around aimlessly anymore.


    But, uh¡­ I looked at Xiao Lingdang, aged 15. Her longing eyes made me feel very awkward. All right, I guess I could offer up my mouth, I suppose my hand as well. The question was ¨C why was there a crowd of people around us?


    Yan¡¯er held Xiao Lingdang¡¯s hand, "Xiao Lingdang, when you blow into Wu¡¯s mouth, remember to concentrate your Yin Qi. But not too much, or Wu won¡¯t be able to stand it."


    Yan¡¯er pulled up a friend to demonstrate. Mouths touching, her hands inside the girl¡¯s ethereal body, Yan¡¯er taught us about the Yin Qi transfer route. Xiao Lingdang learned eagerly.


    I gulped, feeling my face get hot. It was a really tantalizing view. It¡¯s safe to say I was even more attentive than Xiao Lingdang.


    "Are you liking this?¡±


    I involuntarily nodded, then shook my head and turned around. Lulu was giving me a disdainful look. I quickly adjusted my answer, "What are you talking about? It¡¯s just to help with finding your skin."


    At that moment, I heard the sound of an excited breath. I hurriedly turned back and saw Yan¡¯er¡¯s hand had already climbed up to the other woman¡¯s breast, making a strange rubbing motion, which immediately provoked the beautiful woman¡¯s temper as she pushed her away.


    I pretended to disapprove, "Why is Yan¡¯er doing that? She¡¯s not teaching Xiao Lingdang seriously." With that, I shook my head to show my disagreement.

 Chapter 26 Giving Yin Qi

    Xiao Lingdang¡¯s lesson ended and she came towards me. However, seeing my stunned appearance, she said, "Um, Brother, you should take a shower first. I can''t do it if you look like that.


    I covered my face and ran away, pursued by peals of laughter. It was easy to stop the nosebleed, but the hurt in my heart would last forever.


    Xiao Lingdang followed me. She didn¡¯t want to wait a moment longer. However, my nose was plugged up with tissues, so I couldn''t take her Yin Qi quite yet. We sat at a table, looking at each other.


    Lulu stood at a distance, forcing a smile. I asked Xiao Lingdang, "Why does Lulu have it in for me?"


    She tilted her head and contemplated for a moment, ¡°Lulu never had it in for you."


    "Never? She almost killed me."


    Xiao Lingdang followed my gaze, looking at Lulu. Lulu was definitely staring at me grimly. Xiao Lingdang thought it over again, "It might be because you took Lulu¡¯s bra.¡±


    What? I was stunned. When did I take Lulu¡¯s bra?


    Xiao Lingdang seemed to ignore my surprised look, "That pink bra was Lulu¡¯s favorite before she died. You used it to wipe the desk in her room.


    I remembered cleaning the desk with some ragged piece of clothing. Was that Lulu¡¯s bra?


    Before I could inquire further, Lulu¡¯s gloomy voice entered my ears, "Xiao Lingdang, you talk too much."


    Xiao Lingdang stuck out her tongue, but said nothing more. I just forced a smile towards Lulu. Lulu turned from me coldly. I thought washing Lulu¡¯s bra might appease her, but I eventually gave up on this idea; it was too dangerous.


    Xiao Lingdang, "Brother, is your blood still flowing? We¡¯ve been waiting a while."


    She gave me that longing look again. The blood that had already stopped started flowing again.


    Seeing my blood, she became disheartened. She tilted her head and said, "Brother, why not turn your face sideways? It¡¯ll be easy for me to give you my Yin air that way.¡±


    I raised a hand. "After the blood stops."


    Xiao Lingdang grunted impatiently and starting fussing with her fingernails.


    I looked up at the ceiling until I felt my neck become stiff. Eventually, the bleeding stopped. Xiao Lingdang clapped her hands happily when she saw this and said, "Brother, hurry up!"


    I nodded and closed my eyes to calm myslef. Before I could say anything, Yan¡¯er walked up to us and said, "Xiao Lingdang, don¡¯t use your tongue when you give him your Yin Qi. You definitely shouldn¡¯t move it in his mouth.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang nodded blankly. Then she looked at me unhappily, "Brother, your nose is bleeding again..."


    Xiao Lingdang kept on fussing with her nails, while I arrogantly stuck my nose up to the sky. I couldn''t give up the arrogant look because my neck was too stiff.


    It was difficult to get my nose to stop bleeding. I looked around. Everyone seemed to keep still, except for Lulu, who still watched me with a forced smile. Yan¡¯er was playing with her sisters. I immediately dragged Xiao Lingdang to my side, "Xiao Lingdang, hurry up!"


    Xiao Lingdang might have gotten startled, because she suddenly back away from me. After a second thought, she came forward.


    My heard beat quickly as Xiao Lingdang slowly approached me. I said, "Xiao Lingdang, I can¡¯t do it myself. Just do as Yan¡¯er showed you.¡± Then, I closed my eyes.


    I felt like Xiao Lingdang was walking towards me, but I couldn''t feel her breath. Well, ghosts didn¡¯t breathe.


    Before I knew it, a soft and cold mouth touched my own. How soft it was! I sighed in my heart, enchanted by her cold lips. I felt frost coming out of her mouth.


    I shivered. Xiao Lingdang hugged my neck tightly with her hands so that I wouldn¡¯t move away. Fortunately, I could put up with the coldness; it was only a weak breath.


    The cold air soon disappeared. I had a feeling of softness in my mouth, which I hadn¡¯t felt for a long time. Xiao Lingdang¡¯s lips grew warmer and softer. I felt the blood welling up in my nose, but I couldn''t move. It was my first time receiving Yin air, so I didn''t know whether it was over or not.


    Xiao Lingdang''s lips shivered. Just as I thought it was finished, a soft and flexible tongue stretched into my mouth, gently licking my tongue.


    Blood burst forth from my nose. Xiao Lingdang seemed to notice and opened her mouth, taking a shallow breath. I immediately covered my nose, while Xiao Lingdang wiped my blood off her lips. She tilted her head, "I feel strange."


    I held my nose and didn¡¯t dare to speak. Lulu came up to me and reluctantly passed me a few pieces of tissue paper, "Did that feel good?"


    I nodded despite myself, then shook my head vigorously. Lulu just forced a smile in response.


    Xiao Lingdang said sadly, "Brother, I am so sorry. You wouldn¡¯t bleed if you hadn¡¯t been helping me.¡±


    Lulu held Xiao Lingdang¡¯s hand and pulled her away, saying, "Xiao Lingdang, he didn''t do it for you. I told you..." Their voices faded away. Sister Hua walked towards me with a smile, "Xiao Lingdang has never kissed anyone."


    I was shocked. The Fan House was a brothel, so Xiao Lingdang must have been a prostitute. How could she have never kissed anyone?


    Sister Hua seemed to understand my thoughts, "It¡¯s true. Xiao Lingdang died as soon as she came here. In fact, she could have become a ferocious ghost, but she isn¡¯t evil. Although she died painfully, she was not consumed by resentment.

 Chapter 27 Xiao Lingdang’s Pas

    Although our county was not big, it occupied a very important geographical position. It was a major land and sea transportation hub, and naturally attracted the attention of the Japanese army back in the day. One day, the Japanese occupied the town and stationed a garrison there, and the tragedy of the Fan House, and the whole county, began.


    It was at that time that Xiao Lingdang was sold by her parents to the Fan House, at only 11 years of age. The precocious Xiao Lingdang seemed to have resigned herself to her fate, feeling that everything was ordained by the will of Heaven.


    Xiao Lingdang¡¯s character made a favorable impression on her peers at the Fan House during her training period, and the other girls always protected her, trying to keep her away from their own path. Xiao Lingdang¡¯s job at the Fan House was similar to mine, wearing a boy¡¯s clothes every day as a waiter.


    Sister Hua, as the owner and procuress of the Fan House, was well-known throughout the county, and served the Japanese troops as well. Even in those chaotic times, the Fan House was unaffected by the war.


    Until one day, several Japanese officers came to the Fan House to entertain themselves. There was one new, abnormal officer, who didn''t like women, but was interested in Xiao Lingdang. Ignoring Sister Hua¡¯s protests, the Japanese officer was about to take Xiao Lingdang away, but then happened to discover that Xiao Lingdang was a girl.


    The Japanese officer felt cheated and became so angry that he said if Xiao Lingdang was willing to pretend to be a man, she should become a real man. So the Japanese officer peeled the skin off Xiao Lingdang and caught a random boy and tore his skin off as well, and swapped their skin. Xiao Lingdang did not die immediately, instead she painfully struggled to keep the officer from draping the boy¡¯s skin over her.


    That was when Xiaozui ran to ask a Japanese official for help. The senior Japanese official fancied Xiaozui, though she had never cared about him. To capture her heart, he was always treating her well and doing her favors.


    Xiaozui devoted herself to get help, but it was too late, and it ultimately led to the end of her painful life. She was burned to death for it.


    Xiao Lingdang ended up without a human skin to wear and the Japanese tossed the dead boy¡¯s corpse with her skin on it somewhere no one could find. Nobody had paid attention in the chaos, and when the sisters went looking for it, they had no idea where to start. Xiao Lingdang has been looking for her skin all these years because she couldn¡¯t reincarnate without it, forcing her to exist as a supernatural ghost.


    I was speechless for a long time. Finally, I said to Sister Hua, "Sister Hua, if Xiao Lingdang¡¯s skin is on that boy¡¯s body, then where is that boy¡¯s ghost?"


    "We never found the boy¡¯s ghost, but it hasn¡¯t gone to hell. I''m sure of it," said Sister Hua.


    I nodded. I didn''t know why Sister Hua was so sure, but it was clear that the boy definitely became a vengeful ghost, which made me feel helpless, but also gave me hope of finding Xiao Lingdang¡¯s skin. As long as it was still in this world, I would find it one day. Sister Hua once said that it was not easy for a ghost to leave its place of death, no matter what type of ghost it was.


    I thought for a moment and said, "Sister Hua, I tried to look up some information about this place before, and I remember there is a documentary TV series about that period which says there were several mass graves around the city. It might be a clue."


    The TV series I mentioned was produced by a local political faction in the early nineties, in the local dialect. The story was about the county and the surrounding areas, but the film was not famous and I had only a vague memory of it as a child.


    Sister Hua shook her head and didn''t speak. I understood her meaning. In the few days I¡¯ve been in the Fan House, it was full of guests every night. If the stories of mass graves were true, Sister Hua would know some ghosts who knew of them. Nevertheless, I had to try.


    I did not press her further on the topic of Xiao Lingdang, Sister Hua ordered me to finish up with Grandpa Huang¡¯s request as soon as possible. I promised to go there tomorrow, and then Sister Hua left, as the guest were already arriving.


    I had to pick up the pace and get to work too. Perhaps because of the fake Taoist¡¯s show, tonight''s business was unusually busy. I was kept busy until 3 a.m. before I could finally sit down at the bar to have a rest.


    "Hey."


    I turned my head and saw Lulu¡¯s unexpressive face pushing a glass of water in front of me. Seeing me turn around, she quickly turned away, as if to show that it was not from her.


    I drank the water and politely thanked her. I didn''t think that Lulu would take care of me. After all, she had been angry for a long time.


    But Lulu gave me another glass and said, ¡°Did Sister Hua tell you about Xiao Lingdang?"


    I turned my head in surprise. Although I did not understand why Lulu was so angry at me, I did not dare to offend a woman with so much rage. I nodded, "Yes."


    "Do you have any ideas?¡±


    "Not really," I shook my head. Even the mass graves were just a long shot.


    ¡°Find it for Xiao Lingdang, will you?" Lulu''s words carried a tenderness and supplication that I¡¯d never heard from her before.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll find it," I nodded heavily.


    Lulu showed a rare smile. I never realized what a beautiful smile she had; she always had on a poker face till now.


    I suddenly thought of a question, "Lulu, do you know the three people who died here last time?"


    Lulu nodded, "Was that when you came to burn paper for the first time?"


    "Yes. Where are their ghosts now?"


    Lulu thought for a moment and said, "It still hasn¡¯t been seven days. The ghosts of the two boys should still be on the second floor."


    I looked toward the second floor and felt a chill run down my spine. I wanted to ask why the two boys were killed, but in the end I held myself back. I didn''t want to tempt fate, although I felt it was unlikely I¡¯d be killed for asking.


    But Lulu offered up the answer: "the two boys crushed Sister Jiajia¡¯s tablet, so she killed them.¡±

 Chapter 28 The Japanese Ghos

    When Xiaoru and I entered the hall to burn paper money that night, Chen Kai and his friends were going to the second floor.


    Chen Kai walked in front, knocking on the guard rail of the second floor with a stick and laughing at Xiaoru¡¯s and my cowardice.


    Wu Di hugged Kitty, who didn¡¯t dare look up, and joked with Chen Kai.


    Chen Kai entered a random room and put the stick on a desk. "Think we¡¯ll get lucky?" he said to Wu Di.


    Wu Di glanced at Chen Kai disdainfully, "We might not get lucky, but we¡¯ll definitely get a bunch of ghosts."


    Chen Kai kicked a swaying chair out of the way, "I have never had sex with a female ghost. I bet it feels great."


    Wu Di didn¡¯t respond. He shined his torchlight at Chen Kai with a lewd face. Chen Kai understood and left the room with a secretive smile.


    Wu Di dragged Kitty in his arms, saying "Kitty, can we try here?"


    Kitty was shocked and shook her head, but Wu Di insisted, "Kitty, it¡¯s comfortable here."


    However, Kitty still refused, shaking her head and hugging Wu Di¡¯s arm tightly. Wu Di became angry, "What do you mean? If you don''t like me, just tell me and I will leave you alone.¡±


    Wu Di turned to the door, but Kitty was too frightened to let him go. She hugged Wu Di closely, and finally agreed.


    So, Wu Di and Kitty had sex on the old bed in the room. When they were about to climax, Wu Di¡¯s hand unknowingly grasped something and he threw a wooden tablet to the floor.


    Wu Di and Kitty stood up from the bed, calling Chen Kai over. Chen Kai had been waiting for a while and had gotten quite upset. Heading toward the sound of Wu Di¡¯s voice, Chen Kai crushed the wooden tablet under his foot as he entered the room. The ghost house was ancient, so he did not really care about it.


    The exploration of the ghost house was over. Wu Di had also had his fill of ¡°adventure¡±. They were ready to leave, but Chen Kai and Wu Di suddenly felt very hungry. In the next room over, they found a sumptuous feast laid out on the table. They didn¡¯t know where all this food came from, but their hunger got the better of them.


    Kitty walked out into the hall after straightening her clothes, only to see the two boys running into another room. She looked in through the door apprehensively. The ruined house became illuminated with bright rays of light, and all manner of food was laid out on the round table. A long-haired girl in cheongsam was sitting at the table. She seemed to notice Kitty, and slowly turned towards her. Her black and oiled hair covered her whole face.


    But it wasn¡¯t her face... It was the back of her head.


    Kitty screamed in horror and ran.


    That was when Xiaoru and I rushed into the room. I pulled at Chen Kai¡¯s arm, but was frightened by his horrible gaze. Chen Kai just turned back, smiling at the female ghost who had no face. He continued to eat until he died.


    That wooden memorial tablet belonged to Jiajia. Lulu spoke vaguely, not willing to give me too many details. Naturally, it was not appropriate for me to ask her. Therefore, I simply made a mental note that I should never anger the ghost they called Jiajia.


    Lulu kept Jiajia¡¯s story short and concise. Thinking of Chen Kai and Wu Di, I remembered a saying I once heard, "Never go looking for trouble until trouble comes looking for you."


    Suddenly, I found a gap in Lulu¡¯s story. "What about the girl?" I had a picture of Kitty riddled with bloody holes. She hadn¡¯t even closed her eyes in death. She just disappeared from Lulu¡¯s story.


    Lulu¡¯s eyes became complicated. After a long time, she said sadly, "I wouldn¡¯t harm a girl. She ended up going to the back yard."


    I knew the ghost house had a backyard, but I had never been there. After Kitty ran to the back yard, what did she do there? If Lulu would never harm a girl, what happened to her?


    Lulu shook her head, "She was not killed by us."


    "Oh..." I was shocked. Were there many ferocious ghosts who never belonged to the ghost house?


    Lulu didn''t see my surprised look, turning around and looking in the direction of the back yard. Her hair fluttered, revealing black livor mortis on her neck.


    I shivered; Lulu¡¯s reaction attracted the attention of the patrons. Sister Hua cleared her throat loudly in the distance.


    Lulu quickly turned back to me. It seemed almost as if what just happened was only my imagination. I swallowed my saliva, planning to get back to work.


    Then, Lulu said, "That girl was killed by him."


    I glanced at Lulu apprehensively. Although the cold air around her had not disappeared, her expression was becoming slightly softer.


    Lulu¡¯s eyes showed her hate, "He is the enemy of the Fan house. We want to drink his blood.¡±


    Although I was not a gossiper, I became very interested in Lulu¡¯s words. Before I knew it, I asked, "Who is he?"


    "He is Japanese."


    What? Japanese! I couldn''t believe it. There were Japanese in the Fan house! Oh, then I realized, it was probably a Japanese ghost.


    I was stunned for a moment, "Lulu, you mean there is a Japanese ghost in the back yard?¡±

 Chapter 29 Aoki Kengo

    The county was still covered with the smoke of battle, and after seeing the resident commander of the garrison, Suda Ibuki, Aoki Kengo was dragged off by several of his colleagues to the best recreational place in the county ¨C the Fan House.


    To tell the truth, Aoki Kengo¡¯s first impression of the Fan House was not good. It was the first time that he, a boy lover, fell in love with someone, but they turned out to be a girl pretending to be a boy. Aoki Kengo felt greatly deceived and ashamed and was about to teach her a small lesson, but one Fan House whore went and asked his chief, Suda Ibuki, for help, which etched his humiliation ever deeper into his heart.


    However, Aoki Kengo got lucky. Commander Suda Ibuki was soon transferred to the front, leaving Aoki Kengo, as compound adjutant, as the county''s most powerful man. Unfortunately, the town was too small. There were too few handsome boys, which drove Aoki Kengo to spend his time in the company of wines and liquors while waiting to be called up to the front. After all, the battlefield was the best place for a soldier to show his bravery.


    Bored with the long days of waiting, Aoki Kengo was suddenly reminded of a game that he had seen played in another city, especially after the news of Suda Ibuki¡¯s death in battle.


    The twisted game was very simple: A few local women were selected, and each Japanese soldier could bet on which woman could survive being forcibly taken longer. The game ended when there was only one woman still alive.


    Aoki Kengo¡¯s luck might have been over. With each bet, he would lose a large sum of money. Aoki Kengo didn''t care about the money, since the county''s treasury was all his, but losing his prestige was unbearable to him.


    There were many women in the county, but not enough Japanese soldiers. Not to mention the ordinary soldiers, like Aoki Kengo, who didn¡¯t touch women, killed over 500, until he got so tired he couldn¡¯t straighten his back.


    What else would be fun? Aoki Kengo was stumped, watching the naked women pinned to trees, lost in thought.


    All of a sudden, an idea came to him. The woman who had prevented him from punishing someone who cheated him, the woman from the Fan House! He left one of his lieutenants in charge and went to the Fan House.


    When he saw the last person in the Fan House breathe their dying breath, he was finally relieved. The woman named Xiaozui died, and the insults and cheating he¡¯d suffered were punished. Unfortunately, there weren¡¯t a lot of people left who would hear of this.


    Aoki Kengo soon found a new occupation for himself. He felt that he should write down the punishments he¡¯d used, and wrote a book called "The Travels of An Xing¡±. This had at last quieted him down, but by then the whole county was quiet, for it was already empty.


    Aoki Kengo never finished his book, because the order to retreat came. He thought that whoever gave such an order should commit seppuku, because the great Japanese Empire should never retreat!


    Therefore, he cut open his belly at night in the Fan House¡¯s back yard, intending to use his own blood to tell all the Japanese warriors that there could be no retreat from the war.


    Lulu spoke very briefly about Aoki Kengo, reluctant to go into detail, but I was still chilled to my core. From my research of the raunchier kind of Japanese anime, I figured there were a lot of psychopaths in Japan, but the story of Aoki Kengo truly astonished me.


    After a long time, I asked with a dry voice, "So he killed Kitty? Why are you¡­?" I didn''t finish, because it suddenly occurred to me that, with the female ghosts¡¯ hate for him, they would never let Aoki Kengo go if not for some special circumstances.


    Sure enough, Lulu told me very calmly that Kitty did die by Aoki Kengo¡¯s hands. Aoki Kengo was in a frenzy before he committed seppuku. His obsession with the war turned him into the strongest clinging ghost they knew, not to mention he was the one who killed everyone at the ghost house. The ghosts did not dare provoke the butcher.


    We were both silent. I wanted to avenge them, but I couldn¡¯t say anything, because I didn''t believe I could.


    Lulu seemed caught up in memories, her eyes blank and her expression constantly changing. After a long time, she smiled sadly, "Just forget it for now. We¡¯ll just bide our time until the opportunity presents itself, right?"


    Lulu''s words were not clear, but we both understood. There was too much frustration and grief in that sentence.


    I nodded silently, and chatted with Lulu for a while longer. When the cocks crowed, the guests had already gone, and I promised Sister Hua that I would go to Grandpa Huang''s office today as I was leaving.


    At the courtyard of the ghost house, I glanced towards the back yard. It wasn¡¯t very bright yet so I couldn¡¯t make out much, but somehow, I could feel there was a devil back there, reaching out with his endless evil tendrils. I thought I would be afraid, but I wasn¡¯t. I was filled with a sense of sadness and anger, there was no place for fear.


    It was a long time before I slowly walked away.


    I had trouble falling asleep, tossing and turning in bed for a long time. When sunlight hit my face, I suddenly woke up. It was already 3 PM.


    After a quick washing up, I called Wu Jian, but he just rejected my call. Then he sent a message with the word "busy".

 Chapter 30 The Real Beauty

    Standing in her doorway, I lit a cigarette and thought about what I was going to say to her. I was a bit stumped. Although I knew her address and name, I couldn''t just tell her outright that her grandfather told me to break her up with her boyfriend because he is a junkie and a bad man. If I said it like that, she¡¯d slam the door in my face without another word. They might even accuse me for breaking into their house and Wu Jian would have to arrest me.


    I stood aimlessly at the doorway, hesitating. After a while, a tall and cheerful-looking man holding a bouquet of flowers walked past me. Seeing me glance at him, he nodded towards me with a smile.


    I was quite surprised. The man was about 60 years old, and here he was bringing flowers to a lady. Age is a state of mind after all. Fine, I admit I envied him.


    A voice said, ¡°Zhang Sheng, here you are delivering flowers again.¡±


    My eyes followed the direction of the sound. It was an old man sitting in front of a neighboring shop¡¯s doorway.


    Zhang Sheng smiled at him, ¡°Indeed! How¡¯s business, Brother Li?¡±


    Brother Li nodded. ¡°It¡¯s OK. Look, here she comes.¡±


    I looked in the direction Brother Li pointed. A fashionable old lady slowly emerged from the door. Seeing Zhang Sheng standing in her doorway, she looked surprised for a moment, and then smiled. ¡°You bought flowers again? Oh, you shouldn¡¯t have.¡±


    Even though the old woman protested, everyone could see she was happy. She didn¡¯t hesitate to take the flowers from his hands.


    I stood aside. The two chatted with each other for a few moments before leaving for the movie theatre. Oh, as a single man, I felt heartburn.


    Brother Li was a chatty one. Seeing the two old-timers walking away, he started talking to himself, "Oh, Mrs. Huang is a good lady. Why does she love that Zhang Sheng?¡±


    I rolled my eyes. The old man had just pleasantly greeted Zhang Sheng, but he started bad-mouthing him the moment he turned his back. Was he interested in the old lady too? I was curious but I didn¡¯t ask because I was not familiar with him.


    Another old man passing by me said, "Li, I think Zhang Sheng ain¡¯t that bad. He is still young and vigorous. He just wants to have someone with him as he grows older.¡±


    Brother Li replied, "You don''t know this, but my wife is a good friend of Mrs. Huang. She told my wife that she had a dream of her old grandpa persuading her to break up with her Zhang Sheng because he is a liar and a drug addict.¡±


    The passerby became intrigued. He fetched a chair and sat down next to Brother Li to get all the juicy details.


    I stood in the doorway with a frown on my face. Was old Mrs. Huang Grandpa Huang¡¯s granddaughter? I thought she would be a beautiful young girl!


    I stayed and listened in on their conversation for a while. Grandma Huang was definitely Grandpa Huang¡¯s granddaughter. She was 58 years old and moved to this retirement community three years ago. Her children were successful, but they couldn''t accompany her. She met Zhang Sheng, who was 63 years old, during a group dance at the square because the old man always felt lonely. Before the two knew it, they were practically dating, but because they were not young anymore, they never confirmed the relationship.


    Brother Li¡¯s wife always danced with Grandma Huang. They were good friends, and Grandma Huang confided in her. She told her she didn¡¯t know whether to trust or ignore her dream. It was good for her to have someone close, and besides, Grandma Huang just couldn¡¯t bear to leave Zhang Sheng. She was already in love. After being with Zhang Sheng for some time, she felt that he was not as bad as her grandpa said.


    Before I knew it, my cigarette had burned itself up to my finger and fell apart. The facts of the matter were quite different from what I had imagined, and it wasn¡¯t going to be easy to fulfill my promise. I glanced at my watch and saw it was almost 6 p.m. I thought I¡¯d better go back to Grandpa Huang and tell him what I found out.


    I grabbed something to eat and then gave Wu Jian a call. He said he was too busy to talk at the moment, but then started rambling about this and that. Meanwhile, I couldn''t stick a single word in.


    Eventually, Wu Jian stopped to catch his breath. I said feebly, "Brother Wu, I really didn¡¯t get much of that? You said so much, I¡¯m just kinda confused now.¡±


    Wu Jian sighed, "Somebody called the police to tell them that a ten-year-old child was rummaging through their trash cans and leaving garbage all over their front yard."


    "It¡¯s just a prank. What¡¯s the big deal?"


    "No, this case is really strange. Some of the neighbors said they have been seeing a ten-year old child rummaging through the trash every year for as long as they can remember. The earliest records of this I could find are from several decades ago!"


    That really was strange, when he put it like that. People wouldn¡¯t usually call the police for such a trifle. At least I wouldn¡¯t. However, there were dozens of cases on record, which meant this was not normal. The kid must have made a very impressive mess out of those trash cans. In any case, how could he still look 10 years old after several decades?


    I didn¡¯t say anything, so Wu Jian continued, "Check this out. An old man living there said he saw a ten-year old rummaging through the trash when he was a child himself. A lot of people were spooked by it even then, but we still don''t know what¡¯s really going on. Do you think this has something to do with ghosts?"

 Chapter 31 Ask Die Xian

    After eating, I strolled around the neighborhood aimlessly. Eventually, it was time for me to go to work in the ghost house.


    As usual, lock or not, the door of the ghost house was easy to push open. Crossing the wide, weed-covered courtyard, I entered the hall. Normally the hall was bright and magnificent, but tonight it was all dark. Were the girls on a day off? Before I had time to think of a better explanation, I heard whispered voices coming from the second floor.


    My hairs stood on end. I usually wasn¡¯t scared of the ghost house, but that was because all the lights were usually on when I walked in. Though there were always many ghosts there, they would not reveal their ghostly appearance just to frighten me. It was a bit like the mafia: if you work for them, they won¡¯t terrorize you. After all, you make them money.


    I tried to calm down and listened carefully. Someone was speaking on the second floor, but I could not hear what they were saying. I whispered, ¡°Sister Hua?¡± but there was no response. Thinking it over for a while, I turned on my flashlight and carefully walked toward the staircase.


    "I hear footsteps," a trembling female voice said, as if scared by my approach. My steps were very light, but there were bits and pieces of garbage all over the ghost house, which creaked and tinkled when stepped on.


    I was startled by the woman''s voice and stopped.


    A young male voice whispered, "Where? I can¡¯t hear anything."


    Then there was silence. I worked up the courage to ask, "Who¡¯s there?"


    I heard a sudden shriek from the second floor and a young man rushed out of one of the rooms with a flashlight, shining it in my face.


    I shielded my eyes from the blinding light, but I heard the young man sigh with relief. "It''s all right, he¡¯s human," he said to his companions behind him. Then he turned to me, "Dude, you almost scared me to death."


    My eyes began adjusting to the light. "What are you doing in here?" I blinked at him.


    Instead of answering, the crowd of youths peeking at me over the railing ran back into the room they came out of like someone stepped on their tails. Curious, I follow them inside, and saw six white candles brightly illuminating the room. There was a table in the middle, covered with a piece of paper with different characters on it, and there was a small plate placed upside down atop the paper.


    When I went in, a girl cried, "It¡¯s all your fault! What do we do now?"


    Another girl comforted her. I noticed five young people in the room; three girls and two boys.


    Another seemed unconvinced, "What are you talking about, Huang Lei? You heard my sister''s story too."


    Huang Lei winked to a girl across the room, "Common, guys. It¡¯s not real, don¡¯t be scared."


    I was confused. "Are you guys all right?"


    The unconvinced one waved his hand and said, "Yeah, we¡¯re fine. What''s your name? My name is He Xiaoyong."


    I made a simple self-introduction, and He Xiaoyong introduced his friends. Only one tomboyish girl turned her back to me and didn¡¯t introduce herself. I didn''t know why, and I had no interest in asking her. I just told them, "I suggest you guys get out of here right now."


    He Xiaoyong was about to speak, but a girl called Chen Qianqian said, "We can''t go yet. We have to send her away or we''ll die."


    I was stunned, "Send whom away?"


    He Xiaoyong scratched his head and pointed to the table with a slightly embarrassed expression. "We are playing a game of Die Xian."


    I was astonished. I knew there was something peculiar about that table! Die Xian was like an Ouija board. These guys were really brave to play Die Xian in the ghost house.


    "But we¡¯re supposed to all hold our fingers on the plate when playing Die Xian, and we¡¯ve all let go!¡± Chen Qianqian said, tearing up a little.


    A girl called Zhang Xue put her arms around Chen Qianqian to comfort her, but her eyes looked at me accusingly. I couldn''t help but chuckle a little.


    "We can¡¯t blame Brother Wu," Huang Lei said. "We can just do it again to send the ghost away.¡±


    He Xiaoyong nodded in agreement, followed by Chen Qianqian. The group gathered around the table again, and He Xiaoyong beckoned to me, "Dude, come here."


    I quickly waved my hand ¡®no¡¯. I had already seen more than my fair share of ghosts and I didn¡¯t need any more of them around.


    They did not insist, and put their fingers on the small plate. I pointed at the girl standing with her back to us in the corner. "Why isn¡¯t she participating?"


    Chen Qianqian did not look at me, "Forget it. This one¡¯s nuts."


    I shrugged. I supposed they had a fight, so I didn¡¯t pry.


    I stuck around to watch them. Die Xian is similar to Ouija, but it only uses a small plate. I only ever saw it on TV before, never in reality.


    The kids, each with one finger in the middle of the plate, began chanting: ¡°Come, spirits in the air, and talk to us if you dare.¡±


    They repeated the words many times, until the small plate began slowly turning, as if pushed by an invisible force! I felt a chill run down my spine and suddenly had an irresistible urge to glance over my shoulder.


    There was nothing there. I relaxed a little and turned back to the table.


    I almost jumped. There was another person standing beside He Xiaoyong: a girl in a red dress, her head lowered. She had her finger on the plate just like the others.


    I felt my feet go numb and my mouth become dry. I felt like I hadn¡¯t drunk any water in days. I opened my mouth and tried to make a sound, but nothing came out.


    No one else seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary. He Xiaoyong asked, "Spirits, spirits, are you here?"


    The small plate slid across the paper to the word ¡°YES¡±.


    He Xiaoyong¡¯s voice trembled, "spirits, please leave-"


    ¡°No!¡± Chen Qianqian interrupted. "No, we summoned the spirit and we have to ask her to do something for us before she can leave."


    Chen Qianqian seemed to have a lot of experience with Die Xian, but she looked more frightened than anyone else in the group.


    He Xiaoyong asked, "Spirit, what is the weather going to be like tomorrow?"


    The small bowl slowly slid across the table, pausing from time to time. Eventually, He Xiaoyong read out, "Sunny! Sunny, tomorrow will be sunny."

 Chapter 32 People start dying

    I was not afraid anymore. Not because the ghost wasn¡¯t scary, but because I knew her! It was Lulu!


    The group packed up their things and were ready to go. Xiaoyong came to me and said, ¡°Buddy, come with us!¡±


    ¡°You guys go on ahead. I¡¯ll stay a while,¡± I said casually.


    Xiaoyong gave me an incredulous look, but eventually left at Chen Qianqian¡¯s urging. When everyone left, I breathed a sigh of relief. I smiled to Lulu, ¡°Wow, Lulu! Is it really going to be sunny tomorrow?¡±


    She rolled her eyes at me. ¡°You should get to work, we are about to open.¡±


    I nodded and went downstairs. As expected, the ghost house suddenly lit up after a short while. More and more ghosts came in, a few complaining about the delayed opening.


    It was a particularly busy night and I was too busy to tell Sister Hua anything about Grandpa Huang¡¯s granddaughter until after the guests left and the doors finally closed, and by then I was simply too tired to think about it, so I gave up. There was no rush.


    The ghost house continued to have unusually good business for the next few days, keeping me hard at work from dusk till dawn. Perhaps because I felt there was no need to hurry, I still hadn¡¯t told anything about Mrs. Huang to anyone. After a few days, I completely forgot all about Grandpa Huang¡¯s request.


    Working nights and sleeping days, I soon developed a routine of getting up at 11.00 p.m. and going to sleep at 5.00 a.m. All this was interrupted by a phone call.


    The call was from Xiaoru. I was quite surprised, as I hadn¡¯t heard from her in ages. I thought she just disappeared. It was only when she called me and started berating me that I realized I hadn¡¯t checked my WeChat for a long time. Mea culpa.


    I was going to look at my WeChat conversations but I was interrupted by Xiaoru¡¯s rushed voice. She gave me an address and asked me to be there as soon as possible. I didn''t quite catch what happened but she sounded very agitated so I rushed out right away. After all, she was my friend... who also happened to be a very beautiful girl.


    The place where Xiaoru wanted to meet was a fancy-looking coffee shop near Kaoshan Street. When I arrived, she was already there, animatedly scolding a group of young people. Coincidentally, I knew them - they were Xiaoyong and his friends. I wondered how they knew each other. Xiaoru and Xiaoyong had similar names... Heck, maybe they were siblings.


    I walked over and said hello. Xiaoru gave the youngsters a moment of peace and asked me to take a seat. Xiaoyong seemed surprised to see my face when I appeared in front of him. He abruptly stood up and pointed to me, ¡°Sister, it''s him!¡±


    As soon as I spoke, Chen Qianqian burst into tears and started hitting me. ¡°It was you! You killed Zhang Xue!¡± she cried.


    I was completely confounded by her outburst and failed to react as her delicate fists pelted my arm. Huang Lei, sitting beside her, put his arms around her and whispered soothing sounds in her ear. He apologized to me on her behalf. ¡°What''s going on?¡± I asked Xiaoru.


    She sighed and pointed to Xiaoyong, ¡°Start talking!¡±


    My eyes turned to him.


    It all started on the day I met Xiaoyong and his friends.


    Chen Qianqian, Xiaoyong, Huang Lei, Zhang Xue and Qi Lin were college friends, and Chen Qianqian was the group¡¯s weirdo. One day, they went to the cinema together to see a movie called ¡°Die Xian¡±. After the movie, she suggested they try playing Die Xian themselves.


    They were just bored youngsters and didn''t believe in ghosts. They were only looking to have some fun. What''s more, Chen Qianqian suggested they do it in their old high school after hours. The students in that school always used to tell each other ghost stories. Thus, they went to a supposedly-haunted abandoned toilet, but it turned out the windows there were facing a small park where many people were resting on the grass or having an after-supper stroll.


    Chen Qianqian said there wasn¡¯t enough of a ghostly atmosphere there. That was when Xiaoyong told them how his sister, Xiaoru, recently met a ghost in the old ghost house. So, they decided to play Die Xian in the ghost house.


    I ended up driving them away from there, and though they were a little disappointed by this, they didn''t think there would be any problems. However, the next day in class Zhang Xue said that she had met a ghost. She lived alone and everyone could see she was terrified, so they decided to stay over in her apartment for a couple nights to protect her. Honestly, they all thought she was lying or just jumpy.


    Nothing happened the next day, and Zhang Xue herself seemed to have calmed down, so they were all going to leave after playing a game of cards. After all, their parents might get angry if they stayed away from home for too long.


    But something weird happened while they were playing cards. Cards kept disappearing from the table, and always appeared under Zhang Xue¡¯s butt. Zhang Xue never stood up for the duration of the game, so it was strange that the missing cards always appeared beneath her.


    At first they all thought she was playing a prank on them, but soon they started feeling that something was wrong. The missing card was always the ace of hearts. It wasn¡¯t easy to pick out that particular card from the deck each time.


    When the next round of the game started, everyone paid extra attention. Huang Lei even made a small tear on the corner of the ace of hearts to mark it. However, the same thing happened again; the torn card appeared under Zhang Hue¡¯s bottom!


    Now they were really spooked. At that moment, the TV suddenly turned on with the sound muted, showing a woman talking and pointing to a big map behind her. Obviously, this was the weather report. However, it was 11.00 p.m. at the time. What channel would broadcast weather forecasts at that time of day?


    Suddenly, they heard an awful crash from kitchen. Terrified, they all huddled together in the living room. Eventually, Xiaoyong and Huang Lei decided to go see what made that sound. Chen Qianqian and Zhang Xue were scared to be left alone, so they carefully followed them. When they turned on the lights in the kitchen, they saw some of the drawers and cupboards were open.


    A bowl had fallen off the cupboard and shattered into many pieces. What scared them the most was that one of the shards was stuck in a big mouse¡¯s neck, spraying blood all over the place. It was hard to believe a mouse could have so much blood inside it.


    Chen Qianqian and Zhang Xue eventually calmed down after being comforted by the boys, but they were all afraid to leave now. After all, this was all too creepy.


    They persevered until morning and left Zhang Xue¡¯s house once the sun was up. After having breakfast downtown, they were ready to discuss what happened the previous night. Just then, a huge platter fell from the balcony of an upscale hotel and crashed on the pavement with a tremendous sound just half a meter away from them.

 Chapter 33 It was not Lulu

    I couldn''t figure it out. They all insisted that they only played Die Xian in the ghost house, and nothing else.


    I couldn''t think of anything I could do about it, so I asked them to meet again tomorrow. When I went to work later that night, I would ask Lulu if she knew anything. I always thought all the female ghosts in the ghost house were basically good.


    He Xiaoru looked like she wanted to tell me something, but she worried about her brother''s safety, so she just told me that I had to be there tomorrow and then took the youngsters and left. I watched them leave in a sour mood. I hung out on Kaoshan Street until it was the time for work.


    "Brother, you promised to find my skin for me." Xiao Lingdang reminded me as usual when I entered the ghost house.


    "Yes, I know, I know." I looked around and couldn¡¯t find Lulu, so I asked, "Xiao Lingdang, where is Lulu?"


    "She went out."


    Out? Did Lulu really do that? I felt uneasy for some reason.


    Sister Hua walked up to me and said, "Lulu is helping to catch a ghost tonight. You are in charge of the till. You¡¯re still the waiter, though." Then she left.


    She was helping someone else catch a ghost? Lulu was a ghost herself; how could she help someone else catch ghosts? Did that mean it wasn''t Lulu who killed Zhang Xue? I was baffled.


    "Hey, Handsome, I need change for this bill."


    I looked toward the voice without thinking, and then turned away in a fright. What I saw was a lovely young girl¡­ with a long, swollen tongue lolling out of her mouth. Her speech was a bit slurred; I imagined it must be difficult to speak with her tongue like that. She was a hanged ghost, the kind of malicious spirit that Xiao Lingdang told me had to search for a host to possess and consume.


    Seeing me jump back, the hanged ghost looked somewhat discontented. "Do I look so horrible?" she said gloomily.


    I shook my head stiffly, grabbed the bill and the money from her hand and walked around the bar to the till. Working the till was not difficult, but ghost money was very highly inflated compared to regular Chinese Yuan. I looked at the bill and saw a tally of 8000 Yuan for a cup of fruit juice and a bowl of rice.


    Xiao Lingdang seemed familiar with the hanged ghost. She ran up and held the hanged ghost¡¯s hand, "Sister Tan, you haven''t been here for a long time."


    The hanged ghost shook her head forlornly, "Oh, I¡¯ve been busy. It¡¯s very difficult to find a host these days."


    Xiao Lingdang gave a few slow nods, then her eyes lit up like she had an idea. She turned to me, ¡°Brother, can you help Sister Tan look for a host?"


    Sister Tan seemed to understand my reservations. She smiled at Xiao Lingdang, "No thanks, I can find one myself." Then she winked at me, and I gave her a stiff smile in response.


    When Sister Tan left, I asked Xiao Lingdang, "Xiao Lingdang, aren¡¯t hanged ghosts malicious? Why did she come to the Fan House?" Of course, I would have also liked to know why female guests were coming to a brothel.


    Xiao Lingdang looked at me strangely. "What''s wrong with malicious ghosts?"


    I didn''t know what to tell her. Fortunately, Yan¡¯er joined us and said, "Being a malicious ghost means they have to sacrifice a living soul to reincarnate, but many of them just can¡¯t bring themselves to do it. They just remain as ghosts and wait.¡± She paused for a moment before continuing: ¡°Many lose themselves while waiting for the unknown."


    I felt a sense of profound loneliness from Yan¡¯er. Xiao Lingdang whispered in my ear, "Yan¡¯er is also a malicious ghost, but she never harms anyone."


    I nodded. I was curious about Yan¡¯er, who kept pets in hair, but Lulu was more important at the moment. I asked, "Xiao Lingdang, what did Sister Hua mean? How is Lulu helping to catch a ghost?"


    Xiao Lingdang looked at me like I asked a silly question. "She just goes and catches the ghost. Lulu is very skilled at it."


    Skilled? I had no idea what she meant. ¡°Xiao Lingdang¡­" I began, but then stopped. I suddenly realized that there was no use asking Xiao Lingdang about it. She would probably just babble something incomprehensible again. I was beginning to think she had a few screws loose in her head.


    I looked around and saw Yan¡¯er drinking by herself in a secluded corner of the hall. I asked Xiao Lingdang to watch over the till for me and then went over to Yan¡¯er.


    Seeing me approach, she asked, "What¡¯s up?"


    ¡°Sister Hua said Lulu was out catching ghosts. Can you tell me anything about that?¡±


    Yan¡¯er nodded, "There was something about a mass grave recently. A vengeful ghost ate a fresh soul, and Lulu went to catch it. Eating fresh souls is a major taboo, so we had to intervene."


    A vengeful ghost consumed a fresh soul, and Lulu was trying to catch it. Was Lulu stronger than a vengeful ghost?


    Yan¡¯er seemed to guess my thoughts. "Lulu is a grievance ghost. She gets special powers from Hell."


    A grievance ghost. Xiao Lingdang told me about that type, but she said there were few grievance ghosts and she had only ever met one. I guessed the one she met was Lulu. However, Lulu seemed to really hate that Japanese ghost in the back yard. As a grievance ghost, why was she unable to defeat him?


    I realized I really didn''t know very much about the ghosts I¡¯d met in the Fan House. Well, I had gotten rather ¡®familiar¡¯ with Xiao Lingdang, at least...


    Yan¡¯er seemed to be talking to herself, "Grievance ghost are very strong, but they can¡¯t hurt someone who had nothing to do with their death. If they do that, they will be considered renegades by Hell."


    I nodded thoughtfully. This was about what Xiao Lingdang had told me. I wondered out loud what kind of ghost Lulu was out catching, in that case.


    Yan¡¯er said, "Lulu is there to help. She has a great sense of grievance, which can suppress hateful spirits."


    I understood, but then a more important question appeared in my mind. If Lulu''s powers had so many limitations, who killed Zhang Xue?


    I told Yan¡¯er what He Xiaoyong told me, and she felt that was a little bit strange too. She insisted that Lulu had absolutely nothing to do with it, and I tended to agree.


    As for the rest, Yan¡¯er suggested I have a look around the abandoned toilet in the school. I could see ghosts, and it seemed that working for the Fan House gave me a kind of special status. Most ghosts seemed to respect me, surprisingly.

 Chapter 34 Qi Lin and the toilet 1

    This time, we met at Chen Qianqian¡¯s home. I wondered why they called me over so early, but I soon understood once I arrived. Xiaoru, her brother, and Huang Lei were already here, sitting on the couch with Chen Qianqian. There was a dead rat on the tea table in front of the couch, with no head, and no tail.


    I gulped loudly. ¡°When did you find it?¡±


    Chen Qianqian was too petrified to speak. Huang Lei glanced at her and said, ¡°She called me this morning but didn¡¯t mention the rat, she was just crying. So I called Xiaoyong, and when we got here, the rat was already dead but Qianqian didn¡¯t tell us anything. She was just crying.¡±


    I nodded thoughtfully. Following the previous example, whatever killed Zhang Xue was coming after Qianqian next. No wonder she looked so lost; nobody can accept that they are going to die. Moreover, Qianqian was just a young girl with her whole life ahead of her.


    I said, ¡°We should go to the abandoned toilet where you played Die Xian.¡±


    Huang Lei blinked, ¡°What for?¡±


    ¡°If something is really after you, I don¡¯t think it has anything to do with the ghost house,¡± I answered.


    Everyone stopped and stared at me. He Xiaoyong frowned and looked like he was about to say something.


    ¡°I went there last night.¡± I spoke first.


    ¡°What?! You went there alone?¡± Xiaoru exclaimed in surprise.


    It occurred to me that only Wu Jian knew that I was working in the ghost building. No wonder Xiaoru was so surprised. At any rate, I had no time to explain it to them. I continued, ¡°Yes, I went there last night. I¡¯ll tell you guys the specifics later, but I¡¯m certain none of the ghosts there did this. They have no reason to deceive me.¡±


    Their expressions slowly turned quizzical. Chen Qianqian looked like she gained a new lease on life. She stood up and cried out, ¡°Help me, I want to live!¡±


    I continued to analyze the situation while Xiaoru helped her calm down. ¡°I think this may have something to do with that toilet, and I need you to tell me everything you¡¯ve heard about it.¡±


    Huang Lei and He Xiaoyong looked at each other apprehensively. Eventually, He Xiaoyong scratched his head and said, ¡°I dunno, man. I just heard that a junior got pregnant once and she gave birth in that toilet, but she left the baby and ran away.¡±


    Huang Lei agreed, ¡°Right, that¡¯s what I heard too.¡±


    ¡°When did that happen,¡± I asked, ¡°and how did that girl die?¡±


    He Xiaoyong shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I heard about this when I was in high school. It was years ago and we really don¡¯t know how she died.¡±


    If the rumor was true, there had to be something supernatural in that toilet. But I just couldn¡¯t understand why they would choose to play Die Xian in a restroom of all places. It smelled bad!


    Something occurred to me. ¡°Where¡¯s your friend?¡±


    He Xiaoyong gave me a blank look.


    ¡°The girl who played Die Xian with you that night.¡±


    Huang Lei and He Xiaoyong exchanged confused glances. I thought hard, ¡°Her name was Qi Lin¡­? Am I right? I don¡¯t know her.¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t been in touch with us, and he is a boy, not a girl.¡±


    A boy? Now I was surprised. I clearly remembered the long hair hanging down almost to the small of the back, but to be fair, I didn¡¯t pay him much attention at the time. I couldn¡¯t really say if it was a boy or a girl.


    ¡°Wow, he has really long hair. I thought he was a girl!¡± I thought out loud.


    He Xiaoyong raised an eyebrow, ¡°Qi Lin has short hair; we got a haircut together. He has the same haircut as me. See?¡± He pointed at his head.


    I looked at his glossy crew cut. That wasn¡¯t right. I was pretty sure Qi Lin¡¯s hair was very long that night. He couldn¡¯t have had a crew out, but there was no reason for He Xiaoyong to lie to me, so what was that all about?


    I glanced at Huang Lei, and he immediately agreed with He Xiaoyong.


    Was I mistaken? My brow wrinkled in concentration. ¡°Have you told him what¡¯s going on? You¡¯re friends, right?¡± I asked him.


    He Xiaoyong threw up his hands, ¡°We called him and he said he already knows. We asked him to meet up but there was no reply, so we just forgot about it.¡±


    He Xiaoyong and Qi Lin went together to get identical haircuts! They had to be good friends, so why did I feel like He Xiaoyong wasn¡¯t telling me something?


    I asked him if there was anything else, but he just shook his head stiffly and looked away. Huang Lei whispered, ¡°He Xiaoyong and Qi Lin are eyeing the same girl. They don¡¯t get along so well anymore.¡±


    I understood. Young people are always like this. However, there had to be something weird about Qi Lin. I trusted my intuition and memory. ¡°Have you noticed anything strange about Qi Lin recently?¡±


    Huang Lei thought carefully and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Well, he always made fun of us for talking about ghost stories, but when Qianqian suggested we play Die Xian he volunteered to join us and even seemed very interested in it. I don¡¯t think it matters, though. You know, he hasn¡¯t seen us in ages and suddenly he gets a phone call to meet up, maybe he just didn¡¯t want to disappoint us.¡±


    ¡®Nothing else?¡¯


    ¡°That¡¯s all I can think of. By thy way, he¡¯s good friends with He Xiaoyong.¡±


    I repeated my question to He Xiaoyong. He said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, he just sounded like he had a cold last time I spoke to him. Kind of strange. Maybe he is still mad at me. I¡¯m over it, though; I¡¯m not mad at all.¡±


    I stopped He Xiaoyong at that point. This was not the best time to solve their relationship problems. ¡°Why don¡¯t you give him a call now.¡±

 Chapter 35 Qi Lin and the toilet 2

    He Xiaoyong looked at me, not knowing what to say. I kept my mouth closed but motioned with my hand to keep going. He nodded, "Qi Lin, Zhang Xue is dead. Chen Qianqian also saw a dead mouse and today we actually met a ghost."


    "Oh"


    He Xiaoyong was surprised by Qi Lin¡¯s simple answer, but continued, "Where are you now? I`d like to see you. Right now we are staying with Qianqian.¡±


    "Xi Shan"


    This time, he did not wait for He Xiaoyong to ask, Qi Lin''s voice commanded, "Come. All of you, come."


    He Xiaoyong didn''t know how to respond, even I was speecless. He decided to answer him with a simple question, "Are you in Xi Shan park?"


    "Xi Shan. Come. All of you, come." Qi Lin repeated.


    Hearing Qi Lin¡¯s voice again, I felt cold for no reason and scared by his tone. He Xiaoyong seemed to feel the same, his face turned pale. No matter what He Xiaoyong would say to him, it seemed Qi Lin would just repeat what he had just said. He Xiaoyong casually said his goodbye and hung up the phone.


    After a while, I asked, "Xiaoyong, is Qi Lin always like this?"


    He Xiaoyong almost immediately cried, "No, never! Do you think he¡¯s possessed or something?"


    I shook my head, since it was Chen Qianqian that saw the dead mouse, the ghost¡¯s next target must be Chen Qianqian. Why would the ghost possess Qi Lin? Though I must admit, Qi Lin''s reaction was really strange, It was not a reaction a normal person should ever have.


    Xi Shan, I knew that place. A few years ago Xi Shan began to undergo serious development. The biggest park in the county was established there, but few people ever wanted to visit it. Xi Shan city was a bit too far from downtown. It was a little too far away to get there walking. Not to mention, there was a graveyard behind the Xi Shan park, so few people were willing to go on their free time.


    Qi Lin had said he was in Xi Shan, so was he in Xi Shan park or in the Xi Shan graveyard? My mind began to flood with all kinds of ridiculous ideas.


    I shook my head quickly, hoping to rid myself of these strange ideas. Chen Qianqian was beginning to calm down, so I suggested we go and check out the abandoned toilet.


    The problem was getting more and more complicated and other people wanted to fix it as soon as possible.


    When we entered the school, we went straight to our target¡¯s location. Fortunately for us, everyone was on vacation, so nobody would notice us sneaking in.


    The toilet was not large, the same as many school toilets. The only strange thing was that the toilet was very clean and it seemed no one had been using it. If it wasn¡¯t for the worn-out doors, I would have thought it was a brand new bathroom.


    I wondered out loud, "Has this toilet never been used before?" I was curious about this latest discovery. The toilet was accessible to the public and it was right next to the family building. Common sense would dictate that at least someone had used the toilet.


    Unable to answer my question, He Xiaoyong pulled me into the lady¡¯s room, pointing to the middle stall, where there were traces of used candles and said, "Before we went to the ghost house, we played Die Xian right here. "


    He Xiaoyong seemed a little afraid and Huang Lei was frequently looking behind him. He Xiaoru and Chen Qianqian dared not enter the bathroom at all.


    In the ladies room, I looked around for any potential clues. After staying in the ghost house as long as I had, I came to learn that ghosts would generally leave some kind of sign that they had been there. But here, it seemed everything was very clean and had no trace of ghosts whatsoever. There wasn¡¯t even any residual Yin Qi that I could detect.


    I was still on high alert as He Xiaoyong, Huang Lei and I walked out of the bathroom and sat down in the school pavilion. Could it be that because the ghost had already possessed Qi Lin, there was no longer anything strange about the toilet?


    Something seemed wrong. If there were no signs of ghosts in the toilet and they didn¡¯t provoke a ghost here, then where did the ghost they were being haunted by come from?


    I asked them again what happened that night and their answers remained the same. After they played Die Xian in the toilet, they went to the ghost house, and were then driven away by my presence.


    It seemed that the only clue now was Qi Lin. I felt cold again when the thought of Qin Lin entered my mind. Qi Lin gave me a strange feeling. I still remembered seeing ¡°him¡± as a girl with long hair, but it seems she was a man with short hair. His voice from the phone was still haunting me.


    He Xiaoru asked me if I wanted to go to Xi Shan to find Qi Lin.


    ¡°AHH!!¡± --I hadn''t replied, instead I was interrupted by Chen Qianqian¡¯s involuntary scream. It looked like she wouldn''t be joining us. He Xiaoyong and Huang Lei also looked scared, although they said nothing, it seemed that they didn''t want to go to Xi Shan. I even hesitated and thought up a way out.


    He Xiaoyong and Qi Lin had been friends for many years, everyone present knew where Qi Lin lived and was familiar with his parents. I asked He Xiaoyong to inquire about Qi Lin¡¯s present situation secretly. Meanwhile, I was to go to work at night and talk with Lulu. As Yan¡¯er had said, if I could convince Lulu to go with me, there would be no reason to be afraid, even if Qi Lin really was a ghost (or possessed by one). If what she said was true, Lulu could suppress most ghosts and that would make me feel a lot safer.


    Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to tell my present company about Lulu.

 Chapter 36 Qi Lin and the toilet 3

    I promised He Xiaoru that I would take her to the building after asking sister Hua¡¯s permission, it seems that left her satisfied.


    As I was preparing to catch up on my sleep, Wu Jian called me. He was inviting me to dinner in one of the best hotels in our county. I was shocked to hear it, ¡°Why are you inviting me to such wonderful place?¡± I asked. ¡°Just come! You''ll understand when you get here.¡± That''s all he told me before he hung up.


    I was not far from the hotel, so I immediately began heading in that direction. I figured he had found out that there was something wrong with the man who picked up the trash and he needed my help. Of course by that, I mean he needed the ghost house¡¯s help. I really couldn¡¯t think of another reason he would ask me to the hotel.


    When I entered the private dining room, I stood there frozen. On the table were many luxurious and flavorful dishes, and the waiters were still serving more food.


    Wu Jian was sitting at the table with a cigarette in his mouth. Upon seeing me enter, he drew on his cigarette and said, ¡°Take a seat, just be yourself.¡±


    I sat on a chair that the waiter had pulled out for me and took a good look at all the delectable food in front of me. ¡®Wow Wu Jian, you must be getting paid pretty damn well to afford all this!¡¯


    He flicked off the ash of his cigarette, ¡°Not my treat this time, it¡¯s all him.¡± He gestured with his head towards someone.


    I looked behind him to see a man walking out of the bathroom, shaking water off from his hands. No way. Please don¡¯t tell it¡¯s the master! Nope, not the Ma in north China and Mao in south China guy! Please, don¡¯t let it be him.


    He came up to me and hugged me while I was mentally confirming that it really was him, ¡°Brother Rui, I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time! I missed you so much!¡±


    I doubt he genuinely wanted to embrace me, it was more likely that he wanted to wipe his hands dry on my clothes. There was no denying it, this man was Huang Xiaolong, the so-called master.


    He went back to his seat and pointed to the flavorful dishes, ¡°Come on, just help yourself. Waiter! Would you please bring us another bottle of wine?¡±


    I looked at Wu Jian quizzically, he didn¡¯t even turn to glance at me once, he was just taking advantage of the opportunity to eat as much as he could.


    Huang Xiaolong smiled at me, ¡°I was shameful last time, but since then, I have studied harder than ever. I¡¯ve graduated now and I¡¯m strong enough to defeat any kind of ghosts.¡±


    Nevertheless, the food here was delicious. Though the flavor was not perfect, their ingredients were top notch.


    Afterwards, Huang Xiaolong picked his teeth and talked to us, ¡°Brother Rui, I heard a few things about your situation. Wu Jian said that if you agree to it, I will be happy to wreck that ghost house for you!¡±


    I quickly replied that work at the ghost house was good and I really didn''t need any help. Of course, my job wasn¡¯t THAT good, but I didn''t believe Huang Xiaolong could actually do anything about it. What''s more, that female ghosts in the house didn¡¯t really hold any grudges against me. If Huang Xiaolong went there trying to destroy them and ended up getting hurt in the process instead of helping, his actions might end up affecting me. I would be more afraid of the ghosts blaming me for this guy¡¯s actions.


    To be fair, he was showing remorse for what happened the last time we were together and showed his concern about my safety. He suggested going to the building with me and paying off my debts with them. I would have probably believed him if he didn¡¯t have such a mischievous look about him. Hi indecent expression revealed that perhaps he had become obsessed with one of the beautiful female ghosts in the ghost house!


    Annoyed by him, I diverted his attention by telling them what happened to He Xiaoyong. My words greatly surprised them, Huang Xiaolong kept asking me for more details while Wu Jian sat back and listened with a surprised look. Huang Xiaolong even asked me for He Xiaoyong''s phone number and gave him a call immediately.


    ¡°He Xiaoyong.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? What''s up?¡±


    ¡°I''m a friend of Wu Jian.¡±


    ¡°I have heard about you. Don''t worry, I''m an expert at your kinds of situation.¡±


    ''No kidding. Do you know my father or my mother?''


    ¡°Have you heard about Ma in north China and Mao in south China?¡±


    I instantly regretted giving him Xiaoyong''s number. I didn''t care about this ¡°master¡¯s¡± safety, but I just knew that he would lead He Xiaoyong astray. How could I possibly make this up to He Xiaoru?


    I asked Wu Jian for help with my eyes, but he just looked at me in a way that said to take it easy. Now I was definitely convinced that Wu Jian had been brainwashed by Huang Xiaolong.


    Huang Xiaolong was on the phone for so long even Wu Jian began fidgeting. Finally, just as we were thinking that Huang Xiaolong had dined and ditched this glorious meal just as he had last time, he came back into the room.


    ¡°Don''t worry, I just finished talking to He Xiaoyong. Just leave it to me. We¡¯ll go to Xi Shan tonight.¡±


    Wu Jian nodded as he was talking and told him to make sure to get things done. Their conversation made me want to cry. I knew that I had to call He Xiaoyong as soon as possible to tell him that didn''t believe in Huang Xiaolong. This was a very serious and dangerous matter that I didn¡¯t think he was ready for.


    Unfortunately, I didn''t get a chance to call him. They took me home and even went inside my place to chat with me for a while. Even though I was reluctant, they still managed to keep a conversation going. I didn¡¯t realize what time they left because I had fallen asleep as they were talking.


    It was a familiar voice that woke me up, ¡°Brother, you promised me that you''ll find my skin for me.¡±


    I mumbled something and sobered up at once. ¡°Xiao Lingdang, why are you here?¡± I asked with blank amazement.


    Xiao Lingdang curled her lip and said, ¡°Sister Hua told me that you weren¡¯t at work and let me come over to have a look. We didn¡¯t know you had just slept in! I think I should tell her the truth.¡±


    Suddenly, a drop of sweat slid down the side of my head and I could already hear sister Hua saying, ¡°You were absent today!¡± I really didn''t know whether it was going to be a big deal or not, but I was still very afraid of her.


    I rose from bed quickly and looked at the time, it was midnight. Xiao Lingdang and I went to the building as soon as possible.


    Sister Hua was greeting guests as we walked in the door and smiled at me in a feminine way. It really frightened me, I felt very uncomfortable and walked to the bar.


    Lulu was in the bar, too. She gave me a saucer with a cold face, ¡°Table 12.¡±


    I took it graciously and sent it to table 12. After that, I glanced at my watch and noticed it was 1.00 a.m. I felt very strange£¬as if I had forgotten something, but I couldn''t remember what.


    Lulu noticed my odd expression and said to me in an angry tone, ¡°Do you still suspect that I killed that girl? I can tell you right now that I didn''t do it.¡±


    I agreed and remembered something at once. Damn! It was Huang Xiaolong!


    I made a call to Huang Xiaolong immediately, but nobody answered. I had no other ideas but to call He Xiaoru, only to get the same result. I would have made another call, but I didn''t have Huang Lei''s number.


    I was getting nervous now. Although it was just passed midnight, most people would put their phones on silent at this hour. For some reason, I didn''t think He Xiaoyong would do that under the circumstances.


    I didn''t have Huang Xiaolong''s number, so I called Wu Jian instead. Luckily, he answered and told me Huang Xiaolong''s number with a sleepy tone. I made a phone call to him right away, but no response.

 Chapter 37 Xi Shan mass graves

    Wu Jian was a cop, and his sense of justice could help him forget his fears, but I couldn¡¯t do that. I hung up the phone and gave Lulu a begging smile.


    Lulu took one look at me and turned around. "Lulu, save my life!" I cried after her.


    "Your life is still here,¡± she said. ¡°My life is gone."


    I paused for a moment, thinking Lulu was still angry with me, and then said, "Lulu, my friend is in trouble in Xi Shan. I need your help."


    Lulu slowly nodded, saying, ¡°Well, then, you must go, and remember to ask for leave. Arriving late and leaving early will be noted as absenteeism!¡± She seemed to be almost talking to herself.


    I didn¡¯t know what to say, so I turned to Xiao Lingdang, who was having a secret snack. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, "Brother, I¡¯ll go and ask Sister Tan for help!¡± With that, she bounced away.


    Sister Tan? What the hell? And then I thought, wasn¡¯t that the ghost for whom Xiao Lingdang asked me to help look for a sacrificial scapegoat? But someone who needed help finding scapegoat was certainly weaker than Lulu, so I resumed pointing my best puppy eyes at her with renewed determination.


    Lulu, who was looking for something to do, seemed to be overwhelmed by my onslaught. She said, "With Sister Tan¡¯s help, what else could you want?"


    Lulu knew the hanged ghost and she at least seemed to think that Sister Tan was quite powerful.


    Just then, Xiao Lingdang brought the hanged ghost over and formally introduced us. The ghost¡¯s surname was Tan and her given name was Mein¨¹, she was a genuine beauty.


    Xiao Lingdang and Sister Tan seemed to have a good relationship, I could tell because after just a few words, Sister Tan promised to help.


    Just then, Wu Jian called me again. He said he was standing outside the ghost house and wanted me to go out to see him as soon as I could.


    I was careful to ask Sister Hua for a leave and took Sister Tan and Xiao Lingdang out of the ghost house. Sure enough, Wu Jian¡¯s car was waiting at the gate.


    I was very gentlemanly in opening the door of the back seat and let the two women get in before I sat in the passenger seat. For a while, Wu Jian didn¡¯t drive. I looked at him strangely, only to find Wu Jian looking at me strangely right back, his eyes occasionally darting to the rearview mirror. I slapped my forehead embarrassedly. What I did must have frightened him because he could not see the two ghosts, which was really difficult to explain to him.


    After a moment¡¯s thought, I told Wu Jian, "I asked some friends for help."


    After that, he started the car and turned around on Kaoshan Road, driving off in the direction of Xi Shan.


    On the way, I explained the situation to Sister Tan. She did not respond but looked very relaxed, and my nervous heart was eased.


    Xi Shan was a little far, but it wasn¡¯t long by car, especially when there was no traffic. Soon we had arrived in the parking lot at Xi Shan.


    Looking at the looming, dark shape of Xi Shan before us, I asked Wu Jian, "Where do we go from here?¡±


    Wu Jian seemed dispirited as well. Xi Shan was a small mountain, but for some people, even a whole day¡¯s trek was not enough to summit it.


    Seeing Wu Jian stay silent, Sister Tan said, "Let me ask."


    As I nodded, I saw Sister Tan waving to an old man who was walking slowly down the road in his birthday suit and ask, "How many strangers have come by here?"


    The old man, who was evidently a ghost, lifted his hand and pointed slowly to the distant forest, his hoarse voice replied, "Over there."


    Sister Tan thanked the old man and I hastened to lavish my gratitude upon him as well. The old man started to slowly raise his head, but hearing Sister Tan¡¯s cold hum, he lowered his head again and ponderously went on his way.


    I realized that I was being a little bold. After working in the ghost house for so long it seemed I had not only built up a tolerance to ghosts but also a dangerous sense that ghosts were harmless, which clearly had to change. However, this incident also told me that Sister Tan was quite reliable.


    I was about to tell Wu Jian to start the car but I noticed his Adam¡¯s apple bobbing up and down nervously. Despite listening to the girls speak in the car, he obviously still had not adapted to their presence. Now he was hearing even more ghosts. He was having a hard time processing it all.


    I had a well-intentioned bad idea: "Brother Wu Jian, how about waiting for us here if you¡¯re afraid?¡±


    Wu Jian immediately puffed up his chest, "Impossible! I¡¯m a police officer! Let¡¯s go." He marched off.


    To be honest, I knew that Wu Jian was so scared he would never want to be left on his own. Even if he was a police officer, he felt fear like any normal person would. But this was not the right time to talk about that.


    After calling back Wu Jian, who had gone in the wrong direction, we started walking toward the dense forest the old man had pointed to, with Sister Tan in the lead.


    The forest was thick and Wu Jian and I had to constantly push branches aside and test the ground with our feet. Progress was slow. This woodland was clearly a virgin forest, with no traces of human intervention.


    Gradually, we ended up in more open terrain. I gasped as I saw, though unclear in the gloomy moonlight, what were obviously graves scattered on the rolling hills before me. At a glance, they were innumerable.


    Wu Jian came up behind me with a flashlight and was visibly startled. His voice cracked, "Xi Shan¡¯s mass graves¡­ are real."


    I hesitated for a moment. I was also a native of the region, but I had never heard of the Xi Shan mass graves. I was about to ask, but then I heard a familiar voice in a distance.


    "Grandpa, what¡¯s going on?"


    Wu Jian and I looked at each other and exclaimed together, "Huang Xiaolong!"


    He seemed to notice us in the distance. Huang Xiaolong¡¯s voice came to us from afar: "I don¡¯t know which friend has come here, but Huang Xiaolong is pleased to meet you."

 Chapter 38 Qi Lin Emerges

    He Xiaoru pointed at me and spoke with difficulty, ¡°Oh God! There... There''re two ghosts behind you!''


    I looked around and saw Sister Tan and Xiao Lingdang behind me. I wanted to explain that they didn''t have any evil intentions. A thought occurred to me suddenly and I asked them curiously, ¡°Wait, you can see them?¡±


    The crowded nodded their heads. Huang Xiaolong''s expression turned to one of satisfaction, ¡°Thanks to my Cattle tears, seeing ghosts is easy!¡±


    I looked at Huang Xiaolong with much curiosity, even after just three days'' absence, a scholar must be regarded with new eyes. Now it seems a bit more clout.


    I vaguely told them about the origin of the two female ghosts, all they had to know was that they were my friends and they wouldn¡¯t hurt us. Upon hearing this, they all calmed down but dared not get close to them.


    It was clear that Wu Jian had already adapted well to the ghost scene. He asked Huang Xiaolong for some Cattle tears£¬applied some to his face and asked, ¡® Have you found Qi Lin?¡¯


    Huang Xiaolong still playing with a gadget in his hand, ¡°We were just asking that old guy.¡±


    I looked around. The old man only revealed half of his body over the grave and looked very angry. However, he didn`t walk up and out of it. He simply stared at Huang Xiaolong¡¯s hand with a little fear.


    I looked over at Huang Xiaolong, in his hand was a golden rectangle .It looked like a seal made of copper. I couldn¡¯t see it clearly since he was playing around with it in his hand.


    Wu Jian kept asking, ¡°Does he know?¡± After applying the Cattle tears, he could also see the ghosts that were around him.


    Once the tears began to take effect, it looked as if he had entered a state of temporary paralysis.


    Before Huang Xiaolong could say anything more, the old guy burst out crying, ¡°I really don''t know!¡±


    Wu Jian and I looked at Huang Xiaolong, he scratched his head coyly. He had a feeling that something wrong and explained matter of factly, ¡°This one¡¯s always here. If Qi Lin came by, it¡¯s impossible that he doesn¡¯t know anything.¡±


    His words made sense, but he sounded a bit too certain about the ghost¡¯s habits.


    Sister Tan stepped forward and whispered something to the old man. He then turned around and told us that he really hadn¡¯t lied to us.


    I was confused by what had just happened, ¡°What did you say to him? I couldn¡¯t understand anything you said.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang , who was standing behind her said, ¡°She spoke to him in the ghost language!¡±


    Before Xiao Lingdang had a chance to explain further, a calm voice said, ¡°You are here.¡±


    Everyone, including the ghosts turned around to see where the voice was coming from. There was a blurry figure standing under a tree in the distance. She wore a white dress with waist-length raven hair.


    The voice sounded familiar, it reminded me of the voice that had come from the phone call with Qi Lin. However, this was obviously a girl and Qi Lin was definitely a man! How could this be happening...? It wasn¡¯t just me either, everyone present was totally blown away. I could hear He Xiaoyong saying, ¡°Is he Qi Lin? No! It can¡¯t be Qi Lin!¡±


    The figure walked toward us slowly. I couldn''t help but take a step back, retreating with the sound of crushing pebbles under my foot. Then I thought of something. While looking at the figure in the distance, I asked Sister Tan, who was standing next to me, ¡°Beautiful, do you know what¡¯s going on?¡±


    She didn''t answer me, I turned my head and saw that she was also watching the figure with total confusion, perhaps her mind was wandering. I could see her blank eyes and blank face.


    Damn it! I could tell that this was a crucial moment to decide what to do!


    The white figure was only a few steps from us, and his face was becoming more clear. He had nice cheek bones and was very obviously, a man. So why was he wearing a long dress and sporting long hair?


    ''Qi Lin!'' said both He Xiaoyong and Huang Lei.


    As expected, he was Qi Lin, but he looked like a woman. I looked at Qi Lin''s chest carefully, it was already protruding a bit, though it was not obvious.


    He watched us slowly, and opened his mouth just like a dead man, ¡°You came.¡±


    He Xiaoyong and everyone else trembled, then Huang Lei stepped forward, ¡°Who are you? Just show us who you really are!''


    Qi Lin was stunned by Huang Lei''s bold words. He appeared to be in a daze for no longer than a second, before saying slowly, ¡°You may trade with me.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong smiled, ¡°How dare you...¡± but he didn''t get a chance to finish his sentence. I felt a jerk on my sleeve and Sister Tan beckoned me to say something.


    To be honest, I was getting frightened by Huang Xiaolong''s reaction myself, so I stepped forward and interrupted him, ¡°Trade what?¡±


    Qi Lin answered, ¡°My child, find my child and you can keep your lives.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong felt scorned by what Qi Lin had said. Though I was not frightened by Qi Lin either, I did have to work in the building at midnight. So I spoke to Qi Lin once more, ¡°Don''t talk like that! We are willing to help you find your child, but we can¡¯t guarantee that we¡¯ll find him. Maybe you can help by telling us where your kid is?¡±


    His voice became cold, ¡°My kid is at home. If you can¡¯t find my kid, then you will die!¡±


    Home? I was curious about it and ignored the above words, just hear the last sentence.


    Qi Lin continued, ¡°You have already been there, inside my house. If you can¡¯t find my child, all of you will die! You will all die!¡±


    Qi Lin gradually disappeared into the night sky.


    He had left all of us wondering, had we really been to her house? If so... was his home that abandoned toilet?


    It seemed, He Xiaoyong had also understood, ¡°The toilet?¡±


    I frowned without saying anything, I had been to taht toilet and it was very clean, it had no gloomy interior. There was no way that a ghost could live there.


    However, Huang Xiaolong nodded his head and talked to us seriously, ¡°It must be there! We should go there tomorrow morning. I''m sure I can find him. Honestly, if brother Wu Rui hadn¡¯t stopped me, I would have already...¡± He didn''t finish the sentence, but I knew what he meant.


    I apologized to Sister Tan, I felt as if she had a wasted her time, but she said it didn''t matter. She lived nearby. It was okay as long as I could drive her home.

 Chapter 39 Something’s wrong with the toile

    The next morning, we arrived at the abandoned toilet. Everyone yawned and searched around the bathroom, but nobody found anything strange.


    Although the restroom was clear, my mind wasn¡¯t. After a moment of searching inside, I walked out of the bathroom and starting smoking in the doorway. That was when I realized someone was watching me. I raised my head and saw a tall man with a righteous facial expression standing before me with a strange gaze.


    He was Zhang Sheng, I immediately recognized him as the one who was pursuing the granddaughter of grandpa Huang. We stared at each other for a moment, then he left without saying a word.


    I was baffled. Why had Zhang Sheng just shown up here, just to give me a weird look? I subconsciously turned around and was startled to find that I was in the doorway of the female bathroom. How embarrassing.


    The others came out sweating, though it seemed that nothing of interest was found. "Take a break and I''ll talk with some people around here." With that, Wu Jian walked to a tree nearby. There were a few elderly people sitting under the tree, chatting with their children.


    I hesitated for a while, then hurried after Wu Jian.


    Wu Jian looked back at me without a word. He sat on a bench in the tree shade. After a few women gave him a strange look, he nodded his head to greeting them, "What a hot day today! Though I must say, I¡¯m enjoying the sunny weather. I hope you don¡¯t mind if I ask, but the toilet here is super clean, I¡¯m guessing there are cleaners here that clean it every day, right? "


    A middle-aged woman gave Wu Jian an angry look, "Clean? That is the most dangerous place around here!"


    Wu Jian and I looked at each other and Wu Jian pretended to be surprised, "I feel like it¡¯s very clean and safe, there¡¯s no peculiar smell, there¡¯s not even a single cigarette butt on the floor, I am even embarrassed to smoke inside."


    The middle-aged woman gave a disdainful ¡°Hmph!¡±, but said nothing else. An old man pointed to one of the other teaching buildings, "Young man, don''t use those restrooms, if you can¡¯t hold it, there¡¯s one in that building."


    Wu Jian reacted in a confused way, "Why? Isn''t this toilet open?¡±


    The middle-aged woman replied, "Bah, bah, we don''t use that toilet, I¡¯m telling you, that toilet is haunted."


    Wu Jian smiled and said, "Really."


    It was a long time before the old man replied, ¡°Well, it¡¯s just best not to go in."


    It seemed that the toilet was generating some really weird reactions from the locals, although none of us had found anything strange about it, not even Huang Xiaolong. After hearing what the old people under the tree had said, there must be something wrong with the toilet for sure.


    It had all happened a little over a decade ago, a high school student who was pregnant secretly ran to the bathroom during night lessons to birth a child in this very bathroom. She left the baby inside and went back to class. The baby died and word got around. The gossip from her schoolmate condemned her to a state of depression.


    On the seventh day after she had birthed the baby, the girl who was in the hospital at the time, ran back to the toilet and wrote something on the toilet wall with blood, then she committed suicide. From that day on, the bathroom was considered haunted. Dean Zhang hired someone to paint the entire restroom and even performed a ceremony to drive out any evil spirits.


    Wu Jian asked, "Dean Zhang? The one still in the school?


    Middle-aged woman said, "Yes, Zhang Sheng is a good man. He takes good care of his students. Once the toilet was haunted however, anyone who entered the toilet died. After Zhang Sheng performed the ceremony, no one died again. He is such a kind hearted person, it seems that girl didn¡¯t want to hurt him, even after she she had become a ghost."


    Just then, all the others present began praising Zhang Sheng as well.


    Their words increasingly confused me, according to grandpa Huang, Zhang Sheng was not a good man. Why he was considered to be a perfect man in the minds of these people?


    Soon the topic about Zhang Sheng changed to household affairs. Wu Jian winked to me, and we all left together. he lit up a cigarette and blew out a smoke ring, "Unfortunately we don¡¯t know who the girl who committed suicide is. I¡¯ll look through the archives to find out what happened here. It should have been recorded because it sounds like it wasn¡¯t just one or two people who died.


    I nodded my head and thought about it all for a while, I then decided to tell him what grandpa Huang had told me. After I informed him, Wu Jian was a bit stunned, "It seems like Zhang Sheng has issues of some sort."


    I also agreed with him. There were so many people in a school and it was simply impossible for Zhang Sheng to take care of everyone of them, perhaps that¡¯s why it seemed strange for him to be respected by everyone we talked to. It was also strange that even though several people died in the bathroom, Zhang Sheng still made it out alive. It must have taken so much courage and integrity to persuade the revenge ghost. Perhaps I was just being narrow minded, but I really couldn''t accept that a man was just so darn great.


    After discussing it with Wu Jian, I began to remove the paint off the wall, trying to find out what the girl had written with her blood with hope that I could get some more information. Meanwhile, Wu Jian went back to the police station to look for any relevant files. We agreed to meet around dinner time.


    I quickly finished my lunch and went to the area around the haunted bathroom. It must have been too hot around noon because nobody was resting in the tree¡¯s shade anymore, which was certainly beneficial for us. Huang Xiaolong and I went to buy some simple tools, then back to the bathroom.


    Huang Xiaolong, He Xiaoru, He Xiaoyong, Huang Lei, Chen Qianqian and I, six people in total, began to work. The wall had been painted more than 10 years ago and had became blotchy, which actually aided our task of removing the paint. Especially since the paint on the wall was thick.


    "It¡¯s was too thick," He Xiaoru complained, as he scratched the wall with a small plank.


    Huang Xiaolong also echoed, "It is, there has to be something here. Who paints so many layers in the bathroom for no reason?"


    Just then, Chen Qianqian heard a cry of surprise, causing all of us to quickly turn and stare at the wall being worked on. Chen Qianqian pointing to the wall with a frightened facial expression, and there they were. Several words painted in dark red on the wall.


    We walked over to have a closer look, Chen Qianqian had peeled off the thick paint that had been covering it, but dark red words written in blood were still clear.


    I, thought, night. Those were the three words written in blood that were revealed in front of Chen, it was clear there were more words around it. Although it was noon, I already felt a chilly breeze slowly blowing against my body, it even felt like it was getting difficult to talk.


    Huang Xiaolong appeared ecstatic, "it looks like the words were written over on this wall! Everybody hurry up, start from here."


    Everyone began to work again. I cheered myself up and was about to start working, when suddenly, an authoritative voice came from the entrance of the restroom.

 Chapter 40 No evidence points for Zhang Sheng

    I was going to make up an excuse for what we were doing there, but not a sound came out when I opened my mouth. I simply couldn¡¯t come up for a decent explanation.


    To our surprise, Huang Xiaolong showed us just how honest and frank of a man he was, ¡°This place is haunted and we¡¯re trying to catch the ghost!¡±


    Zhang Sheng was visibly angry, ¡°WHAT? Don''t play around with me!¡± Then he turned to the security behind him, ¡°Call the police! Someone is damaging public property!¡±


    One of the securities pulled out his phone and called the police. All of us looked at each other in speechless despair. After all, Ace middle school was the best middle school in our town. The police would come quickly, even thought his wasn¡¯t really that big of a deal. They scolded and lectured us, then asked us to pay the 1,000 yuan fine. We were allowed to head home after that.


    As Wu Jian arrived to the school, we were sitting near the gate, clearly upset and with some security still staring at us. Wu Jian stared blankly then beckoned us to leave.


    We met up with him a few blocks down the road and told Jian about everything that happened, he also reported that he didnt know what to do next. He then proceeded to tell us about what he had discovered.


    The first discovery was about the victims.


    Su Qing, a student of the Ace Middle School. Died at the age of eighteen, the cause, suicide. After giving birth in the bathroom, she couldn¡¯t bear with the murmurings and parents¡¯ condemnation, so she committed suicide.


    Tan Mei, also a student of the Ace Middle School. Died at the age of nineteen, the cause, suicide. The initial diagnosis was that Tan Mei unwittingly saw Su Qing giving birth and spread the news about what she had seen.


    Guy 1, a student of the Ace Middle School. Died at the age of eighteen, suicide.


    Guy 2, a student of the Ace Middle School. Died at the age of seventeen, suicide.


    ¡­¡­


    There were several students in his findings that had died because of suicide, and their deaths had all occurred in the same place, the toilet.


    However, there was a question that still remained unanswered. Who was the man that had gotten her pregnant? We couldn¡¯t find the answer in any of the transcripts or statements of Su Qing¡¯s parents and classmates.


    Wu Jian told us everything he had learned in a clear and precise manner, then picked up another thick folder. This one was different. It was obvious that the paper in this folder was printed onA4 temporarily.


    The rest of the papers in the folder were some awards he had received along with his detailed education and work experience. Wu Jian just asked us to casually browse through the rest of the papers. He then seemed to have found what he was looking for and declared, ¡°Look at this, this is the most important piece of information right over here!¡±


    I took it and read an article that contained a formal apology from a newspaper. The newspaper¡¯s he ad quarters were in our town, they had written an apology to Mr. Zhang that read as such, ¡°We send our sincere apologies to Mr. Zhang. We are sorry for making some improper comments without any evidence.¡±


    I couldnt figure out why this was so important so I gave it to HeXiaoru. I started looking at the second paper, it was an article that had published by the same newspaper. In brief, the story was about a brute teacher in the Ace Middle School who had been raping girls.


    As everything was starting to make sense to me, I quickly turned over to the last page, a love letter written from the depths of a girl¡¯s heart.


    I looked at it in detail but find nothing out of the ordinary. So I turned to Wu Jian.


    He pointed to specific words in the letter, I followed his finger and read: Our forbidden love, could we somehow get God¡¯s blessing?


    I understood now, the main thing to note were the words, ¡°forbidden love¡±.


    ¡®Where did you find this letter?¡¯ I asked quickly.


    Wu Jian answered, ¡°After Su Qing died, it was found in her school bag. Later on, it was kept as physical evidence.¡±


    Su Qing, a forbidden love, what if the man that had gotten Su Qing pregnant was someone who wasn¡¯t allowed to be with her? What if it had been a student-teacher affair?


    Wu Jian looked at me with a sigh, ¡°The content was unclear, but Zhang Sheng did arouse a lot of suspicion.¡±He Xiaoru then asked, ¡°But the newspaper printed a formal apology to him.¡±


    ¡°They made an apology but it doesn¡¯t mean they were wrong. Maybe they were just under some kind of pressure to do so. I checked more recent information, and just before the newspaper report was published, Zhang Sheng has been nominated for a national prize as an excellent representative of teachers, that may be a reason why the newspapers had to retract their statement. The problem is, this all happened a few years before Su Qing committed suicide. While what the newspapers reported may have had nothing to do with Su Qing, it does prove that Zhang Sheng is not as perfect as people say.¡±


    I agreed. Although everything seemed to make sense, all of our gathered data was useless. There was still no evidence that proved that Zhang Sheng was the murderer.


    Wu Jian knew this, so he pulled me aside and told me, ¡°Since we¡¯ve already gotten caught by Zhang Sheng it will be impossible to scrape the wall again. Can you ask your friends in that building for some help? We could use their help to go through the wall at night. Maybe we¡¯ll find something useful.¡±


    I agreed with him and made a mental note to ask the beauties in the ghost house for some help later today.


    Wu Jian kept all the documents he had passed around. After our meeting with Qi Lin, we knew that we were safe for a little while longer, so we went home separately.


    When I made it back to my place, I slept for a while and hurriedly went to work.


    I figured since I had come to work late and left early, Sister Hua wouldn¡¯t be particularly happy with me. So I probably shouldn¡¯t turn to her first. The first thing I should do to make her happy is focus and work hard.


    I had tried to beg Lulu for help, but she just gave me a cold face, ¡°I heard you asked sister Tan for help, I guess that means you don¡¯t need me.¡±


    I don¡¯t know why, but if felt like she was acting a bit jealous. I shook my head quickly, perhaps I was just imagining things.


    Xiao Lingdang was late today, and sister Tan arrived with her. She had just come in to say goodbye to Xiao Lingdang. Even though she said she had to leave, I asked Xiao Lingdang to stall for a moment and keep her here. I was in the middle of work, and couldn¡¯t just drop everything to talk to her.


    Lulu was extremely unhappy that I had asked Sister Tan to stay. ¡°We have too many guests here tonight, she¡¯s taking up too much room.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t wrong, there were a lot of people¡­er I mean ghosts in the building tonight. ¡°I¡¯ll treat her to a meal, will that make it ok? We¡¯ll just serve her food and she¡¯ll be on her way¡± I took out the tips that I had just accepted.


    That actually made Lulu angrier, and she shouted, ¡°Your tips? You should be giving them to us! Not inviting your guests to dinner with our money!¡¯


    Now it was my turn to be speechless. I guess Lulu was right, they were the ones working tonight, but weren¡¯t they my tips? Nevertheless, I didn''t have the guts to argue with her, so I just staredat her imploringly.


    She was obviously angry as shetook the small plate of peanuts and snap peas with her, paying no more attention to me.


    Peanut and snap peas were usually just a free appetizer for guests. Lulu was so angry, she never returned with anymore food. I had no choice but to give Sister Tan these small dishes and nothing more.

 Chapter 41 Naive and stupid

    I looked at the table, more than half of the snacks were still left in the dish. I picked up a snap pea and popped it in my mouth, this was my first time eating the food from the ghost house. The taste was actually quite good, though a little cold, as if it had been taken out from the refrigerator.


    Seeing some juice leak out from my mouth, sister Tan smiled and handed me a napkin. "How¡¯s it going?" I said as I cleaned myself up.


    She nodded and smiled, so I cut to the chase. I quickly told the story of what had happened earlier today, and asked her once again for help.


    After hearing this, she fell into deep thought, and then shook her head slowly. "I can''t help you," she said.


    I was surprised by her response and asked curiously, "Why not?"


    Sister Tan set her long tongue aside with a sigh and said, "I don''t want to be involved in Su Qing''s business." Not being specific as to why.


    So, Sister Tan knew the ghost''s name was Su Qing. Now that I think about it, she started acting really strange the last time she saw Su Qing possess Qi Lin¡¯s body. I¡¯d bet she knew Su Qing.


    "Do you know Su Qing?" I asked.


    Sister Tan nodded with sadness in her eyes, "Don''t ask me anything more about the subject, I can''t help you. I''m sorry, but I promise Su Qing will never harm anyone for no reason."


    Never harm anyone for no reason? Before Zhang Sheng went into the toilet, there were quite a few people that ended up killing themselves in there. Did this mean they did it as a part of some deal or arrangement? On top of that, Zhang Xue had died recently, had that just been a coincidence?


    Sister Tan seemed to figure out the cause for my concern and shook her head, "Su Qing never harms people, never.¡± She repeated those words a few times, Then stood up and left the ghost house, leaving me to sit there alone and more confused than ever..


    It felt like everything was getting more and more complicated. Humans and ghosts formed some kind of network, they were all connected in some way.


    Then Xiao Lingdang l came up and asked, "Brother?"


    "I know, I know, I''ll find your skin for you."


    "No, brother, I just wanted to ask why sister Tan left."


    I turned around to see Xiao Lingdang, she was not asking for her skin, that made me feel better. After all, I did not have enough patience to discuss the skin issue right now. Then, I realized something. Xiao Lingdang and sister Tan were very close, perhaps she knew something about what was going on.


    So I did my best to channel the way that Wu Jian talked, "Xiao Lingdang, you and sister Tan have known each other for a long time, right?"


    Xiao Lingdang nodded, "Well, it''s been over ten years, since the time of her death.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang said, "Sister Tan didn¡¯t kill herself!"


    What?I was completely thrown off by her answer.


    Xiao Lingdang tilted her head and said, "I mean, I guess it could be considered a suicide."


    Xiao Lingdang''s words confused me even further, so I asked, "did Sister Tan commit suicide or not?"


    Xiao Lingdang thought for a long time, then said, "Yes."


    "Then why did you say she didn''t kill herself?"


    ¡°Ah, well, gee, I don''t know quite how to explain it.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang became tangled up in her thoughts, in order to keep the conversation going, I changed the topic, "Does Sister Tan have many friends?"


    "Friends? Sister Tan doesn''t like to make friends. I¡¯m her best friend."


    So I pretended to accept that as a fact, "Oh, Sister Tan only has one friend, got it!"


    Xiao Lingdang repeatedly shook her head, "No, no, and Sister Su, and Sister San."


    Sister Su? Could it be she was talking about Su Qing? I was pretty content with myself, it seemed that Xiao Lingdang had a lot of information to offer. I chose to ignore the bit about Sister San.


    "Xiao Lingdang, is Sister Su''s name Su Qing?"


    Xiao Lingdang nodded and looked at me curiously, "How did you know that?"


    "I just know that Su Qing has great relationship with Sister Tan, they are together all the time."


    This time Xiao Lingdang shook her head, showing a sad expression, "Sister Su and Sister Tan had a quarrel last time they were together, they haven''t seen each other for many years after that."


    It seemed we were beginning to get somewhere. I hadn''t realized there had been a quarrel between the two, I was very curious. I carefully inquired more, and Xiao Lingdang was completely uninhibited about giving me more information. Thanks to my wonderful ability to gossip, I wasn¡¯t missing the chance to get to more of the truth.


    Xiao Lingdang''s words were useful, then they weren¡¯t. It was definitely a messy process of piecing together all the information she was giving me. However, it was all becoming clear to me after I put everything in the right order and kept asking questions.


    As it turned out, Sister Tan had actually been the one who had introduced the man who ended up being Su Qing''s ¡°forbidden love¡±.


    Sister Tan was several years older than Su Qing, they had been neighbors since childhood and they had always been very close. When sister Tan started college, Su Qing was in senior high school. While Sister Tan did really well on her entrance exam and got high scores, due to her family¡¯s economic situation, she couldn¡¯t afford to go to her desired university.


    Fortunately, one of the teachers in her school helped sister Tan. He rallied the teachers and students to donate money for her cause. Soon sister Tan had sufficient money to take classes in the university, and she naturally grew to have a crush on the teacher that had made it happen. She would always talk favorably about this teacher with Su Qing. Over time, Su Qing also grew to admire that teacher.


    Since Sister Tan wasn¡¯t actually around Su Qing and spent her time at her university, she didn¡¯t realize that her gratitude for the teacher, she had lead the younger girl down a path from which there was no return.


    Sister Tan would stay after school to do work-study programs in order to earn money. She didn¡¯t return to the county until she was a sophomore. The first thing she did when she came back was to pay a visit to the teacher and thank him for all his help. That teacher ended up tempting and seducing the young girl and they eventually became lovers. What sister Tan did not know, was that her best friend had also been lured by that same teacher¡¯s seduction.


    Sister Tan¡¯s was well on her path to a better life, she did her best to learn in school and earn money along the way. Then one day, she got horrible news from her hometown, her father had gotten terribly ill and quickly passed away. She returned home as soon as she could.


    After just two days of arriving in her hometown, Su Qing killed herself in the bathroom. The death of her father and her best friend almost destroyed Sister Tan. The only person she could think about turning to so she could vent her thoughts and feelings, washer lover, the teacher who had helped her so long ago.


    Sister Tan could not find the teacher anywhere, so she decided to see the bathroom where Su Qing had committed suicide in. That was where she found him, painting over the wall in the bathroom. Sister Tan sneaked forward to have a look, when she read the words the teacher was trying to cover up, she realized what had happened. Her best friend died had because of the teacher.


    Sister Tan was so angry, she wanted to tell everyone that it was the teacher¡¯s fault this had happened. That was when Su Qing appeared as a ghost, and tried to persuade sister Tan not to tell on the teacher. But once Su Qing realized that sister Tan had already made up her mind about releasing the secret, Su Qing took over sister Tan¡¯s body and made her hang herself.

 Chapter 42 The people are dead again

    It was true that people are more fearful than ghosts, because people were more complicated than ghosts, and have more desires. No matter how evil the teacher was or how na?ve Su Qing was, it seemed to me that it makes people angry and speechless.


    After a long time, I calmed down, looked up, and found that Xiao Lingdang had left. In the ghosts restauant, the number of guests had dwindled. I looked at my watch, and noticed that it was close to closing time.


    We didn¡¯t know where sister Hua was, and Lulu had left the counter and was doing what I should have been doing, taking the trays to serve the last remaining guests. I finished taking care of all my tasks and hurried to help Lulu remove the empty plates on the table.


    Maybe because the smile on Lulu''s face was so sweet when she was serving guests, it really brought out her beauty.She gave off vibes of a neighbor''s little sister. It made people unconsciously want to approach her. Unfortunately, just after she turned around, her face would return to the cold expression which no longer seemed so attractive any more.


    Lulu walked a few steps, and suddenly stopped. Following behind her, I was still thinking about Lulu''s smile and almost ran into her before stopping abruptly. I only heard Lulu¡¯s scolding words: "You come to work, remember."


    I nodded, thanked Lulu for help me serve, and guaranteed not to repeat my day dreaming. Unfortunately, the frost on Lulu¡¯s face only got colder, it never changed until closing time came along.


    When every living person had gone back home and taken a short rest, they decided it was time they called Wu Jian to talk about getting breakfast together.Although other people were sleepy, they all agreed. Chen Qianqian was the only one that did not answer Xiaoyong¡¯s phone call, but since it was only 7 o¡¯clock, we did not care.


    While I was having breakfast, I told everyone what I learned from Xiao Lingdang yesterday evening, which made everyone sigh. They were all very happy because the whole story had become clear, but it was all tragic nonetheless.


    While Wu Jian was still eating he took the time to call a colleague to ask for helping check some data. It was data that would confirm who the abnormal scumbag was.


    This information was also very simple. It was about the person who helped gather the funds for sister Tan that same year.


    The efficiency of the police data collection was excellent. After lunch,Wu Jian''s colleagues had contacted him. We heard a familiar name, Zhang Sheng, from Wu Jian''s hands-free cell phone.


    After a great deal of joy, everyone calmed down. Wu Jian took the lead in opening up. "It seems that we can only go to that toilet and scrape the words written by Su Qian, and there, we may find the child''s whereabouts."


    Huang Xiaolong hesitated a little bit: "But Zhang Sheng will be very concerned about getting discovered. It is impossible for him to sneak away to do so."


    ¡°Bang!¡± Wu Jian was so angry, he slammed his fist on the table.


    He Xiaoru was a little worried: "How about this? You just go in as if you¡¯re doing police work on the incident from yesterday and see what you can do yourself?"


    Wu Jian thought about it for a moment, "I''ll see it. I think that may be able to work."


    So people began to discuss the plan Wu Jian put forward. How could they made Wu Jian leave his work to just go and blockade the scene. We needed a suitable excuse.


    He Xiaoyong took out his cell phone, and instantly turned pale: "Chen Qianqian did not answer the phone. She didn¡¯t pick up her house phone or her cellphone."


    All of them were shocked. I glanced at the clock on the wall in the breakfast shop. It was 8 o''clock in the morning. Chen Qianqian should have woken up at this time. I had heard that Chen Qianqian had great habits. She slept early and got up early.


    I could not help but feel shocked when I thought of Huang Lei. He was still here a moment ago but now had gone somewhere else. "Xiaoyong, where is Huang Lei?" I asked.


    He Xiaoyong seemed to realize that Huang Lei was missing. He stood up and looked around,¡°Where is that guy?"


    The boss of the breakfast shop was coming in with empty bowls from the outside. Seeing that we seemed to be looking for someone, she laughed and called to us: "Looking for your friend? He is squatting outside and just hanging out there. "


    We ware puzzled to go out and see Huang Lei sitting on the sidewalk staircase and staring straight ahead.


    He Xiaoyong walked over, pats Huang Lei on the shoulder and said: "Brother why are you sitting on the floor."


    Huang Lei seemed to be intimidated, got up from the ground immediately. When his frightened eyes saw that it was us in front of him,he felt slightly better. With a shaking hand, he pointed to the distance, and couldn¡¯t say a word.


    I looked where he was pointing, at the mouth of an alley in the distance. There were garbage bags piled up,in front of them stood a wine bottle.A mouse¡¯s limbs had been tied to the ends, which made him look like the character for¡°big¡± in Chinese. The mouse''s stomach had been cut, and visceral blood had flown over the ground,which meant its life would not last.


    I could not help but gaga few times. I almost barfed my breakfast. He Yong¡¯s voice was trembling: "Mou,mou, mouse."


    Wu Jian was comforting He Xiaoyong, when He Xiaoru suddenly exclaimed: "Qianqian, might have an accident."


    At the same time, I soon came to realize that Zhang Xue died after she had seen the rat''s body. Then it was Chen Qianqian that saw the rat''s corpse. After finding Su Qing, we agreed to help Su Qing find her child, we temporarily felt safe but completely ignored the dead rat.


    Wu Jian, without any hesitation, immediately greeted us, "Please be quick and go to Chen Qianqian''s house." Then, several of us got into Wu Jian¡¯s car together and sped towards the area where Chen Qianqian lived.


    Just as we arrived to her door, we saw several police cars had stopped at the entrance in the area where Chen Qianqian lived, and the yellow cord had already pulled open. My heart thumped, and I quickly got a bad feeling.


    Sure enough, we saw a woman wearing pajamas lying under a truck¡¯s tire, her head and feet had been pressed under the two wheels in the front and was completely crushed under the weight of the small truck.


    Wu Jian was clearly aware of the police already on the scene, after a cigarette, he asked what happened.


    The policeman didn''t leave anything out. "At 8 o''clock, the woman suddenly rushed out, nobody knows why she was lying under the truck. The truck driver didn''t notice and that¡¯s what happened. I couldn¡¯t eat breakfast after looking at this scene.¡±


    Wu Jian continued to ask, "Is there any reason for her to be laying down under the truck?Was she running from something?¡±


    The police said, "It''s weird. It''s supposed to be suicide, I guess the truck driver was just unlucky."


    Wu Jian''s face showed a puzzle expression, the policeman seemed to think he did not believe him, and he hurriedly added: "We have watched the cameras, and she did in fact come out on her own."


    Huang Lei hastily continued to ask, "Is the one who died named Chen Qianqian?"


    The policeman looked at Huang Lei strangely, and Wu Jian hurriedly explained, "This is a friend of Chen Qianqian that called to have breakfast in the morning, but she hadn''t answered the phone all morning.


    Her friend was worried about her so she came to see her. The dead person might not be Chen Qianqian. "


    The police looked around us, and pulled Wu Jian aside. Huang Lei was anxious and wanted to follow, but he was pulled by Huang Xiaolong, and he said, "Don''t go. It might not Chen Qianqian."


    Huang Xiaolong was comforting Huang Lei, but obviously, the dead must be Chen without a doubt, because the way she died was almost the same as that of the mouse on the tea table of Chen Qianqian''s.

 Chapter 43 the toilet was removed

    Huang Lei did not seem to hear what Wu Jian¡¯s was saying, he was completely speechless. He Xiaoyong nodded, with tears streaming down his face,his arms around Huang Lei''s shoulder.


    The police came up and took Huang Lei and He Xiaoyong to a police car. He Xiaoru was worried about them, she wanted to go with them, but she was stopped by Wu Jian. Wu Jian said, "I will go with him, don¡¯t worry, they will be ok. Things are getting really strange.The female ghost asked us for help finding her child, I don¡¯t think she would actually hurt us. My guess is there must something missing, you guys just wait for me to return, don¡¯t separate."


    I nodded. Wu Jian handed me car keys,got in the police car and left.


    Looking off in the direction in which Wu Jian had left,Huang Xiaolong touched his newly grown beard on his chin and went into deep thought, "Brother Wu Jian is right, Su Qing would not hurt him, sister Tan also said Su Qing would not hurt anyone."


    I also agreed with him, but I didn''t have much contact with these ghosts and I couldn¡¯t judge ghosts in the way I judged living human beings.I turned to the two guys beside me and said, "Let''s go back to school again, maybe we can find clues." Although I didn''t count on looking for anything in the school,there was nowhere else I could go.


    We walked up to the Ace middle school, and saw that security was still the same people from yesterday.They showed their vigilance when they saw us. I looked the in school and noticed some trucks.


    There were a few ballast trucks waiting in a queue.The Ace middle school was in the center of the town, that was why trucks had to go one after another.I immediately had a bad feeling when I saw trucks. I walked to one of the truck,gave the driver a cigarette,"Hello, is the Ace middle school expanding? Looks like it¡¯s going to be a big project.¡± This straightforward way of guiding the conversation was something I learned from Wu Jian, I was beginning to get quite good at it.


    The driver waved his hand, "It¡¯s not a big project, we¡¯re just going to remove a bathroom. I don¡¯t understand what the officials were thinking, we need to take all those brick away one at a time.¡±


    I was astonished, Zhang Sheng realized what we were going to do.I casually finished talking to the driver.Then I went back to tell the story to my two companions.I sent a text message to Wu Jian about everything that was going on.


    Wu Jian''s replied quickly, the content was very simple,¡°Let¡¯s meet up again.¡±


    Wu Jian raised his head and looked at Huang Xiaolong. He did not say anything but kept on smoking.


    I thought for a minute, "Put the Zhang Sheng matters aside, let¡¯s see if we can find any breakthroughs from sister Tan this evening.Chen Qianqian is dead anyway, Huang Lei also saw the dead rat, I am not sure how long he is going to survive."


    My words suddenly woke up the others.Wu Jian shook his head quickly to cheer himself up, "right now it doesn¡¯t matter if it is a trick done by Su Qing, It¡¯s looking like everyone is tangled in this web of ghosts. Zhang Xue was the first one, died in an accident, Chen Qianqian is the second, it also looks like she died in an accident. As you heard, when Chen Qianqian was about to die, there was something clearly wrong with her."


    Huang Xiaolong got a word in, "Well, I heard something from a policeman I was talking to. According to my experience in ghost hunting, Chen Qianqian was possessed by a ghost or was over come with hallucinations."


    Wu Jian then said, "I don¡¯t know much about the way ghosts attack humans. According to Master Huang, we can conclude that ghosts can control people and create situations that seem like an accident killed people, Master Huang, is there any suggestion to keep us safe from these things?"


    Huang Xiaolong said, "brother Wu, don''t call me master, I must remain humble."And he coughed,"I have an amulet, which can keep ghosts away from Huang Lei¡¯s body, it also works for breaking an illusion. But when it came to accidents, I can¡¯t guarantee it, though I can help."


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s words brought hope to everybody. Wu Jian was delighted, "I suggest finding a sealed house, remove all unnecessary items that is likely to cause harm inside.We keep Huang Lei inside the house until it¡¯s safe. I think if Huang Lei is safe, the rest of us will likely be too."


    "Likely?"He Xiaoru asked.


    Wu Jian said, "Yes, likely. I am not sure if the ghost will kill those who haven¡¯ t seen the dead mouse."


    He Xiaoru stopped talking.I nodded with approval, at least Huang Lei should be safe if we approach it in this way.


    "I don¡¯t think it is easy to find such a place, though."I thought for a long time, but there was no place that seemed suitable in my mind.


    Wu Jian smiled, "Prison! Let¡¯s put Huang Lei in a cell."


    Huang Lei repeatedly said, "Ok, please. Let¡¯s do it."


    Huang Lei, who had always seemed to be numb, finally showed his vitality, the plan we made gave him hope.


    After discussing some details, we started to get our act together.He Xiaoru, He Xiaoyong, Huang Xiao long and I moved into He Xiaoru¡¯s house, where we would all live together for some time.Wu Jian took Huang Lei to jell. After all, it took procedures to be placed in a cell.


    By the time we were acting separately, Huang Xiaolong gave Huang Lei a red sachet, which contained the amulet. Huang Xianglong did not want to open it and show what was inside. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to ask more questions about it, I settled for staying curious and just glancing at it.


    He Xiaoru¡¯s house was very big, it contained five rooms and two halls. Her family was considered a big family in our county. In consideration for our safety,Huang Xiaolong and I stayed in the same room, Wu Jian stayed with He Xiaoyong, He Xiaoru lived in room on her own, located in between the two rooms.

 Chapter 44 The brick house

    That evening at work, I asked Xiao Lingdang if I could talk to Sister Tan, but she informed me that sister Tan did not want to see me. It seemed that everything was suddenly stuck in a deadlock.


    Time passed this way for a few days, then something happened that would stir things up.


    Jiang San was the name of an ordinary farmer in the countryside. It was not easy for him to save some enough money to be able to build a new house. He hoped that perhaps some day, virtue would be rewarded. One of his friends who drove a van for a living, knew he wanted to build a house, so he took the initiative to tell Jiang San about a site that had some leftover bricks which he could just pick up free of charge. They seemed to be of good quality, too. Jiang San quickly reacted and asked his friend to bring the bricks over to him, along with a pack of smokes.


    The bricks arrived and the quality was in fact, very good. With just a little bit of cleaning, they would be good as new! Rural people never lacked strength or the will to work, so they could actually take advantage of getting these used bricks and taking care of them if it meant it would save them money.


    As they were building the house, the people working on the house noticed a dark red liquid flowing out from the seams between the brick. Nobody could explain what was going on. These rural people had never seen this before. Jiang San was stunned. The workers advised him to tear down the house, but the house had cost Jiang San three hard years worth of sweat and blood to save enough money to build.


    The workers were not willing to go to back to work because they are afraid of what was going on. Jiang San was too caught up in not wanting to waste his money to order the destruction of the half built house. So he went to seek divine advice. This was how the matter had eventually come to our attention.


    The first master he went to visit was Huang Xiaolong, that was how he was able to inform us that he had confirmed the bricks that were used by Jiang San were the bricks from the demolition of the wall tiles in the restroom.


    Without any delay we rushed to Jiang San¡¯s family home. We wanted to keep up with all the new information before it was too late or anything suddenly changed.


    When we arrived, Jiang San¡¯s family was surrounded by a lot of people. A man, alone in the half brick house, wore a robe of monks and was holding performing a sword dance, murmuring, and shouting from time to time before a small makeshift alter.


    Wu Jian pulled my clothes: "There are too many people here now. It''s not convenient for us to investigate."


    Before I could get back to Wu Jian, Huang Xiaolong smiled behind me and said with a low voice, "Don¡¯t worry. These people will leave in a moment."


    "Why?" I wondered.


    Huang Xiaolong pointed to the front of the crowd: "What that Taoist priest read was the Sutra of driving away evil and performing an exorcism, while he stood on an old grave. This is what is done by some to curse those inside. There¡¯s no doubt that he was to blame for this."


    I looked along the direction that Huang Xiaolong¡¯s finger was pointing to. It was true that there was a hump under the foot of the Taoist priest, but roads in rural areas such as these are typically uneven. Though he said it was an old grave, I still think that¡¯s a bit of a stretch. Besides, Jiang San would probably not choose to build his house atop a grave. That was a very taboo thing to do.


    Huang Xiaolong saw that I did not believe him, but he didn¡¯t give any further explanation. He just gave me a mysterious smile. My thoughts of Xiaolong had changed a lot since the day I met him. He still had this mysterious aura about him, which made it so people couldn¡¯t quite see right through him. It was this mysterious air about him that would make anyone consider him a master of some some sort.


    The Taoist priest was still singing and dancing, and Wu Jian who was usually very patient, gradually changed his expression to one of impatience. He asked Huang Xiaolong, "Master Huang, are you being serious?"


    Huang Xiaolong did not answer, his eyes just stared straight ahead. My heart sped up and I hurriedly look forward, but nothing was happening. The Taoist priest was still there. The people watching him had to admire his abundant physical strength.


    A gust of wind blew and the candles on the altar swayed. When the Taoist priest turned around, the yellow crown with the two long whiskers was blown to the ground by the wind, the Taoist priest''s thin face was revealed. The Taoist priest¡¯s movement halted a little bit, followed by a shout. His footsteps swayed, he stood with a single foot, and made a beautiful posture, the sword in his hand pointed to the crown on the ground with the intention of stirring it up.


    Just then the Taoist priest suddenly stops short. Before I could react, I heard the Taoist priest emit a chrill cry. The scene was quiet, then countless screams emerged from they bystanders around him. A huge amount of the people scampered off. There were still a few people who were bold dared to stand at a distance, muttering about what was going on.


    That was when I was finally able to see that there was a crack on the ground which had mysteriously appeared. The Taoist priest fell onto one leg, his other leg was deep in a crack. The entire leg was practically inside the crack and some blood was spilling onto the floor.


    Huang Xiaolong looked at us proudly, but Wu Jian eyebrows frowned :"If it was you that did it, you are a bit ruthless.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong''s eyes were wide open and he was about to retort, but Wu Jian had already stepped up and gone to try to help the Taoist priest. He crouched low to the ground, trying to take out the Taoist priest''s foot from this mysterious crack.


    I hastened to help by trying to pull out the Taoist priest a few times, though he did nothing but shout painfully. It seemed his foot had been firmly stuck, and now the most important thing to do was to save his life. We didn¡¯t have time to care about the brick house at that moment.


    After Wu Jian and I got up, the other villagers saw that there was no danger to them, so they were all relieved. One by one, they stepped forward to help. Unfortunately, the Taoist priest¡¯s foot was clearly stuck, no matter what we did. Wu Jian had to call the police for backup.


    When the police arrived, Wu Jian told them what was going on and went up to Jiang San who was in pain. He patted him on the shoulder and handed him a cigarette: "Come on, have a smoke."


    Jiang San shivered as he took the cigarette, he shivered as he ignited it, and said pitifully: "Thank you, Big Brother." It was obvious that Jiang San also saw the scene very clearly, and was very grateful for Wu Jian''s help. Otherwise, the Taoist priest would have suffered a lot more, and if some other accident would have happened, he would have been in the middle of it all.


    Wu Jian uses his small talk to speak with Jiang San, and finally got permission from Jiang San to enter the room that had not yet been built. In fact, there was no need to get permission from Jiang San to enter into it. When we entered the room, we saw a lot of villagers pointing at the door and talking about the house, and occasionally some bold people would go in.


    The room had no roof, was full of light, and it could be seen through the crevices of each brick that a dark red liquid was slowly oozing out. Though it was slow, it was actually a constant flow out, with a faint stench that could be detected as you get closer. It was like that of dried blood.


    We looked around for a while, but we didn¡¯t find anything abnormal. The dark red liquid didn¡¯t completely form words and could not provide any useful information. After some discussion, Huang Xiaolong''s proposal was unanimously approved. We decided to wait until nightfall to see if the green bricks would change when the shade of Yin Qi was the heaviest.


    Wu Jian¡¯s smooth talking had worked its wonders. Jiang San was warmly hosting us, and from the old house he brought out some tables and benches, so that we would not have to sit foolishly on the ground.

 Chapter 45 the smell

    Yan¡¯er did not answer my question, but instead sniffed in my direction and her eyes showed a bit of confusion. I was frightened by Yan¡¯er¡¯s actions and leaned back startled, "Yan¡¯er, what are you doing?"


    Yan¡¯er, however, did not pay any attention to what I had just said. She tilted her head, thought for a minute, and walked slowly to one of the chairs and sat down. I held my hand to my chest. Yan¡¯er was acting very strange today.


    "Brother, you¡­you are so smelly." Xiao Lingdang had just drifted in, she flew away before she even completed her sentence.


    I was stunned, and smelt my body, there was just a faint smell of sweat, why were they being so mean? Xiao Lingdang refused to stay near me and stood in the distance with her hand covering her nose. I wanted to say something confrontational, but decided there was no benefit to it.


    Walking to the bar counter, I stared at Lulu''s cold face, "How is it going, Lulu, where is sister Hua?"


    Lulu covered her nose in disgust and looked me up and down, "Where have you been?"


    Lulu''s expression made me felt like I had fallen into a cesspool earlier that day. I was extremely upset. I had been working hard these past few days days, but it seemed the ghosts just kept coming and coming. Sure enough, work was not going to be easy today.


    Since I didn¡¯t say anything in response to her question, she asked again, "Where have you been?" With a hint of impatience but still with caring tone. It honestly made me feel better. Well, it was unnecessary to thought about this for now. For what Lulu''s inquired remind me about something happened on me.


    Even though I was being honest and I told her everything about what had happened earlier, Lulu didn¡¯t believe a word I said. She asked me again, as if I had been intentionally deceiving her. I repeated everything I had just said, but I could tell that she still doubted what I was telling her.


    "Lulu, what''s wrong?" I asked.


    Lulu and Yan¡¯er were completely ignoring me.


    That was when Sister Hua passed by me and loudly claimed, " Wooohh, you¡¯re smelly, go home, you are way too smelly!"


    I turned back to look at Sister Hua¡¯s disgusted expression and immediately felt happy. This was actually a great thing for me. I quickly thanked sister Hua, promised her to go home and take a nice shower.


    Sister Hua covered her nose and said with a strange tone, " Go home, do not hang around here if you want to live."


    The way people were avoiding me, it felt like I was a bully walking around a playground.


    As I walked towards the door, a strong force dragged me back to the bar counter, as I saw the world warp around me, I fainted. When I awoke, I found myself in a room on the second floor. I usually never went up to this floor, so I was a bit disoriented.


    Lulu was standing there, just looking at me. I gave her a forced smile and said, "Lulu, I know I smell bad. I''m going home to wash now. What happened, why did you bring me up here?"


    Lulu didn''t speak, she moved towards me one step at a time. I could do nothing but step back until my back touched the wall behind me. There was no room for me to step back any further, but Lulu was still getting closer step by step.


    I had no idea what Lulu was going to do, and I was a little scared. Lulu''s head came in closer causing me to retreat a bit more and close my eyes.


    After a few seconds, nothing really happened. I opened my eyes a bit and looked, Lulu was sniffing me like a puppy.


    I reached out and touched Lulu''s hair with my hand, this caused Lulu to suddenly snap out of it. We looked at each other strangely, a lock of her hair in my hand. I was too embarrassed to know what I should do next.


    Lulu shook her head, pulled her hair out of my hand and turned her back to me. She sat down at the table, speaking with a slightly gentler voice, "Ok, you can go now."


    I was completely puzzled, but I preferred to leave if Lulu was telling me to do so. She gave me a red bracelet and said to me before I left the room, "Put this on."


    I took the bracelet, which seemed to made of jade. I had never seen red jade before now. I glanced at Lulu who did not really explain anything but repeated what she had just said, "Put it on."


    I put the bracelet on, and carefully left the room and closed the door. I rushed down the stairs and met with sister Hua as she was entertaining guests. She focused on the red jade bracelet on my arm, and gave me a strange smile, "Keep it safe."


    I nodded and prepared to go home. I had no information about why the ghosts in the ghost house were acting so odd today. On my way out of the ghost house, all the guests were still trying to keep away from me. The only thing I could clearly notice was that as long as the ghosts (especially female ghosts) saw my bracelet, they would smile weirdly. Fears speeded up my pace, I did not want to stay one more minute in the ghost house after what had just happened.


    It was already 12 o ''clock. I had to walk past Kaoshan street to find a taxi. It was nearly impossible to find a taxi on Kaoshan street at night.


    While waiting for the taxi, I realized that I was definitely smelly. Random ghosts Just walking in the street would try to keep away from me, just like the ghosts in the ghost house had done.


    I tried to think back to all the places I¡¯d been today. The only thing I had been around that was smelly was that dark red liquid oozing from the brick.


    Finally, a taxi stopped for me. The driver was a middle-aged man, I guessed he was probably going to be a talkative one. Sure enough, he spoke to me from the moment he started driving, "News spreads quick, huh? So are you off to find the treasure?"


    I paused for a moment, what he was talking about? Treasure? Did I just time travel?


    The driver saw that I had nothing to say about his statement and gave me a forced smile before focusing on driving once more. The quiet road was filled with many kinds of vehicles, police cars, fire trucks, and private cars. They were heading out of the city, while only few cars were heading towards the city.


    Finally, I couldn''t control my curiosity and asked, "Sir, what happened here? There are so many cars."

 Chapter 46 The Bloody Words from the Bathroom

    I was getting out of the car, but as I made my way in, so did the crowd. It was as if Jiang San¡¯s green brick house had turned into a famous scenic spot. One where countless people came in and out just to take pictures, the flashing cameras were so many that it almost felt as if the area was permanently lit be them.


    It was all centered around at the same place where the Taoist priest had danced earlier. Now there was just a big pit, around which several lights had been erected. Through the lights, the neatly lined roads and walls of turquoise could be seen behind it .


    While I was at a loss, my arm was pulled. I looked back. It was He Xiaoyong that said loudly: "Come with me." He pulled me out of the crowd, and my whole body was like a marionette, leaving him to lead the way. This day was getting too mysterious for my taste.


    He Xiaoyong pulled me to one side and Wu Jian and He Xiaoru¡¯s face turned dull. Huang Xiaolong disappeared. I walked up to them and loudly asked, ¡°What is going on?!¡±


    Wu Jian woke up from sleepwalking after a long time: "I don''t know. It''s weird."


    I turned my head to He Xiaoru who smiled bitterly: "After you left, the police came, but there was no way to save the Taoist priest, so they sent for a digging machine, which was going to dig away the earth, but before they managed to dig for a more than a couple of minutes, the whole ground collapsed into a massive hole, and it appears that there was this earth palace hidden underground!"


    I was dumbfounded. An earth palace? For starters, nobody even consider there would be any possibility of the existance of a palace every existing in our small province. The way that the earth palace had appeared had also greatly impressed the eye of the public.


    I had no interest in the earth palace however, perhaps because I had not seen the palace yet, so I had no sense of shock. "What about the walls? Has anything changed?" I asked.


    "Yeah." said He Xiaoyong, "At night, there was more and more dark red liquid pouring out with every passing hour, there were signs of some of them twisting into words, but as soon as the palace appeared, it seemed as if all the liquid had shrunk back into the bricks. Perhaps it was because there was too many people there to see it. It now looked no different from the rest of the walls. "


    When I said that Qin beauty did not wanted to see me, Wu Jian came back to mind. He was just about to speak, when his phone rang. Wu Jian went off to the side to answer the phone while I asked for Huang Xiaolong''s whereabouts.


    He Xiaoru told me that Huang Xiaolong was acting very strange when the earth palace appeared, as if he was both excited and scared at the same time. He ordered everyone not to go down to the palace and hurried away, saying that there was an urgent matter at home. Everyone felt strange, because no one saw him answer the phone at all. He also said that so long as we didn¡¯t get too far from the palace, Su Qing or anything else wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt us.


    I was a little relieved. As for what Huang Xiaolong''s had said, I still only trusted him 7 out 8 times. Wu Jian finished talking on the phone and came to us to tell us that he had been ordered to cancel his time off duty and assist the security detail of the palace.


    He Xiaoru looked at each other as Wu Jian went off in the distance. I didn¡¯t know how to react. Ever since I met He xiaoru, it felt like everything was unreal. As if everything was just a dream and I was just drifting through it.


    For some reason, I started thinking about the three pictures I was getting in the mail when this whole thing started. I haven¡¯t received those horrible pictures for a long time. What ever happened with all that? I felt like I was stuck in a spider''s web. I could only see in one direction, but I could feel the vibrations of the spiders creeping up behind me.


    A myriad of thoughts crowded my mind as I decided to begin heading home alone. I felt the need to get some rest and think about everything that was going on.


    After said goodbye to He Xiaoru and her brother, I hailed a taxi. The revelation of the earth palace had such a great impact on the locals that a lot of taxis were driving over, hoping to make some extra money. It was very convenient for me considering I was so tired.


    Once I made it back home, I realized my place was a mess. It was as if I was having a great epiphany about this period of my life and how much it had changed. I looked at my laptop, the same one that was always open and used. There was a thin layer of dust on it that showed evidence of its abandonment since this all began. I smiled bitterly, went over to it and turned on the computer.


    The familiar startup sound could be heard on the speakers and the computer screen lit up. I habitually signed on to my WeChat account, it began loading as typical startup noises filled the room. The notification in the lower right corner kept flashing. It seemed I had a message.


    The profile picture was a familiar on. It was He Xiaoru¡¯s, she must have sent it after I left the earth palace. I remembered the last time I didn¡¯t return her messages and how she scolded me for not getting back to her. I clicked on the He Xiaoru¡¯s chat window to find just one strange message.


    Home Buddha: Hey, I¡¯m leaving to the United States. It¡¯s going to be more than half a year before I come back. Maybe when I come back we can check the house out again!


    It was already strange enough, then I noticed the date stamp on it. It was sent three days after we had gone to the ghost building. Could it be possible that He Xiaoru''s parents made her go to the United States at that time, but she somehow stayed behind? He Xiaoru hadn¡¯t mentioned any of this to me, so I figured it must not have been that big a deal. I closed the chat window and went on with my business.


    After some time of getting back to some friend¡¯s messages, I opened the local forum which I used to log on to on the daily. At the top of the forum was a gray post, with no trace of other colors. I curiously clicked on it. It was a mourning post about an accident. It appeared a plane had crashed somewhere. It was pretty odd. I couldn¡¯t see why this post would be pinned to the top. I guessed some well-known people on the forum must have been on this plane, but what caught my attention was just one reply.


    The reply was a link, written after the link: The legend of the bloody words in the bathroom .


    I shivered. Could it be...


    I quickly clicked on the link, the person who posted did not write anything, there was only one photo, and the photo was very familiar to me. It was the abandoned toilet. My heart skipped a beat, I slowly minimized the post. The image of blood running down the wall flashed before my eyes.


    ¡°Crack¡±. The whole computer screen went black and the lights in the room all turned off. I startled, but quickly snapped back to reality. It must have been a power failure. I looked out of the window. All the street lights were off, I was right.


    I really didn¡¯t know how to evaluate my luck. That power failure really came at a critical time.

 Chapter 47 The familiar child

    When I walked out of the gate of the community, there was a blackout notice on the bulletin board. I stopped to read it. It simply said: electric wires were on overhaul, power should be back up tomorrow.


    I rushed to ghost house and arrived there just in time for work. When I entered the hall, there still weren¡¯t any guests. Sister Hua was scolding the beauties as if they had done something wrong the previous night.


    I tiptoed from the entrance over to the bar, and sister Hua¡¯s head immediately turned in a way an average person could not hope to do, and spoke to me in serious tone, "Come here."


    I was feeling a little afraid as I looked at sister Hua. Although I had become acustomed to the ghosts enough to stop fearing them, I was still very uncomfortable hearing sister Hua speak to me in that tone.


    I walked over and stood in line with the female ghosts. Xiao Lingdang stood next to me and blinked towards me as a quiet greeting. I responded to her by greeting her with my eyes too.


    Seeing me standing there in line with the others, sister Hua said, "What happened yesterday was a disgrace to the Fan house name...."


    I was completely confused, since I didn''t know what had happened. However, I decided it was best not to ask. I was not stupid enough to direct sister Hua¡¯s attention towards me.


    Sister Hua did not smile until the first guest showed up. Her scolding quickly finished. I followed Lulu to the bar and asked in a low voice, "Lulu, what''s going on here today?"


    Lulu looked at the red jade bracelet I was still wearing and replied, "Last night Yan¡¯er fought with the long gown man and caused the power failure."


    I was stunned, I did not know how to respond. The secret of the bathroom had not yet been found, and here was a random fight affecting my life all of a sudden. After a moment of selfishly sulking about my rotten luck, I sighed and asked, "Why did they fight?"


    I remembered that the long gown man kept a little white bug himself, the same way that Yan¡¯er kept Little Pang, I assumed this meant he would have a good relationship with Yan¡¯er.


    Lulu hesitated, "Well, you can ask Yan¡¯er. It¡¯s her business, after all."


    I turned to look at Yan¡¯er and saw her looking at and quietly greeting the guests as they came in, all with an indifferent expression. That expression made most of the guests keep their distance from her.


    I decided I¡¯d rather not ask her about the fighting that had occurred last night, she was clearly not in a good mood.


    It would have been a very ordinary night until one guy came in. He had a gray face with two dark eye sockets and no eyes ball inside them. Blood was slowly flowing out from his eye sockets. Instead of a nose, there were only two holes in the center of his face. Here he was, the long gown man.


    Yan¡¯er, who was sitting still suddenly stood up and said in a cold voice, "Did you bring little Pang with you?"


    The long gown man shook his head. Before Yan¡¯er had a chance to get angry, he continued, "little Pang and little Shou were taken away by a little ghost who collected trash. I have been looking for a long time, but I haven¡¯t found them."


    "A little ghost? What kind of ghost is he?" she replied.


    "It¡¯s the same one who has been picking up garbage and appearing everywhere these past few years."


    "Let¡¯s go and find this little ghost." Immediately after saying that, Yan¡¯er floated into the air. She grabbed the man by the collar and took him out of the ghost house as if in a hurry.


    Little Pang was gone? That was why Yan¡¯er was so anxious, but who was little Shou? I suddenly thought about the worm that often moved in the eyes of the long gown man. It¡¯s name was probably little Shou.


    Alas, they are both pet-lovers. I hope if they fight again later they don¡¯t cause another power failure.


    As I saw them them float away, I felt a sense of relief, thinking the ghost house would be safe tonight.


    As expected, everything went well in ghost house. I finished up my duties and on my way out, I cam across Lulu standing by the door way. She looked at the bracelet on my hand, and said, "Keep that bracelet safe."


    I nodded and was about to ask Lulu what exactly the bracelet was for, but Lulu left before I could say anything else. I had opened my mouth, but didn¡¯t even get a chance to make a sound.


    I walked out of the ghost house. I stood still and thought for a moment, then I began heading home. It was a quite night, nothing could be heard except for my footsteps. Quiet nights no longer scared me, instead they often made me feel a bit more relaxed after a busy day.


    I walked slowly, at wandering speed, neither too fast nor too slow. I tried not to think too much about anything to take a break from the world, but then the sound of broken glass of woke me from my daydream.


    I looked towards the direction of the sound, it had come from a huge trash can on the roadside. I realized my mind was playing tricks on me, it was not the trash can that was large, it was the boy rummaging through it that was small, making it seem bigger by comparison.


    The boy reached his head into the trash can, I couldn''t see his face from where I was standing. Judging from his thin arms and height, he appeared to be a 15 year old boy. Poor child!


    Walking toward the child, I took out a little pocket money with the intention to give it to him. I did not have too much cash with me, since I took full advantage of the convenience of online payments.


    He seemed to hear my footsteps and poked out his head to looked at me. He was muttering something that was not clear to me, but I knew he was muttering about something.


    I slowly approached him, he leaned backward and flinched as reaction, he seemed a bit afraid. I got a peek of his face, half covered with oily hair. I smiled, passed the money over to him, "Don''t be afraid, take the money."


    He was still in whispers, as if something had not been found. I noticed that the child was timid and in low spirits. I reached my hand over to him further and said ¡°Take it, get yourself something to eat.¡±


    He took the money and kept on muttering. He tried not to touch my hand when getting the money, he was such a polite child! It seemed everything was ok with him except for his muttering. I could faintly understand what he was muttering, he was repeating the words, ¡°I haven¡¯t found it, I don¡¯t think I can.¡±


    He put the money somewhere for safe keeping and looked at me deeply, as if he was staring into my very soul. Then he put his head back into the trash can to search for something once again. I sighed and shook my head, continued to walk my way home. But even after a few steps, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about his face, it seemed so familiar for some reason. I thought of his face all the way, which was familiar for some reason.


    Not far away from where we had just met, I turned back to look at the child.

 Chapter 48 Dear sweethear

    The street lights were on and the electricity was coming back.


    I hurried home. The first thing I did was turn on my computer.


    I entered the forum quickly and clicked to open that gray post I had been looking at the day before. That sentence in reply was still in: ¡°The legend of the bloody words in the bathroom.¡± .


    I clicked the link with a trembling hand,and scrolled down. The last picture appeared in front of me with a wall with dark red blood letters on it.


    Dear lover, I do not blame you, because I know your loyalty was to me. You only occasionally made a mistake;


    Dear lover, I do not hate you, because I know you love me. Everything you did was just so I could be free;


    Dear lover, I do not blame you, because I know the moment your knife pierced my chest , you were in more pain than I was;


    Dear lover, please take good care of our child. I told him that I abandoned him, but I was not really willing to do it;


    Dear lover, take care of our child. Tell him that you will always be good to him, love him and cherish him;


    Dear lover, take care of our child. Tell him that his mother will always protect him, so will his father;


    Dear lover, goodbye.


    The words were all crooked I could almost see the pain Su Qing was suffering from while she was writing this all down. It was so sad that Su Qing was so silly and naive that even before she died, she still loved a person who she should not love or who didn¡¯t deserve her love.


    My heart felt very uncomfortable, as if it was being blocked by something. My eyes welled up and a tear rolled down my cheek.


    I took a deep breath and didn''t want to read the text because I had seen more between the lines and something we had been ignoring.


    Su Qing had not commit suicide, and Su Qing''s child should have turned into a ghost after his death and was likely controlled by Zhang Sheng.


    I took a screenshot and sent it to Wu Jian. I unplugged the computer¡¯s power supply. The pain in my heart made me not want to think about this matter, to just give it all to Wu Jian to deal with.


    I was lying on the bed. The issue with Su Qing was cleared up, but for some unknown reason, I was feeling depressed. I had a slight sense of regret exposing all of this. It felt like I was opening up odl, painful wounds.


    Suddenly, a faint cry came from the corner of the room, like that of a weak baby sobbing. The sound was intermittent and vague. I sat up and looked at the place where the sound was coming from with my back against the wall.


    My eyes seemed to give orders to the mice, which rushed together to the tiny baby. My heart clenched, and suddenly the light in the room flashed, when the light was back on, the baby was now sitting on the ground.


    There was till a strange look on his bloody face.


    A mouse was being pinched by the baby''s hand. It seemed like a weak hand, but the mouse could not move at all. The baby slowly put the mouse into its mouth, and with a "crunch", the mouse''s head was bitten down, and blood flowed quickly down the baby''s chin down to its belly which still had the umbilical cord attached.


    I felt like I was frozen. I felt chills, and my back was wet with sweat.


    The baby''s mouth did not stop. "Chew, Katz" said a mysterious voice. The fat mouse slowly disappeared into the baby''s mouth. The baby didn¡¯t look up at me until the whole mouse had been eaten.


    Giggling, the baby stretched out its thin arms toward me and seemed to want me to hug him. I did not know why, but at that moment I completely forgot the terrifying scene of the baby and could only focus on how helpless it looked. I could not help but slowly walke out of bed, reach down and held out my hands towards the baby.


    "I can''t find it. Why can''t I find it?" a whisper could be heard from outside the door, I shivered. When I was less than a meter away from the baby, the baby had lost its helpless appearance and its face, which had been bitten by the mice, turned into a rusted iron green, with no lips, mouth full of fangs like nails. He was smiling at me strangely.


    "Ahhh!" I yelled, retreating quickly, while sitting on the floor. Sweat blurred my eyes, but I did not dare wipe it off since the baby was slowly crawling towards me.


    My body was stiff and I could not move a finger. I could only watch the baby climbing towards me step by step, falling from time to time.


    Just when I felt there was nothing I could do, I could hear that whisper again, "I can''t find it. Why can¡¯t I find it?" A thin figure slowly emerged, standing by the door, greasy hair covering half its face, it was the child he met that knocked over the garbage when he was on his way back home.


    The baby stopped crawling towards me, raised its head, opened its toothed mouth, and looked at the child as if it were threatening.


    The child turned a blind eye to the baby and stood there with his head down, saying, "I can''t find it. Why can¡¯t I find it?"


    The violent knocking on the door suddenly snapped me out of it, I felt as if my heart was about to jump out of my chest. From outside the door I could hear Wu Jian¡¯s voice: "Open the door, something has happened."


    The lights in the room flashed and the child and the baby disappeared. Only Wu Jian''s knock on the door was still clear as day.


    I stood up and moved slowly step by step to open the door.


    "Something has happened. He... What''s wrong with you?" Wu Jian stepped in with one foot, ready to speak before he took a good look at me.


    I shook my head feebly, and sat on the bed under Wu Jian¡¯s arm. Wu Jian gave me a cup of sugar water, but he did not ask me to explain anything to him just yet. He could see I wasn¡¯t in the best condition to talk.


    After drinking up the sugar water in one breath, I finally recoverd to some degree. I could almost guess what Wu Jian wanted to say. Since I had seen the mouse, then Huang Lei must be... .


    Sure enough, Huang Lei was dead. Just last night, like the mouse, Huang Lei was tied to the post outside the prison, with a big hole in his stomach and viscera running out of his stomach to the ground.


    According to the report, a member of staff in the detention center was upset with Huang Lei''s special treatment and killed him. I did not know how credible this conclusion was, but there was no need to struggle for better answers, the point was he had died.


    It had become clear that we had made a mistake, thinking that it was Su Qing causing these troubles, and completely ignoring the child who was abandoned by Su Qing and the devil behind the child who was more terrible than than we could ever picture her being.

 Chapter 49 Close tonigh

    After we carefully analyzed the situation from all angles, Wu Jian left. He had to deal with Huang Lei¡¯s situation. After all, it was him who had sent Huang Lei to the detention center. Although he had falsified a minimal crime, he still had to guarantee Huang Lei¡¯s safety.


    Wu Jian left and I opened the window, it was already morning. I was certain the baby ghost didn¡¯t dare to bother me on such a sunny day. Truthfully however, I couldn¡¯t be sure.


    In retrospect, I felt like that the boy who was rummaging through the trash had come to save me, but why? Just because I gave him money and had some sympathy?


    Suddenly I remembered something, the boy was probably the one that the long gown man had mentioned who took little Pang and little Shou away. I would have to ask him about it if I was able to see him next time, I knew how much Yan¡¯er loved little Pang.


    Then, I didn¡¯t know what to do. I thought about it for a while, I gave a phone call to He Xiaoru and He Xiaoyong to chat with them for a while. I was going to be the next one to die, but I wasn¡¯t too worried about it. With the ghost house backing me up, I figured my safety was guaranteed. Nevertheless, I needed a way out as soon as possible, I preferred not staying in the ghost house every day. Besides, I¡¯d still feel really uncomfortable if Zhang Sheng wasn¡¯t dealt with.


    He Xiaoru came by quickly with her brother, but both of their faces were clearly showing their sadness. It seemed what happened to Huang Lei scared them a lot, for good reason. I comforted them and showed them the pictures in my phone, and told them all about the things that happened yesterday.


    He Xiaoru showed her concern when she realized I was next. I gave her a brief introduction about my experience working in the ghost house. Hearing what I said, He Xiaoru seemed to relax a little, which made me think she really did care about me.


    On the other hand, He Xiaoyong was full of rage, he wanted nothing more than to plunge a knife into Zhang Sheng¡¯s heart.


    "Can we tell this all to Su Qing? I think Su Qing''s involvement is very important. I don¡¯t think she knows that Zhang Sheng has been using her baby to kill people. I also need to understand why we are being targeted by the baby.¡± He Xiaoru said.


    I nodded and thought about how we could go about accomplishing that. Do we just directly approach Zhang Sheng or do we go through the ghost baby?


    He Xiaoru was deep in thought about the same thing, after a while she came up with a suggestion, "Su Qing is the key to all this, I think we can figure all this out if she goes after her baby...."


    He Xiaoru wanted to go to ghost house with me, I had to politely reject her request. I really wasn¡¯t sure yet if she¡¯d be welcomed or not. I headed out early and got there earlier than usual. While avoiding the attention of the pedestrians on the road, I snuck into ghost house. It hadn¡¯t opened yet , so the appearance of the house was still the broken and decrepit appearance it was in reality.


    In the hall, I found a sturdy chair and called Xiao Lingdang a few times. No one answered, were they still sleeping or putting on their make up?


    Just when I started getting bored, sister Hua''s voice snuck up behind me, "Boy, look at you! It¡¯s incredible, you¡¯re here so early!"


    Quickly turned around and decided to flatter to sister Hua, "Sister Hua, I¡¯d do anything for the Fan House!"


    Sister Hua giggled, "I forgot to tell you yesterday. We¡¯re not open for business tonight. You can come by tomorrow and come early! We will be celebrating the festival.¡±


    I was stunned, what was I going to do!? That ghost baby had his eyes on me, but the ghost house was not open tonight.


    I turned around and said, "But it¡¯s the ghost house, we have to do business, right?"


    Sister Hua was giggling again, "Not tonight. Tomorrow is a festival, everybody is very busy."


    Festival? What ghost festival? I set that thought aside, what mattered now was to get sister Hua to open her business, so I told her, "Sister Hua, you see, I¡¯m not busy today, I can...."


    Before I finished, I was interrupted by her laughter, "You want to do something? You can drink with the guests!"


    For the sake of surviving, I said, "Sister Hua, I¡¯d love to drink with guests."


    Sister Hua laughed, then got very serious, "Your body has an unfamiliar sense about it, did you provoke a ghost?"


    With my current job, I was provoking ghosts every single night. The only difference was the ghost I provoked this time wanted to kill me. I decided to stop holding back and I told her about the ghost baby. This was the third time I had told this story.


    Sister Hua listened to my story and covered her smile with her hand the entire time, "Well, we¡¯re still going to be closed tonight, and I must be off now!¡± With that, she turned and disappeared.


    I couldn¡¯t believe that Sister Hua had just ignored how serious this entire situation was! Since the ghost house wasn¡¯t open tonight, I had nothing else to do. I made up my mind, even if we didn''t open, I would stay in ghost house. There were so many female ghosts upstairs, I truly believed they wouldn¡¯t leave me alone when the ghost baby came.


    That was when I remembered, what was the festival that sister Hua had been talking about? I didn¡¯t have time to ask about it when she was still around, was it some kind of special festival for ghosts? My mind was blank and I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it.


    Time continued to pass and the ghost house, typically brightly lit, was dark and gloomy at the moment. The broken furniture showing amidst the moonlight painted quite a creepy picture which began to scare me a little. I as internally cursing at sister Hua for closing up the house.


    "Oh, brother, it¡¯s you! Sister Hua said we are not doing business tonight. Does that mean you¡¯ll help me find my skin."


    I was shocked by Xiao Lingdang¡¯s voice, but then I relaxed quite a bit, I was not alone anymore. It was really boring sitting in a room by myself. Now I had someone to talk to, It would be perfect for killing time. Furthermore, I needed Xiao Lingdang¡¯s help get in touch with sister Tan.


    "Xiao Lingdang, can you help me communicate with sister Tan? I really have to talk with her."


    "Humph, if you don''t help me look for my skin, I won¡¯t help you either."


    She was such a child! Even though I knew it was my fault she was upset. I had promised to help Xiao Lingdang find her skin for a long time. Although I was completely clueless, I knew I hadn¡¯t really dedicated much time for it. Honestly, I was a little embarrassed about it.


    "Xiao Lingdang, please help me find sister Tan. I have a few words to exchange with her, just a few, and then tonight we can go look for your skin together, deal?"

 Chapter 50 Panic night at the market stall 1

    Xiao Lingdang left to deliver the letter. Then, with an excited look, she pulled me outside so we could get started looking for her skin. To be honest, I didn¡¯t know where to begin looking for it. I ended up choosing a route through which we could come back to the the ghost building after a short walk and a couple of turns.


    Stepping out of the door of the ghost building, Xiao Lingdang seemed particularly excited. She held my hand and chattered away, not letting my ears enjoy a moment of silence. It was still relatively early and a lot of night market stalls were full of people eating and drinking. Yet somehow, even the sound of Xiao Lingdang swallowing was still audible in the noisy environment.


    I sighed, searched my pockets for money, and found a few bills on me. I invited Xiao Lingdang to eat some barbecue with me, and even though I didn¡¯t know whether Xiao Lingdang could eat the barbecue or not, it didn¡¯t matter because this got Xiao Lingdang in a very happy mood.


    "Boss, please give me 20 kebabs of meat and 10 kebabs of vegetables. "


    The boss answered, and a young boy lead me to an empty table: "Uncle, are you alone today?"


    " Two." I said, then I came to realization that other people could not see Xiao Lingdang, just when I was trying to change my answer, the boy had already left to get the two pairs of chopsticks and bowls. Oh well, I could just say I was waiting for a friend.


    Xiao Lingdang saw the chopsticks on her side of th table and quickly picked them up. The chopsticks flew in the air and I quickly whispered: "Xiao Lingdang, put them down. You¡¯ll frighten people to death."


    Xiao Lingdang frowned, disgruntled. She put down the chopsticks and looked at me unhappily. She then looked at the cook¡¯s hands turning over the kebabs. I could see a crystal bead of saliva hanging from Xiao Lingdang¡¯s mouth. A classic look for a hungry ghost.


    Xiao Lingdang was obviously seduced by the food. She wasn¡¯t eating like she did in the ghost house, instead she used her nose to smell the kebabs. The steaming hot kebabs would immediately stop emitting smoke. I picked up a kebab. ¡°Yuck.¡± It was really hard to eat. The flavour of the meat was completely gone. It felt like I was eating dirt, not that I knew what that tasted like.


    Xiao Lingdang giggled: "Brother, I just finished eating that."


    Hm, I guess this was another way for ghosts to eat food. I turned around and asked the cook to get me some more kebabs. The guy glanced at my table and saw that all the dishes were completely untouched. I could tell he was felt it was strange, but he loudly confirmed my order and got back to cooking.


    I pretended not to care that Xiao Lingdang had eaten my food, and threw the kebabs into the trash bin quietly and asked Xiao Lingdang: "Do all ghosts eat like this?"


    Xiao Lingdang nodded. She informed me that ghosts usually eat like this, but in haunted places like houses, they eat the same way that people do. The mere difference was that the meal would just turn cold. I was about to ask for more details, when I saw a young man approach from the table next door and stand beside me.


    I looked up curiously at the young man. He was only about 18 or 19 years old, and looked like a high school student or a student who had just started university, his face was flushed and he reeked of alcohol. It was clear he had more than a few drinks.


    The young man wobbled and said to me, "Excuse me, we are playing a game. As part of it, I have to take one of your kebabs. I''m so sorry."


    It seemed he and his friends were playing a game of ¡°truth or dare¡±, a game I used to play when I was younger. The whole point was to make someone feel awkward or embarrassed. I nodded with a smile and handed him one of the kebabs the cook had just finished making.


    The young man was shocked by my boldness and thanked me several times. I saw that he was having trouble standing and told him to head back to his table, lest he were to fall right here and now. The young man nodded his head and smiled at Xiao Lingdang. Then just walked away.


    I hadn¡¯t noticed it at first, but come to think of it. The young man had definitely seen Xiao Lingdang. Without hesitation, I asked Xiao Lingdang what was going on. Xiao Lingdang was busy inhaling the scent and essence from all the kebabs: "It''s normal. It''s cloudy and it''s a gloomy place. A lot of people who have bad fortune can see us."


    I thought about the movies I¡¯d seen about ghosts and understood what Xiao Lingdang was saying.


    I asked curiously, "What kind of bad fortune does that guy have?"


    Xiao Lingdang said: "Please order some more food, it¡¯s delicious! It all tastes so good! That boy? He isn¡¯t really much of an Alpha and he likes drinking a lot of wine."


    I nodded and noticed that non of the kebabs on the table were letting off any smoke, so I turned back to the cook and asked for some more kebabs. I hadn¡¯t really eaten many and the cook was looking at me suspiciously.


    Other people couldn''t see Xiao Lingdang, so I couldn¡¯t just talk to Xiao Lingdang all the time, or they would treat me like a psycho. Meanwhile, Xiao Lingdang was totally fascinated by the kebabs and was hardly paying any attention to me.


    I looked around, bored. The young man was looking quite pathetic. In just a short amount of time, he had barked like a dog and hugged a tree while shouting for help. I had to admit, it was pretty funny, everyone around us got a good laugh. Even the two girls who worked at the stall smiled and looked at each other from time to time.


    It seemed it was the young man¡¯s turn again. He stood up with his off balanced feet, waved his hands, and staggered to one side of the alley. It seemed he was off to relieve himself from his full bladder. My eyes fell on the two girls in the workplace, who kept talking quietly, ordering a lot of things, but not eating much. Oddly enough, nothing was smoking on the table.


    I shook my head. Seeing Xiao Lingdang¡¯s way of eating must have me imagining things. It would make sense that their food had been severved a while ago and it was getting cold.


    The young man staggered back from the alley, with a few drops of water on his pants. It was very obvious under the light. Er¡­. I wasn¡¯t looking out of perversion, it was purely my subconscious. The young man walked directly to his desk, picked up a handful of kebabs, and went to the alley again.


    The young companions froze for a moment, laughed and scolded:¡± He¡¯s even eating while going to the toilet!¡±


    I was also a little bothered, but I did not care too much. Xiao Lingdang had eaten all the kebab, and was constantly saying in my ear: "More barbecue please! I want eggplant and more meat kebabs."

 Chapter 51 The Panic in Night Market Stall 2

    I looked over towards where the young boy was previously sitting and realized for the first time that there were no longer several people at the table. Only two or three people remained and they all looked like they had drunk far too much. They were playing a drinking game and one of them must have lost because he was face down on the table. With the young boy nowhere to be seen, I looked towards the alley and saw him slowly emerge from the shadows. He walked to his table, grabbed the remaining kebabs, picked up the box of beer and headed towards the alley again.


    Out of nowhere one of the men who was playing the drinking game became disturbed by the young man¡¯s actions, shouting, ¡°What the hell is going on with that guy?¡±


    The other man playing with him was sporting a crew cut, he was squinting to see past his blurred vision and reached out his hand to stop the long-haired man. He was about to stand up, when crew cut guy said, ¡°Forget it, we are all friends here!¡±


    The long-haired man spat, then turned to the cook and shouted, ¡°Hey, boss. Another 50 kebabs.¡±


    The man with the crew cut shook himself in attempt to sober up a bit before walking into the alley.


    By this point, even I figured there was something wrong with the young man. He was acting very odd. ¡°Xiao Lingdang, has that guy been interacting with ghosts?¡± I asked.


    She was so wrapped up with eating, I had to ask her a second time. ¡°I¡¯m sorry brother, I wasn¡¯t really paying attention.¡± I sighed and was about to begin explaining the situation to her.


    My explanation was cut short by a loud noise coming from the alley. The man with crew cut fell to the ground in panic as he retreated from the alley. After struggling for a long time, he got up and ran back towards the stand in the night market.


    ¡°HEY! Watch out!¡± Yelled the boss of the stand as he approached. The long-haired man stood up at once and demanded, ¡°What happened? Did that other guy do anything to you?¡±


    Everyone looked in his direction, except for Xiao Lingdang who still was eating. She kept eating the kebabs and would occasionally look at the situation around her.


    The boss went over and asked him what had happened in the alley. After some time, the man caught his breath and began to speak, his voice trembling. ¡°There...There was...There was...was a.¡±


    The man said ¡°There was¡± many times, but couldn¡¯t manage to get out what he had seen. Then, he began to cry.


    The boss of the stall was dumbfounded, the long-haired man picked up an empty beer bottle from the table and walked into the alley. While walking, he was grumbling about. Everyone was under the impression that the young boy might have done something to the man with crew cut.


    The boss hurriedly beckoned his boy to watch the night market stall and hastily followed behind the long-hair into the alley. The boss was worried that the long-haired man would end up doing something impulsive.


    I was curious too, but when I saw that Xiao Lingdang hadn¡¯t moved, I too dared not move a muscle. After all, I was scared of the ghost baby and had very little courage at this point.


    Two business women on one side also stood up out of curiosity, they hesitated for a moment, then sat down but did not continue chatting, they just looked in the direction of the alley with curiosity. soon, the only sound that could be heard in the night market was the crying of the traumatized man.


    Although the boss tried to pull the long-haired man back, he still walked into the alley with him. Their figures disappeared into the shadows of the alley and everything got eerily quiet. I started getting worried about their safety and began making up nonsense scenarios in my mind. Thoughts like imagining countless broken limbs flying out of the alley. In my defense, my life was pretty out there.


    After a short time, there was finally some sound coming from the alley. The first one was the sound of the breaking of beer bottle, then we could all hear the long-haired man''s yelling and voice of the boss protesting is actions. A moment later, the long-haired man dragging the young boy out of the alley, the boss still persuading him to calm down.


    As they approached us, I noticed that the young boy had a big bump on his head, and some small cuts in his face and right hand. It was pretty clear that he had been attacked by the long-hair man. Although the young boy was terribly drunk, he still felt as if he¡¯d been wronged and kept explaining, ¡°I''m just drinking with a few friends. What''s wrong with you?¡±


    I looked with curiosity into the alley, wondering whether I was just imagining things, I could have sworn I saw a human head with fluffy long hair flickering through the alley.


    The boss seemed to be worried that another accident would happen, so he called a taxi and persuaded a few people in his stall to leave. The long-haired man still wanted to continue drinking, but the man with the crew cut who appeared to be slightly more clear-headed than before, convinced him to leave. The long-haired man finally agreed and left with him.


    With help from the boss, the man with the crew cut pushed the drunk man into the taxi. He then hesitated for a moment and went to the young boy''s side to persuade him, ¡°Come with us.¡±


    The long-haired man snorted but didn¡¯t say anything. The young man slumped in his chair and waved his hand, saying, ¡°You two can just go. I still want to drink a little more with some of my friends. Just a little more.¡±


    The boss had no idea who the boy was talking about and just stared at the man with crew cut hoping he could persuade the young boy to leave with them. However, the long-haired man pulled at his friend¡¯s shirt and pulled him into the taxi before it sped off into the distance. Meanwhile, the bitter boss was still trying to convince the young boy to leave.


    The young boy was still unwilling to leave and kept saying he would just go over to hang out with his friends. As he was saying this, he began walking towards the alley again. I asked the boss, ¡°Hey boss, does he have any friends over there?¡±


    The boss answered annoyed, ¡°There is no one over there, he is completely drunk, just sitting alone on the ground talking to himself.¡±


    Of course, it seems the young boy really had met some ghosts. I can¡¯t imagine any other explanation for his odd behavior. Alcohol didn¡¯t really have this effect on people, no matter how drunk they got.


    The boss hesitated there for a moment and began talking to me and the two business women, ¡°Everybody! I don¡¯t mind making a little less money tonight. You can all see that several people have been entirely way too drunk here tonight. So I want to close my night market stall a bit earlier. I hope you all understand.¡±


    The two business women looked a little disappointed, but in the end they agreed with the boss. As for me, I didn¡¯t want to get in trouble, so I just nodded. However, Xiao Lingdang looked very unhappy and just looked towards the alley with a sense of coldness. I figured she just wanted to eat more kebabs.


    The two business women stood up to pay the bill. The young boy staggered back from the alley and put the empty box of beer from his hand to the ground and said drunkenly, ¡°My friends, my friends are gone. Hey boss, I want to pay the bill.¡±


    Seeing that the young boy was ready to leave, the two business women sat down again. The boss got very happy and said, ¡°I¡¯ll call a taxi for you. Your bill from earlier has already been paid. You don¡¯t have to pay the most recent bill. Just go home and call it a night.¡±


    After saying this, the boss told his boy to call a taxi. Before the boy began calling, a taxi suddenly veered into view and parked in front of the boss''s stall. I was able to see the three men who had just left go back to their seats and sit down again. The man who was too drunk before, was now very clear-minded. He was walking straight and balanced, which made me wonder if he really was terribly drunk earlier or if it was just an act.


    The young boy laughed, ¡°Hi, guys. You...I just went over there to find my friends, but they¡¯re gone, so why don¡¯t the three of us continue drinking?¡±

 Chapter 52 Panic night in the market stall 3

    I could not help but look at the three men closely, they were mostly motionless, like puppets. They nodded their heads while the young man continued talking. They seemed to notice that I was looking at them and the long-haired man slowly turned his head to me. I instantly got chills. The long-haired man''s eyes were completely free of any sign of drunkenness, instead they held a trace of a coldness so penetrating, it made me shudder.


    The taxi was parked in front of the stall, and the taxi driver was walking over slowly. He sat next to the young man without saying a word, which was only making the whole thing even stranger.


    I looked at Xiao Lingdang , but she did not want to go, she just speed up the pace of eating her kebabs. I could tell she was getting ready to ask for more. I knew that there was something wrong with the young man so I whispered: " Xiao Lingdang, there is something unusual going on here. Why don''t we go somewhere else£¿"


    Xiao Lingdang raised her head, but did not look at me, she looked behind me instead. I was trembling. I quickly turned around to see the boss¡¯ boy standing behind me with a stack of paper towels in his hand. He was startled by the sudedn turn of my head and the paper towels fell to the ground.


    I quickly apologized, but my heart was uneasy. The boy must have heard me talking to Xiao Lingdang. The boy put the paper on the table, and ran to the boss. He whispered a few words into his ear and the boss''s eyes focused on me. After a few seconds, the boss brought the kebabs over. The boss hesitated stepping in my direction, I understood that he was scared.


    The boss put the kebabs on the table, smiling reluctantly: "These kebabs are free. They are on the house. Uhm¡­ your friend hasn''t arrived yet?"


    From time to time, the boss''s eyes would drift towards the direction of Xiao Lingdang, though he obviously wouldn¡¯t focus on Xiao Lingdang. He just looked towards the disassembled bowl and chopsticks. I didn''t want to scare the boss, so I laughed and said, "I just called him. That guy is still playing games. I don''t know if he will even come tonight." As I was saying this I pulled out my earphones out of my pocket to make it seem like I was using the headset for a call.


    The boss released an obvious breath and gave the boy a hard look. His tone also eased up and became natural once again: "OK, good. Then you can just take your time."


    But the boss did not pay any attention to the boy since there were three new guests approaching the stand and the boss was greeting them. The little boy was anxious, his eyes would glance at me from time to time. Finally, the boss scolded him and he reluctantly began cleaning the tables.


    It seemed that the people who were coming had just finished playing some kind of game and were constantly talking about what had just happened in it. I looked at them curiously. They were three young people, two men and a woman. They were in their early 20s, their expressions natural. They looked like normal people, a stark contrast from what we had been seeing all night.


    Instead of looking at the other guests, the three sat directly at the table next to the young man, it was located between the him and the women who worked there.


    This skin-finding trip was one climactic event after another. I picked up a kebab. I figured since Xiao Lingdang was hereany ghosts that could be around wouldn''t be able to find me. I was clearly wrong, but this whole scene was none of my business. Besides, it looked like he was all right. The ghosts did not seem to want to harm the young man, instead it looked as if they regarded him as a friend.


    It wasn¡¯t outlandish for me to think this way. Since I had come into contact with the beauties in the ghost house, I kept thinking that ghosts wouldn¡¯t harm people. At least, not the majority of ghosts anyway.


    As Xiao Lingdang continued eating the kebabs. I sighed and took out my bank card. The cash I had on me was definitely not enough to pay the bill. I looked up at the ATM in the distance and whispered to Xiao Lingdang. Then I went to the boss and said, "Boss, I¡¯m going to get some money and come back right away." I pointed to the ATM a hundred meters away. The boss glanced at me, nodded with a smile, and said, "It''s okay. You can also pay next time if you¡¯d like."


    I smiled and walked to the ATM. The boss was just being polite and I chose not to take it seriously.


    I entered the 24-hour withdrawal hall. A security guard was sitting at a table by the door sleeping soundly. There was already someone in the hall, a woman with a nice outfit, who seemed to hear my footsteps and looked back at me. She glanced nervously at the sleeping security guard.


    She wore smoky makeup and reminded me a bit of a panda. Of course, I mean that in a cute way. I stood outside and didn''t go in just to give her space and let her feel comfortable. There was more than one ATM inside, but all of them were out of order except for the one she was using.


    When the panda girl saw me standing at the door, she was relieved. She withdrew the money, and left the room. As she was leaving, she gave a nod to thank me for my gentlemanly demeanor. I responded with a nod of my own and a smile.


    After withdrawing the money, I went back to the night market stall, said hello to the boss, and went back to my seat. I looked around aimlessely and learned that the panda girl was also at the night market stall, with two chopsticks and bowl in front of her. It seemed she was waiting for someone.


    As Xiao Lingdang continued to eat kebabs, I thought for a while. I pretended to be on the phone and grabbed my headphones: "Do you still want to eat? We''re almost done here."


    Xiao Lingdang raised her head, dissatisfied with me and motionless. I was chilled by her stare, I was forced to say: "OK, go ahead and eat, I¡¯ll wait for you." Then I pretended to end the call.


    I looked at my watch. It was best just to let Xiao Lingdang finish eating. It was only two o''clock. The ghost baby was probably still gathering its energy and resting.


    There were five tables at the night market, but they were all quiet, and the table that had the most people together was the same one young man sittingin. Only the young man would drunkenly talk from time to time. The long-haired man, crew cut guy and the taxi driver were sitting quietly, without eating or drinking, but nodding occasionally. The dishes on the table were piling up the boss kept saying there was no need to make more with so much food on the table, but the crew cut guy took out a stack of money. I glanced at the thickness of the stack. It was about 2000 yuan or so. The boss was not willing to take it. The money stayed on the table, held in place by an empty plate.


    The two women that worked at the stall were talking in a low voice. The dishes on the table were hardly being eaten. The beer was being drunk, and a lot of it. There was already three empty beer cases on the ground.


    The panda girl was eating. Her eating movement had a big contrast with her makeup. I would have thought that the woman with the smoky makeup would be eating confidently, but the panda girl was eating with a bot of a shy demeanor, taking small bites and really savoring the taste of each bite. There wasn¡¯t a case of beer under the table, instead there was a half finished bottle of white wine.


    The table with two young men and the woman was the noisiest table. They were still talking about the game, but their voice seemed to be deliberately low, so that I could only hear vague details.


    The last table just had me in it, which was probably the strangest table. The man sitting in this table would occasionally talk to himself and occasionally throw uneaten kebabs into the garbage bag beneath him.

 Chapter 53 The Panic in the Night Market Stall 4

    The boss looked over and began pacing, but couldn¡¯t brnig himself to actually approach them. I could tell he also knew that there was something wrong. As the group of young people, who ad been previously discussing the game, paid for their meal, the boss made a phone call and decided to hail a taxi himself to send the boy away.


    It was late now and there were very few taxis on the street. After waiting for quite some time, there was still not a taxi in sight. The young men who were discussing the game were no longer waiting for a taxi. Instead, they sat back down at the table and began to eat once more. While the boss was rushing to get the orders in, the taxi driver stood up and slowly walked over to the boss. He walked with an odd pace. It looked as if he was a thief sneaking up on his desired item, noiselessly moving towards the grill.


    ¡°I¡¯ll drive him home.¡± The driver finally spoke in a flat voice and it seemed detached from the actual social situation. It seemed earnest, but there was absolutely no emotion behind his words.


    The boss subconsciously pulled the boy behind him and smiled stiffly, ¡°No. No. Thanks. I¡¯ve already called my friend.¡±


    It was as if the driver didn¡¯t hear what the boss had just said and continued to repeat his words, ¡°I¡¯ll drive him home.¡± However, there was some haste in his tone this time.


    Even the boy began getting a bit scared and then just hid behind the boss. I looked up at the driver, whose face was pale and eyes were bloodshot. He looked a little terrifying. I couldn¡¯t even tell if the driver was a man or a ghost at this point. No person in their right mind would dare to take his car.


    The boss rejected his offer again and the driver just stood there without saying a word. He went back to his seat and just sat there quietly.


    As that strange even was going on, a phone began to ring, diminished the strange atmosphere that left the air tense and unnerving. I looked towards the direction of the sound and saw the panda girl take out her phone from her bag and have a look. She didn¡¯t answer the phone however, and just put it aside, let it continue ringing. It was pretty unusual though. Usually, if a phone isn¡¯t answered, it would usually hang up automatically after ringing a few times. However, the panda girl¡¯s phone didn¡¯t stop ringing and it seemed that it would never stop at all.


    After a long time, the panda girl finally answered the phone.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Hm.¡±


    ¡°OK.¡±


    After a three-word exchange, she put her phone in her bag, then stood up and said to the boss, ¡°Boss, can I have the check, please?¡±


    With a happy expression, the boss quickly set up the bill for panda girl. The panda girl didn¡¯t leave immediately, instead she walked up to the taxi driver and asked him, ¡°Sir, can I take your taxi?¡±


    The boss stepped forward. He wanted to say something but then decided against it. I was trying to muster the courage to say something to stop the panda girl, since there obviously was something wrong with the taxi driver. When I was about to say something, the taxi driver refused the her request.


    I couldn''t help but wonder why. I really couldn¡¯t understand anything that was going on tonight.


    Seeing that the taxi driver refused her request, the panda girl smiled slightly, returned to her seat and ordered some kebabs from the boss again. I could see very clearly that the boss was in a state of shock and frustration.


    Absolutely no one was leaving the stall and the atmosphere was getting weirder and weirder. I hastened to urge Xiao Lingdang to leave but it was as if she had not eaten for a hundred years. She shook her head and just ignored me. What¡¯s more, she even had me order beer for her. She must have gotten in the mood for a few drinks after seeing the others drinking.


    I had no choice but to ask the boss to bring me a bottle of beer. Taking advantage of the fact that he had to approach to give us the beer, the boss inquired quietly, ¡°Will your friend still come? If he¡¯s not coming, please go home early.¡±


    The boss''s voice was so low that I could hardly hear it. After finishing his sentence, the boss seemed afraid of being noticed by the others, and hurried back to grill and continued to barbecue.


    After the boss¡¯ words, I could really tell he was a good guy. I think if I were the boss, I wouldn¡¯t want any normal people to leave, since it would mean I¡¯d have more people on my side if anything went wrong. Of course, if he had seen the garbage bag full of uneaten kabobs under the table, perhaps I wouldn¡¯t have received so much kindness.


    I looked at my watch and saw that it was three o''clock. I had no intention of leaving just yet. Since Xiao Lingdang was by my side, I still felt very safe. The boss and the boy who seemed to be his son were innocent people, so I didn''t want them to be hurt by any ghosts. Perhaps this is why the boss was so kind, it inspired others to look out for him.


    The young men, who were preciously talking about the game, stood up again and wanted to pay for their bill once more. Again, they walked out of the stall to wait for a taxi, but then soon returned to their seats.


    Now even the behavior of the game enthusiasts, who I previously thought were absolutely not a problem, was starting to bother me. Their behavior was odd and I began wondering why they were hesitating to leave. Did they live too far? No, this was just a small county town and it was just a palm-sized place, there was no reason why they¡¯d have to wait for a taxi.


    It was a little cold that night but what really made people feel chills was the people in the night market stall, all of whom looked and acted very strangely.


    I ordered some more kebabs, causing the boss to shout, ¡°Excuse me, everyone. The kebabs are sold out.¡± The boss''s voice was trembling and he was holding the boy¡¯s hand tightly. I could clearly see that in the space under the grill, the boss had quietly tucked the kebabs into a corner.


    Nobody replied or reacted to the boss¡¯ announcement, it was as if nobody had heard him. Some were just sitting there, doing nothing. The others were discussing the game or drinking.


    The boss was clearly upset and said with a loud voice, ¡°We¡¯re going to close the stall and we¡¯re out of kebabs!¡±


    This time, somebody finally reacted to what he had said. One of the two business women walked over to the boss ready to pay her tab. Just as I thought she was going to check out, she suddenly pointed at the grill behind the boss and said in a cold voice, ¡°There still are some left.¡±


    The boss began sweating and was left astonished. Were they both ghosts, too?


    The boss laughed and blamed himself for having a bad memory. He then used his trembling hands to take the kebabs out from under the grill. He must be really regretting having prepared so many kababs.


    The two business women began to chat again, while the boss continued to barbecue, nothing had changed.


    Suddenly, the panda girl stood up and went towards the shadows on one side of the stall. I was surprised, but then realized that she may have been going to the bathroom. As I was averting my eyes out of respect, it suddenly occurred to me that the toilet was next to the stall and it was unoccupied, so why was she going into a place with no lighting?

 Chapter 54 Panic night market stall 5

    The pregnant woman held it up for a while and saw that the panda girl had no intention of tapping her glass with with hers at all. She drunk the wine from the cup and poured herself one more glass of wine. She continued to drink.


    The boss obviously saw this going on, set aside any fear he may have had, hurried overy, and repeatedly reprimanded the pregnant woman. A pregnant woman drinking in such a way was completely disdainful behavior.


    However, the pregnant woman completely ignored the boss, and just looked straight at the panda girl. The panda girl wasn¡¯t paying any attention to her, so the pregnant lady continued drinking the wine on her own.


    The boss had no choice but to threaten to call the police. It looked as if the boss was about to collapse.


    The pregnant woman finally gave him some kind of response. She looked t the boss, but still did not speak. The boss''s mouth slightly quivered. After a few moments, he finally took out his mobile phone with a stern look, ppearing ready to call the police.


    The boss had not dialed yet and everyone was staring at him. Nobody noticed when the taxi driver had walked up to the boss, and grabbed the boss'' arm without warning. The boss was obviously frightened, his hand shaking. The mobile phone immediately fell on the ground, making a loud noise as it hit the ground.


    I did not know if I was just imagining it, but the taxi driver''s face turned even more pale than before.It was as if it had been completely drained of blood. I heard the taxi driver say to the panda girl: "I will take you back."


    The panda girl looked at the taxi driver in amazement and did not have time to reply. The panda girl was quickly pulled into the taxi by the driver. I was completely shocked by the sudden turn of events, and everybody was motionless, stunned by incomprehensible events taking place before us.


    The pregnant woman did not stop, instead she stood up, watched the two people get into the taxi, and ride away. The pregnant woman displayed an extremely sweet smile and walked towards towards the man with the crew cut. That same man, who had been quiet this entire time also stood up to look at the pregnant woman. The pregnant woman smiled very strangely, and walked into the alley with several people who stood up after her.


    I felt useless as my head just stared at the scene before me. The boss was obviously left in a daze, unsure what to do. He asked everyone: "Should we call the police?"


    The driver sat down on one of the chairs, gasping for breath. After a couple of seconds, he cried out and said, "They''re gone. They''re finally gone!"


    The panda girl came forward and held the driver in her arms. She pressed his head to her chest as tears also flowed down her cheeks. "Yes, They¡¯re finally gone! They¡¯re finally gone."


    I was confused, but I could feel that both the driver and the panda girl were actually human beings. I couldn¡¯t say the same thing about the people who had just left. I had no idea what was going on with them. I couldn''t help looking down the alley. Everything was quiet, not a sound came from that direction.


    I felt like I was hallucinating.


    Finally the driver stopped crying. He raised his head and wiped the tears from his face, he sat there looking at us with embarrassment: "I¡¯m sorry to have scared you."


    Everyone was curious, looking intently at the driver, hoping that the driver could give everyone an explanation about what was going on.


    The driver scratched his head and pointed to the panda girl: "This is my wife Wang Fen, my name is Yang Fan. This matter started a month ago."


    It turned out, a month ago, a taxi driver named Yang Fan and his wife Wang Fen were quarreling. This caused Yang Fan to drive out late at night to transport passengers. It was already very late into the night, and Yang Fan did not care whether he could actually pick up any passengersthat night. He honestly, just wanted a chance to get away from his nagging wife. However, he had no idea the trouble he would find himself in by going out this late at night.


    It was in that small alley one night, when the night market stalled had already closed and there was no one around that this all started. Yang Fan was driving slow while wondering if it was a good time to go home, when he came across a pregnant woman. The bottom half of her body was covered in blood and she was doing her best to flag down Yang Fan.


    Yang Fan was startled and quickly came to a complete stop. To be honest, Yang Fan did not want to give a lift to some pregnant woman whose lower body was bleeding everywhere, but Yang Fan suddenly remembered the miscarriage of his last child with his wife. In a moment of weakness, he let the pregnant women into the car. As she was getting into the taxi, two men rushed out from the alley clapping and knocking on Yang Fan''s window, asking for the pregnant woman to get off.


    The pregnant woman persisted that he drive on, Yang Fan clenched his teeth, ignoring the curses and threats of the men outside. He drove the pregnant woman to the county hospital and she went through the hospitalization procedure. Unfortunately, it was too late. The pregnant woman died on the operating table.


    Yang Fan was called by the police to investigate, and from the police officers filling the report, Yang Fan learned that the pregnant woman had been taken to that alley by her husband, in order to sold the unborn child.


    The two men who stopped the car were arrested that night, and after a short while, they died a horrific death in the detention center. However, at the time Yang Fan was not actively looking into the details of the whole ordeal and ended up not finding out about any of this.


    A week later, when it was Yang Fan''s turn to drive the night shift, there would always be the ghosts of these two men already silently waiting in the taxi. The first night this happened, Yang Fan was asked to bring them to this alley. Fter several nights of this, Yang Fan finally realized that he was in trouble.


    Everytime the two men would ask YangFan to continue driving them through the alley, he would hear a woman crying in the shadows. This caused the two men to leave Yang Fan alone, leave the car and quickly rush into the alley. Later Yang Fan eventually came to realize that it was the pregnant woman that was helping him get rid of these two men.


    If this matter was not taken care of, it seemed it would continue to be a big problem. After telling his wife what was happening to him, she sent him to a funeral items store. He saw an old man who wore a Chinese tunic suit and spoke with a strange accent.


    The old man told Yang Fan about a means of getting rid of these ghosts, who were taking over his life. He told Yang Fan''s wife to stage a fight with Yang Fan, he said the more fierce the fight the better. The next time Yang Fan would transport the two strange men, he would also let his wife go along with him. The pregnant woman was then expected to approach his wife to apologize for the curse that she had brought upon them, but the old man told them not to accept the apology. When the pregnant woman and the weird men would see each other, then he and his wife were supposed to leave the area and return after sometime to where they had just left. The old man said that if the pregnant woman and the weird men were gone, then he would be safe.


    Yang Fan did not know why he would have to do these things, but he knew he had to give it a try and had no choice but to start planning the whole thing. As expected, Yang Fan drove the the strange men again when they appeared in the back seat. Although the number of the strange men turned into three at some point, Yang Fan still drove them to the entrance of the alley. Howver, that¡¯s when something unexpected happened.


    The night market stall was still open, and the three strange men actually wanted to eat. Yang Fan felt helpless, and had to first send a message to his wife, who was also seated at the night market stall as the strange men.

 Chapter 55 The Panic in Night Market Stall 6

    It was at this moment that the boy suddenly spoke, ¡°What if they come out after entering the alley, Sir?¡±


    I looked at the 12 or 13-year-old boy who had just spoken and felt a coldness in my heart. I hurriedly looked towards the alley, and sure enough, the man who had just been sleeping on his stomach was slowly moving towards the night market stalls.


    Both Yang Fan and Wang Fen stood up and looked at the man in horror. They lost their calmness at this unexpected turn of events.


    The man didn¡¯t look at any of us. Instead, he set his eyes on the young man, then went to his side and tapped him on the top of his head. The young man was very drunk, had already fallen asleep and did not react.


    The man massaged his temple with his fingertips and looked around confused. ¡°Boss, all of my friends have left. Is it just the two of us now? ¡­and what was I doing in the alley, did someone put me there?¡± The man asked with a mixture of confusion and anger.


    The boss was about to say something when I stood up and interrupted him, ¡°Yeah, your friends are gone. You two were just having a couple of drinks, that''s all.¡±


    The man looked at me bewildered and finally nodded, ¡°Damn! I know I¡¯m drunk, but why was I in the alley?¡±


    The boss understood what I was trying to do and went on asking, ¡°I thought you had to go to the bathroom. We weren¡¯t going to stop you. You were only in there for a short time though, is something wrong? Did you fall down or something?¡±


    The man kept muttering ¡°always forgetting things¡­¡± or something like that. It seemed like he had already believed every word of what we had just said. Then he took a look at the young man, who was drunk and unconscious, and finally said, ¡°What do I do with him?¡±


    One of the men who was discussing the games stood up and said, ¡°Take him to a hotel. As a matter of fact, we¡¯re heading to the Internet bar no, we can go there together.¡±


    The man nodded and kept thanking him. Finally, with the help of a few of the people talking about the game, the man held up the young man and left. Then for some odd reason, one of the women that were a part of that group turned around and smiled at me. Honestly, it looked more like she was smiling right at Xiao Lingdang.


    Yang Fan gave his wife a look and left with her. After ensuring there was nothing wrong, they did not want to stay any longer.


    Since Xiao Lingdang was here, I couldn¡¯t leave our table. However, the two business women eventually took their leftovers and walked over to share a table with the boss and talk about everything that had just happened.


    The boss began calling me over again, the two women with him did too. I took a good look at the food in front of Xiao Lingdang and made sure there was enough food on the table for her to be entertained eating for a while. Once I made sure she¡¯d be busy, I walked over and took part in the conversation about the night¡¯s creepy events.


    Time went by and many other ghost stories were told before the phone rang. The boss answered it, his family was asking why he hadn¡¯t gone back home yet. He gave them some simple excuse and then looked at us.


    I looked at my watch and was shocked to learn that it was almost four o''clock. We all thanked the boss at the same time and as we were about to leave, we could hear the loud sound of siren getting nearer and nearer.


    To our astonishment, a few ambulances and police cars stopped at the gate of the Internet bar a couple of blocks down. All the people in the Internet Bar walked out and stood by the door as they continued talking. However, because it was so far away, we could not hear what they were saying.


    It was clear that something had happened, but we were so tired after all the strange events of the night that none of us were curious enough to walk up and get a better look. Not to mention, we had learned our lesson from Yang Fan¡¯s story about getting involved in other¡¯s business. Curiosity did keep our attention enough to look like prairie dogs out in that direction, stretching our necks to get a better view.


    The Internet cafe seemed to be closing. The onlookers slowly left and a few withered people walked towards the night market stall and one man asked, ¡°Boss, you got anything to eat?¡±


    The boss glanced at the food on the stall and replied to them, ¡°I still have some food. There are no kebabs, but I still have some fish and vegetables.¡±


    The men nodded and decided to take a seat. They sat down and began to talk about what had just happened. Apparently, five people walked into the Internet Caf¨¦, then died suddenly. Now there was an investigation on the owners of the place to try to figure out what was going on.


    The boss looked at me subconsciously, I was looking at him too. Some time passed before I asked, ¡°How long have they been dead?¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡±


    I swallowed some saliva and looked at the boss who was taking still grilling and very hesitant. I could not help but comfort him. After all, the police were still off in the distance, so no ghost would dare to commit a crime here, right? Nevertheless, this night market stall clearly had a bad Fengshui and I would never come here again.


    Fortunately, nothing else happened that night. It was almost dawn and Xiao Lingdang still wanted to eat more kebabs, except the Boss really was out this time. So I grabbed her hand and said goodbye to the boss as we walked in the direction of the ghost building.


    Meanwhile, I wondered what the boss¡¯ expression would be when he sees the garbage bag under the table. I laughed to myself at the poor man¡¯s expense.


    On the way back, Xiao Lingdang finally remembered that the reason she had come out with me was to look for her skin. That realization made her a little sad and she decided to put all the blame on me. She forced me to agree to accompany her to look for her skin next time. I reluctantly agreed. Although I didn''t know what festival the ghost building would be celebrating tomorrow, I knew I was definitely going to stay in the ghost building. I was really hoping I would be much safer in the ghost building than I was if I just went out with Xiao Lingdang.


    After the festival and after this whole mess was sorted, I would go with her to look for her skin every day. It wouldn¡¯t be a big deal.


    I was reminiscing on the vents of the night and I remembered the part of the story where Yang Fan mentioned the old man in the Chinese tunic suit. I wondered if he would know how to deal with the ghost baby.


    After walking Xiao Lingdang back to the ghost building, I waited until the sky was lit up by the sun and I sneaked out of the ghost building like a thief. When I was just about to head back to my place to get some sleep, I got a call from Wu Jian. He told me to be at the government building at 08:30. I took a look at my watch and noticed it was almost 7: 00 in the morning already. I was niether too late or too early, but one thing was certain, I did not have enough time to sleep. So I told him to meet up for breakfast so I could ask what we were going to do in the government building.


    Wu Jian took his time getting to the restaurant. After waiting for half an hour, he finally arrived with news I was not expecting.


    The big news was that the government had agreed to sell me the ghost building for 5 million and no down payment, as long as I lived in the ghost building. I was very surprised but Wu Jian kept saying he knew it would happen.


    The discovery of the underground palace under the foundation of Jiang San¡¯s place had attracted great attention in the province, so many experts and leaders were visiting the small county. In order to maintain a good image, the government preferred that I live in the ghost building, perhaps because I was not afraid of dying. I¡¯m sure it wouldn¡¯t look good if there was an empty, haunted, house in the middle of the city.


    It turned out this was also good for me. I never thought I could own such a big villa.


    After finishing breakfast and accompanied by Wu Jian, I signed a lot of contracts in the government building and finally got the place under my name. I felt as if I was dreaming all morning, just watching those people glaring at me with jealous eyes as I signed my name over and over again. I gotta admit, I kinda liked it. It felt really good to not feel as if I was beneath everyone, as I used to.

 Chapter 56 The appointment of the Huakui 1

    I was familiar with a lot of ghosts who were regulars of the ghost building, but most of them were ghosts I¡¯d never seen before.


    I dodged to get away from an old ghost who has been sniffing me with his nose. I walked up to sister Hua who was dressed in gorgeous attire and asked in a low voice: "Sister Hua, what holiday are we celebrating today?"


    Sister Hua smiled: " Today is a great day. Why don¡¯t you go greet the guests?"


    It was clear that sister Hua had no intention of sticking around. I walked over to the side of the bar and asked Lulu, who was busy working: "Lulu, what¡¯s the occasion today?" Lulu looked at the blood-red bracelet on my hand and smiled: "No.13, take it there."


    I took the tray and served the dishes to table No.13th. Lulu seemed to like the bracelet very much. She would look at it every time I¡¯d approach her.


    There were a lot more guests than usual today. I was constantly shuffling about the crowd, but the main question I had remained unanswered. What festival were they celebrating today?


    The beautiful Sister Tan with the hanged face showed up and sat at a table accompanied by Xiao Lingdang. I hurriedly served the food I had on me, walked over, and loudly asked: ¡°What would you like to order?¡± Then I whispered, "Beauty, you are finally willing to see me!"


    The beauty Tan nodded, and gave me a pity smile: "Su Qing will also come after a while."


    What? Su Qing. I guess there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn¡¯t help but express my uneasiness. Su Qing had us go and find her child and threatened to kill us if we couldn¡¯t.


    At this point I was wondering why Su Qing didn¡¯t know where her child was? She had written it on the wall of the toilet. I couldn¡¯t believe I had just realized this now.


    Just as I was about to ask her for more information, the sound of guest''s wondering where the food was got me to focus back on my job. Before leaving I secretly told Xiao Lingdang that she must make the beautiful Sister Tan stick around no matter what. I still had a lot to wanted to ask her. As for Su Qing, for some reason I wasn¡¯t too worried about her killing me.


    A lot of dishes had already been served on each table. sister Hua walked over to the front stage, located in the same place where I burned the paper money my first time in the house. The moment Sister Hua told everyone to be quiet, and the hall was quick to give all their attention to her. It was clear that Sister Hua still held quite some prestige among the ghosts when she talked.


    "Today is the day of the appointment of the Huakui. Guests, are you ready?


    When sister Hua stopped speaking, the hall was filled with the wails of ghosts and howls that sounded like they came from wolves. The people who cried the loudest were men. It seemed like the appointment of the Huakui was a bit more geared towards one sex.


    But what the hell was the Huakui?


    Sister Hua stood on the stage, showing that familiar smile: "The first one is the most popular lady in our Fan House..." .


    The hungry wolves in the hall were loudly shouting: "Lady Wen! ", " Beautiful Wen! " and "Miss Wen!".


    They were different forms of addressing her, but obviously they were all calling for the same person. Amongst the shouting, a tall woman with a high figure, a sexy shape, and a thin waist began walking to the front of the room. She had delicate features and tanned skin, making her appear healthy and attractive. Yan¡¯er and Lulu are beautiful and one in a thousand, but Lady Wen was one in a million.


    Was she really from the Fan House? I''d never seen her before.


    "Pretty, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    I nodded. When I looked back, I saw Lulu smiling faintly at me. I forced a smile and hurriedly changed the topic: "Lulu, is Lady Wen from the Fan House? How come I''ve never seen her before?"


    Lulu''s eyes got cold: "Why? Are you interested in her?"


    I hastily deny it, but Lulu looked unconvinced: "If you are interested in her, give me the bracelet back." After saying that, she stopped talking to me and got busy thinking to herself.


    I wasn¡¯t interested in her. First off, she was a ghost. Besides, even if she wasn¡¯t and I did like her, I doubt she¡¯d even like me back. I also couldn¡¯t see how it had anything to do with the bracelet.


    Nevertheless, Lulu''s words made my heart move. I looked around around, perhaps it was because today''s beauties were at wearing their best outfits and none of the ghosts were revealing their true terrifying appearances, I began to feel a bit self conscious. They were dressed like they were going to a fancy party, and even more depressing for me, a lot of the male ghosts were much more handsome than I was.


    Lady Wen bowed slightly to sister Hua, and said with a beautiful smile: "I am Wen Jing, thank you all. Now I will perform a song for you all. I hope you¡¯ll like it."


    When she finishes speaking, Wen Jing swayed her hand in the void and a seven-stringed Chinese zither appeared out of nowhere. With this instrument and her outfit, the scene looked like something out of an ancient story.


    The strings were gently plucked and pleasant sound emerged from the instrument and filled the room. I couldn¡¯t tell what song it was, but I enjoyed listening to it. Everyone in the hall was at ease as they silently watched the performance. They all swayed their heads to the music with an intoxicated look in their eyes. Nobody could tell if everyone understood the song, but they were definitely enjoying it.


    The song was not long. When it ended, there was a short pause and the hall was filled with a warm applause and polite cheers. I clapped as well, the performance was truly mesmerizing. After clapping a few times, Lulu¡¯s cold ¡°humph¡± interrupted my expression of appreciation.


    Wen Jing slowly retreated to one side and the guests begin to order more food once again. I had to continue working hard, everything was so busy once agai, that not even Sister Hua¡¯s introduction of the next performer could be heard. A young girl walked up to the stage to sing a "legendary tale." The girl sang very well, but it didn¡¯t seem to fit the tastes of the ghosts. The applause was still there, but it was not as warm as it was before. It was more of a polite applause.


    I saw the girl on stage as I was serving dishes. The girl did not show an unusual reaction to the applause, but quietly stood next to Wen Jing, and exchanged a few quiet words with her.


    I don''t know if it was just my imagination. But I felt as if that young girl in the long white dress who had just performed looked quite familiar. It was as if I had already seen her somewhere before.


    My thought process was interrupted by another one of Lulu''s cold ¡°humph¡±s, this time Lulu says, "Don''t stare at other girls."


    It was a little strange, but I didn¡¯t think much of it. The next girl was about to step on the stage, wearing a slim cheongsam and exposing her seductive thigh through the slit on the side. This was someone I actually knew, it was Yan¡¯er.


    Instead of playing and singing, she performed a dance that took advantage of the fact that she was a ghost. There were many intricate and strange movements, she danced so well that it was difficult to imagine anyone else executing these moves while wearing a cheongsam. The key was that her sexy parts were just slightly being exposed.


    Yan¡¯er¡¯s seductive dance won her a warm applause, the biggest of which was from the man in the long shirt. Those two definitely had something going on.

 Chapter 57 The Most Popular Courtesan 2

    Su Qing had already arrived. She was sitting next to Sister Tan, with a sad face, whispering something to her. Xiao Lingdang was near her, holding her chin and appearing to be a good listener. I hesitated for a moment and decided to still walk over. This was the ghost house, even if Su Qing wanted to do something that was harmful to me, she would have to weigh her options.


    As soon as I walked over, I attracted the eyes of what felt like everyone. Sister Tan, Xiao Lingdang and Su Qing all looked at me at once. Su Qing''s eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.


    I reluctantly laughed twice and just as I was thinking about how to greet them, Sister Tan invited me to sit with them. After I sat down, she let out a sigh and said sadly, ¡°That thing you told me about, I have told Su Qing, but...¡±


    Before she could finish, Su Qing sniffled and interrupted, ¡°Let me tell you.¡±


    Su Qing took a profound look into my eyes, then carefully thought about it and said in between tears and whimpers, ¡°It¡¯s for certain, you smell like the child. I didn¡¯t expect for him to be so cruel. He lied to me and said that the child had been reincarnated, but the truth is that he secretly nurtured the child into a little ghost.¡±


    I was astonished at how easily the one sentence Su Qing had said made me connect all the dots. I thought no one was capable of hurting their own children. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t expect that Zhang Sheng would turn his own child into a ghost, but why would he do such a thing?


    ¡°Since Zhang Sheng had told Su Qing that the child had been reincarnated, why did you ask us to help her find the child?¡± I asked them. ¡° I had found the smell of my child in other places long ago. After all, it was my own child, I could recognize him anywhere. I didn''t think I was wrong. However, I didn''t want to doubt the man I loved so much. After some time, I just needed to be sure. That¡¯s why I asked you to find him for me.¡±


    This led me to think about something I couldn¡¯t bring myself to say, and that was what Su Qing was going to do now. Zhang Sheng had obviously deceived Su Qing and even went as far as turning his own child into his own killing machine. Honestly, a man like that deserves a fate worse than death. However, at the end of the day he was Su Qing''s favorite man, so what choice was she going to make?


    After gesturing to Sister Tan, I got up and said goodbye. Su Qing didn¡¯t react and her whole demeaner seemed to change into someone lost deep in thoughts and past memories.


    After Sister Hua said some exciting words for everyone to hear, she announced the initiation of the contest. We were about to find out who was the most popular courtesan. In the hall, countless evil spirits opened their mouths. A gray fog flew out of the hall and then entered the different beautiful women. The mist was thick in some places and thin in others. Although the mist was a cloudy gray and white, I still could see around it.


    ¡°Lulu, what is all this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Ghost Spirit.¡± Her answer was very concise and comprehensive.


    ¡°Ghost spirit. Master Lulu, Please give him a brief introduction.¡±


    She just glanced at me, with a cold expression, then she explained to me in detail. It was fairly easy to understand. It turns out, ghost spirit was like the life source of every ghost. This life source or essence would divide ghosts into different classes. If you compared ghost spirit to money, there were ghosts in the hall throwing a lot of money to vote for the courtesan they loved most, making her the most popular courtesan. Many brothels and nightclubs did this at the time, and the fan house was no exception. In fact, it was largest in the area.


    It was very common for the rich to spend a lot of money in the nightclub scene. Most of these people were rich but also pretty stupid. Ghosts couldn¡¯t do what humans do for payment at nightclubs, so why were they spending their ghost spirit?


    I glanced at Lulu and wondered how she¡¯d react if I asked her this question, how long would she stay angry at me for this time?


    Lulu just looked at the stage, ignoring me. I dismissed the idea of asking her. If I asked this question to Sister Hua, my guess is she¡¯d think I was flirting with her. If I asked Xiao Lingdang, well, I doubt she¡¯d even give me a chance to get a word in. I was about to ask Yaner, which brought my attention to the biggest ghost spirit in the hall, which was always going towards Yaner, its source was the long robed man. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t going to be that easy to ask Yan`er.


    The spirit of the ghosts gradually dissipated, and even I could see that the female ghosts on the stage became more graceful, appeared more intelligent and their bodies were overflowing with color. It looked as if they had benefitted quite a bit from that experience. The one who changed most was Wen Jing in her ancient outfit, it was clear that she was the most popular courtesan.


    Sure enough, Sister Hua announced that the most popular courtesan was Wen Jing, which caused a ghost howling to erupt in the hall. After waiting for the other beautiful women to step down, Wen Jing played another piece of music as a tribute to everyone.


    To be honest, I didn¡¯t think this entire show and celebration was all that meaningful. I couldn¡¯t figure out why it had attracted so many new ghosts to come by.


    Just as I thought the whole show was over, Sister Hua stepped on the stage again and said, ¡°Our program is about to start. Are you ready?¡±


    There was another haunting howl in the hall. I was alert again. Was this going to be like those gameshows on TV where the women would do something with those who gave the most money?


    Wen Jing smiled, walked to the middle of the stage, and opened her arms. Then her whole body floated slowly up into the air. Her long white skirt waved with a mythical breeze, making her look like a fairy. It was mesmerizing.


    Lulu suddenly handed me a tissue and said, ¡°Take this.¡±


    I was dumbfounded for a moment as I took the tissue and stared at her blankly for a moment. Then Lulu rolled her eyes and said with a little bitterness, ¡°It¡¯s so you can wipe your drool.¡± She replied annoyed.


    I subconsciously rubbed the corners of my mouth with the back of my hand (just in case), but I found no saliva. With that cold face of hers, I hadn¡¯t expected that she would even consider making a joke.


    On the stage, Wen Jing¡¯s eyes has turned white. Her long hair waved in the air and she no longer gave off the impression of a fairy. Now, she just looked like a haunting ghost.


    All of a sudden, countless greyish-white ghosts, all thin as fingers, emanated from all parts of Wen Jing. After they surrounded Wen Jing, they went in all directions, completely ignoring the barrier of the house and expanding past them.


    All the ghosts in the hall stood up with a face of excitement, as if they just witnessed a miracle.


    I don¡¯t know how long it took, but eventually Wen Jing¡¯s body appeared to go through some sort of shock and the gray and white mist suddenly stopped. She fell from the air, as if she had quickly lost all her strength, and was finally caught by several female ghosts who had prepared for that moment.


    Sister Hua immediately came forward and check her body desperately for quite some time. After she confirmed that Wen Jing had not encountered any serious harm, she took a long breath and said with a smile, ¡°Everyone should go and do things according to their own abilities.¡±


    All the ghosts in the hall gave a quiet salute and turned into countless ghost shadows as they dispersed; only a few ghosts remained.


    I was awestruck by the sudden change. What the hell was going on?


    It wasn¡¯t until I turned to look at Lulu that I realized she had left too. Where did she go?

 Chapter 58 Hundreds of ghosts find the way

    I looked around and glanced at the people who had not yet left. Among them was the beautiful Qin. I went over to where most of them were standing while waving at Xiao Lingdang. Xiao Lingdang jumped over. She always took advantage of the energy of her youth. This was why I liked Xiao Lingdang so much...


    "Xiao Lingdang! What is everyone doing?"


    "The appointment of the Oiran, of course! "


    "Right, I knew that. but why did they all leave?"


    ¡°After the appointment of the Oiran, they always leave.¡±


    Communicating with Xiao Lingdang was a bit difficult. Perhaps I was asking about it all wrong. I decided to rephrase my statement.


    "Xiao Lingdang, why did Wen Jing spread out all of her spirit just now?"


    " To appoint the Oiran."


    "I know that, but why did she want to spread it out?"


    " After the appointment of the Oiran, it will certainly spread out."


    Well, Xiao Lingdang wasn¡¯t wrong. I turned my eyes to lady Qin who was listening to my silly conversation with Xiao Lingdang. Lady Qin was very considerate and patient when telling me about the common practice of appointing the Oiran. Of course, if she hadn¡¯t had a lisp, it would be much easier to understand her.


    The appointment of the Oiran was a unique ability of the ghost house, and the female ghost as oiran, in the evening of becoming the Orian, would have a magical ability. That was hundreds ghosts to find the way. It was very simple. Now many people in society have died in vain or accidentally. Of course, there were some other cases. These people that became ghosts could not find their own bodies, relatives, and the magic hundreds of ghosts to find the way can use the spirit in the Oiran''s whole body to help those ghosts with obsession to find their bones, relatives, and even the earnest person or thing in their own mindfulness.


    And Oiran that lost the whole body¡¯s spirit will enter the third floor of the ghost building, and would be protected by ghosts of the ghost building and even the entire region. Because of this reason, the ghost building had such a well-known power in the county and even beyond that. No one knew how intertwined the ghost building relationship would be.


    I suddenly had a kind of happiness to join the great power. It seemed that as a member of the ghost building, I would have a very great role. I did not know why I looked towards Su Qing, but Su Qing was obviously still lost in her thoughts. She had no time to talk to me.


    Xiao Lingdang came up to me and took my hand: "Brother, let''s go look for my skin."


    "Xiao Lingdang, we¡¯re on the clock."


    "You may go and help Xiao Lingdang find her skin, do it as soon as possible. There are a hundred different ghosts finding the way today, so the possibility that Xiao Lingdang will find her skin will also increase greatly." sister Hua showed up beside me unexpectedly, speaking seriously for a change.


    I asked sister Hua curiously: "The hundred ghosts that are finding the way have been doing this for many years right? Why has Xiao Lingdang still been unable to find her own skin?"


    Sister Hua humphed when she looked at Xiao Lingdang and then walked away. I didn¡¯t understand why she responded that way and looked to Xiao Lingdang for an answer. She said with embarrassment: " I don¡¯t have an obsession."


    ¡°Uhm, you don¡¯t have an obsession? If you had don¡¯t have an obsession, then why do you asked me every day to help you find your skin?¡±


    "Sister Lulu told me it was the only way to scare people."


    Damn it Lulu, but it was strange. Since Xiao Lingdang didn''t have obsession, is she really pulling me out for the skin, or is she just trying to eat?


    I looked at Xiao Lingdang doubtfully. After getting the consent of sister Hua, Xiao Lingdang becomes impatient and drags me out of the door. At this time, Su Qing stood up and handed me a silver bracelet: "Take this with you. If the child finds you and sees this, he won''t hurt you."


    I nodded and was about to ask whether Su Qing had figured out how to deal with this matter, but I saw Qin beauty stands behind Su Qing and shook her head slightly. I had to shut up and let myself be pulled by Xiao Lingdang.


    The gate of the ghost building opened, Xiao Lingdang was pulling me so hard, I was heading towards the ground. "Slow down, slow down. I¡¯ll go with you!"


    After I agreed to go with her, Xiao Lingdang suddenly let me go. It threw me off balance and I ended up on the ground. I was preparing to scold Xiao Lingdang, then I looked up and immediately felt embarrased. I saw a 20-something year old girl holding a long selfie stick looking at me. Her face was rather pale and her small mouth was slightly quivering. She was very obviously petrified.


    I smiled, embarrassed, "Excuse me." I said as I walked past her. I took a few steps and looked back to see her still standing there in a daze. "Remember, this house is haunted. If you don¡¯t need anything in there, I suggest you don¡¯t go in. Hell, even if you you do need anything from in there, I still don¡¯t suggest you go in."


    When I was about to leave the front porch, I looked back. The girl was still standing at the gate of the ghost building. Alas, young people were so fond of hunting for adventures and experiencing the supernatural. I hoped she wouldn¡¯t end up in trouble with anyone or anything for being around or inside the house.


    Xiao Lingdang was acting very casual and wasn¡¯t even asking to look for her skin. Instead, she was pulling me right towards the night market stall. Unfortunately, even though it wasn¡¯t terribly late, the owner was already closing down the stall.


    I said hello to the boss as he responded with a suspicious look. I called over over a taxi under the scrutinizing gaze of the stall¡¯s boss.


    I had originally wanted to go to the main night market street, but I started thinking about Xiao Lingdang and the scene that would develop from it. I decided it would be better to go to a stall by my place. Not many people typically went there and I also knew the boss of in that one.


    Either way, Xiao Lingdang was just looking for something to eat. She wouldn¡¯t care where we went.


    It wasn¡¯t long before we arrived. The night market stall was rather empty, with just a few people sitting down and enjoying the food. As amatter of fact, it was just a family of three at one table, they were locals and I had seen them before, though I didn¡¯t know them personally. We smiled and greeted each other before finding a remote corner to grab a seat. I don¡¯t know if I was just imagining it, but it seemed like the boss was looking at me weird as I was ordering the food.


    Before long, I had finished ordering the dishes we wanted. However, once I finished, the boss did not leave. Instead, he sat down across from me. To him, I was alone, so there really wasn¡¯t a reason for me to refuse his presence. Especially since I used to come here often to eat alone. I would often ask the boss to have a drink with me, and if he wasn¡¯t busy he would humor me and have a couple with me before getting back to work.


    I joked as I usually would: "Since you¡¯re here, there should be some wine here with you!" I didn¡¯t actually want to drink with the boss, it was just so easy to get along with him and I would typically get carried away spending time with him. Besides, he often just had a small cup or two with me, before minding his own business and it¡¯s not like he would notice Xiao Lingdang there with us.


    But the boss shook his head, and hesitated: "Ah, Wu. Is everything ok at home?"


    I was stunned. A lot of things happened recently, they all had to do with the ghosts, but there¡¯s no way the boss would know about that.


    The boss looked at me and went on, "As soon as I saw your face, I knew it. You don''t know yet. I¡¯ve been going to the hospital these days to check up on, and see your mother. She seems very weak, her body looks haggard. Xue¡¯er used to be so well behaved, now she is always crying, hiding in the corner of the room... ."


    Before the boss finished, I grabbed the boss''s hand. "What are you talking about? What happened to my mother and Xue¡¯er?"

 Chapter 59 Reproduction of the Photo

    The boss finished what he had to say and left me there shocked, as if I was sitting on a dunce¡¯s chair. This whole time I had lied and said that I was on a business trip. I was so wrapped up in my new paranormal life that I had completely forgotten to contact my mother. I didn¡¯t have a clue as to what had happened to my family. Whatever it was, it must be serious after listening to what the boss said. They were my only relatives in the world and I felt as if I had abandoned them.


    Xiao Lingdang understood the situation and told me, ¡°Brother, go and visit them. There¡¯s no need for me to eat right now.¡±


    I nodded my head and took out my phone hastily, just I was about to dial my mom¡¯s number, I froze. It was now 1 a.m., so it was likely that both my mom and Xue¡¯er might be sleeping. I hesitated for a moment and decided not to finish the phone call. Since I was still worried, I went to ask the boss for a couple of details. The boss didn''t know the number of my mom¡¯s ward, but he told me it was on the 11th floor of the in-patient department.


    After thanking the boss, I hurriedly took Xiao Lingdang and headed to the county hospital.


    Even in the hot summer, the late-night hospital would still make people feel a certain coldness, not just because of the air-conditioning, but also because the hospital was a place where the Yin Qi gathered.


    I went straight up to the 11th floor, where there was no particular department, it was more of a comprehensive in-patient section of the hospital. Nobody was in the nurse¡¯s station, but there was a woman in a nurse outfit who was sleeping in the room inside the nurse station. I thought about it for a moment and chose not to bother her. Then, I found the photos of my mom and Xue¡¯er on my phone and told Xiao Lingdang to help me look for them in the wards one by one.


    She dove into the wall beside us as I walked anxiously back and forth outside the nurse station. Every second that passed was a kind of torment that would leave my heart beating ever faster.


    Xiao Lingdang seemed to know the anxiety I was feeling in my heart, so she move quickly and phased through the wards non-stop. Soon, she came back to me and told me she had found them and that it looked as if my mom wasn¡¯t sleeping just yet.


    I rushed to room No. 1106, gently opened the door, stopped to ease my anxious pace, took a deep breath, and then slowly entered the room. The ward was a double room and one of the beds was empty. With disheveled hair, my mom, who was holding a sleeping Xue¡¯er, was listlessly watching TV. An animated film was playing on the TV, but there was no sound.


    For a moment, I wanted to slap myself in the face with shame, but I kept up the lie. I said as calmly as possible, ¡°I finished earlier than expected. When I got back, I heard other people saying you weren¡¯t in good health. Mom, what''s wrong?¡±


    Mom shook her head and sighed as if she were hesitating to tell me something. I sat by the bed and stroked Xue¡¯er''s sleeping face with my hand and said, ¡°Mom, is there something wrong?¡±


    Mom shook her head once more, but didn''t say anything. This time, Xue¡¯er seemed to have been awakened by my touch, she opened her eyes and began to cry. Mom rushed hold her and began to comfort her. I sat there, also comforting her, ¡°Xue¡¯er, it¡¯s me, your uncle.¡±


    Finally, she was completely awake, and fell into my arms while she began to sob softly. I just held her and continued to comfort her. For some time, it was not easy to ask what was going on.


    Xue¡¯er was still just a kid after all, and soon fell asleep in tears. When mom went to put her on the bed, I stopped her. I continued to hold Xue¡¯er and asked once again.


    My mom just kept silent for a long time, and finally opened her mouth to speak, ¡°If I tell you, don¡¯t be afraid and don¡¯t think I am old or going mad. They are all saying I''m going insane.¡±


    I shook my head vigorously, ¡°Mom, I won¡¯t. What on earth is going on?¡±


    Mom wiped her tears and said, ¡°A few days after you left on your business trip, I received a letter. There was nothing written on the letter, it just had three photos in it, and they are all¡­well, they are all scary. On top of everything, only Xue¡¯er and I can see the photos. From that day on, I was receiving a letter like that every three days. Xue¡¯er and I have been seeing strange things ever since.¡±


    As she was telling me everything, she continued weeping. My heart and spine were chilled with every one of my mother''s words. No wonder I had stopped receiving the photos for some time. I must have brought that trouble to my mother and niece.


    When my mom noticed my pensive expression and the fact that I wasn¡¯t speaking, she assumed that I too didn¡¯t believe what she was telling me. That got her more anxious and began to defend herself, ¡°It¡¯s true. I...¡±


    I quickly snapped out of it and began to comfort her, ¡°Mom, I believe you. I believe you. I''ve received them before, do you remember?¡±


    Mom was stunned for a moment and then she remembered. Tears suddenly flowed out of her eyes, ¡°What sin did we commit to deserve this?¡±


    I hastened to comfort her, ¡°Mom, my officer friend says it¡¯s just a prank.¡±


    My mother just shook her head and said, ¡°You don''t have to lie to me. Ever since we get the first letter, Xue¡¯er and I have been seeing some strange things. It''s not a prank, it''s not.¡±


    Strange things? My mom had said it twice already. I remembered not seeing anything strange after I received the photos, and until I went to the ghost building, I hadn¡¯t seen ghosts. Could mom and Xue¡¯er see ghosts, too?


    I looked back to find that Xiao Lingdang had never entered the room. I thought perhaps she was respecting my privacy with my family. I wanted to let Xiao Lingdang enter the room, but I also was afraid that she would scare my mom. Besides, it would still be very difficult for me to explain to mom where she came from.


    I stared at the dark circles that had formed under my mother¡¯s eyes from lack of sleep. I decided it would be best to let her have some good sleep first, so I told her that I was here to guard them. We could talk about everything else tomorrow.


    With her son around, mom felt significantly more relieved. Maybe she was so tired that she quickly fell asleep. I took out my phone and I contacted Wu Jian, I had to discuss this situation with someone.


    I talked about the whole thing with Wu Jian but he didn¡¯t have good ideas either. Mostly because Xue¡¯er was too young to be exposed to ghosts. Otherwise, I could easily have them moved into the ghost building.


    I suddenly remembered everything that happened the other night at the night market. I was particularly recalling what the taxi driver had told me about the advice given to him by a strange old man in Chinese tunic suit. The advice that helped them avoid an accident. Maybe that strange old man could help me. Since I didn¡¯t ask for Yang Fan¡¯s phone number at the time, I would have to ask Wu Jian to check it for me.


    Xiao Lingdang must have begun to feel impatient waiting outside and came in through the door. I looked around carefully, I also looked at my sleeping mother and waved my hand motioning for her to come in carefully, and I said with a low voice, ¡°Xiao Lingdang, can you feel anything wrong with my mom?¡±


    She was confused for a moment, then touched my mother and Xue¡¯er gently and said, ¡°There is just a little Yin Qi on their body. Maybe they just saw a ghost when one happened to pass by. Other than that, I found nothing else.¡±

 Chapter 60 Ghosts and gods are flying in the sky

    I looked curiously at the bracelet around my hand, I asked Xiao Lingdang the origin of this bracelet and how it was possible for her to live inside it.


    "Because this bracelet is Sister Lulu¡¯s ¡­. .


    "What?"


    "Nothing, I¡¯m going in!" Xiao Lingdang was definitely hiding something from me. She turned into a gray mist, and began floating towards the bracelet, and then quickly disappeared around my wrist. To be honest, I felt very relieved with Xiao Lingdang staying close by. I just suddenly thought of a question. The bracelet was on my right hand, and I wasn¡¯t left-handed. So if I were to go to the toilet and I had to wipe¡­.well¡­it¡¯d be kind of embarrassing.


    Mom and Xiao Lingdang slept deeply. My head slowly leaned to the side, still keeping an eye out on my family. I don¡¯t know when I fell sleep, the next thing I remember, I was being woken up by the sound of voices around me.


    Mom and Xiao Lingdang were also awake and looked as if they had slept very well the night before. It also seemed that the rest had revived their spirits. They were now talking with the nurse. I rubbed my eyes and listened carefully. Originally my mother was asking for a discharge from the hospital, but they nurse seemed reluctant and was constantly explaining something. I knew it must have been something about my Mom and Xiao Lingdang seeing the photos. Though to be honest, I couldn¡¯t say if the medicine was going to be completely useless or not, I was fairly certain there was no medication that would make it all stop.


    Mom noticed that I was awake told me to go wash my face. I wiped my face casually while looking at the squat toilet, and thought for a moment. I finally decided that I¡¯d walk out of the bathroom and hold it, for now. When I closed the door behind me, I noticed there were a couple more people in the ward than before. They were probably my mother''s doctors. They couldn¡¯t persuade my mom to stay no matter how much they insisted, so they ended up settling for leaving my mom with some advice. They told her to pay attention to her diet and how much rest she was getting. I stood to the side and listened quietly. Although the doctor did not determine the reasons why my mother and Xiao Lingdang were sick, at least this was a conscientious doctor.


    My family kept browsing till noon, when Wu Jian finally reached out with the telephone number of the taxi driver. I called him right away. Right away I could tell that that Yang Fan still remembered me. He was very pleased to tell me about the strange old man who wore the Chinese tunic suit. As he spoke, he reminded me that I had already seen that old man before. I saw him at the place where I had bought the paper amulets the second time. I sort of remembered him giving me a card, but I also remembered throwing it away.


    I took a good look at my mother, now showing a few signs that she was tired. I dared not take her and Xiao Lingdang to a place like that right now. We kept walking until we came upon a part of the night market that had games like those in an amusement park. It was a happy enough place that I felt comfortable telling them that I¡¯d have to go to my job to fill out some paperwork. I said my goodbyes and I was on my way.


    There weren¡¯t many people in the funeral supplies shop. Several men were chatting away, while an old person was leaning up against a wall, casually reading a newspaper. I remembered the boss and the guy I was looking for looked very similar and were probably twins. Last time I saw them, one wore a Chinese tunic suit, and the other one wore casual clothes. So odds were the man in front of me was not the person I was looking for.


    I kept looking inside, which caused me to get a man''s attention. He stood up and walked over to me: "Can I help you wth anything?"


    The young man was quite helpful, I could already tell. However, I wasn¡¯t here to buy anything. ¡°I¡¯m looking for the owner who often wears a tunic suit, is he here today?"


    The young boy was stupefied: "You mean the big boss,right? That¡¯s him over there." he said pointing to the old man wearing casual clothes and reading the newspaper. I froze, confused. Even though I had confirmed that I was looking for the man in the Chinese tunic suit, the boy still pointed towards the old man.


    I guess I shouldn¡¯t find it too odd that someone would change clothes every now and then.


    The young man saw that I wasn¡¯t making any moves, so he went over and warmly approached the old man, informing him of my presence. The old man put down the newspaper, took a good look at me and began to walk over.


    "Old man, you ¡­. ."


    The old man waved his hands and interrupted my words: "Your Yin Qi is very heavy. But among the Yin qi there is a pure Yang, which is very strange."


    Now I was certain that this was the same old man I was looking for. I asked with curiosity "What is pure Yang?"


    The old man looked at me meaningfully, without explaining anything, he asked me about my intentions. So I told him about the story about my mother receving photos, but I didn''t mention anything that had been going on with me. Even though this old man clearly knew what he was doing, I wouldn¡¯t want him to become an enemy of the ghost house. Besides, I knew the ghost house and those in it, had no intention of hurting me. I also did not want to cause troubles for those in the fan house.


    While the old man was listening to the story about my mother, he stared at me with a pensive stare. He quietly told the younger employee something and took me to an open tea booth, a sign that he wanted to have a long talk.


    I quickly told him my mother was waiting for me, in order to avoid the old man really pulling me in and begin monologing a story of his childhood or something like that.


    Instead, the old man slowly dripped boiling tea from a teapot, drawing a strange figure on his desk. His eyes darted towards me the entire time time as though he was observing my reaction. Of course, I wasn¡¯t reacting at all to the figure he¡¯d drawn, since I¡¯d never seen it before.


    The old man seemed disappointed, but didn''t say anything. He just began telling me a story, what seemed like a long and irrelevant story, of which I¡¯ll spare you the details. Fortunately, my mom called me and he only managed to get through the beginning.


    The old man gave me his card for the second time. There were two lines of text on it. The first line said: Madman Zang; the second line was a telephone number. Although I was pretty sure that there was nobody with the surname Zang, I still received the card respectfully with both hands and carefully put it in my pocket.


    After saying my goodbye to Madman Zang, I hurriedly rushed back to the games section of the night market because I could hear that my mother¡¯s tone was somewhat anxious and didn¡¯t want her to worry.


    When I got there, my mom was talking to someone her age with a slender figure. As I approached, she allowed me be courteous and greet the little aunt. I was familiar with this aunt, but I couldn''t quite remember where. My mother reminded me that she was a neighbor in my grandma¡¯s hometown and she had made a living by being a witch. In my grandmother¡¯s hometown she was very famous.


    She was also known by a very odd nominer, they called her Witch Yan. Yan didn¡¯t sound like a real last name to me either, but I went with it and politely called her "Aunt Yan."


    Aunt Yan looked at me and said with a slightly hoarse voice: "Boy, hey you!"


    Aunt Yan¡¯s words were very strange and made no sense. It felt like the type of scolding elders give when they blame younger generations for disobedience. But I hadn¡¯t done anything!


    Mother didn''t notice anything. She just continued telling me that Aunt Yan and she were good sisters and that she had told her about everything that had been happening. Unfortunately Aunt Yan wasn''t in town when she called. She came here to find them immediately as soon as she got back home. I thanked Aunt Yan for coming.

 Chapter 61 The Legend of Our County

    As soon as we opened the door to the apartment, everyone noticed the shards of a broken glass in the middle of the living room. My mother hurriedly picked up a broom and began cleaning up the glass. As she did so, she told us that the broken glass had nothing to do with her terrifying experience.


    Xue¡¯er had been holding my hand tightly, the poor little thing was still very scared. I hugged Xue¡¯er, for a child only 7-years-old, this was a lot to take in.


    I watched TV with Xue¡¯er on my lap, while the Witch Yan looked at the photos that my mother had taken out. I wanted to go and have a look, but I had to take into account Xue¡¯er¡¯s fear, so I stayed in my place while occasionally glancing in their direction.


    Witch Yan was really good at what she was doing, I could tell because as soon as she saw the photo, she seemed to know exactly what was behind the photo. I could tell because when she put the photo down, she said: "As expected, it¡¯s happened again."


    Upon hearing this, my mom began asking her questions. Witch Yan cut her short and began telling her story, I perked up my ears to better hear what was going on. Her story was very long. It started in the same way madman Zang¡¯s story started, ¡°This all happened long ago¡­¡± It was filled with several clich¨¦s and I would even go as far as being willing to bet that there was no difference between witch Yan¡¯s and madman Zang¡¯s back story.


    The story continued until we finished dinner. The whole story was very boring and I personally think it could be summarized in a 3minute monologue, but I had to be polite.


    She had told us the legend of the county. Our county was very small, but it had a long history. In ancient legends, our county had always been one of the entrances to the underworld. Because of the intrusion of Yin Qi in the underworld, strange things often happened in our county over the span of countless years.


    Thousands of years ago, a great master accepted orders from the emperor to search for the center of the world. When he passed through this very county, he felt the invasion of Yin Qi and used all means accessible to him to close the doorway to the underworld.


    This closure was a good thing for the people living in the town, but for the underworld, and especially for the local ¡°ghost officer¡±. He had the privilege of entering and leaving both realms, and he knew this seal was big trouble. So the ghost officer of the time had a discussion with the great master and an agreement was reached. The local people would be the ones responsible for the ghosts and spirits in the county and surrounding areas.


    These photos were essentially a task for potential disciples to complete. A task that revealed the need for a ghost officer. Now that these photos were appearing in the homes of ordinary people, it could only mean that those who had inherited the position this generation had suffered some kind of unexpected event causing them to disappear. According to past practices, those who received photos were destined to become the new ghost officers.


    Upon hearing this, my mother¡¯s spirit was almost broken. I wasn¡¯t doing too hot myself.


    After all, this story seemed so outrageous that I simply couldn¡¯t accept it, even if I had already seen countless ghosts after my experience with the photographs.


    After filling us in on the old legend, she added that the place that would be inherited along with the responsibilities that came with it, had been destroyed in the war, which meant that there would be no new heir for the position of ghost officer. The consequence of these actions were that the number of ghosts that ended up in the region would just keep growing and growing. In the end, though there was no access to the underworld anymore (or perhaps because of this), strange things would continue to happen frequently.


    Witch Yan¡¯s words made my mom want to move to a different city immediately. However, if this was all true, I wasn¡¯t too afraid of this responsibility being inherited to me. I already lived in the ghost house, what could possibly be creepier or worse than that?


    Mom urged witch Yan to stay in our house, to which she replied with a simple ¡°Yes¡± and a grave expression. Of course, in her words, it was time to get judged.


    I had to admit, I did feel that as long as the witch stayed here, a common ghost wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt my mom and Xue¡¯er.


    However, I wasn¡¯t without my own troubles. My mother had asked me to stay there with them for my own safety and I no longer had the excuse that I was on a business trip, since I told her that was over with.


    As time went by, I began to act like a cat on hot bricks. While I was racking my brains to find an excuse to go to the ghost house, Witch Yan who was chatting with my mom suddenly said: "Wu, you should go, it¡¯s time to go to work.¡±


    Both my mom and I had the same look of confusion with a bit of shock.


    Witch Yan continued: ¡°Sister, your child is a very good young man and the work he does is very good right now. Although he must go out every night, he is safe, without a doubt.¡±


    Mom didn¡¯t know how to react to all this and looked at me with a puzzled look. Witch Yan whispered a few words in my mother''s ear. I couldn¡¯t hear what she said, but my mom agreed to let me go to work. I figured witch Yan must have convinced my mother that I would be safe.


    Mom didn¡¯t know the reason why I was going to work at this hour, but she didn¡¯t pry any further. She remained concerned about my safety and kept telling me to be careful out there. I felt like she wanted to say something else, but decided not to say anything in the end. It was very unlike her.


    As I was about to close the door behind me, witch Yan called after me: ¡°Say hello to Sister Hua for me.¡± I felt as if my heart had skipped a couple of beats and my throat stopped working.


    Xiao Lingdang immediately emerged from the bracelet and nervously patted her little chest: "That almost scared me to death! I didn¡¯t expect to see her!"


    ¡°Xiao Lingdang, you know witch Yan?¡±


    ¡°Of course! That is the daughter of the Yan Family, she is so wonderful!¡± she said. I had to admit that I was a bit surprised to learn that witch Yan came from a large family, she doesn¡¯t come off that way and seemed a bit more like a loner type.


    ¡°Xiao Lingdang, why is she so wonderful?¡±


    "Oh, she¡¯s very powerful."


    ¡°Are there a lot of powerful people in this county?¡±


    "Three, the power has been passed down to all of them by the disciple of the master."


    ¡°You know a lot, little girl.¡±


    ¡°Everyone knows that the supreme master passed down secret magic to Yan, Luo and Zang.¡±


    Yan, Luo, Zang. Were two of those people the witch Yan and madman Zang? That would just leave one person I hadn¡¯t met yet, who was Luo? I continued to ask Xiao Lingdang questions, but I was no longer getting a reply. I looked back at Xiao Lingdang to see what was distracting her, sure enough she was secretly smelling a tray the night market stall owner was holding as we walked by. I wanted to stop her, but it was too late.


    She happily ran back to my side, acting like a little mouse that had just stolen some cheese. I was a pretty far distance from the stall at this point, there was no way the owner would know that I had anything to do with what Xiao Lingdang done had done. Nevertheless, I still dragged her with me so we could quickly leave the scene and not be discovered.


    Just as I expected, we took a few more steps and there was a loud roar behind me: ¡°What kind of meat are you selling?¡±

 Chapter 62 The disappearance of Wu Jian

    Beautiful Qin was startled. I the beautiful girl looked in my direction and saw me, I smiled and nodded as a form of greeting. But lady Qin reacted differently than I expected. She was stupefied, just staring at me.


    I stood for a while in embarrassment£¬realizing that the beauty Qin didn¡¯t want to speak to me, so I kept walking and headed to the bar. Lulu was busy doing something and hadn¡¯t realized I was there until I said hi to her. She looked up and glanced at the bracelet on my wrist, as usual. Just as I was about to say something, she saw the silver bracelet given to me by Su Qing on my other hand and instantly glared at me with ice cold eyes.


    Intimidated, I turned my head and began doing my work for the Fan House. I was so confused. Why was Lulu acting so moody? No wonder people often say it¡¯s very difficult to guess what a woman is thinking.


    Watching Lulu¡¯s cold face, made me feel like I was watching a black cat cross my path. I decided to get my mind off it and walk away, but I was soon bored and nothing else to do but watch the beauties chatting in the ghost house. Business today was slow, in fact, it was among the worst I¡¯ve ever seen in my time here. There¡¯s only one table that was in use. Seated at the table was someone we all knew already, the man wearing a long shirt.


    Xiao Lingdang ran over me from one side, carefully looking at Lulu, and pulled at my sleeve. I followed her off to the side and she quietly told me that the beauty Qin had something to tell me.


    Xiao Lingdang was acting as suspicious as a thief, making me feel a bit uncomfortable... Was Qin beauty in love with me or something? Was that why she had Xiao Lingdang secretly call me over? I mean, no doubt that Qin beauty was very beautiful, but I don¡¯t think I could ever get over that long tongue of hers. Just as I was thinking of a way to tactfully refuse her if she did decide to profess her ove to me, lady Qin began talking.


    "Su Qing has made a decision and would like to ask for your help."


    "I just don¡¯t think we¡¯re¡­.oh¡­sorry, ummm what are you talking about?"


    Qin beauty''s face dimmed a bit: "That¡¯s what we thought. We know we have no right to ask you for any favors."


    I felt like such an idiot and laughed for a couple of seconds to cover up my embarrassment: "No, I¡¯m sorry, I misheard you. How did Su Qing come to that decision?"


    I sighed and saw that Su Qing had finally changed her mind. I felt a huge sense of relief. As for the matter concerning Zhang Sheng, I was very willing to help. Well, I was willing to ask someone else for help, anyway.


    After discussing some details with the beauty Qin, I made a phone call to Wu Jian. I knew it would be more appropriate for him to handle this than it was for me. Mainly because I didn''t really know how to go about it.


    That night in the ghost building passed by very quickly. It may have had something to do with the fact that I spent more than 2 hours making phone calls. I was in luck that night, since the place was so empty. Otherwise I would have been burned with the fiery gaze of sister Hua and left nothing but a smouldering pile of ashes on the ground.


    Wu Jian got the evidence gathered by Su Qing and beauty Qin. Soon enough, the police went over to Zhang Sheng¡¯s place to arrest him on an anonymous tip. The police found a small skeleton in Zhang Sheng''s room, which was likely Zhang Sheng''s child. Wu Jian guessed that Zhang Sheng was likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.


    In just one night, all the problems with Zhang Sheng''s murders had been resolved, along with the concerns of Uncle Huang. The issue with the photos also seemed to have calmed down. I suddenly felt my whole demeaner change, I felt so much more relaxed than I did before.


    Things were a lot more chill the days following the arrest. I went to work and back, without my mom worrying about what I was doing. Witch Yan must have been talking to her about my safety and how she¡¯d have nothing to worry about since she did not even try to prevent me from going out every night. I felt like my life now was just like when I used to go to school, except I¡¯ve switched up day and night. Of course, there was still a very important problem that remained unsolved. My savings were getting frightnenigly low.


    I was busy trying to come up with a way to fix my money problems, when I came across a big case in the county. A family of three had perished in a fire in their home, and because it was an old house, the fire had affected several families. Although there were no further casualties, it had caused a great local impact. Over the past couple of decades, stories like this often affected several people in the community.


    After a little sympathy and a moment of silence, I left this matter behind me, and business in the ghost house resumed as usual. Every day the ghosts would gather, and I was really a little busy, and the second floor was also open.


    Every day I could see some ghosts being taken to the second floor. The second floor had a dining area along with a suite with bed in it, where they would also serve food. I was not allowed on the second floor though, because according to Sister Hua, I was too ugly. I would only interfere with the guests dining experience.


    I figured this day would just continue like any other, but it was suddenly interrupted by this very same arson case I had mentioned earlier.


    Earlier that morning I got a message from Wu Jian, but I was very busy at the time, so I paid no attention to it whatsoever. It wasn¡¯t until the afternoon of the day after that I really saw the message he had sent me. It was a simple text with just two words: ¡°a family¡±.


    My first reaction to the text message was to reply: ¡°Of course we are a family.¡± Wu Jian did not return my text, though. As the day continued, I began feeling strange. Wu Jian was not the type to send a text like that. So I went off to the side and called Wu Jian. A strange woman answered the phone, claiming to be a colleague of Wu Jian¡¯s. The woman on the other end of the phone began weeping and told me that when Wu Jian had gone to investigate the arson case the night before, he disappeared and only his mobile phone was found at the scene of the arson case.


    The news of Wu Jian¡¯s disappearance felt like a lump in my throat and a weight on my heart . It seemed Wu Jian had gotten himself into an accident of some kind. I wanted to ask for details, but the woman, refused to disclose more information to me saying that it was confidential and under investigation.


    I couldn''t just sit around and do nothing. I immediately took a taxi over to the scene of the arson case.


    The place where the arson happened was one of the only old houses that exists in our county town. For the sake of preserving history, it was not allowed to demolish these homes. After the arson occurred, a lot of people thought it was done by the developer, but I knew that it wasn¡¯t because Wu Jian once told me more details in a chat before he disappeared.


    Originally the developers had been the focus of the police¡¯s investigation, but there were several indications that this was an emotional killing. I hadn¡¯t asked for more details then, since I didn¡¯t really care much at the time, and Wu Jian did not volunteer any more information.


    The old house no longer had a roof. The brick wall, which had been burned black by fire, had collapsed in half. Though the smoke had been long gone, there was still a horrible smell lingering in the area.


    StanI stood on the edge of the yellow police tape and looked carefully at the scene of the fire. Although I was not a policeman, I still found that something was very strange about the scene.

 Chapter 63 Family

    I turned my head around and looked at the officer: "I am a friend of Wu Jian¡¯s. I heard he was missing. I¡¯m here hoping I¡¯ll find a clue."


    By his reaction, I could tell that the officer definitely knew Wu Jian. My words softened his expression, and he solemnly said: "Who told you about that? Don¡¯t stick around here, leave it to us, we¡¯ll find him as soon as possible."


    I nodded. I wanted to tell the police about the text message I had received, but I ended up decided against it. Something felt off, and I had a feeling telling the police wouldn¡¯t lead to much.


    The officer realized that I had no intention of leaving. He didn¡¯t try to drive me away or anything, but he did take the time to remind me not to go past the yellow caution tape before turning around and heading back to his post. It was daytime still and it would be risky to try and disobey his orders now. I planned on asking Sister Hua for some time off that night, I¡¯m sure I could get Xiao Lingdang to come with me to check things out. All I¡¯d have to do is give her some barbecue and she¡¯d happily go along with anything I¡¯d ask her to do.


    My phone began to ring, I picked it up and took a look at the caller ID. It was Huang Xiaolong. I hadn¡¯t talked to him or seen him for quite some time. Last I heard anything about him was from Wu Jian, who said that he had gone back to his hometown.


    Once the call had gone through, Huang Xiaolong immediately began talking about Wu Jian¡¯s disappearance. I was a little shocked and confused by his sudden involvement, seemingly out of nowhere. ¡°Don¡¯t act rashly. Wait for me before you go barging in there, we can meet up tomorrow.


    I did trust him, so I promised that I wouldn¡¯t go in before tomorrow. I didn¡¯t promise however, that Xiao Lingdang wouldn¡¯t go in, so I I was still ready to let her go and check it out at night. Wu Jian¡¯s disappearance was really strange. I was worried that more terrible things would continue happen and I couldn¡¯t just wait around and do nothing.


    I hung up with Huang Xiaolong and took a look around before leaving the area. I briefly considered talking to neighbors, before I decided it would be futile, since I¡¯m sure the police did this countless times already. The best thing I could do was find the root of the problem and take care of that. The best way of getting to the root of the issue was to find the victim, in order to do that, I needed Xiao Lingdang.


    Xiao Lingdang was very excited about the barbecue, though to make sure we got things done, I told her that we would go as soon finished the task at hand. She was so motivated, she went on ahead and snuck onto the premises before I had even arrived. Although it was very late, the scene of the crime was still being guarded by the police. I pretended to pass by the arson scene inadvertently, and went past it towards the night market stall. Once I was there, I ordered some kebabs, packed them up to go, and waited for Xiao Lingdang to return so I can reward her with her bribe.


    She returned surprisingly fast. We went off to a more secluded area, handed her the food and asked about the situation in the burned down house.


    She ¡°ate¡± quickly, only taking short breaks to inform me that there was no sign of any ghosts whatsoever. There wasn¡¯t even a trace of Yin Qi, the place was completely normal. She took a couple more sniffs of the food and told me that there was no sign of Wu Jian either.


    I must admit, Xiao Lingdang¡¯s report was nothing like what I was expecting. People had definitely died here. Where did their ghosts go? I rushed back to the ghost house together with Xiao Lingdang.


    The ghost house had a large network, as long as ghosts existed, I would find Wu Jian sooner or later. I returned to the ghost house with a dissatisfied Xiao Lingdang and told Sister Hua everything. With Sister Hua¡¯s help, we managed to send a message in a way only she knew how. Unfortunately, no one replied to the message until the ghost house was closing for the night.


    Well, at least I had learned something new about the arson. The reply held some information about the family that had been burned to death. The family was made up of three people, the male owner named Jiang Kun, the woman named Jiang ping, and their kid Jiang Mingming. None of them were locals, they had moved here more than ten years ago.


    Although it was strange that the man shared the same surname as his wife, I didn¡¯t think much of it. After all, society was not very particular about rules that demanded people with the same surname couldn¡¯t get married. Many people shared the same last name.


    What caught my attention was how they were allowed to live in the old house even though they weren¡¯t local people. According to old ghost who went us the message, the family didn¡¯t rent the house, they owned it. How could people who weren¡¯t locals own a house in this area?


    I couldn¡¯t figure it out and the informant had nothing to say about it either. Laws had been passed in the area that didn¡¯t allow the house to be sold, so only the local government would be able to purchase that land. It didn¡¯t make any sense.


    I left as soon as I realized there wasn¡¯t any more useful information for me. Huang Xianlong had told me that he would be here today. Perhaps once we were together and had discussed everything, we could figure it all out.


    However, the day passed and Huang Xiaolong still hadn¡¯t called me straight through to the next day. Just before I was going in to work I decided to try calling him. To my surprise, nobody answered. I tried to call Wu Jian again, only to end up being questioned by police. Since he had been missing for a long time, it seemed the police was dedicating significant resources towards finding him.


    Later that evening, I lured Xiao Lingdang into going to the crime scene in the same way I had the day before. She still couldn¡¯t find anything and the ghost house hadn¡¯t gotten any new messages either.


    What I had learned about the family wasn¡¯t very helpful so far. All I knew was they kept low profile, they weren¡¯t fond of going out, and they were good people, with a warm heart. Though this wasn¡¯t particularly useful, I still wrote it down.


    As soon as I noticed that Sister Hua had some free time, I asked her: ¡°Where do ghosts go if they don¡¯t stay in the same place they died?¡± Her answer ended up just making me more confused. She said that ghost would linger in the place where it died and that it wouldn¡¯t leave for forty-nine days.


    The problem was Xiao Lingdang couldn¡¯t find any of their ghosts.


    Huang Xiaolong sent me a message as soon as the ghost house closed. It was surprisingly similar to the text Wu Jian sent before he disappeared: ¡°They were families.¡±


    I called Huang Xiaolong back and the call went through, but no one answered on the other end. The next day, I learned that police had found a phone in the arson scene. It¡¯s owner? Huang Xiaolong.


    Since I had called Huang Xiaolong several times the past few days, the police decided they should call me in for questioning. That was when I learned that there was no record of a text being sent from Wu Jian¡¯s or Huang Xiaolong¡¯s cell phones.


    I wasn¡¯t released until the next day. They still asked me not to leave the county, though to be honest, I didn¡¯t have the time or the reason to kill anyone right now.


    I wasn¡¯t going to be leaving the county. After all, Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong were missing. My plan was to go to the scene at night. But before I did that, I needed to make preparations- barbecue.

 Chapter 64 Because they were a family 1

    I felt like there was nothing I could do to get along with her. Perhaps I should try flattery sometime. "Hey Lulu, are you doing anything tonight?"


    Lulu didn¡¯t even bother to look at me, she reached out for Xiao Lingdang''s hand and said to her "Xiao Lingdang, I¡¯d like to go with you."


    Xiao Lingdang was overjoyed and to be honest, so was I. Lulu was very powerful and a great helper; and though I had no idea why she was always cold with me, I knew that she would never harm me.


    Unfortunately, that night we ended up not being able to make it out to the site of the arson. My mother called and asked me to come back home. From the sound of her voice, it sounded like something urgent must have happened. My family¡¯s safety was my number one priority, so I hurried back. For some reason, Xiao Lingdang and Lulu came with me, except they both entered the blood-red bracelet that Lulu had given me.


    I quickly went back home, but to my surprise, there was nothing wrong. It seemed I was worried the entire ride over here for no reason. Xue¡¯er had already gone to sleep and was curled up on the pillow.


    Mother and Witch Yan sit opposite each other. A familiar white envelope had been placed on a tea table between them. I walked over, looking at Witch Yan with some concern. My mother had already received these letters more than once. She would not ask me to come back just because she had received more. If my mother was so anxious to call me back, I was certain that Witch Yan had found something.


    Witch Yan pointed to the letter: "Take a look at these first."


    I picked up the envelope and skilfully removed the photographs from the opened envelope. The photo was just as it always was, the only difference was that this time, the subject was no longer a person.


    The first photo appeared to be in a scenic spot. The background was full of endless mountains. A man and a woman had an outstretched hand, pulling a child between them. It looked like a family. All three of them laughed sweetly in the photo.


    The second photo was really out of the ordinary. If it had been anything like all the other photographs I¡¯d received, it should have been one that represented death, but it was not so. It was still the same three people. Just nobody knows whether it was due to the shooting. All three figures in the picture appeared to be partly overlapping each other. It made the picture look a little bit chilling.


    The third one was also strange. There was only one person in this one. It was the man from the first picture. He was standing in front of a snow-white wall, with a strange smile on his face, and it seemed like there was nothing wrong.


    "Auntie Yan, these picture are very strange compared to the others. What could that mean?¡±


    Instead of answering my question, she reached for the photos and looked at them carefully, as if she had never seen them before. I¡¯m sure she must have looked over them many times already.


    Although I didn''t know why she stayed looking at these photos so carefully, I didn''t disturb her. I just sat next to my mother, quietly waiting.


    It was a while before Witch Yan sighed and looked at us with a serious expression: "little Wu, you don''t go to any strange places for the next few days, or at least until we receive the next set of photos."


    I was surprised by Witch Yan¡¯s words. I thought about what she said carefully. I felt as if I had already seen the ghosts in these photos before. They had absolutely nothing to do with me, so why was Witch Yan telling me to stay safe? I was about to nod and agree, when I suddenly remembered the disappearance of Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong. I made an incognito gesture to Witch Yan so we could chat privately.


    Even though Witch Yan was just an average rural woman, she had been through many significant events in the real world. It was very apparent that she held years of wisdom in her head, and I respected that. Seeing my gesture, she stood up and told my mother that she would like for me to go do some groceries with her.


    Mom didn¡¯t doubt anything, she just kept telling me to help Witch Yan carry her bags. I answered respectfully and went outside with Witch Yan.


    We hadn¡¯t walked far beflre Witch Yan picked a roadside bench for us to sit in. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, child?¡± I told her everything I had learned so far about the arson case. Witch Yan did not say anything the entire time. Her eyes fell on the bracelet around my wrist: "You may go if you have considered everything to do with the matter. I will take care of your mother, but heed my warning: you should not go anywhere else. These photos are too out of the ordinary, which complicates things."


    I nodded. I had nothing to do with the people and things in the photos, and I really didn¡¯t want to deal with it, since I still had a bunch of things to deal with on my own.


    The only thing I was interested in was investigating the arson, so after chating with Witch Yan for a while about the photos, I randomly bought a few things so I wouldn¡¯t go home empty handed. I was sound asleep shortly after I got back home. At 10:00 in the evening, I was up and ready to head for the arson site.


    The yellow cordon was still there, and there was an extra sign outside, saying, "No entry allowed.¡± The police must have raised their guard since two people had already disappeared in there. There were two policemen guarding the area now.


    I asked Xiao Lingdang to make a noise in the distance to draw off the police, so that I could secretly enter the scene. To be honest, just knowing that three people were burned to death here made me heart feel flustered, even with Lulu still in the bracelet as back up.


    The room wasn¡¯t particularly large and when I looked through the blackened walls I could see that it was a house with two rooms and one hall. Each room was quite spacious, I was pretty sure you could easily accommodate two big beds in it and still have some space left.


    I stood in the hall, moving the flashlight around, carefully inspecting every corner the light would reach. It was pitch black with a lot of burned debris gently swaying in the blackness. The whole room gave off off an indescribable stench.


    I carefully walked over towards the bedroom. I had heard that the three of them had died in their beds without any sign of struggling. It was presumed that they were asphyxiated to death by the carbon monoxide produced before they were burned to death.


    The first place that I entered was a smaller room. As a general rule, this was the kid¡¯s room, but it was burned everywhere, and I couldn¡¯t gather anything from it.


    After looking around the room, I didn''t find anything unusual. I didn''t know if it was because of the smell, I wanted to leave here as quickly as possible. So I turned and entered the other bedroom, but just as I was turning around, I heard a very distinct and clear sound of water splashing.


    I was frightened, and hurriedly turned around the rest of the way. I noticed that the water on the ground was scattered in circles. It was as if something had just fallen into the water.


    The sewage on the ground was murky and an opaque black. I looked at it, but found nothing. So I slowly moved the torch up, and saw the black bed that had been completely burned. I shined the light higher still, and saw a black strip hanging from a half burnt fan on the ceiling.

 Chapter 65 Because they were a family 2

    "Uncle".


    I jumped, petrified and caught off guard. I quickly turned around, only to see Xiao Lingdang looking at me bashfully. She knew she had scared the wits out of me. I took a deep breath, and knew I couldn¡¯t blame her for it. I turned my head back to analyze the bag, the moment my flashlight shone on it, the bag disappeared.


    I was beginning to freak out again, with my flashlight shaking, I looked around, but never saw the bag again. I whispered to Xiao Lingdang: "Have you seen a black bag?"


    She shook her head: "I haven''t seen anything."


    "Is there another ghost here?"


    "No."


    Her answer gave me a slight sense of relief. I was sure that the bag was real and not an illusion. However, since Xiao Lingdang did not feel the presence of a ghost, it could have just been an accident, but where did the black bag go?


    I checked outside the house again, but still found nothing. Although she said that she couldn¡¯t feel the presence of a ghost, I was still worried. Weird things around here were usually tied in to the ghosts that I somehow seemed to attract. Maybe the ghost couldn¡¯t be detected by Xiao Lingdang for some reason. I wanted to ask Lulu, but I thought of Lulu¡¯s icy face, and I immediately gave up the idea.


    With Xiao Lingdang following behind me, we slowly walked to the other bedroom. This bedroom was bigger and completely empty. The bed was in the middle of the room, far away from the furniture that had collapsed on both sides. It didn¡¯t make sense. I thought about it. Every time somebody wanted to get up to find clothes, they¡¯d have to walk nearly 10 meters. wasn¡¯t that inconvenient?


    There wasn¡¯t much water in the room. I walked in slowly, anyway. It was a very simple, the basic closet, a bed, and something that looked like it was once a desk, now it was almost entirely burned to ashes.


    I looked around and made sure the room was safe. Thinking back to the black plastic bag, I shone the flashlight on the ceiling, but I found nothing, only darkness.


    I shone the flashlight on the burnt bed. The couple died on this bed, and upon closer inspection, I noticed it looked a bit strange. After some thought, I realized that this bed was bigger than average.


    Was this bed made for two giants? I couldn¡¯t understand it, so I said: ¡°Such a big bed was really enough for the whole family to sleep in."


    "Because it is a family."


    Xiao Lingdang stood behind me, and her voice was still clear and melodious, with a little childish voice. Her tone made me uncomfortable. Her words were also very strange, they reminded me of the text messages sent by Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong. They all had a key word in it: family.


    I felt my whole body get cold and I turned around suddenly. The flashlight in my hand was shining on the face of Xiao Lingdang. Her face was still the familiar face I usually saw, but it had a smile that was not easy to tell apart from her usual neutral look.


    I swallowed: "What did you say?"


    She shook her head: "Uncle, I didn''t say anything."


    Her tone returned to normal, but I could have sworn she just said that. Was it just an illusion? I shook my head and removed the flashlight from her face. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it.


    A gust of wind blew in through the burnt window. I heard the sound of pages being turned, so I shone my flashlight in the direction of the noise. The swaying sound was very conspicuous in darkness.


    Even from a distance, I could tell it was a book. I walked slowly towards it. The book could slightly be seen in the half burnt cupboard. There were deformed locks on the cupboard, and the structure had been burned through, forming a big holein the middle of it.


    I hesitated, but I reached in and took the book out of the burnt hole. The hard cover of the book had been burned beyond recognition and no words could be seen. Nevertheless, the pages were in perfect condition, all except for some black ashes that I had accidentally agitated when I took it out.


    This book was weird, to say the least. Like, why had a book hidden in such an obvious place not been taken away by the police? Also, a fire would definitely have destroyed the book, even it was placed in a cabinet. The temperature was way too high to not make its way to the inside of a cabinet and in turn destroying the book.


    I opened it though I felt odd, like it must be related to the disappearance of Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong.


    There was no title on the first page of the book, only a neatly handwritten word in pen reading: ¡°Because it is a family! ! !¡± With three big exclamation marks, which were very noticeable and large on the page.


    ¡°Because it is a family¡±, those were the exact same words Xiao Ling had said just now. I subconsciously looked at her, with the flashlight still shining on the book. I could only see her in a faintly, but I saw that she barely had an expression. Then I noticed she still wore that nearly unnoticeable smile. Xiao Lingdang looked at me, as if she was excited about something.


    Was there something wrong with me? I hurriedly asked her: "What did you find?"


    She shook her head slowly in the dark: "No, nothing."


    I nodded and continued to focus on the book. There was no table of contents in the book. It was very strange. I turned the pages at random and found they every page had a plethora of words on it. It was clearly a printed book. Why didn¡¯t it have table of contents?


    The first page of the book said: ¡°We are very happy that my baby was born, the father shook hands with all the passing doctors, nurses, patients. I could feel the joy of his...¡±

 Chapter 66 Because they were a family 3

    All I had was this book, but what could it mean? I hadn¡¯t read the contents inside the book, I focused only at the two lines written in pen. I had a feeling that the family might have had some problems.


    Perhaps some kind of love triangle? No, it didn¡¯t seem right. The big question mark at the end of the book seemed to indicate that there was a problem with the family. What could it be? As I was trying to make sense of it all, I heard Xiao Lingdang come up from behind me.


    "What are you thinking about?"


    "Oh, nothing." I answered casually before picking up the book and moving on to look for something else.


    The only thing that I refused to touch was the bed, so I moved past it and went straight for the desk. There were several wooden boards that had been burned and collapsed by the side of the desk. It must have been a bookshelf, but there were no books, or at least, no sign of them. I rummaged through the ashes under my feet.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something glimmer for a moment under the desk. I bent down and carefully looked at it. It was a very small mirror. It was as small as my palm and stuck under the desk with some kind of adhesive and placed carefully so that it would remain hidden. If the desk hadn¡¯t burned down, I likely wouldn¡¯t have found it.


    I reached out my hand to tear off the adhesive and took the mirror. The mirror was not smooth and it felt like it had been a result of poor workmanship. The reflection on it had a bit of distortion, like a concave mirror at a fun house, and it was covered with tiny words written in red pen. I looked at it under the flashlight for quite some time, but I still couldn''t make out what it said. First off, because the mirror reflected too much light, blinding me. Second, because the words were too small. It was as if one of the family was interested in microcarving.


    I was about to put the mirror in my pants pocket, when I suddenly saw Xiao Lingdang in the mirror. Xiao Lingdang stared back with that same vague smile. Her reflection on the mirror looked like it was someone else. I quickly turned around to make sure it was Xiao Lingdang standing behind me. As soon as I saw her standing there, I realized it must have been the distortion in the video. The manufacturer of this mirror was really irresponsible.


    I knew I something was wrong, even if Xiao Lingdang had said there was nothing unusual. I raised my hand and wondered if I had the courage to call upon Lulu. That was when I noticed that the silver bracelet Su Qing had given me to deal with the baby ghost had turned black. It looked ominous, like it was detecting something poisonous. I though of how silver could be used to test out the presence of toxins.


    As I examined it more carefully, I found that the silver bracelet was not turning black. Instead, it had changed to look like it had been used for thousands of years. It was slowly decaying and there were now small holes in it. What was going on?


    I didn''t know why the silver bracelet would change so much, but my heart grew uneasy, and I knew that none of this was normal. Xiao Lingdang kept saying that she had not seen any ghosts, but what if it wasn¡¯t a ghost? What if it was something else, something much stronger than Xiao Lingdang?


    I decided it would be best to leave as soon as possible. Although I couldn¡¯t find any immediate clues, I had a sense that the book and the text on the mirror would be very useful.


    I gradually came to my senses, and I tried to calm down. Then I opened my mouth and said: "Xiao Lingdang, let''s go."


    "Uncle, must you leave so soon? Didn''t you want to stay here for the night?¡±


    I was definitely freaked the hell out. Just as I was about to tell Xiao Lingdang to leave, I thought of something that didn¡¯t seem right. Xiao Lingdang had always called me brother, but just now she called me uncle.


    I thought it over for a moment. It wasn¡¯t just a moment ago, as soon as she entered the room, Xiao Lingdang had been calling me uncle. Had she¡­?


    I did my best not to show that there was anything different, though my sweat may very likely give me away. I was so worried that Xiao Lingdang was actually a ghost. Uh, well, she really was a ghost. I mean, what if Xiao Lingdang was not the Xiao Lingdang I know, but another ghost instead?


    I stopped for moment, I suddenly had a little admiration for my courage. I tried to use a calm tone to take control of the situation: "Then we¡¯ll look for a little while longer." I turned around and pretended to search under the high cabinet. Xiao Lingdang has been behind me ever since she came in, and I figured she wouldn¡¯t now all of a sudden.


    If this Xiao Lingdang really was fake, then the real Xiao Lingdang must not be with me. She would get worried and then likely go and get help. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t put my hope entirely on that. What if there was a fake me next to Xiao Lingdang?


    I was holding a flashlight in one hand and rubbing the blood red bracelet on the other hand. I didn''t dare make a sound. I just wanted to wake up Lulu from the bracelet with some kind of action, but the bracelet did not respond.


    "Uncle, what are you doing?"


    I swallowed, and my voice was so loud that it frightened me, but I still remained calm: "I want to see if there are any more clues."


    "Uncle, why do you keep touching that bracelet?"


    I turned stiff, now I was 100 percent sure that theXiao Lingdang behind me was not the real one.


    "Uncle, why don''t you turn around and look at me? "


    I had goose bumps all over my body, and felt the coldness hit me in waves. I should have been able to wake up Lulu, but she did not appear, now I could only buy myself as much time as possible. I could buy enough time until it was morning, or until the police outside found something wrong inside, or until Xiao Lingdang found me.


    I slowly turned around, even though my every movement now was stiff, I still showed a smile that I thought said everything was OK. As I was about to make up some excuse, the being that looked like Xiao Lingdang spoke again.


    "Uncle, are we a family?"


    "Why do you ask?¡±


    "Because we are a family."


    I was a little dizzy by the circular logic of the fake Xiao Lingdang. If we were a family, why would she still ask if we were a family? Regardless, I did not dare to answer it at will, and began to think of consequences of my answers.


    "Uncle, are we a family?¡± Asks Xiao Lingdang for the second time.


    I was still thinking hard.


    According to the logic in ghost movies, if I said yes, then I must not leave. Because we would be a family, and being a family requires that we should stay together. This was a very logical routine.


    But according to the other way of thinking in ghost movie logic was that if I said no, then the fake ghost who was disguised as Xiao Lingdang was likely to get angry and perhaps be cruel enough to kill me.


    God, this logic was so complex that I couldn''t make sense of any of it.


    Xiao Lingdang did not say a word. With a vague smile, she tilted her head and looked at me, as if waiting for my answer. I had no idea what was the right thing to say.

 Chapter 67 Because they were a family 4

    The ghost did not hesitate and asked a question.


    "Besides Xiao Lingdang, who else is your family?"


    I changed my tone to one of a father humoring his child, "Well, who¡¯s your favorite, is it your father or your mother?" I was certain the answer would be mother.


    I worried my question would anger the fake Xiao Lingdang. Fortunately, she seemed to have crashed like a computer and her strange smile had disappeared.


    I could only hear her murmuring, "Dad, grandma, mom, or grandpa?" She spoke out in an interrogative tone, as if she wasn¡¯t sure.


    I stopped trying to stimulate her any more. I acted just like her, waiting quietly. But my hand never stopped touching my blood red bracelet. My bracelet became a little hot because of the friction. But it did not go through any change. I must think it is normal if I never see Xiao Lingdang and Lulu entering the bracelet.]


    I didn''t know how long I had stayed here. There was a silvery sound in the empty and quiet room suddenly. At the same time, my hand cannot feel the weight. When I looked down, I didn''t know when the bracelet had broken down into two pieces. And the silvery sound came from the bracelet which fell on the floor.


    I worry that the sound will woke up Xiao Lingdang who was murmuring. I looked up with fear slowly, seeing her strange eyes.


    My heart quivers suddenly, seeing her smile. However, her smile was so strange. It seemed that someone pulled her face.


    "Uncle, can I ask you a question?"


    I nodded vigorously. I would not give up if I had any choice.


    "Uncle, Should I call my father grandpa or call my grandpa father?"


    I was stunned although I was in this horrible air. This question made me silent.


    Xiao Lingdang waited for a moment. She asked another question when she noticed I kept silent.


    "Uncle, should I call my mother grandma or call my grandma mother?"


    I was still stunned. Although I knew the two questions was key, I could not answer anyone.


    Xiao Lingdang waited for a moment again. The forced smile was still in her face. But her eyes became cold. I knew she would beat me if I didn''t answer. So I chose to answer one casually.


    "You can call your dad mom, call your grandpa grandma, call your grandma grandpa, or call your mom grandpa."


    I answered her quickly. But my answer made Xiao Lingdang murmur again.


    "Dad is mom, and grandpa is grandpa. Oh no! Grandpa is grandma."


    I had already made sure that the IQ of Xiao Lingdang was problematic. If I could cheat her, I might waste time until the daytime.


    I forced a smile, trying to thaw the atmosphere, "Exactly, that''s what I mean."


    Xiao Lingdang didn''t think about it, and she just continued to repeat this sentence. And then she became mad and shouted. I seemed to hear many voices among the shouted of Xiao Lingdang.


    "Mother is grandma."


    "Dad is grandpa."


    ...


    Many voices were small, yet my head almost explode. The flashlight fell down the floor with a loud sound. I covered my head painfully with my two hands, kneeling on the floor. But those voices were in my mind which I could not get rid of them.


    "What are you doing here?" I shouted loudly. And then bright light shined my body. But my pain didn''t disappear so that I could not respond it.


    My body was raised by others unconsciously. When I felt I would die, I was raised by several police to the street. The light on the street had been closed. While there were several police cars who supply the brightness by the automotive lighting.


    I looked up feebly, only seeing the police at present. There was an acquaintance. He was madman Zang who was standing in front of sacrificial altar, nodding at me with a smile.


    I stood up with the help of the police. madman Zang pay no attention to me, holding a pen filled with red liquid. He wrote in a rune paper quickly.


    The police came to ask me. I never tell the truth, just saying I worried my friends. Therefore, I come to here to find Wu Jian. The police kept polite to me.


    After I asked them, I knew the police accompany madman Zang to perform religious rites. But this kind event could not let others know. Therefore, I chose to perform in evening. In fact, madman Zang chose the evening. However, I couldn''t believe he had got power to let the police to work for him.


    But it was normal. madman Zang had got real ability. He was not like the fake Taoist who went to the ghost house.


    Madman Zang finishes his religious rites quickly, putting the half-ruined tune in the door. And then he talks a leader for a moment, and then he walked to me.


    He dragged me to avoid the police. It seemed that the police know madman Zang. Or they received the order so that they never stop us.


    Madman Zang drags me to the other side. Naturally, he asked what happened inside. For him, I never covered the truth. I told him everything, including the background of Xiao Lingdang.


    After all I knew the background from witch Yan. Those masters should know the ghost house. Absolutely, madman Zang was not surprised with the existence of the ghost house. And he praises me because of my work in the ghost house.


    Frankly speaking, I would kick him if I had recovered no matter how many police there were.


    Madman Zang did let me keep away from this room, and he needed to find some books so that he could make sure whether there was similar event as I said or not. In his words, knew yourself as well as the enemy. For me, I was so scared, because I was timid now.


    I didn''t know why I never told madman Zang book and mirror deliberately. But madman Zang seemed not to notice me when I held the book in my hand. Even I shook it in front of him deliberately, yet he didn''t make any reflection.


    I saw I was in trouble.

 Chapter 68 Because We were Family 5

    It was already daytime when I arrived back home. I was surprised to find my mom still chatting with Witch Yan in the living room. They immediately stood up as soon as they saw me.


    "Mom and auntie, have you slept at all?" I was intantly saddened to see my mom¡¯s tired face.


    My mom shook her head with a smile. As she was about to answer me, Witch Yan interrupted her with a question and a serious expression, "Where have you been?"


    She walked over to me, looking at me seriously. My mom was also surprised. She hurried over to me and grasped my hand while looking at me clearly. She worried that I had done something wrong. Not that there was anyway she would be able to tell if I had.


    "I didn¡¯t go anywhere. I just went to the place where the arson case happened." I looked at Witch Yan apprehensively. What happened tonight had seriously frightened me, to make things worse, Xiao Lingdang had also disappeared.


    "The arson case..." witch Yan repeated in a low voice. Suddenly, she shouted, ¡°Ah!¡± and walked quickly over to the desk. She took out of a box filled with letters and began reading one of them, extremely focused.


    I walked over to her, carefully watching her strange and erratic movements. Although I had no idea what she had just discovered, I knew there was something wrong.


    Witch Yan studied the letter for a moment, and then sat on a sofa, "God''s will."


    I was thoroughly confused. I realized she wasn¡¯t going to volunteer the information, so I asked, "Auntie, what did you find?"


    Witch Yan did not answer me, so instead, I willingly told her about everything that had happened tonight. I didn''t hold anything back from my mother¡¯s best friend. I told the truth, including everything about Xiao Lingdang and Lulu.


    After she knew the truth, she glanced at my blood-red bracelet and asked me to carry it wherever I went, no matter what. I thought perhaps Witch Yan might know more about the bracelet. When I tried to ask her about it, she interrupted me. She just said that I would know at the appropriate time.


    I knew that masters had a reputation for being mysterious. So I didn¡¯t even bother to asker her for more information, it was probably useless anyway. She did calm me down however, by saying just three words, "It is fate."


    I even decided to tell her about the book and the mirror. It turned out that Witch Yan couldn¡¯t see any of the two items either, just like Madman Zang. In fact, she was a bit suspicious of my intentions and wondered if I was teasing her.


    That was when she got serious again, she told me that it¡¯d be best not to look at either item. She told me that the items had an evil aura about them. Moreover, witch Yan asked me not to look into what was going on in the pictures. She simply made sure that the dead families in the arson case were the same people in the picture. She still couldn¡¯t make out any more details or information from the strange picture.


    Witch Yan suddenly gave me some bad news. If I chose not to care about the picture, the worst that would happen is I¡¯d just be scared. However, if I began to care about what was going on in the picture, I would have to care about everything that had occurred with the people in the picture. Not just this time, but every time I¡¯d get one of these pictures. That was the curse that I¡¯d be facing.


    Witch Yan said that it was good that I had my connection to the ghost house. It was also great that I knew both her and Madman Zang, she said all of this should keep me safe. I almost felt like crying. ¡°Should¡± didn¡¯t sound too certain!


    The word ¡°should¡± made me a shiver down my spine and made me feel a bit cold inside. All this just had to happen as I was planning to bring my mom and Xue¡¯er to move in to the Ghost Building.


    These two basters just had to disappear all of a sudden! Witch Yan suggested I ask Xiao Lingdang and Lulu. After all, they had gone with me the night before. The problem was, I had no idea where those two were either.


    I had never chatted with Witch Yan this long before. We all yawned and went back to our homes. However, when I got there, I wasn¡¯t sleepy anymore. I opened my computer, which had remained idle and unused for a long time. I logged on to my WeChat. He Xiaru¡¯s avatar was flashing like crazy. I clicked her chat window and saw a long link, it seemed endless and it looked like it had been spammed in the chat over and over again. I clicked it and saw that it looked like one of those websites used to download things P2P.


    ¡°I¡¯m probably going to get a virus from this¡­¡± I thought to myself. Eh, whatever. I closed the window, deciding it was probably best to go look at something else. After some web browsing, I came across something that had been posted yesterday on the forums. It was a simple post that simply stated ¡°A retired teacher, Zhang Sheng, died in his bedroom. The cause of death was a heart attack, caused by shock.


    I thought about it for a moment and realized that Su Qing might have been responsible for that. That foolish woman had figured out how to take care of the problem. As morbid as it sounds, it might have ended up being a good thing that he was now dead. Well, I finally completed the mission given to me by grandpa Huang. I almost feel as if I should apologize him. He gave me a lot of money, but I dealt with the problem regarding his granddaughter only once. Then again, if he had paid me in RMB, I would have been more proactive.


    I burned some time by scrolling past several posts in a forum. That was when a certain title caught my eye, "Is he dad or grandpa?"


    My heart skipped a beat. Was is possible that the post was related to the dead family in incendiary case? I got a bit excited, and immediately clicked on the post. ¡°Damn it..¡±, the post was locked, so I¡¯d need certain permissions to be able to read the actual post.


    I did have access to the comments, though they weren¡¯t very informative. What an exaggeration! Disgusting! Calling me grandpa¡­. There was no way these comments were going to help me deduce what the article was about.


    I skipped past the nonsense and continued reading the other users¡¯ comments. This post must have been trending at the time. There were seven pages of comments, after some scrolling, there was one comment that attracted my attention.


    It was a guest account, so that meant whoever posted it had not bothered to register on the site. The comment was simple, "I know this family, they lived in the old city.¡±


    I had a feeling this post was related to the arson case. I sent a message to the administrator. I was hoping the administrator would allow me to check out the post since I was a veteran in the forum.


    Some time passed and the administrator still hadn¡¯t replied to me. I noticed the time on the computer. It was close to 5 am. The admin for the page was likely still lying on their bed.


    I clicked on the post again, I found out the person had created the thread had already registered with the forum. His name was strange, "Going Away". He had apparently registered a year ago. However there was no other record of any other post besides this one. There wasn¡¯t even a record of any comments he had posted. It was as if the account had not been used since it had been registered.


    I went through the person¡¯s profile, but I could not access any more information, since I was just an average user in the forum. If the profile was accurate, the original poster was a young girl, a student.


    I sent a message to the owner of the account, but I never got a reply. Fortunately, things were going well, I felt like my research was leading me towards something. Now, I just had to wait for the administrator to allow me to check the registration information.


    I went over the related posts again, but there were no new clues. I was feeling extremely sleepy at this point, so I went straight to bed.


    As soon as I laid down, the computer screen began flashing. Just as I was getting up to check it, the screen went black. I figured it must have just gone into power-saving sleep mode. I didn''t care enough to check it, I was way too sleepy at the time.


    When I woke up, my mom was sitting beside me. She looked at me apprehensively, while witch Yan closed her eyes. She was murmuring and chanting prayers.


    I was curious as to why mom and witch Yan had come to my place, so I asked, "Mom, why are you here?"


    Mom looked at me apprehensively, "Do you know how long you have been sleeping? I couldn¡¯t wake you up. I will call 120, if witch Yan tell me you are fine."


    "How long did I sleep?" I asked surprised. I knew I was on my computer for a while last night, but not for long. I thought I was feeling pretty great. I don¡¯t even remember dreaming anything.


    "You slept for a whole day."


    My mouth dropped, I couldn¡¯t believe it. I picked up my phone to check the time, but my battery had died. I rushed over to plug it in.


    Witch Yan began asking me about the quality of my sleep. After I told her that I slept great, she said nothing. She then pulled my mom aside quietly until they were out of the room. It was like the feeling I imagine a patient having when a doctor shakes his head and walks out of a ward.


    I was getting gradually more upset, just when I was getting really worked up, my mom came in. She said I should just go and take a shower to relax. In the meantime, Witch Yan performed some religious rites in which she asked rice to help me with this ordeal.


    I was familiar with this process. When I was younger and would get sick, my mom would have others perform the same ritual. The difference of course, was that they didn¡¯t have the abilities of witch Yan.


    The process was relatively simple. First, she took out a bowl and filled it with rice. Then, she lit the incense and bowed in worship, she then mixed the incense ashes with the rice. After that, she poured water half-way into a bowl. Finally, based on what the person performing the ritual was asking for, she would place the rice and ash mixture into the bowl in a certain way. I didn''t really know more details about it, and I wasn¡¯t sure about the results we¡¯d get from it. Either way, it was comforting.


    After I finished washing up, I noticed a small altar in the living room. She didn¡¯t protest me standing behind her as she lit the incense. She worshiped and walked around with a serious look.


    Witch Yan was murmuring while she worshiped. She spoke very quickly, so I couldn''t hear anything clearly except for my name.


    After some time, Witch Yan put the incense into a bowl filled with rice. She had me bow to the incense three times, a sign of worshipping. And then she took out a half bowl of water which she had just prepares.

 Chapter 69 Because We Were Family 6

    I watched Witch Yan murmur and put more rice into the bowl. I was beginning to grow restless watching the rice fall down to the bottom of the bowl again and again. The action was slow and dull, and I was bored and skeptical. Luckily, I had slept for quite some time, otherwise, I would have likely fallen asleep.


    The process lasted almost two hours. Witch Yan had even lit new incense several times. Finally, she was done, and she began to put things away. I could tell that my mom was upset, but she had seemed afraid to speak. As Witch Yan ended her performance, my mom immediately asked, "Sister, how does it look?"


    Witch Yan glanced at me with a smile. She repeated "Fine," twice. I felt like she had tricked us, but I didn''t know why.


    My mom seemed to have a similar thought, and she boldly said, "Say what you want to say. Are you worried that I cannot handle it?"


    By this time, Witch Yan had put everything away, and she dragged my mom to the sofa. She allowed me to sit by them. I began pouring cups of water for each of us while watching Witch Yan. I knew she wanted to say something, and I waited for her to start speaking.


    Eventually, Witch Yan declared, "It''s the God''s will. Don''t worry. Little Wu is safe, but he will suffer."


    After Witch Yan spoke, my mom said, "Well, it¡¯s good for him to suffer. Otherwise, kids always get themselves into trouble because they continue to meddle with everything.¡±


    Witch Yan thought about this statement for a moment, then took out the rest of the rice. She poured it into a sack, then passed it to me while saying, "Take this just in case.¡±


    As I picked up the sack, I asked, "Auntie, how do I use this? Should I just carry it with me?"


    Witch Yan nodded and said, "Just carry it. It can protect you like the silver bracelet. You can throw the rice towards the ghosts. It might kill them. If that doesn''t work, you can make a circle out of the rice and stand in the center. If you drip one drop of your middle finger''s blood on the surface of the rice, I will know you are in trouble. But be sure not to walk out of the circle.¡±


    I nodded, putting the small sack in my pocket and thinking about the time I¡¯d encountered a ghost while wearing that bracelet. It seems that the ghost had wanted to kill me after all. I should thank Su Qing.


    I then asked Witch Yan about the book and mirror again. I thought that if I could understand those items, they might be able to help me. I pulled out the items and held them in my lap.


    Witch Yan looked at me mysteriously and suggested that I bring the book with me into the Ghost House, because ¡°something might appear in a special place.¡± Her words made me feel strange, and I decided against asking her about the words I saw on the mirror. I quickly said goodbye to her and my mom so that I could rush to my room to think.


    When I arrived home, I looked closely at the mirror. The letters that I¡¯d seen on it before still existed. The sentence was very short and although I¡¯d read it many times already, I read it again.


    ¡°Everything was your fault. You gave birth to me for yourselves. Everything was your fault. I hated you. You should not have given birth to me. I hate you.¡±


    This sentence was so strange. Was it written by a child blaming his parents for his birth?


    I felt the letters on the mirror. The mirror was uneven where the words had been carved into its surface. I tried scratching at the letters to see if I could crack the surface of the mirror, but the glass stayed intact. I also turned the mirror over several times, but couldn¡¯t find anything else that gave me a clue.


    I then moved to my computer to check the forum for any answers. However, when I moved my mouse, the screen stayed black. Strange, I was sure that I had left my computer on the night before¡­


    I rebooted my computer and immediately went onto the forum. There was a new post from the administrator, but I wasn¡¯t able to check it. However, my attempt to access it notified the administrator, who asked why I wanted to see the post and informed me that the content was ¡°illegal.¡±


    Sometimes illegal posts on the forum were related to politics, eroticism, or gang affairs, but I didn¡¯t understand why the administrator would¡¯ve posted this blocked post. I sent a message asking for the subject of the post; if I couldn¡¯t view the content, I should at least be able to learn what it was about.


    The administrator replied to me quickly with a simple message: ¡°Talk about it through QQ.¡±


    I had the administrator¡¯s QQ number, but it had been a long time since we had talked on that platform and I was unsure which number was his. When I opened QQ, I saw a flashing alert from He Xiaoru. It was just a long website link, so I assumed his computer had gotten a virus and I ignored the message.


    I logged back onto the forum to ask the administrator what his QQ number was, but as QQ continued to flash on my screen I saw the contact ¡°Brother Lei¡±. Ah yes, the administrator. He went by the username ¡°The flying pig.¡±


    The flying pig: Why do you want to know what¡¯s in the post? We got a warning from the police.


    A police warning. The post must be related to the incendiary case. I hurried to gather more information.


    The flying pig: The post was long but here¡¯s the gist. A sister and brother fell in love with each other, then they came to my town to marry and have a baby. It might be a true story because it¡¯s a very detailed story. Names and addresses, even.


    Me: Even their names? Is the child real?


    The flying pig: Yes. The family name is Jiang. The child is supposedly ill. Suspected infantile autism. You probably know that children born of incest often have problems.


    Me: So, what¡¯s that post about? Can you send it to me?


    The flying pig: Okay, okay. I¡¯ll find it. Don''t spread it. This post has been recorded by the police. If you spread it and they catch on, they¡¯ll know where the information came from.


    Me: Don''t worry. I¡¯m just curious.


    The flying pig: Uh.


    I didn¡¯t reply. I just waited for his next message, but after a long wait, I eventually sent a question mark.


    Me: Hey, you there? What happened?


    The flying pig: Save klsdgksadklasdkldkslaasdssglskgkldskg...


    My computer showed that Brother Lei was still typing, but I never received another message. Concerned, I sent several messages trying to get a response, but Brother Lei was silent.


    I had a bad feeling. As I tried to think of how else to get in contact with Brother Lei, QQ flashed again. It was Brother Lei.

 Chapter 70 Because We Were Family 7

    The flying pig: Do you really want to know?


    The flying pig: Do you really want to know?


    ...


    Brother Lei began to send the same message to me over and over again. It was unnerving to see such strange behavior from the administrator.


    Me: Uh, yeah


    When I replied, Brother Lei immediately stopped sending the repeated message and quickly sent through a file.


    It was a video. Although it was a large file, it appeared on my desktop the second I clicked on it. Strange.


    Instead of opening the video right away, I sent another message to Brother Lei.


    Me: Hey man, you okay?


    Brother Lei did not reply, yet QQ showed that he was still online. I sent several more messages that went ignored.


    I looked back at the file and noticed the title: "We are true family." I didn''t know why, but I didn¡¯t want to open it. Suddenly, the face of a ghost, like one in a horror movie, flashed into my mind. I shuddered.


    I continued to send messages to Brother Lei, but got no response. Had something happened to him? My bad feeling from earlier grew, along with a twinge of guilt. Was I somehow responsible if something had happened?


    I struggled with my feelings for an hour, continuously checking QQ to see if Brother Lei had replied, but eventually, I clicked on the video.


    When the video started playing, I quickly realized there was no audio. The video started with a shot of a beautiful woman touching her rounded belly. She was smiling and laughing at the camera, and occasionally would put her palm over the lens like she was pretending to be shy. She seemed to be interacting with the man who was holding the camera. The video reminded me of a newly married couple recording their life together.


    The camera then slowly panned down the woman¡¯s body to her belly. She teasingly lifted up her shirt to show her round, white stomach. A small bear drawn in ink was curled up on the surface, as though it was protecting the baby inside.


    The camera stayed on the woman¡¯s belly, but the picture began flashing, and the background started to change, as though time was passing quickly. The bump appeared to grow bigger and bigger, yet the bear that protected the baby never changed size.


    For a while, the woman disappeared. Then suddenly the screen was taken up by an ugly baby. The camera shook violently during this portion. I could sense that the cameraman didn¡¯t like what he saw.


    Now the video had sound¡ªhushed, distressed voices that made me uneasy. I listened closely. Most of the sounds seemed to be people arguing and expressing doubts.


    The smile that the child had worn disappeared slowly and his expression became flat. The background of the video continued to change, and the child continued to age, but his expression remained frozen in place. Disturbing.


    When the child appeared to be about 12 years old, he suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by a stream of changing faces that all appeared to be angry.


    I was becoming dizzy from how quickly the video changed scenes. I rubbed my eyes, and suddenly the screen changed again. My face appeared on the screen with the same blank expression the child had worn, and there was a big question mark hovering over my face.


    I quickly pushed myself away from the screen. However, the leg of my chair was stopped by the rug beneath, and I struggled to hold onto the desk to stay upright.


    "What happened?" My mom burst into the room, concerned. Seeing that I was just using the computer, she relaxed and left.


    I stared at my face on the screen, until I noticed the background. It reminded me of something so familiar, but I couldn¡¯t place it for a few moments. Then my blood went cold. The background in the picture was of my home, in front of my computer. But my computer didn¡¯t have a camera¡­


    The screen began to flash once more, then slowly went black. A child¡¯s voice began to pour out of the speakers, repeating a single sentence.


    ¡°It is because we are family.¡± He sounded determined.


    ¡°It is because we are family.¡± Cold and flat.


    ¡°It is because we are family.¡± Ferocious.


    As the sentence repeated, the child sounded angrier and angrier, until his words were like teeth gnashing at my skull.


    I felt pain. I felt hurt and anguish and sorrow as though my heart would explode. Suddenly, when I could hardly stand the sound anymore, my bracelet emanated a dim red light. I fell down to the floor when the light appeared, and it was like a spell was broken.


    I tried to stand, but I felt weak. My body was drenched in sweat, as though I had just taken a shower.


    "Rui¡¯er." The door of the bedroom opened and, seeing me collapsed on the floor, my mom rushed into the room. She hurried to help me stand up as Witch Yan entered behind her, looking at the computer screen. I looked up at the screen as well.


    The video had closed. The computer screen just showed my desktop, with the few neatly arranged icons I always had there. Witch Yan looked at me curiously.


    I hobbled to the bed, supported by my mom. I spilled the events of the last few minutes to both of them. My mom looked concerned, then immediately knelt in front of Witch Yan and begged her to help me.


    ¡°Get up, get up. Don¡¯t kneel like that. Yes, of course I will help him,¡± Witch Yan said exasperatedly to my mom, who was now bawling. Mom wiped her tears, then she stepped to the other side of the bed so that Witch Yan could perform religious rites.


    However, rather than start a ritual, Witch Yan quickly slid over to my computer and opened QQ. She immediately started reading the chat records between me and Brother Lei. I saw that his repeated question¡ª"Do you really want to know?"¡ªhad disappeared. It seemed as though everything that had happened was all in my imagination. However, I knew it had happened; Brother Lei¡¯s other messages were still there.

 Chapter 71 Because We Were Family 8

    "Sister, what''s wrong?" I asked.


    Witch Yan shook her head and looked at me. "It¡¯s more serious than I thought. You need to go back to that place as quickly as possible in order to solve the problem.¡±


    When my mom heard that, she exclaimed, "Impossible! Whatever this thing is will follow you home."


    Witch Yan turned to me and said, "It will never stop bothering you if you don''t go. You won''t be lucky forever."


    My mom stayed silent, but her expression remained troubled. I understood what I had to do. I had to go back to the room that had been set on fire. Like Witch Yan said, I would not be lucky forever, so I had to try to deal with this problem before my luck ran out.


    ¡°Mom, she¡¯s right. I have to go,¡± I said, as my mom wiped her tears angrily. I wasn¡¯t sure if she was mad at me for agreeing to leave or at Witch Yan for suggesting it.


    Witch Yan stood at the altar for a long time, then she turned and began to fill my sack with more of the ash-stained rice. My mom also helped her, glancing between me and the sack repeatedly. It seemed as though she wanted to pick up both me and the sack and run far away.


    We ate dinner together, and I felt as though I was having my final meal. Nobody spoke, and my mom continued to silently cry. After we finished, while my mom removed my plates from the table, I discussed my plan with Witch Yan. Before going to the burned-down house, I would go to the Ghost House to see if I could find Lulu and Xiao Lingdang. I was especially concerned about Xiao Lingdang. Where had she gone last night after she misled the police?


    My mom begged Witch Yan to go with me, but Witch Yan and I both refused her request. It was more important to keep Mom and Xue¡¯er safe, so I wanted Witch Yan to stay here with them. After all, they did not have much else to protect them. Mom promised that she would pick up Xue¡¯er from boarding school so that they could stay together while I was gone.


    Soon it was time to leave. My mom held my hand tightly and expressed her concerns, but she eventually let me go. She and Witch Yan waved from the doorway as I got into the taxi to head to the Ghost House.


    The Ghost House was open. I checked the time; it was open earlier than usual. I ran into Sister Hua, who asked me to go to the office after I was done with my personal matters. Judging by her reaction, I thought that she must know something about why I was here, but before I had a chance to ask, she had walked away.


    Lulu stood in front of the counter as usual, but Xiao Lingdang was nowhere to be seen. As I approached the counter, I smiled at Lulu, but she glanced down at my bracelet and then frowned.


    "Lulu, why did you disappear last night?" I asked in an attempt to shift her gaze from my wrist.


    Lulu instantly blushed, and then she suddenly seemed angry. "Did you misunderstand? Fine, here it is. I left early because I didn¡¯t want to spend the night with you.¡±


    Lulu¡¯s words shocked me. Did she mean to imply what it sounded like she was implying? I¡¯d never touched her or even tried to. Besides, even if I had wanted to, she was obviously very powerful, and here at the Ghost House, there was always this giant counter between us.


    Lulu seemed to realize that she¡¯d gone too far. She turned around and pretended to be busy with something.


    Although I was curious about where Lulu had really gone last night instead of leaving with us, I didn''t ask. It was hard enough to have a civil conversation with Lulu, let alone when she was in whatever mood she was in now.


    Suddenly, Xiao Lingdang appeared and I rushed to her side.


    As I approached, Xiao Lingdang looked happy to see me, but then suddenly she looked as distressed as I felt and said, "Brother, where did you go last night? I looked for you for a long time, but I couldn¡¯t find you anywhere."


    I was stunned. I had stayed in that room last night, hadn¡¯t I? It shouldn¡¯t have been hard for her to find me. Suddenly the phrase "parallel universe" flickered into my mind. I shook my head. Things felt supernatural lately, but we weren¡¯t living in a science fiction novel.


    Xiao Lingdang started describing her experience last night after we parted ways. After drawing the police away, she had come into the room, but I wasn¡¯t there. She had been afraid to leave in case I came back, so she stayed until it was daytime.


    From Xiao Lingdang¡¯s description, I knew we had been in the same room. Everything she described matched what I had seen the night before. However, Xiao Lingdang hadn¡¯t seen the book, and she hadn¡¯t looked under the desk so we were unable to confirm whether or not the mirror had been in the room with her.


    I quickly told Xiao Lingdang about my experience, and about the fake Xiao Lingdang. She listened intently, occasionally gasping out in surprise.


    When I was finished, both of us went silent. Something strange had happened last night. It would have been perplexing enough if we were both human, but Xiao Lingdang was a ghost. What kind of situation can stump a ghost?


    Parallel universe? Religious rights? The gods? Is this all because of other ghosts¡­?


    As we sat deep in thought, a sound clanged behind us and Lulu shouted, ¡°Come on! It¡¯s late. How can I serve these dishes if you¡¯re in my way?¡±


    Xiao Lingdang and I turned around at the same time to find Lulu holding a tray and wearing an angry expression. Typical Lulu. Xiao Lingdang and I both stood up, and it seemed that we had decided without speaking to go together tonight. We grasped hands for moral support and set out. Neither of us believed that the house could be that supernatural, but neither of us were very excited to go back either.


    I said goodbye to Sister Hua on our way out, then Xiao Lingdang paused to look back. I asked her curiously, "What''s wrong?"


    Xiao Lingdang shook her head with a smile but didn''t answer. Instead, she pulled on my hand and began running forward in the direction of the burned-down house.


    In the dark, the caved-in house looked like a huge, gaping mouth. This time, Xiao Lingdang did not need to mislead the police. She created an illusion to prevent anyone from disturbing us, and then she pulled me inside.


    I wish I could tell myself that last night had been an illusion, I thought.


    The air outside was hot, but the muggy air inside the house was so much worse. The smell was terrible as well; the stench of the ash and rotting house combined with the dampness from standing water was almost intolerable. I covered my mouth and nose with my sleeve and slowly walked hand-in-hand with Xiao Lingdang.

 Chapter 72 Because We Were Family 9

    I pulled Xiao Lingdang along with me, and I noticed her hand was sweaty. Is she nervous? Do ghosts get nervous? Do ghosts sweat? Is that my sweat?


    I realized that I couldn¡¯t afford to make a careless mistake again. I quickly spun around to stare at Xiao Lingdang, and shouted, "Xiao Lingdang!"


    She jumped and then said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I immediately forgot about my original thought because she looked so sick and uncomfortable.


    "You tell me. What''s wrong?¡±


    She shook her head and wore a painful expression. "Brother, I feel uncomfortable because of the negative atmosphere in here.¡±


    "Xiao Lingdang, do you want to leave?¡± I couldn''t stand to see her looking so terrible.


    She shook her head again and said in a firm tone, "They must be here, and we might be able to get them."


    "My sister, get me? What do you mean? Do you want to hunt and kill me?¡± A soft voice floated through the room.


    Suddenly, my whole body was tense. I felt something behind me. Why does the ghost here like sneaking up on me so much?


    I turned around, and Xiao Lingdang and I both stared at the twelve-year-old boy standing in the bedroom doorway. He was soaking wet.


    Xiao Lingdang did not seem to be scared of the little boy, and she asked, "Little boy, do you live here?"


    He nodded.


    "Where are your mom and dad?" Xiao Lingdang asked.


    As soon as Xiao Lingdang finished her question, I felt concerned. He probably wouldn¡¯t react well to this question. I¡¯d learned a lot over the past few days.


    Predictably, the little boy suddenly looked extremely angry and confused, and he began to mutter, "Dad is not my dad. Mom is not my mom. Dad is my grandpa..." As he did so, his voice became louder and louder, and it started to take on a strange tone.


    I listened to him repeat himself, then I suddenly had an idea. I reached into the sack Witch Yan had given me and pulled out a handful of rice.


    "Stop!" Xiao Lingdang shouted, covering her ears. The little boy seemed frightened and stopped speaking, then he showed an eerie smile and disappeared.


    I looked at Xiao Lingdang covering both of her ears and relaxed the arm that had been ready to throw rice at the now empty doorway. Then my whole body tensed up again. My other hand was still holding someone¡¯s hand. If not Xiao Lingdang, then¡­ I turned around slowly and made eye contact with a bloody head that was leering at me. I screamed and threw the rice at the head as quickly as I could. The head let out a little cry and disappeared.


    I rushed forward to help her up, but in my haste, I didn¡¯t think to wipe my hand off. The rice grains that were stuck to my sweaty palm seared into Xiao Lingdang¡¯s flesh, and she screamed out, shooting me a dirty look.


    I apologized repeatedly and tried to help her up after wiping my hand off, but she shied away from my hand. Understandable, I thought.


    I continued to apologize until Xiao Lingdang cut me off with a wave of her hand and asked, ¡°Brother, what¡¯s that in your pocket?¡±


    I took out the sack that Witch Yan had given me, then remembered that I had told her about it earlier. To test that this was really Xiao Lingdang, I said, "It¡¯s something that Sister Hua gave me."


    Xiao Lingdang tilted her head quizzically and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t Witch Yan give that to you?¡± So it was Xiao Lingdang after all. I nodded and smiled.


    Xiao Lingdang looked at me and said, ¡°Brother, I can help protect you. You don¡¯t need that thing, so you might as well throw it away.¡±


    I was suddenly on edge again. Why did Xiao Lingdang ask me to throw it away? Sure, I¡¯d just accidentally hurt her, but the Xiao Lingdang I knew would know that I had just been trying to protect myself. I had another idea of how to test whether this was really her or not, but I dared not carry it out. What if she¡¯s not a fake and I hurt her again? I thought.


    When she saw that I didn¡¯t make a move to throw the rice away, Xiao Lingdang gently suggested that I do so again. In response, I said, "Xiao Lingdang, you asked me to carry this as backup protection, remember? Why do you want me to throw it away now?"


    Xiao Lingdang looked stunned, then she embarrassedly muttered, "Oh right, I forgot. Fine, keep carrying it." As soon as the words left her mouth, I threw another huge handful of rice toward her. Xiao Lingdang, or whoever this was, screamed out and rolled on the floor. Her skin began to disappear little by little, and she wore an agonized expression. I worried that I had made a mistake, but the real Xiao Lingdang had never asked me to carry the rice. Still, how did she know who gave it to me?


    As I hesitated nearby, a strange sound came from behind me. "Uncle, what are you doing to Sister?¡±


    I looked back. The little boy was in the room again, sitting on the desk and swinging his legs back and forth. As I looked at him, Xiao Lingdang let out another cry that tore my heart. I didn''t have time to care about the little boy right now. I ran to Xiao Lingdang, and began sweeping the blackened rice from her body. Had I really made a mistake?


    As I swept the rice off of her, Xiao Lingdang appeared to recover. Her crying lessened and she seemed to relax. I opened my mouth to apologize again, when suddenly she looked guilty and said in a low voice, ¡°I am sorry.¡±


    It was not Xiao Lingdang¡¯s voice, but instead that of another girl. The bloody flesh in front of me had transformed in an instant into scorched flesh oozing a yellow liquid. I jumped back.


    This must be one of the other ghosts in the family. After all, three people supposedly died in the fire here.


    The little boy was now sitting on the bed and appeared doubled over with laughter, although he made no sound.

 Chapter 73 Because We Were Family 10

    When I finally awoke, I had no idea what time it was. I sat up quickly and held a hand to my throbbing head. After a moment of dizziness, I opened my eyes to look around the room, expecting to see the young ghost boy laughing at me again. My mouth opened in surprise when I saw where I was.


    I was laying on the side of a busy road. Pedestrians streamed past, hurrying in and out of shops and hailing taxis. I recognized the road as the busiest shopping street in Linhai. I¡¯d never been here before, but I¡¯d seen enough tourist pictures online to feel familiar with the area. A giant sign at the end of the road confirmed my guess with the words ¡°Welcome to Pedestrian Street, Linhai.¡±


    I stood up with some difficulty. I was surprised to realize that although the road was eerily quiet, everyone around me was talking excitedly with each other, their mouths and hands moving without any sound. However, not one person looked in my direction.


    I stretched out my hand hesitantly in front of a man talking on his phone nearby. No response. I tried again, more boldly this time, as a couple approached me on the sidewalk. Rather than dodge my hand, the couple continued forward at the same pace, and I watched as my hand went through the man¡¯s suit jacket. I felt my knees go weak. Did I become a ghost? Or is this a ghost city?


    Suddenly I heard a single sound¡ªa shaking, rage-filled voice croaking out, ¡°Go¡­go¡­go away!¡±


    I looked toward the source of the voice immediately. An older man, probably around sixty, was scolding a middle-aged couple who were both crying. A twelve-year-old boy stood next to them silently. As I watched them, I felt a deep pang of loneliness that seemed to emanate from the boy.


    The little boy seemed disconnected from the adults he was with. He stood motionless and stared off into the distance, but after a few moments I registered resentment and anger in his eyes. I shuddered.


    The middle-aged man started to approach the older man, then stopped and said, "Dad, we..."


    The grey-haired man exploded at his son, nearly frothing at the mouth as he shouted, "Jiang Kun, Jiang Ping! Go away, and take that bastard! Now!"


    Jiang Kun and Jiang Ping. Those are the names of the people who died in the fire¡­ Suddenly, I realized who I was looking at. So, that little boy must be Jiang Mingming.


    Suddenly, Jiang Kun kneeled, pulling Jiang Mingming down with him, or trying to at least. Although Jiang Mingming stumbled, he didn''t kneel. Jiang Kun didn¡¯t notice; he was too busy trying his best to kowtow to his father, leaving a bloody spot on the ground where his forehead hit the concrete.


    After a few moments, Jiang Kun looked up and said sadly, "Dad, please save Jiang Ping. She can¡¯t wait any longer for the operation."


    Jiang Kun cried and said in a low voice, "Dad, she is your daughter."


    In response, the old man picked up a coat hanger and tried to beat Jiang Kun, but a nearby man jumped in to stop the assault. The old man screamed over the stranger¡¯s shoulder, "Bastard! She is your sister. How! Dare! You! You brought a bastard into the world!"


    Jiang Ping, crying more noisily now, uttered the words, "Dad, we really love each other."


    As soon as he finished those words, noise flooded into my ears from every direction. The pain in my ears was unbearable as the voices of everyone on the street became audible at once. From all directions, I heard judgment, contempt, and anger.


    I realized now why that child had always murmured strange words like, "Dad is not my dad."


    The old man¡¯s voice became louder and sharper over the noise of the passers-by. I¡¯m surprised those words aren¡¯t banned by the government, I thought as I listened to him fire curse words at his son. Jiang Kun looked utterly defeated, then he slowly turned to look at the young boy who was still standing expressionless nearby. Suddenly, Jiang Kun flew at Jiang Mingming, striking him to the floor and hitting him repeatedly with his hands.


    Jiang Mingming''s clothing ripped under his father¡¯s hands, and I saw bruises and scars between the fresh red marks his father was leaving. Now the young boy was crying.


    Jiang Ping, who had been silent this whole time, tried to run to her child to protect him. However, she moved stiffly, and I remembered the earlier mention of a needed operation. As she approached Jiang Mingming, she fell, but she was able to pull him under her and shield him from his father¡¯s blows.


    The old man laughed with tears streaming down his face, shouting ceaselessly, "Kill the bastard. It is he who destroys you."


    I looked at the young boy, now lying in his mother¡¯s embrace. He was staring at the sky, once again expressionless, but then he snapped his head towards me and stared into my eyes.


    ¡°You see? Nobody stopped him.¡± The young boy sounded disgusted by the adults¡¯ behavior. ¡°I destroyed them? They destroyed me. They gave birth to me.¡± Jiang Mingming¡¯s tone was flat yet decisive.


    I opened my mouth, but I didn''t know how to respond.


    Jiang Kun continued to try to pull the boy from his mother¡¯s arms while she struggled on the floor. The old man was now sitting on some stairs, crying and slapping his chest.


    "They cannot live together, because we are true family. I am a bastard because we are true family." Jiang Mingming¡¯s tone was peaceful, and the coldness it had had a moment before had disappeared. However, I felt a deep sadness, as though I was feeling his feelings.


    The love between his parents was not permitted. Why? Because they were siblings and it was immoral. Still¡­


    I know Jiang Kun isn¡¯t right, but is his love really wrong? And why was Jiang Mingming blamed for anything? He¡¯s just a child. Why is Jiang Kun treating him this way if he loves Jiang Ping?


    I had mixed feelings, and could not distinguish who was right. All I knew at this moment was that Jiang Kun clearly didn''t like his child.


    Suddenly, blood sprayed out of Jiang Mingming¡¯s mouth and I watched in horror as his father twisted his arm out of shape. Onlookers began to mutter amongst themselves and many took out their phones to record.


    I looked around. Many people actually seemed to be shocked and saddened by the scene. I felt strange as I watched them turn away in shock and cover their mouths with their hands; no one had shown even the slightest amount of sympathy for the boy before.


    I saw two middle-aged women cry and clutch each other with grief. I remembered them from earlier, when I¡¯d seen them shouting at the family in disgust. Why are they crying now?

 Chapter 74 Because We Were Family 11

    He opened mouth and said, "We are family, so we should live together forever. But dad is not dad. Mom is not mom. How can we live together?¡± I listened to him speak without replying.


    Jiang Mingming seemed to find his answer, and his eyes suddenly became bright. Watching his reaction, I felt a bit cold but wasn¡¯t sure why.


    I suddenly looked up and realized the sky was not bright anymore. Night had fallen without me noticing. When I looked back to the crowd, everyone seemed out of focus. The edges of my vision blurred and became dark.


    Suddenly I was standing in an old neighborhood. The streetlights were on, and in their glow, I could see the house in front of me. It was the Jiang residence as it stood before the fire had torn through its halls.


    I looked around and saw the glowing end of a cigarette floating on some stairs nearby. I walked towards it and found the old man from before sitting on the steps, dozens of cigarette butts scattered between his legs. Next to the old man was a big plastic bucket filled with transparent liquid.


    Was it the old man who started the fire? I thought of what Jiang Mingming had said about his family being unable to live together. Had the old man made sure that was true?


    The old man stood up and walked slowly toward the house. He stopped many times before he arrived at the doorway. I was surprised to see that he didn''t pour the gasoline on the house as I had suspected; instead, he put the bucket in the shadows beside the front door. Then he knocked.


    "Rat-tar, rat-tar..." He knocked slowly and rhythmically until the door opened. Jiang Kun stood in the doorway, staring at his father in surprise, then he excitedly welcomed him inside.


    I hurried to follow the old man, but Jiang Kun had closed the door too quickly. There was not enough time for me to slow down, and I collided with the heavy wood. I guess this ghost thing takes practice, I thought, rubbing my head. I found that once I focused, I was able to go through the door.


    Jiang Ping appeared to be on her way out, pulling Jiang Mingming behind her. The young boy wore a sour expression and appeared to be arguing with his mom. I couldn¡¯t hear what they were discussing; it seemed like Jiang Mingming wanted to keep the contents of their conversation hidden from me.


    In response to whatever they had been discussing, the old man suddenly looked agitated. Soon after, I could hear everyone¡¯s voices again.


    The old man was aggressively questioning his son. "What do you want to do? You belong in Linhai. Where can you hide? Here?"


    "Since you made your choice, you shouldn¡¯t mind the gossip," the old man muttered.


    Jiang Kun and Jiang Ping were both silent in response.


    Then the old man said, "If you come back, I will pay for your operation. If not, don¡¯t bother ever returning."


    Jiang Kun and Jiang Ping looked at each other with surprise. Without speaking, they both nodded. They had had the same thought¡ªLinhai was a big city. Not everyone there knew who they were, but they would only get one chance at life.


    The old man pointed at Jiang Mingming and said, "But this bastard will be your sibling. Remember that. I don''t want to be mocked by others."


    My head suddenly felt foggy again. Everything around me moved quickly, and the Jiangs moved as though someone had pressed fast-forward on their actions. I saw Jiang Kun and Jiang Ping retire to their room, while the old man went to Jiang Mingming¡¯s room in his nightclothes. It was normal for elders to sleep with grandchildren, but the old man seemed to really dislike Jiang Mingming, so why did he want to sleep in his room?


    Then I watched as Jiang Kun entered the room as well, and everything slowed down to a normal speed as I approached the door. I was stunned to see the old man and Jiang Kun smoking next to the edge of the bed. Then I realized that Jiang Mingming was tied up. Tears streamed down his face as he looked around the room frantically; in this moment, he seemed to be a normal young kid. My heart broke for him.


    I ran next door to find Jiang Ping sleeping quietly, a slight smile on her face due to the recent turn of events. She had no idea what was coming.


    I ran back to Jiang Mingming¡¯s room, but the old man had disappeared. I started to head toward the front door to see if he had gone to grab the gasoline when out of the corner of my eye I saw Jiang Kun stand up. In his hand was a glass cup. I watched him walk towards Jiang Mingming with a ferocious smile on his face.


    What is he doing?


    I watched as Jiang Kun put the glass cup over Jiang Mingming¡¯s nose and mouth. I could see the glass fog up with the boy¡¯s breath. Jiang Kun was suffocating his own child!


    Jiang Mingming struggled but to no avail. With tears streaming down his face, he tried his best to wriggle away from his father. An array of expressions crossed his face¡ªsadness, pain, anger, then peace. As his struggling grew weaker, I thought that he looked a little like a monk who had accepted the world as it was.


    The vapors inside the glass cup disappeared, then Jiang Kun calmly walked out of the room. I looked at Jiang Mingming¡¯s lifeless body lying on the bed. I would almost have rather seen him or the old man light this room on fire.


    I moved to follow Jiang Kun when I heard Jiang Mingming¡¯s voice behind me. I looked back hurriedly to see the boy standing in front of his body with sadness in his eyes.


    "I wanted to pay for their marriage so we could live together because we are family."


    I felt so sad looking at him. Although his idea was childish, his heart was in the right place. All he ever wanted to do was care for his family, no matter how poorly they treated him.


    I turned away and ran after Jiang Kun. The living room was nearly pitch-black, but I could faintly see the old man and Jiang Kun sitting across from each other, the darkness punctuated by the lit end of the old man¡¯s cigarette.


    Jiang Kun said earnestly, "Dad, the bastard is dead. Please save Jiang Ping."


    The old man kept silent, occasionally exhaling clouds of smoke. Smoldering ashes fell from the end of his cigarette.


    His son continued to beg. "Dad, please save her."


    The old man finally spoke, bending forward and saying in a low voice, "When your sister was fourteen years old, you had sex with her. I didn¡¯t understand how you could do a thing like that. But now I see who you are."


    Jiang Kun cried, "Dad, please. I love her so much."


    The old man shook his head and kept silent for a long time, then finally said, "Come back with me. Forget everything here."

 Chapter 75 Because We Were Family 12

    Jiang Kun walked toward the bedroom, and as I arrived at the doorway, I saw him struggling to embrace Jiang Ping. She beat against him as he repeatedly yelled that he had done it for her.


    Jiang Ping didn''t listen to him. She struggled with as much force as she could muster, but was unable to escape his arms. Eventually, Jiang Kun seemed to become impatient. He pulled her out of the boy¡¯s room and pushed her onto their bed.


    Weakened by her condition and the struggle, Jiang Ping was unable to sit back up. She sobbed on the bed, her cries racking her whole body. Jiang Kun tenderly touched her hair in an effort to console her, then said, ¡°I was reluctant to do that, but I did it for you.¡± Then he began to cry as well.


    The old man walked toward the pair and said matter-of-factly, "Without that bastard, there will be no gossip. Nobody will mock you. I will give you all the money you need for treatment. We can even go to a new city and start a new life."


    Jiang Ping looked up and said slowly, "But Mingming..."


    The old man stared at Jiang Kun, ignoring the woman¡¯s sobs. "We can light the house on fire, make it look like the boy accidentally started it."


    Jiang Ping stared at Jiang Kun with a pained expression. After what seemed like forever, she nodded once, then hugged Jiang Kun with tears in her eyes.


    I looked over at Jiang Mingming. He had a weird expression on his face.


    The old man turned to Jiang Kun and asked, "Shall we begin?" Without replying, the man walked to the wardrobe next to his father. He appeared to be looking for something.


    The old man finally turned to console his daughter. He didn¡¯t see Jiang Kun grab a club out of the wardrobe or raise it above the old man¡¯s head. Jiang Kun swung down, and the old man fell forward onto the bed.


    "What are you doing?" Jiang Ping screamed out.


    Jiang Kun replied slowly, "He made me kill my son."


    Jiang Kun covered the old man with a quilt, then entered another room. He untied Jiang Mingming¡¯s body, then set fire to the blanket beneath him. He walked out as the bed burned, pulling Jiang Ping along behind him.


    As they approached the front door, Jiang Kun kicked the plastic bucket the old man had brought inside the doorway. He aimed it towards the living room, then closed the front door and walked away with Jiang Ping.


    I wanted to console Jiang Mingming, but I didn¡¯t know what to say. Finally, I simply said, "They will get retribution."


    Jiang Mingming smiled at me and said in a cold tone, "They already have."


    I felt the familiar dazed feeling and expected to be transported again. However, I found myself in the same room, although now it had been fully consumed by fire. The old man was standing with glassy eyes, screaming inhuman screams as his whole body flailed under the flames. I was surprised to see Jiang Ping huddling in the corner, murmuring to herself.


    I looked at Jiang Mingming, who was watching his mom, and he said sadly, "If she were not so weak, none of this would have happened."


    Then I heard another cry. I looked over to see Jiang Kun striking himself repeatedly. His body looked deformed.


    I asked in shock, "Didn¡¯t he leave? Didn¡¯t they both leave?"


    Jiang Mingming didn''t answer. He was too busy watching his father strike himself.


    Suddenly I had a thought. Where are Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong?


    I asked Jiang Mingming the question. He even didn''t turn around as he said, "I gave them to the others, and the others gave me Jiang Kun."


    I was stunned and asked, "Who?"


    Jiang Mingming looked back to smile at me and said, "The former lover."


    I was confused, but I didn¡¯t have time to ask anything else. Jiang Mingming had disappeared, and I heard a worried voice through my mental fog.


    ¡°Brother, what''s wrong with you?"


    "Brother, say something."


    I looked up. It was Xiao Lingdang. I asked immediately, "Xiao Lingdang, why are you here?"


    She stared at me strangely, "I¡¯ve been here the whole time. You seemed to be somewhere else when I came in. I called your name, but you didn¡¯t react. I couldn¡¯t leave you alone or I would¡¯ve gone to ask Sister Xiaozui for help.¡±


    I was here the whole time. Was everything an illusion? I knew it wasn¡¯t, yet I wasn¡¯t quite sure what had happened.


    I thought back to Jiang Mingming¡¯s last words. What did they mean? Was ¡°the other¡± an ex-girlfriend of Wu Jian or Huang Xiaolong, or were they someone, or something, else?


    Now that I was back, Xiao Lingdang seemed eager to leave. She hurried to help me up and out the door. As I stepped out the front door, I heard Jiang Mingming again, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t bother us anymore. We were family, so we live together now.¡± Then I heard the sound of a door slamming, although the one I had just used stayed open. However, I felt that if I tried to go back into the house, I would not be able to.


    --


    Xiao Lingdang and I headed to a night market. We approached the stall where strange things had happened last time, and the boss smiled at us. I had a feeling he didn¡¯t remember me; otherwise, he probably would have seemed at least a little afraid.


    Still foggy-headed from before, I turned to Xiao Lingdang and asked what she wanted to eat, then gave the boss her answer. I then asked Xiao Lingdang if Lulu and Sister Hua would want to eat with us. She happily rushed into the Ghost House to ask them.

 Chapter 76 The Poor Boss

    He spoke quietly, as though afraid of being heard, and I detected a tremble in his voice. I shook myself to clear my head and said, ¡°No, I¡¯m waiting for my¡­¡±


    I wanted to say that I was waiting for my friends, but then I realized the reality of the situation. I was waiting for ghosts, and the boss was probably shocked by my conversation with Xiao Lingdang just now. However, I¡¯d also invited Sister Hua to eat with us.


    To be honest, I''d rather risk offending the boss than Sister Hua. I considered what to say to the boss so that he wouldn¡¯t close the stall. Besides, maybe Xiao Lingdang would return and say the others decided not to come.


    The boss saw that I wasn¡¯t moving, and although he didn¡¯t say anything in response, I saw fear in his eyes.


    At that moment, a customer appeared to pick up a delivery. The little boy ran over to get the boss¡¯ attention. As he grabbed the boy, the boss turned and gave me a pleading look. He then took the boy to the back of the shop, despite the customer waiting up front. The customer threw up his hands and left the stall.


    I decided to call after the boss and explain. "Boss, please don¡¯t worry. We are good people. Well, good ghosts. No. Some of us are good people and some of us are good ghosts. We will not harm you. We just want barbecue."


    I had thought of lying, but I really didn¡¯t know how to explain all the food that Xiao Lingdang ordered.


    The boss`s face changed, and his eyes filled with tears: "Big brother, I don¡¯t do this kind of business, okay? Not anymore."


    In the distance, I saw a huge group of people floating behind Xiao Lingdang. I turned to the boss again and said, "Boss, if you don''t do business with the ghosts, they might seek you out in the future. If you do feed them well, they¡¯ll take care of your business in the future. If something were to happen to you one day, they would be on your side to handle it."


    As I spoke, I felt like a gangster. The boss had tears streaming down his face now. I watched the ghosts get closer and said, ¡°Has an elder in your family passed away? Maybe they can explain.¡±


    The boss lit up a bit and he said, ¡°Really?¡±


    "Really, really, don''t worry. But it''s too late tonight to track them down. What about next time? I can be sure they come along to explain."


    The boss tentatively nodded his head and said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll cook for you all tonight. But can I let the child leave first?¡±


    The boss looked in our direction for a long time, holding the little boy''s hand tightly. He went to the grill, then crouched to talk with the child. The little boy was obviously uncomfortable, but I had no time to pay attention to them as I rushed to greet Sister Hua and seat her at the table.


    Many people from the Ghost House came¡ªXiao Lingdang, Sister Hua, Yan¡¯er, beautiful women, and people wearing long shirts. It seemed everyone in the Ghost House was excited to eat barbecue.


    I realized one was missing and asked Xiao Lingdang strangely, "Where''s Lulu?"


    "I''m right here."


    I turned my head to find Lulu directly behind me. Strange, I hadn¡¯t seen her come up.


    Everyone sat down, and I went to the boss. He had not yet started preparing our food.


    "Come on, boss!" I said loudly.


    The boss looked up, glanced at the enormous table that to him was mostly empty, and said, "The child won¡¯t leave."


    "I''m not leaving. I''m staying with my dad," the kid said with a pout. He was a good son.


    I put a hand on the little boy¡¯s head: "Don¡¯t worry. Just prepare the food. After taking care of them, they will take care of you."


    The boss nodded, told the boy to stay by his side, and began to prepare the food. I headed back to the table.


    Sister Hua looked at me with a fake smile and said, ¡°So this is that good barbecue, huh? The service is great!¡±


    I awkwardly said, "Uh, Sister Hua, the boss is scared at the moment. But now that he knows the situation, we¡¯ll have this place as a dinner option in the future."


    Sister Hua nodded in understanding, and I saw Xiao Lingdang cheer up as well. The other beautiful women around the table looked pleased.


    "Buuut¡­" Sister Hua dragged out the word. ¡°This stall does not accept our money here." She squinted her eyes and looked at me devilishly.


    I said with a bitter smile, "I¡¯ll pay the bill. But Sister Hua, I¡¯m not rich. Do you know of anything good buried in the ground that I could sell?"


    Hearing the first half of my sentence, Sister Hua was satisfied, and she had already turned to talk with another girl before she heard my question.


    I can¡¯t afford to buy this group too many meals, I thought. My poor savings¡­


    While I moped over my finances, the boss quietly got my attention, then waved his hand to call me over.


    I walked over and the boss handed me a bunch of kebabs. "Please."


    Well, looks like I¡¯m the waiter for the evening.


    I brought the kebabs to the table and my hands were instantly emptied. Each person at the table held a full kebab for a moment, and a second later had swallowed the meat right off. They were so fast that I didn¡¯t realize until I got to my seat that there was no food for me.


    Well, the boss has his work cut out for him tonight.


    Everyone laughed as they ate barbecue and drank beer. I took this opportunity to tell Sister Hua about recent events and ask her about the Jiang family and the parallel universe situation I¡¯d experienced. Sister Hua continued to happily drink beer and eat barbecue, including what had been on my plate, but her lips stayed sealed otherwise. She simply said, ¡°That¡¯s the secret of the ghosts.¡±


    I tried for an answer that would¡¯ve been second best. "Sister Hua, what did Jiang Mingming mean by ¡°former lover¡±?"


    "A former lover is a person who was loved in the past. Simple." Sister Hua looked pleased with herself, both hands filled with kebabs and wine. She was certainly charming, but her answer was less than satisfying.


    Yan¡¯er, who had been listening to our conversation, leaned over and said, "You can go and check. You still have your two friends. Maybe they can tell you whose former lover died."


    I picked up a glass of wine and offered a toast to Yan¡¯er. She was right. Whoever Jiang Mingming mentioned likely wasn¡¯t human. If I found out that a former lover of Wu Jian or Huang Xiaolong had had an accident, I might have my answer. However, secret love is not easy to learn about from the source. I¡¯d ask the people around them first. Of course, my knowledge of love was all second-hand. I''d never been in love.

 Chapter 77 The Previous Lover

    I was equally terrified¡ªof Sister Hua¡¯s cries of delight, insisting that we should repeat this feast tomorrow. I quietly begged the boss to close earlier tomorrow, promising that I would pay him for the favor. Unfortunately for me¡ªand for the boss too judging by his expression¡ªhe said that he would be open all night tomorrow. I felt the need to cry again.


    -----


    When I returned home, I found my mom still awake. I felt guilty. I had sent her text messages while I was gone, but obviously, a text message doesn¡¯t do much to soothe a worried mother¡¯s heart.


    Seeing me come through the door, Witch Yan smiled and said, "You see. Nothing to worry about. This boy is tough."


    Mom looked embarrassed and smiled at Witch Yan. She then immediately asked me whether I wanted to eat something. I didn¡¯t want to admit that I had spent all my money to eat barbecue, so I just said that I wasn¡¯t hungry. Then I went to my room to rest at my mom¡¯s insistence.


    I didn¡¯t wake up until noon the next day, but after I was awake I immediately got to work. I reached out to a former colleague of Wu Jian¡¯s to ask for his help investigating Wu Jian¡¯s and Huang Xiaolong¡¯s relationship history. This colleague, Li Lei, had once been under Wu Jian¡¯s leadership. We¡¯d had a few meals together, and were quite familiar with each other. I doubted Wu Jian had said anything to him, but he seemed like the kind of man who would be willing to help me. Besides, he didn¡¯t seem to think my request was strange at all; instead, he simply promised to try to find the information as soon as possible.


    I thanked him profusely, then considered what to do while I waited for his response. I decided to play the good soon for a few days. I¡¯d get off work on time and return home immediately afterward. However, I was trying to impress Sister Hua, and she seemed to have other plans.


    We went to the boss¡¯s night market stall almost every night. Luckily for me, the group refused to let me pay again. I wasn¡¯t sure where the money was coming from, but I didn¡¯t dare ask in case the bill became my responsibility again. The ghosts¡¯ appetite would financially ruin me.


    By now, the boss was familiar with us. He no longer left the stall open to the public after 3 o''clock; it had become a ghost canteen.


    Li Lei had found information on both Wu Jian¡¯s and Huang Xiaolong¡¯s love history. Wu Jian¡¯s was simple; he had had two girlfriends, and they were both still alive. It seemed that the ¡°former lover¡± wasn¡¯t his. Still, he had been the first to disappear, so I still intended to keep him in mind.


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s history, on the other hand, was shocking. Unlike Wu Jian¡¯s history, which was three sheets thick, Huang Xiaolong¡¯s was as thick as half of the Xinhua dictionary. I looked at Li Lei in surprise.


    Li Lei cleared his throat and said, "These are the people confirmed to have had a relationship with him. As for the sexual encounters, I¡¯ve put them directly on a flash drive. I can go get that if you need it."


    I quickly shook my head. Is Huang Xiaolong a man? This is the file of a¡­stallion! I didn''t know why I suddenly wanted to cry again.


    It seemed like focusing on Wu Jian first was the right choice. Otherwise, I might die before I found a lead in Huang Xiaolong¡¯s file. Opening his file to several random pages and seeing picture after picture of gorgeous women confirmed my decision. Too overwhelming!


    Li Lei had to get back to business, so he excused himself and left in a hurry.


    I turned to Wu Jian¡¯s information and calmed down slightly. There were only two photos among the three pages of information. The rest was all text.


    The first page described Wu Jian''s experience starting from middle school. It was very simple. He became a soldier when he was in senior high school. The history skipped forward three years to when he took the college entrance examination. He then entered the police academy, and afterward became Interpol. He didn¡¯t have any girlfriends during these periods. No wonder we got along well.


    The second page held a picture of a beautiful girl. She was stunning, in fact. Wu Jian¡¯s so common. How did he get a girlfriend this beautiful?


    I studied the page carefully.


    The girl''s name was Hu Hong, and they were introduced by a relative of Wu Jian¡¯s. A blind date. The two spent a period of time together, and then they broke up. Nothing really stood out about their relationship. What was depressing was that Wu Jian had proposed the breakup. The reason wasn¡¯t listed.


    Later, the girl met another man through a blind date. That was the man she was currently dating. I read the page over and over again for a long time. She was really beautiful.


    I reluctantly turned to the last page of information.


    The lady''s name was Ni Min. She was Wu Jian¡¯s current girlfriend. She was not very beautiful, although that could be because I¡¯d just been staring at Hu Hong. However, she had the purity of ¡°the girl next door¡±. She had been a high school classmate of Wu Jian¡¯s. They had reunited at a class reunion and then started dating. It was assumed to be a progression of feelings they¡¯d held during school.


    From a superficial perspective, the relationship between the two was very good. After Wu Jian disappeared, Ni Min had gone to the police station nearly every day to look for him, which she was doing up to the present. It seemed that they were truly in love. Clearly, she wasn¡¯t the ¡°former lover¡±.


    I looked at the stack of Huang Xiaolong''s data and sighed. Is the former lover in here?


    I started with the first page. His history also began in middle school. In junior high school, he had had seven girlfriends (Seven?!), and made bad grades. He joined the army, and then his history also skipped forward three years. He came back, had over 20 girlfriends. Joined his family company, dated a lot more girls. In just two years, he had had more than 50 girlfriends. At the time of his disappearance, he was dating eight girls at the same time.


    I took a long breath. I intended to take a closer looked at Wu Jian¡¯s file. Huang Xiaolong''s file would make half of the world¡¯s men shed tears.


    I carefully read Wu Jian¡¯s file again, and suddenly found something I¡¯d missed before. While he had attended the police academy, he had had a very good friend who died in a shipwreck while on a trip. That friend had been a woman.


    More importantly, there was a strange sentence included beneath that information: ¡°Spending every day together like two best friends.¡±


    Best friends. Then they must have had a good relationship. Perhaps my heart was dark or my inexperience was influencing my thoughts, but I did not believe that men and women could have a pure relationship if they spent every day together. This must have been a sexual relationship.


    Perhaps this was who I was looking for. Unfortunately, there was no more information about her in the file. However, since she was Wu Jian''s police school classmate, I figured it would be easy to get more information on her.

 Chapter 78 The Previous Lover 2

    Wu Jian¡¯s best friend was named Wu Ting, and she had been 21 years old at the time of her death. She had never had a boyfriend. On the day of her death, she had been on vacation with her family.


    There was a lot of detailed information in the file, most of which related to her friendship with Wu Jian. I learned that Wu Ting and Wu Jian had been high school classmates. She would have likely known Ni Min then. Did she hate the two of them for getting together?


    I came up with many different theories about the three of them, but there wasn¡¯t any concrete evidence in the files to support my wild thoughts. I decided that I¡¯d have to meet Ni Min.


    Although I didn¡¯t know Ni Min, we had the same purpose. Since she was so connected to Wu Jian, I figured she would throw all of her energy into helping me find him. However, I decided I might need backup, and I gave Li Lei another call.


    Three days later, we met with Ni Min. Because she lived at home with her parents, she had agreed to meet us at a tea house nearby.


    When we were seated, I started to examine Ni Min. She looked about the same age as Wu Jian. Although she wore makeup to conceal them, I could tell that she had very dark circles under her eyes. She looked as though she never slept, and her whole demeanor seemed somber. She clearly wasn¡¯t handling Wu Jian¡¯s disappearance well.


    Ni Min smiled and nodded to me, then looking at Li Lei doubtfully. He had not explained why he called the meeting, and in response to Ni Min¡¯s gaze, he turned to look at me. After all, I hadn¡¯t told him either.


    "Ni Min, hello. My name is Wu Rui," I introduced myself.


    "Hello, I¡¯ve heard Wu Jian talk about you. You two are very good friends, right? Have you found Wu Jian?" Ni Min¡¯s eyes lit up when she heard my name, and she began talking very excitedly. I didn¡¯t know what Wu Jian had said about me, but clearly, it had given this woman confidence in me. I wasn¡¯t sure how to broach the topic of Wu Ting, but first I replied to her questions delicately.


    ¡°Yes, we are good friends. Unfortunately, I haven¡¯t been able to find him, which is why I requested this meeting. There is something sensitive I¡¯d like to discuss with you. That is, if you¡¯re willing to help me.¡± I watched some of the light leave Wu Ting¡¯s eyes, but she still looked more hopeful than she had a few minutes ago.


    Ni Min quietly asked Li Lei if he could leave the two of us alone. She wanted to discuss this matter with me privately. Li Lei looked surprised at the request, but as he had many things to do back at the office, he left without complaint.


    I decided to be blunt with what I needed from her. ¡°I wanted to ask you about Wu Ting.¡±


    It was clear that Ni Min knew Wu Ting. As soon as I mentioned her name, Ni Min¡¯s face changed greatly. She looked at the table for a moment and then began speaking.


    The three of them had been in class together at the beginning of high school. Wu Ting and Wu Jian had sat at the same table, while Ni Min sat behind Wu Jian. Over time, the three of them became familiar with each other.


    Wu Jian and Wu Ting''s relationship had been very good, although never appeared to be a lovers¡¯ relationship. They were often together, and even their teachers referred to their affection for each other as ¡°puppy love.¡±


    It was at this time that Ni Min started to feel something for Wu Jian. However, she was quite shy and had never made any sort of move. Occasionally, Wu Ting would invite her to dinner, and the three of them would go out together.


    Before high school was over, Wu Jian left to become a soldier. Ni Min suspected it was because his grades were poor. After a few years, he came back to participate in the college entrance examination. It was a coincidence that he and Wu Ting became classmates at the police academy. However, shortly after, Wu Ting passed away.


    Ni Min brought up a strange piece of information that I hadn¡¯t heard before. Before Wu Ting had left, she had posted on QQ that she was going to the seaside to travel with her best friend. However, the post was quickly deleted.


    I didn''t know whether the best friend she referred to was Wu Jian or not. I¡¯d only heard that she had been traveling with her family at that time.


    If this were a movie, it would have just turned into a murder mystery¡ªand a very simple one at that. Wu Jian would be the suspected killer who used a shipwreck as a cover-up. However, this was not a movie.


    Ni Min thought for a moment and continued to speak. ¡°Wu Ting¡¯s body wasn¡¯t recovered. Many students went to the memorial service, including me, but Wu Jian didn¡¯t go. I heard that he stayed home, but he left home after two days. I felt like as Wu Ting¡¯s good friend, he should have attended the service, but perhaps he stayed home due to sadness.¡±


    ¡°Where did he go?¡± I asked.


    Ni Min said curiously, ¡°Well, he had told his family that he was returning to the academy. However, several students and he were planning to return together, but before they left, the others invited him to go on a trip with them. He declined, didn¡¯t show up on the day they were supposed to head back, and didn¡¯t return to the academy for several days afterward. Or at the very least, they didn¡¯t see him at the academy during that time.¡±


    However, the school wasn¡¯t small. It was possible that he had returned and stayed away from his classmates because of his bad mood. Not wanting to have fun with your peers after your best friend passed away seemed reasonable to me.


    I changed the subject. ¡°Ni Min, what do you think of Wu Ting?¡±


    "Well, she was quite nice. She dressed like a tomboy and was always very protective over the other girls. She would even fight for us against boys who teased us,¡± Ni Min said, then paused for a long time. She seemed to be readying herself to ask a question, and then eventually blurted out, ¡°Have you seen Wu Ting¡¯s ghost?¡±


    It seems Wu Jian told Ni Min a lot about me, I thought. I decided to use Ni Min¡¯s question to test her. ¡°If, and I mean if, Wu Ting¡¯s ghost appeared, do you think she would harm Wu Jian?¡±


    Ni Min was obviously stunned. "No, Wu Ting would never."


    It seemed that Ni Min really trusted Wu Ting. Then why did she react so strongly when I first mentioned Wu Ting?


    I was processing everything I had just heard, so deep in thought that I didn¡¯t realize I had been staring at Ni Min rather impolitely.


    Sighing, Ni Min leaned forward and spoke again.

 Chapter 79 The Previous Lover 3

    Ni Min did not react to my surprise, saying, "At that time, I liked Wu Jian, but he was always with Wu Ting. Once, I went to meet a fortune teller outside a Taoist temple. An old Taoist priest gave me a doll and told me to write Wu Ting''s birthday and name on it. He said that would make Wu Ting leave Wu Jian.


    "I planned to prick the doll with a needle as the Taoist said, but...When Wu Ting entered the classroom that day, she had blood in the corner of her mouth. I heard my classmates say that a classmate of ours had taken a girl¡¯s boyfriend and then locked her in the bathroom so she couldn¡¯t get out. When Wu Ting heard that, she went directly to the bathroom and fought with the girl."


    "You didn''t end up doing it, did you?" I looked at Ni Min, who had started to cry, and handed her a tissue. She shook her head.


    "So what happened to the doll?" I asked curiously. According to Ni Min, all of this happened in high school, but that was still several years before the shipwreck. So why did Ni Min blame herself for Wu Ting¡¯s death?


    Ni Min wiped her tears and said, "Shortly before Wu Ting''s death, I was cleaning my room and I found the doll. I thought the whole thing was silly and childish, so I threw the doll into the River Lai. A week later, Wu Ting drowned." Ni Min began to sob.


    I knew the River Lai. It was a shallow, muddy river nearby. It seemed impossible that Wu Ting really died because someone threw a doll into a dirty stream.


    I tried to comfort Ni Min. "Hey, don¡¯t worry. How could you possibly be responsible?"


    Ni Min tearfully responded, "You¡¯ve been asking about Wu Ting. Does that mean you suspect her ghost of taking Wu Jian? But I killed Wu Ting. I killed Wu Ting¡­"


    Ni Min''s words shook me slightly, and I realized why she was afraid. I knew ghosts really existed, so who was to say that a doll couldn¡¯t control life and death?


    I asked, "Do you remember the place where you got the doll?"


    Ni Min nodded, but then shook her head. She replied, "After Wu Ting''s death, I went back once. The Taoist temple was still there, but it¡¯s a scenic spot now. The old Taoist is gone."


    There must be a clue here, I thought. I took out a pen and paper and passed them to Ni Min, asking, "Do you still remember what the doll looked like? Maybe you can draw it and write what materials it was made out of." I spoke gently, worried I¡¯d upset Ni Min to tears again.


    She took the pen and paper and drew a small figure. Though her drawing was not good, I could make out the general shape of the doll.


    She had drawn a big head, a few simple lines for limbs, and a body that was an inverted triangle. The hands and feet were round. The doll looked kind of ugly, not just because of Ni Min¡¯s poor drawing skills.


    ¡°What were the eyes and mouth drawn with?¡± I asked. I felt like I didn¡¯t want to know the answer.


    Ni Min looked up and said simply, ¡°Blood.¡±


    I shuddered. ¡°And the hair was really human hair?¡±


    Ni Min said uncertainly, "It seemed to be. Once when I was smoking¡­well, trying it¡­I accidentally touched the hair with my lit cigarette, and it let off the smell of burning hair.¡±


    After chatting with Ni Min for a while longer, I felt like I¡¯d learned anything she had to say about Wu Ting. We parted ways, and I took the drawing of the doll with me. I planned to ask Witch Yan and Sister Hua about the doll. Maybe they would know if such a thing really had powers. If it was at all possible that Wu Ting disappeared because of the doll, then it was likely that Wu Jian disappeared because of her ghost.


    Where was Wu Jian? Where was Huang Xiaolong? Did I have to worry about finding a ghost now too? This was all getting really complicated.


    When I got home, I went straight to Witch Yan and showed her the drawing. As soon as she saw it, she became very serious and asked me where I had gotten the drawing.


    I told her about the conversation with Ni Min and the file I had on Wu Jian. She sighed, then said, ¡°I knew you shouldn¡¯t have gotten involved in the Jiang family¡¯s affairs.¡± She then held something out to me as she said, ¡°Once it started, it couldn¡¯t be stopped.¡±


    I looked down. In Witch Yan¡¯s hand was a familiar white envelope. Inside, I found three photos.


    The first: A brave-looking woman wearing a police uniform was saluting the camera. Her enormous smile told me that the salute was supposed to be playful.


    The second: Dark water. A pale hand sticking out of the water, its five fingers opened as if trying to seize something. Closer to the camera, another pale hand, pushing down on the head that was trying to come out of the water.


    The third: A woman dressed in black and soaking wet, standing in water up to her waist, her long hair blocking her face.


    I looked over the photos, knowing this was probably Wu Ting. I picked up the second photo and realized that life was more like a movie than I had thought. If this was just a simple shipwreck, then who¡¯s this trying to drown her?


    After I¡¯d looked at all of the photos for a long time, Witch Yan picked up the drawing and said, "The killing puppet. I haven¡¯t seen something this evil for many years."


    Then was the doll really responsible for Wu Ting¡¯s death somehow?


    I asked Witch Yan for more information, but she simply returned the paper to me and told me to find Sister Hua.

 Chapter 80 The Previous Lover 4

    In the meantime, I wanted to gather more information about the killing puppet. Unfortunately, Witch Yan wouldn¡¯t tell me anything more on the matter, no matter how much I pleaded. Fortunately, my mother had taken Xue¡¯er to get food, or else she likely would have asked why I looked so disappointed.


    At least I have a thousand things to distract me, I thought wryly as I slipped on my shoes to head to the Ghost House.


    However, when I arrived, I didn¡¯t see Sister Hua anywhere. Lulu and the other women were running around working, and I joined them doing the daily tasks. Eventually, Sister Hua arrived.


    As the Ghost House opened its doors for the day, Sister Hua came down from the second floor. I was about to approach her, but I quickly realized that she was preoccupied.


    Sister Hua passed me and went up to the day¡¯s guests to greet them warmly. When I turned back to my task, I realized Lulu wore a sour expression. Throughout the day, whenever I tried to catch Sister Hua alone, I saw that same cold face judging me for abandoning my work.


    Finally, after all of the guests had left, and there was nothing left for Lulu to make me do, I had an opportunity to talk with Sister Hua.


    "Sister Hua, I''d like to ask you something."


    Sister Hua smiled and said, ¡°Okay," then turned to the other women and said," Sisters, Little Wu invited us to have dinner tonight. Everybody get ready to go out."


    Ah! How did my request become an invitation? I touched the 1200 yuan I had in my pocket, 1000 yuan of which was to pay for the last debt.


    "You¡¯ll treat, won''t you?" Sister Hua asked charmingly.


    Between saving money and my life, I would always choose the latter. I nodded with a forced smile at the eager crowd of women.


    -----


    Business seemed to be booming at the night market; it was crowded with people rushing from stall to stall. I hoped the boss had had good luck earlier in the evening and wouldn¡¯t dare to ask me for money tonight.


    When we arrived at his stall, not a single guest was there. The little boy was also nowhere to be seen. Only the boss was present, dozing off at one of the empty tables. He must have been eager for us to arrive, although whether he was waiting to meet his deceased relatives or make the profit off another one of our feasts, I wasn¡¯t sure.


    Although he seemed deep in sleep, the boss bounced up as soon as we arrived. He¡¯s a light sleeper to have woken up because of one person¡¯s footsteps, I thought.


    I nodded, and the dishes began to arrive.


    After Sister Hua had devoured some food, I took out the drawing. She took it, observed it carefully, and then strangely looked at me. ¡°You do this on purpose,¡± she said. ¡°Every time you¡¯re involved, there¡¯s some big event.¡±


    I objected, but remained silent. After all, I needed her help.


    Sister Hua handed the drawing to one of the ghosts wearing a long shirt next to her. ¡°You¡¯ve been eating for a long time. You must help him.¡±


    The person with the long shirt laughed and said, "Yes, I should." As he took the picture, his laughter immediately stopped and he said seriously, ¡°The killing puppet.¡±


    A moment later, he coughed and said, ¡°I¡¯d certainly help you, but I really don¡¯t have time. I¡¯m still looking for Xiao Pang and Little Thin.¡± He seemed a little embarrassed.


    Sister Hua smiled slightly and said, "Okay, then I¡¯ll find someone else."


    The ghost exhaled as though he wanted to say something, but Sister Hua had already turned to Yan¡¯er and said, "Yan¡¯er, your turn."


    Yan¡¯er nodded. The long shirted person''s face changed several times and he said in disgrace, "But I might be able to find the time. So just let me help."


    Sister Hua and Yan¡¯er looked at each other with a smile. Tricky.


    Then Sister Hua turned to me again. "Don¡¯t go to work for the next few days. Help him look for Xiao Pang and Little Thin. People will help you, so you have to help others."


    I was stunned for a moment. It wasn''t that I didn''t want to help. I worried that when I left the Ghost House, my safety would be in question.


    Sister Hua seemed to understand my thoughts, and continued, "Don''t worry, the long-shirted people will come forward to help you. It¡¯s just a killing puppet, right?"


    The last question was directed at the long-shirted person, and he bitterly nodded.


    I was a little bit relieved. As for the two who were missing, I was a little stumped. I had heard people say that they were picked up by a wandering kid, but Yan¡¯er and the long-shirted person had been looking for a long time. How could I find them if they couldn¡¯t?


    I didn''t know why I suddenly thought of the boy who had saved me from the ghost. Could it have been him? The identity and appearance were very similar. But even if it were him, I didn¡¯t know what to do with that information. I hadn''t seen him for a long time.


    At the end of our feast, I left the boss¡¯ stall with my head hung in shame, a 2000 yuan debt hanging over it. The boss laughed good-naturedly and began to clean up after us. It was already 5:00 in the morning, and the sun would soon come up.


    Just as I passed the alley where the accident happened previously, I saw a thin boy behind a trash can. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but there was nothing there. It must have been my imagination.


    For the next few days, I didn¡¯t go to the Ghost House. Instead, I roamed the streets, looking for any sort of clue. However, I found nothing.


    When I was about to give up, I stumbled upon the child.


    It was very early in the morning, and I was tired after already having walked for a few hours. I sat on a bench on the pedestrian street to rest, and accidentally fell asleep. I was woken up by a rustling sound.


    I looked around, and caught sight of a child digging through the rubbish. I immediately hurried over, and the sound of my footsteps caught the child¡¯s attention.


    Thin, arms like withered branches. Greasy hair covering half of his face. He¡¯s definitely the child I¡¯ve been looking for.

 Chapter 81 The Previous Lover 5

    The child froze, then slowly lifted up his greasy hair. In the long hair, one fat and one thin worm wriggled around.


    I was happy to have found the bugs, until I noticed the child¡¯s face. It was identical to Xiao Lingdang¡¯s.


    My whole body froze, and the child was clearly puzzled. He pulled the bugs from his hair, then held out his hand to give them to me.


    I did not reach to take them, just stared at the child''s face. After what felt like an eternity, I asked, "Do you have an elder or younger sister?" Then I added, "Or a twin?"


    The child shook his head.


    Is this child wearing Xiao Lingdang¡¯s skin? I thought. Then I asked in a pleading voice, ¡°Brother, will you help me find a skin? Is the skin you¡¯re wearing yours?¡±


    The child was clearly frightened and took a slight step back. He didn¡¯t answer, but instead lowered his hair over his face again.


    I tried a different approach. ¡°Are you missing your skin?¡± I asked. The child¡¯s eyes lit up and he nodded hard. I immediately felt relieved. I found the worms AND Xiao Lingdang¡¯s skin. What a day!


    I thought for a moment before asking the child, "Go somewhere with me, will you? I might be able to help you find your own skin."


    The child hesitated again, and then firmly nodded. I tried to take his hand, but he moved away from me. I started walking forward alone, and was relieved to see that he followed me.


    Walking in the empty streets, we were not far from the Ghost House. I felt calm, when suddenly I saw a figure sitting on a roadside bench.


    I shouldn¡¯t have been scared. After all, I was with a child who had scared back the baby ghost. He was clearly powerful.


    Still, the closer I got to the body, the colder I felt. I saw that the figure was dripping water, although it hadn¡¯t rained at all today. Even more unnervingly, I was suddenly hit with the strong scent of the sea.


    Long shirted person, damn you. I had run this errand, and now here I was face to face with this¡­person who I suspected was connected to the killing puppet.


    I could not help but to slow down, and the child seemed to notice. He walked in front of me, staring at the person intently.


    The figure slowly stood up, long hair sticking to its body. I recognized the person standing before me. It was Wu Ting.


    Wu Ting slowly approached me, and I wanted to run as far away as possible. However, I didn¡¯t move at all. I was not afraid of ghosts at this point, but I was afraid of the aura Wu Ting gave off, and even more afraid of the powers that even Witch Yan could not deal with.


    Her mouth opened, and smelly sea water sludge dripped down from her mouth. Then we heard Wu Ting''s faint voice, as though she was speaking through water. "I love him, and I just want to be with him. Why won¡¯t you let me?"


    Who said I wouldn¡¯t let her? In this moment, I agreed one hundred percent, one thousand percent. But I did not say anything. I was afraid that if I spoke, she really would take Wu Jian, as well as Huang Xiaolong.


    Wu Ting did not wait for my answer, and said, "It''s no use finding anyone to come."


    Wu Ting''s tone was calm, but I could hear strong confidence in her voice. However, she loved Wu Jian, not Huang Xiaolong. Would she let Huang Xiaolong go? As for Wu Jian, we could come up with a solution. Maybe Huang Xiaolong would be able to help.


    "You love Wu Jian. Why do you want to take Huang Xiaolong too?" I asked tentatively.


    "Damn him. All those who are unfaithful to love should die."


    Had Huang Xiaolong died? I was surprised, and must have expressed my feelings on my face.


    "You don''t have to worry. They''re all alive and well," she said. "The unfaithful should be punished. Just leave me to my business, or I will kill you, no matter who you call."


    Wu Ting''s last few words were very firm, and I was frightened. I felt my back go even colder. Fortunately, Wu Ting had finished speaking, and I slowly backed away.


    Wu Jian seemed to have never promised to become Wu Ting¡¯s boyfriend. Her words about faithfulness seemed incorrect, or maybe there was something that I still did not know. The feeling that Wu Ting gave me was quite different from what Ni Min described. It was like she was two different people.


    I was full of questions. I meant to go back to the Ghost House to ask Sister Hua, but I saw the child still standing in front of me. His face was alert, watching Wu Ting. It was nice to see the child be so vigilant.


    "Let''s go,¡± I said, and began to try to put distance between us and Wu Ting. However, the child did not move at all. Even the expression on his face did not change. I was astonished, and reached out my hand to tap him on the shoulder.


    As soon as my hand touched on his shoulder, the child was shocked and fell to the ground with horror in his eyes. Afterward, he began to walk with difficulty. He sometimes got close to me, and sometimes shuffled away from me. He seemed to want to protect me but clearly feared Wu Ting and our interaction.


    We walked in sight of the Ghost House, which was still lit up. The building seemed to remind the child of some bad memories. He began to tremble. He was standing at a distance, and I didn¡¯t make him move closer.

 Chapter 82 The Previous Lover 6

    I did not mention having met Wu Ting. I thought it better to wait to discuss that event until after we finished with the matter of Xiao Lingdangs skin.


    I was afraid that spending too long in the Ghost House would cause the child to leave, but fortunately, when we rushed outside, he was waiting where I had left him.


    Xiao Lingdang was definitely the most excited member of our group. She quickly rushed over to the child. Understandably, the sight of a ghost rushing to take his skin startled him, and he jumped back immediately. Xiao Lingdang looked at me with sorrow.


    I stepped forward and said to the child, "The skin you are wearing now is hers. Can you please give it back to her? Don''t worry, I''ll help you find your own skin."


    The child took another step back, looked at Xiao Lingdang and me, and then shook his head.


    Before we arrived, we had discussed what to do if the child refused to hand over the skin. However, the child showed a cleverness that I didn¡¯t expect. Until I helped him find his skin, he would hold onto Xiao Lingdang¡¯s as a bargaining tool so that I couldn¡¯t break my promise. However, he gave me Xiao Pang and Little Thin, perhaps as a way to prove that I could trust him too.


    i


    Although Xiao Lingdang was in a hurry, she was understanding. I continued to try to bargain with the child, but Xiao Lingdang simply agreed with his demands. I had no other choice but to go along with them. The child, seemingly pleased that things had gone his way, told us his address and then left in a hurry.


    Sister Hua and I scolded Xiao Lingdang for giving up so easily during the negotiation, and once we arrived at the Ghost House, she left to pout. I found Yan¡¯er and returned Xiao Pang and Little Thin, who she was delighted to see.


    I then told everyone about Wu Ting''s story. Yan¡¯er reacted calmly, but the long shirted person seemed embarrassed. I knew right away that the long shirted person was connected to Wu Ting somehow. I didn¡¯t know the details, but I knew he was responsible for our meeting.


    Yan¡¯er looked at the long shirted person and was about to speak but decided to remain silent.


    Sister Hua seemed happy at least, not only because I¡¯d found Xiao Pang and Little Thin but because I¡¯d also helped Xiao Lingdang find her skin. She said, "The matter has been handled by little Wu. But, alas--"


    Although the long shirted person hadnt yet handled the matter of the killing doll and Wu Ting, from Wu Ting''s words, I knew that the long shirted person had looked for her. He was also somehow responsible for Wu Ting¡¯s ghost not harassing me tonight. The long shirted person must have had some abilities, so I was actually relieved to hear his angry insistence that he would handle things.


    I didn`t stay in the Ghost House for long. I said goodbye to Sister Hua, then left. The street out front was empty, as usual. There were only dim lights on by the roadside. I walked slowly, deliberately avoiding the night market stalls--I had no choice; I was still in debt to the barbecue stall boss.


    Just as I felt pleased that the boss hadn¡¯t seen me, I saw Wu Ting standing in the shadows near a street lamp, still dripping water and looking straight at me. However, I realized that I wasn¡¯t as scared of her as I had been before. I couldn¡¯t believe it.


    Walking within two meters of Wu Ting, I smiled and said, "So, Wu Ting, did you have a reason to come find me?" I spoke lightheartedly, but as I waited for Wu Ting¡¯s response, and stood there under her unmoving gaze, I began to feel frightened again.


    Finally, she opened her mouth.


    "Did you have to get involved?"


    I vaguely wondered how she found me and who might have told her I was here, but I felt that was a concern for another time.


    "No, I am not getting involved," I lied.


    Wu Ting laughed horribly, then she looked me coldly in the eyes and said, "Oh, hah, hah, hah. It''s hot. Let¡¯s go to the gym for a swim." Then she immediately disappeared.


    I knew the gymnasium had a swimming pool. In our small county, there was only one gymnasium. I¡¯d never been to the pool there because the entry fee was too expensive. However, now I worried what would happen if I didn¡¯t go.


    I returned to the Ghost House immediately and discussed the matter with Sister Hua. She smiled and didn¡¯t say anything other than that I was permitted to take time off from work to go. I felt like she had something more to say, but she just went back to her work.


    -----


    At noon the next day, I went to the gym. I was the only guest there. When I entered the pool area, I saw the lifeguard yawning at his post. By the time I had changed clothes in the locker room and come back out to the pool, he had fallen asleep.


    "Hey. Hey!¡± I tried to wake him, but the lifeguard didn¡¯t stir. I walked over to the pool and prepared to get in.


    Just as I was about to stick my feet into the water, I saw a head with long hair floating on the water out of the corner of my eye. I pretended I didn''t see it, but as I moved away from the pool and walked to the chair where I¡¯d set my things, I felt my knees turn to jelly.


    I had that big lunch, after all. I should probably stay out of the water a little longer¡­


    I slowly looked at the pool out of the corner of my eye. The woman watched me with her eyes just above the water level. They crinkled with glee at my fear before disappearing with a splash of chlorinated water and stringy hair.


    My heart trembled a little. The water in the pool was so clear that I could almost see to the end, yet I didn''t see anyone under its surface.


    I sat firmly on my chair away from the edge of the pool until I saw Lulu and Xiao Lingdang walk up with the thin boy.


    "Brother, have you caught any fish?" Xiao Lingdang asked teasingly.


    ¡°I suspect he¡¯s too lazy even for that,¡± Lulu said with a smirk. Really, Lulu?


    ¡°Har, har,¡± I chuckled dryly. I turned my attention to Xiao Lingdang and the young boy. Xiao Lingdang was telling him the story of Wu Jian. When she finished, they both turned to me confidently.


    ¡°We want to help you!¡± said Xiao Lingdang as the boy nodded. I looked at them both for a moment before simply shaking my head. Although the boy tried to put on a brave face, he couldn¡¯t hide the fear in his eyes.


    With the others here, I felt comfortable getting into the pool. The water was a nice temperature, although my back still felt a slight chill. As I moved around the pool, I looked below the water carefully. After nearly half an hour of ¡°swimming,¡± I realized I hadn¡¯t even gotten my hair wet. I gave up on bravery and went to the edge to rest for a while.


    Gradually, other people began to show up. Soon the entire swimming pool was full of people. I sat nearby noticing how many of the guests here were beautiful women. It must be because this is such an expensive gym, I thought as I tried not to stare.


    People came and left while I stayed at the pool. I noticed the lifeguard looking at me disdainfully, but I didn¡¯t care. The pool closed at 9:30. I had bought a ticket. I was staying until 9:30. And I have to figure out how to stay after the pool closes¡­


    I figured whatever I was here to do would happen at night.


    As it got later, the number of people left in the pool became fewer and fewer. Besides me, there were only a few teenagers playing some game at the other end of the pool. The broadcasted announcements shut off, and I expected the lifeguard to come over soon to tell us to leave. However, I soon realized he had disappeared.


    Feeling vaguely worried that something was wrong, I told the children that they had to leave the pool. I was clearly just another guest though, so they ignored me and continued to play.


    I sat anxiously in a chair on the side of the pool, looking at the people in the pool and then over to the dressing room. The lights in the gym were still on, but the locker room was dark.

 Chapter 83 The Previous Lover 7

    I worked myself into a panic imagining everything that could go wrong until I looked back toward the pool and saw that Lulu and Xiao Lingdang had returned. I guess they just went to check out the rest of the gym earlier, I thought. Seeing me look over, they waved. I waved back, signaling that I was fine, and then I lay back in the chair to relax a bit.


    However, as I lay there, I realized that the pool had gone eerily quiet. I shot up to see what was happening, my whole body tense.


    The children were still in the pool except for one who was lying on the edge. This is what I was afraid of! I screamed in my head before realizing he was just talking on the phone. Oh. Based on my experience, the other children were likely quietly discussing how to play a prank on the one who was on the phone.


    Just as the children slowly swam over to the child on the phone, the lights in the locker room turned on. I looked over and saw that the lifeguard had changed clothes. He looked at those of us who were left and cried, ¡°What are you still doing here? Were you all planning to spend the night? Go home!¡±


    Didn¡¯t he look at the swimming pool when he went off-duty? I thought judgingly. The kids paid him no mind and continued to sneak up on their friend on the phone.


    I ignored the lifeguard as well. After all, Lulu and Xiao Lingdang were here, and there was the matter of Wu Ting. I had more pressing concerns than a lifeguard who couldn¡¯t even pay attention to a pool.


    He shouted a few more times, growing visibly angrier, but then his cell phone rang and he hurried to answer it. Just at that moment, several of the children pulled the child on the edge into the water, and his cellphone flew into the air before dropping into the pool.


    Well, they should have at least waited until he was done with his phone call, I thought pityingly.


    I looked over to the spot where the phone had disappeared. Some of the lights had gone off, so it was hard to see, but I thought I could make out the phone at the bottom. Then I realized the water around the phone was darker than the rest, and it wasn¡¯t because the lights were out.


    I looked carefully, and then suddenly felt like ice had been poured down my back. My limbs went weak, a shiver ran up my body, and I found I couldn¡¯t even cry out.


    There was a body under the water. I finally loudly called out, "Come on, someone¡¯s drowning!¡± and pointed in that direction.


    Lulu was looking at me, and when I looked in their direction, she smiled and waved to me violently. That¡¯s¡­.weird. Xiao Lingdang appeared alarmed by Lulu¡¯s reaction, then she stood up and hesitantly waved to me too.


    Or is that alarm? I thought. Something was strange. Their mouths opened and closed, but neither of them made a sound. I got up from my chair to move toward them when my ankle was suddenly grabbed by a cold hand.


    I stifled a scream, then turned my head. The boy who had been pushed under the water by his friends was leaning halfway out of the pool, clutching my ankle. His face had a blue tint, and he was coughing up water.


    ¡°Uncle, help me.¡±


    His friends were still trying to pull him into the water, saying tauntingly, ¡°Come play with us. It¡¯s just a cellphone. We¡¯ll buy you a new one.¡±


    Someone here is a ghost, I thought. Everyone was acting far too strange.


    "Haven¡¯t you left yet?!" The lifeguard had finished his phone call and was finally paying attention to us. I hoped he would arrive quickly. He certainly wasn¡¯t a ghost, and I hoped I could compare the others to him to determine who was the ghost.


    The lifeguard had arrived and stood a few feet from me. He pointed to the boys in the pool and shouted, "You bastards, don''t you know the swimming pool is closed?"


    The children laughed and scattered, and the boy who was clinging to me took his opportunity to climb out of the water. The lifeguard ignored us and continued to roar at the kids in the pool.


    But how many does he see? Can he see the boy with me? I glanced at the gasping child and asked, ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    The boy gasped a few more times then said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s fine.¡± I reached out to help him up and sat him in a chair nearby. His hands were frozen.

 Chapter 84 The Previous Lover 8

    "What are you doing?"


    I turned my head and saw the boy sitting in the chair looking at me in fear. He quickly stood up and began retreating towards the pool, looking at me warily.


    "What did I just do?" I asked tentatively.


    "You keep running in place, running and talking," he replied warily.


    It made sense that I¡¯d somehow been stuck running in place. After running so long without approaching Lulu, what other explanation was there? But I¡¯d been talking? I didn''t remember talking to myself at all.


    "What did I say?" I asked the boy.


    The boy seemed to see that I was normal again, and said, "You said ¡®Wu Ting, no. I love you, no.¡¯"


    Wu Ting? I called to Wu Ting? What was I trying to stop her from doing?


    I asked the boy if I¡¯d said anything else, and he replied, ¡°You were shouting, ¡°Don¡¯t go, don¡¯t go there!¡¯ over and over."


    Don¡¯t go where?


    Because I¡¯d had something strange happen to me, I thought that maybe everything weird I¡¯d experienced was just the influence of Wu Ting. I relaxed, deciding that everyone around me was actually human.


    But what about the floating body in the water? I¡¯d forgotten about it, and looked back, half-expecting the body to have disappeared. However, it was still there at the bottom of the pool. The boy followed my gaze, then let out a scream.


    I called to the lifeguard again, pointing to the floating body. However, he was being splashed by several children in the pool and did not hear me. One of the kids turned to look where I was pointing and then began to swim over.


    I admired his courage, especially at his young age. If it were me, I never would have swum over. Of course, the child didn¡¯t know what he was about to find. Maybe I should tell him?


    I nervously watched as he got closer to the submerged body. Ten meters, nine meters, eight meters¡­


    He finally saw the body, paused for a moment, and then swam as fast as he could back toward the lifeguard. The man was currently in the middle of the group, being splashed and taunted by the other teenagers.


    The lifeguard, who was by this point furious, saw the kid swimming towards him. Rage welled up in his chest, and as soon as the child was within striking distance, he hit the kid on the top of his head, knocking him below the water.


    The lifeguard''s move immediately angered the other children. They stopped laughing and all began shouting at him. The lifeguard seemed to be frightened by the children, but simply repeated that they had to leave the pool. His tone had calmed a lot, and I guessed that he was afraid of getting into trouble.


    I began to shout at the lifeguard again, but in the chaos that was already erupting, no one seemed to hear me. Suddenly, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye, and I was relieved to see that the boy was climbing out of the water.


    He was holding a black thing in his hand, and he threw it at the lifeguard and the children. The item flew through the air, then splashed down in the middle of the chaos, immediately catching everyone¡¯s attention.


    The pool had finally quieted down. I looked back at the boy, and my heart froze. Wu Ting, all in black, was standing behind the boy. A wet hand lay on the boy¡¯s shoulder, and the boy looked as if he¡¯d lost his soul.


    I noticed that Wu Ting only wore one shoe, the other unnervingly white foot exposed. The boy had found her shoe and thrown it at the group.


    The lifeguard and several children looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Obviously, they couldn''t see Wu Ting. I took the opportunity to shout:


    "Come ashore. Come on. Somebody''s drowned!"


    I did not want them to see the floating body or linger in the water any longer. Wu Ting¡¯s strength was in the water. If they didn''t get ashore soon, I had no doubt that they would all die in her hands.


    They ignored me, again. Everyone asked the boy what he was doing, thinking that he was waiting for them to retrieve the item he¡¯d thrown. One child dove into the water, looking for what I knew was Wu Ting¡¯s shoe.


    He must have wanted to die. I wanted to cry out to him, but I knew it would be no use. I looked for something to throw since that at least seemed to get people¡¯s attention, but all that was nearby was a table and chair. I knew I couldn¡¯t throw either of those two meters.


    The boy began to walk toward the pool. Wu Ting bowed her head, and with a hand on the boy¡¯s shoulder, followed him to the edge.


    I shouted again, with no success. I felt like something was wrong. It was impossible that they couldn¡¯t hear my voice, yet no one looked in my direction. Then I remembered that only a few people had spoken to me since I entered the pool. Everyone else seemed to act like I didn''t exist.


    Was I dead? Was I the floating body? No, impossible.

 Chapter 85 The previous lover 9

    The lifeguard was successfully driving the children away, all except for some 14 and 15 year old kids who were in their rebellious teen years. They all turned to the lifeguard with disdain in their eyes. None of them showed any intention of leaving.


    At that very moment, a child kicked the water a few times, feeling his foot hit something, he turned to examine the water around his foot. A sharp scream filled the air, causing everyone to look at him questioningly.


    I knew exactly why he had screamed, his foot had managed to kick the head of the floating body.


    Everyone immediately noticed why the boy had screamed as soon as they saw the body, the lifeguard instinctively swam towards it. He had previously been helping a few children quickly get ashore. The children didn¡¯t dare to disobey orders any longer. One by one, they began shouting and swimming towards the shore. For reasons I didn¡¯t understand, it seemed that most of them weren¡¯t swimming for the side of the pool with the ladder. Instead, it felt as if most people were going past the boy and Wu Ting to get out of the water.


    The water wasn¡¯t very deep, though there was quite a large distance to the shore for many of the children. A few them were panicking and could not get themselves up over the edge. They all stretched out their hands and wanted to help the boy pull himself away from the body. However, the boy was under the control of Wu Ting and had no response to the calls of the other children. He just stared idly at the other kids by the shore, as if hypnotized.


    The boy was not reacting, so the children left to go try and lift their small bodies over to dry land, but most of them found themselves exhausted halfway and would end up falling back into the water.


    The lifeguard had finally managed to lift the body out of the water and swam towards the shore.


    Wu Ting was definitely causing this. There was no other explanation as to why these people couldn¡¯t go ashore. I was so angry, that I shouted at Wu Ting: "What are you trying to do here? These people are innocent!"


    Finally reacting, Wu Ting slowly turned her head to look at me. Her pupils, covered with blood stared at me for a long time before shining a sinister smile in my direction: "There are human beings and ghosts among this crowd. Can you tell which is which? Just try it."


    The last words "try it" were full of disdain and mockery. I was so full of rage, I completely forgot about the horror that was Wu Ting. "Why don¡¯t you come over here?¡± I shouted with a confidence I probably shouldn¡¯t have.


    When Wu Ting finished speaking, she exposed her teeth with a very large smile and instantly vanished as if she had never been standing there. In the place where she previously stood, there were water stains giving off the horrid stench of stale humidity. The gravel under the stains could still be seen.


    The boy¡¯s entire body shivered, as if he had suddenly woken up. Hearing the others shouts, he grabbed ahold of the other children¡¯s hands until he made it to shore, still panicking.


    The lifeguard had already changed his course and turned to the handrail over by where I was standing, as he swam towards the shore he yelled out, "Please, help!"


    I was surprised as I stared back at the lifeguard. I pointed at myself doubtfully with my hand. I thought he had been unable to see me.


    "It doesn¡¯t matter who you are, don¡¯t let this child drown." The lifeguard was furious. His actions were quick, and as he was crying out for my help he had swum towards the shore. Unfortunately, the body was so heavy that the lifeguard couldn¡¯t drag it to dry land alone, even after trying several times. He yelled at me again to go and help him.


    I was now sure that the lifeguard could see me and rushed forward to help, but the body felt stiff and it felt as if there was no way to pull it up. The boy and a few friends gasped on the shore and came to help.


    Several people worked hard to finally lift the lifeless body to the shore. The lifeguard very professionally examines the body from his head covered in inch-long hair, to his wrists as he checked for a pulse. His shoulders slumped, and he gave in to the anxiety building up within him. He could not stop shaking his head.


    Seeing that saving the person with the inch-long hair was hopeless, several children were crying, pointing at each other and complaining that they should not have come here to swim or that they shouldn¡¯t stay for so long.


    I didn¡¯t say a word. I just quietly looked over the whole situation. Wu Ting''s words were very clear. Among these people there was a ghost. If I could not find out who it was, then it might be impossible to save these people¡¯s lives. Perhaps I could not escape death this time, either. Although Wu Ting said that she promised someone she wouldn¡¯t hurt me, if other ghosts managed to kill me, I¡¯m certain she would be happy to see it.


    The children chattered with a mix of cries and complaints for a while, until finally someone realized that a child was missing. They all began looking for the child who had just been on the phone. Although were all calling out loudly, no one dared to go far from the crowd. They were all understandably frightened.


    Lifeguard was looking over his mobile phone, it seemed there was a problem with it. The lifeguard violently shook the phone, his face full of anxiety. Once he heard that there was a child missing, his face abruptly turned snow white. At that very moment, a couple of people found two other bodies in the pool.


    In the dim light, the floating body in the pool was not clear, but no one, including the lifeguard, dared to go into the pool again. It was almost impossible to see and take care of three people drowning at a time.


    "Do any of you have a cell phone? Call the police quickly. My phone has no signal." Said the lifeguard.


    Hearing this, the boy turned around and prepared to run to the dressing room. But after taking one look at the dark dressing room in the distance, he stopped without running two steps and turned his head around and said, "I''m afraid. Let''s go together."


    The rest nodded their heads and pressed themselves close to each other as they ran towards the locker room. The lifeguard did not move, he covered the face of the unnamed body with a bath towel, and took out a cigarette and began to smoke.


    I took a cig from the lifeguard, whose eyes were bloodshot. I didn¡¯t say a word and lit it silently. There were now five people left beside me.


    The lifeguard, the boy, another boy with a tattoo on his arm, a skinny boy and a fat white boy. One of these people had to be a ghost. Perhaps more than one of them was a ghost.


    But who? As of right now, I still couldn¡¯t tell who it was, so I had to keep my distance from them. Hopefully I could spot some clues from a bystander''s point of view.


    The lifeguard smoked, tossing the smoked ash into the swimming pool, and began trying to be chatty with me. ¡°I¡¯ve got the worst luck. I¡¯ve worked here less than a month, and this happens!¡±


    I did not have the heart to answer the lifeguards sad words. I mostly replied with mhm¡¯s, oh¡¯s and ah¡¯s. Even though the lifeguard didn''t feel like a ghost, I was still alert to anything suspicious.


    "These kids really are bit too playful. Do they come here often?" I interrupted him to ask as soon as he mentioned something about the children causing trouble.


    The lifeguard nodded, his face defeated: "Well, they come here every few days. But nothing¡¯s ever happened before. How could I have such bad luck.¡±?


    "Are they the same people every time?"


    "Not always. The tattoo guy and the boy are always here, the others come a few times a week. It¡¯s the first time I see that chubby kid though."


    I nodded. I had gained new information, but I still couldn¡¯t be sure. Everyone was still suspect.


    "We don''t have any signal on our phones." cried a boy as he came out of the locker room, the others following behind him. Almost everyone had a cellphone, yet it looked like none of them were able to use it. The fat boy violently through his mobile phone to the ground.


    "Let''s go and get the police first." Said the thin boy. At some point he had put on his glasses, he was now pressing them up his nose as he made his suggestion. He appeared rather calm and collected.


    It was as if everyone had simultaneously realized this was the best thing they could do. They rushed over to the gate, as I followed behind at a quick pace, but also at a distance.


    The door was not locked, but it wouldn¡¯t open. Several people worked at it for a long time, but the door would not budge.


    The lifeguard gasped, "I''ll go and turn on the lights. You keep trying."


    He didn¡¯t wait for a reply, instead just walked off into the darkness of the corridor. At the end of the corridor hung a plastic sign that hanging at an angle: Employees only, do not enter.


    The lifeguard left, and some of the children began to struggle with the gate again, they called me over to help. I went over to and looked carefully at the rest of the people as I helped out.


    The lights in the swimming pool were all on, it looked as if the whole swimming pool was illuminated by daylight. The two floating bodies in the pool were clearly visible, but they were still a little far away from us and we couldn¡¯t see what they looked like. We could only tell what their sex was and that they weren¡¯t very old.


    Even after some time, several of us couldn¡¯t manage to get the door open. In the dark corridor ad tense environment, even if one did not believe in ghosts, they were sure to feel a heaviness in their heart.


    After some time, the lifeguard rushed back out of the corridor with a frightened face, behind him there was nothing. The lifeguard stumbled along the corridor, then found a good place to sit in the middle of it and sat down.


    One of the boys asked the lifeguard what he had found, but the lifeguard shook his head and didn¡¯t say anything. Perhaps the lifeguard had some issue, the rest of us present began to suspect him greatly. The lifeguard rested for a while, then went to open the door for what seemed like 10 minutes. He then gave up and sat down, exhasperated. As he sat there, he looked over to me being extremely anti-social sitting on one side by myself and he paused for a moment.


    Suddenly, he leaned over to the tattooed boy''s ear and whispered something that caused the tattooed boy to shiver. Then he turned and looked into my eyes with horror. When I looked back at him, he quickly turned his face, pretending not to look at me.


    Whispers spread among the crowd, but no one told me what was said. Everyone''s eyes that looked at me had changed, I knew that there must be something in the conversation that involved me, and it was possible that it had something to do with the current situation.


    Several people pressed against the door. Their effort was valiant, but it seemed the door was not going to open no matter what they did.


    I frowned. If the ghost used some sort of method I didn''t know about to isolate me, it would be troublesome. If these people turned into a mob against me, things would get really bad.


    It didn¡¯t help that I didn''t know what they''re saying.

 Chapter 86 The previous lover 10

    I asked dryly, not knowing what else to say.


    The lifeguard looked at me warily but didn¡¯t speak. The skinny boy pushed his glasses up, "We''re just wondering when you showed up. We didn''t see you there a second ago."


    I guessed this was going to be the process of treating me like a ghost hey must not have been able to see me just now even though I''ve been sitting here the whole time. How was I going to explain my sudden appearance?


    All eyes looked at me, I smile casually: "You don¡¯t believe me when I say I¡¯ve just been here? I was here earlier, you must not have noticed until I called out to you all just now."


    Several people looked at me doubtfully, fortunately a boy supported my claim: "He¡¯s been there the whole time."


    Several people looked at each other, then at the boy who had just spoke. They seemed suspicious of him, too.


    "Well, we¡¯re still trying to call the police as soon as possible. Does anybody have any ideas?" I decided against trying to explain myself any further out of fear that it would only make things worse. I was also finding it hard to tell who the ghost with all the attention on me was. It might be safer, to stay away from the crowd. Of course, I still had to remain vigilant enough to keep an eye on everyone.


    Talking about the police reminded everyone about the predicament we were in. Everyone began talking and pitching ideas, but none of the ideas were sound. Everyone¡¯s mobile phones was lacking signal. The door would not budge open. There was a window that was open, but it was at least 5 to 6 meters above from the ground.


    "There''s a landline in the office. Maybe we can get a call through." Said the lifeguard as he pointed to a dim passage.


    It was a hallway meant just for staff. In the dim light, it appeared long and a little scary. Particularly under the current circumstances.


    "Let''s give it a shot." said the fat boy.


    The fat boy glanced at the body still floating in the pool and gulped audibly as if to urge us forward.


    The crowd discussed the situation and they all agreed to go to the office and try calling the police. A few people definitely still suspected me and the boy, so they asked us to go ahead.


    To be honest, I didn¡¯t want to. Lu Lu and Xiao Lingdang were in the corner of the pool. Although I wouldn¡¯t be bale to hear them, I felt safer when I was able to see them. It would be much safer staying by the pool as opposed to going into the dark passage, even though that was where the three bodies lay.


    I walked behind the boy, just one meter away. Such a distance allowed us to react to anything that may pop up. The others followed about three meters behind. I walked very slowly, always watching what was going on behind me. Instead of worrying about the dark passage, I was less afraid keeping them at a distance.


    The passage was quite ordinary. Except for the dim lights, there was nothing special about it. There weren¡¯t many doors in the long passage. There were white walls and perhaps because the swimming pool was full of water, the walls appeared to be damp too.


    Everyone¡¯s footsteps echoed along the hall. It felt as if we were walking forever. We finally walked past a door and the lifeguard told us to stop and motioned me and the boy to back off. It must have been the office, sure enough, the lifeguard took out a string of keys from his pocket and opened the door.


    He reached around the corner, feeling around, and searching for what must have been a light switch. After a while, the lifeguard said: "The light must be broken. That¡¯s strange. It was working fine this afternoon."


    The words of the lifeguard keep me in a tight mind. The dark office is like a monster that opens its mouth, waiting for us to fall into the net.


    The lifeguard takes out his mobile phone, and shines inside with the light of the phone, and then makes way for me and the boy.


    I do not take the phone, and I can only use the boy''s mobile phone¡¯s light that is not strong to walk in. The office has windows. Now it should not be too late, but the office windows are dark. Not even moonlight.


    All these make me more alert, and since the door of the office opens, a lot of things have gone awry.


    The office is large, lined with rows of desks and chairs, looking as neat as a classroom, with everything on its desk, neatly or cluttered, looking like someone was using it, and at the end of the office, there is a sofa, a red phone is on top of the small table by the sofa.


    The phone is obvious. And there¡¯s no need for the lifeguard to point it out, we can see it at a glance. The boy and I walk slowly towards the phone. Not knowing if it is my hallucination, I always hear a faint sound of water droplets.


    "Di, di, di". The closer the phone, the clearer the sound of water droplets is. This is not my illusion, and my heart suddenly wakes up. Is Wu Ting here?


    "Did you hear the sound of the water?" I look at the phone in the distant light and say to the boy.


    "Well, yes." The boy nods. But he strangely looks at me. It¡¯s just the sound of ordinary water droplets. My reaction is a little big.


    There was no way to explain to the boy, but my pace is getting slower and slower, and the lifeguard a few metres away has heard me, with a bit of hurry in his voice: "The water cooler is broken and the water is dripping all the time."


    I say an "Oh", but I am more alert to the lifeguard because it seems to me that the lifeguard is deliberately explaining the problem to me.


    When we get near it, the boy''s mobile phone¡¯s light turns to the clear sound of water drops, and there is a water dispenser, as the lifeguard says, dripping slowly into the tray, the tray full, and it is flowing down the water dispenser. A small pool of water has formed on the ground.


    Although the boy''s light quickly turns to the phone, I still see that. The water dispenser is empty, and at least there is no water in it from my position.


    "Your water dispenser is running out of water, and you''re not going to fix it." I ask the lifeguard tentatively in a playful tone.


    Lifeguard says: "It¡¯s none of your business. Go."


    Well, I don''t find out any information. At least I don''t see it, but when the boy hears it and he shines the light back to the water dispenser. This time, I see some black thing floating in the bucket on the water dispenser. It looks like hair.


    The boy probably sees it, too. The light doesn''t leave the water dispenser, and the teeth begin to quiver. "What''s in there?"


    Several lights shine to the water dispenser at the same time. In the strong light, the black things that float in the water dispenser become clearer. That is a few long hairs.


    A few screams come, and everyone becomes a little panicked. The lifeguard roars, and calms the surroundings, and then walks over to the water dispenser and looks carefully: "What''s strange is that. It¡¯s just that the bucket gets dirty."


    The lifeguard finishes saying, panic slightly reduced, and I subconsciously keep away from the water dispenser or the lifeguard next to the water dispenser, and then pick up the landline, directly turning on the hands-free, calling the police.


    The phone is through. There is a female voice over there, but the noise with the current is inaudible, and the boy looks a little excited and comes up to speak loudly about the address and the situation, but it is obvious that the other side can not hear our voice. After a noise, the other party hangs up the phone.


    At this time, the fat boy is no longer worried about how I appear, coming up, pushing me away, and then pick up the phone to dial a mobile number. This time, it is a male voice, but the phone call is with a huge sound of electric current, letting the person hear unclearly, the fat boy roaring loudly, but not causing the other party''s response. Soon, the telephone hangs up.


    The thin boy and I both try once, and the results are the same. There is no way to communicate.


    Looking at the lifeguard who is still standing in front of the water dispenser and blocking the water dispenser: "You try it too."


    The lifeguard says, "You can''t get through. What else do I try?"


    "The phone is broken." say I, tempted.


    "It''s been a while."


    As soon as the lifeguard finishes, the fat boy cries and yells, "Since you know it''s broken and why you let us come to do it."


    The thin boy comes a little closer to me. I look at him subconsciously, and he looks at me too. The eyes behind his glasses seem to blink. The child is very calm and seems to find something wrong. Yes, since the lifeguard knows the phone is broken, so why does he bring us to this office?


    Moreover, the lifeguard''s blocking in front of the water dispenser keeps me on my guard.


    "Sometimes the phone works, but sometimes it doesn¡¯t, and I''m taking a chance, too.¡± The lifeguard tries to explain.


    A little angry, the fat boy walks toward the lifeguard as if trying to question him, but is pulled by the skinny boy, who looks at the lifeguard and says, "Are there any other phone calls?"


    ¡°Let me think.¡° The lifeguard says, as if really thinking, lowering his head, not speaking.


    Don¡¯t the staff here know where there is a phone? I think the lifeguard is a little strange, but at first the lifeguard''s reaction at the pool is quite normal.


    I am a little puzzled, and I can only maintain a point of vigilance, to see the situation.


    The lifeguard seems to think of something. "There must be a phone in our supervisor''s office."


    The people all look at each other, and then I ask, "Where is the supervisor''s office?"


    The lifeguard points to the direction behind us and almost all of us turn around. Indeed, there is a black door not far behind us, but there is no sign.


    Black door. Where can it use a black door? I am very strange, because either private enterprises or government departments, I have been to, but I have never seen a black door.


    I feel cold in my heart, when I notice that all the people are watching the door, looking back worried. Because without lights, I can only vaguely see the lifeguard puts his cell phone on top of the water dispenser, and the light shines to the ceiling, he doing something.


    "What are you doing?" My voice is so loud that a few lights shot at the lifeguard at the same time. The lifeguard is muttering to himself with his hands crossed, facing to the water dispenser, but the voice is so low that it seems to be completely silent.

 Chapter 87 The previous lover 11

    "We¡¯ve talked about it, and since you know the place better than anyone here, why don¡¯t you lead the way." I squinted at the lifeguard, and even though no one had actually talked about it, he was acting so oddly that no one else bothered to object to my words.


    The lifeguard smiled forcefully and passed his gaze over the crowd. "I¡­ I¡¯ve never entered the office, either."


    "Oh," I forced back a grin, watching the lifeguard quietly.


    Seeing we weren¡¯t going to back down, the embarrassed lifeguard said dryly, "My phone¡¯s broken. You gotta light the way for me."


    It seemed that lifeguard did not want us to see the water dispenser, which only aroused our curiosity.


    The thin boy whispered something to the fat boy. The fat boy used his mobile phone to light up the way ahead of the lifeguard, while the thin boy''s mobile phone remained fixed on the lifeguard''s body.


    I looked at the lifeguard with a sneer, and his face turned ugly.


    "I won''t go ahead!¡± he pointed at me and yelled. ¡°This guy appeared out of nowhere and I don¡¯t trust him, so I won¡¯t go ahead!"


    The lifeguard tried to throw the others¡¯ suspicion back to me, but that only made his look more suspect.


    The thin boy adjusted his glasses with a habitual motion. "Go ahead, we¡¯re right behind you. He goes last," he nodded towards me.


    The thin boy''s words left the lifeguard speechless. his mouth opened and closed a few times but no sound came out. Finally, he backed up into the water dispenser and crossed his arms defiantly.


    Annoyed and distressed, the fat boy grabbed a book from the desk next to him and threw it at the lifeguard, who quickly deflect it with his hand. The book crashed to the floor with an alarming thud.


    "I knew you were up to something all along! I¡¯ll tell the police to arrest you as soon as we get out of here." The fat boy''s voice was too loud. He grabbed another book and threw it at the lifeguard.


    At that point, the lifeguard became angry too. He grabbed a cup containing a few pens and threw it at the boy. The pens scattered everywhere, and the solid cup hit the boy on the forehead. He cried out in pain as a trickle of blood appeared over his brows.


    Even though up to now the rest of the group had been suspicious of the boy because of me, now everyone was of like mind. As the lifeguard dared to fight back, all of a sudden, the onlookers flew into a rage. A variety of office supplies began whizzing back and forth across the room in the dim light of the mobile phones.


    Everyone was getting increasingly worked up, throwing increasingly larger and harder items. Someone was bound to get seriously hurt at this rate.


    In the commotion, lifeguard stepped away from the dispenser, leaving it exposed. I snatched someone¡¯s phone away and turned the flashlight toward the water dispenser, trying to see exactly what was inside the container.


    I yelped in alarm. The originally empty container was now full of water, with countless long black hairs tangled together in clumps, seemingly writhing, almost as if trying to force their way out.


    The boys also saw it, screaming one after another. The lifeguard realized what happened and lunged to cover the container with his body again.


    No one attacked him anymore. They were too shocked by the scene they had just witnessed. The fat boy pointed a trembling finger at the lifeguard and whispered, "You''re a ghost."


    "No, I¡¯m not!" The lifeguard shook his head violently, tears of panic in the corner of his eyes.


    "Get out of the way. There''s something going on in that tank," I said coldly.


    The lifeguard shook his head and desperately tried to change the subject. "What¡¯s wrong with ut? We should really go to the office and call the police already. Go on."


    The lifeguard¡¯s cracking voice did not elicit any response. I was no exception. To be honest, his behavior was very strange, but from his reaction, he didn¡¯t seem to be a ghost. If anything, it was more like he was being forced. We just didn¡¯t know by what.


    I looked back at the black door, and because none of the phones were shining on it, it was completely dark and I couldn''t see anything. But whether the lifeguard was a ghost or was being forced by a ghost, he obviously needed us to open that door and go in.


    I knew nothing good could be waiting for us in there.


    For a moment, the two sides became deadlocked, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to cool.


    "Let''s go back to the pool, where at least there¡¯s light. He¡¯s not going to try anything there," said the skinny boy in a low voice.


    I nodded lightly. Everything about this office and the corridor was creepy. The pool suddenly seemed like a safe haven. At least I could see Lulu and Xiao Lingdang there.


    A question occurred to me: "What if he turns off the lights in the pool?"


    The thin boy was a little startled by this proposition, and then nodded and seemed to ponder. He hadn¡¯t thought of that before.


    I looked at the lifeguard. He was the one who turned on the lights at the pool, and the only one who knew where the switches were. I really didn¡¯t want to deal with a ghost in the dark.


    The mood in the office turned ponderous. The thin boy moved carefully and whispered in the fat boy¡¯s ear. This obviously attracted the attention of the lifeguard, who tried to keep an eye on him, but he had no light source to point at him. The rest of us deliberately kept the light beams away from the thin boy, so that the lifeguard could not see what he was doing.


    "What are you doing?" Asked the lifeguard with a stern voice.


    "Nothing," I replied nonchalantly.


    My relaxed reaction only made the lifeguard more impatient, but he still didn¡¯t dare to step away from the water dispenser and could only watch anxiously.


    The skinny boy shone his phone light around, seemingly searching for something on the desks around him. Occasionally there¡¯d be a thud and a quiet expletive as he bumped into something in the dark.


    I kept my light fixed on the lifeguard, while the fat boy kept shining in various directions.


    A beep rang out from his mobile phone. He looked at it and whimpered, "My battery is low..."


    My chest tightened. I immediately told him to turn off his phone for now. No use using up both phones¡¯ batteries simultaneously.


    Instead of doing what I said, the fat boy first asked the thin boy and then turned off his cell phone, and then sidled up close to me.


    I watched the skinny boy, who was still looking for something. He seemed to be the weakest of the group, but displayed surprising authority and leadership. I felt somewhat relieved by his composure.


    After a while he rejoined the group and, to our surprise, presented us with two candles and a small pocket flashlight.


    The thin boy leaned in to my ear and whispered his plan: "I also found a padlock. If the lifeguard won¡¯t leave, we will lock him in here."


    I nodded and couldn''t help but see the boy in a whole new light. Unless the lifeguard agreed to step away, from the water dispenser, he¡¯d be stuck in that room until someone came to rescue him.


    Sure enough, the skinny boy suggested again to go back to the pool, and the lifeguard refused outright and again suggested we try to call from the supervisor¡¯s office, which we again refused. As we left, the skinny boy kept his flashlight aimed at the water dispenser. The lifeguard looked like he wanted to catch up, but was unable to make it because he was blocking the water dispenser.


    As the door closed behind us, the skinny boy mercifully decided to leave a candle for the lifeguard. He threw it hard at the black door, which made a loud noise.


    The lifeguard looked at us warily and did not pick it up until we fully closed the door. As the padlock clicked loudly shut, we heard the lifeguard¡¯s pitiful cries pleading with us to open the door, but we ignored him.


    I subconsciously stayed away from the thin boy as we made our way back down the damp corridor. He was a bit¡­ How shall I put it, a little too cold.

 Chapter 88 The previous lover 12

    One, two, three. There should have only been two bodies in the pool. Now there was an extra one. Was it the boy on the shore?


    The boy next to me looked at me doubtfully, and then followed my eyes to look at the pool and shouted in surprise. At the same time, a louder scream rang out from the fat boy. He must have seen the bodies as well.


    Everyone slowed down and carefully approached the pool. I could very clearly hear everyone¡¯s breathing, including my own.


    "Who else is in there?¡± The thin boy asked, habitually pushing up his glasses.


    I looked over to Lulu, but she and Xiao Lingdang seemed to have disappeared. I began to worry even more. If they had been there, I could have used their reactions to temper my own reaction. However, they were nowhere to be found.


    "Is¡­Is¡­Is there anyone else? Is¡­Is the door open?" The fat boy''s voice shook.


    I turned my eyes to the gate, which was still closed.


    The thin boy shook his head, patting the fat boy on the shoulder and whispering comfortingly. Then the boy approached me and leaned half his body against my arm. After all, I was the adult in the situation.


    Although I was scared, I patted the boy reassuringly. My eyes continued to scan the pool and the room for information. Suddenly, I spotted something strange and my face involuntarily reflected my concern. The boys looked at me, so I pointed to the pool.


    I realized that one of the three bodies wasn¡¯t wearing swimming trunks but was instead dressed in clothes.


    Two of the boys looked for a long time, trying to figure out what had caught my attention. The thin boy finally noticed and said, ¡°Tong Hu is wearing clothes and has his phone in his hand.¡±


    The other two looked in surprise as they realized what the thin boy said. I also looked at the body in surprise, because I¡¯d just realized it was the boy who had been tricked while he was on the phone. So his name was Tong Hu¡­


    The fat boy began sobbing, his whole body curling in on itself as the thin boy tried to comfort him.


    "We''re not going to die, right?" The other boy pulled on my sleeve, his eyes full of horror.


    I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know! If Lulu were here, I would be certain of our safety, but now I wasn¡¯t even sure if I¡¯d survive the situation. How could I tell a young boy that though?


    I shook my head. "No, we won¡¯t die. Let''s be careful. We¡¯ll wait until the day comes."


    The boy nodded, but the fat boy began hysterically shouting, "Stay till dawn? How do we stay till dawn? We will die, we will die!"


    The fat boy clutched his hair with both hands. "But maybe the lights will go out. We will die, we will die."


    Before I could comfort them, the pool''s lights flash a few times and then went out.


    "See?! The lights are out! The ghosts heard us! We¡¯re dead, we¡¯re dead, we¡¯re dead!"


    Ignoring the fat boy¡¯s panic, the thin boy and I both turned on the flashlights on our phones at the same time. Then we each took a deep breath.


    "We''re going to die. We''re dead." The fat boy behind us continued to murmur, and I grew increasingly annoyed. In horror movies, ghosts always scare people from behind. I didn¡¯t know why I suddenly thought of this, but the hair on the back of my neck all stood up at once.


    I don''t dare to turn around, so I looked at the thin boy next to me. I finally turned all the way around, but everything was dark.


    I really wanted to make the thin boy look around behind me, but I tried to tell myself that it would be impossible for a ghost to appear there. After all, the fat boy was still behind me wailing. As I hesitated, I heard a single drop of water splash in the darkness.


    The sound was very low, but it was like thunder to my ears. I whipped around, my flashlight shining only on the fat boy.


    The fat boy had his head bowed and his hands covering his face. I breathed a sigh of relief, mocking myself for thinking there was danger in every sound. We were near a swimming pool. If I thought every drop of water was a ghost, I¡¯d scare myself to death. I relaxed and began to turn around, then noticed the red on the ground.


    My heart began to pound, and I turned back to the fat boy, shouting, ¡°What are you doing?!¡±


    My voice echoed around the room. The other two boys turned to look at the same time. Our flashlight beams illuminated a pool of bright red liquid that was slowly spreading from beneath the fat boy. The faint metallic smell combined with the smell of chlorine in the air.


    The fat boy blinked and then looked at me, slowly raising his head. In a relieved voice, he said, ¡°I¡¯m dead now. As a ghost, I won¡¯t be afraid of them.¡±


    I realized that blood was trickling from beneath his jawline. The boy had taken a pen and stabbed it deep into the artery in his neck. The pen still filled the hole, so the blood flowed slowly out.


    My hand began to tremble. I¡¯d never seen the fat boy act so brave and calm. I was sure he¡¯d been possessed.


    The thin boy stepped past me and began to speak comfortingly to the fat boy as he pulled out gauze to wrap the wound with.


    Strange. Why does he have gauze with him? I felt like everyone was a little bit strange, and I felt my heart beating more intensely. I began to doubt everything around me.


    I looked back to the boys and realized the fat boy had fallen asleep.


    "Let''s go look for the switches and turn on the light," The thin boy said.


    I frowned and said, "Where can we find it?"


    Are we not going to worry more about the boy who just stabbed himself in the neck? I thought. I supposed I was the adult here, but I was lost on what to do, so I followed the thin boy¡¯s suggestion.


    Although the swimming pool area was very large, the only possible place for the switch to be was in the passage we just went through. Although there were not many doors in the passage, there were at least five or six rooms to check. Truthfully, I was afraid to look. I would rather everyone stayed together in this corner, especially now that the enemy was unknown.


    "The switch should be in the office in the passageway. It shouldn''t be far. The lifeguard didn''t take a long time to turn on the lights last time," the thin boy said assuredly. "We¡¯ll leave one person to guard him,¡± he said, pointing at the boy on the floor, ¡°and the other two people will go find the switch. We¡¯re not safe without light and our phones won¡¯t last forever."


    Although not willing to go, I nodded. The thin boy was right. Although I wasn¡¯t sure what time it was, we still likely had a while to wait until dawn.


    "Could it be a power outage though?" I asked.


    The thin boy pointed to the swimming pool and said matter-of-factly, "There''s still electricity out there."


    The glass in front of the pool was painted with black paint, but we could still vaguely see light on the other side.


    I nodded to agree and then we took on our roles. The other boy said he would stay to protect the fat boy, so the thin boy and I determined we would find the switches.


    The thin boy handed his phone to the boy to use for light and then walked to the passageway with me. It was quiet, save for our footsteps and the occasional gasp as one of us was startled by the shadows.


    We searched the first room. The room was very small and empty, with not even a desk or chair. We left to search the second room, third room, fourth room¡ªlocked, locked, empty. Soon we arrived at the last room.


    This room was actually outside of the hallway. It was next to the big office where we had shut the lifeguard. I wasn¡¯t eager to search it, but the door was already open. It seemed as though there was something wrong with the door¡¯s hinges. When the thin boy pushed on the door, the noise it made was loud enough to make me jump.

 Chapter 89 The previous lover 13

    The thin boy methodically looked around the room. I turned my back to the thin boy, raising my phone to try to see more of the room. As I moved the flashlight, I suddenly froze. There was another water dispenser in this room.


    The style of the water dispenser was very different from the one in the lifeguard''s office and there was clearly no hair in this one. I smiled and shook my head, laughing at myself.


    I¡¯m too nervous! I thought.


    Although the thin boy didn¡¯t find any flashlights or candles in the room, he found a collection of snacks which we happily put into our pockets. We knew we¡¯d greatly appreciate them as the night went on.


    Finding nothing else of value and not seeing a switch in the room, we began to walk out of the room.


    Squeak!


    The thin boy and I looked at each other nervously.


    The next room was the one where we locked the lifeguard, and neither of us wanted to go in.


    The thin boy and I stood at the door for a long time before the thin boy took a deep breath, knocked on the door and shouted, "Are you still there? We misunderstood you."


    I understood the thin boy''s words. He wanted to put the lifeguard at ease. Although not necessarily useful, I went along with the thin boy¡¯s plan. We waited, but no sound came from inside the room.


    The skinny boy held the keys in his hand. ¡°Do we open the door?¡± he asked as he turned to look at me.


    I was hesitant, afraid that a ghost would appear as soon as we opened the door. I reached my hand out but stopped it and looked at the thin boy. Suddenly there was a violent gulp from inside the office, like someone desperately drinking water. In between gulps and gasps, there was also wild coughing.


    The thin boy looked at me and said, ¡°Inside¡­¡± He didn¡¯t finish his thought, but I knew what he meant.


    Suddenly a few sharp, short knocks sounded on the other side of the door.


    "Lifeguard, is that you?" I asked nervously. There was no answer. Then I heard the sound of fingernails scratching the wall. My muscles tightened and I felt a cold chill run down my spine.


    Now the sound of scratching the wall was so obvious behind the door that I dared not let the thin boy open it. I approached and shined my flashlight against the seam of the door, hoping to find a small gap to look through, but I was unsuccessful.


    The pace of the scratching seemed inconsistent, at times fast and then slowing down. I began to think that the noise wasn¡¯t random.


    "Is he trying to send a message?" The thin boy frowned as he listened.


    The thin boy had started to move his hand along with the scratching noises. He had his ear pressed to the door, and I worried that the door might fly open and whatever was inside would grab him and drag him in. I strongly suspected that more than just an angry lifeguard lay on the other side of the flimsy lock.


    Fortunately, my worry didn¡¯t manifest. After a long time, the boy pulled away from the door and whispered, ¡°I think it¡¯s the word ¡®save.¡¯¡±


    "Save what?" I asked.


    "Save his life?" The boy said uncertainly.


    Just as he spoke, the door suddenly shook. We both jumped back, startled.


    The boy and I looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Did the lifeguard want us to call for help? Open the door? Did he actually expect us to do that?


    The noises had stopped while the boy and I spoke, but after we fell silent, the noises began again with the same frequency as before.


    "Just open the door. We are all in danger. We should all work together,¡± the thin boy said as he pushed up his glasses.


    I understood his thought process but thought back to what Wu Ting had told me. There was a ghost among us, and it seemed likely to be the lifeguard.


    I hesitated, and the thin boy looked at me as he readied the key in front of the lock. "You decide."


    I inhaled deeply. "Lifeguard, is that you? If you don¡¯t speak, we''ll leave," I shouted at the door.


    ¡°Yes. The switch is in here,¡± I heard a very weak voice say from behind the door. I was delighted. It was the lifeguard, and the switch was in there too!


    The boy moved to open the door, but I felt like I¡¯d suddenly been splashed with ice water and quickly stopped his hand.


    How did the lifeguard know we were looking for the switch?


    I shook my head and mouthed my concern to the thin boy. His eyes opened wide and then he nodded. We both quietly moved away from the door as quickly as we could.


    We continued down the main passageway and as we moved away from the door, the scratching sound grew louder and more frantic, as though whatever lay behind the door was furious. We moved even more quickly toward the end of the passageway.


    We came to a large iron door that was firmly shut with a chain as thick as a baby¡¯s arm securing it.

 Chapter 90 The previous lover 14

    As I was thinking about what to do, the thin boy in front of me swung his flashlight around, then suddenly screamed and ran quickly toward the swimming pool, the light from his phone bouncing wildly around the hallway.


    Startled by his sudden reaction, I looked toward whatever had startled him. An open door, the lock twisted out of shape, a rod as thick as a thumb lying on the ground.


    Whatever was in the office had escaped.


    Before I had a chance to run, I heard a familiar voice drift out of the office. A boy¡¯s voice, two words:


    "It''s delicious."


    I sprinted after the thin boy, who by this time had reached the fat boy and was squatting down to comfort him. The fat boy was gazing toward the swimming pool in a daze.


    "Where is the other boy?" I asked hastily.


    The fat boy didn¡¯t speak, his eyes looking straight at the pool. The thin boy shook his head and said he hadn''t seen the boy when he arrived.


    Was the voice in the office really the boy¡¯s?


    Suddenly, my heart beat faster. I picked up the flashlight on the ground and shined it in the fat boy''s eyes. Then I turned it toward the pool and felt my face go white.


    A body floated in the water, the waterproof watch on its wrist glowing faintly under the surface.


    The thin boy, startled by my fear, looked toward the pool as well.


    ¡°It¡¯s not him. It¡¯s one of the others from before.¡±


    I swallowed the lump in my throat and said in a low voice, ¡°I heard the boy¡¯s voice come out of the office.¡±


    The thin boy stayed silent for a moment, staring at me with a hint of fear in his eyes, and then he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The door of the office was already open, and whatever had escaped could just as easily find us here. It was better to at least go find the light switch. Maybe we¡¯d even find the boy unharmed.


    The thin boy and I convinced ourselves and each other that this was the best course of action, and then the boy asked me to help him get his friend up from the ground. We couldn¡¯t leave him here alone. The three of us headed down the passageway, the fat boy bumbling along between the two of us. It wasn¡¯t long before we reached the office door.


    Although our flashlights exposed nothing more than tables and chairs inside the office, I felt a chill coming from the room. The door seemed like the devil¡¯s open mouth to me.


    The thin boy''s steps became slow and cautious and we both peered inside the door carefully. Neither the boy nor the lifeguard was here.


    "So¡­go in?" The thin boy''s voice was dry and shaking.


    ¡°Go in,¡± I said as firmly as I could.


    We moved slowly toward the door. The blackness beyond seemed to swallow any light. Even when we shone our flashlights directly into the darkness, I could only make out a few hazy outlines of objects.


    "I can''t see clearly. Let¡¯s walk along the wall," I said to the thin boy. He nodded stiffly and then moved forward.


    His whole body was engulfed by darkness as soon as he stepped beyond the door frame. I urged the fat boy to move forward, and soon I was swallowed by the blackness as well.


    The room felt very large. I walked along the wall slowly for what felt like ages but still didn¡¯t find the corner of the room. I felt like we might end up walking forever.


    "Slow down, this doesn¡¯t seem right." I stopped the thin boy.


    He stopped but didn¡¯t turn back to look at me. He slowly said, "What¡¯s wrong?"


    "Don''t you think...?" I stopped as soon as I started to speak.


    That isn¡¯t the thin boy¡¯s voice.


    I retreated slightly and shook the fat boy, trying to alert him to the problem.


    "What''s wrong?" The figure in front of me spoke again in a slow voice.


    My hand shook as I raised my flashlight, trying to see the figure in front of me.


    A faint reflection came from the wrist in front of me. A watch. My heart stopped beating and then went into overdrive.


    The figure in front of me began to slowly turn around. Through the blurred light of the mobile phone, I could not see the figure¡¯s appearance, but I knew it definitely wasn¡¯t the thin boy because it didn¡¯t have a flashlight and it wore a watch.


    "What''s wrong?" the figure asked again.


    "Shit!" I shouted as I kicked at the figure. To my surprise, my kick landed. I had expected my foot to go through the figure.


    The figure fell to the ground from my kick, and the fat boy fell to the ground in fear.


    "What''s wrong?"


    The figure continued to ask the same question. I rushed at it, unhinged by fear, then began to kick and punch wildly. The figure repeated its question ceaselessly, its tone and pace staying consistent.


    I eventually stopped and moved to rejoin the fat boy. Although he was of no use, having anyone by my side would be better in a moment like this.


    However, I realized that the boy had disappeared.


    I turned back again, and the figure had disappeared as well.


    ¡°Ah!¡± I roared like a beast as I squatted on the ground. I began to cry out of frustration, tears pouring down my face. I was close to giving up, entirely consumed by fear, confusion, and desperation.


    Fuck all of this! I thought, unsure if I¡¯d also shouted it out loud.

 Chapter 91 The previous lover 15

    "What are you doing?" The voice repeated the words, as though it expected me to respond and was frustrated by my silence.


    I slowly turned around, and everything in front of me was a blur. I could only vaguely make out a figure before me. It wasn¡¯t tall and seemed to be wearing white clothes.


    "Who are you?" I croaked out, my voice trembling. I felt like I was talking to an illusion¡ªthat is, if I was even talking at all. Part of me felt like everything was a dream.


    "What are you doing?" the voice repeated in the same tone.


    I swallowed. I wasn¡¯t sure what to say.


    What am I doing? I¡¯m not doing anything, okay? I¡¯m just scared, but can I say that? No!


    I knew not to show my fear in front of ghosts. I learned that before I ever went to the Ghost House, as a child when I was bullied by the neighborhood kids. Fear was weakness.


    But now, my fear was so intense that I didn¡¯t think there was any way to hide it.


    "What are you doing? The water is good. Would you like some?" The voice spoke again.


    The voice sounded more peaceful. I open my eyes to look, and it seemed like there was now a rectangular shape on the other side of the figure. I stepped back slightly, and although the figure didn¡¯t seem to move, it remained the same distance away from me. I shifted to the right and so did the figure. I moved to the left, and the figure drifted along with me.


    Once I stopped, the rectangular object came towards me, and I realized it was a water dispenser with a bucket sitting on top. My heart quivered as an image of tangled hair drifting in the water came into my mind.


    "The water is delicious. Would you like to drink some?"


    The figure spoke again and I shook my head. There was no way I was tasting that water.


    "The water is delicious. Why don''t you drink some?"


    "I''m not thirsty." I finally plucked up the courage to speak and thought I was able to disguise my fear. However, the figure seemed unsatisfied. It floated towards me and spoke again.


    "It¡¯s good to drink water."


    I shook my head again, hard, and had a vision of my head flying off. However, no matter how much I protested or moved away, the figure continued to offer me the water, and the distance between us seemed to be closing.


    As the figure got closer, both it and the water dispenser became clearer. I studied the figure. She seemed to be a girl about 18 or 19 years old, cute but still with a little bit of baby fat. Her head tilted to one side somewhat unnaturally.


    I tried to change the subject. "What''s wrong with your head? Do you have a stiff neck?"


    I nodded just as hard as before. "Yes, very beautiful."


    "Yes, it must be pretty, or else they wouldn''t want to take my head!"


    I was lost for words again, so I just dryly smiled. Then suddenly I felt like I knew this girl. I didn¡¯t think there was a reason, but I felt a burst of familiarity.


    I pictured a girl standing beside a bouquet of flowers. Her right hand gestured as though victorious and her body tilted toward the flowers, a smile splashed across her face.


    At the edge of a dark river, a girl in a white dress lay on the pebbles of the river, her hair scattered around her skull, her slender feet moving with the ebb and flow of the water.


    It was also in that dark river that a girl in white stood, water up to her waist, her head crooked, wearing the same beautiful smile as in the first photo. The girl¡¯s head turned 180 degrees.


    The girl from the photos? I¡¯d seen her name on TV later: Luoyan Chen.


    My heart beat suddenly and I backed up against the wall.


    The girl bristled, and she said, ¡°You are this afraid of me? But why weren¡¯t they afraid of me. They were trying to take my head!¡±


    I didn''t respond. I just shrank further against the wall.


    "Why don''t you help me?" she asked. Her eyes didn¡¯t leave mine for a moment and her hair continued to rise as though full of static electricity.


    I swallowed and said, ¡°I¡ªI can¡¯t help you. What do you want me to do?¡±


    She perched her head on her hand and thought for a moment, then said, ¡°They sent you my photos. Why wouldn¡¯t you help me?¡±


    Her words peaked my curiosity, which was stronger than my fear. ¡°Wait, they? Who are they? The ones sending me photos.¡±


    "Do you want some water? It¡¯s very nice,¡± she said, ignoring my question.


    "Who are they?" I asked again, staring directly into her eyes. I needed the answer, not just for me but for my family.


    "They are them. So why don''t you help me?"


    I was speechless and thought to myself, How do you want me to help anyway?!


    I didn¡¯t know whether it was my imagination, but it seemed like Luoyan¡¯s eyes lit up when I thought this question.


    It took her a while to open her mouth, but eventually, she spoke. "That day, I took a taxi to my grandmother''s house, then walked part of the way. They wanted to bully me, and I wouldn¡¯t let them. They wanted to take my head, but in the end, they just left me with pain and my head. Then I saw a bright light, and they ran away. It was so cold."


    So she met bad guys in the taxi. I looked at Luoyan. Although not an extraordinary beauty, she was still quite pretty and very pure. How many people had tried to hurt her, and how was she able to stop a group of men? Even though she was able to stop them, I wondered why men had tried to take her head in the first place. Were they the same people who sent me her photos?


    I figured the light was from someone scaring the men away. Maybe that person had just arrived in time to save Luoyan¡¯s head.


    "Who are they? How many are they? Did they send me the photos?" I asked again, more straightforward this time.


    "They are them. There are three of them. They are not them."


    Luoyan¡¯s answer stupefied me. Then I realized that maybe she didn¡¯t know who had hurt her, just that there were three of them. ¡°They were not them¡± must have meant that they were not the same people who sent me the photos. It made sense that the criminals wouldn¡¯t have taken that last photo and sent it to me.


    "Why did they want to take your head? Were all three of them in the taxi?"


    Luoyan thought about my questions then shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. We carpooled.¡±


    I was speechless. Carpooling in the evening with strange men? No wonder something happened.


    "How did you call the taxi? Who was the driver?" If she called the taxi through a service, the ride and driver should have been recorded.


    Luoyan shook her head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was waiting for a car, and this car stopped, asked me where I wanted to go, and then told me they were going in that direction.¡±


    I was speechless yet again. Of course you came to harm getting into a random car with strange men¡­


    "Do you know what the license plate was? What kind of car it was? The color?" I was no longer afraid of Luoyan. I realized she was just a na?ve, young girl.


    Unfortunately, all Luoyan could tell me was that the car was a black sedan. Great, the most common color. That should be easy to track down! I thought frustratedly.


    Seeing me lost in thought, Luoyan asked again, "Do you want to drink water? Isn¡¯t it nice to drink?"


    After listening to her ask for the hundredth time, I finally asked, "What kind of water is this? Why do you keep asking me to drink it?"


    Her answer made me want to vomit all the water I¡¯d avoided drinking up to that point.


    "It''s body water. It''s clean."


    Did I hear that wrong? Oh, my god. ¡°Body water,¡± seriously?


    "Well, uh, where exactly did the water come from? Why should I drink it?"


    "It''s for all of us. My sister asked me to give you a drink. If you drink some, you''ll help us."


    "Who is your sister?"


    "My sister is my sister."


    I nearly rolled my eyes and then asked, "Is your sister¡¯s body in the sea?"


    Luoyan finally nodded in response to a question and said, "Since you know my sister, then you are going to drink it."


    I shook my head. So Luoyan is connected to Wu Ting.

 Chapter 92 The previous lover 16

    Suddenly another voice sounded from the side, and my head snapped to look at the source. There was another vague figure, but from the smell and the sound of dripping water, I knew it was Wu Ting.


    "Sister!" Luoyan shouted.


    Why is Wu Ting here? Did she promise not to hurt me before so that she could hurt this young girl instead?


    "Feeling strange about my appearance? Don''t be surprised. I¡¯m just back to take Wu Jian with me this time." Wu Ting smirked.


    "Where are you taking him?¡± I asked hastily, although I knew in my heart that ¡°taking away¡± meant killing.


    "He promised me that he would stay with me forever." Wu Ting''s voice, dripping with sweetness, sounded farther away.


    ¡°He promised me that he would stay with me forever,¡± Wu Ting repeated, then suddenly her figure disappeared in a splash of water, as though someone had poured a bucket of seawater out onto the floor.


    Wu Ting is a psychopath, just coming and going and threatening murder. I was worried about Wu Jian and wondered what the best way to protect him was.


    But how do I get out of here? I thought as I looked at Luoyan who was looking at me. I didn¡¯t think she would hurt me at this point, but before trying to find an exit, I promised the girl that I would help her find her killers. Then I began to grope around in the dark room.


    I couldn¡¯t tell which direction was which. I followed a wall for a long time, but even though my feet began to hurt from all the walking, everything still looked the same. Did Wu Ting create an illusion to keep me from escaping? I asked myself. She¡¯s got a lot of confidence in me. I¡¯m not even sure I could save Wu Jian if I did escape this place.


    I walked until I couldn¡¯t walk anymore, and then I collapsed on the ground.


    ¡°Ha-lo!¡± I heard giggles behind me. Which ghost is this now? I was too tired to turn around or even be afraid.


    I sighed and said weakly, ¡°If you¡¯ve come to kill me, do whatever you want. Just be quick.¡±


    I heard a familiar sigh behind me. I¡¯d know that displeased sigh anywhere.


    I jumped up and turned around excitedly, and then immediately and embarrassingly fell back to the floor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bow to me,¡± said Lulu dryly. I¡¯d never been so happy to see her.


    "Lulu, Xiao Lingdang!" I felt like I could cry.


    "Hm," Lulu uttered another one of her characteristic expressions. Xiao Lingdang kindly helped me up and supported me as Lulu stood by, watching. Then Lulu waved her hand lazily, and I saw a flash of light.


    ¡°Ah!¡± My eyes had become so accustomed to the dark that the sudden burst of light made me close them in pain. A few tears even leaked out.


    Xiao Lingdang quickly wiped my face with her hand and said, "Big man, don''t cry!"


    We were in a big room, almost as big as a swimming pool. The room was entirely empty, save for two sealed coffins in the center.


    "What are these?" I asked Xiao Lingdang.


    Before she could reply, Lulu responded, ¡°The soul imprisoned in the clean room."


    The soul imprisoned in the clean room? What? I turned to Lulu, looking for more answers.


    Lulu kindly explained, "The soul imprisoned in the clean room is formation magic. The dead body of a ghost is placed in the center of a spotless room, and then the coffin is hammered with white nails. So no matter what, the ghost can''t walk out of this room."


    "Is it a simple trick to keep them from getting out?" Xiao Lingdang asked the question we both were thinking.


    "There is a prerequisite for this magic. It must be a dead person that died accidentally, and they must be here of their own free will. If they¡¯re not willing, the magic can¡¯t be completed."


    Xiao Lingdang and I both realized that most ghosts who died accidentally were angry. Even if they were not angry, they wouldn¡¯t want to be imprisoned in a spotless room. It was a miracle that this magic could ever be carried out.


    "Can we get out?" I asked curiously.


    Lulu gave me an angry stare, and then pointed and said, "Go open the coffins. Let¡¯s see who¡¯s stupid enough to trap themselves here."


    Why me? I thought as I approached the coffins. The coffins were tightly nailed shut and I wasn¡¯t sure where to start. Finally, I heard Lulu¡¯s exasperated voice behind me.


    ¡°Move.¡±


    Lulu¡¯s foot flew past me and kicked one of the coffins apart. The body inside flew nearly two meters into the air, then landed on the ground with a thud and an ¡°Oof!¡±


    The body slowly stood and faced Lulu. I was surprised to recognize Huang Xiaolong. I stared at the body as he scolded Lulu for breaking open his coffin. He dares to scold Lulu? Can¡¯t he see her hair flying?


    I quickly interjected to ask Lulu to open the second coffin before anything went down between these two. She kicked the second open just like the first, but there was nothing inside.


    We turned to Huang Xiaolong to figure out why he was here, but he couldn¡¯t remember. The last thing he remembered was looking for something in the house that had burned down. He¡¯d found a strange mirror, looked at it, and then fainted. Now he was here.


    Lulu seemed deep in thought and I dared not interrupt, so I pulled Huang Xiaolong to the side and asked what had happened to him after he disappeared.


    Huang Xiaolong was silent for a long time, then he simply said, "I will go back to practice for a period of time."


    Okay¡­


    Lulu had finished thinking and her expression indicated she¡¯d thought of something good. I asked her, "Well, Lulu, what¡¯s the situation now?"


    "Isn''t it obvious? This room was for this guy. It was supposed to be for ¡®a soul imprisoned in the clean room,¡¯ but the room seems to have changed."


    Lulu pointed to the wall and said, "Come with me."


    We all hastened to follow Lulu as she led us straight through the wall.


    I was surprised to see that we were standing on a beach. The sea rolled with waves nearby, and the sky was dark. It was probably about 8 or 9 o¡¯clock in the evening.


    "Interesting." There was a rare smile on Lulu''s face, and then she fell into contemplation.


    Knowing that Lulu was working on something and I¡¯d be of no help at all, I asked Xiao Lingdang how they had found me.


    Xiao Lingdang said, "We saw a lot of ghosts approaching you, so we kept calling you, but you ignored us. It seemed that there was an invisible wall between all of us and we couldn¡¯t reach you. We waved to you, but you waved to the outside.


    "Then you entered the passageway, and we found that there were more ghosts around you. Sister Lulu was very worried and broke through the wall with her anger. When we came in, we only saw the little ghosts but not you. It wasn''t until we accidentally found the gap in the room that we were able to get in."


    Xiao Lingdang smiled as she spoke, but I felt helpless. I turned around to speak to Huang Xiaolong again, but I was startled yet again by the day¡¯s events. Huang Xiaolong stood there in his underwear doing exercises as though he were preparing to go for a swim.

 Chapter 93 The previous lover 17

    He had a red tattoo on his chest. It was a dragon made from intricate lines woven together. Around the dragon were the ancient words ¡°Those who fought in the front were in front.¡±


    Uh, what is this? I didn¡¯t ask, but Huang Xiaolong proudly began to explain his tattoo.


    "This tattoo was given to me by my mother. It¡¯s the strongest secret for exorcising the evil dragon. The golden dragon slays evil. Cool, huh?"


    Cool? Powerful-looking, I guess. But the tattoo is on your chest. Why bother taking off your pants? I shot a look at Lulu and Xiao Lingdang, who were both a little shy. They didn¡¯t seem to have any reaction to this scene. Well, they did live in a brothel¡­


    At this time, Lulu opened her mouth to say, "This should be the place where that doll was thrown and Wu Ting died."


    Didn¡¯t Wu Ting die during a shipwreck in the ocean? This beach seemed smaller than I had expected it to, although it was facing the sea. But what about the doll?


    Lulu added a detail I hadn¡¯t heard before. ¡°The doll was made with the souls of children who died accidentally.¡± With that, I felt like I understood.


    "So why did Wu Ting make us come here?" I asked.


    Lulu disdainfully said, "She wants Wu Jian to die here in the same way as she did so they can be together. But it seems a little surprising."


    "Surprising?"


    I was about to ask more when I noticed that the sea had calmed down, appearing more like a lake. Wu Ting stood on the sea, a man standing next to her, rigid like wood. It was Wu Jian. However, across from Wu Ting, Yan''er stood angrily with the long-shirted person behind her.


    What is going on?


    Yan''er said hello to us, and then everything blurred in front of me. I found that Lulu and I had come stand on the blue sea next to Yan¡¯er.


    Yan''er said, "You think you are great? The long shirt person was looking for you, trying to prevent trouble coming to you, but you take advice like passing wind."


    Why was Yan''er suddenly so powerful and so caring? Her words impacted me.


    She continued to speak. "The long shirt person is under my leadership. If you don''t give him respect, you don¡¯t give me respect."


    Wu Ting slowly raised her wet head, showing a strange smile and simply speaking the words, "Ha ha."


    The fake laughter immediately infuriated Yan¡¯er. Her hair shot up in every direction and her eyes were suddenly entirely pure white. She looked horrific, without a touch of emotion.


    Yan''er''s right hand stretched forward, and her fingers suddenly opened. Wu Ting, standing opposite, looked as though she¡¯d been struck by lightning. She flew into the air and then fell into the sea with a loud noise.


    The fishy smell became stronger and stronger until it almost lent a thickness to the air that caused us to choke. As Wu Ting let out shrill cries, several water columns two meters in diameter shot through the air like two giant entangled pythons straight at Yan''er.


    I was suddenly frightened. The attack was so big that it was going to hit all of us, rather than just Yan''er.


    Suddenly there was a chill in the air. Lulu''s eyes had turned red and her pants seemed to be changing shape into a red skirt. Her hair danced, but her body showed no movement. A moment later, the water directly in front of us turned to mist.


    Yan''er flew forward, diving through the water columns and heading toward Wu Ting. The long shirt person had turned into a black shadow and followed behind Yan¡¯er.


    In response, Wu Ting clapped her hands, and several water columns immediately combined together. But Yan''er was already right in front of Wu Ting. She lifted her leg, revealing a pure white thigh under her cheongsam, and suddenly Wu Ting was flying through the air again.


    However, this time no one looked at Wu Ting. Instead, everyone looked at Yan''er¡¯s uncovered thigh. My eyes bulged, but a dark shadow quickly blocked my view and it appeared the long shirt person had gone in for a closer look.


    I saw Yan''er kick again, but this time it was the long shirt person flying through the air. Yan¡¯er glared after him as he fell into the sea.


    "What are you doing?" she said angrily.


    "I was trying to help you," the long shirt person explained as he looked at me and Huang Xiaolong. We both quickly turned our heads to look away from Yan¡¯er, whose anger had clearly shifted target.


    Yan''er helped the long shirt person up and asked, ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    He wiped the blood from his nose and said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fine.¡±


    Wu Ting issued a laugh and began to shake her head repeatedly. ¡°Why can you all be together, but I can¡¯t be with Wu Jian?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s together?¡± Lulu, Yan¡¯er and the long shirt person all asked in unison. However, it was painfully obvious that Yan¡¯er and the long shirt person¡¯s tone of voice was off. I turned to look at Lulu. Her eyes still looked red, but now so too did her face.


    Lulu looked back at me and shouted, "What are you looking at?" Then she immediately rushed at Wu Ting. Paired with Yan¡¯er, they were a powerful force that Wu Ting was no match for. As they fought, I thought about Lulu.


    She¡¯s always humming or ignoring me, but never yells at me like this. Is she interested in me? I shook my head hard, shivering, trying to get the idea out of my mind.


    Wu Ting¡¯s figure seemed to have become somewhat transparent. I knew that once she was completely transparent, her spirit would be gone from this world.


    "Thank you for coming to rescue me."


    I did not notice that Wu Jian had woken up. He was looking at Wu Ting, his eyes showing sadness.


    "Shit, when did you wake up?¡± Huang Xiaolong shrieked.


    "I just woke up, but I know everything that¡¯s been happening. Wu Ting tells me everything, just like before." Wu Jian''s eyes showed a trace of nostalgia.


    "Did you promise to be with her forever?" I asked.


    Wu Jian looked surprised for a moment, then he nodded. "Yes, I have promised. Let her go."


    I hesitated for a moment, then nodded and shouted, "Yan''er, Lulu, let her go."


    I didn¡¯t expect them to both shout at me at the same time.


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    I felt embarrassment flush over my face and looked over Wu Jian, but he was smiling, watching Wu Ting fight with Lulu and Yan''er. He said, "This is her fate. She has been controlled by the doll. Perhaps dying is also a relief."


    If it were not for the sadness in his eyes, I would have thought that he was just pretending. I would have assumed he¡¯d want to kill Wu Ting.


    I spoke again. "She said she wanted you to accompany her whether you like it or not. You give up saving her now whether she wants it or not. You two are very much alike. Is that right?"


    Wu Jian looked astonished and his facial expression seemed strange. "You might be right. Help me save her, okay?"


    I made a move, but then felt Huang Xiaolong pull on my arm and say, ¡°Look at me.¡±


    He quickly put his hands on his chest a few times, then clapped after each word as he shouted "Those who fight in the front were in front. Kill evil."


    I felt like a beast roars in my mind and saw Huang Xiaolong''s tattoo come to life then suddenly fly out, straight into the battle.


    The golden dragon was extremely fast. Yan''er and Lulu looked back and jumped out of the way. Wu Jian and I felt relief as the fighting ended.

 Chapter 94 The Previous Lover 18

    I looked at Wu Jian and muttered to Huang Xiaolong in a low voice, "Even if you hated Wu Ting trapping you, you didn''t have to be so ruthless.¡±


    The corner of Huang Xiaolong¡¯s mouth twitched a few times. He responded by raising his hand in front of his face and studying it intensely.


    Seeing his expression, I realized I¡¯d been mistaken. This child hadn¡¯t attacked Wu Ting out of resentment. He had simply been unable to control the power he¡¯d tried to use.


    Wu Ting was lying on the ground, unmoving. Her entire figure was extremely transparent and had begun to flicker. I could only make her out because the clothes she wore were once black. Otherwise, she would have been nearly invisible.


    Wu Jian knelt beside Wu Ting. He stretched out his hands but did not dare to touch her. Yan''er and Lulu stood nearby. They both wore strange expressions, possibly of regret.


    I pulled Huang Xiaolong along with me as I walked toward the others. As I approached, I heard Wu Jian recounting past memories to Wu Ting with tears flowing down his face. Wu Ting slowly opened her eyes, silently listening, and a few tears fell from her eyes as well. I didn¡¯t know whether it was an illusion, but it seemed as though the smell of the sea was becoming fainter.


    "Her anger is dissipating, and her soul has suffered a heavy blow. Once the anger completely dissipates, then..." Lulu¡¯s uncharacteristically gentle whisper trailed off.


    I looked at her face. Her eyes were still red, but rather than the bloodshot, angry red they¡¯d appeared to be before, they were now more like shining rubies.


    I nodded gently. Huang Xiaolong came forward, seeming unsure of what to do. In a choked voice he simply said, "I am sorry. I am."


    Wu Jian did not turn around. I knew that Wu Jian was not the kind of person to be angry with Huang Xiaolong. Rather, he did not want to tear his eyes away from Wu Ting for one second.


    Wu Ting¡¯s tears were now flowing continuously, and her body became even more transparent, but she wore a smile. It was the first time I¡¯d seen her smile and it was beautiful.


    Wu Jian was sobbing loudly and he had stopped speaking. He reached out a hand to hold Wu Ting¡¯s. She also stretched hers towards him, but before their fingers touched, her hand disappeared in mid-air.


    As Wu Ting¡¯s body vanished, we all heard one haunting sentence spoken in a weak voice floating through the air:


    "I¡¯ve loved you from a very young age, and my love will not end."


    "Did I do something wrong?" I turned around to see that Lulu looked like her usual self in her normal clothes. She was murmuring to herself.


    I didn''t know where my courage came from, but I put my hand gently around Lulu''s fragrant shoulders and said, "You didn¡¯t do anything wrong, but don''t kill people anymore.¡± I didn¡¯t say what I was thinking, that if Lulu had stopped when I told her to stop, maybe the tragedy would not have happened.


    Lulu quietly put her head gently against my chest, but both of us were too caught up in Wu Ting¡¯s final moment and words to think about the moment between us.


    Wu Jian slowly stood but seemed close to falling over. Huang Xiaolong rushed in to hold him up, and Wu Jian patted him on the shoulder.


    "What upsets me the most is not that Wu Ting had to go. It''s that doll. I''m going to kill it." Wu Jian''s words sounded fierce, but his tone was calm as though he were reciting facts.


    Huang Xiaolong and I nodded and said at the same time, "I¡¯ll help you."


    The three of us looked at each other and smiled. Wu Jian stretched out his hand, palm down. Huang Xiaolong followed suit and placed his hand over Wu Jian¡¯s. I also reached out my hand, but since my other hand was still holding Lulu, I couldn¡¯t reach far enough. At that moment, I realized what was going on.


    Uh, is this a hallucination?


    At that moment, Lulu raised her head, said simply, ¡°The matter is over. I¡¯ll leave now,¡± and disappeared in a flash. Before she disappeared, I swear I saw her cheeks flush.


    I dryly coughed and extended my hand to meet Huang Xiaolong¡¯s, but I could feel that the atmosphere had changed. Fortunately, no one found now an appropriate time to tease me.


    Xiao Lingdang left with Yan''er and Huang Xiaolong and I accompanied Wu Jian to drink wine until dawn. When I arrived home in the morning, I checked in with my mother who was already awake and then collapsed into my bed to fall into a deep sleep.


    I entered a strange dream. I saw Lulu wearing red wedding clothes, her face hidden by red fabric, as though she¡¯d just gotten married. Then I realized that I seemed to be the groom.

 Chapter 95 Move To The Ghost House 1

    The conditions were the same as before. I had to live in the Ghost House to prove that it was harmless, but the price was very cheap. Wu Jian was even willing to help me pay the price, which made me feel like this turn of events was somehow a miracle.


    After handling some paperwork, Wu Jian and I walked out of the government building.


    "It¡¯s three days until move-in and the building hasn¡¯t been decorated. How will you live?" Wu Jian frowned. He fought for a long time about the matter of my actually living in the building, but the local authorities were insistent that it was mandatory.


    I shrugged, happy about the purchase. "Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll just pick a room and live in it. If we don¡¯t live there to prove that it¡¯s safe, how will we convince any decorator to come in and help us?"


    Wu Jian nodded. "I¡¯ll help you."


    I shook my head and refused. Lately, Wu Jian was spending all of his time frantically investigating the life-seeking doll. He¡¯d lost weight just since we¡¯d last met. I didn''t want to add any other worries to his life. Plus, he¡¯d already found some clues to show that he was on the right track with his investigation. Several children who had been killed on that beach had been identified.


    I parted ways with Wu Jian, grabbed some things from home, then went to the Ghost House. My mother wasn¡¯t happy with this move, but she deferred to Witch Yan¡¯s opinion on the matter. After all, Witch Yan agreed that I should move into the building.


    When I arrived, I looked around the second floor and found a complete room with a bed. There were several pieces of broken furniture scattered throughout which I stacked up on one side of the room. Then I went to the other rooms to hunt for intact pieces to replace the broken items. Finally, my room was sorted.


    I shook my sore arms as I left my room. I was surprised to see the building all lit up, then shortly remembered that I¡¯d never been on the second floor while the Ghost House was in business.


    Do I really want to see what this looks like? I thought.


    Just as I finished my thought, a crisp voice spoke in my ear. ¡°Xiao Rui, thank you for helping me to clean the room.¡±


    I turned and saw a beautiful woman in a black cheongsam with golden peonies looking at me with a smile. I knew who this beautiful woman was, but I wasn¡¯t as familiar with her as Lulu was.


    "How are you, Sister Kiki? I recently bought the Ghost House and am moving in. Looks like we¡¯ll all be neighbors!¡± I smiled.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s all fine, but you can¡¯t live in my room. There would be such gossip!¡± Sister Kiki covered her mouth and giggled.


    "Anyway, you can''t stay in my room,¡± Sister Kiki said matter-of-factly before quickly leaving.


    Well, what do I do now? As I thought, I saw Yan¡¯er going downstairs. I rushed forward and asked her bluntly if I could live in her room. However, just then I saw the long shirt person looking at me with a gloomy face, and I rephrased my question to ask which room I could sleep in.


    Yan¡¯er seemed surprised, though mostly at my decision to buy the Ghost House. I told her that I felt a bit proud and also like I was in a dream.


    Yan¡¯er rolled her eyes then said, ¡°You can live inside the room on the right.¡± I nodded and thanked her, then realized I¡¯d have to come back tomorrow to sort the room out.


    The residents of the Ghost House soon spread the word that I¡¯d bought the building. They all came forward to congratulate me; some of them joked around with me, calling me the landlord and telling me they needed my help.


    I respond with a smile, saying, "Where? Where? Too many requests!"


    I moved to actually do my job when Sister Hua came down and fixed her calm gaze on me. I hurried to help carry water for tea.


    Tenants control everything. The landlord is useless, I thought. I realized how true this idea seemed when the idea of dinner came up. I was to pay the dinner bill not just for the usual group of ghost girls, but for many other residents as well. After all, as the residents said, if I could afford the Ghost House, surely I could also afford a meal? I agreed, they cheered, and I held back tears.


    It wasn¡¯t even 1 o¡¯clock when we arrived at the usual night market stall. I went up to the boss and joked, ¡°Boss Shi, are you still busy?¡± We¡¯d been here so many times that I knew the boss¡¯s schedule by now and he knew ours.


    When the boss saw me, he was stunned and asked, ¡°Come so early today?¡±


    I nodded. "Yes, today we¡¯re celebrating my move into the Ghost House. We¡¯ve got more people than usual." I¡¯d brought the subject up to see if the boss might give me a discount. After all, today we had a lot of ghosts and because we were celebrating, we would be eating a lot of food for a long time. I hoped that the boss would be kind and give me a discount for bringing such business to his stall.


    However, once I finished speaking, the boss quickly congratulated me and then immediately went to the two tables with other guests. I overheard him say in a serious tone, ¡°Sorry, my friend has been in an accident. I must go to the hospital immediately. No need to pay tonight.¡±


    My heart dropped. It seemed there would be no discount tonight if the boss was giving away free meals to clear the stall for my group. The people at one of the other tables looked at me with sympathetic eyes, clearly moved by the boss¡¯s mention of the hospital, and insisted on paying for their food. I crossed my fingers that the boss would feel a similar level of sympathy for me.


    The other table seemed to have drunk a little too much and had no intention of paying. The boss was just intent on getting them to put the alcohol down. However, before the boss could persuade them to leave, one of the Ghost House regulars rushed over and began playing with a small puzzle on the table.


    The ghost ended up doing the boss¡¯s work for him. After seeing the puzzle move, one of the drunk men peed his pants and they all quickly rushed out of the stall without paying. The rest of the ghosts took this as their cue to sit down and begin shouting orders at me. Each food order was like a stab in my heart.


    Watching the boss busy himself cooking our order, I turned to Sister Hua and asked, ¡°Sister Hua, didn¡¯t you say last time that you would bring the boss¡¯s relative to see him?¡±


    Sister Hua didn¡¯t answer until she finished sucking the meat off of her kebabs. She nodded and said, "Well, I¡¯ll see." Then she reached for another kebab on the table but realized the plates had been cleaned while I distracted her. She looked at me grumpily, then loudly shouted, ¡°I need more kebabs!¡±


    Another knife to the heart, I thought, clutching my chest.


    There was not a single empty table in the stall. Because we¡¯d arrived early, the usual late night crowd of people was still showing up, and the boss was waving them away with his hand saying that he was done serving food for the night. However, the tables were all covered with kebab sticks and chopsticks.


    Their hearts must be as broken as mine.

 Chapter 96 Move To The Ghost House 2

    At the front of the group was a huge, bald man with a remarkable amount of flesh on his face. He gave off the vibe that he wasn¡¯t a good person. At his side was one of the men who had been scared by the ghost playing with the table puzzle.


    "So tell Tiger, what are you afraid of at this¡­place?" The bald man, apparently named Tiger, clapped his hand down on the shoulder of the timid man as he looked around with a mildly disdainful expression. The man nodded several times but remained silent.


    Tiger let out a sigh, then slowly sauntered over to the boss of the stall. ¡°Well, Boss,¡± he said. ¡°I hear the establishment you¡¯re running here isn¡¯t exactly clean.¡± The disdainful expression reappeared on his face as he looked the boss up and down.


    The boss smiled pleasantly and shot a quick glance at me before saying, "What? I¡¯ve always taken sanitation very seriously."


    "Hey, no need to lie to me," Tiger smiled, patted the boss on the shoulder as he had with the timid man, then grabbed a long stick full of roasted meat and began to eat it in front of the boss.


    Xiao Lingdang was dissatisfied and cried, "Hey! That''s ours."


    Sister Hua¡¯s face had also gone dark. She looked at me and pointed to the bald man while saying, ¡°You, go.¡±


    I go? I thought, but I knew I was about to go. I could not handle being scolded, especially not by Sister Hua. I plucked up all the courage I could muster and then stood up, slowly approaching Tiger.


    I could tell as I approached him that he was puzzled by the scene. The night market stall was empty of guests, but empty kebab sticks and beer bottles were strewn about the tables, chairs and floor. It really looked like the boss was terrible at keeping his stall clean, and this disorder was no way to stay in business.


    As the only visible person present, when I stood up, I naturally attracted the attention of everyone who had just walked up. Even Tiger put down the new kebab he was chewing on to stare at me.


    To tell the truth, I had never been in a confrontation like this. My legs trembled, but I thought that at least Tiger seemed less frightening than Sister Hua. I stopped a few feet away from Tiger, then inadvertently coughed.


    Well, since he certainly won¡¯t be afraid of me, let¡¯s hope that he¡¯ll at least pity me¡­


    "You have a lot of guts." Tiger looked at me, squinting his eyes slightly. He stuck his tongue out and slowly licked his lips. He might have been trying to intimidate me, but this close to him, I thought he just looked silly¡­and quite oily.


    "Well, Tiger." I finally spoke and was pleased to find that my voice didn¡¯t sound as nervous as I thought it would.


    "Oh, you¡¯re going to call him Tiger?¡±


    "Call him Brother Tiger!"


    "No, call him Master!"


    I looked at them, trying to channel the same calmness that I had when speaking, then looked back to Tiger and waited.


    "Interesting. You, boy. You¡¯re going to confront me?¡± Tiger looked at me, laughed, then said, ¡°What exactly do you plan to do?¡±


    As soon as he was finished, I spoke up. ¡°Hey, I have a lot of people on my side.¡±


    Tiger burst out laughing in response, his thugs quickly following suit. ¡°Yes, I see that they¡¯ve all come to protect you!¡± He gestured to the tables that to him were empty.


    I smiled and nodded, then lightly said, ¡°I can see that you¡¯ve brought a lot of people with you, but in fact, I also have a lot of friends.¡± I sounded smug, and my attitude clearly surprised Tiger.


    The man looked confused, wondering where my boldness came from when I had no one by my side to protect me. I let him think for a moment before fiercely waving my hand. After my gesture, the look Tiger gave me switched from wariness to a disturbed expression, as though he had now decided that I was an idiot.


    I looked back after a moment of nothing happening to realize that none of the ghosts had been paying attention to our conversation. They were all in their own conversations, waiting for the boss to grill up more meat.


    So much for dramatic effect¡­


    "You''re bluffing." Tiger finally reacted, coming forward a few steps and looking like he was going to hit me in the face.


    I jumped back and yelled, ¡°If you don¡¯t come and help me, you¡¯ll never get this barbecue again!¡±


    Tiger was frightened by my shout, and I wondered what he was thinking. I was almost glad that he didn¡¯t know what was going on. It was embarrassing having to bait the ghosts to help me with barbecue.


    Luckily, my threat seemed to have worked. I saw that Tiger¡¯s eyes were looking over my shoulder and had begun to bulge. He looked sweatier than he had moments ago. It even appeared as though he¡¯d peed his pants.


    "So, believe that I have friends now?" I laughed at Tiger and casually looked over my shoulder.


    ¡°Agh!¡± Although Sister Hua and the other beautiful women looked the same as always, the other guests had really played their part. Some were carrying their heads, others were rotting, a few stuck their tongues out longer than I thought possible, and all of them looked very, very dead. My stomach rolled.


    I heard scrambling in front of me, and I turned to see Tiger and his men rushing towards the van. Before the door had even closed, the van roared to life and careened out of its parking spot, swaying left and right as if the driver was drunk.


    Unfortunately for one of his men, the swaying of the van had knocked him out onto the road and onto his head. He looked at us in horror with blood dripping down his face before running after the van, wailing.


    The ghosts, satisfied that their work had been completed, shouted for the boss to serve them. I realized that the boss had disappeared at some point, and when he reappeared, he avoided looking at any of the ghosts. Instead, he busied himself with cooking the meat as quickly as possible. Wise move.


    "Wu Rui, go get alcohol. Oh, I''m so tired! I¡¯m ready to relax," Sister Hua called loudly to the cheers of the other ghosts.


    I was unable to protest after the assistance the ghosts had provided me, so I simply avoided looking at their gruesome faces and went to go grab a few cases of beer. Tonight I¡¯d gotten off easy, and it wouldn¡¯t hurt to wash away our worries with a big, drunken party.


    Hours later, the ghosts were still going strong, and the boss had even had to leave to buy more food as the ghosts had already eaten everything at his stall. The ghosts called the boss over to drink with us. Everyone had realized the boss was a good man by this time, so Sister Hua used her tricks to make everyone visible to the boss.


    It was dawn when the ghosts finally left the stall to return home. I had remained sober, but the boss was still at the messy stall and was incredibly drunk. I wondered, if this boss was this drunk, who was I supposed to look for to settle the bill?


    Maybe I¡¯ll get lucky and not have to pay the total¡­


    Around that time, the boss¡¯s wife appeared after realizing the boss hadn¡¯t come home. She rushed into the stall, chastising the boss for how drunk he was. I felt slightly embarrassed but also slightly appreciative for the interruption. The boss waved me away and slurred out that I could settle the bill another day.

 Chapter 97 Move To The Ghost House 3

    When work ended, I went to the night market. I found Boss Shi at his stall looking worn down. When he saw me, he began calculating my total for the night before. When I told the boss the conditions of the ghosts, he began to pack up quickly. He¡¯d only opened for the evening out of fear that the ghosts would want to eat. If not for his fear of Sister Hua, I doubt he would have even gotten out of bed. However, it seemed that he overestimated their resilience.


    That night, I rested early, and in the morning I went to Yan¡¯er¡¯s room to prepare it. Today was the third day since I¡¯d bought the Ghost House, and it was time for me to live there to fulfill the agreement I had with the authorities.


    Moreover, since I¡¯d purchased the Ghost House, I was eager to give it a new reputation and get some decorators in to fix it up. Besides the inner d¨¦cor being extremely outdated, parts of the house were dilapidated to the point of being unsafe. It would be nice to give the house a fresh makeover.


    I left the house briefly to eat, and when I came back, the house was full of activity, as though all of the residents and guests were making up for their absence yesterday. I got to work serving guests, but as I went back and forth from the bar to their tables, I began thinking about Lulu. I¡¯d heard that her relatives were going to come by the house, which I¡¯d never heard of happening for any of the other ghosts.


    Truthfully, I was frightened by Lulu¡¯s attitude today. Rather than staying behind the bar, she was out walking around and talking to regulars. After the recent party, everyone¡¯s relationships seemed better and the guests and staff were all much more eager to chat. Still, it was strange seeing Lulu participate in the chatter.


    However, when I tried to join in on a conversation, Sister Hua quickly stopped me and made me stick to my work.


    No fair, I thought.


    One of the tables was full of ghosts who had drunk together at the barbecue stall. Their names were Mr. Zhang, Mr. Lee and Mr. Wang. They were all considered old ghosts, as the youngest had died nearly 60 years ago. While it was strange that they hadn¡¯t yet left the world, some ghosts really had no desire to give up worldly comforts to enter the cycle of reincarnation. I listened in on their conversation as I did my work.


    "The ground palace was so big that I got lost soon after I went in. I heard the experts say it was some kind of emperor¡¯s tomb? There were many good things there."


    "Does the emperor want to get to know people like that?¡±


    "I¡¯ve heard that when the emperor died, he was buried with his concubines, although I¡¯ve heard there weren¡¯t many of them¡­"


    I listened in on their conversation before I became too curious to stay quiet. ¡°Excuse me, gentlemen. Is the ground palace you¡¯re talking about the one that we found a while ago?¡±


    The three men nodded in response.


    The three ghosts quickly nodded. I remembered that it had been on Mr. Jiang¡¯s land, but we¡¯d met troubles soon after and then forgot about the palace altogether. I wanted to talk to the ghosts more about what they¡¯d seen and heard when I suddenly felt like I had eyes on the back of my neck. I turned around and saw Xiao Lingdang staring at me intently.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Xiao Lingdang?¡±


    She quietly hissed through her teeth, ¡°You should be working.¡±


    I figured she was repeating orders from Sister Hua, but when I followed her eyes to the other side of the room, I only saw Lulu looking at me, wearing an incredibly cold expression. I quickly said goodbye to the three ghosts and then approached Lulu.


    As I walked, I whispered to Xiao Lingdang, "What''s wrong with Lulu?"


    Xiao Lingdang seemed stunned for a moment, and said, "You don''t know? You¡¯re hopeless." Then she shook her head and walked away.


    Ever since I found her skin, she¡¯s become more and more unlikable¡­


    I put on a warm smile as I greeted Lulu and got her typical cold ¡°hum¡± in response. I looked at the bar and realized there were no plates or drinks to deliver. I turned back to Lulu and said, ¡°Well, what did you need me to do?¡±


    Lulu looked at me disdainfully, then handed me a small cup. ¡°There are so many people here. Congratulations on moving into this house the day before yesterday. Why don¡¯t you toast everyone to thank them for their business?¡±


    As soon as I heard her words, my hands started shaking, because Lulu seemed very abnormal. I¡¯d just drunk with everyone the night before yesterday. Surely I didn¡¯t need to toast them again today. What was wrong with Lulu?


    Truthfully, since the events with Wu Ting and Wu Jian, Lulu hadn¡¯t seemed like her normal self. However, today she was particularly strange.


    I put the cup on the bar, then carefully said, ¡°We¡¯ve all already drunk together to celebrate. Surely it would be strange to thank everyone again.¡±


    Lulu hummed again, opened her mouth as though she was going to speak, and then simply straightened the cup that I¡¯d set on the bar.


    I said abruptly, ¡°Lulu, if you have anything you need me to do, please tell me.¡± Her eyes fluttered to the glass, and I continued, ¡°I really don¡¯t think another toast is necessary. What did you really want to tell me?¡±


    Lulu hummed yet again, then finally spoke while looking at the glass. ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to live in that room.¡±


    I was stunned, then realized that there¡¯d been a mistake. The room Yan¡¯er had given me was supposed to go to Lulu. No wonder she¡¯d been so strange today. Although she always wore a cold face, I knew that she felt deeper emotions that she was simply incapable of expressing. I must have upset her deeply for her to actually speak up about this issue. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do to fix it that night.


    "Lulu, I''ll just stay there one night because of the deadline, then tomorrow I''ll clean out another room to stay in. How about that?"


    Lulu immediately frowned and shouted, "No way!¡±


    The shout startled me, and I saw Lulu¡¯s face flush a little. I looked around, and some of the guests were staring at me and Lulu. I couldn¡¯t help blushing myself. Although none of the guests knew what we¡¯d been discussing, I felt a little embarrassed, as though they heard me insisting on sleeping in Lulu¡¯s room.

 Chapter 98 Move To The Ghost House 4

    I felt like I¡¯d been insulted for some reason, and also like I should have needed to do more than accept a room from Yan¡¯er to get Lulu to stare at me like that. Regardless, I got the answer I¡¯d been looking for.


    Guess I¡¯m cleaning out another room. Again.


    However, I felt a little nervous. I¡¯d never dared to go to the third floor. Besides, there weren¡¯t even stairs to get up there. And Lulu had said I couldn¡¯t stay on the second floor where many of the people I knew slept. The room in the back of the house was out since I knew someone had taken that one as well.


    So where can I stay? The hallway? I looked at the size of the hallway and the amount of debris that had collected along the wall. Even if I spend ten days cleaning it, I doubted I¡¯d ever get it clean enough to sleep here, even if I had wanted to sleep in a hallway.


    Looking at Lulu¡¯s back, I almost wanted to cry. This is my house now! Now I understand Xiahui Liu a little better. How could anyone deal with this?


    I turned around and went to find Sister Hua. However, when I asked her, she simply giggled and told me to find myself a beautiful woman who I could stay with. I felt my heart jump a little when she said that. Truthfully, the Ghost House was full of beautiful women. I was probably the ugliest creature in this place other than Xiao Pang, although even Xiao Pang had a certain cuteness.


    I went back to the bar, and Lulu immediately said, ¡°So, where did Sister Hua tell you to live?¡±


    I looked at her cold face and said, ¡°She told me to find a woman to stay with.¡±


    Lulu let out a cry of dissatisfaction.


    It seems I can¡¯t do anything quite right today. Deciding to goad Lulu a little bit more, I said, ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a blind cat around here who will take in a dead rat like me?¡±


    Lulu¡¯s face went red, and she whipped towards me shouting, ¡°Get out of here! Go work!¡±


    I angrily thought to myself, Well, Lulu. You¡¯re the one who kicked me out of my room. I¡¯ll just sleep there anyway. I¡¯ll sleep in the nude, and then let¡¯s see who frightens who out of the room. Of course, I¡¯d never dare to say such a thing to Lulu. Truthfully, I worried that she¡¯d castrate me.


    As I walked away, Mr. Li called me over to chat. We had a few glasses of alcohol when Mr. Li invited me to eat dinner with him. I accepted the invite cheerfully, but quickly realized it was just an excuse to have a repeat performance of the other night. Boss Shi was going to love me.


    I¡¯ll show her. I¡¯ll scare her by taking off my pants! Why am I so afraid of her? I thought drunkenly as I stumbled to my new home. I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the thought of Lulu being afraid of me. My laughter stopped when I entered the house and thought about the matter of ascending the stairs and finding my new bed. How am I going to get to sleep? Where¡¯s my room? Oh, boy.


    I must have figured it out somehow, because I woke up the next morning in a bed with a splitting headache. I tried to sit up several times before resigning myself to staying in bed with my eyes pressed shut. After a while, I felt like I¡¯d recovered a bit of strength, and I looked at the time. It was still early enough that I could go back to sleep, but I was eager to eat. I stumbled out onto the street and soon realized that the pedestrians nearby were whispering about the house.


    ¡°It used to be a whorehouse, you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard. And isn¡¯t that man¡­¡±


    My head hurt too much to listen to the chatter on the street. I rushed to a breakfast stall to grab food, then hurried back to my old home to slide into a warm bath. After soaking for what felt like hours, I prepared myself to return to the Ghost House and sort things out for the third day this week.


    When I entered, I immediately attracted the attention of everyone nearby. Everyone smiled at me, but they all looked like they were hiding something, and I heard whispers throughout the room.


    What are they hiding? Do they think I can¡¯t see past their cheesy, toothy smiles? Is there something on my face? I looked down at my body but didn¡¯t see anything amiss. I started to grow concerned.


    Xiao Lingdang shyly walked up to me and then suddenly burst into laughter. She laughed until she was out of breath, and several of the guests behind her were doubled over as well. Eventually, she said, ¡°Brother, you gave¡­. You did¡­ Brother, you were¡­¡± before dissolving into laughter again.


    Yan¡¯er came over and gently pulled Xiao Lingdang to one side while whispering something to her. It sounded like she said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. He¡­¡± and then she began laughing as well.


    Oh, my god. They¡¯re all insane. What did I do? My emotions must have registered on my face because now even more people were laughing.


    I looked around and realized Lulu wasn¡¯t among the crowd. I decided to go to the bar to ask her why everyone had gone mad, but when I arrived, I didn¡¯t see her anywhere. While I stood there, puzzled, Lulu shot up from behind the bar with something in her hand.


    Oh, there she is!


    As soon as she saw me, Lulu¡¯s face turned so deeply red that I thought of a red wedding dress. The things in her hands clattered to the floor, her eyelids trembled, and her mouth gaped open.


    Well, that¡¯s dramatic, I thought. Her reaction seemed so different than the others¡¯ that I grew even more concerned. I slowly asked, ¡°Lulu, what are they laughing at?¡±


    The red color crept from her cheeks down her neck, and she slowly sank to the floor behind the bar. I craned my neck to look over the bar top and said curiously, ¡°Lulu, what¡¯s wrong with you? Have you all gone nuts?¡±


    ¡°You gave Lulu a peek yesterday, and now you¡¯re trying to get something in return?¡± The teasing voice of Sister Hua drifted from behind me. I turned around to see the corners of her mouth tugging upward and her eyes dancing with laughter.


    I gave Lulu a peek? At what? And now I want to see Lulu¡¯s? What is¡ªoh, no. No, no. I looked at Sister Hua doubtfully and carefully asked, ¡°Sister Hua, what did I show Lulu?¡±


    Sister Hua¡¯s giggles finally erupted. Once she calmed down, she said, ¡°What did you show her? Your big thing, of course!¡± Her eyes pointed at my crotch and she covered her laughing mouth with her hand before walking away.


    Memories from the night before flooded back. Oh, god. What did I do? Oh, this is not good.


    I didn¡¯t have the courage to look behind the bar again to see Lulu¡¯s reaction. Frankly, it was a miracle that she hadn¡¯t killed me in my sleep. I rushed away from the bar and found Sister Hua.


    I walked up to Sister Hua who was still giggling softly and said, ¡°Sister Hua, I¡¯d like to ask permission for time off today. Actually, today and tomorrow. You know, better make it today and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.¡± My cheeks felt like they were on fire. How many days do I need for the ghosts here to forget what happened?


    Sister Hua looked at me and firmly stated, ¡°No. You can¡¯t run away after doing bad things.¡±

 Chapter 99 Move To The Ghost House 5

    Many guests walked by while I lingered in the doorway. Several said hello to me, but many of them began whispering as soon as they were a few paces away. It seemed I was the talk of the building. I¡¯d even heard some guests speculating on whether I¡¯d switched from being a waiter to a pimp. After all, whenever they saw me at the hotel, I was always in the bar.


    Unfortunately, I knew I eventually had to go in and do my job. I walked slowly, taking my time with each footstep. However, I soon found myself in front of the bar top. Luckily for me, Lulu seemed to have run off somewhere.


    I found two trays on the bar with notes indicating which tables they should go to. I quickly busied myself taking the trays to the guests, and soon I felt like nothing between me and Lulu had happened at all. Whenever I left the bar with a tray, Lulu would prepare the next ones in advance, and it seemed like every time I approached the bar, she was crouching down to find something or working off to the side. I was grateful that we were able to get our work done without discussing the event. After all, I had no idea how to even broach the topic.


    However, after some time had passed, I began worrying about where I¡¯d sleep that night.


    Should I go to Lulu¡¯s room? Oh, my god. No. I can¡¯t go back there. It would be too embarrassing. But my keys and toiletries are still in her room. I¡¯ll just go buy a new toothbrush. No, it¡¯s too late. Everywhere¡¯s closed. It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll just brush my teeth another day. But my keys¡­


    By the end of the day, I¡¯d decided that I had to talk to Lulu, and I steadied myself to approach her. However, as I walked to find her, I heard someone laughing with her. The voice was so loud that I was sure everyone in the building could hear it. I turned the corner and saw a beautiful woman teasing Lulu.


    "Lulu, is Wu Rui still staying with you tonight?"


    I heard Lulu sputter and then say something in a low, angry voice, her face flushing. The beautiful woman giggled and immediately ran to the second floor as Lulu chased after her.


    Well, that¡¯s that. Time to find somewhere else to live.


    However, as soon as I stepped on the first stair, Sister Hua called out to me from the second floor. I looked up to see her leaning over the railing. Once I looked up, she smiled and said, ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡±


    My cheeks flushed instantly. I began to stammer when Sister Hua cried out, ¡°Lulu, Wu Rui is coming up!¡±


    Suddenly, the railing was lined with the female ghosts of the house laughing and pushing each other while pointing at me. Some were cheering me on while others hid enormous smiles behind their hands.


    ¡°Wu Rui, go!¡±


    ¡°We support you!¡±


    ¡°Go get your girl!¡±


    ¡°You showed Lulu yours yesterday! Go see hers today!¡± The girl who said this sentence was immediately whacked over the head by several of the other girls.


    I didn¡¯t know if it was my imagination, but I thought I saw someone watching the scene from the third-floor railing.


    I stayed on the first step for a while, embarrassed. At that moment, I realized I could have called Wu Jian or gone to a hotel. In fact, it might have been a better idea to sleep on the street than endure this humiliation.


    "Well, well, that''s enough," a cold voice said humorlessly. I looked up to see Lulu, her face redder than mine felt. Immediately, the other girls began cackling louder than before and amp up their teasing. I heard a few girls call me her lover and ask when we were getting married.


    Oh, my god. Lulu, why didn¡¯t you just stay in your room? If you hadn¡¯t come out, this could¡¯ve been finished in private.


    Lulu had clearly had enough of the teasing and with her face screwed up in anger shouted, "Wu Rui, come up and stay with me."


    The girls were beside themselves, falling all over each other and shouting as loudly as a thunderstorm. Over the chaos, I shouted up to Lulu, ¡°No, no. It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll find a chair in the street to sleep in.¡±


    Suddenly, the flush on Lulu¡¯s face disappeared and her skin resumed its usual cold whiteness. A moment later, I felt my own face do the same.


    Did I just tell Lulu that I¡¯d rather sleep in the street than be around her? Oh, no. This isn¡¯t good.


    The other girls had grown quiet and they looked at me with mean expressions as though they wanted to destroy me.


    I coughed and quickly said, ¡°I¡¯m just joking. Your bed is much more comfortable.¡±


    Lulu¡¯s cheeks went red again as the girls all cried in unison, ¡°Oooo¡­.¡±


    Could I ever say the right thing?


    I sighed and began to walk up the stairs. The girls counted off as I ascended: ¡°One step, two steps, three steps, ah!¡±


    I seemed to have forgotten how to walk. After three steps, I¡¯d put one foot in front of the other and nearly tripped over myself. All of the girls began laughing. Even Lulu could not help but smile.


    Sister Hua, you¡¯re the boss here. What are you doing letting them laugh like this? They¡¯ll disturb the guests, I thought bitterly.


    It took me nearly ten minutes to climb to the second floor. By the time I arrived, I was covered in sweat as though I¡¯d just emerged from a shower. The girls stood on either side of the railing, welcoming me to their floor. As for Lulu, she turned and went into her room the moment I arrived.


    I approached the entrance to her room with difficulty. When I was nearly there, Sister Hua clapped me on the shoulder and said, ¡°Work hard. You see, Lulu¡¯s gone ahead to prepare for your arrival.¡±


    ¡°Sister Hua!¡± Lulu shrieked from inside the room.


    The girls dissolved into laughter again as they floated back to their rooms leaving me alone in the hallway. I stood shyly in front of the door to Lulu¡¯s room.


    At that moment, I suddenly remembered the dream I¡¯d had of being Lulu¡¯s groom. I felt my heartbeat grow stronger and faster.


    Lulu¡¯s door was open, but a beaded curtain hung down from the ceiling, obscuring my view of what was going on inside. I stood in the doorway, thinking about what to say to Lulu. I opened my mouth but nothing came out.


    ¡°A half hour during a spring night is worth a thousand gold coins! Every minute of a wedding night is precious! Hurry up!¡± Sister Voice cried from down the hall.


    What is she doing? She can¡¯t even see me right now! I thought exasperatedly.


    Suddenly, I felt a swift kick on my behind shove me forward into the room. As I stumbled forward, I heard laughter in the hallway.

 Chapter 100 Move To The Ghost House 6

    ¡°Fuck!¡± I shouted, rubbing my throbbing forehead. Several girls along the hallway peeked out of their rooms, saw me lying in pain on the floor, and shook their heads before shutting their doors.


    I struggled up and knocked quietly. ¡°Lulu, look. Can I sleep on the floor? If not, I¡¯ll take the key and go outside.¡±


    As soon as I finished, I crossed my fingers, hoping that Lulu wouldn¡¯t take this as an insult as well.


    ¡°Come in,¡± she said in a flat voice from the other side of the closed door.


    I hesitated, then opened the door and walked in. I pushed past the hanging curtain and waited.


    Lulu was sitting down watching me and she gestured for me to sit on the bench at the end of the bed. I dared not go near the bed, so I pulled out a stool from beside the dresser and sat across from Lulu.


    She kept looking at me, her eyes following my movements. One I sat down, she made eye contact with me. Although her face didn¡¯t have its usual coldness, her expression creeped me out all the same.


    I was about to open my mouth when Lulu suddenly asked, ¡°Are you afraid of me?¡±


    I immediately nodded without thinking, then quickly shook my head. ¡°Actually, no. I know you¡¯re cold on the surface, but your heart is warm. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have helped me deal with Wu Ting.¡±


    When I mentioned Wu Ting, Lulu¡¯s face grew gloomy. After a few minutes, she said in a low voice, ¡°Do you think we did something wrong?¡±


    Lulu''s question surprised me. Did we do anything wrong? Wu Jian had said he would accompany Wu Ting for life. I thought that perhaps in Wu Ting¡¯s eyes, Wu Jian had fulfilled his promise, albeit in an unexpected way. After all, she was a ghost, and according to ghosts, death is not the end of life. People and ghosts just exist in different ways.


    Strange, when did I start thinking about things from a ghost¡¯s perspective?


    Seeing that I had not spoken for a long time, Lulu sighed with a faint tone and asked again, "Do you think we did something wrong?"


    I shook my head and said, "I don''t know. I think she was in the wrong, because she wanted to hurt people. But I also think that Wu Jian was right in wanting to be with her." I felt a little confused.


    Lulu suddenly smiled and wistfully said, ¡°Do you suppose¡ªand I mean suppose¡ªthat if Wu Jian and Wu Ting got together, they would be happy?¡±


    I was stunned. Lulu¡¯s questions today were very strange and emotional. Besides, so long had passed since those events. Why was she just talking about it today? Then I realized that this was the first time we¡¯d been alone to talk since that day.


    "I don''t know," I said simply.


    Ah, I didn¡¯t even think about that. I¡¯d just been considering whether it would be appropriate for the two of them to be together if Wu Ting were to kill Wu Jian, but I didn¡¯t share that thought with Lulu.


    We both were silent for a while until Lulu asked, ¡°How do you view the Ghost House?¡±


    What¡¯s wrong with you today, Lulu? You¡¯re jumping all over the place.


    I felt confused by Lulu¡¯s choice of topics today and wasn¡¯t really sure how to answer any of them. I opened my mouth but didn¡¯t speak. After hesitating for a long time, I finally said, ¡°There are good and bad people in any place, including in a house full of ghosts.¡±


    My answer sounded a bit impersonal, but it seemed like the best answer to me.


    Lulu nodded and then asked, "Well, do you think we¡¯re good or bad?"


    I was stunned for a moment, then replied, "You¡¯re all good guys, I think. You may be dead, but you¡¯re still good people."


    "But we¡¯ve killed a lot of people."


    "Ah." I suddenly understood what Lulu meant. The residents of the Ghost House had killed many people over the years. I¡¯d already seen two people killed as well as a cat.


    Lulu fixed her eyes on me and seemed to be waiting for an answer. I was at a loss again. Finally, I said, "Well, just don¡¯t kill people again in the future. Now that I¡¯ve bought this place, I¡¯ll do my best to secure it from anyone breaking in or causing trouble."


    Lulu smiled and said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    I looked at her unbelievingly. She agreed to something I said so easily?


    Lulu continued to smile and said, ¡°I said okay.¡±


    I nodded then asked, "So why are you asking these questions?" My heart felt a little strange. Usually, the extent of my conversations with Lulu was small talk. We¡¯d never dove into such personal or deep topics before.


    Lulu¡¯s eyes dodged mine and she hesitatingly said, ¡°Um.¡± After a few seconds, she said, ¡°Nevermind. I just wanted to ask them.¡±


    She seemed unwilling to elaborate, so I dropped the subject.


    After a bit more silence, Lulu suddenly began to laugh.


    I looked at her in surprise and asked, ¡°What are you laughing at?¡±


    "Nothing, nothing." Despite denying that she was laughing at anything, she began laughing more intensely. It was the first time I had seen Lulu smile like this, and she looked a thousand times more beautiful than I¡¯d ever seen her look.


    Seeing me look at her so intently, Lulu''s face flushed a little and she shyly asked, ¡°Why are you looking at me?¡±


    "Ah, oh." I quickly turned away. In response, Lulu let out a laugh that tinkled like a silver bell.


    I suddenly realized that I didn¡¯t know much about Lulu¡¯s past. I had no idea why she hadn¡¯t crossed over yet, or why she always wore a cold expression, or what was making her so happy now.


    "What are you thinking?" Lulu had stopped laughing and was looking at me curiously.


    "How did you die?" I answered her without thinking, and then quickly looked at her once I realized what I said. The warmth on her face was disappearing and I saw her characteristic glower. I said, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to tell me, it¡¯s fine. We don¡¯t have to talk about this.¡±


    ¡°But you asked,¡± she said simply. There was a hint of anger in her words. ¡°Why did you ask?¡±


    "I¡­I want to know you better." I was a little frightened by Lulu''s sudden shift in mood and stuttered as a result.


    Suddenly Lulu¡¯s face changed again. She smiled, but it looked strange. In a weird voice, she said, ¡°You want to know me?¡±


    I firmly nodded, but inside I still felt nervous.

 Chapter 101 Loving You For Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 1

    Lulu¡¯s name was Jiaolu and her family name was Yu. She was the only daughter of a local landowner. Although the family was not very rich, it was one of the best in this small county.


    Besides having a good family, Lulu was also very beautiful, so naturally, many people wanted to marry her. Back then, the matchmaker in town walked the path from the road to Lulu¡¯s front door with great frequency, but eventually, Lulu fell in love with a servant. Her aging parents tried to persuade her to reconsider one of the better matches in town, but Lulu¡¯s mind had been made up. In the end, her parents realized that all they could do was delay the marriage, so they gave the servant a sum of money and promised Lulu¡¯s hand to him if he could double the sum within a year.


    Her parents¡¯ intention was simple. On one hand, they wanted to buy time. On the other, they wanted to test the man¡¯s character. The money they offered him was not a small amount. A man with lesser values might leave with the money and never be seen again.


    As for the servant, while everyone envied his relationship with Lulu, they also looked down on him.


    His name was Huang Shuai, and his father had been a sharecropper for the Yu family. He helped his father with his work until Mr. Yu saw him and thought him hard-working and talented. Afterward, Mr. Yu paid Huang Shuai¡¯s father a small sum to let his son shadow an accountant and learn accounting skills.


    Not long after Huang Shuai had begun to study accounting, he discovered the underground gambling market and got involved as a way to make quick money. When the gambling stalls were raided by the police, he was arrested together with the gamblers. His father pleaded to Mr. Yu to save his son, and Mr. Yu came forward to protect Huang Shuai.


    However, after that day, he was unwilling to let Huang Shuai study in the accounting room anymore. Huang Shuai deeply regretted what he¡¯d done, and he worked hard on the farm with his father until Mr. Yu trusted him again. Eventually, Huang Shuai came to know the other members of Mr. Yu¡¯s family.


    During this time, Huang Shuai also met a few men who he became fast friends with. Mr. Yu was displeased by these relationships, as he¡¯d heard many stories about this particular group of men and their poor ethics. Although Huang Shuai did his work well and hadn¡¯t made any mistakes since the gambling incident, Mr. Yu was nervous about trusting him in light of these events.


    Although he¡¯d agreed to allow the marriage to happen, Mr. Yu was glad for the excuse to delay it yet again. At that time, Lulu was only 15 years old, and he was unwilling to let her go yet.


    Huang Shuai spent the period of filial piety helping Mr. Yu grow his business. He demonstrated that he really had talent and a knack for earning money. Mr. Yu had suspicions that Huang Shuai was doing something wrong, but he never found proof of any wrongdoing. The company affairs all seemed to be in order and the numbers were all accurate.


    Nearly two years had passed and the wedding date was approaching when Huang Shuai approached Mr. Yu about a business opportunity. He wanted to go out to handle some business that would earn him money for the wedding and Mr. Yu naturally allowed him to go. Before he left, Huang Shuai drank with Mr. Yu freely at a practice banquet for the wedding. By this time, their relationship was almost like that of father and son.


    However, less than a month later, Mr. Yu received terrible news. The Yu family grave had been ransacked by grave thieves. The ancestral grave was not easy to find, so it was a shock to hear this news. In order to prevent thieves from stealing the family fortune, the Yu ancestors had found a hidden place in the mountains to bury the deceased. The location was only passed down to Yu family members and no one was allowed to go there to worship.


    Mr. Yu himself had only been to the site once, many years before, when his father died. He imagined that even he would be unable to find the site without assistance. At this time, a servant girl met with Mr. Yu privately and told him that in the


    At this time, a servant girl told Master Yu that at the practice banquet, Huang Shuai had been asking around for information about the ancestral grave site. Mr. Yu felt that there could be truth in what the servant girl said. When Huang Shuai returned, Mr. Yu tested him to see if he would reveal anything, but on the surface, everything appeared to be fine.


    The wedding grew closer. Huang Shuai had earned a great sum of money to give as the bride price and although the atmosphere was joyous, Mr. Yu felt troubled. The servant girl¡¯s words were like a thorn stuck in his heart, preventing him from celebrating his daughter¡¯s upcoming union.


    Around this time, Huang Shuai came across a big secret. One of his friends from the group that Mr. Yu distrusted had found a map that was said to lead to a huge amount of treasure somewhere in the county. However, because it was difficult to reach the location, Huang Shuai decided to get assistance from Mr. Yu.


    Before approaching Mr. Yu, Huang Shuai removed a piece of information from the documents and then he sought the man¡¯s help. Mr. Yu agreed to travel with the younger man to the location on the map and there they found a huge underground palace. However, Mr. Yu realized that the palace itself was actually a mausoleum.


    Mr. Yu, who had just recently experienced the ransacking of his ancestral grave, was unwilling to take anything from this mausoleum. Not only was he not prepared to take anything himself, but he also reprimanded Huang Shuai hard for thinking of taking anything from this place. Huang Shuai accepted his words with an open mind and the two men ordered the palace to be sealed again.


    As a result of this interaction, Mr. Yu felt that he¡¯d had the wrong impression of Huang Shuai, and he happily joined the others in preparing and decorating for the big day.


    However, at the wedding banquet, something terrible happened. Before the family had finished worshipping, a group of officers rushed in. They took hold of Mr. Yu, accused him of being a grave robber, and then, without saying anything else, dragged him from the banquet.


    Lulu began sobbing and nearly fainted on the spot, but Huang Shuai remained calm, telling his new bride that they could sell all of the property to earn money with which to bribe the officers. Lulu, not older than 18 at the time and freshly married, was very na?ve. As a result, she naturally believed her new husband and agreed to go along with his plan.


    Unfortunately for Lulu, Huang Shuai disappeared that day. Moreover, the government found several items that had been taken from the tombs hidden in the Yu house, which confirmed for them that Mr. Yu was indeed the thief. Before Lulu was able to try anything to get her father out of jail, he was killed in prison.

 Chapter 102 Loving You For Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 2

    She loudly complained of injustice, since she knew her father was innocent, and as a result, she was beaten within an inch of her life.


    After that incident, her best friend, with whom she had been staying and who had been embarrassed by the scandal, politely asked Lulu to leave her home. At that time, Lulu thought often about death before she eventually began to think about revenge. She decided to disguise herself as a beggar and wander the streets to see if she could learn more information about the grave robbers and avenge her father¡¯s death.


    During one of her outings, Lulu saw Huang Shuai outside the door of a wealthy family. Through asking around town, Lulu learned that Huang Shuai was about to become the wealthy family¡¯s son-in-law. At first, Lulu planned to expose Huang Shuai immediately, but thinking about her last experience with the man, she calmed down and formulated a more rational plan. She began to monitor Huang Shuai, secretly collecting evidence against him.


    Slowly, Huang Shuai''s behavior became clear to Lulu. The friends he¡¯d made all those years ago were grave thieves. When he wasn¡¯t running around with them robbing graves, Huang Shuai was busy defrauding the women of rich families everywhere. With all of the money he collected from his various endeavors, Huang Shuai was able to build a very good reputation for himself. Many people believed him to be a business genius.


    It took months for Lulu to feel that she had collected enough material to make a case against Huang Shuai. At that time, she filed a complaint against him and several of the grave robbers. To her surprise, the county magistrate looked at her documents then sent her straight to jail. The first person to visit her was Huang Shuai. He was also the last.


    That night, Lulu, like her father, was killed in prison.


    As Lulu told me her story, her expression remained flat, but her hand that rested on her thigh trembled a little.


    I did not know how to comfort her. I reached out my hand and patted her on her shoulder lightly. In response, Lulu suddenly jumped into my arms, her head on my chest. I felt a cold spot on my chest and realized that Lulu was crying.


    I caressed her back and stayed silent. Lulu was not as cold nor as strong as she usually was. For now, I decided to let her cry as long as she needed to.


    "Do you know why I was able to obtain the consent of the earth and to remain here for revenge?" Lulu asked me.


    I shook my head. Lulu smiled and uttered words that made me feel as though my organs were liquefying.


    "Huang Shuai said that I would never walk the earth again. So his friends brought my body here, the Fan Building, and buried me under the toilet. They thought that by burying me in such a dirty place, they could drive my ghost away. Have you heard that women¡¯s menstruation can do that?" Lulu''s eyes were red but opened wide. She was obviously trying to keep her composure but struggling.


    I¡¯d read in novels that women¡¯s period blood could drive away ghosts. Whether that was true or not, I wasn¡¯t sure. However, the idea of a beautiful young girl being buried under a toilet was horrible, and I didn¡¯t want to think much about the event.


    Lulu took a deep breath and said, "You know what? The ground palace came to me on their own initiative and agreed that I should be avenged. They were afraid of me but also know that wronged souls can only harm their enemies and thought I deserved a chance before I moved on."


    The last few words Lulu spoke slowly and forcefully.


    "But you didn''t get revenge?" I asked curiously. Xiao Lingdang had said that once wronged souls had avenged themselves, they would immediately leave the earth. Since Lulu was still here, it was obvious she hadn¡¯t been able to take her revenge.


    There was a strange glimmer in Lulu''s eyes as she said, "No, he finally went into the underground palace with his friends, so I couldn''t find him."


    The underground palace¡­ is that the legendary emperor¡¯s mausoleum on Jiang San¡¯s land again?


    I asked Lulu, and she confirmed my thoughts. Wu Jian had also said that the seeking-life doll had gone into the palace, and now it turned out that Huang Shuai had gone there too. Was the palace some kind of bad guy nest?


    "I¡¯ll help you," I said to Lulu. I already had to go to the palace to help Wu Jian anyway.


    Lulu was stunned, but she smiled and shook her head. I didn''t understand her reaction and she didn¡¯t seem eager to explain it, so we both fell silent.


    It was very late by that time and I let out a deep yawn. Lulu looked at me like she was about to speak. I waited in anticipation, but she just continued to stare at me.


    I was so sleepy that my eyes shut of their own accord, then I almost fell forward and onto the ground. Fortunately, the sensation of falling woke me up and I quickly sat up straight. I caught sight of Lulu¡¯s hand reaching out to catch me before she quickly pulled it back.


    Lulu, whose eyes were reddish, continued to look at me, then she said in a low voice, ¡°Because I loved him?¡±


    "What?" I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d heard her correctly and wasn¡¯t sure what she meant.


    Lulu, biting her lips, said after a long time, "I loved him, but it was because I didn¡¯t understand. Once, showing off my ability, I was able to sleep in the accountant. When I woke up, he was next to me, and he told me that I had slept with him. Since I had done that, I was his woman. I just...I didn''t do anything with him."


    Lulu looked at me, her eyes pleading. I could not understand what she meant or what she wanted.


    She smiled mournfully, shook her head and said, "I shouldn''t have asked for anything. I have sworn it, that I would like him to pierce my heart with the love of the ten generations. I swore that. I should not have asked for it. I should not."


    I reached out and laid my hand gently on Lulu''s shoulder, asking with concern, "Lulu, are you all right?"

 Chapter 103 Loving You For Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 3

    All of a sudden, I stood up and declared, ¡°I¡¯ll go find Sister Hua.¡± I figured she might be able to handle the situation better than I was. As I moved to leave the room, Lulu grabbed onto me and held me.


    I watched her face grow redder and redder before she spit out a single word as quiet and high-pitched as the whine of a mosquito: ¡°No.¡±


    I nodded, but Lulu didn¡¯t let go. I didn¡¯t want to pry her off of me, so the two of us stood like this for a while.


    Eventually, Lulu spoke again. She said in an angry voice, ¡°I¡¯ll take my revenge. As soon as I avenge myself, I¡¯ll leave this place.¡±


    I continue to nod. I hoped that Lulu would be able to take her revenge, but I worried that Huang Shuai might be dead by now.


    Lulu spoke again. "So--so..." she stuttered as her voice dropped lower and lower.


    "What?" I was curious about what she was going to say.


    "So, you¡¯re a big fool," Lulu declared angrily.


    "Huh?" Why is she suddenly scolding me? Did I do something wrong?


    Lulu looked at me with a puzzling expression, a mixture of anger and humor, and gave me a push. "Get out, I''m going to sleep."


    "Wait, where am I sleeping?" I blurted out.


    Lulu''s blushed even more and she said, "I don''t care where you sleep. Just get out. Get out!"


    She pushed me out of the room, and before I could speak, she slammed the door with a huge amount of force.


    I knocked on the door. "Uh, Lulu, can you give me the keys?"


    The door opened a crack, and then the key flew through the air and hit me in the face. I covered my face with a shout. The closing door paused for a brief second before latching shut again.


    Why does everyone want to hurt my beautiful face? I thought bitterly as I covered my face and muttered to myself. As I prepared to go downstairs, I turned around and immediately jumped. Both the second and third floors were full of female ghosts looking at me. They all wore the same expression: speechless, angry, pained.


    "Wu Rui, I also really want to beat you up like that right now, even if you are fast." A female voice called out. She was one of the beautiful women of the Ghost House. I was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding what she meant.


    "I''m fast? What does that mean?¡±


    Many girls¡¯ faces looked ready to collapse. Sister Hua walked up to me and said, "You are a man, yes?"


    I nodded, and Sister Hua pulled out a bottle of white wine from behind her back and handed it to me, saying, "Drink up."


    As I wondered what was going on, Sister Hua reached over and tried to make me drink the wine. I threw my hand out and cried, "Sister Hua, you know I don''t drink white wine!"


    Oh, my god. Is everyone in the house drunk today? I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on.


    "Sister Hua, what the hell are you doing?" I shouted.


    Sister Hua handed the white wine to me and said, "Drink up, then go in. Come on, drink up."


    Carefully, I considered the two words: drink up. Sister Hua¡¯s pronunciation seemed to indicate a double meaning. I started to think I might know what she was implying.


    Creak. The door opened behind me. I turned back and saw Lulu staring at me. She said miserably, "Sister Hua, what are you doing? Just let him go."


    Just as I was about to ask Lulu a question, she shut the door again.


    Yan¡¯er stomped her foot and shouted, "You are a pig. No, pigs are smarter than you. You really don''t understand what¡¯s going on?"


    I nodded. I thought I finally understood what they were getting at.


    But don¡¯t you feel dirty trying to sell Lulu like this? I thought. Besides, would Lulu really want me like that? Sometimes it seems like she might, but I¡¯m still not sure.


    "Well, Lulu made me leave," I said with uncertainty.


    Whack.


    I received another kick on my ass. I fell a few steps forward, then turned around to see Xiao Lingdang.


    She said, "Sister Lulu loved a man for the first time. No, a pig. What else do you want her to do?"


    I looked at Xiao Lingdang, considering her emphasis on the word ¡°want¡± and realized that Xiao Lingdang didn¡¯t have a double meaning. Well, she was only a 15-year-old girl. She didn¡¯t need to have a dirty mind like the others.


    However, she¡¯d already kicked me twice. Was she looking for a fight?


    I turned to Xiao Lingdang and said, ¡°Oh, so I¡¯m a pig?¡± I heard a threat in my tone as well as sadness.


    Suddenly, I received several small kicks to different parts of my body from several of the ghosts. Even Sister Hua lifted her cheongsam to kick me, although the action was so quick that I hardly saw her move.


    What is going on?


    Looking around, I saw murderous looks in the eyes of the ghosts. Up above, the ghosts on the third floor were chilling the railing to the point that a layer of white frost was developing.


    ¡°Okay, fine. It¡¯s true,¡± I said, not really sure what else to do. ¡°I¡¯m a pig.¡±


    Sister Hua stretched the cup and bottle of wine forward again and said, ¡°Take life and death easily, or fight.¡± She emphasized the last word.


    I took the bottle of wine, twisting the lid one way then another, then trying again before giving up. Finally, I handed the bottle back to Sister Hua and said, ¡°Sister Hua, please help me open it.¡±


    At that moment, everyone wore extremely exaggerated expressions of disbelief. Sister Hua waited a full minute before helping me open the bottle mechanically. Once it was open, I snatched the bottle back, embarrassed, and began to chug.


    After having drunk only half the bottle, I felt wobbly, and the bottle fell on the ground and smashed into pieces. I swayed, trying not to feel nauseous, and then turned and kicked Lulu¡¯s door.


    The door didn¡¯t move at all. I patted it a few times and found that the wood was very strong.


    Yan¡¯er couldn¡¯t stand watching me struggle. She lifted her leg and kicked the door open. As it swung inward, Yan¡¯er disappeared in a wisp of smoke and the words, ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    Taking a few steps forward, I entered the room, then lifted the curtain hanging in front of the bed. Lulu was standing beside the bed, her face bright red and her expression perplexing.


    I stretched out my hand and pointed at Lulu. "You..."

 Chapter 104 Loving You For Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 4

    I hadn''t had so much wine for a long time. When I registered the pain my head was in, I groaned deeply. I saw a glass of water on the table next to me and drank it down immediately


    After drinking the water and resting more, I finally woke up and looked around the room. Lulu was nowhere to be seen. I slowly got out of bed and put on my clothes that had been folded and placed on the bench.


    All of a sudden, I heard a faint noise from outside. I couldn¡¯t help but frown. The Ghost House was in the downtown area, but the house¡¯s sound insulation was very good, and there was a large front garden between the house and the road. Generally, no noise from the outside made it in here. I figured the sound would have had to be pretty loud for me to have heard it.


    I headed down the staircase and to the front door. When I opened the door, I was shocked. A huge crowd of people stood outside the Ghost House about two meters away from the gate. A group of police officers stood at the front.


    The gate of the Ghost House opened, which seemed to scare the crowd gathered around. Suddenly everyone was quiet. It looked like the police officers at the front were taking orders, and they took a step back in unison.


    What is going on here? I scratched my head in confusion and then asked the question out loud.


    As I opened my mouth, the surrounding area became noisy again. The police looked at me for a while before one of them nervously stepped forward.


    "What are you?" The police officer¡¯s voice was scratchy as though he hadn¡¯t had anything to drink in a long while.


    "What am I? I¡¯m¡­the owner of the Ghost House. Who do you think I am?" I asked in reply. I felt a little bit powerful.


    "This is yours?" The police officer¡¯s face was full of confusion. One of the officers behind him seemed to have a realization and he asked, ¡°Are you Wu Rui?¡±


    I felt like one of those rich people who everyone in town knows. I nodded proudly.


    The officer whispered in the ear of one of the leaders, and then he approached with admiration. As he walked up, he glanced at the steps of the Ghost House and hesitated. He stopped, then smiled and said hello to me from below.


    "Hello, Mr. Wu. I''m from the County Public Security Bureau. I just got a report that someone¡¯s child went missing in the Ghost House last night. We''re here to investigate. Were you in the building last night?"


    I thought for a moment then said, "The child really went into the Ghost House? I went to bed very late yesterday, around 4 or 5 o¡¯clock. I didn''t hear or see anything.¡±


    The police didn''t have time to say anything before someone else came forward. A middle-aged woman rushed up to me and said, "That¡¯s impossible. Xiao Tian''s classmate said that Xiao Tian asked a few other students to come here." When she finished speaking, another group of people excitedly rush over. They were all talking together at once, so I could not understand a word.


    The police tried to maintain order and the lead policeman said, "Mr. Wu, we know that you don¡¯t believe the legends of the Ghost House. Otherwise, you would not have bought it. However, the child did say that Tiantian and the others went into the building last night. Can you let us come in and look?¡±


    "Yes, come in." I opened the gate completely and signaled for them to enter.


    Perhaps because they were reassured that I had slept in the Ghost House, the officers sped into the building without hesitation followed by the children¡¯s families. Of course, the onlookers remained outside.


    The front yard was still overgrown with weeds and the hall was covered with cobwebs and dust. The people who entered the Ghost House repeatedly gave me strange looks. After all, the building didn¡¯t look like somewhere anyone would sleep, let alone buy. I ignored their glances.


    I stood in the corner of the hall, watching the police and their families looking for the missing children. Fortunately, everyone seemed decent. When they¡¯d entered, the lead police officer had told everyone to be sure to keep order. So although many people entered, they did not cause damage or disrupt anything.


    Still tired from the night before, I grabbed a stool and sat down. I began to doze off and must have fallen asleep. A loud commotion woke me up, and I rushed to see what was happening.


    A member of the missing child¡¯s family was on the phone and was very emotional. I wasn¡¯t sure what had happened.


    Was the child found? I wondered. Sure enough, after the man hung up the phone, he spoke quickly to the other members of his family and then got the attention of the police officers.


    I knew it. Those kids didn¡¯t come in here.


    The child had met up with his classmates on Kaoshan Street, but in the end, they¡¯d chickened out and gone to an internet caf¨¦ instead.


    The family and the police repeatedly apologized to me, and I reassured them that I understood the need to search the house for the children. Just as everyone had calmed down, a police officer rushed in from the backyard holding a transparent bag and said, ¡°I found a clue.¡±


    Everyone looked at him. The children had gone to the internet caf¨¦. What clue could he have found?

 Chapter 105 Loving You For Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 5

    After sending off the police, I went back to the hall and picked up the transparent bag the police dropped. Since the people had been found, the police¡¯s job was done. But I still had to live in the ghost house, I had to find out the real problem.


    The evidence was a school card, with a photo of a small boy printed on it. The information next to the photo was the boy¡¯s name and class, which was Lu Tiantian, junior school Grade One, third class.


    Lu Tiantian, was he the child that was mentioned by the middle-aged fat woman? But the child had been found. They were to play all night at Internet cafe. But since they went the Internet cafe, how could this school card leave behind in the ghost house?


    I took a look at the direction of the policeman who had just entered. It was the backyard of the ghost house, which I had never been to. After all, it used to be the place of the Japanese.


    Looking through the transparent bag, playing with the school card in the hand, I could find out any clue of this event. For what I could do was to give Wu Jian a call, he was the professional person in this career.


    Hearing the voice, I found he was very busy. I briefly told what had happened to him, then Wu Jian suggested me to check the backyard, and then he went to investigate a few children who did not return home last night.


    I promised him quickly on the phone, but I had no intention of going to the backyard because Kitty died in the back yard.


    I put the school card into my pocket and went out to eat. Of course, when I opened the door, I still scared a lot of people.


    After dinner, I went home and took a bath. Then I went early to the ghost house, and now the relationship between Lulu and I was basically clear. I was naturally also a little less perturbed.


    Ghost house opened very early as usual tonight. And all girls looked in strange eyes as well. I knew it is no longer because of my relationship with Lulu, but what did I do last night.


    In fact, I didn''t have any impression about what I did last night. Mainly because the alcohol given by Sister Hua was too strong which made me fell in a faint directly. For now, I realized that she did it on purpose.


    Although Xiao Lingdang kicked me twice, it didn''t stop me to ask her first. I have no other choices. The ghost house opened just now, she was the one I familiar most.


    "Xiao Lingdang, what happened last night?" I went to Xiao Lingdang and asked, pretending to be relaxed.


    So humiliated! I stared at Xiao Lingdang and firmly believed that she was lying.


    Lulu saw me at her first sight when she went downstairs, and her face turned red. She went into the bar and packed her things. The red color on her face had not gone away until the first guest came.


    This evening, Sister Hua came late. When she came downstairs, she yawned with her hand covering her mouth. It seemed that she didn¡¯t have a good rest. Looking at me and Lulu outside the bar, she showed that charming smile: "Lulu, you have to thank me for what I did for you last night."


    Lulu ''s face was getting redder, she secretly gave me a glance, and then said: "Thank you for what? He directly threw out on my body."


    The smile on Sister Hua''s face was instantly stiff, and then laughed out loudly. Under the urging of other beautiful women who did not know what had happened, sister Hua started to tell them the truth which was totally disregarded Lulu¡¯s embarrassment.


    After telling them, Sister Hua and all beautiful girls started to comfort Lulu. They encouraged me to do what I had done tonight, and even asked me what brand of alcohol I drunk last night.


    I wanted to hide my head under the ground by hearing their words.


    As time went on, the guests grew more and more, and the girls were too busy to mock me and Lulu. I was relieved to see Lulu and found that Lulu was looking at me, so we both looked at each other with a smile.


    When I took over the tray in Lulu ¡¯s hand, my hand was inadvertently touched her hand. I felt very cold feel but smooth. Lulu gave me an angry stared.


    For a person who never had a girlfriend, even if a finger contact with a girl would make him feel inexplicable happy. I served when the pace was brisk up. Although this attracted the laughter of Sister Hua and other people and guests¡¯ eyes that did not understand, I did not care at all. Anyway, I have been spoiled by the sudden happiness.


    In the evening, when Sister Hua proposed to go to supper, Lulu and I both refused. I didn''t know why did Lulu refuse? I refused because I couldn''t afford to pay the bill. Sister Hua and others scolded me with a few words of the same meaning and left, and when leaving, they said loudly: Nobody could not leave early tonight. We must drink well.


    I looked at Lulu, she seemed to count the ants on the ground.


    "Let''s go upstairs." I suggested.


    "Yes." Lulu answered in a low voice.


    "We can talk there." I added.


    Then Lulu "puffed" and laughed, and looked up at me and said, "Okay."


    After entering the room, the door was locked directly. Seeing Lulu was a little embarrassed, I said: "Well, when Sister Hua come back, she is going to laugh at us again."


    Lulu looked at me as if she was smiling and she nodded.


    Entering the bedroom, I put down the bead curtain again: "This curtain is very beautiful."


    Lulu still nodded, and the smile in the corner of her mouth grew stronger.


    I walked to the bed a little stiffly, sat down, then moved my ass, patted the edge of the bed and said, "Let''s talk here."


    Lulu nodded and bent his eyes¡¯ corner this time.


    I said a few words, and I stopped, brewing a feeling. When I was about to open my mouth, Lulu first learned my tone: "It¡¯s tiring sitting. Let''s lie down and talk." Then she looked at me with a smile on her face.


    I was stunned. Lulu snatched my lines, but when I saw Lulu ''s teasing look, I had quick wits idea occurred to one''s mind at the crucial moment: "All right."

 Chapter 106 Loving You For Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 6

    I secretly looked at a few Lulu. Lulu ¡¯s eyebrows smiled, as if waiting for me. But I had made up my mind, I would not do.


    It was really odd lying with a female in bed, so I started the topic. We went on well from one topic to another. I did not know how long we had chatted, we just fell asleep naturally.


    Perhaps because I hardly sleep early, the next day I got up earlier than before. When I opened my eyes, Lulu was sitting on the bedside. She was smiling at me, and I found she bought breakfast for me.


    I was surprised and looked at Lulu who smiled at me. "I bought for you." She said. "I bought it early and I have heated it for many times, and I don''t know if it''s good to eat."


    "Yummy, it must be delicious."


    Lulu smiled sweet. Yes, her smile was beautiful.


    "Thank you." Lulu spoke suddenly, with a discreet expression.


    I froze for a moment, and responded her with a smiled, "I should say thank you. Thank you for your breakfast."


    Lulu shook her head with tears in her eyes and said with a lump: "Thank you for your respect last night."


    Respect? I thought for a while. Did Lulu mean she did not expect me to do that to her last night? As saying went, a woman¡¯s heart was the deep ocean of secrets. Fortunately, I stuck to my own principle.


    I nodded and said to Lulu, "I''m not going to force you to do anything you don''t want to."


    Lulu nodded hard as if to put my words directly into her heart.


    After finished my breakfast, I was called out by a phone call from Wu Jian.


    Wu Jian asked me to meet him at the teahouse. When the first time I saw Wu Jian, I was startled directly. Oh, my God, was it that Wu Jian I knew before?


    I saw this man''s hair fluffy, haggard face, deep eyes with dark circles around. He lost weight, even the skin on his face appeared to be loose.


    Seeing I saw him, Wu Jian laughed: "I did not rest well these days, I am a bit sloppy."


    This was not sloppy, OK? He had completely changed an appearance. I could not help but scolding him in my heart. But I did not continue this topic. I asked: "Any process of the life-seeking doll?" I dared not mention Wu Ting. I was afraid he would be sad.


    Wu Jian''s turbid eyes flashed a glimmer of light, and he nodded excitedly. "I found it," he said. "It was hiding in the underground palace. It was the matter about Su Qing last time. Did you remember that the family of Jiang San?"


    "I''ve been in touch with a friend who secretly gave me a map of the underground palace."


    "Map?" I asked.


    I looked over curiously. The map was very simple, only a few lines. I did not know the scale of the line, but from the map, this was probably an entrance. Because apart from the gate place, the other lines were broken not far away.


    Wu Jian was also a bit disappointed, his fingers moving on the mobile phone, murmuring: "Here, here, uh. We entered through the entrance to the palace, and we are divided into three roads, and then each road is divided into three roads. That is a total of nine roads. But."


    Wu Jian''s finger no longer moved, because after the separation, the line suddenly stopped.


    Wu Jian frowned, staring at the phone for a long time. Then he put it away: "No matter how, I have to go in."


    I had the intention to dissuade Wu Jian. After all, the map here had not played the function which the map should have. But when I saw Wu Jian¡¯s firm eyes, my lips moved without saying any words.


    As a man, he had always to do some things. Besides, that Huang Shuai was also in the palace, and I also wanted to find him for Lulu.


    "I am in." I nodded to Wu Jian. Wu Jian smiled and clenched his fist, but did not say anything to thank me, because it was unnecessary. Although I had known Wu Jian for not long, I felt as if we had known each for many years. I thought Wu Jian had the same feeling.


    "We set out the night after tomorrow." Wu Jian said.


    "No problem." I answered.


    "Well, let¡¯s wait for Huang Xiaolong. He also wanted to go." Said Wu Jian


    I nodded. Although Huang Xiaolong was not very reliable, I had to say he had some skills.


    I thought for a moment and said, "I''m going to ask for a leave from the ghost house tonight and I''ll see if I can persuade Lulu to come with us."


    "Lulu?" Wu Jian was confused and said.


    "The ghost who was in red clothes last time." I simply told the story of Lulu to Wu Jian. Of course, I didn''t say anything about the unsuitable parts.


    Wu Jian nodded, and then we discussed what to take with us, and we went to prepare.


    After closing the ghost house at night, I was still lying on Lulu ''s bed, and told Lulu about going to the underground palace. Lulu, who I thought should have been excited to promise immediately, seemed hesitant and did not answer me on the spot.


    Until the next night, Lulu told me she would go with us. Xiao Lingdang and Yan''er overheard our conversation, and they wanted to go too. The team members grew fast in two days.


    Team members included:


    Me: help Wu Jian found the life- seeking doll; helped Lulu finding Huang Shuai;


    Wu Jian: looked for the life- seeking doll and kill it;


    Lulu: looked for Huang Shuai and killed him;


    Xiao Lingdang: onlooker;


    Sister Tan: being an onlooker and accompanying Xiao Lingdang;


    Yan''er: being an onlooker and watching the fun;


    The long shirt person: being an onlooker and chase after Yan''er;


    Huang Xiaolong£ºprotected Wu Jian and me£»


    Sister Hua£ºbeing an onlooker and watching the fun£»

 Chapter 107 Loving You For Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 7

    "Let''s go down." Wu Jian climbed down the ladder at the entrance of the cave first, followed by me and then Huang Xiaolong. As for Lulu and the others, they simply floated down.


    When I saw the bronze door through the hole, I felt it looked a bit quaint, but when I stood in front of it, I realized it was massive. That was the first word that came to mind. The bronze gate was at least six meters tall. The width was difficult to measure because one door was opened and the other was buried by dirt.


    Upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn¡¯t dirt. I touched the material that covered the door. It was hard. Rock. Who would make a gate just to bury half of it in a rock? And if it wasn''t intentionally buried, where did the rock come from?


    Although I was not very familiar with rock formations in nature, from my limited knowledge, I figured something like this couldn¡¯t be formed in even two thousand years.


    Wu Jian had also begun observing the gate. He traced the pattern on the bronze gate, and I realized that the decoration was more like a painting than a carving.


    I stepped back and looked carefully at the painting on the bronze gate. It was painted with simple lines representing both people and objects, but it was easy to see at a glance what was being depicted. Even with only half of the scene visible, the image made my blood run cold.


    At the center of the picture was a circle with something like a flame extending outward. Countless people at the bottom formed a semi-circle, kneeling. At the top right of the circle, there was a man with a ribbon, standing in the air, with a very large python under his feet. Even its eyes were larger than the people who were kneeling. Its body formed a circle in the middle of the air and then trailed into the door. I assumed the rest of its body was on the other door.


    From the head of the person with the ribbon, a lot of small concave points radiated outward, growing from small to large and increasing in number. I didn¡¯t know why, but it felt like I knew the meaning of this image by heart. It felt like a spell, counting one by one from the number one to 99. 1, 2, 3¡­


    "Huang Xiaolong, look at the little dots next to the man," I said as he came closer.


    Huang Xiaolong first looked at me, and then looked at the place I said. Surprised, he asked, "That¡¯s counting?" He sounded uncertain.


    I nodded, and Wu Jian, overhearing our conversation, looked over. "Well, it really is counting. That¡¯s quite strange."


    I stared at Xiao Lingdang without speaking as Lulu pinched Xiao Lingdang''s ear, making her shout.


    "Let''s go." Wu Jian suddenly stepped into the gate with one step. The strong light from the hole drew a line between light and dark at the entrance. The moment Wu Jian walked into the gate, I felt as though he was stepping into boundless darkness. My heart could not help beating violently and I almost blurted out, ¡°Wu Jian, come back!¡±


    Huang Xiaolong patted me on the shoulder and urged me to keep up with him. I glanced at Lulu, who was walking by my side, and found that she was also looking at me. We both smiled slightly. I very naturally took her hand and walked in. I took no notice of the exclamations from Xiao Lingdang and others.


    The passageway of the underground palace was very wide, at least able to accommodate two cars passing in opposite directions. The miner lamp hanging overhead was on. Under the special lamp, we could very clearly see the stone walls that lined both sides of the passageway.


    "Be careful," Lulu said suddenly, and we stopped.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked Lulu.


    Lulu frowned and pointed to the dust rising from the ground as we walked.


    "Ah, it¡¯s ashes." Xiao Lingdang looked very surprised.


    "Ashes?" Wu Jian looked at the dust on the ground nervously.


    Sister Hua covered her mouth to hide her smile. "Oh, this place is really interesting. Yan''er, look, this bone ash is so fine."


    Yan''er gave Sister Hua an angry look. "Lulu is right. Everyone must be careful. There is something unusual about this place."


    After Yan''er spoke, she seemed to move to protect her long shirt person, and then she motioned for everyone to continue forward.


    As I moved on, I stepped more carefully, trying to avoid the ashes. I felt I should have some respect for either the people or animals who had died.


    Not long after we began, we reached the first fork in the road. Just like the map we received from Wu Jian''s mobile phone had indicated, the three roads were almost identical.


    "Let''s go in the middle?" Wu Jian wanted our opinions.


    "It doesn''t matter." Huang Xiaolong spoke first and I nodded in agreement. There was only one dot in the front on the map that indicated where we should head, and there were no side paths to get lost on when we turned around to leave. We didn''t know where to go, so there was really no difference for us regardless of which path we chose.


    After everyone agreed, Wu Jian was the first one to go forward again. Compared with the front hallway, this path was slightly narrower.


    When we arrived at the next fork, Wu Jian did not make a decision immediately, because at the top of each channel, there was an unfamiliar symbol painted.


    "Does anyone recognize that word?" When Wu Jian saw that everyone had entered the hall of the fork, he asked the group.


    "Is it a word?¡± Huang Xiaolong didn''t seem to agree with Wu Jian, but he couldn''t say why.


    I was familiar with the people of the Ghost House, so I asked them one by one, but no one knew what the symbol above meant either.


    "Let''s go down the middle path again," I proposed. Since we didn¡¯t know anything about any of the paths, there was no need to deliberate.


    Wu Jian nodded, reminded everyone to be careful, and then turned around to head down the path.

 Chapter 108 Loving You for Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 8

    I hastened forward a few steps until I was side-by-side with Wu Jian, looking ahead. In the light, the path looked very ordinary, no different from the ones that we had just walked down.


    I looked at Wu Jian in confusion. He pointed to the corner and said, "Look at that."


    I looked in the direction that he pointed, but did not find anything. I felt even more confused.


    "Turn off the light," continued Wu Jian.


    I turned off the lights on the miner''s cap on my head and suddenly saw a lot of green bright spots appear where there was nothing a moment before. I looked closely and realized that each speck was some sort of bug that was crawling around in an irregular way.


    "What is that?" I asked Wu Jian curiously.


    Wu Jian shook his head, "I don''t know, but it''s always good to be careful."


    I nodded and planned to walk side by side with Wu Jian, which seemed like a good way to take care of myself, but Lulu grabbed my hand from behind and said, "I''ll go ahead."


    I frowned and tried to refuse. Although Lulu was much more skilled than me, I still thought that men should go ahead of women to protect them, especially in this environment.


    "You can''t go ahead," Yan''er said from the back, and then pushed the long shirt person beside her, asking, ¡°Should you or I go ahead?" Her tone was as charming as Sister Hua¡¯s.


    The long shirt person came straight over to me and Wu Jian in the front, then deliberately got close to the glowing bug.


    The bug did not react, and the long shirt person observed for a moment before saying, "It seems like a normal firefly."


    Fireflies should fly in the air and flicker, I thought. This bug seemed to be permanently lit, but the long shirt person said it was a firefly, so I relaxed. After all, I wasn¡¯t an expert on bugs.


    We kept the same formation, with the long shirt person walking in front. The bugs didn¡¯t react when the long shirt person passed by, but they became a bit restless and crawled faster when Wu Jian and I passed.


    The long shirt person told us to slow down because the road was sloping downward as we moved forward. It seemed that he was a good leader, because he always told us information ahead of time. Of course, there was not much information for him to share with us. The only two useful pieces of information so far were about the sloping road and the bugs.


    As for the increasing number of bugs we encountered, I felt okay with their presence. Because there were so many of them, we could see the road without a lamp, and they didn¡¯t seem interested in attacking us. However, their presence also came with an unsettling crawling sound.


    "Yes," Lulu answered simply.


    It was beautiful indeed. As the number of bugs increased, we seemed to be walking in a channel full of moving green light.


    The creepy sound from the bugs grew stronger and stronger, until the walls on both sides of the path had turned entirely green, with no sign of the original wall at all. Now, even if the lights were turned on, the bugs would still be visible.


    "Do we have to go this way? These bugs are giving me so many goosebumps." Huang Xiaolong rubbed his arms with his hands to show that goosebumps were really raising up.


    Wu Jian stopped to think. To tell the truth, I agreed with Huang Xiaolong''s idea of going another way. There were too many bugs here. Even if it was beautiful, it still felt creepy. However, I wasn¡¯t sure whether the other paths would have just as many bugs.


    "Ah!" The long shirt person in front shouted with a surprised voice. Wu Jian and I looked at each other, then sped up to see what had happened. I was immediately stunned and Wu Jian even screamed.


    I didn''t know how to describe what I''d seen and heard. We¡¯d come to another world, like a portal made up of bugs.


    The area ahead was full of dense trees. We could not see the edge of the rolling hills that spread out before us, and the sun hung high in the sky above the peaks.


    I heard exclamations of surprise as one by one the people behind me saw the scene. Xiao Lingdang even wanted to run out into the trees, but the Qin beauty caught her collar in one hand and pulled her back.


    Lulu frowned and looked carefully. "It''s not really the sun."


    I turned to Lulu, and she repeated, "It''s not the real sun, or I would have felt it."


    She was right. Lulu was a ghost, and ghosts should not walk in sunlight. I turned to Sister Hua and she nodded.


    "So is this an illusion?" Wu Jian expressed doubt, but before anyone answered, Huang Xiaolong rejected that possibility.


    Huang Xiaolong pulled a blade of grass from the ground and crushed it with his fingers. "It would not seem so real if this were just an illusion. Alas, Brother Jian. Why do I feel I should go back to school again every time I¡¯m with you?"


    Wu Jian did not answer Huang Xiaolong''s playful question. He instead copied Huang Xiaolong, ripping up a blade of grass just to observe it. His eyes looked shocked. "Can this be real?"


    I saw the grass go to pieces in Wu Jian¡¯s hand before staining them with a green juice. Could this be fake? Lulu and Sister Hua had made me think everything was a hallucination, but now I was uncertain.


    The long shirt person looked around. "Now what should we do? I suggest we go back and choose another way. It''s weird here."


    I had already been planning to retreat, but this place seemed even stranger knowing a ghost thought it was strange. While I was planning how to persuade Wu Jian to change course, the forest suddenly shook in the distance. There seemed to be something big moving out there.


    Just as everyone''s eyes looked in that direction, all of a sudden, an earth-shaking roar rang out. I had heard the sounds of tigers and lions at the zoo, but compared with this sound, the roars of tigers and lions were like newborn kittens.


    We all looked at each other. Huang Xiaolong swallowed his saliva and said, "Brother Jian, let''s change paths."


    Wu Jian nodded slowly. It seemed that he was frightened by the roar as well. As we started to turn back, the long shirt person suddenly cried with surprise.


    "Oh, my God."

 Chapter 109 Loving You for Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 9

    Lulu pulled me as she stepped back as well. Truthfully, there was no need. After seeing the giant bird, I was ready to turn around and run, even if I was the size of an ant to it and unlikely to be noticed.


    "Huang Shuai!" A roar in the distance caught everyone¡¯s attention again.


    Lulu''s face changed at once and her hair started flying. Her entire body seemed to glow a faint red.


    Huang Shuai? Is he here?


    Lulu and I suddenly stopped. Sister Hua seemed to know about Lulu¡¯s past, and she looked at Lulu.


    "What''s the matter?" Wu Jian gave me a pull.


    I glanced at Lulu and said firmly, "I¡¯ll go into the forest. Go back. I''ll come find you when I find him. Make a mark on the road you choose."


    Wu Jian hammered on my chest with his hands and said, "Shit, you look down on me. I¡¯ll go with you. Let''s go."


    Huang Xiaolong also patted me on the shoulder. Although he did not speak, I could understand him. That meant he was coming too.


    I nodded.


    The long shirt person continued to lead the way under the gaze of Yan''er. The road was difficult to follow. Thick leaves made it hard to figure out where to stand, and thick roots formed a huge network along the path.


    "So we¡¯re looking for Huang Shuai?" asked Wu Jian as he tested a thick tree root with his feet.


    I nodded. Wu Jian did not ask anything else, but he broke a branch and handed it to me.


    I took the branch without saying thank you. Men are like this sometimes. Without saying anything, everything is clear.


    The great beast roared twice more, and the passage that we came from had disappeared behind the dense trees.


    Lulu had returned to her former appearance, but her face was still very cold. I could not help scolding Huang Shuai in my head.


    "Stop, be careful." Sister Hua suddenly said. We all stopped, puzzled. Sister Hua did not explain, but her eyes swept around. We knew that Sister Hua was not a careless person so we became more alert.


    Suddenly there was a rustling. Following Wu Jian¡¯s signaling, the three of us leaned against a big tree and looked toward the direction of the sound. However, the sound moved too quickly for us to trace it. Whatever it was was fast.


    Yan''er picked up a dead branch and threw it to the long shirt person. The long shirt person never dared to refuse Yan''er, so he immediately turned into thick, black smoke and shot into the forest.


    When I saw him go, I was relieved. But I hadn¡¯t finished exhaling when he suddenly reappeared, rushing straight at me


    I have no time to dodge him, but I instinctively threw my hands in front of me. However, the long shirt person made a 90-degree turn right in front of my face and flew straight up.


    In the dense forest above me, a huge head had been quietly watching me. If not for the long shirt person, I didn¡¯t doubt I¡¯d have lost my head.


    Wu Jian''s response was very quick. He dragged me to one side in a few steps. Then I looked at the monster.


    The monster had a red, overlapping shell on its back and a black abdomen. Under each rounded portion of its shell was a pair of little feet. We couldn¡¯t see the end of its body, but it looked to be at least three meters long.


    Looking at the monster''s head, which was the size of a car with a huge mouthpiece, even someone sitting on the ground would feel their whole body go limp. If it were not for Wu Jian still holding me, I think I would have turned into mud.


    The black smoke of the long shirt person kept swirling around the monster. The monster was obviously infuriated and moved quickly to try to catch him. However, the long shirt person was faster. Although he did not attack the monster, he completely avoided its attack.


    "Is that a centipede?" Huang Xiaolong looked at the monster and wanted to cry.


    I was just about to answer, but Lulu had come to me with a little cry. "Are you all right? Let''s get out of here."


    I smiled and shook my head. I appreciated her care for me, but I didn¡¯t want her to lose her chance at revenge on my account.


    "Fool. Possess it!" Yan''er stomped and scolded.


    The black smoke that was fighting with the monster suddenly regained the long shirt person''s head and he said, "Ah, I should possess its body?"


    "Yes. Possess it. That would protect us," Yan''er insisted.


    The long shirt person was stunned by the conversation with Yan''er, so he completely forgot to dodge the monster and was pierced by its fangs that were nearly one meter long. However, the long shirt person was a ghost, so the fangs went right through him. Because of its momentum, the monster broke a trunk as thick as thigh and almost fell down.


    The monster seemed to be trying to retreat as Yan''er asked, "Don''t you want to protect me?"


    As soon as Yan''er spoke, the long shirt person immediately went after the monster, entering its eye.


    The monster struggled frantically, trying to escape. Countless trees collapsed and we were deafened by the monster¡¯s cries.


    The sound of the monster slowly became quieter until they disappeared altogether. To my surprise, a huge red skull appeared in the distance. Then we saw black smoke coming out of several of the monster''s eyes at the same time, forming the head of the long shirt person on top of the monster''s head.


    Then the long shirt person said, "Yan''er, I will protect you, but this monster is strange. I can''t get out once I get in."


    Yan''er heard this and was stupefied. Then she covered her mouth and laughed, telling the long shirt person to lead the way. I was grateful for Yan''er at that moment. Finally, we didn¡¯t have to walk anymore.

 Chapter 110 Loving You for Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 10

    Soon we came to a prairie so large that we could not see the edge of it. In the middle was a small lake. On the edge of the lake was a dead tree that at least ten people could wrap their arms around. Although the tree had died, it was still possible to imagine the spectacular sight of the tree when it was alive from the huge tree trunk and branches.


    Under that dead tree was a humble treehouse.


    The long shirt person slowed down. Wu Jian and I whispered a few words, then prepared to move forward to check out the treehouse. Yan''er again sent the long shirt person to do the investigating. He crawled to the treehouse, and half of his huge body wriggled and squeezed into the house while the other half waited outside.


    "Would the man you mentioned be in there?" Wu Jian asked, unsure.


    "I don''t know, I hope so." I was also uncertain. After all, this place seemed too weird to have a livable house.


    The long shirt person stayed in the house for a long time but did not seem to be panicking, which put us at ease.


    After a while, Yan''er was worried. "I''ll go and see." With that, she drifted slowly toward the treehouse. She seemed to care about the long shirt person even if she treated him as her slave.


    "Wait," said Lulu. Yan''er looked at Lulu in confusion and she continued, "Let''s go together. I think it''s a little strange and could be unsafe.¡±


    Wu Jian nodded and agreed with Lulu that we should all stay together.


    We all walked toward the treehouse. I seemed to hear the sound of chewing nearby. Looking at Wu Jian and the others, I saw their faces change a little. The noise didn¡¯t seem to be my hallucination.


    The closer we got to the treehouse, the louder the noise was. I grew nervous. Wu Jian whispered a few words to Huang Xiaolong, and he went to the monster¡¯s tail, took a sharp knife from his bag, and, to everyone¡¯s astonishment, inserted it directly into the crevice beneath the carapace.


    The tail trembled a little and then resumed wiggling as it had been. Huang Xiaolong looked to Wu Jian and said, "Should I do it again?"


    Wu Jian shook his head. The tail of the monster was very large, but Huang Xiaolong hadn¡¯t inserted the knife lightly. From the crack in the tail, a little bit of green liquid began to trail out.


    Something had happened. I worried about the long shirt person. It was impossible for him to be unharmed by the injury.


    Yan''er also understood this. Her facial expression became worried. She tried to enter the treehouse several times, but she was stopped each time by Sister Hua.


    "Sister Hua!" Yan''er shouted anxiously.


    To tell the truth, this mysterious person felt nonexistent. I couldn¡¯t even remember him being with us other than at the beginning of the journey.


    I looked carefully at this mysterious man. He was wrapped in black cloth robes that even covered his head, but he was barefoot. I realized, from the figure of the mystery man, that he was actually likely a woman.


    Thinking about it, I realized that since she was from the third floor of the Ghost House, she must be a woman. I hadn¡¯t seen a man in the Ghost House except myself.


    "Lulu, who is that?" I asked her in a low voice.


    Lulu looked at me and said, "Big Sister."


    I did not understand the answer, but when I saw Lulu staring at the treehouse with a complicated expression, I knew she wasn¡¯t in the mood to say anything else and that I should shut up.


    Sister Hua and the mystery person spoke in low voices. I could see that they were having a conversation, but I could not hear anything.


    The mysterious person went up to the tree house, but the long shirt person had gone through the front entrance and his body now blocked the door.


    While I was wondering how the mystery person was going to get in, the long shirt person''s tail almost hit her as it wiggled. The mystery person gently waved her hand like she was waving flies away, and the giant tail of the long shirt person moved to one side with a loud noise.


    The loud noise seemed to wake the people in the treehouse and the sound of chewing suddenly stopped. I thought the mystery man was going to throw the long shirt person aside and enter the room, but instead, she stood directly in front of the treehouse, putting her hands together and then slowly separating them.


    The treehouse suddenly had a huge crack in the wall. As the mystery person''s hands separated, the crack got bigger and bigger.


    The situation inside became more visible and when I saw the scene clearly, I felt speechless.


    Lulu''s face grew darker and she looked at the long shirt person in the treehouse with eyes that looked ready to burst into flames.


    "Seriously?¡± Huang Xiaolong cried.


    Wu Jian pulled Huang Xiaolong back and then looked at me without a word.


    The monster was now bent over a large pot in the middle of the treehouse. His head didn¡¯t fit in, so he stood over the opening of the pot, scooping its contents into his mouth with his little feet.


    Yan''er turned into a wisp of smoke and flew in front of the monster, then changed into a person and swiftly kicked over the huge pot.


    The monster uttered a shrill cry and then the voice of the long shirt person rang out. "No!"


    "No?! I want to kill you!" Yan''er kicked at the monster.

 Chapter 111 Loving You for Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 11

    Sister Hua walked to the huge overturned pot on the ground, looking at the residue on the ground, and her expression became strange. When the mystery person walked to her side, she whispered with her. From time to time, they pointed at the residue.


    I also walked over, took a look and asked, "What is this?"


    Yan''er finally calmed down. Looking at the residue, she made a sound, her face twisted in a strange expression. "Is this¡­?" She seemed uncertain.


    Lulu came forward, kicking at the puddle with her feet. Her face also had a look of surprise.


    I was completely baffled, and it seemed that Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong were too. Just as I was about to ask again, Xiao Lingdang asked, "What is this, Sister Yan''er?"


    Yan''er shook her head, her eyes confused. "Should not it be¡­?"


    "This is Nourishing Soul Soup." Lulu looked carefully at the residue on the ground.


    "Nourishing Soul Soup? How is that possible?" Yan''er covered her mouth and exclaimed.


    Nourishing Soul Soup? What is that? I''d never heard the name, but according to the reaction of the girls, it was worth something.


    "Is this really Nourishing Soul Soup?" Huang Xiaolong asked with some doubts.


    "You know what that is?" I asked him.


    Huang Xiaolong nodded. "I have heard of the Nourishing Soul Soup, but I don¡¯t know if this is really it."


    "What is Nourishing Soul Soup?" Wu Jian asked Huang Xiaolong.


    "Nourishing Soul Soup is not something in our human world but it exists in the underworld of ghosts. According to the legend, it was made by the goddess of wind especially for the evil spirits of Yin to drink, and it is still served to the senior ghosts. Ah, how can Nourishing Soul Soup appear in the world? The material is all from the underworld,¡± Huang Xiaolong explained, then shook his head with a look of disbelief.


    Underworld, the goddess of wind. Although I had come into contact with a lot of ghosts, I did not have an understanding of the underworld, and I had only heard about the goddess of wind in some myths and legends.


    "It¡¯s getting more and more interesting here," Sister Hua said. "It''s a pity that the soup was overturned."


    "So is this really the Nourishing Soul Soup?" Huang Xiaolong was still in disbelief.


    Sister Hua nodded. "It really is the Nourishing Soul Soup. As for why it can appear here, we should ask this friend." Sister Hua smiled and looked in another direction.


    I was shocked. I didn¡¯t know when a white-haired old man had appeared. He was looking at the soul soup on the ground in pain.


    He was a person, not a ghost. The old man was so angry that I could almost see smoke coming out of his nose.


    "You¡­you¡­you¡­you¡­you¡­Who are you?" The old man pointed at me and Wu Jian with a trembling hand as he stuttered.


    "Don''t look at that bug. I''m not afraid of it. But who the hell are you?" The old man said more coherently.


    So, he can see the bug but not the ghosts? What''s the situation with the Nourishing Soul Soup?


    Wu Jian came forward and very proudly took out his police officer card. "I am a policeman. Who are you?"


    The old man was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: "You¡¯re officials. But even officials couldn¡¯t knock over my soup. I¡¯m telling you, even if the emperor was standing in front of me, he couldn¡¯t knock over my soup."


    This old man is quite interesting. Why did he mention the emperor?


    Huang Xiaolong, who hadn¡¯t spoken, took a few steps forward with an air of excitement, looked at the old man carefully, and then began to undress.


    What is this reaction? Undress as soon as a conversation turns negative? Even the old man froze as he saw Huang Xiaolong approach, although he shook with rage.


    Wu Jian pulled on Huang Xiaolong and hissed, "What are you doing? Going to pay for the soup?"


    Huang Xiaolong ignored Wu Jian''s joke and continued to take off his clothes.


    Lulu came to me. "What is he doing?"


    I shook my head, my face bewildered. "I don''t know. I guess it''s his hobby."


    Lulu spat lightly, her face a little red, and she turned away.


    Huang Xiaolong had already begun to undo his belt. Shit.


    I hurriedly rushed forward a few steps and grabbed Huang Xiaolong''s hands.


    Huang Xiaolong looked at me doubtfully, and then said, "What are you doing? I won''t take off my pants. My clothes are too tight."


    I let go of his hands subconsciously, and then I felt weird again. Huang Xiaolong rushed to take off the rest of his clothes. I pushed on his stomach, which made my hand greasy.


    "Is your surname Huang or Long?" After watching this weird scene, the old man suddenly began to speak with excitement in his voice.


    "My surname is Huang." Huang Xiaolong was also very excited, and he walked toward the old man quickly.


    Wu Jian and I looked at each other.


    The old man looked at the Nourishing Soul Soup on the ground and then bent over. He took off a cloth shoe from his foot and then waved to Huang Xiaolong.


    "This is for turning over my soup!"


    Huang Xiaolong was blindsided by the sudden blow from the shoe. He raised his hands to protect his head, then fled away. While running, he shouted, "It wasn¡¯t me!"


    The old man seemed to be stronger than Huang Xiaolong. No matter where Huang Xiaolong tried to run, the old man was always able to hit him with his shoe.


    "What are you doing?" I roared and was about to go up and help when I was caught by Wu Jian.


    "Don''t move. He¡¯s probably one of Huang Xiaolong''s elders."

 Chapter 112 Loving You for Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 12

    Watching the old man beat Huang Xiaolong, I shook hands with Wu Jian to finalize our agreement.


    Eventually, Huang Xiaolong limped over with resentment on his face followed by the old man who was still very angry.


    ¡°This is my great-grandfather.¡± Huang Xiaolong threw his hand back and made a casual introduction.


    When the old man heard this, he used his shoe to pat Huang Xiaolong¡¯s head.


    Huang Xiaolong said with anger, ¡°Why are you still hitting me?¡±


    The old man stared at him and said, ¡°You got a problem?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong''s chest rapidly inflated several times, but he lowered his head and said, ¡°No.¡±


    The old man put his shoe back on. Then he looked at me and Wu Jian coldly.


    My nerves, which had been relieved when the old man put on his shoes, were suddenly strained again. I just looked at him and laughed foolishly.


    The old man looked at me in disgust and said to Wu Jian, ¡°Why do you knock over my soup?¡±


    Wu Jian looked at Huang Xiaolong for a moment, then pointed to the monster and said, ¡°Venerable sir, I am sorry. The monster was so ferocious that we couldn''t stop it.¡±


    Suddenly, the old man took off his shoes again and both Wu Jian and I took a step back at the same time. Then the old man soundly hit Huang Xiaolong on his head again.


    ¡°Oh my god! What are you doing?¡± Huang Xiaolong screamed in pain.


    The old man just said with hate, ¡°You still say that it wasn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°It really wasn¡¯t!¡± Huang Xiaolong felt very aggrieved.


    The old man obviously didn''t believe him. He pointed to Wu Jian and said, ¡°I''ve been looking at him while he¡¯s been talking. If it wasn''t you, why does he keep looking at you?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong looked at Wu Jian resentfully. When the cloth shoe in the old man¡¯s hand was about to drop again, he stretched out his right hand and connected his thumb and little finger together, making the promise symbol. ¡°I swear in god¡¯s name, I definitely didn¡¯t overturn great grandpa''s Nourishing Soul Soup.¡±


    The old man''s hand stopped abruptly less than a centimeter from Huang Xiaolong, then he turned his head and looked at Wu Jian. ¡°Interesting! I am really good at hunting geese, but today my eyes have been pecked by the goose. I know it must have been you because the officials are always good at acting.¡±


    Wu Jian''s face was startled and when he was about to speak, the old man continued, ¡°I didn¡¯t think he dared to swear in god¡¯s name. Be ready to die!¡±.


    Huang Xiaolong continued to look at me with a resentful look. ¡°Why didn''t Great-Grandpa hit you?¡±


    I was about to speak, but I immediately stopped and just looked at Huang Xiaolong with a blank face. ¡°Ah. What?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong gave me a thumbs up, then the two of us just looked at Wu Jian in silence.


    As Wu Jian tried to escape, I looked at Yan''er. Sure enough, Yan''er¡¯s face had grown dark and she held Sister Hua¡¯s arm tightly. She looked like she was scared.


    After half an hour, the old man stopped, then came over and asked Huang Xiaolong, ¡°You know this soup?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong was stunned, then quickly answered, ¡°I''ve seen it in my family¡¯s books.¡±


    The old man nodded his head and looked very happy. Then he looked at the residue on the ground and a trace of regret flashed through his eyes. He shook his head and smiled bitterly. ¡°That''s it.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, how can you be here?¡± Huang Xiaolong suddenly became very curious.


    The old man sighed. ¡°Do you mean why does my family say I''m dead when I''m still here?¡±


    ¡°No. No,¡± Huang Xiaolong felt a little embarrassed and shook his head again and again.


    The old man waved his hand, saying, ¡°Never mind. I also think I¡¯m dead. I''ve been in this place for almost 20 years, and you''ve grown up.¡±


    20 years. Huang Xiaolong and I look at each other, startled. The palace was found only a few months ago. If the old man really stayed for 20 years, then how did he get in?


    My heart was full of doubts, but the old man seemed to have no intention of explaining. He stepped towards the huge pot on the ground, picked it up and looked at it. Seeing that there was not a drop left in it, he could not help sighing again.


    I thought the old man must be very sad, so I found a new conversation topic. ¡°Grandpa? Do you know a man named Huang Shuai? We just heard his name called.¡±


    Then the old man frowned. ¡°Why are you looking for Huang Shuai? He is not a good person.¡±


    I explained the situation between Lulu and Huang Shuai, and the old man listened carefully. Then he said, ¡°Do you mean that that ghost is with you?¡±


    I nodded slowly, afraid of scaring this old man.


    The old man did not speak, but Huang Xiaolong was a little worried. ¡°Great-grandpa, you...¡±


    I didn''t know what Huang Xiaolong meant to say, so I waited until he said doubtfully, ¡°Grandpa, you are a spiritual genius and your strength is far above my parents¡¯.¡±


    The old man shook his head. ¡°I am not a genius. I can''t see the ghost now, but maybe I will be able to see it after a long time.¡±


    All eyes were fixed on the old man, and he continued. ¡°Do you know where we are?¡±


    Everyone shook their heads.


    ¡°This is Ping Shan. Do you know what Ping Shan is?¡±


    Everyone shook their heads again.


    ¡°Ping Shan is the legendary place between yin and yang, the fair land. The people who practice here will become ordinary people and ghosts will become ordinary ghosts. As long as the public wind appears, everything becomes fair.¡±


    I was shocked and confused by his words, then I turned and looked at all the women. Sister Hua¡¯s face had changed. Maybe she believed that what the old man said was true.


    ¡°Wu Rui, tell my words to the old man.¡± Sister Hua walked a few steps towards me.


    I nodded and then explained to the old man what I¡¯d be doing. He nodded and prepared to listen to my words.


    ¡°Dear old man, when will the fair wind blow?¡± I asked for Sister Hua.

 Chapter 113 Loving You for Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 13

    The old man smiled disdainfully, ¡°Hey, hey, it''s still bright. It''s never dark here, and it''s less than an hour from nightfall¡±.


    Everyone was surprised, but Sister Hua seemed to know something about it. She did not show an expression of surprise and, rather, continued to ask.


    ¡°Dear old man, do you know how to leave this place?¡±


    ¡°Leave! Hey, hey. Forget it. Even returning the same way you came is useless, just wait to become a normal person!¡±


    Sister Hua did not ask again. She went to the mysterious man, and murmured to him.


    Lulu pulled at my sleeve, saying, ¡°Ask where Huang Shuai is. He still has strength now. We can get my revenge first, then even if I become a normal person, I will accept it¡±.


    I asked the old man the whereabouts of Huang Shuai again. The old man just shrugged his shoulders, ¡°That Huang Shuai has done much worse things. Even if we become ordinary people, there are still many people who want to cause trouble for him, so he will hide and will not come out again¡±.


    I frowned after listening to the old man¡¯s words. According to what he was saying, it would be very difficult for us to find Huang Shuai.


    Lulu didn''t show much disappointment, but I still didn''t feel well, so I asked again, ¡°Great-grandpa, do you know where Huang Shuai might live? I will try to find him first¡±.


    The old man looked me up and down and said, ¡°It seems that the hatred is very deep, ah, hey hey, he is generally in Hei He¡±.


    The old man pointed in a direction. I saw that sure enough, a small winding river was flowing down the mountain in the distance between the peaks.


    The area looked so far away that I couldn''t help but worry. However, seeing that Lulu was in a daze, I woke her up and asked her if she knew if there was a fast way to get to Hei He.


    Lulu seemed a little absent-minded. I guessed that maybe she thought the time was not enough, so she was a little abnormal. But even if the time was not enough, I intended to look for Huang Shuai. I believe in fate.


    Finally, we found that we could only get there by taking the man in the long shirt. So, my last trip with Lulu was going to be a luxury tour again, this time with an old man.


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s great-grandpa had said that the soup had been scrapped anyway and to just leave it here. Maybe we could help if we went there.


    ¡°Thanks¡±, I thanked great-grandpa and held up the monster that controlled the man in the long shirt. Then everyone headed in the direction of Hei He.


    All watches and cellphones had stopped inexplicably so I could not tell the time accurately, I could only estimate silently. In any case, by the time we got to Hei He, Lulu and the other people should have lost their abilities.


    The man in the long shirt¡¯s speed was much faster than we expected. When we got to Hei He, Lulu and the others still hadn¡¯t lost their abilities.


    ¡°Look for him quickly¡±, I yelled. Then I jumped off the monster¡¯s back and ran to a stone house ahead, secretly praying in my heart that it was Huang Shuai¡¯s home.


    I pushed the door of the stone house and was disappointed. It was covered with thick dust and cobwebs on the walls. It looked as if no one had lived there for a long time.


    I turned my head and found that, except for the old man, all the people began search all around.


    I was about to look for a way to continue my search, only to see that the old man was sitting on the monster controlling the man in the long shirt. He just looked at everyone with a funny expression. My heart beat faster and I walked over, ¡°Great-grandpa, can you help us?¡±.


    The old man looked at me and shook his head, ¡°Oh, I was wrong ah, you are the most slippery one among you three. The two boys were unworthy of the soles of my shoes, not worth it¡±.


    My face turned black and I wanted to leave, but I had always felt that the old man knew the whereabouts of Huang Shuai, so I had to ask him with patience, ¡°Great-grandpa, please help me. Lulu is really...¡±


    I told Lulu¡¯s story to the old man, and to arouse his sympathy, I also added something to it.


    The old man sighed, ¡°All right. All right. Just call them all back¡±.


    I thanked him again and then called all the people back. When everyone arrived, the old man walked down slowly, took a half-slab of jade off of his belt, and said to Huang Xiaolong, ¡°Idiot, do you know what this is?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong looked at it and cried out, ¡°The Dragon Seeking Pendant!¡±


    The old man nodded, ¡°You¡¯re not stupid. Take it¡±.


    Huang Xiaolong hurriedly grabbed it with both hands. His face was filled with excitement, ¡°Thank you, great-grandpa. This is my family¡¯s Dragon Seeking Pendant. Just one drop of blood and he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape from The Dragon Seeking Pendant, even if he went to the farthest corners of the globe¡±.


    I was happy, too, and then I was surprised, ¡°But where can we find Huang Shuai''s blood?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± The smile on Huang Xiaolong''s face suddenly solidified. This time, the old man did not take off his shoes. He slapped him on the head, saying, ¡°Idiot, Lulu can¡¯t put her own Qi inside.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong suddenly understood, scratching his head, ¡°I even forget¡±. The old man was about to hit him again and I stopped the old man and told him that if he were to continue hitting him, we could do nothing.


    Because of what Huang Xiaolong said, Lulu put some Qi into The Dragon Seeking Pendant. Then, suddenly, a blue glow radiated out from it, like a flame. The light above moved even if there was no wind. It all floated in the same direction.


    I didn¡¯t need the old man and Huang Xiaolong to explain and I easily guessed it would point the direction. Everyone hurried into action because time was running out, and no one knew who might suddenly become ordinary in the next seconds.


    With the guidance of The Dragon Seeking Pendant, finding people became extremely easy. We only needed to move in one direction.


    After a bit, under the guidance of The Dragon Seeking Pendant, we found a hidden cave, which was not deep. We pushed aside the weeds and a man appeared in the hole.


    The man was about 30 years old, with a short beard, which was trimmed properly. His features were very hard and he was surprised to see all the people in the hole. His eyes full of confusion.


    Beside me, Lulu began to tremble. I knew this must be Huang Shuai. He was very handsome, which made people want to hit him when looking at him.


    ¡°You three are?¡± Huang Shuai asked first.


    Both Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong looked at me. I didn¡¯t hesitate and said directly, ¡°Huang Shuai, do you remember Yu Jiaolu?¡± As I said the words, it occurred to me that another word came to mind, ¡°Your Majesty, do you still remember the summer rain lotus on Daming Lake?


    Huang Shuai¡¯s body suddenly shook and then there was a strange look on his face ¡°Yu Jiaolu? Maybe you''ve got the wrong guy¡±.

 Chapter 114 Loving You for Ten Lives Since You Pierced My Heart 14

    There was a sad smile on Lulu''s face, ¡°You still remember me. Yeah, I remember you. You should remember me¡±.


    Huang Shuai¡¯s eyes turned and then the expression on his face shifted to excitement, ¡°Lulu! I''ve been looking for you for a long time!¡± His voice was dismal and sentimental. It would be perfect if he rushed in to hold Lulu again.


    Lulu¡¯s tone grew colder. Although there was no wind, her hair still moved, and her clothes were slowly stained with blood, ¡°I''ve been looking for you for a long time, too. Look! I was dressed in a wedding dress¡±.


    Huang Shuai¡¯s throat bobbed up and down and he fell silent.


    I went up and took Lulu''s hand. She turned to me and looked at Huang Shuai again, saying, ¡°You''re still alive, still so young. It must be nice to be a bad person¡±.


    Huang Shuai saw that I was holding the Lulu¡¯s hand and explained, ¡°I''m not, I''ve been stuck here, otherwise I would have been looking for you, you know I love you¡±.


    Lulu grew angry and laughed, ¡°I love you too. I love you enough to kill you¡±.


    After saying this, her empty hand pointed to Huang Shuai and his face became very red. What¡¯s more, his hand started constantly scratching at his chest, and for a few seconds, he even scratched a few bloodstains on his chest.


    ¡°You cannot kill me¡±, Huang Shuai forced himself to say.


    ¡°Oh, why?¡± Lulu asked with smile, which looked even more terrifying than before.


    Huang Shuai used his hand to point at me with difficulty, ¡°You have a lover, you are happy, I, I am in the most pain¡±.


    ¡°You are in pain? Ha ha¡±, Lulu laughed loudly as if she had heard something funny and after a long time, she stopped. Then she just kept saying ¡°You are in the most pain. You are in the most pain.


    Her outstretched hand slowly clenched and Huang Shuai''s expression showed that he seemed to be in even more pain.


    ¡°You have sworn, you are a ghost, kill me, you will swear¡±, it took Huang Shuai nearly a minute to finish what he was saying. Lulu¡¯s expression solidified and her hand unconsciously loosened. Huang Shuai was nearly out of breath, saying, ¡°Look! You still don¡¯t kill. I live in a place full of monsters but you have your happiness¡±.


    Lulu turned to me. I didn''t know what she was trying to tell me. I just looked strangely at her and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Lulu shook her head and looked at me. Her eyes were filled with reluctance.


    ¡°Lulu has sworn that she would use ten lives of love if her sword were to pierce my heart. If she kills me, then she must swear that. You must advise her quickly. I am very miserable now and you have a good life!¡±, Huang Shuai was very excited and spoke loudly.


    I held Lulu gently in my arms and said nothing. I needed Lulu to decide and I also didn''t want her to regret anything later.


    I held her for a long time. Lulu gently broke out of my arms, and then put her hands on my chest, saying, ¡°I''m sorry for you, but I can''t forget my family''s grudges, and I can''t forget this. In the afterlife, we''ll be lovers again¡±, Lulu¡¯s eyes were full of guilt, entanglement, and expectation.


    ¡°Impossible, ten lives of love if you kill me. For these ten lives, you can''t be together¡±, Huang Shuai roared with fear.


    I gently stroked her face. This was the first time I had touched Lulu''s face, which was very smooth and very cold, but her tears were hot. Then I gently nodded, ¡°I''ll wait for you for ten lives¡±.


    Lulu smiled and tiptoed, and her lips fell on my lips, which were soft and cold.


    Lulu gave me a nostalgic look and turned to Huang Shuai. Her hand reached out again and Huang Shuai immediately pressed his chest. Half an hour later she let her hand go, patted his chest doubtfully, and stood up and shouted with ecstasy, ¡°The fair wind blows. You will become ordinary people¡±.


    At this moment, I found that Lulu and Sister Hua¡¯s bodies had solidified.


    Lulu looked at her hand in amazement. Her eyes showed her unwillingness and her tears were like small pearls, ¡°Is this life?¡±


    I walked up to Huang Xiaolong, pulled out the knife tied to his calf while the others watched with strange eyes, and rushed quickly to Huang Shuai, who was still laughing.


    ¡°Po!¡±, Huang Xiaolong¡¯s knife was very sharp and it slid into Huang Shuai''s chest easily. My hand could clearly feel his warm blood spewing out.


    A few cries rang out at this moment. I didn''t pull the knife out and turned straight to Lulu, ¡°I killed him so it''s not your revenge¡±.


    Lulu nodded in tears. I walked over to her and kissed her on the lips, which were soft, but not cold any more.


    ¡°No¡±, Huang Shuai shouted, and then he stood up and pulled the knife out of his chest and rushed at me. As I kissed her intently, I heard the exclamation of the crowd and felt something was wrong. As soon as I looked up, I saw a red silver light rushing towards me.


    Lulu pushed me away, and then I saw the silver light rush toward her and a splash of red appeared by Lulu''s body.


    Wu Jian, who was standing to the side, reacted. He came forward and kicked Huang Shuai to the ground. The knife fell to the ground and made a clanking noise. Only then did I stand firm, for a moment I saw the red and then I rushed over and lifted Lulu.


    ¡°Why are you so stupid? I can resist it¡±.


    Lulu said with smile, ¡°You are really stupid! I will never die. Besides, if he dies, I will fade as well. You need to wait for me for ten lives. You can¡¯t escape¡±.


    ¡°I won''t run, we won''t kill him, we will keep him well. Then we can be together¡±.


    Lulu hesitated, but nodded quickly, with a hint of shyness on her face.


    Huang Shuai lay on the ground, loudly scolding, ¡°You f**king woman and man. Be together! Next life! You won¡¯t be together in the next life¡±.


    After he said this, he picked up a small stone from the ground, no bigger than a baby¡¯s fist. He stared at us and inserted the stone into the wound on his chest.


    The blood squeezed, like a fountain. However, Huang Shuai seemed to feel no pain. He inserted the whole stone into his chest.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Huang Xiaolong scolded loudly. Along with Wu Jian, he also came forward to check. After having a look, he looked at me apologetically, shaking his head.


    Lulu was stunned for a moment and then used her hand to touch my face, ¡°It seems that you still have to wait for me for ten lives¡±.


    ¡°No! No! Lulu!¡± I held her tightly, afraid of her sudden disappearance.


    She just put her arms around my neck and stroked my head gently. In my arms, her body was becoming blurrier by the moment and the feel of her was also disappearing. I wanted to lift my head but I was held down by her.

 Chapter 115: Ten Lives of Love for Your Sword Piercing My Heart 15

    I did not cry, just silently lying on the grass outside the tree house and looking at the sky that never darkens overhead, without stars or white clouds, just like my empty heart.


    When did Lulu start to like me? For a long time, I didn''t know. Maybe I was too slow.


    Thinking of her red wedding dress, I was very regretful. I should have been able to I her a wedding, which was planned to be held in the ghost building, where there would be a lot of guests. Maybe the ghost building could never hold such many guests.


    What would Lulu look like next life? Maybe I could still find her. Nobody had stipulated that once you sworn that you wouldn¡¯t love somebody, you couldn¡¯t fall in love with others. After all, the case that the vow didn¡¯t work was so many.


    Just in the next life, will Lulu still love me? Maybe she will. Although I didn¡¯t know what my strengths were, but I lived in this world for so long and the well-informed Lulu will certainly fall in love with me. How can she run away in the next life?


    How long was ten lives? One thousand years? It was estimated to be at least 700 or 800 years. I felt it was a very long time. But I will not forget Lulu. I would her in every my life. I would let her fell in love with me very lifetime, and then until 10th, or more.


    Unfortunately, I forgot to ask her for a drop of blood, if so, we could find him with the Dragon seeking pendant in the next lifetime. However, since there was Dragon seeking pendant that could help me find her, there must be other thing which could also help me find her.


    Maybe I could find it in the underground palace. If I could find it, using ghost Qi was also a way, but I couldn''t get the ghost Qi from Lulu.


    Why, there was a little white cloud in the sky. Was it because I thought too much in my empty heart. It must be so.


    I just thought about it indiscriminately and my tears are always flowing, until there no tears. I don''t know how long it took. At this moment, with a cigarette in his mouth, Wu Jian walked out, covered me with a thin sheet and was about to turn and leave.


    ¡°Give me a cigarette¡±, I finally began to speak and my voice was hoarse and dry, as if I hadn''t spoken for a long time.


    Wu Jian''s face showed a glimmer of joy and then all disappeared. He just put the whole pack of cigarette and lighter together in my outstretched hand.


    I sat down against the tree, clumsily open the cigarette pack, took one and lit it. I took a deep breath of smoke, letting all the smoke go into my body. I rarely smoked but this time I didn¡¯t cough. The smoke just brought me the tiny dizziness.


    I quickly finished one, and reached out and put out the cigarette on the ground. Then Wu Jian¡¯s hand stretched out a little, and then drew back. I knew he was worried that I would get the cigarettes again. Why was I smoking so much? It was already enough to see Lulu once, I didn''t expect anything more.


    Anyway, we had had the agreement of the next life, the agreement of next next life.


    Holding the tree house, I stood up and my body was trembling. Wu Jian hurriedly held me. I smiled and asked him, ¡°Is meal ready? I''m so hungry¡±.


    Wu Jian shouted at the inside. ThenXiao Lingdang quickly came out with a tray, on which there only was bowl, where there was more than half a bowl of porridge.


    ¡°There is no meat¡±, I asked with smile.


    Xiao Lingdang shook his head, with tears in his eyes. I knew that Lulu¡¯s death had hit them hard.


    ¡°You''ve been lying down for two days. Have some porridge, or the condition of your body will go bad¡±, Wu Jian served the porridge carefully and handed it over.


    I took it and had a sip. I had been lying for two days, which was what I didn''t expect.


    The temperature of the porridge was just right, and I could imagine how much it took them to keep the porridge at this temperature. Maybe it was not the first pot of porridge.


    I slowly finished the porridge. With the help of Wu Jian, I walked slowly into the room. Everyone in the room looked at me and said nothing, but I could clearly see the concern from their faces.


    I laughed, ¡°Don''t worry. I''m fine. What do we do next?¡±.


    Wu Jian said, ¡°Why don''t you take a rest?¡±.


    I shook my head, saying, ¡°No. I¡¯ve been lying down for two days¡±.


    Wu Jian nodded and put the bowl aside, ¡°We have talked with the old man. There is a place where we can get out in Pingshan, but that place is a little dangerous¡±.


    ¡°Well, what danger?¡±.


    ¡°It¡¯s a narrow path and many places are cliffs, but if we want to pass by, there is no problem. The trouble is that it¡¯s the nest of the very fierce beast and we can be attacked easily by the beast. Once attacked, we don¡¯t even have a place to hide¡±.


    ¡°Fierce beast?¡±, I was a little confused.


    Wu Jian pointed the monster that was lying on the ground, saying, ¡°This is the fierce beast. In any case, in addition to human beings, it is the beast¡±.


    I took a look at the monster that shook its head slightly on the ground, ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the long shirt man still come out? He should have became the normal people? ¡±.


    Wu Jian felt a little hopeless, ¡°He can''t get out of here as soon as he is controlled by it. What he can do is to leave here¡±.


    I nodded. Since there was only one way, then even it was the dragon pool or tiger hole, what we could only do was to break into.


    Because of my physical reason, everyone stayed in the tree house for another two days. When I was in good health, everyone was ready to set off. Huang Xiaolong had persuade his great-grandpa for a long time. Even so, the old man still was not willing to leave here and also said that he would boil a pot of soul nourishing soup. In a addition, the old man also told us not to go into the black passage, because it usually was connected to the Hades.


    I didn''t know how the old man knew that the black passage would lead to Hades. Moreover, I always felt that he had a lot of secrets that were unknown to us, such as soul nourishing soup or the black passage to Hades.


    After saying goodbye to the old man, we continue on our way. Along the way, because there was the long shirt man, we were still not attacked by any beast, which also gave us a lot of confidence in going through that path. If all the fierce beasts of the way could avoid us, in this way, then what''s the problem?


    Over a ridge, I could clearly see the distant path, which was indeed small enough, Hovering in the mountains, just like a thin silk thread.


    The long shirt man couldn¡¯t walked on the small path so he could only walk down the cliff, where were full of all kinds of fierce beasts. We couldn¡¯t go there, but the long shirt man, who was already a beast, are just suitable for going there.


    Perhaps there was some secret. The road taken by the long shirt man maybe was told by the old man privately, we just didn¡¯t know it.


    After biding a farewell and telling each other to be much more careful, we were divided into two groups and embarked on the journey respectively.


    Watching the giant figure of the long shirt man disappearing in the distance, I take back my eyes. Only Yan¡¯er was still looking and his face was full of worry. However, now, for me, the worry was extravagant ah.

 Chapter 116 Lost Clouds of the Underground Palace 1

    The path was on theone side of the mountain. On one side there was athe steep mountain wall, while on on the other was the cliff. While walking, there were stones rolleding down the cliffs from time to time, but they made no sound as they hit the ground and there was also no sound of these stones¡¯ falling on the ground.


    There was a thick fog below the cliff, which made it impossibleus unable to clearly see the situation below. Nevertheless, the constant sound of roaring bugs told melet me know that it was far from as calm as it seemed.


    ¡°Everybody must be very careful¡±, the forerunner, Wu Jian lowered his voice and said. We didn''t respond because the old man had said it was best to stay as quiet as possiblef you could make no sound here, didn¡¯t make a sound.


    But fortunately, none of us wereall of us are not ordinary people except for me. Walking on the cliff, they had no fear at all. I felt that my feet were still a little soft, but I was clearly influenced by the calm of my companions, I successfully dispelled my fear.


    We had a smooth journey along l the way. According to the words of the old man, we should have walked more than half the way by now, but at this time, we heard there was thea heavy sound of footsteps from the fog below the cliff. With each step,the sound of footsteps, I could clearly feel the path tremble of the path.


    In front of us, Wu Jian made a gesture and then everyone stopped moving. We slowly crouched down and tried to lean our bodies against the mountain wall as much as possible, silently waiting for the unknown future.


    The vibration was getting stronger and stronger and the thing below was moving closer and closer to us. The mist at the bottom of the cliff moved slowly, like boiling water. Whatever wasIn any case, the coming was definitely thing was absolutely not a smalll one.


    I feelt a little short of breath, but now I wasthe environment makes me afraid to breathe. So I just took a deep breaths as gently as I couldgain and again, and slowly adjusted my condition, since I didn¡¯t want to draw the attention of the fierce beast to usfor my own behaviour.


    Just as my heart began to pacify, a huge dark shadow sprang out of the mist, crossed me, and thrust its thick feet into the top of the mountain wall.


    Except for my right side and left side, I couldn''t see a single ray of light in front of me. Three meters away, right in front of my eyes, it was the belly of the beast, which not only covered all of us and but also reached acovered our distance of about 50 meters from left to right.


    The beast continued to climb, the rubble kept falling and fell on my head, and II bit my lips in fear that I might cry out. Besides, I was also very glad that I had seen the giant rock bigger than me fall into the cliff.


    The beast crawled fast, and afteronly for more than 10 seconds, it disappeared completely overhead., Bbut I still dared not look up because the old man had said that many beasts could find the eyes that were looking at themitself.


    The gravel kept falling and I didn''t dare to move. At thatis moment, I could only leave my life into God¡¯s hands. Fortunately, although all of us were in thisa mess, onlyand I, Huang Xiaolong, and Yan¡¯er, and I all were just injured by rubble, but nothing worse happened.


    Huang Xiaolong passed a bottle down from the front and I knew it was to cover up the smell of blood. Hence, when the bottle came to mey hand, I quickly poured thea small amount of water left in the bottle on my wound. , After thatthen, I only felt only a sharp pain, which made my face twist while and sweat constantly dripped down.


    The team had begaun to move. Enduring the severe pain, I just put the bottle on the path and kept up with everyone. Every step was hard, but I didn''t dare to stop. AllWhat I could do was secretly swearcolding in the heart, that why didn¡¯t the f**king old man tellhad never told me about the side effects of this medicine. However, I wasam afraid that if the old man really had told me that, I was not sure that I would have been ablecould really be ruthless to use this medicine.


    A platform appeared in the distance, even thoughif I was blockedcovered bywith the people in front of me, I could still see it. It was the end of theis small path. According to what the old man had said, theere was access to the underground palace was on the other side of that platform, and as long as we could get in thereit, we could leave this weird place.


    The long shirt man also arrived here. HisThe huge body was curled up byin the corner of the platform. T, the red carapace had a lot of cracks, it seemed very difficult along the way, but he was still safe and this was the most important thing.


    Wu Jian first stepped on the platform first and then he just collapsed on the platform. I was very envious, but I was the last one, so, I had to waitline up.


    Huang Xiaolong went up, Xiao Lingdang went up, Sister Hua, went up and all the rest of them went up the platform one by one.


    ThenNow, it was my turn. I stepped on the platform and my feet were just next to the platform, only to hear a few screams, and then I felt a huge force behind me and my whole bodyperson flew up, away from the platform quickly.


    I couldn''t see the scene behind me, but I could imagine what it mustwould be like behind me.


    The reaction of the long shirt man was also very quick. H and ethe curled his body, like a spring, and drew a red phantom straight behind me. T, and the wind made my face ache.


    There was a sudden terrible cry from behind and the power behind me suddenly disappeared. I suddenly lost my balancereliance and fell to the cliff like the rubble just now.


    A red figure returned from the distance and appearedcame directly under me. I only I felt my whole body crackked and then found myself lying on the head of the long shirt man, it is long people see me fall, quickly retracted the body. TIt originally was that the long shirt man had seensaw me falling down and then retracted quickly.


    On the platform, the innumerable wormlike feet of the long shirt man kept shaking, then his whole body was taken back as, and I was getting closer and closer to the platform. Just a few meters away from the platform, I felt , there was a tremendous force coming from beneath me, tossing my whole bodyperson to the platform.


    I severely fell on the platform with a thud. For a moment I couldn''t control myselfit any more and I cried out terriblygave out a terrible cry. Then Wu Jian came quickly and dragged me off the edge of the platform.


    ¡°Oh, no¡±, Yan¡¯er¡¯s mournfully roared.


    I looked up with great pain. I saw the long shirt man retreat quickly to catch me, completely ignoring the beast he had just attacked. He and was being bitten oin the neck while he was retreateding, which was also why he threw me out of the wayjust now.


    Yan¡¯er¡¯s screams awoke the beasts below the cliff, and countless roars echoed throughout the valley, but now no one had time to care about themit.


    EveryoneAll the people just looked at the long shirt man anxiously. The back of histhe body of long shirt man grippedgrabbed to the platform tightly and he didn¡¯t never dared relax. However, his neck had beenwas bitten so histhe upper body alone could not confront the attack of the beast that had bitten him.

 Chapter 117 Lost Clouds of the Underground Palace 2

    ¡°All the people must enter the passage¡±, Wu Jian made up his mind and quickly carried me on his back, running toward the passage. Yan¡¯er was unwilling to move and was finally dragged away by Sister Hua and a mysterious person.


    The long shirt man knew his situation was dire. After letting out a terrible noise, his whole lower body fell from the platform and he rolled away toward the beast whose body was still in the fog.


    The great power knocked the beast off the cliff along with the long shirt man.


    ¡°No!¡± Yan¡¯er¡¯s face was covered with tears, she rushed madly toward the cliff. At this moment, the mysterious man with Sister Hua suddenly raised his hands and hit Yan¡¯er¡¯s neck hard. Yan¡¯er¡¯s head immediately drooped as if she had become soft.


    When the rest of the group entered the passage, a huge triangular head appeared on the edge of the platform. It saw us hiding in the passageway and made a loud roar. The huge mouthpiece of the rickshaw, like a petal, split into four pieces, revealing a few tiny circles of teeth inside. A python-like tongue struck out about 7 or 8 meters, flying in the air.


    But as the old man had said, as soon as we entered the passageway, it would be safe. The fierce beast showed ferocity on the platform for a while and then slowly backed into the cliff.


    Wu Jian exhaled a loud sigh of relief and then helped me check my body. Luckily, most of my injuries were only skin deep. Although they looked serious, there was no damage to my bones. After a simple hemostasis and bandage, I was all right.


    Yan¡¯er was still unconscious. Wu Jian examined everyone in detail, and then sat on the outermost side of the passage, ¡°Let''s take a break here and wait for the long shirt man.¡±


    Everyone just nodded, although nobody knew whether the long shirt man would come back.


    After a simple meal, Yan¡¯er woke up and looked at us first. After discovering that the long shirt man wasn¡¯t there, she gave the mysterious man a hard look, got up and stumbled to go out.


    The mysterious man got up with the intention to stop her. Yan¡¯er stared at the mysterious man, without speaking, just staring. The mysterious man also pretended not to see her, standing there, without any intention to make way.


    Sister Hua stood up and walked between the two of them, saying, ¡°Yan¡¯er, don''t be impulsive. You can''t save the long shirt man, even if you go now. What¡¯s more, maybe you will put yourself in danger.¡±


    When Yan¡¯er looked towards Sister Hua and was about to speak, Sister Hua interrupted her by raising a hand, ¡°When the fair wind comes, we can all recover. At least, before the next fair wind comes, we can use our abilities and then we can save the long shirt man.¡±


    Time went by little by little and no one knew when the wind would come. Yan¡¯er looked very irritable, either sitting down or walking back and forth in the passage, as if her left and right hands seemed to be competing with each other.


    I also felt very sad in my heart because saving me caused the long shirt man¡¯s disappearance. Although no one said anything, I felt just like I was being pressed by a boulder, breathless.


    At this moment, I hoped I could just knock my head against the wall of the passageway and die. Then I could become a ghost to help the long shirt man.


    An undetectable breeze blew by, the bodies of Sister Hua, Yan¡¯er and the others blurred slightly and then recovered. Yan¡¯er was very happy and as she was about to head out right away, Sister Hua stopped her.


    ¡°Sister Hua, we have recovered¡±, her voice was loud and her tone was stiff.


    ¡°I know. We must go together¡±, Sister Hua nodded to Yan¡¯er.


    ¡°Where are we going together?¡± a faint voice sounded. All of us turned our heads and looked at the speaker. It was the long shirt man! Although he looked bleak, he did not seem to have any serious problems.


    Yan¡¯er stood still. Then she jumped on him, hugged him, and began to cry. The long shirt man reached out his hand out to stop Yan¡¯er, saying, ¡°I am Okay. I am very lucky. After the beast died, the fair wind came, blowing me straight to the platform. The old man didn''t tell us the truth. We can also recover on the platform.¡±


    I felt very glad and was secretly also very impressed by the luck of the long shirt man. Anyway, it was a good thing that we all didn¡¯t die. It really was a good thing.


    Yan¡¯er cried for a long time and the long shirt man''s hand stroked her back. Sister Hua coughed and we knew that we could set off. By this time, Yan¡¯er had woken up and pushed long shirt man away, with some tear stains still on her face, ¡°You are molesting me! Since you didn¡¯t die, let¡¯s go. You go first.¡±


    The long shirt man had no choice but to stand up, he smiled to me with embarrassment and then walked to the front. Wu Jian followed closely behind. Because I was hurt, Huang Xiaolong helped me walk behind the team. When Yan¡¯er passed us, I could clearly hear what she said.


    ¡°These men. Damn it. I let the long shirt man led the way. I never said I should go in the front. The long shirt man gets really hurt.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong and I looked at each other, revealing a bit of embarrassment. Ah, why do these women always say yes but mean no?


    This passage was no different from the one we went through last time, it was even the same size, except that there were no glowing bugs. I thought if I saw the glowing bugs again, I would refuse to enter the passage, even if I was beaten to death.


    I don''t know how long we walked. Then we came to a fork with three common passages, and there was a symbol above each fork. The symbols looked the same, but the colors were different, they were red, black and gold.


    ¡°The black one is the passage to Hades that Great-Grandpa mentioned.¡± Huang Xiaolong Helped me walk over there and address the people who stopped at the fork.


    Wu Jian nodded, ¡°It should be. But besides this, there are two others. Which way are we going?¡±


    ¡°Whatever.¡±, As Huang Xiaolong said this, he seemed very decisive. However, in my eyes, he wasn''t willing to take responsibility for his wrong choice.


    Wu Jian said, ¡°It¡¯s up to you. I made the wrong choice last time.¡±


    ¡°It''s not your fault¡±, the long shirt man was very generous and then took a look at the symbol above the passageway, saying, ¡°Why don¡¯t we choose the gold one. The red one looks a little bloody.¡±


    Everyone stayed silent and the long shirt man just shrugged, ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°OK¡±, Wu Jian agreed first.


    Huang Xiaolong didn¡¯t say anything. Sister Hua said some words to the mysterious man and then also agreed.


    With the long shirt man leading the way, we walked into the golden passageway.


    ¡°Somebody seems to have visited this passage not long ago¡±, the long shirt man said, pointing to the still visible footprints on the ground.


    Wu Jian used the only torch to show the footprint and then he seemed to find something else. He crouched down and looked carefully at the footprints on the ground.


    Huang Xiaolong and I also stepped forward and had a look at the footprints. We looked for a while but found nothing wrong.

 Chapter 118 Lost Clouds of the Underground Palace 3

    The long shirt man came over as well, looked at the footprints on the ground for a while and then looked at Wu Jian in doubt, asking, ¡°I don¡¯t see anything wrong.¡±


    ¡°Me, neither¡±, Huang Xiaolong followed to say.


    Wu Jian raised his head and looked at Huang Xiaolong, ¡°Don''t you see it yet?¡±


    Then he carefully looked again and I followed. I compared the size using my feet, but I still didn''t find anything.


    Wu Jian had no choice but to explain, ¡°The footprints are reversed.¡±


    I was stunned, so I reached out one foot out to compare it again. Seeing what I was doing, Wu Jian felt speechless and said to me, ¡°Put both your feet on them.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡±, I put both of my feet on the footprints and I finally saw the problem. The footprints on the ground were coming out step by step. However, every step was reversed. The left foot became the right foot and the right foot became the left foot, which was totally impossible. The left and right feet couldn¡¯t be reversed, whether a man walked backwards or forwards.


    Unless two people were walking at the same time, one had left footprints with his right foot and the other left footprints with his left foot. Of course, this was also impossible, because with two people walking, it would be impossible to keep consistent pace and span all the time.


    ¡°Fk? How did this happen?¡± Huang Xiaolong also saw the problem now.


    ¡°I don''t know, but I think we should consider a different path¡±, Wu Jian stood up and gestured towards the other passageways.


    The long shirt man nodded in agreement. After all, we couldn¡¯t fight with beasts any more. I''d rather leave at once if possible.


    Just when everyone agreed to change passageways and leave, suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps came from behind, directed towards us.


    ¡°What shall we do?¡± Wu Jian had a serious expression on his face.


    ¡°Just wait here. We have so many masters here and if he dares to make trouble, we could kill him¡±, Huang Xiaolong advised.


    I also nodded, ¡°If I go ahead, I will never know what danger could come. I¡¯d rather just wait here.¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Wu Jian nodded his head. So all of us stood to the side of the wall, silently waiting for the approach of the master of heavy steps.


    The sound of footsteps became clearer, but we didn''t feel very nervous, perhaps because there were a large number of us and most of our abilities had recovered.


    The sound of footsteps were approaching and Wu Jian used the torch, shining it into the dark, but there was nothing there at all. It also felt very strange that the sound of footsteps were now in front of us, but we could not see anything. Suddenly, my heart moved and I turned to Sister Hua, saying, ¡°Sister Hua, do you see anything?¡±


    ¡°Will there be an echo?¡± Huang Xiaolong was very puzzled.


    ¡°Impossible¡±, Wu Jian answered certainly. When the torch shined on the ground, I realized that the footprints on the ground had become clearer, as if someone had just walked by.


    Huang Xiaolong kicked the wall of the passage, complaining, ¡°Damn it! What a fking place!¡±


    ¡°Do you all still agree with changing passageways?¡± the long shirt man asked everyone.


    Wu Jian nodded, ¡°No, just this way.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Huang Xiaolong looked very surprised.


    Wu Jian smiled bitterly and then used the torch to shine behind us. Then I suddenly discovered that I didn''t know when the passageway behind us had disappeared. It had become a wall.


    ¡°Maybe this is an illusion¡±, Huang Xiaolong went over and tentatively touched it. Seeing his reaction, it had definitely become a wall.


    For a moment, the wall moved a little.


    ¡°¡±We have to set off¡±, Wu Jian said. Then the long shirt man also replied and began to lead the way.


    The speed of the walls moving was far slower than our speed. After a while, it turned back into a passageway. However, in everyone¡¯s heart, they could still never forget the strange scene.


    We went through the passageway and entered a large hall. It was almost completely empty without even pillars. There was only a round platform in the middle, not very high, no more than 10 centimeters. The top was covered with a dense indentation. It seems like a pattern, but the top was too big, and from our point of view, there was no way to tell.


    I looked up and found that the hall was so high that we could never see the top in the darkness. Therefore, I asked Wu Jian for the torch, but even with the help of the light, there was nothing above but blurry darkness.


    There was no passage in the hall and even the passage that we had just used to enter this hall would be blocked soon.


    ¡°What shall we do now?¡± Huang Xiaolong asked me.


    ¡°Who knows¡±, I felt a little depressed.


    The long shirt man looked back with a smile, saying, ¡°The ghost also didn¡¯t know.¡±


    Well, well, now he even had the mood to joke. I could say nothing.


    But there was no need for me to teach him. Yan¡¯er grabbed his arm but the long shirt man¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. It looked more like they were flirting.


    ¡°It seems that the problem is with this round platform¡±, Wu Jian was still looking at it professionally. I was bored walking around in the hall, then suddenly, I saw an oblique cylinder on a wall, so I asked Wu Jian to have a look.


    Wu Jian looked at it for a while, taking the torch and then he picked it up with his hand.


    Without a sound, the whole hall suddenly lit up. Not the kind of light from a torch, this light was more like the sun. There was nowhere that wasn¡¯t bright.


    The flash of light made me cover my eyes unconsciously. My eyes were burning with pain. We had stayed in the dark for such a long time and no one could adapt to such sudden light.


    After a long time I recovered, only to see something was still a little blurred.


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s cursed, then suddenly stopped and it finally turned into a cry of surprise. I hastened to look over and found that there was an extremely illusory coffin in the middle of the round platform. The coffin was so small that only a baby could fit inside. The entire coffin, just like clear crystal, reflected the light.


    ¡°What? A crystal coffin?¡± Sister Hua gave a cry of surprise.


    I saw that Sister Hua seemed to know something and asked her at once, but she just shook her head, replying, ¡°I occasionally listen to a regular guest in the ghost building, but I don¡¯t know the details.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can open it and have a look¡±, Huang Xiaolong suggested.


    Yan¡¯er disagreed, saying, ¡°If anyone opened my coffin, I would kill them.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong was a little unhappy and didn¡¯t say another word.


    Wu Jian was very bold and approached the crystal coffin, carefully looking at it, ¡°There is a body in it. I don''t recommend opening it.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Huang Xiaolong went over curiously. I stayed where I was. No matter how big of a heart I had, after this series of terrible things, I would instinctively remain vigilant.


    Everyone started looking for a way out of the hall. I sat down for a rest because I was hurt, and Xiao Lingdang stayed with me. It seemed it had been a long time since I talked to her.


    So I searched for a conversation topic, ¡°Xiao Lingdang, what do you think is in the crystal coffin?¡±


    She looked at me doubtfully, ¡°A body, what else can it be?¡±


    I nodded, ¡°That''s not necessarily true. Many people are afraid that others will touch their body after their death, so they make fake coffins and just put jewelry, gold, and silver in them, hoping that those grave thieves will leave when they take the treasure and will not disturb their long-sleep.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang said innocently, ¡°We are not grave thieves.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that we are grave thieves. I mean I guess that maybe the crystal coffin could be filled with gold, silver and jewelry.¡±


    ¡°So what? We can¡¯t use those things.¡±

 Chapter 119 Lost Clouds of the Underground Palace 4

    I just looked at him without a word. Then I pulled Xiao Lingdang away from the crystal coffin. However, Huang Xiaolong didn¡¯t follow us. He just carefully observed the coffin. I estimated that maybe he wanted to see whether he could see anything of value in the crystal coffin through the translucent crystal wall.


    The search for the exit had proved useless so far and Wu Jian rubbed the sweat on his forehead, walked up to us, and looked at Huang Xiaolong, asking, ¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡±


    ¡°Maybe he is searching for some treasure¡±, I said casually. Then I gave my canteen to Wu Jian, there was only a little water left. He just shook his head and refused, and then looked at the long shirt man and Yan¡¯er who were still looking for a way out.


    At this moment, a loud "Click" sound was heard. I was shocked and wanted to know where the sound had come from. Then I noticed Huang Xiaolong retreating a few meters away from the crystal coffin with an innocent expression on his face.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Wu Jian stepped forward and looked at Huang Xiaolong. After finding he was not hurt, he turned his eyes to the crystal coffin again.


    I let Xiao Lingdang hold onto me and we walked over slowly, only to find that the lid of the crystal coffin had been misplaced, exposing an arm-sized crevice, but the height of the crystal coffin made it impossible for me to see clearly through the crevice.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± Wu Jian frowned, asking him.


    Huang Xiaolong looked innocent, ¡°I...I did nothing.¡±


    Instead of blaming him, Wu Jian took a few steps forward to try to find out what was going on in the crystal coffin.


    Huang Xiaolong also craned his neck and walked slowly toward the coffin, as though he didn¡¯t want to lose the chance to find treasure.


    Meanwhile, the mysterious man and the long shirt man followed and stood to the side of Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong, forming a protective posture.


    Wu Jian carefully poked his head over. When he stretched his head and took a look, his whole body seemed as if he was petrified, without any other reaction or action.


    Huang Xiaolong waited for a while and continued calling Wu Jian. However, he seemed to turn a deaf ear. Huang Xiaolong was very anxious and when he was about to go over to have a look, the mysterious man suddenly floated before Huang Xiaolong and stopped him. He gestured to wait, immediately turning into black smoke and floating directly to the top of the crevice of the crystal coffin.


    Then, the mysterious man slowly took human form in mid-air. First his head, then his body and limbs. But at the time of illusion, the mysterious man''s eyes had not leave that crevice.


    The long shirt man walked to Sister Hua, saying, ¡°Sister Hua?¡±


    Sister Hua just shook her head, interrupting his words, saying, ¡°If even he can, then... ¡±


    Before she finished her words, the long shirt man just nodded his head.


    I knew that what Sister Hua was saying was although the mysterious man did not have any sense of existence, his strength was above hers. The mysterious man was the most powerful one among us.


    But who on earth was the mysterious man? Judging from the long shirt man¡¯s reaction, he must know. But the name of the mysterious man had never been mentioned in conversations between Sister Hua and the long shirt man, so I didn¡¯t know either.


    ¡°Sister Hua, what can we do?¡± Yan¡¯er said what everyone was thinking.


    ¡°Be careful and don¡¯t forget the strange footprints and the sound of those footsteps¡± Sister Hua said, ¡°As for this crystal coffin, all of you should stay away from it.¡±


    When everyone nodded, I also reacted. I¡¯d almost forgotten about the strange footprints and the sound of footsteps. It would be better, if the footprints were from the crystal coffin. If they weren¡¯t, then we might have an enemy.


    As time went by, Sister Hua began to study the crystal coffin with Yan¡¯er and the long shirt man. Huang Xiaolong also listened to what they were talking about. Xiao Lingdang and I were responsible for observing any abnormal conditions. Everyone seemed to be very impatient.


    ¡°Why don''t we just blow up this damn coffin?¡± Huang Xiaolong was a little impatient and looked at Wu Jian who still hadn¡¯t moved. He was very worried.


    Originally I thought it was a bad idea, but Sister Hua nodded her head, ¡°We have to try. Be careful.¡±


    When Huang Xiaolong nodded and was about to take off his coat, the long shirt man stopped him and said, ¡°Sister Hua, let me do it.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong looked at Sister Hua and she nodded slowly. He then walked to the side with a depressed expression. I was also relieved though. Huang Xiaolong did have a good amount of power to kill evil, but he wasn¡¯t good at wielding it. I was very worried that he would blow off Wu Jian¡¯s head or seriously injure the mysterious man.


    The long shirt man stretched his hands forward with his palms turned upward, as if he were carrying something heavy. Then, thick black smoke flew from his body, it flew directly over his palms and slowly revolved. With the addition of the black smoke, the black sphere in his hands slowly grew bigger and finally became about half the size of his body.


    The black smoke stopped floating from the body of long shirt man and when I thought he was about to make a big move, he suddenly hummed and squeezed his hands inward. Seeing his posture, I thought it must be very laborious.


    The giant black smoke sphere was being slowly squeezed down by him. The color was also gradually getting darker. Eventually, you couldn¡¯t tell that it was made of smoke. Finally, it changed completely into a substantial black ball. Now it was very small, about the size of a Ping-Pong ball.


    The long shirt man¡¯s body became dark and his hands were trembling. It seemed that this was not easy for him.


    However, at this moment, he didn¡¯t let it out quickly. Instead, he looked at Sister Hua. Then Sister Hua waved her hand in front of Wu Jian and the mysterious man, where a translucent thin red film was formed. In the film, there were a few peonies quietly blooming.


    Sister Hua nodded to the long shirt man and then he cried out loudly, while his two hands pushed forward. The black smoke ball instantly became a meteor, surrounded by black light and racing through the gap left by Sister Hua deliberately. Finally, it hit the edge of the crystal coffin.


    ¡°Bang!¡± a loud sound resounded. The black ball, like a bubble blown by a child, had burst.


    It was so... I didn''t know whether to say that the crystal coffin was strong or that the strength of long shirt man was false. The final result of the black ball seemed a little unacceptable to me.


    I looked at Sister Hua but found she was looking at the crystal coffin seriously, with the same concentration as before. The film covering Wu Jian and the mysterious man didn''t disappear. Instead, there were countless peonies blooming, one after another, striving to be the first. It seemed that they couldn¡¯t bloom a little later.

 Chapter 120 Lost Clouds of the Underground Palace 5

    As expected, the attack was not yet over.


    I stared at the crystal coffin, waiting to see the effect of the long shirt man¡¯s attack.


    After a few moments, a few tiny black spots appeared where the sarcophagus was hit and the black spots were expanding fast.


    I didn''t know what kind of attack he had used, so I watched what was happening carefully.


    As the black spots expanded, they gradually joined and became one piece. At this moment, the crystal coffin seemed to have a reaction. A tendril of white smoke came out of the open crevice and floated slowly to the black spots.


    As soon as the white smoke touched the black spot, it was like a drop of water dripped into boiling oil, making a loud sizzling sound. After the sound, the black spots disappeared in the places shrouded in white smoke.


    But it was only a moment before the black spots extended back to where they had been. The white smoke kept coming out, it seemed that after a short period of time, there would be a seesaw battle with the black spots in that small area.


    The long shirt man suddenly spoke, ¡°Sister Hua, do you think that white smoke looks like ghost Qi?¡±


    Sister Hua observed it carefully and said, ¡°It really looks like it. But it''s a little different and I''ve never seen anything quite like it before.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t understand what Sister Hua and the long shirt man were talking about, so I didn¡¯t say a single word. However, Huang Xiaolong was a dabbler. He followed Sister Hua, observed for a while and finally said, ¡°This gas. I think I''ve seen it somewhere.¡±


    Everyone looked at Huang Xiaolong but he didn¡¯t care. He focused his attention on the white smoke that came out of the crystal coffin, frowning and acting as if he were thinking hard.


    He stood there thinking for a long time. I focused my attention back on Sister Hua and the others.


    ¡°Obsession¡±, Huang Xiaolong screamed with joy, startling me.


    ¡°Obsession?¡± Sister Hua repeated after him, then she suddenly seemed to understand and said, ¡°There is a kind of obsession mixed with the ghost Qi. It¡¯s so weird.¡±


    I touched Xiao Lingdang who stood beside me, saying, ¡°Is it weird that the man who died by cause of injustice has an obsession?¡±


    Xiao Lingdang just rolled her eyes at me, saying, ¡°Didn''t I tell you? A ghost who has an obsession is an obsession ghost and those who have ghost Qi are true ghosts. If someone has both of them when they die, they are a corresponding ghost.¡±


    I seemed to get what she was saying, but not entirely, so I just nodded and said, ¡°It''s still not unusual to have both.¡±


    I thought about it for a while, but I still couldn¡¯t understand her words. Then I acted as if I were very curious about this, just like a curious baby.


    Then Xiao Lingdang sighed and said to me, ¡°For example, if you die unjustly and hate the one who killed you but, meanwhile, you¡¯re also sad to leave your family.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°So, then you want to get rid of your grievances, but why do you want to do it? Because you want to be with your family. At this time, you would become an obsession ghost because your deepest thought at that moment is that you loath to leave your family. Then the ghost Qi in your body disappears and this is the reason there are few real ghosts. The fact is that most people want to get rid of their grievances in the hopes of getting something else, such as family love and so on, rarely do they simply want to avenge their grievances. If sister Lulu hadn''t taken the oath, maybe she would not have become a ghost, and her purpose for redressing the injustice was simply to avenge, which would only turn her into a grievance ghost.¡±


    When she mentioned Lulu, I suddenly felt sad. Maybe Xiao Lingdang had also discovered that she had inadvertently mentioned Lulu, so she quickly continue talking about the original topic.


    ¡°Conversely, if you think you can¡¯t leave your family, but you also want to get rid of your grievances, you do it because you love your family. So, finally, you still become an obsession ghost.¡±


    ¡°Whether an obsession ghost, true ghost or other ghost, as long as you choose one, the other emotions will become the ghost emotion of the ghost you will become.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang had said a lot without any explanations, but I thought maybe I got it. To put it bluntly, the emotion as you are dying dominates.


    As I talked with Xiao Lingdang, the communication between Sister Hua and others had never stopped. However, what they were talking about wasn¡¯t as superficial as our conversation. They were talking about the reason for the coexistence of two emotions.


    Here, there were two strong emotions at the same time, which was agreed upon by Sister Hua and the others, because only in this way could the current situation be explained clearly.


    Nonetheless, they still couldn¡¯t agree on how to deal with this complicated ghost emotion.


    relatively speaking, ghost Qi was protected. So, before revenge, the ghost had an existence of immortality, because the entanglement of cause and effect will make an evil ghost receive a supplement of ghost Qi. Of course, it also depended on the ghosts themselves. If they had given up revenge, then the cause and effect would be removed, naturally there would be no more supplement for the ghost Qi.


    But obsession was totally different. It was when someone was not willing to give up on some things, such as a lover, child, or even a plaything. The obsession emotion originated from the obsession. The deeper the obsession, the heavier the obsession emotion became. Then a must-have idea would emerge and it was this idea that made the obsession aggressive.


    If the ghost Qi was a shield, the obsession would be a spear. What we were dealing with now was an armed ghost.


    According to Huang Xiaolong''s idea, we could crush the crystal coffin and break it with violence. However, who would be crushed in the end? Nobody knew.


    The long shirt man¡¯s idea was very simple. He suggested finding what on earth the ghost¡¯s obsession was. This ghost had this obsession because it couldn¡¯t get what it wanted. Once it got it, the obsession would disappear. After that, ghost Qi would burst out and it would become a true ghost. Then it would complain or revenge, instead of fighting against us. Of course, the premise was that the other side didn¡¯t have the time or energy to care about us.


    Sister Hua¡¯s idea was a little similar to the long shirt man¡¯s. However, the opposite was true. It was to break the other side¡¯s ghost Qi, leaving just the obsession. Because the obsession would make the obsession ghost completely ignore our existence.


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s idea was rejected first because controlling Wu Jian was very easy. But even the mysterious man was being controlled, which meant that neither Sister Hua nor the long shirt man could affect the strength of the other side.


    But both Sister Hua and the long shirt man couldn¡¯t convince each other.


    After Huang Xiaolong¡¯s idea was rejected by Sister Hua, she directly supported the long shirt man, and Yan¡¯er¡¯s attitude was also very clear. She naturally supported Sister Hua. As for me, I knew nothing, so I didn¡¯t have a say in this matter.


    ¡°Xiao Lingdang, which idea do you think is better?¡± Since I was being ignored, I asked Xiao Lingdang, who was also being ignored.


    ¡°Sister Hua, unless we have some action for its obsession, the ghost will never care about us, even if we attack it. Maybe it won¡¯t even fight back, so we are very safe.¡±


    I just nodded indifferently, ¡°What about the ghost? The long shirt man says the ghost also won¡¯t attack us.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang thought for a while and said, ¡°That''s not necessarily true. Well, some ghosts will also attack people, even actively sometimes. Sister Hua¡¯s idea is better. All obsession ghosts are very stupid.

 Chapter 121: Lost Clouds of the Underground Palace 6

    I took a look at the mysterious man and Wu Jian. They were still in the same position. Nothing had changed. Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I realized that Wu Jian''s face was reflecting a faint light.


    I hurriedly took a closer look. Sure enough, it was not an illusion. I stepped forward a few steps only to find that the shine was from his sweat.


    That doesn¡¯t seem good¡­


    I turned around and yelled to get everyone''s attention. ¡°Stop talking! Their situation doesn¡¯t seem great,¡± I shouted.


    As soon as they heard me speak, everyone stopped arguing and came forward to see the sweat on Wu Jian''s face. Sister Hua anxiously walked to the mysterious man¡¯s and just kept looking at him. She dared not look in the crystal coffin or even take a glance at it.


    Sister Hua gently lifted mysterious man¡¯s veil. After the veil was lifted, the mysterious man trembled slightly and a faint female voice said, ¡°Illusion. Find its obsession.¡±


    ¡°You woke up!¡± Sister Hua cried happily, but then the mysterious man had become like a woodcarving again and no longer gave even the slightest reaction.


    ¡°Illusion. Find its obsession,¡± Sister Hua repeated the mysterious man¡¯s words in a low voice.


    I thought about them carefully. ¡°Is it possible that they are helping the ghost find the obsession in an illusion?¡± I asked.


    Huang Xiaolong just shook his head slightly, and said with a hint of uncertainty, ¡°If the obsession is in the illusion ghost creates, wouldn''t it be easy for him to get it?¡±


    Sister Hua shook her head. ¡°Not necessarily. I''ve seen an obsession ghost once. His obsession was in his illusion, but because he was in his illusion, he was never able to get it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± I said, looking at her quizzically.


    Then Sister Hua laughed and said, ¡°The obsession existed because he couldn¡¯t get something. He believed that he couldn¡¯t get it in his mind, so how could he then get it inside his own illusion?¡±


    I nodded to show that I was thinking. Maybe what Sister Hua said was right. If you couldn''t believe in yourself, how could you get what you wanted, especially from your own mind?


    ¡°S??o what do we do now?¡± I asked.


    Sister Hua thought silently for a moment and then replied, ¡°The best way is for us to get into his illusion, too. Whether it is to find his obsession or break his resentment, it¡¯ll be very easy. After all, that''s the only way we can know what''s going on with him. But...¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°But if we can''t solve it, we''ll get stuck in the illusion and we may never get out again,¡± Sister Hua said hesitantly.


    I nodded and asked the long shirt man what he thought. This time, he agreed with Sister Hua. Everyone had searched the whole hall countless times. There was obviously no place to get out.


    ¡°OK. That¡¯s settled,¡± I said firmly, ¡°I¡¯ll be the first one.¡±


    Since the decision had been made, there was no difference between who was first and who was last. However, I was stopped by Sister Hua, because she thought that once I entered the illusion, I wouldn¡¯t have the ability to protect myself. Therefore, I went ahead in middle place.


    Sister Hua went first. She walked over and looked at the crevice of the crystal coffin. Then she appeared just like Wu Jian and the mysterious man, standing without any reaction. Next was the long shirt man and then me.


    Although I¡¯d made the decision to go ahead, I was still very nervous when it was my turn. After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, I walked slowly towards the crystal coffin.


    White fog was still overflowing from the coffin, slowly melting away all the remaining black spots. I estimated that in less than half an hour, the long shirt man¡¯s great skill would be cleared away completely. However, it took the white fog a long time to erase the other black spots. It seemed that although its ability was more powerful than the long shirt man¡¯s, it was still not extremely powerful, which gave me a lot of comfort.


    When I came to the crystal coffin, I first looked around at all the people who were motionless. Then I took a deep breath, made a motion as if I was about to dive, and looked down at the crevice of the crystal coffin.


    I was completely astonished, because beneath the crack was a magnificent complex of ancient buildings. The crystal coffin was like a television in which I could even see the hallway of the buildings and the people walking through them. However, the crevice was too small to see the entirety of the ancient buildings. When I about to tell Yan¡¯er about what I was seeing, my vision suddenly went dark.


    After dealing with a dizzy head for a few moments, I found that I was standing next to a huge city wall with a huge gate nearly 6 meters wide. Innumerable people, dressed in coarse cloth, were passing through the gates. I was disoriented by the loud noises all around me.


    I looked down subconsciously and found that I was still wearing my normal clothes, but nobody paid attention to me. I tried to greet an old man who was less than one meter away. However, the old man did not react and continued to count the copper cash in his hand as if I did not exist at all.


    I took a long breath. I got the impression that I traveled to another era.


    I looked around but couldn¡¯t even see Sister Hua, let alone Wu Jian. Since no one could see or hear me, I began to loudly shout for Sister Hua and Wu Jian, but even though I shouted until my throat grew sore, I didn¡¯t get any response.


    How strange! I realized that everyone must have appeared in different places. Otherwise, after such a long time, Yan¡¯er and Xiao Lingdang should have appeared where I was.


    After thinking about this for a while, I slowly walked through the gates along with the flow of people.


    The guards of the gates were searching the people entering the city, but they couldn¡¯t see me so I walked through easily. When I passed the guards, I curiously pulled on their clothing that looked like leather armor. However, the reaction was not what I expected.


    My hand didn''t go straight through the guard¡¯s clothing. It actually made contact with the cloth. I felt its texture on my fingers, and to my horror, the guard seemed to feel my movements. First, he looked towards me strangely, then he muttered and began to straighten his clothing.


    I was totally scared. I stood frozen and didn''t dare to move until I was certain that the guard couldn¡¯t suddenly see me.


    I was so nervous that my heart pounded and my whole body felt soft.


    Was this the illusion? Where was I between illusion and reality?


    While I was thinking about this, I suddenly felt a huge force hit my shoulder, almost knocking me to the ground.

 Chapter 122 Obsession in Ancient City 1

    ¡°What are you doing!¡±


    I was startled and hastened to see that a guard was holding the handle in one hand, staring at a middle-aged man, and that middle-aged man was crying and explaining, ¡°Dear, dear monsignor, I think I hit something.¡±


    The guard just looked at the place where I was standing, then kicked the middle-aged man on his body, which made the middle-aged man feel so painful that he cried out again.


    ¡°There is nothing! I tell you do not trouble me¡±, the guard ferociously taught the middle-aged man and he had to keep nodding his head.


    I dared not stay at the gate of the city any more. I watch out for avoiding the crowd, then found a corner where there was no one and sat on a stone, panting hardly. This illusion was a little strange. The people here couldn''t see me or hear me, but they could touch me, and all the things and people here seemed so real.


    It was really just a illusion that made people have the hallucination? I was a little skeptical of the mysterious man''s words. In my eyes, this place was the same as Pingshan. and was a real place. Perhaps this wasn''t the same space as the real world.


    I walked aimlessly on the street and always watched around. This was different from the normal situation. In general, I would hide from others, but others would also hide from me. However, in this place, I could only take the initiative to avoid others, but they would not hide from me.


    In such just a few hundred meters of walk, I had been hit twice. One was a kid who suddenly ran out, and the other was a man walking behind me suddenly accelerated.


    Of course, it caused a little confusion every time, but because I walked very fast, people were surprised for a short time, and fortunately I had never caused any big impact.


    It was just, it was very tiring to walk like this. There were a lot of people in this city. As far as my eyes could see, housed were everywhere. Then I thought of the city scale that I just saw in the crevice of the crystal coffin and couldn¡¯t help feeling a little discouraged. In such a big place, where shall I find Wu Jian and other people, and where shall I find the ghost and his obsession?


    I went to the tallest building, hoping to find other people in the place where almost half of the city could be seen by me, and perhaps I could leave some information on it, after all, it was the most obvious building.


    However, as I moved forward, I gradually felt more and more despair that towering building was still far away from me. Besides, there was a red wall in front of me, with no side on either side, and I thought it was a little too high. I just used my body to compare with that red wall, only to find it was very high. I didn¡¯t know exactly how high it was and I could just estimate it in my heart, at least more than ten meters.


    It was just that this wall completely messed up my plans. Therefore, I had no choice but to walk along the wall, hoping I could find something, and no one else could see me anyway.


    Nonetheless, it was still very strange that all the buildings were at a distance from this wall, and when I got here, I saw a lot less people. Was there a monster locked up inside this wall?


    No! I despised the strange thoughts in my heart and then understood in general that inside the wall was supposed to be a palace or a house of royal families.


    After a long walk, there was still no change on the wall. On the left were noisy streets and houses, while on the right there was no sound on the high wall, which made me feel very strange.


    My stomach was growling and then I stopped. It''s been a long time since we left Pingshan, and after that I had never eaten anything. In fact, I felt hungry when I was still in the hall, but I was not obviously hungry, so I didn''t care about it, but now I really couldn¡¯t bear it.


    Having taken a look of the wall that spread to the end of sight, I gave up continuing walking and then directly walked towards the street.


    Backing to the noisy street, I was immediately attracted by the street stalls and restaurants. I felt more hungry, with my laryngeal node rolling up and down. Then I hesitated for a while and headed straight to that biggest restaurant.


    They couldn''t even see me anyway, so why did I wronged myself? I thought I should choose a position where the dish had just been served, sit down and begin to eat, but I just didn''t know if those people think of me as a ghost and be scared to death.


    When I thought of it, I couldn¡¯t help laughing and waving my fist. Then, without noticing, I hit into someone.


    ¡°Oh¡±, a clear female voice sounded. I just saw a woman, about 17 years old, in a long green dress with a gauze on her face, sitting on the ground, with a painful expression on her face. She just used her hands to cover her chest, and then maybe she thought it seemed very indecent, so she put her hands down immediately. Perhaps she still felt very painful and held her hand in the midair, as if she still wanted to knead her chest, but also dared not.


    I recalled the soft touch when I was waving my fist, and immediately felt embarrassed about my unintentional behaviour to her. Just she couldn''t see me, so there was no use apologizing to her. To be honest, I suddenly felt a little curious about her face covered by her veil.


    I suddenly remembered when I used to read a novel, there was always a classic scene, and it was that a woman¡¯s face worn a thin veil and she would marry the man who uncovered her thin veil. Of course, the veil finally was uncover unintentionally mostly by the leading role of the novel.


    ¡°Miss! Miss!¡±, a panicked voice is getting closer and closer. A 15 or 16-year-old girl was running over, then, regardless of the dust on the ground, knelt on the ground and held her young lady.


    The woman frowned slightly, looking around in a strange way and her eyes, which were exposed to outside, showed a blank look. Then she let the little girl pick herself up, slowly left, and walked into a well-made carriage.


    I didn''t pay much attention either, and then my eyes began to look around the restaurant. It might not be time for meal, and few people were on the first floor. Besides, most of them were chatting with each, leaving a bit of leftover soup.


    I had no choice but to walk up the second floor, only to find that it was a lot brighter the second floor and its decoration was more luxury than downstairs, but people were still the same, not many, and most them had almost finished the meal.


    I looked at the stair to the third floor. Seen from the entrance of the stair, on the third floor was supposed to be the private room. There was handsome boy standing at door of each room and they looked like the waiter.


    In general, the food on the third floor should be very delicious and served very slowly. Those rich men usually was bravo and liked to chat while drinking, so it would be really a little weird if someone ate very fast.


    I went up the stairs to the third floor with my last hope.


    In the middle of the walk, I saw a playboy with a slightly red face walking downstairs with the help of a man, maybe his servant. While going downstairs, he still chattered without stop, ¡°We go to the Zuixian restaurant later and I''d like to see just how pretty that little girl is, hey hey.¡±


    I frowned, not because of what he had said, but because the stairs were not wide, he even walked side by side with man in the middle of the stairs and there was not enough space left on either side to let me walk through.

 Chapter 123 Obsession in Ancient City 2

    The sudden hit made me give a cry of pain, covering my head with my hands. That playboy was still very drunk, with the blurred eyes, shaking his hands, and it seemed that he was looking at what he hit just now.


    I was very angry and just pushed hard that playboy. Then he rolled straight down the stairs with his servant, breaking their heads with blood.


    I walked a few steps up the third floor, and I was just standing in the corner of one side, when I heard a few screams from the second floor. Then doors of private room on the third floor were almost all opened, and a lot of people came out and looked at the two men, pointing at them while talking with each other.


    Not far away from me, the door of one private room also was opened and a few drunken playboys came out, and all of them looked very sane. One of these playboys, who worn a green robe with a big peony on it, just stood at the staircase, having a look, and then he suddenly yelled.


    ¡°Brother Wang.¡± Then he hurried downstairs, and the men who followed him were a little stunned and also followed downstairs.


    Alas, it was sure enough that once a man lose the restraint, he would release the devil in his heart. I despised my behavior and quickly enter the nearest room, which exactly was the room of that brother Wang.


    I could see that these people were very rich, because the table was full of dishes, and there were plenty left, and I could even see some dishes were still untouched.


    What a waste! I couldn¡¯t help swallowing a bit of saliva.


    ¡°It¡¯s really unlucky and severe that Wang Hai falls down stairs.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    The sound of conversation came out of the door and it was getting closer and closer. At this moment, the door was opened suddenly, then two playboys came in, talking with each other, and sat in their seats.


    ¡°There¡¯s just two of us, so we need a good drinking.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, today, we can¡¯t go home if we are not drunk.¡±


    Then the two people begun to drink and chat, and even considerately ordered the waiter to change a table of dishes that went with liquor.


    I found a place and sat down, awaiting the waiter serving the dishes. To be honest, I would also love to see the two playboys¡¯ looks when they were scared by me later.


    ¡°Brother Chen, please.¡± The taller playboy toasted to the shorter one.


    The shorter playboy quickly said, ¡°No, no, no.¡± Then he took up his glass, touched glasses with the taller one, and drank it off.


    ¡°I have heard something happened in the Imperial City. I don''t know if brother Chen, you have heard about it¡±, the taller playboy said.


    The taller one repeatedly agreed with him, ¡°Yeah. Yeah. I don¡¯t know what she said. She even make an oath, talking about a bolt from the blue, or something else. That¡¯s so ridiculous.¡±


    The shorter one smiled mysteriously and said, ¡°This is not totally ridiculous, because a lot of strange things do happen in the imperial harem after the her death. Therefore, there is one thing that Immortal Li¡¯s going into the imperial harem.¡±


    Then taller playboy was very surprised, ¡°Doesn¡¯t he go to the palace to pray for the Queen?¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey.¡± Then the shorter one said in a mysterious way intentionally, ¡°In fact, you don¡¯t know the truth.¡±


    ¡°I naturally know that you¡¯re well-informed. Please tell to let me widen my horizon.¡±


    After he awaited the waiter to have served the dishes and ordered him not to enter this room, then he begun to said slowly, ¡°You don''t know that on the night of her death, many concubines and eunuchs said that they had seen the dead prince and the dead maidservant were in the back garden, the lowly concubine was teaching the prince. In the next day, the Queen directly sentenced three or four concubines and eunuchs to the stick penalty. All of them were killed in the end and then no one had talked about this matter again. Although everyone thought it was be all right, nobody had expected that the emperor saw it, too. He saw that they two were crying for justice in the Imperial Study, which frightened the emperor seriously. It''s been like this for days. No matter how many people were here, they two still kneeling in the Imperial Study on time. You think about it. When this happened, the emperor couldn''t stand it, either. Accordingly, in the name of the Queen, the emperor had to call Immortal Li into the palace.¡±


    When the taller playboy heard this, he was obviously more interested about it, then asked, ¡°Then?¡±


    ¡°Immortal Li¡¯s way is not of the common sort. He just suppressed the dead mother and son directly in a dead well in the palace.¡±


    Then the taller one didn¡¯t understand and said, ¡°Why not just destroy? Just suppress in the palace instead?¡±


    The shorter playboy looked at the taller one as if he was looking at an idiot, saying, ¡°That¡¯s the prince and the concubine!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also right.¡±


    When I heard the words of the two playboy, my heart couldn¡¯t help but move beat. I asked myself that were they the concubine and the prince? The crystal coffin was so small that it just looked suitable for children. Was that the prince?


    I thought about this possibility in silence, but just reached out my hand and took a chicken leg from the roast chicken, until it was close to my mouth, I reacted.


    The two playboys were looking at the chicken leg floating in the air, with their throat rolling up and down quickly.


    I took that chicken leg and didn¡¯t know whether to put it down or to continue to eat for a time. I thought for a while and directly took a big bite of the chicken leg.


    Then both the two playboys just knelt down on the ground and their bodies stopped shaking, as if they were suffering from malaria. The shorter playboy even kept kowtowing, shouting, ¡°Your Highness, concubine, please forgive me. Your Highness, Prince, please forgive me.¡±


    Well, both of them regarded me as the people of the story they were talking about. But I also secretly remembered the names of concubine and the second prince. Although this was not necessarily related to them, from now on, they were extremely suspect.


    Ignoring the two playboys who knelt on the ground and sued for mercy, I just gulped down all the food. Until I felt full, I got up and pushed the door, and in the moment I opened the door, I heard two loud gasps.


    When I was full, I did not run around anymore. I just went straight to the palace along the most spacious road.


    Unfortunately, the gate of the palace are closed. There were many guards going on patrol, but they could never see me. Only the gate was closed, so I had no way to get in.


    I found a stone by the gate and sat on top of it, awaiting the door to open. Fortunately, I didn''t wait for so long. After a few men in official clothes took out a golden token and the door was opened slowly, so I hurried to follow them in.


    Since I didn¡¯t know the way, I had to follow these officials. These officials were supposed to go to see the emperor and I had never seen the emperor yet since I was born, and I only saw the emperor Pu Yi in the photo.


    After following these officials to walk around, I lost my sense of direction and didn''t know where I was. There were imperial guards and eunuchs everywhere and I had never seen one maid.


    It was not interesting. I originally would like to see some beautiful women in the palace.


    These officials came to a hall, stopped and handed a wooden box to an eunuch and stood still, maybe waiting for the emperor to call, and the eunuch, holding the wooden box, went to the hall, and then I hurried to follow him.


    The hall was very bright. Even if there was oil lamp or candle, I could still see everything clearly. However, it was strange that the person sitting on the palace seat was not the emperor I imagined, but a woman about 40 years old.


    The woman was very gorgeous, but she was very thin, which was very uncoordinated with the fancy clothes.


    The eunuch knelt on the ground, holding up the wooden box, and said in a strange tone, as if he was reciting, ¡°Queen, the thing had been brought here.¡±


    The Queen, who had a thin face and towering cheekbone, waved her skeleton-like hands, saying, ¡°Open it.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±, the eunuch gave a reply, then put the box on the ground and opened it.


    I stepped forward curiously, and after I saw it, I quickly took a few steps back and even almost vomited.


    There was a human head in the wooden box, and it was still a human head that had not been dealt with, with the look seen clearly. It was a teenager in his tens. The head was rotten, smelly, with a fist-sized hole in the face, and there were maggots crawling about.


    I retched and when I decided to have a look of it again, I found the Queen had left the seat and walked in front of the box. It seemed that she couldn''t smell that horrible corpse at all. She just looked at the head in the wooden box, less than half a meter apart.


    Then, the queen stooped and reached out to take out the head in the wooden box. She raised the head in front of her, and just looked at it, which gave everyone a feeling that she was very fond of it, just like that a little girl was looking at a doll.


    Fk! I couldn¡¯t stand this any more. This was so freaky. I hastened out of the hall, worrying that If I saw this scene again for a while, I would vomit.


    ¡°Tonight, I will sleep with you.¡± The queen''s voice sounded. I couldn¡¯t help but turn around and thought did the queen and eunuch have an affair?


    I didn''t expect I would see a more horror scene. The Queen put the head in her arms and rubbed it with her face. A few meters away, I could see the skin on the head was worn away because of decay, revealing the rotting flesh inside.


    Fk! This was so disgusting.


    When I was out of the hall, I still felt unclean. Then I walked away at a quick pace to a small garden. I stopped and breathed the fresh air in the garden. The scene just now hit me too hard, and it was estimated that it would take at least a month to get over it, but fortunately, I had eaten something before, otherwise I guessed I wouldn''t have an appetite for it even if I was very hungry.


    After taking a rest for a while, I found I lost my way. However, I would never go back and the Queen really made me scared, not because I was afraid of her, but because I thought it was so disgusting.


    I randomly found a way, and after walking for a short time, I thought the direction of the search should be right because there were more and more maids. However, I was more and more disappointed, for there weren''t many beautiful maids and most just looked very normal.


    After a long stroll in the great palace, I never found any clues. The only thing I could be sure of was that I was reaching the imperial harem, for I had seen several well-dressed women admiring flowers or taking a walk at the Under the service of the maids and eunuchs.

 Chapter 124 Obsession in Ancient City 3

    As a group imperial maid walked into the side house, which was very in line with my requirements. There were big rooms. In addition, it was remote and near the wall. After getting up early tomorrow morning, I could go straight ahead in the direction I hadn¡¯t looked for. What I was most satisfied with was that this palace was the sleeping palace of imperial maid, um, maybe it should not be called the sleeping palace.


    Standing at the door, I despised my shameless as well as my affectation, and then I stepped into the sleeping palace, with the heroic expression on my face.


    Perhaps because these maid needed to wait for the call at any time, even in the middle of the night, this place still shined oil lamp, but the brightness was a little low, which not only didn¡¯t give me the bright feeling of the hall, but also made me feel a little weird.


    I came a little late, and the maids were almost at rest. There were only two or three maids sitting in a corner and chatting quietly.


    How did I find this place so late! I was very regretful. If I knew this place, I would have directly went ahead here. After wiping my tears of remorse, I walked to those imperial maid who were chatting now, and sat next to them.


    This was far from the oil lamp and they were back to the oil lamp, so I couldn¡¯t see their appearance clearly.


    However, the blurry underclothes under the oil lamp was enough to make my nose bleed. Just one of the maid¡¯s words instantly let me forget all the bad ideas.


    ¡°Xiao Tao really is very pathetic. She is just killed directly by the Emperor. I also hear she is cut into pieces. That''s so terrible.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, in order to suppress the dry well, emperor had killed all the maids who served the concubine before.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he is afraid that those maid, who have heard of the matter about the concubine and prince, will make this thing out of here.¡±


    ¡°Shh, dare not say nonsense.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    These maids talked about this thing and also felt sad for the death of concubine and the prince, which made me get the further information, and my impression on that horror queen had fallen down again in my mind, down to the bottom of the valley.


    After one of these maids talked about the thing of doubting the Queen, their conversation topic suddenly changed, which made me very depressed. However, I also had no idea. After listening for a while, these maids were ready to go to bed, and I also had to choose a bed of one maid who wouldn¡¯t come back tonight.


    I didn''t even know when I fell asleep, until I was woken up by a loud noise.


    I kneaded my eyes and I was shocked. Being the imperial maid was a very hard job. It was not yet bright outside, but all the maids had gotten up, and were getting slicked up and changing clothing, ready for a new day''s work.


    I saw these maids were busy with sympathy. The youngest was only 14 or 16 years old and the oldest would never be more than 30. It was the brightest age in a woman''s life, but unfortunately, they were busy for their own survival.


    Two maids came to me in amazement. Then I quickly stood aside and saw a round-faced maid pointing to the place I had just stayed, ¡°Oh my God! How come there''s so much blood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, who had slept in sister¡¯s position last night. She will be unhappy, if she comes back.¡± Another thin maid also said in a exaggerated way.


    Surrounding maids all turned around and looked over, making a loud noise. I had already covered my nose, and the blood gushed and my hands even almost couldn¡¯t stop the blood. I had to get out of here, or I would be short-lived.


    With reluctant eyes, I quickly got out of this place. Then I put my hands down and took a deep breath of fresh air. There was a grunt in my nose, and I really didn¡¯t know how much nosebleed I had.


    The maids went out of the sleeping palace in batches and began to go to different places. From the chatter of these maids, I knew these women were all inferior maids, who mostly just did some cleaning, wiping and so on, and the dry well was not far from a place called Yong Nian Palace.


    In fact, I also didn¡¯t know where Yong Nian palace was. Hence, I had to await the maid who went there, and just followed her to get there.


    Luckily, instead of going to work in groups like modern work, they needed to gather in front of their the sleeping palace, then stood in a row and went to their work areas at a certain pace and order.


    During the way, they shall not go in the wrong direction, jump a queue or make any noises. To tell the truth, it was quite similar to the behavior of elementary school students, which was also convenient for me.


    After a while, I found a team going to Yong Nian Palace, which was a lot smaller than the other teams, but there were also 16 people, all of whom showed reluctance, which seemed that Yong Nian Palace would not be a good place.


    As the maids moved on, no one spoke and just walked lightly. Only when they occasionally met an eunuch or a maid, would they say hello. I felt as if they had been rehearsing for a long time.


    Yong Nian palace was a bit far away, just near the city wall. It was somewhat more shabby than palaces I had passed before. It was the same as what I thought, and this place was not a place for high-grade concubine or someone else with high class.


    The only surprise was that the scope of the Yong Nian Palace was twice as large as the palaces I had just passed.


    These maids seemed to be very familiar with their work, after entering the Yong Nian Palace, they were separate. I did not know who to follow for a moment. Anyway, I had already arrived at the Yong Nian Palace, so I decided to simply look for it by myself.


    Most of the dead wells were not in the palace, so I started looking around the building, and the more remote the place was, the more carefully I looked for it, but I have been looking for it for a long time and found nothing.


    Just as I was about to have a good rest in a rockery, I suddenly heard a faint sound coming from it.


    I looked for this sound, walking round the rockery, and finally, I found a path to the back of the rockery. The rockery was built of huge stones, leaving many gaps, and in one of them, a eunuch and a maid were whispering.


    Using ¡°whispering¡± was not be very accurate, because they were not really talking about anything. In fact, they were saying words of love to each other. Eunuchs'' blouses were messy and the maid''s skirt had been laid on her chest, revealing her snow-white thighs and white panties.


    It was so exciting and I just stared at this scene but despised them in my heart. What about eunuchs? Did he still has that function? But then I saw the appearance of the maid, I despised more, that even eunuch could find such a beautiful woman.


    The eunuch extended his hand through the edge of the panties, but later his hand was pulled by that maid. Then the maid said, with a faint sound of breath, ¡°Stop! Stop! Don¡¯t do it here. I am very scared.¡±


    That eunuch replied, ¡°Right here, no one will come.¡± After saying, his hand begun to exert again.


    However, the maid pulled the eunuch''s hand away at once, and say, ¡°Not long ago, all that concubine¡¯s maids were all killed and thrown into the dry well. I''m really scared. Let''s go.¡±


    I didn¡¯t pay attention to what the eunuch said, because when the maid mentioned that dry well, I also found it actually was less than three meters away from the two people, but just I did not notice it.


    After a careful reservation, I found a wall of less than a metre was built around the dry well, and there were incomprehensible ghost charms painted with red cinnabar on the wall. The mouth of the well was covered by a huge stone, without any crevices. The stone was carved with countless monsters, with fangs, claws and terrible faces.


    I''ve seen it for a while and I''ve also confirmed they were ghost and ghost messengers of Hades, because two ghosts were with tall hats and long tongues. One hat said, you were being caught, and the other had said, you were here, too. This was the modelling of black and white impermanence of the Hades.


    It seemed I found the correct place. However, there still were people now, so it was not convenient for me to take a look of it.


    After a glance at the eunuch and the maid, who were apparently persuaded by the eunuchs and was cooperating with the eunuch, I stooped to pick up a stone and threw it over. I had no idea. If I didn¡¯t take any actions, I would even despise myself.


    The stone fell on the next rockery, but did not attract the attention of the two people who had forgotten themselves. I had no choice but to walk over and tap the eunuchs on his shoulder. However, nobody would know that the eunuch just reached out his hand and patted themselves on the shoulder, then didn¡¯t care, as if he had just slapped a fly.


    Well, I got even more depressed. Then I directly kicked the eunuch on his ass.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± The eunuch screamed, and the whole body pounced in the direction of the maid. Then he looked back, then looked very blankly, and finally begun to tremble.


    The eunuch pounced on the maid and her back hit on the rockery. Then she also screamed, turned round and just looked at the eunuch with anger.


    I picked up a dead branch on the ground, and while the eunuch and the maid were looking at each other with the frightened eyes, I punched the eunuch.


    The eunuch gave out a deafening scream, pushed the maid away, and ran straight away in disheveled clothes. The maid also screamed, turned round and ran away, but she didn''t notice that the panties had retreated to the corner of the feet, then she was tripped and fell down. Suddenly, her head hit hard on the rockery, and her head was broken and was bleeding. The maid even never cared of this, then lifted her panties and chased after the eunuch fast.


    To tell you the truth, I had a very pleasant feeling at this moment, probably I thought I rescued a girl who was about to go astray.


    Seeing the two people running away, I continued to observe the dry well and pushed the stone above it with my hand. As what I expected, it was unmovable. It was a bit bothering. I found the dry well, only to find that I had no way to move the huge stone.


    After searching around the dry well, I found that it seemed to be deliberately polished underneath the huge stone, and there''s no crevice at all.


    I wiped the cinnabar on the wall, and still found this cinnabar seemed to have been specially treated, and there was no way to remove it. Then I scratched a few times with a stone, leaving some shallow marks on the wall, but the cinnabar was still intact.

 Chapter 125 Obsession in Ancient City 4

    Every time I thought of the Queen, I would feel very sick. It was so disgusting. It absolutely was unacceptable to a pure man like me.


    I guessed maybe I was so excited last night and I didn''t get a good rest, so I didn''t know when I fell asleep and just woke up by the cold air.


    I felt really down, because I fell asleep in a beautiful environment last night, but tonight, I had to lean against a dry well and endure the coldness. However, then I found something wrong. It wasn''t very cold, but I felt as if I was in ice and snow.


    This was obviously not a normal phenomenon, more like the Yin Qi. Yeah! Yin Qi! I stood up, turned my body and looked at the dry well, and was startled. I saw innumerable blurred figure is constantly hitting the huge stone covered the well, and the hit just made the virtual image of the huge stone constantly shake up and down.


    I understood this. It was the ghost in the dry well who was trying to break through the seal. However, it was in vain, because what was shaking was the virtual image of the huge stone, but the real stone itself had never moved.


    The countless people¡¯s cry and howl made my eardrum very painful. I frowned and scolded. In fact, I didn¡¯t scold ghosts or seals, and this was just a pet phrase that I used when I was irritable because of the noise.


    To my surprise, the ghosts became quiet at once, a female voice came out of the well after a long time, ¡°Who''s out there?¡±


    I was surprised that these ghosts could hear my voice. At this moment, I was surrounded by ecstasy. My voice could be heard, which meant I could talk with the ghosts. Then, there would be certain possibility to break through this illusion.


    I hurried to asked tentatively, ¡°Are you Rani Xian?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am. Are you sent by the General?¡± a woman replied to me, but she obviously was not the person just now.


    It seemed that I was right, but what f**k the General?


    Perhaps because I didn''t reply, the voice of the latter woman suddenly became sharp, saying, ¡°Are you sent by that enchantress?¡±


    Enchantress? I was more confused. All of a sudden, there were too many people out there, which made me have a kind of messy feeling in my mind.


    ¡°Yes, I am.¡± I just said three words, because I didn''t know how to introduce myself. After all, many ghosts found it hard to accept the truth that they were dead. Once they were told the truth, they might go ballistic. I''m not sure weather the ghost in the dry well would be like this, but I don''t have the stakes.


    ¡°I am just a passerby, and feel it strange that there is a well.¡± All of a sudden, I couldn''t find any good excuse, just talking nonsense.


    ¡°Hum. Hum¡± A few cold snorts came from the dry well and I didn''t know who sent them, but I could feel the contempt for me from the voice. I had no choice. I had already said out the excuse and I also disdained myself, because this excuse really was a little that...


    I showed as if I was a capable man, and then added, ¡°I see this place full of anger and injustice, so I decide to have a look. If you think it inappropriate, I can leave right away.¡±


    I was sure I would not leave, and the ghosts in the dry well also wouldn¡¯t let me go, but I still made some movements as if I was about to leave. Therefore, I just took a few steps towards the path outside the rockery.


    ¡°Sir, please don¡¯t go.¡± The first female voice stopped me, and I also stopped on my feet.


    ¡°Empress, this man always changes his words. Maybe he is sent by the enchantress.¡± The latter woman obviously didn¡¯t trust me, but judging from her words, I could knew the first woman was Rani Xian herself.


    ¡°Why she sends people here? Is there our anything else worth her plotting?¡± Rani Xian¡¯s tone showed she was a little lonely. Then the another woman didn¡¯t speak again.


    ¡°Sir, may I have your name?¡± Rani Xian said.


    ¡°Just call me Mr. Wu, please. Are you that concubine?¡± I decided to confirm again.


    ¡°Yes, what do you come for?¡±


    ¡°I see this place full of anger and injustice, so I am very curious and decide to take a look. If there is any disturbance, please excuse me, empress.¡±


    Rani Xian said, with a sense of bitterness, ¡°I am already not the empress.¡±


    She didn¡¯t seem to be answering me, and it was more like that she was talking to yourself, so I didn¡¯t reply. Then it suddenly became very quiet. I didn¡¯t want to waste too much time, since my body now should be the same as Wu Jian and other people¡¯s, just standing still there.


    So I asked, ¡°My dear empress, what injustice do you suffered? Why is there covered by the emotions of being wronged?¡±


    The concubine said with a long sigh, ¡°You don¡¯t know the truth. I used to be a concubine of the emperor. Although I was born in the Imperial Palace, I never wanted to make friends with others. However, in the dirtiest place in the world, how could I escape?¡±


    That Rani Xian was the younger sister of a general of this dynasty. Ten years ago, when her father was still alive, she was married to the emperor, who was still a prince at that time. Therefore, she became a concubine.


    She was very submissive and kind to others. In addition, both her father and elder brother were the great general of this dynasty, so she lived a happy life. She wouldn¡¯t bully people, so people would naturally not bully her. What was more important was that at that time, the concubine of the prince was the daughter of the prime minister, Chen. Since her childhood, her family style was very rigorous. She was also very kind to others, and was very popular and had a very good reputation among those concubines. They even got along with each other, just like sisters.


    Later, the prince ascended the throne and became the present emperor. Then Chen naturally became the Queen. The Rani Xian also became a true concubine.


    After the emperor took the throne, he tried his best to manage it. He never focused on women and sex. Moreover, there were not many imperial concubines in imperial harem and the emperor was very kind to people, the whole imperial harem was full of joy.


    However, everything changed five years ago. It was very strange that the queen or the concubine in imperial harem couldn¡¯t be pregnant. Even if they had babies, they would die in infancy. It was a great thing that the emperor had no offspring. Therefore, almost all the officials advised the emperor to accept more concubines.


    The emperor obeyed the advice of the hundred officials and accepted 28 concubines. At this time, the current Queen, Chen, went into the palace, who was just one of many lowest concubines, naturally could not attract anyone''s attention.


    Less than a year later, the Queen became pregnant, and during her pregnancy, the son was made prince by the emperor. A few months later, the queen gave birth to a son, but not over a month, he also died. The emperor was so sad. At this time, Chen, who gained the favor from emperor, revealed that mots of concubines¡¯ infertility was done the Queen, and the princes were also killed by the Queen. For a moment the whole country was in an uproar.


    Then the emperor personally investigated and found that the princes were killed by others. In addition, a lot of birth control pills were found in the sleeping palace of the Queen. The emperor was very angry. He even couldn¡¯t believe this fact and thought this thing was really unbelievable.


    The prince was born by the Queen. Besides, she already was the Queen and why she still did such a bad thing to those concubines?


    But the Queen confessed. Yes, the Queen confessed that she despised the Emperor, and did not wish emperor to have descendants. It was so strange that no one believed it, but it was true that the queen did say it herself.


    The emperor was very angry and directly abolished the Queen. Then he ordered to prison her in the Yong Nian Palace forever. However, just then, Queen had gone mad, and less than a month later, the Queen died in Yong Nian Palace.


    Although the emperor abolished Queen in fury, he still did not believe Queen did this. He believed that the Queen had been bewildered by the witchcraft. The emperor invited the noble people to the palace, on the other hand, he also ignored Chen gradually.


    However, then this thing became more and more strange, and master determined that it was another concubine who had framed the queen with the witchcraft, and more and more people were involved in it. Finally, it became the conspire of all the concubines of prince in the Prince House.


    At one time, there was bloody storm in the imperial palace. Except for the Rani Xian, because her brother was a general and it was estimated that the designer also was afraid of this, all the other concubines were killed. But even so, the emperor also gradually ignored Rani Xian, on the contrary, the emperor begun to spoiled the new concubines into the palace.


    Another year later, Chen gave birth to a son for the emperor, but contracted a strange disease, became very thin. The emperor felt guilty. What¡¯s more, the queen''s position could not be empty, so he got a idea that he decided to made Chen Queen again.


    At this time, Rani Xian also gave birth to a son, and the government officials did not like Chen, who was born in a business family. Therefore, they urged the emperor to set up Rani Xian as the Queen. However, the emperor refused and this thing also was put off.


    Not long later, rumors rose in the palace that Rani Xian had an affair with the guard, and that the second prince was not the son of the emperor. At first, the emperor did not believe it, but until one day, a most said that emperor was destined to have only one son. The emperor began to suspect Rani Xian.


    Rumors spread so fast, not only in the palace, but also in the whole city. In order to verify, the emperor made the blood recognition, but the second son¡¯s blood was not dissolved in his blood, but in a guard.


    Then the bodyguard personally admitted to having an affair with the Rani Xian, and the emperor was furious and killed the guard directly. However, the emperor just forbade Rani Xian and the second prince, because he considered that her father was the outside orthodoxy general.


    Subsequently, the emperor made Chen as Queen, to manage the imperial harem.


    When this thing was not over, the second prince drowned in the imperial garden. On the night of his death, Rani Xian dreamed that her son was crying to her, then she was pushed by the queen in the pool of imperial garden.


    Rani Xian usually had the weak character,this time, even went mad and broke into Queen¡¯s sleeping palace, accusing the Queen of killing her son. In the end, she was beaten to death in Queen¡¯s sleeping palace by the Queen, who was asked to manage the imperial harem.


    After her death, Rani Xian took her son, crying to the emperor, which made the emperor terribly scared. Then there was the thing I had heard in these days.


    After listening to Rani Xian to finish telling the whole thing, I asked, ¡°Dear, empress, since the queen did it, why didn¡¯t you go to the queen?¡± To be honest, I thought it was very strange. Generally speaking, ghosts would go back to get revenge on the people who killed themselves, not to mention that the people also killed their own children.

 Chapter 126 Obsession in Ancient City 5

    The Queen wasn¡¯t a human. Yeah, I also agreed with this, because it was impossible for a human being to rub the face against a decomposed head, as if she regarded it as her lover. Even if I got in touch with all kinds of ghosts every day, I couldn¡¯t still stand this, not to mention Rani Xian.


    But hadn¡¯t Rani Xian become a ghost? For revenge, even if it was very disgusting, she could try to bear this, and then she could avenge successfully. Why didn¡¯t do it? However, I didn''t ask her, because I didn''t think it would be appropriate to ask a woman such a question.


    ¡°Sir, please help us. We all die with injustice.¡± her tone became very sad and she knew that her death was a good thing, then I thought I must help Rani Xian. On the one hand, I felt the Queen really made me very disgusted, on the other hand, if I helped Rani Xian successfully, her ghost Qi would dissipated. Then there was just her obessesion left, which was a good thing for us.


    ¡°Dear Rani Xian, how do you want me to help you?¡± I was now in the illusion and I actually didn¡¯t know how to help her, but it probably was not as easy as just to stab the Queen twice.


    ¡°Sir, there is something you don¡¯t know. There is a bone buried under the gates of the north city of the imperial city. As long as you can take out the bones and hold a grand funeral, I will be very grateful to you. Then in the latter things, there''s no need to trouble you, Sir.¡±


    This was a simple request, but whose body was it? Rani Xian or the second prince? No, it was impossible. Didn''t they say their bones were sealed in the dry well? However, I didn''t care, and no matter whose body that was, as long as I could help Rani Xian get rid of her ghost Qi, that was okay and the process was not important.


    Just there should always be many bodyguards guarding the gate. Even if they couldn¡¯t see me, anyone who saw the soil splashing on the ground, would not turn a blind eye to it.


    I originally wanted to ask her for something, but I was afraid to affect my image of a master in front of her, and also afraid that new problems would crop up unexpectedly. Therefore, I had to promise her first. I thought I could dig bones carefully in the middle of the night, which might not attract too much attention. After all, all the guards might be on the wall and the gates might be closed, because I thought nobody would hide in the dark entrance of city gate.


    After giving my word to her, I left. I should dig the bones in the midnight, and before that, I had to find out where the north city gate was, and before I could find the north city gate, I had to find out where to leave the Imperial Palace.


    That was the Queen¡¯s Sleeping Palace. Oh my God! This was the last place I want to come to. There was no danger, but every time I thought of the Queen, I couldn¡¯t help but to feel terribly sick.


    The queen seemed to be absent. There were few people in the Sleeping Palace and just were several eunuchs and maids in the Palace. Therefore, I casually ate some snacks in one of the Side Palace. Then I kept up with a maid who was in a hurry, because I heard the maid and others say that they were going to bring soup to the Emperor.


    Now I was not in the mood to see what the Emperor looked like, but I knew one thing, that the the place in which the Emperor was must be near the gate of the Imperial Palace, because there was no possibility that these officials went through most of the Imperial Palace to go to court.


    The maid walked very fast, but also very stably, and the soup on her hand also didn''t spill out. She seemed to be really familiar with the Imperial Palace. After a few turns, I saw a huge square. Then it occurred to me that I had been here and it was not long after I entered the palace gate. It seemed that I had not followed the wrong person this time.


    I stopped, and instead of following the maid who was apparently heading for the buildings, I just waited in the square. Several officials with government-clad were whispering from a distance and I thought they apparently were about to leave Imperial Palace.


    When they passed me by, and I quickly followed them. It wasn''t long before I saw the door that I passed through when I first entered the Imperial Palace. Since I thought these officials walked very slowly, I then wanted to get out of here quickly. However, the words of these officials made my steps slow down.


    ¡°The Queen is so pitiful.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t she? She also goes mad, but there are rumors about her everywhere, Ah.¡±


    ¡°But the emperor also can''t help it. The general is still out of the country, and he will turn back in February, but Rani Xian is dead now. If the truth is told out, If you tell the truth again, I guess the general... Maybe only the queen can be wronged.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    I followed several officials out of Imperial Palace, but instead of looking for the north gate, I found a place on the side of the palace and just sat down. There was in a mess in my head. What f**k? They even thought Queen was pitiful and aggrieved. What was this plot?


    The formation of resentment must be the result of being wronged. Obviously, Rani Xian didn¡¯t tell the truth because it was impossible to get ghost Qi after a long time. To be honest, the Queen''s image in my mind was very poor, and I also didn¡¯t believe what the officials said in my heart.


    However, now my judgment was too important. Once my judgment was wrong, it was not just me, it was estimated that even Wu Jian, Sister Hua and other people couldn¡¯t escape the death. Therefore, it seemed that I still needed to delve into this matter, and I couldn¡¯t make a blind decision.


    After thinking about it for a while, I planned to go into the Palace and came to the Emperor, who might be able to know part of the truth. At least, I could judge whether those officials were lying.


    The I got up and came back to the Palace. I directly went along the most spacious road and I thought it could be the road that the hundreds of officials took when they went up to court. Besides, there was only one road and could be no risk of going wrong.


    I dared not go too far. Just taking the hall, where officials went to the court, as the center, I searched slowly. It was only a moment before the Emperor was found by me, because the eunuch''s voice of urging the emperor to eat was so loud and it was impossible that it couldn¡¯t attract my attention.


    I went over and found this was a side palace and it looked like the place where the Emperor had a rest, and it also had a very tight security, but it was useless in my eyes.


    The door of the hall was open, and when I came to the door, I saw a middle-aged man in a yellow robe, with a gaunt face, lying oblique on the bench, with an eunuch, who worn a brocade, kneeling in front of him, holding a bowl high in his hand and urging the Emperor to eat something.


    I walked in and found a corner to stand in. These people couldn¡¯t hear me and I also could ask them. I also didn''t think I could ask, otherwise many guards, masters or someone else would come to encircle me. The only way to know the truth was to wait for the Emperor to speak himself.


    Obviously, the emperor didn''t mean to say anything. After waving his hand to show himself that he wouldn''t eat, he picked up a pile of memorials and began to read them. I just stood beside him. From my point of view, I could clearly see that the emperor''s eyes did not focus on these memorials, but on the top of them, with empty eyes. I guessed he was absent-minded.


    The eunuch, motioned by the emperor, did not leave, but still knelt there, holding the bowl still and looking at the emperor from time to time, which looked as if he was very worried.


    He really was a loyal eunuch.


    After standing for a while, I couldn¡¯t stand it any more and just sat down on one of the chairs beside me. There was a lot of delicious food on the next table and I was also very hungry. However, there were many people in the hall, so I dared not eat these food, and just stayed here foolishly.


    I imitated the Emperor and was also absent-mind there. Just as I did not know what to think, the Emperor suddenly spoke, and I also couldn¡¯t help feeling refreshed.


    ¡°How long will the general return to court?¡±


    I didn¡¯t know why the eunuch was dumbfounded with surprise for a short time, and he just bowed, replying, ¡°It¡¯s estimated that the general will return to the court in two months.¡±


    The Emperor just nodded and stopped talking again. I was so anxious that my heart was like being scratched by the cat''s claws and I almost lifted up the chair under my buttocks and hit him. I was very disappointed. However, unfortunately, I even was incapable of lifting that chair, because I¡¯d studied it when I''m bored. It was real mahogany, probably heavier than me.


    The side palace was again in a silence. I didn''t know how long it passed. The Emperor close the memorials in his hand, sighed to the eunuch and said, ¡°Just get up and I really have no appetite.¡±


    The eunuch said with a sharp voice, ¡°Your Majesty, it is made by the Queen herself.¡±


    It came. I couldn''t help but sit up straight. The Queen. If the queen was really like the Rani Xian said, then the Emperor would not eat. However, if only because of the general, then the emperor would certainly eat, even if he didn¡¯t have the appetite, but because of guilty, he might eat.


    Unfortunately, the Emperor, after all, was not an normal people and his performance was completely unexpected to me.


    I saw Emperor¡¯s body trembled and he smiled slightly. Then he went to the eunuch, and looked at the soup. He didn''t refuse it, but also didn''t eat it, just looking at it.


    Shit! What did that mean? Well, I was wrong. No wonder he could be an Emperor.


    The eunuch lifted the bowl up and said, ¡°Your Majesty, should I command people to heat it up?¡±


    The emperor shook his head and still looked at the soup, as if there was something interesting in it. Looking at his focused look, I almost thought I would get something out using his hand.


    Instead of speaking, the eunuch lifted the soup high so that the Emperor could see more clearly.


    The emperor looked for a moment, but did not speak. Then he returned directly to lie down on the bench, and then continued to be absent-minded, and this time he didn¡¯t use the memorial to cover his eyes.


    I saw the eunuch remained still and my heart was filled with admiration to him. I could bear always sitting here, but he even knelt for so long, without moving, which really was professional.


    This time, the time when the Emperor was in a daze was much longer than before, and there was nothing happening in this period of time. The only was that a little imperial maid secretly looked inside, then silently sighed and left, shaking her head.


    This woman, I know, was the one who served soup from the Queen''s Sleeping Palace. Did she come to see whether the Emperor had eaten the soup? If so, it showed that the Queen was really good for the Emperor. However, this also didn¡¯t mean much, after all, without the support of the emperor, the Queen wouldn¡¯t use the stick to beat Rani Xian to death in her own Sleeping Palace.


    But when it came to the Queen¡¯s look, just like the monkey or ape, I thought Emperor must have a sick taste.


    I didn¡¯t know how long the emperor had been a state of being absent-minded. Then he slowly sat up and command the eunuch to come over, but maybe the eunuch knelt on the ground for so long, so when he was about to went to the Emperor, he suddenly fell down, pouring the soup directly to the ground.


    Then, the eunuch knelt down again and asked the Emperor for forgiveness. I was also very depressed because I originally planned to see what the emperor thought of the queen through this soup, but I didn''t expect that to happen.

 Chapter 127 Obsession in Ancient City 6

    The eunuch pleaded guilty to his fault again and then let two young eunuchs clean it up.


    Judging from their reaction, I was not sure exactly what the Emperor thought of the Queen, but what I could be sure was that the Emperor had much worry in his heart. Besides, my intuition told me that it was about the Queen.


    After the two young eunuchs cleaned it up, they and the brocade eunuch were all driven out by the Emperor. I didn¡¯t go out. Although it looked like the eunuch should know something, I was going to follow the Emperor. Apparently, it was much easier for me to get the information I wanted from a thoughtful and exhausted Emperor than to get from a eunuch.


    After everyone went out, the Emperor walked back and forth in the hall, but avoided the place where the bowl had just been broken. I took a look and found the floor had been cleaned by two young eunuchs, and there was no trace at all.


    The Emperor walked around a few times, then silently watched the place where the soup bowl had been knocked over. Then, in my astonished eyes, he knelt on the ground and burst into tears oppressively.


    As a leader of the country and as a middle-aged man, what kind of pain would let him cry in hall without anybody.


    Then the Emperor was obviously afraid of the sound coming out, trying hard to suppress his own crying, and then muttering to himself. Since I could not hear clearly, I hurried to the side of Emperor and slightly squatted.


    The Emperor''s faint voice came out, ¡°I''m sorry about you. I''m sorry about you.¡±


    Sorry? About who? The Queen or Rani Xian? Looking at the emperor crying to the soup bowl, suddenly I seemed to believe what those officials said.


    Did Rani Xian really lie to me and the Queen was innocent? All of sudden, I felt a pain in my head.


    The Emperor suddenly wiped his tears and stood up, almost knocking me down. I also hurriedly stood up and saw that he suddenly trotted to the front of his desk and began to write with his pen.


    I hastened to follow him and I didn¡¯t believe that the Emperor, who was now in a state of emotional agitation, would go to deal with official business.


    However, after I walked over there, I suddenly felt a little confused, because the Emperor was writing, but all he wrote was traditional Chinese characters, which was cursive script. Each character was connected and it was very difficult to recognize.


    Several years of kindness, hard to break for hundred years and love the beautiful scenery for many times...


    After burning it, the Emperor¡¯s whole spirit seemed to burn up, too, then lay on the bench languidly, and soon there was a slight snoring.


    God, I just wanted to know some information, but it was so hard. I was speechless and found a place to sit down, and then thought carefully about what I had just seen.


    Several years of kindness. The last Queen and Rani Xian had become the imperial concubine and the side concubine of the prince when the Emperor was a prince. Depending on the age, it was impossible for her to have several years of kindness with the Emperor. From this, the only qualified person was the present Queen.


    Hard to break for hundred years. It was hard to break, which meant that the Emperor thought that the Queen was kind to him and also reminded it in his heart. Did I really misunderstand the Queen?


    Then I decided not to think about the next one, because no poem would make a 180-degree turn at the beginning. I saw the Emperor sleeping well and was a little hesitant. I decided to go to the Queen¡¯s Sleeping Palace and observe the Queen carefully. No matter how disgusting the Queen was, she couldn¡¯t see me and also couldn¡¯t hear me, so she could only hurt my heart at best.


    Perhaps because the Queen had left a horrible and disgusting impression on me, it was very magic that I even found the Queen''s Sleeping Palace very quickly. The Queen''s Sleeping Palace was not strictly guarded, and most of the guards stood very far away. I didn''t know if this was the Queen''s arrangement, or just these guards were deliberately avoiding the Queen.


    Having gone straight in, I found the Queen stayed in the pavilion of the garden on the one side, surrounded by an strong old lady, who must have a place in the palace, since she sat directly on the Queen''s side, instead of standing or serving her.


    I walked over a few steps and suddenly became hesitant. Then instead of going into it, I found a place outside the pavilion and sat down. It was quiet now, so I could clearly hear the Queen and the old lady¡¯s conversation.


    After listening for a while, I felt more confused, because it seemed that the Queen was talking about something after her death, and let the old lady, who was called granny Liu, do something. She said everything very carefully, even who to get a piece of jewelry was also very clear.


    After a long time, all the things seemed to be arranged well. The Queen took a long breath and said, ¡°All right. That¡¯s settled, granny Liu. Then you can assign it in this way. As for whether they want it or not, if they don''t, you just keep it.¡± The Queen¡¯s tone was gentle, as if she was talking about some trifles.


    Granny Liu first answered, ¡°Yes.¡± Then she opened my mouth a few times before I finally said, ¡°Empress, there may be another way.¡±


    The Queen shook her head, raised her head slightly with her eyes closed, as if she was afraid that tears in her eyes would fall down, and said, ¡°This is the best way.¡±


    The Queen''s face was still that very thin, just skinny, which almost made people shiver all over though not cold. Even now she showed the expression of sadness and it would only make people uncomfortable, instead of producing a trace of sympathy or compassion.


    Granny Liu said with a slight sound of cry, ¡°Empress, the bones of the lowly maidservant have been buried under the gate of the city, trampled by thousands of people. Is this not enough to suppress her?¡±


    ¡°Not enough!¡± The Queen shook her head and then the peace returned to his face again.


    Originally the bones Rani Xian let me dig was hers. Just wasn¡¯t it suppressed under a dry well? Why did it went under the gate of the city? I continued to eavesdrop with doubt.


    The Queen said again, ¡°Rani Xian killed the Queen Zhang, just for her throne of Queen. Unexpectedly, her deliberate plan was found by me. How could Rani Xian be happy to stop. She dared to kill even his own son for the Queen''s throne, and what else did she dare not do? And again, you also heard the her vows before her death, and there was no throne of Queen, except her.¡±


    Granny Liu showed the fear on her face and her body couldn¡¯t help but begin to tremble.


    The Queen said again, ¡°The head of the second prince was finally found in these few days. Although I didn¡¯t give birth to him, it was I who raised him up, so he was the flesh of my heart. It was just that those f**king slaves, for so long, still couldn''t find the body of the second prince. How could the second prince rest in peace!¡± While she was saying, two lines of tears fell from the skinny face.


    Granny Liu also sighed and then comforted the Queen, saying that they would certainly find the remains of the second prince.


    The second prince? Is that the rotten head I saw last time? No, it was impossible. Was the second prince still in that dry well? I felt that the whole thing was getting even weirder.


    The second prince was the son of Rani Xian. That should be true. But why the Queen does so? She even used her face to rub that rotten head and even slept with it. It must take a lot of emotion to do that.


    However, neither the Queen nor granny Liu could see me, so conversation between them should be true. But if the Queen was right, which meant that Rani Xian was lying to me and let me dig up her bones. Although I didn¡¯t know what the use of this, I did know that until the truth of the matter was found by me, the bones was absolutely unable to move, because nobody knew what would happen after bones were dug up.


    The Queen continued talking with granny Liu.


    Queen wiped away her tears and said, ¡°granny Liu, go to check the dry well. I''m afraid someone will make trouble."


    Granny Liu nodded and then stood up to say goodbye to the Queen.


    I also got up in a hurry. I thought there were too much doubt and too many blank in the whole thing, so I would like to go to the dry well to listen to Rani Xian¡¯s view. I even wanted to know what granny Liu and Rani Xian would talk about, although I felt it was almost impossible.


    Granny Liu got the Queen''s orders, did not stay, and just went directly to the dry well. Just when I went out of Yongshou Palace, I heard a terribly sorrow cry from inside, which directly made my fine hair stand up.


    ¡°No!¡± granny Liu screamed and rushed in the palace hurriedly. I also rushed in, at the same time, I also admired her courage.


    As soon as he stepped into the gate of Yongshou Palace, the cry suddenly stopped. I could not help but be stunned, because the cry broke too suddenly, as if it was deliberately cut off by someone.


    I just saw several maids standing at the rockery. They all lowered their head, crying, with face peal. There was a big palm print on one of their faces and granny Liu just slowly put her hand down.


    ¡°All wait here. Don¡¯t take a step forward, otherwise, I will use the stick to beat her to death.¡±


    These maids nodded one after another and dared not move.


    What happened? I was stunned again. At this moment, granny Liu had turned to the back of the rockery, and I also hastened to follow her.


    Granny Liu just stood alone by the dry well, staring at it. I thought something happened, then hurriedly bypassed granny Liu, only to see the dry well was the same dry well, and the huge stone above the well was still unmoved.


    It was strange. What on earth was granny Liu looking at? Not only was she very distracted, but her face gradually turned to iron green.


    ¡°Bitch maidservant! You are so cruel.¡± She said it almost by biting her teeth.


    I just looked following the granny Liu¡¯s direction and saw a small hole in the shaft wall and a pale arm was out of the hole. The arm was not big and it might belong to a child. Besides, a little jade plate was held tightly in the hand.


    After scolding, her face changed a few times. Unexpectedly, she even dig the soil aside by her hand to bury the arm up, saying, ¡°Bitch! Dare you use second prince¡¯s remains to lead the Queen put you out. You are almost dreaming!¡±


    I couldn''t help but surprise. This was the body of the second prince, then didn¡¯t that mean that the Queen was a good person, and I was deceived by Rani Xian.


    I was a little dazed for a moment, with the soft voice of Rani Xian and the skull-like look of the Queen haunting in my mind. Granny Liu''s action was so quickly. She just thought for a moment after she buried arms. Then she took off the jade plate in the hand of second prince, put it in her pocket, and then went out. Not long, I heard her voice of commanding those imperial maids.


    Just as I was about to leave, Rani Xian¡¯s voice sounded out of the dry well, still as weak as it was.

 Chapter 128 Obsession in Ancient City 7

    I was stunned and I thought she would never show up again when she knew her plan was known to others, but she was still here, saying something.


    I didn''t answer. I hated the feeling of being deceived, especially by using my compassion to deceive me.


    The tone of Rani Xian revealed a few traces of sadness, ¡°Sir, do you think I''m lying to you? Not long after your departure, several young eunuchs buried an arm by the dry well, with my son''s jade plate on it. Indeed, the jade plate is real, but don''t I recognize my own child¡¯s arm?¡±


    ¡°You meant that arm didn¡¯t belong to your son?¡± I finally replied her because I didn¡¯t know whether what she said was the truth.


    ¡°Sure, it didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Are those bones under the gate of the city yours?¡± I continued asking.


    She sobbed for few times and said, ¡°They are mine. The Queen wants me to suffered insult and to be trampled by thousands of people.¡±


    Instead of speaking, I just stooped to dig the earth and dug out the arm buried by granny Liu. It was right that this arm belonged to a 10-year-old child, but I was unable to distinguish whether it really belonged to the second prince.


    The whole arm was dug out, which was full of bruises, and the root of the arm was inserted into a hole in the well wall.


    ¡°Rani Xian, it¡¯s not your son¡¯s arm?¡±


    ¡°No, it really is my son¡¯s arm.¡±


    I laughed sadly, with a sorrow expression on my face, and said, ¡°Ah, Rani Xian! As the old saying goes, a tiger will not eat its own offspring. I don''t know if this arm belongs to the second prince, but I do know this arm was stuffed out of the wall of the well, or there wouldn''t have been such a fresh bruises on it. In addition, as you say, I don''t think anyone would risk digging a hole in a well to frame a dead and suppressed person.¡±


    I stood up and took a look of the position of the wellhead of the dry well.


    There was no sound coming out of the dry well, and I stayed for a while, seeing that Rani Xian seemed to have nothing to say. I sighed, turned around and left. Never judge people by their looks! I had never expected that the Queen, who didn¡¯t looked like a good person, really was a good person.


    When I got out of the Yongshou Palace, I was confused again. Since Rani Xian was a bad woman, naturally, it was impossible for her to produce grievances. But who was the ghost in the illusion? Everything went back to its place of origin.


    I unconsciously walked to the Queen''s Sleeping Palace. Standing outside the Palace, I could clearly see the Queen, who had a thin figure, squatting in the garden of the Palace.


    The front was a heap of bonfires and there was a pot on it. I didn¡¯t know what she was cooking, but a faint smell came to me.


    The water in the pot had boiled, and the ingredients have been coming up from time to time. I had a look of it and found there were mushrooms and wild fungi. The closer I went, the stronger the smell was.


    There was a sound of footsteps behind me, and I hurried out of the way. I saw a familiar maid bow and wait for the Queen¡¯s command, who was the one who brought soup to the Emperor before.


    The Queen turned back and wiped the sweat on her towering forehead, and said with a smile, ¡°It will take a while to finish cooking the soup. You go and get the wooden tray. The soup is hot.¡±


    The maid bowed, said yes and turned back. Then, she came back, taking a black and red wooden tray on her hand. After a while, the soup was cooked. The Queen crouched, put some soup in the bowl, then put the bowl in the wooden tray, and then she said, ¡°Go and give it to the Emperor quickly.¡±


    The maid turned out of the Palace and the Queen sat on the ground with no image, with the thin hand beating the thighs that were not as thick as my forearms.


    I bowed to the Queen, for nothing else, just for my misunderstanding. Now, in my opinion, the queen was definitely a virtuous queen besides her appearance.


    The maid''s pace was not slow, so I did not do more to keep up with direct delay. I only knew one way to get in, so I was going back the way I went, and I had to try my luck to find the ghost.


    The emperor was still in that side Palace. After handing the soup to the eunuch in brocade, the maid quietly withdrew from the Palace. I hesitated for a moment, and then I still went into the Palace because I would like to see if the Emperor would eat the soup, which, you know, was made by the Queen.


    The situation was very similar to the last time, but after putting aside my prejudice against the Queen, I found something different. The Emperor was eager to drink the soup, but he did not dare. Yes, the Emperor gave me a feeling that he dared not eat the soup. I can''t help but wonder why a monarch was afraid of a bowl of soup, or he was afraid of the General.


    I remember that the General was Rani Xian''s brother. Was the Emperor trying to placate the General, whose younger sister was killed by him, by deliberately alienating the Queen.


    The more I thought about it, the more I was sure.


    It''s a pity the Queen''s heart. I did despise the Emperor''s cowardice, but I also understand his suffering as a sovereign. There is no way for you to live up to both the Buddha and her.


    At this moment, I suddenly wanted to know the Queen''s past, such as why she killed her with a stick and why did she has a child, and I also wanted to know what kind of person this General really was. He would return the capital in months. I shook my head and thought if I couldn''t find the ghost, not just more than two months, maybe I would die in this illusion.


    The Emperor also did not drink the soup in the end, but the eunuch did not overturn the soup this time, but carefully carried it out. I followed him curiously, wondering if the eunuch would pour out the soup.


    But what was strange was that the eunuch carried soup directly into the Queen''s Sleeping Palace, and the Queen was sitting in the pavilion, holding a book to read. Seeing eunuch come to her, her eyes flashed a trace of gloom, saying with a smile, ¡°The Emperor did not eat the soup?¡±


    The eunuch knelt on the ground and said, with a hint of sadness in the tone, ¡°Dear Empress.¡±


    The Queen waved her hand to stop what the eunuch was about to say, ¡°I must trouble you and I will make another one soup tomorrow. I just get a health way to make the soup from Imperial Academy of Medicine.¡±


    The eunuch sipped his mouth and made a very respectful kowtow at the queen.


    The soup bowl was placed in front of the Queen. After the Queen took it and slowly eat the soup over that had been cold, she just put down the bowl and took a book to read again.


    When the eunuch came out of the Palace, he shed tears and said to himself, ¡°What a sin it is.¡±


    I felt strange and walked over. This time I really couldn¡¯t stand it. The eunuch seemed very loyal to both the Emperor and the Queen, and also seemed to know a lot of information, so I thought he was a perfect object who I could ask for some information.


    I thought it over and thought it must work, so I followed the eunuch to a house where he was supposed to live. The eunuch went in the house and took a book, and then hurried off again. I took a look and thought he might go to the Emperor¡¯s side Palace.


    Instead of following him, I found a pen and paper in the room, and wrote a line of shapeless and twisted words. I had no choice because I couldn''t get used to the brush, and it was okay for me to recognize traditional characters, but it was very difficult for me to write one, so the words on the paper are not only ugly, but also have a large part of simplified characters.


    I didn''t go out again and just waited for him in the eunuch room. Until midnight, brocade eunuch came in with a look of exhaustion. However, he didn¡¯t notice the paper on the desk, and he just took off my clothes and have a rest.


    When I saw it, I stopped him hurriedly, since I wasn''t interested in seeing a eunuch naked. The eunuch was undressing, only to find that the clothes seemed to be caught and could not be taken off. Then he turned back strangely but found nothing. Then he just shook his head and continued to take off his clothes. I felt very speechless and took the paper directly in front of eunuch¡¯s eyes.


    However, when I had just put the paper in front of the eunuchs, the eunuch just lowered his head and untied his belt. I could only pat him on the shoulder. I had no idea, because if his belt was removed, I guess it would be blind. I couldn¡¯t stand the eunuch naked.


    The eunuch looked very tired. He raised his head imperceptibly. After glancing at the paper in front of him, he was was stunned. Then he fell down directly on the ground, with his hands shaking, but he still kept speaking, ¡°I am the inner chief executive, Wang Bao. Who the f**k are you?¡±


    I finally knew the name of eunuch, but this was not the point. I took the paper close to him, but he kept retreating. Although he was scared very much, he still had a bit of spirit.


    I had no idea to see this situation, so I had to dump the paper on him. This guy finally understood, picked up the paper in my hand and looked for a long time, and then said, ¡°What is this?¡±


    What is this? Didn''t I write clearly enough? I took that piece of paper to see for a long time again. It was very strange that we did recognize all that I wrote just now, but now how couldn''t I recognize a single character?


    I put the paper aside, took out a book from the bookshelf, picked up a brush, took some notices below the useful words on the book, and handed it to Wang Bao.


    Perhaps Wang Bao saw that I had not hurt him, and was no longer as frightened as he had just been. Then he took the book and read it out, ¡°It¡¯s me. I just come to help you.¡±


    Wang Bao said, trembling, ¡°May I ask who I am talking to? And what can I do for you?¡±


    I immediately felt very speechless, and directly took up a pen and clicked some words one by on to show them to Wang Bao. He also followed me and read them out, ¡°I come to help you.¡±


    After finishing reading, he was at a loss and said, ¡°I, I actually don¡¯t need any help.¡±


    I suddenly felt very tired of such a communication, and continued to turn over the book and tried to find some words that could be used, but when I really couldn¡¯t find, I had to use some near-tone words instead. Wang Bao followed my movements and read these words out.


    ¡°Rani Xian asked me for help, but I thought the Queen was a good person, so I wanted to know the situation before making a decision.¡±


    After he finished reading, he repeated, Rani Xian. Then he suddenly realized it and his face changed, then directly knelt on the ground to keep kowtowing toward the front, ¡°The Queen is a good man, and you never listen to the Rani Xian.¡±


    I stood on the side of Wang Bao and saw him kowtow in front of me. I felt very angry but also thought it was very funny. Then I patted him on his shoulder and continued to click in book with a brush.


    ¡°Tell me the details and then I''ll make a decision.¡±

 Chapter 129 Obsession in Ancient City 8

    After the Queen entered the Palace for two years, the former Queen became pregnant and gave birth to a son, but what was unexpected was that her son died within one month. At this time, the Emperor felt very upset and often was absorbed in drinking. And just after he got drunken one time, he went to the Queen''s Sleeping Palace, and then something that should happen happened.


    The queen was the daughter of a merchant, unlike any other concubine. Although she also accepted the education of female precepts and other instruction, she actually had a kind of indomitable pride, so the Queen didn¡¯t like the other maids who would only comfort, but to inspire the Emperor to rise up, even do some abominable things that she said if the Emperor ignored the imperial business, she wouldn¡¯t let the Emperor go into her Sleeping Palace.


    But after all, the emperor was very wise, and gradually cheered up, so the Queen was also favored by the Emperor.


    One day, the Queen accidentally found some drugs that could lead to infertility sent by the former Queen. You know, the Queen''s family was the largest drug-maker in the capital.


    The Queen was not the kind of person who would swallow insult and humiliation silently, so she told the Emperor directly and asked the Emperor to find out who was framing the former Queen, because she did not believe that the former Queen would do it.


    The Emperor''s secret investigation found that there was the same effect of medicine in the soup of not not only the concubines, but also even the Emperor, so it didn¡¯t just aim at Imperial Harem. Then, it was found that the former Queen''s child, who would be appointed prince, was also killed by others. Things were completely out of control, and even the Emperor could no longer control it.


    However, during the investigation, the former Queen suddenly confessed, and gave a reason that made the Emperor very angry, and that was that she looked down up the Emperor and she also didn¡¯t want the Emperor to have offspring. The Emperor was very angry and immediately abolished the Queen. Then the former Queen was imprisoned in Yongshou Palace by the Emperor. However, she went crazy and died of illness in Yongshou Palace in less than a month.


    At this time, strange things happened. The results of asking God''s questions and the occasional clues pointed to one concubine after another, then the mad Emperor made massacre in the Imperial Harem.


    Whether it was old people in the Prince House, or the 28 new concubines, in the end, there were only six people left, including both the Queen and Rani Xian.


    After making a massacre, the Emperor was persuaded by the Queen to wake up gradually, but the feeling of being fooled made this thing become a thorn, inserting in the emperor''s mind.


    So the Emperor and the Queen had been looking for clues, but, unfortunately, nothing had been found as if there was nothing happened.


    In this way, after another year, the queen suddenly contracted a strange illness. Under the check of the imperial doctor, the Queen was found to be poisoned by a someone. At this time, the Queen was also pregnant. The imperial doctor informed the risk that although the poison would not affect the child, once the Queen¡¯s body became weak after give a birth to the child, the poison would take advantage of his weak point and enter her body, then the Queen was in danger.


    Though the Emperor wanted to have a child, he could not bear that the only lover, who walked side by side in the whole Palace, would die. However, the Queen defied persuasion to give birth to the child.


    Thanks to her son, The Emperor intended to appoint her Queen, but the emperor''s decision was firmly opposed by all the officials and had to be shelved because the Queen was born in merchant family and the Rani Xian was also pregnant.


    Shortly after the birth of the first prince and the second prince, rumors suddenly appeared in the palace that the concubine had an affair with Rani Xian, and that the second prince was not born of the emperor. The Emperor did not believe it either, but one of masters said that the emperor was destined to have only one son, so the emperor gradually became doubtful.


    Rumors spread very quickly, not only in the palace, even in the market. Therefore, in order to verify, the Emperor made the blood dripping recognition. However, the blood of the second prince proved that he was born by the Emperor.


    Then the question arose that where did the rumor come from? The rumor was bad for Rani Xian, and once the gossip was proved to be false, the biggest beneficiary, Queen, became the biggest suspect.


    But no one knows that although the Emperor didn¡¯t spend much time with the Queen every time, he even seldom went to her, all these are smoke bombs released by the Emperor in order to protect the Queen. Besides, That the emperor always came to other concubines was also the Queen''s idea. One was to paralyze the murderer, and the other was for the Emperor to have more children.


    So naturally, the Emperor believed in the Queen, and because of the rumors, the murderer behind the scenes gradually was revealed, and all the evidence pointed to Rani Xian. Only at that time, either the Emperor or the Queen dared not take any other actions, after all, the Emperor had killed many concubines.


    There was no evidence to prove that the rumors were made by the empress, and the emperor could not leave the palace without a master for a day. Therefore, he let the Queen exercise the duty of acting as the Queen, on the one hand, she just replaced the Queen momentarily and the Queen was not really certain of the Queen. Second, the Emperor''s son died of infancy, so even though the many ministers were against it, but after all, the Queen still became the acting Queen.


    As the years passed, the two princes grew up. Just when the Emperor and the Queen thought nothing would happen, the second prince drowned in the Imperial Garden, and the night when the second son drowned, Rani Xian claimed she had dreamed of the second prince crying, saying that it was the Queen who pushed him down the pool of the Imperial Garden.


    But Rani Xian didn¡¯t know one point that since the rumor incident, although the emperor was not sure that Rani Xian the murderer, he still sent people to spy on her, and that was how to know a shocking thing that the second prince was killed by Rani Xian.


    These things happened, and the Emperor naturally wanted to kill Rani Xian directly. However, her older brother was the orthodox general, so the Emperor couldn¡¯t, in any case, plainly sentence the punishment to Rani Xian at this time.


    The Queen also knew this. Therefore, when Rani Xian broke into the Queen''s Sleeping Palace and cried, she was imprisoned in the name of purging the Queen''s Palace. Then later, without Rani Xian¡¯s knowing, the Queen searched her Sleeping Palace.


    And then the Queen directly killed Rani Xian by a stick. As for that Rani Xian came to the emperor and cried for grievance, this was just the end of the first half of the whole thing.

 Chapter 130 Obsession in the ancient city 9

    When the queen searched Rani Xian''s dormitory, she fully understood her whole mind or plan.


    The emperor had no children, and if the queen was not special constitution, she would not bear the prince after being poisoned. And then the second prince would naturally become the natural emperor. And then the Rani Xian would be the queen. As long as the emperor died, since the second prince was young, the queen and the general would naturally become regent.


    Since the queen gave birth to the eldest son, the previous plan was naturally aborted. So the Queen killed the pretending of the second prince and even the Rani Xian, and then the general assisted the second prince to lead the army to revenge, which was understandable. Military power and justice were grasped in hand. If the emperor had no heir, and as long as he died£¬the second prince would become the emperor. Although the road was different, the result was the same.


    But they did not think, the Queen had taken everything down. In the early morning meeting, in front of all the civil and military officials, the queen had admitted that a maid in an imperial palace accidentally let the second prince fall into the pond and drowned, and in a fit of her anger, she flogged Rani Xian to death who was full of nonsense and she begged to surrender.


    Rani Xian died and the second prince died. The Queen''s behavior directly confirmed the death of two people was real. How did the general with the real second prince prove that the prince was the second prince?


    So the second prince was killed. It was the head that the queen had found for a long time when I just saw the queen and that was the real second prince¡¯s.


    In the end, the general lost his reason, and the only thing he could do was to ask the emperor to punish the queen severely.


    Knowing the beginning and the end of the matter, I took a long breath. The evil of Rani Xian was completely beyond my imagination, and the Queen''s determination and goodness also exceeded my imagination.


    I understood why the queen would make soup for the emperor herself, and why the emperor would show such a hesitant and painful look to the queen''s soup.


    But I still didn''t know who was the ghost who created the illusion.


    I continued to point the book with a pen: What would happen to the Queen?


    Right. What happened to the queen? The general was about to lead the army back, and the queen had born all the blame, so what would be the fate of the queen after the general came back?


    At this time, I hated the emperor''s weakness.


    Later, Wang Bao then raised his head and wiped his tears and nose. "Empress, Empress will be ordered to suicide with white silk hanging herself."


    I ordered: does the queen know?


    Wang Bao nodded hard: "The queen knew it. She told the slave, she would like to accept anything. She just wanted the emperor to drink a bowl of soup made by her own hands."


    I was silent. What a simple request! But in the palace, and the general had not come back. Why did the emperor not even meet this request of the queen?


    I pointed the book to ask questions, but Wang Bao shook his head to disagree with me, and said, "The emperor does not want to, but the emperor knows that he does not drink the soup of the Queen, but the loyal determination of the Queen."


    The brush fell on the ground. I sat powerless at the bedside, with thousands of words in the heart, but I could not say a word. I didn¡¯t even know whether the emperor should drink soup.


    Wang Bao cried again for a while, and then looked around doubtfully, then kowtowing very heavily, which hit the floor to send out a "thumping" stuffy sound. His forehead was red and his forehead was green. His forehead flew out the bright red blood. Wang Bao still did not stopped. Even the strength had not been reduced.


    "Immortals, please save the queen. Immortals, please save the queen.


    A cry like a cuckoo''s blood let me be overwhelmed, Wang Bao, you do not know, the emperor, queen, general, and even you, had been dead for a long time.


    It was a feeling of powerlessness that I had never experienced before. I would like to help this kind queen, but everything was too late, all being over.


    Wang Bao did not stop. I put my hand on his forehead. I could feel the strength ofWang Bao¡¯s kowtow was very strong. The blood temperature passed to my palm. The palm of also felt the temperature. He raised his head, looking at me full of hope.


    It made me feel bad because I couldn''t help him.


    I picked up the books and pens that had fallen on the ground and clicked: I would find the queen''s soul and protect her.


    When I finished, Wang Bao repeated like a machine, and then cried. I stood up. This was the only promise that I could do, but even as to whether I could do it, I didn¡¯t know. I also didn¡¯t know where the queen''s soul was. but I would go to find it all my life.


    Wang Bao kowtowed three times: "Thank you, immortals." Perhaps he knew that this was the best outcome.


    But there was one more thing I could do. It was that I let the emperor drink a bowl of soup made by the queen.


    I made up my mind that, even if the emperor refused to drink, I would rather than pour it in and I must let him drink.


    I used a pen to point at Wang Bao. Wang Bao did not show any joys, but he silently nodded. That night, I did not leave, but I stayed in Wang Bao''s room until dawn, and then I went to the Queen''s bedroom in the morning light.


    Learning from Wang Bao, I knew that the queen would get up and make soup before dawn, so that the emperor could drink the soup she had made before he came to court early in the day.


    Sure enough, when we arrived, the queen had already made the soup and was sweaty. Seeing Wang Bao walked to her, she smiles. Though it seemed a little scary on her skeleton face, I thought the queen was beautiful under the sun for the moment.


    Wang Bao respectfully took the soup. He did not mention me, and it was the agreement between the two of us. For the queen, the emperor''s initiative to drink soup was what she wants.


    The queen ordered a few words, saying drinking soup needed a small spoon and then eating the lotus seed below after drinking a mouthful of soup. In such a few short sentences, we could feel the deep and thick relationship between the queen and the emperor.


    When we arrived at the side-palace, the emperor had been waiting there. I knew from the mouth of Wang Bao, the emperor will wait for the queen''s soup each time in the side-palace. Although he did not drink, he would always wait.


    Wang Bao went up to introduce me. The emperor was surprised and with a little fear. I ignored his reaction, but simply told him a fact: Rani Xian had a soul while queen had a soul you could suppress Rani Xian¡¯s soul as well as the Queen''s Soul and the general¡¯s soul, or even you could dispel the Queen¡¯s sould, and I can protect the Queen''s soul but you must drink the soup.

 Chapter 131 Obsession in the ancient city---- the end

    For a long time, a bowl of soup that was no much was finished, the emperor took a long breath, closing eyes, as if still in the aftertaste.


    I didn''t know if it was my hallucination. I felt the emperor''s body blur a little, and I rubbed my eyes. Yes, blur. Not just the emperor, but also the palace.


    I looked to Wang Bao, Wang Bao was more blurred. Even the look of the face was a little unclear. How come this was now? Was it Sister Hua that found the ghost to remove the fantasy?


    "Thank you."


    Suddenly a female voice came, and I looked back, to see the queen who was still thin as a firewood. It was very strange that queen''s figure didn¡¯t get blurred. It was still so clear. No change. No, some change. In my surprised eyes, the queen''s face was slowly filling up, no longer like a skull.


    The prominent eyes that were caused by being thin were slowly getting smaller, but they coordinate with whole appearance. For not long, a beautiful woman appeared in front of my eyes.


    "Queen?" I couldn''t help asking.


    The queen nodded, and her eyes looked to it, and with infinite tenderness she looked at the emperor, who was disappearing. When his figure was almost too dim to see, and she said to me, "Thank you so much."


    When she said, the queen did not turn back, until the emperor completely disappeared, and I was showing a face of confusion. For what happened before the eyes, I was completely confused. I wanted to ask. But when I looked at the eyes of the empress who saw the position of the emperor who disappeared, nothing can be asked out.


    The queen did not let me wait too long, and when the hall had not completely disappeared, she opened her mouth: "A strip of white silk, a dead soul to the sky. A bowl of thick soup, to enjoy the eternal year. It had been for thousands of years, and the emperor finally drank the soup. In fact, I had never blamed the emperor. Everything was the plot of the general and Rani Xian."


    Queen''s words were more like self-talk, but I suddenly understood that the soul we had been looking for was not Rani Xian or other people, but the queen.


    The queen turned to me at last, saluted me slightly and said, "Thank you." Very sincere. Then the queen handed me a jade: "I do not know why you will come to this palace. Anyhow, you finally helped the emperor and me. This jade was for you. It is one of the palace belongs. It represent my authority. I hope it helps you."


    I took over the jade, but I also very sincerely said a thank you. This palace was really too weird. With this jade in hand, my heart was also a lot more secure.


    We had a little rest, Sister Hua asked about the situation, so I told everyone about what had happened in the illusion. Everyone sighed.


    For the queen, for the emperor, for Wang Bao, they sighed.


    After the jade was passed around in the hands of the public and it finally returned to my hand. I took the jade and asked, "What should we do now?"


    Everyone understood what I meant, for when they came out, they found two passages in the hall, one with an exit above it and with a faint white light, and the other with nothing to write about and being deep and dark.


    Everyone had no doubt that the exit is correct. I helped the queen to complete her obsession, so the queen had no reason to harm us. So, choice was what we should do.


    "It''s too weird here. We needed to talk about it in the long run." After a long silence, the long shirt person spoke first.


    Nobody knew when Wu Jian lit a cigarette. He listened to the long shirt person, took a hard breath, spit out a mass of smoke, and with a slightly hoarse voice said: "I want to go in to search the seeking-life doll. You go out first. Wu Rui, could you lend me the Jade?"


    Wu Jian''s last words were not inquiries, which let me know his own thoughts. It was estimated that Wu Jian would not give up if he did not find the seeking-life doll.


    I took the jade to throw: "This is ancient jade. I won¡¯t lend it to you. We go together, no matter who takes it."


    Wu Jian was dismayed for a moment and then laughed twice. Just as I understood him, he also understood my thoughts. Yes, I would not leave my friend and leave alone. Even if I died here, it was nothing to me. In fact, I really had the idea of dying here. Maybe that could make me get very close to Lulu.


    "I like black, especially black with lace." Huang Xiaolong made exaggeration and wiped his mouth corner that there was no saliva, expressing his attitude.


    Wu Jian went up and patted Huang Xiaolong on the shoulder. When they were trying to persuade Sister Hua to leave, they saw Sister Hua suddenly stood up, patted the buttocks that there was no dust on it: "Then let''s go. Kill the seeking-life Doll and go back to the ghost building early to pick up the guests."


    Wu Jian was moved to look at Sister Hua, and said: "Thank you." But it caused a white eye of Sister Hua, and then Sister Hua led the way directly. She entered into that dark channel taking the lead.


    We naturally hurried to keep up. No matter what, it was good to have friends to deal with it together.


    The passage was dark, but it did not frighten me. There were not the fluorescent bug or giant footsteps. It was only a long, long walk, and it was only a dark passage before and after, with no end in sight.


    Nobody knew when Huang Xiaolong started to gather around Sister Hua, and chatted with Sister Hua. He made Sister Hua issued a charming smile from time to time, and Yan¡¯er and the long shirt person were in the back. Nobody knew what they were doing. Only occasionally could I hear the pain shout that was issued and was lowered by the long shirt person. I walked in the middle with Xiao Lingdang and chatted about Lulu''s embarrassment in the ghost building.


    Among the whole team, only Wu Jian performed like being in a dangerous environment, with the headlights and the flashlights in their hands shining around, wary of the potential danger.


    "It¡¯s strange." Wu Jian suddenly opened his mouth and interrupted the conversations among the six people. I motioned for Xiao Lingdang to go to Sister Hua, and then I went up, and saw that Wu Jian had stopped, and in front of him was a huge stone gate. There was no design or writing on the stone gate. The only thing that was on the stone door was the traces of being polished.

 Chapter 132 A very talented Taoist 1

    Huang Xiaolong said, "Whatever it is, open it up and see it. Right? Sister Hua."


    I looked to Huang Xiaolong. With the help of the light, I even saw Huang Xiaolong was holding the hand of Sister Hua¡¯s. What is this situation? I thought this was more incredible than the Queen suddenly appeared in front of me.


    Sister Hua seemed to see my eyes, and with a strange looked at me, warning something or others that I could not tell. So I quickly turned around, pretending to be professional to look at the stone door, and nodded slightly from time to time.


    Wu Jian asked me doubtfully: "What have you found?"


    I was stunned, and then a little embarrassed. Fortunately, Wu Jian did not struggle with this matter. Instead, he tried to push down the stone gate, and then said, "Look, everyone, there should be an organ."


    "There¡¯s no need for you to say so." Huang Xiaolong disdainfully smiled, and then pointed to one side of the wall with an empty hand.


    Wu Jian and I both walked over, and sure enough, there was a prominent square on the wall. Wu Jian glanced at me, and then slowly pressed the protruding, and nothing strange happened. There was only a slight sound of friction throughout the passage.


    The stone gate slowly opened. There was no sudden light and no strange sound. It was a still dark passageway behind the stone gate.


    "Be careful, everybody." Wu Jian said a word, and then walked in the front. I followed closely behind, a face alert. Unfortunately, it was like the passage before. I did not know how long we walked. The passage was so long. Huang Xiaolong did not complain, because I could imagine him enjoying the pleasure of Sister Hua¡¯s little hands. But I was complaining a little bit.


    "How far is it?"


    It seemed that my mouth was shaved. When the voice stopped, there had appeared a faint light in the front, but the light was very strange. It was sometimes strong and weak sometimes, and the color was yellow and red, as if it was a huge torch that was rocking the flames with the wind in the front.


    Everyone''s pace quickened. We were getting closer and closer. I did not feel wrong. There was a fire ahead, but not a torch. It was a huge flame.


    This was also a huge square hall, and in the middle of the hall there were a pit nearly 10 meters in diameter, and countless flames that are pouring out of the hole, lighting up the whole hall.


    Everyone walked into the hall, and I took a few steps toward the flame. It was strange that such a big flame did not make me feel a trace of heat, as if everything in front of me was just a phantom.


    "It''s not a real fire, is it?" I''m a little uncertain.


    I followed Wu Jian to the paintings, and carefully looked up. The wall painting was not actually painting. Because they were the sculptures that were engraved on the wall. There was some paint only on it.


    But it was the matching of this sculpture and color that made people feel that the painting was as if to walk out of the wall, appearing real and exquisite.


    Huang Xiaolong muttered unconsciously in a low voice: "Damn, who said 3D painting was invented by foreigners."


    There were six pairs of long rolls on the wall, forming a circle that surrounded the flame in the middle along the wall.


    The first one was a very ordinary painting of landscape and animals, but the mountains and trees were painted with only a few strokes. But the animals were very vivid, I had a rough look. I found that the animals on it seemed to include all the animals in nature. There were chickens, ducks, fish, tigers, lions and many others I could not name.


    I wondered why there were so many sculptures of animals in this hall, but I was not anxious to ask. But I followed the footsteps of Wu Jian to watch.


    The second picture was completely different from the first one. The characters and animals above became simple sketches, but the scenery became the focus, and it was no longer the mountains or the trees. They were the majestic palaces, stacked in layers. There was no edge if you watched it, and in the palace there appeared things like haze from time to time.


    I had no idea about those.


    The third picture was even stranger. There was only a devil that exposed his fangs which had three heads and six arms. What was strange was that the devil did not feel so ferocious and looked very solemn, but in the hands of the monster, which was raised high, it was holding the sun and the moon. At the bottom of the devil, there were countless figures, as if in worship.


    The fourth pictures seemed to be the realistic scroll like the "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival". Houses, horses, characters were not much different from the cities in the illusion I had just experienced.


    The style of the 5th paintings suddenly changed. A devil with a large belly whose face was dark and whose hair was yellow was putting a struggling person into that huge mouth, and there was a devil that had a similar look nearby but it was a lot of little. It was looking at ghosts eating human beings. It seemed to want to eat, too, but in that closed mouth, there exposed a human thigh. In addition to these two ghosts, there were many people running away in the picture. It seemed they wanted to escape the ghost of the huge mouth.


    The sixth was the last picture. There were a lot of contents in the painting. Most of them were torture scenes. There was a man who was thrown into a big pot by a devil with two fanged and others being sawed into two sections by a devil. Someone was skinned by a devil. And there were a lot of people running around the drawing. People running to the edge of the drawing was kicking the edges with their feet. It looked like they wanted to leave the painting.


    After reading the six paintings, I didn''t know why I had a deep impression in my mind, and I also seemed to have seen these scenes somewhere. I knew very well that I would not have seen it, but I could not get rid of that inexplicable familiarity. Where on earth had I seen it?


    Everyone slowly looked at the pictures on the wall, I did not look any more, sitting on the ground on one side, closing eyes, my hands keeping rubbing temples. I thought over those in my mind. Thinking carefully, I thought I had never been to these places. So where had I seen such similar paintings, and I should have seen more than once. Although I could not remember, but I had this feeling, and it got increasingly strong, as if the next moment I would immediately remember that.


    But I just couldn''t remember. Three heads and six arms, ogres, misty palaces, torture, animals, houses and people. Suddenly a flash of light flashed in my mind, and a familiar name came out of my mouth.


    All those who were discussing the contents of the pictures on the walls looked at me, and then determined the contents of the pictures. It was the four words I blurted out.

 Chapter 133 A very talented Taoist 2

    But the general picture for the six reincarnation was round and the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was in the middle. But this wall¡¯s relieves were parallel. The order of its arrangement is more puzzling.


    The animal way, the evil spirit way and the hell way were for the lower three ways, but the heaven way, the humanity and the Asura way were for the upper three ways. From the point of view of the order of arrangement, animal path should not be the first ways, and the second pattern should be the first.


    I said this idea, but Wu Jian seriously shook his head and rejected. When I was thinking of asking Wu Jian why, Wu Jian had pointed to the position of the flame.


    I found that the flame, though without temperature, had other qualities of flame, such as glowing and distorting the line of sight. And in the middle of the flame, there was a cylinder no more than a meter in diameter, which was below the ground, and that was why I didn''t find it all at once, and at the very top of that column, there was another skull sitting on it.


    The body was full of fire, reflecting the white bones, sending out red light.


    And on the wall around the cylinder there was a saying: If heaven and earth are ruthless, they treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs


    Cud dog is the meaning of pig and dog. Is this the reason of animal life path was set in the front. It is somewhat far-fetched.


    Seeing me looking at him, Wu Jian said, "The skeleton had just moved."


    "Ah" I hastened to look. The skeleton was still in the position of sitting, and I could see no trace of movement.


    Sister Hua smiled and walked up to me, pointing at the skeleton: "Interesting. Bones refined by heaven fire. This guy is really interesting."


    "What is it?" Seeing Sister Hua seemed to know something, I asked curiously.


    Sister Hua hummed coldly and disdainfully: "Huh, a group of idiots thought of a stupid way, attempting to rebirth. It was very popular in ancient times. Unfortunately, no one had a rebirth, so slowly no one was going to be burned silly."


    "Rebirth?" Sister Hua''s words let me have a little concept to the sky fire to refine the bone, but it was also not very clear.


    I nodded. I think if you want to vaporize the body, it is better to use high-tech. Although I did not know very well, I thought it was possible to do. But this kind of sky fire to refine the bone takes tens of thousands of years, even if the long shirt person''s words inside had some exaggeration, half of the period was also 5000 years. My God, it¡¯s 5000 years. Even if you were reborn, how was that? The world would be different. Maybe no human beings would be on the earth. All would emigrate to outer space.


    It was silly enough. It was the real idea in my heart, and then I felt strange. This was obviously the queen''s or the emperor''s palace, but where did this bone-refining fellow come from? Is it the emperor?


    I asked the questions, but no one answered me this time, because everyone didn''t know that the only thing that they could tell me was that the palace was full of eccentricities and that it was normal to find all the wrong things.


    Well, thinking of the experience along the way, I very reluctantly accepted this answer that did not seem to be an answer.


    Then I did not ask, because I also found that the skeleton sitting on the plate seemed to have really moved, but the motion was very small, and the flames on the side of the bowl distorted the light, which made me wonder if it was a mistake.


    Wu Jian took a look at the passageway across from where we came: "Let''s go first?"


    I nodded first, and to be honest, I didn''t want to go through any strange things. For me, the only thing I should do was to find the seeking-life doll and died as soon as possible.


    Sister Hua nodded and long shirt person nodded. Although everybody nodded, we are on guard in the skeleton in the flame, while walking toward the passageway. But at the time that Wu Jian was about to step into the passage, a voice that was too old to sound like a voice came out.


    "Are you looking for the seeking-life doll?


    Everyone turned around, and then in my surprised eyes, the skeleton sitting in the flames slowly stood up, and as he moved, the flesh and blood of his body appeared slowly.


    By the time the skeleton stood up, it had become a white-haired old man, dressed in a white robe, which looked a bit like a fairy.


    The old man stepped on the fire in the void and came over step by step, as if there was an invisible staircase in the flame. He walked directly to our front. Perhaps seeing us still alert he smiled and stopped on the edge of the fire.


    And the first thing I saw was the deep wrinkles on the old man''s face that was deep enough to clip a chopstick without falling.


    "I am Qing Xin and I have seen you all." The old man gave a Taoist priestly salute.


    The people and I looked at each other for a few times. Then my heart moved, and I opened my mouth and said, "Qing Xin senior Taoist priest? Are you the very talented person of the palace?"


    Qing Xin senior Taoist priest was slightly astonished, and then said: "It seems that you are deeply blessed, and you have seen the emperor and queen."


    See Qing Xin senior Taoist priest admitted, my heart could not help but being tired of it. Although this Qing Xin senior Taoist priest looks kind, with fairy wind and Taoist bone, in fact he was not a good person. I could not help sneering a few as a response to answer.


    Qing Xin senior Taoist priest was not angry, and sighed: "You don''t like me and I also understand, but the life-seeking doll is not in the back of the passage."


    Wu Jian also heard me talk about the Queen''s matters, and he also had no good feelings to this Qing Xin senior Taoist priest, but very plainly said: "Nothing, let''s look for it."


    Having said it, he also no longer paid attention to the Qing Xin senior Taoist priest. He was about to enter the channel, but I did not move, but alert to look at the Qing Xin senior Taoist priest.


    Qing Xin senior Taoist priest¡¯s brow wrinkled and the wrinkles appeared more deep: "Please wait. There is no life-seeking doll in the passage, but seal this fierce ghost. You must not mistake."


    I smiled, "Fierce ghost? Which one? What is its name? Maybe we still know each other." To tell the truth, I am not very afraid of the fierce ghost. There is no way. The third floor of the ghost building was full of fierce ghosts, grudges. I didn¡¯t have enough time and energy to be afraid of them.


    Qing Xin senior Taoist priest said: "I also don¡¯t know about the information. But this fierce devil harmed numerous people, and I finally spelled out the life to suppress it. Even if I died, I also didn¡¯t dare to leave, but I guard in this place."


    "Oh" I pull out a long voice to express my disdain. Everyone had already known the sky fire to refine the bones. This senior Taoist priest was so good at praising himself.

 Chapter 134 A very talented Taoist 3

    Wu Jian did not pay attention to him, and directly stepped into the passage. When Wu Jian just stepped into the passage, the whole body shivered, and Qing Xin senior Taoist priest¡¯s roar also passed over.


    "Don''t go in there."


    I did not pay attention to Qing Xin senior Taoist priest, but I was concerned to ask Wu Jian: "What happened?" After all, Wu Jian just shivered a lot, and I was afraid he had something wrong.


    Wu Jian frowned: "Very cold. When I just step in to it, I feel very cold. It is wet cold."


    After listening, I could not help looking to the side of the Sister Hua, Sister Hua shook her head: "It is not the old man that do it."


    Qing Xin Taoist apparently also heard our words: ¡°It¡¯s suppression of evil spirits. It¡¯s not auspicious to step into it."


    When I heard Sister Hua say that it was not the old way that did it£¬my heart was also a little hesitant. In case of anything wrong, it was always right to be safe since it is a matter of life, because nobody knows what¡¯s in the end inside this passage, though I didn¡¯t believe Qing Xin Taoist.


    "My eyes turned, and smiled and said:" Qing Xin Taoist, since the seeking-life doll was not in the passage, so where is it? It¡¯s OK for us not to go in, as long as you bring it to us. Not only we''re not going through the passage, but we will leave right away."


    Qing Xin Taoist was stunned, and said in an embarrassed way later: "I do not know where the seeking-life doll is. But in this channel, there is a devil of a thousand years. The life-seeking doll would absolutely not go in."


    "Hehe." I burst out two laughter disdainfully. To tell the truth, I didn¡¯t have any good feeling to this Qing Xin Taoist.


    Then I said to Wu Jian, "I''ll try." Then I decided to enter the passageway, and the long shirt person went to the passageway and said:" I''ll try it, too." I nodded. I was a man while the long shirt person was a ghost. The long shirt person might be able to find something else I could not find.


    Qing Xin Taoist wanted to come forward to stop, but Huang Xiaolong and Yan¡¯er together blocked in front of Qing Xin Taoist, so that the Qing Xin Taoist could only roar there.


    The long shirt person and I looked at each other and stepped in together, with great care. My feet were almost a slow-motion replay, but when I landed on the ground, I did not feel the kind of horror said by Wu Jian, not even a trace of the strange feeling, as if walking on the common road.


    But I know, Wu Jian did not lie to me, because the long shirt person was like being caught by the cat, quickly pulled back the foot and issued a painful cry, and on his feet, it actually produced a white frost.


    Qing Xin Taoist said with relief: "I have told you. There is a devil of a thousand. He...." Qing Xin Taoist did not finish, and then looked at me dully who had stepped into the passage. Not only him, but also other people looked at me with a strange, shocked eyes.


    Qing Xin Taoist stretched out the fingers that was full of senile plaque and pointed at me. Even his words were not clear: "You, you. Why are you okay?"


    I shrugged and made a helpless gesture: "Maybe I''m handsome."


    Qing Xin Taoist was choked directly by me and could not say anything. Perhaps he had never seen such a brazen person as me in ancient times.


    However, Qing Xin Taoist was right. In fact, I was also very strange about why I was OK. I looked to everyone like asking for help.


    Sister Hua thought for a while, and gave a seeming answer: "I have heard Xiao Zui said, no matter what fierce ghosts, there would be sentimental people or things for them. After all, ghosts are changed from people. Although after death their desires would be weakened, they can''t escape people''s feelings.


    When Sister Hua finished saying, she pointed to the jade on my body, and then I also realized it. Exiting the passage, I handed the jade to Wu Jian, and then tried again. This time I could not feel good. I could say for sure that it was definitely not as simple as the damp and cold like what Wu Jian said. The feet that I stepped into the passage were frozen stiff, and there were innumerable frostbites on my feet, which made me almost want to cut off my feet.


    Even the hair on the feet were frozen stiff. With a touch of hands, it broke. Wu Jian hurriedly handed back the jade to me. When I got the jade, the pain on the foot eased a lot. The frostbites began to slowly flow out the bleeding beads.


    It seemed that as Sister Hua said, the jade was the key to entry. I had a glance on the Qing Xin Taoist who was like a silly since he saw the jade, and then opened the mouth and said: "How should we do? There is only one jade."


    "Damn it." Wu Jian firmly said, and immediately took the jade from my hand. Before we reacted to it, he all of a sudden stepped into the passage.


    Originally, I thought Wu Jian was going in like this, but he immediately found out that it was not right. Within one step, he stiffened up with a sharp movement and exhaled a white mist from his mouth.


    "No." The long shirt person roared, and then stretched out like a spring, and grabbed the hand of Wu Jian and pulled him back, and when the long shirt person had just pulled the Wu Jian back, there was a sound of" thump ". The long shirt person ''s arm fell to the ground like this, falling to pieces.


    Wu Jian was still good. After all, he was holding the jade. Although he was shivering, he was not so bad.


    The long shirt person was very uncomfortable, Yan¡¯er came forward constantly using the black mist from the top to integrate it into the body of the long shirt person, but the long shirt person still shivered like a sieve.


    Sister Hua¡¯s tone revealed rare surprise: "Even the soul can be frozen. It seems that Wu Jian is the only one who can get in there."


    I also had a bit understanding. Since the queen gave me the jade, obviously, the effect that I held would be very good, and other people, even if they held the jade, it was very dangerous. But I really did not want to go in to face of fierce ghosts.


    Wu Jian''s face showed a struggling expression. He bit his teeth for a long time: "Forget it, we go back."


    I looked at Wu Jian, and Wu Jian''s expression was very plain, but his lips had been bitten, and was leaving blood on it. It seemed that his heart was far less calm than the appearance. I could not help but sigh. Then I reached out my arm and patted Wu Jian on the shoulder: "I go in."


    Wu Jian took my hand with backhand: "Forget it."


    I shook my head and said, "This fierce ghost is obviously very familiar with this jade, and do not want to hurt the person holding it. I am very safe. Besides, the queen has said that this jade can also let the guards help me in the palace. Even if I was in the face of the seeking-life doll, I could kill him alone. It''s okay.


    Wu Jian frowned without speaking, but his hands did not let me go, and Sister Hua and other people were silent. From the expression, they did not agree me to get into the channel alone.

 Chapter 135 A very talented Taoist 4

    Feeling the strength of the hand of Wu Jian¡¯s, I thought for a moment, but still said firmly, I wanted to go in alone, because I knew what the seeking-life meant to Wu Jian, and I was also very clear that even if we all left today, one day, Wu Jian would sneak into the palace again. Instead of coming to this strange palace again, it is better to finish things once.


    When Inner Peace Taoist saw that I seemed to have a hard heart, he could not help opening his mouth: "Young man, listen to your friend''s advice. You can''t get a good deal by yourself. It''s a devil of a thousand years inside."


    I looked at the Inner Peace Taoist, and suddenly thought of a matter. From the mouth of Wang Bao I knew the role of this Inner Peace Taoist. He was definitely a sinister villain. But such a person who was always under the banner of good for me advised me not to enter the passage. Why?


    There was really a danger in the passage and a fierce ghost of a thousand years? Or was there something in the passage that the Inner Peace Taoist did not want people to find? I thought the latter was more likely.


    I looked at the Inner Peace Taoist with suspicious eyes and made him hide his eyes and then I said to Sister Hua and other people, "Well, since we can''t get in, we''ll come back next time, but the things that I promised the queen have to be done it by the way."


    All eyes looked at me with a look of doubt. I was worried about who would say something wrong, and quickly answered, "Inner Peace Taoist, you have helped imperial concubine Xian kill so many people, and I have come to take your life at the queen''s command."


    The Inner Peace Taoist was shocked and stepped back a few steps, while Sister Hua and others were shocked. Although I told them the story of the queen and I didn''t like him, but it didn''t go to the point of killing him directly.


    At this time the role of Huang Xiaolong had been reflected. He who had liked to show himself did not take off the clothes on the upper body, but directly tore the jacket in half, and then did not say a word, directly launched the killing evil.


    Huang Xiaolong¡®s hands quickly produced a few handprints in front of the tattoo on the chest, and then burst out several words one by one: "Those who fight in front are in the front, killing evil."


    A startling beast roar appeared in my mind, and Huang Xiaolong''s tattoo on his chest was like living, with Huang Xiaolong''s hand prints swimming away. Then it suddenly flew out, straight to the Inner Peace senior Taoist.


    The golden dragon was fighting against the flame. Though not fast, the fighting was getting closer and closer to the Inner Peace Taoist, and the Inner Peace Taoist kept fanning from the bottom to the top. With the movement of his hand, the flames beneath the column kept rushing upward to replenish the flame consumed by the golden dragon.


    I looked at Huang Xiaolong in amazement, and the other people''s expression was almost the same as mine. I had no idea that Huang Xiaolong was doing it so fast. I just wanted to scare the Taoist to see if I could get some information from him.


    Huang Xiaolong was standing still in the position of sending out the golden dragon, looking at the Inner Peace senior Taoist in the flame with a proud look, and quite disdainful said: "Oh, still too weak."


    I didn''t want to interrupt Huang Xiaolong''s costume, but I had to say, "Well, why are you suddenly..."


    Huang Xiaolong then retracted the posture to stand: "No need to thank me, and tell the queen also not to thank me. I should have done it. I have already been unhappy with this guy."


    Well, forget my question. I could see Huang Xiaolong this time issued a more powerful golden dragon than the last time. It was estimated that the Inner Peace Taoist didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to me. So I pulled Sister Hua, the long shirt person, Yan¡¯eraside.


    I said my thoughts to the three people. When Sister Hua heard, she meditated up, her mouth incessantly saying: "Sky fire to refine bones and fierce ghost of thousands of years. He was afraid we would discover them."


    I did not speak, quietly listening to Sister Hua, planning to wait for Sister Hua''s answer. The long shirt person at one side but cried, and then whispered: "Sister Hua, it will not be soul borrowing, right?"


    Sister Hua was obviously stunned for a while, and then the expression became very strange, as if there was something incredible happening again.


    I was very strange to ask the long shirt person: "Borrowing soul for what?"


    The long shirt person looked at Sister Hua and hesitated to answer my question.


    Sister Hua took an uncertain look at the long shirt person, and then just nodded: "It should be soul borrowing."


    My eyes looked to spend Sister Hua. Sister Hua also did not lose the public hope and explained: "The soul borrowing we say is different from the ordinary soul borrowing. In fact, This is the authentic soul borrowing. It¡¯s just because it appears not much. In addition, the name is easy to remember, so usually making other people''s soul out of body to help themselves do things is called the soul borrowing.


    Sister Hua paused for a while, the face with a trace of fear: "I don¡¯t know much about the real soul borrowing. I just heard people mentioned, first use a variety of ways, such as torture and so on to kill a person, so that it is called a fierce ghost. Then they are imprisoned, gradually losing their feelings in the passage of time, becoming a machine that only knows to kill, and then killing it in the cruelest secret way, frightening it out of his wits and collecting its soul.


    Use the force of five elements to wash it, and finally get a pure and blank soul. If a blank soul is owned, whether by a ghost or a human being, the owner will have great benefits, just like this Inner Peace senior Taoist, who seems weak now. In fact, a very ordinary soul that can reach his level is already very strong. If, I mean if. If the Inner Peace senior Taoist gets the blank soul, then he will reach the level of the ghost king.


    After I heard it, I understood what the so-called "soul borrowing" meant, and I was also vaguely sure. I was afraid that this Inner Peace senior Taoist also had this intention. But I still had lot of places that I didn¡¯t understand. So I asked Sister Hua: "Sister Hua, what is the power of the five elements and the ghost king?"


    This time the man replied: "This sky fire is one of the force of the five elements. Gold, wood, water, fire and soil were combined as the force of the five elements. As for the ghost king, that is the call after the ghost power reached a certain level. Like the Ph.D. in humans, it''s rare and tough. So it can be said that any ghost king can destroy the Fan Building in no more than 10 minutes."


    "Ah" I couldn''t help opening my mouth, but it was a ghost building. Let alone the fierce ghosts and the grudges on the third floor that I had not seen before, only the ghosts on the first floor and the second floor were already very strong existence. But probably in the eyes of the ghost king, they were mole ants.

 Chapter 136 The very talented Taoist 5

    I nodded. People are always like this. They don¡¯t always subconsciously think the unknown dangers.


    "In that case, I''ll go in even more." I thought for a moment:" In case the Inner Peace Taoist succeeds, it will be a problem."


    Wu Jian said: "We directly killed the Inner Peace Taoist. Is it OK?"


    "He can''t be extinguished.¡± The long shirt person shook his head. "We can''t destroy him if he doesn''t get out of the flames.


    "


    I didn''t know why the long shirt person said that, but I knew he wouldn''t lie to us, so I said again about myself going in.


    Wu Jian was still opposed. Perhaps for him, to find seeking-life doll should be his business, and it should be danger to him. He was naturally unwilling to let me take on, but now it was not just a seeking-life doll thing.


    Wu Jian had no reason, but he still did not want to: "Sister Hua and others also said just now, this devil is being erased in the human nature. In case it really becomes a monster that only knows to kill, what is the use even if you go in?"


    I lift the jade in the hand: "Its human nature has not disappeared."


    Wu Jian had no choice. But seeing those people who no longer help him persuade me, he finally nodded, indicating that I must be careful, and if things cannot be done, I directly leave, and anyway, some big guy will help if the sky really fell down.


    "No." The Inner Peace Taoist called loudly, and I took back the feet that I had been about to step into the passage, and looked at the golden dragon, which had been worn away by the incessant flames, and asked Huang Xiaolong," How about it? Can you come again?"


    Huang Xiaolong laughed, and even said it was OK, and then gave another blow of golden dragon killing evil, and directly made the Inner Peace Taoist who wanted to talk be only able to shout.


    I simply waved to the public, and then stepped into the passage. Not feel any cold. It seemed that the jade is still in effect. I touched the jade that was hanging in the front because of fear of falling, bit my teeth and went straight into the darkness.


    Slowly the flame behind could no longer provide me with a bit of light, and the voice of Wu Jian and others gradually unaudible. The entire passage had only a person''s footsteps and the faint light of the flashlight.


    I thought since I had seen too many ghosts and strange things, I would be no longer afraid, but I was wrong. In such an environment, fear was slowly taking root. My mind was beginning to imagine. I felt like those horrible ghosts were smiling at me, as if they were about to jump in the next moment.


    Resisting the impulse to return, I unconsciously quickened the pace, which was just go faster, but I felt a kind of never tiredness that I had never had before. My feet had been sour and soft, and my head seemed to be some heavy, no longer clear.


    Just when I thought the next moment I would be so tired that the hungry ghosts in the passage will swallow me£¬suddenly the flashlight went out. I panted, swung hard the flashlight in hand. The flashlight still did not shine as I expected. And in a shake, it straightly went out of my hand, in the distance making a loud sound of fragmentation.


    I stretched out my hands and could not see anything, but I still walked at a fast pace, turning after the pain of the impact on my hand, then hitting and turning again. I felt trapped in a small space and could no longer walk out.


    I almost gave up, but I still crawled on the ground. My hands were bleeding, and the air was full of the smell of blood. I bit my tongue and let my mouth be filled with the smell of blood.


    The salty blood and the pain on my tongue gave me a little pure brightness.


    Unfortunately, there was no use in the darkness. I felt I was about to faint. I didn''t know if it was a hallucination in my head. I heard a very young voice: Xiao Bai, you see, there is an uncle.


    He looks good to eat.


    Uncle and delicious? What is this match? But I had been unable to complain.


    To be honest, I had no idea that I would still be alive. I knew when I fainted in the passage that no one came back to save me even if there were no ghosts. And it turned out, no one was going to save me, because it was a rabbit that saved me. Um, yeah, a rabbit.


    I looked at the rabbit that was as big as a big dog and the rabbit¡¯s back had children of just two or three years old and watched me and drooled. I felt that the whole world had collapsed.


    Ghost? I can accept it. But what about this rabbit? Goblins?


    "Uncle." The little boy on the back of the rabbit called me for the third time with a lovely voice. It was the third time. For the first time he called, I fainted. The little boy said he called me, but I had no memory. The second time I woke up, and it was only ten minutes from now, and now was the third time.


    I had no choice but to put my hand out, and then I closed my eyes turning my head and said, "Gently."


    The little boy nodded with delight and said, "Uh-huh." Then he conducted the rabbit to come up to me, and then I felt a pain in my arm, and The little boy''s mouth came with a loud sucking sound.


    Sucking blood every ten minutes. This was what the little boy did to me. The last time I was going to resist, and the result was that I no longer intended to resist, because I could not fight the rabbit and the little boy''s language had a magical power. Once he called me, I would unconsciously give everything to him, let alone a little blood.


    I finally understood what ¡°uncle was delicious.¡± meant.


    The little boy was obviously well educated and had the habit of saving food, and after a few sips, he stopped sucking and licked the blood from my arm with his little tongue. Then he returned to the rabbit with missing and regret.


    As soon as the little boy left, the blood stopped strangely. I was extremely suspicious that the boy was a vampire, but from my experience with the ghosts every day, the boy was a ghost.


    And it''s supposed to be the fierce ghost the Inner Peace senior Taoist said.


    I didn''t know whether I should be glad that this little boy still had his feelings, that he did not become a monster who only knew how to kill, or that I should mourn for my future destiny.


    Perhaps the little boy was unwilling to be tempted by food, he did not look at me, but he rode the rabbit called Xiao Bai to play the game of fighting on horseback.


    I thought about it for a while and decided to make a good relationship with the little boy. Not for anything else, even if it was necessary for me to live a few more days.


    I called the little boy twice, but the little boy did not pay attention to me, so I took out my secret trick. That was the story. I sat on the ground and I told the story of Snow White. The little boy at first did not care about me. Just when I thought I was not attractive to him, and I intended to change a story, the little boy came over on a rabbit and stayed by my side, looking at me. For the first time, there was no light to see food in his eyes.

 Chapter 137 The very talented Taoist 6

    "I don''t want to see Snow White anymore," said the wicked new queen. "make an excuse to sneak her into the forest and kill her. After killing, bring back her heart and tongue as proof that you killed her. You hear me? There can be no mistakes... "


    As the story went on, I noticed that the little boy''s eyes were slowly turning, red like the rabbit under him, and that the eyes were turning red, and it seemed that he was fully immersed into the story. His eyes were full of blood.


    Also, although I did not know whether the little boy was older than a thousand years, do not say a thousand years, 500 years ago there was no story of Snow White.


    The story went on: "The bad queen came up with a way to poison Snow White by putting her poison in the bright red apple."


    "Ah."


    The last cry was not included in the story of Snow White, but the pain I couldn''t help. I did not know why the little boy suddenly rushed down the rabbit, opened his mouth that became large, and bit on my arm. At once came the rapid swallowing sound. The remaining sound of my pain is not finished, because of the rapid passage of blood and my whole head had become heavy.


    "What are you doing? You don''t like the whole story?" Although the little boy had swallowed my blood, I knew that he had not tried his best, and I did not dare to incite him, but I wanted to understand the reason first, as if there was a saying that, even if you wanted me to die, you should let me know why.


    The little boy left his mouth off my arm, but he didn''t lick the rest of the blood as he had on previous occasions. Maybe it was for this reason that my wound was still bleeding out. I quickly pressed tightly on the top of the wound and looked helplessly at the boy whose hair was standing up in front of me.


    I had to say that most of the ghosts in the movie are female ghosts. The long hair fluttering appears beautiful and strange, and the male ghosts, like this little boy with straight hair, not only not good-looking, but also with a little funny. Especially the little boy still had long hair, Bah, Bah, how can I think of this aspect?


    The little boy looked at me with his red eyes, almost word for word: "Mother is a good person, not a bad person, and the queen is a good person."


    I was a little stunned, and then in a moment in my mind came a thought. Mother? Was this the second prince who had died?


    The little boy was very angry. The nostrils kept fanning. Although there was no air flowing through the breath, the surrounding weeds began to move with the little boy''s nostrils and shake regularly. Even the trees farther away were shaking their leaves.


    "Are you the second prince?" I asked in a certain tone.


    The little boy was startled a little, and he did not speak, just staring at me. I understood. I guessed right. Thinking about it, I took the jade out of my chest and showed it to the little boy: "Do you know this?"


    The little boy was astonished longer, and when I thought he was going to stay like this, there were two lines of blood and tears flowing out from his eyes, and his body twitched.


    "I am a friend of the queen, and I advise the emperor to drink the queen''s soup. " I went on to explain. I couldn¡¯t do it without explanation. That the wound on my arm was still bleeding. That a large chunk of the lawn had been wet on the ground, and my whole body had become powerless, and, as one might imagine, it would not be long. I would bleed too much and fall into a coma or even die.


    When the little boy heard the soup, his eyes flashed over a strange look, and then he reached out and picked up my arm, licking the wound on my arm like a kitten. Not long after, my arm stopped bleeding. In addition to the row of teeth biting left on it, it had become very clean, but my heart was quite uncomfortable. He licked so clean, but from prominent blood into inconspicuous saliva.


    Finishing licked my wound, the little boy licked his lips and looked at my arm and the blood on the ground. He looked up at me and said, "Is my mother all right? Xiao Tong misses her very much."


    The little boy''s expression was like the abandoned puppy, full of longing. I could not help but reach out to his head. Just when I reached over his head, I suddenly react. I awkwardly wanted to take my arm back. The little boy stretched out his head to the front, rubbed his fallen hair against my palm, and said in a very aggrieved voice, "Xiao Tong thinks of his mother."


    I was not afraid any more, stroking the head of the child, and slowly said: "The queen is good. When I left, the queen had become fat, but very beautiful."


    The child''s eyes were bright: "My mother gains weight. Does my mother eat a lot of meat? It is what Xiao Tong told my mother."


    I nodded and said, "Well, yes, the queen ate a lot of meat."


    Xiao Tong was very happy to pulled up the rabbit''s two front feet and constantly circled, but I felt very bad. No matter how cruel the harem struggle was, it should not affect the child, let alone to take the child''s life to carry on the conspiracy. All of a sudden, I wondered if the little boy knew that imperial concubine Xian was his real mother and the killer who killed him.


    But looking at the happy the child turning around, I had no way to speak, because I think once I really asked, then imperial concubine Xian and I were the same.


    But there was something I really needed to ask.


    Seeing that the child finished turning round with an excited expression, I began to ask, "Xiao Tong, do you know the Inner Peace senior Taoist?"


    Xiao Tong shook his head doubtfully, being confused.


    I thought for a moment and added, "That is the Taoist who is in the fire outside the passage."


    The child''s face was instantly disgusted, pretending to be ferocious: "That is the bad guy. He shut Xiao Tong here. Do not allow Xiao Tong to go to mother."


    I continued, "Xiao Tong, do you know why he''s holding you here?"


    Xiao Tong shook his head: "I don''t know, but he is a bad man."


    I nodded. My heart had already understood that the matter of soul borrowing would be true: "Xiao Tong, how did he shut you? Does he beat you?"


    Xiao Tong hummed with disdain: "He just can''t beat Xiao Tong. Just he buries another Xiao Tong in the ground, and then I can''t get out."

 Chapter 138 The very talented Taoist 7

    The body of Xiao Tong. It must be the body of Xiao Tong that the queen had not found.


    "Where was the other Xiao Tong? "


    Xiao Tong pointed to a strange place in the distance: "Right there. He is a lazy Xiao Tong who only sleeps."


    I stood up, feeling a little powerless, but I was also able to insist. So I called Xiao Tong, and let him follow me, walking slowly to that strange place.


    This place was strange, surrounded by green grass, but there was no grass in the middle, as the Mediterranean hairstyle that is very conspicuous, and in this round area, my naked eye saw something buried in five equal corners.


    Xiao Tong pointed to the center of the circle: "The Xiao Tong with no head is right there. He won''t let me in."


    You were not allowed in which means you were be able to get in. I suddenly thought of imperial concubine Xian. When she was in the dry well, she let me dig out her bones under the gate of the city, saying that this would be all right. She didn''t need my help for the latter. This meant that as soon as the bones were dug up, she should be able to restore her freedom. I wonder if it was the same situation as Xiao Tong.


    "Xiao Tong, I''ll dig out the other Xiao Tong and let me know if you find anything uncomfortable, okay?


    Xiao Tong nodded hard, looking very happy.


    I did not go directly to dig up the child''s body in the middle, but U dug up the five obvious buried things. They weren''t deep, and I quickly dug them out. They were five very strange things: a green root, a red ball, a black pot filled with water, a yellow stone and a broken tip of a sword.


    They were the five elements. I understood one point. Although I did not know how this worked and how this trapped Xiao Tong, but I knew it was related to the five elements. This was probably the force of the five elements.


    I turned my head to Xiao Tong. His expression became very confused. I was afraid that the five elements I dig out would have impact on him, so I quickly asked: "Xiao Tong, what do you feel?"


    Xiao Tong looked at me doubtfully, and then said, "I don''t know. I feel a little bit stronger and hungry." Then his eyes looked again at my arm.


    My heart felt a cold. He just sucked too hard. If he sucked again I could not guarantee that I could still support, and I hurriedly turned around to dig up the body of Xiao Tong¡¯s.


    The power of the five elements was dug out, and the strength of Xiao Tong was obviously increased, so it would only be good for Xiao Tong, not bad, so I dug very hard.


    I looked back doubtfully to Xiao Tong. Xiao Tong''s face had no innocent expression, the corner of the mouth with a trace of sarcastic smile, looking at me.


    There was a thump in my heart. I didn''t know what was wrong, but I knew that things might not be as good as I thought.


    "Xiao Tong." I cried out tentatively, but Xiao Tong did not speak, and the mockery of the corner of his mouth became more obvious.


    I took a few steps back, and then the bunny jumped in between my way out. I forced myself to calm and swallowed the saliva. There was a silence around, and swallowing sound sounded very loud.


    "It''s been a thousand years. It''s hard to wait for it." Xiao Tong opened his mouth, still a child''s voice, but with the vicissitudes of disharmony.


    "You, you, who are you?


    "


    Xiao Tong glanced at me and did not answer. Instead, he looked up into the sky as if there was something in the sky that made him hate it.


    Xiao Tong gave out a laugh like a ghost crying and wolves howling, and finally with a little cry: "Ah ha ha ha! Thief God, what can you do to me? How can you do that?"


    I dared not answer, just looking at this crazy Xiao Tong. I could be sure, no matter whether Xiao Tong was the second prince, this person was absolutely not.


    If not, whose bones were dug up? His? Or the real second prince¡¯s?


    I was completely overwhelmed by what was going on in front of me, and my mind was completely cluttered, and I couldn''t figure out my thoughts.


    Xiao Tong finally finished laughing, and finally finished roaring out, his face with blood and the trace that tears flew through, waling step by step to me. I hastened to avoid, but Xiao Tong''s target was not me, but the bones on the ground.


    Xiao Tong walked to it, his foot trampled the white bones which sent out the brittle sound of bone fracture, then the second foot, the third foot. Without knowing how many feet, the bones on the ground had become a pile of white debris.


    Xiao Tong looked back at me and said, "Feeling strange?"


    I nodded.


    But Xiao Tong smiled, and he was very happy. "You know what? The general valued me so much, but I fell into the hands of Xiao Tong of several years old."


    I did not speak, Xiao Tong was obviously hold back too long. There was an impulse for him to talk, I feared that my words would let me lose the opportunity to get the truth.


    Sure enough, Xiao Tong continued: "I, the Inner Peace senior Taoist had been 80 years old, but I still called myself Xiao Tong. It is to remember that child who was only a few years, to remember my own shame. The concubines of imperial harem were all killed, but they were sued by a child who could not speak clearly. Do you know, I was directly put to death by dismembering the body. Being put to death by dismembering the body. Ah. At that moment I wanted to destroy myself with a knife. But the great cause of the general had not yet succeeded, I could not just die like this. Death was worthless. You know what I did? Ha ha ha. I planted the seeds for soul borrowing on the body Xiao Tong. Even if I died, I could also see Xiao Tong grow into a teenager in a few days. I could see everyone look at him as if they were looking at a monster. Even the emperor was no exception. Only that ugly bitch would regard him as a treasure. The second prince was killed, and the seeds for soul borrowing also grew up. Ha ha ha. No one knew, the soul borrowing should be used like this."


    Connecting everything up, I could imagine that the second prince who suddenly grew up from a young child bore the big pressure, but also I felt the great mother love. But where was the true second prince? Since this was Inner Peace Taoist, so the outside Inner Peace Taoist was the true second prince?


    Xiao Tong. No, it should be Inner Peace Taoist, who said with a smile "Do you want to know where the real second prince is? You may get it."


    I nodded.


    "I turned him into me," Inner Peace Taoist said with satisfaction, "and then he suffered from the fire forever."


    "Is he just a child?" I couldn''t help talking.


    "Do you think he''s just a child?" Inner Peace Taoist said with a smile.

 Chapter 139 The very talented Taoist 8

    Sure enough, the Inner Peace Taoist completely ignored my reaction, laughing and saying, "You know? Do you know? He was not a ghost, but after becoming a pure soul, there was a remaining soul. So interesting. Just as my body was too old to accommodate, I gave him part of the soul I did not want. And then he became another me. Interesting.


    Listening to the words of Inner Peace Taoist, I could not help frowning. I did hear Sister Hua said, the remaining soul that would be washed by the force of the five elements would appear pure and blank soul.


    The second prince did not become a remnant soul, so it was normal to leave a part of the soul after it had been taken away. But would the new soul born by mixing the soul of the Inner Peace Taoist be the second prince?...


    How much I sympathize with the second prince, and now how angry I was with this Inner Peace Taoist? But I did not show it, because I knew that once I showed my anger. Not only I could not help the second prince and Wu Jian, but I would also let himself in danger. I did not think this Inner Peace Taoist had the habit of killing no life.


    I even felt that if he had not been alone for too long so that he wanted to talk so much, I would have been able to knock my bones out and play with them.


    The Inner Peace Taoist was still like a child, sitting on the rabbit, pulling its long ears and dancing with joy. I suddenly had a feeling, that perhaps not only Inner Peace Taoist influenced the second prince, but at the same time, the second prince also influenced the Inner Peace Taoist.


    Otherwise, not only the state of the second prince was very strange, but even the state that Inner Peace Taoist had long been showing was very intriguing. Although old people tend to grow closer to children as they grow older, I was pretty sure that this wass not the reason.


    And why? I could be proud and said: Intuition.


    The Inner Peace Taoist was still looking for words to talk me. The topic was all sorts. Unexpectedly he said a lot of even his childhood matters, and finally sighed frequently, ¡°How time flies.¡°.


    I would have believed it if he hadn''t always had a good look when he sighed.


    I responded from time to time with a simple word "Umm," which means I was listening carefully, but in my head I was thinking about my retreat, and Inner Peace Taoist¡¯s head was now in a high mood. It was not a great danger to me if I did not want to die, but nobody knew when he would calm down, and I did not want to hand over my life to someone else.


    Unfortunately, the timing, the geographical location and people were not here. Even I could not fight that fat rabbit.


    No, there was a strange place. Just like the place where the bones of the second prince were buried, there was no grass on it. It was very abrupt. The ground was full of white, and in the middle of the white there was a tree. A tree with many branches like a willow, and the white range was just the range of the crown.


    Just that place was far away from me, at least more than 200 meters. It was definitely not possible for me, the sports scrap, to quickly reach. Not to mention, there was a very fast rabbit and ghost.


    I looked carefully at the Inner Peace Taoist, and saw that he was still stuck in the memory and gave me the story. Fortunately, I still had some time to figure out how to do it. I suddenly felt a hot eye looking at me. I saw a rabbit looking at me with the bloody red eyes, as if to warn me.


    I secretly cried in the heart, but the surface was quiet, just like machine to deal with the story of the Inner Peace Taoist.


    The rabbit gave out a tiny whine, and then Inner Peace Taoist watched me suddenly said, "What do you think about the stories?"


    I was shocked and said, "Well, good, good.


    The Inner Peace Taoist smiled strangely: "Really good? What am I talking about?"


    Well, I froze and had no answer at all, and although I occasionally heard a few words in the interval between my thoughts about how could I run away, I could not make up a complete story at all.


    "Well, yes, uh." My heart was beating with drums, and I knew very well what kind of anger it was when a person who loved to talk found that the only audience was completely distracted. There was absolutely no way to bear it.


    "Hey, hey, heh." There was a strange laugh from the Inner Peace Taoist, and in the laughter there was an inexplicable sadness, and then he sounded as if he were saying to himself:" I should not have forced you to listen, except for the general. No one cares about my experience or how I feel."


    I doubted that the V Taoist had abnormal relationship with the general, but I was not going to get into it because I was worried that I wouldn¡¯t even be able to be a ghost under the Inner Peace Taoist¡¯s attack.


    With a fearless gay spirit, I said, "I care. It was just because that the time of the stories was a little messy. I was still behind you, and then you go ahead of me too far away.


    The Inner Peace Taoist glanced at me, hesitating a little in his eyes, and the rabbit began to sound low again, but it was placated by his hand touching its head.


    "Well, well, since I was born, let me repeat it. Don''t let me know you''re lying to me." Inner Peace Taoist¡¯s tone was plain, but I could hear the chill between his words.


    I quickly nodded. I was glad in my heart that the Inner Peace Taoist began from the matter of the second prince. I just said what I could thought of, which gave me an excuse, but this time I had no way to think again about the matter of escaping. I could only quietly accompany this Taoist who had the magic hobby of telling his own stories.


    The stories of the Inner Peace Taoist was long, for almost he would tell me everything he could remember in detail. When it came to certain places, he would still laugh, so that I could only laugh with him.


    When my stomach started screaming, the Inner Peace Taoist was saying that he got married when he was 15 years old, and when my stomach first called, the Inner Peace Taoist stopped, but he didn''t say anything else, but to go on talking, and when my stomach called the second time, Inner Peace Taoist frowned, glanced at me and went on with his speech.


    When my stomach called for the third time, the Taoist finally stopped the story, looked at me with angry eyes for a while, and just let me look for food with the sound of regret.


    The Inner Peace Taoist pulled the rabbit and asked if his story had been told well, and the rabbit was answering with a tiny whine. As for what to say, I could not understand it.


    The Inner Peace Taoist did not seem to want to supervise me, but the rabbit looked at me warily and was lectured by the Inner Peace Taoist who was eager to get the approval of the audience. Then I crawled there and listened carefully, nodding from time to time. It looked as if it were no different from what I had just done.


    But the rabbit should be more than miserable I was. For so many years, I did not know how many times it had listened to it.


    I did not rush to that strange big tree, but I picked up the dry branches on the ground, seeming to make a fire. To tell the truth, the Inner Peace Taoist¡¯s completely indifference to my behavior made my heart cold. I didn''t think that strange tree would help me, or the Inner Peace Taoist should at least let the rabbit supervise me.


    But I still planned to go to see it. After all, in the whole place, that tree and the second prince''s bones seemed a little different.


    I picked up the firewood along an arc, and the end of the arc was that strange tree. I used the sight of my eyes to keep an eye on the Inner Peace Taoist¡¯s and the rabbit''s reaction, and the result was that there was no response, and both of them seemed to be enchanted.


    I slowly closed to the strange tree, 100 meters, 90 meters... 30 meters, 20 meters. When I was 10 meters away from the strange tree, my heart was secretly happy. I was finally to arrive. If this tree really had something strange that could help me, even 10 meters away, I also thought that even if the rabbit chased over, I should have a chance to live.


    "Don''t get too close if you don''t want to die." The voice of the Inner Peace Taoist appeared behind me.


    I was startled, and turned back, and saw that the Inner Peace Taoist and the rabbit were still in that place without moving. Was it the illusion that I was under high tension?


    I went on, but the child voice of the Inner Peace Taoist rang again: "Don''t get too close if you don''t want to die."


    I see. The Inner Peace Taoist was still watching me, but he didn''t show it. I could even see the rabbit shaking all over its body, its mouth open, its tiny, quick chirping, as if it were ridiculing.


    I did not know what the Inner Peace Taoist meant, and if he meant he would deal with me if I got closer to the tree, it would be better. That would be a good sign that there was something in this strange tree that he didn''t want me to know. And at least I might still have a chance to struggle.


    But if he meant only the location of this tree was dangerous, it would be depressing.


    I was not sure what the Inner Peace Taoist meant, so I faked to gather the branches and circled around the strange tree, then gradually returned.


    Although I did not think of any good methods, I got a lot of the firewood. I simply built a fire, and then without any sense of violation, I received the rabbit that was contained in the mouth of the rabbit, and intended to deal with it.


    There was no seasoning, but the fragrance of the rabbit itself came out when it was roasted, and the rabbit was looking straight at me drooling. Even it didn¡¯t want to hear the story of the Inner Peace Taoist. Oh, it was not that it did not want to listen, but the Inner Peace Taoist had stopped, and his nostrils were constantly flapping.


    Well, I was just a little hungry. For those two who had been hungry for thousands of years, anyway, it was good if they didn¡¯t remember my blood, and there was a rabbit that could catch a rabbit, so there was no shortage of food.

 Chapter 140 The very talented Taoist 9

    But I was very upset and happy, because a man being used was no big deal, and the worst was that he didn¡¯t had the value that could be used. Obviously, besides being a listener, I had another value, which meant that I could live a little longer. At least the Inner Peace Taoist would hesitate before he killed me.


    After baking four rabbits, when I was about to faint because of being hungry, I finally got some food in the eyes of the Inner Peace Taoist and the rabbit who were not willing to. I ate the roast rabbit, thinking maliciously in my heart, there were only rabbits here, would not they be the offspring of that huge rabbit? Thinking so, my appetite was also a lot better, and my teeth biting was very hard.


    After eating, I continued to be an audience. I had no time to go near the strange tree. The rabbit was gone, and I did not know what it went to do, but I guessed it did not want to listen to the long story of Inner Peace Taoist and avoided. In fact, I also wanted to avoid, but I could not do it.


    The story of the Inner Peace Taoist had the feeling of a novel. Its main idea was that a poor boy was taught by a famous teacher and became a successful person, but he finally chose to followed the general, and then was ordered to go to the palace to assist the imperial concubine Xian. Of course, I already knew the result.


    I didn''t know why the other stories were very meticulous. He even talked about going to the toilet halfway. Of course he did not describe the specific process. But as for meeting the general and a year of being around the general, he just told about it briefly.


    I was very interested in this, but of course, I dared not ask.


    I had been here for three days. The rabbit came back once in a while, helped me bring some rabbits for barbecue, and then eats leftovers of the Inner Peace Taoist¡¯s. Then it left in a hurry. It seemed that my arrival had set the rabbit free.


    And the story of the Inner Peace Taoist was coming to an end, but I still had no idea how to escape. I was not very worried about whether it would be bad for me after the story was finished.


    Because the Inner Peace Taoist had vaguely reminded me to listen to it for the second time when he told the latter part of his story, and I was excited about it against my will.


    Perhaps because of my cooperation, although the Inner Peace Taoist may occasionally threaten me, most of the time he showed me nice and pleasant look. I also tried to communicate with him. It could not be just his talking alone.


    I asked him why he didn''t leave, but he didn''t answer, but his face was ugly, which made me know that the reason why he didn''t leave was definitely not because he liked being here. It was more likely that something had trapped him, and perhaps finding it would help me escape from his clutches.


    Just what would it be? The Inner Peace Taoist wouldn''t tell me, and I didn''t find anything at all. I could only look at the rabbit. The guy was clearly trusted by the Inner Peace Taoist and ran away out of sight most of the day.


    Several times I vaguely mentioned that it was not good to eat rabbits every day, and then I got the permission of the Inner Peace Taoist, and the range of my activities increased. Although I still did not find any food other than rabbits, I found the whereabouts of the damn rabbit. It would always enter a dead tree hole in the tree, but it stayed in it for a long time. If there were really something suspicious here, then it would be the dead tree hole besides the strange tree.


    The rabbit stayed in the dead tree hole for too long, so I could not find a chance to enter until one day.


    I started jogging early in the morning for two reasons, one of which was sleeping on a meadow with dew, if I didn''t exercise, I''d probably die young. The second reason was that I was gradually expanding my range of my activities with the help of running.


    Today, I had a good day. As soon as I started running, the rabbit was sat on by Inner Peace Taoist and ran around the strange tree, which, of course, seemed to me more like Inner Peace Taoist playing a game of horse riding and fighting.


    This was an opportunity. Although I did not know how long the Inner Peace Taoist would play with the rabbit, I was still jogging directly towards the dead tree hole. I could not give up any chance, and If I stayed longer, I would feel like I''m going to be crazy.


    When I came to the dead tree hole, I looked back and saw that the Inner Peace Taoist and the rabbit did not notice me here, and I flashed into the dead tree hole. The dead tree hole was not, as I thought, a large open space or anything else, but a deep hole There was a stone ladder next to the hole, winding down.


    There was no light in the hole, and I had nothing to illuminate, but after a brief hesitation, I walked slowly down the stone ladder. The worst outcome was death, though I did not want to die.


    With walking into it more than ten steps, there was no light. I hold the arc wall, slowly down, eyes open very wide, but I could not see anything and the feeling was really bad. But I was not as scared as I was in the passage, because I just wanted to get out of here as soon as I can.


    There was no sound, only my footsteps "Tata Tata.", with an echo in the cave. My courage to escape was slowly being worn away by the darkness, and my heart was beginning to be irritated, without the Inner Peace Taoist and the rabbit coming after me.


    "Is there anyone here?¡± "Is there anyone here?¡± "is there anyone here?¡± The voice reverberated, but it was not answered. In the constant echoes, there was one voice that was not quite the same as the others. What really caught my attention was that this echo was sandwiched directly between two normal echoes, making the three echoes one piece, which was very abrupt.


    My heart suddenly was tight, and then I continued to comfort myself: "Nothing. It¡¯s nothing."


    It was estimated that there were other forks in the hole, which also formed an echo.


    When my mind was fixed, then I opened my mouth and roared, much louder than just now: "Hello."


    ¡°Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello"...

 Chapter 141 The very talented Taoist 10

    Here, not just me.


    I stopped. Though I could not see anything in the night, I still habitually looked around, alert to any sudden situation.


    But standing for a long time, but I did not find any anomalies. I could confirm that it was not my illusion, but why did not it appear? I waited, being very anxious. The unknown was the most fearing. My heart beat fast. It seemed like the next moment my heart was about to pop up.


    In order to divert attention, I began to count. But when I counted to 100, there was still nothing abnormal. I wanted this hidden guy to come out quickly. Even if he killed me, it would make me feel better than I was now.


    As soon as I gnashed my teeth, I continued to walk down, but this time I did not make a sound again. I just walked silently, and even the steps were a lot lighter, but I also did not hear strange sound. It made me feel like everything that just echoed was hallucinating.


    I wanted to try again, but I was overwhelmed by the fear in my heart.


    Step by step down, as if I was going down the 18 levels of hell like this, there being no end. I did not find anything abnormal, and I no longer paid attention to it, walking towards the staircase that seemed endless as soon as possible.


    Small and familiar voices came from the above. It was the damn rabbit. They found me, and they came after me. I subconsciously wanted to speed up the pace, but I accidentally stepped on the edge of the stone ladder, and almost fell. Hands swung in the air for a few laps to hold on.


    The voice above was getting closer and closer, as if I could hear the faint, almost unaudible step. I could not speed up any more. I had to hold on to the wall and do everything I could to reach the fastest speed I could achieve in the darkness. Down, down.


    And the sound behind got near. It seemed that the next moment it could come to me. My heart was tight. I was not sure if the Inner Peace Taoist would let the rabbit directly kill me. I dared not bet.


    Just as the voice seemed to appear beside me, suddenly, the tiny noise of the rabbit grew louder, as if with a painful cry. Just as I was ready to accept my destiny, "Dong", a loud sound appeared next to me. The hand I used to hold the wall could even feel the vibration from the wall.


    The rabbit''s squeak was quite different from the usual one. It seemed to me with pain and anger, and I was astonished, but it was still dark, and nothing could be seen.


    "Dong", the wall shook again, and then the rabbit went away slowly with a loud cry and heavy footsteps, and some hot liquid appeared on my face.


    I touched it with my hand. It was blood, but I didn''t know if it was the rabbit¡¯s blood.


    "You saved my life?" I spoke out loud.


    "You saved my life? You saved my life? You saved my life? "...


    There were still countless echoes, and the strange voice was still mixed in it, bringing me a trace of fear, and, in any case, the owner of this voice should have saved my life.


    "Thank you." I said a thank you, and then continued going down in the echo. The voice did not want to appear but it saved my life. For whatever reason, I stopped paying attention to it. What was the use even if I noticed it?


    I didn¡¯t know how long I walked. There was the tiny light in front of me. I was happy in my heart, and I was forced to press the impulse to rush there. I walked step by step, but the eyes did not leave the luminous place for a moment.


    A little closer. This was a round space. The ground and surrounding are full of dry and thick barks. This was how the dead tree hole should look like.


    And the glowing place was a round window. I looked at the window edge. There should be something like a tree nodule, but the tree was transparent, although because of the elliptical shape and being very thick, so that the outside of the scene had been slightly distorted, it seemed to me that I saw hope in life.


    I did not know anything outside the tree hole, but it was very familiar. It should be the school playground, and twos and threes of people were slowly walking in the playground. I tried, but hands could not reach, howling for a long time. People within one meter didn''t take any notice of me.


    How could this be? It should be the exit here. I rambled around in the tree hole, and my hands kept searching on the trunk, but no discovery.


    I sat powerlessly, looking out through the tree nodule. Freedom was very close, but also very far away.


    I did not know how long I had looked. I suddenly stood up, perhaps because of sitting too long. The body also shook a little, but I did not respond, directly putting the face on the tree.


    And outside the tree there were two familiar figures. That, that, that was Lulu and the queen. I opened my eyes wide, incredibly looking at everything outside. Did I fall into the fantasy?


    Lulu and the queen quickly passed in front of me. Through the trees I could no longer find their figure, but I did not stop to observe. I constantly searched in the playground. I was afraid this was a fantasy. I''d like to see some signs that identify what''s outside.


    If it wasn''t a fantasy, I could be with Lulu again.


    There was no sign on the playground that I could see. The building in the distance had words, but I couldn''t see it clearly. But I still didn''t give up, just looking out.


    No pain no gains. A fat girl with a handbag passed from the tree outside. In that handbag, there were the red words: Super supermarket, Sishui City.


    I had a look of ecstasy on my face. I knew Sishui City. It was only 100 kilometers away from us, and I also thought, this should not be a fantasy. Otherwise, how come Sishui City, which I had not been to except walking by it a few times, would appear? And from my heart, I did not want to believe that this was a fantasy.


    I must get out. I must go to Sishui City.


    I swore in my heart and I took back my eyes, stopped paying attention to the trees, and continued to look for them in the holes of the trees. It was a pity that the facts are not transferred by the will of man.


    I still hadn''t found it.


    "Can you let me out?"


    "Can you let me out? Can you let me out? Can you let me out?"...


    The strange echo was still there, and I said, "Who are you?" Let me out. If you had troubles, I could help, whether you were human or ghost."

 Chapter 142 The very talented Taoist 11

    "Are you still there?" I had an anxious tone.


    "Are you still there? Are you still there? Are you still there? "... The echo was there, but the strange voice was not there.


    I stood for a while, the heart rose a feeble sadness. People cannot rely on others, because you do not know whether others will help you. My nose was flapping, and my heart was sour, suppressing tears, slowly sitting down.


    The sky outside the tree nodule had already darkened. I could only vaguely see the outside scenery. As for the person, then I did not see one. Yes. Ah. It was dark, and who would still wander in the playground.


    "You want to go out?" The strange voice sounded, and I almost jumped.


    "Yes, I want to go out. Can you help me?" I could clearly hear the anxiety in the echo.


    The voice did not respond, but I stood up, silently waiting for their own judgment.


    It wasn''t long before the strange voice said, "Kill the Inner Peace Taoist and I''ll take you out."


    I was shocked when I heard I needed to kill the Inner Peace Taoist. If I could kill him, I would not need you to take me out. Uh, still. After all, I didn''t find the passage which I came here through. But the problem was not here. Ah. How could I kill the Inner Peace Taoist? He was the ghost that had used soul borrowing. Ah. Besides, he had got the help of rabbits. Although I seemed not afraid of ghosts, and I also had a bit of ability, my ability was only based on the ghost I knew in the ghost building. Perhaps Huang Xiaolong was also included.


    I was suddenly shocked by my own thoughts. Yes, I always came into contact with different ghosts. Every time I encountered danger, I would get away from danger. Was it my ability? No, it''s all just because of the female ghosts in the ghost building and Huang Xiaolong''s Taoist magic, and even the criminal investigation ability of Wu Jian¡¯s. In addition to these, I was an ordinary person, at most because I had seen a lot of ghosts, and so became a bit more daring just.


    Now only when I was alone, I instantly exposed the original form, and became so helpless.


    I did not answer the strange voice, but sat on the ground directly against the wall. Without these friends, I was a brave trash I fell into a deep perplexity. This moment I really looked at myself.


    The strange voice saw that I did not answer, and he did not ask any more, and I was trapped in my own confusion. The sky outside the tree was getting darker and darker. The dim little moonlight outside could no longer bring a trace of light to me in the tree hole.


    Since I received the three photos, I had been very smooth. All the danger was just no danger, but now I thought about that. If it were not Qin beauty and Xiao Lingdang, Su Qing would let me off? Would the Jiang Mingming¡¯s family have let me go if there were no Witch Yan and Lulu? Everything. If there weren''t them, I guessed my bones had turned gray.


    But what did I help them with? It just seemed to be causing troubles.


    It was nice to be alone. I didn''t even want to go out at a certain moment. Maybe without me, they''d be better off.


    No, no, they were my friends. I couldn''t rely on them all the time, but I shouldn''t refuse their help. Just like they came to me, I would do it with all my might. It was like I was here alone. Because we were friends, I couldn¡¯t solve my trouble with my ability?


    What''s more, I had to go out. If I didn''t go out, that weird picture would keep haunting my mother and Xue¡¯er. If I didn''t go out, Wu Jian and others would think that the second prince outside was the Inner Peace Taoist. If I didn''t go out, I would never know what relationship between the people seen on the playground outside the tree and Lulu and the queen.


    I stood up and the confusion in my eyes became firm, and I opened my mouth and said, "How am I going to kill the Inner Peace Taoist?"


    The strange voice said: "Lead him into this cave, and I will kill him naturally."


    It was not what I had thought. I wasn¡¯t asked to kill the Inner Peace Taoist. To kill and to lead him was completely different.


    But I had been in the hole for so long, and the rabbit that came after me was beaten back by this strange voice. According to this, the owner of the voice should deal with the Inner Peace Taoist personally. But he did not do it. Why? The reason was that he didn''t dare to come, perhaps knowing that he would die when he came.


    I could not help frowning. This was not easy to do. Ah. After all, no one was stupid enough to go to die.


    "Can''t you leave?" I asked.


    "I am the captain of the guard, and I have been ordered to guard this place, and I mustn¡¯t leave without order.


    I fainted and stumbled a little, and then I rejoined that the captain of the guard should not have said that he could not leave without orders, but rather that he should have become obsessive after death, and could not leave.


    However, my hand unconsciously touched the jade on the chest inside the clothes. Could this command him? I would try anyway.


    I took my jade and raised it in the dark. Before I could open my mouth, I heard the sound of "Dong", and then a strange voice sounded: "The bodyguard Huang Li has seen the Queen."


    "With this token," I asked hastily, "Can you go out?"


    "Yes," replied the Huang Li, and then came the sound of a clap of metal, as if the Huang Li were wearing armor.


    A moment later, the voice stopped, and the Huang Li opened his mouth: "The minister Huang Li can only deal with the Inner Peace Taoist. As for the rabbit, I am afraid we need your help."


    My scalp was a little numb and was forced to say an ¡°OK¡±. Then I asked what I had to do to deal with the rabbit. I said I had a fight with the rabbit, which was exalting myself. I remembered the first time when I woke up, the rabbit kicked me, and I laid down for a day.


    Huang Li said: "The rabbit was injured by me when it went down the hole. It should be difficult to move now, but you ¡­ ¡­ There is a tree that eat soul out there, and as long as the rabbit is introduced into the scope of the tree, it will surely die. It''s just that you must not enter its area.


    Eat-soul tree. A tree that grew on the ground full of white powder and looked similar to the willow tree suddenly emerged in my heart. I asked if it was that tree. Sure enough, that was the eat-soul tree.

 Chapter 143 The very talented Taoist 12

    But the Inner Peace Taoist was not there, and I looked up and saw that he was still in the original place, and I did not know what he was doing with his head down.


    "I have gone." When Huang Li floated out, I could see clearly the appearance of him. He was wearing a gold armor, which was very powerful, but his color was so light that I could vaguely see the outside scenery through his body.


    This made my confidence in Huang Li suddenly decrease a lot. Because for ghosts, the light color meant that the strength was not strong. But now I had no choice. Even if I ran down the ground again, I thought I would be torn to pieces by the rabbit.


    The Huang Liis still more fastidious. When he rushed out, he kicked off the rabbit far away, and the direction was the reverse direction of the eat-soul tree. I naturally dared not stay, directly running away to the eat-soul tree quickly.


    But I had not run out over 50 meters, the hoarseness of the rabbit came from behind. I did not turn around, fearing that it would affect my speed. I just quickened the pace, hoping that before the rabbit caught me, I could come to the eat-soul tree first.


    As I approached the tree, my speed slowed down. My mouth opened, gasping for breath. My feet became heavy, and my throat seemed to be cut by the air, and even my brain seemed to be running out of oxygen.


    For a person who rarely exercises, it was a painful thing to suddenly run with all his strength.


    And obviously, the rabbit was not only faster, but its strength was also much better than me. Just when I was 20 meters away from the eat-soul tree, all of a sudden a huge force came from my waist and something crashed me out directly.


    Seeing that I was fast approaching the tree, I was not happy, but I could not help but give out a scream, hands, feet in the air constantly waving, trying to stop my body.


    My body fell heavily on the grass, but I didn¡¯t care the pain, hands tightly grasping the grass on the ground, and then slid out a few meters to stop. Fingernails had been turned up, hands covered with blood, but I did not feel anything painful as if I feel nothing. The white ground under the ghost tree was at my feet.


    I have guessed a lot about this white ground. Was it sand, strange earth, or stone. I have thought about it. But I have only now found that I have guessed wrong. This white ground was bones, or bone powder. Although from the bone residue, the majority are animals¡¯, it still let my heart feel cold. How many bones did it need? Ah.


    Squinting my eyes, I glanced at the Huang Li and Inner Peace Taoist, both of whom disappeared, but in mid-air there were two air masses in the collision, a gold and a black. They should be the Huang Li and Inner Peace Taoist.


    I couldn''t tell who has the upper hand, but I knew that the Huang Li had no time for me now. I could only turn my attention back to the rabbit and find a way to save myself.


    Now the only advantage was that the rabbit did not come straight over, but slowly jumping, not fast. I did not know whether it was like a cat playing with a mouse or because I was too close to the eat-soul tree. But whatever the reason was, it had nothing to do with my life.


    I walked back along the white bone powder. Because of foot injury, I was also jumping. But the frequency and span of my jumping could not be compared with the rabbit¡¯s. Naturally, the distance between me and the rabbit was slowly decreasing.


    After a while, the rabbit seemed to be a little impatient, making a move forward. I was surprised, quickly back, but I forgot my foot hurt, and my butt sat on the ground. The pain made me whinny with my teeth clenching.


    I just found that the original rabbit did not come, and now it was grinning with its three lips open like a human being, seeming to be smiling.


    I sat on the ground and saw that the rabbit had not come over. I didn''t think about it. I grabbed a piece of dirt and threw it over. The mud hit the squatting rabbit in the chest and left a yellow mark on the white hair.


    The rabbit was evidently stunned, and it did not seem to think that I should dare to attack it. He looked down at the mark on his chest, hissed and rushed at me. I only had to throw another piece of dirt. It was hit by a rabbit in the chest.


    Suddenly it felt a sharp pain, but it also shouted like the bone being broken or that kind of the voice. I could not help but cry out bitterly, and then directly grab the rabbit in my arms.


    Holding the rabbit hard squeezed my chest more painful, but this intense pain let me hold the rabbit more forcefully.


    The rabbit pedaled back hard. Because I was sitting, the rabbit directly pedaled on my thigh. Immediately my thigh also felt intense pain, but I did not let it go, and also dared not let it go. But I was just holding the rabbit and rolling toward the bone powder.


    In fact, without rolling, my arms holding the rabbit was less than 10 centimeters away from bone powder.


    The rabbit seemed to be frightened by my determination to die, more violently struggling, the front teeth of his mouth flashing cold light, thinking directly about biting my neck.


    I held the rabbit in my arms, and there was no way to resist it. In my heart, I gave out a roar that resembled a wild animal. I rolled over, and the arms together with the rabbit''s back suddenly entered the white bone powder.


    An inexplicable sharp pain, which was different from the pain of the body and was entirely from the soul, came and could not be resisted. I could not even sound again, opening mouth, face veins exposing.


    I had just had my arm got within the tree, and the rabbit was on its back. A little bit, but obviously it wasn''t something it could resist, and I could see clearly that the white hair on the rabbit was graying and there was little blood in the nose.


    The rabbit''s struggle increased violently, and I finally failed to support myself. My arm got a little loose, and the rabbit jumped out of my arm. Its two powerful rear legs directly thrust to the inside of my thigh. My whole body jumped up.


    After suffering the pain of the soul, the pain in my thighs was nothing, and I had no strength now, and the pain from the soul still tormented me.


    I watched the rabbit jump up, then head down, flickering white teeth to my head and bit over me. I raised my hand, and then put them down feebly.

 Chapter 144 The very talented Taoist 13

    Are the two girls walking through the playground Lulu and the Queen? I did not know after I left if my mother and Xue¡¯er would be scared by that strange picture. But Witch Yan was there, just how long would she stay? Wu Jian was expected to blame himself. I hoped Huang Xiaolong could comfort him, although I thought this was not very reliable.


    Xiao Lingdang should be sad. Sister Hua, Yan¡¯er should also be sad. As for other people, it was estimated that only after tea they would chat about me, especially when eating barbecue. It was painful that no one paid for it.


    I did not know how in this short time I suddenly thought so much. This moment, apart from my mind, the time seemed to stop. When I waited a long time, but I did not wait for the attack as I imagined. I slowly woke up from the memory, eyes focusing, but I saw the rabbit was struggling with panic, and the rabbit''s whole body was slowly away from me, and went up into the sky.


    I saw this clearly. On the rabbit''s body, two branches were wrapped. It was the branches like the willow branches that the eat-soul tree hung.


    The rabbit might have guessed its own fate, struggling very hard, breaking the branches twined around its body, but I knew the rabbit was over, for countless branches in the distance were writhing in midair and stretched towards it.


    So I was lying on the ground, suffering from the pain from the soul, watching the rabbit being rolled into a ball by countless branches, no longer to see its body white.


    And a branch was testing over the rabbit to extend towards me. It seemed that the rabbit and I should have a result of the same. I was very satisfied with this result. With my strength, I could kill the rabbit. It was really satisfied.


    Just as the branch touched my face, I suddenly saw a shadow that I could hardly see rushing from the above to the eat-soul tree, and I froze for a moment. While I was in a daze, the branch, which seemed to touch my face, as if it were stimulated, went straight to the shadow.


    When I turned my head, it turned out to be the Huang Li and Inner Peace Taoist, both of whom were too light to see.


    At this time, the Huang Li was embracing the Inner Peace Taoist, crashing towards the trunk of the eat-soul tree, and the branches of the tree were quick to stab at the two people, and in my ear, sounded mournful voice of Huang Li: "Get out."


    I smiled bitterly, and did not move, because I had now no strength to move. Huang Li seemed to have found this point, roared very anxiously, and then brutally hit the Inner Peace Taoist, and hit him on the trunk of the eat-soul tree.


    I saw that a stout branch had been wrapped around the waist of the Inner PeaceTaoist, and behind him there were a thousand of them wandering all over his shoulders, feet, and waists, as if to completely wrap the Inner Peace Taoist like the rabbit.


    A branch had climbed to the foot of the Huang Li along the Inner Peace Taoist¡¯s hand, and the Huang Li should know that he was also in his own doom. I saw the face of Huang Li show a determined expression, and then he roared, directly tore his arm off and threw it at me.


    The broken arm, like a conscious one, dodged a branch from the rabbit and bumped into my waist. The strength was not great, but it still made me open my mouth and show my painful expression.


    But the pain from the soul disappeared, and I noticed that I had been struck directly by Huang Li to went out the extent of the bone powder.


    The branch wriggled over the bone powder and wound around the fading arm of Huang Li¡¯s on the ground.


    The eat-soul tree was so horrible. Getting out of the scope of the eat-soul tree, I felt a lot better, and then I looked at Huang Li. He had been too light to see, so had Inner Peace Taoist. Their soul might have been eaten by the eat-soul tree.


    I understood that the Huang Li was protecting me because of the empress''s jade, but it was true that he protected me after all, and I would like to say something very much. Unfortunately, I could only make my lips tremble a little bit and couldn¡¯t talk now. It''s hard to open my mouth.


    All the movement of the eat-soul tree was gone, the Inner Peace Taoist and Huang Li were still missing, and the rabbit had become a scattered white bone, falling on the white bone powder.


    I was hungry and thirsty, but there was no way to move, and frowning in pain seemed to cost me a great deal of energy. To tell the truth, this way of death made me feel very suffocated. But I also owed a life to others. It was really boring.


    Just as I was dizzy and didn''t know if I was still alive, I felt someone moving my body, causing me a burst of pain, and a familiar voice of Wu Jian and others came to my ears. I just couldn¡¯t keep my eyes open. I couldn¡¯t hear them really. I didn¡¯t know if it was a dream or a reality.


    When I returned to consciousness again, I had already returned to the hall of fire. The first thing I saw was that the Inner Peace Taoist who was blue and swollen, and I was aggrieved to stand on the edge of the fire and receive Huang Xiaolong''s education.


    I was stupefied for a while, and then I resumed the thought. Knowing that he was the second prince, I intended to stop Huang Xiaolong. When I moved, the whole body all felt the sharp pain, and I couldn¡¯t help but exhale out the sound.


    "You''re awake. You''re awake." Xiao Lingdang screamed to tell the news of my waking up. Immediately, I was completely surrounded by the crowd, and they asked me whether I was all right.


    I was also powerless to complain. Was I really looking a little bit well?


    Wu Jian and Sister Hua knew how I felt now and dispelled the crowd directly. Then Wu Jian took care of me and I drank a little water, which eased my burning throat a little bit.


    And I also knew from the mouth of the people what happened after I left. In fact, there was nothing special. After I entered the passage, the public was very boring, so they come up with a way. That was to take turns to erode the flames that protected the Inner Peace Taoist, and then when the flame was in the minimum, they beat the Inner Peace Taoist. When the flame recovered, they continued to repeat. This was the reason why I just woke up and saw that the Taoist was standing honestly to accept Huang Xiaolong''s education.

 Chapter 145 The end---The very talented Taois

    I also asked the second prince afterwards, but the second prince did not want to say anything about the past. He just told me why he would follow me. The reason was very simple. I was the only one who had been looking at him with sympathy and I finally cleared him of his grievance.


    The words of the second prince made me blush, but I really did not have the courage to tell him the truth. I could only vaguely respond to him and became his benefactor.


    However, the second prince was no longer called the second prince or Inner Peace Taoist. After listening to what I said, he began to let me call him Xiao Tong. To tell the truth, there was nothing strange about the name of Xiao Tong. But the key lied in the fact that the second prince, no, Xiao Tong, who was now looking like a Taoist with a fairy style and wrinkles on his face was really discordant.


    But this was not the most depressing. Although Xiao Tong fuses the soul of the Inner Peace Taoist, sometimes he would show the appearance of an old cheater. But it was estimated that the soul of Xiao Tong dominates, he always liked to stick to me. Can you believe that a centuries-old man with wrinkles that looked like a shy child always hid behind your back?


    And he would give me a hug. Oh, my God, this is an age of appearance.


    I did not go home first. To explain the disappearance of such a few days, I found an excuse that I went out with my friends. Now I was covered with injuries, and I was even afraid to go back to the ghost building. No one to taking care of me would also be inconvenient, so I went to the home of Wu Jian¡¯s.


    Although Wu Jian''s girlfriend appeared to be very enthusiastic, from her number of visits to the Wu Jian¡¯s family, I still had disturbed them. Of course, Wu Jian would not think so. This guy was still blaming himself for my injuries and taking good care of me. Unfortunately, he was not a woman, but even he was a woman. With his looks, I guessed he was hard to get my favor.


    The second day after I lived at Wu Jian''s house, my mother came to me with Xue¡¯er with tears, and I did not know who had told her. But when I left, I saw Wu Jian''s girlfriend, who said the words of retention, but from the eyes that were glowing with hunger, and it seemed to be possible for me to guess a little.


    Getting back home, I was taken care of as a pig by mother. This was absolute like raising the pigs. I absolutely couldn¡¯t step out of the house with one step. Even after 2 months my injury basically recovered, it would still be like this.


    First of all, she scolded me by enumerating my wrongdoings. I would not take care of myself. I would let the family worry, and then she scolded, and mostly said that I was an ungrateful and vicious person, and I had no filial piety. Then cry. She cried for her being uneasy. And then she said she would go to die with Xue¡¯er if I wanted to die.


    Finally, Witch Yan told my mother, if I didn¡¯t go to the ghost building to work, I couldn¡¯t get the shelter of the ghost building, and there would be life danger to me, so that mom just reluctantly promised.


    I finally stepped out of the house, and what let me helpless was that I returned to my childhood. My mother picked me up to work and come back home every day on time. A few days later, I was fine, but my mother had put on a deep black circles.


    What a sweet annoyance.


    I had always been unable to go to Sishui City. I could only first entrust Wu Jian to help me find information, to see if I could get some information first.


    But Wu Jian answered me a few days later, and told me he did not find anyone who looked like Lulu. As for the queen, he had not seen her and he would not have been able to find her. But it was not without good news. The good news was that Wu Jian had found the playground I saw through the tree.


    It was the playground of Sishui University, but the tree died two months before Wu Jian went. I calculated that it was the same time as we left the palace. It seemed that Wu Jian had not found the wrong place.


    After getting the news of Wu Jian, I could not resist wanting to go to Sishui City. But before that, I became a good child and make my mother trust me.


    And the mother also gradually relaxed my supervision. She had no way. During the day, she had to take care of Xue¡¯er, and at night she also had to stare at me. Even if my mother was made of iron, she also could not bear it.


    Xiao Tong was always left in the ghost building. His duty was to act as a trophy or exhibit while we were talking about our trip to the palace. I could see that Xiao Tong was impatient and had the same idea of leaving as I did. So I started incessantly urging me to go to Sishui City as soon as possible. It was, of course, when he began to become an old con man.


    After working in the ghost build for a month, I intended to leave for Sishui City. Sister Hua agreed. Although she did not believe that Lulu or someone that looked like Lulu existed, but she was still willing to let me try. Yan¡¯er, on the other hand, said directly that I was hallucinating when I was in a coma, and she did not agree with me to go. However, Yan¡¯er¡¯s words did not carry much weight, except she was in front of the long shirt person.


    This time only Xiao Tong and I would go to Surabaya city. Sister Hua and others did not believe, so they did not intend to waste time, and this time I looked for the person, which also did not seem dangers. Wu Jian was dealing with a temporary case, and he could not leave. He just said that he would meet me as soon as possible. And Huang Xiaolong went back to close the door. For this point, I still quite agreed, because I found that every time he went back, his strength would increase a lot.


    In these few months, I had taken a rough look at the photos and put them in the box where they were stored. Anyway, these were dead people. I couldn¡¯t save them, but I just asked Sister Hua to send the message out. Let them see the face of the ghost buildings, so that when they see these ghosts, they wouldn¡¯t bully them. Of course, as to whether they would really do it, there would be nothing to do with me. There was a good saying: do one''s best and leave the rest to Heaven.


    With simple luggage, Xiao Tong and I went directly to Sishui City. On the edge of Surabaya University, I rented a room. As for why, because I intended to stay here for long. I firmly believed that day was not wrong, so Lulu or someone who has something to do with Lulu must be there.


    Of course, all of this was considered to be my and man''s unsound intuition when Xiao Tong was turned into the old fraud model.


    Sishui University was very large. As for how many areas it took up, I did not understand, but walking through the campus needed most of my half a day, so to find her out is completely unreliable behavior. So I started a crouching career in the canteen under the guidance of a classmate who thought I had come to see beautiful women.

 Chapter 146 Astonishment in the canteen 1

    However, I never saw the person I was looking for, and I couldn''t help thinking about retreating. I was sure what I saw that day wasn''t an illusion, but people. I think this was silly, but there was no other way. Wu Jian had looked for the student status information, and nothing was found.


    In the struggle to think about how to have a better way, I met the classmate who taught me that day.


    "Oh, man, that''s perseverance." He said hello to me first.


    I also shook my head with a bitter smile: "I could not wait for her. I had waited in five canteens, but I always did not see her. I did not know if she was playing hide-and-seek game with me."


    The classmate was surprised. "Five canteens? There were six canteens in our school, but basically nobody went to that one. Just look for these five."


    The student''s words let me stupefied for a while, and then I asked the matter about the sixth canteen. That classmate was reluctant for a long time, and only then said with me. I also knew why everybody only said there were five canteens.


    The rest canteen existed when the University of Sishui University was building. Sishui University school had at least a hundred years of history, so the structure of the canteen was the former kind of earthen embryo structure, only one layer. The area was also small, and it survied only as a witness to history.


    Earlier years, it also served as a special dining hall for the reception of VIP guests, but more than a decade ago, it was designated as a dangerous room, and was naturally abandoned. But I didn¡¯t know why it opened again three years ago, and they didn''t mention it was a dangerous room.


    This canteen was called small canteen because it was close to the female dormitory, so many girls patronized it. We also knew that the places where there were many girls would have naturally many boys to eat. So the small canteen¡¯s business was very hot.


    But this kind of business did not last long. It was estimated that the owner of the contract canteen saw business good, and got black-hearted. From time to time someone from the meal ate pebbles, cockroaches and so on. Later it developed to the degree that the rats appeared directly in the soup. The girls could not bear this, and the business was slowly getting worse.


    Later, I did not know how the canteen spread the rumor that there was a ghost in the canteen, so naturally no one would go again. The girls would rather go around than go to that canteen again.


    Although the canteen was still open, it was a pair of old couple that was operating it. But it is no longer heard that someone ate some strange thing from the food. But we still habitually didn¡¯t go to eat there. According to the classmate, even if you ate rare seafood, you couldn¡¯t eat it in that place. Who knows if there would be any cockroaches or broken fingers in the next moment?


    To tell the truth, no need to go, just by listening to what this classmate said, I already felt some nausea, and I did not believe that Lulu and the Queen would eat in such a canteen. But this small canteen was already in my mind.


    In this way, after another two days of failure, I intended to go to the small canteen to have a look. No matter how, I would not let go of any clue.


    The small canteen was on the side of a girl dormitory building, less than 30 meters away from the nearest dormitory. It was very close indeed, but the business was also as bad as that classmate said. I waited outside for half a day, less than three people entered. And most of their family was not very good. I looked at the sign hanging outside. The price of small canteen meals was one third cheaper than other canteens. You know, the school canteen price itself was not expensive. 1/3 of that price was, in my opinion, basically the cost.


    From this I could see what the canteen was doing for a living, and I didn¡¯t understand, even if I put a small food stall out there, I was afraid I was making more money than this.


    The time for eating meal was almost past. The people in the small canteen were still very few, and not more than half of the small canteen were filled with people. I thought about it and took Xiao Tong into the room.


    The small canteen inside was very clean. To say a word that is not against the will, it was much cleaner than my bedroom was. Although the tables and chairs were old, matching the clean environment and the historical atmosphere building, the small canteen gave a very high-end feeling. It''s nothing like a school canteen.


    I picked up a tray and walked toward the pickle mouth. The dishes were very rich, but the quantity of each kind of food was not big enough. It probably had something to do with the bad business, but it gave a delicate feeling.


    And I also saw for the first time the couple that managed the small canteen. They were 50 or 60 years old or so. Their gray hair was done meticulously. There were no such smiles that businessman should specially show on the face, however. They were more like a professor than a cook. Dressed in uniforms that were very old, but very clean, not even folds.


    The one who gave me the meal was the male boss. Seeing me walk over him, he didn¡¯t say many words, but directly picked up the spoon on one side and said: "Eat what?" "I pointed to a few appetites, and then the male boss took a few of them, filled my tray, and gave me a spoonful of rice slowly, and put a big spoon away, ignoring me...


    I swung the temporary card on the machine that the only modern stuff in the dining hall. With a tray of meal, I found a seat. I did not sit on the vacancies, but deliberately sat opposite a male classmate.


    The boy''s clothes had been washed a little white, and the dishes inside the tray were very simple: a bowl of rice, a small plate of sliced meat and a plate of pickled vegetables.


    The voice of my putting down the tray shocked the classmate, and he looked up at me with a little astonishment, and then looked at Xiao Tong on one side, with a shy smile.


    I smiled and nodded to him, and then sat down next to Xiao Tong. The eating speed of this classmate obviously accelerated a lot of. It seemed he was not very accustomed to eating with people.


    I couldn''t let him go so fast, so I said something: "You eat so little."


    That classmate''s face got slightly red, seeming a little embarrassed. I understood I just said the wrong words. This classmate''s family looked not good. I would make him feel embarrassed if I said so.


    So I retracted and said: "I had too much food, or we eat this food together." that, I almost gave myself a slap. Oh, my God. Wasn¡¯t this almsgiving?

 Chapter 147 Astonishment in the canteen 2

    The classmate''s eyes softened a lot, and then he still shook his head and ate his meal. I said again: "You think I am not good at speaking, right?" My tone of voice mourns like the abandoned little woman. The classmate obviously felt embarrassed, hurriedly shaking his head. Then in my repeated words, he finally carefully got a little vegetarian, putting it into his own bowl.


    I saw the situation and hurriedly moved some meat and vegetables to his side: "You''re welcome."


    Slowly, in my painstaking approach, the relationship between the two of us immediately became a lot better, and I also knew his name: Hu Tie, was a citizen. But his parents died early.


    He was raised by and relied on his grandma who did some sewing for a living.


    And I also succeeded in winning the favor of Hu Tie. It was still because of Xiao Tong, an old man with senile dementia. Hu Tie thought am a person full of filial piety. To him who relied on his grandmother to grow up, he naturally had very good will to me. In addition, we were all lonely people. He felt inferior because he was poor, and I was lonely because I was not good at speaking so that I had no friends.


    I had a little guilty of cheating, but not many, because I also thought that Hu Tie this person was good. Why can''t we become friends?


    As for my filial piety, I looked at the second prince Xiao Tong at the side. Although this guy had an old face with a childlike heart which was a little unbearable to people, after all, he was the ancients. Saying that he was my elders seemed to be right.


    Eating dinner, I slowly led to the topic of this small canteen, Hu Tie came to this canteen to have dinner from the beginning of the school and it had been nearly a year. He was very familiar with this small canteen. And he had been saying nice things about this small canteen.


    Uncle Nu and Aunt Nu were the two old people who ran this small canteen. They didn¡¯t hire people. Their workmanship was very good, and they never found anything bad in their meals. Only because people misunderstood the canteen in the past, the business had been bad.


    I agreed with many of his words. These two old people''s craft were really very good, but their names were very strange, and Hu Tie also did not know why it was called these names, but everyone called them.


    I was going to stay for a few meals and see if I was lucky enough to see Lulu.


    Hu Tie went to school very soon, and I took Xiao Tong to stroll around the campus. We had been to the playground many times. The dead tree was removed, and there was no access or cave and so on below.


    We were bored to stroll until the time to have meals. Hu Tie had already arrived before me. There were 4 dishes on the table. Although he had only one dish of meat, I could see his heartache from Hu Tie occasional looking toward the dish. This meal had been already overbudgeted for him.


    I did not order again, because Hu Tie said tonight he would invite me. I was very happy to eat, but Hu Tie eat fast, and he had been urging me, which made me feel very strange.


    "Hu Tie, eat without rush." I said helplessly.


    Hu Tie swallowed the food in the mouth hard, opened his mouth and said: "The small canteen closed very early."


    I was stupefied for a while. Looking at the time, I saw that it was only about 6:30pm, and then said: " It was at least at about 9:30pm even if you want to close the door as soon as possible, right?"


    This period of time in the canteen, I also knew the canteen rule. close the door is mostly closed at 9:30pm, and the majority of canteen that sold night snack would close at 11:30pm. In fact, although many windows of several other canteens would close, there were night windows that would open. So really, these canteens closed at 11:30pm. Of course, it was normal that the canteen didn''t sell snacks.


    Who knew that Hu Tie shook his head directly: "Uncle Nu and others would close at seven o''clock."


    At 7 o''clock? I was stupefied again. It was too early. The class ended at 5: 30pm. People who ate a little later would not be able to finished at 7: 00pm. I looked around. Sure enough, they basically ate fast. It seemed that they knew the rules here.


    "Why is it so early?" "I asked curiously.


    Hu Tie frowned and shook his head: "I don''t know. It had always been like this."


    I nodded, and also accelerated the speed of eating, but very strange in mind. Generally speaking, Closing the door would be more appropriate between 8 o''clock to 08:30. Seven o''clock was indeed a little early.


    But I was only strange in the mind, and I did not think there was any problem. Business was not good. So it made sense that they closed down early.


    After dinner, I went out with Hu Tieto see the time. It was at 6: 50. Sure enough, Uncle Nu and Aunt Nu the couple had already started cleaning, regardless of the 2 or 3 people who were still eating. And the rest of the people also accelerated the speed. They finished the meals within a few mouthfuls and left.


    Hu Tie and I did not leave. We bought two bottles of water in the store opposite the canteen, sitting at the door of the canteen and chatted. The canteen did not sell water, but only soup, and today, Hu Tie did not order soup. So I was really thirsty.


    After the people in the small canteen walked away, the wooden doors were closed, and through the antique windows they could still see Uncle Nu and others cleaning the canteen inside.


    "Well, I would say there were ghosts."


    A voice sounded not far away, because of their sensitivity to the word ¡°ghost¡±. I looked at it in a moment. There was a man and two women sitting there, chatting.


    I listened for a while. They seemed to be talking about ghosts in the canteen, and they were going to explore. And the small canteen closed early which had also become the evidence of ghost existing. Listening to their words, I could not help thinking of some of the people who explore the ghost building, and the heart sighed: Sure enough, No Zuo no die.


    Hu Tiealso heard the people''s words. His face was not good. He almost went over to argue with those people. I understood the reason why Hu Tie got angry. Those three people were talking more and more excessively. They hardly said directly that the Uncle Nu and Aunt Nu were the ghosts.


    The feeling of inferiority of Hu Tie made him not stand up, and those people also made an agreement to explore at 11:00 in the evening, and the reason for 11:00 was that the dormitory would close at 12 o''clock.


    Go exploring couldn¡¯t be so unprofessional. I had seen the boy who had been encouraging exploration. I guessed he wanted to pick up girls.


    Three people had left, but Hu Tie was still angry. He was sad even for his timidity. I could not see his look any longer, so I comforted: "It¡¯s nothing. They are just not grown up yet. Why don''t you just stop them at night."

 Chapter 148 Astonishment in the canteen 3

    Hu Tie appeared introverted and shy in front of unfamiliar people, but after I got familiar with him, he found that this guy was definitely a chatterbox. From beginning to end, it was almost that he said and I was listening, and he was similar to Inner Peace Taoist in this aspect.


    Time was also slowly passing in the words of Hu Tie. The store had closed, but fortunately the tables and chairs outside had not been collected. But the strange eyes of girls that came and went let me feel like going back. After all, we were in the front door of the girls'' dorm.


    The three who had appointed adventure came earlier than the appointed time, and had arrived by about 10:30pm. After having a strange look at the three men of Hu Tie, Xiao Tong and I, they looked at the equipment they had brought. Though they said they were equipment, they were something like a flashlight or so.


    Hu Tie mustered courage for a few times, and finally decided to come forward to stop them. But I pulled him to ask a question I had been ignoring: "Hu Tie, did Uncle Nu and Aunt Nu they live in the canteen?"


    The canteen was very small. There were only the front hall and the kitchen. It could be seen at a glance. There was no second floor. It was clear that there was no place to live in, but I did not seem to have seen Uncle Nu they come out.


    Hu Tie was not easy to muster the courage directly lost momentum because of my words, and he thought for a while and said: "They should not live inside it."


    Hu Tie''s words were very uncertain, I nodded, but felt strange as I did not see Uncle Nu they go out. I thought there was a back door in the back kitchen. After all, the common kitchen had a back door. Plus, I didn''t stare at the canteen all the time, and even if I didn''t notice them, it was normal.


    There were so many people that come and go in front of the Girls'' dorms. Which man would always stare at the small canteen. Xiao Tong had been seeing beauty.


    The three explorers were ready for the equipment. They arrived at 11: 00, and half of the street lights went out, which was why they had to wait until 11:00.


    I took a look at the small canteen. There were two lights less in the small canteen than in the store. In addition to the extinguished street lights, it made the small canteen appear very dark. Don''t say the dim lights and the simple buildings made it a little scary.


    However, the sound was not much. Plus, it was relatively late, so it also did not cause too much attention.


    Just when I was ready to come forward, the two girls had advised the boys to give up this adventure. I was not willing to give up. Sure enough, the boy gave a hard push to Hu Tie. Then he pointed to Hu Tie and told him not to meddle in his business.


    Fortunately, they were in the school, and they did not immediately start fighting. Now boys were very concerned about their image in front of girls. To retreat because of Hu Tie¡¯s words would obviously make the boys feel losing face.


    Then, the boy who wanted to enter the small canteen became firmer. I was really speechless. There was nothing to explore in such a small canteen because it was too small. If you like exploring, you could go to the ghost building. I ensured that you could feel comfortable. I thought with malicious thoughts.


    Seeing that the boy who had been irritated by Hu Tie who had been determined to stop them try to make a call for more gangsters, I went up to grab Hu Tie and told him to let it go. After all, the canteen was such a small place. Even if you let him in, the exploration was expected to be finished in a few minutes. There was no need to be so unfriendly. The most important thing was that Hu Tie was still studying here. In case he fought with them, he would really be punished, and I would be kicked out. After all, I couldn''t help but help. If so, how could we find Lulu and the Queen?


    I pointed to Xiao Tong. Hu Tie did not speak any more, and made way. I told him that Xiao Tong was looking for his granddaughter. In case he was kicked out, Hu Tie would feel uneasy about his conscience.


    The boy also intended to put down the cruel words, but he was stared by my eyes. He opened his mouth, and quietly scolded a bad sentence. With two girls, he went to the small canteen.


    I also pulled Hu Tie who was still indignant to leave. Now the time was already late. If the school gate closed, my going out was also a troublesome matter.


    I went to my rented house to have a good sleep. I went to Sishui University early in the morning. Having left the university for many years, I had got some experience of university life and I felt satisfied.


    He said hello to a few security guards who I had already mixed up with and went directly to the canteen, but I did not go to that small canteen again. Yesterday, I found out the people who went to the small canteen to eat were mostly fixed. They were the dozens of people. Since I wanted to find information about Lulu and the queen there, it would be better staying in the big canteen to wait for them.


    Eating and wandering had been my routine with Xiao Tong, but near noon, I still planned to go to the small canteen, because Hu Tie had been my friend. It would be better to tell him. As for the morning, I said I would not go, for I was supposed to sleep late, and getting up early these days made me quite uncomfortable with the day and night.


    When I arrived the canteen, Hu Tie was not in, and casually took a few dishes and directly ate it. At noon the small canteen did not close, so I ate very slowly, for on the one hand I was also waiting for Hu Tie.


    Just when I was almost finished, Hu Tie came in listlessly, and said hello to me, and then sat opposite me with food.


    I learned the tone of an ad and asked, "What''s the matter, man?"


    Hu Tie shook his head with a bitter smile: "I was called to the teaching center. I just came out.


    I opened my mouth, with a face full of doubt. Hu Tie was a good boy in my eyes. How suddenly was he called to the teaching office? These days we were also familiar, and I did not hesitate to ask directly out.


    Hu Tie¡¯s face was depressed: "Yesterday that guy disappeared. I did not know who said, that guy and I last night conflicted, so I was called to the teaching center."


    I was stunned for a while, only to reflect that Hu Tie was talking about the boy who was going to explore last night, and had a few arguments with Hu Tie. My heart felt strange, and continued to ask: "That boy is missing?"


    Hu Tie nodded and said: "Not only was that male, but the two girls with him also disappeared. The police have come."


    I looked around at the canteen which seemed to be getting cold: "Did they disappear in the small canteen?"


    Hu Tie looked at me, a little displeased: "Don''t always talk about the small canteen. There were no ghosts or gods in it. I don¡¯t know when they missed, but according to the police analysis, they might be going over the wall to open a room to have sex outside."

 Chapter 149 Astonishment in the canteen 4

    Crucially, one of the two girls was the boy''s sister. Although she was his cousin, it also proved that the rumors of going to open a room to have sex were not true.


    Hu Tie was called twice again, and it was not a big deal, because Hu Tie had nothing to do with the few people who had been proved missing, and Xiao Tong and I were also called by the security guard once. We were inquired in front of the police and school leaders. They intended to let me out, but after a while of Xiao Tong¡¯s rolling, all the people decisively gave up their ideas. They agreed to let us stay in school, and of course, we couldn''t mess around.


    And I just learned that they were the seventh, eighth, ninth person that missed this year, but the news was blocked and didn''t get out. Of course, if it wasn''t for this reason, I would probably be considered a suspect. After all, the time I came here was too weird.


    The small canteen had been turned upside down, and nothing had been found, and the Nu couple looked at it with no expression, and it was not the first time they had encountered such a thing.


    But the small canteen was still affected. After all, this was the location that can be finally determined for the missing three people. The small canteen business was worse, but Hu Tie was still going to it for every meal, and would order a lot of food. It was just that his role was insignificant.


    I had been invited by Hu Tie to eat in the small canteen, because this guy ordered a lot of food, and the Nu couple would give him more food every time, and he could not eat it up by himself.


    Hu Tie''s idea was different from mine. Hu Tie did not believe in ghosts and spirits, but I had seen it with my own eyes, so I started to doubt the small canteen. But for a few days to eat there, I did not find anything. There would not be any ghost if there was even no Yinqi there.


    And I found a back door in the kitchen. There was a path to the school green woods. That was the focus of the police search. Of course, nothing found. When I came back, I took the advantage of the night to go. Similarly, there was no trace of Yinqi there. But the place scared many wild mandarin duck.


    College life. Ah. I was a pig. In the past when I was in college, I only knew to play games. The whole university was a waste of time.


    I had come to Sishui University for half a month. Nothing had been found. I intended to leave. I could not lose the job in the ghost building, because I could no longer go back to ordinary life, and mom called me every few days but now she called me several time a day. If I did not go back, my mom would probably come right over.


    Considering the strange closing time of the small canteen, the two of us started eating at 4: 00 pm. The quantity of Hu Tie was very poor, and neither was mine. When the door closed, we were both a little drunk. They began to talk big.


    Walking out of the canteen, I also did not leave immediately, but I talked big with Hu Tie sitting in the canteen. I did not know why, Hu Tie and I were more and more familiar.


    At 11:00pm, I was finally ready to go. Hu Tie stood up to see me off, and then a rush of footsteps directly attracted my eyes. It was a girl in white pants and clothes. Her face was anxious. She was looking at the direction of the canteen and was walking back and forth, quite like a rush to the toilet but the toilet had been taken up.


    I am very familiar with this girl, but I did not know her, because this girl and Hu Tie, were the same. Their three meals a day were in the small canteen. The diners in the small canteen were relatively fixed, so most are very familiar to me.


    Just as I was surprised, a fat girl walked over, two muttering words, and soon the fat girl came towards me and Hu Tie.


    The girl didn''t eat in the small canteen. Because I had not seen him, otherwise I would certainly have the impression. With her look of more than 150 jin in weight, as long as I had seen her, I would not forget her.


    The fat girl came up to us and said, "You also often eat in the small canteen, right?"


    Hu Tie and I looked at each other, feeling surprised, and the fat girl said: "It is Xiao Hong that told me."


    I looked at Xiao Hong, who was almost completely blocked behind the fat girl, realized it, and nodded.


    The fat girl seemed to relax a little: "My name is Xiao Pang. Can you do us a favor?"


    Xiao Pang? This should be called Xiao Pang, I thought, but I did not show the face, but asked: "What can I do for you?"


    Xiao Pangdirectly pulled out Xiao Hong who was a bit shy from behind: "Tomorrow we have an exam, but Xiao Hong''s book was left in the small canteen. Can you accompany us to find it out?"


    I looked at the pure Xiao Hong, thought for a while and nodded. Although there was no danger in the small canteen, after all rumors were flying. Two girls¡¯ fear was normal. Besides, it couldn¡¯t take too long to take a book.


    Xiao Pang saw I also agreed, and she very straightly took out of a flashlight and handed it to me, and then held her own one, holding Xiao Hong¡¯s hand to the small canteen.


    I did not care to hand the torch to Hu Tie, and then followed up. Xiao Tong was naturally tightly followed behind me, and because Hu Tie did not believe in ghosts and gods, with the flashlight directly walked over us to the front.


    The small canteen¡¯s locks was the kind of horizontal bolt before, Xiao Pang opened the door in several times in my eyes full of respect, and then stood at the side, showing the appearance of fear to let Hu Tie get in first.


    Hu Tie got in first. While walking back, he asked: "Where did you put it?"


    "On the table in the second row." Xiao Hong opened her mouth when she was touched by Xiao Pang.


    The small canteen was very small, I originally intended to wait in the door. After all they just took a thing to come out, but Hu Tie went in for a long time and he did not find it.


    Xiao Hong was helpless. She could only hold the hand of Xiao Pang, and Xiao Pang then scolded her that she did not pick up her things. Then she led Xiao Hong to go in, saying a hello to me when they went in.


    I couldn''t afford to be lazy now and had to follow in.


    The small canteen inside was very dim. The glass seemed to be a bit dusty, letting the outside street lamp lights come in and become very dim.


    Hu Tie was standing in front of the table in the second row, looking to me: "I didn''t find it."


    Hearing that he did not find it, Xiao Hong was anxious, and hastily ran over. Xiao Pang repeatedly beckoned to follow up.

 Chapter 150 Astonishment in the canteen 5

    The windows for taking food were closed, and the door to the kitchen was closed. There were only the neatly placed tables and chairs in the middle of the small canteen. They didn¡¯t place the chairs under the table as in some canteens did, nor put the chairs upside down on the table, but as if someone was going to sit down, the chairs were just pulled apart to let people sit down.


    I was not surprised, but the place of putting the chairs was just different, and one thing made me frown directly. I felt like the whole small canteen was a little bigger. Of course, it was probably because of the light.


    I was about to take a good look, but Xiao Pang asked me to help her find the book. I answered and started looking for it from the nearest table, though I didn''t have a flashlight. Through the dim light I could see the white desktop reflected the pale light. If it were the small thing, it couldn¡¯t be seen naturally. But it was the book, we always could see it.


    I even looked for a few tables but I did not find. All of a sudden, Xiao Pang whispered and was eager to say, "Squatting down, careful."


    I was stunned for a moment, and then I found a strong beam of light passing from me. I subconsciously turned around, seeing a few security guard outside the small canteen with the flashlight passing through, still looking inside.


    I quickly squatted down, and by the way pulled Xiao Tong. My heart felt tense, as if I had returned to the school days.


    The security guard walked away for a while, and Xiao Pang walked up to the window to look at him, and he took a breath and said to me, "You''re lucky. You haven''t been noticed."


    Before I answered, Xiao Pang began to look for the book again. I slowly stood up, but the heart revealed a little strange. Just now the light was really shining on my body. And when I looked back, I saw the familiar security guard looking at me, almost looking at me, and I could recognize him, and he didn''t see me at all?


    I felt a little uneasy in my heart, and looked back at Xiao Tong, whose old face was looking curiously at the table, as if there were something interesting on the table. I did not know why after Xiao Tong had left the palace, most of the time the body was dominated by the second prince, which let me not have even a person that I could discuss with. After all, the second prince was still a child. Of course, we could not judge a person just by looking at the face.


    The small canteen was small and tidy, so it didn''t take much effort to find it. They quickly searched the canteen, but they did not find the shadow of the book at the time.


    Xiao Pang was really too fat, so just for a short while he began grasping, a butt sitting on the chair: "Is it taken away by the aunt."


    Hu Tie also said: "Maybe. Why not ask tomorrow?"


    Then they both looked at Xiao Hong together, and I noticed that Xiao Hong had been standing there for a while and had not moved. My heart thumped, and hurriedly hurried to her.


    I just heard Xiao Hong was counting the numbers: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ¡­"


    "Xiao Hong. "


    Xiao Hong shocked all over her body. She seemed to be scared by my voice, looking back at me. That face even had become a miserable white, covered with thick sweat. And in the Xiao Hong¡¯s eyes there was a fear of almost collapse.


    Xiao Pang walked over, grabbed collapse, looked at me dissatisfied, seemed to blame me for scaring Xiao Hong, and then pointed at Xiao Hong and said: "Xiao Hong. You look so ugly. Are you OK?"


    Xiao Hong¡¯s whole person all leaned in Xiao Pang¡¯s bosom. Her mouth disorderly promised: "Nothing, 5, OK."


    "What five?" I looked at Xiao Hong with a watchful eye.


    Xiao Hong shivered again, and almost with crying voice said: "We don''t look for it. We go out. Go out."


    I understood that Xiao Hong was frightened, but I didn¡¯t know what was frightened by. I looked around the small canteen, and it was no different from just now, but I very much agreed with the words of Xiao Hong. Leave here.


    Xiao Pang looked at the frightened companion, and nodded: "Xiao Hong, sit down to have a rest first."


    Xiao Hong shook her head and almost cried out: "Let''s go out. let''s go out, OK?"


    "OK, OK, let''s go out." Xiao Pang held Xiao Hong to the door. I called Hu Tie to follow, but I was very aware of the situation around.


    A few bright lights shone from far to near outside the small canteen. Xiao Pang hurriedly pulled Xiao Hong to squat. Hu Tie also squatted down. Security patrolled back, I would like to stand to see whether the security guard could see me. But Hu Tie had been pulling me, and his mouth also whispered to let me squat down.


    I still crouched down with Xiao Tong. In case, in case the security guard could see me, then all the three students hurt.


    Just before the security guard came to the door of the small canteen, Xiao Hong suddenly stood up and threw herself on the door, slamming the door hard, still shouting: "We are here. Open the door quickly."


    Everyone did not think of such a situation. Xiao Pang rushed out to pull Xiao Hong: "You are crazy. We will be caught."


    Xiao Hong did not answer, but reflexively embraced the Xiao Pang to cry. Xiao Pang had to comfort her.


    The security guard finally walked away, the Xiao Hong''s cry also stopped. Xiao Pang sympathized and was also angry: "Fortunately the security guard did not find us. Xiao Hong, what is the matter with you?"


    "It¡¯s not Xiao Hong matter. It¡¯s our matter." I walked forward a few steps and looked out through the small canteen¡¯s window at the security guard who was getting farther out.


    "What do you mean?" Xiao Pang looked at me strangely.


    Hu Tie seemed to understand it all at once and began to say, "Just now the guard was outside the door. It was impossible not to hear the sound of Xiao Hong beating the door. Even if one person did not hear it, couldn''t other people hear it?"


    The Xiao Pang finally understood. His face turned white, the lips being trembling.


    I said to Xiao Hong softly, "Xiao Hong, did you see something?"


    Xiao Hong still sobbed again, but after crying the mood was obviously better, and she opened her mouth to answer: "The tables, tables. There was more than a row of tables."

 Chapter 151 The Canteen Fear 6

    Having seen so many ghosts and their tricks, for example, things got more and the space got bigger, I would not have too much fear. However, I was a little scared, because so far I haven''t felt a trace of Yin Qi or Ghost Qi, which was very abnormal.


    ¡°Xiao Pang, try to open the door, and everyone stands by the door.¡± I opened my month. Everyone else was frightened because they also had no idea, and when seeing me speak, they instinctively got up.


    The Xiao Pang began to open the door, with her hand trembling, which made me suspect that she had lost his ability to open the door, but I didn¡¯t urge him, because I knew that a little urge couldn¡¯t let her calm down and open the door, but it would make her more nervous.


    Fortunately, nothing has changed around me, making me almost suspect that the canteen was supposed to be like this and we were just scaring ourselves. Nonetheless, it was probably normal for me to remember things wrong, but if there was no reason why both Hu Tie and Xiao Hong remembered things wrong.


    For a long time, Xiao Pang looked up at me and said in a nearly crying voice, ¡°I can¡¯t open it.¡±


    I wanted to comfort Xiao Pang and let her calm down to open the door, but when I turned around, I saw the door changed, and because the change was so big, we, in the panic, didn¡¯t notice it.


    The gap in the middle of the door had disappeared, and the whole door was like a whole piece of material, pressed directly on the door frame.


    ¡°What can we do now?¡± Xiao Pang said, with her hand tightly hugging Xiao Hong, who was more afraid, making me like this fat girl a lot more.


    ¡°Everybody, just calm down. It''s no use being scared now. Even if it''s a real ghost, there is still no need being afraid of it. Or even if we are killed, we also become ghosts, and then we beat it up.¡±


    My words made Hu Tie almost laugh out and Hu Tie himself also didn¡¯t believe there was ghost and god Seeing that, he laughed, ¡°Yes, right. Don¡¯t be afraid.¡±


    However Hu Tie¡¯s laughter seemed to be a little weak, but somehow little fat and Xiao Hong didn¡¯t find out this, suddenly had a good mood. Xiao Pang even said with a fierce expression, ¡°Fk, dare it! I will press it to death.¡±


    Sure enough, Xiao Pang was more bold, and just her scold was a bit dirty, but in this environment, scolding was a good way to boost morale.


    ¡°Didn''t you guys say there is a ghost rumor in this canteen? What exactly is that?¡± I asked. Although telling the ghost story would scare me now, it would be worth it if I could get all the information and clues from it.


    ¡°That is...¡±


    ¡°That is...¡±


    Xiao Pang and Xiao Hong both opened their mouths at the same time. It seemed that both them knew it. Then I let little fat tell me because, generally speaking, the storytellers wouldn¡¯t be not easily frightened by their own stories.


    Xiao Pang recalled it for some time and then began to tell this story, ¡°I also hear of this from a senior female schoolmate. The former boss of the canteen was so picky that in order to save money, he was not willing to wash the dishes and chopsticks after using them. Therefore, many people always found there were cockroaches, mice and other stuff. As a result, fewer and fewer people went to his canteen gradually. Even so, the boss was still so picky, in order to save money again. So when a girl came to eat alone the night, he killed these girls, then used their meat to make food, and the next day, sold these food to other students to eat. Because it was free food material, the boss wanted more. A lot of students also came here since it was cheap and the boss would serve a lot of food. Gradually, the meat was not enough, after all, very few girls would eat at night alone. Besides, there were more and more people, and the boss was also afraid to expose, so he didn¡¯t kill girl. However, then there was no way, and the boss finally killed three girls who came together for food at the night. Since three girls for him made him very tired. Until the midnight, the boss couldn¡¯t still get the job done. So the next day someone ate a finger while eating. Then the boss was arrested, but because the police could not find any bodies of these victims, there was no way to condemn the boss. Finally, they could only release the boss temporarily.¡±


    After I heard it, I nodded. If the story was real, what we would confront was probably just a simple ghost. Suddenly, something occurred to me and I asked Hu Tie, ¡°The story is like that?¡±


    He nodded, but then shook his head immediately, saying, ¡°The front is about the same, but the rear section is a little different.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you know how the story goes on?¡± Before I began to ask, Xiao Pang opened her month.


    Hu Tie said, ¡°The front is the same. However, the boss found the meat was not enough and no single girl came for snack, coupled with the fact that people have been missing all the time, the police had already paid close attention, he dared not kill any other girls. However, in order to earn money, the boss finally even killed his wife directly, because his wife was fat and her meat could sold for two days altogether. Even so, the meat was still not enough again, the boss finally decided to cut his own meat and sold it little by little.¡±


    I thought his story was more terrifying, but there was a big flaw. When I was about to open my mouth, Xiao Pang suddenly said unhappily, ¡°Impossible, if the boss cuts himself into meat, why doesn¡¯t he still die and how can he still sell the food?¡±


    Xiao Pang¡¯s thought was the same as mine. Hu Tie just scratched his head, explaining, ¡°That''s what they say, and I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°Just start cutting from the shank, then thigh, intestine and left hand, leaving the right hand to make dish and upper body out of the counter. Right? He could still sell the food in this way.¡±


    ¡°Shit! That is so disgusting.¡± Little fat said another words, and then his face turned as white as the paper, ¡°Who? Who? Who is talking now?¡±


    As Xiao Pang spoke, I turned around and found the voice just came from the food-selling window.


    In the dim light and through the window glass, I could clearly see a man standing in the vegetable window, waving his right hand slowly towards us.


    I felt a chill in my back and almost peed. Fk! Why the ghost would come every time we told the ghost story.


    Behind me, Xiao Hong and Xiao Pang screamed one after another, making my eardrums ache. Hu Tie also reached his hand to pull my shoulder and his hand was very cold and still shivering, which seemed it scared him a lot. However, Xiao Tong still had a naive look at that people in the food-selling window, as if he wanted to have a try.


    ¡°Calm down. Everybody, just calm down.¡± I kept yelling, and nobody listened to me. Just when I almost wanted to turn around and give those two girls a slap in their face, that people disappeared suddenly, as if it was our hallucination.


    ¡°He...He disappeared.¡± Hu Tie opened his month and then just looked at me.

 Chapter 152 The Canteen Fear 7

    Xiao Pang slowly opened a crevice on his hands that were covering his eyes. After a look, she put her hands down, ¡°What shall we do now?¡±


    ¡°Anything will be okay if all of you don¡¯t scream.¡± I said and I was not very angry, with my hand rubbing my aching ears, ¡°It seems that Hu Tie''s story is true. Just I thought nobody will do that just for money. That¡¯s exaggerating.¡±


    Indeed, cutting himself and selling his own meat for money had completely been beyond what I could imagine. Not to say much pain first, but the obsession for the money was strong enough to be omnipotent. If one had such an obsession, whatever he did, he would succeed, and why did he had to sell meat?


    The ghost did not appear again and both Hu Tie and Xiao Pang¡¯s mood also slowly stabilized. As for Xiao Hong, I don''t expect her anymore. Having instilled the idea that ghosts were not terrible in the two people, I suggested that Hu Tie and I should go to the kitchen to have a look. After all, Hu Tie was man, after hesitating for a moment, he said yes. However, Xiao Hong and Xiao Pang disagreed with my suggestion. I knew the two little girls must be very scared, so I tried to comfort them, but it didn¡¯t work. Finally, we all had to enter the kitchen all together.


    I was pushed to the front, and the speed could be said to be very slow. Every time I took one step forward, I would stopped for some time, and then moved on. Fortunately, there was more a row of seats in the small canteen, but it was still not big, and it didn¡¯t take much time to reach the front door of the kitchen.


    After a discussion, Xiao Pang refused to come forward and open the door. I had to kick the door. The door was not sturdy, and there was only a small door bolt inside. I kicked the kitchen door directly and it opened.


    The sound of the small door bolt¡¯s falling down again startled everyone. When I was preparing to see what was going on inside, I was startled directly by Xiao Hong''s screams. Then I was about to turn around and scolded, but I saw Hu Tie¡¯s eyes just stare at the back of me, and my lips were shaking and I became speechless. I hastened back but found nothing.


    Behind me, Hu Tie pulled my clothes, swallowing the saliva with a loud sound, and told me, ¡°Just now, there is...¡±


    I interrupted him hastily, ¡°There is nothing just now. Get in it.¡±


    We went into the kitchen and shone around with a torch. The kitchen was very clean and tidy, and the utensils were neatly placed. I could see that this couple were clean-loving people, but we found nothing here. Just as we were all relieved, a sudden sound "Pa", the kitchen door slammed.


    I pulled hard. Hu Tie also came up to help. After a few times, the door was still motionless.


    ¡°Xiao Hong! Are you crazy?¡± Xiao Pang¡¯s loud scream made me so frightened that I even stopped pulling the door. After taking a look of her, I did not know when she was holding a kitchen knife in her right hand. What was more severe was that she was cutting her own thigh. Her thigh had obviously been slashed and was bleeding continuously. At this time, her hand was grasped by Xiao Pang, but it seemed that she still wanted to cut her own thigh.


    I didn¡¯t know where the strength of Xiao Hong came from, and I was sure that Xiao Pang has obviously been a little unable to continue. Then I hurried up to help Xiao Pang. Her strength has far exceeded the strength of an adult man. I and Xiao Pang had already exhausted all our strength, but the knife was still slowly moving to the her own thigh.


    ¡°Hu Tie! Be quick! Come to help me.¡± I''ve got a red face. Then I had to ask Hu Tie for help.


    Instead of helping me, he just used his hand to pat me on the shoulder, and from the corner of my eyes, I could see that he was slowly retreating towards the window.


    I was shocked and tried to twist the knife from the hand of Xiao Hong to the ground, then I held Xiao Hong and retreated back to kitchen.


    This sudden change made Xiao Pang stunned. He was about to say something and now just stayed there, without moving.


    When I hugged Xiao Hong, I also clearly saw what was going on outside the window. There were full of people in that extra row of seats, most of who were girls.


    In the position where little fat stood, I saw that several girls were in a line, and the girl in the front was holding on the arm of little fat, saying in a slow tone, ¡°I want some rice.¡±


    Xiao Pang was like being suffering from malaria. A whimper of fear came from her mouth, but he dared not make any actions.


    ¡°I want the rice.¡± The girl out of the window said again, waving the lunch box in her hand at the same time. She was still grabbing the hand of little fat and didn''t let it go.


    I shone around with a flashlight and yelled at Xiao Pang, ¡°Just say okay. Ask her to let you go and you could take the rice for her.¡±


    I saw her whole body seemed to become soft, and she also was no longer as crazy as before. After putting Xiao Hong in Hu Tie¡¯s arms, I rushed into the kitchen.


    Behind me,Xiao Pang, whose voice had changed a lot, was saying some words one by one, ¡°I...I...I will take...the rice... for you. Just...Just'' let...let...let me go.¡±


    I took a bowl came, the female ghost had let little fat go. Then she hurriedly ran to the side of Xiao Hong, leaning against the table where there was a chopping board and other stuff, and just looking out in horror.


    ¡°Take the rice.¡± The girl outside the window waved the lunch box slowly.


    I went over, picked up one spoon aside, scooped some rice in the big bowl, and passed it over. However, it seemed that the female ghost never saw me and she just always stared at Xiao Pang, saying, ¡°I want the rice.¡± There was a hint of intensity in her tone.


    I hastened up to Xiao Pang and handed him the big bowl and spoon, and said, ¡°Scoop the rice for her.¡±


    Xiao Pang never took them, waving her hands and saying constantly, ¡°No! I am not going.¡±


    ¡°Give me the rice.¡± The female ghost outside had begun to knock the window and another ghost behind her was slowly raising her head and looking at Xiao Pang.


    I was shocked and said hastily, ¡°If you don''t want to die, go and scoop the rice for her. Don''t worry, you''ll be all right. Otherwise, they''ll keep pestering you.¡±


    Xiao Pang began to cry and took the bog bowl and spoon in my hand. Then she moved towards them step by step. To give her confidence, I walked with her by her side. Seeing I was by her side, she obviously became more courageous.


    Xiao Pang scooped some left rice in that big bowl and passed it over, with her hands trembling. The female ghost also reached out her lunch box to catch the rice, but Xiao Pang¡¯s hand shivered so seriously that the rice in the spoon fell directly on the windowsill.


    The female ghost raised her head and looked ferociously at Xiao Pang. Then she also was very scared and turned back quickly, but I stopped her and said, ¡°Be brave. You can do it. Just think about it. They''re all girls like you. It''s just that they''re unlucky and they meet a bad guy. Just help them, okay?¡±


    Xiao Pang was still very afraid, but nodded slowly. Then she continued scooping the rice. This time, without no accident, she directly poured the rice into the female ghost''s lunch box.


    The female ghost did not walk away, but pointed to the empty windowsill where some dished should be placed, saying, ¡°I''d like this dish.¡±

 Chapter 153 The Canteen Fear 8

    I asked Hu Tie for help and we both placed all the dishes on the windowsill together. Of course, We didn¡¯t intend to heat these dishes, because we were just fooling these ghosts anyway. I also told Xiao Pang just to scoop a little for them. After all, there was not much food. Then I just looked at Xiao Pang giving these ghosts some food and her hands still were trembling. These ghosts didn''t seem to think much. They just lined up neatly, take the rice and dishes, then went back to their seats, but never didn''t eat. They put their hands on their knees and sat upright, which just looked like that pupils were waiting for meal.


    Then I had doubts in my heart. This was needless to say that there were problems with this small canteen. However, there still were two more questions and I still haven¡¯t gotten the answers yet. One was that since there were so many ghosts, but why didn¡¯t I still feel Yin Qi or Ghost Qi at all? You know, Ghosts must have the Ghost Qi, and the Yin Qi was like the oxygen we needed, without which they would die. Of course, the ghosts would die more slowly, and they wouldn¡¯t die until the Ghost Qi transformed from Yin Qi was exhausted.


    The second question was what kind of ghost that killed those students on earth was. the victim before, or the ghost who chopped himself up and sold his money. Was the former victim or the ghost who chopped himself up and sold his own meat for money?


    When I thought about this, my body suddenly began to tremble. Yes, ah, where was the greedy ghost? We hadn''t seen him since we got into the kitchen. Because our attention had just been attracted by the group of ghosts outside, we still didn¡¯t notice that he disappeared.


    I looked around warily and still found nothing wrong. However, I didn¡¯t dare to be relieved, because I also didn''t find anything just now.


    Hu Tie always stood at the side of Xiao Pang who had been crying and tried to cheer her up.


    I was surprised to looked at Xiao Tong who was squatting on the floor and found he was studying the cupboard very carefully. It suddenly occurred to me that maybe he found something wrong. Then I hurriedly ran over and tensely opened the cupboard door at once. As soon as I opened the cupboard door, Xiao Tong stuck his head in it. I was worried about him, so I stopped him immediately.


    Xiao Tong had a lot of strength, and I failed to stopped him. His head went straight into the cupboard, then he laughed happily. Only then did I realize that there was a water tank in the cupboard, which was full of water.


    Xiao Tong still was a child, and soon he put out his head to see Xiao Pang who was scooping food for those ghosts. I looked curiously at the water tank with a flashlight. Because of his head, I didn''t see the situation in it.


    But once I saw it, I almost threw it up. The water in the water tank was very clear and it looked like someone had changed the new water. However, there were only a few dead rats, which were always in his water and had already become white, floating on the water surface, giving me goose bumps. The boss didn''t cook for us with this water, did he?


    No wonder it was so smelly. I felt very sick and just closed the cupboard door with the flashlight, and I didn''t even want to touch the cupboard door at this moment.


    Just for a while, all the ghosts out there have got their food and sat back their seats. Xiao Pang threw the spoon in her hand, jumped directly to my side and with a crying voice, asked me what to do next.


    To be honest, I also didn''t know what to do next. However, I couldn''t say this because I could obviously feel that now, whether Xiao Pang or Hu Tie, had regarded me as their a life-saving straw. Once I behaved I also didn¡¯t what to do, I could imagine that these two people would collapse immediately.


    I thought for a moment, and there was still no clue, but I said with confidence on my face, ¡°Just wait until they finish eating.¡±


    ¡°But they never eat.¡± Little said hurriedly.


    ¡°They will.¡± While replied to Xiao Pang, I also tried to open the kitchen door and the door was easily opened by me. Although both little fat and Hu Tie hurried away from the door for fear that the ghosts would come in along the door, they suddenly saw the door opened, which gave them a lot of encouragement.


    I was surprised why the door could be suddenly opened, but I didn''t show my surprise. I turned back and said, ¡°You guys just stay here.¡± As I spoke, I used a stool aside to hold the door and went out of the kitchen.


    Xiao Pang seemed to still want to follow me, but when she saw me out of the door directly, she immediately take back her step. I just gave them a reassuring smile, of course, I didn¡¯t know, in the darkness, whether they could see clearly.


    As soon as I went out, I found the obvious difference. Now, there was full of Yin Qi in the small canteen. Not to mention me, even an ordinary person would feel uncomfortable when he came in this place.


    Unlike when I was still in the kitchen, these ghosts, who were taking their food, just ignored me. However, in this time, when I just stepped into the canteen, almost all the ghosts turned their heads towards me. Although there was no other action, it would still make me feel cold on my back.


    I coughed and behaved as if I hadn''t seen it. Then I went to get a tray, let Xiao Pang give me some food, and directly sat down in a seat near the corner of the kitchen.


    All the ghosts are in front of me, so I could easily see what they were doing. they just look at me and there was no other action. I thought for a moment, then picked up my chopsticks and said aloud, ¡°Start eating!¡± Then I pretend to pick up a piece of meat and put it in your mouth, at the same time, I also stared at that group of ghosts secretly.


    My action obviously caused the ghost''s reaction, and suddenly, all the ghosts started eating and picked up the meat with the chopstick to smell. As I threw the meat I picked up to the ground, I was surprised that, to tell the truth, these ghosts, in terms of behavior, were the harmless obsession ghost to humans, and the most junior of all. They seemed to not capable of harming people, but of course, it didn¡¯t include those who were scared to death.


    But the fact that a few of the people on the expedition were missing made me feel that there should be more secrets hidden in this small canteen. After killing the people, the ghost usually would leave the dead body. After all, the attack of ghost acted basically on soul. Of course, it didn¡¯t include the upper body and control items.


    Imperceptibly, I had thrown my meal that was little under the table. Many ghosts also had finished eating and after regularly putting the tray and the box back in place, they went back to their own seats and just sat.


    However, as for the next step, I really didn¡¯t what to do. Maybe I should make them have class, or go to sleep.


    When it came to the behavior of these ghosts, I also had a very strange feeling that as if they were domesticated general and they always sat and did things in certain rules, which was just like that they were wait for instructions or something.

 Chapter 154 The Canteen Fear 9

    I hastened to get up. As I watched the ghosts¡¯ movements, I trotted into the kitchen. The scream came from Xiao Pang, but at this time, she no longer made a sound, because Hu Tie covered her mouth at full tilt.


    Both of them looked at the kitchen workbench and I naturally looked in that direction, too. I didn''t know when a bloody piece of flesh appeared on that place. Looking at the flesh, I thought it was a human thigh. Seeing from the side, I could also clearly be sure that it was the human thigh bone.


    ¡°When does this happen?¡± I shone around with a flashlight and said.


    ¡°No. No. I don¡¯t know.¡± Hu Tie looked very frightened. I also never expected them to see when it appeared. Instead, I walked over and took a closer look at the thigh on the workbench.


    The thigh was also with skin. Although the skin has shown a pale color, there were just few hairs and the whole thigh was white-skinned. Hence, I thought it should belong to a girl.


    Could it be one of the two girls on the expedition? I touched my chin, but I still didn''t come up with a reason. I couldn¡¯t recognize it because I just had met them only once. Even for familiar friends, they could also not recognize anyone just by a thigh.


    As I observed it closer, I found some details that I didn''t find just now. There was a big piece of meat missing from this thigh, which made me unconsciously think of the dead mouse floating in the cupboard water tank, then I suddenly retched.


    ¡°Are you OK?¡± Hu Tie just came up and held me, with his eyes fixed on the other side, not on the thighs of the chopping board.


    I endured the nausea and continued to observe it. I found he piece of meat on the thigh was cut off with a knife and there was a lot of knife marks on the edge of the cut, which even more confused. Only after a long time did I came a panic reaction. I thought this missing meat was not cut off once, and it was more like... suddenly a word came to my mind, slow slicing.


    I wished that this meat was cut off after the girl died. If it was done when she was alive, I can hardly imagine how cruel a murderer needs to be to do all this. In any case, the murderer had been sentenced to the penalty in my heart, and even he should be directly destructed. In addition, I wished now I could call Huang Xiaolong and those women in the ghost building to come, directly killing the murderer.


    But the most important thing for me to do now was to keep myself safe and leave as soon as possible. I didn''t want myself to be a dish.


    I turned around and went to Xiao Pang, and began to comfort him while walking, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. This is just the usual trick of ghosts. You can think of it as magic, but just a little bit disgusting.¡±


    I just saw a thin man, who worn a white chef''s suit, standing in front of a workbench, holding a kitchen knife high and pressing the thigh on the board with one hand.


    I was so frightened by the sudden sight that my soul almost came out. My laryngeal node rolled up and down in my throat. I forced myself to be strong and stand still. All the people were looking at each other.


    The man, who was thin, had little flesh on his face. I could even see clearly the shape of the his skull. The chef suit looked very wide on his body and it was shaking with the wind. while the chef suit was shaking, I could clearly see his skinny body. I didn''t know why I thought this man looked a little familiar, as if I had seen him somewhere, but I also certainly hadn''t seen him before.


    I slowly retreated. From the corner of my eyes, I found that these female ghosts in the small canteen were no longer just sitting there, and there was a little commotion. They began to struggle one by one, as if they wanted to escape there, but also as if they were fixed by something and could never get out of their seats.


    When I retreated back to the side Hu Tie and others, little fat suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm hard. Her hand was trembling and what trembled even more violently was her voice, ¡°We...We...We should be quick. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    I also wanted to leave here, but how? I was depressed and then only had to comfort everyone. Then I told Hu Tie to pay attention to the actions of these ghosts outside, and I looked at that skinny man myself.


    Hu Tie replied and looked at the hall of the canteen, saying to me, ¡°This is the former owner of the canteen. I knew him. Everybody calls him ¡®skinny Boss¡¯.¡±


    I nodded slightly and thought that everything seemed to be the same as what Hu Tie said.


    It seemed that the skinny boss didn¡¯t see us. He just waved the kitchen knife in his hand and hacked the thigh again and again. The blood that was not dry splashed in the air and the skin and flesh was cut. The knife was cut on the bone, making a loud noise. This scene with a very strong visual impact almost made me vomit.


    I didn¡¯t dare to continue looking at the skinny boss''s movements. Then my eyes were fixed on the thin boss¡¯s concentrated face. Why did I have a feeling of familiarity? I should have seen him recently, otherwise, the familiarity wouldn''t be so strong.


    ¡°Hu Tie, what''s the skinny boss''s last name?¡± I screamed.


    He was obviously startled by my sudden scream, and his body was shaking. Then he suddenly behaved as if he was thinking, and answered me, ¡°His last name is... I think I''ve heard it from others. That is... That name is very rare anyway.¡±


    ¡°Is it Slave? Right?¡± I asked hurriedly.


    He was stunned for a moment, and it seemed he recalled something, and he immediately became very scared. Then he looked towards the skinny boss who he had been afraid to have a look of, murmuring to himself, ¡°He... He...¡±


    ¡°He is just like Mr. Slave.¡± I said what Hu Tie didn¡¯t said, and he nodded hurriedly.


    I squinted my eyes and wondered whether Mr. Slave and Mrs. Slave had seen the skinny boss, whether they had been involved in the terrible behavior of the skinny boss, and I also didn''t even know what their relationship with the skinny boss was, but I knew that this thing was not as simple as seeing the ghost.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Behind me came a tremendous force that pushed me directly on the ground. I looked back and didn¡¯t know when Xiao Hong stood up. She tilted her head, holding a sharp knife in her hand and looking at us.


    The blood was still dropping from the knife. Xiao Pang covered her arm and showed the expression of pain and blood was seeping through his fingers. It seemed that Xiao Hong was controlled by someone. She intended to cut me but was blocked by Xiao Pang. I gratefully looked at this brave fat girl, but suddenly realized that Xiao Hong was controlled by someone. It was not right. Since the skinny boss was still there, who on earth was controlling Xiao Hong?

 Chapter 155 The Canteen Fear 10

    ¡°No! You will kill her.¡± Xiao Pang shouted, and then I couldn¡¯t help but slow down.


    As if Xiao Hong couldn¡¯t feel her pain, she just did not care about her bleeding forehead that had been hit by me. Instead, as I slowed down, she directly stabbed me with a sharp knife, piercing a hole on the stainless steel basin.


    ¡°Hold your head.¡± I pushed the stainless steel basin hard to Xiao Hong, making her unable to pull out the knife. At the same time, I also shouted loudly at Hu Tie, who still was stunned.


    Then he nodded in a hurry, and when he was about to come up to hold Xiao Hong, he suddenly fell directly down at the feet of Xiao Hong, and Xiao Hong just smiled grimly at Hu Tie who was still on the ground. Therefore, I had to increase my strength.


    ¡°Your back.¡± Xiao Pang roared with a cry.


    I got it. It must be the skinny boss. Nonetheless, I still dared not loose my grip, because once I did it, I couldn¡¯t imagine what Xiao Hong, who pulled her knife, would do. What¡¯s more, Hu Tiestill was lying by the side of her feet.


    After giving a loud and angry scream, Xiao Pangstood up directly, snatched up the bowls unwashed on the windowsill and crazily threw them over behind me. However, there wasn¡¯t too much use. I just could hear the sound of bowls¡¯ breaking coming closer, indicating that the skinny boss was approaching me.


    At this moment, I suddenly thought of Xiao Hong, who still was at a loss on one side, and then I shouted to her, ¡°Xiao Tong, come to help me.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Okay.¡± Xiao Tong replied to me, however, without any actions. I felt speechless and continued to shout to her, ¡°Beat that skinny man and I will treat you a barbecue later.¡±


    The old face of Xiao Tong immediately showed longing and his saliva almost came out from the corner of his mouth. Ever since I took him to have the barbecue in the ghost building, he has never forgotten that.


    Then Xiao Tong went up and blocked the skinny boss. Although he had no skills, I could found through the rice window that Xiao Tong¡¯s level of strength was much higher than that of the skinny boss. In fact, I didn''t have to say he would win, but at least it was no problem for him to easily block the skinny boss.


    Then Hu Tie also stood up, with his hands tightly holding Xiao Hong. He even showed his teeth, which obviously meant he had tried his best. What¡¯s more, Xiao Hong also didn¡¯t have the strength before to hold the knife in her hand. Accordingly, I took this opportunity to pick up a porcelain bowl to smack hard in her hand and the knife immediately fell on the ground.


    I called Xiao Pang come over and we tied Xiao Hong''s hands and feet. Then the three of us gasped loudly against the edge, just like we were collapsed. However, Xiao Hong, whose hand and feet were tied, still wanted to escape, struggling on the ground and even biting me with her mouth.


    I felt very angry, so I directly took a stuffed bun that had not been sold out and put it in her mouth, but the stuffed bun was immediately bitten open and its juice flowed to the ground.


    Looking back at the skinny boss, although he wielded a kitchen knife and looked magnificent, it still didn''t work for Xiao Tong. His body was very strange. It was not nihilistic, like a ghost, but an entity, and every beat of the knife also looked with no strength.


    The knife was completely useless to Xiao Tong and the strength of the skinny boss was also no match for him. If he hadn''t used some false movements to cheat Xiao Tong whose mind was still in his infancy, he could have been hit by Xiao Tong so hard and even couldn''t find the direction.


    ¡°We are fucked!¡±


    While I was looking at Xiao Tong teaching skinny boss, I suddenly heard Xiao Pang words and I was slight stunned. Then I turned head to have a look and immediately took a cold breath. I didn¡¯t know when these student ghosts all stood up and was slowly moving toward the kitchen. The face of every ghost was no longer that blank and was with a rigid look, but become very vivid, but their cold eyes all were full of enmity.


    There was only one Xiao Tong, but were at least 20 or 30 ghosts outside the kitchen. At this moment, even I was a little downhearted. At this point, we even dared not take a deep breath for fear of provoking those ghosts who were walking slowly.


    ¡°Kaiz.¡±


    The sound was very weak, but it was evident in the silence. My eyes glowed with joy. Then I looked towards the direction of the sound and found that was the sound of the key opening the door.


    Sure enough, the back door of the kitchen was opened, and Mr. Slave and Mrs. Slave stood at the door, taking a torch and looking inside.


    ¡°Help.¡± Xiao Pang looked very happy, and when he was about to run over, he was suddenly caught by me. I saw both of they holding some things in their hands. One was a long stick and the other was a watermelon knife, making them look less like cooks, but more like gangsters.


    Xiao Pang also found something wrong, and because both I and Hu Tie didn¡¯t move, he also had to stepped back and asked me with a voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    There was no need answering him, because they two had come in, then closed the door with ease and locked it. Now even a fool would know that the situation was wrong.


    Mr. Slave''s face muscles were twitching and he looked like extremely angry. Then he directly raised his long stick and hit Xiao Tong on his body, and howled while hitting, ¡°You bastards.¡±


    Xiao Tong quickly retreated and looked at me. He was a little overwhelmed. He did know


    Mr. Slave, but probably didn''t expect that Mr. Slave, who had been cooking for him, would hit him with a long stick.


    Then Hu Tie touched me with his hand and asked me quietly, ¡°Are they humans?¡±


    I understood the his meaning and just nodded slightly, but didn¡¯t answer him, instead, I opened my mouth, saying, ¡°Mr. Slave and Mrs. Slave, is he your child?¡±


    Instead of answering me, they two just went up to stand with the skinny boss, and it became clear that even if they were not their children, their relationship would not be far away. At this point, I noticed that the skinny boss''s eyes were looking hard at the canteen hall. Then those ghosts who were gradually approaching suddenly backed off a little with fear.


    At this moment, I was suddenly thinking something in my mind, but I still open my mouth, saying, ¡°Mr. Slave, do you know what you''re doing?¡±


    Mr. Slave just said in a tough way, ¡°I am protecting my child now.¡±


    It was sure enough that the skinny boss was they two¡¯s son, and I continued saying, ¡°You are protect your own child, what about these children?¡± I was extremely angry in my heart and pointed to those student ghosts in the canteen hall.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he just killed a few people. Why do you force my child to die?¡± Mr. Slave¡¯s eye was full of angry fire and it almost came out.


    I directly got much more angry. ¡°didn¡¯t he just killed a few people!¡± That was very easy to say ah.

 Chapter 156 The Canteen Fear 11

    After hearing my words, Mr. Slave laughed, looking up at the ceiling, with tears flowing in the corner of his eyes, and said, ¡°Nobody would be greedy to that point and also wouldn¡¯t cut his own meat to sell for money, you know that? Every time I hear someone say these things, I really want to kill him. You know that? He is a good child, but we two are useless and incapable of giving him the money he wants. What¡¯s more, the business of his canteen is not good so he doesn¡¯t have money to buy the meat. What can he do? He just killed two bitches, but you all force him to die. How could you be so cruel?¡±


    Mr. Slave yelled loudly and wept bitterly. However, after I heard his words, I felt very afraid and cold, and knew that his humanity had been completely distorted. In his eyes, except for his son, all other people were cattle that could provide the meat, also including me.


    At the same time, I used my mobile phone to record the his words quietly. In this silent night, there was only Mr. Slave¡¯s roar, and I thought the record would be clear. A man like this was more terrible than a demon, and his crime should be spurned by all and he also couldn¡¯t get the redemption.


    But I was still trying to lure him into giving more information, ¡°Your son was forced to death. Who''s gonna force him? you? Or those people killed by him? Not long ago, he even killed three students who had come to explore out of curiosity. Do you think that is also forced by others?¡±


    Mr. Slave just looked at me ferociously, saying, ¡°Isn''t it? The school leaders were afraid that this thing would be known outside school, so they forced my child to kill himself. He also said that he had cut his own meat for selling because of his greed, so that he was wronged and even could not rest in peace after his death. As for those students who came to see if my child cut his own meat, shouldn''t he kill them?¡±


    Being wronged? This was the first I had heard of such a being wronged. However, the school leaders obviously knew about it, but instead of reporting it, they forced the skinny boss to kill himself. My eyes narrowed slightly and thought these school leaders also should be killed.


    But after listening to his words, I also couldn''t tell clearly whether the adventure students were killed by the skinny boss. I really wanted to make it clear because I intuitively believed that they two were likely to be accomplices of their son, and they two even could be the killer who killed the last few students.


    Unfortunately, time was not enough. Mr. Slave directly hit to us with his stick, so I had to randomly press the sending button indiscriminately, and then I lifted the pot cover to block his hit. Although he was not young, he was a man who often did much work, so his strength was much higher than mine, after all, I was just a man who served tea and poured water. Finally, he directly hit the pot cover flying away from my hand with a stick.


    Fortunately, Hu Tie, who was standing beside me, reacted quickly, picked up a few bowls and threw them at him, forcing him to retreat temporarily.


    My phone fell to the ground and its screen was still on, which made Mr. Slave even more angry. Then Mrs. Slave stepped forward and bent over to pick up my phone.


    Naturally I dared not let her pick up my phone. Although the message had been sent, it still could be withdrawn, and I was also not sure that whether Wu Jian had received my message in such a short time.


    I swooped over and covered my phone directly under my body. Meanwhile, I could feel Mrs. Slave¡¯s hand right on my back, and if it were a little later, the phone would be picked up by her.


    ¡°Son of bitch.¡± Mr. Slave scolded with a loud voice and the long stick in his hand also hit me hard. After a sudden loud sound of "Pa", My felt a sharp pain on my back and I also could not help but shout out with pain.


    But at this time, my mobile phone rang and it was the sound of information coming. I didn¡¯t know if it was the message sent by Wu Jian. Now I have no time to look at it. After Mrs. Slave didn¡¯t catch my phone, she even had raised her watermelon knife and prepared to chop down towards me.


    I had just sat up on my knees, and when I saw the endless cold of the white knife light shining in the flashlight, I also felt my heart became cold.


    ¡°Ah.¡± After a long roar, Xiao Pang directly rushed over from the side of me, opening his arms. The body with the weight of 75 kg hit hard on the bodies of the old couple, immediately knocking they two to the ground. After a sound of pots and pans falling to the ground, Xiao Pang then pressed them hard and at the same time, bit Mr. Slave''s outstretched hand with his teeth.


    After Hu Tie helped me stand up, I saw a puddle of blood under Xiao Pang¡¯s body. As he rushed over them, he was stabbed by the knife Mrs. Slave. Now I didn¡¯t know how serious his injury was, but I knew that every minute and every second now could be life-and-death.


    ¡°Xiao Tong, kill the skinny boss and come to help me.¡± I shouted, and pulled Hu Tie, who was still a little at a loss, to rush over them.


    Xiao Tong successfully stopped the skinny boss who wanted to come up. However, when Mr. Slave, who was still lying on the ground, heard what I said, he directly made a sad cry, just like the beast lost its cub. Then he used all his strength with his both hands and pushed Xiao Pang aside. Luckily. There still was half of his body pressing on the body of Mrs. Slave, whose strength was obviously less powerful than Mr. Slave, and could not break free in a short time.


    Mr. Slave still wanted to get a stick but I kicked on his arm. Like Xiao Pang, Hu Tie also came up, threw Mr. Slave down to the ground and held him hard. At this moment, a young man and an old man was beating on the ground.


    ¡°Call the 110.¡± Because Hu Tie tried very hard, his voice even changed. I stopped and pick up the phone on the ground. At this point, a sound of message coming suddenly came and the black screen became bright, on which showed the message sent by Wu Jian.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    When I was about unlock my phone, I suddenly felt that a powerful strength hit on my head, knocking me down to the ground. I was bleeding and it suddenly became dark in front of my eyes. It was just like that the whole world in front of me seemed to spin.


    Painful, it was very painful. I hadn¡¯t been hurt so seriously, but I still tried to lift my head, only to find that in front of me were a double of big and fat legs. When I was trying to see this man clearly, a sound came again, ¡°Pang.¡±


    My lifted head was badly hurt again, hitting me down and making my nose knocking to the ground. There was too much blood on the ground. Then I felt dizzy and almost couldn¡¯t keep my eyes open.


    ¡°Wu Rui?¡±


    ¡°Are you OK?¡±


    I felt Hu Tie¡¯s voice seemed to be far away me and there also seemed to Xiao Tong¡¯s shouting. However, what I only wanted to do now was sleeping.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± A scream, like the devil¡¯s roar, slightly wake me up. Then I didn¡¯t know when Xiao Hong woke up. With red eyes, she was biting hard the toe of that fat feet in front of me.

 Chapter 157 The Canteen Fear 12

    I woke up a little, but my hands and feet could never exert any strength. After arduously turning over and leaning against the wall of food window, I finally saw the man who had just attacked me.


    It was a middle-aged woman, whose figure was almost the same as Xiao Pang. because she was not tall, she looked very fat. There were many blood holes on her body, which seemed to have been dug out of the body by some sharp weapon.


    I guessed that should be skinny boss¡¯s wife. Xiao Tong rush over, roaring, and then hit hard the fat woman in her face with his fist, which directly made half of her face off. The bloody flesh scattered on the ground. The fat woman bellowed back, and her feet ran straight away from Xiao Hong¡¯s teeth. I could clearly see a few teeth that belonged to Xiao Hong flying straight out with the sudden movement of that fat woman.


    I never thought Xiao Hong would have such courage. At this moment, I had rediscovered that roaring little girl.


    I saw Xiao Tong coming to me but where was the skinny boss? I looked towards that side with difficulty, and found that Hu Tie and Mr. Slave were still scuffling on the ground. The advantage of young Hu Tie was slowly reflected, so I thought that Mr. Slave could not get rid of him at once.


    But the situation about Xiao Pang was more strange. Her face had become pale, not because she was frightened, but because she lost too much blood. The ground was also full of a large pool of her blood. Even if she was seriously injured, she still hold on to Mrs. Slave¡¯s hands, but it didn¡¯t seemed that she used much strength.


    Though she was still struggling, she didn¡¯t seem to use her full strength and she even looked a little hesitant while struggling.


    As for skinny boss, his whole body was stuffed into a huge bucket at this moment, with his hands and feet twisted, and he was still trying to get out.


    I stretched out my hand to pick up my phone whose the screen was always on. It was constantly vibrating on the ground. At this time, the familiar ringtone became the background music of the danger in front of me. Just as I was about to get my phone, the big fat leg with a piece of meat missing stepped on my phone directly. Then my phone made a toothache sound and never vibrated again.


    Just leave it to fate. I hope Wu Jian could be smart enough to guess what happened. Otherwise, we would have to rely on ourselves. After I look at that several people who were still fighting desperately, I used hands to support the ground and slowly stood up.


    I moved my body a little unconsciously, but those ferocious eyes never changed. After following those ghosts¡¯ sight, I found that they were not looking at us, but more like looking at the families of Mr. Slave.


    Who said that these ghosts are not angry? There were in peace just because of the influence of the horror of memory before death.


    ¡°Dang.¡± I followed the sound and found that bucket in which the skinny boss was stuck, and he was slowly crawling out of it. Then my sight turned to Xiao Tong, and I found he was being held by Mrs. Slave and couldn''t break free one time.


    A half body of skinny boss had been out of that bucket, and he used one his outstretched hand to hold a kitchen knife, grinning grimly and looking at Hu Tie who was still fighting with Mr. Slave on the ground.


    I couldn¡¯t wait any more. I trudged towards the kitchen door, one step, two steps, and three steps. Just as my hand was about to touch the door bolt, I felt that my ankle grabbed by one hand. If I hadn''t been holding on to the windowsill, I would have fallen.


    I turned back and found It was Mrs. Slave who had never spoken. She just looked at me, and his eyes were full of entanglement, sometimes ferocity or sometimes guilty.


    ¡°Mrs. Slave, give your child a hope of reincarnation.¡± I said it weakly.


    At this moment, her was clearly loosened, but Mr. Slave suddenly shouted with anger, ¡°Fking bitch. He was lying to you. Once our son was caught, he will go to the hell.¡±


    She hold my ankle tightly again immediately, but the moment she had just loosened her hand, I pulled her hand directly and pushed open the kitchen door.


    She clenched on my ankle again but the kitchen door had been opened at this time, and I could also see the eager expression on the faces of the ghosts outside the door.


    ¡°You lie to me. You lie to me.¡± I didn¡¯t know where her strength suddenly came from. She clenched my ankle more tightly, making my ankle ache very much. Then she suddenly pushed Xiao Pang away from her body quickly stood up and made her hands suddenly stuck in my neck.


    ¡°I..I never...never lie to you...lie to you. At least, he...he has...had...a hope of reincarnation.¡± I couldn''t resist and was even pinched to be out of breath. Perhaps my words worked a little, and her hands were slightly loosened again.


    Just then, the ghosts outside the door was no longer waiting, and the eager on their faces turned into enmity and hatred. All of them made shrill cry and rushed in from the door. The first few ghosts jumped straight at the skinny boss who had just climbed out of the bucket. Then skinny boss immediately gave out a deafening cry.


    It also included the roar of the skinny boss, ¡°Fk off, I''ll eat you.¡± The skinny boss''s words gave the ghosts a slight pause, but then they rushed up more ferociously. The skinny boss waved his knife and resisted, but the thighs were not completely out of the bucket, so all his resistance looked in vain. After being bitten by a good-looking female ghost on his wrist, his knife fell directly to the ground.


    Mrs. Slave pushed hard me aside and rushed to the skinny boss, shouting, ¡°Little Slave¡±. But still in the middle of the way, they were thrown directly to the ground by later-coming ghosts. I could see several ghosts gnawing on her body, and from time to time, I could also see a faint figure torn from her body, which was her soul.


    I fell heavily to the ground, with my face against the ground and soaked in the blood of Xiao Pang, and he was smiling at me, with his eyes slowly opening and closing from time to time.


    ¡°Xiao Pang, you can¡¯t sleep.¡± My voice was weak, but he still could hear it. Then corners of his mouth moved and his eyes seemed to open a little.


    Hu Tie had gotten rid of Mr. Slave, who was covered with ghosts and screamed constantly. Then I said loudly to Hu Tie, who was taking a long breath, ¡°Call the 100.¡±


    He just nodded, then reached out his hand and take out his phone in the pocket. Because his hand trembled seriously, he just clicked his phone after a long time. Unluckily, he said with a bitter smile, ¡°My phone is power off.¡±


    ¡°I...I have phone.¡± Because of the wind leaking of Xiao Hong¡¯s teeth, her voice sounded very strange. Hu Tie just held the cupboard to walk to her. He just had a look at Xiao Hong but didn¡¯t take the phone.


    There was a slight blush on her pale face. She said, ¡°Be quick. Just take it.¡±


    Hu Tie awkwardly reached his hand to Xiao Hong''s chest, and then reached into the pocket that was in her chest. At this time, I found that her phone used to hang on her chest, but now, she put it in the pocket in his chest.

 Chapter 158 The End of the Canteen Fear

    Considering that the police would be here soon, I sat down weakly. Seeing Mr. Slave and Mrs. Slave who were no longer moving on the ground, I thought this was getting a lot of trouble, because the police would never believe there was ghosts. What¡¯s more, all the injuries on their bodies were caused by us during scuffling with us. What if we were to be judged to be the crime of murder, we would be wronged a lot.


    Hu Tie also seemed to have thought of this problem, and he asked me how to do it in a panic, and even he saw the ghosts, he would never be that upset and flurried. After having look at my mobile phone that had been broken terribly on the ground, I shook my head helplessly. When I saw those ghosts who were eating the skinny boss, I suddenly thought of an idea.


    ¡°We have avenged you. Can you tell me where your bodies are? You can''t let us go to jail for avenging you.¡± I shouted as loudly as I could.


    Hu Tie also has thought of this and also looked over there. I kicked him angrily and pointed to Xiao Pang on the ground, saying, ¡°Be quick! Call the 120.¡±


    Hu Tie suddenly realized Xiao Pang was still in danger and hastily dialed the telephone. Then I also didn¡¯t know whether this guy did that on purpose. Instead of taking the phone from the pocket of Xiao Hong, he directly put his head close to her chest and make a phone call, which made me very depressed.


    However, there was no time for caring about the things about men and women, because a female ghost has slowly stood up and turned to look at me. Her long hair pulled down from the face, covering her whole face. Her hands stretched over her mouth and the hair was up and down. It seemed that she was eating something, and I knew that what she was eating now should be the part of the limbs of skinny boss.


    When I saw this disgusting scene, I immediately felt many butterflies flying in my stomach and also felt sick enough to vomit. Just as I retched, there was a loud "bang" at the door of the canteen. The kitchen door was kicked straight away and then countless policemen came in. All lights in the canteen were suddenly turned on, which made my eyes ache very much. I unconsciously closed my eyes, but then opened again. The stimulated tear came down at once, but I resisted them.


    The female ghost also seemed to understand the urgency of the matter and raised her hand to point the direction. When she raised her hand a little, she was directly knocked by a police officer. The police officer may might feel something, but after striking a chill and taking a look, he no longer paid attention to this. Then he squatted next to Xiao Pang, had a simple check and called an ambulance.


    In this knocking, the female ghost directly dissipated, which made me become nervous and hopeless again.


    A policeman came over to examine my injuries and then let lie down. One of the policemen had started asking the only one who looked good, Hu Tie, what had happened.


    Hu Tie just carefully looked at me, buts I was naturally unable to make any response, because my mind was full of the movement of that female ghost just now. She slightly raised her hand. Although the range of movement is not very large, I could clearly see the direction that she pointed to. The direction was not the grove I had thought of at first, but the direction of the cupboard.


    Behind the cupboard was a wall that was not wide enough to hide so many bodies. Behind the wall was a road and a square, with little room to hide the bodies. I didn''t think the couple who just came here could hide those bodies under the road or the square. As for the place more far away, it was even more impossible. You know, the monitoring system of this school wasn¡¯t no use.


    The only possibility was the cupboard.


    I pointed to the cupboard and said, ¡°Open it. Inside.¡± Perhaps because the mood relaxed and the wound on the head was more painful, my whole person was also a lot weaker. Although my voice was very weak, but it actually was loud enough to make the policeman around me heard.


    It was no longer a small case, and I could see clearly that the police never did any work on that couple after they had checked them, and it was clear that they were dead.


    There were people dead in the school and I would big a big case. The police acted very quickly. Two people were directly sent to open the cupboard but they found nothing except some appliances and food. Then the police looked at me strangely.


    I was surprised, too. Was my analysis wrong? Immediately, I found that the cupboard was really deep, at least more than one meter. Although the cupboards in the canteen should be much larger than those in the household, I found another point, that was, the water in the water tank was very clear and not muddy, but the dead mice inside were rotten, obviously not just for one day or two.


    I didn''t know if I was thinking right, but I still thought that was a big doubtful point. Then I pointed to the water tank again. Strange as they felt, they still took a flashlight and began to check it.


    After the policeman checked it for a long time, suddenly he yelled, ¡°There is something under this tank.¡±


    My heart finally relaxed, and sure enough, there was something wrong with the water tank. However, when I felt relaxed, I could not stand it any more and fell directly into the arm of a policeman, and the last sound in his ear was the shouting of the policeman, ¡°Why isn''t the ambulance coming yet?¡±


    When I opened my eyes again, I was already in the hospital. Wu Jian was sitting next to me with a cigarette in his mouth, and he never considered the fact that I, one patient was puffing in the smoke. When he saw me awake, he grinned and said to me, ¡°You''re awake.¡±


    I nodded weakly and opened my mouth, but did not speak. The great pain in my head made me have an impulse to die.


    Then he asked me to stay still and told me exactly what happened after I was unconscious.


    After he received my message, he found I never replied him later. Then he thought my phone was power off and there must be something wrong. After all, Sishui City was too far away, so as he went here, he also notified his comrades-in-arms. Shortly after the police arrived, he also arrived here.


    He also saw what happened later. When the water in the water tank of kitchen was drained, a bland door was seen, and the top cupboard panel could also be opened. At that time, everyone knew there was something wrong, and a policeman went straight down, but he ran up just within seconds, and then began to vomit.


    After cleaning up, it was found that there was a five-meter-square underground cave under the tank, which was obviously dug later. In the cave, it was full of corpses, all of which were incomplete, and their meat had basically disappeared and the only intact was the skull, with a total of 32 people. After comparison, 26 of them were missing students. The other six people have not been identified yet, but the truth of the rumor was basically confirmed. However, the fact that there was no ghost, and Mr. Slave¡¯s family also became the murderers.


    I, Hu Tie, Xiao Pang and Xiao Hong instantly became heroes since we protected ourselves and our classmates in the face of danger. Of course, we still need to be questioned by the police, but it was generally all right. After all, the whole thing was too weird. It should be said that Mr. Slave and Mrs. Slave died of a myocardial infarction because the police naturally also were unwilling to see the new problems crop up again unexpectedly.


    The only difficult point was that why I was in Sishui city and why Xiao Tong didn¡¯t have identification. As for the former point, Hu Tie gave an explanation for me. He said I was his friend and he was curious about the canteen rumor, so he asked me to have an exploration with him. As for Xiao Tong, he was a lot older and had a low IQ. Therefore, the police would not know that he was the man with the most powerful strength among us. We directly regarded him as a demented old man, which made him free from being questioned by the police.

 Chapter 159 The Change of Photos

    Kaoshan Street itself was a commercial street and the flow of people was very large, so mom''s business was very good, but this action also caused the woman ghosts in the ghost building cheering. The previous few times, mom was scared very much and then she gradually got used to it. Afterwards, she no longer needed me to go out. Those woman ghosts would go straight to mom''s stall to buy food. Mom also didn¡¯t charge them any money, but she just had one request, that was that my mom let them watch me.


    My days in the ghost building made me worse than death. Even if I went to the bathroom a little longer, a ghost face would suddenly emerge from the wall to see if I was going to escape, and the most skillful woman to do was Xiao Lingdang, because this gourmet lover had become my mom''s spy.


    I really wanted to go to Sishui City to find Lulu and Queen. I also had told my mom that if it wasn''t for the injury on my head, I would have directly taken the tablespoon in her hand and broken my head.


    I had no choice but to entrust Hu Tie and other two people, but Hu Tie and Xiao Hong were falling in love, so I could only pray that they would still remember the task I gave them.


    The high pressure from my mom and the watching from those woman ghosts let me began to live a normal life. Of course, this is just normal for me.


    I got up at noon every day and had lunch with mom. In the afternoon, I often surfed the Internet or took a nap, had dinner with mom at evening. Then I would take a walk in the area of Kaoshan Street and call Hu Tie and others to ask about the situation, and then I would go to work in the ghost building. Finally, I would had a night snack with mom and back to the ghost building to sleep.


    The days were so uneventful. If it wasn¡¯t for the photos I received every three days, I would almost forget that I actually spent most of my time with ghosts.


    As for those photos, I just had a look of them and put them aside. No matter how strange those photos were, I was not in the mood to have am exploration. The photos also were gradually getting weird. I didn''t realize it at first, until one day Xiao Lingdang came to tell me that I had a problem with my pen pal. Then I found that time interval for photo delivery had changed from every three days to every four-day, five day, finally to every month.


    The content of the photo was also gradually changing, and I could just vaguely feel those changes, but for a while I did not knew what on earth had changed.


    I made a phone call to Wu Jian who, after all, was criminal police, and it was better to let analyses this. It also wasn¡¯t the point that he couldn¡¯t these changes in photos, because I could tell him one by one.


    During these days, it seemed that Wu Jian was also very free, and he even went out for a trip, which made me very jealous of him. After he got back, he went straight to the ghost building and we took out all the photos together and analyzed them one by one.


    After working for two days, we finished the work and even my voice became very hoarse. Wu Jian told me that he wanted to take these photos back and had study on them, and then he left. Because my voice was hoarse, and I was watched by my mom, I was even discontent with Wu Jian, and I also thought it seemed that Wu Jian was the root of my abnormal life.


    Of course, this was the performance of my mom¡¯s caring and I also didn¡¯t really have a problem with Wu Jian.


    I didn¡¯t know how long Wu Jian¡¯s analysis would last and then I started a regular life again. The only big thing that happened around me was the fact that Yan¡¯er and the long shirt man seemed to be in love and their relationship was getting closer. I could find this from Yan¡¯er¡¯s behavior.


    Now I was used to seeing that the long shirt man¡¯s arms or legs were broken.


    Just when I had the illusion that I had lived like this all my life, Wu Jian came, took out his analysis, and then said, the first sentence of his words was that, ¡°Your responsibility is heavy. Think about it.¡± Then he patted me on the shoulder and left.


    I was stunned for a long time before I opened up the analysis information compiled by Wu Jian. Then I knew what change that I vaguely felt was and also understood what he meant.


    Over the next few days, I became silent. My mom was very worried about me, but Witch Yan had clearly found something, so she always comforted my mom. I was also grateful to Witch Yan for this. Although she had been living in our family without paying anything, I hoped that my whole lifetime could be so, because, at least, my mom and Xue¡¯er would be worried about me any more.


    Just as I couldn''t make up my mind, the photos I received left me with no choice.


    I urged the ghost building not to open tonight. All the girls in the ghost building sat round the table with me. The only outsiders were Wu Jian and the long shirt man who carried his head in his head. As for why his head was carried in his hand, I thought you should ask Yan¡¯er.


    All the people were here. Then I put the photos in the middle of the table and said with a heavy tone, ¡°There are some changes in the photo a period of time ago and now I can just receive photos once a month. Besides, the first of the three photos remains the same, the second has a ghosting, and the third directly becomes blurry. I originally never want to care about this, but...¡± I felt my nose sour and I almost cried. Then Wu Jian immediately came to comfort me and wanted to say that for me, but I stopped him.


    I picked up three photos in the middle of the table to show everyone.


    The first photo: a little girl under the age of 10, who wearing a pink dress, was sitting on a merry-go-round and grinning.


    The second photo: the little girl figure was suspended in midair. What was hanging her was not a rope, but an iron wire, which was wrapped tightly in an old locust tree. Under her feet, there was a dark deep hole whose bottom could be seen. The weirdest thing was that the little girl even had a strange smile on her face. However, in the ghosting of the photo, the little girl was not hung, but just looked the iron wire in the midair, crying.


    The third photo: it was supposed to be a ghost, but it was a blur, as if the camera lens was shaken seriously when taking photos, so the content of this photo couldn¡¯t be recognized.


    Because head of the long shirt man was put on the table, he was the first one to see these. I could see that his face suddenly turned weird and then he just looked at me with surprise.


    I was not surprised because the little girl in the photo was Xue¡¯er, and almost all of them had seen her in my mom''s house.


    All their eyes focused on me and the expressions on his face also became very strange. Beside me, Xiao Lingdang even pulled my hand, pulled my hand hard, which seemed that she was showing my attitude that she would certainly help me.

 Chapter 160 The Mourner of Neighboring Village

    I just nodded and then Wu Jian explained, ¡°That''s the biggest change in photos now. In the past, he would receive the photos just after the people in the photos died, and it also seem to let Wu Rui save them. Now it is different. Photos will send to him when the people in it are still alive. Within a month of receiving the photos, everyone in the picture will die, and die in the same way as the second photo shows. I think the second photo is the key, and its ghosting represents two possibilities, that is whether or not Wu Rui manages to save the person in the photo.¡±


    Yan¡¯er felt very strange and asked, ¡°What exactly does this mean? To let Wu Rui go to be a hero?¡±


    I pounded the table gently and said almost word by word, ¡°Whatever that means, I have no choice.¡±


    ¡°But do you know where this locust tree is? But such a big locust tree should be very rare.¡± Yan¡¯er said.


    I nodded hard, ¡°My mom just told me today that an elder in the hometown passed away, she wanted to take Xue¡¯er back to the countryside. Because she didn''t want me to come into contact with the dead people or the unlucky things, she didn''t take me. Maybe this old locust tree is in the country.¡±


    Yes, this old locust tree had left a deep impression in my childhood memory. It was at the entrance of my mom''s hometown, and under the tree was the only well in the village.


    Sister Hua just nodded, nodded, thinking thoughtfully for a while, and said, ¡°What¡¯s your plan?¡±


    After Lulu¡¯s death, I was not as casual as ever in the ghost building, so I hesitated for a moment, and opened my mouth to say, ¡°Sister Hua, I don¡¯t know where Huang Xiaolong is now, and Wu Jian also has no strength to cope with the ghosts, so I hope...¡±


    ¡°Well.¡± Sister Hua directly interrupted me, and said, ¡°You always talk in a roundabout way, just like a goddamn girl. I''ll let Phoenix and Old Mrs. Li to accompany you.¡±


    Phoenix and Old Mrs. Li? I have never heard of the two names in the ghost building. When I was about to inquire this, Xiao Lingdang beside me said that she also wanted to with me.


    At first, Sister Hua disagreed with it. However, after she said Phoenix and Old Mrs. Li would go there, so there would be no danger, Sister Hua hesitated for a while and finally agreed her to go with us.


    It seemed that both Phoenix and Old Mrs. Li were the people with very powerful strength, otherwise she wouldn''t agree Xiao Lingdang to go with us.


    But then I still asked her about the two people, and she said, ¡°Well, by the way, you could know each other.¡±


    On the left was a woman in a long red dress, with red wavy hair and the red heels at his feet, which made her look like a flame. However, there was no smile on her beautiful face, so she looked very cold and detached, which formed a sharp difference from her clothes.


    On the right also was a woman, but a middle-aged woman. As a matter of fact, I could already guess who they were respectively from the name given by Sister Hua. However, what made me really surprised was her dress. She wore a black dress with blue flowers and even an apron, just like a rural housewife. In addition, her fat round face with a warm smile reminded me of the canteen aunt everyone loved when I was in the village primary school.


    The woman in red dress was Phoenix and the canteen aunt was Old Mrs. Li. Then Sister Hua told them something about me and asked them to help me. I did not hear wrong. She used ¡°please¡± and it seemed that Sister Hua was extremely respectful to the two women.


    Old Mrs. Li laughed and agreed with it. Phoenix just nodded and left. I looked at the figure of Phoenix and wondered if it was my hallucination to see her nod her head just now. At this moment, Old Mrs. Li said hello to me and mentioned, ¡°When you are about to leave, just say it''. I will call Phoenix.¡±


    I was very fond of Old Mrs. Li and touched the bloody bracelet left by Lulu, and then I said, ¡°Madam, do you think you can stay in here?¡±


    ¡°I love what you say. I think we don¡¯t have to stay here. If you have car, we take it. If not, please buy us two bus tickets. It is not easy for us to go out, so I can have a good look at the outside world.¡± Old Mrs. Li looked very happily.


    Wu Jian hurriedly said we could drive his car to go there. After chatting for a while, Old Mrs. Li left, and I said to Wu Jian, ¡°Mom and I are leaving during the day, and you should be there as soon as possible at night.¡±


    ¡°Why so much trouble?¡± Yan¡¯er asked doubtfully. ¡°Old Mrs. Li and Phoenix are not ordinary ghosts, so it will not be a big deal for them to bask in the sun.¡±


    I was surprised that I had never heard of the ghost who could walk in the sun. I didn¡¯t know whether Yan¡¯er was just talking the nonsense, so I strangely looked at Sister Hua. Then she just smiled and nodded, which immediately let me full of confidence to go to save Xue¡¯er.


    The people who would go to my mom¡¯s hometown has been confirmed and were ¡°my mom, me, Xue¡¯er, Wu Jian, Old Mrs. Li, Phoenix, Xiao Lingdang and Xiao Tong¡±.


    However, Wu Jian¡¯s car couldn¡¯t hold such many people. Therefore, he contacted a friend and they two exchanged car. His friend¡¯s car was a seven-seat MPV, which could be fully able to meet the requirements of the number of people.


    After going back and persuading my mom to go with these tourists, like Old Mrs. Li, there was another person in our team, that was Witch Yan. The team was luxurious, but there was another problem with the car. Therefore, Wu Jian decided to help me take care of Xiao Tong at home. He also didn''t have much use anyway. In addition, although Xiao Tong had the powerful strength, there were so many masters accompanied, so we naturally didn¡¯t have to need Xiao Tong to go with us.


    But, I finally became the driver.


    After all the arrangements had been made, we went on our way according to our scheduled itinerary. My hometown was far away from the county. It''s 600 kilometers. Usually even mother rarely went back and Xue¡¯er had never been there, so most of our impression on the hometown still stayed more than ten years ago.


    There were mud houses all over the place. However, I thought it had been more than a decade, so the hometown should be well developed. After all, the current countryside almost had small a change after three years and had a great change after five years.


    The next afternoon, we were on the road to the hometown and mom started complaining about why the road condition was still so bad. As for this, I just answered her occasionally.


    For more than a decade, I hadn''t thought of why the road to my hometown was the same as before. However, there was no way to do anything about it. There were few people in our hometown, and the distance between towns sometimes could be several tens of kilometers. In addition, most of today''s young people had went out to work, and there only were the the old and the weak people left in the village. A village with a smaller population is only a few dozen people, so it was indeed not worth it to specialize in road repair.


    ¡°We''re almost arriving there.¡± Mom was a little excited, after all, this was the place where he was born. I also looked out of the window. Outside the window were dense woods and the memory of the past has been blurred. I really didn¡¯t know whether we were arriving there, but mom said it should not be wrong.


    Then mom and Old Mrs. Li began to talk about the old days in the countryside. The nearly ten hours of communication in the car made mom and Old Mrs. Li familiar with each other, both of whom were very talkative. What¡¯s more, the similar age and appearance also made them become the friends with Witch Yan.


    Just as they were having fun talking, I suddenly saw a bunch of people in white on the narrow road ahead. I was startled and hurriedly take the brake. I secretly blame myself that I should be so absorbed in listening to what they were talking about, but fortunately, I stopped the car in time.

 Chapter 161 Spooky funeral procession

    The procession on the other side of the road was getting closer and closer, and Mom''s tone became more and more queerly: "That¡¯s quite weird."


    Actually, I found something strange even without my mother¡¯s notice. Regardless of getting dark at that time, the whole procession across the road were wearing the same white clothes. This is very unusual. Usually, people in funeral procession dressed in all kinds of clothes. They don¡¯t wear gorgeous colors, but at least not all of them are in white uniform dress.


    There was no one in front with a portrait or a sail. The most eye-catching was that the coffin was red, a bright red color. I didn''t know if there was anything special about it, but this kind of red made me feel a bit creepy.


    "Is it still popular?" Mom suddenly realized something and asked Witch Yan.


    " Haven¡¯t seen it for years. "Witch Yan¡¯s voice was also very confused.


    When I heard that speech between my mother and Witch Yan, I seemed to know what was happening, I asked curiously, "what¡¯s this?"


    "Just focus on driving. That¡¯s none of your business, my kid" mother scolded me.


    Kid? I was almost 30 then. However, I had nothing to do with my mother. Ah, she¡¯s my mom and I¡¯m always a kid in her eyes even when I''m 80.


    As the procession approached, I was about to park my car by the side of road, waiting for the procession passed by. Suddenly, a man in white ran in front of my car window and said, "Congratulations! Let¡¯s have a meal."


    I was stunned. This guy was a little crazy, right? I didn''t even know him, but he asked me to have a meal. Regardless of how weird the funeral team was, I couldn¡¯t delay any more for Xue`er¡¯s affair.


    The man was smiling and waiting for my answer. When I was about to say no, Witch Yan said, "Well, congratulations."


    "Witch Yan, is that you?" The man immediately looked into the car and said in surprised.


    Witch Yan laughed : "Xiao San, whose wedding party it is?"


    Xiao San smiled and said, "It¡¯s a wedding of Chen Erwa ¡¯s child. " Then he said goodbye to us and joined back to the procession.


    ¡°What? Why we congratulate to someone who''s dead?¡± I couldn''t help to wonder.


    Mom told me to shut up. Then she asked Witch Yan curiously: "You know him?"


    Witch Yan nodded and said: "That¡¯s Gao¡¯s third son."


    Mom recalled something and cried out ¡°Oh, my god!¡± Then she wonder: ¡°Chen Erwa, that carpenter? It¡¯s said that his son had been dead for several years, isn¡¯t it?¡± I thought she knew him, too.


    Mom nodded her head and asked me to back my car and follow the funeral procession. I also got some information from my mother''s conversation with Witch Yan and was curious about it immediately. But Xue¡¯er¡¯s affaire was like a boulder pressed upon my heart. Even if I was curious, I could only hold it down.


    We followed the funeral procession and arrived at the neighboring village which was the nearest village from my hometown. The two villages were about 10 kilometers apart. Because they were closed to each other, people in these two village got married and kept in touch with each other frequently. As I entered into the village, I gradually got some impression.


    This village had a lot more people than ours, mainly because many young and middle-aged people didn¡¯t go out. I didn''t know why and I asked mother and Witch Yan, but they did not seem to know very well. They just knew that the people in this village would not like to go out, perhaps because of homesick.


    I looked around and found that there were about a hundred families, not a large population, but that¡¯s quite a lot people compared to my hometown. And I was surprised to see that for most houses, the door was closed. But when I saw the funeral procession, I got it. Most people didn''t want to have this kind of meal after all.


    However, as soon as I got to Chen Erwa¡¯s home , I found that my judgment was totally wrong. It''s not that nobody wanted to attend this meal, but everyone had been here. So called a sea of people.


    A man said hello to us and help us parked the car. Then I followed my mother into the yard of the host family. My mother gave fifty-yuan, Witch Yan did it as also. Then all of us went straight to an empty table and sat down.


    In the countryside, there was no chopsticks until dinner started. So we couldn''t eat or leave. What we could do was just siting there and waiting.


    The red coffin had been carried into the hall, not in the center, but aside. A middle-aged woman who looked old was weeping and covered the coffin with a big red quilt. Then an old man began to sing in a bumpy voice. However, he was not singing, but saying something like best wishes for newlyweds. Because we came late and sat far away from the hall, I could only heard a few words vaguely .


    I said to my mom: "Mom, is this arranged marriage?"


    My mom gave me a sharp stare, then she talked with witch Witch Yan among themselves. I had no choice but turned to Aunt Li: "Aunt, please just tell me." I asked.


    Aunt Li smiled: "You are not allowed to talk about these at the table.¡± She said.


    I felt depressed but I still wrapped around Aunt Li to explain. Aunt Li couldn''t have any choices. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the arrange marriage in this way, it probably is the custom which belongs to here.¡± Aunt Li said.


    Immediately, I became interest when Aunt Li started to talk about it. ¡°Arrange marriage? Isn¡¯t it brings two dead people buried together and let them get married at hell. But how do they do if one of the dead people don¡¯t agree with the marriage? Does the ghosts will return to scare the people who arranged the marriage?¡± I asked. My head was punched by my mother before aunt Li answered, she was glaring at me when I turned around. I had to shut up and turned down my head to pretend to be modesty.


    Aunt Li burst into laughter and then turned around to see the ceremony inside the hall. She seemed curious about the marriage which was one of a kind.


    The rituals finished very quickly, it seemed much easier than the human beings. After the rituals someone comes to give us chopsticks. Although the dishes looked not good at all but fresh and natural ingredients were delicious, I ate two bowls of rice.


    After finish the meal, Witch Yan and mother went up to the host and said goodbye.


    ¡°This family is very interesting.¡± Aunt Li said to me.


    I looked at Aunt Li strangely and didn''t understand what she means.


    Aunt Li smiled mysteriously: "Just wait and you will figure it out."

 Chapter 162 Police arrived

    The leader of the police waved his hand repeatedly and said: "No, we are here to investigate a case, we received a report that you have bought a female body, do you know that human body trading is prohibited, moreover, that¡¯s a stolen body."


    An uproar was triggered immediately, and voice of discussion spread around the hall. I looked at aunt Li with adoration and said, ¡°Are you a prophet? How can you foresee something is going to happen? That¡¯s awesome!!¡±


    Aunt Li shook her head and sighed without a word. I was about to ask her for what she sighed, but was interrupted by the changing of the situation there.


    The police requested to bring back the female body. They tried to criticize and educate Chen Erwa at the same time. To be honest, this was hardly a punishment, but made Chen Erwa turned her face suddenly. Many strong men of the village came and surrounded the hall.


    "Take her away? Impossible! She has married to my son, she¡¯s now belonged to my Chen¡¯s family.¡± Chen Erwa was almost yelling at those policemen.


    The policeman was stunned a bit, explain: "That¡¯s a stolen female corpse. You still believe in ghost marriage nowadays, isn¡¯t its feudal superstition?"


    Chen Erwa pulled up his head, showing that there was no way for him to compromise. The police continued persuading him but in vain. Unfortunately, instead of soften Chen Erwa¡¯s decision, the situation there became even more nervous. Some policemen even asked for support through intercom.


    It was getting dark. After an old man said a few words into Chen Erwa''s ears, Chen Erwa shook his hand and said, "It¡¯s time to bury them, delay no more."


    Several strong men went straightforward to that red coffin, tried to carry it out of the hall with the red quilt covered on it. Of course, the police would not allow them to step out which caused slightly physical conflict. Villagers pointed at the police and muttered. After all, the villagers were born in awe of the police.


    As time was delaying gradually, Chen Erwa appeared a bit raging, and those strong men carrying the coffin were quite sweaty. I don''t know how heavy the coffin was, but such a large piece of wood plus the body inside definitely couldn¡¯t be light-weighted. Only four men were carrying, you could image how tired they were. Besides, there were so many people around who bumped into those strong men on the body from time to time.


    One of the strong men spoke in hurry: "Uncle Chen, hurry up, I nearly can''t hold it."


    The police were still patiently explaining, but not let it go. It was not only a matter of feudal superstition, but also the body in coffin was stolen from elsewhere.


    Later, a police officer felt the atmosphere was getting more and more tighten, he discussed with the leading officer for a while, then he said, "well, if the body in the coffin is not stolen from elsewhere, we will allow you to bury it."


    Chen Erwa burst into fury and shouted: ¡°Bullshit, that¡¯s no way to open the coffin.¡±


    All right, either side was going to compromise, the situation was deadlocked again. But obviously, Chen Erwa''s family become more and more anger and their behavior were also more and more brutal.


    And then, a young man scolded and kicked one of the policemen. The policeman who was kicked was also a young guy. How could he bear such violation! He pushed the young man so heavily that the young man kept retreating and crashed directly into a third person at the back of him. That third person lost his balance, his two arms swung in the air until he grasped some other person''s arm that helped him got a firm foothold again.


    And the man he grasped was one of those strong men who had been carrying the heavy coffin for nearly half an hour. The strong man was sweating and nearly fatigue that he was not able to sustain such a grasp on his arm. His arm which was carrying the coffin was pulled out from it.


    The coffin tilted sharply, causing the other three to cry out. As you know, person who carrying coffin was chosen according to some special requirements, generally according to the birthdays of the dead people. Rules about ghost marriage was not very clear, but obviously there were similarly rules. So no one around him was dare to help.


    The coffin slowly inclined, the whole weight was pressed upon the shoulder of the strong man whose center of gravity had been changed. The edge corner of the coffin directly pressed into the strong man''s shoulder and from a very deep indentation.


    The big man cried "oops, oops" a few times, his body was slowly pressed down, no matter how hard the other three strong men tried to help him, but just in vain.


    ¡°Bang!¡± With a loud blare, the coffin dropped down, but not on the ground, it landed on the man instead. I could even hear broken bone vaguely.


    The strong man''s blood had come out, and there was a cry of pain.


    "Hold on." Chen Erwa said hastily.


    The police were also startled. Immediately several people went ahead and wanted to lift up the coffin to save the people below. Chen Erwa, however, stretch his arms to stop them and crying, "Don¡¯t touch it, don¡¯t touch it! "


    Life is always matter. Police ignored Chen Erwa¡¯s crying and pushed him aside and was about to save the man pressed by the heavy coffin. However, a white-haired old man came out in their way and stopped them. The old man looked like at least 80 years old. The police were not dare to push him aside in case he was hurt. What the police could do was just pointing to the bleeding man under the coffin and tried to persuade the old man to let them go.


    At that time, Chen Erwa who was pushed away brought out a bottle of wine in nowhere, directly hit on the head of the police officer, the situation burst into chaos immediately. Both sides had already been impatient during the negotiation, one man took the lead, the two sides suddenly began to fight.


    People of my table had already stood aside by the direction of my mother. Looking at what¡¯s happening in front of me, I was speechless. The strong men on the ground had been ignored. They were all fighting. Many women even join the fighting. As you know, all the villagers were here. Although many villagers choose to stand aside as well as me, there were still far more villagers than the police.


    The police were quickly at a disadvantage, and I wouldn''t be surprised if someone was killed without mediation in the fighting.


    "Bang" a gunshot, the scene quieted a bit at last. I realized that some more police cars had arrived without my attention. Those police got down of cars and took a shot to sky due to the chaos situation. Then they came forward to check the injuries of their colleagues.


    Perhaps because of the shock of gunfire, a lot of hands-on people were hiding back, but Chen Erwa appeared to be no compromised. He was still holding half of a wine bottle, bleeding on his head, gasping for breath constantly.

 Chapter 163 Taxi

    The police did not leave until it was all dark. I certainly do not want to stay at this place, I saw the police had leaved, I hastened to ask everyone get on my car. Witch Yan and Aunt Li whisper for a while getting on my car.


    What the Witch Yan said was: "What a crime."


    As for what Aunt Li said I did not hear clearly, anyway I didn¡¯t care, I thought them just sighed a bit.


    The car continued moving on the road. Because I was not familiar with the road map, and it was already completely dark. I was driving very slowly, and there were not much talking in the car . I could only heard my mother whisper with Witch Yan. I was so absorbed in driving that I didn''t pay any attention to their whisper.


    I had no idea how long I driven, I started to yawn, when I was about to look at my watch, I suddenly found a white girl standing in the middle of the road ahead. I was frightened, my heart shrank severely, and then as if a cold stream was released, spread directly to my limbs, made my whole body numb for a while.


    I slammed the brakes deadly. Fortunately, the speed was not fast and my car stopped very quickly. I was about to leaned out my head and yelled at her. Then I came out a thought, how could it be a person in the middle of the night? We were in a remote mountain village. I gain some courage while looking at the people in the car. I opened the window and shout out: " Do you want to die? Hum, do you realized that you could vanish from the world if you stand in the middle of the road in such a dark midnight."


    The girl standing in the middle of the road seems to be frightened by my manner, stupefied for a second then walked quickly to my car, I was also stupefied a bit because it looked like ghosts were not shy at that time.


    I watched the girl walking to the front of my car. She flapped the engine hood, followed by some typical scolding words mixed with many dialects. I felt like dying while hearing her blaming me, then I gradually found that I had made a mistake. She was not a ghost. I don''t believe that ghosts would do such silly things that had negative effects to their reputation.


    I turned to Aunt Li and others, Aunt Li was laughing, completely ignore my sad eyes. My mother stared at me sharply, then looked at the girl standing outside of my car for a while, with an uncertain tone of voice to ask Witch Yan: "Is that Jiao Jiao."


    Witch Yan nodded, then opened the rear door got down of car and greeted: "Hi, Jiao Jiao."


    "GrannyYan, I didn''t know you are here. "she looked shyly but showed the whites of her eyes at me once while speaking.


    Mom also got out of the car: "Jiao Jiao, this is your brother, Wu Rui, he had been driving for a long time,and it seems that he¡¯s in a daze now."


    "Hum" Jiao Jiao slightly replied, and then she greeted me sweetly: "Brother Wu."


    The voice was coquettish, not liked the bitch before, but she kept showing whites of her eyes at me while greeting. It seemed that she was still angry with me.


    I do not know who she was, but she should be familiar with mom, Witch Yan. What I can do was just nod embarrassingly.


    After greeting with each other, mother took Jiao Jiao¡¯s hand and ask: "You are just a girl, how can you walking out in such a late evening."


    Jiao Jiao showed her unhappy look and said: "Aunt, I don¡¯t want to walk out so later, I was supposed to return home by taxi. Unfortunately, my taxi broken down half a way. Because it¡¯s not far away from my home, I decided to walk home."


    Mom was a bit unhappy. She took a glance at Jiao Jiao: "You are such a silly girl. How danger it is! Let your brother Wu send you back later."


    "No, no. "Jiao Jiao hurriedly waved her hands, said:" Aunt, are you going home? How about I sleep in grandma¡¯s home tonight£¿I can return my home tomorrow.¡±


    Mother nodded and said: "Alright, get on the car then, though it maybe a bit crowed inside."


    Jiao Jiao got into the car in this way. I finally figured out that Jiao Jiao was the granddaughter of my hometown neighbor Grandma Yu. I still had some impressions of Grandma Yu. She was a nice old lady, good at breeding animals. She loved to give children some candy. Because of this, I decided to treat Jiao Jiao in a nicer way.


    Because of my nicer attitude, Jiao Jiao also became lovelier and more looked like a little sister next door. Her unruly behaviour completely disappeared.


    Not long after driving, I found a double-flashing taxi at the side of the road. I asked Jiao Jiao: "Is this the taxi you just called, why is it still here?"


    ¡°Hum, it is¡± Jiao Jiao leaned out her head and took a look. My mom said: ¡°It''s rare to see a taxi. Here is one but broken down. Rui, get down of car to take a look if there is anything you can help.¡±


    I nodded, then drove to the back of the taxi and stopped my car. I also turned on my double flash light and ready to get off, Aunt Li opened her mouth: "Wait, I get down with you. I had been sitting in the car too long and not feeling good."


    Mom wanted to get down with us too. I had been driving slowly at night with so many people in such a crowed car for a long time. It¡¯s no doubt that my mom would feel uncomfortable at that time. But Witch Yan stopped my mother and let her wait in the car.


    My eyes squinted a little, and the reaction of Aunt Li and Witch Yan showed clearly that they found something wrong, but I did not ask. After all, Mom and Jiao Jiao were in the car. As for Xue¡¯er, she had been sleeping all the way just like a pig.


    After got off the car, I didn''t walk to the taxi immediately, but waited for Aunt Li got off my car. We walk slowly to the taxi. When we came near the taxi, I asked, "Aunt Li, is there a ghost?"


    Aunt Li smiled and nodded, then comforted me: "Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    I nodded, and my uneasy heart calmed down at the same time. I walked to the taxi slowly. There was no one in the taxi, I walked around the taxi but found nobody either. I didn¡¯t surprise, since Aunt Li told me there¡¯s something wrong. I already prepared for this result in mind.


    However, I still cried out several times, as might have been expected there was no responded, all the sound I heard was sounds of unnamed birds and wind.


    "Aunt Li? "I looked at Aunt Li with my query eyes.


    But Aunt Li did not reply me, she went aside and squatted down as if she were looking at something. I walked to her in haste. What under the road was a field, which was supposed to be a little lower than the road, so the lights of the car could not light up anything. I could not see anything clearly. When I was about to bring the flashlight from my car, Aunt Li had already stood up.


    "Let''s go back". she said.


    "Oh, oh," Aunt Li, is now my backbone, she said go back, I couldn¡¯t go against her. To be honest, I had encountered too many weird things and felt tired about them deep in my mind.

 Chapter 164 Important fork in the Road

    Mom looked at me strangely: "What''s wrong?"


    I answered informally: "He called and we didn''t need to help."


    Then, when I stepped on the gas pedal and the car slowly started to drive, I clearly saw a figure sitting in the driver''s seat of the taxi, just like the figure just now, shaking.


    ¡°Shit, scared me¡±. I murmured it in my heart and dispelled the uncomfortable. Based on the lineup of my car, hey, if the ghost came and tried to scare me, he really did not open his eyes, and didn''t know who he was scaring for.


    Unfortunately, this trip was meant to not going well, when we drove to the junction of the road, a row of police cars were lined up and they stopped us directly when they saw us, for the police parking requirements I had no reason to resist.


    I parked the car aside, began finding the driving license in the car.


    A policeman came over but did not ask to check my driving license. Instead, he asked with a frightened face: "Did you participate in the wedding banquet?"


    ¡°What''s up? ¡°I nodded, staring at the police strangely who seems to be entangled by ghosts.


    The police told me to wait and then hurried in front the police car and said something. Immediately, a man who looks like the leader of the policemen got out of the car. It definitely the police leader who had a quarrel with Chen Erwa. Didn¡¯t they leave early? Why they still here? Their direction was going to Chen Erwa¡¯s village.


    The policeman walked next to me and salute, then he introduced himself and said ¡°Have you found something unusually while coming all along the way?¡±


    I feel strange to look at this self-introduced police officer who is called Luo Wen£¬anyway, I answered: ¡°No, oh but there was a taxi on the road and we didn¡¯t see the driver. We called for a long time but no one responded.¡±


    Luo Wen didn¡¯t say anything. A policeman beside him moved his throat knot up and down obviously ¡°Captain, captain we didn¡¯t see any taxi.¡± He said. His tone was very jerky, like water shortage.


    I froze a little. But Jiao Jiao screamed in the car ¡° I just took a taxi and I didn¡¯t see so many police cars when I came in.¡±


    The words that Jiao Jiao said made the faces of several policemen became ugly. I hurry looked at her in a wink. ¡°Maybe it was missed on the road¡± I said. I don¡¯t want to struggle with the police officer for too long. After driving for so much time I had already tired. I would rather go back to rest early. But as soon as I finished my word, I felt something wrong. There was only one road here and the other direction was lead to my hometown. Was that one of us in the wrong direction?


    Luo Wen said in embarrassment, ¡°Can you please help us with the road, we can¡¯t find our way out?¡±


    My mother was a kind hearted lady, she quickly asked me to get out of the car and pointed out the road to the policemen. I was speechless to my mother, she had no idea how complicated the situation was. That was the only one fork in the road.


    On one side was to Chen Erwa¡¯s village and the other is to my hometown. The way which the policemen came lead to the county.


    However, my mother had words. I had to obey. Then I said, ¡°The way you are coming is to the county, you have driven backwards.¡± I said.


    ¡°But we kept going straightforward.¡± The policeman next to Luo Wen became even more confused. Luo Wen disgruntled the policeman and he said thank you to me with a smile.


    Then he pushed the policeman who was still trying to say something and went directly to the police car, greeted to the car behind him turned around and moved.


    The three-way interaction was not wide enough for me to drove through when several police cars was turning around. I have to wait. But when I looked at the police cars I felt strange. There was a strange feeling in my heart, as if I was going to seize it. I must seize it but I never grasped it.


    Until the last police car disappeared in my sight, I was paled and I realized that what made me wonder.


    Except of the first car that Luo Wen was sitting on with several policemen, the other three cars were all the same, both models and license plates. Besides, there was no sound when they started. However, the shaking was very severe as well as the car was weightless, looked like moved by the wind. So I could not help recalling the figure I saw not long before.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± Aunt Li said. I didn¡¯t dare to turn around my head to look at her , afraid of a horrible grimace would appear in front of me. Until hear the sound of my mother¡¯s voice, I started the car and moved on.


    That was the first time I saw other people bumped into ghosts especially the police. As you know, most of the policemen were supposed upright and sense of evil. Usually, ghosts were absolutely dare not to provoke them, so if a ghost dare provoke the police, that¡¯s no doubt that that ghost was definitely not a normal ghost.


    The impression of policeman had become much better since I met Wu Jian. I really wanted to remind the police called Luo Wen. After all, Aunt Li along with other people in my car, it is hard to believe that those ghosts can destroy us.


    I hesitated for a moment, my car had already passed the three-way intersection by then. I just drove straightforward to my home. I was comforting myself, the policemen were all righteous. If they really met ghosts, they must done something wrong.


    I was driving, suddenly I found something weird. I asked my mother ¡°How can it appear a new road? Where is it led to?¡±


    Indeed, there was another three-way intersection in front of me. After all, I haven¡¯t come back to my hometown for a long time. I am not sure if it was a new road, I had to ask my mother.


    ¡°Hush¡± Witch Yan whispered, I discovered through the rear-view mirror that my mom had fallen asleep. As about to ask Witch Yan and Aunt Li smiled ¡°They have found us, interesting."


    Now, it¡¯s obviously that the ghost was on us. I felt a pity for that stupid ghost which should target at other people instead of us. Because there were more ghost than human on my car.


    Jiao Jiao obviously did not understand what it meant and asked curiously ¡°Who have found us? Didn¡¯t we just pass the three-way intersection?¡±


    I could not explain it well at that moment. I could only ask, ¡°Shall we park here?¡±

 Chapter 165 Exorcise

    When the cars had stopped, the familiar policemen got off again, we looked at each other, I saw Luo Wen''s eyes were filled with panic at that time, another policeman next to Luo Wen hesitated and dared not to come over, looked like I was a ghost.


    Luo Wen sighed, came to me: "We meet again, it seems that you are also trapped here."


    Luo Wen gave me a good impression when he started to talk, because, he was able to speak in an easy-going tone even under such thrilling environment. It¡¯s obviously that the psychological quality of Luo Wen was very good, and you could infer that he had never done any evil things to others. I didn''t believe people who had done evil could keep calm in such troublesome situation.


    Luo Wen did not wait for my answer, but directly invited me: "It is quite weird here. You¡¯d better follow us, so that you will be safer."


    I could feel Luo Wen¡¯s kindness. I took a look at those police cars closely and carefully, I found something unusual of those cars.


    I had never seen a car door had folded traces on it. My heart could not help sighing when I was watching those traces, craftsman was too careless before, this reminded me of the gold treasure I had seen in a Shroud shop owned by an old woman, that was really an art ware.


    I watched Luo Wen, who still didn''t realize it, I couldn''t help reminding him: "How many police cars here?"


    Luo Wen stupefied for a while, blurted out: "8 cars."


    I looked at the police cars, counted silently, then winked to him as a hint, but Luo Wen didn¡¯t understand me. He was confused and was looking at me. At the same time the voice of another little policeman next to him had changed his tone completely: "Luo, Luo sir, sir, there, are, are 9£¡"


    Luo Wen awaken suddenly, hastily turned back to count the number of cars, I saw clearly that Luo Wen''s legs were quivering slightly. Well, that''s the right response.


    In fact, I had already known the number of police cars was wrong when the police cars blocked me on the road before. Not only the number of cars increased, but also something more serious. Though I did not take a look at them carefully, it¡¯s likely that the other police cars were no longer police car except Luo Wen¡¯s car.


    Luo Wen''s next action surprised me, though he looked very scared, he stood firmly in seconds. He cried out an order loudly that required all policemen in cars got off immediately. I couldn¡¯t help to admire him in my heart.


    Five police officers gathered around Luo Wen querying and discussing, he ignored their querying and discussing, instead, he ordered them to watch out for the other police cars. That timid policeman told the other five policemen about the extra police car. To my surprise, the five policemen were on guard, but there was no afraid on their faces, which didn¡¯t make any sense.


    Luo Wen continued to order other police get off police car, but until a long time later, the remaining police cars¡¯ door finally slowly opened, both movement and speed were exactly the same, everything looked quite weird.


    Regardless all the door of the police cars were completely opened, the police inside still did not get off the cars. Instead, they sat in the police car so dull that they were still looking at the front with no expression on their face. Moreover, their hands were still in a driving posture.


    Right now, Luo Wen had no idea what to do next. He had a bite in his mouth and ordered the remaining policemen to check out after queried by the timid policeman for several times.


    Watching them approached those cars carefully, I couldn¡¯t help to admire Luo¡¯s courage. He had enough courage to take a check of those cars even though he understand definitely that there were ghosts inside. Luo¡¯s really a great man.


    I was not just watching, ¡°How to deal with those ghosts? Disperse?¡± I asked Aunt Li and others.


    Witch Yan answered: ¡°The police themselves provoked ghosts at first, none of our business. Ghosts will make way for us later, we just drive away then.¡±


    I was very surprised for Witch Yan¡¯s words, there were more than one group of ghosts tonight, I didn¡¯t think that a good idea if we just standing by. I was about to convince Witch Yan , a suddenly gunshot startled me. I turned my head to see what¡¯s going on immediately.


    Luo was holding his gun pointing at those police cars, it¡¯s obviously that he had shot. There was a gun hole on the car he shot. More even surprised, the gun hole was getting larger and larger and there was red color flame burning at the edge of the gun hole, just liked burning paper.


    As expected, that police car was made of paper.


    The other police car that were also made of paper started to move slowly, they rotated in situ until the front of car pointed at Luo exactly. Suddenly engines roared loudly.


    ¡°Spread out¡± Luo cried loudly, at the same time, he hided himself behind one of a police car that other police just got off.


    At the moment Luo had just hidden himself, the car he hidden which seemed normal also started to rotate in situ unexpectedly. Luo was scared and jumped to the other side immediately where was just in front of a roaring police car. The car was roaring and rushing toward Luo but its weight seemed very light.


    Even though the car weight looked light, the speed was high, plus the roaring of engine, you could image how severe it was if there was a crash. Luo¡¯s response was fast, he rolled on the ground and dodged the rushing car.


    I was supposed to acclaim Luo but spoke out a ¡°shit¡±. The rushing car didn¡¯t stop even while it failed to crash Luo and rushing toward my car!


    At the time I was going to start my car so that I could avoid crashing, ¡°Dear you!¡± Witch Yan cried with a sneer, she raised up a red Eight-Diagram tactics from nowhere, pointing to the rushing car.


    ¡°Bang!¡± the car burnt severely as if it was splashed gasoline. The flame was huge and the car burnt out in about 10 seconds. It finally became black ashes in such an unexpectedly way.


    One of the paper police car opened its door, but no one appeared. A voice came from nowhere ¡°Witch Yan, Those cops took my wife.¡±


    Witch Yan frowned, slowly put down the red Eight-Diagram tactics a bit, with hesitate and struggle on her face. I stupefied for a second, then I immediately realized that the voice should come from the son of Chen Erwa who was bridegroom in the arranged ghost marriage.

 Chapter 166 Human is more horrible than ghos

    There was no answer in the air for a long time. The face of Witch Yan turned bad and a few strange handprints appeared on her hands. Then she pinched her finger like a fortune teller and said angrily, " Beast, what did you do?"


    There was still no answer in the air, but there was a huge rumble in the already quieted police cars. After spinning in place, the head of these cars aimed at us directly.


    "Beast. "Witch Yan scolded loudly. She opened the door and went out. And then the paper cars were started up and rushed right over. Witch Yan stretched out her hand and waved a half circle of the Eight Diagrams. Then the paper cars burst into flames and fell to the ground. Finally, it turned into ashes.


    In the air came a terrible scream, existing in the night sky for a long time.


    Luo Wen got up and came up cruelly. It seemed to have suffered a slight injury on his foot. After looking at the ashes on the ground with palpitation in heart, he thanked her. With a cool face, she ignored him as if she angered the policemen for what had happened just now.


    Luo Wen touched his nose awkwardly, and said to me, "I don''t know where my colleagues are. Whether they are safe or not? Please help me ask the Great Immortals."


    I looked at Witch Yan, whom called the Great Immortals, but she didn''t look good: "His colleagues are still living." "


    Luo Wen''s face glowed with joy, and then he nodded his head and thanked her again.He got into the last two cars with the rest of the police and just left.


    It was over, but I had a anticlimactic feeling.I always felt that it solved too easy to make me feel true.


    Witch Yan called me drive with a straight face. Jiao Jiao seemed to be very curious, but she dared not inquire Witch Yan who was angry now. Then she just gave me a hint to drive.


    I started the car and drove directly to my hometown. But nothing strange happened this time, not even the other ghost that Witch Yan said.


    The car drove slowly into the village. Now it was too late, so the village was very quiet. Without any light, I subconsciously slowed down. I found a place to park my car, and then I turned to greet my mother.


    But Witch Yan stopped me, she opened the door and got off. Then she pulled the door and said, "Come down. What are you waiting for?"


    I could not understand what she meant and was about to ask. But Aunt Li pulled me and let me get out of the car. I went out confusedly, but Mom, Xue¡¯er and Phoenix were still in the car. "Why not they get off?" I asked wonderingly.


    Aunt Li smiled and shook her head: "With Phoenix, your mother and Xue¡¯er are safe."


    Aunt Li''s words made me feel cold on my back. I''ve got it. It''s not over tonight.


    Witch Yanlooked at Jiao Jiao and sighed: "Jiao Jiao, I didn¡¯t require you. But when someone dies, he or she should be reincarnated, and should not stay here to play tricks on others.¡±


    She was a ghost, and I took a breath of cool air.Shit ! How sharp this ghost she was! Not only playing tricks on people but also on the witch and the revenge ghost.


    Jiao Jiao''s face dimmed instantly, said: "Witch Yan, Jiao Jiao is looking for a person. I won¡¯t be reincarnated until I have found the person who killed me."


    It was supposed to be creepy to hear Jiao Jiao¡¯s word. But with the sweet voice, immediately I just feel pity.


    Witch Yan sighed again. Jiao Jiao fell on her knees in front of her, weeping that: "Witch Yan, I¡¯m so miserable. My body is still in wild place.¡±


    Witch Yan nodded, spread her arm and touched Jiao Jiao¡¯s head pitifully:¡± I know. I know. I''ll let your brother Wu bury your body later.¡±


    I was startled. How did it turn out to be my business? But Witch Yan had been protecting my mother without any request. Of course, I wouldn''t say no. Besides, Jiao Jiao, this girl was really very good, excepted for a little spicy.


    But I was confused to ask, "Doesn¡¯t she need a funeral?"


    "Jiao Jiao is the only one in her family. "Witch Yan said.


    "Ah" I was surprised that Jiao Jiao¡¯s grandmother was no longer there. That surprised me, and my sympathy for the girl was even greater.


    Witch Yan said: "Jiao Jiao, you want to revenge. Didn''t the taxi driver die, too?


    Jiao Jiao shrank her body as if she had done something wrong, and then explained it in a low voice:¡± No, he touched me on the road, so I...¡±


    Her words were not finished, but we all understood. I sighed for the taxi driver, too. This guy must not read horror novels. He didn¡¯t know the typical storyline such as midnight, a single girl, taxi, going to remote place.


    But Witch Yan suddenly shocked, wonder: "Isn¡¯t it that driver?" It seemed that she had believed that it must be that driver at the beginning. However, Jiao Jiao¡¯s words were out of her expectation.


    Jiao Jiao cried again: "It is Chen Erwa who killed me."


    By then, not only Witch Yan but also others were shocked. Why was Jiao Jiao''s death implicated Chen Erwa again?


    Jiao Jiao found that we seemed to doubt, so she told us her story in its original form.


    It turned out that a few months ago, Chen Erwa had been dreaming in sleep. He dreamed that his son, who had been dead for years, said he was lonely and wanted to get married. Of course, Chen Erwa loved his son so much. Then he rushed to find a wife for his son. But in such a rural place, only a 90-year-old man died during for a long time. Matchmaking in the county town is not easy. People in town were not so superstitious like the people in village. Besides, Chen Erwa was so poor that this matter had to be suspended again and again.


    And Chen Erwa''s son in his dream kept urging him to do so again and again. So Chen Erwa grew evil thoughts out of his mind. Now that he had abnormal mind, of course he was willing to find a good one for his son.


    That¡¯s why Jiao Jiao went into Chen Erwa''s eyes. Jiao Jiao''s parents died when she was a child, so she was raised by Grandma. There were many relatives in her family, but most of them had bad relations with her. Because of this, even if there was something strange in Jiao Jiao death, no one would focus on it.


    Thereupon, Chen Erwa was going to kill Jiao Jiao in a midnight. Because it was his first murder, Chen Erwa hadn¡¯t any experience at all. He was even scared away by a few wild dogs.


    Jiao Jiao who frightened too much went back to tell all the things to her grandma. But both of them thought it was someone who wanted to encroach on Jiao Jiao¡¯s body. So they agreed to go to the police station early tomorrow. However, they did not know that all this was heard by Chen Erwa, who was afraid of being discovered and secretly came to inquire about news.


    That night, Chen Erwa quietly entered into Jiao Jiao¡¯s room and directly suffocated her in her sleep. Heard the movement, Jiao Jiao¡¯s grandmother came out. She was tripped directly to the ground by a small trap which was arranged by Chen Erwa. Then she fell on the trap and just died.

 Chapter 167 Return

    Witch Yan was angry with shivers, her wrinkled face was twitching, finally a sentence, "Beasts! Both father and son were all beasts."


    It suddenly occurred to me that when the Witch Yan asked Chen Erwa''s son about Chen Erwa just now, she also scolded Chen Erwa''s son in the same way, what if... I didn¡¯t even dare to figure out what¡¯s going on, because things had been completely unthinkable.


    I did not think further, but Witch Yan with endless rage, she gnashed her teeth, " At the beginning, I didn''t want to get into your business for the sake of we are familiar with each other, but now I had to jump in. I can sense the resentment of corpse and the blood of Chen Erwa on the little beast just now which demonstrating something wrong, let¡¯s go back."


    I nodded and went to the car, and then I whispered to Aunt Li on the road, "what is resentment of corpse?"


    Aunt Li''s face was not looking good. She replied, ¡°It''s something filthy from the corpse. Generally, it means something unforgivable had been done to the corpse.¡±


    I nodded. What Chen Erwa''s son had done to the corpse that caused corpse resentment?


    When I started the car, it was shaking and noisy. It¡¯s strange that both my mother and Xue¡¯er didn¡¯t wake up. I couldn''t help worrying. Aunt Li seemed to notice my worry and began to say, "They''re all right. There''s no need for them to know about these things. Let them take a good rest. "


    I nodded, and I still believe in Aunt Li, but I couldn''t understand many things. So I asked, "now we are go back. Are those ghosts still waiting for us?"


    "Let¡¯s go straightforward to the policeman named Luo Wen," Aunt Li shook her head.


    I was stunned for a moment, we were going to look for Luo Wen? Wasn''t Luo Wen supposed to leave early? Besides, what to do next if we found him?


    I said, "Aunt Li, what were we looking for Luo Wen for?"


    Aunt Li looked at the dark road ahead, "That timid policeman around Luo Wen was a ghost."


    My heart was shocked, my hand could not help shaking a little, so was the car I was driving shook a bit, I was scared, and I hurriedly pulled back the car, and drove carefully, but my heart was full of thoughts.


    That timid policeman was a ghost? Oh my god! I wished to concentrate on driving, but I still can¡¯t help asking, "That timid policeman was a ghost? who was him?"


    "It was that little beast,"Witch Yan said. "Even though I was angry at that time, anyway, I watch that little beast grow up since he was born. so my heart was soften for a while, but unexpectedly, it turn out that all his family were beasts"


    Soon, the car came back to the fork of the road, there was nothing at all but dark night. I turned back and asked Witch Yan what¡¯s next, and she told us just wait right there. I don''t understand why she was so sure that Luo Wen''s police car would come back, but I never doubt Witch Yan''s judgment at this point.


    I parked my car by the side of the road, I got off and smoked. There were so many things going on tonight that my head was going to blow up. I really had to calm down for a while alone.


    The temperature in the countryside was much lower than that was in the city, especially when there were not too much buildings which acted as shelter. The wind was very strong. It made me goose bumps on my skin, but it helped me calm down a bit.


    Whether or not Witch Yan was right or wrong, I still intend to wait until everything was over and then persuade my mother to move to the ghost building with Xue¡¯er. There was a small house at the gate of the ghost building, which should be a residence of security guards. It was very small. But what was more important than security.


    I had just finished smoking a cigarette, both Witch Yan and Aunt Li got off the car. Aunt Li stood beside me but said nothing. It seemed that she was protecting me, while the Witch Yan took out a yellow cloth from her body and spread it on the ground. Put something on it that I couldn¡¯t understand.


    A small bag which had been opened, containing white grains of rice, a bottle of open mineral water, and a red thread. After all of these had been set, Witch Yan did not open her mouth, cross her legs sitting on the ground and closed her eyes.


    I asked Aunt Li curiously, but she made a silent gesture to me. I could only hold the question back in my stomach and wait quietly. Not long after, there was the sound of the car moving from distance away, and after turning a corner, a dim light appeared in front of my eyes, and it became more and more clear.


    The car stopped in front of us directly. Then Luo Wen got off the police car with a pale face. My heart was relieved while seeing Luo Wen. Luckily, Luo Wen was still alive.


    Luo Wen came up to us and gasped, "I, we, we, we, couldn¡¯t, couldn¡¯t go out."


    I kept silent, just turned to Witch Yan, Witch Yan had opened her eyes, after a glance of Luo Wen , swinging her hand asking Luo Wen to walk to her, Luo Wen¡¯s face was full of doubts, but still walked over, because he has just seen Witch Yan¡¯s incredible power.


    Witch Yan let Luo Wen stretch out his hand, wrapped the red line on the thumb of Luo Wen, told Luo Wen not to get rid of it, and then let Luo Wen stand on the side.


    Luo Wen was confused, Witch Yan opened her mouth, "You little beast, just come out."


    In Luo Wen''s astonished eyes, the timid policeman who was sitting on his copilot seat opened the door slowly and came out instead of sitting inside, he stood by the side of the police car and opened his mouth, "Witch Yan, wouldn¡¯t you give Xiao Chen a way to live?" the voice of the timid policeman was full of begging.


    ¡°Hum¡± Witch Yan replied with ruthlessness, Luo Wen glared at his eyes, pointing to the timid police who called Xiao Chen, "you, you, you..."


    Actually, it¡¯s quite normal that Luo Wen had such an exaggerate reaction. I also had a bit of chilling in my spine. Xiao Chen''s voice had completely changed and became very strange. It sounded like the first ghost''s voice. It seems that this timid policeman was Chen Erwa''s son called Xiao Chen.


    Seeing Witch Yan did not respond, Xiao Chen kneeled down unexpectedly, ceaselessly imploring Witch Yan to let him go, his voice was so sadly.


    Witch Yan had a little hesitation on her face, but after a glance at Jiao Jiao in the car, her face turned to perseverance suddenly, and then turned into a fury.

 Chapter 168 Real Beasts

    Xiao Chen was attacking on Witch Yan secretly while kneeling and begging for mercy. No wonder Witch Yan turned into fury suddenly.


    Knowing his scheme was exposed, Xiao Chen was no longer pretending. He stood up and looked at Witch Yan with a sneer, there was still tears on his face which made him looked quite funny.


    Witch Yan used the Eight Diagrams mirror to "squeak" the black trace on the ground. After the smoke had disappeared, she did not stop, and turned the Eight Diagrams mirror to Xiao Chen directly, he immediately looked like splashed with boiling oil. His body made the same sound of black trace just now, and the place that was illuminated was just like boiling water, with countless bubbles coming out.


    Xiao Chen screamed, and then he hid in the police car quickly. Then he was disappeared. Witch Yan picked up the bag which filled with rice, with Eight Diagrams mirror in her hand shining to the police car, she walked to the police car slowly on alter.


    I didn¡¯t dare to gasp. I was watching actions of Witch Yan.


    I saw Witch Yan walked to the copilot seat of the police car carefully, when the Eight Diagrams mirror in her hand turned down a little, startled appeared on her face.


    I had no idea what she found on copilot seat, I was going to walk over and asked, but was afraid of disturbing her while she was trying to suppress the ghost. I could only do nothing right there.


    Suddenly, Witch Yan rapidly retreated from the police car, a naked corpse with long hair came out from the copilot seat. I supposed the body will attack Witch Yan just then, but it just dropped on the ground for about 2 meters away as well as other inanimate objects.


    Witch Yan roared again: "You beast."


    "That is the stolen female corpse." Luo Wen screamed.


    I didn''t know how Luo Wen recognized that that was the female corpse, but I soon realized that there was no other explanations. When I saw black and green lumps on the naked body, I understood why there was resentment of corpse on Xiao Chen finally.


    Just when I thought Witch Yan begin to attack, an accident happened, a lean shadow from the side of the farmland rushed out straightforward to Witch Yan and clinging tightly to her with his arms when Witch Yan was carefully watching the female corpse.


    It was Chen Erwa, and Witch Yan roared, "Chen Erwa, what are you doing?"


    "Witch Yan, please don''t blame me, I can''t let you kill Xiao Chen," Chen Erwa spoke with a bit of guilt.


    "You are a fool; you son is going to suck up all your blood. How can you still insist on helping him? "Witch Yan said.


    Chen Erwa had a pain in his eyes. "Yes, I¡¯m willing to. It couldn''t account to Xiao Chen. The lady did not want to get together with Xiao Chen."


    "So, you used your blood to suppress discontent?" Witch Yan''s tone has become very cold.


    Chen Erwa opened his mouth, but did not speak a word, instead, he was holding Witch Yan tighter with his arms. In the sack of Chen Erwa¡¯s unexpected attack, Witch Yan¡¯s Eight Diagrams mirror and rices bag had dropped on the ground from her hand. She tried to get away from Chen Erwa, however, she was just an old woman, not strong enough to break away from him.


    On the other hand, Xiao Chen came out from the back of the police car with grinning on his face. He walked toward to Witch Yan slowly. Suddenly, a vague and naked lady figure appeared on his way, even though she was already a ghost, she covered her body with her hands shyly. She tried to stop Xiao Chen.


    Xiao Chen slapped on her heavily, she screamed and was disappeared. By then, Witch Yan whispered some spells in her mouth. From her mouth, came out some small spots of light in various colors, and after a slight stop in the air, it attacked Xiao Chen.


    Xiao Chen turned into a shadow and went through to the other side of the car, the spot also pass through the car as if there was nothing and kept chasing Xiao Chen.


    Xiao Chen was caught up by one of the lights. Although there was nothing changed, he made a scream, and then shouted, ¡°Stop her spell right now! No, kill her. Kill her!¡±


    Chen Erwa was probably also stunned by the situation just now. When he came to himself, he seized both hands of Witch Yan with one of his hand, on the other hand he fumbled to took out a knife as long as his palm.


    "Watch out!" Luo Wen, Jiao Jiao and I was about to help, but we were stopped by Aunt Li. Luo Wen was confused. But I understood that Aunt Li had confident in Witch Yan. All of us had stopped expect Jiao Jiao was struggling to help.


    Aunt Li''s eyebrows frowned: "Freeze." I don''t know what Aunt Li had done to Jiao Jiao. Jiao Jiao stopped completely keeping her forward posture. She could not move anymore, but only looking at Aunt Li in fears with her eyes.


    In that moment, Witch Yan said again: "You beast." Just behind Chen Erwa, there was a black shadow standing up gradually. The shadow was as tall as 3 meters. A huge black hand grabbed Chen Erwa''s hand which was holding a knife.


    In a bone cracked sound, Chen Erwa screams deafeningly, holding his broken hand rolling on the ground and crying, as for the knife, was already dropped on the ground. Witch Yan was free.


    Witch Yan¡¯s mouth was no longer spelling, and no lighting spot came out anymore, those spots had come out was still attacking Xiao Chen fiercely. Xiao Chen surrendered. He dared not run away, walked in front of Witch Yan, kneeled down to beg for mercy.


    Witch Yan didn''t speak anything, and the huge black shadow walked towards Xiao Chen slowly. Xiao Chen kept retreating on the ground, screaming for forgiveness, but Witch Yan was not willing to stop at all.


    Xiao Chen seemed to be doomed, at this time, Xiao Chen stopped pleading suddenly, but watching Chen Erwa affectionately who was sweating in pain, "Granny Yan, I know I''m too guilty to forgive. Let me take a last glance at my dad before I disappear from the world. Please, I beg you!"


    The huge black shadow stopped instantly, and then walked back to Witch Yan slowly. After Xiao Chen had kowtowed a few times toward her, he just knelt down to Chen Erwa. Chen Erwa was in tears and stretched out his arm to hug Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen, however, changed his face and opened his mouth directly, and bit into Chen Erwa''s throat.


    "Little beasts." Witch Yan was a fierce roaring: "Dare you change yourself to revenge ghost by your father." A black shadow arm stretched out, and the whole arm was stretched like an eraser. It grabbed Xiao Chen out of Chen Erwa.

 Chapter 169 Cyan smoke from ancestral tombs

    That giant virtual shadow directly stuffed Xiao Chen into its own mouth, the original invisible ghost unexpectedly issued a "creaky" sound while the giant virtual shadow¡¯s huge mouth chewing, and gradually disappeared in the giant virtual shadow¡¯s mouth.


    I knew that Xiao Chen did deserved it, but I couldn''t help feeling a shiver when I saw this scene. I also felt a little shiver about Witch Yan. The old lady was not as harmonious as she used to be in my mind.


    Luo Wen has been shivering around, I felt very uncomfortable with the present appearance of Witch Yan, "scared?" I asked Luo Wen trying to make conversation.


    Luo Wen glanced at me, he looked pale and crying: "how do I write the report?"


    I stunned for a moment, almost laughed out, and then I felt sad, ah, so many police died. At this time Witch Yan had put away the virtual shadow, the whole virtual shadow behind her directly become smaller, finally integrated into her shadow.


    Witch Yan told Luo Wen not to reveal existence of us. Then she returned to the car and sat down next to my mother in the eyes of Luo Wen, as she passed by me, very said in a very low voice "Your mother and me have a good relationship."


    I understood what she meant, but after seeing the power and ruthlessness of Witch Yan, there was no way to rest assured as before. However, I also believed the words of Witch Yan, her relationship with my mom was really good. She definitively wouldn¡¯t do anything bad to my mother at that time, but in the future, who can guarantee. Now Witch Yan in my eyes was just like a time bomb.


    Things here was over, but the matter of Xueer had not begun. I patted on Luo Wen¡¯s shoulders, as a consolation, and then got on the car. This time no longer delayed, I went back to my hometown straightly. As for helping Jiaojiao to find her body, after I told her things about Xueer. Jiaojiao also agreed to wait until I finished it, after all, she did not know where her body was. It was not easy to look for it because of the endless mountain of my hometown.


    My home was cleaned by relatives everyday. After I got my room, I was exhausted. When I was driving, I couldn''t stop dozing off. Luckily, Aunt Li reminded me all the time. Otherwise, I would have dropped into ditch, but when I laid in bed, I did not feel any sleepiness, the scene of this evening came to my mind again and again, only to turn into a sigh in the end.


    I said hello to them one by one under my mother''s direction. I tried to make an appointment with Aunt Li to go and have a look at the place that in the photo, it was exactly the entrance of the village.


    Aunt Li did not promise me but told me that Witch Yan had another plan. I didn''t quite understand what she meant. Perhaps because of Lulu, I trusted the people in the ghost building, and this kind of trust was even more than my trust in Witch Yan.


    After dinner, Witch Yan came over, she was very prestige in the surrounding villages, simply greeted to me, and then took me to the mess grave behind the ancestral temple.


    We must know that although this was a mess grave, ordinary people were not allowed to come. It is said that it was the place where the Japanese killed the whole village during the War of Resistance against Japan. At that time, the bodies were buried on this spot. For those who survived, whom here buried were their own relatives, and for people by then, what buried here were their elder family: Grandpa, great Grandpa and so on.


    I remember that when I was a child I came here once, I didn''t know anything about it. Then I was beaten. I was very sad, so my memory was very deep. When I stepped in again, there was totally no childhood impression here.


    It was surrounded by thick bamboo which were very dense, I did not know how many generations already, and in the center of the bamboo forest there was a small slope, covered with nameless weeds, they were as tall as adults, completely covered the ground.


    There was a small stone altar near the ancestral temple here, which was the only evidence to prove it was a grave.


    Witch Yan took me to the in front of altar, took out fragrant wax, paper, candle from her bag and put them closely one by one. She then said to me: "you have blood of Wu¡¯s family, so I take you here to pray for the ancestors to protect Xueer, Yin Qi is very heavy here, Xueer is unable to come."


    I nodded, and then watched her settled down tributes and lit candles, after praying and paying homage, she let me did the same thing in her way. Certainly, I did it ,then she put a small white bowl on the altar and poured white wine into it, she punctured my index finger with a needle and dripped three drops of blood into it.


    Then she read a paragraph of text, but Witch Yan read very fast, I completely unable to follow what she was saying. By then, I was surprised to see that the slope in front of me had a lot of cyan smoke, and it was circle around in the middle of the sky obscured by bamboo forest, I didn''t know what they were. But what could be sure was that it was not the same thing as what I had seen before. It was neither Yin Qi, Ghost Qi, nor resentment, injustice.


    "Kneel down." Witch Yan yelled when I was looking at the smoke, I was scared and took a while to get back myself, respectfully kneeling on the ground, it was our Wu family''s ancestral grave.


    When Witch Yan¡¯s muttering incantations, the cyan smoke wandering in the air intertwined with each other, rotating into the bowl of my blood, the whole bowl of wine all turned cyan, until all the smoke entered, Witch Yan knelt down and kowtowed. It Looked like it was over.


    Just when I thought that Witch Yan would give me the rest of the wine in the bowl, she shook off a little incense ash that had not burned out, and then she put the paper ash and candles, which turned my stomach. If she let me drink it, to be honest, I really couldn''t do it.


    Fortunately, it was obviously not for me to drink, because after she had done all things, the wine gradually solidified in my astonished eyes, and finally became cyan, with a strange fragrance, I could not say what the smell it was like, but it was not repulsive.

 Chapter 170 Chat at the side of ancient well

    Witch Yan didn¡¯t explain what it was but just took me back home. On the way home, she asked me to pack up the cyan stone, put it on Xueer and couldn''t lost it.


    Witch Yan straightly backed to her room and slept. It seemed that my mother knew something, she asked a relative for a bag to pack the cyan stone, and then hung it on Xueer''s chest.


    Xueer was curious and wanted to take it away. She was scolded severely by my mother, she ran into my arms just like a spoiled child.


    Child forgot things quickly, Xueer played happily with her friends soon, I also walk to Aunt Li who was basking there, asked curiously.


    I noticed that Aunt Li was very concerned about the cyan stone, after hearing my question, she said with great emotion, "I couldn¡¯t image there is such a brilliant person in this small rural village. That¡¯s a stone of the ancestor so that the dead ancestors can protect their descendants."


    My heart trembled, I asked, "Both you and Witch Yan are so powerful. But who is more powerful?"


    Aunt Li looked at me, her eyes were glaring, paused then said: "if she had only these skills, we would be in about the same."


    I nodded, Witch Yan had been exhausted by getting the ancestral stone, it showed that she had reached her limit, there may be some other skills hidden, but I estimated that it would not exceed too much, so if there was a battle between Aunt Li and Witch Yan the result should be even. But didn''t forget, there was a Phoenix, ghost house would win definitely.


    It made my heart relax a lot, I did not know why I always feel a bit of vigilance and resistance to Witch Yan, although I understood that my thought seemed to be wrong according to her behaviors.


    Xueer was forbidden to go to the village, because it was where she had an accident in the photo, but I couldn''t understand why I was not allowed to go either. And according to my observation, it seemed no one could go there, whether it was my mother, Witch Yan or Aunt Li, it made me have a feeling as if everyone knew the situation, It also made my heart feel like I scratching by cat, itching inside.


    The life in the village was very boring, although had electricity and the television, but could only receive several channels, and did not have any internet connection, even couldn¡¯t receive 4G signal. Although I had met so many weird things I had never seen before, I still felt bored.


    And when I was thinking whether or not I should go to the old locust tree at the entrance of the village, things changed.


    I realized that there was something wrong even without other people told me, but everyone was talking, I dared not to ask rashly, I merely sat next to my mother and listened quietly.


    Witch Yan said: "Xueer, you must obey, you can''t run around anymore, understand? And where have you been this morning? "


    Xueer pouted, with an aggrieved face: "The stone just became smaller by itself."


    Witch Yan smiled as if there was a chrysanthemum on her old face: "I know, but where were you playing with your little friends?"


    Xueer said, "I don''t know. You didn''t get up. Brother Xiao Hu came to see Xueer. Then he took Xueer to a big tree, where there were many children, but I had no idea of how to play the games they were playing, moreover they were not willing to told me." Then great-grandfather came and scared away the children. Then I came back. Sorry, I was wrong."


    Witch Yan touched Xueer''s head, put the ancestral stone back to Xueer and let Xueer go out to play, when Xueer got up, Phoenix who had no sense of existence stood up, following Xueer and went out.


    My mother was very worried, but after Witch Yan looked at Phoenix, she comforted my mother and said it was fine, my mother was very convinced of Witch Yan, and it seemed that the identity of Phoenix and Aunt Li had been known by Witch Yan for a long time.


    It wasn''t until Xueer walked away that the conversation began again, and the first person started to say was Witch Yan, "Oh, we can¡¯t avoid it. I must go to Xiaohu''s house to take a look at him,he is a good boy, hopefully there is nothing wrong. When I come back, let¡¯s go to the old locust tree together. "


    Witch Yangot up and went to Xiaohu¡¯ house, I did not know why my heart had a kind of inexplicable excitement and long-lost feeling when I heard that we could go to the entrance to the village, the feeling was just liked a game you had been longing to play for a long time, and suddenly you could play it one day.


    Witch Yan came back quickly, after breakfast, we planned to leave, my mother still don¡¯t join in us this time. She wanted to go. After all it was about her granddaughter, but after Witch Yan said that she had to take care of Xueer, my mother stopped talking for a moment and staring at me, her eyes with a ferocious reminder, I quickly made promise to her, I must find it out and don¡¯t be hurt, my mother just told me to be careful then she went to take care of Xueer.


    Since my mother have known what happened to me, she had been very strict to me, if not because of Xueer, it seemed that mom would definitely not let me participate, mom wanted to protect me and Xueer, I also wanted to protect them.


    Phoenix stayed with Xue`er all the time, after hearing Jiao Jiao¡¯s story, Xiao Lingdang went with Jiao Jiao to find her body, they haven¡¯t been seen for a long time, so only I, Witch Yan and Aunt Li went to the village entrance.


    The village entrance still had a vague impression in my mind. As we got closer, there were more things recalled, most of them were the pictures that I played with my friends at the village entrance when I was a child.


    Unfortunately, since the road has been repaired, the path of village entrance has been abandoned, basically no one go through it, it was very desolate, I was very familiar with everything on the road, however, I had a very strange feeling when I reach entrance of the village.


    The ancient well was still there, but there was a slate on it, which firmly covered the well, the old locust tree was bigger, covering the whole entrance of village, even though the sun was shining, I could still feel the coolness when I was at the entrance of village.


    The ground was covered by fine loess without any weeds, it was almost an impossible phenomenon, I couldn¡¯t help recalling of the locust tree that I saw in my dream.


    Witch Yan was leading us, we did not approach the old tree, instead, stopped at a place where the sun was still shining. She sat down on a stone chair which was almost covered by weeds as if she knew this place very well.

 Chapter 171 The illusion of village entrance

    There was a small road which connecting to the village entrance and the outside world. It¡¯s only enough for three people to walk side by side. In my memory, the top of the road was covered with cyan blocks. But at that time the grass was so flourish that the cyan blocks was completely invisible.


    At the entrance of the village, there was a damaged house at the side of the road. The roof had already gone, and the remaining crippled walls were covered with unknown plants in green. I remembered there was a kind old man lived here but I can¡¯t remember his face. Even whether there was a man lived or not. I was not sure.


    Outside of the house, it should be the place where the yard was. The old locust tree and the ancient well were in the yard. They became one natural divide line in here. One side was the road and the other side was the yard.


    The ancient well was made by stone and had a pattern covered on it. But by then it was blocked by plants and couldn¡¯t be seen clearly. I just vaguely remembered an old man who passed away said that the ancient well had a long history. It seems to be built when the village was fond. But in my memory, the water in the well was sweet and the villagers who want to fetch water were inexhaustible.


    On the edge of the ancient well was the old locust tree which was too old to be researched as well as the ancient well. The diameter of the trunk was nearly three meters and the canopy was about from 20 to 30 meters. In the past, it used to be a good place to enjoy the cool and chatted with others.


    Now it looked like a ghost district. Under the canopy, there was no life out of the ancient well and the sunlight was completely blocked. Even a spark of light cannot pass through.


    If Witch Yan and Aunt Li began to chatted, it would last a long time. The village had gradually risen the cooking smoke. A man lived next to our family told us across the street that we¡¯d better go back to have dinner, but was rejected by Witch Yan. It seemed that she was really addicted to talk with Aunt Li.


    The man left but came back in a while. He brought us some food but asked me to take the food from a long distance away. I was speechless, feeling sad to the entrance of the village which was a holy place in my childhood. But I don¡¯t know when it started, there was no one dares to come closer.


    Witch Yan didn¡¯t reject the food. After eating, she continued to talk with Aunt Li. The conversation finished when the night came. I had no interest in the content that elder people were talking about. I had already fallen asleep on the stone bench. I didn¡¯t know when, there was a small sound appeared in my ear and was constantly getting louder.


    I looked up hurriedly and sat well again, my hand was ready to wipe the saliva at the corner of my mouth. But immediately I was stunned by the scene in front of me. My hand was on my lip but I couldn¡¯t move anymore at that time. Suddenly, my heart seemed to stop beating and I felt like I was choking.


    The village has changed its appearance, it turned into daytime. The old locust tree still very big but the weeds which covered on the ancient well had already gone. On the ancient well, I can see some decorations on the ancient well vaguely but weird.


    The tall weeds on the road were also gone. The slate on which had been walked smoothly by people was now revealed. The most surprising thing was that there were a lot of people, men¡¢women¡¢elder people and children. Some of them are dressed in historical custom and the other also dressed in suits and shoes. Many children dressed in the suits which from theirs periods, playing around the ancient well.


    An old woman was standing in a small courtyard, fetching water. She looked at the children kindly while they were playing. As I looked at the old woman, she looked up slowly and smiled at me. The smile seemed very kind and harmonious.


    But my entire body was like being thrown to the extremely cold Arctic. I was chilled and surrounded by the cold called fear.


    The old woman who was fetching water was too familiar to me, because the face had been deeply imprinted in my mind.


    That was the old woman in the grave-clothes shop who with white-haired. She sold


    ghost cash to me and let me get into the ghost house. I opened my mouth but couldn¡¯t say a word. I could not help but blinking.


    Everything disappeared in all a sudden, as if it was just my illusion. When I look at it again, the old locust tree was still the old locust tree. The ancient well was still covered with weeds. The top was covered with slate. On the trail, except for weeds, there was nothing. The sky was already dark, and you couldn¡¯t see it clearly for a little further.


    ¡°Ugh¡±. There was a sigh from my ear that surprised me in fear. I turned around but it was Aunt Li.


    At this time, Aunt Li had already stood up and was sighing in the direction of the old locust tree. There was a strange look on her face. Aunt Li was saluting to the entrance of the village while I was looking at her in surprise. She didn¡¯t turn back and said ¡°I have never seen a village that is so united, as if everyone is fully integrated.¡±


    Witch Yan stood up and greeted me to saluted with her to the direction of the entrance of the village. What different from Aunt Li was that both Witch Yan and I knelt down while saluting.


    When Witch Yan got up she sighed ¡°If it is not, the village had already gone.¡±


    Aunt Li didn¡¯t say anything, but she looked at the ancient well very carefully. ¡°Is there anything suppressed under the ancient well.¡± Aunt Li said.


    Witch Yan shook her head, her eyes also showed confusion. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I guess nobody knows now.¡± She said.


    Aunt Li nodded her head. But I was so excited because there was the place that the photos guided us. Was it the place where the photos come from?


    ¡°Aunt Witch Yan, these photos are all come from here, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    Witch Yan shook head ¡°No¡±. She said.


    I was disappointed and frightened. Although I still fear now, no matter how terrible things there would be, if I can stop receiving photos, I was willing to give it a try, even if I die.


    Aunt Li comforted me a bit and then asked Witch Yan the situation about here.


    Witch Yan brought her eye sight into a long distant as if she was looking through the countless space time and to see the truth.


    "When I was a little girl, it was probably not much older than Xue¡¯er. My mother was a witch. So from the time I was born, I was meant to be witch. At that time, I had no friends, No, I had. My only friend was Wu Rui¡¯s mother, only she was not afraid of me."


    I didn¡¯t know why Witch Yan will suddenly mentioned about his past, but when I heard that the relationship between her and my mother, then I put down my guard against to him and then quietly listened to Witch Yan to tell the past.

 Chapter 172 Witch Yan’s first love

    Witch Yan stopped. Her face turned red a bit while she talked about that man. But, it was replaced by sad soon. I and Li did not speak, just watching her recalled the past quietly.


    ¡°I¡¯m old now, talking such unimportant words may looked silly¡± Witch Yan did not wait for our answer, but went on to talk about the past.


    Witch Yan turned back her head in a gentle face, her hand was caressing in the air. I then saw him, I didn''t know from what time that huge black shadow had been standing at the back of Witch Yan, he was just standing there silently.


    Was it, Was it the stranger?


    As expected, the next words of Witch Yan proved all this.


    "After the shadow came up, my mother''s expression was strange. She said I was blessed by gods, gods let the stranger protect me, because he loved me as well as I loved him. I remembered that I was so happy. As well as he was still right there with me, what was the difference between a ghost and a man. But later on, I recognized I was wrong. He has completely lost his consciousness. He was just protecting me instinctively. Since I was banned by my mother, at that time I began to learn everything about the ancient well in all ways. But everything seems to be deliberately hidden, and there were not many information. The only thing I got was the ancient well and the locust tree had existed when the village was found long time ago, and no one knew how long it had been. Nobody knew when the locust tree and ancient well started to become the patron saint of the village, blessing our village had good weather for the crops every year. On one hand, no one asked for a reason, just obeyed this ancient rule. On the other hand, those who had not complied with gods was punished. There were about two kinds of punishments. One was just like the stranger, who was attached by a strange ghost, impossible set free for rest of his life, moreover, he would disappear mysteriously within about 49 days. As for the shadow, it was said that, as long as two people loved each other, if one of them got into the ancient well voluntary he or she would become a powerful shadow and kept protecting the other one against evil. As time passed, young people left here gradually because of the more and more open environment, and more and more young people no longer believed in the legend of ancient well. Until about a decade ago. A young man who had a successful career outside of the village came back suddenly. He was very rich at that time. Thanks to his wealth, villagers had a chance to take a look at luxury cars. The young man known human being very well, he sent almost every family a generous gift. It was said that the young man was doing antique business. He insisted that there was an ancient tomb under the ancient well. He planed to dig down the ancient well. The elderly in village were definitely not agreed with him, but because villagers had accepted his gifts, no one stopped him at that time. Furthermore, the young man promised that he would build a new house for every family. The elderly were persuaded by their children, finally, even the elderly became silent.The young man¡¯s team was very professional. Though they didn¡¯t believe in ancient legend, they were well equipped. They succeed at getting down the ancient well for several times which gave them enough confident. So, they began to excavate inside the ancient well, but this time, no one was able to return. Later on, lifting machines pulled out countless skeletons and corpses, but no living man. Some of them were recognized as old people who lost their way decades ago. The elderly in the village started to object to dig ancient again. The young man was also frightened and ran away in a hurry. In less than a month, the village found the young man at the entrance of village, and he was cursed by the second kind of punishment. It is no longer important whether the ancient well was god or not. There were so many skeletons in the ancient well that no one dared to take water from it again. Soon, the ancient well was sealed, and no one walked on the road in front of the well. It would also have to thank the young man, anyway, he built a new road for the village."

 Chapter 173 Embarrassing trap

    Witch Yan looked at me, sighed, nodded her head slowly. I immediately remembered what Xueer looked like in the second photo: her little body was hanging in midair with a weird smile on her face. She was tied on to an old locust tree tightly by wire, and beneath her was an ancient well that was too black to see the bottom.


    I stood up excitedly: "impossible, how can Xueer be punished in this way, she didn¡¯t even been to her hometown at all." In fact, I knew that Xueer had been here, but she was just a baby in the arms. How could she capable to do anything that desecrate the ancient well? Not only Xueer, but also me was not able to by then, It took at least several people to lift up the slates on top of the ancient well.


    Witch Yan also showed doubts, said with a bitter smile: "Ah, I have no idea either. All I could do is merely taking care of Xueer carefully, wait and see if we can find a trace of hint. "


    Aunt Li stood up and started to comfort me. After a long time, I finally sat down decadently, but my heart could never calm down, because I was very scared. Witch Yan was very powerful, but it seemed that she had nothing to do with this ancient well. Both Aunt Li and phenix were also powerful as well as Witch Yan. It was hard to tell which one was better among three of them. Was it impossible to deal with the problem of ancient well?


    That was the first time, I had a slight doubt about this tough combination.


    Aunt Li sat down beside me and patted me on the shoulder. "Don''t think in a negative way. Your ancestors are very united. They are trying their best to suppress the things under the ancient well even though they can¡¯t reincarnate anymore. So Xueer will be fine."


    I saw a glimmer of hope. I raised my head and asked for more detail, sure enough, that what I had just seen was not an illusion; it was people who passed away in village suppressing evil spirits, and no wonder I did not feel any malice in those ghosts. But what''s under the ancient well? Was it evil? But according to Witch Yan¡¯s word, it would not kill people without reason, otherwise the people in the village had already run away. Was it good? But it killed a lot of people and made Xueer suffer without a reason.


    I didn''t know, but there''s no need to know, whatever it was, it''s going to hurt Xueer so it was my enemy. Furthermore, ancestors chose to suppress it rather than reincarnate. I trust the judgment of ancestors, especially after the experience of Chen Erwa, let me feel the love of the elders to the younger generation.


    I opened my mouth and said, "Witch Yan, Aunt Li, what are we going to do now?"


    Throwing away the emotional color of the words of Witch Yan, I was quite agreed with her opinion. We certainly should figure it out in order to save Xue¡¯er, moreover I still had a vague idea in my heart. That was, could I find out why I received those photos and the original source of the photos through this case?


    Was it enough if I only relied on Witch Yan? I could not help looking to Aunt Li. She smiled at me: "I am also interested in it, it looks thatphenix would not miss it too." then she nodded at me.


    Her words were obviously aimed at me which made my face hot. I felt shame about my thinking. But in order to save Xueer, I could do anything even doing bad. As Aunt Li had made me a promise, ghost house would definite help. If Aunt Li, Witch Yan plus Phoenix were unable to suppress that so call ¡°god¡± in ancient well, I didn¡¯t believe ghost house would just standing by and watching.


    When I slept in Lulu''s room, I knew the number of ghosts on the third floor, not far from 20, which was a very powerful force.


    Couldn¡¯t them solve the problem of a small rural village? Er, to tell the truth, I''m not sure, but it should be okay.


    While I was wool-gathering, Aunt Li and Witch Yan had already been discussing it. I walked to them in haste. Just heard Witch Yan saying, ¡°You know what Xueer said in the morning. It seems that a ghost was luring Xue`er through Xiao Hu. An urgent thing to do right now is to deploy traps here so that the so-called gods and ghosts can''t get in or out freely. Even if these traps failed, at least they can warn us in time.¡±


    Aunt Li nodded her head and said, "That''s what we have to do, but I''m not very good at it, so deploying traps is depended on you."


    Witch Yan''s looked slightly embarrassed: "I can only deploy some simple trap, but it could be OK as alert alarm."


    Then,Witch Yan set up traps with a little compliment from Aunt Li. Although I do not understand it, but when I look at it,I immediately realized that Witch Yan was really only known some simple tricks. She splashed rice mixed with incense ash, circled around the area of the tree crown of the old locust tree, then recited a strange spell, lit a yellow sheet of paper and put it in a bowl filled with half a bowl of water. Even though the paper was soaked in water, it was still creepy and burned to ashes. However it doesn''t seem like a miraculous trick.


    The bowl and water were quickly turned upside down on the ground at the joint of white rice. Finally the whole process was completed, it was very simple. It reminded me of building a house, which I saw in my hometown and other places, it should be praying for peace.


    The corner of Aunt Li¡¯s mouth twitched, and she was probably surprised to what she saw. Then she said, "Okay, let me go in and have a look."


    "May I make a hidden-spirit spell for you?" Witch Yan asked.


    Maybe because what Witch Yan had just done looked silly, Aunt Li shook her head, suggested us to keep alert to the surrounding. After that, she was walking to ancient well in a leisurely way.


    She approached the ancient well step by step, I couldn''t help but started to get nervous. Unknown things can always make people have bad associations. I was worrying that Aunt Li would suddenly disappear or something got out of the ancient well to attack her.


    The facts proved that I was thinking too much. Aunt Li walked all the way to the edge of the ancient well without anything wrong. After touching the turquoise at the well head with her hand, she began to walk around the old tree, sometimes stopped to observe it carefully.


    Until Aunt Li came back, there was still nothing happen, and there was no difference from any other places.


    "How is it, Aunt Li? "I asked.

 Chapter 174 Go Back to the Ghost House

    Aunt Li¡¯s face looked very doubtful, and she still didn¡¯t recall any of it even under Witch Yan¡¯s inquisition. Aunt Li had lived for a long time already and it was normal that she forgot something, but it was good news, once Aunt Li recalled it, maybe she could answer both me and Witch Yan¡¯s questions.


    After several inconclusive follow-ups, Witch Yan looked dimmed, but there was not any other way could help, so everyone agreed to go back. After all, it was too late. It would be better wait for Aunt Li to think about it. Besides, no matter how simple and crude Witch Yan¡¯s method was, the warning was always fine. I believe that she would not wag her tongue too freely.


    After returning home, I was questioned by my mother, and Aunt Li went to see phenix directly. I did not know what they talked about. Aunt Li asked me and Witch Yan to protect Xueer, then she hurriedly took phenix to the village entrance.


    Witch Yan and I looked at each other and we knew that they should have discovered something. So, after Xueer slept, Witch Yan, my mother and I went outside of the door, waiting for their return.


    It was not until midnight that Aunt Li and phenix came back together. I was scared because they looked very tried. Witch Yan was suddenly cautious and asked,¡°Did you encounter a danger?" Then it seemed that what came to her mind:" No, I was wrong, I didn''t get a warning. "


    Compared to Aunt Li, phenix looked more tried, she did not answer everyone''s words and directly went into Xueer''s room. These days Xueer lived with phenix. Although it was not good to stay with ghosts, Witch Yan said that there was an Ancient stone with Xue¡¯er, I certainly couldn¡¯t object, what¡¯s more Xueer would be more secure with phenix.


    When phenix went into room, my eyes directly fell on Aunt Li. It was discovered that Aunt Li did not look good not because of injury or fright, but anger.


    Aunt Li did not explain anything but asked about the war with Japanese. When hearing the mass grave behind the ancestral temple, she said: "I see, it couldn¡¯t wrong."


    Witch Yan and I looked at each other, when we was ready to leave, Aunt Li directly said: "Let¡¯s leave for the ghost house with Xueer immediately."


    Ah! Was the ghost here very fierce? Aunt Li was always clam. I was shocked when she wanted to return to the ghost house immediately.


    Witch Yan did not care: "Do you know who the gods under the well are?"


    Aunt Li was in a daze and contemplate for a moment, then she said:¡°It seems that I have been confounded. The ghosts are apparently less than one hundred years old, but your ancestors have existed for more than one hundred years according to your customs. It seems that things in the ancient well is much complicate than I supposed before, but in any case, we should go back first and ask for back up."


    Although I didn¡¯t understand that who Aunt Li exactly hated, but as she asked about Japanese soldiers, it caused some speculation in my heart. As for going back to ghost house to convene everyone come here to help, I certainly agreed with it, because Xueer would be safer by this way.


    Witch Yan thought for a while and nodded, I knew that she still had a little nervous and worry to the ancient well, maybe because of her sad memory in the past.


    As a result, everyone agreed to set off to ghost house early in tomorrow morning, then we returned to bed, my mother was still accompanied by Witch Yan, but Aunt Li was afraid that there would be something wrong tonight, so she went to Xurer¡¯s room, after all, Aunt Li had discovered others on one hand, others may also found her on the other hand.


    Because I was the only man in my home, certainly there was no one to accompany with me, but my room was in the middle of the room between mother¡¯s and Xueer¡¯s. It was nice that I could take care both of them if they have any trouble.


    I returned to my room but did not sleep, I was thinking of present situation. According to what ghost house hated and Japanese ghosts, I was quite sure that there were Japanese ghosts in the ancient wells, but what about the so-called gods, according to Witch Yan¡¯s words, the god should be very powerful, whether it will be eliminated by Japanese ghosts, or act in collusion with Japanese ghosts.


    Unfortunately, information was far more enough then, so I had no way to figure out the whole picture. There was always a knot in the middle, it was that the gods and Japanese ghosts appeared at different time, but the legends of the ancient wells had not changed yet. If it were not for Aunt Li discovered anything, no one would think that there was one more force from another place. Did Japanese ghosts stay so quiet and did nothing in the last one hundred years, and looking at the gods punishing those blasphemer?


    I did not believe it. Japanese ghosts would definitely do some ticks even though everything was fine.


    As I was thinking and getting drowsy, there was an uproar outside my house. At first I thought it was my hallucinations, but only after seeing lights from houses outside through window, I did realized there was something wrong.


    I was about to get up, my mother called me outside the door. I casually respond to her, dressing a casual clothing and then went out. At first, I look at others as usual. No one was absent, Xueer was still holding phenix''s hand and yawning.


    Witch Yan opened the door, there were full of acquaintances on the village road, they were our neighbors. When Witch Yan opened the door, many people came around and spoke up. There were so many people talking simultaneously that made my head blow up and I had no idea what they were talking about.


    An old man who was the leader seemed have found out where the problem lies. He shouted out loudly several times to made others shut up. I knew him, he was the head of village, Mr. Zhao. According to traditions of village, I should call him Uncle Zhao.


    Witch Yan asked, "Zhao, my brother, what¡¯s going on?"


    Uncle Zhao sighed, "About some naughty children. Uncle Wang had guests this afternoon, they were his son''s college classmate. They said they want to come here to experience country life. They went to catch frogs at night with my son, now they are all loss. Everybody are looking for them now.¡±


    I didn''t heard of it that any people had arrived at village, but the whole village was disturbed. It certainly wouldn''t be a joke. Whoever dared to play such a joke would be killed directly by the old man in the village.

 Chapter 175 The missing person

    Although the entrance of village had became a new road for a long time. Everyone in the village knew exactly where the village entrance was. After listening to the word of Witch Yan, many people took a cool breath.


    Grandpa Zhao stupefied a bit, it was quite unexpected if someone dared to go to the entrance of village, then he changed his face and shouted: ¡°Mr.Wang, you a son of a bitch, where did they go?¡±


    An old man came out from the crowd£¬and he was as old as Grandpa Zhao. He was Mr.Wang who was of the same generation with me. Mr.Wang was very helpless and could only cry and say: ¡°Uncle, my naught son as you know£¬was absolutely not dare to go to the entrance of village.¡±


    Witch Yan said: "Well, anyway, I''ll go to the entrance of village and look around. You looked around elsewhere, the first thing is to find them out."


    After listening to her word, villagers immediately looked for them separately. My mom also wanted to help. But was stopped by Aunt Li. Witch Yan was not here now. My mother''s safety also depended on Aunt Li and phoenix. We¡¯d better not to separate.


    Villagers kept searching until the next morning. When they gathered on a vacant land in village, everyone¡¯s face was not looked good. The reason was very simple. Villagers did not find them. Witch Yan also went to the village entrance, but did not see any person either, what¡¯s more there was no evident showing that anyone had been there before.


    Knowing they didn¡¯t get to the entrance of village, villagers released a bit. Uncle Wang and his wife didn¡¯t stop scolding their son. Anyone who had such a child would probably be very angry, even worse, they disappeared overnight.


    Some people in the village called the police. However, the police said that it was less than 48 hours. There''s no way out. Uncle Wang thanked villagers asked if they would continue to help him. The village was not large. Everyone kept in touch with each other, certainly, no one refused. Villagers agreed to continue the search separately after breakfast.


    My mom couldn¡¯t just standing by. How could she did nothing to help other villager? Moreover, it was now in the daytime, so it¡¯s no need to worry about weird things happen again. Then my mom and Witch Yan were in a group, I was in a group of Aunt Li. After some villagers had breakfast, they started searching again.


    As for Xue¡¯er and phoenix, they stayed at home. The plan to return to the ghost house could only be shelved for the time being.


    I was not very familiar with the road in the village. I was only able to follow some villagers and cried sometime. From time to time, I knew that the son of Uncle Wang was Wang Gang. He was the youngest son of Uncle Wang. It was his Junior year at that time. He was obedient and clever in most of time.


    As we were discussing to change another direction to continue searching, there was a burst of chewing sound in distances, because of the squeaky sound of biting bones, villagers suddenly became alert, and Aunt Li was even more alert, she was next to me.


    "Be careful, there¡¯s something wrong."


    "Is it a wolf?¡±


    "Bullshit, we haven''t seen a wolf for years."


    "Let¡¯s go and see."


    The villagers were talking and walking in the direction of the sound. Those leading people even took out machetes. That¡¯s quite normal, because many roads in rural areas would overgrown with plants if people don¡¯t walk on them for a while. It would be very troublesome to walk without a machete. Moreover, the village was too remote, it¡¯s safer to go out with a machete. Although it¡¯s almost impossible to encounter a wolf, wild animals such as boar could appear usually.


    To the villagers without weapons were distributed a pointed stick with the help of the villagers with the machetes, I was also distributed one.


    As we are moving forward slowly, the chewing sounds were getting louder and louder, and even a heavy breathing sound can be heard. It''s just that the weeds were too dense to figure out for the time being, but everyone knew that it was close.


    Perhaps our actions also alerted the guy who was eating. The chewing sound stopped. The leading villagers did not stop. He immediately lifted his machete and cut a small tree to the ground. At the moment countless branches falling down, I saw a white shadow rushing into the other side of the jungle.


    It disappeared as soon as branches fell down on the ground. I did not know if it was a sudden situation that made me dazzled. It seemed that the white shadow was a man who was bending over and naked. Unfortunately, his movement was too fast to see clearly.


    ¡°Alarms, quick alarms.¡± One villager shouted in panic. There was a commotion in the crowd, and a little youngster vomited. I then realized that on the ground in front of me, a man lying on his back, with a paling face and opening eyes. He¡¯s dead in his early 20s. What¡¯s worse was that the corpse¡¯s stomach had been torn apart, and the internal organs remaining were less than a half, and there was even a section of intestines exposed outside.


    I couldn''t help but vomited twice. Aunt Li patted me on my back immediately and whispered in my ear, "It''s not a wild beast."


    I was a little startled, and then I thought of the white figure that I had just seen. I couldn''t help but feel a bit chilling again. Was that a man who ate the internal organs?


    Because of human life, the police arrived quickly. There were many acquaintances, Luo Wen and the coward policeman were among the police. It was quite strange that both of them were taking conversations from a long distance.


    It seemed that Luo Wen was scared. When I saw the cowardly policeman, I paused for a long time. Finally, I asked Aunt Li and know that the fake policemen who was actually pretended by Xiao Chen were eliminated that night. OK, I understood. But I still had a little strange feeling in my heart.


    I was wondering how the policemen escaped, as knowing that the police cars I saw at that time were all turned into paper cars.


    It¡¯s obviously Luo Wen also found us, his face started showing joy, nodded slightly to us but did not come. Instead, he took a few police and forensic doctors to the body, a few moments later some police came to us and record our words.


    Luo Wen also came over, let the person who was recording for me and Aunt Li leave, then picked up a notebook pretending to start recording, then he said in a loath voice: "I really do not want to come as you are here."


    I nodded in agreement and said, "Your colleagues were all right."


    Luo Wen looked around and whispered, "Nothing. They said they went back with me. Then they went back home. It seemed that they were with a ghost which was pretending me. Fortunately, that ghost didn''t hurt them."

 Chapter 176 Internal organs that were eaten

    Luo Wen''s words didn''t surprise me a lot. After all, I just thought of this under Aunt Li''s reminder. I just didn''t know how to answer, but I could only tell the story of the disappearance of the son of Uncle Wang and his classmate to Luo Wen


    How helpless Luo Wen was. I could understand what he was thinking in his heart. It seemed that he just wanted to leave here as soon as possible and never had to come here again. But there was a person died and some were missing. He couldn¡¯t leave within a short time.


    Luo Wen said: " Where was the old lady of that day?"


    I understand that he was asking about Witch Yan. He had seen the miraculous power of Witch Yan. It seemed that he knew he could not leave for a while and sought protection.


    I told him that Witch Yan had gone out to find someone. The records of Luo Wen''s colleagues were finished. They decided to search around with the body as the center, and formed a mixed team of police and villagers. There was no other better way, there was about a dozen policemen, that¡¯s not a small number, but it was just as a drop of water drop into a sea as if we were going to search mountains nearby. It would be lucky if nobody got loss regardless whether we could find our target.


    The searched team started to set off, but it was renamed ¡°Search and Rescue¡±. Luo Wen arranged himself, me and Aunt Li in a same group. At the beginning, he still wanted Aunt Li to go back because Aunt Li looked like an old woman. But after I concealed that Aunt Li''s ability was as good as Witch Yan, Luo Wen walked closely with Aunt Li in a brazen way. He said he was taking care of the elderly.


    On one hand, I deeply disdain him for this; On the other hand, I also walked closely with Aunt Li. Helping the elderly was our traditional virtue.


    The search was proceeding smoothly, but rescue was getting harder, because two more bodies were found, one man and one woman. I did not see the two bodies. I just heard that the internal organs had been eaten.


    When the night was approaching, we finally came out of mountain. The night in the mountains was very insecure. What''s more, there was obviously a beast that could eat people. Of course, this was the official saying. Luo Wen told me in private, The forensic doctor had already determined that it was a man who had eaten the viscera of the three people. The forensic doctor had rushed back to start DNA identification.


    I heard a lot of stories about people eating people. I knew that people exchanged their children and ate them. I also heard of the Amazon Cannibals. But when I actually face such a case, I was still very uncomfortable. The man had been eaten half of his internal organs echoed in my mind.


    Even Aunt Li proposed to leave tonight, but was rejected by Luo Wen, of course, the way he refused was very euphemistic, that is, there were ruthless beast at night, it was best to leave during daytime. In my opinion, Luo Wen was frighten, hey, did not blame him. I was also frighten because it was more terrifying than ghosts.


    I only had a bite for dinner, and then I went to the yard to smoke. Usually, in this time of a day, the yards in various houses and the open spaces in the village were filled with villagers chatting. But now, every house had its doors closed and all the lights were on. As if it was New Year, of course, just the light, the feeling was even worse than a ghost festival.


    If it weren¡¯t because Witch Yan and other weren¡¯t ordinary people, I guessed I¡¯d be the same with these villagers.


    Looking at the open space in the village. There were a lot of police cars parking there, where the police were talking, they would not leave tonight. Luo Wen came and told me that, it was very likely that they would go back to the mountain and went on searching tonight.There was a golden time in case of searching and rescuing. Once this time was missed, the difficulty of rescue would increase greatly, what¡¯s worse the rescue target would most likely die.


    At that time, Luo Wen asked me to persuade Aunt Li and Witch Yan to cooperate with him. However, I didn''t agree with him. First, I couldn''t take the responsibility for a decision to Witch Yan. The second reason for me was selfish, I wanted to ensure the safety of Xue¡¯er and my family.


    Shortly after dinner, Luo Wen came with two policemen and said that there were several people in the village were going to accompany them for search and rescue at night. He hoped some of us could also join them.


    I looked at who were waiting in the open air. It was Uncle Wang''s relatives and some of the dauntless young guys of village. To my surprised, Uncle Zhao was also there, he was walking on crutches toward us.


    I understood that Uncle Zhao was came to ask Witch Yanfor help.


    As expected, Uncle Zhao requested Witch Yan went with them to search and rescue straightforward. Certainly,Witch Yan agreed, but we didn''t participate in it. Because that¡¯s not about Xue''er, my mother didn¡¯t want me to take adventure.


    The search and rescue team set off quickly. The rest of us stayed in the main room waiting for news. Even Xue''er was sleeping in Mom''s arms. The reason was very simple. Shortly after the search and rescue team left, Aunt Li said that something might happen tonight so it¡¯s better for everyone to get together.


    There was a television in the hall. After Xue''er had fallen asleep for a while, she was awakened by the endless barking of dogs in the village. She couldn¡¯t fall asleep again and started to watch cartoons. My mother and phoenix accompanied Xue''er on each side of her. Me and Aunt Li were sitting near the door.


    When the dog started to bark, I didn¡¯t pay any attention. There were so many policemen in the village. They were strangers to dogs, so it¡¯s quite normal for dogs barking. But I was a bit worried while dogs from every house started barking. As I know, dogs and cats were able to see what people couldn¡¯t see.


    In order to prevent misunderstandings, I also opened the door and looked at the police. There were very few police left and they were all on the opening ground. It was impossible to cause all dogs in the village barking.


    I locked the door and asked Aunt Li what¡¯s going to happen in this evening, but Aunt Li said she didn''t know it. Just be careful, not to went out and stayed with her in the hall.


    I certainly would not disobey Aunt Li¡¯s request and I was not qualified to disobey. However, I still couldn¡¯t suppress my curiosity. I went to the window of the hall and teared a small hole on newspaper which was padded on the window. I was watching outside and waiting.


    After the dog barked for a while, dogs from the direction of the entrance of village stopped barking, they did not dare to bark anymore, instead, they started to groan. I understood, It¡¯s close. I told Aunt Li about it, but Aunt Li just nodded and said she knew that.


    I went on watching outside. A dog near the opening space was groaning and running back to his kennel, then the police in the open space found something wrong. They began to alert one by one, and I saw with my eyes that a fog was drifting slowly from the direction of the village entrance. The building that used to be seen very far away had disappeared into the fog regardless of the temporary lighting equipment.

 Chapter 177 Ancestors

    I did not understand what this fog came from, but I was always in awe of the unknown, besides, phoenix had stood up, and I dared not ignore it. I returned to my mother silently, hold her hands, which was very cold.


    Mom''s face had become very awful, at first I thought my mother was frightened, I was about to comfort my mother, but my mom pull me away and walked to Aunt Li: "This fog, I''ve ever seen it."


    I turned my eyes to mother, who had tears in her eyes, she sniffed "wu Rui¡¯s father and brother died in this fog."


    I looked at her with my eyes wide open in an instant, I shook my mother''s shoulder regardless of her feeling, "mom, what did you say? Didn''t my dad and brother die in a car accident?"


    Mom closed her eyes in pain, a tear came down and said, "Your dad came back to attend a party that day, after the party finished, he came back home, there was a fog on his way home, and then... I always thought it was a car accident. It wasn''t until a year later that your aunt Yan told me, decades before your dad encountered the fog, there was a same kind of fog appeared in the village that caused more than 20 people died at that time, many experts in our country came here and investigated, finally, experts explained that a special weather led to such a poisonous fog, and they ensure that the fog won''t appear here again, so we were not too care about it. But your father, he left the village for less than two kilometers, there was no fog in the village at that time, so... ."


    Mom was sobbing, and I was froze. My dad and brother were not killed by human, but killed by a ghost. I was still not sure and turned to Aunt Li, hoping she could give me an answer.


    As soon as Aunt Li was about to speak, her face suddenly changed and pulled back me and my mother.On the other side phoenix walked quietly to Xue¡¯er who was still watching cartoons. At this moment, the sound of neat footsteps came out from a distance away, it was so heavy and strong , just like a troop.


    My face turned pale suddenly, I was not familiar with my hometown, but I knew there was no troops stationed here,was it a troop from elsewhere? Just kidding, how could it be so soon.


    I secretly looked at Aunt Li, her eyes were full of anger staring to the door, but did not make a sound or take any action.


    Then I turned to phoenix, he pretended to enjoy watching cartoons with Xue¡¯er, but the trembling arms and exposed veins showed that he was not as peaceful as he looked.


    I guessed I found something.


    Xue¡¯er was woke up from drowse by clear footsteps, she stopped watching TV. She was confused and looked at we.When she was about to speak, phoenix gently touched on the back of her head, her body was soften and fell into phoenix''s arms.


    phoenix told my mother to hold Xue¡¯er in her arms and said: "She is too young, it¡¯s better for she to fall asleep."


    At that moment, a strange and familiar voice came out: "#$#$##@@!(Japanese, means: stop, Xiao Beng go and take a look.)"The reason why the sound was strange was that I had never heard of this voice, so I couldn¡¯t understand what he was saying. On the other hand I was familiar with this voice. I knew that he speaks Japanese, because I used to watch TV programme about Chinese fought against Japanese in an exaggerative way. I thought a lot of people had experience as same as me.


    The speculation in my heart was answered, but I did not have any relief, the footsteps had stopped at the door. I didn''t know how many Japanese ghosts were out there, but judging by the weight of the footsteps, the numbers would never be too small. I regretted that I didn¡¯t rush back to the ghost house during daytime, now not only put my mother and Xue¡¯er in danger, but delayed to avenge to both my father and brother.


    The Japanese ghosts at the door were silent for a long time, but I was still nervous, while I was about to collapse there was a sound coming from outside, but this time it was sound of peddling which in a mess .


    I really didn¡¯t know how to describe the sound that came out, it''s a mixture of sounds, as I tried to distinguish them, I found some were reading ancient texts, some were teaching their children, some were selling things, some were talking loudly. It felt like that I suddenly arrived at a prosperous village.


    I looked at Aunt Li strangely and saw she didn¡¯t look as serious as before. Instead, she took a breath and relaxed: "I have never seen such a united village."


    I instantly understood where those people came from, they were me and the village''s ancestors. But was it enough to stop the Japanese ghosts in this way? Villagers against military, needless to say, the result was obviously. But these were ghosts, I was not sure about the result. After all, the contrast between ghosts was not simply depend on physical power or technical equipment.


    Now it was noisy outside, but there was no sound from the army, and I wondered if the Japanese ghost army was still there. Although Aunt Li was not as serious as before, she was still alert, I understood that we could only wait for the next step of the Japanese ghost army.


    Waiting always makes people feel irritable, even more so in such a situation, I started to feel uneasy, walking back and forth in the hall, my mom was much calmer. She put down Xue¡¯er on a bench aside, then picked up three sticks of incenses and began to pray. The front of the house was a dark wooden card, which had been there for years. On it was written ¡°The masters memorial tablet¡±.


    After my mother''s devout praying, she asked me to light some incense, her tone was flat but with respect: "Ancestors are protecting us, you should thank them. You should have some incense sticks for your father."

 Chapter 178 Eyes in fog

    Nobody spoke, my mother knelt down in front of baldachine, whispering to herself, I began walking back and forth in the hall again, there was no sound of the Japanese ghost army, it made me feel very uneasy.


    Aunt Li came to phoenix,they were whispering something. Phoenix was always very cool, except when getting together with Xue''er that could make him a bit nicer, otherwise, his face wouldn¡¯t change for anyone or anywhere. It made me not dare to eavesdrop what they were talking about. I could only move as close as possible to them while walking back and forth.


    However, I couldn¡¯t hear anything. Well, I didn''t have the potential to eavesdrop. But soon Aunt Li called me over and told me they were going to open the door.


    I was a little startled, after all, it looked safe now, otherwise if we opened the door, I would scared of the Japanese ghost army despite of the weird fog.In spite of this, I couldn¡¯t object she to do so, instead, I looked at Aunt Li with questioning eyes, hoping she could explain to me.


    Just before Aunt Li spoke, phoenix who seldom speaks said unexpectedly:"The Japanese ghost army and ancestors of this village outside have obviously reached a strange balance. Maybe we should go out so that we can get rid of these Japanese ghosts with the help of ancestors."


    I understood phoenix''s hatred of Japanese, it was not only him, but also the whole ghost house were very hateful to Japanese ghosts, but this was not a good reason to open the door. I was not sure whether they had reach an equilibrium on both side, and to tell the truth,I didn¡¯t really care. In my point of view, how to ensure the safety of my family was the most important thing, but phoenix was obviously ignored this.


    Aunt Li seems to have found the problem. She added: "Xue''er has an ancient stone protecting her, moreover I can protect you.phoenix will go out alone, if he is able to eliminate these Japanese ghosts, then it is the best result. Otherwise,we won¡¯t have any danger with the help of ancient villagers.What¡¯s more,we can¡¯t just staying here without doing anything all the time,that¡¯s no a good idea."


    I silently nodded, she was right, we would loss if just defending. There was a saying that people would being a thief rather than defending a thief. What''s more, maybe this was a chance to eliminate Japanese ghosts.To avenge my father, brother and sister-in-law.


    When I though of them, my eyes were tiny and a little merciless.


    The whole village was so silent that you couldn¡¯t hear a bark of dog or even a sound of insect, but phoenix did not care about it, he went straight out. Just at the moment of phoenix stepped out the door, I had no idea from where came a fog instantaneously, coming from everywhere and surrounding phoenix.What I could only see was a red profile which was going away slowly.


    Aunt Li took a step forth but quickly back again, only watching phoenix disappear but was still alert. It was strange that the fog outside was so thick but only a tiny bit of it could entered the house, and then dissipated soon , which reassured me a lot.


    After phoenix went out, there was no sound from outside. Only whispers of my mother left. As I got closer I heard her voice on and off. She was begging protection from ancestors and my dead father, hoping Xue¡¯er would be lucky enough to go through her trouble. I suddenly turn to the fog, wondering whether my father and brother were among those ancestors who protecting us?


    As long as I had this though, it grew up crazily in my mind, my whole body couldn¡¯t help but started to tremble. Aunt Li looked at me strangely and comforted me. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, at that time, I shouldn¡¯t ask nor speak out, I shouldn¡¯t give my mom a hope that I was not sure whether exist or not.


    Just as I was trying to calm down, the fog outside had changed, and it was rolling violently, and there were traces visible to the naked eye. I knew, that was phoenix fighting. But there was still not any sound which made me unable to assess situation at that time.


    I could only look at the fog outside, and at that moment, I had an impulse to rush out, yes, to go out. I held the armrest of a chair, veins of my hand had already turned blue, my face filled with blood and turned red, it was hot .


    Aunt Li held my hands, and when I turned to her, she gave me a sign that I should not move. Her hand was not as cold as a ghost''s hand, not warm, but not cold, there was a strange power in it made me gradually calm down.


    Finally he came back. There was some damage on his red clothe, but as he approached, the clothes were recovering quickly. When phoenix came to us, the red dress was restored.


    "Well?¡± I was anxious to open my mouth, at the same time, Never knew when it started, my voice had become hoarse.


    A strange smile showed on his cool face, it was just like a man who never laughed and twisting his cheek. I didn¡¯t understand what he was laughing at, his face make me didn¡¯t understand what he want to express,phoenix also seemed to know this, in the eyes with a bit embarrassed, he pointed to the door.


    Outside the door, the fog was slowly dissipating with a visible speed. I could see what inside the yard vaguely. I couldn''t help but get excited and said, "we, we won, won?"


    He nodded, and then sat on a chair aside and looked a bit tired. Mom knelt down quickly and kowtowed to the ancestors. Aunt Li smiled and said to me:"You should also thank your ancestors, without them, phoenix couldn¡¯t have done all this work."


    I nodded my head and completely agreed, and then knelt down in front of the tablet written the magic words, and kowtowed respectfully. But what I did not expect was that, at the third time I knocked down my head, a creaky sound came out of the tablet.


    Then, in my astonished eyes, I saw there were countless tiny cracks appeared, and the crack slowly enlarged, finally the wooden tablet split in pieces.


    "Impossible."phoenix suddenly stood up, and for the first time, his cool face looked panic. I was completely stunned, just looking at pieces of tablet. Then I looked back to the outside, the entire courtyard was exposed and the fog was still dissipating.


    I didn¡¯t know whether it¡¯s my illusion or not, I could see a blur shadow in the fog. I didn¡¯t know whether it was a person, but the shadow had a pair of light blue eyes, and he was smiling at me.

 Chapter 179 the invisible wall

    Aunt Li and phoenix looked over at the same time, and then looked at me doubtfully: "what eyes?"


    I gasped for a breath, the eyes disappeared as I breathed, I casually described the appearance of the eyes to Aunt Li and phoenix. They were very confused. After looking at each other, Aunt Li asked phoenix about the situation outside just now.


    phoenix''s expression was embarrassed and doubtful, but he told details about the situation after he went out. It turned out that there was only a small group of Japanese troop outside, only 11 of them, maybe because they died in a foreign land, their complaint were quite fierce. But only one reached the level of a revenge ghost reluctantly, it was the reason why most of the village ancestors who died naturally were able to contend against them.


    After phoenix went out, ancestors seemed to know that phoenix was on their side, they directly entangled the Japanese ghost without greeting,and only leaving the revenge ghost. Phoenix had been a revenge ghost for many years,because he was victimized by Japanese and he had a bit of grievance against Japanese, it was easy for him to deal with Japanese ghosts.


    After 11 Japanese ghosts were wiped out, phoenix asked a middle-aged ghost, confirmed that there were all the Japanese ghosts then he came back, and the latter thing was completely beyond his expectation.


    After hearing this, Aunt Li looked at phoenix with complaint, and said critically : "Can a small revenge ghost cause such a big problem?"


    phoenix might had just realized this problem at that time, biting his teeth but didn¡¯t answer, but from his slightly fluttering hair I could see that he must be very angry.


    Aunt Li sighed and said to me, "it seems that we all made mistakes. Everything here is not made by the Japanese ghosts."


    After listening that, I shivered and my lips trembled, eventually I did not say anything. What could I say?


    Things that had already been clear fell into a fog of confusion again. I couldn''t afford to sit down and glance at Xueer who was still sleeping and deeply buried her head in her shoulders.


    Maybe it was because the fog that had dissipated outside,the dogs yapped as if they were heroes,which brought a bit vitality to the quiet village. The police outside stood up and shook their heads. They were talking strangely about the strange fog just now,it seems that they hadn¡¯t been fainted.


    Aunt Li looked at the police outside for a long time. "Now the whole village is very strange. You try not to touch other people, especially the police outside.¡±


    My mother responded and then patted my shoulder. I looked up and gave my mom a stubborn smile. I didn''t want my mom to worry about me, and I didn''t want to be knocked down by sudden change.


    Aunt Li shook her head doubtfully ,"I don''t know,just feeling that they changed a bit after they got up. I can''t figure it out. But don''t touch them temporarily, the village, the village..."


    Aunt Li did not say what was the matter of the village, but I understand that the village was not as same as before .


    We didn¡¯t go out the main room the whole day. The people who went to search and rescue had already returned. They had a brief talk with us. Knowing we had no interest in the conversation, they all left. After all, spending a day on the mountains they were very tired.


    However,from what they said, we also know that we searched for a day and found nothing more except a body which all the internal organs had been eaten.


    witch Yan came back and made a greeting outside the small courtyard. She went to chat with several left-behind police. I watched the abnormal behaviour she done for a long time.Finally witch Yan did not come to eat at my home as usual, but she came back after dinner.


    My mother walked to her and blamed her for did not come back for dinner.witch Yan stopped my mother from approaching, seeing we come over, she said with tiring tone:" Don¡¯t get close to me or others. There is something else in the our body which is very similar to grievance."


    Witch Yan¡¯s word startled both me and mom a lot, I turned to Aunt Li as she had said similar words before.


    Aunt Li nodded and said that she had also found it, it seemed that the revenge¡¯s grievances could prevent the strange atmosphere from invading. After hearing that, witch Yan¡¯s eyes lighted, thanked to Aunt Li and once again told us not to contact with villagers or the police,then left alone.


    My mother was very worried about witch Yan, my mother smiled reluctantly as I comfort her in patient. phoenix went into the room with my mother and Xueer. I said to Aunt Li:"Aunt, now witch Yan was...We must return to ghost house to seek rescue as soon as possible."


    Aunt Li shook her head and said: "It''s too late. No matter how it is done,we will not leave safely. I just feel that it is very strange. Why is it the grievance?"


    The last word that Aunt Li said seemed to be talking to herself, but it made me slightly stupefied. I couldn''t help but wondering. Well, how could it be grievance? Only people died in grievance could create grievance. Controlling grievance must get permission from the powerful Nether Government.The most critical was that the grievance could only attack the targets which were able to created it.


    People who had been eroded by the atmosphere now were villagers and polices.


    It didn¡¯t seem that there was a specified target. It should not be grievance, but if not grievance,what was it?


    "Aunt, are you sure it is grievance?" My words interrupted her thinking.Aunt Li thought for a moment and shook her head:¡°I am not sure, if not witch Yan¡¯s word, I won¡¯t think about it, I also discovered that this kind of breath has a trait of grievance when I heard what she said."


    I nodded, and I didn''t know why I nodded. Maybe it meant that I already knew it. At this time, a police car on the open ground moved and it seemed that they wanted to leave the village. I could not help thinking of what Aunt Li said just now. Could it leave safely? Will it lose at the fork on the road just like Luo Wen did last time?


    I was still thinking, a loud noise came out far away, then the whole village seemed to be ignited and began to bustle. The police on the open space began to run toward the road.


    The sight of the small courtyard to the intersection was just blocked in my wing-room, so I pulled Aunt Li and asked if we would go and see, Aunt Li pause a while. She told me that I must tried not to touch other people, then she went out with me.


    When I walked to the road and looked at the intersection, I was stunned. The police car that had left was at the junction of the village. It seemed to been fiercely hit. The front hood had been opened and was belching black smoke. A police with dirt and blood stroking the void in front of the police car, it seemed that there was an invisible wall.

 Chapter 180 Enmity dragon vein

    The monster turned its head slowly, and his face was in very dark color. Nothing could be seen clearly on his face, only the huge blue eyes which were in endless coldness.


    "It''s him, the one who was in the fog." I pointed at the monster and said to Aunt Li in panic.


    Aunt Li frowned her brow and then slapped my hand down which pointing at the monster. Then she wiped her hand in front of my eyes. The sight I had just seen was completely gone, as if everything had just been an illusion.


    Aunt Li took my hand and whispered, "Just pretended to see nothing." Then Aunt Li made a curious face and looked at the police car in front of her.


    I was shocked and looked down slightly, because I felt that the monster''s eye sight had already looked over, and I even felt that the monster was not to be trifled. Otherwise, Aunt Li would not be so nervous, and let me to pretend to see nothing.


    I took a few breaths and eased up my excitement until I looked up at the police car which was crashed. I tried to express my curiosity from my face. I couldn''t see the expression on my face now, but I could feel that it must be stiff to the extreme.


    I couldn¡¯t see the monster anymore. I don''t know if he was still there. I wanted to find the whereabouts of the monster from Aunt Li¡¯s eye sight, but I noticed that Aunt Li was looking at the police car which was crashed curiously. She still wondering from time to time: "Oh my God, what''s going on here?"


    Aunt Li was too pretentious, and I completely found no clues. Because she was too pretentious, it was precisely meant that the monster must still be there. I had to continue to look at the police car.


    I came back to the hall with her until she pulled my hand and mentioned me to leave. When entering the house, Aunt Li turned around and closed the door, she was soliloquizing as if she was explaining: "Today was too strange, and it was fogged and crashed." Then she locked the door.


    Phoenix looked very familiar with Aunt Li. When she saw the reaction of Aunt Li, she stood up immediately and shook her hand while Aunt Li was closing the door. After a red light that I could see clearly. Aunt Li took a long breath as if she was relaxed. With a wry smile, "Your village, your village is really amazing." Aunt Li said.


    After finishing speaking, Aunt Li walked to her chair and sat down while shaking her head.


    I walked over and was about to ask Aunt Li. Phoenix had said strangely: "Aunt, what happened?"


    Aunt Li shook her head very hard: "They have a dragon vein in their village, and the vein was called Enmity dragon vein." Aunt Li said.


    Aunt Li nodded her head and sit very decadently, I didn¡¯t know anything about what they were talking about, I had to ask: "Enmity dragon vein, what is the Enmity dragon vein?"


    Aunt Li waved her head and her face looked very tired. She did not want to speak again. Phoenix replied on behalf of her: "Have you heard of the dragon vein?"


    I nodded my head. Dragon vein, of course I knew that. It¡¯s the mountain that goes up and down and the most important part in ancient Chinese was called ¡®Feng Shui¡¯. But I didn¡¯t know more about it.


    Phoenix did not allow me to explain. She saw I nodded and she said to herself: ¡°dragon vein had spirits. Each dragon vein would have a soul of dragon, and Enmity dragon vein are the soul of dragon that were killed after being hatred and turned into ridge. Once the ridge showed up, the grievance was everywhere, snowstorm in June, and all the caused or effective people were going to die, even the gods were still couldn¡¯t excepted. Souls dissipates and lives would definitely die.¡±


    ¡°Soul of dragon could be killed?¡± I asked curiously.


    Aunt Li nodded her head and said, ¡°There was nothing can¡¯t be killed, but this dragon vein would definitely not be formed now, but why people in your village were sill fine?


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it protected by the ancestors?¡± I asked.


    Phoenix watched me for a while and said "Don''t talk about the ghosts in the village. Even the revenge ghosts in the whole world were here. People who has relationship with dragon vein would die.


    ¡°Ah!¡± I couldn''t help screaming, and then I had a new judgment on the dragon vein or the blue-eyed monster. It was absolutely impossible.


    I would like to ask Aunt Li again. She seemed to have regained her temperament and discussed it with Phoenix. I also had to sit down. Once they started to discuss, it was time for me to listen.


    Aunt Li and Phoenix discussed it for a long time, but they did not come up with any result. After listening to it for a while, I knew that the current situation was very strange now.


    The strong ability of the Enmity dragon vein was of course not to say anymore, but the most important key was that the Enmity dragon vein had been repressed in the village. Even if there was really a man who can suppress the Enmity dragon vein, for now the Enmity dragon vein must clearly out of pocket, but why? The people in the village were still fine.


    What¡¯s even strange was that Enmity dragon vein seemed to avoid hurting people in the village. Well, it may be understandable that people in the village were kind to Enmity dragon vein, so that Enmity dragon vein didn¡¯t want to hurt the people in the village, but if it didn¡¯t want to hurt the people, why it still put the grievance into the villagers? You must know that the grievance were the same to the ghosts or the Enmity dragon vein. They can only be used to deal with those who had killed themselves, people who have caused and effective cannot be used casually.


    The villagers were the killers that killed or indirectly killed the Enmity dragon vein. However, the Enmity dragon vein did not revenge. This matter was discussed by Aunt Li and Phoenix for a long time and there was no way to come up with a reasonable answer.


    After they finished the discussion, I began to ask, "Didn¡¯t the Enmity dragon vein is going to kill Xue¡¯er?¡¯¡¯


    The expression of Aunt Li and Phoenix were all awkward. Obviously, they did not think of this issue. Silent for a long time, Aunt Li only said: ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it should not be impossible. If the Enmity dragon vein really have to deal with Xue¡¯er, even if all our Fan house sisters are stick together it is still useless.¡±


    I thought for a moment: "Who is going to kill Xue¡¯er? Are there were other people here? Except for the Japanese and the Enmity dragon vein?


    Aunt Li¡¯s eyes lighted up, felling into deep thought and said to herself, ¡°Third party, third party, yes, there must be an existence that we have not discovered yet.¡±


    Someone else? I almost couldn''t control my tears. Isn''t this an ordinary small village? How could it come up so many great people? This feeling was like the heads of states visiting the village one by one. Sometime, it felt scary and a bit unbelievable.


    I was about to open my mouth. Suddenly, I was jerked and my whole body was stiff. I looked at the wall where the memorial tablet was put, but now it was empty. My throat moved up and down and I couldn''t make a sound.

 Chapter 181 Decision

    To be honest, it touched me a little, especially after knowing that they were not the opponent of Enmity dragon vein.


    For a moment the whole room was quiet. We were not against Enmity dragon vein, and certainly we dared not to move. And the Enmity dragon vein tilt its head looking at us without any movement. As the time passed by,I had scared and my feet trembled with fear. Cold sweat came out, just as it was about to fall to the ground.


    Suddenly mom carried Xue¡¯er into the hall. As she took a look at the situation in the room, she froze immediately. Then she turned to look at the huge head unbelievably.


    I didn''t know why they could see it. Now Mom, and we were standing in a triangle, which was too dangerous for Mom and Xue¡¯er. I couldn''t help go over, but Aunt Li stopped me with her eyes.


    I understood. Aunt Li was afraid that my sudden action would stir up Enmity dragon vein and I would be attacked. Just as I was burning with anxiety, Xue¡¯er rubbed her eyes and woke up: "Wow, what a big dog."


    Her sudden movement startled me. I really didn''t know what the connection between the dragon and the dog was, but it doesn''t matter. The important thing was that Enmity dragon vein had slowly turned its eyes to Xue¡¯er. Xue¡¯er was also frightened by the giant blue eyes ofEnmity dragon vein. She drilled herself into mom''s arms.


    Fortunately, Enmity dragon vein didn''t attack her. But it was very curious to look at Xue¡¯er and its head incessantly up and down. Xue¡¯er saw that and she was emboldened again. She spoke directly, "Big dog, why are you so big?"


    Mom was so scared that she covered Xue¡¯er''s mouth. The cold sweat on my face was dripping on the ground, and there was a sudden urge to spank Xue¡¯er''s ass. However, I dared not move.


    After Enmity dragon vein watching Xue¡¯er for several minutes, its whole head slowly retreated back into the wall and disappeared. My body seemed to lose support at once.I sat on the ground and couldn¡¯t stop panting. Mom was all also shivering all over. She would like to ask what that was , but only said a word. And then she was hard to speak anymore but gasping.


    Xue¡¯er was a fool to go and studied how that big dog goes through the wall. She was slapped on her ass by mom. Then she beeped her small mouth so aggrieved that she dared not move.


    I rested for a while£¬then I spoke: ¡°So, so, why can I see it? Isn''t everyone else able to see it?¡± I didn''t just ask. I could see it because Aunt. Li put a touch on my eyes when we were outside just now. And now it''s not just me, but also mom and Xue¡¯er could see it. Well, can anyone else see it? I could even think of a panic in the village.


    Aunt Li glanced at Xue¡¯er and hesitated to say so. Mom didn''t care and asked, " it''s just how.." She hold Xue¡¯er tightly.


    Aunt Li said: ¡°The Enmity dragon vein seems to be interested in Xue¡¯er, but it doesn''t seem to hurt her.¡±


    Aunt Li said Enmity dragon vein wouldn''t hurt Xue¡¯er. I also had some sense about this. But beyond that, I felt a little confused. Xue¡¯er was only a child, how can it drew attention of Enmity dragon vein.


    But my mother felt that Xue¡¯er had caught the attention of Enmity dragon vein. Even if Enmity dragon vein did not mean to hurt Xue¡¯er, it was a potential danger. After she learned from Aunt Li what Enmity dragon vein was. The expression on her face gradually changed from fear to firmness.It seems that nothing in the world can hurt Xue¡¯er under her protection


    For a moment, no one spoke anymore. Mom stood up and backed to us. She seemed to wipe tears and then she turned to us said adamantly: ¡°Since we couldn''t run away, we might go there. I would like to see what¡¯s in the well.¡±


    I looked at my mother in surprised. Today¡¯s mom seemed not the mom as same as in my memory. But I vaguely agree with my mom. You couldn''t run away or win. Nothing was better than figuring it out at least you could die in peace.


    Mom''s decision was agreed after a silence. But mom persuaded Aunt Li and Phoenix not to take part in. My heart trembled. I hesitated but I could not object to Mom''s opinion. It was almost a mortal task. It was unnecessary to implicate them because they had done enough for us.


    Aunt Li and Phoenix looked at each other, and then Aunt Li gave out a bright and clear laugh as usual, ¡°Ha ha ha, I''ve been dead for so long, and it¡¯s a profit to live till now. Enmity dragon vein,which was just been heard in legend. How can we not to take a look at it.¡±Both Aunt Li¡¯s and Phoenix¡¯s attitude was rather tough. In the end, mom stopped persuading.


    And it appeared that witch Yan told mom something about them. So mom was not surprised at Aunt Li and Phoenix''s insistence, but nodded. But she decided not to tell witch Yan at last. First of all, witch Yan was her good friend. Secondly, witch Yan herself said that she had been eroded by strange breath which could pose an unknown danger to us.


    witch Yan came to see mom every evening nearly. For the reason that there were too many people in daytime, we set the time for departure in the evening. Although the evening was an absolutely inappropriate time, Aunt Li and Phoenix could do their best fighting at night. Between a loss and a rise, that''s all we can do.


    Xue¡¯er didn''t quite understand us, but she knew we were going out. For a child who had been locked up for a few days was a happy news. Xue¡¯er was so excited. Mom had to make Xue¡¯er obey her with carrot and stick.


    After having eaten the most wonderful dinner since I returned to my hometown, all of us were waiting for the night to come silently. Aunt Li and Phoenix were still talkiing about something. I did not eavesdrop again. Xue¡¯er took my hand and asked several times when she would start off and what¡¯s the fun. I just skimmed it.


    Mom kept looking at a small photo which was old and a bit yellow. It was a photograph of my whole family. At that time, my dad,my brother and sister-in-law were still there. Everyone in the photo was laughing.


    The night darkened, and there was no sound in the village. We opened the door and took steps slowly but firmly towards the entrance of the village.

 Chapter 182 Underground Cave

    I never dared to imagine that my mom would be so brave. I looked at Aunt Li and phenix in whom arms Xue¡¯er was sleeping, I nodded my head, and then walked across to the opposite side of my mother, then held onto the blue stone on the ancient well and about to lift.


    When phenix came over, he didn¡¯t say anything. Just kicked it directly on the blue stone board. I just felt my hand shaken, and then I was surprised to see that the blue stone kicked by phenix turned around in the air and fell heavily on haystack nearby, and it made a dull sound.


    "Oh," I didn¡¯t realize we could open it like this. My mom and I looked at each other with a glance and silently step back. Professional things were better left to the professional.


    Aunt Li came and looked at the ancient well. Then she picked up a stone ad big as fist and threw it directly into the ancient well. And then we all put up our ears. But as we had waited for 5 minutes, there was still no sound. there were no plops of stones falling in the water, there were no sounds of rock falling on the ground, either.


    My mother came forward and pulled a rope which had been placing there for years on the edge of the ancient Well. She laughed at herself "I hope I can make it."


    In fact, despite of my mom, even I doubted that I could get down. Regardless of the strength of the rope, even if it was strong enough, my physical strength may not be able to guarantee my safety down to the bottom of the well.


    Fortunately, there were two non-humans among us. After discussing, we decided that Aunt Li hugged me, and phenix took my mother. Then we got into the ancient well one after the other.


    The air in the ancient well was turbid. It gave me a little dizzy feeling, but it was more of a sense of shame that could not be expressed. Oh my god, I was taken by an old lady who looked like 60 years old. That made young guy like me felt embarrassing.


    It didn¡¯t last long because the ancient well was a lot shallower than I had just thought. In a short time, it went directly to the bottom of the well, and the bottom of the well did not have the sewage sight soaked with bones that I imagined. It''s a huge cavern that didn''t look any different from the underground caves I used to see when I was traveling.


    In the light of flashlight, all kinds of stones reflect a colorful light, shining the entire space, it looked very beautiful and charming.


    My mother had also come down, and she was sighing involuntarily when she saw this "It''s beautiful. We should have come down earlier."


    The place where we stood should be the end of the cave, there was no other path, except a path wide enough just for three people to walk together, and my mother had very creatively tied two small flashlights to her head and walked in the front, Aunt Li wanted to change her position with my mom, but my mom refused stubbornly.


    As I followed, she whispered to try to educate me: ¡°Others help you because they care about you, but that doesn¡¯t means they have any responsibility to help you.¡±


    My mother did not look back when she spoke, but I knew that she was reminding me. I nodded thoughtfully.


    After walking for a long time, I didn¡¯t see any bones, bodies, or anything along the way. The brilliant colors around me made it almost impossible for me to tell if I¡¯m traveling or not, just as I continue to sigh at the uncanny work of nature. My mom suddenly stopped.


    I nearly ran into my mother and almost fell down, my arms wing around in the air for a few times before I stood firm. I looked at my mother curiously. Mom was looking at the front, her teeth were shut tightly, her face was a little twitching, and she even raised a stone that I didn''t know when she picked up. She was ready to attack.


    I hurriedly looked ahead, at the end of the light of flashlight, there were a few of miserable green flames, they were wildfires. At this moment, they were moving up and down in the air. In the dim light of the flames, a figure was quiet standing there.


    My mom was still scared. I was planning to go over my moather but my mother stopped me by her hand, and then my mother took out a large flashlight from the bag behind her and directed it to the silently standing shadow.


    The figure was wearing a white lapel T-shirt that I was familiar with. The lower body was black trousers that I was familiar with. The face was the kind of face that with both kindness and stern on it. Which I was familiar with.


    "Dad." I could not help but exclaimed, but just at the moment when I just cried out, the figure walked back to the endless darkness slowly .


    "Dad." I continued to shout loudly in an attempt to evoke the figure just now. However, there was no trace of that figure. I tried to push away my mother¡¯s arm which was stopping me but it ended up that I was pushed heavily onto the wall aside by my mom.


    I stood up and was about to ask my mother, but I saw my mother''s face looked at me without any expression. Tears came out in her eyes just liked water came out from a dam sluice.


    I calm down, so many years, was it only I would think of my father? When I had not recognized my father just now, my mother had already recognized it.


    My mom saw me calm down, and said in a voice that was agitated because of the excitement: ¡°After your dad¡¯s accident happened, I asked witch Yan to raise his soul. Your dad had already gone to the underworld. Even if he didn¡¯t go, it¡¯s not necessary to admin him. Let¡¯s go." said my mother, she walked straight ahead.


    I know that my mother¡¯s last words couldn¡¯t take account for, but my heart was secretly vigilant. If my father really went to the underworld as witch Yan said, then I was sure I¡¯ll have the lesson of this sneaky, impersonating my dad. Let him disappear forever.


    Because of the departure of the figure, only one wildfire was floating in the air, and the others drifts away with the figure. Looking at the basketball-sized wildfire, my heart was full of anger because my dad was being impersonated. I rushed up and kicked it straightly regardless of any consequence.


    Feeling cold on my feet, it seemed as if I was kicking a soft ice cube. The miserable green fire was directly torn apart and burst into the air before it burst out.


    Mom looked at me suddenly and was surprised. Then she nodded at me: ¡°Well, when you come to this stage, don¡¯t be afraid of anything. How powerful would a ghost be, if you can¡¯t conquer it now, we can still fight against it after we died. "


    My mother''s words made me speechless. I really wanted to ask my mom if she had ever be a punk before, but considering that my mom might implement brute force against me, I could only say yes and nodded my head even though I was not agreed with her.


    As we were about to move on, Mom suddenly shouted: "Do not move."


    I was scared and shocked, and then my mother shoot the flashlight in her hand to my feet, as I followed the light, I suddenly sucked in a cool air, and my heart twitched violently.

 Chapter 183 The wet long hair

    Did I just kick a head? I couldn¡¯t imagine it, but my mom told me not to move again, she bent down and used a sharp stone to get the scurf off my feet, but the hair was wet and it was difficult to get rid of it. In my surprising gaze, she took out a paper-wrapped kitchen knife from the bag behind her and cut the hair directly.


    I suddenly felt that my mom was more terrible than the hair and ghosts. My mom stood up and smiled at me palely: ¡°Now you know why people yelled to mom when they are scared?¡± Then, she continued to lead the way, I could hear my mother''s pent-up squeak.


    phoenix came to me and pushed me forward: "I really envy you have such a mother." I looked at his sincere eyes and nodded, then quickly followed my mother.


    Just when I caught up with my mother, she was looking at the shadow in front of her with a kitchen knife. The shadow wore a flower dress which was comment in the countryside, lying on the ground and covering her head with hands, the whole body was shivering, it seemed that she was very scared.


    I looked at phoenix behind me, and he looked disgustedly: "It''s really a shame to the ghost."


    phoenix¡¯s word seemed to awaken the shadow who still trembled on the ground, only hearing that she was whispering something repeatedly and her voice was getting louder and louder: "I am not the shame, I don¡¯t lost face."


    The shadow said and stood up. I immediately became cautious, and I saw the shadow talking and turning slowly, her hand slowly putting down from her head, the hands was full of solidified blood. The solidified blood fell down as she moved, her face had had no skin, the white muscles were covered with black blood, and they cracked and shed, yellowish liquid coming out while she was saying.


    My mother shook the kitchen knife in her hand and said directly: ¡°You stay here go on scaring yourself, we go on moving, understand?¡±


    I almost cried out, how could the mother be so undependable, and was it helpful at this time? Would the ghost obey her? I hadn''t thought of it yet. I only saw the ghost paused for a moment then gradually returned to her previous pose. I was so shocked by what she had done. It was amazing. I was sure that Mom was the most horrible one in the world, in her own kind.


    "Let''s go, it¡¯s just a small ghost." Aunt Li urged behind me.


    My mother took the lead, did not look at the ghost and walked directly passing her. I couldn¡¯t do such an amazing thing, but my mother had done it. I swallowed my saliva, trying to keep as far away as possible from the ghost and slowly walked pass her.


    Just when we got there, there was no way. All around were the same stones. In addition, they were the bizarre white bones and clothes that had not completely rotted.


    My mother and I waited for the phoenixand Li Aunt to get together and asked what to do next. Obviously, they didn''t expect that we finally reached the end of the cave, and it seemed to be completely incompatible with the expectation of a slim chance of surviving. My reverence to my mother and the admiration of the scenery along the way were farther than fear.


    "Or do we look for the ghost who just pretended to be Wu Rui¡¯s father?" my mother said hesitantly.


    I understand what my mother though. Although she knew that he cannot be my dad, she still had a glimmer of hope in her heart.


    But what about that ghost? Along the way, we only saw a coward and we did not see other ghosts.


    "There is something wrong here. "Aunt Li looked around and said with certainty.


    "What is wrong?" I asked curiously.


    Aunt Li shook and did not answer my question, but her nervous and cautious eyes made me nervous, too. I looked around vigilantly but did not find anything.


    I''m going to ask my mother if she found something. Just after I said a word, she made stop-talking gesture on her mouth, then she closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly, as if she was listening to something.


    I moved my attention to my ears, and listened quietly, but I didn¡¯t hear anything except my slightly heavy breathing sounds. When I was ready to ask questions, I still saw that my mother was thinking attentively.


    How could it seem like only me couldn¡¯t find it wrong? I truly did not find anything wrong.


    The mother''s actions finally changed, and her face looked strange. She looked at e then in spite of me, she went to Aunt Li and secretly said something.


    Then Mom finally remembered me and let me go to her. I hurried over and she let me take the bag on her back, and then I took things out of the bag one by one: a bottle of unknown liquid, two lighters, three candles, I had a feeling of holding a Doraemon''s treasure bag, but the things in my mom''s bag were obviously limited.


    My mother told Aunt Li that she had only prepared these things. Aunt Li looked and nodded. Let us be careful, she felt that something was approaching. When I asked what it was, but my mother just let me fix the candle on several smooth boulders, and fixed the extra flashlight on the inverted stalactite.


    After doing all this, my mother handed me the bottle and the tools in her hand: "If there is any problem, go and light these candles." I nodded, curiously opened the bottle and sniffed, suddenly a pungent taste of alcohol into my nose.


    "Is this wine?" I looked at my mother curiously, but my mother glance at me, then she picked up the bottle and took a sip: "You should drink it bravely."


    I opened my mouth and still did not say anything, no wonder that my mother was so unusual today, I rarely saw her drink, even if she drank, she just drank a bit.


    "Ah," a candle just set up fell down, I sighed and quickly pick it up, just as I was fixing the candle, suddenly I saw something moving in my side vision.


    I looked over curiously. It was a shadow blocked by a stone. It seemed to be nothing. It was all a black hole.


    Because no one spoke, the entire space was very quiet. I seemed to heard the subtle ¡°sha-sha-sha¡± sounds that came from the shadows. I took a few steps forward and decided to confirm it. Suddenly, my eyes widened, the shadow was even bigger than before.


    I was afraid that it was my own hallucinations. I waited for a moment. Sure enough, the shadow under the rock was slowly getting bigger. When I was planning to inform they ,the shadow had crossed the rock and was spreading toward me.

 Chapter 184 How are you?

    "Candlelight, fire." I didn''t know who was yelling. I was not in a mood to distinguish, but I quickly ignited several fixed candles and then turned around to lift up the candles that I hit, and fixed them. Lit and lit, lighter in my hands seemed to be against me in general, every time it sparked, but it never burned out a flame.


    I was tried in hurry. The metal sheet on the lighter fell down as I tried to lit candles. I hadn''t had time to pick it up. When I felt wet, a piece of hair was lightly placed on the back of my hand. I was startled and shook my hand. Suddenly, the lighter in my hand flew away. It hit on a boulder aside, uttered a loud ¡°bang¡± and burst.


    I took the candle and ran back. My mother was shocked by the sound of burst earlier. She gave me the rest of the lighter with a dark face. I quickly took over and lit the candle, but I didn''t dare to go because the surrounding boulders had all been filled with long hair.


    Some of the long hair still slowly reached the candle placed on the boulders. When they came across the flames, they squeaked, and a cloud of smoke blew up. The air was full of strange smells, I sadly watched candles were falling on the ground.


    I had the only candle in my hand and kept swallowing drool. I was really not afraid of ghosts. But I had tropophobia. The candles in my hands were burning. From time to time, the molten wax dripping on my hand which made me a slight ache. I suddenly recalled my hand that I had just touched by a long hair. As I looked at the back of my hand, there was a bit of water on it.


    I wiped my hand on my trousers, the watermarks didn¡¯t disappear but became even bigger. I touched it with my fingers. It was slippery, as if it were oil, and there was a nauseating smell on the back of my hand. It''s like my hand had put in hair that you didn''t know how long hasn''t washed.


    The hair around us made our space getting smaller and smaller, and the oily taste that was specific to hair was also getting stronger. My mother and I couldn''t help but dry vomit for a few times.


    "Aunt Li" I couldn''t help but cry in a changed tone.


    Aunt Li squinted her eyes and stepped forward, her body was emitting a chilly feeling gradually. I could not help but shuddered. The black mist that was visible to the naked eye emanated from Aunt Li. Although she did not let those hair disappear, In the area where the black mist was flowing, those strange hair couldn¡¯t spread further. They could only keep creeping in place.


    "Aunt Li, this, what was this?" I recovered myself a bit as I saw those hair no longer coming.


    Fortunately, on the other side, phoenix was talking to himself, "The grievances were heavy, and the hair was not from just one person."


    Of course, not all from just one person. Even though a person could live a thousand years old, he could not be able to grow so many hairs. Well, the question I asked was not quite suitable. What I actually wanted to know was how to get rid of these hairs.


    When I was asking, phoenix was looking at the bones of the ground seriously. I also took a look at it and suddenly discovered a detail that I had never noticed. The bones on the ground did not have craniums.


    "There were no craniums. What happened to them?" I exclaimed, and phoenix¡¯s brows wrinkled even more. It seemed he was both answering me and speaking to himself, "Was thousands of humans became bones?"


    What was thousands of humans becoming bones mean? I hadn''t heard of it at all. When I was about to ask, I heard an old and strange voice, "Little girl is very knowledgeable."


    The voice just fell off and there was a middle-aged female voice, "Join us."


    Then many completely different voices came out, "Join us and join us."


    ¡°Where''s the voice come from?¡± I looked around, but I found nothing. Then hairs on the floor had changed and was beginning to shrink. The center of the contraction was behind a boulder.


    The hairs gradually became less and less, and Aunt Li was no longer emits black mist, but her whole face was completely cold. She looked at the direction of the boulder.


    The hair had shrunk only a little more than people usually had in average in a short period of time, but just after the hair had shrunk, I found a white forehead above the boulder, and the black hair was just on this clean white forehead.


    I didn''t know why, after seeing the hair disappeared, the white forehead was even more frightened because it was incongruous. Generally speaking, if one person want to peek, at least one of his eye should come out. How could he peek by only revealing a forehead? He was not Er-Lang God.


    My mother took a drink of wine and picked up a chopper in her hand. "Come on, don''t be sneaky."


    An old voice, "Asking you to go out?"


    A voice of a middle-aged woman, "It is for you."


    A voice of a child, "Let''s go out together (false noise)."


    Obviously, a forehead was exposed, but behind the boulder came a variety of voices. Not only were the voices different, they were even different in pitch, and there were many speaking in Mandarin, as if there were really many people discussing.


    In the end, it seemed that agreement had been reached and many voices were saying, "Go out together and go out together."


    I waited outside for a while, but no one appeared. Then I heard those voices began to talk, "What are you doing? Go out."


    Man, "Just go out."


    Girl, "Yeah, why don''t you go out."


    Rough man, "Hurry up, don''t hesitate."


    But still no one came out. I took a look at my mother who was a litter rickety and whispered to myself, "Are you kidding me?"


    As soon as my word just came out, the sound behind the boulder seemed to have been a bit irritated. Many of them shouted loudly, and a percussive sound came out behind the boulder. The boulder shook slightly, as if someone did not want to come out that cause a fighting inside.


    When I had no idea what to do next, a familiar sound that had appeared many times in my dream came out, "You get out of here as fast as you can."


    My body froze at that time, I was looking at the boulder and unbelieving in my mind. I gazed as if I could see through the boulder. Because that voice was too familiar, so familiar.


    "Boom"! The bottle in my mother''s hands fell directly on the ground and broken into pieces. The air suddenly filled with the smell of alcohol. My mother stepped forward and her tears was flowing down. She asked trembling, "Is that you? Is that you?"


    Mom walked forward step by step. "Stop coming over." The voice burst into a loud voice, with pain and dismay. Mom''s foot paused and said, "For so many years, you did not go to reincarnation. Why didn''t you come to see me but telling me to get away?"


    An old voice, "So, you know each other."


    A voice of a child, "It''s fun."


    Girl''s voice, "Then be with us, together forever."

 Chapter 185 Get together forever

    My mother did not get reply from my dad. She asked, "You don''t want to see me. Don''t you want to see your son? If you don¡¯t come out to see me. I won''t leave. You don''t care anyway, do you?"


    A long sigh emanated from the familiar voice, and then a strange figure slowly appeared behind the boulders. The first appeared was feet, then both hands. The last was the familiar face of Dad, but only up to his eyes.


    Dad was like a spider, crawling out of the stomach, his arms were in an anti-joint state. There was a weird feeling which unspeakable.


    But the eyes that showed on the boulders let me know that it was my dad. There were kindness and harshness in the eyes which was as same as my dad.


    My mother trembled and took a few steps forward. She was stopped by dad. I could see dad looked at her then looked at me and said painfully: "You¡¯d better leave quickly. Here is not a place where you should come."


    My mother¡¯s tear flew out again, she sobbed and shook her head. I couldn''t help but cried and shouted, ¡°Dad¡± I wanted to walk closer, but my dad kicked a small rock into my stomach: "Don''t come over. Don''t come over." Dad cried.


    I squatted on my stomach and looked at my dad. Dad also cried and looked at me: "When you grow up, you need to take care of your mother ,now you have to take your mother away. Here is not where you should be."


    I understood what Dad meant, but Dad was in front of me. How can I leave?


    The voice of the young man: " Yes, yes, don¡¯t leave."


    Old voice: "With us."


    Girl''s voice: "Don''t leave, let¡¯s get together forever."


    ¡­¡­


    Dad''s face looked painful and he shouted: "Just leave, leave quickly."


    "Come on, we can''t stop them." A man''s voice sounded.


    My eyes instantly zoomed in. It was totally unbelievable: "Brother, my elder brother, is that you?"


    My mother shouted the name of my brother loudly. The voice of my elder brother came out again: "Leave quickly, leave. we three are okay here, waiting for you to save us."


    "How to save, brother, what should I do?" When I heard that my brother said I could save him, I immediately asked.


    However, the voice of brother was not heard, but the dad''s roar, only heard a strange female voice mocked: "Save? You want to be saved? All of you should die." At the same time a huge percussion burst behind the boulder.


    At last I could only heard a scream from my brother, and then a bloody cranium was thrown out from behind the boulder and fell straight under my feet. I was scared to take a few steps back and was stupefied while looking at the bloody cranium on the floor.


    Both my mother and me were retreating. Dad''s limbs were crawling on the ground in anti-joints, and on his forehead, there were other foreheads, some were wide with eyes, and some were thin, only a layer of cranium, all the foreheads chained together, became a long snake consisted of foreheads.


    "Come on." Dad continued to groan, but the voice had already weaken. Then, I saw Daddy''s forehead slowly deforming. Blood which color was a bit black was slowly flowing out. Dad screamed, but he was still yelling in weak that we should leave.


    Dad''s cranium was smashed, and then the forehead connected to his forehead opened like a mouth, and then made a squeaky sound, dad''s cranium was spit in front of us.


    Dad¡¯s body suddenly soften, at the moment of dropping on the ground, the chain of foreheads which without my dad¡¯s cranium was reattached to the body of dad and moved again. Then it crawled slowly toward us.


    Everything happened so fast that my mother and I had no time to respond. Aunt Li picked up the craniums that belonged to dad and my brother on the floor and pulled my mom: "We have to leave right now."


    The mother looked like a puppet: "We can save them , save them."


    The strange female voice: "How to save? Come and join us."


    Old voice: "We are always together,"


    The boys'' voice: "As long as you promise to be with us, we will bring them back."


    My mother looked up and her eyes flashed. She said, "Really?"


    When the young man''s voice had not spoken yet, he was interrupt by a female voice: ¡°Mom, don¡¯t believe him, leave quickly, save the person in the photo, save us, and let me stop them... Ah...¡±


    "It''s Xiao Hui. Xiao Hui, is it you?" asked by my mother in a hurry.


    Xiao Hui, was my brother''s wife, no wonder the sound was so familiar.


    On one side, Aunt Li couldn''t wait any longer. She knocked my mother out of her head, and then she carried my mom on her shoulder. "Just leave, do you still want to save them."


    I was shocked. Well, as my sister-in-law said, saved the person in the photos and we could save them. I could save them! phoenix kicked me. I groan and then stand up and run toward the exit. When I was running, all my mind was nothing but filled with the thought that I could save them.


    The screams of brother''s wife came, and then, with a bang, a bloody cranium landed not far behind me. I stopped and the phoenix shouted, "Leave£¬quickly!"


    "That''s the cranium of my sister-in-law. That''s hers."


    phoenix hit me with her body that made me fall forward and fly out. Behind us, dad¡¯s body with a long snake made of cranium was chasing us. It moves quickly. However, the long chain of foreheads behind us did not have any support, and it crashed on the ground from time to time, making dull noises.


    The power was great, but the speed was not fast. As I ran to a corner. a sound came and the cranium of my sister-in-law was trampled into pieces by dad¡¯s body.


    "Xiao Hui," I didn''t stop, kept running and wiping tears. I didn''t know what monster it was. But I knew I would come back and kill him. I would definitely come back and kill him.


    I didn''t know how many collisions I had in the passage, but I couldn¡¯t feel even a slightest pain. What¡¯s in my mind was only running, until I ran to the position of the ancient well, I panted and stopped, but the monster was still chasing us by controlling dad''s body, and from time to time it made huge collisions.


    I was about to leave at that time. I look back to the darkness without a trace of light. I swear in my heart that I will definitely return.

 Chapter 186 Ending and Beginning

    I looked at my mother and Xueer who fell asleep in phoenix¡¯s arms, the light in the well was very dark and there was only one flashlight, illuminating the passageway behind me, I couldn¡¯t see the face of my mother or Xueer, even though I couldn¡¯t see them clearly, their faces have been deeply imprinted in my mind.


    "Quickly, go up quickly." Mom''s voice was anxious but firm. I was astonished to see the huge eyes above and could not help saying: "But above?"


    Mom said: "Isn''t it saying that it will not hurt us? Let¡¯s try it."


    I didn¡¯t know whether it was my illusion or not. I felt that my mother¡¯s eyes glowed with persevering light at this moment. I nodded firmly, and then I asked Aunt Li for her help, Aunt Li nodded, cuddling mom and me and then flew up.


    Gradually, we got closer and closer to the dark blue eyes, my heartbeat was getting faster and faster, and I could not help praying secretly. I hope that Enmity Dragon Vein could be as good as mom said, he would not hurt us. Not only I was afraid of death, but I hadn''t finished too many things. I must save my father and kill the monsters below to take avenge.


    when we were less than five meters away from Enmity Dragon Vein¡¯s eyes, he slowly moved away its eyes and I was overjoyed. Aunt Li flew more quickly and we rushed out of the ancient well directly, when we reached on the entrance of it, I heard a huge crash from below.


    "Xueer." I could not help screaming, and then looked down, suddenly I breathed a sigh of relief, phoenix with Xueer tightly followed us and were out of the well.


    Aunt Li placed us at the edge of the well, when she was preparing to move the huge cyan stone, Enmity Dragon Vein moved around, directly taking the cyan stone with its huge arms and putting it on the ancient well as soon as phoenix left the entrance of the well. Not only covered, but his hands pressed on the cyan stone tightly.


    With a fierce clash of ¡°bang¡±, I could see the cyan stone shook. If it were not for Enmity Dragon Vein''s hand, the stone would surely be flying away by clash inside.


    The clash continued several times and then stopped, a dull clash came from the well, getting further and further, I thought that the monster had given up.


    But I was nervous again, and I looked up to see Enmity Dragon Vein who slowly turned his head to us.


    Enmity Dragon Vein looked at us for a long time and stretched out his hand, in my vigilant eyes it pointed to Xueer who was in phoenix¡¯s arms, and said: "Wake up, you are safe."


    "Phoenix, please wake up Xueer." I felt that Enmity Dragon Vein did not seem to be malicious to us. What¡¯s more, if he really wanted to hurt us, there would be no different whether Xue¡¯er was awaken or not.


    I did not know how phoenix done it, Xueer woke up soon, rubbing her eyes and lazily stretched,her first words were: "Hey, a big dog."


    Enmity Dragon Vein nodded when he saw Xueer woke up, he nodded, drawing a circle at the village entrance with his hands and pointed to Xueer: "I will protect her,"


    Then pointed to the old pagoda tree: "People."


    Finally pointed to the ancient well: "Catch, you guys."


    I slightly nodded, I thought what Enmity Dragon Vein said meant that the location of the village entrance was his, he would protect Xueer. Around the old pagoda tree were people who protected the ancestors of village and the Japanese ghosts, and the ancient well was the nest of the monster who chased us.


    I didn''t know if I understood what he said correctly, but after seeing me nod, he said directly: "Leave, go, photograph, save, and then save me."


    "You mean Xue`er is safe. Now we leave, I''ll save the rest people of the photo. And then I can save you. Can I save my dad and my brother?" I heard Enmity Dragon Vein¡¯s words and asked curiously.


    Enmity Dragon Vein seemed to encounter something that was difficult to understand. He tilted his head and thought for a long time: "Save the photo, save me, and save everyone."


    I stood where I was and never spoke again. I couldn¡¯t control my tears, I have been worried that my father and others had completely died, not before, but when their craniums were thrown out. After hearing Enmity Dragon Vein¡®s words, I couldn''t help it anymore. I knelt on the ground and cried loudly, and the sound of my weep went far and far in the village.


    The villagers and police who were alerted were cautiously approaching here, Enmity Dragon Vein looked at me again: "Photos, save, remember. "Then he slowly fell into the grassy ground at the village entrance.


    Maybe seeing people here, the villagers had a lot of courage. Witch Yan came over without hesitation and scolded my mother, it meant we shouldn''t come to such a dangerous place.


    The mother just smiled in tears even though Witch Yan scolded her, and finally she went forward to embrace her forcefully. Aunt Li helped me up, she made up a lie, and then she went home. Of course, this time she went back with Witch Yan.


    Although there were many things in the village that I didn¡¯t get an answer, it was not important, because I have already learned the most important thing: save the people in the photo and rescue my dad, elder brother, sister-in-law and Enmity Dragon Vein.


    I didn¡¯t know if there was any necessary connection between save people in the photos and save others. But all people said that. I didn¡¯t think it would be a lie and my future life would change. I didn¡¯t know what kind of danger and horror I would encounter, but I really did not care, now I am full of fighting spirit, I would take a bottle of liquor like my mother did, with a bottle of spirits.


    My mother looked at me apologetically. I understood what she meant. But it was what her son should did, wasn''t it?


    It was already very late, because we were relieved, everyone slept deeply. I was awakened by the ringing telephone, rubbing my eyes mistily, I picked up my cell phone and took a look, okay, all the phone calls were from Wu Jian, with as many as five or six, no wonder it could wake me up.


    He should be in a hurry. I picked up the phone and was about to call back, the phone rang again, it was still Wu Jian. I answered: "Hey, I am still sleeping."

 Chapter 187 Lulu

    I didn''t remember what I said to Wu Jian. I hanged up the phone quickly ,and now the next set of photos had not yet been received. I decided to find Lulu first, at least to determine whether it was Lulu. When this came to mind, I calmed down a bit from excitement. Yeah, what if she wasn''t Lulu, she was just someone who looked like her.


    "You''re awake." phoenix had already come in with Xue¡¯er who neatly dressed. I nodded as a response. On the other hand, I was thinking in my heart: I had to go and see so that I could figure out whether she was Lulu or not, what if she was really Lulu?


    After having a simple breakfast or lunch, we started to return. While I was driving, I watched the little village that was gradually gone away from the rear-view mirror. There was a lot of emotion in my mind. Many things went beyond my original expectation but wasn¡¯t it the greatest luck to see daddy.


    After this incident, my mother had already known what I was going to do in future, and her supervision on me had laxed a lot. After repeatedly told me to be careful, I finally said goodbye to my mother and then entered Sishui city.


    When arrived at my destination by taxi, Wu Jian had already been waiting there. I gave him a hug first, and I could not wait to ask where Lulu was. Wu Jian did not deliberately hang my appetite but tell me everything directly.


    At first, Wu Jian was not able to get information about Lulu and there was no photo of Lulu. Later, he went to the ghost house directly, knowing he was looking for Lulu, although people in ghost house knew the hope was little, they still gave help. The most important thing was to give Wu Jian a portrait of Lulu.


    Wu Jian finally found a clue combined with the time I saw Lulu and the portrait of her. Lulu was not a student in Sishui University. So I could not find her at Sishui University.


    Wu Jian said that there was a program on that day. The students from the Sishui Conservatory of Music had a rehearsal at Sishui University. After comparison, Wu Jian had already confirmed that Lulu was a student at the Sishui Conservatory of Music and I was even more excited about Lulu. She was not only a freshman, but also a transfer student, was only transferred to the Sishui Conservatory of Music not long ago, but her previous situations, even Wu Jian could not find a clue, as if she came out from nowhere.


    There was a feeling in my heart that this Lulu was the Lulu that I am looking for. I could not wait to see Lulu immediately but was stopped by Wu Jian, he told me another bad news. Not long after Lulu transferred to Sishui Conservatory of Music, a rich second generation called Lu Sheng had a crush on her and now was pursuing her crazily.


    Unfortunately, the following facts had proven that I thought was too simple. The rich second generation was also a very scary existence.


    In the afternoon, I went to the Conservatory of Music with Wu Jian. Perhaps because conservatory had so many handsome guys and beautiful girls, the access control was very strict. If not Wu Jian took out the police badge, the old man who was a gatekeeper simply would not let us enter.


    After I went in, I discovered that, as expected, there were many beautiful girls. As for the handsome guys, I¡¯m sorry that I didn¡¯t see any of it.


    "How are you going to find? Still looking for her one by one silly in the canteen?" Wu Jian asked me.


    I replied cheekily, "Hey, I have you."


    Wu Jian shook his head and told me he knew a stealing case here. He was not responsible to that case. However, the director in charge of this district was his friend. Therefore, hey, that¡¯s why people said that if you had people in the Royal court, you could get your job done in ease.


    Wu Jian went to the Academic Affairs Office directly, then he obtained a great deal of files that I was not sure whether on the grounds of investigation. Then he told me, "I really have to deal with the stealing case. So you have to go for yourself." At last, Wu Jian handed me a piece of paper with Lulu''s message and a photo.


    I touched the familiar face on the paper and it took a long time to set my sights on the information on the paper: Wei Xing, female, 20 years old, a freshman at the Conservatory of Music. Her parents died and she lived alone with her grandmother. Dormitory number: B404, Tel: 11111111111.


    The information on the paper was not much. It was estimated that it¡¯s because Lulu, hum, Wei Xing had just transferred to this school not long ago. However, this information was enough for me. After asking some students who passed by to clarify the road, I walked toward the dorm B which was for girls.


    But when I reached, I found it was very crowded and noisy. When I walked in, I discovered that the ground was full of roses. A tall and handsome boy was holding a small box with one of his leg knelt on the ground, declaring loudly his love to some girl in the girls'' dorm.


    It was estimated that the female protagonist had not yet appeared, and all the people were looking at the girls¡¯ dorm.


    Hey, young people nowadays understood romantic very well. This young man was also good. He knelt down first before the girl showed up which was considered as sincere.


    I turned around, and I was just going to ask dormitory attendant to help me call Wei Xing. I only heard the young man shouting loudly to the dormitory. ¡°Wei Xing, would you marry me? I will take good care of you in the rest of my life.¡±


    Wei Xing, I was surprised to look back at the boys on the ground. Was that Lu Sheng? I sneered in my heart. Now that the young people can really be shameless to the extreme, the other didn¡¯t like him, how could he proposing in public place, trying to morally kidnap her?


    Watching the roses on the ground and the beautiful box in Lu Sheng''s hand, I pouted, who was trying to get a girlfriend by his advantage of money means he himself was not charming enough. Of course, it also showed that I had no money.


    I didn''t hurry to the dormitory attendant. If Wei Xing came down at this moment, she would be very embarrassed. So I stood aside. I was expecting to see when a basin of foot-washing water would be poured down from upstairs. Therefore I became a member of the crowd.


    However, things didn¡¯t go as I thought. On the fourth floor, a head was stretched out and shouted to the crowd below: ¡°How much love is there?¡± Then there''s a noise coming out of it..


    There was a slight bad feeling in my heart, and Lu Sheng lying on the ground had already replied with a loud voice: ¡°I love you very much.¡± Then he opened the box in his hand.


    Suddenly a large diamond appeared in front of the crowd, shining brightly under the sun shine, and the sound of exclamation and praised echoed around him.


    My heart was a bit nervous, no, Lulu was not such a superficial person, no, if anyone dared to propose in front of Lulu in this way, he would definitely be killed by Lulu.


    Unfortunately, when I was woolgathering, a pretty and familiar figure emerged with accompany of several girls, like the princess who was surrounded by maids.


    That was Lulu, that was Wei Xing.


    Wei Xing walked to Lu Sheng and took a look at the ring in his hands: "This is beautiful, but I don''t like it."


    I couldn''t help but praise Wei Xing''s word. Then Lu Sheng¡¯s action was crazy to everyone. He actually put the ring into his pocket but still said sincerely "Let¡¯s sell the ring and buy something you like, and Hu Dou£¬you said your grandma likes eating Hu Dou."

 Chapter 188 Wei Xing and Lu Sheng

    Wei Xing looked at him but didn¡¯t reply. I knew that her attitude was obviously not as firm as before. I started to worry. I walked over and said in hurry "No."


    My stupid behavior suddenly attracted eyes of other people. Lu Sheng and Wei Xing were even more startled. They looked at me in a strange look. After a while, Lu Sheng asked Wei Xing, "Wei Xing, who is he? ¡±


    Wei Xing shook her head and her face looked puzzled. Lu Sheng saw that Wei Xing didn''t know me. There was a glimmer of gloom in his eyes, but his face was laughing, ¡°What is the matter, senior?¡±


    I opened my mouth a few times, but I couldn''t say a word. How could I say? I had absolutely no reason at all. Before my I spoke, everyone didn''t know me at all. At the end, I made up my mind, "anyway, no way for that.¡±


    Suddenly, the people around started to laugh, Lu Sheng stupefied a bit. Wei Xing watched everything innocently at this moment, she had obviously not understood yet .


    I couldn''t help but blush. I never dreamed that I would do this kind of thing. Lu Sheng looked at me but he ignored me. He shrugged to Wei Xing''s helplessness, ¡°If we recall this scene in future, we will certainly laugh."


    I had to admire that he was good at pursuing girl. He actually solved such an embarrassing thing in a simple sentence, and he also expressed his willingness to become old with Wei Xing.


    I looked at Wei Xing anxiously. I saw she didn¡¯t answered immediately, so I said, "You don''t believe what I¡¯m saying now, but please believe me, don''t promise him now,okay?"


    Maybe it was my sincerity that impressed Wei Xing, or maybe she herself hadn''t thought about it. I saw she smiled at Lu Sheng, "Let me think about it again, okay?"


    Lu Sheng nodded in gentle. Then Wei Xing said thank you with a smile, went upstairs in her female friend''s curious inquiring voice. He watched Wei Xing went upstairs in gentle, then he smiled and acknowledged with a bow to others who helped him. To be honest, his behavior was very gentleman that made me feel embarrassed.


    All onlookers around greeted him in a smile and leave. Lu Sheng stare at me seriously but left without saying a word to me.


    As I was still standing there, people who had not yet left pointed at me and murmured. I could feel a fever on my face.


    But at least there was a Queen. I suddenly remembered the other person I saw that day and rushed to call Wu Jian. I asked him to check it out. Then I walked to the woods nearby. Because if I didn¡¯t leave there, people would keep laughing at me.


    At this moment, I very much doubt whether Wei Xing was Lulu. In fact, I already had an idea in my heart, which Wei Xing was not Lulu.


    "Senior."


    A voice awakened me from deep thought. I saw that he was Lu Sheng.


    Lu Sheng was looking at me while he was followed by some strong guys at the moment. I felt something went wrong immediately. I fought in the school before. Though I hadn¡¯t had a fight since I was graduated, I could still know that they were going to fight.


    I did not speak and stood up from the bench and watched him alertly. He smiled and looked very sincere. "I came here to thank you, and I really thanked you for what you have done just now." At last, he bowed to me, then turned away.


    I was stunned by his action, but the person who was not stunned. They rushed up and punched me on my face.


    I immediately came back to myself. He was a hypocrite. I quickly punched back. I was not even afraid of ghosts, how could I be afraid of these students? Unfortunately, the facts prove that courage didn¡¯t represent strength. I was eventually beaten to the ground. After a few kicks and kicks, those students did not say anything but left.


    I sat up and touch my aching cheek that hurts. I can''t help but shook my head. Shouldn''t they said something bad at the end? They didn¡¯t do in the same way as others.


    I took out my phone and made a phone call. As soon as the phone was connected, I said directly in spite of the other side "Hi, Xiao Lingdang, how¡¯s the day£¿I¡¯d like to invite you to Sishui city as a trip for a several days."


    She agreed straightforward and said that she would bring a few friends to come together. I could not help but snickered. Lu Sheng, I promised you that you would be desperate for the next few days.


    "Are you calling for revenge?"


    I was surprised that I looked up and saw Wei Xing . I had no idea when she came in front of me. She said, "Get up, it¡¯s dirty on the ground. I also know that Lu Sheng is not as gentleman as he looked like, but you if revenge him, It will only make things more troublesome."


    I stood up and grinned, patted of footprints on my clothes, "I did not call others for help, if you don¡¯t believe me, just listen to it."


    I took out my mobile phone and opened call history, and then dialed the first phone number in front of her. After the speakerphone was turned on, Xiao Lingdang was heard from the other end of the phone. There was also a mixture of chewing sounds. It was estimated that she was eating. She said, "My brother, what else?"


    I replied that I just had made a wrong phone call. I hung up and Wei Xing looked at me. Her face was full of confusion, ¡°You are so strange. Why did you stop his proposal?¡±


    I shrugged and said, "Hasn¡¯t it been proven now? He isn¡¯t a good guy for you."


    Her face blushed maybe because of my word, she said a ¡°shit¡± in a very low voice and then asked me, "are you okay?"


    I shook my head and Wei Xing nodded. "Keep distance from Lu Sheng from now on, his family is very rich. Many bad students follow him. You¡¯d better not to revenge him. Okay, I have to leave."


    Then Wei Xing stood up and left. I actually had a vague feeling that Wei Xing and Lulu were not related to each other. But when I heard that she cared about me, I suddenly seemed to see Lulu¡¯s eyes of concern. My heart became warm, then I touched gently on the blood-colored bracelet on my wrist.


    It''s not that I want to lie to you, Lulu. I was going to revenge Lu Sheng in a way that he couldn¡¯t figure it out at all, but it''s true that it would be more enjoyable to revenge myself on him.

 Chapter 189 New Ghos

    I asked him, Wu Jian was also a big righteous surprise, and the ghost was not within his jurisdiction. In this regard, I was speechless.


    Unfortunately, Wu Jian did not find the Queen¡¯s message, had no name, and no profile. It was difficult to check someone at a music school about 10 thousand people. I understood this very much, but I hope he could do it as soon as possible. After all, I need solid evidence that Wei Xing was not Lulu.


    Of course, I also let Wu Jian to check Wei Xing¡¯s grandmother. I couldn¡¯t give up any clues now.


    I invited Hu Tie and Little Pang to have dinner. I wanted to talk about the current situation of everyone, but after seeing the wounds on my body, the topic became all about how to revenge Lu Sheng. This made me very speechless, and sure enough, everyone had a little devil living in their hearts.


    Hu Tie and Little Pang had to check their dormitory in the evening, so they went back early after eating. Me and Wu Jian had a drink in a night market and had been drinking until almost 12 o''clock when we saw Xiao Lingdang came with several figures. She asked the boss to take away and went to the hotel to book a room. After they finished, I told Xiao Lingdang about everything things.


    Xiao Lingdang was very exciting. Jiaojiao was very unpleasant because I promised to help her find her body, but I totally forgot. If Xiao Lingdang wasn¡¯t here, it was not me to bully Lu Sheng, but Jiaojiao bullied me.


    Repeated apologies again and again. I promised to help Jiaojiao to find the body, Jiaojiao was released at last. Now I know that the original Jiaojiao body had disappeared. Jiaojiao had found the position of where body with the help of Xiao Lingdang. However, besides some pieces of clothes that were hung on the branches, the body was still missing. Jiaojiao and Xiao Lingdang had no ideas. On the other hand, they received my phone call so they could only come for help and told me everything about it by the way.


    I solemnly recommended Wu Jian, the criminal investigation expert beside me. Then Wu Jian promised to help Jiaojiao with in a wry smile, and this matter finally told a paragraph.


    At this time, I was free to look at other ghosts. Along with Xiao Lingdang, there was a little ghost I didn¡¯t know, but it looked like it was only a few months old and he couldn¡¯t talk. There were gestures that I couldn''t understand at all, but fortunately a man in white clothes next to me was interpreting.


    Although I felt weird, I did say hello politely, Xiaogui and Brother Xiao were also greed to me.


    When everyone came to know each other, I looked at the time and it was earlier than 2 o''clock. Then I smirked and asked Xiao Lingdang, "Didn¡¯t we go to talk to Lu Sheng now?"


    Xiao Lingdang applauded, and Jiao Jiao was also a pungent temperament. The two naturally lift their hands to approve, and Xiaogui was also eager to try. Only the Brother Xiao shook his head with a smile, and then he reluctantly agreed to come with us. In fact, no matter Brother Xiao was laughing or not his face seemed always laughing.


    Several ghosts took Lu Sheng¡¯s message from Wu Jian and went out happily. Wu Jian and I planned to sleep. Although I¡¯d like to go and see it, it¡¯s obviously impossible. I was not talking about land. I couldn¡¯t go in the villa area where Lu Sheng lived even if I could get in, how can I still sneak into his home? Not realistic.


    Although my heart was full of regret, but thinking of our plan, I gave a satisfied smile and then dropped off to sleep.


    When I got up in the morning, I was very spirited. Although several ghosts who had been returned last night woke me up several times, I still felt a hundred times more spirited when thinking of what was going to happen today.


    After washing, I got into the music school again with the help of Wu Jian. I immediately went downstairs to Wei Xing because Lu Sheng didn¡¯t live in the school, so I didn''t know where he was now, but I knew he would be back and wait for Wei Xing here. Because yesterday from the mouth of the bystanders, I knew that since Wei Xing came to school, Lu Sheng had come to Wei Xing to attend classes every day.


    Only Wei Xing had appeared in the entrance of the dormitory, but Lu Sheng had not showed up yet. Wei Xing apparently froze a bit, and her feet were slightly embarrassed, but she soon walked in the direction of the school building.


    She was surprised to see me when she was passing by. It seemed that how dared me to come back again and feel unbelievable.


    At this moment, Lu Sheng had already walked with a limp and there was a bruise on his face and his face was not very good. The entire forehead shrouded in a sly feeling that only after seeing ghosts, I wanted to laugh but I hold it.


    Lu Sheng saw me, but also a glimpse, and then look slightly shy. Wei Xing looked at Lu Sheng¡¯s appearance and looked at me with a puzzled look. It seemed she was doubting that I was the one who hit him.


    "Lu Sheng, you?" Wei Xing asked.


    Lu Sheng looked away from me, "It''s okay. I fell yesterday."


    I walked to Lu Sheng and looked at him carefully in his surprised eyes. Before he opened his mouth and looked like a statement.


    "What are you doing?" Lu Sheng looked a bit unhappy.


    I opened my mouth again, "Once you told some people to hit me yesterday, I shouldn''t say it, but, oh, you''ve got something that''s not clean. If I were you, I''ll go back and burn joss sticks." After that, I almost did not tolerate to laugh, hurry and sigh.


    Terrible on the face of Lu Sheng, he carefully looked at Wei Xing, ¡°When did I call someone to beat you?¡±


    I was a little unhappy in my heart. This guy dared to do it but dared not to admit it. I looked up and smiled awkwardly, ¡°No, no, it was my illusion.¡± Then I nodded to Wei Xing and turned away.


    "You, Fuck." Whispering behind me.


    I walked to the grove where I was beaten and sat down on the bench. It seems that the lessons which Lu Sheng had been taught were not enough. How about let Xiao Lingdang to add some more material tonight? Oh, Xiao Lingdang was naughty and Jiaojiao was cheesy. It''s a pity that they were kind-hearted.


    There were footsteps came through the woods. I looked back and it was Wei Xing who was coming to me step by step and looking at me strangely. She stood in front of me and said, ¡°What did you do to Lu Sheng?¡±


    I hated Wei Xing said these words to me because it made me feel that she was concerned about Lu Sheng. Then I said coldly, ¡°Where is Lu Sheng?¡±


    "He said he had something to do, and he hurried away. What did you do to him?"

 Chapter 190 Who

    I shrugging my shoulder said,¡± Am I so horrible?¡±


    Wei Xing bit her teeth but did not say anything. Then she turned away. I don''t know why. At the moment she turned away, I felt my heart empty as if something very important had been lost.


    I sat on the bench for a while. Then I went back to the hotel. After greeting Wu Jian, I backed to ghost house. My heart was in a mess now, just like when in the first love be swayed by the extreme considerations of gain and loss. Mom called and told me the new photo had arrived. She let me go back as soon as possible. I was going back for a change of mood.


    As for Xiao Lingdang, let them play. Didn''t Lu Sheng still be alive and vivid today?


    It had been so late to get back to the ghost house because the car broke down on the road. Instead of looking at the photo, I fell asleep. At night, I got a phone call from Xiao Lingdang by Wu Jian''s mobile phone. She said she had a good time in the evening. This showed that Lu Sheng was very happy either. I fantasized about Lu Sheng coming to beg me and then fell asleep.


    Next day I wake up. Before I could see the photo, Aunt Li pulled me over. She said she wanted to teach me a few methods to defend myself. I thought it was necessarily and mom couldn¡¯t agree anymore. As a result, I learned till night. I was too exhausted to think about seeing photos, even missed Xiao Lingdang¡¯s phone call.


    I wake up again. After reviewing what I learned yesterday, I picked up the envelope. Opening it as usual, then I saw the pictures. At one glance, I was instantly frozen.


    In the first photo, an elegant teenager stood on the green space with a glass of red wine, looking into the distance smiled.


    I didn''t be stunned by the photo, but the people I knew. It was Lu Sheng. At this moment, my mood was very complicated. I even had the feeling to throw out the photo heavily. I was not gonna kill him, but why would I save him?


    After a few deep breaths, I stifled my impulse. After all, this was not just about Lu Sheng, but about dad, brother, sister-in-law, and the grievance dragon vein. Besides, there was a faint fear in my heart that Xiao Lingdang killed Lu Sheng accidentally.


    I didn''t know what the consequences of killing someone who was supposed to be helped were. But I didn''t dare to try. I couldn''t trade the hope of saving my families for having a bad breath.


    I opened the second one.


    It should be that he proposed marriage to Wei Xing. There were waves of antipathy in my heart. This uncomfortable feeling completely diluted the shock I felt when I saw the scattered corpse of Lu Sheng.


    The third photo was the same as last time. It was all blurry. I didn''t pay much attention.


    I put the picture aside. Hesitating for a long time I still pick up the phone to dial Wu Jian''s number. However, Xiao Lingdang was not by his side at this moment. After greeting my mother, I boarded a car to Sishui City.


    People in the ghost house didn''t accompany with me this time. Because on the one hand Xiao Lingdang was over there and on the other hand there were things I always had to face on my own. At least according to Aunt Li''s saying, my life wouldn''t be at risk.


    Arrived at Sishui, I met Xiao Lingdang and others immediately. What made me relax was that although Lu Sheng was frightened by Xiao Lingdang and others, they did not do much harm to his body. The worst was some bumps.


    It made me confused. Could it be said that the danger Lu Sheng coming across didn¡¯t come from us? I couldn''t get the exact information from Xiao Lingdang. I let Wu Jian take me to the Conservatory of Music again and then he waited me on the first floor of Wei Xing¡¯s dorm.


    Time was not right. It took two hours to see Wei Xing going downstairs with calling on her phone. When she saw me, she obviously stupefied a bit. Strange expression showed on her face as if she was forced to smile.


    Then Wei Xing talked a few words on the phone. After a while, Lu Sheng came in a hurry. Just had not seen for two days yet,I nearly couldn''t recognize him. I saw Lu Sheng''s eye socket sunken and his skin dim. The whole man lost a large circle of weight. He watched around carefully while walking as if preventing to be attacked suddenly.


    ¡°You''re satisfied.¡±


    I turned my face. Wei Xing looked at Lu Sheng in pity and whispered to me, "He has become like this."


    "What¡¯s the matter with me? "I still didn''t admit it. But I inwardly felt that Xiao Lingdang and others seemed to be cruel to him.


    Wei Xing glanced at me and said nothing. Lu Sheng had come up to me and looked at me in a strange sight. I shrugged my shoulders and didn''t say anything to stimulate him, just standing there as usual.


    After a while, Lu Sheng picked up the phone ,"Did you find out anything?" When he spoke, Lu Sheng was very excited with his body trembling slightly.


    I couldn''t hear the answer on the other side of the phone. Just listened Lu Sheng "Um" and put down the phone. And then he looked at me full of hatred and fear.


    Frowned, I didn''t know what the Lu Sheng was doing. But in front of Wei Xing, I didn''t want to show my timidity. Even though I was alone without people from ghost house beside me, I should not frighten, moreover, Lu Sheng was a man going to died soon.


    Not long after, an old man dressed in a suit came from one side. His facial hair was white, I thought it was the elder of Lu Sheng. But the old man went in front of Lu Sheng and nodded,¡± My younger master Lu.¡± I knew that he would not be the elder of Lu Sheng.


    Lu Sheng seemed very excited to point at me, "That''s him."


    The old man nodded and observed me carefully for a moment, ¡°I am Qin Fengzi, I don''t know who you are. You are so poisonous to let ghost kill people.¡±


    I glanced at Qing Fengzi then blankly said, "Is there a ghost in the world?"


    Qing Fengzisaid,¡± You are filled with ghost smell. But you still ask whether ghost in the world or not.¡±


    I nodded. Don''t lie to truth. It was unnecessary for me to avoid it. Because I found that when I talked about ghosts, Wei Xing''s expression was not fear, but curiosity, and a bit vaguely excitement.


    ¡°Qing Fengzi, isn¡¯t it? Do you know this Mr. Lu,Lu¡­ won''t last long.¡± I pretended that I didn''t remember Lu Sheng''s name.


    But Qing Fengzi stared,¡± Dare you?¡±


    I spread out my hands and made a look of helplessness,¡± It''s not me. Can¡¯t you figure it out?¡±


    A glimmer of confusing flashed through Qing Fengzi¡¯s eyes,¡± If not you, who would it be?¡±


    "How can I know. Anyway, it''s not me. "


    My words made Qing Fengzi hesitate. However, Lu Sheng began to calm our aside. It seems that the arrival of Qing Fengzi gave him great courage.


    I watched Lu Sheng till he shut up. And then said to Qing Fengzi,¡± I have said it wasn''t me. Believing it or not depend on you. But if you insist to say that is me. Fine.¡±

 Chapter 191 Psychic Fetus

    Xiao Lingdang just thought for a long time and shook her head to show that she had found nothing. However, Jiaojiao told me a strange thing after recalling it for a while, that was, when Xiao Lingdang and Jiaojiao scared Lu Sheng, he just was very scared, but when Xiao Gui went up to scare him, he not only was very afraid, but also kept saying, ¡°I don¡¯t want to exchange¡± or ¡°you haven''t grown up¡± or something else.


    I nodded and thought it looked like there was something wrong with Lu Sheng. But why did he talk to Xiao Gui? Was it because he was having an abortion, as the ghost story told us? Yeah, maybe. But what did the ¡°Don¡¯t exchange¡± mean?


    I immediately called Wu Jian to ask if there was any possibility of having an abortion, but he told me a fact which surprised me, that when it came to women, Lu Sheng refuse to be influenced by the common customs and he even made few girlfriends.


    Wu Jian''s answer made me very depressed, just like when I was going to cope with a bad guy, then the bad guy suddenly became a good guy. However, I still trust Wu Jian¡¯s words, at best, he was blinded. At this point, I intended to put this doubt aside, and then asked Xiao Lingdang for some information, but nothing was found.


    After thinking for a long time, I still had no clue. The only thing I could do was to deal with this thing after seeing what happened to Lu Sheng tonight.


    The next day, I went to the music school, but Lu Sheng did not come to school, and Wei Xing and Qing Fengzi had been waiting for me. However, in this time, the situation was obviously not as harmonious as that of yesterday.


    Before I went there, Wei Xing was the first to question, ¡°What the hell do you do to Lu Sheng?¡±


    I just had a look at Wei Xing, but didn¡¯t answer him, and then turned to Qing Fengzi with a cold expression, saying, ¡°What happened to Lu Sheng last night?¡±


    Qing Fengzi snorted coldly and said, ¡°Your Excellency, since you will not let Lu Sheng go, I just had to have a fight with you.¡±


    I nodded indifferently, ¡°If you want to fight, let¡¯s fight. But first you have to tell me what happened on earth last night?¡±


    Qing Fengzi replied, ¡°What happened? Hum! Don¡¯t you know?¡±


    ¡°If I know, why do I still keep asking you?¡± My temper became a little bad. I hate such self-righteous people most.


    Qing Fengzi felt very puzzled, ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡±


    I nodded and Wei Xing opened his mouth at this moment, ¡°Last night, Lu Sheng was almost freaked to be crazy. He said that his brother came for his life.¡±


    Wei Xing seemed to be frightened by me, and then said with a low voice, ¡°No, I don¡¯t. That is Qing Fengzi.¡± Then the volume of his voice went up immediately, ¡°It''s none of your business.¡±


    When I saw Wei Xing''s reaction, I was relieved. Then I said with doubt, ¡°His brother? Is his brother dead?¡±


    There was no specific situation of Lu Sheng¡¯s family on the information that Wu Jian gave me, so I also didn¡¯t know if Lu Sheng had a brother.


    Qing Fengzi said, ¡°That''s the strangest part. Young Master Lu has no brothers, but he had always been saying that he had a younger brother when he was a child. Until he grew up, he never mentioned that again.¡±


    I laughed and said, ¡°That means it''s a thing of the past. Why do you put this thing on me?¡±


    Qing Fengzi said, ¡°You. You. Aren''t you asking some ghosts to scare him?¡±


    I pointed to the unhealed scar on my face and said, ¡°He lets some people beat me only because I scared him. In fact, I think I am the one who suffer losses.¡±


    Qing Fengzi was stunned for a moment, and then he looked very bad. Obviously, he didn''t know about that thing that Lu Sheng let people beat me. Wei Xing on the side also seemed to get to know something, then immediately felt very sorry about me and just looked at me, and then he didn¡¯t speak.


    After all, I was hit first. Although it seemed that Qing Fengzi wanted to say something, I said that he did first, and Qing Fengzi stopped talking. After all, my words were more reasonable. For this self-righteous man, he wouldn¡¯t naturally make trouble out of nothing.


    I went to one side of the phone and asked Wu Jian to help me find out if Lu Sheng had a brother, then put down phone glumly and sat on the chair on one side. To tell the truth, I didn¡¯t want to help Lu Sheng, no matter whether the ghost was his brother or not, but I had no choice.


    Qing Fengzi warmed me before he left. I used my eyes to tell him that he did not accept the threat, which made him very angry to death. Finally, it was Wei Xing¡¯s persuade that made Qing Fengzi leave.


    When Qing Fengzi left and walked far away, Wei Xing stood in front of me and asked me whether I had done it. Originally, I was in a bad mood, and Wei Xing was still asking. If he didn¡¯t have an face exactly like the face of Lulu, I was almost about to leave.


    Perhaps seeing my reaction, Wei Xing didn¡¯t speak again, but sat down next to me, said very calmly, ¡°Just help Lu Sheng. He wasn¡¯t a bad guy.¡±


    I had a look at Wei Xing but didn''t speak. Wei Xing just sighed, let me think about it and then left.


    I was bored to see many beauties of music school and couldn¡¯t make a decision for a moment. At this time, Wu Jian ¡¯s calling was coming. He told me that Lu Sheng was the only child in his family and didn¡¯t have brothers or sisters. However, he knew something from the mouth of a servant who was born in his family, that he had always said he had a brother. In addition, he always played toys at midnight and said he was playing with his younger brother. Once he was sent to a mental hospital.


    Only later when he went to junior high school, Lu Sheng stopped talking about it. The family also felt that he was cured, so no one talked about it again.


    I admired Wu Jian''s source of information, and we had been talking for a long time before hanging up the phone. However, I still felt it very strange in my heart why did Lu Sheng had always been thinking that he had a brother. Did his parents become pregnant again after giving the birth to him? Then they had to have a abortion. Maybe this was the truth. What¡¯s more, wasn''t family planning being promoted at that time?


    Just only Lu Sheng didn¡¯t mention that again. Did his brother no longer haunt him? Because most of the aborted fetuses were not formed and many of them were very simple in thinking, basically they wouldn¡¯t produce any resentment or obsession and most of them would go to reincarnation when certain time came. Unless it was the unlucky child who had been aborted for many times of reincarnation, there would be the strong resentment and that one child would become the ferocious ghost, who had a special name: psychic fetus.


    Those ghosts who had their own special names were very powerful. However, it was also not right. His family situation was not very consistent with that. The psychic fetus was very fierce. They would kill people according to the relation of blood. Usually parents, brothers, and cousins, etc. Crucially, psychic fetus would start killing people 49 days after it has been aborted. They would never wait for such a long time.

 Chapter 192 The Possibility

    I subconsciously took the card and then was stunned. Was this living depending on woman? I never was the toy boy.


    Wei Xing saw me just looking at him stupidly and her face slightly turned red, ¡°Why don¡¯t you still go for meal. After eating, you just give the card to the dormitory manager.¡± After saying, she ran away.


    I just looked at the food card with a pattern of a big-head doll in my hand. I looked over and over again. What a pity! Why wasn¡¯t this a room card?


    I went to dormitory manager, put down the card in her strange eyes and then left. Whether Wei Xing looked like Lulu or not, as long as she was not Lulu, then she was not the person I was looking for.


    When I got back to the hotel, I told Xiao Lingdang, Wu Jian and other people the information I knew, and all of them seemed to be very excited. Well, it was gossip, but no one gave me useful information. However, they told me a lot of ethical stories about abandoning the wife and children or so at all times and in all countries, and the point was that everyone was still in high spirits. Even I kept shaking my head as I was listening.


    It was not until late at night that they ended the talking and still felt it unfinished. Then all of them went back to have a rest in my despised eyes. I yawned and also tried to sleep. I had despised them all night, so I was tired, too.


    I didn¡¯t go to the music institute the next day, because my mom made a phone call to me late last night, but I probably slept very deeply and didn''t hear it at all, and then I called back, but my mom phone was power off.


    I waited until the noon and finally got mom phone call, but her voice sounded very weak, which made me very worried about her. Then I asked her, but the fact was that she drank with Sister Hua and other people all night. The answer made me very speechless.


    However, mom also got a lot of information about the situation I encountered now. After that, my mom still asked me if she would bring some people to help me, but I just refused. Not to say that I got a lot of people on my side, my mom''s way of talking was also a little unacceptable. I just felt she was a gangster leader. In fact, I understand that my mom was trying to get along well with the people in the ghost building. After all, I was not always in the ghost building, so maybe we would become unfamiliar with each other.


    I took out the paper and pen to sort out the information from my mom. Lu Sheng''s present situation was no more than the following several kinds.


    Second, his younger brother was only a vagrant ghost, and then became friends with Lu Sheng. Until junior high school, ah, ten years of friendship, once Lu Sheng began to ignored him, his heart was naturally full of grievances. Of course, this possibility was not much greater than that of psychic fetus.


    Third, this really was Lu Sheng''s younger brother. No matter how he died, he would be together with Lu Sheng anyway, and the reason was to take it, because between compatriots, especially twin brothers, it was very easy to take away. This possibility was high.


    Fourth, the no-shadow. No-shadow was a strange kind of ghost, most of whom were transferred from these dead people who were weak in their youth and died young. Besides, their abilities varied greatly from high to low and there was a big difference. Because they were born weak, most of no-shadow would find a healthy child and live in his shadow after the death. As the child grew up and until their unfinished life was used up, they would go reincarnation. However, most of them would not be harmful to humans. Of course, as for those with powerful ability, the situation was different. They even would slowly swap the body with the host. Then they became the host and the host would become the shadow. This possibility was also high.


    The fifth and also the last one was the Thought. If ghosts had the obsession, they could be able to live long in human¡¯s world. If men had obsession, they could create the ghost. The strong obsession could even bring the residual souls together, which then would form the Thought. This kind of thought would become the image in one¡¯s obsession and grow stronger and stronger in the process of growth. In addition, its autonomous consciousness was also growing, and the final result was to form an independent individual, but the premise of the formation of an independent individual was to kill the people who make itself. Of course, the obsession itself also had the obsession. It was said that many of them might choose not to kill their creators, but to live and die with them. This possibility was the highest.


    Lu Sheng was the only child in his family and his family condition was also very good, so the obsession of these people who was born in such a family were less likely to be distracted, because he wouldn¡¯t be distracted by money, housing, car, and so on. What¡¯s more, Lu Sheng also made few girlfriends, so there was little obsession about this aspect, too.


    Therefore, it was very likely that Thought was produced caused by the over-concentrated obsession.


    However, afterwards, because of his special performance, the existence of Thought was denied by others from the outside. This might just be an escape for Lu Sheng, but for Thought, this was a naked abandonment. Lu Sheng was like the parents of Thought. He gave birth to it but abandoned it after over 10-year parenting. Do you think it won¡¯t be very angry?


    I also thought the possibility of Thought was very high, but only for one time, I couldn¡¯t be understanding that what kind of obsession would made Lu Sheng able to create Thought or create a younger brother without ground.


    Did he want to have a younger brother so much when he was a child? I gave to Wu Jian the information collected by my mom and he also soon went to investigate the situation of Lu Sheng when he was a child, but I didn¡¯t know how he investigate it in detail. However, Wu Jian had never let me down. Sometimes, I even suspected that he was not criminal police, but a spy, because he even knew a lot of other people''s private matters, which made me admire him very much.


    Wu Jian called back less than three hours after he went out. At first, I was very surprised at his efficiency, but he didn''t say anything about it at all, and he just told me that Wei Xing was looking for me and she looked very worried.


    In fact, I really didn¡¯t know how to face Wei Xing, because I was afraid that she was not Lulu I was looking for. After staying for a while, I still went to the Music Institute. However, this time, Instead of using the identification of Wu Jian, I was directly taken in the Music Institute by Wei Xing.


    I didn¡¯t speak but Wei Xing said, ¡°Qing Fengzi died. Please, help Lu Sheng.¡±


    To be honest, I was startled by her words. Although I didn¡¯t know what level Qing Fengzi¡¯s strength was, I know that old man never was those swindlers on the street, and he must have certain level of strength. What I didn¡¯t expect was that he even died in such a few days.


    ¡°He really died and I didn¡¯t lie to you.¡± Wei Xing said anxiously.


    I didn''t doubt Wei Xing''s words and she had no reason to lie to me more. I just simply thought this was unbelievable, as it just looked like that I still didn¡¯t believe her words.


    ¡°How he die?¡± I asked her.


    Wei Xing said, ¡°We went to Lu Sheng''s house together. Qing Fengzi mentioned you before he died, so Lu Sheng''s parents also wanted your help.¡±

 Chapter 193 The Death of Body

    I didn¡¯t know why when I was watching her awkward reaction, I thought it was a little funny, and then I shook head and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡±


    Wei Xing nodded and then two of us went to Lu Sheng¡¯s home.


    Lu Sheng¡¯s home was by the Si Shui River, the largest river in Si Shui City and his house was in the highest villa district of the city. Because Wei Xing had made a phone call on the road, Lu Sheng¡¯s parents were already waiting for us at the gate when we arrived there.


    When they saw us, both his father, Lu Haitao and his mother, showed a surprising expression and both of them seemed to be very surprised at me age. However, they never behaved as book said, looking down upon us. Instead, they behaved very politely, and thought there was a flicker of anxiety in their eyes, they looked very modest. It was sure enough that there must be some certain reasons why successful people could succeed. Maybe it was very difficult for those people who just had low IQ or low EQ succeed.


    On the way to the villa, his father gave me a detailed account of the situation at last night. It turned out that at the beginning, although Qing Fengzi did know there was a ghost doing something bad, after all, he had the confidence with his own strength and then he didn¡¯t care about this too much. What¡¯s more, he had been thinking that it was I who did this, so he always focused on me.


    Although some arrangements had been made in the villas of Lu, the functions of most of them were basically mainly prevention and expulsion. Just last night, Lu Sheng, who had been sleeping, got up suddenly, and did not even wear his clothes. Then he took out the old toys from the sundry room and played them alone in the living room, and he even would talk with someone from time to time.


    The servant, who heard the voice, came out and was startled. Then she informed Qing Fengzi immediately. As for Lu Haitao and Fu Xiao, they both got up later. After coming out, they saw Lu Sheng tightly stuck in the neck of Qing Fengzi. Meanwhile he also roared like a beast.


    Lu Sheng¡¯s strength was so great that even Lu Haitao and others used all their strength, they couldn''t pull back his hands. Finally, Qing Fengzi threw something on his face to make him retreat with screech.


    Just when all the people came forward and tried to tie up Lu Sheng, Qing Fengzi was talking to the air alone. Because everyone at that moment was so panicked, no one had remembered what he exactly said. What they just knew was that later, his face turned bad and he even said he was wrong, and he shouldn¡¯t have been involved in this thing.


    I confirmed what Qing Fengzi said before his death again and again and after knowing that it was correct, I suddenly fell into deep contemplation. In Lu Haitao¡¯s eyes, the meaning of this sentence was that Lu Sheng and I had conflicts before, so whether to save him just could be decided by me. However, combining with the previous reaction of Qing Fengzi, I thought it was very likely that there might be another explanation.


    That was, after Qing Fengzi talked to the ghost, he felt that he had done something wrong, and whether or not to save Lu Sheng would be up to me. As for why did he think so? I had my own reasons, too. You know, there must be preconditions for being controlled by the ghosts or being captivated by ghosts. In addition to the cause and effect between the person and the ghost, this would only appear when the people were in bad luck or the popularity was low.


    Qing Fengzi, as a man who had practice, basically could never be controlled by any ghosts. Therefore, I didn''t think his behavior at that time was caused by being captivated by ghosts or being controlled by ghosts.


    By the way, if he wasn¡¯t controlled by ghost, how could he have committed suicide? Just because he did something wrong?


    Forget it. Let''s go to the villa and take a look.


    The villa was so wide and there were not many people. After the accident of Lu Sheng, many servants had resigned and left. After all, this was not at the ancient. These servants were not the inferior, so it was also impossible for them to accompany the family to live and die together.


    Lu Sheng''s room was the largest room on the second floor and its left and right rooms were originally empty. However, after Qing Fengzi came here, to make it easier for him to take close care of Lu Sheng, the room on the right side was given to him to live.


    I first went to the room of Lu Sheng, whose room was covered with yellow magic figure and windows were widely opened so that the sun could come in. At this moment, Lu Sheng, who was wrapped tightly by the quilt, was lying on the bed. Even he was in a deep sleep, I could still see his intensely active eyeballs through his eyelids. It seemed that this guy was having a nightmare.


    At first, Lu Haitao prepared to wake up Lu Sheng, but I stopped him. Now He was not in any danger and I didn''t like to see him either.


    Then I went to the room of Qing Fengzi and his room was very clean. The only thing that looked a little messy was the table, on which there was a half-unfinished magic figure as well as a half-broken brush. He seemed to leave in a hurry. I thought that he should have heard the voice of the servant and hurried out while he was drawing magic figures.


    I took a look at that unfinished magic figure. After Old Mrs. Li¡¯s assault, I could recognize that this was just an ordinary mind-calming magic figure, which was estimated to be given to Lu Sheng to make him calm down. There was a slight fluctuation of supernatural power on the unfinished magic figure paper, which also proved from the side, that Qing Fengzi was a master whose practice was successful.


    After going back to the living room, I made a phone call to Xiao Lingdang and arranged some things. Then I asked to live here at night. However, I also made it clear that although I live here, I would not necessarily help Lu Sheng.


    Lu Haitao was still trying to convince me and Fu Xiao was almost on her knees. When they saw my attitude was firm, they finally agreed with my opinion. I didn¡¯t know why Wei Xing also stayed here, which made me uncomfortable in my heart. That uncomfortable feeling was just like that my own girlfriend was caring about my enemies. Of course, Wei Xing still had nothing to do with me now.


    As for confirming whether Wei Xing was Lulu, I would have to wait until this thing was done at least. In addition, maybe after Wei Xing saw the ghosts, I could be more sure of her relationship with Lulu. After all, girls were always afraid of ghosts and rarely were like Wei Xing who was so bold.


    After dinner at the villa, Lu Sheng woke up and I told him to stay in the living room and then I stopped paying attention to him. I just refreshed my spirit by closing my eyes because I couldn''t do anything anyway. Xiao Lingdang and other people had arrived here when we were having dinner and were waiting for my instructions outside the villa.


    The sky was getting dark. Maybe because his parents were very afraid, and they turned on all the lights of the whole villa. It was very bright. Nonetheless, for Lu Sheng, it didn¡¯t seem to give him a sense of security and his whole body curled in the arms of Fu Xiao, just like a poor kitten.


    Wei Xing had cast sympathetic eyes on Lu Sheng for several times, which made me depressed naturally. For one moment, I even wanted to leave here directly.


    When the old bell in the living room struck 12:00 at midnight, there were some changes in the living room. There was a breeze in the room whose door and windows all were originally closed tightly.

 Chapter 194 Butterfly in Dream

    I slowly sat up straight but didn¡¯t have any reaction. Now Xiao Lingdang out there haven''t given any warning yet, so I thought it was not too dangerous. More importantly, I needed Xiao Lingdang and other people to help me figure out what we were going to meet.


    The wind in the living room gradually strengthened, blowing Wei Xing''s long hair flying in the air disorderly. In the strange wind, I could feel Yin Qi in it, the pure Yin Qi, without any grievances. I thought it wouldn¡¯t be a psychic fetus or a grumpy ghost.


    I took a look at the shadow of Lu Sheng. Although the shadow was fading because of the bright light, I still didn¡¯t see any other differences. It seemed unlikely that there would be the no-shadow. Was it really Thought?


    To be honest, I didn''t think Lu Sheng was a person with deep obsession, but now there seemed to be only one answer.


    After the wind began to blow, Lu Sheng became nervous and constantly trembled. Meanwhile, he also gave out sound just like the whine of a frightened puppy. Lu Haitao and Fu Xiao were accompanying Lu Sheng on his right and left side and constantly comforted him. Unfortunately, the effect was not very good.


    This atmosphere made Wei Xing more nervous. Sometimes she looked at Lu¡¯s family and other times looked at me, and it seemed that she was thinking about which side she should go to. I really would like to comfort Wei Xing, but at this moment, the lights in the living room began to flicker one by one. Then I realized that protecting was more important than comforting.


    Because the lights flickered one by one, it wouldn¡¯t influence my sight. Moreover, I could even confirm the ghost¡¯s path by observing the flickering lights.


    It was circling around us as if the beast were watching its prey.


    I didn''t take any superfluous actions, but I still wondered why I couldn''t see this ghost now. In addition to the grievance dragon vein, this was the first ghost that I couldn¡¯t see. My heart couldn''t help beating. Is this guy as strong as the grievance dragon vein? If so, I guessed that I could only take Wei Xing to run away.


    However, after I carefully thought about it, I thought this was impossible. grievance dragon vein, that was the dragon vein as well as Dragon Spirit. It wasn¡¯t the roadside cabbage, so how could a ghost that appeared casually be compared with the grievance dragon vein?


    I couldn¡¯t see it. Was it because the Thought? I had to say that this was possible. After all, my understanding about Thought just stayed on a matter of simple information told by my mom.


    The speed of lights¡¯ flickering became faster and faster. A few lights even burst because of the rapid flickering and made the sound of breaking of glass, which made the people in the room constantly scream.


    Lu Haitao¡¯s true feelings were revealed at this moment and his eyes even turned red. With a little of madness, I didn''t know whether I should praise him for protecting his own child or despise his over-confident.


    But I had to say that his words just now did work. For some reason, the lights didn¡¯t flicker anymore and the wind in the living room seemed to be much weaker. The only thing that could prove what happened just now broken glass on the ground.


    The response of the ghost seemed to increase Lu Haitao''s courage and then I only heard him yelling breathless, ¡°No matter what you are, is there anything wrong with my family?¡±


    ¡°Whining....¡± In the living room appeared crying and the crying sounded very sad.


    Lu Haitao had a sharp decrease in his momentum because of the crying and he became at a loss. Then he turned his head, looked at me and frowned. This ghost was very strange because his cry sounded very sad, and it even made me feel uncomfortable in the heart after listening. In addition, the crux of the problem also lied in why it would cry?


    It can¡¯t be because of the scolding from Lu Haitao.


    Now I vaguely felt that this ghost was not the Thought. In order to make it clear, I behaved as if I was indifferent, ¡°If you have any wrong, I can tell me. If Lu Sheng should die, then I will turn around and leave.¡±


    The sound of crying in the living room suddenly stopped and Lu Haitao was very surprised and just looked at me. Fu Xiao even began to beg for me more loudly and let me must save Lu Sheng.


    I ignored them and just waited for the ghost¡¯s answer.


    When I was about to think that the ghost had left, I found that the surrounding scene was slowly changing. The bright and luxurious villa slowly changed into a mottled and old house.


    By the time the change was over, I was surprised to find that the others had disappeared, and I was sitting alone in the house. My look also changed and the size of my hands and feet became smaller. I got out of the house, walked in front of the stone cylinder full of lotus at the door and looked into the water surface. Then I had changed and I looked like a 5 or 6-year-old boy. What¡¯s more, I even was still a little familiar with this look.


    Just when I finished looked into mirror, a middle-aged woman next to me smiled and greeted to me, ¡°Lu Sheng, are you going out to play?¡±


    I looked at the woman who was peeling potatoes and just nodded. I felt very astonished in my heart. Did I change into the 5 or 6-year-old Lu Sheng? No! I must have entered Lu Sheng¡¯s memory.


    I have also entered a similar memory illusion before. At that time, I was just a bystander but now I became Lu Sheng, why? What made me even more surprised was how did I become Lu Sheng? Lu Sheng even wasn¡¯t a ghost.


    I tried to contact Xiao Lingdang but she didn¡¯t have reaction, which made me feel a little uneasy, because it was so weird. I had never heard of a ghost who could bring people into other people''s memory, even directly made them change into other people.


    However, I¡¯d been in it, so I had no other way. At least until I found a way out, I had to try my best to keep calm. Once the ghost knew I just looked very strong, but the fact was not, I couldn''t imagine what would happen to me.


    But fortunately, I had learned a few skills from Old Mrs. Li, so at least, I wouldn¡¯t just be a burden quietly like before.


    The place where I was standing should be a former home of Lu¡¯s family. This was a quadrangle and it was obvious that not just Lu¡¯s family live here. It was supposed to be a lot of mixed families and its style was very simple and unsophisticated. Even just taking a look, I could know it was worth a fortune. Of course, it would be many years later.


    The middle-aged woman who greeted to me might has seen me always standing there and felt a little worried, and then just asked me, ¡°Lu Sheng, why do you just stay there without moving? You see your friend again, do you? You''re so lucky. We can''t see your friend, so he can only play with you alone. Hey! Hey! Hey!¡±

 Chapter 195 Torture of Ghos

    His hair was gray, his eyes were sunken, his face looked haggard and his clothes, though clean, was very wrinkled, as though it had been squeezed. When he saw me, he showed me a smile and even got his clothes neatly specially.


    I naturally knew that he didn¡¯t smile at me, but smiled at who I was now, because now I was Lu Sheng.


    He walked over and touched my head affectionately and also asked whether I had finished my homework. Although I didn¡¯t know now whether Lu Sheng had finished his homework, I still nodded my head to indicate that I had finished. In addition, I took the opportunity of nodding the head to avoid Lu Haitao''s hand. My head was touched by a strange man. If I had a bad temper, I might have hit him, but actually I didn¡¯t. Was I supposed to behave as if I loved it?


    He probably still didn¡¯t notice my change. Then he went back to the house for a while and he seemed to be looking for something, and then went out soon. He even comforted me and said he would come back soon when he left.


    I was so glad that he left so fast, but when Lu Haitao stepped out of the gate, the middle-aged woman also was gone. Of course, it definitely wasn¡¯t that I met the ghost and the fact was that the woman went back to her own room. Through the blurred paper window, I could even clearly see the middle-aged woman was changing clothes. Uh, this was not a good time to go in now.


    Since I have already gone back to the past, well, as least I thought so, I still would love to see the scenery out here. Then I avoided a few people who let me not go around and got out of this small yard.


    Outside was a narrow street but there was crowded with people, most of who still rode the old-style bicycle. Besides, it could be seen that the neighborhood was very harmonious, and the voice of greeting could be heard without end.


    Just as I was wondering which way to go, I saw a child in a corner on one side, a very familiar child, who was standing there lonely and looking at me, without speaking.


    I was shocked and then I seemed to think of something, because the child had the same face as the current Lu Sheng.


    I guessed that it was he who led me into this illusion, and then without hesitation, I carefully avoided cars and went to the child''s side. There originally was no expression on his face but when he saw me coming to him, he immediately showed a smiling face and said, ¡°Brother, let''s play together.¡±


    I just nodded and then did nothing since I actually really didn¡¯t know what I should play with this child.


    Xiao Sheng, this child was called Xiao Sheng, so was the full name of this child Lu Sheng? Besides, what game did he play with me yesterday? Of course, I didn¡¯t know, so I had to follow his words and said, ¡°Let''s play yesterday''s game, OK?¡±


    He looked unhappy, then he held back his tear and hesitated for a long time. Finally, he nodded and then walked to a dead end on one side, where there was nobody.


    Of course, I had to follow him. When I went to the dead end and saw his performance, I was stunned. I just saw him naked, revealing his skinny body. Then he took out a small bottle from the wall crevice on one side and looked at me as if he was begging for me, but when he saw I had no reaction, he silently opened the small bottle in his hand in tears.


    The yellowish viscous liquid in the small bottle dripped directly on the his skinny body. In my surprised eyes, he just quietly lay on the ground, motionless, and only his tears have been dripping and there was still full of the sense of begging in his eyes.


    Although I was surprised by everything in front of me, I still didn''t dare to make any reaction, because I really didn¡¯t knew what on earth he was doing.


    However, it wasn''t long before I finally knew it.


    On the ground, many ants lined up in a almost 2-com long line and slowly came out. It seemed that they had knew there was something. I just saw these ants climb straight up to Xiao Sheng¡¯s body and revolved around the yellowish liquid that dripped down on his body.


    Then Xiao Sheng began to scream, and the big ant kept biting the yellowish liquid. In fact, it was also biting Xiao Sheng¡¯s skinny body.


    From his face, I could even feel how much pain he was bearing and I even wanted to rush over to save this poor child, but I didn¡¯t, because I was afraid that my movement would made him suffer from the greater pain.


    I just looked at him. At this moment, I even wanted to kill Lu Sheng personally. This child was still so young, but Lu Sheng even could do such a terrible thing. In addition, judging from Xiao Sheng¡¯s reaction, I guessed this absolutely was not the first time for him.


    However, meanwhile, there was also big question in my heart. Xiao Sheng was a ghost and I also had felt this point. The key point was that even the ghost was very weak, he could never be bullied by little child who was only a few years old and why could even these ants bit a ghost?


    After a long time, the yellowish liquid had been eaten or taken away by the ants, but Xiao Sheng had not stopped screaming painfully. His little body was still shaking and the places on his body that had been bitten by the ants were all red dots.


    I had been bitten by such a black ant in the countryside before. In fact, when the ants was biting me, I just felt like that someone was needling me with the needle and I even could still bear it. The key point was the feeling after being biting. The places on my body that were bitten by ants sharply painful, just like being burned by the fire. In addition, I also felt unbelievably itching and I was even eager to cut off the place on my body that was bitten.


    However, Xiao Sheng even stood up, with his body trembling. His face turned steel blue and his figure also became a little blurred, but his eyes became bright and meanwhile, he was looking at me with hope.


    ¡°Bro...Brother, could...could you give me the food?¡±


    He said it very carefully and intermittently because of the sharp pain, but his bright eyes have never changed.


    I knew that ghosts didn¡¯t need to eat anything, but I didn¡¯t know what he really wanted, so I could only silently look at him.


    When Xiao Sheng saw that I didn¡¯t respond, his bright eyes gradually faded down. Then he lowered his head and said, ¡°This...This time...you still don¡¯t...have that? I...I...I will try...try harder.¡±


    Then Xiao Sheng just sniffed and slowly disappeared in the air.


    At this moment, I felt painful in my heart. If Lu Sheng just beat Xiao Sheng up, even seriously, I guessed I also could accept it. However, now this totally was abuse.


    He was abusing a child who was just 5 or 6 years old and even looked like the same as himself. I just stood there and made myself calm down after a long time. Then I walked to the place where Xiao Sheng took out a small bottle. I took out the bottle and smelled it. Yellowish liquid was honey, but there still was a little strange smell in it. I couldn''t tell what it was.


    As I put aside my anger caused by seeing Xiao Sheng being abused, my doubts grew bigger and bigger. The honey wouldn¡¯t work on the ghosts, let alone make ants bite them. Therefore, I firmly thought the thing that smelled weird must being doing mischief, but it was also obvious that such a thing couldn¡¯t be made only by Lu Sheng, who still was a child.

 Chapter 196 Ghost Cream

    When he saw me, he even stared at me and then came to me, waving his hands, and scolded me loudly, ¡°Who let you out?¡± As he was saying, he even wanted to beat me. However, his hand shook in the air for a few times and finally he put his hand down. Then he held me tightly and I even couldn¡¯t believe that he just cried, which made many passers-by stop and keep looking at us.


    After a long time, Lu Haitao took my hand and dragged me into the yard, and then took me into the house in the neighbors¡¯ whisper.


    After closing the door, he took a few deep breaths and asked me, ¡°You play with your younger brother again?¡±


    He obviously didn''t want me to answer and then just he directly got irritable, shouting, ¡°You don¡¯t have the brother. You don¡¯t have a brother. Do you know that!¡±


    I just lowed my head and didn¡¯t speak. Obviously, Lu Haitao thought Lu Sheng must have met the ghost and judging from his reaction, he seemed not to know what Lu Sheng had done. Accordingly, everything should have nothing to do with him. Then the problem came that who on earth taught Lu Sheng to make the honey in that small bottles?


    Lu Haitao scolded me for a long time, and he seemed to feel very tired, so he finally stopped scolding. Then he locked me in the house and hurried out again.


    I found a stool to sit down and continued thinking about the situation. However, at this moment, Xiao Sheng slowly appeared and his clothes have been dressed, with his two hands still constantly scratching the place bitten by the ants.


    ¡°Brother, I got you scolded again.¡± He walked over and bore the strange itching on his body. Then in my astonished eyes, he took out a slender stick and handed it to me. Seeing his expression, I thought maybe he wanted me to use it beat him.


    I took the long sticks, which had become very smooth because of the regular use, but no matter how I observed it, I still didn¡¯t think it was used to beat people. What surprised me more was that the center of this long stick was made of willow. It was the most central tree trunk of the willow tree over a hundred years. It was much more powerful to beat the ghost than any other sallow.


    In other words, if I had this stick in my hand, just after a few times of beating, even sister Hua, such a ghost with years of experience would also be badly frightened, but of course, the prerequisite was that I could beat her successfully.


    After Xiao Sheng saw me taking over that long stick, his body obviously trembled slightly and he also unconsciously stepped back. It seemed that he thought of something and then he immediately retreated to his original position with a scared expression.


    Who would he be? And why would he manipulated Lu Sheng to bully a little child? I totally had no idea.


    It seemed that Xiao Sheng saw that I still didn¡¯t beat him. Not only didn¡¯t he feel very lucky, but also he took a few steps forward and behaved as if he wanted me to beat him right now.


    I knew it. This probably was a necessary step in Lu Sheng''s abuse of him. Then, without hesitation, I just took that long stick to beat him very gently.


    Then his arm suddenly emitted a black smoke, just like that the cold water was poured into the hot oil, making the sound of ¡°zizizizizi¡±. At this moment, Xiao Sheng also couldn¡¯t stand it and gave out louder wailing, even louder than that when he was bitten by ants. He just kept rolling on the ground and his arm that had been beaten by me had continued to fade into obscurity.


    After a long time, Xiao Sheng finally stopped walling, just sat down on the ground and kept twitching. Meanwhile, he also looked at that stick, with his eyes filled with fear.


    For a long time, he only looked at me with his expectant eyes, ¡°Brother, could...could...could give...give me the food now?¡±


    I was stunned for a while and thought about it, and then I replied to him, ¡°Just take it yourself.¡±


    Xiao Sheng never showed an expression of doubt or any other reaction as I worried. Instead, I became very excited. After he struggled for several times and failed getting up, he crawled on the ground, went to one corner of the wall, dug out a brick, and reached out to dig out a piece of black thing in the crevice and looked back at me.


    I walked slowly, looking at the place where the black thing was hidden. If Xiao Sheng hadn¡¯t found that thing, even I was dead, I thought I still couldn¡¯t still find it.


    It seemed that Xiao Sheng saw me unhappy, so he hesitated to divide out a small half of that black thing I dug out and put it back into the crevice. Then he took that nail-cover-sized black thing in his hand and began to lick it, and even showed an enjoying expression on his face. It was as if the people who had just howled on the ground wasn¡¯t him.


    After he finished licking that black thing, I carefully put the brick back in its place. Then he just reluctantly took a look at me, thanked me sincerely and disappeared.


    Thank me. I had to shake my head and I also thought this little ghost seemed to have no problem in his IQ and why did he even said ¡°thank you¡± to me. Well, I would think he said ¡°thank you¡± to me in advance. Once I found out the truth and knew if the truth was that you made reprisals because of Lu Sheng''s mistake, then I would let you revenge.


    I believed that that father and brother would also agree with me.


    I stood for a while before bending over and taking out the movable brick. Then I picked up the black thing inside with the long stick in my hand and took a looked. This look directly made my fine hair erect and even made me feel very cold.


    That black thing was the ghost cream, also called Yin xian plaster. According to the introduction of Old Mrs. Li, this was the equivalent of human¡¯s opium, but only worked to ghosts, and its harm was even more terrifying than that of the most terrifying opium.


    Once, only once, even if the ghosts accidentally smelled it, they would be addictive and could never quit. What¡¯s more, when the ghosts had the addiction attack, they could produce a very strange temperature, just like that the ghosts stood under the sun, the whole body was like being burned by the fire and the ghost soul would never disappear. Instead, it would continue in this state until the ghost eat the Yin xian plaster again.


    In addition, like opium, the consumption amount would get bigger and bigger, and in the end, the ghost would have to choose to lose their soul.


    And what was more horrible was that even after the reincarnation, there existed this addiction. Moreover, you physical condition still would be very weak and you also couldn¡¯t live to no more 18 years old. If you still chose to die, then you would repeat the painful days of the last life, and you would choose to lose your spirit again, then go reincarnation again. It was an endless loop.


    My hands were shaking and I even didn¡¯t notice that the stick fell to the ground. It was a blank in my mind. Then I thought that how much hate did a man have to do such a horrible thing!


    I never believe that Xiao Sheng was addicted to this thing only now. You have to know that the ghost cream was not a common thing. Even Old Mrs. Li had ever seen it and she just told me this as a strange story.


    After putting the bricks back, I sat down on the chair and my heart was filled with resentment against the unknown man. I had never hated a person like this, never!


    Xiao Sheng never appeared again in the rest of the time. I was just like a puppet, finishing the dinner with Lu Haitao and his wife. Then in their worried eyes, I went back to sleep in the room alone. At this moment, I really wanted illusion to end here and I could go back and kill Lu Sheng by myself.

 Chapter 197 Weirdness and Puzzle

    I didn''t want to give him the ghost cream, but I hoped he could get rid of ghost cream just like giving up a drug addiction. However, according to what Old Mrs. Li said, this was almost impossible.


    All this had made the hatred in my heart grow stronger and stronger, but when I was almost burned down by my own anger, I found that things might not be as simple as I thought.


    Because of one of his words, ¡°Brother, can you give me back my body? My mother is sick and I want to see her. Just a moment.¡±


    While Xiao Sheng was saying this, he dared not even look at me. His voice was so low that I almost didn''t hear it. After that, he took a few steps back, then knelt on his knees and shivered on the ground.


    I knew that Lu Sheng¡¯s mother, Fu Xiao, had been sick, but it was just a common cold. Perhaps because of Lu Sheng¡¯s things, neither her mental nor physical condition was not very good. Therefore, her condition looked very serious.


    But what on earth did Xiao Sheng¡¯s words mean? Give back his body to him? Did the current Lu Sheng¡¯s body belong to him? I had no idea at all, so I decided to try it out. Even if this body didn¡¯t belong to Xiao Sheng, but because Lu Sheng abused Xiao Sheng in such a cruel way, I thought it was still doing good to give his body to Xiao Sheng.


    After getting my permission, Xiao Sheng was very excited and even his face was showing a rare red halo. This was the first time I saw the face of ghosts could show a red halo. I could imagine that he must be very excited at that time.


    Although very excited, Xiao Sheng still behaved very carefully when he came over, as if he was afraid that he would carelessly hurt me.


    Xiao Sheng¡¯s figure slowly entered the Lu Sheng¡¯s body. With his gradually entering, I felt like I was still filling myself after I was full and my whole body had an inexplicable feeling of distending pain.


    As Xiao Sheng''s whole figure entered the body, I slowly let go of the body''s control. Then the question arose in my mind that the present situation was very similar to that of being possessed by a ghost, but it also was different, because I could feel that I could still control my whole body. Although Xiao Sheng also could control the body, once I wanted to control it, he would be naturally excluded.


    Just as I was thinking about it, Xiao Sheng had controlled the body to run out of the house and found a small clinic at the mouth of the alley very familiarly. At the moment when he saw Fu Xiao, He just jumped on her and burst into tears, which made Fu Xiao constantly comfort her own child in her weakness.


    Xiao Sheng was very skillful in controlling this body and his feelings to Fu Xiao was also very sincere. At this moment, I suddenly felt that maybe this body really belonged to Xiao Sheng and he was the real Lu Sheng.


    But where did Lu Sheng come from? Why did he not only take up Xiao Sheng¡¯s body, but also abuse him? I suddenly felt that this thing was getting more and more complicated.


    At this moment, Lu Haitaocame in from the outside and when he saw my present appearance, he was very astonished. After comforting me, he hastily asked me what had happened? It seemed that my abnormal performance had frightened him.


    After almost opening his mouth for a few times, Xiao Sheng finally bowed his head and dared not speak. It seemed that Lu Sheng had a great deal of power in his mind. Just when I thought this trip of visiting the family was about to end.


    Xiao Sheng suddenly said, with a very rapid tone, ¡°Father, someone has robbed me of my body and he even forbade me from coming back.¡±


    Everyone was stunned, including me. After that, I even had a sense of relaxation. Just say it. Just say it. Since Lu Sheng could grow up smoothly and no longer met the ghost, it indicated that he must meet a master when he was a child.


    Although now I still didn¡¯t know who on earth occupied Xiao Sheng¡¯s body, if I could let him take back his body and make him grow up smoothly, I thought it was a good thing. At last, I could ask Old Mrs. Li to help them destroy the evil ghost.


    At first, Xiao Sheng seemed to be very scared, but when he saw that I did not have reaction, he became bold gradually. Although incoherent, he still scared Lu Haitao. Then he quickly took the Lu Sheng¡¯s body and Xiao Sheng and me inside the body to a very dilapidated small house.


    The house was not only dilapidated but also small, and in the doorway sat a dirty Taoist dressed in a bun. That man exactly was Qing Fengzi.


    Qing Fengzi at this moment was younger than that I saw now, but his level of Taoism strength might not be low, because at a glance, he could know there were two ghosts in Lu Sheng¡¯s body. Then he immediately said to Lu Haitao. Then Lu Haitao was startled and quickly asked him to do spell.


    His method was very simple and he just expelled ghost that possessed the body, but I just couldn¡¯t understand some redundant movements. After all, I had just received one-day assault training, so it was good enough of me to recognize it.


    However, the thing I didn¡¯t expect happened just after Qing Fengzi had done the spelt. The one who was expelled from his body was Xiao Sheng? I was stunned there and confused that this body didn¡¯t belong to Xiao Sheng?


    After being expelled, Xiao Sheng eyes were filled with despair. He kept trying to run back, but was beaten several times by the Qing Fengzi, and screamed on the ground. Finally he was directly put into a small gourd.


    Then Lu Haitao thanked Qing Fengzi very much, but I just looked at all this in a daze. My thought still stayed at that moment when Xiao Sheng was beaten by Qing Fengzi. Then I have already vaguely understood that why Qing Fengzi would knock his head against the wall to kill himself.


    Lu Haitao took me home and happily made a large table of delicacies. Obviously, he was celebrating, but I silently felt sad for Lu Haitao, because the situation now was very obvious.


    Combining with Qing Fengzi¡¯s suicide and the words before his suicide, I could basically be sure that the child who was expelled from the body and arrested by him was the real Lu Sheng.


    Nevertheless, who was this Lu Sheng who was occupying Lu Sheng¡¯s body? And where did the ghost cream and the centenary stick of the willow heart come from? What did he want to do to occupy Lu Sheng¡¯s body? If he just wanted to find a substitute simply, he didn¡¯t have to go back to abused Xiao Sheng.


    What was most important was that it was obvious that this ghost that occupied Lu Sheng¡¯s body had a higher fitness with this body, even higher than that of Xiao Sheng, so Qing Fengzi would think he was the real owner of the body.


    He was no-shadow? Or Thought?

 Chapter 198 The Back Mountain

    I also finally got a chance to talk to the middle-aged woman who was talkative for a while. Although the middle-aged woman has been mocking, I still got a lot of information.


    This quadrangle was an old house and Lu Haitao moved in when his father was still alive, so he could be said as the old neighborhood of the middle-aged woman and other people from the childhood. Maybe you could hide many things from relatives or friends, but you couldn¡¯t have way to do it from your neighbors, because you never knew where your neighbor would look at you, especially in such a bungalow.


    Although many words of middle-aged women could be said in a subjective way and she also added some subjective emotion into her words, I still completely sorted out some ideas.


    First, Lu Haitao''s father died early, probably just when Lu Sheng was born. Since his father was buried in the back mountain, he often went there and he usually told his neighbors that he was going to look for the position where his father was buried. However, he went there for a lot of times and sometimes, he even took Lu Sheng with him. You know, Lu Sheng was very very young at that time, so it was obviously uncommon.


    Second, when Lu Sheng grew up, he never went to the back mountain once. Even when his family went to sweep the grave at every festival and at New Year, he never went there. For the neighbors, it was said that Lu Sheng was weak from childhood and he couldn¡¯t that place. Now Lu Sheng was 7 years old, but he still never went to grandfather''s grave once, which on longer could be no explained just by his poor body.


    Third, because Lu Sheng didn¡¯t go to the grave, and in order take care for him, his mother, Fu Xiao also naturally didn¡¯t go there. Then this point was more unreasonable. At least, she was the daughter-in-law!


    Forth, in fact, Lu Haitao¡¯s father was never buried in the back mountains and the one who was buried there was other people. As for who he was, the middle - aged woman gave me a lot of answers, but about this, I thought maybe it was the guesswork of middle-aged woman. However, I thought her words couldn¡¯t be entirely groundless, so perhaps this was the most important point.


    Now all the clues pointed to the back mountain, where the bones of Lu Haitao¡¯s father was buried, so I was going to go there in the evening. As for why I didn¡¯t go during the day, hum, if I wanted to see the ghost, there was no reason for me to go there during the day. Of course, what was more important was that although the ghost on my body, Xiao Sheng, had been caught, Lu Haitao was obviously still very worried about the safety of Lu Sheng, so I couldn''t go out of the courtyard at all now.


    The back mountain was not far, but for my small arms and legs and small physical strength, such a distance was definitely a test. Just after walking to the foot of the mountain, I felt tired and breathless.


    In addition, the back mountain was also not big and it was also in the city. More than 10 years later, it had been surrounded by the city and became a park. Not to mention during the day, even at night, there still were many lovers who was making a secret meeting.


    However, now there was no one, because the path up the mountain was full of dirt roads and there were lots of graves disorderly. Therefore, no one dared meet here in the middle of the night.


    It didn''t rain for a long time and the dirt road was dry. Although it was not hard to walk, it was really hard for me, even harder than going up to the sky, because I had been keeping cautious not to be found. Besides, when I walked out the door, I also found myself without a flashlight.


    When I walked on the big path, there was moon light as well as the the light from the family that didn¡¯t go to rest, so I had no any bad feelings. However, when I walked on the dirt road, it was suddenly dark, and the dark moonlight couldn¡¯t shine on the road before me.


    I was very hesitant and then I slowly went to the back mountain.


    The first feeling that the back mountain gave me was gloom and the second was quiet. The tall trees scattered the moonlight and there was only the rustling sound of the wind blowing the leaves.


    Now I thought I obviously overestimated my boldness. Although I had seen a lot of horrible things before, most of the time, I was not alone, so the feeling was not too obvious. However, now I walked alone in the thick mountain forest and the feeling of cold back even made me want to turn around and escape right now.


    I took a look of the road that I couldn''t see clearly and then I had bite my teeth and move forward. Fortunately, when I walked out of the dirty road and almost approached the top of mountain, the trees became sparse and the moonlight was so good tonight that I could barely see it.


    The top of the back mountain was covered with tombs. Some had the tombstones and some didn¡¯t. Fortunately, there was no big jar filled with white bones I saw in Hong Kong movies.


    Just how could I find the graveyard where the Old Mr. Lu was buried? I thought was too impulsive this time. Sure enough, anger and curiosity could lower one''s IQ.


    Since I came here, I decided to ask a ghost. In fact, for me, maybe the emergence of a ghost would make me less afraid now.


    After walking past a few mounds without tombstones, a grave with a tombstone finally appeared on my right side, but half of the tombstone had broken and the mound had collapsed, as if it had not been taken good care of for a long time.


    But at least there was a tombstone.


    I walked over to try to see the text on it clearly, but text on the tombstone was the incised carving, and it had the same color as the tombstone, so It was hard to identify. Then I could only approach step by step.


    Eh, there even was a photo on the headstone. I was a little stunned. Judging from the extent of the damage to this grave, I thought this grave would never be built in a short time. Besides, you should know that this was not a cemetery, so people had no habit of putting a photo on the tombstone.


    I looked curiously at the photo, which was very small, with only three fingers wide. Until the tip of my nose touched the tombstone, I could vaguely see there was woman in this photo, who was not be very old.


    ¡°Do I look good?¡±


    I suddenly moved and waved my hand. Then I hit my nose directly on the tombstone and the nose gushed with blood, leaving a circular mark on the tombstone, which was slowly flowing down.


    The tears swirled in my eyes. After a long time, I looked around, covering my nose. However, all round was as quiet as that when I just came here. There was nothing unusual and there was also no ghost spirit around.


    Was it my hallucination? I turned my head to the photo on the headstone, and immediately I was so scared that I felt my body very cold and I even didn¡¯t dare to move. On the white tombstone, I saw my nose blood slowly upward, flow into the photo and dyeing it in a creepy red color, just like that it was alive, and the portrait in the photo had long been invisible.


    F*k! I swore secretly in my heart. Then I used my sleeve to rub the my nose blood that was still running and shouted boldly, ¡°My blood is good, right? Why don¡¯t you come out and let me ask you a question?¡±


    I stood here for a long time and only the wind answered me. Just as I was about to give up, I suddenly saw the text that I didn¡¯t noticed just now on the tombstone.

 Chapter 199 The Tombstone

    I didn''t know if my current thought was comforting myself, so I extended my head to confirm the name on the tombstone.


    However, I was horrified to find that the blood in the photo had disappeared and there was a strange woman in the photo, who was smiling at me.


    ¡°Ah!¡± I screamed in horror and sat down on a pile of soft things. I used my trembling hand to touch the soft things under my ass and then I took it in front of my eyes. Suddenly, there was a burning smell coming and I found it was the funeral money that was burned up and wet by the dew.


    I tried to calm myself down and then realized that meeting the ghost alone had a totally different feelings from doing that with a lot of people. Now, I regretted my hasty decision and even more regretted overestimating my boldness. Now I couldn''t even remember what Old Mrs. Li taught me.


    After throwing the wet paper ash away from my hand and taking a deep breath, I stood up. Now, I was no longer in the mood to confirm the text on the tombstone and what wanted to do was to quickly find the tomb of old Mr. Lu and leave as soon as possible.


    I didn¡¯t know when the ground began to wet and there was a thin mist all round, but not much. Although it didn¡¯t influence my sight, it made me feel that the whole atmosphere was getting even weirder and more scary.


    Now I didn¡¯t looking for it very carefully. If the grave had no tombstone, I wouldn¡¯t take a look. If it did, I just had a glance of it, then left and walked to the next one.


    After walking past five graves without tombstones, I finally saw a lonely grave in the distance. Because only that grave had a tombstone, even in the distance, it still stood out.


    I walked over and took a look at this tombstone. I found its weathering was serious. Many inscriptions on it could not be clearly read, but at the top of it, the word ¡°LU¡± was well preserved.


    To my surprise, this grave still had a photo. Then I hesitated for a moment and approached it slowly.


    This was a black-and-white photo, on which there was covered with mud marks. It seemed to have been deliberately smeared with mud by someone, so I couldn''t see the person in the photo very clearly.


    I didn¡¯t use my hand to wipe the mud on the photo. Instead, I took a few steps back, swallowing the saliva hard. Then I felt that the coldness on my back was slowly rising and spreading all over me.


    I didn''t know if it was my hallucination and I felt that this tombstone was slowly moving toward me. While I was still in fear, I found the tombstone was a lot closer to me.


    I subconsciously backed and my eyes have been staring at this tombstone, without moving. As I just got relaxed, I suddenly felt that behind me came a cold and soft touch. Did I touch something?


    I couldn''t imagine anything cold and soft in the graveyard, but just because I couldn''t imagine it, I felt more scared. For a moment, I didn¡¯t dare to look back because I was afraid, afraid that if I looked back, I might see something that would make me more scared.


    Nevertheless, thing behind me was slowly moving, along my spine slowly upward. I couldn''t help clasping my hand and forced myself to forbear the fear in my heart. Then I immediately turned back, scolded loudly and waving my fist.


    A long-strip-shaped thing was punched by my fist and flew out, and it was still twisting in the air. Then I found it turned out to be a snake.


    The sudden relaxation after the tension made me feel weak all over and I was breathless. Damn it, luckily, it was a snake. I found that I had a lot of dirty words tonight, maybe which seemed to relax me. I leaned my arm on the place of tombstone where there was that snake just now. When I was about to have a good rest, my body suddenly froze and a tear-less look appeared on my face.


    Where did this tombstone come from?


    Because my hand was resting on the tombstone, I looked down and could see the words on the tombstone. The tombstone also had a photo, and both the photo and its the inscriptions on it were very new, as if they had been made just a few days ago.


    Then I got used to looking at pictures and found there was a little girl with no facial expression on the photo, but her appearance looked very familiar, which was simply a long hair version of Lu Sheng.


    I let go of my hand in surprise and looked at the words on the tombstone.


    Lu Dafu, born in ** , 1942 and died in ** **, 1942. Died seven years ago! Was this the grandfather of Lu Sheng? But what about the photo?


    I looked up and found that there was no photo on the tombstone, and the place where there originally was a photo was completely blank and there was no trace of the photo at all. Then I read the inscriptions again and also found that the inscription on the tombstone had also changed and they had become a completely unfamiliar name.


    What was going on? I couldn''t believe that when I looked up again at the location of the photo, the photo appeared again, but it had become a woman, the woman on the tombstone I first saw.


    ¡°Fk!¡± I shouted, repeatedly retreating from the range of the graveyard, and never noticed the strange touch of the wet paper ash, which came from my feet.


    I looked around nervously and found the tombstone named Lu just now was also gone, and there was only this creepy grave here alone. Besides, I did remember I was this weird grave on the right side, but now it was on the left.


    Just when I was at a loss, there was the sound of singing coming from distance. It was a woman''s voice and it was very light, but the song sounded very strange. It was not the pop song at all but more like a drama.


    The sound of singing was getting closer and closer, and there were countless green highlights in the direction of singing. They were flickering and I thought it should be fireflies.


    Such an awesome appearing mode coordinated with the present environment could only make me feel creepy. As I concentrated on watching the fireflies in the distance, the sky began to shine slowly. Then I looked around in amazement and I didn''t know when several group of ghost fire had slowly appeared in the air, floating up and down, as if it was helping the sound of sing to be a dancing partner.


    Besides, what made me feel even more horrified was that I didn''t know when I was surrounded by ghosts in all kinds of clothes, and all of them were looking at the direction, from which the sound of singing came.


    I bowed my head and dared not move. Even if the stench and the smell of dirt completely encircled me, I could only pretend that I didn''t know it. At my feet, however, a half-rotting baby was crawling slowly over my feet. It seemed that it had felt my eyes and even looked up at me.

 Chapter 200 Terribly Scared

    I was fucked. This was my first reaction and then I felt the stronger chill around me. I raised my head stiffly and I didn¡¯t found that all the ghosts had turned to me at this moment.


    For one moment, I was surrounded by densae eyes. I felt terribly scared and was almost crying when I saw this scene. Even in the ghost building, I had never seen so many ghosts looking at me and their eyes were so cold.


    However, I was still trying to pull myself up. I showed the smile as if I was greeting the visitors in the ghost building and then said, ¡°Hi, hi guys. I am the waiter of the ghost building...Fan house. Yeah, I¡¯m the waiter and nice to meet you all.¡±


    I seemed that the name of the Fan house was very famous and the nearest a few ghosts even unconsciously took a few steps back. Yeah, they were afraid of the ghost building and then that would be easy.


    As I was thinking, a skinny old lady in a shroud came out of the crowd, with a steaming bowl in her hands, in which there was full of all kinds of delicacies with an enticing aroma.


    ¡°Little guy come on. Have something delicious to eat.¡± The old lady¡¯s voice sounded very kind. Now, I was using the little body of Lu Sheng and I was really hungry after running for a night. I was really so hungry that my stomach was attracted by the fragrance and suddenly gave out the sound of "cooing". Therefore, I also unconsciously took two steps forward after hearing her words.


    ¡°Pa.¡± There was a clear noise under my feet and it turned out that I had accidentally kicked a piece of gravel on the ground. Then the sudden noise also made me feel a little sober. I thought the it was not good and took a hard bite at the tip of my tongue in a hurry.


    The sharp pain came and there was a rush of sweetness in the mouth, but I also woke up instantly. Then I looked towards the bowl in the hands of the kind old lady again. After seeing the thing in the bowl, I took a cold breath, then my stomach twitched for a few times and I almost spit it out.


    The bowl was no longer the clean and complete bowl. It was covered with dried mud and there was a big piece missing on the side of the bowl. More importantly, there was no delicious food in the bowl at all.


    What¡¯s more, it was a smelly lump of mud, in which there were a few worms like earthworms wriggling. At the top, there was rotten mouse with a long tail hanging by the bowl.


    However, the old lady seemed not to realized that I had found it and she was still waving at me with a smile, saying, ¡°Come on, little guy. You must be hungry.¡±


    I bitterly laughed twice and put on a lovely look, saying, ¡°Dear old lady, I am not hungry.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re hungry.¡± The old lady completely ignored my words. Then she took a few steps forward and almost made the bowl in her hand reach for me.


    Suddenly, a huge stench went straight into my nostrils. Then I could not hold back at that moment and gave out a sound of ¡±wow¡±. Probably because I endured it for a long time, the gushing dirt formed a parabola and rushed to the body of the old lady.


    Maybe the old lady was stunned by this scene, too, so when I bent over and coughed, the old lady didn''t react. When I got up, the old lady made a big cat-like whine, and then, in front of me, she was slowly changing.


    Her eyes became a vertical line and her teeth became sharp triangles, giving out the pale light in the moonlight. Then her face slowly began to be covered with finger-sized white hair. She just was looking at me ferociously, as if she was about to rush at me the next moment.


    ¡°Pah.¡± After I vomited the foreign body which remained in the mouth, I also looked at the old lady motionless. Now I was surrounded by ghosts and there was no place to run. I just didn¡¯t know whether it would influence the reality if I died in the illusion.


    The old lady dropped the bowl to the ground, which made a cracked noise. Then she slowly walked toward me with her hands raised in front of her chest, and the fingernails on her ten fingers were slowly spreading out.


    I held my fist tightly and warily looked at the old lady who was walking at me. In any case, I had to fight with her for myself.


    However, I just paid all my attention to the old lady and completely forgot there was another victim at the time of my vomiting.


    Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in my foot and I cried out. Then I looked down and saw the horrible baby opening his mouth and biting on my shin, and he was giving out the sucking sound with relish.


    ¡°Fk.¡± I yelled and kicked him out. I tried to kick a baby out of his feet, but I obviously overestimated my current power. The moving-distance of my feet was estimated to be only a few centimeters at most. The baby was like a boulder and I even could not move him at all. The only moving-distance was because the baby''s body had rotted and my feet have sunk into his body.


    The baby''s sucking sound was very loud and I could be felt it clearly. Furthermore, the blood of my whole body was down and then went into the baby''s mouth, making me gradually feel terribly weak.


    It seemed that the old lady also didn¡¯t want his food to be taken by others and jumped over, too. The long fingernails on her fingers were constantly magnifying in my eyes, as if they would be directly into my eyes, and then straight through my brain the next moment.


    My feet was shaking and I also found no place for me to hide. Then I thought I seemed to be going to die.


    Just then, I felt the heat in my thighs and the baby under my feet screamed bitterly. As for the old lady who was going to use her fingernails to hit my eyes, she also screamed and flew back at a speed which was faster than that when she came to me just now.


    Then I looked down and found the body of the baby releasing the white smoke. The remained bloody flesh was melting slowly, as if it had encountered sulfuric acid and his eyes raised by the little hands looked at me with resentment. He was slowly away from me.


    The ghosts around me also were backing but a few meters away, they were still around me. After the heat on the thighs was getting cold, I unconsciously hit a shiver and felt chilly below my waist.


    I...I even peed my pants and I felt very depressed. First, I didn¡¯t care about that child urine could save life. I guessed I was sucked too much blood, which then caused my weakness, or maybe there were some problems with Lu Sheng¡¯s body. It must be so. How could I pee after I was scared! There must be something wrong with Lu Sheng''s health.


    I was pretty sure of that and I looked down at my shank bitten by the baby, but I wondered why there was no dental mark or wound on the it. The blood on it was not dry, which also indicated that the scene just now was not My hallucination.


    In addition, a large black spot appeared on the shank, which was left behind by the invasion of the body by ghost gas.

 Chapter 201 The Woman

    The other ghosts around me were just around me but the baby and the old lady were staring at me, with their eyes full of resentment, which seemed that they would never let me go.


    The song was getting closer and closer, and as if this song had a great appeal to the ghosts, all the ghosts no longer looked at me, but turned around to look in the direction of the song. The old lady turned her head in the look of my hope, but soon turned back, as if her grudges for me were far greater than the attraction of the song to her.


    You''d been messing with me all the time and now you even resented me. I was feeling very powerless. Now only the baby and the old lady were looking at me, but I understand that these two ghosts were waiting for my child urine to completely dry up, and I also knew better that I was incapable of fighting with these two ghosts.


    Perhaps the only way now was to leave. Then I took a look in the direction of the song and limped over. Maybe because if the child urine on my body, these ghosts were very conscious of avoiding me and even let me to the front.


    Looking back, I was disappointed to find the baby and the old lady were still looking at me. Then I clenched my teeth and walked to the most dense place for fireflies.


    It was a very flat ground, but the tombstone broken from its root on the ground told me that there was definitely a grave here. Perhaps because the time was too long, it had become a completely flat ground and the song exactly came from underground here.


    It was clear that there must be something that made these ghosts feel the presence of fear. Even the baby and the old lady stood far away and dared not come over. In addition to the resentment, there was also a little fear in their eyes.


    It was safe for now, but at the same time, I was also facing a more frightening and unknown danger.


    After thinking about it for a while, I found a place that should be the front of the tombstone, and then I put my palms together devoutly, ¡°I am very sorry to bother you so late at night. I¡¯m the guy coming from Fan house. Please save me. Thank you very much.¡±


    The song still sounded there, as if my words didn¡¯t work. Then I didn¡¯t dare to talk any more and I began to look at the open space with the help of the bright glow of the fireflies.


    The broken tombstone seemed to have disappeared and there also was nothing around me that could help me know the identity of the owner of the tomb. To tell you the truth, if it were not for the tomb base, and even I died, I would never like that there would be a tomb.


    It was sure enough that the time was the biggest killer. It could completely erase the traces of one person''s existence.


    The fireflies began to fly away towards all sides slowly and I knew that the time might be coming to determine my fate.


    ¡°Click.¡± A strange noise came from the ground and I hurriedly followed the sound. Then I saw the ground slightly arched up, and quickly leveled off. Because of the poor light, I was also unsure whether what I¡¯d seen was true.


    But soon, I knew it was true because there was beginning to have continuous fluctuation on the ground, as if something was going to climb out of the ground.


    I took a few steps back to make some room, staring at the changes on the ground. Suddenly, a hand was out of the ground and constantly groping the ground. This hand was very skinny, just like a bone, and there was a ring on the finger, shining in the moonlight.


    While I was looking at the palm of the hand that stretched out to the ground, a small sound of footsteps appeared beside me and I was startled immediately. Then I took a quick look and just saw a thin figure walking past my body, picking up the palm that was still groping on the ground, and then pulling an arm that had become white bone out of the ground.


    Just in my astonished eyes, the thin figure placed the arm on her body and even moved in front of her. Then after she smiled with satisfactory, she turned around and looked at me.


    This was a woman, who was not tall, never more than 170cm. Because many parts of her body had become white bones, she looked very skinny and what I paid more attention to was the clothes on this woman.


    Although her clothes had become ragged because of corruption, I could still clearly see that this was a long skirt and even it was the ancient dress that could only be seen in the costume drama.


    The woman opened her jaw, which had also become white bone and then a sweet voice came out, ¡°Boy, you are so bold.¡±


    I thought this voice was the sound of singing just now. I didn¡¯t dare to answer her indiscriminately and I just showed an innocent laugh foolishly.


    The woman said, ¡°are you here to look for him?¡±


    I was stunned for a moment and I didn''t know how to answer it, because I didn¡¯t who the hell ¡°he¡± she was talking about was.


    Having seen I didn¡¯t answer her, she looked at me for a while and said again, ¡°So you''re not him. Who are you?¡±


    Had she already known that the people in Lu Sheng¡¯s body was not Lu Sheng? I looked at a woman doubtfully, hesitated for a moment and just said directly, ¡°I want to know where ½, hum, my grandfather was buried. By the way, my name is Lu Sheng.¡±


    The woman looked at me very playfully and just began to laugh. Her sweet voice with almost rotten body, there was an indescribable strange feeling.


    ¡°All right, since you say you''re Lu Sheng, I¡¯ll treat as Lu Sheng. However, your grandfather is not buried here. You guess, who is buried here?¡±


    I felt a few black lines on top of my head, which was not interesting, but I did know that there seemed to some problems with Lu Haitao.


    And the woman even asked me, ¡°Are you from Fan house? Is the Phoenix still there?¡±


    Phoenix? In my mind suddenly came the cold face of Phoenix and it seemed that she was and acquaintance, and then that would be easy.


    The woman''s tone became cold and there seemed to be something wrong with her words, so my heart clattered, and I dared not go on talking.


    It seemed that the woman never cared about who I was and she even said it directly, ¡°Whoever you are, just go. Go back to tell Phoenix that I''ll go to her.¡±


    I nodded immediately and that was the best news I¡¯d ever heard. As to whether she went to Phoenix, to tell the truth, there were a lot of masters in the ghost building and I thought this woman could never end well.


    I hurried went down the mountain. Although the baby and the old lady still looked at me, with their eyes full of resentment, they obviously didn¡¯t dare to disobey this woman and could just watch me leave hopelessly.


    When I just walked out of the flat ground, I hesitated for a moment, but still looked back and asked, ¡°Can you tell me what happened to Lu Sheng?¡± Judging from her words, I thought this woman had known I was not Lu Sheng, so I am not deliberately pretending to be childlike again.

 Chapter 202 The Story

    The door in the house was tightly closed and Fu Xiao, who was pregnant, lay alone in the house, giving out a faint and Inaudible exclamation of pain from time to time.


    Old Mrs. Luo, the most famous doctor and midwife in the local area, was standing at the door, anxiously waiting for the decision of the father and son, Lu Dafu and Lu Haitao.


    Relative to the silence of Lu''s family, the other residents in this yard was chattering. From time to time, someone came up with an idea, and before they had finished saying, others vetoed it and then they went on with the discussion.


    Lu Haitao''s wife was pregnant and it was twins. This naturally was a great blessing, but one of the twins was a stillborn baby and this was a tragedy.


    Old Mrs. Luo diagnosed that the stillbirth baby had just been formed. It was dead only in about six months and now it was a little rotten. Moreover, it also had already seriously threatened another healthy child and the pregnant mother.


    Now she had to be forced to do a caesarean birth. However, according to the words of Old Mrs. Luo, mother and children, she could only keep one.


    Lu Dafu coughed loudly, making the sound of discussion in the courtyard much quieter. Then he hurled his cigarette butts on the ground, and then said firmly, ¡°Keep the child.¡± After saying, he walked to one side and took out the phone.


    Lu Haitao just looked at his father in amazement and opened his mouth, but still bowed his head and stopped talking, trying to suppress his own cries.


    Old Mrs. Luo nodded and entered the room.


    After waiting anxiously for an hour, a baby''s cry finally came out. At this moment, Old Mrs. Luo walked out, with her hands covered with blood, and then looked apologetically at the men of Lu¡¯s family.


    Lu Haitao¡¯s hand, which was holding the cigarette, was shaking constantly. After a few sniffles, he asked with a crying voice, ¡°What about the child...child...the child¡¯s mother?¡±


    Old Mrs. Luo was stunned for a moment and quickly said, ¡°No. No. No. Both of them are fine.¡±


    Old Mrs. Luo''s words made everyone stunned. Did she just now firmly say that she could just save one of two? And what did Old Mrs. Luo''s apologetic expression mean now? Everyone thought it strange.


    But Old Mrs. Luo explained, ¡°I always think it is twins but it isn¡¯t, and there''s only one child. Sorry, it¡¯s my fault.¡±


    But now Lu Haitao would never blame the Old Mrs. Luo and he was happy that even he was ready to hold her and kiss her.


    Lu Haitao cried out and then walked to Lu Dafuto tell him this good news. However, Lu Dafu, who was standing on one side and holding the phone, just nodded his head and reluctantly gave a smile.


    After finishing all this, Old Mrs. Luo didn¡¯t leave, and she was left by Lu Dafu on the grounds that the health condition of the child was not well. However, the next day, the people in the yard found that Lu Dafu, who had been so strong, died so quietly.


    The yard was full of gossip, but it was only a matter of speculation. The funeral of Lu Dafu was arranged by some of his good friends. What was very strange was that it seemed that he had already known that he was going to die, so he even informed his good friends ahead of time, one of who was Qing Fengzi.


    Then he was soon buried in back mountain, but few people knew that the people who was buried there was not Lu Dafu, but the dead baby inside Fu Xiao¡¯s abdomen at that time.


    Indeed, Fu Xiao conceived a twin. Just one of the fetuses had died early and had rotted slightly in the mother¡¯s abdomen. Lu Dafu gave Old Mrs. Luo the phone call to let her come and also gave her a lot of money as the hush money. In addition, he also asked Qing Fengzi that he was willing to use his death in exchange for the life of Lu Sheng, because spending too much time with his rotten twin brother, Lu Sheng could not also live.


    Till now, this thing should have come to an end. However, it hadn¡¯t ended. Lu Sheng had been acting differently from other normal children since he was a child and he even always thought that a brother was playing with him, which made Lu Haitao, who later knew some of the situation, felt much frightened.


    Under the fear, Lu Haitao chose to seek help from Qing Fengzi, but that little ghost was very mysterious. As long as Qing Fengzi came, the little ghost would disappear. In the end, it was me who let Xiao Sheng possess the body to exorcise the little ghost. Of course, this was only the idea of Qing Fengzi and Lu Haitao.


    This was also the best outcome for Qing Fengzi and Lu Haitao, and even for the deceased Lu Dafu. The story was supposed to be over but nine out of ten people are unhappy in life.


    At that year, the dead fetus in the abdomen had a strong grievance and he even had occupied the body of his twin brother many years ago. In addition, he also even got the ghost cream. Finally, he only became Lu Sheng, but also did bad things to his living soul.


    It was because the stillbirth baby took over Lu Sheng¡¯s body for a long time that Xiao Sheng became the one who was banished and suppressed after his possessing.


    At the end of the story, the woman told me that the stillbirth baby was not the soul of reincarnation at all, but an old ghost of years, who originally wanted to be born directly with the help of my mother, but he was dead in the abdomen.


    As for who was the ghost, the woman just smiled and said with a sweet voice, ¡°You know him.¡±


    I felt very confused and then went down the back mountain. After I went back home, Lu Haitao, who was anxious to be crazy, beat me very seriously, but I didn¡¯t have the strength to struggle. Fortunately, on the reminder of the neighbors, he found there was something wrong with my body and he didn¡¯t beat me too hard, otherwise, even he was beating his own son in his eyes, I would never spare him.


    After a long sleep and when I got up, I was still lying on the bed of Lu Sheng and I was still using his body. It seemed that illusion didn¡¯t come to an end.


    However, I could feel that the illusion was collapsing, because the surrounding walls had become blurred.


    Now I finally understand why Qing Fengzi would kill himself, because the ghost was the real Lu Sheng and his body had been possessed by the old ghost for a long time.


    Just the mysterious woman said that I knew this old ghost, but after I thought about it for a long time, I still had no idea. Most of the ghosts I knew were from the ghost buildings, and now in Sishui City, I didn''t seem to know any other ghosts here except those I saw last time at school.


    Wait a minute. It was also not right. At least, Xiao Lingdang had introduced two new ghosts to me. Was it true that the old ghost was the smiling brother who was dressed in linen and filial piety and was smiling at any time?


    Then I also thought it not right, because both Xiao Lingdang and the smiling brother had sacred Lu Sheng before and how could a ghost appear in different bodies at the same? Oh, no. I remembered that she told that Lu Sheng was seriously scared, but Lu Sheng was the old ghost and how could he be scared just by some child who was making pranks.

 Chapter 203 The End?

    I took a look and found Lu Sheng still curled up in the arms of Fu Xiao, as if he was scared seriously. The surroundings became quiet, the lights were no longer flashing and the strange had stopped.


    Lu Haitao saw that I had not spoken, opened his mouth carefully and asked, ¡°Is it over?¡±


    I didn¡¯t know what Lu Haitao and other people saw when I was in the illusion, but now I didn''t have time to listen to them at all. After I greeted Wei Xing and told him not to leave, I opened the door and went out.


    Xiao Lingdang, Jiaojiao, Xiao Gui and smiling brother all were standing in the yard and it seemed that they were chatting. However, when they saw me walking over, all of them looked towards me.


    I ignored Xiao Lingdang and other people and just looked at the smiling brother. There still was a happy expression on his face. Seeing me just looking at him and not talking, he sighed and said, ¡°You guys go to play first. Now I want to chat with Wu Rui for some time.¡±


    Then Xiao Lingdang and other people walked to the side with doubt, and I just sat opposite him on his sign, waiting for him to explain to me, because now I was firmly sure that he was the old ghost who was trying to be reincarnated.


    ¡°It seems that you have already known a part of the whole thing.¡± The smiling brother said first.


    But I still felt very angry at what he used to do to Lu Sheng, so I said to him unreservedly, ¡°Oh, a part of?¡±


    He just nodded his head and said, ¡°Do you think Lu Dafu killed himself only to save his grandson? Also, why can I be able to avoid Hades Circle and directly reincarnate, although I failed. Don¡¯t you feel it¡¯s weird?¡±


    As I was about to nod subconsciously, I stopped myself and said, ¡°You can even abuse Xiao Shenglike that, so whatever you do, I won¡¯t feel very surprised and also won¡¯t feel curious.¡±


    The smiling brother directly gave out the laughter, ¡°Well. If I¡¯m unwilling to, do you think you really can get into the illusion? Forget it, I originally release a trace of Lu Sheng''s soul back to the body and also plan to cut him into pieces. But just forget it. I am the friend of Xiao Lingdang. I''m gone and then Lu Sheng will himself, and as to why I do this, I can only tell you that it is what Lu Dafu owes me. Besides, you don''t see Lu Dafu, do you?¡±


    I shook my head subconsciously.


    The smiling brother just mysteriously said in a low voice, ¡°He is in the old well and all the bad guys are there, ha ha ha.¡±


    I was just about to ask the smiling brother, only to find that he had disappeared. Then Xiao Lingdang and other people quickly ran over and asked me where the smiling brother went. I just said a few perfunctory words.


    Now my mind was completely drawn to the last words of the smiling brother. He knew something about the old well? Why were all the bad guys there? Was my father also a bad guy. That was impossible.


    Xiao Sheng, oh. It was Lu Sheng who was bending over at the door of his house to thank me. I nodded, then turned around and left. Now I never cared about Lu¡¯s family and I even forgot Wei Xing, because my mind now was full of smiling brother''s words.


    After spending a few days unconsciously, I was just waking up gradually. In any case, I believed the words of my dad and other people, whether Lu Dafu or smiling brother, I thought saving my dad and other people was the only thing I had to do now.


    And the first thing I needed to do was go to the music school to find Wei Xing.


    I went to the door of Wei Xing¡¯s dormitory as usual, only to see her and Lu Sheng hand in hand and walking out of the dormitory. When Lu Sheng saw me, he behaved so surprised that he even didn¡¯t know Wei Xing had let go of his hand.


    I didn''t know why I felt my heart sour, as if my own cabbage had been arched by pigs. I just smiled grudgingly and nodded, and that could be regarded as a greeting.


    Actually, now I didn''t really believe that Wei Xing would have a certain relationship with Lulu, and it was just the same look that made me unable to put this down. What was more important was that the Queen had also appeared, and I hadn¡¯t found the Queen''s whereabouts yet, which was also the only consolation to me. After all, it was never a coincidence that two people whose looked exactly the same as the Queen and Lulu appeared at the same time.


    Maybe because I saw Wei Xing holding Lu Sheng¡¯s hand, she felt a little embarrassed. However, I was glad she felt embarrassed. If she didn''t react at all, it meant she wasn¡¯t fond of me at all.


    Lu Sheng just kept talking and thanking me and I just couldn¡¯t stand that. I¡¯ve never found that this guy was a good talker. Just as I was trying to interrupt him, my phone rang.


    I immediately felt free myself from it and answered the phone, and that was Wu Jian, who was unreserved to say that he encountered a weird case and needed my help.


    I originally was going to ask what the case was, but he hung up the phone quickly. He seemed to be very busy. Well, forget it. I also was going back anyway.


    I turned around and took a look at Lu Sheng, who was looking at me gratefully. My heart moved at this moment and I also have a look of Wei Xing, and then I pulled Lu Sheng to one side and said to him, ¡°I¡¯ve saved you, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°You will appreciate me, won¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I will.¡±


    ¡°You like her, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes.¡±


    ¡°So do I and what should I do?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    I just looked at his surprised and tangled face and I even couldn''t help feeling guilty, as if I was like a bad guy, but I still had to told this to him.


    ¡°Fair play.¡±


    ¡°What? Oh!¡± Lu Sheng felt a little aggrieved, but most of his feeling seemed to be relief. Maybe he was afraid that I would let him out.


    I patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°Don¡¯t have any actions until I back.¡±


    Lu Sheng just nodded his head but the bitterness on his face could not be covered up.


    Then I let him leave but I still was very worried. Then I forced myself to went in front of Wei Xing and said to her, ¡°Are you willing to give me a chance to pursue you?¡±


    My sudden words just made her face turn badly red and then her eyes started to escape. I was also afraid that she would say some words that made herself regretful, so I hurriedly went on saying, ¡°Just wait for me back and let me play fair with Lu Sheng. By the way, I remember you¡¯re very curious about ghosts in this world. I could show you all kinds of them and even let you drink and sing with them.¡±


    I made a big promise to her. Her eyes suddenly lit up and then she just lowered her head shyly.


    ¡°Just wait for me.¡± Then I waved to Lu Sheng and left. As I was leaving, I also told Xiao Lingdang in a low voice, ¡°Help me watch his reaction.¡±


    Xiao Lingdang told me that Lu Sheng got closer to Wei Xing and I felt nervous.


    Xiao Lingdang told me that Lu Sheng talked to Wei Xing and I really wanted to turn around.


    Xiao Lingdang told me that Lu Sheng and Wei Xing agreed on waiting for you back together, and I finally got relieved.


    Xiao Lingdang told me that Lu Sheng had told Wei Xing that he was going out for more than a month to nourish his body. Even if I went back, I would have to start to play fair with him until waiting for him back. I was very angry to bite my teeth. This Lu Sheng was not cute at all, so I still thought the timid child in the illusion was much cuter.


    I walked out of school gate and Xiao Lingdang also came back to me. Then I just looked at the clouds in the sky and sighed in my heart that was this the end of the matter?

 Chapter 204 The Smell

    I just got back, and my stomach even was empty. When I was ready to refuse him, my mom asked me to go with him quickly and she also said Wu Jian had come here for many times. Then she even handed me 20 yuan very considerately and let me and Wu Jian eat a bowl of noodles outside.


    It was just like that I was not her own child.


    Wu Jian drove the police car, so he didn¡¯t give me the opportunity to eat noodles, and directly drove me to the direction of the college town. It was a bit exaggerated that I called it college town and the fact was that there was just a sub-campus area of a university and a polytechnic. However, there were still thousands of people and it was also a beautiful landscape of our county town. Every holiday, the number of the people who came here would always be an inexplicable increase. As for the reasons, everyone knew it.


    On the road, Wu Jian still didn¡¯t tell me what the case exactly was. He just hesitated to tell me there was something he couldn''t be sure and let me help him take a look. I even almost thought that he would let me identify antiques. Of course, I also knew it was impossible. At last, he only let me identify the soul of the ghost.


    I asked Wu Jian and he told me that it wasn¡¯t the ghost soul. Then I kept asking him and he was puzzled and could not say what on earth it was, which made me a little curious.


    After all, he had seen a lot of ghosts and at least, there was no big problem with his basic cognition, so what on earth made him so confused?


    Soon, we arrived at the college town. It seemed that he often came here in this period of time and he directly entered after simply greeting to the security guard.


    This was a medical college, but the training of doctors was not very qualified, so the major here basically was nursing. There were dozens of people in one class, few of who were boys. It could be said to be boys'' paradise, of course, but it also could be the hell.


    The young girl who was brimming with youth all the way I saw even made me unable to take my eyes off my eyes. During this period of time, I always had a connection with the university and I even began to think about the possibility of turning back time. After all, even the ghosts had appeared, so turning back time might not be very exaggerated.


    When I was obsessed with my fantasies, the car had stopped. It seemed that Wu Jian had an appointment with someone. I just saw a middle-aged man dressed like a teacher was waiting for us with a timid student.


    The teacher took us to a dormitory without talking. After asking the student to brief us, he left so quickly, just as if a dog was chasing him.


    At this time, Wu Jian opened his mouth and let me and that student make an introduction to each other. Although I don¡¯t understand why Wu Jian didn¡¯t like the teacher much, I also didn¡¯t ask. Then I only smiled and said hello to that student, who was called Xiao Meng.


    He still behaved as if he didn¡¯t come up with and idea and then he began to introduce some basic situation.


    The dormitory was at the very end of the whole building and it was supposed to be a storage room, but because in several grades, there were some people who became single one in the dormitory assignment, the college simply tidied up the storage room and also made it a dormitory.


    The storage room was smaller than the usual dormitory, so only four students lived here, and they were Xiao Meng, a freshman, a sophomore as well as a junior.


    In the beginning, nothing happened in the dormitory, but the junior suddenly disappeared one month ago. The police had been looking for him for a long time, but nothing had been found. Just at last week, the junior suddenly came back but the whole man became very strange. As for what was strange, Xiao Meng still couldn¡¯t say it.


    It was only from that day on that school that the bodies of stray cats and dogs were often seen in the school and most of them were eaten in pieces by something. What¡¯s more, a teacher''s child even was eaten a few days ago.


    A people were eaten, and this naturally became a big case. They originally thought some wild animals must have entered the college, but the police had found nothing at all. However, based on forensic expertise, the bitten wound was left by the human, not the animal, which caused a panic in the entire college town all of sudden. Therefore, Wu Jian and his colleagues also received the notice of solving this case in limited time.


    I glanced at Wu Jian and suddenly recalled the scene I witnessed in my hometown. I asked Wu Jian about the details in a low voice and I found it still different from that in my hometown. In my hometown, only the viscera were eaten in the body I saw, but in this college, in addition to the viscera, the flesh of the body had also been eaten.


    Then I asked Wu Jian how could he pay attention to this dormitory? And even put the key point on those three college students? He didn¡¯t answer me. He only opened the door and let me have a look myself.


    Led by the Xiao Meng, I went into the dormitory. Now there was no one in the dormitory. It was very clean and was never like a boys¡¯ dormitory. In addition, I could smell there was the perfume, but it was just that bad ones, because it smelled so pungent. Then I also smelled another smell in the perfume. It was so light that I couldn¡¯t smell it if I didn¡¯t have a good olfactory sensation, as if there was something that had been decayed.


    Wu Jian quietly approached me and asked quietly, ¡°Have you smelled that?¡±


    I nodded and said, ¡°It smells bad. I can¡¯t stand that there is so much perfume in my bedroom.¡±


    Wu Jian suddenly felt very depressed and said again, ¡°It''s not perfume. It''s another smell.¡±


    I glanced at Wu Jian, then nodded my head and said, ¡°The dead mice?¡±


    ¡°Do you still think there will be dead mice in such a clean room?¡± Wu Jian was a little speechless about my dullness. Then he said, ¡°I''ve already investigated it and found that all smell actually comes from something that belongs to that junior student.¡±


    After saying, Wu Jian even pointed to that bed closest to the inside.


    I nodded and walked over, and as I made my nose approach the bed, the stench of decay became increasingly apparent. Then I carefully rummaged with his hand and took a looked, and found the quilt and pillows very clean, but the smell was still very thick. I even wondered how the student could fall asleep under such a smell.


    ¡°Do you find anything?¡± I asked Wu Jian.


    He just shook his head and replied, ¡°Nothing. Everything here is very clean and there is also no dead mice or anything like that. The only doubtful point is Feng Long¡¯s coming back. Oh, that is the name of the junior student. Since he came back, he became less talkative. He used to have a girlfriend in this college, but now he seldom came to her. It seemed like that he had changed into another person.¡±


    ¡°Is he possessed by the ghost?¡± I immediately asked.


    Wu Jian continued shaking his head and said, ¡°No, he still remembered everything but just became less talkative. What has changed mainly is his character. Besides, ghosts won¡¯t have smell like that.¡±


    I nodded and also thought Wu Jian was right. If one was possessed by a ghost, he wouldn¡¯t still have his memory before. Of course, there can¡¯t be that bad smell. However, since he was never possessed by the ghost, what on earth made his character change so much?

 Chapter 205 The Dormitory

    Since we couldn¡¯t find any clues, we planned to stay here for a whole day. Except for Xiao Meng, the other two students went out to live. Under the arrangement of the school, the work was easy to do.


    Chen Long would usually come back at about 11:00 after finishing the self-study at night. Because we had nothing to do now anyway, we just used the computers of the other two student to play computer games with Xiao Meng.


    They originally thought I wasn''t a game fan, but the concept of playing games alone was totally different from that of playing with a group of people, so then both I and Wu Jian enjoy the game very much and even totally forgot about the time. When the smell of rotten from the tip of our nose was much stronger than that in this room, we realized that someone had already come back to this dormitory.


    It was Chen Long. I had seen his photo but now he just was very different from that shiny boy in the photo. If he didn¡¯t came back at this time, I guessed that I wouldn¡¯t even associate him with the people in the photo I saw.


    Now Chen Long was a lot fatter than him in the photo. His face just looked very white, as if he had an anemia. In addition, his lips were also not as red as that of normal people. It was red with a bit of black, like that he had eaten too much bitternut just now. His eyes were also deeply sunken, showing a listless look.


    At this moment, he was just standing in front of the dormitory, looking at us strangely, with his face full of vigilance. I didn''t know why, I always thought his face was a little out of shape.


    As we prepared to observe him very carefully, Xiao Meng stood up in a hurry and stammered to introduce us as according to our previous thought. In fact, it was very simple. He said that we were his older brothers and came to him for playing with him. Just in time, the other two students went out, so we just lived here. In the end, he also added that the other two students had agreed with it.


    Chen Long just took a look at us and didn¡¯t spoke. He seemed very anxious and quickly went into the bathroom. Then sound of water came out of the bathroom. It seemed that he was taking a bath.


    Wu Jian just touched my hand and asked quietly, ¡°Hi, have you found anything wrong?¡±


    I shook my head. I really didn''t find anything wrong. Although his behaviour was a little weird, but I didn¡¯t find that there wasghost Qiin his body. Indeed, there was someYin Qi, but also very less. You had to know that almost all people hadYin Qi, but most of them just had only a little bit, and Chen Long¡¯s Yin Qi was just a little more than that of ordinary people.


    Even so, I still had found something wrong. That was that he had a strong smell of rotten on his body, and although he used a lot of perfume, it still could not cover up this smell.


    I whispered to Xiao Meng, ¡°Does he always come back and take a bath?¡±


    After taking a look of the bathroom in fear, Xiao Meng replied, ¡°Yes, he has been like this since he disappeared last time. Every time he comes back, he will take a bath and it lasts for a long time.¡±


    I nodded. Then I found another question and continued asking him, ¡°Do you know where he went during the time of his disappearance?¡±


    Xiao Meng thought about it for a while and and then said, ¡°He did say he was in a bad mood and went out on a trip, but I also heard from others that in fact, he went on an exploration.¡±


    Exploration? Then I looked toward Wu Jian because he didn¡¯t tell me about this. Wu Jian just smiled awkwardly and then told me that they did hear several his classmates say Chen Long did go on an adventure during the investigation. The reason why his classmates knew it was that a few days before he left, he had been asking about the information of Tian Keng. Besides, once he even accidentally leaked this news that he was going to experience the Tian Keng.


    I actually knew about the Tian Keng, which was a relatively famous scenic spot, a little far away from us, about to be 500 or 600 kilometers away. Publicity said it was an adventure, but in fact, the more people there was more than the trees there.


    I still quietly asked Wu Jian to investigate if anything had happened in Tian Keng during his disappearance. Wu Jian just nodded and promised. The things had finished but Chen Long still didn¡¯t come out, so we could only continue to play the game.


    After Xiao Meng mentioned this. I finally knew the what the concept of taking a both for a long time was? After we had played two rounds of the computer game, Chen Long finally come out. Then I took a look of my watch. Wow, it had been an hour and a half.


    Wu Jian couldn¡¯t bear it long ago and then he directly rushed into the bathroom just as soon as Chen Long came out. I knew he really wanted to pee. In fact, the second was that he also wanted to find some clues in the bathroom.


    Chen Long didn¡¯t greet to us after he came out, but went straight to bed. Because the beds here were in the upper bunk and the tables and chairs were below, we couldn¡¯t see him when he was on the bed.


    However, I noticed two details. When he came out, he wore a very thick pajamas with long sleeved, and you had to know that now I still wore only one pair of underwear to sleep. Most people were not so afraid of coldness.


    What¡¯s more, his face turned white when he came out. It was not that kind of pale white, but quite naturally white, as if he had gone in to fill up the makeup of a normal person.


    At this moment, Wu Jian came out, and when he saw Chen Long had already slept, he shook head to me secretly. Then he sat in front of the computer and behaved that he was going to end of the computer game. However, from his action of turning off the loudspeaker I knew he was definitely not afraid to disturb Chen Long''s sleep. Sure enough, less than a minute, there was some news coming in my QQ.


    It was sent by Wu Jian and was a long message, which read what he had found in the bathroom. Obviously, Chen Long cleaned the bathroom after taking a bath, so Wu Jian found nothing. Nonetheless, the only clue that can be useful was that he found Chen Long wore the perfume when he left the bathroom and that smell inside almost killed Wu Jian.


    Now I was firmly sure that there was something wrong with Chen Long, but I still didn''t know what exactly was going on with him. To be honest, I had never met such his current situation before.


    I noticed the time and thought it was still very early for the ghost building. Then I would like to ask Wu Jian to leave with me and go to the ghost building. Perhaps, we could get some information there.


    I pretended to bid a farewell to Xiao Meng but didn¡¯t expect that he even wanted us not to leave. Although it was rare for him to play games and so on, from his trembling voice and eager eyes, I could see he was frightened terribly.


    Wu Jian also worried about the safety of Xiao Meng. After all, we suddenly appeared here and even found a very stupid excuse. If there really was something with Chen Long, it was very likely that Xiao Meng could be very dangerous. Therefore, we stayed and even kept playing computer game over night.


    This was Wu Jian¡¯s work habit and I had became a night owl as early as in the ghost building. As for Xiao Meng, that was purely because of his fear.


    Chen Long got up early and went out at about six o''clock. After he left, Xiao Meng could not bear it and decided to go to sleep. From Xiao Meng with the sleepy eyes, we knew that Chen Long always went out at this time every day. Once he went out, he wouldn''t come back until the evening. As to what he had done, nobody knew.

 Chapter 206 The Axe

    After eating a bowl of noodles on the street, Wu Jian and I went home to sleep. As for his work, hum, I guessed he had completely forgotten it.


    When I woke up in the evening, I was going to find Old Mrs. Li, but I could never find her, so I had to go to ask Yan¡¯er. She thought about it for a long time and told me a word, alive dead people.


    The soul was sealed in the body for various reasons and then he thought that he was still alive and just lived with people. However, the body would still rot because in fact he was dead, and the soul would be suffering in the process. Finally, most of them would turn into other ghosts.


    Then I suddenly felt cold in my heart and thought it must be a horrible experience to watch own body die slowly.


    What Yan¡¯er told was really similar to what I had seen and I also guessed that maybe Chen Long¡¯s situation was caused by this point. There was an accident during his expedition, and he died finally. However, then, for no reason, his soul didn¡¯t leave, and he thought he still was alive, so he went back to school and continued to study. This also explained where the strange smell of rotten on his body came from.


    Then I asked her how this situation should be solved, but she just gave me a very perfunctory answer, that was I just needed to make him believe that he was dead.


    It seemed that what she said made sense, but I was still at a loss. How could I make a person who had been dead believe that he was really dead?


    I thought about it for a long time but still couldn¡¯t come up with an idea. Then I cleverly gave this task to Wu Jian, because I was the guy who just came back to have a rest after experiencing such a horrible thing. Besides, I was responsible for the mental disease curing.


    It was rare for me to do duty job in the ghost building, working as a waiter. Then I just shamelessly followed a group of ghosts, who worked hard every day, to have a barbecue and went home to have a comfortable sleep.


    Over the past few days, since I never received a single phone call from Wu Jian, I guessed that he had solved this problem. As for him, it was easy for him to solve this thing. What he only needed to be to shot Chen Long directly, and then I didn¡¯t believe that Chen Long would think he was still alive.


    After working carefully for a period, I received the latest letter, whose envelop didn¡¯t change. I directly tore it up and found there still were three photos.


    The first one, a woman was standing in front of the Ferris Wheel, raising her hands and the sunshine shone on her face through the Ferris Wheel.


    The third one, blurry, still blurry.


    Holding the picture, my hand shook slightly. This group of photos was quite mild in the photos I received, but the problem was that I know the woman in the photo.


    I picked up the first photo, then flipped it over and over and observed it very carefully. I was sure that I knew this woman, but I couldn''t remember who she was and where I had seen her.


    Mom saw me holding the photo and began to concern me. It just said some perfunctory words to her, then went back to the room alone and sat in a chair, slowly thinking about it. However, until my mom told me to go out, I still couldn¡¯t remember.


    The next thing even made me put these photos aside, because mom had told me that Xue¡¯er was sick.


    My mom and I had been paying close attention to Xue¡¯er ever since she became a target in the photo. I didn''t know why we just found she had a high fever of 40 degrees.


    I, my mom and witch Yan immediately sent Xue¡¯er to the hospital. It had been more than an hour since all the thing had been finished. She was infusion and her body temperature had dropped a lot, too.


    I and mom finally could get relieved. Then mom was here with Xue¡¯er and I went back to the ghost building to get some clothes for her. After all, she sweated a lot after infusion and her clothes was already wet. Besides, witch Yan was also here with them, so I didn¡¯t worry about what''s going to happen to them.


    I went back and went to the hospital again. When I arrived back to the ward with her clothes, I found Xue¡¯er had fallen asleep and thought there should be no problem with her. However, what I didn¡¯t expected was that her sick this time made her discharge from hospital after lying in the hospital for 7 or 8 days.


    I and my mom were terribly exhausted. When we got the news that Xue¡¯er could discharge from the hospital, I really wanted to buy several boxes of fireworks and celebrated it.


    Mom and witch Yan took Xue¡¯er to leave first and after finished paying, I also slowly went out of the hospital. Hospital would never worry about its business because there were crowed with people. Even in such a small place, like my hometown, the business was very good.


    ¡°Excuse me, please.¡± A pregnant woman who was holding a child nodded and smiled at me. Because a bed was placed on the one side of the hospital¡¯s passage, the aisle naturally became narrow a lot.


    With a friendly smile, I leaned to one side and got out of the way, only to catch sight of the fire box on the wall. Through the glass, I could see there were not only fire hydrants and pipes, but also a bright axe.


    Shit, it had been seven or eight days. I finally remembered the photos I received last time. Now, it was too late for me to recall who the woman in the photo was, because I really didn¡¯t know how much time I would spend to to remember that woman. Hence, I came up with a easy way.


    I went back to the ghost building, took a life photo of that woman and sent it to Wu Jian. Then, when I was editing the information to let him help me find that woman, Wu Jian''s message came, with only a short sentence.


    ¡°When do you take a photo of your sister-in-law? Hi, man. What do you want to do?¡±


    Wu Jian also sent a threatening emoji at the end of the discourse. In fact, he was joking but I really didn¡¯t want to laugh at all, because I had already remembered who the woman in the photo was.


    That was Wu Jian''s girlfriend: Ni Min.


    I don''t want to send another message and then made a phone call to him, but when the phone rang two times, it was hung up by him. When I was planning to redial again, Wu Jian¡¯s message came again.


    ¡°I am in the meeting.¡±


    I hurriedly replied, it¡¯s urgent. Answer the phone right now.


    In less than 10 seconds, I continued to call him. This time, he didn¡¯t hang up but also didn¡¯t answer it, and until the phone ring was almost over, he answered the phone and quietly expressed his dissatisfaction, ¡°What''s the matter? I am in the meeting?¡±


    ¡°Where us your girlfriend now?¡± I asked urgently.


    Wu Jian was stunned for a moment and I repeated it again. In fact, it was no wonder that would be stunned, because we hardly ever talked about his girlfriend, except for a limited number of conversations with him. Besides, because of the ghost, we all deliberately avoid Ni Min.


    Wu Jian''s became much more serious and said, ¡°Today, her company has organized a fire drill. What¡¯s going on?¡±

 Chapter 207 Old Stree

    I hastened to go out and stopped a taxi, but after I got in the taxi, I realized that in fact, I had no idea of where Ni Min''s company was. Therefore, I had to make another phone call to Wu Jian and then hurried to a construction site on the edge of the county.


    I just knew Ni Min was a budget officer of a large construction company and now she was carrying out a fire drill with her colleagues together on the construction site.


    The taxi was quick to get to the site under my urge. Wu Jian had arrived there first and the police car beside him was still flashing with lights. It seemed that he was pulling Ni Min who felt very depressed and explaining something to a group of people.


    I hurried over and found that it turned to be that Wu Jian suddenly interrupted the fire drill, which made many people unhappy, so he was apologizing there. Having seen Ni Min still was fine, I finally got much relieved in my heart.


    When Wu Jian saw I arrived here, he hurriedly came to me and asked me in a low voice, ¡°You have said something will happen to my girlfriend, which made me just break in here.¡±


    I nodded and motioned to him that I would explain to him alone after he dealt well with this as soon as possible.


    I didn¡¯t know what Wu Jian said to those people from construction company and fire department and then he quickly took Ni Min to walked to me. We casually find a restaurant. When Ni Min went to order some food and drink, I took this opportunity to told everything to Wu Jian.


    Wu Jian knew about those photos very early, so he didn¡¯t feel much surprised, but he still was very worried about the safety of Ni Min. Then he just kept asking me the situation but how did I know what the situation was. I just received the photos like before, but according the situation in the past, the one who would do that thing couldn¡¯t be a human.


    When Ni Min went back, he just vaguely asked her if there was something wrong with her lately. In fact, Ni Min was a little annoyed by Wu Jian¡¯s behavior in her company, and when she saw Wu Jian keep asking herself, she just scolded him badly.


    However, I also knew maybe Ni Min really didn¡¯t seem to encounter any problems. This made me feel very strange, but I also felt much relieved now, because it seemed that things hadn''t happened yet.


    What Wu Jian explained for his strange behavior was that he had offended some gangsters and he got the news that someone would retaliate him. In this point, Ni Min behaved very generous and she said that since she had chosen a police as her boyfriend, she had to learn to bear, and then she even began to comfort Wu Jian.


    Seeing what they were doing, I felt sick and was also very jealous of them, as a single man.


    In fact, I was not familiar with Ni Min¡¯s life, so I could only let Wu Jian tell me the story of Ni Min little by little, just like telling a story. However, this was just a common growth experience of ordinary people and I didn¡¯t found anything wrong from it.


    Now I and he were little at a loss and had no clue at all. Finally, we had to decide to send a few beautiful women to protect Ni Min. This was a private matter for Wu Jian, so it would be more polite for him to go himself.


    So it wasn''t until night that the whole thing came to an end. Later, I embarrassingly asked »¨½ã for leave and then I and Wu Jian find a night market stall to eat some night snack. It was at this moment that I suddenly thought of thing about Chen Long,and then I asked Wu Jian about the situation.


    However, it seemed that Wu Jian was still very about Ni Min, so he just replied me brokenly.


    It turned out that after he got the clue from me, he soon discovered the problem. Although there was no news coming out that tourists had died in Tiankeng, he had basically confirmed that Chen Long¡¯s situation was almost the same as what I said.


    However, Chen Long seemed to have a deep obsession. Although Wu Jian had tried his best, he still couldn¡¯t make Chen Long believe that he actually was dead. I estimated that even we cremated him, he would probably still think he was alive.


    I couldn''t help this, either, because I had no experience about how to convince a man that he was already dead. According to Wu Jian, the rot on Chen Long¡¯s was getting worse and worse, and the whole person was deformed. However, much perfume he wore, he couldn¡¯t cover up the smell of rotten. He also seemed to have been aware of this problem, so he had asked for one-week off to go home.


    I wondered if I should show mercy to Chen Long. I knew that Chen Long may become a ghost of harm after suffering from such torment, and there was no good for anyone at that time.


    Perhaps we should take a look at Chen Long again. On this point, Wu Jian also agreed with it. Both of us still acted very quickly and the next day we went to Chen Long¡¯s house.


    Chen Long was a local man but he just lived in suburban, where it was remote. There were only the many houses that had not been demolished in the county town and many short wooden houses made there were countless paths in the whole area. The ground was full of stagnant water and the smell of sewage and moldy smell caused by the wood after being soaked were filled with the air was, which was totally unbearable.


    Many doors were closed. Seeing through the window, I found inside there was empty and piled up with sundries. It seemed that no one lived here for a long time.


    Wu Jian seemed to be unfamiliar with the road here. After we walked around for a long time, we still couldn''t find Chen Long''s house and there even was no one who we could ask the way.


    Wu Jian was a little embarrassed and said, ¡°Here is about to be developed and a lot of people have moved away. The place is hard to find, Hey hey.¡±


    I nodded and motioned I knew it. Then I still looked around. Walking on such a path made me have another feeling of passing through, just like that I was going back a long time ago. Unfortunately, there was no a single man, so I naturally couldn¡¯t see that kind of picture of harmonious neighborhood in my mind.


    Now this place was estimated to have more ghosts than humans. No one lived in the old house, so the ghosts naturally lived here.


    After a long walk, Wu Jian finally find an old man who was so old that Wu Jian even couldn¡¯t recognized he was a human, and then we knew the direction of Chen Long¡¯s house. Although we had known the direction, we still walked around and even almost lost our way. Finally, we find his house.


    This house was the same as the surrounding houses, mostly which was wooden structure, and both its color and look changed very old. Just the road outside the house was clean. The door was also opened and made the chilling sound of ¡°squeak¡± in the wind blowing from time to time.


    Wu Jian poked his head into the darkened house, ¡°Is anyone here? Is anyone here?¡±


    There is no response from the darkened house and Wu Jian looked back at me, ¡°Nobody seems to be there.¡±


    After saying, Wu Jian turn back his head, immediately issued a cry of surprise, and then took a few steps back and put on a watchful pose. At this moment, I just saw an old woman carrying a fish and embarrassingly looked at Wu Jian.


    ¡°I''m sorry, young man, I must scare you.¡±


    Wu Jian quickly shook his head and then looked at the fish in the old lady¡¯s hand, which had been rotten. Although its appearance didn¡¯t seem to change, the pungent smell could clearly tell us that the fish was smelly.


    I walked up, smiled politely at the old lady and pointed at the fish in her hand, ¡°Dear old lady, the fish was smelly.¡±


    The old lady showed a surprised expression. Then she put the fish on the tip of her nose and began to smell it. The rotten smell grew stronger because the fish was raised up. However, she seemed not to notice that and even suck the smell with vigour.

 Chapter 208 Old Lady

    Wu Jian just coughed on purpose and said, ¡°Dear old lady, may I ask you something? Do you know Chen Long?¡±


    The old lady looked back quickly and said in a hurry, ¡°What happened to Chen Long?¡±


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s your relationship with him?¡± I took a few steps forward.


    The old lady said, ¡°He is my grandson. What happened to him? Does the school have no holiday?¡±


    I and Wu Jian just looked at each other and it seemed that the old lady didn¡¯t know that Chen Long had asked for leave. However, I saw the old lady was so old, and I coughed slightly and didn¡¯t told her that Chen Long had asked for leave.


    Wu Jian laughed and said, ¡°Chen Long is fine but it just seems that he is always worried about something in his heart. You know, as teachers, we still have to pay more attention to this kind of thing.¡±


    Then Wu Jian blinked to me and I directly gave him a white eye. I just thought he was really skilled with telling lies but I also guessed that this could just cheat this old lady. Sure enough, the old lady believed what he said. She became very enthusiastic and even hurriedly invited us to come in and sit down.


    I and Wu Jian followed this old lady to enter the dark room. The room was full of the smell of rotten. I estimated that Chen Long thought his grandmother''s nose didn¡¯t work well, so he didn¡¯t deliberately cover the smell of his body. Accordingly, the smell in this room almost let me vomit while eating.


    The house was very small and the living room was also the dining room. A small table was sit down here, which only could allowed one person barely get past. Then, there were two rooms in the left side and right side of the house, one of which was filled with bad smell. I guessed that was Chen Long¡¯s room.


    The old lady looked a little embarrassed. Then she took the dining stool and let us sit down, but she also unceasingly said sorry to us and told us that the place was too small.


    I sat on the bench that constantly gave out the sound of ¡°squeak¡±, replying to the old lady politely, and Wu Jian began to induce the old lady to tell him something. The old lady, although very old, obviously hadn¡¯t much social experience and it also seemed that she hadn¡¯t chatted with others for a long time, because when she began to talk about her grandson, she told everything about her grandson to us.


    Even Wu Jian didn¡¯t guide her, the old lady couldn¡¯t help but to tell about all the thing about Chen Long, from his childhood to growing-up.


    Of course, under the guidance of Wu Jian, the point of her words she said the period of time since Chen Long disappeared.


    About this point, Wu Jian nodded and whispered to me that Chen Long did go to a construction site to move bricks and would work late every day.


    After chatting with the old lady for some time, we bade a farewell to her. Actually, it was I who proposed that we should leave. As soon as we went out, Wu Jian asked me why I hurried to leave and he said at least, we should go to Chen Long''s room to see what clue we could find.


    After turning around a corner, I asked Wu Jian curiously, ¡°What clue you want to find?¡±


    Wu Jian opened his mouth, but he was suddenly stunned. Indeed, Chen Long now had been identified. However, now the point was not the clues, but that how we could let Chen Long believe he had already died.


    What¡¯s more, I finally understood why Chen Long always was unwilling to believe he had died, obviously because Chen Long and her grandmother were dependent on each other, and once he died, his grandmother would have a hard time living alone. In addition, judging from that he asked for leave to work, he cared a lot about his grandmother.


    Besides, after all, Chen Long was also a college student, so would he really be completely unresponsive to what happened to him? I didn¡¯t believe this.


    I told Wu Jian what I thought, and he also nodded his head, but just as we were about to leave, we saw a figure limp out from the path on one side.


    Then, I and Wu Jian had a looked at each other. Although the sky had begun to darken, we could still recognize at a glance, that man was Chen Long.


    His walking posture was very strange, as if his joints were too flexible, and he even always swung his leg while walking. As for his face, it looked puffier. At the same time, one of his hands was pressing on his shoulder heavily and I could clearly see that his shoulders had been deformed.


    Chen Long didn¡¯t notice us and directly went back to his home. At this time, the old lady also came out to greet him and asked him whether he felt tired today. She even told him that if he felt very tired, stop doing this work.


    When the old lady was looking at Chen Long, her eyes were filled with love. However, I thought it very weird. His body was different from that of others now, especially his shoulders, which had obviously been deformed because muscles rotted and lost the elasticity. Couldn''t the old lady notice that?


    In the short time when I talked with the old lady, I could see that there was something wrong with the old lady''s nose, but her eyes worked very well, because while she was chatting with us, she even still was stitching insole.


    After Chen Long and the old lady talked as usual for a few time, he went to the small side-room for shower and the old lady came over in our astonished eyes.


    I and Wu Jian just looked at each other and didn¡¯t know what the old lady was going to do.


    She came to us and looked at us for a long time before she said, ¡°You are good people and you should already know that.¡±


    ¡°Know what?¡± Wu Jian just laughed.


    The old lady smiled, ¡°Don''t you smell that heavy smell?¡±


    I was surprised to say, ¡°Your nose.¡±


    The old lady shook her head and said, ¡°Although it doesn¡¯t work well, it¡¯s still useful and that fish also was left by me on purpose. There are not many neighbors around, but there is always someone to ask about this.¡±


    I had learned that the old lady¡¯s experience was not the same as we thought and in fact, she was obviously very smart. However, what only I felt very weird was why she would suddenly talk to us about this.


    The old lady closed her eyes in pain and opened it after a long time, ¡°You guys are police officers, right? Xiao Long¡¯s father is also a police officer offer, the same as you.¡±


    Wu Jian just looked at the old lady in amazement and I didn¡¯t make a sound. Now the whole process of this thing was mastered by the old lady.


    Then she said, ¡°Xiao Long is a good boy, but since childhood, his life is hard, very hard bitter. Now, it is impossible to continue to hide this, but you don¡¯t have to worry about this because I will discipline him well and also won¡¯t let him do bad things. Besides, he also won¡¯t do, either. OK?¡±


    The old lady''s eyes were full of entreaties and her hand hanging on one side was trembling constantly. She looked excited. I glanced at Wu Jian but didn¡¯t speak. He also just scratched his head, saying, ¡°Dear old lady, this is not that we don''t help you, but that Chen Long will be very painful in this way and even if he becomes a ghost, he will easily do some bad things.¡±


    The old lady was stunner for a moment and then looked at Wu Jian in disbelief. Then Wu Jian poked me with his finger, so I could only go forward to tell the words that Yan¡¯er told me to the old lady.


    The old lady''s expression became even more painful and tears flowed down her wrinkled face. After a long time, she began to speak, ¡°I get it.¡±


    The old lady did not speak any more. I and Wu Jian waited for a while, and had to speak, ¡°Well, dear old lady, I go to have a good chat with your grandson now. We can come to you again tomorrow. What do you think?¡±

 Chapter 209 Glowing Pool and Misunderstanding

    When I got back, I felt so confused. Then I told the whole thing to my mom, but after she heard what I said, she let me try to allow Chen Long to stay with his grandmother for some time.


    I thought about it. Actually, Mom was right. Although the old lady and Chen Long had been hiding from each other, they all knew that things have happened. The truth was that when they were hiding from each other, they actually were deceiving themselves again.


    After I asked Yan''er and made sure that now Chen Long wouldn¡¯t bring danger to the old lady, I listened to mother''s words and decided to let them get along well in the last time.


    If there was concern and love in the heart, there would be no grievance.


    The next day, I didn¡¯t contact Wu Jian and he also didn''t call me. This matter was deliberately ignored by us. It wasn''t until the third day that Wu Jian just called me, saying that Chen Long had come to him and asked me to go to Chen Long''s house now and he and Chen Long would also go there right now.


    Wu Jian didn''t say what happened on the phone. This guy was always so mysterious, and whatever the thing was, he never said it on the phone, which made me doubt whether he had made some mistakes and his phone was monitored.


    But I still had to go. After telling me mom, I took a taxi to the old street and after going to several wrong alleys, I finally arrived at Chen Long''s house.


    Wu Jian had already arrived and the old lady and Chen Long was sitting together, whispering something. When he saw I arrived, he stood up, greeted me and beckoned me to sit down.


    I sat next to Wu Jian and asked where his wife was in a whisper. He said he let Ni Min go shopping with some of his female colleagues and she was very safe now. Then I was relieved to say hello to Chen Long and his grandmother. After all, I and Wu Jian still couldn¡¯t find out who would do harm to Ni Min.


    Chen Long nodded to me. The flesh on his face moved stiffly. It seemed that the muscles on his face had rotted a lot and it was even very difficult for him to make a smile.


    Besides, Chen Long¡¯s voice sounded very strange and it seemed to be very difficult to speak and he said words almost word by word, ¡°I know I have already, already, but I am still very worried about my grandmother. Please do not take me in, take me in, OK? Just let me accompany with my her. At least, let me leave some money for her.¡±


    I nodded secretly and said, ¡°I won''t take you in, but, you know, your body won''t last for too long, let alone move bricks or something.¡±


    When I was saying, I pointed to Chen Long¡¯s shoulder. Having lost elasticity because of muscle decay, his shoulder had been completely deformed under the pressure of a heavy object, and there was a big dent in the middle. Although he had used something to hold it up, it could still be seen very clearly.


    After listing to my words, he stood up stiffly, shook twice, and threw his face on the ground, which totally startled me. Then, I and Wu Jian looked at each other, and when we were about to ask the situation, Chen Long slowly climbed up, just like a machine that lacked lubricating oil, and then knelt on the ground. Until this moment, I knew he wanted to kneel down.


    Chen Long fell very hard. A small finger-sized stone was embedded on his face but no blood flow out. Only a little bit of black liquid came out, giving out a strong smell of decay immediately.


    It seemed that Chen Long didn¡¯t know there a stone on his face and he just kowtowed stiffly, ¡°Can you help me? Please! I don''t want to die. I can''t die.¡±


    I sighed and watched the old lady carefully lift him up, then slowly take out the stone on his face, and use a water-stained handkerchief gently wipe his cheek.


    I really wanted to help him but what could I do?


    ¡°People will die and this is the life. I don''t know why your soul still hasn''t left your body, but you''re actually dead. However, you''re very lucky. At least, you can still stay with your grandmother.¡±


    After listening to my words, Chen Long and the old lady''s eyes darkened, and then he seemed to be thinking of something and then looked up at me, ¡°Well, if I find the reason why my soul still hasn¡¯t left my body, will that give me a chance to resurrect?¡±


    I was just stunned for a while. Chen Long''s soul was not out of his body. I was curious about this and also thought it was mysterious, but I didn''t think it would bring him back to life.


    When I was in a daze, I didn¡¯t answer him. I guessed Chen Long wrongly understood what I meant. He even though I didn''t make a sound because I was considering the feasibility of this matter, so he became very excited.


    ¡°I died in the Tiankeng and I remember I accidentally fell into a deep pool. It''s been a day since I woke up and I''ve also become very powerful. Oh, by the way, the pool has been shining and the light is white.¡±


    What? A glowing pool. His words made me a little hazy. I had never heard of the glowing pool and suddenly began to be very curious, and I even completely ignored that I should not give Chen Long the hope.


    Then I called my mom right now. Since it was daytime, I let her ask witch Yan. Since the last time I went to my hometown, the relationship between witch Yan and old Mrs. Li was very good and they even had already lived in the ghost building with us.


    On the phone, witch Yan also told me that she had never heard of such a strange pool, either. Then I decided to ask Old Mrs. Li and other people late in the night. Finally, we all decided to go to have a look. By the way, we could also regard it as a small trip. After all, so many things had happened before, and everyone¡¯s mood was very nervous. Therefore, this trip could make us relax.


    While I was talking on the phone, Wu Jian was giving a serious education to Chen Long to abide by the law, and so on. Maybe he had completely misunderstood what I meant, so he looked very happy and repeatedly nodded his head. Even when he saw I finished the phone call, he just looked at me with an eager face.


    Instead of paying attention to him, I asked Wu Jian. Then he thought about it for a while and also planned to take his wife with us for a trip. Anyway, he also asked for leave. Besides, there were some masters, like witch Yan, so he thought Ni Min was safer than when I stayed with her.


    I told this news to Chen Long and he was obviously very happy. Even the old lady¡¯s wrinkles were unfolded happily and then knelt to kowtow to us, which scared me and Wu Jian. We hurriedly stepped forward and got her up. The old lady was 70 or 80 years old. If she kowtowed to us, our lives would be shortened.


    After a simple arrangement, I took Chen Long to the ghost building. This was also the request of witch Yan and she said she had some ways to rejuvenate his body, and, of course, it was only temporary. However, it still made Chen Long very pleased.

 Chapter 210 The Simple Experience of Chen Long

    When I saw Chen Long again, I was surprised that he had completely changed, his face was no longer that creepy green white and the wound caused by being hit by the small stone on his face also disappeared. No, it didn¡¯t disappear, but turned into an old scar.


    Although his sunken shoulder was still a little obvious, it looked as if it had been hurt, and it no longer gave me the first strange feeling. Most importantly, his movement had become no different from that of ordinary people. If it were not for the faint smell of rotten, he was almost like a normal person.


    I was surprised to look at witch Yan, but she didn¡¯t explain it, and even stroked Chen Long''s back, smiling to the old lady, ¡°Xiao Long is a good boy.¡±


    The old lady''s eyes were full of tears. Then she walked over and touched Chen Long up and down, nodding her head and repeating, ¡°Good boy. Good boy.¡±


    It was not until the two old women had calmed down that I inquired in detail about Chen Long''s encounter in the Tiankeng.


    It turned out that Chen Long¡¯s travel was not because he was in a good mood, but in order to make money to reduce the burden of his family. He had been doing a part-time job at a travel company, but this time was not his part-time job period. Because the business of travel agency at that period of time was very good, the number of tour guides was not enough and travel agency paid some extra money to let Chen Long help them.


    After the hesitation, Chen Long finally agreed with it. Because he had to return to the school, Chen Longtook the tourists to the designated hotel and then another tour guide took over, and Chen Long left.


    To catch the time, Chen Long chose to go back at night. It was the glowing pool that made Chen Long wrongly thought that was the lights and go the wrong way. By the time he found out it, he had reached the pool. Because he was careless, he dropped in the pool and then was drowned.


    When he woke up, the sky was already bright, and no one had come here. He also found he was just floating on the water, so he thought he was very lucky. In addition, he could swim, so he never thought about the possibility that he might have been dead.


    However, on his way back, Chen Long found that his strength had grown a lot and many of the small wounds that had been cut off when he fell down the pool no longer hurt. Chen Long also felt strange at that time, but because he had to go back for class, he didn''t care about it too much.


    But on the way out, the car Chen Long was taking encountered a small car accident and a huge cut was made on his thigh. If it were not because of the reminding of others, he would never discover it.


    Chen Long was too frightened to rush back. Instead, he rented a small room in the town and lived alone for some time. Until the body is about to rot and because he missed his grandma, he finally went back home.


    At this time, Chen Long had found that he may be dead, but he was totally unwilling to accept the fact from his heart. Nonetheless, after living in the school for some time, he had to face all this.


    He could ignore the gossip from others, but he even no longer dared come to his lovely girlfriend. Only his grandma could accept the present Chen Long. Of course, it was just because the old lady pretended that she could never smell it.


    Although Chen Long just simply described his life after coming back from the Tiankeng, I could still imagine how heavy it was for a college student after suddenly encountering such a problem.


    After Chen Long finished his speaking, no one spoke at the scene. The old lady hugged Chen Long, sobbing, and both of my mom and witch Yan were wiping their tears. I knew in my heart that my mom and witch Yan had been touched and the next step after being touched was to help him. Although it may not necessarily help him to revive, there must be other ways.


    Sure enough, after the several people were sad, mom and witch Yan started to cheer up. Then witch Yan said, ¡°Boy, don¡¯t worry. Even if you die, I promise that you will stay with your grandmother until her hundred years later. ¡±


    Both the old lady and Chen Long looked at witch Yan with surprise and their eyes were full of confidence. witch Yan nodded positively and then listened to the old lady''s constant thanks. As for Chen Long, he was so happy that he was in a daze.


    Perhaps Chen Long became a ghost and just stayed with his grandmother in this way, which might be a very happy thing for him.


    Everyone began to talk again, but the topic had changed and became the fun stories of me and Chen Long when we were young. I really didn¡¯t why I also became their conversation topic, but I didn''t have the courage to resist. Anyone here, except Chen Long, could be capable of beating me anytime or anywhere, and even I couldn¡¯t fight back.


    Chen Long was starting to fidget, too. I looked at him sympathetically. Obviously, now his position was a lot higher than mine. Nobody had cared me for a long time, but when Chen Long made a movement, three people immediately looked to him at the same time.


    My mother was more concerned and asked. Chen Long felt very shy for a long time and finally said, ¡°I...I...I want to have a look, look at Xiao Hong.¡± When I finished, I lowered my head. If it weren¡¯t that he was dead, his face would turn terribly red enough to burn.


    All these several ladies laughed and my mom let him go back to find her quickly. I did frown, and to be honest, I thought he got dizzy with happiness now. However, I did not stop him, but looked at witch Yan.


    After she glanced at my mom, she also didn¡¯t stop him. Instead, she told Chen Long that his health didn¡¯t totally recover, so he must come back early, just like vaccinating him.


    After listening, Chen Long was very worried, so witch Yan comforted him for a while. Then he finally went out happily. The old lady had been watching him, and until he went out of the door, she went back with a face of relief, but while she was walking back, her pace was getting more and more slow and the smile on her face was so getting less and less.


    After entering the house, she sighed, ¡°I am so happy and even get stupid. Xiao Long shouldn¡¯t go out now.¡±


    Witch Yan also nodded and followed to sigh. However, my mom still didn¡¯t know what was going on, just looking at witch Yan and the old lady. She questioningly looked to both of them respectively. When mom looked at me, I also slightly sighed. Of course, the old lady was so smart.

 Chapter 211 Set off to the Glowing Pool

    Witch Yan squinted her eyes and looked very unhappy. Chen Long also seemed to feel that he came back so late, so he lowered his head innocently. The old lady glanced at witch Yan and the looked at Chen Long, and directly gave him a slap and began to teach him very hard.


    Anyway, Chen Long couldn¡¯t feel the pain, so however she slapped him, it didn¡¯t work.


    My mom hurriedly rushed to persuade the old lady, but witch Yan didn¡¯t say a single word. Instead, she glanced at me and walked into the yard. I hastened to follow her. After she had a look of the back and was sure that there was no one following me, she finally whispered to me, ¡°Go out and find out what does Chen Long do tonight.¡±


    I was very astonished. Although I thought Chen Long was overexcited and I didn¡¯t think he had done something bad. Since witch Yan asked me to do that, I also didn¡¯t dare to neglect it. After all, Chen Long now was not a human. Besides, the murderer who killed those animals in the school had not been found. Nobody knew whether the murderer was him.


    Then I made an immediate phone call to Wu Jian to let him investigate this quickly and also informed him to go to Tiankeng tomorrow.


    Wu Jian also attached great importance to Chen Long¡¯s thing and witch Yan still couldn¡¯t be at ease. She took the phone, and after giving Wu Jian her orders, she got relieved slightly.


    When we came back to the room, it was quiet again. Because the old lady was not well, she couldn''t go to the Tiankeng. Although she had been asking to go, witch Yan still let me and Chen Long send the old lady back to have a rest. Besides, she even asked me to stay with Chen Long all the time, followed him closely, and came back with him together.


    Of course, what she told the old lady and Chen Long was that his health didn¡¯t recover totally, so he had to come back to work overtime.


    It was Wu Jian who came to pick us up. I didn¡¯t what Wu Jian said to witch Yan, and she didn¡¯t send us out as enthusiastically as mom did. Because Chen Long and the old lady were also here, I didn¡¯t ask Wu Jian and just quietly stayed in the car.


    When we sent the old lady back home, maybe it was because this trip to Tiankeng carried too much hope for both of them, Chen Long and the old lady seem to be unwilling to leave each other. After knowing the identity of Wu Jian, Chen Long even begged him to send someone to protect the old lady.


    When we were on the way back, Wu Jian drove very fast. After taking Chen Long back to witch Yan, Wu Jian pulled me to one side and asked, ¡°Do you think the dead man still could have an erection?¡±


    I was stunned by the sudden words from him and couldn¡¯t react for a long time. When he saw I was in a daze, he added, ¡°That thing!¡±


    While he was saying, he even pointed to that thing on my body, which made me so scared, took a few steps back and looked at him with alert.


    I finally knew what he meant. As for this question, I didn¡¯t have a real study. I couldn¡¯t ask those people in the ghost building and even witch Yan was impossible. The only one I could ask maybe was the long shirt man.


    Oh, no. Why did he ask me that? I asked him curiously, but he just smiled at me in a mysterious way, ¡°That guy looked very honest. However, after he went out of the ghost building, I went to school and asked a girl out. Then, hey, hey, hey. As soon as he got out, he quickly went back to the ghost building. What do you think? Does he really go for chatting?¡±


    Oh, no. I couldn¡¯t imagine that, but after I carefully thought about this for a moment, I also thought it was very normal. The ghosts in the movies, especially the female ghosts, all loved this very much. However, Chen Mu was a dead man and even couldn¡¯t feel the pain, so how could he still do that thing? Was it his talent?


    I shook my head speechlessly and it was no wonder that witch Yan would be unhappy. She just helped Chen Long recover his body a little, but he immediately went to do that kind of thing. Nobody would be happy, not to mention even making me, such a single man, very jealous.


    witch Yan asked what Chen Long did tonight. I didn¡¯t know and I also didn¡¯t ask. As soon as the second day came, we set out. Because the seats of Wu Jian¡¯s car were limited, except for Wu Jian and Ni Min, the people who went there also included me, Chen Long, witch Yan and my mom. Besides, I also felt that we were more likely to go traveling, not investigating the pool.


    After we arrived at the Tiankeng, we had entered the gaming mode because mom and witch Yan had never been here. Well, I had also never been here, so we had much fun at first.


    Wu Jian didn¡¯t spend much time with Ni Min because of his work, but now witch Yan was here and Ni Min¡¯s safety was guaranteed. Therefore, they two also got very relieved and began to enjoy this trip.


    Only Chen Long was very anxious. Perhaps because he was taught very hard last night, he didn¡¯t dare to say a single word. In addition, it was also because his powerful strength that he became the best porter today.


    After having fun crazily, mom went to bed very early. As soon as I was ready to go to bed after the shower, Chen Long knocked at the door and said that witch Yan asked us to look for the pool now. As for Wu Jian, he just stood at the door and constantly yawned, with his sleepy eyes.


    Wu Jian and just looked at each other. We were almost going to crash, and my feet were almost broken, so were still going to look for that pool at night?


    Then I forced myself to discuss with witch Yan and asked her whether we could go tomorrow night, but I was taught very hard by her. Well, she watched the weather forecast and said there would be showers tomorrow. Although I really would like to tell her that the weather forecast was generally inaccurate, I dared not, because my mom was also woken up.


    Originally, witch Yan didn¡¯t plan to let mom go with us, but my mom expressed a strong interest in the glowing pool, so I and Wu Jian also had no choice and could only drag the tired body, watching mom and witch Yan walking in the front, as if they were walking on wings. There was a deep doubt in our eyes, that weren¡¯t it these two old people who went shopping with us today?


    Because everyone was going there, Ni Min was awakened by Wu Jian. Now she was also the object of our protection, so it was impossible for us to just leave her in the hotel alone. After knowing the cause and effect of the incident, Ni Min, with a tired face, was a little bit away from Chen Long, but her enthusiasm had been completely aroused and she suddenly became very passionate and resurrected, and even joined in the team of my mom and witch Yan.


    Therefore, the whole team formed a weird formation. The first one was Chen Long who was responsible for leading the way. Then there were three exuberant women of different ages, with brisk steps and unceasing words. The people who walked at the end of the team were I and Wu Jian. We were just like the ghosts, walking very hard and feeling very depressed.


    It was obvious that Chen Long also didn¡¯t remember the location of the glowing pool. After taking us around for the most part of the night, he finally found right location under the cooperation of witch Yan.


    The location of the pool has deviated from the roads of the scenic spot, or I could say that there was no road at all. I really didn''t know at that time, how brave Chen Long would be, so that he thought it was the way back. Rather than saying he saw wrong, I believe he was captivated at that time.


    With this idea, I got on my guard, too. Under my reminder, Wu Jian also joined the big team of mom and witch Yan with me.

 Chapter 212 I Would Take Her Back

    I also followed her. In front of me appeared a small pool, which was estimated to be less than 10 squares. The surface of the water gave off a soft white light, just like the fog.


    In the white light, the pool of water can be seen to be very clear and even made people have the impulse of Jumping down and swimming.


    Witch Yan began to observe it very carefully. However, neither I nor my mom nor Wu Jian had this professional quality. We quickly picked up our cell phones and began to take pictures at the same time, and the sound of taking pictures and the flash came one after another.


    Just as we had a good time, an old and strange voice shouted, ¡°Stop taking pictures! Stop!¡±


    Then, after a wave of shaking of trees, opposite the pool came out a dark figure and it waved hard at us to let us stop taking pictures. Seeing we all stopped, the black figure just knelt on the edge of the pool and kept kowtowing toward the pool, talking about something again and again.


    My mom was shocked, so I and Wu Jian immediately went up to protect my mom, but witch Yan used the flashlight in her hand to shine on that black figure. Actually, there was no need using the flashlight, because I could clearly see it with the help of the strange white light in the pool.


    There was an old man on the opposite, whose hair was all white and clothes was ragged. I couldn¡¯t even tell whether it was a man or woman.


    The old man seems to be doing a ritual and a few simple actions were repeated over and over again. It was not until the ninth time that he stood up and came up to us along the edge of the pool.


    The old man walked very slowly, but even if the pace was very slow, his body would still shake from time to time, which the people who was seeing him very scared. After a long time, the old man walked in front of us. The thing, which the old man wore, was not so much the clothes as a rag, which wrapped on the body layer by layer. In addition, I also didn¡¯t know what he wore on his feet. At least I didn''t recognize it and it was a little like a combination of straw shoes and boots.


    The old man''s face and hair looked very strange. It was not other feeling, but too clean, terribly clean. Therefore, it was just like his face and his body were from two totally different people. Only now the two people were reluctantly put together.


    Although the old man was dressed up as a vagrant, but his words sounded very gentle. Just his voice was very unpleasant to hear, ¡°My surname is Lin and my first name is a single word of Mu. Who are you? why are you here in the middle of the night? Even you are taking the picture. What if you guys make the God get angry? Just leave right now and don¡¯t come back again.¡±


    Lin Mu just glanced at me unhappy, then had a look at the pool and said, ¡°Leave. Just leave quickly.¡±


    witch Yan laughed at him and said, ¡°Old bro., Do you know the man in the pool? ¡±


    Lin Mu¡¯s face changed greatly, looking at witch Yan in horror and just said, ¡°You...You...You...¡±, but he couldn¡¯t say the next words.


    I stretched my head and had a look of the pool. In the white light, I could almost see the rocks under the pool through the clear pool, but I could not see there was man in any way.


    ¡°Hey, do you see anything?¡± I touched Wu Jian, who was also looking at the pool, just like me, and asked him in a low voice.


    Wu Jian shook his head and also replied to me that he didn¡¯t.


    Until ÁÖľ looked at witch Yan in doubt for a long time, he spoke, ¡°It seems that you have also learned something, so hurry up and just leave.¡±


    After looking atÁÖľfor a long time, witch Yan suddenly thought of something and gave a cry of surprise, ¡°Nine lifetime of wronged ghost!¡±


    ÁÖľkept his eyes widely open and looked at the pool for a long time. Until seeing there seemed to be no change, he said, ¡°I thought you are very old. How can¡¯t you still understand that? Just leave quickly.¡±


    witch Yan nodded, took a look at that pool, then bent over and saluted me and let us leave. Although I didn¡¯t know what the nine lifetimes of wronged ghost was, I knew that there was a reason for witch Yan to let us go. Besides, from her eyes looking at the pool, I could find a kind of thing called fear that had almost never appeared on her.


    Chen Long didn¡¯t want to leave, but it was obvious that he could persuade witch Yan, so he finally still was dragged back to the hotel. After going back to the hotel, although I had a lot of doubts, after all, it was too late, I did not ask anyone and just went to rest like others.


    Maybe the nine lifetime of wronged ghost really scared witch Yan. The next day, when the sky just began to become bright, she started to wake us up and asked us to prepare to get back. This group of people all had the right to speak, except Chen Long, me and Wu Jian, so we said nothing and had to yawn.


    However, when everyone gathered in the lobby, we found that Chen Long hadn¡¯t come down and he also wasn¡¯t in the room. After asking receptionist who worked during the night, we got to know that Chen Long left alone not long after he came back to the hotel.


    All of us know that he must have gone back to the pool alone, but I didn¡¯t speak and only waited for the arrangements of witch Yan. At this moment, witch Yan was walking around in the lobby anxiously and a flicker of struggling flashed across his face from time to time.


    The performance of witch Yan gave me more certainty about the horror of the ninth lifetime wronged ghost and it even could made her come up an idea of giving up Chen Long.


    In the end, she still decided to go to the pool and she just kept telling us to listen to her and keep from the pool as far as we could.


    In fact, I was curious about the pool. Just as we had just walked out of the hotel gate, we found Chen Long had come back, and he had become very different.


    His skin became smooth and even there also was a little redder, and it seemed to be no different from an ordinary people. The biggest exaggeration was that his sunken shoulders had returned to normal and he was smiling towards us.


    What was unexpected was that witch Yan even didn¡¯t blame Chen Long, and only my mom said a few words, but my mom was quickly stopped by witch Yan. Besides, it seemed that witch Yan deliberately kept far away from Chen Long. Maybe he was so happy that he even didn¡¯t notice this point, but I did.


    All of us didn¡¯t stay again. We finally ended this weird trip and began to get back. On the way back, when mom asked Chen Long what happened last night, he just simply described that he went to the pool and took a bath for a while, and then he ended this topic quickly.


    Along the way, it was a lot more silent than when we came here. witch Yan didn¡¯t speak, but also deliberately stopped my mom and Chen Long from talking. Later, he also had realized that and no longer spoke.


    At the intersection of the old city, witch Yan decided to let Chen Long out of the car. Until seeing he went very far away from us, she severely told us not to have any touch with him. As for the reason, she didn¡¯t tell us.


    I, Wu Jian and Ni Min didn¡¯t dare to ask her but my mom directly asked her. When I wanted to listen to what they would say carefully, witch Yan hesitated for a moment and pulled my mom over, so even mom let us not ask about this again.


    This thing was supposed to end like this. Even if the pool was so weird and the nine lifetime of wronged ghost was very scaring, after all, they were far from us. As for Chen Long, we also had already helped him, so nobody cared about this again anymore.


    Just when I thought Chen Long¡¯s thing was over and even decided to try to help Wu Jian find out the man who would kill Ni Min, Chen Long called us and his tone was very strange.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take her back.¡±

 Chapter 213 The Peril in Female Toile

    After discussing for a while, there was still no result. As time went by, this phone call was slowly forgotten by us.


    Until the last day of the month came.


    This was the last day of the month and the thing on the photo still didn¡¯t happen, but I don¡¯t dare to get a little relaxed. I didn''t know if it was because I was too nervous, I thought something would happen today.


    After a safe daytime, the ghost building was on business at night, so I, Wu Jian, Ni Min, witch Yan and my mom decided to eat some food on that night market stall where we often went and also decided to talk about that thing after 12 pm.


    We were and eating and talking for a long time and now it was 11:50. With the last ten minutes, this month would be over. According to past experience, Ni Min would also be completely safe.


    Just when I was joking with Wu Jian, that maybe we could have a drink to celebrate at 12:00, Ni Min said a few words in the ear of Wu Jian, with a weird look. After that, Wu Jian nodded and then both stood up.


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± I just looked at Wu Jian. It was less than 10 minutes before 12:00, but now were they going to leave?


    Ni Min¡¯s expression was somewhat embarrassed, and Wu Jian explained with smile, ¡°She wants to go to the toilet, and I¡¯ll go with her. Don¡¯t worry. I will be with her.¡±


    I just glanced at Wu Jian with contempt, then I turned around and decided to ask witch Yan to go with Ni Min. She nodded and stood up, ¡°Actually, I also want to go to the toilet. Go with me.¡±


    Wu Jian shrugged at Ni Min and then sat down. Ni Min followed witch Yan to go the public toilet across the street. Because the lights in the public toilet were broken, they asked the owner of the night market stall for a flashlight.


    Wu Jian was obviously relieved that witch Yan would accompany her wife to the toilet but he still bantered, ¡°Can¡¯t you guy still trust my strength?¡±


    I pretended to laugh and it could be regarded as my reply anyway. Since I was just sitting opposite the public toilet, I saw a familiar figure entering the toilet when Wu Jian was bantering. It was also because there were no lights in the toilet that I could not see clearly it in the dim light of the street lights.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Wu Jian saw I was stunned, then turned his head to observe the toilet and asked me with strange.


    I rubbed my eyes, took a look at the toilet and found there was no one, and then I wondered, ¡°I seem to have seen a man go in just now and its figure even looks very familiar.¡±


    Then Wu Jian turned to look again and said with strange, ¡°Familiar? Who?¡±


    I shook my head and still couldn''t remember who it would be.


    Chen Long? I and Wu Jian took a look at each other, then immediately stood up and trotted to the public toilet. I didn¡¯t know why Wu Jian had a sharp reaction, but when my mom said that she felt the figure looked like Chen Long, I suddenly thought of the phone call Chen Long made and the inexplicable words said by him.


    When we arrived at the public toilet, I stopped and hesitate whether I should give the two people in the toilet now a notice. However, Wu Jian had already hurried in. Just as I also decided to follow him in, I heard the roar of witch Yan out from the female toilet, ¡°What are you doing here? This is the female toilet!¡±


    ¡°I...I... I¡¯m afraid you forget take the toilet roll with you.¡± Wu Jian¡¯s voice sounded very embarrassed.


    I stood at the door and almost couldn¡¯t help laughing out, but because I was afraid of being found by witch Yan, I could only cover my mouth and beat hard the wall with my hand.


    After Wu Jian got out of the toilet, perhaps because of embarrassment, he didn¡¯t speak. In addition, there was no light in the toilet, so I also couldn¡¯t see his look very clearly. I knew that Wu Jian must have a wonderful expression on his face now. I even couldn¡¯t help laughing out loudly. While I was laughing at him, I also was running towards the night market stall, afraid that he would hit me hard because of the anger. Of course, I was even more afraid to be heard by the witch Yan, in case that she thought I also planed this.


    However, when I just ran across the road, I turned around and found Wu Jian didn¡¯t follow me. I saw him standing at the door of the female toilet, without any movement, just standing straight in the darkness.


    When I was still wondering, I saw Wu Jian turn around and enter the female toilet again. His movement was very slow, just like the rotten Chen Long. My heart clattered and an ominous feeling appeared in my heart.


    During a long time, the public toilet didn¡¯t have any other changes, as if nothing had happened, but I knew it hadn¡¯t been the same anymore.


    I looked around, then picked up the turner used by the boss¡¯s to fry the crayfish and rushed to the toilet under the boss''s shouting.


    The dark public toilet was like a huge open mouth of a huge beast. I stood at the door and hesitated for a while. Then I still took out my phone, turn on its flashlight and slowly walked in.


    The male toilet was directly ignored by me and the door of the female toilet was closed tightly. I knocked on the door with the turner on my hand. After the door made a crisp noise, it opened slowly, revealing a black hole-like toilet.


    Besides, the glass next to the toilet seemed to have lost its proper function, without a glimmer of brightness coming in.


    I shoveled against the door and used the phone shone slowly into it. The sanitary conditions of the public toilet was very good and it was very clean because it was near the pedestrian street, and the doors of a dozen separate toilets in a row were tightly closed. I did not find the figure of Wu Jian and the female toilet was very quiet.


    ¡°Wu Jian! Aunt Yan! Sister!¡± I shouted one by one, but no one replied to me. There was only the noise made by that the door of the female toilet hit the pot shovel because of the wind.


    I painstakingly swallowed the slaver and slowly walked in.


    The spring door of the female toilet slowly closed behind me, without a sound, which made me very nervous. If witch Yan was trapped, I would never dare imagine what was waiting for me.


    I moved slowly against a smooth wall and shoveled open the toilet door one by one. The first was empty, the second was empty and the third was also empty. The doors pushed open by me were slowly closed.


    I was very careful, but when I pushed open the door of the last toilet with fear, I was surprised to find nothing. Wu Jian and Chen Long were not here, not mention the human, even no a single ghost.


    What was going on here? The door of the last toilet slowly closed. I was afraid that I was wrong and then I pushed it open again, but there was still nothing at all.


    Where were they? Where were they? My mind was completely blank. Yes, this was the female toilet, because there was no urinal, I was familiar with, but where were they?


    I stepped back feebly and leaned my body against the wall. Would they be in the male toilet?

 Chapter 214 The Death of Ni Min

    The bad smell in the air is slowly getting heavier and I could feel as if Chen Long was slowly approaching me. Then I gently thumped the wall behind me, trying to tell whether it was a wall or Chen Long. When I felt it was cold and hard, I immediately got a little relieved.


    After all, in such an environment where I couldn¡¯t see anything, I needed a strong wall behind me.


    The strange smell seemed to permeate the while female toilet and I couldn¡¯t even tell where the smell was much heavier. I just stick to the wall, put the pot shovel in front of my chest and slowly moved towards the position of my phone. One step, two step and it was closer and closer.


    Just when I was going to bend over and pick up the phone on the ground, the toilet on the other side of the phone suddenly came out with the sound of flushing. I just bent down a little bit and straightened up quickly. I had already checked one by one and nothing was in it.


    The sound of the flush slowly became lower and the sound of a wriggly padlock came out of this toilet. It seemed that there really was someone in it and prepared to come out.


    I slowly raised the pot shovel in my hand. Although I couldn¡¯t see anything, I still stared hard at the direction of the sound.


    ¡°Pa¡±, the padlock was opened, but the toilet door remained closed. I didn¡¯t dare to move and could only wait quietly. However, my hand that held the pot shovel had sweated and my heart also beat violently. I really hate to meet such the thing alone.


    I waited for a long time but didn''t wait until the toilet door opened. To my surprise, the sound of flushing came out from the other toilet, and then the same sound of opening the padlock. After a moment, then it was the third toilet.


    After seeing all the doors were not opened, I forced myself to rush towards my phone, but what my hand touched was not my phone, but a soft wrist.


    ¡°Um.¡± A fascinating moan came along, then followed by Ni Min¡¯s voice, ¡°Do you think I''m beautiful?¡±


    The sound was supposed to be that one that was exclusive to Wu Jian, soft and delicate and charming with temptation. My whole body couldn¡¯t help shaking. I quickly released the wrist that I was holding tightly just now and took up the phone on the ground to shine the people in front of me.


    But I even found a sense of familiarity on this face. That was Chen Long.


    ¡°Chen Long?¡± My voice trembled, with uncertainty. He didn¡¯t answer but began to laugh. The cracks on his face piled up with changes in his face and became even more terrifying.


    I kept retreating on the ground, and until I hit the wall, I felt a little relieved. However, Chen Long didn¡¯t attack me, but walked slowly back to the toilet. When the toilet door was closed, Ni Min''s voice came out again.


    ¡°Tomorrow, I''ll take him back.¡± The first few words were said by the seductive voice of Ni Min but then it turned into Chen Long''s weird accent, making me creepy while hearing.


    In the latter part words, Chen Long''s voice was very unpleasant and difficult to tell, but I could know the meaning of his words very clearly. Tomorrow. Was tomorrow already in the next month? Oh, no, tomorrow was the 31st. Damn it.


    I sat on the ground and felt so angry, ¡°We helped you, but you even return kindness with ingratitude?¡±


    Chen Long didn¡¯t answer and the surrounding returned to a strange silence.


    I couldn¡¯t control the anger in my heart. I was scared. That''s right. However, I was angrier. I and Wu Jian didn¡¯t do anything to him, and witch Yan and my mom even liked him very much in the beginning. Besides, we all went to the Tiankeng just for him, but he finally did such a bad thing to us.


    I got up from the ground and kicked hard the toilet door. The toilet door, which I could just used the pot shovel to open, now even couldn¡¯t be moved a little, even if I I kicked it for a few times. It was as if it were not a door, but a wall.


    At this moment, Chen Long¡¯s voice sounded again, ¡°I¡¯ll take her home back tomorrow and everything will be all right.¡±


    I didn''t quite understand what Chen Long meant, but I vaguely felt that perhaps he had already been under the control of that strange nine lifetime of ghost. Just as I was about to ask him, the toilet door in front of me suddenly changed.


    It changed from the wooden door into the glass-like door. It was not very transparent but through it, I could vaguely see the situation inside.


    At this moment, two figures appeared behind the door of the toilet. One could be directly recognized, and it was Chen Long, because his shoulders that were sunken before had become even more sunken, as if they had been chopped by someone.


    The other figure was a wonderful woman. The only women entering the female toilet were witch Yan and Ni Min. Judging from its figure, it can¡¯t be witch Yan.


    Behind the door, Chen Long was slowly raising a huge fire axe towards a half-kneeling woman on the ground. When I saw this scene, I felt very terrible and anxious, because it was so similar to what I had seen in that photo.


    Regardless of my fear, I rushed up and sapped hard at the toilet door, shouting Chen Long''s name. However, it didn¡¯t work. Chen Long waved down the fire axe in his hand and it was inserted directly in Ni Min¡¯s head.


    ¡°No!¡± I roared like a wounded beast and watched the woman fall to the ground.


    The door slowly changed into what it used to be. I wiped the sweat on my forehead and realized all that had just happened originally was my hallucination.


    Then I took few steps back feebly. Under my foot came the sound of "Pa Pa Pa", just like that I was walking in the dirt. It was even a little sticky. When I took a photo with my phone.


    I was immediately stunned. The ground was full of sticky blood and more blood was slowly flowing out of the toilet door.


    Was that Ni Min¡¯s blood. Really. I really dared not imagine that. I''d love to open the door, but I was also very afraid. I was afraid that once I opened the door, Ni Min¡¯s body on which a fire axe was inserted would appear in front of my eyes.


    I didn¡¯t know how long I had been in a daze. What I only knew was that when I took the first step, I almost fell because I stood too long. Perhaps this was not a bad thing for me, because my hand did touch the door of the toilet.


    The door had been pushed open by me, but it could be only opened a little, because something blocked it and then the door popped back. At that moment, I saw a figure lying in a pool of blood, without any noise.


    I didn''t know what to do now. I had seen countless ghosts and encountered countless dangers, but this was the first time for me to see a friend died in front of my eyes. I knew it was time to get back to the ghost building and maybe I could get Ni Min''s soul back, but I couldn''t walk a single step.

 Chapter 215 Who Was Dead to the End?

    Just then, a few bright lights suddenly came in from outside the door of the toilet and lit up the whole female toilet. My eyes, which had adapted to the darkness, gave out a stinging pain under strong light, making me unconsciously close my eyes.


    Although I couldn¡¯t anything in the darkness, I was till opening my eyes. At this moment, when I was shone by the strong light and closed my eyes, I suddenly felt more than a kind of inexplicable fear in my heart.


    Just as I was leaning against the wall and dared not move, there was a familiar sound from outside the door, ¡°Are you OK?¡±


    My head turned clear immediately and realized that was Wu Jian¡¯s voice. I didn''t think about how he suddenly appeared outside and the thing which was full of my mind was the body of Ni Min in the toilet. How should I tell him all this?


    ¡°There''s blood on the ground. Be careful.¡±


    A group of footsteps came, and I slowly opened my eyes, which were stimulated to be full of tears. After being blurred for a long time, the people in front of my eyes slowly became clear. They were Wu Jian, witch Yan and others. Even Sister Hua, Yan¡¯er and old Mrs. Li were all here. Because there were too many people, even my mom couldn¡¯t get in, who only stood at the door and looked at me anxiously.


    When I looked down, the ground was still full of blood. Wu Jian had already carefully walked to the door of the toilet and was slowly extending his hand.


    ¡°No.¡± I shouted and stopped his movement. He just looked at me, with his eyes full of inquiries.


    I opened my mouth but couldn¡¯t say a single word.


    Witch Yan had come to me in front of me, gently patting me on the back, and whispered to me, ¡°Wu Rui, what¡¯s up?¡±


    Instead of answering, I just looked at Wu Jian with a complicated look on my face. He also looked at me with strange for a while, and whispered to me, ¡°Are you OK?¡±


    Of course, I was fine, but you were not. I pointed to the toilet door with my trembling fingers, and finally opened my mouth, saying, ¡°You...You should be careful.¡±


    Wu Jianlost his voice and laughed, ¡°I know.¡±


    Then, the toilet door was slowly pushed open and the body still existed inside. It was not my hallucination. Because the body was blocking the door of the toilet, Wu Jian could only reach in and take a look at it, and then he said, ¡°Someone is dead. You guys go out first. I have to call the police.¡±


    I was surprised to see the so calm reaction of Wu Jian and even couldn¡¯t immediately react what was going on. It was his wife who died. How could he be so calm?


    witch Yan helped me walk out of the female toilet. The moment my mother hurried up to hold me, I was stunned, because I saw that Ni Min was accompanied by Xiao Lingdang, anxiously looking this way.


    Ni Min? Wasn¡¯t the woman who died in female toilet Ni Min? But if that wasn¡¯t Ni Min, who would that woman be?


    I felt like I had no bones. I was helped by my mom and witch Yan to sit down at the night market stall. Then I handed the pot shovel in my hand to the boss of the night market stall. The boss glanced at me, took it unwillingly and then directly threw it away in the trash.


    The shovel hit the ground, making a clear crash, and I suddenly became clear. It seemed that I had entered a illusion just now.


    ¡°Mom, what the hell was going on just now?¡± Under my eagerly asking, mom and witch Yan respectively told me the situation just now.


    It turned out that it was true that Wu Jian entered the female toilet and witch Yan also was very angry at that time. Later on, Chen Long appeared. Although he startled everyone, he didn¡¯t have any actions and just said he wanted to take Ni Min back somewhere.


    After Chen Long finished saying, he left without doing anything. When Wu Jian and other people came out, they saw me running towards the night market stall, so they didn¡¯t care and also followed me to get back to the night market stall.


    However, I stood by roadside for a while, then picked up the pot shovel and walked back to the female toilet. Everyone was very strange about this and was also very worried that I was in danger, so they quickly followed me.


    Nobody knew that when they saw I enter the female toilet, they also followed me but didn¡¯t find where I was. Therefore, they realized that I must have encountered something. Then they began to look for me everywhere carefully.


    As for mom, she got back to the ghost building and asked some people to come to help. When Sister Hua and other people arrived, instead of looking for me, they just asked witch Yan and Wu Jian to go out. After some time, when they entered the female toilet again, they saw me in a daze.


    I was very astonished to listen to them tell me the whole thing and felt the fear after this thing in my heart, because I had never met such a real and weird illusion. No, it was not only the illusion. After all, a woman died in it.


    ¡°When did the dead woman get in?¡± I asked.


    Mom and witch Yan just looked at each other and shook their head to indicate that nobody had noticed that the woman entered the female toilet. The body appeared as if it had come out of nowhere.


    I couldn''t help but lament Chen Long''s powerful strength, but Sister Hua told me that the living dead man could never use the illusion. I was surprised and wondered whether there was other ghost who was playing tricks. Would it be the nine lifetimes of ghost?


    All of them were not clear about this either.


    Wu Jian had already returned. Several police cars also arrived, and the police officers were in the inspection scene.


    When I saw Wu Jian, I asked directly, ¡°Who is the dead woman?¡±


    Wu Jian also felt confused and replied to me, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but her dying way is the same as that on the photo of my wife you mentioned. Are you wrong? Should the dead woman on the photo be this woman?¡±


    I shook my head. Although I didn''t see what the woman killed by a fire axe looked like, I knew that I had see the picture correctly.


    Wu Jian said, ¡°It¡¯s weird. How could there be more than one victim? What¡¯s more, why do you think Chen Long always said he wanted to take Ni Min back? Back to where?¡±


    Something suddenly occurred to me. Yeah, Chen Long had always been saying these words and it was definitely impossible for him to be joke. where did he mean by saying taking back? More importantly, why was that Ni Min?


    ¡°It seemed that we had to go to Chen Long¡¯s house again.¡± I said.


    My mom was very worried, just holding my hand and saying, ¡°Why don''t you go there tomorrow? You have to have a good rest.¡±


    I took out my phone and had a look, and found it was 2 am. I hesitated for a while, and finally still nodded my head. Then I looked towards Wu Jian.


    Wu Jian also nodded and agreed with it. After asking for the consent from Sister Hua, Ni Min also followed us back to the ghost building.

 Chapter 216 Car Acciden

    We set off to Chen Long¡¯s house and by the time the sky had just begun to become bright, we had arrived at our destination.


    But Wu Jian knock on the door, there still was no reaction in the house.


    ¡°It¡¯s weird. Where will the old lady go early in the morning?¡± My mom muttered. She climbed to the windowsill on one side and looked inside for a long time. Then she walked back, covering her nose and saying, ¡°It is more and more smelly.¡±


    I just nodded. You guys had never seen what Chen Long looked like yesterday and I felt his whole body had already been completely rotten, so how couldn¡¯t it be smelly?


    Wu Jian thought about it for a while and suddenly cried out, ¡°No. There must be something wrong.¡±


    We all looked at him strangely and his expression turned very terrible, ¡°There is something with the smell.¡±


    I walked in the front curiously, had a smell of the door in the air and just looked at Wu Jian in doubt, because I really didn''t feel the smell different from what it used to be.


    Wu Jian then said seriously, ¡°In the past, it just smelled of rot, but now it smelled of corpses.¡±


    I really couldn''t tell the difference between the smell of rot and the smell of the corpse. Didn¡¯t they all smell of rotten corpses?


    I went to the door and smelled towards the door crack. A disgusting smell almost made me sick and vomit, not to mention distinguish that smell. No, I held my breath and made my ear approach the door slowly. Although the sound was unclear, I still could hear the sound of ¡°buzzing¡±, as if a swarm of bees or flies were hovering.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Wu Jian walked to my side.


    Now the expression on my face also turned terrible, because I suddenly thought of a horrible thing. Even though there used to be filled with the smell of rotten on Chen Long¡¯s body, it seemed that I had never seen many flies flying around him, so where would these flies come from now? More importantly, what was surrounded by these flies?


    I told Wu Jian what I had found, and he also listened to me very carefully. After he was very sure, he kicked the wooden door open. After a loud noise, the door lock fell to the ground and made a sound of ¡°snap¡±.


    The sound awoke the flies in the room, and a cloud of flies, which were like the black fog, flew out of the room with a disgusting "buzzing" sound.


    Until I got rid of the flies that almost hit me on my face, I looked inside the house. At one glance, I immediately took a quick breath of cool air. Many flies still did not fly up and crawled on a dead body, making me feel very sacred.


    This body was not Chen Long¡¯s, but the old ladies.


    Wu Jian didn¡¯t walk to the body, but just stood at the door to observe for a while. After then, he said, ¡°It''s been a long time since she died. I''m calling the police. Get out of here.¡±


    I nodded, then went out and went to pat my mom on her back, who was vomiting. In my heart, however, I felt a glimmer of clear understanding about Chen Long''s murder.


    Chen Long had a deep relationship with his grandmother, who now was dead. His feeling in his heart could even be imagined. Didn''t say kill one person, even if he became a murderous devil, I would never be surprised at all.


    Instead, much to my surprise, Chen Long''s performance last night didn''t seem to have gone too crazy. What was going on?


    Witch Yan came over to concerned my mother and then said to me with a serious expression, ¡°There''s no old lady''s soul here. I''m worried about...¡±


    ¡°Worried about what?¡±


    ¡°I am worried about that Chen Long might do something to the old lady¡¯s soul. Once he does so, he will surely turn into a devil. Besides, although his body had rotten, it still exists, so he will be likely to be more difficult to deal with than a fierce ghost.¡±


    The worry of witch Yan wasn¡¯t unreasonable, but it seemed to me that Chen Long hadn¡¯t done anything to the soul of his grandmother. Just where would the old lady''s soul go? It definitely was not reincarnation, otherwise witch Yan would never say so.


    When the police arrived, Wu Jian, as the first one to find the body, did not leave. After being questioned, we took Ni Min back to the ghost building. Today was the 31st and her safety was of vital importance. After all, it seemed that Chen Long would never let her go.


    Chen Long¡¯s house had a certain distance from the ghost building, when I sat on Wu Jian¡¯s car, I began to close my eyes and had a rest, for this series of things had made me feel very tired. However, just when I was almost asleep.


    Suddenly there was a loud noise. Then I felt a tremendous force pushing me forward. Before he could react, I bumped into the front seat. Fortunately, I was sitting in the back of the driver''s seat, though I bumped into the front seat, but I wasn¡¯t hurt seriously.


    I rubbed his wrists and found it was a crash. Wu Jian''s car crashed head-on into a red truck.


    ¡°You guys are all OK?¡± Wu Jian had fastened the seat belt, and nothing was serious. He directly pushed aside the airbag and asked.


    I also checked the people in this car. Except witch Yan, who hit on the center console because she sat at the middle of the rear seats, and looked hurt a little seriously, it seemed that others were fine.


    I hurriedly opened the car door, then leaned over and picked up witch Yan. I guessed that her head should have hit Wu Jian¡¯s water cup, her forehead was bleeding, and her mind was also a little unclear. Someone on the roadside had called the police again and a few enthusiastic people even come forward to help us.


    As soon as I and a warm-hearted man lifted witch Yan out of the car, I heard the roar of the motor. I looked up and found the red truck was reversing. It bumped into some cars that followed it, and then roared forward. The driver seemed to be a nut. Even he saw the people and cars on the opposite side, he didn¡¯t dodge them at all, which caused a lot of chaos at the scene.


    As the red truck passed me, I saw Chen Long in thick clothes and a hat, smiling at me.


    ¡°That is Chen Long!¡± I cried out. Wu Jian, who just walked out of the car, was also slightly stunned, and then instantly began to chase the truck for a few steps. When he saw I couldn¡¯t catch up, he immediately pulled out the phone to call the police again.


    Ni Min, who sat in the secondary driving position, also had a good habit of fastening the seat belt, so it seemed that she was just a little frightened. After waiting for some time, she also got out of the car and helped my look after witch Yan.


    When I saw Ni Min¡¯s face was pale, I knew she must be much scared, so I also hurriedly comforted her a few words.


    What was unexpected was that Ni Min even looked at me, saying, ¡°Chen Long said that he would take me back. He would take me back.¡±


    I was stunned. Had Chen Long said any words? To know that after the crash, there was full of exclamations. If Chen Long wanted his voice to be heard by Ni Min, he had to said it very loudly.


    It seemed that Ni Min was frightened seriously and kept repeating, ¡°Chen Long said that he would take me back. He would take me back.¡±


    After asking my mom to help me look after witch Yan, I walked to the side of Ni Min and said to her, ¡°Sister, Chen Long doesn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    ¡°No, he had said. He had said. He said it just as he was driving past us. He was whispering to me, as if he said in my ear.¡±


    After finishing the phone call, Wu Jian also walked over to held Ni Min and kept comforting her. At this moment, he also winked at me. Then I said in a low voice, ¡°I have to get back as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°No, I''m not going back. I''m not going back.¡± Ni Min just held Wu Jian tightly and she was apparently frightened seriously by the word of ¡°back¡±.

 Chapter 217 Give Back and Its Not Your Car, Is It?

    The police lights of a police car couldn''t be turned on when it was not on the job. Besides, the road from here to ghost building always was arterial road, so driver didn¡¯t driver very fast. Then, not long after our departure, Wu Jian and I received a short message from Huang Xiaolong at the same time. This guy finally showed up. He just got off and let us go to pick him up at the station now.


    Wu Jian and I had a look at each, and I could see the joy in his eyes. So did I. Although Huang Xiaolong seemed somewhat unreliable, it was undeniable that he really had the ability, or we could think that his parents really had the powerful ability.


    Now it was daytime, and the ghost building was not opened. Besides, witch Yan also got hurt, so we thought Huang Xiaolong came just in time.


    Wu Jian immediately called Huang Xiaolong, telling him to wait at the station, and then simply sent him a short message to tell him about the current situation. Then thee police car turned to the station.


    Our position was not far from the station now, though we had to take a walk around it.


    However, just as we could see the station, the traffic in front of us stopped suddenly. Not far away from us, a bus was crossing the road. It looked like a car accident.


    I frowned. This was the second car accident today. I was worried that this was another trick played by Chen Long. After asking me and Ni Minto stay in the car, Wu Jian got out of the car and decided to go forward to have a look of the situation.


    I was never worried about Wu Jian, because now Chen Long¡¯s target was Ni Min. I vigilantly looked around but did not find anything. After all, we were on the arterial road and surrounded by many cars. I didn¡¯t find anything wrong, except for a limited number of people who had come out to watch the accident.


    Wu Jian came back soon and shook his head to me secretly, indicating that the car accident in front of us had nothing to do with Chen Long. Then he came to discuss with me that it was very close to the station now, and should we just go straight to the station?


    There were lots of cars on the road, though they didn¡¯t move, but there was no guarantee that a car wouldn¡¯t hit us when we were passing by. After all, Chen Long had left us a very deep impression on me. That was the first time for me to encounter a car accident.


    Across the carriageway, there were many pedestrians on both sides. If Chen Long deliberately concealed himself, it would be difficult for us to find him.


    After a while, Wu Jian and I saw Huang Xiaolong, who carried many bags, coming from the sidewalk with a sweaty face. Frankly speaking, when I saw Huang Xiaolong, I got much relieved.


    Just when I and Wu Jian stood outside the car, watch Huang Xiaolong, who carried many bags and felt somewhat depressed, climbing over the railing, suddenly, a loud noise rang by our side.


    I was totally unprepared and was startled. Looking back, I saw a van slamming into the rear of a police car. The quality of the van was obviously inferior to that of the police car. The front face was completely sunken and even the driver''s seat was deformed. However, the driver''s seat was empty and there was no one.


    Wu Jian had rushed to open the door of the police car. It seemed that Ni Min didn¡¯t get hurt, and just was in his arms, crying hard. The policeman who helped us drive came out with swearing. It seemed he was hurt because there was blood on his hand, but the hurt was not serious.


    Huang Xiaolong dropped the bags that was in his hand and rushed over quickly. At this moment, a loud noise sounded again.


    I didn''t know when a car on the other road had also hit the side of the police car. I could hear the short cry of the policeman who was in the driver¡¯s seat.


    Then I felt a pain and the I was knocked out by the crazy police car. Then I hit the railing less than one meter from the police car. The plastic railing made a few crackling noises and I fell to the ground by the counter-force.


    I had no time to give out a scream. The police car was still smashing at me, with the sound of raspy of friction, and the position of the rear wheel was my face. I was so frightened that my soul was about to get out of my body, but I couldn''t make any movement.


    ¡°Ah.¡± I heard a shout, and at the same time, a force came from my feet that dragged me by the side ground. I heard the sound of ¡°snap¡± and the face of the vice driver¡¯s seat of the police car hit the railing, breaking the railing. However, the cement base under the railing blocked the car from moving.


    I opened my eyes that I closed subconsciously just now, and found the chassis of the police car was in front of me. Luckily, the position of the trunk was high enough, otherwise I couldn''t imagine what I was like now.


    The strength of my feet came again and dragged me away from the position of the police car. Now I could clearly see it was Huang Xiaolong who pulled me away.


    When he saw I was fine, he immediately walked towards ahead of me. I was stunned for a while and suddenly thought of Wu Jian and Ni Min who was in the vice driver¡¯s seat.


    I struggled to get up and worriedly bypassed the broken railing, but I didn¡¯t find the figure of Wu Jian. I only saw Ni Min was in a daze and sitting in the vice driver¡¯s seat. This time, she really got hurt and there was blood on her forehead and clothes.


    I looked around but still couldn¡¯t see the figure of Wu Jian. Only under the car, a mass of blood was slowly dispersing. I suddenly felt very afraid, afraid that Wu Jian was now under the car. I dare not see, but Huang Xiaolong was very bold. He got down and immediately stood up, then got down by the side of the wobbly railing and began to vomit.


    Was Wu Jian pressed into...? I couldn¡¯t imagine that. At this moment, Ni Min seemed to wake up and was calmly opening the door, then walked out and asked me, ¡°Where is Wu Jian?¡±


    I opened my mouth and didn''t know how to answer. Ni Min didn¡¯t speak and just stood, with her eyes full of tears. I could never see her fear and madness before of the car crash. was her sorrow more than extreme disappointment?


    ¡°Help me.¡± It was Wu Jian¡¯s voice. I turned my head in surprise, only to find he was in the opposite driveway, between the two SUVs vehicles. It was no wonder that I couldn¡¯t see him.


    Ni Min ran over and picked up Wu Jian. I also followed her. He just smiled, ¡°Fortunately, I have had much practice. What a pity.¡± Then Wu Jian looked at the position of the police car. I knew he must think of the policeman.


    Ni Min buried her head in Wu Jian¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Chen Long told me just now that if I didn¡¯t go back, he wouldn¡¯t let me go. There''s already a man dead. I...I...¡±

 Chapter 218 It Was His Grandma

    We dared not ride the car again, because now Chen Long had been completely crazy and he didn¡¯t care about other people''s lives. In order to achieve his goal, I couldn''t imagine what else he would do. After some discussion, we decided to walk back slowly.


    Although this was also very dangerous, it was lucky that Huang Xiaolong was with us and with his ability, at least, we could make a response. Unlike in a car, even witch Yan could only be an ordinary person.


    After Huang Xiaolong entrusted his packages to the express delivery company, we went into the park, which was the biggest park in our place, and there were also many people. Now was the working time, so I guessed that there wouldn¡¯t be many people. In addition, there was no driveway inside, so the cars wouldn¡¯t drive in.


    Of course, the point was that once I passed this park, we had been very close to the ghost building.


    Walking up the path of the park, I asked Huang Xiaolong to pay attention to all around and I was very worried to look at Ni Min. Since the car accident just now, Ni Min had become very silent. Now she no longer cried and just walked with us. Her eyes also had no focus and she was just like a walking corpse.


    I knew, that she must have gotten the death of the policeman and the whole thing on herself and even believed that everything that happened was caused by her. Maybe she even had the idea that she was willing to be taken by Chen Long and ended all this.


    This idea was really dangerous, which made me have to pay more attention to Ni Min while focusing on the surrounded situation. Fortunately, Huang Xiaolong was also here, otherwise, I could never do it by myself.


    On the way, I told Huang Xiaolong about our current situation in detail. Then his expression became very strange and his one words made even more worried.


    ¡°F**k! When I went back this time, I didn¡¯t learned how to deal with the living dead people.¡±


    After walking past the path of the park and finding nothing wrong, we stepped into the dense woods, which was a shortcut through the park. I originally didn¡¯t want to walk this path but Ni Min insisted on it very much. The reason was to let her get back to the ghost building as soon as possible, so that she could see the wounded Wu Jian and others. I also had no way, so just agreed with it.


    If it were not because I was in the bad mood, I should have thought this was a beautiful place. How come I didn¡¯t find see place before?


    Ni Min walked in the front, and didn''t talk all the way, but when she reached the middle of the woods, she suddenly stopped, then went to the woods on the right side and the expression on her face also suddenly became very complicated.


    I had been watching her and when I saw this, I felt much surprised. Then I hastened over, but there were trees everywhere and I found nothing.


    Huang Xiaolong saw us stop and immediately took out something from his arms to hand it to me. Then, he kept very vigilant, and instead of paying attention to the direction we were looking at, he just looked round and guarded against other directions.


    I took a look of what he gave me just now. It was a yellow magic paper. No, there were many and they were folded into a knife, less than 10 centimeters long. It was very soft and I could even see the red exorcism painting on it.


    Then I looked at him curiously. While looking round, he explained to me, ¡°It is made by my mom it specially. Once the ghosts are within 10 meters, it will become a knife, but it only can chop the ghosts.¡±


    ¡°Is it useless for Chen Long?¡±


    ¡°Hum.¡± Huang Xiaolong hesitated for a moment and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just try it. This is better than you have nothing in your hand.¡±


    All right, he was still not reliable as usual. While I was talking with Huang Xiaolong, Ni Min had already taken a few steps forward unconsciously.


    I frowned, then walked quickly behind her and said, ¡°Hi, we gonna leave quickly.¡±


    Ni Min didn¡¯t look at me, but said directly, ¡°Where do you want to take me to?¡±


    I replied in surprise, ¡°We will get back to the ghost building.¡± As soon as I finished speaking, I found something wrong. Actually, Ni Min was obviously not talking to me.


    I had a look of the direction of her sight but found nothing there.


    ¡°What did you see?¡± I inquired.


    Ni Min still ignored me. She just nodded her head and said, ¡°But why me?¡±


    It was like that she really was talking to someone. Then I touched Huang Xiaolong and he also shook his head, with an depressed expression on his face. He didn''t seem to find anything either.


    But Ni Min¡¯s conversation still continued, ¡°You shouldn''t hurt those innocent people.¡±


    ¡°Well, I know what you mean. I''ll be back.¡±


    ¡°You''re coming to take me. That is also okay.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''ll wait for you.¡±


    Ni Min had been talking to someone who didn''t exist. I asked her for a few times, but she never had a trace of response, as if the people who didn¡¯t existed actually was me.


    Then Huang Xiaolong also used several methods that I could not understand, but none of them were able to awaken her. At last, he couldn¡¯t find a way to solve it, so he even took out his phone and made a phone call to her mom in front of me, ¡°Hello, mom. I have encountered...¡±


    When Huang Xiaolong just began to talk with her mom, Ni Min turned back slowly and looked at me, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    I had not reacted until she walked forward for a few steps. Then I hurried to keep up. While talking on the phone, Huang Xiaolong also kept up quickly, ¡°Mom, wait a minute. Okay, I''ll call you later.¡±


    Ni Min¡¯s sate made us very worried, because Chen Min obviously had talked with something and that thing even might come back and take her leave, but now she still wanted to go to ghost building. Why would it be so?


    Was that thing waiting in front of us or never afraid of ghost building at all? My heart beat very hard. If it was the latter case, it would be a big deal.


    ¡°Huang Xiaolong, how are your parents¡¯ abilities?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong just chronically laughed arrogantly, looking up the sky and saying, ¡°If they rank the second, no one will dare to say he is the first.¡±


    I just glanced at him and didn¡¯t have the mood to care about who on earth was the best between his parents. Then I only said, ¡°Can you ask them to come to help us? The nine lifetimes of ghost! When you hear its name, you must also think it is very difficult to cope with. I am afraid that we are incapable of fighting with it.¡±


    ¡°Is there sister Hua....All right.¡± Even when he didn¡¯t finish his words, he promised. Then he walked in the back alone and prepared to make a phone call to his parents.


    And I trotted to Ni Min''s side and asked her, ¡°Who is talking to you just now? Is it Chen Long?¡±


    Ni Min turned her head and had a look at me. Then she replied, ¡°It¡¯s his grandma.¡±


    Hum, why was she swearing? No, she was not swearing, but meant the man who had talked to her was Chen Long¡¯s grandma. That smart and kind old lady?

 Chapter 219 In the Ghost Building Came A Gues

    But Ni Min also wouldn¡¯t lie to us, unless someone cheated her or she was trapped in the illusion. It was in a mess in my heart and I totally couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    Nothing happened again to us on the later journey and we also got back to the ghost building very smoothly. Perhaps because we entered and got out of ghost building frequently during this time, we didn¡¯t attract much attention of those passers-by side.


    After entering the ghost building, I hurriedly came to old Mrs. Li. Then she also appeared soon, also with the Phoenix. I told old Mrs. Li the situation I had encountered. After listening, she seemed very silent and flew up the third floor without saying anything. Under the arrangement of old Mrs. Li, Phoenix went to accompany with Ni Min. With her companionship, I finally got slightly relieved.


    However, old Mrs. Li¡¯s reaction left me feeling overwhelmed. I pulled Huang Xiaolong aside and asked him how about the thing of inviting his parents to come. He just looked unhappy and imitated his mom¡¯s tone, ¡°If you can, just do it. If you can¡¯t, come back to learn something and then go back to do it again by yourself. I and your dad had no time at all.¡±


    After hearing what he said, I felt terribly cold in my heart, but Huang Xiaolong came to my ear and whispered to me, ¡°Don''t worry. As far as I know about my parents, they have known I met such a powerful rival but they are still not in a hurry, which means they can completely handle this. Besides, they might protect me secretly.¡±


    My eyes suddenly became bright. I nodded my head and had a careful look at him. Well, this guy was really his parents¡¯ own child.


    I and Huang Xiaolong were bored to sit in the lobby of the ghost building. I just saw that old Mrs. Li come back and forth three times and each time she always was in a hurry, which made my mood worse and worse. Even I was speaking, I also felt listless.


    The sky became dim bit by bit. Under the help of her mom, witch Yan also returned to the ghost building, with her head wrapped with gauze, but she seemed to be in good spirits. Only Wu Jian was still in the police station and it would be very difficult for him to come back tonight.


    Even I stood here, I could clearly feel the anxiety in his heart. His wife might be in danger, but he only could pretend to know nothing in the police station.


    I guessed that all the people of the ghost building intended to help Ni Min.


    During the dinner, on behalf of everyone, old Mrs. Li asked us about all the experiences we had had since we met Chen Long, and even asked us to say everything in detail.


    Everyone was talking about this and soon they all knew the details of this whole thing. Then I found that the people in the ghost building had a strange expression and most of them seemed to be very embarrassed.


    Embarrassed? Why would they feel embarrassed? Was it because so many even couldn¡¯t protect and save Ni Min? In that case, I couldn''t imagine how fierce and powerful the ghost we encountered this time would be.


    I was a little surprised that no one left at night and the ghost building was open as usual. Then I had to begin to do my own work carefully and hard as usual, serving tea and water.


    Sister Hua arranged a separate position for Ni Min, which was in the front of the bar and was the innermost position. As for Huang Xiaolong, he accompanied Ni Min, sitting in the position where the guested would not be served.


    Because Ni Min couldn¡¯t see the ghost, I thought she would feel scared and even went to comforted her from time to time. However, I was surprised to find that she seemed to sink in her own world and had no reaction to things outside, even without curiosity or fear.


    Just when the ghost building was full of people and its business was also very good, the door of the ghost building was pushed open and a fat figure appeared at the door in the sound of the creak of a wooden shaft.


    The ghost building only served the ghost. Although those ghosts would enter from the gate, no one would push open the door. Therefore, it naturally attracted the attention of all.


    After standing at the door for a moment, the fat figure walked in step by step, but the way he walked was very strange, as if he had just learned how to walk.


    By the light of the ghost building, I could already see the appearance of the coming man. It actually was not a fat man, but because he was dressed too thick, I looked very fat. His face had completely rotten and the whole right cheek almost fell off but it didn¡¯t because it was stuck with transparent tape. His nose had gone and there was two deep holes in the triangle bone, in which there was full of dry black blood stains.


    The eyes were all white, like cataracts, but it seemed that that didn¡¯t influence his sight. The sight of the coming man, through many ghosts, directly looked at Ni Min who now was in the innermost position.


    That was Chen Long. I looked at terrifying figure in front of me and could still recognize his identity from his deformed look.


    Wu Jian was not here and I also saws sister Hua and old Mrs. Li didn¡¯t intended to walk forward, so I stepped forward by yourself and said, ¡°Chen Long, what the hell do you want to do?¡±


    He didn¡¯t speak and just looked straightly at Ni Min for a long time. As I thought he completely couldn¡¯t speak, he suddenly said to Ni Min in a voice whose tone had changed completely, ¡°I¡¯ll take you back.¡±


    ¡°Only you?¡± Huang Xiaolong patted hard on the table, then stood up very pretentiously and pointed to Chen Long.


    However, he didn¡¯t even turn his eyes, just looking at Ni Min.


    Huang Xiaolong coughed awkwardly and when he also was about to step forward, Ni Min suddenly stood up. While she was looking at the position where there was nobody, she said, ¡°Can I see him again?¡±


    ¡°All right, I see.¡±


    Ni Min began to talk to herself again and I felt my head very painful. Chen Long¡¯s appearance, no matter how powerful he was, he could always be seen. However, as for the thing who was talking to Ni Min, I really had no idea. Then I secretly looked at old Mrs. Li and other people.


    It seemed that old Mrs. Li and other people all could see that thing ans all looked in the same direction as Ni Min. Just the expression on everyone''s face was different, surprised, embarrassed, even fanatical. Yes, it was as fanatical as fans saw their idol.


    ¡°Just the two of us can''t see it?¡± Huang Xiaolong was complaining by my ear, but I directly ignored him. I just carefully watching the expressions of sister Hua and others. Anyway, I can''t see it, so it was better for me to find something you could see and saw whether I could find something wrong.


    Sister Hua behaved very excited. She trotted forward a few steps, then stopped again and opened her mouth, saying, ¡°Why didn''t you come back to see us all these years?¡±

 Chapter 220 The Ageless Grandmother

    While they were speaking, I didn¡¯t know what they were talking about and sister Hua began to cry. Many beauties in the ghost building also began to wipe their tears and even old Mrs. Li also quietly wiped the corner of her eyes.


    Didn¡¯t we agree on fighting together with our common enemy? I was baffled by the sudden change in the situation. On one side, Huang Xiaolong was holding a yellow magic paper and asking me, ¡°This, do you want to throw it to that one?¡±


    I showed him a white look and didn¡¯t answer him. In such a situation, as long as Huang Xiaolong dared throw it out, I guessed that the other side even didn¡¯t have to fight with him, because the girls in the ghost building would kill him.


    I didn¡¯t know what they had said, but sister Hua did let Ni Min walk over and go with that man. As soon as Ni Min stood up, I immediately blocked in front of her and looked at sister Hua, ¡°sister Hua, I don¡¯t know what relationship you have with this guy, but I can¡¯t let her go with him.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± sister Hua wiped the tears on her face and looked at me.


    ¡°I have told you that he is not a good guy. They have deliberately caused a car accident on the road and even killed a policeman.¡±


    Sister Hua just shook her head and said to me, ¡°If he really wants to kill Ni Min or you, he doesn¡¯t have to do it so complexly? Let her go and he will never hurt her, because...¡±


    ¡°Because what?¡±


    Sister Hua shook her head and didn¡¯t answer me. She gently pushed me aside, then took Ni Min¡¯s hand and walked over. When I saw this scene, I felt very unwell. What¡¯s more, after sister Hua gently pushing me, I seemed to be frozen, because I felt terribly cold but couldn¡¯t move at all.


    Then I looked at Huang Xiaolong anxiously and saw his mouth wide open, with a worried expression on his face, but his whole body was like a wax figure. Behind him, a familiar but unknown beauty was laying her hands on his shoulders.


    Two of us could only watch Ni Min walking over and the air over there was like the surface of the water. After it rippled the visible ripples of the layers, Ni Min even disappeared in the air.


    In the moment Ni Min disappeared, I was able to move again. Then I ran over, but unfortunately, there was nothing.


    It seemed that sister Hua was still missing that person just now. Her eyes were confused and there was still a smile in the corner of her mouth. Then I rushed in front of sister Hua and just stared straightly at her with my eyes.


    After a while, sister Hua seemed to just react and looked at me with smile, ¡°Anything wrong?¡±


    Sister Hua had a look of me and said, ¡°Why can''t I let him take Ni Minto leave?¡±


    ¡°Because...Because...¡± I even didn¡¯t what I should say.


    At this moment, old Mrs. Li came and took my hand, saying, ¡°Don''t worry, Ni Min will be fine. That is her grandmother.¡±


    ¡°What! Chen Long¡¯s grandma is Ni Min¡¯s grandma.¡± I was very astonished and what I said was completely without passing through the brain.


    Old Mrs. Li patted me on the forehead and said again, ¡°Don''t talk nonsense. Who told you she is Chen Long''s grandmother?¡±


    ¡°But...¡± I totally had no idea what to say. If the guy who came here just now were not the nine lifetimes of ghost, she only would be Chen Long''s grandmother. But if the nine lifetimes of ghost was Ni Min''s grandma, then where was Chen Long''s grandma?


    I was totally confused by these grandmas. I was sure that I must be playing the role of an idiot in the whole thing and totally didn¡¯t clear the situation.


    Instead of explaining again, old Mrs. Li just let me have a good rest. As I still was about to say something, Huang Xiaolong pulled me out and said, as if he was hiding something from me, ¡°Just forget it. Don¡¯t you even believe sister Hua? Let¡¯s go to eat some night snack.¡±


    Then I was taken out by Huang Xiaolong who seemed to know nothing about this. He didn¡¯t let go of his hand until we came to a night market stall where we had never come before, and said to me, ¡°Don¡¯t you find that those ghost in the ghost building actually all know the ghost who has taken Ni Min to leave? Or do you think your relationship with those ghosts in ghost building has become so good that even you can¡¯t leave each other.¡±


    I didn''t say anything. He was right. I was really too self-righteous.


    Then Huang Xiaolong thought for a while and said again, ¡°I guess that the man who has taken Ni Min to leave must be the nine lifetime of ghost. It seems that we have to go to the glowing pool.¡±


    I looked at him and found his eyes were full of excitement, which let me think he was not only worried about Ni Min, but more excited about the upcoming adventure.


    However, I had to admit that what he said was quite right. Now it seemed we really had to go to the glowing pool if we really wanted to know the truth. Before setting off, we still needed to figure out what the hell was going on with Ni Min¡¯s grandma.


    As for this, I decided to wait until Wu Jian came out from the police station. Then I asked Huang Xiaolong to send a message to Wu Jian to tell him that we were eating the night snack and he should come back as soon as he could. Wu Jian, as we expected, didn¡¯t reply.


    As for this, I and Huang Xiaolong also had no idea of how to do and could only eat the night snack while waiting for him.


    It was not until the next afternoon that Wu Jian finally contacted us. We made an appointment for a place to meet and we also told everything to him. Then Wu Jian was very effective as usual and quickly found information about Ni Min¡¯s grandma.


    Although there was not much official information, we probably had a general impression on Ni Min¡¯s grandmother by putting a jumble of information together.


    We didn¡¯t Ni Min¡¯s grandma¡¯s name. The first time she appeared was about before or after there was something happening in the ghost building. At that time, she was about 20 years old and she didn¡¯t appear for too long, about 3 or 4 minutes. During this period of time, she had been in the ghost building, which was called as Fan House at that time. It seemed that she was not the people in the Fan House. The reason why she was famous just was because she went to worship after there was an incident in Fan House and was declared as wanted by the Japanese at that time.


    After then, she disappeared. Until a decade later, she appeared again. At that time, there was no Japanese, but the legend of the Japanese ghost in the ghost building was well-know. It was at that time that Ni Min''s grandmother entered the ghost building to worship. When everyone thought she was going to die in there, he even walked out by herself. From then on, the ghost building''s horror legend no longer had the figure of Japanese ghost.


    To our surprise, Ni Min''s grandmother was still about 20 years old in the description at that time.


    The third time was more than 40 years ago. Ni Min''s grandmother and grandfather brought a child who nobody knew when was born and settled down in the small town. However, only a year later, Ni Min''s grandmother disappeared, and her grandfather didn¡¯t decide to look for her. It was a strange thing at that time.


    Even though a lot of things were not perfect at that time, we still found the registration information and a photo of Ni Min¡¯s grandma. On the register was a very local name, called Li Guihua, but there was no date of birth, just a simple name.


    However, this photo even made me very afraid. On this photo that was taken more than 40 years ago, Li Guihua, Ni Min¡¯s grandmother, was still young and beautiful, and looked like in her early twenties.

 Chapter 221 The Past of The Pool

    According to Huang Xiaolong, even those people, who were successful in practicing Taoism, could only delay their aging and lived for a little longer time. It was impossible to always keep the age of about 20 years old.


    What puzzled me most was that Li Guihua¡¯s appearance would not get old, but she still dared to appear in a small town, and even was recorded as a strange story. You have to know that the people like her probably would be regarded as ghosts or monsters in those days. However, it seemed that Li Guihua even still lived a good life.


    Nonetheless, it was useless to think more now. As long as we got to that pool, we may find out the truth. After all, the possibility that Li Guihua was the nine lifetimes of ghost was the greatest.


    When we set off, we told nobody, just me, Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong. Although such a combination made me very worried, I thought she would not do anything to his son-in-law, if Li Guihua was really the ninth lifetime of ghost.


    We didn''t wait until the night in this time and we got to the pool during the day. There seemed to be nothing special about the pool during the day. The water of the pool was very clear but there were no those creatures like fish or shrimp. We found nothing strange, let alone Ni Min''s whereabouts.


    Wu Jian walked round the small pool and then tiredly asked Huang Xiaolong, rubbing his temple, ¡°Have you found anything?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong was bending over and inserting three sticks of incense on the ground. The smoke curled up. After hearing the question of Wu Jian, he shook his head and said strangely, ¡°No, there even are no bones under the pool.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong said it very unbelievably. I didn¡¯t know what method he used to be sure that there were no bones under the pool, but now I could only trust his judgment.


    My earliest judgement was that the bones of the nine lifetimes of ghost was under the pool, but now he said there was nothing, so I didn¡¯t know what to do next for a moment. After thinking for a long time, an idea suddenly flashed through my mind and then I asked Wu Jian, ¡°Do you remember that old man?¡±


    Wu Jian was a little stunned and his eyes suddenly became bright, ¡°The one we met by the pool?¡±


    I nodded my head. Then Wu Jian began to walk back and forth, muttering to himself, ¡°Yeah, yeah, the old man. What¡¯s his name? His name is...is...His name is Lin Mu. Right! Lin Mu.¡±


    Wu Jian said loudly, ¡°Let¡¯s go to find him.¡±


    I interrupted him, saying, ¡°Whatever. We should find the old man first. After that, we could talk about other thing.¡±


    Having made up our mind, we took actions separately. Huang Xiaolong and I followed the direction in which the trees appeared last time, while Wu Jian would use his own identity to find the administrative staff of the scenic spot and ask them for some information. During this period of time, we kept in touch by the phone at any time.


    Although the position of the pool was within the scope of the scenic area, it had not been developed at all. Huang Xiaolong and I could only walk hard in the bushes, but fortunately this area hadn¡¯t been developed and there were many traces left in the trees. Besides, it seemed that they weren¡¯t left by only one time and it also indicated that Lin Mu often went to the pool from this path.


    It also much proved that it was very possible to find the shelter of Lin Mu along this path.


    The terrain was all the way up here and we should be climbing the mountain. I didn¡¯t know how far we had walked and a precipitous mountain suddenly appeared, so there was no path.


    Huang Xiaolong and I just took a look at each other and then I said, ¡°It should be right here.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong just nodded his head. In front of us appeared something that clearly didn¡¯t belong here, a dilapidated reclining chair, whose supporting legs were broken and were tied with a grass vine by someone.


    Huang Xiaolong planned to search along the cliff. My way was even more simple that I directly yelled, ¡°Lin Mu.¡±


    Obviously, my way was more efficient. Not long after, the trees beside us began to shake and a familiar man came down from the trees, and that was Lin Mu. He still looked like the same as we first saw him, whose dress was broken and dirty but face and hair were very clean.


    At this time, Lin Mu held a few pine cones in hand. When he saw us, instead of feeling surprised, he just put pine cones in a pocket at his waist, then sighed and greeted us, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Obviously, he knew what we were here to do. I blinked at Huang Xiaolong. He walked in the front and I made a phone call to Wu Jian in the back, telling him our location and asking him to come as soon as possible.


    Lin Mu led us into a dry cave and motioned us to sit down. I observed the cave carefully and found it was not deep. Besides, there were many man-made traces, which should not be formed naturally. In addition, in the cave put a simple seat. At a glance, I knew it was made by himself because its look was very ugly.


    I and Huang Xiaolong sat together opposite Lin Mu. When he saw us on alert, he laughed, ¡°You guys don''t have to be so nervous.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong and I didn¡¯t answer him, just looking at him and waiting for his explanation to us.


    When Lin Mu saw we didn¡¯t answer him, he just shook his head, served both of us tees, then sat down and said, ¡°Alas, nine lifetimes of ghost. I would never think of it. Now I am old and this could be an excuse, but in the past, when I was young, I even see it wrong.¡±


    I could never understand his words and only could sat there. Lin Mu seemed also to sigh. Then he picked up his weird water cup, drank the water and continued to said.


    ¡°At that time, ah, I was still young and probably not much older than you, but I was already one of the best masters in the South. Catching a ghost or something was a very easy thing to me.¡±


    ¡°I was young, passionate, skillful and bold at that time and I even felt there was no ghost I couldn¡¯t catch in this world. Once upon a time, I was curious to hear others talk about this glowing pool, and then I also came to have a look.¡±


    ¡°At that time, there was a girl dancing on the pool, who was about 20 years old. She was really beautiful. Well, although she didn¡¯t offend me and also didn¡¯t hurt someone, I always thought that if someone was dancing, she was seducing me. Accordingly, I decided to perish this ghost I had never seen.¡±


    ¡°That girl even persuaded me to leave and told me that she had never hurt anyone. However, I would never believe what these ghosts said and thought I must catch her today. As a result, after I took actions, I found she was wronged ghost. Hey Hey, if the wronged ghost wanted to find that one who had wrongly accuse him, even the Hades would protect him. I should have left it at the time, but I had taken some actions. I also didn¡¯t catch her. If I just left, I would lose my face. Ah, young man.¡±


    ¡°At that time, I planned to catch her first and then let her go. Therefore, I also could save my face. But, after a few days of fighting, I couldn''t even catch this ghost. Not only didn¡¯t I catch her, but also I was beat by her very seriously.¡±

 Chapter 222 Got Back to the Hometown Again

    ¡°It was until this time that I knew that she originally was the nine lifetimes of wronged ghost. That was the ghost who was extremely wronged. Not mention to the people of Taoism, even the people from Hades would never dare to prevent the existence of her revenge. At that time, I wanted to let her go immediately, but it was already too late.¡±


    ¡°That girl dived into the pool and took away the skull of the nine lifetimes of wronged ghost. Until that time, I knew I was doing wrong and guilty of iniquity.¡±


    Lin Mu seemed to be in a state of sadness and there were full of tears on his face. I waited for him to calm down a little before I asked, ¡°Old Mr. Lin, who is that man? Why does he take away to the skull of the nine lifetimes of ghost?¡±


    Lin Mu just shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I thought about it for a long time and I even studied some sorcery, but I still don''t know why he took away the skull. As for his name, I just know he was called Chen Er. No one knows his real name and that''s what everyone calls him.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong asked, ¡°Did you see this Chen Er again after that?¡±


    Lin Mu shook his head again and answered, ¡°No. Since then, I have basically never left here.¡±


    When I was about to continue asking him, Lin Mu waved his hand and interrupted me, ¡°Just listen to me. The nine lifetime of wronged ghost didn¡¯t blame me. However, because her skull was removed, she was greatly affected, so she asked me to take her out of the pool for burial. For my heart was full of repentance, I did it according to the words of the her. I took out her bones and buried them. Nonetheless, because her skull was gone, she could not leave the scope of her bones. Until...¡±


    ¡°Until that day when you came here, the girl named Ni Min accidentally scratched her hand and shed a drop of blood. Accordingly, the nine lifetime of wronged ghost thought that was her offspring, so she asked Chen Long to take her back, so that she could get out of here with the help of her offspring.¡±


    ¡°I just didn¡¯t expected that Chen Long¡¯s grandma suddenly passed away, which made him go crazy. This also caused the later series of consequences. Hence, the nine lifetime of ghost had to use the drop of blood left by Ni Min to go out by herself.¡±


    Wu Jian nodded and asked, ¡°Where is Ni Min now?¡±


    Lin Mu replied, ¡°She is in the tomb of the nine lifetime of wronged ghost.¡±


    Wu Jian suddenly stood up and shouted, ¡°Where''s the tomb? Take us there.¡±


    I stood up, too. Although the story told by Lin Mu was supposed to be true, she could leave only with the help of her offspring. What kind of leave it was? Taking it or something? I didn¡¯t dare to imagine.


    I felt numb, with goosebumps all over my body, Wu Jian?


    Wu Jian turned his head and looked towards outside, with an incredible expression on his face.


    I just saw that Ni Min had already appeared in the mouth of the cave. She rushed toward Wu Jian and directly rushed into his arms and began to cry. This scene made me confused again. Did he say that Ni Min was in the tomb of the nine lifetimes of wronged ghost? Was it because she had already left with the help of Ni Min?


    I pulled Huang Xiaolong and whispered to him, ¡°Be careful. Ni Min might be possessed.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong nodded, and his hand slowly reached into his pocket. At this moment, a clear female voice came out, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be afraid. I won¡¯t hurt my own lovely little granddaughter.¡±


    I saw Ni Min slowly left the arms of Wu Jian. Then she pointed to the wooden circular pendant on her chest and said, ¡°Grandma is here. I can leave only by following me.¡±


    Then I took a long breath. In my heart, I suddenly had a lot of good feelings to Li Guihua and thought she was a very kind ghost.


    ¡°By the way, where is Chen Long now?¡± Perhaps because of the pendant on Ni Min¡¯s chest, Wu Jian even got a little embarrassed and didn¡¯t hold Ni Min all the time.


    Li Guihua said, ¡°He has been reincarnated with his grandmother.¡±


    Wu Jian nodded and then asked, ¡°Grand...Grandma, do you know why that man called Chen Er take away your...hum...your thing?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, but it won''t be a good thing.¡±


    When I saw Wu Jian had no problem, I stepped forward and said, ¡°Grandma, hey hey, I am Wu Jian¡¯s friend, so I also follow him to call you ¡®grandma¡¯. Where do you want to go when you leave this time?¡±


    Li Guihua kept silent for a while before she said, ¡°Go to get back my skull.¡±


    After chatting for some time, we finally decided to leave here. Lin Mu said that he was used to living here and he was unwilling to leave here, so there were still a few of us going back. Just we saved back Ni Min and she would take her grandma.


    Ni Min and Wu Jian walked in the front. Li Guihua, just like an elder, asked Wu Jian about his work, life and habit. Until we arrived at the pool, Wu Jian quickly took the opportunity of asking why this pool could glow to end Li Guihua¡¯s examination.


    However, actually Li Guihua didn¡¯t give us an explain why the pool would glow. She just simply told us there was one thing under it and he must take it until she took back her skull. As for what the thing was, we also didn¡¯t ask her more.


    Wu Jian also took advantage of this opportunity to walk with us together, causing thatNi Min couldn¡¯t help laughing and even couldn¡¯t stop.


    Huang Xiaolong walked by the side of Wu Jian and whispered to him, ¡°Hi, brother, maybe you should take the necklace off when you and Ni Min are doing that thing, otherwise...¡±


    I also walked over to listen with a bad smile, but before I didn¡¯t finish hearing their talking, Wu Jian used a huge rattan hit Huang Xiaolong on his ass, making him jump up, covering his ass with his hand and giving out constant painful scream. Then I and Wu Jian immediately had a serious discussion about where her grandma should live tonight, and completely ignored Huang Xiaolong.


    Li Guihua was obviously very familiar with the people in the ghost building but I didn¡¯t know why she was unwilling to go to the ghost building, and she just followed Wu Jian and Ni Min and went to their house with them.


    I and Huang Xiaolong went back to the ghost building and talked about all the things we had seen. It could be seen that old Mrs. Li and other people all felt a little sad about Li Guihua''s reluctance to go to the ghost building, but they didn''t say anything. Instead, they asked me to be very respectful for Li Guihua.


    Sure enough, I consented without much deliberation. The nine lifetimes of wronged ghost. Only judging from such a name, I knew I didn¡¯t dare to offend her. As for Huang Xiaolong, after being beating seriously, he even couldn¡¯t sat, so he naturally had no disagreement.


    However, when I finished talking about the things of Li Guihua, one words of my mom made me kept sweating.


    ¡°The skull. Those monsters in the old well of our hometown are all skulls.¡± After my mom finished her saying, maybe because she suddenly thought of my dad and other people, her tears streamed again. Then she went to the place where the skull of my dad was buried and began to sob.


    Witch Yan went up to comfort her, but I never moved. I didn¡¯t think about it just now, but when mom said it, I vaguely felt that there seemed to be some connections.


    I immediately made a phone call to Wu Jian and asked him to tell Li Guihua about my last trip back to my hometown. Wu Jian answered quickly, and Li Guihua even let us go back again.

 Chapter 223 The Wrapping-Corpse Cloth

    ¡°Since she is still unwilling to see us, we respect her opinion. Besides, if she is there, you all will be safe.¡± This was old Mrs. Li¡¯s words by herself.


    Although among the people who were going to go back to the hometown, there was no one from ghost building, there still were Li Guihua and Huang Xiaolong, so I didn¡¯t think the strength of our team was worse than that at last time. Even if Huang Xiaolong couldn''t match old Mrs. Li and other people from the ghost building, Li Guihua, I thought, was definitely powerful in strength than them. One strong with one weak was enough.


    Nothing strange happened to us during the time when we went back to the hometown this time. Soon, we arrived. For a short time, there was no change in the hometown. Although a few villagers felt strange about us coming back, it was also a normal reaction. After all, in the past days, we had basically never come back.


    It was already afternoon when I arrived here. After dinner, we went to the entrance of the village with great strength and vigor. However, as soon as we arrived there, we were totally shaking, only to find that the blue stone covered on the old well had disappeared and there even was a huge crack on the wall of the ancient well, almost arm-sized wide.


    As Wu Jian and I were discussing to go down the well, but Li Guihua''s voice suddenly came out, ¡°There is no need going down, because there was nothing here.¡±


    After hearing her words, my mom had a great reaction, so we still went down the well under mom¡¯s strong urge. Unfortunately, there really was nothing below.


    Ever since we came up from the old well, Mom had become terribly depressed and even witch Yan went to hold her and kept comforting her. This old well was hope for her to save my dad and my older brother, but now, there was nothing. Not mention to mom, even I was at a loss.


    Finally, witch Yan opened her mouth, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go to ask the people in the village and see what is going on.¡±


    Then mom slightly cheered up and stumbled to the village with the help of witch Yan. Huang Xiaolong and I were in a team alone and also went there. As for Wu Jian, he went back home alone first, because he didn¡¯t the people in the village.


    I had been walking around the village for a long time and also had been asked a lot of people, but everyone seemed not to know what was going on with that old well. What¡¯s more, every time I said the old well had cracked, they all felt very surprised and began to worry, which made us gain nothing.


    After the dinner, mom went to rest very early. I and Huang Xiaolong felt very bored, so we even pulled Wu Jian out to the end of this village where there was the only night market stall of this village. In fact, it was not a night market stall, just because when the road here was being built and there were many workers, someone in the village opened a small shop here.


    Later, the road was repaired and this small store was also preserved, but just what was mainly sold here was no longer the food, but some daily necessities. Perhaps the villagers were used to coming here at night to chat and eat some food sometimes. Therefore, the boss simply prepared some bricks and made a grill. This was the unique scenery of our village.


    After taking some food from home and spending 10 yuan buying some charcoal, we began to have our self-service barbecue. Fortunately, beer was still sold here.


    The people in the village were very hospitable. When they saw us come to have a barbecue, they also went home to get some food and came to enjoy with us. Soon, there were a lot of people here and this was also a scene I couldn¡¯t see in the urban.


    I didn¡¯t know that how long we had eaten, and I even felt slightly drunken. Then I saw a child walking slowly to us on the main road at the entrance of the village, wrapped in a circle of white cloth on his body, which was very much like the trendy dress at the fashion show.


    When the child approached, I just found the child was a little girl, about 7 or 8 years old. She looked very clean on her body but didn¡¯t wear the clothes. Her body was covered in beige strips of cloth. Besides, she also didn¡¯t wear shoes, just standing a few meters away from us.


    Many villagers also saw her. Then one of middle-aged woman took some food from the grill, put them on in a bowl and went over holding the bowl. The little girl was obviously frightened and then took a few steps back, but she also seemed unable to resist the temptation of the food and also didn¡¯t run away.


    Then the woman handed the bowl to her with a deep sigh. The little just took the bowl, gave her a sweet smile, bowed and ran away.


    Watching the little girl run into the woods by the side of the road and disappear, I shook my drunken head and asked the woman who just walked back, ¡°Dear lady, who is that girl?¡±


    The woman just sighed and answered, ¡°Alas, she is poor child. She lives with her parents halfway up the hill of this village. About a year ago, her parents died but nobody knew that, even their corpses had rotten and given out bad smell. This girl even still waited for them to go back home for meal. Later, it was only when old Mr. LIU went to her father to ask him to make a table that he knew this couple had already dead.¡±


    When the woman mentioned the hillside and making the table, I suddenly had some impression. I remembered that there was a carpenter in the village who lived halfway up the hill. It was just that I had little touch with him.


    ¡°Dear lady, what about the little girl?¡±


    The woman put down the food in her hand and said, ¡°The police came and saw that the child was hopeless, so they decided to ask some villagers to take care of her. However, this child was very stubborn, and only when she felt hungry, she would come to our village. At any other time, she wouldn¡¯t. come. You could see what she wore on her body. Even we gave her some clothes, she still wouldn¡¯t wear. There even were several family willing to take her in, but she was unwilling and even claimed that she wanted to be together with her parents. She would stay be the side of her parents¡¯ grave every day. What a filial child.¡±


    ¡°Filial piety? In my opinion, she was stupid and maybe she was possessed by the ghost. You just think about it. Even her parents¡¯ corpses had rotten, she still would sleep with them. Even a normal person would become stupid if so.¡± When hearing the woman¡¯s words, the villager on the side began to be against her.


    Then all the people present began to talk about it and their talking even became more and more groundless. However, just think about it. A few-years-old girl didn¡¯t know anything but only stay by the side of grave. Where did she live? Besides, it had been one year. This child even had never been sick or anything. If it were not that she felt hungry and came to the village for food, maybe these villager would already think she was dead.


    Wu Jian touched my hand and whispered, ¡°Did you see this little girl the last time you came?¡±


    I shook my head. Although we were here for a long time at last time, we never saw this little girl.


    Then Wu Jian said, ¡°Alas, this is a poor child. I''ll report back and mobilize the crowd to see if anyone is willing to adopt this child.¡±


    I nodded, then only looked at the direction where the little girl disappeared and also sighed deeply.


    My mood that was already very bad became even worse. Then I said, ¡°Huang Xiaolong, just hand me a bottle of beer.¡± However, he was just lowering his head, without any reaction and the kebab in his hand was almost falling down to the ground.


    Then I pushed him hard and said, ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong just said loudly, ¡°What!¡±, as if he was frightened just now, and even the kebabs in his hand fell to the ground now. I just looked at him in amazement, asking, ¡°What happened to me?¡±

 Chapter 224 The People Who Couldn’t Get into the Ancestral Grave

    Huang Xiaolong shook his head and said questioningly, ¡°This is what I felt very strange. That little girl is a human.¡±


    Then Wu Jian said, ¡°Maybe that just is a normal wrapping-corpse cloth. Is there a problem with anything personal?¡±


    After thinking about it for a while, Huang Xiaolong also nodded and agreed with what Wu Jian said.


    My heart was filled with the strange feeling and I always felt that wrapping-corpse cloth was never as normal as Wu Jian said. Then I took a look of the villagers around me, but for a moment, I didn''t know who I should ask, because, you have to know, most people in the village were very superstitious. Once they knew the cloth on the body of the little girl was a wrapping-corpse cloth, they would definitely no longer show sympathy for the little girl and even worse, something bad might happen.


    The villagers'' conversation quickly moved away from the little girl and changed into some small household affairs. Both Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong were drunken and joined the villagers¡¯ big happy party. As for me, instead, I became even more clear because I was thinking about something in my mind.


    After the middle of the night, there were villagers to left one after another. Some staggered away and others were carried back to their home. Wu Jian was also dragged back by Ni Min. As for Huang Xiaolong, he was very tenacious and even had a drinking competition with a few drunkards in the village. There was just a feeling that if he couldn¡¯t make others all drunken, he would never leave.


    Because mom went to sleep very early, there was nobody to care about me and I also stayed, but I didn¡¯t drink. I just sat here and ate something, watching these drunken men talk groundlessly.


    Just as Huang Xiaolong made another man drunken and fall down again, I saw a white shadow on the road, and it was the little girl wrapped in the wrapping-corpse cloth. Perhaps because the rest of us all were men, instead of approaching, the little girl just stood far away from us.


    I noticed the time and it was1 o¡¯clock in the morning. I patted hard Huang Xiaolong and he inarticulately asked what I wanted to do. I guessed his eyes had become so blurred that he couldn¡¯t know who I was. Shit! This guy was no longer reliable.


    I tried to speak in a soft voice, ¡°Are you not full just now? Come here. Just take it.¡±


    The little girl was still unmoved. I stepped forward and the little girl took a few steps back quickly again, so I had to said, ¡°Shall I put the bowl on the ground?¡±


    Having been waiting for so long, I still didn¡¯t wait for her answer, so I had to put the bowl on the ground and stepped back. The little girl walked a few steps forward, but still didn¡¯t go to fetch the bowl, still looking at me warily, as if I was the big wolf in the fairy tale.


    I turned my head and began to divide food for those some drunkards. I wanted to look back at the little girl, but I also was afraid of scaring her, but when I finished dividing the grilled food and turned my head back again, I found the little girl had disappeared with the bowl on the ground.


    If it wasn''t for the wrapping-corpse cloth on her body, she would be an ordinary poor little girl. Although I didn¡¯t see anything wrong, I still felt something wrong in my heart.


    Until the end of eating night snack, the little girl never showed up again. Because it was too late and I was also a little drunken, I slept till dawn. My mom and witch Yan went out very early to search the clues of the old well. Wu Jian, as the police, was also pulled to go with them.


    There was only me and Huang Xiaolong at home. I had a look and found he still was sleep like a pig. Then I ate something and went out.


    It might rain a little in the early morning and road became very wet, so it was very slippery to step on, which made me unable to walk very fast. Now, there was few people in the village and maybe most people were doing farming in their lands. Until I walked on the main road at the end of the village, I saw several senior old men chatting in the place where we had eaten the night snack.


    I walked over, greeted to them very politely and found a place to sit down.


    At this moment, a hunchback old man, whose back had already deformed, smoking the tobacco, came to ask me, ¡°Young man, your mother is looking for you and she runs into the woods early in the morning.¡±


    I just smiled. Then I randomly found a reason to fool him and also didn¡¯t care about whether the old man believed it or not, and just asked, ¡°Sir, we saw the carpenter''s little daughter while we were having the night snack yesterday. Do you think how can such a young child live alone in the woods? Doesn¡¯t she have any other relatives?¡±


    The hunchback old man used his tobacco pipe to knock on the bluestone of one side, so as to make the ash inside out, then re-added some cut tobacco and sighed, ¡°Who says no? Alas, in fact, she has some relatives, but none of them are willing to look after this little girl. This girl is also very stubborn. She is so young but even goes to stay with the graves of her parents. I really don¡¯t know who on earth has told her that if she has been staying with the grave for three years, her parents will come back.¡±


    I was a little stunned. Since I had never heard anyone tell about this, I continued asking the old man. Then the old man recalled, ¡°It was Liu Lan who told the little girl about this. The woman also has a good heart, so maybe there is only her who could talk to the little girl. Liu Lan also had persuaded the little girl, but she always insisted on this point and still claim that she wanted to wait for her parents to wake up. Ah, Liu Lan wanted to adopt her but she refused, too. This all is a crime.¡±


    After recalling for a long time, I still couldn¡¯t remember who Liu Lan was. Until I asked the old man again, I finally knew she was owner of this small shop, who was already 50 years old. Therefore, I also followed the people in the village to call her aunt.


    However, she went to the county town to buy some goods now. While the old man was coming here, he had met her but didn¡¯t know when she would come back.


    Then I asked for the little girl''s name again, but the old man couldn''t say it and he just knew everyone in this village called her little girl. Having seen that old man just knew little, I no longer sat here and then went into the shop to ask aunt¡¯s husband. After knowing that she wouldn¡¯t come back until tomorrow, I also didn¡¯t stay for long and went to the woods by the village road.


    This was the place where the little girl showed up last night. At first glance, there was full of trees. However, what was very strange was that I looked back at the other side of the road, only to find there was full of neat crops there.


    This was the head of the village and it was also the closest to the village. The ground also looked very fertile, but why were all the trees here? Didn¡¯t anyone come to plant crops?


    ¡°Wu Rui, what are you doing here?¡±


    When I turned around, I saw a villager looking at me with a hoe. I knew this guy and he was supposed to be one of my relatives. He was not young but his generation was the same as mine.


    ¡°Bro, I am very curious about why this side is full of trees, while the other side is full of crops. It looks like that the people in the village must have much environment-protection awareness.¡±


    This man put the hoe on the ground and scolded, ¡°What f**k environment protection! As for this land, you can¡¯t make any ideas to it. It cannot be touched.¡±


    I thought for a while, ¡°I can¡¯t do nothing. Do you want me to go home and farm? Even I am tired to death, there won''t be a harvest.¡±


    The man laughed, ¡°Seeing you just look very white and clean, I definitely know you are unsuitable of working.¡±


    When he finished saying and was about to leave, I hurried up to pull him and asked him, ¡°Why can¡¯t this land be touched?¡±


    ¡°There are people buried here. Those people who can¡¯t get into their ancestral graves are all buried here.¡±

 Chapter 225 The Weird Family Wang

    These old men were all very talkative. Seeing that I was interested in listening to their gossip, they were glad to talk about the village. Then I finally understood that there were probably several kind of people who couldn''t get into their ancestral graves.


    The first kind of people was those who died a violent death, which was not drowning or falling to death, but killed. As long as the murderer wasn¡¯t found yet, they couldn¡¯t get into their ancestral graves.


    The second was the child who died young.


    The third was those who had made mistakes.


    Then the last kind was those who died weirdly.


    I could still understand the situation of the first three kinds of people, but what was the situation about the people who died weirdly? I asked these old men, but several of them hesitated and seemed unwilling to say that.


    I haunted for a long time and the old man finally spit out a few words, ¡°Killed by ghosts.¡±


    To this answer, I was surprised, but also not surprised, because there wasÔ©ÁúÂö and the weird human-head monster in the old well of this village. Therefore, it was also pretty normal for something weird to happen. Nonetheless, what made me surprised was that the village was sheltered by ancestors. I had seen that many ancestors didn¡¯t go to the reincarnation and just stayed here to sheltered this village.


    After thinking for a while, I still asked, ¡°Why weren¡¯t the parents of the little girl in their ancestral grave? Have they made any mistakes?¡±


    The old man shook his head and answered, ¡°He is very honest and hard working man and it was impossible for him to make mistakes, but he... Why are you, such a young, asking so many questions? Go and pour some tea for the old men.¡±


    I got the the empty tea cup, and then I had a vague thought in my heart that it seemed that the reason why the little girl¡¯s parents couldn¡¯t get into their ancestral grave was that they both died very weirdly. In other words, the little girl¡¯s parents were likely to have been killed by the ghost.


    But where did the wrapping-corpse cloth on her body come from? Before I went out, I even used my phone to search it online. Although I didn''t find much useful information, I still got to know that the wrapping-corpse cloth was a form of burial that was not considered to be generous to the dead. It only would be used in a poor or hasty situation and there even was no coffin in many cases.


    This point was basically impossible for now, because no matter how poor a family was, they would hardly used this kind of cloth. However, I also didn¡¯t think the wrapping-corpse cloth wrapped on the body of the little girl was a stuff many years ago.


    Then I sent the tea to the old man. After waiting for him to enjoy a drink, I kept pestering him to tell me about the situation of the death of the little girl''s parents. I acted like a child, which made the old man have no choice but to tell me all the thing.


    About one year ago, the young girl''s parents, Mr. Wang and Mrs Wang, received an order and had been making the furniture at home, so they seldom went to the village to chat with others and the villagers also didn¡¯t know that they were dead.


    It was untilMrs. Liuneeded some tables to prepare a feast and went to their house that people knew the couple had been dead in their home.


    According to whatMrs. Liusaid after that, when he went to the yard of Wang¡¯s family, he found only the little girl was playing alone in the yard, wrapped in the white cloth which she had never changed since then, and she also didn¡¯t wear shoes.


    He asked the little girl and the little girl said her parents were sleeping. Then Mrs. Liu asked the little girl to wake up her parents, but she said they had been sleeping for a long time. No matter how she called, they still didn¡¯t wake up.


    Mrs. Liu didn¡¯t care about that at that time. He directly entered the house and prepared to knock the door, but before knocking the door, he smelt a rotten smell. After he opened the door, he found that couple lying on the bed, who had been dead for a long time. The bed was full of yellow water from the bodies and there was a small space between them.


    The little girl followed him to enter the room and yawned, saying that she was sleepy. Then she even slept between those two bodies that had become a little shapeless, which scared Mrs. Liu so much. Later on, he stumbled back to the village and called the police.


    When the curious villagers and police entered the little girl''s house, the little girl was still sleeping between those two bodies. After she was waken up, no matter what those people asked her, she didn¡¯t know. In addition, villagers also didn¡¯t know how long she had been sleeping between them, so they all were a little afraid of her.


    After the police checked and found nothing wrong, villagers could only arrange for two people to be buried them two. It was supposed to bury them in the ancestral grave.


    But whatever they said, the little girl still didn¡¯t allow them to bury her parents, even saying that her parents were not dead. At first, everyone just thought that the little girl was unwilling to give up on her parents, but in the end, they got some different information from the insane words the little girl had said.


    In fact, she had said her parents were still working for others, but only at night. Besides, those people were eager to get what they wanted, so she couldn¡¯t let her parents leave.


    Everyone was sacred by the little girl''s words. Therefore, instead of burying her parents in their ancestral grave, they just buried them In the woods at the edge of the village road as usual.


    From that time on, the little girl had become a completely different person and was very afraid of the people in the village, and even ran to guard her parents¡¯ grave alone, because she said that someone had told her that if she kept the tomb for three years, her parents would come back. At that time, the people in the village were still very scared, but after one year, almost all villagers had also slowly forgotten.


    They all hated the one who had cheated the little girl and even let such a few-year-old girl live alone in the wild.


    Of course, there were a lot of things that seemed strange. When Mr. Wang was alive, he claimed that he had received a big order, so he worked at home every day, but when the villager went to his house, they did not find that he was doing any work and there were also no any raw materials. Nevertheless, some tools, such as saws, were placed in the yard neatly, as if they were in use at any time.


    Besides, there was an open space that had been cleaned very much and it seemed that something had been placed there. The way from his home straight to the village had only one, but nobody had seen that he bought any raw materials or anything was transported out, either.


    In addition, there was no any marks showing that this couple¡¯s bodies were moved. There even was smile on their face and the clothes they wore were all very neat, too. More importantly, they even still wore their shoes. Just think of it. Who would be still wearing the shoes when on the bed at home?


    The little girl was also very strange. She found that white cloth from nowhere and just wrapped it on her body. At that time, a kind villager wanted to help change her clothes, but was severely scratched by her. According to the villager, the white cloth on the little girl¡¯s body looked very strange, but he couldn¡¯t describe how strange it was.


    After these several old men finished saying one by one, there was much doubt in my heart. In fact, this thing was really a little strange. If it was said that they had encountered the ghost, would the ghost feel so bored that he would put their bodies in place after killing them? Just as the old man said, Mr. Wang said he had received a big order when he was alive, but where was his big order?


    What made me feel even more weird was where on earth did the wrapping-corpse cloth on the body of the little girl come from? At first, I thought she must have picked it up at the grave in the woods. However, according to the old man, the wrapping-corpse cloth had been found wrapped on her body when her parents were found dead. Of course, it also couldn¡¯t be that Mr. Wang had nothing to do, so he put a wrapping-corpse cloth at home for fun.

 Chapter 226 Car Accident and Weird Corpse

    On the contrary, he warned me very seriously that I must not go to the burial ground in the woods.


    Yes, it was called the burial ground. As for the reason why, the old man forbade me to go there, I had a vague idea in my heart that there must be something strange and even dangerous about the burying-corpse ground. Maybe there was the existence of an old well again.


    Would the burial ground have something to do with the old well? Even not, so would the monster in the old well now be in the burial ground?


    The old man looked a little angry now, so I also no longer asked him more. After I went back, I told everything to Huang Xiaolong who had just woke up. After that, he agreed with me, too. Hence, we were going to have a good talk with mom and other people after they all came back.


    It was until evening that mom and other people finally came back. At dinner, I told them about it and said what I thought, but for some reason, both my mom and witch Yan spoke at the same time, ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Then both of them told me that the monster would never go to the burial ground and, just like the old man did, also warned me not to step into the burial ground.


    Mother and mother walked all day and soon both of them went to rest. Then Huang Xiaolong asked me quietly, ¡°How do they know the monster you¡¯re talking about won''t enter the burial ground?¡±


    I shook my head and I also didn''t know that, but what I did know was that the secrets in this village were far more than I thought. Besides, no matter mom or witch Yan, they absolutely knew something about the burial ground. Even in their eyes, the terror of burial ground was far greater than that of old well.


    How many secrets on earth on earth were in this small village?


    We didn¡¯t go out at night and just stayed home. On the next morning, I didn¡¯t know if it was because I mentioned the burial ground, and my mom and witch Yan demanded that we should leave the village immediately and return to the ghost building.


    As the car drove slowly past the village road, I looked at the woods as if I saw the little girl''s figure wrapped in white cloth. I was worried about her and I knew in my heart that perhaps couple Wang was not dead, or that they had never left. Although there was no any evidence, I just felt that way.


    I originally thought we were about to leave the village, but perhaps this was the arrangement of the fate, which would always push you into various events one by one and let you go into the deep step by step.


    This was aunt¡¯s minivan used to buy the goods, also the only car in the village.


    After Wu Jian stopped the car and mom quickly got out. While rushing over, she also was calling aunt¡¯s name. The police on duty stopped her and asked for information about the dead in the car.


    After communicating with the police, mom asked Wu Jian to drive back to pick up uncle, who still knew nothing in the village. Then Wu Jian took the police back to the village, while witch Yan and Ni Min accompanied my mom, crying on one side.


    I also went over to have a look, but because of the problem of angle, I couldn¡¯t see the situation in the car. Nonetheless, judging from the amount of blood on the ground, I could almost be sure that the situation of aunt was fraught with grim possibilities.


    Then the police next to me told me that there were three people in the car, two men and one woman, all dead. The identification of one of the men and the woman had been identified. They respectively were aunt and her nephew who help drive the car for her, but the other man had been identified yet. Just when the police talked about the last man, his words seemed somewhat hesitant.


    When the police continued to be busy, Huang Xiaolong walked over and said to me, ¡°There is something wrong with that police.¡±


    But I just said to him, ¡°What is wrong is not that police officer, but that unconfirmed man.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong nodded. Indeed, if it were not that there was something with that unconfirmed man, the police officer would also never become weird when he mentioned him.¡±


    Unfortunately, the police didn¡¯t tell me anything, so I also had no way. Just as I was thinking whether I should get around the woods to have a look at the situation of the dead man in the car, I suddenly saw an acquaintance, Luo Wen, the police I saw last time when I went back to the village.


    When I saw Luo Wen, he also saw me. An exhilarating expression suddenly appeared on his sad face and then he came to me. After greeting me, he also saw witch Yan. When he was about to walk over, I stopped him.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I directly inquired Luo Wen.


    Luo Wen said simply, ¡°Nothing wrong. Just a car accident.¡±


    I looked at him with a faint smile on my face. After a long time, he laughed bitterly and said to me, ¡°Don''t tell others. We have discipline. We first thought it was a simple car accident, but there was something wrong with the dead.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°There are three dead in total. The identification of the woman and the young man have been identified, but the last man, according to the sources, has been dead for years. Besides, his body has been rotten in the car, which looks like it matches the time of his death. But who will be bored to place a corpse in the car? What¡¯s more, the most horrifying thing is that, while we are investigating in the county, all the people say these three people are together, going shopping together and eating together. F**k, even killing me, I would never come to your village the next time. When I get back, I''ll apply for transferring to another post. What the hell are these things?¡±


    Luo Wen had been complaining about it for a long time before running to greet witch Yan. When I saw he was very respectful for witch Yan, I thought he must regard her as the last straw to save life.


    Huang Xiaolong looked at Luo Wen, laughing, ¡°It is sure enough that there must a big evil wind in a small temple. There seems be a lot of things in such a small village.¡±


    I agreed with him and nodded. A man, who had been dead for years, ate and went shopping with aunt and his families. Besides, after a car accident, his body rotten as if he had been dead for years. All this made people confused.


    However, what made me even more confused was that Luo Wen had told mom and witch Yan about the rotten corpse in the car, but both of them were grieving for aunt and it seemed that they had never worried about the thing of that creepy corpse.


    Soon, uncle came. As soon as he got out of the car, he cried terribly. Mom and the villagers who also came following the car all kept comforting him, while I deliberately mentioned the weird corpse in front of him. However, just like mom and witch Yan, he didn¡¯t have big reaction, either, and even many villagers didn¡¯t have much reaction to this.


    No, there was not everyone who didn¡¯t have reaction. Only one person showed a look of surprise and fear. Maybe because uncle and other people still were in grief, he held on and didn¡¯t ask me.


    I knew this man, who was uncle¡¯s distant nephew. Although he was also born in this village, like me, he basically didn¡¯t live here. He came back before the day when we came back and he seemed to be going to attend a birthday banquet.


    It seemed that the people who lived in the village all become inured to this weird corpse. It was just like the words said by Huang Xiaolong when he saw their reaction, ¡°What an interesting village.¡±

 Chapter 227 The Forbidden Burial Ground

    Aunt¡¯s funeral was arranged very fast. According to the master in the village who helped people judge their date of birth and the eight characters of a horoscope specially, the day after tomorrow was the best day. Hence, when they moved aunt¡¯s body back, they would keep it for one day before burying it.


    When I asked Luo Wen to have an investigation in the village, I estimated that maybe he mentioned the third man in the car, the thing about the creepy corpse. At first, he was very unwilling to do it. Then I threatened him by force and also induced him to do it, and even let Huang Xiaolong show him his strength. Luo Wen finally had to reluctantly agree.


    I was surprised and puzzled by the fact that the people in this village seemed to never have any reactions to this thing, as if they didn¡¯t believe it at all. I also didn¡¯t know when these people in this village, which had been superstitious, suddenly began to such a believer in science.


    I had been paying attention to the reaction of the people in the village. It was not fake that everyone looked very sorrow, but why were they blind to the ghost that may had killed aunt?


    Wu Jian told me from his professional point of view that the only reason why those villagers had such a reaction was that they didn¡¯t think the weird corpse was going to be harmful to aunt. Even he gave me a creepy conclusion that everyone in the village might have known about the existence of the weird corpse.


    I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but I knew it was the only way to explain villagers¡¯ reaction. But didn¡¯t aunt really just die from the car accident?


    Secrets in this village had become more and more. Every day, I, Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong would talk for a long time. However, for we knew too little information, we kept staying where we were.


    When aunt¡¯s body was being buried, it was drizzle. In accordance with village practice, the coffin would be taken round a circle along the outermost path of the village to show the fate of the dead to the family, and almost all the people in the village were in the funeral procession.


    I, Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong walked in the back of this procession, watching the painful crowd ahead of us. To be honest, I and aunt just knew each other. Although mom had said that we were related, we weren''t even familiar, so the three of us even finally began to discuss the weird corpse.


    The corpse had always been stored at the police station. Shortly after they buried aunt¡¯s corpse, Luo Wen made a phone call, saying that some old man in this village were still going to the police station to get the body back, which further illustrated that the people in the village knew this corpse.


    Then Wu Jian used his eyes to point one direction and whispered to me, ¡°Look. Isn''t that the girl you''re talking about?¡±


    Behind a big tree far away the road was a thin figure, who was wiping tears and was wrapped in white wrapping-corpse cloth. That was the little girl.


    I sighed when I remembered what the old man in the village had said to me, ¡°aunt is very kind to this little girl when she is alive, so I guessed that maybe she comes to see her off.¡±


    The little girl had been hiding in the woods, following the funeral procession. It was not until the procession returned to the village that she stopped in the woods at the end of the village and bade farewell to her.


    Aunt was finally buried in the ancestral grave, which showed that the weirs corpse was related to the village.


    After lunch, mom asked us to leave again. I originally would like to ask my mom about that weird corpse, but every time I started talking, I got scolded by my mom, very harsh.


    However, I didn¡¯t know if this was my fate. Before we set out this time, Luo Wen took a group of police officers, entering the village. Besides, they had identified the identification of that corpse. That was a villager who died of disease a few years ago. According to the seniority, I should call him grandpa Wang, who exactly was Wang¡¯s uncle.


    Luo Wen and other police officers requested to dig up grandpa Wang''s grave to confirm his identity, which, however, was objected by all the old men in this village. Their objection was very ridiculous that they asked Luo Wen to send the corpse back the village and they would investigate it by themselves. If the truth was not as what he said, they would also buried it well.


    The people in this village were really unreasonable and they really never listened to any reasons. Instead of accomplishing his task, Luo Wen even was besieged by villagers, who demanded him to return the corpse that might be grandpa Wang.


    If it was a normal car accident, of course, it was okay. However, there was such a weird scene appearing, so the police had to look into it. Luo Wen could only explain patiently, but until nightfall and even his mouth became very dry, he was still besieged by more than a dozen of 70 or 80-year-olds old men.


    Luo Wen had turned to me for many times, but every time I just pretended, I didn¡¯t see it. If grandpa Wang really was one of the ancestors of this place, I also hoped his body would be returned for burial.


    Finally, Luo Wen had no choice but to declare that they would conclude this case as soon as possible and then they would return grandpa Wang''s corpse. Perhaps it was too late or perhaps such an answer satisfied them, these elderlies gradually left and went back home.


    After Luo Wen, whose clothes was wet by his sweat, drank a big sip of water, he complained about us tiredly, saying we never helped him.


    I was laughing, ¡°You''re surrounded at best at that time, but if I help you, we might be get beaten. Even we call the police, there will be no use.¡±


    My words were true. Although I was unfamiliar to many of the old people in the village, I could only bear when whoever beat me, because maybe that man was a relative of mine or other relations.


    Luo Wen just swung his hand, saying, ¡°I just give in. When I was back this time, I will apply for transferring to another post. Just look. In fact, I know a little about the customs of your village, but why do you so value a man who is buried in the woods and can¡¯t go to his ancestral grave?¡±


    Luo Wen¡¯s words surprised me. Grandpa Wang indeed was the man who didn¡¯t get into the ancestral grave. No, I did remember when witch Yan took me to the ancestral grave, she said that those ancestors who had been sheltering our village were all buried in the ancestor grave, and so was the burial ground?


    I felt that my thought, which had been a little clear, had been completely disrupted.


    Luo Wen soon left. Then I talked to Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong and both of them were surprised, too. Huang Xiaolong even suggested that we should go to look for the buried ground together at night.


    Wu Jian agreed very quickly, because it was most important for him to find Li Guihua¡¯s skull and send the old lady away as soon as possible. Now, he and Ni Min even didn¡¯t dare to hold the hands of each other. He was definitely living as a widow.


    I hesitated for a moment and also nodded. But as soon as I nodded, there was a gloomy voice behind me, ¡°Young man, you can''t go there.¡±


    I was startled and turned back. I saw an old man, with his face full of old people''s spots, standing behind me and looking at me seriously. It seemed that he would use the crutch in his hand to hit me as long as I said a single wrong word.


    Until I hastened to promise, again and again, not to go, the old man nodded and turned away.


    I just looked at Wu Jian hopelessly and said, ¡°You just see this. Maybe we''re probably under close surveillance now.¡±


    Wu Jian shook his head and laughed bitterly, ¡°By the way, who is that old man?¡±


    I was suddenly stunned because I had never seen that old man before. There were not many people in the village, most of whom had already been seen by me because of the death of aunt. Although I couldn¡¯t call out their names, I still felt familiar. As for the old man just now, I had no impression at all.

 Chapter 228 Drink

    What happened? I felt speechless for a long time and thought this guy seemed less reliable than ever. Then I just said, ¡°I don¡¯t know that old man just now.¡±


    It seemed that Huang Xiaolong still couldn¡¯t react and he just looked at with his innocent eyes. I laughed again and said, ¡°I don''t think I''ve seen him in the village, either.¡±


    But Huang Xiaolong continued to look at me with his eyes and Wu Jian couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and said directly, ¡°He suspects that it¡¯s a ghost.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong finally reacted, ¡°What! Ghost? That¡¯s impossible. I have seem that he had a shadow.¡±


    Then Wu Jian and I looked at each other and stopped talking. As a professional who was erudite through paternal teaching and influence, he even told whether someone was a ghost just by seeing the shadow. Well, I couldn¡¯t this was wrong, but it was always like throwing a shoe when you couldn''t find a way, which would make people somewhat confused.


    Maybe Huang Xiaolong also thought there was something wrong with his performance and then laughed bitterly, ¡°So, are we still going to burial ground?¡±


    I didn¡¯t answer him. Although I didn''t know who that old man was, I thought it seemed that he had no malice. Besides, we were clearly being watched by other, so it seemed a little inappropriate to go to the burial ground again.


    Wu Jian also thought about it for a while and finally said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go to ask the old lady?¡±


    Then both I and Huang Xiaolong looked towards him. Indeed, Li Guihua seemed to have never appeared again since we didn''t find that weird monster in the old well.


    I nodded in agreement. Since now we were all uncertain, listening to Li Guihua¡¯s idea might give us some inspiration. After all, she was the nine lifetimes of ghost.


    Wu Jian quickly left to find Ni Min, while I and Huang Xiaolong began to chat. However, after leaving for a long time, Wu Jian still didn¡¯t come back. It seemed that the thing of the burial ground should be very complicated.


    We waited a little longer again, but he still didn¡¯t come back, so we decided to make a phone call him. The phone was on, but nobody answered it. Then I and Huang Xiaolong began to be worried about him, because, after all, the village was too weird.


    After taking a look at each other, we immediately returned home, only to see that Wu Jian and Ni Min stayed in the courtyard, chatting. I walked over and heard Li Guihua was talking. After greeting to Wu Jian with my eyes, I also sat down next to him.


    After only listening for a while, I had already known Li Guihua''s opinion on us going to burial ground. She would never let us go, but she told us the reasons. That was that what was buried in the burial ground was not only corpse.


    Li Guihua didn¡¯t explain more to us, but just like their mother, forbade us to enter the burial ground. In addition, it seemed that for the safety, she even let Ni Min pull Wu Jian back to the room.


    I and Huang Xiaolong just looked at each other and thought that there was no possibility of going to the burial ground.


    Anyway, we had said that we would leave early tomorrow, so I would also never care about the burial ground any more, mainly because I thought when everyone was against one thing and didn¡¯t want to give you a reason, it only showed that this thing absolutely was beyond your imagination. Therefore, not knowing it was better than knowing it.


    Originally, I intended to rest. However, those several villagers who had drunk highly with Huang Xiaolong knew that we were going to leave, so they ran to pull us to drink, but because aunt had just passed away, we chose to go to s a villager''s house to drink.


    After telling mom, I followed Huang Xiaolong to go out. As for Wu Jian, well, I dared not make Li Guihua angry.


    After the gluttony, all the people felt a little dizzy. My capacity of drinking was not so good as that of Huang Xiaolong, so I soon felt very full. Then I stood up, greeted them and walked out of the door, originally trying to find a place to pee.


    As soon as I got to the yard, I saw a villager was standing in the yard, looking at me. I shook my body and looked at him carefully through the light. This guy probably drank a lot and even his face turned white. Alas, I just thought drinking with Huang Xiaolong was like fighting by life.


    However, there was people in the yard, so I couldn¡¯t easily find a place to pee. At first, I decided to find a toilet. Then I saw a place where it should be a toilet to go in and had a look. F**k, it turned out to be a pigsty.


    I quickly got out of there and the villager opened his mouth, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I am looking for the toilet. Hey hey. I drink too much.¡±


    The villager nodded his head and raised his hand to point to a place, and I quickly thanked him. Then I trotted over. When I had just reached the door of the toilet and was about to look for the light switch, I suddenly found that the villager was standing quietly behind me, which startled me.


    The villager reached over my face and turned on the light on the wall. I smelled a smell of dirt, but I didn''t care. He was the farmer who worked and ate in the soil, so it was normal to have such a smell of dirt.


    As he was about to get in, I saw the villager standing behind me, and I spoke, ¡°You first?¡±


    The villager shook his head slowly and I was not polite again, because I really a little couldn''t hold back and felt there all was water shaking inside the stomach. After I got in and finished peeing, the villager was still standing at the door.


    I laughed, saying, ¡°You must be in a hurry. Just come in.¡±


    After having washed my hands and walked back, I looked back and saw the villager still standing at the bathroom door, looking at me. What a strange guy. I would never secretly see him pee.


    When I backed in the hall, the banquet continued. To my surprise, the villager came back earlier than I did. Then, he sat next to Huang Xiaolong and began to have the finger-guessing game with him. However, the villager''s face completely wasn¡¯t white like before, instead, it turned red terribly, just like the monkey¡¯s ass.


    I was wondering when the villagers next to me suddenly pulled me and said, ¡°Do you want to escape? We have drunk one bottle and you have to make it up.¡±


    I sat down with a smile, and soon fell into the village''s enthusiasm and drank one full bottle, and of course, what happened just now was completely forgotten by me.


    Halfway, I went to the toilet twice and never found that villager again. I guessed that that was just because I always thought and doubted too much during this period of time and no longer cared about it. Besides, because the matter of burial ground made me a little depressed, I simply began to drink even more than before.


    I didn¡¯t know how long I had been drink, but this time, I really couldn¡¯t hold back and ran out. I originally intended to go to the toilet, but I really couldn¡¯t stand and even began to vomit in the yard. When I was feeling sick, a piece of tissue was handed over next to me. I didn¡¯t look up and just took the tissue to wipe my mouth. After a slight tidying up, I looked up and thanked that man.


    It was the villager who handed me the tissue, but his face seemed to be even whiter than before.


    ¡°Thanks. You''re escaping from drinking, too?¡± As I was greeting to him, I was spitting out the residue of food in my mouth.


    The villager said, ¡°You can¡¯t drink, just drink less. It is harmful to your body.¡±


    Then I said with bitter smile, ¡°I seldom come back, so it is also very hard to refuse. Especially Huang Xiaolong, who is a good example, all of them are watching us.¡±


    The villager didn¡¯t speaking, just standing there.


    I originally intended to chat with the villager and escaped from drinking by the way, but the people inside the central room had begun to call me up again, so I had reluctantly to go back. Just now I didn¡¯t control myself for one time, even and boasted that I could to hold on to the last. It was good that I wasn¡¯t found. However, I had been found, so it would inappropriate not to go back.


    ¡°Go. Let¡¯s go back together?¡± I said to the villager with a bad smile. If I would be made drunken by others, I would also never let others leave.


    The villager just shook his head. While I was saying, I also was pulling his hand. However, at this moment, two men, who I didn¡¯t know whether were my cousin or other people, walked out of the central room and directly pulled me inside.

 Chapter 229 Drunkard Went Home

    ¡°Him.¡± I used my hand to point to that villager¡¯s position, but then, to my surprise, there was nobody there. My two cousins thought I pretended to say so to escape from drinking, so they directly pulled m leaving.


    When I entered the central room, I found that that villager had sat in his place, but had stopped drinking and began to doze off in his seat. It seemed very hard to stand up in such a short time, not mention to get in this room.


    After drinking too much, my mind was not very clear, but I still felt that the villager I had just met several times before probably was not a person. Then I even wanted to wake myself up and thought about it carefully. However, these villagers started making me drink again in turns and I also began to drink drowsily.


    As soon as we began to drink, we drank to the end and everybody in this room had fallen down. Huang Xiaolong, as the winner of drinking last time, also received special attention and had already been lying on the table motionless.


    I held the table and stood up reluctantly, and then pushed Huang Xiaolong with my hand, but he didn¡¯t have any reactions at all, just like a dead pig. One man, whose mind was still a little clear, said, ¡°You guys can just live here tonight.¡±


    I shook my head and thought we must go back to live. Although we enjoyed drinking very much tonight, I was still familiar with these so-called relatives. Besides, there were many people who had already been drunken now, so I thought it was hard for this house to hold so many people here.


    I had tried everything I could to wake up Huang Xiaolong but all didn¡¯t work. Hence, I had no choice but to leave him to rest here tonight and I went out and was going to go home in a leisurely way with a couple of villagers who could still walk.


    Village was not so good as the downtown. There was no street light in the evening. Besides, it was too late and all households were basically closed, so only a few of us were walking on the road step by step, holding the flashlight. From time to time, someone would give out a few strange noises that made the dogs in the village keep barking, which seemed to be even more horrible than the ghost-related film.


    Along the way, someone bad farewell to us with his big tongue, waved the hand and left from time to time. I also waved my hand in response. There were only three or four people, but after I had waved my hand for many times, there still were three or four people. As for this, I thought maybe I really had drunk too much, so I didn''t feel anything wrong.


    The only change for me was that no one made strange noise on purpose again, but the dogs in the village still kept barking all the way.


    I was still walking. Suddenly, a few points of cold water fell on my head. I reached for a touch and then swayed to look up, only to find there was a big tree, so I thought the drop of water which fell down just now should be the rain water accumulated on the tree.


    The cold water made my drunken feeling, which had already dissipated a lot, dissipate even more. Then I shook my head and used my wet hands to touch my face to make myself more sober. When I took my hands away, I realized that I didn¡¯t know when I had walked into a wood.


    I was so astonished that even the rest of drunken feeling had dissipated a lot again. Then I looked around and found that there was full of trees, so there was no way to find where I was.


    When I was looking at several familiar faces, my heart slowly cooled. I remembered clearly that one of them had returned home and that the torch in my hand was given by him.


    My Adam¡¯s apple wriggled up and down. I just pretended to be very drunken and held the tree. At the same time, I also used my hand to keep smearing the water of the trunk in my face to make myself more sober.


    Those several villagers just were rocking in place and waiting for me around me. Their pose of rocking didn¡¯t seem that they were drunken, but seemed that they were very deliberate and stiff.


    While I was resting on one side, I also was thinking in my head about how to escape. However, after I drunk, my thinking would become very dull, just like that there was the mess in my head. Even if I suddenly thought of something, it would disappear instantly.


    Maybe because I just stayed here for too long, one of villagers said, ¡°Do you feel better? Alas, why do you drink so much? Come on, we''re almost home.¡±


    There was nothing strange about his words, but without a trace of emotion, as if he were simply reading the script. And his last words let me even more worried. Almost home? Did he mean that it was close to his home?


    I didn¡¯t dare to arouse the suspicion of these ghosts, just nodded and then continued to sway forward, but the pace became much smaller. The village was sheltered by ancestors, so I should be safe if I didn¡¯t leave the range of this village. Just I still didn¡¯t had no idea about how far I had gone now and even I didn¡¯t know the direction.


    I put my hand in my pocket and grabbed the phone. I didn''t call anyone in this period of time, so the first person on my call record would beWu Jianif there was no accident. Then, according to his vigilance, he was likely to find there was something wrong and would bring people to rescue me.


    At this moment, I was very grateful that I didn¡¯t set the phone password. According to my memory, I dialed Wu Jian¡¯s number, but the fact was that I didn¡¯t know whether the phone was connected or not. Now I had to bet on my lucky.


    The villagers in my back also seemed to find something wrong, so they began to urge me stiffly. Then I had to pretend to fall down for a few times to buy some time. The words of these villagers sounded very real, like ¡°you must be careful¡± or something. However, their tone was very quirk and they didn¡¯t come over to help me, which had made me quite sure of their identity.


    When I pretended to fall down again, I was going to peek at my cell phone. Just as I deliberately fell down to make my phone out and then was about to reach out, a wet foot suddenly steppe on my phone.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly. We¡¯ll be home soon.¡± This villager didn¡¯t rock his body any more and the tone became a little colder, as if he no longer wanted to pretend any more.


    I resisted not to see the phone under his feet, then stood up slowly and said vaguely, ¡°Hum. Okay. Okay. Let¡¯s go home.¡±


    I was very anxious and wondered whether the phone called to Wu Jian was connected.


    Not long after, I finally walked out of the woods and came to a relatively empty place, where there also were trees which just looked very sparse and small. It looked like that they were planted later. What surprised me most was that there were rows of shallow pits everywhere, in most of which there were coffins.


    These shallow pits were really shallow and could only reach the middle of the coffin, which was definitely not the way to bury dead people. Then I became even more nervous in my heart, for this was probably their home mentioned by these ghosts who pretend to be villagers.


    When I passed a shallow pit, I deliberately swayed a little violently and then used the flashlight to illuminate a coffin in a shallow pit. Just a quick glance, I still saw what the coffin looked like very clearly.

 Chapter 230 The Horrible Burial Ground

    However, at this moment, I really didn¡¯t dare to go to the toilet, because I was really afraid that there would be something coming out again when I was peeing.


    In my mind, I was slowly recalling those several tricks old Mrs. Li had taught me when I was in the ghost building. Then I took the opportunity of yawning to bite the belly of the middle finger and began to carefully draw an odd pattern in the palm of the other hand. According to old Mrs. Li, this was the simplest exorcism figure. Although simple, it was very powerful.


    The nerves of the fingertips were linked with the heart. In many cases, the blood of the middle finger was on behalf of one person¡¯s essence of blood, with heavy Yin Qi, only inferior to the blood of tip of the tongue.


    After finishing drawing the exorcism figure, I gradually slowed down, then turned around and shouted loudly, with my palm quickly hitting out toward behind me.


    However, I didn¡¯t know when the ghost that disguised as the villager behind me suddenly disappeared. There was only a small white figure standing behind me. Then I used my palm to hit out. Apparently, the white figure was startled, holding his eyes and issuing a cry of surprise.


    Since the white figure is too short and my palm of the attack hit out just according to the height of the villager, I finally hit nothing. In addition, I also overestimated my sobriety. My left foot stumbled over my right foot and then I fell down in a cry of surprise.


    The white figure seemed to be startled and was motionless. By this time, I had seen the white figure was exactly the little girl who still was wrapped in the wrapping-corpse cloths.


    I saw I was about to crush my little girl to the ground. However, I didn''t know where strength suddenly came from. Then I forced my body to wriggle around the waist and fell hard to the ground, but I had avoided the little girl.


    At this moment, the little girl just reacted, screaming, and then even began to cry loudly.


    But now, I didn¡¯t have the time to care about her anymore. Just that one falling just now had hurt my waist. Even with alcohol anesthesia, I still felt so painful that I even kept sweating and couldn''t help groaning.


    Bones had been exposed in many places, but the carrion that remained on the bones and was motionless looked even more terrifying, with some white worms occasionally falling down to the ground.


    Right in front of my eyes, the position of the body''s hand suddenly moved and there slowly was a piece of hump appearing on the mat. Then it just moved towards where it was uncovered.


    At this moment, it seemed that I couldn¡¯t feel the sharp pain on my waist and there was only fear left in my eyes. It was the first time I was waiting without any resistance.


    Something suddenly came out. Both my eyes and mouth were widely open, but I didn¡¯t dare to make a voice. A black thing came out and it was a large mouse.


    Finally, it turned out to be a large mouse and I immediately felt much relieved. Then I became anxious again, because that large mouse just stood in front of that rotten head, looking at me. I could see its nose twitching, as if it was going to crawl towards me.


    I didn¡¯t dare to move. In my eyes, this dead-eating mouse seemed to be more terrifying than those ghosts.


    There was a rustle next to me, but instead of turning my head, I just stared at the damned mouse.


    ¡°Sir, are you Okay?¡± The little girl asked me with her crying tone.


    The little girl¡¯s sudden speaking apparently spooked the mouse. Then it turned around, ran into the darkness and disappeared.


    I finally felt really relieved in my heart. However, then, a feeling of sharp pain suddenly came and I also couldn¡¯t help but gave a terrible cry again. The little girl was frightened and immediately took several steps backwards.


    Then I looked towards the little girl and said, ¡°Don¡¯t. Don¡¯t be afraid. I have twisted my waist. It¡¯s so hurt.¡±


    The little girl hesitated for a long time before she came slowly to help me up. Then I hastened to stop her and said, ¡°Let me lie down for some time. Just don''t move.¡± My waist couldn''t move at all now. Didn''t talk about moving. Even I didn¡¯t move, I also felt very painful.


    As I was lying on the ground for rest, I asked the little girl, ¡°Where is this?¡±


    Although I almost had already been sure where this was, I still wanted to get more information from the little girl. This little girl seemed to be afraid of people. If it weren¡¯t for that I had given her food last, she wouldn¡¯t have come to help me. Yes, I was sure that this little girl was coming to help me.


    The little girl thought about it for a moment before she told me, ¡°This is the new home of my parents.¡±


    After hearing the words of the little girl, I suddenly felt very bad in my heart. A child under the age of 10 even lived in such an environment. Maybe it was what she said just now that gave her the greatest courage.


    Then I stopped speaking but the little said first, ¡°Sir, you should leave here quickly. This is a forbidden place.¡±


    I looked at the little girl, forcing myself to show a smile, ¡°Why? Are you unwilling to invite me to your new home?¡±


    The little girl¡¯s eyes suddenly became bright and she just said, ¡°No, I willing to. No one has come to my home for a long time.¡±


    ¡°So you still let me leave?¡±


    The little girl showed a tangled expression. After a long time, she said, ¡°But they won''t let anyone come here.¡±


    They? I squinted my eyes slightly and said gently, ¡°Who are they? your parents?¡±


    ¡°No. No. They are... They are...¡± The little girl obviously didn''t know how to describe ¡°them¡± she talked about. After several times, she still couldn¡¯t say it.


    I was worried, but I didn¡¯t show my worry out. Instead, I just comforted her in a low voice and let her think slowly.


    While the little girl was still thinking, I suddenly felt a little colder around me and I couldn¡¯t help wrapping myself in my clothes tightly. Just as I accidentally turned my head aside, I suddenly found it was not known that when the rotten head had turned to me.


    There had been no eyeballs in two dark orbits for a long time, but I still felt very clearly that he was looking at me. I suddenly felt a chill in my back and then I swallowed a bit of saliva, staring at that rotten head.


    ¡°Sir. Sir.¡± The little girl was calling me, but I didn¡¯t dare to turn my head back, and just sent out a very light nasal sound, ¡°Uh-hum.¡±


    The little saw I replied to her and was glad to say, ¡°I know who they are.¡±


    Hearing that, I no longer paid attention to that rotten head. Then I turned back and looked towards the little girl. However, after I turned back, I found all around was empty and there was no figure of the little girl.


    ¡°Leave.¡±


    ¡°Leave.¡±


    ¡°Leave.¡±


    There were countless voices around me, with the voice from low to high. There were men and women, the young and the old. All the voices were neatly saying one word, ¡°Leave.¡±

 Chapter 231 Website on QQ

    I shouted, suddenly felt a bright light in front of me, hurriedly closed my eyes, but at this time, I felt that someone was shaking my body, it seemed that someone was calling my name.


    I blocked the strong light in front of me with my hand and opened my eyes slowly. The first thing I saw was Wu Jian¡¯s anxious face. Was I in a state of illusion?


    I was still hesitating, and heard my mother''s stern voice, "you only know drinking every day, see what you look like now."


    I turned to look strangely and I saw my mother looking at me under the support of witch Yan. Her chest was trembling. It was estimated that she was very angry. But beside her, Huang Xiaolong was yawning with his head down. It seemed that he could roll with the punches.


    I looked around and saw that I was lying on the road between the house where I was drinking last night and my home. The clothes were wet by dew and stuck on my body, what¡¯s worse there was a pool of vomiting not far away, spreading a disgusting smell.


    Was that a dream last night? I was not quite sure. I was just about to struggle to stand up. There was a sharp pain in my waist. "Oh." I fell down on the ground again when I just got up a bit.


    Mom''s face changed, stepping forward, "What''s wrong?"


    I was so painful that I couldn¡¯t speak. Sweats on my face drop down one by one. Wu Jian walked to me quickly and checked, and then came back quickly to comfort my worried mother. ¡°Not a big deal, he just twisted. I will get some medicine and do massage to him when we get home."


    Onlookers of the village took me home under the arrangement of Wu Jian. Wu Jian took off my coat and massaged me. My mother sat aside and kept blaming me.


    I was very confused in my heart. I didn¡¯t know how my waist was twisted. Was it really a dream last night? I hesitated for a long time. At last, I asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t the burial ground all covered by shallow pits? Are there coffins inside?¡±


    My mother''s blaming voice came to a sudden stop, her face became bad, witch Yan looked angry, ¡°Did you go to the burial ground?¡±


    From their reaction, I was sure that I was right about what I said. That was to say, everything I experienced last night was true, although I didn¡¯t know how I would lie down on the road in the village, but everything there last night was true.


    I spoke slowly about everything last night. It was also mingled with some screams of being massaged by Wu Jian. After listening, my mother and witch Yan made a wink to each other and walked out of the room.


    A moment later, my mother came in, regardless of the fact that I was still hurt, and ordered me to go back home immediately.


    I was put on the bed, and I would like to ask about the burial ground several times. But every time I opened my mouth, I was scolded by my mother and I knew that neither my mother nor witch Yan were not willing to mention the burial ground. I could only end up after a few trials.


    Wu Jian came to massage me every day after work, but after injured in the sinews or bones for one hundred days, I didn''t think my waist got any better. I could only be a pitiful and seriously patient in bed.


    I had so much free time that I let Wu Jian go to my house to bring me my computer. I turned on the computer that was dusty because I hadn''t touched it for a long time. I clumsily logged on QQ and lots of news popped out.


    The one who sent me the most messages were He Xiaoru. I did not finish reading her messages of one day after turning a few pages. However, He Xiaoru¡¯s messages did not have any meaning. They were all very long website and they looked like computer virus.


    Maybe I was so boring that I found a difference thing in He Xiaoru''s messages. Every message was sent from 12pm to 6am every day, until a month ago.


    Because I had been in the ghost house for a long time. I was very sensitive to this time frame. What happened to He Xiaoru? Even if it was a virus, it would not be set strangely to this time frame and kept sending messages.


    Although He Xiaoru was not online, I still sent her a message. As expected, no respond. I thought for a moment, then I checked my computer to make sure there was nothing important. Then I opened the website which was sent by He Xiaoru.


    The speed of 100Mbps broadband should be very fast, but the opening of this website was like an old cow pulling a broken carriage, it made me anxious. After waiting for a long time, it just showed out a pure black background. I simply did not care about it but started to play with my mobile phone.


    People were very strange, when you sleep for a long time every day, you would not be sober, but would become more and more sleepy£¬I was like this now, I did not know when I fell asleep.


    This sleep lasted until my mother told me to have something to eat, and then I got up, had a meal, finally I remembered of the computer, hurriedly reopened the computer which had a black screen, the site had been completely showed out, only two white big words on the dark background, ¡° Save Me¡±.


    I was startled for a long time, I wanted to get up but it was too painful that I had to lay down again. I was anxiously sending a message to He Xiaoru but there was still no respond. I couldn''t think of any good idea at that time so I could only call Wu Jian. Wu Jian said that he would be at the ghost house soon. I just remembered that it was time to give me a massage.


    My mother came in with Wu Jian. I didn''t say anything. Until my mom left, I pointed to the contents on the computer and told Wu Jian the matter. Wu Jian frowned and said, ¡°Is it a prank?¡±


    I was not sure if it was a mischief, but I couldn''t afford any loss.


    Wu Jian knew my insistence so he promised that he would help me to check the present situation of He Xiaoru the next day. On the other hand, I had no better way than this. Besides, Wu Jian¡¯s information network had always been very strong.


    The next day, Wu Jian told me the bad news. He Xiaoru had been lost for a few months. Her parents had alarmed a long time ago. It had not found the whereabouts of He Xiaoru and no one had seen her yet, neither her nor her corpse.


    However, the police did not find this website. The QQ number of He Xiaoru being monitored did not have any logged-in records, let alone the information sent to me. And then Wu Jian would follow this clue to see if there was any other discovery.


    I was not saying there was any defect of Wu Jian''s arrangement, but my heart was faintly aware that He Xiaoru''s disappearance may not be a simple case. Her QQ kept sending me messages for a while, but the police did not find it even a clue, this was not a simple case in itself.


    I regretted why I saw this message until now. If it was earlier, maybe I... I was very remorseful and I was very worried about He Xiaoru.

 Chapter 232 Nanyang corpse maintenance

    This time it wasn''t the website, but a short sentence with only four words, Stop looking for me.


    It was three o''clock in early morning. After a few minutes¡¯ hesitation, I decided to called Wu Jian. Learning that he had just finished his overtime at police station and was about to go back home, I let him go to ghost house directly.


    Wu Jian came quickly and saw He Xiaoru¡¯s message on the computer. Then he watched me, ¡°Do you think whether she has encountered those things or not?¡±


    I nodded honestly. Wu Jian¡¯s suspicion was exactly what I thought. After all, He Xiaoru¡¯s message was a bit weird. He Xiaoru¡¯s QQ number was still monitored. It didn¡¯t make sense that she sent me a message but Wu Jian did not know.


    Both Wu Jian and I were silent for a moment, then I said, "Do you have any news?"


    ¡°Would you still tend to seek out?¡± Wu Jian looked at me and then said, ¡°After we saved, He Xiaoru from the ghost house, I estimated that there were some problems on her body. She stayed in the provincial hospital for not a long time, and then she was transferred to a famous foreign hospital. After a month, she returned to the downtown. She lived in her parents¡¯ house until she disappeared.¡±


    Wu Jian cleared his throat, "The provincial hospital only has simple inspection records. I checked the above are some of the normal reactions after being frightened, It is a little strange that He Xiaoru''s body temperature is lower than normal, but there are no detailed records. I asked some doctors who inspected He Xiaoru at that time. They estimated that He Xiaoru¡¯s body temperature was only around 30 degrees.¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s words reminded me of the time He Xiaoru and I used in the ghost house. He Xiaoru¡¯s hands seemed to be very cold. I asked, ¡°What about the hospital abroad?¡±


    Wu Jian shook his head, "The hospital is well-known in the world but I can¡¯t find any relevant information."


    I nodded and that was not surprising since that Wu Jian was just a captain of the criminal police. It was amazing to be able to find so much information. I would feel it strange if he could still check some information abroad.


    ¡°You said, could we get some information from sister Hua. After all, He Xiaoru stayed in the ghost house before.¡± I asked.


    Wu Jian nodded, "I''ll check it out."


    "Ok"


    Wu Jian turned back and walked out. Because he had come a lot, Wu Jian had established good friendships with sister Hua and even other beautiful women in the ghost house. Especially after having a few midnight snacks, they got much closer.


    I supposed Wu Jian would come back and tell me.But when Wu Jian came back, he came with sister Hua.


    Sister Hua went to me and sat beside. Then her hands touched the quilt which I was covered with, "Look, oh, you¡¯re so enjoyable. We are a few weak women, every day, we are so tired that our waist is almost broken. However, you can still enjoy the massage.¡±


    I heard strange words from sister Hua and smiled embarrassingly, ¡°sister Hua, please do not worry. When I recover, I definitely work harder to make contributions to ghost... Fan house.¡±


    I almost said that it was the ghost house. Fortunately, sister Hua''s eyes stared at me and gave out a "Huh", so I changed my word in time.


    But sister Hua puckered her lip in a smile, "Well, Wu Jian came to me and asked, I know you were going to stay away from work again."


    As sister Hua talked about the key point. Wu Jian and I listened carefully.


    Sister Hua still used her charming voice, "As the girl named, He Xiaoru entered ghost house, I have known that this girl was a bit weird. If not for curiosity, I wouldn¡¯t catch her."


    "How weird Xiaoru was?" I asked anxiously.


    "Have you heard Nanyang corpse maintenance?"


    Wu Jian and I looked at each other and shook our heads at the same time.


    Sister Hua said, "Nanyang corporal maintenance is a kind of evil technique. It developed on the basis of Maoshan Tricks. It buries a newborn baby girl whose birthday is belong to Yin; she was put into a coffin practicing secret methods. Sixteen years later, the baby has become a different kind of half-ghost. And then the baby is handed over to a family to raise it."


    "The more happiness the baby in her growing, the better it is. After a certain time, limit, it will be treated by secret methods. The baby girl will grow up to have strong power and will become the best body of the caster for Shoushe."


    After hearing, I breathed a cold air and asked, "When is the certain time limit? Does the baby girl turn out to be He Xiaoru?"


    The charming of sister Hua''s face also faded and she said, ¡°I¡¯m not very clear about the time limit. It seemed that it is related to the attribute of the birthday. As whether He Xiaoru is or not, I can only judge it roughly because if people who have been raised by Nanyang¡¯s corpse maintenance, his body temperature is lower than that of an ordinary person. Besides, He Xiaoru has a very strange characteristics which I have never seen before.¡±


    Sister Hua was also not sure. I didn''t know whether He Xiaoru had encountered such a tragic thing or not for a short while. When I was preparing to ask in detail, Wu Jian pat his forehead, ¡°Doesn¡¯t Huang Xiaolong saying that his father is a Maoshan successor? If Nanyang corpse maintenance is related to Maoshan Tricks. His dad should know something about it."


    I nodded, and my face showed a happy expression. Although I heard of Maoshan Taoism, I had never heard of Maoshan Tricks.


    Wu Jian called Huang Xiaolong immediately, but after a moment he forced himself to smile, "The guy was drunk again."


    I frowned and I wanted to scold that guy. But sister Hua said, ¡°Whether it is Nanyang corpse maintenance or not, He Xiaoru and the things her encountered are certainly not ordinary. You can''t move now. It¡¯s better to learn something with us, otherwise you will be a waste as well. Oh, plus him, two.¡± sister Hua pointed at Wu Jian finally.


    Wu Jian touched his nose and kept silence.


    Actually, I know that sister Hua¡¯s words were very hurtful, but honest. However, He Xiaoru had been missing for so long. Could she have sustained it?


    Sister Hua seemed to know my thoughts and said, "Take it easy. He Xiaoru still can contact you in this way, indicating that she¡¯s not bad at the moment. As far as I know, Nanyang''s corpse maintenance is very complicated. It took decades to prepare it£¬could it be so simple on the last step? "


    The words of sister Hua gave me a slight relief. Huang Xiaolong was drunk anyway. It was better to ask about the situation till tomorrow and made the final decision.


    When sister Hua got up to go out, Wu Jian opened the door for her quickly. When sister Hua walked to the door, she stopped and hesitated, finally she said, "Don¡¯t do something wrong with Lulu even if she wasn''t alive.¡±


    Sister Hua did not look back when she said this. Perhaps she knew that she requested too much.


    Wu Jian sent sister Hua out. Then he came back to look at me strangely, "stay single in the rest of your life?"

 Chapter 233 Set off after seven days

    Wu Jian did not seem to tell Huang Xiaolong so when Huang Xiaolong came in, he said unknowingly: "What happened, why dragged me up so early."


    I could not move in bed then, otherwise, I really wanted to took Huang Xiaolong a punch, he was too lazy.


    ¡°Have you ever said that your dad was an apprentice of Mao Xiaofang who was from Maoshan Mountain?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong put down apple he had taken a bite and looked proud: ¡°of course, genuine apprentice, NO.1 in Maoshan Mountain.¡±


    Wu Jian and I looked at each other,and I asked: "Do you know Maoshan Mountain ghost power?"


    When Huang Xiaolong was about to take the apple, his hand was paused. He was a bit strange: "How do you know Maoshan Mountain ghost power?"


    When I heard there was a gateway, I was more happy, immediately telling Huang Xiaolong what happened yesterday.


    Huang Xiaolong seemed to be very surprised and even forgot to eat apple, he said: ¡°Maoshan Mountain ghost power can be considered as one trick of Maoshan Mountain ,it mainly raise ghosts, focus on making ghosts to rule ghosts, but many people in Maoshan Mountain thought that Maoshan Mountain ghost power could be harmful to nature, so they were not very willing to study it, I wasn¡¯t very clear. As for Nanyang corpse nursing trick, it¡¯s even worst that I have no idea of what it is. I have to ask my father."


    Having finished, Huang Xiaolong took out his phone and went out while making a phone call. Huang Xiaolong had powerful mom and dad; it was a good thing.


    Huang Xiaolong had been out for a long time. I doubted whether he was asleep on the corner, then I saw him came in, he looked strange. He took up the apple on the table and took a bite, it seemed that he was venting, then he said: "My father would come and arrive at noon today, but he said he wouldn''t come to ghost house."


    Although I didn¡¯t know why his father didn¡¯t come to ghost house, but I was not going to tangle this small problem. I was going to the hospital to take a check today. After I told my mother, Huang Xiaolong and Wu Jian carried me to the hospital.


    The noon that Huang Xiaolong said was probably not the same as the noon I understand. Until the afternoon, Huang Xiaolong received a telephone call and went out in a hurry.For a while he brought a middle-aged man here.


    He was tall, dark-skinned and thin. He looked like an average person and totally did not have the feeling of Maoshan Mountain master. If it weren''t for Huang Xiaolong''s introduction, neither Wu Jian nor I would believe that he was Huang Xiaolong''s father, Huang Bin.


    For a long time, Huang Bin looked seriously, he took out a notebook from the pocket of his jacket and looked at me: "All right, well, please talk about the details."


    I unconsciously look at Huang Xiaolong and he spread his hands innocently.


    To be honest, now I felt that Huang Bin looked like a township police who was asking suspects. However, I still said things from beginning to end. In the process, Huang Bin could not help nodding, the pen in his hand kept making notes in the notebook, but I did not know what he was actually writing.


    Soon after, I finished the matter. Huang Bin took a note and looked it over again. The seriousness of his face became conciliatory when his eyes moved away from his notebook. He smiled and said: ¡°It is all right, He Xiaoru will be fine temporarily. The guy can¡¯t get the job done so fast. I estimated that it would take him at least for half a year.¡±


    Wu Jian asked: "Uncle, are you very familiar with the Nanyang corpse nursing trick?"


    Huang Bin said: "Nanyang corpse nursing trick? It is clearly the corpse replacing trick, one of our Maoshan Mountain ghost power, but those Nanyang wicked warlocks added a lot of messy and harmful methods for better results."


    Corpse replacing trick was a completely unheard name, but I did not care about it. Huang Bin said that He Xiaoru would not be in danger temporarily, I had already had a lot of relief.


    I asked: "Uncle, how can we save Xiaoru?"


    Huang Bin frowned and said: "It is difficult, He Xiaoru was essentially a dead person, you can think about it as a living person whose soul is sealed in the body. Although the body was Xiaoru¡¯s, but the fitting of her soul and body was very low, which was why her body temperature was low."


    "And it is convenient for Nanyang warlocks to Shoushe .We must know that the state is not sustainable, the reason why Nanyang warlocks doesn¡¯t do it now is that He Xiaoru''s soul and body have begun to slowly reject, once it is up to a certain degree, Nanyang warlocks will take it."


    "Even if He Xiaoru is rescued, such exclusion will continue. The best result is to protect the soul of He Xiaoru. As for her body, it must be destroyed, because even if you don¡¯t use the Yin body which is made out of secret method, there is also a great chance that it will become a zombie."


    Huang Xiaolong said strangely: "Don''t we save Xiaoru?"


    Huang Bin shook and said: "We must save. This kind of wicked warlock must be killed, just..."


    Huang Bin did not finish what he wanted to say, but I understood what he meant. Now I was not very good. I was silent for a moment, without talking.


    Seeing that I didn¡¯t say anything, Huang Bin asked Huang Xiaolong to go out, and Wu Jian patted my shoulder: ¡°There is no other way. At least, at least He Xiaoru is still here.¡±


    I nodded, yes, at least He Xiaoru could still exist in the form of a ghost, though it was cruel for her.


    At this time, the nurse came to check my body. Wu Jian heavily patted my shoulder and then walked out.


    After some inspections were completed, we set out and returned. I just didn''t know when Huang Bin had left, I asked Huang Xiaolong. He just said that Huang Bin had something to prepare.


    In fact, I also understood that things as had come to this, I had no choice but pack my mood and wait for Huang Xiaolong''s news.


    I have waited for the news for a month. My body was much better. Although I was not very strong, it did not affect my daily activities.


    The new photo has been received, but I did not see it, it was taken by Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong. They said that they would help me to solve the problem. While I was resting in ghost house, I constantly sent information to He Xiaoru, unfortunately, I hadn¡¯t been able to get a reply.


    I had asked Huang Xiaolong and he just told me that his father had locked up the whereabouts of Nanyang warlocks, there would be up to seven days before he could set off.

 Chapter 234 The strange things in fishing village

    Just simply prepared, we set off. Our destination was a coastal city, Linhai. According to Huang Bin, the Nanyang warlock and He Xiaoru stayed together in a small fishing village near the sea. At first, they were meant to smuggle from there. However, government was punishing smuggle severely at the moment, so they had to stay in a small fishing village.


    This made me congratulate on Xiaoru''s luck. After all, once they returned to Nanyang, we would not be as convenient as it now.


    Because of the long distance, we took the plane, and soon we arrived Linhai. Led by an acquaintance of Huang Bin, we came to a county town, Jin Yang which the fishing village was belonged to.


    This time, not many of us came here, just Huang Xiaolong and his father, the couples of Wu Jian and me. As for the reason of Ni Min¡¯s coming, it was very simple. After discussing with Wu Jian, I thought it would be much safer to come here with Li Guihua.


    When staying in a room of hotel, Huang Bin introduced us about the situation.


    ¡°It is closed fishing season right now, so there are few people in the small fishing village. If all of us go into the village, it is easy to draw attention of Nanyang Warlocks. Therefore I¡¯d better get into in batches, but we have to notice that the situation in the fishing village is very strange now. I had been there. It seems that there are something else besides the Nanyang Warlock, so you must be careful and never try to be brave, if there is a problem, contact me at once."


    I looked at Huang Bin astonishingly. Did he mean that he was not going to enter the village with us? After all, I met him for a short time and he was Huang Xiaolong¡¯s father. It was better not to say too much.


    Huang Xiaolong said directly without scruple, "Oh, you don''t go with us."


    Huang Bin smoked then said: "Now is the time to test you.You''re better not to lose my face."


    "Oh," Huang Xiaolong looked helpless.


    After listening to Huang Bin¡¯s arrangement, Wu Jian split us into teams immediately. Actually, it was an easy job. He and his wife were a group, and the other group was Huang Xiaolong and me. In this way, while ensuring the combat power, it wouldn¡¯t draw too much attention. Just their departure time would be a day later than ours.


    The next morning, Huang Xiaolong and me set off. We dressed as backpackers to go to the small fishing village.


    The cities along the coast, especially those depended on fishing, always had a indelible fishy smell. It was no need to use any navigate APP, because this smell would lead us to the small fishing village smoothly.


    We ignored them. I took the camera. Huang Xiaolong kept changing the place to take photos, just when he had taken seven or eight shoots. There came out a black, muscular man who was about 50 -year- old.


    "What are you doing?"


    I put down the camera which I was about to take photograph. I was politely handed over a cigarette: ¡°Hello, uncle. We¡¯re from Si Shui city. We find the scenery here is so good that we want to take some pictures. I also plan to eat some seafood which is difficult. I''ve heard people in the city saying that seafood in this village is both the freshest and cheapest"


    I tried my best to make friend with the old man, the old man caught my cigarette , lit it and started to smoke: "You should have come a month earlier, you see, now there is no fishing. Nothing good to eat. "


    "I would definitely come early if I knew there was such a beautiful place."


    The old man grinned: " Beautiful£¿It is quite normal as well as other village."


    "Uncle, you are really modest." I saw Huang Xiaolong was coming over and then I said: "Uncle, can you sell some seafood to us. Let us try something fresh."


    Uncle looked at us: " Are you worked for the Bureau of Fisheries?"


    "How is it possible, uncle, we are just two man who like delicious food."


    The old man was soon persuaded by us, of course, the main reason was that Huang Xiaolong took out a bunch of money to him. The old man brought us to the shore, then skillfully racked the pot. He took out the seafood and cooked it with water. There were a lot of seafood that I didn''t know about its name, but it tasted good.


    Huang Xiaolong even bought a bit of old man''s wine which had been stored for a long time. Then he and the old man started to drink and chat. Soon, the relationship between us and the old man took a few steps further and we knew the name of the old man was Jiang Ada.


    Huang Xiaolong''s drinking ability was inborn. They''ve drunk for the whole night, but he didn¡¯t get drunk. I pretended to be drunk, and Jiang Ada was also drunk as well as me. Finally, he promised to let us live in his home at night. Of course, we had to pay for it.


    I went back to the room with Huang Xiaolong. Jiang Ada repeated many times to remind us not to go out at night. Then he went back his room. Soon, I heard a loud snore.


    I quickly got up and watched Huang Xiaolong. I whispered: "Are you okay£¿"


    Huang Xiaolong''s face was flushed, but his eyes were clear. He waved at me and said, "I¡¯m fine. But it is estimated that the village is not going to be peaceful this night. The old man has said more than 10 times that we should stay at room at night. As long as it''s not as terrible as your hometown, I won¡¯t be afraid of it. Ha ha."


    I looked at Huang Xiaolong a bit angry, "What shall we do next?"


    Huang Xiaolong said: "Firstly we sleep for a while, then we take action later, investigate the village. I found that there are all wooden houses which with some gaps. Maybe we can see beautiful girls through them."


    I looked at Huang Xiaolong sneeringly, then I made a phone call to Wu Jian. After I told the news to him in brief, I opened QQ. But there was no information from He Xiaoru on QQ.


    Although I pretended to be drunk, I still drank a lot. I took a nap in bed with Huang Xiaolong, listening to the sea breeze, pretending we had fallen asleep. I didn''t know how long the time passed by, I suddenly heard a sound of door opening. I was surprised and hurried to get up.


    Huang Xiaolong was also alerted and almost got up at the same time. After taking a glance at me, he went to the window to check it out.


    I also walked there. The windows of the small fishing village were not made of glass, but bamboo. Even if they were not opened, we could still see outside through the tiny cracks of bamboo. This also made me and Huang Xiaolong less risky of being discovered.


    The view outside was very strange at that time. Because of transportation and fishing, roads and docks of the fishing village had lights and they were still very bright. Just under the lights, I could see that the door of all families was opened. Then all the villagers were slowly walking out of their house, even children were no exception.


    There weren¡¯t any conversations as if they were sleepwalking. What made me sick was that a toddler was slowly climbing out of the room. He broke his head on the ground. But the adults around him seemed didn¡¯t realized it. The baby didn¡¯t cry and continued to crawl. Leaving a small stain of blood on the ground.


    "What is going on?" I whispered to Huang Xiaolong. But Huang Xiaolong made a silent gesture to me and continued to watch outside.


    The villagers continued gathering at the pier. It seemed that everyone had their own position. When they reached their position, they stood upright just like sculptures. All the villagers stood still, but nothing happened.

 Chapter 235 The strange behavior of Huang Xiaolong

    Huang Xiaolong, who deliberately made the sound of getting up and walked over, but the knock on the door disappeared suddenly. Huang Xiaolong looked back at me and asked loudly again, ¡°Who?¡±


    There was no sound outside. Huang Xiaolong muttered in purpose and walked back to the edge of the bed. Just when he made a gesture to me£¬I hadn''t have time to understand the meaning of Huang Xiaolong. There was a knock on the door again which was very rhythmical.


    "I¡¯m coming." Huang Xiaolong replied, taking out two yellow symbol papers from the jacket on the edge of the bed, he handed me one of them before walking to the door. One hand was holding the paper behind him, the other hand was opening the door.


    "Zi-ya," the door was opened. I couldn''t see what was outside the door, but I found Huang Xiaolong paused. Then he stood there like a sculpture immovably. The hands behind his back were slowly relaxing, even the paper was quick dropped to the ground.


    I was nervous, although I didn''t know what Huang Xiaolong saw, but his current state made me think of the villagers outside the docks.


    I walked over in hurry. Although I was very curious, I dared not to look outside the door. I just looked at the ground and glance at it. It seemed no one was outside. I gave a hard push at Huang Xiaolong, ¡°Shit! Are you a fool?"


    Huang Xiaolong was pushed by me away from the door. Just as Huang Xiaolong left the door, Huang Xiaolong''s dull face became vivid. He opened his mouth to say, ¡°outside...¡±


    I interrupted immediately, ¡°It is windy and cold outside.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong also reacted quickly and closed the door. And then he took out his mobile phone and wrote, "There is nothing outside, but it is very strange. When I opened the door, my mind was instantly blank, we should be careful."


    I nodded and pulled Huang Xiaolong next to the window. Just when we started to watch outside from a crack of the wall. ¡°Ah¡± I was scared involuntarily, and Huang Xiaolong covered my mouth quickly.


    My whole body shivered uncontrollably, a chilling down on my spine. Just when I was trying to look outside, there were a pair of eyes looking at me through the gap of the windows. I didn¡¯t expect it and I was scared.


    It¡¯s obviously that Huang Xiaolong also saw it£¬so his face didn¡¯t look good and he was no longer typing on his mobile phone. He said in a low voice, ¡°We have been discovered, what shall we do next?¡±


    I shook my head. The whole person had just recovered from the shock. Now that we were obviously been discovered, the following things were completely different from our original plans. That time, I did not know what to do.


    Outside the window, there was still no trace of sound. It seemed that the villagers were still standing there. No one left.


    I felt headache as if my head had become as big as a bucket, I could not open the door. If I opened it, I would be as silly as Huang Xiaolong just now. Perhaps I might go to the pier like other villagers.


    But there was something peaking outside the window that was not sure whether a ghost or person. It was equivalent that we were trapped in the room and we couldn''t get any information from outside.


    I looked at the room carefully. Although the entire room was wooden, it was very strong and tight without gaps.


    As I was still thinking, Huang Xiaolong walked quickly to the window and opened it heavily. ¡°Bang¡± a sound of the window hitting the wall came out when it was suddenly opened, the peeking shadow outside had completely disappeared.


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s sudden action scared me and I went to him in a hurry. Now I was very worried about Huang Xiaolong was controlled, but Huang Xiaolong looked out of the window and didn¡¯t look back, he whispered to me quickly ¡°The eye is deliberately letting us be exposed. You get back to bed, I am exposed."


    I wanted to ask about the situation very much, but it was obviously not the right time. I returned to my bed soundlessly and covered myself with a quilt before I looked out. The villagers on the dock were slowly turning their heads back. When I was covering my quilt£¬all eyes turned to Huang Xiaolong.


    I didn¡¯t know what Huang Xiaolong was thinking. He quickly folded the paper in his hand into a small triangle under the window sill, then stuffed it into the crevice of the window sill. Then he stretched out his hands, waved and greeted to the villagers on the pier.


    He seemed to be afraid to wake me up from sleep, deliberately suppressing the voice, "What are you doing?"


    No villager answered him, but all villagers raised their hands and waved to Huang Xiaolong to let him go with them.


    Huang Xiaolong was obviously not be controlled, but he opened the door and went out. Just at the moment he went out, Huang Xiaolong made a careful gesture toward me in a obscure way.


    When Huang Xiaolong went out, he closed the door. I even heard the sound of lock-up. Then Huang Xiaolong appeared outside. While he was walking toward the pier, he was still greeting the villagers.


    "Is this a special activity of yours?"


    I didn''t understand what Huang Xiaolong really wanted to do. I had to hide in the quilt and watch him approaching to the villagers slowly. I could clearly see that at the moment Huang Xiaolong stepped into the dock. He became stiff and then did not say anything. His movement was no longer smooth.


    I tended to go on watching, but a sound "Zi-ya" came from the door. The door which had been locked, was opened in ease. I closed my eyes quickly and thought for a while. I kept the symbols paper in my hands carefully under my body.


    A slight footstep came out, and then a heavy fishy stink passed through my nose. It was not the smell of a fishermen. Even the seafood that had just been picked up from sea couldn¡¯t be so severe.


    I feel that someone pulled up the quilt on me gently, and then put it down again. Just standing on my side so that the smell of the sea was getting more and more stronger, but I could not dare to move.


    A long time later, I heard the sound of footsteps leaving and closing the door. I was consciously relieved and was about to open my eyes, but my heart shocked, I kept closing my eyes. I also pretended to turn my legs.


    Not that I didn''t want to see it, but that the strong fishy stink hadn''t dissipated. I was afraid that the voice of going out was made out deliberately.


    Sure enough, after a while, the strong jellyfish dissipated slowly, and the door once again came out the sound of opening and closing. I opened my eyes slowly and looked around. There was no one in the room. The window which I did not know when it was put down had blocked my eyesight.


    I did not have any pause. I picked up the phone on the bedside and sent the message to Wu Jian about what happened just now. I put down the phone and just breathed a breath. I was frightening to find that at the end of my bed, there was a person looking at me. Seeing I looked at him, he smiled.

 Chapter 236 Worship Gramp Hai

    "Who are you?" I asked in a whisper.


    "Hee hee, you aren''t ordinary people, you are not scared to see me." The man said with a grin: "My name is Wen Bao, I am the one of the village, but you can see that I''m dead."


    As speaking, Wen Bao suddenly burst into tears: "They pushed me into the well. I have been swimming for a long time."


    "Hee hee, my ability in swimming is the best in the village. "He was still in tears but laughed again.


    Sometimes he cried but sometimes laughed. It seemed that he was simply not in his right mind. I could see that he was a clinging ghost and stayed because of obsession. What kind of obsession was it? I faintly felt that maybe I could know the strange truth of the small fishing village from Wen Bao. So, I asked:


    "Wen Bao, why did they push you into the well?"


    Wen Bao cried again: "They said I didn''t worship gramp Hai, saying that I couldn''t go back to gramp Hai ''s arms and pushed me into the well."


    Gramp Hai? I was a bit puzzled, I believe that this so-called gramp Hai would definitely not be a good guy, because someone would be pushed into the well if didn¡¯t worship him, what good guy could he be.


    I was about to ask, Wen Bao continued: ¡°Look, they are worshiping gramp Hai again, I just don¡¯t worship.¡±


    Wen Bao''s words reminded me of the villagers on the wharf. Was it the way to worship gramp Hai ? However, it seemed that now they did not have their own consciousness. Was it because of the lack of consciousness that pushing Wen Bao into the well?


    "Wen Bao, have you seen gramp Hai?"


    "I have seen, he was a big one, if we sell it, we can certainly make a lot of money, so that Wen Da and Wen Er can go to school. I promised them to let them go to school. "Wen Bao almost slobbered, I thought that perhaps sending Wen Da and Wen Erto study was his obsession. But he said gramp Hai was a big one, what did it mean?


    Wen Bao''s spirit seemed to be abnormal. After he mentioned ¡®go to school¡¯,he became silent and constantly said that catching gramp Hai to sell for money.


    I said a few times, Wen Bao did not seem to hear, he had immersing in his own world, sometimes he cried and sometimes laughed, until the first cock crowing came from the village, Wen Bao kept talking about it slowly and then disappeared.


    The lights outside the wharf were extinguished at the same time. Footsteps were heard from each household in darkness. It seemed that the so-called ceremony of worshiping gramp Hai was over.


    I sat up hurriedly, just saw Huang Xiaolong lying on the bed with glazed eyes, stiffly covering the quilt on himself. He just opened eyes and kept his body unmoved, I pushed him but he did not respond.


    When I was ready to take out the paper to see whether it was useful or not, the second crow ringed, then Huang Xiaolong closed his eyes. The moment he closed his eyes, a heavy snort ringed out.


    In this case,I did not know whether I should take out the paper, when I was hesitating, a virtual shadow was sitting up from Huang Xiaolong¡¯s body.


    Suddenly I was shocked and nearly throwing the paper which was in my hand. Fortunately, I saw in time that the person who sat up was Huang Xiaolong. The virtual shadow Huang Xiaolong stretched and said, ¡°At first, I expected something could be discovered, finally dancing inexplicably for a night, I was totally sick of it."


    I strangely looked at Huang Xiaolong and completely did not know exactly what was going on. Maybe he saw what I was looked like. Huang Xiaolong couldn''t help laughing: ¡°Look at you stupid face,I just simply pull my soul out of my body, by the way, although I didn¡¯t know exactly who was fucking, his power was really strong, my body was controlled, if I did not have pulled my soul out of my body, I couldn¡¯t control myself at all. So never believe me except you see my soul. In addition, tell everything to brother Jian as soon as possible. Well, I wasn¡¯t able to hold on for a long time, I have to go first.¡±


    I was preparing to tell Huang Xiaolong something about Wen Bao, but when he finished, he lay down, got into his body. I had no choice but to tell Wu Jian about it first.


    Although the cock crowed, it was still early, I could only lie in bed, I didn''t know when I fell asleep.


    It was near noon that I woke up, Huang Xiaolong was not in the house. I took out my cell phone and had a look. After Wu Jian received my information, he replied me that they needed to prepare something and would arrive tomorrow morning, he also told us must be careful.


    I just walked out after deleting the message from my cell phone, Huang Xiaolong and Jiang Ada burnt the charcoal fire while chatting. When seeing me come out, Huang Xiaolong excitedly greeted me: ¡°We will have a good meal, we have grilled seafood for lunch. It is great, right?¡±


    I nodded and thanked Jiang Ada, then I walked over and helped. I had been attentively keeping an eye on Huang Xiaolong, but in a few hours after dinner, I didn¡¯t find anything different from what he used to be. It seemed he was still him and what happened last night was like a dream.


    However, I did not dare to relax and no longer communicated with Huang Xiaolong about the purpose of our visit. But it was not entirely unproductive. At least I knew who Wen Da and Wen Er were. Actually, I saw them last night, but I did not know them.


    Just as we took pictures everywhere in the afternoon, Wen Da , Wen Er and a group of children were very curious to come and have a look .


    Wen Da was a teenager girl and Wen Er was an 8-year-old boy. I asked the children about their family situation while sharing sweets with them. Of course, it was just normal communication, but I also got a lot of information about Wen Bao.


    Wen Bao has been dead for four years, the cause of death claimed to the outside world was he disappeared in his sail, at least the children thought so, and I could see that Wen Bao was very good to the two children, it had been for four years, they were still sad to mention it.


    It was a heartache for me to see the two kids who stopped crying under my comfort. Perhaps when Wen Po came back tonight, I could help him release his obsession and reincarnation. Of course, I also needed to get more information about gramp Hai from him.


    The fishing village rested very early during the prohibition of fishing. I guess it was only about 9 o¡¯clock when I lay in bed with Huang Xiaolong, Huang Xiaolong quickly fell asleep. I finally found that Huang Xiaolong had something difference, he could only drink very little tonight and didn''t chat with me before bedtime.

 Chapter 237 You’re also talking about him

    When I opened my eyes, I saw Wen Bao¡¯s thin head. I was frightened by the yellow and sparse hair. I quickly turned around to escape, until my head hit on a wall that made me sober again.


    Wen Bao stretched out a finger and gestured to me with a silence gesture. Then slowly drifted out of the door, and returned again. He patted his chest with hands and showed an expression of surviving from a disaster.


    The drowsiness on my body finally dissipated. I discovered that Huang Xiaolong was not there. I saw the behavior of Wen Bao and understood that he didn¡¯t cause any concern outside. I walked up to the window and looked through from a gap to outside.


    Sure enough, the street lights had already turned on outside, and all the villagers, including Huang Xiaolong were wriggling around on the pier. It was estimated that this was the disgusting dance that Huang Xiaolong said.


    After looking for a while, besides awkwardness, I couldn''t see any problems with this dance, so I took back my gaze and wanted to ask Wen Bao about something.


    Just turned around and I was frightened again. Wen Bao was watching the dance next to me. My nose almost touched his hair when I turn back.


    The tip of my nose seemed had touched a piece of ice, and there was a faint of fishy stink. I hurried move back a bit. Because of my overreacting, Wen Bao looked at me confusedly.


    I directly sat down on the bed and waved at Wen Bao. Wen Bao came over, I asked him, "Are they worshiping Gramp Hai?"


    Wen Bao nodded and grin "Do you see that. They are dancing so ugly."


    I nodded in agreement with him. It was not the right time, or I would record it for Huang Xiaolong. It was estimated that I could threat him for several meats. Wait, this was not the topic I should talk about. I felt that the topic had been biased by Wen Bao, so I hurried back to the original topic.


    ¡°At that time, when the villagers pushed you into the well, were they still controlled by Gramp Hai or still keep awake?¡±


    Wen Bao thought about it for a long time, and then shook his head straightly "I don''t know."


    I thought for a moment and continued to ask, "What other strange places in the village besides Gramp Hai?"


    Wen Bao was estimated to be a stupid ghost. After thinking about it for a long time. When I almost yawn, he said, "How about Xiuxiu mother?"


    Who was Xiuxiu mother, I recalled that it seemed that during the daytime I did not recognize this person named Xiuxiu mother, so I rushed to ask for details.


    Wen Bao said, "Xiuxiu mother never take a bath, and she always stays in the house. She does not worship Gramp Hai, but no one pushed her down the well."


    ¡°There is also an old house that is very strange. I always feel scared and afraid to go there. I saw someone inside once , he was really brave.¡± Wen Bao showed his adoration.


    An old house? When I asked him, I knew what Wen Bao was saying. I had seen that old house. It looks like it had been there for years. I intended to take pictures with Huang Xiaolong, but we couldn''t go there and the whole house was on a cliff.


    At that time, I also asked Jiang Ada, according to his word later, it was cut into a cliff because a road was built in front of it. It''s said that a family refuse to move when building roads. Because Jiang Da said the house had been abandoned, I didn''t care about it at that time. Now it seems that there was also a place where the Nanyang Warlock could hide.


    Wen Bao did not come up with other weird places. On one side, I send this information to Wu Jian by message; On the other side, I drew the topic back to Gramp Hai.


    According to Wen Bao¡¯s word, gramp Hai appeared when Wen Bao was very young, but gramp Hai was not there since the very beginning, because Wen Bao still had some vague memories. He couldn¡¯t remember the exact time, but it¡¯s sure that gramp Hai appeared in the village only a few decades ago. Soon after the appearance of Gramp Hai, village chief took the villagers to worship him.


    Because the fishing village was different from other kinds of villages that villagers often had trouble in a moody sea. They certainly were more superstitions than those from other village, especially for thing related to sea.


    No matter how simple the worship ritual it was, it¡¯s difficult for villagers to sustain it if it had to repeat every day, moreover Gramp Hai¡¯s worship ritual took place in the evening, which was even more unbearable. After a few days, there were fewer and fewer villagers participated in the worship ritual.


    Although there was less worship, fishermen who went out to the sea did not encounter any danger. Gradually the other people didn¡¯t care about worship ritual. At last, only several people would participate in the worship ritual. Sometimes there was none.


    Until one thing happened in the village that cause villagers and Grandpa Hai almost stood on the opposite side.


    The sons of Jiang Ada went to the sea with some of the most skillful young people in the village. They encounter a storm, the boat was destroyed and they died. It killed four or five people. Even for those who was seeking daily life in the dangerous sea, it was still a big news, so no one went back to worship Gramp Hai at that time.


    The next night, the village chief acted like a madman. He let the villagers who were mourning their relatives go and worship gramp Hai. The villagers were sad because of the death of their family member. They certainly didn¡¯t pay attention at him. But the Chief of village insisted. It was necessary to know that although they were superstitious, but all were struggling for their lives, so there was nothing to afraid of. And then a fight began.


    In fact, in a small fishing village, everyone met each other every day. Even if there were any argument, it wouldn''t be a big deal. It was just a word from the village chief that made things uncontrollable. The village chief said, those young people had an accident. It''s because we didn''t respect Gramp Hai.


    At first everyone was mourning. The head of the village made everyone impute to Gramp Hai. He didn''t bless us. Why should we worship him? So, the villagers were going to destroy the statue of Gramp Hai.


    The village chief stopped them then both sides were mad and started to fight, in the conflict the village chief was threw into the sea and drowned.


    While preparing to damage the statue of Gramp Hai, all participated villagers were controlled and they started to dance suddenly. After that, if someone unsatisfied to it, he or she would join the worship team in the evening to dance the strange dance. Gradually, all villagers joined the worship team.


    In the end, Wen Bao told me mysteriously, ¡°The village chief is not dead. I have seen him and he love to walk around in the village.¡±


    The ghost of the village chief? I didn¡¯t care. I looked at Wen Bao and suddenly felt something wrong. The story about gramp Hai that Wen bao said may be true, but he didn¡¯t say a very important thing. Why Wen Bao would say that Gramp Hai was a big one, moreover he also wanted to sell it for money? If Wen Bao could say such a word, it was clear that he should had met Gramp Hai, or know what Gramp Hai was.


    I looked at Wen Bao and I didn''t know if he had forgotten this question or maybe he had any other reason.

 Chapter 238 Living like a movie

    Something was wrong, I said it in my heart. However, I had not yet had time to make other reactions. My eyes turned slowly, and then I stood up and walked slowly and stiffly toward the door.


    I struggled vigorously, but it was as if the body was completely empty and I couldn''t control it.


    I slowly stretched my right hand, opened the door and stepped out. The footsteps are loud in silence, I could hear it. My nose could also feel the moist air, but it couldn¡¯t control my own body, as if a bystander walked toward the pier.


    The dance at the pier has stopped, and everyone stood quietly. They were looking at me and turning their bodies, but they did not move. When I passed by several villagers, I could hear the weird sound of their neck twisting.


    At this moment, my heart was sinking. I had already seen Huang Xiaolong. He looked at me like other villagers without expressionless on his face.


    I stopped until I was standing behind Huang Xiaolong. He still looked at me and still remained motionless. However, his head was about to turn 180 degrees. He was making a sour voice.


    But after I stood still, all the people turned back and there was no sound. Suddenly everyone moved together and jumped out of the bizarre dance. I also jumped without any pain. But when I see the heel hit the head, I could imagine that kind of pain. I was the one who couldn¡¯t even lift legs.


    No pain, no tiredness, no matter how anxious my heart is, there was no use for it, until the first sound of crow.


    When I heard the crow, it was just like a dying person saw the hope of life. Everyone stopped and began to disperse slowly. I kept struggling and it was still useless.


    I walked behind Huang Xiaolong and backed to the room, then lay down, covered the quilt, closed my eyes, and when all around turned dark, I was desperate.


    I did not sleep all night. I want to open my eyes eagerly to see Huang Xiaolong¡¯s ridicule. However, nothing happened until the early morning when my eyes opened. Then I got up like a machine and washed.


    The strangest thing was that I was chatting with Huang Xiaolong and Jiang Ada. Although it was a very common thing to talk about, but I could feel that everything was so real and natural, as if there was another soul in my body, he was operating my body.


    I looked at me as a spectator and did all sorts of things until I saw Wu Jian. Wu Jian came with Ni Min. After seeing me, he smiled and nodded, winked to me furtively.


    The soul Controlling me didn''t know Wu Jian. He had a friendly greeting and went straight away. I saw Wu Jian¡¯s puzzled look.


    I hoped Li Jihua could find something.


    When I saw Wu Jian again, he was preparing seafood with a warm hospitality villager. When he saw me, he only nodded and there was nothing special.


    I really want to remind Wu Jian, but I couldn¡¯t do anything but walk to that villager, ¡°Granny Zhou, Can I borrow your fish needle, mine is broken.¡±


    Granny Zhou fetched the fish needle in passion. I took the fish needle and turned away and walked away. But not long after I left, I heard Wu Jian asked Granny Zhou , ¡° Is that your neighbor? Few of the fishing men have such a good skin.¡±


    When Granny Zhou started to talk, I completely reassuring, because Granny Zhou said, ¡°It¡¯s a small village, we are all neighbors. He is the son of Jiang Ada. He came back from the other places, he looks handsome but he is not bad at fishing.¡±


    I don''t know why the soul who controlled Granny Zhou would say this, but I knew that Wu Jian would find something wrong and try to solve it or ask for help.


    After that, I did not see Wu Jian and Ni Min anymore. After Granny Zhou said that sentence, the soul that controlled me also made corresponding changes. He immediately called Jiang Ada as daddy.


    No matter what control us, I understood that there must be a channel of communication between them. Perhaps the only thing that controls us was a person. Like Grandpa Hai .


    In the evening, I still followed all the villagers to dance, as same as last time I did. I didn''t find any actions by Wu Jian, or maybe he had taken action but I didn''t know about it.


    On the second day and the third day, I was being manipulated as if I were really a native of the fishing village. I was really the son of Jiang Ada. I greeted with the villagers every day, drank alcohol, played cards, and lived like an ordinary villager. I didn¡¯t see Wu Jian and Ni Min.


    Until this evening.


    I was still dancing in the team. During these days, I''ve been numb. I had given up struggling. I just like watching a movie. At the beginning, I thought that this evening would be like dancing, and then go back to sleep.


    However, when the dance had just started, everyone stopped and stayed in place. Then, behind me, there was a strange and hoarse female voice.


    "I don''t care. I must go to sea as soon as possible?"


    I was eager to know what happened and I really want to see who was behind me, but I cannot turn my head.


    The only thing that can be seen was that the first villager slowly turned to look behind me, "No, time has not yet arrived."


    The hoarse female voice, "I don''t care, I can''t wait any longer."


    At this time, another villager slowly turned, "No, I said, the time has not yet arrived.¡±


    The hoarse female voice, "I also said, I can''t wait any longer."


    At this moment, I hope the person who turned was me, but it was Granny Zhou .


    Granny Zhou slowly turned and said, "Now you are asking me, not I beg you."


    The hoarse female voice seemed had mad, and a few heavy breaths came from behind me, "We are all the ones, why should you be against me?"


    My eyes slowly turned and my heart thrilled. It was me who turned this time.


    The corner of my eyes had already see the woman behind me. The woman was not high, and her back was hump. It was even shorter. Because the hunched back, her face was down, so I couldn¡¯t see it clearly.

 Chapter 239 Can not dance quietly

    And I also saw that there were no wrinkles on the woman¡¯s face, but it gave me a very old feeling. The face was not beautiful, it could only be considered ordinary, but for her body shape, it had been regarded as amazing.


    I knew I pitched her neck very hard, but the woman seemed to be completely unaffected and she still used that hoarse voice, "Do you think it¡¯s interesting?"


    I saw a bit of resentment in the woman''s eyes, but it was covered quickly.


    I slowly released my hand, stood there and stopped moving, and another villager turned around said, ¡°Hey, just play a game, don''t get excited, you see you are so lucky, I can only hide here.¡±


    The woman said, "Fortunately, huh, maybe, but I really want to leave, I¡¯m not afraid to tell you that, my fate also tell me if I don¡¯t leave, there will be a fatal disaster, and you don¡¯t want to die because of me.¡±


    A long time later, the villagers who had just spoken said, ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    The woman smirked, "You forgot to change your body, so do you still think it was false?¡±


    I said, "When do you plan to go, moreover, how do I know if you have drove someone here?"


    The woman reached out her hand and touched my face, "Your little babies are so much. Don''t you know if anyone comes?"


    I only saw the woman''s hand. It was exactly a different people compared to the woman''s appearance. The hands were already skinny, leaving only skinny bones. The upper skin was dark and old, covered with age spots. Although I couldn¡¯t feel anything, I could still feel the pain in my face for a while.


    Another villager turned around, "In the past few days there have been a few outsiders."


    Then I said, "This is an outsider."


    The woman looked up and down, then painted with a dry thin finger on my forehead, ¡°Only a mortal, but now came mortals, maybe the next time is a master. Think for yourself.¡±


    Having said that, the woman did not wait for the answer, and she turned away and looked at the direction of the old house on the cliff. It is estimated that this strange woman was probably the Nanyang warlock.


    I stand silently, maybe the person controlling me was thinking. It took me a while to turn around, and then danced with all the villagers about that weird dance, but this time it was a bit faster.


    Perhaps this night was doomed not to be calm, we did not dance long, a scream of stern yell from the village, I was surprised. Didn¡¯t the people in the village still not been controlled.


    I saw the red woman looking at the crowd and grabbed a dancing young woman and got up and rushed back in the direction she came. And me, Huang Xiaolong, and the surrounding villagers were controlled to line up.


    The woman in red stopped in front of me and looked at the villager in the middle of the wall with scarlet eyes, "Get off."


    The village stood in the middle said, "If you take one away, it will cost me more time."


    The woman in red sighed coldly, "Didn''t you catch two people, what¡¯s the matter with me if I got one."


    The villagers in the middle continued, "Would you both bully me?"


    The woman in red "Oh," and said in a loud voice, "The old woman has come, so I don''t know if I am bully, you believe it or not, I will kill all the people here if you try to stop me."


    My heart creaked. Even though I was under control at that time, I still know that if I was killed, it would be really dead. But as I thought about the person who controls us, I knew that we should be very important, he would not take a tough stance.


    I prayed in my heart and it did not disappoint me, the people who controlled us regressed at last. The wall we formed slowly spread out. I returned to my position and watched the woman who was caught by the red woman. I could not help but secretly sigh for her fate.


    The woman in red left and the dance continued. My heart was sinking. The little fishing village actually hidden three people. A Nanyang warlock, an unknown monster who can control people, the last one was a woman in red who didn¡¯t know if she was a human or a ghost.


    I could not help but worry about it. Now that only Li Jihua and Huang Bin were able to fight outside, I didn¡¯t know if they can deal with these three monsters.


    On the other hand, I hadn¡¯t seen Wu Jian and others these days, they should have left the small fishing village, I just did not know what they were doing? How long will it take for preparation? As for giving up on us, this was impossible. Wu Jian would not, so was Huang Bin.


    The dance was interrupted twice in a row. The scheduled action was not completed at the time crowing. The people who controlled us were very angry and slammed all the villagers on the ground before he controlled us return homes.


    Lying in bed, I closed my eyes, and I''m slowly sorting out what happened here.


    The first hunchback woman should be a Nanyang warlock, because she had been eager to leave, and the person who controlled us said that she was fortunate. It was possible that this fortune refers to He Xiaoru.


    However, it was also possible that the woman in red may be. It is obvious that the woman in red had always been arresting young woman. Perhaps she was preparing for Shoushe He Xiaoru. Putting her behind the hunchback woman because the hunchback woman was more likely to Shoushe.


    The last was the person who controls us. His control needs to meet certain conditions. For example, Huang Xiaolong was controlled because he went to the dock, I was controlled because I was talking about gramp Hai. And the control should be scoped. This range was likely to be this small fishing village.


    This controlling person could be temporarily assumed as gramp Hai. I was controlled because of gramp Hai, according to the word of gramp Hai I heard tonight, he seemed to be doing some demonic magic, and it should be almost finished.


    I thought for a long time. When I opened my eyes, I realized that all the things I wanted were not of any use. I could not free myself from the fate of being controlled, and I could not tell Wu Jian. Everything was still in place.

 Chapter 240 Huang Xiaolong Want to Kill Me!

    The Benz didn¡¯t surprise me, but the odd driver. Because I knew this guy for sure. Wu Jian got here. They were here at last.


    I was very happy from bottom of my heart, but my body made a totally different reaction, looked at the car, I frowned and moved forward, knocked on the car window when it just stopped.


    Wu Jian looked out from the car, with a cigarette on and smiled, "Hello!"


    I said, "you, you are the guy we met last time. Why you are here again?"


    Wu Jian looked a little unhappy, "why not?"


    I didn''t reply but Granny Zhou came across who sold seafood to Wu Jian last time, said, "It''s you, you are, Xiao Wu, right?"


    "Yes, Granny Zhou, I took my wife to dine here the last time, your cook was really amazing, seafood here was very fresh, so this time, I take my whole family,hopefully won¡¯t bother you." Wu Jian acted as he knew her well.


    Granny Zhou stunned for a few seconds then replied, "you are so welcome just be my guest".


    Then, Granny Zhou took the lead, Wu Jian followed behind, they entered the village.When the car passed by slowly, I walked with the car,I noticed that almost all the villagers were staring at the car, but no one said a word.


    Wu Jian, they got off the car, 4 people together, Wu Jian, Ni Min, Huang Bin, and an unknown old man, at least 70 years old, but he looked like very strong , red-faced, she started a warm chat with Granny Zhou immediately, she said she¡¯d like to try cooking seafood this time herself.


    I walked slowly to the dock, then began to help Huang Xiaolong to reorganize the fishing nets, and paid no attention to Wu Jian at all. My body was devoted into cleaning up the fishing nets, but in my head, I couldn¡¯t stop wondering, how could I act in co-ordination with Wu Jian.


    To my surprise Wu Jian left directly after dinner.I had no idea what was going on. Until we finished the dance, and returned to the room, we didn''t see Wu Jian¡¯s appearance at all.


    Are they just wanting to know the situation better this time? Huang Xiaolong entered the room. when I was about to step in after him, the door of the room was suddenly closed. I had to open the door again. Huang Xiaolong had been lying in bed already in a short time. I felt something was not right here.


    However, my body mechanically stepped into the room, it was so strange that my body couldn¡¯t move anymore when I stepped across the door. I usually went to bed directly, but this time was different. So, I was wondering what was going on, then I heard the door closed, and then I had a strange feeling of crisp, crisp and numb.


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s soul was leaving his body, and his soul was telling me about what happened during these days, I had a little self-awareness, I could now turn my head slightly.As I expected ,Huang Bin and the old man was standing behind me .


    When Huang found I looked at him, he opened his mouth and explained, "you can''t get back your body right now, or you''ll be discovered soon. and it''s lucky that Huang Xiaolong had put a sign paper on you, otherwise you might be just like those villagers."


    Villagers, What''s wrong with the villagers? My eyes are full of doubts.


    The red-faced old man sighed, "The Yaodao should be blamed. It shamed us who pursued in Taoism, not only dancing with the evil spirits but also do harm to the people.¡±


    Yaodao, did they mean gramp Hai? There was no time to hesitate, Huang Bin made a speech. "You two have to remember what I will tell you now, all! We will come back tomorrow night and remove the three demons here at one stroke. But before that, you have to recite this passage and begin to recite it loudly when we appear again, I know that it¡¯s hard for you to control yourself, but even you can¡¯t speak it out , you have to stick to murmur it in your mind. Remember that? You two just need to focus on yourself and the rest is up to us.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong nodded, and I expressed my agreement with my eyesight, and I didn¡¯t know Huang Bin got it or not. He read the passage, though it was not long but a little hard to remember, but I could recite it when he repeated it the third time.


    Then Huang Bin helped me to lie on the bed, and then he patted me lightly on my back, suddenly I stopped reciting and fell asleep.


    I don''t know what Huang Bin did to me last night, but when I got up early, my sense was greatly enhanced, and I felt a little bit more control over my body, but I tried hard to restrain my desire for activity. Of course, I did not want to be found now that would put myself in danger, especially Huang Bin would not be back until the night.


    In the night, I realized how powerful the human instinct could be. To my body, the ridiculous dancing never stopped or missed a single bite, but when I did a dangerous action, my instinct said no and resisted it, and I fell to the ground immediately.


    I realize that gramp Hai didn''t control me from standing up, the villagers around me noticed that and they all stopped. All eyes fell on me.


    Oh shit! Wu Jian they hadn''t come back yet.


    I could only control a little bit of my body, it was impossible to stand up, and I had no idea what I could do just lie there like a mollusk.


    The villagers slowly surrounded me, and they stopped just a meter away from me. A familiar voice said, "What an amazing scene."


    I tried to glimpse who was there, to my astonishment it was Huang Xiaolong. At the same time, Huang Xiaolong was taking a long bamboo spear handed down by a villager.


    Huang Xiaolong said slowly but clearly, within the bamboo spear held high in the air "you are such a bad luck, people who can recover self-consciousness is brilliant, but you also get back a little control of your body which is terrific. Unfortunately, it''s not right time, you have to go to hell."


    With no hesitation, the bamboo spear in Huang Xiaolong''s hand thrust into my chest, I was about to avoid it, but no matter how hard I tried, I could only shake my body slightly.


    I thought I was going to die. But Huang Xiaolong''s suddenly stopped, and the bamboo spear just pierced my clothes and left a bloody red spot on it.


    "eeee" Huang Xiaolong looked strange, and I saw Huang Xiaolong''s muscles of his arm folded and his hands stretched out and back, and I understood that he was struggling with gramp Hai and trying to take control of his body.


    The bamboo spear in Huang Xiaolong''s hands had been chuckled by Huang Xiaolong, and the blood flew down from his palm along his arm.

 Chapter 241 Group Suicide incidents

    That was tongue blood. Huang Xiaolong quickly retracted his hand and threw it away. And I could hear a faint and sad scream.


    A lot of blood spilled on my face. The warm feeling made me feel like I have magic which let me restore strength. I could even to turn around difficultly.


    And now Huang Xiaolong half kneeling on the ground beside me and he was panting. What¡¯s more the blood was streaming down his mouth.


    Huang Xiaolong looked at me with his smile and said, ¡°shit. It was unlucky. If my old man is not coming, we are going to die together.¡±


    I really want to help Huang Xiaolong up. But the villagers had gradually surrounded us and they got various weapons in their hands, such as knife, wooden stick.


    Huang Xiaolong looked around and said, ¡°I really didn¡¯t like the walking dead¡±.


    A villager in the front row sinister to say, ¡°Ha ha. That¡¯s funny.it was so amazing that there was a big guy hiding here and I never noticed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s funny. right? Did you think you should let us go for a such a tough performance?¡± Huang Xiaolong said slyly.


    But gramp Hai didn¡¯t change people this time. The villager who had just spoken said, ¡°kill them!¡±


    Then all the villagers jumped on us like a vicious dog on a bone. Just when I thought I was going to die. The accident happened which an ugly figure rushed into the crowd and kicked away some of the villagers who were approaching us. Then she looked at Huang Xiaolong¡¯s face, a missing expression showed on her face. That was red dressed woman


    ¡°What were you doing?¡± the villager asked.


    Red dressed woman said, ¡°you couldn¡¯t hurt him!¡±


    ¡°Did you know that if you don¡¯t kill them.it would be exposed. ¡°The villagers said.


    ¡°Do you think you would not be exposed if you kill them? But even if it was not exposed, did you dare to stay here? ¡°Red dressed woman answered him.


    Red dressed woman gave villagers tit for tat. I looked at Huang Xiaolong curiously. It was obvious that whom red dressed woman pointed at was Huang Xiaolong. What¡¯s the relationship between this woman and Huang Xiaolong?


    Then the villagers had been silent for a long time to say, ¡°As you wish¡±.


    After that, all the villagers threw away the things in their hands and stand in a line, and a villager pointed at me and said, ¡°Do you also want to take care of him?¡±


    I was trying to fight it, but if Huang Xiaolong had not pulled me, I would had stood up. I guessed Huang Xiaolong also realized that with the strength of us, there¡¯s no way to fight against gramp Hai.


    ¡°Save him or kill me!¡± Huang Xiaolong said firmly.


    Red dressed woman looked at Huang Xiaolong¡¯s firm gaze, then she immediately slammed away those villagers who were holding me and said, ¡°This guy is belong me too.¡±


    One of the villagers in the queue turned his head fiercely and angrily said, ¡°you are bullying me too much.¡±


    ¡°Just do me a favor¡± red dressed woman said.


    The villager¡¯s eyes glazed with hesitation then he back to the queue. And the villagers who were knocked down were also standing up. And then went to the end of the line.


    The villagers were lined up in a long line to go to the sea, the first man in the team was almost drowned by the sea.


    Gramp Hai seems to have let go of my restraints, so I sit up hard and asked, ¡°What the hell was going on?¡±


    Red dressed woman didn¡¯t even take a glance at me, instead, she had been focusing on Huang Xiaolong and constantly looking at him. Huang Xiaolong glanced at me then he repeated my question to red dressed woman, and then she answered to me.


    ¡°This place had been discovered by the monks, so he had to leave immediately. The villagers were used to sacrifice. When the sacrifice was over, he would find another place to start again. Anyway he was been doing this for hundreds of years.¡±


    After I heard, I felt chilly in my heart. In hundreds of years, how many lives he had killed! I knew that the red dressed woman would not listen to me, so I looked for help to Huang Xiaolong. Huang Xiaolong instantly understand what I mean, so asked if red dressed woman could save the villagers.


    Red dressed woman glanced at me and said, ¡°Were you trying to save the villagers? but these villagers were dead.¡±


    Already died? I watched these villagers astonished. But I thought they were just controlled as same as I was. How could they die? I looked at red dressed woman doubtfully.


    Huang Xiaolong said, ¡°All of them?¡±


    Red dressed woman nodded and said, ¡°Sure, they¡¯ve been dead for a long time and their souls were eaten by gramp Hai, only leaving soul fragments.¡±


    ¡°He ate souls, didn¡¯t he afraid of the nether world to trouble him?¡± said Huang Xiaolong with a horrified look on his face.


    Red dressed woman said, ¡°Otherwise, they won¡¯t let the villagers dance.¡±


    Huang Xiaolong and I looked at each other. It turned out that the dance was a ritual. But the sacrifice of this ritual which was sacrifice one¡¯s own soul.


    I said, ¡°Anyway, at lest their soul fragments are still exist, maybe they would reborn or buried.¡±


    Red dressed woman maybe saw Huang Xiaolong had been listen to me. So she finally turned her head to me and disdainful said, ¡°soul fragments reincarnation could only be a few low-level animals, so death was better than this. As for buried, come on, don¡¯t you know people live along coast buried in the sea?¡±


    Then I was speechless, just only watching villagers who had walked into the sea. Although many villagers could swim, but when they got into the sea, it seemed that they couldn¡¯t swim. A lot of people were struggling in the sea. Expect one kid who was a few years old, he was so short that he had already been struggling in sea even though he was in the rear part of the line.


    The guys behind the kid just ignored him, they just kept moving, and pushing the struggling child into a deeper place.


    Were there really only soul fragments? I was thrilling what I saw. And Huang Xiaolong said heavily to red dressed woman, ¡°I don¡¯t know why you help me. But could you help me once again? Just help them. please.¡±


    Red dressed woman looked affectionately at the Huang Xiaolong and stroking Huang Xiaolong¡¯s cheek with her hands. Then she said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to know why I help you and you don¡¯t have to know who I am. And then you just need know only one thing.¡±


    Red dressed woman was slowly approaching Huang Xiaolong. After a while, she kissed Huang Xiaolong on his lips.

 Chapter 242 A big gramp Hai

    However, from the last action of red dressed woman, I knew that the relationship between red dressed woman and Huang Xiaolong was definitely not the type of his parents. This was actually love.


    However, Huang Xiaolong spent a few days in the small fishing village. Last time , even under the control of gramp Hai, he and I were even lining up an adult wall to block red dressed woman. Why red dressed woman didn¡¯t have such reaction at that time?


    When Huang Xiaolong was still pondering everything just happened, I found that red dressed woman was quickly pulling the villagers out of the sea and throwing them ashore.


    I did not know how red dressed woman made it. The villagers who had been thrown ashore seemed unable to move. At first, I thought they were drowned because it was too late until I saw a villager who was thrown in front of me showed his hatred to red dressed woman, I realized that he was just impossible to move.


    When the last villager was thrown ashore by the red dressed woman, he was not as motionless as the other villagers, but stand up and looked at the red dressed woman in angry, "What do you mean?"


    Red dressed woman said, "Nothing."


    The village smiled grimly and said, "You will die, you will die."


    Red dressed woman turned around and smiled at Huang Xiaolong, "Either you leave or we will fight.¡±


    The village grinned and slowly opened his mouth. His mouth became bigger and bigger, even though his face started to crack, he didn¡¯t stop. The cracks kept expanding, and the blood kept flowing out. In one laughter, the whole mouth was open. It was a big mouth that you could put a head inside it.


    In countless blood, the location of the tongue had replaced by a white flatworm, and it was constantly swinging. While the white flatworm was swing, the villager¡¯s teeth were stretching slowly and becoming sharply.


    On his raised hand, nails were getting longer and longer, at last he had become a horrible monster in a short time, which made others thrilling.


    I did not know why, while looking at this villager, it reminded me of Wen Bao¡¯s word. Gramp Hai was a big one, we could sell it for money. How could we sell such a horrible thing?


    No, there¡¯s something wrong, I thought of a problem suddenly. Wen Bao¡¯s children walked into the sea just now. Why didn''t Wen Bao show up? He should be a clinging ghost, it¡¯s impossible for him not to show up.


    In my heart, I was afraid that I might had been misunderstanding since the beginning, but I couldn''t figure out from where it went wrong. At this time, red dressed woman had started to fight with the monster.


    Perhaps because it was the body of a villager that he used, the monster seemed to be completely painless. Every time a large piece of flesh and blood was cut away by red dressed woman, it didn¡¯t care it at all. Even so, it just sustained all the attack passively. red dressed woman could defeat him without any problem.


    As expected, a moment latter, the body of the villager with half of his head attached to the flatworm was cut into two pieces by red dressed woman. I didn¡¯t know how red dressed woman made it. The villager just fell down on the ground.


    Huang Xiaolong stood up difficultly, "Thank you." Then, he wanted to walk over, but was stopped by red dressed woman.


    Red dressed woman said, "Is it so interesting? Just come out."


    I was stunned, did the flatworm just now was not gramp Hai? But I realized that it was reasonable immediately. Every villager was controlled. If that villager had flatworm inside his body, then other villagers should be the same, there were so many villagers, so it wouldn¡¯t be gramp Hai.


    But what about me? I changed my face and my hands groped around my body. Huang Xiaolong saw my behavior. He should had guessed what I was worrying, "Relax, you don''t have it in your body. Otherwise, your soul would have been eaten bit by bit."


    Huang Xiaolong''s words let me slightly relieved. red dressed woman was still standing on the dock, waiting for the real gramp Hai came out.


    At this moment, I suddenly felt that the sound of the waves had become much louder, and the eyes of red dressed woman was staring at the sea. I looked at the sea immediately and saw a large amount of sea water had been raised on the sea, it¡¯s flowing around.


    When the sea water flowed away, I only saw that what appeared in the sea turned out to be a huge turtle. Full of horns on its back, huge head, eagle-like¡¯s mouth, it turned out to be a snapping turtle.


    The size of the snapping turtle was large, at least the size of a bedroom, it made me feel a chill down my spine.


    Snapping Turtle climbed up to the shore slowly and even spoke out in human voice, "Little girl, well, well."


    Red dressed woman was with a formidable enemy right in front. She never took her eyes off the turtle while it was crawling up the dock.


    Huang Xiaolong was even in a more stunned face expression, but I looked at the snapping turtle in puzzled, it seemed that I had heard the sound of the snapping turtle in somewhere.


    Huang Xiaolong pulled me back away slowly, red dressed woman had started the attack, the speed was still so fast that I could not see clearly, but attacks on the snapping turtle body could only gave out a little spark, even if the snapping turtle was exposed. Even the exposed skin of the snapping turtle was the same, all the attacks were just in vain.


    The action of the snapping turtle was slower than that of the villager just now. Let alone red dressed woman, even me also had the confidence to attack him when the giant snapping turtle turned around, but the snapping turtle suddenly protruded its neck and it was very fast. It became a phantom completely, making a loud noise of biting when it come out.


    I could sure that red dressed woman definitely could not sustain such a bite from the snapping turtle. red dressed woman certainly knew that, all the attack positions were mostly behind the snapping turtles, but in vain.


    The snapping turtle found that there was no way to attack red dressed woman, he gave it up straightforward and said, ¡°Little girl, you are scratching itches for me.¡±


    While speaking, the snapping turtles climbed toward us slowly.


    Red dressed woman became anxious suddenly and increased the frequency of attack. She even risked to attacked on the eyes of the snapping turtle several times, there were signs of danger appearing everywhere.


    I kept retreating under Huang Xiaolong''s help. But because of physical reasons, the speed of my retreat was far less than that of the snapping turtle. I saw the snapping turtle moving closer and closer to us. red dressed woman attacked the eyes of the snapping turtle more anxiously. The snapping turtle even snapped her clothes in one of her attacks. A big piece of cloth which was as big as human head was torn off.


    The anxiousness of red dressed woman did not change the strategy of the snapping turtle. When the snapping turtle drew its head no far away from us, red dressed woman rushed up regardless of anything else.


    I fell down on the ground because I was frightening. At that moment, the snapping turtle turned down his head so that he could accumulate strength. His eye was as big as a human head which I found a trace of sly in it.

 Chapter 243 It turned out that he was gramp Hai

    Snapping Turtle¡¯s mouth which as huge as the Eagle¡¯s bit into red dressed woman¡¯s waist, several sounds of broken bones were heard, and she was bitten into two pieces by the snapping turtle.


    As the red woman fell from the air, snapping turtle¡¯s head quickly retracted and stretched out, swallowing red dressed woman ¡®s lower body in a weird chewing sound.


    The blood splattered, and the air was filled with strong bloody odors and rancid stench. From the blood that fell on the ground, I could see that red dressed woman was not human, because the blood had become dark and stinky.


    But no matter whether red dressed woman was human or not and no matter why she helped Huang Xiaolong could not change the fact that she saved us.


    Huang Xiaolong sighed and ignored the snapping turtle that was in front of him, rushing to hug red dressed woman ¡®s upper body.


    red dressed woman coughed a few times and touched Huang Xiaolong''s face with her hand. "Am I useless?¡±


    Huang Xiaolong shook his head vigorously. I wiped my tears that were about to fall, the snapping turtle giggled and was about to eat red dressed woman and Huang Xiaolong.


    ¡°Magic, thunder.¡± At this moment, an old voice which filled with righteousness seemed to reverberate through the entire sky.


    The huge thunder rang out in the sky, a flash of lightning lit up the night sky, the snapping turtle showed a trace of panic in its eyes, but it did not run away, opening its mouth and started to bite red dressed woman and Huang Xiaolong quickly.


    "Ah," I could not help but exclaim.


    But when its mouth just touched Huang Xiaolong''s body, suddenly there was a layer of blue film on Huang Xiaolong''s body, it seemed that it would break into fragments by even a touch.


    The snapping turtle''s mouth hit it but it just waved brightly, and not a sound was heard.


    However, red dressed woman ''s arm was outside the scope of blue light film¡¯s protection, she was bitten by the snapping turtle in the mouth, as the snapping turtle took its head back, she was pulled out the arms of Huang Xiaolong.


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s hands had already torn red dressed woman¡¯s clothes, but he still couldn¡¯t hold on red dressed woman, red dressed woman didn¡¯t struggle and only looked at Huang Xiaolong, until her whole body was swallowed by snapping turtle, her eyes were still the same.


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s hand was still in the direction of red dressed woman disappearance, but red dressed woman has disappeared.


    A figure appeared in front of Huang Xiaolong. It was Huang Bin. Huang Bin was looking at snapping turtle, and he quickly changed his handprint in the front of his chest.


    Although the yellow dragon was very big, it was the same size of the snapping turtle. When I was afraid that the yellow dragon couldn''t inflict damage on the snapping turtle, the yellow dragon had hit on the snapping turtle. In a huge sound, the yellow dragon unexpectedly crashed through snapping turtle¡¯s body, stimulated a huge wave in sea not far away, then it disappeared into the boundless sea.


    There was a huge empty hole in the snapping turtle, but it did not die. I didn¡¯t know where its strength came from, it rushed into the sea.


    ¡°Want to run away?¡± Huang Bin said with disdain and then swiped his fingers. The yellow dragon disappeared into the sea rushed out of the sea unexpectedly and crashed through the snapping turtle once again which was trying to dive.


    Snapping turtle couldn¡¯t move, floating quietly on the water. After a while, it slowly sank into the sea.


    Huang Bin saw that the snapping turtle was dead, patting the shoulder of Huang Xiaolong and waved to the old man who came behind him, then they went to the cliff and walked toward the old house.


    Wu Jian had come up and was checking our physical condition. I was worried about Huang Xiaolong. Since red dressed woman was swallowed by the snapping turtle, Huang Xiaolong had become stagnant, he didn''t speak, he didn¡¯t make movements, even his eyes had not changed.


    Huang Bin quickly came down and told me good news and bad news.


    He did not boringly ask me which one I¡¯d like to listen to first. The Nanyang warlock had already taken He Xiaoru away, but Huang Bin already knew the whereabouts of the Nanyang warlock, however, the Nanyang warlock was still moving quickly, only when she stopped could we find it.


    I nodded and there was no way for me to do this. Besides, the reason why the matter had become so complicated was actually because of me.


    Huang Bin left with Huang Xiaolong. Wu Jian helped me up: "How are you? Can you walk?"


    I smiled weakly, pointing to the car next to us: "I couldn¡¯t walk back, but you have a car."


    Wu Jian patted me on the back: "You are still in the mood to make jokes, it seems there is nothing serious. Let''s go."


    I nodded, taking a step and stopped: "Wait a second."


    I didn''t know why I suddenly remembered the yellow paper that Huang Xiaolong had secretly stuffed under the windowsill.


    I declined Wu Jian¡¯s accompany, propping up my body and walked into the bedroom. At the time I just took out the yellow paper that Huang Xiaolong had hidden under the windowsill, I heard a familiar laughter behind me.


    I hurriedly turned around, but I saw Wen Bao sitting on the bed, constantly combing the sparse yellow hair on his head.


    Looking at Wen Po, I was shocked. I finally remembered why I was familiar with the snapping turtle¡¯s voice. It was Wen Bao¡¯s voice.


    Wen Bao looked at me and said: "You are more powerful than I expected, you can ask Huang Bin and Qing Yun come here for help. Well, me, gramp Hai don¡¯t want to argue with you. By the way, to tell the guy whose family name is Huang that if he wanted to see red dressed woman, just go to Wang You in the East China Sea and meet me."


    After that, Wen Bao slowly faded away. I watched Wen Bao disappear before I sat down on the ground. I didn''t know when my forehead was full of sweat.


    Wen Bao was gramp Hai. Unexpectedly that he was gramp Hai. Were what he told me at the beginning a deceit? But how did he disguise himself as a clinging ghost?


    Besides, red dressed woman had been swallowed by snapping turtle and the snapping turtle had almost been shattered. Could red dressed woman still live?


    I did not know why, I had a feeling that red dressed woman should be alive, gramp Hai should not lie to me at this point, but I forgot to ask him about He Xiaoru¡¯s whereabouts.


    Wu Jian may saw me not going out for a long time, so he walked into my room, he looked at the bed following my eyes strangely, then stepped forward to help me up.


    Wu Jian asked me what happened£¬I did not answer him but wave my hand. Now I really did not want to speak.


    I return to ghost house with Wu Jian, of course my mother would blame me with concern, she saw that I didn¡¯t seem to be hurt, the she allowed me to go into my room to take a rest, I was exhausted.

 Chapter 244 Shit, you are crazy

    The people who participated in midnight snack were Wu Jian, Huang Xiaolong and I. Huang Xiaolong who had just come back. When I arrived, Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong were chatting. In a short span of several days, Huang Xiaolong became a lot thinner. His mental state also appeared to be poor. It also because of being controlled. Oh, Huang Xiaolong had drew his soul out of his body for a few times.


    However, when I approached, I discovered that things maybe not as simple as I thought. The face of Huang Xiaolong had vague tear stains.


    I did not know what happened, what I could do was just sat down beside Huang Xiaolong who had taken out a bottle of wine. I drank with him until bottoms up.


    I didn''t ask him. I just didn¡¯t refuse to accept Huang Xiaolong''s wine. Sometimes, a friend just needs to be like this.


    Huang Xiaolong, who had always been a good drinker, was drunk quickly today and the words in his heart couldn''t hold back again.


    Huang Xiaolong said while making a burp, "You don''t know. You don''t know."


    Both Wu Jian and I agreed to what he said, "Well, we don''t know, we don''t know."


    Huang Xiaolong waved his hand and said with a blurred eye, "red dress woman, red dress woman, you, do you know why she would save me?"


    Both Wu Jian and I shook our heads. According to the performance of red dress woman, it was obvious that she had deeply feelings to Huang Xiaolong, but Huang Xiaolong did not seem to know red dress woman. This had always been very strange to me.


    Huang Xiaolong wiped his tears, "It¡¯s my dad. This is because of my dad. I don''t know what my dad did. Let the red dress woman always think of me as another person, a person she loved deeply. How funny it is. Her death was really wrong. If she knew it at the the nether world, you say, what would she think?¡±


    Wu Jian and I were all looking at each other in dismay and at a loss for words. I didn''t think of all these things that Huang Xiaolong said. I suddenly had a very uncomfortable feeling in my heart. At the same time, I started to be a bit vigilant against Huang Bin.


    Huang Xiaolong did not stop and continued to say, "Do you know, I was deceiving a infatuate lady. I am saving my life by making use of a lady who is willing to lose her life for love."


    "The man she loves was not me, not me, do you know?"


    I put my hand on Huang Xiaolong''s shoulder and pressed it hard. Huang Xiaolong showed a bleak smile, then he took up glass. We drank a glass of wine again. I could feel the pain in Huang Xiaolong''s heart.


    Huang Xiaolong finished his glass of wine and dropped it on the table heavily, "I''m going to find the man and tell him how much red dress woman loved him. I think he should know and must know this."


    Wu Jian nodded his head, Huang Xiaolong got up and went to toilet wobbly. At this time, I told Wu Jian what Grandpa Hai had said when he left.


    Wu Jian''s face expression was very strange, but he did not say anything, just picked up a glass and drank.


    "What the hell are you doing?"


    Suddenly there was a loud noise coming from the next table. Wu Jian and I turned to look and hurried to get up. Huang Xiaolong was standing at a table of other and pointing fingers at others.


    There were only two people at that table. There was a man and a woman, and the woman was crying. The man was glaring at Huang Xiaolong. It looked like there was a dispute between the couple.


    As I walked over, Huang Xiaolong was pointing at the man and scolding, ¡°It is an honor for you that someone love you. You may not meet a woman who really loves you in your whole life. What right do you have to let people who love you sad and shed tears?¡±


    The man was very depressed, glaring at Huang Xiaolong, "Shit, that¡¯s none of your business."


    When the man¡¯s words were just finished, Huang Xiaolong punched him on his face. The man was knocked down by just one punch. Regardless of crying, the woman screamed and hurry to help the man get up.


    Huang Xiaolong pulled the woman away, "Is such an awful man worthy of your love?"


    The woman screamed, "It¡¯s none of your business whether I love him or not."


    I embrace Huang Xiaolong at once. On the other hand, Wu Jian walked up and helped the man get up. The man was suddenly beaten, he was a little startled. When he got up, he wanted to fight back. But he was stopped by Wu Jian.


    Huang Xiaolong didn¡¯t look at the man who wanted to fight. He was still persuading the woman with a sincere look, ¡°How much do you love him? How much he loves you? Do you know?¡±


    The man shouted out more loudly, and the scolding was getting worse. Wu Jian scowled and hit the man furtively. The man stopped scolding, bending his waist moaning.


    When the woman wanted to go forward again, Huang Xiaolong pulled her hand and did not let she go. And he continued, "What do you deserve to do for a person who doesn''t love you?"


    Because the man was yelling painfully, Wu jian let go of the man, walked over to persuade Huang Xiaolong not to be crazy while he was drunk. But the man stood up, "Who said I do not love her, no one loves her more than me."


    Huang Xiaolong turned his gaze to the man and looked at the man with a contemptuous look, "Can you die for her?"


    The man stunned and opened his mouth, saying after a while, "You are mad."


    Perhaps the woman had been hurt by the man''s words. She was no longer struggling and looked up at the man.


    Huang Xiaolong released the woman''s hand, "You see, he will not die for you. Do you still think he loves you?"


    At the time, we thought there wouldn¡¯t be any extreme action. Both me and Wu Jian started to suggest Huang Xiaolong to leave, but Huang Xiaolong said he was not drunk. And he still stood there and refused to leave, just watching the woman''s reaction.


    The man may be stimulated, and said, "I, I It''s easy for you to say it ,you can ask her, can she die for me?"


    The woman took a deep look at the man and wiped her tears, she looked at Huang Xiaolong, "Thank you."


    Huang Xiaolong nodded, both Wu Jian and I also took a sigh of relief. At least everything was OK.


    Then the woman turned to look at the man, "I can."


    I, even the surrounding crowd, were shocked by the woman''s words. The woman pushed the crowd aside calmly, just when everyone thought she was going to leave.


    Suddenly the woman ran quickly to the road. It''s still early in the evening and the highway was full of galloping vehicles.


    Wu Jian responded quickly and yelled, "Stop her."


    However, other people did not react in time but only watched her rush to the road. She soon crashed into a car that was driving fast.


    "Bang" a loud noise, I watched the woman flew out in a parabolic line in air. I didn''t know if it was my illusion or not, I could see the eyes of the flying woman was still looking at the man she loved.


    Huang Xiaolong patted me on my shoulder, "You see, only a woman who loves you will die for you."


    Huang Xiaolong¡¯s words woke me up from a daze.

 Chapter 245 Leave alone

    At this time, the woman was lying about 10 meters away from the vehicle, her body twisted strangely, and her mouth was constantly dripping with blood. The entire body was constantly twitching.


    Wu Jian apparently has learned a little knowledge of emergency nursing. He took off his clothes and put it under the woman''s head. I called the police in a panic. The police car and the ambulance came quickly. But when the police investigated the situation, we discovered that the man has disappeared.


    Because the incident involved Huang Xiaolong, so after asking questions, the police took Huang Xiaolong and the driver with glasses away, Wu Jian followed them, and I followed the ambulance to the hospital.


    It was clear that the women had lost her sense of autonomy, and I''m going to pay for Huang Xiaolong''s mental disorder, hoping that the pathetic woman could survive.


    Tossing all night, I wearily went out of the hospital, Wu Jian was already waiting outside the hospital, getting close to the car to smoke, Huang Xiaolong sat in the car and he was like the frosted eggplant.


    I took out the cigarette from Wu Jian''s arms and lit it, asking in Wu Jian¡¯s amazing eyes, "How is it?"


    Wu Jian waved his hand and said, "She was defined as suicide, but Huang Xiaolong''s words were stimulating, he has been taught and had to take on compensation."


    I nodded and it was already a better result.


    After getting on the car, Huang Xiaolong finally raised his head and asked me, "How about the woman?"


    I shook my head, "Just rescued, she is still in a coma."


    Huang Xiaolong nodded and hesitantly said, "I want to go and see her."


    "Do not go." Wu Jian and I speak with one voice.


    Huang Xiaolong lowered his head again.


    After sending Huang Xiaolong back, Wu Jian called me up and asked me out to meet.


    As soon as we met, Wu Jian said, "Huang Xiaolong almost become neuropathy now. He couldn¡¯t put down the affairs of red dressed woman."


    I looked at Wu Jian astonishingly. Didn''t Huang Xiaolong make any changes after last night?


    Wu Jian continued, "After going back, he repeatedly said that he was harmful to others, he has hurt two affectionate women. His mental state was very unstable, I asked Ni Min to care for him. In this way, I was afraid it would be a problem.¡±


    In fact, Huang Xiaolong has always been an unreliable image of big dork in my mind. I absolutely did not think that the matter of red dressed woman would have such a great influence on him.


    Wu Jian smile bitterly, "I''m afraid he''ll be in a trance."


    I thought for a while, "If we don''t tell him the place, he can¡¯t find it, you just say that it takes time to have clues, he also knows how powerful ramp Hai is, asking him to turn his grief into strength and practice hard."


    Wu Jian glanced at me and slowly shook his head, "Forget it or tell him directly. Now that he wants to bear it, he will take it."


    I glanced at Wu Jian strangely and then nodded.


    My body has not been restored. Yesterday I drunk and stayed up late,my body couldn¡¯t be support, so things were told by Wu Jian to Huang Xiaolong. Of course, I also had a little thought. I really didn''t want to face Huang Xiaolong who knew the truth.


    But Wu Jian quickly said it out, I just returned to ghost house and haven¡¯t fallen asleep, Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong arrived at ghost house, dragging me out. My mother was not happy to talk about it, Huang Xiaolong also didn¡¯t hear it.


    After searching for a tea house, Huang Xiaolong asked me to say things again, just walking up and down in the room with a smile on his face, his face was full of excitement.


    The depressed breath dissipated a lot.


    Huang Xiaolong was more sensible than Wu Jian and I imagined. He did not say to find red dressed woman but plan to go back and take good exercise. I was worried that Huang Xiaolong deliberately avoided our sight and then set out alone.


    Wu Jian also obviously thought of that, proposing to send Huang Xiaolong back by himself. Huang Xiaolong did not refuse, and I finally set my mind at rest.


    After breaking up, I finally returned to ghost house and took a good rest.


    The rest of the day was monotonous and fulfilling. After several times of distress, my mother was no longer at ease. At the request of my mother, she begun to join the rank of educating me.


    During the day, I followed witch Yan to learn, and at night I followed aunt Li to study. The days went by.


    Huang Xiaolong came back soon but he did not mention to go to find red dressed woman. I didn''t know why, but I didn''t dare to mention it in front of Huang Xiaolong.


    Perhaps Huang Xiaolong was trying to exercise himself. After several pictures appeared, both he and Wu Jian solved the problem. In addition, Wu Jian told me that Huang Xiaolong often went to the hospital to see the woman he had instigate to commit suicide.


    Both of them seemed to gradually develop a little feeling, Wu Jian was happy for Huang Xiaolong.


    In my heart, there was a touch of displeasure. Did Huang Xiaolong really forget red dressed woman?


    That was what made me displeased, so I didn''t go out to party with them every day as before. Of course, the busy practice was the biggest reason.


    One night, after I just finished my practice, a large number of people, such as aunt Li¡¢witch Yan and mom, found me.


    It was already midnight. I was surprised how my mom and witch Yan were here. It was definitely something.


    Sure enough, my mother saw me, putting the clothes that in her hands on me and reproached me with concern, she said, ¡°Today, aunt Li came here to consult with me, now you have learned a lot, things on the photo have just been solved. At least you have one month to be free, so..."


    I was amazed to look at my mother who wished to speak but stop on a second thought, "So what?"


    Witch Yan said, "Huang Xiaolong said that things on the pictures are getting more and more dangerous. Although you have learned a lot, you don''t have much experience. we want you to go out and practice what you learned."


    I was inexperienced, I did not know how many evil things I encountered, there was no experience yet. But thinking about it,it was right, I am basically a existence of being a bystander, I really have no experience in dealing with ghosts alone. Now I have learned a lot, but there was no idea of what I should do and when to use.


    When I think of this, I nodded and accepted the words of Witch Yan, but after we talked, I just know why my mother wished to speak but stop on a second thought ,in order to exercise me, unexpectedly they asked me to go to Tengshan City saying that recently there were many strange events there.

 Chapter 246 Encountered a liar

    I walked out of the train station and looked at the outside crowd with a look of ignorance. I was very confident when I was in front of my mom. But my confidence had completely become ignorant in the moment I got out of the train.


    This was not the first time I had been away, but it was not the same as the last time I went to school. I had a clear goal last time, but this time I completely did not know where I should go and what I should do?


    Maybe I was as dazed as a countryman into the city. It reminded hawkers surrounded me. There were various people around me immediately.


    "Sir, do you want to stay in a hotel?"


    "Where are you going? Get in the car and go right away, no detour absolutely"


    "Attractions arrangement"


    ......


    I escaped the crowd like a fugitive and randomly took a direction to leave the station.


    Huang Xiaolong and Wu Jian were all warned by my mother. They couldn''t help me. I was so ignorant that I had no idea, so I directly post something on Moments, I am in Tengshan City, who knows how to catch ghosts? Waiting online in a hurry.


    The first response was two naughty smiles which were sent by Huang Xiaolong and Wu Jian. It was estimated that they were together this time. Then a group of familiar and unfamiliar friends replied to me, but they were mostly kidding. Of course, in their eyes, I was the first one to joke.


    Hu Tie, Brother, excellently, did you get caught there?


    Lu Sheng, When will you come back?


    Wei Xing, You can hang a brand, professional to catch ghosts.


    ......


    Looking at a group of completely non-nutritive replies, only felt the pain of liver. But in the ridicule of a group of people, I identified the first thing what I should do, that was to find a hotel.


    When I had found a fairly clean hotel on the Internet, I got in a taxi to go to the hotel. The taxi driver was a very talkative uncle who spoke a dialect to introduce me to the famous local attractions.


    I casually agreed with a few words, then I was struck by a thought and asked, "Uncle Driver, do you know where is haunted in Tengshan City?"


    The taxi obviously shook, the driver looked at me strangely, and he became silent.


    I scratched my head and couldn''t think of anything wrong about my asking. I looked at the driver strangely, "then, uncle, what''s wrong?"


    The driver was very embarrassed and smiled at me, "We will arrive at our destination soon."


    It was just strange that the black gas of the driver was very light, and seemed to be surrounded only by the driver, but there was no intention to intrude.


    Was the driver raising ghosts, no, raising ghosts, then the black gas will not be so light. Did he just purely encounter ghosts? It was not right. If it was right, the black air should disappear.


    I carefully compared the situation of the driver with what I learned. Now I knew why my mother agreed with me to put knowledge into practice. If I really had a problem, with my reaction speed, I didn¡¯t know how many times I had died.


    Just when the taxi was parked at the entrance of a hotel, I finally thought of the reason. It seemed that the driver didn¡¯t encounter ghosts or something, it was that the relatives around him were entangled in ghosts. The driver was unwittingly contaminated a little bit.


    When the driver saw that I was not moving, he opened his mouth and reminded me, "The young man, here we are."


    "Oh, oh." I responded and thought for a moment. I took out a pen and paper from my pocket and wrote down my phone number. I handed it to the driver along with the money, "Uncle Driver, if, um, if something bad happens to you, you can call me."


    The driver''s expression obviously became bad, directly urged me to get off.


    I just dropped the luggage and got off the taxi, the taxi left right away and a piece of paper floated out of the driver''s window.


    I stepped forward and picked up the piece of paper. It was the one where I wrote my phone number. Alas, I thought I could help him. OK, just dropped it.


    I shred the piece of paper and throw it into the trash by the way.


    In the hotel, I washed away all the dust, I seemed to have eased a lot. Things were packed up. I came out of the hotel and wandered in the street.


    This was an old street, like most of the streets in Tengshan City. In fact, as long as it was not a new district, it was basically such an old street. The house was not high and the road was not wide. However, it had rich cultural deposits for both architecture and people.


    I was boring to walk on the road, suddenly I saw an old man with white beard, sitting in front of a small table. The table was covered with a yellow cloth, which wrote two huge words, fortune-telling.


    And there was a fat middle-aged woman sitting on a stool on another side, listening carefully to commentary of the old man.


    There were food stalls on both sides of the fortune-telling stall, but people in the food stalls were curious to listen to the old man at the fortune-telling stall


    I used Judging People trick to looked at the old man. The old man did not have the unique blue light of the Taoist, and the surrounding people were also ordinary people. This was a scam that was mutually agreeable.


    Shaking my head, I was about to walk away. Suddenly there was an exclamation from the fortune-telling stall. I walked back with curiosity. I order something to eat at the food stall, then I sat next to the fortune-telling stall and listened.


    The old man''s voice was very loud, but what he said was a bit gloomy, "Alas, take the child out of the hospital and bring the child here, let me see if there is any help I can do." The middle-aged women had started to wipe out her tears and sobbed, "Well, well, thank you, old god."


    After hearing this, I frowned. The old man apparently did not have any practice but let the middle-aged women pick up the child out of the hospital, how to do if the child¡¯s treatment was delayed , you earned 10 yuan or 20 yuan, it did not matter , but was it not harmful for the child?


    ¡°Your noodles"


    I raised my head and took the food from the owner of the food stall. I already had an idea of teaching the old man a lesson.


    I heard the old man went on and said, "I won¡¯t cost your money this time, you just bring your children here as soon as possible."


    The middle-aged women gave thanks in tandem, but regardless of the old man''s words, she threw 100 yuan on the fortune-telling table and hurried away. When she left, she said that she would bring the child here at once.


    The old man reluctantly took the money, the crowd of spectators slowly spread out, and several of them sat next to me.


    "He is an excellent man indeed, he can sure, at a glance, that the child of that woman was ill."


    "Sure, I hope that he can cure the child."


    "Didn''t listen to the old god said that he was not sure if he can cure the child?"


    "I don''t know if that woman will bring the child here."


    "Maybe she will do it, because the woman was very worried."


    "Let''s wait and see, it''s okay anyway."

 Chapter 247 On the shoulder

    There were still people who were asking for fortune next to the food stall, and the old man only responded some very ordinary words politely. Finally, he earned 10 yuan.


    However, the business was quite good, one after another for fortune-telling.


    The middle-aged woman was much faster than I expected. In less than half an hour, the woman rushed over with a three-year-old child. Her face was full of sweat.


    The person who was being told fortune volunteered to give a seat to the middle-aged woman under the reminder of other surrounding people, and the old man carefully observed the child.


    I also looked at the child with Judging People trick. There was nothing wrong with the child. It should be an ordinary illness, but it was estimated that it was very serious. The child''s face was green, closing his eyes and seemed to have no reaction to the outside world.


    The old man took the child''s hand, dipped a bit vermilion on his finger, and painted something on the child''s hand, but I couldn¡¯t recognize it. It looked like a doodle rather than a meaningful symbol.


    I took out my cell phone and was preparing to call the police. I heard a shout outside, "You, a bad guy."


    I turned around and saw a middle-aged man running in a hurry. Through Judging People trick£¬I saw that the face of the man were green and he had a basketball-sized toad on his shoulder. Its mouth was wide open, and its mouth was full of teeth.


    Oh, what was this?


    The middle-aged man slammed the crowd heavily and came in. He reached out and grabbed the child in the middle-aged woman''s hands. He murmured, "Zhou Yan, if it wasn''t me to go to the hospital to see the child, did you want to kill the child? Was it fun?"


    The middle-aged woman called Zhou Yan was obviously a bit scared of the middle-aged man. When the child was robbed, she stood up in a panic, ¡°The child is hurt by evil and the master is saving the child.¡±


    The middle-aged man was angry, "What the fuck evil, the old quack."


    After that, the middle-aged man wanted to leave with the child, but Zhou Yan had clung the middle-aged man, "The master is very skillful, and maybe he can really save the child, so let him try it.¡±


    Zhou Yan''s crying suddenly attracted the crowd, many surrounding people were discussing and pointing at them.


    I had no intention of punishing the fortune-telling old man now, because, as the middle-aged man embraced the child, I saw energy of life was drifting out of the child''s body.


    The dissipated energy seemed to have been drawn into the mouth of a huge toad. And toad was showing a look of enjoyment.


    The old man had stood up, "You are the father of the child, the child is indeed having a problem, and the problem may be because of you."


    The middle-aged man stepped forward when he was saying, he destroyed the fortune-telling stall to the ground by a kick.


    Fortunately, the old man had already stood up, otherwise, it was estimated that he would be hit.


    Zhou Yan said, "This is my child. The master can save him."


    Zhou Yan stepped forward to stop him, and the people around him also tried to persuade the middle-aged men not do it and to send the child to the hospital as soon as possible. There were even people who advised Zhou Yan not to believe sorcerers outside and they were about to say that the old man was a liar.


    The old man was just shocked by the middle-aged man''s actions. He responded, "If I''m a liar, do you dare to tell me your birthday."


    The words of the old man made the people around him stunned. Then they talked about it one after another. The old man insisted fortune telling even under such an intense situation. It seemed that he loved money rather than his life.


    The middle-aged man ignored the old man and yelled at Zhou Yan, "Let me go."


    Zhou Yan still clung to the man and quickly told the old man the man''s birthday, let the master tell his fortune.


    The middle-aged man was completely angry. He threw hard with holding the child in his arm, and Zhou Yan was directly thrown to the ground. Her forehead crashed into the table next to her, her head was broken and bleeding immediately.


    The middle-aged man was also shocked and hurried forward to help. The crowd gathered to help Zhou Yan stand up rapidly. And they told Zhou Yan to go to the hospital with her child.


    Zhou Yan only shook her head with a stubborn look, causing people around to sigh endlessly.


    The old man quickly counted for a while, still looking like an expert.


    When the middle-aged man could not persuade Zhou Yan and planned to leave, the old man finally said, "You are a brute."


    The people around him were stunned again. They did not know that the old man had courage to scold at this time.


    The middle-aged man was very angry, he left, regarded the word as not worthy of serious consideration.


    The old man pointed to the giant diamond ring on the middle-aged man''s finger. "You have no money at all, but now you are wearing gold and silver, it¡¯s obviously that you are enshrining evil spirits, and using your child''s life to help you get rich."


    When the old man''s voice came out, all the surrounding people were in a state of turmoil, Zhou Yan walked to the middle-aged man and seized the clothes of middle-aged men, "You use our child''s life to help you get rich.¡±


    The middle-aged man said, "If you believe this, one day, you will become a neuropath."


    After saying this, he wanted to leave again, but Zhou Yan grasp the middle-aged man tightly, "Master, did he do it?"


    The old man was also very angry and nodded forcefully, "Fate can''t be wrong."


    The people around me were all talking about it. I also looked at the old man with surprise. The old man may not have supernatural power, but this time he was right.


    In fact, I had been observing the toad of the middle-aged man''s shoulder. There had been a conjecture in my mind, but I had not yet thought of it. Now that the old man had said it, I thought it should be true.


    Did anyone really use his child¡¯s life to get rich? Even sacrificed his child.


    The scene was still noisy, and the police had already arrived. They quickly took the old man and sent the Zhou Yan¡¯s family to the hospital. A crowd of spectators slowly began to disperse, but the content of the chat was all about what just happened.


    I looked at the food stall owner who kept sighing and I asked him, "Is what that fortune telling old man said true?"


    The food stall owner shook his head with a bitter smile, "I don¡¯t know, but the old man does fortune-telling here for decades. Everyone says it is accurate."


    I nodded my head, paid the bill and left. Could the direct fortune-telling be accurate without supernatural power? I had no idea, and I didn''t know how accurate fortune-telling could be achieved. But the old man had been arrested and there was no one who I could ask something more about this.

 Chapter 248 Where did the toad come from

    Looking through the window on the door, the doctor was treating Zhou Yan''s wound, while Zhou Yan was lying in bed her face looked rather pale.


    The child was full of pipes and still in the emergence room. Several doctors talked about the child''s condition.


    A man was sitting in a small chair on the side, lowering his head and covering his face, unable to see his face clearly.


    Although the child has left the man''s arms, but his inner spirit is still absorbed by the toad on the man''s shoulder, maybe due to the distance, the speed had been slow down.


    The doctor came out of the emergence room soon, I pretended to play with my cell phone, as the doctor passed by, I saw a doctor sighed and shook his head, "I am sorry I have try my best but his is still not in a positive situation, and we can¡¯t figure out the reason clearly."


    The doctor finished his words and walked away, I knew it¡¯s true that the child was not able to recover right now.


    Shortly after the doctor left, the man cried depressingly in the ward, people showed sympathy for him.


    There was always a question bother me that it is impossible to seek ritual objects by a powerful evil god himself. It must be a wish, and a voluntary sacrifice, but from the expression on the man¡¯s face, it seemed like he really doesn¡¯t know the existence of evil spirit, and his care for his child was so touching. I was quite sure about that because I observed the whole thing.


    But where did the evil spirits come from? I got totally lost.


    The man was aggressive. He cried for a while, and blamed Zhou Yan for a while. It was not wise to get myself involved under this situation.


    I thought for a while then decided to leave the hospital, returned to the hotel and drew a note paper, which was taught by Huang Xiaolong. The note was hoped to strengthen the spirit, also suitable for the children''s issue at present. But this was my first note, the effect would not be good, I guessed the effect can only last for a day .


    I got back to the hospital in a hurry, entered the ward, now it was the time for lunch, the man was not there, probably got himself something to eat, for god¡¯s sake, the child''s spirit was not been sucked now, he lied flat peacefully, breath weakly.


    As I went in, I was noticed by Zhou Yan, who was watching the child in a static manner "Who are you ?" She asked.


    I shut the door in despite the tense from eyes of her. Zhou Yan was superstitious but I thought I could tell her directly.


    I said, "this note is sent from Grandpa Zhang to guarantee the child¡¯s safety for one day. You should wait for him now he is trying to save your child in anther way." I handed over the note paper which was folded into a small triangle in my hand.


    "Don¡¯t worry" I told her, ¡°Grandpa Zhang and I are trying to solve the problem.


    Zhou Yan nodded and was about to open her mouth. Her man pushed the door and came in with a lunch bowl. He looked at us surprisingly.


    I didn''t expect the man to come back so fast. In a hurry I introduced myself to him in a smart way, "Zhou Jie, Is this your husband?"


    Zhou Yan understood me quickly. She carefully hide the paper into bed and said: "yes."


    I said hello to the man warmly. Although he did not know who I was. He nodded slightly and looked at Zhou Yan with suspicion.


    Zhou Yan introduced me, "He is my workmate. We met just now."


    The man was not hostile anymore and greeted me friendly. I learned that his name was Zheng Chen.


    It was a little awkward because I didn¡¯t expect his sudden appearance at all so I pretended I care about the child¡¯s situation very much. Zheng Chen thought Zhou Yan had told me already so he sighed, "I do not know what evil things I have done in my last life. Your little nephew was comatose for three years, at the beginning we didn''t pay enough attention to it, but the situation became worse, now It''s lucky for him to wake up for 1 or 2 hours every single day.


    I nodded my head and comforted him for a while then I asked, "what did the doctors say?"


    Zheng Chen became a little angry: "what did the doctor say? They knew nothing! Always tell us to wait and wait but my poor boy..."


    Zheng Chen could not help to sob and maybe he noticed that some people were out there he soon wipe his tears.


    I took a few hundred dollars out of my pocket. Zheng Chen received the money at my insistence. At the same time, Zhou Yan finished her lunch, handed the bowl to Zheng Chen and asked him to go and wash the dishes.


    Zheng Chen greeted me and went out with the bowl. Zhou Yan looked at me in a great hope.


    I did not enjoy the feeling, been anticipated to be success, like a pair of big shoes you had to fill.


    I said fast: "put the note paper in the children''s clothes or under the pillow, never leave the child far away."


    Zhou Yan listened carefully and nodded.


    I hesitated for a moment: "well, try to make Zheng Chen less contact with the boy, or just let him stay away from the ward."


    Zhou Yan''s face was pale, and her lips trembled. ¡°So, this was his fault?"


    I shook my head, "Zhou Jie, calm down, not his fault. It''s just that Zheng Chen may be followed by something. Any strange actions did Zheng Chen do or any strange placed did he go before the child was sick?"


    Zhou Yan sat in silent for a while, just about to say something, but Zheng Chen came back again. It was not a good time to stay. I asked Zhou Yan''s number in an excuse that I got a new cell phone, so I have to keep her number again then I left.


    I went to fortune-telling booth, and Grandpa Zhang didn¡¯t return, so I ate something and went back to hotel.


    Just as I arrived at the hotel, Zhou Yan sent a message, saying that the family was in a poor condition before the child was sick. Later, Zheng Chen bought a small tea house in the hands of his friends. The tea house was a lucrative business.


    At that time, Zheng Chen was basically in the tea house every day, nothing unusual, nor did he go anywhere, he threw himself into business.


    I asked the location of the tea house and reminded Zhou Yan deleting the message and then I sat down began to think about it. In the light of Grandpa Zhang ''s statement, the problem had something to do with the tea house probably.


    Looking at my watch, it was a long before draw. I went out directly to the address given by Zhou Yan, where the mall and the supermarket had been built. I went around and didn''t find anything strange.


    I didn¡¯t know whether it was convenient for Zhou Yan to send a text message, so I gave up. When she contacted me, I would ask her something by the way.


    Early in the second days, Zhou Yan sent a message, with sincerely thanks, thanks to the note, the child woke up last night for 2 hours, and now the doctor was reviewing the child¡¯s condition.


    I replied her with my congratulation, and then asked the details of the small tea house but did not get any useful information from her. I thought for a while, and told Zhou Yan to make a proper excuse, I want to check her house . Zhou Yan totally agreed with my proposal, but the child has a lot of examination to do, it was impossible for her to leave right now.


    I went to the fortune-telling stall, but the fortune-telling stall did not show then I asked the boss of the stall. The boss said that last night, the old man came back, after all, he was more than 70, the police did not want to take the risk.


    But the police banned him to do fortune telling business anymore. So, the old man took his stuff leaved early in the morning, no one knew where he went.

 Chapter 249 Call me Xiao Zhang

    However, no matter what he was thinking, I must rush to the hospital as soon as possible.


    Soon arrived at the hospital, in the hallway of Zhou Yan¡¯s ward, it had become a mess. Zhen Chen was enraged by several doctors, even so, it looked like he was going to hit someone.


    And old man Zhang was behind Zhou Yan protected by her opening arms. There was a big bump on his forehead, which indicating he have been hit.


    The ground was full of rice, vermilion, and yellow paper which had been trampled so heavily that I couldn¡¯t see its original form. Several policemen was educating old man Zhang while maintaining order. He turned his head around showing that he was indifferent to the police.


    I couldn¡¯t help to pat my forehead. How could he come to the hospital to perform a religious rite, even his client didn¡¯t want to do so, the idea of this old man was really fresh and unique.


    I didn¡¯t dare to go closer, I told Zhou Yan that I was together with old Zhang yesterday, once I stepped closer, my lie could be exposed. Moreover, in case I was identified as a confederate, I would be arrested by police which was wronged.


    It was better to be a bystander watching outside.


    Because hospital was a public place, the police saw old Zhang didn¡¯t want to leave so they borrowed a meeting room from hospital, asked everyone to get in and had a meeting, in order to maintain running of hospital.


    To be honest, if it weren¡¯t for old Zhang¡¯s age, plus Zhou Yan quarreled with her husband again, the police would rather arrest them.


    A group of people entered the meeting room, because there was so many people watching, the meeting room¡¯s door was closed, I took a look at the crowd of people who were still discussing excitedly and then sat down at a corner ,the possibility that old Zhang was arrested was very low, when he come out, I would found a chance to talk to him.


    The meeting didn¡¯t last long, it seemed that Zhou Yan had a fight with Zheng Chen, so her face was a little red and ran out crying into the ward. After a while, Zhen Chen was pushed out of the meeting room by police while he was still scolding. His face was full of scratches, he looked a lot more miserable than Zhou Yan.


    He was pushed aisle, Zheng Chen was still scolding, but his target was not Zhou Yan but old Zhang.


    The last one to come out was old Zhang, his face was as red as before, instead of messy hair and halting steps, he looked ten years older and walked dully.


    The police still wanted to educate him, but seeing old Zhang¡¯s status, police left some ordinary words. It looked like that he would go back to suicide himself.


    Old Zhang walked out the gate of hospital, but he didn¡¯t leave, he sat down in a little pavilion, leaned against a pillar and remained silent. And I didn¡¯t know what He was thinking.


    Old Zhang didn¡¯t react to my arrival, I sat on the other side of him, looked at him for a long time and said: ¡°do you think you could drive away the evil spirit of Zheng Chen by performing a religious rite? Well, Zheng Chen is the father of that children.¡±


    Old Zhang raised his head and looked at me in surprise.


    I continued, ¡°do you know what that evil thing was and what was it looked like?¡±


    Old Zhang shook his head unconsciously.


    I laughed ¡°your old man, are really...really...¡±


    I couldn¡¯t find a word to describe him, and there was a pause before I continued, ¡°lovely, Ha ha, come to hospital to perform a religious rite, interesting. But how could you find out that Zheng Chen was feeding evil spirit?¡±


    Old Zhang¡¯s eyes lit up and said: ¡°fate, his fate is doom to be without fortune, but now he has, it could only be evil fortune, excepted feeding evil gods, it could only because of criminal offense. But in the case of the child, I am sure that he was feeding evil spirit.¡±


    I nodded and suddenly curious about fortune telling, ¡°It¡¯s so accurate. Is everything predetermined for a person?¡±


    Old man Zhang shook his head, ¡°fate and luck, fate is nature, but luck is nurture¡±


    ¡°Well, that was not bad, at least make your word sound plausible, it slightly stimulates people to strive.¡±


    Old man Zhang listen to me and frown slightly, he was going to say something but interrupted by me.


    ¡°How did you come up with performing a religious rite today?¡±


    Old man Zhang heard, his face suddenly turned dark again: " the child is innocent, I also know that I¡¯m not skillful enough to save him, but no matter success or not, I have to try. Besides, I heard that the child woke up for a long time yesterday, maybe the child was struggling? Survival is human instinct.¡±


    Didn''t tell old man Zhang the reason why children awake last night, I suddenly felt that this old man was quite lovely, of course, it was combined with silly.


    Old man Zhang looked at me and said, ¡°who are you? How do you know Zheng, that Zheng guy, the child''s father is feeding evil spirit?¡±


    I laughed, " Zheng Chen, as for how I know, hey, I saw it, I was also very curious, but it seems that he doesn¡¯t know he is feeding evil spirit.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know it. " old man Zhang surprised, then he denied:" impossible, if he is not feeding evil spirit, Evil spirit wouldn¡¯t entangle in him.¡±


    ¡°I''m also very confused about this.¡±


    Old man Zhang suddenly paused, and then stared at me for a while which made me frighten, I looked at himself up and down, it seemed nothing wrong on my body.


    Old man Zhang pointed at me, said in a startled way: " you, you said you saw it?¡±


    I nodded curiously: "yes, a toad, on Zheng Chen''s shoulder, but I don''t know where this toad come from.¡±


    " Are you a monk? " old man Zhang looked very excited; his face was bloodshot.


    I didn¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on, just nodded, " probably.¡±


    Old man Zhang cried out unexpectedly, and then he stood up suddenly, just when I thought he was going to hit me, old man Zhang suddenly knelt down in front of me.


    Shit, what''s this?


    Pavilion was not far outside the inpatient building, people walked past started to look at us.


    I hurried to help old man Zhang get up: " what are you doing?¡±


    Old man Zhang was still kneeling on the ground: " I started to follow my father to learn fortune-telling at the age of 16, until now it has been 60 years, but I still can''t learn even the most basic skill. Please accept me as your apprentice for the sake of my old age, my master.¡±


    I was totally stunned, opening my mouth for a long time but could not speak anything, then I replied: " you are 76, but I¡¯m younger than 30?¡±


    Old Zhang shook his head and said, " everyone who has wisdom is master. Please accept me.¡±


    Someone was walking to us, I quickly advised old man Zhang: " ok, you get up quickly.¡±


    Old man Zhang pushed away my hands, I thought he was going to stand up, as a result, old man Zhang knocked his head on ground three times seriously, respectfully called me ¡°master¡±, then he stood up slowly and called me " master¡± respectfully again.


    I completely ignored old man Zhang, looking at curious faces from surrounding onlookers, I made a gesture pointing to my head with finger, smiled embarrassingly, and then the crowd suddenly realized, they looked at old man Zhang sympathetically, then they left.


    I sat on the bench speechless, old man Zhang was standing beside me respectfully, I looked at him and said, " that, old man.¡±

 Chapter 250 A clingy apprentice

    Old man Zhang saw it clearly and said straightforward: "My master, at your service."


    I was really speechless, and I just described the toad on the shoulder of Zheng Chen and asked him, ¡°Have you ever seen this kind of toad?¡±


    Old man Zhang appeared to be somewhat knowledgeable, nodded and asked me: "Excuse me, my master, is that toad has only three feet?"


    It took me sometime to recall it. It seemed that I never noticed how many feet the toad had.


    "Was it important that how many feet it has?"


    Old man Zhang nodded. "Yes, if it''s four feet, it''s just an ordinary evil spirit. But if it''s three feet, it¡¯s a problem."


    I looked curiously at the old man who took me as his teacher: "You know quite a lot. If there''s three feet, what''s the trouble? "


    Old man Zhang said in embarrassment, "I don''t know. That¡¯s all I found in the book which was picked up by me last time, and the rest was torn off."


    As he was saying it, old man Zhang took out a ragged book from his bosom. It¡¯s just a few pieces of paper rather than a book. Perhaps it was flattered that I called it paper, because no page was intact.


    I looked at it. It was just a brief introduction and seemed to be a master¡¯s essay.


    "Is that all?"


    "Yes, that¡¯s all I found. I had been looking for the rest of it for a long time, but I couldn¡¯t find it."


    I nodded and no longer tangled with this issue. I told Old man Zhang that I would go to see how many feet the toad had, and then I left.


    In the hospital''s canteen, I bought some fruit and went to the inpatient department, Zhou Yan and Zheng Chen were there, but they still seemed mad at each other, both tilting their heads to ignore each other.


    "Mrs. Zhou, what are you doing?" I asked Zhou Yan with a naive look.


    Zhou Yan¡¯s eyes turned into glowing when she saw me. She was about to speak but was stopped by my wink. Zheng Chen saw me, he was embarrassed to stand up and greeted me.


    I handed over some fruit, pretending to be concerned. In fact, I was gazing at Zheng Chen''s shoulder. But the damn toad was lying all the time, I couldn''t see its feet at all.


    Zheng Chen was uncomfortable by my gaze and he patted his shoulder with his hand: "Is there anything dirty on me?"


    I was eager to tell him there was something there, but I still managed to hold back, and when Zheng Chen patted her shoulder, I saw it very clearly. The toad moved. It was three-legged. It was the kind of troublesome toad that Old man Zhang said.


    After a few chats, I left. I was just ready to step out of the inpatient department and I saw Old man Zhang walking back and forth there. It seemed that his excitement had not disappeared.


    Returning to the hotel, I typed a message about what I encountered and sent it to Huang Xiaolong and my mother. Witch Yan didn¡¯t have a phone.


    And the reply was coming soon.


    My mother had sent a long message. In a lot of concern, I only summed up one sentence, you must exercise yourself.


    And Huang Xiaolong''s information was very short, just two words: try hard.


    I hated them extremely, but there was no other way. Now it seemed that I could only rely on myself.


    I had made a series of amulet paper that consolidated the spirit and soul. Then I thought for a while and drew a paper amulet. evil spirit, it was evil. Paper amulet might be useful.


    I would go to the hospital again to give amulet paper to Zhou Yan. In any case, save the child''s life first. As for the method, there would always be a method.


    I went to the hospital, and then I gave Zhou Yan the amulet paper when Zheng Chen was away. After explaining the usage, I went back to the hotel to study evil spirit. After all, my mother loved me. Although she didn''t help me evidently, she sent me a book about evil spirit.


    It was said that it was a treasure of Witch Yan.


    And in the book, I soon found information about the toad.


    Three-legged golden toad was a creature from Moon Palace in ancient legend, that was why the later people called the Moon Palace the Toad Palace. It was a mascot of lucky and happiness, it could absorb the wealth, keep the house safe and ward off evil things, it was said that it also could vomit money, lots of money.


    However, the golden toad loved clear water. In the other word, if a golden toad stayed a long time in an enchanting place with a strong desire for money.


    The golden toad would become an evil spirit and brought a bad fortune to those who were willing to offer sacrifices. And the sacrifices were the person who was related by blood to them.


    Well, I understood it, but there seemed to be no way to deal with the golden toad. Besides, the content of the book, in contrast to what I knew, seemed to be useless.


    And my doubts were still unanswered, the few words about people were willing to offer sacrifices had fully explained that Zheng Chen should be volunteered. It was in line with my understanding of most of evil gold.


    But when I looked at Zheng Chen, I thought he was not like the people who willing to offer his child as sacrifice, so what was the problem?


    Should I talk to Zheng Chen and make it clear, so as to understand the situation of offering to a evil spirit, there was this in the book, if evil spirit was offered by someone unwilling, it was easy to be expelled.


    A polite knock on the door outside the room while I was thinking, and I was a stunned, it was hard to know that who would come to this hotel to meet me.


    I walked and opened the door, an old white-haired man stood outside and looked at me respectfully, "My master."


    I held my forehead and I was speechless to walk back to the room, old man Zhang walked into the room followed my footsteps at the same time.


    Before I could speak, Old man Zhang took out a rag which t I didn¡¯t know where he got, he started to clean up my room which made my eyelids keep bouncing.


    "That, old... Oh, don''t clean it. Every day the waiter will come and clean it."


    "I can do anything for you."


    Well, I simply lay on the bed, watching TV, and I was speechless for this stubborn old man.


    After thinking for a while, I pointed at the book on the table: "if you have done it, read this book. We will talk about it. "


    Old man Zhang''s face was red with excitement. I was worried about whether he would die in a sudden.


    The action of cleaning up suddenly accelerated: "yes, master, I will definitely read it carefully, so that I can pass the examination from you."


    I suddenly felt that my head was very painful. There was not any examination at all. He was old enough, but it seemed that he was living in his own world.


    Old man Zhang had cleaned up, and then he picked up the book with his hands, looked carefully, and he was full of excitement.


    I was watching TV boringly; I did not know when Old man Zhang finished reading. He was respectfully standing at my bedside.


    "Well, I finished."


    Old man Zhang nodded.


    I turned off the TV and asked, "tell me what you think"


    "Well...I think we should first understand why the three-legged golden toad appeared" he said. Old man Zhang glanced at me furtively, it seemed that he was afraid of his mistake. "Though Zheng Chen is stubborn, he doesn''t seem to be superstitious. It was not sure that the three-legged golden toad was offered by him. If it''s not, it''s very easy to be expelled."


    "Well, what if he offered it?" an old man with ability was so respectful to me, I felt fun in my heart.


    Old man Zhang frowned for a moment: "we can separate Zheng Chen from his family first, so that the three-legged golden toad can¡¯t absorb the spirits of sacrifice, in this case, it was likely that the toad would leave by itself. Moreover, we can negotiate with the three-legged gold toad, according to the book, this kind of evil thing have their own intelligence."


    Old man Zhang may not be very familiar with Taoism Trick and put forward the plan to stand in the perspective of ordinary people, but in principle, there was nothing wrong, which was exactly what I intend to do.


    I was about to speak, but my cell phone rang. It was a message from Zhou Yan.

 Chapter 251 Negotiation

    Old man Zhang noticed that I was looking at him, he was vacant and stood respectfully.


    "Ding ling ling."


    When I picked up the phone, I was actually called by Zhou Yan. After I connected, I hadn¡¯t had time to say hello and I just heard Zhou Yan''s excited voice: "Master, my husband agrees, and he agrees."


    Zhou Yan¡¯s words confused me, It took me a long time to understand what Zhou Yan meant.


    It was that Zheng Chen found the character paper and felt very angry. However, actions speak louder than words. The spirit of the child had obviously improved a lot in the past few days. Zheng Chen didn¡¯t think that it was the doctor''s effort. After all, the child was still under observation and did not undergo treatment.


    Under Zhou Yan''s persuasion, Zheng Chen looked at the thin child and finally agreed to try another route, of course, without delaying the child''s treatment.


    Because of the religious right, Zhou Yan and Zheng Chen planned to go to the fortune-telling stall this evening. They hoped we could help them.


    I casually responded, and then looked at old man Zhang. The old man was unpleasant with Zheng Chen before. But old man Zhang looked happier than I was at that time. In the capacity of my apprentice, he asked me to save the child.


    Well, measure the stature of great men by the yardstick of small men, it was about me.


    Although we hadn¡¯t thought of how to deal with the three-legged gold toad, we still set off to old man Zhang¡¯s fortune-telling stall.


    The fortune-telling stall was no longer put outside, but Old man Zhang''s house was behind the stall. Although it was just an ordinary cottage, there was a small courtyard behind it, which was convenient for performing a rite.


    In accordance with the instruction of Witch Yan, I laid a small Telepathize Tactics in the small courtyard. As long as stay in the Telepathize Tactics, even ordinary people could communicate with ghosts and gods.


    Outside the Telepathize Tactics, it was an Evil Killing Tactics, mainly to protect the security of us. Whether it would work on the three-leg toad, I was not sure.


    Old man Zhang was very serious to see me finish the arrangement. And then he set up the platform for rite in the courtyard.


    I looked curiously at his skillful layout. Perhaps because I was watching too seriously, Old man Zhang was embarrassed.


    "Master, these things are just used to fool other people, and you know that people nowadays always think that an expert should act in this way. Those experts who can truly destroy the demons like you, because they don''t have this, they are looked down on by people."


    "But my master, these are not all useless, black dog blood, glutinous rice, they have a certain effect on dispelling evil, the most important thing that I think, think¡­¡­"


    "What do you think?"


    ¡°I think that this can comfort the hearts of people. If one knows that there is an expert nearby, he will be less fear in his heart, so his own blood will be more prosperous. To a certain extent, he can also avoid some damage from ghosts.¡±


    I nodded slightly, and what old man Zhang said was something I had never thought of before. No matter whether it was aunt Li, witch Yan, or Huang Bin, such a master, would never do such a thing.


    When ghosts came, just destroy them. It seemed that there was nothing wrong with it.


    However, what Old man Zhang said was also reasonable. When the strength did not reach a certain level, any improvement could be a bargaining chip.


    "Where did you learn these things?"


    "It was some of my feelings, or the exchanges with my peers, is it right?"


    Old man Zhang became unsure.


    "Yes, of course, have you ever caught a ghost?"


    Old man Zhang¡¯s eyes flashed a faint light. He became sad and it took him a long time to nod his head. ¡°Yes, at the last time I was catching a ghost, my wife and child died.¡±


    I had a glimmer of apology, but Old man Zhang gave me an open-minded smile: ¡°It''s been for years, but my master, even if I''m old, I will learn Taoist magic arts and avenge my wife.¡±


    Old man Zhang looked at me firmly. I nodded and then called him to see me drawing a character paper.


    Zhou Yan said that they would come here in the evening, but when it was only at 5 pm, they arrived. Old man Zhang came out to pick them up and came back with a lot of gifts. It looked like Zheng Chen¡¯s apology.


    It was only when Zheng Chen saw me, he was obviously stunned. I smiled and said hello to him: ¡°Zheng Chen, sorry, I lied to you.¡±


    Zheng Chen smiled unnaturally. As could be seen from his expression, he seemed a little regretful. He may think of me as a fraud.


    Zhou Yan knelt down and knocked her head on the ground while holding her child. Old man Zhang went forward quickly to stop her.


    Zheng Chen supported his wife with his hand and looked at old man Zhang. ¡°You said that the problem was because of me. What do you want me to do now?¡±


    Old man Zhang turned to see me and saluted respectfully: "Master."


    In the surprised eyes of Zhou Yan and Zheng Chen, I let them sit on the stool in the yard.


    Zheng Chen sat on the opposite side, and Zhou Yan was sitting next to us with her child. There was quite a feeling of three court trial.


    Maybe because of what Old man Zhang called me, Zhou Yan did not know how to call me, she opened her mouth for a long time, finally asked: "Master, what are we doing now."


    I did not start the Telepathize Tactics and Evil Killing Tactics immediately. First, I gave the child and Zhou Yan a talisman each£¬and then turned to Zheng Chen: ¡°Brother Zheng, whether you think we are frauds or not, it for the sake of your wife and your child, please answer my questions."


    Zheng Chen was embarrassed and nodded.


    ¡°Brother Zheng, you bought a small tea house, didn¡¯t you think if there was something strange in the tea house?¡±


    "Have you seen a toad-shaped ornament? It is a three-legged golden toad."


    "No"


    I looked at old man Zhang. It seemed that things were a bit complicated. I continued to ask.


    "Brother Zheng, have you done anything before you made a fortune, or something happened to you?"


    Zheng Chen thought for a long time and slowly shook his head.


    In this case, I didn¡¯t know what to ask next, and I turned my gaze to the three-legged gold toad on the shoulder of Zheng Chen.


    The three-legged golden toad may feel something wrong. After entering the small courtyard, it never got down again. The bulging big eyes had been vigilantly watching around.


    When Zheng Chen saw that we did not have any voice, he began to ask, "What else would you ask?"


    Zhou Yan said in a hurry: "You are utterly ignorant of it, so the master doesn¡¯t know what to ask. You think about yourself. Do you have any strange thing?"


    Zheng Chen thought for a long time, still shook his head: "I really did not have anything strange."


    Zhou Yan wanted to say something, but I waved my hand and interrupted: "Forget it, let me ask it directly."


    They looked at me strangely, their face seemed full of doubts and fears.


    Old man Zhang was excited with fears. If I couldn''t deal with this toad, would old man Zhang still regard me as his master? Even if he still wanted to do it, I would feel humiliated.


    I shook my head and threw away my confused thought, I did not rush to start the launching. The toad was very vigilant. It would make things worse because the toad was frightened. Especially when I could negotiate with it.


    "Talk about it, it looks like that Zheng Chen didn''t enshrine you. Why did you stay with him?"


    The three-pointed golden toad¡¯ eyes twitched but did not speak.


    This was the first time I had negotiated with a ghost. But it ignored me. It made me stupefied. What should I do now? Did I need to threat it? I frowned.

 Chapter 252 Suicide of the three-legged gold toad

    I ignored him but continued to say, "Let''s talk about it, status quo is not a good idea."


    Three-legged gold toad crawled a bit on Zheng Chen''s shoulder, and then in the small courtyard, there was a very loud frog whistling out of nowhere.


    They were all surprised, but I frowned. What? What did it mean? Was it threatening me, or this guy couldn''t talk?


    "What is making a sound just now?" The three-legged gold toad was on Zheng Chen''s shoulder, so this sound could be described as deafening for him, and his face was pale.


    "Nothing, don''t take it seriously." I comforted Zheng Chen. Zheng Chen looked at the platform for rite aside and looked at us again. His emotion became a lot better as well as Old man Zhang said.


    The three-legged golden toad still did not respond. I took a silver ball from my arms and I deliberately pulled the sleeves to reveal the bloody bracelet on my wrist. The silver ball was secretly given to me by Wu Jian. It was said that it was made by Li Guihua. As for what this was, Wu Jian did not know, but according to Li Guihua, it could guarantee the safety of my life, and the bloody bracelet was given to me by Lulu, it also had certain power.


    To put it plainly, I was showing my muscles to the three-legged golden toad.


    After seeing that, the three-foot gold toad¡¯s bulging big eyes closed and opened its mouth, revealing its mouthfuls of fangs.


    "Can we talk about it?" I tried to make my words sounded dull.


    "He owes me."


    The three-legged golden toad finally spoke, and the voice had a heavy texture of metal.


    It was ok that we could communicate, I looked at other people and they didn''t seem to hear the word of the three-legged golden toad. They were watching at Zheng Chen in puzzled.


    "What did he owe you?"


    "Ask him about it?"


    I nodded and asked Zheng Chen: "What do you owe it?"


    They saw me communicating with air, their fear was even worse.


    Zheng Chen looked around carefully and he trembled.


    Zhou Yan said in anger: "What do you owe? Say it."


    Zheng Chen almost cried, said blankly: "I really do not owe anything?"


    I looked at Zheng Chen and he did not look lying.


    "Can you talk about what he owes you?"


    The three-legged golden toad seemed to be very excited and it was constantly circling around on the shoulders of Zheng Chen.


    "Didn¡¯t he owe me? Didn¡¯t he owe me? Didn¡¯t he owe me?"


    Three-legged golden toad kept chanting, and from time to time, his mouth was constantly exposing its sharp teeth, and it looked very angry because of the words of Zheng Chen.


    And this matter was either inadvertently done by Zheng Chen, or it seemed to be a small thing in Zheng Chen''s mind, but what would it be?


    Now one was blank, the other was angry, I couldn''t move on.


    I thought for a moment, when I walked to the platform for rite, the three-legged golden toad stopped chanting for a moment, it looked at me alertly, and I didn''t care about it. I lit three sticks of incense and stuck them into the glutinous rice and put it in front of Zheng Chen.


    "Help yourself, don''t be angry, things will be clear."


    The three-legged golden toad carefully looked at the incense on the ground. It took a long time that its vigilance slowly dissipated.


    The other people couldn''t saw the toad, but they could see that the smoke drifted toward Zheng Chen¡¯s shoulder as if they were attracted, and then disappeared.


    All the other people was watching the smoke and quivering. Zheng Chen almost cried out. He asked us to save him. His previous doughty was completely gone.


    I shook my head: "It says you owe him, but you say no, everything should be clear first."


    Zheng Chen recalled under the urging of Zhou Yan. It was estimated that he had been scared by the scene just now. The harder he tried to recall it, the more difficult it would be, at last he was grabbing his own hair in madness.


    At this time, I suddenly found a detail, when Zheng Chen looked painful grasping his hair, the three-legged gold toad also stopped, it looked at Zheng Chen, its eyes even revealed a trace of heartache.


    What£¿What was going on here?


    Zhou Yan tried to stop the behavior of Zheng Chen. Zheng Chen did not let Zhou Yan approach, but he stopped grasping his own hair.


    I said to the three-legged golden toad: "I don''t think he really can think of it. Or could you talk about it?"


    The incense on the ground had already been burned, and the three-legged golden toad blinked and finally spoke.


    "Forget it, he has forgotten. What else can I say?"


    I looked at the three-legged gold toad strangely and then pointed to the child who was sleeping in Zhou Yan''s arms tentatively.


    "Would you let go of this child? I can let Zheng Chen burn incense for you."


    Zheng Chen repeatedly nodded and said without careful diction, he said that there was a constant supply of incense from generation to generation. I interrupted him and warn him that he could not give promises to ghosts without careful consideration. Once you promised it but couldn¡¯t fulfill it, things would be much worse than now.


    Kept burning incense, let alone from generation to generation. It sounded simple, but it was actually very difficult to make it. I doubted whether it was because of his mouth that Zheng Chen attracted this three-legged golden toad.


    Unexpectedly, the three-legged golden toad shook its head when I thought it wouldn¡¯t let go of the child, the toad finally spoke.


    "Forget it, forget it."


    After that, the three-legged golden toad jumped off the shoulder of Zheng Chen and slowly crawled toward to a corner. However, on the instant that the three-legged golden toad left Zheng Chen''s shoulder, the entire body of the three-legged gold toad was a lot weaker.


    There was no sustenance for the three-legged golden toad, I was looking at it surprisingly.


    To know the reason why evil god could be enshrined, in most of the cases, it was because of sustenance, which could be stone carvings, or wood carvings, or even other curious things.


    Once the evil god had no sustenance, it would slowly disappear.


    The three-legged golden toad left Zheng Chen and it became a lot weaker, indicating that Zheng Chen had become the sustenance of the three-legged golden toad, the body of others became the sustenance of someone, they must be closely linked.


    Like Li Guihua, as a ghost, she could only use Ni Min''s body to leave.


    Now that the three-legged golden toad had left Zheng Chen, this would kill it, but why did it do so? Is there any relationship between the golden toad and Zheng Chen?


    I looked to Zheng Chen. Zheng Chen realized I was looking at him. He cried and he didn¡¯t dare to move.


    "Why are you doing this?" I asked curiously to the three-legged gold toad.


    The three-legged gold toad looked back at me and its voice was already weakening.


    "Did you just come to get me out of here?"


    Ah, yes, I did come to get the three-gold toad out of here. But for the sake that I had stayed in ghost house for a long time. I didn''t have any hatred feeling to ghosts.


    In most of the time, I treated those kind-hearted ghosts as people like myself.


    Zheng Chen saw me speaking while looking to another direction, he whispered, "Is that thing which was on my body had gone?"


    I nodded and thought for a moment, opened the Spirit Seeking tactics, and suddenly, everyone saw the three-legged golden toad crouching in distance.


    Zhou Yan exclaimed, holding the child tightly, there was also hatred in her face, in addition of fear.


    It was interesting to Old man Zhang, so he started to research it, from time to time he drew the size of the three-legged golden toad with his hands.


    I had been paying attention to Zheng Chen.


    Zheng Chen¡¯s expression was very strange when he saw the three-legged golden toad as if he was confirming something.


    Zheng Chen slowly stood up in my amazed gaze and walked toward the position of the three-legged gold toad, causing Zhou Yan to yell.


    Zheng Chen took a look at Zhou Yan and did not go further. It was just that more doubt in his eyes.

 Chapter 253 Astonish

    In the place where the Three Leg Gold Toad was located, a very illusory figure was standing above the Three Leg Gold Toad. I can only vaguely see that it was a woman.


    ¡°Soul fusion?¡±


    A soul was blended with another soul and a new soul was born. This was a very rare thing. First of all, both souls must be broken. Second, the two broken souls must be complementary. Third, and most critical point was that the fit of the two souls must be extremely high, as high as a person.


    According to aunt Li, such a situation even she has only seen in ancient books.


    A sly spirit and a person''s soul can actually be merged. I never even dreamed about it.


    The shadow of the woman is almost disappearing, but now the night has come, otherwise it was estimated that it will be dissipated directly in the moment of appearance.


    I thought for a moment and asked Zheng Chen: "What''s the name of this woman?"


    Zheng Chen obviously knew this woman. I didn''t talk nonsense. I asked what I needed to know.


    Zheng Chen was silly and murmured: "Xiao Die, Shi Xiao Die."


    As soon as I heard it, I turned and walked to the table to draw a symbol. I also asked the old man Zhang to light the incense stick.


    The symbol was painted well. I put the incense stick lit by the old man, lit the paper, and print it in the hand.


    I drew a soul symbol and was able to stabilize the soul. It was originally designed to ensure that the soul of a dying person would not be isolated from the body for the time being, but it also had a good effect on ghosts.


    After all, the ghost itself is the soul.


    The soul symbol quickly burned out, turning into a smoke and slowly drifting towards the woman on the top of the Three Leg Gold Toad into the woman''s body.


    The woman''s illusory figure is full of blue smoke, and the whole person suddenly became clear.


    The woman nodded to me and thanked. Then she looked at Zheng Chen and didn¡¯t move.


    Zhou Yan also seemed to think of something, holding the child and stood up: "You are Xiao Die, aren''t you dead?"


    Shi Xiao Die smiled at Zhou Yan: "I''m sorry, Yan Zi, I hurt your child."


    Zhou Yan was reminded by Xiao Die, the whole person stepped back a few steps.


    Zheng Chen had already started to cry, and she wanted to give Shi Xiao Die a hug, but was stopped by her.


    "Chen, I still die."


    I gestured to the old man Zhang to bring Zheng Chen over and I asked Shi Xiao Die: ¡°I can tell you that you have a relationship with Zheng Chen, but how do you merge with these Three Leg Gold Toad? Why do you hurt Zheng Chen''s children?¡±


    The two points I asked were places I was very curious about and where I had been unable to think.


    "After that a few robbers came. I learned that there is a tomb next to my tomb. When the robbers came out, he accidentally dropped the stone on the ground, just when I felt I was going to die.


    Zheng Chen arrived. Since then, I have been staying with Zheng Chen.¡±


    I nodded, although Shi Xiao Die did not know how he got together, but finally let me know her history.


    ¡°But why?¡±


    I haven¡¯t finished asking yet. Shi Xiao Die smiled: ¡°"Zheng Chen''s life was very bitter. She always said that she wanted to make money. I wanted to help him, but I don''t know why the child''s anger started to rush into my body."


    "I kept resisting, but I can only slow down, but I can''t control it."


    I nodded. According to them, Shi Xiao Die should have helped Zheng Chen three years ago. Three years ago, the child was just born. If it was not under the control of Shi Xiao Die, it was estimated to have died long ago.


    However, I always feel like I have some omissions, but I couldn¡¯t think of exactly what it was.


    But even if Shi Xiao Die was willing to sacrifice herself, I¡¯m not going to aggressive. Zheng Chen is on the ground, hoping I can help Shi Xiao Die.


    I thought for a moment and simply trapped the shameful Shi Xiao Die with a sleepy charm. Turned to Zheng Chen: "You must find a stone carve as soon as possible. Then put the Soul Maintaining Amulet with Shi Xiao Die.


    Remember that three musks a day. Let stone carving become the sustenance of Shi Xiao Die as soon as possible.¡±


    Zheng Chen nodded, very respectfully took the Soul Maintaining Amulet in my hand.


    Zhou Yan did not speak at all, but her face was ugly. I also understand that. Shi Xiao Die should have an emotional relationship with Zheng Chen. As a woman, Zhou Yan was naturally unacceptable.


    But it was such a disappointment that Xiao Die fluttered. Not to mention I couldn''t do it, and Zhou Yan, a kindhearted person, could not do it.


    Zheng Chen ¡®s couples left for a moment, I sat in a chair and asked the old man Zhang, ¡°Do you think I am right?¡±


    The old man Zhang hesitated, or reverently said: "Master, I think human and ghosts are not in the same boat. Shi Xiao Die is a bad ghost.


    Old man Zhang didn¡¯t finish his words and I shook my head. After all, the old man Zhang had no contact with ghosts. If he knew ghost houses, he would not think so.


    Old man Zhang saw me and shook his head, did not say anything more, silently pack things: "Master, or else, you just move in and live."


    Looking at old man Zhang¡¯s clean environment, I nodded. I have already accepted the hard-working old man from within and would also like to teach him some means to avenge his relatives.


    Old man Zhang looked very happy and worked hard. I watched a 70-plus old man was busy in doing his work and I was embarrassed to help. Unfortunately, I was refused by the old man.


    In the following days, I was teaching Zhang about some basic common sense and simple practices.


    Although Zhang is very old, but his ability to learn is really strong, not only memorizing things from my teaching. It can also be combined with his own method of fortune telling. It is quite better.


    As soon as I felt like I was going to have nothing to teach, I took the old man to the hospital to visit the Zhou Yan family decisively.


    However, when I arrived at the hospital, I was dumbfounded. There were several people I didn''t know in the ward and was looking at me strangely.


    Me and old man Zhang looked at one another and apologized for leaving.


    How much the child''s anger was sucked, and it is reasonable that it would be impossible to leave the hospital so early. Zheng Chen is not a person without money.


    I was puzzled and old man Zhang asked a nurse who had passed by.


    The nurse looked at us strangely¡°Did you still not know? A few days ago, the couples did not say anything. They took their children to find what liar. When the children returned, he died the night. The police all stepped in and were looking for the liar.¡±


    Me and old man Zhang were puzzled. My heart was full of shock. After I had recovered from for a long time, I was planning to ask the whereabouts of Zheng Chen and Zhou Yan but the nurse did not know when to left.

 Chapter 254 Making Mistakes

    "Master, just put all the things on me, I was over 70. They can¡¯t do anything to me?"


    Old man Zhang whispered in my ear.


    I took a look at old man Zhang. This old man was still quite reliable.


    After the two police officers approached and saluted us, a fleshy police officer showed his credentials, "Hello, my name is Su Jun. There are some things I want to ask you about.


    Old man was preparing to speak, and I rushed to say, "OK, please."


    There were a lot of dealings with the police and more with ghosts. I didn¡¯t fear the police. Of course, the key was that I¡¯m not committing crimes.


    Su Jun asked, "You know Zheng Chen and Zhou Yan?"


    I nodded and looked at the police officer who was making the record.


    ¡°Yes¡±.


    "How did you know each other?"


    The use of Zheng Chen''s words can certainly not be used to deceive the police, so I directly said the truth.


    ¡°Before a few days ago, I saw Zhou Yan¡¯s fortune telling, and I¡¯d just say a few words. Maybe we¡¯ll vote for it. I was very happy to talk and then I went to the hospital to see her children.


    The police who made the record giggled, "Cheat me."


    I gave him a faint look and did not respond.


    Su Jun smiled and turned his head to the old man, "You know Zhou Yan, old man?"


    Zhang old man nodded and said, "I know, I gave her fortune telling and said maybe I can save her children. It was me breaking into the hospital that day including a few days agao Zhou Yan brought her child to me.


    The old man''s words made Su Jun very surprised. He looked at the old man. His face was serious.


    ¡°Please come with us.¡±


    The old man shook his head and said, "There is nothing to do with my master and him. It is all on me.¡±


    "It doesn''t mean that you have the final say."


    Old man still wanted to say something but was stopped by me.


    "Well, we cooperate, but I want to know how the child died. And what about Zhou Yan and Zheng Chen?"


    Su Jun did not answer, but instead made a request pose, while the recorded police were dissatisfied, "You don''t know how to die?"


    After that, I didn''t know what the police had thought of and the face became hard to look.


    Old man Zhang and I were taken to the police station. I didn''t know why, because we did not separately, but arranged into a same room.


    It was Su Jun to ask us. It looked like he should be the captain.


    "Did both of you tell Zhou Yan that you can cure her child?"


    "No, it was me. It has nothing to do with him."


    I stopped the excited old man and asked Su Jun, "I would like to ask how the child died. And where is Zheng Chen and Zhou Yan now?"


    I nodded and said, "Well, yes, but I suspect that Zhou Yan and Zheng Chen may be in danger."


    Su Jun brow furrowed, "What do you know? I hope you can tell us in the original, so let''s talk to you, and now you are the biggest suspect."


    Su Jun looked at the old man and then turned to me with a solemn look, "The main thing is you."


    I pouted, my heart was full of helplessness.


    "I only know that they may be in danger, and that danger can happen very quickly. I hope you will save them."


    Su Jun took a moment to think about it, then walked out of the door and came back again, "The child died strangely. It felt like he was being drained of body fluids while he was asleep. As for Zhou Yan and Zheng Chen, they disappeared in the morning before the nurse discovered the child''s death.


    I nodded, "The monitor did not find out how they were leaving."


    Su Jun nodded.


    "Master, here."


    The old man¡¯ named to me suddenly made Su Jun look at me with a weird look.


    I did not have time to pay attention to Su Jun.


    My mind is full of blank space. In fact, when I was in the hospital, I had some speculation, but from my heart, I did not want to believe in my own ideas.


    Is really Shi Xiao Die, really because I had wrongly believed people and led to this miserable result.


    Old man worried patted my shoulders worried, "Master, do not blame you."


    I took a deep breath and shook my head, "If it is not me but who? You have already reminded me, but I still believe in Shi Xiao Die."


    Su Jun made a wink with the concealed and the people next to him. The policeman hurried away.


    I looked at Su Jun¡¯s action. He shook his head. He must have sent someone to inquire about Shi Xiao Die, but it was doomed to receive no useful information.


    "Can you determine Zhou Yan''s life or death or whereabouts?"


    I didn¡¯t know much about the old man''s fortune-telling technique, but I think it should be possible.


    Sure enough, old man Zhang nodded, "Live or death I can know, I need something."


    I looked to Su Jun and he also very direct, "What do you want?"


    Old man Zhang will need to say everything one by one, in fact, was three sticks of incense and a bowl of rice.


    Su Jun arranged for people to get it and waited until they took it. They said, "I''m crazy too. If it''s not for the children to die too strangely, I certainly won''t believe you."


    I nodded to Su Jun. In any case, he did what he should not do.


    The old man laid rice on the table and wiped it. He whispered about the date when Zhou Yan birth and the incense was ignited, and then in a certain order, the burnt ash was shaken on the rice little by little.


    Su Jun was full of doubts in his eyes. I couldn''t understand it at all. But we all looked at it carefully. Until three sticks of incense was burned, the old man began to wipe the sweat, "Zhou Yan is dead."


    Su Jun frowned and did not speak. He did not care about old man Zhang¡¯s tiredness and asked him to check Zheng Chen¡¯s life and death.


    While the old man was working on the things he had just done from the beginning, a police officer came in hastily, watching us awkwardly for the first time, and then spoke to Su Jun.


    After Su Jun listened, they looked at old man Zhang with a weird look.


    Is it the case of Shi Xiao Die?


    When Su Jun saw me watching him, they said, "Shi Xiao Die has been dead for three years, and Zhou Yan''s body was only recently found, just on the way to her hometown.


    Like the children in death, the whole body''s water seems to evaporate. But the time of death will not exceed 5 hours.¡±


    In my heart, Zhou Yan sighed and then paid attention to the location of Zhou Yan''s death.


    On the way to his hometown, Isn¡¯t Shi Xiao Die going back to the land of bones, but why did she go back to? Suddenly I remembered that Shi Xiao Die had said that there was another grave in the place where she was buried. Is there anything there for Shi Xiao Die to go back?


    Thought of this, I confirmed it to Su Jun.


    Whether the place where the resident Shi Xiao Die was buried is not the home of Zhou Yan.


    Su Jun asked the policeman who asked one side and said, ¡°Yes, Zhou Yan, Zheng Chen, and Shi Xiao Die are a local person, but the division has already died for three years.¡±


    I nodded and did not explain it to Su Jun. Instead, I said directly, ¡°The only clue now is Zheng Chen¡¯s hometown. I recommend focusing on the graveyard of the teacher Kocho. I hope you can take us with you. Things cannot be solved by your police."


    Su Jun deeply looked at me and nodded. "When the police were for so many years, I still knew something, but your identity information has now been recorded in our database. I hope you do not have other ideas."


    I promised to Su Jun cautiously.


    Soon, we sat in a police car and went to Zheng Chen¡¯s hometown. On the way, Su Jun also arranged for the police to focus on monitoring Shi Xiao Die¡¯s cemetery.


    Along the way, Su Jun wanted to ask me something, but I ignored him.


    My heart is full of remorse. I finally thought of what was missing from me at the time.


    Shi Xiao Die was very excited when he first started and said that Zheng Chen owed her but he later voluntarily left. The reason for leaving was that Zheng Chen had forgotten her.


    In this way, the huge contrast between the front and the back didn¡¯t catch my attention at all. As a result, Zhou Yan¡¯s family members were killed. Sure enough, they will not grow under the wings of others.


    Zheng Chen''s hometown is not far. In just two hours, it has already arrived.


    Just when we parked, Su Jun received a phone call and said that Zheng Chen¡¯s whereabouts had been found in the graves of Shi Xiao Die. It was just that Zheng Chen acted very strangely. The whole person was as thin as a bone, and he walked up and down.


    I told the Soviets to tell the police not to move, and then trod with Su Jun to the division¡¯s graveyard.


    However, when he arrived at the destination, we did not find Zheng Chen¡¯s whereabouts. We asked a police officer before he knew that Zheng Chen had actually entered the grave of Shi Xiao Die through a cave.


    It seemed as if the police were scared. After Su Jun confirmed that it was not an escape route, they could only look at me for assistance.


    "You have experienced these things?"


    Su Jun was shocked by my asking.


    "You are not afraid at all, nor do you feel surprised."


    Su Jun changed his face and nodded. "I have seen. I know that there are some things in this world, something I do not understand."


    I nodded and let the extra policemen leave and sent a talisman to everyone.


    Fortunately, these days in order to teach old man Zhang, the paper was painted a lot, otherwise, it could be troublesome.


    After telling the old man to arrange the table, I let Su Jun carry the police to dig the tomb of Shi Xiao Die.


    Because he saw Zheng Chen''s entranced into the grave, Su Jun did not reject it, but only let the police be careful.


    The burial hole of Shi Xiao Die was not deep. The strangest thing was that there was no coffin. Only wrapped by a tattered mat.


    Taking away the mat, Zheng Chen is holding a dead skeleton with almost bones. His chest still fluctuates slightly.


    All the police officers who saw this scene sucked on this cold air and stood unconsciously far away.


    I took the first few steps and poured fresh black dog blood directly onto Zheng Chen and Shi Xiao Die¡¯s bones.


    However, there was no response.


    "Master, it''s not right." Zhang old man came to me and whispered remind me.


    I also know that it is not right. According to the records, it is now supposed to be a sizzling voice that emits white smoke with stench, rather than being unresponsive.

 Chapter 255 Find the wrong ghos

    Looking at the dark clouds over my head, I had a bad idea.


    I looked at the police who made a sound. The police''s face was full of fear. Although he did not leave his position, he could not stop shaking his whole body, he looked like he was scared seriously.


    I haven¡¯t had time to said something, Su Jun sternly reprimand: "What are you doing?"


    The police looked at Su Jun with a grieved face and stammering said: "That, that, that Zheng Chen just laughed."


    Su Jun glared at the police fiercely, Zheng Chen''s chest was still ups and downs, which illustrated he was not dead, it was normal that he could laugh.


    I looked at Zheng Chen who didn¡¯t have any expression at all. The unease in my heart was getting stronger.


    "Ready, Evil Killing Formation."


    Greeting Old Zhang, I have already taught the Evil Killing Formation to Old Zhang after meeting Shi Xiaodie.


    In fact, the Evil Killing Formation were two sections, but I always liked to use two formations at the same time to ensure safety.


    The two formations were already arranged soon, and at this time the sky was dark as if night fell, what was stranger was that the dark clouds only appeared above us and the distance was still a clear and boundless sky.


    All people were in a tumult, although I did not know why, I had no choice but to ask Su Jun to gather all the police together and let them stand outside in a safe place.


    Old Zhang¡¯s face was heavy, he said by my side.


    "Master, I always felt something was wrong. The bones of corpse looks very big, the stature shouldn¡¯t be low. It''s not like division Kocho."


    Old Zhang''s words as a lightning flash across my heart, I looked at Old Zhang with open eyes and carefully looked at the corpse which was held by Zheng Chen in the tomb.


    Just a few parts of the skeleton were still covered with mat, I couldn''t see any clues from the exposed places.


    "Su Jun, is it Shi Xiaodie ''s cemetery?"


    Su Jun stunned because of my anxious words and he immediately looked at a policeman by his side.


    The police said, "Yeah, the fellow-villager say that Shi Xiaodie is buried here, and there is a tombstone of Shi Xiaodie."


    I nodded, but what Old Zhang said still make me uneasy, I thought for a while and said.


    "You are police, you should be more familiar with the bones. Can you distinguish whether the skeleton is Shi Xiaodie ¡®s or not?"


    "This requires professional equipment."


    Su Jun seemed to understand what I meant: " Chen, didn''t you study forensics? Go and see."


    The police who was just scared walked up with a grimace. I knew he was afraid so walk up with him.


    Only for a while, Chen didn¡¯t look very good : ¡° Captain Su ,the corpse should not be Shi Xiaodie ¡¯s ,her height is only 160, but the height of this corpse will not be less than 170, and the skeleton of the corpse is very large , it should be a man or a woman who born with a broad skeleton."


    Su Jun¡¯s face changed and opened his mouth to reprimand Chen.


    I finally understand where the problem lies.


    Black dog blood had great damage to the soul, the approximate effect was equal to using sulfuric acid on a living person.


    If the skeleton was not Shi Xiaodie ¡®s, the consequences could be imagined.


    It would be fine if it has been reincarnated in a new body, but now it was obviously not.


    And the person was actually buried in a straw mat, perhaps he was unpopular before his death.


    When the person was alive, he was unpopular, After death, a ghost stayed in good condition but its tombstone were changed and there was other people inside the grave, it was dug the hole and splashed with dog blood. My God, no one could stand it.


    "You all withdraw, Captain Su, you immediately sent someone to investigate who the skeleton was."


    Su Jun just nodded and saw a white-armed arm that still hang a piece of cloth suddenly stretching out of the grave, suddenly catching Chen who was about to leave.


    Chen let out a cry of fear, and then the amulet on him made a pale blue light.


    The white- boned arm made a sizzling sound and instantly shrank back.


    Chen rolled and climbed to run to Su Jun.


    Su Jun swallowed saliva several times, just understood what I had arranged and hurriedly took Chen out of the battleground.


    "Sweet candle wax paper."


    In my greeting, Old Zhang put the things that were prepared early on the bill.


    I walked over and ignited the incense and candle quickly, worshiping the bones there times respectfully.


    "He is framed by the monster, I doesn¡¯t intend to offend you£¬please forgive me."


    The words were just finished, I immediately read the incantation.


    Only two sentences of my incantation were read, the lighted candle was extinguished without warning, three incenses also fell on the ground£¬the open fire in the brazier was like movie replaying, the blaze gradually shrank until it went out.


    "Please continue to read the incantation."


    "Yes, master."


    The old man stood in my position to concentrate on the incantation.


    I took a handful of rice and used rice to quickly write a "repentance" on the ground. Then I bit my middle finger and use blood to write along the word which was made of rice.


    It was the way to express confession to ghosts. The so-called ten fingers linked to the heart is equivalent to a word that was written by heart blood. It is not just that. Once the writing is completed, I had to make offerings to the ghost. Although it didn¡¯t need to be lit incense every day, but to lit incense was absolutely indispensable during the traditional festivals or sacrifice.


    Just after I finished writing the ¡°repentance¡±, the candle that had been extinguished suddenly ignited, the blaze in the brazier also suddenly appeared.


    I hurriedly lit the incense again. Fortunately, the ghost was not expected to be seen whenever living or death, seeing that someone was willing to make offerings, it immediately rejoiced.


    The ghost was a poor person, he had only one mat, after death, no one knew that the place where his bone stayed was changed or someone added a monument. It seemed that nobody worship him.


    I thought, adding paper to the brazier again.


    Su Jun ran over hurriedly, seeing it seemed to be quiet, he came in and said, "What happened?"


    I shook my head, finished, it was not simple, I still need to rebuild the bones and carve a tombstone to enshrine the soul.


    "Do you find out about it?"


    Su Jun nodded, Chen grabbed to say: "I found, I found it. unexpectedly such a big skeleton turned out to be a woman. It was said that a bachelor who bought her as a wife, but unfortunately, she was too ugly, then, um, people in the village can do it, they don''t know why she died, As for her name, what is it? No one in the village knows it, but they call her bitch.¡±


    As soon as the two words out, I secretly said it was terrible, then the candles and incense breaking off at the same time, the countless yellow papers were liked small balls floating into the air.

 Chapter 256 Midnight Hospital

    I glared at Xiao Chen with dissatisfied and kicked Xiao Chen''s knee.


    Xiao Chen knelt on the ground directly, at the moment he about to speak, I put into his mouth a mouthful of rice. I pressed Xiao Chen''s neck and made him bow his head toward the grave.


    Su Jun was about to stop me at first when he saw my first action, but he stopped himself when he saw my second action.


    I told Xiao Chen, "Spit out rice and apologize sincerely."


    It seemed that Xiao Chen didn¡¯t understand me, he spewed out the rice but tried to stand up. My strength was not as strong as policeman who often worked out. I couldn¡¯t stop him from getting up.


    Xiao Chen stood up and spit saliva directly into the basin, "What are you doing?"


    I looked at Chen and shook my head helplessly. Maybe it was fate. But now I couldn¡¯t let the woman whose surname was Zhang hurt Xiao Chen anyway.


    I ignored Xiao Chen. I picked up Evil Killing Amulet on the platform of rite that was written previously, pointed it against the fireball that floating in sky. "He is young and not sensible. Please forgive him. Otherwise, don''t blame me for being rude."


    As soon as my voice had just come out, the fireball in the sky sparkled and burnt out instantly. After the flames went out, it became dark ash floating down in air.


    Su Jun said, "Is it over?"


    I took a look at Xiao Chen in silent, then spoke to the old man Zhang, "Well, stop chanting."


    "Master, but..."


    Old man Zhang wanted to speak but was stopped by my wink. I gave him a cup of water because his voice was hoarse.


    "Take a good rest."


    Old man Zhang nodded.


    I then turned around to look at Su Jun, "Please find the graves of Shi Xiaodie as soon as possible, and try your best to prevent Zheng Chen from dead."


    Su Jun nodded and looked at me in a eye full of doubts.


    After a series of things that had happened, we had gotten rid of most of the suspicion, but after all, everything was not finished. Therefore, old man Zhang and I had to returned to old man Zhang''s home under the lead of the police. That was a kind of monitoring of us.


    The next morning, Su Jun came without any follower.


    When he met me, Su Jun asked quickly, "Can you save Xiao Chen?"


    I looked at Su Jun and said, " Xiao Chen? What is the trouble with him?"


    "I can see that the woman whose surname was Zhang does not intend to let go of Xiao Chen. At that time, she didn¡¯t take further action was probably because of your formation."


    I watched him a bit surprisingly. His ability of investigating was so good that he had nothing to be ashamed of being a policeman.


    Su Jun nodded and then said, "Zheng Chen is still alive. I let my colleagues take guard in the hospital. The tomb of Shi Xiaodie has found, but her skeleton is gone. I sent someone to investigate. It turned out that her skeleton was removed long ago."


    I nodded tiredly, "Where is Zhou Yan''s body?"


    "Already cremated. After all, it¡¯s a weird death. What shall we do next?"


    I thought for a moment, "Just find the body of Shi Xiaodie as soon as possible, and let Xiao Chen do what I said as quickly as he can."


    Su Jun nodded and then left.


    The two formations I laid down could only be maintained for three days. Within three days, I was not sure whether Chen will be able to obtain the forgiveness of the woman whose surname was Zhang.


    I spread my right hand, and the wound on my finger had healed, but in the palm of my hand I had a pale red word of ¡°repentance¡±. I asked Old man Zhang to search for a wooden tablet to make it look like a spirit tablet.


    Then I pressed my right hand on the spirit tablet, muttered incantations, and my palm warmed up a bit. I took out my palm, and the word of ¡°repentance¡± which was in the middle of my palm was gone, but above the spirit tablet, there was a pale red word of ¡°repentance¡±, but soon disappeared.


    The spirit tablet was placed in a high place in the middle of the room, and the three sticks of incense was lit. I with Old man Zhang respectfully prayed and then I went to sit in the small courtyard.


    Today, the sunshine was good, and it shined warmly on the body.


    "Master."


    "Hum"


    "Is the female ghost whose surname was Zhang really going to look for officer Xiao Chen?"


    "The female ghost whose surname was Zhang is a kind person, she did not retaliate against the people in the village, she forgave me. As long as Chen can do as what I said, the problem won¡¯t be serious, but now the female ghost is beginning to complain. If Xiao Chen dose something wrong again, I am afraid..."


    Old man Zhang nodded; his face was showing a worried look.


    I smiled and said, "Xiao Chen had seen these things, so he would not dare to neglect it anymore. Besides, Su Jun will certainly warn him."


    "Well, I know, master."


    I was so boring, I began to teach old man Zhang, but many of the teachings were killing techniques. Shi Xiaodie had become a pain in my heart. My hatred for her was nothing less than the weird monster in the ancient well of my home.


    Fooling, deceiving, cruel, and sinister, this was the only impression that Shi Xiaodie left for me. Now it was only waiting for Su Jun to seek out the tomb of Shi Xiaodie.


    After two days passed, the Shi Xiaodie¡¯s tomb still had no clue, and Zheng Chen fell asleep on the bed all day just like his child did, he had no relatives who could take care of him around him.


    The only good news was that although Xiao Chen did not find the woman¡¯s further information, she had already been buried and honored according to my word.


    It looked like that the kind-hearted woman was probably not going to hurt Xiao Chen£¬but Su Jun still did not believe it. He took a few amulets from me and said that he wanted to give them to Xiao Chen and his family.


    Just when I thought that the body of Shi Xiaodie could no longer be found, Su Jun was very excited to call me and said that Zheng Chen was awake and that the body of Shi Xiaodie was moved by Zheng Chen.


    It was already midnight. However, old man Zhang and I still hurried to the hospital.


    Hospitals at night were always gloomy and weird. This had nothing to do with ghosts. It was merely because of the accumulation of too many negative emotions in such places. This kind of negative emotion could always accumulate Yin Qi. And Yin Qi was the most needed thing for ghost. That was why it was easier for a person to encounter strange things when he was unlucky.


    The hospital''s light was bright, but none of people, there was full of pale color. The nurses on duty were sleeping in the duty room. None of them was outside.


    "Be careful, something is wrong." Several times of carelessness made me become more sensitive. I always felt that the hospital was a bit strange. Of course, it might because I had not been to hospital so late in night.


    Only one policeman on the aisle fell asleep on a bench in front of the intensive care unit.


    It had been 20 minutes since Su Jun called me, the case progressed so suddenly. It was such an important matter that the policeman could not fall asleep.

 Chapter 257 Police buried corpse

    I took a look at old man Zhang. I didn¡¯t know when old man Zhang had taken a mahogany sword in his hands and was on alert.


    In my hand, I concealed a Evil Killing Amulet and slowly pushed the ward door open.


    The door was pushed open and there was no sound. In the room, three policemen were standing around Zheng Chen''s bed.


    "Master, it''s not right." old man Zhang made a whisper to my ears.


    I nodded and I did not need him to say. I also knew that something was wrong. The three police officers stood around the patient in the middle of night. They didn''t talk or move. So there must be something wrong.


    I didn¡¯t hesitate to throw Evil Killing Amulet which were in my hand to those policemen.


    What stunned me was that, when an Evil Killing Amulet flew to the back of one of the policemen with a pale yellow light, it turned out to be like throwing a stone into water. Only caused some ripples at the starting point and disappeared soon.


    For the first time, I encountered such a situation. I didn''t know what to do for a while. But old man Zhang spoke behind me.


    "How strange it is, their fate was vague."


    I did not look back, asked curiously, "What do you mean."


    "Because they are all helping me."


    The voice behind me suddenly sounded strange and gloomy. I hurried to turn around, but it was too late, and a huge force struck me. When I hit the back of the police, I just felt like I was in a deep quagmire, the surrounding area even started to ripple.


    After a sense of severe weight loss, I found that the surrounding environment had completely changed, and now I was standing on a familiar soil slope.


    In front of me, Su Jun and three other police officers were digging blankly. Just in front of where they were digging, there was a tombstone with a familiar name on it, the tomb of my dear daughter Shi Xiaodie.


    Zheng Chen was standing in front of the tombstone, he seemed had realized I was watching, slowly turned around his head to show me a strange smile.


    I thought it was a phantasmagoria in my heart.


    Zheng Chen only smiled and turned back his head watching the tombstone in a daze.


    Su Jun and others had already dug out a black coffin. At this time, they were lifting the coffins aside, and then they went to lift up a bar-shape thing on the ground.


    At this time, I discovered that it was a body wrapped in a mat. It was a woman whose surname was Zhang.


    The body of Zhang was slowly put into the tomb of Shi Xiaodie, and was buried again.


    Several police officers lifted up the body of the Shi Xiaodie. Zheng Chen finally had an action, he walked ahead slowly. Police officers took the body and walked behind him. I hurried to keep up.


    Zheng Chen''s face expression was very strange, he cried and smiled simultaneously. When I was curious, Su Jun and the other people were expressionless, they dumped the body of the Shi Xiaodie from the coffin into the soil pit.


    The corpse that had not decayed looking at the sky with eyes widely opening, and on the chest of Shi Xiaodie, there was a bamboo which diameter was as big as a baby''s arm.


    Was Shi Xiaodie killed by him£¿I was very surprised. From the mouth of Su Jun, I knew that Shi Xiaodie¡¯s died of illness, but now as I was watching at the bamboo inserted into her chest. How was it possible died of illness?


    Su Jun and others had already begun to bury soils. I hurriedly looked around trying to remember this place.


    However, just after looking it, I was shocked when I turn my head. Zheng Chen was standing less than half a foot away from me; he was looking at me with his strange eyes.


    "You, you kill Shi Xiaodie."


    "It''s not me, it''s not me." Zheng Chen''s eyes shed down blood, and his face was extremely painful.


    Su Jun and others had already completely buried Shi Xiaodie and continued to dig the pits. I looked at it with curiosity and continued to focus on Zheng Chen.


    "Why do you want to dig out Shi Xiaodie? What¡¯s more, you embed the woman whose surname is Zhang in the tomb of Shi Xiaodie."


    Zheng Chen¡¯s expression changed from suffering to anger, ¡°Mrs. Zhang should accept the worship, but Shi Xiaodie is not worthy of it.¡±


    The words of Zheng Chen did not make me understand clearly, but I also felt faintly that perhaps it was because of Shi Xiaodie, and Zheng Chen should have a good relationship with the woman whose surname was Zhang.


    Su Jun and others had already finished digging the pits. Zheng Chen ignored me and even got into the coffin of Shi Xiaodie. Then he was buried by Su Jun and other people near Shi Xiaodie.


    Su Jun and others finished all this then stood motionless. I was about to go and take a look.


    Suddenly I saw a red light that broke the thick night and formed a crack. Through the crack, I could see that old man Zhang was brandishing his mahogany sword in the ward and gasping.


    In this way, it was possible to break through the phantasmagoria. I just flashed an idea and a sense of loss of weight came. The whole person went back to the ward.


    At the same time, Su Jun and the three policemen were soften and fell down onto the ground, sweating straightly.


    I patted old man Zhang whose face was happy but sweaty. Although this apprentice was actually a bit older, he was very reliable.


    My eyes fell on the bed, Zheng Chen had disappeared.


    The phantasmagoria seemed to be just telling me something, and there was no malice. It wouldn¡¯t be that vicious woman of Shi Xiaodie could make it, was it Zheng Chen£¿


    Su Jun was moaning while getting up by holding the bed, his eyes were full of bleakness and his mouth skin was shaking.


    I looked at the soil on the clothes of Su Jun. I felt even more frightened in my heart. This would not be the effect that phantasmagoria could produce.


    Su Jun and others were already tired. They only said to me, "Have you seen it? I saw you too."


    I nodded.


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    I shook my head.


    I really didn''t know what''s going on. It''s a phantasmagoria, but phantasmagoria couldn''t really make stick mud onto a person who hadn''t left the ward.


    If it was not a phantasmagoria, had I really been there? This was not possible, if I had been there, old man Zhang would definitely know it. Moreover, It took 2 hours to drive from here to Zheng Chen''s home, a round trip would took too much time that the sun would had already risen, but now it was still dark outside the window.


    "Go and find it. The body of Shi Xiaodie should be definitely there."


    After listening, Su Jun said, "What about Zheng Chen?"


    "Didn¡¯t you have already guessed it?"


    Su Jun nodded blankly, and his entire body sat down effeminately on the ground. It looked as if the scene just now scared him a lot.


    "Set off on tomorrow early morning, everyone takes a rest now."


    I glanced at the two policemen who had been completely scared then told old man Zhang to leave with me.


    This matter had become more and more complicated. The origin reason of that toad had not yet been found. Now there was such a strange scene. I really wanted to go back to the ghost house for help.

 Chapter 258 There was no clue

    Along the way, Su Jun kept silent. I didn''t know what he was thinking. As we reached, then he told the police to follow him, to find the body of Shi Xiaodie.


    It looked like the experience of last night impressed Su Jun deeply. Without taking any detour, he found out the destination directly.


    The police who went to the village to investigate further information had already set off.


    ¡°Captain Su got it."


    Just when I finished smoking a cigarette, a police officer came over to report it.


    Su Jun did not respond to the policeman but he turned back to look at me.


    I nodded and said, "Let¡¯s go."


    Su Jun just took the lead.


    The first to be dug out was a black coffin, and beside the coffin, the police were digging the skeleton of Shi Xiaodie.


    Su Jun took a deep breath before they opened the coffin.


    Without any accident, it was Zheng Chen lying inside the coffin.


    Zheng Chen''s face was still scrawny, even the eyeballs was dried and sunk deeply. The whole person was like a dry corpse without any water.


    But on Zheng Chen''s face, there was a strange smile.


    Su Jun faintly waved: "Take it away."


    Several forensic doctors who were fully protected immediately went down, prepared to lift the body. At this moment, I saw something in the back of Zheng Chen¡¯s head reflected sunlight.


    "Wait a minute, what''s behind Zheng Chen''s head?"


    Several forensic doctors took a look at me and immediately turned to Su Jun, they stayed there still.


    Su Jun looked at me with a puzzled look and told the forensic doctors: "You take a check."


    Several forensic doctors squatted and looked carefully for a long time: "It seems to be fragments of something."


    This time I did not have to command them, Su Jun let the forensic sorted out the fragments.


    The fragments were piled up a little, I put on the gloves handed by the forensics doctors, and slowly pieced the fragments together.


    "It is a three-legged gold toad, "old man Zhang shouted.


    I nodded, although only a small part of it was appeared, it could be seen that this was a carving of a three-legged gold toad. I had not yet recognized the material.


    Su Jun squatted beside me and asked: "Is it useful?"


    I nodded and then Su Jun called a police officer and let him keep it well.


    Everything seemed to be going well. But after digging for a long time. We failed to find the skeleton of Shi Xiaodie in where it should be.


    A policeman wiped his sweat and asked, "Captain Su, shall we go on digging?"


    Su Jun looked to me and I looked at the deep pit as high as a person, then shook my head.


    "No need."


    "The phantasmagoria that appeared last night was Zheng Chen''s, which shows that Shi Xiaodie is buried here, but now it was gone. It is estimated that Zheng Chen did not know about it."


    Su Jun looked at the dirt that had just been dug out "But they buried it together last night. The soil is so strong that it is not like it was dug just now."


    I shook my head. The whole thing seemed to have a person behind controlling. This guy, let alone we haven''t found it yet. It was estimated that Zheng Chen did not know, but who would be this person?


    I turned my eyes to the earth that was dug up.


    "Hey, what''s that?"


    "What?"


    I pointed to a small piece of wood in the soil. A forensic doctor who was about to climb out of the pit picked it up and took a look at it. "It''s like a bamboo strip used to make a mat."


    A bamboo mat, Su Jun and I looked at each other. Then I heard Su Jun said: "someone went to the village and ask where the woman whose surname Zhang was buried."


    Old man Zhang came and said, ¡°Master, why does Zheng Chen want to exchange the tomb of the woman surnamed Zhang and Shi Xiaodie¡¯s? Is there any special reason?¡±


    "Of course, but we haven''t found it out yet."


    Things seem to be obscured by a layer of fog, so that we could only see the shadow vaguely, but we cannot connect all the things in the fog.


    When Su Jun went to work, I took old man Zhang to start studying the difference between the two tombs. Their tombs were exchanged, the greatest possibility was that there was something special in the burial place. For example, Yin Qi was heavy, and it was suitable for keeping corpses, or any other reason like that.


    After a lap of discussing, old man Zhang and I didn''t find any clues, but it couldn''t say that there was no gain. At lest, Shi Xiaodie¡¯s tomb was slightly better, and there was less geomantic omen advantage in the tomb of the woman surnamed Zhang. It was more like a casual place.


    I didn''t study geomantic omen, but I listened to old man Zhang said that this difference had no effect basically.


    " Master, Captain Su asked you to go over." A policeman was sent by Su Jun to call us.


    I went over with old man Zhang.


    Currently, Su Jun was in a bad mood. He sat aside smoking. Seeing us, he threw away his cigarette butts: "We got a little information, but my colleagues said that people in the village are not cooperating with our work. It seemed that they had communicated with each other before."


    "First tell us what you have found."


    Su Jun nodded and told us little by little.


    Shi Xiaodie and Zheng Chen were classmate with each other both in middle school and senior high school. Later, Zheng Chen entered university, and Shi Xiaodie went to work outside in a city. However, the connection between them didn¡¯t cut off.


    Most of the villagers thought that two people would be a couple.


    In the junior year, Zhang Chen went home for the spring festival. He met Shi Xiaodie by chance. They totally fell out with each other, but no one knew the reason. Zheng Chen returned to university before the end of spring festival.


    However, Shi Xiaodie did not leave, and she left until a long time form the end of spring festival. She never returned after her left.


    Zheng Chen was married after graduating from university. His wife was Zhou Yan from the same village.


    It seemed that Zheng Chen and Shi Xiaodie did not contact with each other, but according to one villager, in the night before Zheng Chen got married, he saw two people, Shi Xiaodie and Zheng Chen argued in back hill. And soon Shi Xiaodie died on the way back because of illness.


    Obviously, she had already came back. How could she die on her way back? Was it a ghost who came back?


    As expected, he got only a little information. I watched Su Jun, and he smiled embarrassingly and gave a glimpse at the police officer who gathered information.


    "Did Zheng Chen kill Shi Xiaodie?"


    "Is the time coincided?"


    The policeman shook his head: ¡°Almost all the people in the village are not clear about the time. It is strange. It is reasonable to say that marriage is not a trivial event. How could none of them remember that specific time?¡±


    Things were getting more and more strange. I couldn¡¯t find a clue. I asked straightforward: "What about the woman who was surnamed Zhang?"


    ¡°The woman¡¯s information is even little. We only know that she was bought back as a wife. Then she was abandoned by others, so she became a beggar in the village. She seemed to have intimate relationship with a lot of men. As for further information we failed to get it.¡±


    "What about the man who bought her?"


    Su Jun looked dejected: "I am looking for him. We''ve heard that he had gone out for work. I haven''t heard any news yet."

 Chapter 259 You are not ugly

    I was curious, but I didn''t ask Su Jun. After all, he was a policeman. There were certainly many things that were not suitable for me to know.


    However, after Su Jun finished his phone call, he just looked at me straightly. I looked at myself up and down for a long time. I didn''t find anything wrong on me.


    "Su Sir, do I have any problem?"


    Su Jun sighed: "There may be something wrong with Xiao Chen."


    I looked at the depressed face of Su Jun. I couldn''t help but worry about what was going on in my heart. What could have happened? When I looked at your behavior, I would know that something was going wrong.


    Su Jun did not wait for me to answer, and he directly said: "Chen''s wife felt that the spirit tablet was unlucky and threw it into the garbage."


    I looked at Su Jun speechless, and It was true that you would not die if you don¡¯t kill yourself. Xiao Chen was bastard enough, but I didn''t expect that he had a bastard wife too, but now it was helpless.


    "How is Xiao Chen now?"


    Su Jun shook their heads: ¡°It looked as if he had been frightened. Two colleagues had gone to his house to accompany him. It should be no problem temporary.¡±


    I nodded. Su Jun said that there was no problem, but I knew that the problem had already been very serious. What kind of situation would make a strong man let a few colleagues go to his house to accompany him?


    ¡°We went to Xiao Chen¡¯s house, you go on to investigate this case.¡±


    Su Jun nodded and drove us to Xiao Chen¡¯s house. On the way, Su Jun called Xiao Chen, but unfortunately, the phone never worked. Su Jun frowned and called other colleagues, but it still couldn''t get through.


    Su Jun did not say anything, but the car speed was obviously increased a lot, I had to wear a safety belt cautiously.


    In a two-hour drive, Su Jun took only one and a half hour to park the car in a residential car park and then took us into a elevator. It was inside the elevator that Su Jun were walking back and forth.


    When the elevator door opened on the 13th floor, it opened slowly, just as we stepped out of the elevator.


    The lights in the hallway flashed a few times. It seemed as if a gust of wind had blown over and we could not help shuddering.


    Old man Zhang and Su Jun obviously felt something wrong. They all looked to me. I ignored them and stood motionless in the elevator.


    Grievance, very heavy grievance, it was not hatred.


    I didn''t know why such a bit hatred from Zhang would become such a heavy grievance.


    However, this kind of grievance was familiar to me. Lulu was filled with the same kind of grievance before.


    "Master."


    I reacted and asked Su Jun to lead the way.


    When he reached a door and had just knocked on the door, the door opened slowly and slowly, but the room was dark. The thick curtains were closed even at night.


    There was no sound in the room, as if we came in a hell.


    Su Jun seemed to have come and he found the switch in ease.


    With a crisp voice, the lights flashed a faint glow, finally the entire room was returned to darkness.


    "Be careful." Su Jun picked up his small flashlights and walked in carefully.


    Just as the three of us entered the room, the door was slammed to shut.


    None of us tried to open the door again, instead, we looked around vigilantly.


    This was a small house. I thought that layout should be three rooms and two rooms. At this time, we were slowly passing through a corridor to enter the living room.


    "Xiao Zhou." Su Jun shouted. When he was about to go forward, I caught and stopped him.


    I saw a police officer dressed in police uniform sitting on the sofa in living room. He was sitting upright and watching blankly to a TV which was in front of him.


    "This is one of the two people who came to accompany Xiaochen." Su Jun gave us a brief introduction about him.


    Just as I was about to nod, the light in the living room suddenly turned on.


    What was this? Was it provoking me deliberately? But I didn''t see the other people. And the police on the sofa was still watching TV.


    In the television screen¡¯s reflection, there was no figure of the policeman. Only the solitary reflection of the sofa.


    I handed Su Jun a talisman and sat down on the sofa.


    The policeman, whose name was Xiao Zhou, slowly turned to look at me. His face was pale, and his eyes covered with blood streaks, what¡¯s more, a little blood was bleeding out from his eyes.


    "Hello." I smiled and greeted Xiao Zhou, but I was very uneasy.


    My behavior clearly gave Old man Zhang and Su Jun courage. Both of them came to sit on the sofa.


    I ignored Xiao Zhou and I spoke to the TV set in front of me: "grievance for grievance and hatred for hatred, that''s the way it is. But Is there a feud between Xiao Chen and you?"


    The television that turned off uttered some sound of electric current and then it suddenly turned on. There was a burly woman with her back toward us. She was combing her hair slowly.


    To tell the truth, this was a terrible scene, but the burly figure of a woman made this horror almost fade to its extreme.


    I didn¡¯t speak and watched the TV screen silently. The grievance of Zhang made it very difficult for me to be hostile to her.


    The woman slowly turned around, a square face, thick eyebrows, a big nose, a face full of righteousness, but unfortunately, they were born in a woman¡¯s face.


    The woman in the TV did not speak, but just combed her hair quietly. I was not in a hurry. A soul could only avenge a man who had done something injustice to it, but once it avenges to unrelated people, the soul would be severely punished.


    Grievance ghost was acknowledged by heaven and earth, and this acknowledge was bound to be restrained.


    "I''m ugly, right?"


    The woman finally spoke, her voice was soft and crisp, let people pity her. Of course, it was based on the fact that we didn¡¯t look at her upright face.


    "No, you are not ugly."


    It was Su Jun that opened his mouth. Hearing his words, I thought that he was ridiculing, but when I saw his serious expression, I suddenly felt that perhaps Su Jun should try to be an actor because his expression was sincere combined with a little pity.


    The woman looked at Su Jun and slowly extended her hands from the TV: "If you lie, you will die badly."


    Some anxiety feeling came out in my heart. We have already had an intersection with the soul, and it was not within the protection of heaven and earth.


    Su Jun puffed out his chest: "You are not ugly."


    The woman''s hand slowly stretched to Su Jun chest, I wanted to take action, but I was stopped by his wink.


    I only saw the beautiful big hands pressed on his chest.

 Chapter 260 People began to die

    I looked at the Su Jun in a weird way. This guy''s aesthetic was very strange.


    The Su Jun said in time: "Can you release my colleagues?"


    "It does not depend on me, but on him."


    Mrs. Zhang''s voice was gentler, and she turned back slowly, at last, the TV turned off.


    The little policeman sitting beside whose name was Xiao Zhou, fell on the sofa as if he had no bone. At the same time, a sound of something fell onto the floor came out from the room.


    Su Jun skillfully put his hands-on Xiao Zhou¡¯s carotid artery and then he took a deep breath and started to make a phone call.


    Soon, police cars and ambulances arrived, and three police officers and us were took to hospital.


    After inspections, Xiao Zhou and another police officer were just frightened plus a little skin trauma. Nothing was serious with them.


    However, Xiao Chen didn¡¯t manage to wake up. The whole person was laying in bed like a dead body, but his eyeballs turned violently under eyelids.


    Su Jun looked at Xiao Chen and asked a doctor: "What''s going on with him?"


    The doctor was also puzzled: "He looks like dreaming. His brain activity is very intense, but we fail to wake him up. What¡¯s more, we have injected him a sedative but there is no effect."


    Su Jun looked at me and I shook my head. Although Xiao Chen had residual grievance, it would not have caused such an effect. I did not find any existence of phantasmagoria, Xiao Chen just looked like dreaming as usual.


    At this time, Xiao Zhou walked in with his colleague''s help.


    Su Jun frowned: "why are you walking around instead of resting?"


    The horror on Xiao Zhou¡¯s face had not yet exhausted. But he looked fearless: ¡°I¡¯d like to take a look at brother Chen and his wife.¡±


    ¡°His wife¡±, me and the Su Jun looked at each other, fuck! I suddenly reminded the phone call from Xiao Chen, it was his wife who threw away the spiritual tablet. We did not even notice this detail.


    Su Jun went out with his face looked bad. Me and old man Zhang also got out of the room.


    "Master, why don''t you catch this ghost?¡±


    I glanced at old man Zhang whose face was fill with doubt: " that''s a grievance ghost, her grievance is very heavy, even heaven and earth allow her revenge, if I catch her, not only is not good, but also make me have some cause and effect with her. People said Taoist magic arts, what is Taoist? Tao is the principle of heaven and earth.¡±


    Old man Zhang nodded, I saw him didn¡¯t understanding clearly, so I simply taught him some basic knowledge.


    I didn¡¯t know how long we talked, a policeman came over in hurry, he said Xiao Chen''s wife was found. Su Jun let him take us to her.


    We found noise and shouts in great commotion before we found Xiao Chen¡¯s wife. There was a heavy stench that made people vomit.


    The police lead the way, I covered my nose while walking through the discussing crowd. Su Jun walked ahead and talked with several firefighters.


    And not far in front of the Su Jun, was the septic tank of the residential district, the lid had been opened, a woman in pajamas, was looking for something in the septic tank, stirring the entire septic tank.


    "Ugly" I couldn''t help but retched a few times. Relics on the ground had already showed that there had been more than one had vomited.


    Su Jun also saw me at that moment, he strode along.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    I shook my head forcibly, but I couldn''t stand still at last. I took Su Jun to the side. It took a while for the spasm of my stomach relieved. I asked, "What is going on?"


    Su Jun shook his head and said: "That''s Xiao Chen''s wife. I don''t know how she throw the spirit tablet into the septic tank. She is now looking for it crazily there."


    " So she just searching like this?¡±


    Su Jun nodded and looked strange: " she dives down to search just now.¡±


    " Oh"


    I strongly suspect that the Su Jun was intentional.


    "You do her a favor, it is so..."


    I nodded at first but shook my head at last. "Remember what that woman said? She has let them go, now it is them who don''t let themselves go, or you can think it in this way, they have been scared to crazy.¡±


    " Already crazy?¡±


    "Not yet, as long as they can come out, otherwise they are crazy.¡±


    Su Jun silently nodded: "How about now?"


    "Get her out forcibly, if fail, try some anesthesia machine."


    Su Jun started to arrange for actions. I quickly left there with old man Zhang. I could imagine how beautiful the latter scene will be. I didn¡¯t think my weak heart and liver could appreciate such beauty.


    Su Jun went quickly and got back quickly. As soon as he saw us, he hurriedly told us: "Hurry, Zheng Chen''s hometown has an accident."


    " Have found Shi Xiaodie¡¯s body?¡±


    " No.¡±


    Su Jun trotted to his car directly. me and old man Zhang looked at each other, then hurried to catch up. Did Su Jun could not stand with the wonderful scene?


    When we got on, the Su Jun drove as fast as possible. While driving, he told us that just in yesterday evening, three people died one after one in Zheng Chen¡¯s hometown, but the deaths were different. It was not the kind of dried corpse before.


    "It seems that woman Zhang went back." I said slowly.


    If it was woman Zhang who did it, I believe that those people were all deserved the death, in this case, I was not willing to get into it, although I still didn¡¯t know what happened to woman Zhang in this small village.


    Entered the village, villagers and police were standing around the entrance of village.


    I got off car, there were three bodies lying on an open space on one side of the entrance of village.


    I could feel a slight grievance from these bodies without seeing them, I was sure that it must be done by woman Zhang''s hand.


    Su Jun kept staring at me, he seemed wanting to get extra information from me, but I was silent.


    Su Jun was helpless, he could only ask others how these happened.


    Villagers gabbled out messily, which made a simple story become complicated, mysterious, sad and touching. Finally, Su Jun didn¡¯t get useful information of what actually happened last night until he couldn''t listen anymore and lose his temper.


    The fact was very simple, those three villagers did the same thing in different time. Then they were found dead later.


    To this, I didn''t listen to details, instead, I grabbed a police officer whom I familiar with, I asked him about the search of Shi Xiaodie¡¯s body.


    Unfortunately, the police still found nothing.


    Su Jun came and looked at me discontentedly: " three people died in one by one in the village.¡±


    I nodded and said, " well, I see.¡±


    "No matter how pity she is, she should not pass her pain onto others, especially killing people.¡±


    I took a glance at Su Jun: " you''re right, but telling to a wrong one, you should tell her instead, in addition, the pain she suffered is definitely not so simply that only three dead people lying on the ground could explain, do you think it is easy to become a grievance ghost? ¡±


    Su Jun looked at me in surprise, it seemed that he didn¡¯t understand why I spoke like this.

 Chapter 261 Just at beginning

    And I had been staying in open space of the entrance of the village, a temporary command post where is filled with busy policemen. I got old man-Mr. Zhang to expiate the sins of the dead. The Soviets came to ask me several times, then left with useless information. If it were not for Shi Xiaodie, I would leave here as quickly as possible. As for the number of people, died in the hands of the woman surnamed Zhang, had nothing to do with me.


    As night fell, the village¡¯s nights were much quieter than city¡¯s. And the temperature here was far lower than city¡¯s. The Soviets did not arrange room to sleep for me because I didn¡¯t provide them with useful information just now. They might be angry with me. So I had to continue my staying in the open space, curled up and looked at the monitor, which was just set up. Just when I was drowsy, a voice woke me up, saying ¡°Something happens¡±. A policeman was showing the monitor screen to the Soviets. Out of curiosity, I fixed my eyes on the screen, which pictured a man was walking slowly on the only road of the village, seemed to be normal but considering his naked body, it was obvious that something happens.


    I took a deep breathe, feeling that the weather was so cold. The Soviets did not sent soldiers to catch him because the naked man was heading in the direction of the entrance of the village. ¡°Attention, everyone, out of danger.¡± ¡°Group one is normal.¡± ¡°Group two is normal.¡± ¡°Group three¡­¡±


    I showed my curious about the Soviets¡¯ preparations, for it was my first time to see someone using scientific and technological means to deal with ghosts. At that time, the naked man was gradually close to the entrance of the village, while several policemen with water guns were slowly approaching him to my surprise. I sniffed the faint smell of blood in the air and asked in a curious tone ¡°Is the black dog blood in water guns?¡± The face of the solider I asked rarely blushed and turned his head, ignoring me totally.


    The man was about 40 years old, with his body naked and frozen to blue, remaining expressionless. It seemed that he didn¡¯t see us at all. And he just went down the entrance to get out of the village.


    The Soviets ordered ¡°Move.¡± With the plan in their mind, several policemen armed with water guns had sprayed black dog blood to the naked man, which only made him to be completely bloodied and something terrible were still here.


    The Soviets took a look at me, and then rushed up with a few cops, tying him up with thick ropes. It appears to be that he was still walking even though he was put on the ground.


    May be the Soviets realized that I had fixed my eyes on other places and asked me ¡°What are you looking at and have you found something abnormal?¡± I looked at him with nothing to reply. The Soviets had no choice but said ¡°Life is the most important thing for we policemen no matter what you think. Even if the man doesn¡¯t deserve his life, he shouldn¡¯t die in this way.¡±


    Looking at his righteous face, it struck me that the reason why he didn¡¯t think that the woman surnamed Zhang was ugly. He was so in deep love with justice. I replied placidly ¡°His soul was still moving and was about to get out of the village.¡± He immediately looked outside and naturally found nothing. ¡°How can I get your favor?¡± I thought for a while and said ¡°Do you know what happened to that woman? The answer is absolutely no. Do you know how to get the bad to be sanctioned? Innocent ghosts don¡¯t have to free themselves by killing people. In a more professional way, if we can figure out how the thing happens, we can solve it.¡±


    I didn¡¯t think I had made a clear point, but the Soviets seemed to understand. His expression on his face turned more softly, said ¡°yes, once the bad are punished, innocent ghosts can get their freedom, right?¡± I nodded, looking at him in a gratified way. Without looking at me, the Soviets just instructed a policeman to bring the head of village here.


    Zheng Dayou, the sleepy head of the village, was soon brought in. At the sight of the man on the ground, who had been tied up, he was so frighten that woke up. The Soviets inquired something about that woman surnamed Zhang of him, but Zheng Dayou could not coordinate with the Soviets. He only told us something we had already known, with nothing fresh. I could tell that he had something to hide, let alone the Soviets. Facing this, the Soviets had to stop asking him. Looking at the man who was tied up, Zheng Dayou asked the leader of the Soviets ¡°What is wrong with Gouzi, Captain Su?¡± I answered ahead of the leader ¡°Was his name Gouzi? His soul was bewitched by a woman, who surnames Zhang in accordance with our initial analysis.¡± His face suddenly changed and his tone got tied, saying ¡°The officer is so funny. There is no ghost at all in the world.¡± Having finished his words, Zheng Dayou stumbled onward. I pouted my lips in his direction, hinting that Soviets should send someone to put Zheng Dayou under surveillance. The Soviets clearly knew what I hinted and did as I hinted.


    The Soviets took a another look at Gouzi, saying ¡°Damn it! Zheng Dayou doesn¡¯t even care about his villagers. How can he deny that the existence of ghosts!¡± I only smiled, with no words, still wondering the reason why something terrible always happen remote places. The Soviets looked at Gouzi, who was still walking like a machine, asked ¡°How do we deal with him?¡± I caught a glimpse of the old man-Mr. Zhang, saying ¡°Are you familiar with guiding ghosts? Go and have a try.¡±


    The old man was so merciful that he could never stomach waiting to try. Hearing my words, he nodded excitedly, took his stuff, and strode towards areas outside the village. Judging from his behavior, the old man seemed not to be in his seventies. Being shocked, the Soviets hurriedly dispatched two policemen to help him. The mean-spirited policeman wore a half-smile and said to me ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t care.¡± I was too tired of the conversation to directly turn my head to see the screen of monitor. At the sight of the screen, I was stunned. Right at the corner of the screen, something lighter, dangling from time to time, seemed like man¡¯s feet.


    The Soviets scolded the policeman in charge of the monitor ¡°Damn it£¡Why can¡¯t you discover this? Follow me!¡± Several cops left with the Soviets and I thought for a while and pursued them.

 Chapter 262 The truth Was About to Come Ou

    The outstretched trunk, which was already very slim, was swing up and down with the body of Zheng Wen, as if it would break at the next moment.


    Su Jun clenched his fist and said, ¡°Put him down.¡±


    Several police officers just looked at each other and didn¡¯t know what to do.


    Su Jun directly ignored all this, then walked back to the empty ground and looked at the frustrated police officer in charge of monitoring, ¡°Play back and see what is going on.¡±


    I just stood there, watching the police officer play back every frame of the video, but still couldn¡¯t found anything wrong with it. The feet that appeared in the picture seemed to appear out of nowhere.


    ¡°Turn it off.¡± Then Su Jun felt very exhausted to let the police officer turn off the playback.


    But as the monitoring footage reappeared, I saw a familiar figure standing behind several police officers and looking at the monitoring footage with his head askew.


    The familiar and pale face. That was the woman named Chang.


    The sweat on Su Jun¡¯s forehead had already come out and then he quickly picked up the intercom and shouted loudly, ¡°Behind you!¡±


    In the monitoring, several police officers, who were trying to pick up the body with a ladder, were stunned, then pulled out their pistols and quickly turned back. The woman named Chang was clearly in front of them, but a few police officers just watched all around with vigilance, as if they couldn¡¯t see her.


    ¡°Captain Su, no anomalies were found.¡±


    While Su Jun was looking at the woman in the monitoring video and listening to what those several police officers said, he sat down on the ground decadently.


    When the police officer in charge of monitoring was about to remind his colleague, I suddenly patted him on his shoulder and stopped him.


    In the monitoring video, the woman named Chang had already disappeared.


    I just sat next to Su Jun and lit a cigarette. Then I said, ¡°Have you ever thought about it? Why every dead is male? Why all naked?¡±


    Su Jun glanced at me and nodded, ¡°I have vaguely guessed a little.¡±


    ¡°It is unrealistic to save people from her. We should find the truth as soon as possible, so that we could save more people at that time. Nevertheless, I don¡¯t think she will let them go.¡±


    What I told Su Jun wasn¡¯t my nonsense, but my discovery. After having killed several people, the emotions of being wronged of the woman named Chang didn¡¯t dissipate. Instead of dissipating, that emotion was growing stronger and stronger.


    That made no sense. The only explanation for the appearance of this situation was that the facts may be darker than Su Jun might have guessed.


    I nodded but didn''t say anything. It wasn¡¯t surprised that old Mr. Chang was incapable of fighting with the woman named Chang. Even I didn¡¯t have the capacity of fighting with her.


    It seemed that Su Jun¡¯s confidence had been cracked so much that he was already with numbness. He didn¡¯t say anything, either. After letting me arrange the thing of Gou Zi, he went to the side alone and began to think deeply.


    Old Mr. Chang and these officers all looked at me and waited for my arrangement. I had no idea but to spread out my hands and said, ¡°That¡¯s it. Should we cover him with something?¡±


    These police officers felt very depressed and just left. Old Mr. Chang, who frowned, asked me about the situation of Gou Zi.


    I clapped him on his shoulder and began to comfort him, ¡°The fact that Gou Zi didn¡¯t die had showed that the woman named Chang had less anger to him and maybe she just wanted to teach him a lesson.¡±


    Old Mr. Chang just nodded but there still was a worried expression on his face. After thinking about it for a while, he put a soul-solid figure on the body of Gou Zi.


    Apart from being too old, old Mr. Chang still had many merits.


    The time went by little by little. No one died in the village since the woman named Chang appeared on the monitoring screen, but both I and Su Jun knew it was just the beginning.


    So many people died at night and the people in the whole village became restless. Some people even wanted to leave. Instead of stopping them, Su Jun directly went to find the village head with his red eyes caused by that he hadn¡¯t slept the whole night.


    The attitude of Su Jun was obviously much stronger, but the village head, Zheng Dayou, still didn¡¯t tell him anything. Judging from the packed luggage on the floor, he also planned to leave here.


    Zheng Dayou still couldn¡¯t leave here successfully, because just now, the first villager who left here died in a car accident within ten miles of walking out.


    The key was that he was riding a bicycle and the bicycle hit directly to the tree. The outstretched branch impaled his stomach and directly hung him on the tree.


    Zheng Dayou obviously was startled. Even the moment when he got this news, he sat down on the ground and began to cry loudly. Anyone couldn¡¯t imagine how miserable that scene was.


    However, what we didn¡¯t expect was that after he cried, he still insisted no telling us anything.


    Seeing this, Su Jun felt so angry that even he wanted to use the gun to kill him.


    Just as we thought it was in a deadlock, a chubby woman, who was taking the insole, rushed out of the house and began to scold and beat Zheng Dayou who was sitting on the ground at that time.


    As several police officers tried to stop that woman, they were stopped by Su Jun, who asked them just leave Zheng Dayou hide from the woman and scream on the ground.


    After beating for some time, the fat woman seemed very exhausted. Then she also sat on the ground and began to lament to heaven and knock one''s head on earth.


    ¡°You are bastards. This is sin!¡±


    Then I whispered by Su Jun¡¯s ear, ¡°This woman is Zheng Dayou¡¯s wife, right? Do they have any children?¡±


    Su Jun¡¯s eyes suddenly became bright. After he hesitated for a moment, the expression on his face became firm.


    ¡°Zheng Dayou, do you think these male had all dead? I tell you! No. Have you seen the old man with white beard out there? He is the master I invite. He has said this is the scourge of destroying the village. You''d better contact your child to see if he is safe.¡±


    I just looked at Su Jun surprisingly. This guy was even more shameless than I thought. What''s more, he even said that old Mr. Chang was a master, which made me very embarrassed. Well, one¡¯s appearance obviously decided how he was treated.


    Zheng Dayou suddenly was stunned. As for that fat woman, she directly jumped up and pointed his nose, shouting, ¡°If anything...anything happens to my child, I will kill you bastards.¡±


    After saying, the fat woman went into the room, rocking her ass.


    ¡°Hi, why do you let him call his child?¡± I asked Su Jun curiously.


    Then Su Jun just had a bad smile on its face and answered, ¡°I originally plan to touch him because his child and my daughter have classes in the same class. Besides, I also have heard from daughter that his son, just like him, also isn¡¯t a good guy, who plays truant every day and plays computer games all night.¡±


    I was still confused that his son¡¯s playing truant and playing games all night even can scared him. However, after having listening to what the fat woman said, I thought it was very likely that Zheng Dayou was also involved in the thing of doing harm to the woman named Chang.


    The fat woman came out soon and her face turned pale. Then she picked up a chair and hit Zheng Dayou hard. That would kill him. Hence, the police officer immediately stopped the fat woman. I just heard she shouted loudly while she was struggling, ¡°His teacher has said he didn¡¯t go back to his dorm at night. You, son of bitch!¡±


    I looked at Su Jun surprisingly, but he just smiled mysteriously before he said, ¡°When I talked with my daughter last night, she told me that Zheng Dayou¡¯s son was caught because he played the games all night.¡±


    Then I just gave Su Jun white look but had to admire his shamelessness.

 Chapter 263 Call Back the Ghos

    I and Su Jun took a look of each other. In order to conceal the truth, Zheng Dayou even never cared about the safety of his child, which made me unable to understand. However, it also showed from the side that the story of the woman named Chang should be very terrible.


    Then his wife began to get mad, but Zheng Dayou still just silently bore all this, without saying anything.


    The fat woman even began to roll on the ground while screaming. It seemed that Zheng Dayou also couldn¡¯t stand it anymore, and then he directly hugged the fat woman and dragged her back into the room. Since we saw her clothes and hair disorder, it naturally inappropriate for us to follow them in.


    The couple didn¡¯t stay in the room for a long time and walked out in about 10 minutes later. To my surprise, the fat woman had stopped became calm down and her face turned pale. She was wiping her tears.


    ¡°Just leave. I really don¡¯t know anything.¡±


    While he was saying, he also was driving us out of the door.


    After I glanced at the fat woman''s phone on the table in the hall, I just walked out self-consciously.


    It seemed that Su Jun was talking about something with Zheng Dayou. After that, he also walked out, but his face turned iron-green and the anger in his eyes seemed to blowout soon.


    ¡°Does that woman was convinced by him?¡± I looked at Su Jun, asking him.


    Then Su Jun nodded his head and said, ¡°This seems very complicated. The people of the village are very likely to have reached an agreement, such as that they would revenge on whoever has told out the truth or something, otherwise, Zheng Dayou¡¯s wife will never agree with it so easily.¡±


    I thought of the phone on the fat woman''s desk and nodded. It was obvious that the fat woman didn''t call her child again, but I was still wondering what kind of power on earth would make a mother keep a secret regardless of the safety of her own child.


    ¡°Maybe we can target someone else. I just don''t believe that everyone is so stubborn.¡±


    After Su Jun finished saying, he walked toward the village. In my heart, I didn¡¯t think it was a good idea for him to go back the the village again, because people in small mountain villages were always very stubborn.


    For I didn¡¯t have a good rest last night, I decided to make up my sleep in the room Su Jun arranged for me.


    When I came out, I saw Su Jun smoking hard there. That expression on his face seemed to show that he even wanted to eat the cigarette.


    I walked over, then stretched myself and asked him, ¡°How''s it going? It don¡¯t work, right?¡±


    Su Jun just gave me a disgruntled look and leaned against the wall to close its eyes.


    Hearing that, I just laughed strangely. Until I saw his face convulsions, I staggered out.


    Old Mr. Zhang was studying a book with full spirit. Then I walked over and took a look, only to find it was ¡°The Book of Changes¡±, which was so profound that I couldn¡¯t understand it.


    When old Mr. Chang saw me, he immediately stood up and said, ¡°Master.¡±


    I nodded. During this period of time, I seemed to have become addicted to being a master.


    ¡°Set up an altar of precepts and hold a ceremony at night.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Old Mr. Chang said surprisingly, ¡°Master, are you going to fight this the woman named Chang?¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking? I won¡¯t do it. It''s just that the people in this village are unwilling to tell us the truth, so let''s ask the ghosts in a different way. By the way, prepare more incense, candle and false paper money.¡±


    Old Mr. Chang nodded repeatedly. For these things, he always maintained the passion. A very strong old man.


    After having made the decision and because it was very early, I began to hang out in the village.


    The villagers were so frightened that no one went to work, so a lot of people came together, comforting each other and warming themselves.


    Seeing me coming, they only showed a bitter smile, which was a completely different treatment, compared with that at first. What¡¯s more, someone even showed an look of hatred to me. Just they wanted to hide this emotion very deliberately, so it was impossible for me that even I only wanted to pretend not to find out this point.


    Maybe Su Jun asked them very ruthlessly. I observed them carefully and found that most people who showed the look of hated to me were male, all of who might be related to the woman named Chang.


    When I got back to the open space of the village, I saw Su Jun calling me from a distance.


    After I walked over, I knew that the man who had paid for finding the woman named Chang had already been found, but it was only his dwelling place that was found, not him. That guy was working out of here and would come wouldn''t go back until very late.


    I nodded and suggested, ¡°Actually, you could have someone bring that guy back. Maybe, just kill that guy and all is over.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t do things like that. The duty of the police is to guard the people.¡± Su Jun just said very firmly but his eyes betrayed him. Judging from his eyes, I could find he actually wanted to do that, but it was the morality he had been holding that kept him from making this decision.


    For this decision, I also would never help him. It was a good thing for one man to have a principle or a bottom line. Once crossed, it was likely to never be found again.


    Maybe old Mr. Chang had already told Su Jun my decision, he directly asked me after this topic was over.


    ¡°Do you mean asking the ghost? Do it work?¡±


    Then I just took a look of old Mr. Chang who was worried about saying too much, and smiled, ¡°It''s always okay to try anyway. Popular feeling is very strange. When we''re all on the same line, maybe we''ll all stick to the agreement. However, once it''s not on the same line, it''s hard to say. After all, I''m dead. Why are you still alive?¡±


    Finally, he also pointed to the distant corpse.


    Su Jun frowned and seemed unwilling to admit what I said, but he also didn¡¯t oppose me in the end.


    The night fell and I considered the safety of the villagers. Therefore, before the best time I had mentioned, I had already begun to preparing call back the soul of ghost according to the method I learned in the ghost building.


    On the small table was covered with yellow cloth printed with the pattern of the Eight Diagrams and in the middle was a huge YINYANG fish.


    There was a little censer in the position of YIN fish. In the position of Yang fish, there was a bowl full of rice.


    I was sitting by the side of the YANG fish and old Mr. Chang and the police officers were standing behind me. The YANG fish was pointing at the place where air of YIN was the heaviest, also the place where the bodies were placed.


    After lighting three sticks of incense and respectfully inserting them into the incense stove, I picked up the yellow paper to set it on fire and used it to make circle above the bowl filled with rice.


    ¡°Heaven and earth are endless, and all the seas and soil are flat. Now I am calling back the soul of ghost and I ask to make the it shows up.¡±


    As my voice fell, there was a cold wind on the ground. The police behind me couldn¡¯t help talking about it, but were stopped by Su Jun.


    I picked up the rice bowl and spread the rice evenly across the table. As soon as the table was full of rice, the paper money in my hand burst into flames violently.


    I shook my hand and the paper money was spilled into the sky. However, it did not fall down, but floating in the position covered with rice, as if someone was holding it.


    Then in front my eyes, a thin old man slowly emerged.


    His wrinkles were wrinkled enough to kill the mosquito, there was little hair left on his head and his yellow teeth were also very sparse. I guessed that he might already look like a ghost when he was alive.


    Although the men behind me couldn''t see the ghost, he could still see the mark of rice on the table, so all of them suddenly gave out a cry of surprise. I turned back unhappily and let everyone shut up.


    ¡°Boy, you even dare to call the soul.¡± The old man''s voice was gloomy and unkind.


    I gave him a white look and said, ¡°Don¡¯t say anything useless. Let me ask you something. If you can tell very clearly, all the paper money over there will be yours.¡±


    After that old man took a look of those paper money, he laughed, ¡°Just ask me. I know everything but the wronged soul.¡±


    Damn, I just wanted to ask you about that. You even said you didn¡¯t knew it at first.

 Chapter 264 No Ghos

    The old man gave a strange smile and said, ¡°Her body, hey hey, right behind you.¡±


    When he was saying, he raised up his hand and pointed to the green hill in distance.


    I turned back subconsciously, but suddenly felt there was something wrong. Then I hurriedly turned around, only to see the old man''s arm was extending and was stabbing towards my face. I had a lot of ways to cope with the old ghost, but at this moment I can''t react at all.


    Until the old man''s finger stabbed on my body, a faint blue halo appeared in front of my eyes.


    Fortunately, I had the amulet. Then I broke the incense from the censer, with the painful expression on my face, threw the burning incense head of my hand over.


    After a scream, the old man was like a piece of paper, a few centimeters of incense head burned his body and made three big holes on its chest, which still were slowly expanding.


    The old man turned into a cloud of wind of YIN, knocked down a few sundries and disappeared.


    ¡°Master, are you OK?¡± Old Mr. Chang came to ask me concernedly.


    I blushed and coughed, and then said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let''s move on.¡±


    After finishing saying, to cover up what happened just now, I re-lit three sticks of incense and started again according to the steps just now.


    What appeared at this time was a child, who looked just like a couple of years old. I had been talking with him for a long time, but it didn¡¯t work and he still didn¡¯t know what I was talking about. Finally, I burnt some paper money again to send him off.


    Over again.


    This time was a strong man with an incomprehensible foreign accent. He didn¡¯t know where he did and also even had no idea where this was. Burn paper money and send him off.


    Then I continued doing again.


    At this time was a kind old lady, who had been chatting with for so long. However, none of her words were at the point. She even was unwilling to leave and also said she wanted to talk with me again. After talking with her for a lot of time, I finally burnt the paper money again and sent her off.


    After so many times, those police officers behind me were no longer as excited as they were at the beginning and some even yawned loudly, which me very speechless.


    ¡°Master.¡± When old Mr. Chang saw I no longer continued calling back the ghost, he called me in a low voice.


    I shook my head and ignored him. According to reason, the first that was called should be the most recent soul, but the souls of several of the dead villagers didn¡¯t come. Instead, other ghost far away here even kept appearing. Why would that be?


    Was it something wrong about what I had done? I recalled in detail and finally thought there was nothing wrong with my steps, incantation and various aspects.


    I thought it again. Then I cut a small man out of yellow paper, lit two red candles on the ground, dropped a few drops of red wax on the man made by yellow paper, and finally put it in a paper-burning fire basin.


    The yellow paper man didn¡¯t burn. Instead, it even stood in flames, spinning.


    I wrote a Chinese character, ¡°Ling¡±, on the center of my palm and pat towards the yellow paper man. It immediately fell and kept still. Then, under the guidance of my fingers, it stood up slowly. At the same time, the body of the villager who was hung, just like the yellow paper man, also stood up slowly.


    Then there was another panic behind me.


    In the astonished eyes of the everyone, I reached out my hand to take the yellow paper man out of the fire and began to move it back and forth.


    As for the villager who was hung, he also began to move along with my movements.


    After playing with it for some time, I handed the yellow paper man in my hand to Su Jun, whose eyes were still sparkling. Then I let Su Jun and old Mr. Chang also play with it for some time before I said in a low voice.


    ¡°Have you guys found anything?¡±


    Both Su Jun and old Mr. Chang shook their heads.


    ¡°Is it easy to control?¡±


    They two nodded together.


    Then I sighed and said, ¡°It must be easy, because it doesn¡¯t has the soul at all.¡±


    Old Mr. Chang said doubtfully, ¡°When people die, won¡¯t the soul leave the body?¡±


    I nodded and answered him, ¡°"Yes, but I say there is no soul. After one dies and before the first seven days, the body is bound to its soul. In turn, the soul is bound to its body. There is only one reason why the sense of constraint can disappear during the first seven days after the death. That is, the soul has gone. It either returns Hades, or has dissipated.¡±


    Su Jun still didn¡¯t understand this very well, but old Mr. Chang had taken a cold breath.


    ¡°How deep hatred it has to be. It even makes the soul of these people dissipated.¡±


    I nodded without a word, but actually, what I had found wasn¡¯t only this point. What makes me uncomfortable was that there were very few ghosts in the village, because this was basically impossible in a small village where burial in the ground was popular.


    The emotions of being wronged of the woman named Chang had been restrained, so it was not likely to work on the ghosts of those villagers that had been dead for so long. However, those ghost souls did disappear. It seemed that the whole thing was getting more and more complicated.


    ¡°Captain Su, I need to ask where the ancestral grave in the village is. Or the mass burial hillock is also OK. I have to go there.¡±


    Su Jun nodded and then went to find Zheng Dayou.


    Then old Mr. Chang asked me where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do.


    I told him what I had found and also asked him to get something ready for me. I would set off as soon as Su Jun got to know where that place was.


    Su Jun came back very quickly. In addition to guiding the way to me, he also arranged two bold police officers to accompany me.


    Without much delay, I took the three people to the mass burial hillock of the village.


    The mass burial hillock was on the hillside of the village. It was okay to call it the mass burial hillock, or even the ancestral grave. Anyway, people in this village were all buried there after they died.


    This village didn¡¯t discriminate this as clearly as that in my hometown.


    We followed the path up the hillside. Then I let old Mr. Chang respectively send amulets to the two policemen accompanying us, then lit incense and candle and burnt paper money toward the direction of the most graves.


    A pile of flames instantly flared up on the gloomy hillside.


    ¡°Invited or uninvited, just come to take these things.¡± I prepared my magic and invited the people buried here to receive the incenses and paper money.


    The wind was overcast on the hillside and the trees were rustling. However, until all the paper money was burnt out, there was still no ghost coming out to take these.


    ¡°Just add some paper money again and burn it a little more violent.¡±


    Old Mr. Chang responded, and with the help of police officers, he burnt the pile of paper money.


    The overcast wind around was getting stronger. At this moment, I could feel a lot of ghosts peeping around, but there still was no reaction in the grave in front of me, as if there was no ghost at all.


    There was even no ghost in the mass burial hillock, which was really weird thing.


    Why didn¡¯t a single ghost come out to take the paper money? It was just like that a man was delivering money in the street, but no one came to get it. Of course, in front of ghosts, there wouldn¡¯t be cheater.


    I took a handful of paper money on one side, lit it and threw it straight into the air.


    Suddenly countless streams of YIN wind gathered from all sides, spinning around the burning paper money. The fire on paper money became even greater and the money in the air turned into a pile of black ash for a moment.


    Ash, in the competition of the YIN wind, had turned into countless pieces and flown towards all directions.


    ¡°Do you just take the good and leave? I still have a lot here.¡±


    All the YIN wind directly ignored me, which me made me very angry in my heart. Then I picked up the candles inserted on the ground and throw them in the place where there was most YIN wind. The speed was fast, but the candle didn¡¯t extinguish. Then the red wax oil spattered little by little.


    Immediately, there was a burst of terrible cry from the air.

 Chapter 265 The Little Ghost, Zheng Yan

    The YIN wind just stopped slightly and immediately rushed over here again. Then they began to revolve around burning paper money and fight for it again.


    I gave a disdainful ¡°Hum¡±. Later, I also picked up the candle in my hand and began to throw them into the air crazily. Then the waxy oil spattered and the screams was constant.


    ¡°Come out.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t beat me. Don¡¯t beat me. I am coming out.¡± A weak female voice sounded. Then a cloud of YIN wind fell to the ground and turned into a 15 or 16-year-old girl. There were still tear marks on her delicate face. She made her hands clasped in front of her chest, with a look of grievance.


    I couldn¡¯t help but touch my nose and thought I was like a strange man who had bullied the little girl.


    Just when I felt a little guilt, those clouds of YIN wind, which intended to fall on the ground just now, suddenly rushed into the woods quickly, just leaving only the little girl standing here alone. The little girl looked at those clouds of YIN wind with surprise and she even never believed that she had been abandoned.


    ¡°He He.¡± I coughed on purpose to attract the eyes of the little and the said, ¡°What''s your name and how long have you been dead?¡±


    The little girl sobbed, ¡°My name is...is Zheng Yan and I have been dead for...for four years.¡±


    ¡°You''re from this village, right? Don¡¯t be afraid. I will not hurt you. I just want to ask you some questions and then all this paper money is yours.¡±


    Zheng Yan shrank her body and felt aggrieved to say, ¡°You just beat me just now.¡±


    ¡°Don''t mind the details. You haven''t answered my question yet.¡± I continued touching my nose.


    Zheng Yan nodded and said, ¡°Alright. Just ask me.¡± Then she realized that I had asked and added, ¡°Yes, I am from this village.¡±


    Then I pointed to the graves in the mass burial hillock and tried my best to make my voice soften down, asking her, ¡°So, was you also buried here?¡±


    Zheng Yan gave a shiver and seemed to be frightened by my voice. It had taken a long time before she replied to me, ¡°I...I was not buried her. My dad had said I was a bane, so I was buried very far away, but I often came back here.¡±


    I just looked Zheng Yan with pity. Then I tore off a drumstick from the whole chicken used as articles of tribute and gave it to her, ¡°Come to eat some food.¡±


    Zheng Yan took it very carefully. At the same time, she also took a look of those articles of tribute and said, ¡°I...I want to eat the chicken ass.¡±


    I felt speechless and directly asked her, ¡°If you answer my questions, I will give you all the paper money and articles of tribute.¡±


    ¡°Um.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°Do you know why there is no ghost in this grave?¡±


    Zheng Yan only nodded but didn¡¯t speak.


    ¡°All of them have been driven out of here.¡±


    ¡°Driven out?¡± I felt somewhat surprised, because the bodies of these ghosts were buried here and being driven out of here was equivalent of being driven out of their own homes, which was no small matter.


    Zheng Yan nodded and continued, ¡°Yes, they have been driven out. Here came a really fierce sister. She could turn into a frog and then she drove everyone out. These who were unwilling to leave all were eaten by the frog that she turned into.¡±


    Shi Xiaodie, this name suddenly occurred to me in my heart. The sister that Zheng Yan had mentioned should be Shi Xiaodie who was combined with golden toad with three legs. Then I asked her again that just why Shi Xiaodie want to snatch this place?


    Zheng Yan shook her head and said, ¡°I also don¡¯t know that. I just know the sister hasn¡¯t been here since she drove everyone out of here.¡±


    ¡°Do you know where Shi¡­¡­ the sister is buried?¡±


    Zheng Yan nodded but also shook her head again, ¡°That sister is also buried here, but I don¡¯t exactly where it is.¡±


    Was it the truth that the reason why Shi Xiaodie drove the ghost away was to hide her body? All of sudden, I felt very confused. There were too many villagers buried here. I guessed that anyone who dared to find the body of Shi Xiaodie would be expected to be killed by the villagers.


    I also didn¡¯t want to dwell on this question anymore and directly asked Zheng Yan, ¡°Do you know the woman named Chang?¡±


    ¡°The woman named Chang?¡± There was confused expression on her face.


    Then I suddenly realized that ¡°the woman named Chang¡± was only the way we called her, so I asked her in another way, ¡°There is a wronged soul in the village, you know that?¡±


    Zheng Yan nodded, revealing a trace of sadness on her face, ¡°Yes, Sister Chang. She is really very pathetic.¡±


    ¡°You know her?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I know. I even secretly burnt some paper money for her. Although just a little, she usually goes to pick up the paper money that hasn¡¯t been burnt over in other grave land.¡±


    Zheng Yan''s words even made me respect that woman with a square face.


    ¡°Do you know something about her?¡± I directly asked her the most important question.


    But the Zheng Yan began to become very hesitant.


    ¡°Do you see the two police officers behind me? I am coming to help her.¡± I pointed to the two police officers behind me who was frightened and curled up.


    It had taken a long time before Zheng Yan made her mind to tell me all what she knew in detail.


    Then I carried out a show-up incantation to let other people also enable to listen to the story told by Zheng Yan.


    As the story telling began, the two police officers were also no longer afraid, with their eyes widely open and their faces full of murderous expression.


    After having listened to Zheng Yan¡¯s telling, I took a long breath. It seemed that I had been holding on this breath from the beginning of her telling.


    After finished tell, Zheng Yan wiped the tears and said, ¡°Can you help sister Chang?¡±


    I nodded heavily and pushed all the articles of tribute in front of her. Her eyes suddenly became bright, but then she said with a little embarrassment, ¡°Can all of you wait till I finish eating and then leave? I''ll be quick.¡±


    I was surprised to look at Zheng Yan. Then I made my mind out of the story just now and forces myself to show a strange smile, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Zheng Yan just said in a low voice, ¡°I would be fine at past because the all ghosts in the village were here, but after they all had gone, I would always be robbed and then I had nothing to eat.¡±


    I took a look of Zheng Yan with pity and nodded, ¡°OK, just eat and we wait for you.¡±


    Zheng Yan also no longer hesitated. She probably was afraid that using too much would make us unhappy, so she swallowed a whole chicken, except for the chicken ass. Maybe she wanted to slowly taste the chicken ass.


    When I saw she was choke and even got a bigger neck, I immediately let her stop eating. What a pretty beauty. Why she must make herself like a ghost, which was very ugly?


    Zheng Yan tried to swallow the whole chicken hard and then looked at me in fear. She even didn¡¯t understand why I let her stop.


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t anybody given you articles of tribute?¡±


    Zheng Yan nodded and began to sob again, ¡°My dad said I was a bane, so nobody came to burn paper money to me. Besides, I also wouldn¡¯t rob others. Even the paper money burnt by sister Chang was also robbed by others.¡±


    I nodded. Compared with Xiao Lingdang who was loved by everyone in the ghost building, situation of Zheng Yan, who was at the same age with her, was much worse.


    ¡°Are you willing to go with me?¡± I blurted out.


    But she kept stepping back, looking at me with caution.


    I also looked back at old Mr. Chang and other people and explained, ¡°I have a older sister there, um, maybe younger sister. You can make friend with her and then nobody dares rob your things.¡±


    Zheng Yan just looked at me with suspicion, as if I were the bad man who asked the little girl to see the goldfish. Even the police officer behind me said, ¡°Ah, master, she is just a little girl.¡±


    F**k yourself, little girl. Was I that kind of person? By the way, Zheng Yan was ghost. Well, I wouldn¡¯t say this point again. Lulu was also a ghost.


    Zheng Yan was finally persuaded by me and entered the bloody bracelet that Lulu had given me. The police officers had made a phone call to Su Jun and he was waiting for us in the open space.

 Chapter 266 The Humiliation of the Woman Named Chang

    The middle-aged woman laughed, ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t have to worry about my ability to handle affairs. Rest assured, she absolutely is a beauty.¡±


    Zheng Daqiang rubbed his hands and smirked. In the village, the only one who was already 40 and still even didn¡¯t get married was him. It was not easy for him to spend all his money to marry a beautiful woman, so he naturally felt very happy in hie heart.


    After the middle-aged woman finished counting the money, she waved her hand to the car parking on one side. Then a few strange men got out of the car taking a woman with her head covered.


    Zheng Daqiang saw the woman had a slightly larger figure and then he looked doubtfully at the middle-aged woman.


    Then the middle-aged woman just laughed, explaining, ¡°Her pelvis is a little wide. You should treat her well.¡± As she was saying, she also went over and pinched the arm of that woman whose head was covered, which made her cry for mercy.


    The sound was like the cry of the oriole, making his heart very tickled. The middle-aged woman watched Zheng Daqiang''s reaction with satisfaction. Later, she let someone tie the woman to a post and started the car. Then she opened the car window and said, ¡°Tie her lightly by yourself and don¡¯t let her run away. The last name of this woman seems Chang. As for her first name, it¡¯s up to you.¡±


    The car had already gone but Zheng Daqiang was still nodding foolishly. It was a long time before he set his eyes on the strapped woman. Then he showed a bad smile and couldn¡¯t wait to rush over.


    He first touched that woman''s breast and then took off the cover in her sound of begging.


    In the moment that the woman¡¯s whole face was exposed, Zheng Daqiang was shocked.


    Then he went back and tied the woman in the firewood house. He had been drinking for a few days, because the savings of half his lifetime finally exchanged a woman who looked even more male than him. He still couldn¡¯t understand why.


    The woman was dying of hunger but Zheng Daqiang, with his confused eyes, angrily went into the firewood house. In spite of the woman''s feeble pleading and screaming, he still humiliated her very hard.


    Seeing the woman crying on the ground, Zheng Daqiang still kicked her very hard. Although this was the first time of the woman, Zheng Daqiang still thought he had lost more than her.


    After that, Zheng Daqiang began to raised the woman like a dog, but he still felt very distressed. Several of friends had also asked him for many times and he felt very regretful for having told everyone that he would buy a wife.


    When his friends were kicking up a fuss, they gave a name to that woman, Zhang Fei, and then they also insulted her very severely. The woman, who was given a name, Zhang Fei, changed from the resistance and pleading at first to gradually getting numb. Perhaps, at that moment, she had already thought that her life could only be spent in derision. Unfortunately, she underestimated the darkness of humanity.


    ¡°Have you ever f**ked a woman who was like the male?¡± Then this words had made Zhang Fei became an outlet for sexual desire of these men. Gradually, there were more and more people coming, most of who were just curious or felt bored.


    Besides men, some women also came here, but they just came here to beat her and said she seduced their husband, father or son.


    For Zheng Daqiang had already been tired of the trouble, he made Zhang Fei handcuffed and shackled and drove her out.


    She would be beaten at anytime and would also be dragged to one side at any time. She was just like a toy of this village and she even couldn¡¯t commit a suicide.


    Until that day.


    Zheng Chen went swimming alone in a small river outside the village, but his feet were cramped and he could only plump in the water. When Zhang Fei, who was washing her body by the river, saw this scene, regardless of her shackles and handcuff, she directly rushed over and used her swimming skill to save Zheng Chen.


    The villagers who had heard the news came and looked at Zhang Fei, but no one was grateful for her. Instead, Zheng Chen''s families even beat Zhang Fei very hard and claimed that Zhang Fei seduced the only college student in the village.


    In the end, in front of the other people, many villagers even severely insulted Zhang Fei. When people all had left, only she was left there, with her body full of blood, and was lying by the river. Her eyes were confused and empty.


    Then Zhang Fei just died. The people in the village asked Zheng Daqiang to bury Zhang Fei. He had no choice but to picked up a broken mat from the pigsty and buried Zhang Fei easily.


    The biggest bitch in the village died and the village seemed to have restored its former peace.


    Except for the sighs from a few people, almost all the people in the whole village had forgotten that there used to be a toy called Zhang Fei.


    I told this story very briefly and Su Jun also didn¡¯t speak after listening to it, just with his hand, which was taking the cigarette, shaking badly.


    All the people at the scene didn''t speak. It had been a long time before one of police officers asked in low voice, ¡°Maybe we should just leave here. These people should go to die. Just let the woman named Chang take revenge.¡±


    Su Jun, who had always been very principled, didn¡¯t say anything to oppose the police officer¡¯s thought, just smoking in silence.


    The police officer''s words seemed to break everyone''s silence, and everyone began to talk about it. However, they all called that woman, the woman named Chang and none of them mentioned the name that stood for humiliation, Zhang Fei.


    The sky was getting darker and darker.


    In the monitoring footage, there suddenly was a naked villager who was digging something on the road in the village. Everyone watched the monitoring footage, but no one did anything.


    After having finished the third cigarette, Su Jun began to arrange with a hoarse voice, ¡°I need two people to go to have a look of the situation.¡±


    All the police officers just looked at each other and no one was moving.


    Then Su Jun looked at these eyes of the people around him. I could see a helpless look from his eyes, ¡°We are the police.¡±


    While he was saying, he stood up slowly and went along the main road. When these police officers all had seen this, they all stood up but their movement was a little slow and dilatory.


    ¡°Master.¡± Old Mr. Chang saw I still didn¡¯t move, so he called me in a low voice.


    I took a look at old Mr. Chang and said, ¡°Do you think we should stop him?¡±


    Old Mr. Chang just open his mouth but didn¡¯t speak.


    I also kept silent, watching the monitoring video. The villager had already dug very much and Su Jun and these police officers were appeared in the monitoring video.


    Under the command of Su Jun, several police officers went over and stopped the villager. The villager even simply lay on the ground and was motionless.


    Later, Su Jun came back soon. Then he sat next to me and continued smoking.


    ¡°He has died.¡±


    I just nodded and said, ¡°Then you shouldn''t keep him from digging to bury himself.¡±


    Then Su Jun looked at me and it had been a long time before he said, ¡°I am the police and my duty is to protect the lives and property of the people. As for what kind of legal sanction they will receive, it is not the reason why I watched them die.¡±


    When I sawSu Junwas fearless of death for a just cause, the image of the woman named Chang suddenly came to my mind and I even felt a little irritable, ¡°Well, okay. Then you go to take good care of these son of bitches and I will go to find Shi Xiaodie.¡±


    Su Jun opened his mouth and it had been a long time before he sighed, ¡°The matter of Shi Xiaodie had been made clear.¡±


    Then I looked Su Jun surprisingly and he said, ¡°We have found Zheng Daqiang and made him under our protection. Besides, we also have known from him what has happened between Shi Xiaodie and Zheng Chen.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±

 Chapter 267 Groups of ghosts Appeared

    One was an excellent college student but the other was a waiter who was responsible for serving and washing dishes. Accordingly, Shi Xiaodie, who thought there was a big gap between herself and him, gradually started learning to forget Zheng Chen.


    At this time, there was a man who was going after Shi Xiaodie, who also wanted to try to forget Zheng Chen. She was together with that man soon, but the man had the virgin complex.


    Shi Xiaodie, who was abandoned by that man, had totally went to the bad. However, when she had just entered the abyss, she was surprised to receive a letter from Zheng Chen. In this letter, he expressed his love and missing for her, which made this woman, who used to feel inferior to herself, go into deep confusion.


    It was at this time that Shi Xiaodie knew one thing that all the sisters, who had been doing the sex-related job with her together, would go home to get married and have the children after earning a sum of money.


    Hence, this pointe became the hope of Shi Xiaodie, so she began to return to the feeling of first love with Zheng Chen.


    However, she didn¡¯t know how Zheng Chen got to know her current situation and it was totally unacceptable for her. She even thought it was Zheng Chen who ruined her life and went to meet with him. When she knew it was irreparable, she chose to committed suicide in the end.


    For this, Zheng Chen was full of guilty in his heart.


    Her families, who had known her situation, dared not put up a pageantry, and could only falsely claim that Shi Xiaodie had a sudden illness on the way back and then bury her body very easily.


    It was at the time when they buried Shi Xiaodie that they dug up a golden toad carving from the graveyard and also found that there even was an ancient tomb next to the graveyard.


    Her family all didn¡¯t make this public. Instead, they only buried her body and left.


    This village was to small and the news was made public by those helpers. It also immediately attracted the attention of those unemployed villagers like Zheng Daqiang.


    Therefore, Zheng Daqiang and friends decided to go to steal the ancient tomb. They falsely claimed they went to work and left the village.


    According to Zheng Daqiang, the golden toad was buried together with Shi Xiaodie.


    I nodded and thought knowing Shi Xiaodie¡¯s experience was no help to the present situation. However, by contrast, I felt the nobility from the depths of the soul of the woman named Chang.


    ¡°What shall we do now?¡± Su Jun asked.


    I shook my head and said, ¡°Go to find Shi Xiaodie¡¯s grave and solve the thing about her.¡±


    ¡°What about the woman named Chang?¡±


    I just looked at Su Jun but didn¡¯t speak.


    I stood up and I and Su Jun followed that police officer to walk to one side. There was a golden toad carving on a distant table, covered with cracks and white binders.


    I didn¡¯t go to take it up. I only observed it for a long time and then said to Su Jun with smile, ¡°Shi Xiaodie, she could never escape.¡±


    In the surprised eyes of Su Jun, I let old Mr. Chang come over and told him some of my requirements.


    After the soul fusion of the golden toad and Shi Xiaodie, there must be the breath of Shi Xiaodie left on the golden toad. With this breath, I could trace her ghost. As for the body, it was no longer important.


    Although I still didn''t know exactly how Shi Xiaodie became a ghost, I thought it was very likely that her corpse was hurt when Zheng Daqiang and his friends went to steal the ancient grave.


    Old Mr. Chang had set the spelling table and found a rooster in the village as I asked.


    I put the golden toad carefully on the spelling table, tied it up with a red silk thread soaked in the blood of black dog, then lit the incenses and the candles.


    After smearing the blood of the rooster''s crowns on the head of golden toad, I began to wait in silence.


    Standing for a while, Su Jun took a look at unresponsive spelling table, also looked around and then asked me, ¡°What are you doing now? Just this can work?¡±


    I shook my head and answered him, ¡°The red silk thread is used to trap Shi Xiaodie so that she can¡¯t leave a certain range and the blood of the rooster crown is something with most Yang. Once it is smeared on the golden toad, Shi Xiaodie will feel her whole body is being burnt by the fire.¡±


    ¡°Then she will come out?¡±


    I continued shaking my head and answered him, ¡°Not necessarily. If she doesn¡¯t come out, her body will keep being burnt by the fire. Anyway, there are so many roosters in the village. I will change one every once in a while. I bet that she certainly can not hold on for a long time.¡±


    No sooner had I finished my saying than I heard a weak female voice, ¡°Why do you do this to me?¡±


    I looked toward the direction of the voice, only to find that Shi Xiaodie was standing on the open space, looking at me with an aggrieved expression on her face.


    ¡°Didn''t you get hit to death by a car? Do you want to show us your face of death?¡±


    The grievance expression on her face suddenly disappeared and she just looked at me with hatred.


    The face of death was left by the people at the moment of death and it was just the same as the peeled Xiao Lingdang I saw in those days. It was just that the face of death, after all, was not very good. Most of time, ghosts will appear in the way they were alive.


    Shi Xiaodie said, ¡°I don¡¯t mess with you. Why are you always chasing after me?¡±


    I took a look at her and replied, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t hurt the child and Zhou Yan.¡±


    When I was saying, I also pulled out one candle on one side and dripped the wax on the shoulder of the golden toad.


    After a sudden painful exclamation, Shi Xiaodie also covered her own shoulder, where there are plumes of white smoke coming out from the chink of her fingers.


    This was the legendary dropping wax. I thought with malice and still kept saying, ¡°You have no choice.¡±


    Shi Xiaodie covered her should, looking at me and clenching her teeth, ¡°I have no choice. Right, I do have no choice. I have loved the wrong person and what choice can I have?¡±


    ¡°You have loved the wrong person? No. Although Zheng Chen hates you a little, he still visits you after you die. He very loves you. Your wrong lies in that you never love yourself.¡±


    ¡°He loves me? Visits me? Ha Ha Ha Ha!¡± Shi Xiaodie gave out crazy laughter, but then burst into tears, saying, ¡°He has let me swap grave with Zhang Fei. Is that loving me? He should love Zhang Fei!¡±


    Well. Her words made me have no way to answer, but I also didn¡¯t understand that Zheng Chen obviously loved Shi Xiaodie, but why he still let her swap the grave with the woman named Chang.


    ¡°You must have no words to say, right?¡±


    I just looked at Shi Xiaodie. As I was about to open my mouth, a gentle and crisp voice suddenly sounded.


    ¡°Zheng Chen did that for you. I had appeared in his dream and made a request. There was evil thing next to your graveyard, which was slowly eating away at your soul. To revamp your soul, Zheng Chen finally swapped your and my graveyard. However, what I didn¡¯t expect was that Zheng Daqiang, that son of bitch, went to steal the ancient grave and broke that evil thing.¡±


    Eyes of all the people were focused on the sudden appearance of figure. With square face and thick eyebrow, that was the woman named Chang.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s impossible. How can you appear in Zheng Chen¡¯s dream?¡± Shi Xiaodie was stunned for a moment and kept shaking his head.


    The woman named Chang sighed and said, ¡°Because Zheng Chen wants to call the police to help me. Because he loves you.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Shi Xiaodie stupidly looked at the woman named Chang.


    ¡°Yes, but all is over.¡± Zheng Chen¡¯s voice suddenly sounded, and I saw he with his family stood still in a cloud of fog.


    Shi Xiaodie wanted to go forward but was stopped by Zheng Chen, and she said, ¡°I have made mistake. I have mistaken. Now we both are the ghosts and we can always be together.¡±


    Zheng Chen shook his head and said, ¡°Xiaodie, go to reincarnation with us.¡±


    ¡°No. No.¡± Shi Xiaodie also shook her head and said, ¡°If we go, then we couldn¡¯t be together.¡±


    Zheng Chen sighed, and Zhou Yan was holding his arm, comforting him silently.

 Chapter 268 The Beautiful Woman with Heavy Taste

    This scene made the feeling of hatred hidden in the eyes of Shi Xiaodie stronger.


    Nobody at the scene spoke again and they all just looked at Zheng Chen and Shi Xiaodie. After all, as for this thing, It was up to them to make their own decisions.


    It was a long time before Zheng Chen showed a smile, touching Zhou Yan¡¯s cheek and saying, ¡°Honey, let¡¯s go to the reincarnation.¡±


    After looking at Shi Xiaodie, Zhou Yan nodded.


    ¡°No, you can''t do this to me.¡± Shi Xiaodie¡¯s long hair was flying in the air and then the black fog visible to the naked eye emanated from all over her body.


    I immediately picked up the bowl full of black dog blood on on one side and dripped the blood over the golden toad.


    After a miserable exhalation, Shi Xiaodie curled up on the ground. The black fog around her body had already gone and then a plenty of white smoke came out, making the sound of ¡°ZIZIZIZI¡±.


    Zheng Chen¡¯s corner of eye twitched for once. He kept his mouth open but he didn¡¯t say anything.


    Zhou Yan took a look at Zheng Chen and said to me, ¡°Master, just let her go.¡±


    Then I looked at her very surprisingly. After stunned for a while, she continued asking for mercy for Shi Xiaodie, ¡°She is also a poor person.¡±


    I frowned and then cut a silk thread wrapped in golden toads.


    The white smoke on Shi Xiaodie¡¯s body was suddenly reduced. Although she was still screaming painfully on the ground, there obviously no longer was that terribly grieved feeling just now.


    It was a long time before Shi Xiaodie stood up. Then she kept her head down and kowtowed to Zhou Yan, saying, ¡°Thank you, Sister Chou.¡±


    Zhou Yan sighed, walked over and then held Shi Xiaodie up.


    Shi Xiaodie still kept her head down. At the moment when Zhou Yan was about to hold her up, suddenly, her mouth became very huge, just as it was blowing. Then a red and sticky tongue stretched swiftly towards the face of Zhou Yan.


    At this moment, one of Zheng Yan¡¯s words suddenly occurred to me and that was that ¡°Those who were unwilling to leave were all eaten by the frog she changed into.¡±


    No, I was screaming in my heart, but it was too late to take any actions. When I saw the tongue had almost reached Zhou Yan''s face, all of sudden, a thick and white hand caught Shi Xiaodie¡¯s tongue.


    Later, this hand pulled the tongue with its full strength a Shi Xiaodie gave out a miserable exhalation. Then the long tongue was thus pulled out, turned into a ray of black smoke and disappeared.


    At the moment, the woman named Chang was standing in front of Shi Xiaodie, staring at her with anger. When seeing her square face full of justice and majestic, not to say Shi Xiaodie, even my heart was trembling.


    Then I put the wax fire on the back of the Golden Toad. When the flame touched the black dog blood on the toad, it flared up weirdly. Then the white binder flowed slowly down and the cracks on the golden toad were healing slowly.


    Suddenly, there was much flame burning on Shi Xiaodie¡¯s while body and innumerable black gas, as if it was being evaporated, came out from her body.


    After that, Shi Xiaodie kept screaming and begging for mercy, but no one spoke again at this moment.


    While Zheng Chen was holding the frightened Zhou Yan, he also, with his complicated eyes, was looking at Shi Xiaodie who was struggling in pain.


    ¡°Stop torturing her and just directly kill her.¡± The woman named Chang was a little unbearable to see this and said to me.


    Then I showed a very embarrassed expression because I really didn¡¯t know how to kill her. It seemed that the way of killing ghosts couldn¡¯t work under such a situation.


    I couldn''t help feeling ashamed of my professionalism. However, fortunately, old Mr. Chang still didn¡¯t know the truth, otherwise, he would come to judge me.


    Seeing that I didn¡¯t move, the woman named Chang just looked at me in surprise and then seemed to understand something. Then, after a wave of her hand behind her body, the silk thread of the golden toad on the spelling table tightened violently and then, in a few crunchy sounds, the golden toad was be split into pieces.


    At the same time, Shi Xiaodie gave out a loud scream. After innumerable black gas came out from her body, she disappeared in place, leaving no trace of her existence.


    After he nodded to thank the woman named Chang and took his wife and children to thank me, they slowly went into the white fog. I knew, they were going to the reincarnation.


    The woman took a look at Su Jun. When she was about to leave, Su Jun suddenly opened her mouth to urge her to stay, ¡°Hi, wait a minute.¡±


    I suddenly felt a little confused. Had it not been for knowing that Su Jun truly felt that the woman named Chang was not ugly, I was almost certain that such a sentence would have been enough for killing all of us.


    Then all the police officers behind me gave out a surprised cry, but after Su Jun glared hard at all of them, they all stopped, but there was still full of surprise on their faces.


    The woman named Chang seemed a little unaccustomed to the way Su Jun called her. She was stunned for a moment before she asked him with a gentle voice, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    But at this moment, Su Jun suddenly looked at me and I immediately turned my head to one side, so he had no choice but continue saying, ¡°There already are many people dead, so you can''t kill people anymore. They all will be punished by the law, I promise to you. If you kill people again, your anger will dissipate and you will die, too.¡±


    The woman named Chang looked at Su Jun in amazement, asking, ¡°You...You¡¯re caring about me?¡±


    Su Jun looked at me again but I kicked him hard.


    ¡°Oh, dear. Yes. Yes. You are a good woman and you shouldn''t hurt yourself for those sons of bitch. By the way, aren¡¯t you willing to have a look of your families?¡±


    The woman, however, even took a look at me and nodded slightly, ¡°I have no family and also have no place to go. If I don¡¯t revenge, what else can I do?¡±


    Su Jun looked at me again, but he didn¡¯t find me because I had changed the place. Therefore, he had to said to the woman, ¡°I will enshrine you and burn incense for you.¡±


    The woman named Chang only looked at Su Jun, without speaking. At this time, instead of looking towards me again, he took a few steps forward and exposed his chest, as if he wanted to let the her check his body.


    If I hadn''t known that Su Jun had a daughter, I would have assumed that he were interested in her.


    The woman named Chang hesitated for a while and finally nodded, ¡°OK.¡±


    Then Su Jun showed a smile on his face and said insatiably, ¡°Then can you let Chen and other people go first?¡±


    The woman named Chang nodded again.


    A police officer beside me asked me, ¡°Master, can ghost be together with human?¡±


    I looked at him, but I suddenly thought of Lulu. Then I answered, ¡°Who tells you that?¡±


    The police officer only touched his head, saying, ¡°I have seen it in the situation. If they can be together, will Captain SU...?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t nonsense. Your captain has a wife.¡±


    But he was surprised to say, ¡°His wife has already been dead for a long time and there just are him and his daughter in the home.¡±


    What? I was surprised. I saw that Su Jun, with a serious expression on his face, was carefully recording the words of the woman named Chang. Did he really fall in love with this woman?


    After a down-to-earth rest for a night, I and old Mr. Chang were sent back home by the police. As for the thing after that, it had nothing to do with us.


    After cleaning the house where no one lived for a long time, I took old Mr. Chang out for dinner.


    As I was passing by the hotel where I used to live, I saw a haggard man, whose hair was in a mess, standing in front of the door and shouting at the security guard, ¡°I come to find someone. Why don''t let me in?¡±


    But the security guard just said helplessly, ¡°It is not that we don¡¯t let you in, but that the man you are looking for hasn¡¯t lived here for a long time. Even you come several times a day, it is still no use.¡±


    ¡°I...I...¡± After saying ¡°I¡± for several times, that man still couldn¡¯t say a complete sentence. It was a long time before he stamped his feet and said, ¡°Then you could tell me his name and I will go to find him.¡±

 Chapter 269 The Girl Who Hailed A Car

    I was stunned for a moment and thought I didn¡¯t know anyone in Teng Shan city. Even he really was someone I knew, how could he be waiting in front of a hotel?


    Then I observed this man carefully. He had the haggard expression, wax-yellow skin as well as the sunken under-eye bags, and I even felt a little familiar with him. After looking at him for a long time, I suddenly became very happy and thought this man must be the driver who had thrown away my phone number when I just came here.


    I continued observing him with the physiognomy and found there was still only a faint black gas around him and it didn¡¯t look very serious. However, what I felt strange was that how he became like this?


    ¡°Sir.¡± I walked over and greeted to him with smile.


    The driver turned to look at me and showed a hint of confused expression on his face. Then he immediately turned into crazily happy. In the surprised eyes of the security guard, he even directly knelt down in front of me.


    ¡°Master, help me!¡±


    I immediately stepped forward and held the driver up. Having seen the people around were all looking at us strangely, I hurriedly took the driver to the side.


    Before I began to asked him what happened, he had already begun to cry and plead, ¡°Master, help me. Just help me, please!¡±


    I nodded and asked him, ¡°Sir, what on earth happened?¡±


    ¡°Master, my name is Wang Guohua. I also know that I am just a normal taxi driver and I have never offended anyone. Just not long before I meet you...¡± At this moment, the driver wiped his tears and began to tell me what happened.


    Under the competition with Didi, the business of the taxi was getting worse and worse but the commission taxi company would charge still didn¡¯t reduce. Therefore, in addition to working the day and night overtime, Wang Guohua finally had no choice but to install Didi App and began to take orders on it. After all, he needed to support his family.


    In the small hours, Wang Guohua had drove the car around the town for a long time, but still didn¡¯t received a single order. When he was about to end working, the phone rang. It was a car-hailing message sent by Didi.


    He had been receiving this message since a few days ago and someone always would hail a car every day at this time. However, it was too far from the place to go. Even the car had been out of the city, he still had to drive for 10 more kilometers. Besides, that place was very remote, so almost no one wanted to go.


    Because the business today wasn''t good, Wang Guohua thought about it and finally took the order. On the way he drove to pick up that person, I also made a phone call. After all, there were a lot of bad guys now. In case encountering money robbery, he would be in trouble. This was also the reason why he was unwilling to take this car-hailing order.


    Nothing bad happened, and he also picked up the ride-hailing woman and sent her to the designated location. Despite the late time and long distance, Wang Guohua finally earned a small sum of money.


    And the next few days, as long as this guy hailed the car, Wang Guohua would always take the order. After a few times, he was also familiar with this passenger.


    But this familiarity was just unilateral. That passenger was very strange. It was also OK that she went to the place where the bird didn¡¯t shit every day. When Wang Guohua wanted to give his phone number to her, she also refused and still stubbornly insisted using the car-hailing app every day.


    Besides, she also didn¡¯t like talking and even never opened her mouth along the way. She just got on the car silently and only sat on the backseat, behind the driver''s seat.


    It all didn¡¯t matter. After all, she really paid every time.


    This day, Wang Guohua felt a little uncomfortable and wanted to finish work earlier. However, just when he got to the downstairs of his house and was ready to shut off the engine, the phone rang again and it was the girl who wanted to hail a car.


    Although that place was very remote, Wang Guohua thought about it and still took the order. This time, the girl finally opened her mouth and thanked him, which made Wang Guohua feel a little happy in his heart.


    However, there was a traffic accident ahead on the way back and the road was accordingly blocked for a short while. The girl looked anxious but Wang Guohua also couldn¡¯t help. After a few words of comfort, he got of the car to have a look at the situation.


    But when he got back, the girl was gone. Then he also called the girl¡¯s number, but the voice prompt said the subscriber he dialed didn¡¯t exist, which really scared Wang Guohua. The next day, no matter how the phone rang, he still never took the order again.


    However, the girl, whose phone number actually didn¡¯t exist, still called Wang Guohua¡¯s phone to let him to pick her up.


    Then Wang Guohua asked the girl about the thing last night, but she only said that she wanted to pee and went to one side to pee, but when she came back, the car had gone.


    Wang Guohua immediately felt very embarrassed and kept making apology to her. When the girl hailed the car again, Wang Guohua took the order this time.


    But this time, Wang Guohua paid much attention to this girl. She looked not more than 18 or 9 years old and very beautiful. Her clothes were still the white dress she wore first time. All these seemed to be nothing wrong, so Wang Guohua could only laugh at himself for his thinking too much.


    When he smoothly sent the girl to the destination, he suddenly felt his stomach uncomfortable. Seeing the girl go far away, he hastened to get out of the car to find a remote place to take shit.


    When he just finished it and went out, he saw an old lady in black looking inside through his car window.


    Then he hastened to call the old lady, but she just smiled weirdly at him and shivered away.


    Wang Guohua checked his car and there was no problem, but only a newspaper appeared in the driver''s seat.


    You have to know, his car window was never open, so how could the newspaper be in the car?


    Wang Guohua was startled. However, when he picked up the newspaper and was about to throw it away, he saw a big photo in the newspaper, and it was the girl who had been taking his car. More surprisingly, the title of that photo was that ¡°Single girl was killed late at night, whose body was still missing¡±.


    Wang Guohua threw the newspaper away and stormed home. After that, it took days of sickness before he got back to work. He also had changed the shift with his colleagues and started his own day shift. However, he still would get a phone call from that girl to let him drive to pick her up.


    Wang Guohua freaked out. Even he shut down the phone, the girl''s phone call would still be able to call in.


    His hand began to tremble, and he told her what had happened that night.


    I just looked at him strangely and found the black gas on the body of Wang Guohua was very light. I always thought it was his family who had encountered the ghost, but what didn''t expect was that it was him. However, there was little YIN gas on his body, which didn¡¯t make sense.


    ¡°Well, sir. Did you pick up the girl after that?¡±


    Wang Guohua just shook his head, saying, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t dare to go.¡±


    ¡°Did the girl do anything but make phone call to you?¡±


    Wang Guohua continued shaking his head, ¡°No. She only let me pick her up every time. If I said no, she would hung up, but she would call me every day and I also couldn¡¯t stand that.¡±


    At this moment, old Mr. Chang interrupted and said, ¡°Master, was it him who had promised the girl something?¡±


    Hearing the sage-liked old man with white beard call me master, Wang Guohua was a little surprised and then he answered old Mr. Chang, ¡°Never. What can I promise her? She never talked after she got in the car and I also was not talkative.¡±


    I nodded and continued asking him, ¡°Well. What about your colleague who had changed the shift with you? Did he receive any information about her car-hailing?¡±


    There suddenly was a glimpse in his eyes and his look turned terribly bad. It had been a long time before he opened his mouth.