The Legend of Tokyo Taoist

Chapter 535: Hong Kong Past (16)

Ah Fa looked puzzled at first, then his expression turned ugly as if he had thought of something.

The ad is only a few seconds long and features a few kids playing a train game to increasingly fast music beats with enthusiastic expressions. They are surrounded by a cool forest. It was only when the subtitles appeared at the end that we realized that this was an ad for a railway company.

But how could Ah Fat, who grew up in Hong Kong, not know what this advertisement represents?
This is another famous urban legend - [Phantom Advertising].

It is said that there were supernatural images in this advertisement, and many Hong Kong people have discovered this. First of all, there were only six children in the picture. However, in subsequent images, other people appeared, and only their upper bodies and dull expressions could be seen.

Coupled with the somewhat harsh music and the cold ambient tone of the surrounding environment, this urban legend suddenly became popular. Later, there were rumors that "all the children who were put on the shoulders died", and the rumor became more and more serious.

"This is an urban legend~" Qian Xiaoyi sighed, "Because of people's desire for novelty and the speed of modern media dissemination, it quickly caused panic among the public..."

In fact, he knew that these rumors were all nonsense, for example, all the children in the advertisement were dead. In order to dispel this rumor, the railway company even invited several children in the advertisement to do a special episode a few years later. But that was a story for later. Even now, many people still believe in this urban legend.

Ah Fa's face turned pale as he asked, "Two masters, why do you want me to look at this? This kind of thing is unlucky, I don't want to touch it..."

"So you don't want to change your fate?" asked Taoist Jingde.

"Changing fate...what does this have to do with changing fate?" As a Hong Konger, Ah Fa still respects ghosts and gods very much.

Taoist Lingkong said, "It's not that easy to change your fate. We have calculated your horoscope and know what's added and what's missing from your horoscope. You need to handle these things yourself, so we say this is a test. If you don't want to change your fate, forget it."

"Who said I don't want to!" Ah Fa was provoked and said with all his might, "Since the video has been watched, what do you want me to do now?"

"Did you see the children in the advertisement just now?" Taoist Lingkong said, "Is there an extra child in it? That's a lost ghost looking for a replacement. But now it's said that all the children in the advertisement are dead, and their souls are left there. So I want you to go to the place in the advertisement and bring those children out. This is a good thing to accumulate virtue. After bringing them out, the missing parts of your fate will be supplemented. This is the first step."

"I understand accumulating good deeds, but how do I bring them out?" Ah Fa asked, "How do I bring them out?"

Taoist Jingde said, "How else can we get them out? Aren't they playing a game of riding a train? Put your hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you, and then drive the train. All you have to do is play this game with them, and then walk out of that place. After you walk out, we will take care of your salvation. As long as we succeed, you will have accumulated good karma and taken the first step to changing your destiny."

Ah Fa swallowed his saliva, very nervous. He was not afraid of being hacked, but he was really a little scared of this thing. "What are you waiting for? Have you contacted the car?" Taoist Lingkong said, "Let's go quickly. I have already found the specific location of that place."

"I'll do it... I'll do it!" Ah Fa gritted his teeth and agreed.

Afa borrowed a broken car from an acquaintance and drove the two of them to the place mentioned in the advertisement. It looked like a completely desolate wilderness, surrounded by trees. It was already dark, and a cold wind kept blowing, which made people feel creepy.

The two Taoists began to set up the altar and perform rituals. They brought a complete set of incense tables, incense burners, and offerings. The two Taoists wore bright yellow and red robes, with solemn expressions. They held peach wood swords, Sanqing bells and other ritual instruments in their hands, and chanted around the altar, making Ah Fa more and more nervous. He knelt on the cushion in front of the altar, his muscles tense and cold sweat pouring down.

Finally, Taoist Lingkong dipped a willow branch in water and gently swept it over Ah Fa's body, then said seriously: "Get up, you can go in now. Remember, after you get there, we can no longer help you, because that is your own merit to accumulate. If we interfere, all our efforts will be wasted... Finally, you have to be careful. After you find enough children, you may encounter various illusions and obstacles when you bring them out. Those are the lonely ghosts here who are obstructing you. You must be careful to distinguish them."

Taoist Jingde also said: "Remember, when you come out, no matter who calls you from behind, you must not look back, otherwise the consequences may be very serious, and you may even stay there forever. Take this candle and don't let it go out."

"I remember, I must not look back..." Ah Fa's body was shaking. To be honest, he regretted it a little. He would rather go out and chop people than come here, but the arrow was on the string and had to be shot. He could only bite the bullet, protecting the flickering candle in his hand, and walked towards the depths of the forest path.

"How pitiful..." Qian Xiaoyi shook his head: "According to your training method, even if a person has a bad fate, if he can calmly distinguish the illusion and walk out of the ghost realm alive, he will definitely become a strong person. However...what if he fails?"

"With us here, he won't die anyway." Taoist Lingkong smiled and said, "Even if he fails because of fear, it can be considered a successful change of fate, because his personality and courage will change, and he will no longer be so impulsive and irritable. Although he will become a little cowardly, it can be considered saving his life. But we still hoped that he could hold on. After all, we have prepared many urban legends of ghosts for him, but they have not been used yet. This is our first research topic after coming to Hong Kong..."

Qian Xiaoyi pondered, "Seeing his appearance reminded me of my past. I was like this too... No, I was even worse off. You sealed a part of my cognitive abilities and threw me into the ghost realm to suffer." Qian Xiaoyi stared at Lingkong and said, "You didn't just summarize the experience from Brother Zhang and use it to train me, did you?"

"Hey~ stop making noise, hurry up and get in." Taoist Lingkong looked around and said, "I'm still waiting to see the show. Ah Fa has told you what happened, right? We were both outside the ghost realm at the time, and we didn't know what happened inside. Let me see what Ah Fa did. We only know that he managed to get out, but he was in a very embarrassing situation."

Qian Xiaoyi curled his lips at the old guy, but he knew that the person in front of him was just his perception and not the real Taoist Lingkong, so he didn't say anything and waved his hand. The scene changed and Ah Fa was carefully protecting the candle and moving forward not far from them.

"Hehehehehe~~~" The children's bell-like laughter rang out in the depths of the dark forest, causing the candle in Ah Fa's hand to flicker.

(End of this chapter)