Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 255 A Sea of ​​Flowers in Full Bloom

Even if the Tree Ghost wasn't a shady character in its previous life, it lived with this den of foxes and, just by listening to them talk, it must have known how terrifying the spirit mediums were.

The second aunt's interrogation was particularly terrifying...

tsk...

Thinking about this, Ran Qing felt quite conflicted.

The second aunt was not skilled in her craft and was unwilling to endure hardship. She would ask for the ancestral tablet of her master at the drop of a hat, which caused her to die at the young age of forty.

As a result, her extravagant spending led to the Yin-Yang Masters gaining a fearsome reputation.

This is rather darkly humorous.

Outside the mansion, the shadowy, hunched pine trees loomed, and pairs of eyes in the shadows seemed to be surrounding and approaching the residence.

Ran Qing, however, ignored it.

He calmly closed the gate of the mansion, which reeked of fox stench, and took out a brush and goat's blood from his canvas bag. He then quickly wrote lines of the "Ghost-Suppressing Incantation" on the gate.

The crooked and twisted "ghost-suppressing incantation" quickly filled the door like scribbled characters.

Whenever Ran Qing had free time, she would practice copying the incantations in "Witchcraft and Spiritual Arts" on draft paper.

Therefore, he was able to write the various incantations in "The Book of Witchcraft and Spiritual Arts" with ease, and he filled the entire door in just a few minutes.

As the wooden door was covered with the "Ghost-Suppressing Incantation," a chilling and sharp feeling spread throughout the courtyard.

That eerie feeling seemed to have been largely dissipated.

The ominous feeling brought by the shadows outside the house vanished instantly.

This gate is here to keep out ghosts for a long time, even if there really are ghosts outside.

Looking at the large mansion in front of him, Mo Li asked, "Which way do we go?"

This fox den is huge; searching it room by room would probably take a lot of time.

Ran Qing paused on the staff with the severed head in her hand.

The wooden staff slammed heavily onto the floor with a dull thud. The head that looked exactly like Ran Qing suddenly opened its eyes, a faint green light shining from them.

As the green light shone forward, a faint green aura of death could be vaguely seen in the air.

Ran Qing glanced around briefly and walked towards the direction where the deathly aura was strongest.

He held up a staff made of human heads, like a green lamp, the eerie green flames illuminating the way ahead, the deathly aura growing heavier the further in he went.

"By the way, be careful of the flowers in this yard."

Ran Qing reminded her.

This was a warning the old fox gave her before he left, and Ran Qing naturally wouldn't forget it.

They walked through the courtyard and passed the large house in the very center.

It looks like a living room, with side rooms on the left and right, a layout completely in the style of ancient architecture.

Ran Qing and the others glanced at the entrance and then entered the backyard through the small door on the right side of the hall.

Behind it was another courtyard house, with side rooms on the left and right sides. In the center of the courtyard was a lawn planted with many black, spherical flowers.

Mo Li was somewhat surprised: "Hydrangeas come in this color?"

These common ornamental flowers are usually purple, red, or white, and they bloom in clusters in green belts.

But the hydrangeas in this fox's den were a strange, shiny black color, giving people a very uncomfortable feeling.

When Mo Li shone his flashlight on them, he could even see the stamens of the hydrangeas, which looked like crowded eyeballs, densely packed and unsettling.

Ran Qing said, "Stay away from these flowers..."

They bypassed the flowerbed and grass in the center of the courtyard and walked along the eaves to the end of the courtyard, where there was another courtyard.

Under the green light emanating from the staff shaped like a human head, the deathly aura grew stronger the further one went in.

The four of them walked through the courtyard filled with hydrangeas and arrived at the third courtyard. Upon entering, they discovered that there was another courtyard ahead.

Long Zongshu asked curiously, "How big is the fox den's home...?"

There are already three courtyards, and there are still more inside?

Within the green light of the staff with the human head, the deathly aura was so dense that it almost formed a thick fog.

Ran Qing continued forward, ringing the bell.

Two paper figures lead the way, four living people walk in the middle, and the last paper figure brings up the rear.

They entered the fourth courtyard.

Upon entering the courtyard, one finds a lawn with many black hydrangeas planted in the center.

This familiar yet eerie scene startled the four of them.

"We're back again?" Mo Li subconsciously turned around, only to find that the courtyard behind him seemed to be shrouded in a thin layer of green mist, making it impossible to see anything too far away.

Ran Qing reached out and stroked the head of the staff, and the head with ghostly fire glowing in its eyes slowly closed its eyes.

The death aura in the air is clearly visible even without the human head cane.

But all around them was a pale green mist, and as they walked further in, it seemed as if they had returned to a second courtyard.

"Is it a ghost wall?" Flames ignited on Long Zongshu's shoulder.

His cheeks suddenly puffed out, and then he spewed out a burst of blazing fire.

However, after the flames erupted, they disappeared into the green mist without causing any damage to it.

Mo Li looked at Ran Qing and said, "Shall we try asking for directions with Longyan?"

Being trapped in a ghost wall is a very common trap, but as professionals who hunt ghosts, they naturally have ways to break free from it.

Ran Qing shook her head: "It doesn't seem like being trapped in a ghost wall..."

Even so, he still took out two shriveled longans from his canvas bag, crushed them with his fingers, and threw them away.

The longan fruit spun around on the ground, but couldn't find its way, and soon it withered and stopped in place.

Asking for directions with longan was ineffective; it's definitely not a case of being lost in a maze.

Ran Qing's judgment was correct.

He sighed and said, "There's no such thing as getting disoriented..."

It's relatively easy to explain being trapped in a maze of ghosts, especially for those who practice spirit possession.

Their current situation is clearly not a case of being trapped in a maze.

Mo Li looked around curiously and said, "What else could it be but a ghost wall? We've walked for so long, and yet we've ended up back where we started..."

Ran Qing said, "It's also possible that there are more than one courtyard in this house where hydrangeas are planted."

As she spoke, Ran Qing shook the corpse-driving bell and led the paper figures forward.

The three of them crossed the courtyard and entered the next courtyard.

There were no hydrangeas or lawns in the yard, but it was filled with pale green azaleas.

Rhododendrons are very common in Zangke. Every spring, the mountains and fields are covered with blooming rhododendrons in all their vibrant colors. As a visitor to Zangke, I am quite familiar with rhododendrons.

When Ran Qing was a child, she loved to go to the mountains to pick azaleas, break open the petals and lick the sweet juice from the flower's center.

But he had never seen such a strange azalea with blood-red leaves and pale green flowers.

The wildly growing azalea trees almost filled the yard, their thick trunks spreading into a forest, bearing clusters of blooming green azaleas.

Mo Li's eyes widened. "The road is blocked. We can't go any further, can we?"

(End of this chapter)