Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 28 The lingering ghost
Beep, beep—beep, beep—beep, beep—

The cheap plastic alarm clock made a crisp beeping sound, and the boy lying in bed suddenly opened his eyes and sat up reflexively.

He stared at the wall in front of him with empty and dull eyes for three seconds.

Then he gradually came to his senses.

"Is it dawn yet..."

Ran Qing rubbed his sore temples, muttered, and looked out the window.

Outside the curtainless rental window, white fog was surging and the sky was a little gloomy.

The sun has not yet risen, but the sky is already bright.

The heavy fog that had dissipated last night unexpectedly covered the entire Yuezhao city again after daybreak.

Looking at the thick fog outside the window that covered everything, Ran Qing frowned, put on his clothes, and got out of bed.

"This fog is indeed a bit strange."

It gradually dissipated after dark, disappeared completely at midnight, and suddenly reappeared after dawn.

It's not naturally formed fog at all.

After simply brushing his teeth and washing his face, Ran Qing went out carrying the cloth bag given to him by his Sixth Aunt, bringing all the miscellaneous props with him.

The Nuo opera mask was also placed in the bag.

It's six o'clock in the morning and the sky is just getting light.

Summer nights are always short.

Ran Qing, who had only slept for four hours, felt extremely sleepy.

But Sixth Aunt said she would go find him after daybreak, so Ran Qing didn't dare to delay.

He yawned as he went out, walked out of the Qingyuan Road shantytown in the morning mist, and headed towards Aunt Liu's house.

After leaving the Qingyuan Road shantytown, the streets outside were deserted. Moonlight City was hushed and silent in the mist, its thick fog obscuring everything. No cars roamed the streets, the flickering lights of traffic lights barely visible through the fog.

The whole city seemed to be covered with a thick layer of frosted glass. The street scenes in the hazy fog were like a dream, and it felt like snow was falling.

But this dreamlike feeling was soon destroyed.

In the thick fog, Ran Qing vaguely felt a cold and malicious gaze following him from behind.

Those sneaky monsters hiding in the fog, harassing the ghost walker, gathered together so quickly.

Ran Qing frowned when he noticed the movement around him.

He took out the Nuo opera mask and hung it on the cloth bag.

The evil ghost mask painted with bright colors was facing the fog behind Ran Qing. The mask had fangs and a big mouth, as if it was smiling.

Those sneaky things behind Ran Qing disappeared in an instant.

“…These things really haunt me.”

Ran Qing looked grim and muttered to himself.

This fog of strange origin allowed those evil creatures to appear even during the day.

But these things don't attack ordinary people, but instead harass ghost walkers like him.

Having learned the skills of ghost-walking, he not only failed to scare away the evil spirits, but instead attracted more evil things.

"It's a vicious cycle..."

Ran Qing crossed the empty streets and walked alone on the moonlit streets in the early morning. It seemed that he was the only living person in the empty city.

Soon, he arrived at the door of Aunt Liu's house.

In the heavy fog, the single-story cement bungalow of Aunt Liu's family was looming.

When I got closer, I saw that the dog leash tied at the door was bitten into pieces, as if it had been torn to pieces by some monster, and the old dog was nowhere to be seen.

Ran Qing was stunned and immediately quickened his pace.

The cement courtyard in front of Aunt Liu's house appeared completely in front of him.

But the cement yard that had been cleaned last night was now in a mess.

Messy incense ash was scattered across the ground, with many broken red ropes scattered among the ash. The chaotic scene looked like a battlefield after a major war. Among the incense ash were many dirty black mud footprints on the ground. Even the door and walls of Aunt Six's house were covered with black mud handprints.

It seems like there were a lot of smelly mud figures running around here and banging on the door last night...

Ran Qing's face changed and he rushed over immediately.

"Sixth Aunt!"

He ran to the gate anxiously and knocked hard on the door of the main hall of Aunt Liu's house.

The strange situation made Ran Qing feel a chill on his back.

Could it be that Aunt Liu was attacked by monsters last night?

The cement yard in front of me is clearly a battlefield after a great war!
The incense ash all over the floor was most likely from the big vat that Aunt Six placed under the tablets of Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teacher!
Ran Qing was extremely anxious and banged on the door desperately.

At the same time, he looked behind him nervously, constantly looking into the fog around him.

The quiet fog looked particularly terrifying in his eyes at this moment, as if a monster would emerge from the fog at any time.

Amidst the rapid knocking sounds, the door to Aunt Six's main room suddenly opened.

The next second, Aunt Liu's gloomy old face appeared at the door.

Her eyes were bloodshot, but she was unharmed, and there were a few specks of eye mucus on her sleepy face.

There was an expression of impatient disgust on the slightly wrinkled dark old face.

"Why are you crying so early in the morning? What's the dog barking about?"

Aunt Liu angrily scolded Ran Qing and said, "You're going to pay for breaking the door?"

Aunt Liu was obviously woken up and was in a very bad mood when she woke up.

At Aunt Liu's feet, a sickly old dog curiously poked its head out and looked at Ran Qing.

Everything in the house was normal. Aunt Liu and the sick old dog were there, and there was no danger.

After seeing this scene, Ran Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief, but then became confused and asked hurriedly.

"Sixth Aunt, did a monster attack you last night? Why is the door like this?!"

In Ran Qing's eyes, Sixth Aunt is definitely an old veteran in the art of shady dealings, and she has real skills.

She was able to rush into the Wujiang ghost world and rescue Ran Qing from Li Hongye...Ran Qing never doubted the strength of Aunt Liu.

Even though he is a half-baked ghost walker, he can scare away the evil creatures following him in the fog just by taking out a mask.

But Aunt Liu’s house was under siege?
Ran Qing couldn't believe it.

What kind of monster dares to mess with Aunt Six?
Aunt Liu glanced at Ran Qing coldly, and her bloodshot eyes looked at the cloth bag that Ran Qing was carrying across his shoulder.

"What happens at my doorstep is none of your business."

"Did you catch the ghost you were asked to catch?"

"You little brat, you still want to meddle in other people's business when you haven't cleaned up your shit yet?"

Aunt Liu grabbed Ran Qing's cloth bag, opened it, and saw what was inside.

She nodded in satisfaction.

"You're quite capable. You caught me."

Aunt Liu took the small black jar from the bag, weighed it gently, and said, "Clean the door. Call me when you're done."

After saying that, Sixth Aunt turned around and took the jar and walked to the tablets of Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teachers in the main hall.

She placed the jar under the tablet and walked into the dark little room on the left where she slept.

Ran Qing took a curious look and saw that there were indeed fewer red ropes hanging in the main room.

The red rope fragments at the door were indeed made by Aunt Liu.

But since Sixth Aunt didn't say anything, he didn't dare to ask more questions and quietly went to get a broom to clean the yard in front of the door.

Dirty muddy footprints, incense ash scattered everywhere, and scattered red rope fragments...Ran Qing swept for a long time before he swept away all the incense ash. He then used a basin of clean water to flush the yard and swept again, and only then was the dirty muddy footprints swept away.

Suddenly, a dull drum sound came from the main room behind him.

(End of this chapter)