Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 29

The sick old dog lay at the door, watching Ran Qing clean the yard lazily.

After Aunt Liu opened the door of the main hall, the old dog ran out and squatted not far from Ran Qing, watching Ran Qing clean the yard.

After getting to know each other, the dog turned out to be more gentle than I had imagined.

Although it is very large, it looks scary.

Ran Qing had just finished cleaning the yard and was about to put down the broom when a dull drum sound suddenly came from the main room.

Boom!
The dull drumbeats seemed to carry an echo, making Ran Qing feel heavy in the chest and dizzy.

Aunt Liu actually played the ghost-eye sheepskin drum?
Ran Qing hurried to the door of the main hall and saw Aunt Liu putting down the ghost-eye sheepskin drum in her hand.

However, the black jar placed in front of the tablets of Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teacher disappeared.

Seeing Ran Qing standing at the door, Aunt Liu glanced at him and said, "Have you finished sweeping?"

Aunt Liu placed the ghost-eye sheepskin drum on the large jar containing incense ash. Ran Qing clearly saw that there was indeed less incense ash in the jar.

But Sixth Aunt was very secretive about what happened last night. Although Ran Qing was curious, he didn't dare to ask too much, not wanting to be scolded by Sixth Aunt for no reason. He was just surprised that such an experienced and powerful ghost walker like Sixth Aunt could be besieged by evil spirits.

He put down the broom and said, "I'm done."

Aunt Liu looked at Ran Qing and said, "I sent that old ghost in to feed those dead faces, but it will take time to eat the old ghost, so there will be no results today."

"Let's go find the body of your classmate first."

When Sixth Aunt finally brought up the matter, Ran Qing was startled and stood up straight.

Li Hongye's body... There has been no news of Li Hongye to this day, no one knows her whereabouts, and even her body cannot be found.

Ran Qing was very curious about how Aunt Liu would find it.

But Aunt Six looked at him coldly and said, "Can you find out where your female classmate lives?"

"Uh... I know where her home is," Ran Qing said truthfully.

Aunt Liu's eyes fixed, and her expression instantly became strange. She looked Ran Qing up and down and said, "I mean the exact address, the kind that's accurate to the building and house number!"

Aunt Liu's eyes suddenly became playful and sharp. Being stared at like this, Ran Qing suddenly felt sweaty.

He lowered his head guiltily and said, "I went to her house once..."

The air was suddenly quiet.

Sixth Aunt stared at Ran Qing for a long time, then suddenly sneered with a fake smile: "As expected of Ran Lao San's son, he has inherited this very well."

"You're already looking for a partner at such a young age...Aren't you an excellent student? Didn't your teacher skin you alive?"

Ran Qing's defense was weak: "We are not in love. Li Hongye and I are just friends. We were having a weekend dinner together with our classmates. It was too late and I was worried that it would be unsafe on the road, so I sent her off..."

Ran Qing began to explain, trying to prove his innocence.

But before he could finish, Aunt Six interrupted with a sneer: "You've explained so much to me, but you're guilty as a thief. I'm neither your father nor your mother. Whether you find a partner or not is none of my business."

"Even if you get her pregnant and bring her home, it has nothing to do with me."

"Since you know the way, it's easy."

Aunt Six said, "Go to her house now. Today is Sunday, so there should be someone there. Go to her house pretending to be a classmate, find an excuse to stay there for a while, and try to steal something she used when she was alive."

"Used clothes, a used toothbrush, a water cup...even her used loincloth will do."

Aunt Six said, "Go and get something back. As long as it's something she used when she was alive, I can help you find her body tonight."

Aunt Six said this, looked at the sky, and said, "As usual, come back to me before dark. I'm going out too."

Aunt Liu's eyes were bloodshot. It seemed that she slept even less last night than Ran Qing, and she looked very sleepy.

But she was still in a hurry to go out. Before leaving, she glanced at Ran Qing and said, "Things have been a bit dicey lately. Go scoop some incense ash from the jar and take it with you. When you run into trouble, scatter the ashes."

"You can keep the bronze mirror and hammer I gave you last night. You don't have to return them to me for now."

"It's best not to use your mask if you can."

After saying that, Aunt Liu hurried out without even closing the door, leaving the task of closing the door to Ran Qing.

Ran Qing watched the direction where Sixth Aunt left, then obediently walked into the main hall. Following Sixth Aunt's instructions, he scooped incense ash from the large vat under the tablets of Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teacher.

The main room was filled with strange smoke and fire, and it felt inexplicably eerie.

After Ran Qing stepped in, he instantly felt that countless pairs of eyes were staring at him.

He looked up at the red ropes hanging from the ceiling. Each red rope was hanging and shaking as if it had life.

The large vat under the tablets of Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teacher, which was previously filled with incense ash, is now visibly less.

Can this kind of incense ash ward off evil spirits?

Ran Qing stretched out his hand, somewhat hesitantly.

He still remembered the first time he entered the Wujiang ghost world and saw a large vat filled with dead faces biting each other. The scene was extremely horrifying.

Is it okay to put your hand in like this?
Ran Qing gritted his teeth and finally reached his hand in. Nothing happened, so he put a small bag of incense ash in a plastic bag and took it away.

After walking out of the main room, Ran Qing locked the door familiarly, tied up the dog, and left.

But after walking for a while in the fog, Ran Qing was surprised to hear some movement behind him. Turning around, he found that the sick old dog was following him.

Ran Qing looked surprised: "How did you break free from the rope?"

The sick old dog just looked at Ran Qing. Every time Ran Qing took a step, it took a step, but there was no further response.

Ran Qing thought for a moment, and thinking that the old dog seemed to be able to scare away things in the fog, he accepted the old dog's companionship.

After walking out of the residential area with the dog, Ran Qing filled his stomach with a bowl of pork noodle at a roadside pork noodle shop. He then continued on his way and soon arrived downstairs of Li Hongye's house.

"Wait for me here, I'll be back soon."

Ran Qing didn't know whether the dog could understand what he said, but after he finished speaking, the sick old dog actually lay down beside the wall downstairs of Li Hongye's house and didn't move.

Ran Qing then turned around to look at the six-story building in front of him and took a deep breath.

The old walk-up building with old exterior walls stood quietly in the fog, and the vents in the corridors looked like black eyeballs, inexplicably frightening.

The last time Ran Qing sent Li Hongye home, he only went downstairs.

But that playful girl was standing at the stairs, half of her face faintly visible in the darkness, full of smiles.

"We're already downstairs, don't you want to go up and sit for a while?"

"My parents know you and have wanted to meet you for a long time."

The girl's bright smile and playful words made Ran Qing's heart beat faster and his face started to get hot.

He couldn't tell whether the girl's words were a sincere invitation or a prank on him, so he could only run away in fear.

That night, he didn't dare go upstairs, let alone meet Li Hongye's parents, and he didn't even dare let the girl notice his blushing face and accelerated heartbeat.

But now, he came here alone, going up to meet her parents...

A trace of sadness flashed in Ran Qing's eyes.

He remembered clearly that Li Hongye's house was on the fifth floor, room 501.

The girl told him herself.

(End of this chapter)