Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 95 Longyan Asking for Directions
One o'clock in the morning, Changba Banan Road.

The old bazaar was dead silent under the pitch-black night. The tangled web of alleys and streets lay like a faded cloth belt curled in the folds of the moonlit city.

Although this place is connected to the urban area, it is too far away from the central urban area and is no different from a rural area.

Old, dilapidated, low-rise concrete houses were crammed together like sardines in a can, with wooden and tiled houses teetering precariously mixed in. Dust hung in the air, and the dirty loess road was dotted with dried pig manure, crushed by wheels, and dark, hardened goat droppings.

This is the market in Changba, which is bustling with activity every day. The shops on both sides of the road display a wide variety of goods, with the occasional shop selling wontons and mutton noodles mixed in.

Every Sunday, villagers from nearby villages would drag pigs and sheep to the market to sell them.

The scene was so crowded that it was difficult to find a place to stay. It was a scene that was no longer seen after the large-scale outflow of young and middle-aged people a few years later.

Ran Qing has been here twice. Although the market is far away from the loess slope where the school is located, the clothes sold in this market are particularly cheap.

When his grandmother was alive, he would save money every year and come here to buy her a new set of clothes for the New Year.

After his grandmother passed away, Ran Qing hadn't been to Changba for two years.

Now, walking in the shadows of the night, Ran Qing, wearing a withered bamboo hat woven from bamboo, appeared silently in the shadows of the street market after midnight.

The market, which is bustling during the day, becomes dead silent at night.

At the edge of the empty loess road, Ran Qing held up a small bell used for driving corpses, gently shaking it, making a crisp tinkling sound, and walked along the wall.

In the shadows, four stiff figures lined up in a row, with their heads lowered, following behind Ran Qing.

Every time Ran Qing took two steps, he would gently shake the bell in his hand. The crisp sound of the bell spread in the darkness, and the four black shadows would also follow him and take two steps stiffly, their movements stiff but consistent.

In the dark alley, five figures moved step by step and intermittently, looking inexplicably terrifying from a distance.

At the intersection, a woman's angry curses were heard from the only lighted window.

"...Yes, yes. No, no. What do you mean by taking a break? I opened the door for you in the middle of the night because I wanted to see you rest."

The man's embarrassed and angry voice drifted along with the night wind: "I already said I'm not in a good mood today, so I need to rest and relax! I didn't say I can't come, why are you so anxious!"

The crisp and cold sound of a bell suddenly floated in the night wind. The two people who were arguing in the room were stunned for a moment and subconsciously shut their mouths.

The man instinctively jumped up from the bed, rushed to the window and closed it completely.

At the same time, the woman carefully turned off the lights, and the room was instantly dark.

In the shadows, the man huddled by the window cautiously poked out half of his head and peeked down through the edge of the window.

In the dark alley, a figure wearing a bamboo hat and holding a bell walked coldly past the window.

As the bell rang, the four dark shadows behind the figure moved forward stiffly and in unison. Their stiff and strange movements made them like four puppets being dragged along.

The man's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the dim moonlight falling on the four dark shadows.

Their faces were pale and eerie, and the facial features drawn with ink seemed to be moving... They were actually four paper figures?!
This scene frightened the man so much that his heart trembled and the blood in his body instantly drained away.

At the same time, the figure wearing a bamboo hat and walking in front seemed to have sensed something and suddenly looked up.

Under the bamboo hat was a pale yet youthful face, and in those cold eyes there seemed to be a strange cold light.

The moment their eyes met, the man was struck by lightning, his whole body stiffened instantly, and he shrank into the corner in fear.

"Ghost... ghost..."

The frightened man's face turned pale, his body trembled like a sieve, and he became completely exhausted.

On the dark loess road, Ran Qing frowned.

But when he realized that the man's gaze had disappeared, he just shook his head and continued walking forward with the bell in his hand.

It's rare to see someone who's still awake at this hour...

In order not to disturb others, he waited until the late night before going out, but he still bumped into someone.

The clear ringing of the bell faded into the darkness, and no light was on in the tightly closed room. Ten minutes later, Ran Qing arrived at a ruin deep in the market.

It is only two walls away from the bustling market and can be reached through a narrow path.

But this narrow path of a few steps is like a rusty gate, cutting off the bustle of the market.

In the ruins ahead, moss wove a dark green carpet at the base of the wall, and bluish-gray groundhogs grew in the dry ruts.

The old door leaning against the wooden tile house was riddled with honeycomb-like holes, and the faded door god New Year paintings were covered with hanging spider webs.

This place is a completely desolate ruin that has not been visited for a long time. Although it is located in a bustling market, it seems like a forgotten corner in the deep mountains and old forests.

Little Mianhua stood at Ran Qing's feet, looking at the dark ruins in front of him, with curiosity in his eyes: "Strange... Why can't I feel the yin energy in these ruins?"

Ran Qing, who was holding the bell, also narrowed his eyes and indeed could not feel any negative energy or resentment.

The dilapidated ruins under the dim moonlight were quiet and dead, which was extremely normal.

It's so normal that it's a little weird.

It doesn't look like a place where evil spirits are lurking.

Ran Qing thought for a few seconds and took out a shriveled longan from his canvas bag.

After crushing the shell of the longan with one hand, he held it in his hand in silence for a few seconds, and finally threw the longan away.

After landing, the longan rolled on the dry loess road and soon rolled to the middle of the road.

But under the dim moonlight, the longan rolled to the middle of the road and then spun in place, seemingly unable to find its direction.

It rolled around in place for two minutes, and finally stopped moving completely.

Little Mianhua's eyes widened in surprise. "What's going on? Longyan can't even get directions?"

Ran Qing stepped forward and said, "It's hidden..."

Ran Qing's expression was somewhat solemn.

This water ghost in the well was even more weird and strange than he had expected.

There was no sense of Yin Qi at all, and Longyan was asking for directions but was just spinning in circles. There could only be one possibility...

Ran Qing walked to the middle of the road, half squatted down, and started taking things out of the canvas bag.

Nuo opera mask, incense ash, two candles, and three incense sticks.

Sprinkle the incense ash evenly on the ground to form a circle. Ran Qing places the candle in the circle, lights the candle first, and then uses the candle to light the incense stick.

Seeing Ran Qing's arrangement, Xiao Mianhua widened her eyes, as if she had guessed something - Ran Qing's arrangement was clearly a simple Yin altar.

A few seconds later, Ran Qing put the Nuo opera mask on the back of his head, half-knelt in front of the burning candles and incense sticks, and pressed his right palm down on the ground.

"open!"

With a low shout, a cold breath flowed from Ran Qing's palm to the ground.

Gradually, Little Mianhua felt that the moonlight in the ruins became a little hazy.

She was in a daze for an unknown amount of time before she was suddenly startled.

Because her ears could hear the noisy and bustling sounds of the market!

The startled little cotton ball turned around blankly and found that at the end of the dark path behind her, there were lights and shadowy figures walking around.

The streets that were empty and silent just now are now full of people.

(End of this chapter)