Mysterious Revival: My Path Through the Door

Outside the urban area of ​​Dachang City, there is a small village nestled in the mountains.

Zhang Han stopped the car and looked at the old farmers working in the fields under the scorching sun. He felt that this environment was familiar.

The thought of the old ghost servant in Huanggang Village who smoked with him made him feel uneasy.

"Tsk, looks pretty peaceful. I wonder if it's like Huanggang Village behind the scenes?"

Link and Yang Jian got out of the back row and chuckled, "Ghost messengers are S-level vengeful spirits. If they were everywhere, humanity would be wiped out."

He took out a photograph from his pocket, which showed the scene after Li Qingyi's grandmother was buried.

Only three months have passed, and apart from the corn stalks growing tall and obscuring some roads, the other landmark locations here haven't changed much.

With a slight comparison, you can find the approximate location.

"The graves are outside the village; we'll take the mountain path on the left."

The three of them continued along the mountain path and found an old double-grave tomb in a cypress grove. Only one side of the tomb mound was covered with sparse wild grass and still burning incense and candles, indicating that one of the tomb owners had not been buried for long.

The custom of preparing tombs in advance is very common among the people.

This is especially true for elderly people like Li Qingyi's grandparents, whose spouses passed away over a relatively long period.

Yang Jian glanced at the tombstone and said, "Li Changshou and He Xiaodie are indeed Li Qingyi's grandparents."

Link's gaze was fixed on a striking black square tile in front of He Xiaodie's tombstone, on which was written a brief biography of He Xiaodie.

"He Xiaodie was born in Dajing City in 1936. She started learning opera at the age of five. When she first appeared on stage, her performance amazed everyone. She took on apprentices and passed on her skills, spreading her fame far and wide. A smile can bring spring to ten thousand trees, and a tear can bring eternal sorrow."

The introduction even included the names of four people.

The unworthy individuals are Qu Meihong, Mo Liangxin, Bu Chengyi, and Ren Yongping.

The inscription below the tombstone looks rather out of place; it must have been put up later, and the person responsible for the mischief has already admitted it.

Those are the unscrupulous people.

"Qu Meihong, Mo Liangxin, Bu Chengyi, Pingyongren? These names are interesting. They don't sound like good people at all. How could Li Qingyi's grandmother take such people as her apprentice?"

Yang Jian read out the names of He Xiaodie's four apprentices and burst out laughing.

Zhang Han circled the grave several times, kicking aside a clump of dry weeds, only to find that nothing grew underneath, except for a pile of fresh cigarette butts.

He frowned, climbed up the mound, and looked down. The soil on He Xiaodie's side of the grave hadn't even filled the pit, and it was significantly lower than the soil on Li Changshou's side, which was already piled high.

He happened to be building a cenotaph for an elderly farmer in Huanggang Village these past few days, so he knows quite a bit about it.

According to the funeral customs in the countryside, a grave with two burial chambers does not need to be covered with a mound, but the soil in both burial chambers must be level.

If one grave has more soil than the other during burial, the person who shoveled the soil will be vilified by the entire village and will never be able to hold their head high again.

He glanced around again but found no trace of the abrupt reduction in loess.

Zhang Han jumped down from the grave, his tone becoming serious: "President Lin, something's not right. I suspect there's no coffin in He Xiaodie's grave. Judging from the marks here, it looks like the grave has been robbed."

"Grave robbing?"

Link frowned, his first thought being that the Ghost Tamer had done it.

Aside from those who control ghosts, ordinary people wouldn't be so idle as to rob the grave of an old woman who was so poor she couldn't even afford an air conditioner, let alone leave behind a coffin.

"Let me take a look."

Link's ghostly blue aura expanded, enveloping the cemetery. Through his senses, he discovered that He Xiaodie's grave was indeed empty.

After reclaiming the Ghost Domain, a pile of miscellaneous objects appeared at Link's feet.

Most of the items were cigarette boxes and small items like gloves, covered in thick mud—clearly tools used by tomb raiders.

"There wasn't even a coffin left in the tomb, so it's very likely that it belonged to the same group as ours. However... I also found something interesting."

Link now held an oval porcelain container, about the size of a palm, somewhat resembling a rouge box.

The box was hidden inside the stone incense burner in front of the tomb. Strangely, even though it was just a piece of porcelain, the Ghost Realm could not see inside and could only move it out along with the box.

"Is this a rouge box meant to be buried with the deceased? Cough cough, Mr. Lin, we're not lacking in everything."

Zhang Han recognized the item and looked somewhat embarrassed.

Yang Jian nodded and said, "Indeed, even if we take it back, Li Qingyi wouldn't dare to use it."

Link shook his head and pointed to the stone incense burner, saying, "This thing is not a burial object. Its interior is not affected by the ghost realm. It should be sealed with gold. Moreover, He Xiaodie placed it in the incense burner, which is most easily accessible to her relatives. It is very likely that it is a vengeful ghost of low danger level, specially left for Li Qingyi to control so that she can survive in the future era of supernatural revival."

Yang Jian and Zhang Han witnessed the true lineage of the ghost-tamers of the Republic of China for the first time, and their faces were filled with mixed emotions.

From the moment they first mastered the ghost until now, they have been constantly worried about the resurgence of evil spirits. But when they turned around, they saw that other people's grandparents were already feeding them, and whether they ate or not was entirely up to them.

Specifically reserved for those that are easy to drive and not very dangerous...

Such niche vocabulary; comparisons are odious.

What can I say?

Yang Jian silently shifted his gaze to the gloves and pondered, "We can hand these over to the Municipal Law Enforcement Bureau and ask them to help us track down the clues."

"There's no need for that."

Thinking of the consequences of opening He Xiaodie's coffin, Link quickly said, "Let's go down the mountain first and head back. My astrology is faster and more accurate than theirs. We must find the coffin as soon as possible, otherwise the vengeful ghost will resurrect, and it will take a lot of effort. But for now, we can let them investigate He Xiaodie's four disciples, as soon as possible."

Most importantly, the fact that no vengeful ghost has resurrected after He Xiaodie's burial for so long is very likely due to the special nature of the coffin used.

In the original story, a red coffin can relieve the pressure of a living ghost tamer's resurrection, while a black coffin can suppress the evil spirits within a dead ghost tamer.

That's the best container to imprison vengeful spirits. If it's destroyed, Link will have to pay for a pure gold coffin himself.

In an era of soaring gold prices, this would undoubtedly result in a huge loss.

The three men threw the debris in front of the grave into the bushes and turned to leave.

As Yang Jian descended the mountain, he made a phone call to headquarters:

"Liu Xiaoyu, investigate Qu Meihong, Mo Liangxin, Bu Chengyi, and Ren Yongping. They studied opera and are now suspected of stealing a coffin belonging to a ghost-controlling master from the Republic of China era. If they release a vengeful ghost, it would be at least an A-level paranormal incident."

"Received! I will retrieve the information on these four people as soon as possible. Yang Jian, a troublesome paranormal event has recently occurred in Zhongshan City, which can only be resolved by the Ghost Realm. Headquarters needs to dispatch you to support Tong Qian, the person in charge. Please be prepared."

Yang Jian's face turned cold. Having absolutely no liking for Tong Qian, he immediately prepared to refuse: "I'm busy, Dachang City..."

Liu Xiaoyu pleaded, "Please, please don't say you're too busy. In the meeting this morning, a leader criticized you for being lazy at work and for extorting money from headquarters every time you handle paranormal events. They're already preparing to dismiss you. If you lose your position, your mother will be unemployed again."

Yang Jian's eyes widened, and his mouth stretched almost to his ears:

"This is great news! Let's withdraw now! I didn't expect headquarters to actually have such a discerning expert. My Meishan Group will be merged into Xingmen Group immediately, and we can start making great strides!"

Liu Xiaoyu paused, then quickly added, "Headquarters has recently added many new Ghost Tamers from our social circle. It's a time of unrest, and if you defect from headquarters, you could very well meet with disaster..."

Before Liu Xiaoyu could finish speaking, the voice on the other end of the phone changed to Zhao Jianguo.

"Yang Jian, I know you have some misunderstandings with headquarters, but please believe me, headquarters would never joke with the lives of its own people. Tong Qian from Zhongshan City is also a dual-ghost tamer. If you go and team up with her, as long as you can solve the case, I can apply for a merit award for you."

Yang Jian wouldn't act without seeing the benefits, and after some more arguing, he finally reluctantly agreed.

Of course, the compensation is also very generous.

After listening to the whole thing, Link nervously wiped away a bead of cold sweat.

Fang Shiming's WeChat Moments must have been flooded with posts from Li Leping and Liu San's Sichuan-Chongqing duo, resulting in a significant amount of gold coins being earned.

Because of his influence, the headquarters seems to have grown a bit too big and has started to get arrogant, frequently threatening to take it down.

The key point is that the headquarters seems to actually have that capability.

"Yang Jian, you could actually tone down your words a little next time. Do you know why I so readily agreed to headquarters' mediation a couple of days ago? Liu San is an anomaly who abandoned his human body and possesses the body of a vengeful ghost. Li Leping is even more formidable, controlling four vengeful ghosts, and there's not much risk of their resurrection..."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jian broke out in a cold sweat and nearly stumbled into the cornfield.

"Oh my god, why didn't you say so sooner!"

"Hey, you didn't even ask."

Even Zhang Han's eyes widened in shock. "Are you kidding me? Four ghosts? He's been a ghost tamer since he was born?"

"Therefore, the path of the Ghost Tamer involves manipulating the rules, but ultimately it is about achieving one's own success; anything is possible."

Back in the car, Link couldn't wait to use astrology.

"He Xiaodie's current location."

"He Xiaodie now..."

The arrangement of stars reveals a blurry blue scene.

This is an enclosed space filled with all sorts of opera costumes and props, all covered in thick cobwebs, looking like it has been abandoned for a long time, making it particularly eerie.

Strangely, a clearing had been deliberately cleared in the middle of the venue, with a coffin placed on two benches, making it unclear whether it was a prop or a real coffin.

The perspective shifts to the outside world, where an abandoned Republican-era building can be seen with shattered windows and a half-open door, exuding a desolate atmosphere.

Outside the gate, a dilapidated sign with traditional Chinese characters swayed in the wind.

Qingyin Theater

P.S.: Here's a 3000-word post. Dear readers, I humbly request that you continue reading! Thank you so much!