Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 421 Anger

"Can't go back? Why?"

Xiao Ran looked at the old lady, and felt the remaining warmth from her palms and the concern in her eyes. Xiao Ran suddenly felt that the old lady looked particularly kind.

"Child, this is Xitai Mountain, a place where ghosts gather. Yin and Yang are separated, with the sun and the moon as the boundary. At night, it is the world of ghosts, and living people should try to avoid it."

As she spoke, the old lady took out a talisman from her bosom and handed it to Xiao Ran: "Child, take this talisman and go down the mountain quickly."

Faced with the kindness given by the old lady, Xiao Ran did not refuse. He took the amulet and put it in his arms.

But he had no intention of going down the mountain: "Then I will wait here, and I will continue to climb the mountain when it is almost dawn."

"This……"

The old lady wanted to persuade Xiao Ran after hearing this, but Xiao Ran had already walked into the tea shed: "Grandma, can you give me a bowl of hot water? I'm very thirsty all the way up the mountain."

Seeing that Xiao Ran really had no intention of going down the mountain, the old lady sighed: "I hope nothing goes wrong."

After saying that, he shook his head and walked to the stove, pouring a bowl of hot water for Xiao Ran.

"Then you have to pay attention later."

After handing the water to Xiao Ran, the old lady looked around and said in a low voice, "Don't talk too much. No matter what happens later, don't run around."

"Oh, why?"

"Why so many whys? You'll know later."

The old lady glared at Xiao Ran unhappily, then turned and walked to the stove to continue guarding it.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran didn't ask any more questions. He just held the bowl of hot water in his hands and looked around.

Several guests at the neighboring table seemed very dissatisfied with the arrival of Xiao Ran, a stranger, but they did not show any anger for the sake of the old lady's face.

However, the black swan brooch on Xiao Ran’s chest would flash a few times from time to time with these obscure glances, and then quickly go out.

"Huhuhu..."

The mountain wind howled at night, blowing on the leaves in the forest, and strange noises could be heard from time to time in the forest.

Some may be animal sounds, while others may not.

Until the second half of the night, some "guests" came into the teahouse one after another.

When these people saw Xiao Ran sitting in the corner, they were slightly stunned, but they didn't care and walked around Xiao Ran and sat aside.

As more and more guests arrived, the old lady began to look nervous.

He took out a cotton jacket from a box nearby and walked to Xiao Ran.

"Child, it's windy at night, put this on first to prevent you from catching a cold."

"it is good!"

In response to the old lady's care, Xiao Ran accepted everyone who came. He could feel the temperature around him starting to drop as more and more "guests" came.

The old lady stood in front of the stove, adding a piece of charcoal from time to time.

Xiao Ran sat at the back and watched. When the old lady had made the hot tea, she poured it into the kettle beside her, opened the lid, and blew it against the wind. She waited until the hot tea turned into cold tea before serving it to the table.

"Could this old lady be a ghost?"

After Xiao Ran thought about it, he roughly guessed the old lady's identity.

The profession of ghost walkers has existed in every dynasty, but like being a coroner, it requires a congenital factor.

It may not be an innate factor like the Yin-Yang Eyes. As long as one has psychic abilities and can enter and exit Yin and Yang intentionally or unintentionally, one can become a Yin-walking person.

For example, Zhao Qingming's grandmother was a ghost, but Zhao's grandmother's way was more wild. Not only was she a ghost, she also practiced witchcraft part-time. She was the best witch in the Central Plains at that time.

"Well, speaking of which, whether it's Zhao Qingming or my grandfather, they are all using their own methods to forcibly stay in the human world. I really don't know what they are planning?"

"Dong dong dong..."

At this time, the sound of gongs came from the foot of the mountain.

After hearing the gong sound, the guests in the teahouse immediately began to become restless and uneasy.

"Oh no, why did we have to rush here at this time?"

The old lady's face suddenly darkened. She quickly put down the kettle in her hand, turned around and ran straight towards Xiao Ran.

"Hurry, come quickly!"

"what?"

Before Xiao Ran knew what was happening, he was pulled by the old lady into the table inside.

There were five figures sitting at the table, all of them had a heavy yin aura, and they were obviously ghosts who had been dead for some time.

The old lady pulled Xiao Ran to this table and raised her hand to greet the guests:

"You are all my old customers. I have never asked you for help before. Today I will ask you once for all to help cover up this child."

The five wild ghosts nodded woodenly.

"Grandma, what's going on?"

Xiao Ran didn't understand why, but seeing this old lady, who was not related to him at all, asking others for help for him, Xiao Ran couldn't help but feel warm in his heart.

He is no longer an old hand in the world. From being a beginner to today, he has seen all kinds of people.

But Xiao Ran had only heard of people like this, people who were willing to help him without reservation, but he never thought that he would meet such people one day.

"Don't ask. No matter what happens later, don't say anything."

The old lady didn't have time to explain. She pressed Xiao Ran on the bench and then hurried to the stove.

He grabbed a handful of soot and ran over, smearing it on Xiao Ran's face without saying a word. After making sure that his face was completely black, he breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly stood outside the door waiting.

Xiao Ran did not know whether to laugh or cry for a moment. It might be because of the period of not using his sword that his murderous aura had been restrained. Otherwise, in the past, just by sitting down, he would have scared all the wandering ghosts and spirits under the table.

Xiao Ran looked at the five wild ghosts sitting at the same table with him. After he sat down and got close to them, the faces of the five wild ghosts gradually became clear.

There is a man sitting on the left.

The tears in his eyes were about to burst out of his sockets, and his face was full of blue veins. He must have died in pain. Noticing Xiao Ran looking at him, the man opened his mouth and his long tongue spitted out. Well, he was still a hanged ghost.

Seeing that Xiao Ran was not scared, the man curled his lips, reached out and carefully rolled up his tongue and put it back into his mouth.

There is also a man sitting on the right, and you can tell at first glance that he is an unlucky guy.

There was an axe stuck in his head, which had split his head in half.

The man nodded shyly at Xiao Ran, then closed his eyes and ignored her.

As for the remaining three, there was one woman and two men. The woman had a mask on her face so her features could not be seen. She had long hair draped over her shoulders and was wearing a light pink gown.

Xiao Ran guessed that the woman must have drowned.

Because even though she was wearing a lot of perfume, it couldn't cover up the fishy smell of the river.

The woman pointed at the flower and said, "Little brother, you came at a really bad time."

The fat man next to him nodded: "Yes, yes, you came at this time instead of earlier or later. Hehe, Granny Zhang owes us a big favor."

This fat guy died a violent death. Looking at the hole in his chest, he must have died a miserable death.

Next to the fat man was a young man, but although he looked like a young man, he gave people the feeling of a century-old ghost. He sat there without saying a word.

Xiao Ran couldn't figure out what kind of ghost he was.

"What do you mean? I just want to see the sunrise. Do I have to choose a time?"

Xiao Ran asked with a confused look on his face.

"You didn't choose the right time, but the wrong place. This is Xitai Mountain, which leads to the underworld. At night, hundreds of ghosts roam around. Even mountain kings have to avoid it."

The fat man sneered and said, "You just happened to come at the wrong time. Tonight is the day for the Ghost King to offer sacrifices. No living person is allowed to enter. Anyone who enters will die. You better be careful later."

"Then... why is this grandma okay?"

"Humph, Grandma Zhang has been a ghost walker for three generations. Her family has run a teahouse here for 167 years. She came here two years earlier than me, so she won't be affected."

"So long."

Xiao Ran said in surprise, then turned his eyes and looked at the fat man who was talking: "So, you have been here for 165 years? Why haven't you reincarnated yet?"

"reincarnation?"

The five old ghosts looked at each other and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Quiet!!"

When Grandma Zhang heard the noise, she turned around and shouted angrily.

"Shhhhhh!"

The five old ghosts immediately raised their fingers and made hushing gestures.

Then he lowered his voice and said to Xiao Ran: "It's not that we don't want to reincarnate, but the underworld is not a good place. If you don't have merits, you will have to suffer in there for who knows how many years before you can get a chance to reincarnate."

"That's fine, but even if you endure for thousands of years, it's hard to be reborn as a mortal. You might even be reborn as an animal. Oh, it's difficult."

Xiao Ran nodded. He could understand this.

I have also been to Fengdu City and have seen the ghosts in Fengdu City that were made into bricks, lanterns, benches, etc.

I remember that I saw with my own eyes that a man named Song Yifan had been making lanterns for more than 400 years before he was reincarnated into the beast realm.

In the end, the man was unwilling and turned into a brick again.

The five old ghosts in front of him were unwilling to go to the underworld, and they obviously knew what was going on there. If they were him, he probably wouldn't want to be a brick for others to step on.

"Dong dong dong..."

As they were talking, a team was seen coming up from the foot of the mountain.

The team was dressed in white, holding signs and tributes, and marched forward in a mighty procession.

Upon closer inspection, these people were not ghosts, but pottery figurines, just like the wrists of the red and white evil spirits before.

But in comparison, they seem to be more agile.

Grandma Zhang stood at the door, waiting for the team to arrive, then she immediately raised her hands and held a few paper money in her palms.

"It seems that ghost money is hard currency and can be used anywhere."

When Xiao Ran saw the paper money in Grandma Zhang's hand, he couldn't help but sigh.

Two kids came over carrying baskets on their backs. When they saw the paper money in Grandma Zhang's hand, the two kids looked at each other.

Then he grabbed the paper money and counted it carefully in his hand.

The little face immediately became unhappy, but he said in a reproachful tone: "Usually the rent is ten coins, why did you only pay eight?"

"Some time ago, something unexpected happened at home, and I..."

Grandma Zhang wanted to explain, but the little devil on her left kicked her to the ground.

"Who wants you to explain? If you can't pay the rent, get out now."

"Yes, get out now."

As another kid said this, he grabbed the teapot that was still boiling on the stove and poured the tea at Grandma Zhang.

"Oh!"

The scalding hot water splashed on Grandma Zhang's body, and she rolled on the ground in pain.

This scene made all the wandering ghosts in the teahouse tremble.

Xiao Ran was also trembling, but he was so angry that his eyes were spitting fire and his heart and lungs were about to explode.

He suddenly jumped up from the bench, then jumped out in the surprised gaze of everyone, and slapped the kid who was still clapping and cheering.

"Fuck your grandma!!!"

(End of this chapter)