Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 223: It’s Easy to Ask God
Ran Qing looked down at the skull in her hand, observing it slowly.

The fire beside it had gradually died out in the morning breeze, with only a few embers futilely radiating warmth from the ashes.

Beside the campfire, the tall, thin boy Long Zongshu lay sprawled on the solid, cold ground, fast asleep.

He was so tired that he was woken up once in the middle of the night. After falling back asleep, he slept very soundly, snoring all night long.

The distant horizon was already showing the first light of dawn.

The sun is about to rise, the night is receding, and the sky is already gray with the light of dawn.

Little Cotton curled up at Ran Qing's feet, resting its head on Ran Qing's knees, sleeping soundly like a pet dog.

The girl, her expression blank, sat quietly by the fire, leaning against a rock, gazing absently at the distant Beipanjiang Grand Canyon and the mountains on both sides of the canyon.

She didn't sleep for the rest of the night and stayed up with Ran Qing until dawn.

But neither of them said a word.

Mo Li was in low spirits, even somewhat sad.

Ran Qing guessed that it was her sixth aunt's taboo that had provoked her.

On the surface, the girl is optimistic and cheerful, but in fact she has inherited her mother's stubbornness and soft heart.

He cursed the old woman, but he was still deeply troubled by his mother's death.

Discovering that her mother had broken a taboo rekindled her grief over her mother's passing.

This usually optimistic and cheerful girl appeared incredibly fragile at this moment.

Ran Qing saw this and his mood couldn't help but drop, but he didn't know what to say to comfort Mo Li, so he chose to remain silent.

After all, when he thought about his mother or grieved over his grandmother's passing, he would always silently process and cope with it alone.

So he didn't disturb the girl.

Ran Qing kept turning over and examining the ancient wizard skull in her hands, as if she were playing with a piece of porcelain.

He didn't believe that the skull his sixth aunt had broken a taboo to find was such a simple thing; he was sure that this ancient wizard's skull must have some other purpose.

However, it is not recorded in "Witchcraft and Spiritual Arts".

But now there are no clues, so he can only go back and search through his sixth aunt's belongings again to see if there are any clues left in the box.

However, Ran Qing had no hope for this.

After all, he had already sorted through Aunt Liu's belongings, and if there were any clues, he should have discovered them before.

As the morning light gradually brightened, the three walking corpses surrounded by the paper figures began to soften.

The sun had not yet risen, but the gradually appearing ultraviolet rays and daylight were already eroding the three zombies that had turned into corpses.

Once the sun was fully up, the three zombies quickly became limp and oozing pus, eventually turning into a pool of foul-smelling corpse water amidst the stench.

The strong stench also startled Long Zongshu, who was fast asleep, awake.

"Zombies! There are zombies!"

Long Zongshu sat up in terror, and three flames instinctively ignited on his shoulders.

After seeing that everything was normal, he gave a dry laugh, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Um... good morning."

Little Cotton was also woken up, and groggily opened her eyes: "Is it dawn yet?"

The sun was already rising on the horizon, and the clear blue sky was cloudless. Under the bright sunlight, wisps of smoke rose from the scattered wooden houses with tiled roofs in the valleys.

From the village at the foot of the distant mountain, the sound of a rooster crowing and the barking of village dogs could be heard.

After simply covering the area where the bodily fluids had flowed with soil, the three men rode their motorcycles back home.

The matter on Lung Cheong Street has come to an end, although I am still curious about what happened on Lung Cheong Street after I left last night.

However, the group suppressed their curiosity and returned directly to Yue Zhao.

The motorcycles wound their way through the steep mountain roads, and by the time they returned to Moonlit City, it was nearly noon.

"Zongshu, go home and get some rest. You can come back to help tonight."

Having slept through the night, Long Zongshu, sporting dark circles under his eyes, was eager to return to Park Road with Ran Qing, ready to gather their gear to deal with the unseen evil spirit.

But Ran Qing advised him to go home and rest first, and not to rush things.

He will need to prepare when he gets back.

And so, the three agreed to meet at dusk for dinner, and parted ways at the crossroads leading into the city.

Ran Qing, Mo Li, and Xiao Mianhua returned to Park Road and saw the familiar cement house. As soon as Xiao Mianhua returned, she urged Mo Li to quickly turn on the TV to watch TV, while Ran Qing carried a clay pot into the main room and began to soak the ghost in alcohol.

This female ghost, captured from Longchang Street, is very strange. After being captured, it remained silent, as if it were mute.

Although it had been frantically pounding against the clay pot all night, trying to break free.

But it didn't roar or howl, a stark contrast to the other vengeful spirits it had captured earlier.

Ran Qing tried to communicate with it, but could only admit that the female ghost was indeed dominated by the ghostly side, and had no rationality whatsoever, making communication impossible.

Ran Qing could only hope that after the ghostly side was washed away by the alcohol, the female ghost's former rationality would take over and she would speak to him.

If they could communicate, perhaps they could learn some of the truth and secrets of Longchang Street from the female ghost.

After pouring the prepared liquor into the earthenware jar and starting to soak it, Ran Qing walked to the center of the main room and carefully stuffed the somber ancestral tablet from the canvas bag into the incense ash.

They then respectfully offered two more incense sticks.

"May our ancestors protect us..."

After completing the daily incense offerings as usual, Ran Qing took the ancient shaman's skull, which she had obtained by chance, and went into the next room.

He pulled out the wooden box from under the bed and began to take stock of his sixth aunt's belongings.

However, these simple and unadorned relics contained nothing related to it, nor any clues whatsoever.

As expected, Ran Qing's search was fruitless, so she had no choice but to put the box back in and put it back in.

But at that moment, a cold, damp wind suddenly swept through the room.

A thin mist drifted through the main room.

In a daze, Ran Qing felt a gaze that sent chills down his spine.

It was as if some terrifying and sinister being was silently watching him from the shadows.

"...?!" Ran Qing's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively stood up.

He rushed into the main room and found that the wooden sculpture of the evil god that had been placed in the corner had been moved. Now the sculpture stood quietly in the center of the main room, facing the door.

This wooden carving of an evil god, taken from a dilapidated Taoist temple and bound by some kind of agreement with Ran Qing, was originally intended for Ran Qing to help Him find a believer.

But now, the wooden carving is walking towards the door, as if it wants to leave on its own.

Ran Qing was stunned for a moment upon seeing this, somewhat taken aback: "You're leaving?"

In the stifling atmosphere of the main room, the wooden sculpture of the evil god remained motionless, as if it were devoid of life.

Ran Qing closed her eyes and remained silent for a few seconds before suddenly opening them again. She saw the eerie wooden sculpture of an evil god standing quietly at the entrance of the main hall.

They moved their positions again.

This evil god is indeed leaving...

This scene struck Ran Qing as absurd, yet also inexplicably chilling.

As the old saying goes, it's easy to invite a god, but difficult to send him away.

He had no choice but to invite this evil god into his home, prepared to be haunted by it.

But now this evil god has actually given up its demands and chosen to leave... Could it be that it sensed some kind of danger?

Ran Qing stared intently at the wooden sculpture of the evil god parked at the door, without saying a word.

He simply closed his eyes and waited for a while.

After the faint chill dissipated in the air, Ran Qing opened her eyes and found that the evil god wood carving had completely vanished without a trace.

This evil god left so decisively and so quickly, as if everyone was avoiding him at all costs, as if Ran Qing had become a plague god...

Ran Qing's expression was somewhat unpleasant: "Is it because I've collected all four Ghost Luo Ancient Coins that the invisible monster is coming?"

Or was it the ancient shaman's skull that he brought back?
"Looks like tonight's going to be lively," Ran Qing said, staring at the empty main room with a cold but not gloomy expression.

He had long been prepared to confront evil.

Courage is an essential quality for those who practice spirit possession.

He is no longer that helpless boy who could only tremble in fear.

Despair and fear could not scare him away.

(End of this chapter)