Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 257 Sorcery
The giant human face in the night sky flashed by and disappeared into the darkness.

It seemed that they had noticed the gazes of the group.

But that invisible pressure did not disappear along with it.

Instead, because the giant face disappeared, it continued to press down relentlessly.

—Is there a face watching them from above?
At this moment, Ran Qing and the others, who were in the courtyard, seemed to have become hamsters in a cage, being observed and watched by a huge and indifferent human.

Mo Li swallowed hard and said, "What is this thing? It doesn't look like a ghost..."

Whose ghost is so enormous?
Even among evil lords, not all evil lords are this powerful.

Ran Qing watched the giant face disappear and said, "But it doesn't seem like the Evil Lord."

The evil lords are all hiding in the ghost realm of the Wujiang River; the human world is a forbidden place that the evil lords cannot touch or descend upon.

Even if a spirit medium holds an altar and prepares in advance for the descent of an evil lord, it is still extremely difficult to bring an evil lord down to earth.

Moreover, if such a massive evil lord were watching them from the sky, it would be impossible for Ran Qing, a wanderer of the underworld, to be completely unaware.

His perception of evil lords is even more sensitive than his perception of evil spirits.

During the Torch Festival, he clearly saw the enormous evil lord summoned by the blessing ceremony.

Ran Qing said, "First, untie Master Liu's mouth."

At this moment, the disheveled Taoist priest's mouth was sewn shut with needles and thread, and he looked painful and miserable. He could only make muffled sounds and could not say a word.

Ran Qing took out scissors from her canvas bag and quickly cut the black thread in the slovenly Taoist's mouth.

As the needle and thread snapped, the Taoist priest suddenly spat out black, foul-smelling blood, along with other filthy and putrid substances.

He lay on the ground in agony, vomiting repeatedly for a while before he could empty his mouth.

As he took the bottled water from Ran Qing, the corpse-driving Taoist mumbled, "You three kids are really smart. How did you know there was a trap here when I called you here?"

The corpse-driving Taoist looked at Ran Qing with curiosity.

Ran Qing smiled and said, "Didn't you remind me, Daoist? This courtyard is connected end to end, so each courtyard is next to another courtyard."

“We’ve been here for so long, talking the whole time. If you were alone and tied up, you would have called for help long ago. Why wait until we got to the scene?”

After Ran Qing finished speaking, the old Taoist chuckled and said, "You're quite clever, kid..."

After laughing, a hint of regret flashed in the old Taoist priest's eyes as he lowered his head to drink water.

He had no intention of warning these three young men. The reason he revealed the truth about the house was solely to gain the trust of Ran Qing and the other two so that he could trick them into going in and dying in his place.

But to their surprise, this young spirit medium was so clever that he guessed the trap from such a simple sentence.

In the courtyard, Ran Qing watched the disheveled Taoist's reaction with a friendly smile on her face.

But inwardly, he sneered slightly.

If this corpse-driving Taoist really wanted to warn someone, he could have been much more direct.

But Ran Qing saw through it but didn't say anything, pretending not to notice the old man's malice.

He looked around curiously and asked, "But what about the ghost that captured the Taoist priest? Where did it go?"

"And what is that face above our heads?"

Ran Qing asked a series of questions.

The old Taoist priest touched the wound on his mouth and said, "The ghosts in this courtyard can't appear directly in front of us. That fox den has made this place its lair and lives with the ghosts, so they must have set up some kind of sorcery in the courtyard."

"Otherwise, while the foxes are sleeping, who knows if that ghost might jump out and drag away one or two little foxes?"

The corpse-driving Taoist priest smeared the blood and grime from his face and body onto his clothes, making the already filthy Taoist robe even dirtier.

He continued, "The foxes have cast a spell on this house to prevent ghosts from appearing in front of people. Although the ghosts live in this courtyard, they cannot meet our faces."

"Wherever we pass by, ghosts must hide and cannot come out."

"It will only catch us if it lures us in and we fall for its trap."

As he spoke, the corpse-driving Taoist pointed to the night sky above: "So it disappeared as soon as you entered the courtyard."

"But it could very well be standing right next to us, or even lying on your back or at your feet."

"But it was blocked by the foxes' sorcery and could not reveal itself."

Although the old Taoist priest was slovenly, he was indeed a seasoned and knowledgeable old hand.

He explained the unusual situation in the courtyard very clearly as soon as he opened his mouth.

Ran Qing and the other two suddenly realized.

No wonder we kept going in but never saw a ghost.

The air was thick with death.

The ghost may have been following them the whole time, but the ghost could see them while they couldn't see the ghost.

That ghost couldn't even manifest itself to harm people.

Having realized this, Ran Qing then looked at the corpse-driving Taoist and asked, "Speaking of which, Taoist priest... how were you captured by the foxes? Could this be the entrance to the tomb of the ancient Miao king?"

Ran Qing asked about this matter.

The corpse-driving Taoist priest, whose name was being brought up, looked embarrassed: "Well... even the best can make mistakes, and we just accidentally capsized in a ditch."

"I was just passing by this cat temple and found it a bit strange, so I stayed and took a second look."

"Who knew this was a fox den? I fell asleep in a daze, and when I woke up, I was tied up by the foxes."

“Those damned foxes were saying they wanted to marry off their daughter, and they were just about to cut me up and make me into a dish. Luckily you guys came.”

The old Taoist priest, who had been arrogant when they met before, was now much more humble.

He's definitely a seasoned veteran in the underworld, knowing that circumstances dictate actions.

His current submissive demeanor is much more pleasing to the eye than before.

Ran Qing took out hydrogen peroxide and bandages from her canvas bag and handed them to Mo Li: "Daoist, your injury is a bit serious. Let's treat the wound first to prevent infection."

He had Mo Li hold the hydrogen peroxide and bandages, while he used cotton swabs and hydrogen peroxide to wash the bloodstains from the old Taoist's face and eye sockets.

Being in close contact with such a bloody wound can instinctively make one feel nauseous.

When Ran Qing was a child, she would instinctively feel fear and nausea whenever she saw patients with blood-stained faces being carried into the hospital for emergency treatment in the township hospital.

But for some reason, after becoming a spirit medium, his ability to endure seemed to get stronger and stronger.

Long Zongshu and Mo Li, who were standing nearby, turned pale when they saw the wound and dared not look at it for long.

Ran Qing squatted down to help the old Taoist clean his wounds. Looking closely at his dark eye sockets, she didn't feel much emotional fluctuation.

Soon, hydrogen peroxide was used to clean the old Taoist's wound, and bandages were used to cover his empty right eye and wrap around his head.

Ran Qing said, "Next, we're going to catch ghosts. Would you like to come with us, Taoist priest?"

He had been extending goodwill, but he didn't expect the old Taoist priest to help him.

This kind of seasoned veteran might not be able to help you successfully, but if he holds you back... then that's a real problem.

(End of this chapter)