Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 259 Ancestors
A cold, damp wind blew in from all directions, stinging the skin.

The three people and one dog, holding hands, stood under the eaves in front of the makeshift altar set up by Ran Qing.

The memorial tablets of the past masters of the spirit medium, enshrined in the very center, were illuminated by the flickering candlelight, and one could vaguely see many hideous little black shadows wriggling beneath them.

Meanwhile, the fox courtyard where Ran Qing and the others were located was changing rapidly.

The neat walls began to crack, the newly painted wooden doors quickly lost their luster and became dilapidated, cobwebs rapidly spread through the holes in the windows, and withered weeds sprouted quickly from the cracks in the walls and the floor.

The once brand-new and beautiful mansion where the foxes lived quickly became dilapidated and desolate, as if it had experienced decades of neglect in just a few seconds.

The moment the eerie wind blew around the altar and Ran Qing clearly sensed the aura of the underworld, the courtyard they were in completely transformed into a dilapidated, abandoned old house.

The layout of the courtyard remained the same as before, but a strong, musty smell permeated the air.

Most of the roof tiles were missing, and the broken wooden frame pieces were coldly exposed to the air.

The lanterns that used to hang and light up the house were gone, leaving the old house empty and dark, with only the faint, cold moonlight falling from the night sky and dimly illuminating the courtyard.

The three looked around at the changes, and Long Zongshu swallowed hard, feeling somewhat horrified.

"...Is this what a burial site is like?"

What is commonplace to those who practice necromancy is a rare find that other practitioners of unorthodox methods rarely come into contact with.

This is the second time Long Zongshu has entered the underworld, and it is his pure physical body that has entered.

"If my grandfather knew I had been to the underworld, and even entered it twice in my physical body, he would definitely envy me..."

Long Zongshu rubbed the goosebumps on his arms.

Although I felt scared, I also found it novel.

The last time he was in the Huaga Tiankeng, he also entered the underworld once. But that time was too dangerous, and he didn't dare to stay long or have time to observe the situation in the underworld.

Tonight, I can finally observe and wait.

Long Zongshu's eyes were filled with curiosity and unease.

Mo Li, on the other hand, was not interested in such matters of entering and leaving the underworld. She may not have experienced it herself, but as the daughter of a person who walked the underworld, she had long lost interest in such things.

Mo Li looked at Ran Qing and asked, "Does this count as being in?"

They got in too easily.

The ghost in the house didn't take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack or stop them, rendering all the vigilance and preparations the three had made in advance useless.

It went so smoothly it was almost too strange.

Ran Qing looked around and said, "We've indeed entered. The Wujiang Ghost Realm is just outside the courtyard."

To be precise, outside is the depths of the Wujiang Ghost Realm, behind the Wuzhai Pass.

The yin dwelling is connected to the yang world; it is the residence of vengeful ghosts in the yin world, and also the area where they cause trouble in the yang world.

It is precisely this state of being stuck between Yin and Yang, touching both sides yet unable to find a foothold on either, that causes the vengeful ghosts to suffer day and night. Whenever Yin and Yang are separated, at dusk and dawn, the vengeful ghosts caught between Yin and Yang will experience excruciating pain as if they are being cut by knives and sawed by axes.

Vengeful spirits are the embodiment of resentment and hatred, and they suffer day and night without ever finding peace. As time goes by, their resentment will grow stronger and stronger, and they will naturally become more and more brutal and powerful.

Ran Qing gazed at the courtyard before her and said, "But what's strange is this haunted house... This haunted house doesn't seem to belong to the vengeful ghost itself; it seems more like something that has existed for a long time."

This burial site is dilapidated and looks very old; it is definitely not something from recent years.

Although it still has the framework of a courtyard, the house has become dilapidated and small, with low eaves and an old appearance.

This is a very typical old-era building. Due to the availability of materials and the need to keep warm and protected from the cold, houses in ancient times were built very small.

Ran Qing had seen old houses from over a hundred years ago in the old town of Yue Zhao, and they were in the same style as the ones in front of her.

Most importantly, this house is quite different from the haunted houses where vengeful ghosts reside.

The haunted houses of vengeful ghosts are mostly strangely shaped.

They are abnormal inanimate objects born from living people. Although they have the memories of living people, they are tormented by pain and resentment and have basically no rational thinking.

In other words, he's not very bright.

It's impossible for a vengeful ghost to create such a well-organized house frame, not only occupying such a large area but also with such realistic details.

After Ran Qing finished speaking, Long Zongshu couldn't help but ask curiously, "But if it's not a haunted house belonging to a vengeful ghost, then whose is it? In the Wujiang Ghost Realm, besides ghosts, there's only the Evil Lord, right?"

"Could this mansion have been built by an evil lord in the past?"

After Long Zongshu finished speaking, Mo Li shook his head: "Impossible. If it was built by an evil lord, which ghost would dare to approach it... Moreover, most evil lords are very confused and strange, and cannot be understood with human thinking."

“The evil lords do not build houses, nor do they have human thinking; they are a very special kind of being.”

Of course, most importantly, the evil lords have very long lifespans and are generally very powerful.

If it were truly built by an evil lord, what ghost would dare to come over and take over its nest?
Mo Li's denial only fueled Long Zongshu's curiosity: "If it wasn't built by the ghost, nor by the Evil Lord, then who could it be? There are no living people in the Wujiang Ghost Realm..."

Long Zongshu was completely bewildered.

But after he finished speaking, he suddenly realized something, and his expression changed drastically.

Long Zongshu looked at Ran Qing.

Ghost walkers...

The Yin Walker is the only living person who can enter the ghost realm of the Wujiang River, and they do so frequently.

Furthermore, those who walk the path of the dead will also establish their own altars in the ghost realm of Wujiang, and the appearance of these altars is exactly the same as the houses they live in the mortal world.

Long Zongshu opened his mouth, looking around incredulously: "...This is the Yin altar of the old Yin walker?"

Ran Qing took a deep breath, crossed the courtyard, and walked outside.

There are no eerie spells or magic tricks set up by foxes here, so it won't confuse people's senses. It's just a large Chinese courtyard.

Ran Qing and the other two walked through the courtyard and arrived at the main hall at the outermost part.

The hall, facing the dilapidated gate and broken screen wall, was empty and desolate, overgrown with withered grass.

But in the center of the room were the familiar ancestral tablets of Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher, as well as an empty vat used by spirit mediums.

Here, the stale smell in the air became even more pungent.

The room in front of them was more than twice the size of Ran Qing's cement house on Gongyuan Road, but the layout was almost identical.

The air was filled not only with a musty smell, but also with a faint smell of dust.

Compared to the sweltering and stifling Yintan in Ranqing, the dusty smell in this room was chilly.

Ran Qing slowly said, "It is indeed the burial site of a certain master of the Yin-Yang arts..."

(End of this chapter)