Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 290 Ending Line
Behind them, Xiong Dacheng and the other shadowy figures continued to sneer.

But Ran Qing walked away without looking back, showing no sign of lingering, as if she neither knew Xiong Dacheng nor had any intention of doing anything to him.

He was afraid that any extra attention would alert Xiong Dacheng, so he always treated the group of strange shadows with the attitude of an ordinary person.

After the three of them walked out of the ruins and returned to room 444, the empty room was filled with many smells.

There was the fishy smell of foxes, the sweet and fishy smell of poisonous creatures, the stench of corpses, and the sweat odor caused by people not bathing for years...

Room 444, filled with a mixture of strange smells, still carries the scents of other people.

The room isn't well-ventilated, and the smell will probably take a while to dissipate.

Everyone left immediately after they left, except for the fox named Lao Liu, who stayed outside the door of room 444.

When it saw Ran Qing and the others come out, it immediately ran over to them ingratiatingly, climbed up Ran Qing's trouser leg, and soon climbed onto Ran Qing's shoulder.

I want to leave with Ran Qing.

Ran Qing didn't turn her head and hurried away.

He walked straight to the elevator, took it downstairs, and walked out of the elevator without any obstruction, standing under the night sky.

A refreshing night breeze blew in, and the three of them felt a sense of relaxation, as if they had returned to another world.

The dangers of the elevator building made everyone feel oppressed.

But now that he's safely out, Long Zongshu couldn't help but ask the question that had been on his mind: "...Ran Qing, shouldn't we ask that old Living Buddha? He's a friend of Sixth Aunt, and he seems to know Xiong Dacheng and those ghost breeders. Maybe we can find out their background."

At present, Ran Qing and his two companions know very little about the group of ghost breeders.

At times like these, any clues or information are invaluable.

But Mo Li shook his head and spoke for Ran Qing: "This Chuan Zengji is a complete liar, he never tells the truth, he lies as easily as eating and drinking, who knows if what he says is true or false."

Mo Li said, "When we encounter someone like this, we should just leave. Staying and asking questions won't yield any useful information, and it would be even worse if we were deceived by his lies."

This was Ran Qing's idea.

Having seen through the old man's strange and untrustworthy nature, he naturally wouldn't linger to ask any more questions.

Ran Qing's advantage now is that he hides in the shadows while the group of ghost breeders are in the open.

With the enemy in the open and us in the dark, Ran Qing has a chance to snatch chestnuts from the fire.

Especially in situations like this, one must be extra cautious and not let anyone easily know that they are causing trouble for the ghost-raiser.

Mo Li added, "And this old man seems to be a lama? A lama from the snow mountain region, he gave up being a living Buddha and went to hide in Zangke, and has been hiding for more than ten years... Who knows what he did in the snow mountain region."

"If we're talking about escaping disaster, the snow mountain region is even more desolate and remote than Zangke. It's one thing for the mystical and unorthodox practitioners from the Central Plains to come to Zangke to escape disaster, but why is a lama from the snow mountain region getting involved?"

Mo Li shook his head and said, "Based on all the clues, this old man is very strange. It's best to stay away from him. He doesn't seem like a good person."

Mo Li analyzed the old man's strange behavior.

Upon hearing this, Long Zongshu felt a pang of disappointment: "...Then we've made a wasted trip tonight, and even wasted the Bianpo skin..."

The three of them had been preparing for tonight's Dharma assembly for a long time, filled with tension and anticipation, thinking they might encounter something strange or eerie.

But when they arrived in person, they found the ending to be so anticlimactic, and in the end, they gained nothing.

Ran Qing shook her head: "It wasn't a wasted trip..."

At least he saw many heretical practitioners from the Zangke region tonight and remembered their faces.

And we even bumped into Xiong Dacheng... As long as we bumped into Xiong Dacheng, then tonight will have been worthwhile!

"If we capture Xiong Dacheng, we can pry anything out of him."

When Ran Qing said these words, her eyes were gloomy and her shadow twitched slightly.

A sinister and violent aura appeared on his face.

Although the feeling was fleeting, Mo Li frowned and glanced at Ran Qing again. Ran Qing said, "The spirit mediums have plenty of ways to pry Xiong Dacheng's mouth open..."

The three of them went into the shadows of the alley and crouched down in a corner.

You can see the elevator exit from a distance here.

If Xiong Dacheng comes downstairs, Ran Qing and the other two will be able to spot and notice him immediately.

Moreover, Ran Qing also left two paper figures in the elevator building as backup.

—This time it's a real paper figure, a shadow puppet paper figure made by cutting thin paper into human shape, rather than a funeral paper figure with a frame and skeleton like the straw raincoat paper figure.

These paper shadow puppets are small and discreet, and can be used for location tracking.

After sitting down in the shadows of the alley, Ran Qing took out a small dowsing rod.

The small dowsing rod was trembling slightly, pointing straight ahead to the fourth floor of the elevator.

As Xiong Dacheng walks out of room 444, he will inevitably step on the paper puppet that Ran Qing had prepared for him in advance.

The paper puppets stuck to Xiong Dacheng's shoes would follow him wherever he went, continuously providing Ran Qing and the other two with their location.

What Ran Qing is worried about now is that Xiong Dacheng doesn't live anywhere else, but in the elevator.

If this guy lived in an apartment building with an elevator, it would be quite troublesome for Ran Qing to catch him.

Fortunately, Ran Qing didn't have to wait long. Soon, a burly and strong figure walked out of the elevator's main entrance.

Xiong Dacheng, with a full beard and a fierce look, walked out carrying a long, narrow wooden box. He coldly glanced at the street outside the door, but no one dared to approach him.

The shadowy figures that had been with Xiong Dacheng earlier were nowhere to be seen.

Xiong Dacheng stepped out of the elevator alone, glanced outside, and then carried his wooden box away.

The long, narrow wooden box clearly contained Xiong Dacheng's large cleaver.

That knife was too menacing; even a normal person would be afraid of it. If someone carried it around in public, it would definitely cause trouble.

Xiong Dacheng carried the wooden box and left the elevator building.

The tip of the dowsing ruler trembled, pointing in the direction Xiong Dacheng had left.

But it wasn't until Xiong Dacheng had gone far away that Ran Qing and the other two hurriedly emerged from the shadows and chased after him in the direction indicated by the Dragon-Seeking Ruler.

As night fell, the streets of Moonlit City gradually became deserted, with fewer pedestrians.

Ran Qing and the other two kept a great distance, hanging far behind Xiong Dacheng, relying solely on the dragon-seeking ruler for guidance.

They couldn't see Xiong Dacheng, and even if Xiong Dacheng looked around, he couldn't see the three people and the dog.

And so they walked through Zhongshan Street and into the secluded Renmin Road, until they reached a cluster of old houses at the foot of the mountain where the No. 3 Middle School was located, not far from Qingyuan Road where Ran Qing had previously rented a house.

These are all walk-up buildings; they don't even qualify as a residential community. There are no walls or gates, and anyone can enter.

As the dowsing rod continued to guide them, the three arrived at the foot of an old, walk-up building.

Ran Qing gripped the dragon-seeking ruler tightly in the shadows, its trembling tip pointing towards the house on the left side of the third floor.

Warm light shone from the window of that room, and the faint sound of a television echoed in the living room.

There was also a woman's voice.

"...You're back?"

Then came Xiong Dacheng's gruff voice: "Yeah, I'm back. I'm starving, hurry up and heat up some food for me... Damn it, they called me to a party, but they didn't even provide a meal. I'm so angry at these stupid dogs, I've been starving all night."

The old house had extremely poor sound insulation, allowing the three people in the corner to clearly hear the sounds from upstairs.

This is Xiong Dacheng's home...

(End of this chapter)