Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 298 You are already dead

"Have a seat first, and tell me what's going on," Chen Laosan said, putting on a serious act as he casually invited the three of them to sit down.

Seeing that Little Cotton was about to come in, he waved with a smile: "Is this dog yours? Hehehe..."

He wanted to tease the dog.

But Little Cotton ignored him and plopped down next to Ran Qing, lying down at Ran Qing's feet.

Chen Laosan felt somewhat embarrassed for making a fool of himself.

But the next second, he pretended nothing was wrong and his gaze swept over the three of them.

He seemed eager to look at Mo Li a little longer, but with Ran Qing staring at him, the middle-aged widow ultimately couldn't bring himself to stare at the pretty girl.

Chen Laosan said to Ran Qing in a seemingly casual tone, "Which of you three is possessed by an evil spirit? Let me see."

The ghost story continues to play on the radio.

Although the sound wasn't very loud, the combination of the radio host's eerie, low voice and the sinister background music sent chills down one's spine.

"...The matchmaker felt an itch on her neck, as if something was scratching her. Her heart jumped into her throat."

"Suddenly someone called her name from behind. She was startled and suddenly remembered what Grandma Liu had told her before she left."

"The matchmaker didn't dare turn around and hurriedly ran to the mirror. There she saw a pale, bloodless face lying on her neck!"

……

The radio broadcast the story, accompanied by the agonizing screams of a woman.

The three people in the room subconsciously looked into the inner room, where a dirty curtain hung down to cover the inside, and the sound of a radio was eerie and unsettling.

Ran Qing said, "Uncle Chen, could you please turn off the radio?"

Ran Qing stared at the dark inner room, which was unlit, and placed her right hand on the canvas bag without making a sound.

There's something wrong with this inner room!

Chen Laosan, who had always been so carefree, showed a hint of unease when Ran Qing mentioned the inner room.

Somewhat fearful, Chen Laosan peeked into the inner room and forced a smile, saying, "Well... the radio, ghost stories are so good, so interesting."

"Never mind the radio, let's talk about your business first."

"Ah... how about this, I'll take you out to have a look."

Chen Laosan had just invited the three of them to sit down, and before they had even warmed their seats, he suddenly had a strange idea and wanted to drag them out of the house.

He stood up first and said, "Let's go outside. The moonlight is very bright tonight. If any of you are possessed by evil spirits, I can shine the moonlight on you and find the ghosts."

Chen Laosan was spouting nonsense and beckoned the three of them to leave.

But his incredibly clumsy actions clearly indicated that he wanted to lure the three of them out, afraid that they might say something that would offend the people inside the house.

Is someone inside?
Ran Qing squinted and said, "Uncle Chen, do you have guests at home?"

He remembered clearly that Chen Laosan had always been a bachelor living alone, and there were never any guests at his home.

But now there's someone listening to the radio inside the house, and Chen Laosan seems quite afraid of them...

Chen Laosan chuckled sheepishly, "Well... a friend of mine likes to listen to ghost stories while she's sleeping. Let's not disturb her; she has a terrible temper, and we'll just wake her up."

Chen Laosan's fear was genuine.

Before Ran Qing could speak, Zong Shu suddenly walked over.

"Uncle Chen, may I see your hand?" Zong Shu, who was tall and thin, standing over 1.8 meters, suddenly walked between the two and grabbed Chen Laosan's right hand without any regard for Chen Laosan's opinion.

Before Chen Laosan could react, Long Zongshu grabbed his right hand.

He stared in astonishment at the tall, bamboo-like figure in front of him, momentarily stunned: "...What?"

Chen Laosan instinctively tried to pull his hand away. But the moment he tried, he found that his hand was stuck as if it were being clamped by iron clamps and he couldn't move it.

Long Zongshu, who was tall and thin and a full head taller than Chen Laosan, looked down at Chen Laosan's palm and finally looked at Chen Laosan's face.

A trace of pity flashed across Long Zongshu's face: "Uncle Chen, do you know you're already dead?"

Long Zongshu's question caused Chen Laosan's expression to change drastically.

The usually unruly Chen Laosan suddenly changed. He was both shocked and furious. He abruptly pulled away from Long Zongshu's hand and shouted, "What nonsense are you spouting, kid? You're the one who's possessed, aren't you?"

"You come to my doorstep and spout nonsense, do you really think I'm easy to mess with?"

Chen Laosan roared in shock and anger, but fear made up a larger part of his expression.

After shaking off Long Zongshu's hand, he even took several steps back in panic until his back was pressed against the wall.

Long Zongshu looked at him with pity and said, "...He should have died this afternoon, and the time of death is no more than 12 hours ago."

"When you died, you should have felt your heart skip a few beats and then stopped beating."

"This is a nightmare spell cast by a ghost breeder... Uncle Chen, you've been under this spell for a while now, haven't you?"

"Did someone in the house give it to you?"

Long Zongshu's words caused Chen Laosan, whose back was pressed against the wall, to have his expression change wildly.

His face turned ashen, then flushed, and finally as pale as paper.

He whirled around and hissed as he looked into the inner room, demanding, "...Didn't you say you wouldn't hurt me? I'm the one who picked you up and brought you home! How could you do this... How could you do this..."

As Chen Laosan spoke, his voice grew weaker and his throat became increasingly hoarse.

In the end, he collapsed to the ground, exhausted and weak, his eyes gradually becoming unfocused.

After Long Zongshu exposed his death, he could no longer maintain the illusion of being alive and visibly lost his vitality.

As Chen Laosan passed away, a woman's cold, eerie laugh echoed through the house.

"...I let you sleep every day for a month, did you think you were just sleeping for nothing?"

"Cough cough..."

A cold laugh was followed by a violent cough.

At this moment, the room door had been closed by Mo Li, and all the doors and windows were locked from the inside.

The sour, rancid smell in the air not only didn't disappear, but actually became even stronger.

Ran Qing and the other two stared into the inner room and stood up straight.

Flames ignited on Long Zongshu's shoulder.

Ran Qing put the Nuo opera mask on the back of her head. Before Mo Li closed the door, Xiao Mianhua brought in the human head staff from the doorway. At this moment, Ran Qing was holding the human head staff in her hand.

Thin, long red rope figures bounced and jumped out of Ran Qing's canvas bag.

A woman's voice, laced with cold laughter, echoed from the dark, gloomy room.

"...I didn't expect you to find this place. Little Stone, did Mo Baifeng send you here?"

"Did Ran Jianfei send you here? It couldn't have been you who came here on your own, could it?"

The woman sneered and called out Ran Qing's nickname.

Upon hearing this address, Ran Qing's expression changed drastically.

Besides his mother, only... liked to call him by that name.

"Auntie?!" Ran Qing's voice was almost squeezed out of her throat.

(End of this chapter)