Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 311 Who wrote the booklet?
Old Sheepskin clearly knew more about the midnight minibuses on the cut-off road.

After all, this thing is a supernatural legend that has been circulating in Moonlit City for decades, and it is said to have existed since the Republican era.

Old Sheepskin said, "That midnight minibus is really weird, but Aunt Liu said it's harmless."

"Generally, only those who are evil-hearted, have a strong murderous aura, or are foolish enough to seek death will run into that thing."

"Just don't loiter around the chokepoint after dark."

Old Sheepskin said, "But if you get on that minibus, the outcome is usually terrible."

"Those who jumped off the train and escaped midway inexplicably became mentally unstable and crazy afterward. They kept shouting that there were ghosts in their homes and on the streets, as if ghosts were everywhere, and they were afraid of everyone they saw."

"If I hadn't managed to jump out of the car, I would never have been able to come back."

"Back in the 1980s, a 17-year-old boy made a bet with his friends that he would go to the road where he was supposed to be beheaded and encounter a ghost, but he ended up being picked up by a minibus."

"The young man's parents came to me, begging for my help. I asked my sixth aunt to help look for him. But even my sixth aunt couldn't find him. She said he was nowhere to be found, neither in the living world nor the dead world, and no one knew where he had gone."

Old Sheepskin asked cautiously, "Boss Ran, you're not thinking of going to find this midnight minibus, are you? Or are you going to the 857 Slaughterhouse?"

"Neither of these places is a safe place..."

Old Sheepskin had some concerns.

But he couldn't easily persuade them, so he could only express his concern in a tactful way.

Ran Qing chatted with Old Sheepskin for a while longer before hanging up the phone.

Meanwhile, Muneki, who was in bed, was also awakened by the sound of the phone call.

He rubbed his eyes sleepily and sat up, saying, "What did I hear you saying something about a 'beheading road' and the 857 slaughterhouse...?"

Upon seeing Zong Shu wake up, Ran Qing told him about Mo Li's unexpected discovery.

Long Zongshu was startled when he heard that the handwriting on Ran Qing's booklet was not that of Sixth Aunt, but someone else.

"If that booklet wasn't written by Aunt Liu, then who else could it be?"

"Who's so clever as to pull off this switcheroo in Aunt Liu's room?"

"And what is their purpose in doing this?"

Long Zongshu was completely bewildered.

His focus was clearly different from that of Mo Li and Ran Qing.

After all, Zong Shu and Aunt Liu didn't have much of a relationship, so he had a more macro and calm perspective on things.

The three gathered at the doorway, their eyes meeting.

Long Zongshu did not take the booklet that Ran Qing handed him, and said, "This is a closely guarded secret of you Yin people, so don't show it to me."

After saying that, Zong Shu added, "I know about the 857 Slaughterhouse and the minibus on the headless road."

“I warned my grandfather when I was little not to go near that minibus on the cut-off road.”

"As for the 857 slaughterhouse, it's very dangerous. It appeared two years ago, and we don't know where it came from or how it appeared."

"But as soon as that ghost appeared, everyone in the slaughterhouse died. It's said that more than thirty people died at the time! Not a single one escaped."

“The entire slaughterhouse was abandoned, and no one dared to go there anymore.”

"Because the impact was so great, I heard from my grandfather that someone offered a large reward and hired several experts to deal with this ghost."

"They are all respected and capable people in the local Yin-Yang sect in Zangke, not the kind of charlatans who are all talk and no action."

"But in the end, all five experts who were invited to exorcise the ghost died, and none of them came back."

"After that, no one dared to manage the slaughterhouse anymore."

At this point, Long Zongshu hesitated for a moment, then added, "I heard that Sixth Aunt wanted to intervene back then, but for some reason, she later semi-retired and never took action again."

After saying that, Long Zongshu hesitated and said, "Actually, I think we should just follow the order in this booklet and find the midnight minibus."

"Anyway, both places are very strange and dangerous, but at least we caught ghosts in the order listed in the brochure before, and there were no major problems."

"If this booklet is really a trap, intended to harm us, there's no need to wait until the very end to do something bad."

“If this booklet had instructed you, Ran Qing, to go to the most dangerous place from the beginning, and you had encountered the most ferocious ghost as soon as you entered the sect… then everything would have ended from the start. Why wait until the end to do something bad?”

Long Zongshu calmly analyzed, "Even if this booklet wasn't written by Aunt Liu, but by someone else, so what?"

"Perhaps Aunt Liu couldn't write it, or the booklet she was writing was damaged, or for some other reason... In any case, it's possible that she asked a friend to write it for her." "Maybe when that ghost was impersonating Aunt Liu, it couldn't write human characters and asked someone else to write it for it?"

"At least Mo Li has confirmed that the first part is correct, so why should we doubt that the later part is false?"

"Can't everything be right?"

"It's just a problem with the handwriting."

"But at least so far, the order in the pamphlet has been good and hasn't harmed us."

"Then why should we doubt this booklet at the very last moment?"

Long Zongshu looked at Mo Li curiously and said, "Or do you think going to the slaughterhouse is safer than going to the execution road?"

Zongshu asked curiously.

This question immediately stumped Mo Li.

Her expression froze for a moment, clearly unsure how to answer.

Indeed, both places are dangerous.

It was a ferocious creature that had already killed many people.

A bizarre and sinister sect has existed for decades or even centuries.

From a normal perspective, there isn't much difference between the two places; both are dangerous areas.

But Mo Li seemed to be very resistant to the midnight minibus, preferring the 857 slaughterhouse...

After being reminded by Zong Shuyi, Ran Qing also realized the strangeness of the situation.

He looked at Mo Li in surprise and said, "Shall we go to the slaughterhouse tonight?"

Ran Qing probed Mo Li's reaction.

Mo Li looked at him silently and said, "I don't know either, so don't ask me."

“I just think the slaughterhouse is safer. At least it’s certain that the slaughterhouse is haunted. If you really plan to invite the ancestral tablet, it will definitely be able to suppress it.”

"But that evil spirit on the midnight minibus, even this old woman doesn't know what it is. What if the ancestral tablet can't suppress it..."

"And the handwriting on this booklet is off. Who wrote this booklet? I have a feeling something's wrong with this."

"Although, as Zong Shu said, this booklet hasn't harmed us so far... but even if someone wants to help us, who is it?"

"It's impossible that something this important was actually written by an old woman who asked a stranger to write it for her..."

Mo Li still suspected that the contents of the booklet had been replaced.

Ran Qing listened to her analysis and also felt that it made sense.

Both of their views have their own merits.

Ran Qing hesitated for a moment.

But before he could hesitate for long, the phone in the room suddenly rang.

Old Sheepskin, who had hung up the phone not long ago, actually called back.

Ran Qing was a little curious, so she answered Old Sheepskin's call.

But then I received some breaking news.

"No...something's wrong! Boss Ran!"

Old Sheepskin said somewhat hurriedly and nervously, "I just went to inquire about the 857 slaughterhouse, and found out that we can't go there anymore."

You absolutely mustn't go tonight!

Old Sheepskin said anxiously, "There's a red door outside the slaughterhouse!"

The red gate is wide open, and a sneaky night owl appears...

Ran Qing was stunned by this latest news about the old sheepskin.

I can't go to the slaughterhouse... It seems I can only follow the order in the brochure and look for the midnight minibus.

(End of this chapter)