Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 377 Investigator

Last time at the Huaga Tiankeng, this soul-guiding lamp really gave the three of them a hard time.

With the ancestral tablet as a trump card, Ran Qing had never touched the dangerous artifact, the Soul-Guiding Lamp.

The situation is now dangerous, but we have no choice but to bring out the Soul-Guiding Lamp.

He didn't intend to use it casually, but when he was truly at his wit's end, no matter how terrifying the Soul-Guiding Lamp was, he could only try to use it as a lifeline...

Ran Qing explained her plan, leaving Mo Li and Long Zongshu speechless.

Long Zongshu asked curiously, "If you were to begin suppressing the evil spirits within the lamp now, with your current Yin power, how long would it take to succeed?"

Ran Qing thought for a moment and said, "...If it's fast, it will take about ten years. If it's slow, I'll pass it on to my disciple to suppress it."

Aunt Liu's pamphlet mentioned the Huaga Tiankeng, but when she went to the Huaga Tiankeng, she didn't take away the inherited ritual artifact of the Yin-Yang lineage.

Combined with the incredibly detailed suppression methods in "Witchcraft and Spiritual Arts," Ran Qing guessed that the suppression process would take a very long time.

Ran Qing carefully placed the barnacles on the edge of the main room, next to the large vat filled with incense ash.

He then clapped his hands, stood up, and said, "Let's wash the vegetables and cook rice first, I'm starving."

People are iron, and rice is steel, so you panic if you don't eat a meal.

The three young people temporarily put aside what they were doing and busied themselves preparing the dishes.

There are matsutake mushrooms tonight, which are a good thing. Ran Qing plans to use half of the matsutake mushrooms to make soup and the other half to stir-fry.

There's still leftover meat from yesterday in the fridge, and fresh vegetables I bought on the way back to the city.

The three of them clearly divided the tasks and immediately got to work.

Mo Li and Ran Qing sat at the doorway, filled a large basin with water, and began to pick and wash the vegetables.

Just then, a series of footsteps suddenly sounded from within the thick fog.

Immediately afterwards, a disheveled Taoist priest in dirty clothes and a Taoist robe emerged from the thick fog.

Upon seeing Ran Qing and the other person standing at the entrance of the cement house, a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"...Oh, young master Ran, it's been so long!"

Liu Fang, the disheveled Taoist priest from western Hunan who had met Ran Qing and his group a few times before, appeared with a cheerful smile.

He walked up to Ran Qing with a fawning smile and said, "I've come uninvited, I hope you two won't be unwelcome?"

When this slovenly Taoist priest first met Ran Qing and his group at Old Wang Mountain, he acted extremely arrogantly.

But after Ran Qing saved his life, he became much more humble.

When the mysterious old man, Kawazō Danji, was holding a Dharma assembly in the elevator building, this slovenly Taoist priest even spoke up in defense of Ran Qing.

Now that they meet again, this guy is all smiles and much more humble, a far cry from the arrogance he displayed the first time they met.

Ran Qing looked at the disheveled Taoist priest with surprise and said, "Taoist priest, you've come to buy copper coins from me?"

He had previously given Liu Fang his address because she wanted to buy the Ghost Luo Ancient Coins from him and offered a very tempting price. Ran Qing replied that he would think about it.

After parting ways with Lao Wangshan, Liu Fang disappeared without a trace, and the matter was left unresolved.

Unexpectedly, after so many days, Liu Fang came to visit again.

But Ran Qing looked at the thick fog outside and understood.

Although Moonlit City was dangerous before, with the red gates open, those evil spirits and demons only appeared and roamed at night, and were safe during the day.

At worst, you can hide outside the city, away from the area where the Red Gate is located, and you'll basically avoid encountering ghosts.

But now, a thick fog shrouds Moonlit City, and the evil spirits behind the red gate wander the city day and night, and may even wander outside the city.

At times like these, Moonlit City is in great danger.

The Ghost Luo Coins, which allow one to buy life from the evil spirits when encountering them, suddenly became a necessity for the cowardly and slovenly Taoist priest Liu Fang.

Upon hearing Ran Qing's question, the disheveled Taoist chuckled shyly, "Um... is young master Ran willing to sell to me? It'll still be the same price we agreed on last time. Even if you just rent it to me for a few days, I'll still pay." The disheveled Taoist smiled apologetically.

Ran Qing shook his head and said, "Master Liu, since you're afraid, why don't you just leave Zangke? You're not a local. Just wait until the danger here is over before coming back. Why get involved in this mess?"

"You also want the elixir of immortality from the Ghost King's coffin?"

Ran Qing asked with a smile.

Mo Li clicked his tongue and said, "The legend of that elixir has been around for so many years, and every few decades it has killed a group of unorthodox cultivators, yet no one has ever truly achieved immortality. Master Liu, you are not a person blinded by greed, so why don't you leave?"

Ran Qing and Mo Li were both very curious.

This slovenly Taoist priest, Liu Fang, had a face that screamed fear of death.

How could someone like that possibly risk everything for a vague and unattainable elixir of immortality?

Faced with Ran Qing and Mo Li's questions, the slovenly Taoist priest sighed helplessly.

He looked around, as if checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

Then he approached Ran Qing and said with a helpless expression, "...Actually, I don't want to stay in Zangke either."

"This land is inherently full of dangers for us foreign cultivators."

"Not to mention that now the gates of hell are wide open, and ancient evil spirits are flooding into the human world."

"If I hadn't been forced into this situation, I would have liked to leave Zangke as soon as possible and go back to my hometown."

Liu Fang complained bitterly, her wrinkled face looking like she was about to cry, giving the impression that she had a very hard life.

At this moment, Long Zongshu, who was inside the house, also heard the noise and came out out of curiosity.

Hearing what Taoist Liu Fang said, Long Zongshu asked curiously, "Taoist Master, you are such a carefree person, who could force you to stay in Zangke? What benefit would that person get from forcing you to stay in Zangke?"

Faced with the curiosity of the three young people, Liu Fang sighed.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a brand new green notebook.

After opening the green cover, inside was Liu Fang's headshot, a red stamp, and a work ID card with his name, age, employee number, and rank written on it.

"Actually, I was sent by Bureau 769."

The disheveled Taoist priest said with a bitter expression, "Last year I owed some money and couldn't make a living anymore, so I had to accept the recruitment of Bureau 769 and become an investigator there."

"I shouldn't have been assigned to this mission in the first place."

"But not long ago, there were dragons and ghosts roaming the Poyang Lake area, killing many people. The bureau didn't have enough manpower, so they sent me to Zangke to investigate the situation."

"Don't you know that fox from Laowang Mountain? They were frightened by the noise of the dragon ghost traveling the river. Their lair was overturned, so they fled to Zangke in a panic to avoid disaster."

"Because their lair is built right on top of that dragon demon's head. Once the dragon demon wakes up, the first thing it will do is kill their den of foxes."

Liu Fang said with a bitter expression, complaining, "I thought the problems in Zangke were minor, similar to what they were ten years ago."

"Who knew it would be this dangerous? I've encountered a ghost too, and now I can't run away even if I wanted to. I can only stay here and wait it out."

After Liu Fang finished recounting her grievances with a sigh, she no longer concealed her feelings and spoke directly to Ran Qing.

"I came to see you tonight not only to rent some ancient ghost money to save my life, but also mainly to warn you."

"Those ghost breeders, they want to make peace with you..."

Liu Fang said helplessly, "In the past two days, a lot of people have died in the city, and half of the ghost-raising people have also died."

"This time, the gates of hell opened wide, and the ancient Luo ghost soldiers that poured out were like madmen, more ferocious than ever before."

"Even ordinary people, several died."

"Those ghost breeders are also afraid. They asked me to convey a message to you, wanting to make peace with you."

(End of this chapter)