The Three Pure Ones' Secret: Expressing Spirit

Fan Biao suddenly charged forward, and before I could even react, he was already charging at the young man. In my mind, Fan Biao would have no problem dealing with that young man, but in reality, the young man was no less capable than Fan Biao.

Fan Biao caught up quickly, but the young man was just as fast. I tried my best to keep up, but I couldn't match his speed. I watched as the distance between me and Fan Biao grew further and further. I chased after him with a sense of helplessness and despair, but as I chased, Fan Biao's figure grew smaller and smaller until he disappeared from my sight.

I planted the white stick I was holding on the ground, not because I was physically exhausted, but because of a deep-seated sense of helplessness and powerlessness. My chasing steps became unresponsive, slower and slower, until they slowly came to a stop.

I looked at the gravel road under my feet, with old houses with blue tiles from the 1980s and 90s on both sides. Ghosts walked back and forth around me from time to time. Their faces were pale and lifeless, which looked a bit creepy. I didn't dare to look for long and walked forward with fear and helplessness in my heart.

I walked aimlessly until I reached the eaves of a house. Finally, unable to resist the feeling of powerlessness in my heart, I squatted cross-legged under the eaves, looking at the ghosts who seemed to be going somewhere and have no purpose.

The once noisy and bustling world seemed to have fallen silent, and all around was deathly still. In the quiet corner, I looked helplessly at the ground beneath my feet and used the stick that Fan Biao had left me to pick at the pebbles.

In a world where time was nonexistent, everything became exceptionally long. I lost track of how much time had passed in the silent stillness. Suddenly, without my awareness, I heard someone calling out to me for no apparent reason: "Hey kid! What's wrong?"

I was awakened by the voice calling my name. I looked around, but everything was the same except for an old man dressed in a Zhongshan suit from the Republican era. He had short, gray hair and a full beard. I stared at him blankly, my thoughts in disarray, and asked, "Are you calling me, sir?"

The old man, somewhat curious, looked around and then chuckled, saying, "Young man! There's no one else around, just ghosts. Who else should I call if not you?"

I was startled. The old man's words shocked me because he told me that I was the only person around, instead of saying that I was a ghost.

I was so surprised I couldn't speak for a long time. Seeing me stammering, he smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, young man. I'm not a bad person. I'm just a minor deity from the underworld. But I won't arrest you; I just want to have a chat!"

I looked at the old man in front of me and felt a little strange. What did he want to talk to me about?

Just as I was feeling confused and puzzled, the old man said to me, "Don't be afraid, child. Your situation is somewhat similar to that of one of my junior brothers. He was in the same situation as you back then."

I was taken aback, not understanding what he meant, so I asked him, "Who is your junior brother?"

He seemed somewhat satisfied: "He's a geomancer, but he shouldn't be much older than you, and his past experiences are somewhat similar to yours."

He then asked me to move aside, and set up a small fortune-telling stall where I was squatting. Curious, I asked him, "Sir, is there fortune-telling here?"

He said to me meaningfully, "Child, let everything take its course. When doing things, you don't necessarily have to care about the result. Sometimes the process is more important than the result. The result is often just a moment, but you can learn a lot from the process. Do you understand?"

I shook my head, indicating that I couldn't grasp the deeper meaning in his words. He said somewhat helplessly, "It's okay if you don't understand. Once you've experienced it and developed your wisdom, everything will become clear naturally. You can't rush it!"

Looking at his Taoist attire, I couldn't understand a word he was saying, but I managed to exchange a few words with him. Just as we were getting to know each other better, I vaguely heard someone calling my name. I looked in the direction of the voice, and the owner of the voice was none other than Fan Biao.

He saw me sitting in front of the old man's fortune-telling stall, smiled at me, and hurriedly explained, "I just chased after that guy. Holy crap, that guy ran so fast, he went straight into the Path of Return. I was going to chase after him, but then I remembered you were still behind me."

He spoke to me, then glanced at the people around me. To my surprise, they all knew each other, and the old man was particularly respectful when he saw Fan Biao. The old man and Fan Biao exchanged pleasantries, and the old man said, "Master Fan, I didn't expect to run into you today."

Fan Biao, grinning broadly and without any seriousness, said, "Zhang Wencai, Old Zhang! What are you doing here in this godforsaken place? And what's with that outfit?"

The old man, known as Zhang Wencai, chatted with Fan Biao with a smile: "These guys up there assigned me this job, saying I should record some trivial matters. There are already few positions in the underworld, so I'm quite content with this easy job! Master Fan, what brings you here this time?"

Fan Biao glanced at me beside him, then said to Old Zhang, "I'm taking my brother back!"

Old Zhang's eyes showed a hint of doubt compared to before. Just as he was about to ask, Fan Biao took out a cigarette, offered it to him, and said, "Don't ask! It's a secret!"

Zhang Wencai pointed at him with a mischievous grin, but then looked enlightened. Fan Biao didn't chat with him much, bowed to the old man in farewell, and the old man looked at me thoughtfully before saying, "Young brother, be careful in everything you do when you go back, don't leave any regrets, and leave everything to fate!"

The once polite Old Fan turned his back and lost his composure, speaking in a sarcastic tone, mimicking Old Zhang's manner: "Young brother, be careful around you this time, lest you have regrets..."

Looking at his smug face, I was both speechless and amused, so I asked Fan Biao, "Was Zhang Wencai also a geomancer before?"

Fan Biao nodded: "Yes, but he was the kind of person who wasn't very respectable, so he died with only such a small position. He also had a junior brother, who was quite capable, but he was from the north."

I nodded, seemingly understanding, because the old man had just mentioned his junior brother. Since Lao Fan had said he was impressive, he must really be a very powerful person.

The two walked and talked, and before long they arrived at the intersection between "One Step Less" and "Half a Step More." Fan Biao pointed out the huge intersection to me. After passing through the grand archway at the intersection, I looked back and saw the archway behind me inscribed with "One Step Less." Looking ahead, I saw the famous three-way intersection Fan Biao had mentioned. There were two other roads, both wide avenues, each with an archway at its entrance. The one on the right was inscribed with "Fengdu City," not the Fengdu City half a step away. I was a little confused: "Why is there a Fengdu City here?"

Fan Biao and I explained, "That's the Road of Returning Souls, leading to Fengdu City in Yubei District of the human world, and it's also the entrance and exit between the human world and the underworld."

I nodded, then looked to the other side. There was no plaque above the archway, but there was a huge stone on the right side of the main gate with the words "Santu Village" written on it.

I was taken aback: "Then isn't Sanzu Village the place you mentioned at the beginning, the place where the immortals live?"

Fan Biao nodded, but he wasn't quite sure either: "It seems so, but I haven't been there myself, so I don't know the specifics. Let's go back!"

I looked in the direction of Santu Village. The two sentries standing at the entrance there were clearly different from those at Banbuduo, Yibushao, and Fengdu City. The people guarding those places were dressed in strange and mismatched clothes, but the people guarding the entrance to Santu Village were soldiers wearing silver armor and holding black iron spears with red tassels, standing ramrod straight!

I didn't have a chance to observe much. Fan Biao walked towards the path of returning souls in the direction of Fengdu City. Two ghost messengers bowed to him, and he actually smiled and bowed back. But he stood straight, as if he had choked on his food. It didn't look like he was bowing back at all; it looked like he was pounding his chest because he was stuffed.

I followed him as we crossed the checkpoint. Fan Biao gestured for me to walk ahead of him, telling me not to pay attention to anything I saw or heard, because there were many wandering souls on the path of reincarnation.

Fan Biao and I walked slowly forward. As we walked, fog gradually rolled in. Fan Biao told me to walk ahead of him, as I tried to observe my surroundings through the fog, but I couldn't see anything except the gravel path beneath my feet. As we walked, I began to hear faint noises around the fog. I listened carefully as I walked, and Fan Biao, hearing that I had noticed something amiss, said to me, "Ignore what's around you, just keep your head down and keep moving forward!"

I naturally believed Fan Biao's words, and I only dared to bury my head in my work. But ultimately, I had to look to the path the young man was on. As I walked, I saw the outline of a person in the fog. He was some distance away from me, and in this place, I knew he couldn't be human. Perhaps I had been in the underworld for too long, and the ghosts I saw were no different from humans, except for their pale complexions. But people are always susceptible to deception, and unexpected surprises can always appear.

I whispered to Fan Biao, "Old Fan, there's a ghostly figure ahead!"

I heard Fan Biao say to me in a deep voice, "Don't look at him, and definitely don't turn around!"

Seeing that Fan Biao seemed quite serious, I nodded silently. Then, not daring to look around, I cautiously walked towards the figure ahead. But as I got closer, I found myself increasingly terrified, and my curiosity grew stronger. Perhaps knowing that Fan Biao was behind me and trusting him completely, I couldn't help but steal a glance as I passed the figure. But that glance was enough to terrify me to death!

I passed by a woman wearing a strange long dress. She was shrouded in mist with her hair disheveled, and I thought I wouldn't be able to see her face at all. But curiosity is often irresistible, and as it may, it can kill the cat and terrify the person. As I passed by, I saw that she was also staring intently at me. The woman's face was completely bloodless, and her lips, instead of being white, were a dark purple. She had a half-smile on her face, and her eyes, except for the pupils the size of mung beans, were entirely white. From her eerie laughter came strange, gurgling sounds like "Heh heh heh heh."

I felt like my chest was stuffed with cotton, and I couldn't breathe. Then I whispered to Fan Biao, "It's a woman."

But there was no response from Fan Biao behind me. I was stunned. My fear had completely taken over my throat, so I hurriedly asked again, "Old Fan, brother! Stop joking around now!"

There was no response from behind. I figured the old man was deliberately trying to make a fool of me, so without thinking much of it, I turned around to look at him! But what I saw completely stunned me, because there was nothing but a vast expanse of white behind me. There was no trace of Fan Biao; he had inexplicably vanished.

Just as I was trying to find Fan Biao's whereabouts, I saw figures vaguely appearing in the white mist behind me. They seemed to be getting closer and closer to me, slowly becoming clearer.

I saw this scene and prepared to turn and run. But as soon as I turned around, I saw the disheveled woman from before. She still had that eerie smile on her face, but as she smiled, her expression suddenly turned fierce. Before I could react, she grabbed my neck.

I felt a sharp pain in my neck, and my throat was being squeezed so tightly that I couldn't even breathe properly. After a while, I felt my consciousness becoming increasingly blurred until it slowly disappeared completely.

In the confusion and silence, I slowly opened my eyes. Everything around me was blurry. I could only feel someone gently patting my face, calling out, "Old Pu, hey! Old Pu..."

In my hazy state, I struggled to make out my surroundings. I saw a dark face, and the person was frantically calling out to me. I glanced around and realized I was still in the fog. I saw a somewhat anxious Fan Biao, who, perhaps seeing that I had opened my eyes, sighed with relief: "Damn, you're finally awake! It was like an African dad bungee jumping, giving this black guy a huge fright! Why were you staring so intently? I told you not to look, you stubborn fool!"

I slowly sat up, feeling both embarrassed and speechless: "What happened? Why did you suddenly disappear?"

Fan Biao said helplessly, "Sigh... Brother, it's not that I disappeared, it's because you saw that wandering ghost, it bewitched your mind. If I hadn't been beside you, you would have been trapped and died on this ghost road."

I was a little confused; why would these wandering spirits bother me for no reason? I wasn't of any use to them. After listening to Lao Fan's explanation, I slowly began to understand the reason!

It turns out these wandering spirits have been trapped on the Ghost Road for years, like a snowball rolling downhill: unable to reincarnate, they lure new ghosts to their group whenever they pass by, making the new ghosts their companions. Once a new ghost is drawn into their group, it can never escape. And just now, I fell for their trick. Luckily, Fan Biao noticed something was wrong with me and managed to disperse the surrounding spirits, finally managing to wake me up after a long time.