Jing Xian and Lu Yingjiu went all the way to the top floor of Changliu Tower.
The 8th floor was filled with a thick yin energy, but there was no sign of Zhang Nianyun - perhaps because she came from a noble family, even after becoming a ghost, she was more alert than other evil spirits and would not only attack the living. When she saw the caregivers being defeated, she ran away very quickly.
There are few windows and the interior is very dark.
Lu Yingjiu originally wanted to go downstairs directly, but when he walked down one floor.
The flashlight illuminated the hallway sign. Written in red block letters on the wall: 8th Floor
I went down the stairs, but I was still on the same floor.
They went down the stairs again, and the same result occurred: they were trapped. The window in the corridor was locked and could not be opened no matter how hard they tried.
Just like an amusement park cannot be without roller coasters, ghost stories cannot be without ghost walls - this is a project that countless ghosts and monsters have been obsessed with throughout the ages, and it has never been popular. No one knows why they are so keen on trapping people in a small space instead of killing them directly.
Lu Yingjiu stood at the stairs. The firelight lengthened their shadows all the way to the end of the corridor.
Lu Yingjiu stopped and took out a flashlight to look around.
The layout of the house seems different from before.
Most of the changes are very subtle, such as the number of beds increased from 3 to 4, all the items in the house were mirrored, and the photo at the head of the bed changed from blank to a family photo... It's more like they entered a whole new space and peeled off the veil of a nursing home.
The most obvious thing is that the last two rooms in the corridor were changed from general wards to wards for critically ill patients.
The doors of the wards for critically ill patients are all reinforced doors. The steel is three fingers thick. Even the strongest man cannot break them open, not to mention that there are several old talismans pasted on them.
Fortunately, it was old and there was no combination lock. Lu Yingjiu spread out his hands, and a small paper figure crawled out of his pocket and landed lightly on his hands. The paper figure was listless at first, but after standing on his hands, it quickly became energetic.
It jumped to the ground and squeezed for a long time before it finally got through the crack in the door.
The lock of the iron door was heavy and rusty. The paper man stood on it and jumped up and down, stepped on the lock, and unlocked the door from the inside.
Squeak—
Lu Yingjiu used a little strength and pushed open the heavy door.
What caught my eye was the moldy mattress and the black straps hanging on the bed frame. The runes on the wall were mottled and most of them had fallen off.
After being frightened, these patients lost too many souls, which is actually not much different from mental illness. When they go crazy, it is very troublesome, especially for seriously ill patients. And the most important thing is that mentally unstable people have weak yang energy, which makes them more likely to attract ghosts.
The flashlight swept across the room.
Back then, exorcists had limited means and could only tie them up and then use talismans to slowly lead their souls back.
To prevent accidents, there are no windows in the room, making it cramped and depressing.
Looking more closely at the mattresses, I saw some bloodstains and scratches, and all the cotton was leaking out.
Those were the marks left by the patients when they were manic. They could not stop scratching even if their nails broke. Seeing them now still makes me feel creepy.
He opened the bedside tables one by one, revealing yellowed medical records and medicines. He flipped through them briefly, but found nothing special.
After leaving the room, they went to another ward.
There were no restraints on the beds in the ordinary wards, and there were televisions and radios, so it seemed much more normal.
Lu Yingjiu released the little furry ball, which ran around the room, sniffing around, and suddenly howled at a hospital bed.
When Lu Yingjiu went over, he saw Mao Tuanzi biting something under the bed and trying hard to pull it out.
Four or five cardboard boxes were dragged out in a row.
The cardboard box was heavy, and like the box left behind by Ye Deyong, it was covered with the Ye family’s unique runes, which were wrapped around the box in circles like a giant snake.
Lu Yingjiu said, "I'll ask Ye Feng to come up and take a look."
He sent a message to Ye Feng, and Ye Feng said that he and Xiao Li had already prepared the talisman paper and would be here soon.
While waiting for Ye Feng, Lu Yingjiu took a piece of talisman paper and blew away the thick dust on the ground. The two of them sat on the ground in front of the cardboard box.
Lu Yingjiu remembered something and said to Jing Xian, "Ye Feng once told me a story."
"What?" Jing Xian asked.
"There was one time when a critically ill patient accidentally escaped from the hospital." Lu Yingjiu said, "The old man was gentle, unlike his fellow patients. He didn't hold a knife and say he was going to kill the entire nursing home, nor did he claim that he was summoned by ghosts and gods and was going to jump into the sea to commit suicide. He just went out for a walk."
"That sounds pretty friendly," Jing Xian said.
"Yes, the old man has very good legs. He walked all over the mountain in just over a day, and then he was hungry." Lu Yingjiu said, "When you are hungry, you have to eat. He went back to the courtyard obediently. If he hadn't brought back more than a dozen ghosts from the mountain, the courtyard would have been quite happy."
Jing Xian: “…”
Lu Yingjiu smiled, looked around the room, then stood up and picked up a syringe from the ground.
The needle of the syringe had been broken and deformed from being stepped on several times.
Lu Yingjiu said: "Like the human skin/mask of the Chen family, the Ye family also has some controversial points."
He knew that Jing Xian actually didn't know much about the past of the ghost-exorcist family, so he started chatting casually.
Jing Xian sat down and listened attentively to his wife's story, and by the way, he stuffed a small bottle of yogurt into Lu Yingjiu's hand.
Lu Yingjiu held yogurt in one hand and a syringe in the other, and felt that her look was quite subtle.
He continued, "The Ye family can summon the 'Li Snake'. Although the Li Snake is famous for controlling fire, it also has snake venom."
"Oh." Jing Xian said, "I know that."
Lu Yingjiu asked: "Have you ever seen a snake in the ghost world?"
Even among various ghosts and gods, the Li Snake is extremely powerful.
Jing Xian hesitated for a few seconds: "... I guess I have seen it before. I think I saw it in my backyard."
Behind his bedroom is a vast garden with green waves swaying in the wind. There are countless flowers on both sides of the road with rich fragrance. It is like a paradise in the deep and terrifying ghost world. You can pick flower branches on sunny days and admire the withered lotus leaves on rainy nights.
This garden was built beside the abyss. Beneath its beauty there is a strong ghostly aura, which has attracted many ghosts. They all know that the Ghost King is generous and willing to show mercy, and it is a great honor for them to enjoy this infinite scenery.
So they all came carefully, keeping their fangs at bay. Even the monsters that could normally overturn the world and overturn the rivers and seas were as innocent as little white rabbits in the backyard.
It’s not like there haven’t been ghosts who didn’t know what was good for them and caused trouble.
Now they have been added to the luxurious ghost world ashes package.
In fact, respecting leisure is not generosity.
He just felt that the backyard was too monotonous and he needed to add more small animals to maintain species diversity.
Road welcomes wine:
Lu Yingjiu asked, "Is there a snake in the backyard?"
Can this thing grow randomly?!
"Yes." Jing Xian said, "It was a big one hanging on the tree, and I fed it a few skulls."
Road welcomes wine:
There were so many complaints that he didn't know how to complain.
He said: "Where does my family live..."
Jing Xian said: "Next to the abyss."
Lu Yingjiu knew that many ghosts avoided the abyss and were reluctant to get close to it.
Jingxian lives next to the abyss...
No matter how he thought about it, he felt that Jing Xian could only choose such a corner to live in. Combined with the fact that there was a snake in his backyard, it was even more proven that it was a place of trouble.
Could it be that Jing Xian has always refused to reveal his nickname because he is an ostracized priest
Lu Yingjiu's thoughts raced: Although Jing Xian's strength is amazing and he is definitely not an ordinary person, the priests are restrained by each other, so it's hard to say whether such a thing might really happen.
When he looked at Jingxian again, his mentality had completely changed. He thought that it was really unfair that Jingxian was so good at taking care of people, but he had such a bad luck with ghosts.
He returned the yogurt in his hand, patted Jingxian's hand and said, "I don't want to drink it. Drink more."
Jingxian:
He held the yogurt, not understanding what Lu Yingjiu was thinking, and asked again: "So, what's wrong with the venom of the Li snake?"
Lu Yingjiu took a deep breath, refocused his thoughts, and pointed to the syringe and said, "In the past, the Ye family used the venom of the Li snake to kill many people. This venom takes effect quickly and is fatal even to exorcists who have invited gods. If this venom is used in small doses, it is an extremely effective stimulant, better than modern stimulants, and it was popular on the black market for a while."
"What happened next?" Jing Xian asked, "I think there shouldn't be any left now."
"Yes." Lu Yingjiu said, "Like the Chen family, the Ye family has also made changes. The venom is actually very effective for people who have lost their souls. It can help them regain some sanity and stay excited until their souls return. That's why the Ye family has been in charge of the sanatorium for many years."
He looked back at the room, his eyes sweeping over the black restraints, the scratches on the bed, the various graffiti on the wall, and finally his eyes stopped at a family photo on the bedside table.
In the family photo, the three members of the family are all smiling brightly.
The patient must have been discharged safely and is living a peaceful life.
He said: "I have to say that the Ye family took the lead in building this sanatorium and really saved many people. So, there have been many obstacles on the road to exorcising ghosts, and the family has also had a dark history, but overall it is positive."
"I became an exorcist not to make money or become famous, but because when I was a child, I often thought that if there was a powerful person who could help me, I would definitely regard that person as a hero."
"In the end, I didn't wait for a great exorcist, but I waited for you." Lu Yingjiu smiled at Jing Xian, "Not everyone is as lucky as me, so I want to be 'that person' for them."
Jing Xian looked at him intently.
He said: "It has been done."
"Yes." Lu Yingjiu said, "But I'm a very good exorcist, and I can do better."
He knew he was gifted and set his standards for himself hundreds or thousands of times higher than others.
He then asked: "Jingxian, do you have any ideals?"
"No." Jing Xian answered simply, "I am just like other ghosts. My plans for the future are very simple."
Lu Yingjiu made a gesture of "talking".
Jing Xian said: "For example, my small stage goal is to hold hands with you and go to the dry firewood, raging fire, thunder and lightning, Wushan Mountain, and rain together..."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Lu Yingjiu quickly interrupted him, rubbed his brows vigorously, took a deep breath and calmed down, "Don't you have any long-term and ambitious goals?"
"Yes," Jing Xian said, "The long-term goal is to go through many fierce battles with you..."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Lu Yingjiu said: "I personally oppose your ideals."
"Oh." Jing Xian was obviously disappointed. "You are against it, but I support it. It's a tie at one to one."
"No." Lu Yingjiu said, "I have a veto power."
No matter how much he hated Jing Xian, he felt that this man had bad intentions and was very dangerous, so he took the yogurt back from Jing Xian's hand and started eating it himself.
A sound of footsteps came from far away.
It was Ye Feng who finally arrived.
He was sweating profusely, and he rushed into the room, panting and saying, "Hey, hey, hey, why are the two of us sitting here? There's a ghost wall here! We are trapped on the 8th floor!!"
"Yes." Lu Yingjiu said, "I know."
His reaction was too calm. Ye Feng widened his eyes and looked at the two of them carefully: "You are still sitting here chatting when there is a ghost wall around you?! My god, how can you be so calm!"
Lu Yingjiu said with a look on her face, “Yeah, so what? It’s just a small scene.”
Jing Xian said, "My wife is right."
Ye Feng was dazzled by the couple's face, and he was extremely angry and finally gave up on himself: "Okay, okay, okay, I don't care anymore, let's talk later, where is the box they mentioned? Give me some runes."
"Here." Lu Yingjiu pointed to the box in front of him, "It's all here. Come on."
Next, Ye Feng concentrated on studying the talisman paper.
These talismans were much simpler than those on his second master's belongings and were easier to untie. He worked for more than half an hour and all the talismans on the cardboard box were removed.
Then he opened the box and muttered, "Let me see what good stuff is..."
The three of them gathered together to look, and saw that the cardboard box was filled with black videotapes and CDs.
They are piled up densely, probably numbering in the hundreds or even thousands.
Lu Yingjiu picked up a CD and saw 9907 written on it in black ink.
Like some kind of number.
On other discs and videotapes, each one has a number.
The common wards on this floor had old-fashioned televisions and DVD players. The three of them moved the cardboard boxes over and sat in front of the TV to play with them.
"This TV has no power, how can I use it?" Ye Feng said.
Lu Yingjiu turned on the TV.
The TV was clearly not plugged in, but after he pressed the button, a snowy screen flashed up, making a crackling sound. The light illuminated the faces of the three of them, which looked quite eerie.
"That's right." Ye Feng said, "My second grandmother is still very awesome. Even as a ghost, she is more advanced than others and can even generate electricity with ghost power."
He casually put in a CD.
The green light on the DVD player flashed a few times.
The picture finally appeared on the screen.
The photos show the scenery near the sanatorium. One can see lush green trees, the white walls of the sanatorium, and the extremely distant Yueshan Village at the foot of the mountain.
The image quality was very poor, and most of the screen was black, probably because it was damaged. Ye Feng adjusted it to 5x speed and quickly went through it, but didn't find anything special.
He put in a few other CDs.
It’s still the same result: either taking pictures of the scenery, or taking pictures of the hospital staff and patients, recording daily life.
The clips are fragmentary, the dialogues are jumbled and make no sense.
"What's going on?" Ye Feng scratched his head. "So there were still people who were so fashionable at that time that they started shooting vlogs?" He rummaged through the hundreds of CDs in the box again. "We can't just play through them one by one. How long will it take? I think we should solve the problem of the ghost wall first, then take the box back and watch it slowly."
He shook the box, and the CDs and tapes made a clacking sound. He added, "I would say these things are probably completely meaningless."
Lu Yingjiu silently rummaged through the things in the box.
He stared at the number for a moment.
These numbers may seem meaningless, but...
He said: "Ye Feng, there must be a string of numbers among the Second Master's belongings."
Ye Feng was stunned for a few seconds: "Yes, I remember it was 103486."
Lu Yingjiu picked up a CD, and the number on it was exactly 103486.
He said, “Let’s take this one.”
Ye Feng's eyes lit up: "What a little genius!"
"However," Lu Yingjiu looked at the disc for a few seconds. He didn't feel anything at first, but when he held it in his hand, he felt that it was full of sinister energy. "It must be a deadly trap. The correct way for us to leave is to touch the invisible window deep in the room, and then return to the seventh floor from the outer wall of the building."
Ye Feng was stunned: "Then why don't we leave? Let's go out and play the CD."
"Because I kind of want to see what the trap is." Lu Yingjiu said, and put the disc into the DVD player.
Ye Feng:
He could never keep up with Lu Ying's train of thought of drinking wine to drive away ghosts.
When Lu Yingjiu put the CD in, the temperature dropped suddenly and darkness surged towards the fire.
The TV screen began to flicker and the sound was very loud. Sometimes it was harsh, like nails scratching on a blackboard, and sometimes it was low and mixed with many inaudible voices, which was creepy.
Ye Feng held his forehead with his hand: "Okay, now my grandma is really angry."
"Aren't you curious about what's on the CD?" Lu Yingjiu smiled.
"Honestly, I'm not curious..." Ye Feng dusted off the bed and sat on it. "Since we've already done this, let's just wait."
The wait was quite long. The light was pale, falling on Lu Yingjiu's face. It could be called death lighting, but he was handsome, with delicate features and the shadow of his eyelashes hanging down like a small fan.
Ye Feng seldom exorcised ghosts with him, and now looking at Lu Yingjiu, his only thought was: he was extremely confident.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such calmness and composure.
Many people have complaints about Lu Yingjiu's methods, but deep down in their hearts, they all admire Lu Yingjiu.
Just ask yourself, who doesn’t like a good-looking and confident person
...and this good-looking and confident man is really good at fighting.
Nearly three minutes of waiting.
After the black and white screen, the picture finally appeared.
Due to the poor image quality and shaky camera, they could only barely make out for a few seconds that the picture showed a hospital corridor.
A female voice appeared: "Are you still playing here?"
The camera then pans up and the boy's face fills the entire screen.
"Fuck." Ye Feng took a look and his scalp instantly went numb.
That was him when he was a kid.
Xiao Yefeng was playing hopscotch in the corridor.
The female voice continued, "The Second Master doesn't have time to come and see you. You haven't eaten yet, right? Go to the cafeteria and eat before coming back to play."
The female voice sounded old and a little hoarse.
The boy's eyes widened, and he looked a little shy: "I don't know where the cafeteria is."
The female voice smiled: "I'll take you there."
Ye Feng murmured, "This is the voice of Second Grandma."
Lu Yingjiu asked: "Don't you remember this incident?"
"Of course I don't remember..." Ye Feng was still shocked.
In the picture, Xiao Yefeng hesitated for a few seconds and followed her.
He looked up and asked, "What are they busy with today?"
"I'm busy with the mountain worship."
"Paying respect to the mountain?"
"Um."
Ye Feng tried hard to recall this conversation, but his mind was blank. He said, "I don't remember it at all..."
He was stunned.
The sun was shining brightly in front of him, and the corridor was clean and white. Zhang Nianyun held his hand and walked forward, with a pleasant fragrance on her body.
Is this a dream
Ye Feng was a little dazed.
It was so real, as if he had just been distracted for a moment that afternoon. His story with Lu Yingjiu was unreal and vague, just like the butterfly that Zhuang Zhou dreamed of.
But the next second, he immediately realized: Something is wrong! This is the trap that Lu Yingjiu mentioned!
He is now on video!!
Zhang Nianyun didn't look back: "Have you forgotten me?"
Ye Feng wanted to let go, but Zhang Nianyun's hand was like an iron clamp, holding him tightly in an instant. The strength was so terrifying that cold sweat broke out on Ye Feng's forehead and his finger bones creaked.
She said, "Have you forgotten me?"
Blood dripped down her arm, one drop at a time, onto the ground. Ye Feng saw that there was a dent on the back of her head, as if it had been flattened by something.
She said softly: "Ye Feng, I forgot..."
Before she could finish her words, a steel pipe appeared out of nowhere and hit her on the head with a bang!
Zhang Nianyun staggered, and a hand stretched out from the wall of the corridor. Then Lu Yingjiu came out holding a steel pipe and swung it at her head again: "He really forgot, don't ask."
Boom!
Zhang Nianyun lay on the ground motionless.
Ye Feng: “…”
I always felt like there was more blood coming out of the back of her head.
Lu Yingjiu held up a steel pipe that looked like a disassembled leg of a hospital bed. He said, "I was a little disappointed. I thought it was a creative trap."
Ye Feng looked at his still tender hands and said: "I think it's quite creative..."
On the ground, Zhang Nianyun's body suddenly twitched.
Her face was distorted, her nails grew longer, and her body rotted, turning into a terrifying appearance. Her bloody mouth opened wide, and she tried to scream!
"I don't recommend doing this." Lu Yingjiu said, "He is already very unhappy."
Ye Feng didn't understand who this "he" was.
Zhang Nianyun obviously didn't have the brain to figure it out. She just felt her throat was held by an invisible force.
She couldn't make any sound.
… No, not just the throat.
She was going to be crushed very gently.
The wind whispered in her ears: "It's too noisy!"
In an instant, the disc in the DVD player cracked, the TV screen shattered, and the fragments spread all over the floor.
Ye Feng's eyes flickered, and when he came to his senses, he was back in the ward. He lowered his head and checked his hands and feet, and finally they returned to normal.
Lu Yingjiu patted the TV and said to Jingxian, "I told you it's too destructive. This old antique can't stand it."
Jing Xian knew he was in the wrong, so he handed him a bag of nuts to apologize.
There was a photo in the broken DVD player. Lu Yingjiu picked it up and found it was a group photo of more than a dozen people.
There are five or six people in the front row.
Little Ye Feng rode on Ye Deyong's neck and made a "yeah" sign. Next to him was Zhang Nianyun. Although she was old, her unique temperament made the white dress she wore not awkward, but elegant. The sun was shining, the mountains and forests behind were lush, and everyone was smiling brightly.
Turning over the back of the photo, there is a flourish of handwriting:
January 13, 1999, the third visit to the mountain