Lu Ying gave the photo taken at the wine shop to Ye Feng and asked him to keep it.
Ye Feng stared at the photo for a long time, but couldn't make sense of it.
Lu Yingjiu asked: "You don't remember the 'mountain worship' incident at all?"
"I don't remember." Ye Feng shook his head. "That's strange. I was 6 years old in 1999, so I must be old enough to remember things. How could I have no impression of it?"
Lu Yingjiu said casually, "You didn't hit your head against the wall and lost your memory."
Ye Feng: “…”
Lu Yingjiu: "Have you ever bumped into someone before?"
Ye Feng came closer and pointed to a scar on his forehead.
The scar was very shallow, hidden in the gaps between the hairs and not visible at all. He said: "This scar was caused by hitting the wall. I had to get 4 stitches. It hurts so much."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Ye Feng said, "I'll ask my family members before I go back. Let's go out quickly, Xiao Li is waiting for us at the gate with a few people." He looked around, "But my second grandmother is dead, why hasn't the ghost wall disappeared yet?"
"She's not dead yet." Lu Yingjiu said, "Her body is not here, so her resentment has not dissipated. Someone who simply died of illness wouldn't have such a strong resentment. Maybe there was a hidden reason behind her death back then."
He added: "Don't worry about her in the short term. She is seriously injured and won't come out to hurt anyone for a long time."
Ye Feng sighed deeply and rubbed his face. He didn't notice that his face had touched something strange, leaving several black marks on his face.
He said, "Let's go out first. Master Lu, please break this ghost wall. Can we still get out from the outer wall - like you just said?"
"No." Lu Yingjiu said, "That exit has disappeared. We need to find another one."
The three of them came to the corridor carrying the cardboard boxes.
The red 8th floor is printed on the wall, which looks particularly creepy.
Ye Feng vaguely felt that the ward here must be related to the ghost wall, maybe it was the layout, maybe it was the equipment, or it was very likely those mirrors that looked weird.
Unfortunately, after so many years, he could no longer remember the specific details of this floor.
Lu Yingjiu said: "Ye Feng, let's play hopscotch again."
"Huh?" Ye Feng was stunned for a few seconds, "Now you want me to play this?"
Lu Yingjiu smiled with her eyes curved: "Try it again, just jump randomly, just jump the distance of a room."
Ye Feng: "..." He scratched his head, "Damn, this is just a lie. If this gets out, I'll lose my reputation."
"It's okay, I'm the only one who can see it." Lu Yingjiu glanced at Jing Xian beside him, "You can just treat him as if he's not a human."
—What he said actually makes sense. Jing Xian is not a human being.
Ye Feng said: "Don't you feel embarrassed? I'm a grown-up, on the way to my thirties, and I still want to play this."
"I don't think so. It wasn't me who jumped anyway."
Ye Feng: “…”
That being said, Ye Feng knew that Lu Yingjiu never failed to deliver, so there must be a reason for this request. He stood in front of the first ward, and just like before, he imagined that there were grids on the ground and jumped up.
One step, two steps, three steps...
The footsteps echoed in the empty space, extremely clear, and dust flew around their feet when they landed.
When he jumped to the end of the ward, Lu Yingjiu asked, "How many steps did you jump in total?"
"Twenty steps."
"When you were here, how many steps did you have to jump to reach one floor?"
Ye Feng blurted out: "About a hundred steps."
As soon as he said this, he realized that something was wrong.
Lu Yingjiu said, "Even if there is a deviation, the distance you jump now is farther than when you were a child, so the number of steps should be reduced. But there are six wards here, which adds up to 120 steps. There is one extra ward, and this is the one we are looking for."
He pointed at the wards and said, "It's not the layout of the room that's the problem, but the size of the room. When you were unwrapping the talisman just now, I walked around. Except for the fifth ward, the width of the other rooms is about twenty steps. The width of the fifth ward is twenty-six steps, and it is deeper than the other wards."
To the naked eye, this is a very small difference, not to mention the current dim light.
"Ah," Ye Feng said, "So there is something wrong with the fifth ward."
"Yes." Lu Ying nodded. "Before I came up, I went to the first floor to look at the fire map of this building. Every ward on the eighth floor is the same size."
In fact, they just passed by the fire map, and other people didn't pay much attention to it. Lu Yingjiu just glanced at it out of professional habit, and then he remembered it almost exactly.
Ye Feng never doubted Lu Yingjiu. Just as he was about to go in, he suddenly stopped: "Wait, you can remember the size of the room at a glance, but you can't remember that there are only five wards here? You still want me to play hopscotch??"
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Lu Yingjiu: “.”
I let it slip.
He just wanted to watch Ye Feng play hopscotch.
Ye Feng opened his eyes wide, his blood pressure soared. Lu Yingjiu put his arm around his shoulders and led him into the room: "Exorcise the ghost quickly."
After entering the room, Lu Yingjiu pasted talisman papers on the four corners of the innermost wall and made a hand gesture.
The wind suddenly blew up, making their clothes flutter. The talisman papers danced wildly in the wind, and finally at a certain moment, they burst into brilliant light.
The light came quickly and went away quickly, extinguishing in less than half a second, leaving only a spot of light on the retina.
The gloomy energy of the entire floor disappeared in the light.
The ghost wall disappeared.
They carried the boxes downstairs and successfully saw the floor below.
They walked out of the Xinliu Building and passed through the dilapidated sanatorium, where they saw the group of anxious broadcasters.
The group of people were obviously getting impatient and they all started yelling at Xiao Li.
"Hey, has the barrier disappeared? Why won't they let us go?"
Xiao Li comforted him, "We still have a long way to go down the mountain. What if we encounter danger? Let's wait for those big guys to come back."
"Can't you just send us down first?"
Xiao Li was extremely worried: "I am not very skilled in this field. What will we do if we both fail at the same time..."
Someone immediately expressed dissatisfaction: "What kind of crow's mouth is this! Are you cursing us to death?"
"No, no," Xiao Li tried to smooth things over, "How dare I?" He looked into the distance and saw the three people coming. His eyes lit up, "They are coming!"
Lu Yingjiu said, "Let's go, we'll talk after we get down the mountain."
His aura was different when he came over. The gang didn't dare to say anything for a moment and followed him obediently to go down the mountain and leave this dangerous place.
You still have to take that path to get back to the village from the sanatorium.
Everyone walked slowly, one foot deep and one foot shallow. They were extremely nervous at the slightest movement, and they saw enemies everywhere.
Fortunately, the journey was very smooth and without any problems, we could see the village.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, quickened their pace, and soon arrived at the village entrance.
When they returned to the village with smiles on their faces and as if they had been reborn, Ye Feng stopped at the entrance of the village.
The man holding the cardboard box felt a little sour and he looked back.
It was already late, the sunset had long been swallowed up by the mountain, leaving only a ray of red hanging in the clouds. The mountains and rivers were still continuous, stretching as far as the eye could see, and the dense forests were enough to cover anyone's figure, naturally including Zhang Nianyun's.
He sighed in his heart, feeling a terrible headache, and turned around to follow Lu Yingjiu.
Back at the hotel, Lu Yingjiu helped Ye Feng pack his things.
They placed the CDs and tapes next to Ye Deyong's belongings and carefully pasted talismans around them to ensure that no accidents would happen.
They had dinner at the hotel in the evening.
The broadcasters all saw Zhang Nianyun with their own eyes, and facts proved that the Second Grandma’s ability to intimidate people is still very strong.
After these few broadcasters publicized the incident and Xiao Li came out to warn others, most of them did not dare to act rashly.
Moreover, one of Zhou Liang's assistants had died - this news was like a depth charge, causing panic among the people. Within an hour, several cars had left the village.
Some people, in order to seek excitement, just don't believe in evil and run up the mountain. This kind of pure suicidal behavior has happened too many times on the road. I want to stop them but I can't. If I see them, I will remind them a few words and give them a talisman. I am kind and righteous. If I don't see them, I can't do anything about it.
In comparison, the villagers here are surprisingly calm.
They were all calm and composed, and some even went out for a stroll after dinner, as if they were sure that nothing would happen to them.
The food in the hotel is not that good.
Lu Yingjiu ordered pineapple seafood fried rice. In the picture, half of a beautiful pineapple is filled with golden fried rice, with plump shrimps and full fish meat.
The actual dish that came was a rotten pineapple filled with clean rice.
Not to mention fresh shrimps, even the dried shrimps are not identifiable.
Looking at the menu again, the sentence "Please refer to the food" seems almost ironic.
Ye Feng and Xiao Li were even more miserable, one only ate fried tomatoes, and the other only ate fried potatoes.
Jing Xian was obviously very dissatisfied with the meal, so he pretended to go out for some fresh air. In fact, he called Didi and asked a few ghosts to buy takeout for him.
Finally, he took two boxes of 12-inch pizzas and some snacks, and returned to the dining table under Xiao Li's gaze as if he were looking at a god.
The box was opened, the pizza was still hot, the pineapple and ham were squeezed together, and the grilled chicken wings were golden.
The four of them finally got a normal meal, but after half a day of climbing up and down the mountain, they were so tired that the slices of pizza disappeared at the speed of light.
Lu Yingjiu maintained her elegance while eating, wearing a condom, and took a bite of a piece of Hawaiian pizza slowly and leisurely.
After finishing their meal, they went to different parts of the village.
Although the villagers here are not afraid at all, necessary protective measures must still be taken.
Lu Yingjiu walked along the outskirts of the village, arranging talisman papers as he walked. He flicked his hand lightly, and the talisman papers flew out lightly and stuck to the eaves, tree trunks, and walls, flashing a dim light in the darkness.
Some residents lived too close to the forest, so he went to each house and knocked on their doors, giving out amulets.
Some villagers gladly accepted it, but some were very wary, repeatedly looking at him to see if he was a liar, their eyes repeatedly moving between him and Jing Xian, who looked like someone who was not someone to be trifled with.
Jing Xian smiled and said, "You must accept this talisman to keep you safe."
Little did he know that he was dissatisfied with these people, disliked them for not knowing what was good for them, and even suspected Lu Yingjiu. This smile was simply evil and aggressive, as if to say "If you don't accept this amulet, you will be unsafe", which frightened the other party so much that he was stunned, and then hurriedly took the amulet.
Lu Yingjiu saw everything, and helplessly nudged Jing Xian with his elbow, signaling him to restrain himself.
Jing Xian reluctantly put on a friendly expression, and when they walked away, he whispered, "They don't know what they are talking about."
The amulets painted by Lu Yingjiu are the best.
Lu Yingjiu laughed: "Be patient, not everyone knows how to exorcise ghosts."
Jing Xian said: "With me here, no ghost dares to come to the village."
"We are just a few families short." Lu Yingjiu said, "It's always better to be safe, otherwise I won't be able to live with my conscience. You can draw more amulets, but if something happens to a person, there will be no chance to start over." The weather was hot and humid, and he comforted Jing Xian, saying, "I just saw a small shop. When the problem is solved, we can go there to buy some cold drinks."
Only then did Jing Xian suppress his disgust, distribute amulets to him, and even show a "friendly" smile to the villagers from time to time.
After all the talismans had been pasted and the amulets had been distributed, Lu Yingjiu really took him to the grocery store.
The convenience store is close to the lake. There is a dim light inside the store, illuminating many colorful magazines. There are Coke, 7-Up, and coffee on the shelves, and different kinds of ice cream in the refrigerator.
The boss was a middle-aged man with a magazine draped across his chest. There was a beautiful girl with an extraordinary figure on the cover of the magazine, which made him smile even in his sleep.
Lu Yingjiu stopped and asked: "Do you want to eat ice cream?"
Jing Xian was stunned for a moment: "Okay."
Lu Yingjiu tapped the table lightly with her knuckles: "Boss, two ice creams, please."
The boss woke up with a start and yawned loudly: "Which one do you want?"
In the end, both of them got chocolate ice cream, crispy with some chopped nuts.
Lu Yingjiu liked the taste and walked along the lakeside enjoying the breeze.
In the daytime, the blue-green lake is rippled, and the shadows of the trees are dancing, which is as beautiful as a painting. At night, you can't see much scenery. The lakeside is quite dark, and only the lights in the distance fall into the water, illuminating the ripples with yellow.
He looked back at Jing Xian - Jing Xian frowned slightly, took a small bite of the ice cream, and had a somewhat conflicted expression.
Lu Yingjiu immediately laughed: "Why do you look like you did when you first ate ice cream?"
"It's too cold." Jing Xian said.
… Actually, it was his first time to eat ice cream. It was icy and sweet, and different from what he imagined. He thought it would be as cold and hard as the black ice in the ghost world, but when he bit it, it was soft.
It is indeed delicious.
No wonder Lu Yingjiu likes it.
He had just come into this world, and even though he tried hard to disguise himself, there were still many things he didn't understand. Even giving gifts and pursuing someone was so clumsy.
So he took another bite and remembered that this was the taste that Lu Yingjiu liked.
After walking along the lake breeze for more than ten minutes, we finished the ice cream.
There was no light at all on this half of the lake. If Lu Yingjiu hadn't burned two pieces of talisman paper and flew them to their sides, they would not have been able to stretch out their fingers.
Next to it was a soft grass slope, where a bunch of children ran around every day, some flying kites that were dancing in the wind, some chasing and playing, and when they fell down they would roll all the way to the bottom of the slope, their bodies covered with grass foam, and then they would climb up the slope crazily.
They climbed up the grass slope and sat on the top. The grass was thick and soft, and felt very good to the touch.
The black-haired ball came out again on its own accord.
"Ah!" it cried, rubbed against the road welcoming the wine, then lay down beside him in a round ball and began to eat a small flower.
Maotuanzi actually likes Lu Yingjiu very much. Even if Lu Yingjiu doesn't invite any gods, he will often come to play with him, eat some fruits, snatch some cat food from his house, and fight with the cow cat.
This furry ball was too small and unlike other ghosts and gods, it had no obvious features and no one could recognize its species.
This matter is actually quite embarrassing to talk about.
Everyone who saw Lu Yingjiu would guess that the god he could invite should be a fairy-like one. Not to mention the magnificence of the Peacock God and the domineering power of the Li Snake, he should be as reliable and good-looking as he is.
For example, there are cranes with graceful legs, charming cat demons, big furry foxes and so on.
So, when they saw this short-legged, black-haired ball, they were all very disillusioned.
Whenever someone tried to find out what kind of species the hairball was, Lu Yingjiu would always say, "I don't know. I just picked it up from a trash can on the side of the road."
Whenever others look at the short-legged hairy ball, they always sigh in their hearts.
The others had no idea, but Jing Xian could recognize it: he knew that unlike its harmless appearance, Maotuanzi was actually a ferocious beast.
It should be a juvenile Taotie.
Most of those who are willing to help the exorcist are gentle monsters or priests who are close to humans. If you don't tell them, no one would have thought that the former chief of the Qingdeng Society actually summoned a fierce beast.
At this moment, seeing Jing Xian staring at the lively fur ball, Lu Yingjiu explained: "It is a Taotie. I found it in the trash can. It was chewing a pear at that time."
Jing Xian was stunned and teased: "I heard you talking about it to others before, but I didn't know its name."
"There's no need to tell them." Lu Yingjiu looked ahead, not looking at him. "It's a vicious beast. If others knew about it, it would only cause more trouble."
Jing Xian: "Then why did you tell me?"
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Jing Xian knew what answer he wanted to hear, how could he not know it
It's nothing more than admitting in person that Jing Xian is special.
Lu Yingjiu tried to be clever and pretended to be confused, pretending that he didn't hear clearly and wanted to pass it over vaguely.
Unexpectedly, Jing Xian kept pursuing her: "Why don't you speak? Why don't you answer me? Did you not hear the question clearly? Then I'll ask you again, why are you willing to tell me? Come on, speak up."
This series of questions made Lu Yingjiu feel dizzy, as if there were drums beating in his head.
Normally, he is not as aggressive as Jing Xian.
Seeing that Jing Xian was going to keep asking questions if he didn't answer, he quickly changed the subject: "Ye Feng knows that it is a Taotie, but there is one thing that even Ye Feng doesn't know."
Sure enough, the "exclusive secret of Luying Liquor" was attractive enough to Jingxian.
Jing Xian was completely attracted by his words, and was confused by the question: "What's the matter?"
Lu Yingjiu said: "If it's not the kind of ghosts and gods from aristocratic families that rely on blood and contracts to maintain their existence, they are actually very picky about who they will make a contract with. From my observation, they will choose exorcists who are similar to themselves."
I have never heard of this theory.
He didn't have the energy to pay attention to which ghost or god found its exorcist today, or which pair of contractors had a falling out tomorrow.
He said suspiciously, "Damn it, I saw it eat so much, how come your appetite is as small as a cat's. Last time I made that big bowl of baked rice, you couldn't finish half of it."
Lu Yingjiu held his forehead with his hand: "Don't you see how big that bowl is? It's at least five or six times the normal size. I'm already having a big appetite if I can eat half of it."
"Okay." Jing Xian was a little unwilling, "Go on. So what are your similarities? Are they both cute?"
He just said it casually, but Lu Yingjiu was shocked by this "cute". He never thought in his life that he would be described like this after he became an adult.
Jing Xian should learn how to choose words better. He uses strange words every day, which interrupts his train of thought.
He forced himself to pull back his thoughts: "Isn't it cute? I think the similarity between me and it is that we are both greedy."
He continued, "Taotie will endlessly pursue food and will never be satisfied. Others may think that I don't pursue anything, but in fact, there are not many things I want, but they are all difficult to obtain."
"When I was very young, I encountered ghosts every day. What I wanted most was to stay alive—and no one promised me that. Later, I learned how to use talismans and could exorcise ghosts myself. My wish became to have friends to play with me, but that didn't happen until I grew up. When I met Ye Feng, we were no longer old enough to play hopscotch or marbles."
"I don't have any special pursuits now." Lu Yingjiu said, "If I have to say, I want to find out about my death, but it seems impossible at the moment."
"So, I always pursue things that are very difficult to obtain. From a certain perspective, I am very greedy."
Take a look at him at your leisure time.
After Lu Yingjiu finished speaking, he realized that the atmosphere seemed too heavy.
He coughed and touched the fur ball: "Let's not talk about this. It's still very cute, isn't it?"
Maotuanzi: "Ah!" and started to wag his tail vigorously.
Lu Yingjiu spoke again: "Don't you think... huh?"
He just felt a weight on his body, and then his head was spinning. A soft touch came from his back, bringing with it a hint of wet grass.
He was stunned for a few seconds before he reacted: Jing Xian directly picked him up and rolled down from the top of the slope!
Just like those little kids playing around in the morning!
The scene in front of him kept spinning, sometimes it was green grass, sometimes it was the dark blue night. Jing Xian hugged him tightly, and rolled all the way down, without stopping for half a second, and all his thoughts seemed to be thrown away.
After an unknown amount of time, they stopped at the bottom of the slope.
Jing Xian didn't rest all his weight on him, Lu Yingjiu only felt a slight weight, but he felt inexplicably heavy. His back was a little chilly from the dew, but his chest was constantly filled with the warmth of Jing Xian's body, hot as fire.
He was still not used to the impact of the same sex. His body tensed for a moment, then slowly relaxed.
The two looked at each other, with water droplets and a few green grass foams on the sides of their faces.
The light from the talisman illuminated Jingxian's profile, outlining his angular and handsome features, his straight nose, and his trimmed temples, like a profound oil painting. His eyes were very deep, as dark and unfathomable as the abyss of the ghost world. When he looked at someone carefully, it was as if the whole world only saw the person in front of him.
He raised the corner of his mouth towards Lu Yingjiu and said with a smile: "Isn't this fun?"
"..." Lu Yingjiu couldn't help but laugh, "What? Why are you so childish?"
"What's childish? Just have fun." Jing Xian said as a matter of course, "Age is never a problem. If you want to play, let's roll from the top of the slope eight or ten times." He stretched out his hand to stroke the ends of Lu Yingjiu's hair, pushing down a few messy hairs, "How about it, do you want to play again? I can roll even faster! As fast as you want!"
“No, no, no.” Lu Yingjiu smiled this time, her eyes curved and her chest trembled. “If you do it again, my brains will be shaken.”
After he finished laughing, he realized that they were still hugging each other.
Jing Xian was too close to him; she could kiss him if she just lowered her head slightly.
Lu Yingjiu looked at Xi Jingxian, as if he had a lot of things in his head, but also as if he had nothing in his head.
In the end, he just wanted to wipe off the grass foam on Jing Xian's face later.
"... Lu Yingjiu," After a long while, Jing Xian looked at him and said, "You must have been thinking about something these days."
Lu Yingjiu was stunned for a few seconds.
Then he said frankly: "Yes. I think about the 'time has come' thing. I am not afraid of death. I am lucky to be alive today. There is nothing to regret. I am just not sure what kind of death it is. Maybe my soul will be scattered when I die, and I can't even go to the ghost world."
He looked at Jing Xian: "This is not fair to you. We have only met for a short time."
"No," Jingxian said, "I came here for this very reason."
Lu Yingjiu was stunned: "You know?"
"Just a little bit." Jing Xian said, "For some reason, I can't tell you the truth, but I know in my heart that you won't die. Lu Yingjiu, I will never let you die."
Lu Yingjiu looked at him.
The mountain wind blew down from the top of the mountains to their side, the lake was rippling, the fire of the talisman paper was swaying, and the faint fragrance of grass and trees filled their noses. The night in this village was peaceful and beautiful, as if nothing could disturb it.
Just when Jingxian thought that his words were unfounded and hard to be believed, Lu Yingjiu looked at him and smiled: "Yeah. I believe you."
The trust in his eyes was sincere and unreserved.
Jing Xian felt warm in his heart, and his heart was beating like a throbbing pounding pounding, as if it was trying to break out of his chest. The joy like the tide squeezed together, rolling up snow-white waves.
This, he thought, was probably what it felt like to be alive.
He then heard Lu Yingjiu say, "Because of this matter, I felt that even if we were together, there would be hidden dangers, so I was still hesitant... But now that you said this, I won't worry about it anymore."
I don’t know if it was Jing Xian’s illusion, but his ears seemed to be a little red, or it might be an illusion caused by the fire.
—Lu Yingjiu stretched out his hand and gently wiped the dew and grass foam on Jing Xian's face.
Then he curved his beautiful, cat-like brown eyes and said with a smile, "Okay, now you can continue to pursue me."