Lu Yingjiu didn't keep watch in the end.
Because Ye Feng's train of thought was directly shattered by him, he couldn't sleep at all. He sat on a rotten chair, his eyes blank, and kept muttering: "How could this happen, how could this happen... I can't sleep at all tonight."
Lu Yingjiu stood beside him and said, "Actually, we weren't really together..."
"Impossible." Ye Feng murmured, "I should have noticed it earlier. You two have always been inseparable, inseparable, and even 502 is not as reliable as you. I am blind, I didn't see that. I am slow to react, I have always thought that you were like a juicy cabbage, but I didn't wake up."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Ye Feng added, "I am stupid. You two going out to catch ghosts is like going on a spring outing for a honeymoon. Any middle school class teacher would take a look at you and immediately arrest you two for premature love without hesitation, and ask your parents to write a self-criticism."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Ye Feng: "Lu Yingjiu, Lu Yingjiu, why did you suddenly become gay? We have been fantasizing about sexy female ghosts for so many years, and I have been waiting to see a hot girl with curvy figure, but how come you suddenly become a man? Although I know you like dogtail grass, you can't be like dogtail grass and fall down when blown by the evil wind of Jing Xian."
Lu Yingjiu held his forehead and said, "I've already said that we're not really together. I'm still preparing myself mentally."
"Yeah," Ye Feng nodded, "Yes, you should prepare yourself mentally. We've already kissed, so the next step must be to do it for real." He suddenly became nervous, "What if I keep watch tonight and you two sleep together, what will happen?"
"Nothing will happen." Lu Yingjiu said.
"That's all." Ye Feng breathed a sigh of relief. "The sound insulation in this rotten house is very poor. The floor creaks loudly when I move it. If I push harder, the whole thing might collapse."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He didn't even dare to ask Ye Feng what picture he was imagining.
Ye Feng added: "Didn't you say he was some kind of 'dog'? He was your childhood playmate."
"He used a fake identity," Lu Yingjiu explained, "When he first wanted to contact me, he wanted to use a... more ordinary identity." He looked at Ye Feng again, who had a look on his face that said "the world has collapsed, and the cabbages in my backyard have been eaten by dogs," and asked, "So you really want to keep watch?"
Ye Feng shook his head weakly: "Yes, I don't need to sleep tonight. Sacrifice me so that you can have children and grandchildren soon, and create thousands of Xiaolu and Xiaojing."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Ye Feng was already talking nonsense.
Ye Feng said he would not sleep and he really did not sleep. Seeing Ye Feng moving a chair and sitting by the fire outside to keep watch, Lu Yingjiu entered the room.
There weren't enough sleeping bags, so the rest of the people either slept against the wall or on the broken beds. The man in red clothes insisted on giving his sleeping bag to Lu Yingjiu.
The two groups of girls squeezed into a room, with A-Long, Hongyisi and their friends staying together.
Ah Mei was not comfortable staying with others, so she stayed with Ye Feng who was on night watch, moved a table, covered herself with a coat, and slept on the table. Xiao Li also ran out to keep watch with Ye Feng - he had learned a lot from Ye Feng in the past few days, and he admired him very much, mainly because he wanted to hear the story of Li She.
Before going to bed, Lu Yingjiu carefully pasted talismans on every wooden house before he felt at ease to go home.
The bed in this shabby house was completely rotten and could not be slept in. There was only a small table and a chair that could be used. Jing Xian had already helped him put his sleeping bag in order, sat in front of the table, and lit a short candle.
Lu Yingjiu vaguely felt that it was like a candle in a candlelight dinner.
He kind of suspected that Jingxian wanted to create a romantic atmosphere, but he had no evidence.
Lu Yingjiu paused at the door for a few seconds.
Nothing was wrong when he was with Ye Feng just now, but now that he sees Jing Xian again, his mind is quite confused.
Jing Xian's face was full of anticipation: "Go to bed quickly, I've prepared a sleeping bag for you, it's getting late."
Lu Yingjiu looked at the sleeping bag and felt that it looked like a trap.
He asked, "Where do you sleep?"
Jing Xian pointed to the book on the table and said, "I don't need to sleep, I'll just read to kill time at night."
This does sound reasonable.
After all, with Jingxian's night vision, he could see clearly without lighting a lamp. Lu Yingjiu had never seen a ghost with nearsightedness or farsightedness.
It was indeed getting late, and Lu Yingjiu thought about going to bed early, otherwise she would feel upset staying with Jing Xian.
Although Chief Lu has many admirers, he has devoted all his 26 years to exorcism, and the few female vaginas he has touched are all clients. Jing Xian's performance really shocked him, and he could only see the scene just now.
So he crawled into the sleeping bag, and the floor creaked just as Ye Feng had said.
Just when he was halfway through the drill, he suddenly heard Jing Xian say expectantly: "Ah, it's so cold in this mountain."
Road to welcome wine:
He didn't understand what Jing Xian wanted to express for a moment.
Jing Xian added: "It's been a long night, leaving me alone, how boring it is."
Road welcomes wine:?
He began to wake up: "What are you going to do?"
"I don't want to do anything, I just want to leave something for me to savor for a few hours." Jing Xian looked at him expectantly, "So can we kiss again?"
Road welcomes wine:
Lu Yingjiu: "No! You were apologizing to me an hour ago, saying that you were impulsive, why are you doing it again now?"
Jing Xian: "Isn't this impulsive again..."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He crawled into his sleeping bag and said, "No. Ghosts like you should be caught as rogue ghosts. Doesn't the ghost world care?"
Jing Xianxin said, I have the final say in the entire ghost world, and I really don't care.
He said, "We have been legally married for a long time, how can they care? But I have already told everyone about my marital status."
Lu Yingjiu knew this.
But now he suddenly realized that Jing Xian was not the pitiful priest he had imagined. Could he have many friends
He asked, "How many priests did you tell?"
Jing Xian replied: "Basically, I know everything."
Lu Yingjiu's eyebrows jumped: "How much is 'all'?"
Jing Xian said, "I have placed your portrait in my palace, and all the priests who have come here have seen it."
Road welcomes wine:
He was completely awake now. He wanted to sit up for a moment, but was pressed down by the sleeping bag again.
He stuttered as he spoke: "You, you, show me the portrait. Do you have it with you?"
"Of course I brought it." Jing Xian said, "I brought it with me when I came to Yangzhou."
He began to rummage in his magic little backpack again, and indeed took out a scroll of paintings.
The painting looked expensive, like some precious scroll from ancient times, the scroll was golden, inlaid with a few small gems, and had a red tassel at the bottom. The paper was thick and white, and felt like delicate skin.
Lu Yingjiu half-sticked out of his sleeping bag and propped himself up to see—
Jing Xian unfolded the painting scroll carefully.
I saw a gorgeous painting slowly unfolding, and a faint fragrance filled the room.
Then a stickman appeared.
Road welcomes wine:
It is a stick figure in the true sense of the word, with its body being five simple and crude lines, but the head was given some thought, with messy hair and crooked facial features - the eyes are crescent-shaped, which is similar to the "funny" emoticons.
This stick figure was painted with a brush, covered in thick ink, and stood domineeringly in the center of the painting.
There is quite a bit of superiority in his aura.
Just like that, during the thirteen years, he looked down upon countless priests among the luxurious walls carved with dragons and phoenixes.
"How is it?" Jing Xian's face showed the familiar expression of asking for reward, "Is the painting beautiful?"
Lu Yingjiu: "... You are just a stick figure hanging in your palace for more than ten years?"
"How can you call me a stick figure?" Jing Xian said, "It's obviously you. The last priest who dared to call me that was sent to the Eighteenth Level of Hell by me."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
All he could think of was: What a tyrant! !
Jing Xian held the scroll up to his eyes again and said, "Isn't it beautiful? I drew this myself!"
Lu Yingjiu held his forehead with his hand: "I don't look so shocking and abstract..."
He thought to himself, no wonder Jing Xian told so many priests about the priests who invited the gods to come to the yang world, but did not show any intention of knowing him.
It's a miracle that it can be recognized after being painted like this! I don't know what the priests think when they see it.
And judging from Jingxian's expression, he probably sincerely thinks the painting is beautiful.
Jing Xian's aesthetic taste in art is worrying and he is full of artistic bacteria.
Lu Ying, drunk, felt his temples throbbing and said, "Don't get hung up on this thing again."
"How can that be possible?" Jing Xian said, "There are still many ghosts that I haven't seen yet."
"No, no, no." Lu Yingjiu had a headache, "Don't do that."
"That's fine." Jing Xian immediately changed his tone, "Let's kiss each other, and I won't die if you kiss me."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He didn't expect the topic to change again.
He crawled into his sleeping bag and said, "No kiss. Turn off the lights. I want to sleep."
Jing Xian: "Really not..."
"No, no, no." Lu Yingjiu said, "I'm angry."
"Didn't you just say you weren't angry?"
"The more I think about it, the angrier I get." Lu Yingjiu closed his eyes.
Jing Xian: “…”
Only then did he extinguish the flame of the talisman paper with regret and carefully put away his amazing work, thinking that he would draw a few more for Lu Yingjiu later.
The surroundings finally became quiet.
No idea whether he was tired from walking on the mountain road or confused by Jing Xian's words, but Lu Yingjiu slept unexpectedly soundly.
When I woke up, it was already seven in the morning. The roof was pouring with rain again and the mountain wind was whistling in the distance.
The wind and rain are coming again.
Last night's calm was temporary.
Everyone gathered together and ate the leftover dried meat and compressed biscuits for breakfast.
There is not much food left, but fortunately according to estimates, they will be able to go down from the 21st pavilion and reach the road late at night tonight.
At the thought of victory in sight, they couldn't help but cheer up, and as soon as they finished their meal, they couldn't wait to set off.
Just as I was about to leave, something went wrong.
Ah Mei started coughing up blood.
As they were packing their bags, they heard her coughing violently, as if she was going to cough out all her internal organs. When they went over to take a look, they saw her leaning against a tree, bent over, and there was a small pool of blood on the ground.
She is slowly transforming into a spider.
Everyone was in a panic and stepped back, wishing they could get as far away from her as possible.
Amei's face was also pale.
She was already in poor condition, and she kept coughing all the way, enduring the great pain brought by the transformation. Even Lu Yingjiu was not sure if she could hold on for the rest of the mountain road.
She said: "Don't worry, my transformation will take another two days to complete... If I can't keep up with you on the way, you can just leave me behind."
She coughed a few more times.
After this round, everyone couldn't help but quicken their pace as they walked up the mountain road.
No one dared to approach Ah Mei. Ah Mei could only lower her head and follow Lu Yingjiu silently, occasionally staggering.
Lu Yingjiu pasted a few more talismans on her, but they could only alleviate her pain and allow her to barely keep up with the team, that was all.
Fortunately, the journey was safe and smooth without any problems.
It seemed that they had indeed gotten rid of the spider.
However, the mountain road was long and after yesterday's running around and panic, everyone was very physically exhausted. Even with the help of talisman paper, their speed was getting slower and slower.
This resulted in their arrival time being later than expected.
Ye Feng originally expected that the remaining pavilions were not far apart and the mountain road was relatively easy to walk. He set out at 7:30 in the morning, took a one-hour break at noon, and walked until 7 or 8 in the evening, so he should have reached the 21st pavilion.
As a result, at around seven or eight o'clock, everyone's feet were sore and they were staggering from side to side. After hurrying for a while, they finally reached the 17th pavilion.
It took more than an hour of walking before we reached the 20th pavilion.
Like the 10th pavilion, a temporary resting place was built here.
Lu Yingjiu raised his head and saw many tired faces covered with rain and sweat. He discussed with Ye Feng to rest for a while and then decide whether to go down the mountain overnight.
After all, the closer it gets to the night, the heavier the yin energy becomes, and the more active ghosts and gods become. If there is no snake to protect you on the way down the mountain, you can be sure that something bad will happen.
So Ye Feng looked around the pavilion and found a place sealed by talisman paper.
is a door leading to the underground.
The talisman papers were almost torn to pieces, and Lu Yingjiu and he worked together, taking more than ten minutes to peel them all off.
The door opened and an iron ladder appeared in front of me.
It was pitch black down there, and the vertical ladder was covered in rust. Although there was a circle of iron bars around it as a protective measure, it was still in disrepair after all, and looked quite scary.
Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian went down first.
Surprisingly, the bottom was not deep.
Lu Yingjiu called out, "Come down! It's not deep!"
Then everyone climbed down slowly.
Lu Yingjiu looked around with a flashlight.
The Ye family actually built a room downstairs that was similar to a lounge, with seats, sofas, tables, and chairs... But there was no electricity in this place, and it was pitch black. There were several flashlights and the remains of kerosene lamps on the ground in the corner.
The helpers sat on the moldy sofas and rotten chairs, and even drank several gulps of water. Several people had blisters on their feet, and they took off their shoes and gnashed their teeth in pain.
Ah Mei also found a corner to stay in, closing her eyes and resting.
After Lu Yingjiu rested for a while, he searched the place carefully with a flashlight.
On the one hand, he wanted to see if there were any clues about the Spider Mother, and on the other hand, he wanted to find out if Zhang Nianyun had left anything about him.
Sure enough, there was still space in the lounge.
The two inner rooms were filled with tools for exorcising ghosts, such as talisman paper, paintbrushes, and pictures of ghosts and gods. There was also something like a patrol list on the wall, recording the date when each group of people came to pay respects to the mountain.
The road was full of wine and light.
January 2, 1993, 4 people
Items: Some talisman paper, a box of banknotes, a box of paper ingots, a suckling pig
Return date: January 5
June 16, 1993, 11 people
Items: Some talisman paper, three boxes of banknotes, five strings of paper figurines, one suckling pig, three roast chickens
Return date: June 18
December 2, 1993…
February 10, 1994…
July 25, 1994…
People in the sanatorium would visit the grave two or three times a year, and they would register their return dates each time.
Except for two of them.
Lu Yingjiu's eyes fell on June 18, 1995 and July 1, 2000
The return date was not written on these two occasions.
Ah Mei said that there were two times when they visited the mountain and encountered mudslides, which happened in the past two years. Maybe something happened on the way back, so they didn't write the return date at this rest stop.
Lu Yingjiu took pictures of these two dates.
Ye Feng was still looking for something in the next room, also hoping to find some clues.
Lu Yingjiu was just about to go over to look for it with him, but before she had taken two steps, she was suddenly hugged from behind by Jing Xian.
Lu Yingjiu felt something was wrong and immediately tried to pry his finger open, but as you can imagine, he failed.
Jing Xian leaned forward slightly, put his chin on his right shoulder, and said, "Let's kiss again."
There were only the two of them in the room, but Lu Yingjiu's face was still slightly hot: "What are you doing here? You're addicted to kissing me once, right? Why didn't you ask me if I agreed?"
Jing Xian said: "Isn't that what I'm asking you?"
Lu Yingjiu tried hard to push Jing Xian's head away and said, "I never said we were together!"
"I know, I know. You still need some time to accept it." Jing Xian responded verbally, but his face did not relax at all. "So let's kiss quietly now, quietly."
"If we do it quietly, it's not a kiss!" Lu Yingjiu started to pry his lips open again.
But the absolute gap in strength could not be made up by his struggling. Lu Yingjiu suspected that he had summoned a god, but he still did not have the strength of Jing Xian - no one knew what Jing Xian ate to grow up, his bones were simply amazing.
There were people outside, and he didn't dare to make too much noise. In the end, he half-heartedly let Jing Xian bite him on the neck twice before he finally broke free.
The two had just separated, and Lu Yingjiu had just glared at Jing Xian, when she suddenly heard Ye Feng shout, "Hey! Come here, both of you! I found something."
Just as Lu Yingjiu was about to go over, he was stopped by Jing Xian again.
Jing Xian lowered his head and carefully straightened his clothes that he had just wrinkled before going with him.
On the other side, Ye Feng and Xiao Li had many photos spread out in front of them.
This is a satellite picture of Wanming Mountain.
Although the picture is blurry, you can just barely see Yueshan Sanatorium, Yueshan Village and the pavilion on the top of the mountain.
After looking at the dates, I found that there were satellite images from the 1980s to the early 2000s.
"Is this what your second master left behind?" Lu Yingjiu flipped through a few.
"Yes." Ye Feng nodded, "Look at these handwritings, they should all be left by him."
There are indeed a lot of lines drawn on the satellite map, and they are densely packed with small words.
Ye Feng pointed to a few notebooks next to him and said, "He studied the direction of the mountains here so that he could study the protection of the snake. People in my family often look at satellite or aerial photos just to observe the mountains."
He continued, "The sanatorium has always been protected by the Li Snake, and it is actually very difficult for other ghosts and gods to enter. Ah Mei said that the villagers believe in the Spider Mother, but have never been able to summon her. This is the reason. So the Spider Mother must have found an opportunity to take advantage of it, for example, during the Ghost Festival, or when the talisman paper in the pavilion is accidentally damaged..."
Lu Yingjiu asked, "Are you wondering how the Second Master made the Spider Mother appear?"
"Yes." Ye Feng said, "This can also help us find the Spider Mother. We must solve the problem in this village."
Lu Yingjiu carefully read through several notebooks.
Ye Deyong was a very serious person, and most of the things recorded were about his research on talisman paper. Some of his research was done more than 20 years ago, which was relatively backward compared to now. Lu Yingjiu took a quick glance and knew what he was doing, which was nothing special.
His eyes fell on the satellite map again.
He arranged the satellite images in chronological order and looked through them carefully.
Suddenly, Lu Yingjiu said, "Look here, are there some patterns?"
He was referring to the satellite image from 2003.
Ye Feng looked carefully for a long time before he could barely make out that there seemed to be some strange color in the woods.
He said: "It seems that there is a little bit... The technology at that time was limited, and the picture was not very clear. Could it be a problem with the printing?"
"But if you look closely, these look like dead trees," Lu Yingjiu said. "This picture was taken in July, when trees should be most lush. How could there be so many dead trees? What's more, there is no such phenomenon in previous pictures."
"Moreover, their distribution is regular, one line after another, radiating outwards from the mountain ridge."
He pointed vaguely with his hand: "I roughly counted them. There are eight in total, symmetrical along the ridge. Then in the circular area near the sanatorium, the trees are also dead. At the very edge of the mountain range, there is an oval-shaped withered area."
After he pointed it out, Ye Feng slowly figured it out.
He said, "Yes, it seems so. How could that be?"
Xiao Li was also watching from the side and said, "Look at this circle of dead trees in the sanatorium. I feel like the shape looks familiar." He pondered for a while and said, "I feel like the two protruding spots in front of this circle look like spider fangs."
The more he talked, the more he felt it resembled it: "That's right, this circle looks like the head of a spider. If you connect it to the other dead trees, the eight are the spider's legs, and the last oval is the spider's tail. This is a spider!"
As soon as he said this, he felt a chill down his spine.
Lu Yingjiu was also watching intently.
Clearly, there were pavilions built along the way, and the Li snake appeared in the painting in the form of a coiled mountain range.
But it is indeed as Xiao Li said...
It was as if a giant spider had parasitized the snake, with its legs struggling out from its abdomen, and its head and fangs firmly occupying the sanatorium, tearing the mountains in this area into pieces.
Wanming Mountain is her brand new nest.
She patiently weaves a net, luring outsiders to go deeper.
He said, "Is it possible that the spider mother we are looking for is right under our feet?"
"What do you mean?" Ye Feng asked.
Lu Yingjiu said: "Maybe this entire mountain range is the Spider Mother."
Just as he finished speaking, a scream suddenly came from the side of the lounge.