"This is my master, Taoist Luo, the elder of Chunqiu Temple. My name is Shen Luo." Shen Luo did not bother to argue with a doorman and introduced himself.
"It turns out to be Master Luo and Master Shen." The middle-aged man saluted again.
"Are you Ma Simo who wrote the letter to Chunqiu Temple? What is your relationship with Ma Xingming?" Taoist Luo turned around and asked.
"Ma Xingming is my great-grandfather." Ma Simo shuddered all over when Taoist Luo glanced at him and answered honestly.
"Is there a family tree?" Taoist Luo asked again.
"Yes, please take a look, Taoist Priest." Ma Simo seemed to have been prepared for this. He took out a book with a black silk cover from his arms and handed it over.
Shen Luo quickly reached out to take it, holding it in both hands and handing it to Luo Dao Ren.
Taoist Luo grabbed the book with one hand, flipped it casually, and then threw the family tree back to Shen Luo.
"Ma Xingming once studied martial arts in Chunqiu Temple. Although he did not achieve anything, he made a contribution to the temple. Therefore, the temple gave him a token. Now it is confirmed that you are the descendant of Ma Xingming. According to the rules of my Chunqiu Temple, you have an opportunity to ask for help from Chunqiu Temple." Taoist Luo turned around and said seriously.
"Thank you, Taoist priest." Ma Simo was overjoyed. He bowed repeatedly and then respectfully invited the two of them into his house.
As you walk through the gate, the view in front of you suddenly opens up. It is a square courtyard of about an acre in size, with a two-meter-wide bluestone road in the middle, leading to the magnificent main hall inside.
On the left side of the bluestone road is a flower bed planted with various flowers and trees. On the right side is a pond with several water lofts built on it, connected by piers. A layer of green lotus leaves floats in the pond, dotted with a few pink lotus flowers.
There is a side courtyard on each side of the courtyard, where there are also many houses, pavilions and towers, but they are not clearly visible due to the courtyard wall.
They walked through the yard and sat down in the main hall. Two young and pretty maids served them tea.
"Mr. Ma, in the letter you wrote to this temple, you only vaguely mentioned that there was a ghost in the mansion. What kind of ghost was it? Has anyone seen it with their own eyes?" Taoist Luo took a sip of tea and asked straight to the point without any nonsense.
"The security guard, Old Wang, who was on night watch, saw it. It was said to be a female ghost in red, but he didn't see it clearly. He fainted on the spot and fell ill the next day. He hasn't been able to get out of bed since then. After that, several black dogs that guarded the house died one after another. When they died, they bled from all their orifices... And every morning, there would inexplicably be a pool of fishy and smelly water in some places in the house, sometimes in the front hall, sometimes in the backyard, and once it appeared directly in my bedroom." Ma Simo said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, his face turning pale.
Shen Luo stood aside, listening to Ma Simo's strange stories while looking around. He felt that this luxuriously decorated mansion had an indescribable eeriness.
"Although only a few dogs have died and no one has been killed, who knows what will happen in a few days. Master Luo, I am willing to donate a hundred taels of gold to the Chunqiu Temple, and I beg the Taoist priest to exorcise the demons and save our Ma family." Ma Simo became more and more afraid as he spoke, and his voice trembled at the end. He stood up and bowed.
"Mr. Ma, you are too polite. If there really is a ghost causing harm, I will certainly not stand idly by." A hint of satisfaction flashed across Taoist Luo's eyes, but he spoke calmly.