Shen City is a first-tier city in China, and its prosperity is comparable to that of the capital. When they arrived at the Shen City Airport and walked out, they learned that Ziyang Palace Supervisor Su Li had sent his senior disciple to pick them up.
Mao Xiaoli: "I heard that Ziyang Palace is very popular in Shen City and is quite popular among female believers. It is difficult to get a visit from Abbot Su."
Chen Yang: "What do you want to say?"
"What kind of car will Supervisor Su send to pick us up?" Mao Xiaoli ran in front, pulling the suitcase and walking backwards: "Aren't you curious?"
Having flown in first class and seen the world, Zhang Qiu said: "SUV."
"A luxury car." Kou Xuanling, who had seen the world, said, "There are three of us. Supervisor Su sent her eldest disciple to pick us up. We must not lose face. Ziyang Palace is quite popular in Shen City, so we can afford to buy a luxury car."
Mao Xiaoli wondered: "What does this have to do with face?"
Kou Xuanling: "You don't understand."
"Don't keep me in suspense, just tell me." Mao Xiaoli is most impatient when people keep us in suspense, so she always urges them to tell her the truth.
"In some aspects, especially when receiving another sect, the two sects will definitely make great efforts to maintain the superficial glory. They will not lose the battle even if they lose the opponent. I have come to Shen City to take orders before and cooperated with the Tianshi of Baiyun Temple in Shen City. Do you know what car picked me up?"
Everyone shook their heads. Kou Xuanling: "Bentley." He raised his hand and gestured: "This number, tens of millions."
Wow!
Chen Yang and the other two were amazed. The most they could get for a single order was over 10 million. But they spent tens of millions for a single car. They were so extravagant.
"That's nothing," Kou Xuanling waved his hand nonchalantly. "When people from Baiyun Temple came to our Imperial Capital Headquarters, we drove several luxury cars worth tens of millions of yuan. The next time I went there, their luxury cars were upgraded again. I tell you, this is called not losing the battle. If you lose, you lose face."
Zhang Qiudao and Mao Xiaoli looked at Chen Yang excitedly: "Brother Chen, ask what car Su Jianyuan sent?"
Chen Yang calmly gestured to them, signaling them to be quiet. Then he asked Supervisor Su: "There are three of us, will there not be enough seats in the car? Sure... There will be seats for seven or eight people? Oh, OK."
After thanking him and asking about the characteristics of the eldest disciple of Su Jianyuan, Chen Yang hung up the phone and looked at Kou Xuanling: "There are seven or eight seats. What kind of car is it?"
Kou Xuanling: "Lincoln courtesy car."
The three of them knew that the Lincoln limousine was the most luxurious of all luxury cars, so they were particularly excited when they walked out of the airport. Seeing a tall and beautiful girl waving at them, they walked over and introduced themselves to each other.
As he got closer, he found that the girl was even prettier, and her height was almost catching up with Zhang Qiudao. She was wearing flat shoes and sunglasses. She had light makeup and red lips, and she looked very heroic. She introduced herself: "Hu Yingnan, the eldest disciple of Ziyang Palace."
"Chen Yang, director of the Dafu Branch." Chen Yang then introduced the next three people to Hu Yingnan one by one.
Hu Yingnan nodded: "Master asked me to pick you up and take you to a hotel near Ziyang Palace. Ziyang Palace does not accept male guests, but there is a believer's family in the temple who runs a hotel. The environment is not bad, you can stay there."
Chen Yang thanked him. Zhang Qiudao and Mao Xiaoli followed Hu Yingnan expectantly, and then everyone saw a bus parked in front of them. Everyone stopped and stared at the yellow air-conditioned bus without saying a word.
Hu Yingnan turned around and asked: "Aren't you coming up?"
"… "
Chen Yang and the other two turned to look at Kou Xuanling. Where is the luxury car
Kou Xuanling's values have suffered a huge impact and are currently in the process of being reshaped, so he is unable to answer.
After the three of them got on the bus, they waited for a while because Hu Yingnan had booked two buses and was soliciting customers. She didn't let the driver drive until the bus was full. Hu Yingnan turned around and said to Chen Yang, who was sitting at the end, "The first doctrine that Master taught us is to make the best use of everything."
Chen Yang nodded silently. It was the first time he heard the word "stingy" described in such a refreshing and refined way.
Because he was carrying other passengers, he had to take several detours and it took longer than taking the bus directly. The driver did not complain about this. Later, I found out that the driver and his bus company had received favors from Ziyang Palace. Moreover, Hu Yingnan would give half of the money earned from carrying passengers to the driver and donate the other half.
Hu Yingnan said: "If you use everything to its full potential, you will gain something. You should use what you gain to the fullest and do your best. But you can't base your generosity on the suffering of others. In other words, don't be generous to others."
At this point, Chen Yang and the others had a good impression of Hu Yingnan and Ziyang Palace. Mao Xiaoli even affectionately called Hu Yingnan "Sister Hu". She was very sweet-mouthed and would always call someone she admired and worshipped "brother" or "sister".
There are many Taoist temples in Shen City, which are mainly divided into two major Taoist sects: Zhengyi and Quanzhen. Ziyang Palace is one of the main Kundao Taoist temples of Quanzhen Sect. The so-called Kundao is what ordinary people call Taoist nuns, with males being Qian and females being Kun.
The four of them had no expectations for the nice hotel mentioned by Su Jianyuan, but unexpectedly it was beyond their imagination. It was a famous B&B in Shen City, with a barbecue outside the courtyard.
Chen Yang said to them, "We'll have a barbecue tonight. I'll do the grilling. You guys prepare the ingredients."
Mao Xiaoli and the other two had tasted Chen Yang's cooking and cheered immediately. Chen Yang also invited Hu Yingnan to join him for the barbecue dinner. After a few seconds, he asked, "Can Brother Hu eat meat?"
Hu Yingnan: "It's okay to drink. I'm just a converted disciple and a lay Buddhist. I haven't received any precepts, so I don't need to abstain from meat and fish."
Although Quanzhen Sect is not like Zhengyi Sect where most of the Taoists are monks, they can marry and have children. In fact, it is also divided into disciples who have been ordained and lay Buddhists. Lay Buddhists only convert to Taoism and do not need to live in temples. They can practice at home. Therefore, they can still marry and have children and do not need to abstain from meat and fish.
"Okay, let's come together in the evening."
Hu Yingnan nodded, readily agreed and showed them where they could buy cheap barbecue equipment and fresh and delicious ingredients, which just solved the problem of Mao Xiaoli and the other two.
After that, everyone found a room to stay in and put their luggage away. Chen Yang stayed in the room to pack his luggage. He brought a large suitcase with his and Du Shuo's clothes and supplies.
Du Shuo found the B&B based on the information given by Chen Yang. He was standing at the door and was about to step in when a group of people suddenly hurried past him and entered the B&B before him.
This group of people wore green robes, black windbreakers, and hoods on their heads. They covered themselves up tightly, not showing any skin. They even wore huge and strange bronze masks on their faces. Their strange attire did not attract the attention of passers-by. It was as if they were born to dress like this, it was nothing surprising, it was very normal.
Du Shuo stood there and watched them for a while, then stepped into the yard and headed towards Chen Yang's room. The group of people dressed strangely were booking a room with the hostess of the B&B. Without discussing the price, they hurriedly threw down the money, took the key and left. One of them, who was obviously the leader, suddenly turned around and looked at where Du Shuo was originally standing, with awe and confusion in his eyes.
"What are you looking at, sir?"
"Nothing." The man turned around and said, "Let's go."
As soon as they left, it was like a breeze blowing across the lake, only slightly rippling the lake surface and quickly returning to calm, leaving almost no trace. The proprietress looked down at the account book and found three more room reservations. She was quite surprised to find that she had no memory of this. She checked today's account and the money was right. So she was relieved and thought she would check it later. But after a while, she forgot about it.
Du Shuo knocked on the door, Chen Yang opened it, and seeing that it was Du Shuo, he pulled him in. After closing the door, he pulled him and said, "Come and try it on. I like a shirt and I bought it."
Chen Yang spread out a black T-shirt. On the chest was a white dolphin with thin lines and two small letters embroidered on the dolphin's snout: lo.
The T-shirt was very fancy, definitely not something Du Shuo would wear. He never wore T-shirts, even in the hot summer he would wear long coats and long pants, looking very calm. In the past when Chen Yang sewed clothes for him, he always made them into Tang suits. After seeing the world, the clothes he chose for him tended to be mature and steady. Du Shuo would never wear such fancy clothes.
Du Shuo looked up and saw Chen Yang's bright eyes full of expectation. The refusal on his lips turned into: "I'll go change it."
Chen Yang handed him the T-shirt and asked him to change it on the spot: "I washed it before coming here, it won't be dirty."
Du Shuo put on a T-shirt, which fit him well. Chen Yang was very familiar with the size of his clothes and would not make a mistake. After changing his shirt, he naturally had to change his pants. Chen Yang took out a pair of pants and handed them to him to change. Du Shuo was speechless. Chen Yang hugged Du Shuo's waist and begged him a few words, and the latter immediately compromised.
After Du Shuo changed into a youthful and fashionable outfit, he really looked several years younger. His handsome face and tall stature were no less than those of popular stars. Although his majestic aura had not diminished in the slightest, he seemed to be even more eye-catching.
Chen Yang happily picked up his clothes and changed into a new one. He was wearing a T-shirt, the same style as Du Shuo's, but it was white, with a dolphin in black thread on the chest and two small letters embroidered on the snout: ve.
Du Shuo didn't react to the two wearing the same clothes until they ran into Mao Xiaoli when they left the room. Mao Xiaoli stared at their tops for a while and exclaimed, "Couple outfits, so romantic."
Chen Yang raised his eyes and met Du Shuo's teasing eyes: "So Yang Yang urged me to change clothes because he wanted us to wear couple outfits together. How long has Yang Yang been planning this?"
"I didn't plan it. I just saw it and thought it was good, so I bought it."
"We Yangyang didn't plan anything, we just saw... Did Yangyang only take a fancy to one set?"
"… Not too many, about four or five sets. I change one set every day as spare clothes." Chen Yang grabbed Du Shuo's arm, as if he would bite it if he didn't wear it: "You have to wear it with me, so that when we go out, everyone will know that we are a couple."
Du Shuo was quite satisfied with the last sentence, but he still chuckled and said, "I'll wear it with you these few days, but don't buy these fancy clothes in the future."
Chen Yang smiled and said, "I know." But he was secretly complaining that he would talk about it later. He said that he would buy the clothes he liked. He bought some younger clothes for Du Shuo before, but he refused to wear them no matter how much he coaxed him.
Too fancy! A brown coat, of ordinary style, was considered fancy and ugly because it had a few decorative pockets and zippers. The old man was an antique and refused to wear it. In the end, the clothes he bought were hung at home and never worn. The colors of the clothes were always black and gray, and sometimes white. The style must be the simplest and long-sleeved.
Ugly. Chen Yang always complains when he sees it, even though Du Shuo is a clothes hanger, and he looks good in whatever he wears, and he can calm down. He still dislikes the clothes Du Shuo wears. He secretly thinks about other things in his heart, this trip is just right for couple outfits, if not, he will bite him!
Du Shuo pinched the back of Chen Yang's neck, leaned over and asked, "Your eyes are moving so fast, what are you thinking about?"
"What kind of sauce do you want for the barbecue tonight?" Chen Yang replied without changing his expression.
Du Shuo: "Little rascal."
The two walked to the courtyard, where there were many green plants and red flowers, which was quite artistic. In the middle of the courtyard, there was a barbecue table. The guests who were staying there were tempted when they saw someone preparing barbecue food. When they went to discuss it with the old lady, the lady boss told them that the barbecue table had been reserved. So they had to give up with regret.
The people who made the reservation were Chen Yang and his group. Kou Xuanling had expected that someone would take a fancy to this barbecue table, so she dragged Hu Yingnan over to borrow the barbecue table. For the sake of Hu Yingnan and Ziyang Palace, the proprietress agreed to lend them the barbecue table, but they had to prepare all the tools themselves and not burn anything.
After making the promise, they started buying barbecue utensils, seasonings and food. They lit a bonfire and prepared everything, waiting for Chen Yang to come over for the barbecue. Zhang Qiudao was chatting and laughing with Hu Yingnan, and turned back to see the two of them: "Couple outfits? Romantic."
Hu Yingnan was puzzled, and Zhang Qiudao explained: "They are a couple, and they are married."
Hu Yingnan suddenly realized it, accepted it calmly and said that the two of them were a good match. Then he said, "I have a cousin who will bring a friend over later. Do you mind?"
Chen Yang: "Sure. It's more fun with more people."
Hu Yingnan smiled and took all the money for the ingredients. Chen Yang didn't refuse. His straightforward personality suited Hu Yingnan's taste very well, and she soon treated Chen Yang as a friend.
Kou Xuanling came over with a pile of coal. After putting it down, he saw Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling. He was stunned for a moment and asked, "Where did you buy these clothes?"
Chen Yang: "You want to buy it? Do you know what this dress is?"
"Of course I don't know. It's quite interesting, and it looks like brothers' clothes." Kou Xuanling said confidently: "I bought it as a gift for a pair of twin brothers in the tribe. They often wear the same clothes, so they will definitely like it."
Hu Yingnan almost spit out the drink in his mouth: "What about him?"
"Straight man." Zhang Qiudao calmly explained: "I just transferred to the branch office and didn't know that Brother Chen was married."
I will never understand the thinking process of straight men. Hu Yingnan nodded to show his understanding, but his eyes had changed when he looked at Kou Xuanling: "She's so cute."
Zhang Qiudao's hands trembled for a moment, but he didn't say anything in the end.
Chen Yang easily dismissed Kou Xuanling, and then introduced other brother costumes and parent-child costumes to attract Kou Xuanling's attention, lest he really buy this couple costume and send it back to the twins as a birthday gift and then get beaten to death.
The bonfire was almost lit, Kou Xuanling set up the grill, and Chen Yang sat on a stool and slowly grilled, seasoned, and applied sauces. Du Shuo sat next to Chen Yang, occasionally serving him sauces and turning over the skewers. The others opened a can of beer and drank while playing cards. When Mao Xiaoli wanted to open a beer, Chen Yang said without turning his head, "Minors are not allowed to drink."
Mao Xiaoli was deprived of the right to drink. She shouted: "I am an adult. I am a freshman this year. I am really an adult."
Zhang Qiudao refuted her: "It's based on the age in Chinese lunar calendar."
Mao Xiaoli was so angry that she ate snacks like crazy, but Chen Yang quickly grilled a plate of skewers to stop the mouths of several people. Chen Yang quietly left a plate for Du Shuo to eat. There was a can of beer next to Du Shuo. He opened it and took a sip, then put it aside without interest. When he picked up the skewers, he usually took a bite and fed them all to Chen Yang. The two of them just snuggled together and whispered from time to time, which was actually very sweet.
Before the barbecue was halfway through, Hu Yingnan's cousin came with her friend. Both girls were sophomores, very brave and outgoing, and they quickly became friends with everyone present. Especially with Mao Xiaoli, they chatted about gossip, as if they had found an ally.
When they heard Mao Xiaoli mention the live broadcast at Yejiazhai No. 444, they all laughed at the same time. Mao Xiaoli didn't understand why. One of the girls was Yang Xiao, a college friend of Hu Xiang, Hu Yingnan's cousin. Yang Xiao laughed so hard that she couldn't stand up straight: "You really believe it? Haha... It's fake!"
Mao Xiaoli: "Fake?"
Seeing that Yang Xiao was laughing so hard that she couldn't explain, Hu Xiang explained for her: "Of course it's all fake. The weird screams and the sudden black screen were all made up by her and her team members to dispel superstition."
Mao Xiaoli: "What do you mean?"
The others were also attracted by their conversation.
Hu Xiang said: "Yang Xiao formed a club in college, called the Psychic Society. In fact, it is not a club that studies the supernatural, but a club that dispels superstition. They specifically go to various places where there are legends of ghosts or witches, film the so-called ghost rumors and then solve the mystery. Everything is scientific, there are no ghosts in this world. It's all a bluff."
Mao Xiaoli: "It's too absolute to say that there are no ghosts in this world. Maybe you just haven't encountered one."
Yang Xiao: "I only know that I have never encountered a ghost since I was a child, and neither have the people around me. It's just rumors. I have been to so many places that are rumored to be scary, and I have been to many haunted houses, but I have never encountered a ghost. The rumored scary noises every night are just the sound of the wind. The ghost shadows I heard about are actually just coincidental projections. There are no ghosts in this world."
Chen Yang and his friends did not bother with Yang Xiao about whether there were ghosts in the world. There would always be people who did not believe in ghosts. There was no need to force them to believe, so Mao Xiaoli urged her to talk about the live broadcast at Yejiazhai No. 444.
"In fact, there has always been a legend about No. 444 Ye's House in Shen City. Every city has the so-called top ten weird stories and terrifying folk rumors. Ye's House is one of the top ten weird stories in Shen City. Wasn't there a rumor that someone went in to live broadcast and went crazy? It caused a lot of uproar on the Internet, and we concluded that it was man-made. So we took the association members to live broadcast the exploration of the haunted house. Every time there was a black screen at the stairs, right? That's just because the network is not good, and sometimes it will be directly disconnected. As for the terrible screams, we shouted them on purpose. Nothing happened, and we didn't see any ghosts."
After Yang Xiao finished speaking, he invited Mao Xiaoli: "I see that you are quite interested in the Ye family residence. We will go there again tomorrow night, and this time we will directly reveal the mystery. Do you want to go with us?"
Mao Xiaoli readily agreed.
Chen Yang turned around and asked Du Shuo in a low voice: "Have you heard of No. 444 Ye's House in Shen City?"
Du Shuo: “I’ve heard of it.”
"Tell me what rumors you have."
"Decades ago, a family of four lived there and were killed in the middle of the night. The bodies could not be found and the house was full of blood. The blood could not be cleaned off and it became an unsolved case. No. 444 Yejiazhai was rumored to be a haunted house and no one dared to move in. Twenty years later, No. 444 Yejiazhai was demolished and rebuilt and another family of three moved in. They were also killed in the middle of the night and the house was full of blood, but the bodies were missing. The incident caused a lot of uproar and the local government suppressed the matter and banned the renting of the house. Ten years later, the area was rebuilt into a new district and many people moved in. Similarly, the tragedy happened again and the bodies disappeared. The rumors about No. 444 Yejiazhai could no longer be suppressed and it became a real haunted house."
"So evil? Didn't you ask a celestial master to exorcise it?"
Hu Yingnan came over and sat beside them waiting for the skewers. Hearing this, he said, "We invited the Heavenly Masters from Baiyun Temple and Ziyang Palace, but they could only seal the house and not allow people to move in."
"how?"
Hu Yingnan shook his head and said only one word: "Evil."
Evil, not vicious.
In other words, perhaps the Heavenly Masters of Baiyun Temple and Ziyang Palace could not find the reason, so they said it was evil.
"Not to mention the bodies, even the souls can't be found." Hu Yingnan picked up the skewers and ate while saying, "I heard that the room was full of blood. The forensic examination showed that it was the blood of several people who were dismembered. But unfortunately, the bodies were not found. Did you know? The people who were killed called the police. They called the police in the middle of the night every time. The police rushed over and it took at least an hour. How can they clear the bodies of several people in one hour? Besides, there are people living around the Ye family's house. Logically, the people who were hacked to death would cry for help miserably, but when I asked the people living nearby, none of them heard any sound. They were all asleep."
After hearing these descriptions, Chen Yang also felt evil.
Hu Yingnan picked up another skewer and took a sip of beer. "More than that. No. 444 Ye's House was renovated three times. Every time after someone died, a doorplate could be found in the house with the words: No. 444 Ye's House. Over time, no one dared to live there, and the reputation of No. 444 Ye's House as a haunted house spread."
"It's really evil." Chen Yang concluded: "How can you trust your cousin to go to such an evil house?"
Hu Yingnan: "I'm worried. So I have to go with you." She shook her head and smiled bitterly: "These young people are really not afraid of heaven or earth, ghosts or gods."
Seeing this, Chen Yang took a plate of skewers to comfort her. Hu Yingnan thanked him without changing her expression, then took the skewers and ate them all. Chen Yang instantly felt that he had been deceived.
"Your underworld and Feng are not in charge of such an evil house?"
"in spite of."
"Why?"
"The ghost officers of the underworld are not that idle, and they don't know everything. The Ye family residence is not easy for ordinary ghost officers to handle. For the Ghost Emperor, it is boring. So don't worry."
"You don't care?"
"Hmm." Du Shuo paused, and then said, "I don't care about the affairs of the living world."
Chen Yang's grilling movements paused, as if he was thinking about something.
Originally they thought this matter had nothing to do with them, but unexpectedly the next day Hu Yingnan came to them with a serious face and said, "Something happened."
Several people sat in front of Hu Yingnan, all of them were a little sleepy. Hearing this, they immediately perked up and asked what happened. Hu Yingnan said, "A member of Yang Xiao's association was found dead at home, kneeling facing the window, with wooden stakes driven into his eyes, and the stakes passed through his head and he died."