The place where Lu Ning was now looked like a ghost land. This place should be what Zaoyuan Manor looked like back then, with light rain falling in the sky. The mountains and forests are denser than in real times but lack of planning. There are far fewer houses built in them than there are now, and there are no paved mountain roads for walking.
Can a sick person show this? Lu Ning did not see Yan Zidan nearby, which meant that they did not enter the same ghost realm. Lu Ning reached out and touched the surrounding vegetation, but Bai Huan showed no reaction. Looking up, you can walk about fifty meters to reach the ruins of the wall - of course, this was still a complete manor in this era.
"You're really capable..." Lu Ning muttered and climbed up.
There was no one, let alone people, the surroundings were so quiet that there were no ghosts at all.
The old rich man's manor is a very old-fashioned mansion building, which can even be said to have no characteristics at all. The only special thing in the entire house was a Bagua plate hanging on the side of the door. Lu Ning reached out and took off the Bagua plate, but there was no change. Obviously it was not what she was looking for.
Walking further inside, there is a courtyard. The ground is hard earth, not paved with bricks and stones. Some places seemed to have been deliberately raised, and the soil at the four corners of the courtyard was black, as if burning work had been done there. Some metal poles were nailed haphazardly in several places, which did not hinder movement, but made the place look a lot more chaotic. Lu Ning turned around and walked into a house on the left, which was a wing room. This room looks a bit crooked. There is a clear slope from the floor to the walls to the ceiling. It is not uncomfortable, but it can still be distinguished. The bookshelves in the house are empty, but there is still a half-cut white candle on the candlestick on the table, with words printed on it. If you look carefully, you can tell it is "... Disaster" in font.
Of course, Lu Ning would touch everything she saw to see if it was what Xuan You said. So far, no one had a clear reaction.
She took a brief note of the characteristics of this wing, and then went to the other side. This side has a similar structure. The only thing more than the previous place is that there is a small kitchen. The large stove in the kitchen is made of bricks and mud. It looks very rough. There are many pots next to it. A lot of dust has fallen.
Lu Ning rummaged around in the kitchen cabinets and other places, then walked out and entered the central hall.
As expected, this place is the same as the two wing rooms, all the walls are slightly sloping.
"The yard is a standard square shape, but the house is made like this... It always feels like a ritual to guard against some evil thing."
After passing through the main hall and passing through a span of about three meters, there is the sleeping room at the back, which is also slightly sloping. There are beds, dressing tables, washstands and other things in the house. The layout on the left, middle and right is similar, and they have not been used for a long time.
After Lu Ning looked at all three bedrooms, she finally stopped at the bedroom in the middle. There is a large wooden bed here with exquisite carvings and should be very valuable, but the curtain is long gone. Next to the bed is a large wardrobe, which has the same wood and pattern as the bed. It should have been bought together.
"Is it this?" Lu Ning walked to the closet and smiled, "Any nearly airtight space that can accommodate about the size of one person, including the stove, is made into a non-cubic geometry, so this room The only standard cubic wardrobe in the room is a bit strange."
She touched the wardrobe handle with her finger, and the white ring flickered, indicating that there was indeed unnatural yin energy here that could be broken by the white ring.
But she did not choose to open the closet. Instead, she turned around and walked back to the middle courtyard. She looked around and found the old rich man's warehouse next to a courtyard wall.
There are many cabinets in the warehouse, just like the medicine cabinets in a Chinese medicine shop. They are all densely packed with small drawers. They can only hold things as long as an arm at most. These are the only ones that are normal. Lu Ning opened a few drawers, and there were some gold and silver jewelry inside. Unfortunately, these items were just a part of this place. She searched around and finally found her target - a drawer of white candles.
[Avoiding three disasters and eliminating eight disasters], [Inducing resentful spirits and intercepting disasters], [Removing filth and bringing about blessings]... The words on these candles are different, and there are six candles in a bundle. Lu Ning took out a bundle and held it in In my hand, I went to look through other drawers. There weren't many things left in the warehouse, and the only things I found in the end were a stack of yellow paper charms with the same pattern and a pair of scissors with densely engraved symbols on them.
When she took these three things in her hands, a thunder suddenly sounded outside. As the thunder illuminated the surroundings, the sound of rain became much louder. Lu Ning turned around suddenly and found that there was a person standing at the door.
He was wearing clothes like ancient scribes' uniforms, with a crown and a belt, and a slim appearance. He was holding a cane in one hand and was looking at Lu Ning.
"...Xuan You?" She tentatively asked the name.
"Ms. Li Wenyue, I'm sorry to have to meet you in this way. I guess you already know my situation."
"Is this really a ghost land?" Since the other party acquiesced, Lu Ning also understood a little bit.
"Yes, what you are curious about is why a living person can develop a ghost realm? I answered, because this ghost realm has been built by my family for generations. All the patriarchs of my family are half-human and half-ghost. Therefore, tuberculosis is not a problem. You also have to use the magic of ghosts and spirits, which is not within the Taoist tradition."
"These three things I found must be special, right?"
"The candle you found is a ritual tool used for blessing. When the mind is disturbed by Yin Qi or illusion, if a candle is lit, it can remain unharmed. The paper charm is a blood charm left by my servant. It is used to Understand the situation of domestic servants and blood relatives. As for the scissors, they are sacrificial tools made during our last struggle. They helped us escape from our original destiny, but pushed everything in an even more unpredictable direction."
"What happened to your family? Also, your words and sentences are different. Why?" Lu Ning still remained vigilant.
"Here, I am myself. But in reality, I am the host of the ghosts of the family's patriarchs. When I die, my ghost will join them and continue to be passed on to my descendants. This is our curse. Of course, this is not what happened to my family. Now you are lighting a candle next to the wardrobe, open the wardrobe, and there is a book inside."
"Is there anything in that book that you can just tell me not to do?"
"It's a pity, because I don't know the specific content of that book. I only know that the content of that book is related to the White God here in Zaoyuanzhuang."
"Is it related to Shirakami?"
"White God - this name is just a name for the monster who holds the White Ceremony for trading, but it is not its prototype. Zaoyuanzhuang has the White God of Zaoyuan Village, and other places where White Ceremonies are held have their own White Gods. And you So I had the opportunity to come across this book because this was originally your purpose. By the way, let me tell you that the place where your friend was chosen is about the reversal of the inner and outer world, which is different from yours."
“This ghost realm will lead people to what they need most?”
"I said, this technique asks the heart, you must first have a wish, and then get something." Xuan You smiled and got out of the way, "And the scissors in your hand can protect your integrity. When you get what you want After that, they will leave this ghost land."
"I... can give it a try." Lu Ning was dubious, but she could still give it a try as he said. She passed by Xuan You. It was raining heavily outside, but she didn't get wet at all while walking in the rain.
"This rain..."
"It does not exist in reality. Basically, my family's ancestral home has perished with all that."
Xuan You bowed slightly, and then watched Lu Ning walk into the back bedroom.
Beside the wardrobe, all six candles had been lit by Lu Ning, and the lighter she was carrying could still be used. After lighting the candle, a smell similar to incense spread in the room. Lu Ning grabbed the doorknob of the closet again, the white ring lit up, and she opened the scissors with her other hand, ready to go.
Whether what Xuan You said is true or false, you have to read it to know.
The door opened silently, and a faint smell of wood emitted from the closet, but it was pitch black inside. After realizing that the darkness in the closet could not be seen through, Lu Ning stabbed the scissors in her hand directly, and then After closing it forcefully, the white ring emitted light for the first time. The resistance on the scissors only lasted for about two or three seconds, and then there was a crisp "click" sound, as if a slightly thicker rope was being cut.
Lu Ning pulled her hand out, and she saw a thin black line at the base of each fingernail, which quickly spread along the fingers to the back of the hand, and then gathered together and headed towards the arm. This momentum only lasted to the wrist and then stopped, but the black line It didn't fade away. Lu Ning just frowned at this. She knew that it was impossible to gain something without paying any price.
The darkness slowly dissipated because she cut something off. The huge wardrobe was empty except for one book. Lu Ning reached out and picked it up and found that it was a handwritten note without a title.
"Congratulations." Xuan You's voice came from behind.
"What exactly did you make me do?"
"Are you asking now? It's okay. The thing is already yours. You might as well give it a name for the sacrificial instrument. Thank you for helping me completely cut off the past destiny of my clan and the White God. From now on, I will no longer disturb you. You don’t need to pursue it anymore.”
"Hey you……"
Lu Ning turned around and raised her hand, but suddenly realized that she was grabbing Lu Ping's sleeve.
"Miss Li is awake?" Lu Ping still had some anxiety on his face, but he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Lu Ning looked around and saw that the middle-aged man who had brought the phone over had fainted against the wall, while Yan Zidan was holding his right arm, which was bleeding, but he seemed to be awake.
"what happened?"
"After Xuan You finished speaking just now, we immediately felt the huge Yin Qi. You and Miss Yan fell into a hallucinogenic state at the same time, and the man fell directly to the ground. We were fooled, and that Xuan You was probably also a Fierce ghost."
"It's hard to tell whether it's a human or a ghost..." Lu Ning lowered his head and glanced at the scissors and book in his hand, and then asked Yan Zidan: "Are you okay?"
"No...it just looks serious." Yan Zidan forced a smile, "I scratched it with the jewelry that Sister Song gave me before. I have to get that thing."
"What did you get?" Lu Ning asked.
"Meat from the inner world." Yan Zidan let go of the hand covering the wound. The largest wound on her arm had stopped bleeding, and was replaced by a mass of gray flesh blocking the wound. It looked like a deceased person. The same as the meat, no, according to the name Yan Zidan said, that should be it.
"Is this what Xuan You asked you to take?" Lu Ning asked again.
"Yes, he told me that I must use my own life to defeat the death above in order to get the breath that radiates in life and death, so that the inner world will not reject me. In short... I won, what about you? What did you get? ?That book?”
"A notebook related to Bai Shen, we can study it carefully, and a stack of spells... in my pocket. Maybe I need to trouble Taoist Master Lu to take a look at this last one."
Lu Ning took out the scissors, which was also the third mission item she found that met the requirements.
"Xuanyou said it doesn't have a name yet, so let's call it the Destiny Sawtooth. That's its function."
When she returned to the reception station and sat back in the car, Lu Ning called Zhou Shilan. She really didn't want to hear Chen Hang boasting about his achievements or talking nonsense. After the call was connected, Zhou Shilan was obviously in the car on the way back, and the two asked each other about the situation on the other side.
"Nothing happened on Dadong Road today, at least not around us. However, Tang Haiyao encountered something, which was more complicated... In addition, she found out in a gossip newspaper that there was a mother in Caowazi yesterday. He and his son died of gas poisoning at home."
"Mother with her son?" Lu Ning immediately thought of the ghost who died in the car accident before, "Are you sure it was gas poisoning?"
"That's what the newspaper said. We can't expect them to find anything else, right? The other part is the video we recorded in the hospital. Because the resolution is not very high and the morgue is dark, we found a lot of tools to add By combining the audio and time, we can roughly summarize who went to the hospital last night. Not counting us, three groups of people went to the morgue. We have to talk about this in the evening."
"Um...Is Tang Haiyao okay?" Lu Ning did not forget to ask her friend.
"She was a little frightened, but she's okay. But Sister Song judged that she failed the test. Chen Hang and I were worried about whether we could pass the test." Zhou Shilan smiled bitterly, "It seems to be quite strict."
"What have you been dealing with all day today?"
"Search tools and the like are quite time-consuming... By the way, Zhang Xinqing sent me a text message. She said she saw Ye Qin in Mi City and she was sure it was him."
"Ye Qin?"
The nickname in the club is [Yuyin Raoliang]. As the name suggests, she is a girl who knows some vocal music, is a bit old-fashioned but is very serious. This is Li Wenyue's memory.
But why did she go to Secret City, and how long had it been?
