Chapter 290

"Buddy, do you really not need to be sent to the hospital?"

"No need."

"If you're short on cash, I'll pay."

"No need."

"I think it's better to go to the hospital for a checkup; you look too scary like this."

"No need."

"Um, you're plugging your ears, how are you hearing what I'm saying?"

"No need."

"..."

Zhao Yi leaned sideways on the passenger seat, his nose and ears stuffed with thick cotton balls, holding a white towel in his hand, occasionally wiping the bloody water flowing from his eye sockets.

In front of him was a large tea mug used to catch the large mouthfuls of fresh blood occasionally spat from his mouth. By now, this large tea mug was almost full, shaking and shaking along with the movement of the car, making a "squelch" sound.

This scene made the corner of Zhang Xinhai's mouth, who was driving, twitch uncontrollably.

Zhao Yi, who had crawled out of the tomb, was in a terrible state, and as luck would have it, he encountered the buddy he had eaten a boxed lunch with at the service area when he first came.

The man had come out with the factory driver to deliver springs and had already finished one trip; this was his second time out. Seeing the familiar truck parked on the road, he asked the driver to stop so he could get out and find the person, and he really found Zhao Yi, who was covered in blood and crawling toward the truck.

Zhao Yi didn't let anyone send him to the hospital, but instead asked him to help drive the truck away; after all, this truck belonged to Yongzi.

That person let the driver go deliver the goods himself, and he drove this truck carrying Zhao Yi away.

"The town ahead, turn in."

"Okay, should we go to the clinic in town to take a look?"

"You're really annoying."

After driving out of the provincial road, they didn't go deep into the town, but drove along the small road on the edge of the town.

Upon seeing that simple tent on the slope, Zhao Yi signaled to stop, preparing to get off himself.

"Let me support you."

"No need, you'll have nightmares."

"Uh..."

Zhao Yi stumbled off the car and swayed to the entrance of the tent.

Liang Li was decocting medicine, and upon seeing Zhao Yi, her face revealed surprise.

"Boss~"

"Li'er~"

Liang Li was left at a loss by this response, even though it was clearly she who had flirted first.

Zhao Yi bypassed her and arrived inside the tent. Liang Yan stood on the side, and in the middle were Yin Meng and Lu Runsheng, lying on their sides, pierced by a black wooden stick.

"The car is outside, move them to the car."

Zhang Xinhai, sitting in the driver's seat of the truck, had just lit a cigarette, enjoying the mountain scenery while leisurely blowing smoke rings.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two women covered in wounds with half-white hair, who couldn't be clearly identified as young or old, carrying a stick, with a man and a woman skewered on the stick.

The cigarette between his fingers dropped, and the remaining half-mouth of smoke in his mouth was swallowed directly.

When they killed pigs during the New Year in his hometown, they would carry them like this, but that was just tying the pig's legs upside down and carrying it; he had never seen anyone skewer a stick through a pig's body.

The Liang sisters carried Yin Meng and Lu Runsheng onto the back of the truck, and Zhao Yi crawled back to the passenger seat and sat down.

"Let's go, go to Fengdu."

"Hey, okay."

Zhang Xinhai trembled as he started the car again. When reversing, his gaze constantly scanned Zhao Yi's body.

"Buddy, don't look at me, look at the rearview mirror."

"Oh, okay."

The truck returned to the provincial road.

Zhang Xinhai didn't know how he drove this whole way, but he finally arrived at the destination.

After parking the car and pulling out the key to hand to Zhao Yi, he didn't rush to get off, but buried his head on the steering wheel; he really didn't dare to get off and watch the unloading.

Zhao Yi smiled, and after the Liang sisters carried the people down, he patted Zhang Xinhai's shoulder:

"Alright, it's fine."

"You... what are you doing coming here?"

"Because the Ghost Gate is here."

"..."

"How are you going back?"

"There are many ways to go back; I'll go back myself!"

Zhao Yi reached into his empty pocket, pretending to take out money.

"No, no, no, don't mention this, don't mention this!"

As he spoke, Zhang Xinhai got off the truck and ran away, three steps at a time, determined not to look back.

Tan Tan Wenbin appeared beside the car and said: "They have already been arranged."

Zhao Yi: "What about the one surnamed Li?"

"Brother Xiaoyuan and Ah You went to look at the car accident and haven't returned yet."

"Look at the car accident? The one surnamed Li really has leisure and elegance."

"I'll go page Brother Xiaoyuan and tell him you're back."

"No need, we're fine, don't delay the one surnamed Li from picking up the clues to the waves."

"Hmm, you're the external captain, I'll listen to you."

"Heh."

Zhao Yi, supported by Tan Tan Wenbin, got off the car.

"I'll arrange a room for you to stay in first."

"Don't go to the trouble, just stay in the one surnamed Li's room for now, just in time to wait for him."

"Okay."

Entering the room, Zhao Yi first went to take a shower. After washing away the blood and dirt on his body, he took out medicine and let Tan Tan Wenbin help him apply it. After handling it properly, Zhao Yi leaned back in the chair and squinted his eyes.

Tan Tan Wenbin: "I'll go prepare some food for you and bring it over."

Zhao Yi: "Thank you."

Tan Tan Wenbin walked out of the room. When going downstairs, he happened to brush shoulders with Old Zhai, who was walking down from the floor above.

Logically speaking, with Tan Tan Wenbin's current keen perception, it would be impossible for such a corner-miss to occur, but this time, he just happened not to notice.

Old Zhai was carrying two bags in his hand, walked to the door of Li Li Zhuiyuan's room, and opened the door.

Zhao Yi was leaning in the chair, his legs propped on the bed, humming a song while holding an ear pick to dig out the solidified blood clots in his ears.

Don't say, this "clatter clatter" crisp sound and this sufficient hardness were really much more comfortable and pleasant than digging out earwax.

As Old Zhai entered, he happened to meet Zhao Yi's expression of enjoyment.

Upon meeting his gaze, Zhao Yi's heart skipped a beat:

"Damn, this shower was taken too early."

The traces of him risking his life and shedding blood for the Great Emperor had just been washed away by his own hands!

Just as Zhao Yi was regretting not having done a good job of leaving traces,

Old Zhai smiled and placed the things he was carrying on the table, saying:

"Haven't seen you for a few days."

"Ah, right, after sending my brother here, I went to run some short trips nearby for a few days."

"How's business?"

"Not bad."

"You're also working hard."

"But it's worth it."

"What about Xiao Yuan?"

"Went out to play, I guess. You know, children are young, and being playful is his nature. Even the smartest children are like this. Some truths, until a certain age, he still doesn't understand. Sometimes I really worry that I've spoiled him."

"Combining work and rest is good; I was still worried he didn't know how to relax and soothe himself."

A huge Dharma image of a Bodhisattva was constantly rising from below, magnifying and magnifying again. In front of this "face," the boat gradually became tiny.

The next moment, the Bodhisattva's eyes opened, like a god high above, looking down at the tiny ants.

This was the second time Li Li Zhuiyuan had met the Bodhisattva's gaze.

The first time, he was nervous and uneasy, relying on the blessing brought by the identity behind him to try to make the other party wary, which was how he summoned the courage to meet the gaze.

This time, Li Li Zhuiyuan didn't need those things.

The boy met the gaze of those eyes very calmly.

It wasn't that He was no longer terrifying, nor that his own confidence was stronger. With such a vast disparity in scale between the two sides, the influence that such a subtle change could cause was actually minimal.

The real reason was that now, he was already standing substantially on the opposite side.

The huge Bodhisattva face slowly sank and soon disappeared again.

Li Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes, opened them again, and breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that Lu Runsheng and Zhao Yi and the others had succeeded.

Although the Dizang Hall had long been built into Fengdou in the scenic area of the mortal world, in reality, the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had not been able to enter the true Fengdou.

From the fact that He had earlier used the avatar of the True Lord Pudu to help build the True Lord system, and later personally crafted the Official Generals, one could see that the selection of materials had not truly touched the core of the Yin Office.

Ghost Kings of the past like the Bai He Boy had never actually entered the Yin Office to serve as officials; instead, it felt more like Jianghu outlaws being recruited.

He himself was the key for the Bodhisattva to enter Fengdou.

Yin Meng was the bloodline key, he was the inheritance key, and the three-colored luster sealed away by the three sticks of incense—they originally came from the Yin Office and held a noble status—were the keys actively handed out from within the Yin Office.

However, having a key did not mean one had to open the door.

The Bodhisattva certainly didn't want a one-day tour of Fengdou; He wanted to station Himself in Fengdou and completely take over the Yin Office.

This could only mean that something had truly gone wrong with the Yin Office, or more specifically, the Great Emperor... had run into trouble.

The opportunity appeared, and only then did the Bodhisattva actively seek out the keys and push this wave forward.

But now, the keys He had found were opposing and blocking Him.

Li Li Zhuiyuan didn't know if his choice was right, just as he didn't actually understand what effect sending Lu Runsheng and Zhao Yi back would have; he only knew that it would have an effect.

Zhao Yi's original policy of sitting back and watching the two "gods" fight couldn't be considered wrong; that should have been the most stable and safe choice.

Be a good key, ride the river water, finish what he was supposed to do, help the Bodhisattva open the Ghost Gate, and then let the "gods" fight their fight while he and the others sang songs and went home.

It was just that Li Li Zhuiyuan felt that this path of serving the great with the small and playing both sides was only suitable for the stage where both sides were confronting each other and neither could do anything to the other.

Now, they were on the verge of a phased result and were in the heat of the battle. If one still wanted to offend neither side, the result would likely be that whoever won would come to settle the score with you.

There was no other way; at this time, one had to completely lean toward one side.

After the boat docked, the boat owner insisted on dragging Tan Tan Wenbin off to drink.

At the late-night snack stall on the pier, with small tables and small stools, the Ghost Street above and the river view at one's side, and prices that were extremely down-to-earth—once you sat your butt down here and leaned your body back, you reaped complete contentment.

Li Li Zhuiyuan ordered a bowl of clear-broth wontons for himself, wrapped on the spot by the stall owner's wife; the taste was very fresh and delicious.

After finishing, Li Li Zhuiyuan didn't urge Tan Tan Wenbin to go back, letting him continue to chat and gossip with the boat owner.

After eating, drinking, and chatting to their heart's content, when it came time to pay the bill, Tan Tan Wenbin couldn't avoid a bit of tugging and pulling with the boat owner. The boat owner, relying on the strength of a middle-aged man who spent his life on boats, wanted to subdue Tan Tan Wenbin first, but unfortunately, Tan Tan Wenbin was now full of beastly nature and directly gave the boat owner a heavy, pressing shove.

After paying the bill, Tan Tan Wenbin and Li Li Zhuiyuan left, leaving the boat owner on the spot, both angry and amused, cursing and swearing.

When they returned to the guesthouse, it was already late at night, approaching one in the morning.

Arriving downstairs at the building where they were staying, they looked up and discovered someone standing by the rooftop edge; the figure was very familiar—it was Old Zhai.

"Brother Brother Binbin, you stay below, I'll go up."

"Understood."

Li Li Zhuiyuan ran into the building, and after Tan Tan Wenbin retreated a few steps, he took off his coat and held it up.

By the room window, Lin Shu leaned there, waving and greeting Tan Tan Wenbin with a face full of smiles.

Tan Tan Wenbin pointed at the roof of the building.

Lin Shu was somewhat puzzled; he grabbed the edge of the window, leaned his whole body out, and twisted around before he saw the person standing up there.

This scene scared Lin Shu so much that he didn't even bother to pull back in; he directly used his hands and feet to crawl along the wall like a gecko.

This really couldn't be blamed on Lin Shu's carelessness; he had been single-mindedly guarding against external enemies—who could have imagined that one of their own would run up there and possibly be about to jump off the building?

After arriving below the position where Old Zhai was standing, Lin Shu stopped his movement.

Next, if Old Zhai wanted to jump, the moment he leaped, Lin Shu would be able to grab him immediately.

Li Li Zhuiyuan ran to the rooftop and, seeing Old Zhai standing there with his hands behind his back, understood in his heart that the old man wasn't about to jump off the building; he might just have come to look at the scenery.

"Grandpa Zhai, why are you here? It's cold at night, and the wind on the roof is strong."

"Probably because I ate hotpot tonight; my body felt dry and hot, and I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come up to blow off some steam."

Li Li Zhuiyuan walked to Old Zhai's side and said, "Then next time we gather for a meal, let's choose something lighter."

Old Zhai: "There are light dishes in Sichuan cuisine, but you have to consider your teacher's wallet and the public expense reimbursement standards."

As he spoke, Old Zhai reached out and patted the young man's back: "Hehe, sorry, I scared you and made you worry."

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Not really, you are not a fragile person."

Old Zhai: "Then what kind of person do you think I am?"

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "You are a useful person."

Old Zhai: "I am just a person who, after getting old, is afraid of death."

After finishing, Old Zhai turned around and walked down. Li Li Zhuiyuan accompanied him off the rooftop and downstairs until he sent him back to his room and helped him close the door.

Just as he was preparing to leave, he discovered Zheng Hua walking out of the room next door, holding a thermos in his hand.

"Xiao Yuan, I'm going to get some hot water. Please help me watch the door; the lock on my room door is broken, and it's not easy to open with the key after closing it, and the front desk didn't send anyone to repair it today."

"Okay."

Li Li Zhuiyuan walked into Zheng Hua's room. Although Zheng Hua considered himself a disciple in front of Old Zhai, in reality, his rank was not low, and he could enjoy the treatment of a single room.

There was a stack of materials on the table. Li Li Zhuiyuan didn't intend to peek, but he glanced at it and saw photos of Qian Ying and Wu Lan, and then, he decided to peek.

The two of them nominally died at the hands of the old monk in the temple, but since it happened during work, the compensation and pension processes still had to be followed.

These documents were basically faxed over, and Zheng Hua was busy handling this matter for his junior brother and sister.

"Both are orphans, and they even came from the same orphanage?"

Li Li Zhuiyuan looked at the files of the two and discovered something special.

The two should have known each other since childhood and lived together in the orphanage for a period of time; later, they each had adoptive parents.

No wonder that after following a teacher into a team, the feelings between the two heated up quickly, and they directly confirmed their relationship as a couple.

But in this world, is there really such a coincidence?

Standing from the perspective of the parties involved, this was likely "destined by heaven" in the true sense.

Li Li Zhuiyuan saw the surviving file photos of Qian Ying and Wu Lan in the orphanage; they were faxed over and were a bit blurry, but Li Li Zhuiyuan could fill in the details in his mind.

The young man's gaze narrowed slightly; this physiognomy was too poor—a very clear appearance of thin kinship and loneliness. The data also indicated that they were not abandoned; their parents had died, and no relatives were willing to raise them.

Combining this with their birth dates and making a rough deduction, everything matched up.

Physiognomy and birth characters are not necessarily accurate; Li Li Zhuiyuan was skilled at this but not superstitious about it. In the young man's eyes, this was just a probability summary.

But the problem was, when he met Qian Ying and Wu Lan, he didn't feel there was a problem with their physiognomy.

Placing the childhood photos of the two together with the ID photos taken after they grew up and started working, it was very clear that their physiognomy had changed. Their fates had been altered by someone.

Zheng Hua returned after getting the hot water. Li Li Zhuiyuan didn't avoid him and continued to stand by the table watching.

"Sigh, I only just found out that my junior brother and sister had lived in an orphanage. It's truly pitiful. It's my fault for not taking good care of them; I should have accompanied them up the mountain that day."

"Brother Zheng, you don't need to blame yourself; no one wants accidents to happen."

In terms of age, Zheng Hua was quite a bit older than Li Lan. Although Li Li Zhuiyuan called Old Zhai "Grandpa," Old Zhai and Luo Gong were peers, so here he could only call him "Brother."

"Hmm." Zheng Hua took out a cup, made himself a cup of orange crystals, and also made a cup of powdered milk for Li Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Li Zhuiyuan took the milk and took a sip.

Zheng Hua picked up a bag of documents from the floor and placed them on the table, saying:

"Xiao Yuan, do me a favor. I have to handle the affairs of my junior brother and sister first. You help me organize this—it's the teacher's resume. It needs to be condensed into an introductory brochure. Help me summarize it, focusing on the engineering aspects."

"Is it for an award?"

"I don't know, the teacher asked me to organize it."

"Okay."

Generally speaking, before a formal meeting, the speaker's resume would be made into a brochure and distributed to the attendees. The important meeting ahead was in two days, but the reporter was Luo Gong, not Old Zhai.

Li Li Zhuiyuan quickly flipped through these materials, and while reading, asked: "Brother Zheng, do you carry these things with you everywhere?"

How much must one worship their own teacher to keep the teacher's resume with them all the time?

"No, it was mailed here a long time ago; it arrived several days before we did."

Li Li Zhuiyuan nodded, but soon, upon flipping to a certain part of the resume, memories from the young man's past began to surge.

These projects were actually all presided over by Old Zhai.

Li Li Zhuiyuan remembered that when he was a child by Li Lan's side, there were several discoveries of special tombs that kept Li Lan busy and overwhelmed several times.

Naturally, Old Zhai's resume wouldn't write about what tombs were discovered during that time or what strange things happened, but after overlapping the time and location, it must have appeared during construction.

If it were construction in Guanzhong or the Central Plains, it would be abnormal not to dig up things, but the problem was that these construction points were not historical tomb areas, yet they could frequently dig up large tombs that gave Li Lan a headache.

Was Old Zhai actually doing engineering... or was he using the name of engineering to find things himself?

In all likelihood, it was two-in-one, not conflicting.

"Organized, Brother Zheng, take a look."

"Good, hmm, very good, very nice." Zheng Hua nodded with satisfaction. "Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Yuan. It's getting late, you should go back and rest."

"You too, Brother Zheng, sleep early."

Leaving Zheng Hua's room and heading to the next floor, Li Li Zhuiyuan heard movement coming from Lin Shu's room. He pushed the door open and walked in, seeing Tan Tan Wenbin standing by the bed, while Lin Shu was sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, I just arrived, and then I saw Ah You like this. I tried to check, but didn't see any problem, but I just can't wake him up."

There was indeed no fluctuation of Qi on Lin Shu's body; he looked as if he had entered meditation and fallen asleep.

Li Li Zhuiyuan got on the bed, stood in front of Ah You, and pulled open his eyelids—his spirit was normal. Then he pressed his thumb against Lin Shu's glabella—his body was normal.

He knocked on his knuckles, as if knocking on a door.

The next moment, Lin Shu's vertical pupils opened; this was a response from the Master Tongzi.

Li Li Zhuiyuan nodded, and the vertical pupils disappeared.

The Master Tongzi was also normal.

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "It is indeed not Ah You's problem."

But Ah You clearly had a problem.

Waiting for another five minutes or so, Lin Shu slowly woke up.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, Brother Bin, I just had a dream. In the dream, I arrived at a solemn temple, and someone in the temple was talking to me, saying a lot, a lot..."

Tan Tan Wenbin: "What exactly did they say?"

Lin Shu: "Then suddenly a voice shouted behind me: 'I am the Bodhisattva, do not listen to His words!'"

After a pause, Lin Shu scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and said: "Then I woke up, and all those words I heard earlier were forgotten; I can't remember a single word."

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "That one is anxious."

Tan Tan Wenbin: "Is it that Bodhisattva?"

Li Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "Hmm, nominally, Ah You belongs under His seat, although, only nominally."

That one wanted to influence and intervene with Lin Shu through this method.

But He failed.

Because between Lin Shu and that one, there was still Sun Baishen.

The one who interrupted this influence process was Sun Baishen, which meant that Lin Shu, as a Guarding Zhenjun, was actually not under the control of that Bodhisattva at all, not even for whispering.

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Alright, it's fine, rest."

Returning to the room, Li Li Zhuiyuan took a shower and lay on the bed.

The young man didn't fall asleep for a long time; instead, Tan Tan Wenbin entered dreamland first and started snoring.

Once you get used to the sound of this snoring, you don't feel anything, and besides, when outside, the snoring of teammates can provide a sense of security.

But as this snoring went on, it suddenly stalled.

Li Li Zhuiyuan sat up, didn't turn on the light, and looked at Tan Tan Wenbin, whose face showed a hint of pain, with the moonlight shining in through the window.

"Sure enough, Ah You was not the last one, just the beginning. Have you shown your true colors?"

Li Li Zhuiyuan knew what the Bodhisattva was doing; He was attempting to further infiltrate his entire team in His own unique way.

However, there was no panic in the young man's eyes, not even the slightest worry.

In his dream, Tan Tan Wenbin saw his four spirit beasts standing on a wide road, with golden petals constantly falling on both sides and Sanskrit sounds rising.

The four spirit beasts gradually walked into Tan Tan Wenbin's body, forming a fusion just like in reality.

At the moment of fusion, this solemn and dignified scene began to distort and then collapse.

Tan Tan Wenbin didn't taste anything at all, turned over, and continued to snore.

If it were the Tan Tan Wenbin of the past, with only two god-sons on his shoulders, he would definitely have been affected.

But the "Five Senses Map" was created by Wei Zhengdao himself, and it was a solid seal in itself.

At the same time, under the pitch-black cliff, Liang Yan's figure was constantly groping from above, approaching this place.

Below, Lu Runsheng was holding Yin Meng, lying in the bushes; the impact brought by the fall was basically all borne by him.

"Phew... finally found you."

Liang Yan looked at the two who were pierced by the stick; first of all, both were breathing and still alive.

Pulling out the stick was a bit difficult, and she didn't dare to; this was not just a matter of wound treatment. Recalling the terrifying scene of Yin Meng just crawling out of the grave, Liang Yan didn't dare to make decisions on her own.

Upon inspection, Liang Yan discovered that the position where the stick pierced Yin Meng's chest avoided vital points, but for Lu Runsheng, the situation was very serious.

She remembered that every time Lu Runsheng raised his shovel to Yin Meng during the day, he did so without hesitation, but within his power, he was still protecting her.

The former, Liang Yan could understand; letting her leave under those circumstances was the greatest disadvantage to her, and any extra kindness would only bring greater cruelty to Yin Meng.

The latter, Liang Yan envied; she even fantasized that the ones lying here, skewered by a stick, were herself and Zhao Yi.

At this time, Yin Meng slowly opened her eyes.

Liang Yan was so scared she immediately retreated; she was not willing to endure that terrifying illusion a second time.

The gray haze in Yin Meng's eyes had a tendency to re-condense.

But at this time, the fresh blood in Lu Runsheng's body flowed along the stick onto Yin Meng; the gray haze in Yin Meng's eyes was dispersed by the evil spirit, and her eyes closed again.

In Yin Meng's consciousness, she was lying in the cold, deep water surface, her soul completely sealed.

In front of her stood a towering statue; identical statues could be seen everywhere in the Ghost City, and its back was exactly that of the Fengdu Great Emperor.

However, on the other side that Yin Meng couldn't see—the front of the statue—was a compassionate Bodhisattva.

The Bodhisattva's golden body was constantly shattering, with areas irregularly cracking and peeling off.

It was as if someone was holding a shovel and frantically beating it.

After Tan Tan Wenbin returned to normal, Li Li Zhuiyuan also closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The dream came.

The young man felt himself sitting on a palanquin, swaying slightly up and down.

In front, Tan Tan Wenbin and Lin Shu were walking with their arms around each other's shoulders, laughing and talking; behind, Lu Runsheng and Yin Meng were walking side by side, Lu Runsheng carrying many things in his hands, while Yin Meng was happily eating the hometown snacks she had just bought.

The young man lowered his head and saw that what was carrying him forward were white bones.

The palanquin was moving upward; the shops around were gradually closing, and pedestrians and tourists were becoming fewer and fewer. Even later, Tan Tan Wenbin and Lu Runsheng and the others had disappeared.

The palanquin, however, was carried more steadily than before, and the field of vision was much higher.

The young man lowered his head again and discovered that the white bones that had originally served as palanquin bearers were now all wearing official robes and official hats, and at the same time, all were walking on stilts.

Orange lanterns were hung up on both sides of the street, and as he passed, the lanterns constantly floated upward into the air, like eyes watching this place from above.

A huge door appeared in front of Li Li Zhuiyuan.

It was clearly not high, yet it gave people a sense of towering height that even mountains couldn't match; it was also not wide, yet it separated Yin and Yang.

This was the Ghost Gate.

A door that could only appear in cognition, yet could not be described in any words.

"Crack..."

The Ghost Gate was opening.

The tidal fear outside the door and the shrill despair inside formed a huge impact collision at this moment, rising into mists filled with hysteria.

Through the just-opened crack in the door, Li Li Zhuiyuan looked inside; just one glance, and the young man felt a tearing sensation as if his soul was being stripped away.

"Hum!"

The dream woke up, and the sky outside was bright.

This was not just a dream, but a clue to the waves, and unlike the past where he needed to grope and distinguish, this time, the waves could be said to have slapped directly onto his face without any cover.

To finish this wave, the Ghost Gate must be opened.

This door was not only what the Bodhisattva wanted to open, but also the attitude of the river water.

Li Li Zhuiyuan got out of bed to wash up; Tan Tan Wenbin also woke up, called Lin Shu, and the three went to the restaurant to eat breakfast.

After eating, they walked outside to get some air. In the sky, dark clouds were dense, blocking the sunlight, as if the morning just now was just a mistake, and now it was returning to late night.

"Bang!"

A collision sound came from afar.

Someone ran to the entrance of the guesthouse, waving their hands: "There's a car accident below, come quickly and help lift the car!"

Xue Liangliang and Luo Gong, who were eating breakfast, put down their chopsticks and ran out; Li Li Zhuiyuan and Lin Shu also followed, while Tan Tan Wenbin stayed in the guesthouse.

On the road below the guesthouse, a sedan and a truck collided; the sedan's front end was stuck in the truck's belly, and the driver inside was covered in blood but couldn't get out.

Everyone worked together to pull the car out. At first, not many people came, and some ran back to call for more, but after Lin Shu started to exert force, only a series of long friction sounds were heard, and the car was dragged out.

The driver was fine, just had a cut on his face, which looked very serious.

"Damn it, that turtle son suddenly appeared on the road, scaring me so much I had to turn the steering wheel quickly. If I had known, I would have just hit that turtle son to death!"

The driver was very angry; if it weren't for someone suddenly jumping out, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

Li Li Zhuiyuan looked in the direction the driver was pointing and cursing; there was no one there. After walking over, the young man lowered his head and discovered wet footprints remaining on the ground—they were cloth shoes.

He rubbed his boot sole on it; it was a bit sticky, and his nose tip smelled a slight corpse odor. This was the familiar smell of a "dead-fall," which he hadn't smelled for quite a long time.

Following the footprints, Li Li Zhuiyuan started to walk down; Lin Shu, having finished his work, immediately ran over to follow.

The footprints were not on the road, but from here, if one kept sliding down the slope, one could go down the mountain. After chasing for a distance, he discovered the footprints led to the Ghost Street.

But it was neither from bottom to top nor from top to bottom, but inserted from the middle section.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, this dead-fall can really walk."

"Hmm."

It was also because there was no sun this morning; if the sun had shone, the footprints and the corpse odor would have disappeared long ago.

Following the footprints, they arrived at the Ghost Street. The purpose of the footprints was very clear: they arrived at the entrance of a clothing store.

The store door was tightly closed, and there was someone inside, breathing rapidly and weakly.

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Kick the door."

Lin Shu used one shoulder to crash through a door panel, while also controlling the volume.

Walking inside, he saw Zhang Chi holding a ruler, covered in blood, falling into the arms of his younger sister, Zhang Xiuxiu.

He had fought, but he had lost.

That dead-fall didn't want to kill him, or rather, there was actually no clear malice. The reason was very simple: if that were really the case, Zhang Chi and Zhang Xiuxiu would definitely be dead already.

"Give him the pill to remove corpse poison."

"Okay."

Lin Shu took out the pill and handed it to Zhang Xiuxiu.

Zhang Xiuxiu pointed her finger at the inner room: "It, it, it is inside!"

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "He is not there anymore; he has already left."

The young man walked into the inner room; the clothes rack in the inner room had collapsed, and clothes were scattered all over the floor.

On the side against the wall, there was a human-shaped water stain, which explained that the dead-fall had just lain here.

In his memory, when he first came to Fengdu, the coffin where Yin Meng's grandfather slept was placed right here.

The dead-fall might have instinctively followed his old living habits to go home, or he might have come specifically to relive the past.

Now it could be confirmed: that dead-fall was Yin Meng's grandfather.

He had clearly been sent into the Yin family ancestral grave by his own hands, but now, he had come out and returned home.

He was the former owner of this place; coming back to look at the house—Zhang Chi actually didn't have to block him. It belonged to the category of not acting when he should have, and acting blindly when he shouldn't have.

The footprints continued outside; outside was a courtyard with a coal stove and a place to dry clothes, and there was also a well.

Li Li Zhuiyuan walked to the edge of the well and looked down.

Yin Meng's grandfather should have crawled into the well.

"Clatter! Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!"

At this time, a crisp sound came from below the well, and the well water also began to churn.

Fish, many fish, were actually flapping and surging upward from the bottom of the well.

"Fish tide! Go look, fish tide!"

"So many fish, so many fish!"

People on the street shouted excitedly, and many ran to the pier.

On the river surface facing the pier, countless fish were churning on the water surface. In ordinary times, one could only see this scene when a fish pond was harvested, but harvesting a pond couldn't compare to the spectacle before their eyes.

Li Li Zhuiyuan and Lin Shu arrived on the street; even without going to the pier below, they could still see the strange scene on the distant river surface.

Just at this time, the originally dense dark clouds above the river surface suddenly became thin, and after gradually dispersing, it was as if a hole had been poked in the sky, and the sunlight that had been blocked for a long time shone down from here, sprinkling on the river surface.

The scales of the fish reflected the light, piece by piece turning golden, like golden scales dancing wildly, rendering a scene that was already a spectacle with a layer of shocking wonder.

Different from the bustle of the surrounding crowd, Li Li Zhuiyuan appeared very calm; he knew that what caused this landscape was not the weather or the fish run.

Deep under the water, the golden Buddha statue buried by shackles was peeling off, attracting not just a large number of fish from above.

The first team arrived; in a sedan, a man with a beautiful face was carried. He closed his eyes, and the sixteen sedan bearers were all delicate women.

According to custom, this team would land after the world was silent at night, walk up along the Ghost Street, and worship Fengdu.

Shackles floated up, locking them all. Immediately after, wisps of golden light entered their bodies, and the man with closed eyes in the sedan opened his eyes; there was no charm, but instead, he put his hands together.

Next were the second, third, fourth teams...

Lin Shu cleared the way, squeezing through the crowd. Li Li Zhuiyuan arrived at the pier and reached out to touch the river water. Ordinary people's naked eyes couldn't perceive it, but if viewed from the perspective of walking in the Yin, the water area nearby was already pitch-black like ink.

Tonight,

A hundred ghosts will rush the gate.