As soon as the store owner finished speaking, the group of ghosts vaguely surrounding Li Changan began to approach little by little.
They either show a ferocious look of death, or they show a greedy and sinister look.
The old ghost with stringy eyes stared at his eyes, and the female ghost selling flowers looked at his hands. Their greedy gaze covered every part of his body.
These ghosts actually wanted to cut him into pieces.
Surrounded by ghosts, Li Changan's fear rose to the extreme, and a surge of anger surged into his heart.
He glared angrily. It is said that ghosts are afraid of evil people, but the ghosts were also frightened and froze slightly.
He pointed at these ghosts and started to curse them for a while.
"you……"
suddenly.
A white lantern emerged from the crack in the ghost.
"Excuse me, please give me a moment."
Immediately afterwards, a man wrapped tightly in a cloak came out following the lantern.
"I gave him his face money."
After saying that, the man took out a handful of paper money from his cloak and stuffed it into the noodle shop owner's arms. Then he grabbed Li Changan's wrist and shouted in a low voice: "Follow me."
As he spoke, he drew the white lantern in his hand forward.
The group of ghosts in front of the lantern spread out into a path.
The man in the cloak took Li Changan and ran quickly. Li Changan felt that the scenery on both sides was changing. The white lanterns hanging on the street gradually became rarer, and the ghosts on the roadside disappeared.
Finally, the two of them stopped, and the white lantern in their hands flickered a few times, and then a warm orange-red light came up, as if they had returned to the human world again.
Li Changan looked back and saw that the noisy ghost market was no longer behind him.
What he saw in front of him were just a few dilapidated thatched huts and tiled buildings, sandwiched between a short and narrow dirt road. There were a few green phosphorus fires floating in the middle.
There was a sound of hesitation behind him, and the man in the cloak untied his cloak. Inside was an old Taoist priest with gray beard and hair.
Li Changan was about to say thank you, but the old Taoist priest suddenly cursed at him.
"Don't you think you have a long life? Are you able to break into the ghost market casually? If it weren't for the old Taoist today..." As he said that, the old Taoist poked Li Changan randomly a few times with the wooden handle of the lantern, "Heart, liver, spleen"
You have to let that damn ghost use it to make stew, and the bones have to be used as firewood."
Li Changan hurriedly took a few steps back, thought for a while, and made a nondescript fist-cup salute.
"Thank you, Taoist Master, for saving my life."
"Thank you?" The old Taoist hummed a few times, as if his anger was still lingering, "The old Taoist doesn't like these vain people. If you really want to..."
Let's talk, he looked Li Changan up and down. Li Changan had just taken a shower after eating and was only wearing white pants and a vest.
The old Taoist shook his head and continued: "It just depends on how poor you are!"
After saying that, he stopped talking and left on his own, leaving Li Changan standing there blankly.
He looked around.
On a clear moonlit night, the shadows of the trees sway like ghostly shadows.
"Why don't you leave yet?"
But it was the veteran who turned around and came back.
"Stay here to feed the ghosts?"
Go? Where to go? Li Changan smiled bitterly, "Nowhere to go?"
Upon hearing this, the old Taoist stared at Li Changan for a long time.
"That's all, save people until the end." He said, waving his hand, "Come with me!"
………………………………
"When this place was prosperous, it was originally a market. Then it suffered a disaster. Bandits broke out before the disaster was over. When bandits broke out, they attracted soldiers. After three rounds, the living people were dead and walked away, leaving only
Some ghosts are still hanging around here."
With that said, the old Taoist led Li Changan into a dilapidated house on the roadside.
Li Changan lit the oil lamp, and by the light, Li Changan found that the condition of this tile roof was much better than the one when he first came here. Although it was also dilapidated, there were cracks in the wall, the windows and coffins fell off, and the tile roof above his head was also somewhat broken.
There is a hole, but it can barely provide shelter from the wind and rain.
Li Changan glanced at the corner of the wall, but his eyes suddenly widened.
There, two withered bones, one big and one small, hugged each other and died.
"Don't be afraid." The old Taoist noticed Li Changan's demeanor and said with a smile, "These dry bones don't bite."
After speaking, the old Taoist walked to the withered bones and made a gesture.
"Master, this little brother has to stay in your house all night, please forgive me."
However, the old Taoist didn't know that what surprised Li Changan was not the dead bones, but the two ghosts floating in the air next to the dead bones. They were a peasant woman holding a child. They were in ragged clothes and with a yellow face. After the old Taoist bowed their heads, they behaved well.
A gift.
Lao Dao and Li Changan used straw to build a simple bed in each corner of the house.
The old Taoist then sat cross-legged on the couch and said:
"The old Taoist name is Xuanji. My common surname is Liu, and my single name is Jing. If you call me Liu Taoist, that's how you call me. What's your surname?"
"The surname is Li and the given name is Chang'an."
"Li Chang'an? That's fine." Liu Daoren stroked his long gray beard and said seriously, "The world is in chaos nowadays. Since we live under the same roof, I have to say ugly things first."
Li Changan sat upright after hearing this.
"Taoist Master, please speak."
"First." Liu Daoren stretched out a finger and said, "The old Taoist is just a wandering Taoist, and he has nothing to offer."
"Second." He took out a sheathed long sword from the package and placed it across his knee. "This sword has been with me all over the world for many years. I have chopped down as many gangsters as I have killed monsters. If you..."
The old Taoist said halfway.
With a "clang" sound, the sword was three inches away from its scabbard.
Liu Daoren's tone was solemn.
"Do you know?"
Li Changan was a little amused. In his opinion, the Taoist priest's behavior seemed overly cautious and even timid.
Where is it that when threatening an unarmed man with a sword, you first emphasize that you have nothing to gain?
However, at least the other party had a life-saving grace, and Li Changan didn't want to show it, so he just nodded.
"I'm not an indiscriminate person."
……………………
After that, there was no talking all night.
The next day, the sunlight filtering through the cracks in the wall shone on Li Changan's eyes, waking him up.
After all the hard work last night, he was exhausted and fell into a deep sleep. However, the "bed" with straw on the ground made him sleep very uncomfortable. When he woke up today, his body was sore and painful.
He looked around the room.
The old man and the two withered bones were nowhere to be seen, but there was half a hard steamed bun on his bedside.
There was a faint popping sound outside the house.
Li Changan opened the door and went out, and saw the old Tao digging a pit with farm tools he had found from nowhere. Beside the pit, the dead bones were carefully wrapped in the cloak that the old Tao had worn last night.
Seeing this, Li Changan quickly put down the steamed buns and went to help.
After burying the bones, Liu Daoren straightened his clothes and recited the salvation scripture:
"The gods of the ten directions, as numerous as sand and dust, have transformed into the realms of the ten directions, helped save the heavens and people, gathered their merits, and together they saved the world..."
After reciting a verse, the souls of the mother and son emerged in the air. They were now dressed in bright clothes and their complexions became plump. They thanked them in the direction of the two, and then slowly disappeared.
Li Changan turned around, only to find that the old man was looking at him hesitantly.
"Boy, can you see ghosts?"
Li Changan had no intention of hiding it and nodded directly to admit it.
The old Taoist's eyes suddenly shone with light. He circled around Li Chang'an several times and said with a smile, "Where did Brother Li come from?"
Where do I come from? Can I tell you that I came from time travel?
Li Changan didn't want to make anything up, he just waved his hand and smiled bitterly.
"Then where are we going?" The old Taoist refused to give up and continued to ask.
Where to go? Maybe only it knows! Li Changan touched his trouser pocket, where was the yellow booklet.
Li Changan didn't know how to answer, so he just asked:
"Taoist Priest, where are you going again?"
"Me?" Liu Taoist dusted himself off and said, "Go to Yulin."