White temples

The sun was shining brightly outside the window. After seeing the ghost, Si Mucheng realized that the ghost movies he watched as a child were all lies. Ghosts are not afraid of sunlight at all. For example, right now, the ghost of a girl covered in blood was still floating outside their fifteenth-floor room window. The bright sunlight shone on "her" body, making her translucent spiritual nature even more obvious.

Wen Ya finally made up her mind. She looked at the girl's ghost and murmured, "What happened? How did it get like this?"

The ghost girl opened her mouth, but said nothing.

"Never mind." Wen Ya composed herself. "In any case, it's your karmic connection, and it must be resolved."

Si Mucheng knew she had figured it out, and said with a sigh, "I will never dare to say 'I saw a ghost' again. Every time I say it, I guarantee I will see a ghost. There's a word for it, 'avoiding prophecy,' right, I have to avoid prophecy."

He kept rambling on and on, which Wen Ya found inexplicably amusing, but when she saw the stitches on the girl ghost's neck, her face turned cold.

She had encountered ghosts who had died tragically before, but at least they were at least left with intact corpses. As for the girl before her, she couldn't imagine what "she" had gone through.

Since we've decided to help the ghost girl, there are some things we still need to understand.

When Wen Ya and Si Mucheng arrived outside, they talked to the ghost girl.

She had probably been beheaded, and even though her head had been sewn back up, the young ghost could hardly make a sound. Seeing "her" struggling to speak but unable to utter a sound for a long time, Si Mucheng was anxious for "her" and almost jumped up and down with worry.

"It's normal that the throat was injured," Wen Ya said calmly.

Si Mucheng sighed, "It was one thing that a little dog ghost came before but couldn't speak and we couldn't get any information, but now we can't get anything at all." The more he thought about it, the more he felt sorry for the girl's plight, and he frowned and said, "Could 'her' obsession be revenge?" After all, she died such a tragic death.

Wen Ya thought of the commonalities among the ghosts who had come to her door because of the Soul-Returning Lamp and shook her head: "Not necessarily. Although she died a violent death, I don't think her resentment is deep." Generally, ghosts who are murdered are very likely to become evil spirits, but after the previous incidents, she hasn't become an evil spirit even after being dead for decades. This is hard not to notice.

She turned to Si Mucheng and said, "I suspect that the Soul-Returning Lamp is filtering out ghosts."

Si Mucheng paused for a moment: "Screening?"

Before Wen Ya could nod, the girl ghost finally managed to speak, uttering, "Li... City..."

The voice was soft and hoarse, but at least it contained some useful information.

Si Mucheng was taken aback: "You're from Li City?"

The ghost girl nodded, then reached out and rubbed her neck, as if relieved of a heavy burden. Si Mucheng dared not think about it further; his neck ached, and he resisted the terrifying images in his mind. He quickly said to Wen Ya, "Then we need to go to Li City?" He was already planning to buy tickets, and he thought to himself, "Does Wen Ya usually travel around like this to exorcise spirits? It must be quite tiring."

Wen Ya glanced at him, thought for a moment, and said, "Isn't school about to start?"

Si Mucheng: ...

He said angrily and aggrievedly, "Why are you kicking me out again!"

Wen Ya looked at him in surprise, while Si Mucheng felt more and more aggrieved: "How many times have you chased me away? I won't leave! No matter how many times you chase me away, I won't leave. I'm already your apprentice, why are you still chasing me away!"

Wen Ya was speechless. After a few seconds, she said helplessly, "I just want to ask one question: why did you have to say so much?"

Si Mucheng gasped and stood there, not daring to utter a sound.

"I'm just worried that since school starts soon, it will take up your time," Wen Ya explained casually.

Si Mucheng pursed his lips: "It's the same thing." He raised his voice a little, "It's only August, school starts in September, there's still a long time."

Wen Ya nodded: "Alright, we're going to Li City now."

For some reason, Si Mucheng seemed to have been appeased again and laughed: "Then I'll book the tickets, can I book them for tomorrow?"

Wen Ya nodded, then looked at the ghost girl: "What do you remember?"

The ghost girl nodded eagerly, then squeezed out a few words with difficulty: "Shi... Lu..."

Her tone was strange, her voice hoarse, but Wen Ya still understood: "Shi Lu? Is that your name?"

The girl ghost nodded.

Seeing her touch her neck every time she nodded, Si Mucheng couldn't take it anymore. He gasped as if he had a toothache and advised, "Miss, don't nod anymore, it's kind of scary."

Shi Lu looked at them timidly, only with her watery eyes.

Previously, Si Mucheng would wail and scream when he saw the ghosts' deaths, but now he can calmly say such witty remarks.

Wen Ya glanced at him; having seen so many ghosts, he had grown bolder.

Even so, she still threw out a talisman. Upon touching the talisman, Shi Lu's body changed. She was still wearing the same school uniform, but the bloodstains were gone, and the stitches on her neck were no longer there; she looked like a normal high school girl.

No matter what, I couldn't bear to let a young girl stay in that state.

So the trip to Li City was finalized.

Before long, Shangguan Qin heard about it and came to see them off the next day.

Wen Ya was surprised; her relationship with Shangguan Qin didn't seem to be that close.

But Shangguan Qin didn't care about Wen Ya's attitude. He just raised his chin, and someone behind him handed a bunch of things to Si Mucheng. Even Wen Ya was given a few gift boxes.

Si Mucheng asked in surprise, "What... are you doing?"

Shangguan Qin rolled his eyes: "Hey, bring some food for you guys in the car. My house is already full, so you can use some up."

Si Mucheng looked at the ginseng and bird's nest in his hand, somewhat speechless. Could this really be eaten on a train?

Wen Ya remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "Thank you."

Hearing her earnest thanks, Shangguan Qin quickly waved his hand, as if he couldn't bear it: "Those are all things that my house can't hold, they weren't bought on purpose, don't misunderstand!"

Si Mucheng couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, alright, no need to thank me. We cleaned up your trash, shouldn't you thank us?"

"You!" Shangguan Qin was speechless.

She absolutely loathed that big, dumb guy.

"Alright," Wen Ya said, giving Si Mucheng a warning glance.

Si Mucheng immediately backed down.

Looking at the pile of things, Wen Ya said sincerely, "In any case, thank you very much."

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Qin let out a light snort. Seeing that the time was almost up, he hesitated before saying, "Although I don't know exactly what happened to you, if you need anything, you can tell me, and I can help you in some way."

Wen Ya's heart stirred slightly. She looked at Shangguan Qin's beautiful face and nodded.

Shangguan Qin then arranged for a car to take Si Mucheng and Wen Ya to the high-speed rail station.

The things she gave him were really cumbersome and took up too much space. Si Mucheng found them rather cumbersome, so after consulting Wen Ya, he had the gift boxes shipped back to Qicheng directly from the high-speed rail station. Only then could the two of them travel light again.

It takes a full twenty hours to get from Yucheng to Lishi, including the transfer.

Si Mucheng had never taken such a long train ride before, and the thought of spending almost the entire day on the train made him restless.

It's surprising how much travel this industry involves. In such a short time, they've already traveled from south to north and then to west, covering most of the country.

Si Mucheng sighed and then turned his gaze to Shi Lu.

Shi Lu stood in the aisle. She looked so much better now. She was a pretty and delicate young girl with shoulder-length hair and a childlike face. She looked very well-behaved.

Si Mucheng couldn't help but recall the way "she" was dismembered and stitched back together. He shook his head and muttered, "I'll never say 'I saw a ghost' again. Every time I say it, I really do see a ghost."

Wen Ya found it amusing when she heard this, and her lips twitched. But the next second, she noticed Shi Lu's school uniform.

Previously, the school badge on her school uniform was obscured by bloodstains, but now, Shi Lu had returned to her usual self, and the school name on her school uniform was clearly visible.

“Lishi... No. 2 Middle School,” Wen Ya read softly.

"What?" Si Mucheng reacted. "Oh, so you're a student at Lishi No. 2 Middle School?"

Shi Lu nodded, then subconsciously reached for her neck.

Si Mucheng couldn't help but think of the fragile fishing line again, and his expression turned grim. He waved his hand and said to Wen Ya, "Then can we go directly to Lishi No. 2 Middle School? No, what exactly is 'her' obsession?"

Wen Ya seemed to understand something: "Then we'll have to ask 'her' herself."

The train was crowded and noisy, making it unsuitable to discuss matters of exorcism, so Si Mucheng didn't continue the topic. Wen Ya never used her phone, and he was also too embarrassed to use it. Moreover, Wen Ya looked thoughtful and didn't seem to want to talk, so he took out the talisman manual he had borrowed from his junior brother at Yuhuang Temple to look at.

These ancient books are usually written in classical Chinese, which is really tough on a physical education student like him. When he was getting dizzy from reading them, he thought it was better not to pretend anymore. Just as he was about to go and argue with Wen Ya, he felt a weight on his left shoulder.

Before Si Mucheng could turn his head, a faint scent of sandalwood wafted into his nose.

He dared not move.

His body remained stiff for a while before he realized that Wen Ya had fallen asleep.

He couldn't help but chuckle. He finally understood. Despite Wen Ya's serious expression, as if she had encountered some troublesome matter, she might just be too full or sleepy. Just like now.

Si Mucheng sat up straighter so that Wen Ya could lean back more comfortably.

He looked down, and from this angle, he could only see Wen Ya's handsome nose and her long, flowing hair cascading down to her chest. Si Mucheng's lips curled into a smile, but when he looked up, he saw Shi Lu watching them curiously from the side.

Si Mucheng moved gently, raising his right hand and holding up a finger to his lips. Shi Lu seemed to understand, nodding slightly. Si Mucheng blinked his left eye, as if responding to Shi Lu and reaching some kind of agreement with her, before smiling again.

Wen Ya slept for a long time. The slightly noisy environment actually made her feel very at ease. She felt that the surrounding sounds were like a blanket wrapping around her, becoming white noise that lulled her to sleep.

She dreamed of her parents again.