Chapter 87

"I just got here, give me a bunch quickly."

The boss handed me a string, I took it and asked, "How much?"

"Three months."

"What do you mean three months? I'm asking how much it costs." I was confused by what the boss said.

He looked at me with a smile, gestured with his hands, and said, "Three months."

I'm sure he's dead serious.

I glanced around again and finally realized something was amiss. The lights, bright just moments ago, were now shimmering green, and the shop signs exuded a sinister aura. Countless pedestrians on the street had turned pale, looking nothing like human beings beneath the dim green light.

I finally understood that the three months the boss was talking about meant three months of my life. I wouldn't give him even a single day, let alone three months.

They all looked at me, and I knew something was wrong, so I slowly turned my head.

Unexpectedly, the boss's face came in front of me. He had a normal smile on his face just now, but now it looked extremely weird.

"I don't want it anymore." I carefully put the candied haws back into his candied haws rack and ran away.

It's like escaping from a pack of wolves and falling into the tiger's mouth.

I ran out a few steps and then stopped.

Standing in front of me was Lao Li. He hadn't left yet, waiting for me. I looked back and saw that the market, with all its shops and people, had been transformed into paper figures. A group of paper figures were walking stiffly towards me.

I am in a dilemma now, but Lao Li is easier to deal with than those guys.

I took out the bracelet and chanted: "Nine Heavens Ying Yuan Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable, Nine Heavens Ying Yuan Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable."

Lao Li didn't come close to me, so I took advantage of this opportunity to run away.

At this moment, Lao Li suddenly made a strange movement. I saw that his head was splitting apart bit by bit from the nose to the top of his head. In this way, half of his head was drooping, and the other half was standing upright.

I was about to flee, but it was too late. The paper figures took advantage of my moment of inattention and surrounded me from all directions. More paper figures appeared on the hill, baring their fangs and emitting evil laughs, as if they had grabbed hold of some delicious flesh.

Seeing so many paper figures, my scalp tingled, not to mention that there was an old Li who was eyeing me covetously.

I put the bracelet on my hand and waved it vigorously to keep them away. But although they were afraid, they were outnumbered and my two fists were no match for four hands, so they finally got close to me.

The paper man grabbed my arm and left several wounds on my arm with its long nails, but my blood was absorbed by it, and its cheeks became even redder.

Seeing the red, they became even more crazy and rushed towards me desperately. I quickly squatted down, holding my head with both hands, and quickly chanted "Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun".

"Cuckoo!" A rooster crowed in the dark night.

Lao Li's body fell to the ground with a thud, and the paper figures that had been attacking me all froze in their tracks. Then I saw, in the distance, a young man holding a chicken. The chicken glowed with golden light, and the rooster's crow signaled the dawn of the world—a perfect moment.

I quickly walked out of the encirclement. Even though they had all turned into ordinary paper people now, seeing the paper people all over the mountains looking at me still made me feel cold all over.

"How could a little girl like you get involved with these things?" asked the young man.

"I was tricked. Thank you so much for what I did just now," I said.

At this time, I could see his appearance clearly. He was about thirty years old and looked very energetic. The rooster was crowing softly in his arms.

"Why are you here in the middle of the night?" I asked him.

"This is a mass grave, full of yin energy. My master asked me to keep watch here, but who knew I'd run into someone as unlucky as you."

After hearing what he said, I looked again and saw that those paper figures had turned into broken tombstones, covering the entire hill.

If it were in the past, I would have been able to sense it.

I felt a little embarrassed and said, "I didn't know this would happen."

"Let's go, let's leave here first."

So he walked in front to lead the way and I followed him.

Along the way, I inquired about his background. He and his master lived at the Qingfeng Temple not far ahead, and usually made a living by fortune-telling. Fortunately, the nearby villagers came to them for help, so they could get by.

He came here to keep watch tonight at the behest of his master, who said that someone would die in the mass grave tonight.

I am also a little curious about his master. His calculations are so accurate. Could he be a genius comparable to Master Zhang?

We chatted with each other intermittently, and the atmosphere was a little awkward. I said, "Can I hold the chicken in your arms?"

After hearing this, he hugged the rooster tightly and said defensively: "This is the golden rooster I have raised for five years. I won't let anyone else hold it."

The golden rooster seemed to understand what he said and cuckooed twice.

I have never seen such a psychic chicken. To be honest, I am a little envious. At this moment, I really want a chicken. Anything else is fine, I just want to have a pet.

When I'm outside alone, I won't feel bored if I have a pet to keep me company.

But he refused to let me touch the chicken no matter what. He was guarding against me like a thief, afraid that I would snatch it away.

After walking for a while, I asked him, "Why haven't you arrived yet?"

"It's almost there, it's almost there, why are you in such a hurry?" he said.

As soon as he finished speaking, I saw a Taoist temple ahead. As I got closer, I saw the words "Qingfeng" written on the temple. On either side of the gate stood two stone elephants. This temple, however, was much smaller than Baiyun Temple.

We shouldn't have to sleep in the wilderness tonight.

He carried the rooster into the Taoist temple, and I followed him.

I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and stopped.

Seeing that I was hesitant to move, he turned around and looked at me puzzledly and asked, "What's wrong?"

I stared at him, not daring to move another step.

"Come in," he urged.

I clenched the bracelet and looked at him silently.

He suddenly became impatient, his voice shrill, and then he lunged at me. In mid-air, he transformed into a ghost, his skin pale, wearing a felt hat, a long braid, his eyes glowing green, and his cheeks were hollow. The golden rooster he held in his arms was actually a skeleton.

Jian Dan rushed towards me with such ferocity, but I remained motionless, holding the bracelet in front of me. As soon as he touched it, his body was instantly filled with electricity. This was the power of thunder contained in the lightning-struck jujube wood. Under this force, he disappeared completely in a moment.

The scene before me shifted again. Instead of Qingfeng Temple, I faced a cliff. If I took another step forward or back, I'd fall. Because in this illusion, even if you think you're moving backward, you're actually moving forward. That's why I didn't dare move.

This is thanks to what I learned at Baiyun Temple. The two stone elephants at the entrance to Qingfeng Temple aren't just ordinary white elephants, but the transformations of the legendary "Wang Xiang." The "Wang Xiang" is a mysterious ancient beast that feeds on the brains of the dead. Besides, temples usually have stone lions at their entrances, not elephants.

I quickly moved away from the cliff. All this was caused by that gentleman!