The Rekindling of Dead Ashes: A Calamity of Yin (Part 1)

Wen Su raised an eyebrow slightly, while Zhou Ziqiu glanced at the boy's brow. Although the boy had a ghostly aura, it wasn't strong, so he was clearly not in any danger.

However, since someone has asked for help, no matter how small the request may be, we should help resolve it.

"Come upstairs with me first, and then I'll explain in detail."

Since he was going to help the boy, Wen Su put down his backpack and followed him upstairs to the second floor. He sat down next to Zhou Ziqiu, who handed the boy a cup of tea. The tea was bought by Wen Su for guests who came to Yuange for help. After all, not everyone can drink bitter tea. It was a bitter tea that even Cui Yongle would frown for a long time after drinking it once.

Dealing with powerful families is painful enough, but coming to Zhou Ziqiu's place for a short rest means drinking even more bitter tea, which is why Cui Yongle always brings his own water cup.

The boy gulped down a large mouthful of tea, then recounted his experience: "On my way home last night, I walked for ages and just kept going in circles, even though I was clearly on the right track!"

"Hmm, is there anything else?" At this point, it just sounds like a typical case of being lost in a maze.

"When I go to sleep at night, I am clearly awake, but I can't open my eyes. I feel like my body is being bound by something."

Upon hearing this, Wen Su's expression changed slightly, becoming somewhat unnatural, but Zhou Ziqiu didn't notice: "What about the others?"

Zhou Ziqiu's question immediately agitated the boy, clearly indicating that what he was about to say was something that would frighten him even more.

"If it were just these things, they would still be within my tolerance, but then, when I was half asleep, I felt someone poking at my blanket! And in the middle of the night, they even pulled my blanket off!" After saying that, the boy said, "Master, Master, you must help me! I saw in those horror movies that the ghosts are going to take my life next!"

Zhou Ziqiu said helplessly, "Where did you hear all this from?"

The boy muttered, "The Warrens from abroad! Their possession three-step process!"

"Pfft." Wen Su was amused by what the boy said. Zhou Ziqiu glanced at him, and Wen Su suppressed his laughter again. "I won't laugh anymore. You do it."

"Why don't you tell me what you did before all of this happened?"

The boy paused for a moment, tried hard to recall, but couldn't think of anything special he had done. Zhou Ziqiu had no choice but to ask him to tell him everything that had happened that night.

"Eating, listening to music, sleeping, playing games, that's about it."

Zhou Ziqiu was also a bit confused. Ghosts usually cause trouble around people when there is a trigger, but what the boy did was nothing special.

At this moment, Wen Su asked from the side, "What song were you listening to?"

The boy immediately rattled off a bunch of song titles, then added, "Oh, and the Great Compassion Mantra."

Now Zhou Ziqiu understood. He couldn't help but laugh, but he had just told Wen Su not to laugh at the guest and he couldn't laugh anymore, so he held it back: "Why are you listening to the Great Compassion Mantra at night?"

The boy asked, puzzled, "It's just a song, what's wrong with that?"

Wen Su, unusually kind, explained: "The Great Compassion Mantra is a Buddhist song used to deliver ghosts. If you listen to this song at night when the yin energy is heavy, it will attract ghosts. But you are a living person with three fires in your body. Ghosts will not do anything to you that affects your life, but they will cause trouble around you and watch you every night."

The boy's face turned deathly pale: "What should I do, Master! Is there a ghost next to me?"

Zhou Ziqiu shook his head: "No."

The boy breathed a sigh of relief, then became nervous again: "What should I do, Master!"

Wen Su stood up, casually picked up a blank yellow talisman from the cabinet next to him, drew a few lines on it, and handed it to the boy: "Put it up at home."

Having received the talisman, the boy felt much safer and said gratefully, "Master, you are such a kind person, much better than the person who replied to my message in the dim light."

The first half of the sentence was normal, but the second half was obviously full of information. Wen Su's expression became even more unnatural. He glanced at Zhou Ziqiu slightly and met Zhou Ziqiu's reproachful gaze. He was caught doing something wrong and immediately shuddered. He laughed awkwardly twice and said, "Don't mind it."

This kind of thing can't be said in front of guests, so Zhou Ziqiu vaguely brushed it off and saw the boy off. To express his apology, he even waived the boy's bill. Only after resolving the boy's problem did he go back to deal with the person who had done the wrong thing.

Wen Su was trying to run away with his bag on his back, but he was stopped at the door.

Zhou Ziqiu didn't directly ask what you said. Instead, he turned on his computer and looked through the message history in the backend. The message was very recent, just yesterday, and it was obviously sent by that boy: "Master! Is the master there? Help!"

Scroll down further to see what the text traces back to—"1"

Zhou Ziqiu raised an eyebrow slightly. He rarely made this expression, but he couldn't help himself right now. However, he still read on:

"Master, I'm being haunted by a ghost, please save me!"

"?"

Although I knew it was supposed to be the guy talking about what happened, the blank question mark was really infuriating. Then it was just the guy's monologue. He sent several messages in a row, the same ones he had mentioned earlier, and then Wen Su asked what he had said.

"Oh, it's nothing, I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

It's really not a big deal. Those ghosts were just trying to scare the boy; there's no danger to his life. Even the blessing talisman Wen Su gave him today was just an ordinary one. But the problem is, you can't talk to a guest like that.

"Wen Su." Zhou Ziqiu addressed him by his full name for the first time, and Wen Su replied, "Here."

"Not 1 anymore?"

Wen Su looked embarrassed and said, "No, thank you."

Zhou Ziqiu wanted to get angry, but when he saw Wen Su's expression of being caught out, he couldn't help but laugh. "Don't reply to others like that in the future. The Wish Pavilion is for fulfilling other people's wishes. No matter how small the wish is, we will do our best."

“Oh.” Wen Su changed the subject, “But what that person said about the Warrens was really funny.”

Zhou Ziqiu wanted to laugh when that was mentioned. Since there were no outsiders present, he chuckled and said, "Indeed."

It is common knowledge that ghosts and demons abroad are not the same as the monsters and demons in China, but they are mostly similar in type. In China, people generally believe that righteous gods do not possess people, and that those who possess people are not righteous gods. Therefore, some people regard foreign demons as domestic monsters. However, a more well-known common sense is that we should not use foreign standards to judge domestic ghosts and demons, nor should we use domestic standards to judge foreign ghosts and demons. This principle is like how different environments nurture different people.

"Have you ever had any overseas missions before?" Wen Su asked curiously.

“Yes, there have been.” Zhou Ziqiu thought about it carefully and realized that foreign organizations had indeed contacted Qingdeng, “but they were all from Thailand and Laos, not from Europe or America.”

This is quite normal, because many Asian countries share a common mystique, and some of it originates domestically, while Western mystique is independent of Asia.

"I see." Wen Su didn't ask any more questions.

This incident seemed to be just a spice in life, because what really mattered was a phone call that Cui Yongle suddenly made.

Just as Wen Su had said before.

"What happened in Guanxing?" Zhou Ziqiu asked, puzzled, on the phone.

“Several children have died, and we suspect it’s related to the Sun family,” Cui Yongle said. He had been notified yesterday and rushed to Guanxing. After confirming that it was very likely related to the Sun family, he called Zhou Ziqiu to inform him.

"Okay, I'll be there this afternoon."

"Okay, I'll send you the hotel address."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ziqiu looked helplessly at Wen Su: "Pack your luggage, and call Fatty and Glasses too."

—Even a centipede that has died does not fall down.

Wen Su went back to find Fatty and Glasses first, while Zhou Ziqiu went to the customers in the store and apologized to them for having to close temporarily. Then he went upstairs, grabbed a few clothes, and prepared to close the store.

Hearing the sound of the lock being put on, the owner of the snack shop next door hurriedly came out of the shop. Seeing Zhou Ziqiu carrying a backpack, he knew that he was going to close the shop for several days again, and couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Qiu, where are you going again?"

Zhou Ziqiu looked up and smiled: "Go to Guanxing, there's something I need to do."

"Oh, okay, okay." The shopkeeper shook the fan in his hand and sighed, "You've been going out so often lately, it feels like you're always busy."

Zhou Ziqiu paused in pulling out the key: "Really? Maybe my luck isn't good this year."

"Bad luck? Hey, let me tell you, there's a temple in the Baiyushan Scenic Area that sells talismans! They're 100 yuan a piece, but I don't know if they're effective."

After saying goodbye to the kind snack shop owner, Zhou Ziqiu did not leave Changle Street immediately. Instead, he sat in a milk tea shop with three cups of milk tea on the table in front of him. Wen Su, Glasses, and Fatty belonged to his Liaoyuan Pavilion. As their "boss," he naturally had to be considerate of his employees.

Not long after, a car pulled up and stopped in front of the milk tea shop. Zhou Ziqiu saw Wen Su sitting in the passenger seat, then took the milk tea, left the milk tea shop, and got into the car.

"Another rented car?" Zhou Ziqiu handed the milk tea to the three of them. After thanking him, the fat man answered Zhou Ziqiu's question while driving, "Yeah, buying a car isn't cost-effective."

None of the three of them usually have a fixed place to live. For example, it's relatively close to Guanxing from Luoqi, so they can drive there. But if it's a city like Yunan that spans half of China, it's impossible to drive there. So they usually rent cars and houses.

"Oh." Zhou Ziqiu was just asking casually, not intending to delve deeper, so he changed the subject and asked, "Why didn't you let Wen Su drive?"

The fat man and the man with glasses immediately looked at Zhou Ziqiu with horrified eyes and exclaimed in unison, "What are you saying!"

Clearly, he had experienced Wen Su's driving skills firsthand.

Zhou Ziqiu then recalled what Wen Su had said to him, and after a moment of silence, said, "That's true."

Wen Su, in the passenger seat, immediately clicked his tongue in displeasure.

Normally, it takes about five hours to drive from Luoqi to Guanxing. So, the group arrived in Guanxing city around 4 PM. After another half hour, they found the hotel address sent by Cui Yongle. After checking in, they went to the hotel. About an hour after arriving at the hotel, Cui Yongle returned from the police station with four photocopied documents for the four of them to see. The documents were heavy. When Zhou Ziqiu opened them, the first thing he saw was the forensic report. It stated that the deceased died of mechanical asphyxiation by hanging, and there was a small hole in the forehead, suspected to be caused by a long needle, about five centimeters long.

Flipping through a few more pages, you see photos taken by the police at the scene to document the deceased, along with close-ups of certain areas. It looks like a typical murder case, but the striking and undeniable detail—the small hole in the boy's forehead where a needle had pierced his forehead—caused everyone present to change their expressions slightly.

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