Chapter 118 Patio

The glaring red signal light finally started flashing again after being silent for a long time, but after only a few quick flashes, it was like a candle flame blown out by a cold wind, quietly extinguished. Along with it also disappeared the emergency room door, the deep and endless hospital corridor, the bloodstains on the ground that had turned from red to black, the nurse who was urging the payment of the life-saving fee... and the man who was grabbed by the collar.

This hospital that appeared out of nowhere quickly dissipated before everyone's eyes. What surprised Qing Bai was that the white wall engraved with the words "safe" and "smooth" did not collapse until the very end, but the words on it seemed to have changed a little... It turned out to be the only reality in this false space.

wrong……

Qing Bai looked at the middle-aged woman who fell to the ground due to losing her support and fell into coma before she could even make a sound.

This one is real too.

The atmosphere in the hospital dissipated, and Tong Jiunian seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and even his cold and gloomy face became much more lively.

He looked at Qing Bai, his eyes neither angry nor happy, very complicated: "Long time no see...Qing Bai classmate."

What a sad scene it is when old classmates meet again after many years, only to find that they are separated by life and death and everything has changed.

Although Qi Xiaopang and Xiao Wu didn't know the whole story, they were still infected by the atmosphere. They all turned their eyes to Qing Bai, expecting his reaction.

Qing Bai frowned: "Don't talk to me with his face."

Brother, you are too straightforward!

Little Wu Qi and Xiao Pang were startled, fearing that this fake 'Tong Jiu Nian' would be driven crazy by Qing Bai's undisguised disdain.

Fortunately, Tong Jiunian's temper was better than they had imagined. He just glanced at the middle-aged woman lying on the ground with a bit of embarrassment, sighed slightly, and raised his hand to wipe it across his face. After a sound similar to kneading mud, when he put his hand down, Tong Jiunian turned into the pale girl Liu Yixin they were familiar with, of course, a normal version below the neck.

"Why isn't it a cat?" Qing Bai asked deliberately.

Liu Yixin froze, her tone somewhat helpless: "You figured it out? I thought I was pretending well."

Liu Yixin raised his hand, looking at his almost translucent palm and said self-deprecatingly, "It can't be helped. I died too early... Maintaining a human form isn't easy either."

Qing Bai nodded, but didn't ask why she pretended to be Tong Jiunian. He just said, "Didn't you receive the donation from the school that year?"

Although he was not familiar with Liu Yixin when he was in school, they were classmates after all. When the school organized a donation, he and Tong Jiunian contributed more than a month's living expenses. If that money never reached the intended recipient, then the three free meals a day of vegetable soup and rice in the cafeteria would be... He would be really angry.

Speaking of this, Qi Xiaopang, who had just played the role of a class teacher, was also very curious, because he was the one who had the money before.

Liu Yixin was silent for a moment and did not answer Qing Bai's question: "I want to ask you for a favor."

Qing Bai didn't ask any more questions: "You say."

Liu Yixin's expression was solemn. He turned back to look at the ancient ancestral hall, which had gradually revealed its true appearance due to the disappearance of the hospital. His voice was erratic, like the wisp of smoke that lingered in the air after the burning of incense and candles. "My ashes...my ashes were hidden in the ancestral hall by my mother. Can you help me get them out?"

What kind of x-female ghost plot is this?

Qi Xiaopang and Xiao Wu looked at each other and felt that there was something more complicated than this.

But Qing Bai, who was always sharp and ruthless, seemed to suddenly think of their schoolmates and seemed very easy to talk to: "Where exactly is it in the ancestral hall?"

No matter how she listened to it, it sounded like the answer to her request. Liu Yixin's eyes suddenly lit up: "I don't know exactly where it is, I can only vaguely sense that it is in the ancestral hall-"

Before he could finish his words, a faint voice of calling suddenly came from afar. When Liu Yixin heard the voice, it was like a data frame being stuck. His expression was still frozen in the previous moment, but his body seemed to be pulled by an invisible silk thread and flew back several feet.

At the last second before she was swallowed by the night, her frozen expression finally relaxed, and she took one last look at the middle-aged woman lying unconscious on the ground.

"There is, there is an ambush?!" Qi Xiaopang was frightened by this sudden change. He kept glancing at the gate of the ancestral hall, and did not forget to help the middle-aged woman on the ground, making full preparations to run away.

Qing Bai and Xiao Wu had long known how many monsters and demons were hiding in this land. Compared to Liu Yixin's petty tricks that couldn't even be considered intimidation, this unexpected change made them feel like "it's finally here."

Therefore, after watching Liu Yixin "leave the stage", Qing Bai not only had no intention of chasing him, but also squatted down to observe the collapsed white wall.

He picked up a half-broken brick, a layer of yellowed lime still remaining from age, moisture, and mold. Qing Bai's slender fingertips gently traced the black marks on the remaining lime, marks that even time and mold couldn't erode... He was right. The words had indeed changed—from "safe" and "smooth" to "help" and "save me." The black that had penetrated three inches into the wall wasn't ink, but dried blood.

"Let's go." Qing Bai put down the broken bricks and had a deeper understanding of the giant locust tree.

Qi Xiaopang, who was supporting the middle-aged woman who was unable to move on her own, was a little happy when he heard his brother Qing say that they were leaving. However, when he saw that his brother's "leaving" actually meant walking into the ancestral hall, his legs suddenly became weak.

"Brother, you...I..."

Xiao Wu carefully examined the unconscious middle-aged (human) woman (sandbag) and said firmly, "Leave it here. You won't die."

Qi Xiaopang was shocked: "Are you sure?"

Leaving an unconscious person in this damn place is the same as dumping the body, right?!

Xiao Wu chuckled and said, "I think following us inside is courting death."

Qi Xiaopang: "..."

Mom's words cannot be refuted, so why should we seek death!

"Don't worry, this person still has a long life ahead of him." Xiao Wu said, taking out a talisman and sticking it on the middle-aged woman's forehead. "This way, there's no risk."

Looking up, he met Qi Xiaopang's doubtful and solemn gaze. Xiao Wu thought he was questioning his judgment and the effectiveness of the talisman, so he immediately patted his chest and guaranteed: "I am a professional ghost official with rich experience. I can predict the lifespan with the naked eye and the error is never more than a month! This talisman is also a master-level talisman that is worth a fortune! Double insurance!"

The key is that they are eager to attract fire. With Xiao Lingxi as popular as them, only a very capable monster would go out of their way to make things difficult for an ordinary person.

"I don't mean to question you," Qi Xiaopang's expression suddenly changed, and he smiled flatteringly, "I just want you to help me take a look."

"What are you looking at?"

"Look at my lifespan!" Fat Qi was worried. "I'm just an ordinary person. It would be so harmful to my health if I kept encountering ghosts like this! What if my lifespan is shortened? If I run into danger again, wouldn't that be like hanging myself?"

Having said that, Fatty Qi honestly followed Qing Bai into the ancestral hall.

Xiao Wu felt that what Qi Xiaopang said made sense, so she took two steps to catch up with him and read his fortune. But what she saw was shocking... She couldn't see anything!

Xiao Wu didn't believe it, so he focused his eyes and looked again - but still saw nothing.

But when she looked closely, she realized that the aura around Qi Xiaopang was extremely complex and difficult to discern. She didn't know whether to describe it as empty or chaotic and turbid...

Oh no, maybe I’ve been slacking off too much during this period and my professional skills have fallen behind!

"What's going on?" Fatty Qi didn't notice Xiao Wu's fear at all. "Look at my brother Qing again! He always gets into trouble!"

Xiao Wu said vaguely, "He's lucky."

Qi Xiaopang: “???” What kind of good fortune is this!

"Very good." Qing Bai suddenly replied, but his eyes fell on a plaque in front of him that read "We are of the same blood and share the same roots."

What's good? Is life good? Or is that plaque good?

Qi Xiaopang wanted to ask more questions, but was infected by the strangely quiet atmosphere around him and kept his mouth shut.

Although Juhuai is a small place surrounded by mountains, the ancestral hall is built with great care. It is located in the best feng shui location in the town, and its scale is much larger than those ancestral halls with two or three courtyards, or one, two or three courtyards. In short, it is unexpectedly spacious inside.

Upon entering, one is greeted by a solid, energy-gathering screen wall. The front is carved with the twelve zodiac animals in chronological order, while the back features a locust tree with a massive canopy. The only drawback is the limited space on the screen wall. Despite the repeated reductions in size, the resulting image remains a cramped mass. And a deciduous tree like the locust tree, with its dense branches and leaves, is not ideal for wall carving. Yet, the result is such that if it weren't for the inscriptions beside it, no one would have recognized the snarling, dark mass as a locust tree.

"Or what's that sacred locust tree?" Fatty Qi almost collapsed on the wall, still unable to comprehend it. "Isn't this art form too advanced?"

Qing Bai raised his chin: "Not only locust trees, but also birds."

"What bird?"

The two of them looked up along Qing Bai's line of sight and discovered that on the treetops that looked like black fog, there was a small, abrupt, dark mass like an ink dot.

Xiao Wu carefully examined it for a moment and said, "This shape looks like... a crane?"

"You can see that?" Fatty Qi praised sincerely, "Amazing!"

Xiao Wu curled his lips and said, "The birds that appear most frequently in these ancient buildings are various cranes. White cranes, yellow cranes, and red-crowned cranes. They are auspicious."

"But this is the first time I've seen such a small and blurred crane pattern."

Qing Bai looked at the black spot on the treetops and remembered the crane feathers he had seen in Jiu Nian's place: "Black Crane..."

"Brother, what did you say?"

Qing Bai shook his head without explaining.

After passing the screen wall and walking a little further in, you will reach the courtyard. Courtyards are mostly seen in courtyard-style houses in the southern region. They are known as the key to a house. They are not only related to wealth and fortune, but also can store and nourish energy. Those who pay attention to feng shui will do their best to build it to be even and square.

This ancestral hall is naturally the same, with a flat and square patio and neat tiles. Every line between the eaves seems to be drawn with a ruler. One can imagine the wonderful scene of "four waters returning to the hall" when it rains, when the water from the sky flows into the central pond like wealth from all directions.

Standing in it, you can see the ground when you look down and the sky when you look up, it is very clear.

Unfortunately, it was late at night and dark clouds were hanging overhead. No matter whether I looked down or up, I could only see a square of thick black.

But if you look at it for a long time, you can occasionally catch a glimpse of tiny flashes of light. Perhaps there are stars and the moon behind the dark clouds... like black velvet.

Qing Bai thought endlessly.

"Hiss... Why is it so cold here?" Qi Xiaopang's muttering was not loud, but it echoed faintly here, which scared him.

Qing Bai withdrew his gaze from the sky: "It's raining."

As soon as he finished speaking, water drops fell along the eaves, making a dull "gulp" sound, which did not sound like the sound of water drops hitting the ground.

Xiao Wu looked out and saw ripples below the skylight. His expression suddenly changed. "What genius feng shui master designed this ancestral hall? The skylight pond is actually a real pond?"

Qi Xiaopang didn't understand folk feng shui, so he asked in confusion, "Isn't a Douchi a pond? I've seen many sophisticated people build ponds at home to store water. Even if they don't have the space for a pond, they'll still make a water tank to raise fish and lotus flowers. It's said that in feng shui, water represents wealth and fortune."

Xiao Wu retracted his head and said, "In Feng Shui, water is indeed the key to wealth, but not all water is useful. A pool of stagnant water won't bring wealth, it will only attract mosquitoes, flies, and rheumatism."

Qi Xiaopang: "...It's so real."

Xiao Wu: "A proper courtyard, in addition to providing light and ventilation, also has the function of drainage. It's not simply a collection of water to store in the hall. Simply flowing water directly will lead to dissipation. Therefore, the shallow pond below the courtyard must be positioned with an outlet strictly according to feng shui orientation. Three loops and five curves, generating inflow and suppressing outflow, are the key to long-term success."

Fat Qi didn't quite understand, but thankfully said, "Fortunately, we were cautious and didn't step in. Who knows how many years the water has been stored here."

The more Fat Qi looked at the dark, still pool of water, as still as a large black slab, the more uncomfortable he felt. He felt an itch on his back. "Ugh, how dirty!"

Qing Bai glanced at him and said, "The people living here are not human."

"Emm...that's right." Fat Qi was convinced.

The ancestral tablets are not afraid of rheumatism caused by mosquito bites.

Xiao Wu still found it strange: "So do people here really value Feng Shui and their ancestors?"

If you say they don't care, this ancestral hall is of the highest quality, whether in terms of location, specifications, or building materials. But if you say they care, then the interior is so messed up that she feels it's lacking in every detail.

The sound of rain grew louder. Qing Bai's expression was as cold as his voice. "Do you know what this ancestral hall is called?"

Xiao Wu: "What else can an ancestral hall be called? Isn't it just the word 'ancestral hall' with a surname added in front of it—"

Xiao Wu's nonchalant voice abruptly ceased, as if a revelation had struck her. The shadow of suspicion that had been looming in her mind finally revealed its true form—Juhuai was a small place, but it wasn't a village with only a hundred households. It was a town. Regardless of its size, the residents here wouldn't all have the same surname. Yet, based on what she had seen during the earlier parade, the townspeople gathered at the ancestral hall for a grand occasion, looking like a single, large family.

...Could it be that all the people in the town come to this ancestral hall to worship the same ancestor?