On the other side, within the town:

After a busy night, the barbecue restaurant finally saw off its last customer.

Looking at the exhausted Sister Yingchun, Zhao Youliang spoke up.

"Sister, you go back first. I can pack up by myself."

"The event ended early today, so there's still time to go back and offer incense after we've finished packing up."

Yingchun's sister-in-law did not reject Zhao Youliang's concern for her.

While lazily yawning, she said, "It's so nice to have a younger brother."

"Okay, then I'll head back first... I feel completely drained every month when 'that' comes, it's really unbearable."

At this point, Sister Yingchun blushed slightly, and without saying anything more, she went out and headed towards her own home.

Not long after Sister Yingchun left, the big yellow dog walked in with its chest puffed out and head held high, swaggering in like an official.

It's unclear whether they came to pick him up because they were worried about Zhao Youliang's safety, or because they were afraid of delaying the offering of incense to the effigies, so they came specifically to find him.

Judging from the daily life of the person and the dog, it should be the latter more often.

Zhao Youliang clearly thought the same thing, and quickly looked at his watch while speaking.

"Brother Dog, you're here? It's not time yet, why are you in such a hurry!"

To avoid getting beaten up, Zhao Youliang had already put the clean meat skewers on a clean plate and respectfully placed them in front of the big yellow dog.

"Sir, please eat first, I'll get to work quickly!"

The big yellow dog was clearly very satisfied with Zhao Youliang's attitude, so it stopped glaring at him and went back to eating.

Zhao Youliang finally breathed a long sigh of relief and subconsciously sped up his work.

There was nothing I could do; that big yellow dog was too fierce, and I was terrified of being beaten up...

Just as peace was temporarily restored between the man and the dog, heavy footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

Zhao Youliang thought that a guest had come to have a second meal.

So without looking up, he said, "Sorry you're late, the barbecue chef has gone home. Come back another day."

Compared to Zhao Youliang's carefree attitude, the big yellow dog was much more alert:

At first, it was startled, then it sniffed carefully at the wind blowing in and was even more startled. While keeping a wary eye on the door, it barked wildly and retreated rapidly.

And then he swiftly hid behind Zhao Youliang.

Seeing the big yellow dog's actions, Zhao Youliang immediately realized: something evil had come, and a particularly sinister one at that!

Otherwise, the hooligans wouldn't be so scared!

"Who's there? Show yourself! My master is here, don't go too far!"

As they were talking, Zhao Youliang had already moved behind the big yellow dog, picked up a stool, and stood ready.

The big yellow dog was instantly dumbfounded. Just as it was about to turn around again, it saw a figure stagger in, covered in an eerie aura.

Zhao Youliang was about to smash the chair in his hand when he saw this, but he froze instantly.

The chair was held in the air, and his whole body trembled slightly: "Uncle Sun?!"

"I'm so glad you're alright! I...I missed you and my mother-in-law!!"

As he spoke, Zhao Youliang was already in tears. He dropped the chair he had raised and rushed towards Manager Sun, embracing him tightly.

She feared that if she relaxed even slightly, the old man who had finally returned to her side would disappear again.

He was left all alone, living in this small town, facing the coldness and warmth of human relationships by himself.

Feeling Zhao Youliang's body temperature, and especially seeing the hot tears dripping onto his face, Manager Sun became more lucid.

"Quantum, quantum?"

His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping, indescribably grating.

"Yes, yes, it's me, Uncle Sun!"

"Uncle, what's wrong? Tell me quickly if you feel unwell!"

"Uncle, don't scare me!!"

As they spoke, Manager Sun, who was now more lucid, struggled to sit up in Zhao Youliang's arms.

She reached out her large, withered hand and wiped away his tears.

"Quantum, quantum, don't cry."

"Uncle, Uncle doesn't have much time left, please listen to me."

"Uncle is already dead, bitten to death by the golden-armored corpse... but he was filled with resentment and turned into a walking corpse."

"Originally... I wanted to take all the beasts in town away to avenge my older sister, so you could live a good life and not be bullied by them. Unfortunately, I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry..."

At this moment, Zhao Youliang was already crying his eyes out, shaking his head vigorously.

Seeing Zhao Youliang in this state, Manager Sun's cloudy eyes were filled with heartache.

She wanted to reach out and wipe away his tears one more time, but she was already exhausted.

They couldn't even complete such a simple action.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Youliang quickly grabbed Manager Sun's withered hand and placed it on his face.

"Quantum, quantum, you must remember what I'm about to say!"

"There are good things in the tomb. Try to get them out. They can help you get rid of the paper-making shop."

"Also, here's something else for you, eat it...you absolutely must eat it..."

Before he could finish speaking, Manager Sun's large hand, which was stroking Zhao Youliang's cheek, suddenly dropped.

Immediately afterwards, his entire body withered rapidly, turning into a layer of white ash in Zhao Youliang's arms, and disappearing completely with the night wind.

All that remained were a piercing nail, an ancient book, and a blood-red Ganoderma lucidum.

A small piece of the blood lingzhi was missing, as if it had been bitten by something.

"No!!"

Zhao Youliang looked up to the sky and cried out in despair, then his vision went black and he collapsed to the ground.

When he woke up again, the first thing he saw was the expressionless face of the mad prisoner.

"Alright, he's fine now."

"Grasshopper, you carry Quantum, let's go back to the temple!"

Zhao Youliang felt a splitting headache and was delirious: "How long have I been unconscious?"

The grasshopper spirit replied, "It won't be long, don't worry."

"When Master Huang went back to report the news, General Prisoner and I rushed over immediately."

"If we go back now, we'll definitely have time to offer incense to the front house."

The grasshopper spirit's mention of the front room refers to the two eerie dolls.

Because Zhao Youliang was not fully awake at this time, he did not notice that the grasshopper spirit actually called the big yellow dog "Master Big Yellow".

"Oh right, Quantum, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly faint?"

“When I and the prisoner general came, we didn’t find anything evil that could harm you.”

Zhao Youliang was in a state of grief and naturally had no mood to recount what had just happened.

After saying "It's nothing," he let the grasshopper spirit carry him back to the paper-making shop.

After mechanically offering incense to the two puppets, he lay down on the bed.

She buried herself completely under the covers and cried uncontrollably... her sobs were heart-wrenching.

The big yellow dog, unusually, didn't find him annoying and just sat quietly by the bed, silently watching over Zhao Youliang.

The evil spirits in the back hall were whispering among themselves: "What's wrong with Quantum? Why is he crying so hard?"

"Were you bullied?"

"Who the hell is so bold as to bully our disciples!"

"No, this isn't over!!"