Secluded Lake
When they got home, Sister Jiang was sitting in the living room crying anxiously. Qiu Zimu told them that he had just asked all the neighbors, but no one had seen Guoguo.
"Don't worry, I have a way." Liu Muzhe burned a talisman in front of Guoguo's mother. Guoguo's mother inhaled the white smoke and closed her eyes unconsciously. She said in surprise and happiness that she saw Guoguo.
After a while, Guoguo's mother shouted loudly: "Don't drag him! Go away, go away!"
"What's wrong with her?" Ye Jing'an was confused.
"Wait until she finishes reading it." Liu Muzhe said.
"Don't bite him, give Guoguo back to me!" Guoguo's mother's tears flowed out. After crying for a while, Guoguo's mother suddenly said in horror, "Don't go there, there is the lake god! Don't offend him! Go away, go away!"
Ye Jing'an and Qiu Zimu were completely bewildered. Were they looking for a child? Why was it acting out like a play? Even the Lake God was mentioned. Where was the lake? They'd heard of river gods, but why was there another Lake God? Even if there was a lake, how big could it be? Wouldn't the Lake God be cramped living there?
Ye Jing'an was amused. He glanced at Liu Muze and wondered if he had burned the talisman incorrectly, causing hallucinations. However, Liu Muze looked serious and didn't seem to be joking, so he didn't ask any more questions or bother Guoguo's mother.
After crying for a while, Guoguo's mother suddenly calmed down, hummed in confusion, and then opened her eyes and woke up.
"What did you see?" Ye Jing'an asked.
"Guoguo! I saw Guoguo! He went out to catch grasshoppers and was dragged away by a monkey! The monkey dragged him to the dark lake behind, and for some reason suddenly screamed, dropped Guoguo and ran away. That lake is very dangerous, and Guoguo is still there, I have to go save him!" Guoguo's mother rushed out the door.
"We'll go with you." Ye Jing'an said.
After passing through a small forest, I actually saw a lake. It was about the size of two basketball courts, and the water was dark green and black.
Guoguo was laughing and dancing by the lake at this time. His movements seemed like Ye Jingan and Qiu Zimu were teasing him when he was a child, but there was no one teasing Guoguo in front of him.
Guoguo's mother picked up Guoguo and walked back, saying with lingering fear: "Be good, Guoguo, don't be afraid. You scared me to death. Don't run around next time."
"We found it, let's go back too." Qiu Zimu said.
"Let's go." Ye Jing'an took two steps and found that Liu Muze had not followed him. He was still staring at the lake. "Brother Liu, what are you looking at? Let's go."
After returning home, Guoguo's mother took a towel and wiped the mud off Guoguo's body. There was a place on his arm that was scratched by the monkey and was bleeding. She carefully applied medicine on Guoguo. Guoguo was stung by the medicine and cried loudly. Guoguo's mother blew on the wound and comforted him.
"I'm glad you're okay." Ye Jing'an said, "Sister Jiang, what did you just say about Youhu being dangerous and having a lake god?"
Guoguo's mother calmed down and told them about Youhu Lake.
A few years ago, the lake was actually quite healthy, with plenty of fish, and the villagers would go there to catch and eat. But two years ago, the cattle and sheep kept in the village began to go missing and were nowhere to be found. Several families in the village even started arguing over this, suspecting that the villagers had stolen their cattle and sheep and taken them to the market to sell.
More and more cattle and sheep were missing, and even the family dog ​​disappeared. Everyone couldn't help but suspect that some kind of monster had eaten the livestock. Until one day, a villager was passing by Youhu Lake on his way back from collecting herbs in the mountains. He saw from a distance a small yellow ox being pulled into the lake by a large dark green hand.
He was so frightened that he dropped his backpack and scrambled back to the village, describing what he had seen by the lake. Half of them didn't believe him, thinking he had been contacted by the cattle thieves to tell them a lie, or that he was the cattle thief himself and was deliberately playing tricks.
Some people who believed in ghosts and spirits believed his words very much. One or two villagers, who were skeptical, said they had seen dark shadows floating across the surface of Youhu Lake, and some even heard strange cries. The rumors about Youhu Lake spread, causing panic among the people, who were afraid to go near the lake anymore.
Hiding like this wasn't an option, so everyone decided to invite someone knowledgeable to take a look. The Taoist priest who came over claimed to be the 82nd generation descendant of the Zhang family. He wore a yellow Taoist robe, his body covered with magical instruments like bells, and held a red flag in his hand.
"Zhang family? Could it be Zhang Sanfeng?" Ye Jing'an sneered. After hearing Guoguo's mother's description, two words popped up in his mind: liar!
These days, you can't be superstitious. Those with some real skills tend to be low-key, like Brother Liu. His father has a ton of magical tools, but he doesn't wear them when he goes out to work. He usually just carries a sword and a couple of things he needs in a bag, and wears his clothes. Anyway, you can't guess what he does. When people ask him why he carries a sword, he says he practices in the park.
Ye Jingan glanced at Liu Muze again. Brother Liu looked much younger than his father, fair and tender. He could debut as a star in a small shirt. Who could have guessed that he could catch ghosts and exorcise demons? On the contrary, those charlatans who dressed up in fancy clothes, afraid that others would not know what they did, were definitely liars!
"What's the result?" Qiu Zimu asked.
"The Taoist priest was dancing and performing rituals by the lake, saying that we had offended the lake god and eaten all his people. The lake god would be angry and would also eat our livestock," said Guoguo's mother.
"Pfft..." Ye Jing'an couldn't hold it in any longer and complained, "This Lake God sounds a bit petty. Why is he still angry? Hahahahaha!"
"Don't laugh at the lake god, he'll get angry! The Taoist priest said we have to pay tribute to the lake god with live livestock every month to stop him from getting angry again," Guoguo's mother said. "Since then, we've followed the Taoist priest's advice, and no one has lost livestock anymore, and we've lived here in peace."
Ye Jingan muttered in his heart: I feed it to people once a month, so no one will come to steal it.
"The Taoist priest is truly amazing! The monkey that was dragging Guoguo screamed and ran away. It must have been the Lake God who saved Guoguo! I'm going to buy some mutton to thank him," Guoguo's mother said gratefully. "Thank you for helping me find my child. Please stay a few more days. I'll go to the street to buy some good food tomorrow and treat you all to a feast!"
"Thank you, Sister Jiang!" Ye Jing'an thought that Brother Liu had been looking at the lake for a while before, and he might know what was inside. He turned around and planned to ask Brother Liu and walk around the lake, but he saw Liu Muze had already gone upstairs. "Brother Liu, what are you doing? Are you going to walk around the lake?"
"No, I'm sleepy." Liu Muzhe said.
"It's only a little after seven o'clock, are you sleepy?" Ye Jing'an said.
"Were you on guard last night?" Liu Muzhe retorted.
Ye Jingan paused. He had slept soundly that night lying on Brother Liu's lap. No wonder he wasn't very sleepy. Brother Liu had fought with Xi Shou for quite a while the next day. He must have been exhausted. Ye Jingan didn't want to disturb him. Of course, even if he did, Brother Liu wouldn't care. "Go to sleep, go to sleep."
It's still unclear what's in the lake, and without Brother Liu around, Ye Jing'an and Qiu Zimu really don't dare go. It's not just that they're afraid of the thing in the lake, but if something does happen, they won't be able to solve it, and Brother Liu will have to intervene.
Brother Liu was always irritable when he woke up, and waking him up to deal with these things would definitely make him furious. Ye Jingan thought it would be better to wait for him to have a good night's sleep before going to see it together tomorrow. After all, there were a lot of delicious foods here, so there was no rush to go back.
Early in the morning, Ye Jing'an smelled the aroma of meat and guessed that Sister Jiang must have made some delicious breakfast. He got up, washed up, and followed the aroma downstairs. Liu Muze sat in the living room drinking tea. After a good night's sleep, he seemed in a good mood and said good morning to Ye Jing'an with a faint smile.
"Good morning, Brother Liu. Did you get enough sleep?" Ye Jing'an said with a smile.
"Well, it's okay." Liu Muzhe took a sip of tea.
"Brother Liu, what happened to the Lake God yesterday?" Ye Jing'an asked.
"There is no lake god, just a ghost." Liu Muzhe said.
"Ghost?" Ye Jing'an always felt that he had heard this word somewhere, but he couldn't remember it for a while.
"It's a drowned ghost." Liu Muzhe said.
"It's time for breakfast!" Qiu Zimu and Guoguo's mother brought out four bowls of minced meat noodles.
Ye Jingan threw the time at Youhu out of his mind. Now all he could see was the noodles. He decided to eat first and talk later. This noodle looked light, but it tasted very rich, a bit like the noodles from Qiu Zimu's family.
Ye Jingan suddenly remembered where he had heard of ghosts. Before going to Qiu Zimu's hometown, he had seen the map Ye Zhuoran gave him. There was a mission on it that mentioned rescuing ghosts. However, he didn't believe in ghosts at the time and didn't pay much attention to it. Unexpectedly, he actually encountered one.
I wonder if the ghost in the lake is the same one my father mentioned. Ye Jingan thought about looking at the map, and suddenly realized that he had treated the map as a useless thing and casually put it in a book, leaving it in his room and never taking it out.
He sent a message to Ye Zhuoran asking for a photo of the map. He knew his father's habit of showing off. Every time he spent time making something, he would take a photo as a souvenir.
After a while, Ye Zhuoran called and asked, "Ye Jingan, did you lose the map I made?!"
"How could that be? I kept it as a treasure, but I just forgot to take it when I went out on a mission this time." Ye Jing'an said.
Ye Zhuoran said, "It's ok as long as it's not lost. I'll find it and send it to you later. Also, please come back sometime in the next two days. I need something..."
"Let's talk later. I'm going to eat first." Ye Jing'an hung up the phone and continued to slurp noodles.
After dinner, Ye Jingan saw that Ye Zhuoran had sent him more than ten messages, probably all urging him to go back and do something. Ye Jingan simply ignored the text and clicked on the map photo.
Within the Dark Cloud Realm's Youhu Lake in Yilang County, there lies a ghost who was once a pitiful person. Quest: Rescue him.
"That's really it!" Ye Jing'an showed the map to Liu Muze, "Brother Liu, this is the mission my dad gave me. How can I save him?"
"Your father gave you a mission, but you don't even know how to save yourself?" Liu Muzhe asked back.
Ye Jingan argued, "All missions are challenging, aren't they? Of course they won't tell me how to save you. You have to figure it out yourself!"
"Don't talk nonsense here. I know how to get rid of the minions. It's all recorded in the Book of Hundred Demons. I guess you haven't read the book yourself." Qiu Zimu said.
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