Chapter 87 Leaving the Town
The oil lamp fell out of the backpack and rolled all over the ground.
Lin Qiushi turned around and saw the hostess standing at the courtyard gate, knife in hand, glaring at them with resentful eyes. Lin Qiushi was relieved to find that she couldn't leave the courtyard with the knife in hand, so she just watched them from afar. Although the scene was rather creepy, at least her life was out of danger.
Gu Longming slapped Lin Qiushi on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Linlin, you're really amazing..."
Lin Qiushi didn't know what to say, so he just smiled and said, "Put the oil lamp in your bag first."
"Well, okay." Gu Longming nodded and began to quickly clean up the oil lamp on the ground.
Many of the oil lamps in the backpack bore deep knife marks. It was obvious that if the knife had struck Lin Qiushi's back instead of the lamp itself, he would have died instantly. Although the lamps had been nicked, at least the oil was solid. Under the hostess's watchful eye, the two of them hurriedly picked up the lamps from the ground and turned to leave.
They stole a total of seven oil lamps, so even if something unexpected happened, they would definitely be able to survive to the end. However, if Lin Qiushi's guess was correct, something would definitely happen tonight.
The two of them returned to the house, put the oil lamps away, and decided not to go out again. They planned to stay in the house to guard it. After all, so many lamps were too heavy to carry around, and it was not safe to leave them in the house. If Yan Shihe replaced them or stole them again, it would be a big loss.
Gu Longming was still immersed in the scene just now. He asked, "Linlin, do you often encounter things like this?"
Lin Qiushi recalled and nodded.
"Holy crap." Gu Longming's face was filled with admiration, and he didn't know how to praise Lin Qiushi enough. He gestured with his hands excitedly, "You have no idea how terrifying it was. A forty-meter-long sword—lucky you ran thirty-nine meters first!"
Lin Qiushi: "..." He didn't know what to say for a moment.
They were afraid that the oil lamp would be stolen, so they even ate lunch inside the house. Lin Qiushi was really bored, so he took out the family tree from his bag to see if there were any clues in it.
Who would have thought that after lighting the oil lamp and flipping through the family tree, there were new changes in the photos on the tree. Lin Qiushi discovered that the children in several photos were gone, and only the image of the hostess was left.
Gu Longming, standing next to Lin Qiushi, also witnessed the changes in the family tree. He stared at Lin Qiushi with wide eyes and said, "These little ghosts disappeared after we took the oil lamp. It seems the mistress really has locked them up..."
Lin Qiushi nodded: "That should be it." Then their guess was not wrong.
Gu Longming hesitated and said, "But..." He pointed at the remaining photos that remained in their original state, "What's going on with these little ghosts?"
Lin Qiushi said, "Ancestral hall."
As soon as he said this, Gu Longming immediately recalled the densely packed oil lamps in the ancestral hall, which was as bright as daylight. Apparently, in this small town, placing tablets in the ancestral hall not only served as a place of worship, but also served to suppress the little ghosts.
Originally, Lin Qiushi was thinking about releasing these little ghosts as well. However, considering that Yan Shihe had led people to get the lantern before, and the last person who got the lantern had a very miserable end, Lin Qiushi did not want to take the risk unless it was necessary.
That's what they both thought at first, but soon, Lin Qiushi discovered that something seemed amiss.
Just in the evening, the hostess appeared outside their window.
Although she didn't have a knife in her hand, she just stood in the corridor with obvious resentment in her black eyes, as if she was waiting for something.
Gu Longming noticed her first and quickly called Lin Qiushi over.
"What is she doing outside?" Gu Longming felt creepy just looking at her. He rubbed the goose bumps on his arms. "She looks like she's waiting to kill us..."
Lin Qiushi frowned, feeling something was not right. After thinking for a moment, he stood up from the room and walked outside.
The hostess was still staring at him.
Lin Qiushi tentatively walked out of the courtyard. Unexpectedly, the hostess followed him out. Although her pace wasn't fast, she was like a ghost, her malicious eyes practically glued to Lin Qiushi's back.
Gu Longming looked at Lin Qiushi and asked, "What should we do?"
Lin Qiushi pursed his lips. He glanced at the sky. The sun was about to set, and the sudden change in the hostess's condition was clearly foreshadowing something. He pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go to the ancestral hall."
"Go, go to the ancestral hall?" Gu Longming was a little stunned by Lin Qiushi's words. "But aren't there all these little ghosts there?"
Lin Qiushi asked, "Did you see the hostess's appearance?"
Gu Longming nodded.
Lin Qiushi said, "Don't you think she's waiting for night?"
Gu Longming: “…” It would have been fine if Lin Qiushi hadn’t said anything. As soon as he said it, he had a sudden realization. The hostess followed them because she was obviously afraid that they would run away. And if she was afraid that they would run away, did that also mean she would do something to them at night?
Because they had taken the hostess's oil lamp during the day, they couldn't say what would happen that night.
"Let's go." Seeing that it was about to get dark, Lin Qiushi didn't hesitate any longer and stuffed all the oil lamps into Gu Longming's bag. The two of them walked towards the ancestral hall.
When they were leaving, they happened to meet Yan Shihe. Seeing their hurried look, Yan Shihe smiled and asked, "Where are you going so late?"
Lin Qiushi ignored him and left.
The ancestral hall was some distance away from the courtyard where they lived. The hostess followed them out the door and stopped only when they were almost at the hall.
She seemed to be very concerned about this place. There was a hint of fear in her resentful expression, and she even slowly took a step back.
Lin Qiushi felt relieved upon seeing this.
Gu Longming said, "Wow, she really went back..." He saw the hostess turned around unwillingly and slowly left.
Lin Qiushi sighed, "Hmm... finally gone."
The two of them walked to the door of the ancestral hall and saw that the gatekeeper was still dozing off and had no intention of greeting them.
Lin Qiushi hesitated a little. He saw the tablets inside the door and a few empty spaces. The lamps there were stolen by the people led by Yan Shihe.
"Let's light three lamps first," Lin Qiushi said, "and fill the empty spaces."
Gu Longming nodded.
They took the lamp, lit it, placed it in the empty space, then sat down in the corner and began to wait for the night to come.
It must be said that spending the night in a place like this is truly a test of one's courage. Sleep was definitely out of the question. Lin Qiushi leaned against the wall, lowered his head, and began to play Sudoku again. Gu Longming, bored, watched from the side. After a moment's observation, he said, "You're so good at Sudoku?"
Lin Qiushi said, "When I have nothing to do, I like to play."
It was already dark outside, but the oil lamp inside the ancestral hall was still on, illuminating the entire hall like daylight. It was not as scary as imagined.
However, with so many memorial tablets standing behind them, the two, fearing any mishaps, couldn't sleep—in fact, it was Lin Qiushi who couldn't sleep. Gu Longming was already nodding his head, looking drowsy. He seemed a little embarrassed, too. After finally shaking off his sleepiness, he wiped his face with his hand and said awkwardly, "Sorry, I almost fell asleep..."
Lin Qiushi: "Why don't you go to sleep first? I'll call you if there's anything." He felt a little uncomfortable when he saw Gu Longming wanted to sleep.
Gu Longming shook his head, rejecting Lin Qiushi's offer, and explained, "I don't usually do this. This is the first time..."
"Okay, okay, I get it." Lin Qiushi waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care.
Gu Longming smiled bitterly helplessly.
The night gradually deepened, and the outside was plunged into darkness. Only the lights in the ancestral hall were on, and everything was quiet.
Time flew by and it was twelve o'clock. Lin Qiushi, who had been playing Sudoku, suddenly stopped what he was doing. He heard a sound, the sound of a sharp object dragging along the ground, accompanied by the sound of small footsteps. Gu Longming saw Lin Qiushi's solemn expression and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lin Qiushi said nothing. He stood up from the wall and looked out the window. In the dark night, he saw a figure slowly approaching.
As the figure drew closer, Lin Qiushi could clearly see its appearance. She was the mistress of the courtyard, wearing a long dress and black hair. In her hand was a long knife, stained with bright red blood and something that looked like chunks of flesh.
She tilted her head towards the ancestral hall, half of her face stained with blood.
From the hostess's appearance, there was no doubt that she had just carried out a brutal massacre. No one knew how many people she had killed in the yard.
"There is something on her foot!" Gu Longming suddenly said.
Lin Qiushi looked up and saw that there was something on the hostess's feet. It was a group of little ghosts clinging to her legs, gnawing at something with their tiny teeth. If you looked closely, you would see that the flesh on the hostess's legs had been gnawed away, revealing the white bones.
They are taking revenge...although the speed is a bit slow, they are still causing serious harm to the hostess.
Lin Qiushi was thinking about this when he saw the hostess raise her hand, then make a throwing gesture and swing the long knife in her hand directly towards him.
The long knife cut through the air and stabbed directly into the window frame, almost breaking it.
Gu Longming was startled and took a few steps back involuntarily. He said in horror, "What is she going to do? Is she going to kill us even though we are hiding in the ancestral hall?"
Lin Qiushi frowned, "That's hard to say."
As they were talking, they saw the hostess slowly walk to the window and pull out a long knife. She looked at them coldly through the window with her blood-stained face.
The hostess suddenly spoke: "Even if I die, I will kill you." After she said this, she actually walked towards the door.
Gu Longming was so frightened that he jumped up and said, "Oh shit, what should we do!" Lin Qiushi's guess was right. Fortunately, they were hiding in the ancestral hall at this time. If they were still in the yard, they would have died long ago.
Lin Qiushi turned his head and looked at the oil lamps neatly placed under the memorial tablet.
Gu Longming noticed Lin Qiushi's movements and said, "You're not thinking—"
Lin Qiushi said calmly, "We have to give it a try." The mistress wasn't human, so they certainly couldn't defeat her. But those vengeful little ghosts were a different story. Several of the little ghosts were already entangled in the mistress's legs. If they had just kept stalling, she would have vanished. But she clearly hated them so much that she planned to finish them off with her last breath.
The hostess had already walked to the door. Seeing this, Lin Qiushi knew that he could not wait any longer. He gritted his teeth, walked under the oil lamp, and extinguished five or six oil lamps on the table in one breath.
As soon as the oil lamp went out, Lin Qiushi felt the gaze from the ceiling. He raised his head and saw eyes glowing red on the ceiling. At this time, those eyes looked towards the hostess at the door.
The hostess had already entered, knife in hand. She seemed determined to go all out. After entering the room, she lunged at Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming. Lin Qiushi quickly turned away, but the ancestral hall was not large, and the hostess's single strike of the knife directly destroyed an entire row of tablets.
Lin Qiushi heard the door slam with a soft creak, followed by the wailing of a baby from the ceiling. The hostess's face darkened, and she attacked Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming with even greater ferocity. Fortunately, neither Lin Qiushi nor Gu Longming were weaklings, neither able to work hard or discern the difference between grain and fish. They maneuvered around the ancestral hall, and though awkwardly, they managed to dodge the hostess's first few blows.
The things on the ceiling finally fell down. They were swollen babies. They fell directly on the hostess and began to open their fine teeth to bite the hostess's body.
The hostess screamed in pain, but her hands did not stop moving. Gu Longming was unlucky and was cut on the arm by a knife. He almost fell to the ground in pain.
As the baby bit faster and faster, the hostess gradually changed from a human form to a skeleton. Her movements became slower and slower, and finally she fell to her knees on the ground.
First the flesh was devoured, then the bones. After the last bone was eaten, Lin Qiushi heard a crisp sound. It was the sound of a bronze object falling to the ground. Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming looked up and saw a striking bronze key in the pool of blood.
Although Lin Qiushi already had a vague guess, he was still a little surprised when he saw that the key was in the hostess's body.
"What the hell, what the hell, what the hell!!" Gu Longming was so excited that he almost jumped up and said, "Key, key! We found the key!!" He was about to rush over, but he saw a circle of little ghosts surrounding the key. These little ghosts all had a satisfied look on their faces, as if they were full and drunk, but it was still a bit scary.
Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming were thinking about how to get the key from the innermost of these little ghosts, but they found that the appearance of these little ghosts had changed. Their swollen faces gradually returned to their original appearance, and their thin teeth turned into milk teeth that had not yet grown.
The headache-inducing crying stopped and turned into sweet giggles.
After satisfying their final obsession, their bodies became transparent and finally turned into halos of light and disappeared into the ancestral hall.
Lin Qiushi slowly walked over and picked up the key. He said, "It worked."
Gu Longming was so happy that he was incoherent. He said, "What should we do? Go out? Where's the key? Where's the door?"
The key had been found, and now the door was the only thing left. Lin Qiushi walked around the ancestral hall, and after confirming that there was no door, he said, "It should be in the courtyard. Let's go back and take a look."
"Okay." Gu Longming was very happy.
So the two of them returned to the yard under the cover of night. The hostess was gone, and the little ghost was gone too. It was so quiet outside that it made people feel at ease.
When they returned to the yard, as soon as they entered, they saw the tragic scene inside.
There were two people lying in the middle of the yard, their bodies cut in half. It seemed that they were cut in half by the hostess and died instantly.
"Are they all dead?" Gu Longming said in horror.
Lin Qiushi shook his head. As he entered the courtyard, he heard voices coming from a nearby room. He hadn't expected the hostess to attack others after they left. According to the rules within the sect, there was a limit to the number of people she could kill in a night. Otherwise, the others in the courtyard would likely be in grave danger.
Lin Qiushi didn't want to waste any more time, so he and Gu Longming went straight to the yard where the hostess was. After entering, they found the iron door hidden in the cabinet in the hostess's other bedroom.
Seeing the iron gate, Lin Qiushi relaxed completely. He was about to take out the key to open the iron gate when the door behind him suddenly opened. Yan Shihe walked out with a gun in his hand.
"Good evening." Yan Shihe greeted them with a smile.
Lin Qiushi paused in his attempt to open the door. Needless to say, he understood what Yan Shihe meant.
"Give it to me." Yan Shihe stretched out his hand.
Lin Qiushi was silent for a moment, then handed the key to Yan Shihe. Unexpectedly, Yan Shihe shot Lin Qiushi in the foot after taking the key. Lin Qiushi was caught off guard, screamed in pain, and fell to the ground.
"Haha." Yan Shihe laughed, "It seems that you are still invulnerable."
"Fuck you—" Gu Longming supported Lin Qiushi, cursing angrily, "Are you fucking crazy? Just take the key, why bother shooting?"
"I like it." Yan Shihe said coldly, "What's it to you?" He turned the key in his fingers and said, "Open the door, I'm leaving."
Gu Longming knew that they were no match for Yan Shihe at this time, so although he was angry, he still gave up his position.
Yan Shihe walked forward, held the key, opened the iron gate, then bent down and picked up the clues that fell from the iron gate.
Xiao Qian stood behind Yan Shihe and didn't dare to look at Lin Qiushi and the others until Yan Shihe picked up the clue. Lin Qiushi saw her suddenly quicken her pace and walk behind Yan Shihe.
Then, he suddenly raised his hand and made a stabbing gesture.
"Ah!!" Yan Shihe let out a scream, and the clues and gun in his hand fell to the ground.
Xiao Qian bent down, picked up the clue with a smile, and then kicked Yan Shihe's gun to the side.
A gleaming dagger was stabbed behind Yan Shihe. Xiao Qian smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Yan." She looked completely different now than when she had followed Yan Shihe timidly before. She pocketed the clues, pulled the dagger from Yan Shihe's body, and smiled, "If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't have been able to get through this door." Then she looked at Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming, "Of course, I have to thank you both, too."
After saying this, he walked towards the door.
"Let's go too." Lin Qiushi looked at the fallen Yan Shihe and said through gritted teeth, "Get his gun first."
Gu Longming took advantage of Yan Shihe's inability to move, retrieved the gun that Xiao Qian had kicked away, and then helped Lin Qiushi to his feet. Lin Qiushi took the gun from Gu Longming and stuffed it into his trouser pocket. The two of them slowly walked into the glowing door before them.
After passing through the tunnel, the scenes around Lin Qiushi spun, and he finally returned to reality. However, as soon as he came back, he felt seriously unwell. After making a difficult phone call to Ruan Nanzhu, he fainted.
Two days later, Lin Qiushi woke up from his coma.
He was used to going to the hospital frequently, so when he saw the daytime-colored ceiling, he was not surprised. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief - at least he made it out alive.
"Awake?" Ruan Nanzhu's voice came.
Lin Qiushi turned his head and saw Ruan Nanzhu. He was sitting with his back to the light, so his appearance was a little unclear, but his voice was gentle.
Lin Qiushi inexplicably felt that he missed him a little, but he quickly put this somewhat strange feeling behind him and hummed softly.
"He has a high fever again." Ruan Nanzhu said, "He must have been injured in there."
Lin Qiushi thought for a moment and finally said, "He was shot on his way out."
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Is it the one you brought out?"
Lin Qiushi nodded.
Ruan Nanzhu was silent for a moment: "Normal guns cannot be brought in."
Lin Qiushi was stunned.
Ruan Nanzhu explained: "That gun should not be an ordinary firearm."
"It's not an ordinary gun..." Lin Qiushi remembered the appearance of the gun. It was silver-white and felt quite heavy in his hand. "Could it be brought out from inside the door?" Now that he thought about it, Yan Shihe was probably an old man who brought people in.
"It's very likely." Ruan Nanzhu said, "You should have a good rest first."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiushi felt that he was lucky. He was just afraid that Yan Shihe would attack them again, but he didn't expect that he would bring out a prop.
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