As I was still in surprise, I felt something wet draped over my shoulder from behind, and at the same time, an old voice rang out.
The sound made my hair stand on end, as if strands of hair were wrapping around my ears and trying to crawl into my ear canals.
I dared not turn around. The old beggar had told me not to. If I did, something terrible might happen. I forced myself to endure the discomfort, but the voice kept talking to me relentlessly.
"You heard that, didn't you? If you heard that, then answer back! How was you raised in your family? Didn't anyone teach you manners? Are you an orphan?!"
The noise grew increasingly irritating, and a nameless anger welled up inside me. You can talk about me all you want, but what about my family? I hate it when people call me an orphan! Even though I don't know who my parents are, I still hate it when people say that about me! I whirled around and started yelling at the person behind me.
"Go! Say it again and see!"
Turning around, I saw the true form of the thing that was speaking behind me. It wasn't a person as I had imagined, but a sphere made up of something like hair. There was a large mouth in the middle of this sphere, and the voice was coming from inside it.
"You idiot! You're the first person to turn around in hundreds of years! Hahaha! Ah—!"
Before the spherical object made of hair could say anything, it let out a huge scream and split in two, with black, unidentified liquid flowing from the broken pieces. I shuddered and quickly turned around.
Then no one spoke again along the way, and they walked peacefully for a long time. The old beggar in front stopped, and the two paper figures suddenly burst into flames, turning to ashes in an instant.
The old beggar then turned around and said to me, "Did you answer him on the road just now?"
"…Um."
I didn't listen to the old beggar. Feeling a little guilty, I still forced myself to agree.
The old beggar was somewhat stunned when I said that.
"If you promised, why didn't you just die suddenly?"
"Is it that serious?!"
Although I was frightened a lot today, the old beggar's words still startled me. The old beggar was also a little stunned when he saw that I didn't seem to be faking it.
"Humans have their paths, and ghosts have theirs. I was only able to take you on this journey because of the favor of my lineage's ancestor. Four hundred years ago, someone from our lineage turned back on the road and only half a body remained when we reached our destination."
At this point, the old beggar stared at me, his eyes revealing pity and an barely suppressed... curiosity? "What exactly did you see?"
I was also curious about the identity of the monster on the road, so I told the old beggar everything. The old beggar fell silent after hearing it.
"The thing on you is too ferocious; it can even kill the monsters on this ghost road. We can't delay any longer; come with me!"
After the old beggar finished speaking, he turned and walked away. I hurriedly followed him, and as I walked, a large cauldron appeared before me, along with... a temple? "Old bald man! I've come to find you!"
The old beggar pounded on the temple door with all his might, making a deafening noise. After a while, the temple door creaked open, and a young monk opened it, bowing to the old beggar.
"So you are a great benefactor. The abbot is currently in seclusion and unable to greet you. Please tell me what you need."
"You know nothing! No one can do anything about this without getting your abbot here! Let us in!"
As the old beggar was talking, he tried to go inside, but the young monk quickly stopped him. I thought the young monk would definitely not be able to stop the old beggar who was stronger than a human, but to my surprise, the old beggar did not force his way in, but just shouted at the door.
"Old bald man! Come out! Something terrible has happened!"
"What important matter?"
At that moment, an old voice came from inside, hoarse like sandpaper rubbing against a cement floor, making me feel uncomfortable all over.
"You've finally come out. Come on, take a look at this guy!"
The old beggar peeked inside and waved for me to come over. I was very curious about who the old bald monk the old beggar was talking about, so I quickly went over.
Inside the door stood a man dressed in monk's robes. As for why he wasn't called a monk, it was because the man's hair was half a meter long and all of it was white, making him look like a white-haired zombie. His fingernails were also very long and twisted together like tree branches.
"Hey bald old man, you've grown hair now?"
The old beggar looked at the man with obvious surprise.
At this moment, the little monk who opened the door spoke up.
“The abbot has been in seclusion for three years, during which he only drinks water and does not eat vegetarian food. He has never left the house to shave his head, so it is normal for him to have long hair.”
Three years without leaving the house? Only drinking water and not eating? Is this even human? I was quite surprised, but seeing this guy like this, I began to believe him a little.
"Enough with the nonsense. I called you here today to show you what kind of bad luck this guy has picked up. He's terrifyingly fierce. Look at my neck."
As the old beggar spoke, he raised his chin to show the abbot the bloodstains on his neck. The abbot, whose face was covered by his hair, struggled to part his hair with his fingernails to reveal his face and made a surprised expression.
"Amazing!"
"Two lives have already been lost. Can you take a look? Your Buddhist sect is quite skilled at dealing with this kind of thing. Can you tell what it is?"
After the old beggar finished speaking, he pointed at me. The abbot just stared straight at me, his bright eyes like two sharp swords, making it hard for me to breathe. I don't know how long it took before he finally looked away.
"I can't handle this. Take him and leave now! Don't stay here."
"You old bald... old long-haired bastard! I'm in a bad mood today, you have to do what I'm doing, whether you want to or not. Even if you don't want to, tell me what this thing is, then I'll take care of it!"
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