☆, Chapter 41: Got Tricked
"Why is it a foreign name?" Yu Jiuyin frowned. Although he knew a lot, most of it was related to metaphysics. He wasn't very good at purely foreign things like this. However, Rongqing was surprisingly familiar with it.
"It's a foreign nursery rhyme about a ghost." Rongqing took out his cell phone and made a call. After a while, he found relevant information about this name.
This is a popular Mother Goose nursery rhyme. The full text goes like this: Lizzie Borden took the axe and struck her father forty times. When she realized what she had done, she struck her mother forty-one times.
According to the information, this nursery rhyme was originally rewritten based on a murder case. The girl Lizzie Borden had a bad relationship with her stepmother. In order to inherit her father's large inheritance, she finally killed both her stepmother and her father.
"But if that's the case, then it has nothing to do with ghosts or gods. Could it be that Luo Qiu died at the hands of a human, or is there something else he's hinting at?"
"I'll have someone investigate. I'll let you know if there's any further news." With the clues regarding the Death Game, Rong Qing immediately became busy again. After sending Yu Jiuyin back to the haunted house, he hadn't been seen since, only maintaining contact with her through a few phone calls a day.
Yu Jiuyin had been busy during this period, too. He had a hunch that this incident wasn't simply the work of evil spirits or a demonic presence. He also flipped through Mother Goose's nursery rhymes, trying to find any clues. But apart from a variety of bizarre and strange nursery rhymes, he found nothing else.
As the final game drew closer, Yu Jiuyin and Rongqing became increasingly cautious. But that person seemed to be worried that Rongqing and the others weren't feeling enough pressure. With only a week left before the final game, another incident occurred at the Celestial Master Association. Unexpectedly, another Celestial Master had died unexpectedly: Qin Ying, the granddaughter of the association's Vice President, Mr. Qin.
Qin Ying was considered a relatively skilled young Heavenly Master, with a rich family background and even more formidable than Luo Qiu. Yet, such a Heavenly Master had died so quietly, and tragically.
What made these Heavenly Masters even more intolerable was the provocation from the mastermind behind the death game.
He used Qin Ying's mobile phone to post on the forum and uploaded the video of Qin Ying's five minutes before her death to the Tianshi Forum.
In the video, countless evil spirits devoured Qin Ying's body, sucking her blood dry and devouring her soul. Yet, Qin Ying remained resilient, gritting her teeth until the very last second, refusing to beg for mercy. But the more this continued, the more unbearable it became.
The entire forum exploded instantly, and all the Taoist priests who saw the video were enraged at this moment.
"It's impossible. Qin Ying's ability is one of the best in the industry. How could she have gotten into trouble? This video must be fake."
"Damn you bastard, come out and fight me head on if you have the guts!"
"Grandson, don't stop. Keep posting. This is the Tianshi Forum. Aren't you afraid that we will find you?"
Yu Jiuyin's face darkened as he read the forum post. He carefully watched the video three times, trying to find the man. But his attempts were in vain. The mastermind behind this death game was truly cunning. He appeared flamboyant, yet his tactics were impeccable. Yu Jiuyin couldn't find a way to break in.
However, at this moment, the phone rang. It was Rongqing.
"Do you have any way to find someone?" It was very chaotic on Rongqing's end, and there was faint crying sound.
"Yes, there is, but there is a big premise. Qin Ying's soul cannot be dispersed. Also, I'm afraid I need to meet Qin Ying's closest relatives."
"What do you want?"
"I want a strand of Qin Ying's hair, and the blood from the fingertips of his closest relatives."
"Wait for me." Rong Qing seemed anxious and hung up the phone. Yu Jiuyin also quickly packed up and prepared everything he needed to find someone.
In just over ten minutes, Rongqing's car stopped outside Yu Jiuyin's haunted house. Yu Jiuyin didn't waste any time and came out with his things.
He opened the car door and got in, only to see an old man sitting in the front seat. He had gray hair and red eyes, and it was obvious that he was restraining himself and not losing his composure. He was most likely Qin Ying's elder.
"Please," said Old Qin politely. He only had this one granddaughter, and even if it meant death, he would summon her soul back.
"You're too polite, old man. I will do my best." Yu Jiuyin didn't waste any words. He took out three new copper coins, dipped them in blood, and began to calculate.
The Ghost Dao Heavenly Master was best at relying on cause and effect divination. But to Yu Jiuyin's surprise, there was no result at all.
The three copper coins seemed to be dead, without any reaction, let alone calculating the direction.
"It shouldn't be like this." Yu Jiuyin frowned and added four more copper coins.
In metaphysics, there are seven elements that represent perfection, and the Seven Days of Soul Returning Night is a typical example of perfection. But even so, it was useless and there was still no result.
How is this possible?
Yu Jiuyin was immediately anxious. Death was supposed to extinguish all thought, but karma wouldn't dissipate so quickly. It made no sense that he couldn't even deduce the whereabouts of Qin Ying's body while her blood relative was still alive.
"Isn't it too bad?" Rongqing saw his concerns.
"I'm not very skilled, maybe the old man can seek help from someone else." Yu Jiuyin didn't know what to say.
"No need." Old Master Qin sighed and tears streamed down his face. "I know your master and your situation. You are the best ghost master in the metaphysical world. If even you can't figure it out, Yingying is most likely dead."
"Not necessarily." Seeing the old man suddenly look ten years older, Yu Jiuyin felt very depressed.
If Luo Qiu's death and Rong Qing's sadness only made him sigh, then the heartbroken old man in front of him and the scene of Qin Ying's tragic death in the forum really ignited Yu Jiuyin's anger.
Born as a human, yet calling himself a human, how could such a thing even stand on its own two feet? Yu Jiuyin suddenly felt an urgent desire to catch the mastermind behind the death game.
Calm down, there must be another way. Yu Jiuyin closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. Just when Rongqing was about to send Mr. Qin back, Yu Jiuyin suddenly asked, "Grandpa, please say a word to me."
Yu Jiuyin thought of fortune-telling. He had found his way to Sister Xu Wang's situation by fortune-telling before, so he might as well give it a try this time.
Old Master Qin turned around and saw the locust tree outside the car, and subconsciously said "locust tree."
This word is very unlucky.
Yu Jiuyin sighed. "槐" (locust tree) breaks down into a wooden ghost, and the ghost within the wood is the corpse within the coffin. Looking for someone with the character "槐" (locust tree) is bound to be a disaster. Although the previous divination had roughly determined the outcome, the double verification still left Yu Jiuyin feeling a heavy, indescribable weight on his heart.
"Old man, please say one more word." He avoided talking about the result.
They were all smart people, so they naturally understood what Yu Jiuyin meant. Rongqing's face was solemn, but Old Master Qin calmed down a bit and slowly said "Cun".
"Good word!" Yu Jiuyin's heart suddenly relaxed. "Cun" is the character for "search" with the first character removed, which perfectly reflects their current situation of searching for Qin Ying but having no clue. The character "Cun" has a hook, which in fortune-telling refers to Gouchen, the Big Dipper, which points to the north.
"Go north first." Yu Jiuyin had an idea in mind.
"You found it!" Old Master Qin was very surprised.
Rongqing made a prompt decision and asked the driver to drive north.
"I haven't found it, but I guess it's in this direction." Yu Jiuyin was not idle either. He took out the seven copper coins again, but this time, he did not use Mr. Qin's blood, but his own blood.
"You" Rongqing felt an extremely strange fluctuation coming from Yu Jiuyin.
Yu Jiuyin interrupted him, "Grandpa, please close your eyes for a moment. No matter what you feel, don't speak." After giving his instructions, Yu Jiuyin turned to Rongqing and said, "Rongrong, use your own ghost energy to protect the driver. I have a way to find Qin Ying."
Yu Jiuyin opened his cell phone as he spoke.
As expected, on the Tianshi Forum, the mastermind behind the scenes was still partying. He seemed very proud and posted photo after photo. Behind each bloody photo was a deceased Tianshi of the Metaphysics Association.
“How about my collection? Isn’t it beautiful?”
"You seem very angry, but what can we do? Who can catch me?"
"Hahahaha, you stupid companions all think you are the saviors. That's why they all went to see Goddess Hela."
The more he spoke, the more arrogant he became. As more and more death portraits were exposed, the tone of the mastermind behind the scenes became more and more arbitrary, as if he was afraid that he could not anger the Tianshi on the Tianshi Forum to death.
"You beast, if you have the guts, come out!"
"Don't let me find you, I will never let you go"
"It's terrible, this guy must be crazy"
The entire metaphysical community was in turmoil, with the young masters practically losing their minds in anger. As for the more experienced ones, they also tried to deduce his location based on the photos he had released.
They were all celestial masters, and they all knew some methods of finding people and things. However, they all returned empty-handed.
But for Yu Jiuyin, this was enough. He had a special method. Looking at the photos above, Yu Jiuyin summoned a soul-soothing talisman. Unlike the twenty-six he summoned when he broke through the ghost gate last time, this soul-soothing talisman was noticeably heavier. The runes drawn in blood were exceptionally complex, exuding a cold murderous intent.
Following Yu Jiuyin's summons, a strange and eerie feeling instantly enveloped the entire car. The driver in front shuddered, nearly losing his grip on the steering wheel. Even Old Master Qin, who had his eyes closed, shuddered uncontrollably.
Rongqing turned around and was stunned when she saw the ghost. She was actually an exceptionally beautiful young girl. However, unlike Lingling's innocent appearance, this girl's face was expressionless, and the exposed skin from her neck down was densely covered with extermination marks. The most terrifying thing about her was the way she looked at people, as if the person in front of her was not a human being, but food.
"I want to find the woman in the photo. She's in the north, and the journey won't take more than half a day." Yu Jiuyin touched the girl's head.
"Yeah." The girl was very obedient in front of Yu Jiuyin. She looked at Rongqing warily, and after making sure that Rongqing was not in danger, she directly possessed the copper coin in Yu Jiuyin's hand.
The copper coins that were originally motionless suddenly changed their formation.
Yu Jiuyin calculated carefully and finally found a relatively correct answer. "Rongrong, is there any abandoned factory in the northern suburbs of City B? It would be best if it's not too old and has some ghost stories about it."
"I'll check." Rong Qing immediately called his subordinates and received a reply within three minutes. "I found it. There's a small magnesia factory in Xi'erying Hutong in the northern suburbs. Five years ago, a worker died while refining magnesia. Later, rumors spread that the factory was haunted, and it closed down."
"Qin Ying's body is most likely there," Yu Jiuyin said with certainty. The driver quickly turned on the navigation system and headed in that direction.
For Yu Jiuyin right now, time is the most precious thing. The only reason he was able to roughly calculate Qin Ying's location was because of the help of the evil spirit.
But even so, the karmic bond between Qin Ying and Old Man Qin was becoming increasingly weak, indicating that Qin Ying's soul was disintegrating. Yu Jiuyin was also very anxious.
The driver drove very fast, and an hour later, Yu Jiuyin and the others finally arrived at the northern suburbs.
Unlike the bustling southern suburbs where Yu Jiuyin's haunted house was located, the northern suburbs, as an industrial park, was quite deserted. It was late at night, and aside from the lonely streetlights on both sides of the national highway, there was nothing else.
The car drove straight through the deserted aisle, and the navigation system in the car was giving accurate directions. However, the driver felt something was wrong.
"Isn't this three kilometers a bit too long?" He'd been driving Rongqing for nearly ten years, and he'd been everywhere. He'd been to the northern suburbs less often, but it wasn't his first time. The point was, he really found it strange.
The driver looked at the navigation carefully and then became nervous because he suddenly realized that the location of their car on the navigation had not changed.
"Young Master, we're in trouble," the driver hurriedly said to Rongqing in the back seat, but then, as if to verify his words, a dark shadow suddenly flashed in the rearview mirror.
Yu Jiuyin's face suddenly turned pale, and the copper coins in his hand fell to the ground. Rongqing immediately reached out to protect him in his arms and ordered sternly, "Stop immediately!"
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