Chapter 1104 The Returnee's Notes 178
At this moment, the boatman stopped the boat, extinguished the oil lamp, bowed to the air, and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for protecting me on this journey, Madam Nian."
The bride sitting next to Xie Ning swung her legs, seemingly having eaten her fill, and ignored the boatman, slowly sinking into the water.
Xie Ning was somewhat taken aback. So the ghost beside her had been brought there by the boatman?!
She wanted to ask the old woman, but remembering what the boatman had said, she kept quiet and decided to ask again when they reached Qingshi Town.
As they got closer to the small dock, Xie Ning could hear faint voices.
"Liang Chuantou, you're back?" There weren't many people at the dock, only three old men sitting there playing chess. They saw the old lady and Xie Ning, but didn't ask them anything, as if they hadn't seen them at all.
"Well, it's getting dark, Uncle, you should head back soon." He tied up the boat and followed Xie Ning and the other man into the town.
Unlike No Return Town, Qing Shi Town is much quieter and resembles an ancient town.
The houses lining both sides of the street are arranged in a staggered and orderly manner, with blue tiles and white walls revealing a unique charm of the Jiangnan water towns. Although the wooden doors and windows are somewhat old, they exude a faint woody fragrance and show no trace of modern architecture.
There are also small vendors doing business on the streets and alleys, but they don't shout out their wares. Instead, they sit behind their stalls and let customers buy or not, very casually.
Only a few people would glance at Xie Ning and the old lady, who were strangers, but the rest seemed to take it all in stride.
The old lady didn't take Xie Ning straight to their destination as soon as they entered the town; instead, she went to an inn first.
It was a truly antique-style inn, making Xie Ning feel somewhat disoriented, as if she had stepped into another era.
The innkeeper was a young man, only in his early twenties. When the old lady asked to book a room, he booked two rooms directly.
Then, with a smile, she said, "The rooms are all for one person only, and cannot be changed."
The old lady frowned, but eventually agreed, only instructing Xie Ning, "Go to sleep when night falls, and don't pay attention to anything you hear."
Xie Ning exhaled and looked at the setting sun in the distance, saying, "Grandma, this place is so strange. Can you tell me more about it?"
Everything seemed eerie; she needed to know as much as possible to be on guard.
"Okay, you should know that too." She had forgotten that she had originally planned to tell Xie Ning before boarding the ship, but her memory seemed to be getting worse and worse.
On the ship, it's not good to talk, otherwise it might attract trouble. A small amount is fine, but the fear is that a continuous stream of people might come.
The town of Qing Shi is isolated from the world because of a past event, or rather, a tragedy.
Thousands of years ago, during a period of war, the garrison commander of Qingshi Town refused to surrender and fought desperately, which angered the enemy army. As a result, the army that stormed into the town massacred the entire city, sparing no one, young or old, women or children.
The massacre wasn't just about killing people... all the bodies were thrown into the lake they came from.
It is said that the lake next to Qingshi Town was blood red that year, which was frightening to behold.
The city was destroyed, and its inhabitants were all slaughtered, leaving Qing Shi Town a desolate and deserted place.
It was only after the blood relatives of the people of Qingshi Town who had not been massacred returned that Qingshi Town regained a glimmer of life. However, due to the massacre, there were many dead souls inside, and their resentment was extremely strong.
Strange things always happened to those who returned and stayed in Qing Shi Town, and some people even died.
But none of them wanted to leave Qing Shi Town, nor did they want to let their loved ones continue to wander the world.
Fortunately, some of them had studied Taoism on the mountain and were skilled at making soul-collecting umbrellas. They led the group to use the umbrellas to collect and guide the souls, allowing the vengeful spirits to leave peacefully.
Then, based on the patterns of ghosts' movements, the Taoist nun formulated some rules, which allowed everyone to live peacefully and multiply in Qing Shi Town.
Gradually, Qing Shi Town became more prosperous.
Meanwhile, the efforts to collect and redeem souls have never ceased, but unfortunately, far too many people have died, and to this day, not all the vengeful spirits have been collected.
In order to prevent outsiders from entering and damaging Qing Shi Town, and to prevent outsiders from being harmed, the Taoist nun who proposed making umbrellas to collect souls invited her master to set up an array here.
Most of the souls were trapped in the lake and the thick fog on its surface.
This not only kept outsiders away, but also cleared out Qing Shi Town.
"...Over thousands of years, ghosts will naturally grow. The Nian Niangzi who just gave us a ride is an example. Ghosts with strong consciousness like them can cooperate with humans."
Humans can offer incense to ghosts, and ghosts can guide and escort humans. With powerful ghosts protecting them, other lesser ghosts dare not approach and harass them.
Even other powerful ghosts would be wary of it.
However, the old lady personally did not approve of this approach.
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