Chapter 33 of Ghost Buddha Yang
Inside the small cottage, Brothers Villa, there was a basement where spare tables and chairs were stored. In this dark room, two red candles suddenly lit up dimly, casting a strange shadow on Yan Ran's face.
Yan Ran's eyes scanned the darkness. "I will find the murderous ghost. Or rather, the murderer!"
Yan Ran finished speaking, then suddenly pointed her finger into the dark void. The wind from her sleeves caused the candlelight to flicker, further distorting her face.
Several pupils flickered eerily in the darkness, and one particularly small eye made a sound.
"There's a light here, why don't we turn it on and talk? Oops..."
Before Little Eyes could finish his words, someone slapped him hard on the head.
Jie Qianchou's silhouette slowly emerged from the darkness: "Anyone who questions Master Yan is an accomplice of the evil spirit!"
The man with the small eyes was, of course, the owner, Zhang Chunhe. Rubbing his head, he retorted, "I'm not questioning it, I'm just saying it's too dark here. If it really doesn't work out, why don't we move somewhere else? Besides, you guys can catch your own ghosts; I don't need to be here. Oh..."
Before he could finish his words, Jie Qianchou patted his head again.
Jie Qianchou raised his nose to the sky: "Who said it's dark here? The light is shining, and all the ghosts are hiding. Command, rise!"
Jie Qianchou pointed his sword and shouted, and four red Kongming lanterns slowly rose from the four corners of the room. They floated to the ceiling and stopped moving, resembling four lanterns hanging in the corners. Although these four lanterns were dim, their dim red light filled the entire basement.
Zhang Chunhe, Tongtian Wu, Wang Li, and the others were all present. Each of them had a chair, nothing else. Only Yan Ran stood behind a table, a bag beside her. Five minutes earlier, these people had been summoned to this basement by Jie Qianchou, and then the opening scene unfolded.
"Have you had enough of this? This witch doesn't have time to play with you!"
The air in this basement was murky, and the temperature and humidity were high. Tongtian Wu felt sticky after just a moment. She was always short-tempered, so she took two steps to the door, pushed it open, and was about to leave.
But the moment she opened the door, a nasty face was already waiting behind it.
Bu Kui blocked the door: "You're leaving now, what's wrong? Are you hiding something?"
Tongtian Wu raised his eyebrows and said, "None of your business."
Bu Kui took two steps forward and pushed Tongtian Wu's chest hard to squeeze her back into the basement.
Tongtian Wu took two steps back, protecting his chest with one hand: "Shame on you!"
Bu Kui then closed the door, pulled a chair from the side to block the door, and sat on it with his arms and legs stretched out.
"To tell you the truth, this time it was me who asked Yan Ran to catch the murderer."
Tong Tian Wu crossed his arms and snorted coldly, "Didn't I remember you saying they were suspects and took them away for questioning? How come they've hooked up so quickly?"
Bu Kui picked his nose and said, "It's precisely because I suspect them that I want them to find the murderer."
Kikyo stood up from her chair. "Could you please elaborate on this? Thank you."
After saying this, Kikyo did not forget to bow.
"It's simple." Bu Kui crossed his legs. "She's a prophet. If she can't find the murderer, then she's fake. I'll arrest her as a liar!"
Yan Ran's face trembled twice in the candlelight. She said, "I need to correct something. Prophets are not omniscient. I can only see fragments of the future. For things like this that have already happened, I am truly sorry. I cannot see what happened in the past."
Liao Chen chanted the Buddha's name: "Amitabha, if that is the case, why did the donor trick us here?"
Yan Ran said sternly, "I didn't lie to you. The reason I can see fragments of the future is because I can communicate with the gods of heaven and earth. This magical power is what people often call spiritual communication. Therefore, I invited everyone here so that I can quickly find the soul of Master Chen and make him reveal the name of the murderer."
"Hahaha, how ridiculous." Tongtian Wu covered her mouth with her hands and chuckled softly, her posture charming. "What is your background? What inheritance have you inherited? How dare you speak so arrogantly here? Do you want me to find you a crystal ball so you can look at your face carefully?"
The candlelight was red, and Yan Ran's face was naturally red as well.
"Hahaha, how ridiculous!" Jie Qianchou walked over to Yan Ran's table and laughed heartily, imitating Tongtian Wu's expression. "Of course, a wandering sorcerer like you doesn't know Master Yan Ran's identity. She is the current Dharma Master of the Piaomiao Temple on Yunwu Mountain in the Zhengyi Sect, and the only living heir to the teachings of our sect's Kuitian Xuantan—Taiyin Yuanjun."
Xie Qianchou pulled out a certificate of ordination from his pocket and waved it before everyone, "I am the Dharma Protector disciple of Yuanjun, my Taoist name is Qianchou."
After hearing Jie Qianchou's actions, not only others but even Yan Ran was stunned and froze on the spot.
Jie Qianchou turned to look at Bu Kui. "This police officer has officially investigated our identities and knows that we are people of the Tao. That's why he allowed us to perform the spell here! Don't you agree?"
"Ahem." Bu Kui coughed twice and touched his nose. "Ah, yes, that's it."
Wang Li raised his hand, stood up a little shyly, and said, "Can we go outside? It's too stuffy in here, don't you think?"
Kikyo and the others nodded, and everyone focused their attention on Bu Kui, who then looked at Yan Ran.
Yan Ran slammed the table and said, "My magic has very strict requirements on the environment. Please cooperate."
Wang Li wanted to say something, but Bu Kui spoke before him.
"Alright, that's it. Whoever wants to leave is a murder suspect!"
Zhang Chunhe gave a wry laugh, "Officer, isn't this unreasonable?"
Bu Kui didn't even look at him: "If you think it's unreasonable, then call the police."
Zhang Chunhe felt a little embarrassed, so he took out his cell phone and wanted to make a call, but when he looked at the signal... there was no signal in the basement!
Zhang Chunhe immediately smiled broadly and said, "You're a police officer, why would I call the police? We will fully cooperate with the police!"
"Please wait a moment." Wang Li stood up and said, "I remember the police diagnosed Chen Shifu as having died suddenly, a natural death. So who are we trying to catch now?"
Bu Kui began to cough strategically.
"How did Master Chen die? Just ask and you'll know." Yan Ran sat down behind the table and played some instrumental music on his phone. "I will be performing a spirit-calling ceremony here. You will be a very important part of the ceremony, so please be patient. Please stay here until the ceremony is over."
As the saying goes, if a gangster knows martial arts, no one can stop him. Since they couldn't leave, they might as well sit for a while. Zhang Chunhe, Wang Li, Tongtian Wu, Jiegeng, Liaochen, and Jie Qianchou sat down one by one. They stopped talking and just stared at Yan Ran in front of them in silence.
Yan Ran pulled a few small boxes from her bag and placed them on the table. She opened the lids, and puffs of white mist slowly drifted out. The music on Yan Ran's phone shifted from soothing to edgy to melancholic, and back again. Yan Ran sat in a chair, eyes closed, lips moving in and out, as if reciting some kind of scripture.
Zhang Chun and the others were called in before lunch, and before they knew it, they had been stuck in the basement for two hours.
Tongtian Wu finally couldn't hold back any longer. She stood up, kicked over the chair, and loudly questioned Yan Ran, who was still reciting with his head down: "How long are you going to do this? Do we have to accompany you for a day if you do it for a day?"
Yan Ran stopped moving her lips, and she slowly opened her eyes with a slight smile on her lips: "Ten minutes, just give me ten more minutes."
Bu Kui opened the door and brought in a few bento boxes: "Let's eat first, and then we'll start!"
Once they knew the time, instead of waiting aimlessly for a long time, they didn't do anything extra. At this time, they were really hungry.
While everyone was eating, Yan Ran and Jie Qianchou placed some things on the table. Some of them were Taoist instruments, and some were just a few pieces of paper.
In the enclosed and dark environment of the basement, no one had the desire to savor the food, so they ate quickly. Yan Ran saw that the others had put down their chopsticks and stood up.
"Now, please all move as far away from me as possible and sit with your backs to me."
Seeing that everyone had taken their seats as she had instructed, Yan Ran continued, "Now I will formally begin the ritual. I suspect an evil spirit may be possessing you, so I must first confirm your identities. Otherwise, the evil spirit will interfere with Master Chen's return to the spirit. Please remember one thing: only those whose names I call may turn around and walk across the table. During this time, please do not look back, and do not speak."
Jie Qianchou added, "This is called Chongsha. Masters, I'm sure you all know how dangerous it is. At the very least, you'll get a serious illness, and at worst, you'll die instantly. Boss Zhang, Boss Wang, since you two don't practice magic, you should be especially careful. Extremely careful."
The idea of conflicting evil spirits has always existed, and both folk dharma and Taoist rituals have described it. What Jie Qianchou and the others said also made sense.
"Zhang Chunhe, please turn around, Mr. Zhang." The music playing on Yan Ran's phone gradually became eerie. The originally stuffy basement was now getting colder and colder.
After Zhang Chunhe walked over, the others followed their instructions and didn't look back. It wasn't that they were particularly obedient, but because Bu Kui's big face had already come closer, staring at them like a jailer.
A few people heard Zhang Chunhe making some humming and moaning sounds from behind, and sometimes even making shocked noises. They had no idea what they were doing.
About a minute later, Zhang Chunhe returned to his seat, but this time he looked confused and uncertain, his eyes darting around.
"Tongtian Wu, please turn around."
Several people's names were called one by one, until one person was called...
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