Chapter 62: Night Rain Wild Temple (24)
“Junior Brother Yan, have you seen the comments section of the show?” Taoist Priest Ma said in a serious tone, “Because I haven’t been able to contact you before, I had to confirm your safety through your split-screen live broadcast.”
"I don't know if Junior Brother Yan noticed that when you entered the main hall and fought the statue, many viewers said in the comment section of the show that they heard a voice, tempting them to make a wish to that voice. And because the voice said something different to each person, which was what the audience cared about the most, many viewers made wishes to that voice and agreed to believe that voice was a god."
Taoist Master Ma briefly explained to Yan Shixun the problem he had just seen while watching the live broadcast, and after fully introducing to Yan Shixun what he knew about Wild Wolf Peak, he gave his guess.
"After something happened at Wild Wolf Peak more than a decade ago, one of the people invited to solve the problem was a spirit medium who worshipped immortals. He said that the mountain god of Wild Wolf Peak had been changed and was now an immortal. The audience heard this voice only after you, Junior Brother Yan, entered the main hall."
Taoist Priest Ma said: "I suspect that the voice the audience heard came from the so-called 'Mountain God' of Wild Wolf Peak. The evil worshiper seized the throne and pretended to be the mountain god. It is even possible that the villagers of Wild Wolf Peak suddenly became so crazy about making money because they were bewitched by the evil god."
After listening to Master Ma’s explanation of Wild Wolf Peak, Yan Shixun suddenly understood.
It seems that his previous guesses were all correct.
After the incident at Wild Wolf Peak, the villagers were burned to death. This was the result of the evil spirits' invasion and crazy counterattack after the mountain god lost his position.
The authorities had tried to solve the problem, but the evil spirits had taken away the mountain god's throne, which was equivalent to taking control of the entire area. All the Taoist priests and witches who came to solve the problem were at a disadvantage and had to return home in defeat. Eventually, this place became a deadly place that gave the authorities a headache, and no one was willing to come here anymore.
As for the deception that Taoist Master Ma mentioned...
Yan Shixun thought of the villagers in the main hall who were fanatically kneeling down to worship the mountain god as depicted in the murals, as well as the words said by the scarecrow that rushed into the main hall.
The mountain god died, it was the mountain god's birthday, people offered sacrifices to the mountain god and guarded the farmland to repay their debts.
After so many years of nourishment, the evil god now possesses enough power to even support it to influence the audience in front of the screen through screen images, and what it says is everyone's deepest desire.
I'm afraid that the villagers near Wild Wolf Peak were also bewitched by the evil god. Those people, who were no longer satisfied with the income from the land and dreamed of getting rich quickly, had their inner thoughts magnified infinitely, becoming greedy and without restraint, and without considering the situation of Wild Wolf Peak where they had lived for generations. They hollowed out the forest and eventually forced themselves to death.
Endless greed has become the grave they dug for themselves.
Yan Shixun's heart was not moved at all, not even a sigh.
He had seen too many clients who came to him for help, all of whom took risks out of greed despite knowing that it was impossible to do so. They wanted to use underworld means to make money, and cooperated with some Taoist priests and sorcerers who had mastered magic but had evil intentions, raised little ghosts, summoned Yin cards, took away other people's fortunes, and used the Five Ghosts Moving Technique to steal wealth from other places, etc.
However, under the laws of nature, cause and effect have their own cycles, and wealth has its own destiny.
Using improper means to obtain wealth that does not belong to you will turn it into a cause of debt.
In the end, you have to pay it back.
When the final evil consequences came to claim the debt, those clients who were so arrogant that they thought they could escape the rules of heaven and earth finally panicked and looked everywhere for masters to save them. They even went through a lot of trouble to get Yan Shixun's contact information and came to ask him for help.
——Unfortunately, the debt owed has already been recorded. It cannot be repaid during one’s lifetime, but it will continue after death.
Yan Shixun has no interest in interfering in the cause and effect of other people.
If you create the cause, you will bear the consequences.
However, according to what the mountain god said, and based on the changes in the scenes on the murals when Yan Shixun was in the main hall, he knew that not all the villagers were successfully bewitched by the evil god, and not all the villagers participated in the plundering of the ecological resources of Wild Wolf Peak.
There were also some villagers who were implicated by their family members or people around them and whose souls were controlled by the evil spirits. They had not done anything wrong, and even tried to dissuade their families from destroying Wild Wolf Peak, but their families, who only cared about money, ignored their dissuasion.
If there was anything wrong with them...it was probably that they were unable to choose their family and failed to stay away from people around them who did wrong things in time.
Yan Shixun's eyes darkened and he had a plan in mind.
"Those viewers who heard the sound need not worry."
Yan Shixun said calmly, "Even if that evil creature has seized the mountain god's position, it cannot conceal its own evil nature. Its hands cannot reach that far. The sound can only be heard because the audience sees its image through the screen, which gives it an opportunity to take advantage of it, but that's all. It can't do more."
"If someone says that their wish has been fulfilled, Master Ma can go and ask. It must be just a small thing. If someone wishes for world peace or immortality." Yan Shixun sneered: "As a village chief, can he still control the world?"
Taoist Ma blinked his eyes and suddenly felt that what Yan Shixun said made sense.
"But since you can hear the voice, you are affected by the evil creature. You are just a little bit depressed in the past few days. As for those whose wishes have been fulfilled, they just have bad luck in the near future. After all, the evil creature cannot sacrifice its own power to help others realize their wishes. It just borrowed those people's own luck from the future and used it now."
As if he could sense Master Ma's concern from his hesitation, Yan Shixun said, "I'll find a time to use the live broadcast to expel the messy and remaining filth from those viewers and help them wash away the influence of the evil spirits. That way, there will be no problem."
Yan Shixun's tone was calm, as if there was nothing that could not be solved in front of him, and his presence was enough to make people feel at ease.
After hearing this, Master Ma finally felt relieved and nodded, saying that he would trouble Junior Brother Yan.
The fact that Taoist Master Ma's call could be connected to the mobile phone also made Yan Shixun realize that the mountain god had really removed the barrier of Wild Wolf Peak as he said.
The rainstorm was gradually decreasing and turned into ordinary heavy rain.
The sky was beginning to turn white.
At this time, the guests were able to leave the mountain temple by car, and the signal was gradually recovering.
Yan Shixun immediately called Zhang Wubing.
This time, after a short wait for a busy tone, Zhang Wubing's phone, which had been unable to be reached before, was finally connected.
"An, An Nanyuan?" There was disbelief in Zhang Wubing's surprised voice.
He seemed to have just done some intense exercise, and his voice was filled with gasps that he hadn't had time to calm down.
But soon, Zhang Wubing reacted, and immediately grabbed the phone and spoke very quickly, as if he was afraid that the hard-won signal would be lost again in the next second: "An Nanyuan, where are you? Is everyone safe? But Brother Yan is with you, you shouldn't be in big trouble. I was almost scared to death when I couldn't get through to all of you just now, but I was relieved when I remembered that Brother Yan was in your car. Don't talk! Listen to me, don't stay near Wild Wolf Peak, drive away from Wild Wolf Peak immediately! Here, the villages here seem to be all dead, there are no living people, don't trust anyone..."
"Minor illness."
Yan Shixun listened to Zhang Wubing quietly for a moment, and said in a deep and magnetic voice, with a strong sense of reassurance, "I am Yan Shixun."
Zhang Wubing's voice, which was originally chattering away against the clock, suddenly came to a halt.
There was a brief silence on the phone.
Immediately, Zhang Wubing burst into intense surprise and cried out in a tearful voice, "Brother Yan!"
Yan Shixun had a look of disdain on his face, but a smile in his eyes: "Yeah."
It was like a child walking alone in a completely unfamiliar environment, trembling with fear, but because there was no one to turn to, he gritted his teeth and persevered. However, on the journey without light, he suddenly found his parents and found a place where he could hide with peace of mind.
Then, the fear and loneliness that were once bearable suddenly became unbearable.
I just wanted to let it all turn into tears, and cry out loudly all the grievances and fears that were suppressed in my heart and that no one could tell.
“Brother Yan, is it really Brother Yan? Brother Yan, why did you come just now? I was almost scared to death. You don’t know that this place is full of ghosts and dead people. It’s too scary.”
Before he actually saw Yan Shixun, he just heard a familiar voice coming from the phone, and Zhang Wubing could no longer control himself and burst into tears into the phone.
Under Yan Shixun's questioning, Zhang Wubing sobbed and told what happened to him.
When Zhang Wubing received Yan Shixun's call for the first time and learned that the logistics vehicle was missing, he immediately gave way to the director's car that was in the front and was about to cross the narrow road between two mountains, and stopped on the road next to the field. For the sake of convenience, he got out of the car and ran towards the guest car with an umbrella.
But he didn't expect that from then on, the person Zhang Wubing met was no longer Yan Shixun, but an evil creature disguised as "Yan Shixun".
Out of his complete trust in Yan Shixun, even though Zhang Wubing felt something was wrong and had doubts in the middle of the journey, he still obediently followed "Yan Shixun" to the villager's home where he was staying.
However, the experience of encountering ghosts over the years made Zhang Wubing quickly realize that the people around him might not be human!
The house of the villager where I stayed had black and white portraits of the deceased, and the calendar on the wall was stuck in the summer of more than ten years ago and was no longer torn down. There was a strong smell of mold in the house, and the tiles in the corners had collapsed and were leaking, but no one had repaired them.
After seeing that the person in the portrait in the villager's home could actually move, Zhang Wubing was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He turned around and broke free from the shackles of the "guests" next to him, and fled in the opposite direction relying on his survival instinct.
Because of his physical condition, Zhang Wubing has been encountering ghosts and evil spirits since he was very young. Before he met Yan Shixun in the university dormitory, his elders would ask the Taoist priests of Haiyun Temple and the abbots of the temple to exorcise evil spirits for him, but that was not all-encompassing, and there were times when he encountered ghosts when he was alone outside.
In order to save his life, Zhang Wubing has mastered the superb skills of escaping and playing dead, trying to survive the pursuit of ghosts and monsters.
So for a moment, the "guests" and "Yan Shixun" who did not expect Zhang Wubing to escape suddenly were unable to react. By the time they reacted, Zhang Wubing had already run away and disappeared without a trace.
After escaping from the villager's house, Zhang Wubing, in a panic, turned into a small road in the village.
Then he was horrified to find that not only the house of the villager he was going to stay with had collapsed, but many houses in the village had collapsed and were overgrown with weeds, as if no one had lived there for more than a decade, exuding a horrifying sense of desolation.
In order to avoid the things chasing him, Zhang Wubing rushed into the nearest house without thinking too much and hid under the table. He covered his mouth to prevent himself from making any sound and waited quietly for those things to leave the vicinity.
Looking through the crumbling and stained window, Zhang Wubing was horrified to find that those "people" who just looked like the guests and Yan Shixun had now turned into scarecrows!
The scarecrows had white paper money stuck to their heads, with black and red graffiti painted on them as facial features. The scarecrows were wearing red clothes and walking on the village road in the rain, turning their heads slowly and stiffly with their paper money faces, searching for the traces of Zhang Wubing who had run away.
With every step they took, red blood dripped from their clothes and onto the dirt road along the way.
Zhang Wubing opened his eyes wide and watched the scene in shock. He was so scared that he was shaking and almost crying. But he didn't dare to do anything. He could only cover his mouth desperately and shrink under the table without moving, so as not to make any noise and attract the attention of the scarecrows outside the house.
A scarecrow slowly approached the window, with its paper money face pressed against the glass, and looked into the house with its pair of pure black eyes without whites.
After scanning the dark house with his dead eyes, the scarecrow, finding nothing, retreated back to the village road, followed the other scarecrows, swaying slowly away, to look for the escaped stranger somewhere else.
Zhang Wubing watched the scarecrows leave, trembling all over. It took him a long time to take his hands away from his mouth. He let out a tired sigh of relief and slumped down in the thick dust under the table.
But immediately, Zhang Wubing felt something was wrong.
He swore based on his years of experience of encountering ghosts that he definitely felt that something was watching him!
Zhang Wubing was so scared that he huddled into a ball. He turned his head tremblingly, his neck making "click" and "click" sounds. He turned his head slowly to the side like a robot, trying to see clearly what was around him.
Then he discovered that not far from him, in a place where the light coming through the window could not reach, there was a charred body of a person. With only the black bone holes left after the loss of his eyeballs, he was looking at him silently and intently.
Zhang Wubing: “!!!”
Zhang Wubing was so frightened that he couldn't help but let out a scream. He subconsciously wanted to stand up and run away, but his head hit the table above him with a "bang". He grimaced in pain and felt dizzy. However, he quickly crawled out from under the table using his hands and feet, and rushed out of the house without caring about the scarecrow outside.
Zhang Wubing's screams attracted the scarecrow. At the same time, a charred corpse covered in black also crawled out of the house and chased after Zhang Wubing.
He ran until his heart and lungs felt like they were exploding with pain, but he didn't dare stop. He was so frightened that he could only run madly forward. He had no time to identify the direction, nor did he dare to look back to see where the things chasing him were or whether they caught up with him.
He was not like his brother Yan who could exorcise evil spirits and catch ghosts, nor was he like his brother Yan who could judge the truth with just a few glances. He would always remain rational and calm. In the panic, only the instinct of survival supported him to run forward madly.
I can’t die, and I can’t let ghosts take my life away.
He still has to go back to see his brother Yan. He has yet to realize his dream of becoming a famous director. He throws his report card in front of his father and tells him that his dream is not fake... No, he can't stop here.
Zhang Wubing ran wildly in the rain with faith.
When Zhang Wubing finally couldn't run anymore and his legs went weak and he fell to the ground, he realized that the things chasing him had been thrown away at some point, and he himself had already run out of the village.
He looked up blankly and took a look at his surroundings. He could only roughly see that he seemed to be at the edge of the intersection of several villages, and he could vaguely see collapsed houses not far away.
Behind him was a dilapidated temple with a plaque covered with spider silk half hanging above it, severely faded by wind and sun.
Zhang Wubing squinted his eyes and could barely see that it said "Mountain God Temple".
Since it's a temple, those things probably wouldn't dare to enter. After all, it's a god.
Zhang Wubing thought so, propped up his legs which were as soft as noodles, and walked into the mountain temple tremblingly.
The temple was very shabby. Unlike many of the popular temples Zhang Wubing had seen before, this mountain temple was full of dust and broken furniture, as if it had been smashed in anger and all the valuable things had been taken away. Even the altar was just an earthen platform. There was no tall statue of the god, only a small wooden statue that rolled in the dust on the ground.
Even the roof of the main hall had collapsed with a big hole because no one had taken care of it for many years. Heavy rain poured in through the hole, and cold wind also blew in, making Zhang Wubing, who had originally expected to be able to shelter from the wind and rain here, a little disappointed.
But he soon cheered up.
As long as those things didn't chase him, it would be fine. He wasn't greedy. As long as he could survive, he would be fine even if it was cold.
Besides, the mountain god himself is not having a good time, and he looks quite pitiful.
Zhang Wubing looked at the statue that had fallen to the ground, feeling sorry for it. Not only did he bend down to pick up the statue and put it back on the altar, he also clumsily wiped the dust off the statue with his wet clothes.
Anyway, his clothes are dirty, so it would be nice if the statue could be clean.
Zhang Wubing, who was always in trouble with ghosts and was often saved by the Taoist master and his brother Yan, was full of gratitude and respect for the god who could save him from ghosts. After doing all this, Zhang Wubing bowed to the statue twice, and then hid in a relatively windless place nearby, intending to stay here until dawn, and wait for those things to disappear before going out.
Perhaps it was because he suddenly relaxed after being frightened, Zhang Wubing, who was soaked by the heavy rain, did not feel cold. Instead, he felt warm after entering the mountain temple.
I don’t know if the mountain temple is really useful or because they are out of the village, but Zhang Wubing guarded vigilantly for a long time and didn’t see those things appear again.
So he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, took out his cell phone and called Yan Shixun, wanting him to ask his brother Yan to come and rescue him.
However, there was only a mechanical female voice on the phone prompting "The number you dialed is out of service area."
Unwilling to give up, Zhang Wubing called Yan Shixun dozens of times, and also called all the guests and staff, but none of the calls went through.
Zhang Wubing was unable to ask for help from the outside world and had no idea what the situation was like outside. He could only hold his mobile phone in a daze, huddled in a corner of the mountain temple, anxiously waiting for dawn.
Then, when the sky was turning white, Zhang Wubing finally received a call from Yan Shixun.
Suddenly, Zhang Wubing's tears flowed out, and he cried to Yan Shixun with grievance and pitifulness, like a poor dog whose fur was soaked by heavy rain.
The audience, who vaguely heard the sound coming from the phone through the split screen, could not help but be stunned.
[Oh my god! Did you hear what Brother Yan said on the phone? Did I hear it wrong? There are scarecrows chasing people in the village?]
[Fuck!!! The scarecrow is a shadow in my life. When I was a kid, I was very scared when I saw adults putting scarecrows in the fields. When others made scarecrows, I was so scared that I cried loudly, thinking that this thing would suddenly come alive and chase me. At that time, my father scolded me for being so timid as a man. Now I must show this program to my father! My worry is not without reason. The scarecrow really came to life! It will chase people! My God, the one who called Brother Yan is a warrior. If it were me, I might just kneel down and not be able to run at all.]
[Brother Yan called this guy "Xiaobing", I think he was the director of this program, Zhang Wubing. It's also quite pitiful. It seems that he got separated from the others and was taken to a place full of dead people... My god, just thinking about it gives me goose bumps. It was a rainy day, I couldn't see clearly, the ground was muddy and I couldn't run fast. I was alone, and there were dead people all around. This scene was too scary. I hugged my stuffed toy tightly and shivered.]
[Hey, you dare to hug a stuffed toy? Aren't you afraid that it will suddenly come alive when you fall asleep and look at you like those scarecrows?]
[This director is so unlucky. I remember he encountered those bloody things when he was in Guishan before, and he was scared. He encountered them again this time? Moreover, he is a new director, and he has only filmed two episodes of the show, and he encounters unclean things every episode. Tsk, tsk, tsk, how miserable.]
[But with Brother Yan here, the director should be okay, right? We've all been contacted, right? With Brother Yan here, he must be safe. When I heard Brother Yan talking about making a wish just now, tears were about to fall. I just couldn't resist the temptation and made a wish, and I also promised to worship that thing in the future. Originally, when I saw you guys discussing this in the comment section and saying that it might be an evil thing, I even thought about how I would die. I just smoked a pack of cigarettes and prepared some suicide notes, leaving my property to my family. When Brother Yan said not to worry, he would just exorcise the evil spirits, I really burst into tears. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me for crying so miserably as an adult. Really, apart from my family, no one can give me such a sense of security. I didn't understand those Oats before, and I didn't understand what it meant to chase stars. Now I understand! Brother Yan is my idol! From today on, I am an Oats! ]
[Yes, yes, me too. When I heard Brother Yan say this, tears really came to my eyes. I had originally made a wish that I would pass the exam, thinking it was impossible, but just now I received an email from the school saying that I passed the exam. I was stunned at the time, happy and scared at the same time, especially when Brother Yan said in the split screen that what you owe must be repaid. I tossed and turned in bed in anxiety. It was not until Brother Yan said not to worry that I cried so loudly.]
[Alas, these things can cause great harm to people. But when I think about it, it seems that each of us is easily deceived. After all, that voice is very smart, and it speaks out what we think in our hearts, which is exactly what we want. Who doesn't have painful and tangled times? Who doesn't have something they want? I used to look down on those who were deceived, thinking they were too stupid. After this incident, I understand that it is hard to guard against... Maybe the villagers of Wild Wolf Peak were the same back then. It's just that there was no Brother Yan at that time, and no one stopped them and saved them in time, so they ended up in disaster.]
[Brother Yan is so handsome! Did you see the look on Brother Yan’s face when he said that just now? So cool! Really, it’s worth being an oatmeal.]
After listening to Zhang Wubing's story about his experience that night, Yan Shixun couldn't help but laugh out loud and said jokingly, "You are quite energetic. You know how to cry, which means there is nothing wrong."
Zhang Wubing sobbed, "Brother Yan, please come quickly. I'm scared."
There was a smile on Yan Shixun's lips, and he wanted to say something to Zhang Wubing, but suddenly all the smiles on his handsome face disappeared and his eyes became sharp.
"Sick, what's making a noise around you?"
Zhang Wubing hiccuped and looked a little confused: "Huh?"
Yan Shixun calmed down and, with his good hearing, listened carefully to the sound coming from the phone.
"Rustle", "Rustle"...
It was like something was crawling along the rough surface.
And this sound was mixed in with the "crackling" sound of rain, so it was not easy to be detected. It was not until it was gradually approaching and the sound gradually became louder that Yan Shixun, who had a keen hearing, caught it through the receiver of his mobile phone.
Yan Shixun immediately said to Zhang Wubing: "Right now, take a look at the walls and the ground around you to see if there is anything approaching you."
Zhang Wubing looked around obediently, but there was still only dust, and he didn't hear any sound. He could only answer with a puzzled look on his face: "No, there is nothing around me."
"It's above my head."
Yan Shixun calmly points out the visual blind spots that people tend to overlook.
Zhang Wubing subconsciously raised his head and looked upwards, and found that in the pitch-black mountain temple, the ceiling, which was already covered with spider webs, had a black spot upon closer inspection, which was out of place with the rest of the place.
As if it appeared there suddenly.
Zhang Wubing, who had been squinting his eyes and watching intently, suddenly remembered that when he was hiding in a dilapidated house in the village, he saw the man hiding behind him and quietly looking at his charred corpse.
He gasped, trembling with fear, and said into the phone, "Yan, Brother Yan, it's a charred corpse! The kind that's covered in black, crawling along the ceiling!"
Perhaps Zhang Wubing's voice and gaze stimulated the charred corpse lying on the roof. The charred corpse paused for a moment, staring at Zhang Wubing with a cold and dead look. Then, it accelerated directly on the roof, with its hands and feet together, and its charred limbs moved quickly like spider legs, rushing towards where Zhang Wubing was.
Zhang Wubing was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his back. The hairs on his arms stood up. He cried out to Yan Shixun, "Brother Yan! Brother Yan, save me! That charred corpse is coming towards me! Aa ...
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