Chapter 248 Jinjiang (1)
When Taoist Priests Ma and Wang crossed the archway, they were on high alert, wanting to see what kind of evil spirit was affecting this place and even causing the entire program crew to disappear.
Even my breathing became lighter unconsciously, and when my footsteps landed on the ground, there was only the slight sound of sand rubbing against the soles of my shoes.
However, even though the two of them glanced around without blinking, they still couldn't find anything wrong.
Not only was there no change around them, but they themselves did not feel any difference.
The expected attack did not come, and the danger we were prepared for seemed to be just a false alarm.
Taoist Priest Ma slowly stopped and looked to the side in confusion.
It was just like the scene he saw outside the archway. There was no difference when he crossed the archway, and he did not see the program crew.
Taoist Wang stroked his chin and pondered, then asked Taoist Ma, "Could it be that we are worrying too much?"
Are they so nervous that they see the archway as dangerous?
Perhaps, in reality, the so-called danger was just their imagination?
Taoist Priest Ma frowned and shook his head: "What about the wheel tracks that disappeared here?"
As he spoke, he turned around and strode out of the archway, wanting to ask the Taoist priest who was left there if he saw anything wrong when they walked behind the archway.
But after stepping out of the archway and taking two steps, Taoist Ma suddenly stopped.
...The car that was supposed to be parked on the side of the road, and the Taoist priest waiting in the car, all disappeared.
There were no signs of any attack, and it didn't even look like they left on their own accord. There was no trace on the ground or around to prove that a car had ever been here.
It was as if they had disappeared out of thin air just like the people in the previous program crew.
Taoist Priest Ma suddenly remembered something and quickly lowered his head to look at the ground.
However, the dirt road was completely clean, and the wheel tracks that had initially made him suspicious of the archway were gone.
In the blink of an eye, everything was as if a sand painting on a white paper. All the images were easily erased, and the living people disappeared in the dim sand.
how so?
Taoist Priest Ma looked at the distance in disbelief, and for a moment he didn't even dare to take a step forward.
Taoist Wang hurried over to inquire and was also shocked when he found that the car had disappeared.
The two searched inside and outside the archway several times but found nothing.
It was as if the entire space they were in was cut off from the heaven and earth, and they had fallen into an unknown rat hole, but they had no idea how long they would stop falling along the ever-extending hole.
"Was it the same situation for the people in the program team at that time?"
Taoist Priest Ma held up his cell phone and said, "I just tried it, and there is no signal."
"No, the program team's situation should be different from ours."
Taoist Wang frowned. "Whether it was the live broadcast we saw before or the confirmation with the official person in charge, they themselves were not clear about their own situation. Before we came in, there were no problems with the live broadcast, and everyone seemed to be safe."
"Besides, although we guessed that there was something behind the archway before we came in, we didn't see them after we came in."
Taoist Wang: "It's like two balls falling into different bags."
"If you want to find out who is behind all this, I'm afraid you'll have to go to the museum."
Taoist Priest Wang slightly turned sideways, stood in place and looked in the direction of the museum.
Just like before they crossed the boundary of the archway, the shadow puppet museum they saw was still a half-collapsed dilapidated building, with half of the wall paint trembling in the wind and sand, and the few bright red characters hanging on the top had long faded into an uneven pink and white, and even the paint had fallen off, revealing the wood underneath.
Taoist Wang tried to tell fortunes by counting on his fingers, but there was nothing.
As he guessed, it was blocked.
“This actually proves that we have found the right place.”
Taoist Wang raised his head and smiled, "It seems that there is indeed something wrong with the archway you mentioned, Taoist Ma. From the archway, we enter the territory of the Shadow Puppet Museum."
He put down his palm, turned around and said to Master Ma with a smile: "Even if they fell into different pockets, if we work backwards, they will end up in the same place. As long as we follow the path the program team took, we should be able to find where they had problems in the beginning and finally find where they are now."
"Then let's go."
Taoist Priest Ma took one last glance behind him, suppressed his worry about the missing Taoist Priest, and strode towards the Shadow Puppet Museum.
Although he didn't know what the Taoist priest's current situation was, but between the two parties, Taoist Ma had no choice but to give priority to the program crew members who might be trapped in the Shadow Puppet Museum.
He sighed and thought to himself that he must bring the program crew back as quickly as possible before going to find the missing Taoist priest.
The two men walked between two rows of stone tablets, as if they were walking through a cemetery.
Taoist Priest Ma glanced at the stone tablets one by one, only to find that photos had been pasted on those stone tablets at some point!
Although the original colors of the photo on the stone tablet have faded severely due to its age, and at first glance it looks like a black and white photo, the person in the photo is dressed formally and smiles kindly at the camera, but it looks more like a posthumous photo, making the stone tablet look more like a tombstone.
This confirmed the vague thoughts that Taoist Master Ma had in his mind before.
But when I looked over from outside the archway, there were clearly no photos, only text descriptions.
Taoist Priest Ma was muttering to himself, so he turned around and walked towards the tombstone.
He didn't think he had been wrong before, so there was only one possibility.
The world behind the archway has been changed by the manipulation of invisible evil spirits.
If he intuitively felt that this place looked like a tombstone, then perhaps there was something buried beneath the tombstone.
Taoist Priest Ma squatted down in front of one of the stone tablets.
In the black and white photo on the stone tablet, the middle-aged man is looking up with his head smiling smugly, as if the whole world belongs to him, which makes people feel uncomfortable.
Perhaps due to the erosion of wind and rain, two dark holes were corroded on the man's face where his eyes should have been, adding a strange sense of horror to his face.
Taoist Priest Ma frowned as he watched, and recalled a saying that had been circulating in the past.
If there are photos with other people, after that person dies, even if the photos are not burned, the deceased's face must be burned from the photos.
Otherwise, the spirit of the deceased might come looking for you through the photo.
Because the human form is another carrier of the soul, after the body has disappeared, if the soul wanders in the human world, it will subconsciously want to find a place to stay.
A photo with the same face as the deceased is the best choice.
However, this statement has only been circulated a few decades ago, and the Taoist priests at that time did catch the evil ghosts who wanted to harm people through photos.
That was a time when photography was a serious matter, an event that required careful dressing and planning, and took time to develop before you could get the photos.
The anticipation and love that goes into waiting for a photo, as well as the energy that the photographer and the photo itself put into it, all give the photo such a possible vitality.
However, later, as photos became more popular, selfies became a daily choice for most people. People no longer had high expectations for photos, nor did they spend time and energy on them, and they no longer even developed them.
Therefore, it is difficult for photos to serve as a carrier of souls.
In recent years, such statements have become less and less common and are no longer known.
But now, when Master Ma looked at the photo on the stone tablet, he suddenly remembered what happened back then.
Although the photo showed that the area where the eyes had been corroded was accidentally corroded, Master Ma instinctively felt uncomfortable.
It’s as if if these eyes were still there, the soul of the deceased would reappear through the photo.
Taoist Priest Ma frowned and read the introduction below the photo.
This sight gave him a shock.
Because the inscriptions on the stone tablet that he had seen before were all mixed with erroneous semi-classical and semi-vernacular writing, Master Ma was deeply impressed and could even remember some of the introductions. He could also mostly remember his date of birth and achievements.
But the inscriptions he saw now were very different from before.
It was no longer a eulogistic praise, but instead became a harsh criticism, with every word filled with anger towards the owner of the tombstone.
According to these inscriptions, the owner of the tombstone is a heinous person who colluded with the villagers to kill the male head of the family, then bullied orphans and widows, and tried to deceive the world into believing that he is the inheritor and master of shadow puppetry.
But in fact, even the shadow puppetry skills that made the owner of the tombstone famous were stolen by him in a despicable and shameless way, taking other people's things for his own.
The more Master Ma read, the more he could feel the anger and grief of the person who carved these words. They were filled with blood and tears, and every word was an accusation.
He was horrified by what he saw.
But at the same time, Master Ma was also puzzled. If one really hated a person, perhaps even the photo with the eyes destroyed was done by the engraver, then why should he bury the person he hated properly and erect a tombstone for him?
Judging from the many events that Taoist Master Ma had witnessed in the past, people who harbor such resentment would generally wish to grind the person they hate into ashes and expose him to the sun in the wilderness, so that his soul would not have peace and could not even be reincarnated, but could only wander the human world day and night.
It could be said that this person buried the man he hated properly out of kindness...but judging by the wording of the inscription and the things the angrily accused middle-aged man did before his death, it didn't seem like she was going to let him off.
Just when Master Ma felt that his thoughts were at a tangle, he suddenly discovered another place on the stone tablet that had been changed.
The middle-aged man's date of birth.
The time point was actually thirty years ago?
Taoist Priest Ma just thought it was ridiculous.
I don’t know if the date of birth on this stone tablet was filled in randomly, but judging from the photo and the dilapidated state of the Shadow Puppet Museum, the stone tablet should have been erected at the same time as the museum was established, which was many years ago.
At that time, middle-aged men should be around 40 years old.
How could he have been born thirty years ago?
"Why, is there something wrong with the stone tablet?"
Taoist Wang saw that he had been half-squatting in front of the stone tablet and was afraid that he was possessed by something, so he walked over and asked with concern.
But after taking a quick glance, Taoist Wang discovered that on all the stone tablets he saw, photos like black and white posthumous photos slowly emerged.
In every photo, the area where the man's eyes should be is pitch black.
Some of the photos have charred edges, and you can tell at a glance that they are the remains of burnt fire.
Taoist Wang saw clearly what Taoist Ma had just seen, and his face gradually became serious. Without saying a word, he found a nearby stone tablet, squatted down, picked up the dead branches next to him and used them as a shovel, and started digging the ground under the stone tablet.
Taoist Priest Ma was stunned: "What are you doing?"
"Looks like a tombstone, doesn't it?"
Taoist Wang said without even looking up, "A grave appears in a place controlled by evil spirits. Either the grave belongs to the evil spirit, or it is the grave of someone the evil spirit hates. Other than that, I can't think of any other reason why the evil spirit would mention death on its own initiative."
In front of Taoist Wang, the soil was gradually dug up, revealing the things buried underneath.
First, a piece of withered and yellowed bone was vaguely revealed from the soil.
Taoist Wang paused for a moment, and after determining the location of the joint, he had a target. He dug more accurately near the joint, brushed away the dust, and revealed the intact corpse buried underneath.
But when the head of the corpse was revealed, Master Wang's pupils shrank into points the moment he saw the head clearly.
This is not a human corpse...
"This is!"
Taoist Priest Ma who was standing nearby exclaimed and quickly moved closer to get a better look.
Although at first glance they look like corpse bones, upon closer inspection one can discover circles of lines on the bones.
It is the wood grain that is unique to wood.
This is not a human skeleton with rotting flesh and blood, but a piece of wood carved into the shape of a skeleton.
Because it had been a long time and the wood was still stained with black and half covered by dust, the two men were able to make a mistake.
It was not until a large area of wood grain on the wooden sculpture's skull was exposed that the two men discovered the true appearance of the corpse.
"There is no corpse under the tombstone, but a skeleton pretending to be a human?"
Taoist Priest Ma looked at the tombstones in astonishment, only to find that not only the one he had just seen, but all the tombstones had similar inscriptions on them.
And the same birth time.
Thirty years ago today.
All the stone tablets in front of the Shadow Puppet Museum are graves of sinners.
There were no coffins or dead bodies under the tombstone, only skeletons carved out of wood. With their hollow, dark eye sockets, they stared coldly upward at the people who had dug up the soil.
After confirming that there were wooden frames under all the tombstones, Master Ma felt relieved.
Although the scene of graves and "corpses" in front of the museum is still weird, fortunately it corresponds to the emotions revealed on the tombstones, proving that many shadow puppet masters buried here were hated by people or had already died.
The man who did all this did not suddenly change his character after the death of the shadow puppet masters and bury them with kindness.
Instead, a "bone substitute" was used.
According to legend, when Guan Yu died, his body was missing a head and could not be buried, so the most skilled carpenter was invited to carve a wooden head for Guan Yu so that he could be buried intact and his soul could go to the underworld.
Since then, there has been a tradition of carving body parts out of wood and burying them as complete bodies.
Although the King of Hell knew this, he also felt that life was not easy on the earth, so he allowed this method to work.
Therefore, in the eyes of the underworld, a piece of wood carved into a human shape is no different from the body of the deceased. It can lead the deceased's complete soul to the Palace of Yama, where the sins and merits of a lifetime will be judged.
But Taoist Priest Ma does not think that the evil spirit behind the scenes has such good intentions.
Moreover, even if the body of the deceased was incomplete, it would not be possible for all the bones to disappear from the body, and there would still be such a large number of them.
His guess is more inclined to another use of wooden bones:
Perhaps, that person replaced all the corpses with lifeless wood. When the ghost came and saw the lifeless skeleton, he would think that the person had been dead for a long time and his soul was no longer in the body, so he crossed out his name from the list and no longer took him in.
The deceased will miss the chance to be reborn forever, and his soul will wander in the wilderness from then on, becoming a homeless ghost with no one to worship him.
The pain and suffering will never end.
Even hell is merciful to the dead.
When Master Ma figured all this out, he was completely stunned.
He lowered his head in a daze, looking at the wooden bones that had seen the light of day again, feeling mixed emotions.
If it was before this show started and before he met Yan Shixun, when Master Ma faced this kind of thing, he would definitely follow the rules of heaven and earth, rearrange the disrupted rules, and make everything return to the way it should be.
The dead go to the underworld, and the evil spirits behind the scenes who disturb the underworld should receive the punishment they deserve.
But Taoist Ma remembered what Yan Shixun had once said to him.
"Master Ma, everyone has their own karma. Even if many things seem wrong to outsiders like us, the truth is often the opposite of what we see. The perpetrators are the real pitiful ones."
At that time, the lanterns outside Haiyun Mountain flickered and the mountain was shrouded in fog.
Yan Shixun raised his head and sighed: "Most of what we have seen is already belated revenge, the revenge and questioning of the souls who have lost everything. If we do not carefully distinguish them, it will cause deeper harm to the vengeful souls, and even make them do irreversible regrets."
"If the living world doesn't judge, the underworld will. If the underworld doesn't ask..."
Yan Shixun lowered his eyebrows and said in a cold tone: "The victim should have the right to seek revenge on his own."
Taoist Master Ma was stunned by Yan Shixun's words, which sounded tantamount to heresy at first glance.
Whether it is the teachings of senior Taoist priests or masters, or the scriptures, there has never been any words that are tantamount to disturbing the yin and yang of heaven and earth.
This is not what a Taoist priest who guards yin and yang should do.
But when it came out of Yan Shixun's mouth, it seemed so reasonable, as if it should be so. Even the Tao had to acknowledge his words.
Taoist Master Ma therefore remembered this sentence for a long time and pondered it over and over again in his free time, trying to understand Yan Shixun's mentality and intention when he said this.
But it has been fruitless.
Until now.
When he saw clearly the anger and resentment that the evil spirit behind the scenes had towards these shadow puppet masters, he suddenly recalled Yan Shixun's words, and everything became clear to him in an instant.
The underworld doesn't even ask...
Taoist Priest Ma raised his head and sighed deeply.
The golden-red sunset stung his eyes, causing him to squint and suppress the moisture in his eye sockets.
Although judging from the evil spirit's actions, it took the initiative to block the sight of the underworld, allowing these dead souls to escape the control of the underworld and become an outlet for its hatred.
But according to the description on the stone tablet, perhaps the evil spirit is related to the family that these shadow puppet masters had killed before.
The true identity of the evil spirit may be one of the dead family members.
Having lost his family and everything he had, and wailing in sorrow, the desire for revenge burst out from his heart. He was willing to do it even if he had to become a ghost because of his hatred and obsession.
Taoist Priest Ma shook his head, stood up and brushed off the dust on his body.
He had not experienced everything that happened back then, so how could he be qualified to judge that person's actions? If he was the one who lost everything, if all the Taoist priests in Haiyun Temple and everyone he knew were killed... maybe he would only become more crazy.
At this moment, Taoist Master Ma suddenly felt shaken and didn't want to pursue the evil spirit any further.
He could feel that he was being influenced by Yan Shixun, and even the principles he adhered to were changing subtly.
However, Master Ma wanted to allow such changes to occur.
"The heaven and earth are impermanent, all laws are impermanent, and my way is also impermanent."
Taoist Priest Ma murmured a few words in a low voice, then called to Taoist Priest Wang beside him: "Let's go."
Taoist priest Wang was stunned. He pointed at the wooden skeleton that had been dug out and asked, "Have you been possessed by Xingxing? Can't you see that this is a 'replacement bone'? I'm afraid that the deaths of these people were caused by one person. They are unnatural deaths. Are you going to just leave them alone?"
To Master Wang's surprise, Master Ma actually uttered a low "hmm".
"As long as the evil spirit doesn't harm the lives of the production crew, I can pretend that I didn't see anything today."
Taoist Priest Ma said, "Let's go. They are waiting for us inside."
As he spoke, Master Ma took the lead and walked towards the museum.
Only Taoist Wang was left, full of questions.
"???"
He looked at the tombstone and skeleton in front of him, then looked at the back of Taoist Ma, who looked particularly elegant as if he had figured out some difficult problem, and felt that his head was almost stuck.
No matter how hard he tried, he could not guess that it was what Yan Shixun said when they were alone together that influenced Master Ma's choice.
However, he also knew that now was not the time to start an internal conflict. No matter what happened to Master Ma, he should solve the current problem first and then slowly ask questions.
Taoist Wang quickly chased after him.
The golden-red sunset shone through the gaps in the hollow carvings of the archway and fell on the wooden frame. In an instant, it was as if the flames ignited the wood, and flames suddenly rose.
The fire crackled with a blazing flame, and firewood was piled on the other side.
The sizzling sound of the blade rubbing against wood that filled the room suddenly stopped.
The man sitting on the small wooden stick seemed to sense something. He stopped what he was doing, slowly stood up, looked out through the window next to him, and hesitated in his heart.
"Do we have a visitor?"
The girl yawned coquettishly, rubbing her eyes, and walked over with her stuffed doll in her arms. She leaned against the door and asked curiously, "Who is it this time?"
The man's originally serious and thoughtful brows relaxed when the girl walked over, and even the deep wrinkles between his brows were no longer filled with suffering, but were filled with a gentle smile.
"He's an interesting Taoist priest... maybe he's a rare good person."
The man said this, thought for a moment and stood up from the small stool, put the unfinished product in his hand aside, took off his gloves, and looked like he was going out.
"They might be in danger."
The man smiled and said, "Since they are interested in shadow puppetry, I will go pick them up so they don't have to take a detour."
The girl nodded, her cheeks were pink and warm as she had just woken up, and tears from yawning were hanging under her pretty eyes, making her look pretty and delicate.
She waved at the man and said obediently, "Go early and come back early."
The man nodded, a happy smile between his brows.
The girl turned her gaze back and frowned unhappily when she saw the fire. She fetched water to put out the flames, and then her eyes fell on the semi-finished product that the man put down.
Only half of the wooden skull has been carved out, with the other half still hidden in the uncarved wood. Only half of the bones are rough and have not undergone the final polishing, but one can already see the craftsman's superb skills, making the wooden product indistinguishable from a real person.
The girl stared at the skeleton for a moment, then tilted her head and skipped over, the hem of her pink skirt fluttering playfully.
Her smile was as sweet as honey, and she reached out and patted the top of the skull, her voice soft and sweet.
"hello."
The girl smiled without any gloom, with pure innocence: "My new playmate."
The moment the words fell, the skull that had been quietly placed on the table suddenly rolled its eyes, and only half of its jawbone moved up and down, making a clattering sound, as if responding to the girl.
Hello, my...little girl.
At the same time, the whole room was filled with a series of crackling sounds, like the sound of wood rubbing against each other, countless jaws opening and closing, and hands and feet moving.
The smile on the girl's lips deepened.
She tilted her head, her long, smooth, satiny hair falling from her shoulders, tied with a pink bow.
She was the only bright color in the entire fire-blackened room.
…
As soon as they stepped into the Shadow Puppet Museum, the two Taoist priests felt like they had walked into a cold storage.
The eerie cold air began to spread from the soles of the feet, as if walking barefoot on ice. People began to shiver unconsciously and wanted to escape from here to a warm place.
The red paint on the big words "Ticket Office" on the wall next to it has peeled off, and the promotional poster pasted on the glass has also half fallen off. The ink has faded and aged in the sun, and only a few shadow puppet figures printed on it can be vaguely seen.
There was no one running the museum or manning the ticket office.
The two seemed to have come to a completely deserted place. There was no human activity here, and even the traces of people's existence were almost disappearing. Only abandoned debris remained in the yard.
Taoist Priest Ma tiptoed through the porch, his hand reaching towards his chest, the yellow talisman between his fingers, ready to deal with danger at any time.
A tall figure suddenly came into their sight.
The man stood under the dead tree in the yard, with his back to the two of them. His tall and slender body stood like a pine tree. The shadow of the dead tree fell behind him, baring fangs and claws like a ghost.
Before the two could react or see the man's face clearly, the yellow talisman in Taoist Ma's hand suddenly burst into flames. The bright flame disappeared in an instant, and ashes fell from Taoist Ma's hand.
Not only that, even all the talismans that the two Taoist priests had originally prepared to carry with them began to burn fiercely, but they could not even last for a second before they all turned into ashes.
This is!
Both of them were horrified.
The power of talismans comes from gods. When Taoist priests draw talismans, they ask for divine power from the gods in all directions, and only then will the talismans become effective.
However, spells are not able to cope with all situations.
If it is a ghost or evil spirit whose power is far beyond the limit of the talisman, or a being that even the gods of the four directions dare not offend easily, then the talisman is not even as good as a piece of waste paper.
The dangers that the program crew has encountered over the past few episodes are mostly situations that talismans are far from being able to handle.
Although the two knew this and therefore had rarely used the talismans they had prepared, the fact that all the talismans were burned to ashes upon first contact was still beyond their cognitive limits.
What on earth is that thing under the dead tree in the courtyard!
Why is it that no matter which god is asked to borrow divine power to draw the talisman, no matter what kind of talisman is used to exorcise demons and kill ghosts, all of them are ineffective in front of that person?
——The man didn't even move.
Just the fact that they were close to where the man was standing was what happened.
Well, if the safety of everyone in the program crew is threatened by that person's existence, how are they going to get past that person and find everyone in the program crew?
Taoist Priest Ma felt as if his heart was frozen. The winter wind whistled through his chest. His hands and feet were cold, and the blood seemed to have stopped flowing. He could only stare at the man's back with his eyes wide open.
However, Taoist Wang, while he was looking at the tall and slender figure in shock, suddenly pondered and felt that it seemed a little familiar.
It seemed as if he had seen it somewhere before?
Taoist Wang was puzzled.
At this moment, the man turned his head slightly and looked towards where the two were standing.
The man's inky black hair slid down from his shoulders, and a few mysterious black lines on his temples floated gently, as if they had life.
He was dressed in black with exquisite and unrestrained dark patterns of mountains and rivers embroidered on his body. The shadow he cast was the deepest darkness. Under his feet was a bottomless abyss. Countless ghosts appeared and disappeared in the darkness, roaring and trying to climb out, but they were afraid of the man's majesty and fell into the abyss again.
The man had a stern face, his eyebrows were sharp as knives, and his aura of majesty without even being angry swept across the entire courtyard. Even the light instantly darkened, as if night was about to fall.
The two Taoist priests were so frightened by the man's gaze that they froze in place.
But then, it was Taoist Wang who reacted first.
He blinked, and was surprised to recognize the man's identity, and shouted: "Junior Brother Yan's lover?!"
The moment Yan Shixun was mentioned, the man's originally majestic and heavy aura suddenly relaxed slowly.
Ye Li raised his long, crow-feather-like eyelashes, and the figures of the two people were reflected in his dark and narrow eyes. He also recognized that they were Taoists from Haiyun Temple, who were good friends with Yan Shixun.
He still remembered that the Taoist priest who spoke was named Wang and was a very nice person.
In particular, Taoist Wang was very supportive of his engagement with Shi Xun, and he also publicized his identity as Shi Xun's lover in front of other people many times.
Ye Li blinked, and his eyes lit up when he looked over.
The dark shadow under his feet also retreated silently, the abyss and the evil spirit all disappeared, leaving only a normal shadow.
"Sister-in-law? Why are you here alone? Where's Junior Brother Yan? Is he okay? Why can't I see him?"
After Master Wang recognized Ye Li, his nervousness and tension suddenly relaxed.
Just as he trusted Yan Shixun, the person who married Yan Shixun was of course on his trusted whitelist.
We are all family! How can you doubt your sister-in-law?
Besides, Junior Brother Yan is not here right now, maybe my sister-in-law will feel uncomfortable? In this case, of course, I have to pay more attention to her and take the initiative to get closer to her, so that she can feel the warmth of a family.
If your sister-in-law needs anything, shouldn't you come and help her yourself?
Taoist Wang thought so and first breathed a sigh of relief. Then, when he found that Yan Shixun did not seem to be in the courtyard, he asked Ye Li with concern.
Taoist Priest Ma didn't even dare to turn his head. He could only move his eyes and glance at Taoist Priest Wang beside him with a look of fear and doubt, wondering if this man really couldn't feel the heavy and gloomy ghostly aura in the yard? Or did he forget all the yellow talismans that had just spontaneously ignited without fire?
Although he vaguely recognized that this person was Yan Shixun's lover, he was more suspicious whether the evil spirit had transformed into the appearance of Yan Shixun's lover to deceive them.
Otherwise, how do we explain these ghostly auras?
But obviously, Taoist Wang did not receive the alarmed warning from Taoist Ma, and he still walked towards Ye Li in a friendly manner.
Ye Li looked at Taoist Wang steadily and confirmed that this man really cared about Shi Xun and was like a family member to Shi Xun.
He tried to curl the corners of his lips, as if trying to make himself look gentler.
But Yan Shixun was not around, and his attempt ultimately failed.
Thinking of Yan Shixun, Ye Li's eyes dimmed and he pursed his pale lips, suppressing his anger so as not to scare the two Taoists.
"Shi Xun."
When Ye Li spoke, his voice was hoarse and rough. Even though he suppressed his anger, it still carried cold anger: "He disappeared."
"What's the meaning!"
Taoist Wang was shocked and asked quickly.
When facing the people from Haiyun Temple whom Yan Shixun trusted, Ye Li did not hide anything and explained the situation concisely.
Yan Shixun and Zhang Wubing went to the third courtyard to turn off the CD player. The others were visiting the shadow puppets in various rooms. Ye Li was left behind by Yan Shixun to watch over everyone's safety in the first courtyard.
However, after Yan Shixun left, Ye Li waited for a few minutes and suddenly realized something was wrong.
——Yan Shixun’s breath disappeared.
Not only that, even the presence of other people in the program crew disappeared, as if someone had wiped out their existence.
Ye Li chased to the third courtyard to look for Yan Shixun, but everything seemed as if something had obscured the sky, earth and the road.
He couldn't find Yan Shixun.
There is no trace of him anywhere, either in heaven or on earth.
And the avenue was silent, as if it had never existed.
This was a situation that Yeli had never encountered before.
As a ghost god, he hasn't felt this much anger and anxiety for thousands of years.
He searched the entire shadow puppet museum but did not find Yan Shixun, but he discovered something else.
——Outside the Shadow Puppet Museum, nothing exists.
After pushing the door open, there was a vast expanse of pure white like paper outside, but there was neither life nor death there.
It is truly a desolate place where even heaven and earth do not exist.
However, Ye Li's original appearance as a ghost gradually appeared on his body.
The clothes that were originally the same as Yan Shixun's had changed. The ghosts and gods who had stood high on the altar for thousands of years had reappeared, and even the countless evil ghosts in the Fengdu abyss were reflected in his shadow.
It's like his shadow is truly described here.
The falsehood covering the body and soul was unveiled, revealing the true soul and shadow.
Just when Ye Li was stunned and angry, two Taoist priests broke into the museum. Taoist priest Wang's concern and chattering were like a family member, which made Ye Li regain his composure when he heard Yan Shixun's name.
"Sister-in-law, you also look like a direct descendant or ancestor of some school. Even you couldn't find Junior Brother Yan, and when we first came in, the yellow talisman was burning..."
Taoist Wang stroked his chin thoughtfully and whispered, "This evil spirit is really giving me a headache."
"Let's go find Junior Brother Yan and the others first."
Taoist Wang smiled and greeted Ye Li: "I understand, you newlyweds are all like this, you miss each other when you can't see each other for a minute, and you're also afraid that something has happened to the other person and start to have wild thoughts. Love, hahaha, is all about fear of gain and loss."
"But don't worry. Don't you know how strong Junior Brother Yan is? Just trust him more."
Taoist Wang advised with a tone of someone who has experienced it: "After all, you are not like ordinary couples. There will always be times when you encounter such things. But don't worry, I think the ghost who encountered Junior Brother Yan is more scared and regrets why he provoked Junior Brother Yan. He will be fine."
According to Master Wang's experience, encountering Yan Shixun's ghost is really bad luck.
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