Sleeping Valley (IV)
Jiang Yu’s talisman is indeed reliable.
Yu Shu followed and walked for about ten minutes before he saw the river.
Just when he thought he could finally leave the forest, a surprising scene appeared. No matter how forward he went, he was always some distance away from the river and it was difficult to reach.
The talisman shook a few times in the air, and the flame became smaller and lighter in color, as if wondering why this road was blocked.
"It really is a ghost." Yu Shu said to himself, and his heart, which had calmed down, became tense again.
After a moment, the guide turned around and walked back.
As expected, Yu Shu returned to the root of the tree, and the mark on it changed again, from one vertical line to two vertical lines.
Yu Shu squatted down and observed for a moment, confirming that the neat, strong vertical lines were carved by a sharp iron weapon. But when he looked around, there were only trees. Previously, he could see crows and insects, but now those animals had disappeared.
The guide talisman stayed just above the tree roots for a short while before it turned into a pile of ashes and scattered.
The wind blowing past seemed like an illusion and did not blow up any talisman ash.
Yu Shu couldn't help but take a step back, becoming more and more afraid of this deserted place.
He took out his cell phone again to check the time. It was already noon, but when he looked up at the sky, he couldn't see the sun. It was still early morning.
"I just don't believe it." Yu Shu used another guiding talisman.
The route is different from last time, but equally familiar.
Yu Shu walked for a while and his calves felt a little sore. He looked up and found the mark he had tied to the tree before.
The way the vines were tied had changed. What he had just tied was clearly a tight knot, but now it had become a bow.
The coldness became more intense, spreading from the soles of the feet into the internal organs.
Yu Shu took a deep breath to make his body feel more solid, then tied the mark again and followed up with the guide talisman.
After going around in circles, we encountered the same situation again. We could see the river but it was still some distance away and we couldn't reach it. The guide went back again.
Yu Shu was sure that what he encountered was not as simple as a ghost wall.
Just as he was walking back, he heard a sound that made his heart tremble. It was the sound of footsteps stepping on dead branches and leaves!
He suddenly turned around and looked around, but there was no one in sight.
This caused his already highly tense mind to break down.
"Jiang Yu, if you don't come, something bad will happen to me."
The footsteps behind him were staggered with his footsteps. Yu Shu raised his foot and took a step forward, but the footsteps were not visible but could be heard. He raised his foot as soon as it landed.
His steps became very fast. He was originally following the guide symbol, but soon he was on the same level as the guide symbol. He even had to stop to see which direction to go next.
Soon he saw the number five and number four marking points and also changed the tying method.
When he returned to the tree roots for the third time, Yu Shu saw a human figure from afar!
The man was squatting at the base of a tree, busy at work, clearly carving something. His back looked familiar; I must have seen him many times.
However, before Yu Shu could decide whether to approach or flee, the man stood up and walked away quickly. Judging from the posture and speed of his steps, he was even more panicked and uneasy than he was.
A thought flashed through Yu Shu's mind. Many missing people had returned here under the guidance of little boys and girls. Maybe he was not the only one trapped in this forest.
Yu Shu finally decided to follow. The man had already walked a long way. He pinched out the guiding talisman and quickened his pace to catch up.
After walking for a while, Yu Shu saw that the number three marker had also been changed into a bow, and he vaguely felt that it was the person who had changed it.
"Back to the river again? Can he get out?" Yu Shu muttered to himself softly as he looked at the familiar scene and the tiny figure in the distance.
The man began to walk back, and his steps became faster and faster, as if he was running away.
Yu Shu suddenly felt ashamed for being discovered following someone, but before he could process the emotion, the man almost ran away.
Yu Shu didn't have time to think about it and hurried to catch up. His footsteps were just off-kilter with the man's, and the continuous stomping sounds formed a solid line, tightly connecting the two of them.
A drama of chasing each other quietly unfolds.
Jiang Yu couldn't sleep the whole night and could only close his eyes and rest.
"Brother Jiang, why don't you take a nap first?" Liu Xu was startled by the big dark circles under Jiang Yu's eyes, as if he had been punched twice.
"Avoid any unnecessary complications." Jiang Yu said without question.
Jiang Yuqing counted the things and glanced at Liu Xu. His eyes, which had not slept all night, burst into a strong light, which was anxious and uneasy.
He finally waited until daytime and when Liu Xu brought the things over, he didn't want to wait any longer.
"You stay here to take care of it, I'll go in."
Jiang Yu asked Liu Xu to take three things with him: a walnut-carved gadget, a jade bracelet, and a Siyang fish.
Jiang Yu turned out the ghosts attached to the objects, an old man with white hair and a long beard, and a plump woman in a cheongsam.
These two are a father and daughter. During the Republic of China, they joined the resistance movement and were reported by a traitor, ending up in a miserable situation. Fortunately, their family had good feng shui and it was a small treasure pot, so they became ghosts that inherited their will and thoughts during their lifetime.
"Please keep an eye on the person in charge of this scenic spot and the boss behind it." Jiang Yu ordered.
The father and daughter were skilled at reading people's expressions and were experts at obtaining information from the smallest clues. The reason they were approached was also because they considered that the boss behind the scenes might find another colleague to back them up, and their skills were beyond the reach of ordinary colleagues.
"learn."
The old man stroked his beard, smiled kindly and nodded, while the woman clasped her hands together at her right waist and nodded.
A thin mist gradually rose and enveloped the room, and when it cleared, the father and daughter were nowhere to be seen.
Finally, Jiang Yu picked up the small jade fish tank, and the Siyang fish with a golden head and tail and a bright red body turned around in the water.
He put the pieces of Yu Shu's clothes that he had cut off in advance into the water.
"Brother Jiang, what is the origin of this Si Yangyu?" Liu Xu finally couldn't help but ask.
Jiang Yu's eyelids drooped, and his gaze poured onto Si Yangyu like a chandelier.
Si Yangyu circled the piece of cloth several times, as if trying to identify it.
"The Big Dipper guides people at night, and the Siyang Fish guides lost people back home."
Si Yangyu can identify directions and has a special sensitivity to treasures. He can also find lost people no matter where they are, even at the junction of yin and yang, he can find them.
However, such a powerful ability also destined the Siyang fish to be particularly delicate. Every time it looks for someone or hunts for treasure, the user has to pay with their lifespan, which can be as short as one and a half months or as long as five to eight years.
Jiang Yu raised his hand to interrupt Liu Xu who was about to speak. He could see that Liu Xu wanted to bear the price for him, but if his obsession was not strong enough, Si Yangyu would die instead.
"Wait for me to come back. If you can't come back, go to the third floor. There is an envelope with an address on it at the bottom of my bedside table. Take the talisman I drew and go to the address."
Liu Xu looked at Jiang Yu's tall back as he walked out holding the small fish tank without looking back. He seemed to see a framed realistic oil painting, and a strong sense of parting came over him.
"Brother Jiang, bring the person back as soon as possible." Liu Xu shouted.
The receding shadow nodded silently.
Before entering the bushes, Jiang Yu dipped his index finger into the water in the fish tank. The thumb-sized Siyang fish opened its mouth like a snake and bit Jiang Yu's finger. A bright red line appeared and kept moving.
After a few seconds, the fish let go, jumped out of the water and then dived back into the water, splashing crystal clear crown-shaped water.
Jiang Yu rubbed his solar plexus to relieve the sudden and brief dizziness.
The contract was made, and Siyang Fish kept gently hitting the northwest direction of the fish tank to indicate the location.
Jiang Yu marveled at the stunning scenery before him. He felt as if he had strayed into an ink painting, where a hazy mist shrouded the distant mountains.
A clear green belt runs down the middle of the valley, separating the village from the woods. Looking across from the village, it feels like there is a large, naturally formed garden in front of your house.
The entire valley was unusually quiet. There were no fish in the water, no birds in the sky, no residents in the village, and no living creatures except plants.
Under Si Yangyu's guidance, Jiang Yu entered the village first.
The house was clean and tidy, as if it had been cleaned not long ago, but there was nothing else except furniture.
Si Yangyu took Jiang Yu into the bedroom in the house, which had no door. The neatly arranged bedding on the bed still smelled of sunshine.
A flash of light appeared on the bedside table, dazzling Jiang Yu's eyes.
He looked down and saw the eternal life knot he had given Yu Shu for self-defense, and his heart suddenly began to pound. The moment he picked up the eternal life knot, the Siyang fish rhythmically and gently hit the north side of the fish tank, occasionally jumping out of the water.
Jiang Yu walked out of the room and narrowed his eyes. His deep gaze was like a bottomless whirlpool as he stared at the woods opposite. When he was about to cross the bridge, he smelled a strong aroma of food behind him.
There was no one there when I arrived, and the living room, which was empty just a moment ago, now had a table full of food out of nowhere.
Only after experiencing the various strange phenomena in the village can you understand how frightening they are.
When Jiang Yu reached the middle of the bridge, he felt a strong tug on the hem of his clothes.
He turned around suddenly, and the little boy in blue and the little girl in red were pulling his clothes on the left and right, blinking their big watery eyes.
"Danger."
"There's dirt in there."
The two children pointed at the pocket where Jiang Yu had placed the Eternal Life Knot.
Jiang Yu frowned and looked at the child who appeared out of nowhere.
With his ability, he couldn't even detect these two children. Either their skills were much higher than his, or they were not ghosts.
"Where did you take the person?" Jiang Yu had thousands of thoughts flashing through his mind, and he used a simple double entendre to get to the point.
The little boy understood that Jiang Yu was not only talking about the missing people, but also Yu Shu.
He turned and met the little girl's gaze, their eyes meeting with pure innocence. One asked if she wanted to tell him; the other replied that he seemed like a good person and so she could tell him.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jiang Yu pried their hands apart and felt the pure spiritual yin energy in the two children's bodies, which was not as strong as Yu Shu's, which surprised him.
Jiang Yu looked down at his feet, and sure enough, there was no trace of the two children.
He reacted as if he had been electrocuted and realized that these two children were evil spirits and had definitely rebelled. They had been bringing people in here for a long time and absorbing the negative energy of this place all year round. When the negative energy became so strong, they became spiritual.
The little girl spoke: "They are in the house. If you are asking about the big brother from last night, he went to the woods across the street."
Are they in the house?
Jiang Yu glanced around and saw only food but no one. Where did they come from? They were all in the room.
"Shh, if they are seen, they will be thrown into the river by other adults!" The little boy lowered his voice.
"Once you enter the woods, follow the flying crows and don't touch the plants in the woods." The little girl said seriously.
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