After arriving at the place, everyone sat together according to where they lived.
Xiang Yan, Gu Anping, He Zheng and Xu Wenguang sat down at a table.
Looking at the dishes served, Xu Wenguang said in amazement: "Wow, they are all made of bamboo."
"Behind Zhushan Village is a mountain of bamboos. Bamboos have been integrated into the daily lives of the villagers in Zhushan Village." Gu Anping explained with a smile: "They rely on these bamboos for food, clothing and drink."
"Oh." Xu Wenguang nodded, stretched out his chopsticks to pick up a piece of green food on the table, he didn't know what it was, and tasted it. "Is this... bamboo shoots? Why do they look different from what I ate before?"
Xiang Yan, He Zheng and Gu Anping also picked up their chopsticks and took a bite.
Indeed, the dish on the table looks different from ordinary bamboo shoots, but the taste is very similar, and the one from Zhushan Village is a little more tender.
Everyone was very interested in these special dishes of Zhushan Village, but in a short while, more than half of the dishes on the table were gone.
Looking at everyone eating happily, class teacher Zhao Wen smiled and nodded, then started chatting with the villagers around him.
"Auntie, what fun places are there in Zhushan Village?" Zhao Wen politely asked the middle-aged woman next to him.
"Hey? Fun places?" The middle-aged woman was stunned. After thinking for a while, she said, "The most famous place in our Zhushan Village should be the building in the East Village."
"Is it the tallest building in Zhushan Village?" Zhao Wen asked.
Before coming here, Zhao Wen also learned a little about the situation in Zhushan Village.
Zhushan Village is a remote place with only a few buses for transportation. Logically, few people would come here, but because it has what is known as the largest bamboo forest and the tallest bamboo building in S Province, many people still come here.
Zhao Wen chose this place because he wanted his classmates to come and see the magnificent bamboo forest and the tall bamboo buildings.
"Yes, that's the building." The middle-aged woman nodded, then seemed to have thought of something and said, "But you'd better go today and not tomorrow."
"Hmm? Why don't you go tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow is the Ghost Festival, and the village will hold a sacrificial ceremony in that building. Some elderly people in the village are superstitious about having people from outside the village during the Ghost Festival." After the middle-aged woman said this, she got up and walked away.
Looking at the middle-aged woman leaving, Zhao Wen thought for a while and decided to take everyone to the bamboo house first and go to other places tomorrow.
Although they basically do not celebrate the Ghost Festival in Xuzhou, most people are more curious than afraid of ghosts and monsters. However, it is better not to go during this time when it is easy to violate taboos, so as not to offend the people in the village.
…
After a while, everyone finished their meal and gathered in order to stand in front of Zhao Wen.
After asking the squad leader to count the number of people and seeing that everyone was there, Zhao Wen said, "We will go to the tall building in the east village of Zhushan Village first today, and then go to other places tomorrow."
"Yes." Everyone responded.
Although Zhushan Village is called a village, its size is actually similar to that of an ordinary small town, which is quite large.
The hostel where Xiang Yan and his friends were staying was located in the West Village, and the bamboo house they were going to next was located at the innermost part of the East Village.
There is still some distance.
However, since no one had been to Zhushan Village before, they were very curious about everything here. As they walked along the road, they looked around with curiosity on their faces. So they didn't feel the distance was far.
Whoosh—whoosh—
Suddenly, a strong wind blew over, and everyone closed their eyes and covered their faces with their hands.
When the strong wind ended and everyone opened their eyes, there seemed to be no changes in the surroundings. Occasionally, a few villagers from Zhushan Village passed by, and it seemed that some subtle changes had occurred, but no one noticed.
Zhao Wen turned around and looked at the students behind him, "Is everyone okay?"
"fine."
"fine."
Seeing that everyone's clothes were a little messy, but there was no problem on the surface, Zhao Wen breathed a sigh of relief and led everyone to continue walking towards the bamboo building in East Village.
[System…] Xiang Yan walked quietly in the crowd, occasionally speaking to Xu Wenguang and the others, and mentally talking to the system about the strong wind that had just blown, [Why do I feel something is a little strange around me? Something is different from before.]
[Dear, look carefully at the bamboo lanterns hanging on the bamboo houses around.] The system said solemnly: [You have fallen into the illusion of ghosts. This is no longer the Zhushan Village just now.]
After hearing what the system said, Xiang Yan suddenly realized what he had overlooked before.
Although Zhushan Village was full of bamboo things, there were no bamboo lanterns hanging on the houses.
And now in Zhushan Village... almost every house has a bamboo lantern hanging at the door, with a faint reddish candle burning in the lantern.
This was actually very obvious. It was just past one in the afternoon and there was no need to light any lanterns. However, before the system reminded him, Xiang Yan did not notice these bamboo lanterns at all.
[System, pay attention to your surroundings.] Xiang Yan looked around warily at the environment that was no different from before. He couldn't help but imagine ghosts suddenly jumping out from somewhere, and his heartbeat accelerated sharply.
Just when Xiang Yan discovered that something was wrong with his surroundings, some people in the crowd also gradually noticed that something was wrong.
Gu Anping and He Zheng looked at each other and saw the solemnity in each other's eyes.
The two of them were already close to each other, and now they slowly moved closer together, whispering something to each other.
Zhu Wenwen quietly reached into her pocket and took out a few yellow talismans and held them in her hand. Shen Bing's originally expressionless face now looked so cold that it seemed as if ice chips were about to fall off.
There were several other people in the crowd who were taking action, some holding something in their hands or muttering something.
In an instant, a solemn atmosphere enveloped the crowd.
Xiang Yan took in the different looks of the people around him, and while keeping a vigilant eye on his surroundings, he sighed to the system: [You really are a hidden dragon and crouching tiger! ]
[Dear, don’t take it lightly.] The system suggested: [Should we summon Ihara?]
Anyway, Xiang Yan now has the skill of multitasking, so even if the ghost messenger Yi Yuan appears, Xiang Yan will not be unconscious again.
Xiang Yan thought about it for a moment and shook his head slightly, "This time, I want to see if I can solve it with my own body."
Although the shells that Xiang Yan made are very powerful and can protect his original body, he still wants his original body to have the ability to protect itself.
Before coming, Xiang Yan specially learned a few spells to deal with ghosts and monsters, and also prepared some talismans.
This time, let him see what he can do!
Of course, Xiang Yan would not try to be too brave. If he encountered something that he could not solve in his original form, Xiang Yan would not mind using the identity of Ihara the ghost messenger.
Although he needs to train his body, all of this must be done under the condition of personal safety, and he will not let himself get hurt easily.
…
"Students, we're here!" Class teacher Zhao Wen looked back at the tall bamboo building in front and said.
"Wow!"
“It’s so high.”
“So beautiful…”
Some ordinary students who did not feel anything wrong looked at the bamboo building in front of them happily and made sounds of admiration.
Xiang Yan looked at the bamboo building in front of him, and a hint of amazement flashed in his eyes.
The bamboo building in front of them was very tall, much taller than the hotel where they stayed. From the outside, it looked like a cylindrical building. Strands of bamboo were intertwined with each other, woven into the walls of the building.
At the bottom of the bamboo building is a semicircular gate, from which extends a small path, with shorter bamboos planted on both sides.
There are also many beautiful bamboo handicrafts hanging outside the gate.
If Xiang Yan didn't know that something was wrong here, he really wanted to take a good look around.
After looking at the entrance of the bamboo building for a while, Zhao Wen led everyone in.
After walking in, a man in black cloth came over, and the man raised his mouth slightly, "Welcome everyone."
Zhao Wen greeted the man with a smile. Although he felt that the surroundings suddenly became a little colder when the man approached, and the man's face was abnormally pale, he did not think much about it. He just asked the students to go to the bamboo building in groups of four and reminded them not to touch anything inside.
Then he stood in the lobby on the first floor and waited for them with the man in black cloth.
After hearing what Zhao Wen said, everyone who had been full of curiosity dispersed into groups of four and ran upstairs excitedly.
"Be careful." Zhao Wenwei smiled as he watched his students run up, then looked at the man in black cloth beside him, "Excuse me, this is the first time the children have seen this kind of bamboo building, they are all very excited."
The man in black cloth shook his head slightly, his eyes seemed a little vague, "It's okay, I haven't seen so many children in a long time."
"?" Zhao Wen glanced at the man and didn't think much about it. He thought that maybe there were fewer children in Zhushan Village?
Xiang Yan, He Zheng and Gu Anping were pulled upstairs by the excited Xu Wenguang.
When leaving, Xiang Yan looked back at the man in black cloth. Coincidentally, the man also looked up in Xiang Yan's direction, and their eyes met.
The man in black cloth nodded towards Yan and smiled slightly.
"..."Xiang Yan withdrew his gaze without any change on his face.
[System, tell me, is he... a human or a ghost?] Xiang Yan asked the system in his mind.
[Not sure yet.] The system carefully detected the energy fluctuations around it. [Although this is a ghostly illusion, there are also some villagers from Zhushan Village in it. Ghosts are hiding among people. It is difficult to determine who is human and who is ghost.]
[Not sure?] Xiang Yan couldn't help but frowned.
If you encounter a ghost face to face, it's OK, you can just fight it, but if the ghost hides in the crowd, it will be troublesome. After all, you don't know whether the person next to you is a human or not, and you may be stabbed in the back by the ghost if you are not careful.
Xiang Yan was thinking in his mind while observing the environment inside the bamboo building.
Unlike Xu Wenguang who was marveling at the exquisite crafts and amazing architectural techniques, Xiang Yan was more like observing if there was something wrong, or if there might be ghosts or something like that hiding somewhere.
"Huh? Aren't you guys taking pictures?" After running around and taking pictures for a while, Xu Wenguang turned around and found that the three people around him did not take out their phones to take pictures. Instead, they were observing those dark corners.
"Oh, take pictures. We are about to take pictures." He Zheng quickly took out his mobile phone and took a few pictures of the surroundings.
Gu Anping and Xiang Yan also took out their cell phones.
However, after seeing Xiang Yan also observing the corners around him, Gu Anping gave He Zheng a look, signaling him to look at Xiang Yan.
Seeing Gu Anping's gesture, He Zheng also realized that Xiang Yan's behavior just now was the same as theirs, as if he was looking for something.
Gu Anping and He Zheng were only surprised for two seconds. They didn't expect that Xiang Yan also knew that something was wrong. But thinking about the other people in their class who were hiding, Gu Anping and Zheng were relieved.
It's just the discovery of another person who knows about ghosts, there's nothing to be surprised about.
He Zheng and Gu Anping felt a little relieved because Xiang Yan knew something was wrong here.
Originally, the two of them were still thinking about how to protect their two classmates who believed in the materialistic worldview. Now, apart from Xiang Yan, there was only Xu Wenguang left, which made them feel relieved and the pressure on them was much less.
As for Xiang Yan, he had no intention of hiding the fact that he knew about ghosts.
In this ghostly fantasy, having one more capable person means a little more safety.
Rather than hiding his own abilities and secretly trying to find a way out of the illusion, Xiang Yan prefers to work with other capable people.
…
After walking for a while, Xiang Yan and the other three arrived at the middle part of the bamboo building.
Every floor of the bamboo building is different. The floors that Xiang Yan and his friends had seen before were all filled with some ordinary handicrafts, but the floor they had just entered was a little different.
As soon as Xiang Yan and the other three stepped into the floor, they felt the temperature had dropped a lot.
"Hiss... Why do I feel suddenly cold?" Xu Wenguang rubbed his arms which were covered with goose bumps.
If Xu Wenguang only felt that the temperature was getting lower, then Xiang Yan, Gu Anping and the other two felt a chilly breath coming towards them.
The three of them immediately became alert.
Xu Wenguang did not notice the vigilance of the three people around him. He walked in while rubbing his arms.
"Hey..." He Zheng stretched out his hand to stop Xu Wenguang from going in, but Xu Wenguang was faster than him and walked in in a flash.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Xu Wenguang turned around in confusion.
"No, it's okay... be careful!" He Zheng put down his hand and said with difficulty. Suddenly, he saw a black shadow pounce on Xu Wenguang from the roof.
Xiang Yan and Gu Anping also saw the black shadow swooping down. They were startled and quickly ran over to pull Xu Wenguang.
"Um..." Xu Wenguang was thrown to the ground by Xiang Yan and the other two with a bewildered look on his face. "What, what happened?"
As he spoke, Xu Wenguang wanted to turn around to see what was happening behind him.
However, before he could turn around, He Zheng pulled him up and ran outside.
Xiang Yan and Gu Anping threw two talismans at the black shadow that was rushing towards them from behind, and then ran out.
It was not until he ran to the first floor that the dark shadow behind him stopped chasing him.
"Hoo...Hoo..." Xu Wenguang bent over and gasped, "What happened? What was that black shadow just now?"
Xiang Yan, Gu Anping, and He Zheng looked at each other for a while, and then Xiang Yan explained to Xu Wenguang: "To put it simply... we encountered a ghost."
"..."Xu Wenguang looked up at Xiang Yan in shock, then looked at Gu Anping and Zheng beside him.
He Zheng and Gu Anping nodded affirmatively.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
