In an instant, all the red candles in the ancestral hall lit up, and the bright light illuminated the entire hall. Gu Polu stared blankly at this scene. Based on his experience of playing games all night, this must have triggered some special plot!
Where did the candles come from?
Jiang Ran was quite certain that there were no candles in the ancestral hall before. In other words, even if there were candles, they couldn't have just lit up out of thin air, could they?
“Look at how surprised you are, that shouldn’t be the case.” Gwen put her hands on her hips and raised her head. “After all, this is a world of ghost stories. Let alone a candle burning out of thin air, even if it suddenly turns into a person and comes down to beat you, I think that would be perfectly normal.”
“No, it’s not just about burning out of thin air.” Jiang Ran walked over and took a candle from the wall. “I don’t care whether it can burn here or not, but I’m quite interested in why it’s here in the first place.”
“Look, little Gwen, the length of this candle and the amount of wax at the bottom are clearly not what they look like when it first started burning. This means that this candle has been burning for some time.”
The candle appeared out of nowhere, yet it looked like it had been burning for some time. This is probably not a coincidence.
Jiang Ran put the candle back and picked up the big red apple on the table. The fruit, which had been moldy before, now looked incredibly fresh. Most importantly, the part that had been pecked open by the crow now looked completely intact!
Looking at the walls and windows of the ancestral hall, although they weren't exactly brand new, they weren't badly damaged either. They looked like the typical layout of an ordinary rural ancestral hall.
“You’re right, it is indeed very strange!” Gwen looked around. “So? What do you think is going on?”
“I suspect that the time dimension in this world is chaotic, with at least two different timelines!” Jiang Ran put the fruit back into the plate. “And the timeline we are in now may be from many years ago, before the plague broke out in this village!”
The two timelines overlap and intertwine, forming the current state of switching between the "inner world" and the "outer world"!
Is the switching between the two timelines random, or is there some kind of key?
Jiang Ran looked up again.
The portrait of an immortal that used to hang in the ancestral hall is now gone, replaced by a large red double happiness character!
"Let's go in and take a look!"
Jiang Ran pushed open the door to the innermost part of the ancestral hall. Following this path, one could walk from the front hall to the back hall of the ancestral hall.
"Wait, wait, wait! Brother Jiang Ran! Take me with you!" Gu Poluo greeted him with a beaming smile. "I just want to live a few more days. I'm not going to compete with you for the last chance to pass the level. Why don't you let me come along? Maybe I can be of some help to you!"
Jiang Ran glanced at him once, then ignored him.
The main thing is that you can't get rid of him even if you want to. It's his business if he wants to stay, but whether or not to remind him at crucial moments is Jiang Ran's business.
The entire ancestral hall is a circular skylight structure with a huge open-air platform in the center. It is now approaching night, and lanterns are hanging under the eaves to illuminate the night sky.
These lanterns were connected by red silk cloth, and a large red flower was hung every five meters, making them look extremely festive.
If you ignore the pile of stuff on the ground, the atmosphere here is pretty good.
The yellow and white ghost money was laid out in layers on the open ground, leaving almost no gaps. Every now and then, a gentle breeze would blow, causing the ghost money to dance in the wind.
"Brother Jiang Ran, these papers don't seem to be considered auspicious in your Dragon Kingdom's culture, do they?"
The festive red silk paired with the paper money used for the deceased creates a striking scene. Despite the apparent incongruity, the scene is surprisingly harmonious!
Jiang Ran stepped across the path of the ghost money and headed straight for the back hall. Gu Poluo's legs trembled slightly, and he quickly followed her!
He was just a B-rank ghost storyteller, and this was his first time participating in an S-rank ghost story world. He was really afraid that something would suddenly jump out from the side and eat him!
"Wait." Gwen stopped Jiang Ran, while looking at the ground in front of her.
If you look closely, you can see a finger faintly visible among the pile of ghost money!
Individual ID 376, Ground Binding Hand, Malice!
This thing is usually hidden underground, with only one or two fingers sticking out. Once you step on it, you will be dragged into the ground and suffocated to death!
In dimly lit or buried places, this thing has caused a lot of trouble!
After this little incident, Jiang Ran officially entered the back hall of the ancestral hall!
A large number of items in the back hall were moved away, and what was placed in the very center of the room was a mahogany coffin!
The coffin was decorated with a lot of red silk, and each side was covered with a big red double happiness character. The floor of the room was covered with ghost money, and the four walls were also covered with red silk and double happiness characters!
"Is this... a ghost marriage?"
Jiang Ran had thought that the previous arrangements were a unique aesthetic of conflict in the world of ghost stories, but after seeing this coffin, he remembered an ancient custom!
Marriage is usually a joyous occasion, but there is one exception among many weddings: when at least one of the couple is deceased, such a wedding is called a ghost marriage, also known as a marriage between the dead.
The room was so empty that there was almost nothing there except for the coffin in the center and the paper money scattered all over the floor, meaning it was nearly impossible to find anything else there.
"Such a special location shouldn't be without any clues, right?"
Jiang Ran was about to search carefully when a gust of wind broke through the window and blew into the room, extinguishing all the candles and slamming the door shut!
"Brother Jiang Ran! What's going on?!"
"Nonsense! You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
Gu Polu leaned against the wall, and he could feel his heart pounding, especially in the quiet environment.
In the darkness, something seemed to be approaching him!
"Brother Jiang, is that you...?"
Gubala felt a sweet taste in his throat, his body collapsed to the ground, and he quickly lost his life.
[The death of Gu Polu, a master of supernatural tales from India...]
Jiang Ran naturally heard the sound of Gu Polu falling to the ground. In the dark environment, it was impossible not to be nervous. However, he had the Mountain God Jade and the Wind Talisman for protection, and the formidable Gwen was standing beside him. So, he wasn't really afraid.
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