"Hehe, you'll have to ask your brother Luo about that."
I looked at Luo Tianhe, signaling him to explain to the kid.
Luo Tianhe curled his lip. "How would I know that guy is a ghost? It's strange, though. Why would a ghost like her work as a dancer in my bar?"
"A ghost dancer?" Li Huai swallowed hard.
Luo Tianhe explained how he had contacted the female ghost using a paper phone, and Li Huai understood the whole story, but he still had some questions:
"Brother Yan, is this ghost that powerful? You decided to run away without even seeing her, why don't you try to help her pass on to the afterlife?"
I glared at him: "Who said I didn't see it?"
"Chen Yan, I also want to ask, how did you know that her parents were dead?"
Luo Tianhe recalled our previous conversation and asked with a puzzled look.
I sighed and nudged Luo Tianhe:
"I was asleep after I finished drinking, wasn't I?"
Luo Tianhe looked at me with surprise: "What, she appeared in your dream?"
"Don't interrupt me, listen to me."
I paused, sorting out the thoughts in my mind.
"At that time, I had a nightmare..."
After I finished speaking, both Luo Tianhe and Li Huai were stunned.
After a long while, the two of them came to their senses. Luo Tianhe patted my shoulder:
"I didn't expect you to have been chased by a ghost before. No wonder you were like a frightened bird just now. I knew you weren't that cowardly."
"Hiss, Yan-ge's nightmare is giving me the creeps, it's giving me goosebumps." Li Huai scratched his arm.
"I have a slight suspicion that the dancer might not be the daughter of the tragically deceased couple at all, but rather a paper figure buried with them. However, somehow, someone painted her eyes."
I touched my chin and voiced my guess.
After all, the woman I saw in my nightmare was a paper doll, and Luo Tianhe contacted her using a paper phone; it couldn't be a coincidence.
"Are ordinary paper figures really that terrifying once the eyes are painted on them?"
Luo Tianhe looked at me, and thinking about how he had just asked a paper figure to dance for him while he drank, he felt a little scared.
I've been completely bewitched!
I shook my head. "Of course not."
“I once heard my grandfather say that items made into human form, which are constantly exposed to human energy, may undergo some strange changes.”
"That's why the artisans who make paper figures don't paint eyes on them, so that they are different from people and realize that they are not human, but just objects!"
“If the eyes are dotted, that vague boundary will be broken. It may become an evil spirit, or it may be possessed by a person who died unjustly, or even both.”
"And not only that, but that dancer's eyes were also dotted with human blood, making her even more ferocious than ordinary ones!"
"I see." Luo Tianhe nodded.
"Of course, all of the above are just my guesses. It is also possible that she is indeed the daughter of that dead couple, but she turned into this strange ghost for some special reason, or she may have been wronged and is now the wandering soul possessing the paper figure!"
After thinking about it, I decided to ask Zhang Qiang about the couple's specific situation.
After we explained the situation, Zhang Qiang agreed to help us check.
He was truly astonished; he never imagined that even just coming to a bar to relax would lead to such bizarre and strange occurrences.
After hanging up the phone, I glanced at the time. It was only 10 p.m. Although the square was bustling with people now, there would probably be very few left by midnight.
"What do you mean? Where are we going now?" I asked casually, waiting for Luo Tianhe or Li Huai to come up with a good idea.
"We can't go to bars. We'd better find a place that's crowded, has lots of positive energy, and stays open all night."
Luo Tianhe frowned, deep in thought.
It's easy to find crowded places all night, like hospitals and bars, but those places are invariably places with a heavy yin energy.
If the three of us dared to go to the hospital in the middle of the night, we'd probably attract a whole platoon of ghosts.
"How about we go to the night market? We can grab a bite to eat there. The food at the bar isn't filling at all."
Li Huai thought for a moment and then made a suggestion.
When I heard that, I felt it made sense, and after a busy day without having eaten much proper food, I was indeed starving.
Soon, we found a barbecue stall and started eating and drinking to our hearts' content. There were people coming and going around us, so we didn't have to worry about anything.
The next day, I was awakened by the blinding sunlight.
"What happened? Where is my ceiling?"
Seeing the two people sleeping haphazardly on the cardboard next to me, I realized I wasn't at home.
We were really drunk yesterday. I think the owner even tried to persuade us to go home, but we insisted on sleeping here. The owner had no choice but to find some cardboard boxes to put on the floor for us to sleep on.
Thinking of this, I immediately blushed. It wasn't exactly something to be proud of that we, a few of us, got drunk and made a scene yesterday, insisting on sleeping here.
Fortunately, it was the weekend, and there weren't many people around in the morning, so it wasn't too embarrassing.
I took out my phone and found that it was already past eight o'clock. I woke up Luo Tianhe and Li Huai by kicking them awake. The three of us went back to Luo Tianhe's place, took a shower, tidied up, and then drove to see the master.
The North City New District has a lower population density than the city center, and there was no traffic jam on the road. We arrived in less than an hour and then used the navigation to find number 106.
We soon arrived at a small courtyard. I knocked on the door, and a strong, resonant voice came from inside:
"The door's unlocked, come in."
We walked into the courtyard and saw a Taoist priest with clear eyes and white hair and beard in the room, smiling at us.
"Good, it seems you have found the Earth Soul, and your grandfather's wish has been fulfilled."
My expression immediately turned serious. This Taoist priest was indeed very capable; he could tell at a glance that my earth soul had been fully replenished.
I cupped my hands in greeting, about to explain why I was a little late, when the old Taoist priest spoke as if he had foreseen it:
"I see a malevolent aura between your brows. Did you encounter something unclean last night?"
I gave a wry smile and recounted my encounter with the paper doll dancer at the bar last night and the nightmares that plagued me.
After hearing this, the old Taoist priest made a hand seal with his fingertips and remained silent in contemplation.
My heart skipped a beat. I had thought it was just a normal ghost encounter, but now it seemed there was more to it than met the eye.
"That paper figure... the eyes were probably dotted on by someone. They're probably looking for you to get revenge."
“The three of you are all special. Chen Yan, although you have a ghostly blemish on your body and your yin energy is stronger than your yang energy, your recent experiences have accumulated a lot of righteous energy in you. Ordinary ghosts would avoid you like the plague, so how could they possibly come looking for you?”
The old Taoist priest Zhang Qingxiao spoke slowly, then looked at Li Huai with eyes like lightning.
Li Huai suddenly felt a chill run through his body, as if he had been stripped naked, and he shifted uncomfortably.
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