I carried the food box and walked on the bluestone path.
The yellow paper lantern given to him by Liu Sandao swayed weakly in the howling wind, its light flickering.
The once bright red celestial master talisman painted with cinnabar on the lamp surface has been eroded by time and wind and rain, leaving only mottled red traces.
As I turned the seventh alleyway, a sudden gust of wind swept in.
With a "poof," the lantern went out, plunging the surroundings into complete darkness.
"Damn it."
I couldn't help but curse under my breath and quickly reached into my pocket for my lighter.
Just then, a rustling sound came from the shadows of the locust trees ahead.
By the faint moonlight, I could see half of a faded blue cloth shirt.
When I calmed down and looked over there carefully, I found it was a hunched old woman.
She was weakly leaning against the tree trunk, coughing violently.
With each cough, black blood splattered onto the tree roots.
I paused slightly.
This is clearly not normal.
My first instinct was to take a detour, but as soon as I took a step, I heard her hoarse voice, as sharp as a broken gong.
"Brother, please have mercy..."
I gripped the kitchen knife tightly, watching warily as she trembled as she walked towards me.
Her cloth shoes had a hole in them, and her exposed toenails were bluish-purple, as if they had been frozen for a long time.
"I've been starving for three days..."
As she spoke, she reached out to grab my food box.
The sleeve slipped down, revealing half of the arm; the skin looked like a dried, cracked snake molt, full of wrinkles and fissures.
"I have no food."
I took a few steps back, and the steamed buns in the food box made a muffled sound as I shook them.
The old woman suddenly sniffed, and her previously cloudy eyes instantly turned as black as ink.
"You're lying! I smell meat!"
"This is for the boss!"
Before I could finish speaking, she suddenly lunged at me like a madwoman, her two withered hands gripping the edge of the food box tightly.
In that instant, I saw a deep, bone-revealing wound on the back of her neck.
It looked like it had been slashed by a sharp weapon; the skin and flesh around the wound were torn open.
You're lying!
She opened her mouth, and maggots crawled out from between her rotten teeth: "This is for ghosts to eat!"
As soon as she finished speaking, her face began to swell rapidly.
The bluish-purple veins bulged under the skin like twisted earthworms, and the eyeballs bulged so much they seemed about to pop out.
Damn, this is robbing me!
Just as I was about to reach out and get her the steamed bun, I caught a glimpse of several dark figures flashing past the alley entrance.
Three men with pale faces were hiding in the shadows, peering in their direction.
They all had rusty iron chains around their ankles, which rattled as they moved.
My heart skipped a beat.
If the steamed bun were given to this old woman, all the lonely ghosts watching from afar would surely swarm over.
When I go to the dilapidated temple, there won't be any steamed buns left to share with the wandering ghosts inside.
No, absolutely not!
In the midst of the panic, I suddenly remembered Liu Sandao's instructions.
I took a deep breath and then slammed the food box in my hand down on the old woman.
The food box hit her with a dull thud.
The old woman was also surprised that I would make a move, and was forced to take a few steps back by the sudden attack.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I quickly pulled out a handful of incense ash that I had prepared beforehand and threw it at the old woman's head.
Liu Sandao told me to bring this just in case, but I didn't expect to need it as soon as I left the house.
The ash from the incense spread through the air.
The old woman was choked by the incense ash, coughing incessantly, and her body began to tremble violently. Her already ferocious face became even more distorted with pain.
Seeing the old woman cover her face and scream in pain, I quickly squatted down, placed a few coins on the ground, and arranged them into an irregular circle according to the simple exorcism formation Liu Sandao had mentioned.
After arranging them, I quickly plucked a hair and used it as a "starter," gently placing the hair in the center of the array of coins.
As soon as it was set up, the old woman, who had been baring her teeth and looking ferocious, suddenly stiffened as if she had been frozen in place.
Then it started spinning wildly in place like an out-of-control top.
"Where are you? Give me food, give me food!"
"I'm so hungry, give me some food!"
She spun around, letting out a roar as she waved her hands wildly in the air.
Go eat your dad's food!
Taking advantage of this brief moment, I crouched down and carefully backed away, not daring to take my eyes off the old woman for even a moment.
As I slowly took a step forward, the old woman seemed to sense something, and her cloudy eyes suddenly locked onto me.
It suddenly accelerated and pounced towards me.
However, something strange happened.
She ran in the exact opposite direction from me.
Despite running desperately, she kept moving in a direction away from me.
I used to be the one getting lost in a maze, but one day I actually saw a ghost getting lost in a maze.
Seeing the old woman walking further and further away in the opposite direction, I dared not linger any longer.
He quickened his pace and headed toward the dilapidated temple that Liu Sandao had mentioned.
This dilapidated temple was located in the desolate outskirts of the city, surrounded by wild grass.
The moonlight shone down, outlining its dilapidated shape.
Upon closer inspection, the temple gate was half-closed, and the characters on the plaque were already blurred and illegible. Only the faint outline of the plaque could be discerned, indicating that it was originally a temple dedicated to the Earth God.
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