While eating, Lu Cijiu received a call from an unknown number. His eldest son, Za, was looking at him coldly, implying that whoever was so blind as to call during dinner time was so blind.
"Maybe it's something important." Lu Cijiu, no longer worried about Diao's cold stare, casually said something reassuring and answered the phone. "Hello, hello, this is Lu Cijiu."
"Master Lu, help me, it's me."
"?"
"I'm Ximen Jiantong, the person who bought the talisman paper from you on Weibo. My friend is in trouble."
The person on the line was very anxious. Lu Cijiu reacted immediately, his first thought being, "He's wearing a talisman, so it's generally invulnerable to ghosts. Maybe he's not wearing it? What's going on?"
This incident actually happened two days ago. Ximen Jiantong said something like, "I wore it. Thank goodness I did. It's because of your talisman that Xiaodouzi is fine, but he's missing and can't get out. With cameras pointed at him in that house, how could they not find him?"
It's hard to explain over the phone, but Ximen Jiantong invited Master Lu to visit the ancient house where the incident occurred. He would pay for the travel expenses, and he would pay whatever Master Lu wanted, as long as he could save his friend. Of course, any amount was fine; that was what Dou Qinglan said.
The ancient house where the incident occurred is in a village in Z Province, some distance from Yuncheng. If we go there and successfully resolve the matter, it will take at least two days to go back and forth. What will the children eat if he is away from the station for two days?
Don't expect the eldest son to take care of the children.
"Master Lu, do you have any concerns?"
"It's like this. I have four children aged two or three. I'm worried if there's no one to take care of them."
Ximen Jiantong had obviously done his homework, and he said naturally, "Master Lu, his four Taoist disciples, and his assistants? Of course, we'll pay for their services."
???
Is there money to be made for even four cubs?
Lu Cijiu said, "That's not what I meant." Since the other party didn't mind him taking the child on the mission, he agreed. "Okay, I'll buy the plane ticket as soon as possible and call me when the time comes."
Wang, the contractor, was working on a pond in the backyard of the institute, so Lu Cijiu told him to just close the door when he finished. As for the main house gate and the jade bed in the yard, Lu Cijiu looked at Gong Xichao.
"No problem." Gong Xichao waved his hand.
A barrier was set up invisibly.
Lu Cijiu packed his luggage, focusing on the babies' spare clothes. Each of them carried a small backpack containing his own bottle, tissues, small towels and other things.
After quickly packing up and saying goodbye to Wang Hao, the family of six headed for the airport.
When we arrived in the capital city of Province Z, someone came to pick us up as soon as we got off the plane.
"Master Lu, you're finally here." Ximen Jiantong, also known as Kang Jiantong, introduced himself and invited Master Lu to get on the bus. He said, "I know you have a large group and the situation is urgent, so I've arranged a bus. I'm sorry to bother you. We can talk on the bus."
Lu Cijiu didn't care about these things. When he went ghost hunting with his grandfather before, they always had to stand in case of emergency.
When they got on the bus, there was a woman in her thirties on board. Kang Jiantong said, "Ms. Zhao is responsible for taking care of Master Lu's four Taoist children."
Lu Cijiu: ...This is more thoughtful than he thought.
"Get to know people." Lu Cijiu said to the kids while thanking Ms. Zhao.
It was already dark when they got out of the airport. After a long journey, they got in the car and the novelty of being on the plane wore off. Now they were so sleepy that they leaned back in their chairs, yawning, but afraid to close their eyes and sleep. Ms. Zhao noticed and was about to coax them when she heard the young Master Lu say, "Go to sleep, I'm right here. I'll call you when we get to the destination."
"Okay, chirp."
With Jiujiu's assurance, the four cubs closed their eyes and fell asleep in a short while.
The bus headed to Guzhai Town, a three-hour drive away. On the bus, Kang Jiantong recounted the entire incident, which had occurred two days earlier. During the evening taping of a variety show Dou Qinglan was participating in, something strange had appeared on camera, along with an extra person. By the time the production crew realized what was wrong, they'd discovered the two main doors of the ancient house were firmly shut. The six guests and a dozen or so staff members were all inside.
By daytime, the guests still hadn't come out and the door couldn't be opened. The remaining people from the production crew outside climbed over the wall and went in, and have since disappeared without a trace. Most importantly, the camera still transmitted images, and those images were extremely weird.
The remaining members of the production team knew the situation was serious and they couldn't suppress it anymore. If anything happened to the six guests, not only would their show be ruined, but they would also be held responsible. Dou Qinglan's agent contacted the right people, and immediately reported the matter to Dou Qinglan's brother.
"...In the footage from inside, Douzi dodged the female ghost's attacks several times, and one of the talisman papers had turned to dust. Brother Dou asked about the talisman paper, and Douzi's assistant said that I gave it to him. That's when I learned about this and quickly contacted you." Kang Jiantong's mouth dried up as he spoke.
Lu Cijiu asked, "Is there a video?"
"There was a segment that the program crew didn't allow to be spread outside for fear of causing panic. I was able to get it thanks to Brother Dou's connections." Kang Jiantong opened his phone, found the video and pressed play.
It was pitch black outside the window. The bus was empty, with only a few people sitting on it as we sped along the highway. The video on my phone was playing loudly, but there was no sound, only the occasional scream that pierced the air.
That cry of despair and terror.
It feels like a death demand, and also like the moment of death.
The driver broke into a cold sweat, and then he heard the young man say, "Don't worry, drive carefully."
"Oh, okay." After the driver responded, the coldness in his heart faded away.
Lu Cijiu turned down the volume on his phone. The video was only three minutes long. It was in a reception room. Two narrow red lanterns hung on either side of the entrance. A string of maids filed in, holding candlesticks, their cheeks rosy and heavily rouge-coated. The man in the foreground was in his early thirties, wearing a black, gold-stamped suit. He had a tall, handsome figure, a dignified appearance, and was considered handsome, though his face was pale. He called out, "Please invite the bride—"
In the video, a young man wearing gold-rimmed round glasses and a suit, who looked about eighteen or nineteen years old, looked around and whispered to the camera: "Your program crew is too funny. You even put this on my face. I'm going to have nightmares watching this in the middle of the night." He pointed to his cheek.
The camera was a bit shaky until the 'bride' appeared and a voice off-camera was heard wondering, "Why isn't it Sister Weiwei? Who is this person?"
It soon turned into screaming.
Because the female ghost flew over gracefully, Round Glasses was stunned for a long time, the camera was shaking, and someone shouted to Teacher Dou, "Hurry up, it's a ghost!" After a second or two, Round Glasses shouted out "Ghost!!!"
Come to an abrupt end.
"The round glasses are Dou Qinglan, and the one she calls Sister Weiwei during the filming is the female guest invited by the program team. She was originally supposed to be Douzi's girlfriend or wife in the script." Kang Jiantong said anxiously, "Master Lu, is there any hope?"
Lu Cijiu seemed to be thinking about something, "Let's go over and see."
It took three hours to reach the old house. The bus was parked far away from the gate of the house, along with many luxury cars such as nanny cars and garages. The lights were as bright as day, and a row of bodyguards in black suits were guarding the cars.
"It's Brother Douzi."
As they got out of the car, a young, tall, handsome man in his early thirties came down from the garage. He was wearing a wrinkled white shirt with rolled-up sleeves. There was anxiety and worry in his eyes. "Is this Master Lu? My brother has been in there for three days."
"Brother Douzi, this is Douqingdian." Kang Jiantong introduced.
Seeing that the other party was anxious and worried about his relatives, Lu Cijiu briefly introduced his name. Then, noticing the coldness behind it, he silently added, "My assistant, Mr. Gong Xichao."
"Don't be impatient, Mr. Dou. First tell me how many living people are there."
The production team, the agents of the other five guests, and others gathered together and quickly handed over a list of names and photos. Lu Cijiu took it and said, "Give me ten minutes, I'll go in."
Dou Qingdian frowned and said, "I sent bodyguards in before, but they all never came back. I've hired new ones this time. Let Master Lu go in later."
To be honest, he didn't really believe in any 'masters', but as time went by, all the skilled bodyguards he sent in disappeared and died. Now he could only try his best and think of getting more manpower to help.
"This isn't a gang fight. It's not about who has more people. I'll just go in."
Lu Cijiu returned to the bus, woke up the four cubs and said that they had arrived. He had to go to the house to work and asked the cubs to stay in the bus and be taken care of by Aunt Zhao.
"Twit, can we go together?" Tail begged, "I'll be obedient."
Dalong: "Jiujiu, I want to go too. We are Taoist children."
Dudu the kitten nodded, "Tongtong."
Lu Bijiu: ...
It's both funny and sad.
Look at the dedication to work. Look at the assistant.
Lu Cijiu was worried because there were a bunch of ghosts inside. He thought he could go in and give it a try. He was afraid that he would hurt the cub in a panic if he brought four of them with him, but the four of them stared at him eagerly, looking pitiful.
"Take them with you, they are all annoying people." Gong Xichao said with a pout.
Lu Cijiu glanced at Boss Diao and thought, with Boss Diao's support, there would be no problem. He agreed.
A group of people were anxiously waiting under the car when they saw Master Lu come down with four children over three years old. He said, "We're all here. Let's go in first."
Everyone: ???
Instead of bringing bodyguards, you bring four breastfeeding children?
So confusing.
The other five guests' managers saw that it was so unreliable and decided to rely on themselves, so they all returned to their cars to call for high monks and experts to come to the rescue as soon as possible. Dou Qingdian also felt suffocated, and with doubt in his eyes, he asked Kang Jiantong, "Are you sure this person is a master?"
"Brother Dou, you've seen the video. If it weren't for Master Lu's talisman paper—" Douzi would have been in danger long ago.
Dou Qingdian thought about it and could only put his hopes on Lu Cijiu. Fortunately, he had foresight and invited someone else, who was on the way.
Ms. Zhao prepared milk powder for the babies, and their backpacks were filled with biscuits and bread.
A family of six stood in front of the gate of the old house of Jinbi.
Lu Cijiu held a compass in his hand, looking at the door and wondering how to open it. Gong Xichao waved his sleeves, and with a bang, the door was broken open violently.
…
"Come in." Gong Xichao stepped over the threshold slowly.
The four cubs, clutching their bottles, looked at Jiujiu. Lu Cijiu said, "Go in and follow me or Uncle Gong closely."
"OK."
The four nodded obediently in response.
Lu Cijiu was holding the camp lantern, which Dou Qingdian had given him. Its pure white light bathed the dark and quiet old house. As he stepped inside, a cold wind blew behind him, and the two doors slammed shut.
It was like a warning to the newcomer, a heavy blow to his heart.
but--
"Brother Gong, don't be angry, don't be angry. Just talk nicely and don't use violence." Lu Cijiu stopped the eldest son from going crazy.
Dalong whispered, "Uncle, please stop losing your temper. Jiujiu doesn't like it."
"I don't care whether he likes it or not." Gong Xichao sneered, but put down his hand.
A big question mark appeared on Dalong's little face.
The program team also provided a map of the house. It is a house with two entrances and two exits. The first door leads to the front yard, which was where men in ancient times entertained guests and discussed government affairs. The side rooms on both sides were used to entertain male guests.
After passing through the archway with hanging flowers, the second door is the inner house.
The inner house is where the women live, and behind it is the garden.
They were now in the main reception hall at the first door, with a plaque with three large characters: Qinghui Hall. This was also the location where Lu Cijiu had watched the video.
The hall has no door, and is supported by four large varnished pillars. Two red paper lanterns are hung on the roofs on both sides.
Just after entering the main courtyard and before reaching the hall, the lanterns were lit and swayed in the wind.
If an ordinary person broke in, first the door would be closed by a cold wind, and then the paper lanterns would suddenly light up, making him feel turbulent and afraid of everything. He would be scared away half of his own yang energy. But for Lu Cijiu, the ghosts in this house were quite good at playing tricks.
Not to mention that he was not afraid, even the four cubs didn't even tremble in their eyes as they held the bottles and sucked milk.
"Is there a host? You kidnapped the guest. Now his family is looking for him. It's time to release him." Lu Cijiu stood in the hall and shouted to the empty space around him.
Silence.
Lu Cijiu said: "I have greeted you politely. If you don't come out, don't blame me for being ruthless later."
Still quiet.
"Let's go. It seems these ghosts want to play hide-and-seek with us." Lu Cijiu looked at the compass calmly and walked towards the backyard.
The two lanterns fluttered, and soon the sound of suona was heard in the air.
Penetrating the silent night.
In the vast courtyard, four rows of red lanterns hung in the air, all lit up, swaying and floating in the air. The sound of suona music was festive, as if it were a wedding.
The front yard of the house, which was originally deserted, suddenly became lively.
Maids, dressed festively, held paper lanterns, their faces pale, cheeks rosy, their eyes glazed over. Lu Cijiu knew at a glance that these were paper puppets. The maids stood in two rows. A man in his thirties or forties, dressed in a long robe, appeared and mechanically bowed, greeting them. "Today is my son's wedding day. The guests should stay for the banquet. The backyard is where the women live, so entry is forbidden."
"Shen Wenguan." Lu Cijiu remembered this person as one of the six guests, the older one, who played Dou Qinglan's father. He glanced sideways, and saw the paper-made maids staring at him darkly. This must be the first level set by the ghost behind the scenes to test his strength.
In that case, he won't be polite.
Lu Cijiu took out a piece of talisman paper, pinched his fingers, and chanted a heart-clearing spell. The talisman paper burned in front of Shen Wenguan's eyes. Shen Wenguan, who had been mechanical and stiff, gradually became clear. He looked at what was in front of him clearly, and heard ghosts howling and shouting, "Ghosts, ghosts, don't come over here."
The shrill voice cut through the darkness.
Lu Bijiu: ...
"Brother, we are human beings." Well, he is a human being.
"Uncle, don't make noise, they are all looking at you." Tail put down the bottle and said seriously.
Shen Wenguan screamed like a chicken with its neck stuck. He turned around stiffly. The maids on both sides were staring at him. Suddenly, his hair stood on end and he opened his mouth -
"Shut up, or I'll throw you into that pile." Gong Xichao said impatiently, annoyed by the noise.
Lu Cijiu actually felt that the voices were a bit too loud, and it was impossible to communicate calmly. He didn't say anything about the eldest son smashing things. As expected, after being threatened, Shen Wenguan immediately shut up, his face wrinkled and looked particularly pitiful.
"Don't be afraid, we were hired by Mr. Dou to rescue his brother Dou Qinglan. Do you know where he is?"
No matter how Shen Wenguan looked at the six people, except for the short-haired young man who asked the question, the other five did not look like humans at all, especially the four children. They were so calm at such a young age when seeing these things, they did not look like children at all.
"Oh, they are my Taoist children, and they are knowledgeable." Lu Cijiu saw what Shen Wenguan was thinking at a glance.
The tail nodded happily, and the big dragon held up his chest and said proudly, "We are very powerful Taoist children."
The two little ones nodded.
"Are you really human?" Shen Wenguan wiped his sweat and didn't wait for an answer. Perhaps he wished they were human, so he said quickly, "There are ghosts everywhere. Lots of ghosts."
Lu Cijiu said, "Wait a minute." He interrupted Shen Wenguan and looked at the two rows of paper figures. He said, "Tell your master to let her release the people as soon as possible. I'll be waiting for her here."
The paper figures carrying lanterns drifted away quietly.
Lu Cijiu turned around and saw his eldest son find a chair to sit on. The other four followed suit and climbed onto the chairs. Lu Cijiu held the baby and sat him down, letting him drink milk. Then he turned to Shen Wenguan and said, "You continue."
Shen Wenguan: ...
"Oh, there's a female ghost in this house who's particularly scary. We were filming perfectly fine that night when the ghost named Miao Niang appeared. She insisted on acting with Xiao Dou and wanted Xiao Dou to marry her, but Xiao Dou was of course not happy about it. Then the hall went dark and I woke up as a servant. I saw Miao Niang being raped and thrown into the well."
What Shen Wenguan was talking about should be the female ghost's trick. From this perspective, only the female ghost Miao Niang got into trouble and died.
"Dou Qinglan, didn't you see it?"
"I saw it later. The ghost kept asking Xiaodou to marry her. She would appear every few days to get married. Xiaodou was dressed up as the groom and married the ghost."
"Where are the others?"
Shen Wenguan said: "When the wedding was taking place, other people would show up and film it. Sometimes I would wake up and ask the camera for help, but it was useless. Every time I asked for help, I would turn into a maid and serve Miao Niang. She would beat and scold the maids at will, and I felt the pain."
"The others should be similar. No one asked for help later."
As he was talking, the sound of suona started, and this time it was the ghost housekeeper that Lu Ci had seen in the old mobile phone video, shouting: "Get married——"
The band played suona and gongs. The paper maids appeared again, this time accompanied by guests, cameramen, staff, and bodyguards—twenty people in all.
There are still two people missing.
Those two female guests.
Most of the twenty people were men, stunned, just as Shen Wenguan had been when he first appeared. At the front of the crowd was a young master wearing a suit, round glasses with gold rims, and a white, clean-cut figure. Next to him stood a female ghost named Miao Niang, wearing a bright red wedding gown, her hair crowned with red hair, and her face veiled by a pearl curtain.
A group of people arrived in the hall in a blink of an eye.
Before Lu Cijiu could say anything, he saw that the ghost girl's face looked strange, cold, smelly and full of hostility. He then looked at the direction the ghost girl Miao Niang was looking at - Uncle Diao was sitting right above the hall, with his legs crossed.
Without waiting for the female ghost to get angry, Uncle Diao lowered his chin and looked at the person, "Are you worthy of looking at me?"
Lu Bijiu: ...
The hatred value exploded.
As expected, the female ghost was filled with anger, her nails extended, and she pounced directly. Lu Cijiu shouted, "Brother, you watch over the kids, let me do it!"
Gong Xichao: ...turned his head and stared at the kid with boredom.
The four of them were like watching a show, their eyes wide open, and they were clapping and cheering.
"Come on, Jiujiu."
"Jiujiu is great."
“Hit him!”
Lu Cijiu chanted the incantation and took out the Nine Commandments Ghost Whip from his waist, a magical weapon passed down from his grandfather. This female ghost was a fierce ghost, unlike any he had encountered before. She had at least a hundred years of cultivation and a deep sense of hostility. Otherwise, she wouldn't have used her own ghost power to create illusions and trap everyone in this house.
As expected.
The incantation was of no use to the female ghost. The whip was swung out and hit the ghost's arm. The ghost screamed in pain and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The paper maid, ghost housekeeper, and female ghost in the hall are all gone.
The 'guests' were all there. Lu Cijiu woke the controlled person and, without mentioning the usual practice, shouted that there was a ghost. When they quieted down, Dou Qinglan, looking pale, approached Master Lu and said pitifully, "Are you the Master Lu who gave the amulet?"
"It's not giving, it's selling." Lu Cijiu corrected.
Dou Qinglan was like seeing a relative, almost hugging Lu Cijiu's thigh, and cried out, "It's so scary, that female ghost is so perverted, I didn't agree to marry her, and every time the marriage fell through, she would torment me with illusions, either making me watch her die tragically and be skinned, or hanging me up and whipping me, and there was another time - I was almost raped, wuwuwuwu."
"My innocence is about to be turned into a lesbian by a female ghost."
Lu Bijiu: ...
The rescued people hurriedly urged Master Lu to take them away, not wanting to stay for another second. Instead, Dou Qinglan glanced around and said, "Where are Duan Wei and Sister Qing?"
Only then did everyone realize that the two actresses were not among them.
Some people looked conflicted and didn't want to stay in this haunted place any longer. They hoped that Master Lu would take them out first and then rescue others.
"Look behind you."
Everyone looked back. The originally empty yard, through which there was a gate, was now completely dark. Someone took a look with a flashlight and saw that the ground was covered with weeds and graves, and there was no longer any view of a yard.
"This, this is a mass grave."
When someone remembered to introduce the house, they suddenly turned pale as paper and their legs shook like sieves.
Lu Cijiu ignored him and asked Dou Qinglan, "How many pieces of talisman paper are left?"
"Just half one." Dou Qinglan took out the talisman paper. The other two were black and gray, and the last one was half yellow and half black and gray, and the cinnabar was not that bright.
Lu Cijiu distributed amulets to everyone. Everyone had seen Dou Qinglan use them to ward off danger several times, and now everyone wore them as if they had treasures. Gong Xichao said, "One thousand each."
"My cell phone has no signal right now. Can you go out and give it to me?" This money means nothing to life or death.
Gong Xichao glanced around, as if remembering these people's faces, and wanted to see if anyone dared to escape from the debt.
Seeing that group of people trembling and wanting to swear on the spot, he nodded in agreement.
Lu Cijiu sighed again: Daerza is the money bag of their institute!!!
Fortunately I brought it.
Shen Wenguan was puzzled and said, "What I saw was a female ghost being raped and thrown into a well, but Xiaodou saw something different. Is this female ghost good or bad?"
Lu Cijiu didn't expect Shen Wenguan to ask this. You were screaming just now, but now you care about the female ghost?
"That devil wants to harm us, so of course she's evil," Dou Qinglan said bluntly, "Don't fall for her tricks."
Lu Cijiu nodded with relief and said, "You saw her miserable life and felt sympathy for her for a while, but Mr. Dou saw it differently. What you saw were all illusions woven by the female ghost. Some were real, some were fake, but all were real. She wanted to harm people and wanted to make Mr. Dou stay and be her puppet ghost. Just like that ghost butler."
The male ghost butler has elegant features and has been a ghost for a shorter time than the female ghost. He may have been dead for more than 20 years.
"This female ghost wants to have two husbands! What a feudal evil!" Dou Qinglan said indignantly, "Luckily, I would rather be gay than straight and refused to agree, so I can keep my innocence. Master Lu, you said her methods are so powerful, why does she insist on me being sober during every wedding ceremony? If I was controlled, wouldn't she succeed?"
Lu Cijiu: "To form a ghost contract, you must be sober and willing to agree. Once you agree, you will be in a ghost marriage with the ghost girl and will be at her beck and call from now on."
Dou Qinglan shuddered and said firmly, "Even if I'm stabbed by a man, I won't agree."
Lu Bijiu: ...
Boy, duck doesn't have to be so anal.
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