The villa is built in the mountains, which may be related to the hot springs underneath. In winter, the green plants are lush and green and have not withered. In addition, the greenery is good, the wind is blocked, and there is an open-air hot spring pool. When walking in the manor, the temperature is not very cold.
The kids are jumping around and working diligently, actively looking for ghosts that the bad guys use to scare people.
Lu Cijiu and Gong Xichao walked behind, claiming to be out hunting ghosts, but in reality, they were taking the kids for a post-dinner walk to digest their food. Having eaten vegetarian food for lunch, they clearly weren't very full, and were already feeling hungry around 4:00 PM.
The big kitchen here delivered the barbecue ingredients, and the chefs marinated various meats. There was a charcoal stove in the yard of the villa where they lived, and the staff helped to light it so that they could barbecue directly in the open air.
The pups have eaten too much meat, so they need to take a walk.
"How long will it take us to get there?" Gong Xichao asked, looking at the four figures in front.
Lu Cijiu immediately understood that Gong Xichao was just trying to get some time for themselves. He said, "Another half an hour, and they'll run out of energy and fall asleep quickly."
Children are in the period of growing up and need more sleep.
The manager said the three of them had encountered ghosts around ten o'clock. Lu Cijiu was simply helping the kids digest their food, not expecting to notice anything. By eight o'clock, the kids were all sleepy, but they still hadn't caught the bad ghost, and they were very reluctant to leave. Dalong was especially tired. His sense of justice and responsibility drove him to keep his eyes wide open. He wasn't sleepy at all—
Then he yawned.
Cover your mouth with your little hands and continue to stare with your eyes wide open.
Lu Cijiu was amused, but he gave them face and said seriously, "You have done a great job. Uncle Gong and I will take over the rest. We need to help each other."
The kids agreed and nodded in agreement. Dudu was so sleepy that he said in a baby voice, "Chiu-chiu, I want to take a nap."
"Let's go back now." Lu Cijiu saw that they had walked far away. When they came out, the four of them were happy and jumping around, but now they were listless and their little faces were sleepy.
I dialed the park's contact number and reported my coordinates, and an electric car soon came to pick me up.
The kids loved riding in this car. They could see the scenery outside and feel the breeze. It was very comfortable and fun. They returned to the villa. Zhou Cheng and Xiao Hong were on the second floor, Black Cat was lying on the sofa, and Hu Sanniang had gone somewhere to play.
After giving the baby a bath and tucking him into bed, Sang Jinghong helped watch over him until he slept.
Gong Xichao chanted beside him: "It's time to catch ghosts, it's time to catch ghosts."
Those who didn't know would have thought Gong Xichao was very dedicated to his work, and his sense of justice was even stronger than that of a Taoist priest like him. Only Lu Cijiu knew why. He said something to Mr. Sang and left the villa with Gong Xichao muttering and aloof.
It was almost nine o'clock when they went out.
It was dark. There were streetlights on the side of the road near the manor, not particularly bright, emitting a warm yellow light. Gong Xichao reached out to hold Lu Cijiu's hand, looking straight ahead, pretending to be aloof and domineering. Lu Cijiu smiled and held Gong Xichao's hot hand.
You're obviously still very shy, why are you pretending?
Focus on the three locations mentioned by the manager.
These three places are very close together, forming a triangle with the villa where my friend's daughter saw the ghost. Winter is a great time for hot springs, and the prices here are high, so many wealthy people from the surrounding area come here.
Every villa is occupied, except this one, which is cold and quiet, with only the light of street lamps.
After going around a corner, I returned to the entrance of the villa.
"Huh." Lu Cijiu discovered the problem.
Gong Xichao is here just to fall in love, and he's so happy the whole time, so why would he care about ghosts? What's there to be afraid of!!!
But since his wife had a question, Gong Xichao naturally had to support her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"This is a small formation." Lu Cijiu said.
From the villa to the two ghost spots, a triangle formed a simple formation. Wu Gao consulted a feng shui master, who knew that the overall layout of the manor was very particular about the doorway, the planting of trees, the orientation of the houses, and so on, which naturally formed a formation.
"It should be nearby, not far away." Lu Cijiu was very sure, "But it's still quite a distance. I need to set up a formation, but it will take too much time. The distance is too far."
The area around the manor was already small, but it would take at least fifteen minutes to walk from the villa to the left or right. Taking the red line would be too much trouble.
"I have a plan." Gong Xichao took Lu Cijiu and found the largest and tallest tree to sit on, saying, "This way we can see it at a glance."
Lu Cijiu: ...That’s fine too.
The two of them were sitting on the tree and talking about love. Gong Xichao also took out a bowl of fruit from his Qiankun bag and asked Lu Cijiu if he wanted to eat it.
Lu Cijiu: ...Since you are here, let’s eat.
While eating peaches on the tree, Gong Xichao quietly extended his arm over, and the dog put its arm around Lu Cijiu's shoulder in a stealthy yet calm manner. Lu Cijiu glanced at the hand on his shoulder, said nothing, and tacitly accepted the close contact.
"I just ate a strawberry, it was really sweet."
"Really? Then I'll try it too."
Gong Xichao said: "No more."
"Oh, forget it." Lu Cijiu didn't insist on eating a strawberry. But after a few seconds, Gong Xichao said, "If you agree, you can get a strawberry-flavored kiss."
Lu Cijiu: ...I was amused. What a ridiculous and cheesy trick.
"Is it as sweet as Brother Gong's? If it's not sweet, I won't agree to kiss you." Lu Cijiu said seriously.
Gong Xichao's face was flushed, but his tone was still calm. It was too dark and his wife should not be able to see it.
"You'll know once you kiss it."
The two exchanged a strawberry kiss.
"It's really sweet, a strawberry palace in the human world." Lu Cijiu joked.
Now Gong Xichao thinks that words like Diao Zong and Gong Diao Diao are terms of endearment, instead of angrily correcting him as before. Lu Cijiu said that because she loves him, it is a term of endearment between lovers.
The two were dating in a tree when a faint voice rang out from below: "Excuse me, excuse me..."
"Is someone talking again?" Lu Cijiu heard it.
Gong Xichao acted as if he didn't care and listened attentively for less than a second before quickly saying, "No, let's continue, wife."
"...I saw it." Lu Cijiu lowered his head and looked at the dim white face under the tree.
It was the ghost they were looking for. They didn't know how long they had been there, or how long they had been watching. The other party smiled a cautious, awkward, yet polite smile, but his deathly appearance wasn't very pretty, and it was particularly creepy.
A big, swollen, white face, looks like a man.
Lu Cijiu patted Gong Xichao, who reluctantly took Lu Cijiu down. As soon as they came down, the ghost said in surprise: "I was just asking, I didn't expect you could really see me."
"Why do you stay here and scare people?"
The male ghost showed an aggrieved expression, "I didn't scare anyone, I just asked them for help."
The ghost's aura is very light and positive, and it is not an evil ghost.
"Please help me inform them, I can't get out here." The male ghost said: "I can give you all the money."
"There's no need for ghost money."
Lu Cijiu waved his hand and asked briskly what was going on. He had previously thought it was a recently deceased ghost who had stumbled into the place by mistake and was trapped by the formation, unable to escape. But as the fat white ghost finished speaking, Lu Cijiu's brows deepened, and he felt that the problem was even more serious.
The fat white ghost was a good person in his previous life. He jumped into the river to save a drowning child and died. He was swept downstream and his body was swollen when he was fished out. He had never done any serious evil in his life and often did good deeds. When he entered the underworld, he quickly received a number to be reincarnated.
"...I'll be a wealthy man in my next life." The fat white ghost was very happy, but then he became anxious. "My reincarnation number was almost here, so I dressed neatly and changed into new clothes, ready to set off. Who knew that in the blink of an eye, I'd end up here, and I can't even get out."
"I don't mean to scare anyone. The tourists coming and going here can't see me. Only the children can see me. I have been waiting for more than half a month, wanting them to bring a message." The fat white ghost was anxious and worried at the time, fearing that he would miss the chance to reincarnate and lose the good fortune of being a rich man in his next life.
This ghost took the number plate, passed the clear path in the underworld, and immediately reincarnated. No wonder the ghost aura was weak. He was also a good and honest person with little ghost power. He didn't dare to show up during the day, hiding in the house, and only dared to come out at night, wandering around looking for the messenger.
The child has bright eyes, but the cleaning lady is older and has lower luck, so she can see the "dirty things".
"I even gave them money, not for nothing."
Lu Cijiu said: "You also turned from a human into a ghost. When you were a human, you found money on the road and it turned out to be ghost money. I want to ask you, are you afraid?!"
"I'm afraid." The fat white ghost said weakly, "But I don't have any RMB on me."
Gong Xichao: "If you dare to talk back to my wife, I'll beat you up first."
"..." You think he's disturbing our relationship, right? There's no need to be so vindictive. Lu Cijiu stopped him, and seeing the fat white ghost trembling with fear, he said, "I won't beat you, I'll ask the ghost to send you back."
The fat white ghost was so grateful that he bowed.
Lu Cijiu brought incense with him, lit it, wrote the words "Hei Wuchang" on a yellow paper, and burned it. The fragrance drifted away.
Hei Wuchang wasn't there. Or maybe he was too busy to make it.
The fat white ghost was muttering worriedly, "Oh, it's been so many days, and I don't know if I missed the chance to reincarnate. Will my chance of being a rich second-generation child be cancelled? I've suffered so much in this life. I finally did good deeds to arrange a rich family. I hope I'm really gone..."
As he spoke, a big male ghost began to sob.
Even though he didn't have much ghost power, he was still a ghost after all. When he cried, his voice was mournful and miserable, and coupled with the shadows under the tree at night, it really gave him goose bumps. Lu Cijiu's scalp tingled when he heard it, not because he was afraid, but mainly because he had never seen a man who cried so much, uh, a ghost.
"Don't cry, I'll take you there." Lu Cijiu said.
Last time he helped capture the White Bone Demon, the underworld gave him a plaque, but he never had the chance to use it. Of course, his soul couldn't come here after leaving his body. Lu Cijiu and Gong Xichao returned to the villa first. It was quiet in the middle of the night, so they didn't tell anyone. They would be back soon anyway.
Lu Cijiu closed his eyes as he read the sign. When he opened them, his soul left his body, and in his hand was a pitch-black sign with a gold outline. It looked quite luxurious. Lu Cijiu said, "Let's go."
Gong Xichao does not need to leave the body.
Lu Cijiu was using his soul for the first time, and it was quite novel. The method of separating the soul from the body was also known to Taoists, but his grandfather hadn't taught him, saying it was dangerous and full of variables. With too many ghost officials and evil spirits below, people would suffer in the underworld. Now that he had the support of the underworld, there was no danger.
He could fly so fast. Gong Xichao held Lu Cijiu's hand and said in surprise, "Wife, you are like a kite, flying so fast."
Lu Bijiu: ...
Thank you so much.
"No, it's just floating so cutely." Gong Xichao noticed his wife's gaze and changed his words steadily.
They soon arrived at the villa. The fat white ghost was waiting. When he saw the two of them, his eyes fell on Lu Cijiu and he was deeply moved. "You, you died to save me?"
“…” Lu Cijiu was choked.
Gong Xichao was vaguely excited, "How about a fight?"
"Let's fight." Lu Cijiu said.
The fat white ghost started to sob and cry, saying that he didn't mean to say the wrong thing. Lu Cijiu took Gong Xichao's hand, which was eager to try. He said that this ghost was a good person in his life and a good ghost who obeyed the rules after his death. He was trapped here for so long that his brain was not working well. Please forgive him.
Lu Cijiu led the way. By the sign, the surrounding scenery remained unchanged, but there was a faint hint of a dark path with a glimmer of light at the very end. Lu Cijiu looked and said, "Let's go."
Fat White Ghost: "It's so dark."
"Are you still afraid of the dark?"
"I'm also afraid of ghosts. I was almost scared to death when I just died. When I was in the underworld, a ghost greeted me and cut off my head. I almost died again." The fat white ghost muttered, and stretched out his hand without any expression, trying to pull the corner of Lu Cijiu's clothes.
Lu Cijiu was walking in front and didn't pay attention, when he heard the fat white ghost behind him scream and cover his hands, and Gong Xichao next to him glared at the ghost fiercely.
Anyone who sees this scene can tell who is bullying whom.
"Does your hand hurt?" Lu Cijiu asked Gong Xichao.
Gong Xichao glanced at the fat white ghost with a cold look, as if to say, "See who is the first wife?" He raised his head with a noble and cold look, extended his hand, and said, "Take a look."
Lu Cijiu was looking at something, there was not even a trace of redness, so he took Gong Xichao's hand.
If he were to ask Gong Xichao why he hit the fat white ghost, not only would the fat white ghost have been beaten, but Gong Xichao would have been upset. Anyway, it was just a slap on the hand, so it was done. Lu Cijiu was partial and protective of his own shortcomings. This wasn't a major issue, so of course he would protect his lover.
The two of them happily held hands and ran to the underworld. The fat white ghost followed closely with his hands covered. He was fed up with dog food and thought that when he was reincarnated and had money, he would also fall in love and find a girlfriend, and she would be prettier than the man who beat him.
Lu Cijiu: It’s impossible that you are desperate.
The ghost body floated up very fast and arrived in a few minutes. The dark Styx River was similar to the moat of human beings. The Styx River was very wide, and an arched bridge led to the underworld.
The gate tower of the underworld is magnificent, with the Bull-Headed and Horse-Faced Demons holding weapons on both sides. When the gate is opened, some newly dead ghosts line up in an orderly manner and enter under the supervision of ghost officials.
"It's still scary if it happens again, like going back to the time when I just died." The fat white ghost was trying to make his presence felt in the back.
Gong Xichao turned around and gave him a cold look.
"What do you mean by constantly looking for Lu Cijiu to talk to? I'm warning you, it's impossible."
Fat White Ghost: ??? I’m just scared and want to find someone to chat with.
You two were kissing each other so passionately on the tree, what else doesn't he understand?
"You're the only one on the team, no one else can do it." Lu Cijiu coaxed Boss Diao, holding Gong Xichao's hand and saying to the fat white ghost, "Follow us, don't get lost. I'll ask if there's anyone else to fill your spot in the past reincarnation."
When the fat white ghost heard this, he immediately felt grateful. Now he was in the underworld, but he had missed the chance to be reborn long ago. Who knew if he could be reborn again? If he missed this rich family and was reborn into an ordinary family, he would cry his heart out.
When he was stopped at the city gate, Lu Cijiu took out his badge and showed it to the Ox-Head and Horse-Face. They immediately said politely, "So it's Mr. Lu."
"I'm here to look for Hei Wuchang." Lu Cijiu asked, "Is Lord Hei here?"
Niutou scratched his head and said, "My Lord should be in the mansion. I will ask the little ghost to lead the way for you."
"Okay, thank you."
Niutou casually summoned a young demon messenger and gave him some instructions. The demon messenger was about ten years old, with a baby face, thin and small, not yet an adult. But he spoke very clearly and logically.
"I've been a ghost messenger here for sixty years."
"I originally volunteered to help run errands, but the adults saw I was clever and asked me about it, so they let me do it. Now I'm a regular ghost messenger."
Lu Cijiu asked why he didn't reincarnate.
Only then did we know that the little devil died of starvation. There was a famine in 1959. There were many children in the little devil's family, and he was the eldest. He gave the first bite of food to his younger brothers and sisters, and finally he starved to death.
"I don't want to starve anymore. Working here is good. I get regular offerings, and there's delicious food to eat. It's much better than rice, and there's also filial piety..."
Lu Cijiu listened to the little ghost messenger talk about the new policies of the underworld's reform and innovation, as well as various civil servant benefits. This made him waver for a second. Working here was not bad, but it was just a thought. He didn't want a long-distance relationship, and he couldn't bear to leave his children.
Apart from the magnificent city gate, the buildings inside are simple, the streets are empty, with a few ghosts floating around occasionally, and there are very few houses.
The little devil said, "One year, it suddenly got dark and the area collapsed. Many buildings collapsed. Not only that, but the area also became much smaller. It used to be so big."
"Mr. Lu is here." The little devil stuck out his tongue and said, "You go in. I don't dare to go in. Mr. Hei looks very fierce."
After saying that he was going to slip away, Lu Cijiu turned to look at Gong Xichao, who took out a gold ingot from his Qiankun bag. Lu Cijiu asked the little ghost officer his name, burned it, and handed it directly to the little ghost officer.
The fat white ghost was so envious.
The little devil hugged the gold ingot and thanked happily. In fact, he had lived a long time, even older than Grandpa Lu Cijiu, but at this moment he was lively and happy, just like his appearance.
The house wasn't big, two stories high, quite small, and didn't face the main street. This was a display only the head of the household could have. Ordinary ghosts lived in Ghost Mountain. Ghosts could shrink and live in the paper-made villas and courtyards burned by families.
There were also fights over houses.
Lu Cijiu knocked on the door, turned around and found Bai Pang acting stealthily, and asked in confusion: "What are you doing? Or is what you said a lie?"
"No, no, I'm scared." The fat white ghost swallowed his saliva and said, "I've heard from other ghosts that although this black master is the new impermanence, he is very powerful and his methods are very vicious. He will grab ghosts and beat them up without asking any questions-"
Creak—the door opened.
The Black Impermanence, who is vicious and loves to beat ghosts, stands behind the door, staring at the fat white ghost expressionlessly.
Fat White Ghost: ...I'm almost choking to death. Is his chance of becoming a rich second-generation kid doomed? Doesn't he even have the chance to be a human being anymore?!!!
"Mr. Lu?" Hei Wuchang retracted his gaze and greeted him.
Not sure if it was an illusion, but Lu Cijiu felt that Hei Wuchang seemed very tired, so he directly told him about his encounter with the fat white ghost. "...He was waiting in line for reincarnation in the underworld, and suddenly ran to the hot spring villa for no reason. I found him and brought him to you."
The fat white ghost blinked, meaning that he missed the opportunity to be reincarnated.
"Can you two come with me to the King of Hell's Palace?" Hei Wuchang said with a serious expression.
"OK."
Lu Cijiu agreed readily. He knew something was seriously wrong when he heard the fat white ghost say that he had appeared in the world of the living for no reason. Now, seeing Hei Wuchang's expression, he guessed that there was trouble in the underworld as well.
The King of Hell’s Palace is not big, it’s just a two-story villa, and it’s decorated quite stylishly.
Lu Cijiu thought of the underworld reforms the little ghost messenger had mentioned, advocating for officials to be honest, not to engage in ostentation, and to work frugally. Now it seemed to be true.
Meeting the King of Hell for the first time, Lu Cijiu was a little cautious. He didn't expect him to be very young—looking like... He was wearing a casual sweater and pants, glasses, and was sitting on the sofa looking at his tablet.
Lu Cijiu: ...It’s really unexpected.
Hei Wuchang gave a brief introduction. The fat white ghost had been taken away by other ghosts. The rich family where the parents were originally to be reincarnated had missed it and was replaced by a ghost who also did good deeds. Now the fat white ghost can only wait for three years. The couple also has a second child.
When the fat white ghost heard this, he said, "Okay, it doesn't matter. I'll just be a younger brother."
Hei Wuchang took a closer look and said nothing. He asked the ghost messenger to take it away and record and make arrangements.
"The second child is a girl?" Lu Cijiu vaguely understood.
Hei Wuchang nodded.
Gong Xichao laughed a few times beside him. Lu Cijiu said, "...Anyway, after drinking Meng Po's wine, I don't remember anything. My gender in the previous life has nothing to do with the next. I'm two people now."
"It's him anyway." Gong Xichao didn't believe in reincarnation and becoming a different person, so he said, "A soul."
Lu Cijiu didn't say anything. Anyway, the fat white ghost wanted to be rich. It would be great to be a white, rich and beautiful girl.
Back to the topic.
Hei Wuchang explained his purpose. Yan Wang took off his glasses, revealing a pair of peach blossom eyes, but his eyes were not smiling. He glanced at Gong Xichao who was standing next to Lu Cijiu and said, "No need to hide it. Tell them directly. We may need Mr. Gong's help in this matter."
What is it that even the King of Hell can’t handle?
Hei Wuchang then explained that since the White Bone Demon's escape, the Underworld had begun strengthening its management and conducting thorough investigations. It turned out that the White Bone Demon incident wasn't the first; there had been others before, but they had only suddenly escaped from the eighteenth level of the prison to the sixteenth.
They are all wandering around in the underworld.
Some time ago, there were more and more things like this happening in the underworld, and the fat white ghost was still quite kind.
"There are still two ghosts and a hellhound, and we have lost contact with them all." Hei Wuchang said.
The hellhound is a nine-headed dog that is specifically used to guard the prison of evil spirits. As a result, even the hellhound was lost and could not be sensed and found.
As for the two ghosts, "One is a succubus, and the other is an asura."
The name doesn't sound simple, it doesn't seem like a ghost. Lu Cijiu looked at Gong Xichao, who was thinking about something and said, "There have been more monsters appearing recently."
Lu Cijiu suddenly thought of Suanyu and Fei, both of whom were sleeping and suddenly woke up.
"Has something been born?" Lu Cijiu guessed.
Gong Xichao said thoughtfully, "The spiritual energy is more abundant than before."
"The demon's opportunity has arrived."
Gong Xichao said so.
The King of Hell did not think this was a good thing, but said: "It is an opportunity given by heaven, or perhaps it is a devastating disaster." Just like the last time the underworld collapsed.
After all, humanity is flourishing now.
Gong Xichao's expression was stern and resolute, "Then let's see who wins in the end."
It’s not a gamble with the King of Hell, but a gamble with the Way of Heaven.
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