Chapter 017 Chapter 17

hours ago.

Ding Ling set out shortly after A Yan left the dormitory.

Considering that A Yan knew clearly about her black umbrella, Ding Ling specially bought a mask and wore it this time.

A black umbrella blocks the sunlight, a white mask covers most of the face, a long-sleeved shirt and linen trousers are not out of place in this season, and the overall outfit is like any sunscreen alien.

However, while waiting for the subway to pass, Ding Ling passed by a man who looked like a man, and she clearly smelled the scent of her roommate.

It’s not Ayan, it’s Yizhi.

Ghosts are different from humans. Humans often recognize others based on their faces, figures and memory.

Being a ghost has its own unique ways, especially the Ghost King.

Ding Ling can smell the fragrance of human souls.

Because of the dissipation of negative energy, Ding Ling is always surrounded by a lot of negative energy.

She couldn't smell it.

But in recent days she has been in the gathering place of Yin in Mingzhi Hall, and with the help of the jade given by Gu Jiasui, her condition has improved a lot, and now she can smell the aura of familiar people.

It seems that in the eyes of many people in the Xuanmai School, all ghosts should be controlled immediately or sent to reincarnate. This is because many ghosts lingering in the human world often cause trouble. Because they cannot control their desire for the fragrance of human souls, they attack the living and endanger others.

A ghost king as powerful as her had already sparked internal discussions within the special case team after she was dug out by the archaeological team.

But Ding Ling said that these are all ghosts who have no self-control or whose consciousness is taken over by instinct and they have lost themselves.

When we are alive, we are human beings. When we die, we become ghosts. After all, ghosts were also human beings when they were alive.

Her roommates all smelled delicious and looked delicious.

Moreover, each one seems to have a complex flavor.

Each of them doesn't look like a human being at all.

Gu Jiasui smells like a light sandalwood, which is old yet fresh, clear, cool, long-lasting and has a lingering aftertaste.

Yizhi is even more special, the fragrance of the grass and trees makes you feel like you are in the mountains of nature.

Chu Bingbing didn't smell very good, but had a coppery odor.

And Ayan is even more special, she has no taste.

It's like a colorless and tasteless soul.

This made Ding Ling more resolute in her inner judgment over the past two days.

Ayan is definitely a person of Xuanmai.

The treasure is stored inside the human soul, and the fragrance is not revealed to the outside. This person has either cultivated internal strength, or concealed himself with some skills. This is the method used by people in the mysterious sect.

At this moment, Ding Ling smelled Yi Zhi's scent, even though the person who walked past her looked like a man.

But she didn't come forward to say hello.

Even though she was not very familiar with worldly affairs, she could tell that Yi Zhi must have been dressing up for some important matter. While waiting for the subway, a young girl asked for his WeChat.

To outsiders, this is just a boy.

In order not to arouse Yi Zhi's suspicion, Ding Ling went to the bathroom and then waited for the next subway to depart.

She had no intention of paying attention to her roommates' secrets. Except for A Yan, it was better to keep a distance from other roommates.

After all, most ordinary people are very afraid of ghosts. Haven’t you seen that in so many ghost movies and horror films nowadays, ghosts are mostly villains.

In order to avoid scaring your roommates, you must hide your identity.

And with A Yan around, she can help her cover herself up better.

Therefore, she had to confirm that Ah Yan was harmless and why Ah Yan went to the antique street.

A person's soul is easier to identify than his appearance, so even though he was late for the subway, Ding Ling was not in a hurry.

But when she arrived at Antique Street, something seemed wrong.

Ding Ling smelled the surging desire spreading among the souls of groups of people.

The people here seemed to be stimulated by something, with desires running rampant. The smell was so strong that Ding Ling couldn't help but frown.

For ordinary ghosts, it would probably be difficult to control this desire.

Is this the kind of place that the antique street is?

She originally thought that the scent of the people here would probably be something related to metal, stone, and ancient wood.

Unexpectedly, this thick human desire almost made her vomit.

If there is a ghost here that has eaten human souls, it would be a perfect feast and it would probably lose control of itself.

For ghosts who have tasted human souls, this delicacy is by no means an ordinary offering, and cannot be compared with incense candles.

As soon as this thought flashed through Ding Ling's mind, she felt something was wrong.

Amid the rich and lush aroma of desire, this did not overwhelm her brain, but instead allowed her to recognize the fleeting yin energy even more clearly.

It's the same flavor.

Is there a ghost here? Or is it a place where evil spirits gather?

Ding Ling's heart suddenly started to ring with alarm.

Although the evil energy that appeared at that moment was fleeting, Ding Ling captured it with incredible accuracy.

Could it be that there are ghosts in these Feng Shui instrument shops?

Ding Ling didn't know, but this feeling lingered in her heart, making her a little irritated.

She subconsciously followed the sudden appearance of Yin energy.

Although the Yin Qi only appeared for a short time, as the Ghost King, she was able to quickly locate the approximate direction.

What's even more strange is that the cold and gloomy air seemed to disappear rapidly, or be covered up.

It shouldn't be like this.

Even though it was daytime here, since she could feel it, it shouldn't disappear so quickly.

Unless, someone nearby takes care of it.

Is that Ayan?

Ding Ling was anxious, and she moved quickly among the crowd. She didn't know the way around the antique street very well, and when the ghost stopped near the Yin Qi spot she had located, there were no noisy crowds or thriving human desires around her.

This is still near the Antique Street, but it is no longer a long street filled with stalls selling all kinds of things.

Ding Ling turned on her cell phone and tried to check the map, but she found that the signal on the phone was not good, with only a shaky bar left, and her location still remained at the subway entrance of Antique Street.

"The signal is bad, there must be a problem."

Ding Ling couldn't help but murmur, this was taught to her by the team leader, and A Yan had also confirmed this before.

Today, 5G is rapidly becoming popular. This is the most central antique street in Bincheng. We are not in an elevator. Even the Shiwandashan Mountains have access to the Internet. There is no signal blocker. Suddenly the signal is so bad. There must be something affecting it.

Standing in front of Ding Ling was a walled courtyard. She tilted her head and noticed that there were several signs nearby that were similar to the one in front of Binda Mingzhi Hall.

"Protection of Bincheng Ancient Buildings..."

Ding Ling's heart sank. Is this also a place where evil spirits gather?

But now she was standing here, and she could not sense any negative energy.

Instead, there is a blurred feeling, like looking at flowers through a layer of fog.

She scratched her head. Formations? She wasn't very familiar with these things.

Ding Ling looked around. There were hardly any people in this area. Since it was near the antique street, people who were just strolling around would come here, right?

The situation where there is no one is more similar to Ming Zhi Tang. Concealing formation? I shouldn't be able to find fault.

Suddenly, Ding Ling looked up at the sky with an umbrella. If her current location was taken as the center, then the sky on the south side, where she walked past, was filled with so many people that it almost condensed in the air.

Looking further to the north, I didn't know what was happening there, and my desire was rising to the sky.

At this moment, Ding Ling noticed very clearly that there was a brief eruption of negative energy in the ancient building courtyard that she had not yet entered, and in an instant it seemed to be annihilated and suppressed again.

Ding Ling was immediately certain that she had found the right place. It was indeed here.

There really is yin energy, and there must be something strange about it.

There was a copper lock on the gate. Ding Ling frowned slightly and looked around. The wall was not very high for her, but it completely blocked her view and she could not see what was going on inside at all.

Fortunately, there was no fence on top of the wall.

Glancing at the current sunlight, she was using the umbrella more out of habit. Before, when a large amount of negative energy was dissipating, it would dissipate faster under the sunlight, but now it is much better and there is no problem without the umbrella.

Ding Ling placed the black umbrella at the door, as if it had been dropped there by a passerby.

She was extremely agile. With a light leap, her ghostly body was so light that in the blink of an eye she flipped over the high wall and rushed into this unknown ancient building.

The cloth shoes were light, and the jingle bells landed smoothly on the ground without making any sound.

She stared at the surrounding environment in a daze. Compared to the intact appearance from the outside, the inside of the courtyard seemed to have not been repaired for many years and was very dilapidated.

The pond was dry, the grass and trees were withered, and the place was empty and deserted. It was still a hot day and there had been plenty of rain, but the plants here were almost huddled under the wall of the courtyard that she had just climbed over.

Yin and Yang coexist between heaven and earth, and plants and trees naturally have different preferences for Yin and Yang.

But in broad daylight, even though we were in a large open-air courtyard, the scorching sun above our heads seemed unable to warm the place at all.

Ding Ling noticed that the plants growing under the wall were not ordinary weeds and flowers that loved the shade.

But it’s the shade-loving flowers and shade-loving grass, the yin of yin energy!

She could clearly feel that the place was filled with a lot of Yin energy, but Ding Ling didn't remember the special case team's record of an antique street in Bincheng Juyindi.

She squatted down and stroked a Yin Claw flower growing at the foot of the courtyard wall. It was growing well, like a ghost hand with fangs and claws. It was obvious that it was being nourished by the Yin energy and had sufficient nutrients.

Inside the courtyard wall and outside the wall seem to be two different worlds. Inside the courtyard is full of yin energy, while outside the courtyard there is no yin energy at all.

Interesting, very interesting, Ding Ling thought.

Such a strong negative energy can only mean one thing: this place either has ghosts or something else belonging to the underground.

Based on the two bursts of evil energy that Ding Ling felt in the blink of an eye, Shi Cai judged that it was more like a ghost.

A ghost that is attracted and stimulated by the rising human desires in the outside world.

Is someone raising ghosts here? Or are the ghosts sealed here?

Once Ding Ling made this guess, she felt that these two possibilities were most likely the answer.

Although she is only a nominal member of the special case team, it is also her responsibility to protect the city and patrol the demons.

There must be something strange in the courtyard in front of him. Thinking of the two bursts of evil spirits, Ding Ling's eyes became gloomy.

The atmosphere around the Antique Street was filled with human desires, and the ghosts here were very likely unable to control themselves. If she went out to get help and then waited for the special case team to arrive, there was no telling how much time would be wasted.

If the ghost were to escape and enter the busy antique street, it would be like a cat entering a rat's nest, and it would never be able to eat all the food.

Although she is a ghost, Ding Ling has received a lot of help from living people since her resurrection. In her heart, she is just a ghost in physical form, but still a human being at heart.

If a ghost enters the antique street to absorb people's souls, the consequences will be unimaginable!

She won't allow this to happen!

Ding Ling tried hard to hold back her negative energy. The whole courtyard was large and quiet. She was sure that she had not been exposed, so she began to search the courtyard quietly.

There were many courtyards, and Ding Ling started to investigate carefully from the outside.

...

Outside Furong Residence.

A Yan sent a message to Ding Ling, but Ding Ling did not reply.

She couldn't help but frown.

Except at night, Ding Ling usually replies to WeChat messages almost within seconds during the day.

I stood there and waited for three minutes, but there was no response. What was Ding Ling doing?

Ah Yan recalled carefully that Ding Ling had not told him what she was going to do in the past two days. Because of Ding Ling's identity as the ghost king and her imagination of him, Ah Yan did not take the initiative to ask, so as not to be dragged into some whirlpool.

But now, A Yan decided to take the initiative to consult to avoid accidental involvement.

Unable to wait for any news, A Yan and Zhu Jue simply walked out.

Furongju has a unique location, being in the center of the antique street. Even though it only has three floors, it is the tallest building in this protected area.

Previously, when Ah Yan was reading ancient books on the third floor of Furongju, he saw through the window the crisscrossing arrangement of blocks in the Antique Street, which had been there for hundreds of years.

Bincheng was established as a port hundreds of years ago and is a well-known seaport city. It is regarded as the first export port of the Xia Kingdom, exporting various silks, porcelain, tea, etc., and has attracted countless wealthy merchants.

Antiques in prosperous times, gold in troubled times, Bincheng Antique Street was once glorious.

In particular, there was once a wealthy man known as Liang Bancheng, who was not interested in beautiful women, cigarettes, or alcohol, but loved all kinds of calligraphy and paintings, and collecting antiques. He simply bought a big house in the heart of this antique street.

When Ah Yan noticed the huge square in the window of the Ancient Collection, he looked up some information and asked Ruyi before finding out.

"It's a private residence now. I heard there are people guarding the yard. The Liang family fled abroad decades ago. Although it's listed as a cultural relic protection unit, they did all the repairs themselves and didn't let the Cultural Relics Bureau get involved. It's not open to the public. According to the old calculation, the street in front of the gate also belonged to them, and usually no one goes there."

Influenced by their family since childhood, Ah Yan and Zhu Jue are very interested in traditional culture and historical relics. They have also heard of the legendary Liang Bancheng.

Since they couldn't contact Ding Ling at the moment, the two of them simply walked slowly in that direction. Even if they couldn't enter the Liang family compound, it would be nice to take a look at the details of the outer perimeter of the ancient building.

Ah Yan's Five Emperors' Coins were hung on her crossbody bag, and as she walked it looked like an accessory tied around her waist.

"Jue Jue, give me a bottle of water." Ah Yan weighed the backpack that Zhu Jue was carrying. The weight of six bottles of mineral water was quite heavy, and if she held one bottle in her hand, it would help to lighten the weight.

"It's okay, it's not heavy. Let's go." Zhu Jue didn't care and held her hand and walked forward.

"I was worried that your shoulders would be tired and your back would hurt tomorrow if you wore it. I shouldn't have taken it." Ah Yan felt a little regretful.

“If you don’t take these six bottles of water today, you will have to nag me about it for three days. Years from now, you will suddenly regret it and blame me for not asking you to persist.” Zhu Jue made a precise complaint.

"Hehe." A Yan smiled slyly.

"I just feel sorry for you."

"Then I must complete the task even more, all for your satisfaction." Zhu Jue raised his eyebrows.

Not far from Furongju to Liang's courtyard, the old walls seemed to have maintained their original appearance many years ago. There were only traces of time on the blue bricks, and no names were scratched by any tourists. Ah Yan was very satisfied with this.

"It seems that not many people come here. After all, there aren't many tourists here. It's great that it wasn't destroyed."

Zhu Jue looked around and was a little surprised: "Indeed, this should be a small path with only the two of us here."

Ah Yan's hands covered the wall tiles. The tiles were very cold, icy cold, even a little bit cold. She immediately let out an "eh".

"I think it's as cool as the inside of a refrigerator."

They didn't stay at the wall for long. When they arrived at the main gate of the Liang family garden, A Yan was stunned.

"This umbrella looks familiar." Zhu Jue looked at the umbrella with a pure black surface but a wooden frame and handle.

Oil paper umbrellas are usually made of wood, but the black surface is rarely seen. Nowadays, most people use modern umbrella making methods, and wood is not used.

They had only seen one umbrella like this in their lives.

"Ding Ling is here?" Ah Yan exclaimed in surprise.

She felt surprised, yet not too surprised.

It was surprising to see the umbrella here, but it was not surprising to see Ding Ling here.

At this moment, A Yan felt as if the dust had settled.

However, the door was locked and Ding Ling's black umbrella was placed in a corner next to the door.

Did Ding Ling go in? Did something unexpected happen?

Ah Yan flicked his phone, but Ding Ling still didn't reply.

She tried to send another message.

[Ayan]: Dingling, are you in Liangjia Garden in Antique Street? I saw your umbrella fell here, are you okay?

Type quickly and send it out - a bright red exclamation mark appears, the message has not been sent!

Ah Yan's pupils shrank immediately, "Look, look at the signal."

Zhu Jue’s cell phone screen suddenly lit up, and both of their phones were showing “no service” at the moment.

Ah Yan:......

Here it comes again, this familiar feeling.

Could this be another Mingzhi Hall?

In that case, maybe Ding Ling is fine? Maybe he just went out to play with his ghost friends?

Just as she was struggling, suddenly, it seemed as if a huge storm suddenly broke out in the entire yard, bursting out from within.

A Yan and Zhu Jue instinctively stepped aside.

It seems like a long time ago!

The two saw the locked door in front of them suddenly open, as if a force of violence broke out from inside, bringing with it a howling cold air.

What was going on? The two were stunned.

After a moment, Ah Yan walked to the center of the reopened outer door. She saw that the copper lock that was originally hanging on the door, which looked extremely heavy, fell to the ground.

When she looked up again, her eyes widened.

A familiar figure is right in front of me.

Ding Ling was floating in the air, confronting a skinny middle-aged man with chapped and delicate skin.

Ah Yan subconsciously took a step forward, his mouth spoke faster than his brain:

"Ding Ling, you are here. I finally found you."

As she spoke, with this step, the Five Emperors' Coins tied on the red rope on the small bag around her waist seemed to be affected by the previous turmoil and fell down.

The Five Emperors' Coins fell directly onto the bronze lock on the ground.

With a "bang" sound, like the sound of metal hitting stone, Ah Yan saw the copper lock suddenly shattered into pieces.

"Ah? I didn't mean to do that. The quality of this thing is so poor!" she blurted out as she took a step back.

The middle-aged man on the ground was horrified.

"No--"

His eyes almost popped out as he stared at A Yan at the door and Ding Ling in front of him, his rage raging.

"Is this your helper? My eye of the formation, good, good, good!"

The middle-aged man immediately attacked Ding Ling madly with the magic weapon in his hand.

Ah Yan saw that the situation was not good and shouted: "There is no signal, I'm going to call the police!"

The operation in front of her was simply too magical. She looked at the black gas coming out of the banner in the man's hand, which was even more special effects than before.

What kind of world is this? I don't want to interfere in your affairs!

The wind is strong, hurry up and pull!

A Yan and Zhu Jue ran away in a hurry.

But in Ding Ling's eyes, it was a completely different scene.

Ding Ling carefully explored the compound and indeed found something special about it!

This is clearly a man-made ghost-raising place. Someone is artificially raising ghosts deep underground in the compound!

Moreover, it was a ghost with red eyes, obviously having killed someone before!

The Ghost King is different from ordinary ghosts. The pressure from his body makes the ghosts instinctively afraid. Coupled with the human desires from the outside world, the already anxious ghosts suddenly lose control and rush out. Ding Ling directly confronts the person who controls the ghosts here!

He is indeed an evil person who feeds ghosts with living souls!

Ding Ling had just revived, and her strength had not recovered yet, so her negative energy was still dissipating. In addition, it was obvious that an evil person had set up a formation in the yard, and she was unable to break it as she did not understand the formation. For a while, she was suppressed and the battle with the evil person was evenly matched.

The attack spread from deep inside the courtyard to outside.

Just now, she used her ghost body to mobilize a large amount of negative energy in the courtyard to attack, directly blasting open the gate of the courtyard.

Unexpectedly, her roommate A Yan was right at the door.

Ah Yan looked at her with surprise, as if he had been looking for her for a long time.

Then Ah Yan inadvertently took a step forward, and the Five Emperors Coins magic weapon on his waist directly hit the copper lock!

When the copper lock broke, Ding Ling suddenly realized what was going on.

The eye of the array! That copper lock is the eye of the array set by the evil sect in this yard!

Ah Yan was strolling leisurely, he could see through the key point of the formation so easily and crack it directly!

Ah Yan even said that he didn't mean it. The quality of this thing is so poor!

This is clearly a naked and close mockery of the evil way!

The order of the huge courtyard was suddenly lifted, and the pressure hanging on her suddenly disappeared.

After solving the biggest hidden danger, A Yan left gracefully, saying that he was going to call the police. It was obvious that he did not want to expose himself and left the rest to her.

Not interfering in other people's fights without permission, Ah Yan obviously handed the spoils to her.

As soon as the formation was broken, Ding Ling easily captured the evil cultivator and the ghosts he had raised in front of him.

After controlling her defeated subordinates, Ding Ling walked to the gate of the courtyard. She looked at the copper lock on the ground, took out her cell phone and took a look at it.

Sure enough, there was a signal as soon as the formation was broken.

Ding Ling's eyes narrowed. A Yan had sent her a message before.

She asked, "Where are you?"

That was, fifteen minutes ago!

It was because I didn't reply to the message that I noticed something was wrong, and then I came to see him so quickly, which directly shocked me.

When the work is done, he will leave, hiding his achievements and fame.

The style of a master is so terrifying!

Ding Ling called the team leader, picked up her big black umbrella, and kindly covered the shivering ghost with it.

A moment later, members of the special case team stationed in Antique Street rushed over at lightning speed and were stunned by the chaos in the courtyard.

"You figured this out on your own?"

Ding Ling nodded: "A passing expert solved the problem and has left."

She did not reveal any specific information about Ayan and her boyfriend.

But when the evil cultivator saw Ah Yan, she could only blur the information and would not take all the credit for solving the problem.

"A master passing by?" the special case team members exclaimed.

Ding Ling nodded, "I can't go into details."

Xiaogua, a member of the special case team, gave him a look that showed he understood.

Ding Ling looked at the people busy finishing the work and sent a message to A Yan on her mobile phone.

[Ding Ling]: I have finished my work and will be back to school later.

A moment later, Ayan replied.

[Ayan]: OK, be safe.

Ding Ling felt warm at heart when she saw the news.

A Yan helped her so much, but he didn't mention it at all. Instead, he reminded himself to be careful.

She typed a few words, thought about it, and deleted it. It is true that a great favor needs no thanks.

Since Ayan doesn't want to reveal her identity, I must help her keep it secret.

However, he was able to do it so accurately and so easily, and a string of Five Emperors' Coins could easily break the formation.

A Yan's strength is really terrifying!

I'm afraid... this is already the top Xuanmai master in the special case team, and he must be a rare genius in the Xuanmen! Such a person will attract a lot of attention once he appears in the world. No wonder Ah Yan tried so hard to disguise himself as an ordinary person.

After thinking about it, Ding Ling only replied with two words.

【Ding Ling】: Don’t worry.

With Ah Yan's intelligence, she can understand this sentence at a glance. You can rest assured that she will definitely hide Ah Yan's identity!

There was a trace of confusion in Ding Ling's eyes. Ah Yan was so elusive and mysterious. Who knew how many good things he had done in the past that no one knew about.

Do good things according to your heart without being burdened by external things.

They hide their identities and are unknown to others, and their achievements may even be taken away by others, but they don't care at all.

This is what is called selflessness and the demeanor of a master!

Ding Ling admired him even more in her heart. No matter in the past or now, such a person is only one in a million.

She is lucky to have such a friend!

What happened today is a secret between them.

A Yan revealed his identity to me, what a trust he showed!

Ding Ling secretly made up her mind at this moment that she would protect Ah Yan's identity even if it meant exposing herself!

Although she has lived as a ghost longer in terms of age, she still has a lot to learn from Ah Yan! Ah Yan is her role model!