Chapter 03
It takes about six hours to drive back to Xie Que’s hometown.
Xie put the suitcase on the trunk, ignoring the pile of things that Jing Xie Bai had put in the trunk, which he couldn't name but thought were ghost-exorcising supplies. After getting in the car, he fell asleep.
He didn't sleep well last night because of a ghost, and now he just wants to have a good sleep.
Jing Xiebai looked at him, said nothing, raised his eyebrows and smiled, then drove obediently.
Maybe it was because the ghost was suppressed by the talisman yesterday, but Xie slept very soundly that night without having any strange dreams.
When Xie Que opened his eyes, they had already arrived at the village gate.
Xie Que took a sip of water and said, "Let's go eat first?"
Upon hearing this, Jing Xiebai glanced at Xie Que through the rearview mirror.
"Did you buy groceries?"
Xie paused, looking at Jing Xiebai in disbelief: "Then why don't you stop in the city and have a meal?"
Jing Xiebai was amused by Xie Que's expression and explained to him in a good mood: "You have been provoking this ghost for a month. If we move a little slower, you can go down and accompany this ghost directly."
Xie Que pursed his lips. He hadn't eaten anything this morning. After washing up, he went straight home with Jing Xiebai. He was so hungry now.
Jing Xiebai laughed and stopped teasing him.
"I bought some instant noodles and will make them at your house later. Eat some and then go see the forbidden area in your village."
"Okay, get out of the car."
Jing Xiebai parked the car in front of Xie Que's house, unbuckled his seat belt, and went to the trunk to get instant noodles.
Xie's mind was still frozen.
"How did you find my house? You didn't even ask me for the exact address."
Just as he was about to get out of the car, the door was opened by Jing Xiebai from the outside.
Jing Xiebai handed the suitcase to Xie Que and said helplessly: "Please, your house is so full of yin energy. I felt it when I was at the entrance of the village."
Xie kept his mouth shut. He couldn't imagine how he would end up in such a situation when he was just going home to pay respect to his ancestors.
Jing Xiebai locked the car and followed Xie Que in. He took out a bucket of extra-large braised beef noodles from his bag and handed it to Xie Que, then looked around the house.
Although Xie Que's family didn't often come to stay, the decoration of their house was not bad, much better than the wooden houses that Jing Xiebai saw at the entrance of the village. It can be seen that although the Xie family's conditions were ordinary, they were still very filial to the elderly in the family. They would rather live in a worse place than let the elderly suffer with them.
Xie Que noticed Jing Xiebai's gaze and explained casually, "My grandmother and her family lived here before they passed away. They refused to move to the city, so my parents renovated our old home."
Jing Xiebai nodded and urged Xie Que to boil water quickly.
"Hurry up, we have to be back before dark."
Xie Que looked at Jing Xie Bai's serious expression, and his heart sank.
"Are we going to find that ghost today?" Xie found a kettle, filled it with water and plugged it in.
Jing Xiebai shook his head. "Let's go to the forbidden area this afternoon and see what to do next."
Xie nodded.
Although exorcising ghosts is urgent, you still have to slow down when you actually encounter a ghost. Rushing in will be tantamount to suicide.
However, Xie did not know how to exorcise ghosts, so at this point he could only follow Jing Xie Bai.
The water boiled quickly but the bottle was small and there was not much water in it, so Xie poured some water for Jing Xiebai first.
Jing Xiebai didn't hesitate to soak it for a few minutes without caring whether it was cooked or not. He sat down on the sofa and started eating.
Xie was also quite fast at eating. They finished their lunch within 20 minutes of entering the house.
Xie cleaned up the garbage and took out the two remaining bottles of mineral water from the room.
"How do we get up the mountain? Can we take any route?" It has rained recently and the road on the mountain is not easy to walk on.
Jing Xiebai thanked him for the water he was handed, opened it and took a sip.
"Do you know which way your dad usually goes up the mountain? It's better to take the same route as your dad."
Wherever a ghost has been, there will be a negative energy left behind, and they can take this opportunity to find the evil ghost.
Xie frowned and nodded: "I know, I used to come back with them to worship our ancestors. I didn't come back this year because I was busy with work."
Jing Xiebai glanced at him and continued, "After the accident, did you go up the mountain? Did you take the same route as your father?"
Xie didn't know why he asked this, so he answered truthfully, "It's not the same road. The village chief and I went up together. But we couldn't find my father. We wandered around the mountain for most of the day and had no choice but to go to the forbidden area to take a look."
Xie Que knew that his father had accidentally entered the forbidden area, but he didn't believe it and didn't take it seriously. After his father went missing, his mother called Xie Que. Xie Que thought his father would come back soon, but he didn't expect to receive a call saying that his parents were in trouble.
Thinking back to that day, Xie felt a dull pain in his heart.
He and the village chief searched the mountain for most of the day but couldn't find his father. Xie Que suggested going to the forbidden area to take a look, but the village chief's face changed and he refused to go with Xie Que. Xie Que had no choice but to go look for him alone.
When he arrived, he found his father lying next to the grave, his body covered in mud and bruised. But when Xie found him, the body was already stiff.
Xie, with a pale face, carried his father's body down the mountain and found someone to bury his father.
"My mother's body was found by the river. The police said she fell into the river. But my mother grew up in the village and is an expert swimmer. How could she have fallen in by accident?"
Xie's eyes were red, and he held back his tears, unwilling to expose his vulnerability in front of strangers.
Jing Xiebai was silent for a moment, handed Xie Que a pack of tissues, and walked in front to give Xie Que some space to sort out his emotions.
Xie clutched the paper tightly, holding back his tears. He had cried countless times that month, and his eyes were swollen every day when he woke up.
Xie Que had a close relationship with his parents, even refusing to stay overnight despite the hour-long commute to school. During his senior year of high school, Xie's parents quit their jobs to help him prepare for the Gaokao. Even after entering college, Xie Que would still talk to his parents for two hours every week.
After the accident, Xie didn't dare go home to look. That place was full of traces of his parents' life, but Xie was afraid that seeing the things would remind him of them, so he would rather stay away from that warm house.
Now is not the time to be sad, he quickly calmed himself down and caught up with Jing Xiebai.
"I went up the mountain three times during that period, and I took this road every time." However, Xie had only been in the village for a short time and only knew this way up the mountain.
Jing Xiebai nodded, gave way to Xie Que, and let him lead the way.
Xie was busy trying to find out the truth about his parents' death, so he walked very fast, eager to run up the mountain.
Jing Xiebai said nothing. He had been exercising for years, so this amount of exercise was nothing to him.
The two of them first went to the place where the Xie family worshipped their ancestors. Jing Xiebai glanced at it casually and asked Xie Que to take him to the forbidden area quickly.
"Hurry up. If it's too late, we may not be able to get out." Jing Xiebai warned Xie Que in a serious tone.
Xie's expression changed and he hurried towards the forbidden area.
It was still bright when they climbed the mountain, but once they reached the forbidden area, it was already dark, and they couldn't even see the road. However, Xie held up a flashlight and pointed it out to Jing Xiebai.
"That's where I found my dad."
Jing Xiebai took the flashlight and walked around the cemetery.
Xie gave him a serious look, and his heart sank.
"Who chooses the locations of the cemeteries in your village?" After inspecting the cemeteries, Jing Xiebai walked up to Xie Que.
Xie was stunned for a moment, frowning, and spoke carefully: "We usually ask a fortune teller to come and see. But the person buried here is a big landlord from that time, so his grave location should be calculated by someone from another village."
Xie asked someone about the forbidden area.
"This grave was built a hundred years ago. The landlord was robbed and died at home. It was discovered a day later. It is said that the landlord's head and heart were dug out. The village fortune teller said that he had done many evil things in his life. Now that he died, he will definitely turn into a fierce ghost and come to find us in the afterlife."
Recalling what happened back then, Xie couldn't help but shudder. He really couldn't imagine how someone could treat his father like this.
"The villagers urged the landlord's son to find someone to pray for his father's soul as soon as possible. But he refused to listen. Not only did he find a Taoist priest he had never heard of to calculate the location of his father's grave, he also hung his father's body in his house for six days and refused to even buy a coffin. He only found someone to bury him after the seventh day."
Jing Xiebai interrupted Xie Que and asked, "Can we still find the Taoist priest who calculated the location for the landlord back then?"
Xie sighed, shook his head, and said with regret: "How is that possible? The Taoist priest must have died a long time ago. Besides, the landlord just found a Taoist priest at random, and no one knows how to contact him."
Jing Xiebai made an irritable "tsk" sound and pulled Xie Que down the mountain.
"No need to look at it, go back first."
It was getting late, and Jing Xiebai didn't dare to stay on the mountain for long. He took three steps at a time and quickly went down the mountain.
After returning to the village, Xie Que went to the village store to buy some daily necessities. As soon as he entered the house, he saw Jing Xiebai drawing talismans.
"Have you found the evil ghost? What's going on?" Xie Que put down his things and went to watch Jing Xiebai draw talismans.
Jing Xiebai didn't answer, but handed Xie Que a newly drawn talisman and asked him to burn it at the door.
"Don't pay attention to anything you hear while it's burning. Come back quickly after it's done and I'll explain the situation to you."
Xie Que took the talisman paper, on which were symbols that he could not understand.
"Go burn it quickly, don't hold it for too long." Xie Que had a lot of Yin energy, and the talisman paper was something that could drive away Yin energy. Jing Xie Bai was afraid that his body couldn't bear it and he would faint.
Xie Que nodded and found his newly bought lighter. Remembering Jing Xiebai's words, he took a deep breath and lit the talisman paper at the door.
The moment the talisman paper was lit, a fierce wind blew up from the doorway, and Xie heard a wailing sound. He felt someone pulling at his arm, and someone opened their mouth to speak something at him. Xie felt dizzy and wanted to scream. After an unknown amount of time, the wind gradually died down, and the wailing faded.
After the talisman paper burned out, Xie came back to his senses. He took a deep breath of fresh air and wiped the cold sweat from his face.
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