Chapter 17
The place where the ghost marriage took place was in a small mountain valley in the southwest. The name of the village was Tongjinggou, which was taken from a well in the village that fed the entire village.
Xie went home and looked up information online. The story of ghost marriage attracted many suspense lovers to form groups to explore there, but without exception, everyone who went there never appeared again, which made Tongjinggou even more mysterious.
However, Xie was not interested in this kind of ghost story. He took out the talisman paper he had drawn some time ago and counted it. There were exactly twenty pieces.
Xie Que's cultivation was not high enough, and the talisman he drew was not very powerful. It would be okay if he encountered a small ghost, but if he encountered a fierce ghost, he would just have to wait for death.
Thinking that he had to travel tomorrow, Xie did not draw any more talismans and went to bed early.
Tongjinggou is deep in the mountains. After getting off the plane, Xie Que and Jing Xiebai took the high-speed rail and rented a car in the city. They didn't arrive at the county town until the evening.
"Don't rush, find a place to stay and go tomorrow." It is dangerous to go into the mountains at night, and Jing Xiebai does not intend to take the risk.
"Did you notice anything wrong?"
Xie's face turned pale, his eyes were bloodshot, and the jade pendant on his chest had been hot since he entered the county town.
"Well, this is a ghost town." Jing Xiebai did not get out of the car, but opened the window and looked at the street.
The county town is bustling with LED lights of various colors hanging around the trees, the street shops are crowded with people, and the sounds of children playing can be heard not far away.
"Ghost town?" Xie asked hesitantly. He turned his head and looked at the people in the hotel.
There was a shadow, but the face was pale and every movement was stiff, like a video with dropped frames.
As if he had thought of something, Xie opened the navigation, but the county town did not appear on the map.
Xie Que: “…”
Can they rest here again?
Xie Que: "Stay in the car overnight?"
It was getting dark quickly, but Xie didn't think they would be safe if they left now, as it might even arouse their suspicion.
Jing Xiebai had obviously considered this as well, and got out of the car with a bronze mirror in hand: "Come down."
Rather than staying in the car and waiting to die, Jing Xiebai prefers to face the enemy head-on.
Xie took a quick look at the street and saw that most of the people there were either restaurants or hotels.
This is the only way to Tongjinggou. It is about ten hours' drive from Tongjinggou. However, Xie is sure that anyone who wants to go to Tongjinggou will stop here to rest, so those suspense lovers must have disappeared here.
Xie told Jing Xiebai his guess, but the other party obviously didn't expect that an ordinary person would come here.
"If I disappear here, it wouldn't be too bad. But if I die in the Hitomi ditch, it would be troublesome."
No one knows what is going on inside Tongjinggou. If a few fearless people rush up to commit a blood sacrifice, then their best option now is to return the same way.
"Let's first take a look at what these people are." Jing Xiebai took a bronze mirror and shone it at the people walking on the road. The mirror did not reflect any human figures, but instead a bunch of paper people.
"Paper man?" Xie looked at the mirror and then at the people on the street.
Are these paper figures?
Who made this paper figurine? Why is it made here?
Jing Xiebai put away the mirror and walked into the nearest restaurant.
"Let's go in and take a look. If it's not a ghost, then it's easy to deal with."
Xie Que chased after him and whispered to Jing Xiebai: "Do you want to stay here overnight?"
The mountain road is difficult to drive on, so if they don't want to stay overnight, they'd better leave as soon as possible.
"Well, don't eat here, pick a hotel and see what these paper people are going to do."
There were no empty seats in the restaurant. The moment they entered, everyone stopped talking and stared at them with a strange expression.
Xie swallowed his saliva. The paper man's eyes were full of greed, and he clung to him like a wriggling maggot.
This situation did not last long. Almost in the next second, the restaurant returned to normal and the boss came forward with a menu.
"What would you like to eat?" The boss' voice was shrill. Although he was a big man, his voice sounded like a woman's.
Xie took the menu under the boss's gaze. It contained some home-cooked dishes, and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it.
However, Xie was not sure what Jing Xiebai meant, so he did not speak for a moment and pretended to look at the menu seriously.
"We are not here to eat." Jing Xiebai smiled and took out a pack of high-quality cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to the boss. Ignoring the boss's murderous look, he reached out and put his arm around the boss's shoulder.
"Here's what I mean. My brother and I came here to collect folk songs. We've been driving all day and now we just want to rest. But there are too many hotels here, so I wanted to find someone to ask which one is good."
Jing Xiebai didn't care whether the boss accepted the cigarette or not, he just forcefully stuffed it into his hand.
"Boss, we're all brothers, so please give me a good recommendation. I don't want to change hotels in the middle of the night."
When the boss heard that Jing Xiebai was asking about the hotel, his face lit up and he said maliciously, "The hotel in the middle of our street is the best. It's reasonably priced and clean."
After saying that, he dragged Jing Xiebai out and pointed out the specific location of the hotel to him.
"Right there, I won't keep you here. Their business is booming, so you better hurry up and move in. If you're late, you won't be able to get a spot."
Xie Que: “…”
The fact that there are so many hotels in the county town is already questionable, not to mention that they are all fully occupied. The boss is clearly urging them to move in.
Putting the menu down, Xie thanked the boss: "Thank you, boss. By the way, I want to ask you, where do you buy your vegetables?"
After saying that, Xie added, fearing the boss would be suspicious: "Someone in my family also wants to open a restaurant. They've been searching for a long time but haven't found the right source of vegetables. Seeing that your business is booming, I wanted to ask you a question."
Xie Que didn't see any vegetable fields on the way here, and he suspected that there was something wrong with the vegetables in the store.
The boss's attitude improved after he realized they were in a hurry to check into the hotel. He said readily, "Oh, that's what you're talking about. I buy my vegetables from farmers. They're large and clean, and most importantly, they're cheap."
Although Xie guessed the answer, he did not show much surprise. He flattered her a few times and left the hotel with Jing Xiebai.
"Wait a minute." After walking a few steps, Jing Xiebai grabbed Xie Que and said, "Let me see what that dish is."
"Don't." Xie Que quickly stopped Jing Xiebai and said loudly, "Brother, it's so late today, let's go to the hotel first."
Jing Xiebai paused, understood what Xie Que meant, put the mirror away, nodded, and continued to play along with Xie Que: "Okay, we have to check in quickly, otherwise there will be no vacant rooms."
After saying that, he looked at Xie Que and walked towards the hotel.
"What's wrong?" Jing Xiebai looked at the hotel and his lips moved slightly.
Xie glanced at the car lights and replied quietly, "They are watching us."
Xie was very sensitive to other people's gazes. As soon as he mentioned that he wanted to stay in a hotel, he could feel many eyes on them.
After leaving the restaurant, Xie Que glanced at the glass door of the restaurant opposite and saw that many people were secretly watching them. Xie Que had no doubt that if Jing Xiebai turned around and took out the mirror, the group of paper dolls would definitely attack him.
Jing Xiebai obviously didn't expect these paper figures to be so vigilant. He said seriously, "Well, be careful and don't reveal your identity as a ghost exorcist."
Paper people are different from ghosts. They have no feelings and cannot distinguish between exorcists and ordinary people like evil spirits. However, Jing Xiebai does not think that revealing his identity here would be a good choice.
The hotel was just an ordinary hotel. For fear of danger, Xie Que and Jing Xiebai only booked one room.
The receptionist handed the room card to Jing Xiebai with a stiff smile on her face and welcomed them to check in in a monotonous voice.
The room was far back, but Xie followed the front desk and took the opportunity to look around the entire hotel.
Their room was on the third floor. There was no elevator in the hotel, the stairs were cluttered with debris, and the windows were small and had railings, making it impossible to climb out of the window.
The layout of the entire room was also very strange. There was no bathroom, an old-fashioned radio on the table, and a painting on the wall of a crying woman in mourning clothes.
"This is the God of Death." Jing Xiebai closed the door and did not move the portrait.
"Paper figurines probably existed during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Song Dynasty, the door-slaying gods were depicted as having human bodies with snake faces. It wasn't until the Ming and Qing dynasties that they became depicted as women in mourning clothes."
The God of Death is a vicious evil spirit in the underworld. He is a subordinate of the King of Hell and is in charge of death, funerals and crying.
"Don't touch her, and don't think about her." If the God of Death appears in your dream, it is a very bad omen. Anyone who sees the God in the dream will suffer a bloody disaster within three days.
"Okay." Xie sat on the edge of the bed, forcing himself not to think about the God of Death.
"What do we do now?"
Jing Xiebai leaned against the door and stared at the window, without answering Xie Que's words.
"What do you think the paper man is going to do to us?"
Xie was stunned. From the moment they got off the car until now, the paper man had not attacked them. Why was that?
Xie didn't think their stay in this hotel was a coincidence. It was in the middle of the street, with small windows and a staircase filled with clutter. Even if they wanted to escape, it would be difficult to get out. Even if they were lucky enough to get out of the hotel, how could they possibly get out of the county?
Realizing that they were completely trapped here, Xie's face darkened, and a gloomy look flashed in his eyes: "We are useful to them if we are alive."
Although I don’t know what the purpose is, I can be sure that the paper people don’t want them to die at the moment. Otherwise, with the number of paper people here, they can kill them without waiting for them to get off the car.
Jing Xiebai walked to the window and took a look. The street that was crowded just now was now empty, the LED lights were off, and a cold wind blew, making the street dead silent.
"Knock, knock, knock—" Someone is knocking on the door.
Xie Que and Jing Xiebai looked at each other and did not open the door immediately.
Xie took two steps towards the window, holding a long sword in his hand, intending to break out of the window if anything unexpected happened.
"I'm the hotel receptionist. I'm here to bring you some candles. There's a problem with the county's circuit. We're using the emergency power supply now, and the power will be cut off in five minutes." The receptionist's voice sounded flat outside the door.
Xie Que and Jing Xiebai looked at each other and saw the temptation in each other's eyes.
Why is the circuit broken when it's working fine?
They didn't open the door and continued to wait.
There was another knock on the front door, so hard that Xie suspected the door would collapse to the ground if they didn't open it.
"I'm from Qianmen, here to bring you some candles. There's a problem with the county's electrical circuit, and we're now using the emergency power supply, which will be cut off in five minutes." It was the same content, but there was a hint of obvious threat and malice in the voice.
Jing Xiebai frowned, hid his sword behind him, and opened the door a little.
The receptionist's face was illuminated by candlelight. Her complexion was as pale as paper, her pupils as black as ink. She stared intently at Jing Xiebai, her mouth wide open, her tongue bright red. "I'm sorry to bother you. The power will be out in five minutes. Remember to light the candles."
Jing Xiebai looked at the front desk and didn't rush to take the candle.
"Where is the toilet here?"
The receptionist seemed to have anticipated his question and answered smoothly, her voice returning to her usual monotone: "We don't have a toilet here."
Xie Que: “?”
No, you don’t even want to act anymore, right?
Jing Xiebai didn't expect this answer. He laughed briefly, took the candle as usual, and slammed the door without waiting for the receptionist to speak.
Xie Que walked forward and looked at the candle in Jing Xiebai's hand.
"What is this?" What was delivered to Qianmen was not a real candle, but a candle-shaped lamp. Xie tried to find the battery of the lamp, but found that the lamp did not have a battery installed and there was no charging port.
Xie Que: “?”
Jing Xiebai wasn't too surprised: "It's normal for paper figures to be afraid of water and fire."
"Then can't we just light a fire and burn everything here?" Xie remembered that Jing Xiebai had the habit of smoking, so he must have a lighter on him.
Jing Xiebai looked at Xie Que the same way and did not continue with what Xie Que said.
"What do you think the paper man wants to do?"
Xie was stunned when he heard this. Paper figures are often used as puppets. When a person dies, a few paper figures are prepared to accompany him during the funeral. This means that paper figures do not have their own thoughts and act according to the ideas of the person who made the paper figures.
First they were made to stay in a hotel from which it was difficult to escape, and then they were not given electricity, nor were they killed. Why was that?
Xie recalled their journey into the ghost town. The ghost town appeared just as it was getting dark. After entering, time seemed to be accelerated. Soon it was deep in the night, as if preventing them from continuing on their journey.
According to the original plan, they would be able to rush to Tongjinggou tomorrow afternoon to investigate the ghost marriage.
Yes! Ghost marriage!
Ghost marriages take place late at night, and half of the betrothal gifts given by the man are made of paper products.
Xie suddenly raised his head and spoke quickly: "He wants to take us to Tongjinggou."
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