Chapter 71: Predicament and Archives

I have had this experience once before, when we were stranded in a deserted village and couldn’t contact the outside world.

But that experience was not as stressful as this one, because if we had left the old village headman alone, we could have actually retraced our steps, even though we didn’t have any transportation. It’s not like this time, when we’re trapped in a house by ghosts and spirits.

I squeezed the bowl in my hand and asked Zheng, “Is there a way out?”

Instead of answering my question directly, Zheng Laoren told me another problem: “The smoke from burning calamus can hold off evil spirits for up to two days. After that, the ashes from the calamus can temporarily block evil spirits from entering the house! I still have some calamus in my yard, but it’s a shame to burn it because it’s the calamus that has received the most secretive irrigation.

I didn’t understand why Zheng Dajia was telling me all this when I had asked him if he had any ideas.

“…The defense we have done is to what extent, you can see, but in this place where the evil spirits gather, the effect of the formation, you as a Taoist should also be clear! In short, all defenses can not last more than 15 days! Not to mention that the entire village of more than 300 people are all gathered in this room, drinking water is fine, there is a well in the yard, but the food is not enough for five days.” After Zheng said this, he sat on the threshold, his expression was like he had suddenly aged 10 years, and even his mental state was somewhat sluggish.

He and I stared at the swirling ghostly mist not far away, and almost at the same time, we both sighed.

After a long silence, he said, “What is the situation in the ghost fog? Little doll, can you tell me in detail? Let me see if there is still a chance in that ghost fog?”

In the ghost fog? I smiled wryly, thinking that it might be futile to look for a way out in there. With that in mind, I told Mr. Zheng everything I had experienced in the ghost fog.

Sure enough, after listening to me, Zheng had a long, wry smile on his face. Whether there was a chance of turning things around could be seen from his expression!

In the silence, the cool breeze had already blown the ginger soup in my hand cold. I put down the bowl in my hand. Although I felt the severity of the situation, I didn’t feel any sense of despair. Perhaps it was because I had been in despair too many times that I had a toughness of my own in my heart. I didn’t believe that there would be despair, nor did I believe that as long as people’s hearts were not hopeless, there would really be a predicament that would kill people’s hearts.

I wanted to comfort Zheng, but Zheng suddenly spoke up: “No matter how bad the situation gets, we will not forget our duty to protect, and we will not sit back and wait to die! Even if we have to fight these ghosts, we will fight with the most tenacious spirit! Taoists believe in fate, and fate has fallen on my family, so how can I escape! If I die, I will die in a worthy way, and I will naturally die with a smile on my face.”

Master Zheng’s words moved me to tears and made my blood boil. I looked at Master Zheng, and in that moment, I seemed to see the figure of a man who was filled with passion in the battle in the valley of the Black Rock Miao Village. I also seemed to see the figure of an old man who turned his head and rushed out without looking back, and I saw the figure of Hong Zi standing upright with his gun raised. In this world, there are always heroes. If a hero is truly a hero, then where is the need for people to praise him, to affirm him, and to spread his story? All he wants is to become the hero in his own heart!

“Yes, we don’t regret coming to Hucun either.” I didn’t have much to say, just a faint remark like this, wrapped myself in a blanket, the wind blew, and the sky with the setting sun like blood seemed to be the vicissitudes of life that had been constant since ancient times. I really don’t regret it.

“Good!” Mr. Zheng shouted, then turned and went inside. He said, “Stick it out here and see what kind of turn of events the heavens will give us!”

Time passed quickly in the busyness of the people, and soon the day was over. The blood-red sunset had already faded, replaced by a dark sky, not the kind of black of night, but a kind of oppressive blackness of rain that was about to fall.

Everyone had a rough day and night. The rest after the busy day was always accompanied by the sound of ghosts crying. Countless people were awakened from their dreams and fell into various kinds of horror. No one had a good rest.

You have to know that everyone here is a Taoist with a stronger mind than ordinary people!

With effective measures, the recovered Lu Shan and the middle-aged man recovered well. At this moment in the evening, Lu Shan finally woke up completely!

The happiest person was Tao Bai, who rarely let go of his shyness and jumped around the room. Lu Shan just smiled and touched Tao Bai’s head without saying a word.

I stood at the door of a small room that I had reserved for Lushan, quietly allowing the two brothers to vent their joy and waiting.

After a while, Tao Bai finally calmed down and sat down next to Lu Shan. Lu Shan looked at me and said solemnly, “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. You should thank Mr. Zheng. This courtyard is really big, and you can use the curtain to separate a small room for you to rest. After resting, you can recover faster.” I was full of nonsense, but I didn’t want to accept Lushan’s gratitude. From beginning to end, I must admit that although I have always been skeptical about Lushan and cannot trust him as a friend, he has helped me a lot. This time, he was trapped to get information for me, and I should have helped him.

Moreover, the fact that Lu Shan helped others in the ghost fog made me think that this person’s character was really not bad.

How shrewd is Lushan? My words made him laugh. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then took out a cigarette and lit it, saying lightly, “Do you think of me as a friend?”

I was silent, not because I was being pretentious, but because I was embarrassed and didn’t want to respond.

Without any more nonsense, Lushan asked Tao Bai to take his backpack and take out a brown paper bag from it, handed it to me, and said, “It wasn’t easy to get it! The information about the person in the photo.”

I took the brown paper bag and didn’t open it right away. I asked him, “How difficult was it? Was there any resistance?”

“There was no resistance, after all, it was done quietly, not so convenient! What made me difficult was the strange part of it. The woman in this photo, all her local records have disappeared, and all I could find was a name and place of birth. Rumor has it that there was a small fire in the archives that year. But fortunately, this woman had once been involved in a big incident that made a splash. I secretly asked around and found out a little about it. Then I checked it out based on this incident and sure enough, there were files that had been moved up… You know, so I had someone fax this file over. Lu Shan finished speaking all of this in one breath, a little tired, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and then looked at me proudly, as if he were praising himself for being capable.

I held the file in my hand and said to Lushan with a wry smile, “Now that I have it, I hope it will be helpful. Do you know how bad the situation is now?”

Lu Shan nodded and said, “I know, but it’s not to the point of having to die, so let’s take it one step at a time.”

Sure enough, the people around me are all strange, and they don’t know what fear is. I opened the file folder in my hand and pretended to say to Lushan, “You once told me that you were a Taoist, or a mountain-letter vein! How could you know the secret methods of Tantra?”

After I finished, I looked up at Lu Shan. He was stunned for a moment, then he froze for a second. He suddenly took a few deep breaths of smoke, then said to me, “This secret doesn’t affect our friendship and cooperation, does it?”

There was a look of expectation in his eyes. I looked at him and said very seriously, “It doesn’t matter as long as you’re not a person who harms the world.”

Lu Shan exhaled the smoke, let out a sigh of relief, and leaned against the bed and said in a low voice, “I and Xiaobai have some secrets. But, Chengyi, I am a Taoist, a descendant of the Shan family. Do you believe me?”

“I believe!” I said with a smile, and then I said directly, “Rest well. Our future is uncertain. In any case, the situation will not be good. After you have rested, you will have the strength to fight with those vengeful ghosts and spirits. I won’t disturb you.”

While talking, I raised Yang’s file bag and walked out directly. Yes, everyone has secrets, and even friends don’t have the right to inquire about all the secrets of others!

I sat at the entrance of the house with the file in my hand, which I had already opened. There were two large lights on (the electricity had stopped for unknown reasons), and even though the sky was still overcast, I could still read the file in my hand.

With the howling of the ghosts, I also opened a woman’s story!