Chapter 42: Midnight

I was deep in thought, and all I knew about the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts and some common knowledge about ghosts came to mind.

Still water is always more pleasing to the spirits than moving water. Just as with flowing streams and pools, spirits are more likely to gather in pools of water. With experienced Taoist priests going to a house to drive out the ghosts, if the house has a well, it is definitely the first place to investigate.

A certain place in Lake X has attracted many vengeful spirits because of the special negative energy field that has gathered there (it can be said that most of the negative energy field of the entire lake has been concentrated in one place due to the terrain and the flow of feng shui). This has caused the X Lake Vengeful Spirit Incident, which was so large that it alarmed ordinary people and was also a warning incident.

However, the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts has several places in the lake, small islands, rocks, aquatic plants, etc., which inexplicably form a Yin gathering formation. From a high altitude, it looks like a high-level master deliberately set up a formation, which is too amazing.

Such a miracle, the handiwork of nature, has a terrible consequence. It gathers the negative energy of the world almost all the time, and is not restricted by the lake at all. The spirits of the dead within a thousand miles are easily attracted here.

The Yin-gathering formation in this lake can be explained from the perspective of feng shui, and it can also be understood as the work of nature. The name of the danger in the circle here is no less than that of the magical Death Canyon. Even though this lake is rich in aquatic products, the villagers in the surrounding villages have never dared to approach certain restricted areas, even in broad daylight, because there is only one result when they get close—no return.

Thinking about this, I took a puff of my cigarette, and the thick smoke drifted in front of the window. Combining the information from Lu Shan and some past events that my master had told me, I knew that the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts also had another nickname that only people in the circle knew about—the Underworld!

“In fact, the department has also gathered manpower to do some work in the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts. I can tell you in confidence that since the formation of the magical terrain of the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts, it has never stopped. I think it probably started in the early Ming Dynasty, and it was all done by Taoist masters.” This is some of the information that Master Lu told me.

“Of course, there are people who take care of the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts. This is the responsibility of Taoist masters from generation to generation. It’s just that these deeds are not known to ordinary people. For example, in modern times, in addition to the special formation of the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts, there are several of the most powerful masters in modern times who have set up a formation to limit the unlimited gathering of yin energy and limit the ghosts in it. But in the face of nature, human power is limited. This kind of thing can only be controlled, but it cannot be completely solved.” This is what my master said to me about the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts when I was a child.

“Can’t you destroy the naturally formed formation? Use a bomb or something to destroy a few key points, and the naturally formed formation will be broken?” At that time, I was still young and somewhat naive.

“No, just imagine that it is a box filled with poison gas. If I tear the box apart, what will happen? Naturally, the poison gas will leak out! The Lake of a Thousand Ghosts is mostly populated by vengeful spirits who have not been reincarnated. They are not afraid of bombs. If they lose this place to live in, do you think the area within a hundred miles will become uninhabited? Not to mention the release of negative energy. This negative energy is not the kind that nourishes the soul, but the kind that is extremely harmful. If the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts is lost, the area within a hundred miles will even become… So, Sanwa, when you look at something, never look at the surface. Just like a garbage dump, it’s dirty, but it’s clean for everyone. Are you going to say that the garbage dump is a broken place? When dealing with things or people, you should always be fair. The essence of fairness is to see the reality behind the appearance. Do you understand?”

The master’s words were still ringing in my ears, so at that time, my fear and disgust of the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts had turned into a kind of awe of nature, as if it had been arranged from the beginning to guard the peace of the world.

I was so lost in thought that I forgot about the things around me. It wasn’t until a knock on the door woke me up that I came back to my senses. I frowned slightly. Who would be knocking on the door in the middle of the night?

Hui Gen, who was in bed, muttered a few words, then pulled the quilt over his head and continued to sleep, hoping that it was unrealistic for this kid to go to the door. I sighed and could only ask with a bitter smile, “Who is it?” while walking towards the door.

“Chengyi, it’s me, Chengzhen.” It was Chengzhen’s voice outside the door, which surprised me. Why did this girl come to my door in the middle of the night?

I walked over and opened the door. I saw Chengzhen standing in front of my door with a look of excitement on her face. Next to her were Chengyuan and Ruyue, both of whom were half asleep. The three of them were just standing in front of my door.

Before I could ask, Chengzhen said, “Chengyi, come with me. There’s something going on.”

As soon as Chengzhen finished speaking, Yueyue yawned and said, “Third brother, this girl is crazy. She woke me and Chengyuan up in the middle of the night, saying that something had happened and that she had to go out. We had no choice but to tell her to come to you. If you go, we will go.”

As she spoke, a piercing siren suddenly sounded from outside the window. Chengzhen was suddenly excited. She squeezed past me and pulled me to the window. Pointing to a brightly lit area in the distance, she said, “Chengyi, didn’t you notice? Something happened here. The police are all there now. Let’s go take a look.”

“There’s something going on tomorrow. Why go to this commotion?” I know Chengzhen’s personality. He’s the kind of boy who is easygoing and straightforward, but there’s one thing that is definitely a girl, and it’s better than the average girl, and that is gossip. I didn’t expect it to have developed to the point of going to the commotion in the middle of the night.

“This is definitely not just for fun, brother. Ever since I came here, I’ve felt that something is wrong with the land here, so I decided to take a walk around at night to observe the terrain here and find a place where I can clearly see the qi. As a result, I found out that something happened here in the middle of the night. Brother, this might be able to find some clues for me. You know, this is my occupational disease.” Chengzhen said to me like a spoiled child. Even if something happens locally, how can you judge it through one thing?

However, looking at Chengzhen’s hopeful eyes, I realized that if I refused to go with her, she would be unhappy with me for a long time. So I thought about it and said, “Then I’ll go with you and let Ruyue and Chengyuan go to bed.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I suddenly saw Huigen climb out of bed and say to me with a hundred percent of his energy, “Brother, I want to go too!”

I was speechless. Didn’t this kid sleep soundly?

The early summer in this place is not very hot, but rather, at night, it is a bit chilly. Chengzhen, Huigen, and I walked out of the hotel, added a layer of clothing, and felt that the wind around us was a bit chilly.

The county seat is not very big, and the place where the accident happened was not far from the hotel where we were staying, just two blocks away. We walked for only ten minutes and already saw groups of residents whispering to each other and hurrying to the scene of the accident.

Over there, the police car was flashing its lights and had stopped. Several policemen were pulling the cordon and driving away some residents, saying that they should not damage the scene.

Seeing this scene, Chengzhen, who had been clamoring to come and watch the fun, suddenly became a little scared and whispered to me, “Brother, do you think I’ll see a murder scene? If so, I don’t want to see it.”

I was speechless. This girl, as a Taoist priestess, has traveled all over the country and is not afraid of ghosts, but is afraid of seeing a murder scene? I laughed, while comforting Chengzhen, and I felt that this place looked so familiar to me.

Hui Gen’er’s face suddenly became a little ugly. He suddenly said to me, “Brother, I think something happened at the store.”

Hui Gen had said that when he was out of town, he would change his Shaanxi accent, and he had always been careful about it, but this time, when he got nervous, his Shaanxi accent came out.

I suddenly remembered that this was the place where Hui Gen and I had agreed to meet. The Hui Gen I saw at the store was not far from the store.

I suddenly remembered the daughter of the storekeeper, who was as beautiful as a flower and full of youthful vigor!