Chapter 22: On the gentle slope

Speaking of the heavenly eye, it has been with me since I was born, and the first time it opened was when I was six years old and accidentally stayed overnight in the bamboo forest… Now, after so many years, the heavenly eye will naturally grow stronger as my spiritual power grows, and the heavenly eye is also divided into levels.

My current heavenly eye can see the flow of a town’s aura without any special practice. This is where my master’s talent is superior. Even if my master wanted to see the flow of an aura in our small village, he had to specially open a platform and step on the five points of the compass…

People have vitality, and from the sound of their footsteps, it can be seen that many people in this town should be heading in one direction. So under the Heavenly Eye, I only need to see the direction of the flow of vitality to find the place I want to go.

With this in mind, I opened my heavenly eye. The world became as blurry as ever, but the flowing air became clear, and various hidden beings in the dark became visible to the eye.

I was able to adapt to the world of the heavenly eye, but the “reality” of this town made me frown at the mere sight of it.

Before, standing on the hillside, I felt that the town was full of dead air. It was only at this time that I discovered that somewhere in the town was a place of dead air. This dead air does not refer to any deathly breath, but rather a breath of decay. Once this breath of decay completely takes over the mainstream of the town’s energy field, then the town will be powerless to turn it into a no-man’s land.

Now this kind of decaying air has already taken the upper hand, including the fact that the air in this town is full of a gloomy atmosphere, and even the gloomy air inevitably contains a hint of decaying air.

Any place that has been inhabited by humans and has a certain history that proves it is suitable for human habitation has a certain aura of the earth’s energy. The best is of course the famous dragon’s energy. Under the sky, it is a vibrant golden green. Now the aura of the earth’s energy in this town is wrapped in a dead aura. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is dying. It is shocking to look at it.

Of course, what makes me frown is far more than that, because I found that the source of the dead air is also the source of the yin air. I thought carefully and realized that it must be the huge inner arc I saw on the hillside. I sighed slightly. The inner arc is the backwater bay of the Yellow River, which means that it is the location of the timber transfer station… Could it be that the male corpse was not resolved back then?

I looked coldly at the alley in front of me. However, there were no fewer than twenty wandering ghosts and spirits in the alley, which was about twenty or thirty meters long. This was the biggest reason for my frowning. I originally thought that there should not be so many ghosts and spirits, because the three of us were strangers to the town, so the mysterious presence in the courtyard deliberately brought some angry ghosts and spirits to suppress us… but I didn’t expect this to be the case. There was no need to bring any angry ghosts and spirits to suppress us. They were everywhere.

A town where humans live, at night, the air is full of evil spirits and ghosts. How did the people here survive? In another way, this place has become a ghost town!

I didn’t even need to sense the direction of the flow of energy because it was so obvious that it all went towards the place where the dead and the evil spirits were gathered—the lumber yard.

While I was thinking, a vengeful spirit passed by me. It had a vacant look in its eyes, but a fierce expression on its face. It looked at me, then grinned at me, and then floated away unconsciously to another place… I naturally couldn’t be afraid of it. When you are face to face with a ghost at such a close distance, it’s not always a pleasant thing.

In silence, I put on my black cloak and walked down the alley. At this point, the enigmatic alleys of the small town were no longer an obstacle to me. I followed the direction of the breath to reach the lumber yard.

As for the “fleeting glimpse” of the ghosts just now, I have already determined one fact: they really are wandering souls without the ability to think. Where has their most important soul gone? It should not be missing a third soul, otherwise they would not be able to maintain their appearance and would become a ghost-like existence. But which soul is missing? Where is the soul?

What’s even more strange is that the ghost I just saw was dressed in typical clothing from the Northwest, with a white jacket, gray pants, a belt, and a sheepskin headband on his head… But, was that era really that long ago?

As I thought about this, another ghost passed me by. This ghost was wearing a navy blue Mao suit, not the kind that was perfectly straight, but the kind made of rough cloth.

I pursed my lips and remained silent. I was surrounded by more and more mysteries, and I couldn’t figure out a single clue. It was at this moment that I met the first person in the true sense of the word.

He was also wearing a black cloak, silently passing me from behind and disappearing around the corner of the alley where I was standing. If I hadn’t been in the state of clairvoyance, I would have thought that this was also a ghost. I was very surprised that the person under the cloak could walk silently, and I was also very surprised that people were so indifferent to each other, passing by without even talking to each other.

The cloak was sewn with a huge hat to cover the face, and I couldn’t see clearly who was under the cloak, but it was good that there was no conversation, which saved me a lot of trouble.

So, all the way, I deliberately slowed down and headed towards the timber transfer station. I didn’t dare to catch up with the main group, or even let anyone fall behind me. If I arrived last, I could still hide in the dark and observe, but if someone was behind me and found me, the consequences would be very serious…

It can be said that I can face a hundred ghosts, but how can I face a hundred people? Can’t I kill them all?

I was dragging my feet, and the vitality of the town was almost all flowing to the timber transfer office. I only then quickened my pace and rushed over there. By this time, the time for the lock-yang ceremony had passed by more than ten minutes. Along the way, I met no less than a hundred angry spirits, and I always felt a little sad. Behind them all was a life, and since they were wandering in the human world, it was almost impossible that they had died a normal death.

My body was getting colder and colder. At this moment, I joked to myself that my body temperature was almost the same as a corpse. The timber yard finally appeared in front of me.

My guess was right. This was the place. The large iron gate that used to belong to the factory was still standing here. The mottled rust and the few indistinct characters on the gate indicated its long history… It seems that this timber transfer station has been closed for some time.

The gate was not closed, but was open with a gap that could accommodate two people. Behind the gate was dark and I could not see a single ray of light, but I still stepped inside without hesitation. At this time, under the eyes of the sky, I felt that all the vitality was gathered in one place, and there seemed to be something else there. What was surprising was that my eyes could not even see clearly!

The entire lumber yard was filled with a rotten smell, the entire site was overgrown with weeds, and the equipment that had once been there was long gone, leaving only some decaying wood piled up haphazardly on the ground, some of which had already sprouted grayish-white mushrooms, but it also provided me with some convenience, allowing me to hide behind this mess of rotten wood at any time.

At this point, I slowed down and lowered my voice. I don’t know if it was because I was too nervous, but I could still hear the sound of my shoes crunching on the weeds.

But no one noticed me. They were all gathered on a small hill. At this point, I could already see the bright firelight over there. Those people were gathered there, but I didn’t know what they were doing.

Should I go closer or just observe from here? I was a bit hesitant… My hands were trembling a little. If I stayed here, I wouldn’t know what those people were doing, but if I went closer, I couldn’t think of anything to hide my presence on that bare hill.

Should I go back like this? I obviously wasn’t willing to! Looking at the black cloak I was wearing, I gritted my teeth and decided to take the risk.

After making this decision, I couldn’t allow myself to think too much… I quickened my pace and ran towards the hill in big strides… I was afraid that if I hesitated, I would lose the courage to investigate! But I still didn’t dare to take off my cloak. With the cloak covering me, people wouldn’t recognize me, but the vengeful spirits might not necessarily be the same… After all, they didn’t attack the people in this town just now, so there should be some special way to recognize them, right?

I had many thoughts in my mind, but the hill that belonged to the timber transportation office was already close at hand… There was only one path to go up, and all those people were gathered on a gentle slope at the top of the hill… No one paid special attention to me at the foot of the hill, because they had already begun to jump strangely, like the original dance of primitive people, but without the shocking drumbeat, it was very strange to jump silently, with only the rustling footsteps.

My throat was dry and my hands were trembling. But I had already come this far, so I had no choice but to close my eyes and walk towards the gentle slope at the top of the mountain!