Grandma Bai and I came to the dilapidated Town God's Temple five li outside the city of Luo.
The half - open temple door was illuminated by the dim light of a crescent moon.
On the ground, more than a dozen ragged refugees were lying haphazardly. After a day of traveling and avoiding the war, they were all exhausted. Even the children were so sleepy that they had fallen unconscious in their parents' arms.
"Grandma Bai, shall we start calling back the soul?"
I took out the little boy's clothes from my cross - body cloth bag.
"Don't be in a hurry, Xiao He. First, light a stick of incense. I need to pay my respects to the Town God."
Grandma Bai's face was full of wrinkles in the moonlight, but her eyes were incredibly bright, giving one the illusion that she was very young.
"Okay!"
I obediently took out the incense holder, pulled out three thin incense sticks from it, lit them at the temple door as Grandma Bai instructed, and stuck them into the soft soil.
Three streams of milky - white smoke rose slowly. Illuminated by the late - night crescent moon, they looked like blue - fluorescent little snakes curling up into the air.
"May the Town God be well."
Grandma Bai bowed and murmured, "Today, Bai Ruiyun from the white mountains and black waters has come to this place to do good deeds. Please be kind enough, Town God of this place..."
Before she could finish her words, a sudden whirlwind passed by. The three thin incense sticks were broken in the middle and fell to the ground with their dark - red tips.
"Grandma Bai?!"
Although I didn't know what this meant, it didn't seem like a good omen for the incense offered to the gods to break in the middle.
"Shh!"
Grandma Bai suddenly made a gesture to be quiet and pulled me behind the half - open temple door.
I smelled a very strong scent of perfume coming from the other side of the door panel. Then, a pair of calves in red high - heels appeared in front of us through the crack in the dilapidated door panel.
"Vampire?!"
The three words suddenly popped into my mind. This situation was just like what the child's mother had said. A female ghost in red came to the Town God's Temple specifically to eat people and suck their blood!!
Grandma Bai twirled her fingers, and a silver needle appeared. She quickly pricked my forehead between the eyebrows, then squeezed hard. A drop of blood flowed down my forehead to the tip of my nose.
Grandma Bai seemed to draw a talisman on my forehead with the blood. Immediately, a white misty light appeared in front of my eyes. When I looked at Grandma Bai again, I was almost scared into screaming.
The kind - faced old woman in front of me was gone. Instead, there was... a sharp beak, and grayish - white spines neatly gathered behind her head!
Grandma Bai was actually a huge white hedgehog dressed in human clothes standing beside me.
I quickly covered my mouth and blinked hard.
"I've opened your celestial eye, Xiao He."
The big hedgehog suddenly changed back into Grandma Bai's kind face and mouthed to me, "In the future, help us and become a demon - slaying master..."
"... Me?!"
I widened my eyes and pointed at the tip of my nose.
Grandma Bai nodded with a smile. "I'll teach you."
While we were talking, the red - clothed female ghost had walked into the main hall.
When Grandma Bai led me stealthily into the hall, we saw that the woman in the red cheongsam with a good figure had already reached out and grabbed a man lying near the door. The man was suddenly awakened from his sleep and was being choked by the throat, unable to even cry out.
"Ho ho..."
The woman was extremely strong. She grabbed the man by the neck and lifted him up. Then she leaned over and bit towards his throat.
"Evil demons and ghosts, spirits from ancient caves, look up together, listen down together. Above are the six Jia, below are the six Ding. Those who harass the world will be struck by thunder. The Supreme One has given the order, and I shall carry it out!"
Grandma Bai, standing in front of me, stretched out her index finger and middle finger and drew a series of strange symbols in the air. With my current vision, I could see that they were a series of pale - golden, twisted runes.
"Chant!"
Grandma Bai waved her two fingers forward. The string of runes actually wrapped around the woman like a solid object.
"Ahhh!!"
The woman was caught off guard. The pale golden light suddenly hit her body. She let out a scream and stepped back. Her red high - heels stepped on several people's bodies, waking up the sleeping refugees.
"Who?!! Who is it?!"
"Ahhh!! Bandits are coming!"
"Run for your lives!"
...
For a moment, screams and cries filled the dilapidated temple.
The red - clothed woman was also swallowed up by the panicked crowd. Grandma Bai suddenly couldn't find her.
The robe I was wearing was an old one bought by Grandma Bai. The blue - black cotton fabric was almost the same as those of the refugees. I was originally standing by the door, watching Grandma Bai perform the spell, feeling both surprised and envious. Suddenly, I was bumped into by several refugees. Then, a red figure rushed through the crowd and grabbed my neck!
"Little girl, among all these people, you look the most delicious!!"
The red - clothed woman bared her teeth and bit towards my neck. In an instant, I saw her face clearly. She was actually the prostitute that A Wen had mentioned a few days ago!
She was no longer wearing that cheap lead powder. Her originally clean and delicate face was now full of ferocious expressions.
"What are you doing?!"
I quickly reached out my hand to block.
I remembered clearly that she had been bitten on the wrist by that monster surnamed Si... So the man surnamed Si was a zombie. After he bit this woman, she also became a zombie?!
Just as the woman's white teeth were about to bite into the flesh of my palm, suddenly a big hand reached out from behind me. A yellow talisman pinched between two fingers was accurately slapped on the red - clothed woman's forehead.
"Ahhhh!!!!"
The woman was extremely strong. When she was hit by the yellow talisman and fell backward, she pushed me hard. My back hit a person heavily. The hard and broad chest almost made me spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Ugh..."
Then I was grabbed by the back of my collar and thrown to one side. A deep male voice came into my ears. "Why are you running around again?!"
I was thrown to the ground like a piece of trash. At this time, Grandma Bai had passed through the panicked refugees and came to my side, helping me up from the ground.
"Xiao He, were you bitten?"
She carefully checked me up and down with concern.
"No, she didn't bite me!"
I was already a little frightened. Since the prostitute was here... What about that monster...
I looked up in horror and was shocked to find that in front of the dilapidated main hall of the Town God's Temple stood the man I had bumped into before.
A man, very tall, wearing a dark - gray military uniform, with yellow epaulets, a brown leather belt, and a pair of black military boots that made his legs look even more slender.
While I was sizing him up, he was also sizing me up. His slightly upturned peach - blossom eyes and slightly pursed thin lips made him look both handsome and cold!
"Si... Si..."
What was his full name?!
I vaguely remembered that A Wen had mentioned it, but I couldn't remember it at all!