Meng You's drowsiness vanished in an instant. He jolted upright, his body covered in goosebumps. He had listened to this song dozens of times, and there was definitely no such lyric!
Instinctively, he slowly turned his head and met a pair of dim eyes.
It was a pale face, so emaciated that it was almost unrecognizable. But the eyes were startlingly bright. The man was wrapped in a shabby and thick cotton-padded jacket, covering his body tightly. His eyes were fixed on Meng You, constantly overflowing with a greedy look, while his mouth kept repeating the same sentence: "Your clothes look really nice."
Meng You almost let out a scream. Then he was surprised to find that this man was one of the passengers he had seen when he got on the train. He just didn't know when he had moved from the rear carriage to behind him.
Meng You's face darkened, and he said unpleasantly, "Where did this beggar come from? Begging on the subway? Get out of here."
He thought the man in front of him would leave sensibly, but instead, he grinned more hideously. "Didn't you call me here?"
Meng You was startled by his smile. Just then, the subway arrived at the station. As he was about to stand up, something suddenly covered his eyes. He cursed and tore it off.
"What the hell is this?"
Meng You took a closer look and saw a stack of white paper money with the smell of incense ash in his hand. And suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him.
An old woman with silver hair stared at him. Her black pupils were so small that they were almost non-existent. She slowly opened her mouth, and a putrid smell wafted over. "Give back my things."
Meng You slowly lowered his head and saw the empty hem of the old woman's skirt.
By now, even the slowest person would have realized what was going on. Meng You let out a shrill scream and fled the subway like his life depended on it, running desperately towards the subway exit.
But the originally short journey now seemed endless. Meng You's heart was pounding in his throat. No matter how fast he ran, the footsteps behind him followed him steadily, as if playing a game of cat and mouse with him.
There were two soft "tearing" sounds, and the lights in the entire subway station suddenly went out, plunging it into darkness. Meng You was completely desperate. He couldn't run anymore.
He collapsed to his knees, exhausted. A cold feeling crept up from behind, and Meng You closed his eyes in despair.
One second, two seconds... The expected sharp pain didn't come. Finally, Meng You summoned the courage to open his eyes.
A blinding white light shone from the front, and a group of figures appeared at the subway exit on the high ground.
Due to the backlight, Meng You couldn't see their faces clearly. But just by their figures, he recognized the person in the front at a glance - Yu Nian???
Meng You's excited heart instantly cooled down. For the first time in his life, he experienced what it meant to be in a dilemma.
Not to mention whether this group of suddenly appeared people could defeat the ghosts. Just seeing Yu Nian made Meng You's scalp tingle.
Who was Meng You? He was a big black fan who had been following Yu Nian since her debut. He had taken a lot of ill-gotten money. To put it this way, eight out of ten negative comments about Yu Nian were incited by him.
The ghosts were also stunned when they saw the people who suddenly appeared in front of them. After the male ghost reacted, he sneered. "What a lucky day today. So many reckless humans come to seek death. Then I'll grant your wishes. One by one, two by two!"
With that, the male ghost suddenly took off his cotton-padded jacket, revealing his purple and ulcerated body. He stood still, but his neck suddenly stretched out very long and headed straight for Yu Nian, who looked the thinnest.
But Yu Nian didn't dodge. The corner of her mouth twitched slightly. "You're quite bold. You even dare to swallow living souls."
For some reason, the male ghost suddenly had a bad premonition. But at this moment, his huge mouth was already in front of Yu Nian, and it was too late to regret.
Yu Nian slightly sidestepped to avoid the male ghost's head, then slapped a talisman on his neck. Before the male ghost could escape, she grabbed his neck.
The next second, Yu Nian stretched, kneaded, and tugged the male ghost in her hand like pulling noodles. No matter how the male ghost cursed and howled, she just didn't let go.
After this series of actions, not only were the ghosts dumbfounded, but even Meng You, who was originally in despair, was shocked with his mouth wide open.
What did he see? The woman who was beating the male ghost until he cried was Yu Nian??? The previous rumors about Yu Nian's ghost-catching were actually true?!
While beating the ghost in her hand, Yu Nian glanced at the other ghosts who were already scared silly. She gave a bright smile. "Don't worry. Maybe you'll be the next lucky one."
The ghosts immediately trembled. The old woman ghost seemed to couldn't stand it anymore. She tremblingly reached out and covered the little ghost's eyes. "Don't look. You'll have nightmares at night."
Dreaming of a fierce Taoist like Yu Nian would really be a misfortune in a ghost's life!
When Yu Nian stopped, the male ghost was already so dizzy that he didn't know where he was. He suddenly collapsed on the ground and shouted at Yu Nian, "Master, spare my life. Swallowing living souls was not our intention. Our whole family used to live in an abandoned temple in the east of the city. We never harmed anyone. But just over a month ago, a man with high magical powers suddenly came. He claimed to be the mountain god. He not only occupied the temple but also forced us to find food for him. We little ghosts were no match for him, so we had to obey his orders."
Ming Mingzhong beside him was stunned for a moment. After thinking for a while, he said in surprise, "The stone statue temple with three old locust trees outside?"
The ghosts quickly nodded. "Yes, that's the one."
Ming Mingzhong looked at Yu Nian and explained, "This matter has also been discussed on the Xuanmen forum recently. I heard that it used to be a City God Temple, but it became desolate after the statue was moved away. But for some reason, it has become lively again recently. It is said that as long as you sincerely worship, the stone statue temple will grant every wish. Many fellow Taoists think it's strange and have widely posted gathering notices to find out."
He Zhiping was a little confused. "Grant every wish? Is it really that magical? It seems that the mountain god should not be a bad person."
But Yu Nian slowly shook her head. "Every god has their own responsibilities and missions. They won't interfere too much in human affairs. The thing in the temple is probably not a real god. And those who have their wishes fulfilled through worship must have paid a corresponding price."
She raised her eyes and looked at the ghosts still begging for mercy. "I can spare you, but there's one condition."
The male ghost was overjoyed. "Please tell us, Tianshi."
"Take us to the abandoned temple."
With that, Yu Nian turned to look at Meng You. Seeing that he was okay, she left a protective talisman and then followed the ghosts away in a grand manner.
Watching the backs of the group disappearing in the distance, Meng You slowly took out his phone and deleted all the negative news about Yu Nian he had fabricated on his Weibo. Finally, he changed his phone wallpaper to a photo of Yu Nian before summoning the courage to go home.
The east of the city was near the suburbs. The group passed through one dark and disorderly forest after another. It was already one o'clock in the morning when they reached the abandoned temple. With the cold moonlight, Yu Nian finally saw the whole picture of the abandoned temple.