The scorching sun was baking the earth, and the cicadas were singing non - stop.
Liu Mo had transformed into a black snake as thick as a bowl, coiling on an ancient tree at the entrance of the Taoist temple to sunbathe.
He half - closed his eyes. Sometimes he bared his fangs to scare the birds that landed on him thinking he was a tree trunk. Sometimes he used his long and slender tail to pick up a few fruits to eat. He was really at ease.
"Sigh..."
A plaintive sigh suddenly broke the tranquility.
Liu Mo caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye and saw a middle - aged man in strange attire standing at the bottom of the steps of the Taoist temple.
He was wrapped in thick autumn clothes and long pants, which made him stand out among the crowd dressed in cool clothes.
The man kept pacing back and forth at the entrance of the Taoist temple, as if hesitating about something.
Liu Mo didn't care and continued to sleep with his eyes half - closed.
"Sigh."
..........
When the man passed by the entrance of Qingxin Taoist Temple with a long sigh for the fifty - eighth time, Liu Mo finally couldn't bear it anymore.
With a flash of his figure, he transformed into a human form and walked out from behind the tree.
The man was startled by Liu Mo's sudden appearance and shrank back, about to leave. Liu Mo narrowed his long and narrow eyes and without hesitation dragged him into the Taoist temple. He said to Yu Nian in a tone seeking praise, "This man has been lurking furtively at the entrance of the Taoist temple. I suspect he has some evil plan!"
The man's face flushed red and he stammered, "I didn't... I'm here to ask the master to help me with something..."
Yu Nian sized him up for a moment and slightly raised her eyebrows. "Are you haunted by evil spirits?"
The man was greatly surprised. "How did you figure it out?"
Feng Chengyuan silently handed over a mirror. Looking at his ashen - faced and dark - circled self in the mirror, the man let out a long sigh.
"Master, I seem to be haunted by something."
According to the man, his name was Shi Ce. He was originally an ordinary and honest employee, living a dull nine - to - five life every day. Everything turned strange and terrifying until he moved into his newly - bought house some time ago.
He started to dream about a person frequently.
It was an old man over fifty years old, with sparse beards, drooping eyebrows and a black mole between his eyebrows. Shi Ce was sure that he had never seen the old man in real life.
In the first few dreams, there always seemed to be a layer of white mist around the old man. His tone was cold and he said that he had a hard time in the underworld. He had no clothes to wear, no food to eat and no money to spend. He reported a name and an address and repeatedly urged Shi Ce to find his son for him and tell his son about his current situation.
After waking up, Shi Ce thought he had just watched too many TV dramas and didn't take it seriously. He even told this to his colleagues as a joke.
This continued for half a month. He dreamed about the old man every night. The old man chattered on and on to him, but Shi Ce never cared.
It was not until some time ago that strange things started to happen frequently in his house...
The freshly - cooked food in the house would disappear without a trace. There were footsteps in the living room at night. The chandelier suddenly broke and all the flowers withered overnight...
Shi Ce's luck also got worse and worse. He couldn't do anything well, always lost things and even fell and got injured for no reason on a flat road.
Shi Ce finally realized something was wrong and called his elders at home. The elders were also greatly surprised and said that he might have offended some unclean things and was haunted.
That night, according to the method he found on the Internet, Shi Ce played Buddhist scriptures beside his bed before going to sleep. But unexpectedly, he still dreamed about the old man that night. The old man's face was ferocious and ashen. He gloomily grabbed Shi Ce's arm and threatened, "If you don't pass on my message to my son, I'll follow you forever. I'll bring you bad luck and you'll never have a moment of peace."
When Shi Ce said this, the muscles at the corner of his mouth kept twitching. "I originally had a glimmer of hope, thinking it was just a psychological hint. But..."
He paused and slowly rolled up his thick long sleeves. There were clearly several black handprints on his arm, with clear fingerprints, exactly the size of an adult man's palm.
Although the old ghost hadn't caused any actual harm to his body for the time being, living in such a state of fear and tension all day long, Shi Ce was already a bit absent - minded.
He broke down and said, "Master, what should I do? I've never done anything bad. Why on earth is he haunting me?"
Seeing his excitement, Yu Nian comforted him, "Don't worry. Let me check first."
She asked for Shi Ce's birth date and after some calculations, she looked up in surprise. "You're really haunted, and by more than one thing."
"... What?!" Shi Ce staggered and was about to faint on the spot.
Yu Nian stared intently at Shi Ce for a while. Besides the strong ghostly aura on him, there was also a faint demonic aura. She asked calmly, "Have you ever kowtowed to any strange things recently?"
Shi Ce blushed and hesitated to say it.
Feng Chengyuan stared at him for a while and suddenly asked, "Since you came to the Taoist temple for help, why were you hesitating at the entrance and didn't dare to come in just now?"
Under Feng Chengyuan's direct gaze, Shi Ce said nervously, "Actually, before coming to the Taoist temple, I went to a temple. The great monk in the temple said that as long as I did a religious ceremony, the things haunting me could be driven away. I was so happy to hear that and agreed.
Unexpectedly, the so - called religious ceremony was just lighting a few joss sticks. Then the great monk covered my eyes with a black cloth and led me to a temple. Vaguely, I couldn't see the statue of the god clearly and didn't know what I was kowtowing to. Just like that, I muddled through and kowtowed ninety - nine times.
After such a ridiculous religious ceremony, it cost me half of my savings... I thought it was worth losing money to avoid disaster. But since that day, instead of getting better, my symptoms have become more and more serious. I often feel weak in hands and feet and cold in the back. I recently saw on the Internet that Qingxin Taoist Temple is very effective. After some hesitation, I still came. But when I got to the entrance of the Taoist temple, I was worried that I couldn't afford the expensive cost of the religious ceremony like last time, so I hesitated for so long."
Feng Chengyuan asked, "How much did that religious ceremony cost you?"
Shi Ce carefully reported a five - digit number.
Ming Ming gasped. "That's so extortionate!"
Shi Ce hesitated for a moment. "The name of that temple is a bit similar to your Taoist temple..."
Yu Nian raised her eyebrows. "How similar?"
"It's called Qingxin Temple..."
Everyone:.......
This was not just similar. It was exactly the same.
Feng Chengyuan frowned and asked, "Where is that temple built?"
"Just beside the ancient bridge in the west of the city."
He Zhiping scratched his head in confusion. "I've lived in Kyoto for so many years. I've walked across that ancient bridge hundreds if not thousands of times, but I've never seen any Qingxin Temple."
Hearing He Zhiping's words, Shi Ce also realized. "That Qingxin Temple seems to have suddenly appeared recently."
Yu Nian nodded thoughtfully. "It seems that the demonic aura on you was contaminated in that temple."
An abnormal thing must be demonic. After some discussion, everyone decided to go to Qingxin Temple to find out.
When they arrived at the temple, it was already getting a bit dim, but there were still many pilgrims.
Although Qingxin Temple and Qingxin Taoist Temple had the same name, the entrance of the former was very grandly decorated, even luxurious. The vermilion wooden door, the dense eaves and wide beams, and the temple roof was covered with glazed tiles, shining resplendently.
At the main entrance of the temple stood a middle - aged monk with six very obvious ordination scars on his head. He was grinning from ear to ear, enthusiastically inviting pilgrims in.
Feng Chengyuan's gaze fell on the huge tree outside the temple gate. The branches of the tree were sparse, the leaves were emerald green, and there were copper coins the size of a thumb hanging under the branches. Feng Chengyuan narrowed his eyes. "Is this... a money - attracting tree?"