"I... I don't know the way. I can find someone else to help. You don't need to bother, Third Master."
I tilted my head stubbornly, full of indignation, and just didn't want him to follow me.
Gu Yuan seemed too lazy to waste words on me. He leaned forward, his chest almost touching mine.
I instinctively pushed him away, thinking he was up to something.
"What are you doing, you...?" I didn't finish the word "scoundrel" as he straightened up. His fair and good - looking hand reached over from my side, pulled out the seat - belt, and buckled it for me.
"Let's go... You can't summon the celestial beings by offering incense here."
Gu Yuan straightened up and stared ahead. For some reason, my previously fluttering heart suddenly felt at ease.
I cautiously glanced at him from the side, started the car, and continued driving forward.
After driving for a while, about ten minutes, the previously pitch - black road was now dotted with lights.
The fog that had been there before had also dissipated.
"Did we get out?" The frown on my face faded away with the fog.
"You had accidentally entered a ghostly domain before. You'd been wandering around for hours and couldn't get out." Gu Yuan spoke calmly, as if not wanting to scare me.
"I'm not the little girl who was scared of everything before. I believe I can handle it."
I continued driving without looking at Gu Yuan. If it had been before, I definitely wouldn't have dared to speak to him so confidently.
"Yes, if it were just an encounter with evil spirits, I think you could handle it. But what if it's man - made? Do you think you can handle that?"
I frowned, not understanding what Gu Yuan meant.
"Man - made? That's impossible. I don't know that old lady. She wouldn't try to harm me for no reason. Moreover, I could tell that she's a kind person."
Gu Yuan sighed at me. He was at a loss for my innocent mind.
"It's not the old lady's problem. Someone wants to stop you from interfering in the old lady's matter, so they set up this ghostly domain, trying to get rid of you on the road. Do you understand now?"
Gu Yuan blurted out everything he wanted to say, in case I didn't understand.
"Then who on earth is so sinister, trying to ambush me on this ghostly road?" I asked Gu Yuan seriously.
Gu Yuan's cold eyes trembled slightly. He seemed really annoyed about this.
"This is also the reason I'm here."
As he spoke, my car had already entered the entrance of Chujia Fort Village.
It was already past ten o'clock at night. Most of the villagers had turned off their lights and gone to bed.
Only a low - lying earthen house at the innermost part still had its lights on.
Judging from the structure of the house, it was similar to what He Bi had described. I could tell that it was probably Granny Chu's house.
I parked the car in front of Granny Chu's house but didn't dare to get out. It wasn't that I was afraid of any spirits, but I was just afraid that something might suddenly jump out and scare me.
Gu Yuan glanced at me from the side and seemed to guess what I was thinking. He first opened the door and got out, then walked to the driver's side, opened the door, and waited for me to get out.
What was this? Was he trying to tell me that he once had a sincere relationship but didn't cherish it, only to regret it after losing it?
I wasn't going to fall for this. My heart had completely frozen when he broke up with me. A dead heart couldn't be warmed up no matter what.
I bent down and got out of the car without accepting his kindness. Instead, I walked straight to Granny Chu's house and knocked on the door.
Just as my hand touched the doorknob, I suddenly felt a strong and thick evil aura surrounding me.
I instinctively stepped back, took out a Five - Thunder Talisman from my waist, and held it tightly. If the person who opened the door wasn't Granny Chu, I would strike them until their souls were scattered.
"Creak..." The door opened, and I quickly pulled back the hand that I had just raised.
Granny Chu was hunched over. When she saw me, her face was full of surprise. Her previously cloudy eyes suddenly focused, and the wrinkles on her face seemed to smooth out a bit.
"Spiritual maiden, you're finally here. If you hadn't come, my little grandson might really be doomed."
The old lady's face had just been full of surprise, but when she mentioned her little grandson, tears started to fall.
"What happened after you got back?" I asked with concern.
Granny Chu didn't answer me immediately. She quickly invited me in.
"Come in, come in. You two young folks don't stand outside. Come into the house, and I'll tell you slowly."
"Don't misunderstand, Granny. We're not a couple. He's my celestial being. He has a high prestige. You can just call him Third Master." I politely introduced Gu Yuan to her.
Granny Chu nodded slightly at Gu Yuan and then looked at me.
"I used to tell fortunes when I was young. You two clearly have spousal resemblance. Even if you're not a couple now, you will be someday."
Granny Chu led me into the earthen house. Her house had the typical structure of a Northeast rural house from the 1970s and 1980s.
There were large kang beds on the north and south sides. The windows were small. The walls of the house were pasted with newspapers, and there were peppers and corns hanging on the walls. It looked very rural.
The only problem was that the light in the room was too dim, so dim that it was almost impossible to see people's faces.
I looked up at the lamp. The yellow lampshade was swaying. Although the light bulb was quite bright, it was wrapped in a layer of black ghostly aura.
"Gu Yuan, look. There's something wrong with that lamp."
Gu Yuan had already noticed the strangeness. He flicked his finger, and a silver bead the size of a glass bead hit the light bulb, dispelling the ghostly aura.
The room quickly brightened up. The light shone through the doors and windows, and the evil aura I had felt before entering the house also disappeared.
"What... What's going on?" Granny Chu was a bit surprised when she saw the suddenly bright lamp.
"Old lady, someone has set a malevolent spell in your house, waiting for you to run out of energy." While talking to Granny Chu, Gu Yuan's cold eyes scanned the surroundings, as if looking for any remaining evil spirits.
Granny Chu didn't tell us the truth at first, maybe because she thought we might not be able to help her.
But when Gu Yuan showed a little bit of his ability, it shocked Granny Chu.
Now when she saw Gu Yuan, she was like seeing a great celestial being. She immediately knelt down and begged Gu Yuan for help.
This made me a bit unhappy. I was the one who took this job on my own initiative. Now it seemed like I was just a sidekick.
I bent down to help Granny Chu up, pointed at myself, and said,
"Granny, if you have any problems, tell me. I can solve them for you too."
"Yeah, I knew you were capable. You really brought me such a capable celestial being. Thank you, girl."
After hearing what the old lady said, four black lines suddenly appeared on my forehead, standing straight.