Chapter Ten: Chenghuang Temple

  The three of us simply ate something on the side of the road and then got into Captain Liu's police car, speeding all the way to the west of the city. Before long, we arrived at the foot of the mountain.

  Captain Liu led us up the mountain, saying as we walked: "This place is usually deserted, and it was only discovered when a villager's sheep went missing and they came up to look for them."

  This desolate mountain has been uninhabited for a long time, and there is no road at all. It's all thorns everywhere, and it's very hard to walk.

  Leng Shi Tou walked in the front, holding his black knife and chopping all the way. Liu Duizhang followed behind him, directing the route.

  Leng Shi Tou was a nickname I gave to Wu Ying Xiong that guy, this guy's temperament is really not much different from a cold stone, and this nickname is also quite fitting.

  Although I only knew him for one night, and apart from sleeping together we didn't say much to each other, but I feel that this guy is not bad, I don't know where this feeling comes from, probably because both of our names are quite special.

  After walking for more than half an hour, Captain Liu called us to stop in a small forest on the mountain waist and pointed to a vacant lot inside the forest, saying: "It was discovered there."

  We hurriedly followed him over, only to see that the ground was covered with withered grass and many black spots, which were blood. However, as time passed, the color of the blood had turned dark and congealed, sticking to the leaves in clumps.

  Apart from these bloodstains, nothing else was left at the scene.

  Wu Yingxiong crouched down, casually plucked a blade of grass and put it under his nose to smell. Then he raised his head, slightly furrowed his brow, and sniffed hard several times.

  Looking at him like this, I almost burst out laughing, thinking that your nose is even more sensitive than a dog's!

  He sniffed twice, then raised his head, gazing at the mountain top and asked us: "What's on the mountain?"

  Liu Captain was stunned after hearing his words and didn't know what he meant, thinking that the mountain top was too far from the scene of the crime, they also didn't go up to investigate.

  There is a Cheng Huang Temple on the top of this mountain, I have been there before, but it was a long time ago, and I don't know if it still exists now. After hearing his words, I quickly replied to him: "There is a Cheng Huang Temple on the mountain, which has been abandoned for a long time."

  Who knew that this stone heard my words and nodded, saying: "Go up and take a look, I smell that scent is drifting down from the top of the mountain."

  After hearing his words, Captain Liu and I looked at each other. We didn't smell anything unusual, and when the police came to investigate the scene earlier, they must have brought a police dog with them. Could it be that this guy's nose is more sensitive than a dog's?

  I had a lot of doubts in my mind, but since he said so, it wouldn't hurt to take him to the top of the mountain to take a look. So I led the way, and the three of us headed towards the summit.

  But the farther away from the mountain top, I found that the stone guy's face was getting uglier. And when I looked up at the mountain top again, although it was blocked by trees and I couldn't see what was on the top of the mountain, my master had opened my eyes to see things that ordinary people can't see. With this glance, my heart also skipped a beat.

  The situation on top was nothing out of the ordinary, but above those trees, I vaguely saw a mass of black air!

  Normally, there's something fishy about a place, and we'll say it has a heavy yin energy. But ordinary people can't see this kind of thing at all. I couldn't see it before either, but since my master opened my yin eye, I can see these things clearly.

  Although it's daytime now, I still see a layer of black fog vaguely shrouding the top of the mountain. The fog is extremely thick and gathers at the top without dispersing, making me tense up and blurt out: "This place has such a heavy yin energy!"

  The sun's rays are the most yang thing, so generally, all kinds of evil spirits fear sunlight and only come out at night. As for yin energy, in simple terms, it refers to the aura emitted by yin objects. These auras dissipate when they encounter sunlight, making it impossible for them to linger on this mountain peak under the bright daylight.

  The mass of yin energy on the mountain peak shocked me, I remember my master telling me before that some cultivators who practice evil dao techniques can use arrays to gather yin energy, and with the help of these arrays, the yin energy will become more and more concentrated, even not fearing sunlight.

  There must be something strange on this mountain peak!

  At this time, I didn't dare to be careless, holding the ebony sword in my hand. The stone guy's face became even more gloomy, looking at the top of the mountain, his two eyebrows were almost furrowed together. I guessed that this guy must also be able to see the unusual place on the top of the mountain.

  Captain Liu didn't know what was going on, but seeing the two of us like that, he also became tense, pulling out a handgun from his waist and cautiously shouting at us: "What's going on? Is there a problem here?"

  Wu Yingxiong that guy certainly wouldn't answer him, so I had no choice but to turn around, nod at him and say: "There's something different about this mountain, be careful."

  Captain Liu was scared stiff last night, and now after hearing my words, he almost jumped up, spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on the ground, and cursed: "Damn it, is it those things again."

  Now I still can't determine what's on the mountain, so I just shook my head at him.

  The further I went up, the thicker the yin energy felt, and my body also felt cold, which made me shiver.

  Master told me that in the world, yin and yang are interdependent and mutually restrictive. Where there is yin, there is yang; where there is yang, there is yin. Yin and yang must be balanced to be normal. This place has a strong and dense yin energy, it's absolutely not normal!

  This mountain has been rumored to be haunted for many years, and ordinary people generally won't run up here, but suddenly a winding small road appeared in front of us.

  It's actually not a road, but just footprints left by people walking through, faintly leading all the way to the top of the mountain.

  Who would have thought that there's a small path in this godforsaken place, it's making us even more anxious. Who would come to this desolate mountain forest for no reason?

  Cuckoo! Cuckoo!

  Just then, two shouts suddenly came from above our heads, which scared both me and Captain Liu, but only Wu Yingxiong remained still, turning his head to look at us quietly.

  The sound just now was a bird's cry, but in this desolate mountain filled with eerie atmosphere, hearing such a sudden noise, no one can help but feel tense, except for Shi Tou.

  I and Captain Liu were looked at by him with some embarrassment, so we quickly followed up.

  The mountain isn't very high, and after not much effort we were close to the summit. I looked up and saw that at some point someone had planted a ring of locust trees around the top.

  Those locust trees are now as thick as small legs, and have been planted for some years. All that can be seen is that these locust trees form a circle, which just surrounds the old and dilapidated Chenghuang Temple, faintly revealing the remnants of the broken walls inside, making the mountain temple look even more gloomy and mysterious.

  The pagoda tree is a ghost tree, which can be seen from its name. The radical of the character is "ghost". Our ancestors created characters with profound meaning. This pagoda tree has heavy yin energy and easily attracts ghosts, so it was given the "ghost" radical. Ordinary people would never plant a pagoda tree in their homes.

  This place is desolate and mountainous, with so many locust trees on the mountain top. No wonder people see unclean things here. I stared tightly at this piece of locust wood, feeling vaguely in my heart that the origin of these locust trees was probably not simple.

  Captain Liu didn't understand these things, but still felt a bit uncomfortable with the gloomy pagoda trees, and turned his head to look at us two with some tension.

  Leng Shi Tou is now even more silent, his two eyes staring tightly at the Cheng Huang Temple hidden behind the pagoda tree, walking step by step. Liu and I had no choice but to follow him from behind.

  This city temple doesn't know which dynasty was built, it's been abandoned for a long time, the broken walls and residual rafters are all overgrown with green moss and vines. The most eerie thing is that this place doesn't have any movement or sound, not even the chirping of insects in the weeds, quiet and gloomy like a ghostly lair!

  The city temple has been baptized by the years, and it's almost collapsed. Only the Chenghuang Temple is still well preserved, although there are many holes on the wall, fortunately, it hasn't collapsed yet.

  At this time, Wu Yingxiong in front stopped his footsteps and said to us two: "Take a look."

  So the three of us split up to search this City God Temple, it's not a big place, and we finished checking in no time. Liu Team Leader and I didn't find anything unusual, but then Wu Yingxiong was standing at the entrance of the City God Hall, suddenly squatted down, picked up a piece of mud from the ground with his hand, and examined it carefully, frowning even harder.

  I and Captain Liu rushed to his side, only to see him holding a clod of earth in his hand, on which were several black stains - blood that had turned black over time!

  I hastily looked down at the ground, only to see a discontinuous black bloodstain on the ground, as if someone had been injured and left it there. The bloodstains had been there for some time and had turned black, falling onto the ground, and would not have been noticed if one hadn't looked carefully.

  This trail of blood stretches from afar and disappears into the broken gate of the city god temple.

  We stood up and looked at the old but tightly closed door, I suddenly felt a little breathless, as if there was something inside that gave me an intangible sense of oppression.

  Liu captain pulled out his pistol, opened the safety catch, raised his arm and stared tightly at that door.

  Wu Xiong took a step forward at this time, stretched out his hands and slowly pushed open the broken gate of the city god temple.

  This broken door is already in a mess, I'm worried that it might suddenly collapse, but what I'm more worried about is that when I push the door open, something will suddenly run out from inside. After all, this place gives people a very strange feeling, and no one can guarantee what's inside.

  I held the sword, Captain Liu held the gun, and we stared tightly at the door. All of a sudden, the creaking sound was heard, and the door was finally pushed open. At the same time, a pungent and nauseating smell also rushed in!