Chapter 3 Grandfather's Last Words

  At this time, I was no longer like a person who had exhausted all my strength, and it seemed that I had long forgotten what fatigue was. I ran desperately, regardless of the surrounding graves. Nor did I care about the ghostly thing I saw before. At this moment, there was only one thought in my mind, which was to see the old man, I must see him!

  Wrapped in the darkness, I don't even know how many unlucky graves I trampled on, how many times I stumbled and fell, or how many trees I bumped into. Anyway, by the time I finally felt my way back to where I lived, there wasn't a single clean spot left on me.

  "Grandpa, I'm back! I've copied down the names on the tombstone!"

  "Knock knock knock——"

  I took three steps as two and quickly arrived at the old man's door, heavily knocking on his house door and shouting loudly inside.

  However, after waiting for a long time, there was no response at all...

  "Grandpa, are you there? I'm back! I copied down that name. Do you know it? That name is actually you, what's going on? You're not joking with me, are you?" I shouted loudly at the old man's room through the door, hoping to hear his response.

  However, in the old man's room, it still seemed extremely quiet, so quiet that it felt terrifying...

  "Could something have really happened?" The feeling of unease in my heart grew stronger and stronger. Gritting my teeth, I used all my might to knock heavily on the door. I believed that with such great force, the loud knocking sound would be impossible for the old man to not hear if he was inside.

  However, looking through the gap in the door into the room, there was only darkness and silence...

  Unable to bear it any longer, I retreated several steps back and then violently crashed my body into the door, hoping to break it open.

  "Bang——"

  "Bang——"

  ……

  "Crack——"

  After my repeated violent impacts, the old man's door finally couldn't withstand it, and the two door panels were knocked open. The falling door panel made a deafening cracking sound, accompanied by a cloud of dust that spread out, making the surrounding environment instantly terrible and smoky.

  Without worrying about the flying dust, I walked into the old man's room with big strides. Then I came to the place where the oil lamp was placed in his room and hoped to light it up to illuminate the room.

  Because both I and the old man live on the mountain, there is no electricity on the mountain, so we naturally can't use electric lights. And oil lamps are our only lighting tools at night.

  I picked up the old matchbox beside the oil lamp and struck a match, lighting the oil lamp.

  The oil lamp was lit and the room suddenly brightened up. I picked up the oil lamp, shouting "Grandpa" with my mouth while observing around the room.

  When I walked into the old man's bedroom, for some reason, suddenly, I felt that my feet were wet and soggy, as if there was a puddle of water.

  Bending down, I lowered the oil lamp and took a closer look

  "Wow!"

  I suddenly inhaled a cold breath, and beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down my forehead. I was on the verge of collapse. The hand holding the oil lamp instantly lost its strength, and with that, the oil lamp fell to the ground.

  "What is this place?" was my first thought.

  On the ground was a thick and cold **. This ** looked like neither black nor red blood, but more like a strong sticky saliva, looking very disgusting.

  My first thought was that it was some kind of animal saliva. But suddenly, I also thought of the ghostly thing I met in the forest on Zuoshan Tomb, and now thinking back, the stuff dripping from its bloodshot eyes was exactly the same color as this sticky substance.

  "Could it be... could Grandpa have been eaten by that ghostly creature in the woods?!"

  Old Man Wang once told me that some vengeful spirits that feed on human yang energy, after devouring a person's yang energy, the spirit's appearance and temperament would have a few surprising similarities with this human being, which is called assimilation.

  Earlier, when I saw that ghostly thing, I clearly felt it was very familiar to me, just like the old man who lived with me!

  At the thought of this, my mood suddenly became disordered. Although I usually go against that old scoundrel every day, when it really comes to losing him, I feel like I've lost my backbone and become terrified and restless.

  "No! The old man is a master of Taoist magic, that ghost thing can't hurt him! Must be! I have to stay calm, I need to believe in the old man's abilities!" Thinking this way, my restless heart finally calmed down a bit, and then picked up the oil lamp again, continuing to investigate around the bedroom.

  After a careful observation, I found that the overall layout of the room had not changed at all. This suggests that there was no fight here, which makes me feel much more at ease. In my analysis, if the old man really encountered that ghost thing in the room, they would definitely have a fierce battle and mess up the layout of the room. But nothing here has been destroyed or even moved, so there must not have been any dangerous or intense scenes here.

  After circling around and finding nothing out of the ordinary, I decided to leave. After all, not seeing Grandpa God in the room, it's crucial to find him now.

  Just as I was about to leave, on a worn-out wooden table on the right side of the bedroom, I found an extra note. The note was pressed by a ceramic bowl, only revealing a small part of it, if not for my sharp eyes, I might have missed it.

  Without hesitation, I walked up to the table, moved the porcelain bowl away and picked up the note.

  I opened the letter and saw the old man's words left for me. No! To be exact, it was the old man's last words left for me...

  Grandson, I suppose this trip to the back mountain tomb must have given you a lot to think about? You must have seen the ghosts you never believed in, and you must have also seen that stone tablet with my name on it.

  Please don't be sad, don't be shocked, because Grandpa knows that the heavenly secrets I revealed are too many, and the toxins buried under the poisonous spots on my face have invaded my internal organs, so I know my life is not long...

  As you are the master of Gui Suo, with a pre-heavenly Nine Calamity Yin body, I have been by your side all along, protecting you from being entangled by evil spirits and invaded by yin demons. But please believe me, after I leave for this period of time, there will be endless ghosts and monsters coming to disturb you, even wanting to use your yin calamity body to walk under the sunlight. At that time, you must remember to use the Yin Bing Ce, it is the guarantee for your survival.

  After you've seen those ghosts, as long as you know his name, write the name in the Yin Soldier's Register, the ghost not only won't harm you but can also be summoned by you at any time, come when called and leave when waved, protecting you on both sides at all times.

  After reading this letter, go to my pillow and take away a package. Inside, there is an exorcism charm that I have specially prepared for you. Then, set fire to this place and head down the mountain on your own to D City, where you will find an old man named Zuo Guanyun who will arrange everything for you from then on.

  Believe me, this separation is not a permanent farewell. I will come back, and forever be with you!

  Butcher Fan

  "How did this happen? What exactly happened in between?"

  At this moment, my brain is a bit overwhelmed! The ghostly object that suddenly appeared, the mysterious book in his pocket, the undead stone monument, and the sticky substance on the floor of the room now... What does all this mean? What exactly happened?

  At this moment, I am really regretful and hate myself for going to that damn Zuo Shan Tomb for no reason.

  Unwillingly, two lines of turbid tears flowed down like this. It is said that a man has tears but does not easily shed them, only until the time of parting...

  After calming down, I wiped away my tears and followed the old man's instructions to retrieve the package from under the pillow. I then walked out of the room. However, I didn't rush to burn everything here just yet. For now, there was something important that I needed to verify in person.

  What is buried in the tomb with a stone monument? If it's not an empty grave, could it be my grandfather who was a godly stick? But I remember that when I went to Zaoshan Tomb, I greeted the old man and he responded lazily. If it wasn't him, then who would it be?

  There's another thing that's been bothering me, why does the Yin Bing Ce say that Grandfather is an eighth-level ghost king? What's this about self-protection? Could it be that Grandfather wasn't a person to begin with, but a ghost instead? That's impossible! In this world, I've never heard of ghosts being able to walk in the sunlight. Nor have I ever heard of ghosts having warm bodies and liking to help others. But Grandfather is a kind old man with normal body temperature, blood, and flesh.

  The more I think about it, the more confused and frightened I become. However, since the mystery cannot be solved, I will not give up easily.

  Finally, I made up my mind to go back to the Zuo Shan Fen again, find that mound with a stone tablet standing on it. I want to dig into the grave and see if it's an empty tomb or if someone is really buried inside...