Chapter 1: The Haunted Forest of Demons (Part 1)

  Ding Lingxiu saw Zhang Shanyi, covered in filth, walking towards him with a pained expression and couldn't help but stare, the foul smell that came with him made Ding cover his nose.

  "Ho——, Ah Yi, are you taking a dump or fighting with the dump?"

  "Alas... Brother Ding, don't mock me anymore. I've told you, I just can't take the train, or else a series of unlucky events will occur one after another." Zhang Shanyi looked worried.

  "Hmm, so there's no way to crack it?"

  "Ah ha!"

  "What's the solution?"

  "Don't take the train."

  "....Alright, never mind, the train should be arriving soon, just bear with it for now and don't go anywhere."

  Ding Lingxiu turned his head seriously towards the slowly approaching platform, held back for a long time, and finally burst out laughing.

  The next twenty minutes on the train were like an eternity for Zhang Shan-yi, as all the migrant workers in the carriage cast him contemptuous glances, with some whispering to each other.

  Zhang Shanyi closed his eyes and silently recited the Purification Mantra, praying that nothing else would happen.

  Ten minutes later, the train came to a stop. The sound of the brakes was long and shaking, but when it reached Zhang Shanyi's ears, it seemed like heavenly music. Zhang Shanyi let out a long sigh of relief, finally able to leave the train.

  Two people got off the platform, and Zhang Shanyi rushed into the toilet at Shenyang Station. He stripped naked in the toilet, simply washed his body, and the passersby around him were all stunned. Who has ever seen someone taking a bath in a public toilet? Many pedestrians also secretly took out their mobile phones to take sneak shots.

  It took Zhang Shanyi a good half day to finish washing up. He walked out with a gloomy expression.

  "Ai, now I see you're in good spirits too. Next, I might have to attend to some personal matters of my own. What do you plan..." Ding Lingyu said.

  "Hey, Brother Ding, don't think about leaving yet, you still owe me 2,000 yuan!" Zhang Shanyi said.

  Ding Lingxiu scratched his head and lit a cigarette:

  "This... I need to collect the bounties for the Human-Faced Tree and the Corpse-Eating Ghost first before I can give it to you."

  "Then where are you going?"

  "Hell."

  "Are you kidding me? The nearest entrance to the underworld is still in Hailar, do you want me to accompany you on a train ride to Hailar?" Zhang Shanyi said helplessly.

  "Ai ya, it's so common for brothers to talk about money all the time. And you're not a demon hunter, there are some things you don't know. Actually, in Shenyang, there is also a gate of the underworld. This time I came to Shenyang to first collect the reward and then prepare enough travel expenses for the next stop."

  "Alright, I'm a monk with no relatives or friends, if you didn't owe me money, I wouldn't even have a master."

  “……”

  It's almost midnight, but there are surprisingly many people out tonight, and the station exit is also packed with people.

  Zhang Shanyi was already feeling a bit down, and the chubby kid next to him was munching away on a big bag of chocolates, making loud crunching noises that made Zhang's mood even more irritable. He looked at the plump little kid and said out of kindness:

  "Little friend, don't eat too much of this chocolate. Chocolate has a lot of fat and eating too much will make you get sick and gain weight."

  The little boy slowly raised his head, gave Zhang Shanyi a white eye, and said to him: "My grandfather is 103 years old this year."

  Zhang Shanyi was shocked, over 100 years old, that's simply a human treasure.

  "Did your grandfather live so many years just because he ate chocolate?"

  The child pouted and looked at Zhang Shanyi:

  "Not because he never interferes with others' business."

  “……”

  Zhang Shanyi's face was ashen, while Ding Lingshu puffed on his cigarette, smiling at him with a pleased expression.

  Out of the station platform, it's already late at night.

  Two people casually strolled around, looking for an inn to stay in, but after walking down several streets, they found that all the rooms were fully booked. The cool midnight breeze sent shivers down their spines, and on the street, apart from pedestrians, there were many things that normal people couldn't see. However, these things took one look at the two men's majestic auras and immediately scurried away in fear. When they saw Zhang Shanyi, they were shocked and turned pale. A wild ghost spotted Zhang Shanyi from afar and pointed him out to a small ghost beside him, whispering:

  "Look at that, this Taoist priest's cultivation must be extremely high, he actually used feces to conceal his spiritual energy. Next time we encounter a Taoist like him, we must quickly escape."

  The little devil seemed to understand and nodded, then covered his nose.

  Two men walked through the streets and alleys, finally finding an inn. They rushed in as if they had discovered an oasis in the desert. This was a themed inn called "One Day One Heaven". Ding Lingxiu looked at Zhang Shanyi's clear eyebrows and hesitated for half a day. In fact, it's not strange for two normal men to sleep in a hotel, but when two white-skinned handsome guys sleep together, people can't help but have wild thoughts.

  As I walked up to the front desk, fortunately, a middle-aged woman was watching TV.

  "Excuse me, is there still a vacant room?" asked Ding Lingxiu.

  "Yes, there is one, 404, a train carriage themed room." The middle-aged woman replied tiredly.

  Train carriage theme?

  Ding Lingxu was taken aback and looked at Zhang Shanyi, who was staring blankly:

  "Ai, you're really lucky today..."

  Zhang Shanyi curled his lip and turned away.

  "Ah... it's so late, let's just sleep in this room."

  Zhang Shanyi shot a venomous glance at Ding Lingxiu, his eyes more terrifying than those of a ghoul.

  Ding Lingxiu laughed and pulled Zhang Shanyi back, coaxing him saying:

  "Come on, come on, just sleep in this room..."

  The woman looked at Zhang Shanyi with a strange expression and threw the room card at them:

  "Don't make too much of a mess while you're playing..."

  Ding Lingxiu and Zhang Shanyi turned pale with fright, staring at each other in dismay.

  Zhang Shanyi reluctantly followed Ding Lingxiu to this train carriage themed room, and as expected, the decor here was almost identical to that of a train carriage. Even the beds were in the style of train berths, who knows which despicable designer designed it, and the double room was still an upper and lower berth. No wonder this room was so unpopular, and it was even assigned the unlucky room number 404.

  Ding Lingxiu finished washing up and flopped onto the soft, fluffy bed on the lower bunk, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Zhang Shanyi looked on in exasperation, taking off his dirty clothes and heading to the bathroom to wash them. He looked around and spotted a bottle of shower gel that seemed like it could be used for washing clothes, so he put the clothes in the sink and opened the cap of the shower gel. But as soon as he poured some out, he discovered that the seal inside the cap had been removed, and a large amount of blackish-yellow liquid gushed out, covering all of his clothes. A strong smell of tar and stench filled the air.

  This bottle of used shower gel was actually used as an ashtray by some despicable guest and was filled with unknown things. Zhang Shanyi instantly burst into flames, holding the shower gel and running downstairs, but unexpectedly his slippers slipped under his feet, and he rolled over, hitting his head on the handrail on the third floor.

  Zhang Shanyi put down the big package on his head and suddenly slapped the bottle of unknown liquor onto the counter.

  "Excuse me, is your shower gel made from cigarette ash?"

  The middle-aged woman gave him a white eye and took it over to look at it:

  "Which room do you live in?"

  "The train carriage theme room."

  "Oh, this is just like the style on the train, you see which sleeping car has shower gel, and you take this kind of ashtray."

  Zhang Shanyi gritted his teeth:

  "I want to take a bath, I don't need an ashtray."

  "Hey, just say it, what's with the big fuss?" The boss lady replaced a bottle of shower gel for Zhang Shanyi.

  Zhang Shanyi took it over with a huff, and carefully walked back to his room.

  When Zhang Shanyi returned to the room, he found that Ding Lingxiu had already fallen asleep, probably because she was too tired. Usually a quiet sleeper, Ding Lingxiu was now snoring loudly, and the room was filled with smoke due to her actions. Zhang Shanyi walked over to the window curtains, intending to open them for some ventilation. Just as he reached out to open the curtains, his entire body almost collapsed:

  Behind the curtains was actually a wall.

  Damn it! Zhang Shanyi secretly cursed this hotel for cutting corners. Helpless, he could only take out Qingyun's dust brush.

  The clear cloud swept away the dust, and the smoke disappeared instantly. Zhang Shanyi hung the washed clothes on the bed head and climbed up to the upper berth with exhaustion.

  That night, Ding Lingxiu snored like thunder, and the phone in the room rang one after another, but it didn't affect Ding Lingxiu's beautiful dream at all.

  Zhang Shanyi had to keep answering phone calls and refusing all sorts of strange services.

  After a whole night of tossing and turning, Zhang Shanyi finally couldn't toss and turn anymore, so he squeezed in and lay down beside Ding Lingshu.

  But he had a faint feeling that this bad luck hadn't ended yet.