Chapter 1: The Haunted Yōlin (Part 1)

  Ding Lingxiu bought a map at the entrance, and the two of them walked forward along Xiuhu Lake. The Yanggu Ancient Temple they were looking for was located in the Xiuhu Scenic Area on the north slope of Qipan Mountain.

  Looking down at Xiuhu Lake, a winding stretch of emerald water forms the shape of the character "xiu", hence its name. The beautiful and moving waters of Xiuhu Lake are wide and clear, with ripples shimmering like a bright pearl nestled among the surrounding mountains. The long shoreline and vast expanse of water make one's spirit soar. They also saw several newlyweds taking outdoor wedding photos by the lake, striking various loving poses.

  Two people strolled between the mountain light and water color, talking and laughing, all along the north shore of Xiuhu Lake, finally found the long-lost Xiangyang Temple in the dense forest on the south shore.

  The entire temple is surrounded by ancient trees, solemn and majestic, with a layout that follows the natural ups and downs of the mountain, scattered and well-proportioned.

  Zhang Shanyi covered his eyes with his hand and gazed at the temple on the stone steps in the distance, muttering to himself:

  Something is wrong here.

  "What's wrong?" Ding Lingxiu also looked towards the temple.

  "This Yangguang ancient temple doesn't look like an old temple at all."

  "Xiangyang ancient temple was built in the Ming Dynasty, located on Hui Mountain, known as the ancient temple. Later, with the passage of time, it fell into disrepair and was damaged. In the 1950s, it completely disappeared, leaving only broken stele and tablets. Later, the modern government rebuilt this ancient temple." Ding Lingxiu sat cross-legged on a stone step, his back to the temple, lighting a cigarette.

  "Oh, so that's how it is! Then can you find the Gate of Hell in this new temple?" Zhang Shanyi asked.

  Ding Lingxiu smiled and didn't answer, continuing to smoke.

  After a brief rest, the two of them walked up the stone path on the mountain road, shaded by tall pines and dappled with sunlight. The end of the stone path was the north gate of Xiangyang Temple. However, the beginning of this mountain road was a small hidden path in the deep forest, which was led by Ding Lingxiu. Except for the two of them, they hardly saw any other pilgrims or monks along the way.

  Looking closely at the temple's hall, the door plaque hung high, with the four characters "Double Peaks and Emerald Water" engraved on it. The two of them climbed to the top of the stone steps and were about to enter the magnificent temple from the back door when Ding Lingyu suddenly stopped, staring blankly ahead.

  "What's wrong?" Zhang Shanyi asked.

  "Why is someone putting on a show here." Ding Lingxiu muttered to himself.

  Zhang Shanyi looked up at Ding Lingxiu's words and couldn't help but look forward. His gaze fell on the temple hall, and indeed, he found that at the other end of the temple gate, there were two young people who seemed to be recording some kind of program. A big-headed man was wearing a very large yellow duck-tongue hat, with a camera slung over his shoulder. The girl next to him was wearing a puffy skirt and a magician-like hat, as if she was cosplaying. This situation wouldn't have been unusual in other places, but at this moment, it was happening in the temple, which was indeed a bit strange. Was the anime character the girl was imitating related to the temple?

  "It's true, they're also wearing very strange clothes." Zhang Shanyi said.

  Ding Lingxiu gave him a slanted glance, thinking to herself: You, wearing this T-shirt with shorts and flip-flops, actually have the nerve to say others are dressed strangely.

  The two of them tried to avoid the camera, entering from the left side of the hall. They had intended to quickly walk past them, but unexpectedly, the man with the duck-tongue hat deliberately turned the camera lens towards them. The girl who looked like a magician followed closely behind, skipping and jumping along.

  "Hey handsome! Hey handsome! Can you help me out?" The girl batted her big, shining eyes and grabbed onto Ding Lingyu.

  Ding Lingxiu was taken aback for a moment, and out of instinctive reaction, he quickly took out the Demon-Seeking Compass. Of course, the Demon-Seeking Compass did not react at all.

  Then, Ding Lingxiu replied indifferently as usual:

  "Sorry, miss, we have something urgent to attend to and are in a hurry."

  "Hey, handsome guy, don't be like that, just help me out, it won't take up too much of your time." The girl tugged at Ding Lingxiao's sleeve, refusing to give up. Ding Lingxiao glanced at the camera and felt that a firm refusal was not quite suitable either, leaving him somewhat at a loss.

  "This...". Ding Lingxiu couldn't help but smile wryly and glanced at Zhang Shanyi.

  Zhang Shanyi's eyes lit up, and he became spirited and refreshed.

  "Hey handsome guy, I'm an apprentice magician performing around here, look, that person is our cameraman!"

  The girl smiled and pointed at the man wearing a duck tongue hat behind her. The man nodded to them.

  The girl's hand was white, slender and delicate, with a casual gesture, it seemed like a jade butterfly dancing in the air. This sunny lovely Lolita was actually the type of girl that Zhang Shanyi had always liked. Zhang Shanyi stared at her, almost dazed.

  The girl's face turned red and she continued to ask in a spoiled tone,

  "Hey handsome guy, will you answer me or not?"

  Ding Lingshu hadn't even had time to respond when Zhang Shanyi hastily nodded his head and said:

  "Agreed, agreed, how are you going to change?"

  Ding Lingxiu looked at him with disdain, thinking that this hypocritical guy was becoming more and more exposed.

  But Zhang Shanyi suddenly remembered that he was in front of the camera, so he turned to face the lens and forced a reserved smile.

  "Alright, let him cooperate with you then." Ding Lingxiu pushed Zhang Shanyi forward.

  The girl was overjoyed and skipped to a suitcase in the corner of the wall, rummaged through it for a while, pulled out a huge crystal ball and walked back with a swing.

  Zhang Shanyi looked at the crystal ball, and a bad premonition suddenly emerged again in his heart. However, he didn't find any evil aura on these two people, and he had already promised this loli, so it wasn't good to go back on his word now.

  The girl walked back and held Zhang Shanyi's hand saying:

  "Come on, handsome guy, put your hand on this crystal ball."

  Zhang Shanyi's face suddenly turned red, and he shyly placed his hand on the crystal ball.

  The girl held his hand, step by step teaching him how to do it, with a serious expression on her face. Zhang Shanyi felt that her hands were very tender, soft and pleasant to be manipulated like this, suddenly feeling elated. Even began to think that his luck wasn't so bad after all, the peach blossom luck was pretty good.

  Ding Lingxiu stared at them without blinking, he always felt that these two people were not quite right, but like Zhang Shanyi, he couldn't sense the source of this strange feeling.

  "Alright, I'm telling you, I'm completely willing to participate in this magic! I'll take whatever consequences come with it!" the girl said with a giggle.

  Zhang Shanyi had just opened his mouth, but hesitated for a moment, because the sentence sounded a bit scary. He looked at Ding Lingxiu, who was expressionless.

  The girl gave him an encouraging smile, and he read it out word by word.

  As soon as the words fell, a strange green light suddenly appeared in the crystal ball, extremely dazzling.

  Zhang Shanyi was startled, and Ding Lingshu was also shocked by the scene. An ordinary glass ball actually changed due to a sentence, emitting such dazzling light, it's really amazing.

  But after the light faded, the girl immediately took back the crystal ball, seemingly losing all interest in the two of them, and walked away without looking back.

  Zhang Shanyi was stunned for a moment, then immediately became vigilant and began to check his body. His wallet and phone were still there, and nothing else was missing. Ding Ling's eyes were serious, but he didn't check his pockets or luggage because his gaze had never left the girl and the man with the duck tongue hat.

  "What a strange pair of people, they didn't even say thank you and just hurried away." Zhang Shanyi muttered to himself as he watched them disappear into the distance.

  "Heh heh, what's wrong with you? You still want to hold onto the beauty and take her back home? Then go chase after her, she hasn't gone far yet." Ding Lingxiu said.

  "What's wrong with you, they didn't mean any harm, I'm just happy to help."

  "Alright, let's get down to business. Let's hurry up." Ding Lingxiu patted Zhang Shanyi, who was still hesitating, and walked towards the grand hall.

  At this time, beside the lake at the foot of the mountain.

  The girl walked up to the man wearing a duck tongue hat, panting heavily.

  The duck tongue hat man had also taken off his duck tongue hat, revealing the bull horns under the hat. It turned out that the duck tongue hat man was actually a cow spirit.

  "Wheeee... it's too exciting, I actually stole a Taoist priest's internal elixir! Oh my god, I'm scared to death... what a thrill!" The girl patted her chest, still in shock.

  "Haha, I told you, with this divine artifact, no one will be able to detect us, not even a powerful Taoist priest." The cow spirit smugly patted the crystal ball in his hand, "How's that? See how awesome I am?"

  The girl gave him a cold glance and replied indifferently:

  "Don't look."

  “……”