Rubbing his temples, Han Fei thought that Xu Qin wouldn't do something like that, but he felt that ever since he left the neighborhood, his mind has been provoking all kinds of thoughts filled with malice.
"Calm down, hurry up and finish the mission, you can't stay here for too long."
Han Fei remembered what Xu Qin had said, and he was ready to finish the task in five minutes, then hurry back to the neighborhood.
"The first step is to find the bowl placed next to the shrine ..."
Looking around, Han Fei saw a tattered shrine next to the intersection not far from the iron gate of the neighborhood.
The shrine was covered with a black cloth, and it was not known what lived inside.
Han Fei held back his curiosity, he did not lift the black cloth to check, but only picked up a ceramic bowl placed in front of the shrine.
The bowl was covered with cracks, but not shattered open, the bowl was filled with white rice, and each grain of rice seemed to have something written on it.
"Take a step and knock the bowl, will this bowl be cracked?"
When Han Fei carefully held up the porcelain bowl, he had not taken the first step when he suddenly heard an old man's voice.
"Put the bowl down, where you came from, hurry back to where you came from."
Turning around, Han Fei saw an old man squatting on the road in front of the happy neighborhood, holding a fire pit in his hand, with a thick pile of paper money in the pot.
" The crossroads is heavy with yin, and everything comes and goes, you hold the bowl here, and a hungry ghost will come to you!"
When the old man saw that Han Fei did not listen, he nagged again, he gave Han Fei a feeling like he was concerned about Han Fei.
"You may find it hard to believe, but in old times, people performed rituals near the river's mouth. The road symbolized the flowing water, and the crossroads represented the very mouth of the river, serving as a gathering point for yin energy and malicious forces. Trust my words, swiftly place the bowl down, and burn some paper money at the shrine as a form of apology. Perhaps, by doing so, we can prevent any potential consequences."
After the old man finished speaking, he quietly took out a crumpled photo from his pocket and put it in the fire bowl.
Han Fei will not give up the task because of the other party's words, he took the first step towards the road and then knocked the bowl.
Hearing the sound of knocking on the bowl, the old man was frightened and immediately approached Han Fei: "You're calling for the spirits! Are you trying to deliberately invite them over?"
Han Fei still did not say anything, in fact, at first, he thought the old man was good until the old man put the crumpled photo into the fire bowl.
Burning paper money at a crossroads is a way to show respect for the deceased. However, if you burn a photo at a crossroads, especially a photo of someone who is alive, it has a completely different meaning.
Lost spirits who pass by and see photos of living people mixed with burning paper money will believe that the person in the photo will die that very night. They might try to take over the person's body to be reborn.
In a previous manager mission, Han Fei had witnessed the practice of burning fire pots and photographs.
Within this supernatural realm, photographs seemed to strip away a fragment of the human spirit.
The old man had an aged photo, its visage so weathered that the face appeared blurred. Han Fei couldn't shake the feeling that the old man harbored sinister intentions. He suspected that if he were to engage in conversation with the old man, his own face would likely be displayed in that ominous photograph.
The old man reminded Han Fei to beware of hungry ghosts, and he could be a scapegoat.
Without saying a word, Han Fei's gaze was calm and cold as he continued forward.
He took a second step, then knocked the bowl again.
The sound of laughter came from the opposite side of the road, and a young boy dressed in red, holding her sister's hand, came up to meet him.
"Brother, brother, will you take me and my sister home?" The boy in the red tunic blocked Han Fei's path.