The attic on the third floor wasn't large, just enough to place a shrine, yet it felt quite spacious.
Only suitable for children to play.
But there were no children in the inn, no one would come here, it was safe and convenient.
Wen Ying and the landlady stood on the short ladder, looking at the third floor.
The place where the guardian fox deity used to sleep... oh no, sit, is now empty, with no one (no fox) in sight.
There were also some porcelain bottles scattered on the ground, but they were not broken.
There were scattered ashes on the ground, a result of burning incense.
The sound of the landlady's sigh echoed in Wen Ying's ears.
Wen Ying looked at this place, having spent a hundred thousand reputation points to have the system help with the inspection.
The sound of losing money, one after another, is incredibly beautiful..
[Host, it is indeed the household guardian spirit, the Great Fox Immortal, as passed down in folklore, but...]
"Acting all shy, not like a system at all."
[...]
[The system also found it strange, why would such a thing awaken in this world?]
Are you sure it's normal to describe this so-called household spirit, even if it's just a fox, as a thing?
[The true nature of things still needs to be verified by the host themselves. One day, you will understand.]
"The dog... Baby Tongtong, I just want to know where it is now. Is it a threat to the people here?"
[Host, rest assured! This thing, oh no, the Fox Immortal, its power is not enough to cause trouble again! You just need to go to the designated location, find it, and bring it back.]
"Didn't you say you didn't know?"
Looking at Wen Ying staring blankly at the small attic, the landlady sighed again, "Xiao Ying, I really don't know where this great immortal has gone. I know you have the ability, think of a way to bring it back. This matter is really beyond my expectations. If it can be taken away, taking it away is also fine. I can't restrain it, and it can't protect me."
The meaning of the landlady was clear to Wen Ying; everyone on this street knew the landlady's story.
It truly is somewhat tragic.
"Auntie, since the guardian spirit belongs to your family, there must be some kind of agreement in place. It's not something that can be taken away just like that. We need to find it first and then discuss the other matters. To avoid unnecessary panic, let's keep this matter to ourselves for now."
The landlady nodded; she had no other options either.
Regarding everything about the household spirits, she had only heard others talk about them since she was a child, and she brought them along because her grandfather had given them to her.
Just consider it a tribute to Grandpa.
But I never expected it to evolve into the situation we have today.
"Xiaoying, do you know where it is?"
Wen Ying went downstairs, with the landlady following behind her. After leaving the inn, the two of them walked towards the direction of the abandoned inner street.
The abandoned alley is about a thousand meters away from where everyone lives.
It seemed like the boundary between Chu and Han, distinctly and clearly divided.
The landlady did not speak, merely following behind Wen Ying. After about seven or eight minutes, the two arrived at the entrance of the inner street.
"Xiao Ying, you probably haven't been to this place before, have you?" The proprietress seemed somewhat wistful.
"I've only been here once in all the decades since I married into this place, and that was when my husband was still alive. My understanding of this area comes from the one or two times he mentioned it. The people on this street seem to avoid talking about this old neighborhood."
The things the landlady said were completely unknown to Wen Ying.
To understand why the fox spirit came here, one must know some of the history of this place.
So Wen Ying asked, "Auntie, is there a story behind this old street?"
The landlady pondered for a moment, "It seems that something major once happened on this street, long before my husband was even born, a very long time ago. I only know about it because he told me, so basically, people on this street don't come here."
In the blink of an eye, more than twenty years have passed, and this place is still just as rundown.
It is said that in the eyes of the older generation, unspeakable things happened here, caused by those wretched days worse than beasts. He had heard the elders say that this place was unclean, that it was filled with heavy yin energy. If it were their own family's, they wouldn't have ignored it for so many years, but this yin energy was said to be from those wretched days.
Inside, there is a place that seems to have buried many small days, like some kind of connection, though I can't quite explain it. But I know that a lot of those bastards died there, reportedly at the hands of a master. After that incident, everyone on the street moved away, and this place was tacitly acknowledged as a forbidden zone. No one would come here again.
Regarding the matter of the small days, even if the landlady didn't mention it, Wen Ying was also clear.
National enmity and family hatred do not arise out of thin air.
The heinous crimes against humanity they committed can never be erased!
History books can be altered, but the truth cannot be changed.
"I was young and impulsive once, purely out of curiosity, I went in, but nothing happened. However, my husband warned me never to speak of it. Today, since you're going in, I decided to tell you."
The landlady still seemed a bit hesitant, but it was nothing at the time.
But now that even the legendary Fox Immortal has appeared, can there still be peace in there?
Wen Ying heard the landlady's words, casually took a talisman paper from her pocket, and handed it to the landlady. "Auntie, take this with you, and nothing will happen when you go in."
The landlady's hand tightly gripped the talisman paper, only then did she relax and followed Wen Ying into this street.
The difference from my memory seemed somewhat significant; in many places, the grass grew exceptionally lush, but its height did not increase.
Some broken tiles, half-standing walls, and wood dried out on the ground.
Strangely, there was no human-made trash on this street, not even anything blown in by the wind.
All these scenes seemed to tell the story of the street's desolation.
As the two walked and observed along the way, after about two hundred meters, the lady boss beside him suddenly sneezed.
"Strange, it's so hot in July, why do I feel a bit cold?"
But it was merely cold; the landlady felt nothing else, only that the chill around her was intensifying.
Wen Ying didn't feel much. Her mind was originally focused on looking at this part of the street, but after hearing the landlady's words, she finally took a moment to seriously feel it.
"Auntie, if you're not feeling well, you don't have to go in. I'll help you bring out the Fox Spirit."
The landlady shook her head, "How can I be at ease with you going in alone? I'm old, every extra day I live is a blessing. Besides, that fox spirit is also part of my family; I can't just ignore it. As long as there's no mortal danger here, I have to stay with you."
In the end, Wen Ying didn't say anything.
There was no danger to her life, but they were afraid she might fall ill if she went out.
After all, the atmosphere here isn't very good.
The landlady looked at Wen Ying as if she were performing a magic trick, pulling out a piece of candy from her hand.