This is a world that has never been pure. In the world of the living, there are people who wander between law and crime. In the territory of the dead, there is also such a place that wanders in the gray area between yin and yang.
This place is the Yinren Inn, and the owner of the inn is called the ferryman.
The dead enter the Yinren Inn because they are obsessed and don't want to go to the underworld, so they avoid the Yin messenger here.
The living enter the Yinren Inn with unspeakable demands, either for wealth or for longevity.
But this is not a good place, it is a contract with the devil. Everything has a price. If you want to get it, you must pay. What you pay depends on the mood of the ferryman.
This is just a legend. I have seen it in the handwritten notes of an old ancestor. It was mentioned in passing without further explanation, especially about the ferryman, who was even more secretive. Only two words were used to describe it throughout the article - ruthless person.
I am very sure that I have definitely encountered this legendary place.
There are five ghost trees in front of the door, and the eaves are tilted upwards. If they don't receive rainwater, they receive the evil spirits from the sky. If I'm not mistaken, there should be 108 money swords stuck upside down in the ground, scattered all over the place. This is a typical Nine Yin Underground Palace. Who would dare to set up such a special trap to receive the dead if it's not the Yinren Inn? I had an inexplicable impulse before coming here, and it should be the attraction here!
After thinking about this, my face became extremely ugly.
"That kid, don't you go in and wait for death?"
The old man's lazy voice came, he turned his back to me, never looked back, and said to himself: "The ghost will come soon, you don't want to stand here, and then let me tell the ghost that I didn't see you? If you want to do this, it's okay, at most you can fight with the ghost, but you will be charged separately, I'm afraid your elders will be angry to death."
I made up my mind and turned to hide in the old building, making up my mind to let the old man contact my father at dawn. The ferryman never mentioned the requirements that the guests could not meet. Since he asked, it means that there must be some. For the time being, it is better to take the lesser of two evils than to have no descendants in the old Wei family.
The corridor was very dim, there was no light, only the oil lamps of the old society, and I didn't know what oil was added inside. The flames were actually pale green, with black smoke curling above, and the walls were covered with black ash.
I knew it was not a good place, so I didn't dare to stay. I hurried up the stairs covered with moss in the dark and soon found the room the old man mentioned.
The door was not locked. I pushed it gently and it opened. It was dark inside, and an unspeakable stench hit me. The smell was like a bunch of dead rats rotting together. It was a bit overwhelming after entering my nose. Even though I had become a paper man, I couldn't stand it. My legs were shaking from the fumes.
Squeak!
Suddenly, a door not far away opened.
A black thing poked out from the crack of the door. Under the pale green light of the oil lamp, I vaguely saw that it seemed to be a head, very small, like a dried orange, with its face facing me, and its facial features were almost squeezed together. It seemed to smile, and this smile finally separated its facial features. It was a man with a pointed chin and a monkey face, with a face full of green hair...
I shuddered all over. How could I dare to look at this guy? I didn't care about the smell in the room, I immediately went into the room and slammed the door shut.
The room was dark, I leaned against the door for a long time before I calmed down, and walked in tremblingly along the damp wall.
The layout here was really similar to that of a hotel, but more shabby. In the darkness, I vaguely saw a bed with messy bedding and an oil lamp at the head of the bed. However, I groped for a long time but couldn't find anything like matches, so I gave up and sat on the bed. I suddenly felt as if I was sitting on something, and there was a strange "puff" sound under my butt, which scared me and I jumped up immediately.
Chila!
The oil lamp at the head of the bed suddenly lit up, and the pale green flames jumped, illuminating the whole room.
When I saw the situation on the bed clearly, my head "buzzed" and I was stunned.
I don't know when there was an extra person on the bed.
To be precise, there was an extra ghost, curled up in the quilt, with only a head sticking out, and its scary long hair scattered all over the bed. My butt... just happened to sit on its head, and it smashed its head into pieces...
Although, I don't quite understand how a ghost's head can be broken...
Anyway, it was indeed broken, a large patch of colorful things, and an eyeball scattered next to it was still rolling around, as if looking at me...
The quilt was squirming, and a pale hand slowly stretched out, with its arm twisted at an angle that a living person could hardly imagine, gathering the smashed head together little by little...
"Ah!!!"
I was stiff all over, and a grown man screamed in extreme fear, turning around and running for his life without thinking, but the door seemed to be locked from the outside, and I couldn't push it open no matter what.
"Good brother, why are you running?"
A charming female voice suddenly came from behind me.
It's over...
I turned around little by little with my stiff body.
A female ghost in white was blocking me behind me, with long hair hanging down to her heels. Her face looked like porcelain glued together with broken pieces, with cracks all over like spider webs, and some places had signs of decay, which looked hideous no matter how you looked at it.
"Sister doesn't blame you, your head is indeed a little easy to break..."
The female ghost in white pinched her throat and tried to speak to me in a delicate tone, and she also gathered her hair in a "charming" way, and at the end she didn't forget to throw me a coquettish eye, but unfortunately her eyeballs fell out when she turned them, and she hurriedly caught them and pressed them back...
I really don't dare to experience this look!
Driven by a strong desire to survive, I gritted my teeth and smiled awkwardly: "Well... Sister, the owner said that no one lives in this house, so I came here. I didn't mean to offend..."
"Oh oh..."
The white-clothed female ghost responded vaguely, but her eyes were fixed on me, and she said nonchalantly: "I went out to do something, and when I came back, I didn't say hello. You don't need to explain, sister understands, blame that old thing for being too greedy."
I stammered: "If there is nothing else, I will leave now and won't disturb you..."
Whoosh!
The cold wind surged, and the white-clothed female ghost instantly floated in front of me, stretched out her pale and bloodless fingers and gently hooked my chin, and smiled: "Tsk tsk, the young man is really handsome, since you are here, why are you in a hurry to leave? Why don't you stay and accompany your sister?"
I seem to understand a little bit...
I am a paper man now! !
Paper figures are hot commodities down there. They are very pretty in the eyes of the dead. They are probably the best toys. Burning a paper figure is much more reliable than burning paper money. This is the real soul mate.
Looking at the "everyone understands" look of the white-clothed female ghost, I felt cold from head to toe. This female ghost is not a good person at all. Her head is broken, which is the appearance of death. She is definitely a fierce ghost who died violently. I sat on her head and smashed it into pieces, but she didn't kill me. This is obviously coveting "beauty"!
Probably because I didn't respond for a long time, the white-clothed female ghost's face darkened a little bit, and black air came out of her body. Her face became more and more hideous. Just when I was nervous, she suddenly turned her head and looked behind her, and said coldly: "Get out, I don't care what you are. Don't sell your little tricks here. I noticed you when you followed this boy into the door. If you don't want to die, get out of here. This boy belongs to me!"
Whoosh!
A gust of wind passed by my ears.
I was already stunned. From the ghost girl's words, I roughly understood that it seemed that... there was something following me all the time!
I thought of the thing I saw in a half-awake state. It was probably it!
While I was stunned, the ghost girl in white had dragged me into the room. She just grabbed my wrist, but her strength was so great that no matter how I struggled and screamed, it was useless. It was like holding a chick. In the end, she threw me onto the bed.
"Little brother, what are you afraid of such a happy thing?"
The ghost girl stood in front of the bed and chuckled, approaching me little by little.
Dong Dong Dong!
At this time, a knock on the door suddenly came.
"What are you arguing about?"
An old voice came from outside the door. It was the old man: "It's the middle of the night. If you don't sleep, others will. Go home and be quiet."
The ghost girl finally stopped. She was very angry. Black air was lingering around her. She turned her head and shouted at the door: "Old thing, I have been alone for so many years. Can't I find a companion? Get out of here!"
I was shocked. Who is this guy? He lives in the Yinren Inn and dares to challenge the ferryman?
Squeak!
The door opened.
Under the green firelight, the old man trembled and walked into the room, smiling and said: "You really want a companion, but I'm afraid you don't just want a companion, right?"
The female ghost "whoosh" stuck to the old man, almost face to face with the old man, and said word by word: "What do you mean?"
"Let's go, the things on this kid are not yours to take, and neither can I. Whoever touches him will die. Don't think of causing me a big cause and effect. I still want to get along."
The old man said expressionlessly: "I'm old and too lazy to practice with you. I just want to tell you that there are still some alive, not all dead!"
Whoosh!
The female ghost rushed out without looking back, and never said a word from beginning to end.
The old man smiled and prepared to leave.
These two people talked like a riddle. I didn't understand a word, but I vaguely guessed that I might be involved in a big thing, and it was definitely not a simple evil. How could I let this old man go? I called him and sorted out my thoughts. Then I said, "I know who you are. You can probably tell me what I do, otherwise you wouldn't ask my elders. Unfortunately, I am a half-baked ceremonial officer. I really don't understand. Can you tell me what happened to me? Can you save me? And... you just said that I have something on me? What is it?"
The old man didn't say anything. His eyes were gloomy under the green light. He stared at me for a long time before he finally sighed, "I really don't know anything. However, I dare not interfere in your affairs. Sleep here. Let your elders come to redeem me tomorrow, and then get out immediately. We are even."
This night was full of chaos. I was so scared that I was out of my mind. I wanted to continue to beg the old man, but unfortunately, he was very tight-lipped and really didn't say a word. In the end, I had no choice but to give up and said, "Can you help me contact my dad? I can't contact him now."
"We'll be able to contact you tomorrow. Have a good night's sleep. Let your father come to redeem you at dawn."
The old man laughed dryly and then said, "But, seeing how you are now, you may not be able to sleep. Hey, let me help you..."
Maybe he was annoyed by my pestering. He just said a few words in a hurry, then quickly reached out from his sleeve and slapped a yellow talisman on my forehead. I suddenly felt dizzy and fell backwards, and I didn't know anything...