s splashes everywhere. But when my body falls into the water now, it is like a piece of paper sinking into the water.I took deep breaths beforehand to hold my breath, but the moment I was surrounded b...This village should have been deserted long ago. A landslide buried half of it, and the remaining people moved out seven or eight years ago.

The remaining houses were all dilapidated and empty. Who put paper figures inside these dilapidated houses

I'm not very familiar with this traditional craft. In the old days, paper craftsmen would often take apprentices and teach them their skills as well as some taboos.

It is said that the eyes of paper figures cannot be dotted randomly, but as for the reason behind it, I have no idea.

Some of the paper figures were covered with plastic sheeting, while others wore drab old clothes. At least one such figure was placed in every empty house.

"Is this the custom here" I whispered.

"It's possible, maybe those who moved out put paper figures in their old homes." My brother was also quite curious about this.

He looked at several houses, and I stopped him from visiting any more.

"Stop looking, Jiang Qiyun told me there's something unusual in the gen position, let's hurry to the mountains northeast."

Not far down this mountain road, a small car was seen overturned in the roadside ditch. It was strange that there were some ashes of paper money around it.

There was nothing in the car, my brother made a gesture, and we continued eastward.

Ahead lay a large slope blocking the road, like a hill that had tumbled down. Over the years, the area buried by the landslide had grown wild with weeds.

"...Just thinking about people buried down there makes me afraid to step on it." My brother hesitated and climbed onto a stone, reaching out to pull me up.

"There are probably the bones of ancestors and some unfortunate souls down there... Shall we perform a ritual to absolve them So that none of the confused ones come to cause us trouble." I asked my brother what he meant.

My brother shrugged and said, "You've always been the one doing the spiritual cleansing. Since you have such a kind heart, hurry up and get it done. Hopefully we can bring the person back tonight."

I set up a small altar and performed the hand gestures for guiding spirits, softly chanting incantations.

"...Transcending the Three Realms is difficult, releasing five suffering of hell, all return to the Supreme Scripture. Quietly contemplate and bow in reverence. Nine Nether... Pulling out crimes Celestial Venerable."

Upon hearing the title bestowed upon Jiang Qiyun's deity, I involuntarily paused.

I'm really afraid he'll sense it again.

As the simple attunement device came to an end, I saw several points of flickering light appear in the darkness.

Ancestors have always valued death as rebirth. When life comes to an end, having descendants and relatives bury and mourn them is considered a blessing. Similarly, lonely ghosts without burial grounds or someone to collect their bodies are seen as a pitiful fate.

Faced with such natural and man-made disasters, it's hard to say what karmic debts individuals have incurred. Out of respect for the deceased, I want to do my best to liberate as many souls trapped beneath this massive grave as possible.

A gust of cold wind blew across the barren land, rustling the weeds on the slope, sending shivers down one's spine.

These untamed weeds have grown almost as tall as a person. With every gust of wind, they reveal a path trampled and bent by footsteps.

I saw a blurry apparition drifting towards me, so I threw out a small triangular talisman of exorcism and whispered, "You've drifted for many years, it's time to go where you belong. Take advantage of the fact that the Ghost Gate is wide open today, with only an hour or two left, leave quickly."

That ghost stood there blankly, for a long time, then shook his head and said: "No, no... My second sister-in-law still asked me to help set up the banquet. I have to go to her house tomorrow..."

This......

"She's not home, you don't have to wait." I didn't know how to comfort a bound spirit.

"Isn't this home..." The specter looked in our direction, and within those scattered empty houses and dilapidated dwellings, there were paper figures everywhere.

I started to have some doubts, and glanced at my brother.

These paper figures inside the empty houses, wearing old clothes of living people, with plastic sheeting still covering them outside... Could this be... deliberately made to look like "someone is still here", to keep these restless spirits confused and unable to distinguish between life and death

My brother raised his chin, indicating that there was a path there with footprints.

I don't have much time to slowly comfort these ghosts. After completing the exorcism, I summon the Ghost Gate and take these ghosts to the Underworld first. Let them gradually accept their own state there.

"Let's go, I feel like there might be some discoveries ahead. Those girls' car flipped onto the roadside, they must have climbed out. The slope isn't that steep, so they shouldn't be hurt, but for some reason, they didn't look back and just walked into the mountains." My brother pulled me forward at a brisk pace.

My left shoulder is still not very good, some places I can't climb up with one hand, and the speed of climbing is slow.

Although Jiang Qiyun pointed out the direction of Gen, Gen is a general direction and we don't know how far to go. We can't rush too fast for fear of missing any clues.

The local deity here is also poor, he can't even afford to send a ghost to help him. And I feel like this Earth God doesn't care about what happens here at all—the temple is buried, there are no offerings, and no people come to worship. He's just a lonely figure.

We are now standing on no solid ground, but rather a vast graveyard of earth and rubble left by a landslide. Every step we take fills me with unease, and a cold wind bites at the back of my neck.

My brother couldn't help but curse: "What a damn fool! Why did she have to come to this kind of place instead of going crazy somewhere else!"

After some thought, my brother continued to rant: "That wretched Chen Suixin, better marry off quickly and become a nuisance to another family. If she causes trouble again, I'll have to worry about it."

"Alright… I seem to have found feminine hygiene products again…" I saw another sanitary pad on the side of the road.

My brother used a baton to sweep the grass. I didn't know until I saw it, and my brother and I almost screamed.

There's a leg in the grass!

I couldn't smell any stench of decay, so my brother couldn't help himself. He dimmed the flashlight to the lowest setting and shone it past with his hand covering it.

It's a sneaker, with the socks still inside, like it was kicked off forcefully.

"My heart almost jumped out of my chest..." My brother gasped, turned off his flashlight, and whispered, "We need to hurry. It looks like these girls have been in trouble for three or four days now. We don't know if they're dead or alive."

I nodded and quickened my pace, the mountains to the northeast were just ahead.

Rustling...

A gust of wind blew by, and my brother quickly pulled me down to squat.

What's up

My brother made a shushing gesture.

A figure emerged from the grass, flattened by the wind.

Moving slowly, hunched over, as if gazing into the distance.

Could it be that we just turned on the flashlight and scared them away

Is this a human If it is, what are we afraid of—my brother's backpack full of contraband could give us an electric shock massage anytime.

Then, my brother moved his lips.

My body was inconvenient, I walked with a hunched back and carefully followed my brother.

When I got to the mountain at the Gen position, I stepped on something soft, feeling like a piece of unburnt paper money.

Looking down, the lump of something hadn't completely burned out. The outer layer was charred black, and inside, there was still a clump.

I crouched down and poked at it with my electric baton. It turned out to be a pile of clothes.

And, and most importantly, there's a pair of white lace underwear inside!

Things are looking grim.

A few words popped into my mind, and I looked at my brother anxiously.

My brother has already bolted out there—that dark figure over there, climbing on the rocks with both hands. Such a good opportunity, my brother rushed up and swung a stick at the figure’s waist.

"Ouch, damn it!" my brother exclaimed.

How could this be! He cried out in pain!

"Little Qiao, quick! This guy isn't normal—" is——he sent two old scholars who are experts in setting exam questions for civil service examinations to give me lessons.I almost choked on my own breath, I often hold my stomach and say that I can't...