Before Chen Mo could react, Xie Dong had grabbed him and shoved him down to his knees by the roadside.
Qiulan and Ma Tie seemed to have realized what was happening long ago. They, too, knelt by the roadside.
Lying facedown on the ground, Chen Mo turned to look. The merchants on either side of the road, along with the shop assistants inside the stores, had all put down what they were doing and hurriedly knelt, their faces full of reverence.
Chen Mo couldn't help feeling curious.
Was all this really necessary?
And besides... he couldn't see any Red Lantern Attendant.
Seeing Chen Mo glance around, Qiulan secretly tugged at his sleeve and whispered a warning. "Young Master, don't look around. You'll offend Goddess Hong Deng. That red glow up ahead is her."
Qiulan's warning was so urgent, and Chen Mo was already so unsettled by this world, that he lowered his head. But curiosity got the better of him, and he still stole a glance in the direction Qiulan was pointing.
Far off in the dim gorge, a scarlet glow shone.
It looked terrifying.
At first, the light was far away. Slowly, it drew closer.
Hmm?
Was that light moving?
Chen Mo's eyes widened.
Before long, the red glow had come closer. Only then could Chen Mo make it out...
It wasn't a red glow at all.
It was plainly a red sedan chair with a red lantern hanging from it.
Four women in red skirts carried the sedan chair, hopping along as if it weighed nothing. A red-robed Daoist walked beside them, holding a red Running Horse Lantern in one hand and a bell in the other.
As the Daoist shook the bell, it rang out with a strange "jingling" sound.
That sound...
Chen Mo knew it well.
When he'd been nailed inside the wooden altar in the Ancestral Hall, the sound of that bell had roused him. At first, Chen Mo had thought it was Li Yuanlong, that yellow-robed Daoist, ringing it. But later, he'd seen Li Yuanlong perform rituals several times and never once spotted a bell in his hands.
Chen Mo had found it puzzling at the time, but hadn't thought much of it. He'd figured he simply hadn't seen the yellow-robed Daoist shaking the bell.
Now, hearing that sound... Chen Mo suddenly realized.
Could it be that the one who had roused him back then... hadn't been Li Yuanlong?
Could it have been Goddess Hong Deng?
But no Red Lantern Attendant had ever come to the Chen Family Ancestral Hall...
Could Goddess Hong Deng also have something to do with his transmigration?
At the thought, Chen Mo felt a chill of dread.
"Jingling~"
The red-robed Daoist kept shaking the bell, its piercing notes ringing out, while he chanted in a hoarse, low voice:
"Living, scatter; wild ghosts, hide.
The Hanged Ghost of East Ridge, the Drowned Girl of West Ditch, the Headless Guest of South Slope, the Bone Immortal of North Cliff.
The Empress holds the Midnight Ledger; let no living thing block the road to the Yellow Springs!
Should mountain spirits poke their heads out, we'll skin them for lanterns; should wandering souls dare block the sedan, iron chains will pierce their bones as they howl..."
At this point, the red-robed Daoist suddenly lowered his voice and called out in a strange, sing-song tone:
"Hee-hee... did you all hear that?"
Hiss!
Chen Mo's scalp prickled. It felt as if the red-robed Daoist had seen right through him, and his heart pounded wildly. When the sedan chair drew a little closer, Chen Mo finally saw:
The four red-skirted women carrying it weren't alive at all. They were Paper Figures.
Real Paper Figures.
They looked much like the Paper Figures he'd seen earlier in the Chen Family Ancestral Hall.
Paper Figures could move?
Even more horrifying, one of the female Paper Figures actually spoke, its voice as clear and high as a baby's:
"Those in debt, return as souls! Those whose lifespans are spent, report for roll call!
That Old Life-Stealing Woodcutter... hiding in the pickle jar behind the Mountain God Temple?
The bloody fingernails on the rim... still fresh, are they?
Tomorrow... whose Kitchen God will go without a family reunion dinner?"
Hearing that voice, Chen Mo's heart lurched. His bones tingled and ached, and he curled tightly in on himself.
The first female Paper Figure had spoken, and the other three spoke in turn, all with the exact same babyish voices, spouting ghostly words Chen Mo had never heard before. As the red sedan chair passed him, a dense, bone-chilling cold swept over him, making him feel as if he'd fallen into an ice cellar.
What Chen Mo found even harder to bear was that the red-robed Daoist glared at him ominously.
That single glance felt as if it had pierced right through his heart and guts.
Chen Mo was terrified.
Fortunately, the red-robed Daoist only looked at him for a moment before turning his gaze away and continuing onward.
"Jingling~"
The red-robed Daoist shook the bell again and intoned in that strange voice, "I patrol the mountains on the Empress's behalf. The faithful who kneel will be blessed; mountain spirits and ghosts won't dare come near. And who might you be but Old Master Li of the Li family... why aren't you kneeling to the Empress?"
Chen Mo followed the sound and saw, sure enough, a disheveled old man standing at the crossroads, blocking the red sedan chair.
Could this be Old Master Li, the one Xie Dong had mentioned?
Just then, the disheveled old man suddenly rushed toward the red sedan chair, ranting like a madman. "Give me back my daughter! Give me back my daughter!"
"Heh heh heh."
The red-robed Daoist chuckled sinisterly. "Your daughter has ascended to heaven. Why cling to worldly matters? You've disturbed the Empress's mountain patrol. Today, we'll turn you into a lantern to light her way~"
As soon as the words fell, the red-robed Daoist did nothing special. He simply raised a hand and patted the old man on the forehead. The old man went as if possessed, hunching over woodenly as he took the Running Horse Lantern from the Daoist and went ahead to lead the way.
"Jingling~"
The Daoist shook the bell as he repeated the same chant.
"Living, scatter; wild ghosts, hide.
The Hanged Ghost of East Ridge, the Drowned Girl of West Ditch, the Headless Guest of South Slope, the Bone Immortal of North Cliff.
The Empress holds the Midnight Ledger; let no living thing block the road to the Yellow Springs..."
The red sedan chair and its procession went farther and farther away. At last, only a red glow remained, receding into the dim gorge until it vanished from sight.
Thump.
Chen Mo collapsed to the ground, as if all the soul and strength had been drained from his body. Fine beads of sweat ran down his forehead, soaking his undershirt and underwear.
Suddenly, a hand seized Chen Mo's wrist.
Chen Mo jumped, his whole body shuddering. He looked up... and saw Xie Dong. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Xie Dong shook his head and smiled. "You don't leave the city much, so you haven't seen many Red Lantern Attendants. No wonder you're nervous. The Empress is very kind, actually. She works tirelessly to protect the people of Honghe County. Without Goddess Hong Deng's protection, Honghe County would have fallen into chaos long ago."
Chen Mo nodded again and again, agreeing aloud, but thinking to himself: Could a Goddess Hong Deng like that really be kind enough to protect the people of an entire region?
Why did it all feel so wrong?
Xie Dong, however, was used to this sort of thing and wasn't alarmed. He simply said, "All right, enough talk. Let's get to the Li Family Residence and buy you some Qi and Blood Pills. We need to get back to the city before dark, or we might run into an Evil Spirit."
Chen Mo wanted to leave this ghostly place as soon as possible, so he agreed.
Following Xie Dong through a maze of twisting paths, they finally reached an old residence on the edge of the Gorge Black Market.
The gorge was already poorly lit, and two towering Century-Old Pines stood by the entrance, their thick branches and leaves blocking what little light there was. The old residence seemed dim and gloomy. Moss and ivy covered the stone walls, and an abandoned old well nearby made the place even more chilling.
Xie Dong patted Chen Mo on the shoulder. "The Li family doesn't receive strangers. I came here with Third Uncle a few times when I was younger, so I know them well enough. Wait here, and don't wander off. I'll go inside and announce us."
After leaving them with those words, Xie Dong went into the old residence. Only Chen Mo, Qiulan, and Ma Tie remained at the entrance.
Chen Mo had thought Xie Dong would be out quickly, but they waited a long time without seeing him. A strange fatigue came over Chen Mo, so he found a clean stone nearby and sat down.
"Qiulan, go buy some meat and flatbreads for us to eat."
Qiulan nodded and hurried away with small steps.
Chen Mo instructed Ma Tie, "Ma Tie, something feels off about this place. Keep an eye on our surroundings."
Ma Tie nodded.
And so Chen Mo sat and waited quietly.
Qiulan still hadn't returned after a long while, and a wave of drowsiness swept over Chen Mo. He glanced at Ma Tie, who stood beside him with a saber, and didn't feel too worried. He dozed off for a moment, then woke with a start at a sudden chill.
He shivered instinctively. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw mist rising all around them.
The air didn't circulate well in the gorge, so the occasional fog was normal. Chen Mo didn't think much of it. He got up and looked around, spotting someone crouched beside the old well not far away, half their body leaning into it as they fished for something.
The mist was thick; he couldn't make out the person clearly.
Thinking it was Ma Tie, Chen Mo called, "Ma Tie, what are you fishing for?"
There was no reply.
Chen Mo figured he hadn't called loudly enough and called Ma Tie's name twice more.
Still no answer.
Growing more curious, Chen Mo approached slowly, staying alert.
With every step closer, he felt another wave of icy chill.
When he got close, he saw it wasn't Ma Tie at all. It was a person with disheveled hair, dressed in tattered white clothes, and reeking of a foul, fishy stench.
Hiss!
Chen Mo sucked in a sharp breath.
Where was Ma Tie?
Just then, the disheveled figure stopped fishing around in the well. Slowly, it drew its upper body back and turned to look at Chen Mo.
Chen Mo saw a withered old face, lined with wrinkles.
It was Old Master Li—the very one who had blocked Goddess Hong Deng's sedan chair earlier, and whom the red-robed Daoist had turned into a lantern.
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