Merchant of the Underworld

The next day, when Yin Xinyue and I went to have breakfast on the first floor of the hotel, Li Mazi and Wang Xun'er were already full and chatting happily.

When she saw us coming, she immediately left Li Mazi and greeted me warmly!

Yin Xinyue was beside me, so I didn't want to respond too obviously, so I just squeezed out a smile as a response.

Yin Xinyue and I had just sat down when Wang Xun'er said to me like a treasure: "Brother Zhang, I have found a guide. He will come over later! Let's go together then."

"Okay." I looked at Wang Xun'er in surprise. I didn't expect this little girl to be so efficient at work, and she could think of some things ahead. This really made me overjoyed. I originally thought that bringing a noble young lady would cause a lot of trouble, but now it seems that Xun'er has not become a trouble for us, but has been of great help to us.

Just after breakfast, the guide she mentioned arrived.

This guide is an authentic Fujianese. His dark square face reveals the unique shrewdness of southerners. He is not tall but has thick hands and calves. It can be seen that he has been through wind and rain.

Wang Xun'er gave us a brief introduction. The guide's name is He Yongfu. He is a native of Fujian. He has more than ten years of travel experience and once traveled alone through the Amazon rainforest.

Wang Xun'er also said that He Yongfu's aunt was a resident of Yinren Village. When he was a child, he went to Yinren Village with his aunt, so he knew the way to Yinren Village.

Just when we were thinking about whether to rent a car? Wang Xun'er showed off her extraordinary ability to do things again. After a phone call, a seven-seater commercial vehicle drove up to us half an hour later.

Li Mazi and I gave Wang Xun'er a thumbs up.

Under the guidance of He Yongfu, our group headed south. After driving for twelve hours, we finally entered the Lingnan Mountains. At this time, a blurry moon had already hung on the treetops.

The mountainous area of ​​Lingnan has high humidity, lots of snakes, insects, rats and ants, and there is a lot of miasma in the forest. Driving on the forest road at night, even though it is midsummer, there is an unstoppable chill.

This makes the ancient Lingnan area a bit more mysterious.

He Yongfu took out a few banana leaves from his backpack and gave one to each of us. He said to us: "Hit your whole body with banana leaves, and no dirty things will come near!"

Li Mazi chuckled and was about to refute He Yongfu, but I stopped him in time.

Although Li Mazi and I both have magic weapons to protect us, and Li Mazi's yin-yang umbrella and my ghost-killing double sword are much more reliable than this banana leaf, I understand the principle of doing as the Romans do. Besides, He Yongfu's good intentions cannot offend others.

The four of us followed He Yongfu's example and slapped our shoulders with banana leaves.

The car continued to drive forward, and in the confused night ahead, there seemed to be countless wandering ghosts wailing...

Xinyue leaned on my shoulder with some fear, and I felt inexplicably irritable, so I hugged her to rest.

On the other hand, He Yongfu, although he took out the banana leaves, he seemed to be still scared and kept swallowing his saliva.

Li Mazi couldn't stand it anymore, so he took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to He Yongfu: "Brother He, would you like one?"

"No, no, no." He Yongfu waved his hand quickly: "Thank you, I don't smoke."

The car's headlights emitted a dazzling light in the dark night, attracting many mosquitoes and small flying insects.

Of course, under the hazy night, from time to time there were groups of white mist flashing by. He Yongfu thought it was the mist in the mountains, but in fact it was the lonely ghosts nearby!

"Damn, do all female ghosts like to wear white clothes?" Li Mazi said impatiently, blowing out a puff of smoke.

I nodded: "Yes, with a sense of resentment."

Li Mazi yawned boredly: "Damn, every female ghost who refuses to be reincarnated is full of resentment, okay?"

Yin Xinyue's trembling voice came from the back seat: "Husband, what are you talking about? What kind of female ghost? What white clothes? In the middle of the night, these monsters are scary."

Wang Xun'er said unsurprisingly: "Sister Xinyue, don't be afraid. There are many things more powerful than this. For example, every July 15th, there are mountain ghosts carrying blue lanterns along the road looking for substitutes. Or skinning Ghosts like to tear off pretty girls’ faces and stick them on their own faces, etc..."

I smiled bitterly and shook my head. I was sure Wang Xun'er did it on purpose. How is this comforting? It's clearly a threat.

However, maybe the banana leaves really played a role. We encountered many ghosts along the way, but none of them dared to come close to cause trouble.

He Yongfu listened to the conversation between Li Mazi and I and said in a trembling voice: "Two brothers, we have a rule in rural Fujian. It's called 'Don't talk about people during the day, don't talk about gods at night', otherwise you will attract dirty things. .”

"Brother He, what do you mean by 'talking about people every day and talking about gods at night'?" Although Wang Xun'er was born in a family of ghosts, she didn't understand the taboos among the people.

He Yongfu took a heavy breath and said: "No chatting about people during the day, which means don't speak ill of others during the day. Chatting about gods at night means don't discuss ghosts at night." At this point, He Yongfu's voice suddenly dropped: " In our countryside, ghosts are called gods."

"Ghosts are just ghosts."

Wang Xun'er pouted and said, "Why do you call me a god? By calling me this way, you are not afraid that the gods in the sky will be unhappy and punish you with a small disaster?"

"Hey, my little ancestor." He Yongfu was so anxious that he stretched out his hand to cover Wang Xun'er's mouth: "Why do you keep talking more and more energetically? Spit three times quickly, hurry up."

Wang Xun'er nimbly dodged He Yongfu's hand, tilted her head and looked out the window without saying a word. Obviously, she was upset by He Yongfu's actions.

There was silence in the car for a while...

The fog ahead was getting thicker and thicker. Even with the headlights turned on, the visibility was only less than one meter. I turned to look at He Yongfu in the back seat: "Brother He, is there a place to live nearby?"

He Yongfu frowned and thought for a moment and said: "No, this is the entrance to the Lingnan Mountains. It used to be a bare mountain. During the Cultural Revolution, in order to build roads and make steel, the mountain was split from the middle. It was done forcefully. A small road.”

"The older generation said that when the mountain was being cut, a giant python ran out. There were dark clouds, lightning and thunder. The workers said that they offended the gods in the mountain, so the mountain gods sent the giant python to stop the project! Later, the leader of the Red Guards who presided over the construction of this road said that the new society did not believe in ghosts and monsters, so he ordered an excavator to cut off the python in half. According to the older generation, the python had its eyes wide open before it died. Staring hard at those who killed it..."

Wang Xun'er snorted coldly and said: "There are so many legends in the world, maybe they are rumors. If that giant python is really spiritual, it should turn into a ghost after death and kill those Red Guards."

He Yongfu quickly said "Bah, bah, bah" three times, and stopped him: "Miss Wang, why are you getting more and more energetic with your talk? There are some things that you would rather believe than not. Hurry, spit three times quickly. "

Wang Xun'er seemed to hate He Yongfu's timidity. She turned her head to look out the window and ignored him.