Without a doubt.
Pingâan Ancient Town exudes a sense of eeriness everywhere.
The ghost street that doesnât exist in reality, the shrine for the dead, the women washing clothes by the river at night.
Yang Jian, Leuk San, Li Jun, and others have noticed something unusual, but they all tacitly chose not to investigate further because they still need to handle the Ghost Lake incident and donât want to spend too much time and energy elsewhere.
It was already eleven-thirty at night.
Half an hour left until midnight.
âAh Hong, inform Yang Jian and Leuk San to come here for a meeting; they canât keep wandering off on their own.â
At this moment, Li Jun showed a rather strong-willed attitude, wanting to gather everyone together.
âOkay.â Ah Hong nodded in agreement without much thought.
Soon.
Yang Jian and Leuk San received the text message.
At this moment, they were still lingering in the shrine, investigating the situation while also searching for the blind old man.
âLooks like we donât have time to find that person, Li Jun asked us to meet up, saying we need to officially enter the Ghost Lake through the connection point.â
Yang Jian walked out from a corner of the shrine, still holding that paper boat in his hand.
Leuk San stood in the center of the shrine, slowly turning his head: âIâve found traces, heâs here, he never left this shrine, Iâm sure of it, itâs just that everything here has been hidden.â
âForget it, investigate later after we return, right now we have to deal with the Ghost Lake incident.â Yang Jian turned around and left.
âWhat a pity, just a little bit short.â Leuk San said.
He seemed to have other paper figures investigating and making progress, just needing a bit more time.
Yang Jian said; âTaiping Ancient Town has been here for so many years, a little while wonât matter, the person guarding this shrine wonât be able to leave, youâre too anxious, it seems that the existence of that paper shop is weighing on your mind, so you want to urgently understand everything here, am I right? Leuk San?â
Leuk San looked at Yang Jian in silence.
âYou really want to get to the bottom of your own supernatural matters, I understand that.â
Yang Jian said: âIf you want to stay here, itâs okay, I wonât accompany you to linger.â
After speaking, he walked out of the shrine.
The next moment.
He appeared at the abandoned ferry of the ancient town.
Nearby.
Shen Lin, Li Jun, and Ah Hong had already been waiting here.
âLeuk San didnât come?â Li Jun immediately asked.
Yang Jian said: âIâm not his dad, I canât control when heâll come, but even if he does, he might not be of much help, maybe just another paper figure, and I havenât confronted Leuk San yet, I donât know what kind of supernatural powers he has mastered.â
These captains are all mysterious, you donât know what kind of ghost they control until youâve dealt with them.
Take Wang Chaling for example, a regular person who controls four ghosts, and they are his former parents and grandparents.
âBesides, Shen Lin, I donât know your ability either, if thereâs a chance, Iâd like to learn more.â Yang Jian looked at Shen Lin again.
âCaptain Yang wouldnât be interested in me.â
Shen Lin smiled and said; âBecause understanding my past is a very dangerous thing, it could cause death, Captain Yang just needs to know that Iâm on the Headquartersâ side, and Iâm a colleague, a comrade-in-arms with everyone.â
âThatâs not necessarily true.â Yang Jian said.
âTimeâs almost up.â
Li Jun came over at this moment: âShen Lin, will the situation you mentioned really occur?â
Shen Lin responded knowingly: âMemory doesnât lie, I believe itâs true, but when it comes to paranormal matters, no one can say for sure.â
âItâs getting foggy.â Suddenly, Ah Hong reminded coldly.
It was late at night.
A thin fog appeared over the river crossing the ancient town, the fog gathered and didnât dissipate but gradually thickened.
âIs it related to Feng Quan?â Li Jun looked at Yang Jian.
âItâs not the Ghost Fog, Ghost Fog is much more severe, the previous speculation was correct, this is indeed a connection point to some supernatural place, the appearance of the fog is just a paranormal phenomenon, and this paranormal phenomenon is intensifying.â
Yang Jianâs ghost eyes peered, he saw things distorting within the thick fog, the riverway was no longer a riverway, but an unknown supernatural place was gradually connecting to reality.
Splash!
Subsequently, ripples appeared on the calm riverâs surface, accompanied by the sound of waves.
Looking upstream.
At the end of the thick fog on the river, a dim yellow light appeared.
The light flickered unsteadily, revealing upon nearing that it was an oil lamp.
The oil lamp was placed on an old wooden boat.
The wooden boat drifted downstream, empty, but slowly approached the ferry and silently stopped beside it.
This scene was witnessed by everyone.
Eerie,
Incomprehensible.
âThrough this boat, we can enter the Ghost Lake.â
Shen Lin said: âBut there may be some anomalies along the way, which could pose dangers.â
âWhere did this boat come from?â Ah Hong was curious and wanted to investigate the source.
âJust like the supernatural bus, no one knows.â Yang Jian said.
âRight at midnight, letâs board, weâre heading to the Ghost Lake.â Li Jun said, taking the lead and stepping onto the wooden boat.
A person of his size stepped onto the boat.
The boat was remarkably stable, not shaking at all.
âLetâs go.â Yang Jian didnât back down; since he came, he naturally wouldnât act like a coward.
He carried the long spear and boarded the ship.
Shen Lin was silent, just smiled slightly and also boarded.
Ah Hong followed closely behind.
However, even after they boarded the ship, it remained docked at the pier, unmoved, and did not drift downstream, still anchored at its original spot.
âYang Jian, let me use that long spear of yours,â Li Jun said.
âWhy?â
âOf course, to row the boat,â Li Jun said, âOr are we just going to keep sitting here waiting?â
Yang Jian said, âThis thing is not for rowing the boat, itâs a supernatural item.â
âIn my memory, this boat doesnât need human control; it will advance along a certain route, but I donât know why this time is different from what I remember,â Shen Lin said.
âBecause taking the boat requires payment; without money, the boat wonât take us.â Suddenly, Leuk Sanâs voice emerged from the shore. He was late but still arrived in time.
âPayment? It shouldnât be traditional money,â Shen Lin squinted his eyes; âSome specific supernatural item?â
âCorrect,â Leuk San said, âThis is new information Iâve acquired.â
The reason for his tardiness was due to being delayed by some matters.
âWithout that special currency, the boat canât take us to Ghost Lake,â Leuk San stated.
âSpecial currency?â
Yang Jianâs heart tightened as he immediately thought of the seven yuan bill he had left in his possession.
âYou mean this money, right?â he said, pulling it out and showing it to others.
âThis isâŠâ The others stared at the colorful bill in Yang Jianâs hand.
Clearly, it was a counterfeit bill.
As fake as a seven yuan bill could get.
It wasnât meant for spending on people, more like something burned for ghosts.
âHow do you have such money?â Leuk San was startled, âAnd itâs even a large denomination seven yuan bill.â
âEncountering strange things often enough brings odd items into your possession, nothing strange about it,â Yang Jian said, âDo you study paper money?â
âI know a bit, but how this currency came to be, I donât know. I only know that paper currency has some special uses and the larger the denomination, the rarer it is. Typically, it comes in three, four, and seven yuan denominations. Seven yuan is the largest denomination, and there are very few left existing now,â Leuk San explained.
âIn certain situations, you must have such money; without it, the boat canât carry us to Ghost Lake.â
Leuk San said as he jumped aboard, âLet me borrow the money for a bit.â
Yang Jian frowned but handed him the seven yuan bill.
Leuk San took the money and immediately lit it on the oil lamp at the bow.
The paper money instantly burned.
A cold wind swept up, swirling the paper ashes into a whirlpool.
The air was thick with the smell of ashes, but everything soon scattered, all the ashes disappeared, blown away to some unknown location.
The old black wooden boat began to bob gently.
The ship left the pier and drifted slowly downstream.
âThe boat moved.â
Li Junâs expression tightened, âAs Leuk San said, payment is needed for the ride.â
âYang Jian, here you go.â Leuk San said, handing the paper money back to Yang Jian.
The bill was now smaller, as Leuk San burned a ring of it.
However, the remaining smaller note had transformed.
No longer seven yuan, but three yuan.
Identical to the three yuan note Yang Jian received from the mask stall earlier.
âSeven yuan became three yuan, meaning four yuan was spent? Yet we have five people, and spent four yuan, it doesnât add up.â
Yang Jian didnât mind paying the boat fee, casting his gaze over the others, the change was odd.
âNot everyone needs to pay the boat fee; the boat canât demand payment from ghosts. Perhaps one of us five was judged as a ghost,â Leuk San stated.
âWho was judged as a ghost?â
Yang Jian squinted his eyes, looking at Li Jun and Leuk San, then Shen Lin.
Anyone of Captain Level is peculiar; itâs possible any of them could be judged a ghost.
âThat I donât know,â Leuk San said.
No one knew which of the five was truly the ghost.
âSince the boat has moved, thereâs no point dwelling on this.â Li Jun said, âWe should be cautious now; there are too many strange things here.â
The group spoke no more, leaving the eerie topic behind.
The boat floated downstream, swaying leisurely.
But the people aboard felt no shaking, the boat was extraordinarily stable.
Moreover, as the boat left the pier, they noticed thick fog enveloping the river surroundings, buildings appeared faintly visible, but peculiar contours were unfamiliar, not belonging to Taiping Ancient Town.
The surroundings grew increasingly unfamiliar.
Even the small river widened, surpassing any widths seen before.
This change didnât occur suddenly, but gradually evolved as the boat drifted.
In just over ten minutes.
They realized they were on a strange, eerie river.
This was no longer reality.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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