Inn lobby.

The dim sky made the innkeeper light the oil lamp at the counter in advance.

The slightly dim light illuminated the simple wooden Buddhist altar placed on the side of the counter, facing the door of the inn.

A large open space was left around it, and only a futon was placed in front of the Buddhist niche.

Quite a few of the guests who come in and out of the inn will go straight here, kneeling on the futon all wet and muttering something to each other.

The light illuminated half of their faces, which were covered in rain-soaked hair.

The expressions vary, some are restless, some are sincerely pleading, or some are resentful...

In front of them is a copper tripod filled with incense sticks.

Gray-white smoke rises in a winding way, enveloping the Sandu Buddha statue that is said to be resistant to evil spirits.

There seemed to be tentacles passing by in the shadow behind the Buddhist niche, and whispers reached my ears, making it difficult to calm down.

bang bang

Patting his forehead lightly, forcing himself to get rid of the inexplicable fantasies in his mind, Yan Jing leaned against the pillar in the inn and continued to look at the Buddha statue.

When he first arrived, he didn't pay much attention to the Buddhist niche in the inn. Looking back now, he still didn't see the peculiarity of the Sandu Buddha statue.

There is neither a solemn treasure, nor gold casting or jade embellishment. What is enshrined in the Buddhist niche is just an ordinary wood carving. Even the carving work can only be said to be average, and the carving marks on the surface have not been processed.

Not to mention that there are almost no exquisite details in the entire Sandu Buddha statue. It just looks like a Buddha wearing a cassock and sitting cross-legged.

The carving of its head is particularly vague, as if the carver was unable to complete the work and could only carve out a rough outline.

But it is such a scrawled Buddha statue that is respected by the townspeople.

The treatment is just a little bit worse than those beings called Earth Immortals.

"I can't feel the special energy existing on the Buddha statue, and the negative state of wisdom eclipse has no signs of recovery."

Yu Zhen reminded softly on the side, doubting the role of the Sandu Buddha statue.

"Maybe it's not the time for it to take effect yet. The real danger period for Jingjiang Town will be after Youshi."

Yan Jing shrugged. He also didn't understand where the power of the Buddha statue was hidden.

"Maybe it will be different in the evening..."

It was still daylight on the first day, and the weirdos were not very active. The two I encountered during this trip could not even be recognized by the torch.

The former is just a clone, and the rat-faced man is a monster formed by temporary catalytic mutation.

The task given by the torch described killing at least three weird or evil spirits, which obviously cannot be dealt with by just a few cats and dogs.

"Sir, your dishes have been served. Do you want drinks?"

The waiter held a plate of scrambled eggs in his hand and bowed to ask. Yan Jing turned around to answer when he saw Zhao Qianwu and Yu Ke appearing at the door.

Both of their clothes were a little messy, with large sewage stains, and there was a cut in the sleeve of Yu Ke's left arm. It was obvious that he had experienced battle.

The sky is getting darker in the afternoon.

The wind and rain still show no sign of letting up, the branches and leaves of the trees are rustling, and many stalls on the street have been turned over.

Pedestrians were coming and going in a hurry on the street, and most of the foreigners entering and leaving the inn were soaked to the skin. They walked into the lobby with their arms folded, hiding from the heavy rain curtain, and managed to catch their breath with the dim lights in the inn.

The steaming food was placed on the wooden table by the window on the right side of the inn. When Yu Zhen chose the seat, he deliberately avoided the crowded lobby.

The accommodation conditions in the inn for foreigners are extremely shabby, and the food is naturally not much better. Fortunately, the four people are not very demanding. They just want to fill their stomachs. The most important thing is to exchange information.

"The negative state of intellectual erosion...it seems that you have already noticed it."

As soon as he sat down, Zhao Qianwu mentioned the issue of intellectual erosion. Seeing that Yan Jing and Yu Zhen did not show any surprise on their faces, he continued,

"Yu Ke and I discovered a strange willow tree during the investigation, and we worked together to solve the problem. As long as we come into contact with weird or evil spirits, or things related to them, our mental state will continue to change. deterioration."

"The abnormal state shown by the people of Jingjiang Town when faced with those weird things is most likely because their sanity has been affected by intellectual erosion and has dropped to an extremely low level. It just looks normal on the surface."

Yu Ke picked up the porcelain bowl and took a sip of wine, frowned, put the bowl aside, and added,

"In other words, if intellectual erosion continues to worsen, we will no longer be limited to seeing illusions, but there is also a high possibility of mental abnormalities, especially when facing weirdness... Ha, this is "

“I think it’s those absurd, indescribable weird events that impact or pollute our will, just like horror movies can make timid people have terrifying associations with the surrounding environment. Now we are in the midst of a terrorist incident. , what we are facing is not a fierce ghost, but a more special existence!"

Yu Zhen returned from the county government and has tried many methods to relieve the negative state, but all have failed, so he said straightforwardly.

With the level of combat power of the four people here, ordinary evil ghosts would simply seek death if they came in front of them.

Only weird things that are difficult to fathom using common sense can have an impact on them with the help of the current environment in Jingjiang Town.

"We must seize the time to complete the main task, and at the same time, it is best to find ways to alleviate the intellectual erosion. With the current situation, once the third day of the Zhongyuan Ghost Festival arrives, I am afraid that the situation in the town will be worse than we imagined. "

Yan Jing opened his mouth to remind.

Although they have not yet been able to figure out the source of this negative state, one thing is certain: when the data of intellectual erosion falls below a certain limit, it will inevitably begin to affect their sanity, thereby weakening their combat effectiveness.

“The pagoda in Jingjiang Town!”

Zhao Qianwu and Yu Zhen spoke in unison, and immediately they were both a little surprised. The former asked,

"Have you also found out?"

"The lunar eclipse mentioned in the background of the event broke out in the first year of Dashun, which was twelve years ago. The county annals in the Jingjiang government clearly recorded that on the night of the lunar eclipse, there was an earthquake around the pagoda. After that , strange things began to appear in the town.”

Taking out her notes, Yu Zhen used as simple sentences as possible to describe the information she and Yan Jing collected.

"Not only that, there has been an eminent monk inside the pagoda since 12 years ago, who specializes in carving Sandu Buddha. Several of them are sent out every few months. These Buddha statues are quite effective in suppressing evil spirits and weirdness. I have There is reason to suspect that the pagoda at this time is related to suppressing these monsters!"

On the way back, Yu Zhen discussed this matter with Yan Jing.

If the Three Crossing Buddha is indeed effective, then the eminent monk who carved it must have mastered some key means.

"Yes, Yu Ke and I also noticed this clue, but we learned about it through the people around the pagoda. We had observed the pagoda closely. The strange thing is that the government sent a special guard to seal it.

The front door does not allow anyone to come in to pay a visit, and there is also a dedicated person responsible for delivering meals, and this situation has been going on for many years!"

The two of them exchanged words with each other, and the benefits of splitting up at this time became apparent. Each of the two parties had obtained some information about the pagoda. Now that they have joined together, they will have a more comprehensive understanding of its situation.

The four people quickly reached an agreement in this regard, that is, they would go to the pagoda in the afternoon to find out what was going on inside.

"One more thing, He Bo will get married tonight. This is an opportunity that is very close at hand..."

Speaking of the special incident that she had discovered earlier, Yu Zhen was about to explain the situation when a shout from the door of the inn interrupted her words.

"It's a disaster. Someone died at the county government office, the archives room was burned to the ground, and the officials are coming to us."

The ragged middle-aged man gasped and shouted.

Zhao Qianwu and Yu Ke immediately looked at the other two people.

"While we were checking the files, Shu Zuo suddenly mutated into a rat-faced man."

Yu Zhen first explained, then looked at Yan Jing and asked,

"We should have blown out the oil lamp when we came out. Are there other reasons that could cause an accidental fire?"

"That was a murderer. He killed half of the people in the county government, and finally walked away from the main entrance in a swaggering manner!"

The man behind was still talking about what he heard from the official.

"It's not us who killed people and burned down the archives, obviously to block the information inside..."

"Don't think about it, it must be He Jianbing. Killing people, setting fires, destroying corpses and destroying traces. This is his usual method in this world!"

Zhao Qianwu's tone was determined.

The Torch's important consideration in choosing an Ember Apostle is obviously not moral standards.

Unlike Yan Jing and Yu Zhen, who subconsciously follow some moral principles that ordinary people should have when acting, He Jianbing, who is himself a wanted criminal, is a lawless existence in this world, let alone in otherworldly events where he may die at any time.

.

There are no taboos in doing anything!

"Let's go, leave here and go to the pagoda immediately."

Yan Jing stood up suddenly, looked at Zhao Qianwu and said in a deep voice.

When the other three heard this, they quickly understood what Yan Jing meant and put down their bowls and chopsticks.

Since Yan Jing and Yu Zhen were able to find the information they wanted through the archives, He Jianbing could do the same. He must have also seen the strange corpses on the ground. Not only did he not hide them, but he deliberately killed people and set them on fire, causing the government to counterattack and come to other places.

Neighborhoods where people live together.

You must know that there was someone watching outside the door when Yan Jing and the two entered!

If found by the government, the latter would not care whether the fire was caused by Yan Jingfang, and an interrogation would be inevitable.

At that time, there will be only two options left in front of Yan Jing and the others, resistance and compromise. No matter which one they choose in the end, they will be put into an unfavorable situation and waste their already tense time.

This will give He Jianbing an advantage.

If he found the monk in the pagoda first, the consequences would be disastrous!

Without any delay, Zhao Qianwu, who knew the location of the pagoda, grabbed the bamboo hat next to him and walked straight out.

When the wind and rain are strong, there is no need to hold an umbrella.

The four of them all changed into coir raincoats and bamboo hats. Yan Jing and Yu Zhen bought two sets through the shopkeeper after returning to the inn.

Stepping out of the threshold of the inn, leaving the place barely covered by candlelight.

The world is dark.

(
Chapter completed!