"This house seems to be open, so that's the one," the Taoist priest didn't listen to what he was saying at all, and pointed at that house, "Go, go, go."
Luo Jiutian was pushed into the courtyard by the Taoist priest. The Taoist priest looked at Luo Jiutian's tiptoeing back, pursed his lips and smiled, bent down and put down the axe, moved his hands in his arms, and took out two talismans.
The Taoist Master held two talismans in his hands, clasped his palms together, chanted something in his mouth, and then separated his palms. The two talismans burned in his palms, and soon turned into two masses of dust. The Taoist Master put the two piles of dust together into the palm of his right hand.
When he scratched it with his left index finger, the dust instantly turned back into a charm.
It just turned into a charm.
The Taoist priest tore the talisman in half, bent down and placed one half on the steps at the entrance of the farmhouse. When he straightened up, Luo Jiutian ran out of the house with a red face.
He looked at the Taoist priest with half annoyance and trotted out of the farmyard.
The half of the talisman just happened to be stepped on by him and disappeared.
"The person inside didn't pay any attention to me," Luo Jiutian seemed to be complaining, "It's just like during the day, no reaction at all."
"That's right," the Taoist leader nodded seriously, "then there's nothing we can do. Let's walk around. The village is so big anyway."
"Are you sure that the ancestral hall is still there? Lianshui Village has been burned to this point, so the ancestral hall should also be a wooden structure..."
"As long as the incinerator remains."
"That's right, the incinerator is not afraid of burning..."
Of course the Taoist priest remembered the location of the ancestral hall. There was an evil atmosphere in Lianshui Village late at night, and the smell of death was too strong. The Taoist priest led Luo Jiutian on the desolate dirt road in Lianshui Village. When they passed an open space, the Taoist priest stopped.
Stepped down.
He turned to look at the dark empty space.
Upon closer inspection, I realized that this was not an open space. There were collapsed beam structures scattered on the ground. From their charcoal appearance, I could tell that this was the remains of a house.
"It can't be here, right?"
The Taoist priest shook his head, "This is not an ancestral hall."
"Then here is..."
"This is that man's home," the Taoist priest said, walking towards the ruins. "We have been here before."
Luo Jiutian became curious and quickly followed the Taoist Master's footsteps.
The soil under the ruins was sticky, and when you stepped on it, you would feel like it was sinking. Luo Jiutian raised his feet and looked at it with disgust. The soil here was darker and softer. It should be the result of the ashes being soaked by rain.
"It looks like all the clues have been burned away." Luo Jiutian looked around.
The Taoist priest rummaged through the ruins with his feet, and then walked straight ahead.
"Not entirely..." The Taoist Master used the moonlight to carefully search for something on the ground, "I remember that I should...find it here."
The Taoist priest stood next to a slightly raised black soil bag and stretched out his hand to wave Luo Jiutian over.
"What is it?"
"We told you," the Taoist priest used an ax to pull apart the small pile of black soil, revealing what was buried underneath. "Do you remember? There is a well in the backyard of his house."
Under the black soil was a small wooden board slightly higher than the ground. The two moved the wooden board away, and sure enough, a dark wellhead appeared.
"This is the wellhead with the Soul Calming Talisman on it," Luo Jiutian looked at it carefully. "It's very evil. The house has been burned like this, but it's still fine."
Luo Jiutian looked around the mouth of the well and found nothing, so he bent down and looked into the well.
"Actually, it's nothing special. The charms posted here were all malfunctioning and were taken away by us, so it shouldn't be... Jiutian?"
Luo Jiutian held his knees with both hands and stared motionlessly into the well. He didn't even hear the Taoist Priest calling him.
The Taoist priest reached out and grabbed his shoulders and shook him, "Jiutian, what's wrong with you?"
"Ah, Taoist Priest..." Luo Jiutian woke up from a dream and blinked, "I think... there seems to be light under that well."
"Light?" The Taoist priest also looked at it, "I didn't see it."
"It's gone now," Luo Jiutian wiped his sweat. "When I was staring down the well just now, I suddenly saw a light spot flickering."
The Taoist Master looked hesitantly at the dark underground space. The two of them had nothing. Without lighting equipment, the situation underground was unknown.
"What kind of light spot? The kind that reflects light like a mirror?"
"It's not reflection, it's... orange-red light," Luo Jiutian tried his best to describe, "It's that kind of swaying light, Taoist Master, can you understand it? It's... oh, by the way, like the light of a candle."
"Candlelight?"
The Taoist priest was also curious, and the two of them looked longingly into the depths of the well. After a long while, they raised their heads and looked at each other.
"Let me go down and take a look." The Taoist priest said first.
"Then let's go together..."
"No, Jiutian, you stay up there," the Taoist priest said with a smile. "If two people go down together, they won't be able to get up. Moreover, this well is too narrow to accommodate two people."
"Then I'll go down and you stay up there," Luo Jiutian rolled up his sleeves, "Just what I saw, I should go down and take a look."
"But……"
"Don't worry, Taoist Master," Luo Jiutian tightened his shoelaces, "I may not be very good at magic, but I am good at climbing walls and drilling holes. Just wait for me here."
Luo Jiutian didn't give the Taoist priest a chance to refuse, so he jumped directly into the well, stepped on the walls of the well, and climbed down little by little.
The well wall was still dry, and Luo Jiutian felt good about it, and soon he was submerged in darkness.
The Taoist priest was half squatting by the well. When Luo Jiutian disappeared from his sight, he raised his hand to touch the other half of the charm in his pocket and nodded with confidence.
"It's okay, Jiutian."
"Safe!" Luo Jiutian's voice came from underground.
The night wind blew through the remaining land, blowing the messy woods and bringing tiny sounds to the Taoist priest's ears.
Rustling... rustling...
The Taoist priest turned his head hesitantly.
The branches in the distance swayed left and right, creating shadows.
rustle……
The Taoist Master slowly stood up and stared down the well.
rustle……
Is it an illusion? There seems to be a strange smell floating in the air.
Strange breath.
sand……
The Taoist Master suddenly turned around, flicked his right hand, and the yellow talisman struck straight away like lightning. The Taoist Master's breathing was a little heavy, and he twisted his eyebrows and looked at the talisman that hit the tree trunk.
The surroundings were empty.
Nothing?
Is it really an illusion?
"Taoist!" Luo Jiutian suddenly shouted from down the well.
"What's wrong?" The Taoist priest immediately returned to the well.
"Oh, it's okay. I saw that you were no longer at the well, so I thought something had happened."
"Don't worry, it's not..."
Before the Taoist Master finished speaking, a strong stench suddenly hit him from behind. Before he even had time to turn his head and take a look, he was pushed into the well by a pair of hot hands.