As night fell, the sky turned completely dark, and the parts of Chen Family Village without streetlights were pitch black.
Even in the 2020s of the 21st century, many towns and villages around San Francisco hadn't achieved the infrastructure level of widespread streetlight coverage.
Under Chen Dong's guidance, after leaving the home of that temple staff, Sun Yan and his group arrived at the temple in Chen Family Village.
This temple was filled with Eastern architectural features, small in size but fully equipped, housing many divine statues that Sun Yan did not recognize.
They were draped in red cloth, enveloped in candlelight and the blue smoke of burning incense, mysterious and not directly visible.
"The Sending Off Festival started here at 8 p.m., after which we escorted the deceased's belongings and a rope all the way through the village, heading to the seaside."
A temple staff with a simple and honest appearance explained the situation of that night to Sun Yan and the others, remembering the details very clearly, and nothing unexpected happened that night.
Zhou Haidong kindly said, "Could you lead us through it one more time? Sorry for the trouble."
"No problem." The temple staff scratched his head and agreed straightforwardly.
"Mr. Chen Dong, I don't know what immortals your temple here enshrines. I've never seen them before."
Ever since entering the temple, Sun Yan had been observing the divine statues on the offering table. He quickly realized that no matter how he looked at them, he couldn't recognize even one, which was strange for someone who grew up in Chinatown.
Generally speaking, if the temple leans towards Daoism, there might be Earth God, City God, Emperor Zhenwu, Emperor Wenchang.
If it leans towards Buddhism, there would be Weituo Bodhisattva, Maitreya Bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.
Sun Yan had also seen enshrining Yang Erlang, Guan Yu, Mazu before, so he had some knowledge of divine statue images.
But in this temple, he didn't recognize a single divine statue, which made Sun Yan feel incredibly bewildered.
"They must be some local deities, passed down by the older generation of Chen Family Village. I manage them daily, but honestly, I don't know much either." Chen Dong explained carelessly.
In the 21st century, living on American soil, what matters more to the people of Chen Family Village is making money, not these old things handed down from the older generation.
Being able to maintain this temple so far already means that Chen Dong and his group have managed it very well daily.
"Is there anything wrong with these divine statues?"
Knowing that Sun Yan has the Yin-Yang Eye, which can see things invisible to ordinary people, Zhou Haidong promptly asked in a low voice.
Sun Yan shook his head, "No, just purely curious."
Seeing him say so, Zhou Haidong lost interest in this aspect, and the group packed up briefly under the lead of the simple and honest temple staff Chen Xijiu, departing the temple. They followed the fixed route of the Sending Off Festival toward outside the village.
In Chen Family Village, most residents are over sixty years old; someone around thirty or forty like Chen Dong is considered young.
Therefore, before eight o'clock, the entire Chen Family Village became exceptionally silent, with only a few houses still illuminated, as most elderly had already gone to bed to rest.
Following behind Zhao Chuan Yi, Sun Yan could only hear the cooing of some unknown bird species.
"Jackson, I heard from old Zhou you're good at dealing with ghosts. If we really encounter an Ah Piao tonight, I'll be counting on your show." Zhao Chuan Yi joked, shining his flashlight on the road ahead, trying to lighten the mood.
But there was never a response from Sun Yan behind him. Zhao Chuan Yi turned back in confusion, and his expression changed in an instant.
Originally, Sun Yan, who walked behind him, vanished without a trace at some point.
"Old Zhou! Something happened, Sun Yan he..."
Zhao Chuan Yi hurriedly wanted to convey the news to Zhou Haidong at the front, but turning back, he saw no one, neither Zhou Haidong nor the temple staff.
He was left alone in the place.
A chill surged from Zhao Chuan Yi's tailbone straight to the top of his head, a cold sweat inexplicably broke out on him in such weather.
Three healthy people disappearing into thin air.
...
White mist began to spread across the road ahead, making visibility very low.
Sun Yan looked astonished; he had just seen Zhao Chuan Yi vanish into thin air right in front of him in just the blink of an eye.
"How can this be!"
Zhou Haidong, looking around incredulously, couldn't find Zhao Chuan Yi's figure anywhere, and his expression became incredibly somber.
He had been doing exorcism work in North America for decades and had never encountered such a bizarre situation.
This had already exceeded Zhou Haidong's understanding realm of evil spirits.
"Strange, is there such a road in the village? How come I've never seen it before." The temple staff Chen Xijiu looked at the road ahead, exceedingly puzzled as he muttered to himself.
His words naturally reached the ears of Sun Yan and Zhou Haidong, and the two of them instantly realized that they might have quietly fallen under the influence of an evil spirit, similar to a ghost wall.
Evil spirits can influence human perception, causing illusions, making humans anxious, frightened, and lose their minds, which is the perfect time for evil spirits to harm people.
Even though Sun Yan had been doing exorcism work for less than a year, the incidents he encountered made him a veteran exorcist, with experiences richer than many exorcists who had been in the field for over a decade.
Mirror Demon Spirit, Yin Residence, Black Magic Master, Blood Race, Demon God...
His sanity meter's maximum had been trained to be quite high now. Ordinary evil spirits rarely scared him, causing him to smoke less.
Observing the surroundings with the Celestial Eye, Sun Yan's eyes showed a hint of doubt.
The surrounding scenes were not illusions but real, which meant that the three of them hadn't encountered a ghost wall.
Then why did a road that even residents and temple personnel of Chen Family Village have never seen suddenly appear?
"What do you think?" Zhou Haidong asked Sun Yan.
Sun Yan, unhurried, put on the General Sun Mask: "Let's go and see, maybe it's related to the failure of the Sending Off Festival."
"Alright."
Zhou Haidong, holding a Peach Wood Branch in one hand and a piece of Bluestone in the other, was also ready to move forward.
Although feeling uneasy, Chen Xijiu could only brace himself to follow these two people forward upon seeing Sun Yan and Zhou Haidong's intention to continue.
The white mist drifting down the street seemed to intensify, gradually covering the distant scenes, allowing Sun Yan and his party to see only ten steps around them.
After walking for an unknown distance, suddenly a crimson figure appeared amid the fog.
It turned out to be a red wedding sedan chair placed by the roadside.
The breeze gently lifted the big red curtain of the sedan chair.