"Why is there a wedding sedan chair placed here."
Zhou Haidong was greatly astonished and asked Chen Xijiu somewhat confusedly, "Has anyone in your village recently gotten married?"
"How could that be, the young people from the village have long gone out to work, only the elderly remain."
Chen Xijiu immediately shook his head decisively, his expression somewhat unpleasant.
As a resident of Chen Family Village, although he remained within the village, he didn't recognize his surroundings at all, filled with unfamiliarity, a feeling that made Chen Xijiu very uncomfortable.
If it weren't for Sun Yan and Zhou Haidong beside him, encountering such bizarre happenings, he would have long bolted back to the temple.
"Let's go and have a look." Sun Yan took the initiative to walk towards the wedding sedan.
When he reached out to lift the curtain of the sedan chair, he saw a tightly bound rope inside, with a few talismans attached to it.
Seeing this rope, Chen Xijiu's expression instantly turned horribly shocked, and he exclaimed in terror, "No, impossible! We clearly burned this rope the other night, why would it appear here."
Zhou Haidong and Sun Yan exchanged glances, seeing a trace of astonishment in each other's eyes.
This meant the recent failed ceremony was because of this.
Somehow, the rope belonging to the deceased who committed suicide by hanging, which was supposed to be burned, was not sent away successfully and remained in Chen Family Village.
This led to the soul of the deceased becoming an evil spirit, continuously harming people in Chen Family Village.
"Are you sure you saw it being burned?" Sun Yan asked seriously.
"At... at the time it was someone else who burned it, I was only responsible for carting things."
Chen Xijiu wanted to admit outright but suddenly thought of something, and could only give an awkward, somewhat uncertain answer.
Without firsthand sight, it can't be deemed real.
Zhou Haidong lifted the rope in the sedan chair using a peach wood branch: "Since that's the case, the issue lies in the fact the ceremony didn't send away this hanging rope, we should just burn it now."
"I feel it's not that simple; this hanging rope placed in the sedan chair, casually positioned by the roadside, clearly indicates someone did it deliberately, the purpose being to lure us in."
Sun Yan shook his head: "Moreover, the soul of the deceased has already become an evil spirit, even burning this rope now will do no good; solving the problem in Chen Family Village requires eliminating the evil spirit."
Just when Zhou Haidong wanted to say more, the far-off direction suddenly rang with the sounds of clanging and drumming, a lively opera singing.
Sound seemed to come from the direction of the village center, making Sun Yan frown in confusion.
Someone performing opera at such a late hour?
"Ghosts, must be ghosts lingering on us, she's behind all this mischief."
On hearing the opera sounds, Chen Xijiu's face turned pale, cold sweat streaming down his face, knowing such entertainment is impossible in Chen Family Village this late.
"She's onto us, which is better, if she were hiding it'd be trouble."
Sun Yan immediately shifted direction towards the village center, grasping three incense sticks in his right hand from his bag; once spotting the target, he'd invite the god without hesitation.
Zhou Haidong and Chen Xijiu saw his decisiveness, hastily quickened their steps to follow.
Survival rule in horror films, never fall behind or alone.
Just after the three left, two pale arms slowly stretched from under the red curtain of the sedan chair.
These hands were exceptionally beautiful, fingers slender, skin fair and smooth, devoid of hair, like the hands of a Bodhisattva.
Facing the direction of Sun Yan and the others, these hands pressed back-to-back, creating a strange gesture like blooming flowers with ten fingers.
...
This spells trouble; how could three lively people suddenly disappear into thin air; is the evil spirit in Chen Family Village that cunning?"
Heading back to the temple, Zhao Chuan Yi muttered in agitation to himself.
Failing to find Sun Yan and the others, he had to return to the temple, planning to inquire Chen Dong regarding the deceased's higher details before deciding the next steps.
Zhao Chuan Yi, having exorcised in North America for years, never witnessed such eerie happenings, far beyond his control, if needed, he'd have to gather the entire Folklore Association's people.
Can't just helplessly watch Sun Yan and Zhou Haidong in peril.
As Zhao Chuan Yi retraced his way back to the temple from memory, he found the temple deserted, even Chen Dong's whereabouts unknown.
Annoyance rose within him, followed by an unnamed rage, quickly lighting a Marlboro cigarette for himself.
Using the calming effect of tobacco, Zhao Chuan Yi gradually regained composure and casually scanned the temple's layout.
Suddenly his expression shifted in disbelief, staring at the temple's sacrificial tables.
On each table, the divine statues slowly shed blood from their eyes, mouths opening and closing silently as if they were voicing something.
Zhao Chuan Yi slowly approached, using candlelight to decipher the statues' mouth shapes.
The intention was… release me!
"Mr. Zhao, why are you back."
As Zhao Chuan Yi forgot about his cigarette, Chen Dong's voice suddenly echoed from outside the temple.
Chen Dong entered nonchalantly carrying a clay jar from outdoors, his gaze fixed calmly on Zhao Chuan Yi.
"There's been an incident, Mr. Chen..."
Zhao Chuan Yi was interrupted, and turning back, he saw the statues had reverted to their original forms, no blood tears, no silent screams.
That eerie vision seemed like a fleeting hallucination conjured by his brain.
"What incident?" Chen Dong placed the jar on the sacrificial table and asked ignorantly.
"Wait, wait, let me gather my thoughts; what's going on here?"
Having faced consecutive strange events, Zhao Chuan Yi had to massage his temples, endeavoring to calm his emotions and organize thoughts.
The odd disappearance of Sun Yan and Zhou Haidong, to the temple's divine statue anomaly, all indicate serious issues lurking within Chen Family Village.
Now Zhao Chuan Yi could determine such matters weren't merely the soul of a deceased by hanging but involved deeper secrets hidden in Chen Family Village not confessed by Chen Dong.
What was he plotting?
Bang!
As Zhao Chuan Yi prepared to confront Chen Dong, a wooden mallet suddenly struck the back of his head harshly.
Zhao Chuan Yi's vision went black instantly, falling unconscious.
Beside him, Chen Dong put down the blood-tainted mallet, his eyes coldly eyeing Zhao Chuan Yi lying on the ground, smiling eerily: "Not knowing why you haven't reached there, but you shouldn't have come back."
He bent down, grabbing Zhao Chuan Yi's ankle, dragging him towards the base of the sacrificial table.
When Chen Dong unveiled the cloth covering the table, revealing an underground passage hidden beneath.