After exchanging contact information with the store clerk, Yu Zhibo left the pet hospital. His mood had inexplicably improved, and he even felt a sense of anticipation for the new addition to his home.
Glancing down at the canned eight-treasure porridge filled with black dog blood, Yu Zhibo recalled the various items mentioned in novels and TV shows for warding off evil. Over the next hour, he went on to buy black donkey hooves, glutinous rice, garlic, and rooster blood.
He obtained the rooster blood by purchasing a rooster and having the vendor kill it for him.
Of course, the chicken wouldn't go to waste; it was to be brought back for a meal. He asked the vendor for a small snakeskin bag to pack everything, and after buying some mushrooms and vegetables, he slowly made his way back.
Not far behind Yu Zhibo, a girl in fitted jeans, a baseball cap, and sunglasses watched his retreating figure, carrying a snakeskin bag, with a look of utter exasperation.
Once they were out of the market and in a less crowded area, the girl spoke into her Bluetooth earpiece: "Team leader, even if our branch is short on ability users, we don't have to believe everything, right? Sharingan, Mangekyo... As soon as I found him, I saw him buying donkey hooves, glutinous rice, and garlic at the market. He's probably going ghost hunting. These post-2000 kids are really restless."
"Are you still going to track him? Fine, but team leader, can you assign me something more challenging next time? I'm already tired of these make-believe missions from my internship."
"You actually believe his nonsense about awakening abilities by ghost hunting? Alright, alright."
"Got it, got it. If I really run into anything, I'll let him deliver the final blow."
After the call ended, the girl sighed, a look of disdain on her face, but she continued to follow Yu Zhibo at a leisurely pace.
Meanwhile, Yu Zhibo, carrying his snakeskin bag, felt a surge of confidence. While waiting for the traffic light, he took out his phone and dialed his best friend Chen Bo.
As soon as the call connected, Yu Zhibo greeted him first: "Hard Brother, good afternoon!"
A flamboyant voice quickly replied from the other end: "What's up, Young Master Bo!"
"It's like this, I remember you were always very interested in ghost hunting, always keeping up with news in that area. How about it, any new ghost hunting spots recently?"
"You've finally come around, brother. You didn't want to go to the mass grave last time, and I thought you were scared of this stuff. You're getting interested now? I'm telling you, it's super thrilling. You missed out by not going to the mass grave last time. After I went by myself, guess what? Don't tell anyone, but I was hiding behind a tomb when I saw a Taoist priest fighting a ghost, shooting lightning from his palm, looking just like the 'palm lightning' described in novels. So exciting!"
Yu Zhibo was speechless. Chen Bo was talking about something that happened last month. At the time, he had bragged about it to everyone in class, but no one believed him. Now, he was telling Yu Zhibo not to spread it.
Too lazy to listen to Chen Bo's endless rambling, Yu Zhibo interrupted him directly: "Any more thrilling places? Let's go ghost hunting tonight."
"Heh heh, you've come to the right person." Chen Bo said mysteriously on the phone, "Yesterday at midnight, while browsing the local forum, someone posted that there were crying sounds and occasional screams from the abandoned hospital on the outskirts of the city. I was a bit hesitant to go alone, but your call just came. How about it, want to check it out tonight?"
Yu Zhibo didn't believe his best friend would be hesitant. Chen Bo's nickname was "Chen Dadan" (Chen the Bold) and "Hard Brother." He was a rich second-generation heir whose parents divorced when he was young. He had no interest in the decadent lifestyle and was not as dim-witted as the rich second-generation characters in novels. He had an extraordinary interest in supernatural events.
Yu Zhibo and Chen Bo had been classmates from elementary school all the way through high school. He still remembered that in the third grade of elementary school, Chen Bo had sneakily invited him to his house to play computer games.
As a result, they accidentally clicked on an adult website his father had saved. Ignoring Yu Zhibo's desire to collect evidence and report it, Chen Bo, unperturbed by the enticing images, directly closed the website without hesitation and then excitedly searched for "Shān Cūn Lǎo Shī" (Old Ghost Village) to play, demonstrating how strong his interest in the supernatural was.
Hearing that Chen Bo actually had a ghost hunting location, Yu Zhibo wasn't surprised, as the former had always been interested in such things. He said, "Seven o'clock tonight, ride over and pick me up."
"Okay!" Chen Bo was very excited. He was thrilled that his good friend understood and would participate in his hobby.
In the following period, Yu Zhibo became busy. After taking his purchases home, he went to the mall and bought three large-capacity water guns. He tested them with tap water and, finding them functional, diluted half of the black dog blood and chicken blood, filling two water guns separately. The last one was filled with a mixture of chicken blood, black dog blood, and water.
He kept the remaining half of the black dog blood and chicken blood, just in case the diluted blood wasn't effective. It was better to have some pure blood as a backup.
He placed the three water guns upright in his travel bag. Yu Zhibo pondered for a moment over the glutinous rice, garlic, and black donkey hooves, then put them in as well, thinking he could just throw them at any ghosts they encountered.
By the time he had prepared everything, it was already past four in the afternoon.
His parents hadn't returned from work yet, and his sister lived in a boarding school, returning only once every two weeks. She would be back next week. Yu Zhibo decided it was better not to wait for his parents to cook dinner, to avoid their usual nagging. So, he immediately made a stewed chicken with mushrooms and stir-fried some vegetables.
After eating, he called his mother, telling her he was going to a classmate's house to do homework, that the food was ready and kept warm in the pot, and then he slipped out.
"Good thing I made dinner, otherwise my mom definitely wouldn't have let me go out," Yu Zhibo chuckled, carrying his travel bag. Everything was ready, just waiting for the auspicious hour. He was filled with anticipation for the upcoming adventure.
Seeing that it was still early, he went to a nearby park and sat for half an hour. At 6:30 PM, he called Chen Bo.
"I'll wait for you at the South Bian Park. Don't be late for seven."
"Got it!"
Yu Zhibo hung up and continued to play on his phone, waiting. He didn't notice that on a stone bench not far behind him, a girl with her hair tied up sat with her long legs crossed, listlessly staring at him. It was the same girl who had been following him during the day, but she had now removed her baseball cap and mask, revealing a clear and beautiful face.
18:58 PM.
Lights illuminated the circular entrance of the small park. A Yadea electric scooter, looking quite high-tech, stopped at the entrance. On the scooter, a boy with a buzz cut whistled at Yu Zhibo, who was sitting in the park.
Yu Zhibo, carrying his travel bag, strode towards him.
"Holy crap, you brought so much stuff!"
The boy with the buzz cut was Chen Bo. He had a somewhat delicate appearance, with bright, lively eyes. When he smiled, dimples appeared on his face, giving him a slightly roguish charm. His upturned eyebrows hinted at a sharp wit, a stark contrast to Yu Zhibo's upright handsomeness.
Oh, right. Yu Zhibo also had a buzz cut. But they weren't a couple. The reason they both shaved their heads was due to an argument. They both thought they were handsome, and to prove it, they went and shaved their heads together.
Of course, the argument never reached a conclusion. Instead, they received praise from their teachers and became models for the school's policy on managing messy long hair.
"Ghost hunting isn't a joke. It's not good to go unprepared." Yu Zhibo looked at his best friend and realized that although the world had changed, Chen Bo was still the same old Chen Bo.
"Are you freestyling here!" Chen Bo rolled his eyes.
"Quick, tell me, what's in that bag? If it's drugs, I'll have to go to jail with you." Chen Bo's imagination was rather unique. As he asked, he twisted the throttle and started moving.
"Black dog blood, chicken blood, black donkey hooves, garlic, glutinous rice," Yu Zhibo listed them all.
"Are you going grave robbing? No way, I'm turning back. Grave robbing is illegal!" Chen Bo was amused. He said he was turning back, but he was already twisting the throttle all the way.
"What do you know? These things can ward off evil. Haven't you seen them in novels and TV shows?" Yu Zhibo said. With the system, he truly believed in the existence of ghosts, so he naturally wanted to make all the preparations he could.
As for why he didn't buy talismans for exorcism? It was because the talismans he could afford would be useless, and the ones that were useful he couldn't afford, nor did he have the connections.
"Professional!" Chen Bo stifled a laugh and gave him a thumbs-up.
"What did you prepare?" Yu Zhibo was curious. His best friend had been ghost hunting for so many years; he should be quite professional.
"Righteousness!" Chen Bo puffed out his chest.
"Awesome!" Yu Zhibo rolled his eyes, knowing this best friend was unreliable.
"To exterminate ghosts, one must rely on oneself," Yu Zhibo sighed inwardly, tightening his travel bag. He felt as if he wasn't carrying a bag, but a responsibility. He immediately straightened his back, his entire demeanor becoming righteous.
"Don't lean back, it's hard for me to balance!"
"Oh, oh!"
With a lot of banter, about twenty minutes later, the two rode their electric scooters to the abandoned hospital on the outskirts of the city.