In my heart, I had already made up my mind.
Now, all I could do was pray that the kind ghost girl would be blessed with good fortune.
I followed the big black rat, and soon we arrived at the entrance of the cemetery.
From afar, I saw Mo Ting standing under the memorial archway at the cemetery entrance.
He was drinking cola, scrolling through Douyin with a smile, watching compilations of two-dimensional anime goddesses.
But at that moment, the big black rat running ahead suddenly darted under the archway.
It startled Mo Ting, who was watching videos, causing him to look utterly terrified.
He had never seen such a large rat before.
He let out a yelp, nearly dropping his phone, and stumbled backward repeatedly.
The big black rat was not afraid of people and stood its ground.
Instead, it tilted its head and squeaked twice at Mo Ting.
Seeing such a large rat that wasn't afraid of people, Mo Ting was also surprised and said:
“You darn rat, have you become a spirit or something!”
After speaking, he picked up the cola bottle he was holding and prepared to throw it at the big rat.
At this moment, I had caught up.
Seeing this scene, I quickly reached out and shouted:
“Mo Ting, don't smash it!”
Hearing my voice, Mo Ting, with the cola bottle raised, stopped himself.
Then, he looked at me as I emerged with a somewhat indifferent expression.
“Brother Qin, what’s going on?”
I hurried over and said with a wry smile:
“Mo Ting, this rat is not ordinary. It's joining us tonight.”
Upon hearing this, Mo Ting revealed an expression of surprise.
He spoke with disbelief:
“What? Letting a rat join us?
This thing is one of the four pests.
I hate rats the most, I wish I could stomp it to death.”
Mo Ting frowned, staring at the large rat in front of him with evident disdain.
The big black rat could clearly understand human speech.
Seeing that Mo Ting intended to hit it and even threatened to stomp it to death,
it appeared very angry and raised its front paws, hissing fiercely.
To be honest, I don't like rats either.
Let alone such a large black rat.
But this rat was different.
The aunt from the supermarket sent this creature to help me, which indicated it must possess some extraordinary abilities and might even be of assistance to us.
At this moment, I gestured for Mo Ting to calm down.
Then, I explained to Mo Ting that this rat belonged to the owner of the "Yin shop."
Mo Ting was confused when he heard "Yin shop."
He obviously didn't know about the "Rose Supermarket" operating in the cemetery, nor had he heard the term "Yin shop."
After all, unlike me, he hadn't visited the Rose Supermarket to buy anything, nor had he borrowed Yin Shou (life extension).
He asked me what an Yin shop was.
I then explained:
“An Yin shop is a supermarket specifically for dealing with spirits.
There is one such establishment in the Nanshan Cemetery, called the Rose Supermarket.
This big black rat is the owner's pet…”
When I uttered the word "pet," the big black rat seemed displeased again.
It hissed aggressively at me.
I tentatively said:
“Not a pet, are you the aunt’s son?”
As soon as I said this, the big black rat, just like a human, actually nodded.
Both Mo Ting and I were stunned.
This big black rat truly had human-like intelligence, fully understanding our words.
Mo Ting’s eyes widened, and he stretched his neck to examine the large rat.
He said with great astonishment:
“My god, it can really understand human speech, this darn rat has become a spirit…”
However, these words once again angered the big rat.
It squeaked menacingly at Mo Ting again.
Mo Ting’s eyebrows shot up, appearing very displeased.
Fearing that Mo Ting might impulsively stomp the big black rat to death,
I quickly pulled Mo Ting back:
“Forget it, forget it, our main business is important.
The aunt said that this rat has a keen sense of smell and can lead me.”
Hearing my words, Mo Ting took a sharp breath.
He forcefully suppressed his anger:
“Let the wind whisper, my sword in my heart. Fine, I won't argue with it.”
Seeing that Mo Ting was no longer targeting the big rat, I turned to the big rat and said:
“Brother Rat, your mother said you have a keen sense of smell.
Since you've come out, use your nose to lead us to find that malevolent spirit.”
After hearing my words, the big black rat squeaked twice at me.
It flicked its tail, turned its head, and started running forward at a considerable speed.
Neither Mo Ting nor I hesitated; we immediately followed.
The big black rat followed the cemetery road westward.
This direction was exactly the same as the location of the old house the old couple had mentioned.
Mo Ting and I followed the big rat along the road for more than ten minutes before entering a mountain path.
The mountain forest was quite dark, and the big rat, possibly out of consideration for us, slowed its pace.
With its round, glowing eyes, it continually guided us forward.
After about half an hour, we arrived at the mountain gully west of the Nanshan Cemetery.
This place used to be a small village with over a dozen bustling households.
But now, it was basically deserted, with no inhabitants.
We walked slowly along the overgrown path in the mountain gully.
After walking for about ten minutes, we saw from afar.
Several dilapidated old tiled houses in the mountain gully not far ahead.
From a distance, the tiled houses looked ruined, some even on the verge of collapse.
The surroundings were covered in weeds and vines; it was unclear how long they had been abandoned.
At this moment, the big black rat, which had been leading the way, suddenly stopped.
It turned around and squeaked several times at Mo Ting and me.
Its hairless tail kept slapping the ground in the direction of those old houses.
Making a "pat pat pat" sound.
As if telling us that the malevolent spirit we were looking for resided in those ruined old houses…