Me and Old Mo sat together, with a Qiankun bag holding over a hundred ghosts in front of us.
Old Mo and I lit one cigarette after another.
We sat silently by the bridgehead.
Looking at the offerings on the table.
"Old Qin, do you think we're just doing this for nothing?"
"Who knows, let's wait and see!"
After speaking, I also checked the time.
It was 2:30 AM, still quite early.
So, Old Mo and I just sat there rigidly.
Waiting and waiting, it was incredibly boring.
In the blink of an eye, it was already 4:40.
Another twenty minutes until five o'clock.
If it reached five o'clock, the ghosts wouldn't come out anymore.
I figured the Yin messengers would probably be packing up and heading home.
It felt hopeless.
Tonight, we'd likely wasted our efforts.
Adding to the tiredness, Old Mo directly took out his phone, saying he'd play a game to stay alert.
Fortunately, both of us took out our phones and started climbing the ranks.
As soon as we logged in, someone invited me.
I took a closer look.
It turned out to be Li Shiyao, whom I hadn't contacted in a long time.
Without hesitation, I directly "accepted," and pulled Old Mo in with me.
As soon as we joined, I heard Li Shiyao's voice through the headset:
"Why are you still awake so late?"
Li Shiyao was pursuing an acting career, and her voice was quite pleasant.
I replied directly:
"We're out catching ghosts with Old Mo! Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Li Shiyao knew what I did for a living.
Last time, at her movie premiere, I brought Old Mo along.
Later, we went for skewers in the back alley, and Old Mo and I ran into Huang Qiniang at a废弃工地 (abandoned construction site).
It was on that day that we met Xia Qiuxi and Yunxia Gu.
From there, we learned about some past events concerning Master and Uncle-Master.
Thinking about it now, it's been quite a while since that happened...
Li Shiyao replied with "oh oh" a couple of times on the other end:
"I'm rushing between filming sites, playing a female ghost in a big web drama now!"
"Shiyao, you're good at acting, but we can't act.
But we've seen plenty of female ghosts!
If you're not scared, I'll catch a couple for you to study."
Old Mo also grumbled into the phone.
Unexpectedly, Li Shiyao not only wasn't scared but also said:
"Great!"
I smiled helplessly and started selecting characters.
"..."
Soon, we had chosen our characters.
We didn't bother about our teammates, we just kept talking about ghosts with our voices on.
The other two teammates listened and then sent a string of question marks.
They called us awesome!
As soon as the game started, Old Mo furiously fed three kills.
The teammates who had just called us awesome started yelling at Old Mo.
Old Mo couldn't stand it, spitting out expletives and asking me to join in the cursing.
Just as I was about to speak, I suddenly felt a chill behind me.
The feeling was faint, barely perceptible.
An ordinary person might not have reacted.
But the moment this feeling appeared, my heart sank, and I had a bad premonition.
I was too familiar with this chilling sensation.
It was the same feeling I had when I encountered ghosts and was followed by that car accident female ghost every day.
There was a ghost behind me!
In an instant, my hands gripping the phone froze.
Instinctively, I looked up and ahead.
The space in front of me was empty, nothing there.
However, the soul-summoning banner began to sway without any wind.
And at this moment, another wave of coldness, very close, returned from behind me...
Old Mo hadn't noticed yet.
He was staring wide-eyed at the screen, excitedly saying:
"Follow me, the sleeping beast has awakened.
Old Qin, what are you still spacing out for? Don't wait for that idiot."
Old Mo urged anxiously.
Before I could even warn him.
From behind me, a sharp, mournful voice also sounded at this very moment:
"Kid, hurry up and use your ultimate! You're killing me with anticipation!"
The voice was unfamiliar, faint.
But Old Mo and I heard it very clearly this time.
It was right behind us.
In an instant, both our bodies trembled.
Old Mo stopped yelling, his entire body tensing up.
I also gasped, and together with Old Mo, we slowly turned our heads back.
As we turned, Old Mo and I were both stunned.
We saw that behind us, at some unknown time.
There stood a ghost with its neck stretched out, staring at my phone screen, its eyes as big as ox eyes.
It had red lips, a white face, and a bald head with a single horn.
This sudden sight made Old Mo and me change color in fright.
But the bald ghost paid no attention to us.
Instead, it reached out, its arm suddenly elongating, and snatched the phone from my hand.
It was so fast that Old Mo and I couldn't react.
Then, it held the phone.
Its eyes widened, and its fingers repeatedly tapped on the screen with a "click-click-click" sound.
Old Mo and I jumped up with a "whoosh" and took two steps back.
Looking closely now.
The one-horned, big-eyed, bald ghost was wearing a black and red robe, with a long saber at its waist.
On its chest was a large white character, "魑" (chi).
Its attire looked strange.
But to me, it seemed somewhat similar to the style of clothing worn by Master when I saw him in a dream.
I observed it up and down.
Could this esteemed person be a "ghost messenger"?
The one-horned, big-eyed ghost looked extremely focused at this moment.
Its gaze was persistent, like that of a gaming addict.
It mumbled in a low voice:
"Fang Tian Hua Ji, kill, kill, kill..."
Its excited expression and serious demeanor left Old Mo and me bewildered.
Old Mo finally glanced at me subconsciously.
His eyes carried confusion and inquiry.
But I signaled him to stay still.
If I guessed correctly, this one-horned, big-eyed ghost was likely a ghost messenger.
It could appear behind us silently.
But Old Mo and I could not feel any aura from it at all.
Its aura was weaker than that of wandering spirits, even less than them.
But Old Mo and I both knew that this ghost was very powerful, and we couldn't afford to provoke it.
Thus, Old Mo and I stood motionless in front of the one-horned, big-eyed ghost.
We watched it play the game for seven or eight minutes.
Only when the game ended did it put down the phone, a smile curving its lips.
It let out a somewhat eerie laugh:
"Heh heh heh, I won..."