Ye Huohuo and the others were in a red sedan driven by Fang Fang. It sped along the dark mountain road like a red lightning bolt.
Du Lihua’s ghost sat in the back seat, while Ye Huohuo was in the passenger seat. Fang Fang drove rapidly, following Du Lihua’s directions.
After driving for about another hour, they faintly saw several bungalows in the woods on the mountainside ahead, looking like a small village.
They were far from the urban area of Haicheng. The road they were on was a dirt road leading from Haicheng to Longcheng, not a highway. There were no streetlights on either side, and thus no surveillance.
The houses were unlit. From a distance, in the darkness, they resembled small beasts crouched on the mountainside, poised to pounce on them.
Fang Fang, being astute, turned off the headlights from a distance. As a Mei, her night vision was much better than that of ordinary people, allowing her to drive in the dark without headlights.
The car glided further towards the houses and stopped slowly a few hundred meters away.
Ye Huohuo confirmed with Du Lihua again; her body was indeed nearby.
For safety, Ye Huohuo recalled Du Lihua’s soul back into the bottle.
“What do you think?” Fang Fang asked Ye Huohuo.
Ye Huohuo carefully observed the houses for a while before speaking, “This isn’t a village. If it were a small village, there wouldn’t be so few houses. Besides, villages usually have many crops planted around them, but here it’s all trees. The houses are almost hidden by the trees, making it seem as if they were deliberately hidden from discovery.
If Du Lihua hadn’t led us down this small road, outsiders would hardly find these houses. And the layout of these houses…”
The houses were built on the mountainside. Ye Huohuo and Fang Fang circled to the other side of the slope and climbed to the summit. From their vantage point, after observing for a long time, Ye Huohuo spoke, “These are seven small houses, each independent. Their layout corresponds to the positions of the Big Dipper. Could this be the Seven Star formation?”
Fang Fang looked at Ye Huohuo, “I don’t know much about your Taoist formations. Are you sure these seven houses form a formation? Are they using Lihua’s body to perform the formation?”
Ye Huohuo frowned, “I can’t say for sure. I know about the Seven Star formation, but I’ve never seen it arranged with houses, nor have I seen it used to refine corpses. I’m not sure about its specific effects. However, I am certain that Du Lihua’s soul becoming a vengeful spirit must be related to this.
It seems the other party had planned this for a long time, otherwise they wouldn’t have dug up the body and brought it here right after Chen Jiaming buried it.”
“You mean Chen Jiaming was instigated to kill Lihua? That Chen Jiaming was just a pawn?” Fang Fang looked at Ye Huohuo incredulously, “Do you have any evidence?”
“I was once pulled into Lihua’s domain by her soul and experienced the time before her death. I heard Chen Jiaming say that his mother had asked a Master Peng to divine, and the divination said Du Lihua’s second child would be a daughter. So they forced her to have an abortion and then forced her to conceive a third child.
They said Master Peng predicted that the third child would definitely be a boy and would be prosperous and honorable. Du Lihua, unable to bear the humiliation, struggled and was accidentally killed by Chen Jiaming.”
“So, you suspect that Master Peng was manipulating everything from behind the scenes, predicting Lihua’s death, and then secretly followed Chen Jiaming to find the burial site and transport the body here? And then used her corpse to refine Lihua into a vengeful spirit?” Fang Fang understood Ye Huohuo’s meaning.
Ye Huohuo nodded, “These are just my guesses, but I think they are not far from the truth.”
Fang Fang sneered, “You humans, always saying we ghosts and spirits harm people, but it’s you humans who are the most harmful! You have no bottom line for your selfish desires.”
Ye Huohuo could only sigh deeply. She couldn’t deny Fang Fang’s words, nor did she want to. “Yes, the human heart is the most terrifying thing in the world. But not all people are bad, are there good people?
Just like Du Lihua, without her, you would have long since turned to dust. So our principle is to eliminate evil and promote good! Don’t you agree?”
Fang Fang glanced at her, “That’s your principle, don’t include me. I don’t want to deal with your Xuanmen. Maybe you’ll be dealing with me next!”
Ye Huohuo smiled, “No, at least I won’t. Firstly, I can’t beat you. Secondly, I can see that although you absorb men’s essence, you only choose bad people, and you’ve never harmed anyone’s life because of it.
Since you haven’t done anything harmful, what reason would I have to deal with you? However, I do have a question I’ve always wanted to ask you.”
Fang Fang felt quite pleased with Ye Huohuo’s flattery and her mood improved. She nodded, “Ask.”
“You Mei all survive by seducing men and absorbing their essence. Logically, you should find a more beautiful body to inhabit, wouldn’t that make it easier to find men? Why did you choose this body?”
Fang Fang’s current body, while having a good figure and being attractive, was by no means stunning. Most Mei would choose extremely beautiful female bodies to inhabit, as they could charm everyone.
This was also why Ye Huohuo hadn’t considered Fang Fang to be a Mei at first. If Fang Fang hadn’t behaved too calmly upon seeing Du Lihua’s ghost and Ye Huohuo, Ye Huohuo might not have discovered her true identity.
When Fang Fang heard her question, she looked up at the stars in the night sky and then pointed to the brightest one. “If it were you, would you want to be that brightest star?”
Ye Huohuo also looked up at the sky and shook her head, “No, I prefer to be an ordinary little star, living in peace with the world.”
Fang Fang turned her head to look at her, “That’s it. You don’t want to be a dazzling star, so why do you think I would? While we Mei live by absorbing men’s essence, it’s like humans eating. Just enough is fine.
Haven’t you heard of ‘beauty brings disaster’? Overly beautiful women are usually very tragic. I chose stunning beauties at first, but each time their fate was worse than the last. Now I’ve learned to be smarter and choose those with above-average looks. This is the experience I’ve accumulated over a thousand years. Living a simple life is the best.”
Ye Huohuo couldn’t help but carefully examine Fang Fang. When she first met her, she thought she was just an amoral escort. Later, when she learned she was a Mei and was trying to repay Du Lihua, she thought Fang Fang was a loyal Mei.
And now, she discovered Fang Fang’s intelligence, or more precisely, her wisdom. Only by possessing great wisdom can one see through worldly human hearts and stabilize one’s small boat amidst the currents.
Ye Huohuo was about to say something more when Fang Fang suddenly pushed her down into the bushes. “Look!”
She gestured for Ye Huohuo to look at the houses. A light suddenly flickered on in one of the dark houses, but the light flickered dimly.
“Is that… candlelight?” Ye Huohuo murmured softly. “Is there no electricity here?”
“Instead of guessing here, why don’t we get closer and see! Do you dare?” Fang Fang looked at Ye Huohuo with raised eyebrows.
Ye Huohuo pursed her lips, “Hmph, don’t underestimate me. I’ve seen all sorts of dangerous places. Let’s go!”
In the darkness, the two of them, like black panthers, quickly approached the houses. Little did they know, real danger was also closing in on them.