Chapter 20: Zhang Family Village
Song Sanlang explained, “My uncle and I were extremely cautious on our journey. Before settling in this place for the night, we even lit a Wenlu Incense to check for danger. Only after confirming it was safe did we decide to stay.”
“I’m also a light sleeper, and any sound would wake me. But that night, there wasn’t the slightest disturbance. Yet when I woke up, my third uncle was gone along with the two-piece corpse.”
Li Yanchu nodded thoughtfully.
The so-called Wenlu Incense was a type of folk ritual tool, commonly used by mystics and wanderers. When traveling through desolate mountains or wild terrain, they would light it at night.
If there was malevolent presence nearby, the incense would burn unevenly, two short sections and one long, signaling that the place was unclean and urging immediate departure.
Wang Chongshan spoke up, “Shall we split up and search?”
Li Yanchu gave him a glance and shook his head. “Absolutely not. We stay together. We shouldn’t separate.”
Wang Chongshan hesitated for a moment, and was about to say it would slow them down, but considering Li Yanchu was a professional ghost-hunting Daoist, he held back any objection.
The truth was, Li Yanchu was almost certain this case involved a malevolent spirit. And in such situations, splitting up was basically the beginning of a horror story cliché. So, the group of seven, all armed with blades, stepped into what was once called Zhang Family Village.
It was high noon, the time of strongest yang qi in the day. And since they were all trained fighters, with abundant qi and blood, they were less vulnerable to spirit attack. Staying together only made their collective yang qi stronger.
Li Yanchu came to save lives, but he had no intention of risking the officers just to rescue a stranger. He could never understand why, in dramas or movies, people were always willing to sacrifice a bunch of comrades to save one person. His principle was simple: do everything possible to avoid putting those beside him in danger.