Chen Yang drove his sister to the airport early the next morning. On the way, Joohyun caught up on sleep in the car. Chen Yang glanced back several times and then drove slower, letting the car move more smoothly.
When they arrived at the airport, Chen Yang could only awaken Joohyun, who was still in the back seat catching up on sleep. Joohyun rubbed her eyes dazedly, as if she did not know what day it was.
"Did you go out to catch ghosts again last night?" If it were anyone else, Chen Yang would have asked her if she saw a ghost last night, but it was common for his sister to see ghosts.
"No." Joohyun replied in a daze. "I just didn't sleep well. I kept having dreams."
Chen Yang sighed and handed Joohyun the breakfast he bought on the way and said, "Sit here and eat something first. I'll go help you change your boarding pass."
"Okay. Thank you, Big Brother." Joohyun took the breakfast, took out the bun inside and took a bite.
"By the way, has Elder Wu arrived yet?" Chen Yang knew that his sister was going out with Elder Wu this time. Joohyun didn't know exactly what it was for, and Chen Yang only knew that it was related to the sect's heritage.
"Don't worry about him. He can't get lost," Joohyun said vaguely as she bit into a bun.
"..." Chen Yang thought it was inappropriate for his sister to say so but thinking of the relationship between his sister and Elder Wu, he didn't say anything at last. He turned to help Joohyun get her boarding pass alone.
However, Joohyun wasn't wrong. Elder Wu could never get lost. When Joohyun entered the waiting lounge with her boarding pass, Elder Wu was already sitting in a chair with a mobile phone and was playing games.
Joohyun walked over, tossed her backpack casually on the next chair, and then sat down next to her grandfather.
"You're here," Elder Wu said without looking up.
Joohyun was so sleepy. After replying with a soft hum, she leaned back on the chair weakly.
Elder Wu finished a game and turned his head to check on his granddaughter. Upon seeing her sleepy eyes open, he couldn't resist 'educating' her: "Didn't I tell you? Girls should be reserved. Did you stay at Lou's home all night yesterday? You are lucky to be in modern times. If in ancient times, you would have long been soaked in a pig pen."
Joohyun rolled her eyes. As if the Old Man experienced it himself.
Just then, Joohyun felt the phone in her pocket vibrate. She took it out and found that it was a message from Lisa. She was instantly energized.
Third Brother: On the plane yet?
Joohyun: Not yet. We're still in the lounge.
Lisa stood in front of the window looking at the distant sky: I'm sorry, I can't send you off.
Joohyun: It doesn't matter if you can't send me off, as long as you wait for me to come back.
Loving tenderness dyed every inch of Lisa's eyes, and a doting smile smudged the corners of his mouth: Of course. I'll wait for your return.
Joohyun: Third Brother, I'm going to board the plane.
Lisa: Go ahead. Remember to send me a message when you arrive.
Joohyun: Okay.
Just as Lisa was about to put down his phone, Joohyun sent another message over: Third Brother, promise me one thing, alright?
Lisa: What is it?
Joohyun: Promise me first.
Lisa smiled helplessly: Okay.
Joohyun: Don't take advantage of my absence to go on a blind date!
Joohyun: I'm boarding the plane now. No need to reply. Remember you have just promised.
Lisa froze for a second. He looked at the message Joohyun sent to him in bewilderment. Blind date? What blind date?
At this time, He Qi knocked on the door and walked into the study. He told Lisa, who was standing in front of the window in a daze: "Young Master, breakfast is ready."
Lisa turned around and with his long, lean figure, he gazed at He Qi against the light: "Assistant He, did you say something to Irin that day?"
After a moment's deliberation, Lisa thought the only people who could give Joohyun this illusion were probably these few people around him, and He Qi was the number one suspect.
"Uh."
It's over. What gave me away!
After Joohyun sent Lisa the last message, she turned off her phone immediately, for fear that Lisa would send something she didn't want to see in a while.
Although Joohyun was sleepy when she was in the lounge, she didn't completely fall asleep because she had to board the plane later. At this moment, she no longer had worries. She buckled her seat belt and went to sleep with her head tilted.
Elder Wu took a disgusted look at his granddaughter, turned his phone into flight mode and continued to play his solo-player game.
Drowsy, Joohyun felt she was back to last night's dream.
In the dream world, a man whose face she couldn't make out was talking to her quite gently.
The scenery in the dream was also particularly beautiful. There seemed to be a hillside, and beautiful purple and red flowers filled the hillside. The clouds in the sky were lazily floating, and occasionally a breeze would swing her long skirt.
Strange. She obviously didn't have such a long skirt, ah.
"There are three things that exist in the world I love, the sun, the moon and Qing(a term of endearment). The sun for the morning, the moon for the evening, and Qing for the morning and evening."
Rogue. You actually confessed to me, but even if your voice is music to my ears, I won't agree with you. I already have my beloved Third Brother. I don't care about the morning and evening; I just want to be a small fish in my Third Brother's rapids.
But no matter how Joohyun thought, she couldn't stop herself in the dreamland from blushing and snuggling into the man's arms.
No, this is not me. Third Brother, I'm sorry!
The picture turned. The wind and sun turned into a tempest and rain. It seemed to be a particularly dark night with no light around. Only the occasional lightning in the sky could make her clearly see the person opposite her.
Still the same man. Although she couldn't see his face, Joohyun didn't know why, but she just knew she was right in identifying him.
In the dream, he seemed particularly sad. Holding a long sword and pointing directly at him, she asked pretty harshly, "If you don't believe me, I'll kill you now."
"I do believe." There was no joy or sorrow in the man's voice.
"Where is your heart?"
"Dead, I guess."
Is this a breakup? The man must have done something sorry to her in the dream. Hurry up and do it ah. Kill him, kill him, and when we wake up, let's find my Third Brother.
The picture then turned, and the scene changed again. It was a barren hillside, full of dry grass, dry and cracked land. The heaven and earth were dim, and the sun was like blood. In the dreamworld, she was wearing a fiery red dress, quietly standing on the hillside. Joohyun felt that this hillside was somewhat familiar.
"You're here." Joohyun could not see who was walking behind her, but a voice in her heart told her that the one who came was still the same man, and it seemed that she didn't kill him the last time.
"I'm here," a gentle voice sounded from behind her.
"I always wondered when you would come to me of your own accord, but never thought it would be this time today." Joohyun in dreamland sighed.
The man didn't reply. The hillside was terribly silent except for the sound of the wind rolling up the sand and soil.
Joohyun in dreamland first turned around. She smiled gently at the man, and the man subconsciously frowned.
As if knowing why the man frowned, Joohyun smiled to herself. She raised her finger and pointed to the hillside, which was already covered in yellow soil, and then asked, "Do you remember this place?"
"Yes." The man's expression once again turned calm.
"Do you remember what you said then?" Joohyun looked at the man. Joohyun did not know what she saw in the dream, but she herself only saw a mist.
"There are three things that exist in the world I love, the sun, the moon and Qing; the sun for the morning, the moon for the evening, and Qing for the morning and evening." The same line the man uttered at this time was no longer tender as that loving day long ago.
"I never thought I would hear you say it again." Joohyun seemed a little surprised. Her gaze swept over the Bronze Sword held in the man's hand and asked, "Are you going to kill me?"
"..." The man remained silent and did not answer.
"Will you kill me?" When Joohyun in the dream heard no answer from the man, a touch of expectation suddenly sprouted in her heart.
"Yes!" The man finally answered.
"Sure enough." Joohyun in the dream smiled sarcastically. "Men are all liars. I should have known that."
Hearing this, Joohyun was going ballistic, ah. He's going to kill you, yet you still have time to sigh. Against this kind of scumbag, it's better to strike first ah!!
"Kill him, kill him, kill him quickly."
The people around looked over in horror. Elder Wu endured the blue veins on his forehead and slapped someone on the face, causing Joohyun, who was still yelling to kill someone to wake up with a whimper.
"Old Man, what are you doing?" Joohyun covered her nose and glared at her grandfather. Is it normal to wake someone up in this manner?
"Who are you going to kill, huh?" Elder Wu asked with raised eyebrows.
"I..." Joohyun was about to speak when she turned her head and saw the flight attendant looking at her nervously and alertly. She instantly felt that oddness of the atmosphere on the plane. She turned her head to look around and captured traces of fear in the eyes of the people around her. Joohyun lowered her lower body and asked her grandfather beside her, "The atmosphere on the plane doesn't seem right."
"There is a lunatic who keeps shouting to kill someone. Can the atmosphere be right?" Elder Wu snapped angrily.
Joohyun choked. After understanding what was going on, her face turned red with embarrassment. She unbuckled her seat belt and stood up, scaring the flight attendant who approached to check on her. She smiled in embarrassment and said, "I'm sorry, I had a nightmare just now. I was dreaming just now. I didn't really mean that."
Joohyun said. She turned around and apologized to the surrounding scared passengers, "Sorry, sorry, I scared everyone. I just had a nightmare. It wasn't on purpose."
When the crowd heard that it was a false alarm, they finally relaxed and sat back, continuing to go about their business.
Knowing that it was a misunderstanding, the flight attendant was also relieved. She raised her professional smile again and admonished, "The plane is about to land. Please sit down and fasten your seat belt."
"Right, right, okay." Joohyun awkwardly sat down and re-fastened her seat belt.
The flight attendant smiled and added, "We're about to land. Little Sister, don't fall asleep again this time."
"Okay, okay." Joohyun was embarrassed to death, so she could only keep nodding.
Elder Wu couldn't hold back his laughter and burst out.
Joohyun was so infuriated she almost grabbed the old man's beard, but then she remembered that the Old Man seemed to have stopped growing a beard after he left Damu Village. Hence, she could only glare at him and question, "Why didn't you help me explain?"
"I have to pretend I don't know you ah. How embarrassing." Elder Wu spurned.
"You..." Joohyun was half dead with anger but couldn't do anything to the man. She could only cross her arms and sulk.
"But what did you dream about? Your murderous aura is so heavy." If he hadn't felt the aura in Joohyun's body start to stir, Elder Wu would not have slapped her awake.
"None of your business!"
"It's none of my business." Anyway, if this girl really had something going on, he could always know. Thinking that it would take another twenty minutes for the plane to land, Elder Wu simply handed the bag of paper talisman to Joohyun and said, "Since you can't go back to sleep, change your clothes now."
"Clothes?" Joohyun curiously took the paper talisman, unfolded it for a look, only to see the above with vermilion distorted drawing of several ancient clothes. She could not help but comment, "So ugly?"
"It's disposable. Why do you need it to look beautiful?" Elder Wu retorted indifferently.
Joohyun bristled and could only fold the paper talisman and then change her clothes one by one following the vermillion lines.
Twenty minutes later, the plane landed in Mengcheng, a tourist city only two hours away from the Qilian Mountains.
"Let's first find a hotel to stay in. We'll go catch ghosts tonight," Elder Wu said.
Joohyun naturally had no objection to Grandpa's arrangement. The two took a taxi to the city to find a hotel to stay in. After having lunch and resting for an afternoon, the two took another taxi to catch ghosts.
When they arrived at their destination, Joohyun paid the fare, and the enthusiastic driver asked with concern, "This place is so remote, and there's an ancient mass grave not far ahead. It's said that people often meet unclean things there. You sure you want to get off here?"
"It's okay," Joohyun reassured without any guilt. "We are now in a scientific society. How can there be any unclean things?"
"You youngsters just don't believe in these, and so does my boy." The driver didn't argue with her either. He pulled out a business card from the car and handed it to Joohyun, saying, "Getting a taxi here is hard. You can call me if you want to go back. I will come to pick you up if I still haven't turned in."
"Okay, thank you, Master." Joohyun waved her hand to send off the enthusiastic driver master, and then she went straight to the mass grave nearby with Elder Wu.
As soon as Joohyun entered the mass grave, she frowned and asked in surprise: "The Yin and evil Qi here are not heavy. Is there a malevolent ghost with high cultivation here, ah?"
"We're just going to borrow the place," Elder Wu replied.
Joohyun puzzledly looked at her grandfather. If they weren't going to catch ghosts, and there was no ghost to catch, then what would they do?
"You will know in a moment," Elder Wu said and held out his hand towards Joohyun. "Give me the Soul Summoning Bell."
Joohyun complied and handed the Soul Summoning Bell to him.
Elder Wu took the bell, stood in the middle of the mass grave, and then stretched his right hand. The Soul Summoning Bell flew into the air, and under the control of Elder Wu's spiritual power, transformed into a huge figure. Then jingles after jingles of bell rang with the waves of the sound spreading out in all directions.
Joohyun then immediately understood. Her grandfather came to the mass grave, not to catch the malevolent ghosts here, but to take advantage of the open and unoccupied space to attract ghosts.
With the ringing of the bell, the Yin Qi and evil qi in the mass grave gradually thickened up, and malevolent ghosts appeared in the mass grave one after the other. In less than half an hour, the mass grave was crowded with one or two hundred malevolent ghosts. Joohyun looked at each of them one by one, and suddenly discovered a strange phenomenon: "Grandpa, why do the souls the Soul Summoning Bell attracted all look like modern ghosts?"
There was no question about it. There were one to two hundred malevolent ghosts, in which modern ghosts accounted for 60% to 70%.
"Modern people are more hostile. After death, most of them easily turn into malevolent ghosts." Elder Wu explained, "Most ancient people, on the other hand, choose to reincarnate after death."
"Modern people are more hostile? Modern life is much better than in ancient times, no? Why is their hostility heavy?" Joohyun did not understand.
"I don't know." Elder Wu turned his head to look at Joohyun and ordered, "Change their clothes."
"Oh." Joohyun took out the paper talisman she got on the plane before, raised her hand and threw it into the air. The paper ignited in the wind and turned into hundreds of green lights that fell on the ghosts. In just a blink of an eye, all the ghosts changed into new clothes.
Elder Wu pointed to the Soul Summoning Bell, and a light flashed out of the bell without warning. All the malevolent ghosts in the random burial ground were collected into the bell. The huge virtual shadow then dissipated, and the bell floated back to Elder Wu's hand.
Elder Wu threw the Soul Summoning Bell to Joohyun. She caught it and asked, "Although the malevolent ghosts are collected, don't you think these ghosts are too weak?"
"What's the hurry? The Profound Spirit Grand Competition is still some time away. Put them inside the magical barrier and raise them, they'll naturally grow strong." Elder Wu said while walking out, "Tomorrow, we will go to Qilian Mountain. I will take you to recognize your ancestors."
The author has something to say:
Joohyun asked her grandpa after changing the ghosts' clothes.
Joohyun: So many ghosts are wearing the same thing. Won't it look strange?
Elder Wu: ...Don't care so much.
Joohyun: Ancient people seem to be long-haired. Don't you think there are so many short-haired people? Won't it give the game away?
Elder Wu was infuriated and burned the hair of all the ghosts with a wave of his hand: "There are always bald heads in ancient times."