Chapter 13: Rakshasa Ghost Market (I)
After Lu Ren sent the three members of the Zong family into the ambulance, he sat alone on a bench in the individual visitor center waiting for Junfang.
Yangguan was picked up by Tushan Qiluo who came over from working overtime. Although she didn't say anything, her huge eye roll at Lu Ren seemed to say it all.
Lu Ren also felt that it was not a good idea to ask her to work overtime, so he could only smile apologetically.
Xuanshan's individual visitor center is actually a duty room of Xuanshan Cemetery, which only helps to receive tourists during the peak period of tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival. At other times, there is only an old man who is waiting to retire to stay.
Just when Lu Ren and his group came in, the old man heard the sound and came out. He was wearing an old man's vest that was washed white and had several holes on his upper body, and only a pair of shorts on his lower body. It was obvious that he was planning to go to bed.
The sight of several people with blood all over their faces and breathing more than they exhaled scared the old man half to death, and he almost sat down on the ground on the spot .
Lu Ren quickly helped the old man up.
He explained that his friends came from other places to pay respects, but they arrived at this time by chance, and they accidentally fell down the stairs. That's why they looked so scary.
In fact, it is reasonable to say that the cemetery should not be open at night. However, during the Shangyuan, Zhongyuan, and Xiayuan festivals at Xuanshan, they would make exceptions and keep the door open. In previous years, no one usually came, so the old man prepared to go to bed early. Who knew that so many ancestors would come today?
The old man just scolded Lu Ren and Zong Nian who was still awake, and then went back to the duty room, holding his chest which was shattered by fear. He didn't come out after the ambulance drove away, so he was probably asleep.
The construction of the individual traveler center should have been a thing of the last century.
The walls and floors here are made of small square white tiles. The benches are rows of wooden benches, which creak when you sit on them and stand up. There are even a few chairs with legs of different lengths, which sway left and right when you sit on them. The ceiling fan hanging above your head, which was made in the last century and is covered with sticky black dirt, is working hard at this moment, contributing one of the few sounds in this quiet night.
Maybe it was because it was a cemetery, but the place was surprisingly cool, which made Lu Ren a little drowsy.
"Young Master! Young Master!"
Half asleep and half awake, Lu Ren seemed to hear a soft call, and he suddenly came back to his senses.
Lu Ren looked around but couldn't find the person who was talking. He couldn't help but feel a little confused. Was he hallucinating? Not necessarily. In the middle of the night in the cemetery, it seemed reasonable to have one or two calls without a source.
"Master! Here!" The shrill voice came again.
Lu Ren looked towards the window and saw a small man the size of a palm standing by the window, waving at him. The man was wearing a beautifully designed T-shirt, with a lot of necklaces hanging around his neck, a pair of fashionable ripped jeans , and the sneakers on his feet seemed to be the popular style this year. If you ignore his actual size, he looks like a magazine cover model.
Lu Ren stared at him for a while, wondering whether to respond.
The villain spoke first: "Sir, have you seen a black cat?"
Lu Ren shook his head.
The villain saw Lu Ren shaking his head and seemed even more anxious: "Oh no, how can I go to the ghost market if I can't find it!"
The words he said immediately aroused Lu Ren's interest: "Ghost Market?"
The little man is named Jiao Jiao, and he lives in a toy store on Xuanshan Commercial Street. He plays a doll in the dollhouse in the store. Black Cat is the owner of the toy store, and he also works part-time as Jiao Jiao's means of transportation. After all, as a little man, his movement speed is too slow. Today, Black Cat and Jiao Jiao had agreed to go to the annual ghost market together, but when Black Cat passed by Xuanshan, he saw a calico cat in the bushes and jumped out. Jiao Jiao on his back was accidentally hung by a branch, fell to the ground and squatted, and lost the whereabouts of Black Cat.
At this point, Jiao Jiao started to cry. He sobbed and said, "My cousin said she would come to see me, and I wanted to go to the ghost market to buy her a gift so I could propose to her." He cried and wiped his nose with the hem of his clothes, "I can't go on like this."
Because of Jiao Jiao's body size, his cries are fine and sharp, which, combined with the two themes of midnight and the cemetery, makes people feel cold all over.
Lu Renshen was afraid that if he continued crying like this, he would alarm the old man on duty and get hurt, so he quickly stopped him: "Why don't you show me the way and I'll take you there."
Jiao Jiao paused, then quickly raised his head, excitement gleaming from his eyes: "Really? Sir, are you willing to help me?"
Lu Ren nodded, but he still asked in confusion: "Why do you keep calling me Master? It doesn't match your trendy outfit at all."
Jiao Jiao scratched his head embarrassedly: "We Jiao Jiao have always called human males "gongzi" for generations. We don't know why, but we only know that it has been like this since ancient times."
Lu Ren followed the instructions of the little man on his shoulder and walked towards the north of Xuanshan.
"There is a river in the north of the mountain, and the ghost market is under the river."
These are Jiao Jiao’s original words.
Lu Ren didn't know how to get under the river, but he still followed Jiao Jiao's instructions and continued on his way.
"At worst, I can just put Jiao Jiao down by the river and let him figure it out on his own," Lu Ren thought.
The little man explained to Lu Ren enthusiastically, "The north of the mountain and the south of the water are called Yin, and now it is almost the time of Zhongyuan Zi, which happens to be Yin time. The two Yins meet and can connect to the North Sea. There is only one day in a year to reach the Ghost Market. There are many Rakshasas in the Ghost Market, and it was extremely dangerous in ancient times. However, in the past two years, the Jiesi has been more regulated, and it has become much safer. There are also merchants from all walks of life, and it is very lively."
Then, Jiao Jiao warmly invited Lu Ren to go with him: "Since you are already here, it is a rare opportunity. Why don't you go with me to take a look?"
Lu Ren hesitated: "But..."
"I saw you just now with Master Tushan from the Jiesi, and I thought you must be interested in the ghost market, but it turns out I was overthinking."
It turned out that Jiao Jiao had seen Tushan Qiluo before , which was why he spoke to Lu Ren. Perhaps he thought Lu Ren was some kind of talented person.
Lu Ren hesitated and said, "It's not likely that I have no interest at all, but my friend is still waiting for me on the mountain, and I have to go to work tomorrow, so I'm afraid it's too late."
"Don't panic, sir. The flow of time in the ghost market is different from that in the human world. We can spend an hour inside, but it won't take more than five minutes outside. Besides, the ghost market is so rare. It would be a pity to give up just like that."
Lu Ren was already tempted, and now after hearing Jiao Jiao's words, he was easily convinced, and couldn't help wanting to see the excitement. Moreover, Jun Fang hadn't come to see Lao Yang for so many years, and he probably wouldn't be able to finish talking without a night's sleep. So he nodded.
After getting permission, Jiao Jiao was even more delighted.
The moon is at its zenith, and it is almost midnight.
But the rushing river in front of me suddenly stopped making any sound. The river that had been flowing forward suddenly stopped, like a smooth mirror, reflecting a big, round moon.
Seeing this, Jiao Jiao exclaimed, "It's time." He then directed Lu Ren to step onto the water, and surprisingly, it was as if he were walking on flat ground. Then, under Jiao Jiao's command, Lu Ren walked to the full moon.
Jiao Yao said: "Jump down."
Although Lu Ren hesitated, he still did as he was told and jumped towards the moon shadow. Then the light and shadow changed. He opened his eyes again and saw a large memorial archway in front of him with four big characters written on it.
Rakshasa ghost market.
