Chapter 17: Street Ghost Invitation
Xiao Di's problem was solved, and Tan Xuan resumed his "online car-hailing" work. As for Su Cheng, he didn't care about her at all, not as much as Qian Bo, the matchmaker, cared about their progress. As for Qian Bo who was so active in matchmaking, Tan Xuan even suspected that he wanted to avoid paying for rides in the future, but he didn't have the nerve to ask Qian Bo for confirmation.
Tan Xuan did not take the initiative to contact Su Cheng, but Su Cheng took the initiative to contact Tan Xuan.
On Friday afternoon, when normal people had already gotten off work and Tan Xuan was just about to start a busy day, he received a call from Su Cheng.
"Tan Xuan, are you free tonight?"
This question was a little difficult for Tan Xuan to answer. If he said he was busy, it would seem like he was deliberately trying to be pretentious. If he said he was free, he would still be busy making a living.
After struggling for a moment, Tan Xuan replied: "I'm fine, is there anything wrong?"
"There's a party in our group tonight, come with me."
"I won't go to your party. I don't know them and it would be so awkward if we sit together and have no way to talk to each other." Tan Xuan is very self-aware. Having no common topics is one reason, but the more important thing is that he doesn't want to participate in their so-called activities.
"What's so awkward about that? We're not sitting together chatting..."
"Do you hate me and don't want to go with me?"
"No, that's not what I meant." After hearing Su Cheng say this, Tan Xuan could no longer refuse. Women are all the same. Being unreasonable is their nature. For an inexperienced person like Tan Xuan, this is a fatal blow. There is no other answer at all.
Although he knew that there was no possibility for him and Su Cheng, Tan Xuan could not refuse for Qian Bo's sake, so he just went through the motions, "Okay, but don't tell me that I'm a magician."
"I know. Come quickly. If anyone asks you, I will say that you are my friend and you drove with me."
After everything was agreed upon, Tan Xuan agreed to pick her up at a KTV designated by Su Cheng at 10 o'clock in the evening. She and a few sisters had made an appointment to go out and play after get off work.
After dark, Tan Xuan started his work. He stopped taking orders just after nine o'clock. No matter what the relationship was, there was no reason for the girl to wait for him, especially at night, so he arrived at the door of the KTV that Su Cheng mentioned early and waited for Su Cheng to come out. He didn't call, just waited quietly. As a driver, it was common for him to wait for someone, but this time he didn't pay the fare.
They had agreed to meet at 10 o'clock, but Tan Xuan waited until nearly 10:30 before she saw Su Cheng at the door. Su Cheng came out with two of the sisters she mentioned. The three of them left the KTV, talking and laughing, and many people who were half drunk or pretending to be drunk at the door flirted with them. The three of them did not respond, and when Su Cheng saw Tan Xuan's car, they ran over together.
"When did you arrive?"
“Just arrived.”
Su Cheng sat in the passenger seat, and her two sisters got in from the back door.
"Well... aren't we going to..." Tan Xuan looked at Su Cheng, asking what was going on.
"They and I will all participate in the group activities soon." Su Cheng said casually. Tan Xuan didn't ask any more questions, and she didn't explain much.
Tan Xuan didn't say much. It wasn't like he was living in a world for only two of them, so having two more people wouldn't make much of a difference to him. Just like when he took the order, the price was the same for one passenger or four passengers, and the journey was the same for several people.
Su Cheng told Tan Xuan a place and then started chatting with her two sisters, only occasionally mentioning Tan Xuan, making sure that his existence was not limited to being a driver.
Through their conversation, Tan Xuan knew that the two people sitting in the back were Cui Yuji and Shen Zishan, both of whom were Su Cheng's college classmates. After graduation, they stayed in Jiangzhou to work and were also members of that group. Tonight was an event that was blocked by a prestigious member of the group, and they had to work hard to get the opportunity to participate. Because it was their first time to participate in a group activity, they all seemed very excited and excited. As for what the event was, they didn't say, and it was not known whether they knew it. They only knew that the start time was twelve o'clock in the middle of the night.
The address Su Cheng gave was a bit remote, an intersection close to the outer ring road of Jiangzhou. It was already past eleven when they arrived there.
The intersection is not big, and the street lights on the roadside struggle to bring some light to the surrounding area. There are only a few scattered buildings dozens of meters away. There is no light in the buildings at this time. I don’t know whether the people inside are resting or it has been abandoned. There are also very few passing vehicles here. Only one or two taxis pass by here every half a day.
Looking at the dead silence outside the car, Cui Yuji couldn't help but grin, "Oh my god, this is too remote."
Su Cheng gave Cui Yuji a look and said, "Nonsense, how can we not go a little off the beaten path? We will be disturbed by the people passing by right from the start in the city."
"Jianyang and the others haven't arrived yet, Zishan, call and ask where they are." Su Cheng ordered another girl. It can be seen that she is the leader of their small group.
Shen Zishan quickly made a phone call and replied to Su Cheng: "It took them a little time to prepare the things, but they will be here soon."
Shen Zishan said it would be very fast and it was indeed very fast. It was not like what Qian Bo said, that it would arrive right away. In the end, it might not arrive for an hour or two. In less than ten minutes, a car came and parked behind Tan Xuan's car.
Seeing four young people of the same age as them, two men and two women, getting out of the car, Su Cheng and her two sisters also got out and went over to greet them enthusiastically.
Seeing that Tan Xuan was sitting in the car without moving, Su Cheng waved at Tan Xuan and said, "Tan Xuan, come down."
Tan Xuan had originally planned to be a driver honestly, but now that he saw he couldn't escape, he had to push open the car door and get out.
"This is..." The man surrounded in the middle was stunned when he saw Tan Xuan, and instantly lost the enthusiasm he had just shown when meeting the three girls.
Su Cheng didn't seem to notice the change in the other person's expression. He smiled and pulled Tan Xuan over to introduce him to them, "He is my friend, Tan Xuan. He heard that we have an event here, so he came over to see it."
"Tan Xuan, they are the members of the group I mentioned. This one is Li Jianyang, he initiated this event, this one is Wu Xuesong, and those two beauties are Zhang Yanan and Zhao Kexin..."
They did not introduce their identities, but only introduced each other's names. I don't know if they didn't know each other or if they did it on purpose to help Tan Xuan avoid embarrassment.
Tan Xuan extended his hand politely. It was the first time they met, so courtesy was a must, especially when he saw that the other party was a well-dressed handsome man and beautiful woman, who looked like cultured people.
"Hello, my name is Tan Xuan."
Unfortunately, Li Jianyang was not polite to Tan Xuan, nor did he show the qualities of a cultured person. He did not even look at Tan Xuan, let alone shake hands with him. Instead, he frowned and looked at Su Cheng, "Chengzi, what's going on? Didn't I tell you that the seven of us correspond to the seven stars in the sky, and that only when there are more women than men can we invite the Yin God to come out? Suddenly there is one more person, which ruins our plan."
"No, Tan Xuan..."
Su Cheng wanted to explain, but Li Jianyang didn't listen at all. He just waved his hand to interrupt her and said, "Xuesong and I consulted senior masters for this event, and we also specially prepared magic tools. You three were selected by us after screening in the group. How can we add people casually, and men at that, and without informing me in advance?"
Hearing their words, Tan Xuan had already guessed what they were going to do, but he didn't expect that his arrival would be so unwelcome, as if his arrival would hinder them. So he waved his hand and explained with a smile: "Don't worry, brother, I came here just to see the world, and also to be their driver. I will not get involved with you, let alone disturb your affairs. You guys do your thing, I'll just watch from the side, if you are afraid that I will get in the way, I can hide in the car."
Feeling that his words were a bit harsh, Li Jianyang shook his head and said, "That's not necessary. Just don't get involved when we invite the gods, because our positions are arranged according to the requirements and cannot be changed. When the Yin God comes up, it's okay for you to come and see. But there is one thing I want to make clear in advance. If you peek and see something happening, we will not be responsible."
"Is that so? It's alright. Then you guys go about your business. I won't blame you if I have any problems." Tan Xuan didn't hesitate and got back into the car. He didn't want to get involved in these things. What Yin Shen? It's just a nice name. It's nothing more than inviting some wandering ghosts. But wandering ghosts are not cabbages in the market. With these people, how can they invite them without some ability? Tan Xuan's evaluation of their so-called supernatural exploration group was immediately much worse. He thought it was just a group of people who were bored and looking for excitement.
Li Jianyang and Wu Xuesong took out a lot of things from the trunk , including bottles of white wine, bags of rice, a box of incense, a stack of bowls, several white candles with shades, and several bundles of yellow paper.
Seeing what they took out, Tan Xuan's brows tightened. He originally thought that these people were just asking for the help of the Ouija board to avoid suspicion. As long as some individuals wanted to deceive girls, it would not be a problem. However, he did not expect that they were prepared with such a big fuss. It did not seem like they were just playing around at all.
Tan Xuan shook his head, leaned back, and remembered an outdated buzzword, "NO ZUO NO DIE".
Zhang Yanan and Zhao Kexin first laid a mat on the roadside opposite, and then laid a one-meter square white cloth on the mat. On the white cloth, many black characters were written in a regular pattern. They also placed a white plate in the middle of the white cloth, which was all the stuff of the Ouija board. Then, they placed white candles with candle holders on the four corners of the white cloth, and then led Su Cheng, Cui Yuji and Shen Zishan to sit around the white cloth. Zhang Yanan and Zhao Kexin sat on one side, Cui Yuji and Shen Zishan sat opposite them, and Su Cheng sat alone on the other side.
Li Jianyang and Wu Xuesong continued to be busy on the side, one pouring rice into a bowl and the other pouring wine into a bowl. After pouring, they placed them in the four directions of the intersection and put a bundle of paper money behind them.
After the arrangement was completed, Wu Xuesong looked at the time. When it was almost midnight, he took out three incense sticks from the incense box and handed them to Li Jianyang. Li Jianyang first held the incense and bowed three times towards the east. After silently reciting a few words, he inserted the incense into the rice bowl. After Li Jianyang inserted the incense, Wu Xuesong behind him followed and lit the corresponding yellow paper. Bowing at one place, lighting one place, the two people had a clear division of labor and completed their set of procedures in the order of east, west, south and north. Finally, the two came to the position of the white cloth, and they bowed at the four corners of the white cloth again, and lit the candles at the four corners of the white cloth. After doing all this, Wu Xuesong sat next to Su Cheng, while Li Jianyang sat alone in the remaining direction.
Li Jianyang took out a few pieces of yellow paper from his pocket and distributed them to everyone, asking them to wear them on themselves. Then he told everyone to hold their breath and concentrate, as the activity was about to officially begin.
Li Jianyang took out a small knife he had prepared in advance from his pocket, cut his left ring finger with the tip of the knife, squeezed out a few drops of blood and dripped them into the plate in the middle of the white cloth. He reached out and spread the blood evenly on the bottom of the plate, then drew two strokes on his forehead, and finally sucked his finger in his mouth before placing the plate in the middle of the white cloth.
Li Jianyang stretched out his right index finger and pressed it on the bottom of the plate. Others also stretched out their fingers and pressed on the bottom of the plate from all directions, and then everyone closed their eyes consciously.
"Yin God, Yin God, listen to me carefully..." Li Jianyang began to recite in a low voice an incantation that he had learned from somewhere. The voice gradually weakened and was gradually drowned out by the sound of cars and insects in the distance.
A cool breeze blew at the intersection, causing the incense ashes to fall from the incense heads. It was unclear whether it was the east wind, south wind, west wind or north wind. The thin smoke from the incense sticks around the intersection drifted toward the center of the intersection. Then, it gathered into several cyclones of varying thickness on the ash pile where the yellow paper had been burned. The cyclones hovered in place for a while and then moved towards the direction where everyone was. The cyclones kept rotating around the outside of the crowd, and the corners of the white cloth were gradually rolled up by the wind, and the flames of the candles in the candle covers around the white cloth began to sway. The white plates under the fingers of the crowd gradually moved on the white cloth. Although the movement was not large, it made everyone feel surprised at the same time.
Li Jianyang suppressed his inner joy and asked excitedly according to the master's instructions: "Yin Shen, are you here? Please answer."
The plate no longer slid left and right, but slowly drew circles on the white cloth, moving from the inside to the outside little by little in a spiral shape, gently sliding over the black words on the white cloth as if floating, and finally suddenly stopped.
After the plate paused for a few seconds, everyone understood and opened their eyes. Although their fingers were still on the bottom of the plate, when they saw the word "yes" pointed by the scissors on the edge of the plate, they all widened their eyes with joy in their eyes, without any fear, and it seemed that they were about to cheer and celebrate.
Tan Xuan, who was sitting in the car watching the show, gradually sat up straight. Others only saw the plate moving, but he saw a skinny old man riding on Li Jianyang's shoulders, holding out a branch to tease a naked child the size of a palm, who was holding the moving plate. Behind the crowd, there was a circle of invisible beings standing.
