After a while, Chen Ermei had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a red rope on the ground. At this point, I put away the Ghost King Summoning Umbrella and breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, this red rope is the special item I mentioned earlier. This is not an ordinary red rope, but a red rope soaked in toad blood by Ershu.
There are five poisons in the world, and toads are one of them. Toad blood itself is yin. A red rope soaked in toad blood can be used to block evil spirits without hurting them, and can also be used as a rope to bind evil spirits.
Seeing Chen Ermei finally being sealed in the summoning umbrella, I also breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, Pangdun had collapsed on the ground like a puddle of mud. But he couldn't help but curse, "Duanmu, I will never trust you again in the future."
I laughed dryly and helped Pangdun up, saying, "What's wrong? Why are you making a fuss like a baby?"
Pangdun muttered as he put his hand on my shoulder, "Darn it, you tricked me. If it weren't for my courage, I would have been scared to death just now."
Pangdun kept muttering all the way, and I pretended not to hear. Back at school, it was almost time for evening self-study, so I didn't feel like going, and just went back to the dormitory with Pangdun.
The next day was Friday, and Pangdun was actually upset with me all day because of last night's incident and didn't talk to me at all. Dealing with this guy, I was truly at a loss, feeling like dealing with a little kid.
In the class, the topic about me and Wang Ying had quickly spread, and even took a completely different turn. Up to this day, some people even said I got Wang Ying pregnant, explaining why Wang Ying seemed uncomfortable when we were in the woods that night.
Hearing these comments, I remained indifferent on the surface, but inside, I was furious. But because the topic of me and Wang Ying had spread, I had unconsciously gained more attention in the class, even from some who had never paid any attention to me.
Especially Wang Qian, all of a sudden started targeting me. During class, she forced me to hand in my homework, and as soon as the bell rang, she came to me and Pangdun and said, "Duanmu, Pangdun, you two clean up today."
Pangdun and I were dumbfounded. I said, "My class leader, are you mistaken? Today, it's not our turn to clean up, is it?"
Wang Qian said seriously, "What, don't you want to clean? Then I'll report to the teacher that you two skipped evening self-study last night?"
Helplessly, Pangdun and I had to lower our heads. Before long, everyone else had left, leaving just me and Pangdun. Suddenly, Pangdun said, "Duanmu, today you clean up alone."
"I…" I almost spat in Pangdun's face: "Why?"
Pangdun glared and said, "You dare ask why? Do you feel you've treated me fairly after last night's incident?"
"Alright, alright, I'm afraid of you," I said helplessly, quietly picked up the broom, and Pangdun just left without looking back. So, I, the little Taoist who was usually not to be messed with, ended up in a miserable situation of cleaning up alone.
Looking at the empty classroom, I sighed, regretting my choice of friends.
After cleaning up, it was already six o'clock, and the sun had begun to set. I closed the doors and windows of the classroom and went back to the dormitory to pack up and get ready to go home.
But unexpectedly, my phone suddenly rang. When I looked, it was actually Pangdun calling.
I hesitated for a moment. Could it be that Pangdun had come to his senses and wanted to apologize to me? With this thought, I gladly answered the phone. But to my surprise, it wasn't Pangdun's voice on the other end, but a woman's voice.
"Xiaomu, I am Pang Dun's mother, is Pang Dun with you?"
Pang Dun's mother? I was a little surprised before replying, "Auntie, Pang Dun isn't with me, what's wrong?"
Pang Dun's mother sounded a bit anxious, "Then where has this child gone? I can't find him anywhere."
"Hmm?" I furrowed my brow, feeling a sense of unease. Pang Dun, despite being a little slow-witted, was a towering, big boy. How could he go missing for no reason?
I tried to reassure her, "Auntie, don't worry, Pang Dun probably went somewhere to play and lost track of time, or maybe he fell asleep somewhere. He will definitely come back."
"No, Xiaomu, he didn't just forget where he was playing, he's really gone."
"Gone?" When I heard this, I finally felt something was wrong. Pang Dun's mother wouldn't say this without reason. But it was strange, how could Pang Dun just disappear for no reason?
Wait a minute, something doesn't seem right. Could it be because of yesterday's incident? Yesterday, I only took Chen Ermei and didn't take her mother-in-law. Could it be that Chen Ermei's mother-in-law is causing trouble?
But that doesn't make sense. As far as I know, Chen Ermei's mother-in-law was just killed by Chen Ermei, and she wouldn't have a strong grudge. Generally, such ghosts, due to their weak nature, couldn't even get close to ordinary people, let alone cause harm.
But whether this is the case, I can only find out by going there myself. With that in mind, I said to Pang Dun's mother, "Auntie, don't worry, Pang Dun will be fine. I'll help you find him right now."
Saying that, I hung up the phone, and quickly returned to Chen Ermei's house. By now, it was almost completely dark outside. Although I had already captured Chen Ermei, the house still seemed eerie.
I went straight to the front door of the house, pushed it open, and recited an incantation towards the inside of the house: "The most supreme Mingtu heavenly eye opens, reconciling yin and yang between the two realms. There is no escape for ghosts and evil spirits; all forms of demons and monsters shall reveal themselves."
After reciting the incantation, the old woman who was chased by the dog yesterday appeared in front of me.
Holding an ancient coin, I said, "Little evil spirit, I didn't capture you yesterday, thinking you were also a pitiful person and didn't have the intention to harm anyone. Who would have thought that you were not honest and engaged in the same rebellion against yin and yang as Chen Ermei. Tell me, where is the fat boy who entered your house yesterday?"
The old woman's hair was a mess, and she slowly raised her head, revealing a creased but paper-white face. Then, in a husky voice that dragged on for a long time, she said, "Young man, what are you talking about? Old lady, I haven't seen any fat boy."
"No fat boy?" I furrowed my brow and scanned the house, indeed not sensing any human presence. Could I have been wrong?
At this thought, I searched the house again, but ultimately found no trace of the fat boy. So I had to apologize to the old lady, "I'm sorry for wrongly accusing you, I won't disturb you anymore."
Saying that, I quickly left the house and called Pang Dun again. On the phone, it was still Pang Dun's mother's voice, "Xiaomu, any news?"
I shook my head, "No, but it's okay, we'll find him. Can you tell me where he disappeared from?"
"Okay, come quickly, we'll take you there."
The call ended, and I hurried to Pang Dun's house. When I arrived, I saw Pang Dun's grandfather and mother, while Pang Dun's father had gone out to search for him.
Pang Dun's mother didn't hesitate, as soon as I arrived, she took me to the place where Pang Dun had disappeared. When we arrived, I discovered it was actually a graveyard.
Looking at the large expanse of graves in front of me, I couldn't help but ask, "Wait, Pang Dun disappeared here?"
"Yes," Pang Dun's mother said, "During the Qingming Festival, Pang Dun didn't have time to burn paper money for his grandmother, so today when he came back, he intended to burn some paper money for her before it got dark. But after he came here, he never returned, we came to look for him and only found his things here, but not him."
"Hmm?" As I listened, I couldn't help but look around at these graves. Suddenly, I had a sense of unease, something was wrong with these graves. That's right, two days ago Pang Dun told me that there was something wrong with his family's graveyard.
Thinking, I quickly walked to one of the graves, and as I touched it, I already knew. I turned to Fat Dumpling's mother and said, "Auntie, get someone to come and dig up this grave to take a look."
Hearing this, Fat Dumpling's mother turned pale all of a sudden, "Xiao Mu, what do you mean by that? Could it be that my Fat Dumpling is in this grave?"