After saying this, the old lady began to slowly retreat, disappearing into the darkness, preparing to exit my dream.
"Wait, old lady." I suddenly shouted, and the old lady walked out of the darkness again.
"Youth, do you have any more questions?"
Baffled, I looked at the old lady and said, "Yes, I don't understand why the old lady told me this? How does the old lady know that's the source of the sinister aura?"
"Youth," the old lady's face suddenly became fierce, "Frankly, my whole family died under the old pine trees, killed by Nie Wei."
Finally, the old lady turned and left, only her voice echoed in the darkness: "Youth, didn't I tell you a few days ago that Lao Wa Town was already filled with Nie Wei's chaos? In reality, I am also one of Nie Wei's underworld spirits. But I'm luckier than Long Lan Xiang, I wasn't captured by Nie Wei."
When the old lady's voice disappeared, I had already sat up from the bed. At this moment, it was half-dark outside, and there was a lot of noise, suggesting that evening self-study was about to begin. I got up helplessly and gave Pang Dun a slap to wake him up.
After hastily finishing dinner, I and Pang Dun came to the classroom in a daze. Just as I was about to continue sleeping, I was suddenly greeted by a slender, long-haired woman standing in front of my desk.
A pleasant fragrance filled the air, making everything seem beautiful.
"Duan Mu." At that moment, the woman's voice finally rang out. When I raised my head, I discovered that the person standing in front of my desk was actually Wang Qian. Strangely, at that instant, I felt that Wang Qian was more beautiful than ever, after just catching a whiff of her scent.
I had been spending too much time with Wang Qian in the past few days, almost forgetting that she was the flower of our class. Finally coming to my senses, I said, "Oh, it's Wang Big Head, what's up?"
"Duan Mu," Wang Qian said impatiently, "why do you have this attitude? So much has happened between us these past few days."
Hearing our conversation, the whole class turned their heads, squinting their eyes at me. Some of them looked at me with malicious intent.
Helplessly, I said to Wang Qian, "Alright, Big Head, I'm sorry for my attitude. What's the matter?"
Wang Qian hesitated for a moment, then with a self-satisfied expression on her face, she said with her hands behind her back, "It's nothing much. Zhu Jie's basketball team is going on an outing tomorrow, and he asked me to ask if you want to join."
"Speechless," I looked at Wang Qian, "What does their basketball team outing have to do with me?"
"It's organized by Zhu Jie, he wants to thank you specifically for helping him," she explained.
"I don't want to go," I turned my face away, "I have other things to do, no time for such leisure."
"Outing?" At this point, Pang Dun woke up suddenly and asked excitedly, "Where are we going for the outing? Oh, it's Captain Wang Qian, where are we going?"
Seeing Pang Dun's reaction, I was speechless. Then, Wang Qian said to Pang Dun, "Of course we are going to a great place for the outing, but Duan Mu doesn't want to go, so we'll have to give up."
"Duan Mu..." Pang Dun gave me a fiercely malicious look. Seeing his expression, I could only helplessly push him aside and ask Wang Qian, "Alright, I'll consider it, where are you guys going for the outing?"
"Okay," Wang Qian said with a smug smile, "Do you know Pinewood Cave?"
"Pinewood Cave?" I shook my head to indicate that I didn't know, but in reality, I felt a sense of familiarity, as if I had heard of it somewhere. This feeling even made me feel eerie.
"Do you know the Old Pine Tree then," Wang Qian continued.
"The Old Pine Tree?" My heart sank suddenly, "You guys are going for the outing to the Old Pine Tree?"
"Yes, Pinewood Cave is right next to the Old Pine Tree, I heard it’s really fun there. We've been tired these past few days, so let's just go and relax," she suggested.
"The Old Pine Tree?" I couldn't help but silently repeat these words, and finally nodded slightly, "Okay, I'll go. What time?"
"Great," Wang Qian smiled smugly, "We're going tomorrow afternoon, it's not far, we can return in the evening."
After evening self-study, I and Pang Dun returned to the dormitory. As soon as we lay down, Pang Dun asked curiously, "Duan Mu, when Wang Qian mentioned the Old Pine Tree, you looked so tense. Is there something wrong with the Old Pine Tree?"
"I don't know either, go to sleep," I glanced at Pang Dun, then looked away, dismissing the topic.
The next afternoon, Zhu Jie and the others had everything ready, and as soon as we arrived, we headed straight for the Old Pine Tree. However, even though it was called a basketball team, there were actually three people, including Zhu Jie. It turns out that no one pays attention to Zhu Jie and his basketball team now.
Moreover, the two people on Zhu Jie's basketball team seemed to be there for Wang Qian, and one of them seemed to particularly dislike Zhu Jie. The complexity of these relationships left me at a loss for words.
Unknowingly, we left the town and arrived at the foot of a mountain covered with pine trees. At this moment, Wang Qian pointed to the mountain in front and said, "This is the old pine forest."
"Hmm?" Hearing this, I couldn't help but take a closer look. Through the dense pine needles, I could vaguely see a village among the old pine trees. However, the whole village seemed lifeless, giving off a strange feeling.
"Is there a village here?" I asked in confusion.
Wang Qian shook her head, looking puzzled, while the man next to Zhu Jie, who seemed to dislike Zhu Jie, said, "What's so surprising? This village has been abandoned for ten years. It's surprising that you still live in the Lao Wa town and don't know about it."
I couldn't help but shake my head. I really didn't know, but at just one glance, I could tell there was something strange about this village.
The group paid no more attention to the village, picked up their things, and began to walk towards the direction of the pine forest cave along the path at the foot of the mountain. I walked at the back of the group, and suddenly, two ancient bronze coins appeared in my hand. I quickly covered my eyes and began chanting a spell.
The supreme spiritual eye opens, clearing the boundary between yin and yang. Nowhere for ghosts and monsters to hide, all evil spirits shall be revealed.
As the spiritual eye opened, I lifted my head slightly and looked towards the direction of the village. With just one glance, I was fiercely shocked.
I saw that the village was emitting resentment all around, and on the door of one of the houses, there were actually several nails holding a person?
The person's hands, feet, and throat were all pinned by nails, hanging on the wall.
It was a man, hanging on the wall like that, with a pale face, and his clothes were already in tatters, making it impossible to tell how many years he had been dead.
Suddenly, the man's eyes opened, and he looked at me, "The person who shouldn't die is dead, and the person who should die is living well. What kind of logic is this?"