Old Gong was likewise shaken to the core.
"Can you see me!?"
"Grandpa, something's wrong..." Old Gong turned his head, staring at me straight on.
The sunlight turned from a pale glow to a blinding intensity, and Old Gong vanished into thin air.
At noon, the shadow of a tall building was short, lasting just a minute, barely a dozen breaths.
Mingying was also filled with tension.
I naturally knew that something was wrong.
Old Gong, this ghost, can only be seen directly by those in the know, ordinary people have never seen him. Old Gong has never made a move to appear before ordinary people at any time or place.
This woman is a genuinely ordinary person. If there's an issue with her, then perhaps there's an underlying problem with this place that allows ghosts to be seen?
As my thoughts fluttered, Mingying arrived at the woman's side and helped her up, carrying her into the spacious hall before sitting her down in a chair by the wall.
I scanned the house from side to side, yet found no issue with it.
Not long after, the woman woke up, looking somewhat dazed as she rubbed her forehead.
"How did I..." she murmured first, then looked around in a start of fear, her gaze fixing on the spot outside where she had fallen.
"Just now I..." She had sweat on her forehead, and looked more and more confused.
"The village is haunted? In broad daylight... how could that be?"
The woman, muttering to herself, shook her head as if dispelling unnecessary thoughts. She looked at us with a hint of embarrassment.
Suddenly, I remembered what the woman had said earlier: in the shepherd's village, even if there were ghosts, they would quickly vanish, and especially during the day, they would completely disappear.
The word itself has some issues!
Although I had heard quite a bit of information beforehand, and even knew that there wasn't a single lowly character in this village, there might be other forms of existence.
"I can assure you that ghosts cannot appear in broad daylight," I said with a smile, my tone more relaxed. "Sister, you might have experienced an illusion earlier. People often feel that a place has a shadowy presence and feels familiar, even if they haven't been there before."
"However, you should know why there are no ghosts in the village, right?" I spoke quickly, cutting to the next topic.
"Oh, yes… What ghosts can be around during the day… I'm just a housewife left behind, so I know nothing. There's a City God Temple in the village, and Old Han of the village gives sheep heads to City God every day. The City God blesses the village." The woman began her speech incoherently but later became more fluent.
I felt a slight chill run through me.
City God Temple?
I've always known that every place has a City God Temple. After leaving Jinyang, I haven't been to any other places.
I never thought that the City God Temple of Jianghuang City would be right here in the village of Shepherds?
This is even more suspicious.
How can a City God Temple coexist with the Five Abodes of Ghosts in the same village?
Or perhaps the Five Abodes of Ghosts have been eliminated for a while?
Or perhaps he's hiding in some place?
"Sister, we understand. Could you please prepare some food for us to rest?" Mingying said kindly to the woman.
"Oh, okay." The woman nodded, muttering to herself about going to light a stick of incense later that night.
She walked into another room door and could see that it was the kitchen inside.
Mingying spoke to me in a low voice that only I could hear: "We should go and pay a visit at night, perhaps the on-duty City God can know something. Or maybe the ghost is too cunning. Alternatively, it could be that the information about 'Coffin Corpse Land' is incorrect. Let's get back quickly to avoid wasting time. I think the village we visited earlier with the poison was quite good. Even if we can't verify the bronze club there for now, it should be sufficient for your own needs."
I nodded, and Mingying was right.
Not long after, the woman brought out a few dishes of ordinary home cooking: steamed vegetables, boiled potatoes with noodles, and a plate of stir-fried tofu and another of braised meat. The aroma was mouth-watering.
During the meal, Mingying chatted casually with the woman about the City God Temple for a few sentences, asking who she had previously mentioned Old Han.
The woman spoke freely, saying that Old Han was an old bachelor in the village. He had gone out to work years ago, but his wife ran off with someone else. After he returned, he stayed in the City God Temple.
The City God Temple had been abandoned for a long time, but he rebuilt it brick by brick, filling in the holes and renovating it.
After that, the City God Temple really did have offerings.
At that time, there were still some strange things happening in the village of Shepherds. They gradually disappeared, and even at night, the village was very safe. Even if the doors and windows were left open, no one would steal anything.
I exchanged a glance with Mingying and didn't say much more.
Old Han couldn't possibly be the on-duty City God. Yet, the City God Temple itself had been abandoned. Could it be that after he restarted the offerings, an on-duty City God returned?
Suddenly, I had a thought, a logical question. The woman had said that they should go light a stick of incense at night.
Why must the incense be lit at night? Is it not possible during the day?
As for Mingying's suggestion to pay a visit at night, that was normal, as we were following the woman's lead.
To be honest, the country-style cuisine really does smell delicious.
Soon, the food on the table was finished in a flash.
The woman went to wash and tidy up, and when she came out, she asked us again if we really didn't need her to find out if there were any strange occurrences in other villages?
I shook my head and cut to the chase by asking her if she had seen Old Han during the day?
The woman nodded and said, "Yes, I have."
Suddenly, this also made my heart clench.
I had a deduction that Old Han might actually be one of the Five Abodes of Ghosts. On the surface, it seemed like the City God Temple was bringing blessings, but in reality, it was him making trouble and keeping the village of Shepherds peaceful.
The woman's words broke my deduction again.
"Sister, if it's not too much trouble, could you take us to the City God Temple? We'd rather not wait until night," Mingying spoke softly.
"Oh... okay." The woman wiped her hands on her apron and put it down on the chair, then took us out to leave.
As we passed by some houses, some people peered out at Mingying and me.
We had passed through here before, and after Mingying spent a lot of money to gather information, this was naturally something the villagers would talk about over tea and meals.
We reached a certain point on the village road, then turned into a narrow path, and after about ten minutes of walking, we stopped in front of a temple.
The temple walls are made of gray bricks, some places have been repainted with white paint and lime, giving it an old feeling.
Inside, it wasn't new, but it was clean and dust-free.
The sunlight was particularly glaring. A middle-aged man in his fifties was holding a broom, cleaning the floor.
His shadow was stretched unusually long, his face lined with wrinkles, thin and weary from hard work.
Seeing a human being, I am more certain that Old Han is a normal person.
Once inside the City God Temple, the woman waved her hand and shouted out Old Han's name.
Old Han looked up, his half-closed eyelids partially opening.
"Not until it's dark, no incense." He said in a dry voice.
The woman was slightly embarrassed and whispered to us, "In the City God Temple, people usually burn incense at night. Old Han says that the gods inside will only eat if they do. We can just take a look now. If we're interested, we can come burn incense at night."
My pupils slightly constricted.
Gods in the temple? Eating incense at night? The Watcher of the Night?
Or... the Five Abodes of Ghosts?
