When I slipped away, it was stealthily, don't ask me anything. In the words of Fatso, this is called "startling the snake by cutting the grass".

  The village was quiet at night, with many dogs in the countryside. Pàngzi bought a lot of braised dishes, this little guy had a lot of ideas, as long as he encountered a dog, he would throw a piece of meat next to it, and soon almost all the dogs in the village were following him around.

  Outside the temple, the fat man covered his paper bag and waved his hand repeatedly: "Go go go, more or less...".

  "Damn it, you're still as ignorant as a dog, just get out of here."

  "You're just talking nonsense, in this cold winter if you don't have a couple of shots of baijiu you'll freeze to death. Just drinking is meaningless, you must eat meat too. What's in your mouth, why not spit it out and feed the dogs?"

  Cha Wenbin's words to us were just one word: Wait!

  Waiting for what? Waiting for time!

  The Taoist priests seem to especially like using the hour of Zi, which is midnight, otherwise how would people normally interact with ghosts? At that time, only ghosts are left wandering around. To say that ordinary people really can't stay in this haunted place, thinking that just separated by a door inside there are hundreds of coffins stacked neatly like containers on a dock, and it's just us few heartless ones who can still drink and eat meat.

  Fatso started talking nonsense after drinking too much: "Cha Ye, if we go in at midnight, won't we disturb the people?"

  I picked up a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth, saying: "If you don't talk nonsense, no one will take you for a mute. At this point, people have just gotten out of bed, oh no, I mean, just gotten out of their coffin!"

  Cha Wenbin looked at the time and said to me and Pangzi: "After entering, just find what should be found. The ones inside are their ancestors, even if they want to make trouble, it won't cause too much chaos. However, it's not right to mess with their descendants in front of people. We have to get them out. I saw a abandoned small house at the village entrance during the day, not far from the mine, isolated and alone. Let's take them there."

  That fatty can't say anything good: "What's there to play with? That thing stinks worse than shit!"

  "Carry it out." As soon as I said these three words, I almost burst out laughing. Needless to say, such a wonderful task naturally fell to Fat Brother, who else but him with his great strength?

  He's no fool either. Seeing me laugh like that, he immediately expressed his attitude: "Anyway, I won't take the blame. Every time something bad happens, it's always me who does it. Today I'm not doing it!"

  "No one asked you to do it, so I'll carry the load. Little memory, you're in charge of lighting the way for us. Stone, you take the lantern and lead the way. Let me make this clear: once we go in, I'll open two paths - yin and yang. If you take the wrong path, there's no turning back."

  The fatty's eyes rolled around and he said: "Then I'll just light it up, let Little Yi carry it!"

  His proposal made me sweat, that thing really wants me to go up and I'm ready to surrender on the spot. Fortunately, Cha Wenbin's words saved me: "He can't do it, they are relatives, carrying a corpse is particular. Seniors can carry juniors, seniors are bigger, can hold; Juniors can also carry seniors, this is called filial piety, following the natural order; Only peers cannot carry each other, if you're not careful, you'll rely on each other and can't get down, so either I carry or you carry."

  Fatso was speechless for a moment, and after half a day, he said: "That... that's still your problem, I'll find the way."

  "Can you open the road?" Cha Wenbin asked back.

  "Just bring a road, right? There's a small house at the village head, isn't there? Don't worry, I'll lead you and won't get lost."

  "Alright then, I'll carry it for now. If you can't find the way later, we can switch again."

  "Go, it's a deal!" thought the fatty. This can still be done, I can even do it with my eyes closed. In short, doing anything is better than carrying a corpse.

  "Let's go. After entering, don't speak and don't blow air towards the corpse. Don't touch things that shouldn't be touched." After instructing these, Cha Wenbin led the way by pushing open the door first.

  As soon as we entered, a cold air hit us in the face, mixed with a musty smell and the pungent smell of incense, which directly attacked our noses. It was completely different from when I came during the day. Zhang Wenbin didn't go towards Zhou Bo, but instead stood in front of the copper incense burner. We two were just behind him. The fat man glanced around and whispered to me: "To be honest, I've dug up many graves before, but I really think that none of them can compare with this place. This place even makes me feel like I can smell ghosts."

  I said irritably: "Shut up for a moment. No one takes you as a mute person. You come in without stealing or robbing, and I'll make sure not to bother you."

  Looking over at Cha Wenbin, he already had a handful of incense sticks and was using a lighter to light them. After lighting them, he divided three sticks between me and Pangzi. Then, with the incense sticks held above his head, he said: "The ancestors of the Zhou family, I, Cha Wenbin, a descendant of the Cha family, have no relation or connection to the Zhou family. Today, I passed through this place solely because the talented offspring of the Zhou family was harmed by scoundrels and suffered injustice. I came specifically to investigate the truth so that he can clear his name and rest in peace in the afterlife. If my presence has disturbed the peaceful rest of all the immortals here, I, Cha Wenbin, offer my apologies once again."

  Having said that, Cha Wenbin felt the incense was lit and bowed three times in each of the three directions. Myself and Pangzi quickly followed his example, after which we inserted the incense into the copper furnace. Cha Wenbin gave us a signal with his eyes and crept towards Zhou Bocai's coffin.

  It was similar to what I saw during the day, I had a flashlight in my hand, the kind that uses No. 1 batteries, with a yellowish color and a white metal handle, which I bought on the way here. When Cha Wenbin turned the corpse over, the light from the flashlight happened to shine right onto Zhou Bo's face. That guy, that scene, my hair probably stood up higher than someone who had used hair gel. At that moment, my hand shook and the flashlight fell into the coffin.

  Suddenly everything around turned black, and all that could be heard was the fatty shouting: "Ahh, my ancestors, don't scare people like this, damn it!"

  I quickly pulled Zhang Wenbin's arm and whispered: "Is Brother Wenbin there?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "I'm a little scared." At that time, my hands were shaking, and his arm was also shaking with me. I was speaking and my whole body was trembling, "I saw him smile at me..."

  "Don't be afraid, I'm here." He only said these four words, then I heard a rustling sound, and then Zha Wenbin handed me the flashlight and said, "Hold on tight, follow me closely, Shi Tou, it's your turn to lead the way."

  As soon as the flashlight was back in my hand, I felt a little safer. It was then that I noticed there was already a corpse hanging on Cha Wenbin's back, but what was strange was that I couldn't smell even a hint of stench.

  "Alright?" The fat guy didn't want to stay here for another moment, turned around and left. He had only taken a few steps when he found that we hadn't followed him out, so he turned his head back and asked: "What are you standing there for, let's go!"

  Cha Wenbin sat the corpse up in the coffin and said to Pangzi: "You're doing it wrong."

  "What's wrong, please don't scare me, okay? The gate is just over there!" Fatso pointed casually. I wouldn't believe it if this wasn't something he experienced himself. I shone my flashlight in the direction he was pointing, but unexpectedly, when the light swept past, where was the door? It was gone!

  "Ghost hitting the wall?" This was the first phrase that popped into my mind, a phrase that Wen Bin often used. Since I was young, I've heard my grandfather say it too. The ghost hitting the wall at this moment, in this kind of place, somehow made me feel like it was to be expected. It's as if we should just carry the corpse out and really see a ghost.

  Pangzi took a step back and stammered: "Cha Ye, wha... what's going on?"

  "It's easy to invite the gods, but hard to send them away. Now that we've entered this ancestral hall and charity house, as outsiders, we can't just leave like that. Old Master Zhou is a master, when he built this place, he left some hidden passages behind, using Zhuge Liang's Bagua formation. Back then, Zhuge was able to hold off an army of 100,000, now it's easy for him to trap us three. I noticed during the day that the placement of the coffins here is deliberate. In the four directions of east, south, west, and north, only the south has a door open, but you didn't notice that there's another door in the south that has been sealed into the wall."

  The so-called "scattered into eight, reunited as one", this temple has six other doors, all of which have been sealed within the walls. The remaining door is a life-giving gate during the day, but becomes a death gate at night. Moreover, this life-giving gate can only be opened on the first and fifteenth days of each month. These eight gates are constantly changing. On the other days of the month, this gate is only for entering, not exiting. This is why he wants future generations to remember that they can only enter the temple to worship on the first and fifteenth days. Otherwise, do you think these coffins have been placed here for thousands of years without losing a single brick or tile?

  Fatso was also convinced by Cha Wenbin: "This... this... Master Cha, you can show me the way, I'll take you there."

  Zha Wenbin said, "You can't take it away. I've said before that his eight gates are the strange door of escape and evasion, combined with the changing way of star signs and five elements. Only on the first and fifteenth days is it a regular entrance and exit, while other days need to be calculated."

  "What's to be done? If all else fails, I'll just jump over the wall and get out!"

  "Don't underestimate this place, the eight patterns of heaven, earth, wind, cloud, dragon, tiger, bird and snake on the wall tiles mean that there are eight formations guarding here. If you want to go and flip, just go and flip, but I don't dare guarantee whether you can return home tomorrow."

  "What will happen?"

  "He pointed at the corpse behind him and said: 'Maybe it'll be like that for me too.'"

  Fatso's face had almost changed shape, but his mouth still wouldn't open. In the end, I said: "Forget it, professionals do professional work, you're just a laborer, stick to the original plan, you carry the corpse, Wenbin will lead the way."

  "Alright, alright, it doesn't matter anymore. I'll just carry it myself. At worst, when I get back, you can burn a pot of mugwort for me and I'll take a good bath to wash away the bad luck."

  Zha Wenbin smiled and said, "You still know how to use mugwort?"

  Fatso carried the corpse and said: "That's my grandma, formerly known as Sai Xian Gu!"

  Zhenwen Bin, who had suddenly appeared, began to constantly rearrange the objects on the ground. I counted a total of eight small stones, and he kept changing their positions non-stop. Sometimes he would look up at the night sky, sometimes he would stop to examine the compass in his hand. The way the stones were switching places made people feel dizzy, just like the dealer in a casino playing cards, it was as if they could conjure up flowers.

  After about an incense stick's worth of time, Cha Wenbin stood up and said: "Alright, follow me!"

  Then I saw his gait was completely different from usual, and then I saw the scene that I saw when I was a kid...