Chapter 178: Ghost on the Shoulder

　　The sun slowly sank behind the mountains.

　　The sky darkened.

　　Lu Fei and Hu Zi, with their small black dog, moved through the eerie forest.

　　The woods were very dim; strange dark shadows darted through the waist-high weeds, and cooing bird calls came from the dense branches overhead.

　　The desolate hills seemed extremely spooky.

　　However, both of them had seen plenty of big scenes, and they felt no fear in this eerie setting.

　　"Little guy, your nose is sharp. Help us find where the pauper's graveyard is."

　　Lu Fei set the small black dog down on the grass, holding the leash firmly in his hand.

　　The little creature sniffed around, looked left and right, and as it went, it marked its territory by peeing along the way.

　　The sky grew darker and darker, and the forest was completely engulfed in darkness.

　　Lu Fei and Hu Zi turned on their flashlights.

　　The faint light could only illuminate a small area in front of them. The entire desolate mountain was like a pitch-black ocean, with who knew what hidden in those unseen corners.

　　"Boss, the elders in my village said that desolate mountains and wild areas are the most likely places for unclean things to appear." Hu Zi became alert, placing ghost-repelling talismans on his chest and back, and warily scanning his surroundings.

　　"If you hear someone calling from behind, or if someone touches your shoulder, don't respond, and don't look back! Otherwise, your soul will be taken away!"

　　"It's fine, just walk boldly. Even if we run into something, we're not scared!"

　　Lu Fei, of course, knew these taboos, but with their current strength, there was no need to be afraid.

　　Compared to spirits, he was more worried about the bad luck surrounding Jia Banxian.

　　Spirits were easier to deal with, but bad luck, an intangible and invisible thing, was hard to get rid of.

　　"That's true!" Hu Zi nodded.

　　The forest was silent, with only their footsteps echoing slightly in the mountain woods.

　　But as they walked, Lu Fei felt something was off.

　　Was there an extra set of footsteps?

　　There were only supposed to be three sets of footsteps for the two of them and the dog, but now he could hear four sets of footsteps in his ears.

　　"It seems we've been followed by something unclean."

　　Lu Fei remained calm and carefully observed his surroundings, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

　　He deliberately quickened his pace, but as soon as he did, the footsteps also sped up.

　　Just at that moment.

　　The small black dog suddenly stopped, raised its head, and with its two pitch-black eyes, it glared at Hu Zi, baring a ferocious expression and barking loudly at him.

　　"What's wrong, why are you being aggressive... is there something unclean?" Hu Zi's heart tightened; he felt that the small black dog wasn't looking at him, but rather behind him.

　　He was at the back of the group, so if something unclean was following, it would clearly be trailing him.

　　"Tiger, don't move."

　　Lu Fei glanced sideways.

　　Behind Tiger, there was a pitch-black shadow.

　　The shadow stretched out its arm, as if it wanted to place its hand on Tiger's shoulder.

　　However, Tiger had the ghost-repelling charm stuck on his back, so he wasn't worried.

　　"It's just a ghost touching the shoulder."

　　"I really did run into one. They say you shouldn't talk about ghosts at midnight," Tiger said, not in a panic. He drew his ghost-headed saber and swung it backward.

　　Boom!

　　A gust of yin wind swept through, and the tree shadows swayed violently. Something in the darkness rapidly retreated.

　　"Done! Such a small fry can't trouble Lord Tiger anymore!"

　　Huzi gave a faint smile, struck a dashing pose, and was about to turn around.

　　"Huzi, wait!" Lu Fei narrowed his eyes.

　　The small black dog did not relax its guard but instead raised the black hairs on its body, staring unblinkingly at what was behind Huzi.

　　Lu Fei turned sideways and looked further behind Huzi, and his scalp instantly tingled.

　　To his surprise, there was a long string of dark shadows behind Huzi!

　　Arms stretched forward, one after another, resting on the shoulders in front, like a long ladder.

　　"There are so many of these filthy things." Lu Fei was quite astonished, "Huzi, take out the incense ashes and scatter them behind you, don't let them get any closer!"

　　"Okay!"

　　Huzi quickly did as he was told, trying to scatter the incense ashes as far as possible.

　　The long string of filthy things retreated slightly but showed no sign of leaving; they stood silently in the darkness, staring straight at them.

　　Only then did Hu Zi turn around, and he was instantly startled.

　　"How could there be so many! Have many people died on this mountain?"

　　Lu Fei couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart, and instead became delighted: "It seems we're not far from the mass grave! Don't worry about them for now, little guy, lead the way!"

　　The small black dog seemed to really understand Lu Fei's words. It stopped staring at what was behind Hu Zi and turned around, running forward.

　　This time it ran very fast, no longer taking its time to mark the way.

　　After about a moment of time.

　　Lu Fei saw, in the wild grass ahead, one burial mound after another appearing.

　　These burial mounds, having been through untold years of wind and rain, had already collapsed by more than half. Some even had white bones exposed. The area was overgrown with weeds, looking desolate.

　　"Found it!"

　　Lu Fei felt a surge of joy in his heart, stopped, picked up the small black dog, and rubbed its fluffy head.

　　"Go back and I'll give you a can of food!"

　　Huzi was still warily staring behind them.

　　In the dark night, the long string of shadows faintly appeared and disappeared, persistently following all the way.

　　"Boss, they're following us, what should we do now?"

　　"They're just lonely spirits looking for replacements; if they want to come and die, let them." Lu Fei found a relatively clean spot and sat down.

　　The small black dog obediently lay by his side.

　　Although there were many of these wandering spirits, they didn't pose any real threat to them.

　　"Boss, why did we come here in the first place?" Huzi was very puzzled.

　　"To wait for someone."

　　"Who?"

　　"A jinx, you should be careful around him, don't get too close."

　　After saying that, Lu Fei twirled the luck bead on his wrist, stuck several ghost-repelling talismans on his body, and finally held the thunder-struck jujube wood stick in his hand.

　　He was even more curious about what exactly Jia Banxian wanted to do.

　　When a person is down on their luck, shouldn't they go somewhere safe and auspicious? Why come to a desolate grave in the wilderness instead?

　　"A jinx?" Hu Zi's eyes were filled with confusion, but he didn't dare to ask more, so he could only follow Lu Fei and wait patiently.

　　The deserted mountain was particularly quiet.

　　The air was filled with the scent of dirt and decaying leaves.

　　That string of dirty things glared at them for a while, then slowly floated behind the two.

　　Just as a pair of deathly pale hands were about to reach out to touch their shoulders,

　　a plain, unremarkable stick, like a small rolling pin, struck over.

　　Boom!

　　Blue arcs flickered in the night.

　　In an instant, those hands turned to ashes, and the remaining shadows, in a panic, scattered like birds and beasts, transforming into wisps of black smoke that drilled into the dilapidated tombs.

　　The burial ground returned to silence.

　　Time passed, and finally, it was midnight.

　　"Why hasn't he come yet?" Lu Fei was anxious, standing up and looking around at the pitch-black surroundings.

　　Just then.

　　"Lu Family boy, come help me!"

　　From not too far away, Jia Banxian's urgent cries could be heard, followed by a gaunt figure stumbling and running toward this direction.

　　His movements were extremely panicked, as if something terrifying was chasing him.