Chapter 18 Doubt

There was no turning back when carrying a coffin; they only had one chance to choose.

"Only one of these three paths is real. The other two are illusions. The ghost stands on two legs and uses its yin energy to influence the terrain, modifying our senses."

According to Yuan Shanyuan, the current scene was similar to the ghost wall they had encountered last time. These extra two paths were also created by those female ghosts.

If they followed the wrong path, they would fall into the trap of the female ghosts.

"Humans have human paths, and ghosts have ghost paths. We can't see the risks on the three paths, but the ghosts certainly can." Seeing this scene, Luo Tianhe calmed down. He took a deep breath and said, "We can ask the ghosts."

Li Bai's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Mr. Luo is referring to these lonely ghosts behind us?"

"Of course, otherwise why would we lure them here?"

Luo Tianhe reached into his coat and took out a cloth bag containing a fire starter and incense. "Old Mr. Yuan, I'll need you to work with me later. I don't trust these youngsters."

"Alright." Yuan Shanyuan understood the situation and agreed readily.

Luo Tianhe turned his head and looked at Lin Qianqian and Li Bai. Lin Qianqian, already feeling guilty, avoided Luo Tianhe's gaze. Luo Tianhe paused, then shifted his gaze. "Miss Li Bai, I'll need you to take charge of the last path."

Li Bai agreed.

The three of them then switched positions, replaced by Jiang Cheng, Yao Shunyu, and Lin Qianqian. The three who had freed themselves, Luo Tianhe, Yuan Shanyuan and Li Bai, wasted no time. Each took three incense sticks from Luo Tianhe's bag and a chopstick, lighting the nine incense tips together with the fire starter. Then, each took a rough porcelain bowl from the coffin.

The three walked towards the three paths, turning around and squatting down at their respective intersections.

They faced the coffin, with their backs to the path.

Luo Tianhe chose the left path, Yuan Shanyuan the middle, and Li Bai the right.

The three simultaneously placed the bowls filled with half-cooked rice on the ground and respectfully inserted the three incense sticks. The incense tips flared up the moment they were inserted into the rice, burning rapidly at a visible rate.

At the same time, the three lowered their heads and tapped the edge of the bowl with the chopstick in their right hand.

The crisp tapping sound echoed in the night, indescribably eerie.

The four still standing beside the coffin suddenly felt a gust of yin wind surge from behind. It felt as if something extremely cold was rapidly approaching them. Lin Qianqian and Yao Shunyu, whose yang energy was weak, shivered from the cold.

The next second, Fatty held his breath, his eyes filled with horror. He saw people appearing in front of him, many people, men, women, old people, and children. These people had disheveled hair and tattered clothes. Some were even barefoot, walking stiffly toward Li Bai's path. Of course, all he saw were their backs.

Then, this group of people surrounded Li Bai, squatted down, lowered their heads, and tremblingly reached out, grabbing handfuls of the half-cooked rice from the bowl and stuffing it into their mouths, chewing mechanically.

They didn't make any sound throughout, as if watching a terrifying silent movie.

The scene Li Bai saw at this moment was even more bizarre. From her perspective, the surroundings were empty, and there was no one at all, but the half-cooked rice in the bowl was getting less and less, as if it was being dug away by something.

But even so, Li Bai's hand remained steady, tapping the edge of the bowl, her rhythm not disrupted.

"Li Bai's path is the real one. Look, those wandering ghosts would rather fight for a bowl of rice than go to Luo Tianhe and Yuan Shanyuan's paths to beg for food, because they're afraid, afraid of the ghosts blocking the way on those two paths."

As Yao Shunyu finished speaking, Luo Tianhe suddenly stood up, followed by Yuan Shanyuan. Both of their faces looked grim as they stared down at the three incense sticks in their bowls.

The incense sticks in their bowls were strangely consistent. The incense sticks on the left and right sides burned very quickly, while the one in the middle was much slower, forming a short, long, short pattern.

Humans avoid three longs and two shorts, while incense avoids two shorts and one long.

As Luo Tianhe and Yuan Shanyuan threw away their chopsticks and ran back, Li Bai also stopped persisting. She forcefully broke the chopsticks with both hands, then turned around and quickly returned.

Seeing Li Bai return safely, Jiang Cheng, Fatty, and Yao Shunyu breathed a sigh of relief. Li Bai had proven her worth with her true abilities.

"The path on the right is real. Hurry, or things will change."

Now that things were clear, everyone no longer hesitated. After returning to their original positions, they carried the coffin and quickly ran towards the path on the right. When passing Li Bai's bowl, Jiang Cheng paid special attention to it. He saw that only a thin layer of rice remained inside, and it looked like the incense sticks could barely stand.

But the incense sticks were burning without any issues. The remaining lengths of the three incense sticks were almost identical.

But soon after everyone carried the coffin away, the rough porcelain bowl suddenly trembled for no reason. Then, a crack extended upwards from the bottom of the bowl, and the bowl shattered, scattering the half-cooked rice inside.

The three incense sticks fell straight down, lying side by side on the ground. The incense sticks on the far left and right broke in the middle, leaving only a short section, while the long incense stick in the middle remained intact.

The next second, all three incense sticks went out at the same time.

…

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Cheng looked at Fatty in front of him, who was repeatedly shrugging his neck.

"N-nothing... I just feel uncomfortable in my neck. It feels like a cold breeze is blowing over."

Fatty didn't know why, but just now, a cold breeze suddenly rushed over from behind, making him unable to help but shrug his neck. But after he realized something was wrong, the cold breeze disappeared out of thin air.

Fatty wasn't the only one who felt something was wrong. Luo Tianhe also did. He slowly slowed down and scanned his surroundings warily. "Strange, there wasn't much half-cooked rice left in the bowl. Those wandering ghosts should have finished eating it long ago, so why haven't they followed us yet?"

After all, there was still a bowl of rice on the coffin.

"Indeed, there's nothing behind us. I didn't hear any footsteps."

Li Bai's voice was tight, filled with doubt and an indescribable unease. She didn't know why either.

"This path is strange." Jiang Cheng suddenly spoke. "After the last earthen slope, we shouldn't be too far from seeing a large rock, on the right-hand side, and a tree that was struck by lightning. The trunk is charred, so it's very conspicuous, but we haven't seen it after walking for so long."

"But the incense sticks were clearly fine just now." Lin Qianqian suddenly felt a little flustered.

"The problem we're discussing has nothing to do with the incense sticks. I'm just saying there's something wrong with this path."

In this situation, Jiang Cheng didn't have time to waste words with Lin Qianqian. What he wanted was useful advice, or a plan to escape, from useful people.

"B-behind... behind us!"

Lin Qianqian turned her head, her expression instantly freezing on her face. About 20 meters behind them, a crossroads had appeared out of nowhere, extending three paths to the left, right, and front.

The rough porcelain bowl in front of the intersection was very conspicuous.