Five ugly ghosts swung their bodies in the air, with their lowest ends linked together. Four of them had no eyes and only one big mouth, while the middle one was the largest and had one eye, which was staring at us.
I was terrified and almost fell down.
“What…what is that thing?”
“Wuqi ghosts,” Zhu Xuan answered calmly. “They are a congregate monster made up of five different evil ghosts. Only one of them can see with its one eye, so the other ghosts have to follow his orders. According to folklore, Wuqi ghosts like to eat people who are neither kind nor evil, neither lucky nor unlucky. When the person is sound asleep, the five ghosts would take turns sniffing the person, and that person would die. Actually, it is the effluvium released by the Wuqi ghosts that poison people.”
“Fine, since you already know who we are, we have no choice but to admit it,” The one-eyed ghost among them said with a crackle. “Yes, I killed the family. I was about to kill them all, but I didn’t expect the two of you to be so powerful. It took you less than a day to see through me and my tricks. What a pity, I was supposed to poison you to death and eat you both.”
“What a pity,” “What a pity,” The other four ghosts echoed.
“But you’re wrong about one thing, Taoist priest.” The one-eyed ghost bared its ghastly teeth. “If I want you dead, I don’t need to trouble myself to learn how to disguise myself as a human being. Humans always overestimate themselves.”
Zhu Xuan frowned.
What’s going on…?
“Since ancient times, monsters have lived hidden in the shadows, avoided the eye of human beings and lived cautiously.” The one-eyed ghost let out a roar to show his displeasure. “But we are far stronger than human beings, why should we hide in the dark and live like rats? So we disguised ourselves as human to learn how to live like them, this way we can hunt many more humans!”
“Don’t you dare!” Zhu Xuan shouted angrily, “Heaven’s net is wide and coarse, yet nothing slips through, and you’re no exception!”
I was not sure if Zhu Xuan had a special aura when he lost control of his emotions, but the Wuqi ghosts took a deep breath as if they sensed something.
“Ah, this smell… you’re not human. As a monster, why do you speak for these sinful humans?”
“Don’t take me for small fry like you!” Zhu Xuan said angrily.
The Wuqi ghosts giggled. “Forget it, we don’t care. Now, we can only solve this problem by eating both of you!”
All of sudden, five fierce ghosts rushed over as swift as an arrow, their target was me who was still in a daze.
“Gu Yu, watch out!”
In an instant, Zhu Xuan ran forward and flung himself upon me, while the five ghosts flew out of the door because of the inertia.
The five ghosts groaned and rushed towards Zhu Xuan again. At that moment, a powerful whirlwind suddenly blew around him.
The wind was so strong that I could not even open my eyes. When the wind stopped, I tried to look at him through my narrowed eyes, only to find a familiar white divine beast standing there.
“Zhu Xuan!” I shouted at him, warning him to be careful.
Zhu Xuan, or should I say Bai Ze, raised his head and growled loudly. I was not sure if this was a response to my warning or he was expressing his anger.
The Wuqi ghosts were obviously frightened by this sudden change in situation and they did not move for a moment. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Bai Ze quickly jumped on them and torn the one-eyed ghost’s apart with its sharp canine teeth.
The one-eyed ghost screamed, and then his body exploded into black and red liquid, which splashed on the ground.
The other four ghosts lost their leader, and they immediately tried to flee. However, Bai Ze would not let them get away. He immediately flew in front of them and stomped on each of them with his paws, before swallowing them into his stomach.
Everything happened so fast, Bai Ze defeated the Wuqi ghosts in just the twinkling of an eye. Then, in a whirlwind, Bai Ze became Zhu Xuan again.
I immediately ran over. However, Zhu Xuan turned around and refused to face me.
“Stand back!”
I was stunned and thought that Zhu Xuan might have gotten injured. I hurriedly approached him and grabbed his shoulders to force him to face me.
“What’s wrong? Are you injured…”
I found that the corners of his mouth were stained with black and red blood, which reflected the flickering moonlight.
Zhu Xuan immediately turned his head aside, he whispered, “Don’t look.”
Upon saying that, he lifted his hand and tried to wipe the blood from the corners of his mouth. However, I grabbed him by the wrist before he could.
“It doesn’t matter,” As I said that, I took out some tissues from my pocket and gently wiped the ugly blood away.
He was seemingly stunned by my action. He froze for a moment, and then lightly smiled.
“Gu Yu, you’re really a gentle person.”
I put the tissues into his hand and replied impatiently, “Come on, I don’t need you to compliment me right now. What’s important is that we solved this case.”
The moment I said that, I heard a sharp thumping noise in my ear. Zhu Xuan also frowned, clearly he also felt it.
Our surroundings began to change.
The murky sky with a full moon hanging, suddenly began to light up. I had to close my eyes because of the sudden brightness.
When I opened my eyes again, the surroundings had turned from night to day.
“What is going on?” I murmured.
‘We’re back!” Zhu Xuan’s voice was filled with excitement. “Gu Yu, look around!”
I turned around and saw that the house where we were in was gone, and it had been replaced by an old, collapsed one. All the furniture was gone, leaving only rotten wood and a dry well.
Zhu Xuan and I hurriedly ran out of the door, and we soon noticed that the power which trapped us in the house had also disappeared. We easily got out of the house and arrived at the street outside.
When we ran out, we were so excited that we almost bumped into a young man outside the house. The young man riding on a bicycle was startled, and he almost fell on the ground along with his bicycle.
“I’m sorry! Are you okay?” Zhu Xuan apologized.
“Who are you people?!” The young man was still in shock. “Why did you suddenly run out from there?”
“Um, we…” Zhu Xuan was tongue-tied, so I hurriedly explained on his behalf.