I couldn’t helpbut takein a deep breath. I told myself not to panic. I gritted my teethand rantoward the village entrance.

But before I could reach the gate, the rocksthat formedthe gate turned into a row of coffins alongside the path. The small stream was gone, and the path we had just walked on became a dark gorge.

Frommy position, I saw a blackmistmovingandfilling that gorge. Themistmoved with the wind, turninginto cold airthat slappedmy face.

Theroad I had used to come here was gone, soIcould only head tothe village. Butwhen I turned my head around, I was petrified by what I saw.

The Dai people that had just danced and sung werenowhere to be seen. It seemed theywerenever there. In front of me sat piles of white skeletons and weathered musical instruments.

What scared thewitsout of me was that those musical instruments still madenoise! When the wind blew through them, the entire world was filled with a low and mourning sound. It was extremely similar to funeral music played in rural areas.

I knew Ihad torun and leave this place as soon as possible. I pulled myself together and gathered my courage. I didn’t look at the skeletons andrandeep into the village.

However, I had to stop not long after I had started running. In front of me wasanothergorge. I was trapped. I stoodand took a deep breathto calm down.

After thinkingabout it, the fake Lu Ming could have killed me while I was sleeping. He didn’t do that. Instead, hetricked meintogoingto this place.

I could tell he didn’t want to take my life.It was possible he just wantedto trap me here. It was pretty similar to thatold ghost’s style. I was more worried about the real Lu Ming.

As time went by, I became more anxious. Usually, the old ghost wouldn’t trouble Lu Ming for a long time. However,thingslooked different this time.Washe mad at usbecauseheknewwe wereabout to return the teapot?

Otherworldly items wereborn from thefixation ofdead people. Thatwaswhy they could maketheir mastersomeone willing to fulfill their wishes. Butif the master wanted to get rid of the otherworldly item, theywould rebel.

Actually,Lu Minghad yetto give up ontheteapot.Butthe old man ghost seemed to haverecognizedour intention.

I became restless. In the end, I decided to make a bet. If that old man didn’t want to kill me, the dark gorge in front of me should be an illusion!

I carefully moved back to the rock gate of thevillage. I felt my legs turning jelly-like when I looked at the bottomless gorge. However,after thinkingabout Lu Ming, I knewI couldn’t linger here. I clenched my jawand jumped.

At thismoment, something grabbed my left leg. I struggled but couldn’t get rid of it. Before Icould turnmy head to see, I suddenly recognizedsomething. It seemed my leg was held by a cane.Whenever the old ghost appeared in Lu Ming’s dream, he would use a cane to hit the poor man’s head!

I didn’t want tomeetthe old man here.However,sincehewas already here, I had tofacehim.When I left the hostel, I didn’t bring anything I could use to defend myself, so it would be a battle to the death.

At the moment I turned around, I saw an old man wearing a black shroud. He was standing not even two meters away from me. He was using the long cane to hook my leg. It was the first time Iwas inclose contactwithhim. He didn’t look as scary as I had thought. Except for the shroud, he didn’t look different from a living old man.

When I turned and looked at him, the old man’s ruddy face turned angry and somewhat menacing. His lips kept moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.If he appeared here, it meant Lu Mingwasrelatively safe. I didn’t need to take any risks.

I smiled at the old man. Before he could react, I screamed,usingall of my strength to sprint into the village.

WhenI hadused the pens to grab Lu Ming’s finger to force the old man out last time,I angered him.My only choice was tofight him!

If I could linger until dawn, then perhaps I would have a chance to survive.However, I had underestimated the old man’s speed. I had run for a few stepswhen I suddenlytripped. I turned aroundandsaw that theold man was using his long cane to tackle me. I shot him a furious look. I gotup andranagain, but the old mankept trying to stopme.

After falling a few times,my strength was drained. And,I still hadn’t got rid of the old ghost. I knewIcouldn’t defeat him with my speed. I simply halted and bit the tip of mytongue. Then, I spitthe bloodathim!

Even if I die, I won’t let you feelcontent!

At thismoment, I heard a loud thud,thenLu Ming’s voicecalling me. My body suddenly felt as light as cotton. Instinctively, I feltlikeclosingmy eyes.

I didn’t forget tohave a last lookat theold man. He was saying something to me. Unfortunately, I couldn’tunderstandit. I thought Iwas going to die.

Strangely, in the next second, I got upand foundmyself in bed.magic

Before I couldpiecethings together, someone knocked on my door. Subconsciously, I went to open the door. Lu Ming was standing outside.

“Hey, are you ready? We should go to the fortified village.”

“Umh…”I looked at him in bewilderment. Then, I understood that I had a nightmare. I sighed in relief.

Seeingthat I wasworried, Lu Ming asked, “Did something happen?”

“No, what time is it?” I shook my head.“Around 7:00 PM.You sure cansleepa lot.”Lu Ming teased me. “It’s already late. We have to go there.”

His voice and appearance werethe same as the Lu Mingin the dream. I became vigilant. I collected all of my stuffand brought italong withme.

When we left the hostel, thesky wasdark. We went to eat thelocaldishesofXishuangbanna, which were pineapple rice and bamboo tube rice. The further we walked, the more amazed Ibecame. This path was the sameasthe one I hadseen inthe dream.

When we arrived at the rock gate of the village, I was puzzledto seethe small stream and the group of people singing and dancing inside the fence.

In my nightmare, this rock gate had turned into coffins. I seized the chance when Lu Mingwasn’t lookingto smear oxtearson my eyes.I blinked a few times thenopened my eyes wide to see. There was no rock gate over there. It was a gate made of three red coffinsstackedon each other!

Lu Ming patted my shoulder and smiled. “This is the dance of the Dai people. If you are interested, you can enter the village and watch the performance. They will treat youlikea friend.”

I looked at his smiling faceand felt my heart chilling. He wanted to harm me.However,I didn’t haveagrudge against him, so why did he want to kill me?

I didn’tknowthe reason, but my intuition told me to bewary of him. Moreover, I had made up my mind. At dawn, I would go home. I wouldn’t play with him anymore.After all,protectingmy lifewas the top priority. When I lifted my head again, I saw Lu Ming entering the rock gate.

He walkedmore than ten meters, and he stoppedwhenhesawI didn’t follow him. “Hey,why aren’t you followingme?”

Before I couldanswerhim, the village in front of us turned into a stilt house.

At first glance, I knew the stilt house had been unoccupied for quite a long time.Spider webs covered the ceiling and bats dungcoveredthe ground. There were many decayed bamboo poles.Thehouse looked as though it would collapse in the next second.

It seemed this stilt house was the real face of that haunted village.I knew the old ghostwas responsible for all of this. I hurried to openmybagand took outthe purple clay pot.

I bit the tip of my finger and dripped some drops of my bloodintothe spout of the teapot.

The spout was the‘mouth’of the teapot. I was certain that I could create some damage to the old manif I drippedblood full of Yang energy there.

Iplacedthe teapot on the ground. Then, I opened the Yin and Yang Umbrellaand stabbedit into the ground toprovideshade to the teapot. Afterward, I readaspell toactivatethe umbrella.

The Umbrella God Mantra was an exclusive spell of this item. As I was reading the spell, the Yin and Yang Umbrella flashed then radiated the dazzling black and white lights of the Yin and Yang diagram. At the same time, it began to spin. The unceasing light beams shone on the teapot as the umbrellaspunfast.

The Yin and Yang Umbrella my grandpa had left me washismost powerful defensive magic weapon. Normally, I wouldn’t use this spell. Butthis time, Ihad no choice as I wanted to deal withthe old manonce for all.

Still, nothing happened after I read the spell.

I looked at the teapot, andfear arose in my heart.

What was the background ofthis teapot?