Close the Mountains and Defend Oneself

o kind That big-headed infant spirit before was the same. You even helped them cross over with a talisman that cost thousands! No matter how many times these ghosts are exorcised, they'll end up nothi..."You! Who are you!!! You can't come in here!!!" the two guards shouted, maybe our flashlight was too obvious in the middle of the night and startled them.

They stood at the entrance, too afraid to come in. I turned back and saw that one of them was the security guard who had briefed us earlier.

His face was terrified, he wanted us to leave quickly, but he didn't dare take a step towards us.

"Everyone says this place is haunted! How dare you come in here!!" He was close to tears, his voice cracking with panic.

"Shut up! Lend me your flashlight!"

My brother, hearing this, immediately ran over and snatched the powerful flashlight from the security guard's hand. He stood beside me and shone it down!

Besides the swarm of ghost-like creatures, at the bottom of the elevator shaft, about a floor below ground level, there was something reflecting, emitting an eerie green glow.

Jiang Qiyun also saw it, he whispered, "…Gather these ghosts and bring this thing up."

I set up all the talismans and banners for the spectral rites, softly reciting the incantations for guiding souls.

A radiance emanated from the dharma platform, enveloping the entire well opening.

The scene was a little chaotic... Xiao Shanming blocked the security guards, covering his mouth to prevent them from shouting, and they wrestled together.

My brother gritted his teeth, holding the copper talisman in his mouth. With one hand on his sword and the other supporting the railing of the second floor, he flipped down and landed on the lower level—he was going to retrieve that eerie, glowing object!

I'm worried about his safety and feeling anxious, wanting to quickly get rid of this pile of things I don't know what they are—"ghosts".

The more anxious he became, the worse his incantations became. His hands trembled as he chanted halfway through, and the hand gestures went awry.

My cultivation level is truly insufficient. Seeing my brother risking his life, while I myself trembled and couldn't even exorcise these ghosts, almost drove me to tears.

Jiang Qiyun couldn't bear to watch any longer, and from behind me he wrapped his arms around me. He held my hand in his, his long fingers interlacing with mine.

He pinched my finger, and with a flick of his wrist, my finger moved involuntarily.

"...Heaven and Earth, nature's purity, scattered filth, the cave's profound emptiness, shining bright primordial essence..." His frigid voice murmured softly beside my ear.

Jiang Qiyun's voice has always been so pleasant to hear.

As clear as spring water, though icy cold, it manages to quell the myriad emotions churning within me.

Joy, sorrow, lament, haste, fury — all of them vanished in the incessant incantations echoing in my ears.

I unconsciously recited along with his words.

Pure heaven, pure heaven...

Conjuring spirits to exorcise evil.

"Evil dissipates, Dao Qi endures... With haste, as a decree." I lowered my finger gesture.

The arcane glyphs etched upon the altar pulsed with power, washing over the oppressive malevolent energy swirling within the well. I glimpsed fleeting visions of terrified faces and outstretched hands begging for mercy.

I seemed to see the big fire.

Thirty years ago, the work environment was far from the technology and comfort we have today. Many people were trapped in survival channels, climbing through windows covered with barbed wire, only to be overcome by smoke and engulfed by flames...

"Xiao Qiao…" Jiang Qiyun whispered doubtfully in my ear.

His cool lips touched my ear, bringing me back to reality in an instant.

"What are you thinking about" Jiang Qiyun asked.

"I... I think I saw these ghosts in their final moments." I blankly turned my head back to Jiang Qiyun.

He frowned slightly, tilting his head and looking down at me. He asked, "...Can you see"

"Uh, I can't really say... maybe it's just my imagination, these must all be people who were burned to death." I explained.

Jiang Qiyun nodded: "Corpse oil enters the soil, resentment seeps into the ground. Without exposure to sunlight for decades, it cannot be eradicated."

"What are they resentful of" I couldn't quite figure it out.

"Who made them die so helplessly, they blamed... probably the 'manager'," Jiang Qiyun explained to me.

Ah... Isn't Su Gongzi the manager of this garden district

He disliked sharing the elevator with others, so he moved his office here… Perhaps there are other reasons we don't know about.

"Little Qiao!" My brother appeared at the bottom of the well.

He is really brave… or, he's not necessarily brave, and he's not particularly hardworking either. But when it comes to his family, he can be both bold and diligent.

I watched as the murderous aura of those ghosts in the well faded. I hurriedly stood up and sealed the evil, opening the gates of hell and flinging chains into the well to pull up the "string" of ghosts.

The Ghost Gate closed, and the chilling atmosphere around subsided, suddenly falling silent.

Two security guards were stopped by Xiao Shanming at the entrance of the passage. At this time, they could clearly feel the change in atmosphere and fell silent, not daring to speak another word.

"Clang..." A crisp sound echoed from the bottom of the well.

My brother wrapped that thing up in a yellow cloth with talismans on it...it looked like a lamp base.

"Come up here, don't you say you were feeling unwell" I was on edge, worried about any stragglers.

My brother shook the yellow cloth bag and laughed, "Though it's revolting, I stumbled upon this good thing for nothing. Not bad at all."

Huh Are the things in the ghost den still good

He ran up the stairs quickly and opened it for Jiang Qiyun. Jiang Qiyun glanced at it and frowned, "…Soul-calling lamp"

"A soul lamp I looked at Jiang Qiyun in confusion, "This name sounds kind of familiar..."

"Of course, it's familiar. Didn't Cheng Banxian mention a 'lamp' in the Six Extremes Ghostly Artifacts before" My brother smiled and said, "Whether it's a real soul-calling lamp or not, this thing looks like it's worth a lot of money at first glance. Take good care of it, maybe it will be useful. Even if it's not useful, you can sell it for a good price."

You still think about doing business.

My brother walked up the stairs, and that security guard's face turned white as he looked at my brother.

"Knowing there are ghosts here, why did you come" My brother asked him.

He trembled his lips, rubbed his face, and whispered: "I'm afraid I'll meet some reckless thieves or thrill-seekers...Before, Deputy Manager Su was talking nonsense about climbing through the window, and my heart started to suspect—"

"Do you know what really happened" I asked. "You said there was a fire here twenty or thirty years ago, but what exactly happened"

The security guard thought for a moment, then led us out of the building and sat with us in the security room. He told us in detail what he had heard.

In the early 1990s, the first batch of people who went to sea had already started making money. Some of them returned to their hometowns to invest in factories. At that time, they recruited people from other places, providing food and lodging. This allowed for three shifts of work.

At that time, most of the workers recruited were unmarried women, many of whom came from the mountains. They had low wages, were hard-working and endured hardship, and didn't need to take care of their families. Basically, besides eating and sleeping, they worked in the factory all day long.

Back then, the area around the factory was all wild fields. Some female workers who fell in love with male workers from the same factory would sneak out to meet. After being discovered by the boss, he only left one door open in the factory building, and had a foreman guard it, not allowing anyone to leave until shift change.

Sometimes, the foreman would slack off and just shut the iron gate during work hours. He wouldn't open it until shift change, leaving the workers trapped inside to keep laboring.

What's even more outrageous is that the boss found out someone was secretly throwing products out the window. Back then, there was a large field outside. They would throw them out and pick them up after work to sell privately for some pocket change.

This made the boss even angrier, so he welded the back door shut and put iron bars on all the windows.

Even in that era, it completely disregarded safety production standards. But back then, there weren't many ways to expose such issues. The boss bribed officials and continued exploiting young workers, amassing wealth for himself.

“Then it caught fire” I asked.

The security guard nodded: “ … Heard the fire department broke down the doors and windows, put out the fire and went inside… In the corridor leading to the office building, the charred bodies were stuck together, indistinguishable, all turned to ash!”

“And that was a toy factory. The toxic fumes from burning plastic caused these workers unimaginable pain, their faces contorted in agony as they died. Some even acted like lunatics, strangling each other until they were burned into a heap…” The security guard swallowed hard: “I was only ten years old at the time, but hearing what adults said about it has left me terrified of sparks to this day.”

No wonder that ghost only makes wheezing sounds and has a tendency to self-harm and jump off buildings—when there's a fire, people driven to desperation will indeed jump.

“Master He is from here, how could he not have heard of such dangerous rumors” I looked at my brother in confusion.

Jiang Qiyun stood with his hands behind his back by the door, and when he heard this, he turned to me and said, “This soul-calling lamp, ordinary people wouldn't be able to barter for it, and it wouldn't just be placed here to attract vicious spirits.”

I frowned inwardly, could Master He be having problems

My bag suddenly vibrated, startling the security guard and his partner.

Wujingli's phone call came again. I rubbed my temples, which ached slightly, and walked to Jiang Qiyun's side, saying, "We might not be sleeping tonight."

Jiang Qiyun coldly glanced at him: "Finish this quickly, then come back to Qingjing Jiletian with me—"he bed, and cleansed the room with incense!Hmph, hmph, hmph, awaiting Jiang Qiyun's arrival!He used to come over around noon, but later he started coming earlier and earlier. Anyway, I'm not good at...