I couldn’t help but take in a deep breath. I told myself not to panic. I gritted my teeth and ran toward the village entrance.

But before I could reach the gate, the rocks that formed the 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.

From my position, I saw a black mist moving and filling that gorge. The mist moved with the wind, turning into cold air that slapped my face.

The road I had used to come here was gone, so I could only head to the village. But when I turned my head around, I was petrified by what I saw.

The Dai people that had just danced and sung were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they were never there. In front of me sat piles of white skeletons and weathered musical instruments.

What scared the wits out of me was that those musical instruments still made noise! 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 I had to run and leave this place as soon as possible. I pulled myself together and gathered my courage. I didn’t look at the skeletons and ran deep into the village.

However, I had to stop not long after I had started running. In front of me was another gorge. I was trapped. I stood and took a deep breath to calm down.

After thinking about it, the fake Lu Ming could have killed me while I was sleeping. He didn’t do that. Instead, he tricked me into going to this place.

I could tell he didn’t want to take my life. It was possible he just wanted to trap me here. It was pretty similar to that old 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, things looked different this time. Was he mad at us because he knew we were about to return the teapot?

Otherworldly items were born from the fixation of dead people. That was why they could make their master someone willing to fulfill their wishes. But if the master wanted to get rid of the otherworldly item, they would rebel.

Actually, Lu Ming had yet to give up on the teapot. But the old man ghost seemed to have recognized our 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 the village. I felt my legs turning jelly-like when I looked at the bottomless gorge. However, after thinking about Lu Ming, I knew I couldn’t linger here. I clenched my jaw and jumped.

At this moment, something grabbed my left leg. I struggled but couldn’t get rid of it. Before I could turn my head to see, I suddenly recognized something. 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 to meet the old man here. However, since he was already here, I had to face him. 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 I was in close contact with him. 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 Ming was relatively safe. I didn’t need to take any risks.

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

When I had used the pens to grab Lu Ming’s finger to force the old man out last time, I angered him. My only choice was to fight 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 steps when I suddenly tripped. I turned around and saw that the old man was using his long cane to tackle me. I shot him a furious look. I got up and ran again, but the old man kept trying to stop me.

After falling a few times, my strength was drained. And, I still hadn’t got rid of the old ghost. I knew I couldn’t defeat him with my speed. I simply halted and bit the tip of my tongue. Then, I spit the blood at him!

Even if I die, I won’t let you feel content!

At this moment, I heard a loud thud, then Lu Ming’s voice calling me. My body suddenly felt as light as cotton. Instinctively, I felt like closing my eyes.

I didn’t forget to have a last look at the old man. He was saying something to me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand it. I thought I was going to die.

Strangely, in the next second, I got up and found myself in bed.

Before I could piece things 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.

Seeing that I was worried, Lu Ming asked, “Did something happen?”

“No, what time is it?” I shook my head.

“Around 7:00 PM. You sure can sleep a lot.” Lu Ming teased me. “It’s already late. We have to go there.”

His voice and appearance were the same as the Lu Ming in the dream. I became vigilant. I collected all of my stuff and brought it along with me.

When we left the hostel, the sky was dark. We went to eat the local dishes of Xishuangbanna, which were pineapple rice and bamboo tube rice. The further we walked, the more amazed I became. This path was the same as the one I had seen in the dream.

When we arrived at the rock gate of the village, I was puzzled to see the 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 Ming wasn’t looking to smear ox tears on my eyes. I blinked a few times then opened my eyes wide to see. There was no rock gate over there. It was a gate made of three red coffins stacked on 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 you like a friend.”

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

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

He walked more than ten meters, and he stopped when he saw I didn’t follow him. “Hey, why aren’t you following me?”

Before I could answer him, 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 dung covered the ground. There were many decayed bamboo poles. The house 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 ghost was responsible for all of this. I hurried to open my bag and took out the purple clay pot.

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

The spout was the ‘mouth’ of the teapot. I was certain that I could create some damage to the old man if I dripped blood full of Yang energy there.

I placed the teapot on the ground. Then, I opened the Yin and Yang Umbrella and stabbed it into the ground to provide shade to the teapot. Afterward, I read a spell to activate the 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 umbrella spun fast.

The Yin and Yang Umbrella my grandpa had left me was his most powerful defensive magic weapon. Normally, I wouldn’t use this spell. But this time, I had no choice as I wanted to deal with the old man once for all.

Still, nothing happened after I read the spell.

I looked at the teapot, and fear arose in my heart.

What was the background of this teapot?