A gasp escaped the middle-aged woman as she listened to Chen Yuanshan's words. Seated on the sofa, she broke into tears once again.
The young girl, though not shedding tears like her mother, turned as pale as a ghost upon hearing Chen Yuanshan's words.
Standing on the side, I felt that Chen Yuanshan's words were a bit exaggerated, possibly an attempt to scare us. He brought a bowl of water from the first-floor dispenser, half hot and half cold, and placed it on the coffee table. Next, he fetched a brush and a box of wet cinnabar, drawing a talisman right in front of us.
After finishing the talisman, Chen Yuanshan held it up, murmuring an incantation we couldn't comprehend. The talisman instantly burst into flames in his hands. He then placed the burning talisman into the bowl of water he prepared.
Oddly enough, despite the expectation that the fire would be extinguished upon hitting the water, the talisman continued to burn until it turned to ashes.
Chen Yuanshan stirred the water with the ashes using his right index finger and handed the bowl to the young girl.
"Drink this talisman water," he instructed.
Upon seeing the bowl of talisman water, the girl hesitated, reluctant to take it.
Thinking to myself, how could one drink such filthy water? Even a healthy person might get sick from it.
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"Girl, I'm not trying to scare you. If you want to live, you must drink this talisman water," Chen Yuanshan urged when he saw the girl hesitating. After saying this, he placed the bowl on the coffee table.
The girl, glancing at her mother who was still sobbing beside her, didn't think twice. She picked up the dirty bowl of talisman water with both hands and poured it into her mouth.
Watching the girl drink the filthy talisman water, I couldn't help but swallow a lump in my throat.
After finishing the talisman water, the girl placed the bowl on the coffee table. I observed her closely, but there were no adverse reactions visible on her.
"Master Chen, let me share something strange. Earlier, after leaving your place, I waited for a bus at the bus stop in front of Fuyuan Alley's gate. A bus approached me, and without much thought, I boarded.
Midway through the journey, I suddenly heard someone whispering in my ear, 'This isn't the bus you're supposed to take. Get off quickly.' When I looked up, there were many passengers on the bus, most of them wearing funeral attire. Some had pale faces, while others looked bluish. Their eyeballs were different from normal people's—black as ink, as if dipped in ink.
I got off the bus, and on its side was written 'Underworld Commute,' with a license plate that read 'Underworld: 98752.'
Telling Chen Yuanshan this, memories of the earlier events flashed back, sending shivers down my spine. Cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and my body tensed up.
"You took the Underworld Commute Bus, a means of transportation for departed souls to report to the underworld. When you heard someone telling you to get off, you encountered benevolent spirits.
If you hadn't disembarked and continued to the underworld, you wouldn't have been able to return," Chen Yuanshan explained, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Normally, regular people can't see the Underworld Commute Bus. Only those with opened yin-yang eyes can witness it."