Little Orange Head, seeing Gu Wang, jogged over. “Hey buddy, are you here to check things out, too? We’re shooting a video. I hope we’re not bothering you.”

Gu Wang observed him calmly. “I’m the owner of this land, and I’m just doing an inspection. Feel free to film.”

Little Orange Head chuckled. “Oh, what a coincidence! Thanks, buddy.”

The two amicably exchanged names. Little Orange Head was Xu Xiaoming, a video blogger with over a hundred thousand followers who specializes in outdoor exploration.

Xu Xiaoming sent a voice message, and soon after, a jeep drove over.

Two people got out, a man and a woman.

The man looked like the driver, and the woman, Lin Jing, seemed quiet and shy; she was the video editor and Xu Xiaoming’s girlfriend.

As the two entered the amusement park, Gu Wang felt two more incredibly subtle warm currents. His restless Yin energy was suppressed slightly. He raised a hand to touch his earlobe.

Could this place be connected to the Yin energy within him?

Did each person who entered suppress his Yin energy a little more?

No wonder his master said this was his turning point!

So this was it!

Although judging by the current situation, he probably needs thousands of people to fully suppress the Yin energy in his body, at least there is hope!

Who wanted to die if they could live?

Gu Wang felt a surge of excitement. He looked at Xu Xiaoming and the two others, wishing they could immediately undergo mitosis and turn into six people.

Over there, the driver helped unload the equipment, then returned to the car to catch up on sleep.

Xu Xiaoming and his girlfriend quickly set up the camera and started filming.

Gu Wang stood to the side, listening to the chubby guy, who, facing the camera, spoke mysteriously: “Viewers, do you know where I am right now? This is Yaoguang City’s most famous haunted spot, the abandoned amusement park in Yaoguang City’s northern suburbs. Today, I, ‘Daredevil Ming,’ will take you on a night exploration of the amusement park to capture a female ghost!”

Gu Wang’s mouth twitched. He couldn’t help but look up at the sky. The big sun was shining brightly in the middle of the sky. “Night exploration?”

Xu Xiaoming, seeing his expression, looked embarrassed. “It’s just… I didn’t dare come at night! But don’t worry, I don’t do post-production on my videos, I don’t lie!”

Gu Wang nodded, telling him to go ahead.

As filming progressed, Lin Jing suddenly tripped and fell flat on her face.

Embarrassed, the girl’s face immediately turned crimson. She scrambled up, and before she could even speak, she took half a step forward and thumped—she fell again.

Xu Xiaoming was startled. He helped her up, pulling and tugging, asking repeatedly, “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

Lin Jing waved her hand, blushing. “N-no, I’m fine. Maybe I tripped on a root. I’ll go back to the car and rest for a bit.”

Even though Xu Xiaoming was timid, he genuinely cared for his girlfriend. He carefully helped Lin Jing walk towards the car, just like a eunuch assisting an empress dowager.

Before they had taken a few steps, Lin Jing suddenly lunged forward, flopping directly onto the ground. The force was so great, it felt like her entire face would be flattened.

Xu Xiaoming was utterly terrified. “W-w-what’s going on? Are your shoes not on right?”

Lin Jing struggled to get up, but her legs felt weak. A chilling sensation crept up her legs, and her face turned pale with alarm. “M-my legs…”

Gu Wang, initially not wanting to embarrass the girl, hadn’t looked much in their direction. However, the commotion was unusual now. He turned and glanced, his expression turning serious.

The bright sun was still high in the sky. Gu Wang swiped a hand across his eyes, opening his spiritual eye.

Lin Jing was still struggling on the ground, but in Gu Wang’s eyes, her calves were wrapped in black energy, turning into snake-tail-like cylinders with distinct scales. As she struggled, the tip of the snake’s tail lashed against the ground, as if alive.

Gu Wang’s expression hardened. He quickly walked over and said, “Do you have any spare clothes? Get them and wrap her legs.”

A bewildered Xu Xiaoming immediately ran back to the car, grabbed a down jacket, and wrapped it around her.

Gu Wang pinched a hand seal and pointed at her legs. “Evil spirits, cease your increase! Yang energy, desist your waning! Disperse!”

Lin Jing’s complexion immediately improved. She lay on the ground, wrapped in the down jacket, only saying that her legs still couldn’t move.

Gu Wang pressed for time. “Where did you go today? Did you encounter anything strange?”

“Where… where did we go? Nowhere…” Xu Xiaoming stammered nervously. “We came straight here from home to film. On the way…”

At this moment, Lin Jing, feeling a little better, said weakly, “We also went to Beiyuan Mountain behind the amusement park. We looked around at the foot of the mountain, and Mingming even picked up a piece of cloth.”

Gu Wang: “What kind of cloth? Let me see it.”

Xu Xiaoming ran back to the car again to get the cloth, panting from the effort.

The so-called cloth felt ice-cold to the touch and was covered in tiny scales. It had black and red patterns on a grayish-green background, and for some reason, just looking at it sent a chill down one’s spine.

Gu Wang was somewhat speechless. “You call this cloth?”

The chubby guy looked innocent and bewildered. “Huh? W-what? Is it tree bark?”

Gu Wang: “This is clearly a piece of snakeskin! Even if you don’t recognize snake patterns, looking at these scales, you wouldn’t think it’s cloth, would you?”

The chubby guy said awkwardly, “I just heard there’s a general’s tomb on Beiyuan Mountain, and I thought it was an artifact from the tomb. I thought the scales were inlaid gold pieces…”

Lin Jing, lying on the ground, started banging her head when she heard this.

Gu Wang understood. With such a clueless boyfriend, it was a miracle the girl hadn’t cried yet; she was strong.

Xu Xiaoming then realized, “Such a big piece of snakeskin, how big must the snake have been? Did it become a spirit? Did we offend it?”

Gu Wang shook his head. “I don’t know yet. Carry your girlfriend, let’s go check the place where you picked up the snakeskin.”

The three woke up the driver and drove to Beiyuan Mountain.

Beiyuan Mountain was a three-minute drive from the amusement park. A provincial road was at the foot of the mountain, so transportation was quite convenient.

Xu Xiaoming led them to the destination.

Gu Wang looked around and saw that this was the foot of Beiyuan Mountain, very close to the provincial road, where they could hear car horns. Even if a snake demon existed, why would it appear so close to human habitation?

Xu Xiaoming carefully set Lin Jing down and pointed to a hole as thick as a thigh at their feet. “It was here. I saw something colorful and pulled it, and the snakeskin came right out.”

Gu Wang squatted down, and as his two fingers touched the mud at the cave entrance, a faint, almost imperceptible wisp of black smoke dissipated into the wind. He took out his entrenching tool and began to dig.

Xu Xiaoming was startled. “So rough? Won’t that disturb it?”

Gu Wang said, “If I’m not mistaken, that snake demon is already dead.”

Xu Xiaoming breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it! Big shot, you just sit and watch.” He now clearly saw Gu Wang’s abilities and was already calling him “big shot.”

With the three of them, including the driver, taking turns digging, the hole was opened in less than two hours.

Inside was an astonishingly large white skeleton of a snake.

The skull was bigger than two human heads, and its tail extended underground to unknown depths. Two small, nascent horns protruded from the skull, but unfortunately, they had only grown halfway before the creature’s body died.

Xu Xiaoming and the driver were drenched in cold sweat. The driver, being older, said, “I used to hear that snakes could transform into flood dragons. We moved its remains, so it won’t let us off the hook, will it?”

Gu Wang sighed. “Don’t worry. Monsters don’t enter reincarnation. It’s been dead for so long that its soul has long since dissipated. Only a trace of lingering obsession turned into Yin energy, attached to that piece of snakeskin. It just so happened that you picked it up.”

After speaking, he carefully arranged the snake bones, sat cross-legged on the spot, and began chanting the Wuliang Duren Jing (Scripture of Immeasurable Salvation of People) to deliver the departed soul.

The wild plains, the excavated pit, the enormous white bones, and the howling north wind should have been scenes from a horror movie.

But as the serene chanting resonated, and the person chanting had a dignified expression and a clear, moist voice, listening quietly for a few lines, it no longer felt terrifying.

“On the days of the Eight Festivals, recite this scripture… When merits are fulfilled and virtues complete, ascend to the Pure Land.”

The last line of the scripture was dispersed with the wind.

Gu Wang opened his eyes, letting out a soft sigh. “Rest in peace.”

Xu Xiaoming and the others didn’t dare breathe, and they heard a clatter in the silence. The snake demon’s mandible loosened, and a purple bead dropped from its mouth, rolling to Gu Wang’s feet.

Gu Wang picked it up, pondered for a moment, then solemnly bowed to the snake skeleton. “Thank you, senior.”

The three then worked together to bury the snake bones, creating a new grave.

The snake demon, having been freed, had found transcendence and would no longer unintentionally harm people.

Xu Xiaoming had a sweaty forehead, his orange hair plastered to his head like an orange peel. “Big shot, is everything okay now?”

Gu Wang said, “Your girlfriend’s problem isn’t solved yet.”

Lin Jing leaned against a large rock nearby. As the snake demon was delivered, she felt much better; the chilling sensation was gone, but her legs still couldn’t move.

Gu Wang carefully examined the black energy on her. “Give me your Bazi (Eight Characters).”

Xu Xiaoming quickly recited his girlfriend’s Bazi.

Gu Wang calculated for a moment. “No wonder. You were born in the Yin month, Yin day, and Yin hour, weren’t you? With this Bazi, you still dared to run around carelessly? Didn’t your family tell you?”

Lin Jing was silent for a moment. “My grandma said my Bazi was ‘light,’ but I thought it was just an old person being superstitious.”

Gu Wang: “Sometimes, you should listen to what the elderly say.”

He then turned to Xu Xiaoming and explained, “Your girlfriend is entangled by the Yin energy left by the snake demon. Normally, after the snake demon was dealt with, this Yin energy should dissipate naturally. But your girlfriend was born in the Yin month, Yin day, and Yin hour, with a special Bazi, so this Yin energy has deeply penetrated her bones. It can’t be pulled out forcibly…”

Xu Xiaoming grew anxious. “Then what should we do? Do we need to perform some kind of ritual? Big shot, can you do it? I’ll pay any amount!”

Gu Wang raised a hand to stop him. “If you want a ritual, you’d need to find a Taoist temple or a Buddhist monastery; I can’t handle it alone. But for now, it doesn’t need to be that complicated.”

He pulled out a dull gray bead and said, “This is a ghost bead. It can absorb the surrounding Yin energy. String it up and wear it close to your body for eighty-one days.”

Xu Xiaoming and Lin Jing were overjoyed, taking the bead and thanking him profusely.

Lin Jing felt the effect even more clearly. As she held the bead in her hand, she felt the chilling Yin energy throughout her body flow into the bead through her palm.

In a short while, her legs regained sensation, and she even shakily stood up!

With such obvious results, there was nothing more to say.

Xu Xiaoming thanked Gu Wang repeatedly.

Gu Wang was about to speak when he felt a strange energy, and suddenly, two lights flared. One was the snake bead he had just gotten, and the other was actually the snakeskin Xu Xiaoming had tucked in his pocket.

Xu Xiaoming was startled. He quickly realized and shoved the snakeskin into Gu Wang’s hand, urgently asking him to deal with it.

Gu Wang held the snakeskin and snake bead thoughtfully. “Then I’ll take these.”

After this incident, they couldn’t film their video and didn’t dare stay in the wild. They immediately drove back.

Soon after they left, a small black snake slithered over. It raised its upper body, curiously observing the newly erected grave. It sniffed, then pursued a certain direction.

Learning that Gu Wang didn’t have a car, Xu Xiaoming enthusiastically invited him to carpool and persistently asked for his contact information.

After entering the city, Gu Wang didn’t look for accommodation. Instead, he immediately went to buy furniture and daily necessities.

Modern furniture stores offer home delivery services.

Gu Wang drove the furniture truck all the way to the northern suburbs of Yaoguang City.

The workers were stunned when they saw the ruins and then the small, dilapidated concrete house with a rotten door. They looked at each other, unsure whether to call the police; perhaps this was a fugitive.

Gu Wang was also helpless. He had tried before, and the Yin energy suppression mechanism only worked when he was physically there. What else could he do?

After finally getting everything set up, and scheduling the installation of electricity, water, doors, and windows for tomorrow, Gu Wang flopped onto the bed and fell asleep in the drafty, dilapidated house.

Because there was no electricity, a half-burned candle flickered on the table.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but a gust of wind blew, causing the candlelight to sway, and the shadow cast on the wall seemed to come alive.

The shadow transformed into a fanged monster, cackling gleefully, and lunged, biting down on the sleeping person on the bed!