Stranger Danger

“An inn for the dead?” Cang Qingmei and Leng Tianjue exclaimed at the same time.

Ye Qing continued, “There are all sorts of entrances and paths under this heaven. Some of them are exclusive to the living, and some of them the dead. This inn is one such example. It is specifically open for the likes of wandering ghosts and spirits, which is why it is named, ‘Living Enter Not’.”

“‘Living Enter Not’ can only be found in rural areas or the wilderness during nighttime. Any ghost or spirit who finds it only needs to pay a single yin coin to enjoy a delicious meal under its roof and shelter from the terrible elements outside.”

“As you already know, wandering ghosts and spirits are usually people who died in the wilderness for one reason or another. As they receive no offering, they gradually weaken day by day, and since they don’t have a grave, they have no place to shelter from the elements. To them, basking under the sun feels like being boiled inside a pot of oil, and enduring the night wind feels like being cut by a thousand blades. It is an ‘unlife’ full of hardships and pain.”

“This is why we humans value shelters so much. When you are alive, you live in a house and subsist on nature. When you are dead, you live in a grave and subsist on offerings. You understand this, right?”

Cang Qingmei and Leng Tianjue instinctively nodded their heads.

Satisfied with their response, Ye Qing continued, “Unfortunately, not everyone in the world is lucky enough to have someone to care for them when they are old, and offer them offerings after they are dead. In fact, the number of people who die a tragic death in foreign land or the wilderness everyday can only be described as innumerable. Barring exceptional circumstances, all these victims will eventually turn into wandering ghosts with no shelter to cling to, nothing to rely on, and no one to provide support.”

“This is why ‘Living Enter Not’ exists. It is a place that offers food and shelter to the wandering ghosts who could neither feed nor shelter themselves, and all it costs is a single yin coin. Yes, they are the guests you’re seeing right now.”

Cang Qingmei and Leng Tianjue nodded again. It would seem that they had stumbled upon a ghost den after all. Then, another question occurred to them. “We came here because we didn’t know better, but why are you here, seniors?”

Ye Qing clearly knew his stuff, and they were fairly certain that Wen Anran and the other woman who hadn’t named herself were the same. So why had they come here even though they knew that it was a den of ghosts?

“We came to hide from the snow, duh,” Ye Qing replied matter-of-factly. He was aware that his answer wasn’t satisfactory, so he continued without waiting for an answer, “Although ‘Living Enter Not’ is an inn for ghosts, it doesn't mean that it is absolutely barred to the living. You simply need to pay a certain amount of yin money to rest your legs here.”

“But of course, the living will be charged a higher price. Specifically, they must pay several times more yin money than a ghost to stay overnight in ‘Living Enter Not’.”

“Besides that, those who wish to take shelter in ‘Living Enter Not’ must obey a few rules. One, those who entered ‘Living Enter Not’ must wait until dawn had broken before they could leave. Two, humans and ghosts must keep to themselves. To put it in simpler terms, it means that violence is forbidden, and humans and ghosts cannot harm each other.”

“What? Humans and ghosts can’t harm each other?” Cang Qingmei was surprised to hear that.

“Didn’t you notice? The ghosts were only scaring you from start until the end. They had never tried to hurt you directly, had they?” Ye Qing countered.

Cang Qingmei and Leng Tianjue thought for a moment before nodding. He was right.

Ye Qing suddenly changed his tune, “Of course, that doesn’t mean that they weren’t trying to harm you indirectly.”

“Can you explain, senior?” Cang Qingmei voiced her confusion.

“I probably don’t need to say this, but most wandering ghosts did not die a good, peaceful death. As a result, most of them harbor resentment and malice toward the living,” Ye Qing answered. “So yes, it wasn’t just one big prank. They really were trying to kill you.”

“But that doesn’t make sense!” Leng Tianjue subconsciously argued, “You just said that humans and ghosts can’t harm each other, so how could they kill us? They didn’t think they could scare us to death, did they?”

“As I said, they couldn’t harm you directly. But they could borrow someone else’s hand to do the job,” Ye Qing said.

“You mean…” Cang Qingmei understood his meaning instantly. “Is it the shrine?”

“Correct.” Ye Qing nodded affirmatively. “This brings us to the third rule of ‘Living Enter Not’. Anyone who enters the inn be it the living or the dead must not disrespect the shrine. This is because the shrine is the foundation of ‘Living Enter Not’. Unless you are stronger than the shrine, the shrine will annihilate you for daring to hurt it.”

“You understand now how the ghosts were trying to kill you. They were going to push you into attacking the shrine so you would get yourselves killed in retaliation.”

Cang Qingmei, Leng Tianjue and everyone else felt a surge of fear when they heard this. If it wasn’t for Ye Qing, they would already be dead.

“Thank you for saving our lives, senior.” The group of five hurriedly rose to their feet and thanked him deeply.

“You’re welcome. I’m just helping a fellow in need,” Ye Qing motioned for them to return to their seats.

It was at this moment Fei Fei interrupted, “Se… Senior, you mentioned that humans and ghosts must keep to themselves, right? So why are they scaring us and trying to kill us? And why didn’t they scare y—”

Cang Qingmei cut her off before she could finish her sentence, “Fei Fei! You mustn’t disrespect your senior!”

“It’s fine.” Ye Qing smiled. He knew what Fei Fei wanted to ask. He knew she wanted to know why they didn’t try to scare them.

Fei Fei stuck her tongue out. It was a cute reaction if nothing else.

Ye Qing resumed his explanation, “The reason they tried to kill you is because you had provoked them first.”

“What? When did we do that?” Fei Fei grew bolder when she realized that Ye Qing wasn’t an easily offended person.

Ye Qing lifted an eyebrow. “Have you forgotten already? You guys tried to force the grandfather and his granddaughter away from their table at the beginning, and your tone was unkind to put it mildly.”

“That’s it?” Fei Fei exclaimed in surprise.

“Isn’t that enough?”

Ye Qing shook his head. It did not take a genius to now that these people hailed from extraordinary backgrounds. They were so accustomed to the world adjusting around them instead of the other way around that no one except Cang Qingmei and Leng Tianjue even realized what was wrong about their earlier actions. In short, they had next to zero jianghu experience.

“Love and hatred may be born from the smallest quarrels, and life and death may result from the most trivial things. When you are in the jianghu, standing out is the last thing you want to do. Didn’t your betters teach you about this?”

“Er…” Leng Tianjue, Gu Mingfei and everyone else laughed awkwardly. In fact, their betters had taught them about the ways of the world. They just forgot or didn’t care about it.

“You are right, senior. We shall engrave your lesson in our hearts,” Cang Qingmei replied while saluting Ye Qing.

“Of course, there is a second reason.” Ye Qing did not try to educate them further. He was just a stranger to these people, and he had no obligation to teach them overly much. Besides, he knew that excessive fussing could lead to contempt, and he had zero desire to make a new enemy for himself.

“Please, enlighten us,” Cang Qingmei responded.

“The second reason is that you ate the food here,” Ye Qing answered.

“Ugh…” As soon as the group heard the word “food”, they immediately recalled the body parts they were tricked into eating and turned a shade of green.

“No need to look like that. What you saw was just a hallucination created by the yin qi you consumed.” Ye Qing purposely teased them, “You did not actually eat dem eyeballs, legs, or intestines.”

The bile Cang Qingmei and the others had just forced down immediately rose back to their throats. They knew that Ye Qing was doing it on purpose as a matter of course, though no one dared to complain about it.

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