Ghost Story Game Designer

Chapter 549 Night Watchman
The night watchman walked onto West Street and stopped tremblingly in front of the shadow where Gao Ming was hiding.

"The first watch of the night is at Xu time. The weather is dry, so be careful with fire."

The first watch of the night, which is probably between 19:21 and : in reality. Of course, Gao Ming is not paying attention to these things now. The old night watchman has already discovered him, and the gong is ringing in his ears, as if to shake his soul out of his body.

Gao Ming suppressed his discomfort and retreated. After he left the spot, he found that the place where he had just stayed was full of dirt. After the gong sounded, dirt continued to fall off his clothes.

"What is this?" Gao Ming rubbed the soil with his fingers and found that there was rice paste mixed in it. He realized something and turned his head to look at the land temple not far away.

The outer wall of the West Street Land Temple was made of yellow mud mixed with rice paste. The dirt on Gao Ming's body seemed to be related to the Land Temple. As the dirt fell off, he felt his body became much lighter and the invisible sense of oppression also decreased a little, as if there was a person lying on his shoulders and he had put him down.

After shaking off the dirt from his clothes, Gao Ming discovered that the God of Land in the land temple had lost his smile, his blurred features had changed, the prayer balls around him were soaked with blood, and something seemed to be trying to crawl out from under the thick incense ash.

"Did the gods in the land temple attack me? When did I get attacked?" Gao Ming's heart was pounding wildly. His whole body was full of blood and energy. Ordinary ghosts and monsters didn't dare to approach him, but for ghosts and gods, he was the best sacrifice, especially his heart that was burning like a raging fire.

On the altars on both sides of the land temple statue, the extinguished wax remnants were lit, and the firelight distorted the face of the statue.

There seemed to be snakes crawling under the bricks of West Street, and some poisonous insects flashed between the cracks of the bricks. Gao Ming vaguely felt that the clay sculpture sitting in the temple seemed to be a little closer to him.

"Boom!"

The gong sounded again.

"The first watch of the night is at Xu time. The weather is dry, so be careful with fire."

An old voice came from the night watchman's body, the candlelight in the land temple dimmed a little, and wisps of black smoke came out.

The night watchman seemed to be reminding the land temple of something, or as if he was using his ability, the originally angry land temple slowly calmed down, the candles went out, and West Street fell into darkness again.

Gao Ming felt something touching him, and the night watchman's Yin flag swept across his face, as if telling him to leave quickly.

"Are there still good people in Zhemeng Town?" Gao Ming originally thought that the town was full of ghosts and monsters, but the night watchman seemed to symbolize the only order in the town. He did not hesitate and quickly followed the night watchman.

He retreated from West Street tremblingly, with the night watchman pointing a burning incense stick towards Gao Ming, as if wondering why Gao Ming didn't leave.
Gao Ming obviously misunderstood the night watchman's meaning. The night watchman wanted to remind him that there was danger outside and to quickly find a house to hide in to save his life, but Gao Ming obediently followed the night watchman and kept up with his pace.

The night watchman walked and stopped, and looked back at Gao Ming every few steps. The other party clearly had no facial features, and there was only a stick of incense in his hollowed-out head, but Gao Ming could see confusion and puzzlement in him.

Gao Ming didn't know how he appeared in the other person's eyes. He just wanted to follow the old night watchman around the town to find out what buildings there were in this place and see if he could meet Bai Huang.

Zhemeng Town doesn’t look very big from the outside, but once you enter it you’ll find that it’s very complicated inside, with twists and turns, and various residential buildings piled together without any planning. Ordinary people will definitely get lost if they come in for the first time.

Memorizing the route map in his mind, Gao Ming silently followed the old night watchman from West Street to the alley in the northeast corner.

Entering the dark alley, Gao Ming suddenly felt very cold, and the lantern on the night watchman's waist also dimmed a little.

The burning incense in his head was almost burned out, and the night watchman's body was shaking even more violently, and it seemed that he couldn't even hold the gong steadily.

"The night watchman's power may come from the incense in his head. When he confronts the land god, the incense will burn very quickly." Gao Ming secretly observed the night watchman. Normally, one incense stick is enough for the night watchman to walk through the whole town, but he extinguished the remaining candles in the land temple on West Street, causing the incense to burn too quickly. Stepping on the black mud on the ground and feeling deep in the alley, the night watchman pushed open the ordinary wooden door and almost fell to the ground.

His body trembled even more violently. He raised his hand and pointed at the main hall, as if to let Gao Ming go first.

This place was so strange that Gao Ming dared not enter the room casually. He didn't even dare to step through the threshold and was ready to retreat at any time.

"Oh!"

The gong fell to the ground, making a sound. The night watchman seemed to have difficulty even standing, and he kept pointing his hand towards the main hall.

Gao Ming gritted his teeth, made up his mind, walked over the threshold and into the main hall.

Yin energy swept through his body, and the cold wind blowing through the hall made him sober instantly. He looked at everything in front of him with wide eyes.

There was a black wooden altar in the main hall, with wooden cages piled up like a mountain on top, filled with tablets layer by layer.

"The town's ancestral hall is in the north. The night watchman just led me past the ancestral hall. What's the matter with this tablet hidden in his house?"

There was a bowl of soil in front of the altar with a bunch of unlit incense sticks on it.

After carrying the fallen night watchman into the house, Gao Ming discovered that although the night watchman looked tall, his body was not heavy.

Holding on to the altar with both hands, the old night watchman was almost exhausted. He kowtowed several times before he finally got his head in front of the "incense burner" with the help of Gao Ming.

He used the dying incense in his head to light a stick of incense in the bowl, then led Gao Ming in bowing several more times, before taking the incense with both hands and inserting it into his own head.

The whole process was extremely strange. The old man seemed to have successfully extended his life. His body stopped shaking, smoke filled the air, and he slowly calmed down.

Words of gratitude to the ancestors came from his chest and abdomen. He knelt on the ground for a long time before getting up. He slowly turned around, and his hollowed-out head was facing Gao Ming.

"Do you want to be a night watchman?" An old voice came from the old man's chest and abdomen, and rang directly beside Gao Ming's ears: "There used to be two night watchmen in the town. I held the gong and he held the clapper. We walked and struck the clappers, but he was killed some time ago. Huang Xian sacrificed his head to the river god, and his body was divided up by the townspeople."

Gao Ming remained silent. He firmly believed that there was no free lunch in the world and that every method of reforming this town would require a huge price to pay.

"A night watchman patrols the town at night. He is not subject to any taboos and is not subject to any laws or regulations. By becoming a night watchman, at least you can settle down here." The old man spoke earnestly, as if he had no ill intentions.

"Then how was your companion killed?"

"He didn't want to continue, lost his incense, and lost his way." The old man didn't seem to want to talk more. After changing the new incense, he felt much better. He bent down and took out a wooden box from under the altar: "Your blood is like the sun, you can't hide in the dark night. Sooner or later, the ghosts and gods will find you. Only by being a night watchman and being blessed by your ancestors can you have a chance to survive in the town."

As he was talking, the old man opened the box and took out a knife for digging faces and a plane for planing bones. He spread out a piece of cloth that had been used for a long time. The original color of the cloth could no longer be seen, and it was all covered with patches of coagulated blood.

"Would you like to be a night watchman?"

(End of this chapter)