chapter 28

“What unspeakable secret?” Liu Hao shouted angrily. “It’s because… because this is the Cao Family’s residence, and I promised Boss Cao that I would take good care of it!”

“Is your head made of wood? What’s more important, human life or the house?” I retorted.

Liu Hao gritted his teeth. “Of course human life is important, but now isn’t the time. Besides, with Mr. Wei here, what’s there to be afraid of?”

Wei Dongting listened, lifting his chin and keeping a stern face.

“Maybe Mr. Wei is nervous too. Can’t you think about him for a moment?” I suddenly interjected.

Wei Dongting frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, as long as you’re not nervous.” I changed the subject lightly. “The situation doesn’t feel right. What are you planning to do?”

“That’s none of your concern. If you’re scared, you can leave now.” Wei Dongting replied coldly.

“As a fellow practitioner, I still have to remind you,” I shook my head. “This house is very strange, and the troublemaker may not necessarily be the one in the Coffin.”

Wei Dongting snorted and turned to Liu Hao. “Gather everyone and follow my orders!”

“That’s right, we should dig three feet deep,” I said.

Liu Hao hurriedly objected, “No!”

“Why not?” Wei Dongting asked with a dark face.

“It’s just…” Liu Hao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. “When Boss Cao entrusted this house to me, he repeatedly told me that it’s extremely important and must not be disturbed.”

“Call everyone and listen to my command!” Wei Dongting shouted.

Liu Hao hesitated but didn’t dare to defy Wei Dongting, so he went to gather the people.

Suddenly, chaos erupted around the Spirit Hall, and everyone in the house rushed over.

Three sticks of incense were placed in the Incense Burner in front of the Coffin. As I passed by, I inhaled a mouthful of smoke and, taking advantage of the confusion, walked behind Zhou Xiang and patted him on the shoulder.

Zhou Xiang was startled. As he turned his head, I blew the smoke toward him.

The white smoke, like a living thing, slipped into his nose and mouth.

Zhou Xiang shuddered, his eyes rolled back, and he stood there stiffly.

“Go wherever you want to go,” I whispered in a low voice by his ear.

Zhou Xiang slowly turned his body, then began to shuffle toward the Southwest, his steps stiff, his expression numb, eyes rolled back, as if sleepwalking.

Luckily, with all the chaos and the darkness, no one noticed him; otherwise, someone might have been scared out of their wits.

This is called Soul-Guiding Incense. After inhaling the incense smoke, a person enters a state between sleep and wakefulness, similar to sleepwalking.

Zhou Xiang led the way, and I followed closely behind.

The Yin Wind howled through the house, sending chills down the spine, but it had no effect on Zhou Xiang at this moment. He walked with strange, slow steps, passing through a corridor and stopping in front of a room.

Light seeped through the crack in the door, and inside came the sound of someone groaning, “Aiyo, aiyo.”

Just by hearing the voice, I knew it was the Old Lady Liu.

I knocked on the door, then quickly stepped aside.

“Who is it?” someone inside called out.

A man opened the door and, at a glance, saw Zhou Xiang standing stiffly at the entrance with his eyes rolled back. He screamed in terror and fled, stumbling and nearly wetting himself.

Hidden in the darkness, I saw Zhou Xiang slowly enter the room, and then heard the Old Lady let out a piercing scream, even louder than the man before.
I walked to the doorway and saw the Old Lady with gauze wrapped around her ears, her neck hung with all sorts of Talismans, her body covered in Yellow Paper Talismans, curled up on the bed, screaming in terror.

Zhou Xiang, however, was steadily advancing toward her, step by step.

I was a bit surprised; I hadn’t expected that, in his Soul-Guiding Incense state, Zhou Xiang’s first target would actually be the Old Lady.

The Old Lady was so frightened she rolled around on the bed, shouting, “Hao’er, Hao’er, come save your mother!”

I glanced around the room and noticed a few unusual things.

All four walls of the room, including the ceiling, were painted with huge Talismanic Symbols. On the left side, a Bodhisattva was enshrined atop a cabinet, with three sticks of incense burning before it, smoke curling upward.

Judging by the furnishings, this must be Liu Hao’s room.

The reason the Old Lady was placed here after being injured was probably because, in their eyes, the room was protected by Talismanic Symbols and blessed by the Bodhisattva, making it safer.

But Zhou Xiang, now merely affected by Soul-Guiding Incense and not a ghost, was completely unaffected by all these evil-repelling objects in the room.

“Smack!”

A sudden sound drew my attention.

Looking closely, I saw Zhou Xiang had actually slapped the Old Lady across the face.

Normally, those affected by Soul-Guiding Incense act entirely on instinct. The fact that Zhou Xiang slapped the Old Lady meant he’d long wanted to do so, but had always held back.

Amid the Old Lady’s shrieks, Zhou Xiang slowly raised his hand and delivered another slap, making her cry out in agony.

I was a bit curious; the Old Lady was certainly annoying, but what had she done to offend Zhou Xiang so deeply that he hated her to this extent?

I watched coldly from the side until the Old Lady was slapped unconscious, then stepped forward and tapped Zhou Xiang.

Zhou Xiang paused, turned, and walked to the head of the bed, slowly feeling around.

Suddenly, I heard a click, as if some mechanism had been triggered. Next, I saw the wall behind the Bodhisattva open up into a Secret Door.

Zhou Xiang climbed up and went through the Secret Door.

I followed him, passing through another door, and then came to a descending staircase. We kept going down, about ten meters or so, until we reached a pitch-dark Basement.

On the left wall hung several old-fashioned Oil Lamps, clearly meant to be carried for illumination. But the darkness didn’t bother me, and Zhou Xiang, in his Soul-Guiding Incense state, didn’t need his eyes, so I left them alone.

After a short walk, two rooms appeared ahead.

The doors to these two rooms-one red, one white-looked extremely odd.

Zhou Xiang walked straight to the Red Door and stopped in front of it.

I stepped forward and found both doors were Iron Doors, their Door Planks extremely heavy and thick, painted red and white.

Droplets of water condensed on the surface of the Door Plank, icy cold to the touch, as if I were touching a block of frozen ice.

Standing before the door, Zhou Xiang suddenly leaned forward and slammed his forehead against the door with a bang.

Then came another bang, each strike harder than the last.

I didn’t think he was foolish enough to try breaking open the Iron Door with his head. The only reason he’d do this was that it reflected something deep within him.

When do people feel the urge to bang their heads against a wall?