Chapter 80

"Man, you're really heavy."

Tan Wenbin laid Lu Yi on the dorm bed, put his hands on his hips, and gasped for breath. Carrying someone wasn't that tiring, but the series of explosive movements—from restraining the possessed Lu Yi to pouncing on the high-heeled shoe—had truly exhausted him, and he was only now catching his breath.

Seeing Lu Yi's face covered in white foam and dirt, Tan Wenbin frowned. Ultimately unable to bear it, he picked up a washbasin, poured in some hot water, and wrung out a towel to wipe him clean. As for the scrapes and bleeding on Lu Yi's knees, feet, and elbows, Tan Wenbin didn't bother treating them. After all, they were rough men; minor bumps and bruises weren't a big deal.

After finishing, Tan Wenbin poured Lu Yi a cup of water and placed it on the plastic stool next to his bed. Then, he bent down and pulled out a Harbin red sausage from a storage box under his own bed. Taking a bite, he chewed and said, "Buddy, consider this the exorcism and cleaning fee."

After leaving Lu Yi's room and returning to his own, he saw Brother Yuan sitting at his desk, a leather whip in his hand, the moment he walked in. That gaze, that aura… Tsk-tsk, Tan Wenbin suddenly felt that his own father, who used to wield a belt in his memory, seemed almost too kind-hearted at this moment.

Binbin squatted to the side, observing Brother Yuan's interrogation. Brother Yuan's gaze was slightly upward, not fixed on the high-heeled shoe on the desk, indicating there were certainly other invisible things on the table. Scratching his head, Tan Wenbin truly wanted to enter the netherworld to see what was happening.

But he knew Brother Yuan would never agree. Brother Yuan had always warned them not to frequently enter the netherworld unless they encountered a truly difficult situation that necessitated it. Yet, Brother Yuan himself often snapped his fingers and entered the netherworld. He used to need to doze off and be supported while someone counted down, but now he could enter the netherworld with his eyes open, handling both the spiritual and human worlds simultaneously.

Tan Wenbin felt no imbalance about this. From their first meeting, when Brother Yuan finished all the test papers on his desk in the time it took his own father to give him a beating, he knew that the biggest similarity between him and Brother Yuan was that they both appeared human.

However, Brother Yuan seemed to be in trouble; it looked like the interrogation wasn't going well. Li Zhuiyuan said, "Brother Binbin, burn paper, light candles, and spread sand to ask for directions."

"Understood!"

Burning paper and lighting candles were easy to understand. As for "spreading sand to ask for directions," its manifestation was similar to spirit writing. The problem was, Tan Wenbin momentarily forgot whether red or white candles were used for this particular ritual. Damn it, his brain felt like it had been returned to his alma mater after the college entrance exam. Not only had he forgotten a lot of high school knowledge, but even the "professional content" he had memorized before had become somewhat blurry.

Fortunately, Tan Wenbin had a method. He first placed the box on the desk, then poured in the special white sand. After smoothing the sand surface with a ruler, he held a red candle in his left hand and a white candle in his right, and asked, "Brother Yuan, which direction do the candles go?"

Li Zhuiyuan first looked at Tan Wenbin's left hand, then shifted his gaze to the southeast corner of the desk. Got it, it's the white candle. After Tan Wenbin set everything up, he lit the candles. Li Zhuiyuan held a piece of yellow paper, lit it, and waved it in front of him. Tan Wenbin brought over his ceramic mug, ready to catch the paper ash.

But in an instant, he saw Brother Yuan stand up, grab forward with his left hand, pull down, then thrust the burning yellow paper inward with his right hand, before slapping his left hand upwards. In that instant, the yellow paper burned completely, leaving only wisps of smoke, not even a speck of black ash.

Tan Wenbin's eyes widened. He realized that during the past six months, while he was busy with the college entrance exam, Brother Yuan hadn't been idle. It was just that things had been too peaceful back home for him to notice Brother Yuan's rapid progress. In fact, from the perspective of the netherworld, one would have seen the young man first reach out to pinch the girl's jaw, forcing her mouth open, then stuff the burning talisman paper into her mouth, and finally, close her mouth shut.

The two main purposes of yellow paper are to guide and to show respect; feeding it directly into the mouth is a direct offering. The girl, perhaps due to her unique nature or because she had been severely burned by Tan Wenbin's black dog blood, was unable to "communicate verbally." She could only tremble pitifully on the table.

As soon as the yellow paper was fed, the effect became apparent. The girl proactively extended her hand to grasp the pen placed on the sand tray, her expression resolute. Li Zhuiyuan also reached out to grab the pen, but seeing the young man's extended hand, the determination on the girl's face instantly crumbled, and she timidly withdrew her own hand.

Nothing else, the girl's fear of the young man was deeply ingrained, right down to her bones. The Yin family's Twelve Gates of Magic had been simplified over generations for the convenience of future unworthy descendants; by the time it reached Yin Fuhai, only a basic version remained. Li Zhuiyuan's "Reverse Crossing the Bridge" technique was considered incredible by current Yin family members, but it was precisely this technique that the Yin family ancestors mastered at their peak. This meant that when he performed this move, the young man subtly re-embodied some of Yin Changsheng's demeanor. Yin Changsheng, meanwhile, was regarded by many as the prototype of the Great Emperor of Fengdu.

Seeing that the girl was so afraid of him, Li Zhuiyuan could only turn to Tan Wenbin and point to the pen on the sand tray. Tan Wenbin understood, reached out, and grabbed the pen. Seeing this, the girl extended her hand again and also grasped the pen.

Hiss… so cold. Tan Wenbin felt as if his hand had been covered by a block of ice, instantly going numb and losing sensation. The pen, too, finally began to move. The pen tip was as fine as hair, and the white sand surface was as delicate as paper, allowing for both large, cursive writing and tiny, intricate details.

The pen tip moved quickly, the characters as tiny as fly heads. Li Zhuiyuan had to stand up and lean in to examine them closely. She was writing letters, letters from Ran Qiuping to her daughter, Qiu Minmin. Normally, after these letters were written, Ran Qiuping would burn them, and only these high heels could "see" them.

The contents of the letters were quickly written out. Once a sand surface was full, Li Zhuiyuan would smooth it with a ruler so the writing could continue. Besides a mother's longing for her deceased daughter, daily ramblings, and occasional mentions of Sun Hongxia, whom she often bossed around, the letters repeatedly brought up one name: Mao Zhushan. Sometimes he was called "Master Mao," sometimes "Celestial Master Mao," and even "Brother Mao" or "Handsome Mao." Their relationship seemed so good that she apparently wanted him to be her future son-in-law.

But there was also a flip side: Ran Qiuping would curse him in the letters, calling him a big liar, a bastard, or an animal. The shifts in address and emotion, across a series of letters, always revolved around one consistent and important theme: resurrection. Upon seeing this theme, Li Zhuiyuan knew that Ran Qiuping had been deceived. Wei Zhengdao, in the preface to the first volume of "Tales of the Jianghu," abruptly wrote a sentence: "The dead cannot be resurrected." This sentence stood alone, unconnected to what came before or after it. All the "walking dead" he introduced later in the book actually served to explain and confirm this statement: "The walking dead are not the same as the living."

In the letters, whenever the resurrection plan progressed smoothly, Ran Qiuping's address to Mao Zhushan would become very affectionate, even mentioning introducing them and setting them up once her daughter was resurrected. Whenever Mao Zhushan said the plan would be delayed or changed, Ran Qiuping would fly into a rage, displaying hysterical emotions in her letters. On this point, Li Zhuiyuan's judgment was correct. Both Sun Hongxia and Ran Qiuping were merely puppets "controlled and fooled" by others; their minds and worldviews had long been twisted and abnormal.

The girl wrote quickly, and Li Zhuiyuan read quickly. Among the messages revealed between the lines, Li Zhuiyuan also caught mention of General Temple, and how they were hiding things from the old master. Combining this with his own on-site investigations, a relatively clear side story emerged. After Qiu Minmin's death, Ran Qiuping was devastated. She then came into contact with Mao Zhushan, a disciple of the body retrievers at General Temple – the young man Li Zhuiyuan had seen comforting Ran Qiuping that day at the temple.

Mao Zhushan promised to help Ran Qiuping resurrect Qiu Minmin. Subsequently, Qiu Minmin became a "walking dead" who frequently appeared in the dance studio on the second floor of the university's student activities building. During this period, Sun Hongxia, manipulated and brainwashed by Ran Qiuping, had been acting as a guard and cover out of a sense of atonement.

Recent letters repeatedly mentioned "the date is approaching," indicating that Mao Zhushan's plan was nearing its final stage. This certainly didn't refer to helping Ran Qiuping resurrect Qiu Minmin, but rather Mao Zhushan's own scheme. But at this critical moment, Runsheng and Yin Meng arrived, each carrying their body-retriever equipment. Ran Qiuping, who managed the dormitory building, must have seen his and Tan Wenbin's equipment when they were moving luggage. She must have seen similar items from Mao Zhushan and his master. Upon reporting, she likely felt their plot was exposed and that external body retrievers had gathered there to thwart their plans. In the most recent letter, Ran Qiuping wrote to her daughter about this, specifically describing the four of them, and telling her daughter not to be afraid, that "Mommy will deal with them with you; no one can stop her good girl from coming back."

After finishing the letter, the girl stopped writing. Li Zhuiyuan also realized that the girl was not part of Ran Qiuping's group. She seemed to be a malevolent spirit unique to this dormitory building, or this entire dormitory area. Because in Ran Qiuping's letters, she was never specifically mentioned, except for one line in a particular letter: "Minmin, today Mommy found a beautiful pair of high heels in the dorm. I don't know who left them, but Mommy will treat them as a birthday gift from you."

Finding a delicate and well-preserved pair of high heels in a male dormitory building was very incongruous. But it wasn't entirely illogical; perhaps some male students bought them as gifts for girlfriends, or perhaps some had unique fetishes and wanted to wear high heels themselves. And that's how the girl "latched onto" Ran Qiuping.

The reason was simple: long-term contact with Qiu Minmin, even if it was her own daughter turned "walking dead," would weaken one's luck and make them susceptible to entanglement by malevolent spirits. So, the high-heel sounds he heard on his first night here, was it her knowing Ran Qiuping was targeting him, and coming to warn him in advance? No, it wasn't.

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. It wasn't that he was unwilling to admit his "repaying kindness with enmity" mistake, but based on his experience, there was truly no need to over-anthropomorphize such malevolent entities. She was probably just bored and lonely, wanting to prank people for fun. On the first night, she wanted to approach him but was scared away by him instead. Tonight, while he wasn't in the dorm, she went to play with Lu Yi, turning him into that state.

Indeed, Lu Yi wasn't dead, but the consequences for ordinary people targeted by malevolent spirits ranged from mild nerve weakness and unfortunate illnesses to, in severe cases, being unable to withstand the pressure and torment, potentially even jumping from the dormitory building. Lu Yi was just lucky to encounter him and Tan Wenbin; otherwise, he might have become a campus ghost story told by future students, appearing in late-night talks after lights out: "Hey, did you know? I heard from a senior in a club today that a senior used to live on our floor who wore a pair of women's high heels before jumping off the building..."

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the leather whip and placed it on Tan Wenbin's hand. The girl, startled, immediately withdrew her own hand. "Alright."

Hearing this, Tan Wenbin immediately pulled back his arm and tried to warm his numb, frozen hand by tucking it into his clothes, but instantly pulled it out again with an "oh, oh, oh." It was too cold for his own body to bear. "Brother Binbin, apply the black dog blood." This symptom was merely an "illusion"; the girl had no physical body, so how could she genuinely freeze someone's hand?

Tan Wenbin immediately reached into his pocket, then looked embarrassed. His box of ink paste had just spilled all over the floor. He couldn't exactly go ask Little Black for some blood on the spot. Li Zhuiyuan's left hand went into his pocket, his index finger pressing on the ink paste. He then took it out and drew a talisman on the back of Tan Wenbin's hand.

"Hiss... comfortable." The hand, which had felt like a block of ice, immediately thawed, feeling so refreshingly pleasant, as if surrounded by birdsong and flowers. Tan Wenbin stumbled backward repeatedly, finally landing on his backside, but still had a smile on his face. This was a violent reversal in sensation, creating an illusory "heavenly" experience. If he had held the pen himself, he would only have felt a slight coolness on the back of his hand. But at the same level, different people could experience vastly different sensations. But since the girl dared not hold his hand, at this moment, only Binbin could step in.

In some tales of the supernatural, old Taoist priests and monks always have a young apprentice by their side. If viewed strictly by lineage, they are clearly several generations apart, so it's unnecessary for them to personally mentor a junior. The main reason is that some techniques and methods are not easily used by those with profound cultivation and strong willpower. For example, the "invitation of deities" that appears in various mystic arts: the higher one's cultivation, the more difficult it is to invite a deity, because the invited deity fears being swallowed or restrained by you. Instead, those who have just entered the discipline but whose mastery isn't too profound, while also having good physical health, find it easier to successfully invite deities.

Tan Wenbin finally recovered and stood up. "Brother Binbin, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I've recovered." Tan Wenbin said with a serious expression. There was no way he could say he had actually quite enjoyed it. "Mm."

"What did it just write?" Although he held the pen, he hadn't had time to clearly see the dense, tiny script. Li Zhuiyuan briefly summarized the contents. After listening, Tan Wenbin said, "So it's confirmed they plotted to attack us. Then we'll stick to the original plan: go to General Temple tomorrow night and demand an explanation!"

"When they made their move, they were aiming for Brother Runsheng's life, not an explanation from us." Hearing this, Tan Wenbin swallowed, then nodded vigorously, clenching his fists: "Right, let's kill them!"

When the elder brother set the tone, the younger brother could only raise the stakes, not lower them. Tan Wenbin still remembered the sight of the dwarf father and son's dismembered bodies floating in the river that day. Even more, he remembered Brother Yuan's decisive resolve the night before, willing to blind himself to get revenge. Since then, every "Brother" he uttered was filled with genuine meaning.

If someone truly angered Brother Yuan, Brother Yuan would invite their family to a feast—the kind where the table was set, but no one was left to eat at it. But no matter what, following a boss like this truly felt empowering.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the girl on the desk and asked, "Are your remains nearby?" The girl nodded. "When I graduate and leave this school, I will help you find your remains and perform a ritual for your liberation. Until then, you must behave yourself and stay quiet, or I will directly suppress you to accumulate merit." The girl nodded again.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the teacup on the table, looked inside, and found it empty; Tan Wenbin had just finished the water. "Oh, yes, there is!" Tan Wenbin immediately picked up the thermos and poured some. Li Zhuiyuan lightly touched the cup's rim, hesitated, then shook his head. "Brother Binbin, get some cold water."

"Okay, Brother, wait for me." Tan Wenbin carried the cup away, splashed out the hot water, then left the dorm to fetch cold water outside. He returned and placed it in the young man's hand. Afterward, Binbin stood by, observing carefully. He had always loved watching Brother Yuan use his techniques. When he himself would learn them was another matter; at least before going to bed, he could imagine himself performing these techniques with such grace and flair.

He watched as the young man's fingertips continuously touched the water in the cup, flicking water droplets towards the girl. The Yin family's Twelve Gates of Magic: Water Prison Seal. That night on Fengdu Ghost Street, when Yin Fuhai taught Li Zhuiyuan this technique, he introduced it as a way to "draw a circle and make it a prison" around oneself when encountering evil spirits, thus ensuring temporary safety. So, another reason Li Zhuiyuan hadn't gone to his great-grandfather's basement to look for books much in the past six months was that he had studied the Yin family's Twelve Gates of Magic twice.

In terms of magical technique specifications, the Yin family's Twelve Gates of Magic were absolutely no less profound than the secret arts of the Qin and Liu families. However, the former had been "simplified" by their descendants into children's reading material. Every time a water droplet landed on the girl, she would shriek, as if a normal person were being showered with molten iron. But under Li Zhuiyuan's stare, the girl dared not cry out again.

Gradually, water began to seep from the girl's skin, forming patterns like spiderwebs. Finally, Li Zhuiyuan splashed all the remaining water in the cup onto the girl. The girl completely lost control and was about to shriek when the young man's finger touched her forehead. In an instant, the girl's expression froze, as if paused in time. The young man reached out, lightly patted the girl's arm, and softly said: "Return."

With a "whoosh," from Tan Wenbin's perspective, a large puddle of water suddenly appeared on the desk and then completely merged into the high heels. "Brother Binbin." "Yes?" "Clean the shoes, then put them in an open box and place them under the balcony." "Alright."

Tan Wenbin walked over and picked up the high heels, surprised to find that despite absorbing a lot of water earlier, the shoes were still dry inside. Only on the surface of the shoes did the black dog blood he had personally applied earlier remain. Li Zhuiyuan began tidying the desk. His previous sealing method was indeed somewhat cruel, but he didn't feel he had gone too far. If he hadn't had the ability, he might have been the one dancing wildly, possessed and wearing high heels, on his first night here. Lu Yi would only become a campus ghost story, while he himself might end up in the newspapers: "Top Scorer and Prodigy Suffers Mental Breakdown, Beware of the Dangers of Forcing Growth."

Moreover, since he intended to keep her as a "gatekeeper shoe," he had a duty to manage her well. If she caused any further trouble after becoming entangled with his karma, the Dao of Heaven would certainly come for him with a calculator. He also exploited a blind spot in the Dao of Heaven here: Lu Yi was merely a minor nuisance anyway. As for what evil she had committed before or how many people she had driven to breakdown, he didn't know, he hadn't asked, and ignorance was bliss.

"Phew..." As he finished tidying the desk, Tan Wenbin returned with the high heels, now washed. He had intended to wipe them dry with paper but found them already dry. "Brother Yuan, it seems very thirsty." "When you have time, water it later."

Tan Wenbin blinked. "Uh, Brother, are you serious?" "Yes, really, like watering a plant." "Alright then." Tan Wenbin wrapped it in a black plastic bag and placed it under the balcony. He stood up, looked around, and chuckled, "Our dorm feels so secure now. It would be a shame if no thieves ever broke in." "Mm."

It was much safer than before, but still couldn't compare to his great-grandfather's house. In the past, even Uncle Qin had to work as a security guard at his great-grandfather's house.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up his basin, and Tan Wenbin immediately followed suit, saying, "Let's go, let's wash together, wash together." After they both showered, Li Zhuiyuan lay down on his bed. Tan Wenbin wasn't in a hurry to get into bed. He still had to go to his desk to study later, but before that, he walked to the stool, turned the bronze mirror to face the door, and activated the protective ward.

After doing this, he squatted beside the wooden stool, carefully observing the bronze mirror. "Brother Yuan, can you make one of these bronze mirrors for me too? It's really beautiful." "I didn't make it." "Ah? Is it a genuine antique?" "Yes, a bronze mirror with a six-mountain pattern." "Wow." Tan Wenbin exclaimed, then, not understanding antiques, he switched to a typical person's understanding of them. "How much is it worth?" "I don't know." "Uh, Brother Yuan, you can give me a rough estimate." "There's an identical one in the National Museum."

Tan Wenbin: "..." Tan Wenbin moved his face back, afraid his breath might tarnish it. "Brother Yuan, where did you get this bronze mirror?" "It was a gift in return from someone." "My goodness, what did you give them?" "Go study. I'm going to sleep." "Oh, okay." Li Zhuiyuan adjusted his pillow and closed his eyes.

This bronze mirror was A-Li's return gift to him. That morning, he had first given A-Li a small Go set with a plastic sheet as a board, bought from the stationery shop next to Shinan Town Elementary School.

Waking up, Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes and habitually turned his head again, seeing Tan Wenbin sound asleep, sprawled on his desk. Binbin seemed to have pulled an all-nighter to finish memorizing everything, perhaps to prove he was smarter than Yin Meng. He could always catch up on sleep during the day anyway. Actually, Yin Meng wasn't stupid, but in terms of cultivation, she couldn't compare to Runsheng, and in learning magic and entering the netherworld, she couldn't compare to Tan Wenbin, so she was teased by the three of them as the "dumbest" one.

Li Zhuiyuan sat up in bed. Every morning, he would silently ask himself while looking out the window: "When will Grandma Liu and the others move here?" If he didn't see A-Li again, he didn't know if her condition would continue to improve, but his own seemed to be worsening.

He left the dorm to wash up. Lu Yi also came over, carrying his washbasin, to wash up. Li Zhuiyuan: "Morning." "Morning, Brother Prodigy."

Lu Yi hesitated several times, on the verge of speaking. Li Zhuiyuan noticed but didn't point it out or initiate conversation. Actually, Lu Yi's incident last night might also have been due to him bowing to that "walking dead" during the day. Although he had taught Lu Yi how to receive gifts, it might still have involved some entanglement. Not everyone who bowed to the general's statue would encounter trouble, but their luck would decrease. And Lu Yi happened to live in a dormitory building with malevolent spirits.

When Li Zhuiyuan finished washing his face and was about to leave with his basin, Lu Yi reached out and gently tugged the young man's sleeve with his finger. Despite being a 1.85-meter-tall burly Northeastern man, he now gave off the shy and graceful air of a Jiangnan woman. "It's just… it's just… that… Brother Prodigy… is there really a ghost in our dorm building?"

"No, I lied to you."

"Ah!" Lu Yi instantly cried out, "Brother Prodigy, save me, please save me!" If Li Zhuiyuan had continued to tell him, "Yes, there's a ghost," he might have felt better. But this direct denial was like a doctor telling you, "Go home and eat well," implying a terminal prognosis.

"You're fine, really." "Brother Prodigy, Brother, you're my real brother." Seeing Lu Yi still persistent, Li Zhuiyuan could only say, "Go buy a pack of cigarettes and use a red sausage as an offering. Place them on the balcony and make offerings for three days, then you'll be fine." "Thank you, thank you, Brother Prodigy, you're amazing! That ghost really does love red sausage!"

After returning to the dorm, Li Zhuiyuan started reading, but not other brain-taxing books. Instead, he reread Wei Zhengdao's "Tales of the Jianghu." He had a faint premonition that the "walking dead" he encountered this time had a special characteristic. Unfortunately, he had too little information about the "walking dead" under the general's statue to distinguish or confirm it specifically.

In the afternoon, just as Tan Wenbin woke up and got out of bed, Yin Meng arrived. Tan Wenbin glanced at her and said blandly, "Have you memorized it? We're waiting for you." Yin Meng rolled her eyes at him. Li Zhuiyuan asked, "How's Brother Runsheng?" "Runsheng is recovering very well. He didn't insist on coming along." "Mm, get the things. Let's go."

They had two large bags of items, mostly array flags for setting up formations. These weren't the small flags used for the ward, but large ones. General Mountain had beautiful scenery, but because it hadn't been developed, not many people came there. Outside General Temple, Li Zhuiyuan chose two spots and had Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng set up formations there. The formation diagrams were in their minds; now they just needed to follow the pattern. By the time they finished setting up, it was already dark.

The three sat behind an earthen slope in front of General Temple, eating the water and biscuits they'd brought, adjusting their state. "I just observed from a high vantage point. There are no more tourists in the temple. Today, the only staff on duty are that master and disciple pair. I didn't see Ran Qiuping; she might be hiding in the office, but she's secondary. Once inside, we'll deal with the old man first and lure him into the formation."

According to known information, Mao Zhushan was planning all of this. Considering his restrained and hushed conversation with Ran Qiuping that day, he had likely done these things without his master's knowledge. But Li Zhuiyuan was too lazy to go complain or reason with the master. He wouldn't pin his hopes on the old man cleaning up his own sect. He chose the most reliable method: eliminate the old man first.

Just then, a white sedan pulled up to the entrance of General Temple, and three people got out of the car. Tan Wenbin: "Huh, why are they here?" The arrivals were Wu Xinhui, Zhu Hongyu, and Liu Xinya, the three witnesses from the Zhao Junfeng case. After getting out of the car, the three immediately started arguing, seemingly not in agreement about coming here.

Zhu Hongyu raised her hand and slapped Wu Xinhui. Wu Xinhui retaliated with a punch, knocking her to the ground. Liu Xinya, standing nearby, simply crossed her arms, having no intention of breaking up the fight. Zhu Hongyu scrambled up from the ground and shrieked as she pounced forward, scratching at her husband's face. The couple fought in a brawl beside the car.

Yin Meng was about to ask, "What do we do now?", but Tan Wenbin gave her a look, signaling her to be quiet and listen to Little Yuan's instructions. Li Zhuiyuan was in no hurry to make a decision. It had only just turned night, and the evening was still long. The commotion at the temple entrance was too loud, and finally, someone emerged from General Temple: Ran Qiuping. She knelt before the three, pleading desperately for something.

The three stopped arguing and straightened their clothes. But soon, as they conversed, the three became agitated again. Wu Xinhui even reached out and grabbed Ran Qiuping's collar, loudly questioning her about something. Ran Qiuping, while pleading, shook her head frantically. Logically, Ran Qiuping should have had a very good relationship with these three, as it was these three witnesses who had helped her catch the true killer of her daughter, Qiu Minmin.

Suddenly, Li Zhuiyuan's ears twitched slightly. He immediately said: "Go-Home Net." Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng immediately unfurled the net, covering the three. A moment later, "click-clack... click-clack..." footsteps echoed from ahead.

Sun Hongxia emerged step by step from a slanted path below, thus not noticing the three hidden behind her. Tan Wenbin initially wondered why Sun Hongxia was no longer acting insane and had become so quiet. But soon he noticed that Sun Hongxia's hands, the back of her neck, and her ankles were covered in dark mud. After Sun Hongxia walked down, from the same spot behind, a faceless woman emerged. Her entire body was pitted and oozing black blood, emitting a foul odor. It was Qiu Minmin.

Although there was some distance, her every movement was identical to Sun Hongxia's. However, a thin wall of mud gradually formed in front of Qiu Minmin, concealing her. Yin Meng realized with a start: so this was how the other party was able to disappear silently in the dance studio.

Thus, in the eyes of the four below, only Sun Hongxia had emerged. After she came before them, she also fell to her knees with a "thud." "My son is guilty, my son is guilty, I didn't raise my son well, I am also guilty, also guilty..." Wu Xinhui and the two others now had two older women kneeling before and behind them.

At this point, Mao Zhushan emerged from the temple gate, said something, and then gestured inside, seemingly inviting everyone in. Wu Xinhui and the two others seemed swayed and walked into the temple. Ran Qiuping kicked the unresponsive Sun Hongxia, then reached out and embraced Qiu Minmin, who should have been invisible behind her. Ultimately, everyone entered the temple.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's go in too. It seems we're in for a good show tonight."