Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

"Fine, fine, fine, it’s all my fault!"

The two had a private chat.

"I felt it today too, Bai is a bit off!" Zhou Hong snuggled into Chen Li’s arms and whispered, "He looks sinister, as if he’s going to devour someone!"

"Avoid contact with him these next couple of days; fortunately, we’re leaving tomorrow!" Chen Li said.

"What if he doesn’t leave?"

"Then we’ll just have to send him off early." Chen Li spoke gravely and sighed, "It’s not that I am ruthless and unsentimental, if we keep dragging this out, who knows what might happen? We live right next door; we’ll be the first to get affected!"

"It’s not your fault, you’re doing the right thing," Zhou Hong said softly. "I heard that people possessed by evil who cannot be saved will eventually turn into evil wraiths. And Bai, being a cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation, if he fully succumbs to the evil... it’s frightening to think about."

...

Late at night.

In the bedroom of the next-door neighbor Bai Jinwang.

The bed was empty.

An aged figure sat in a chair beside it, leaning back as if a corpse, motionless. Shadows danced around the figure like flitting specters, giving the bedroom an eerie and terrifying aura.

This figure was Bai Jinwang.

Suddenly, his body trembled, and his closed eyes snapped open, red light ominously glinting in his gaze.

His fingernails rapidly turned black and sharp.

Even his face began to change, becoming more ferocious and evil...

Half an hour later,

He stood up, and the shadows around him seemed to move with him. He silently walked out of the yard.

At that moment, he paused slightly, his gaze fixedly staring at the house next door, red light flickering in his eyes.

That place was filled with a dense smell that he found detestably frightening.

After staring for a while, he withdrew his gaze and then walked away down the street, his figure agile and spectral, showing no trace of his previous weakness and old age.

...

Chen Li was none the wiser.

He had slept soundly through the night.

It was just dawning outside, and Chen Li had already woken up automatically.

He threw off the thin quilt, left the bedroom, entered the kitchen to fetch water, and finished freshening up.

Entering the talisman room, he lit the oil lamp.

He took out talisman paper, cinnabar ink, and a talisman brush, and after a moment, he drew eighteen Evil-Repelling Talismans in succession.

Since the purification of his spiritual power, whether it was casting spells or drawing talismans, his efficiency had doubled.

After taking a Qi Replenishing Pill to restore his spiritual power and waiting for the cinnabar ink on the talismans to dry completely, he collected the talismans and left the room, stuffing them into various places around the house again.

In the entire house, there were two to three hundred such talismans, permeating every corner, all drawn by Chen Li on a whim from time to time.

...

All day long, Chen Li kept an eye on the movements next door.

But the day passed, and it was almost evening, yet the neighbor had not stepped out, not even a stir, dead quiet.

He hesitated for a moment.

He walked out of the yard, approached the Bai Family’s place, and knocked on the door, "Bai, are you there?"

"*Knock* *knock* *knock*!"

"Bai, open up, will you?"

"*Knock* *knock* *knock*!"

"If you don’t open up, I’m coming in!"

Just as Chen Li was about to enter and check, a hoarse and coarse voice came from inside, "I... am feeling... unwell, Fellow Daoist Chen... please go back."

The voice was staggered and seemed to have difficulty speaking.

Chen Li breathed a sigh of relief, "Then take care of yourself. You’ll be leaving tonight, correct?"

"Yes! Leaving, just... leaving!"

His brow furrowed slightly; why did the voice sound so strange?

He shook his head and left.

Right after dinner, Zhang Yan came over to visit.

"Did you hear about the strange occurrence last night?"

"What strange occurrence?" Chen Li asked in confusion. He had not ventured outside all day, not even allowing Zhou Hong to go out.

"Last night, a family died mysteriously, and it seems no one nearby heard a thing. But that’s not the weirdest part; the way these people died was extremely bizarre, their bodies turned shriveled as if mummified.

It’s a clear sign of an encounter with an evil wraith, but how could there be such a thing in Luoluo City, a large Cultivation City!" Zhang Yan’s face bore a look of fear, and he spoke in a lowered voice.

"Is this rumor reliable?" Chen Li’s expression turned serious.

"It’s all over the place outside; it should be true."

Another evil wraith!

Chen Li’s heart skipped a beat.

He couldn’t help but recall the strangeness of Bai Jinwang earlier.

Could it have been ’his’ doing?

"Is it far from us?"

"Quite far, indeed; it’s several streets away from us," Zhang Yan said, "But still, you should prepare a few more Evil-Repelling Talismans, just in case... just in case!"

His words trailed off, and he faltered.

His gaze fell upon the stack of talismans being used to level the table legs... these... these were clearly Evil-Repelling Talismans, with each stack probably containing about five or so. Not only that, but he quickly spotted more Evil-Repelling Talismans in the corners and on the beams of the room.

There were probably even more in unseen places.

"I’ve actually drawn quite a few Evil-Repelling Talismans already!" Chen Li, oblivious to Zhang Yan’s gaze, said to himself.

This was more than just a few.

"Evil-Repelling Talismans are a bit weak. It’s better to be like me and also have a few Evil-Breaking Talismans for self-defense." Chen Li pulled out a stack of talismans from his chest, about two inches thick, and waved them in front of Zhang Yan as a kind reminder.

Zhang Yan suddenly felt a bit dazed.

This must be a joke!

If this whole stack was Evil-Breaking Talismans, how much would that cost?

He opened his mouth, but in the end, he found he had nothing to say.

This is what you call being cautious.

That’s true caution.

This is what you call foolproof.

That’s truly foolproof.

"Are you okay?" Chen Li, seeing Zhang Yan standing motionless and with a vacant look in his eyes, couldn’t help but ask.

"Haha, no... no problem!" Zhang Yan quickly snapped back to reality and forced out a couple of dry laughs.

"You might think I’ve bought too many... thankfully, high-level talismans are cheap in Luoluo City. I bought more than a hundred in total, and it only cost me about thirty mid-grade Spirit Stones."

...

Zhang Yan left swiftly.

Just as he had arrived hastily.

After sending Zhang Yan off, Chen Li smacked his lips as realization dawned on him:

"This old guy doesn’t think I was showing off, does he?"

Then he remembered something and turned to look at the house next door.

By now, the sky had begun to darken; next door was still peaceful, and after hesitating for a while, he gave up on the idea of knocking on the door to check again. Since the other party had said they would leave tonight, he decided not to disturb them.

...

Late at night.

A creaking sound of a door opening came from next door.

Chen Li was moved, quickly dressed in his robe, stepped out of the bedroom, and walked to the courtyard. Then, with a light jump, he leapt over the wall.

The street was eerily quiet.

Not a soul in sight.

The door next door was ajar; clearly, Bai Jinwang had already gone out.

"So quick?"

He stepped inside, calling out tentatively:

"Bai, are you there?"

"I’ve come to see you off."

Chen Li’s fingers pinched an Evil-Breaking Talisman as he called out, carefully stepping into the house. It was empty. After searching all the rooms, he found no one.

"It seems he really has left!"

"Wait! Why didn’t he take his luggage?" In the bedroom, he saw a packed bundle that had been left behind.

"Did he forget it, or..." Chen Li couldn’t help but ponder.

Putting together Zhang Yan’s tale of strange occurrences and the odd behavior of the man in the evening, Chen Li had a bad premonition.

"If he’s gone, best not to come back."

He left an Evil-Breaking Talisman in every room of the house. After finishing all this, he quickly returned home.

He tossed and turned all night, without a wink of sleep, until he finally dozed off near dawn. As soon as it was light, he got up, dressed, and walked out the door to find the door next door still wide open.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted.

He noticed several white claw marks on the darkened wooden door.

Upon closer examination,

each claw mark was deeper than a centimeter, quite ’fresh’; he could even see some curled wood shavings on the ground.

These were undoubtedly left last night.

Without a doubt, ’Bai Jinwang’ had come back the night before, tried to enter, but had been repelled by the Evil-Breaking Talismans inside the house. Before leaving, he had vented his frustration at the entrance of the courtyard, and then he finally departed.