A black robe, a blood-red curved blade, it was attached to you.
Night fell.
The dormitory building of Chengho Medical College turned off its lights early.
Tonight, Feng Xiaojuan hadn’t returned again. Ding Jie kept watch at the door, while Xue Rong was alone in the room.
Since that night, Feng Xiaojuan only came back to sleep every other day. Xue Rong had originally wanted to avoid alerting the enemy, but she was tormented by fear and anxiety. What if she could find clues to save Wu Liang from Feng Xiaojuan’s belongings? With this thought, she decided to search while Feng Xiaojuan was away, hoping to uncover her weakness.
Xue Rong first searched the desk. It was tidy, and Feng Xiaojuan hadn’t been seen wearing makeup recently. Cosmetics were piled in a vanity box, while books—both textbooks and leisure reading—were neatly arranged on the shelf. Her drawers and wardrobe were similarly organized. After searching around and finding nothing unusual, Xue Rong climbed the ladder to check her bed.
Feng Xiaojuan’s bed carried a strong fragrance, as if trying to mask something. When Xue Rong pulled open the curtain, the scent nearly choked her. Under the pillow, she felt a notebook. Pulling it out, she realized it was a diary. Feng Xiaojuan had never kept a diary before, so seeing this notebook suddenly made Xue Rong feel it might contain exactly what she was looking for.
The notebook was newly purchased, with only a few pages written on.
[Day 1 back in the human world: The world has turned upside down. I feel unaccustomed.]
[Day 4 back in the human world: I don’t want to hurt Rongrong, but I have no other choice. I hope she will forgive me.]
[Day 7 back in the human world: Tonight, we rented a room in a small hotel off-campus again. We held each other until dawn, letting each other’s scent linger. The bed was small and cramped, but now we are one, inseparable from each other.]
…
[Day 24 back in the human world: It’s actually it! How dare it stand there? It will only dirty that place. Since I’ve seen it, does that mean they are all still alive? These beasts! I must kill them, I must!]
[It has discovered us! It has discovered us! It has discovered us! It also has a fragment! How much longer can we live?]
…
The diary’s content was extremely strange, and the handwriting wasn’t Feng Xiaojuan’s!
Feng Xiaojuan had practiced running script since childhood, but the writing in the diary was rounded, with heavy strokes—definitely not something she could have written.
Terrified, Xue Rong continued reading. Each day’s entry was brief, filled with words that left her bewildered.
Just as she was concentrating intently, the dormitory door opened.
Only she, Ding Jie, and Feng Xiaojuan lived in this room, and since Ding Jie was guarding the door, Xue Rong didn’t think much of it, assuming it was Ding Jie coming to hurry her along.
She turned around, holding up the notebook. “Ding Jie, look what I found. She really isn’t Xiaojuan!”
The air fell silent. Xue Rong’s hands trembled, and she nearly fainted from fright.
Standing before her wasn’t Ding Jie, but Feng Xiaojuan’s pale face. She stared fixedly at Xue Rong, her voice icy. “Rongrong, what are you looking at?”
Tao Tao crouched in the grass in front of the Anatomy Building, a cloth bag slung over her shoulder containing ham sausages, fresh meat, and cat food cans.
She laid the food out in a row on the bluestone bricks of the path, then crawled back into the grass and waved at Lin Quan. “We can start now.”
Lin Quan took out a sheet of yellow paper, dipped his finger in Cinnabar, and began drawing a spell talisman on it.
With a few strokes, he sketched out the Wind-Summoning Talisman and flung it into the air. Immediately, a chilling wind began to swirl around the two of them. The weeds beneath their feet swayed with the breeze, at first only gently, but as the wind grew stronger, the grass rustled loudly. Fortunately, there was no one nearby, or else in the dead of night, a sudden gust of wind rising from flat ground would have been enough to scare someone half to death.
The wind carried the scent of food far and wide. The first to catch the smell was a yellow dog, but just as it was about to dig into the canned food, Tao Tao rapped it on the head and shooed it away.
In late summer, insects were everywhere, and the deep grass was teeming with mosquitoes. Tao Tao, lying prone in the grass, was practically a free dinner. Before long, several mosquito bites had swollen on her face.
Lin Quan pointed a finger gently toward her, and from his fingertip spun out extremely fine threads of wind, driving away all the mosquitoes on her body.
“Thanks,” Tao Tao said, quite pleased with his attentive gesture. “Since you don’t need much sleep anyway, how about helping me keep the mosquitoes away at night from now on? We could even save on mosquito repellent.”
The request was rather unreasonable, but Lin Quan smiled warmly. “It would be my honor.”
Tao Tao pulled a handful of sunflower seeds from her pocket, popped them into her mouth, and cracked them open. “Talismanic Art, incantations, and Seal Technique are the three essential skills every Spirit Master must learn. A One-Pillar Spiritual Master can master at most five. You wasted one slot on the Lock-Opening Incantation and another on the Wind-Summoning Talisman. Are these even useful for exorcism?”
“As long as they help Tao Tao, they are useful.”
Tao Tao looked at him. “How is it that every time I need something, you just happen to know how to do it? What else have you learned in the remaining three slots?”
Lin Quan replied, “Just some insignificant, unorthodox tricks.”
In exorcism, unexpected skills often turn the tide, so many Spirit Masters never reveal the abilities they have cultivated to others.
Since he didn’t want to say, Tao Tao didn’t press further.
…
At two in the morning, movement stirred in the grass across from them. A black cat, drawn by the smell of food, peered left and right, cautiously emerging from the undergrowth.
Unable to resist the enticing aroma, it approached the canned food and was just about to eat when Tao Tao, hidden in the grass, scattered the sunflower seed shells in her hand like a celestial maiden scattering flowers. Mid-air, they transformed into a pale golden cat-catching net that descended upon the feline. Sensing danger, the black cat turned to flee but was a step too slow.
With a fierce pounce, Tao Tao burst from the grass and accurately seized the cat by the scruff of its neck.
The black cat turned its head, saw it was her, and instantly lost all hope.
Lin Quan had never seen a cat with such a look of utter despair. He asked, “Tao Tao, what on earth did you do to it?”
Tao Tao rubbed her ear and said nothing.
Yelaixiang Foot-Washing City.
After seeing off the last customer, everyone else was cultivating in the basement. Luo Hou, wearing sunglasses, was calculating accounts at the counter when Tao Tao, covered in grass and leaves and carrying the cat, walked in. “Where’s Master Zhuang?”
Luo Hou pointed to the secret passage behind him. “She’s been waiting for you for a while. The Dream-Guiding Butterfly consumes a lot of Spiritual Power, so finish up quickly and leave. Don’t let her get too tired.”
Tao Tao descended the stairs. In the central hall, only a dim lamp was lit. Tingting and the others sat in a circle, eyes closed, legs crossed. With each breath, a faint white light emanated from around their bodies, with Tingting’s glow being the brightest.
According to Luo Hou, she was the most talented among the children and would likely condense her first spiritual veins within two years at most.
To the left of the hall was the archives room, which stored all the exorcism reports of Spirit Masters in the Jiangnan region, along with some internal documents of the Chaotic Tomb. It was rarely entered by anyone.
The room was about fifty square meters, with several large bookshelves crammed full of materials. Having been left unattended for a long time, everything was covered in dust. Zhuang Xiaomeng sat at a desk in the innermost part of the room. She hadn’t turned on the lights, making the cramped space appear quite dim. On the table in front of her, a circle of white candles was lit, with two white butterflies fluttering around the candle flames.
Zhuang Xiaomeng wore a low-cut, seductive black dress, propping her chin up boredly, looking as though she had been waiting for Tao Tao for quite some time.
Tao Tao placed the cat on the table. “Sorry, catching the cat took a while. This is the one.”
Zhuang Xiaomeng yawned, took a black cloth strip from the table, and tied it over her eyes. “The effect of Dream-Guiding Butterflies varies depending on the creature. Viewing a human’s memories only takes a few minutes, but examining an animal’s memories is more complicated. You might have to wait a bit.”
Tao Tao sat down opposite her. “Just do what you need to do; don’t mind me. I’ll wait.”
Zhuang Xiaomeng took the cat.
At first, the black cat struggled, trying to escape, but when Zhuang Xiaomeng’s hand rested on it, it suddenly froze as if entranced. Zhuang Xiaomeng placed her hand on the cat’s head and began chanting an incantation. The white butterflies abandoned the candle flames and flew to rest on the cloth covering her eyes.
In the dimly lit room, the scene looked somewhat eerie.
Lin Quan casually picked up a book and leaned against a bookshelf, reading by the faint candlelight.
Tao Tao watched Zhuang Xiaomeng. As she chanted, two spiritual veins emerged behind her, surrounded by a faint green glow.
Among Spirit Masters, a small portion are born with elemental powers that differ from ordinary people.
When ordinary Spirit Masters use Spiritual Power, a white light emanates around them, while those with special attributes emit a unique colored glow corresponding to their elemental abilities.
Clearly, Zhuang Xiaomeng was a Two-Pillar Wood attribute Spirit Master.
Zhuang Xiaomeng came from a well-known Spirit Medium family. Compared to other Spirit Masters, Spirit Mediums generally have weaker physical constitutions and lower combat effectiveness against evil spirits, but most possess skills that can assist other Spirit Masters.
The Zhuang family is renowned in the Spiritualist Realm for their special ability, the Nightmare Demon, which grants them the power to create illusions and manipulate dreams. This ability is highly effective at suppressing both evil spirits and other Spirit Masters.
Zhuang Xiaomeng’s special ability was not the Zhuang family’s Nightmare Demon but a variant—Dream-Guiding Butterflies.
With the power of the Dream-Guiding Butterflies, she could view the memories of sleeping creatures—an exceptionally rare ability. However, the Zhuang family did not see it that way.
Tao Tao had once heard Li Sanjiu explain that the Zhuang family worshipped nightmares, believing that only clan members with the Nightmare Demon ability possessed pure bloodlines. Variants like Zhuang Xiaomeng were considered lower-class within the family.
The Zhuang family rarely ventured into the world and did not engage extensively with Spirit Masters outside their clan. Thus, in their eyes, Zhuang Xiaomeng, who had joined the Chaotic Tomb, was no longer considered a member of the Zhuang family.
Tao Tao lowered her head, clenching and unclenching her fingers. The undeniable sense of weakness within her surged once again.
Originally, she was simply unable to use Spiritual Power, but her spirit-hiding body was inherently different from others. She could see and touch evil spirits, and with Tao Yao, she could engage in hand-to-hand combat without falling behind when facing low-level evil spirits.
But now? Her body was deteriorating day by day, and fighting evil spirits had become exhausting. She could no longer ignore it.
In this state, she wasn’t confident she could handle the Chengho Medical College incident alone, let alone investigate Li Sanjiu’s death. Perhaps she was simply unsuited for this line of work.
Lin Quan closed the book. “Tao Tao, my offer from that day still stands. If you wish, I can try to plant a spiritual vein for you.”
“Thank you,” Tao Tao declined his unreliable proposal. “I’d have better luck dreaming of one.”
Tao Tao then turned her gaze to Zhuang Xiaomeng. After an unknown length of time, Zhuang Xiaomeng’s body began to tremble violently, as if seized by epilepsy.
Tao Tao quickly stood up. “Master Zhuang?”
The butterfly fluttered its snow-white wings rapidly as Zhuang Xiaomeng spoke:
“I see a can of food, two sausages, a golden Spiritual Power cat-catching net, and a person lying in the grass…”
Zhuang Xiaomeng was viewing the memories through the cat’s perspective and emotions, hence the shift to “I” in her narration. But Tao Tao understood that these were all scenes witnessed by the black cat.
Tao Tao said, “That’s when I caught it earlier. Its memories are playing in reverse. Look further ahead.”
“Stretching exercises, chest-expanding exercises, jumping exercises… I’m flying in the air, facing a bad woman carrying a sword, but I can’t see her face clearly.”
Bad woman: “…That’s me. Go further back. Look for scenes related to the Anatomy Building.”
“A red flash of light, and the plants entwining the strange building suddenly withered. How strange… Why is there such heavy Evil Qi? It’s almost suffocating…” Zhuang Xiaomeng murmured. “Tao Tao, what did you encounter inside that building?”
Tao Tao recalled the red light that had saved her life earlier and frowned. “Evil Qi? I thought that was a Spiritual Artifact left by the old man protecting me.”
The red light had emanated from her own body. Although she had wondered what it was, she hadn’t investigated it thoroughly at the time.
Zhuang Xiaomeng called it a powerful Evil Qi. If it was Evil Qi, why hadn’t she sensed any trace of it? She had even mistaken it for a protective artifact.
She looked back at Lin Quan, who had also been present. Lin Quan said, “I’m not sure.”
Zhuang Xiaomeng continued: “A group of students entered the building. The woman with the sword stood at the entrance…”
“On holiday, fewer students were on campus. A man walked along the path outside the strange building. I passed by him. The man chased after me, saying he wanted to give me to his girlfriend…”
“I was terrified. I ran to the front of the strange building. The man followed. He was about to catch me when the plants on the building suddenly attacked him… They coiled around him, vines slipping into his clothes and tightening around his neck. Just as they were about to kill him, an oily brown hand reached out from behind the door… The hand pulled the man into the strange building.”
“The man came out. The plants didn’t attack him again. I stood in the grass by the roadside. This time, he didn’t try to catch me…”
Zhuang Xiaomeng’s convulsing body gradually calmed. The two butterflies landed on the table, their fluttering wings slowly stilling before soon losing all vitality.
She removed the cloth from her eyes. “I saw these scenes from the cat’s memories. Before that night, someone really did enter the Anatomy Building.”
Tao Tao asked, “Could you see what he looked like?”
“No, the Dream-Inducing Butterfly can only show me vague images. I can’t see the specific details clearly unless the Six Paths Heart Mirror is present. Then I could project the images onto the mirror, not only seeing them clearly but also allowing you to see them as well.”
“I recall the Six Paths Heart Mirror is a Spiritual Artifact of the Chaotic Tomb. Where is it now?”
“I heard it’s in your junior brother’s possession. Borrowing it now would likely be too late.”
Tao Tao said, “No need. We just need to ask Xue Rong who first proposed this ghost building exploration and who strongly pushed for it. That will tell us who that person is.”
Lin Quan said, “What I’m more curious about is why the Ghost-Eating Vine actively attacked him outside the building? After all, this plant only consumes evil spirits. And why would the living corpse risk being devoured by the Ghost-Eating Vine to reach out from inside the door to grab him? Could he himself be an evil spirit? Did he enter the Anatomy Building with a premeditated plan to rescue his companions?”
Tao Tao said, “If that’s truly the case, then this group of evil spirits possesses high intelligence. The three-star rating in my master’s Spirit Master’s Exorcism Ledger is far from sufficient to describe their level of danger.”
“Master Zhuang, what do you think?” Tao Tao sought her opinion.
Zhuang Xiaomeng’s gaze swept briefly around her, softly saying, “Luo Hou has already issued the exorcism order to you. This matter is entirely under your authority. Just remember to report back to Luo Hou.”
Tao Tao noticed her gaze and asked, “What are you looking at? Is there something on me?”
Zhuang Xiaomeng withdrew her gaze, fixing it directly upon her.
“You once told Luo Hou that your life force is draining away, correct?”
“That’s right, but does that have anything to do with what we’re discussing today?”
“Black cats are spiritual and can see ghosts. When I examined its memories, I saw a ghost.” Zhuang Xiaomeng lifted the white candle on the table. The faint candlelight barely illuminated the entire room as she scanned every corner. “A figure in black robes, wielding a blood-red curved blade—it’s attached to you, Tao Tao. Have you truly never noticed it?”
Lin Quan, leaning against the bookshelf behind Tao Tao, looked up upon hearing this.