The Evil God’s bride was famously a useless beauty.
Xue Rong discovered that this girl named Tao Tao had a dual personality.
—When she was sleepy, she was very cool and spoke very little. When she was awake, although still cool, her words carried a high level of sarcastic skill.
For example, as they were walking along the corridor, a mouse suddenly darted out from behind a discarded wooden board, startling Ding Jie into a reflexive scream.
After screaming, she immediately regretted it and asked guiltily, “Should I not have screamed?”
Tao Tao quickly said, “How could that be? I actually thought the scream was too soft. Your voice could only penetrate the walls on this floor; the ghosts upstairs and downstairs couldn’t hear it. Next time, remember to open your throat and scream loudly, so the evil spirits within a ten-mile radius can hear. They’ll follow the sound here, and then we can gather our strength to wipe them out and protect the world, right?”
Ding Jie: “…”
Another example: as they walked, Xue Rong wanted to use the restroom and asked for Tao Tao’s opinion.
Tao Tao readily agreed: “Of course you can. Why even ask me about something like this? It’s 3:30 a.m. now; the ghosts in the building are probably fast asleep in their beds at home. When you go, you should try to find their graves and aim to pee on them, drowning them all. That way, we can swagger right out the front door without having to fight.”
After she finished speaking, Xue Rong’s urge to pee vanished.
Yet another example: Xue Rong noticed Ding Jie trembling nonstop and tentatively asked Tao Tao if they could rest for a bit before continuing.
Tao Tao immediately said: “Sure, let me check the map. Oh, there’s a formaldehyde pool on the fourth floor. When people are tired, resting in water helps recover stamina faster. For you medical students, soaking in formaldehyde should feel as natural as fish returning to water, right? When we get to the pool to rest, I’ll take photos to commemorate it. After all, not everyone gets the chance to soak in a haunted building. Your classmates will definitely envy you when you go back—oh wait, will you even make it back alive?”
At that, the two girls fell completely silent and stopped speaking.
The world was quiet, the haunted building was silent, and the only sound was Tao Tao kicking door after door.
She didn’t seem afraid of ghosts at all, never considering what might happen if there really was a ghost behind a door before kicking it.
When she kicked the first door, Xue Rong and Ding Jie were terrified. But after she kicked many more, the two had become numb.
Xue Rong had heard before that ghosts feared wicked people. The girl before her didn’t look particularly aggressive, but Xue Rong felt she was not to be trifled with.
Even without knowing what special abilities allowed her to act so arrogantly in such a place, walking beside her gave Xue Rong an inexplicable sense of safety.
—Not only did she herself dare not provoke Tao Tao, but she felt those things didn’t dare either. Otherwise, after Tao Tao kicked every door on the entire third floor in one go, no evil spirits had come out to punish her.
Tao Tao stood before the last door on the third floor and paused her kicking motion.
Seeing her stop, Xue Rong’s heart rose to her throat: “Could it be that behind this door…”
But Tao Tao simply bent down to rub her leg.
“Excessive exercise causes lactic acid buildup. You just broke through the wooden board outside the window and kicked over a dozen doors in one go. Soreness is normal; resting a bit will help.”
Tao Tao stared at her leg for a moment, lost in thought: “You’re studying medicine. Can a person’s body suddenly become weak?”
“Yes, it does,” Xue Rong said. “Illness strikes like a mountain collapsing. If you don’t take care of your health, even young people can die suddenly, let alone when they’re old.”
Tao Tao didn’t respond. She stood up and kicked open the door panel, sending a cloud of choking dust billowing toward them. The two girls behind her couldn’t help but cover their mouths and cough.
Tao Tao shone her flashlight forward, revealing a row of fresh footprints on the dusty floor tiles. At the same time, she heard a faint rustling sound from inside the room.
—Something had rolled off a shelf.
Without hesitation, Tao Tao immediately flung the Peachwood Sword in her hand. The wooden sword cut through the air, passed through the gaps between the bookshelves, and with a sharp thud, embedded itself firmly into the wall.
A clear sigh echoed, followed by a man’s voice: “Truly merciless.”
Tao Tao entered the room and saw Lin Quan, whom she had parted from just a few hours earlier, emerge from behind the bookshelf, holding her Peachwood Sword. He handed it over: “You almost pinned me to the wall along with it.”
Tao Tao didn’t take it, instead scrutinizing him suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”
“What, only you’re allowed to come?” Lin Quan chuckled. “I’m a Spirit Master from the Chaotic Tomb. Can’t I come take a look at the haunted Anatomy Building often mentioned in the beginner Spirit Master textbooks?”
Tao Tao remained skeptical. “But on the bus, you said you were here to visit a friend.”
“What else was I supposed to say? Tell the driver in front of everyone that I was actually here to explore a haunted building? That wouldn’t do.” Lin Quan’s demeanor was impeccable. He brushed the dust off his clothes and smiled at Tao Tao. “The situation here is a bit complicated. If you don’t mind, let’s work together.”
Xue Rong chimed in, “Tao Tao charges spiritual power as payment for saving people. You’ll have to give her half of yours.”
“Tao Tao, Tao Tao…” Lin Quan repeated her name, then asked gently, “You wouldn’t happen to be Ying Tao Tao, would you? The rumored bride of the Evil God from the Chaotic Tomb.”
Tao Tao’s icy gaze swept over Xue Rong, sending a chill down her spine. Xue Rong wondered what she had said wrong—why did Tao Tao look as if she wanted to devour her?
Lin Quan’s thoughtful gaze lingered on Tao Tao. “The Chaotic Tomb strictly forbids charging mortals spiritual power as payment for exorcisms. You’ve broken the rules.”
“I don’t need you to remind me,” Tao Tao retorted, taking the Peachwood Sword he offered and threatening, “Keep your mouth shut. If word of this gets out, I guarantee you’ll be in big trouble.”
Facing her threat, Lin Quan smiled. “I’m willing to keep Tao Tao’s secret.”
…
Tao Tao stood at the stairwell on the third floor, using the tip of her Peachwood Sword to sketch a simple layout of the entire building in the dust on the floor.
“Where did you enter from?”
“The main entrance.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago. The beginner Spirit Master textbook records that the Anatomy Building of Chengho Medical College suppresses an indescribable evil spirit. I didn’t sense any Evil Qi on the first or second floors. I was just about to check the third floor when I ran into you.”
Tao Tao extended her hand. “Give me your Spirit Master’s Exorcism Ledger.”
Lin Quan pulled a notebook from his bag and handed it to her.
“It’s wet?”
“I was looking for the way around the school earlier, and my bag accidentally fell into the lake.”
Tao Tao flipped open the first page of his Exorcism Ledger to check his information.
It read: Lin Quan, twenty-seven years old, spiritual power awakened at age twenty, currently possesses one Attribute-less Spirit Vein.
Tao Tao waved the ledger. “You dare come here to die with just one spirit vein? Didn’t the beginner Spirit Master textbook tell you that the danger level of Chengho Medical College’s Anatomy Building is three stars?”
Lin Quan said calmly, “I heard the Evil God’s bride is the famously useless beauty of the Chaotic Tomb. Her Spiritual Power awakened at birth, yet to this day, she hasn’t cultivated a single spiritual vein.”
Tao Tao’s pretty face frosted over. “I’m not like you.”
Xue Rong, observing the tension, quickly stepped between them to mediate. “We should still try to find Wu Liang. Even if we can’t find him, we need to look for an exit. Tao Tao, as your employer, I—”
Tao Tao glanced at her. “Ordering me?”
“No, no…” Xue Rong shook her head like a rattle-drum. “I’m requesting you. Let’s stop arguing and focus on the task.”
Tao Tao felt irritable. Her intuition told her this Lin Quan was strange.
On a foggy night when Water Ghosts devoured people, right after she’d had that dream, he emerged from the mist. He persistently shared the same destination as her. Although he produced items proving his identity as a Spirit Master, and she couldn’t sense any Evil Qi from him, something still felt off.
This feeling of obvious suspicion without proof was utterly frustrating. Even worse, Tao Tao vaguely sensed a familiar aura about Lin Quan. Her life had been simple; she could count the people she’d been close to since childhood on one hand, yet none matched his presence.
She truly couldn’t remember ever meeting him before.
Shaking her head to clear the distracting thoughts, she began planning their next steps.
Tao Tao pressed her sword tip against the floor plan she’d drawn:
“This building has four floors. That couple separated from you on the first floor. Since their goal was to leave, they would have inevitably encountered the man-eating vines at the entrance. By now, they’re either dead from the vines or have returned inside. When I entered, I didn’t smell human blood on the vines, so they’re probably alive.”
“Normal people, finding their path blocked, would turn back to seek help from their companions. But they didn’t. So—” She circled the first floor with her sword tip. “Something on the first floor must have stopped them, preventing contact with you. Therefore, I assume there’s a ghost on the first floor.”
“Xue Rong mentioned earlier that Wang Peng disappeared on the second floor, and those who went to search for him never returned to the third floor. So, I assume there’s also a ghost on the second floor.”
Ding Jie said, “But Lin Quan said he didn’t detect any Evil Qi downstairs.”
Tao Tao replied, “He relies on feeling; I rely on deduction. If you trust him, go with him.”
Ding Jie stole a glance at Lin Quan. The man was handsome and gentle, showing no anger at Tao Tao’s sarcasm. He leaned elegantly against the wall, watching Tao Tao with a detached calmness in his eyes, as if aloof from worldly affairs. This faint aura shrouded him in a hazy mist, making him hard to read.
Compared to Lin Quan, whose background was unclear and who had appeared so suddenly, she found Tao Tao more reliable.
Tao Tao continued, “The third floor needs no assumption—there’s definitely a ghost here. Even though we didn’t find it earlier, most evil spirits can conceal themselves. It might be hiding somewhere we can’t see.”
“Based on the above, I believe there are currently two paths we can try. One is to go down through the main entrance to search for your missing friends. The advantage is that you’ve already walked through those classrooms and hallways, so you’re familiar with the layout and the placement of objects. You won’t be scared into screaming by strange things, like skeletal specimens. The downside is that we’ll have to face the ghosts on the first floor, the ghosts on the second floor, and I’m not confident I can break through the ghost wall on the stairs.”
“The other path is to go up. The advantage is the unknown—maybe there are no ghosts on the fourth floor, and your friends are there. The downside is also the unknown—maybe there are even more ghosts on the fourth floor.”
“I hate thinking the most. Which way do you want to go? Hurry up and give your opinion.” Tao Tao asked, puzzled, “Why aren’t you saying anything? Have you all gone mute?”
Ding Jie: “I’ll follow your lead.”
Xue Rong: “You decide.”
Lin Quan curved his lips into a smile: “I probably don’t have the right to speak, do I?”
Tao Tao was very satisfied with his self-awareness. She thrust Tao Yao behind her back: “Then let’s go to the fourth floor. I like the unknown.”