Your life was snatched from the hands of a deity.
Xue Rong stared at the corpse before her.
Its brown body was bloated and swollen, the skin soft and loose. Though the facial features remained intact, they were smeared with corpse oil dripping from its bald scalp. Countless maggot holes covered its slick, oily skin—some empty, others with larvae wriggling outward.
Ding Jie: “Oh my god! What is this?!”
The corpse suddenly appeared behind them and grabbed Xue Rong’s shoulder.
Its steps were unsteady, pushing Xue Rong against the wall. With each step, it left a damp, oily footprint on the floor.
Xue Rong screamed in terror: “Tao Tao, Tao Tao—”
She closed her eyes as the foul-smelling living corpse completely covered her body, resting its chin on her shoulder and making strange sounds from its mouth.
“Gurgle, gurgle—”
Xue Rong’s legs trembled, unable to move a single step.
The living corpse’s slippery hand stroked her neck, choking her airway. She could neither make a sound nor breathe properly.
In that moment close to death, many images flashed through her mind.
She still remembered visiting her aunt’s house before coming to explore.
At the time, her aunt was watching TV on the sofa, while her uncle was brewing tea in the kitchen. Hearing their conversation, he came out with the tea set and sat beside her.
“The Anatomy Building? Seems like just some rumors not to be taken seriously,” her uncle said casually. “How could there be ghosts in the world?”
Her aunt took a sip of tea, glanced at her husband, then turned to Xue Rong: “Rong Rong, if you’re going exploring, you must be careful.”
On the brink of death, Xue Rong thought, my uncle was wrong. Not only are there ghosts in this world, there are many.
A “gurgling” sound echoed in her ears, as if the living corpse was speaking.
It released its grip, and Xue Rong gasped for air, opening her eyes.
The corpse oil on the living corpse’s face had now rubbed off onto her. Xue Rong saw a pair of gray, deathly pale eyes. For some reason, that gaze felt familiar.
Through its eyes, Xue Rong could see her own reflection now.
Fearful and desperate, almost scared out of her wits.
—Bang.
The sound of wood shattering echoed from the end of the corridor. The wooden door at the far end had been broken open, and Tao Tao, drenched from head to toe, rushed out holding Tao Yao.
Upon seeing Tao Tao, the living corpse released Xue Rong and instead twisted its soft, decaying body, charging madly toward Tao Tao.
Tao Tao pushed off the corridor wall for momentum, then leaped into the air, raising the Peachwood Sword and bringing it down squarely on the living corpse’s head.
The wooden sword had no blade, yet upon contact with the corpse, it cleanly split it in two vertically. Instantly, corpse oil churned and bodily fluids gushed out, splattering all over Tao Tao’s face.
She wiped the filth from her face and shouted to Xue Rong: “Run!”
Xue Rong and Ding Jie were too terrified to move, leaning against the wall for a long time but unable to stand. Tao Tao had no choice but to sheath the Peachwood Sword on her back, grab one in each hand, and sprint downstairs.
Stumbling along behind her, Xue Rong still managed to explain: “I swear I didn’t leave the circle you drew, not even a single strand of hair! I don’t know why it suddenly appeared and attacked me!”
“I know,” Tao Tao said calmly. “That circle had no Spiritual Power. I just drew it casually to reassure you.”
Xue Rong: “…”
“You can just draw something like that casually? This is a haunted building—people can die here, sis! Don’t forget I’m your employer! If I die, you won’t get a single cent!!”
Whether Tao Tao was feeling guilty or simply exhausted from dragging two people along, she surprisingly didn’t retort.
Ding Jie, with her sharp ears, heard thumping sounds from behind and cried out in terror, “Someone’s chasing us! More than one!”
Tao Tao said, “Those aren’t people.”
Xue Rong asked, “Can’t you slash them like you did earlier?”
“Do you think it’s that easy?” Tao Tao dragged them to the third-floor corridor and stopped outside a classroom. “Damn it, I don’t know what kind of evil spirits these are—they appear and vanish unpredictably. No matter how many pieces I slash them into, they can reassemble themselves, and each time they come back stronger. We have to find a way out immediately, or once my stamina runs out, we’ll all die here together.”
“Does Spirit Paper not work on them either? Your master is a Taoist priest, and priests know how to draw spell talismans, right? Like in the movies starring Lam Ching-ying.”
Tao Tao remained silent. Xue Rong tentatively asked, “You… can’t actually draw them, can you?”
Tao Tao knew how to draw spell talismans, and her drawings were more precise and beautiful than those of most Spirit Masters in the world. However, the talismans she drew, much like the circles she sketched, lacked Spiritual Power and couldn’t suppress evil spirits. Before descending the mountain, she had taken all usable items from Li Sanjiu’s room, but he was usually too lazy to draw talismans unless absolutely necessary. She had only found one usable talisman, which she had given to the taxi driver earlier.
Tao Tao shot her a sidelong glance. Xue Rong realized she had probably guessed correctly and that continuing down this line of questioning wasn’t wise. She looked around and asked, “Where’s Lin Quan? Why didn’t he come out with you?”
Tao Tao said, “I threw him into the corpse pool.”
Xue Rong: “…Why? Are you insane?”
Tao Tao was covered in corpse oil and mucus, mixed with the pungent smell of formaldehyde. Only then did Xue Rong react: “Wait, could there be formaldehyde in the pool? Did you fall in too? Are you hurt? Is it serious?”
“You really ask a lot of questions.” Tao Tao grew impatient again. She coughed a few times, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
“Let me see.” Xue Rong pried open her mouth. “Did you inhale formaldehyde? Oh my god, there’s still formaldehyde residue from twenty years ago in the corpse pool? That stuff burns the oral mucosa, but you probably didn’t inhale too much. You should go to the hospital to get checked—I’ll go with you.”
“Save it, little doctor.” Tao Tao licked the blood from the corner of her mouth. “If we manage to survive and get out of here, I’ll play doctor-patient make-believe with you.”
The living corpses drew closer, their footsteps growing more urgent.
Seeing Tao Tao holding her Peachwood Sword, shielding them behind her while staring warily in the direction of the sounds, Xue Rong understood the situation must be dire.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.
Tao Tao swallowed the blood in her mouth and coughed again.
Xue Rong said, “You shouldn’t swallow it—you need to spit the blood out. If you swallow it, you’ll ingest the formaldehyde from your mouth, and it’ll be even worse once it reaches your stomach.”
Tao Tao waved her hand dismissively without speaking. Only when the metallic taste in her mouth faded slightly did she speak again: “Little doctor, in a moment, I’m going to cross this door to hold off those corpses…”
Xue Rong followed the direction of her sword tip and realized they were standing outside the very same third-floor room they had been in earlier.
“…Now the area behind this door is covered in ghost-devouring vines. When the crow’s claw peach wood on the door is removed, the ghost-devouring vines will emerge. Although I haven’t found a way to restrain the corpses, the ghost-devouring vines can. So what the two of you need to do is—”
Tao Tao handed the wooden sword to Xue Rong: “—When I say ‘open the door,’ remove the crow’s claw peach wood, then take Tao Yao and quickly go down the other staircase. The living corpses’ attention will be on me, so the ghost wall will definitely disappear. The Evil Qi on you isn’t too strong yet, and with Tao Yao’s protection, if you’re clever enough, you have a thirty percent chance of escaping alive through the main entrance.”
Xue Rong: “What about you? If you give me the weapon, what will you do? Wouldn’t it be better if you opened the door and escaped with us?”
“I’m bleeding.”
Seeing that Xue Rong didn’t understand, Tao Tao asked calmly, “Life is fleeting, nothing more than that. Is life and death really that important?”
“I… I don’t understand what you mean…”
Xue Rong looked at Tao Tao and was instantly drawn into her beautiful eyes. They were like a dusting of snow on the tip of a green pine atop a high mountain, no longer filled with irritation and impatience, but brimming with freedom and clarity, along with a hint of weariness.
What was she weary of? Xue Rong didn’t understand. Could it be that she was weary of living?
Tao Tao, like a prematurely aged adult, gently patted her head—a rare gesture of tenderness. “Saving you is for my master’s dying wish. If he were here, he wouldn’t bear to see you die here. Besides, you paid me half the spirit as compensation, so protecting you is only right. Before coming in, I was prepared not to make it out. This is my fate—don’t dwell on it. Sometimes, death isn’t necessarily more frightening than living.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the living corpses descended the stairs—six in total, rushing toward them in a bizarre posture.
Tao Tao stepped past the door and walked toward them.
Her coughing grew worse, but this time she didn’t swallow the blood; she spat it on the ground.
The moment the blood hit the floor, the six living corpses went wild, twisting their swollen bodies covered in corpse oil as they charged at Tao Tao. Meanwhile, the ghost-devouring vines behind the door began slamming against it—once, twice, again—with such force that the door nearly shattered.
Tao Tao snapped one living corpse’s neck and kicked another away, then turned and shouted, “Open the door! Run—”
Xue Rong and Ding Jie quickly removed the crow’s claw peach wood barring the door. The next second, a tremendous impact burst through the door.
Immediately after, green vines surged out like waves. They paid no attention to Xue Rong and Ding Jie, rushing instead toward Tao Tao and the living corpses.
Slender vines pierced through the chests of the living corpses, sprouting more vines until, in moments, they had sucked all the corpse oil from their bodies, leaving the corpses instantly deflated.
At the same time, thick vines coiled around Tao Tao, layering and intertwining to form a massive green cocoon, enveloping her inside.
Xue Rong ran to the staircase at the end of the corridor and abruptly stopped, turning back to look at the green cocoon.
Ding Jie: “What are you doing? Hurry up and run!”
“No, we can’t leave her behind!”
“Even if you could save her, what could you do? Going back would only hold her back.”
Xue Rong gritted her teeth. A vague feeling told her that if Tao Tao died, she and Ding Jie would never escape this haunted building. She didn’t want to face unknown horrors again.
In comparison, although Tao Tao could be sharp-tongued, having her nearby brought a sense of security.
“We have to at least try!” She thrust the crow-pointed peach wood into Ding Jie’s hands. “Tao Tao said this can also suppress the ghost-devouring vine. You go first, I’ll go back to find her. We’ll meet on the first floor.”
Ding Jie looked utterly incredulous: “Xue Rong, you’re truly insane…”
Xue Rong ran back, stopping before the green cocoon. She raised Tao Yao and hacked at it.
Thin tendrils of the ghost-devouring vine lashed toward her, but she fended them off by swinging Tao Yao. She used every ounce of her strength to slash at the vines, yet the ghost-devouring vine proved far more resilient than she had imagined.
After countless strikes, the surface of the green cocoon remained as solid as ever.
“Tao Tao, are you still alive? Answer me!”
There was no response. Just as Xue Rong was nearing despair, a clean, unblemished hand reached out from behind the green cocoon.
Lin Quan emerged from the ghost-devouring vine’s entanglement, yet he was not attacked. He was drenched, his dark, wet hair clinging to his temples, the pungent smell of formaldehyde clinging to him so strongly it was almost suffocating.
He said softly, “Give me Tao Yao.”
Xue Rong had no time to wonder why the ghost-devouring vine didn’t attack him. She quickly handed Tao Yao over.
Lin Quan held the sword upright, his pale thumb pressing against the hilt. His gaze was cool and profound, so dark it seemed bottomless.
Tao Yao was three feet and three inches long. In Tao Tao’s hands, it was just an ordinary wooden color, but in Lin Quan’s grasp, a faint white light shimmered around its surface. He reversed his grip and thrust Tao Yao into the green cocoon formed by the ghost-devouring vine’s branches and leaves. Immediately, Xue Rong heard the most terrifying sound of the night—this bizarre plant actually emitted a cry resembling that of a wailing infant.
—Piercing, mournful, and resentful, each cry sharply stabbed at her nerves, like the shrieks of vengeful spirits from the depths of hell.
Lin Quan twisted Tao Yao, and the ghost-devouring vine recoiled as if scorched by Fire. The vines wrapped around the cocoon thinned to a mere layer, and the cocoon became translucent.
Through that thin membrane, Xue Rong saw Tao Tao curled up inside, her arms wrapped around her knees, in a fetal position.
Lin Quan’s steady voice carried a barely detectable hint of anger: “Your life was snatched from the hands of a deity. Are you going to discard it so easily here?”
He peeled open the cocoon: “Come out, Tao Tao.”
Author’s Note:
There’s another update coming later. I’m awesome!