At night, darkness completely shrouded Lin Family Village, airtight to the point where not even a single sliver of moonlight could leak through.
The entire village seemed to have been struck dumb, devoid of any sound whatsoever. Every household kept their doors and windows closed tightly to prevent even the slightest noise from leaking out. Even the animals of Lin Family Village made no sound, completely lacking the liveliness of the daytime.
It was only eight o’clock in the evening. In an ordinary village, this would be the exact time when villagers visited one another to chat about household affairs and elderly ladies gathered for square dancing. However, Lin Family Village was different from ordinary villages; they were practically two separate worlds.
Lin Shuhuai knew none of this. At this moment, he was curled up on the bed, sleeping soundly.
Black mist squeezed in through the crack in the window. It stood before Lin Shuhuai’s bed, gradually condensing into a solid entity. The dark figure was tall and slender, estimated to be two meters high.
Its body stretched longer and longer, its pitch-black face leaning close to the head of Lin Shuhuai’s bed.
The shadow tilted its head, carefully examining Lin Shuhuai’s face. Then it stuck out its tongue, gently and slowly licking Lin Shuhuai’s face. After that, it moved downward from his face, licking all the way to his collarbone.
Lin Shuhuai had been asleep initially, but his sleep was very light. Although the black mist made no sound when entering, Lin Shuhuai woke up nonetheless.
Instinct told him that there was something inside the room and that danger was approaching. However, he was merely an ordinary human. Facing such an unknown creature, he was like a lamb awaiting slaughter, completely lacking any power to resist.
Paralyzed by fear, Lin Shuhuai’s body could not move at all. He buried his head deeper inside the blanket, tightly clutching the jade pendant in his hand, striving to minimize his presence.
Right now, he only hoped that the ghost’s target was not him and that it would not attack him.
Yet whatever one fears most is bound to happen. The ghost came straight toward the head of his bed.
Lin Shuhuai could only hear his own heart beating violently, while the hand clutching the jade pendant broke out in a cold sweat.
When the ghost’s tongue licked against his cheek, goosebumps broke out all over Lin Shuhuai’s body.
What should I do? What should I do? Lin Shuhuai searched frantically in his mind for a way to break free, yet there was no solution at all.
His heart was in total panic, his eyelashes trembling slightly out of fear. The dark shadow realized at a single glance that he was awake, letting out a low chuckle.
Gurgling sounds emerged from its throat, and even more tentacles sprouted from various parts of its body, waving wildly in the air.
“You are awake.” Muffled speech emerged from its throat. The room’s ornaments were knocked over onto the floor by the tentacles, producing loud crashing sounds.
Now, Lin Shuhuai had no choice but to open his eyes. The moment he opened his eyes, he witnessed this exact scene.
“Get out!” With trembling hands, Lin Shuhuai threw the cup beside his bed toward it.
The shadow stood in place, completely motionless. The cup passed directly through its body, crashing onto the floor and shattering into pieces.
Seeing Lin Shuhuai open his eyes, the shadow became even more excited, its tentacles charging toward Lin Shuhuai.
The tentacles formed a large net around Lin Shuhuai, trapping him on the bed so he could not escape.
Lin Shuhuai’s breathing grew rapid, and his body began to tremble.
When a person is at their most terrified, their mind goes blank, unable to speak a single word.
Lin Shuhuai finally experienced the meaning behind these words. His mouth opened slightly, but it felt as if something was blocking his throat, unable to make any sound at all.
Who can drive this thing away? Lin Shuhuai prayed in his heart.
The dark shadow pressed closer step by step. A tentacle struck directly toward Lin Shuhuai, going straight for his chest.
Suddenly, the jade pendant on Lin Shuhuai’s chest flashed with an orange-yellow light, illuminating the entire room.
The moment the tentacle touched this light, it immediately let out a sizzling sound, and the smell of burning appeared in the air.
“How dare you!” Pain struck the shadow. It roared in a low voice, retreating to dodge the yellow light until it gradually backed into the corner of the wall.
The tentacle that had touched the yellow light snapped off and fell to the floor, subsequently turning into a puddle of sticky black water that emitted waves of foul stench.
Fearing the yellow light, the shadow hesitated to move for a long time. This made it even angrier, leaving it to shout in fury while black tentacles flew about wildly in the air, leaving deep scratch marks on the floorboards.
Now is the time. Taking advantage of the shadow’s immobility, Lin Shuhuai hurriedly rushed toward the bedroom door, attempting to flee this house.
At this moment, he could not care about his appearance, running barefoot to the side of the door. He placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it to the right.
However, no matter how hard he tried, the doorknob would not budge.
“How is this happening? I clearly did not lock the door.” Refusing to believe in bad luck, Lin Shuhuai exerted even more effort, his face turning bright red, yet he could not exert any effective force.
“Is anyone there? Someone broke into my room! Someone come quickly!” Lin Shuhuai shouted out loud, hoping that passersby might hear his voice and come to rescue him.
“Haha, do you really think you can escape from the palm of my hand?” The shadow spoke lethargically.
The yellow light inside the room gradually faded, and the shadow began to act without restraint once more, its tentacles charging toward Lin Shuhuai.
This time, without the help of the jade pendant, Lin Shuhuai was caught by the tentacles instantly.
The tentacles wrapped around his body, lifting him up into midair.
Lin Shuhuai’s legs thrashed about while both of his hands were restrained by the tentacles, unable to exert any strength at all.
“As long as I eat you, I can restore my former power. I will start from your head, then your body, and finally your feet.” Speaking, the shadow opened a giant mouth, preparing to swallow Lin Shuhuai whole.
The tentacles tightly strangled Lin Shuhuai’s neck, tightening more and more until his face began to flush bright red.
Lin Shuhuai felt himself gradually suffocating. His vision began to darken, and the rising and falling of his chest grew weak.
Am I really going to die here? Lin Shuhuai thought, a surge of unwillingness welling up in his heart.
He had only just started university, attending the best university in A City. He was still young and had plenty of time ahead to enjoy a wonderful life. Yet all of this was going to end right now.
Just when Lin Shuhuai thought he was about to meet his end here, the feeling of suffocation suddenly vanished, and the tentacles wrapped around his body loosened.
Lin Shuhuai fell onto the floor as a result. Lowering his head and clutching his neck, he panted heavily in huge gulps, gasping desperately for air.
“Cough, cough!” He could not stop coughing.
“Trash.” A strange male voice sounded inside the room, deep and frigid. Lin Shuhuai felt that this voice was extremely familiar, yet for a moment he could not recall where he had heard it before.
His gaze moved forward, catching sight of a black hem of clothing right in front of him. Following the hem upward, a broad figure presented itself before his eyes.
Even with only a view of his back, one could tell that the man possessed an extraordinary aura. Long black hair was bound high with a hair ribbon, falling all the way to his waist. He was dressed in clothing worn by ancient people, a long black robe embroidered with golden dragon patterns.
Perhaps because the man’s aura was far too powerful, the shadow actually stood in place without moving at all.
It pressed against the wall, its body tensed up, its heart filled with wariness.
“Weakling.” The man uttered a few words softly. His tone was filled with utter contempt for the shadow, as if he had never placed the shadow in his eyes at all.
Hearing the man’s words, the shadow’s rage surged by a whole degree. It roared angrily at the man, “Roar!” Roaring in fury, its tentacles struck toward the man.
Lin Shuhuai’s pupils contracted, and he shouted toward the man in front of him, “Be careful!”
However, the man merely crossed his hands, not moving in the slightest. When the tentacles reached before his eyes, stopping half a meter away from him, they halted abruptly as if a barrier existed before his body, separating him from the shadow.
The shadow exerted force once more, yet the tentacles could not advance half a millimeter further.
The worst scenario in Lin Shuhuai’s mind did not happen, but he was still deeply worried, “Its tentacles are very powerful! You must be careful!” As he spoke, the worry on his face was completely unhidden.
The man smiled, like a spring breeze brushing across Lin Shuhuai’s heart, and answered gently, “Alright.”
Inexplicably, most of the tension in Lin Shuhuai’s heart dissipated. A feeling told him that the shadow was no match for this man.
Seeing that its tentacles could not shake the man in the slightest, the shadow employed a different move.
In an instant, ten identical shadows appeared around the man, surrounding him before rushing toward him.
“I don’t believe that your entire perimeter is covered in barriers! You must have a flaw!” The shadow shouted out loud, having unleashed its ultimate killing technique.
I must take him back, otherwise Master will be angry. Thinking of this, the shadow recalled the consequences of failure. Its tentacles began to tremble, and the gaze it directed at the man turned even more fierce.
It hid among the ten shadows, preparing to kill the man.
Be afraid! I am going to tear you into ten thousand pieces! The shadow’s thoughts turned fanatical.
However, the fear it anticipated did not appear. The man retained the same posture, adopting an even more relaxed stance.
An ill feeling instantly arose in the shadow’s heart. A sense of crisis surged straight to its brain, and it instinctively wanted to flee, but it was already too late.
“Tricks of a child.”
The man’s figure flashed, accurately grabbing the real body out of the eleven shadows. The man pinched the shadow’s neck, slammed it onto the floor, and then stepped on its chest with his foot.
“Which tentacle touched him just now?” As the man spoke, he stepped down on the shadow with even greater force.
Following his words, the shadow’s tentacles exploded one after another in midair. Black fluid scattered all over the floor, yet not a single drop splashed onto the man’s body.
The man furrowed his brows, his gaze growing colder, causing the temperature in the air to drop by several degrees instantly.
“Do not kill me! Do not kill me! Do you know who my master is? That is…” The shadow shouted out loud, its tone filled with panic.
“Boring.” The man did not care in the slightest who its master was, merely uttering two words softly. In the next second, the shadow exploded completely. A intense, foul stench drifted from its body, and the pristine white walls were covered in black fluid.
Lin Shuhuai widened his eyes, looking at the scene before him in disbelief.
“Did it escape?” Lin Shuhuai patted his own face, feeling as if everything before his eyes was a dream he was having, yet the pain on his neck told him that it was no dream.
“Dead. No one has ever been able to escape from my hands.” As the man spoke, he turned around and bent down, “Are you alright?” He extended his right hand, wanting to pull Lin Shuhuai up.
It was a broad palm with distinct knuckle joints and a thick layer of calluses on the hand. On the thumb of his right hand, he wore an emerald thumb ring.
Lin Shuhuai shook his head, “Thank you, but I can get up myself.” After speaking, he leaned against the wall and stood up.
Because he was injured, every single step he took was painful, yet Lin Shuhuai gritted his teeth and stood up anyway.
“Your face is very pale. Are you alright? Are you injured anywhere?” The man inquired, his tone brimming with concern.
Lin Shuhuai forced a smile, “I am fine. I am used to it.” He raised his head, carefully sizing up the man before him.
The man possessed a clean-cut, virtually perfect face. As he stood there, an aura of slaughter rushed toward one’s face. Infinite ice rested within his pair of phoenix eyes, showing disdain for all things in the world.
As long as this man stood here, everyone would submit to him.
He looked into Lin Shuhuai’s eyes, and their gazes collided in the air. Yet Lin Shuhuai felt a deep sense of sorrow within those eyes.
Lin Shuhuai barely maintained his balance, looking at the man who had suddenly appeared before him, and spoke, “Thank you so much for just now.”
“Mm.” The man answered faintly, and then added, “Gu Rong. My name is Gu Rong.”