Chapter 28 Part 2

Lu Dongqing nodded, placing the log on the table. He then took Wu Yinyu’s hand, solemnly saying, “Yinyu, I must trouble you again this time.”

Wu Yinyu forced a slight smile. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. Roughly speaking, the disappearance of Lu Yiqi and the others was somewhat connected to her. How could she feel at ease?

She simply said, “Why trouble me? This Spirit Invocation still relies on you. I’m just here to assist and observe.”

“Thank you for coming.” Lu Dongqing sighed, patting the back of Wu Yinyu’s hand. “Tonight, there will surely be a result. When the time comes, Sansheng’s soul can return, and Lu Yiqi and Feng Qingshuang… they can all go home too.”

Wu Yinyu thought Lu Dongqing was being utterly unrealistic. Her premonitions had never been wrong. Things couldn’t be that simple.

“Let’s begin, Elder Lu,” she said.

At the appointed hour, yellow paper flew everywhere in the courtyard.

It was only when Wu Yinyu saw Lu Beicheng walking over blindfolded that she realized it wasn’t Lu Dongqing performing the “Spirit Invocation.”

She wondered how Lu Beicheng had managed to persuade Lu Dongqing.

The reason Lu Beicheng was blindfolded wasn’t because his eyes hadn’t healed, but because the ritual demanded it.

Two Chanters supported him from the sides; both were from the Lu family, their expressions deeply uneasy.

According to ancient texts, the Five Gates’ Fate Altering Spirit Writing could summon gods and spirits. However, from the earliest records, what the Five Gates could “invite” were only ghosts and evil entities—never any gods or immortals. This was precisely why the method had been abandoned.

Sometimes, Wu Yinyu even doubted if gods truly existed in this world. But if that were the case, it seemed impossible to explain the White Jade Capital in her dreams.

Lu Beicheng was guided to step over the red thread and firmly grasped the planchette pen resting on the fine red sand.

The two Chanters released him and each stood to one side. Lu Dongqing personally opened the spirit writing log.

Wu Yinyu didn’t need to do much yet—just sit beside Lu Beicheng, watch him move the pen, and be ready to intervene at any moment to suppress any ghosts or monsters that appeared.

Lu Beicheng murmured under his breath. Throughout the entire Lu Residence, no one else made a sound.

The surrounding candles suddenly flickered erratically, and yellow paper on the ground was lifted by the wind.

Seeing this, Lu Dongqing hurriedly burned a piece of Lu Sansheng’s clothing. The flames instantly licked up the corners of the garment, as if oil had been added, burning incredibly fast.

Wu Yinyu watched Lu Beicheng unblinkingly, sensing a sinister, evil aura approaching.

Then, Lu Beicheng’s chest shuddered, as if something had pierced through him.

It had arrived.

Lu Beicheng began trembling as if having a seizure, his entire body shaking uncontrollably. The planchette pen in his hand moved accordingly, scraping strange patterns into the fine red sand.

Every pattern drawn by the pen in the sand tray had a specific meaning, all interpretable through ancient texts.

The Chanters had a difficult role, too. They had to know all the interpretations by heart, chanting the meaning indicated by the pen stroke by stroke, one person per line.

Thus, the Chanters only needed to stare at the sand tray, not paying much attention to Lu Beicheng. But as it happened… the planchette pen in Lu Beicheng’s hand didn’t draw patterns they could chant.

The strokes in the sand were extremely sharp and wildly chaotic.

When Lu Beicheng moved the planchette pen, sand was even flung outside the table.

Bad, very bad.

Lu Dongqing watched uneasily. His second grandson’s eyes were bleeding again, staining the white blindfold red.

Wu Yinyu still didn’t move, holding her breath and watching intently. She sensed something strange about the evil entity possessing Lu Beicheng.

It seemed to be just a wisp of a soul, a strand of Divine Sense, so thin it couldn’t even manifest a form. When this thing possessed Lu Beicheng, if not for the Yin Wind it brought and the shudder of Lu Beicheng’s chest, she wouldn’t have seen it at all.

Finally, the Chanter spoke. What he recited was: “It is as far as the sky’s edge, yet right before your eyes. Where the lake and marsh lean against a peculiar pine, magic battles sweep the dark vault of heaven.”

As soon as the words fell, Lu Beicheng shook even more violently. His cheeks suddenly bulged, and blood seeped from the corner of his lips.

Wu Yinyu’s heart tightened. She quickly left her seat, grabbed her qipao hem, and yanked the red string encircling the ground, intending to wrap it around Lu Beicheng.

But before she could act, she heard a bell toll.

Yes, a bell toll.

Like the sound of a bell in a temple, deep and resonant, solemn and distant.

In her dream, such a bell toll had also sounded. At that time, she had walked to a place filled with pagoda finials and heard the toll emanate from within a towering Buddha statue.

Vaguely, everything seemed connected. Her dream was indeed not unfounded.

The bell toll, the Devil Buddha…

Those ferocious, disheveled Buddha figures she had drawn—could they truly exist?

She had been condemned in her dream, precisely for harming some Buddha in the Little Enlightenment Ruins.

Wu Yinyu swept her gaze around, passing over Yu Zezhi. In those usually calm and restrained eyes, she saw a flicker of astonishment.

She wondered, could Yu Zezhi have also heard the bell?

But Wu Yinyu only paused for a moment, continuing to wrap the red string around Lu Beicheng. Then, she retrieved the blood-stained Five Emperor Coins from the brocade pouch at her waist and forced them into his bleeding mouth.

Lu Beicheng’s lips and teeth were pried open, the blood he’d been holding in his mouth gushing out, splattering the side of Wu Yinyu’s face crimson.

Wu Yinyu paid no mind. She quickly tore off Lu Beicheng’s blindfold and, using the fresh blood flowing from his mouth, drew a Curse Script on his face.

As soon as the script was drawn, Lu Beicheng trembled even more fiercely. His chest thrust forward, as if whatever was inside was about to emerge.

“Turn on the lights!” Having already written down the information the Chanter had just mentioned, Lu Dongqing shouted.

As the lights flicked on, the thirty-six candles seemed pitifully dim.

Lu Beicheng let out a piercing shriek. A stream of sinister, evil energy shot out from his thrust-out chest and darted straight toward the Lu Residence’s main building.

Wu Yinyu released her grip and chased after it fiercely, shouting, “Attend to Second Young Master Lu!”

Several people followed behind her, Yu Zezhi among them.

Although Wu Yinyu had been to the Lu Residence before, she wasn’t familiar with its layout. When she stepped into a place heavy with the scent of incense, she realized where she was: it must be the Lu Family’s Shrine Hall.

That thing was different from the Ink Qi. Ink Qi was thick and black and left ink marks behind. But this entity came and went without a trace, extremely difficult to track.

The Lu family members who had followed said from behind, “This is the Shrine Hall. How dare it come to the Shrine Hall?”

A Shrine Hall was a place that protected the family. Ordinary ghosts and monsters venturing here were seeking their own doom. After all, even if the ancestors’ Soul Spirits had departed, a Household Guardian would reside here.

Wu Yinyu wasn’t surprised. After all, she’d also discovered strange occurrences in the Wu Family Shrine.

Someone fumbled along the wall, about to turn on the light, but Wu Yinyu stopped them. “Don’t.”

Wu Yinyu activated her Yin-Yang Eye, but she still couldn’t see any evil entity, nor even the Lu Family’s Household Guardian. The sinister, evil energy had vanished with startling abruptness.

“It’s gone,” Yu Zezhi suddenly spoke.

“Turn on the lights,” Wu Yinyu said dejectedly.

The light switch clicked. The Lu family members who had followed exchanged glances. Someone asked, “Ms. Wu, did you discern anything?”

Wu Yinyu shook her head, her gaze sweeping over the Spirit Table.

Upon seeing the Spirit Tablet, it was customary to offer incense. So she approached. As she drew near, she inevitably saw the small three-legged tripod used for incense offerings.

The ash inside the tripod had been disturbed.

“The incense ash.” Wu Yinyu reached out, but before her fingers touched the tripod’s edge, a hand reached past her and pinched some of the ash inside.

Yu Zezhi rubbed her two fingers together, raised them to her nose to smell, and said with an odd expression, “It’s that scent.”

Wu Yinyu knew what Yu Zezhi meant. Frowning, she asked, “Is it that thing?”

Yu Zezhi extended her fingers to Wu Yinyu, letting the other smell from her hand.

Wu Yinyu looked at the two ash-stained fingers and leaned in without hesitation. Sure enough, she smelled the familiar odor. “It’s this exact smell.”

Initially, she had thought the Ink was one matter, and the ash-eating ghost was another. She had naturally assumed the ash-eating ghost was the woman from twenty-three years ago—that is, Yu Zezhi.

But now, Yu Zezhi also seemed unaware of the situation.

She suddenly understood. The Ink was one matter; Yu Zezhi and the woman from twenty-three years ago were another. But the ash-eating ghost was actually one and the same as the Devil Buddha in her dreams.

So the dream was real. The White Jade Capital truly existed in the world, as did the Devil Buddha.

“What riddle are Ms. Wu and Boss Yu speaking in?” the Lu family members asked.

Wu Yinyu shook her head. Thinking of the warning from the Spirit Writing, her expression turned extremely grim.

“Where the lake and marsh lean against a peculiar pine, magic battles sweep the dark vault of heaven”—wasn’t that clearly referring to the Wu Family?

But how could Lu Sansheng’s soul, and Lu Yiqi and Feng Qingshuang, possibly be at the Wu Family!

Without waiting for Lu Dongqing to find her, Wu Yinyu turned around with a terrified expression. Addressing Yu Zezhi cryptically, she said, “I have to go.”

While the others were still inspecting the Shrine Hall, Wu Yinyu lightened her footsteps and quietly slipped away. She exited through a side gate of the Lu Residence. As she closed the door, she saw Yu Zezhi following, neither too close nor too far.

Wu Yinyu paused, narrowed her eyes, and asked, “Is Boss Yu my little tail, following wherever I go?”

“Are you a demon?” Yu Zezhi retorted lightly. “Growing a tail now, are you?”

“Of course not.” Wu Yinyu opened the car door. Before she could lock it, Yu Zezhi sat down in the passenger seat.

She paused, turning her head. “I need to go back.”

“Because of that line?” Yu Zezhi asked.

“Not entirely.” Wu Yinyu started the car, looking somewhat innocent. “I’ve got something on me. I need to take shelter.”