Shao Lili let out a scream, and the WeChat video signal was lost.
At the same time, the weasel named Huang Dabiao grinned and started to speak.
"That old woman is crazy. She's bent on becoming an immortal!"
"Becoming an immortal?! What do you mean?!"
I was extremely astonished! The world we were in was called the "Era of Diminishing Magic" by my grandfather and my masters. In this era, not only was it difficult to become an immortal, but even to become a spirit!
I couldn't help but take a look at Huang Dabiao.
"It means exactly what it says!" The weasel wagged its head proudly. "I work with Xiaojuan. She works at the front desk, while I wander around this big compound. I've seen this old thing. She used to wander around here every day. Fortunately, she was sealed... Otherwise, if she kept sending 'evil' to this person today and that person tomorrow, she would have become a real threat!"
"Sealed? By whom?"
I was even more astonished.
Judging from the appearance of the old woman in the video, it didn't seem like she died a sudden and violent death. So how did she become a land-bound spirit in this watery world? Huang Dabiao said she was sealed here, which meant someone didn't want her to enter the cycle of reincarnation. And what kind of coincidence made her target Shao Lili this time?
Thinking of this, I immediately turned to Ma Su and said, "Sister Susu, use your phone to call Shao Lili again."
Since only Ma Su's phone could get through to Shao Lili, it proved that this was the only thing that could connect to that world.
...
Ma Su didn't respond. Since she saw the old woman just now, she had been silent, seemingly a bit too calm...
So I turned my head to look at her.
"Chattering..." First, I heard the sound of her teeth chattering, and then I saw Ma Su's pale face. Her eyes were fixed on the black-screened phone, showing a complex expression of surprise and fear.
"Call her!!"
I quickly formed a mind-clearing spell with my hand and slapped it on her forehead. Only then did Ma Su come to her senses.
"We'll talk about your matter later!"
I tried my best to keep my voice steady. Now there were only Ma Su and the camera guy here. If I panicked first, not only would we fail to save Shao Lili, but the three of us might also be involved!
After all, the only thing that could connect to that world was Ma Su's phone!
My mind-clearing spell took effect on Ma Su. Although she was extremely scared, she still understood what I said. With a trembling hand, she pressed the button for the WeChat video call again.
"Beep beep beep..."
As expected, Ma Su's phone soon received a response. After a burst of "hissing" current sound, it connected with a "click".
"Hello..."
A strange voice came out.
It seemed very old... yet also very young. "Ma Su... I thought I'd never see you again. Hehe..."
Was it that old woman?!
She knew Ma Su!
"... Mrs. Sheng, h-how are you?"
Ma Su's lips were trembling uncontrollably. She forced a smile.
Mrs. Sheng?!
I never expected that this trapped soul's husband's family name was "Sheng". I didn't know many people, and most of the names slipped my mind. However, the surname "Sheng" was quite rare. The only "Sheng" I had met recently was the famous architecture expert, Mr. Sheng Shixun!
"I'm fine! Look..."
On the video, Mrs. Sheng looked kind and amiable. She smiled at Ma Su. "Isn't this the little thing you gave me?"
As she spoke, the video camera switched. It was still in the hotel, still the charred hotel lobby. Shao Lili was hanging upside down in the middle of the gorgeous crystal chandelier, struggling and wailing like a worm. "Why did you only send one? This isn't enough!"
She squinted her eyes and suddenly saw me in the camera. She immediately reached out her hand towards the screen. "This one is also good. Give her to me!! Send her over!!"
Mrs. Sheng spread out her fingers, and what appeared on the screen were actually bony fingers. Ma Su finally couldn't hold back her scream and dropped the phone on the ground.
But the screen was still on, and that bony hand had crawled out of the screen like a crab.
"Aaaaah!!!"
The camera guy had been filming all the time. He was very professional and was used to seeing the world through the camera lens. The shock of seeing that ghost hand crawling out of the screen was much greater for him than for us. I'm afraid he would have a psychological shadow about things in the camera for the rest of his life...
The camera guy took a panicked step back, while I had no choice but to step forward. I quickly formed an exorcism spell and slapped it hard on that bony palm!
Unexpectedly, the palm suddenly flipped over and grabbed my wrist. It let out a strange laugh. I felt a cold and burning sensation penetrate from my skin into my heart. It was as if my whole body's blood had been instantly boiled. The pain made my vision go black. Immediately afterwards, a strong smell of charred and putrid odor filled my nostrils...
I suddenly opened my eyes and found myself in the dilapidated hotel lobby.
Right in front of me, Mrs. Sheng was tightly holding my wrist. She licked her pale lips with her scarlet tongue. "I... I love young girls the most!! I haven't eaten a human in a long time... This time, I've got two at once! My hands and feet will finally be saved!!"
Only then did I notice that her hands were wrapped in a layer of yellowish and greasy skin like a mummy. Drops of blood were dripping from above our heads.
It was Shao Lili. She was hanging upside down from the ceiling. Strings of blood beads were sliding down from her wrists and just happened to drip onto Mrs. Sheng's skin. Like dry land meeting rain, the blood was instantly absorbed without a trace.
After absorbing the blood, Mrs. Sheng's skin immediately became plumper before our very eyes.
It turned out that she maintained her physical form by relying on the flesh and blood of the living.
"Little girl, you're so pretty... Grandma has a pair of shoes here. Do you want them..."
Mrs. Sheng held me with one hand and rummaged around behind her with the other. Then she took out a pair of shoes and waved them in front of me. "Take a look. Do you like them?"
The shoes were a pair of bright red embroidered wedding shoes. On the fiery red silk shoe upper, delicate stitches were densely embroidered with a pattern of mandarin ducks playing in the water. A pair of magnificent birds seemed almost alive in the rippling waves.
"..."
I was stunned for a moment. These shoes gave me a sense of familiarity.
I was a yin-yang master. I encountered more funerals than weddings. Moreover, this was a new era. Most brides preferred to wear Western-style wedding dresses, and very few people chose to wear Chinese-style wedding dresses.
I was sure that I had never seen these shoes before.
"..., don't you like them?"
Mrs. Sheng frowned slightly. If it weren't for this strange scene and her bony fingers, she would really look like an old person who loved the younger generation, troubled by the fact that the children didn't like the gifts she had chosen.
"Isn't this... what you desire in your heart?!"
She looked at me persistently and asked again, "I'm a celestial being. I can see the things that people desire most in their hearts..."