Feng Chengyuan took a step forward and tentatively pushed open the door. The next moment, a thick smell of blood assailed them, and a dark shadow swooped down from above, heading straight for Feng Chengyuan.
Yu Nian's brows twitched. She quickly grabbed Feng Chengyuan and pulled him aside, then kicked the falling object away.
With a loud "bang", an iron bucket crashed to the ground. The unknown liquid inside splashed everywhere, staining the originally clean carpet an eerie dark red.
Yu Nian's face darkened. "It's black dog blood," she said calmly.
She looked around. The room was pitch - black, with no lights on. The coat Yu Nian had put on Song Xiyin was carelessly discarded on the floor. Under the moonlight, there were faint dragging marks on the floor.
"The situation is more serious than I thought. Qin Hao must have been possessed again, and he tied up Xiyin and the others."
Yu Nian took out her phone and dialed Song Xiyin's number. The house fell silent for a moment, but then a faint ringing sound came from the attic on the top floor.
Feng Chengyuan and Yu Nian exchanged a look and then slowed their steps as they made their way up to the top floor.
The corridor was so dark that they could see nothing. Feng Chengyuan walked in front to pave the way for Yu Nian, but when they turned to the end of the stairs, he suddenly stopped.
Two dilapidated paper figures, about half the height of a person, stood there quietly, staring at them as if they had been waiting for a long time. Their mouths were eerily curled up.
One was a male and the other a female paper figure. They were dressed in old - fashioned Chinese gowns. Their pale faces were dotted with two patches of very dark blush. Their round, jet - black eyes stared unblinkingly at Yu Nian and Feng Chengyuan. As they swayed in the wind, they seemed to come to life.
Yu Nian sized up the two paper figures in front of her and whispered to Feng Chengyuan, "When painting paper figures, one should not add pupils; when making paper horses, one should not make their manes flutter. Once paper figures are painted with eyes, they will acquire the aura of humans and are likely to become animate. Just like these two in front of us. They are blocking our way here, so they must have a demand."
A gentle breeze blew in through the side window. The two paper figures slowly raised their hands, making a begging gesture.
Yu Nian took out two pieces of yellow paper from her pocket, deftly folded them into the shape of ingots, and placed them steadily in the hands of the two paper figures.
Sure enough, after receiving the ingots, the paper figures slowly bowed, then moved to one side, clearing the way, and resumed their silent stance.
The two of them walked to the attic on the top floor. They could feel the smell of incense ash getting stronger. Yu Nian tried to push the door twice. As expected, it was locked.
Feng Chengyuan took a step back, then kicked the door open with a powerful swing of his long leg.
By the moonlight, they finally saw the scene inside the room. Several white mourning streamers hung inside, fluttering, making it look like a complicated mourning hall.
In the corner of the room, Yu Nian saw Song Xiyin and the others tied up tightly. She stepped forward to check on them and found that they were not seriously injured. They had just been affected by the resentful qi and fallen into a coma.
Yu Nian's gaze shifted and she saw the offering table set up on the inner side of the room.
The offering table was square and made of high - quality Chinese scholar tree wood. There were all kinds of incense burners and fruits on the table. When they got closer, they found that in the middle of the table was a palm - sized deep red talisman paper.
Feng Chengyuan was a bit confused. "The smell and color of this talisman paper are so strange." It made people feel uncomfortable as soon as they got close.
Yu Nian slowly reached out her finger towards the talisman paper but withdrew it just before she touched it. Her expression was rather complicated. "This talisman paper should have been yellow originally. The deep red color is due to being soaked in fresh blood for a long time."
The style of the talisman paper was very peculiar. The four corners were filled with strange symbols that were hard to understand. In the middle were two lines of words. The font was crooked and blurred by the bloodstains, but Yu Nian still managed to recognize them.
They were two names. One was "Qin Hao", and the other was "Song Xiyin".
Feng Chengyuan stared intently and thought for a moment. "What kind of talisman is this? Is there anything in Taoism that requires offering with fresh blood?"
Yu Nian shook her head. "There are very few. Throughout history, anything that requires offering with one's blood is not something good. Judging from the overlapping bloodstains on this talisman, Qin Hao must have been offering it for some time. No wonder that thing was so skilled at possessing Qin Hao. It's easier to invite a god than to send it away. This room is the home ground of the resentful ghost. It will take some effort to completely get rid of it. The most urgent thing is to find Qin Hao, who has been offering it."
Yu Nian stared at the talisman paper, her heart sinking. She had never seen this style of talisman paper before, and the evil aura floating above it surprised her.
Qin Hao was a young man in his twenties, with the strongest yang qi, yet he was easily possessed by this thing. How much more vulnerable would those with weaker fates be? If this resentful ghost really managed to escape while possessing Qin Hao, it would probably cause a big problem.
But where could Qin Hao, such a big person, be hiding?
Two "shua shua" sounds came. Feng Chengyuan suddenly stopped. He felt as if something was sliding along the ceiling. He slowly looked up and saw Qin Hao hanging upside - down on the ceiling.
Qin Hao's face was flushed, and his eyes were bulging so much that they almost popped out. Sensing Feng Chengyuan's gaze, he suddenly grinned. "You've actually found me."
Suddenly, Qin Hao flipped down. His pair of cold, big hands lunged towards Feng Chengyuan's neck, cold as iron.
Feng Chengyuan reacted quickly. He suddenly pushed forward forcefully and kicked Qin Hao hard in the abdomen. Qin Hao groaned in pain and pounced again.
This time, Feng Chengyuan had experience. He nimbly dodged and then grabbed Qin Hao's two arms in a reverse motion, pinning him to the ground in a very standard grappling position.
But unexpectedly, the next second, Qin Hao's head twisted in a strange direction. The bones in his neck cracked, and he opened his mouth wide and roared as he pounced on Feng Chengyuan.
Yu Nian casually grabbed a fluttering white mourning streamer beside her and stuffed it into Qin Hao's mouth without caring about the ash on it. Then she quickly and accurately slapped a talisman on the center of Qin Hao's forehead. With a soft "zila" sound, he slowly slumped to the ground as if all his strength had left him.
A wisp of white smoke slowly drifted out of Qin Hao. In the blink of an eye, there was an untidy - haired woman beside Feng Chengyuan. She was dressed in white, with a bluish - purple face. Blood was gurgling out of her hollow eyes.
She let out a strange scream and rushed straight at Feng Chengyuan, but was bounced away by a strong golden light just as she was about to touch him and crashed heavily into the wall.
She stared at the bodhi beads on Feng Chengyuan's wrist in disbelief and cursed.
Just then, Song Xiyin slowly woke up. Hearing the commotion here, she groggily untied the ropes but was so frightened by the scene in front of her that she slumped to the ground.
The female ghost seized the opportunity and flew to Song Xiyin's side in a flash. She rammed into Song Xiyin hard. Song Xiyin's body trembled violently. When she opened her eyes again, her expression had changed. She gave a creepy smile, showing a mouthful of white teeth, and then leaped into the air, hanging on the wall in an anti - gravity posture.
At this moment, Song Xiyin was like a gecko, crawling and scurrying around frantically with her hands and feet moving in unison. It was extremely strange and absurd.