As for the coffin, if we only focus on the ground-bound spirits, then five thousand is still quite worth it.
I jumped down from the truck and squatted down to look underneath. The sight immediately sent a chill down my spine—on the asphalt road beneath the truck, hundreds of black and grey hands were reaching out. Some were even decaying, yet still tightly gripping the truck's chassis.
Just as I was getting nervous, a young man from the museum suddenly shone his flashlight underneath. The moment the light hit, a pale face appeared right in front of me, just a few inches away. I could clearly see her lifeless grey eyes staring at me. But in an instant, she quickly crawled out from under the truck and scurried towards the building.
I quickly got up and used my spiritual vision to follow her. Her body had completely twisted, with backward-turned joints protruding high, like a spider. Her back was facing the ground as she crawled up the building's surface rapidly. In less than a minute, she had climbed more than twenty stories and disappeared into a place I couldn't see.
"Shit!" I gasped and asked, "What's the story behind this haunted building?"
The old man replied, "I heard that twenty years ago, there was a fire, and more than six hundred residents above the 20th floor couldn't escape in time and perished inside. Official records say over six hundred people died."
The 20th floor! Six hundred people. That wasn't just a haunted building—it was hell itself.
Thinking about what Huang Jiu had guessed earlier, that the building Zhang Ying and her group were investigating might be this one, I couldn't help but shiver. Anyone daring to explore a place like this, it was like that saying, "Living too well and eating too much might not always be a good thing."
But from the energy on Zhang Ying and her group's bodies, even if they did explore this building, they probably only went into the lobby and didn't go upstairs.
Looking back, I somewhat regretted it. If it really was this building, I wouldn't sell even a single talisman for ten thousand, let alone a hundred thousand. Because once you get involved with the karma, there's no way to get out. And this haunted building, its horror was on par with the curse on Wang Shukun's daughter. It was a business where you could earn money but have no life to spend it.
The old man, seeing me staring at the haunted building, curiously asked, "Master Li, do you have Yin-Yang eyes?"
My spiritual vision is much more advanced than Yin-Yang eyes. But I didn't want to get into the explanation, and besides, like Huang Jiu, I was afraid of getting involved in research work on this later—being studied by them.
I nodded and, turning my gaze away from the building, quickly grabbed the old man's hand, placing the Buddhist relic in it, and said, "Take this thing and hurry up and drive away. If the museum transports any more evil items, you'd better take a detour!"
The old man froze for a moment and asked, "Master Li, this haunted building is harmful. Every month, someone jumps off the building. Don't you want to help the people and eliminate the harm?"
Six hundred souls, and still people committing suicide every month! This place was so cursed, even Bodhisattvas would close their eyes before approaching. For him to ask me to fix it was a joke.
But I took the higher road, saying, "Old sir, this isn't something I can solve alone. I need to go back and make some calculations and gather some people before I dare to go in. I'm only fifteen; you don't expect me to go in and die, do you?"
The old man awkwardly smiled and said, "No, no. It's your field, you handle it..."
His words suddenly stopped, and his eyes gleamed. He gasped, "This... this is a complete Buddhist relic, my goodness, and it even has inscriptions!"
The old man, trembling with excitement, grabbed my hand, his voice shaking, "Master Li, this is a national treasure. You must hand it over!"
When he said that, I almost slapped myself. I had been so focused on leaving the place quickly that I had forgotten about their official status.
Thankfully, I reacted quickly. Before he could close his fingers, I snatched the relic back.
When Huang Jiu heard that the Buddhist relic was to be handed over, it jumped onto my shoulder, grabbed my floral pants, and pointed at the old man, cursing, "Old man, are you out of your mind? We're helping you, and you want to take it? Hand it over? Why don't you just hand yourself over instead?"
The five young people were well-versed in the ways of the world, and Huang Jiu speaking human language didn't shock them. One of them said, "Our teacher is seventy this year. He should have retired ten years ago, but he has remained on the job, forgoing his salary to save national resources. He's dedicated his life to the country!"
Even Huang Jiu, with its sharp tongue, fell silent at this. There are some people in this world who have no flaws, and understanding their story just makes you feel ashamed.
Just as I and Huang Jiu had no words left, my uncle spoke up, "Old curator, theoretically speaking, the Buddhist relic my nephew has belongs to the state. He just borrowed it from a friend for temporary use, so it can't be handed over to you."
When the old curator heard that it was already a state possession, he relaxed and said, "In that case, that's good. This thing is a treasure of the country. We must protect it so future generations will know it existed."
The atmosphere lightened, but I still didn't dare give the Buddhist relic back to the old man. I suggested we take the small truck, with my uncle following behind in his car.
To prevent anything from happening to my uncle's car, I brought along the blood spike for protection.
The small truck had a double cab. Originally, I wanted the four young people to ride with my uncle, but they insisted on staying in the cargo bed to watch the coffin.
I sat in the passenger seat, channeling spiritual energy into the Buddhist relic. Under the influence of my energy, the relic emitted a platinum glow, and the inscriptions on it began to shine with golden light, slowly rotating.
For a moment, everyone's ears were filled with the low chant of a sutra. The old curator, seeing this, quickly turned the key in the ignition. The truck stuttered a few times, and finally, the engine roared to life.
The old curator smiled with relief, eased off the brakes, and stepped on the gas, driving the truck forward.
But as soon as the truck started moving, a chilling shriek came from the upper floors of the building. The sound seemed to come from the depths of hell, and it felt like it was aimed specifically at me. It made my whole body go cold, as if it were winter.
I peeked out the window, saw my uncle's car following behind, and urged, "Curator, hurry, hurry!"
The truck made its way out of the dark road, and once it was on the main road, with lights shining all around, the shriek gradually faded.
I held the scalding Buddhist relic, sighed, and gathered the last of my spiritual energy. Once the truck was on the main road, I asked the old curator to pull over.
My uncle's car stopped behind, and I got out, taking the blood spike from him. Even through the leather sheath, I could feel how scorching it was. This showed just how evil the things in that haunted building were. Even the low-level ground-bound spirits had developed some power.