With more thoughts running through my mind, my gaze toward Tang Quan became guarded.
As the saying goes, once the human heart falls into desire, it becomes a hundred times more terrifying than any ghost.
Still, I followed him upstairs. At the entrance to the second floor of the villa, I saw two yellow cloth banners hanging from the ceiling, each painted with large talismans in cinnabar ink.
I subtly sniffed the air and caught the scent of incense.
No wonder the five people upstairs were filled with evil energy, yet there was no sign of yin aura downstairs—it was all being blocked by these two talismanic banners.
These kinds of cloth talismans are known as fu chuang or jing chuang, sacred offerings typically found in temples and Taoist monasteries.
The strong scent of incense meant these talismans had been enshrined for a long time.
To acquire such items, one must have deep ties to temples or monasteries—otherwise, they're nearly impossible to obtain.
This "Master from Hong Kong" may or may not have real skills, but just having these yellow cloth talismans proves he has solid connections.
Xu Wanrong saw me pause at the stairway and sneered sarcastically, "What? Don't tell me you're scared?"
I smiled.
Standing on my shoulder, Huang Jiu scoffed, "Little girl, you look quite pretty when you keep quiet. But once you open your mouth—ugh, what a shame. Let me give you some advice: talk less, do more. Wouldn't it be nicer to stay beautiful for another ten years?"
I didn't stop Huang Jiu from speaking, but I also ignored Xu Wanrong. I followed Tang Quan under the yellow talismans and into the second floor.
The moment we stepped in, a chilling aura pierced through my clothes, trying to invade my spiritual nodes.
Fortunately, the blood dagger at my waist emitted a warm energy that pushed the cold away.
All the furniture had been cleared from the upstairs living room. Zhang Ying and four other girls sat cross-legged in a circle on the floor. Around them were eight bronze incense burners. Judging by the material, if the old museum curator saw them, he'd definitely insist on having them turned over.
Tang Quan said nothing, his eyes burning into me.
It was clear—he wanted to test whether I could see through his arrangement.
If I hadn't obtained the second volume, I probably couldn't have.
But now that I've memorized it, I won't claim complete mastery, but I can certainly recognize most of it at a glance.
The eight incense burners each bore the image of a different mountain—representing the Three Mountains and Five Sacred Peaks of China.
This was an ancient and nearly lost "Mountain Suppression" technique. Technically not entirely lost, but it requires finding a "Shi Gandang" from each sacred peak.
Now, when I say "Shi Gandang," I don't mean the specific one from Mount Tai.
Here, it's symbolic.
After all, Mount Tai isn't the only place that produces Shi Gandang. Virtually any great mountain can foster such stones.
In the past, these were easier to find. But according to my grandfather, during the Japanese invasion of China, a special unit was formed to seek out these sacred peaks and collect their "Shi Gandang" stones.
As a result, any stone with even a trace of spiritual presence has long since disappeared.
Unable to acquire true Shi Gandang stones, Tang Quan substituted them with incense burners from mountain temple altars.
These burners are not as effective as Shi Gandang stones, nor as difficult to obtain, but they still require considerable effort.
After all, only incense burners infused with a century of sacred energy could suppress the violent yin aura within Zhang Ying and the others.
At this point, I was sure—the evil presence originated from that haunted building.
I turned to ask, "With such an elaborate setup, Master Tang, I assume you already know about the haunted building in the East District?"
Tang Quan twirled the prayer beads in his hand and nodded, "I've taken a look from outside but didn't go in."
I chuckled, "What a coincidence. I've looked too, but didn't dare go in."
He chose not to go in. I didn't dare to.
My wording was deliberate—to let him know I had no intention of investigating that haunted building.
Tang Quan gave a faint smile and changed the subject. "Master Li Yang, what do you think of my arrangement here? Any issues?"
"I can't say for sure," I replied casually. "But those eight incense burners look quite unusual." I pretended to be curious and squatted a few meters away to inspect them.
Even if Tang Quan hadn't personally visited the Three Mountains and Five Peaks, obtaining their incense burners suggests he's quite familiar with China's sacred geography.
A place like the Ten Thousand Great Mountains—he surely knows about it.
This might all be a test.
Huang Jiu, an old trickster himself, wisely chose to stay silent—knowing that the more one speaks, the more one reveals.
Whether Tang Quan believed me or was just good at hiding his thoughts, he didn't press the issue. Instead, he said, "Young man, after examining Miss Zhang and the others, I believe what's possessing them isn't just evil energy—it's a case of spirit parasitism."
Spirit parasitism?
My brow furrowed.
That's far more serious than mere possession by an evil spirit. It means a powerful malevolent entity has sent a part of itself—a fragment—into a human host.
Once the fragment matures, the main spirit will fully descend into this world.
It's not unlike the Western concept of demonic possession.
And in both cases, the descended being is immensely powerful—named and feared ancient entities abroad, and terrifying ghost overlords at home.
In other words, a king among ghosts.
Which explains why I wanted to flee the moment I glanced at that haunted building.
At that time, it was merely a bound spirit. But if that coffin-dragging cart hadn't left soon, we'd have been dealing with far worse.
Now that Tang Quan confirmed it's spirit parasitism, there's no avoiding it—we'll have to go to that haunted building and eliminate the source.
I secretly took a deep breath. I was just about to say I didn't want to get involved when a group of men and women rushed upstairs.
Naturally, the most anxious people were the girls' parents.
They ignored the chill in the air and barged straight in.
Luckily, they were all wealthy—wealthy people tend to be superstitious. Seeing the spiritual setup in the living room, they didn't dare touch anything.
Some might argue not all rich people are superstitious.
To them I say—you've been blinded by science. If you're not in that world, just look it up online.
I won't get into specifics here.
Also, I'm not saying poor people are poor because they don't believe in feng shui.
It's a matter of perspective. Everyone has their own beliefs.
My only advice: fate is determined by the heavens, but success comes from human effort.
Even with great fortune, you need the ability to act on it.
Otherwise, good luck means nothing if you just lie around.
On the flip side, ability without fortune leads to an empty life.
Wealthy people solve problems in two ways—connections and money.
So as soon as they came up, they surrounded me and Tang Quan, calling us "Master" one after another. Some even started throwing out actual cash offers.
It was my first time seeing how rich people operate—and I was stunned.
At the same time, I couldn't help but think: I kinda like this.
Of course, liking it assumes I survive.
So when Tang Quan suggested we go to the haunted building immediately, I refused outright.
I said we should wait until my second uncle arrived.
As the saying goes: "Father and son make the best team; brothers are the best hunting partners."
I'd only met Tang Quan once—if something happened in that building, he wouldn't risk his life to save me.
Also, going ghost-hunting in the middle of the night? I really don't know what he was thinking.