Chapter Ninety-One: The House Surrounded by a Hundred Demons

What was the relationship between Xiaoxiao and her mother like? I asked.

“I’m not sure, but it probably wasn’t very good. She used to live with her mother, but that woman was still young then, so she surely wouldn’t have taken proper care of a child,” Zheng Lanxuan said.

It was only conjecture, yet he spoke with such certainty that it seemed as though he were hiding something from me.

I had already sensed it before: his opinion of Ren Qiyun was very low, and one might even say hostile.

I gave Zheng Lanxuan and Zhuo Tianjiang each a talisman for protection, then, just as Zhuo Tianjiang had done the previous night, I affixed warding talismans over every opening in the house. Whether these talismans would truly work remained uncertain; all I could do was pray they would offer at least some protection.

I told them plainly, “Last night I was no match for that ghost, so tonight we can only focus on defense. And I have a feeling this matter is not simple. Even if we drive that ghost away, Xiaoxiao may still not recover.”

As night deepened, time passed by the minute, drawing closer and closer to midnight. My nerves grew tighter with each moment. I did not tell Zheng Lanxuan and the others about the talisman paper, so as not to make them too anxious.

I could only pray that the ghost would not come tonight.

Outside the window, darkness suddenly thickened; the streetlamps in the distance vanished from sight. My heart lurched. What was coming had come after all.

Zheng Lanxuan and Zhuo Tianjiang tensed up. I signaled for them to sit still on the sofa. Then I moved toward the balcony, gripping the warding talisman in my hand.

The closer I got to the balcony, the more a hand suddenly reached up from below. My heart gave a violent jolt, and I instinctively stepped back.

That hand climbed higher, and a disheveled, rotting-faced woman hauled herself up against the balcony glass.

Strange. It was not the ghost from last night.

Another jointed hand reached up, and a ghost with half its body reduced to bone climbed up as well.

More and more specters emerged from below the balcony, pressing themselves against the glass in a dense mass outside. Yet they kept away from the places where the warding talismans were posted, and they did not attack the windows. They only scratched furiously and let out one shriek after another.

What was this situation? Why were there so many ghosts? What on earth was going on with Zheng Xiao?

Zheng Lanxuan and Zhuo Tianjiang could no longer sit still and came over. Zhuo Tianjiang said in shock, “W-what is going on? There are so many ghosts haunting her? Then she should have been dead long ago!”

I said, “This isn’t just simple haunting. You two go back and sit on the sofa. Don’t move around, and absolutely do not touch the talismans on the windows!”

I immediately checked each window and vent. They were all covered with ghosts. Fortunately, the warding talismans were effective and kept them outside.

After some thought, I took out a handmade warding talisman and贴 it to the window, but the ghosts did not avoid it. That talisman had been written earlier at Zhuo Tianjiang’s house.

I tried the several talismans I had made before as well. None of them worked.

Judging from the current situation, all the talismans “guided” by Wang Yue were effective. Even with amnesia, that boy was this formidable. What kind of person was he?

I turned around and saw Zhuo Tianjiang walking over.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” he said.

I headed back toward the living room and sat down on the sofa.

Zheng Lanxuan looked a little pale. “Why are there so many ghosts?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. But these ghosts are less capable than the one from last night.”

They were probably the wandering dead, the lonely spirits without a home. If it had been the one from last night, these warding talismans likely would not have been much use.

I sat on the sofa for quite a while, but Zhuo Tianjiang still had not come out. He had been in there far too long. Could he have diarrhea?

Bang! Bang! Two dull thuds sounded from the direction of the bathroom.

I rushed over at once. When I reached the bathroom door, the light inside had somehow dimmed. Two more frantic blows came from within.

Damn it. Something was wrong in there.

I immediately took out a warding talisman and slapped it onto the door. A strange shriek rang out from inside, and then the door flew open. Zhuo Tianjiang stumbled and tumbled out in a panic.

Breathless, he said, “I-it came in... It came in from the toilet... from the toilet!”

Squeak—squeak—accompanied by a shrill cry, a small ghost crawled out of the dim bathroom.

The chilling yin aura grew denser and denser, and I could vaguely make out one little ghost after another climbing out of the toilet bowl.

My heart lurched. How had I forgotten about this place?

Without hesitation, I rushed into the bathroom. With the protection talisman on me, those little ghosts could not come near. I shoved the toilet lid down and quickly placed a warding talisman on it. A burst of chaotic shrieks came from within, but soon everything fell silent.

“Aah—cough, cough, cough...” Zhuo Tianjiang cried out and ran off.

Those little ghosts were moving with a very clear purpose, all of them crawling toward Zheng Xiao’s room.

I immediately began chanting the ghost-avoiding incantation, brandishing the warding talisman and pressing it against them, exterminating every last little ghost.

“There... there’s one that crawled into the room!” Zhuo Tianjiang said.

I ran at once into Zheng Xiao’s room and saw that a rotting little ghost had already crawled onto the bed, reaching out to grab Zheng Xiao.

Squeak—suddenly it let out a strange cry and bounced off the bed as though struck by an electric shock.

The protection talisman had worked.

I stepped forward quickly and pressed a warding talisman onto the little ghost. It instantly turned into a wisp of white smoke and vanished without a trace.

I let out a long breath.

Zheng Xiao on the bed was terrified as well, but she was too weak to show much reaction.

“Brother Luo... th-that... what was that...”

“Don’t be afraid. Keep the talismans I gave you close. They won’t be able to hurt you,” I said.

I searched the house again and confirmed that there were no other openings before finally relaxing a little. I called Zheng Lanxuan and Zhuo Tianjiang into Zheng Xiao’s room so we could guard her together.

I asked Zhuo Tianjiang, “Why didn’t the protection talisman I gave you work?”

Zhuo Tianjiang took it out. One section was wet. “I washed my hands after using the toilet and noticed it had fallen off, so I picked it up. Did it stop working once it got wet?”

Probably so. I handed him a new one and told him to keep it safe this time and not lose it again.

Dense clusters of ghosts continued scratching and shrieking outside the window without pause. Fortunately, no more of them managed to crawl inside, and we kept watch by Zheng Xiao’s bed. Only when dawn was nearly breaking did the ghosts outside finally disappear.

We had not slept all night, and after being on edge for so long, we were utterly exhausted. But there was no time to rest. Today, we had to intercept Ren Qiyun.

I had thought Ren Qiyun would not arrive so soon, but at six in the morning, the middle-aged woman quietly called Zheng Lanxuan and said that Ren Qiyun had already arrived. We had no choice but to rush for a temporary caretaker to look after Zheng Xiao and leave at once.

When we reached Ren Qiyun’s home, she was just stepping out of the house. The middle-aged woman was still doing her utmost to keep her there.

“Why don’t you stay a little longer? We really owe you this time. We made you come so early in the morning, and who would have thought it was just a rat that bit through the wire...”

Ren Qiyun turned her head and saw us. Her expression changed abruptly.