The appearance of the resentful spirit was too sudden. Lin Jiu almost didn’t hesitate and immediately headed in the direction indicated by the compass, contacting others as he went.
He hadn’t gone far when he arrived at Lian Yi’s residence simultaneously with a large number of resentful spirits.
Before this, Lian Yi had also sensed something unusual.
He restrained his expression and stood up, looking out the window.
Nan Deng, not understanding the situation, thought he was tired and wanted to rest early.
The Bagua ring placed in the study sensed the summoning of spiritual magic and trembled slightly.
Lian Yi immediately instructed Nan Deng to return to the bedroom: “Hide.”
Nan Deng, still confused, heard a “bang” sound as two light fixtures in the living room inexplicably broke, causing the room’s lighting to plummet.
There was an array outside the house. But it was set up a few days ago to prevent strangers from entering, not to ward off spirits.
Since Lian Yi had moved in, no resentful spirits had dared to come close to the outskirts. But tonight was an exception.
The light fixtures shattered, startling Nan Deng, who hugged the rabbit head that had leaped into his arms tightly.
Beside him, Lian Yi repeated, “Go hide.”
Just then, a hanging ghost penetrated the ground, extending its long tongue into the doorway, revealing a dark red face.
In the dim light, Nan Deng clearly saw this scene. He hurriedly grabbed Lian Yi’s hand, “You must leave. There’s a ghost outside…”
He forgot that he was no longer a ghost and believed that Lian Yi was an ordinary person, unable to handle these evil spirits.
Lian Yi, with a grim expression, shielded Nan Deng behind him. The Bagua ring, sensing the summoning, began to stir restlessly.
He was about to use spiritual magic to partially obscure Nan Deng’s vision and then deal with these troublesome ghosts when there was another commotion outside the door.
The hanging ghost’s tongue suddenly retracted and it let out a wail, accompanied by the angry roars of other resentful spirits outside.
Nan Deng was stunned for a moment, then realized, “Is there a celestial master here?”
He heard the sound of talisman papers in the air. He had accidentally witnessed celestial masters capturing ghosts before. This noise was unmistakably the work of a celestial master.
He had never been so grateful for the presence of a celestial master. He quickly pulled Lian Yi inside the house, and Lian Yi, hesitating momentarily, was dragged into the bedroom.
Nan Deng locked the door and tried to comfort Lian Yi, “With a celestial master outside, they will definitely catch those ghosts.”
Lian Yi, without changing his expression, set up a talisman array around the bedroom to prevent ghosts from approaching. “Alright.”
Outside, Lin Jiu, fending off the ghosts, was puzzled. He had seen Lian Yi at home earlier. Why hadn’t he appeared even though the resentful spirits were about to break in?
He brandished his wooden sword, severing one resentful spirit’s arm, and shouted inside, “Chief Lian?”
He then noticed that the resentful spirits’ target had shifted, trying to bypass him and head to the room on the side of the house.
But there were too many resentful spirits, and he couldn’t stop them all alone. Some had already slipped through and were once again burrowing underground.
Lin Jiu’s voice didn’t penetrate the talisman array, so Nan Deng didn’t hear it. But Lian Yi did.
Lian Yi brought Nan Deng to the wardrobe, opened the door, and let him hide inside.
Nan Deng, hugging the rabbit head, tried to curl up his legs to make space for Lian Yi beside him.
Lian Yi didn’t move. “I’ll stay outside.”
The wardrobe space was indeed insufficient, so Nan Deng didn’t insist.
Before closing the wardrobe door, Lian Yi looked at the rabbit head in Nan Deng’s arms and instructed, “Don’t come out.”
The rabbit head licked its lips, turned around, and buried itself in Nan Deng’s embrace, acting like an immobile doll.
Lian Yi closed the wardrobe door properly and set up another layer of talisman array outside the wardrobe.
The bedroom door automatically opened, and the Bagua ring floated into the air.
A few resentful spirits attempted to break through the talisman array outside the bedroom, with wisps of evil energy seeping through the window cracks.
One resentful spirit just managed to poke a hand in, which was immediately cleanly severed.
With a cold expression, Lian Yi turned and left the bedroom, the Bagua ring following closely behind.
Lin Jiu had injured several resentful spirits and captured one in a clay pot. When he was about to be overwhelmed, the familiar Bagua ring finally appeared.
He breathed a sigh of relief and felt much more at ease. The number of resentful spirits was too high, so he temporarily retreated to the rear and drank a bottle of talisman water to resist the corrosion of the evil energy.
A distress signal had long been sent out. But because the location was in the outskirts, other celestial masters knew Lian Yi was there.
Since he was there, what additional support was needed? Moreover, Lin Jiu was busy fending off the resentful spirits and didn’t have time to use the communicator to explain clearly.
Fortunately, Lian Yi appeared in time. Two resentful spirits trying to counterattack Lin Jiu were instantly pierced by his Bagua ring.
Lin Jiu approached Lian Yi and apologized first, “The situation was urgent, so I broke in… Why have these resentful spirits suddenly gathered?”
Lian Yi didn’t ask why he had arrived so quickly and coldly replied, “I’m not sure.”
There were at least twenty resentful spirits. Some of the weaker ones were still blocked by the outermost talisman array, while others had broken into the house with a very clear target.
They wanted to go to the bedroom, where Nan Deng was hiding.
The two didn’t have time for much conversation as the hanging ghost that had first infiltrated reappeared, extending its long tongue to squeeze through the bedroom door crack.
Powerful spiritual energy grabbed its body from behind and slammed it hard against the wall.
The ghost’s spiritual body hit the wall, leaving a faint black mark. The hanging ghost quickly got up, screeching as it lunged at Lian Yi.
Lian Yi sidestepped and saw a familiar black mark on the right arm of the hanging ghost.
He had seen this mark on the water ghost before and had once followed it through teleportation.
It was the mark of the fog-shrouded specter from before. Though the fog-shrouded specter hadn’t appeared last time, it had used the same method to control these resentful spirits.
That’s why they dared to break in directly; ordinary resentful spirits wouldn’t have dared to approach Lian Yi’s house.
A cold glint appeared in Lian Yi’s eyes as he used spiritual energy to twist the hanging ghost’s neck.
Without purification, ghosts can only be severely injured, not truly killed. Lin Jiu followed behind Lian Yi, capturing the heavily injured ghosts into clay pots.
The living room and hallway were filled with dark, oppressive evil energy, occasionally dispersed by spiritual spells.
Lian Yi and Lin Jiu’s coordination was efficient, preventing any more resentful spirits from approaching the bedroom.
Nan Deng hid in the wardrobe, his heart pounding.
He was very scared; he had feared ghosts when he was the same as them, and now that he was human, he still did.
He even thought that if he were still a ghost, he might be able to help Lian Yi.
After all, ghosts generally don’t eat their kind because they don’t taste good. He could try to protect Lian Yi or use his identity to distract other ghosts.
In the pitch-black wardrobe, Nan Deng could only hear his own breathing and heartbeat.
Suddenly, he noticed his fingers were glowing faintly.
Nan Deng was at a loss, raising his hands in a daze. Soon, his entire body began to glow.
The faint light illuminated the inside of the wardrobe but quickly went out. Nan Deng felt a change within himself.
His body became semi-transparent, and his breathing and heartbeat stopped.
He had turned back into a ghost.
Nan Deng was both shocked and puzzled, wanting to tell Lian Yi about this.
He tried to leave but couldn’t pass through the wooden boards. He attempted to push open the wardrobe door, but it felt as if something was firmly blocking it from the outside.
Unseen by Nan Deng, a circle of light appeared outside the wardrobe.
Having turned back into a ghost, he was now trapped inside.
Nan Deng thought Lian Yi had placed something to block the door. He called out in a low voice, “Lian Yi?”
It was still very quiet outside, with no response.
Not knowing what was happening and worried about Lian Yi, he pushed hard with his hand.
With a soft “crack,” the talisman array that Lian Yi had set up was easily shattered, dispersing into tiny points of light.
Nan Deng emerged from the wardrobe, finding the bedroom empty and the door ajar. He could faintly hear voices conversing outside.
Outside, the resentful spirits that had forced their way in were finally cleared out.
A few remaining spirits, terrified of dying, chose to flee rather than be devoured by the fog-shrouded specter or captured and purified.
Lin Jiu glanced at his communicator and, as expected, saw that no one had come to support them.
Feeling somewhat conflicted, he asked Lian Yi, “How should we deal with these resentful spirits?”
Some of the resentful spirits exhibiting abnormal behavior could be interrogated first and then sent to the Yezhang Tower for purification.
Lian Yi responded without hesitation, “Leave it to me.”
These ghosts were recklessly charging towards Nan Deng, making their intentions clear. Lian Yi did not trust Lin Jiu, or rather, he never trusted anyone.
He also wouldn’t let anyone discover Nan Deng, whether he was a special ghost or something else.
Lin Jiu didn’t hesitate and handed the clay pot filled with resentful spirits to Lian Yi.
At that moment, both of them heard a noise coming from the bedroom.
“What was that sound?” Lin Jiu immediately became alert, then, realizing something, looked away somewhat awkwardly.
He knew there was another person in Lian Yi’s house and didn’t want to bring it up directly.
“Leave,” Lian Yi said curtly, turning towards the bedroom.
Lin Jiu obediently turned to leave but noticed that the compass in his hand was still moving.
The needle was picking up a faint aura, pointing towards the bedroom.
There might still be some residual spirits… but the aura was weak. With Lian Yi around, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.
He put away the compass and, before leaving, took out two bottles of talisman water, placing them on the living room coffee table.
Lian Yi pushed open the slightly ajar bedroom door and saw Nan Deng, who had reverted to his spiritual form.
He paused slightly while holding the doorknob and looked towards the wardrobe.
Sure enough, the talisman array had broken. But there were no other resentful spirits present. For Nan Deng to come out unharmed, it must have been him who broke the array.
Seeing Lian Yi appear safely, Nan Deng felt slightly relieved and cautiously approached the door. “Were the ghosts captured? Where are the celestial masters?”
“The celestial masters have left. Don’t be afraid.” Lian Yi reached out to embrace him but could no longer touch Nan Deng as before.
“That’s good…”
Nan Deng stepped forward voluntarily, wrapping his semi-transparent arms tightly around Lian Yi. “By the way, I don’t know how I turned back into a ghost…”
It seemed he was still a ghost, and his transformation into a human a few days ago was an accident.
Lian Yi responded with a simple “Hmm”, not saying much. Nan Deng then asked about what happened outside.
“Why didn’t you hide? What if you got caught by a ghost?” Nan Deng’s expression was serious, clearly disapproving of Lian Yi’s actions. “They would eat you.”
He buried his face in Lian Yi’s chest. “Did you see that long-tongued ghost? It looked so terrifying…”
Lian Yi reassured him, “It’s alright now. It was captured.”
Nan Deng relaxed a bit but suddenly sensed something amiss.
Lian Yi’s reaction seemed to indicate he could see the ghost.
Ordinary people, under normal circumstances, cannot see ghosts or hear their voices.
Nan Deng also recalled that before the ghosts arrived, Lian Yi seemed to notice the anomaly even earlier than he did.
When the hanging ghost appeared, Lian Yi was already looking towards the door with him.
And Lian Yi’s reaction was far too calm.
Suspicious, Nan Deng lifted his head and asked in a daze, “Were there a lot of ghosts just now? Did you see them?”
Thinking Nan Deng was still scared, Lian Yi lied, “Not many, only two.”
Nan Deng’s eyes widened. “You really can see other ghosts?”
Lian Yi moved his lips, realizing he had just misspoken.
