INHA Chapter 3

Xu Dongyou quickly grabbed Hou Mingjun and ran while explaining, “Hurry, it’s going to the fourth floor.”

Hou Mingjun’s heart skipped a beat, and he hastened his pace, his voice urgent, “But how do we stop it?!”

That thing was exceptionally eerie and might possess other terrifying means. How could the two of them, mere ordinary humans, possibly defeat it?

At this moment, Xu Dongyou could no longer worry about the potential cold and cough that might result from overly enhancing his five senses.

Otherwise, Hou Mingjun and his parents on the fourth floor would be in danger.

By now, the two had reached the entrance to the stairway. Hou Mingjun hurriedly opened the door, only to find two strangers preparing to head to the fourth floor.

The two strangers glanced at Xu Dongyou and Hou Mingjun briefly before redirecting their attention to the eerie figure approaching the halfway point to the third floor, their expressions solemn.

One of them subtly nodded.

The other turned to Xu Dongyou and Hou Mingjun, showing an ID, “Sorry, we’re from the Anomaly Handling Bureau, responsible for handling dangerous situations. Could you please step aside?”

“Huh?” Hou Mingjun was momentarily stunned but quickly responded, “No. I have an urgent matter on the fourth floor.”

At that moment, the hallway lights dimmed again.

Footsteps echoed.

All four people instinctively looked towards the stairs leading to the halfway point to the third floor. The figure shrouded in a grayish mist finally stepped onto the last step, about to reach the fourth floor.

“We can’t wait any longer! It’s about to enter my house, and my parents are still inside!” Hou Mingjun, in a panic, disregarded his fear and tried to rush forward to stop the “ghost” from advancing.

Xu Dongyou and the other two quickly held Hou Mingjun back. One of them said, “Your house? Was the resentful spirit triggered by you?”

Resentful spirit?

At this moment, Xu Dongyou realized something and hurriedly said, “Ask about the specifics later. Can you find a way to stop that thing?”

The two strangers didn’t respond. One of them directly took out a palm-sized talisman from his pocket, murmured an incantation, and threw it.

The talisman flew through the air and stuck to the back of the resentful spirit. An effect like an airwave dispersion appeared, and the spirit immediately froze in place, motionless.

The lights stopped flickering.

Hou Mingjun was almost dumbfounded by the magical scene in front of him. It was the first time in his life he had seen such spells, something he had only seen in movies and TV shows.

Then he suddenly snapped out of it, his face showing an expression of ecstatic joy.

Xu Dongyou watched the person’s actions without blinking as if everything had slowed down.

During this time, he memorized every word of the incantation that person had used when casting the talisman.

This world, which originally seemed so ordinary, actually harbored things like resentful spirits. And there were even extraordinary individuals capable of dealing with such spirits.

“If we can’t find the thing that triggered the resentful spirit, this won’t be easy to solve,” said the other person, who had somehow reached the halfway point to the third floor. He was quickly manipulating something that looked like a red string. He attached it to both walls to create several lines to block the spirit.

Hou Mingjun’s ecstatic expression instantly froze.

Sure enough, five seconds later, the spirit moved again, seemingly faster than before. The lights flickered, and its figure continued to advance.

“It must be a ghostly resentful spirit,” said the person who had thrown the mysterious talisman, showing a pained expression. “I’ll have to waste another talisman.”

The person fiddling with the red string above quickly shouted, “I have one more red string here. It can hold for a minute.”

The two had been working together for half a year and understood each other well enough to communicate without many words.

The one who had thrown the talisman quickly grabbed Hou Mingjun and hastened his tone, “Quick, tell me, what exactly did you do to provoke that resentful spirit?”

Hou Mingjun forced himself to calm down and quickly recollected, “I, I…”

But the more he tried to remember, the more his mind became a chaotic mess, and he couldn’t think of anything.

Xu Dongyou also recalled what Hou Mingjun had said at the time, then suddenly remembered an important detail he had overlooked. He grabbed Hou Mingjun and asked, “The day you heard the footsteps, were you wearing these same shoes?”

“What does this have to do with the shoes?” The talisman-thrower frowned, puzzled.

Xu Dongyou pointed at the shoes and said, “Look closely at his shoes. There’s something identical to that resentful spirit on them. Could it mean he stepped on something related to the spirit?”

The man glanced at Hou Mingjun’s shoes, then looked up at Xu Dongyou in astonishment. Realizing something, he quickly turned to Hou Mingjun and asked, “Were you wearing these shoes that day?”

Hou Mingjun, with his mind in turmoil, tapped his forehead with his hand, then gave his answer, “I remember now. I wasn’t wearing these shoes that day. I was wearing another pair of brown leather shoes because—I had just attended a party that day.”

Those shoes were the most expensive pair he owned, and he habitually wore them to parties or small press conferences.

After all, he wasn’t famous yet and had no sponsorships, so he had to buy luxury items on his own to maintain his appearance.

In that instant, all doubts and confusion seemed to clear up.

No wonder the resentful spirit didn’t follow Hou Mingjun on the last day but went straight to the fourth floor.

Because the pair of shoes that had truly touched or stepped on something related to the resentful spirit was on the fourth floor.

This also explains why Xu Dongyou could see the thing stuck on the soles of Hou Mingjun’s shoes but couldn’t find anything else.

“So, those shoes are the real source of the resentful spirit’s killing intent,” the man with the talisman quickly sorted out his thoughts and said, “Quick, let’s go to your house and find those shoes.”

The three of them swiftly ran up to the fourth floor. As they passed by the resentful spirit, which was completely restrained by the red string and stepping in place, Xu Dongyou felt the uncomfortable sensation diminish.

It was thanks to the red string.

The person holding the end of the red string immediately said, “Just step over the red string. I can only hold it for another thirty seconds. You need to hurry.”

The three of them quickly stepped over the red string. But the red string was somewhat complex, and Hou Mingjun, not being very agile, took a bit more time.

Xu Dongyou reached out his hand, “Give me your keys. I’ll go up and open the door first.”

Hou Mingjun immediately took out the keys and threw them over.

Xu Dongyou, with the keys in hand, focused all his energy on maximizing his speed. The world seemed to slow down; he leaped eight steps in one go and, after a few more steps, reached the door of Hou Mingjun’s home on the fourth floor.

In this slowed-down moment, he could even catch a glimpse of the surprised looks from the Anomaly Handling Bureau members following him.

From the third floor to the fourth and then unlocking the door, Xu Dongyou took less than two seconds.

Although he could have knocked and asked Hou Mingjun’s parents to open the door, that would have wasted too much time.

By then, the Anomaly Handling Bureau member had also reached the fourth floor. Xu Dongyou and the member quickly rushed into the house and headed straight for the shoe cabinet.

Hou Mingjun arrived at the fourth floor and followed them into the living room.

As soon as the shoe cabinet was opened, Xu Dongyou felt an uncomfortable sensation emanating from one of the shoe boxes. He hurriedly took out the shoebox, opened it, and quickly examined the soles of the shoes.

—There was an ordinary piece of chewing gum stuck to the sole.

But Xu Dongyou could clearly see that the piece of chewing gum was covered in the same grayish mist as the resentful spirit.

“It’s this chewing gum,” Xu Dongyou quickly informed the person claiming to be from the Anomaly Handling Bureau.

The other person quickly scraped the gum off the shoe and then took out a talisman from his pocket to wrap it up. “The resentful spirit won’t come up to the fourth floor anymore. You’re safe now.”

Hou Mingjun finally relaxed but still felt lingering fear and disbelief. “That piece of gum caused me to get involved with that thing?”

“You don’t need to know so much; it’s not good for you. Just remember not to talk about this casually in the future,” the man said as he stood up, putting the talisman back in his pocket and glancing at Xu Dongyou.

“Although the gum has been temporarily sealed, the resentful spirit is still on the fourth floor. You two should stay inside and not come out.”

“Why is the resentful spirit still on the fourth floor?” Hou Mingjun jumped up in surprise and hurriedly ran to the door to look down at the landing between the third and fourth floors.

Although the lights had stopped flickering, the resentful spirit blocked by the red string no longer had the ability to become invisible.

Hou Mingjun could clearly see the resentful spirit wandering within the red string, seemingly unable to find its way.

“See, the gum only served as a marker. The resentful spirit has temporarily lost its target and poses no immediate danger,” the man explained, seemingly for Xu Dongyou’s benefit. “But if it’s not dealt with in time, new pieces of gum will likely appear soon.”

“Does that mean new victims will appear?” Xu Dongyou asked.

“Yes,” the man patted Xu Dongyou’s shoulder. “I need to talk to you after this is over.”

The door quickly closed. Hou Mingjun pressed his ear against it, nervously listening for any sounds outside.

He wanted to look outside through the peephole. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see the third floor from there.

Xu Dongyou, with his heightened senses still active, could clearly hear the sound of incantations being chanted outside, mixed with other strange noises.

Immediately, there was a loud crashing sound, followed by low groans and sounds of pain.

It seemed one of them was injured.

Xu Dongyou instinctively wanted to open the door to help. But he remembered that he was only more agile and probably couldn’t be of much help.

The battle outside continued.

“Zhang Wu, how many talismans do you have left?”

“Three more!”

“It definitely isn’t a dual-formed entity. Use all your talismans! I’m already starting to gather spiritual energy here.”

“Got it!”

After a series of crackling sounds, the air instantly fell silent, with no more sounds to be heard.

Xu Dongyou quickly opened the door and looked down. The two men were injured from the fight, looking very disheveled, and were sitting on the ground, gasping for breath.

One of them said, “It’s finally resolved. We’ve sealed that resentful spirit.”

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Moonlit: I’m speechless O-O… It seems to be okay…? I think it’s not as scary as I thought it would be hehe xD Sorry for the misconception *bows head*