At the same time, I traveled through time and space, I dominated the heavens and the worlds

No, this is not possible.

Lin Bei quickly denied this idea.

He deliberately concealed his presence when he came to the island, so even the strongest evil spirit on the island would not be able to sense his danger.

All they could sense was the delicious aroma emanating from him, which enhanced their strength.

Where did that evil spirit go?

Lin Bei circled the sacrificial site, glanced at the dark cave dwelling, and finally fixed his gaze on the roof of the villa in the distance.

It's very late now; the last rays of sunlight are about to disappear, and the whole world is becoming incredibly dark.

It's getting dark.

I understand now; the evil spirits are eager to enjoy their meal.

Lin Bei narrowed his eyes, a cold glint in them. He was about to return to the villa when he paused, noticing something in the puddle next to the sacrificial site.

With a flick of his finger, Lin Bei activated the power of the Shadow Monarch, and a thin stream of black liquid emerged from Lin Bei's shadow, heading straight for the puddle.

The puddle splashed up a spray of water, and when the black liquid returned, Lin Bei noticed that it was hooked onto a necklace.

Lin Bei raised an eyebrow slightly. This was Kang Shu's necklace, which had the effect of warding off evil spirits.

Of course, the effect is generally poor. If the wearer is bewitched by evil spirits or deluded by hallucinations, it will be in vain.

Lin Bei thought for a moment, put on the necklace, and strode towards the villa.

When Lin Bei returned to the villa, he found that Lana, Lin, Hao, and Yu were already setting up the site for the soul-summoning ceremony.

They pushed all the furniture out of the living room, creating a large open space, then drew a circle on the floor with salt, and finally found four candles.

When Lana saw Lin Bei return, she looked down at the four candles on the ground and an apologetic expression appeared on her face.

“Officer Lin, we didn’t expect there to be one more person, so we only have four candles, you see…”

Lin Bei smiled and waved his hand: "I didn't plan to play games with you guys. Whether we can successfully summon it is still uncertain. I'll just sit here on the sofa and watch you guys play."

As he spoke, Lin Bei strolled over and sat down on the sofa. After thinking for a moment, he casually tossed Kang Shu's necklace to Lana.

"Take it with you. If the summoning is successful, it might save your life."

Lana hurriedly caught the necklace. She looked down and examined it closely, finding it rather strange and odd, exuding a chilling aura.

Lana was reluctant to wear it, but when she looked up at Lin Bei and met his dark, deep eyes, for some reason, Lana was startled and subconsciously put on the necklace.

Lana's boyfriend, Yu, who was standing nearby, was somewhat unhappy to see this.

After all, Lana is his girlfriend. How could Officer Lin be so inconsiderate as to give his girlfriend a gift?
Yu originally wanted Lana to take off the necklace, but at this moment Lin and Hao walked into the salt circle and shouted excitedly.

"It's completely dark now, let's begin the soul-summoning ceremony!"

Yu opened her mouth but didn't say anything. She just glared angrily at Lin Bei outside the salt circle, thinking that she must succeed in summoning the soul later. It would be best if a fierce ghost came and ate this man outside the salt circle!

Soon, the four of them sat down facing each other in the salt circle. They lit the candles, held them in their hands, looked at each other, took a deep breath, and began to chant incantations.

Lin Bei propped his chin on his hand and watched the four people in the salt circle perform the ritual. The incantation they were chanting was strange, unlike any language, but Lin Bei could sense that it contained some kind of power.

Some kind of unpleasant force.

Lin Bei smiled slightly, did not interrupt them, and continued to watch quietly.

As the four people continued chanting incantations, the villa gradually quieted down.

This quiet is different from the usual stillness of the night; it is a silence where all sounds have vanished.

The sound of dripping water, the chirping of insects, the sound of the wind...

All sounds that can be detected by human ears have disappeared without anyone noticing.

All that can be heard now is the strange sound of chanting incantations.

The incantation was actually very short; the four of them simply kept repeating it. After repeating it four times, they all stopped at the same time.

The four opened their eyes and curiously looked around. Lana couldn't help but whisper, "Did it work? Why can't I feel anything? Can we proceed to the next step?"

Clearly, this expedition was organized by Hao, one of the four boys. After Lana finished speaking, all three of them turned their attention to Hao.

Hao scratched his head blankly: "It should have worked, right? The friend who gave me the incantation said I only need to recite it four times, but I don't remember if I can call out the name now or have to wait a bit. Should I recite it again?"

"No need to read it."

A calm voice interrupted Hao, and all four of them turned to look at the man sitting on the sofa outside the salt circle.

Lin Bei sank into the single sofa, propping his face up with one hand, and looked indifferently at the four bewildered students in the salt circle.

"It's time to call out the names of those five students; it's not very polite to keep people waiting."

These words echoed in the villa and resonated in the ears of the four students.

For some reason, the four students in the salt circle shivered in unison, a chill creeping up from the bottom of their hearts.

The four of them stood there for a moment, then chuckled and echoed each other before refocusing their attention to call out the missing student's name.

Lin Bei slowly turned his head and looked outside through the villa's window.

The four students couldn't see it, but he could see it clearly.

Just as the incantation was recited four times, countless fierce spirits and evil ghosts had gathered outside the villa, almost surrounding the entire villa.

Lin Bei chuckled; the incantation was indeed problematic.

That is a spell that promises to offer one's soul.

The sound of the evil spirits outside swallowing their saliva was so loud that it almost drowned out the voices of the four students.

Lin Bei didn't interrupt them and continued watching with great interest.

The four students refocused their attention, exchanged glances, closed their eyes, and began calling out the missing student's name.

"Bin Yue, Boyi, Nan, Kang Shu..."

They kept repeating the name, and Lana, who was getting impatient, couldn't help but open her eyes: "Did it work? This can't go on forever, can it?"

The other three stopped as well, opened their eyes and looked around.

The villa was pitch black, with the only light source in their hands. The surroundings looked no different from before; nothing had been added or removed.

Lana was somewhat disappointed: "What? Hao, is this soul-summoning ritual even real? We didn't summon a single one!"

When questioned, Hao's cheeks flushed slightly: "I don't know either. A friend of mine told me that someone had successfully summoned it on the island before... Is there something wrong with us?"

Just as the four were wondering, Lin Bei's calm laughter rang out again. "How could something be wrong? Look closely, they're already here."

As soon as Lin Bei finished speaking, the temperature inside the villa suddenly dropped.

Lana and Lin were startled and instinctively huddled together, looking around anxiously.

Yu was very annoyed with Lin Bei. He sneered and pointed the candle at Lin Bei: "Officer Lin, is it really okay for you to scare us like this? Besides, if they really come, shouldn't you be the one who's worried? You're not in the Salt Circle right now, and there's nothing to protect you."

Lin Bei crossed his legs, said nothing, and just stared at Yu with a smile.

No, it should be said that they were staring at Yu's back.

The three students standing nearby seemed to notice Lin Bei's gaze and subconsciously looked over as well.

When the three of them looked at Yu's back, their expressions changed simultaneously.

Lin and Lana screamed in terror almost instantly, then fell to the ground, nearly dropping the candles they were holding.

Hao was much calmer, but he wasn't much better off than Lin and Lana. His face was pale, his body was trembling slightly, but there was a hint of excitement on his face.

"It worked, it really worked!"

The three people's reactions made Yu's face freeze.

He swallowed hard and slowly turned his head to look behind him.

When five faces, each damaged and rotting to varying degrees, came into view, Yu's body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.

If Hao hadn't caught him, the candle in his hand would have fallen to the ground.

In the soul-summoning ceremony, the biggest taboo is not stepping out of the salt circle, but that the candle in your hand must not be extinguished before the ceremony ends.

A cold wind suddenly blew in from who-knows-where.

The candles in the four people's hands swayed slightly, and the light flickered, making the scene inside the villa clearer.

Five charred figures stood behind Yu, their heads bowed, straining to stretch their necks and bring their heads close to Yu.

If it weren't for the salt ring protecting them, who knows if those five heads would have landed on Yu and secretly started gnawing on his fresh flesh.

Soon, the four students in the salt circle also realized that they could not cross the salt circle, and the fear that had just appeared on their faces gradually faded.

They climbed up, holding candles, and stood excitedly opposite the five spirits, curiously observing them.

The four chattered about how the five people seemed to be really dead, and judging from their appearance, they seemed to have died a very tragic death.

On the sofa, Lin Bei listened to their ruthless discussion, a mocking expression appearing on his face.

Now that you've opened the door to another world, don't regret it later.

Lin Bei remained silent, simply watching the four students in the salt circle. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the windows and doors of the villa had been quietly opened, but he didn't react at all, quietly waiting for what would happen next.

The four students in the salt circle quickly realized that the spirits of the five students were just standing still and wouldn't attack them, and the remaining fear and unease in their hearts instantly dissipated.

They excitedly took out their phones to take photos with the spirits of the five students, and with the flash of the camera constantly going off, a series of funny photos were recorded on their phones.

The four were having a great time and naturally didn't notice the subtle changes that had taken place in the villa's living room.

Only after they were satisfied and put away their phones did Lana smile at Hao: "Alright, with these photos, we can show off to everyone when we get back to school. Come on, let's see them off. After they leave, let's enjoy ourselves. There's a lake near the villa; we can go swimming tomorrow during the day."

As she spoke, Lana gave Yu a suggestive glance.

Yu was momentarily excited, and he couldn't help but urge Hao to ask about the method of sending him away.

As all three eyes fell on Hao, Hao's smiling face gradually froze.

"Send them away...is the way to send them away simply to let them go?"

No one expected Hao to ask them a question in return.

The other three were somewhat bewildered. This was Hao's group, and Hao had taught them the soul-summoning ritual. The process of summoning the soul was very detailed, so how come Hao didn't know when it came to sending away the departed soul?
Hao's girlfriend, Lin, was a little anxious and tugged at Hao's sleeve: "Stop joking, Hao. You didn't forget how to send away the ghosts just now because you were too excited, did you? Think about it carefully."

Cold sweat began to creep onto Hao's forehead: "This...this really doesn't seem to be the case, because that friend told me that our summoning of the spirit might not be successful..."

Hao's words made the three of them freeze.

What does it mean?
Just then, Lin Bei, who had been sitting on the sofa watching the show for a long time, finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Hao, is there really a way to send away the souls of the dead? Think about it carefully, does your friend really exist?"

After Lin Bei said that, Hao's face really showed a look of confusion.

He discovered that he really couldn't remember who that friend was.

Hao was very popular at school and had countless friends who could be called brothers, but he couldn't remember the names and faces of them all.

But it's not like I can't remember anything at all.

But now, he really can't remember what the friend who told him about the soul-summoning ritual looked like.

What's going on?

Hao felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head. He panicked, and his flustered expression was quickly noticed by the other three.

Lana and the other two felt a chill run down their spines, realizing they were in trouble. Now that the summoning of the spirit had been successful, if they didn't send the soul away, nothing good would come of it.

They didn't know if the spirits would attack them, since they were still quite safe in the salt circle, but they couldn't stay there forever.

When the wax from the candle dripped down and onto the back of Lin's hand, she cried out in pain, nearly dropping the candle, and screamed in fright.

Seeing the four people's panicked appearance, Lin Bei kindly reminded them, "Hold on tight to the candles, or the undead and evil spirits will eat you if they go out."

The four of them shuddered simultaneously, ignoring the dripping wax, and gripped the candles tightly in their hands.

Hao took a deep breath, suppressing his panic, and quickly comforted everyone: "Don't be afraid, as long as we hold on until dawn, everything will be alright. Aren't the spirits afraid of sunlight? Once the sun comes out, they will definitely leave, and then we will be safe."

After hearing this, Lana and the other two all felt that this logic made sense, and they couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Lin Bei slowly stood up, walked slowly towards the salt circle, put one hand in his pocket and stopped outside the salt circle, chuckled.

"Do you really think so? The dead may indeed fear sunlight, but can the sun still rise in your world?"

Lana and the other three were taken aback and all looked at Lin Bei.

What does this mean?
What does it mean to say that in their world, the sun can still rise?
The sun will always rise; it's just a matter of time.

Seeing the blank looks on their faces, Lin Bei shrugged slightly and kindly offered a reminder.

"Alright, let me remind you, from the moment you started chanting the incantation, the flow of time on this island has changed from that outside."

Let me put it this way: by the time your candles burn out, the sun won't rise, and after the candles are extinguished, what do you think your fate will be? (End of Chapter)