The Terror of the Heavens Begins with Gu

Chapter 146 Detective Li Arrives in Person
Kong Zhaoming and his two companions booked three rooms.

Xiao Yuling said she was scared, so she squeezed into a room with Xiao Yulong and Xiao Youtian, and Kong Zhaoming stayed next to them.

The room where Li Zhen lived was right across from the three of them.

After making the arrangements, Xiao Yulong pulled Kong Zhaoming aside and asked him, "Is this monk reliable?"

Kong Zhaoming nodded: "Of course it's reliable. If it weren't for that note, we wouldn't have gotten this far."

"Although Master Chen is trustworthy, to be honest, he can't help us, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Xiao Yulong sighed: "I've dragged you into this."

“It has nothing to do with you; it’s my own fate to suffer this calamity.” Kong Zhaoming was very open-minded. “That’s just my personality. As Master Chen said, this is destiny.”

"We want to change our fate now, so we have to be careful about everything. Don't leave this house before Thursday. If you want to eat something, just call the front desk to order."

Xiao Yulong nodded and said, "I understand."

The three of them hadn't slept well last night and had gotten up early this morning, so they were exhausted and fell asleep as soon as they got back to their room.

As evening approached, Xiao Yulong and his companion were suddenly awakened by a rapid ringing of the telephone.

Upon waking up, Xiao Yulong answered the phone.

"Hey……"

Is Xiao Yuling there?

Upon hearing Xiao Yuling's name, Xiao Yulong immediately became alert: "Who are you?"

"Please inform Xiao Yuling that a bespectacled man went into her house, apparently looking for her, and hasn't come out yet."

Xiao Yulong remained silent.

Xiao Yuling rubbed her eyes and asked Xiao Yulong, "Brother, I heard that Four-Eyes came to my house looking for me? Our house is so dangerous, will Four-Eyes be alright?"

Xiao Yulong calmly said, "I received one of these strange phone calls before. When I went there, I found out it was a conspiracy by an evil spirit. It deliberately led us there. I've told you about it before."

Xiao Yuling said worriedly, "What if Four-Eyes really goes to our house? Brother, Four-Eyes is a good person, much better than Jonny before..."

Xiao Yulong frowned at Xiao Yuling and interrupted, "What you need to do now is study your lessons properly, not do these messy things. If you see him bothering you again, I'll break his legs!"

"I don't even know how many days I have left to live, what's the point of studying?" Xiao Yuling said dejectedly. "It's not that I necessarily want to be with Four-Eyes, but I can't just stand by and watch him die, can I?"

Frustrated, Xiao Yulong grabbed a handful of hair, walked out of the room, and knocked on Kong Zhaoming's door.

After listening to Xiao Yulong's words, Kong Zhaoming said, "This is probably a conspiracy by evil spirits to trick us, but we must be careful. Come with me."

He led Xiao Yulong to Li Zhen's room and knocked on the door.

Xiao Yuling peeked out of the room, curiously watching the backs of Li Zhen and Xiao Yulong.

The door opened silently, and Kong Zhaoming told Xiao Yulong to wait outside before entering Li Zhen's room.

Upon seeing Detective Li again, Kong Zhaoming felt that same heart-pounding fear once more.

He was about to speak when he looked up and saw the female demon sitting cross-legged in front of Li Zhen, and he was speechless for a moment.

At this moment, it was as if earthworms were slithering under her skin, causing her skin all over her body to swell up and then return to its original state.

Kong Zhaoming, unaware that this was a female demon, felt a chill run down his spine when he saw the woman before him remain unmoved by such a bizarre situation.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew over my head, as if something was brushing past it.

Startled, Kong Zhaoming looked up and saw a huge bat perched on the curtain, staring at him with eerie red eyes.

Kong Zhaoming, feeling as if his mind was being sucked away, swallowed hard.

Li Zhen's words broke the silence of the room and brought Kong Zhaoming back to his senses.

"It's that evil spirit causing trouble behind the scenes, don't pay any attention to it."

He had seen the trick of calling people to scam them before in the world of "The Haunted List," but it was just a small trick. He figured ignoring the evil spirits would be fine.

Kong Zhaoming asked in surprise, "Does the Master know what happened?"

Li Zhen said, "I sensed the evil thoughts of the demon entering the inn."

Kong Zhaoming breathed a sigh of relief, then hesitated and said, "If that evil spirit keeps coming like that, we don't know if we'll be fooled by him. After all, there are some things we're worried about."

"Hold on."

"Sorry to trouble you, Master."

Li Zhen took out several blue talisman papers, used his hand as a pen, quickly drew incantations on the talisman papers, and then handed all the talismans to Kong Zhaoming.

"If you stick the talisman behind the door, you can evade the evil spirit's pursuit and prevent it from finding you."

"Thank you, Master!"

Kong Zhaoming respectfully accepted the talisman and stepped back out the door.

After closing the door, he nodded to Xiao Yulong.

The two of them each pasted a talisman behind their doors, and after a night, nothing strange happened again.

Another day and night passed, and on Thursday night, Xiao Yulong, Kong Zhaoming, and the other two left the room.

The time they had agreed upon with Aunt Du was fast approaching, and the three of them had to set off for Xiao Yulong's house.

Xiao Youtian was left in the house by the three of them.

Kong Zhaoming arrived at Li Zhen's room and knocked on the door.

A few minutes later, the door was opened, and Li Zhen's pale, thin face appeared in front of them.

Xiao Yuling was so frightened that she hid behind Xiao Yulong.

Kong Zhaoming said, "Master, Aunt Du's ritual will begin at eight o'clock tonight. We need to set off now."

Li Zhen led the vampire and banshee, both dressed in smocks, out of the room.

A peculiar chill made Kong Zhaoming and the other two shiver.

It started raining heavily outside, and the black umbrella that Li Zhen had prepared came in handy that night.

Kong Zhaoming and his two companions, who had no umbrellas, were all soaked to the bone.

With too many people, Kong Zhaoming made arrangements. He himself became Li Zhen's driver, leading Li Zhen, the vampire, and the banshee to Xiao Yulong's house.

Xiao Yulong and his companion took a taxi there.

Half an hour later, Kong Zhaoming's car stopped downstairs at Xiao Yulong's house.

He glanced at Xiao Yulong's house through the rain-drenched window and felt a little uneasy.

That's where I encountered that evil spirit last time...

A few minutes later, the taxi that Xiao Yulong and his companion were in arrived downstairs.

Kong Zhaoming looked at Li Zhen in the back seat.

Li Zhen said, "Let them go up first."

When Xiao Yulong ran over, Kong Zhaoming opened the car window and shouted to Xiao Yulong, "You guys go up first and cooperate with Aunt Du in the ritual."

Xiao Yulong nodded, put his coat over Xiao Yuling's head, and pulled her towards the building where he lived.

Watching Xiao Yulong and his companion disappear, Kong Zhaoming glanced at Li Zhen again and noticed that Li Zhen seemed to be resting with his eyes closed. He had no choice but to suppress his anxiety and wait patiently.

Although Li Zhen's eyes were closed, he wasn't "resting" but rather sensing the state of the female demon beside him.

The succubus's ritual is almost complete.

After returning to the original world and finding some necessary items, the ritual to refine the banshee can be completed, uniting the banshee with oneself and making her one with one's second life.

……

When Xiao Yulong arrived at his home, he found that Du Sangu and others had already arrived and set up an altar in his house.

He had previously given the key to his room to Du Sangu and the others, agreeing that if Du Sangu and the others arrived first, they would go in and make the arrangements.

Xiao Yulong didn't expect that Du Sangu would arrive so early and had already completed the arrangements before his arrival.

He looked toward the altar.

At the very top of the altar stood the golden four-faced Buddha statue he had seen before, with offerings and an incense burner holding three sticks of incense in front of it.

A huge black pot was placed in front of the altar.

The liquid inside the pot was transparent, with a yellowish hue, resembling some kind of oil.

Nine tiles were arranged around the black pot, and on each tile was a piece of yellow paper with a ferocious ghost drawn on it.

Several brightly colored paper figures were placed in the house and suspended next to the black pot by thin ropes.

The remaining ropes were hung with incense sticks and some colorful paper lanterns.

The distinctive scent of incense and candles permeated every corner of the room.

Infected by the mysterious atmosphere here, Xiao Yulong and his companion both became somewhat nervous.

Besides Master Chen and Aunt Du, there were two other monks helping out in the room.

Du Sangu grabbed the chicken's head, drew several circles in front of the memorial tablet decorated with flowers, and handed the tablet to Xiao Yulong. Pointing to the tiles next to the black pot, she explained to Xiao Yulong, "There are nine tiles here, symbolizing the nine levels of hell."

"I will perform a ritual to break through hell for that evil spirit. If I can break these nine tiles, it means that the evil spirit agrees to resolve its grievances with you."

"If it can't be broken, it means it has no intention of resolving the grievances, and the situation will be very dangerous."

"But don't worry too much. I will chant a spell to force it to appear. You just need to go to the Four-Faced Buddha, remove the yellow cloth, and the Four-Faced Buddha will appear to protect you." Xiao Yulong glanced at the Four-Faced Buddha and saw a monk covering it with a yellow cloth.

He told Xiao Yuling to stand aside and asked Du Sangu, "Why did you cover up the Four-Faced Buddha?"

“This shows our sincerity, so as not to anger that evil spirit right away.” Du Sangu returned to the altar, picked up a ritual implement and examined it. “Besides, if we anger it and it doesn’t come, then there will be no room for negotiation, and you will be in big trouble.”

“If it doesn’t agree to a settlement, then we…”

"In that case, there's nothing I can do but take it one step at a time. To be honest, I'm not very confident in dealing with this evil spirit."

After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Yulong said, "I also invited a sorcerer to help. The sorcerer is downstairs right now."

Aunt Du said nonchalantly, "It's alright, as long as they don't bother us."

Master Chen, who was making the arrangements, wanted to speak, but after opening his mouth, he seemed to remember something and swallowed his words back.

As Xiao Yulong turned around, he suddenly saw a wanted criminal whom he had shot dead a few years ago standing in a corner of the room, grinning menacingly at him.

Noticing the change in his expression, Du Sangu comforted him, "The yin energy here is too heavy, and the resentment of the evil spirits has had a great impact on you. From now on, you will see many illusions, but don't be afraid, the Four-Faced Buddha will protect you."

Xiao Yulong nodded.

Du Sangu circled the oil cauldron once and then returned to the altar.

The monk holding the gong handed a magic sword to Du Sangu.

Another monk, holding a dharma bell, circled the oil pot, shaking the bell while placing an egg with a talisman drawn on it on each tile.

Du Sangu brandished her magic sword a few times, then walked towards the oil cauldron with it.

Two monks followed behind Du Sangu.

Amidst the ringing of bells and gongs, Du Sangu chanted incantations as she circled the oil pot, then suddenly shouted and forcefully chopped down on a tile.

The tile shattered instantly.

The monk holding the gong took a sip of something and sprayed it onto the oil pot. A large ball of flame immediately ignited on the oil pot, startling the chicken tied to it, which flapped its wings in fright.

Seeing the first tile successfully shattered, Xiao Yulong's heart sank back down.

Seeing Du Sangu raise her magic sword towards the second tile, Xiao Yulong's heart jumped again.

Frightened, Xiao Yuling hid behind the sofa, accidentally knocking over a chair with a "bang," which startled her.

Master Chen turned his head toward the source of the sound and nodded to Xiao Yuling, indicating that it was alright.

……

"Go see that evil spirit."

Li Zhen opened his eyes, opened the car door, got out of the car into the heavy rain, and pulled the vampire out of the car as well.

The more agile succubus got off the car on her own and followed behind Li Zhen.

Kong Zhaoming, who was in the driver's seat, quickly got out of the car and opened a black umbrella to shield Li Zhen's head.

Looking at the vampire and banshee behind Li Zhen, he hesitated whether to extend the umbrella to shield the two "people" from the rain.

"Ignore them, they're not people." Li Zhen walked towards Xiao Yulong's house.

Kong Zhaoming didn't understand what Li Zhen meant at first. When he realized what he meant, his hand holding the umbrella trembled slightly.

“I don’t like the fate that makes good people die tragically.” Li Zhen’s voice drew Kong Zhaoming’s attention.

Amid the pattering rain, Li Zhen's voice continued: "I've always believed that if a person is good, they deserve to live longer and better; if a person is bad, they deserve to die. Within my means, I usually lend a helping hand to good people."

Kong Zhaoming nodded vigorously: "I agree with the Master's view!"

"You have no resentment on you; you can be considered a good person."

“I made some minor mistakes when I was a child, but as I said, I have never done anything against my principles as an adult.”

"Then you should live to a ripe old age."

"Alas, if it weren't for the monk's help, I might have died long ago. Now I don't want to die of old age, I just want to live to the day I retire and enjoy a few days of peace and happiness."

"Nail this to the grass directly opposite Xiao Yulong's house, three nails forming a triangle, then pour the contents of this into the nails." Li Zhen took out three nails with runes drawn on them and a glass jar containing liquid from behind the vampire and handed them to Kong Zhaoming.

Kong Zhaoming returned the umbrella to Li Zhen and stepped into the rain.

He hammered the first nail, about the size of a thumb, into the grass. Seeing that the runes on the nail had faded somewhat from the rain, he quickly said to Li Zhen, "The rain is too heavy..."

Li Zhen interrupted, "It's alright, you need to hurry, that evil spirit is already here."

Without delay, Kong Zhaoming hammered in all three nails and then poured the pungent liquid from the jar onto each nail.

Puffs of green smoke rose from under the nail, causing Kong Zhaoming to cough a few times.

He looked up and saw that Li Zhen had taken out several more jars and several more talismans.

A child... no, a pale-faced little devil appeared out of thin air in front of Li Zhen and caught the things.

An uncontrollable sense of fear rose in Kong Zhaoming's heart, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably.

This is definitely a ghost!
That monk actually kept a ghost child?!

More than one.

And those two...

Sensing Kong Zhaoming's gaze, the little devil smiled at Kong Zhaoming and then disappeared from the spot.

The canister flying through the air appeared to tilt itself, pouring its liquid onto the ground, and quickly circled the old building once.

The talismans were also pasted in the appropriate places.

Seeing this, Kong Zhaoming swallowed hard, speechless for a moment.

Seeing Li Zhen walk into the building, he quickly got up and followed him.

……

Seeing that he had cut the first seven tiles very smoothly, Xiao Yulong became optimistic.

Perhaps that evil spirit will agree to resolve the feud with the Xiao family...

But what happened before his eyes dispelled his wishful thinking.

Before the eighth tile, Du Sangu shouted and chopped it down with force.

The eggs on the tile were shaken away, but the tile itself remained completely still.

Du Sangu's expression changed, and she raised her magic sword and slashed down again, but still failed to shatter the tile.

The demon image on the tile seemed to come alive, emanating an eerie aura.

The chicken hanging above struggled more and more violently, and its eyes gradually took on the appearance of a ferocious demon.

Upon hearing this voice, Master Chen had a bad feeling.

Xiao Yulong's unease intensified.

Du Sangu tried her best, slashing at the tile several times, but still couldn't break it.

The chicken hanging in the air suddenly broke free of the rope binding it and fiercely pounced on Xiao Yulong's face.

Xiao Yulong, who was agile and had arrested countless suspects, had never seen such a fierce chicken before, and was momentarily knocked to the ground in a sorry state.

"elder brother!"

Xiao Yuling, her face changing drastically, ran towards Xiao Yulong.

Du Sangu and the monk with the magic bell were even faster.

The monk reached out and grabbed the chicken.

With a flick of her magic sword, Du Sangu sent the chicken flying into the oil pot.

The other monk spat out a mouthful of air in perfect unison.

The chicken burst into flames and turned into a "roasted chicken," which ran around the house a few steps before calming down.

Xiao Yuling rushed over and hurriedly helped Xiao Yulong up.

There was no time for anyone in the room to catch their breath.

They heard a knock on the door just as the chicken died.

They exchanged a glance, and the monk holding the sutra bell cautiously opened the door.

Suddenly, a strong force pulled it outward.

The monk fell down the stairs, and the door behind him slammed shut with a bang.

The monk, who was being dragged down the stairs by the force, suddenly saw a cobra with its head raised, waiting for him menacingly at the bottom of the stairs.

How could someone survive being bitten by such a large cobra?
The monk let out a desperate scream.

Suddenly, the monk who had rolled to the middle of the stairs stopped.

After feeling the strange force dragging him away disappear, the monk's first reaction was relief, followed by bewilderment.

Why did that evil spirit let him go?
The monk, whose whole body ached, struggled to sit up and looked down at the cobra at the bottom of the stairs, only to see a shadow looming over it.

His expression changed slightly, and following the shadow, he saw a young man with an eerily pale face walking up the stairs...

(End of this chapter)