I'm modifying myself into the ultimate demon.

Chapter 96 Peerless Ferocious Ghost, the True Form of the Yellow-Robed Infant!!!
Chen Mo never expected to see Shen Yujun in person here.

This is the mother of the spirit infant!

Many strange events in Qinghe Town and even Honghe County began at the Li residence... after Shen Yujun gave birth to that child...

But the problem is...

According to Granny Li's original account, when Shen Yujun gave birth to the spirit infant, Granny Li was just a maid in the Li household. Granny Li's daughter, Li Hongxi, had died twenty years earlier.

Li Hongxi was thirteen years old when she died.

In other words, thirty-three years have passed since Li Hongxi was born.

In addition, Granny Li wandered for several years after fleeing the Li residence... So, we can make a rough estimate: it has been almost forty years since Shen Yujun gave birth to the spirit infant.

Therefore, Shen Yujun must be over sixty years old.

This was in ancient times; there weren't many cosmetics or skincare products available. The average lifespan was only forty or fifty years. Sixty years old was considered a long life.

The woman in the Xiuhe dress in front of me, although wearing a red veil, had skin on her forehead and arms that was clearly like that of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, so delicate and flawless.

How...is this done?
True internal martial arts skills?

Is it really that outrageous?
Upon careful consideration, Chen Mo felt a chill run down his spine.

Not only Chen Mo thought so, but the other managers around him also had similar thoughts. They all shrank their necks, gripped their broadswords tightly, and adopted a vigilant and wary posture.

Clearly, the name Shen Yujun evokes a strong sense of fear in people.

Da da da.

Madam Shen ignored Zhu Yutong and Granny Gu, and instead carried the rag doll baby. Wearing red embroidered shoes, she slowly walked to an empty seat and sat down. Without looking at anyone, she gently stroked the rag doll in her arms with great affection.

Madam Shen remained silent, so Granny Gu and Zhu Yutong dared not get up and continued to kneel respectfully.

After gently stroking the doll for a long time, Madam Shen slowly raised her head, glanced at everyone, and said coldly, "I haven't been out for a long time, and I'm feeling restless at home. I heard some noise here just now, so I came out for a walk to clear my head. Don't bother with these formalities, get up. Make me a bowl of plain noodles. The original taste."

Zhu Yutong and his wife then got up, and Zhu Yutong instructed the waiter to go to the kitchen to prepare plain noodles.

Granny Gu approached Madam Shen respectfully, bent down to pour her tea, and said, "Madam Shen, these people are wicked. They just killed my son. Moreover, they are here looking for Feizhan and Yanqing, those two lackeys. We cannot let them leave."

Madam Shen did not answer, but lowered her head to stroke the rag doll, her eyes full of kindness.

A short while later, Zhu Yutong came over with a bowl of plain noodles. "Madam, here's your plain noodles. Please enjoy them while they're hot."

Madam Shen picked up her chopsticks and ate the noodles with gusto, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, this is the taste. When I first met Li Qing, he treated me to a bowl of plain noodles like this."

Although Granny Gu was anxious, she didn't dare to ask any more questions. She just stood there with her back bent, as if she was very afraid of Madam Shen.

Guo Ziyu and Chen Mo's group did not make a move; they simply held their broadswords and talismans, cold sweat dripping down their foreheads.

Madam Shen was simply eating a bowl of noodles, yet she exuded a suffocating sense of oppression, making everyone afraid to move.

Not long after, Madam Shen finished her noodles, put down her chopsticks, took out a handkerchief to wipe the grease from the corner of her mouth, and then said to Granny Gu, "Your son is dead, so be it. You can come to my room later and take another one."

Granny Gu dared not refute, and nodded in agreement, "But those few people... we can't let them go. If they go back and tell Shao Siming, I'm afraid there will be endless trouble."

Madam Shen picked up the rag doll again and gently stroked it. "Let's be honest and upright people, and not resort to fighting and killing all the time. By the way, my Li residence is currently short of a few servants and helpers. They can fill this vacancy. Let them come and work at the Li residence."

Granny Gu was greatly surprised: "This..."

Ignoring Granny Gu's emotions, Madam Shen slowly stood up and looked at Chen Mo and the others: "Since you've come to town and don't have a place to stay, if you don't mind that my Li residence is dilapidated, why not come here and find some work to make a living? What do you say?"

The group of incense masters looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Madam Shen continued, "I know you want to leave here and go back to Black Mountain Village. But... now that you've come in and seen the Li residence, there's no way you can get out..."

After saying this, Madam Shen looked up at the gray sky and said, "It's daytime now, so it's alright. But if it gets to night, someone could die. I'm just a woman, and I don't like to force others. If you've made up your minds, you can come and knock on the door of my Li residence anytime."

After leaving a message, Madam Shen, carrying the rag doll, stepped out of the house in her red embroidered shoes and left.

She walked slowly down the street, returned to the main gate of the Li residence, opened the red-lacquered gate, entered the Li residence, and disappeared.

"Today, the lady is kind-hearted and spoke up for you, so you're lucky to be alive!" Granny Gu said sinisterly, then left with the five paper figures.

Chen Mo also looked in the direction Granny Gu left and vaguely saw that Granny Gu went to the burial parlor at the end of the street.

Chen Mo remembered that brothel.

The ghostly figure that had followed me last time.

At that time, the puppet servant that Zhu Qingfeng controlled with his black magic was reporting the news to Granny Gu in that ward.

After Granny Gu left, Zhu Yutong returned to behind the counter and resumed calculating on the abacus. Meanwhile, the waiter continued wiping the tables and chairs repeatedly.

Although the danger seemed to have temporarily passed, everyone remained on edge and dared not relax their vigilance in the slightest.

Han Fei, the head of the Gongdezhuang incense shop, swallowed hard and asked, "Vice Hall Master Li, this place is eerily eerie. Let's leave quickly."

Wang Hansheng, the head of the Red Lantern Manor, immediately chimed in: "Yes, after all, we already know that Elders Feizhan and Yanqing are dead and have been made into paper figures. We can report back to them."

Although Li Qiuhan held the highest rank among those present, she didn't dare to make the decision herself. Instead, she turned to Chen Mo beside her and asked, "Young Master Mo, what do you think?"

Clearly, after what just happened, everyone realized that this newly appointed Master Chen is quite remarkable.

Chen Mo carefully considered what Madam Shen had just said.

It seemed that Madam Shen was quite certain that once everyone came to Qinghe Town, they would never be able to leave.

But Chen Mo decided to go and see first, as staying here was too unsafe.

"Okay, let's leave the town first."

With Chen Mo's permission, everyone filed out of the Spring Breeze Inn. Chen Mo was at the very back, glancing at the waiter wiping the table and Zhu Yutong calculating with an abacus as he left.

Logically speaking, wiping tables and chairs is the waiter's job, and keeping accounts is indeed the manager's job, so there's nothing unusual about it.

but……

Chen Mo clearly saw the waiter wiping the table again and again, even though the table and chairs were already spotless.

This is unreasonable.

Besides, this inn hardly has any guests at all, so where would there be so many accounts to calculate? Why would it take so long to do all this?

With this in mind, Chen Mo made a point of going around to the counter before leaving and glancing at Zhu Yutong's position.

Suddenly, I saw Zhu Yutong repeatedly striking the same few abacus beads.

I dialed it again and again.

Having made up his mind, Chen Mo left the inn and followed the others back the way they came.

The streets were quiet on both sides. A gust of wind blew up paper money scattered all over the ground. The peddlers on both sides sat with their heads down in front of their stalls, not saying a word. The atmosphere was very solemn.

The whole town was shrouded in a gray haze, with very low visibility.

Wang Hansheng led the way, carrying a red lantern. He walked quickly, constantly muttering, "Everyone, keep up with me, let's leave this place as soon as possible."

The people behind followed suit.

Besides Wang Hansheng, Han Fei, Li Qiuhan, Chen Mo, Guo Songyang, and Guo Ziyu, there were four other managers. Everyone was under a lot of pressure and hurried on their way.

After walking for a long time, Wang Hansheng suddenly said, "I've calculated the distance. If we walk another hundred or so feet and then turn a corner, we should be back at the Stone Gate. When we reach the corner, everyone stay close to me."

Seeing a glimmer of hope for getting out, Wang Hansheng led the way across the street.

However, as he turned the corner... Wang Hansheng suddenly stopped.

Han Fei, who was following behind, saw that Wang Changsheng was standing still and urged, "Why aren't you moving..."

Before he could finish speaking, Han Fei was speechless and gasped in shock.

The stewards who followed also stopped, dumbfounded.

Even Chen Mo was dumbfounded.

The bend has been turned, but... what is that stone gate in front of us?
It's clearly the Li residence!
There's also that three-way intersection, and the Spring Breeze Inn.

The surrounding fog thickened, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Through the wide-open door of the inn, you could still see the waiter wiping the tables and chairs inside, and Zhu Yutong sitting behind the counter calculating with an abacus, making a "clattering" sound as the beads clicked.

Wang Hansheng was taken aback: "How could this be? We were guided by the lanterns of the Red Lantern Goddess all the way, and we also activated our spirit-preserving techniques. It's not that easy to encounter a ghost wall."

Han Fei's voice was weak, "We've entered the Ghost Land! The Ghost Land will absorb our souls and essence. We can't stay here. We have to find a way to leave as soon as possible. Vice Hall Master Li, what do you suggest we do?"

Li Qiuhan looked at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo said, "We brought talismans with us, so let's draw a few exorcism talismans on the spot and stick them on our bodies. Then we'll all activate our spirit-preserving techniques and walk along the original path again!"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and they took out talismans, talisman brushes, cinnabar, and other materials to draw exorcism talismans. Then, each person affixed an exorcism talisman to their body, preparing to walk along the same route again.

Just as they were about to continue their journey, Chen Mo said, "Wait."

After saying that, Chen Mo went to the side of the street, took an empty ceramic jar, filled it with fine sand, poked a small hole in the bottom of the jar, and then led the way: "Let's go."

Everyone followed Chen Mo and retraced the route they had taken.

As a result, after turning a bend that should have led back to the Stone Gate, we ended up back at the entrance of the Spring Breeze Inn.

Many of the managers were devastated, terrified, and their faces turned pale.

Although they were usually quite imposing in the village, all being internal martial arts masters and possessing techniques for preserving their spirit, Qinghe Town had long been a dangerous place in their minds. Having learned of the deaths of Sun Mu, He Xiao, and the two elders, they were naturally filled with panic and became no different from ordinary workers.

"We're doomed, we're probably going to end up like Sun Mu and He Xiao."

"Not to mention Sun Mu and He Xiao, even the two highly skilled elders, Fei Zhan and Yan Qing, are dead. What are we going to do?"

"If I had known that Zhu Qingfeng was a spirit infant attendant, I shouldn't have come. I shouldn't have come even if it meant my death."

"..."

Annoyed by what he heard, Chen Mo shouted, "Shut up, all of you!"

With a shout of anger, everyone fell silent.

Chen Mo looked at the fine sand in the jar; half of it had been lost.

He walked to the side of the street, squatted down, and continued to fill the earthenware jar with fine sand, saying, "Let's walk along the same route again."

This time, the managers were clearly unwilling, and some even said, "We've entered a ghost town, and we can't get out. It's just a waste of our energy; we might as well conserve it."

Li Qiuhan shouted, "Listen to Young Master Mo!"

He's just a deputy hall master after all, so his words still carry weight.

And so, everyone followed Chen Mo for the third time.

As expected, they returned to the entrance of the Li residence and the Chunfeng Inn once again.

Chen Mo noticed that this time, all the fine sand in the ceramic jar had drained out.

His walking speed was exactly the same as last time.

Thus, Chen Mo made his judgment: "The same road, the same pace. Every time we take it twice as long. This shows that this hellish place is constantly changing. Moreover, I suspect that the flow of time here is different from that outside. Without finding the reason, we really... will never be able to get out."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a sense of despair.

Chen Mo tossed aside the ceramic jar and asked Guo Ziyu, "Miss Ziyu, didn't you come into the town last time but then leave again? How did you manage that?"

Guo Ziyu frowned as well, "The situation last time was different from this time. Last time I didn't go deep into the town and didn't see the Li residence. Now that we've seen the Li residence, we can't get out."

Chen Mo recalled that Madam Shen had said something similar, and frowned as he asked, "Why is it that once you see the Li residence, you can't leave?"

Guo Ziyu shook her head: "I don't know the reason either, it's just my speculation. Does Young Master Mo remember the transmission route of madness?"

Chen Mo said, "I remember, just hearing a story or seeing something... can cause one to contract madness. Could it be..."

Guo Ziyu said, "That's right. As long as you hear or see something, it will form a vision in your mind. This vision can cause madness. And I know of a special kind of ghostly place that is the same. Once you've seen something, you can never get out of it."

Chen Mo fell silent.

If everyone were just an ordinary person, it would be understandable.

But they are all internal martial arts masters, and they have also cultivated the art of preserving their spirit. It is quite absurd that they would still be unable to leave.

Guo Ziyu continued, "This kind of ghostly place is called the place of the heart demon, or the place of the ghost curse. It means that if you see something, that thing becomes your inner demon and you are cursed by the ghost."

Chen Mo said, "If that's the case, is it possible that all of this is an illusion?"

Guo Ziyu shook her head: "For ordinary people, encountering such a strange place might be an illusion. But we have all cultivated the Goddess's Spirit Preservation Method. If we can still be cursed by a ghost, then it is not an illusion, but a real ghost curse."

The land of the cursed ghosts...

So, if I just activate the blood of the Ghost Curse, wouldn't I be able to resist the inner demons of the Ghost Curse Land and get out?
However, with many stewards gathered around, Chen Mo couldn't easily activate the blood of the Ghost Curse.

Just then, Han Fei suddenly spoke up, "Wei Song, what are you digging for?"

Wei Song was a manager, probably in his forties, and quite capable.

Hearing Han Fei's words, everyone turned to look. Chen Mo also turned his head and saw Wei Song squatting by the side of the street, digging in the dirt with his hands.

Li Qiuhan said to Han Fei, "Go tell him to stop digging and have him come over." Han Fei nodded in agreement, walked over to Wei Song, and patted Wei Song on the shoulder, "Wei Song, what are you digging for? The deputy hall master is telling you to stop digging."

Just then, Wei Song slowly turned his head and looked at Han Fei.

"what!!"

Han Fei suddenly yelled and plopped down on the ground, "How did Wei Song turn into a paper doll? Ah... my hands... my body! Deputy Hall Master, save me!!!"

Before Han Fei could finish speaking, his body gradually turned into a paper doll, then he lost consciousness completely. Finally, he walked to Wei Song's side and began digging in the dirt...

Wang Hansheng gasped in shock, exclaiming, "What kind of hellhole is this? Two incense masters with fourth-level internal martial arts skills have turned into paper figures?"

Li Qiuhan immediately spread her arms, gesturing for everyone to step back: "Everyone, don't get close to Han Fei and Wei Song, and absolutely do not touch them. Anyone who touches them will turn into a paper doll. Wang Hansheng, quickly take the Empress's red lantern."

Wang Hansheng nodded in agreement, then exclaimed, "Look... the red lanterns have turned white!"

brush!
Everyone turned to look and were astonished to see that the red lantern in Wang Hansheng's hand had turned white.

As the lanterns turned white, everything around them slowly turned white as well.

The two paper figures, Wei Song and Han Fei, also turned white.

Wang Hansheng screamed frantically, "The Red Lantern Goddess's red lanterns have stopped working! In all my years in Honghe County, this is the first time I've seen such a bizarre sight. Even the Goddess can't protect us anymore."

Chen Mo felt a sense of unease and turned to look at Guo Ziyu. Guo Ziyu said, "It's the White-Robed Ghost! A White-Robed Ghost with extremely profound cultivation. At least sixty years of cultivation, perhaps even a hundred years..."

Before Guo Ziyu could finish speaking...

Clang!

Clang! Clang!

The shops that had been tightly closed on both sides of the street opened their doors one by one. One by one, white paper figures emerged from them. It turned out that the peddlers who had been bowing their heads had also transformed into white paper figures.

Countless white paper figures appeared from all directions and walked towards Chen Mo.

Many of the managers were so frightened that their legs went weak.

Chen Mo immediately activated his cheat system and saw that each of the paper figures had a square frame on it.

They all start with three black bars, but there are also four, five, six, seven, or eight bars.

The original solution is the essence!

Countless original solutions and essential insights!!

If there were only a few white paper figures, Chen Mo would have really planned to absorb the essence of the original solution, but right now... there are too many white paper figures. If he gets surrounded, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Chen Mo immediately said, "Since we can't get out, let's go to the Li residence. All the answers must be there. Follow me to the Li residence."

Clang!

Chen Mo drew his sword and charged forward, slashing fiercely at the white paper figure at the front.

His true energy surged, emitting a sharp whistling sound, instantly cleaving the paper figure in two.

[Original Solution Essence +100]

Seeing that Chen Mo had taken the lead, everyone didn't have time to think much and quickly drew their swords, following Chen Mo to attack the Li residence.

Bang!
Chen Mo slashed at the white paper figure in front of him again, instantly burning it to ashes.

[Original Solution Essence +130]

And so, everyone followed Chen Mo and quickly rushed toward the main gate of the Li residence.

Although there were many paper figures on both sides of the street, fortunately, they hadn't formed an encirclement. With Chen Mo leading the way, and Li Qiuhan and Guo Ziyu being quite powerful, they managed to fight their way through.

By the time Chen Mo arrived at the gate of the Li residence, he had already absorbed a full 700 points of Original Essence.

Bang bang bang.

Chen Mo knocked on the door forcefully.

The door didn't open.

More and more paper figures emerged from the streets, densely packed together, which was quite frightening and sent chills down everyone's spines.

Just then, a "ding-a-ling" sound came from afar.

Upon hearing the sound, the paper figures stopped, retreated to the sides, and lowered their heads, looking extremely frightened.

Chen Mo looked in the direction of the sound and saw two people in the distance. One was a woman dressed in a white robe and a tall hat, shaking a bell in her hand. The other was a man dressed in a black robe and a tall black hat, holding a flute and occasionally playing a tune.

Is this some kind of Black and White Impermanence?
Chen Mo immediately opened the cheat code panel to check. He figured it might be impossible to read, but he could at least see how many black bars the other side had.

however……

The sight that greeted Chen Mo sent a chill down his spine.

This is no longer a question of how many black bars there are.

Instead, the boxes were misaligned, and it took a while to correct them.

[An area exceeding the initial bounding box was detected, triggering the box color adjustment... Box color adjustment complete.]

?

Inspire the color scheme of the box?
What the hell?

He looked at the white paper figure beside him; the original black frame and black bars had changed color, becoming transparent.

Looking at the "Black and White Impermanence" again, the frame and bars immediately changed color, turning white.

Each has a white pole.

What do you mean?
The color scheme of the box has been adjusted. Does this mean these two Black and White Impermanence are even more powerful than the coffin of the Red Lantern Goddess?
Guo Ziyu's pupils constricted at this moment: "This is an existence surpassing the White-Robed Ghost; it's the Yellow Page Ghost. It can directly absorb a person's spirit. Our ordinary cultivation methods are ineffective against them. Unless we use the Empress's Inner Illumination Divine Power..."

Just then——

Squeak.

The red-lacquered gate opened.

"come on in."

……

Once inside the Li residence, everyone sat in the courtyard's veranda, panting heavily, their eyes constantly glancing at the tightly closed red-lacquered gate. They seemed afraid that the Black and White Impermanence outside might burst in.

Madam Shen, still dressed in her red Xiuhe dress and wearing a red veil, holding a rag doll baby, quietly looked at the red-lacquered gate and said, "On this day every month, after nightfall, the two of them will come out looking for people. You will have no chance of survival if you stay outside."

Everyone looked at Madam Shen, then at the red-lacquered gate, and suddenly felt surrounded by wolves.

Chen Mo was the first to stand up and said calmly, "Thank you for your help, Madam Shen."

Madam Shen remained expressionless. "It's just a small matter. They won't be leaving anytime soon. You can stay here tonight. You can decide whether to stay or leave tomorrow morning."

Everyone had no choice but to agree, and then followed Madam Shen into a secluded villa.

There was a girl who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old in the courtyard. She was wearing a red jacket and was dressed like a young lady, not a maid.

Madam Shen explained, "This courtyard is specially for welcoming guests. You will stay here. Juan'er, please take good care of our distinguished guests."

After leaving a single sentence, Madam Shen departed.

This courtyard is quite large, with a main house and east and west wing rooms.

Juan'er suggested that everyone stay separately, but Li Qiuhan declined the offer and insisted that everyone stay together in the west wing. Juan'er didn't insist, and brought hot water and food to everyone, then said, "I'll stay in the east wing. Just call me if you need anything. Don't go out at night."

After saying that, Juan'er left.

They closed the door to the west wing and lit an oil lamp inside.

Meat was laid out on the table, but no one had an appetite.

After a night of running around, everyone was exhausted. Some of the managers, clutching their broadswords, simply leaned back in their deck chairs and fell asleep.

Some of the managers couldn't sleep, so they gathered together to discuss the matter.

"I hope nothing bad happens tonight. Once I get through tonight and leave, I'll never come back to Qinghe Town again, no matter what. This godforsaken place is even scarier than the rumors say."

"That's right, even the head of the red light police doesn't feel safe. I'll never come here again, even if it kills me."

Wang Hansheng pointed to a rag doll on the table in front of him and exclaimed in horror, "That rag doll looks very similar to the one in Madam Shen's arms. Could it be that this rag doll has some kind of origin?"

Chen Mo also glanced at the doll; it was the same, and it was facing away from everyone.

Li Qiuhan said, "It's just a rag doll. I suppose Shen Yujun lost her son, so she made a rag doll as a keepsake. Don't scare yourself. Young Master Mo, what do you think of today's events?"

Chen Mo said, "This Qinghe Town is probably even more bizarre than outsiders know. The waiter at the Chunfeng Inn has been wiping the tables the whole time. Zhou Yutong has been using an abacus the whole time. They are all doing the same things repeatedly. Madam Shen said that she could take another Zhu Qingfeng, who is dead. I suspect that this place is some kind of ghostly place where the dead can be resurrected. I even suspect that Zhu Yutong from our Black Mountain Stronghold Martial Arts Pavilion did not come in, and that this Zhu Yutong is a different person."

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines after listening to this.

Chen Mo stopped and said, "Don't overthink it. We've all learned skills. If all else fails, we still have Her Majesty's Inner Illumination Divine Power. As long as we're together, nothing should happen. Let's talk about it again tomorrow at dawn. We'll take turns on night watch and rest in shifts. Let's get our energy back first. I'll watch the first half of the night, and Miss Ziyu will watch the second half."

Once everyone had finalized the details, they all went to sleep.

Only Chen Mo remained, sitting cross-legged in a chair, warily observing his surroundings.

The night was deep, a cold wind was blowing outside the door, and the sound of everyone breathing evenly filled the living room.

It was unusually quiet.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Mo suddenly felt a rustling sound, so he opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound. To his surprise, he saw the doll on the table in the distance... which had been facing away from him, was now facing him directly.

Chen Mo felt uneasy and stared wide-eyed at the doll.

After a long while, seeing that the doll had not moved, he breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes to rest.

Not long after, Chen Mo suddenly opened his eyes.

Suddenly, he discovered that the doll had appeared on the table in front of him, staring intently at him.

Nima!

Just as Chen Mo was about to draw his sword to strike, the doll suddenly slowly raised its hand towards Chen Mo and even made a baby's voice, "My master wants to see you. He has something to say to you. You... come with me."

Your owner?

Chen Mo was puzzled.

The doll then said, "My master has seen you before."

Have you seen me?
Who?
I have seen two of my own ghost babies.

One was the one who watched the play at Old Xie's house, and the other was the one I saw around... the baby in the yellow robe.

Chen Mo instinctively felt it was the latter.

Chen Mo asked, "Is it someone wearing a yellow robe?"

The doll nodded. "Yes. My master means no harm."

Chen Mo had long wanted to see this yellow-robed infant, after all, it seemed that the infant's spirit had entered his body. His own cursed blood was most likely caused by that yellow-robed infant.

He could clearly be a human being, but he couldn't even be one. This made Chen Mo very upset for a time.

Moreover, Qinghe Town is so dangerous; now that we're here, it probably won't be easy for us to get out.

Not going to see them and hiding here doesn't seem like a solution either.

We'll have to face it sooner or later.

Moreover, the fact that I am a ghost is something that outsiders must not know.

With that in mind, Chen Mo stood up and said, "Lead the way."

The doll hopped and skipped out of the gate, and Chen Mo followed it all the way out. When they reached the courtyard gate, Chen Mo picked up a stone and threw it hard into the living room, causing a great commotion that was enough to wake Guo Ziyu and the others up.

Having accomplished all this, Chen Mo followed the puppet through countless corridors.

The entire Li residence was quiet; there was no one there at all.

Finally, they arrived at a dilapidated ancestral hall, filled with dust and without any lights. However, Chen Mo's eyesight was exceptional, and he could see clearly.

The doll walked to a pile of junk, rummaged through the countless items, and revealed a dilapidated shrine.

Then the doll pointed to the shrine, "Open it, and you'll see my master."

Chen Mo detached his ghostly form from his body, remaining vigilant and ready for defense. Then he walked to the shrine, crouched down, and slowly opened the shrine's door.

Sure enough, a baby in a yellow robe was sitting inside.

It's a physical entity, the real thing!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Next chapter, at noon.

(End of this chapter)