Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 159 Indeed, he's not simple (Twentieth update)

A few seconds later, she opened her eyes and focused her gaze precisely on the bottom of an old cupboard in the corner of the kitchen. She whispered, "The place where the residual energy is most concentrated is there. It has a strong attachment, but the main body is very weak. It's like... a long-standing obsession that has been activated by some recent factor."

Xu Yan nodded. He didn't immediately raise his camera, but walked to that corner and glanced at the dusty bottom of the cupboard and the wall.

He stretched out his finger and gently ran it over a slightly darker, barely noticeable mark at the base of the wall, feeling a faint coolness and a slight stickiness at his fingertips.

“It’s water stains, caused by long-term seepage.” Xu Yan stood up and said to Li Fugui, “Mr. Li, has this area been damp for a long time? Or, has any unfortunate incident related to water occurred in this house before?”

Li Fugui paused for a moment, then tried to recall, "This...this corner is indeed a bit damp, and it's been repaired several times but it's never completely fixed...As for the unfortunate incident...I heard an old neighbor mention it briefly. Many years ago, an old craftsman lived in this house, and it seems...he got drunk and accidentally fell into the reservoir behind it and died..."

“That’s right.” Chen Zhiwei understood. “Water belongs to Yin. A long-term damp environment, coupled with the lingering obsession of the deceased, perhaps because they couldn’t bear to leave their home, or perhaps because of unfulfilled wishes, has by chance formed a weak ‘home spirit.’ It’s not an evil spirit, but more like a ‘memory echo’ stuck on the edge of reality. It doesn’t have the ability to actively harm people, but its energy field can interfere with the magnetic field of the living, causing sensory abnormalities and nightmares.”

This is the difference between them and the brutal "exorcism" faction—they understand first, then deal with it.

"What do we do now?" Li Fugui asked nervously.

"Soothe it, then send it where it needs to go," Xu Yan said calmly.

He did not choose to violently seal away this faint obsession with a camera, as that would be too cruel for it and might damage the valuable information about the past that it might contain at its core.

Chen Zhiwei took out three sticks of pale purple incense from his cloth bag—"Soul-Soothing Incense".

She rubbed her fingertips together, and the incense stick ignited without a flame, producing wisps of smoke. The smoke wasn't pungent; instead, it carried a delicate fragrance that calmed the mind.

She placed the incense stick in a small incense holder in front of the cupboard. The wisps of smoke curled up like gentle tentacles, beginning to soothe the restless energy particles in the space.

At the same time, she chanted a deep and melodious "Soul-Soothing Mantra," the syllables ancient and simple, carrying a strange soothing power, like a mother's whisper, comforting the lost and lingering thoughts.

Xu Yan stood obediently to the side, a small, peach-wood-carved "Boat of Rebirth" that had appeared in his hand at some point.

He gathered an extremely pure and gentle wisp of spiritual energy at his fingertips and gently touched it onto the "Boat of Rebirth".

The small boat glowed faintly, generating a gentle pulling force, like a guiding light for a lost soul.

Under the combined effects of the soothing incense and the soothing incantation, the cold, obsessive thought clinging to the corner of the wall began to fluctuate slightly.

However, it did not melt away as gently as expected; instead, it was like disturbed deep water, with strange ripples spreading across its surface.

The faint lights struggled, stubbornly clinging to their spot despite being gently pulled by the "Boat of Rebirth," as if something underwater was holding them firmly in place.

Just then, Chen Zhiwei's hands, which were holding the compass, suddenly sank!
She suddenly opened her eyes and saw that the compass needle in the center was no longer swinging steadily during the probe, but rather like a venomous snake whose tail had been stepped on. It first trembled violently, and then began to vibrate at a high frequency, with an unsettling "humming" sound.

The pointer wasn't pointing in a specific direction; instead, it seemed to have lost its sense of direction in extreme fear, frantically drawing small circles around the area where the cupboard was located, spinning faster and faster until it almost became a blur.

"No!" Chen Zhiwei's voice suddenly rose, tinged with fear. "This thing is faking it! Its core isn't a weak obsession at all; there's an extremely cold and chaotic power hidden beneath it, mimicking the fluctuations of a low-level spirit to deceive us!"

Xu Yan's eyes sharpened. He immediately stepped forward, not approaching the cupboard rashly, but instead drawing his fingers like a sword, slowly tracing them in front of his eyes, a faint silver glint in his eyes.
He activated his spiritual vision.

In his vision, the corner of the cupboard was no longer just cold and gloomy, but was occupied by a mass of energy that was constantly changing shape and dark in color like dirty blood. Deep within its core, a twisted, malevolent, and painful face could be vaguely seen flashing by.

“It’s not a household spirit,” Xu Yan said in a low voice, “it’s a ‘vengeful puppet’! A vicious thing that devours other weak spirits, mimics their characteristics to disguise itself, and waits for an opportunity to erode the souls of the living. Granny Xue… as expected, she doesn’t know how to introduce simple jobs to us.”

He knew perfectly well that this thing, though seemingly weak, could be easily dealt with using conventional harmless disposal procedures, and could be easily soothed with methods such as calming incense.

On the contrary, it may provoke it to fight back. If the camera is used to seal it in haste, it may not only cause its memory loss to worsen due to its strong resistance, but may even make it desperate and hurt innocent people.

Upon hearing this, Li Fugui and the two scarred men at the door both changed their expressions.

Li Fugui, in particular, felt his legs tremble at the thought of himself and his family sharing a room with such a thing.

"Then...what should we do?" Li Fugui's voice trembled.

Xu Yan didn't answer. Instead, he turned around abruptly and shouted at the two burly men at the door, "Back off! Guard the door, don't let any scent leak out, and don't let anything escape!"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the shadow in the corner of the cupboard suddenly boiled over.

A chilling, bone-deep malice, carrying a strong pulling force, surged forth like a tidal wave, no longer the disguise of the past.

The temperature in the room plummeted, the lights flickered wildly, and it was as if countless venomous whispers were resounding directly in everyone's minds.

"Ugh——!"

A gray-black, tentacle-like energy composed of pure resentment suddenly shot out from the shadows, but instead of heading towards Xu Yan or Chen Zhiwei, it rushed straight towards Li Fugui, who was closest and had lost his composure.

The speed is amazing!

"careful!"

Chen Zhiwei exclaimed in surprise, and the Soul-Suppressing Bell rang instantly. The clear and melodious bell formed a barrier, barely blocking the resentful tentacles.

However, the "Vengeful Puppet" was exceptionally cunning, and its main attack on Li Fugui was merely a feint.

Another, more solid, dark black energy spike silently bypassed the bell barrier and attacked Xu Yan, who was standing to the side and seemed to have no time to react, like a venomous snake.

The power contained in this strike was enough to pierce through an ordinary silver-level psionic defense.

The two scarred men at the door saw it clearly and felt a chill of death rushing towards them. They had no doubt that if they faced this attack, they would definitely die.

(End of this chapter)