Peninsula: I'm being supported by a top idol.

Chapter 103 The Evil Shrine [Donated by the Panda Who Eats Tomatoes Alliance Leader]

Liu Zhimin revealed a mysterious smile: "Well—I'll tell you later. First, concentrate on finding and dealing with that troublesome brat."

After speaking, she took off her mask, removed the bow case from her shoulder and placed it on the clean floor beside her. With a "click," she unlocked the case, revealing the well-maintained recurve bow components and several practice arrows inside.

She skillfully assembled the bow and bowstring, adjusted the tension, and then inspected the shaft of the ancient-looking arrowhead.

Shin Yuna stared at her series of professional and cool movements, her mouth slightly agape, too surprised to ask any further questions.

The red-haired girl stared blankly for a while, then suddenly remembered something. She quickly turned around and carefully closed and locked the practice room door. Then she ran back and whispered, "Unnie, Shrine Maiden, the company doesn't know I invited the Shrine Maiden. We'd better finish this quickly to avoid being discovered."

"Hmm." Liu Zhimin nodded, turning his gaze to Jie Duoling.

Jie Duoling took out two folded yellow talismans from his bag and handed them to Liu Zhimin and Shen Youna respectively: "Madam, Youna, please keep these talismans close to your body. They can temporarily conceal the aura of the living and prevent direct impact from yin energy."

""

Shin Yuna quickly took it with both hands and carefully stuffed it into her jeans pocket. Yoo Jimin also took it and casually put it into the hidden pocket on the side of her skirt.

Once everything was ready, Jie Duoling walked to the small square table, lit three thin incense sticks, and inserted them into the incense burner, where wisps of smoke rose gently.

She picked up a palm-sized brass bell with a handle wrapped in five-colored silk threads, closed her eyes, and began to chant an ancient incantation with a peculiar rhythm while her wrist swayed rhythmically.

"Ring ring—ring ring—"

The crisp, ethereal sound of the bell echoed in the quiet underground practice room, carrying a strange power that seemed to penetrate space.

Jieduoling moved with a specific rhythm and route, slowly walking around the not-so-large practice room, with the sounds of bells and incantations constantly ringing out.

She walked slowly and carefully, as if touching every corner of the walls, floor, and ceiling with her voice and senses.

Liu Zhimin stood in the center of the room against the wall, his bowstring half-drawn, the arrowhead slightly adjusting its direction as Jie Duoling moved.

Shin Yuna was terrified when she heard about the "ghost-catching" ritual and planned to hide in the hallway outside once the shaman began her ceremony.

But now that Liu Zhimin is here, she's acting like a "professional exorcist," and her courage has inexplicably grown.

So he hid half his body behind Liu Zhimin, only sticking out half his head, and stared wide-eyed at Jie Duoling casting his spell.

Time ticked by, second by second, amidst the ringing of bells and chanting.

The incense sticks in the incense burner had burned more than halfway, and pieces of grayish-white ash broke off and fell down.

Jie Duoling had already walked through the practice room and the small storage room connected to it twice. The bell was still ringing crisply, but a hint of confusion gradually appeared between her brows.

Nothing happened.

There was no gathering of yin energy, and no unusual noises.

There wasn't even a trace of the resentment commonly seen in earthbound spirits.

As the incense burned out and the atmosphere grew increasingly eerie and silent, Shen Youna finally couldn't help but ask in a very soft voice, "Witch-nim—does the earth-bound spirit know we're here and is hiding?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Jie Duoling, who had been moving slowly and sensing with his eyes closed, suddenly stopped in his tracks!

"Shh—!" Jie Duoling immediately put a finger to her lips, signaling her to be quiet.

The confusion on the young witch's face vanished, replaced by an extremely solemn expression.

She slowly turned around, her gaze fixed on the smooth, white-painted plasterboard wall on one side of the practice room.

Liu Zhimin's spirits lifted, and he instantly drew the bowstring taut, the arrow tip pointing steadily at the wall. He asked in a low voice, "Is it here?"

Jie Duoling did not answer immediately, but walked slowly to the wall, extended her index finger, and used her fingernail to very carefully scrape a barely visible tiny gap at the joint between the edge of the plasterboard and the ceiling.

Upon scraping, some slightly darker dust fell down.

She nodded, then turned back to the two of them with a solemn expression, indicating that there was probably something else behind this wall, and it was definitely not solid.

Shin Yuna gasped and instinctively gripped the hem of her unnie's skirt.

Liu Zhimin's eyes sharpened, and his fingers gripped the bowstring firmly.

Jie Duoling picked up a new incense stick from beside the incense burner and lit it, but this time she did not insert it into the incense burner.

Instead, he put some raw meat inside, then held the raw meat and slowly brought the burning incense stick close to the crack in the plasterboard wall.

This is an enticing incense that mimics the scent of an altar, designed to attract wandering, unclaimed spirits to appear.

A strange sight appeared:

The rising column of blue smoke, as if drawn by an invisible force, no longer rose straight up, but instead, like a living snake, burrowed into the tiny crevice.

It looked like a slightly irregular, almost complete square outline was about to be drawn on the wall —

Just as the smoke trails were about to meet end to end and complete the closure, "Whoosh—!!!"

A chilling, eerie wind, seemingly from nowhere, suddenly billowed up in the enclosed underground practice room without warning!

The incense burner on the table clanged loudly as it was blown around, the embers of the incense flickered erratically, and several scattered talismans were blown into the air.

The temperature in the basement also dropped sharply, and a thin layer of white frost even instantly condensed on the walls!

Jie Duoling's expression changed drastically, and the incense stick in her hand snapped with a "crack".

She whirled around and, with all her might, yelled at the still-stunned Liu Zhimin and Shen Youna, "Back off!!"

"Bang!!!"

Before the words were even finished, a dull and enormous impact suddenly rang out!

It felt as if an invisible hammer had slammed down on that plasterboard wall!

Immediately afterwards, the smooth white plasterboard wall, starting from the center of the circular outline drawn by the smoke, suddenly bulged and twisted outward as if it had been blown apart by an internal explosion!

Then, with a loud "bang," the entire plasterboard tore off the wall frame and flew out!

Plasterboard fragments and dust flew everywhere, raising a choking white mist.

The three girls' eardrums rang from the sudden loud noise and impact, and they instinctively stepped back.

As the dust settled, they looked in horror at the large hole in the wall—inside were not bricks or pipes, but a carefully hidden, dark space about half a person's height.

Under the pale light of the practice room, one could clearly see that a shrine stood prominently in the space!

The shrine was ancient and eerie in style, unlike any ordinary Korean shrine. The wood was black and carved with twisted and indistinct patterns.

In the center of the shrine, there are no common statues or tablets of gods or Buddhas. Instead, there is a dilapidated wooden carving soaked in dark red stains.

You can vaguely make out that it is a little boy wearing hanbok.

However, his facial features presented a strange expression that was neither smiling nor crying.

Scattered around the wooden figure were some dried, blackened, and unrecognizable remnants of offerings.

The air was filled with a mixture of musty smells, stale incense, and a certain indescribable sweet and fishy odor.

"This is—a shrine for a private shrine!" Jie Duoling's face turned deathly pale at first glance, even more terrified than before, his voice trembling: "Run! Get out of here immediately! This isn't a bound spirit!"