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

"Perform a ritual?"

Choi Si-an double-checked the address. It was correct. This was the address Hara had given him.

But why would anyone perform a ritual?

"Excuse me for asking..." Cui Shi'an glanced around the courtyard:

"What kind of ritual are you performing? Is it an exorcism?"

The man took a half step back, eyeing them warily: "How...how did you know?"

Seeing this, Liu Zhimin was about to say that they were also there to catch ghosts, but Cui Shi'an preemptively smiled at the man and said:

"To be honest, we are members of the university's folklore enthusiasts association and are very interested in these things. If possible, could we watch from the sidelines?"

The man hesitated, seemingly swayed by the words "college student" and "folklore survey," but the wariness in his eyes remained.

He glanced back at the courtyard, about to say something—

"Awooo—!!!"

A shrill howl, inhuman indistinct, suddenly erupted from the main room, which was lit by a dim yellow light, deep in the courtyard!

The sound, a mixture of pain, fear, and a tooth-grinding distortion, pierced the night and assaulted the eardrums.

The man's expression changed drastically. He could no longer care about Cui Shi'an and the others. He hurriedly said, "Don't go in!" and then turned and ran back to the courtyard.

Liu Zhimin was also startled by the howl and instinctively grabbed Cui Shi'an's clothes.

Choi Si-an patted her helmet to reassure her, then turned his gaze toward the main door of the house from which the sound had come.

The door was opened from the inside, and two burly middle-aged men, both dressed in traditional clothing, came out, one on each side, supporting a small, thin figure.

She was a little girl who looked to be only ten years old.

He was wrapped in a striking, bright yellow cloth that was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, bulging in the middle like a pocket. The cloth was embroidered with some indistinct patterns in dark silk thread.

Behind the little girl followed two women and a man. An elderly woman with gray hair tightly clutched a string of dark prayer beads in her hand, her lips moving constantly, her eyes filled with worry and devout prayer.

The middle-aged man next to her, with a haggard face and red eyes, was probably the girl's father. He pursed his lips, his face was ashen, and he didn't say a word, but his clenched fists were trembling slightly.

The girl's mother was in tears, supported by those around her as she tried to touch her daughter, her voice choked with sobs.

"Yeon-soo...don't be afraid...Mommy's here...it'll be over soon..."

The little girl, who was being supported, seemed completely oblivious to her mother's words.

Her eyes were wide open, but her pupils were somewhat unfocused. Intermittent, beast-like growls and moans escaped her throat as she writhed violently, trying to break free of her restraints, her mouth uttering incoherent screams:

"...Help me...Mom...it hurts..."

Seeing this, Liu Zhimin couldn't bear it and said in a muffled voice through his mask:

"What are they doing... that little girl looks so pitiful..."

Cui Shi'an's gaze fell on the special yellow cloth on the little girl's body, and he said in a low voice, "She should be possessed."

"Possessed?" Liu Zhimin asked in surprise. "How did you know?"

"Look at the yellow cloth wrapped around her body," Cui Shi'an pointed out. "That thing is called a 'descendant bag,' and it's one of the ritual implements commonly used by shamans during the 'lock-changing' ceremony."

"Change the lock? The 'descendant pocket'?" Liu Zhimin was completely confused.

"Yes," Cui Shi'an explained in a low voice:

"Look at the shape of that yellow cloth. It's narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with a bulging middle like a bag. It should contain 'offspring rope' inside."

"The rope will be tied with different colored threads, strips of cloth or silk, such as blue, white, and black. These things are collectively called 'locks' or 'divine locks'."

"During the ritualistic shamanistic dance, through specific rituals, these 'locks' are believed to have acquired divine power, enabling them to protect the family's descendants, drive away evil spirits, and replace 'old locks' that have been defiled or disturbed by evil spirits."

He paused, watching as the little girl was placed before the incense table, and continued:

"Wrapping her in the 'descendant bag' is both protection and restraint. It protects her physical body and the remaining soul from being completely taken away or harmed by the evil spirit. The restraint is to prevent her from doing anything that would harm herself or others after she is possessed. What they are doing now should be an 'exorcism and lock-changing' ritual for severe possession."

Liu Zhimin was stunned. Through the helmet visor, his eyes blinked repeatedly, filled with disbelief.

"How do you know everything?"

Cui Shi'an couldn't help but smile slightly beneath his mask, a small sense of vanity rising within him. He subconsciously teased:

"Then don't idolize me."

He said it casually, hoping to ease the tense atmosphere.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zhimin bluntly retorted, "Why don't you want me to admire you?"

Cui Shi'an was taken aback and couldn't help but turn his head to look at her.

Moonlight filtered through the honeysuckle branches, casting dappled shadows on the transparent visor of her helmet, but it couldn't conceal the clear, bright eyes behind it.

At this moment, those eyes held none of their usual cunning or spoiled nature; instead, reflecting the distant firelight, they shimmered with an almost pure curiosity, and…

A trace of emotion he couldn't decipher, yet it made his heart skip a beat.

His throat moved, as if he wanted to say something—perhaps an explanation, or something else. However, before he could speak—

"Aaaaaah—!!! Die!! All of you, die!!"

Before the incense table, the girl, forced to kneel, let out an even more piercing, almost deafening scream.

Their attention returned to the courtyard.

At this moment, the girl was firmly fixed to the ground in front of the incense table, with yellow talismans spread out beneath her.

The female shaman with runes covering her face held a handful of rice, chanting incantations as she slowly walked around the girl, precisely scattering grains of rice around her, quickly forming a perfectly round circle of rice around her.

Immediately afterwards, in a corner of the courtyard, several drummers and gong players who had been silent suddenly started moving!

"Thump! Thump thump! Bang—!"

The deep drumbeats and sharp gong sounds suddenly erupted without warning, the rapid and chaotic rhythm instantly shattering the previous somber atmosphere of the chanting, as if pounding on everyone's heart.

The exorcism ritual has begun.

The female shaman, holding two thin-skinned knives, jumped around the girl.

"It's exactly the same as in the movie..." Liu Zhimin had somehow opened the windshield again and was looking at it with great interest.

"But why is the knife in her hand so thin?"

"That's the core ritual weapon of shamanic witches, officially called Halmali, which means 'sounding knife.' This thing wasn't originally meant for cutting people, so of course it's thin."

"Is it for slaying ghosts?" She was curious about everything.

"..." Just as Cui Shi'an was about to speak, he suddenly felt a gust of cold wind, which made the various flags in the courtyard flutter in the wind!

The witch in the center, her expression grave, hurriedly shouted at the crowd:

"Quick, Shunxing!"