Passerby: Secret Image of Ancient Scrolls

When the golden shadow rose from Xiulian's body, Shen Xun thought she was about to dissipate.

The light that drifted out from the camera fragments was like an invisible thread, wrapping around Xiulian, round and round.

Not too tight, not too loose, like I'm hugging her.

Xiulian's body began to tremble, not from pain, but because something was being squeezed out of her body.

The sticky, shiny black stuff seeped out from under her skin, drop by drop, clump by clump, like pus, like blood, like the evil tide she had swallowed finally finding an outlet.

They fell off her, onto the fifth-floor floor, onto the stair railing, and into the first-floor hallway. Some landed on the steps, shattered into pieces, but were still moving, still crawling, still trying to squeeze into the cracks in the wall.

The wind rushed in through the broken windows, swirling them up and spiraling upwards, blowing them out of the windows, out into the sky, and high into the air.

They tried to grab the railing, to squeeze into the cracks in the wall, to climb back onto Xiulian. But the wind was too strong. They spun in mid-air, faster and faster, smaller and smaller, until finally they scattered into patches of black mist, torn apart by the wind, swallowed by the light, and nothing remained.

Xiulian's tentacles began to break off. They were severed by constriction. The light wrapped around her, cutting into the roots of the tentacles one by one. The severed tentacles fell to the ground, still moving. They wriggled, like headless snakes, twisting on the ground, crawling on the steps, trying to climb back onto Xiulian, trying to burrow into the wounds.

The wind swept them up, carried them to the window, carried them outside, carried them to the places where the evil spirits had dissipated.

Xiulian stood there, her tentacles gone. The cracks were still there, spreading from the corners of her eyes to the corners of her mouth, and from the corners of her mouth to her neck, as if something had crawled under her skin, leaving behind traces.

But they are no longer black. They are turning white, fading, like the snow by the river, like the dappled sunlight as she turned away.

The wind rushed in through the breaches, from the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. All the wind surged in, carrying the fallen tentacles, the still-writhing evil tide, and the last bit of blackness on Xiulian's body.

Xiulian's figure began to change. Not shrink, but fade. The evil aura receded from her, like the tide going out, like snow melting, like she had finally expelled herself completely. She stood there, radiating a faint light. Not the light of Jin Ying, but her own light.

Just like by the river, just like when she turned around on the ice and said "I don't blame you" to Old Gu. Her eyes were open, the black in her pupils had faded. She was looking at Shen Xun.

There was no hatred, no resentment, no laughter, no tears in her eyes. Only confusion. She simply stood there, looking at Shen Xun, as if waiting for something. Waiting for a name, waiting for a word, waiting for someone to tell her who she was.

The golden shadow withdrew from her. The light slowly, bit by bit, seeped into her body, seeping into her skin, into the cracks in her skin, into her still-glowing chest. Xiulian's body began to glow, not with the golden shadow's light, but with her own light.

She is glowing, just like the riverbank, just like when she turns into light spots on the ice and drifts into the depths of the wind and snow.

Shen Xun looked at her. He knew she was clean. She had vomited herself out.

The evil currents were expelled from her body, scattered by the wind, and swallowed by the light. She stood there, radiant, like snow by the river.

Then he heard the sound. It wasn't coming from the stairs, but from the building across the street.

Hehe, hehe.

It wasn't just one laugh; it was many, everywhere.

Laughter poured in through the broken windows, from the first floor, the second floor, the third floor, the fourth floor, the fifth floor, and the sixth floor. They came again.

They've set their sights on Xiulian. Not because she still carries any evil aura, but because she's cleansed.

She was leaving. They wouldn't let her go.

The evil tide surged out of the windows of the building opposite, forming a faint black wave in the air. It rushed towards Xiulian, trying to penetrate her body and transform her back into its likeness.

The wind was still blowing, but unlike the building's shadow, they were not afraid of the wind.

There were too many of them, too many of them, and too many of them.

They were laughing. Xiulian stood there, radiant, watching the surging black tide without moving.

She wanted to go home, back to the top floor, back to that thick stack of photographs.

That is the place where the person who created her stayed day and night.

The person who created her is Lin Jianbang.

Shen Xun looked at the evil tide, wondering how much he could block.

All he knew was that he couldn't back down.

He stood in front of her.

She was behind him, shining brightly.

"Go to the top floor. Xiulian's origin is in the top-floor room, where there are things they fear. I'll activate the golden light shield again."

Shen Xun's voice was very low, so low that only a few people around him could hear it. He pressed his thumb against the snake fang again, and this time the golden blood he offered was tinged with a pale red, not gold, but red.

He was almost out of blood. He chanted a rapid incantation, and as golden-red streaks of blood extended outwards, Shen Xun crouched down and rapidly drew lines on the ground with his fingers. A cracked golden light shield reappeared, enveloping the three of them and Xiu Lian.

Lin instinctively reached for the shutter button, but his hand missed. The camera was gone.

She stared intently at the evil tide, biting her lip until it bled.

The team members had stood up again and stood in front of Lin Jian.

The evil tide surged up again, completely enveloping the golden light.

This time, there was no White Impermanence devouring them.

Countless evil forces opened their mouths and began to devour Shunxun's soul.

On their featureless faces grew enormous mouths, dark and gaping, as if ready to devour everything.

The beast looked up at the roof. It glanced at Ye Zhuo.

Then it looked towards the wooden house, where the sound of bells stirred a deep-seated connection within its soul. Its flames pierced through the wooden house, looking towards the person ringing the bell.

The ringing sound spilled from her palm, then sank, muffled in her chest, like something knocking on a door beneath a layer of ice.

It is listening.

It slowly emerged from the woods. As it walked, it looked around, as if to say, "Welcome, guests from afar, to my home."

Suddenly, it arched its back, pressed its claws into the snow, its nails embedding themselves in the frozen earth, leaving deep imprints. It sprang up.

It wasn't a pounce, it was a shot. On all fours, like a leopard, like a wolf, like the oldest creature in this forest, it finally could no longer hold back.

It leaped onto the roof, so fast that before the snowflakes could even splash up, it was already there. Ye Zhuo's carbon fiber arrow had already been fired, accurately hitting the beast's shoulder, but it bounced off like a bullet, as if it had hit a bear scale on the ice of the riverbank.

The beast's claws brushed against her hair, stirring up a foul stench, and its scales trembled.

Without hesitation, she gripped the compound bow with one hand, strained her waist, and tumbled off the roof. Her back slammed into the snow, causing her to groan in pain, but she didn't stop. Using the momentum, she rolled once more to dissipate the force of the fall.

She flung the composite bow away, leaving it on the snow. The quiver scattered as it rolled, and the arrows strewn haphazardly across the ground, like withered branches broken by the wind.

There were a few arrows left in the quiver. She hadn't counted. She couldn't stop.

The wild beast landed on the roof, its four hooves on the ground, shaking the entire wooden house.

Old Gu squatted by the uncle's bed, staring at the dust that had settled in the gaps between the rows of logs above his head, as if afraid the roof would collapse.

Ao Luya didn't look up. She knelt beside the old man, the copper bell in her hand, ringing rhythmically, one ring after another. The sound of the bell overflowed from her palm, then sank, muffled in her chest, like someone knocking on a door in a very, very deep place.

She heard the wild beast land heavily on the roof, heard the wooden planks creak, and heard Old Gu's breathing become rapid and heavy.

She didn't stop. She couldn't stop. The man was in bad shape; that evil energy was rampaging through his body.

The huddled assassin had been tied up. He leaned against the corner of the wall, his eyes fixed on the copper bell, as if the bell possessed some kind of magic, more powerful than the beasts on the roof.

Another assassin crouched in the woods, watching the battlefield intently. He saw Ye Zhu roll off the roof, saw arrows scattered all over the ground, saw her get up, pick up her composite bow, and run out of the forest without looking back.

He saw the thing crouching on the roof, saw it grinning, saw its eyes burning. He raised the crossbow, aiming it at Ye Zhuo's back. His finger was on the trigger, his knuckles white. He didn't pull it.

He aimed the crossbow at the thing on the roof, at its head, at the fire in its eyes. He didn't pull the trigger. He didn't know who to shoot.

His hands were trembling, the crossbow was shaking, the arrow was on the string, but he couldn't pull it. He shrank back behind a tree, hiding himself in the shadows.

He'd wait until they finished fighting, until one of them died, until they were both severely wounded. Then he'd come out. He'd pull the trigger and kill the one who was still alive. He didn't know how long he'd have to wait. He couldn't go out now.

The snow was up to Ye Zhuo's ankles; with each step, he sank in, pulled out, and sank in again.

She ran towards the pickup truck outside the forest. She knew she couldn't stop it. Only by using the impact of the car could she possibly fight it; she absolutely couldn't let it into the cabin.

The thing on the roof moved. It wasn't chasing her; it turned its head and looked at the woods. It saw the assassin hiding behind the tree. It knew who it was; before entering the forest, that person had been its companion, and now, it was smiling. Its mouth stretched to its ears, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth.

It was laughing. Then it turned its head and looked at Ye Zhuo's back. It jumped down and landed in the snow. It chased after Ye Zhuo.

Ye Zhuo heard footsteps behind her. The sound was urgent, the snow crunching underfoot, each step feeling like it was pounding on her heart.

The pickup truck was right in front of her. She opened the door, climbed in, and quickly started the truck.

And it had arrived. Its claws plunged into the car window, reaching for her, the nails grazing her face. A mouth split to its ears, two rows of gleaming white teeth, simultaneously reached into the window and bit. A fire burned in its eyes.

It was watching her. Her hands were trembling. But she didn't stop. The Pikachu roared and shot off like an arrow, rushing into the forest.

The beast clung to the car window, kicking wildly at the door, its claws digging deep into the metal. Its gaping mouth was right next to Ye Zhuo's ear, and Ye Zhuo could already smell the burning ashes.

Ahead was a row of tall trees. Ye Zhuo's eyes lit up, and he bumped into them from the side, scraping them off.

This is the only chance.

Lu Ye was laughing. He knew he shouldn't laugh, but he couldn't control it; the faceless tide clung to him, circling him again and again. He stuffed his arm into his mouth.

He began to tear at it desperately, his eyes fixed on the empty face in front of him. The face had already touched the tip of his nose and was still moving forward. Blood spurted from his arm in his mouth.

The tide was rising faster and faster, climbing over him, down his feet, his calves, and his spine. It seeped into the wounds on his arms and hands, and upon touching the blood, it became agitated, like a starving person seeing a delicious meal. Lu Ye's laughter grew faster and wilder; he was fully conscious, yet he continued to laugh incessantly.

"Heh heh, you fucking bastard, heh heh heh heh."

Lu Ye let out a roar mixed with a chilling, eerie laugh.

Piercing through the darkness, just then, a series of jumbled thumps came from upstairs. It was the team members coming down; they had shot through all the windows on every floor. They were afraid, they trembled, they were terrified, but they had returned. Back to their captain, with whom they had spent every day.

Several beams of white light shone, and the tide slowed its rotation slightly. The team members could clearly see through their night vision goggles that the shadowy figures were all dodging and surging away, like a school of fish startled and splitting into several groups swimming into the distance.

No, they didn't leave; the tide crashed towards the team members. Lu Ye's laughter slowed slightly. "Quick, hehehe, shine your flashlights on them, hehehehe. Quick!"

"Hehehehehehehe, let's fuck these bastards to death."

Hearing Lu Ye's curses, still simmering before he was completely consumed, the team members perked up. One of them shouted, "Fight them! Hold your positions, don't let them break through! Monkey, you're in charge of targeting Captain Lu!"

The monkey didn't speak, but immediately shone its flashlight into Lu Ye's face. Lu Ye's laughter stopped, and the tides still couldn't break through the team members' defenses. They were dodging the light, shifting and moving, like Van Gogh's Starry Night, swirling and flowing, surging on the crowded staircase.

"bite......"

A phone ring pierced the oppressive tension, and Lu Ye spoke slowly, word by word: "Answer the phone, the drone has arrived."

He hadn't fully recovered from the laughter. His tongue was numb, and he bit it several times. The excruciating pain in the back of his hands and arms was now crystal clear.

The team member who had just given the order immediately answered the phone, but his hands remained perfectly still, maintaining a tight defensive formation.

"We've arrived. There are flashlights waving around in the building. Is that you?" A childish voice came from the other end of the phone.

"It's us. There's something strange in this building, and it's bothering us. We've held on for now, but we won't last long. Captain Lu has been controlled by them and hasn't fully recovered yet. Think of something, that's all."

The door of the bread truck at the bottom of the building opened, and two people got out. One was a young man dressed casually, looking about seventeen or eighteen years old, like a college student. The other was a middle-aged man, balding and with a bulging belly.

"Quickly bring all the drones down. I'll operate the swarm, you operate the big one. The things in the building are sensitive to light, let's shine a lot of light on them."

The drones were quickly brought out and laid out on the ground. There were more than fifty small drones and one large one, a disaster relief lighting drone, which they had only recently acquired and had used once when rescuing a stranded convoy in the deep mountains.

The middle-aged man, balding from the cold, returned to his car, unfolded the laptop stand fixed to the roof, moved it in front of him, quickly opened the screen, and started operating the software. It contained pre-programmed sequences. Last year, during a drone swarm performance, he had created several formations, including dragons, Sun Wukong, and New Year lanterns.

That performance fleet had over 10,000 aircraft. They've since been relocated to other provinces and cities. Currently, the company only has about 50 left.

A gust of wind blew, and the program began to operate. The propellers of a cluster of drones on the ground began to spin rapidly, and they all took off in unison. Xi Ding quickly operated the laptop, and the drones rapidly approached the floor where the flashlight beam was located.

A louder whooshing sound rang out, and the boy, holding the remote control, pressed the takeoff button.

The evil tides seemed to sense the approaching threat, and they immediately changed their strategy. Ignoring the scorching light from the team members' flashlights, they charged straight at the team members.

The water in the front row, illuminated by the light, plummeted to the ground, billowing black smoke, and disappeared. The water in the back row followed suit, only to be repelled once more by the intense light.

The team members cheered.

Lu Ye had regained most of his consciousness, but the corners of his mouth were still twitching upwards from time to time.

"Hold on tight! Let's teach these bastards a lesson. We're not to be trifled with!" Lu Ye roared.

Seeing that it could not break through the intense light of the drone swarm, the evil tide outside the building split off again and entered the floor where Lu Ye was located, surrounding them.

Eerie laughter suddenly echoed through the hallway.