Passerby: Secret Image of Ancient Scrolls

Everyone turned around abruptly and saw that the forest farm uncle, who had been lying on the bed resting with his eyes closed, now had his eyes wide open, coughing violently, his chest heaving as if he were coughing up his lungs.

Ye Zhuo and Xiao Yuan moved almost simultaneously, rushing over and steadily supporting him from both sides. They gently patted his back.

Ye Zhuo immediately reached out to check his breath, but the breath she touched was so faint that she could barely feel it, and her heart sank instantly. Ao Luya walked over quickly, first placing her fingertips on the uncle's wrist, then turning to the side and pressing her ear tightly against his chest, listening to the faint, almost stopping heartbeat.

After a long pause, she raised her head, her eyes filled with barely concealed anxiety: "The evil energy in the uncle's body has completely dissipated, but his aura is frighteningly weak. We must take him to the hospital in Mangui Town immediately, or it will be too late."

Without saying a word, Lao Gu turned around and ran to the pickup truck, opened the door and started the engine.

The car lights came on, piercing the darkness. "Get in the car!"

"I'll go too." Xiao Yuan suddenly spoke up. He reached out and took the upper body of the uncle from Ye Zhuo's arms, carefully helping him to the back seat of the car. His movements were very steady.

Ye Zhuo glanced at him, said nothing, and silently put his arm around him to help settle the uncle into the middle of the back seat.

The group quickly got into the car.

Old Gu gripped the steering wheel, while Ao Luya sat in the passenger seat, occasionally glancing back at the back seat. Ye Zhuo and Xiao Yuan sat on either side of the uncle, supporting him steadily to prevent him from swaying on the bumpy road.

Inside the truck bed, the white deer lay quietly, its antlers gleaming faintly in the night. As the pickup truck drove by, the lingering eeriness in the surrounding woods vanished instantly, like snow exposed to the light.

The only sounds inside the carriage were the roar of the engine and the tires rolling over the snow.

Ye Zhuo turned his head to look at Xiao Yuan beside him, using the occasional shadows of trees outside the window as a guide.

She had seen this face countless times. The boy who squatted on the street corner as a child, covered in dirt; the boy she sponsored his schooling after his grandfather passed away; the boy who, wearing a crisp military uniform, patted his chest and said to her on the day he joined the army, "Sister, I will protect you from now on."

But now, the youthful innocence on that face is long gone, replaced by an indelible sense of vicissitude and an unyielding indifference.

His eyes were deep, as if they concealed countless things that couldn't be brought to light, making him look older than Old Gu, who was over fifty. Those were things that didn't belong to someone his age at all.

Ye Zhuo's eyes instantly welled up with tears. She reached out and gently touched his face; the skin her fingertips touched was cold and bore a faint, healed scar.

Xiao Yuan's body trembled violently. He lowered his head, not daring to look into her eyes, his fingers gripping his trouser leg tightly.

The silence in the carriage felt even more somber.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping against stone, each word trembling: "Sister, I lied to you. I said I was still in the army, but actually... I retired two years ago."

Ye Zhuo didn't speak, but just looked at him quietly, her eyes filled with unspoken heartache, not questioning. Just like countless times when she was a child, she waited quietly for him to finish telling her story of getting into trouble.

Ao Luya and Lao Gu remained silent in tacit agreement, and even the white deer in the truck bed quieted down, as if they were also waiting for this belated truth.

"After retiring, I found a job with a high salary. It was supposed to be a security job for a big company. I thought that with such a high salary, I could buy a nice house in a few years and then tell you in a grand manner."

Xiao Yuan's voice grew softer and softer, his head burying itself deeper and deeper. "But once we got inside, we realized it wasn't an ordinary company at all. At first it was fine, but soon we all started having frequent headaches and hallucinations. Later we found out they had put something in our food."

He abruptly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, his voice tinged with a final calm: "It's that stuff we coated our crossbow bolts with! It's not poison, it's soul-controlling talismans! It's something Su Jin invented, specifically to control people's minds! He wants to turn us all into his puppets, his assassins! All the security personnel who went in were tricked into going in; not a single one escaped!"

After saying that, he could no longer hold back. He buried his head in his hands, curled up in his seat, and burst into tears.

He was once a glorious soldier, guarding his country and his beliefs, but in the end, he became a blood-stained killing puppet. He dared not see Ye Zhuo, dared not tell her the truth, and could only do the things he despised most day after day under Su Jin's control, living in endless guilt and pain.

It wasn't his fault, but he took all the blame upon himself.

"That damned Su Jin!"

Old Gu slammed his fist on the steering wheel, the pickup truck's horn blaring a piercing blast. He gritted his teeth, his jaw clenched, his eyes burning with fury. He simply couldn't understand how bad this man could be.

He refines primordial spirits into evil creatures at the bottom of the river, drags innocent people into the river to become wronged souls, and lays down those hidden evil talismans in unfinished buildings. Now, even soldiers who protect their country are being turned into flesh and blood puppets by him using insidious soul-controlling talismans.

He thought of Xiulian, who had been trapped at the bottom of the river for thirty years, and a feeling of tightness, as if a boulder were blocking his chest, made it hard to breathe. He pressed the accelerator harder, and the pickup truck sped off like an arrow along the snowy highway.

The wind and snow had stopped completely sometime ago. The outline of the town in the distance gradually became clear, and scattered lights shone in the night, like stars scattered in the darkness.

Mangui Town is just ahead.

A dozen minutes later, the pickup truck came to a smooth stop in front of the town hospital. The hospital was small, with only the emergency room and a few wards still lit, standing out conspicuously in the quiet night. Everyone quickly got out of the car and carefully helped the man inside. The doctor on duty soon came over with a stretcher and took him to the emergency room for examination.

After a long wait, the doctor came out, took off his mask, and said, "The patient is extremely weak. We can't determine if there are any other symptoms at the moment. The most urgent thing is to give him intravenous nutrition and keep him in the hospital for observation overnight. Tomorrow, he must be transferred to a large hospital in the provincial capital for a comprehensive examination, otherwise there is still a risk."

Everyone exchanged glances and breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts finally at ease.

Just then, Ye Zhuo's phone rang.

It's Shen Xun.

She immediately answered the phone, walked to the window, lowered her voice, and briefly explained the situation, concluding, "We're at the hospital in Mangui Town now. The uncle's condition has stabilized for the time being. Are you all done on your end?"

Shen Xun's voice came calmly from the other end of the phone: "We've finished dealing with things here and are heading to Mangui Town now. Be careful, guard the scene, and wait for us to join you."

As soon as Ye Zhuo turned around after hanging up the phone, he heard a muffled thud.

Xiao Yuan fell straight to the ground, his body convulsing violently. He clutched his head tightly with both hands, letting out a suppressed and painful roar. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his face was as pale as paper.

"Xiao Yuan!" Ye Zhuoxin's heart tightened, and she immediately rushed over and squatted down to support him.

The on-duty doctor rushed over, squatted down, and performed a full set of examinations, using a stethoscope and blood pressure monitor in turn. In the end, however, he frowned and shook his head: "Strange, all the vital signs are normal, we can't find out what the problem is."

Ao Luya also came to investigate, but she couldn't sense anything. Her shamanic abilities were completely ineffective against Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan didn't wake up, but he still had a heartbeat and was breathing.

Everyone present knew that they were powerless to do anything about it.

Ye Zhuo looked at the sleeping Xiao Yuan and bit her lip tightly.

She can fight off the assassins. She can protect everyone.

But she couldn't remove Su Jin's soul-controlling talisman, couldn't relieve Xiao Yuan's pain, and couldn't free her younger brother from the threat of becoming a bloodthirsty puppet.

She didn't know what to do; it was the first time she had ever felt so powerless.

Even when facing those unseen and intangible evil spirits with Shen Xun time and time again, and when confronting those bloodthirsty, mad beast assassins by the river.

She wasn't that afraid.

What she feared was that Xiao Yuan would become like that too.

A puppet whose only focus is killing.

The snow has completely stopped, and a faint glimmer of dawn is appearing on the horizon.

They are all waiting.

We await Shen Xun and his companions' arrival, awaiting an answer that can sever all shackles and overturn all darkness.

Shen Xun was already seated in the passenger seat of 2045, his fingertips lightly tapping the snake head of his peach wood staff, causing the copper bell beneath it to sway gently. Ao Luya's copper bell had shattered, but his remained intact.

The copper bell emitted a rhythmic, slight, crisp sound. Lu Ye gripped the steering wheel with both hands, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, his head bobbing up and down rhythmically with the sound.

Lin Jian held her grandfather's notebook in her hands, tears streaming down her face. Bai Wuchang floated on the ceiling of the car, looking at the notebook with Lin Jian. Her twin ponytails swayed to the rhythm of the bells.

A strand of hair drifted onto Lin Jian's face. Lin Jian looked up at Bai Wuchang and reached out to touch the strand of hair.

The sunlight had just spilled over the roof of the People's Hospital in Mangui Town, turning the snow in front of the hospital's emergency building into a warm gold. The sunlight shone on the snow, melting the thick layer. The snow turned into water droplets, "drip, drip," filling every corner.

The "ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling" of the peach wood staff and copper bell suddenly stopped. A tall, straight car rolled over the thin snow and came to a steady stop in front of the building. The moment the car door opened, Shen Xun was the first to step out.

The continuous battle had exhausted his spiritual energy. After resting in the car for several hours, his face regained a little color, but his complexion was still deathly pale. However, his back remained straight, like a pine tree rooted in the snow.

Sunglasses concealed his pale golden pupils, revealing only his sharply defined jawline. Bai Wuchang sat firmly on his shoulder, his twin ponytails swaying gently with the movement, his almond-shaped eyes scanning the hospital entrance warily, sensing the surrounding atmosphere.

Lin Jian also got off the bus. She followed behind with her camera in her arms. Overnight, most of her timidity had faded. Although her fingertips had developed calluses from constantly pressing the shutter button, her eyes held a newfound determination.

Lu Ye walked at the back, a walkie-talkie hanging in his tactical pocket on his chest. His eyes were bloodshot, but his gaze was still sharp. As soon as he entered, he scanned the corridor and, after confirming that there was nothing unusual, he raised his chin towards the ward: "Brother Shen, it's just ahead."

The hospital room door was ajar, and soft sobbing could be heard from inside. It was Ye Zhuo; she could cry too.

The man had woken up, his face still pale, but he was able to sit up with the help of the pillows. Seeing the people at the door, he said weakly, "You've come."

Shen Xun and his group greeted the uncle one by one.

Ye Zhuo turned away, wiped away her tears, and quickly walked to the bedside. She first leaned over to check on the uncle's condition, and only after confirming that his breathing was stable did she breathe a sigh of relief and turn to look at Xiao Yuan. Overnight, Xiao Yuan's violent aura seemed to have intensified. Although she didn't have Shen Xun and Ao Luya's abilities, nor Lin Jian's camera, she could sense it.

Lu Ye recognized Xiao Yuan's clothes immediately and knew he was one of the assassins; his eyes turned cold. He then looked at Ye Zhuo, his expression a mixture of confusion and tenderness. Lin Jian also found it strange that the assassins were with Ye Zhuo and his group.

"Shen Xun...please save him..." Ye Zhuo could no longer hold back her tears.

Even before Shen Xun entered, he sensed a faint, sinister aura emanating from within. Upon closer inspection, it was identical to the aura of the assassins along the riverbank.

He walked to Xiao Yuan's side, extended his peach wood staff, and held it above Xiao Yuan's chest. The copper bell jolted and began to shake incessantly, making a series of crisp sounds.

"He also possesses that evil aura of Su Jin within him. And the causal threads..." Shen Xun glanced back at Ye Zhuo. He didn't speak further; he already understood this man's background.

Shen Xun held the peachwood staff in one hand, and with the other, reached into his robes and pulled out the gourd-shaped jade pendant. He placed it on Xiao Yuan's chest. The moment it was placed there, the golden patterns on the back of his hand began to spread upwards, revealing a faint golden light.

He activated the power of reincarnation, which flowed continuously into Xiao Yuan's body through the gourd jade pendant, suppressing the evil energy.

Lin Jian also walked over. She looked at Shen Xun, then at Ye Zhuo. The two understood her meaning and nodded.

The camera is raised, the shutter button is pressed, a flash of white light, and the photographic paper is slowly ejected.

The only thing in the picture was a blurry figure, just like the assassin puppets by the river. The difference was that Xiao Yuan only had a halo of flowing light on his chest, while when the assassins completely turned into berserk beasts, the flowing light had spread throughout their entire bodies.

Xiao Yuan suddenly opened his eyes and let out a scream.

Lin Jian was startled; his hand holding the photograph trembled, and the photograph fell to the ground. Lu Ye quickly walked to Ye Zhuo's side, wanting to deal with the unexpected situation.

"It's a soul-controlling talisman..." Xiao Yuan gritted his teeth, squeezing out the words, his whole body trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind. "Su Jin gave us this talisman. We have to inject a new soul-controlling talisman regularly, otherwise... otherwise we'll end up like this, wishing we were dead... If we don't inject a new one... it will get worse each time... This is his way of controlling us..."

The ward fell into a deathly silence.

"I don't want to go back. Even without a new soul-controlling talisman, even if I suffer endless torment, even if I die in the end, I still don't want to go back."

Xiao Yuan stopped trembling. He slowly stood up.

Shen Xun did not take off his sunglasses, but he could already see through them a faint chain of cause and effect, entangled between Ye Zhuo and Xiao Yuan.

The karma surrounding Ye Zhuo extends beyond the door, reaching all the way to the end of the hospital building.

The white deer outside the door walked into the hospital building, its hooves echoing on the tiles in the empty corridor.

Blood-red eyes, like flames illuminating the darkness. A faint white light emanated from its body, making the flames burn even brighter.