The Three Pure Ones' Secret: Expressing Spirit

Seeing that everyone looked so depressed, Lao Fan said to us, "Hey, don't be so serious. It's nothing really. People often have conflicts, let alone people and ghosts."

The old guy reverted to his usual carefree self, and seeing him comforting everyone, I could only calm down. I thought to myself, "Screw it, at worst I'll just make a wasted trip and not earn any money. It won't hurt us much, at most it'll just waste my time."

That afternoon, I secretly asked Fan Biao what our plans were for tonight. That rascal Fan grinned mischievously and whispered to me, "That ghost will definitely come tonight, but don't worry. Even though it's become an evil spirit, it still poses no threat to me. Just stick close to me tonight, and I'll catch it!"

In the afternoon, the group had nothing to do. Boss Huang kept taking phone calls, apparently about work. The three of us were also quite free, so we asked Boss Huang for a deck of cards and played Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) to pass the time. Surprisingly, neither Peng Guoqiang nor I could beat Lao Fan. I admit my card skills are bad, but Peng Guoqiang was clearly a seasoned gambler, yet he still couldn't beat Fan Biao. Peng Guoqiang and I were a little puzzled. This old guy always won when he was the landlord, and whoever partnered with him always won. I couldn't help but suspect that this old guy was cheating; did he possess some kind of sorcery?

However, this is quite normal. Fan Biao's ability to keep winning is actually quite simple, because this old guy has a "predestined fate". At that time, I only knew that a "predestined fate" was a very powerful destiny. But it wasn't until later, when I understood what a "predestined fate" meant, that I realized winning at cards was a piece of cake. And the future of people with this kind of destiny is much more outrageous than imagined.

The afternoon passed by agonizingly. The three of us idly lingered in the villa's living room, slowly waiting until the sun set.

The initially glaring sunlight outside the window gradually softened, and the orange-red afterglow of the sunset slanted into the hall, spreading through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows onto the polished floor tiles, bathing the entire cold and oppressive villa in a warm hue. Yet, even with the gentle sunlight, the lingering chill in the corners of the house remained, preventing anyone from truly relaxing.

As dusk fell, the aroma of food wafted from the kitchen. Boss Huang's wife, quick and efficient, had been busy all day, preparing a large table full of delicious home-style dishes, a perfect balance of meat and vegetables.

Boss Huang wasn't stingy either. Knowing that we were going to stay tonight to catch that ghost, he specially picked out two bottles of fine, high-quality white liquor from his own high-end liquor cabinet, as a sincere way of treating us.

The sky wasn't completely dark yet, with only the setting sun painting the clouds red. Worried about his parents' safety and whether they might be tainted by bad luck, Mr. Huang took out his phone and called them. From the conversation, he learned that the two elderly people had gone out to play mahjong with their neighbors for leisure. They returned home slowly shortly after receiving the call.

The two elderly people looked to be in good spirits, walking steadily and speaking clearly. They did not appear to be frail or sickly at all. They were just exhausted from the strange things that had happened in their home recently, and their eyes showed obvious signs of fatigue.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was quite lively. The old lady was very enthusiastic. As soon as she sat down, she grabbed my and Lao Fan's hands and started talking non-stop, telling us about the strange things that had happened in the family over the past month.

She speaks very clearly and logically, without any ambiguity, and describes every detail vividly.

"At night, lying in bed, I would vaguely see an old man!" The old woman's eyes were filled with lingering fear, and her tone was earnest. "His clothes were tattered and torn, he was filthy, and his face and body were covered in blood. He would stand by my bedside, staring at me without moving. I was so scared that I didn't dare close my eyes all night!"

Listening to the old lady's vivid description, my friend felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

This is definitely not an old man's imagination; he really did encounter something dirty.

Lao Fan and I exchanged a glance, both a little embarrassed, unsure how to respond. Saying too much or telling the truth might scare them. This kind of reassuring situation was perfect for the quick-witted Peng Guoqiang.

This old guy has no other real skills, but he's a natural at conning people and bragging.

He immediately adopted a haughty and inscrutable demeanor, and slowly reassured the old lady, "Auntie, don't worry, there's really nothing to fear. Since we've come all this way, we're confident we can resolve this matter completely. Didn't my second cousin just give your whole family some protective amulets?"

The old lady nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, we keep them close to our bodies!"

Peng Guoqiang patted his chest, continuing his confident deception, "Then it's all set! Tonight, put the talisman under your pillow and close your eyes to sleep peacefully. With this talisman protecting your home and spirits, I guarantee you'll have a dreamless and restful night's sleep. Once you get through tonight, everything will go smoothly for your family, and nothing strange will happen! Just relax, treat it like watching bungee jumping, and don't worry about it!"

These words were well-chosen, and the two elderly people nodded repeatedly, their tense expressions easing considerably.

Afterwards, the group toasted each other, ate and chatted, and as the food and drinks flowed, the atmosphere gradually eased.

After a hearty meal, the sky grew completely dark, and the night outside was pitch black, with an eerie silence surrounding the villa.

Old Fan's relaxed demeanor vanished, replaced by a serious expression. He turned to the Huang family and earnestly instructed them: "Go back to your rooms now. Clean up the dishes tomorrow. Use the toilet before bed. From now on, stay in your own bedrooms, keep the doors and windows closed, and no matter what sounds or noises you hear at night, do not open the door or look out. Just sleep peacefully."

The Huang family had been tormented by strange occurrences for so long that they were completely convinced by us. Without the slightest hesitation, they obediently nodded in agreement. Boss Huang was quite shrewd; he thoughtfully instructed his wife to prepare late-night snacks, drinks, and refreshments for us. Then, they obediently returned to their bedrooms, closed their doors, and everything became completely quiet.

Suddenly, only the three of us were left in the living room.

Peng Guoqiang has a decent alcohol tolerance, but he probably rarely gets to drink such good liquor, so he completely let loose tonight. He downed most of two bottles of high-end baijiu by himself.

At first, he was still quite drunk, chatting and bragging with his buddies and Lao Fan, rambling on about all sorts of things, getting more and more excited as he drank. But once the Huang family had all gone back to their rooms and the living room was completely quiet, the alcohol hit him hard, and the old man couldn't hold on any longer. He slumped onto the sofa, closed his eyes, and fell fast asleep, snoring evenly, completely unconscious.

The first floor of the huge villa was brightly lit, yet eerily silent.

Only Lao Fan and I, who were still sober, remained quietly in the living room, waiting for that evil spirit in the dead of night to reappear.

The effects of the alcohol slowly crept in, making my buddy's head spin, his temples throb, and he felt dizzy and listless.

The spacious living room of the villa was quiet and still. The doors to the second-floor rooms were tightly closed. The Huang family had already settled into their rooms. The only light in the entire building was the warm yellow glow of the floor lamps. It was so quiet that only the presence of Lao Fan and me could be heard.

I sprawled on the sofa, propping my head up with one hand, lazily scrolling through my phone, chatting idly with Yin Yuhong to pass the time in this tedious and tense atmosphere.

Fan Biao, standing next to him, seemed to have a very good attitude. As usual, he didn't seem to care at all. He sat on a small stool in front of the sofa, staring at the LCD TV on the wall, watching Fruit Ninja with great interest.

He's usually carefree, but right now he's acting like a normal kid, watching the funny scenes on TV and occasionally letting out a silly "hehehe" laugh. My friend just felt it was a bit ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Peng Guoqiang had completely fallen into a deep, drunken sleep. He lay sprawled out on the sofa, fast asleep, completely unrefined. His deafening snores filled the living room, interspersed with a few muffled farts.

The most outrageous thing is that this old guy kept talking in his sleep, mumbling incoherently. My friend Lao Fan and I were trying to figure out what he was saying.

"Zhang Xiaofen...is she going to the market to buy groceries again?"

"What did you say? What do you mean you're so capable... Are you praising me? If I'm so capable, you'd laugh at me. I asked you to marry me back then, but you wouldn't, you wanted to marry that crooked-mouthed Zheng!"

My hand froze on the screen, and I was instantly left speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

So this old bastard isn't even still in his sleep; he's still harassing respectable women.

The guy turned his head and made eye contact with Fan Biao, who was watching TV next to him.

The moment our eyes met, we couldn't hold back anymore. Our lips curled up wildly, and we desperately tried to suppress our laughter, afraid that the noise would wake up Peng Guoqiang, who was teasing the old lady.

I wanted to laugh, but at the same time I was speechless.

Tonight we're here to ward off evil spirits and protect the house. The atmosphere should be solemn and tense, but looking at Peng Guoqiang on the side, he's clearly the most indifferent person among us.

The villa was eerily quiet: a drunkard was flirting with women in his sleep, a black guy was calmly watching cartoons and laughing like an idiot, and I was playing on my phone in a daze.

The villa was eerily quiet late at night, the entire building was deathly still, and there was not a sound at all on the second floor. The Huang family had long since locked their doors, and I didn't know if they were asleep. I hoped they would believe me and Lao Fan; I guessed that family hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while.

Old Fan glanced down at the time on his phone, his lazy expression instantly vanishing, replaced by a calm and serious demeanor. He slowly stood up, bent down to open the black canvas bag he carried, and pulled out three brand-new yellow talismans.

He held the talismans in his hand, turned to look at me, and said in a serious tone, without a trace of joking, "These three are Yang-Sealing Talismans, specifically used to cover the yang energy of a living person. I'm casting a spell to activate the talismans now. We'll keep them close to our bodies from now on. No matter how scary or strange things you see, don't move or make a sound. Just pretend you don't see them and stay as is."

After saying that, he formed complicated hand seals, his lips moved quickly, and he whispered a series of deep and obscure incantations.

The originally quiet atmosphere in the living room became somewhat indescribable, and a simple ceremony was quietly completed.

As the incantation ended, the talisman faintly emitted a pale golden light.

Old Fan handed me one first, telling me to keep it close to my body. Then he tiptoed to the sofa, looked at Peng Guoqiang who was sleeping soundly and drunk, picked his nose, and reached out to lift the collar of his down jacket, carefully putting the second talisman into his inner pocket.

He kept the last one himself.

Once everything was arranged, Lao Fan got up and turned off all the lights in the living room.

As soon as the floor lamp went out, the once warm and bright hall instantly plunged into thick darkness, a darkness so profound that an ordinary person would be unable to see their own hand in front of their face. But Lao Fan and I, having activated our Netherworld Vision, realized that the darkness before us was not utter nothingness.

The surrounding scenery was shrouded in a hazy, retro filter, like a scene from an old black and white movie. The outlines of furniture, stairs, doors, and windows were clearly visible and reflected in front of my eyes.

Inside the pitch-black villa, all around was dark and deathly silent. Only the three of us, with the faint breath of living beings, and the LCD TV on the wall, still shining brightly, stood out against the darkness, becoming the only movement and color in the entire house.

The quiet of the night was oppressive, making people feel suffocated.

Old Fan turned to look at me and explained the principle in a calm and composed tone: "That's the effect of this 'closing yang talisman.' After wearing it, in the eyes of ghosts, we are just like ordinary people who can't see ghosts. When the evil ghost appears, as long as we don't make a sound or move around to disturb it, it won't be able to detect our presence at all."

The guy listened attentively, nodded repeatedly, and made sure he understood completely.

The room fell completely silent, with only the faint sound of the television and Peng Guoqiang's intermittent snoring.

The aftereffects of the liquor I drank at dinner just now are really kicking in. A strong wave of alcohol hits me right in the head, and my eyelids are getting heavier and heavier. A dense wave of drowsiness is sweeping over my whole body, and I feel dizzy and can't stay awake at all.

Old Fan noticed my exhaustion at a glance and said calmly, "It's alright, just take a nap if you can't stay awake. If there's any unusual activity or that thing appears, I'll call you immediately."

With a truly skilled geomancer like Fan Biao standing guard beside me, I wasn't afraid at all and completely let down my guard. My nerves, which had been tense all day, finally relaxed. I leaned back against the soft sofa, my mind becoming increasingly hazy. My eyelids drooped, and within seconds I drifted off to sleep on the sofa.

I slept in a daze for who knows how long, but my shallow sleep was abruptly awakened by an extreme feeling of discomfort.

The aftereffects of the liquor I drank at dinner were fully released, and a burning sensation kept rising in my stomach, making my chest feel tight, my throat extremely dry, and my mouth feeling sticky, like it was filled with dried glue. It was both dry and astringent, making even swallowing extremely difficult.

An intense thirst overwhelmed me, and I struggled to open my heavy eyelids, slowly waking from a hazy sleep.

The surroundings remained shrouded in darkness, the entire villa deathly silent, devoid of any extra light. The whole house was pitch black, save for the silent flickering of the LCD TV on the wall, its dappled light casting haphazard shadows on the sofa, coffee table, and floor. This created an unsettling, eerie atmosphere in the dimly lit living room.

I rubbed my throbbing temples, my vision blurry, my mind still half-awake and half-asleep. Through my blurry vision, I saw Old Fan sitting upright on the sofa in front of me.

He kept his head down, focused intently on the coffee table, slowly and deliberately breaking off a pomelo with his bare hands. His gaze occasionally drifted to the flickering television screen, just as he had before bed, and he would let out a few silly, sheepish laughs as he watched: "Hehehe...hehehe..."

Looking at his carefree attitude, I felt nothing, and was speechless, almost wanting to laugh.

Right now, I'm so thirsty my throat is practically cracking, and I have no interest in him watching cartoons and acting silly. All I can think about is getting some water, so I gently patted his shoulder, intending to ask him to move aside so I could get him a glass of water.

The moment my palm touched his shoulder, he froze, his movements stiffening drastically. Then he slowly turned his head. That one turn sent chills down my spine!

The drowsy feeling in my mind was instantly cleared away, my blood seemed to freeze in an instant, and my heart clenched violently, as if it were being gripped tightly by an icy hand.

This is nowhere near Lao Fan!

What came into view was a terrifying, grotesque face that I had never seen before.

His face was completely bloodless, deathly pale and lifeless, crisscrossed with gruesome wounds of varying depths, the skin and flesh torn open, scabs and bloodstains densely covering his cheeks, a horrifying sight. Most terrifying was his left eye, which was completely empty, the entire eye socket rotted into a large, dark hole, a bloody mess.

Through the torn and damaged flesh, I could even clearly see the exposed cheekbones. The pale bones, illuminated by the cold light of the television, exuded an extremely sinister and eerie aura.

His clothes were tattered and covered in filth and bloodstains, with the edges torn into shreds. His body was covered with large and small lacerations, and festering flesh clung to his clothes. He exuded an extremely terrifying and eerie aura.

He just stared straight at me, his expression blank and lifeless, devoid of any emotion, his empty right eye fixed on me.

My gaze instinctively shifted downwards, landing on the thing he had just been fiddling with. That one glance sent shivers down my spine; my soul nearly left my body!

There wasn't a pomelo on the coffee table! It was a bloody, mangled human head!

The round head was covered in dark red bloodstains, with messy hair stuck to the flesh. It was held tightly by his blackened, stiff ghostly hands, which pried it open bit by bit. Bloody bits of flesh stuck to his fingertips, making the scene extremely bloody and terrifying.

Extreme fear instantly overwhelmed all my reason. My mind went blank, my throat tightened suddenly, and I couldn't control myself at all. I screamed and reflexively jumped up from the sofa, my whole body trembling violently, my legs going weak, and my back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

In the deathly stillness of the villa in the dead of night, my scream suddenly shattered the oppressive tranquility of the entire night.