A debt-ridden tycoon inherits a luxury mansion, but the tenants are not human.

He took out his phone and dialed the number of Liu Jianjun, the cemetery caretaker at the funeral home—Liu Xiaoyu's father. The call was quickly answered, and Liu Jianjun's tired voice came from the other end.

"Chen Mo? How is Xiaoyu?"

"She's alright," Chen Mo briefly explained the situation. "Master Liu, I need your help. Zhao Shouyi might be making a deal with the Changsheng Society at the old site of the North City Waterworks. I want to rescue someone, but there are too many of them, so I need someone to provide backup from the outside."

Liu Jianjun remained silent for a few seconds.

"Zhao Shouyi has gone mad. I've heard about his granddaughter's situation, but cooperating with the Changsheng Society is suicide," he said with a hint of helplessness. "But Chen Mo, I'm just a funeral home attendant. I handle funerals, not fights. At most, I can set up a guiding array for you. If things go wrong, I can immediately send you back to the vicinity of the old house. But this array takes time to set up and can only be used once."

"That's enough," Chen Mo said. "We'll head over now. Message me when you arrive."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Mo quickly sent a message to Grandma Wang to report the news. Only after doing all this did he look at Liu Xiaoyu.

"You stay here."

"No," Liu Xiaoyu shook her head, her eyes resolute. "Su Wenjuan was arrested because she helped us, and... I sense that she's in a very bad mood right now. I have to go."

Chen Mo was taken aback. Liu Xiaoyu rarely mentioned her mother. He only knew that her mother was also a psychic and had passed away unexpectedly when she was very young.

"Stay close to me. If there's danger, run immediately and don't look back."

"Um."

Four o'clock in the afternoon, at the former site of the Chengbei Waterworks.

This place has been abandoned for more than 20 years. The rusted iron gate is half open, the yard is overgrown with weeds, and several red brick factory buildings are covered with ivy.

In the center of the courtyard was a huge reservoir, which had long since dried up, and the bottom was covered with thick silt and garbage.

But Chen Mo's spiritual vision saw a different scene.

Deep beneath the pool, a dark red halo emanates from the ground, forming a circular area about ten meters in diameter. In the center of this area, the faint shadow of a stone coffin is visible – the coffin of the Jade Balance position.

The surface of the coffin was covered with cracks, and black mist seeped out from the cracks, condensing in the air into the phantom of a little girl in a red cotton-padded jacket, which was Zhao Xiaolian.

She hovered above the pool, her eyes closed, her face pale, and the silver bracelet on her left wrist gleamed with an eerie light.

Several people were standing by the pool.

Zhao Shouyi, carrying a white lantern, stood at the front. Beside him was a middle-aged man in a black Tang suit—not Wu Tieshou. Chen Mo had never seen this man before, but he had a scar on his left cheek that ran from the corner of his eye to his chin, as if he had been scratched by some kind of sharp claw.

Behind the scarred man stood four people dressed in black robes, all wearing white masks with the Big Dipper pattern painted on them.

They are members of the Longevity Society.

"Old Zhao, your granddaughter's condition is very bad," the scarred man said, his voice hoarse and dry. "More than 30% of her soul has leaked out. If this continues, she will completely dissipate in at most two hours."

Zhao Shouyi was trembling: "Master Zhang, you promised you had a way!"

"There is a way, but you know the price," the scarred man, known as Master Zhang, said slowly. "We need the dragon-patterned jade pendant in the coffin in the Jade Balance position as a key to activate the soul-transferring array and transfer your granddaughter's soul into a newly deceased child's corpse. However, the transfer process requires a large amount of life force as fuel..."

He paused, then looked at Zhao Shouyi: "Are you sure you can lure that new landlord into the trap on the night of July 15th?"

"Confirmed!" Zhao Shouyi gritted his teeth. "I've already spoken with Wu Tieshou. He'll cooperate. As soon as Chen Mo stands on the pillar, we'll activate the Soul Transfer Array, extracting his life force and transferring it to Xiao Lian. He's the landlord of the Tianquan position, and his life force carries the yin energy of the old house and Liu Fengchun's obsessive energy, which will be a great tonic for Xiao Lian's soul."

"That's good," Master Zhang smiled, the smile highlighting the scars on his face, making them look particularly unsightly. "But before that, we need to stabilize the Jade Balance position. Your granddaughter's soul is leaking out too quickly; she won't be able to wait until the fifteenth of July."

He beckoned, and a man in black robes stepped forward, holding a wooden box in his hands.

The box was opened, revealing a palm-sized black wooden plaque covered with densely packed incantations.

"This is Soul-Sealing Wood, which can temporarily seal the cracks in the coffin and slow down the leakage of the soul," said Master Zhang. "But using it requires a sacrifice—preferably a living person with pure blood. Take their heart's blood, smear it on the wooden tablet, and then bury it three inches deep in the ground directly above the coffin."

Zhao Shouyi's expression changed: "You want me to use a human sacrifice?"

"It's not for you to use, it's already prepared." Master Zhang clapped his hands.

Another person in black robes dragged someone out of the shadows of the factory—it was Su Wenjuan. Her hands and feet were bound, her mouth was stuffed with a rag, her chest wound was still bleeding, her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes were wide open, staring at them intently.

"The descendants of the Su family, carrying over seventy years of unwavering resolve in their blood, are excellent offerings," Master Zhang said, taking the Soul-Sealing Wood and walking to Su Wenjuan. "Elder Zhao, shall you perform the ritual, or shall we?"

Zhao Shouyi clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. He looked at the phantom of his granddaughter floating above the pool, then at Su Wenjuan on the ground, his eyes filled with struggle.

A few seconds later, he reached out his hand, trembling.

"Give me the knife..."

The man in black robes handed over a dagger.

Zhao Shouyi took the knife, walked to Su Wenjuan and squatted down. His hands were trembling so badly that the tip of the knife touched Su Wenjuan's heart several times before pulling back.

"I...I'm sorry..." he whispered, his voice trembling with tears, "Xiaolian...Grandpa can't live without Xiaolian..."

Su Wenjuan stared intently at him, her eyes devoid of pleading, only filled with a cold, almost pitying mockery.

Just as Zhao Shouyi gritted his teeth and prepared to stab, a voice came from the roof of the factory.

"Zhao Shouyi, if you cut her again, your granddaughter will truly be beyond saving."

Everyone looked up.

On the rusted tin roof of the factory, Chen Mo stood there, holding the heart's blood he had obtained from the bronze mirror in his hand. The blood droplet gleamed with a dark golden light in the afterglow of the setting sun, and the runes inside flowed slowly.

Liu Xiaoyu stood beside him, her face pale but her posture upright.

"Chen Mo!" Zhao Shouyi's pupils constricted sharply. "How could you...?"

"How did I know you were here?" Chen Mo interrupted him. "Zhou Wenyuan told me. He also told me that the Longevity Society didn't want to save your granddaughter at all. They only wanted to get the dragon pendant from the coffin in the Jade Balance position. The Soul Transfer Array was fake. What they really wanted to activate was the God Summoning Array—using your granddaughter's soul and the jade pendant as offerings to awaken the thing they were worshipping."

Master Zhang's face turned ugly: "Boy, you can't just say things like that."

"Whether it's nonsense or not, you know in your heart," Chen Mo jumped off the roof and landed steadily by the pond. Liu Xiaoyu followed behind him. "Grandpa Zhao, think about it carefully. If the Longevity Society really had a way to resurrect your granddaughter, why didn't you use it ten years ago? Why wait until now, until you're desperate, to bring it up?"

Zhao Shouyi's hand, which was holding the dagger, froze in mid-air.

"Because they wanted to open the coffin in the Yuheng position ten years ago, but at that time the coffin was sealed intact, and forcibly opening it would alert the other tomb keepers," Chen Mo continued. "Now the coffin has cracked on its own, and the seal has loosened, which is the perfect time for them to make their move, and your granddaughter... is just one of the keys they use to open the coffin."

"Nonsense!" Master Zhang shouted angrily. "Old Zhao, don't listen to his provocations! Take action now, or your granddaughter will really be gone!"

Zhao Shouyi looked at Chen Mo, then at Zhang Tanzhu, his eyes filled with intense struggle.

Just then, the phantom of Zhao Xiaolian, which was suspended above the pool, suddenly opened her eyes.

Those eyes were empty and lifeless, but her lips moved slightly, emitting a faint sound.

"……grandfather……"

"...The jade pendant...is with me..."

"...They...are going to take it..."

Zhao Shouyi was startled: "Xiao Lian? What did you say? The jade pendant is with you?"

Zhao Xiaolian's illusory figure raised her left hand, and the silver bracelet on her wrist suddenly cracked, from which fell a bluish-white jade pendant, the one with a coiled dragon pattern and the character "祭" (sacrifice) engraved on the back.

The jade pendant floated in mid-air, its surface gleaming with a warm light.

"I've been...hiding it..." Zhao Xiaolian's voice trailed off. "That day...I saw them...killing people...stealing the jade pendant...I picked it up...and then they chased after me..."

She looked at Master Zhang, a primal fear surfacing in her empty eyes.

"It was him... ten years ago... he was the one who led the men... to kill Grandpa Liu, who was guarding the Jade Balance... in an attempt to steal the jade pendant..."

Master Zhang's face immediately changed: "You wicked child! Shut up!"

He suddenly raised his hand, and a wisp of black energy shot towards Zhao Xiaolian's phantom.

But Chen Mo was faster. The drop of heart blood in his hand suddenly exploded, turning into a pale golden light screen that blocked the black mist.

The black mist collided with the light barrier, producing a piercing corrosive sound, but it failed to penetrate.

"Grandpa Zhao, do you believe me now?" Chen Mo looked at Zhao Shouyi. "The Longevity Society tried to steal the jade pendant ten years ago. Your granddaughter witnessed it and was silenced. The drowning accident was all a fabrication!"

Zhao Shouyi's eyes instantly turned blood red.

He slowly stood up, turning the dagger in his hand towards Master Zhang.

"Did you... kill Xiaolian?"

When Zhang, the altar master, took a step back, four men in black robes immediately stood in front of him to protect him.

"Old Zhao, calm down," Master Zhang said, forcing himself to remain composed. "That's just the ramblings of a remnant soul; don't take it seriously. Our most urgent task now is to save your granddaughter..."

"Save your mother!" Zhao Shouyi roared fiercely, his voice hoarse and distorted. He slammed the white lantern to the ground, causing it to explode and green flames shot into the sky. "I'll make you pay with your lives!"

He formed hand seals and chanted incantations. Suddenly, the phantom image of the Jade Balance Coffin at the bottom of the pool trembled violently, and more black mist surged out from the cracks, condensing in the air into a huge, bony hand that reached out to grab Zhang, the altar master.

Taking advantage of the moment when the two sides were fighting, Chen Mo rushed to Su Wenjuan's side, cut the rope, and ripped the gag out of her mouth.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

Su Wenjuan nodded weakly, but couldn't stand up, so Liu Xiaoyu quickly helped her up.

"Let's go!" Chen Mo protected the two and retreated out of the factory.

But Master Zhang clearly didn't want to let them go. A man in black robes broke away from the battle and blocked Chen Mo's path, his eyes flashing with ferocity beneath his mask.

Just as Chen Mo was about to make a move, his phone suddenly vibrated. It was a message from Liu Jianjun, saying that the guiding formation had been set up outside the east wall of the factory area, near the old locust tree, and that he should go there and crush a talisman.

The message was accompanied by a photo of a yellow paper talisman with intricate patterns drawn in cinnabar.

Chen Mo quickly memorized the pattern, put his phone back in his pocket, and looked up coldly at the black-robed man blocking his way.

"Get out of the way," he said.

The man in black robes didn't speak, but pounced forward, his fingernails growing longer and becoming as black as ink, slashing at Chen Mo's face with a foul stench.

Chen Mo neither dodged nor avoided, raising his right hand—the rouge mark hidden in his skin on the back of his hand suddenly appeared, shimmering with a pale golden light.

He met the black-robed man's claws with a palm strike.

The moment their hands and claws touched, the man in black robes let out a shrill scream that was not human. His fingernails broke off inch by inch, and his palms emitted black smoke as if they had been branded with a hot iron. Even more terrifying, the eyes under his mask saw an illusion—a woman in a theatrical costume, dressed in green, was smiling sadly at him. Then, with a light flick of her water sleeves, she wrapped them around his neck.

"Liu Fengchun's mark..." The man in black robes retreated in terror. "How could you have it...?"

Chen Mo didn't give him a chance and slapped him in the chest with a second palm.

The man in black robes was sent flying backward, crashing into the brick wall of the factory. His mask shattered, revealing a face covered in lividity. This was not a living person at all; it was a corpse puppet created by the Longevity Society using evil magic.

Seeing this, the other three men in black robes tried to attack, but were stopped by the giant skeletal hand summoned by Zhao Shouyi.

"Let's go!" Chen Mo shouted, leading Liu Xiaoyu and Su Wenjuan towards the east side of the factory area.

On the horizon, the last rays of the setting sun sank below the horizon, their afterglow blood red. Behind them, the battle between Zhao Shouyi and the Changsheng Society had reached a fever pitch.

Each swing of the giant skeletal hand brought with it a foul stench, and the altar master also used evil magic, his body swelling up and black scales appearing on his skin, actually clashing head-on with the giant hand.

Further away, above the pool, Zhao Xiaolian's illusory figure held the coiled dragon jade pendant, staring blankly at everything, a tear of blood sliding down her cheek.

Blood and tears dripped into the bottom of the pool, seeping into the cracks of the coffin in the Jade Balance position.

The shaking of the coffin suddenly intensified.

The crack widened further.