A single divination predicts life and death; the entire internet begs me to start a live stream.

"Young Master."

"You've finally arrived."

The voice drifted out from the Qing Shi Temple.

hoarse.

weak.

It's like looking through a sheet of paper.

It's as if it's being passed up from the bottom of a well.

Chen Bufan stood in front of the mountain gate, his eyes suddenly turning extremely cold.

"Uncle Jiu".

Lin Wanqing immediately raised her gun and pointed it into the depths of the Taoist temple.

"Is Chen Laojiu inside?"

Chen Bufan did not answer.

He stared at the white paper figures under the lintel.

Paper figures hung densely in mid-air.

A gust of wind blew, and all the paper figures swayed gently.

His face was deathly pale.

Black eyes with no pupils.

The corner of each paper figure's mouth looked as if it had been gently smeared with cinnabar.

A half-smile.

Zhang Shouyuan's face darkened.

"Don't go in rashly."

"This is a paper doll formation."

Old Taoist Qingyang frowned:

"I've seen paper doll formations before."

"But this kind of..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

Because he also noticed something was wrong.

Ordinary paper doll formations are mostly made of paper to guide souls and ward off evil spirits or help people get lost.

But these paper figures in front of me had no ghostly spirits floating around them.

Instead, it carries the life force of a living person.

That's what's truly terrifying.

Chen Bufan stepped inside.

Lin Wanqing immediately followed.

Zhang Shouyuan, the old Taoist Qingyang, several veteran members of the Xuanmen sect, and criminal police officers also cautiously entered.

Inside the Qing Shi Temple, all was deathly silent.

There were no insect sounds.

There were no birds chirping.

Even the sound of the wind entering the courtyard seemed to be swallowed up by the paper figures.

The courtyard was overgrown with weeds.

The main hall is dilapidated.

The incense burner fell to the ground.

The floor tiles are cracked.

The wall still bears the black marks left by incense burning in earlier years.

But these are not the most eye-catching.

The most eye-catching thing is the paper figure.

Under the eaves.

Beside the pillar.

Beside the incense burner.

In front of the palace gate.

In the corridor.

Everywhere there are white paper figures.

Each paper figure has a string of words written on its chest.

Lin Wanqing approached a paper figure and squinted at it.

"This is……"

Zhang Shouyuan's voice was heavy:

"Birth date and time (eight characters)"

Lin Wanqing's expression changed slightly.

Chen Bufan raised his eyes and scanned the entire Taoist temple.

Each paper figure has the same black eyes drawn on its face.

Each paper figure has a different birth date and time written on it.

There is a man.

There is a woman.

There are old people.

There are a few.

These paper figures weren't hung up randomly.

Each of them corresponds to a living person, or someone who has lived in the past.

The old Taoist priest Qingyang cursed in a low voice:

"Strange."

"Holding a paper figure to bear the eight characters of a person's birth date and time is like binding the shadow of a living person's life onto paper."

The middle-aged female talisman master looked grim.

"This is not your average paper-crafting technique."

"There is a destiny charm in the paper."

Chen Bufan reached out and gently pinched the corner of a paper figure.

The paper figure did not move.

But beneath the surface, a very thin lifeline is gently struggling.

Like an insect trapped in a net.

Chen Bufan's eyes grew even colder.

"Chen Daoyuan's work."

Zhang Shouyuan nodded.

"The talisman is written on paper."

"Using paper instead of people."

"As long as the birth chart is accurate enough, and blood or personal items are used as a catalyst, one can use a paper effigy to draw out one's fate."

Lin Wanqing looked at the paper figures filling the courtyard.

"Are all these people still alive?"

Chen Bufan said:

"uncertain."

"Some of these paper figures have already lost their life force."

"The person may be dead."

"Some of them still have a chance to live."

"This means the person is still alive."

Lin Wanqing's voice deepened:

Where is Chen Laojiu?

Chen Bufan did not answer immediately.

He closed his eyes.

The white life mark between his eyebrows glowed faintly.

He had just used the second level of the "Record of Destiny," and his life force was already unstable.

But Chen Lao Jiu only has three days left, and now it's very likely he won't even last three days.

He has to find it.

One by one, lifelines appeared before his eyes.

clutter.

broken.

It was cold and damp.

The paper figures, like countless lamps that were about to go out, were suspended in mid-air by thin threads.

Chen Bufan's gaze swept across the area.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

"There."

Everyone looked in the direction he was looking.

On the left side of the main hall hangs an older paper figure than the others.

The paper has turned yellow.

There was blood on the edges.

His birth date and time were written on his chest.

Zhang Shouyuan glanced at it, and his expression changed.

"This is Chen Laojiu's birth chart."

A black needle was stuck in the chest of the paper figure.

The black needle is very fine.

A black thread was wrapped around the end of the needle.

The black line extends all the way to the rear hall.

Chen Bufan walked up to the paper figure and raised his hand to touch it.

Zhang Shouyuan immediately reminded him:

"You can't pull it out directly."

"Black needles kill."

"If you pull the wrong one, Chen Laojiu's lifeline will break."

Chen Bufan certainly knew.

He looked at the black needle.

The black needle trembled slightly every few breaths.

With each tremor, a wisp of life force is drawn from the paper figure.

Chen Laojiu is still alive.

But it is slowly being drained of its life force.

Lin Wanqing gritted her teeth:

"Can it be broken?"

Chen Bufan said:

"able."

He paused for a moment.

"But we can't stop here."

Lin Wanqing frowned:

Why?

Chen Bufan pointed in the direction the black line extended.

"The thread is in the back hall."

"This is just a death certificate."

"The rear hall is the core of the formation."

The old Taoist priest Qingyang looked towards the rear hall, his expression grave:

"Is that where the coffin is located?"

Zhang Shouyuan nodded.

"The well is there too."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a scream came from the right side of the courtyard.

"what!"

Everyone immediately turned their heads.

A young disciple from the Xuanmen sect who had followed them had somehow entered the corridor.

He clearly wanted to examine a paper figure.

As soon as his finger touched the paper figure's face, the person froze on the spot as if electrocuted.

The black eyes on the paper figure's face suddenly moved.

next second.

The young disciple's face quickly turned pale.

The back of my hand started to turn blue.

The lips are turning purple.

The yang energy in his body seemed to be frantically sucked away by that paper figure.

"Help me!"

"Master, save me!"

Qingyang the old Taoist's expression changed drastically.

"Don't move!"

But it was too late.

The young disciple's body visibly weakened.

Dark circles under the eyes.

My hair looks dull.

The middle-aged female talisman master hurriedly threw out a yellow talisman.

The yellow talisman had just been pasted onto the paper figure when it instantly turned black and burned out.

She was jolted back half a step by the impact.

"Such a heavy fate!"

Lin Wanqing raised her gun, but couldn't fire it.

The person and the paper figure were too close together.

Bullets might not even be effective.

Chen Bufan's eyes turned cold.

"Lower your head!"

The young disciple was almost unable to stand, and upon hearing the sound, he instinctively lowered his head.

The money flew out from between Chen Bufan's fingers.

clang!

The life-saving coin flew past the young disciple's head and landed directly on the paper figure's forehead.

The paper figure trembled violently.

His dark eyes widened instantly.

A burst of black energy erupted from the paper figure's body.

The young disciple was sent flying backwards, but was caught by the old Taoist Qingyang.

He collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

His face was frighteningly pale.

But he survived.

Chen Bufan walked over, squatted down, and pressed his hand against the center of his forehead.

"Don't close your eyes."

The young disciple trembled all over.

"I...I'm cold..."

Chen Bufan touched his forehead with his fingertip.

"Thirty percent of the Yang energy was absorbed."

"Go back and sunbathe for three days, and don't touch anything that is considered yin."

The old Taoist priest Qingyang quickly helped his disciple up.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen."

The young disciple's eyes were filled with lingering fear and shame.

"I...I just wanted to see the words on it clearly..."

Chen Bufan said coldly:

"I told you before you came in not to touch anything."

The young disciple lowered his head, not daring to speak.

This time, no one dared to make a move.

Inside the entire Qing Shi Temple, all the paper figures were still swaying gently.

They seemed to have just tasted the yang energy of a living person, and the smiles on their paper faces became even more pronounced.

Lin Wanqing's face darkened:

"Ordinary police officers are not allowed to enter this place."

Chen Bufan nodded.

"Let them guard the outside."

"The more people inside, the faster the paper figures will absorb the energy."

Lin Wanqing immediately made arrangements via walkie-talkie:

"Outer perimeter security."

"No one may enter Qing Shi Temple without my order."

"The emergency medical team is on standby outside the mountain gate."

"receive."

Communication was restored, but there was still static in the audio.

Clearly, there was also interference within the Qing Shi Temple.

Zhang Shouyuan looked towards the rear hall.

"Chen Laojiu's lifeline won't last much longer."

Chen Bufan retrieved the life money that was nailed to the paper figure.

The paper figure that was hit has split open.

There is no flesh and blood inside the paper body.

There was only a small patch of blackish-gray.

Chen Bufan picked up the black ash, his eyes growing even colder.

"The ashes of the destiny talisman".

Zhang Shouyuan said in a deep voice:

"Chen Daoyuan did indeed come here."

Lin Wanqing asked:

"Shall we go into the inner hall now?"

Chen Bufan looked at Chen Laojiu's paper figure.

The black needle trembled again.

The color of the eight characters on the paper figure's chest had faded slightly.

We can't wait any longer.

"Enter."

The group headed towards the rear hall.

The rear hall of Qing Shi Temple is even more dilapidated than the main hall.

The palace gate was half-closed.

A wisp of black smoke wafted out from under the door.

Several old talismans were pasted on the door.

The talisman paper had turned yellow, but the cinnabar on it was still bright red.

On the talisman in the very center, there are four characters written.

No strangers allowed.

Lin Wanqing raised her hand to signal everyone to stop.

Chen Bufan, however, was already looking inside the door.

From deep within the rear hall came a very soft knocking sound.

thump.

thump.

thump.

It sounds like someone is banging on wood.

It's like someone is knocking on a coffin underground.

Immediately afterwards, a voice so weak it was almost inaudible came from the back hall.

"Young Master..."

"Don't come in..."

Chen Bufan suddenly stopped in his tracks.

That was Chen Laojiu's voice.

It's weaker than before.

Closer.

And even more desperate.

"Young Master..."

"This was a trap set for you..."

"Don't come in..."