The light flickered intermittently, casting mottled shadows that intertwined with the faint blue flashes of lightning outside the window, weaving a fractured play of light and shadow.
“Boom.”
“Boom.”
“Boom.”
Outside the window, thunder roared, and raindrops the size of beans pelted the windows in a disordered and impatient manner.
The wind howled, and the willow branches outside the window twisted like snakes coiled by the roots, writhing their sticky bodies in the midst of the wind and rain, emitting a constant “swish swish” sound.
The window pane vibrated with the wind, seemingly on the verge of shattering at any moment.
At midnight, a sudden surge of ancient and weathered bell tolls seemed to emerge from nowhere and rang out in the third floor library.
The Taoist put away the calm expression from their earlier conversation and his features became more serious.
When mountain rain is coming, the whole building is filled with wind.
The kerosene lamp flickered intermittently, stubbornly amidst the flashes of lightning.
For a moment, the room plunged into darkness, then quickly lit up again.
On the long table next to the bookshelves in the library, a book appeared out of thin air.
The bell the Taoist had put on the table started ringing
S419M: [Ah ah ah, there’s a ghost!]
Escape System: [Book, book, an extra book, I’m scared, big brother, wuuu.]
S419M: [System sister, I’m scared at this time too.]
Escape System: [Ahhh.]
Bai Lixin furrowed his brow and rubbed his temples, his gaze landing on the newly appeared book.
The library plunged into darkness once again, and when it lit up again, the closed book had been opened.
Although there was no one manipulating the book, it’s pages began to turn uncontrollably, as if there was an invisible person flipping through the book in front of them.
Bai Lixin stared at the book, his calm face revealing no emotions or changes in demeanor.
At that moment, a slightly weighty force tapped his shoulder. He turned his head and saw the Taoist holding the mahogany sword with a slight tremor in his palm, staring at the book in front of them as if facing a formidable enemy. The deliberate lowering of his voice revealed his trembling and fear: “Don’t be afraid, leave it to me.”
Bai Lixin who glanced at the Taoist’s trembling hand: “…”
‘Aren’t you the one who’s scared?’
After the Taoist said this, he mustered up the courage to reach into a bowl of yellow millet and, reciting cryptic and difficult-to-understand sentences as he took two steps forward.
When the sentence was finished, the Taoist forcefully threw the millet in his hand towards the book’s direction. In the empty air, an outline suddenly materialized.
The millet flew halfway and seemed to collide with something, some falling freely to the ground, while others formed a humanoid figure with yellow millet grains.
The outline appeared as though someone was sitting in a chair, an arm propped against the cheek, as if silently observing them.
Bai Lixin heard the Taoist’s gasp beside him.
The millet circled the figure for about two seconds before falling to the ground.
Then the outline of the figure disappeared once more.
The overhead light extinguished again.
In the darkness, Bai Lixin heard the sound of the Taoist’s clothes rustling.
When the light illuminated once more, the ground in front of them was covered in flour. At this point, the Taoist hadn’t stopped his actions, rapidly grabbing a handful of flour from the bowl and generously scattering it around them. In a short while, the floor around Bai Lixin and the Taoist was covered in flour.
When the area was sufficiently dusted with flour, the Taoist finally halted his actions.
Then, Bai Lixin saw the Taoist take out a yellow talisman from his pocket.
The Taoist held the yellow talisman between his index and middle fingers, muttering a few incomprehensible incantations under his breath. He then inserted the talisman into the mahogany sword, embedding it onto the sword.
Bai Lixin silently watched the Taoist’s actions. A few seconds later, he quickly realized why the Taoist had scattered flour on the ground.
On the flour filled flour, an abrupt footstep imprint appeared.
Following this footstep was another.
The left and right feet alternated, slowly moving closer to their position.
The Taoist raised the mahogany sword in mid-air, and drew a sword flower. He watched the approaching footsteps with blazing eyes and with a furious shout, he thrust the mahogany sword forward.
Fresh red blood abruptly sprayed from the tip of the sword, as if the sword had struck an unseen entity.
The yellow talisman instantly ignited. Once the talisman burned out, the Taoist retracted the mahogany sword.
With a forceful swing, the mahogany sword in his hand was hurled towards the ground, splashing a striking streak of blood on the flour behind them.
The incessantly ringing bell on the table finally ceased its sound. The kerosene lamp above no longer swayed, and the gentle, dim yellow light illuminated this ancient and quaint library, as gentle as a graceful girl in a water village standing by the bridge and holding an umbrella.
Seeing the bell stop, the Taoist finally let out a long breath. His shoulders, which had been tense, relaxed.
He threw the burnt talisman into the prepared yellow cloth, then securely wrapped the cloth with a piece of red string, tying a knot before putting it into the bag behind him.
The Taoist’s movements were swift and fluid. After tossing the cloth into the backpack, he let out a long exhale, wiping the sweat beads from his forehead. He panted slightly and said, “Phew, it’s over. We got it.”
Bai Lixin observed the bundle behind the Taoist. “Got what?”
The Taoist’s eyes slightly widened, his tone somewhat surprised. “We caught the ghost haunting the third floor. Didn’t you see the millet figure and the footsteps in the flour? And these bloodstains, they’re from that ghost too.”
He patted the bundle behind him with an air of mystery, “It was not easy to deal with, but luckily I was prepared and nothing went wrong. The matter is resolved, shall we go?”
Bai Lixin said, “You go ahead. My job requires me to stay here until dawn. It’s just past twelve now, so I can’t leave yet.”
“I see,” the Taoist, who had been preparing to pack up and leave, stopped his movement. He turned and sat down beside Bai Lixin, “Well, I don’t have anything else to do afterwards, and I quite enjoy chatting with you. I’ll stay here with you until dawn.”
Surrounded by white flour, Bai Lixin turned around in the middle and looked towards the end of the third-floor lobby. “Did you hear the bell toll at midnight?”
The Taoist was carefully placing materials like rice and flour into plastic bags. His attention was on the table in front of him, so he replied absentmindedly, “Yes, I heard it. What’s the matter?”
Bai Lixin asked, “The third floor seems to lack a clock. Where do you think that clock might be?”
The Taoist bent over and poured the last bit of rainwater into a plastic bottle. He responded nonchalantly, “Who knows where it is? This school loves to put things wherever they want. It’s just a broken clock. They’re everywhere. Even if we find it, we can’t take it with us.”
“But this school is quite unique, tsk tsk, the bell chimes at midnight. In our field, it’s called the ‘midnight farewell’. This library is not so ordinary.”
Seeing that the Taoist had finished packing things up, Bai Lixin suggested, “Master, I plan to explore all five floors of the library. Since you’re here, would you like to accompany me or wait here? Or perhaps you’ll leave?”
The Taoist’s shoulder stiffened for a moment, but he quickly replied, “How about… not going up anymore? The third floor is quite safe. Who knows what might be on the other floors?”
“Alright then,” the handsome young man stood up from his chair, stepping on the flour as he circled behind the haunted desk. He glanced at it for a moment then went straight for the door, “I’ll go on my own.”
The Taoist clenched his teeth as he watched the young man’s figure grow more distant. After a moment’s hesitation, he followed two steps behind the young man, “Forget it, I’m in a good mood today. I’ll risk my life to keep you company.”
Bai Lixin simply smiled politely and didn’t say anything further.
Instead of taking the stairs, they still took the elevator.
The elevator came to a stop on the fourth floor. Bai Lixin turned on a flashlight and swept it around the fourth floor.
The fourth floor was the multimedia area, with tables covered in computers.
After a sweep of the fourth floor, Bai Lixin didn’t find anything particularly noteworthy.
When he turned around, he saw the Taoist standing in front of a computer desk, tapping the surface of the desk with his fingers, lost in thought.
Bai Lixin asked, “What’s wrong?”
The Taoist’s gaze drifted for a moment before he came out of his contemplation. He gently touched the surface of the table beneath his hand, his brow furrowed into a “川.” “I have some understanding of wood, and I wonder if I’m overthinking it. The wood here is all made from willow.”
Bai Lixin, “I remember you mentioned that willow wood not only attracts Yin energy, but it also nurtures it.”
The Taoist replied, “When I was on the first floor, I only noticed the willow trees outside and didn’t pay special attention to the tables. But on the third floor, I observed the tables and bookshelves, and they were also made from willow wood.”
“Are you suspecting that all the wooden items in this library are made from willow wood?” Bai Lixin imitated the Taoist’s action and lightly touched the table. The excessively cold sensation caused a slight tremor in his fingertips.
The Taoist’s eyes flickered. “I hope I’m wrong.”
Bai Lixin: “What if you’re not wrong? Willows are elegant; you can explain the willow trees outside as being planted unknowingly. But if all the wood inside this building is made from willow, doesn’t it seem deliberate?”
“If that’s the case, should we reconsider whether these willow trees outside were really planted out of ignorance? Or was it intentional?”
Beside them was a window, and at the fourth floor level, the willow trees, no matter how tall they grew, were beneath their feet.
Looking outside through the window and in the faint light of the lightning, the dense willow trees resembled a rugged terrain covering half of the library.
There was nothing eerie in the view, yet the Taoist felt a chill run down his spine, a sensation of coldness spreading throughout his body.
Suppressing his unease, he forcefully swallowed a mouthful of saliva. “Shall we go to the fifth floor?”
Bai Lixin replied, “Okay.”
In the elevator, Bai Lixin took out the outdated old phone from his backpack.
The mysterious person on the other side still sent a message on time.
—[ Did you go to the X University Library? I can see it, I really can see it, I can see everything!]
Everything?
Xin stared at the last sentence, lost in thought.
Seeing things, of course, involved using one’s eyes.
And “eyes” seemed to be related to their task.
Although he was slightly curious, Bai Lixin didn’t respond to the person. He simply coldly locked the phone.
“I didn’t expect a young and trendy guy like you to be using such an old phone.”
The Taoist’s eyes were fixed on the phone in Bai Lixin’s hand. He laughed, “You really surprised me.”
Bai Lixin calmly placed the phone back in his pocket. Then, he discreetly slid it into his backpack without the Taoist noticing. He then took out the two yellow talismans he had collected before. “I have plenty of things that might surprise you.”
“I usually like collecting all sorts of strange old items from my places of work. This phone is one of them,” Bai Lixin spread out his palm, “And these two talismans as well. Master, do you recognize these two talismans?”
The Taoist took the two talismans from Bai Lixin’s hand and examined them with a scrutinizing gaze. He then turned his gaze to Bai Lixin. “Where did you get these things?”
Xin asked, “Did you know where they came from?”
The Taoist studied the talismans for a while before slowly saying, “These are just two ordinary talismans. From the writing on them, they seem to be used for trapping souls.”
“After living beings die in the mortal realm, their souls can roam freely. But if you place this kind of charm in the person’s place before their death, it can trap the soul at the place of death.”
“I said they are just two ordinary talismans, but they aren’t really ordinary. In our line of work, we find these charms quite distasteful. They’re powerful and malicious charms that trap the deceased’s spirit at the place of their death, which means the spirit will repeatedly experience the pain of death.”
“People who use these charms must really hate the deceased.”
The Taoist returned the talismans to Bai Lixin. “You said you found these two charms at your previous work locations?”
Taking the talismans back, Bai Lixin carefully folded them and said, “All of those locations were haunted houses.”
“That’s no surprise then. Being trapped in the place of one’s death, experiencing death over and over again, it’s only natural for it to turn into a haunted house.”
Xin asked, “Do you have any leads about the origin of these two talismans?”
“Well, although the handwriting on these talismans appears somewhat different, if I’m not mistaken, they should be from the same person.”
The Taoist looked at the metal door before him, his gaze sinking into contemplation. “I had a senior sister who specialized in creating these kinds of charms. However, because she had a very rebellious personality and an extremely ruthless approach, she was expelled from the sect when I was very young. It’s been so many years now, and I have no idea where she is.”
“Embarrassingly, those two talismans you have look very much like her work.”
They reached the fifth floor and as the elevator doors opened slowly, the two of them walked out. During this brief moment, Bai Lixin asked the Taoist, “What’s your senior sister’s name?”
The Taoist replied, “Her name is Miao Pan’er.”
“Miao Pan’er…” Bai Lixin repeated the name to himself. “How old is she now?”
The Taoist said, “I don’t know exactly how old she is, because it seems she doesn’t age. I’ve known her since I can remember, and she always looks the same—very young and beautiful. By the way, my senior sister is quite fond of her appearance.”
Xin mentally noted the information the Taoist provided. “Do you have any photos of her?”
The Taoist said, “I do have some, but they’re all in photo albums at home. I can’t carry the albums with me every day. Here’s an idea, let’s exchange phone numbers, and when I get back home, I’ll take a photo of my senior sister and send it to you.”
Xin agreed, “That’s a good plan. I appreciate your help.”
After exchanging phone numbers, they finally had time to observe the surroundings on the fifth floor.
———————————-
In the live broadcast room
[Everyone, I declare that Miao Pan’er is highly suspicious.]
[So, find this person already.]
[Could Miao Pan’er be Lady Yuexian?]
[Oh, this possibility is quite high.]
[This Taoist NPC is quite something. You can tell he’s obviously important. He’s also quite clever, choosing to stay by God Bai Lixin’s side.]
—————————-
The fifth floor was quite spacious. While each lower floor had clear designated areas, the fifth floor seemed to be devoid of anything.
After exiting the elevator, they circled the fifth floor and finally discovered a grandfather clock at the end of a corridor.
The clock’s design was very antique, adorned with intricate and delicate wood carvings, as well as the enamel design that had been popular for a period of time.
“Tick-tock”
“Tick-tock”
“Tick-tock,” the pendulum inside the clock swung to the left and right at the same rhythm, tirelessly working day and night.
Even without anyone to look at the displayed time, it never stopped moving forward.
Just like the long river of time, it never slowed down because of a person or an event.
Bai Lixin’s gaze swept across the clock face, and he suddenly noticed something amiss.
“What time is it now?”
The Taoist checked the time on his phone. “It’s almost two AM. Why?”
Xin asked, “Look at the time on this clock. Why is it showing eleven thirty?”
The Taoist was momentarily surprised, his gaze quickly shifting to where Bai Lixin was pointing. After hesitating for two seconds, he replied, “This clock seems to have been around for a while, so it probably stopped working accurately a long time ago.”
The young man replied with a thoughtful expression, “Stopped working accurately? But just a moment ago, it accurately rang out at midnight. If the clock in front of us is inaccurate, then the only explanation is that there’s another clock inside this building.”
“So, here’s the question: where is it hidden?”
The Taoist gazed at the clock for a while before saying, “Well, not being able to find it is normal. We aren’t the designers of this building, nor are we affiliated with the school. Some buildings indeed have hidden spaces. Why are you so fixated on finding this clock? It’s not like it’s anything good. Let’s just spend the night here and not bother searching.”
As he spoke, he casually pointed to the other side of the corridor. “Hey, take a look over there. We haven’t explored that area yet. Maybe the clock you’re looking for Is over there? Shall we go check it out?”
The light flickered intermittently, casting mottled shadows that intertwined with the faint blue flashes of lightning outside the window, weaving a fractured play of light and shadow.
“Boom.”
“Boom.”
“Boom.”
Outside the window, thunder roared, and raindrops the size of beans pelted the windows in a disordered and impatient manner.
The wind howled, and the willow branches outside the window twisted like snakes coiled by the roots, writhing their sticky bodies in the midst of the wind and rain, emitting a constant “swish swish” sound.
The window pane vibrated with the wind, seemingly on the verge of shattering at any moment.
At midnight, a sudden surge of ancient and weathered bell tolls seemed to emerge from nowhere and rang out in the third floor library.
The Taoist put away the calm expression from their earlier conversation and his features became more serious.
When mountain rain is coming, the whole building is filled with wind.
The kerosene lamp flickered intermittently, stubbornly amidst the flashes of lightning.
For a moment, the room plunged into darkness, then quickly lit up again.
On the long table next to the bookshelves in the library, a book appeared out of thin air.
The bell the Taoist had put on the table started ringing
S419M: [Ah ah ah, there’s a ghost!]
Escape System: [Book, book, an extra book, I’m scared, big brother, wuuu.]
S419M: [System sister, I’m scared at this time too.]
Escape System: [Ahhh.]
Bai Lixin furrowed his brow and rubbed his temples, his gaze landing on the newly appeared book.
The library plunged into darkness once again, and when it lit up again, the closed book had been opened.
Although there was no one manipulating the book, it’s pages began to turn uncontrollably, as if there was an invisible person flipping through the book in front of them.
Bai Lixin stared at the book, his calm face revealing no emotions or changes in demeanor.
At that moment, a slightly weighty force tapped his shoulder. He turned his head and saw the Taoist holding the mahogany sword with a slight tremor in his palm, staring at the book in front of them as if facing a formidable enemy. The deliberate lowering of his voice revealed his trembling and fear: “Don’t be afraid, leave it to me.”
Bai Lixin who glanced at the Taoist’s trembling hand: “…”
‘Aren’t you the one who’s scared?’
After the Taoist said this, he mustered up the courage to reach into a bowl of yellow millet and, reciting cryptic and difficult-to-understand sentences as he took two steps forward.
When the sentence was finished, the Taoist forcefully threw the millet in his hand towards the book’s direction. In the empty air, an outline suddenly materialized.
The millet flew halfway and seemed to collide with something, some falling freely to the ground, while others formed a humanoid figure with yellow millet grains.
The outline appeared as though someone was sitting in a chair, an arm propped against the cheek, as if silently observing them.
Bai Lixin heard the Taoist’s gasp beside him.
The millet circled the figure for about two seconds before falling to the ground.
Then the outline of the figure disappeared once more.
The overhead light extinguished again.
In the darkness, Bai Lixin heard the sound of the Taoist’s clothes rustling.
When the light illuminated once more, the ground in front of them was covered in flour. At this point, the Taoist hadn’t stopped his actions, rapidly grabbing a handful of flour from the bowl and generously scattering it around them. In a short while, the floor around Bai Lixin and the Taoist was covered in flour.
When the area was sufficiently dusted with flour, the Taoist finally halted his actions.
Then, Bai Lixin saw the Taoist take out a yellow talisman from his pocket.
The Taoist held the yellow talisman between his index and middle fingers, muttering a few incomprehensible incantations under his breath. He then inserted the talisman into the mahogany sword, embedding it onto the sword.
Bai Lixin silently watched the Taoist’s actions. A few seconds later, he quickly realized why the Taoist had scattered flour on the ground.
On the flour filled flour, an abrupt footstep imprint appeared.
Following this footstep was another.
The left and right feet alternated, slowly moving closer to their position.
The Taoist raised the mahogany sword in mid-air, and drew a sword flower. He watched the approaching footsteps with blazing eyes and with a furious shout, he thrust the mahogany sword forward.
Fresh red blood abruptly sprayed from the tip of the sword, as if the sword had struck an unseen entity.
The yellow talisman instantly ignited. Once the talisman burned out, the Taoist retracted the mahogany sword.
With a forceful swing, the mahogany sword in his hand was hurled towards the ground, splashing a striking streak of blood on the flour behind them.
The incessantly ringing bell on the table finally ceased its sound. The kerosene lamp above no longer swayed, and the gentle, dim yellow light illuminated this ancient and quaint library, as gentle as a graceful girl in a water village standing by the bridge and holding an umbrella.
Seeing the bell stop, the Taoist finally let out a long breath. His shoulders, which had been tense, relaxed.
He threw the burnt talisman into the prepared yellow cloth, then securely wrapped the cloth with a piece of red string, tying a knot before putting it into the bag behind him.
The Taoist’s movements were swift and fluid. After tossing the cloth into the backpack, he let out a long exhale, wiping the sweat beads from his forehead. He panted slightly and said, “Phew, it’s over. We got it.”
Bai Lixin observed the bundle behind the Taoist. “Got what?”
The Taoist’s eyes slightly widened, his tone somewhat surprised. “We caught the ghost haunting the third floor. Didn’t you see the millet figure and the footsteps in the flour? And these bloodstains, they’re from that ghost too.”
He patted the bundle behind him with an air of mystery, “It was not easy to deal with, but luckily I was prepared and nothing went wrong. The matter is resolved, shall we go?”
Bai Lixin said, “You go ahead. My job requires me to stay here until dawn. It’s just past twelve now, so I can’t leave yet.”
“I see,” the Taoist, who had been preparing to pack up and leave, stopped his movement. He turned and sat down beside Bai Lixin, “Well, I don’t have anything else to do afterwards, and I quite enjoy chatting with you. I’ll stay here with you until dawn.”
Surrounded by white flour, Bai Lixin turned around in the middle and looked towards the end of the third-floor lobby. “Did you hear the bell toll at midnight?”
The Taoist was carefully placing materials like rice and flour into plastic bags. His attention was on the table in front of him, so he replied absentmindedly, “Yes, I heard it. What’s the matter?”
Bai Lixin asked, “The third floor seems to lack a clock. Where do you think that clock might be?”
The Taoist bent over and poured the last bit of rainwater into a plastic bottle. He responded nonchalantly, “Who knows where it is? This school loves to put things wherever they want. It’s just a broken clock. They’re everywhere. Even if we find it, we can’t take it with us.”
“But this school is quite unique, tsk tsk, the bell chimes at midnight. In our field, it’s called the ‘midnight farewell’. This library is not so ordinary.”
Seeing that the Taoist had finished packing things up, Bai Lixin suggested, “Master, I plan to explore all five floors of the library. Since you’re here, would you like to accompany me or wait here? Or perhaps you’ll leave?”
The Taoist’s shoulder stiffened for a moment, but he quickly replied, “How about… not going up anymore? The third floor is quite safe. Who knows what might be on the other floors?”
“Alright then,” the handsome young man stood up from his chair, stepping on the flour as he circled behind the haunted desk. He glanced at it for a moment then went straight for the door, “I’ll go on my own.”
The Taoist clenched his teeth as he watched the young man’s figure grow more distant. After a moment’s hesitation, he followed two steps behind the young man, “Forget it, I’m in a good mood today. I’ll risk my life to keep you company.”
Bai Lixin simply smiled politely and didn’t say anything further.
Instead of taking the stairs, they still took the elevator.
The elevator came to a stop on the fourth floor. Bai Lixin turned on a flashlight and swept it around the fourth floor.
The fourth floor was the multimedia area, with tables covered in computers.
After a sweep of the fourth floor, Bai Lixin didn’t find anything particularly noteworthy.
When he turned around, he saw the Taoist standing in front of a computer desk, tapping the surface of the desk with his fingers, lost in thought.
Bai Lixin asked, “What’s wrong?”
The Taoist’s gaze drifted for a moment before he came out of his contemplation. He gently touched the surface of the table beneath his hand, his brow furrowed into a “川.” “I have some understanding of wood, and I wonder if I’m overthinking it. The wood here is all made from willow.”
Bai Lixin, “I remember you mentioned that willow wood not only attracts Yin energy, but it also nurtures it.”
The Taoist replied, “When I was on the first floor, I only noticed the willow trees outside and didn’t pay special attention to the tables. But on the third floor, I observed the tables and bookshelves, and they were also made from willow wood.”
“Are you suspecting that all the wooden items in this library are made from willow wood?” Bai Lixin imitated the Taoist’s action and lightly touched the table. The excessively cold sensation caused a slight tremor in his fingertips.
The Taoist’s eyes flickered. “I hope I’m wrong.”
Bai Lixin: “What if you’re not wrong? Willows are elegant; you can explain the willow trees outside as being planted unknowingly. But if all the wood inside this building is made from willow, doesn’t it seem deliberate?”
“If that’s the case, should we reconsider whether these willow trees outside were really planted out of ignorance? Or was it intentional?”
Beside them was a window, and at the fourth floor level, the willow trees, no matter how tall they grew, were beneath their feet.
Looking outside through the window and in the faint light of the lightning, the dense willow trees resembled a rugged terrain covering half of the library.
There was nothing eerie in the view, yet the Taoist felt a chill run down his spine, a sensation of coldness spreading throughout his body.
Suppressing his unease, he forcefully swallowed a mouthful of saliva. “Shall we go to the fifth floor?”
Bai Lixin replied, “Okay.”
In the elevator, Bai Lixin took out the outdated old phone from his backpack.
The mysterious person on the other side still sent a message on time.
—[ Did you go to the X University Library? I can see it, I really can see it, I can see everything!]
Everything?
Xin stared at the last sentence, lost in thought.
Seeing things, of course, involved using one’s eyes.
And “eyes” seemed to be related to their task.
Although he was slightly curious, Bai Lixin didn’t respond to the person. He simply coldly locked the phone.
“I didn’t expect a young and trendy guy like you to be using such an old phone.”
The Taoist’s eyes were fixed on the phone in Bai Lixin’s hand. He laughed, “You really surprised me.”
Bai Lixin calmly placed the phone back in his pocket. Then, he discreetly slid it into his backpack without the Taoist noticing. He then took out the two yellow talismans he had collected before. “I have plenty of things that might surprise you.”
“I usually like collecting all sorts of strange old items from my places of work. This phone is one of them,” Bai Lixin spread out his palm, “And these two talismans as well. Master, do you recognize these two talismans?”
The Taoist took the two talismans from Bai Lixin’s hand and examined them with a scrutinizing gaze. He then turned his gaze to Bai Lixin. “Where did you get these things?”
Xin asked, “Did you know where they came from?”
The Taoist studied the talismans for a while before slowly saying, “These are just two ordinary talismans. From the writing on them, they seem to be used for trapping souls.”
“After living beings die in the mortal realm, their souls can roam freely. But if you place this kind of charm in the person’s place before their death, it can trap the soul at the place of death.”
“I said they are just two ordinary talismans, but they aren’t really ordinary. In our line of work, we find these charms quite distasteful. They’re powerful and malicious charms that trap the deceased’s spirit at the place of their death, which means the spirit will repeatedly experience the pain of death.”
“People who use these charms must really hate the deceased.”
The Taoist returned the talismans to Bai Lixin. “You said you found these two charms at your previous work locations?”
Taking the talismans back, Bai Lixin carefully folded them and said, “All of those locations were haunted houses.”
“That’s no surprise then. Being trapped in the place of one’s death, experiencing death over and over again, it’s only natural for it to turn into a haunted house.”
Xin asked, “Do you have any leads about the origin of these two talismans?”
“Well, although the handwriting on these talismans appears somewhat different, if I’m not mistaken, they should be from the same person.”
The Taoist looked at the metal door before him, his gaze sinking into contemplation. “I had a senior sister who specialized in creating these kinds of charms. However, because she had a very rebellious personality and an extremely ruthless approach, she was expelled from the sect when I was very young. It’s been so many years now, and I have no idea where she is.”
“Embarrassingly, those two talismans you have look very much like her work.”
They reached the fifth floor and as the elevator doors opened slowly, the two of them walked out. During this brief moment, Bai Lixin asked the Taoist, “What’s your senior sister’s name?”
The Taoist replied, “Her name is Miao Pan’er.”
“Miao Pan’er…” Bai Lixin repeated the name to himself. “How old is she now?”
The Taoist said, “I don’t know exactly how old she is, because it seems she doesn’t age. I’ve known her since I can remember, and she always looks the same—very young and beautiful. By the way, my senior sister is quite fond of her appearance.”
Xin mentally noted the information the Taoist provided. “Do you have any photos of her?”
The Taoist said, “I do have some, but they’re all in photo albums at home. I can’t carry the albums with me every day. Here’s an idea, let’s exchange phone numbers, and when I get back home, I’ll take a photo of my senior sister and send it to you.”
Xin agreed, “That’s a good plan. I appreciate your help.”
After exchanging phone numbers, they finally had time to observe the surroundings on the fifth floor.
———————————-
In the live broadcast room
[Everyone, I declare that Miao Pan’er is highly suspicious.]
[So, find this person already.]
[Could Miao Pan’er be Lady Yuexian?]
[Oh, this possibility is quite high.]
[This Taoist NPC is quite something. You can tell he’s obviously important. He’s also quite clever, choosing to stay by God Bai Lixin’s side.]
—————————-
The fifth floor was quite spacious. While each lower floor had clear designated areas, the fifth floor seemed to be devoid of anything.
After exiting the elevator, they circled the fifth floor and finally discovered a grandfather clock at the end of a corridor.
The clock’s design was very antique, adorned with intricate and delicate wood carvings, as well as the enamel design that had been popular for a period of time.
“Tick-tock”
“Tick-tock”
“Tick-tock,” the pendulum inside the clock swung to the left and right at the same rhythm, tirelessly working day and night.
Even without anyone to look at the displayed time, it never stopped moving forward.
Just like the long river of time, it never slowed down because of a person or an event.
Bai Lixin’s gaze swept across the clock face, and he suddenly noticed something amiss.
“What time is it now?”
The Taoist checked the time on his phone. “It’s almost two AM. Why?”
Xin asked, “Look at the time on this clock. Why is it showing eleven thirty?”
The Taoist was momentarily surprised, his gaze quickly shifting to where Bai Lixin was pointing. After hesitating for two seconds, he replied, “This clock seems to have been around for a while, so it probably stopped working accurately a long time ago.”
The young man replied with a thoughtful expression, “Stopped working accurately? But just a moment ago, it accurately rang out at midnight. If the clock in front of us is inaccurate, then the only explanation is that there’s another clock inside this building.”
“So, here’s the question: where is it hidden?”
The Taoist gazed at the clock for a while before saying, “Well, not being able to find it is normal. We aren’t the designers of this building, nor are we affiliated with the school. Some buildings indeed have hidden spaces. Why are you so fixated on finding this clock? It’s not like it’s anything good. Let’s just spend the night here and not bother searching.”
As he spoke, he casually pointed to the other side of the corridor. “Hey, take a look over there. We haven’t explored that area yet. Maybe the clock you’re looking for Is over there? Shall we go check it out?”
