Mr. Chang described: "We moved in two months ago and we didn't notice anything unusual. At first, the evil spirits were bothering my daughter. My daughter was still young and didn't know anything, so she played with the evil spirits. It wasn't until my son found that my daughter often played and talked to herself in an empty room that he suspected something was wrong but didn't think too much about it. Later, he saw my daughter floating in the air and realized the seriousness of the situation. He ran to tell us, but we didn't believe it."
Kou Xuanling looked at Mr. Chang's eldest son, who was estimated to be about seventeen years old. Mrs. Chang hugged her son's shoulders to comfort and apologize, and took over from Mr. Chang and said, "When our son yelled at us and pointed out that there was a ghost in the room, he angered the evil ghosts. They grabbed his ankles and dragged him up in front of us, and dragged him out in the air. We pulled for a long time before we rescued him." Mrs. Chang pulled up her eldest son's trouser legs, and the purple-black mark on his ankle was very obvious. "We ran away after that, but we couldn't escape."
Kou Xuanling: "What do you mean?"
Mr. Chang: "Those ghosts chased us to the hotel where we stayed, and kept making trouble and threatening us to come back. We came back, but our lives were still threatened. But the situation is better now. I almost died two or three times when I lived outside." After saying this, he opened his hand, and there were countless purple marks on his arm: "All of them were done by evil ghosts, not just me, but also my wife and children. Now we dare not fall asleep at all, worried that we will be dragged away silently in our sleep."
Kou Xuanling pondered and said, "Evil ghosts usually cannot leave the place where they died. According to your description, we know that the place where these evil ghosts died is in this house. Perhaps finding their bodies can easily solve the problem, but why they can follow you to the hotel and even persecute you is a question. And why don't they kill you outside, but force you back to the villa? Why do they force you to have a mental breakdown but don't know how to kill you? Don't they know that you may ask the Heavenly Master to deal with them?"
Mr. Chang and his family were stunned: "Yes, why?"
Kou Xuanling took out a compass from his backpack, walked around the study, and found that the compass needle was spinning wildly. He shook his head and exclaimed, "How weird." He turned around and answered the Chang family, "The first question is still unclear: why can they leave the place where they died. The answers to the other three questions can probably be guessed."
Mr. Chang quickly asked, "What's the reason? Did we offend them? But I always leave a way out when doing business, and I will never push people into a desperate situation."
"Oh, it should have nothing to do with revenge. You may just be unlucky." The compass needle spun wildly and stopped, heading towards the French window of the study. Kou Xuanling walked over and opened the curtains. It was already completely dark outside, and a few stars were twinkling in the sky. There was a century-old ginkgo tree planted in the courtyard. The trunk of the ginkgo tree was about two adults with open arms to hug. The leaves were golden and dazzling, especially dazzling.
Mr. Chang quickly ran over and pulled up the curtains: "Pull the curtains, they can't find us."
"The evil spirit is not in the house?"
"No." Mr. Chang pulled the curtains tightly and checked whether the windows were locked. He looked very nervous: "At night, they will appear and look for places to get in. Doors, windows, vents, any place connected to the outside can run in. If they can't get in, they will wander outside the house. If they find the lights and us, they will rush over and bang on the glass - look here."
Kou Xuanling looked in the direction Mr. Chang pointed, and saw spider-web-like cracks in the corners of the window. He could even rub off glass shards and powder when he touched them with his fingertips. "An evil ghost attack?"
"Yes. This is the latest type of glass, which is harder and stronger than the existing glass. It is hard for me to imagine that if there was no glass blocking them, they would rush in and kill us directly. More importantly, I found that their strength is increasing. I remember that when they hit the windows before, they were blocked outside, and the glass on the windows was not damaged at all." Mr. Chang was worried.
"Then we can be sure that the evil ghost's body is not in the room. It should be buried in the courtyard." Kou Xuanling lifted a corner of the curtain and looked towards the courtyard. He suddenly stopped when he saw something and stared at the entrance of the courtyard: "Mr. Chang, have you invited other heavenly masters?"
"Ah? ... Ha, right." Mr. Chang smiled awkwardly. He knew that the Heavenly Master Kou in front of him might not be satisfied, so he explained, "It's not that we don't trust you, but we were desperate and looked for friends everywhere for help. A friend had a connection and said he would introduce the Heavenly Master to me. Another friend told me that I could place an order directly, so I quickly placed an order and invited you to come. As for the Heavenly Master invited by my friend, he hasn't come yet, so I guess there is no news."
"It's coming." Kou Xuanling lowered the curtains. Mr. Chang was panicking: "What, what's coming? Is it an evil ghost?" When these words came out, Mrs. Chang and her two children showed fear on their faces.
Kou Xuanling: "Another Heavenly Master."
Mr. Chang breathed a sigh of relief, but then he felt embarrassed. Inviting two Heavenly Masters at the same time meant that they were not capable enough? Would this annoy them? Mr. Chang was worried, so Kou Xuanling walked towards the door: "Let's go and open the door."
Mr. Chang hurriedly followed him, and when he arrived at the living room, he heard the doorbell ring. Mr. Chang went to open the door, and said, "Hello, I guess you are—" His voice suddenly cut off in his throat. Mr. Chang stared at the terrifying evil spirit in front of him with wide eyes. It was not the first time that the evil spirit pretended to be a human and rang the doorbell to trick him out to open the door, but this time he was careless. As soon as he moved his feet and tried to escape, the evil spirit grabbed Mr. Chang's neck.
Mr. Chang's eyeballs bulged, his tongue stuck out, he had difficulty breathing, and his face turned blue and purple. Seeing this, Kou Xuanling stepped forward quickly and was about to poke the peach wood sword into the evil ghost's heart when he heard a clear and gentle sound, like the sound of jade suddenly hitting the heart, the taut rope suddenly broke, and the jade beads on the heart fell one after another, constantly knocking out a beautiful sound.
"See through the inside and outside, nothing can escape, hurry up and obey the command." The purple transparent beads were put around the neck of the evil ghost, and after tightening, only the evil ghost could be heard wailing, and then it was put into an ancient wooden dice. There was a hole in the corner of the ancient wooden dice, and it was strung together with the purple transparent beads with a silver ring. The purple beads were wrapped around the wrist three or four times, forming a very unique ornament with the ancient wooden dice.
The man in front of him was taller than Kou Xuanling, but if he stood further away, the height difference would not be noticeable. He was wearing a pure white new Tang suit, cloth shoes, and long black hair. He was extremely handsome, with narrow and smiling eyes, as beautiful as thick ink splashed out. He said to Kou Xuanling, "Hello, my name is Lu Xiuzhi."
Kou Xuanling came back to his senses: "My name is Kou Xuanling, a member of the Dafu Branch. Who are you?"
"I was practicing in the mountains. I just came down from the mountain two days ago."
"Oh." Kou Xuanling did not ask further. He knew that some Heavenly Masters had their own unique inheritance. They might only have one disciple in their lifetime, and each generation would have only one disciple to pass on the inheritance. Such Heavenly Masters would not belong to any organization, so they often hid in the market or in the mountains to practice.
Mr. Chang survived the catastrophe and was full of gratitude to Lu Xiuzhi. He was very attentive: "Mr. Lu - no, Master Lu, please come in, please come in quickly."
Lu Xiuzhi smiled and looked at Kou Xuanling: "Let's go together?"
Kou Xuanling shrugged, not caring. But Lu Xiuzhi was standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Although he didn't say anything, his presence was too strong to be ignored. Because the room was too dark, Kou Xuanling accidentally tripped on the carpet and almost fell. Lu Xiuzhi caught him in time and bent down slightly. His long black hair slid down from his back, and a few strands of hair touched Kou Xuanling's face, feeling cold and smooth.
"Are you okay?"
The sudden question interrupted Kou Xuanling's impulse to roll his face into Lu Xiuzhi's hair. He was startled and said calmly, "It's okay." In the darkness, he could still feel Lu Xiuzhi's overly hot gaze on his face, which made Kou Xuanling feel uncomfortable. He twisted his arm to break free from Lu Xiuzhi's grip, took a few steps back and said, "It's okay."
Lu Xiuzhi stared at Kou Xuanling and said, "Turn on the light, Mr. Chang."
Kou Xuanling looked away: "We are all here, it doesn't matter if we turn on the lights now."
Mr. Chang was helpless: "Okay."
Instantly, the lights in the living room were bright. Kou Xuanling looked up at Lu Xiuzhi, but saw that he was staring at the purple transparent beads on his wrist with his other hand, fiddling with the ancient wooden dice on the beads. He didn't even look at him. Kou Xuanling thought that the burning gaze in the darkness just now was just an illusion.
Mr. Chang touched his burning throat and said, "I'll go call my wife and children over." As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Mrs. Chang's scream from the study. Mr. Chang jumped up and ran over immediately, and Kou Xuanling also ran over. Lu Xiuzhi paused for a while before following.
The spiderweb-like glass in the study was punctured at some point, and a burnt black arm reached in and grabbed the feet of the Chang family's little daughter and pulled her out. Mrs. Chang and her eldest son hugged the little daughter's body and fought against the ghost hand outside. At this time, the little daughter's legs had been pulled to the base of her legs. It was obvious that the ghost hand wanted to directly pull the little daughter out of the hole as big as an adult's arm. Once pulled out, she would die immediately.
The Chang family's little girl's legs were rubbed by broken glass and bleeding, and she cried loudly in pain. Kou Xuanling ran over, pushed the window open and jumped out. There was nothing outside the window, even the Chang family's little girl's legs that were pulled out were gone, as if she had entered another dimension. Without thinking, he took out the Five Thunder Spirit Talisman and stuck it into the air: "Dutian Thunder God,... come as soon as you hear the call, quickly make the Yang sound, hurry up and obey the command!"
Thunder roared and lightning flashed. A wailing sound appeared out of nowhere, and the evil ghost fled in fear. The ghost hand holding the Chang family's little daughter suddenly let go, and the Chang family members who were holding the Chang family's little daughter and tug-of-war with her fell back. However, sharp objects in the house, such as candlesticks, appeared behind the Chang family members in the blink of an eye, as if something deliberately moved the sharp candlesticks over.
Lu Xiuzhi's eyes were slightly cold, and he kicked the sofa over, and the Chang family members fell on the sofa and were safe and sound. When Kou Xuanling stepped onto the windowsill and was about to go in, he suddenly felt a chill behind him. He looked back and saw a woman in black clothes and black skirt standing under the big ginkgo tree in the courtyard. The woman was wearing heavy makeup, her cheeks were sunken, and her scapula was so high that it seemed that the bone inside was about to poke through the outer layer of skin on her cheeks, exposing the white bones inside.
The woman stared at Kou Xuanling with extremely vicious and resentful eyes. Kou Xuanling blinked and the woman disappeared. He was about to go over to take a look when he heard Lu Xiuzhi's voice beside him: "Come in." He was so scared that he lost his balance and fell backwards. His wrist was grabbed and he was dragged by a huge force. Then his face crashed into a warm embrace, and the fresh and elegant lotus fragrance filled his nose.
Kou Xuanling's eyes were red, and a thin mist of tears appeared in them. When Lu Xiuzhi pulled him up to check on him, he saw this scene and immediately asked anxiously, "Where did it hurt?"
Kou Xuanling sniffed, covered his face with a grimace, and waved his hands: "It's okay." A strong impact on the side of the face will naturally cause severe pain, especially when the teeth hit the masseter muscle on the face. The instantaneous stinging stimulates the tear glands, which is a normal reaction. It will be okay after the pain subsides, but Lu Xiuzhi, who was hit by him, must be in pain too.
"You were hit by me, are you okay?"
Lu Xiuzhi shook his head: "It's okay. It doesn't hurt."
Kou Xuanling: "Oh." She shrugged and walked away, heading towards the Chang family. Lu Xiuzhi frowned, looking at the big ginkgo tree outside the window with a cold gaze like a frost blade, and pressed his chest that Kou Xuanling had just hit, feeling somewhat lost.
I should have known it was painful...
Mrs. Chang choked up and said, "Just now I heard the light in the living room was on, so I wanted to take the children to the living room. I accidentally shone the light on the curtains, and when I walked past the curtains, a ghost hand suddenly jumped in, grabbed Nannan's ankle and dragged her outside."
Kou Xuanling: "A cornered dog will jump over the wall."
Mrs. Chang: “What?”
"It's okay." Kou Xuanling asked everyone to go to the living room and gather together. So everyone gathered in the hall waiting for the late night to come. Mr. Chang said that according to the time period of these ghost harassment in the past, it should be between 11 pm and 1 am.
Mr. Chang asked Kou Xuanling: "Two Heavenly Masters, why did the ghosts in this villa want to harm our family? I really don't know when and where they did such evil things."
"Evil people will not harm you just because you have done something wrong to them. The same is true for evil ghosts. If an evil ghost really wants to harm you, there is no reason for it. When you move into this villa, you have become a meal for the evil ghost."
Mr. Chang was furious when he heard this: "The agent didn't even tell me that the villa was haunted."
"I'm afraid he doesn't know that this villa is haunted. It must be that you were targeted after you moved in, which is why you encountered these supernatural events one after another. But it's true that the agent didn't tell the truth. At least he didn't tell you about the previous life of this villa."
“The villa’s predecessor?”
"To be precise, it should be a murder case that happened in the villa before." Kou Xuanling logged into the Tianshi Forum and searched for information about the villa. The Tianshi Forum was established more than ten years before the release of the Dafu app. The forum is anonymous and contains many posts about Taoism, folk legends, and supernatural events. Some cases from more than ten years ago can be searched.
Mr. Chang was surprised: "This villa is also involved in a murder case."
Kou Xuanling initially searched for the location but could not find any relevant posts. Later, she searched on Baidu and found that the villa was originally an old-style villa. She then entered its name into the Tianshi forum and surprisingly found relevant posts very quickly. The post had two thousand floors, which means it was popular for a long time.
After reading the post and getting a general idea of the situation, Kou Xuanling told them, "This villa was formerly a western-style house. It was previously home to a family of four, who were in a similar situation to you. The couple had a pair of children of the same age. But they were suspected of killing seven people and burying their bodies in the courtyard. Later, they were found out, and the family of four hanged themselves on the ginkgo tree in the courtyard. They are haunting us after death, so we asked the Heavenly Master to suppress them."
"Mutilated bodies?" The Chang family was horrified. What kind of devils were those people who originally lived in the villa? They actually killed seven people and buried all the bodies in the courtyard? Aren't they afraid of living in the villa? "Why mutilated bodies?"
Kou Xuanling: "One is to kill for money, the other is to use evil magic."
"Witchcraft?"
"Taoism originated from witchcraft, which is divided into white witchcraft and black witchcraft. The well-known Maoshan Taoism belongs to white witchcraft, while black witchcraft belongs to evil magic, which usually uses human life as the key to casting spells. It is powerful but cruel. According to basic investigation, they killed people and smashed stones in order to perform some kind of evil magic in order to gain eternal life." Kou Xuanling looked around at the four people of the Chang family and said, "Your family situation and age are similar to that family, so you were targeted as substitutes. They want to possess your bodies and return to the world of the living, so they tried every means to drive you back to the villa to scare you but not take your lives immediately."
The Chang family members hugged each other, their faces showing fear. The eldest son of the Chang family asked him: "When are they going to take our lives?"
Kou Xuanling: "Tell me your birth dates."
Mrs. Chang told Kou Xuanling the birthdays and birth times of her family members. Kou Xuanling converted them into birth dates, which was a bit difficult. Lu Xiuzhi, who had been silent the whole time, gave a hint: "Tonight."
Kou Xuanling looked over and met his gaze, his heart skipping a beat. He felt that Lu Xiuzhi's face was very familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before. He immediately blurted out, "Have we met before?"
Lu Xiuzhi looked away and replied after a while: "I have seen him."
Kou Xuanling asked: "When? I don't have any memory of it at all." He felt that Lu Xiuzhi's appearance was very much in line with his own aesthetic taste, and there was no reason for him not to remember him if he had seen him before.
Lu Xiuzhi: "You don't remember."
"Really?" Kou Xuanling nodded, and after a pause, asked him, "Do you have any sisters?"
Lu Xiuzhi gritted his teeth and said, "No!"
Kou Xuanling was disappointed: "What a pity." Lu Xiuzhi looked at him coldly, and Kou Xuanling suddenly felt uncomfortable and smiled awkwardly. The latter snorted lightly, turned his back to Kou Xuanling and ignored him.
Kou Xuanling touched his nose, and just as he looked up, he was faced with the sparkling and gossipy eyes of the four members of the Chang family. He twitched his lips and said, "The evil ghosts will come to take your bodies tonight, so be prepared. We will take care of the evil ghosts, so you'd better not act rashly. Don't respond to any sound you hear, as evil ghosts are the best at deceiving people."
The Chang family members nodded hurriedly: "We will all listen to you." The eight eyes of the four people scanned back and forth between him and Lu Xiuzhi. The spirit of gossip made them forget that their lives were being threatened.
Kou Xuanling stood up and took out a red rope from his backpack. He drew a circle in the living room and hung eight bells in the circle. Then he asked the Chang family to walk into the circle and told them, "You can leave the circle after one o'clock. Otherwise, no matter who comes during this period, don't leave the circle. No matter what happens, don't leave the circle."
Hearing this, the eldest son of the Chang family asked, "Even if you come, can't we listen?"
Kou Xuanling warned seriously: "Yes. Even if we come to call you to leave, you can't leave." After finishing the arrangements, he took out the Five Thunder Talisman and the peach wood sword from his backpack, and sat face to face with Lu Xiuzhi waiting for the evil spirit to come.
The waiting time was a bit boring, so he took out his phone and picked some WeChat mini-programs to play. Lu Xiuzhi on the opposite side stared at him straight, without moving his eyes away. In this situation, even wood has perception. Kou Xuanling, who felt more and more uncomfortable the more he played, raised his head fiercely: "Why are you staring at me?"
Lu Xiu answered subconsciously: "You look good."
“Oh~~~”
Kou Xuanling glared at the Chang family. Mrs. Chang covered her little daughter's ears and mouth awkwardly, and said with an embarrassed smile, "You continue, we can't hear you."
He moved to Lu Xiuzhi's side and asked, "Who are you? You know me, right?"
Lu Xiuzhi: "I do know you. I will tell you more information when I get to know you better."
Kou Xuanling: "What is your purpose?"
Lu Xiuzhi: "I want to get to know you. Let's start as friends," then lovers, and finally husband and wife. He said seriously: "Then brothers."
Kou Xuanling was shocked. After hesitating for a while, she pulled Lu Xiuzhi aside and whispered, "Tell me honestly... are you my father's illegitimate child?"
“…No.” Lu Xiuzhi had mixed feelings.
Kou Xuanling breathed a sigh of relief: "Then why do you want to be my brother?"
Lu Xiuzhi chose his words carefully: "I felt a sense of familiarity with you from the first sight."
Kou Xuanling was half-believing and half-doubting, and part of his belief was because of Lu Xiuzhi's facial features. He decided to change the subject for now, pointing to the ancient wooden dice on his wrist and saying, "The evil ghost we just caught couldn't be the father of the family of four."
"It should be." Lu Xiuzhi fiddled with the ancient wooden dice and asked him, "Do you want to see it?"
Kou Xuanling: "I have one myself. But is this amethyst bead your magic weapon? It looks like Zen beads, not like a Taoist magic weapon... Of course, it also looks more like a girl's magic weapon."
Lu Xiuzhi lowered his eyes, not knowing how to explain that this string of beads was not actually his magic weapon. He just wore it because it looked better on his wrist and matched his clothes and temperament. He even specifically asked the salesperson if he could catch a girl by wearing it like this. The salesperson swore to the heavens that if he couldn't catch a girl, all men in the world would be bachelors. Now that he thinks about it, he is indeed a businessman, and he can tell any lie without any conscience.
The author has something to say: Lu Xiuzhi: I fell in love with you at first sight, and you fell in love with me at first sight.