Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 25: Ghost Hotel (Part 8)

Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 25: Ghost Hotel (Part 8)

When Chen Jiu returned to the seventh floor, she could almost see the thickening black mist with her naked eye. The yin malice born from resentment that had been forcibly suppressed for centuries, the harbinger of a backlash storm.

After the broken porcelain shattered, Zhao Fusheng no longer bothered to play the part of a trembling good man or a meritorious philanthropist in front of Chen Jiu.

He opened the door to Room 726 and pointed at the wall, looking at his “masterpiece” with a satisfied laugh: “The eye of the formation is right here. What do you plan to do about it?”

Without the protection of her talisman, the resentment lurking behind Zhao Fusheng grew increasingly dense, threatening to devour its host. Yet Zhao Fusheng himself seemed to be experiencing a final burst of energy he appeared vigorous and alert, showing none of the symptoms of someone nearing death.

Chen Jiu bit her fingertip and materialized a talisman. Blood characters glowed with golden light as she struck out with her palm. The runes instantly expanded and flew toward the wall, pressing down with irresistible force. A blade of qi burst outward, and every decorative object in the room trembled in unison.

She normally didn’t lightly invoke talismans using her own blood; she only did so in dire emergencies.

Zhao Fusheng’s eyes lit up: “You’re stronger than that old dog Qingxu.”

Back then, that Taoist Qingxu had come knocking on his own initiative, eagerly offering advice. It was he who had explained the Seventy Extinction Formation in meticulous detail. If not for Qingxu’s countless enticements, how could he have ever developed such greed? Damn that Qingxu—utterly incapable, full of nothing but terrible ideas. When it actually came time to use him, he slapped his rear and fled. Once this matter was settled, he’d see how he’d settle accounts with him.

Now it seemed Qingxu was nothing but a half-baked swindler, putting on a flashy show to intimidate people, then opening his mouth to demand a hundred thousand. When Chen Jiu performed her arts, there wasn’t the slightest disturbance. That whole ritual was probably something Qingxu made up himself, designed to conceal his tricks and cheat money from mortals like them.

“Chen Jiu, if you can really help me repair this formation and suppress the little ghost that escaped, I will certainly” Zhao Fusheng stepped forward, but before he could finish, Chen Jiu cut him off.

“Shut up.” Chen Jiu drew a small sharpened knife and slashed his arm in a single motion. Blood instantly flowed out, dripping to the ground.

One drop. Two drops. Three drops…

The black mist in the room gradually seemed to gain consciousness, slowly gathering around Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng froze, then clutched his arm, sucking in several sharp breaths. He realized what Chen Jiu was doing and said in disbelief: “You’re using me as bait?!”

Chen Jiu seemed to find him too noisy, twirling the knife in her hand as she looked at his other arm with playful menace.

Zhao Fusheng retreated several steps in alarm, both furious and terrified: “Have you lost your mind?! I’m the one who hired you! I’m paying you! Think about this again!”

Chen Jiu said nothing, taking another step closer.

Zhao Fusheng pointed downstairs: “You don’t care about these people anymore?”

“Hmm?” Chen Jiu raised a finger and wagged it. “I’ve already sealed the seventh floor. People can’t get out, and ghosts can’t get out. Do you understand what I mean?”

When Zhao Fusheng had threatened her, he never imagined she would dare to harm him. He instantly broke down, roaring: “Chen Jiu, you’re a practitioner of the Dao! If you harm an ordinary mortal like me, aren’t you afraid of damaging your own yin virtue?!”

“Whatever do you mean? Isn’t this exactly how I’m accumulating virtue?” The corner of Chen Jiu’s mouth lifted in a genuine, heartfelt smile.

Zhao Fusheng had never seen such a terrifying smile in his entire life. His heart went completely cold so that earlier display of her slamming the table in fury was all an act for his benefit?

Given his age, status, experience, and social standing, when he saw Chen Jiu lose her composure, he naturally assumed he had this little yellow-haired girl under his thumb. How could he have anticipated that she would turn around and outmaneuver him?

He retreated several more steps, hurled a string of curses involving Chen Jiu’s ancestors eighteen generations back, and ran for the door.

Miao Yin stood at the doorway, hands behind her back, watching him with a blank expression.

Seeing her, Zhao Fusheng grasped at her like a lifeline, rushing forward several steps: “Little Miao, perfect timing! Chen Jiu wants to kill me! Where are my bodyguards! I need to get them in here immediately!”

“I sent them all away,” Miao Yin said.

Zhao Fusheng thought he had misheard. His mind buzzed, and he only saw Miao Yin’s lips moving for a long while before he recovered: “Why did you send them away? Get them back! Protect me! I can’t die!”

Miao Yin tilted her head slightly and asked him: “Boss, thirteen years ago, didn’t you also set a fire at an inn somewhere else?”

Zhao Fusheng stared at her in shock.

“You knew all along, didn’t you?” Miao Yin’s voice carried a hint of anger and hatred, lowered and tense, her eyes slightly red: “My adoptive parents died in that fire. And I actually treated my enemy as my benefactor all this time…”

She laughed silently, her gaze filled with utter mockery.

Zhao Fusheng couldn’t believe it: “Who told you this?! Little Miao, how could I possibly…”

“Zhao Fusheng, you really are an animal.” Miao Yin’s voice went completely cold: “Can you stop acting? It makes me want to vomit just watching you.”

At these words, Zhao Fusheng suddenly flared with rage. He raised his hand and slapped her, sending Miao Yin’s head snapping to the side: “Then I also raised you for thirteen years with real gold and silver! You ungrateful white-eyed wolf, you … You mud-legged lot, you deserve to roll in the mud your whole lives. Even if your parents had survived, they wouldn’t have had the fate for it, you know? You should be thanking me! Their deaths serving my fortune was their blessing. Miao Yin, if you’d stayed with them, you’d never have known which way the city gates even opened, you heartless, lungless thing!”

Miao Yin held her head to the side, a few strands of hair coming loose and clinging to her ear. Her eyes were so red they seemed about to bleed. Zhao Fusheng had torn off his human skin, and the truth he spewed was venomous beyond measure, piercing her heart like a blade, inch by inch.

Zhao Fusheng shoved Miao Yin again and tried to run.

But the instant he turned, Miao Yin raised the fire extinguisher high behind him and crack smashed it into the back of Zhao Fusheng’s head.

In an instant, Zhao Fusheng convulsed all over and collapsed stiffly, eyes wide open, straining to roll his eyeballs to look at that child who had always been gentle and obedient.

Miao Yin raised the fire extinguisher again, ready for a second blow, but Chen Jiu reached out to stop her.

Miao Yin looked at Chen Jiu in confusion.

Chen Jiu patted her shoulder and said solemnly: “Miao Yin, don’t drag yourself down with him.”

“…” Miao Yin lowered the fire extinguisher, feeling completely emptied. She said softly: “But my life was already ruined the moment I learned the truth.”

Benefactor, warmth, solace, sunshine, familial care it had all been fake. Beneath the mask of kindness was festering, bubbling poisonous rot. Disgusting. So disgusting.

Zhao Fusheng wasn’t dead, but Miao Yin’s sudden blow had destroyed all his capacity for voluntary movement. He could only lie sprawled on the ground in humiliation, watching grotesque black mists in the shapes of newborn infants surge toward him and swallow him whole.

Get away… GET AWAY!!

Chen Jiu’s brows pressed down. She knew the time was right. She flipped her hand and slapped a protective talisman onto Miao Yin: “Get back.”

Miao Yin took the talisman and nodded blankly.

The vengeful soul that had escaped from the crack in the Seventy Extinction Formation finally caught the familiar scent of flesh and blood. It hated the owner of this scent with absolute poison it wanted to flay him alive, tear him to pieces, drink his blood, and devour his flesh!

A shrieking black mist shot skyward, and with it came a sudden gale. The entire corridor became its surging tunnel.

Miao Yin, who hadn’t had time to withdraw, quickly hugged her head, covered her ears, and crouched to the ground. Invisible wind blades whistled past, nearly grazing her scalp.

The entire seventh-floor corridor went dark. Chen Jiu’s hands flew through seals, and a sword flashing with cold light flew out from the void. She caught it in one hand, pointing the blade at the heavens to invoke heavenly thunder. Several talisman papers burst through the air and began revolving at high speed around her.

“Heaven and Earth are profound, all qi has its root. I borrow from Heaven and Earth to annihilate evil souls!”

The runes exploded with a thunderous roar!

In an instant, golden light illuminated the entire corridor as bright as day. A massive blade of qi gathered at the sword tip and crashed straight into the shattered vengeful soul!

The two forces collided. A heart-rending scream tore through the air as a human-face-like shape was twisted and compressed, the black mist instantly pulverized into dust, annihilated completely!

Miao Yin was thrown several rolls by the massive shockwave before crashing into a wall and barely stopping. For a moment, she coughed so hard tears nearly came down.

Zhao Fusheng stared with wide eyes, his entire body soaked in cold sweat. He had been just a hair’s breadth from meeting the King of Hell. He kept making hoarse sounds from his throat, trying to awaken the sympathy of the two people present.

In this condition, even if he recovered, he’d be a cripple. Surely they wouldn’t make things any harder for him?

He thought unwillingly.

Chen Jiu didn’t spare him a single glance. Sword in hand, she turned and walked back into the room.

When Miao Yin had brought her to this room earlier, she had only sensed a faint layer. It turned out that when Qingxu sealed the souls within the wall back then, he had added an extra layer of concealment. This, conversely, had added an extra obstacle to her search for the crack.

Now that the escaped vengeful soul had been eliminated, she only needed to repair the remaining damaged formation to buy more time for resolving their resentment. During this period, Zhao Fusheng still couldn’t die. Even if she had to hold his head down, she would force him to honestly liquidate all assets under his name and distribute the money to the surviving family members of these vengeful souls.

If losing his entire fortune and being half-paralyzed still couldn’t resolve their resentment, the rest would simply depend on Zhao Fusheng’s own fate.

Miao Yin recovered after a long while, finally standing up and dragging the fire extinguisher over to Zhao Fusheng. She walked to where he could see her directly, so his eyeballs wouldn’t have to move to spot her.

She crouched down and stared straight at Zhao Fusheng that man she had once secretly regarded as a father or older brother.

“Would it be too easy for you if I killed you right now?” Miao Yin asked, almost obsessively, as she ran her fingers over the dented part of the fire extinguisher.

Zhao Fusheng watched her in terror, his jaw already out of control, saliva soaking a small patch of carpet uncontrollably.