Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 26: Ghost Hotel (Part 9)

Records of the Halls of Ten Thousand Affairs: Chapter 26: Ghost Hotel (Part 9)

Kill him instantly, or let him live out his remaining days in poverty, half paralyzed, and despised by all?

Miao Yin gazed into Zhao Fusheng’s eyes, pondering for a long while. Slowly, she set down the fire extinguisher, leaned close to Zhao Fusheng, and finally made out what he was saying.

Inside the room, Chen Jiu was running her hands inch by inch across the wall, sensing for the location of the crack.

A moment later, Miao Yin entered, supporting herself against the wall with unsteady steps. That earlier shock had drained much of her vitality. Her bazi was already light to begin with, and now that she had calmed down, once the adrenaline fueled rage passed, she became utterly weak.

“Master Chen…” she asked softly. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Without turning her head, Chen Jiu said, “No need. Call someone you trust to drag Zhao Fusheng away. Don’t let him die for now. You get some proper rest. Don’t come back here today.”

“Okay…” Miao Yin nodded, but her body disobeyed her and she collapsed to sit on the floor.

Just rest for a little while, she thought. Her eyes slowly closed and she fell into a drowsy sleep.

After not hearing any movement behind her for some time, Chen Jiu turned around. She heard a click, and the door had actually been shut from the outside. Miao Yin lay unconscious on the ground.

Chen Jiu’s heart sank. She rushed to the door and tried the handle, but whoever was outside had done something to the lock. No matter what, it wouldn’t open from inside.

She quickly bent down to call Miao Yin, but couldn’t wake her no matter what. She searched through all of Miao Yin’s pockets, but unfortunately, apart from personal belongings, Miao Yin hadn’t brought anything with her today.

Outside, Zhao Fusheng’s face was twisted, mouth askew and eyes slanted. Yet driven by overwhelming hatred, he erupted with astonishing energy. Crawling, half paralyzed, stumbling and lurching, he still managed to lock them inside the room.

Chen Jiu frowned, unable to figure out Zhao Fusheng’s intentions for a moment. Even if he locked them in, so what?

She quickly called the front desk and reported the emergency. But as she hung up the phone, she smelled something strange. Looking down, she saw an unknown liquid slowly seeping in through the door crack.

It was oil.

Zhao Fusheng grinned, making meaningless gurgling sounds from his throat.

This room, built as a concealed stronghold for the formation, had been constructed with some backup measures, naturally including all conditions necessary to create and intensify fire hazards.

Eco friendly oil. What burned directly wasn’t the oil itself, but the flammable vapors that evaporated from its surface and mixed with air. As long as the ambient temperature reached 28°C, these vapors were sufficient to ignite. When burning, it produced flowing fires that were extremely difficult to control once started.

Back then, he had used this type of method to perfectly disguise multiple accidental fires. Only today, there wasn’t time for much preparation. Anyway, it had already reached a point where either the fish dies or the net breaks. So what if evidence was left behind? He no longer cared.

After sprinkling a small bottle, he propped up his body and arduously rolled some distance away. Then he lit a crumpled up hundred yuan bill and threw it at the door.

The flames spread at an astonishing speed. Zhao Fusheng laughed with utter delight and crawled with all his might toward the elevator.

Inside the room, Chen Jiu had no time to hesitate. She dragged the unconscious Miao Yin back to the bathroom, soaked a bath towel, and draped it over her.

The fire had already burst into the room. The crackling sounds of materials exploding were endless. The yin malice sealed within the walls seemed to be triggered by something, anxiously and restlessly colliding. The golden runes swayed precariously, actually showing signs of being broken through.

Chen Jiu shook Miao Yin’s shoulders hard and shouted, “Wake up! Miao Yin! If you don’t wake up, you’ll be meeting the King of Hell too! Zhao Fusheng isn’t dead yet! You can’t die before him!”

Who knows if the three words “Zhao Fusheng” triggered something in Miao Yin’s DNA. She reflexively furrowed her brows, then suddenly opened her eyes wide.

Chen Jiu let out a breath of relief.

Miao Yin coughed forcefully several times, clutching her chest. She quickly assessed the situation, stood up, and asked, “What about the door?!”

“Sealed shut,” Chen Jiu said.

“Seventh floor… seventh floor can’t use windows. Wait for rescue.” Miao Yin gasped a few breaths, shook off the towel from her body, knelt down and stuffed the bathroom door crack. Then she took all the towels from the bathroom, soaked them one by one, and stuffed all the gaps.

“Did you call the fire department?” She pulled out her phone as she spoke.

Chen Jiu said, “I called the front desk.”

Miao Yin didn’t dare to gamble. She called 119 again. She wasn’t afraid of duplicate reports. Right now, their lives mattered most.

However, the fire outside grew increasingly fierce. And amid the explosive sounds of burning, another sound emerged. Chen Jiu knew this sound all too well. The runes had been completely broken through. The first yin malice burst out from the seal, emitting a sharp ghostly shriek!

The raging fire awakened the yin malice’s memories of their tragic deaths. Resentment surged out like towering waves and crashing seas. The damaged formation could no longer hold.

Chen Jiu clicked her tongue. The worst possible outcome had still come.

She wet a towel, covered her mouth and nose with it, and tied a knot behind her head. “I have to get out.”

Miao Yin was stunned. Then she tried touching the door panel. It was already scalding hot.

She jerked her hand back in alarm. “Master Chen, it’s very dangerous for you to go out now.”

“If I don’t go, more people will die.” Chen Jiu tossed her a genuine soul stabilizing talisman. “Don’t worry, we can also use the windows. But you have to hold on. Wait for me to come back and take you out through the windows.”

Miao Yin asked, “This?”

“Soul stabilizing talisman,” Chen Jiu said. “This one is real.”

Miao Yin was astonished. In that moment of daze, Chen Jiu had already darted out.

A burning cabinet door collapsed with a tremendous crash.

Chen Jiu dodged aside, slashing with her sword at the yin malice charging toward her. The yin malice wailed, splitting in two, mixing into the thick smoke, then recombining into one and attacking again from behind Chen Jiu.

“Zhao Fusheng…” An eerie human face formed from black mist emerged within the yin malice, shrieking, “Zhao Fusheng! Where are you! Zhao Fusheng, get out here!”

Chen Jiu spun to dodge, slashing backhand with another sword strike, cursing, “If you want to kill someone, go find him! What are you coming at me for!”

The yin malice had no consciousness, only dense resentment and hatred, repeatedly lunging at the living, never stopping until extinguished.

After circling for a while, soon the second, the third… the remaining yin malice found their exits one after another, pouring out from the cracks and surrounding the only living person in the room.

Chen Jiu’s figure flew and shifted, stepping out the Big Dipper steps. One person actually created the momentum of ten people.

“First Dubhe, second Merak, third Phecda, fourth Megrez…”

By the time the yin malice reacted, Chen Jiu had already stepped to the final star position.

Seventh Alkaid, formation complete!

Chen Jiu closed her eyes and rapidly chanted incantations. Cinnabar runes between her fingers emitted crack like patterns of light.

The yin malice seemed to hear something terrifying. They actually pressed themselves against the walls in fear from all directions, instinctively developing the thought of fleeing. Yet they were firmly bound in place by a red line formation burning like fire, completely unable to move.

“Big Dipper suppresses demons, Northern Dipper punishes evil. Eight directional mighty gods, make me natural. Lingbao talisman command, universally announce to the nine heavens. Slay demons and bind evil, kill thousands of ghosts. Slash!”

The light patterns instantly divided into thousands of sword rains. A sudden gale rose, carrying the room full of fire, smoke, and ash mercilessly into the spiritual bodies of the yin malice. Amid heart rending shrieks, all the black mist was shredded and torn apart by dense rays of light, instantly turning to dust.

This was the outcome she least wanted to face. If not for that damned Zhao Fusheng suddenly biting back, they wouldn’t have had to be completely annihilated. They might have reentered the cycle of reincarnation, and in their next life, could have continued their bonds with people of this life.

Chen Jiu exhaled, leaning on her sword and swaying slightly in place. This time she couldn’t borrow the power of heaven and earth, and the consumption was truly too great. She was also somewhat physically exhausted.

But now wasn’t the time to rest. She kicked open the bathroom door, pulled out Miao Yin who was breathing rapidly, and the two passed through the surging flames, leaping out from the burned cracked window frame.

For an instant, the sensation of suspension emptied Miao Yin’s mind. In the moment of falling, Chen Jiu wrapped her arm around Miao Yin’s waist, steadily standing on the sword body. With a swoosh, they flew toward the terrace of the opposite building.

Among the crowd of onlookers below, someone immediately rubbed their eyes, patted their friend’s shoulder and asked, “Holy crap, did something just fly past?”

“What thing? A bird?” the friend said.

That person’s expression was somewhat dazed. “Seemed like people…”

The friend cast a look reserved for mental patients and didn’t continue the topic.

Upon landing, Miao Yin collapsed to the ground, completely drained of strength. Having escaped death, her entire body was covered in cold sweat, and for a long while she couldn’t get up.

Chen Jiu sheathed her sword and lay spread eagle on the ground, looking at the blue sky veiled by drifting smoke, sighing, “My merit, ah…”

All fucking destroyed by that Zhao Fusheng.

Miao Yin looked at her and suddenly laughed. She also collapsed beside her, gasping, “Master Chen, thank you. In just these few short days you’ve been here, you’ve saved me so many times.”

Chen Jiu waved her hand, indicating no need for politeness. She also couldn’t be bothered with formalities. It wasn’t like she wasn’t getting paid. This was all what she should do.

Miao Yin continued, “Just now Zhao Fusheng told me, if you hadn’t come to disrupt things, the next round of sacrifice would have been my turn. Every person was carefully selected by him. Birth dates, eight characters, those who met the conditions could serve as the suppressing yin souls in his wealth gathering formation. Hahaha…” She laughed. “Do you think if I were really suppressed inside the wealth gathering formation, could I see my parents again? Would they still recognize me?”

Chen Jiu looked at her and said nothing.

Miao Yin laughed for a while, then cried again. Tears streamed down, wetting a small patch of ground.

“Whether they remember or not… I’m not too clear about that.” Chen Jiu said. “But I know they want you to live well, want you to move on soon, want you to be safe. And then they’ve been working hard to get past these good days, two people’s is terrace, where wait come.”

People often don’t cry when they’ve been wronged, but always cry like children when they feel love.

Chen Jiu then turned her head to continue looking at the sky, silently waiting.