Is Chapter 15 fun? (Seeking)

Master Liu was speechless, his face turning ashen. He snorted coldly, turned around, and got into his car.

Without much small talk, the vehicles started and drove away from the still bustling city, heading towards a forgotten abandoned village on the other side of the port city.

As the lights outside the window gradually thinned out and the figures of people burning offerings by the roadside disappeared, the atmosphere inside the carriage became increasingly oppressive.

Soon after, the vehicle stopped in front of a huge complex of buildings.

Everyone got out of the car and looked up at the building in front of them.

The typical grid-shaped public housing estate, when viewed from a distance, resembles a beehive magnified countless times, appearing oppressive and gloomy.

Several extremely tall buildings are connected to each other, forming a huge courtyard that appears bottomless from above. All the windows are dark and many of the panes of glass are broken, resembling gaping mouths.

What was most unsettling was the deathly silence.

There were no lights, no sounds, not even a stray cat or dog in sight. The air was thick with the dust of weathered concrete and a heavy, musty smell.

Photographer Xiao Chen immediately pointed his live stream camera at the building, his voice coming through the equipment with a hint of trepidation.

"Family members, did you see that? This is the legendary 'Haunted Village'! Three years ago, it was that very building—"

The camera panned to one of the buildings, and Xiao Chen continued, "In the building where the Liu family lived, a family of four was murdered! The male head of the household used a hammer to kill them alive... and then carved lines of bloody words on the wall of the master bedroom! It is said that since then, this building has never been clean. Every night, the neighbors could hear children crying and women screaming. In less than a month, all the residents of the building were so frightened that they moved out. Since then, this place has been completely abandoned."

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of wind suddenly swept through the room, making a strange, whistling sound that added to the eeriness of the place.

Qiangzi shivered, forcing a smile as he urged, "Alright... alright, let's go in!"

Xie Xun and Master Liu took out their compasses almost simultaneously.

However, both of their compass needles were spinning wildly, sometimes clockwise and sometimes counterclockwise, completely losing their bearings.

Master Liu's expression changed drastically. He raised the compass high, his fingers rapidly calculating, and his tone was grave. "Heaven and earth are reversed, yin and yang are in chaos! The magnetic field here is completely disordered! The yin energy is ridiculously heavy, as sticky as paste. It could not have been caused by just one or two vengeful spirits! It has probably become a breeding ground for corpses!"

He deliberately used some sophisticated-sounding terminology, his gaze sweeping over Xie Xun, as if trying to see surprise on his face.

Xie Xun, however, simply stared at the compass in his hand, which was also trembling, his eyes calm, and ignored Master Liu's performance.

He sensed more than Master Liu had described.

This is probably not a single powerful vengeful spirit, but rather the entire building, and even this interconnected grid-shaped village of houses, is permeated with a thin yet omnipresent ghostly power.

It was as if something was standing behind every dark window and at every corner of the stairs.

They were all silently watching these uninvited guests.

This feeling of being watched by countless eyes in the dark gives one goosebumps.

It was chilling and terrifying.

"Stay close." Xie Xun put away the compass, his voice low but authoritative. "Into the building."

Master Liu seemed somewhat displeased with Xie Xun's reaction. He stroked his beard and said in a deep voice, "Young friend Xie, this place is extremely dangerous and no laughing matter. In my opinion, it would be better to first..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Xun had already taken the first step, heading towards the entrance that resembled the throat of a giant beast.

Fu Qinghuai remained by his side, a growing smile playing on his lips, as if he were in a world without anyone else. He even cast a disdainful glance at Master Liu as they passed.

The others followed closely behind Xie Xun.

Xiao Chen's camera, in a provocative manner, slowly focused from Master Liu's shocked and angry face to Xie Xun's determined back.

Master Liu was left standing there, feeling somewhat embarrassed, but he could only let out a soft snort and quickly catch up, muttering to himself, "Young man, so ignorant of his own limitations..."

At this moment, the live stream chat exploded with comments, filled with doubts about Xie Xun and praise for Master Liu.

Who's this pretty boy? So arrogant!

[Even though Master Liu spoke up, he completely ignored him?]

[You're asking for it, bastard! You obviously don't know anything about this stuff!]

[I know Master Liu. He was the one who calmed things down when there was a huge commotion in Kowloon Walled City last time! His fee is this much! (followed by countless zeros)]

Master Liu is the real expert, with genuine skills! This young man is probably just here to make up the numbers and ride the wave of popularity!

Don't think you can become famous just by selling your on-screen couple status, okay? You're good-looking, but too bad you're a greenhorn. You'll just be throwing your life away there.

How did Qiangzi find these people? They seem unreliable!

[Waiting for Master Liu to prove them wrong!]

The live stream camera followed their footsteps, slowly delving deeper into that village of houses.

Upon entering the building, the light dimmed instantly, as if crossing some invisible barrier. The beam of the flashlight was extremely weak in the thick darkness, only illuminating the stained and graffiti-covered walls a few steps ahead.

The air became increasingly damp and chilly, and the musty smell grew stronger.

"Family, family, we're inside now..."

Qiangzi's voice echoed in the empty corridor, trembling noticeably, "It...it seems much colder here than outside..."

They walked along the corridor for about five minutes. Following the route that Qiangzi and his group had taken before, the unit where the Liu family lived was at the end of this corridor.

"etc!"

Assistant Ye Zi suddenly gasped softly, her voice trembling with tears, "Have we...have we come back again? That red mark on the wall...I think I saw it before!"

Everyone felt a chill, and their flashlight beams focused on the crooked red cross painted on the wall.

This was the mark that Qiangzi had casually drawn five minutes earlier when they passed by!

"Being trapped in a maze!"

Master Liu's face turned ashen. He suddenly pulled an ancient peach wood sword from his cloth bag, and held a yellow talisman in his other hand, as if facing a formidable enemy. "As expected, there is something evil causing trouble! Watch me break it!"

He muttered incantations, performed the Seven Star Steps, affixed the talisman to the peach wood sword, then pointed the sword tip towards the front of the corridor and shouted, "Break!"

However, the talisman only flashed slightly before dimming, the surrounding darkness remained thick, and the blood-like mark was still glaringly obvious.

Only his own shouts echoed in the corridor; the situation remained unchanged.

Master Liu's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and a look of disbelief and embarrassment flashed across his face.

Photographer Xiao Chen swallowed hard, his lens sweeping across the panicked faces of the crowd before finally settling on Xie Xun, who remained calm.

"Thank you, Master, but... what should we do?"

Xie Xun did not answer immediately. He closed his eyes and seemed to hear whispers all around him, which were very noisy.

Just then, Fu Qinghuai whispered in his ear in a ticklish, breathy voice, his tone tinged with laughter.

"Xunxun, is it fun?"