I carefully lifted the wrapped mirror, and sure enough, the tainted blood was blocked by the talisman and slowly accumulated at the bottom of the "net".

Surprisingly, after the blood left the mirror, it emitted a strange fragrance, completely different from the previous stench.

"Why does this blood smell off?" Luo Tianhe leaned closer to smell it, looking incredulous.

As I carefully observed the changes in my blood, I suddenly remembered a folk tale my grandfather had told me:

"Legend has it that in ancient times, some sorcerers who practiced evil arts would use special methods to concoct a life-extending soup. When this soup was first made, it smelled foul, but it would turn into a strange fragrance when it came into contact with air. It was said to be able to repair the damaged soul."

"Wow, that's amazing! Why didn't you guys refine it?"

Surprised, Luo Tianhe couldn't help but wonder.

After all, in our line of work, we often deal with ghosts and spirits.

Sometimes, damage to the soul is unavoidable.

Upon hearing Luo Tianhe's question, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"I already told you that it's an evil spell, very cruel, it takes the heart blood of young boys and girls."

I recalled what my grandfather had once told me, and slowly began to speak:

"An adult's soul is stable and deeply integrated with the body, like the roots of an old tree, which is difficult to shake in the slightest."

“But a child’s soul is different. Like a tender bud in early spring, it has not yet taken root. A gust of cold wind or a fright can cause it to leave the body!”

"That's why almost all those who are terrified are children."

"And such fragile souls are the easiest materials for those who practice evil arts to extract and refine."

Upon hearing this, Luo Tianhe suddenly realized what was happening. He looked at the headless body of the dean, which was still writhing on the ground.

"So this thing is desperately trying to drink this life-sustaining soup to repair its soul?"

"Who knows, maybe it's to maintain his inhuman, ghostly appearance."

As I spoke, I took out a stack of yellow talismans, muttered incantations, and then flicked my right hand. The talismans transformed into streaks of light, burning the dean's twisted corpse.

In the distance, the dean's head emitted an extremely painful howl, as if he could feel the pain emanating from his body.

"Heh, you were burned to death before, and now you're being burned again even though you're being given a proper rite of passage. You deserve it."

I stared intently at the dean's head, which was groaning incessantly in the distance, and let out a cold laugh.

"That fatso, he could burn through a lot of time just by lighting a sky lantern. Let's go find Li Huai first."

Luo Tianhe cursed and then walked towards the door.

As he passed the dean's head, he lowered himself, looked down at him, and gave him a smug smile:

"We're going to rescue Li Huai first. You can stay here and burn. If we find Li Huai, we'll come back and burn your head off too. If we don't find him, well, you just wait!"

Despair immediately filled the dean's mind.

As I passed by, I casually set up a simple warding-off-evil formation using powder mixed with iron filings and cinnabar, and wrapped it with cinnabar thread several times to prevent it from escaping.

Seeing him glaring at me with resentment, I grinned, took out a handful of cinnabar and iron filings, and poured them directly onto his face.

Instantly, he felt as if he had encountered a salt leech; white smoke continuously billowed from his skin, and the pain in his eyes intensified.

"Burn me! Just burn me!"

In the midst of extreme pain, the last trace of resentment in his eyes vanished, and he continued to plead.

"Heh, you've done so many bad things, and now you want to end it all with death? Don't let your ugly appearance fool you, you're dreaming."

I walked out of the room in a cheerful mood.

Luo Tianhe, who was waiting for me at the door, looked at me with respect as he heard the shrill screams coming from inside.

"You've got a trick up your sleeve, kid."

Without further delay, carrying the bag of special liquid, we followed the clues given by the dean and searched for the basement entrance on the first floor.

For some unknown reason, during our search, no evil spirits came looking for us again.

However, we are happy to have some peace and quiet. Apart from that bastard Dean, other vengeful spirits would be incredibly depressed even if they were exorcised.

After seeing the tragic conditions of so many poor children, we were all feeling a bit depressed. Thankfully, the hospital director was there to cheer us up.

Soon, at the base of the wall, we found an inconspicuous circular mark.

Luo Tianhe pushed hard, but the wall didn't budge.

"let me."

Upon closer inspection of the mark, I noticed a tiny indentation in the center of the circle.

I tried pressing my finger on it, and the wall immediately and silently slid open, revealing the steps leading down.

"This mechanism is quite ingenious," Luo Tianhe muttered, taking the lead as he went downstairs.

The basement was colder and damper than I had imagined, and the air was filled with a strange smell of mold and herbs.

By the light of a cell phone, we could see Li Huai chained to a corner, his eyes rolled back, and his face was frighteningly pale.

However, there were no obvious injuries on his body, and Luo Tianhe and I both breathed a sigh of relief.

Even at this moment, Luo Tianhe was still in the mood to joke.

He took out his phone, snapped a picture of Li Huai, and muttered:

"Hmm, imprisonment, bondage, rolling eyes, no wonder Li Huai is so cunning behind our backs."

I know Luo Tianhe is angry.

This kid knew something was wrong with the orphanage, but he didn't tell us and just barged in by himself.

But I ignored him and frowned. Although Li Huai didn't seem to have any injuries on the surface, I felt something was wrong with his appearance.

At this moment, there should have been a bright white light on Li Huai's forehead, a sign that his three souls and seven spirits were complete.

But now the place is gloomy, with a faint bluish-black hue.

Even more bizarrely, the aura surrounding him was incomplete, as if a piece had been forcibly bitten off by something.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing my furrowed brows, Luo Tianhe asked somewhat nervously.

"Look for yourself, his forehead is dark."

Before I could finish speaking, Luo Tianhe interrupted me, waving his hand dismissively:

"I know that a dark complexion is an ominous sign. After all, he's in such a state, so it can't be considered good luck."

"This is not an ordinary case of darkening of the forehead."

I was somewhat speechless, and looked at the optimistic Luo Tianhe, saying:

"The light emanating from the top of his head flickers intermittently, which is a sign of damage to his soul."

“My grandfather said that a person has three souls and seven spirits, each with its own function. If it’s just a normal fright, at most one soul or one spirit will be lost. But Li Huai looks like most of his soul has been forcibly taken away!”

At this point, I couldn't help but sigh:

"One of his three souls is gone, and three of his seven spirits are missing. If it weren't for his special fate, he would have lost his mind long ago."