Before the shadowy figure could finish speaking, countless black tentacles suddenly burst forth from its body, wrapping around me like maggots crawling out of rotting flesh.

I swung my sword and slashed swiftly.

The lightning sword was engulfed by the thick black mist, its light instantly swallowed up.

Behind her came the roar of Li Xiulan's husband.

Flesh buds sprouted from the blood-stained hole corroded by cinnabar, and the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The ceiling groaned under the weight, and I instinctively rolled over, chunks of cement crashing down where I had just been standing.

Looking up, I saw lotus-shaped cracks in the cement slabs on the roof.

The shadowy figure pounced, its tentacles piercing my left shoulder; the icy touch mixed with the stench of decay went straight to my bone marrow.

The moment the taste of blood exploded in my mouth.

I bit my tongue and spat the blood onto the sword.

"Die!"

I roared and plunged my sword into the heart of the shadow.

The black mist emitted a piercing shriek, then split into seven blurry figures.

Li Xiulan's family of five, and the two elderly people she had seen in the pavilion.

Their pupils were bluish-white, and they raised kitchen knives and rolling pins that had appeared out of nowhere, the blades of which were covered in black slime.

I suddenly realized that this was an illusion.

He hurriedly bit his palm and drew a talisman to ward off evil on his forehead.

The scene before my eyes distorted like ripples on water, and a real shadowy figure was extending its giant claws from the carved cabinet.

Tiger Cub was locked in the palm of a hand, and the red mark on his wrist turned into a chain that connected with the dark shadow.

"They're really courting death!"

I snorted and tossed a handful of five-emperor coins into the air.

His hands moved swiftly, forming the Big Dipper Formation.

But the copper coin hovered in the air, its surface quickly corroded by the dark shadow, leaving patches of green rust.

Li Xiulan's mother-in-law had somehow climbed onto the ceiling, her fingernails swelled into black blades, and was hanging upside down down the wall.

I swung my sword at her, but the blade passed right through her shadow, and a stench of decay mixed with the smell of wood chips hit me.

The shadowy figure seized an opening, its tentacles wrapping around my legs and dragging me toward the cabinet door.

The cabinet door slowly opened, revealing countless faces inside.

The skin revealed a woody texture, and each mouth echoed the laughter of Tiger Cub.

At the critical moment, I threw cinnabar at them again, forcing the tentacles back.

"So that's what you're afraid of?"

I was panting heavily when I threw the entire bag of cinnabar at the shadowy figure.

The black mist churned violently, revealing a desiccated corpse curled up inside.

It was the owner of "Old Zhou's Woodware Shop".

A fragment of a carved cabinet was embedded in his chest, its lotus pattern absorbing the surrounding evil spirits.

I gripped the Thunderstrike Sword tightly and thrust it with all my might into the heart of the dried corpse.

The moment the blade pierced flesh, the entire building trembled violently.

Tiger Cub's chains snapped, and he fell to the ground.

The dark figure let out a dying scream, and all its tentacles contracted wildly, dragging me and the desiccated corpse toward the cabinet door.

I felt my back press against the cold cabinet, and the mummified corpse's fingers were digging into my eye sockets.

Just at this critical moment, a piercing horn blared downstairs.

The shadowy figure trembled violently, and the red light in the mummified corpse's eyes dimmed instantly.

I took the opportunity to pull out the last lightning strike talisman and stick it on the dried corpse's forehead. A flash of lightning, and the dried corpse turned into ashes. The black shadow retreated into the carved cabinet like a tide.

What's troubling me is that as the shadowy figure retreated into the cabinet, his body, with its fangs, began to gradually become transparent.

not good!

If he were to completely blend into the cabinet, the consequences would be unimaginable!

I shouted, and the Thunderstrike Sword burst forth with dazzling golden light, piercing straight into the heart of the shadowy figure.

The dark figure let out a deafening scream, and the entire room began to shake violently.

Just then, I heard Li Xiulan crying out from downstairs: "Tiger Cub!"

I didn't care about anything else, rushed out of the room, and ran towards the source of the sound.

At the corner of the stairs, Li Xiulan was holding a transparent child figure and weeping bitterly.

The figure was Huwa, whose body was gradually dissipating.

"Master, please save my child!"

When Li Xiulan saw me, it was as if she had grasped at a straw.

I immediately took out a talisman to ward off evil and stuck it on Tiger Cub's body to temporarily stabilize his dissipating form.

But at this moment, the entire building began to emit an eerie buzzing sound, and the shadowy figure in the carved cabinet seemed to be gathering even greater power.

"We have to destroy that cabinet! Otherwise, your child will never come back!"

I shouted to Li Xiulan.

She gritted her teeth, a determined glint in her eyes: "Okay, I'll go with you!"

We cautiously returned to the master bedroom, where the shadow of the carved cabinet had swelled to occupy most of the room.

I gripped the lightning sword tightly, while Li Xiulan held the peach wood nail I had given her, ready to provide support at any moment.

As soon as the master bedroom door was pushed open a crack, the smell of rotten wood mixed with the smell of rust rushed out.

The carved cabinet swelled up like fermented dough, and the peony lacquer on the cabinet doors peeled off in patches, revealing the dark red wood grain underneath.

Upon closer inspection, it resembles layers of fingernail scratches.

The shadows moved across the surface of the cabinet, emitting a sound similar to the static of an old radio.

"Pry it open from the left!"

I moved along the wall.

Who knew that after taking only a few steps, the soles of my shoes suddenly stuck to the floor.

Black slime is seeping from the bottom of the cabinet, congealing into vine-like patterns on the ground.

Li Xiulan gripped the peach wood nail tightly and drove it in; the sap made a "sizzle" sound and emitted white smoke.

Tiger Cub's transparent body trembled violently in the blanket, and the talisman on his chest slowly turned dark purple, with black blood seeping from the edges.

Suddenly, the dark figure flung out half of the cabinet door, and sawdust mixed with slime came flying at them.

I swung my sword and cleaved it open, revealing the carvings inside the cabinet through the shards of wood.

The names "Wang Xiuying" and "Zhang Jianjun" are crookedly written, followed by the year, and next to each name is a lotus flower mark carved with a fingernail.

Li Xiulan suddenly froze: "Sister Li, who went missing last month, her name is on the third line..."

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!