Tiger Cub's body suddenly convulsed violently in Li Xiulan's arms without warning.

It writhed and twisted like a fish out of water.

His face would turn pale one moment and dark the next.

No!

To be precise, it was a bluish-black color that appeared and disappeared on the face.

Seeing Huwa's appearance, Li Xiulan's face turned deathly pale; she was quite frightened.

Her fingers gripped the child's clothes tightly, her voice trembling with tears.

"Tiger Cub! What's wrong? Don't scare your mother!"

She frantically reached out to touch the child's forehead, then frantically searched her body for her phone, tears streaming down her face.

"Master, please save him! I beg you!"

She turned to me abruptly, her eyes filled with despair and fear, her voice completely choked with sobs.

Before I could react, Tiger Cub suddenly arched his back and vomited a mouthful of black blood.

The black blood gleamed with an eerie light, and the moment the blood droplets hit the ground, they transformed into tiny vines.

It wrapped around my ankle as quickly as if it were a living thing.

I struggled, but I felt my ankle being squeezed tighter and tighter.

Something's not right.

Liu Sandao used his peach wood sword to pry open the vines, and blue smoke immediately rose from the sword.

"It is being reborn by borrowing the earth's veins."

I raised an eyebrow and tried to insert the lightning sword into the ground.

As soon as the lightning sword pierced the ground, the entire building suddenly trembled violently, and plaster fell from the walls.

The sword emitted a blinding blue light and collided violently with the black viscous liquid seeping from the ground, producing a sizzling sound.

Liu Sandao quickly pulled out a handful of copper coins, arranged them in a Bagua formation on the ground, and shouted, "Guard the core of the formation!"

No sooner had the words been spoken than the dark vines surged in from all directions like a tidal wave.

Li Xiulan suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream, and her body convulsed violently.

I turned my head and saw that her right calf was somehow wrapped in dark purple vines.

The surface of the vines is covered with tiny suckers, which are burrowing into the skin.

Tiger Cub burst into tears, clutching her clothes tightly with his little hands.

"Ah! My leg!"

Li Xiulan cried out in pain, her face covered in cold sweat: "Master, save me!"

I immediately swung my sword at the vines.

With a "crack," the lightning sword struck as if it had hit steel, making my hand go numb.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the blade had been corroded, leaving a gap as deep as a finger joint.

"These vines are poisonous!"

I shouted, "Brother Liu, watch out!"

Liu Sandao cursed and hurriedly pulled a small porcelain bottle from his Taoist robe, but accidentally dropped it on the ground.

The moment the porcelain bottle shattered, a unique fragrance filled the air, and the vines indeed slowed their growth.

Li Xiulan took the opportunity to forcefully pull the vines away.

However, her calves were covered with a shocking, bluish-gray net-like pattern.

"That won't do!"

Liu Sandao wiped the sweat from his face.

We must find its source!

Liu Sandao grabbed my wrist and pointed his fingertip at the sewage pipe opening: "Over there, let's go!"

Li Xiulan hugged Huwa tightly and took a half step back, as dirty water splashed onto her trouser leg.

Liu Sandao took out a tinderbox and shook it. In the dim light, a pale figure suddenly flashed through the depths of the pipe and disappeared in an instant.

Cover the child's eyes.

I whispered a reminder and stepped into the pipe first.

The foul-smelling sewage was knee-deep and icy cold; with every step, you could step on soft, rotten, unidentified objects.

Liu Sandao suddenly stopped and used his peach wood sword to lift the long hair floating on the water.

"Watch out for these hairs."

When the flashlight beam swept across the wall, the hairs on my body stood on end.

Those lotus-shaped protrusions were actually wriggling, and the petals slowly opened, revealing half of an eyeball protruding inside.

"Close your eyes!"

Liu Sandao shouted and rushed over, using his Taoist robe to block our view.

The "face" on the wall suddenly let out a shriek, and countless vines burst forth from its eyeballs, wrapping around his arms.

"Walk!"

Liu Sandao gritted his teeth and cut the vines, leaving several bloody scratches on his arm.

We stumbled and ran forward when Tiger Cub suddenly pointed ahead and screamed, "Mommy! There's a big sister over there!"

elder sister?

I looked in the direction of the sound.

At the end of the pipe, on the surface of the sewage, floated a girl in a floral dress, her long hair covering her face.

At this moment, she slowly raised her hand and pointed behind us.

Just as I was about to turn around, Liu Sandao suddenly tackled us to the ground.

A vine as thick as a bowl brushed past my scalp and slammed into the wall with a "thud".

Where the wall plaster has peeled off, half of a carved cabinet door panel embedded in cement is exposed, with half a bloody fingernail stuck to it.

Tiger Cub had grabbed my hand without me even noticing.

That's when I noticed that my arm had been cut by vines, leaving a deep wound that exposed the bone.

Fresh blood dripped into the sewage and congealed into tiny lotus flower shapes.

"arrive!"

Liu Sandao kicked away the vines blocking his way.

At the end of the sewage pipe is a circular collection well.

The surface of the water was covered with countless pieces of old furniture.

The vermilion lacquered wooden box in the very center slowly opened and closed, each time emitting a teeth-grinding "creak" sound.

The moment the lid of the box was lifted, I saw a man curled up inside.

The lotus birthmark on his neck had grown into a complete vine, twining around the inner wall of the wooden box.

"Protect Tiger Cub!"

I plunged the lightning sword into the wall, and the lotus-shaped protrusions on the wall burst open at the same time, spraying out black viscous liquid.

Liu Sandao threw out a talisman, but it was knocked down by the slime.

In the nick of time, I wrapped my injured arm around Li Xiulan and her child, letting the vines entwine my back, just to shield them from the stench of the putrid liquid.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Liu Sandao's roar mingled with the rumble of the wooden crates.

The moment the lightning sword pierced the wall, I heard Li Xiulan's tiger cub murmur in her arms, "Mommy, it's dawn."

A deafening roar came from deep within the pipe, and the sewage began to flow backward.

A huge vermilion lacquered wooden box slowly emerged.

A mummified corpse floated in the murky sewage inside the box.

His skin clung tightly to his bones, and his entire body was covered in dark red lotus tattoos, each petal looking as if it had been forcibly sewn into his flesh with needle and thread.

The most bizarre thing is the bronze mirror embedded between the eyebrows of the mummified corpse.

The mirror was covered with cracks, and the edges were carved with distorted human face patterns, the mouths of those faces opening and closing silently.

Deep within the mirror, inky clouds surged, and countless figures could be vaguely seen struggling within them.

Each figure was dressed in clothing from a different era, from the cheongsam of the Republic of China to modern work clothes, clearly representing the victims who had disappeared from Xixiangkou over the years.

"Watch out! This is a demon-suppressing mirror modified into a malevolent weapon!"

Liu Sandao's peach wood sword was just pressed against the mummified corpse's throat.

The mirror suddenly burst out with a blinding red light.

Countless rusty chains broke through the mirror, their surfaces engraved with densely packed birth dates and times.

When the chains wrapped around my wrists, I was horrified to see my birthday etched on the chain links. Rust mixed with blood seeped into my skin, like living things burrowing into my veins.

Li Xiulan, carrying Huwa, retreated to a corner, only to have her ankles entangled by another chain.

Amidst the terrified cries of the tiger cub, I saw the lotus flower tattooed on the mummified corpse slowly blooming.

With each petal that opens, a new, tormented face appears in the mirror.