"Dazhu! Wake up!"

I nudged his shoulder, and it was burning hot to the touch.

He sat up abruptly, his eyes clouded as if covered by a fog, and drool still clung to the corner of his mouth.

"Master Chen... Master Chen? What's wrong? Why are you back?"

He followed my gaze to the porcelain vase, then suddenly grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow with tobacco smoke.

"Isn't it beautiful? The girl said it's a 'token of love,' a 'perpetual marriage' packaged in an official kiln porcelain vase!"

My stomach churned; it was clearly the "Soul-Locking Bottle" recorded in "Study of Yin Objects".

Made from human finger bones and corpse oil, it is specifically used to lock away the essence and soul.

Do you know what this is?

I grabbed the porcelain bottle, intending to smash it, but Dazhu grabbed my wrist.

His strength was astonishing; his nails almost dug into my flesh. "What do you know! This is fate between me and that girl!"

His eyes suddenly turned fierce, like an enraged beast: "Are you jealous? I know you want to find a girl, but they don't even look at an old man like you!"

Before he could finish speaking, he threw a punch.

I dodged to the side, my elbow slamming into his chest.

Dazhu staggered two steps, but as if he felt no pain, he lunged at me again, his fingernails scratching my cheek.

The severed finger rolled to my feet, and the red rope wrapped around it suddenly twisted as if it were alive, binding my ankle.

Dazhu seized the opportunity to grab my neck: "You dare ruin my good time..."

He let out a fox-like shriek from his throat.

At the critical moment, I bit my middle finger and used the blood to dab on his forehead.

Dazhu screamed and let go. The blood gushing from the wound was black and contained tiny white hairs.

Just then, Li Jinrong's loud voice suddenly rang out from outside the tent: "Uncle! Brother! Come out and have breakfast!"

The canvas curtain was suddenly flung open, and Li Jinrong, beaming, poked his head in. Wild chrysanthemums dangling from his gold chain were still glistening with morning dew.

Xiao Fei followed behind, but there was a suspicious tuft of white hair stuck to the cuff of his crisp suit, which trembled slightly with his movements.

The smiles on their faces froze as they stared at the mess on the ground.

Li Jinrong glanced at the scratches on my face, then at Dazhu's bleeding wrist.

"What...what's going on here? Are you two staging a full-blown fight?"

Xiao Fei craned his neck, curiously observing the two of us.

I pressed my aching neck and looked at Dazhu.

He stared intently at the ground, his face alternating between pale and flushed. The frenzied look from before faded, replaced by the terror of surviving a catastrophe.

Fortunately, he suddenly squatted down and hurriedly covered the broken pieces of the porcelain bottle with a rag.

"I slipped and fell! Mr. Chen kindly helped me up, but then..."

"That was quite a spectacle of falling down."

I interrupted her promptly, patting the dirt off my trousers: "But what about you guys? Why are you back so early?"

Li Jinrong immediately perked up, and his thick palm slapped heavily on my shoulder, making my wound go numb.

"Hey! I'm having a good time, but my stomach can't take it! I drank too much of that osmanthus wine in the village, and now I have heartburn!"

He proudly shook his wrist, and the bronze bell made a crisp sound with three long and two short rings: "That 'fisher girl' last night was really something! She said she would give me an 'ancestral jade bracelet,' but she pulled out this thing instead."

Xiao Fei winked and grinned, his slicked-back hair gleaming in the sunlight: "Boss Li is really lucky! My 'ancient costume actress' can even sing 'Eighteen Touches,' and her voice is...tsk tsk..."

The two laughed so hard they were doubled over, their spittle splattering onto the back of the pillar.

Dazhu suddenly jumped up, patted Li Jinrong on the shoulder, and his eyes gleamed with fanaticism.

"Let's go! Let's go find some girls in the village! My sweetheart said we have some 'fresh meat' today!"

As he turned around, I saw faint black lines wriggling beneath the skin of the back of his neck, like the veins of a fox awakening.

The bronze bell on Li Jinrong's wrist trembled gently with his laughter.

With each sound, the cloudiness in Dazhu's eyes deepened.

In the morning mist, faint music drifted from the direction of the village, mingled with a woman's coquettish laughter.

Like an invisible net, it is slowly closing in on the tent halfway up the mountain.

Li Jinrong grabbed him by the back of his collar: "Brother, are you possessed? It's only just sunrise!"

He poked Dazhu's burning forehead with his thick fingers: "The girls in the village are all 'night-blooming jasmine,' who opens their doors during the day?"

Xiao Fei leaned against the tent pole with a crooked grin, his fingertips brushing off the white fur from his sleeve, his tone teasing: "Brother Zhu, are you bewitched? Didn't you get enough fun last night?"

Dazhu abruptly shook off Li Jinrong's hand, making a strange hoarse sound in his throat: "What do you know! 'Fresh goods' need to be inspected before dawn!"

His pupils glowed with an eerie crimson hue as he stared intently at the fog-shrouded village: "If we're too late, someone else will rob us!"

Before Li Jinrong could say anything more, a sudden gust of chilling wind rushed into the tent.

Li Jinrong shivered: "W-why is it suddenly so cold?"

"roll!"

Dazhu let out an inhuman growl and suddenly overturned the folding table.

I reached out to grab him, but he struck me in the chest with his other hand.

The force was so great that it threw me out of the tent.

His back slammed heavily onto the rocks.

"What's going on?"

Li Jinrong was stunned, but before he could react...

Like a bull, Dazhu charged straight at him.

I staggered to my feet and shouted at Xiaofei, who was still in a daze, "Stop him!"

But Xiaofei subconsciously took half a step back, his eyes filled with fear.

The pillar plunged into the thick fog, leaving only a string of eerie bell sounds echoing through the valley.

I was so angry that I rushed over to Xiaofei and grabbed him by the collar.

"Are you crazy? Why are you moving aside?!"

Xiao Fei's face turned deathly pale, his lips trembling: "I... I dare not... That look was too terrifying..."

His voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible.

I shook off Xiaofei and turned to chase after the direction where Dazhu had disappeared.

Li Jinrong's muttered voice came from behind: "He just wants to find a girl, why is he in such a hurry..."

I stopped abruptly, turned around, and roared at him, "Looking for a girl my ass! He's bewitched by something from that village!"

After saying that, I didn't explain further and continued running deeper into the thick fog.

Li Jinrong and Xiao Fei stood there stunned for a while before catching up.

Li Jinrong, panting heavily as he ran, said, "Master Chen, don't exaggerate. What could possibly happen in that village..."

Before he could finish speaking, a gust of cold wind blew by.

The bronze bell on his wrist suddenly made a piercing sound, startling him.

Xiao Fei followed closely behind him, glancing back every now and then, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

The fog grew thicker and thicker, reducing visibility to less than half a meter. I relied on my memory to grope my way towards the village.

The footprints left by Dazhu were faintly visible on the damp mud, but they disappeared after a short distance, replaced by some strange claw marks, each with tiny white hairs remaining inside.

I hadn't run far when I heard the footsteps behind me become heavy.

Turning around, I saw Li Jinrong leaning against a tree trunk, vomiting, drool dripping from his mouth: "Uncle... that girl is calling me..."