I reached out and grabbed at the key on the man's waist, then brought it to my nose and smelled it.

Sure enough, there was a strange, sinister aura about the key.

Although this evil energy is very weak, my perception is much stronger than before, and I can sense its presence.

"Something's wrong!"

After hearing this, the fat man, his voice trembling with tears, kowtowed to me three more times.

His keys also fell to the ground.

I picked up the key and examined it carefully.

This is the oldest kind of bronze key, something that only large, prestigious families used to possess.

The key looks quite old, and the patterns on it are extremely complex.

"Your family must be quite influential in this area, or perhaps your ancestors were very influential?"

I touched the keys and asked the fat man kneeling at my feet.

This key is designed so cleverly that it's definitely not something an ordinary large family could use.

"Grandpa, you're amazing! Our ancestors were indeed wealthy; a hundred years ago, we were the largest family here!"

Speaking of this fat man, I'm wide awake now, and I'll tell you all about him.

I gestured for the man to stand up and speak, and the fat man stood up and gave a detailed account of his family.

According to the fat man, his family used to be the most powerful force not only in Shenwu County, but also in the surrounding counties.

But for some reason, they inexplicably fell into poverty, getting worse year by year, until by his father's generation, all that was left was their ancestral home.

"This key is at least 100 years old, so it has a lot of collectible value!"

The fat man pointed to the key in my hand, but I didn't comment on it.

A key from over 100 years ago—it can be valuable in some ways, but worthless in others.

I placed the key on the table, began to form hand seals, and then used talisman paper to set up an array.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

This fluid and graceful scene left the man completely mesmerized.

"Of course it's to exorcise evil spirits for you!"

I picked up the Thunderstrike Sword and immediately began to remove the evil energy from it.

With a muffled thud, wisps of black mist appeared on the key.

Immediately afterwards, the black mist disappeared as if it had encountered a hot object!

"There isn't much evil energy on it, but it's incredibly potent!"

After doing all that, I gave the man a critique.

What do you mean?

The fat man shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand these things.

"What I mean is, your key has been corrupted by evil spirits, but it's definitely not from recent years! It's very likely that it was corrupted when it was passed down through generations!"

I took a deep breath and explained to the fat man, word by word.

Looks like there's more to this guy's life than meets the eye!

If that's the case, then the situation becomes complicated.

This man once said that his family's fortunes had declined little by little.

I can't speak for other things, but the decline of the family is definitely more or less related to the evil spirit on this key.

So, the reason why this fat man and his entire family were wiped out might also be due to this.

"You mean our house isn't clean?" The fat man almost knelt down before me again after hearing that.

"That should be the case, I'm pretty sure it's close enough!"

I nodded slightly. Although the evil energy on this key was stubborn, it wasn't much; it had been infected by something even more sinister.

The things in his home probably infected him.

Or, as the man said, the whole house is unclean.

"Didn't the Taoist priest notice these things before?"

I suddenly realized this and asked him with a frown.

The fat man shook his head like a rattle drum.

"I didn't see that coming! The Taoist priest didn't say anything, just told me to go out and hide for a while, and then when I came back in the next couple of days, I would meet a benefactor!"

"?"

I was completely confused.

You could say this Taoist priest is amazing, since he couldn't even see this thing; but you could also say he's not amazing, since he could predict that he would run into me today.

Could it be that this Taoist priest did it on purpose?

Did you show him the key at the time?

"I checked, and this is the key. We had two keys in total. The other one disappeared after everyone in the family passed away!"

The man, afraid I would ignore him, quickly offered an explanation.

"I can sense that you are far more powerful than that Taoist priest. Perhaps only a master of your level can sense the evil energy here!"

The fat man started flattering me, to which I just snorted, though it sounded rather pleasant.

"Alright, let's get going!"

I quickly packed my things, slung my bag over my shoulder, and the older woman was all ready.

The three of us left the small guesthouse together.

Before leaving, I didn't forget to ask the fat man, "By the way, Xiao He, is there a mute little girl in this guesthouse?"

“A little girl? No, absolutely not! I checked carefully when I came, there wasn’t a single feather, just a bunch of chickens on the ground!”

The man quickly shook his head, and I could tell from his eyes that he wasn't lying.

After Fatty Sister leaves, Flower should probably leave too.

This man and Lao Dao were both pretty much the same type of person; they'd pee their pants at the sight of something dangerous.

If someone like Hua Hua were still inside, this man probably wouldn't dare to come back.

Of course, this is on the premise that the man did not lie from beginning to end.

Although she largely believed what the man said, she remained wary.

The man led us to the parking lot outside, where he got into a van.

"Excuse me, sir, my conditions are so basic that all I have is this old, beat-up car!"

The man gave an embarrassed smile, and I didn't mind. I pulled the older woman to sit in the back.

We drove for about an hour and a half, and we're almost at the village now.

"Almost there, almost there! Our old family house is just ahead!"

The man, perhaps afraid I would get impatient, quickly turned around and explained with a smile.

I felt something was off. According to this man, his family was supposed to be the most powerful in the area.

Even if the houses weren't built in the very center, they wouldn't be this remote.

This isn't even a suburban issue anymore, this is the fucking village!

Have you ever seen an extremely wealthy family living in a village?

Either the man is lying, or this family is somewhat special.

I've read some strange tales, including stories about families who are essentially practitioners of esoteric arts, and thus choose auspicious locations far from the hustle and bustle of the city.

If what the man said is true, then his family might be like that.

After walking for about 10 more minutes, a huge old house appeared in front of me.

I had imagined this house to be big, but I never imagined it to be this big!

The bottle inside my clothes started vibrating, which was naturally the female ghost.

Something's not right!