In fact, Shang Lin really wanted to say, "Sometimes, someone like me who has cultivated for thousands of years is not much different from a god who is indifferent to joy and sorrow and coldly observes the world. But since I came to the human world and transmigrated into the body of a minor, I have become more and more like a normal person."

However, now is not the time to talk about these things, so Shang Lin simply said, "Let's continue searching."

"good."

Perhaps as the things in the basement were gradually sealed away by Shang Lin, the chaotic aura slowly returned to normal. The basement, which was originally unclear, gradually became visible again, with walls, floor, and even the black mist beginning to dissipate.

Shang Lin finally saw a wisp of purple mist in the black fog. Even though it was the place where the black mist was the densest, the purple mist forcefully separated a space, protecting Meng Zhe safely within it.

Meng Zhe stood in the purple aura, his complexion was not good, and he was trembling all over. It was hard to tell whether he was cold or scared. However, Shang Lin was more inclined to believe it was the former, because he was dressed very thinly, wearing a sweatshirt and joggers instead of a down jacket.

Shang Lin hurriedly called out, "Meng Zhe."

Meng Zhe, who was barely standing and shivering, immediately looked over. As soon as he saw Shang Lin, his legs went weak and he almost knelt down. Fortunately, the other party caught him quickly.

Meng Zhe asked in a trembling voice, "You came so fast. I thought I would have to wait for several more hours."

Shang Lin took out his down jacket and wrapped it around Meng Zhe. "Let's go upstairs first. If we wait any longer, you'll get hypothermia."

"Um."

Having stood for too long and not daring to move, Meng Zhe leaned half of his body on Shang Lin and walked very slowly. She Jinxing hurriedly said, "Sect Master, let me support you."

Shang Lin was afraid that Meng Zhe would be embarrassed to trouble She Jinxing, so he said, "No need, it's just a few steps away."

When they reached the stairs, Meng Zhe had recovered. He straightened up and said, "You don't need to help me anymore. My legs were just a little stiff from standing for too long, but they're fine now."

But Shang Lin still asked with some unease, "Is it really okay?"

"Can."

In Meng Zhe's memory, Shang Lin was still that sickly boy who couldn't even drink milk. He could lean on him for a while, but not for long. Although he had grown taller and stronger, his face hadn't changed much, so the impression remained the same.

Stepping into Meng Zhe's house, the fire in the stove had gone out, and the house wasn't very warm. The house was actually quite tidy, and you could still see signs of the New Year, such as red paper-cut window decorations and gold "福" (good fortune) characters on a red background...

Meng Zhe relit the fire, boiled water, and wrapped himself in a fluffy blanket before sitting down to talk to Shang Lin. "Thank you for saving me. Otherwise, even if I hadn't been harmed by the evil spirits, I would have frozen to death."

Shang Lin hurriedly said, "Didn't you save me before? Speaking of which, what happened to your family? Where's your uncle?"

Meng Zhe was a little dejected. "Actually, I don't know what happened. In the afternoon, my dad said he was going to check the basement, but he hadn't come back by evening. I heated up the food and went to call him, thinking he would be back soon, so I didn't wear a down jacket. But when I went down, the basement looked like it had been ransacked. Everything was a mess."

Meng Zhe took a deep breath before continuing, "I was worried about my father, so I ran inside without thinking. I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. Now that I think about it, how big is the basement? If I didn't see him, I should have looked somewhere else. There was no need to shout and rush in. As a result, I couldn't get out after I rushed in."

Although Shang Lin and Huang Li said, "Don't panic when things happen, try to stay calm," how many people can actually do that?

Just then, the water boiled, and She Jinxing poured water for everyone. Meng Zhe thanked him and continued, "At the time, I didn't know I was trapped. I was running around like a headless fly. Later, I calmed down and guessed that I had probably encountered a ghost wall. Luckily, my phone was in my pocket, so I called my dad, but his phone was off. I called you instead, and then I just waited where I was, not daring to move."

"Where is Uncle? Could he have gone out to get reinforcements?"

If things were chaotic when Meng Fanyu went to the basement, it's understandable that he didn't have time to tell Meng Zhe because of the emergency and he was looking for someone. His phone being off was probably because it was out of battery. As for being harmed by something in the basement…

He sealed them all the way through without noticing any blood energy, so that shouldn't be the case. Besides, the things in the basement had been stored in the Meng family for who knows how many years, so Meng Fanyu should have a special skill to seal them.

Hearing Shang Lin say that, Meng Zhe's brain, which had been frozen in the basement, finally came back online. He hurriedly took out his phone and started calling his relatives. Of course, he didn't directly tell them what the situation was like at home. He only asked if his father was going.

However, after asking around, Meng Zhe learned that Meng Fanyu hadn't come. He immediately looked at Shang Lin in a panic, "Then where could my father have gone? Or rather, where could he be?"

Shang Lin paused for a moment before saying, "Find me one of the clothes that Uncle wears most often."

Meng Zhe subconsciously did as he was told, and then he saw a talisman appear out of thin air in Shang Lin's right hand. He didn't know how he did it, but the talisman turned into a small paper figure, which lay flat on his clothes. Soon it stood up and floated out the door.

Shang Lin hurriedly followed, with She Jinxing and Meng Zhe close behind. The paper figure led them to the basement again and stopped next to the puppet.

The puppet was tightly bound by She Jinxing and then trapped by Shang Lin along with the small coffin. At this moment, it looked no different from a real puppet.

But a puppet is still a puppet, not Meng Fanyu himself. Shang Lin looked at the little paper figure with some confusion and subconsciously asked, "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Shang Lin had used this tracking technique to track Old Man Chai before, and the success rate was extremely high. So why did the result seem a bit off when it came to Meng Fanyu?

No, this is more than just a slight deviation; it's off by leaps and bounds!

However, the little paper doll responded to Shang Lin's subconscious question by jumping on the rope binding the puppet. Shang Lin immediately looked at She Jinxing and said, "Remove the rope."

Because of the trap set up by Shang Lin, She Jinxing immediately followed the instructions. As soon as the rope was pulled, the puppet seemed to come alive and started gesturing again, but unfortunately, no one could understand it.

Shang Lin then looked at Meng Zhe, "This is your family's property. You should understand what it's gesturing about, right?"

Meng Zhe stared intently at the puppet. "I didn't see it when I came down. Where did it come from?"

Shang Lin, "..."