Chapter 42 Yin Shen Tattoo ⑤ - Whether human or ghost, as long as they stand there, ...

"All we saw was that the two of them suddenly started screaming, banging their heads against the wall, and even choking themselves, as if they were possessed..." the long-haired girl said, touching her own neck with lingering fear.

"Could it be an air pollution problem here?" another short-haired girl speculated. "I know some forests produce miasma. This abandoned building, which used to be a terrifying locked room, could it have accumulated some toxic gases?"

“Impossible,” Chang Jingyu retorted immediately. “We were all together, breathing the same air, so why was it only Wu Yang and I who saw it?”

Wu Yang hesitated, rubbing his still throbbing temples. "Actually... I'm not really sure," he said. "Just now, my head felt really heavy, and my body felt like it wasn't obeying me. The unclean thing you mentioned..." He looked at Lan Shuyin for help, "Sister Yin, did you see it?"

Recalling his appearance in the secret room, a hint of doubt flashed through Lan Shuyin's mind, but she did not show it. Instead, she turned to Chang Jingyu and asked, "You said you saw them, so what did they look like?"

“One was very fat, with a frighteningly dark and bluish-black face.” Chang Jingyu hugged her arms tightly, her voice trembling. “And there was an even more terrifying one… it… it didn’t have a face at all!”

The description perfectly matched what Lan Shuyin had seen. She had indeed seen it.

Lan Shuyin observed Chang Jingyu discreetly and continued to ask, "Have you always been able to see these kinds of things?"

"No, it was just now..." Chang Jingyu immediately shook her head, but then a hint of hesitation flashed across her face.

Lan Shuyin keenly noticed this fleeting anomaly.

What came to your mind?

"I don't know if this counts..." Chang Jingyu hesitated before speaking, "I arrived early today and went to the second basement level. There I met a very strange old man... He asked me if I wanted to open my eyes. I thought he was going to show me some antique treasures, so I casually said yes. But then he suddenly reached out and pressed his hand between my eyebrows!"

She instinctively touched her forehead, a look of lingering fear on her face. "His hands were wet and cold, like they'd just been pulled out of ice water. I froze completely, and by the time I came to my senses, he was gone... If I hadn't lacked evidence, I almost would have called the police!"

The second basement level, an old man?

Lan Shuyin immediately thought of the old man with vertical pupils from the Python Charity Hall.

—I don't like the smell on you.

—It smells like black stench. Very faint… but it can’t be wrong.

What exactly is he trying to do? How can he forcibly open the Yin Eye on an ordinary person?

Just as she was deep in thought, Chang Jingyu suddenly took a step back with a look of horror on her face, pointing tremblingly behind her, "A female, a female ghost..."

Lan Shuyin turned around abruptly, only to find the view empty except for the dilapidated corridor and graffiti-covered walls.

She couldn't help but reassure her, "Relax, don't scare yourself."

"Get out of the way!" Chang Jingyu screamed and shoved her.

Almost simultaneously, a bone-chilling cold lashed out at her left shoulder, and a burning pain instantly spread.

There really is something there?!

Lan Shuyin's heart trembled violently. Her left hand instinctively reached for the void that had just attacked her, and the next second—

She actually grabbed a cold, slender, and boneless arm!

"laugh……"

The cinnabar residue on the palm touched the invisible object, immediately sending a piercing, burning tremor through it. The object could be felt struggling, yet the field of vision remained empty.

Has Yin Tong stopped working?

No, Lan Shuyin immediately rejected the idea—since cinnabar could still hurt it, the problem wasn't with her.

However, there was no time to think about it further. The unseen spirit seemed to exhibit a strange resilience, and Lan Shuyin suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart, as if a ghostly hand with sharp nails had pierced her chest, gripping her heart tightly with a vengeful ferocity!

She had to loosen her grip, and the next second, the invisible hand that had been clutching her heart also released its hold without hesitation.

Her heart pounded, the pain unbearable, but she couldn't show weakness in front of a group of students. Lan Shuyin's face was ashen, but she forced herself to sit up and asked Chang Jingyu sharply, "Where is it?"

Having witnessed the confrontation, Chang Jingyu gave her a deep look and pointed to the mottled wall, "She... seems to have disappeared through the wall."

bite!

As soon as he finished speaking, the elevator that had been silent for a long time suddenly emitted a crisp notification sound.

The down button, which had been pressed countless times without any response, suddenly turned on and off.

"The elevator is ready!"

"Run!"

The instinct for survival overwhelmed everything, and the students, like frightened birds, rushed into the sedan chair one after another.

Lan Shuyin didn't bother to investigate the reason. She suppressed the lingering pain in her heart and the burning pain in her left shoulder, grabbed her backpack, and followed after him with slightly unsteady steps.

Just as she took a step, a strong arm reached up to support her arm.

It is Wu Yang.

Unlike the others who rushed into the elevator in a panic, he had a lingering sense of fear and worry in his eyes.

"I'm fine." Lan Shuyin calmly withdrew her arm, quickened her pace, and stepped into the elevator, her mood somewhat heavy.

There really are things in this place that she can't see!

Someone pressed the button for the second basement level.

This time, the elevator doors closed, and the elevator descended smoothly.

Without any further mishaps, the elevator smoothly reached the second basement level. Mingxuan and the others practically sprang out, running headlong towards the exit without looking back. Only when they rushed back to the garage and felt the bright sunlight did they relax and collapse to the ground.

"What kind of place is this? It's too creepy! I'd rather die than come here again!"

As Lan Shuyin pondered her next move, her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket.

Just as she took it out, before she could even see the screen clearly, Wu Yang's voice suddenly rang out, "Sister Yin, let me take you home."

"No need, I have something to do." She looked down at her phone, waved her hand, and walked towards the bus stop on the side of the road.

Kui Li's voice request appeared on the screen.

Just as she was about to answer the phone, Chang Jingyu caught up with her again.

"Sister!" Chang Jingyu stopped her. "Could we exchange contact information?"

Her tone was earnest, tinged with an unknown hope.

Under those bright, sparkling eyes, Lan Shuyin hesitated for a moment, but still pulled up the QR code. However, after accepting the friend request, she set the other person's access permissions to chat only.

Chang Jingyu seemed to want to say something more, but seeing that Lan Shuyin answered the phone and turned to leave, she swallowed her words.

She sighed softly, turned around, and found that Wu Yang was already standing behind her.

His gaze followed the direction where Lan Shuyin disappeared, his expression unusually grim.

"Wu Yang, do you know that lady?" Chang Jingyu asked tentatively.

Wu Yang slowly withdrew her gaze and glanced at her. "Don't call everyone 'sister.' It's hard to say whether you're calling someone a person or a ghost."

After speaking, he turned away indifferently.

The sunlight cast a blurry shadow behind him, and his profile was shrouded in gloom.

...

Perhaps because the call couldn't be answered in time, the voice call was automatically disconnected before it could be connected.

Lan Shuyin glanced at the chat. The other party didn't reply to the message she sent in the early morning, but instead dialed the number she had just received.

Thinking that it was probably a situation that couldn't be explained in a few words, Lan Shuyin took the initiative to call back.

It rang almost once before being answered.

Kui Li's first words were:

Where are you?

"Gangzhou..." Before she could finish speaking, she heard the other end immediately follow up with another question:

"I know you're in Gangzhou. I'm asking, exactly where in Gangzhou?"

His voice still sounded clear and pleasant at first glance, but upon closer inspection, his speaking speed seemed a bit faster than usual, revealing a subtle tightness.

Lan Shuyin wasn't quite sure of her exact location either, and was about to open the map to check when Wei Li's voice came again, "We happen to have a client from Hong Kong today, so..."

Knowing immediately that he had misunderstood the reason for her silence, Lan Shuyin said, "I'm outside. I just came out of Haitao Building and I'm not familiar with this area. The map shows that I'm near the intersection of Yaohua Back Alley and Haizhou Road."

“It’s very close, wait for me for ten minutes.” Wei Li made the decision naturally, cutting off any possible words of refusal she might have had, but then realized something and added tactfully, “Okay?”

"Okay," Lan Shuyin replied casually.

This is a T-junction in the backstreet. The old neon signs stand silent during the day, with only the occasional car speeding by, stirring up a short gust of wind.

The dull pain in her heart and left shoulder had not yet subsided, so Lan Shuyin simply squatted down by the roadside, buried her face in her arms, and swayed her body back and forth unconsciously.

How could she possibly get back to the 14th floor? She pondered to herself. She knew there was an unseen spirit there, but it was unknown whether there were any other dangerous things. Going alone seemed a bit risky.

The sunlight cast a lonely shadow beside her.

When Wei Li arrived, he paused slightly, adjusted his slightly rapid breathing, and then steadily stepped forward.

“Ayin.”

Hearing the sound, Lan Shuyin looked up.

Against the light, Kui Li walked towards her, his figure outlined in the thin sunlight, making him appear tall and elegant, a stark contrast to the drab street scene.

Lan Shuyin used the railing next to her to stand up, glanced at her phone and said, "Pretty punctual, Kui Li."

She looked somewhat disheveled at the moment, her face pale and unhealthy, yet she deliberately acted nonchalant.

Kui Li paused for two seconds before joking, "You look so disheveled, I almost didn't recognize you."

Lan Shuyin readily agreed, "It's really heartbreaking. If you were to have a different face one day, wouldn't you be shouting 'Stop thief!' in the street?"

It was just a casual joke, but the faint smile on Wei Li's lips vanished instantly.

He turned his head away, his voice so soft it almost seemed to dissipate in the wind, "There are some people, as long as they're standing there, I won't mistake them."

Lan Shuyin was taken aback and looked at him in surprise.

He turned his head to the side, his gaze fixed on the deserted middle of the road, making it impossible to discern the emotions churning in his eyes. One could only sense an inexplicable sense of desolation emanating from him.

But it's clearly not about her. It's more likely that it was a spontaneous expression of feeling.

Lan Shuyin touched her nose, feeling a pang of guilt, thinking she might have touched on something painful. But the next second, Wei Li turned back, a carefree smile returning to his lips.

"Come on, I'll take you somewhere."

As he spoke, he casually reached out and gently touched her left shoulder.

Whether by coincidence or not, the burning, dull pain subsided somewhat the moment his hand touched her shoulder.

Lan Shuyin turned her head to look at him.

Kui Li withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened, as if it had just been a routine instruction. "This way."

A regular taxi was parked at the corner. But the interior was excessively clean, spotless, as if it never carried passengers.

The driver, a middle-aged man wearing a mask, glanced at Kui Li in the rearview mirror before silently starting the engine.

The car navigated through a maze of streets and alleys, eventually entering a narrow alleyway swallowed by the shadows of tall buildings, and stopped in front of a deserted four-story tenement building.

The building is quite old, with its gray exterior walls covered in withered brown ivy, making it look utterly ordinary.

As soon as you approach the door, a sense of exoticism washes over you—on either side of the porch, there is a small shrine, which does not house ordinary gods or Buddhas, but two half-person-tall black clay dolls draped in dark red silk.

The doll's features were blurry, yet it exuded an inexplicable, sinister aura, and in the dim light, it seemed to be staring at the visitor with empty eyes.

“That’s where my client lives,” Kui Li explained. “He travels to Siam frequently and is quite knowledgeable about the ins and outs of tattooing.”

Lan Shuyin was slightly taken aback, then exclaimed in surprise, "What a coincidence? You didn't bring me here specifically to see Fang Huan because of him, did you?"