Tong Liu couldn't hold back any longer and whispered in my ear, "Changming, did you hear that? It sounds like there are footsteps coming from the stairwell."

"I heard you, there are two," I replied softly.

"Then... could it be that there are other filthy things that want to eat it too?" Tong Liu asked, trembling.

A sudden chill ran through me as I remembered the small hut by the wall. Could it be that something from inside had come out? If so, we might be in danger.

"Changming, maybe we...maybe we should run away," Tong Liu said softly, his voice trembling.

“Where are they going? They…they seem to have come up the stairs.” I stammered.

"Tap tap tap... tap tap tap..."

The footsteps grew closer, as if they would appear behind us at any moment. Just as Tong Liu and I were about to wet ourselves in fear, I heard a familiar voice behind me, "Zuo Changming, are you up there?"

Just then, the lights in the dance studio came on, and the candle flames returned to their original color.

When I heard that voice, my tense nerves relaxed a lot, because the owner of the voice was none other than Hu Tudao.

Tong Liu and I turned around at the same time and saw Hu Tudao and Hu Ergou appear at the stairwell one after the other.

I took a deep breath and tried to walk over, but as soon as I lifted my leg, I found that my feet went numb and I couldn't move at all. I almost fell to the ground, but luckily Tong Liu was quick to catch me.

"Uncle Hu, you've arrived," I said to Hu Ergou as he walked over.

"Uncle-in-law," Tong Liu called out to Hu Ergou.

In fact, the kinship between Tong Liu and Hu Ergou is negligible. Hu Ergou's wife, Pang Xiuchuan, was a distant cousin of Tong Liu, and she had already passed away. The reason for calling her that was purely a respectful title based on seniority. They basically never visited each other during holidays.

Hu Ergou nodded to Tong Liu, then looked at me and asked, "Changming, is everything all taken care of?"

"It should be done." I didn't dare to be too sure, so I quickly recounted what had just happened in the dance studio from beginning to end.

"Looks like that brat has already eaten. He must have smelled my dad's scent and hid in fear," Hu Tudao said hatefully as he stepped forward from behind Hu Ergou and glanced around.

Looking at Hu Tudao's appearance, I guessed that he must be holding a grudge about being so scared that he wet his pants last night.

What Hu Tudao said is possible, because we heard footsteps going upstairs and Hu Tudao speaking before the lights suddenly came on and the candles resumed burning.

Hu Ergou was wearing a yellow Taoist robe tonight, with a yin-yang symbol printed on it, and he was also holding a seal in his hand.

My grandfather used to have a Taoist robe, much older than Hu Ergou's, but it was burned along with his old clothes when he died.

As for the seal in Hu Ergou's hand, it is called the "big seal" in the trade, and only those who have undergone three acts of abstinence can hold it.

I remember when my grandfather passed away, Hu Ergou didn't yet hold this seal. I never imagined that he would have already undergone three periods of purification.

Actually, I have no idea what abstaining from physical discipline is like or what one abstains from, because I've only heard about it.

"Uncle Hu, what should we do next?" I asked Hu Ergou.

Hu Ergou glanced around the dance studio and said slowly, "This little ghost girl has already hidden herself. The three of you stand to the side."

Tong Liu, Hu Tudao, and I stood in the corner, our eyes all fixed on Hu Ergou.

Both Tong Liu and I looked at Hu Ergou in the center of the field with curiosity and a bit of nervousness, wanting to see how he would send Xu Huihui away.

Hu Tudao, on the other hand, appeared much calmer, as if he was used to it, and even had a smug look on his face, completely unlike the terrified look he had when he wet himself.

Hu Ergou came to the offerings, bent down and picked up a grain of rice from the glutinous rice. He began chanting incomprehensible incantations. Hu Ergou placed the grain of rice on the seal and gestured with his other hand towards the grain of rice on the seal for about a minute. Then Hu Ergou took out a yellow talisman from his Taoist robe and stamped the seal on the talisman with his other hand.

The moment the seal was pressed down, Hu Ergou stopped chanting and shouted, "Come quickly!"

As soon as I shouted that, the lights in the dance studio flickered, and a moment later I heard a little girl crying, "Waaah!"

I was incredibly nervous. I looked around, but apart from feeling that the temperature seemed a bit colder than before, I couldn't see the little girl at all.

Tong Liu also looked nervous and pale as he looked around.

At this point, Hu Tudao's smug expression disappeared, and he looked around nervously, grabbing Tong Liu's arm tightly.

When Tong Liu saw Hu Tudao grabbing his arm, he immediately shook off Hu Tudao's hand in disgust.

The crying continued, growing closer and closer until it reached the center of the arena, sounding incredibly ethereal and eerie.

If I could see Xu Huihui there, I might not be so scared, but I can't see her at all, and her crying seems to appear out of thin air right in front of me.

My scalp tingled, and my palms started sweating.

"Changming, she's here. Do you have anything to say to her?" Hu Ergou suddenly looked at me and asked.

"Where...where is she?" I hesitated for a moment, but still took a step and walked over.

"You can't see her, but you can see the ashes of the paper money on the ground," Hu Ergou said calmly, pointing to the ashes of the paper money on the ground.

Upon hearing this, I looked over and saw several small footprints on the ashes of the paper money on the ground. I trembled, sweat beading on my forehead, and said in a trembling voice, "Uncle Liu, how am I supposed to talk to her?"

“Given her current condition, you can’t talk to her directly. How about this, you say what you want to say, and she can hear you. I can help relay what she says,” Hu Ergou said slowly.

"Are you Xu Huihui, little girl?" I asked softly to the air in front of me.

After a while, Hu Ergou, who was standing to the side, spoke up, "She said yes."

"Is there anything else you wish to accomplish?" I asked the air again.

After a while, Hu Ergou said, "She said she wants to go back to find her mother."

Hearing this, my heart ached. This little girl's only wish was to go home and find her mother, but she was already dead. Even if she found her mother, what difference would it make? After all, they were separated by life and death, and there would be no good ending for them.

"Little girl, you are dead. You will never find your mother again. Go and be reincarnated in peace. Your mother would not want you to stay here." Although it was cruel, I still said it.

Right after I said that, the lights in the dance studio suddenly flickered, and the temperature around us dropped a few degrees.