Chapter 45
The feeling was so strange that Lu Xiao's heart pounded, and he couldn't help but want to open his eyes to see.
"Don't open your eyes." Zhuo Hua's cold voice rang in his ears, carrying an undeniable soothing power, "If a mortal forcibly opens their eyes when experiencing spatial teleportation for the first time, it will damage their soul."
Lu Xiao immediately squeezed his eyes shut, and at the same time subconsciously gripped Zhuo Hua's wrist tightly, as if it were the only piece of driftwood. He felt the slenderness of her wrist, and also felt the immense power contained within that slenderness, enough to support him as he traversed the void.
The fear he felt due to the unknown was strangely replaced by a greater sense of awe and dependence—his girlfriend was truly a goddess!
This strange sensation of movement lasted only a few seconds. As his feet touched solid ground again and the wind subsided, Lu Xiao heard Zhuo Hua's voice: "We've arrived."
He cautiously opened his eyes.
Where is this corner of the film studio piled high with props? This is the entrance to a quiet mountain path. The night is deep, and the mountain breeze carries a cool breeze and the scent of grass and trees.
Not far ahead, a brightly lit, modernly luxurious detached villa sat perched on the mountainside, standing out starkly against the quiet mountain forest. It was the "haunted" villa that Lin Yang had described on the phone.
The villa was well-located, offering a panoramic view overlooking the city lights below. However, at this moment, in Zhuohua's divine perception, this beautiful villa was like an ominous magnet, continuously radiating a cold, resentful aura.
Especially the room on the west side of the villa with the huge floor-to-ceiling window (the home theater Lin Yang mentioned), the resentment was so thick it was like ink that couldn't be dissolved.
Lu Xiao couldn't help but shiver; the mountain wind seemed particularly cold. Looking at the brightly lit villa before him, and recalling the terrifying scene Lin Yang had described, his palms sweated slightly, and he subconsciously moved closer to Zhuo Hua. He didn't understand resentment, but his instinct told him that something bad was inside that beautiful house.
"Scared?" Zhuohua turned her head to look at him, the moonlight outlining the cool profile of her face, but her eyes held a hint of mockery.
Lu Xiao straightened his chest, trying to appear calm, but his voice was a little weak: "Who...who's afraid! I just feel...a little cold!"
He paused, then added softly, "And, you're here." He spoke the last few words with particular seriousness, filled with complete trust.
Zhuohua stopped teasing him. She walked steadily toward the villa gate. Lu Xiao took a deep breath and followed closely, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily, like a dutiful guard.
The villa's gate was tightly shut. Zhuohua didn't ring the doorbell; instead, she extended her index finger, a faint golden light barely perceptible to the naked eye swirling around its tip, and gently tapped the heavy lock.
With a soft click, the door lock opened.
Lu Xiao stared in disbelief: This... this is the legendary wall-penetrating technique... no, lock-picking technique? These god-like skill points are just too useful!
As soon as the door opened, a mixture of perfume, alcohol, and...some indescribable chill wafted out. The living room was brightly lit, almost blindingly so.
Lin Yang and three other stylishly dressed young men were huddled together behind the largest sofa in the center of the living room, trembling with fear. Several empty beer cans and snack wrappers were scattered on the floor. Their faces were pale, their eyes filled with terror, and they shuddered violently at the sound of the door opening, almost screaming.
"Sister Zhuohua!!"
Lin Yang was the first to see the figure at the door. As if he had seen a savior, he scrambled over, his voice trembling with tears, "You're finally here! You scared me to death! That thing... that thing is still there! Upstairs! And in the kitchen! And the curtains! The curtains just fluttered up again!" He pointed incoherently towards the upstairs and the kitchen.
The other three also recognized the newcomer, especially Zhuohua, who possessed a cool and ethereal aura and wore an ancient Taoist robe. Their eyes filled with surprise and a glimmer of hope. Was this the fairy-like sister Lin Shao had mentioned who could solve "supernatural events"?
Zhuohua's gaze calmly swept over the messy living room and the several shaken young people, finally landing on Lin Yang: "Exact location?"
"Upstairs! The empty room at the end of the upstairs corridor! And the kitchen! And the living room with its floor-to-ceiling windows!" Lin Yang said urgently.
Zhuohua nodded slightly, but her gaze shifted to the west side of the villa, to the tightly closed frosted glass door leading to the media room. Her divine sense clearly detected that this was the true source and core of the resentment, like a constantly pulsating black heart radiating malice.
The noises upstairs and in the kitchen were merely the insignificant "tentacles" of that core resentment emanating from it.
"You all stay here, keep all the lights on." Zhuohua's voice carried a strange, calming power. "Lu Xiao, you watch them, don't move around."
“Okay!” Lu Xiao immediately agreed. Although he really wanted to follow Zhuo Hua, he also understood that protecting these terrified guys was his responsibility.
Zhuohua said no more and walked straight toward the tightly closed frosted glass door on the west side. Her steps remained steady, and her indigo Taoist robe seemed to possess a layer of pure radiance that kept away filth under the bright, somewhat pale light.
Lin Yang watched her retreating figure, his palms sweating with nervousness. The young man behind Lin Yang was the owner of the villa, named Li Mu. He was clinging tightly to Lin Yang and couldn't help but whisper, "Lin Yang... Sister Zhuohua... can she manage going alone? That place... is really eerie!"
Lu Xiao's gaze followed Zhuo Hua's retreating figure until she stopped at the door of the media room. Looking at the closed door, his heart pounded with anxiety at the thought of the unknown horrors within.
But when he turned back to look at Li Mu, his eyes were unusually firm, filled with an almost blind trust: "Don't worry." His voice was not loud, but it was firm and resolute: "She is Zhuohua."
"She is Zhuohua." These four words seemed to possess some kind of magical power, instantly calming the wildly beating hearts of the group.
Lin Yang looked at Lu Xiao, gazing at the unquestionable trust and pride in Lu Xiao's eyes, and then at the calm, indigo-clad figure at the entrance of the audiovisual room. For some reason, he actually felt a surge of courage.
Yes, that's Sister Zhuohua! She's a divine being who can banish evil spirits with a flick of her wrist!
Zhuohua stopped in front of the frosted glass door. The bright light from the living room was reflected on the door, blurry and indistinct. However, in Zhuohua's perception, a completely different world lay behind the door.
A thick, almost tangible resentment, carrying intense hatred, bitterness, and a painful sense of being forcibly restrained, was frantically pounding against the door, trying to spread outwards. Faintly, one could hear extremely faint, intermittent sobs coming from the crack in the door, along with the creaking sound of fingernails scratching at the door, sending chills down one's spine.
She didn't push the door open immediately. The copper coin she had been playing with had disappeared without her noticing. She brought her right index and middle fingers together, and a faint golden light, extremely restrained yet containing the purest and most yang energy, quietly gathered at the tip of her finger.
Divine light traced a pattern at her fingertips, forming an extremely tiny yet incredibly complex and profound rune mark—not a mortal technique, but a simplified version of the "Purification Seal" used by the divine realm to purify evil spirits.
She raised her hand, her fingertips gathering a barely perceptible golden light, and gently touched the center of the frosted glass door.
There was no earth-shattering sound. Just as her fingertips touched the door—
"Sizzle—!"
A piercing shriek, like cold water being poured into boiling oil, suddenly erupted from inside the door! The sound was extremely shrill, filled with extreme pain and resentment, and instantly pierced through the door panel, fiercely stabbing into the eardrums of everyone in the living room!
"Ah—!" Lin Yang and the other three young men were so frightened that they screamed and curled up into a ball again, their bodies trembling like leaves.
Lu Xiao was also startled by the sudden, terrifying shriek, his hair standing on end. His heart felt like it was being gripped by an icy hand, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand in front of them, his eyes fixed on Zhuo Hua's direction, without taking a single step back.
The frosted glass door shook violently! On the door panel, centered on the spot pointed by Zhuo Hua's fingertip, countless spiderweb-like black cracks appeared out of thin air, as if ink was spreading wildly inside the glass!
A chilling wind, a hundred times colder than before, rushed out from the crack in the door, carrying a strong smell of decay and blood, instantly causing the temperature in the brightly lit living room to plummet!
The lights in the living room began to flicker wildly! The huge crystal chandelier overhead emitted a buzzing sound, its light and shadow dancing wildly on everyone's terrified faces, like a chaotic dance of demons.
Another loud crash came from the kitchen, as if the refrigerator door had been violently slammed shut, followed by the sound of bottles and jars shattering and rolling onto the floor! The huge floor-length curtains were being torn apart as if by an invisible hand, billowing high and almost veering off their tracks!
The entire villa seemed to have instantly fallen into a ghostly realm!
"Sister Zhuohua!" Lin Yang was so frightened that tears streamed down his face, and his voice trembled.
At the height of this chaos and terror, Zhuohua, standing at the eye of the storm, didn't even flinch. Her fingertip was as steady as a rock, and the pale golden light she pointed out was like a star thrown into an inkwell. Not only was it not swallowed by the darkness, but its light became more concentrated and solid.
Through the frosted glass covered with black cracks, her cool eyes seemed to see directly into the core of the twisted and churning resentment behind the door.
"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes."
Her voice was soft, even carrying a peculiar rhythm, like an ancient chant, easily piercing through the shrill screams and chaotic noise, clearly echoing in the ears of every terrified soul: "Obsession traps you here, harming others and yourself. Let it go."
As she uttered her last word, the golden light at her fingertips suddenly shone brightly!
Buzz—!
A deep, yet majestic hum emanated from her fingertips. There was no earth-shattering explosion, but the wildly spreading black cracks, like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun, instantly froze, then began to melt and fade at a visible speed! The shrill scream from inside the door, as if being choked, suddenly turned into a resentful whimper, and then quickly weakened.
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