I followed Xiaoyue and squeezed into room 302.
The stench inside was even stronger, a mixture of Chinese medicine and mold.
The living room was piled with old newspapers and empty medicine bottles, and an old-fashioned television screen flickered with static.
Blue light illuminated the faded family photo on the wall.
This photo was taken when Mengmeng was five years old. In the photo, a man in a blue shirt is holding her and smiling brightly. There is a blurry circle in the lower right corner due to water seepage.
"Grandpa? Grandma?"
Is anyone home?
Xiaoyue shouted against the wall, her Crocs crunching over the medicine residue on the floor.
A faint coughing sound came from the inner room.
I took out my lighter and lit the mugwort sachet. The pale green flame rose and illuminated the hallway leading to the bedroom.
Several wet clothes were hanging there.
"Let's look at Mengmeng first."
I grabbed Xiaoyue by the back of her collar.
You could feel her taut muscles through her cotton T-shirt.
Xiaoyue stared at the half-open bedroom door and asked in confusion, "Master, how did you know Mengmeng's room was there?"
I gestured with my chin toward her chest.
The edges of the originally pure white sanitary napkin turned a strange bluish-gray, like rice paper stained with ink.
"The red dragon is warning us that the place with the densest yin energy is the den of ghosts."
She suddenly looked down.
Suddenly, the sanitary napkin under her white T-shirt started hissing and emitting blue smoke, startling her so much that she almost jumped up.
In a frantic attempt to tear it open, he cried out, "Is this...is it going to catch fire?! Will I be swallowed by the evil energy?!"
"Don't move!"
I grabbed her hand and touched her cold fingertips.
"Seeing blood means there was no real danger."
He took out a lighter and lit the mugwort sachet.
The eerie green flames danced along the bluish-gray edges, almost like a protective ring around the sanitary napkin.
"Consider it a signal to the ghost: this girl has thorns and is not to be trifled with."
Xiaoyue swallowed hard, feeling somewhat helpless: "But...but it's burning hot!"
"Bear with it."
I shoved the mugwort sachet into her hand, sparks flying onto her trembling hand: "When we go in, just follow my instructions!"
The bedroom door was ajar, and pink light peeked through the crack.
The moment she pushed open the door, Xiaoyue suddenly covered her mouth and looked ahead in horror.
Mengmeng was curled up in the corner of the bed, her face ashen, with wet hair wrapped around her neck and dirty water dripping from the ends.
"Mengmeng!"
Xiaoyue tried to rush over, but I grabbed her arm.
The sanitary napkin on her chest also sizzled and emitted blue smoke, with flames climbing up the packaging paper.
The yin energy was too heavy, and the red dragon was burning rapidly.
"Step back!"
I shouted and forcefully pulled Xiaoyue backward.
A biting cold wind suddenly rushed into the room, as if someone had lifted the curtain of the underworld.
The scent of mugwort went out with a "poof," and sparks fell into the pile of dregs, instantly swallowed by darkness.
The windows began to shake violently, and the iron bars rattled loudly.
It felt as if the whole world had plunged into pitch blackness within ten seconds.
"Master... Master!"
Xiaoyue trembled like a leaf, and groped for another sanitary napkin, which she then haphazardly stuck to her chest.
"Why is it completely dark? I don't remember it being night yet!"
I took out my lighter and lit it repeatedly. The weak flame could only illuminate a small area, but it revealed countless long black hairs pouring out from the windows and cracks in the doors.
"It's not dark!"
I lowered my voice, the flames being blown askew by the eerie energy: "It's that thing causing trouble."
"What we see now is a nightmare it has woven. Just think of it as playing a VR horror game. Don't let the illusions scare you to death."
Something was chuckling in the darkness.
Xiaoyue's sanitary napkin was burned to the edge.
"Master, what exactly is that thing? Why is she clinging to Mengmeng?"
I took out the Five Emperors Coins and threw them towards the door.
The copper coin struck the rusty doorknob with a clear "clang," and where the verdigris splattered, bloody fingerprints appeared on the door panel.
Mengmeng's convulsions suddenly stopped.
Her originally hunched back seemed to be straightened by an invisible hand, and her cervical spine made a "crackling" sound, as if every bone was being rearranged.
Xiaoyue gasped: "Her...her eyes."
Mengmeng's eyes, which were originally veiled in mist, were now being swallowed up by the murky white at a visible speed.
Fine, bluish-gray blood vessels appeared in the whites of his eyes, like crumpled mosquito coils.
The pupils contracted to the size of pinpoints, embedded in the white irises, looking like two rusty nails driven into dough.
The next second, she suddenly sat up straight, grinned at us, and screamed, "No...you can't leave me! Nobody is allowed to leave!"
Suddenly, Mengmeng shouted, and the hem of her skirt suddenly swelled up, with countless long black hairs emerging from under the skirt and rushing towards us.
I quickly drew my lightning sword and slashed at the hair.
The strands of black hair that had been tangling around were sliced off with a "sizzle" as soon as they touched the blade.
The severed hair lay on the ground, still writhing, and a putrid stench instantly filled the air.
In no time, the broken hair turned into black liquid and spread out on the floor.
Xiaoyue was so frightened that she kept backing away, her Crocs slipping on the ground: "This sword is electrified?!"
I shook the water off the sword; the Thunder Sword was still slightly warm. "It's perfect for dealing with dirty things; it's more effective than the peach wood sword."
Before she could finish speaking, Mengmeng suddenly tilted her head, her eyeballs rolling up and down strangely in their sockets.
His right hand twitched uncontrollably, black sewage squeezing out from under his fingernails, drawing a distorted "stay" character on the wall.
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