I shuddered.
A chill ran down my spine and straight to the top of my head.
I whirled around and stared intently at Li Jinrong: "What did you just say?!"
Li Jinrong's obese body shook violently, and his gold chain rattled with the trembling.
His eyes were unfocused as he gazed into the depths of the thick fog.
"I... I think I heard a girl calling my name... softly, like singing a little tune..."
His thick tongue unconsciously licked his lips, saliva dripping down his stubble.
I immediately turned to look at Xiaofei.
He was nervously looking around: "There really is a sound! It's on the left! It sounds like someone is humming 'Exploring the Clear Water River'..."
His voice trembled, and his finger pointed uncontrollably to some empty point in the mist.
Seeing the critical situation, I didn't hesitate, bent down and grabbed a few dry branches from the ground, and then took out the cinnabar pouch I always carried with me.
The withered branches were quickly arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper in the palm of his hand.
"Master Chen, what are you doing...?"
Xiao Fei leaned closer, peeking out with a mixture of curiosity and unease.
Li Jinrong also swayed as he approached, and the bronze bell on his wrist suddenly emitted a sharp buzzing sound.
Without looking up, I quickened my pace: "Don't make a sound! Close your eyes! Don't think about anything!"
As I spoke, I bit my fingertip and dripped my blood onto the center of the formation.
The withered branches instantly burst into a ghostly blue flame, outlining a faint barrier in the thick fog.
But before the formation was fully formed, Xiao Fei suddenly screamed, "Boss Li! What's wrong with you?!"
I turned around abruptly and saw Li Jinrong staring straight in the direction of the village, a foolish smile on his lips.
The clarity in his eyes was being rapidly swallowed by the grayness.
His body leaned forward uncontrollably, his obese frame swaying unsteadily.
With each step, the bell on his wrist emitted an eerie buzzing sound.
“A bell… A bell is ringing… She’s calling me…”
His voice grew softer and softer until it became a dreamlike murmur, but his steps became more and more determined as he moved deeper into the thick fog.
Wake up!
I lunged at him and grabbed him by the collar.
The skin on the back of his neck felt incredibly hot to the touch of my fingertips, as if a ball of eerie fire was burning inside him.
"Get out of my way!"
Li Jinrong suddenly erupted.
A huge fist came crashing down on my face.
The gray haze in his pupils had spread to his entire eyeball, turning him into a puppet completely controlled by the sound of the bell.
I dodged to the side, but my elbow struck his ribs, feeling like I'd hit cotton.
He let out a strange "clucking" laugh from his throat, his fingernails scratching at my face, the gold watch chain flashing coldly in the white mist.
During the struggle, I noticed black oil seeping from the bell on his wrist, dripping down the red rope onto the grass, instantly corroding it and creating charred holes.
I am reminded of the record in the Daoist Canon that "the sound of a bell can summon the soul".
I bit my tongue, smeared my blood on my palm, and slapped it against his forehead: "Break!"
Li Jinrong screamed and fell to the ground, the bell on his wrist cracking open.
I had just caught my breath when I was suddenly hugged tightly from behind.
Xiao Fei's suit sleeves were covered in even more white fuzz.
He rested his chin on the back of my neck, his breath hot: "Master Chen... don't get in our way..."
The force was astonishing; his nails dug deep into my shoulder.
"Get out of my way!"
I rammed the back of my head into his nose and heard the sound of bones cracking.
Xiao Fei didn't let go; instead, he hugged her even tighter, letting out a fox-like whimper: "That girl said... if I take you there... she'll give me a new set of bones..."
As he spoke, the white fur from his sleeve drifted into my view, each strand wrapped with dark red silk thread.
I suddenly remembered the white hair in the tunnel, and grabbed his Adam's apple with my other hand.
Xiao Fei's eyes bulged, yet he still clung to me tightly, black blood trickling from the corner of his mouth: "Look... what a beautiful bell..."
He had also put on a bronze bell on his wrist at some point, which resonated with Li Jinrong's bell, producing a piercing sound.
A faint roar came from the white mist, growing ever more distant.
I quickly pulled out a tree branch, pressed the cinnabar side against the "Quchi" acupoint on Xiaofei's elbow, and pressed hard.
The Taoist text *Ling Shu Zhi Zhang* states that this acupoint is the He-Sea point of the Large Intestine Meridian of Hand Yangming, connecting the Qi of the three Yang meridians.
As the talisman seeped into his blood essence, Xiao Fei screamed and collapsed to the ground, his suit sleeve instantly bursting open.
The attached white hairs curled up and fell off as if exposed to a raging fire, revealing black lines wriggling under the skin in an octagonal pattern.
It is the "soul-capturing silk" recorded in the "Commentary on the Yin Fu Jing" that specifically locks the soul gate of a person.
I tore open his shirt, revealing a pale blue fox-shaped mark on his chest.
Immediately draw out the blood and seal seven vital acupoints related to the heart meridian, including the Tanzhong and Juque acupoints.
He then tore off Li Jinrong's tie, dipped his index finger and thumb in the blood, and quickly drew "Soul-Suppressing Talismans" on the backs of the two men.
Wherever the runes passed, the black lines hissed and turned into foul-smelling black blood that seeped out of the skin.
Yang blood is used to break through the meridians blocked by Yin energy, forcibly blocking the spirits' control over the soul.
I glanced into the depths of the thick fog, then at the two unconscious figures on the ground, and sighed helplessly.
It's too late to catch up now.
This calamity was destined to befall Dazhu, and I was powerless to stop it.
It's not realistic for me to abandon these two guys to chase after Dazhu right now.
Putting aside whether I can save him, I might be in danger myself.
It's also possible that if I leave, Li Jinrong and Xiao Fei will also disappear.
In that case, none of them will be able to be saved.
...
The rain suddenly poured down in the afternoon.
Large raindrops pattered against the tent.
Li Jinrong didn't wake up until 6 p.m.
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