The Night of the Fierce Spirit Decisive Battle

Although the old man's words weren't particularly strong compared to the physical evidence at the scene, if you were to weigh them, they might not have been enough.

But it undoubtedly opened up another perspective for Han Yiming.

Faced with such irrefutable proof, could there really be hidden truths to uncover in this case?

The old man's words clearly didn't sound like he was talking nonsense, and it was basically impossible for him to be an acquaintance of Sun Bin. Even if he were, he wouldn't dare to tell such a colossal lie that would carry such grave consequences.

Even between father and son, it's possible to tell such a massive lie for one's son, but for the details to be so seamless and without a single flaw? That's practically impossible.

Having been a police officer for so many years, Han Yiming had this much discernment.

"Old Han, stunned, aren't you? Unbelievable, right? Don't wrongly accuse good people and let the real killer get away. Mull it over, I need to head home."

"Don't you usually live at the dorms?"

"Not recently, I've got a lot going on at home too. Tonight is bound to be another terrifying night. Hopefully, after tonight, we'll see a resolution..."

Now, as soon as night fell, Jiang Yue felt as if the world of terror was beginning its prelude, with countless unseen horrors crawling out from the corners.

"You mean that ghost will come out again tonight? Director Luo has already taken the body away. You've been to his place, who can get in there?"

"If this had been handled last night, this matter would basically be over. Unfortunately, that ghost has already killed one person, and no one can guarantee its abilities haven't evolved. If it evolves to the point of independently forming a malevolent aura to wreak havoc, then how the body is disposed of probably won't be the decisive factor."

This was just Jiang Yue's guess; the truth would depend on tonight.

Tonight was the night of reckoning.

Jiang Yue already had some contingency plans in his mind.

It wasn't that he was being reckless, but Jiang Yue knew very well that this couldn't be dragged out.

Rather than waiting for the ghost to continuously evolve, it was better to confront it sooner, before it became too powerful to defeat!

He made a call home. Jiang Ying and the others had already finished dinner. San Gou was currently accompanying Xiao Yi's family, watching people dance in the square outside.

Even though two murders had occurred in the neighborhood, life had to go on, right?

Jiang Yue soon appeared before San Gou and the others.

Seeing Jiang Yue, Uncle Ye's family, who had been looking worried, finally showed a bit more vitality.

"Let's go back."

In reality, Uncle Ye and his family had no interest in watching the square dancing. They were only outside because, following Jiang Yue's advice, they were trying to stay in crowded places to borrow some human energy.

Where there was abundant human energy, ghosts couldn't get close.

When Jiang Yue called them home, they were naturally eager to comply.

Near the community gate, there was a small entrance for pedestrians. It wasn't even eight o'clock yet, and many people were coming and going.

As they brushed past each other, San Gou suddenly stopped and took a few more glances at a retreating figure who had just walked out.

"What?"

San Gou scratched his head. "I just saw this person outside."

"What's so strange about that? It's normal for someone to come into the community to pick something up and then leave, isn't it?"

"That's not right! Just two or three minutes ago, I clearly saw him heading in that direction, the opposite of ours. There's no reason for him to be coming out of the community just as we're returning, unless he can fly."

"Maybe you saw wrong?"

"Impossible! It wasn't days or months ago. It was just two or three minutes. I couldn't have been wrong. The clothes, pants, and shoes were all the same. But looking at him from behind now, something seems a bit off."

"What's off?" Jiang Yue paused, a faint spark of inspiration flashing through his mind.

"It's the same person, but his demeanor feels wrong. This time, he seemed a bit sinister, and there was a faint dark aura around him. The sky is dark, so I don't know if I was just seeing things."

San Gou's words truly startled Jiang Yue. He grabbed San Gou and rushed out after the person.

By the time they ran out the door, the person had long since disappeared into the dense crowd.

It had started with San Gou being startled, but now Jiang Yue's behavior seemed even more exaggerated.

"Did you see him?" Jiang Yue asked urgently.

"He's gone."

Jiang Yue stood dejectedly in the crowd, as if he had missed something important.

Uncle Ye's family now regarded Jiang Yue as a god. Seeing his dejected mood, they didn't dare to rush him.

After all, they were just neighbors, not his bodyguards. His help was a favor; not helping would be his right.

Back at Uncle Ye's house, the ghostly handprint on the door was still clearly visible, adding to the oppressive feeling in everyone's hearts.

Aunt Zhang took Xiao Yi into the inner room, while Uncle Ye hesitantly took out a card from his pocket.

"Xiao Yue, we feel bad about you having to accompany us like this every day. Here's fifty thousand yuan. How about Uncle Ye hires you..."

Uncle Ye knew that Jiang Yue's parents were gone, and his family's financial situation was probably not great.

Offering some financial compensation would make them feel better.

"Uncle Ye, what are you saying? Xiao Yi calls me brother, and I ran into this. How could I just turn a blind eye?"

San Gou, on the side, coughed repeatedly.

Fifty thousand yuan! This is blood money. Second Brother is really pretending to be generous while being poor; if I don't take it, who will.

Friendship is friendship, business is business.

"Xiao Yue, Uncle Ye doesn't mean it like that. It's not easy for you and your sister either. Think of this money as Uncle Ye giving you some extra nutrition. You're almost taking your college entrance exams, aren't you?"

"Second Brother..."

"San Gou, shut up."

Money is a good thing, and Jiang Yue certainly liked it.

Taking the money was easy, but if he took it, he had to guarantee their safety. Currently, Jiang Yue had no confidence to make such a promise.

"Uncle Ye, I'll still do my best even if I don't take your money. However, bad news has been coming one after another. The situation had actually improved yesterday, but I didn't expect it to be sabotaged by someone midway."

"Now, that ghost has harmed another person in the neighborhood. I'm worried its power might grow."

"We can't wait any longer! If we wait, it will only get stronger and stronger."

"During the day today, I made several contingency plans. There's no other choice; we have to take a risk."

"Oh, right, Uncle Ye, did you buy the things I asked you to buy over the phone during the day?"

"I bought them all, bought them all! Besides the quicklime, I also bought two roosters and a black soil dog. Oh, and the entrance surveillance camera is installed too; it's connected to the TV at home."

Roosters and black dogs are considered auspicious items in folk beliefs.

Especially black dog blood, which is said to be as effective against ghosts as sulfuric acid. A basin of black dog blood thrown at a common ghost could directly burn it to ashes.

Virgin boy's urine has a similar effect.

Don't slaughter the black soil dog yet. Jiang Yue said to San Gou, "San Gou, drink more water. The more urine the better; let's save it for later."

Uncle Ye busied himself, "We're saving it, saving it! We're saving all the urine from the day."

San Gou was resistant deep down.

He recalled the mountain road from Mount Dajin back to town a few days ago. He had to drink water and urinate constantly, his hands going in and out, causing even the birds to get a bit annoyed.

Today, he repeated the same thing during the day and had to continue doing it at night.

This... this was practically child abuse.

What was most infuriating was that Second Brother wouldn't even pay for his hard work. Where could he complain?

Not long after, Jiang Ying also arrived at Uncle Ye's house.

With Jiang Yue and San Gou gone, Jiang Ying was alone at home, and it was a lie to say she wasn't scared. As neighbors, she couldn't bring herself to ask her younger brothers to go back.

Fortunately, Uncle Ye had been thoughtful. He brought out a few army cots and cleared the coffee tables in the living room.

This way, with the sofas and army cots, they could roughly accommodate everyone.

No matter what, they still needed to sleep at night.

If they kept this up, they'd be worn to death by exhaustion, not by the ghosts.

Quicklime was sprinkled in circles around the house, including the elevator entrance and the hallway, a thin layer of lime powder covering everything.

This was a folk belief: even if a ghost was as light as a feather and invisible to the naked eye, it would still leave footprints on the quicklime.

As long as there were footprints, even if they came and went without a trace, there would still be a way to track them.

Afterward, Jiang Yue made some arrangements and assignments.

Once the arrangements were complete, Jiang Yue clapped his hands, "What's coming will come. We can't just wait around. Those who need to sleep should sleep."

Jiang Ying had to go to work every day and manage household chores, so she was already exhausted and was the first to fall asleep. Then came Aunt Zhang and Xiao Yi, who were terrified but also drifted off to sleep in a daze.

Uncle Ye wanted to stay up with them, but at his age, he couldn't keep up with the young people and soon started snoring.

San Gou went in and out of the bathroom, urinating several times. Coupled with his excitement, he had no intention of sleeping.

Jiang Yue decided to let San Gou keep watch while he closed his eyes for a short rest.

San Gou had always been carefree. He occasionally glanced at the surveillance feed on the TV screen. Seeing no activity outside the door, he felt a slight sense of disappointment.

In his life, although many interesting things had happened in Panshi Ridge and the town, none of them compared to the excitement of the past few days.

This world actually had ghosts!

The most marvelous thing was that he, San Gou, could actually see these Unclean Things.

This was simply too exciting!

"Could it be that because Lord San Gou is present, this ghost is afraid of me and dares not come?" San Gou stared at the monitor for a long time, but there was still no movement. He felt a pang of disappointment.

This guy, San Gou, never shied away from trouble.

Instead, he silently muttered, wishing for the ghost to come quickly.

Tap, tap, tap...

Suddenly, San Gou seemed to hear a sound.

He quickly checked the monitor, but there was no reaction outside the door, and the lime on the ground showed no changes.

San Gou thought he had imagined it.

Tap, tap, tap...

Another sound seemed to come from somewhere.

San Gou was a mountain dweller, after all, with the innate alertness of one. He stood up quietly, hunched over, tiptoeing, while gripping a handful of quicklime.

His eyes, sharp as a leopard's, darted around, scanning his surroundings.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The light outside the corridor suddenly flickered, like a candle in the wind, dimming and brightening, eerie and strange.

The frequency of the flickering was extremely bizarre, like a ghost breathing silently.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Bang!

A muffled explosion came from outside the door.

The corridor light suddenly went out, plunging everything into darkness.

The surveillance camera switched to night vision mode, and its image immediately became much dimmer!

Darkness is always the best seasoning for terror.

The corridor light exploded, and darkness replaced light, signifying that the horror was approaching step by step...

Compared to known terror, unknown fear made one more anxious and uneasy.

San Gou could almost hear his own heartbeat.

Seven parts excitement, mixed with three parts fear, made San Gou exceptionally exhilarated. His eyes were dark and round, shining even more brightly in the night.