Sound of Combing Hair

Fang Gang casually swung the apartment door shut, shaking loose a few wisps of dust from the wall.

He propped the Bronze Battle Halberd, now carrying an even heavier murderous aura, against the wall. It landed with a dull thud.

He tore off his charred combat uniform, revealing dark golden skin beneath. The scorching red mark on his chest, left behind by the Blood Sacrifice Priest's sneak attack, stood out sharply in the dim light, as though it had been branded by a hot iron.

He picked up the book from the bed, its cover printed with nine burning suns: "Nine Yang Divine Skill (Complete Detailed Explanation)." The stench of cheap ink mixed with the moldy smell of paper rushed into his nostrils.

"System, scan it!"

Ding! Paper-based medium detected. Content integrity is relatively high (85%). Some energy circulation routes are conjectural...

Energy response: Weak (negligible)

Threat level: None

Spend 1 Evolution Point to convert it into the beginner cultivation technique "True Nine Yang Divine Skill" (complete)?

"Convert!"

Evolution Points -1!

Converting... Correcting core circulation routes... Completing key nodes of yin-yang circulation... Optimizing the heavenly cycle...

Conversion complete! Cultivation technique obtained: "True Nine Yang Divine Skill" (Complete) (Beginner 0/500)!

A circulation method far more profound and vast than the previous fragment surged into Fang Gang's mind! The nine yangs revolved endlessly, giving birth to life without end! This was the true beginning of the supreme yang path that burned away all yin and evil!

"Upgrade!" Fang Gang did not hesitate in the slightest. His will locked onto the cultivation technique! Seventy-five Evolution Points burned away in an instant!

Boom—!!!

A torrent far fiercer and more tyrannical than his previous realm breakthrough exploded from deep within his dantian!

The newly born Nine Yang Inner Breath seemed to have been fed nuclear fuel, swelling madly, compressing, and undergoing a qualitative transformation!

Golden-red currents roared through the broad meridians of the mid-Tendon Transformation Realm like surging magma!

Everywhere they passed, the chill vanished, replaced by a warm glow. His body felt as though it had been submerged in molten lava!

True Nine Yang Divine Skill: Beginner → Minor Mastery (100/500)!

Strength! The power of the Barbarian Elephant Holding Up the Heavens had been tempered by the supreme yang inner breath, like red-hot steel repeatedly hammered into something purer and more condensed. It faintly radiated a scorching aura capable of incinerating the eight wastelands!

Constitution! The Indestructible Golden Body bathed in Nine Yang True Fire. Golden-red magma seemed to flow beneath its dark golden sheen, sending both his defense and blood recovery speed soaring!

Agility! It too seemed to have been ignited by this supreme yang power, filling his light body with explosive heat!

Though he had not directly broken through to a new realm, his combat power had already surged dramatically!

In particular, his ability to suppress yin and evil had risen several levels!

Fang Gang abruptly opened his eyes. Golden flames seemed to burn in the depths of his pupils!

He slowly exhaled. His breath was so scorching that it formed a small patch of distorted white mist before him!

The burning red mark on his chest visibly faded and vanished as Nine Yang True Fire circulated through it!

"Blood Sacrifice Priest..." Fang Gang clenched his fist, his joints cracking explosively as golden-red light flowed beneath his skin. "Next time we meet, I'll burn you alive!"

His phone vibrated wildly as Chen Tao's messages flooded the screen:

"Brother Fang! The energy reaction at the textile factory has disappeared! The surveillance cameras saw you come out! My god, that explosion just now..."

"Something happened at the old dormitory building of Linjiang University! It's extremely sinister! Our people can't get inside at all! Can you..."

"Old dormitory building! Girls' Dorm 404! Sound of Combing Hair! Everyone who went in went insane! Please help! The Special Affairs Bureau will reward you handsomely!"

Linjiang University? The old dormitory building? Sound of Combing Hair?

Fang Gang's gaze sharpened. The coordinates mentioned on the Nightmare Holy Cult token! There really was something there!

He grabbed the Bronze Battle Halberd, his dark golden bald head cutting a cold, hard gleam through the room.

The Nine Yang Divine Skill had just reached Minor Mastery. It was the perfect time to test its edge! Nightmare Holy Cult scum, and that bizarre Sound of Combing Hair... Evolution Points, here I come!

The night was black as ink, enveloping Linjiang University's old campus in oppressive silence.

Unlike the brightly lit new campus, this place had been abandoned for years. Vines crawled over the mottled Soviet-style red brick buildings like dormant beasts.

At the deepest part of the campus stood a four-story old girls' dormitory building, deathly silent in a way that inspired terror.

The entire building seemed shrouded in an invisible veil of gray gauze. Even the moonlight falling upon it looked pale and distorted.

The air was filled with a faint scent of old mildew, mixed with a subtle, cloyingly sweet fragrance of cheap osmanthus hair oil.

Several black Special Affairs Bureau SUVs were parked far beyond the cordon, their headlights glaring white.

Fatty Chen paced restlessly, his expression worse than tears.

Several fully armed team members stood beside him, holding specially made firearms flickering with runes. Yet the fear on their faces was impossible to conceal.

"Captain Chen! The infrared scanners and life detectors have all failed! It's like a black hole inside!"

"The sonic detector has feedback! Fourth floor! An uninterrupted... sound of combing hair! The frequency is abnormal and carries Mental Pollution!"

"The three field agents we sent in... have all gone missing! The last footage they transmitted... they were facing a mirror... smiling... smiling like ghosts!"

Chen Tao punched the car door. "Damn it!" This kind of mental-level horror was even harder to deal with than physical zombies! Talismans and firearms were greatly weakened against it!

Just then, a figure tore through the night and landed before the cordon like a javelin!

With the Bronze Battle Halberd on his shoulder and his dark golden bald head reflecting a cold, hard gleam beneath the headlights, he radiated the scorching aura of freshly baked metal. It was Fang Gang!

"Brother Fang! You finally made it!"

Chen Tao sounded as if he had found a lifeline, his voice trembling. "That building! Room 404 on the fourth floor! That Sound of Combing Hair... it's extremely sinister! Everyone who goes in loses their mind!"

Fang Gang raised his eyes and looked over.

The old dormitory building was steeped in deathly stillness, but in his perception, a certain fourth-floor window continuously emitted a cold, viscous aura filled with intense mental bewitchment!

It was the source of that cloying osmanthus fragrance and the Sound of Combing Hair!

The deep black Resentful Eye Mark on his left arm began writhing violently again the instant it sensed that aura!

The dark golden vertical pupil at its tip opened and closed slightly. What it conveyed was no longer pure greed, but a complicated intent mixed with disgust and desire!

It was as though it had encountered its natural enemy, yet also discovered prey!

"Got it." Fang Gang's voice was calm as he carried the halberd and stepped across the cordon.

"Wait! Brother Fang! We don't know what's inside! That Sound of Combing Hair can confuse the mind! We..." Chen Tao hurriedly called out.

Fang Gang did not stop. He left behind only a cold sentence that drifted into the night wind:

"Long hair, short wisdom."

"A bald head is less trouble."

Chen Tao: "..." He stared at Fang Gang's head, shiny enough to be used as a mirror, and choked back every word.

The moment Fang Gang stepped into the dormitory building's grounds, that invisible gray "veil" wrapped around him, bringing intense mental corrosion!

Countless women seemed to whisper, giggle, and sigh beside his ears. Their voices were full of seduction and sorrow, trying to burrow into his mind and stir up the deepest desires and fears in his heart.

"Hmph!" The Nine Yang Divine Skill within Fang Gang roared into operation!

Golden-red inner breath in his dantian ignited like a furnace! Supreme yang and supreme hardness burst from his body! Golden-red light flowed beneath his skin!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!

The invisible mental corrosion struck Nine Yang True Fire like snow falling into lava, melting and evaporating instantly!

The irritating whispers and soft laughter by his ears were forcefully scattered by a scorching will that could burn away the eight wastelands!

Protected by Nine Yang, untouched by all evil!

Fang Gang advanced without obstruction, striding through the first-floor hall piled with dust and fallen leaves before climbing the wooden stairs to the second floor. The rotten steps groaned beneath his weight, unable to bear the strain.

The higher he climbed, the stronger the cloying scent of osmanthus hair oil became, until it was nauseating.

And the "shaa... shaa... shaa..." of combing hair grew clearer and closer, as if it were right beside his ear!

Each scrape of comb teeth through hair carried an eerie rhythm, attempting to pierce the defense of Nine Yang True Fire and provoke his nerves.

Fang Gang's gaze was icy, but he remained unmoved. His steps were steady, yet his speed did not slow at all as he went straight onto the fourth-floor corridor.

Pale moonlight filtered through shattered windows, casting distorted patches of light across the corridor covered in dust and cobwebs.

The entire floor was terrifyingly silent. Only a faint, wavering yellow candlelight shone through the crack beneath Room 404's door, accompanied by the endless Sound of Combing Hair.

Shaa... shaa... shaa...

The sound was gentle, yet it carried a bone-deep chill.

Fang Gang stopped before Room 404.

The old wooden door was tightly shut. Twisted, meaningless symbols had been painted across it in dark red pigment that had long since dried.

The cloying osmanthus fragrance had nearly solidified, seeping out in threadlike strands from the crack in the door.

The Resentful Eye Mark on his left arm writhed as though boiling! The dark golden vertical pupil at its tip was nearly fully open, cold and greedy intent intertwining as it locked onto whatever was behind the door!

Fang Gang did not reach for the door.

He slowly raised his right foot, covered in a dark golden sheen. Golden-red light flickered beneath his skin as the power of the Barbarian Elephant Holding Up the Heavens, bolstered by Nine Yang Inner Breath, compressed to its limit!

"Break!"

Boom—!!!!

With a deafening explosion, the entire wooden door and its frame, covered in symbols, seemed to be blown apart by a bomb detonating from within. They exploded into countless fragments of burning wood wreathed in golden-red flames, blasting violently inward!

The scene inside was instantly exposed to Fang Gang's cold gaze!

It was a standard old four-person dorm room.

Dust covered everything.

At the center of the room stood an old dressing table, with its back facing the door.

A pale white candle burned silently atop the dressing table, its dim yellow halo wavering unsteadily.

The mirror was covered in a thick layer of dust and water stains, making its surface indistinct.

A woman in faded floral pajamas sat before the dressing table.

Her long, wet black hair hung down like seaweed, nearly dragging across the floor.

In her hand, she held an ancient white bone comb!

Its teeth were fine and sharp, glinting with a grim chill beneath the candlelight.

At that moment, she was using the bone comb to slowly and persistently... comb her wet, long hair, stroke by stroke.

Shaa... shaa... shaa...

That hair-raising Sound of Combing Hair came from her!

As the wooden door exploded apart, her combing motion came to an abrupt stop.

The woman slowly turned her head, like rusted machinery creaking into motion...

A pale, swollen face with blurred features, as though it had been soaked in water for far too long, slowly stretched into a stiff, eerie...

Smile beneath the wavering candlelight as she faced Fang Gang at the door.

A terrifying aura of coldness, resentment, intense Mental Pollution, and the suffocating sensation of drowning crashed toward him like a tsunami!