Sound of Combing Hair

Fang Gang casually closed the apartment door, shaking loose a few specks of wall dust.

He leaned the Bronze Battle Halberd, its killing aura heavier, against the wall, the dull thud echoing.

His scorched combat uniform was ripped off, revealing skin the color of dark gold underneath. The burning red mark on his chest, left by the Blood Sacrifice Priest's sneak attack, was particularly striking in the dim light, like the brand of a hot iron.

He picked up the book from the bed, its cover emblazoned with nine burning suns: "Nine Yang Divine Skill (Complete Explanation)". The smell of cheap ink mixed with the musty odor of paper assailed his nostrils.

"System, scan!"

[Ding! Paper medium detected, content integrity relatively high (85%), some imagined energy pathways exist...]

[Energy Response: Weak (negligible)]

[Threat Level: None]

[Do you wish to spend 1 Evolution Point to convert it into the introductory technique "True Nine Yang Divine Skill" (Complete)?]

"Convert!"

[Evolution Point -1!]

[Converting... correcting core energy circulation pathways... completing key Yin-Yang flow nodes... optimizing celestial cycle...]

[Conversion Complete! Acquired Technique: "True Nine Yang Divine Skill" (Complete) (Introductory 0/500)!]

A circulation method far more profound and vast than the previous fragment flooded into Fang Gang's mind! The Nine Yangs revolved, ceaselessly regenerating! This was the true starting point of the supreme Yang path, capable of burning away all evil!

"Level up!" Fang Gang didn't hesitate, locking his intent onto the technique! 75 Evolution Points were instantly consumed!

BOOM—!!!

A torrent, far more intense and domineering than any previous breakthrough, erupted in the depths of his dantian!

The newly formed Nine Yang Inner Breath was like nuclear fuel, surging, compressing, and transforming madly!

Golden-red streams of energy roared through the expansive meridians of his Tendon Transformation Realm mid-stage, like molten lava!

Everywhere they passed, frigidness vanished, replaced by comforting warmth, his body feeling as if bathed in warm magma!

[True Nine Yang Divine Skill: Introductory → Minor Accomplishment (100/500)!]

Strength! A brute, sky-shattering power, tempered by the supreme Yang Inner Breath, was like red-hot steel being repeatedly forged, becoming more refined and condensed, emitting a faint, scorching aura capable of annihilating all directions!

Physique! The Indestructible Golden Body bathed in the True Nine Yang Fire, with golden-red magma seeming to flow deep within its dark golden hue, its defense and blood recovery rate skyrocketing!

Agility! It seemed ignited by this supreme Yang power as well, his body's lightness imbued with explosive heat!

Although he hadn't directly broken through a realm, his combat power had soared!

Especially his resistance to the Yin and evil, which had improved by several levels!

Fang Gang's eyes snapped open, as if golden flames burned within his pupils!

He exhaled slowly, his breath scorching, forming a small patch of distorted white mist before him!

The burning red mark on his chest, under the circulation of the True Nine Yang Fire, was visibly fading and disappearing!

"Blood Sacrifice Priest..." Fang Gang clenched his fist, his joints cracking, golden-red light flowing beneath his skin. "Next time I see you, I'll burn you!"

His phone vibrated frantically, Chen Tao's messages flooding in:

"Brother Fang! The energy signature at the textile factory disappeared! The surveillance saw you come out! My god! That explosion just now..."

"Something's happened at the old dormitory building at Linjiang University! It's super weird! Our people can't get in at all! Can you..."

"Old dormitory building! Girls' dorm 404! Sound of combing hair! Everyone who went in has gone mad! Please help! The Special Affairs Bureau will reward you handsomely!"

Linjiang University? Old dormitory building? Sound of combing hair?

Fang Gang's gaze sharpened. The coordinates mentioned in the Nightmare Holy Cult token! There was indeed something strange going on!

He grabbed the Bronze Battle Halberd, its dark gold sheen slicing a cold, hard line through the room.

His Nine Yang was newly accomplished, and it was time to test his blade! The Nightmare Holy Cult scum, and that bizarre sound of combing hair... Evolution Points, here I come!

The night was like ink, shrouding the old campus of Linjiang University in a heavy 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 slumbering behemoths.

At the deepest point, the four-story old girls' dormitory building was terrifyingly silent.

The entire building seemed covered in an invisible layer of grey gauze, making the moonlight fall upon it appear pale and distorted.

The air was filled with a faint, musty scent, mixed with a ... faint, sweet aroma of cheap osmanthus hair oil.

Several black SUVs from the Special Affairs Bureau were parked far outside the cordon, their headlights casting a pale light.

Chen Tao paced anxiously, his face looking worse than if he had been crying.

The few team members beside him were fully armed, holding special firearms that glowed with runes, but their faces showed unconcealable fear.

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

"We're getting feedback from the sonic detector! The fourth floor! A continuous... sound of combing hair! The frequency is abnormal and carries mental contamination!"

"The three field agents sent in... they've all lost contact! The last footage transmitted... they were looking into mirrors... smiling... smiling like ghosts!"

Chen Tao slammed his fist against the car door: "Damn it!" This kind of mental strangeness was harder to deal with than physical zombies! Talismans and firearms had greatly reduced effectiveness!

At that very moment, a figure tore through the night, impaling itself before the cordon like a javelin!

Shouldering a Bronze Battle Halberd, his dark, golden bald head reflected a cold, hard sheen under the car headlights. A scorching aura, as if freshly baked, emanated from him. It was Fang Gang!

"Brother Fang! You're finally here!"

Chen Tao grasped him like a drowning man catching a straw, his voice trembling. "It's that building! 404 on the fourth floor! That hair-combing sound... it's incredibly evil! Everyone who goes in goes mad!"

If you like this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.

Fang Gang looked up.

The old dormitory building was deathly still, but in his perception, from a window on the fourth floor, an icy, viscous aura with strong mental coercion was continuously emanating!

This was the source of that cloying osmanthus fragrance and the sound of hair combing!

The deep black Grudge Pupil brand on his left arm writhed violently the instant it sensed this aura!

The narrow slit of the dark golden vertical pupil at its tip opened and closed slightly, no longer conveying simple greed, but a complex sentiment mixing disgust and desire!

It was as if he had encountered his natural predator, or perhaps discovered prey!

"Understood," Fang Gang said calmly, shouldering the halberd and stepping across the cordon.

"Wait! Brother Fang! The situation inside is unknown! That hair-combing sound can bewitch the mind! We..." Chen Tao hurriedly called out.

Fang Gang's steps didn't falter. He left only a cold phrase drifting in the night wind:

"Long hair, short-sighted."

"Bald head, worry-free."

Chen Tao: "..." He stared at Fang Gang's head, so reflective it could double as a mirror, and was choked speechless.

As Fang Gang entered the dormitory building's perimeter, the intangible gray "gauze" instantly enveloped him, carrying a strong mental erosion!

It was as if countless women's voices whispered, giggled, and sighed in his ears, filled with temptation and sorrow, trying to burrow into his mind and stir the deepest hidden desires and fears in his heart.

"Hmph!" The Nine Yang Divine Skill roared to life within Fang Gang!

The golden-red inner breath in his dantian ignited like a furnace! An aura of extreme yang and supreme power surged from his body! A golden-red light flowed beneath his skin!

Sizzzzzzzz—!

The intangible mental erosion collided with the True Nine Yang Fire, dissolving and evaporating like snowflakes falling into molten lava!

The troublesome whispers and giggles in his ears were forcibly dispelled by a scorching will that burned through all directions!

Protected by the Nine Yang, all evils could not invade!

Fang Gang moved unimpeded, striding through the dust- and leaf-filled first-floor lobby, and stepped onto the wooden stairs leading to the second floor. The decaying stairs groaned in protest under his weight.

The higher he went, the more potent the cloying osmanthus hair oil scent in the air became, sickeningly so.

And the "shashasha..." sound of hair combing grew clearer and closer, as if right by his ears!

Each stroke of the comb through hair carried a bizarre rhythm, attempting to pierce the defense of the True Nine Yang Fire and agitate his nerves.

Fang Gang's gaze was icy, unmoved. His steps were steady, his speed undiminished, as he directly stepped into the fourth-floor corridor.

Pale moonlight filtered through shattered windows, casting distorted patches of light on the dust- and cobweb-covered corridor.

The entire floor was terrifyingly silent, save for the flickering, dim yellow candlelight seeping from the crack of the door to room 404, and the incessant sound of hair combing.

Shasha... shasha... shasha...

The sound was soft, yet carried a bone-chilling coldness.

Fang Gang stopped before the door of 404.

The old wooden door was tightly shut. The door panel was painted with distorted, meaningless symbols in a dark red pigment that had long since dried.

The cloying osmanthus fragrance was almost palpable, seeping out in wisps from the door crack.

The Grudge Pupil brand on his left arm writhed as if boiling at this moment! The narrow slit of the dark golden vertical pupil at its tip was almost fully open, its cold and greedy intent intertwined, locking onto what was behind the door!

Fang Gang didn't push the door.

He slowly raised his right foot, covered in a dark golden sheen. Golden-red light flickered beneath his skin, the power of the Barbarian Elephant Upholding the Heavens compressed to its extreme under the augmentation of the Nine Yang Inner Breath!

"Break!"

BOOM—!!!!!!!!

With an explosive roar! The entire wooden door, painted with symbols, along with its frame, detonated from within as if hit by a bomb! It instantly shattered into countless wooden fragments burning with golden-red flames, blasting inwards violently!

The scene inside the room was instantly exposed to Fang Gang's icy gaze!

A standard four-person old dormitory room.

Dust covered everything.

In the center of the room, facing away from the door, stood an old dressing table.

On the dressing table, a pale white candle burned quietly, its dim yellow halo flickering unsteadily.

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

A woman in a faded floral nightgown sat before the dressing table.

Her long, wet black hair cascaded down like seaweed, nearly dragging on the ground.

In her hand, she held an ancient-looking comb made of bone!

The teeth of the comb were fine and sharp, glinting with a chilling radiance in the candlelight.

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

Swish... swish... swish...

That bone-chilling sound of combing hair was precisely what was being produced!

As the wooden door shattered, the combing motion abruptly stopped.

The woman slowly turned her head, like a rusted machine...

A pale, swollen face, with blurry features, as if it had been submerged in water for too long, slowly stretched into a stiff and bizarre...

smile, facing Fang Gang at the doorway in the flickering candlelight.

An icy, venomous aura, imbued with intense mental corruption and the suffocating terror of drowning, surged towards him like a tsunami!

If you find this book good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.