Evil Rises a Foot

(Brain Storage)

What could make someone who did not believe in ghosts or gods start eating vegetarian, chanting Buddhist scriptures, and seeking immortals and the Dao?

Naturally, seeing it with their own eyes.

"This is it. We're here."

Under Chen Yue's lead, the group arrived at a small alley.

Lin Yiyi looked at a pile of paper ash in the corner and asked, "This pile?"

Suddenly, Chen Yue collapsed to the ground with a thud. Fortunately, Hu Tao was quick enough to catch her.

"Hey? Hey! Wake up!" Hu Tao tried to wake her, but it had no effect.

The three boys immediately started to panic.

"Bro, bro, what's going on?"

Yang Shenglong was the first to lose his cool. Trembling, he asked Lin Yiyi.

What frightened people most was often the unknown beyond the bounds of their understanding.

"Hu Tao, stop calling her. She won't wake up anytime soon," the young man said calmly. "She offended the household in this alley to begin with. It's only right that she receives a little punishment."

"Don't worry. It's nothing serious."

The most shocked person there was Zhou Cai, the only materialist among them.

"This..."

As a well-read student, he naturally did not believe in ghosts and gods. Yet seeing his classmate suddenly collapse, while the only professional present spoke so ominously, even his convictions began to waver.

"It seems I arrived at just the right time." At that moment, a steady voice reached everyone's ears.

A man a head taller than Lin Yiyi walked in from the alley entrance. He was refined and elegant, with a classical air. He did not look particularly old, yet he carried an exceptionally mature presence.

Lin Yiyi smiled. "Mr. Zhongli. You brought the offerings, right?"

Zhongli nodded and handed over a black bag. "I bought some fruit for 28 yuan and a pack of cigarettes for 30 yuan. There were 42 yuan left, so I put the remaining money in the bag as well."

Lin Yiyi took the plastic bag and removed the fruit inside.

The young man looked into the pitch-black depths of the alley. It was eerily quiet. The place had been abandoned for a long time, and no one lived there anymore.

Taking out a stack of spirit money, he arranged it, lit it, and called out respectfully, "This junior humbly pays his respects to you, Senior."

"I came today to settle the matter of that young woman stepping on your incense money while fooling around."

"If you are willing to let it go, I will burn more offerings for you. You are magnanimous, Senior. Could you spare her life?"

Lin Yiyi then lit three cigarettes, using them in place of incense, and laid out some offerings.

With Lin Yiyi's strength, scattering this wandering soul into ashes would have been no trouble. But those who cultivated the Dao valued compassion, and the dead deserved respect. Death was already a tragedy; to cruelly disperse a soul afterward would damage one's virtue.

After a long while, there was still no response.

Lin Yiyi called out again, "I saw that this woman merely fell asleep just now. I presume Senior gave her some punishment, but did not take her life."

"Since Senior showed mercy, you cannot be an evil person, can you?"

The moment he finished speaking, chilling gusts swept through the surroundings, making Lin Yiyi's expression change.

"Ha ha ha ha! Then you're wrong. I am an evil person!"

A hoarse voice drifted around their ears. "I struggled through life for years, only to be beaten to death in the end. Now I can't even reincarnate."

"I finally came across kind people making offerings to me, but that little girl ruined everything."

"I can tell you have some power. I'll kill all of you first, then possess your bodies and properly enjoy that little girl, hahaha!"

The boys' legs went weak at those words.

Lin Yiyi was startled too. "Holy shit, it's a man?"

What happened next would completely overturn the three students' understanding of the world.

Miserable shrieks echoed through the dim alley.

Zhongli frowned slightly. As Rex Lapis, dealing with such petty creatures was naturally effortless. Even though erosion had made him much more restrained, hearing that evil ghost's words still made him want to teach it a lesson.

"Oh God, what do we do? We're going to die here!"

Luo Ren's legs gave out, and he fell to the ground. Grabbing Yang Shenglong's clothes, he wailed.

"Fuck, how would I know if you're asking me?!"

Then everyone saw a hunched old man wreathed in black mist flickering in and out of sight.

In an instant, the entire alley fell silent. Then came the ghostly wails of the three boys.

"Ahhh! Help!"

"Fuck, fuck, I saw a ghost! Ahhhhh—"

But no one had lived here for a long time. The old ghost's face was incomparably ferocious. Without making a sound, it walked toward them step by step.

At the back of the group, Rex Lapis's braid glowed faintly, but he still asked, "Young friend Lin?"

Lin Yiyi nodded, signaling that he would handle it.

As the glow on Zhongli's braid slowly faded, the old ghost suddenly reached out, and a cloud of black mist surged toward the group!

"It's over! We're going to die!"

Luo Ren and Yang Shenglong wailed, squeezing their eyes shut. Only Zhou Cai stared fixedly at the evil ghost.

"All of you, die! Come down there and keep me company!"

"You beasts beat this lonely old man to death with clubs! Do you have any conscience at all?"

"I only stole a few pieces of gold and silver jewelry, and you insisted on wiping me out!"

"All of you can die! Hahahaha!"

Seeing Lin Yiyi close his eyes and form a strange hand seal without speaking, Hu Tao handed Chen Yue over to Zhou Cai, who was with them, summoned the Staff of Homa, and prepared to fight.

With her Pyro power, dealing with such a minor ghost would indeed be easy.

In the blink of an eye, the black current rushed toward them, already less than three meters away!

Even Zhou Cai, who had remained calm until now, could not face it. Fear and the instinct to survive made him clamp his eyes shut.

One final meter remained. The situation was dire!

"By the laws of heaven, be commanded!"

"Ding—"

The pain the boys had imagined never came. When Zhou Cai gathered his courage and opened his eyes, he found a glittering golden bagua protecting everyone in front of them.

This would be the most worldview-shattering and shocking night of their lives.

"Wow! A fellow practitioner? I never would've guessed you had this kind of skill!"

Hu Tao's eyes sparkled as she stared at the shining bagua formation in amazement.

"Damn you, you stinking Daoist!"

The old ghost let out a piercing howl, and countless black tentacles shot at them from every direction!

Lin Yiyi was dumbfounded. Did this old ghost have some weird fetish? He could block them, sure, but the people behind him could not.

But Lin Yiyi was no ordinary person. He pulled out several talismans, muttered an incantation, then shouted, "Go!"

The talismans transformed into streaks of golden light and flew toward the tentacles, instantly making them vanish into smoke.

But talismans were single-use items, while the old ghost's resentment was inexhaustible. The evil ghost immediately formed even more black tentacles and attacked Lin Yiyi.

Without a second thought, the young man rapidly formed hand seals. A bagua mirror flew out of his backpack and blocked all the tentacles outside.

However, the bagua mirror could only defend the front, not the rear.

In an instant, the evil ghost waved its hand, and the black tentacles flew toward the people behind Lin Yiyi!

Seeing that something was wrong, Hu Tao immediately raised the Staff of Homa and shouted, "Rise!"

Fortunately, elemental power could be used in this world.

But there were too many tentacles, and Lin Yiyi was occupied blocking the attacks in front. He could not spare a hand for the moment.

At the rear, she could only rely on herself.

"Ahhhhh—this time, we really are going to die!"

"Fuck, don't bite me!"

As the tentacles came at them, Yang Shenglong and Luo Ren, already scared out of their wits, lay motionless on the ground.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—" The tentacles moved incredibly fast, once again about to strike the group!

"It's over!" The boys shut their eyes again, waiting for death.

"Ding—" Hu Tao and Zhou Cai, who had not closed their eyes, saw golden light suddenly flash around them. Then a small golden pillar enveloped them all, isolating them from the tentacles.

At the rear of the group, a certain man's braid glowed faintly.