The sound of the Calamity-Guarding Object shattering instantly drew everyone's attention.
But in the darkness, they could not see what had broken.
"Zhu Sheng, what are you doing?"
The middle-aged man looked sternly at the young man who had smashed it, but the moment he finished speaking, his concubine cried out beside him. "Master, why has the household spirit disappeared?"
The middle-aged man hurriedly turned back.
When he looked through the hole, not only had the household spirit vanished, but the Ghost Reverence fighting it was gone too.
"Is it over?"
The middle-aged man frowned, irritation creeping into his voice because he had missed the most exciting part-the ending.
"No, that's not it, Master. I saw the household spirit suddenly disappear, and then that Ghost... that Ghost..."
The middle-aged man looked at his concubine, softening his voice a little.
"Take your time. What happened to the Ghost?"
"That Ghost... that Ghost came inside! It came into our room!"
The middle-aged man froze, then asked incredulously, "You mean the household spirit didn't disappear after destroying the Ghost Reverence? It disappeared first, and then the Ghost Reverence... Impossible! I spent a full hundred taels of silver on that Calamity-Guarding Object. It's destroyed at least five Ghost Reverences already. There's no way something like this could happen!"
"Master, would I lie to you? That's not the problem now. The problem is... where did that Ghost go?"
Seeing the terror on his concubine's face, the middle-aged man began to believe her.
Instinctively, he walked toward the table.
He felt around on its surface, but could not find what he was looking for.
"Where's my Protective Object?"
The middle-aged man found a Fire Striker and lit the candle on the table.
Holding the candle, he searched both on and beneath the table, but still could