When the knock came at the door, the noises inside the room suddenly stopped for a moment.
But immediately afterward, they grew louder, and even included strained grunts.
Shi Manman did not overreact. Still holding her talisman and brush, she continued knocking.
"Shi Ying, it's me. I need to talk to you. Open the door."
The noises inside continued, but there was no sign of the door opening.
Shi Manman decided not to keep knocking. She returned to her room, took out a Corpse-Sewing Needle and Corpse-Sewing Thread, threaded the needle, and came back.
She pricked her fingertip with the Corpse-Sewing Needle, drawing blood.
Pressing two fingers together, Shi Manman ran them along the Corpse-Sewing Thread.
When she looked again, the thread had been stained red.
Shi Manman crouched and placed the Corpse-Sewing Needle beneath the gap under the door.
With a flick of her finger, she sent the needle shooting into the room.
Once the Corpse-Sewing Thread pulled taut, the yin energy in Shi Manman's right-hand ghost meridian traveled along it into the needle.
Then Shi Manman began drawing the needle back out, little by little.
She worked slowly and steadily.
The Mind-Clearing Talisman's effect kept her even calmer.
Neither the increasingly dense yin energy seeping beneath the door nor the weakening grunts inside made her panic.
The Corpse-Sewing Thread emerged bit by bit at a constant pace.
Just as less than ten centimeters of thread remained inside and the needle was about to emerge, Shi Manman suddenly felt resistance!
It briefly stalled her efforts to pull the needle.
Suppressing the urge to act, Shi Manman continued pulling.
This time, she drew it less than five centimeters before it refused to budge.
It felt as though someone on the other side of the door had pinned the needle down.