Yin Spirit, living corpse, and clock

"The essence of the so-called Wind Gu Art lies in visualization. By strengthening your own Yin Spirit, you can then use it to command malevolent entities, turning them into 'gu' that serve you. It also includes methods for creating and cultivating malevolent entities."

Creating and cultivating malevolent entities?

Chen Ying could not help thinking of Uncle Qing, and himself.

Uncle Qing might have been connected to the techniques for creating malevolent entities in the Wind Gu Art, which was why he never set foot in this little building.

Once he entered, he might become one of its "residents," with no possibility of ever leaving.

But unlike Wu Jie, Chen Ying was a "human" who had "intruded."

He fell outside the building's hunting range and therefore had the freedom to come and go.

In other words, this little building was a malevolent entity that hunted other malevolent entities.

"The Wind Gu Art shares its foundations with most secret arts in the Central Lands. The first step is always to nurture and clarify the mind through visualization, continually strengthening the soul until the mind ultimately transforms into a Yin Spirit, which can leave the body either independently or through certain objects."

Wu Jie explained as she looked at the coffin before her.

As Chen Ying understood it, a Yin Spirit meant consciousness existing independently outside the body-in other words, the soul leaving the body.

"Granny had already mastered the Wind Gu Art. Not only could she command malevolent entities, she could even absorb them and turn them into supernatural abilities of her own. But supernatural abilities are no match for heaven's decree. Later, as her allotted lifespan drew to an end and the five signs of celestial decay set in, her Yin Spirit could still travel a thousand miles at night, yet it could no longer return to her physical body."

So the Granny Chen who had gone to Lingnan had actually been her Yin Spirit-her consciousness. Her physical body had been in this little building all along.

If he had to make a comparison, Chen Ying felt Granny Chen was probably equivalent to a lich from a classic DND setting. This physical body was her phylactery, which she had hidden inside the building.

She herself had been moving about outside in the form of a lich, or rather, a Yin Spirit.

No wonder she ate incense ash and could enter dreams and pass through walls at will...

Granny Chen no longer had a corporeal form, and to some extent, even her Yin Spirit had become akin to a malevolent entity.

"Later, her physical body even began showing signs of becoming a living corpse..."

"A living corpse?"

"It would move on its own and begin unconsciously seeking blood and flesh to feed on. It even attracted evil things that coveted it. That was why Granny found this little building and hid her body here."

Wu Jie continued explaining, "This building can suppress and digest malevolent entities. The higher you go, the stronger that power becomes."

"So Granny's physical body has been here all along?"

Chen Ying had a rough idea of why the old ghost on the first floor had said, "As long as you reach the fourth floor, there's a way to escape."

The old ghost had been lying.

There were no yellow talismans on the fourth floor that could let anyone escape. All it held was Granny Chen's body.

But that was strange. Why could Granny Chen's Yin Spirit not enter her own body, while those malevolent entities could possess it?

"So Granny is in a delicate state of balance now?"

Chen Ying more or less understood Granny Chen's approach.

Through this building, which could suppress and digest malevolent entities, Granny Chen could keep her gradually deteriorating body in a state of "stasis."

With her physical body serving as the resident the building suppressed and digested, her Yin Spirit gained complete freedom.

As long as that balance remained unbroken, Granny Chen could go on living for a long time.

Something had happened during Granny Chen's trip to Lingnan that had upset this delicate balance.

"Granny had made some modifications to this building before..."

Wu Jie said worriedly, "There never used to be any chiming in the building."

"When Granny subdued this building, you..."

"I hadn't started practicing the Wind Gu Art back then. I was still at home."

Wu Jie's expression dimmed slightly.

"What do we do now?"

Chen Ying asked with a deep frown.

"Granny left a few things behind before she went, and I've studied the Wind Gu Art for a while. I should be able to hold this place. Husband, you should move out first."

"Move out?"

Chen Ying looked at Wu Jie's pale face.

"If I hadn't been here, something might have happened to you just now."

"That thing is considered powerful even among those on the third floor, and I wasn't prepared in the rush. If I were prepared..."

"If you aren't prepared, something will happen to you, and to Granny too."

Chen Ying considered the whole situation.

"Since it could drive you into a corner once, there will definitely be a second time. That has nothing to do with whether you're prepared."

"I have a Life-Binding Pact with you, husband." A trace of sorrow appeared on Wu Jie's face. "If you die, I won't survive either. If something happens to me, you'll be unharmed."

"The situation is unusual now. Husband... please find somewhere else to stay for the time being."

"What do you mean?"

Chen Ying looked at Wu Jie.

"I mean..."

"You want me to abandon you both and run for my life?"

"Yes. If your suspicions are correct, a force has already set its sights on our family. If I can't hold this building, at worst, Granny and I will come to harm. As long as you're still here, the Chen family will still exist."

"If you stay in the building with me, and something happens to you..."

"Then let it happen."

Chen Ying shook his head.

"If I run away and flee somewhere far off, the first thing they'll suspect is that something has gone wrong with the building. You said Granny put a lot of measures in place here. I think one of them must be preventing others from investigating it."

"If someone with an agenda discovers the building, with powerful enemies outside and malevolent entities within, what will you do?"

"So we absolutely cannot expose our weakness now. We just need to focus on solving the problems inside the building."

As Wu Jie listened to Chen Ying's answer, worry filled her face.

"Granny told me the evil things in this building come and go with the chimes. One chime lets them leave their rooms and move freely, and another sends them back to their rooms and confines them."

"Only after Granny brought this building under control did the rules for their movements change."

"As long as we manage the interval between the two chimes properly, perhaps we can make more preparations."

Preparations?

Chen Ying touched the eyeball in his pocket and suddenly thought of a place, and a person.

That was right...

Perhaps he could try his luck with him.

"That chime just now might have signaled the end."

Chen Ying stood up.

"I'll look around the building. You stay on the fourth floor."

"No, I'm coming with you."

Wu Jie shook her head.

"I'm more familiar than you with many of the arrangements in this building."

"All right."

The two left this room of paramount importance and began their inspection on the fourth floor, working their way down.

Nothing had changed in the rooms on the fourth floor. This floor belonged to Granny Chen, and the lack of significant changes meant it was still under her control.

The third floor, the second... neither had changed, but Chen Ying could feel an added chill in the air, as though many pairs of malicious eyes were watching from the shadows.

The greatest change had occurred on the first floor. A huge Western-style clock had suddenly appeared to the left of the main entrance, facing the stairs leading down.

Its case was plain and solid, made of brown wood without much decoration. Its ivory-white face was divided into twelve sections, complete with hour, minute, and second hands.

But unlike a normal clock, its hands moved counterclockwise.

Chen Ying looked at the clock face. There were ten hours left until zero.

"It looks like we still have ten hours."

Both chimes were countdowns. One marked the time during which the malevolent entities could move, and the other marked the time until they could next move freely.

"Who gets to move after that child?"

Chen Ying frowned deeply. He remembered the old ghost saying that the malevolent entities in this building had to take turns if they wanted to move.

"The Faceless Man..."

Wu Jie looked at Chen Ying. "He... he might be the hardest one in this building to deal with?"

"Hard to deal with?"

"Granny said he was the most intelligent."

He remembered the old ghost saying that there was one other malevolent entity in this building besides itself that could speak. Could that be the Faceless Man?

Chen Ying turned toward the other side.

An old ghost that could make gut-wrenching meals lived in that room on the first floor.

Perhaps he could ask it for information.

Under Wu Jie's puzzled gaze, Chen Ying walked to a room and twisted the doorknob hard.

Click.

The handle did not budge. It seemed to have been locked from within.

That old ghost...

Chen Ying glanced at Wu Jie. Time was precious now, and he had none to waste. In ten hours, he might face another fierce battle. That Faceless Man might be even harder to deal with than the child. He had to go out.

"Wait for me. I'm going to see someone."

"Who?"

"Su Xiong."