In a Kansas cemetery, the Impala's engine fell silent. Dusted with road dirt, its black body looked like a crouching beast beneath the gray sky. Sam carried a palm-sized wooden box carved with simple patterns, containing John's dog tags. His brown hair was tousled, the strands over his forehead stirring in the wind, and an inescapable weariness lay behind his gentle eyes. He crouched before Mary's headstone, brushed his fingertips over the engraved "Mary Winchester," and spoke very quietly. "Mom, we've come to see you. We brought something of Dad's so he can keep you company."
Dean leaned against the car, his black leather jacket open over a black T-shirt. His short hair was neatly trimmed, and his features carried a rebellious edge. Holding a cold beer with its cap already pried off, he took a long swallow, his brows knotting together. "What's the point of all this empty crap?" he demanded impatiently.
Bai Haorui wore a light gray hoodie and carried his bulging black backpack, the red cord threaded with Five Emperor Coins wound around his wrist. Rather than disturb the brothers, he wandered along the cemetery path. Suddenly, the coins rattled and trembled, the cord nearly digging into his skin. He stopped beside a nearby headstone. A ring of dead gray marked the grass before it, the blades withered and blackened as though scorched. "Hey, you two, come look!" he called, poking the dead grass. "Something's seriously wrong here. The yin energy's strong enough to freeze someone to death. All the grass is dead. This definitely isn't natural."
Dean tipped back the rest of his beer, tossed the bottle aside, and opened the car door to retrieve his detector. The moment he approached, it began beeping wildly, its red light flashing erratically. "What's going on?" He raised an eyebrow and prodded the dirt beside the headstone with his well-defined fingers. "This soil was freshly turned. It hasn't even settled completely. Someone definitely disturbed this grave."
Sam glanced at the name and dates on the headstone, then pulled out his phone and searched quickly. "Angela Mason, twenty-two. Died in a car accident two weeks ago. Local news says she lost control late at night and hit a tree. No other vehicles were found at the scene. Foul play was ruled out."
Bai Haorui unwound the Five Emperor Coins from his wrist and pressed them against Angela's headstone. A dull, blue-black glow immediately spread over the copper coins. "This yin energy isn't right. It feels like someone cast a spell. My notes mention certain forbidden techniques that forcibly reverse life and death. They leave this kind of cold energy and destroy the vitality around them. Most likely, we're dealing with some kind of resurrection." He wound the coins back around his wrist and casually dusted off his hands.
Sam had long since seen through Dean's awkward behavior. It wasn't that he didn't want to say goodbye; he was afraid to face the fact that both their parents were gone, and even less willing to face the truth behind his own resurrection. Back at the car, Sam handed him an unopened beer and softened his voice. "Dad cared about you more than anything. He would've wanted you to live well, not tie yourself in knots every day."
Dean turned his face away, his Adam's apple bobbing. His voice tightened, edged with deliberate irritation. "Cut it out. What's with the sappy crap? Let's work the case!"
Seeing the awkwardness between the brothers, Bai Haorui stepped in. "All right, quit standing here at an impasse. We could be finding out who had the nerve to use a forbidden technique like this. The backlash is severe. Someone might already be dead. Let's get into town and ask around."
"Then quit talking and drive!" Bai Haorui shrugged, knowing he had hit a nerve. After all, Dean himself was someone who had been "forcibly dragged back into the world of the living." Those words had undoubtedly reopened his wounds.
Disguised as federal agents, the three arrived at Matt's house to find police tape already strung up, its yellow-and-black strips swaying in the cold wind. Neighbors crowded outside, whispering about "murder" and "something unnatural." They pushed open the half-closed door, and a heavy stench of blood mixed with an icy chill hit them, stinging their noses. The living room was a wreck. The couch had been overturned, and cups from the coffee table lay shattered across the floor. Matt lay in a pool of blood. He was in his twenties, handsome, blond, and blue-eyed. Now his eyes stared wide with terror, his throat neatly slit, his blood soaking the carpet beneath him. Every houseplant had withered, its leaves curled and blackened. Fish floated on the surface of the aquarium's murky water. A cold, deathly stillness filled the room.
Dean crouched to examine the body, tracing the edge of the wound and staining his fingertips with blood. "Strange way to die. The cut's clean and precise, not something an ordinary person could do. And the plants are withered and black, just like at the cemetery."
Bai Haorui walked around the room. At the bedroom door, the Five Emperor Coins trembled again. He took out the notes he carried, quickly turned two pages, then crouched and pinched up a trace of black ash from the floor, holding it beneath his nose. "The yin energy spread from here. This ash is residue from necromancy. There's some dirt too, and the energy matches Angela's grave. The resurrected thing probably came in here." He touched the roots and stems of a dead plant, his fingertips turning icy. "There's powerful resentment wrapped up in this energy. Whoever brought her back couldn't control her at all. She's been completely consumed by hatred. By now, she's probably just a monster that knows nothing but revenge."
Sam sat at Matt's computer, rapidly scanning social media accounts and chat logs, his fingers flying over the keyboard. "Found something. Angela and Matt were dating. Lindsey was Angela's roommate." He pointed at the messages, his tone grave. "Three days before the crash, Angela sent Matt a message: 'I know about you and her. Let's meet and clear this up.' No replies after that." He opened Lindsey's social media posts. "On the night of the crash, Lindsey checked in at a motel outside town. Matt's car was there that night too. The parking records match. The timeline lines up perfectly."
Dean snorted, leaning against the desk with his arms crossed. "So the cheating bastard got caught."
"Judging by how strong this resentment is, Angela must've caught them cheating and crashed after falling apart emotionally." Bai Haorui tucked his notes into his backpack, clipped several Evil-Breaking Talismans to his waist, and tightened his grip on the peachwood sword behind his back. Its dark brown sheath was carved with simple spirit-gathering runes. "Matt and Lindsey must be her targets now. We have to find Lindsey before it's too late."
Dean nodded and pulled out his phone. "I'll find Lindsey's address. Sam, keep going through the computer. See if there are any other leads, like a particularly close friend of Angela's, or someone with a reason to bring her back."
When they found Lindsey at the address, she was curled up on her apartment couch. In her early twenties, she was petite, with shoulder-length blond hair, a paper-white face, dark circles beneath her eyes, and the terrified gaze of a startled rabbit. She shot to her feet when the three entered, still trembling. "Matt and I... we just lost our heads for a while." She seized Sam's arm, her nails nearly digging into his skin, her voice shaking uncontrollably. "When Angela found out, she had a huge fight with Matt and slapped me. I thought things would settle down eventually. I never imagined she'd have an accident... or come back for me like that."
Sam handed her one of his cards, printed with fake federal-agent contact details, his voice gentle and reassuring. "If anything else unusual happens, or you receive any strange messages, call me immediately. Don't go out alone." Lindsey nodded hurriedly, clutching the card.
After leaving Lindsey's apartment, the three immediately sought out Angela's father, Dr. Mason. He lived in a detached house with a yard full of neatly tended flowers and plants. In his fifties, Dr. Mason wore gold-rimmed glasses, his hair meticulously combed, his white shirt pressed smooth above khaki trousers. He looked cultured and composed, as though his daughter's death were merely an insignificant academic case. "Angela was a good child. She was just too fixated on romance." He handed over his daughter's diary, his tone so flat it bordered on cold. "I knew she and Matt had argued, but I didn't expect a car accident. Young people are always so prone to impulsiveness."
Bai Haorui noticed that the Masons' plants were unusually lush, their leaves green and plump, with even a few bright little flowers blooming. The Five Emperor Coins showed no reaction near Dr. Mason. He quietly told Sam and Dean, "It wasn't him. If he'd used the forbidden technique, the cold energy around him would affect his surroundings for a long time. His plants couldn't be growing this well."
Using a bathroom visit as an excuse, Dean slipped into Angela's bedroom and borrowed her diary, and the three left the Mason house. The diary was delicate, its pink cover printed with little daisies. Tucked inside were several photos of Angela and Matt. In them, Angela wore a white dress, her pretty face lit by a brilliant smile, looking sunny and gentle. The handwriting inside gradually changed from neat and graceful to a chaotic scrawl. The last few pages were filled with despair: "I loved him so much and gave him so much. How could he betray me?" "Only Neil understands me. He's the only one who's good to me. He wouldn't lie to me."
Following the clues, the three found Neil organizing ancient texts in his university office. He looked twenty-three or twenty-four, with round eyes behind black-framed glasses and fair skin. He wore a light blue shirt and khaki pants, his sleeves rolled to his forearms to reveal thin wrists. He looked like a typical bookworm, scholarly and slightly awkward, even a little shy. When the three entered, he pushed up his glasses, his gaze evasive, his fingers unconsciously stroking an ancient book on his desk. "Angela and I... we were good friends. Her death really hurt me. Are you federal agents? What can I do for you?"
"Did you see her before the accident?" Sam asked first, his voice gentle but probing, his gaze fixed on Neil's eyes.
At the mention of Angela, Neil's eyes instantly reddened. His voice choked with a deep sense of grievance. "She shouldn't have died. Matt didn't deserve her. He was a liar, a selfish bastard!"
Watching Neil's hands, Bai Haorui spotted the cemetery's distinctive dark brown soil beneath his nails. He also noticed several books on ancient Greece mythology on the shelf. One lay open to a passage concerning the Resurrection Spell, with a little black soil caught between its pages. He suddenly spoke, his tone certain. "Have you been to Angela's grave in the past few days?"
Neil's expression shifted. He instinctively stepped back and struck the chair behind him with a clatter.
"This ancient Greece Resurrection Spell isn't something just anyone can learn." Bai Haorui stepped forward, watching him sharply. "I've checked the records. It requires a personal belonging of the deceased as a medium. At midnight, you have to chant a specific ancient Greece incantation over their grave, using yin soil from the cemetery to channel the energy, before you can force the soul back into the corpse. But the backlash is severe. The resurrected person loses most of their humanity, retaining only their strongest obsession, while the caster is also eroded by the cold energy. At best, they get sick; at worst, they die. The books on your shelf, the black soil under your nails, and what's written on those pages all fit. Can you honestly say you didn't do it?"
Neil turned deathly pale, his lips trembling, his body swaying. He suddenly rose to flee, but Dean grabbed his shoulder and pinned him firmly to the chair. Dean was strong enough to hold an ordinary person down with one hand. Neil struggled several times but couldn't move.
"I love her! I can't live without her!" Neil broke down screaming. Tears spilled down his cheeks and onto his shirt, spreading into a small wet patch. "After she died, every day was agony. I couldn't sleep. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw her smiling at me. I found the Resurrection Spell in an ancient text and wanted to try it. I thought she'd come back to me and we could be like we used to be. I never imagined all she'd think about was revenge. She was never like this before!"
Furious, Dean slammed his fist onto the desk, sending the ancient books and pens tumbling off. "You idiot! Death is a law of nature! Who do you think you are? God? You think you can defy heaven and change fate? What makes you think you can control someone else's life and death?"
"You meant well, but you had no idea what this forbidden technique would cost," Sam tried to soothe him, only for Neil to shove him away, his glasses slipping to the tip of his nose. "You don't understand! You have no idea what it's like to lose the person you love! Watching the person you love most leave you, unable to do a thing-have you ever felt that?"
"Meant well, my ass!" Bai Haorui snorted, his mockery undisguised. "You think there's such a thing as a free lunch? That you can just bring someone back? You're a university student. You've read all those books. Don't you know everything has a price? You're just selfish. You never thought about what disasters resurrecting the dead might cause! Matt's dead now, Lindsey's next, and I guarantee more innocent people will get dragged into this. Is that what you wanted?" He paused, then added, "Daoism teaches following the way of heaven. Forcibly reversing life and death only brings backlash. You've seen the consequences now. If we don't stop this, it'll only get worse, and you won't be able to clean up the mess!"
Just then, Sam's phone vibrated. A desperate text appeared on the screen from Lindsey's number: "She's here! Angela's here! She's not human! Help me!"
Sam immediately tracked Lindsey's phone, his expression changing sharply. "She's at home. We have to get there now! Before it's too late!"
The three raced back to Lindsey's apartment. As soon as they entered, they saw Angela pinning Lindsey to the wall by her throat. Angela wore the white dress she had been buried in, its hem covered in dirt and grass. Her once-pretty face was now paper-white and bloodless, her eyes black, her pupils so dilated that almost no white remained. Her lips were dry and peeling, exposing sharp teeth, and her nails had grown long and black like an animal's claws. Her strength was terrifying. Lindsey hung helplessly like a rag doll in her grip, her face turning purple, on the verge of suffocation.
Dean drew his gun and fired several silver bullets into Angela's back. They only made her stagger, causing no real damage or even drawing blood. "Silver bullets don't work!" Dean shouted. He rushed forward, grabbed Lindsey, and dragged her behind the couch for cover. "This thing isn't an ordinary zombie!"
Bai Haorui quickly pulled glutinous rice bombs from his backpack: small balls wrapped in red silk, filled with cinnabar and sun-dried glutinous rice flour. He threw one, and it burst before Angela. Rice grains clung to her body, instantly raising clouds of black smoke amid piercing screams. "The rice is mixed with cinnabar. It'll suppress her cold energy temporarily, but not for long!" As he spoke, he took out an ink-line reel and rapidly drew out its cord. Soaked in mugwort juice, it had a faint yellow-green sheen. He quickly laid out a simple Spirit-Trapping Formation in the room. "The cord's soaked in mugwort juice. It can hold her for a little while. Get Lindsey out of here! I'll hold her off!"
Sam seized the chance to pull Lindsey toward the door. Angela roared and lunged after them, striking the barrier formed by the ink lines with a sizzling sound. Red light flared across it, but it gradually buckled under her brute strength, close to giving way. "She's too strong! The Spirit-Trapping Formation won't last!" Bai Haorui shouted. He pressed an Evil-Breaking Talisman against Angela. Dazzling red light erupted on contact, and she screamed and stumbled back several steps, her gaze growing even more venomous.
Taking advantage of the opening, the three rushed out with Lindsey and settled her in a nearby small motel. They repeatedly told her to lock the doors and windows and not open up for anyone before racing back to Neil's office. They needed his help setting a trap. After all, he had resurrected Angela and might know her weaknesses.
But the moment they opened the door, all three froze. Neil lay on the floor with his neck broken, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. His eyes stared wide with disbelief, and a trace of blood lingered at the corner of his mouth. Angela stood nearby with her back to them, blood staining her white dress. She slowly turned, her eyes as empty as a deep pool. The resentment surrounding her was stronger than before, and the whole room seemed several degrees colder.
"He wanted to abandon me," she said, her voice dry and hoarse, grating painfully like rusty iron scraping together. "He wanted you to kill me. Nobody gets to abandon me. Nobody!"
Looking at Neil's body, Dean clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked and spoke through gritted teeth. "Is this what you wanted? Revenge, even if it means killing the person who wanted nothing but to bring you back?"
Angela said nothing. She simply charged, her nails carrying an icy chill as she clawed at Dean's chest.
Watching Angela lose control, Dean suddenly remembered his father bringing him back. The guilt of being alive, the pain of feeling he shouldn't exist, surged through him, and the emotions buried inside him finally erupted. He shouted and met her head-on, swinging his fist. "Damn it! Dragged back against your will, with nothing left but hatred and pain-is that living? Better to be dead and done with it! You're just a monster controlled by obsession!" His words sounded like he was cursing Angela, but even more like he was cursing himself and the resurrection that had left him living under such heavy shackles.
"She's completely controlled by her obsession! Don't waste your breath!" Bai Haorui shouted, blocking Angela's attacks with his peachwood sword. "We need to lure her back to the cemetery! I remember Neil's notes mentioning it. A spirit brought back by the ancient Greece Resurrection Spell has to be returned to its burial coffin and pinned with a silver stake. Combined with the cemetery's earth energy, that's the only way to end it for good!"
Dean wiped the dust from his face, his gaze firming. "Use Lindsey as bait. Lure her back to the cemetery. All she thinks about now is revenge. She'll definitely keep chasing Lindsey."
Sam immediately contacted Lindsey and briefly explained. Knowing she wouldn't survive unless Angela was dealt with, Lindsey agreed without saying much. The three took her to Angela's cemetery. Night had fallen, and moonlight filtered through the branches onto the headstones, leaving mottled shadows. In the wind, the branches swayed like countless waving hands, lending the place a sinister, eerie air. They placed Angela's favorite daisies before her grave, hastily bought from a nearby florist, water still beading on their petals. Then they had Lindsey stand beside a headstone a short distance away, holding Angela's diary, the possession she had treasured most in life.
Before long, an icy wind swept through, and a white figure appeared at the cemetery entrance. It was Angela. Her gaze fixed on the diary in Lindsey's hands, instantly turning feverish. She roared and rushed toward her with astonishing speed. "Give it back! Everyone who betrayed me will pay! None of you will escape!"
"Now!" Sam shouted. He and Bai Haorui rushed forward, one on either side, pushing Angela toward the coffin. Dean hid behind a headstone, watching the fight closely and gripping the silver stake they had bought at an antique shop on the way. It was pure silver, thick and long, with its tip ground sharp.
Focused entirely on Lindsey, Angela chased her toward the grave. Sam and Bai Haorui attacked from either side, winding ropes soaked in mugwort juice around her arms. Black smoke rose the moment the ropes touched her skin. Angela screamed and struggled with such tremendous strength that the two could barely hold her. "Dean, do it!" Bai Haorui shouted, his face flushed as he clung desperately to the rope.
Holding the silver stake, Dean looked at Angela's face, once so alive and now filled only with malice, and remembered the price of his own life: his father's soul. He hesitated briefly. His father's face flashed through his mind, followed by Sam's worried eyes. Finally, he gritted his teeth and charged.
Sam and Bai Haorui strained to pin Angela beside the open coffin. She thrashed and roared, radiating such powerful cold energy that the surrounding grass began to freeze. Dean raised the silver stake, aimed at her chest, and drove it down hard.
"Ah!" Angela let out a shrill, agonized scream. Her body convulsed violently, her skin gradually turning transparent. The venom slowly faded from her eyes, replaced by a flicker of clarity and pain. Her body stiffened and fell back into the coffin, motionless. The cold energy around her slowly dispersed.
The cemetery was deathly quiet, broken only by leaves rustling in the wind and the three men's heavy breathing.
Dean crouched beside the coffin, his shoulders trembling. Suddenly, he broke down sobbing like a lost child, tears mixing with dirt and dripping onto the coffin. "Sam, Bai, I should've died in that hospital!" he choked out, his voice ragged and hoarse. "Dad made a deal to bring me back! It shouldn't have happened, just like with her! I shouldn't even be alive!" He pointed at Angela's body, tears blurring his vision. "The dead should rest!"
Sam and Bai Haorui froze. They had truly never seen Dean like this. Sam approached and gently patted his back, his movements soothing. "Dean, I know you're hurting. But Dad did it because he loved you. He didn't want to lose you. Having you alive is what matters most to me. It's not a burden."
"It is a burden!" Dean pushed him away, his eyes red, his voice filled with pain and despair. "Do you know how much I suffer every day? It always feels like none of this is real, like it might suddenly disappear someday! How can you trust a deal with a devil?"
Bai Haorui leaned against a headstone, his hands in his pockets. After a long silence, he walked over and handed Dean a bottle of water. "When you're done crying, have some water. Don't bottle it up. Life and death are ordained. Defying heaven and changing fate always comes at a price. But since you've come back whole, there's no reason to waste it. Live well, protect Sam, and avenge your father. That's how you honor his sacrifice."
Dean took the water and unscrewed the cap, but didn't drink. He only stared blankly at the coffin, his shoulders still trembling.
Together, the three closed Angela's coffin and buried it again. Bai Haorui burned a Salvation Talisman before the grave, the yellow paper turning to ash in the wind as he chanted, "Dust to dust, earth to earth. Let obsession scatter and the soul find peace." He rose, looked at the headstone, and said softly, "Another unfortunate soul. Love broke her heart, and obsession destroyed her soul."
The car was silent on the way back. Dean leaned back in the passenger seat with his eyes closed, tear tracks still marking his face, his brows still furrowed. Sitting in the back, Sam glanced at him from time to time, wanting to comfort him but not knowing what to say. He only quietly placed the water within his reach. Bai Haorui drove and put on a soothing folk song. Its melody flowed gently through the car, easing some of the heaviness.
As they neared town, Dean suddenly spoke, his voice low but firm. "Whatever deal Dad made, I'll pay it back. But before then, I have to protect you. I can't let anything happen to you."
Sam turned to meet his eyes and nodded gently. "Together. Whatever the deal, whatever the price, we'll face it together."
Bai Haorui cut in with a teasing smile. "Count me in. Don't think you can leave your old man behind. We're a team."
Dean shot him a glare, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "You never shut up."