Three in the afternoon.
The rain still hadn't stopped.
Luc Minh sat quietly inside the small wooden house at the foot of Mount Thanh Van.
The old house had only two rooms.
One was for living in.
The other was where his Master had once set up a ritual altar to perform ritual services.
Ever since Luc Thien Ha disappeared, Luc Minh had cleaned the ancestral altar every morning.
Three incense sticks burned slowly.
The hazy smoke veiled the statue of the Maoshan Patriarch.
Luc Minh placed the reverse-written talisman on the table.
This was the first time in four years that he had opened the **Maoshan Evil-Sealing Scripture**.
The scripture was so old that many of its pages had yellowed, while the corners were scorched, as though they had once passed through a fire.
He flipped to the final page.
There, he found a line his Master had added in red ink.
> **"A reverse-written talisman isn't meant to suppress ghosts."**
> **"It's meant to lead ghosts to the person carrying it."**
Luc Minh tightened his grip on the scripture.
"The victim..."
"...was chosen in advance."
Just then.
**Ring... ring...**
His phone rang.
It was Tran Hai.
"Minh!"
"Someone's looking for you."
### The Strange Visitor
Outside in the yard.
A black luxury car stopped in front of the gate.
A man around fifty years old stepped out.
He wore an expensive suit.
But his face was exhausted.
He bowed deeply.
"Are you Luc Minh?"
"Please save my son."
Luc Minh shook his head.
"I don't perform ritual services."
The man pulled a thick envelope from his pocket.
"One hundred million."
"You only have to come take a look."
Luc Minh didn't look at the envelope.
"I told you..."
"I don't..."
The man suddenly dropped to his knees.
"Please."
"He's only ten years old."
"If you don't come today..."
"...I'll lose my son."
Seeing the father's red-rimmed eyes, Luc Minh suddenly remembered his Master.
He had once said:
> "A Taoist practitioner can refuse money."
> "But don't refuse someone asking for help."
Luc Minh sighed.
"Take me there."
### Villa No. 18
The Phan family's villa stood on a hill west of the city.
The moment he stepped through the gate.
Luc Minh sensed a heavy current of yin energy.
Not just one.
But...
Dozens of layers of resentful energy piled on top of one another.
Every servant was deathly pale.
No one dared look up at the second floor.
Mr. Phan spoke in a trembling voice.
"Three days ago..."
"...the boy started talking to people who didn't exist."
"At midnight..."
"...he always laughs."
"Then he talks to himself..."
> **'Mom's lying under the bed.'**
Luc Minh asked:
"Where's his mother?"
The man lowered his head.
"She died in a traffic accident."
"Exactly one year ago."
### The Boy
The bedroom door opened.
A gaunt boy sat on the bed.
Dark circles ringed his eyes.
He hugged a stuffed bear tightly in both arms.
When he saw Luc Minh.
The boy smiled.
"Can you see my mom too?"
Luc Minh didn't answer.
His gaze stopped at the corner of the room.
A long-haired woman stood there.
Her head hung low.
Water dripped endlessly from her hair onto the floor.
But...
Only Luc Minh could see her.
The woman slowly raised her head.
Her eyes were completely white.
A twisted smile spread across her mouth.
"Don't..."
"...take..."
"...my son..."
Luc Minh immediately formed a hand seal.
"Bing!"
A golden talisman shot straight toward the corner of the room.
**Boom!**
The woman dissolved into a cloud of black smoke.
But only a few seconds later.
The black smoke gathered again.
It hadn't been destroyed at all.
Luc Minh frowned.
"Not a wrathful ghost."
"This is only..."
"...a fragment of an unresolved grudge."
### The Talisman Under the Pillow
Luc Minh bent down to examine the bed.
The moment he lifted the pillow.
Everyone was horrified.
Under the pillow.
Was a Maoshan talisman.
But it was exactly like the talisman found in the victim's pocket that morning.
The entire incantation...
Had been written backward.
The boy suddenly giggled.
"The man in black told me..."
"...not to let anyone take the talisman."
Luc Minh was startled.
"What did he look like?"
The boy tilted his head.
"I..."
"...can't remember his face."
"I only remember..."
"...his hand was really black."
Hearing that.
Luc Minh suddenly remembered a legend from Maoshan lore.
There was an ancient curse technique.
The person who used it would be consumed by yin energy.
Their hand would turn black as charcoal.
Only those who practiced forbidden arts would dare use it.
### Seven Knocks
Just as Luc Minh was about to burn the talisman.
**Knock!**
A knock sounded at the door.
Then came the second.
**Knock!**
The third...
The fourth...
Everyone in the room held their breath.
Mr. Phan whispered:
"That's impossible..."
"This room is on the second floor."
"Outside..."
"...there's no balcony."
The knocking continued.
**Knock!**
**Knock!**
**Knock!**
At the seventh knock.
The bedroom door suddenly flew open on its own.
A gust of icy wind swept inside.
Out in the hallway...
There wasn't a single person.
Only a floor soaked with water.
And wet footprints stretching toward the end of the hall.
At the end of the hallway.
A figure in red stood with its back turned.
Long hair covered its shoulders.
Luc Minh took one step forward.
The figure tilted its head slightly.
That familiar voice echoed through the darkness once more.
> **"I've found you..."**
**End of Chapter 2.**