“The third watch.”
Hạnh Nhi stared at the bloody writing on the wall, her expression turning cold.
“Twelve corpse puppets.”
“One living person.”
“One formation that borrows fortune.”
Mạnh Ái stood beside her, panting.
“Spit it out!”
“Put these three things together, and they become a life-stealing formation.”
“What does that mean?”
“Tô Tuấn is the conduit.”
Mạnh Ái immediately turned toward the room.
“Then what are we waiting for?”
“Save him.”
The two of them rushed inside.
Tô Tuấn was still lying on the floor.
His eyes were squeezed shut.
The black mark on his neck had spread to his chest.
Hạnh Nhi immediately knelt beside him.
“Tô Tuấn.”
No response.
She placed two fingers against the pulse in his neck.
It was very weak.
But it was still there.
“Give me cinnabar.”
Mạnh Ái immediately opened her bag.
“Here.”
“Three coins.”
“I have them.”
“Needle and thread.”
“Got them.”
“A small mirror.”
Mạnh Ái rummaged through her bag.
“Got it!”
Hạnh Nhi looked at her.
“You carry that much stuff?”
Mạnh Ái looked smug.
“I came prepared.”
“Mm.”
“You make it sound like you don’t believe me.”
“I don’t.”
Hạnh Nhi ignored her.
She arranged the three coins in a triangle around Tô Tuấn.
Then she used the cinnabar to draw a line from the center of his forehead down to his chest.
“Heavenly spirit.”
“Human spirit.”
“Earthly spirit.”
“Let the three spirits return to their places.”
Nothing happened.
The black mark continued to spread.
Mạnh Ái grew frantic.
“It didn’t work?”
“It’s not that it didn’t work.”
“Then what is it?”
“The formation has locked his fate.”
Hạnh Nhi looked at the bronze box in her hand.
“To save him, we have to break the lock.”
Mạnh Ái immediately asked, “Smash the box?”
“No.”
“You just said it locked his fate.”
“That’s right.”
“Then how do we break it?”
“It can’t be broken by force.”
Hạnh Nhi placed her hand on the box’s lid.
“We have to find the person who locked it.”
Mạnh Ái fell silent.
“Huyền Sát?”
“Possibly.”
“Then catch him.”
“I’d like to.”
“But he already ran.”
“Mm.”
“Then how are we supposed to catch him?”
Hạnh Nhi looked at the box.
“We don’t need to catch him.”
“What?”
“We’ll let him come to us.”
Mạnh Ái looked at her.
“You have a plan?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
Hạnh Nhi took out a white talisman.
She stuck it to Tô Tuấn’s chest.
Then...
She used the peachwood sword to make a tiny cut across her palm.
Blood dripped onto the talisman.
Mạnh Ái jumped.
“What are you doing?”
“Exchanging fate.”
“Exchanging what?”
“Using three portions of my yang energy as bait.”
“Are you insane?”
Hạnh Nhi didn’t answer.
Mạnh Ái grabbed her wrist.
“No!”
“Let go.”
“No.”
“Let go.”
“Do you have to trade yourself away every time you save someone?”
Hạnh Nhi looked at her.
“If I don’t, he’ll die.”
“Then let me do it!”
“You have no cultivation.”
“But I have a life!”
“That’s exactly why you can’t.”
Mạnh Ái was left speechless.
Hạnh Nhi softened her voice.
“I’m a Daoist practitioner.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“But you...”
“You have to live.”
Mạnh Ái looked at her.
Only after a while did she let go.
“Fine.”
“But if anything happens to you...”
“I’ll be fine.”
“If you’re lying...”
Hạnh Nhi smiled faintly.
“I never said I wasn’t afraid to die.”
Mạnh Ái froze.
“I only know that some people...”
Hạnh Nhi looked at Tô Tuấn.
“Shouldn’t die.”
The second watch passed.
The Tô residence grew unnaturally quiet.
Hạnh Nhi had driven all the servants out of the main compound.
Every window was shut tight.
Seven talismans were posted in seven directions.
Mạnh Ái stood at the gate.
In her hand was a peachwood sword.
For the first time...
She no longer found exorcism interesting.
Because this time, the person lying inside was someone she knew.
Mạnh Ái looked up at the sky.
“How much longer?”
Hạnh Nhi stood by the window.
“Not long.”
“You’re sure?”
“Mm.”
“Do you know Huyền Sát will come?”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because he wants Tô Tuấn dead before the third watch.”
“And if he doesn’t come?”
“Then something else will.”
Mạnh Ái shuddered.
“Can you say something more reassuring?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Stay close to me.”
Mạnh Ái immediately moved closer.
“Okay.”
Hạnh Nhi looked outside.
“Don’t leave the talisman circle.”
“Got it.”
“Even if you hear someone calling your name.”
“Mm.”
“Even if you hear a loved one’s voice.”
“Mm.”
“Even if you see the dead.”
“Mm.”
Mạnh Ái was silent for several seconds.
“But what if I see you?”
Hạnh Nhi turned toward her.
“I’m right here.”
“I mean, what if I see another Hạnh Nhi?”
Hạnh Nhi paused.
“Don’t trust her.”
“No matter what she says?”
“No matter what she says.”
Mạnh Ái nodded.
“Understood.”
Inside the room.
Tô Tuấn opened his eyes.
He didn’t know how long he’d been lying there.
The ceiling was blurry.
His whole body was ice-cold.
He tried to move.
He couldn’t.
Something was pressing down on his chest.
A figure stood beside the bed.
Tô Tuấn tried to focus.
It was a girl.
She wore white.
Her hair was long.
Her face was very familiar.
“You...”
The girl bent down.
“Brother Tuấn.”
Tô Tuấn froze.
That voice...
It was his little sister’s.
But his sister had died when she was very young.
“That’s impossible...”
The little girl smiled.
“Do you remember me, big brother?”
Tô Tuấn closed his eyes.
“You’re not her.”
“Why not?”
“She never called me Brother Tuấn.”
The girl fell silent.
Then her face began to warp.
The skin split open.
Blood streamed from her eyes.
Her mouth stretched all the way to her ears.
“Smart.”
Tô Tuấn gasped for breath.
“Who are you?”
“Someone who came to take your life.”
She leaned in close.
“Three days.”
“You made it through two.”
“Tonight is the last.”
Tô Tuấn gave a faint laugh.
“I can survive.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because the person outside can’t save you.”
Tô Tuấn closed his eyes.
Hạnh Nhi’s face appeared in his mind.
He didn’t understand why, at a time like this...
She was the one he thought of.
A cold, distant woman.
Someone who always spoke as if she didn’t care about anyone.
Yet she was willing to use her own yang energy to save someone else.
Tô Tuấn smiled faintly.
“You’re wrong.”
The female ghost asked, “I’m wrong?”
“Mm.”
“Why?”
“Because I trust her.”
The female ghost stared at him.
“You trust a Daoist?”
“Mm.”
“You know she can save you?”
“No.”
“And you still trust her?”
Tô Tuấn opened his eyes.
“I don’t need to know whether she can.”
“As long as she’s still out there...”
“I won’t die.”
The female ghost stared at him for a long time.
Then she vanished.
The third watch.
The bell in the Tô residence rang.
Clang!
Hạnh Nhi opened her eyes.
She was sitting in the middle of the room.
The candle before her had just gone out.
Mạnh Ái immediately ran in.
“Hạnh Nhi!”
“They’re here.”
“Who?”
“Guests.”
“What guests?”
Hạnh Nhi stood.
“Not people.”
Outside in the courtyard...
A white lantern slowly floated through the gate.
No one was carrying it.
Then a second.
A third.
Then dozens of white lanterns filed into the Tô residence.
Each lantern bore a red character.
Tô.
Mạnh Ái stared at them.
“What are those?”
“Spirit-guiding lanterns.”
“Guiding whose spirits?”
Hạnh Nhi didn’t answer.
A cry rose from the far end of the courtyard.
“My child...”
A woman’s voice.
Then a man’s voice.
“Tuấn!”
Mạnh Ái turned around.
Hạnh Nhi immediately gripped her shoulder.
“Don’t look.”
“But that’s—”
“Don’t.”
Mạnh Ái bit her lip.
The calls grew clearer.
“Ái...”
“Ái...”
Mạnh Ái went rigid.
It was her mother’s voice.
It had been years since she’d heard that voice call her name like that.
“Ái.”
“Come here.”
Mạnh Ái’s eyes reddened.
She unconsciously stepped out of the talisman circle.
Hạnh Nhi immediately pulled her back.
“Do you want to die?”
Mạnh Ái jolted.
“I...”
“That isn’t your mother.”
“I know.”
“You don’t.”
“But that voice...”
Hạnh Nhi gripped her wrist tightly.
“Listen to me.”
“The dead shouldn’t call the living.”
Mạnh Ái took a deep breath.
“Okay.”
Just then...
A figure stepped out of the mist.
Black robes.
A silver ring.
Huyền Sát.
He stood outside the talisman circle.
Looking at Hạnh Nhi.
“It’s been a while.”
Hạnh Nhi gripped her sword.
“Three days.”
“You still remember.”
“I don’t forget the people I intend to catch.”
Huyền Sát laughed.
“You want to catch me?”
“Yes.”
“Then catch me.”
He took one step.
Boom!
A wave of black energy slammed into the talisman circle.
Huyền Sát staggered back.
“Looks like your cultivation has improved.”
Hạnh Nhi said coldly, “You’re not the real Huyền Sát either.”
He stopped.
Mạnh Ái was stunned.
“What?”
Hạnh Nhi looked at the ring.
“The real one wouldn’t let me see his ring.”
“Because he knows I’d recognize it.”
Huyền Sát smiled.
“You’re smarter than I thought.”
“Thanks.”
Hạnh Nhi raised her sword.
“But you’re not human.”
The figure before them began to warp.
Its skin split open.
Something enormous crawled out of the human skin.
It had no head.
No eyes.
Only a gigantic mouth in the middle of its chest.
Mạnh Ái retreated.
“What is that?”
Hạnh Nhi said, “A Heavenly Soul.”
“What’s that?”
“Something created from the souls of the dead.”
It roared.
The sound made the windows shake violently.
Hạnh Nhi threw three talismans.
“Three Pure Ones!”
Boom!
The monster was knocked back.
But at that exact moment...
Tô Tuấn screamed from inside the room.
“Hạnh Nhi!”
She immediately turned around.
The black mark on his body had spread to his heart.
Hạnh Nhi’s expression changed.
“No!”
She ran into the room.
Mạnh Ái tried to follow.
But the monster immediately blocked her path.
Mạnh Ái tightened her grip on the sword.
“You want in?”
It roared.
Mạnh Ái swallowed.
“Fine.”
She raised the sword.
“Then you’ll have to get through me first.”
Hạnh Nhi ran to Tô Tuấn’s side.
He was convulsing.
His pulse was weakening by the second.
She placed her hand on his chest.
“No.”
“You can’t die.”
Tô Tuấn opened his eyes a sliver.
“Hạnh... Nhi...”
“I’m here.”
“You...”
“Don’t talk.”
“I just wanted to...”
“I said don’t talk.”
Tô Tuấn forced a smile.
“If I’m still alive... afterward...”
“I want to buy you a meal.”
Hạnh Nhi froze.
“Okay.”
“Really?”
“Mm.”
“Then...”
He closed his eyes.
“I’ll try to live.”
Hạnh Nhi looked at him.
For some reason...
Her heart suddenly began to pound.
She placed her hand on the talisman over his chest.
“Listen to me.”
“You still haven’t paid me.”
Tô Tuấn didn’t respond.
“You haven’t paid me.”
“So you can’t die.”
She took out a red talisman.
She stuck it to his chest.
Then she used her own blood to draw a spell line.
“Heaven and earth possess spirit.”
“Human life shall not end.”
“I exchange yang energy for yang energy.”
“With my life...”
Hạnh Nhi stopped.
She looked at Tô Tuấn.
“No.”
“I won’t lend you my life.”
“I’ll lend you...”
“Time.”
A burst of golden light flared.
The black mark on Tô Tuấn’s chest immediately stopped spreading.
But at the same time...
A black line appeared on Hạnh Nhi’s neck.
Tô Tuấn opened his eyes.
“Hạnh Nhi...”
“Don’t look.”
“What are you doing?”
“Saving you.”
“Stop.”
“No.”
“You’ll be cursed!”
“I know.”
“Then stop!”
Hạnh Nhi looked at him.
“Do you want to die?”
Tô Tuấn fell silent.
“No.”
“Then lie still.”
Outside...
Mạnh Ái’s scream rang out.
“Hạnh Nhi!”
Hạnh Nhi turned around.
The monster had broken through part of the talisman circle.
Mạnh Ái had been sent flying into the wall.
The peachwood sword lay on the ground.
Hạnh Nhi immediately stood.
She looked at Tô Tuấn.
“Wait for me.”
“Where are you going?”
“To fight it.”
“But—”
“I’ll come back.”
Tô Tuấn watched her silhouette.
For the first time...
He realized Hạnh Nhi wasn’t cold.
She was simply used to carrying everything by herself.
Hạnh Nhi stepped into the courtyard.
The monster roared.
Mạnh Ái was lying on the ground.
“You’re late!”
“Get up.”
“I can’t!”
“Get up.”
Mạnh Ái gritted her teeth and struggled to her feet.
Hạnh Nhi handed her the sword.
“Take it.”
“What about you?”
Hạnh Nhi pulled out a yellow talisman.
“I’ll use my hands.”
Mạnh Ái’s eyes widened.
“Are you insane?”
“Possibly.”
Hạnh Nhi charged.
The monster opened the mouth in its chest.
A horrifying wave of Yin energy shot out.
Hạnh Nhi leaned aside and dodged it.
She pressed the talisman against its chest.
“Break!”
Boom!
The monster shrieked.
But the talisman didn’t burn.
Hạnh Nhi froze.
“Impossible.”
It wasn’t a Heavenly Soul.
It was only wearing the aura of a Heavenly Soul.
Inside...
There was something else.
Something with an aura exactly like...
The fate-locking box.
Hạnh Nhi immediately turned around.
“The box!”
Mạnh Ái understood.
“Leave it to me!”
She ran toward the bronze box.
But the moment her hand touched it...
A hand crawled out from inside the box.
Mạnh Ái screamed.
“Hạnh Nhi!”
Hạnh Nhi turned back.
The hand seized Mạnh Ái’s wrist.
The Yin mark immediately glowed red.
Hạnh Nhi went pale.
“No!”
The bronze box opened by itself.
There was nothing inside.
Only a single line of writing.
FATE HAS BEEN EXCHANGED.
Hạnh Nhi looked at the writing.
Then she looked at Tô Tuấn.
The black mark on his body...
Suddenly vanished.
But on Mạnh Ái’s wrist...
A new black line appeared.
Mạnh Ái looked up.
“Hạnh Nhi...”
Before she could finish,
A man’s voice rang out from the rooftop.
“That’s right.”
“We’ve finally found a replacement.”
Hạnh Nhi looked up.
The real Huyền Sát stood on the roof.
This time...
There was no disguise.
Black robes.
A silver ring.
Cold eyes.
He looked at Mạnh Ái.
“This girl will be the next key.”
Hạnh Nhi tightened her grip on the sword.
“How dare you.”
Huyền Sát smiled.
“Three days from now.”
“I’ll come for her.”
Then he vanished.
Hạnh Nhi immediately looked at Mạnh Ái’s wrist.
The black line was still spreading.
Mạnh Ái forced a smile.
“Three days?”
Hạnh Nhi said nothing.
Mạnh Ái looked at her.
“This time...”
“Can you save me?”
Hạnh Nhi gripped her hand tightly.
Her gaze turned razor-sharp.
“Yes.”
“I won’t let him take you.”
Behind them, Tô Tuấn slowly sat up.
He looked at the two women.
Then he looked at the writing that remained on the wall.
ONE PERSON BLEEDS.
ONE PERSON LOSES THEIR LIFE.
ONE PERSON PAYS THE DEBT.
But the final line had changed.
Red blood trickled down each stroke.
ONE PERSON MUST FOLLOW.
No one knew...
Who that person would be.