Yin and Yang - Chapter 4

Shen Qingwei’s words turned everyone’s faces pale, especially Luo Ying, whose expression darkened with extreme displeasure. Without another glance at Shen Qingwei, she turned and left, the others following suit. The last two men couldn’t resist looking back. “Miss Shen, are you really not coming with us?”

“Nope,” Shen Qingwei replied with a sweet smile, tilting her head. Loose strands of hair fell across her shoulder, adding to her playful charm. It was heartbreaking to think that such a lovely woman would be gone by morning. Hu Shengsheng also turned back. “Miss Shen, can I add you on WeChat? If anything happens tonight, I’ll ask my master to come.”

Shen Qingwei paused for a few seconds. “Sure.”

She exchanged WeChat IDs with Hu Shengsheng. After the group left, she opened his profile and scrolled through his posts, which were filled with information about the Heavenly Master Sect. He seemed knowledgeable, diligent, and hardworking. After browsing, she received a greeting sticker from Hu Shengsheng.

She replied: Meow~

Hu Shengsheng felt his entire body go weak at her playful response. He had just been looking through her WeChat profile, which was filled with food photos and fashion posts. He could easily believe she was an internet celebrity. Yet this refined and beautiful woman had chosen to become a Heavenly Master and insisted on staying in a haunted house.

Hu Shengsheng felt a pang of regret. He had been chatting with Shen Qingwei all the way back, while Luo Ying occasionally glanced at him. When they arrived at the hotel, Luo Ying asked, “Who were you chatting with?”

Hu Shengsheng startled. “No one.”

Luo Ying pressed, “What’s the greatest taboo in cultivating inner peace?”

Hu Shengsheng put down his phone. Luo Ying scolded, “The greatest taboo is a restless mind and a volatile temper. What’s wrong with you? Did you lose your composure over a pretty woman? She’s just a seductress who’s turned your head. There are plenty of women like that in the red-light district—she’s not worth regretting!”

But she’s different!

A peerless beauty amidst a sea of gaudy, ordinary women. Hu Shengsheng held his tongue, not daring to argue, and lowered his head to endure Luo Ying’s scolding. As soon as they reached the hotel, he immediately pulled out his phone to text Shen Qingwei.

Shen Qingwei lay alone on the sofa, glancing around.

Luo Ying had some insight after all. She had recognized this as a Yin Dwelling the moment she arrived. Yin Dwellings attract evil spirits and are saturated with Yin energy. But Shen Qingwei had been born and raised in such environments; this place was like water to a fish. Fear? That was a foreign concept to her.

Just as she was relaxing, her phone beeped—a WeChat notification. Shen Qingwei tilted her head and saw Hu Shengsheng’s message. She didn’t reply. She closed her phone. The time was exactly half past ten.

The temperature in the room suddenly plummeted, and a draft began to swirl through the living room. Shen Qingwei glanced at the windows, all tightly shut, yet the wind inside grew stronger, causing the curtains to billow and rustle. She stood up, her ears twitching slightly, and turned toward the bedrooms.

The apartment had two bedrooms and a living room. The doors to the bedrooms were adjacent. The master bedroom housed the owner and his wife, while their daughter occupied the adjacent room. Shen Qingwei now stood before both bedrooms.

From the master bedroom came the rhythmic thud of chopping. Thud, thud, thud! The sound was loud and forceful, the vibrations so intense that even standing outside the door, she could feel the floor trembling. The world seemed to spin around her. Shen Qingwei closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them. Her hand rested on the doorknob. She pushed the door open, and despite her mental preparation, she gasped for breath.

Inside the bedroom, a woman stood with a large cleaver raised high, bringing it down with brutal force. Blood splattered across the bed and floor, chunks of meat flew through the air, and countless crimson droplets stained the ceiling. Streams of blood arced high, staining the woman’s cheek red. She moved like a machine, mechanically repeating the chopping motion, her face utterly expressionless.

Shen Qingwei recalled the case files she had read. The female homeowner suffered from severe depression, often self-harming and attempting suicide. Her husband eventually confined her to their home, where she rarely ventured out. On the day of the incident, during a psychotic episode, she suddenly stabbed her sleeping husband seven times with a knife. Afterward, she went to her daughter’s room, brutally murdered the child, and dragged the body to her own room to dismember it.

Chop, chop, chop…

The blade sliced through flesh with sickening squelches. The woman’s white nightgown was soaked crimson, as if dipped in blood. The stench of gore filled the air, a nauseatingly pungent reek. Shen Qingwei pressed a finger to her nose and stepped further into the room.

Click-clack, click-clack. She glanced down at her high heels, closing her eyes briefly in regret for forgetting to change her shoes. When she looked up again, the meat-chopping Female Ghost had turned around, raising the cleaver high above her head, her pitch-black eyes fixed intently on Shen Qingwei.

Shen Qingwei sighed softly and took two steps back. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said to the ghost. “Please continue.”

The Female Ghost’s face was smeared with blood, her eyes dark voids. When she opened her mouth, a long, slimy tongue flopped out, reeking of decay. Shen Qingwei couldn’t avoid the stench and turned her head away. In that instant, the ghost drifted beside her and swung the cleaver down without hesitation, only to be repelled by a burst of light.

Shen Qingwei took two steps forward and kicked the Female Ghost into the corner. “I told you to continue,” she said. “Why are you being so uncooperative?”

The Female Ghost stared at her with empty, hollow eyes. Shen Qingwei sighed, lowered her head, and pinched the ghost’s chin. “Speak,” she ordered.

When the Female Ghost opened her mouth, another suffocating stench filled the air. Seizing the opportunity, Shen Qingwei poked the tip of her tongue twice, frowned, and released the ghost. “Mute?” she muttered.

That’s impossible, she thought. The records show she was a normal person. How could she be unable to speak? Could this be another one of that Master’s tricks? Why would he raise a Malevolent Spirit? Shen Qingwei furrowed her brow, deep in thought, when the Female Ghost suddenly lunged at her with brute force, shoving her aside!

Caught off guard, Shen Qingwei slammed into the edge of the table as the Female Ghost floated out of the room. Shen Qingwei chased her into the living room, where she saw the Malevolent Spirit from earlier crouching by the door, grinning sinisterly at her. A violent wind erupted around them, and the ear-piercing laughter grew louder and louder!

“Heh heh—”

The Female Ghost before her was identical to the figure in the photo from the streamer’s camera: a crimson dress stained with blood, a deathly pale face, and pitch-black, hollow eyes. Seeing Shen Qingwei frozen in place, the ghost drifted closer, a single strand of hair wrapping around Shen Qingwei’s neck. With a flick of her hair, the Female Ghost expected a scream, but instead, she saw a burst of flames!

Shen Qingwei flicked open her lighter with a click, burning through the strand of hair and tossing the lighter at the Female Ghost.

“Ah!” The Female Ghost darted frantically around the room, but the lighter relentlessly pursued her. Shen Qingwei watched with amusement as the ghost cowered in terror, clutching her head and scurrying like a rat. Just then, her phone lit up with a message from Hu Shengsheng: “Miss Shen, are you alright?”

“Ah!!!!! Help me! Come save me!” Shen Qingwei frantically texted back.

Hu Shengsheng leaped out of bed! He immediately prepared to find Luo Ying, but then remembered her earlier words and froze. His master would never go, would he? Should he go himself?

But did he have the ability? Even Sect Master He couldn’t subdue this ghost. Would going be suicide?

Hu Shengsheng hesitated, glanced at his phone, and reluctantly set it aside, vowing not to check it again. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Finally, he picked up his phone again, found Shen Qingwei’s WeChat, and asked, “Miss Shen, are you alright?”

“Waaah, a giant cockroach! It scared me to death!” Shen Qingwei replied. “How could a cockroach be so huge?”

Hu Shengsheng frowned. “I thought you encountered a Female Ghost?”

“A female ghost?” Shen Qingwei replied. “No, I didn’t see any female ghost. Do you think she’s afraid of the talisman I’m wearing?”

The talisman Sect Master He gave me? Maybe it really does have protective properties. Otherwise, it’s well past 10:30 PM, so why hasn’t anything happened to Shen Qingwei? Hu Shengsheng felt relieved and typed, “It’s best if you didn’t see her.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Shen Qingwei replied sweetly. “But it’s so boring being here alone.”

Hu Shengsheng’s heart skipped a beat. “I can keep you company and chat with you.”

“Okay!” Shen Qingwei responded. “What do you want to talk about?”

Hu Shengsheng lowered his head and typed, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Tsk tsk—as if I’d like a man.

Shen Qingwei scoffed inwardly and replied, “No, no one likes me.”

How could that be?! She only stepped out briefly, and before returning to the hotel, several men were talking about her. How could no one like her? Still, the fact that she didn’t have a boyfriend struck a chord with Hu Shengsheng, his heart pounding like a drum. “It just means your destined match hasn’t arrived yet. No need to rush.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Shen Qingwei replied, casually snapping a photo of Hu Shengsheng. The living room looked exactly as they had left it—clean and tidy, showing no signs of a female ghost’s presence.

Could the talisman really be working? If so, the house must be safe. Could I…

Hu Shengsheng’s heart pounded wildly. Once an idea took root, his thoughts couldn’t help but swarm around it. Unable to contain himself, he sent a message: “Should I come over and keep you company?”

“Ahhh! Really? You’ll come over?” Shen Qingwei’s excitement overflowed through her words. “You’re so sweet! Hurry over, I’ll be waiting!”

Hu Shengsheng hesitated for a moment after reading her reply, but then Shen Qingwei sent a “mua” sticker, as if teasing him. His legs nearly buckled, and a strange heat surged through his body. Remembering how Shen Qingwei had looked just hours earlier, he couldn’t help but swallow hard.

Perhaps… if I go over this time, things might develop further. The thought of possibly holding Shen Qingwei in his arms sent his blood rushing upward, banishing all fear.

He immediately changed clothes, rushed out, and hailed a taxi to Ping’an Community.

After sending the WeChat message, Shen Qingwei tossed her phone aside, leaned against the edge of the sofa, and glanced up at the Female Ghost trapped in the corner of the ceiling. The ghost was desperately trying to avoid the lighter, her head repeatedly slamming against the wall, leaving a trail of blood. Her eyes burned with hatred as she glared at Shen Qingwei, baring her fangs and claws. Her long, crimson nails looked capable of piercing human organs in an instant.

Fifteen minutes… ten minutes… five minutes…

Shen Qingwei waited patiently. Soon, hurried footsteps approached the door. She glanced at the Female Ghost, who had been trapped for so long, snapped her fingers, and the lighter vanished into ash. The ghost lunged from the corner, hurtling toward Shen Qingwei. Just then, the door swung open.

Hu Shengsheng shivered as he opened the door, a wave of icy air washing over him like water, piercing straight through his chest. Before he could react, an enlarged ghost face suddenly loomed before him!

Ah!!!

Hu Shengsheng’s mouth gaped open, desperate to scream, but his throat locked up, unable to make a sound. His face flushed crimson, as if he were being suffocated alive.

Seeing this, the Female Ghost tossed her long hair, enveloping herself and Hu Shengsheng. Hu Shengsheng felt the ghost’s face drawing closer—her blood-red complexion, bottomless black eyes, and long, lolling tongue seemed about to press against his face. A chill surged from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. He stood frozen, his legs trembling like sieves, his face turning a liverish purple as he struggled to scream, his eyes rolling back in his head.

Hu Shengsheng slowly raised his hand in a desperate plea for help.

Two meters away, Shen Qingwei watched the scene with cold detachment.

Just as Hu Shengsheng lowered his hands to his neck and managed to gasp out a strangled “Ah—,” like a dying man’s final syllable, Shen Qingwei’s right hand darted out with a Yellow Talisman. But before she could strike, Hu Shengsheng was sent flying by a single palm strike!

The ghost and Hu Shengsheng separated instantly. The yin energy at the doorway dissipated, and a flash of white light revealed a slender figure standing in the entrance. Her bangs lifted slightly, revealing a clear, cold face as pure as the wind and as bright as the moon. Shen Qingwei’s eyes lit up, and she immediately rushed into the newcomer’s arms, feigning distress. “Senior Sister, you’re here!” she whined. “This ghost is so scary! I was so frightened! Hold me tight!”

Yin Zheng, who had just arrived, glanced at the Female Ghost cowering to one side, too afraid to approach.

Who’s really the one who’s scared here?

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