Half an hour earlier.
Yan Shouyi and the others slowly entered Ping'an Building.
Directly in front of the entrance of Ping'an Building was a relief carving of mountains and water, with mountains and water, sky and clouds forming a cohesive and artistic whole.
Long Feicheng couldn't help but step forward, touch the relief, and laugh, "This relief must be quite valuable, right?"
Lin Zhitong was not very clear about the price of this relief, as the Lin family had acquired the entire Ping'an Building in one go, and at that time, there were many other valuable items within the building.
However, the craftsmanship and artistic conception of the relief were extraordinary, and even Yan Shouyi stood and admired it for a while.
Xia Zhi pointed to a peach forest in the relief and said, "Look, there's a girl in this peach forest."
The group leaned closer and indeed saw a long-haired girl in the peach forest. But strangely, the girl's legs were not on the ground; she was floating in mid-air. Upon closer inspection, there was a rope hanging around her neck!
This was no girl, but a corpse hanging in the peach forest!
The four of them, realizing this, couldn't help but feel a chill down their spines.
Although the girl in the relief had her back to them, her disheveled hair and suspended legs were enough to create a terrifying atmosphere.
Long Feicheng angrily said, "Was the person who carved this relief mentally ill, deliberately leaving such a detail to scare people?!"
Yan Shouyi thought for a moment, took out a Taoist talisman, and affixed it to the woman in the relief.
Seeing his action, Xia Zhi couldn't help but ask, "Is there something wrong with this woman?"
"I haven't sensed anything wrong for now, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I'll place a town evil talisman on her to prevent any accidents," Yan Shouyi explained.
This relief was just a small surprise at the entrance.
Yan Shouyi and his group did not forget their main business and continued to walk inside.
Not long after they left, Xiaoxiaodao and the other two entered, making a lot of noise.
"Everyone, look, this relief is so cool. It must have cost a lot back then!" Xiaoxiaodao said to the camera, "I heard there were many valuable things in the building before, and they were all taken by the brave ones. Now, the most valuable thing is probably this relief, but it's a pity it can't be moved!"
The photographer, Da Niu, pointed the camera at the relief to give the viewers a clearer view.
At this moment, Lily suddenly discovered something and quickly called the other two over, "Look, there's a Taoist talisman stuck here?"
Xiaoxiaodao went up and tore off the talisman, throwing it on the ground, "This talisman is quite new. It's probably stuck by the同行 ahead."
Da Niu hesitated, "Is it okay to just tear it off like this?"
"With me here, what could possibly go wrong?" Xiaoxiaodao didn't take it to heart at all.
Lily suddenly said, "Look, there's a peach forest in this relief, and there seems to be a woman in the peach forest! And that talisman was stuck on this woman, wasn't it?"
Xiaoxiaodao leaned in to observe, and Da Niu also zoomed in with his camera. In the live broadcast, the woman in the peach forest, who was originally facing away from everyone, was now turning sideways.
Xiaoxiaodao sneered inwardly: The同行 ahead is quite adept at creating a terrifying atmosphere. Sticking a talisman on the woman in the painting, what a waste that he's not filming horror movies!
"Holy crap!"
Da Niu suddenly exclaimed, startling the other two.
Lily lightly hit Da Niu, blaming him, "Why are you jumping around like that?"
Da Niu pointed at the woman in the peach forest and said, "Look, this woman seems to have hanged herself in the peach forest. Her legs are suspended, and there's a rope tied around her neck..."
The two were shocked, and when they looked again, they also noticed these details.
Instantly, the three felt a chill and had thoughts of retreating.
But Xiaoxiaodao glanced at the situation in the live stream. The comments from fans were incredibly numerous, and the rewards were pouring in.
Just walking through the entrance of Ping'an Building today had attracted so many fans, even surpassing their previous record.
Xiaoxiaodao gritted his teeth and said, "Let's strike while the iron is hot and move further inside. I have a premonition that this building is definitely not ordinary!"
Da Niu and Lily were scared, but upon seeing the rapidly increasing reward amounts, they also mustered their courage, walked past the relief, and continued inside.
And not long after the three of them left, in the peach forest of the relief.
The woman who was originally turned sideways had now completely turned around!
The woman's pale face was adorned with a sinister smile, and her hollow eyes glowed with a chilling red light...
...
The first-floor corridor of Ping'an Building was dimly lit, with the lights flickering on and off. According to Lin Zhitong, because Ping'an Building had remained vacant, the Lin family did not spend much on its maintenance annually, only enough to provide the minimum lighting conditions. Even the elevators only had one operational.
After all, the Lin family's original intention in purchasing Ping'an Building was merely to help the Lushan Sect suppress these ghosts.
This resulted in the interior of the already eerie Ping'an Building appearing even more sinister, especially with the flickering lights, which were a perfect match for a scene in a ghost movie.
Fortunately, of the four, except for Long Feicheng, none were timid, so they were not scared away by such a scene.
Walking down the long corridor, Yan Shouyi asked:
"Brat, can you sense the location of Brother Wei's soul?"
"Let me try."
Lin Zhitong took out a stick of incense, lit it with the flame from burning a Taoist talisman, held it between her index and middle fingers, and closed her eyes to chant.
At the same time, the soul-summoning bell on her wrist began to ring on its own, with a rhythmic chime.
Xia Zhi whispered, "What is Miss Lin doing?"
"Summoning souls," Yan Shouyi replied simply.
Long Feicheng said, "Doesn't Big Sister usually summon souls differently?"
"Obviously, it's different," Yan Shouyi explained. "Before, she was summoning the soul of the person involved. Now, the brat is summoning wandering souls. If Brother Wei's soul passed through here, then the ghosts here must have seen him. To find out where he is, we just need to ask those wandering ghosts to show us the way. What the brat is doing is called 'Ghost Guidance' from the Lushan Sect."
Now that the clues pointed to Ping'an Building, but Ping'an Building was so vast, Yan Shouyi and his group were at a loss. Only by finding Brother Wei's soul could they find a breakthrough.
Shortly after Lin Zhitong finished chanting, the soul-summoning bell stopped ringing. The smoke from the incense in her hand rose in wisps, forming a thin white line that drifted towards the corner ahead.
To everyone's shock, a little girl was standing at that corner.
The little girl was wearing a red dress, her head bowed. Half of her body and her skirt were burned. Her skin was no different from charcoal, and even embers could be seen scattered on her. Occasionally, some ash would fall from her.
She clutched a similarly burnt doll in her arms.
"Brother Yan, Big Sister, that little girl is... a ghost?" Long Feicheng asked tremblingly.
Lin Zhitong nodded, "I summoned her. Don't worry, she means us no harm."
The incense Lin Zhitong used for soul summoning earlier was a magical artifact given to her by Lushan Sect Master Lu Jingsheng, named Ghost Charming Incense. It was made from the tender leaves of the tips of mugwort collected after the first spring rain, and after being made, it was enshrined in the Lushan Sect's mountain gate for forty-nine days. This incense had the effect of solidifying souls, and the scent it produced after burning was favored by ghosts.
Even the Lushan Sect could only produce about fifty sticks of this incense annually.
And now, Lin Zhitong had a large bundle of them, about two hundred or so...
Xia Zhi also found it surprising, but her reaction was slightly better than Long Feicheng's.
The little girl slowly raised her hand and pointed towards the corner of the corridor, as if guiding Yan Shouyi and the others.
Lin Zhitong said, "Follow her, and we can find Brother Wei's soul."
"You're really something," Yan Shouyi said with a slight smile.
Lin Zhitong glanced at Yan Shouyi sideways, her look carrying a hint of playful reproach. To the single dog, Long Feicheng, it looked like affectionate glances between lovers.
So Long Feicheng grumbled, "Ahem, you two, I need to lecture you. Although your relationship is very good, you should also consider the occasion! We are here to catch ghosts, can you be a bit more serious?!"
Yan Shouyi was immediately embarrassed by Long Feicheng's words, and Lin Zhitong turned her face away.
Xia Zhi covered her mouth and chuckled on the side.
Suddenly, Long Feicheng realized something. He took off his earphones and tapped them, wondering, "Are our earphones broken?"
Hearing this, everyone also remembered that they could still hear each other's voices through their earphones earlier, but they didn't know when it had stopped.
This way, it seemed they had lost contact, and Lu Caiwei outside wouldn't know what was happening inside.
Long Feicheng said, "Indeed, these things always fail at critical moments. Brother Yan, Big Sister, this is up to the two of you!"
Yan Shouyi frowned, put his earphones back on, and said, "Let's keep moving forward and try to resolve this before sunset."
With no objections, everyone walked towards the little girl at the end of the corridor.
As they approached, the little girl disappeared and then reappeared at the next intersection, still holding the doll and pointing the way.
Thus, the four gradually ventured deeper into the building...