It seems a malevolent spirit resides here.
Near these three old houses, the leaves have withered, and the plants have died.
Not even the chirp of an insect could be heard, indicating the immense danger posed by the presence of that foul entity.
Mo Ting and I had already investigated two of the old houses and were now left with the last one.
If that large black rat hadn't misjudged, the malevolent spirit was most likely in this final old house.
Taking a deep breath inwardly, I turned to Mo Ting beside me and said,
"Old Mo, get ready!"
My voice was kept very low.
At this moment, Mo Ting wasn't nervous but rather excited.
Gripping his peach wood sword, he responded in a low voice,
"Messenger of Light, ready to battle at any moment."
Hearing Mo Ting's passionate and somewhat chuunibyou words, I gave a faint smile.
Crouching, I continued to move forward along the base of the wall.
The old house was still about eight or nine meters away from our current position.
Even from this distance, the surrounding air had grown considerably chilly.
It felt as if we were getting closer and closer to the entrance of a cold storage unit in the middle of summer.
The further we walked, the stronger the chilling breeze became.
It was even more potent than the malevolent energy I had felt when entering a haunted building previously.
Mo Ting and I gripped our peach wood swords, staying close together, inching forward step by step.
Simultaneously, we paid close attention to our movements underfoot.
Our bodies were tense at this moment.
After all, we were going in for a surprise attack.
If we were discovered beforehand, all our efforts would be in vain.
Even so, we quickly approached the third old house.
We edged along the base of the wall, slowly drawing closer.
As we neared a window, Mo Ting and I stopped.
At this point, neither of us dared to make a sound, even covering our mouths and holding our breath.
We were afraid that the malevolent spirit inside would sense us, catching our human scent.
After a brief pause, I slowly began to crane my neck, wanting to survey the situation inside the house.
Little by little, soon my eyes peered through the gap in the broken window…
The room was quite dim.
Only through the moonlight slanting into the room could I discern the rough outline of the interior.
I scanned the room and saw a white ribbon hanging from the roof beam, swaying back and forth.
Other than that, I saw nothing else.
I retracted my head and crouched down again.
Seeing me pull back, Mo Ting, with a look of confusion, opened his mouth towards me.
No sound came out, only lip movements.
But I knew Mo Ting was asking me about the situation inside.
I frowned and shook my head.
Indicating that I had seen nothing.
Seeing me shake my head, Mo Ting cautiously extended half his head to look inside.
The result was similar to mine; he also found nothing.
He withdrew his head, his expression grave, and shook his head at me as well.
Seeing Mo Ting shake his head, I became somewhat perplexed.
The house was this small, and there were no other rooms.
Could the evil spirit have gone out?
Just as I thought this, Mo Ting beside me made a gesture.
He mouthed words and mimed with his peach wood sword.
I quickly understood his meaning.
He was suggesting that we knock on the door, with one of us staying outside to ambush.
If anything inside dared to open the door, we would stab it with a peach wood sword.
It was unclear if the evil spirit was inside the house. If we rushed in without any preparation, it would be ineffective and could lead to many unforeseen situations.
Mo Ting's idea was not bad; it was the safest approach.
I nodded, signaling Mo Ting to stand by as an ambush while I went to knock on the door.
With our roles clearly defined, we cautiously approached the door.
The main door was dilapidated and covered in moss.
It felt as if it hadn't been opened for many years.
Seeing Mo Ting in position, holding his peach wood sword high, ready.
Taking a deep breath, I reached out and gently knocked on the door.
"Dong, dong dong dong dong!"
I mimicked the rhythm of a ghost knocking four times…
But who knew that as soon as I finished the fourth knock,
the sealed door creaked open on its own.
Instantly, I felt a gust of cold wind blast out from inside the house.
The icy chill felt like a biting wind in the depths of winter, stinging my face.
Along with the malevolent wind, pieces of yellow paper money fluttered out with a rustling sound.
The jarring sound of the door opening, the biting cold, and the handful of yellow paper money blown out startled me.
My body tensed, and I instinctively took a step back.
Mo Ting, beside me, also widened his eyes, held his breath, and raised his peach wood sword, ready to strike.
Just as we both expected the malevolent spirit to charge out the next second,
we found that apart from the chilling wind and the paper money, there was no other movement…
The moon overhead shone directly into the house from the doorway,
instantly illuminating the dim room.
Although my complexion had improved these days, my master said that my luck was still very low, and I could still see unseen foul things with the naked eye.
I gripped my peach wood sword and cautiously looked into the house, trying to see where the malevolent spirit was and what it looked like.
But after scanning for a while, I found nothing in the house except an old table and chairs.
However, I did not move, continuing to scout cautiously.
After a minute or two, there was still no movement from inside the house.
It seemed as if there was truly no foul entity in this room.
Seeing that there was no movement from inside for a long time, I began to move closer into the house, gripping my peach wood sword.
When I reached the doorway, I cautiously peered inside.
The room was quite spacious, visible from end to end.
Apart from some old furniture, there was nothing else.
I withdrew my head and shook it at Mo Ting, who stood at the doorway with his peach wood sword raised:
"The house is empty, the foul entity isn't here."
Mo Ting's eyebrows slightly raised:
"What's going on? Did we come here for nothing!"
After speaking, he came to the doorway with me again, peering into the house.
He even walked into the house and looked around.
The chilling feeling, the strong smell of mildew.
Apart from a few pieces of old furniture, where was the malevolent spirit in the room?
However, the malevolent energy here was particularly heavy, feeling like stepping into a refrigerator.
Given this, it could only mean one thing.
This house was definitely the home occupied by the malevolent spirit, the elderly couple's house.
The malevolent spirit must have gone out, and we came here only to miss it.
"Old Mo, it seems we've missed it."
I raised my eyebrows and spoke, already planning my next move in my mind.
If the evil spirit had gone out, it would surely return.
Tonight was for staking out and gathering information. If we couldn't even see its face, it would be meaningless.
Since we had missed it, I wondered if we should try a "waiting by the stump to catch a hare" strategy.
Meanwhile, Mo Ting beside me also sighed deeply:
"It seems that's all we can do now."
As he spoke, he took out his Feng Shui compass, which could point out ghosts, from his shoulder bag.
He looked down at it a few times, but as he looked, he noticed that the pointer in the compass was spinning erratically.
The moment Mo Ting saw this, his expression changed dramatically, and he looked at me with a look of utter shock.
Seeing Mo Ting's sudden change in expression, I sensed that something was wrong.
I frowned and asked,
"Old Mo, what's wrong?"
But Mo Ting's face was filled with terror, and he instantly became tense.
Gripping his peach wood sword, he frantically began to scan the house in all directions, while urgently saying,
"No, no, there's a ghost in this house…"