Chapter 27 : The Three Sides
Chapter 27: The Three Sides
Night had fallen silent.
Master Danyang, holding a peachwood sword in his hand, glanced at the wall clock.
It was now eleven fifty-five. There were still five minutes left before the agreed time at midnight.
He was already standing before the ritual altar.
The altar’s arrangement was simple—only a square table placed before the divine statue, upon which sat a few common offerings.
Several thick red candles burned fiercely on either side of the table, tinting the entire altar in a dim, yellowish glow.
On the floor surrounding the altar was a meticulously drawn, massive Eight Trigrams formation, and the walls were covered with yellow talismans inscribed with incantations.
Against an evil spirit, what Master Danyang relied on was precisely this large formation he had set around his own altar.
Setting up such an array was not simple. It had to be done at the right place and in the right direction.
Therefore, the most suitable place for him to perform the ritual was naturally his own home.
Even so, being far away from the building did not mean he was safe.
Just as Li Zhen had said—once he began the ritual, he would have to face the evil spirit directly.
If the ritual failed, the first to die would surely be him.
With such careful preparations beforehand, there shouldn’t be any accidents…
Moments later, Master Danyang calculated with his fingers, then glanced again at the time—it was the moment to begin.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes slightly, and raised the peachwood sword’s hilt level with his brows.
“...Fierce gods and baleful spirits, return all to the West… by divine decree, urgent as the law commands!”
Upon finishing the incantation, he abruptly opened his eyes wide and slammed the peachwood sword forcefully toward the altar.
A gust of wind rose, causing the candle flames atop the altar to flicker wildly.
——
“It’s time to paste the sigil.”
Seeing that midnight was approaching, Fatty Wong urged from where he was pacing in the living room.
Feeling somewhat uneasy, Cheung Kam-Keung took the talisman paper and stuck it onto the wooden rack that Master Danyang had instructed them to move against the wall.
Suddenly, with a bang, the talisman burst on the spot, releasing a puff of blue smoke.
At the same time, the wooden rack toppled over toward the center of the living room.
“Still that fierce?!”
Fatty Wong and Cheung Kam-Keung were both startled out of their wits.
But recalling Master Danyang’s instructions, Cheung Kam-Keung ignored the fallen rack, went to the stove, and picked up the hammer resting there.
As the clock struck twelve, he raised the hammer and smashed it down onto the stove.
His strike fell almost simultaneously with Master Danyang’s peachwood sword.
Fatty Wong watched Cheung Kam-Keung intently, his right hand quietly slipping into his pocket.
Just as Cheung Kam-Keung struck the first blow, a sudden, miserable scream came from the bedroom where Siu Lan was resting.
Cheung Kam-Keung kept striking.
Siu Lan stumbled out toward the kitchen, only to be blocked by Fatty Wong in the living room.
Struggling futilely, she reached out toward Cheung Kam-Keung in pain. “Don’t, don’t…”
“Stop it! Ah Keung is doing something serious!” Fatty Wong grabbed her to keep her from interfering.
Cheung Kam-Keung continued hammering with all his strength.
Siu Lan collapsed painfully to the floor. “What are you doing? Don’t, stop…”
Wasn’t this exactly the kind of unforeseen situation they feared?
Fatty Wong glanced at Siu Lan’s belly, hesitated, then pulled out the electric baton and gave her arm a light shock.
He had worried about hurting her, but to his surprise, she didn’t react at all—she kept crawling toward Cheung Kam-Keung.
Gritting his teeth, Fatty Wong shocked her several more times, yet Siu Lan still showed no response.
So resistant to electricity?
Or was there something wrong with the baton?
Sweating nervously, Fatty Wong glanced down at the short electric baton in his hand, nearly tempted to test it on himself.
“You smashed the stove… Do you not want this child anymore?!” Siu Lan shouted in despair.
The words pierced straight into Cheung Kam-Keung’s fragile nerves.
For some reason, he seemed bewitched—his mind filled only with thoughts of his wife and child, casting all else aside.
Seeing Cheung Kam-Keung drop the hammer, Fatty Wong froze. “Ah Keung! Don’t stop! Keep smashing! People will die—hurry up!”
But Cheung Kam-Keung ignored him. Heartbroken, he ran to Siu Lan’s side and hugged her tightly while crying. “I’ll protect you…”
A few crackling sparks sounded—Cheung Kam-Keung collapsed unconscious atop Siu Lan.
“How can you lose your mind now? At the critical moment, it’s still up to me…”
Fatty Wong put away the electric baton, wiped his sweat, ran to the stove, and picked up the hammer to strike.
He wasn’t hesitant like Cheung Kam-Keung—his blows were vicious.
With several loud bangs, half the stove was smashed apart.
Siu Lan screamed once and then fell silent, seemingly fainting.
Fatty Wong wiped his sweat again and continued hammering, glancing sideways at Siu Lan—and suddenly gasped sharply.
Siu Lan’s eyes had rolled white. Her expression twisted as she crawled up from the floor.
“No one… can hurt my child! No one!”
——
Inside the pitch-black building, everything was deathly silent.
Aside from Li Zhen, there was no one else remaining.
Fatty Wong had told the remaining security guards that a ritualist would be performing tonight and asked them to stay away.
After so many strange incidents recently, the guards were already terrified out of their minds.
Without Fatty Wong needing to say more, they readily agreed to leave for the night.
At nearly midnight, Li Zhen stepped out of the main control room.
The Red-Eyed Bat perched on his shoulder, its two blood-colored eyes flickering with an eerie crimson glow.
After consuming Master Danyang’s blood, it had not only revived but become far more energetic. Its fur gleamed brighter than before, as though coated in wax.
Li Zhen, whose mind was linked with the creature’s, could sense its transformation clearly.
Feeling the surge of feedback from the bat, Li Zhen’s own fatigue lifted—his spirit sharpened.
Since his illness, this was one of the rare moments when he felt truly at his peak.
When refining this bat, he had only fed it the blood of twenty ordinary people, which naturally could not compare to Master Danyang’s blood.
This was far more stimulating than a dose of “chicken blood.”
He would need to get more of Master Danyang’s blood later…
If he fed the Red-Eyed Bat with it for a while longer, the creature might even undergo some favorable mutation…
Entering the elevator, Li Zhen pressed the button for the lowest floor.
The elevator descended steadily.
Suddenly, terrifying sounds of heavy breathing echoed in the cold, confined space.
Dark red blood began to trickle down the walls of the elevator.
Li Zhen remained unmoved.
Water surged in from beneath the elevator doors, quickly rising past his ankles.
A faint smile appeared on his pale face. “If all you can do is scare me with illusions, that means you’re very weak right now.”
“If you were to do nothing—or send a few real evil spirits to stop me—I’d turn around and leave.”
The elevator shuddered and came to a halt—it had reached the bottom floor.
The unnatural phenomena vanished instantly.
Li Zhen stepped out, switched on his flashlight.
Unlike the upper floors, where the stairways still had working lights, here lay a pure, oppressive darkness.
The air was thick with dampness and mold, making it hard to breathe.
He had already scouted the underground area before, so he wasn’t unfamiliar with its layout.
Finding the door that led into the basement, Li Zhen grasped the handle.
Suddenly, a decayed little hand reached out from the side and grabbed his.
Li Zhen slowly turned his head.
A rotten face appeared right before his eyes.
The indescribable stench of corpse rot rushed straight into his nose, suffocating.
Even with preparation, the sight made his heart jolt.
“Squeak—squeak!”
The Red-Eyed Bat shrieked, making Li Zhen’s ears ache.
At once, his vision shifted—
That decayed hand vanished like an illusion.
This evil spirit… really knew how to frighten people.