"This money is no ordinary coin, it is the Five Emperors' Tongbao!" Old Granny Fan's hair stood on end, white and wild. She simultaneously employed the 'Suppress' Seal with both hands, pointing at the bronze coin and roaring aloud. Yet, this entire display was nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot, a mayfly shaking a giant tree. It only managed to still the table for a few seconds before the restraining force vanished. Turning back, they saw the table shaking even more frantically, tossing the bronze basin, incense candles, and all other items into the air, smashing them onto the floor and scattering wildly, causing Village Chief Tian and the others to cry out repeatedly as they scrambled to dodge. Old Granny Fan, due to her age and frailty, couldn't hold on; her legs buckled, and she was thrown backward, landing hard on her bottom. Looking at her face, there wasn't a trace of pain, only fear—a profound terror rising from the depths of her soul!

"Granny Fan, are you alright?" Old Man Wang squatted down to help her up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, nothing serious," Old Granny Fan shook her head, then immediately reached down to pick up one of the bronze coins that had fallen, clutching it tight in her palm.

"Let me help you up!"

"Alright, then I'll trouble you…" Hearing Old Man Wang say this, the pain in Granny Fan's backside immediately registered in her nerves, and she couldn't help but let out an 'Ouch,' not stopping him from helping her stand. But just as she regained her footing, Granny Fan's expression shifted violently again. With a sudden surge of desperate strength from some unknown source, she lunged forward and knocked Old Man Wang down, simultaneously turning her head to shout hoarsely at Village Chief Tian and the others: "Get down! Quickly, get down!"

"Get down?" Village Chief Tian hadn't grasped the meaning of Granny Fan's words and stood there muttering to himself. Fortunately, Little Pockmark's mother was quick-witted. Seeing that the situation was dire, she didn't waste time pondering; she mirrored Granny Fan, tackling him down. Dog-egg's father was faster, immediately covering his head and ducking aside.

It was at that very moment that the wooden door—which Village Chief Tian had checked twice, securing all three bolts—gave a strained creak and opened a minute crack. A thin sliver of light immediately stabbed into the dim room. The faint sound of scraping nails drifted in from the living room outside the door, seeming both intimately close and impossibly far away, ethereal yet chillingly present, striking fear into their hearts.

"Sister-in-law, you've gone too far! What kind of fit are you throwing!" Village Chief Tian, covered in dust and humiliation, certainly wasn't about to let it go. He was the Village Chief, after all! He was about to roar at Little Pockmark's mother to argue, but the sudden, bizarre sound choked off his next words.

Creak—the door split open a fraction wider, and the sliver of light grew thicker. Simultaneously, the pupils of Granny Fan and the others constricted further.

"Heh heh~" Suddenly, a cold, mocking laugh echoed through the living room.

"Tap!" "Tap!" A slow, rhythmic striking sound came from behind the door. "Tap," "Tap." Someone was outside the door; there truly was someone outside! And that person was knocking, "Tap," "Tap," "Tap."

Hearing the knocking, Village Chief Tian’s courage immediately soared, and a look of confident assurance reclaimed his mind. He rose from the floor with a smile, dusting off his clothes, and pointed triumphantly at Granny Fan, laughing smugly: "Old woman, it’s not like someone is knocking on the door, is it? Why such a fuss? Come, let me see who has arrived. Heh heh, I almost forgot, maybe it’s my wife bringing the doctors from town." Saying this, Village Chief Tian reached for the doorknob, preparing to turn it.

"Don't open the door!" Granny Fan tried to rush forward to stop him, but it was too late. Before entering, she had carefully pasted a yellow talisman on the outside of the door, just in case. With this talisman now in place, perhaps it could hold things off for a moment until she could devise a proper solution. But if Village Chief Tian opened the door now, the consequences would truly be unthinkable.

"Old feudalist! You have land and property, yet you won't work honestly, insisting on cheating and swindling everywhere. Wait until the enlightened youth come to the countryside next, they'll be the first to take you down!" Village Chief Tian declared sharply. However, he did not notice that a hand was slowly extending from the crack in the door—pale and limp. Then came another hand, followed by a head, a torso, and a waist. A person was slowly squeezing out of the doorframe, their bones emitting a sinister cracking sound as they struggled. They squeezed with such effort that they had to pause after each segment emerged. Finally, a contorted figure gradually manifested in the corner by the door.

It faced Village Chief Tian, utterly motionless. The surrounding air instantly solidified, silent and suffocating!

"Who, who… You… Who are you?" Village Chief Tian, caught completely off guard by the sudden horror, stammered, his tongue tied with fright.

"Heh heh, heh heh heh…" The thing slowly turned its face, emitting a crackling sound from its neck. Finally, the neck gave a crisp snap, and its head tilted to one side. Its face was ashen, devoid of blood, and its dead, gray eyes radiated the despair of death. Its cheekbones were deeply sunken, and its nose was twisted to one side, the entire face flattened as if struck by immense external force.

"Mother of God…" Witnessing this scene, Village Chief Tian's eyes rolled back, and he promptly fainted. On the bedside, Young Master Liu froze entirely, his heart feeling as if it were violently seized by a giant hand. A ghost—it was truly a ghost. If this wasn't a ghost, what else dared to claim the title?

"Hurry and move away!" Granny Fan shouted a warning again, while she herself moved with lightning speed, tossing a handful of the green salt remaining from the previous ritual toward the female ghost, intending to deliver a preemptive strike. But to her astonishment, the moment the green salt left her fingers, the female ghost vanished. Yes, completely disappeared. Granny Fan could only watch as the salt grains, scattering like a sprinkling of stars, sparsely hit the wall, all to no avail.

"Where did it go?" Granny Fan’s face tightened, and she nervously scanned left and right. Suddenly, she felt a chilling sensation on the top of her head, as if something was lightly brushing against her face—a maddening itch that made one instinctively want to scratch. Granny Fan's heart lurched; she sucked in a sharp breath and slowly raised her head, looking up toward the ceiling beam. There, the vanished female ghost hung upside down, its face twisted in a grimace. Its stark white eyes glared fiercely down at her, and two strands of black hair draped down over its face, threading right through its eye sockets, resembling a black waterfall cascading down from the roof.