Li Tianxiong shuddered, then broke out in a cold sweat. His eyes were red as he looked at Zhou Huan. "Master, you're here."

"What's going on here?" Zhou Huan asked Tian Xiong.

Tian Xiong gasped for air, slowly regaining his composure. "Master, these shoes... these shoes—we don't know where they came from. The moment they appeared, Xiao Yan'er rushed over here. As soon as we arrived, he scattered all these photos on the ground. Just now, Xiao Yan'er said the person in the photos is her mother!"

Zhou Huan crouched down near Xiao Yan'er, who was desperately scrambling to gather the photos from the floor. When Zhou Huan reached out to pick one up, Xiao Yan'er snatched it away instantly, shrinking back and looking up at Zhou Huan. "No one touches my mother!"

"Xiao Yan'er, I'm your Uncle Huan. Let me see your pictures, okay?" Zhou Huan coaxed her gently.

"I won't give them! If you try to take them, I'll fight you all!" Xiao Yan'er seemed to have lost her usual gentle demeanor and politeness toward others in her agitation.

Hong Kun pulled out his peach-wood sword and thrust it toward the pair of large leather shoes. The sword struck and broke the shoe. Hong Kun then brought the large shoes over to Zhou Huan. "Master, look, these shoes don't seem special. There was no reaction when my sword hit them."

"No reaction? Look closely at the base of your blade, Hong Kun." Zhou Huan’s eyes were fixed on the hilt of Hong Kun’s peach-wood sword.

Black, viscous liquid was oozing from the base of Hong Kun’s sword. As Hong Kun pulled the sword out of the shoe, a gush of black fluid sprayed from the puncture wound. Soon after, as the black water drained out, the leather on the shoe began to wrinkle, finally shriveling up like a sheet of paper. With a light touch, it crumbled into a ball and was tossed aside.

Both Hong Kun and Tian Xiong were dumbfounded. "Master, what was that? We..."

Before the two could finish speaking, Dongzi, waving talismans, backed away, suddenly finding his feet lifted from the ground, suspended in mid-air. He was still cursing: "I curse your ancestors, you bastard! Put your Grandpa Dong down!"

"Roar! Roar!"

The others focused their sight. Coming up from downstairs was a pair of leather shoes, much larger—over half a person's height. They seemed driven mad, charging upward. Dongzi’s talismans were stuck all over the shoes, but the shoes simply didn't care. No matter how many talismans he stuck on, the shoes ignored them, charging straight up the stairs. They stopped near the first pair of shoes, the toes gently touching the tops of the smaller shoes, almost as if caressing them.

"Master, what is happening?" Hong Kun asked, then instinctively reached to attack again.

But Zhou Huan stopped him. "Don't move yet. As for what's happening, I don't know either. But one thing I am certain of: these things are low-level ghosts possessing various objects. The ones in these shoes belong to a single lineage; they can cultivate and, if cultivated properly, might ascend to immortality someday."

"So you're saying these are ghost-body cultivators?" Tian Xiong finally recovered enough to ask Zhou Huan.

Zhou Huan continued, "That seems to be the case. But the reason they still need to cultivate is that they haven't let go of certain worldly attachments—things they can't forget from their past lives. Just look at these two pairs of shoes."

As soon as Zhou Huan finished speaking, the large shoe pivoted, turned its toe toward him, and let out several low growls.

"See? I was right, weren't I? Look, it agrees!" Zhou Huan pointed at the shoes while speaking to Hong Kun and the others. Then he addressed the shoes again. "Behave yourselves and don't invite trouble, or Zhou Huan won't go easy on you today."

The large shoe seemed to deflate, slowly peeling the talismans off the small shoe. It appeared to twitch, and soon, a significant amount of fluid began to seep from its surface, resembling tears. A gust of wind that sounded eerily like weeping swept across everyone's faces.

"Damn it, this is the first time I've seen shoes cry. This is seriously terrifying," Dongzi exclaimed, looking crazed. Clutching his talismans, he prepared to rush forward and stick them onto the large shoe.

"Dongzi, stop! Bring Xiao Yan'er back here." At Zhou Huan's command, Dongzi immediately stopped fiddling with his charms, grabbed Xiao Yan'er, and rushed back to Zhou Huan's side.

The draft in the hallway was strong. One of the photos slipped from Xiao Yan'er’s grasp. The small shoe seemed to struggle momentarily, then tore free of the talismans stuck to it and lunged for the photograph. However, the photo was caught by the wind and began to drift slowly down the stairwell hole toward the first floor. Without hesitation, the small shoe shot upward, following the photo down through the gap in the stair railing.

"Holy hell! What is this nonsense?" Dongzi was utterly astonished.

Xiao Yan'er tried to follow the photo, but Zhou Huan held her tight. Now, the large shoe also seemed to move, flying down after the smaller one.

"Let's go, follow them down!" Zhou Huan took the lead, and Tian Xiong scooped up Xiao Yan'er as they ran downstairs.

Moments later, Zhou Huan and the others reached the first floor. Before they could fully settle, two crisp sounds echoed: "Smack! Smack!"

"The photo!" Xiao Yan'er exclaimed, her voice thick with childish babble, pointing a small hand. "Look, that photo—it's Dad's favorite one."

As soon as Xiao Yan'er finished speaking, Dongzi charged forward like a ruffian, shoving the two pairs of shoes aside. He then picked up the photo from the floor and handed it to Xiao Yan'er. "Here you go, Uncle Dong picked up your picture. Give Uncle a smile."

"No smile! Give me back my photo!" Xiao Yan'er started to cry. Dongzi quickly soothed her. "Shhh, don't cry, good girl." He then handed the photo to Xiao Yan'er. She took it, clutching it tightly to her chest, her round eyes fixed on Dongzi.

Zhou Huan glanced at Dongzi, then slowly walked toward the two shoes. Before he reached them, dozens of pairs of shoes rushed in through the external fire door on the first floor.

"Good grief! Is this hospital running a shoe factory?" Dongzi muttered.

Hong Kun chimed in, "Seriously, where did all these shoes come from? This is completely ridiculous. It's turned into a shoe convention."

"Master, look at this..." Tian Xiong was at a loss for what to do.

Zhou Huan surveyed the scene. He took out a small box of his homemade Illusion Powder from his waist, sprinkled some onto a talisman, lit the talisman, and then tossed it into the pile of shoes.

"Master, what are you doing?"

"A Manifestation Talisman combined with Illusion Powder. I'm confident even cultivators will have to reveal themselves now." Zhou Huan was very sure of himself, but he never expected the entire pile of shoes to vanish in the blink of an eye, leaving only a cluster of footprints before their eyes. The talisman Zhou Huan had thrown burned down to ash on the empty floor.

Zhou Huan and the others immediately rushed out the fire door, searching everywhere. They found no sign of any shoes, but instead discovered several people slumped limply in chairs. Each person’s expression was one of devastating loneliness and helplessness, their eyes filled with terrifying shock, their pupils gradually constricting.

"Not good. Everyone here has been affected. The rest will be harder to manage. Where is the most likely place for this large group of shoes to have gone?" Zhou Huan asked his disciples.

Dongzi suggested, "Seeing them like this, I don't think they walked away. They must be hidden somewhere, right?"

"No, judging by their state, they must have a regular dwelling place. I suspect the garbage dump is the most likely spot," Hong Kun analyzed.

Tian Xiong soothed Xiao Yan'er. "Yanzi, tell me, what did those shoes you saw earlier look like?"

"They had red and white stripes. They even took me to eat at the restaurant next door." Children don't lie; what they say is the truth.

Zhou Huan looked at Xiao Yan'er, then asked her another question. "When you went to eat, who paid the bill?"

"No one asked me for money, and no one paid. After I finished eating, I followed the shoes back."

Hearing this, Zhou Huan seemed to have an idea. That pair of red and white shoes must have been following the Lao Zhao family consistently, but it didn't feel like they intended to harm them, especially Xiao Yan'er. But why were all these people in such a state of panic and mental collapse? It seemed the story behind the Lao Zhao family was truly complicated. After thinking it over, Zhou Huan decided to check the nearby restaurant first, and then go to Lao Zhao's house to start searching for those red and white striped shoes.

"Tian Xiong, take Xiao Yan'er upstairs to find Bing Yuan. Look after Xiao He carefully. I'll take these two out," Zhou Huan instructed. Tian Xiong immediately got into the elevator, heading for the tenth floor.

Zhou Huan led the way, walking directly into the restaurant Xiao Yan'er had mentioned outside the building.

"Oh, welcome, sir, how many in your party?" a waiter greeted Zhou Huan and the others.

Zhou Huan didn't speak, merely making a gesture for three people, then asked the waiter, "Did you see a little girl come in to eat by herself earlier?"

"A little girl by herself?" The waiter looked completely bewildered. "What child?"

Another waiter approached from Zhou Huan's side and said, "There was a little girl here to eat earlier, but someone paid for her initially. They said that shortly, a child named... what was the name again? Oh, a child named Xiao Yan'er would be coming to eat. We saw that the conditions the woman described matched the little girl, so we let her stay and dine."

"Oh, alright. Then please bring us three servings of the meal you prepared for the child. I want to try it too." Zhou Huan ordered something quite specific.

The waiter chuckled. "You want to eat what a child eats?"

"Less nonsense! Just go and get it done, stop standing around!" Dongzi's temper flared quickly. His words annoyed the two waiters, but they dared not object.

Zhou Huan and the other two found a place to sit. In less than half an hour, the waiter brought three large plates, each containing three portions of the special meal. The waiter placed the dishes in front of Zhou Huan, who then told him, "Call your chef over. I have something to ask him."