Bai Ru thought it over carefully. "It should be said this way: the cause of everything should lie with that gray-jacketed bag-snatcher. Don't forget he was the first one in, and he turned into a walking corpse before you did."

Kuang Feifan couldn't help but nod. "That's true..."

Bai Ru waved her hand. "Now is not the time to investigate exactly who triggered all this. Just remember this: no matter what, absolutely do not go back to that small Western-style house alone, understand? The fact that you managed to escape was largely due to luck, and also because you both had protective amulets. Do you know that? After you got to the hospital, the police took and kept everything on your person. I checked, and I saw the amulet you mentioned belonging to He Shaoqing. That jade Buddha is carved into Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and I can sense a certain spiritual power contained within it, which can offer extremely strong protection to the wearer. It’s very rare. So, if you two didn't each have your protective treasures, you would have already become walking corpses just like that gray-jacketed man."

"Uh..." Hearing her say that, Kuang Feifan couldn't help but feel a fresh wave of lingering fear. He asked curiously, "So, as long as I wear the amulet, I'll be fine?"

Bai Ru shook her head. "Of course not. This is relative. If the malevolent ghostly aura is too strong, it can still corrupt treasured items like amulets. Remember how the jade Buddha turned black later? That was because the excessive ghost energy consumed the spiritual energy contained within it. An item contaminated this way can only regain its exorcism and protective properties after being re-consecrated by a true adept."

"Oh... like how a dirty plate needs detergent to be washed clean..." Kuang Feifan chuckled.

Bai Ru was very serious with him. "You know, I'm not trying to scare you with alarming words. You saw what you experienced just now at the school. Generally speaking, ghosts exist in an incorporeal state; they cannot directly commit arson or murder. Mostly, they rely on manipulating the deepest fears within a person to scare them to death. Of course, they can also control objects and other people to act on their behalf."

Kuang Feifan nodded while recalling his previous experiences. He glanced at Li Jin in the back seat. "I understand, like possessing Li Jin to deal with us."

Bai Ru emphasized her tone. "Yes, that was just the tactic used by the ghost at the school. But what you encountered in the small Western-style house wasn't just possession; there was also the ability to confuse your mind and even manipulate corpses. These methods are far more powerful than the ghost at the school. Most importantly, I don't know to what extent you injured that dried corpse and the monstrous infant, or if they can still merge. Therefore, without certainty, you absolutely, absolutely cannot go back there."

Seeing Bai Ru so serious, Kuang Feifan knew she was genuinely worried about him returning to the city alone. But the situation was urgent now; he couldn't delay matters on either side. To keep Bai Ru from worrying too much, Kuang Feifan had no choice but to resort to his oath-taking scheme. He raised his hand casually and swore, "I swear, without your consent, I will absolutely, absolutely not go back to the small Western-style house, OK?"

Settled in the taxi heading back to the city, Kuang Feifan's mind involuntarily began to yearn for Bai Ru. He subconsciously stroked the string of prayer beads wrapped around his wrist.

These beads were what Bai Ru had taken off her own wrist before he left. He had seen her wear them before but hadn't paid much attention. This time, when Bai Ru took them off and solemnly put them on him, it made him feel that she clearly cared a great deal about the beads.

"Remember, once you put them on, don't take them off, got it?" Bai Ru had warned him repeatedly.

Under the light inside the car, Kuang Feifan carefully observed the string of beads. The small light fixture on the ceiling cast an orangey-yellow glow onto them, and he realized the beads seemed to be made of extremely ancient jade, radiating a soft, warm radiance under the illumination.

Each bead was flattened and round, yet not perfectly circular, nor of uniform size. Every bead was a mixture of black and white—perhaps they were once white, but years of erosion had altered their color in places. But why were they irregular? The more Kuang Feifan stared at the string of beads, the more he felt an unprecedented mystery emanating from them.

As he gazed, Kuang Feifan leaned against the car seat and drifted off to sleep...

Bai Ru watched until Kuang Feifan got into the taxi before slipping back into her own car. She felt uneasy about Kuang Feifan’s trip back to the city, as if something was bound to happen. Perhaps this was just a woman's innate intuition at work. She was concerned about the missing He Shaoqing, but she couldn't abandon the situation at hand.

She let out a helpless sigh and dialed a number she hadn't called in a while.

The phone rang for a long time on the other end before a lazy voice answered, "Xiao Bai, disturbing someone's sleep in the middle of the night is an extremely unethical act."

Bai Ru cut straight to the chase. "Gu Yi, I need you to come to Qingshui County immediately."

Hearing Bai Ru's extremely serious tone, the other party instantly snapped awake from his half-real sleep. He heard a series of crashes and a 'thud' followed by an 'ouch' of pain over the phone, then the man gritted his teeth and repeatedly said, "OK, OK, I'm fine, fine, just fell off the upper bunk... forgot I was on the top..."

Even though the current situation wasn't optimistic, Bai Ru still managed a few chuckles.

"Bring everything you need and head this way first. I'll text you the specific address after I get settled," Bai Ru instructed the man on the phone named Gu Yi.

Hanging up, Bai Ru did not contact Principal Hao. Instead, she found a daily rental room two blocks from the school. The only advantage of such a place was that as long as you paid, the landlord wouldn't care what you did inside. At least, that was true for the landlord of the room Bai Ru chose.

After placing Li Jin, whose head was covered with a talisman, onto the bed in the room, Bai Ru texted the address to Gu Yi. She then sat down at the desk in the room, gazing at the motionless, corpse-like Li Jin, and a sense of helplessness welled up in her heart. Although she had plenty of experience in exorcising ghosts, Bai Ru was more adept at direct confrontation; she wasn't very skilled at 'driving them out.'

Furthermore, she hadn't told Kuang Feifan the specifics of her experience in the school earlier. Kuang Feifan was just an ordinary person who had only encountered ghosts twice. More importantly, deep down, she didn't want Kuang Feifan to have too much contact with malevolent spirits. These matters had to wait until Gu Yi arrived for deeper discussion.

Time ticked by. Bai Ru rubbed her forehead in fatigue. Caring for Kuang Feifan and He Shaoqing yesterday had already drained a lot of her energy, and after tonight's turmoil, she truly felt sleepy. She curled up on the sofa in the corner and closed her eyes to rest. Before long, she dozed off in a haze.

Just as she seemed to be in a state between sleep and wakefulness, a series of hurried knocks on the door startled Bai Ru. She snapped her eyes open. It was already deep into the night, and although she hadn't checked the time, she knew the caller couldn't be Gu Yi; he couldn't have arrived that quickly.

The knocking was urgent and loud. Judging by the intensity, if she didn't open the door, the person outside would likely keep knocking incessantly. Bai Ru stood up, walked quickly to the door, and peered out through the peephole. In the dim hallway, she could vaguely make out the person outside bowing their head, but she still recognized Principal Hao standing there.

Bai Ru frowned. Why would Principal Hao come? After a moment of thought, she reached out and turned the handle of the security door.

"Why are you here? You..." Before Bai Ru could open the door more than a narrow gap, Principal Hao squeezed inside, his body surprisingly supple, like a mudfish slicked with lubricant.

This immediately made Bai Ru sense something was wrong. But before she could think further, Principal Hao interrupted her.

"Did you find the missing students?" Under the not-so-bright indoor light, Principal Hao's face looked abnormal—pale without a trace of color, his entire demeanor suggesting panic and agitation.

Bai Ru warily stepped back two paces. As soon as Principal Hao squeezed through the door, she felt a chill sweep over her body, as if a cold gust of wind had blown from her feet to the top of her head.

She didn't rush to answer Principal Hao's question, instead continuing to ask, "How did you know?"

"Don't ask so many questions first; let me see the student," Principal Hao was clearly impatient to answer. He raised his hand, seemingly intending to push Bai Ru, who stood in front of him, aside. But in his agitation, his hand brushed directly across Bai Ru's chest.

Bai Ru startled and instinctively retreated two more steps, one hand blocking Principal Hao's reaching hand, the other reaching behind her waist where her Demon-Subduing Staff was inserted.

At that moment, the only light source in the room, the desk lamp, suddenly went out. Bai Ru instantly plunged into darkness. She immediately drew out her Demon-Subduing Staff, but she was a step too late. A rush of wind swept past her, and Principal Hao agilely darted past her, darting and jumping into the room like a startled rabbit.

The daily rental room Bai Ru rented was a single unit; entering meant facing a square main room. To the left of the door was the entrance to the inner room, where she had placed Li Jin on the bed. That inner door was not closed. Principal Hao used that brief moment, as if familiar with the layout, to rush into the inner room and even slammed the door shut behind him.

Bai Ru was filled with regret; she knew she had miscalculated—Principal Hao was possessed by a ghost for some unknown reason.

Thinking more was useless now. Bai Ru flicked her wrist, and the retracted sections of her Demon-Subduing Staff sprang out. With her other hand, she pushed against the inner door. It was firmly shut. Although it wasn't locked, Principal Hao had clearly used something to brace the door after entering.

With no other option, Bai Ru braced her shoulder against the door, gathering all her strength to push inward. Finally, she managed to force a crack open. She then saw that the object bracing the door was the nightstand next to the bed.

Through the gap, she saw Principal Hao standing stiffly on the bed, his hand outstretched above Li Jin's head, fingers splayed. He was trembling as he tried to reach for the talisman stuck to the top of Li Jin's head, but every time his fingers neared the talisman, he would instinctively pull back.

She immediately understood: the malevolent spirit possessing Principal Hao was afraid the talisman might harm it, which was why it dared not remove it directly.

Just as the door was pushed open enough for her to slip through, Principal Hao's hand finally made contact with the talisman.