Gu Yi slowly rose from the now limp and motionless form of Principal Hao, letting out a sigh. He spotted the menacing, still greenish-black mass of resentful fog stirring just beyond the iron bars, threatening to drift inward. He quickly placed a hand on Bai Ru’s shoulder, nudging her back inside the Eight Trigrams protective formation, then spun around, flicking several Fire Talismans onto Principal Hao's corpse.

The sudden, roaring flames quickly reduced the body to a pile of black charcoal. Gu Yi retreated swiftly into the formation, glanced at the meager remains of Principal Hao, and let out a soft sigh.

Bai Ru’s expression grew somber. “I should have done that earlier…”

Gu Yi managed a strained smile. “No one could have predicted it. Forget it.”

Not long ago, Bai Ru’s strike had finally pierced the core of resentment within Principal Hao, causing the surrounding protective miasma to vanish instantly. Principal Hao reverted to a mundane corpse, and to prevent any possibility of reanimation, they decided to incinerate him immediately.

The moment they stepped back into the protective circle, the resentful fog outside the iron gate seemed utterly unrestrained, squeezing through the gaps in the bars like pulled cotton wool, surging toward their location.

The outer layer of the fog churned visibly, but from within, faint, beast-like roars could be heard, occasionally punctuated by the flashing of deep crimson light piercing through the vapor.

Bai Ru thrust the Demon-Subduing Staff back into the formation, and the protective shield it generated suddenly blazed, golden light flowing and lingering upon its surface as if solid.

Gu Yi sat on the ground, cross-legged, forming a hand seal, desperately attempting to restore the magical power and physical stamina depleted moments before.

Bai Ru silently watched the resentful fog, which was nearly enveloping the entire formation. The eerie greenish-black hue obscured the faint glow of the shield; if the fog hadn't clearly maintained some distance, one might have thought the pair had already been swallowed whole by the massive cloud of black vapor.

Thanks to the influx of energy from the Demon-Subduing Staff, the power of the Eight Trigrams formation surged rapidly. Holding back this mass of fog wasn't considered a major problem. Furthermore, since the fog entered the sewer where they were situated, its original dark-green color had noticeably dimmed, suggesting that without the reinforcement of the "Accumulated Resentment Boundary," the intensity of the resentment within the fog had significantly decreased.

Seeing that the formation could effectively resist the fog’s encroachment, Bai Ru relaxed, easing her body slightly to allow her strength to recover.

In the current circumstances, Bai Ru and Gu Yi actually enjoyed a moment of ease they hadn't experienced all night.

Time slowly ticked by. The resentful fog and the shield remained locked in this stalemate. It seemed the fog was beginning to falter under the sustained opposition; aside from waves of constant churning and roaring, the mist gradually began to thin.

It was precisely at this moment that Gu Yi’s eyes snapped open, his head instinctively turning toward the direction of the iron bars. Bai Ru sensed it too, fixing her gaze there as well.

From the sewer on that side, faint, intermittent whimpering sounds—like the wails of ghosts and howling wolves—drifted over, possessing an almost rhythmic quality. Coinciding with this sound, the resentful fog enveloping them suddenly retreated from the Eight Trigrams formation, rolling back like a tide to the other side of the iron bars, vanishing behind them with a whooshing sound carried on the air.

Bai Ru subconsciously blurted out, "The opponent can actually command the resentful fog to advance and retreat?"

Gu Yi seemed less surprised. "I suspected as much when the fog lingered at the sewer entrance earlier."

Bai Ru shook her head. "It's not surprise; it’s just that the closer we get to the opponent, the more troublesome they seem."

Gu Yi took a deep breath, stood up, and stretched languidly. "Troublesome then, so be it. Shall we go now, or rest a little longer?"

Bai Ru frowned, suddenly asking, "Do you still remember that zombie horde incident?"

Gu Yi nodded, tilting his head to look at her. "Why?"

Bai Ru spoke with a peculiar tone. "I'm wondering if that might happen here now."

Gu Yi paused, then seemed to grasp something, chuckling. "If you want to make a call, just do it. Are you worried about something happening later?"

Bai Ru's face flushed slightly. She shot Gu Yi a look, then hesitantly pulled out her phone, inserted the SIM card, and powered it on.

Unexpectedly, before she could dial, a text message appeared on the screen.

The message was naturally the one Kuang Feifan had sent her earlier. Bai Ru bit her lip and dialed Kuang Feifan directly. At that moment, Kuang Feifan and Xu Hui were standing outside the courtyard of the Ghost Building.

After Bai Ru ended her call with Kuang Feifan, she seemed slightly lost in thought. Gu Yi noticed her distraction and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

Bai Ru shook her head and sighed softly. "We must resolve the issue here as quickly as possible and rush back. I suspect Feifan is planning to go into that Ghost Building without telling me."

Gu Yi burst into laughter. "No way. How dare he try to keep something like that from you? I’m starting to genuinely respect him now."

Bai Ru gave him an irritated glare. "How should I know why? It’s just a feeling."

Gu Yi muttered with a light chuckle, "A woman's intuition."

Bai Ru efficiently removed the SIM card again, asking Gu Yi, "Go now?"

Gu Yi chuckled dryly twice. "You took it out already?"

"What?" Bai Ru looked puzzled.

"The SIM card," Gu Yi said, scratching his head cautiously.

"Yes, why?" Bai Ru asked.

"I was so focused on your Feifan that I didn't suggest calling Jiang Tao and the others to check the situation," Gu Yi said with a sly grin.

"You should have said so earlier! You call them yourself," Bai Ru grumbled crossly.

Gu Yi, who had leaned against the wall to sit while she was on the phone, laughed as he pulled out his own phone, inserted his card, turned it on, and called Jiang Tao.

However, as soon as the call connected, the smile vanished from Gu Yi’s lips, replaced by a look of intense seriousness. Bai Ru immediately noticed the change and walked over to him.

Gu Yi uttered a few noncommittal sounds before hanging up, standing up, and saying in a low voice, "Wu Zhongyou is missing."

Bai Ru was startled. "What? When?"

"Jiang Tao doesn't know. He was asleep. When he woke up, Wu Zhongyou was gone, and he couldn't find him after searching around," Gu Yi’s expression was equally grim.

Bai Ru considered for a moment and offered reassurance. "It's probably not a big issue. Since Jiang Tao is fine, Wu Zhongyou likely left on his own accord."

Gu Yi hummed in agreement. "As you said, let’s go now."

Bai Ru cautiously approached the iron bars, poked her head out, glanced both ways, then turned back to Gu Yi to dismantle the Eight Trigrams formation. Carrying the Demon-Subduing Staff, they climbed back through the iron bars.

The two re-entered the sewer system already overlaid with the "Accumulated Resentment Barrier."

Gu Yi quietly asked, "The place we missed earlier—is it over there? Do you have a sense of direction?"

Bai Ru assessed the orientation and pointed to the right. "That way."

Gu Yi quickly followed Bai Ru toward that direction. Finally, they saw a bend ahead; this was indeed the place where they had turned earlier.

Some animal bones remained scattered on the ground. Bai Ru scanned the walls on both sides, searching for the spot obscured by the green mist before. Soon, she spotted the anomaly.

She pulled Gu Yi toward her, pointing to the lower part of one wall. "Look, there's a hole there."

The hole had clearly been smashed open by someone recently. The edges were jagged, and it looked large enough for an adult to crawl through on all fours. To think there was another space behind the sewer wall! Bai Ru knelt down and shone her flashlight inside, discovering another passageway. It was definitely not part of the original sewer construction. This inner passage was wider than the opening, about one person's width across and nearly tall enough for two people.

Bai Ru stood up, about to discuss whether to enter the hole with Gu Yi, when they heard a rustling sound—sisi suosuo—coming from further down the sewer. That sound was all too familiar; it was the sound of the green misty silhouette moving when it had been chasing them for so long.

Gu Yi extended his hand in a gesture of invitation. "Ladies first."

Bai Ru dropped down and crawled inside, Gu Yi following close behind.

The passage lacked the foul stench of the sewer; instead, there was a smell of rotting flesh, easily conjuring images of decaying corpses. The tunnel wound its way along, yet the floor was remarkably clean, devoid of animal bones or even scattered gravel. After walking for a considerable time, they suddenly reached a sharp turn ahead.

Bai Ru cautiously approached the corner and illuminated the area with her flashlight, only to discover that just past the bend, the space opened up dramatically, resembling a rectangular room.

The flashlight beam could not reach the furthest interior, so they couldn't discern the entirety of the space, but Gu Yi sensed something lurking in the darkness. He whispered to Bai Ru, "Be careful. There should be some danger in there."

Bai Ru nodded slightly. "Perhaps this is our destination."

The two slowly emerged from the passage.

Finally, they realized the chamber was far from empty. Under the beam of the flashlight, they saw a completely naked person, or rather, a human corpse, slumped near a corner at the far end.

It was called a corpse because, aside from the skin being so deathly pale that no trace of blood was visible, the surface tissue was dehydrated and shriveled. The entire skin was wrinkled, with some areas already decaying, hanging off like limp turnip peels. Most alarmingly, the corpse appeared to be breathing.

And just behind this body, Li Jin was leaning against the wall in the corner, his head tilted, eyes tightly shut.

Bai Ru gasped, asking Gu Yi, "Can you tell if Li Jin is alive or..."

Gu Yi replied, "Don't worry, he’s fine. But that thing in front of us is complicated."

Bai Ru whispered, "That thing looks like a mutated ghoul."

Gu Yi hummed in agreement. "Exactly. This is the first time I’ve seen someone utilize the residual spirits of deceased animals this way—extracting the host's soul and grafting animal spirits onto the body. While it’s a walking corpse, having the attached spirits allows it to be commanded."

Hearing Gu Yi’s explanation, Bai Ru felt a knot tighten in her stomach. Although they seemed to have located the opponent's lair, resolving this threat would not be easy.