Kuang Feifan subconsciously retreated to the side, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the window. He could feel the cold air inside the room subtly flowing, an icy aura seeming to permeate every corner from all directions, its source utterly indistinguishable; an intense chill radiated even from the walls themselves, causing him to involuntarily shiver.

He fixed his gaze on the silhouette against the wall. Its small stature immediately brought to mind that shriveled, dark corpse of an infant, yet this figure was entirely black, making it impossible to discern any features—no eyes, no mouth, just a shadow struggling to step free from the plaster.

Kuang Feifan was extremely tense. He fumbled in the back pocket of his trousers and pulled out a talisman, ready to throw it.

Although he had already encountered his share of bizarre and terrifying incidents, he was no master exorcist. He was merely a bit braver than the average person, having seen a bit more of the world. The apparition before him still filled him with a profound sense of dread.

The shadow had already emerged from the wall and was slowly drifting toward him. By the faint light cast by his flashlight in the room, Kuang Feifan saw that the small figure wasn't walking—its feet were submerged in the floorboards as it floated towards him.

Even though Kuang Feifan clutched the talisman, he hesitated to use it immediately. The situation had made him realize that these talismans weren't smart-tracking missiles; if he misjudged the distance, even throwing it might not guarantee a hit on the tiny shadow.

He gritted his back teeth, calculating the distance between himself and the small black figure. As it drew nearer, he flicked his wrist, sending the Five Elements Thunder Talisman flying toward the apparition, while simultaneously reciting the incantation.

The talisman burst forth in a flash of blue sparks, momentarily illuminating the room. Just as it seemed poised to strike the figure, Kuang Feifan thought he saw the shadow shimmer and then vanish into thin air.

“Damn it!” he couldn't help but exclaim.

Unexpectedly, the moment the curse left his lips, a chilling, stiff voice suddenly sounded right next to his ear.

“It’s you.”

Kuang Feifan snapped his head around and saw, not far behind him against the wall, a round, spherical object suspended in the air. He instantly recognized it as a human head. A deep, black aperture marred its ashen face, looking as if it were frozen in a wide, mocking grin.

Before Kuang Feifan could react, he felt an icy coldness shoot up from his ankle into his body, immediately followed by a tremendous force yanking him backward. He crashed hard onto the floor, the electric baton in his hand skittering away from him.

“Shit,” Kuang Feifan quickly kicked out, realizing the grip on his ankle had vanished. He rolled frantically to the side, bracing himself on one hand to scramble back up. But before he could even reach for another talisman, the hovering head suddenly lunged at him with a whoosh, its gaping mouth seemingly ready to bite.

“You bastard!” Kuang Feifan spat out a curse. Fueled by a surge of adrenaline, he balled his hand—the one wrapped in prayer beads—into a fist and drove it toward the gaping maw of the head, wishing he could crush the skull into pieces.

Unfortunately, as fast as his punch was, the head seemed faster. It swayed mid-air, evading his blow. Though it missed his mouth, it slammed heavily into his shoulder as it swept past. Kuang Feifan felt an immense force shove him violently backward; he stumbled several steps sideways before regaining his balance, his entire shoulder throbbing with numbness and pain.

He cried out from the sting, instinctively cradling his shoulder with his free hand, then turned to locate the head. To his surprise, the airborne head seemed to be moving so fast that his eyes couldn't track its trajectory for a moment.

At that precise instant, on the floor behind him, the small black shadow emerged from the wood, extending two black claws that resembled a child's hands, aiming straight for Kuang Feifan's lower back.

Unexpectedly, the thrust went wide. Kuang Feifan lurched aside just as the five claws were about to graze his clothes, and he slapped a pre-prepared talisman onto the appendages.

He had already taken another talisman out and held it ready in his pocket even before cradling his shoulder, anticipating this kind of situation. The Kuang Feifan of this moment was different from before; having been caught off guard earlier, he had sharpened his vigilance, making it impossible for the opponent to land a successful sneak attack now.

With a sharp hiss followed by a thin scream, the black figure writhed in agony and swiftly sank back into the floorboards, leaving the Five Elements Thunder Talisman stuck to the ground.

Kuang Feifan sighed. The suddenness of the attack had prevented him from reciting the proper incantation; the talisman could only deliver a momentary, ordinary defensive shock to the shadow, not truly destroy it.

With no time for self-reflection, Kuang Feifan swiftly snatched up the talisman and peered suspiciously around, afraid the disembodied head might seize the moment to attack. After scanning the entire room, he confirmed the head had also vanished. Yet, in the dark room, he could sense something watching him intently, waiting for the chance to pounce.

No doubt, whatever it was, it was wary of the talisman in his hand.

Despite the lack of physical injury from the skirmish, the tension was unavoidable. Kuang Feifan regulated his breathing, and the frantic pounding of his heart gradually subsided.

While scanning his surroundings, he quickly moved to the door and slapped the talisman onto the doorknob, intending to activate the charm and see if he could destroy the exit.

No sooner had he affixed the talisman than he felt a gust of icy wind rush toward the side of his head. Startled, Kuang Feifan instinctively raised his arm, bending his elbow to shield his side. In that instant, as the cold aura struck his arm, the string of prayer beads around his wrist suddenly emitted a soft white light, repelling the charging entity backward.

Because this charge had come with great force and momentum, the resulting rebound impact was proportionately heavier. Sharp, piercing shrieks echoed endlessly within the white light. Kuang Feifan even managed to clearly see the charging black figure in the glow—though its features were indistinct on its gray face, he could sense its agonized screaming.

The figure that had lunged from the air retreated back into the shadows of a corner. Kuang Feifan let out a breath, turned back toward the door, extended his left hand in a loose fist, and pointed his index and middle fingers onto the talisman, beginning the incantation.

As his fingers left the charm, a burst of blue light instantly expanded from the doorknob, sending countless thin, twisting electrical currents snaking across the entire door.

When the power of the Five Elements Thunder Talisman dissipated, Kuang Feifan reached out to grasp the doorknob.

Before his hand even made contact, he heard a loud sound of an object scraping violently against the floor. He whipped his head around to see the old wooden cabinet hurtling toward him.

In a split second, he calculated that even if he managed to pull the door open, he wouldn't have time to clear the threshold before being struck by the cabinet. Judging by the force and speed, being hit by that impact would result in serious injury.

With no other recourse, he leaped backward. The cabinet scraped past his body and smashed into the adjacent wall, immediately shattering into pieces.

When he next reached for the door handle, he found that the spherical knob on the door had completely vanished.