The sudden, resounding slam of a door made Kuang Feifan and Feng Tian both jump, prompting them to instinctively turn their heads toward the entrance.

A quick glance suggested a flash of white movement at the doorway, which then vanished.

“Did I imagine that?” Kuang Feifan muttered uncertainly.

“Never mind that, hurry and put him in front of the mirror,” Feng Tian urged, continuing to walk forward.

Following Feng Tian's instructions, the two of them placed He Xu on the floor, about ten paces from the mirror.

Just then, the electric lights installed in the ceiling and walls flickered twice before abruptly going out.

Feng Tian had no time to pay attention to the blackout. After setting He Xu down, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a coil of red twine, and quickly encircled He Xu with it, mumbling under his breath, “Calculated every risk, missed one crucial thing. Great, now we’re scrambling again…”

As soon as the red line was laid, a blast of frigid, swirling wind materialized inside the room, spinning violently toward them.

Kuang Feifan and Feng Tian simultaneously felt an intense, bone-chilling cold wash over them. Before the breath even reached them, their skin registered the stinging pain of razor blades cutting flesh.

Without waiting for Feng Tian to react, Kuang Feifan instinctively pulled out his bottle of "Ghost Repellent" and sprayed several times around himself. It was a purely reflexive action, executed without conscious thought, but it unexpectedly worked. After the misty droplets dispersed, the searing, blade-like pain vanished, and the cold air that was about to engulf them seemed to veer off course, changing direction entirely.

Seeing the immediate effect, a flicker of relief crossed his face. He quickly raised his hand and sprayed Feng Tian a few times as well, then spun around, lunged for the doorknob, and yanked hard, trying to force the door open.

But not just the door—even the knob wouldn't budge an inch, as if it had been welded shut.

“Damn it, the door’s stuck. We can’t get out,” Kuang Feifan yelled to Feng Tian.

Feng Tian’s expression was grim. In the dim room, his face looked almost ashen. Kuang Feifan’s heart sank; it appeared they were facing a trouble within a trouble.

“Get over here,” Feng Tian called up to Kuang Feifan.

Kuang Feifan hurried over. He watched as Feng Tian ground his back teeth and said tightly, “Take off your prayer beads and hold them in your palm.”

Though he didn't understand the reason, Kuang Feifan knew the situation was critical and complied, holding the beads in his open palm. He looked questioningly at Feng Tian, wondering if he intended to take them.

Unexpectedly, Feng Tian didn't reach for the beads. Instead, he moved his mouth and promptly spat a mouthful of blood directly onto the beads held in Kuang Feifan’s hand.

A full mouthful of bloody sputum landed in Kuang Feifan’s palm.

“Ugh…” A flash of disgust crossed Kuang Feifan’s face. While it was true that blood contact could amplify the beads' power, a simple verbal instruction would have sufficed; demonstrating it so directly felt unnecessary.

Feng Tian managed a weak smile, seemingly reading his mind, and offered an explanation: “My blood is far more potent than yours.”

Kuang Feifan merely opened his mouth but said nothing.

Feng Tian waved his hand. “Remember this: whatever you see later, smash it towards that thing with this hand.”

Kuang Feifan glanced at the beads now stained with Feng Tian’s blood. Perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought the beads were faintly emitting a hazy white luminescence.

At that moment, the memory surfaced of what Bai Ru had once told him about the beads’ capabilities, specifically mentioning that spraying blood from the tip of the tongue could enhance their efficacy, with the degree of enhancement varying based on the blood used.

Recalling Feng Tian’s recent words, Kuang Feifan’s thoughts shifted, and his gaze toward Feng Tian became somewhat odd.

Feng Tian hadn't expected Kuang Feifan’s mind to wander so widely in that brief moment. Noticing his strange look, he mistook it for fear and managed a wry smile. “No choice now. I didn't bring my bag in, so none of my gear is handy. Looks like it’s all up to you to handle this.”

Hearing this, Kuang Feifan’s expression shifted, and he could only offer a helpless, strained smile in return, sweeping his gaze around the room.

Feng Tian took the bottle of "Ghost Repellent" from his pocket and positioned himself near He Xu, inside the circle of red twine.

Their coordination was relatively quick; while the malevolent wind was still swirling about, they had already finalized their respective roles. When the seemingly aimless currents of yin wind finally reformed, Feng Tian and Kuang Feifan were standing ready, fully alert for the next assault.

The gusts of yin wind converged in one corner of the room, gradually coalescing into a pale white silhouette, humanoid in shape, yet nothing more than an outline. Whether due to the swirling vortex, the figure appeared indistinct, as if ready to dissipate at any moment.

The corner where the figure formed was directly facing Kuang Feifan. Though the image wasn't sharp, he noticed the figure’s head suddenly develop a dark aperture, resembling a mouth beginning to open.

Kuang Feifan’s heart tightened. He instantly recalled the agonizing screams he had heard from the living room earlier.

Is that thing about to scream again?

He couldn't wait for the sound. Kuang Feifan grit his teeth, lunged forward, and swung the hand holding the prayer beads rapidly toward the silhouette.

As expected, the closer he approached the white figure, the more pronounced the white light emanating from the beads became. By the time his fist swung toward the silhouette, the white glow from the beads clenched in his fist shot out between his fingers, clearly visible to the naked eye.

The swirling yin wind automatically parted as his fist approached. The white figure seemed to sense that the charging opponent was too formidable; as Kuang Feifan rushed forward, the shadow began to retreat. With a sharp gasp, the figure dissolved into a streak of white vapor and darted aside.

Kuang Feifan intended to pursue, but his running speed clearly couldn't match the speed at which the vapor moved through the air. In the blink of an eye, the white shadow-turned-air current bypassed Kuang Feifan and shot toward Feng Tian.

“Damn, it’s coming for me?” Feng Tian noticed the incoming current and immediately raised his spray bottle, blasting the vapor several times.

But the vapor didn't seem intent on a direct strike. It merely zipped around the exterior of the red twine circle, darting up and down like a panicked mouse running everywhere.

In the dimly lit room, tracking an aerial current was proving incredibly difficult.

“Stand next to me and help keep watch,” Feng Tian suddenly instructed Kuang Feifan.

Kuang Feifan frowned. The training room was quite large; chasing something darting around the entire space was impractical. He let out a resigned “Hmph” and hurried back to stand beside Feng Tian.

However, the instant he stopped beside Feng Tian, the situation in the room underwent a bizarre change. The aerial current, which had been circling Feng Tian, suddenly veered aside when Kuang Feifan ceased his pursuit and vanished within the room, never to be seen again.

The training room fell silent, leaving only the heavy breathing of Feng Tian and Kuang Feifan.

This abrupt quiet caused both men to freeze momentarily. After waiting for a long while with no further attack, Feng Tian rubbed his nose and scanned the surroundings with a furrowed brow.

Waiting for something terrifying to happen was far more unsettling than facing the terror itself.

But the brief respite offered a chance to catch their breath, especially for Feng Tian, who used the time to frantically check his pockets. He managed to pull out a newspaper-wrapped packet from an inner coat pocket.

Kuang Feifan, nervously monitoring the room, stole a glance at Feng Tian. He saw him unfold the paper to reveal several thin, white candles.

“Heck, let’s risk it all,” Feng Tian murmured, looking at the candles.

Immediately, he reached down, untied the red twine circle, re-tied it after stepping out, and then proceeded to light the candles, placing them on the floor at eight cardinal points of the room.

He then sprinkled a ring of incense ash around the base of each candle, completely depleting the remaining half-bottle of ash in his pocket.

Before lighting the eighth candle, Feng Tian turned to Kuang Feifan and hesitated. “Can you guard He Xu?”

Kuang Feifan raised an eyebrow, took a deep breath, and silently walked to a spot just outside the red twine circle.

Feng Tian held up a candle, fixed his gaze on Kuang Feifan, and spoke slowly, word by word: “What happens next depends entirely on you. I doubt I can offer much help for a while.”

Though Kuang Feifan didn't know Feng Tian’s plan, he suspected it wasn't good news. However, he said nothing, only nodding firmly.

Feng Tian grabbed a handful of incense ash and stuffed it into his ears, then lit the final candle.

Kuang Feifan looked around and suddenly realized something: He Xu, lying within the red twine circle, was situated precisely at the center of the eight candles. This realization sent a tremor of unease through him.

When the eighth candle flared to life, Kuang Feifan’s heart hitched involuntarily, every nerve snapping taut as he vigilantly scanned the perimeter.

To his surprise, the room remained eerily calm; nothing happened.

He longed to question Feng Tian, but saw him stepping back several paces, sitting cross-legged before the mirror, his eyes closed facing his own reflection.

Just as Kuang Feifan’s taut nerves began to relax ever so slightly, an excruciatingly piercing shriek—like a drawn blade—slashed into his eardrums.

The sudden sound shocked Kuang Feifan so severely he nearly choked. But the scream didn't stop after the initial burst; it continued in rapid succession, even more intense than the previous cries heard in the living room.

When the first shriek hit, Kuang Feifan felt a sudden, violent agony surge through his entire body, causing him to drop to his knees on the floor. He felt as if the sound was piercing every single cell within him. In that instant, he thought only of death, imagining it as the only release, a wave of intense despair swelling infinitely in his heart and spreading to every part of his being.

Yet, this sensation lasted only for a fleeting moment. As he unconsciously raised a hand to cover his head, a wave of coolness immediately flooded his mind and began to flow throughout his body.

Instantly, his body relaxed completely. The residual throbbing pain from the piercing attack had vanished. Unbeknownst to him, the screams seemed to grow distant, fading to mere suggestions, no longer able to assail him.

Kuang Feifan immediately snapped back to awareness, lifting his head to search for the source of the noise.

He located the origin of the screams instantly, and upon seeing what was emitting those dreadful sounds, he was struck by an absolute, soul-numbing horror.