To hear they had found the Song family's eldest son, Kuang Feifan couldn't help but gasp, "You two are truly remarkable." It was no wonder he expressed his awe; in just a few days, Bai Ru and Gu Yi had uncovered so much. He couldn't fathom how they managed their time. With concern in his voice, he asked, "You must have been exhausted these past few days." Bai Ru managed a smile.

"We held up. Although Gu Yi and I were practically running on fumes, with hardly any sleep, discovering the truth makes it all worthwhile." Kuang Feifan was utterly surprised that Bai Ru had located the Song family's eldest son in the Qingshan Mental Hospital. Even more astonishing was the revelation that the eldest son was not mentally ill at all.

"He was faking it," Bai Ru explained to Kuang Feifan. Not only had the eldest son feigned illness, but he had maintained the charade for two full decades. In truth, he was riddled with ailments, all stemming from the events that transpired at that school.

Kuang Feifan tilted his head in thought, then suddenly realized, "He and the second brother weren't on good terms?" Bai Ru nodded. "When we met him, he claimed he was dissatisfied with his younger brother's actions but was powerless to stop them, leading him to this desperate measure. If he hadn't hidden himself in the mental hospital, using the few connections he still possessed to cling to life, he likely would have already met a fatal end at his brother's hands." However, the actual circumstances diverged from the eldest son's account.

Initially, both brothers had agreed to use their own father in a dark ritual for the sake of future wealth and prosperity. Alas, the outcome of that Nanyang dark art did not unfold as hoped; securing future fortunes was impossible for both. Only one could remain.

In the end, the brothers turned on each other, employing every trick they knew in a vicious struggle. The younger brother ultimately triumphed, and the elder, though unfortunate, barely clung to life, forced to go into hiding under an assumed name. Qingshan had been the longest refuge he could secure.

Kuang Feifan chuckled dryly. "Found so easily by you two, it seems hiding in the Qingshan Mental Hospital wasn't such a foolproof sanctuary for the eldest Song son after all." Bai Ru smiled faintly. "That's because we had assistance.

My friend, the renowned Demon-Slaying Ma Family, resides in Hong Kong." That was truly a legendary name that resonated widely, prompting Kuang Feifan to exclaim involuntarily, "There really is a Ma Family?" Bai Ru nodded proudly. "Of course. While perhaps not as miraculous as depicted in novels or films, the Ma Family exists tangibly among us." Upon learning that Bai Ru and Gu Yi were investigating matters related to his family's residence from years ago, the eldest Song son finally revealed the complete truth.

Thinking back on it, neither member of the Song father-son pair was truly virtuous. The son sought wealth through his father, but the father himself was hardly an upstanding 'bird' in those days. Of course, few wealthy people in that era were good men, and the elder Mr.

Song was certainly not one of them. His methods for accumulating fortune were unscrupulous, and he was plagued by numerous vices, his greatest indulgence being lust. Once spending money on women grew tiresome, he began seeking them without payment, resulting in a host of children scattered across the land—so many, in fact, that he had lost count.

Furthermore, the old man was ruthless: he never intended to acknowledge any of the children conceived outside his marriage. Before his two sons, he had a daughter, born to his first legal wife. She was strikingly beautiful, but the wife passed away shortly after the daughter's birth.

Whether this demise was linked to the old man's relentless philandering was unknown, but it was strongly suspected to be a contributing factor. The eldest son actually knew very little about the full sequence of events involving this Song daughter—his elder sister. In his memory, although she lived in the house, she remained secluded, rarely showing herself.

She was attended only by a personal maid for her daily needs. Furthermore, the eldest son, by nature, held little concern for his sister; from a young age, he had embraced a life of idle pleasure, drifting in a haze of dissipation, too preoccupied to pay much attention to such matters. Yet, there were three fragmented scenes that remained etched in his memory.

The first was one late night, seeing his father emerge from his sister's room; in the instant the door closed, he distinctly heard the soft sound of a woman weeping from inside. He happened upon similar occurrences a few more times, but his focus was entirely on himself; he harbored no inclination to care for anyone else. Not long after, his father gave him a younger brother, which sparked a flicker of crisis in the eldest son—another son meant another claimant to the family assets.

About a year later, due to shifts in the broader environment, the Song family prepared to relocate to Hong Kong. Relocating an affluent family was no simple task; converting assets into liquid funds required time. During this transition, the eldest son noticed several renovation workers in the house, directed personally by his father, who were beginning extensive work on the attic.

What struck him as odd was that his sister, who rarely appeared before, now became completely invisible, and even her attendant seemed to have vanished. Shortly after the attic renovations were completed, bizarre events began to unfold. One deep night, the eldest son returned home after a night of revelry.

Through a haze of intoxication, he saw a woman standing motionless beside the sofa in the living room. The young man had consumed heavily, and being naturally inclined like his father, he couldn't resist seeing a woman and felt compelled to approach, perhaps to exchange pleasantries or gain some favor. But before he could get close, the woman flickered and vanished into a dark corner.

The eldest son wasn't entirely lost in his drunkenness; sensing something amiss, he rushed to the light switch and flooded the living room with illumination, peering closely. Apart from the furniture, no woman occupied the space. Yet, he clearly remembered her disappearing near the wall corner, where there was no door leading elsewhere.

Despite the strangeness, he dismissed the incident as a hallucination brought on by drink. What followed, however, was far less easily dismissed. Within days, the household began hearing clear sounds of a woman weeping late at night, occasionally mingled with the cries of an infant.

The household staff searched every corner without finding any woman accompanied by a child. The eldest son also noticed that his father had double-locked his sister's room and plastered several yellow talismans inscribed with runes onto the door. Yet, the father's efforts seemed useless.

Even with the door sealed, the crying persisted nightly. Worse still, after the talismans were affixed, not only did they fail to work, but every member of the household began suffering escalating misfortunes: casual stumbles resulted in broken limbs, and the father frequently appeared with a bruised and swollen face. This situation was clearly untenable.

After his father invited a "master" for a consultation, the entire family hastily moved out of that small building overnight. The subsequent events were self-evident: the spirit within the small building matured, gradually beginning to roam. It spared no one, driven only by resentment and the thirst for vengeance.

Coincidentally, it was Kuang Feifan and Yi Shaoqing who eventually entered, and though they shattered its physical manifestation, they inadvertently released the vengeful infant spirit. With the Ma Family intervening in Hong Kong regarding the Song affair, Kuang Feifan trusted that the Ma Family’s methods would not easily let the Songs off the hook, as this entire lineage was morally bankrupt. The most pressing concern now was the small building.

If the vengeful infant spirit matured enough to leave the confines of the structure freely, the consequences would be catastrophic. They were now waiting for Feng Tian to return. Gu Yi had guided a strand of residual soul into Kuang Feifan’s body precisely to turn him into a 'compass,' using that fragment of soul to lock onto the infant spirit’s hiding place within the small building—a process that required Feng Tian's specific 'little techniques.' After Kuang Feifan ate and rested, Yi Shaoqing finally regained consciousness.

Learning that he had spent this entire period in a dazed stupor, he was furious, gritting his teeth and vowing to join the expedition to the small building to wash away his shame, lest he lose face entirely in the future. Kuang Feifan, conversely, had calmed down significantly. Everything essential had been revealed; the rest was simply a matter of execution.

He felt that as long as the problem was handled correctly, the outcome would take care of itself. Soon, Feng Tian arrived, having successfully resolved the matter concerning the Taoist temple. Kuang Feifan then learned that his own safe return was largely due to Feng Tian and the old Taoist master timely restraining the vengeful spirits within the well, preventing them from attacking him.

Given his condition then, his safe return to the city had been uncertain otherwise. Feng Tian indeed possessed quite a few 'little techniques.' After some manipulation, Gu Yi was able to stand and move freely. Kuang Feifan had always sensed friction between Feng Tian and Gu Yi.

As it turned out, their disagreement stemmed from their differing philosophies on spirits: Gu Yi’s ingrained habit was that spirits must be eradicated, whereas Feng Tian believed in salvation where possible. This ideological difference was difficult to reconcile. However, regarding the infant spirit currently trapped in the small building, both surprisingly agreed it must be completely eliminated.

Though sounding cruel, it was unavoidable; in its current state, the infant spirit was far beyond the scope of salvation. That night, the five of them drove directly to the small building. By sunrise, the structure suddenly erupted in flames.

When the fire trucks arrived, the building had been reduced to a pile of rubble. During the investigation into the cause of the fire, a passerby claimed to have seen five figures entering the small building’s outer courtyard after nightfall, yet none emerged afterward. A thorough search of the ruins yielded no bodies.

Not long after, the site of the former small building was leveled. After some time, a twenty-four-story mixed-use commercial and residential tower rose in its place. From then on, no one remembered that a small building had ever stood there.

And while the disappearance of the five became an unsolved mystery, it also evolved into a legendary chapter in the histories of many.

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