A distance of a kilometer, riding a bike, takes only a few minutes.
Below Building 17, Xiao Mu sent a message to the girl, telling her that he had arrived. The girl told him to come to the window.
As instructed, Xiao Mu went under the window, and soon a young girl peeked out and waved at him.
Xiao Mu waved back, and the girl threw down a set of keys.
Xiao Mu picked up the key and entered the building through the security door.
The entire building was eerily quiet, probably because the residents were at work.
However, Xiao Mu still felt a bizarre atmosphere – just being in the building made him feel extremely oppressed.
It was a strange feeling. Before practicing Xuanmen Zhenggang, Xiao Mu might not have detected it. But after his cultivation, he became extremely sensitive, especially to certain evil presences.
Xuanmen Zhenggang, a symbol of righteousness in the human world, was completely incompatible with any evil.
Without a doubt, an evil presence dominated this place, even though Xiao Mu did not know exactly what it was.
Yet, until he reached the third floor, Xiao Mu didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
The situation was somewhat unusual. Maybe the evil thing the girl had mentioned was hiding?
He proceeded down the hallway and reached the door of room 302. A puzzled Xiao Mu knocked on the door.
Creak!
Add paragraphThe door was cautiously opened, and a girl wearing a cartoon T-shirt with jeans peeked out her head. Seeing Xiao Mu, she breathed a sigh of relief and gratefully said, "Brother, thanks for coming to save me."
"You're welcome."
Xiao Mu modestly declined, then asked, "Where did you see the unclean thing?"
"Didn't you see it? It was in the corridor."
The girl looked panic-stricken and nervously peeked into the corridor. However, upon seeing the corridor vacant, she froze in shock.
There was nothing to see in the corridor.
"Ah!"
The girl was both shocked and delighted, "Has it left? Brother, let's leave quickly."
She anxiously encouraged Xiao Mu to leave, her phone in her hand. She did not want to stay in this place for a second longer.
"Wait!"
Xiao Mu had no intention of leaving yet. He came here to exorcise that thing and gain Mutated Energy. Without witnessing the unclean entity, why would he want to leave so soon?
So he replied, "You can choose to leave. However, don't blame me for not warning you. You've been marked by that creepy thing. You can't run away, no matter where you go, it will follow you until it kills you."
He paused and continued, "I believe I have the power to kill it, and I'm willing to help you get rid of it for good. Now it's your choice: do we deal with it once for all, or do you run away until it comes for you?"
"It... it can follow me?"
The girl got frightened instantly. Her eyes grew wide with disbelief and terror.
Xiao Mu affirmed with a nod, then asked her, "Haven't you heard about this in folklore?"
It wasn't him trying to scare her; this was a well-known story.
According to the legend, if you are haunted by an evil spirit, there will be only two outcomes: either you eliminate it, or it kills you. There are no other possibilities.
The girl pondered for a moment, then finally made up her mind, "Brother, can you really kill it?"
Xiao Mu showed a confident smile and showed her his Peach Wood Sword.
"Is that the Peach Wood Sword? Brother, are you a mage?"
The girl seemed somewhat knowledgeable, and her eyes suddenly lit up. She felt a bit more confident about Xiao Mu.
Without answering her question, Xiao Mu asked her, "Have you thought it through? Do you want to stay here and wait for me to kill it or do you want to leave now and let it haunt you again?"
"Let's stay."
The girl thought for a while and finally decided. But before she confirmed, she cautioned Xiao Mu, "Brother, you must promise to protect me."
"Don't worry!"
Xiao Mu answered instantly.
"Can you describe to me what it looked like?"
Xiao Mu took the opportunity to ask.
The girl recounted with panic, "It looked weird, short and extraordinarily skinny yet with a big stomach. Oh yes, have you seen The Lord of the Rings? It somewhat resembles Gollum, but with a large stomach and a long, long tongue, like a snake slithering, its drool dripping to the ground, and smelly; I could smell it from a distance. Also, its eyes were bulging, very big and white, barely any pupils."
The girl described in a conceptual, frantic way that wasn't particularly accurate. However, based on her depiction, Xiao Mu roughly got an idea of how the evil being looked.
And it sounded like...
A Starving Ghost!
Yes, it seemed to resemble a Starving Ghost from folklore.
According to the folklore, Starving Ghosts appeared emaciated with large bellies, long tongues, bulging white eyes – a revolting sight.
Similar to the Hanging Ghost, there was a significant feature regarding this Starving Ghost.
If it was true that the Hanging Ghosts tricked people into hanging themselves, then the Starving Ghost would directly devour the unfortunate victims alive.
"What's your name?"
Xiao Mu casually asked the girl.
The girl replied, "My name is Wang Jing, and yours, brother?"
"Me?"
Xiao Mu smiled, "You can just call me Brother Mu. Mu as in Mu Guiying."
Xiao Mu gave her a pseudonym. Although the entire world had mutation, the control of the relevant department had greatly decreased. However, he was still afraid that if he stood out too much, he might draw unnecessary attention.
"Brother Mu."
Girl Wang Jing sweetly called.
Xiao Mu nodded, "These evil beings have a sense of territory. That Starving Ghost is definitely still in the building. Wang Jing, I need your help now to locate it."