"This is an evil artifact, and Evil Number can certainly handle it."
Lu Fei placed the necklace back on the dressing table, feeling an uncomfortable sensation spreading through him from holding it for too long.
"However, just taking the necklace away won't solve anything.We need to understand exactly what this necklace is before we can tackle the root cause and put an end to Miss Xie's nightmares."
The Evil Number didn't just remove objects; they also dealt with any malevolent spirits attached to them.
Xie Yao, clearly a sharp woman, immediately understood Lu Fei's point and asked, "How can I help you?"
"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay and observe for a night, to figure out exactly how this necklace is causing trouble."
"That would be perfect!"
After this conversation, Xie Yao no longer doubted Lu Fei's abilities.She was grateful and didn't hesitate to agree.
Night fell.
The villa, elegant and quiet, was soon shrouded in darkness.
Following Lu Fei's suggestion, Xie Yao went to bed early.
Lu Fei moved a chair into a corner and sat down.
"Please, Master Lu," Xie Yao whispered, biting her lip, before turning off the lights and curling up beneath the silk sheets.
The spacious master bedroom plunged into darkness, with only a faint glow from the streetlight outside filtering in.
Alone, facing the evil artifact for the first time, Lu Fei felt a bit nervous.
He'd absorbed a lot from his grandfather over the years, but this would be his first hands-on experience.
With his backpack at his side, he kept his eyes on the necklace on the dressing table.
Time passed by slowly.
Outside, shadows of trees swayed.
The silence in the bedroom was intense; you could hear a pin drop.
Xie Yao lay motionless on the bed, seemingly asleep.
The necklace on the dressing table remained undisturbed.
Everything appeared calm.
Gradually, drowsiness crept over Lu Fei, and he pinched his leg to stay awake.
"Could it be that having someone else around keeps it dormant?"
By now, it was past 1 a.m., and his legs were numb.Finally, he stood up and walked to the dressing table.
The necklace lay quietly in front of the mirror.The grayish-yellow bone beads exuded an eerie, chilling aura, and the strange symbols etched onto them looked like eyes, half-open, peering into the darkness.
Suddenly, one of the beads moved, as if an eye had opened!
"It moved?!"
Lu Fei's heart raced.Quickly, he pulled a palm-sized peach wood dagger from his backpack, focusing intently on the necklace.
Peach wood is known to ward off evil, and this particular dagger, specially treated, had an effect against bone-related entities.
An elderly master had once pawned it at the Evil Number and never came back to redeem it, so it became theirs.
But after a while, the necklace didn't stir.
"Could I have been mistaken?"
Doubt crept in, and he considered testing the necklace with the dagger, but just then, he heard a strange sound from behind him.
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
The sound, faint at first, grew louder, back and forth, rhythmically.
It was familiar, like something he'd heard before.
"Sharpening a knife?!"
The realization made every hair on Lu Fei's body stand on end.
Who would be sharpening a knife in the dead of night?
The housekeeper, Aunt Wu, had her room downstairs, and Xie Yao had specifically told her not to come out tonight.
Besides, the sharpening sound was clearly coming from the master bedroom.Only he and Xie Yao were there.
And she was still asleep…
Lu Fei turned toward the bed and froze.
The bed was empty.
Xie Yao was gone!
"Where did she go?"
He walked over to the bed in a few quick steps and lifted the silk sheets.
The bed bore traces of her having slept there, but it was cold.
And yet, he'd just seen her there moments before.
In the blink of an eye, she had vanished.
A sense of foreboding gripped him.Turning toward the dressing table, he felt his heart seize once more.
The necklace was gone too!
"Oh no, something's happened," he muttered, taking a deep breath to calm himself."Don't panic!She couldn't have gone far."
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
The piercing sound of knife-sharpening echoed eerily in the night.
It was right after this sound began that Xie Yao had disappeared; the two must be connected.
Lu Fei focused and traced the sound to the master bathroom.Cautiously, he peered through the slightly open door.
Inside, the white tiles glowed faintly.
A thin figure sat barefoot on the cold floor, facing away from the door, sharpening a knife with slow, deliberate movements.
The grinding of metal against stone was painfully sharp.
"Miss Xie?" Lu Fei called out, testing the waters.
The figure didn't respond, continuing to sharpen the blade, as if engaged in an urgent task.
Swallowing hard, he took a few steps into the bathroom, finally seeing more clearly.
Her long hair hung down her back in tangled strands, and she wore a white dress, though her skin was even paler than the fabric.
It was Xie Yao.
She held a sharp boning knife, grinding it with closed eyes, moving stiffly, like a lifeless figure.
Lu Fei's heart pounded, too afraid to move any closer.
A woman, crouched in the dark with disheveled hair, sharpening a knife in the dead of night—who wouldn't be terrified?
It wasn't sleepwalking; she seemed possessed.
Yet strangely, he couldn't see the necklace on her.
"Whatever happens, I need to wake her up; it's too dangerous!"
In such situations, waking her suddenly could have consequences, but he didn't have a choice—the sharp, thin boning knife in her hands filled him with dread.
Carefully, he reached out toward her.
Whatever she was doing, he had to stop her.
But before his hand touched her, the sharpening sound abruptly stopped.
With no warning, Xie Yao stood up, turning slowly in the darkness with an unsettling stiffness.
She was barefoot, her toes pointed downward, body tilted forward, head bowed, her long hair covering her face.
It was as if something was lifting her by the neck.The boning knife in her hand gleamed with an icy glint.
"Ghost on tiptoe?!"
Lu Fei's heart leapt to his throat.