Lu Fei stepped forward, walking into the long, narrow alley.
Huzi, looking around anxiously, quickly followed.
The trash can in the corner was emitting a foul smell, and the overhead wires crisscrossed like a spider web, dividing the sky into many pieces.
Building faced building; one could shake hands with the person in the opposite building while standing at the window.
The place was a mess of numerous buildings without any planning. Various alleys were entangled together like a maze, making it easy for newcomers to get lost.
But Lu Fei had a clear goal and moved swiftly, arriving in one breath at a rustic self-built building.
"This is it!"
Lu Fei looked up at the seven-story building.
It was a typical rental house, with several partitions on each floor.
"Boss, which floor is he on? I'll go and drag him down right now!" Huzi rolled up his sleeves eagerly, "To dare to steal from Sinisterium Pawnshop, I think he's asking for it!"
"Don't be impatient. We must get the yin wood back, but we need to be cautious when dealing with ghost raisers." Lu Fei looked around and noticed a small mahjong parlor diagonally across from the rental building.
"Come on, I'll treat you to tea!"
The two of them went to the teahouse, sat by the window, and ordered two cups of clear tea.
"Huzi, take a break, I'll keep watch." Lu Fei said after taking a sip of tea.
Huzi hurriedly waved his hand: "That won't do. It's not right for the boss to keep watch while the employee sleeps. Let me do it, boss! You haven't rested for two nights. You sleep first; I can handle it!"
"A ghost raiser has a special aura that ordinary people can't see."
"Then I won't sleep either, I'll keep watch with you!"
"When I tell you to sleep, you sleep. If you don't have any strength later, how will you fight?"
Lu Fei glared at him, and only then did he reluctantly lean back in his chair and close his eyes.
Little did he know, after speaking so eagerly just now, he started snoring in less than two seconds.
Lu Fei was somewhat envious of this level of sleep quality.
He shook his head, glanced at the little paper figure in his hand, and then turned his gaze to the tenement building across the way.
Although he hadn't slept for two nights, a pent-up anger in his heart kept him from feeling tired.
The urban village was a melting pot of all kinds of people.
People were coming and going from the tenement building, but with just one glance, Lu Fei knew that none of them were the ghost raiser.
As angry as he was, Lu Fei remained extraordinarily calm.
He sipped his tea leisurely and even ordered some snacks to fill his stomach.
At dusk.
A man dressed in black walked out of the tenement building.
This man was not tall, with a gaunt frame, and even under the sunlight, he gave off a gloomy feeling.
"The ghost raiser!"
Even across the street, Lu Fei could clearly see the aura of negative energy around him.
"It's him!"
"Huzi, wake up, it's time to work!"
Lu Fei woke Huzi up.
After the man in black left, the two entered the rental building. With the guidance of the paper figure, Lu Fei easily found a door.
"Boss, I'll open the door!"
Huzi looked around; there wouldn't be any surveillance in this run-down rental building. He took a piece of paper and folded it into a long, thin strip, which he then inserted into the keyhole.
After turning it a few times, there was a click, and the door opened.
"Huzi, you've got some skills." Lu Fei raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Back in the day, I learned all sorts of things to make a living," Huzi said with a sheepish smile. This wasn't something to be proud of, and he wouldn't have used it if it weren't for the thief who stole the darkened wood.
Pushing the door open, Hu Zi walked in first.
The room was small, only about ten square meters, with simple furniture inside.
The curtains were drawn, making the already poorly lit room even darker.
The air was filled with the smell of incense ash.
The two quickly discovered that in the corner, on the altar, stood an ebony urn, placed upright and proper.
"Great! Thankfully that guy didn't carry the ebony urn with him!" Hu Zi was overjoyed.
"It's not just luck, but a certainty that he wouldn't take the urn out. Because my sister's soul has been whipped by willow branches, her spirit is unstable and needs to rest, and she can't be exposed to daylight." As Lu Fei spoke, he walked toward the altar.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's take it back right away!" Hu Zi reached out to grab it.
"Be careful!" Lu Fei pulled him back.
At that moment, several dark shadows darted swiftly towards the two of them from the corner.
The dim green eyes flickered with a sinister light.
It was exactly the ghost crows he had seen last night.
"Hu Zi, take this!" Lu Fei stuffed a grayish-white object into Hu Zi's hand.
Upon closer inspection, Hu Zi found it to be a shed snakeskin.
"This..."
Before he could even ask, the ghost crow had already rushed forward. He instinctively stepped back, only to find that the ghost crow abruptly halted in front of him, as if it were very frightened and dared not come closer.
"Huh, what's going on?" Hu Zi moved forward, and the ghost crows retreated fearfully.
"All things in the world have their checks and balances. What you're holding is precisely the bane of birds; of course they are afraid!" Lu Fei said with a faint smile.
There were two snake sheds, one for each of them.
The pitch-black ghost crows flapped their wings, circling around them but not daring to get close, letting out anxious squawks.
"Amazing! Boss, this must be a treasure from the Sinisterium Pawnshop, right?" Hu Zi immediately felt a sense of pride and vindication.
Lu Fei calmly put on his gloves and took the urn from the altar.
"Stop!"
Bang!
At that moment, the door was violently pushed open, slamming against the wall with a loud noise.
The man in black was standing at the doorway, clear as day.
The man was out of breath, his two sinister eyes glaring at Lu Fei with hatred.
"Put down the urn!" he shouted coldly.
"On what grounds?" Lu Fei was not surprised; any one of the ghost crows in the room could have tipped him off.
This was the way of a spirit raiser; ghosts could become his ears and eyes.
"If you dare take her away, I will make sure you have no place to be buried!" The man in black had a fierce look in his eyes.
"Go ahead and try!" Lu Fei pulled back the curtain, and the faint glow of the setting sun shone in. He raised the urn and moved it closer to the sunlight.
"I'm afraid it will turn to ashes before I even die."
"How dare you!" The man in black suddenly burst into anger.
The ghost crows circled around Lu Fei and the other person, cawing strangely, but they were restrained by their natural enemy and couldn't get close.
"Why should I be afraid?" Lu Fei looked indifferent, "What I want is the darkened wood, not the spirits inside it!"
The man had taken the risk to steal the darkened wood, which clearly meant that the spirits inside were very important to him.
"Beast!"
As expected, the man in black gritted his teeth in anger, but he didn't dare to act rashly. He didn't understand what the other party had done, as even the ghost crows didn't dare to approach, so he could only curse loudly in anger.
"You are the beasts! For a little money, you help that wicked woman! People like you should go to hell!"
"Bullshit!" Hu Zi was furious, "You raised ghosts to harm people for money, and you have the nerve to turn the tables on me! If I don't beat you until you're crawling on the ground looking for your teeth, my name isn't Zhao!"
Saying that, he stuffed the snake skin into his clothes, balled his fist, and swung it at the man in black.
The man in black's eyelids twitched, waving his hands to direct the ghost crows to block him.
But the ghost crows couldn't get close to Hu Zi at all. In just two steps, Hu Zi was in front of him, delivering a fierce punch.
Bang!
The man in black fell to his knees, with blood gushing from his nose.