The shelves holding urns swayed in the eerie wind, the wails of ghosts echoed, and the Yin energy accumulated over decades erupted from the depths of the No. 3 Bridge Crematorium.
"You dare to act recklessly before me?"
A faint smile curved my lips, a rare expression for me.
Defiant, disdainful of all existence, as though everything lay beneath my feet.
I extended my hand, palm facing downward. The motion, seemingly mundane, resonated with the principles of heaven and earth.
"With a flip of my hand, I can summon clouds and command rain!" Blood trickled from my wrist, staining my palm. As I pressed my hand downward, the swirling Yin wind within the crematorium abruptly froze. The Feng Shui array seemed to reverse by sheer force.
"Begone!" I spoke, and the law was obeyed. The restless spirits dissipated.
Within the expansive mourning hall, only nine ghostly shadows remained. Some had died recently, their souls still clinging to their decaying bodies.
"You dare challenge me with a mere incomplete 'Ten Evils' formation?" I strode into the hall, my gaze falling upon a massive dual-faced Buddha relief on the opposite wall.
One face exuded benevolence, gazing at the spirits; the other face roared fiercely at me.
"Oh? How interesting."
Chanting filled the mourning hall, accompanied by the cries of a hundred ghosts. An expressionless woman was carried out by the ghosts, placed at the center of the Nine Evils.
"The Ten Evils and Ten Aspects—this Buddha is truly ruthless!"
The Ten Evils coalesced, reigniting the Feng Shui array of the No. 3 Bridge Crematorium. They waited for the moment before dawn, the peak of the night's Yin energy.
Possessed by a spirit I summoned, I revealed a trace of solemnity. My innate intuition warned me of a terrifying being sealed beneath the ground. Such an existence was far beyond mortal comprehension.
"Let's see how you dare emerge before me!"
The Ten Evils fused into one. A massive whirlpool of Yin energy swallowed every stray ghost in its path. In the pitch-black sky, a dense black cloud inexplicably formed, echoing with cries and laughter.
"Quite the display, but breaking free? You haven't sought my permission yet!" With a sinister laugh, I plunged my fingers into my chest, carving deep into my flesh until blood gushed forth. Using my hand as a blade, I etched bloody marks upon my skin.
As dawn approached, the monstrous entity beneath the crematorium grew restless. From the vortex of Yin energy, a massive, dark green finger began to emerge.
Only half of it surfaced, yet its overwhelming presence forced me to my knees. My hands, however, continued their frenzied carving.
Using blood as paint and flesh as canvas, I painstakingly painted a nine-tailed blood fox.
"Madness! This lunatic is using the streamer's own lifespan to paint, every stroke consuming life force!" Liu Banxian shouted hoarsely in the live stream, powerless to intervene. Like the viewers, he could only watch.
For every inch the monstrous finger extended, the pressure increased tenfold. Unable to stand, I knelt on one knee, my blood rune nearly complete.
"Incredible," Liu Banxian muttered, his once calm heart rippling with unease. "One is an unparalleled fiend, exerting boundless power with just a finger. The other, a spirit possessing a distant body, dares to challenge it head-on, using life itself to create talismans!"
In the mourning hall, the battle raged. The monster extended its finger further, and my blood rune reached its zenith. Just as a life-or-death clash loomed, the door to the columbarium creaked open.
A little girl, her eyes red from crying, walked out clutching an urn.
"What's that?"
A photograph of a smiling woman in a yellow dress adorned the urn.
"Mom!"
Yiyi's cries echoed through the hall, filled with despair.
The truth I had hidden was now unveiled to her. Only now did she realize that her mother had passed away two weeks ago, not taken by the company, but by the crematorium.
"I knew deep down, but I was afraid. If I accepted the truth, I might never hear your voice again. So, I refused to believe it. You can't be gone... right?"
Her tear-streaked face bore stubbornness. She tried to suppress her sobs, but tears flowed uncontrollably.
"I just want to say one more thing to you. Just one sentence, okay?"
Yiyi's sudden appearance disrupted the Yin vortex, which began to falter. Something within it struggled violently.
"Her mother's soul still retains vivid memories of her life?" Liu Banxian observed, astonished. "Lingering souls often bear faint imprints of their memories, but such a strong connection is rare."
The Ten Evils could not function without all its components. Yiyi's mother struggled fiercely, preventing the monster from escaping.
Enraged, the monster manipulated the Yin energy, directing its massive finger toward Yiyi to eliminate this variable.
Roars filled the air as the finger descended, its power terrifying.
"It seems tonight was never your destined escape," I cackled maniacally. Drenched in my own blood, I stepped forward to shield Yiyi. My hands drew runes mid-air, the blood lingering as if defying time.
The monstrous finger descended like a mountain, but I stood firm.
Hands weaving intricate seals, the blood on my body surged backward, forming nine crimson fox tails that soared into the sky, blocking the fiend's finger.
As dawn broke, the fiend roared in fury. It had waited countless years for this moment but was now thwarted.
Yin energy thickened, the fiend making a desperate bid for freedom, attempting to extend a second finger.
"Though we have no personal feud, your escape ends here!"
In a final act of insanity, I gouged a drop of heart blood, smearing it across my brow.
"Blood stains the mortal world, Nine Tails open the heavens!"
The once-illusory fox tails solidified, holding the Yin vortex at bay like a titan prying open the jaws of a crocodile.
"Open for me!"
The life-and-death struggle lasted five or six minutes until the first rays of sunlight pierced the night.
Defeated, the fiend howled furiously before retreating underground as the Yin energy shattered.
Laughing hysterically, I collapsed in the sunlight.
As consciousness returned, pain and exhaustion overwhelmed me. I barely managed to grasp my fallen phone before blacking out again.
"Ding! Midnight Thriller Live Room's mandatory task—survive until dawn—has been completed. Perfectly resolved a commission from the underworld. Reward: 10 points!"
"Host now has 21 points. New items unlocked."
A list of mysterious items appeared, each offering strange powers.
The sunlight dispersed the Yin energy of the No. 3 Bridge Crematorium. The Ten Evils retreated, the ghosts vanished, leaving only a little girl.
She stood there, arms outstretched, staring at the empty hall.
"Mom..."
The morning breeze brushed past her, and she reached out to grasp it, but all she caught was a ray of sunlight.