Chapter Sixty-One: The House of Flesh and Blood

Zhou Bai couldn’t help but find it amusing when he saw the Taoist. “Master Hou, you’re in quite the cultured mood. Are you planning to join the Underworld Bureau in banishing demons and slaying monsters?”

Hou’s face darkened, and he opened his mouth to retort, “What’s wrong with that? Is it not allowed?”

Wang Sheng, standing nearby, snorted coldly and shot Hou a strange look. “It’s enough that you recognize him, Zhou Bai. This Taoist has been tailing me the whole way.”

“Come on, I just wanted to help out. I know a thing or two about exorcism and fighting monsters,” Hou replied with an awkward laugh. In truth, since yesterday, his eyelids had been twitching uncontrollably and he felt a deep sense of unease. He had only ever felt this way back in Xuzhou, right before monsters ran rampant. Relying on these instincts, he’d managed to escape disaster and survive the mire of that city.

This time, while the sensation wasn’t as strong as it had been in Xuzhou, Hou found that as soon as he was alone, panic would well up inside him, persistent and inescapable no matter where he went. Only when he was with members of the Underworld Bureau did this feeling subside, which explained why he kept sticking close to Wang Sheng.

Wang Sheng could do little about it; the old Taoist was like a sticky piece of candy—claiming he wanted to help, but always hanging back at the first sign of danger, only to reappear once things were safe.

Choosing to ignore Hou, Wang Sheng turned to Zhou Bai and said, “You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you? There’s something strange about this place. I’ve already notified Yu Jun, and she’ll be here soon.”

Zhou Bai knew a bit about Wang Sheng’s supernatural abilities. They were related to detection, not as comprehensive as the Yin-Yang Eyes, but every bit as effective when it came to tracking spirits. Zhou Bai kept his Yin-Yang Eyes open as he glanced at Wang Sheng. Sure enough, his abilities were ghostly in nature, with most of the sinister energy gathering around his ears, suggesting his power was connected to hearing.

As they discussed the presence of ghosts, the two continued onward. The desolate city district around them had all its doors tightly shut, devoid of any sign of the living. Faint traces of blood on the ground guided them toward a more remote area.

The trio stopped in front of a slightly larger building. It appeared to be a grain warehouse, likely cleared out recently to provide relief supplies for refugees. After waiting a few minutes, Yu Jun finally arrived. In her true form, she moved with remarkable agility—despite her leopard body’s size, she slipped between the buildings with effortless grace.

Yu Jun handled her true form with a skill that left Lin Danian far behind. “Hou Bochun, stay on guard in the city. The rest of us, let’s move.”

With a brief instruction, Yu Jun led the way toward the warehouse. As they drew closer, they saw the walls bore the marks of fingernails and scraps of flesh, as if someone had clawed their way up to the window and crawled inside.

Zhou Bai leapt up to the window and peered in. The interior was shrouded in darkness. Apart from the thick, oppressive miasma of sinister energy that filled the space, nothing else seemed amiss.

“I really think it’s best not to go in there,” Hou muttered, his eyelid twitching again. Forcing a nervous laugh, he pulled out a few battered talismans from his robe—the last of his emergency stash. Once these were gone, he’d have nothing left.

Yu Jun ignored him, her brow furrowed in concern. “Let’s make this quick. The situation in Hangdu is far from simple.” Zhou Bai nodded slightly. He gripped his butcher’s blade with both hands, ready to cleave open the door, but Wang Sheng stopped him.

“Let me probe the room with my ability first.”

Looking grim, Wang Sheng stepped up to the threshold, knelt, and pressed his ear to the ground. His supernatural power focused on his ears, known as “Leaning Down to Listen.” This technique, while distantly related to the legendary Di Ting—the spirit beast under the desk of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva—was less illustrious, bearing only a distant blood relation.

Like Lin Danian, Wang Sheng had refined his own body as his vessel. Blood vessels snaked across his ears, which swelled to several times their normal size. As the sinister energy poured in, he quickly uncovered the situation within.

“There’s a heavy heartbeat inside…” he murmured, his face grave.

The sound of the heartbeat grew louder in Wang Sheng’s mind, and dread crept over him. Suddenly, he lost control of his body. Before Zhou Bai could react, Wang Sheng, as if possessed, strode straight for the door, pushed it open, and walked inside.

He had been very close to the building, and his abrupt movement left the others no time to intervene.

Yu Jun, however, quickly regained her composure and gestured for Zhou Bai and Hou to hold their positions as she peered inside.

Viewed with the naked eye, the room seemed ordinary—some simple furnishings, a few pieces of furniture, dust on the floor, but generally tidy. Yet through the Yin-Yang Eyes, everything was different: the floor and walls were coated with thick, pulsing flesh, crisscrossed with blood vessels that writhed constantly.

At the center of the room, a heart of monstrous size beat steadily, its sound deep and strangely rhythmic.

As the group drew closer, Yu Jun and Hou began to hear the heartbeat as well. The room before them transformed into a vision of flesh and blood, sending chills crawling up their spines.

“If these abnormalities really stem from that silver coin, its origins are anything but simple,” Hou muttered, gripping his donkey’s hoof talisman even tighter. He’d never encountered anything so bizarre.

Yu Jun took a deep breath, forcing her demonic energy to settle. No matter what awaited, calm was essential.

Wang Sheng was now inching toward the heart, and Zhou Bai felt the peculiar beat contained a strange magic, urging him to draw near.

“We’ll need to move forward a bit more. If anything happens, pull me back.”

With that, Zhou Bai stepped forward. The flesh in the room grew even more revolting, and the heart’s beat grew heavier.

Focusing his mind, he said in a low voice, “There’s something strange about this heart. It seems to lure the mind.”

Yu Jun stepped forward as Hou, in contrast, retreated several paces in alarm.

Seeing Hou’s cowardice, Yu Jun couldn’t hold back a snort of exasperation. She seized him by the collar and dragged him within range of the heart’s bewitching rhythm.

Hou’s expression instantly went slack; he dropped to all fours, scrambling toward the heart.

“How did such a useless man end up in the Underworld Bureau—wait, you’re not even with them. Never mind.”

With a huff, Yu Jun promptly dislocated all of the old Taoist’s limbs and tossed him into a nearby mud pit.