Mysteriöses Brennen

Kapitel 7

She turned on all the lights in the house, which finally calmed her down a bit, but whenever she looked at the pitch-black night outside, she felt a chill run down her spine.

After watching TV for several hours, Xiao Jie's stomach started growling. She went to the kitchen to open the refrigerator, intending to take out the cold dishes she had bought during the day and then pack some instant noodles. But as soon as she opened the refrigerator, she found three pairs of eyes staring intently at her. Xiao Jie screamed in fright; inside the refrigerator were three human heads.

Xiao Jiejie suddenly took a few steps back and found that there was no human head in the refrigerator; all kinds of food were neatly arranged there. Xiao Jiejie breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the terrifying things that happened during the day must have had such a great impact on her that she still had psychological trauma.

Xiao Jie took out a cold dish, then took out a sausage, peeled off the skin, and placed it on the cutting board. She took out a knife and finely sliced the sausage. While slicing, she cursed, "That damn Lin Feng, that stinky Lin Feng, leaving me all alone at home, and he hasn't even come back yet!" In her anger, she slammed the knife into the remaining half of the sausage.

A spurt of blood suddenly gushed from the sausage, splattering all over Xiao Jie Jie's hands and body. Xiao Jie Jie screamed, dropped the kitchen knife, and collapsed onto the kitchen floor, bursting into tears.

Xiao Jiejie stared in disbelief at the red blood on her hands, panicked and unsure what to do. But before she could even cry out, the blood on her hands suddenly disappeared. Xiao Jiejie looked at her hands in astonishment; her ten fingers were slender and delicate, and there was no blood at all. Looking at the cutting board, there were only the sliced sausages she had cut and the chopped-off half; everything was clean and unremarkable.

Xiao Jie sat on the ground, panting for a long time before finally standing up. She was so frightened by the two incidents that she had lost her appetite.

I went back to the living room and picked up the remote, flipping through the channels. Every TV station was so boring; either the hosts were pretending to be cute, saying, "Thank you, thank you everyone!" or they were spouting cheesy love lines, with pathetic men and women crying their eyes out. Their disgust was comparable to those three human heads.

Bored out of her mind, Xiao Jie patiently watched a boring program. As she watched, she became sleepy and couldn't stay awake any longer, so she fell asleep without realizing it.

In her sleep, Xiao Jie felt a pair of hands gently stroking her. Those hands were icy cold; the moment they touched her skin, goosebumps rose all over her body. She wanted to struggle, but she couldn't move. This feeling of powerlessness filled her with both helplessness and terror.

A chill ran through every inch of her skin, and fear crashed against Xiao Jie's heart like waves. She desperately told herself it was a dream, just a dream, that she could struggle out of the nightmare, and that everything would be alright once she escaped. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move a single finger.

Suddenly, she heard a soft hissing sound and smelled a burning odor. The external stimulus jolted her awake. All the lights in the house had gone out sometime during the night. This made her very nervous. The TV presenter was still making her own suggestive gestures and speaking in a coquettish voice, but Xiao Jie couldn't hear what she was saying because of the faint burning smell.

Xiao Jie looked closely and, when she saw the area above the bedroom door frame, she vaguely noticed that the talisman Lin Feng had pasted there was gone, leaving only a small black burnt mark.

Xiao Jie's heart skipped a beat. What did that mean? Was what happened in her dream real? She had only escaped death thanks to the talisman. Countless things that had appeared in movies, on television, in books, or in other people's stories were now happening to her. How could she not panic?

A cold sensation enveloped her back, and Xiao Jie shifted forward slightly. Turning her head, she saw a dark shadow standing on the sofa.

Before she could even cry out, the entire shadow pounced down, enveloping Xiao Jie Jie and seeping into her body in tiny strands. Moments later, the black shadow vanished into Xiao Jie Jie's body.

Xiao Jie suddenly sat up, her body trembling with fear. A strange, inexplicable feeling welled up inside her. She felt a sharp, lingering sensation, as if she were standing on end. She felt a wave of emotion wash over her, and a sense of unease washed over her. She felt a sudden, intense urge to cry, and a wave of pain ...

Volume One, Chapter Sixteen: The Path of Vengeful Ghosts (16)

Xiao Jie sat quietly in front of the television, motionless, while Li Mingsheng appeared extremely uneasy. Any normal person would feel uneasy knowing that the person opposite them was possessed by a ghost. Fortunately, his years of experience as a criminal investigator enabled him to control his emotions in any situation.

Xiao Jie stiffly poured tea for the two of them, and said blankly, "Please!"

The Taoist priest Zhang said calmly, "Did you know we would come?"

Xiao Jie grinned strangely and said, "No!"

The Taoist priest Zhang said, "Then do you know who I am?"

Xiao Jie Jie continued with her strange laugh, saying, "No!"

"Who are you?"

"Who am I? I am the embodiment of all vengeful spirits!" After saying that, Xiao Jie raised her head.

Li Mingsheng was startled because Xiao Jiejie's face had completely transformed into that of another person. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Jiejie's face rippled like a breeze across a lake before transforming into yet another face. In just a few minutes, Xiao Jiejie's face had changed dozens of times. Some were male, some female, some old, some young, some crying, some laughing, appearing bizarre and terrifying.

The Taoist priest took a deep breath and said, "What exactly do you want?"

Xiao Jie smiled and said, "I need that dark spot at the school. It's the yin energy that has been constantly accumulating there that has brought us, these wandering ghosts, together. It has provided us with countless energies, allowing us to exist here until now. Everyone else is completely unaware of this, but I can't let you destroy the secret of my existence!"

The Taoist priest suddenly realized and said, "From the time you drove the entire village mad and made them eat their own children, that was your doing?"

Xiao Jie said, "Yes, you've lived on that land for too long, and you've slowly discovered too many of my secrets."

Zhang, the Taoist priest, suddenly remembered how, when he was a child, every household had paid someone to exorcise ghosts and ward off evil spirits. It turned out that the culprit behind everything was this—a collection of vengeful spirits.

Suddenly, Xiao Jiejie turned her head back sharply, rolling her eyes. Zhang Daoshi knew that this was Xiao Jiejie's consciousness rejecting the intruder's mental invasion.

The seasoned Taoist priest Zhang was not about to let this golden opportunity slip by. He reached into his robes and pulled out a Bagua mirror, muttering incantations to himself.

As soon as the Bagua mirror shone on Xiao Jie Jie, she let out a strange low growl. The sound was like the desperate gasp of someone on the verge of death, or the sound of a hungry ghost in the underworld chewing on a corpse, which made Li Mingsheng's heart tremble.

Xiao Jie's eyes stopped rolling back; black pupils quickly filled her eyes, turning them completely black. Li Mingsheng was so frightened that he took a few steps back, getting into a fighting stance so he could be of help at any crucial moment.

Seeing that Xiao Jiejie was temporarily unable to move because she was enveloped by the Bagua mirror, Zhang Daoshi hurriedly said to Li Mingsheng, "Quickly go to the kitchen and see if there is any glutinous rice, or yellow wine!"

Li Mingsheng hurriedly ran to the kitchen and searched high and low. Finally, he found a bag of glutinous rice in the cupboard, grabbed it, and ran out to Zhang Daoshi, saying, "Found it!"

The Taoist priest Zhang urged, "Quickly, sprinkle it on her!"

Li Mingsheng hurriedly grabbed handfuls of glutinous rice from the bag and started sprinkling it all over Xiao Jie Jie. Each time Xiao Jie Jie was hit, her neck would twist back, and the black in her eyes would fade a little. Slowly, the whites of her eyes and pupils would appear, no longer completely black.

Seeing the effect, Li Mingsheng quickly sprinkled several handfuls of rice on Xiao Jiejie, trying to drive the vengeful spirit out of her body. He reached in and grabbed a handful; only a few grains of rice remained in the bag. Li Mingsheng turned the bag upside down, scattering the remaining glutinous rice on Xiao Jiejie and shouting to Zhang Daoshi, "The rice's gone!"

The Taoist priest shouted, "Go find some yellow wine!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Jie's eyes turned completely black again. Before Li Mingsheng could even make a move, Xiao Jie suddenly broke free from Zhang Daoshi's Bagua Realm and rushed towards Li Mingsheng.

Li Mingsheng quickly retreated, but Xiao Jiejie's slender fingers had transformed into eerie claws, barely dodging the attack. Li Mingsheng immediately counterattacked, sidestepping to Xiao Jiejie's side and delivering a hook punch squarely to her eye. Xiao Jiejie was knocked backward, but the moment her body touched the ground, she sprang back up like a spring. She grabbed Li Mingsheng's neck with both hands and forced him to the ground.

Li Mingsheng lay on the ground, struggling to breathe, and landed several punches on Xiao Jiejie's face. Xiao Jiejie's face was immediately covered in bruises, and her two once beautiful eyes now resembled those of a giant panda, with large dark circles under them. In this critical moment, Li Mingsheng had no time to spare for pity.

Zhang the Taoist bit his finger, then used the blood to draw a talisman on the surface of the Bagua mirror. He then slapped Xiao Jiejie on the back, who was pinning Li Mingsheng to the ground.

Taoist Zhang shouted and slapped Xiao Jiejie's back with his Bagua mirror. Xiao Jiejie let out a low growl, and was actually loosened from holding Li Mingsheng's hands by the slap, falling to the ground.

The Taoist priest rushed over and kept slapping Xiao Jie Jie with his Bagua mirror, shouting, "Come out, come out!"

Xiao Jie kept rolling on the ground, her already bruised and swollen face contorted in pain.

Li Mingsheng hadn't forgotten what he needed to do, so he got up and ran to the kitchen to find the rice wine. The rice wine was on the windowsill in the kitchen. Li Mingsheng cursed himself inwardly, "Idiot!" Zhang Daoshi had mentioned glutinous rice first, and he had been so preoccupied with finding the glutinous rice that he hadn't thought of it before.

The man ran back to the living room with the yellow wine, where Zhang the Taoist was still patting Xiao Jie Jie. Xiao Jie Jie seemed terrified of the blood-stained Bagua mirror, rolling on the ground with her head in her hands, completely helpless.

After all, Zhang the Taoist was 70 years old, and he was already panting heavily with sweat dripping from his forehead.

Without waiting for Zhang Daoshi's instructions, Li Mingsheng unscrewed the cap and poured the wine onto Xiao Jiejie.

The Taoist priest shouted, "Stop! Who told you to fall on her?"

Li Mingsheng was taken aback and asked, "Then what should we do?"

While hitting her, Zhang the Taoist priest said, "Hold her down and pour it into her mouth!"

Volume One, Chapter Seventeen: The Path of Vengeful Ghosts (17)

Li Mingsheng was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized what was going on. Damn it, this was really not an easy task. But after all, Li Mingsheng was a police officer with many years of experience. He quickly grabbed Xiao Jiejie and pinched her mouth hard. Xiao Jiejie opened her mouth with the pinch, only able to make a "hehe" sound.

Li Mingsheng forcefully poured the wine into Xiao Jiejie's mouth, the wine constantly overflowing from her lips. The forced pouring filled her mouth and throat with yellow wine, the pungent smell causing her to cough incessantly.

Zhang the Taoist said, "Alright~" Li Mingsheng then got off Xiao Jiejie, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and let out a long sigh.

Xiao Jiejie emitted a wisp of white smoke, which gradually condensed around her. When Xiao Jiejie calmed down, the smoke had solidified into a human shape. Li Mingsheng stared nervously at this inhuman, ghostly thing. If this thing were a person, or at least in a human form, he might have jumped out, pulled out his gun, and shouted, "I'm a policeman!" before firing off a whole bunch of bullets. But now, floating in the air, barely recognizable as human, its erratic shape made him feel helpless and incredibly tense.

Xiao Jie's house was a complete mess. The coffee table was overturned, and glutinous rice and rice wine were scattered all over the floor. On the TV, a girl was doing aerobics with a big smile on her face, shouting, "One, two, one, follow me!" Under the TV cabinet lay Xiao Jie, unconscious and with her face covered in bruises.

Li Mingsheng glanced at the beautiful woman whose face he had nearly beaten to a pulp, feeling extremely troubled. He imagined Xiao Jiejie would be furious when she woke up and found out he had personally cared for her in this state. However, that wasn't an immediate concern; he could worry about that later. The most urgent matter was helping Zhang Daoshi deal with this thing he didn't yet know what it was.

Zhang the Taoist was far more nervous than Li Mingsheng. This was a raging mass of resentful energy, causing trouble for nearly a hundred years. Zhang gripped the Bagua mirror tightly, intently watching the humanoid form of the energy. He watched as it slowly revealed eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and a human-like body. It was a handsome young man, his face somewhat ethereal, seemingly radiating a strange light. Even Li Mingsheng couldn't deny that it was a very charming face; if a woman saw it, wouldn't she be utterly captivated?

Li Mingsheng was a little indignant: "Damn it, this kid chose such a handsome face as the chairman."

Unexpectedly, the handsome young man smiled at him, seemingly seeing right through him. This seemingly friendly smile sent chills down Li Mingsheng's spine. Li Mingsheng wasn't exactly fearless, but seeing this handsome young man filled him with a deep-seated dread, a chill running through his entire body. The young man seemed perfectly normal; if one hadn't witnessed him being formed from a mass of energy, anyone would have mistaken him for the boy next door.

The young man looked very weak, but he smiled at Zhang the Taoist priest and said, "You are quite capable. It is not easy for you to have done this much!"

The Taoist priest dared not answer, but instead used the Bagua mirror to protect himself, watching the young man with great tension.

The young man suddenly smiled at Li Mingsheng, and Li Mingsheng's heart tightened. He immediately felt as if an invisible hand had clamped down on his neck, making it difficult to breathe, and then his feet left the ground. Li Mingsheng tightly gripped his neck with both hands, and he saw that the young man's pupils were red, redder than blood, and shone with an extremely strange light.

Zhang the Taoist priest shouted, "It's all an illusion! Calm down!" With that, he sat cross-legged on the ground, placed his hands on the Bagua mirror, and muttered incantations. Large beads of sweat dripped down his forehead and down his white hair.

As soon as Zhang the Taoist sat down, Li Mingsheng noticed the red light in the young man's eyes dim, and he fell from the sky. Looking down, he realized he had been choking himself with his own hands, nearly killing himself.

The young man turned to look at Zhang the Taoist, his eyes gleaming with a fierce red light. Zhang the Taoist was sweating profusely, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably, as if he were struggling against the young man.

As soon as Li Mingsheng felt a sense of relief, he darted towards the young man like a leopard. He grabbed the remaining half-bottle of yellow wine, the only exorcism method he knew, and decided to risk it. The Taoist priest was old and didn't have the strength to fight this demonic aura for much longer. As for how to get the wine down his throat, he'd deal with that later; he couldn't think about it now.

The young man didn't even glance at Li Mingsheng. When Li Mingsheng was almost upon him, the young man reached out and grabbed at the air, instantly freezing Li Mingsheng in place, unable to move an inch. Li Mingsheng could only watch helplessly as the man approached Zhang Daoshi step by step.

The young man grinned and reached out to grab Zhang the Taoist's heart. Suddenly, Zhang the Taoist opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood at the young man. A rain of blood splattered all over him, and the young man immediately screamed in agony. The red light in his eyes flickered and flowed, as if it were about to drip droplets of blood.

In the moment of crisis, Zhang Daoshi bit his tongue and used a Taoist mental technique that would harm both himself and the enemy to severely injure the young man, but he himself was also greatly weakened. However, in this critical moment, how could Zhang Daoshi dare to be careless and relax? He immediately got up, grabbed the Bagua mirror, and pressed it between the young man's eyes.

After the young man was severely injured by Zhang Daoshi's mutually destructive fighting style, Li Mingsheng was freed and immediately pounced on the young man, pinning him firmly to the ground with both hands.

The young man immediately screamed, like a cobra struggling in agony before death, his body writhing like a snake. And red blood truly dripped from his eyes, drop by drop. Finally, the red slowly faded, turning into clear, tear-like drops. The young man's body, which Li Mingsheng was holding, gradually turned into wisps of steam, which were gently carried away by the night breeze.

By the time the young man finally disappeared, Zhang the Taoist was exhausted. The Bagua mirror in his hand had shattered sometime during the night. Zhang the Taoist gave a bitter smile and tossed the mirror aside.

Zhang Daoshi was utterly exhausted, especially after using the mutually destructive "Qi-Breaking Technique" to injure the vengeful spirit for the last time. He was so weak that he could barely move. With Li Mingsheng's help, he slumped weakly onto the sofa.

Volume One, Chapter Eighteen: The Path of Vengeful Ghosts (18)

When Xiao Jie woke up, she found her face aching and her head spinning. Looking around, she realized she was in a hospital. Xiao Jie tried hard to remember what had happened the night before, only recalling a dark shadow suddenly appearing on the wall, after which she knew nothing more. As for how she got there, she understood even less.

Just as she was feeling bewildered, Li Mingsheng walked in carrying large bags of fruit. Seeing Xiao Jiejie, he exclaimed, "Ha, you're awake! The doctor said you're fine, you can be discharged now that you're awake!"

Xiao Jie asked, confused, "What happened to me? Did you bring me to the hospital?"

Li Mingsheng laughed and said, "Yes! Last night, thanks to Lin Feng's warning, when he fainted, he said he wanted us to come and save you, and that there was a third person or something. Although he didn't say it clearly, we knew you were in danger and rushed over!"

Upon hearing that Lin Feng had fainted, Xiao Jie asked anxiously, "Where is he? Is he alright?"

Li Mingsheng laughed loudly, "He lost too much blood last night and was so exhausted that he fainted. Now he's perfectly fine and is currently battling with delicious food!"

Xiao Jiejie felt relieved upon hearing this and couldn't help but smile. This smile, however, pulled at the muscles in her face, causing a sudden, sharp pain.

Seeing the pained expression on Xiao Jie Jie's face, Li Mingsheng smiled sheepishly and said, "Hehe, I was a little too rough last night in the heat of the moment!"

Xiao Jie said, "What?" Then, realizing what she meant, "You hit me?"

Li Mingsheng was stunned and said, "You don't know, you were possessed and almost strangled me to death!"

Xiao Jiejie said with lingering fear, "Is it really that serious?"

Li Mingsheng said with an exaggerated expression, "Yes, I almost lost my life for my country!"

Xiao Jie was amused and said, "Let's go see that kid Lin Feng!"

The two entered Lin Feng's hospital room, where Lin Feng was happily devouring a chicken leg. Seeing them enter, he hurriedly mumbled, "Come on, come on!" Upon seeing Xiao Jie Jie, he asked in surprise, "Who goes there?"

Xiao Jie pinched Lin Feng's ear and yelled, "Do you want to die? You heartless bastard, you don't even recognize your older sister?"

Lin Feng touched his ear, which was throbbing from being pulled, and said, "Ouch, let go! Your face is swollen like a pig's head, how will anyone know who you are?"

Xiao Jie exclaimed, "You're the pighead!" and ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror.

A short while later, Xiao Jiejie ran back and immediately grabbed Li Mingsheng's ear, saying, "You're really ruthless! You beat a beautiful young woman into a pig's head. How could you do that?"

Li Mingsheng, grimacing, begged for mercy, saying, "I was almost dead at the time, I had no choice."