10: The Temptation of Trouble

Lin Luo finished the remaining tea in his cup and rose to take his leave. Mr. Long did not try to make him stay, merely offering a soft reminder as he turned: "If you perceive anything unusual in the coming days, there is no need to investigate personally; just send word to me."

After the two exchanged contact information, Lin Luo lingered no longer and departed.

The moment he stepped out of the restaurant, Lin Luo's keen senses picked up on the abnormalities around him—in the shadows under the corridors, at the corners, and even on the ceiling beams, countless gazes were being cast from the darkness. Those "tenants" who had avoided him earlier had not truly gone far; they were now gathered in a dense crowd in the distance, their whispers surging through the hallway like a tide.

He originally intended to show some friendliness and gave a slight nod toward the nearest mass of shadow. Unexpectedly, the shadow recoiled violently, causing several nearby presences to retreat in a panic, like a startled flock of birds.

Lin Luo then realized that although the malice from the cicada song collection lingering on him had faded, the Spiritual Qi pressure he had inadvertently emitted while talking with Mr. Long still struck fear into these sensitive, non-human existences.

He helplessly withdrew his gaze and restrained his Aura to the absolute limit. Those prying eyes still did not disperse, though they maintained a further distance. It seemed today was not an auspicious time to get to know new neighbors.

"I shall visit again another day." Lin Luo cupped his hands toward the restaurant in farewell and, without waiting for a response, walked quickly toward the entrance. As he passed through the long corridor, the whispering behind the paper sliding doors on both sides stopped abruptly, as if invisible beings were holding their breath while watching his departure.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, the night wind carrying the bustle of the city rushed toward him. The moment he stepped out of the barrier, the restless Auras inside the building behind him suddenly calmed, as if everything just now had been a mere hallucination.

The evening breeze carried a piercing chill, slightly dispersing the cluttered thoughts in Lin Luo's mind. As he walked along the quiet street toward the subway station, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated slightly.

He pulled out his phone, and the screen lit up with a message from Kato Megumi. What met his eyes was a photo—the pebble he had given her was now lying quietly in the girl's fair palm. The warm spiritual glow that had previously flowed within it had completely vanished, making it look like the most ordinary piece of quartz, merely crystal clear and no longer possessing any hint of the extraordinary.

Immediately below was a paragraph of text:

「Mr. Lin Luo, the stone you gave me suddenly turned into this. I didn't do anything to it, it just... what happened? Is it a natural phenomenon?」

Lin Luo's brow furrowed instantly, and his fingertips paused for a moment on the cold screen.

(The pebble's Spiritual Qi is exhausted... why? That Yin Qi shouldn't have actively attacked people. Could it have been affected by the shockwave when the cicada song collection's malice erupted?)

The evening breeze carried a piercing chill, slightly dispersing the cluttered thoughts in Lin Luo's mind. As he walked along the quiet street toward the subway station, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated slightly.

He pulled out his phone, and the screen lit up with a message from Kirisu Mafuyu. What met his eyes was a photo—the pebble he had given her was now lying quietly in the girl's fair palm. The warm spiritual glow that had previously flowed within it had completely vanished, making it look like the most ordinary piece of quartz, merely crystal clear and no longer possessing any hint of the extraordinary.

Immediately below was a paragraph of text, with unease showing between the lines:

「Lin Luo, I am so sorry! The stone you gave me suddenly turned into this. I definitely didn't accidentally drop it; it was just sitting on the table, and I just noticed... I don't know what happened. I'm really sorry!」

Lin Luo's brow furrowed instantly, and his fingertips paused for a moment on the cold screen.

(The pebble's Spiritual Qi is exhausted... was it consumed too much while countering that wisp of Yin Qi in the bathroom last night, or... was it affected by the shockwave when the cicada song collection's malice erupted?)

He took a deep breath, the chill of the night wind piercing straight to his lungs. Regardless of the reason, it meant that Kirisu Mafuyu had indeed been unknowingly dragged into the fringes of some non-ordinary event.

He replied quickly, trying to make his tone sound relaxed and natural:

「Mafuyu-sensei, don't worry about it. This is just a natural change within the mineral; many stones are like this. I have a few similar pieces in my collection, I'll bring you a new one tomorrow.」

As soon as the message was sent, the top of the chat box immediately displayed "Typing...". A moment later, a new message popped up:

「How could I accept that! It's clearly because I didn't take good care of it... there's really no need to trouble yourself again!」

Even through the screen, he could imagine her blushing face and helpless expression. Lin Luo smiled helplessly and continued typing:

「It's fine, it's just sitting idle here anyway. Then it's settled. I'll also help you tidy up the apartment while I'm at it.」

As soon as the message was sent, the top of the chat box immediately displayed "Typing...". A moment later, a new message popped up, her tone carrying a hint of annoyance at being underestimated:

「How could I accept that! And... I'm not so sloppy that I could ruin the room in just a day or two to the point where you need to specifically come and clean it!」

After sending this, Kirisu Mafuyu, who was currently in her apartment, subconsciously looked around, wanting to add some weight to her words. However, as far as her eyes could see—the coat draped haphazardly on the sofa, the uncleaned snack wrappers on the coffee table, and the bag of trash in the corner "intended to be thrown out tomorrow"—caused her newly risen Aura to dissipate instantly, like a punctured balloon.

She silently lowered her head, her fingertips hovering over the screen for a moment. In the end, she deleted that slightly forceful rebuttal and retyped a line, her tone much weaker:

「...But, if you insist on coming...」

Followed by an emoji of a kitten looking down and poking its paws.

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the corridor windows, casting bright spots on the floor. Lin Luo knocked on the door of Kirisu Mafuyu's apartment right on time.

“Ding-dong— Ding-dong—”

The doorbell rang crisp and clear over and over again, sounding particularly jarring in the quiet corridor, almost to the point of inviting complaints from the neighbors, yet there was still no movement inside.

Lin Luo's brow furrowed slightly as an ominous premonition rose in his heart. This did not fit Kirisu Mafuyu's character; she might delay due to embarrassment, but she would never completely ignore an appointment, especially one involving the stone incident where she felt she was "in the wrong."

He immediately pulled out his phone and dialed her number, but only a long, monotonous busy signal came from the receiver; no one answered.

Something was wrong.

Lin Luo no longer hesitated. A wisp of imperceptible Spiritual Qi quietly gathered at his fingertips, acting like the most precise key as it gently probed into the lock cylinder.

“Click.”

With a soft sound, the door lock opened.

He pushed open the door, and a blast of air at least one or two degrees colder than the corridor immediately rushed toward him, carrying an unnatural chill, as if he had stepped into another season. This chill was not merely low temperature; it was mixed with a faint, uncomfortable sense of damp Yin.

Lin Luo's heart sank. He walked quickly into the living room, his gaze sweeping over it rapidly—the interior appeared somewhat messy, but it wasn't the chaos of an external intrusion; it was more like the usual state of the owner's casual lifestyle. However, that abnormal low temperature and the extremely thin yet unignorable non-human Aura permeating the air made everything seem highly unusual.

“Mafuyu-sensei?”

He called out, raising his voice, but only a dead silence responded.

Spiritual Qi quietly flowed to his eyes as Lin Luo activated Spirit Vision. In his vision, the entire apartment seemed to be covered in a faint gray veil, and from beneath the closed bathroom door, wisps of black, cold Aura, invisible to the naked eye, were slowly drifting out like living things.

The target was clear; it was right there.

Lin Luo's eyes sharpened. Without further delay, Spiritual Qi surged within him as he strode toward the bathroom.

Lin Luo walked quickly to the bathroom door; the closer he got, the more bone-chilling that Yin cold became. He pushed open the ajar door, and the sight inside made his heart tighten.

The bathroom was like an ice cellar, and the moisture in the air seemed to have condensed into tiny ice crystals. Kirisu Mafuyu lay on the cold tile floor, her eyes tightly shut, her face so pale it lacked a trace of color. The bath towel originally wrapped around her had come loose, revealing large areas of smooth skin and graceful curves.

It was the first time Lin Luo had seen such a "scene," and his cheeks couldn't help but turn slightly red, but he immediately forced himself to look away and focus on the more fatal abnormality—that cold Aura was no longer emanating from the corners, but was instead like a maggot on a bone, spreading from inside Kirisu Mafuyu's body, from the inside out, shrouding her in an ominous layer of pale gray mist.

Her body would occasionally twitch unnaturally, her brow furrowed as if she were enduring great pain in a dream.

“This damn thing... it's a possession!” Lin Luo's gaze instantly became sharp as a blade.

He immediately realized that this was no simple Yin Qi erosion, but an evil presence lurking here that had seized the moment her mind was relaxed (perhaps while bathing or just after stepping out) to directly invade her body, attempting to seize control or even devour her vitality.

He couldn't hesitate any longer!

Lin Luo immediately crouched down. Disregarding the propriety between men and women, he first re-wrapped the loose towel for her to avoid unnecessary distractions. Then, he pressed his fingers together like a sword, gathering pure Spiritual Qi at the tips, and tapped Kirisu Mafuyu's forehead—the key entrance to the Sea of Consciousness.

“Get... out!”

The Spiritual Qi, like a scorching needle tip, pierced into the entrenched coldness. Kirisu Mafuyu's body jolted, letting out a pained low moan, and the gray mist around her churned violently.

In truth, the power level of this cold existence itself was far from enough to confront Lin Luo head-on. The real difficulty lay in the fact that it did not exist independently but was, like a parasite, fiercely competing with Kirisu Mafuyu's Soul for control of the body. Lin Luo's Spiritual Qi had to expel it while also being extremely careful to avoid harming Kirisu Mafuyu's fragile Soul; it was undoubtedly like dancing on the head of a pin.

Just as Lin Luo's Spiritual Qi was attempting to wash away that coldness like a clear spring, a sudden change occurred!

The unconscious Kirisu Mafuyu on the floor (or rather, the controlled body) had her eyelashes flutter, and she slowly opened her eyes. But those originally cool ice-blue eyes were now covered in a layer of mist, appearing weak and helpless. Her pale lips parted slightly, emitting a voice completely different from her usual self—one that carried a slight tremor and was piteously weak:

“Lin Luo... I'm so cold...”

She curled up her body as if unable to withstand the chill, and her controlled arm rose weakly, seemingly seeking warmth and support. The bath towel slipped slightly because of this, revealing her rounded shoulder and exquisite collarbone.