20: Chapter 20 Ghostly Mental Hospital

The next day, 4:00 PM. Shen Hour.

The sky over Jiangzhou City had turned gloomy again; thick, lead-gray clouds pressed down over the city, threatening to unleash another bout of drizzling autumn rain at any moment.

In the second-floor bedroom of Lins Funeral Shop, Lin Ye lay sprawled in a twisted " too" shape on the three-meter-wide super-king bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Last night's shock-absorption test regarding the "defensive capabilities of the succubus lace vestments" could only be described as tragic.

Although Leng Yue appeared shy and clumsy due to her lack of common sense, as a Thousand-Year Red Hou, once her inherent wildness was ignited by Pure Yang Qi, it was nothing short of an untiring plunder.

If Lin Ye hadn't temporarily used 500 points to exchange for the "Primary Talisman Compilation," which included some Taoist breathing and cultivation techniques for "consolidating the foundation and nourishing the primordial spirit," he likely wouldn't have been able to get out of bed this morning.

"Brother-in-law is playing favorites..." A resentful, soft, loli-like voice rang in his ear.

Lin Ye turned his head to see Frost Star, who had "passed out" last night after drinking the 150-year-old wild ginseng blood soup, squatting at the head of the bed.

Her silver-blue twin tails looked a bit messy, and her originally clear, heterochromatic eyes were filled with thick jealousy.

She extended two cold, fair, and tender fingers, resentfully poking Lin Ye's cheek.

"Frost Star fell asleep last night, and you guys actually practiced dual cultivation behind my back! I don't care, I want to make up for it right now!"

As she spoke, this yandere White Zombie opened her small mouth, revealing two sharp little fangs, and lunged at Lin Ye's neck like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.

"Holy crap, stop messing around!" Lin Ye was startled into a jolt and hurriedly reached out to hold back her little head.

With this movement, he felt a wave of sore and numbing pain shoot through his waist.

Just then, the bathroom door was pushed open. Leng Yue walked out wearing that tight-fitting gray knitted loungewear.

After a night of nourishment from the Pure Yang Qi, this Thousand-Year Red Hou was now radiant. Her originally paper-white skin revealed a charming, lustrous sheen.

Her deep red eyes lacked their usual piercing murderous intent, replaced by a touch of the languor and allure unique to a mature woman.

While wiping her wet silver hair with a towel, she cast a cold, aloof glance at Frost Star. "..." "..."

Lin Ye extracted the talisman-making material kit for the "Primary Talisman Compilation" from the system storage, walked to the counter on the first floor, and began to draw talismans earnestly.

The place he was going to tonight was not some half-baked haunted house like the ones Young Master Qin messed with, but a "Mutated Ghost Domain" officially classified as the highest danger level by the Abnormal Management Bureau.

"Heaven is round and Earth is square, the laws span nine chapters. As I set my brush down, ten thousand ghosts shall hide..."

Lin Ye bit his tongue tip and mixed the Pure Yang blood into the water-ground cinnabar. Holding the purple-hair brush, he focused his mind, his hand moving like a dragon and a snake across the yellow talisman paper.

With the knowledge instilled by the system, his talisman drawing was no longer as clumsy as before; as his brush danced, the talisman head, talisman heart, and talisman foot were completed in one go.

Streaks of obscure crimson light flashed across the talisman paper; this was the sign of Pure Yang Qi being sealed within the talisman.

With every stroke, Lin Ye could feel the Pure Yang Qi within his body flowing through his fingertips to the tip of the brush, as if it were an extension of his own life force.

The cinnabar in the inkstone boiled without fire, emitting wisps of pale golden smoke. The originally ordinary yellow talisman paper, after bearing the cinnabar imbued with golden light, actually emitted a humming sound like the striking of metal and stone.

By the time he drew the last "Evil-Expelling and Demon-Suppressing Talisman," fine beads of sweat had seeped onto his forehead. At the final "talisman foot" seal, he pulled his brush back sharply, and the entire talisman actually hovered in the air for half a second, the incantations on it flashing with a blinding, sun-like crimson.

Leng Yue stood to the side, her deep red eyes fixed unblinkingly on Lin Ye's profile. She could feel the extremely rigid aura emanating from the talisman paper, enough to scorch ordinary ghosts and demons.

She extended a cold finger, gently brushing through the lingering warmth of the Yang Qi in the air, a flash of infatuation that even she hadn't noticed crossing her eyes.

For a Red Hou born to wield coldness, Lin Ye's focused and fiery state at this moment was simply the most lethal poison in this world, enticing her to draw near and possess him.

Lin Ye finally stopped after drawing a full twenty "Three Yang Subtle Fire Talisman"s and ten "Evil-Expelling and Demon-Suppressing Talisman"s. He carefully folded the talismans, tucked them into his tactical canvas bag, and brought along the seven-section peach wood sword and the Three-Yuan Compass.

"Prepare to set off!"

6:00 PM, You Hour. The hour of meeting demons.

On the western outskirts of the city, at the ruins of The Fourth Psychiatric Hospital. Long yellow caution tapes had long since been pulled up here.

The surrounding area was overgrown with weeds, and the few gray, dilapidated buildings of the psychiatric hospital, shrouded in the veil of night, looked like several massive tombstones, exuding an eerie sense of oppression.

Above the entire hospital, a layer of thick, visible black mist shrouded the area, forcibly stripping this region from the real world.

Lin Ye stepped out of a taxi, holding a black umbrella to block the faint, lingering haze in the sky.

Leng Yue wore a slim-fitting black trench coat that wrapped her proud figure tightly, revealing only a pair of heaven-defying long legs stepping into Martin boots.

She wore a mask and sunglasses, perfectly hiding her earth-shattering beauty and Red Hou features. But that cold, aloof aura of "no strangers allowed" still made passing stray dogs tuck their tails.

Frost Star wore a dark gothic Lolita dress, with a small black top hat on her head, obediently holding onto the corner of Lin Ye's clothes.

Just as they reached the edge of the caution tape, Lin Ye saw a temporary command tent set up ahead. Outside the tent, a dozen or so people were gathered in twos and threes.

Judging by their attire, some wore Taoist robes, some wore Tang suits, and others carried modern tactical backpacks. Clearly, these people were all rogue cultivators who had seen the dark web bounty and come here to try their luck.

Somehow, Fatty Wang had also snuck in and was squatting in a corner smoking. Upon seeing Lin Ye, he pounced over as if he had seen his own father.

"Ye-zi! You actually came!" Fatty Wang lowered his voice and pointed toward the tent: "I used some connections to ask around; this time, The Ninth Bureau not only offered five million, but they also leaked the situation inside."

"The hospital basement used to be a mass grave; now the resentment has erupted, forming an upgraded version of a 'ghost wall'—a Ghost Domain! Let's just watch the excitement from the outside; don't go in there to die!"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Lin Ye patted the fatty's shoulder and swept his gaze across the crowd.

Just then, a harsh voice came from the side.

"Yo, I was wondering who it was; isn't this the pretty boy who guards the Funeral Shop on Taiping Old Street? What, can any Tom, Dick, or Harry accept The Ninth Bureau's bounty now?"

Lin Ye looked toward the source of the sound and saw a tall, thin man with a sinister face, wearing a black, front-buttoning short shirt, walking over.

This man was toying with an eerie black wooden plaque in his hand, on which an inverted little ghost was vaguely drawn in dark red cinnabar.

With this attire and this aura, the "Primary Talisman Compilation" in Lin Ye's mind immediately provided the answer. Folk magic sect, Yinshan Sect!