I held the Eight Trigram Mirror in one hand, shining it on the little female ghost to prevent her from rising.
In my other hand, I took out the fox claw.
This little thing wanted to eat me, so I naturally wouldn't be polite to her, preparing to kill her to add oil to my lamp.
Gritting my teeth, my face set in a grim expression.
I raised the Eight Trigram Mirror and the fox claw, slowly approaching the little female ghost.
Under the intimidation of the Eight Trigram Mirror, the little female ghost's body trembled incessantly, and black smoke billowed from her:
"Don't shine that on me, get away, get away quickly..."
Her voice grew deeper, laced with anger and fear.
My heart pounded with apprehension, but my movements didn't stop.
My expression was even very resolute.
I raised the fox claw, about to stab down.
If I didn't kill her, she would kill me.
Even though she was a child ghost, I still had no intention of letting her go.
However, just as I aimed at the little female ghost's head, about to strike.
My shoulder was suddenly patted gently.
At this moment, my concentration was extremely high, and I hadn't noticed anyone behind me.
Being suddenly patted, my action with the claw immediately halted.
Instinctively, I glanced back.
But the moment I turned my head.
I saw a terrifying woman appear behind me at some unknown time.
Just a fleeting glance sent my face changing color and my heart racing with terror.
The woman was covered in flesh and blood, from head to thigh.
She had extensive burns, with very little intact skin.
Her clothes were tattered, bearing marks of being burned.
Looking at the woman before me, a chill shot from my head to my toes.
Before I could react.
The woman, with her mangled face, stared at me with two hollow, black eyes and sneered:
"Young man, lend me your life to be a scapegoat for my daughter..."
With that, she raised her hand to grab, intending to choke me.
I was completely flustered. This must be the little female ghost's mother.
Today, I had encountered a mother and child seeking retribution.
I appeared somewhat panicked, but I didn't lose my composure.
With one hand holding the Eight Trigram Mirror on the little female ghost, and the other gripping the fox claw.
I lunged towards the female ghost, intending to drive her away.
But who would have thought, the moment I raised my hand.
The female ghost suddenly opened her mouth, her jaws splitting wide all the way to her ears.
A long, blood-red tongue, like a frog's,
shot out with a "swoosh," extending over a meter long.
With lightning speed, it wrapped around my neck.
I could feel it was sticky, icy cold, and tightening.
In an instant, I felt as if I were under a spell, unable to move.
The Eight Trigram Mirror and the fox claw in my hands both slipped and fell...
And I myself, apart from being unable to move.
Could only let out weak, distressed sounds like "Ah, ah."
The female ghost's tongue tightened around my neck with a "sizzling" sound...
I felt like my neck was about to break.
I wanted to struggle, but my body wouldn't move.
I couldn't utter any sound from my mouth.
Due to lack of oxygen, my head felt heavier and heavier, and my eyes involuntarily rolled upwards.
At that moment, I could distinctly feel my heartbeat.
Looking at the rotten-faced female ghost with her sinister smile and elongated tongue,
and the little rotten-faced female ghost, no longer deterred by the Eight Trigram Mirror and now excitedly sniffing around my body, I felt a sense of despair.
I kept asking myself in my heart: Would I still be unable to escape the fate of being claimed by ghosts?
Just as I thought this, the tongue on my neck tightened even more.
At the same time, the rotten-faced female ghost spat a puff of white smoke at me.
The white smoke enveloped me, and I felt an intense chill.
My eyes rolled upwards, and I lost consciousness, as if my soul had left my body.
I don't remember the events that followed clearly.
It felt like sleepwalking, hazy and indistinct.
It seemed someone led me upstairs, and I saw a flower wreath hanging in mid-air. The person holding my neck said to me:
"Go, stick your head inside..."
Hearing this, I was very confused, stepped onto a stool, then stood on tiptoe, and extended my head inward.
I had no self-awareness, like a walking corpse.
As if I did whatever others told me to do...
However, the moment I stuck my head into the flower wreath.
I suddenly heard a scream:
"Ah!"
Immediately after, an external force struck.
I felt someone violently pull me from behind.
With a "clatter," I fell to the ground.
The next second, I heard someone calling me:
"Wake up, wake up..."
I slowly opened my eyes.
But upon opening them, I was astonished to find myself in a dilapidated building filled with burn marks.
A dirty rope was still around my neck...
In front of me stood a girl wearing a black mask.
It was her calling me.
Although I could only see her eyes and forehead, she was incredibly stunningly beautiful.
And these eyes, this appearance.
Wasn't this the masked girl I met two days ago when I took the ghost taxi?
The one who Li Ge mistakenly thought was my girlfriend.
Why was she here?
I looked at her with shock.
Before I could figure out what was happening.
Didn't I just get my neck ensnared by the rotten-faced female ghost's tongue in the alley?
How did I inexplicably end up in this strange place?
Before I could comprehend, even before I could speak.
I heard the masked girl, frowning, say to me in a very serious tone:
"If you don't want to die, get out of here quickly..."