Everyone followed her gaze towards the painting, but apart from Qin Chu, no one else saw anything.
"Isn't this just a painting of a beauty looking in a mirror? Aren't all the ghosts inside out? What's the mystery?" A Cheng asked.
Li Mohan was no stranger to this painting and had heard Ye Huohuo talk about some of the ghosts within it, but he still couldn't discern anything amiss.
Only Qin Chu's expression worsened after seeing the painting. He took two steps forward, his eyes almost glued to it, then turned to Ye Huohuo in disbelief.
"That's not right, shouldn't there be another vengeful spirit here? Where did it go?"
Ye Huohuo impatiently scratched her hair. (Qin Chu's hair had a slight natural curl, which became even messier after she grabbed it.) "I forgot, it's all my fault. My memory is so bad, I forgot about the evil spirit I captured in Hongdeng Street! That evil spirit, although it hadn't taken any lives, had absorbed the vital essence of many people, so only by transcending it could it possibly reincarnate. But when I released them just now, I forgot about it!"
"Then what? Did it go out with those ghosts just now?" Qin Chu asked, confused. "No, even if I couldn't tell at the time, Old Bai should have recognized it as an evil spirit. He wouldn't have taken it away with him!" He looked back at Ye Huohuo. "It should still be here. Could it be hiding in some corner of this room? Or did it fly out of the house?"
Ye Huohuo shook her head. "No, it can't escape! If it couldn't leave with Bai Wuchang, then it can't be too far from this painting. It can't leave this room."
"That means it's still in this room..." Qin Chu subconsciously raised his eyes and scanned the surroundings.
"No need to look, you won't find it," Ye Huohuo stopped him.
"You know where it is?" Qin Chu's eyes suddenly widened. They were Ye Huohuo's eyes, as dark and bright as two black grapes. Now, they suddenly widened as if all the light in the room had been absorbed into them. It was the first time Ye Huohuo had looked at herself so clearly, and she suddenly felt quite good-looking.
While Ye Huohuo was momentarily lost in thought, Qin Chu figured out a crucial point. "No way, there's no trace of it in the entire house, and it can't leave this room. Could it have been swallowed by the original vengeful spirit in the painting?" Eliminating all other possibilities, the remaining one, however improbable, must be the truth.
Ye Huohuo nodded with a wry smile. "I think so too. The vengeful spirit in the painting originally confined these spirits here to accompany it through the long years. Although I don't know how that vengeful spirit in the painting was formed, it definitely couldn't leave the painting for too long. Now that I've added a seal to the painting, that vengeful spirit doesn't have the ability to break through the seal and come out. The spirits I released can re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, which means only it would be left alone in the painting, unable to escape. Naturally, it wouldn't be content and would find a way to get out. Moreover, I miscalculated and forgot about that evil spirit, thinking all the spirits in the painting had left with Bai Wuchang. That vengeful spirit must have swallowed the evil spirit, its strength greatly increased, and today is the Ghost Festival, when the Yin energy is at its peak. It used the surrounding Yin energy to finally break through my seal and come out!"
"No wonder I couldn't see any ghosts in the painting. So the evil spirit was swallowed, and the vengeful spirit broke the seal and came out! This is bad. Today is the Ghost Festival. If it gets out and swallows more spirits, its power might increase greatly. Then..." Qin Chu shivered at his own thought.
"We must find it quickly. It escaped from you. As long as it kills someone, you will lose a portion of your merit," Qin Chu said, about to go out to find the vengeful spirit.
But at this moment, Ye Huohuo suddenly made a move, grabbing Lu Dayong, who had been quietly squatting in the corner.
"No need to be so troublesome, it never left this room!" Qin Chu and the others then focused their attention on Lu Dayong.
Ye Huohuo yanked his collar and pulled him up from the ground. She now felt that being tall with long arms was a good thing. If she were in her own body, she wouldn't have been able to lift Lu Dayong so easily. Now, using Qin Chu's nearly 1.9-meter frame was truly... amazing!
Lu Dayong's face looked like he had eaten bitter herbs. "Pain, pain, please be gentle, my wrist was broken by that guy. Be lighter!" He really looked quite pathetic, but Ye Huohuo and the others were no fools. They could all see the cold glint in his eyes, and even a hint of contempt hidden within.
"Since we're all clear-headed, let's speak plainly. You don't need to pretend. If you were truly Lu Dayong, you wouldn't have gone mad and tried to stab me with a knife just now! In that situation, the cowardly Lu Dayong's first thought would be to flee. The window was open, and we were on the second floor. Why would he risk being caught to kill me? But you are different. You were perfectly fine staying in the painting, but I disrupted your life, let your slaves escape, and sealed you in the painting, leaving you no chance to capture souls for your bidding. Therefore, you hate me and want to get rid of me. From the moment you tried to stab me, I knew you were out! Possessing Lu Dayong's body. I advise you to come out quickly and return to your painting. I will find a way to help you reincarnate in the future," Ye Huohuo advised kindly.
"Heh, you'll help me reincarnate? The reason I ended up in such a state was because I trusted others too much, which ended up harming myself and others. Not only were my soul trapped in this painting, but it also implicated my wife. Causing her... Therefore, none of you are trustworthy, all of you deserve to die!" Suddenly, a powerful surge of Yin energy erupted from Lu Dayong's body. Ye Huohuo lost her grip and was forced back several steps by the gust of air, bumping into someone's embrace. If it were her own body, the scene might have been quite beautiful, but with the current situation... A man nearly 1.9 meters tall being embraced by another man looked strange no matter how you saw it! Qin Chu let out a groan from the side, "Don't let anyone see this, or my reputation as the second young master of the Qin family in Longcheng will be ruined!"
Before his words could even fully register, Lu Dayong retaliated, grabbing Ye Huohuo's face. His fingernails visibly elongated, and in an instant, his five fingertips became like claws, each gleaming with cold light, lunging towards Ye Huohuo's eyes. If they hit, at best she would be disfigured, and at worst, her eyes would be ruined. Ye Huohuo's body hadn't stabilized yet, and seeing the attack aimed at her eyes, it was too late to dodge.
At this critical juncture, a small hand, enveloped in golden light, grabbed Lu Dayong's wrist. This was the very hand that Li Mohan had broken earlier. However, possessed by the vengeful spirit, Lu Dayong felt no pain and was still using the broken hand. The small hand tightened its grip on his wrist. Everyone in the room heard a sickening crunching sound as Lu Dayong's wrist and his entire right hand were crushed into powder. The entire hand became soft like a ball of cotton, and even the vengeful spirit could no longer use it to kill.
"Really! Don't you care about your face? Not even dodging or blocking when it's about to be ruined, acting like a wooden dummy," Qin Chu said, looking at Ye Huohuo's face, his expression a mix of contempt and anger.
"Second Senior Brother, it's not that I didn't want to dodge, but I really couldn't figure out how your tall body has such strong adaptability! This Vajra Hand is used so masterfully!" Ye Huohuo straightened up, quickly flattering him with a fawning expression! Qin Chu's small face lifted, showing an arrogant little demeanor. If it were his own face, he might look obnoxious, but with Ye Huohuo's face, it actually looked quite cute.
"Stop the flattery. Anyone who dares to hurt my face, I don't care who tries to stop me. This grudge is too deep! I'll beat you until your soul is scattered!" Qin Chu said, drawing a golden talisman in the air at lightning speed. As soon as the talisman was formed, a flash of golden light appeared, and inexplicably, a shimmering golden sword materialized in his hand. Without a word, he swung the sword towards Lu Dayong's head...