The girl's soul understood Ye Huohuo's words, bowed respectfully to Ye Huohuo, and then floated out the door.
Lu Yao looked at the locked iron gate, spread her hands, and made a gesture of invitation, "After you!"
Ye Huohuo bit her lip, looked at Lu Yao, and forced a fawning smile, "I know you have a way."
"Me? You're more powerful than me. How could I possibly have a way?" Lu Yao rolled her eyes at her. "You just agreed to do things for her unconditionally. I won't stop you from being a good person, but I don't need to help you."
Ye Huohuo glanced towards the door, lowered her voice, "Don't you have a crush on this vengeful spirit? Do you know how to make it willingly work for you?"
Lu Yao said nothing, her face showing indifference, but her body, slightly leaning towards Ye Huohuo, betrayed her true feelings.
Ye Huohuo bit her lip, suppressing the teasing remark that had already reached her tongue. She cleared her throat, "You only know how to control them with your vital blood, but do you know? They have emotions too. If you can help them fulfill their obsessions, they will work for you out of gratitude."
"Nonsense. If they lose their obsessions, are they still vengeful spirits? Wouldn't they become wandering souls? What use would I have for it then?" Lu Yao thought Ye Huohuo would offer some brilliant idea. Upon hearing this, she felt like a fool. When had Ye Huohuo ever spoken words of wisdom? She had been foolish to expect anything.
Seeing that she couldn't persuade Lu Yao, Ye Huohuo walked to the iron gate herself and tried to push it. It was tightly locked, making it impossible to break open by force.
Just as she was thinking of a way to open the door, the lock on the iron gate clicked open.
Ye Huohuo pushed the door again. The rusty hinges emitted a grating sound that made one's teeth ache. In the quiet night, it was even more jarring.
A transparent figure stood at the doorway, seemingly waiting for them to follow her.
"Well, well, it even knows how to open the door for you," Lu Yao said from behind Ye Huohuo, her tone laced with sarcasm and a hint of jealousy.
"Heh, anyone who didn't know would think I stole your boyfriend! Weren't you just saying you wouldn't go? Did you change your mind?" Ye Huohuo seized the opportunity to tease her.
Lu Yao strode past her, "The night is long, and it's so boring to stay here alone. Besides, being able to exchange blows with such a master would be a good experience."
With the vengeful spirit leading the way, and the two following behind, they encountered no one to stop them along the path.
It seemed this vengeful spirit had already knocked out the guards along the way before she went out. Ye Huohuo even peeked into the guardhouse as she passed. As expected, they were fast asleep. This vengeful spirit was truly thorough in her actions. It seemed she was a very cautious person in her life. It was truly lamentable that she had ended up in this state.
After walking for about twenty minutes, they arrived at the entrance of a small courtyard at the northernmost part of the detention center.
It was a separate small courtyard. Its original purpose was indistinguishable, and the yard was overgrown with wild grass, some reaching as high as a person. As Ye Huohuo and Lu Yao walked in, only their heads were visible. It felt like walking through a cornfield in the dead of night.
Lu Yao walked ahead. For some reason, perhaps due to a bit of fear? Ye Huohuo quickened her steps and grabbed her hand, only to find Lu Yao's hand even colder than hers.
Lu Yao's steps paused. Ye Huohuo thought she would pull her hand away, but Lu Yao tightened her grip, holding Ye Huohuo's hand even more firmly.
It seemed Lu Yao was not as calm as she appeared on the surface.
However, this place felt eerily terrifying late at night. But for the two of them, walking in a graveyard late at night was commonplace. They shouldn't have been so scared, yet both felt an inexplicable chill emanating from the depths of their hearts.
Neither of them spoke. They crossed the overgrown field as quickly as possible and finally saw a small, not very large house. In the moonlight, they saw a tattered wooden sign hanging on the door – "Storage Room."
"A storage room built here? It must be inconvenient to get things in and out. And looking at how tall the grass has grown, no one should have been here for years. Could the girl's body be here?" Lu Yao tugged at the door. It was a wooden door, secured with a rusty iron lock. The wooden door swayed precariously when pulled, as if it would fall off with a bit of force. But after Lu Yao tugged it a few times, it turned out to be quite sturdy.
"I think it's very likely. Did you notice the location of this house? This is the death gate of the entire detention center. And look at this iron lock; although it's rusty, the rust here..." She pointed to the position of the lock's clasp, "has clear scratch marks, and the marks are very new. It's obvious it was opened recently."
A gust of cold wind blew. The girl's soul, which had drifted away as soon as they entered the courtyard, suddenly emerged from behind them, appearing somewhat anxious. It seemed this was the place they were looking for.
The girl's body, formed from malevolent energy, was almost transparent here, making it difficult to see. She raised her hand, her fingers transforming into fine threads that slowly extended into the keyhole of the iron lock. Moments later, the lock clicked open and fell to the ground with a "clink."
The two were surprised that a ghost could pick locks. It seemed the lock on the small dark room had also been opened by her in the same way.
After opening the lock, the girl's soul completely vanished. Ye Huohuo didn't even have time to ask about the exact location of her body.
Ye Huohuo and Lu Yao opened the door and entered the small house. It was pitch black inside. Lu Yao's eyes could quickly adapt to the darkness, but Ye Huohuo couldn't. As soon as she entered, she felt darkness all around, seeing nothing. She tripped over something under her feet and fell forward.
She had encountered so many unlucky incidents like this before that she had developed lightning-fast reflexes. The moment she stumbled forward, she grabbed the sleeve of Lu Yao, who was standing beside her. At that moment, a faint light illuminated. Ye Huohuo discovered a steel pipe less than half a meter below her, its tip sharpened and pointing upwards. If she had fallen forward, she would have landed on it, at least piercing her.
If it had hit her chest or neck, she would have been dead by now.
Lu Yao held a talisman between her index and middle fingers. The faint light was emitted by this talisman. "I really don't know if your luck is good or bad. You can trip over a mop handle, yet still avoid this deadly steel pipe."
Ye Huohuo felt a warmth at her wrist where she was holding Lu Yao's sleeve, and a very faint red light flowed from her wrist.
"I understand. It's Li Mohan's luck helping you. Are you married to him for himself, or for his luck?" Lu Yao looked at Ye Huohuo with great interest, waiting for her answer quite seriously.
"You're idle again! Let's focus on the task at hand." Ye Huohuo glared at her irritably, snatched the talisman from her hand, and walked further inside.
The girl's soul had disappeared just now, indicating they were very close to the place where she was sealed. The part of her soul that had emanated was drawn into the seal.
"It should be in here, otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered to unlock the door for us to come in," Ye Huohuo said, holding the faintly glowing talisman between her fingers and scanning the room.
This should be the storage room of the detention center, less than fifty square meters. The windows were boarded up with some wooden planks, possibly to prevent them from being blown open by wind and rain, which would have soaked the contents of the room. However, these planks also blocked out external light, which is why Ye Huohuo saw it as completely dark, like a room without windows, when she first entered.
With the faint light from her fingertips, she could barely make out some discarded tables and chairs in the room, as well as two broken iron beds with incomplete wooden slats, looking like the mouths of elderly women with few teeth remaining. There were also some broken washbasins and a filing cabinet.
These items had likely been left there for too long without anyone moving or cleaning them. A thick layer of dust had settled on them, and some shelves were covered with cobwebs. She hadn't noticed them earlier due to her nervousness upon entering, but now she could smell a strong musty odor.
The light in Ye Huohuo's hand was too weak for her to see the entire room clearly. The two searched for a long time but couldn't find a place where the girl's body might have been stored.
Finally, both of their gazes fell upon one spot...