Xiao Li seemed to 

read 

my mind. She sighed

.

 “Whenever 

he

 got mad, he didn’t 

let

anybody enter

 his room. He would 

lock

 himself in

side

. I’ve tried to sneak in to clean the room

, but h

e hit me

 and shooed 

me out. Eventually, I 

stopped caring about him

.” 

“

P

lease clean the room now. Open all the windows and the door to ventilate this 

place

.” I didn’t know what to tell her, so I asked her to clean the room then left. 

As soon as we got out of the room, Li Mazi dramatically took in the fresh air. “What a stinky room!” 

“I 

keep getting the feeling

 that something is 

wrong

 here. We should be more careful

,

” I told Li Mazi. 

It took Xiao Li two hours to clean 

Yuan Datou

’s room. Although

 s

he had opened the windows 

for

 ventilat

ion, we still smelled the stench 

when we entered the room again. 

However,

 it was

 not as unbearable as before.  

I took out a Soul Stabilizing Talisman I had drawn beforehand and adhered it on 

Yuan Datou

’s forehead. I did that to prevent 

him from going out of control again. 

Then, I lifted his eyelids

 and used 

a magnifying glass to check his eyes. I was shocked at first glance. His pupils were dilated

. D

ense, brown-red spots had grown inside his eyelids. Some of them already had pus.

If 

things

 continued this way, 

he

 would die in 

less than two days

! 

I immediately asked Xiao Li to go to 

a

 Chinese herbal pharmacy to buy supplement foods with great nutritional value. Then, 

Li Mazi and I 

sprinkled willow ashes on the carpeted floor. 

Willow ashes were good 

for

attracting

 spirits. If 

a

 ghost came here, it would leave 

footprints

 on the ashes. 

However, some strong ghosts could use the wind to blow away the ashes. That

 was

 why I had asked Li Mazi to drip black dog blood 

on

 the ashes. It would give more Yang energy to the ashes

 and prevent them from being 

blown away. 

A moment later, Xiao Li came with a bowl of soup cooked with ginseng from Mount Changbai

 and

 forcefully fed 

Yuan Datou

.

“What should I do next?”

 s

he asked. 

“Now, we wait

.

” I was a little anxious. 

I gave Li Mazi and Xiao Li some talismans

 and asked 

them to wait. 

If something

 happened in the room, we would storm in and 

attack

 with the

talismans. I had drawn 

these

 talismans

, and a

lthough their power couldn’t be compared to Chuyi’s talismans, they were still useful. 

Li Mazi received the talismans and 

put

them

in

 his pocket. Then, he sat in the living room

 and watched 

TV as if nothing 

had happened

. His eyes purposely lingered on Xiao Li’s breasts. 

I 

felt

 that we had to quickly finish this case

 so that 

I could take him back to Ru Xue. Otherwise, this fell

ow

 could commit 

a

 crime! 

Xiao Li carefully 

put away

 the talisman

, asking,

 “

What are you going to do

 tonight?”

She noticed that my willow ashes did

 nothing

. 

“In our business, before 

we deal

 with the otherworldly item, we have to know its origin

 and 

prepare the right treatment. Then

, w

e 

can either

 help 

the soul

 ascend or simply subdue it.

Your husband’s situation is special. He’s not 

just being 

pestered by a departed soul. We need to know more about the case.” 

S

he nodded and said nothing. 

Li Mazi couldn’t find any program he like

d,

 so he switched off the TV. The three of us sat in the living room

, waiting 

for the night to come. 

The room was filled with the ticking sound from 

the

 table clock. Soon, it was midnight. I turned off the lights

 and

 carefully 

watched

Yuan Datou

’s room.

The mist 

around

 the door had grown thicker

. It had covered 

the entire door. It seemed that thing wanted to come out. 

Li Mazi was sleepy. He yawned 

and

 asked, “

Has anything

 happened yet? Otherwise, I

’m going 

to sleep.” 

“Stop talking

. S

h

h

…” I lowered my voice

 and asked 

Xiao Li

,

 “Do you have any spicy ingredients in your house? Garlic and onion are good.” 

Yuan Datou

would always stay in his room

, even when he needed to urinate

. This 

had something to do with the departed soul. 

G

arlic and onion could 

protect from

 evil s

pirits and produce

 unbelievable effects at times. 

Xiao Li was surprised. “Yes, I’ll get some for you.” She went to the kitchen and fetched some onions. 

“Each of you should keep one

 j

ust in case.” 

I put 

the

 onion 

in

 my pocket and continued to watch the door. Surprisingly, the dark mist 

was

 gone. At the same time, we heard someone walking around in the room. 

“

Let’s g

o!” I hissed.

Li Mazi and Xiao Li 

returned to their senses and

 became tense. 

L

ess than one minute later, a tender male voice came from the room.

“Xiya, why 

have

 you come again?” 

That voice spoke in a Northeastern dialect and had the roughness of a bandit. Xiao Li told me it wasn’t 

Yuan Datou

’s voice. 

“A wife should 

go

 wherever her husband is. Wherever you go, I’ll follow you.” A female voice arose.

My heart sank. My guess 

was

 correct. 

However, from Li Mazi’s and Xiao Li’s reactions, it seemed they didn’t hear the woman’s voice. 

A moment later, 

Yuan Datou

 talked again. “I’m not who I used to be. My bad 

reputation

 has spread everywhere

, and p

eople blame me for being a traitor. Why do you need to do this?” 

“

I don’t care

. Ever since you redeemed me from the Eight Great 

Streets

, my heart belong

ed

 to you. I don’t care if you are a traitor or a bandit

.

 I

’ll

 always love you

,

” 

said t

he woman stubbornly

. Her 

voice 

contained

 happiness. 

While listening

 to their conversation, I guessed the

spirit possessing 

Yuan Datou

 was a traitor during the war of resistance against the Japanese

,

 and the woman was from Beijing’s Eight Great 

Streets—a 

famous red-light district. The traitor had redeemed her

, and t

heir love grew from there. 

I gestured to Li Mazi 

and asked

 him to go upstairs with me. 

After we approached

 the door, I carefully pushed it little by little

. I planned 

to enter the room discreetly.  

However, as soon as I

 opened the door

, a 

strong

 wind arose from the room

. It carried

 a powerful suction force

 and 

drew Li Mazi and 

me

 into the room

. T

he door

 closed behind us

. 

Feeling bewildered

, I turned to look at the bed. 

Yuan Datou

 was sitting on the edge of the bed

, 

angrily looking at me. 

He

 looked as if he wished

 to tear me apart. A 

faintly

 discernible

figure in red was 

kneeling beside

 the be

d. She looked 

at 

Yuan Datou

 with loving eyes

 and didn’t seem to notice our arrival. 

“Get lost!” 

Yuan Datou

 opened his mouth

 and roared 

like a tiger. 

The gentleness from before 

was gone. 

After he shouted, the red shadow 

beside

 the bed reacted. She turned to look at us

, her face 

in a daze.

When I glanced at

the

 red shadow, I was stunned. She was a true beauty

. She wore 

a red cheongsam

 and had soft skin and big eyes.

S

he had lived during the resistance war, but even in this modern 

era

, she would be a Goddess! 

However, the happy atmosphere didn’t 

last long

. After 

the woman saw

 us, 

she

 suddenly aged. Right before our eyes, she started to 

grow

 wrinkles all over her body. 

Her eyes began to bulge,

 and she stuck out her 

tongue. She looked like a ghost 

that had hung 

herself. I noticed a ring of 

bruises

 on her neck. 

“

Damn

! Let

’s r

un!” I yelled at Li Mazi

 before bolting 

away. 

F

emale ghosts wearing red clothes were the most powerful type of ghosts. Moreover, the one we 

saw

 had hung herself. I knew I wasn’t her opponent

; 

I had to retreat first. 

However, I was 

surprised

to see 

that the mist 

had

 reappeared

 and shrouded

the door

. 

Even stranger, when I tried to 

reach for 

the 

doorknob, I couldn’t find it.

At

 this moment, Li Mazi suddenly retched. Before I could check on him, I 

smelled

 a stench from the mist. 

It smelled like the 

master stock

 people used to make stinky tofu. At the same time, I also 

smelled

r

otten corpses.

I didn’t know how to describe this smell. However, after inhaling it, I felt my brain 

lacking oxygen and

 couldn’t hel

p but convulse

. 

I tried to ignore the pain in my

 head and took 

out the onion from my pocket. I 

bit it without peeling it, chewing and swallowing it.

W

hen the spicy taste filled my mouth, my consciousness 

became

 cleare

r

. I resumed my actions. 

I turned to my side and saw Li Mazi on the ground. I hurried to tear some onion

 and shoved it 

into his mouth

, making 

him chew it. Fortunately, Li Mazi’s 

mind

 was still clear. He listened to me

 and chewed the onion, which allowed him to recover. 

I got up and blew 

at

 the door. My stinky

onion 

breath

 was like the archenemy 

of

 the black mist. It caused th

e mist to

disperse

. 

However, 

when

 I stopped blowing my breaths, the black mist 

returned to cover the door

. Anyway, I 

knew what to do now

. Li Mazi also 

noticed

 the power of the onion. Learning from me, he started to blow 

at the door

. 

We carefully moved forward. Eventually, I blew 

away 

the mist at the 

doorknob

.

But b

efore I could open the door, I heard Xiao Li screaming for help behind us. 

I took out the spirit talisman

 and prepared 

to strike. 

But when 

I turned

 around, I

 saw that 

Yuan Datou

 had already captured Xiao Li. He was strangling the woman. 

He 

smiled 

arrogantly at me. “If you run, I’ll 

strangle

 her to death.” 

My 

scalp went numb

. Looking at 

Yuan Datou

’s malicious face, he wasn’t joking. 

After struggling

 for a short moment, I reluctantly let go of the 

doorknob

. 

“What do you want?” I asked coldly. 

“What do I want?” 

Yuan Datou

 sneered

 and pointed 

at the 

talisman

 I was hiding behind my back. “Hurry, throw that thing away!” 

My heart sank. If I threw the talisman awa

y

, it wouldn’t be different from committing suicide. However, seeing Xiao Li’s helpless look, I had to listen to him. I 

slowly

let go of

 the talisman. 

However, someone 

suddenly

 slapped me

, and m

y 

whole

 body 

shook

. 

When I regained my focus, I 

realized

 Li Mazi 

was the one who had

 slapped me.

Li Mazi 

said

 nothing

 and pulled 

my hand

, dragging me 

downstairs.

After he released me, I asked, 

“What

’s going on?”

“Do you see her

?”

Li Mazi pointed at Xiao Li, who was sitting on the sofa. 

When I saw

 the woman in front of me, I suddenly 

understood

. 

Yuan Datou

 didn’t capture her. 

“What 

happened to me just now

?” 

Remembering the current situation, I was bewildered.