Li Mazi returned shor

tly 

with a big wooden bucket full of fresh milk. Putting the bucket on the floor, he panted, gasping for breath. 

We were just on vacation,

 so we didn’t bring any items to deal with this particular case. It was impossible to find blood from a black dog or 

a 

peach stake in 

this

 foreign country.

 Furthermore

, even if we did find 

these materials

, they could end up 

injuring Ru Xue’s baby

. That

 was

 why I came up with the idea of using fresh milk. 

It was 

a well-known fact

 that people could see ghosts after smearing ox tears on their eye

lids

. However, not many people knew that fresh milk could expel

 evil spirits

. 

M

ilk had a natural Yang energy that could shoo the evil away.

 In addition

, cows 

were 

some sort of spirit-related animal. Th

at was

 why cow milk was 

the most

 suitable choice

 when

 exorcis

ing a pregnant woman

. Moreover, there 

were no side effects from this method

. 

Just to be sure

, I put some milk into the cup of pus I had collected 

and examined 

it. The opaque pus sizzled

 for a moment before

 the liquid became transparent at a speed the naked eye could observe. In the end, the mixture of milk and pus had become 

an odorless and

 colorless liquid! 

Li Mazi was excited

, and h

e 

hurriedly had 

Ru Xue 

drink 

the cow milk. Yin Xinyue also dipped the towel into the milk and rubbed Ru Xue’s body again. We heard 

the same sizzling noise that the cup of pus and milk made

. Ru Xue

’s face

 slowly regained color. At the same time, the blisters on her body disappeared, turning into a dark, 

foul-smelling 

substance. 

When the Yin energy in her body was almost 

completely 

absorbed, I asked Yin Xinyue to mix the rest of the milk with water and bathe Ru Xue. It was the last step 

in

cleansing 

any 

remaining foul presences

 from her. While Ru Xue was taking a milk bath, Li Mazi eased his worries, knowing 

that she 

was sa

fe

 now. 

I gently patted his shoulder. “Do you remember anything that happened 

before this occurred

?” 

Since that thing used 

Ru Xue’s body to strangle Li Mazi, the

y must have angered it some way or the other

. 

In addition

, 

when

 it left Ru Xue

’s body

, 

he must have seen something

, like a shadow or a swirl of air. With Li Mazi’s experience, he wouldn’t ignore 

such details

. I knew he was 

too

 worried about Ru Xue previously to think about these things. 

Li Mazi thought for quite a long time. In the end, he shook his head. “No, I 

didn’t 

see anything.” 

My nerves tensed up again. Li Mazi wouldn’t deceive me. It meant that this thing wa

s anything but

 simple

.

And, why did it decide to spare Li Mazi’s life at the critical moment? 

Looking at the horrible bruise on his neck, I knew that

 it

 wanted to kill him. If it 

abruptly 

let him go, something must have happened.

With this thought, I started to check the room. However, this room was built and arranged exquisitely. There was nothing that violated the rules of 

geomancy

. 

I regretted that I didn’t bring 

my

 compass with me. Otherwise, I could use the compass to locate the spirit. 

Anyway

, 

I found nothing

 strange in 

the room, which left me at a loss of 

what to do. 

After Yin Xinyue helped Ru Xue bathe herself, the latter woke up. She still looked pale. 

Li Mazi bit his lip, asking shyly

,

 “Little 

B

rother Zhang, is there any 

method 

to help Ru Xue feel better?” 

“She oozed a lot of pus

, so s

he’s dehydrated now. Keep giving her water

, and

d

on’t worry

,

” I comforted him. 

Li Mazi finally exhaled in relief. His face changed

 as he spoke 

through gritted teeth

,

 “This time, I have to 

destroy

 that thing and send it to 

hell

. If I can’t do that, I don’t 

deserve to live anymore

!” 

In contrast

, my idea was to go home immediately as everybody was 

safe 

now. I didn’t want to provoke anyone or anything in a foreign country. However, Li Mazi was 

too

 persistent

, and

 I knew I couldn’t persuade him. Now, I needed to assess this spirit. 

Did Li Mazi accidentally 

provoke

 that foul thing? Or does the problem lie within this hotel? 

If it were the former, we would be in a passive situation.

Since Ru Xue’s condition wasn’t good and we were afraid that the foul thing would come to attack again, we stayed up the whole night. After dawn, I asked the two women to take a rest. 

I went downstairs with Li Mazi, trying to find some 

things 

we could use to defend ourselves. Unexpectedly, the commonly-found items that we could find at home were really difficult to get here. We searched the entire morning, and all we got was a chain of copper coins from China in an antique shop.  

Although the coins had a green patina on them, they felt warm in our hands. It meant they had a lot of Yang energy. There should be no problem 

in using

 them 

for

 self-defense

, b

ut they were

n’t strong enough t

o destroy that evil thing. 

Li Mazi suggested 

having

 spaghetti for lunch. I didn’t have any special requirements for food, so I let him order. 

Li Mazi thought that the food was so delicious that 

he asked the waiter to pack two more 

dishes for takeout

to give to 

Yin Xinyue and Ru Xue. 

As the waiter spoke some simple Chinese, Li Mazi chatted a little with him. “How do you make these noodles?” 

“Durum wheat.” The waiter answered with a smile. 

I suddenly got a

n

 idea

.

 We could use wheat to deal with the 

evil spirit

! 

Plant seeds 

had spiritual properties

, and tougher grains could produce better effects. Tha

t was

 why I always chewed 

soybeans

 when encountering foul things. 

I couldn’t 

go looking for

 soybeans right now, but I could use the durum wheat

. 

Durum wheat 

was

 the hardest 

type of wheat

. 

I

ts effect wouldn’t be 

worse

 than the 

soybeans if used properly

.  

I was excited

 and

pulled

 Li Mazi to a store to buy a bag of durum wheat. Afterward, we returned to our hotel. 

When we got back to the room, the two women had gotten up. I divided the chain of coins into four parts, as each of us should keep several coins to use in 

case of an emergency

. 

Once she had eaten

, Ru Xue 

began to look healthier

. Yin Xinyue had told her the situation last night. 

Yet

, just like Li Mazi, she noticed nothing out of the

 ordinary

. 

The only thing Ru Xue

 remembered was 

how her 

head felt very heavy

 when

 she lost consciousness. When she told me that, her face looked forlorn. 

“It’s okay. 

Let’s see if that thing comes

 back again tonight. I don’t believe that it’s

powerful 

enough to 

leave 

no trace behind

!” My voice grew colder. 

I asked the girls to get 

some

rest

. Then, Li Mazi

 and I

 sprinkled the durum wheat on the ground in front of the door, window sills, and around the beds in both rooms.

While working, I saw Li Mazi inadvertently scratching the bruise on his neck. “Li Mazi, is your neck okay?” 

“It’s okay, just a little itchy…” 

Li Mazi waved his hand as if it weren’t a

n important 

matter

, so

 I eased my 

worries 

a little bit. Then, I used some pieces of white paper to draw some spirit talismans. However, the effects 

wouldn’t 

be as strong as when I used the yellow paper. Anyway, in an urgent situation, I could add a few drops of blood to boost its power. 

After

 the incident last night, 

I decided to toughen myself up

. I washed my face and 

went to rest

. Around twilight, we all went out to find a restaurant to have dinner. I noticed that Li Mazi kept scratching his neck!

Ru Xue 

also noticed this.

 “Li Mazi, what happened to your neck?” 

“

It just feels a little itchy,

” He tried to smile, showing his big, yellow teeth. 

We all suggested that he should go to the hospital to check that bruise. 

“No, I’m okay. You used milk to wash my neck and expel the Yin energy already. Don’t worry.” 

We didn’t urge him further. 

When we returned to the hotel, the sky was completely dark. Except for our rooms, the hotel seemed strangely quiet. Every time we spoke, we would hear our voice echoing. 

Ru Xue’s courage seemed to 

have shrunk

 after the incident last night. She stayed in Li Mazi’s 

embrace

, shivering. 

I closed the curtains and switched off the light. Instantly, the surroundings were swallowed by darkness. 

“Will it work? What if that thing

 makes 

no noise when it comes here?” Li Mazi scratched his neck. 

“Don’t worry. It has to cross the line of durum wheat if it wants to approach us. As long as it 

approaches us

, the wheat grains will create some noise!” 

I tried to sound calm and confident. 

In reality

, I was a little worried. 

After this point, n

o one talked anymore

, with only t

he clock

’s

 ticking fill

ing

 the room. Li Mazi and I hadn’t slept since last night. Soon, we 

both grew exhausted, e

specially Li Mazi

. H

e kept dozing off so often that he 

was tempted to

 use two matches to support his eyelids. 

“You two should rest for a while. If something comes, I

’ll wake you up,

” Yin Xinyue

 said

, feeling worried for us. 

I yawned, looking at Li Mazi. “I can put up with it for a while. You should sleep first.” 

“Okay…” 

Li Mazi was really tired. He mumbled something and got on his bed. Suddenly, we heard the 

sound of

 high heels 

from 

the corridor. 

The noise only lasted for

 around two seconds, but we heard a series of footsteps as if someone was running on high heels

.

 In the next second, 

everything went silent.