“Xiao Qiao, come on in. While my dad’s out, let’s check things quickly…” Zhao Xiaoru’s house was the first one on the floor. She opened the door and gestured for us to enter.

I glanced across at the opposite balcony, but the black cat was gone.

As soon as the door opened, an icy chill swept over me, sharp as frost. But it didn’t feel like there was any ghostly presence.

What exactly is wrong with this room?

My brother stood at the doorway, blocking it, signaling me with a glance to stay cautious.

I discreetly held onto the talisman meant to calm spirits, though it only worked on fierce ghosts. But if there wasn’t a ghost here…

The room was simple: a small living room, a bedroom, and a sealed balcony turned into a kitchen.

Aside from the chilly vibe in the air, nothing seemed out of place. But the compass in my hand twitched, pointing straight towards the enclosed balcony.

There, I spotted an old, slightly battered refrigerator.

“Xiao Zhao, could you unplug the fridge for a moment?” I looked at her.

She gave me a puzzled look, asking, “Why the fridge? If I unplug it, the frost will melt.”

“Oh, electronic devices can interfere with magnetic fields. Since this space is so compact, having so many electronics messes with it… It’d be best to unplug the TV as well,” I explained.

She gave an “oh,” nodded, and obediently unplugged both the fridge and the TV.

The compass needle twitched slightly, then settled back to point at the fridge.

I stared at the old green fridge, its paint peeling and rusty spots visible along the edges.

Could the hiding place for a corpse really be… that fridge?

As the thought came to me, a chill ran down my spine, and I almost imagined blood oozing out of the fridge’s edges.

“Xiao Qiao?” Zhao Xiaoru called me softly.

I looked up to see her still staring innocently, almost pleading, with a hint of vulnerability.

Yet, for some reason, her face seemed eerie.

—The compass wasn’t lying. Something must be hidden in that fridge.

Could she really not know what’s inside her own fridge? Or did she actually know but wasn’t afraid, even putting on a helpless act to lure me here?

Remembering the time she’d made that eerie, seductive ghostly sound, the more I looked at her, the more sinister she seemed.

“Is my place too cramped?” she asked weakly.

I shook the compass and replied, “No, it’s not that. My compass probably needs recalibration; it’s acting up. Precision is crucial in feng shui. I’ll swap it out and come back tomorrow.”

With that, I grabbed my brother’s arm, pulling him towards the metal staircase.

Suddenly, a man’s voice echoed from behind: “Where are you going?”

My brother and I froze, spinning around to see nothing but a dim hallway—no one was there, and the staircase was nowhere to be found!

“Damn, we’ve got trouble! Jump!” My brother pulled me, and we jumped down. Fortunately, we were only on the second floor.

Behind us, Zhao Xiaoru let out a piercing scream. I couldn’t resist looking back—

“Forget her!” My brother tugged me, urging us to run out into the street. “Even if she’s not the main culprit, she’s definitely in on it! Living here without a single issue? Something’s definitely wrong!”

A small shop downstairs suddenly raised its metal shutter, and two short, sturdy men dashed out, chasing after us.

As we ran, I instinctively covered my abdomen. All this running—would it affect the spirit fetus still forming?

“This place feels like a formation! We can’t get out—” My brother stared at the street ahead. No matter how far we ran, we couldn’t reach the exit.

I held my abdomen, glancing back at the two men chasing us, and discreetly pressed my hand to my chest, reciting a prayer.

Two wisps of blue smoke rose around me with a hissing sound.

The shorter man sneered, “It’s useless. Our Great Master personally set this barrier; nothing you summon can get through!”

Great Master?

So he was the leader of these dark sorcerers?

My brother shielded me, asking, “If you went through all this trouble, what’s your goal?”

The sorcerer sneered, “Every debt has its debtor, every grievance its source. Our Great Master already knows everything. He simply wants your help. Cooperate, or you’ll die a miserable death!”

I squeezed my brother’s hand, hinting that there were several other sorcerers controlling the barrier around us. Fighting wasn’t an option.

My brother nodded. “Fine. What kind of help do you need?”

The sorcerer sneered, motioning for us to follow him back to the rental house.

The small shop’s metal shutter was half-open. We hadn’t had a chance to notice before, but now I saw dark bloodstains on the counter.

“Don’t worry…” the sorcerer smiled. “There are barely any living people left in this building.”

My face paled. Behind a half-open shutter lay a nightmarish scene…

The compass hadn’t malfunctioned. This was a corpse-hiding place filled with yin energy, and more than one body was here!

Not only was there something in Zhao Xiaoru’s fridge upstairs, but this shop’s freezer held dismembered body parts!

A leg, an arm, even a woman’s hand—painted with bright red nail polish, missing a finger.

Inside the shop, there were stacks of open instant noodle boxes, probably the sorcerers’ food. Further inside, in the room where the shopkeeper would’ve lived, an old man sat cross-legged on the bed, spinning a white prayer wheel. Three men and a woman knelt on the ground before him in reverence.

The woman was Zhao Xiaoru.

Seeing me, Zhao Xiaoru’s face lit up with a mix of joy and guilt. “Xiao Qiao… sorry if I scared you. I only wanted your help. The Great Master said we’re short on people, and he needs two female disciples… I thought you and Song Wei were close and might come together…”

I stared at her coldly. Even now, her face showed no trace of ghostly energy.

My brother whispered, “A possessed person in the central regions won’t lose their mind. Looks like she’s been brainwashed.”

The old man spinning the prayer wheel had gray stubble on his head. He used to be bald—clearly, he was the head of this dark sect.

Hearing my brother’s voice, he opened his wicked eyes, grinning to reveal a mouth of blackened teeth. “Young master, your comprehension is impressive…”

“You flatter me.” My brother rolled his eyes.

The old man cackled, mumbling strange words I couldn’t understand. I caught something about “the Great Wrathful Bodhisattva…”

As soon as he said that, Zhao Xiaoru stood up and stripped off her clothes, her limbs stiff as she walked out.

From the other room, I heard the freezer being opened, followed by strange crunching and gnawing sounds. Zhao Xiaoru was actually chewing on those frozen body parts.

Clutching an arm, she looked at me as she gnawed on the flesh, blood dribbling from her mouth, a smile in her eyes.

She’s completely insane…

I felt my stomach churn, covering my mouth as I gagged.

The old man grinned his blackened-tooth smile and commanded, “Alright, once you’ve eaten your fill, let’s begin the ‘rotating seats’…”

Rotating seats?