Searching for Treasures in the Clouds

After rummaging through the cabinet, Yunjixing went to the antique display case and opened every available opening. He walked in front of the shelves, gently knocking on them. When he knocked in the middle, he heard the sound of a door opening. A jade narcissus bonsai was placed in this area, basically blocking the view behind it.

Yun Jixing carefully moved the bonsai out and placed it somewhere else, then checked the wall behind it. There was a small crack in the wall. He tapped the crack with one finger and pulled out something like a drawer.

There was a stack of things that looked like letters in the small drawer. He picked them up and opened them immediately to check.

The letter was yellowed, looking like it was from a long time ago. The writer's name was "Luo Yin." Yun Jixing stared at the name for a while and silently memorized it.

Elsewhere, Ru Youen walked back and forth in an area covered with black cloth, inspecting the surroundings. On the ground, he saw objects shaped like jars and boxes, all covered with black cloth, making it impossible to see what was inside. The tallest of them was taller than a person.

He gently lifted the cloth covering the tallest object. When he saw what was inside, he almost cried out, his heart suddenly beating violently. He saw a naked woman tied to an oak cross. Her face was pale, her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were dark. Coffin nails thicker than a finger were nailed to her limbs, and a thick nail was also driven into her forehead. The nail was so long that it could be seen that it had passed through her head and directly into the cross behind her.

The woman was hung there like Jesus, her skin dry and sagging, its color dull and lifeless, a sign that she had been dead for a long time. Strangely, the body had no spots on it and was relatively clean, with no insects gnawing on it.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, please don't blame me. I didn't mean to look." Ru Youen quickly bowed and apologized.

After apologizing, he was about to put the cloth back on when he glanced down and saw a familiar pattern. It was a black and purple spider, its body shaped like an eye. This was the emblem of the Spider Cult. The woman's belly was slightly bulging, as if she were pregnant. The rest of her body was deflated, but her belly remained plump. The spider was located right in her belly, its body perfectly positioned above her belly button. The fullness of her belly gave the spider a three-dimensional, lifelike quality.

Thinking of the Spider Cult, he turned around and looked around for Yunjixing. After finding him, he trotted towards him.

"Master." Ru Youen lowered his voice as he looked at the corpse. "There's a corpse over there with the Spider Cult's pattern on it."

"Take me there." Yun Jixing responded immediately.

"Okay, Master, you have to be prepared. The corpse looks like it's neither dead nor alive. It's very scary."

"Yeah." Yun Jixing nodded.

The two of them approached the corpse, and Yun Jixing gently lifted the black cloth. Even though he had prepared himself mentally, he was still a little frightened when he first saw the body. Ru Youen hadn't wanted to look again, but now that Yun Jixing was there, he felt emboldened and couldn't help but look again. This look was shocking. For some reason, he felt that the corpse's empty eyes seemed to have a focus, and this discovery sent a chill down his spine.

Yun Jixing was mainly looking at the Spider Cult pattern. After he finished looking at the pattern, he put down the cloth and covered it again. He turned to look at Ru Youen and asked, "Youen, have you apologized for offending this lady?"

"Master, I apologized right away."

"That's good."

Yun Jixing also sincerely apologized to the corpse, and the two of them left the area where the corpse was.

"Young Master, I think... what happened just now was a bit weird. There were clearly no eyes in her eye sockets. When I first looked at her, she looked normal. But the second time I looked at her, it felt like she was staring at us." Ru Youen approached Yun Jixing and whispered.

Yun Jixing's expression was solemn, and he suddenly stopped. He looked at Ru Youen and replied, "Youen, your feeling is correct. Just now, I saw that the woman's belly was bulging, and I think she is pregnant. Her current physical signs do not match the normal characteristics that develop over time after death. I suspect that she and the child in her belly have been transformed into a mother-child evil spirit."

"Mother-son evil spirit?" Ru Youen was puzzled. "Master, what is that and what is its use?"

"I'm not entirely sure, I've only heard a few rumors. It's said that the Mother-Child Evil is the most powerful and vicious vengeful spirit. As the name suggests, it controls both mother and child. Some sorcerers, in order to strengthen their own power, use unusual methods to kill pregnant women. The conditions for this evil spirit to form are extremely harsh and tragic. Pregnant women, after suffering inhuman torture, must be filled with resentment when they die. Powerful sorcerers harness this resentful energy for their own benefit. Not only do they wield this seemingly insubstantial power, they can also manipulate corpses and use them as puppets."

Ru Youen looked surprised and asked, "Master, is it dangerous for us to come in like this?"

"You'en, trust science. She won't come over to strangle you or me," Yunjixing said with a smile. "There are still many signs of life in this place. Lan Youde must come here frequently, so the woman is temporarily sealed and won't run around."

After a moment's thought, he added, "Don't tell anyone about what you just saw. We just need to know about it, so they don't get upset and lose focus. And it's not necessarily the mother-child evil spirit. Another possibility is that Lan Youde is searching for a spell to achieve immortality, and the fetus in that woman's belly is the sacrifice. He wants to use the baby's new life force to reverse his own aging."

"Yes, Master."

A week later,

Yunjixing returned to Shuicheng from Jiangcheng.

Because of the corpse in the secret room, they had to go to the old house to find Shanren to remove the evil spirit before they could return to Yugui Garden.

Shanren's profession was a fortune teller, and he was never short of people asking him for fortune-telling. However, he had plenty of money to spend, so he could agree to see someone or not depending on his mood. Therefore, he was the most idle of all his descendants, and he would usually take his wife and son back to the old house to play, whether he had something to do or not.

At this moment, his family was chatting with Situ Ningzhai and Yun Zhonghe in the main courtyard.

"Shanren, didn't your brother Yuan say he would come back a long time ago? Why hasn't he arrived yet?" Situ Ningzhai asked.

Shanren looked up at Situ Ningzhai and smiled, then lowered his head to wipe his son's saliva, "Grandma, Grandpa, don't worry, I said I'd come, so I'm coming. Brother Yuan has had some adventures these past few days, and you're in for a treat."

As they were talking, Shanren received a message from Yunjixing: Ah Ren, I'm almost there, please ask the elderly and children to move aside.

Shanren heard his phone ring and took it out to check. After reading the message, he replied briefly, then stood up and looked at the others. "Grandpa and grandma, you should go back to the house first. Brother Yuan has encountered something terrible. The elderly, the weak, women and children should stay away." After that, he turned to look at his wife and said, "Chun'er, take the children and grandpa and grandma back. I'll call you back when they can come over."

"Okay." Chun'er nodded.

Not long after they left, Yun Jixing brought his men over.

Shanren stood in front of the group, looking them over from left to right, up to left, and right. After a long glance, he said, "You guys... are fine. It's not a big deal. There's no ghost, just a ghostly aura."

"Let's go to the side yard. I'll perform a simple ritual for you to get rid of the evil spirits."