The night was deep and the mist was cold, with continuous drizzling rain.

 

Chronicle stood in front of the gate of the Gu family's old house, tilting his head slightly and looking at the two lanterns hanging at the entrance.

 

After years of erosion, the lantern bodies had become somewhat rotten, but one could still make out the vague shape of human heads.

 

What was most eye-catching was the light source inside.

 

Even though a hundred years had passed, any combustible material should have been completely consumed.

 

Yet, it stubbornly emitted a faint blood-red glow as it swayed in the wind and rain.

 

"What a good thing, I'll take it back as a night light."

 

Following the principle of "pluck the feathers from a passing goose," Chronicle said with a smile.

 

Immediately, Yingtai bent its two slender legs and exerted force, resembling a flying bird as it lightly took down the two lanterns.

 

At this moment, the two lanterns slowly rotated, and the blood-red light source inside, as if fueled, instantly exploded.

 

Revealing two distorted, agonized, insane, and ferocious ghost faces.

 

But before half a second had passed, Baye flicked his finger and dispersed them.

 

Chronicle took out a blank card from his pocket and sealed them inside, obtaining two materials called "Head Lantern Ghost" with a gray quality, which could be exchanged for a skewer of lamb and two bottles of beer.

 

"Let's hang them at the entrance of the toilet when we get back."

 

Chronicle thought to himself as he put away the card, then reached out and tore off the damaged seal that had been eroded by wind and rain.

 

As for the dark golden lock engraved with an unknown exotic beast, it was easily solved.

 

Before Chronicle could finish his incantation, Shangui spent some money and sent out a strand of purple lightning, directly breaking it open.

 

He raised his hand and opened the door. An instant gust of cold wind rushed in, causing one's hair to stand on end and sending shivers down their spine.

 

Even with the protection of a bronze-level spiritual power, the moment he stepped into the courtyard, he still felt an extremely strong sense of oppression.

 

He looked at his wrist and checked the time. It was half past ten at night, the time when the Yin Qi was the strongest.

 

If an ordinary person stood here, they wouldn't need to see any supernatural things from the underworld. The negative emotions brought by the Yin Qi alone would be enough to drive them crazy.

 

Chronicle didn't feel any particular discomfort, but he did feel a lot of pressure.

 

The intensity of the Yin Qi in this underworld place was at least ten times that of the Sangmenlu Funeral Home.

 

And through the feedback from his sea of consciousness, he faintly sensed that it also had a certain suppressing effect on Yingtai.

 

If she wasn't currently in the state of "Seeking Sword for Learning" instead of "Red and White Attire," she would have been greatly affected.

 

"Does it have a suppressing effect on 'Marriage' type units?"

 

Chronicle keenly noticed the characteristics of the "Gu Family's Old House."

 

So he decisively recalled Yingtai and summoned Zongzi Ge.

 

With a muffled sound, the Heavy Yin Fragrant Cedar Coffin smashed into the courtyard, and the strong corpse energy that escaped through the cracks instantly dispersed the Yin Qi lingering around.

 

Zongzi Ge then opened the coffin and skillfully took out Hualing, pinning it on top of its head.

 

This was probably the busiest day it had ever had since it came into existence.

 

Just a few hours ago, it had just laid down in the coffin, and now it had to come out again.

 

Needless to say, it was here to work as a laborer.

 

Sure enough, as soon as the coffin disappeared from its original position, Chronicle's command echoed in the air: "Zongzi Ge, help me break open these doors."

 

Zongzi Ge nodded slightly. Although its limited intelligence felt that this was a bit of a waste, it still resolutely carried out Chronicle's command.

 

In no time, it broke open all the doors in the courtyard in the manner of zombies breaking down doors in old Hong Kong movies.

 

The night wind instantly poured into these long-neglected houses, emitting a "woo woo" sound, like a woman sobbing in suppression.

 

Chronicle turned his head and looked around, only to see that each room was occupied by one or two paper figures that looked like real people.

 

Men, women, old and young, tall and short, standing, sitting, lying down, with different expressions and clothing.

 

With just one glance, one could see their identities and what they were doing.

 

"No need to say, this must be related to the Miss Bai from a hundred years ago."

 

According to the information on Qiandu, the Bai family in Qingshan Province was known as the "Paper People Family," specializing in creating and developing various "paper" cards.

 

Good quality and affordable, popular throughout the Nine Provinces.

 

Of course, none of this mattered.

 

What mattered was that these paper figures in front of him, although somewhat tattered, exuded a strong sense of spirituality.

 

Even though they didn't have the same blood-red blush as the "Paper Man Carrying Coffin" and the "Paper Husband Protecting the Red Sedan Chair," just ordinary white paper figures with two pitch-black round eyes, they still instilled fear in people.

 

Chronicle had read about a theory called the "Horror Valley Effect" in a book:

 

When something is very similar to a natural, living person, but not completely similar, it will evoke feelings of disgust and fear in people.

 

These paper figures in front of him were undoubtedly the epitome of this theory.

 

Even with his courage, his pupils couldn't help but tremble when he saw these things.

 

"Butlers, maids, servants, guards…"

 

He muttered to himself as he looked around.

 

Beside him, an old twisted locust tree was swaying in the night breeze.

 

"The Card Craftsman Association has cleaned up several times. Although they didn't destroy the houses due to various reasons, things like paper figures and ghost lanterns like these must have been taken away directly.""If my guess is correct, these things most likely emerged from a small world fissure hidden here about half an hour ago, when the yin energy field gradually gained the upper hand."

 

"So… according to the magnetic field strength, there should be a big guy here…"

 

As Chronicle was saying this, the main door, which had just been kicked open by Zongzi Brother, slowly closed under the brush of a gust of yin wind.

 

When Zongzi Brother kicked the door open again, there were two paper figures dressed in ancient-style wedding clothes inside, which hadn't been there before.

 

At this moment, they were kneeling and bowing to two skeletons dressed in luxurious, slightly yellowed clothes, covered in cobwebs.

 

Just as Chronicle was staring, they suddenly turned their heads 180 degrees, their eyes, black with a hint of blood red, staring straight at the direction where the two card spirits were.

 

Chronicle, always cautious, subconsciously turned his head to avoid eye contact. Seven Brothers and Eight Brothers also took action at this time, two soul-binding chains, one ghostly blue and the other pitch black, flew out in an instant, piercing through the two paper figures.

 

Zongzi Brother also took this opportunity to pull out a stone lamp post as thick as a mineral water bottle from the courtyard in the style of Lu Zhishen uprooting a willow tree, holding the "stick" in one hand and charging into the hall.

 

With just one swing, he shattered the skeleton that was reaching out its bone claw and pouncing at him.

 

Another swing swept the black and red plaque and various rotten offerings on the case table to the ground.

 

The characteristic of a zombie's great strength was fully revealed at this moment.

 

But in the next second, the tattered lanterns hanging on both sides of the courtyard suddenly lit up one by one, casting a blood-red light.

 

The white silk and paper money covering the ground also turned into things like broken bones, red cloth, old coins, and braziers.

 

"Can the ghost lurking here change the environment? Or is this just an illusion?"

 

As Chronicle was thinking this, he turned his head and saw a figure with a face full of powder, almost in mourning, and a bloody human head hanging on his chest, blocking the doorway.

 

(End of the chapter)