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I pondered for a moment, "Could it be related to the words you used when summoning the Void Spirit?" Lao Yang replied, "Hmm, it's possible. But whether it is or not ultimately depends on whether you can find that master." I answered firmly, "I will definitely find them. The truth is often hidden behind doubt." Hearing this, Lao Yang let out a cold laugh, "Have you considered whether this truth is something you can bear? The closer you get to the truth, the more dangerous it becomes." At that moment, I felt as if the person on the other end of the line was no longer the Lao Yang I knew, and a chill ran down my spine. Before I could respond, Lao Yang continued, "Anyway, I'm just reminding you. Don't think too much about it. Isn't your departure time set for later? Have you prepared everything?" I glanced around my messy home and sighed, "I haven't prepared anything yet. I don't even know if there's enough time."
"Then hurry up and get ready. I won't disturb you any longer. Don't dwell on yesterday's events; that thief brought it upon themselves." "Okay," I replied absentmindedly and hung up after exchanging a few more words.
After that, I contacted Binzi and arranged to meet at a specific location to discuss travel details and necessary supplies. As for what happened yesterday, I didn't mention it to him because I felt it would be pointless; after all, I couldn't get any answers from Lao Yang, so there was no need for both of us to be on edge.
We talked for about two hours and finalized our route: first taking a flight directly to Lincang in Yunnan, then transferring by car to Zhenkang County. Before leaving, I handed Binzi ten thousand yuan. Although it was the price we had agreed upon earlier, I still felt a bit reluctant. After that, we went our separate ways to prepare our things.
Two days later, while I was still in a deep sleep, my phone suddenly rang. Groggily, I answered, "Hello?" "Shen Xu, where are you? I'm at the airport," came Binzi's voice. Realizing it was already past eight-thirty—ten minutes late from our agreed time—I quickly sat up with a jolt while putting on my clothes. "Uh, I'm stuck in traffic; I'll be there soon!" Binzi seemed to know I hadn't gotten up yet and calmly said, "You're stuck at home, right? Hurry up! The flight is at nine-forty; you'll miss it!" "I know! I'm on my way!" I hurriedly replied before hanging up and rushing out the door.
Fortunately, luck was on my side as I found a taxi right outside. Without saying a word during the ride, we arrived at the airport half an hour later. Binzi was already pacing impatiently at the entrance. I hurried over with an apologetic expression. "Sorry! I'm late!" He shot me a glance and urged me to hurry inside as he walked briskly toward the terminal.
We barely made it in time. Once seated in the cabin, I patted my chest and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness we made it." Binzi looked at me disdainfully and said, "If it weren't for you, would it have been this close?!" "I was just tired from preparing everything," I defended myself. He didn't respond but kept his eyes fixed on the last person boarding.
Noticing something was off in the atmosphere, I lowered my voice and asked him what he had seen. He gestured for silence and pointed at the last person boarding—a man wearing a black fedora and a long black coat with his hat pulled low enough to obscure his face.
I watched for a moment without noticing anything unusual until Binzi took his backpack down from the luggage rack and pulled out a red wooden figurine from inside. He asked me to hold his backpack while he walked toward the man in black with the figurine in hand. Just as they were about to cross paths, he swiftly tossed the figurine into the man's coat pocket before turning around and returning to my side—all of this happening in an instant that left me stunned.
Once the man in black passed by us, I whispered to Binzi what had just happened. He lowered his voice as well and explained, "Although I can't see those spirits anymore now, my intuition told me something was off about that guy when I saw him earlier. So I placed a Peach Wood Figurine in his pocket just in case; these figurines are made by soaking peach wood in human blood and can attract spirits to attach themselves temporarily."
"Is there something else you're not telling me?" I looked at Binzi skeptically.
Caught off guard by my sudden question, Binzi smiled sheepishly and admitted, "Yeah, that figurine costs over a thousand yuan each; I didn't tell you." Seeing him deliberately change the subject made me decide not to press further; my instincts told me that pushing him would only lead to trouble for myself. Instead, I followed his lead: "So does that mean you just threw away a thousand yuan on that guy?" He chuckled mischievously and replied, "Well, it's not my money~" Internally cursing him for using my money to buy such junk and giving it away for free made my face flush with anger.
The plane took off smoothly after some turbulence settled down. As I gazed out of the window, drowsiness washed over me until I unknowingly fell asleep. Not long after that, someone nudged me awake. Blinking my eyes open revealed Binzi looking at me helplessly; when he saw me awake he said, "We're here; it's time to get up." Rubbing my eyes and glancing around showed other passengers packing their luggage in preparation to disembark.
I quickly stood up alongside Binzi as we grabbed our bags and joined the crowd moving forward. At that moment, I noticed that the man ahead of us was indeed the same one Binzi had suspected earlier—the one he had placed a Peach Wood Figurine into his pocket. As he reached the cabin door, he stumbled over something unseen and nearly fell; immediately after that, something fell out of his coat pocket.
Peering closely revealed it was indeed the figurine Binzi had placed there earlier but now had turned from bright red to dark color. Just as I reached out to pick it up, Binzi stopped me with a hand gesture from behind; turning around to look at him showed he was signaling me not to interfere. Reluctantly withdrawing my hand meant watching as that figurine got kicked around by people until it eventually disappeared into the crowd.
Once outside the airport we hailed another taxi heading straight into town. On our way there, curiosity got the better of me as I asked why the figurine had turned black. He explained quietly: "Because a spirit has already attached itself to it; anyone who touches that figurine now will surely become possessed." My curiosity piqued further: "How can you be so sure there's a spirit attached to that man?" He waved his hand dismissively: "It's not that there's a spirit on him; it's what's behind him that's problematic. If there were one on him directly I'd be powerless against it—spirits need an opportunity to invade someone's body just like how Void Spirits occupy humans; it's just less complicated when invading ordinary people."
Recalling what happened during my theft incident suddenly dawned on me as realization struck: “Isn’t it true that ordinary people become more susceptible to possession when they lose focus—like being startled or frightened?” He nodded affirmatively: “Exactly! How did you know?” With him asking about it prompted me to recount how I'd lost my Box earlier; after listening intently he remarked: “If you walk too much down dark paths you'll eventually encounter ghosts—he brought this upon himself since that Box is inherently cursed; being an ordinary person only makes things worse when you chased him like that—he panicked so even if Void Spirits didn’t harm him those other spirits would have killed him.” Hearing this filled me with guilt: “So because of my chasing him he lost focus leading him into danger?” He chuckled softly while shaking his head: “Even if you hadn’t chased him down he would still have met his end—you saw how far along Hao Yin had grown on his hand already?” His words eased much of my burden instantly.
Before long, the car stopped in front of the hotel we had booked. I paid the driver, grabbed my luggage, and walked into the hotel with Binzi. Since we were only staying for one night and would be leaving early the next morning, we booked just a double room. Upon entering the room, I was taken aback—there was a completely transparent bathroom with no patterns at all. As soon as the light turned on, it felt like a display case; it was awkward not just for showering but even for using the toilet. I looked at Binzi and suggested, "How about we get two rooms instead?" He looked at me in confusion and asked, "Why would we need two rooms?" Seemingly indifferent, he dropped his luggage and surveyed the room, appearing quite satisfied. I decided not to press the issue further.
After putting down our luggage and noticing it was still early, Binzi and I went out to grab a bite to eat. We tried some mashed potato cakes and sweet lotus root candy. Though their names sounded strange, they were surprisingly delicious. We wandered through several streets, indulging in food until our stomachs were full and round. After eating our fill and realizing it was getting late, we returned to the hotel to rest.
The next morning, Binzi woke up early. By the time I got up, it was already seven o'clock, and he had already eaten breakfast outside and brought back a portion for me. I thanked him as I took a few bites of the soy milk and fried dough sticks he bought before checking out of the hotel to continue our journey. Along the way, Binzi and I chatted about Lincang's local customs and food—mainly food—and soon arrived at the bus station. I checked the schedule and saw that there was a bus to Zhenkang County leaving at eight o'clock. With time running short, I hurried to buy tickets and boarded the bus.
On the road, both Binzi and I fell asleep; it seemed he hadn't slept well the night before either. After four hours of travel, we arrived at noon. We first found a hotel to settle down in, grabbed something to eat, and then began discussing our plans for what was next.
Binzi emptied his bag onto the bed. I noticed he hadn’t packed many daily essentials; he barely had any clothes but instead had a bunch of items I didn’t recognize, including two Red Peach Wood Dolls that he had used on the plane before. Curious, I asked him, "Why did you bring so many of these things?" He acted as if he hadn’t heard me and started organizing his belongings, sorting them into categories before placing them into different cloth bags.
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