Chapter 28: Infant Spirit

  Su Tong was stunned. After listening to Tang Ao's hint, an answer had already emerged in her mind, but she didn't dare say it out loud because she felt a little scared.

  Tang Ao thought she wasn't speaking, and assumed she hadn't found the connection, so he simply spoke out for her: "You've provoked a vengeful spirit, why it would change from an infant's appearance to a resentful spirit is something I also can't accurately conclude at present. However, based on your previous experiences, one conclusion that can be drawn now is that this vengeful spirit has been haunting you, and wants to find an opportunity for itself to reincarnate."

  Tang Ao's answer was indeed the same as Su Tong's guess, and she couldn't believe that her feared conjecture had actually reached a consensus with Tang Ao. She couldn't help but shudder, feeling like she had been drenched in ice water from head to toe, and she began to tremble slightly, exuding cold air.

  "It's okay, don't be nervous, nothing will happen. Fortunately, it was you who encountered it, and you're single. The previous one named Zhang Min didn't get away with it either, so that vengeful spirit probably won't have any other way out for the time being." Tang Hao saw her state and hurriedly comforted her, intentionally ignoring the incident from the night before to avoid embarrassing her. "Didn't you tell me that day that there was another colleague of yours who went up the mountain with you, and that colleague had a boyfriend? Think about it, what if the person who did this thing that day was her?"

  "Will she give birth to that infant spirit?" Su Tong's tone was full of doubt, because she wasn't sure if such an answer was correct or what it meant. If the infant spirit's goal was indeed to be reborn and return to the mortal world, then it would easily achieve its purpose by encountering Wang Li and being reincarnated as a human. But why did Tang Ao's tone seem to suggest that such a result would be even worse than the current situation?

  "Generally speaking, those who can form a vengeful spirit are some premature infants who died young, either after birth or before they were born and had their right to life taken away. However, this infant, or rather fetus, has an extremely strong desire to come into the world. After its physical body perished, its soul did not disperse and was unwilling to enter the cycle of reincarnation. They believe they suffered unfair treatment and want to regain the right to be born in the world through their own means. However, vengeful spirits with light grudges and weak obsessions can hardly achieve this. They either wander around the mortal realm for a period or disperse into nothingness, or enter the cycle of reincarnation. Only those with heavy obsessions and strong resentment can find ways to fulfill their wishes. And such vengeful spirits that are reborn as humans are also heavily yin. From what you've experienced at home, this spirit is absolutely not just an ordinary premature infant. Its obsession with this world is much deeper than usual, or else it wouldn't have had such heavy yin energy. I guess it's been trapped in the mortal realm for a very long time and couldn't reincarnate. If such a vengeful spirit found an opportunity to be reborn as human, do you think it would turn out okay?"

  "That must be really scary." This time Su Tong finally answered very firmly, and she also felt lucky for the first time after experiencing so many thrilling adventures. Although this encounter was not pleasant at all, at least it happened to herself, which meant that she had already avoided the most dangerous outcome in a way. From now on, until this danger was completely eliminated, she could only rely on Tang Ao's help.

  "Let's go to your place, you change clothes, and I'll take a look at that small statue you mentioned. Are you taking the day off or going to work as usual? Can you take me to the hospital to check on the situation?" Tang Ao seemed slightly anxious about going to the hospital to check on the situation.

  He said that, Su Tong just remembered that he still had to go to work. From the night before when she encountered a fright until now, it felt like several years had passed, and she almost forgot about her normal daily life. Taking Tang Hao to the hospital was not difficult, but what she was worried about now was going back home to find that small statue. For the first time, Su Tong felt that home was no longer a warm word, but rather something that made people feel a little scared.

  "Can this time be over now?" She asked Tang Hao anxiously.

  Tang Ao smiled, and from the slightly bulging pocket of his shirt, he pulled out a stack of talismans written in cinnabar: "I read books all night yesterday. With my comprehension, I can improvise, not fast but radiant, no problem."

  Su Tong secretly sighed, Tang Ao's confident performance was not a bad thing for her, she just hoped that when he really needed to show his strength, he would live up to this confidence.

  Two people simply finished eating breakfast, got up and went to Su Tong's house. When they arrived in the corridor, Su Tong was about to touch the key to open the door when he was pulled back by Tang Xiao.

  "Wait a minute, put this on." He said as he took off a pendant-like object from his own neck and handed it to Su Tong. "You just had a shock yesterday, the yang energy in your body hasn't fully recovered yet. Wearing this should help you a bit, at least you won't be so easily confused and lose control of your mind."

  Su Tong took the pendant, which was similar to amber in color, and examined it. The pendant had some deep and shallow irregular patterns on it, and the entire pendant was polished into an octagonal shape with many deep and shallow lines engraved on it. Su Tong looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure out what kind of craftsmanship was used to create it. He just felt that holding this thing in his hand gave him a very warm and comfortable feeling, making him feel inexplicably secure inside.

  "What is this?" Su Tong curiously asked Tang Ao.

  "This is a tortoiseshell," Tang Ao replied, "it's sort of my amulet, I don't even remember when and where I got it from, anyway, in my memory, it seems to have never left my side. The symbol on this is a talisman, your current state is completely dispirited, carrying this is equivalent to adding another layer of insurance."

  "This thing is so fierce?" Su Tong looked at the not-so-large tortoiseshell in surprise.

  "Yes," T'ang Ao took the tortoiseshell pendant from her hand and put it back around her neck, "this thing is really useful. I had just discovered my yin-yang eyes and hadn't gotten that ancient book on magic yet, so I didn't know anything. Then one time I went to a client's house to look at the place, and unexpectedly ran into a particularly vicious evil spirit. If it weren't for this tortoiseshell protecting me, you wouldn't be meeting me now."

  "Oh no, then I definitely can't wear this anymore!" Su Tong hurriedly tried to remove the tortoiseshell necklace from his neck. "You need this thing more than I do. Originally, because I accidentally provoked something and had you come over to take risks, I already felt guilty enough. I couldn't let you add more risk on yourself. Moreover...you're the only one who can deal with that infant spirit, if you were to encounter any danger, I'd be completely unable to handle it! You should wear this instead, I believe you can protect me."

  Tang Ao's face lit up with a few more smiles when he heard this, but he didn't accept Su Tong's proposal. After several rounds of polite refusals, due to Tang Ao's unyielding attitude, Su Tong could only nervously accept his kindness and carefully put the tortoiseshell into her collar before opening the door to leave.

  He suddenly opened the anti-theft door, and Su Tong's tense heart looked inside. The house was quiet, except for the air still being gloomy, there was also a stagnant atmosphere that no one had returned home all day.

  "Go, go in, it's okay." Tang Ao gestured behind him, and Su Tong finally walked in with a nervous expression, not even bothering to change her shoes. She rushed straight to the craft shelf next to the TV, wanting to find the small statue she had carelessly placed there that day. She remembered bringing it back from Changqing Mountain at some point, dropping it on the floor while bathing and hurting her foot, then picking it up and putting it on this shelf. The location shouldn't be too hidden, it should be easy to find, but why couldn't she find the small statue now after searching through the entire craft shelf? It was as if the thing had never existed in her home at all.

  "How could this be? It was clearly here just now." Su Tong's mind was a bit panicked, an inanimate object that shouldn't have life, had it actually run away on its own? If it really had run away, then the matter would be too terrifying, almost no need for further confirmation to determine that the sculpture was strange.

  "It's probably hidden away, not wanting to be found by us. This actually explains a problem, which is that this infant spirit has some connection with the small statue, so it wants to hide it to avoid being discovered and threatening itself." Tang Wei thought of another thing, "Right, when you picked up that thing, did anything else happen? Think carefully again."

  Su Tong furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, suddenly remembering a detail that had almost been forgotten by himself: "When I fell down, wasn't my hand cut by that small statue and made a gash? As a result, later on, when I clenched this thing, the blood from that wound stopped flowing. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but now looking back...

  "The blood was sucked in by the statue." Tang Ao finished her sentence with a very determined tone, "This possibility is quite plausible, that's why this vengeful spirit has such a strong connection with you. After Zhang Min failed to fulfill its purpose, even if you didn't enter the house, just approaching the door during the peak of yin energy, it could still successfully interfere with your mind."

  "I'd better go change my clothes quickly, I've been standing here listening to you and the goosebumps on my skin haven't gone away," Su Tong felt like she couldn't take it anymore and hastily thought of leaving. Turning her head, she suddenly remembered something else and turned back with a tense expression, "When we discuss these things here, can it understand us? Can it hear us? Is that okay?"

  "It doesn't matter, now it's daytime, its power will weaken, and if you want to defeat the opponent, you should first overcome your fear of the opponent psychologically." Tang Ao said confidently.

  Su Tong was inspired by him, and he also felt that it made more sense. The feeling of fear seemed to have weakened a bit, but she still quickly returned to her bedroom, changed into another set of clothes, and before leaving the house again, she turned back to grab a sports backpack from the closet, stuffed some spare clothes inside, and then left.

  In the extremely period, she still did well in preparing for both hands, in order not to let herself be possessed by that evil spirit again. Before formally dealing with this terrible and invisible opponent, it's better for her to minimize the number of times she returns to this dangerous area.

  Tang Ao saw her carrying a bulging sports backpack from the bedroom and immediately guessed the reason behind it. He took over the backpack, replacing Su Tong, and after they left her house, he opened his own front door and put the backpack inside.

  "Ah——" Su Tong opened his mouth to stop him, but was stared down by Tang Ao's gaze, and the words got stuck in his throat. He struggled for a long time before finally saying with a red face, "Isn't this inappropriate?"

  "What else can we do? We've only made a preliminary judgment that the vengeful spirit is the target, but its origins and how to deal with it are still uncertain. If you can't go home tonight, where do you plan to stay?" Tang Hao knew what Su Tong was embarrassed about. In fact, even he couldn't help but feel his heart racing and his throat drying up when thinking about Su Tong's actions the night before after being bewildered. However, ensuring safety was the top priority at the moment. For him, keeping Su Tong within a range that he could protect was the most reassuring approach, whether from a public or private perspective. He feared that Su Tong still had other ideas and asked again, "Do you still want to go stay in a hotel?"

  Su Tong was asked by him, and he thought of the female ghost who ran to grab his hair the night before, shuddered, shook his head quickly, and no longer entangled himself in the matter of where to live.

  Two people reached an agreement on this matter and went downstairs to prepare for departure. Su Tong had to go to the newspaper office, Tang Ao accompanied her, and after she finished handling things there, the two would go to the hospital together to check on the condition of the seven children. Taking Tang Ao to the newspaper office was something that Su Tong didn't have to worry about; she could just make up some reason and identity to smoothly cover for him. The only person she might not be able to deceive was probably Wang Li alone.

  As for Zhang Min, Su Tong wasn't too worried because Tang Hao said he wouldn't necessarily wake up at this time. Even if he did wake up, he would be in so much pain and itchiness from the little punishment Tang Hao gave him that there was no way he could go to work.

  In fact, even if there was no lesson from Tang Ao, just the few punches he tried to knock down Zhang Min when he was trying to knock him down would have been enough for Zhang Min not to go out and see people for several days.

  But when going downstairs, Su Tong suddenly remembered another concern that had been neglected before in the elevator.

  "Your house and mine are just a wall apart, won't that thing run from my house to yours?" She asked Tang Hao with some lingering fear.

  Tang Ao shook his head: "No, after mastering some spell techniques, the first thing I did was set up a boundary in my own home. Living people and objects from the world of the living can come and go freely, but wandering ghosts and wild demons cannot enter without my permission. Originally, I just wanted to make my life a bit more peaceful, but unexpectedly, it has come in handy at this time."

  Su Tong let out a sigh of relief and felt a bit more at ease in his heart than before.

  A person who can set up a boundary, at least their abilities shouldn't be too bad, right? She thought secretly.