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Lao Yang, seeing my determination and not wanting to evade the question any longer, said, "The last time I saw him was in a village in Yunnan, near the border with South. What was that village called... It's been so long that I can't quite remember..." He seemed to fall into deep thought, walking aside and rubbing his chin.
Taking advantage of Lao Yang's contemplation, I turned to the One-Armed Youth and asked, "You’ve helped me so much, yet I still don’t know your name. May I ask for your surname?" The One-Armed Youth replied, "I’m not who I used to be; I have no identity now. My name doesn’t matter anymore. Helping you is just a trivial matter for me. After all, I've lost my Void Spirit and one arm; I'm just a useless person now, surviving on odd jobs. So even if I had the key, it wouldn't do me any good."
I was momentarily at a loss for words. He seemed to realize his statement was inappropriate and added, "If you really need a name, just call me Binzi. Since losing my identity, I've given myself another name: Wang Bin." I nodded in acknowledgment. At that moment, Lao Yang seemed to remember something and approached me. "Shen," he said, "I recall now that the last time I saw that master with the surname Yin was in a place called Zhenkang County in South Yunnan. Beyond that, I can’t remember any more details."
Hearing that place name felt quite remote to me, stirring a sense of unease within. "Can you accompany me there? After all, I'm unfamiliar with the area. Since you've been there before, could you guide me?" After asking, I noticed Lao Yang's expression change as he hesitated. "I haven't been out for a long time. Partly because of my appearance, and partly because ever since being invaded by the Void Spirit, my legs haven't been as nimble. Often, even simple tasks like grocery shopping require help from neighbors," Lao Yang sighed.
Seeing no hope for assistance, I quickly said, "It's fine; even if I have to go alone, I will. I can't just watch myself turn into a ghost."
Before I could finish speaking, Binzi lightly patted me on the shoulder. "I can accompany you; however, I have two requests." Hearing this gave me hope for companionship on my journey. "What are your requests? Just tell me!" He replied, "Since I'm just doing odd jobs and don't have much money, you'll need to cover my travel expenses." I responded without hesitation, "That's no problem; I'll cover the travel costs. What's the second request?"
"Secondly," he continued, "you need to pay me ten thousand yuan as a reward." Upon hearing this, I thought to myself that this guide fee seemed rather steep; even joining a tour group wouldn’t cost that much for a trip to Yunnan. "So what do you say? Will you agree?" Binzi's words jolted me back to reality. Gritting my teeth, I replied firmly, "Fine!"
Seeing my agreement, Binzi added, "You need to give me the money before we set off." Doubts crept into my mind: what if he ran off with it? But despite my concerns, I smiled and asked innocently, "Why is that?" He chuckled softly and said, "As for why you shouldn't ask too many questions; you'll find out when the time comes." I glanced at Lao Yang; he simply nodded in silence as if urging me to trust him.
After finalizing our agreement with Binzi and exchanging phone numbers, we set our departure for three days later. Remembering that the box belonged to Lao Yang and feeling it wasn’t right to take it without compensation as if buying it from him, I handed him some money before leaving. As I departed with the ancient scroll and booklet along with the box key packed together, Lao Yang mysteriously warned me about a nearby village called Baiyan Village known for its ghostly disturbances and advised me to be cautious. However, I didn’t take it too seriously.
After leaving Lao Yang's shop and parting ways with everyone else as dusk approached, I walked home while sorting through my thoughts about everything that had happened recently. Suddenly distracted by my musings, I felt a jolt as if someone bumped into me. When I regained my senses, I realized that the box I'd been holding was gone! The booklet and ancient scroll were safely tucked away in my pocket.
Could it have been that person who snatched my box? Turning around quickly revealed a man sprinting away with my box in hand. Without thinking twice, I took off after him. However, having lost focus for a moment and not having eaten anything all day made it difficult to keep up with him after running through several alleys; fatigue began to set in. He suddenly darted into another alleyway just as I fell behind and had no choice but to stop and lean against my knees while gasping for breath.
Just then, before I'd fully caught my breath, a scream echoed from the alley where the man had run into followed by an eerie silence. Regaining some composure despite feeling lightheaded from earlier exertion and lack of oxygen made my vision blur; rubbing my eyes helped clear them enough to see.
It was a dead-end alley where the man stood dazed against the wall at its end swaying back and forth while muttering something under his breath. Since I was still some distance away from him and couldn’t hear clearly what he was saying at first but slowly crept closer trying to catch his words until he was only ten steps away when finally heard him clearly.
He faced the wall repeatedly saying: “I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die…” My heart raced at this sight. In a daze momentarily distracted by his words made me notice he tightly gripped my box in his hanging hand; under the dim light of dusk revealed something alarming on his arm—Hao Yin had already formed! My heart tightened at this realization: “Why has his Hao Yin matured so quickly while mine hasn’t? Even Binzi never mentioned anything about Hao Yin growing rapidly; could it be that ordinary people cannot touch it? Or is there another reason?” My mind raced through every related detail trying desperately to find answers but ultimately came up empty-handed.
At that moment he fell silent again as silence enveloped us once more; his hand holding the box relaxed causing it to clatter onto the ground beside him. Seeing this presented an opportunity for reclaiming my box—I stepped forward cautiously toward him intending to pick it up when suddenly he turned around revealing his face resembling a second Lao Yang—haggard yet different with blood-red eyes staring blankly through me while wailing uncontrollably as he clawed at his clothes.
Faced with such an unexpected sight left no room for hesitation—I snatched up the box swiftly then rolled away against the wall at the end of the alley avoiding any potential harm from his frantic movements.
At that moment, I didn't know what I could do; my mind was blank. I watched as he tore off all his clothes, revealing a skeletal upper body. Suddenly, a fierce look crossed his face. With a forceful motion, he plunged his ten fingers deep into his chest. Blood gushed out like a waterfall, and then with another powerful pull, he ripped out several of his ribs. I was stunned, trembling uncontrollably. I wanted to struggle and escape, but my limbs wouldn't obey me. All I could do was watch helplessly as he pulled each rib from his body. Just as he extracted the last rib, he paused.
He turned to look at me, blood tears streaming from his eyes, choking out two words: "Save me." Seeing his chest torn open and the heart still beating inside, I wished someone would knock me unconscious so I wouldn't have to witness this horrifying scene.
Just when I thought it was over, he seemed to muster the last bit of his strength. He grabbed his beating heart and with a forceful tug, pulled it entirely out of his chest cavity. With a thud, he collapsed to the ground. As he fell, I too crumpled against the wall and lost consciousness.
I don't know how long it was before I finally regained consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I found myself face-to-face with the grotesque corpse, which terrified me so much that I scrambled back into the corner of the wall, nearly fainting again. I glanced at the Hao Yin on my hand, fearing that I might end up like him; thankfully, it had only grown slightly.
I grasped the Box to steady myself and struggled to stand up. Inch by inch, I made my way along the wall to the alley's entrance. After much effort, I finally reached the street corner, overwhelmed with mixed emotions. I thought to myself that I couldn't just leave it at that. Trembling, I took out my phone and called the police. To avoid complications, after reporting the incident, I removed my SIM card and tossed it into a trash bin. Then I dragged my heavy feet back home, changed clothes, and took a shower but still felt shaken. By the next morning, I hadn't slept at all; I just stared blankly at the Flower Board.
As dawn broke, I hurriedly picked up my phone and inserted my backup SIM card to call Lao Yang. I recounted everything that had happened since I'd left him yesterday and asked if he knew what was going on.
After listening, Lao Yang exclaimed in surprise: "When I first encountered the Void Spirit, that expert surnamed Yin mentioned it too. The Void Spirit is not something ordinary people should come into contact with; if someone doesn't originally possess a Void Spirit, they should stay as far away as possible. It was only because of that expert's advice that I'm still alive; otherwise, I'd probably be dead by now."
A flash of insight struck me, and I asked: "So is it because both Binzi and I were born with Void Spirits that we are being eroded more slowly?" "Lao Yang replied thoughtfully, "Yes, that's quite possible." Suddenly another question came to mind: "Then why didn't you get marked with Hao Yin when you first encountered that Box?" There was silence on the other end of the line after my question. After a moment of contemplation, Lao Yang responded: "I've been pondering this question ever since what happened with you and Binzi. Why is it that I'm unaffected?"
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