Chapter 76: Yuan Shen Manifests Divinity To Slay All Around, Heavenly Venerable Sacrifices Self To Purify Haunted House
Wednesday morning, cloudy turning to light rain.
Running City residents once again welcomed the most familiar weather, cool air carrying moisture, thin mist enveloping the surroundings, draping the cityscape in a layer of hazy veil.
Yuan Zhu was dressed in black sportswear, carrying a single-shoulder bag, a file tucked under one arm, half a beef pie in the other hand, standing still at the entrance to a well-landscaped villa area in the eastern suburbs, surveying the neighborhood shrouded in mist.
This Silent Hill-like eerie and desolate opening heralded ominous signs!
“Crunch, crunch!” The crispy beef pie was quickly devoured bite by bite. Delicious!
The security guard spotted the vague black human shape at the edge of the mist and jumped in fright. A gust of wind thinned the mist, revealing it was a person, and he irritably said, “Hey, what are you doing? This is a high-end residential area, no entry for idlers.”
He pulled out a commission letter from the file and handed it over. Yuan Zhu coolly replied, “Evil spirit exorcism.”
Several days had passed since the Holy Mark Ritual, and after getting preliminarily familiar with Sanctuary’s basic operations, he could no longer suppress his Roll King Soul: I haven’t gone to work in days! These muscles and bones can’t afford to slack off.
So early that morning, he went to Fire Fang to claim the cleaning mission for that haunted house, wanting to test local pollution (evil spirit) in Running City and gauge the quality and tempering of this Holy Light.
Then, he smoothly obtained the relevant information and commission letter, heading out to work in the drizzly rain. A bit of wind, rain, and mist couldn’t stop my path to working. Workers’ working soul, workers are someone superior to others!
Upon hearing “evil spirit exorcism,” the neighborhood security guard shivered involuntarily. Thinking of the recent frequent strange incidents, he felt a chill down his spine, his gaze toward Yuan Zhu now tinged with tension and unease.
“Great Master… hello.”
Yuan Zhu withdrew his distant gaze and looked at this unremarkable middle-aged man. In his newly acquired Holy Light Perception, the man appeared normal, merely somewhat weak from insufficient rest, with no signs of deep pollution.
“Don’t be nervous. Do you know anything about the haunted house in this neighborhood? Heard any rumors? Or encountered any strange things?”
The cleaning commission accepted by Fire Fang wasn’t initiated by the haunted house owner, but jointly commissioned by other residents in the villa area. The haunted house remained unoccupied, yet neighboring residents suffered greatly, hearing nightly despairing wails from hell, screams, inexplicable howls, or heart-wrenching coughs…
When startled awake, the house was silent inside, and the neighborhood outside showed no noise. Yet the first image in their minds was always that standalone villa in the neighborhood.
Some hadn’t even seen the haunted house, but the image in their minds matched the real villa exactly, down to memorable details, which was terrifying and caused quite a bit of neurasthenia, boosting hospital business.
Over time, its reputation as a haunted house spread like wildfire. And the tales grew more bizarre, with many residents experiencing this in dreams. Even hospital demon extermination confirmed their bodies and spirits were healthy.
A few days ago, Fire Fang sent employees to probe the haunted house simply, detecting traces of evil spirit existence, thus confirming the pollution type.
Since this villa area had many residents startled but no disappearances, the danger index was low, requiring only 4-6 rounds of detection and elimination per the Demon Exorcism Manual to completely annihilate the evil spirit in the villa.
This time, however, Yuan Zhu came alone without equipment, relying purely on confidence in his own power.
He had Holy Light now; why bother with low-tier UV sterilization, chlorine gas suffocation disinfection, black glue Buddhist chants soul destruction…? That would make the reinforcement pointless!
Hearing Yuan Zhu’s question, the security guard with eerie experiences stammered out much useless info. Only one detail wasn’t in the records.
“You mean, there are rumors of homeless people vanishing inexplicably near the neighborhood?”
The security guard nodded repeatedly: “Yes, that’s the rumor, but I also know those pharmaceutical companies often illegally capture beggars and homeless at night, imprison them for drug trials. Plus mysterious beast attacks, the rise of the sewer goblin kingdom, bizarre divine hidden curses… rich people’s five viscera life extension soup ingredients…”
“Stop, stop, stop, getting more outrageous. Running City lifted curfew over a decade ago, proving improving security. Don’t make up nonsense. I want real incident intel, not your baseless fantasies. Sewer goblin kingdom? Do you know how miserable goblins in the sewers have it?”
Being relentlessly captured by us! Toss in a bottle of poison gas, smash in a bottle of anesthetic, then cast nets to fish them out, sever hand and foot tendons, collar their necks, string them in rows… for sale. Pharmaceutical companies pay promptly and praise our hard work.
Patting Frostmourne at his waist, he felt emboldened and strode into the neighborhood, quickly approaching the haunted house.
…
Several villas near the haunted house were now unoccupied.
Residents couldn’t endure the nightly torment; some moved out temporarily, others put up for sale… even the neighborhood brats, cats, and dogs detoured, making the area around the villa exceptionally quiet.
Paired with the current hazy mist, overcast sky, and drizzle, the gloomy, eerie, ominous atmosphere was maxed out. He was walking to his death.
Climbing the steps, Yuan Zhu gently knocked and cleared his throat: “Any ghosts here? Please open the door!”
“…”
Naturally, no response from inside. He wasn’t surprised and continued politely: “Then I’m coming in.”
The boss hadn’t given him keys, so he activated the uniform to condense pitch-black threads, drilling into the lock, skillfully unlocking it.
Since gaining the Holy Mark, he found that in human form, Holy Light and Shadow Uniform clashed somewhat. Mainly the Holy Mark picking fights unilaterally.
Even with cadaver cloth wrapped around his wrist isolating and suppressing the Holy Mark, using the uniform’s power still triggered rejection from the Holy Mark, intensifying the wound’s burning, with impulses to purify the uniform surging in his thoughts.
Holy Light disliked any pollution traces on the host besides itself. It was like a mental cleanliness obsession, now restrained by Yuan Zhu with effort. No method yet found for them to coexist harmoniously.
Creak… screech!
The door opened, hinges emitting long-neglected harsh noise, a thin layer of dust on the indoor floor with a few footprints left by previous Fire Fang employees detecting evil spirit traces.
Clang!
Unnoticed when, the room door closed silently again. Indoor visibility dimmed abruptly, the atmosphere turning eerie and sinister, indeed something unclean lurking.
The Holy Mark on his wrist emitted slight scalding pain, constantly stimulating nerves, alerting him to anomalies.
Little Spicy Stick then spoke: “Boss, very interesting. This haunted house, after door closure, gradually becomes a ‘closed’ domain, with even spatial fluctuations showing slight distortion, deviating minutely from external reality spacetime.”
Yuan Zhu wasn’t surprised; he’d long known this haunted house had unclean things. Little Spicy Stick’s performance today was exceptionally reliable, sparking his curiosity: “Oh? How’d you suddenly get so professional? Know so much?”
“Hey! Thanks to you, boss. Since you chose the Sanctuary holy seal, I shared your ‘weak spatial perception,’ and the database got an epic update! Tracing back, from the sacrifice ritual hall, to that night’s spatial docking (Night Watch Division), then Happy Home, Bubble World… all involved spatial changes.”
“These spacetime fluctuations were all recorded by me. But lacking tools then, I couldn’t parse the mysteries. Until you imprinted Sanctuary, your soul subtly changed, and I got the tool (holy seal) to parse spatial concepts, enabling observation and understanding of space. This villa is undoubtedly still in the real world; but internally, there’s about 0.01 error offset. Small number, yet allows certain special powers to manifest.”
Sanctuary granted Yuan Zhu ‘weak space’ attribute; he sensed the villa’s changes immediately, nodding in approval: “Got it. Like someone set up the villa as a stronghold. Constructed ‘magic array, barrier’ stuff, causing this deviation.”
Little Spicy Stick flattered: “Exactly! Boss is indeed brilliant, extraordinary comprehension, gets it instantly!”
“Cut it, Sanctuary is in my soul, so I’m naturally sensitive to spatial changes. Here there’s also a kind of…”
Before he finished, intense chilly aura surged in the villa, air around him twisting slightly, electronic static buzzing in his ears, then seeming human voices? The originally cold, dim surroundings gradually brightened vividly, with traces of humanoid movement before him…
Deep in his brain, Immortal Scripture errored; his mental channel hijacked by unknown signals, but blocked.
Yuan Zhu’s thoughts remained clear, wrist Holy Mark heating painfully. He chose minor stamina burn, disguising released Holy Light to circulate internally to his head, senses sharpening instantly.
It was that invisible yin spirit, unlike Bubble World Yellow Springs ghostly creature, no underworld (Yellow Springs) aura, yet retaining soul and death’s chill.
This power, formless and traceless, launched mental shock at him, seemingly twisting air to create illusions, paralyzing spirit to tamper cognition and memory.
But in Yuan Zhu’s eyes, the air ahead indeed twisted, gradually forming a blurry homemaker young woman image, unfortunately face unclear. She seemed to be saying something to him now?
Ear static gradually formed intermittent words. A scene… like cleaning company employee visiting to investigate anomaly, warmly hosted by lady of house, invited inside to check.
If mesmerized, he’d now meet the non-existent ‘homeowner,’ guided by them to complete a round of ‘demon exorcism’?
Unfortunately, his soul first had Immortal Scripture protection, then holy seal blessing. This illusion didn’t reach mental depths; even straining to discern, he couldn’t hear or see clearly.
Thus, in the yin spirit’s eyes, Yuan Zhu appeared dazed and muddled. Like a dementia patient in the owner’s home, ignoring the hostess’s warm reception, standing dumbly, not taking offered beverage, blankly surveying the living room, treating greetings as background noise.
The illusion seemed angered by Yuan Zhu’s actions, pointing at the door and scolding? Seemingly telling him to leave, saying home normal, no need for inspection.
Yuan Zhu pondered: if an ordinary cleaner, would they be bewitched by this, forget duties, return to company reporting task done? Even file a report saying evil spirit cleared?
While thinking, the illusion shadow scolding him to leave saw Yuan Zhu unmoved, growing angrier, launching mental attack at him.
If an ordinary person hit like this, perhaps soul shaken, memory tampered by opponent. But for Yuan Zhu, not even a wobble; blocked with Holy Light.
“Ah…!”
He heard a scream, the twisted blurry colorful scene ahead shattering and dissipating instantly. The haunted house reverted to gloomy dimness, ear static vanishing.
“Uh… just now…” Was there something unclean that greeted him?
Game Sprite: “Boss, your supernatural ability is unmatched, magic power boundless. Immortal fortune eternal, lifespan matching heavens. That little evil spirit overreached, daring to clash mentally with you. Before you could respond, it crashed into your protective Holy Light, burned screaming retreat, truly weak, pitiful, garbage!”
“I was attacked?” Yuan Zhu mused, then showed a very polite smile, “Since opponent struck first, my responses are all self-defense, right?”
“Yes yes yes, we’re totally justified!”
Yuan Zhu strode forward, following (intuition) mental guidance toward the haunted house first floor living room.
Air’s chilly aura not only didn’t dissipate but gathered more, twisting air around him again, blurry colorful scenes flashing, distorting, switching frequently nearby.
For ordinary person, this would cause direct mental shock, confusing consciousness, blurring real and illusory, inducing panic, high mental tension and consumption.
But for Yuan Zhu, not only no illusion effect, but like watching The Shining. Scenes switching around him; trying to scare him off with ‘hallucinations’? Or containing some mental pollution?
Yuan Zhu’s current spirit resistance was overwhelmingly strong, completely unaffected.
On one hand, Immortal Scripture specialized in soul firewall; on the other, Holy Light was highly idealistic ‘energy side + spirit side’ product, very resistant until shaking his mental foundation.
Unwrapping hand cadaver cloths, Yuan Zhu full of righteous (Holy Light) aura, boldly delved deep into the haunted house, exploring.
…
Haunted house evil spirit’s two rounds of tactics all failed, growing furious. As he crossed living room through dining room, silver dinnerware on table trembled slightly.
Back turned to it all, Yuan Zhu raised one arm, wrist Holy Mark drawing vitality to release Holy Light. He held right hand high, white blazing orb forming in palm, emanating holy radiance.
Gandalf Grand Illumination Technique!
“God said, let there be light!”
Intense Holy Light spread indiscriminately, brightly illuminating dining room and living room, trying to force out hidden evil spirit nearby. Then, he heard faint screams from the air?
Game Sprite saw this, excitedly screaming: “Awesome, this haunted house is saved. It’s Yuan—God!!!”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Dinner knives trembled violently, abruptly floating, aiming at Yuan Zhu’s back heart, stabbing at extreme speed, then blocked by Sanctuary-condensed octagonal holy AT force field.
“Forced it out!”
Yuan Zhu turned to see; those knocked flying by light walls circled back, targeting his throat, eyeballs, heart and other vitals for another shot.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Holy Mark throbbed painfully, whole body Holy Light erupting, illuminating entire dining room, body moreover shrouded in light wall blocks, shattering continuous shooting knives and forks.
Then, Yuan Zhu clearly saw these silver dinnerware wrapped in mucous membrane-like flesh structures, tails connected to mycelium-covered, fine flesh woolen threads.
Those seemingly woolen threads, surface wrapped in flesh traces, between real and illusory, connected to wooden floor. As if emerging from board cracks, like flexible tentacles, controlling knives for remote killing. Paired with prior brainwashing illusions, indeed somewhat dangerous.
Ominous aura diffused from the flesh woolen threads, another sensation beyond the chill…
“Cough cough…” Yuan Zhu’s throat itched uncontrollably, coughing twice before easing.
“Boss! Careful! Air here problematic, subtle pollution entering via breathing, like pollution-level germs? Pollution pathogen?!”
“Disease?”
Yuan Zhu fully blessed Sanctuary onto his body, forming inner-outer isolating Holy Light barrier, blocking possible ‘viruses’ in air. Simultaneously reached left hand into bag, retrieving a jar with lab high-risk pollution white mouse.
Unscrewing cap, grabbing the mouse curiously peering from glass bottle, Yuan Zhu advanced again, Holy Light force field tanking disease knife attacks, unscathed throughout.
And raised right hand high again, gripping little white mouse with crushing force, making it squeak wildly in pain, Holy Light meanwhile condensing in palm, pouring into its mouth, igniting mouse from inside!
Mouse: ‘I’m freaking exploding!’
At this moment, mouse eyes burst dazzling Holy Light rays, body convulsing violently, head swinging madly left-right, trailing two divine light rays indiscriminately sweeping the room.
Wherever passing, ultra-condensed holy laser rays severed those between illusory and real ‘flesh woolen threads.’
Clatter, clatter…
Knives lost control, falling straight to floor.
Yuan Zhu held high the frenzied self-burning, light incarnate atonement mouse, striding forward, righteously shouting: “Evil, begone!”
Exploding holy laser cuts forced back indoor chilly evil aura, like Western religious film exorcist old priest holding cross, one hand pious Holy Light like blazing sun condensing at fist.
One punch out, heavens change color! Battling demon king from hell through heaven, path clearing evil spirits and demons to soul ash, angels and God silent. This path shattering all evil, leveling worldly injustice.
Now, young Holy Light Cultivator Yuan Zhu similarly wielded suffering mouse, slaying all directions. One hand holy mouse explosive punch, dispelling evil, purifying haunted house; whatever evil spirits, pollution, all pulverized to dust for me! Crushed! To! Slag!
Mouse in his hand, escaping into Holy Gate cleansing its sins (pollution), nearly crushed by Yuan Zhu’s grip, shrieking loudly, emitting holy yet despairing soul dirge, countering evil spirit’s mental pollution.
Internally burning soul destruction agony, externally human hydraulic press (palm) crushing bones and internal organs; mouse pained to extreme, stiffening arms, scorched eye sockets spraying ‘holy rays’ wildly, appearing extremely tormented, but this all necessary trials for sanctification.
“Wow! So holy a scene! I, Yu Jingzi, dub you strongest suffering mouse; from now on, you’re Shift Mouse Great Heavenly Venerable!”
Great Heavenly Venerable burned all, ultimate sublimation, repelled formless evil spirit haunting haunted house, itself glory faded, extinguished last light, silently ending.
Yuan Zhu felt he’d thoroughly purified the dining room space! Air even had bits of evil spirit remnant ‘soul ash’ adsorbed by Holy Mark.
This wave wasn’t void targeting but real effective heavy damage to unseen enemy.
Great! This Holy Light + meat battery tactical combo didn’t disappoint. Next time, buy more useful ‘ritual’ methods from the old man.
Thinking thus, he squeezed palm, crushing Great Heavenly Venerable’s remnant ‘Holy Light remains.’ Fingers clenched fist, rubbing forcefully several times, divine organic corpse starch sprinkling bit by bit from gaps, drawing special symbol on floor.
Had to say, Holy Light catching fire on Du Ling Star had its reasons.
Just this appearance crushed other pollution systems. Holy aura + rich Holy Light not only burned soul ash for holy seal absorption, leftover ‘Holy Light dry batteries’ crunchable like shrimp chips into attributeless protein powder, somewhat like plant ash, also treasures.
Like now, for drawing ‘Holy Light runes.’ Little trick from Holy Light Manual: simple operation, crush dry batteries to powder, scatter on ground for rune structure, ignite with Holy Light to temporarily produce a ‘node’ with ‘holy, expulsion’ effects.
If lighting temporary runes in every room of villa with corpse starch (holy remains), could expel and force out haunted house’s evil aura, manifesting at some spot… then thoroughly! Blast! Kill!
Just now, he heard faint enraged screams spreading through villa.
Unfortunately, that evil spirit still elusive, not strong but deeply hidden, hard to expel. Thinking, Yuan Zhu’s left hand reached into bag again, pulling out ‘Shift Mouse Great Heavenly Venerable 2.0.’
Let’s continue composing the holy epic just now unfinished. Right, 2.0?
2.0 silent, only wanting to escape.
