Chapter 118: Encountering the Witch Again

After wandering in the forest for most of the day, I hadn’t encountered anything unclean, but as expected, Tu’e was exactly as I thought. When I found him, he was sitting under a tree, hugging his knees, idly drawing something with a twig. Seeing me approach, he looked relieved, as if I had finally found him.

“Lost?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied.

This guy was impressive—sometimes I truly forgot that his mind didn’t quite work right.

When we returned along the same path to the burial mound, the police had already arrived and were digging up the graves with shovels. That gave me a rough idea of how long I had been looking for Tu’e.

The place was heavy with yin energy; we couldn’t leave the police unattended here. Someone had to stay and protect them.

I sighed. “It’s a pity we still don’t know who performed the ritual.”

Without knowing the ritualist, we couldn’t fundamentally help those students break the soul suppression.

“No, we encountered her,” Xiao Qingwan said.

I looked at her in surprise.

“The person we chased out with Second Master Wei was her. Unfortunately, she tricked us and got away,” Xiao Qingwan said dejectedly.

That meant we were still stuck.

“I placed a tracker on her,” Second Master Wei suddenly said.

My hope was instantly rekindled. Such a move! No wonder he was so capable!

The other seven coffins were unearthed, their lids pried open, revealing the rotting bodies of little girls dressed in red. I felt a deep sorrow—these girls were truly pitiful, yet I couldn’t even protect their souls.

Only after the police took away the bodies did we leave. According to the tracker, the ritualist was still somewhere on this mountain. The yin energy here was too strong, making it very disadvantageous for us. We had to wait for her to come out before making our move.

Night fell; the cold was biting, the wind chilling. Tu’e, Second Master Wei, and I hid in a grove filled with voodoo dolls pinned to trees, holding our breaths and listening closely.

A slow, deliberate footsteps echoed from afar, growing closer and closer. A pale green oil lamp, casting a ghostly glow, moved toward us. I suddenly shivered, eyes wide open.

This scene, this lamp—I would never forget it!

Childhood memories flashed vividly before my eyes. I stared in shock at the approaching figure, hunched and gaunt. As she drew near, a foul stench hit me. Her face was hideously disfigured: one side rotten, the other covered with deep wrinkles and dense age spots; her eyes swollen like eggs, and her skin pocked with lumps.

It was the old blind crone! She was really alive!

I was utterly stunned. I never expected to meet her again after all these years—the very one who almost took my life and cursed me, forcing me down this path.

She stopped at the patch where the voodoo dolls were pinned. A translucent figure obediently approached and handed her something.

The crone muttered hoarsely, “Damn it… all damned… ruining my plans… all damned…”

So she could still speak. I had always thought she was just a madwoman, crazed and malicious.

She wrapped the object in gauze, tied it into a doll, and took out a nail, preparing to pin it to the tree.

“Whose soul do you want to trap now?” I suddenly called out.

She showed no surprise, slowly turning her head toward us as we stepped out from the bushes.

She said nothing but suddenly let out a laugh—just like back then. But I was no longer a child, and I was not alone.

Tu’e snapped his fingers, and every doll pinned to the trees instantly burst into flames.

The crone’s laughter stopped abruptly. Her ugly face turned toward us, and even though her eyes were blind, it felt as if she could see perfectly.

“Do you remember me? The child you almost killed fourteen years ago. That’s when your face got ruined,” I said.

Second Master Wei and Tu’e exchanged surprised glances.

The crone seemed to recall, her ferocious face lighting up with excitement. Her hoarse voice trembled with emotion, “It’s you! It’s you! Hahaha! I finally found you! Finally found you! Finally found you…”

I looked at her in confusion. Was meeting me really such an exciting event? Could it be that she had been harboring a grudge for what happened back then?

“Watch out!” Tu’e suddenly warned, stepping in front of me. Before I could react, a small black bug landed on his hand. A foul odor emanated from the insect.

He wrinkled his brow in disgust and quickly flicked it away.

“What is that?” I asked.

“A gu insect, but a very common kind. Anyone with a bit of knowledge in this art can make one,” Tu’e explained.

The crone was visibly thrilled, laughing hoarsely as the stench around her grew even stronger.

“Careful, she’s unleashed a gu!” Tu’e said.

I became alert, scanning the surroundings, but saw nothing. No small bugs were visible, only the increasingly nauseating stench.

Tu’e muttered incantations, forming hand seals. Suddenly, countless tiny sparks flickered in the air, scattered everywhere. The sparks crept forward until they reached the crone.

She could no longer laugh, stepping back quickly. The sparks halted and extinguished in midair.

Her hoarse voice muttered on, “My gu… my gu… all burned… all burned… damn it… you’re damned!”

The surrounding yin energy surged suddenly. The translucent figure who had given her the item flew toward us. Tu’e chanted a spell, pointing at the ghost, which screamed monstrously before dissolving into a wisp of white smoke.

It vanished instantly, without even a moment of struggle! How powerful must that be! It was no wonder the specter we met in the vine forest was so strong, managing to hold its own against him for several rounds!

From all directions, numerous translucent figures appeared, each moving with perfect order, expressionless like puppets on strings, fully controlled by others. They surrounded us tightly.

I watched them warily, but Tu’e appeared relaxed, treating the situation casually.

The ghosts suddenly surged toward us at a terrifying speed, a stark contrast to their previously mechanical demeanor. Before I could react, one flew right up and screamed, then instantly turned to smoke.

My heart pounded wildly. The numerous ghosts closed in, stopping exactly one meter from us. Then I realized they weren’t one meter away from me, but two meters from Tu’e—the spirits couldn’t get close to him.

He continued chanting, pointing at the ghosts. Several immediately turned into white smoke and vanished without resistance!