"Damn it," Sun Yan cursed in his heart.
He hadn't expected this group to appear so suddenly, leaving him in a real dilemma.
The owner of this apartment had gone mad, willing to kill in secret just to survive. If Sun Yan went down and was discovered, it was questionable if he could leave the apartment alive.
This guy might opt to silence him for safety's sake.
Sun Yan gritted his teeth and turned upstairs. Although the resident of 201 was a killer, she was ultimately an elderly woman. Besides, the two priests and Pete were on the 7th floor. If they joined forces, four grown men surely wouldn't be unable to handle one Asian old woman.
Compared to leaving the apartment, hiding on the 7th floor and waiting for Henry's reinforcements was the safest option.
Concerned about making noise and being discovered, Sun Yan tiptoed all the way to the 7th floor quickly.
The corridor was filled with a peculiar herbal scent, clearly not from ordinary plants. Sun Yan found it very familiar—a smell identical to that in Room 201.
"Strange, where did they go?"
Covering his nose and mouth, Sun Yan didn't see the priests, but he did notice signs of chiseling on the white wall, and scattered stone fragments on the floor.
A pair of suitcases stood out; they were clearly the priests' belongings.
The wall had been damaged, revealing a hole that wasn't originally there. Sun Yan realized there was something hidden behind this wall.
Just as he was about to peek inside, a noise from the storage room down the 7th-floor hallway caught his attention.
"Could the three of them have been overpowered by the killer? No way, she's just an old woman. How could she possibly handle three grown men?"
Sun Yan picked up a brick from the ground and quietly made his way toward the storage room.
When he peeked into the store room, a horrifying sight met his eyes.
The cluttered room showed Pete sitting cross-legged in meditation. Even though blood dripped down from his forehead along his nose, his face showed a happy smile as if he couldn't feel any pain.
Beside him, the hunched old woman was diligently piercing incense sticks into his skin.
As the incense burned, the room filled with tendrils of white smoke.
The old woman then used chopsticks to pry open Pete's teeth and stuffed a yellow talisman and a jade pendant into his mouth, seemingly performing some sacrificial ritual.
Seeing her ready to hammer a 20-centimeter iron nail into Pete's skull relief,
Sun Yan, hiding outside the door, had his pupils dilate and couldn't bear to watch anymore. He rushed in with a large stride, flinging the brick at the old woman.
"Stop!"
The old woman's body trembled, utterly taken by surprise as a third person disrupted her at this critical moment. Already too old to move swiftly, she couldn't react in time.
The moment the brick hit the old woman's chest, she fell to the ground, the hammer and nail slipping from her grip.
"It's you!" the old woman glared at Sun Yan with malicious eyes, struggling to support herself on the floor but unable to stand.
"Who would have thought the killer would be an old woman with one foot in the grave. Your methods are quite something,"
Sun Yan walked over to Pete, pulled out all the incense, and pinched his philtrum hard.
Pete, initially unresponsive, suddenly grimaced and opened his eyes in pain, slapping Sun Yan's hand: "Ow, it hurts!"
But he quickly discovered something stuffed in his mouth and couldn't utter a sound. Pete hurriedly bent over and retched, spitting out a jade block wrapped in a yellow talisman.
"Officer, it's you!"
Seeing Sun Yan beside him, Pete was puzzled: "What are you doing here?"
"If I weren't here, you'd be dead tonight," Sun Yan said, grabbing a rope stored in the room to tie up the old woman's hands and feet.
Although she was just an old woman, her strange methods forced Sun Yan to stay vigilant.
After subduing the target, Sun Yan asked Pete to assist him, searching the old woman and quickly finding a silk pouch and a stack of yellow talismans.
The finely crafted pouch was filled with dark green powder, smelling indescribable.
Sun Yan sniffed it slightly, instantly feeling dizzy and his consciousness blurring. He quickly pinched his philtrum to regain clarity, realizing just how dangerous the powder was.
"This old woman is the killer. Gag her and drag her to the Celestial Platform," Sun Yan instructed Pete after placing the pouch in his pocket, then picked up the hammer and walked out of the storage room.
With Pete and the old woman here, where did the two priests go?
This apartment had only one staircase, and he hadn't seen anyone on his way up. They surely had no place to hide.
He recalled seeing a red light from the 7th floor at the convenience store downstairs, which unnerved Sun Yan. Could they, like the two police officers, have traversed the door?
"Since I'm here, I might as well give it a try,"
Sun Yan stood before the white wall, which was now riddled with cracks and holes from previous violent blows.
Shining his phone light into a gap, Sun Yan peered inside.
Behind the white wall lay another crudely built cement wall, adorned with a spring couplet and an upside-down 'Fu' character, inscribed with:
'Prosperity and fortune come together, blessings overflow'
'Transcend the realm, offer and stand aside'
"Prosperity and fortune are fine, but it's missing longevity. Blessings refer to the protection of deceased ancestors for their descendants. The offerings are either for the dead or immortal beings. Transcending the realm implies not being human anymore, existing beyond this world. These lines aren't about the living world; the residence with such a couplet must be a Yin Residence," Sun Yan mused.
Having read "Mountain Chasing Manual," Sun Yan recognized many folk beliefs, some matching this couplet's inscriptions.
He now knew someone was using human hearts for alchemy in the apartment, but what was the explanation for this 7th-floor Yin Residence?
"Officer, I've controlled the old woman. Anything else you need?" Pete asked, dragging the old woman out of the storage room.
Sun Yan strode to the old woman, removing the cloth from her mouth: "What is it you're offering in this building's Yin Residence? Helping that businessman kill and refine life pills was just a lie. The real goal was this Yin Residence, right?"
"Young man, you know a lot. Who would've thought I'd meet a Master of Yin and Yang in a place like Shajiao District,"
the old woman croaked with a hoarse laugh. "But we were not interfering with each other. I wasn't obstructing your path, so why are you destroying mine? What's the benefit to you?"
"You've killed so many just to offer in the Yin Residence. If that thing within becomes, it'll bring greater disasters,"
Sun Yan gagged her again, forcibly pressing her face with the mind-numbing powder pouch.
In seconds, the old woman fell unconscious. Only then did Sun Yan wave a reassuring hand, signaling Pete to take her to the Celestial Platform.
But just then, Pete suddenly widened his eyes, staring incredulously at Sun Yan.
Or rather, at the white wall behind Sun Yan.
Somehow, two large red lanterns appeared on the corridor's ceiling, casting a vivid crimson glow over the entire hallway.
A new spring couplet slowly appeared on the white wall. In Sun Yan's view, the ink on the couplet seemed to melt, black liquid trailing down its surface, creating streaks.
A pear wood door, which wasn't there before, quietly opened in front of Sun Yan, revealing an endless ancient hallway.
Most likely, Frank, the two officers, and the priests entered this alternate space.
Anxiety crept into Sun Yan's heart. He quickly lit a cigarette and took a drag, restoring his calm.
"Since Frank managed to leave alive, it means the danger inside doesn't reach the level of an Evil Spirit. Even ordinary people have a chance to escape. Surely, with the General Sun Mask, I'll be fine too."
The more Sun Yan smoked, the more his calm solidified. After weighing the possibilities, he looked at the startled Pete, saying: "Take her to the Celestial Platform and hide. No matter what you hear, don't come out. As soon as Shajiao District's police arrive, you'll be safe."
Having given his instructions, Sun Yan held the hammer in his hand, cigarette in mouth, and resolutely stepped through the door.