In the dim lamplight, Wang Yan traced the rough cover of the Book of Evil Spirits. The millennium thunderstruck peachwood remained a phantom. The materials for pure yang talismanic fire were insufficient. Was their only choice to wait for the cat demon to fully manifest, or to flee with Li Ke?
No!
His gaze locked onto the section detailing "Methods for Suppressing Foul Evils." A desperate plan crystallized in his mind—
If he couldn't destroy it yet, he would cage it!
Forcibly sealing an active demonic nest was like stealing a cub from a tiger's jaws—far more dangerous than he could imagine.
The seal would hold for seven days at most! Worse, the ritual's final surge of power would be a spark to tinder, pushing the cat demon's resentment to its peak and enraging it utterly!
After seven days... either it would break free, more ferocious than ever, or he would have found a way to destroy it!
There was no third path.
But at least those seven days... were a chance to breathe. He needed time to find that sliver of hope!
Book of Evil Spirits - Sealing Ritual for Suppressing Evil Nests:
For great evils entrenched in corpse-nests, when immediate destruction is impossible, harness the world's righteous yang energy (avoid rain/yin days). Augment with elemental artifacts to forcibly sever the nest's energy lines, temporarily suppressing the vengeful spirit's malice and preventing its emergence.
Required:
Seven Peachwood Nails (Star of the Dipper Pattern): Cut from sun-facing, southeast branches; child's arm thick; three feet three inches long; bark stripped, green wood left; Dipper sigil carved on nail head.
One and a half basins of Black Dog Blood (From fierce male dogs, taken hot).
Pure Yang Cinnabar Ink (Mixed with three drops of fresh rooster comb blood).
Three pecks of Coarse Salt (Roasted light yellow).
Vermilion Rope (Infused with realgar).
Three liters Raw Glutinous Rice (Mixed with a pinch of lime powder).
Ritual: Must be performed at High Noon, the peak of yang energy!
1. Cleansing Light:
Expose the nest! Clear all debris and vegetation from the entrance. Ensure direct sunlight pierces to the deepest, most death-saturated core! WARNING: This disturbs the evil, inviting retaliation!
2. Seven Stars Bind the Veins:
Seven yang-strong men (avoid yin birth signs), holding the peachwood nails, form the Dipper constellation. On command, drive nails two feet one inch deep. The cinnabar sigils on the nail heads MUST ignite instantly (Requires Fire Ignition Chant).
3. Blood Circle Prison:
*The ritual master swiftly dips into the dog blood/cinnabar ink. Draw a three-inch wide, chain-link sigil circle one zhang (approx. 10ft) outside the seven nails. The circle must be unbroken.*
4. Foul Energy to Void:
Immediately pour the roasted salt and lime-mixed rice over the nest entrance and surrounding area. This "Yang Earth" scorches yin energy lines.
5. Thousand Coils Bind the Soul:
Wind the vermilion rope tightly three times around the outer edge of the blood sigil. Hang a peachwood charm bell at the knot. Tie the rope end to the Celestial Pivot (first) nail. Drench with remaining blood. Secure with three dead knots.
WARNING:
The seal imprisons the evil temporarily. Vulnerable to earthquakes, heavy rain, or violent surges of malice! WILL FAIL AFTER SEVEN DAYS! (Likely less than five! Destroy it swiftly!) The ritual master WILL suffer malice backlash. Not for the faint-hearted!
"Seven days sealed... enraged demon..." Wang Yan's finger traced the cold page, but his eyes burned with the fire of desperation. "I'll take that gamble!" He slammed the book shut, his gaze fixed on the pale dawn lightening the window.
The next morning, under Old Huang's direction, a dozen gaunt village men gathered under the old locust tree. Reluctance was etched on their pale, fearful faces. They clutched crude tools—rusted hammers, hoes, hatchets.
Among them stood a woman, dragged forward by two stout farmwives—He Zhang-shi, the daughter-in-law! The fierce virago was gone.
Filth caked her tattered padded coat. Her hair was a bird's nest of straw. Dirt, tears, and vomit streaked her face, twisted in madness. She wailed incoherently: "Not me... wasn't me... Granny spare me... the eyes... green cat eyes..." Fear had devoured her mind, leaving only a shell. Wang Yan brought her for one grim purpose: her presence was a potent lure, a distraction for the vengeful cat demon at the ritual's climax. A necessary, dangerous gambit.
"Master..." Li Ke stayed close behind Wang Yan, eyeing the cowering villagers and the madwoman, worry plain on his face.
Wang Yan didn't speak, just squeezed the boy's shoulder, his expression granite. "Stay close. Watch. Speak little. Today... is your first real lesson."
The sun climbed, burning off the mist. As it neared its zenith, the air grew heavy and hot.
Wang Yan took a deep breath. His gaze cut through the crowd, fixing on the dense bamboo grove behind the stone hut—the nest's location.
He slashed his hand through the air. "Grab your tools! Move out!"
The men flinched as if whipped, shuffling forward reluctantly. Wang Yan led, Old Huang close behind. The procession—dragging the cackling He Zhang-shi and their heavy implements—marched towards the bamboo grove thick with ill omen.
As they neared the grove behind the hut, even the noon sun seemed to dim. A choking stench of decay and mildew hit them, mixed with the sweet-rot reek of carrion baking in heat. It made them gag.
The half-collapsed woodshed ruin stood before them. Most of the roof was gone, revealing twisted beams. Walls leaned precariously, the yellow mud plaster long fallen away, exposing blackened earth bricks. At its center yawned the terrifying heart: a sunken pit.
The hole was small, barely wide enough for a man to squeeze through, yet it gaped like a portal to hell.
"There!" Old Huang's voice trembled as he pointed at the black maw. "That's... where they tossed the rolled-up mat... down there!"
The pit's edge oozed damp, black earth reeking of death. Within a few steps, nothing grew but slimy, bluish-black moss that seemed to writhe. Light vanished into the pit's unfathomable depths.
"Tear it down! Rip this shed apart!" Wang Yan commanded, iron in his voice. "Get every rotten timber, every broken tile off! Clear this brush! Let the sun blast straight down that hole!"
The men exchanged terrified glances, legs shaking as they stared at the hell-mouth. Fear threatened to buckle them; some stepped back instinctively.
"Do as Master Wang says! MOVE!" Old Huang shrieked, desperation cracking his voice as he shoved a man beside him.
Wang Yan's eyes flashed cold steel. He stabbed a finger towards the pit. "Look! Look at what's down there!" His gaze swept their ashen faces. "A vengeful ghost! A monster waiting to eat you! What time is it? HIGH NOON! The peak of yang! It's pinned down! It can't crawl out! Can't move! And now you're scared?"
His voice cracked like thunder: "Wait till sundown! When it's free... where will you run? Tonight! Whose house will shelter you? Tonight! Who do you think it will hunt FIRST? YOU! And your women and children back home!"
"Rip its den apart NOW! Or when full dark comes... every one of us here... every single soul... is DEAD MEAT! Do you hear?! NONE OF US SURVIVES THE NIGHT!"
His words struck like a physical blow, shattering their last shred of denial.
"Damn it! I'm in! For the wife and kids!" A burly man roared, eyes bloodshot. He hefted his hoe and charged the ruins.
"Tear this cursed place down!"
"Dig it out!"
Survival instinct ignited. The men surged forward like madmen, swinging hoes, hammers, and hatchets with desperate strength.
They smashed the rotten wood, shattered tiles, hacked at the thorns choking the pit. The air filled with the splintering crash of timber, the shatter of tile, and choking dust. Sunlight began to spear into the pit's shadowed depths.
[Li Ke's Flashback]
I watched them tear the shed apart like demons, dust stinging my eyes.
But my gaze... kept drifting back to that stone hut near the pit... the one Master and I stayed in that first night!
Its back wall... was barely a hundred feet from that stinking black hole! A hundred feet!
That night... the scraping, the scratching... it wasn't just near the wall... it was practically UNDER it!
If Master hadn't made those preparations... if... if that thing had been just a little stronger... if it had clawed right through...
I felt cold sweat drench my back, plastering my shirt to my spine. A shiver racked me.
I couldn't imagine what I'd be now, if not for Master that night. Would I be lying cold under the earth?
That black pit gaped like a rotting mouth, leering straight at me!
The woodshed was leveled! Every scrap of cover around the pit was obliterated!
High noon. The brutal sun poured down like molten lead, its fierce light stabbing deep into the corpse-nest.
"Urk— Gah— Hrkkk!" He Zhang-shi, standing near the pit, erupted in guttural shrieks. Her body convulsed violently, eyes rolling back white, consumed by frenzy. A wave of icy, enraged malice surged from the pit!
Deep within the nest, seared by sunlight and provoked by her tormentor's presence, the "Cat Granny" had awakened. Those eyes—half-human white, half-feline green—snapped open, burning with cataclysmic fury!