The gluttonous little boy is four and a half years old, and even the wealthy family kneels down and

Xiao Jin waved her hand and said vaguely, "It's nothing, I was just asking."

She tilted her head back, rubbing her eyes as if she were very sleepy. "Xiao Jin is sleepy and wants to go back to sleep. We'll go look for the lost bronze scale talisman when it's light."

Kong Zheng looked at her, but did not continue to ask questions. He just lingered on her face for a moment longer, as if waiting for her to reveal more flaws.

Xiao Jin had already buried her face in Yun Ziang's arms.

Yun Ziang patted her back tenderly, and Chong Kongzheng said, "Alright, alright, we can't find the Copper Scale Talisman in the middle of the night. Let's look for it tomorrow."

"Or should we stay here until 1 a.m., make sure no one dies here tonight, and then go back and get a good night's sleep?"

Xiao Jin lifted her face from Yun Ziang's shoulder and muttered, "No one will die here tonight. Let's go back to sleep and look for the Copper Scale Talisman tomorrow."

"How can you be so sure?" Kong Zheng looked at Xiao Jin scrutinizingly.

Xiao Jin glanced guiltily to the side and said, "Xiao Jin has already calculated it."

Yun Zi'ang chuckled: "When did you calculate that?"

"Just now." Xiao Jin blinked matter-of-factly, then looked at Kong Zheng, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. "Kong Kong, can't you do math?"

Before Kong Zheng could answer, she leaned closer enthusiastically, "Xiao Jin can teach you, it's very easy to learn. First, memorize the ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches, then learn how to plot the divination chart... It's not difficult, Xiao Jin learned it in just two days."

Kong Zheng looked at her sincere face, which seemed to overflow with genuine emotion, remained silent for two seconds, and then slowly shook his head.

"No need, thank you."

"Since Xiao Jin has said so, let's go back first."

The three of them packed their things and headed back.

The moon slowly reappeared from behind the clouds, its silvery light bathing the village road.

After returning to the mayor's house, Xiao Jin fell asleep almost as soon as she hit the bed, and didn't even wake up when Yun Ziang took off her shoes.

Yun Ziang was also exhausted, and lay down on the outside of Xiao Jin without changing his clothes.

In another room, Kong Zheng sat at a wooden table, on which lay a stack of photos and several pages of handwritten documents.

He looked at each one by one by the light of the table lamp.

The faces of the four deceased are stiff and distorted in the photograph; some have wide-open eyes, while others have slightly open mouths, as if they saw something extremely horrifying before they died.

He looked at them for a while, then placed the photos side by side on the table. Recalling the information he had heard from the villagers during the day, he wrote down the names of the four deceased on a piece of paper:

He Fei, Li Shuifeng, Liu Lizhuang, Sun Hong.

The villagers said that the four of them played together since they were little, and after they grew up, they all went out to work. For some reason, they have only recently returned one after another.

As a result, every one of them who returned died, as if they had been cursed.

Now, no one dares to go out at night in the village.

But Xiaojin just said that she was playing with an older sister.

Who exactly is the older sister she's playing with? Why is she keeping it a secret from him?

Kong Zheng looked puzzled and continued flipping through the documents, when he suddenly pulled out an old photo.

It's a primary school graduation photo. About twenty children are standing in three rows at the school gate, with a peeling red brick wall behind them.

The corners of the photo are yellowed, and the faces of some children are blurred, but the six children in the middle are still clear, holding hands and looking very close.

Kong Zheng stared at the six children and recognized four of them as the four dead.

The children in the photo are all still children; some are grinning, some have serious faces, and some have their heads down.

Besides these, there were two unfamiliar faces, a boy and a girl.

The boy was tall and thin, staring at the camera with a grin.

The girl turned her face away from the camera, hunched her shoulders, and looked timid.

Kong Zheng turned the photo over, and on the back, a line of small, crooked words were written in ballpoint pen: Class 1, Grade 4, Lun'an Primary School.

No name was written.

He flipped the photo back over and carefully compared it under the light, discovering that the boy's features resembled those of Sun Liqiang's son in the family photo by about seven or eight points.

"Is this Sun Jianhua?"

Kong Zheng muttered to himself with a puzzled look in his eyes, then gently put the photo down.

One is Sun Jianhua, and who is the other?

"If it's not the Locked Dragon Well, then it must be evil spirits... Could it be seeking revenge?"

What exactly is the grudge between these people?

Will Sun Jianhua be next to die?

Kong Zheng was completely baffled. He stood up and took out nine small copper bells from his cloth bag.

The copper bell is about the size of Xiao Jin's fist, with intricate runes engraved on its surface, but it has no tongue inside.

This bell was passed down from his master. It can sense yin energy and will ring when it encounters evil spirits.

Kong Zheng held the copper bell in his palm, pushed open the door, and tiptoed out. He hung one of the bells in Sun Liqiang's yard, then took the rest of the bells and left, disappearing without a trace.

-

Meanwhile, in the Senyu apartment building in Beijing, the long, straight corridor was illuminated by flashing motion-sensor lights, and many small GG stickers were pasted on both sides.

Wen Wen's eyes were filled with fear as she walked forward, her heart pounding. She reached a door and knocked.

Soon, the door opened a crack.

"Who should I look for?"

"I'm looking for Vasana," Wen Wen said softly. "I was introduced by Wu Ling."

She learned the news from Wu Ling that the Thai medium had come to China and asked for her address and contact information.

Strangely enough, the man asked her to meet him at 1 a.m.

Upon hearing this, the person inside the door turned sideways and opened the door, revealing the entire scene.

She was a long-haired woman, tall, with a somewhat heroic appearance.

She stared intently at Wen Wen, scrutinized her for a moment, then tilted her head and said, "Come in."

Wen Wen hesitated at the door, somewhat unsure of what to do.

Vashana looked at Wen Ling's appearance and sneered, "You don't even dare to come in, yet you dare to come looking for me."

"Wu Ling is much bolder than you, which is why she has such a happy life now."

Upon hearing this, Wen Wen gritted her teeth, stepped inside, and the door behind her closed gently with a click.

Wen Wen's heart trembled as she listened.

"Have you prepared what I asked you to prepare?" Vasana walked past her and went inside.

"Ready, ready," Wenwen stammered, looking around the house with curiosity.

Vashana's apartment wasn't big, but as soon as you entered, you could smell a strong odor, like some kind of oil mixed with herbs, and with a hint of an indescribable sweet and fishy smell.

In the center of the living room stood an altar covered with a dark red velvet cloth, upon which sat a deity that Wenwen could not recognize.

The statue was entirely black, with a slender body and an indistinct face. Only the positions of its eyes were inlaid with two dark red stones, which reflected slightly in the firelight.

Whether it was because Wenwen felt guilty or not, she always felt that the statue was staring at her.

In front of the statue were several small bowls, filled with rice and water, and another bowl containing a few leaves and a shriveled orange.

Around the altar, wooden boxes of all sizes were piled up densely.

Some were locked, some were tied with red rope, and some had their lids half-open. Wen Wen glanced at them out of the corner of her eye and saw a corner of yellow talisman paper and a few strands of dark hair peeking out from inside.

There was a string of dried things hanging in the corner. She didn't dare to look closely, but it looked like the claws of some kind of animal.

Vashana walked to the offering table, lit a black incense stick, and placed it in the incense burner.

The smoke rose straight up without dissipating, disappearing directly into the shadows of the ceiling.

"Wu Ling makes love spell dolls." Vasana turned around, leaned against the edge of the table, and crossed her arms. "You want to make one too?"

Wen Wen nodded vigorously.

"I told you the price beforehand," Vashana said, raising her chin and looking at her face. "One hundred thousand."

"I know," Wen Wen's voice was a little steadyer than before. "I brought it with me."

As she spoke, she took off her shoulder bag, took out several envelopes, and placed them on the low table beside her. The envelopes were bulging, with the edges of cash sticking out.

Vashana didn't go over to look, but just stared at Wenwen for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled, "You're quite decisive."

She turned around and took out a black wooden box from the drawer under the altar. The box had no patterns on it, but a complex symbol was carved in the center, which looked like some kind of letter and was twisted into a vortex shape.

She placed the box on the table, opened the lid, and found it empty inside. The inner walls were painted with dark red paint, like dried blood.

"Did you bring the materials?" Vashana asked.

"I brought it." Wen Wen took out a small plastic bag from her bag, which contained a few strands of hair tied with a rubber band, a small piece of white cloth cut from a shirt, and a neatly folded piece of paper with Yun Mingyi's name and date of birth written on it.

Vasana took the items and checked them one by one.

He picked up a strand of hair to examine its color, then held the piece of cloth under his nose to smell it, before finally unfolding the paper strip, glancing at it, and turning it back.

"The item is fine." She placed the note and the hair on the table together. "But I'm reminding you, after this love spell doll is made, you have to chant a spell over it for forty-nine days without missing a single day for the ritual to be complete."

Wen Wen hesitated for a moment, her lips moved slightly, "Forty-nine days...that's too long."

Upon hearing this, Vashana paused for a moment, then chuckled.

"Too long?" She picked up a strand of hair and casually twirled it around her fingertip. "Well, there are faster ones too."

Wen Wen looked up, her eyes lighting up.

How fast?

"Twelve hours." Vasana held up one finger. "After it's done, you'll see results within twelve hours. You'll know the results by noon tomorrow."

She paused, her gaze lowered as she looked at the strands of hair twirling between her fingers. "But, it'll cost an extra 50,000."

"I'll do it," Wenwen replied without hesitation.

Vashana then raised her head and looked at her again.

That look didn't seem like he was looking at a customer; it was more like he was looking at prey.

She stared at Wen Wen for a few seconds, then her lips slowly curved into a smile, as if she had been amused by something, and finally replied, "Okay."

She didn't say anything more, turned around and took out a pottery jar from under the offering table, opened the lid and poured out a white substance.

Wenwen saw it clearly; it was wax.

The milky white candle fragments, already soft and warm from being kneaded, emitted a faint oily smell.

Vasana placed the lump of wax in her palm and began to knead it.

Her fingers were long, and her movements were surprisingly gentle, like kneading dough.

Slowly, the lump of wax was molded into a round head, a slender body, and two slightly separated legs, becoming a tiny person the size of a palm.

She sculpted two tiny figures, picked up a thin needle, and placed two dark red cinnabar dots on the eyes of the dolls. The needle tip gently pierced the dolls' chests, her lips moving and her voice very low.

Wenwen was standing close by, but she could only barely make out a few indistinct syllables, which sounded like some kind of language that did not belong to Chinese.

"I borrow your body to inherit his soul," Vashana suddenly said in Chinese, her voice so soft it was as if she were talking to herself. "Unbeknownst to the living, the pact has already been formed."

She picked up the lock of hair Wenwen had brought, divided it into two strands, stuffed one strand into the top of the wax doll's head, and the other strand into another unformed wax block. She then tore off a corner of the shirt and tucked it into the doll's body.

She folded the note with her birth date in half and stuffed it inside as well.

Soon, two wax figures, one male and one female, stood on the table.