Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

The chill in the courtyard had not yet dissipated, and everyone's fear had reached its peak.

Following the trembling fingers of the group, two more distorted and blurry gray-black figures slowly coalesced under the pale red moonlight outside the moon gate.

They seemed even more solid than the previous one, and the resentment they exuded almost froze the air.

Lei Laohu was horrified. He had just experienced a dangerous fight, and the veins in his arm were still throbbing with pain.

Faced with these successive bizarre attacks, even with his fierce will, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

"Form ranks! Back to back! Use fire!"

He roared hoarsely, trying to regain his footing.

A few of his boldest confidants managed to gather together, and someone frantically lit torches.

However, ordinary flames seemed to have little effect on solidified vengeful spirits, only causing them to retreat slightly, but not dispelling them.

Just as a vengeful spirit shrieked and lunged at the terrified Scarface...

"Ring ring..."

A clear, crisp sound of a copper bell rang out in the courtyard without warning.

The ringtone wasn't loud, yet it possessed a strange penetrating power, as if it could reach the depths of one's soul.

The two vengeful spirits that were lunging at the crowd froze, their distorted faces turning toward the sound of the bell, letting out a fearful hiss.

Lei Laohu suddenly turned his head.

Under the eaves connecting the front hall, there was someone who had appeared out of nowhere.

The man was tall and thin, with a gaunt face, and appeared to be around forty years old.

He was wearing a light blue long gown, with a slightly worn black satin jacket over it, and a similarly worn small hat on his head. He was dressed like a clerk or secretary in an old-fashioned yamen.

What was most striking was the white paper lantern he was carrying, whose candlelight inside was a faint green, making half of his face appear bluish.

In his other hand, he held a dark yellow copper bell engraved with fine runes.

Lei Laohu recognized this person. A few days ago, when he went out of the city to welcome the new county magistrate Zhou Wenren, the man was standing next to him. I think his surname was Song.

The newcomer ignored the miserable state of everyone in the courtyard, his gaze sweeping lightly over the two vengeful spirits before finally settling on the ghost-headed knife in Lei Laohu's hand. A barely perceptible look of understanding flashed in his narrow eyes.

"Resentment gathers and takes form, evil spirits attack the house. Chief Lei, things are not going to be peaceful at your residence tonight." His voice was flat and even, without much inflection, yet it clearly drowned out the howls of the vengeful spirits.

"Mr. Song!" Lei Laohu cried out as if grasping at a straw. Although he was wary of this mysterious figure close to Magistrate Zhou, he couldn't care less at this moment. "Please, sir, save me! I will repay you handsomely!"

Mr. Song didn't respond, but instead took a few steps forward and entered the courtyard.

Wherever it passed, some of the white frost that had formed on the ground quietly melted away.

"A man-made, clumsy attempt at creating malevolent spirits, though crude, is somewhat interesting." He frowned and observed for a moment. "A crude method of using objects to incite resentment and gather malevolent energy to create evil. Does anyone in this Linhe area know this?"

The two vengeful spirits seemed extremely wary of Mr. Song, and turned their main target towards him, with gray-black yin energy surging towards him like tentacles!

Mr. Song's expression remained unchanged, and the green lantern in his left hand swayed slightly.

A faint green light suddenly spread.

The approaching yin energy tentacles melted away as quickly as ice and snow meeting the warm sun when they touched the area of ​​green light, dissolving the evil energy even more thoroughly than the ghost head knife.

At the same time, he shook the copper bell in his right hand again.

"Ring... Ring..."

This time the rhythm was different from before, sometimes rapid, sometimes long, with a special cadence.

As the bell rang, Lei Laohu and the others felt their panic and anxiety subside somewhat, while the two vengeful spirits seemed to be bound by invisible ropes, their movements becoming sluggish, their gray-black yin energy churning violently, and their forms becoming unstable.

"The restless spirits are born of resentment." Mr. Song chanted the indistinct incantation, and finally shouted, "Disperse!"

Under the combined effect of the green light and the ringing bell, the bodies of the two vengeful spirits crumbled rapidly, like sandcastles blown away by the wind.

In the end, it turned into a few wisps of black smoke, which were absorbed by the green light in Mr. Song's lantern and disappeared without a trace.

The courtyard was completely calm again.

All that remained were a jumble of debris and a few wounded, groaning gang members.

Everything happened very quickly; from Mr. Song's appearance to the disappearance of the vengeful spirit, it only took a dozen or so breaths.

Compared to Lei Laohu's fierce fight just now, Mr. Song's methods seemed so effortless.

Lei Laohu let out a long breath; his back was soaked with cold sweat.

Tonight's battle was extremely dangerous, making him even more wary of those unorthodox and shady characters.

He sheathed his ghost-head saber, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said in a deep voice, "Thank you so much, Mr. Song, for saving my life! I will never forget it!"

Mr. Song put away the copper bell, and the green light of the lantern returned to normal.

He looked at Lei Laohu, his gaze lingering on Lei's still-bruised arm, and said calmly, "Chief Lei, you're too kind. I'm simply following the county magistrate in his duties in Tianjin, protecting the territory and its people—it's my duty. However…"

He abruptly changed the subject, "These are not ordinary wandering ghosts, but vengeful spirits deliberately brought here by someone using secret techniques. Has your gang offended someone you shouldn't have recently?"

Lei Laohu's heart skipped a beat. His mind raced, unsure of which enemy he had offended: "Someone I shouldn't have? I've made a living in Tianjin, and I've offended quite a few people. Or... some clueless outsiders lately?"

Mr. Song looked at him quietly, his wooden eyes seemingly able to see through people's hearts.

However, he did not delve into the matter further, only saying, "This technique is insidious, using resentment as a trigger to damage the foundation of a person's soul. Although Chief Lei used his fierce weapon and malevolent energy to break through one of them, the malevolent energy has invaded his body. If it is not removed in time, it may shorten his lifespan."

Lei Laohu's expression changed. He did indeed feel a cold, stinging pain in his arm, and he had a persistent, agitated auditory hallucination: "Please, sir, save me!"

Mr. Song took out a palm-sized, flat, black wooden box from the inner pocket of his jacket. Inside were several thin needles and a small amount of dark red powder.

"Lie down and roll up your sleeves."

Lei Laohu dared not delay and immediately ordered someone to bring over a bamboo couch, which he did as instructed.

Mr. Song's technique was extremely fast. He precisely pierced several acupoints on Lei Laohu's arm with a long, dark blue needle, and then used his fingernail to pick out a small amount of the dark red powder, drawing two strange symbols on Lei Laohu's chest and forehead.

As Mr. Song performed the procedure, Lei Laohu felt the cold, stinging sensation in his arm recede like a receding tide, and the bluish-purple color quickly faded.

At the same time, he also felt a faint trace of energy lingering in a corner of his body, subtly connected to the Mr. Song in front of him.

This secretly alarmed him, but he dared not show it in the slightest.

After a moment, Mr. Song finished his acupuncture and said, "The resentment has been temporarily suppressed, and the backlash of the evil energy has been channeled away. However, the root cause has not been eliminated. Chief Lei should stay at home and bask in the sun as much as possible to slowly dissolve the remaining remnants with his own yang energy and blood."

"Thank you, sir!" Lei Laohu stretched his arms and felt much more relaxed. He quickly thanked him and winked at Scarface to collect the payment.

Mr. Song waved his hand, saying meaningfully, "No reward is necessary. The county magistrate is new here, and the peace and tranquility of Tianjin still needs the protection of heroes like Chief Lei. If Chief Lei notices anything unusual again... he can come to the county office to find me at any time."

After saying that, he picked up the white paper lantern that glowed green, ignored the mess in the courtyard, turned around and disappeared silently into the darkness along the eaves he had come from.