At half-past four in the afternoon, Yu Daochen arrived at a top-tier villa in the outskirts of Yangzhou, following the address given by Wei Long.
The entire area surrounding the villa had been purchased by Wei Ying and enclosed by a wall. Only this single villa stood prominently, surrounded by trees.
Yu Daochen, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, wore a grave expression. Even Zhou Fu, standing beside him, had never seen their sect leader look so serious.
Zhou Fu looked at Yu Daochen, who was smoking silently, and asked, "Sect Leader, is this Crimson Lady truly that formidable?"
Yu Daochen nodded and explained, "While this Crimson Lady is not the strongest evil spirit, she is the most difficult to deal with. Be extremely careful when confronting her tonight."
Hearing Yu Daochen's assessment, Zhou Fu nodded solemnly, "Disciple understands."
"Let's get to work," Yu Daochen said, taking out a bag of charcoal ash and sprinkling it in a circle around the villa.
This was a measure to prevent the evil spirit from escaping.
After scattering the charcoal ash, Yu Daochen sat on the first floor, smoking and waiting for midnight to arrive.
Zhou Fu, with nothing else to do, sat cross-legged and began cultivating with his eyes closed.
Yu Daochen suddenly remembered something and took a short sword from his backpack, handing it to Zhou Fu. "This was left by my disciple. Take it for self-defense."
Zhou Fu took the short sword and examined it closely. The sword was entirely black, with the character "Zhou" engraved on its hilt.
Zhou Fu was somewhat surprised. This short sword was made of soul-镇魂石 (zhenhunshi). He hadn't expected the sect leader to be so good to Senior Brother Zhou Fu. But this item now belonged to him!
Time ticked by, and the midnight alarm on his phone rang.
Yu Daochen turned off his phone, his eyes fixed on the tightly shut main door. He drew the Fen Kanglong Jian from his waist, extinguished his half-smoked cigarette, and instructed, "Prepare!"
Zhou Fu gripped the soul-鎮魂石 short sword tightly, his nerves taut.
Yu Daochen lit the white candle that had been placed on the table.
The candle's flame burned a vibrant green, casting a bright light in the air.
About half an hour later, the flame of the green candle began to sway left and right, as if it might extinguish at any moment.
Seeing this, Yu Daochen's expression grew serious. He looked towards the main door and slowly uttered two words: "She's here!"
As soon as he spoke, the main door was blown open by a gust of wind, and a chilling breeze swept towards them.
Zhou Fu couldn't help but shiver, while Yu Daochen's nerves were on edge, his eyes glued to the movements at the door.
Slowly, a figure in a red dress drifted in. Her hair obscured her face, making it impossible to see her features. Her feet were a full three feet off the ground.
Yu Daochen frowned, looking at the figure. He remembered that the Crimson Lady's feet should be touching the ground. How could they be so high?
Seeing the approaching figure, Zhou Fu asked, "Sect Leader, aren't we going to act?"
There was no turning back now; the arrow was on the string.
Yu Daochen formed hand seals and, with a low shout, declared, "Mu Xun Array, activate!"
As Yu Daochen finished speaking, countless green threads shot out from both sides of the main door, entangling the figure.
The figure turned to flee, but it was too late. The numerous green threads wrapped around its entire body and tightened rapidly.
Seeing this, Yu Daochen prepared to form a hand seal and use the Tun Yan Shu to destroy it. However, Yu Daochen felt a sense of doubt. Was the Crimson Lady really so easily captured?
Just as Yu Daochen was contemplating, the green flame on the white candle began to flicker rapidly again, and white smoke drifted towards the second floor.
"Damn it, this isn't the Crimson Lady! The real Crimson Lady is in..." Yu Daochen said, looking towards Wei Ying's room on the second floor.
Yu Daochen strode towards the stairs. Zhou Fu, seeing this, prepared to follow but was stopped. "You stay here and deal with this evil spirit."
If the Crimson Lady realized that Wei Ying was not in that room and escaped, it would be incredibly difficult to catch her again. Although it wouldn't be a problem for Wei Ying to stay at the shop, he couldn't live there forever.
Yu Daochen reached the second-floor corridor and stood before Wei Ying's room. As he pushed the door open, a sharp claw suddenly lunged at him.
Yu Daochen reacted with lightning speed, instinctively dodging backward, but his face was grazed by the claw. Blood trickled down his cheek. Yu Daochen wiped away the blood and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, his movement techniques were superb, or that blow would have severed his throat, ending his life.
Yu Daochen gripped the Fen Kanglong Jian, cautiously refraining from entering. The Crimson Lady was cunning; he might be ambushed if he went in.
*Clang!*
The sound of shattering glass echoed from the room.
"No good, she's trying to escape!" Yu Daochen cursed inwardly and rushed in.
Upon entering the room, he saw that the glass only had a hole in it.
"No!" Yu Daochen turned abruptly as a claw lunged towards his face.
Yu Daochen raised the Fen Kanglong Jian to block the attacking claw and looked closely. Blood-red eyes, weeping blood, a face as pale as paper that sent shivers down one's spine, hair obscuring half of its face, and especially the sinister grin stretching to its ears, coupled with a dress redder than blood, made one's hair stand on end.
"Damn it, it really is the Crimson Lady!" Yu Daochen gritted his teeth and resisted with all his might.
As the two were locked in a stalemate, a pair of red shoes by the bed suddenly transformed into two red rabbits, biting at Yu Daochen's thighs.
Yu Daochen raised his leg and kicked one away, but the other seized the opportunity and bit into his supporting calf.
Yu Daochen cried out in pain and instinctively took a step back. The Crimson Lady seized the moment and exerted force.
Yu Daochen lost his balance and was thrown backward, crashing out of the window.
Yu Daochen quickly flipped over and landed firmly on his feet, breathing a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was only the second floor; otherwise, he would have been smashed into a pulp.
The Crimson Lady stood by the window, watching Yu Daochen without moving.
Yu Daochen glanced at the charcoal ash nearby and realized it had vanished. "Good heavens, no wonder it could enter the villa without anyone noticing. So, the charcoal ash disappeared!"
Yu Daochen raised his hand in a mocking gesture, inviting her to come down for a one-on-one fight.
The Crimson Lady did not hesitate and floated down, her voice icy, "I have no enmity with you, sir. Why must you insist on being my enemy?"
Yu Daochen snorted disdainfully, "Exorcising demons is our duty. Do I need a reason to destroy you?"
The Crimson Lady snorted, "Since you insist on being my enemy, do not blame me."
As the Crimson Lady finished speaking, two figures emerged from the nearby woods.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to bring helpers."
Yu Daochen looked dismissively at the two figures emerging from the woods. When he clearly saw what they were, Yu Daochen's expression turned grim. They were the Demon-faced Ghost and the Three-Year-Old Evil!