Chapter 20: The Haunting in the Barrel Toilet

The door replacement went smoothly.

All the doors in the Peaceful Inn were identical, so they only needed to swap the doors, interchange the locks, and then wipe off the fingerprints from one door and replicate them onto another. This way, the switch would be flawless.

Before long, the door swap was complete.

Room 406, which Qi Zhiyong had taken, now had the door from room 403 that had been marked last night, while 403 received a clean, unmarked door.

Wu Xian and his group were to stay tonight in what had been Qi Zhiyong’s room 402.

This room was absolutely safe tonight.

The purpose of switching the doors was to test the operational logic of the door-breaking evil spirit.

If the mark was on the door itself, then Qi Zhiyong was surely doomed tonight; Wu Xian wouldn’t even need to lift a finger to exact his revenge.

If the mark was on the room, Wu Xian wouldn’t lose out either; this information could be put to use sooner or later.

After changing the doors, the two of them went downstairs to search for the deity statue.

Shi Ji was completely bewildered throughout the process, utterly confused by Wu Xian’s maneuvers.

Switching doors, wiping fingerprints — did this mean that the rules everyone had firmly believed in were actually just puppets in Wu Xian’s hands?

Only Wu Xian himself knew which room was truly safe?

They searched for a while but couldn’t find the statue. Finally, Shi Ji snapped out of his shock and remembered he had something to ask Wu Xian about. He leaned in mysteriously and asked, “Brother Xian, after you prayed yesterday, did anything happen to you?”

Wu Xian raised an eyebrow. “Be clearer. What kind of thing?”

“Ever since I prayed, it feels like something’s been watching me,” Shi Ji said.

“Something has been searching for me, spying on me. I feel it most strongly when I’m using the bathroom.”

“Last night, just as I sat down on the toilet, a cold wind blew upward from below. I jumped up right away. When I flushed, the water splashed everywhere, as if a hand was stirring inside… stirring and stirring…”

“And this morning, when I wanted to pee, I felt eyes watching me so directly that it made my whole body crawl. I couldn’t even go.”

“It’s getting closer to me day by day. I’m afraid that before the great evil finds me, I’ll…”

“Ah…”

Shi Ji patted his large backside, his expression grim. “Since I prayed yesterday, I haven’t been able to properly use the bathroom. I’m about to explode.”

Wu Xian narrowed his eyes. He realized Shi Ji had triggered the negative effects of praying!

When he had prayed for the second time, he had experienced something similar. That time, he prayed to the Xuanming deity and was cursed by Mr. Wang—unless he saved Mr. Wang, his body temperature would keep dropping.

Later, the invitation letter had explained that praying could provoke negative effects: the Celestial Official bestows evil, the Earth Official brings punishment, and the Water Official curses.

Shi Ji had prayed to the Celestial Official, so he had been ‘bestowed evil’.

But what exactly did ‘bestowed evil’ entail?

From Shi Ji’s description, it seemed some malevolent spirit was attracted to him, approaching relentlessly, especially quickening its pace when he was in the bathroom.

“This might not be a bad thing,” Wu Xian pondered silently, then smiled and patted Shi Ji’s shoulder.

“I’ll take you to the bathroom. Don’t hold it in too long.”

...

At the bathroom door, Shi Ji hesitated.

“Are you sure this will work?”

Wu Xian led Shi Ji to a random bathroom, cut off the water supply, poured a bucket of diesel into the toilet tank, then gently pushed Shi Ji onto the seat.

“Relax, like I said before, I’ve got your back this time.”

According to Wu Xian’s experience, places where danger had occurred were more likely to reveal deity statues and spirit incense.

Since the statue was hard to find now, and Shi Ji could attract evil spirits, wouldn’t it be possible to kill the spirits drawn to him and thus find the statue?

Shi Ji’s face twisted, veins bulging.

He was sitting there only to lure the evil spirit—not to actually use the toilet.

But the moment he sat down, his abdomen clenched like knives twisting inside him, his intestines convulsed, and he clenched his teeth, barely holding back tears of pain.

Wu Xian held up his middle finger, hiding just outside the bathroom.

Once Shi Ji was inside, he felt the surrounding air grow noticeably colder; the copper coin sword in his hand began heating up steadily.

This meant the evil spirit stalking Shi Ji was about to appear.

Shi Ji’s senses sharpened; gazes full of malice pierced through the toilet, invading his body, as if intent on devouring him from the inside out.

“It’s here! It’s coming!”

Shi Ji shivered, rolled forward like a donkey, and the next instant, a bluish hand shot out from the toilet!

Had Shi Ji been any slower, he would have been caught by that grasping hand!

Following the hand was a body as thick as a sewer pipe, twisting and stretching in the air, emitting a horrendous stench.

After a moment, the evil spirit fully extended itself.

It was fat as a pig, covered in filth, and countless eyes glittered within the grime.

This was a toilet spirit.

The spirit stared at Shi Ji, licking the filth from its lips, as if it had spotted a delicacy, but then frowned deeply.

What was on its lips?

Not foul enough?

It seemed to be diesel… but what was diesel?

Since becoming an evil spirit, it rarely thought of its human past, only fragments of memory occasionally popping into its mind.

Before it could figure things out, Wu Xian suddenly leapt out, flicked his middle finger, and sent out a slender flame.

A true fire curse!

The flame touched the diesel, instantly igniting a fierce blaze.

The toilet spirit shrieked and tried to retreat into the toilet, but the fire inside only grew stronger because of the diesel.

Enraged, the toilet spirit roared and charged at Wu Xian and Shi Ji.

Wu Xian was startled.

This toilet spirit was covered in diesel and had just been hit with a true fire curse, yet it wasn’t dead.

This was troublesome.

It was filthy and engulfed in flames—like a living, burning pile of filth.

Engaging in close combat with his copper coin sword meant risking both physical and mental harm.

If he used his last true fire curse...

The cost would be unrecoverable!

Just as Wu Xian was hesitating, Shi Ji suddenly sprang up from the ground, pulled a black donkey’s hoof talisman from his pocket, and struck it hard against the spirit’s forehead.

The toilet spirit, already weakened from the fire, was struck heavily and its neck twisted as it collapsed to the ground.

Dead!

The flames burned the fat and grease off the spirit’s body, releasing a strong stench.

A thick yellow incense stick remained on the floor, and a strange sound echoed inside the room—perhaps a deity statue had appeared.

This toilet spirit was stronger than ordinary evil spirits, but trading one spirit for a chance to pray was not a bad deal.

Wu Xian picked up the incense stick, ready to pray.

Then he saw Shi Ji clenching his legs, grimacing and twisting his hips painfully.

Wu Xian chuckled, “Go on, use the bathroom. Don’t hold your butt in any longer.”

Shi Ji shook his head, “It’s not over yet!”