Chapter Thirty-Three: An Innate Chemistry

Ye Huan’s ears twitched slightly. "The ghosts have scattered; we should split up to track them."

"No need, just make them come back." As I spoke, I unbuttoned my shirt to bare my chest and used a dagger to carve a two-inch-long gash across my heart.

As the fresh blood trickled down my chest, Little Bean Sprout, standing behind me, suddenly let out a startled gasp. His features twisted into a ferocious grimace, his eyes bloodshot, and two ghostly fangs protruded from his lips.

When Ye Huan looked at Little Bean Sprout, he found him staring intently at my throat, his breath coming in ragged, heavy gasps. It looked as if he were struggling to suppress an uncontrollable urge to bite my jugular.

Ye Huan gently pressed his scabbard against Little Bean Sprout’s shoulder. Though he managed to hold back the restless boy, he could not extinguish the madness in his eyes.

I had learned from one of my grandfather’s letters that the blood from my heart could attract malevolent spirits; as long as it bled, any evil entity within a few hundred meters would be driven into a frenzy to reach me. I was certain those infant spirits could not have gone far, and upon smelling the blood, they would surely return.

A moment later, the sound of something crawling along the floor echoed simultaneously from both sides of the dim corridor.

Ye Huan and I simultaneously drew spirit talismans and flung them to the ground. As the talismans hit the floor, flames erupted. Two trails of fire connected into runes, spreading outward from our feet like two slowly unfurling scrolls.

Before long, two long, two-meter-wide flaming runes illuminated the corridor, making it as bright as day.

Little Bean Sprout, who had been in a frenzy moments before, finally regained his senses. He huddled between Ye Huan and me, trembling. "Young Master San, I... I can't stand those runes."

Ye Huan casually pulled out a spirit talisman and stuck it onto Little Bean Sprout, who then managed to catch his breath.

As Little Bean Sprout gasped for air, he suddenly shrieked, "Young Master San, above! Above... look above!"

On the ceiling of the hospital corridor, a cluster of small handprints and footprints had appeared, as if children were crawling upside down.

I whispered to Ye Huan, "Three!"

"Three here as well!" Ye Huan locked onto his targets without even looking up.

There should have been three more. Had they not returned? Or were they hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity?

My mind raced, and I barked, "Move!"

As Ye Huan’s blade whistled through the air, I raised my left hand, and the three sleeve arrows hidden in my cuffs fired in rapid succession. The runes on the arrows reacted to the yin energy, bursting into flames. The three arrows transformed into streaks of fire, striking in different directions.

After three thuds as the arrows embedded themselves into the walls, the infant spirits pierced by them materialized, hanging from the walls and wailing loudly. The three spirits in Ye Huan’s direction were sliced in half in mid-air, dissolving into foxfire.

However, the other three infant spirits had yet to appear.

I frowned. Once infant spirits turned malignant, they became relatively fierce and adept at latching onto people. If they couldn't defeat their opponent, they would cling to them relentlessly, appearing whenever and wherever until they had their revenge.

Ye Huan and I had intentionally placed the flaming runes on the floor to force them onto the ceiling, where we could strike. Our plan had been correct; why were three spirits missing?

While I was observing the surroundings, the spirits pinned by my arrows let out a piercing cry. Simultaneously, the wails of three more infant spirits echoed from outside the hospital.

As the six ghostly cries resonated across the hospital, they gradually synchronized, reaching a higher pitch. The few remaining windows in the building shattered one after another under the sonic pressure.

Howling, ghostly winds surged through the unobstructed window frames; it sounded as if countless malevolent spirits were lost within the hospital, wailing as they searched for an exit.

My expression shifted abruptly. "There's an ambush in this building! Retreat outside!"

As I spoke, I grabbed Little Bean Sprout and retreated to Ye Huan’s side, pointing my fingers at the sleeve arrows pinning the spirits. "Explode!"

The red light of the runes on the three arrows flared, and the shafts shattered. The force of the rune explosion had little effect on the living, but it was enough to scatter the souls of the ghosts into nothingness.

As the foxfire from the three infant spirits drifted down from the air, the wailing in the hospital ceased.

The eerie silence lasted only a few seconds before the ghostly cries resumed, several times sharper than before. The accompanying malice made one's heart tremble.

Ye Huan and I had only run a few steps when we felt our hearts pounding violently, as if we were on the verge of cardiac arrest and collapsing to the ground.

"Protect your heart!" I instructed Ye Huan, while simultaneously gripping my blade, Piaoxue, and gesturing toward the corridor doors.

When I was about five meters from the double wooden doors, they suddenly swung without a breeze, trembling repeatedly. At a glance, it looked as if someone were hiding behind them, gently pushing.

I placed Little Bean Sprout beside Ye Huan and gave him a signal. I then rushed toward the wooden doors, my Piaoxue blade beginning to glow with a faint red light. Petals of red snow bloomed on the blade, and from the tip downward, it shimmered with a striking, blood-red hue.

As a killer's blade, Piaoxue did not need such flashy displays. However, the blood-colored snow on the edge could disturb an opponent’s mind; by the time they realized the blade was about to unleash its lethal power, the wielder had already delivered the killing blow.

As I lunged forward, the two wooden doors suddenly swung wide open, pressing flat against the walls. The gap between the doors and the wall frames was not enough to hold an adult, but it was more than enough to hide an infant.

I threw Piaoxue toward the left door. The dagger, from tip to hilt, slammed through the wood, and blinding green fire erupted through the hole.

I didn't wait to see the result. I drew my other blade, Cixian, and turned to strike the right door. As the blade pierced through, I gripped the handle and slashed with all my might, slicing the door in half. Brilliant green fire scattered with the blow.

Before I struck, I had sensed that the remaining three infant spirits were all hiding behind the doors. In such a short time, I could only deal with two; the last one would have to be left to Ye Huan.

This was our first time working together. I wasn't sure if he would understand my subtle cues, but there was no time to explain. Infant spirits were fierce but timid, and incredibly fast; if I spent time explaining, they would be gone again.

All I could do was gamble on our unspoken rapport.

After I took down the second spirit, I straightened up. At that moment, I felt something sliding down from above my head. I instinctively leaned backward and fell to the floor, catching sight of a ferocious-looking infant stretching its tiny hands toward my eyes.

At the same time, Ye Huan’s blade whistled through the air, slicing the little ghost in half just two feet from my face.

I stood up and said, "Follow me, there's one more!"