CHAPTER 312: CHAPTER 312 THIS IS A GOOD THING_1

"It’s here!"

Upon hearing the cry, Zhang Shan’s face turned deathly pale, and his body began to tremble.

The cry was indeed eerie. First, it rose from the west, then from the east, followed swiftly by the north and south.

Old Zhou’s expression grew solemn, and he reached for a cloth bag he carried.

"Surround sound, huh," Su Xuan murmured with a slight frown.

He wasn’t afraid. His mental fortitude had been strengthened by the system, making him difficult to frighten. Besides, he had the woman in red protecting him.

"Hmph, let this old man see what you really are!"

Old Zhou had already taken a small black bottle from his cloth bag. He dipped two willow leaves into the viscous liquid inside, placed them on his eyelids, and then looked around.

"What is that stuff?" Su Xuan couldn’t help but ask.

"Boss, this is the good stuff." Seeing Su Xuan’s interest, Old Zhou’s expression gained a touch of pride. "Willow leaves dipped in cow’s tears let you see those... unclean things. Of course, it’s not just cow’s tears; my ancestral formula is mixed in too. It’s tried and true!"

"Cow’s tears?"

Su Xuan wasn’t concerned with Old Zhou’s ancestral formula. "How do you get it? Can you actually make a cow cry?"

"Heh heh, cows don’t cry easily." With a mysterious air, Old Zhou took out a small green vial. "But as soon as I rub this on a cow’s eyes, it’s guaranteed to cry!"

"That’s a dirty trick," Su Xuan muttered, glancing at the small green vial and pursing his lips.

It was a vial of potent medicated oil. It had been all the rage among female livestreamers last year. That stuff could make an elephant cry, let alone a cow.

"Boss, want to try some?" Old Zhou pointed to the willow leaves on his eyelids. "You might be able to see who’s crying. I guarantee it’ll change how you see the world!"

"Forget it."

Su Xuan shook his head. His eyes, it seemed, had already undergone some sort of transformation, allowing him to see such things without any aid. As for his perception of the world, that had changed long ago.

"Master, can you do it for me?" Zhang Shan, who had been watching from the side, grew curious and approached Old Zhou.

"Are you sure?" Old Zhou squinted at Zhang Shan. "You’re over fifty, aren’t you? If you see something you shouldn’t and get frightened to death, don’t you come blaming me!"

"No problem, no problem at all," Zhang Shan said nonchalantly. "I’ve worked in the funeral industry my whole life. I’m desensitized to everything; nothing can scare me!"

"Then I’ll grant your wish."

Old Zhou took out two more willow leaves, dipped them in the viscous cow’s tears, and placed them on Zhang Shan’s eyelids.

Zhang Shan looked around, his eyes filled with a curious light. He was genuinely intrigued by the unknown and was eager to witness it for himself.

Because of his profession, whenever he was drinking with his buddies, they always asked if he had ever experienced anything strange. Had dead bodies crawled out of the morgue? Had a female ghost stood by his bed at midnight? Had a corpse suddenly sat up during cremation? Spurred on by the alcohol, he would claim to have seen it all, embellishing the stories to impress his friends until they almost believed him.

"Old Zhang, do you dare to swear it’s all true?"

But there was always some killjoy who would demand it. He would never swear, of course. Because he had never seen a thing.

Zhang Shan looked around, searching for the source of the crying. He figured anyone would jump at the chance to have the Master apply the willow leaves to their eyes, eagerly awaiting the moment they could witness a miracle.

After two or three minutes with nothing to show for it, Old Zhou glanced at the iron rod Su Xuan had placed beside him. "Why did you bring this iron rod?"

"Just a whim," Su Xuan said nonchalantly, patting the rod. "You know where it came from. I picked it up near that inverted Bodhisattva statue. It should be effective against ghosts and ghouls, right?"

"No doubt! It must be powerful!" Old Zhou flattered him. But he didn’t sense anything special about the rod. It was just a rusty stick, devoid of any spiritual aura.

In the next instant, the crying sound seemed to teleport, drawing suddenly near.

Su Xuan looked toward the sound and saw a blurry black shadow, its gender impossible to discern.

Old Zhou and Zhang Shan also looked, but their expressions were bewildered, as if they saw nothing at all.

Just as Su Xuan was about to question Old Zhou, Zhang Shan spoke up first. "Master, your concoction doesn’t seem to be working! I can hear the crying right over there, so why can’t I see anything?"

"The cow’s tears aren’t very fresh; they’ve been sitting around for several months," Old Zhou said, mixing truth with lies. "The range isn’t that far, maybe only three or four meters."

"Oh, is that so?" Zhang Shan leaned his head in the direction of the cry, trying to close the distance.

At the same time, Su Xuan saw the black shadow suddenly accelerate, charging straight for Zhang Shan.

Six meters.

Five meters.

Four meters.

When the black shadow came within four meters of him, Zhang Shan finally saw it.

Its face was a terrifying sight, covered with countless wounds where the flesh was peeled back. One eyeball dangled on its cheek, swaying back and forth. Its mouth was agape, its claws extended...

Zhang Shan trembled violently, as if struck by lightning. He opened his mouth and screamed, "My God!"

The shadow was on him in an instant, tearing at his body! It even lunged for his neck with its mouth!

Zhang Shan couldn’t feel any physical pain, but he felt his very soul being ripped apart. A wave of mortal danger washed over him! He suddenly realized this must have been what happened to the security guard in the video; the only difference was that the guard could only hear the crying and couldn’t see the attacker.

Seeing Zhang Shan standing frozen in terror without fighting back, Old Zhou yelled urgently, "Director Zhang, the Spirit Talisman! Use the Spirit Talisman I gave you!"

"Right, right!" Zhang Shan finally snapped out of it. He quickly took the Spirit Talisman Old Zhou had given him and slapped it onto the black shadow’s forehead. He had no idea why it had to be the forehead—that’s just how they always did it in the movies.

The moment the Spirit Talisman made contact with the black shadow, something happened that startled even Su Xuan.

SIZZLE!

The Spirit Talisman spontaneously burst into flame! The fire swelled, engulfing the black shadow completely. Piercing shrieks replaced the sound of crying.

A few seconds later, the shrieking stopped. Silence fell. All that remained on the ground were the ashes of the burnt Spirit Talisman.

"Did... did we burn it to death?" Zhang Shan was still pale and trembling, but a flicker of excitement appeared in his eyes.

Did I just kill one of those things with my own hands? If I bragged about this, wouldn’t that grant some serious bragging rights? I could even swear an oath on it this time, because this really happened.

Just then, another strange sound echoed.

DRIP... DROP...

And Su Xuan’s iron rod began to tremble slightly.