Back in his 702 apartment on the 7th floor, Lin Yuan locked the door and closed the curtains, making the room dark. He sat cross-legged in the center of the living room, slowly opening his hands—palm up, the fragments of the evil spirit mask Zhang Luo had given him emitted faint, dim wisps of energy.
"Jiuchong, let's start."
[Host, infuse your ghost energy into them and guide the yin malevolence into your body… Don't worry, your merits will protect you. The purification won't corrupt your mind.]
Lin Yuan took a deep breath and shut his eyes. As his ghost energy surged, black mist rolled off the fragments in waves, and the yin malevolence seeped into his body through his palms.
In an instant, fragmented images flashed through his mind.
In a dilapidated abandoned building, a girl hung suspended by chains, bound and airbound. She wore a dark blue school uniform, her hair tangled, face deathly pale, gaunt as a malnourished stray cat.
Beneath her feet lay a bizarre spherical altar, etched with unintelligible runes. Shadowy figures wrapped in black mist stood around it, their faces hidden, rigid like ritual guards.
A TV in front of the girl showed recent news…
[…A mysterious murder occurred in xx Apartment. The victim, Mr. Lin, a teacher at Zhonghua High School… died from blood loss. Police are still investigating…]
The girl's eyes glazed over, her lips trembling. Suddenly, she let out a heart-wrenching wail, teetering on the edge of mental collapse. Minutes later, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed into unconsciousness. The spherical altar abruptly glowed blood-red, and an evil spirit mask began forming before her, black veins spreading across its surface like a twisted, living thing…
The vision vanished abruptly!
Lin Yuan's eyes flew open, cold sweat dotting his forehead as his body trembled slightly.
"This evil spirit mask… was created by the altar?! Is that high school student… my student?"
He looked down at the fragments in his hand, now drained of energy—their yin malevolence fully refined by him, while his own ghost energy had undergone a qualitative shift.
Ghost General!
Ghostly green flames flickered around his body, as if he could will a hundred-meter radius into a ghostly domain, a barrier uniquely his own.
"In this state, I could probably fight ten past versions of myself," Lin Yuan muttered, clenching his fist and feeling power surge inside. A faint smirk crossed his lips. "Guess I'm stronger now."
He reached out to Pan Jie telepathically.
"Let's go see Zhang Luo."
…
At the police station, Lin Yuan and Pan Jie told Zhang Luo about the fragmented visions. Her expression darkened instantly, and she frowned in thought.
"The girl you described… sounds like a victim of a living sacrifice ritual," she said. "A spherical altar, unknown runes, an evil spirit mask… This might be the 'Blood Altar'."
"Does that mean… someone is still carrying out the ritual from 30 years ago?" Pan Jie gasped.
"Just a guess so far," Zhang Luo sighed, rubbing her temple. "But if it's true, we're not just up against ordinary ghosts, this is something way more dangerous."
Just then, the office door slammed open. Uncle Wei walked in, looking serious.
"Another incident," he sighed, hands on hips, clearly frazzled.
"What happened?" Zhang Luo asked.
"Another death. The victim is Zhao Fa, a rich second generation. His family has strong connections. He died mysteriously at home tonight, same cause as before—blood loss." Uncle Wei dropped into a chair with a heavy sigh. "This is trickier than the previous cases. If we botch this, the family will pressure the bureau hard."
Pan Jie raised an eyebrow. "This can't be a coincidence, right?"
"You're telling me," Uncle Wei groaned. "The case falls under our jurisdiction. I've already been dragged into three meetings, the chief is livid."
"Where's the body? Any clues?" Lin Yuan materialized as a ghost.
Uncle Wei jolted, then stammered, "The coroner's… preliminary report… matches the previous cases. No struggle marks, no drugs in his system." He shook his head wearily. "But this time, there's a strange red rune at the scene."
"Red rune?" Zhang Luo's expression shifted. "Did you bring photos?"
Uncle Wei nodded, pulling out his phone and placing a photo on the table.
In the photo, the rich second generation's body lay motionless on a blood-stained bed, face pale under a white shroud. On the headboard wall, a complex symbol in dark red liquid looked like an unknown human figure, with strange "eye" shapes around it.
"I've seen this rune somewhere before…" Zhang Luo squinted at the photo, her frown deepening.
"Right!" Lin Yuan's eyes lit up. "Did your dad give you more info about the Blood Altar?"
Zhang Luo snapped back to attention and dialed her phone. After a moment, her face paled. "My dad said the 30-year-old Blood Altar was indeed linked to living sacrifices, and…" She took a shaky breath. "When the Taoist masters and celestial masters arrived, similar runes surrounded the altar."
The air grew heavy. Pan Jie swallowed hard. "Could this mean… the ritual is starting again?"
Uncle Wei sighed heavily, slapping his thighs. "Enough talk. We can't delay. Let's check the scene." He turned to Lin Yuan, his tone formal. "Mr. Lin, we'll need your assistance again. This case... is beyond ordinary investigators now."
Lin Yuan shrugged with a faint smile. "Sure. I've been pretty bored lately."
The group shared a look and got up, heading to the crime scene.
====================
回到自己的7楼702公寓,林远将门锁好,窗帘拉上,整个房间陷入一片昏暗.他盘腿坐在客厅中央,缓缓地摊开双手,掌心之上,张洛交给他的恶灵面具碎片散发出丝丝幽暗的气息.
"九重,开始吧."
[宿主,将你的鬼力渗透进去,引导阴煞之气进入体内... 放心,有功德护体,净化过程不会影响你的心智.]
林远深吸一口气,闭上眼睛,随着鬼力的涌动,碎片表面的黑雾像潮水般翻滚,阴煞之气顺着他的手掌缓缓涌入体内.
一瞬间,他的脑海中闪现出零散的画面.
在一栋破败的废弃楼里,一个女孩被铁链捆绑,挂在空中.她穿着一身深蓝色的校服,头发凌乱,脸色苍白,瘦得像只营养不良的流浪猫.
她的脚下,摆着一个诡异的球形祭坛,周围刻满了看不懂的符文,而四周站着几个看不清五官,全身被黑雾包裹的人影.他们站得笔直,像是某种仪式的守卫.
女孩的眼前,有一台电视机,正播放着这几天的社会新闻...
[...xx公寓发生离奇命案,死者为林某人,在中华中学担任教师... 失血过多,警方仍在调查中...]
女孩眼神涣散,嘴唇微微颤抖,突然发出撕心裂肺的嚎哭,像是某种精神崩溃的临界点.
几分钟后,她双眼翻白,昏迷过去,而那球形祭坛突然亮起暗红色的光,悬浮在她面前的恶灵面具开始成型,一道道黑色的纹路在面具上蔓延开来,仿佛某种诡异的生命正在诞生...
画面戛然而止!
林远猛地睁开双眼,额头布满冷汗,身体轻微颤抖.
"这个恶灵面具... 竟然是祭坛制造出来的?!那个中学生,难道是我的学生?"
他缓缓低头,看向手中的碎片,此刻已变得毫无生气,阴煞之气被他完全炼化,而自己的鬼力则发生了质变.
鬼将!
他的身体周围浮现出幽绿色鬼火,仿佛只要他心念一动,便能在方圆百米内创造出一个独立鬼域,一个只属于他的结界!
"这个状态,感觉能单挑十个之前的自己了." 林远握了握手掌,感受着体内翻涌的力量,嘴角微微扬起,"看来,我又变强了."
他用意念沟通潘洁.
"走吧,我们去找张洛."
...
林远和潘洁来到警局,将刚刚看到的零散画面告诉张洛.张洛听后,神色瞬间变得凝重,低头沉思片刻.
"你说的那个女孩... 听起来像是某种活祭仪式的受害者." 她皱着眉道,"球形祭坛,未知符文,恶灵面具... 这东西,很可能就是 '血色祭坛' ."
"难道... 有人还在继续那个30年前的仪式?" 潘洁瞪大眼睛.
"目前只是猜测." 张洛揉了揉太阳穴,"但如果是真的,那我们现在面对的可不只是普通的恶鬼,而是某种更危险的邪术."
正当他们讨论时,办公室的门突然被推开,伟叔快步走了进来,脸色不太好看.
"又出事了." 伟叔叹了口气,双手叉腰,一副头疼的模样.
"什么情况?" 张洛问道.
"又死人了,死者是一名富二代,赵发.家里背景深厚,今晚在自己家里离奇死亡,死因和之前的案子一模一样,失血过多." 伟叔重重地在椅子上坐下,捏了捏鼻梁,"这件事比前几起案件还要麻烦,如果处理不好,局里估计要被他家人施压了."
潘洁挑眉:"这... 不会是巧合吧?"
"巧了." 伟叔苦笑,揉了揉太阳穴,"这案子就发生在咱们管辖的区域,我已经被叫去开了三次会,领导的脸都黑成锅底了."
"尸体呢?有查出什么线索吗?" 林远显现出鬼体.
伟叔吓了一跳后, "法医... 初步... 鉴定,和之前的案件一致,身上没有挣扎痕迹,体内没有药物成分." 伟叔无奈地摇了摇头,"但不同的是,这次案发现场... 出现了一道奇怪的红色符文."
"红色符文?" 张洛神色微变,"有带照片来吗?"
伟叔点点头,拿出手机翻出一张照片,放在桌面上.
照片中,富二代的尸体静静地躺在床上,周围血迹斑斑,脸色苍白,身上盖着一条白布.床头墙壁上,有一道用暗红色液体绘制的复杂符号,看起来像某种未知的人形图案,符号周围还画着几个奇怪的 "眼睛" 形状.
"这个符文... 我好像在哪里见过..." 张洛盯着照片,眉头越皱越紧.
"对了!" 林远目光微动,"你爸那边,有没有关于血色祭坛的更多情报?"
张洛回过神,拿起手机拨通电话,没多久后,她的表情变得异常严肃:"我爸说,30年前的血色祭坛,的确和活祭有关,而且..."
她深吸一口气,缓缓说道:"当年,那些道尊和天师赶到现场时,祭坛周围也出现过类似的符文."
气氛瞬间沉重起来.
潘洁咽了咽口水,小声嘀咕道:"这不会是... 死灰复燃了吧?"
伟叔重重地叹了一口气,拍了拍裤腿:"行了,废话不多说,这案子不能拖,咱们先去现场看看吧."
"林教师,这次还请你多多帮忙." 他看向林远,语气带着几分正式,"这案子,恐怕已经不是普通人能处理的了."
林远耸耸肩,露出一抹淡笑:"行啊,反正最近闲得很."
众人对视一眼,纷纷起身,朝案发现场出发.