Chapter 129: Turn Off the Lights, Stealth the Malevolent Spirit, Speedrun

Time was temporarily rewound by one day.

In a house in the district, Rebecca stared in terror at a hunched figure in the darkness by the door.

Click.

The light turned on.

The figure vanished, everything returned to normal, but Rebecca was certain she hadn’t imagined it—the figure had been hunched, with visible hair, its body swaying, as if… it had taken drugs.

Click.

The light turned off.

In the dim moonlight, the hunched figure suddenly whipped its head around, the grating sound of bones rubbing together piercing the silent night.

Click.

The figure leapt to its feet, long limbs and wild, tangled hair flailing as it charged toward Rebecca in a frenzied rush.

“Ahh!!” Rebecca screamed instinctively, but her mind hadn’t deserted her—she flipped the light on instantly.

Click!

As expected.

The figure was gone.

Rebecca fell into a daze, remaining motionless for a long while before snapping back to herself, “Diana… my brother was right—it’s Diana…”

She had rushed away earlier because she heard her stepfather had died unexpectedly, her half-brother Martin had overslept at school, and the teacher couldn’t reach her mother, so she’d left in a panic.

But Martin said their mother now spoke every day to someone named Diana—and it was terrifying.

Now it was clear—this was a haunting!

And the name Diana rang a bell—she thought she’d heard it as a child.

Right! Martin!

Rebecca immediately grabbed her flashlight, turned it on, and rushed out—the room held no trace of her brother.

Rebecca grew tense, searching everywhere.

She dared not imagine what that spirit might have done to her brother…

Finally, a faint glow caught her eye in the bathtub—she trembled as she pulled back the shower curtain, finding Martin curled up asleep inside.

“Sister?”

“Martin, thank goodness you’re safe.”

Rebecca choked out.

After calming Martin back to sleep, Rebecca fell into deep thought: spirit, spirit—call a priest, and also…

She was terrified too. She didn’t want to be alone—if someone were here with her to face it, it might be easier.

Rebecca’s gaze drifted to Nancy’s phone number on her mobile.

…

The sun blazed in the sky, bright and cheerful.

Louis stepped out of the base, stretched, patted the coal-black creature at his feet, got in his car, and headed home.

Coalball had grown into something resembling a large black bear cub—originally meant to be lean and slender, but perhaps due to the spiritual materials it consumed, it had become stout and fluffy, still looking like a baby bear even as it matured, oddly adorable.

But to underestimate it would be a grave mistake.

No matter how cute a panda is, it’s still a bear—one swipe can kill. No matter how cute Coalball is, it’s still his specially bred Five-Black Dog.

Of the three dogs, Kouno was best at close combat, Gold was the most agile and flexible, and Coalball had the strongest exorcism ability—but Coalball’s melee skills weren’t bad either, at least stronger than ordinary dogs, barely qualifying as a fierce breed.

Patting the dog’s head, Louis arrived home quickly.

He found the two who had just returned from school: “Louis? You’re back?”

"Yeah, you messaged me last night—since I was already short on evil spirits, I might as well go over there."

“Great, I’ll call Nancy right away,” Emma said eagerly, and Louis made no move to stop her.

Yulencar found it odd—Emma clearly wanted Louis to take her along; she’d been left behind in several incidents and had long craved some excitement.

Wait—Louis didn’t stop her?

Glancing at Louis’s expression, Yulencar felt something was off—he seemed to be smirking.

Her instinct told her Louis was laughing at Emma’s expense.

Soon, Emma finished her call, blinked at Louis, and seeing him smile without objection, her face lit up with joy.

It was clear—she was genuinely thrilled; she’d longed for this adventure for a long time.

Watching Emma like this, Louis changed his mind—Maria could wait, next time. This time, let Emma experience it first—hopefully she wouldn’t be disappointed.

Soon, the car started, heading toward the location Emma had given.

“By the way, did you leave a note for Uncle David?”

“Leave what?”

“You don’t think we’ll make it back in time for dinner, do you?”

“Alright, I’ll call him.”

“What’s Uncle David been up to lately? Seems he’s only around at noon.”

“Lately, Dad’s been buying old objects and weird stuff, even things from Moxiguo—he says they’re easy to resell to Nihon for profit; those Nihon people have tons of money. But he never goes out himself—he always sends others to collect them.”

Guess why he doesn’t go out himself.

Louis muttered inwardly.

But not going out is fine—it avoids accidents. Though last time it was partly because I used the Transference Curse, David’s luck has always been terrible.

It seems David himself knows this too.

For a long time, traveling with David won’t be possible.

Why do I feel a little disappointed?

Shaking his head, Louis suddenly noticed the word “Nihon”—1991, Nihon’s economic bubble had just burst; maybe there’s profit to be made?

Forget it—let the economists back at Grandfather’s place handle this.

After a while, the car pulled up to a house.

Three people stood waiting—Nancy, Rebecca, and a boy who looked like he was still in elementary school.

Seeing Louis, Nancy’s eyes held tension—those black-clad thugs with money and guns who came to silence her had been terrifying; afterward, her legs had gone weak.

Had it not been for Rebecca’s matter involving her family’s lives, she probably wouldn’t have made this call at all.

Seeing Louis approach, “Louis, hello, I—”

“Enough talk. Get to the point,” Louis interrupted.

She did have courage, but ultimately, it was my own carelessness lately—I made a mistake, I admit it; why blame her?

Nancy quickly began speaking, while Rebecca watched Louis and the two beside him with suspicion.

She still couldn’t believe this boy could solve her problem—even a priest couldn’t!

But from his dismissive attitude toward Nancy, they must have had some bad history—better not interrupt for now.

As Nancy spoke, Louis pieced together the situation.

First, a monster had been confirmed. Second, the monster was named Diana—present since Rebecca’s childhood, never harmed her, not even when the priest entered yesterday; it merely threw her around. Combined with her mother’s frequent conversations with this “Diana,” something was clearly wrong.

First, it has been confirmed that a monster exists; second, this monster is named Diana, who has existed since Rebecca was a child, yet never harmed her—not even yesterday when the priest entered with her, only throwing her around; combined with her mother’s frequent conversations with this monster named Diana, something is clearly wrong inside.

“Was the priest injured?”

“Yes—if I hadn’t dropped the flashlight in time…” Nancy shook her head.

The implication was clear.

“Who’s inside the house now?”

“Only my mother—she’s… mentally unstable.”

Louis nodded without expression.

After hearing it all, Louis had already deduced a likely possibility.

Beside him, Emma and Yulencar wore different expressions—they too had guessed something.

Emma and Yulencan beside her also wore different expressions, as if they had guessed something.

“Huh? Just walk in? Don’t we need preparations?”

Louis smiled. “I’m not a priest—I don’t need holy water. This dog is enough.”

He patted Coalball’s head, and Coalball barked in immediate response, “Wang wang wang!”

At the same time, its gaze locked onto the house, its body lowered, bared teeth gleaming white, throat rumbling with a threatening growl.

Yet it showed no fear—only eagerness. Seeing this, Louis knew.

According to the authoritative exorcism dog Coalball’s assessment, the monster inside is no threat!

Thinking this, Louis still waved his hand, summoning Gu Yi, who had been sitting in the trunk, and strode forward.

Gu Yi now looked vastly different—wearing a heavy-duty bulletproof vest, finger knuckles fitted with brass knuckles; in fact, Louis had planted a few surprises inside its body.

The group followed behind as they advanced toward the house.

Then, the group followed behind toward the house.

The door was locked from inside—Gu Yi punched straight through the wooden door, smashing it open.

The room was pitch black—someone had completely destroyed all light sources.

Gu Yi stepped inside.

Splash!

Whoa!

The monster inside was even more impatient than expected—it suddenly appeared, flinging Gu Yi completely into the air, trying to tear off Gu Yi’s arm and twist off its head, its sharp fingernails already slicing through the clothing.

But Gu Yi felt no pain whatsoever, remaining silent while still attempting to roll over and fight back.

Inhale~ Exhale~

A snake-like flame emerged, wrapping around the monster like a living thing.

The light from the flame caused her to let out a scream.

Then it vanished instantly.

Louis frowned—through the perspective of cow’s-tear-dropped eyes, he couldn’t see how the thing had disappeared; its speed was absurd, like instantaneous teleportation. Moreover, Louis touched his wrist—the creature was unaffected by the Blood Curse Pearl.

The monster’s earlier display of strength against Gu Yi had led Louis to misjudge—it had seemed like a physical entity, but it wasn’t.

Then let’s try a soul-based attack.

“You all step back. I’ll handle this alone.”

In this darkness, Louis had no intention of playing the hero and protecting liabilities like in a horror movie.

But at that moment—

“Who’s there?”

A woman’s voice rang out. The second-floor room opened, and Rebecca’s mother, Sophie, stepped out. Seeing Rebecca with a group of people inside her home, her expression turned frantic.

“Who let you in! Get out! All of you, get out!”

Louis looked at Sophie, then slowly smiled. Now, he didn’t need to drive everyone out after all.

Louis took a few steps upward, then pointed at Sophie. “That monster—if you don’t want her hurt, come out yourself. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee she won’t be burned.”

No sooner had he spoken—

A shadow instantly appeared behind Sophie, snatching her up and retreating backward.

“Hmph!”

A flash of golden light vanished.

The willow-blade golden knife struck the monster precisely.

“Aaah! Pain!”

The monster shrieked in agony, yet still refused to let go of Sophie.

Indeed, a monster holding a living person had lost its ability to move swiftly through darkness.

Still, this spirit’s ability is quite interesting.

Shadow Stealth.

Not bad. I’ll keep it for now.

Louis shifted his intent, using his fur advantage to leap from the nearby coal ball and lunged at the monster, biting down, while simultaneously launching another golden knife.

The emerald-green soul stone on his body glowed faintly.

Three-pronged assault!

Golden knife pierces the body, poison fire burns the soul, dog fangs pull and tear.

“Aaaahhh!!!”

The monster screamed in agony, now trapped between retreat and advance.

Retreat—Sophie’s safety couldn’t be guaranteed.

Advance—the flames, the golden knife, and the coal ball’s demonic-fang teeth had already made it suffer unbearably.

Louis stepped slowly up to the second floor, stopping at the stairway’s edge, not advancing further, about to speak to the monster—

But Sophie, still held aloft, suddenly kicked the coal ball and tried to slap out the flames on the monster’s body.

This was merely Poison Fire Art—the physical temperature was average. If it were Fire Manipulation’s flame, you’d be roasted the moment you touched it!

Seeing this, Louis’s face turned cold. Fuck, she kicked my dog.

At that moment, Rebecca shouted from below: “Don’t burn my mother!”

“Sister, the fire isn’t touching Mom—don’t scream like that. Right now…”

“Mom’s being controlled by Diana…”

Rebecca was frantic, but her younger brother remained calm.

Louis ignored the voices below. He shifted his intent—Poison Fire Art surged violently!

Five seconds later.

The monster’s hand turned to charcoal, involuntarily dropping Sophie.

The flames extinguished.

“Diana, Diana, are you alright?”

Sophie kept shaking the dying monster on the ground, then suddenly looked at Louis. “Please, Diana is just a poor soul—spare her.”

“The poor soul who killed your new husband?”

Sophie fell silent. “She… I… this…”

Sophie clearly had some twisted bond with the monster—she could even forgive her husband’s death. Louis had no intention of judging.

But he wanted this monster.

At that moment, Gu Yi climbed the stairs and firmly restrained Sophie. Louis opened his mouth and sucked in hard. The dying Diana on the ground trembled, sliding toward Louis.

It looked at Sophie. “Sophie… home… family…”

It flew toward the gaping mouth, sliding into the belly.

That way, it could be temporarily stored.

This was Louis’s simple application of a Ghost-Eating Witch Art: temporary storage and imprisonment of malevolent spirits.

It was simply swallowing them without using the Five Viscera and Five Elements Cycle to grind them down.

After swallowing, Louis licked his lips.

Once back, he’d place it in an alloy room lined with peach wood, and study it slowly.

This scene of swallowing the spirit whole struck everyone below with terror—they couldn’t help it; it was too horrifying.

Such a terrifying monster had just been swallowed in one bite.

Gulp.

Nancy suddenly felt a twinge of relief—this man had some boundaries. He hadn’t just killed them all that day to silence them.

Otherwise…

As Nancy silently rejoiced, Rebecca charged up the stairs, shaking the dazed Sophie.

“Mom? Mom!”

(End of Chapter)