[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-becoming-a-god-through-horror":3,"chapter-becoming-a-god-through-horror-becoming-a-god-through-horror-chapter-97":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Becoming a God Through Horror",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2273640,4441,"Chapter 97: Returning Home: Jack","becoming-a-god-through-horror-chapter-97",97,"\u003Cp>Occult Art: Substitute Death Doll Art\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Witchcraft: Yan Sheng—Pinning the Doll\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both of these arts are intriguing; one is the Substitute Death Doll Art, a form of ancient witchcraft later absorbed by Taoism and refined into one of its orthodox techniques, highly useful as an additional life-saving method.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other is the famed Pinning the Doll, also an ancient witchcraft, commonly practiced among commoners and the imperial court, even causing widespread panic among high-ranking officials during certain periods; most importantly, it is a remote curse technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But why are both tied to dolls? Shouldn’t the outcome have been something linked to defeating Mary Shao?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This thought vanished in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately examined the two arts in detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Substitute Death Doll Art, as the name suggests, requires a birth chart, blood, hair, and other mediums, then constructs a doll from straw, paper, cloth, or wood—the more lifelike the doll, the better its effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Doll quality,” Louis mused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That works perfectly; he had yet to begin studying Mary Shao’s notes, and with the notes of this master dollmaker, his progress in learning the Substitute Death Doll Art would not be slow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the Pinning the Doll art, it operates on a similar principle, and Mary Shao’s notes would be equally useful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, all accumulation holds meaning—even if unused now, it will be useful later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Louis thought this, he became more determined to collect strange artifacts, and a thought arose in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Should he try to investigate whether this world contains the horror films from his memories?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides gathering intelligence, just in case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could also obtain those peculiar artifacts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Horror films contain no shortage of bizarre objects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s certainly necessary, but such endeavors require considerable power…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He currently lacks the foundation to establish his own power; he can only rely on his family’s influence, which is strong only in Miami and cannot dominate even the entire state of Florida, making it limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Added to that, it’s the 1990s—internet is underdeveloped, so gathering intelligence will likely be difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forget it. I’ll proceed gradually after returning home.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet after returning, he still has much to do: find a new base, study the notes, research Jason, craft corpse charms, collect blood pearls…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hiss!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Should I start training an assistant?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Miami.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis had returned here again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, over the past few years, he returned every holiday to spend time with his grandfather, the old butler Fu, the Anderson brothers, Uncle Max, and others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Humans are creatures of memory; even the strongest bonds fade with prolonged separation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Added to that, his grandfather is aging—each meeting is one less, so Louis always returned for every holiday and never traveled elsewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This trip was the only one in years—and as for what happened, no need to mention it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had just stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A black sedan pulled up, and Fu stepped out, “Young Master.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hello, Grandpa Fu.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu smiled, his gaze toward Louis consistently gentle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis got into the private car.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vehicle quickly brought them to the villa.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked in with familiarity, heading straight to his grandfather’s room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as soon as he opened the door, Louis sensed something was wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spacious room was filled with many people—all elite family members, eyes sharp, muscles taut—but at the center stood only five: the family treasurer, Uncle Max, a stranger, the medium Ilyss, and Mimi beside her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grandfather Karl sat behind his desk, conversing with the stranger, and on the desk lay an old-fashioned cubic music box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the door open, all turned their gazes toward him; under so many stares, Louis remained expressionless and closed the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grandfather.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Little Louis, you’re finally back.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, I’ve just finished handling matters.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Karl smiled, “Your trip didn’t go smoothly?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis’s lip twitched, “Correct—it wasn’t smooth at all. It was fun, but I encountered some things… unpleasant to normal people. I’ll tell you later, Grandfather.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahaha, good. We’ll chat later, you and me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But for now, come here, Little Louis—help Grandfather examine this music box.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis nodded and stepped closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ilyss and Mimi beside her opened their mouths but held back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did Louis see the box in full.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Square and solid, its surface bore faint patterns, especially four dial-like locks on top, each marked with a letter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>JACK.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jack—due to the playing card J, this name is unconsciously associated with clowns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis studied the box closely, then dripped bull’s tears onto it, blinked—and his vision shifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside Louis’s eyes, the box changed: faintly visible within was a white clown face, wailing, screaming, roaring, weeping…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis narrowed his eyes, trying to see clearly—then in the next instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if his gaze had been detected, the clown’s shadow inside suddenly sharpened, locking its eyes onto Louis; its black-and-white eyes turned pitch-black, and within that total darkness, greed was unmistakable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding-ding-ding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crank on the box’s side began turning automatically; the clown inside shrieked in protest, its eyes returning to black-and-white.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The music faded, and the clown inside fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis’s eyes returned to normal. “Grandfather, this thing is no ordinary object.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course—it’s something I specifically collected. Little Louis, what did you see?” Karl asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A strange… clown spirit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this, Karl raised an eyebrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stranger immediately spoke, “Sir, now you’re certain—I didn’t deceive you. This is truly the legendary Jack’s Demon Box.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Karl ignored him and turned to Ilyss. “Ilyss, it seems you didn’t lie to me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ilyss sighed. “Mr. Karl, I must warn you once more—this box is inauspicious. It seals a demon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stranger grew agitated. “A demon? One that honestly grants wishes without traps?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is the genuine article—the very box that gave that priest his own child.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’d rather believe it was the priest’s devotion that moved God to grant a blessing, like the Holy Grail.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Louis, who understood part of this, rolled his eyes—this salesman was stretching it thin to sell the thing, even linking it to the Holy Grail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why don’t you use it yourself?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wait—right, why doesn’t he use it himself?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1008,"2026-06-19T23:34:28.869Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","f7efd1de38ee8da9b2f3a820acd5f44ddf9a7109143ceff110b6582145b3bf6b","becoming-a-god-through-horror-chapter-98","becoming-a-god-through-horror-chapter-96",253,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbecoming-a-god-through-horror-cover.jpg"]