[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit":3,"chapter-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-2":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","There Is a Malevolent Spirit",{"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},2263108,4416,"Chapter 2: 1、Zhong Kui Marries Off His Sister","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-2",2,"\u003Cp>1、Zhong Kui Marries Off His Sister\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang sat quietly on a high stool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cold wind poured incessantly through the window hole, striking his neck, causing his pale skin to faintly turn blue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat like a clay statue, only his eyeballs moving frequently, scanning the cramped room’s furnishings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a house built of stacked stones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A black coarse cloth, centered on the doorway, divided the room into two halves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang could see nothing of what lay on the other side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He saw the stone walls plastered with streaks of black, a mixture of grease and wood ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Colorful, grotesque clay figurines and masks, bound with red strings, were placed in the corners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the wall facing the door stood a coffin without a lid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thin wooden coffin’s surface was coated with a thin layer of damp soil; where the soil had flaked off, the lacquer beneath remained glossy black, not like something buried deep underground for years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang had been pulled out of this thin coffin by several people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the old men who dug him out of the earth now leaned against the coffin, rummaging through two bamboo boxes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room was freezing, piercing to the bone, yet the old man was drenched in sweat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the scattered incense, candles, paper money, bronze seals, and ox horns on the floor, he gathered several bottles and jars, hugging them to his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Noticing Zhou Chang’s gaze, he pushed himself up, looked toward Zhou Chang in the corner, his eyes filled with affection: “Little grandson, don’t rush, don’t be afraid—Grandpa will draw talismans on you, and then you’ll be able to move and speak.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man seemed eccentric, speaking in Sichuan dialect, calling Zhou Chang “little grandson,” yet Zhou Chang did not recognize him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not know where he was or what was happening; the only thing he knew was that now, his entire body could move only his eyeballs slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last night, he had just driven back to the countryside to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with his grandfather.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He woke up to find himself suffocating inside a dark, moldy, stinking box; only after being dug out by the old man and his companions did he realize the dark, suffocating box was a coffin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang did not understand the current situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he was certain he had not been kidnapped by bandits or a criminal gang while sleeping last night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His condition was peculiar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Similar to the feeling of being sealed in the coffin, he now felt his soul was locked inside this body, as if it too were a coffin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unable to struggle, he stopped struggling, sat quietly, and waited to see what would happen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gaunt old man wore a red robe with black trim, tied at the waist with a straw rope, then brought several stones and stacked them into a raised platform near the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he pulled out a bronze mirror, opened the bottles and jars in his arms, and began painting his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside, the wind howled sharply; beyond the window hole, darkness stretched endlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang watched the old man’s movements and confirmed he was “making up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man whitened his face with flour, drew eyebrows with charcoal, applied blush with red rice powder, outlined red lips, donned a wig made of horsehair, and finally pinned paper flowers to the wig and beside his ears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, a garishly dressed “old woman” appeared before Zhou Chang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old woman wore an exaggerated smile; her bright red robe amplified the festive aura—but as her facial muscles twitched, flour fell in flakes, the paper flowers swayed in the cold wind, and her pale, paper-thin face revealed that this cheerfulness was merely a thin veneer, concealing a grim, chilling reality beneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man, now painted as a festive matchmaker, put down the mirror, closed his eyes, and drew a pair of stark black-and-white eyes directly onto his eyelids.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned his head; those painted eyes fixed directly on Zhou Chang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the drawing was crude, Zhou Chang felt those “eyes” held unmistakable presence—the old man stared at him with those painted eyes, unblinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, someone pulled open the wooden door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A long-faced old man with a goatee entered, hands behind his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him followed several young men carrying Luoyang shovels, iron picks, and hoes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dust-covered and weary, their entry brought a chilling wind that instantly snuffed out the flickering candles on the stone platform.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cloth dividing the room was lifted by the wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang caught a glimpse of the other side: in thick darkness, a vivid red figure seemed seated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The goatee grabbed the fluttering cloth, pulling it back to conceal the other side, then glanced sideways at Zhou Chang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dim blue daylight from outside fell on the goatee’s face; Zhou Chang saw the wrinkles that had once relaxed now tightened into knots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang did not move, yet the goatee was startled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the darkness came the sound of the goatee sucking air through his teeth: “Ah Chang was only buried seven days—how come he looks so different now? It’s terrifying…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He got saved from a ghost’s grasp—that’s already ancestral luck. To save his life, I had to bury him in this cursed graveyard full of stagnant qi. A living man buried seven days will naturally change.” The old man, now painted as a festive matchmaker, relit the candle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The matchmaker’s grotesque appearance no longer startled the goatee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The goatee glanced again at Zhou Chang, his brow deeply furrowed, eyes filled with suspicion: “I don’t mean superficial changes—I mean inner ones. Like a ghost turned human—you understand what I mean?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So you’re saying my little grandson turned into a ghost? If he became a ghost, why didn’t we all die when we dug him up?” The matchmaker fixed his painted eyes on the goatee; an eerie atmosphere spread through the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, no—that’s not what I meant…” Sun Yanshun waved his hands frantically. “Forget it. We’re on the same boat, trapped in this graveyard—let’s not quarrel. Let me explain the situation to you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Sanji nodded, his face grim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanshun squatted before Zhou Sanji and pulled a bound, handwritten book from his satchel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang saw a compass and hemp rope inside the satchel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanshun dipped his finger in saliva and opened the yellowed book. Each page contained wildly varied content: some bore crooked maps, others had newspaper clippings pasted on them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He flipped to a page and pointed to a pasted illustration for Zhou Sanji to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang, positioned above, could clearly see the illustration: inside a dark, dilapidated bamboo fence courtyard, a woman with long hair covering her face, trailing down to her waist, stood at the hut’s entrance; beside her feet, several dogs with equally long hair sat or lay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the illustration was sparse, the artist’s rendering gave Zhou Chang a deeply uncanny feeling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He noticed a line of artistic script beside it: “Li Xiamei, wife of Old Feng—living people, keep away.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, “strangers keep away” meant “don’t approach unknowns”; “living people keep away” was clearer—this poster warned people not to approach this “Li Xiamei.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This “Li Xiamei” was dangerous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Sanji stared at the poster, then suddenly uttered a familiar rhyme Zhou Chang recognized: “Stomach ache? Go to Old Feng. Old Feng’s not home? Go to his mother and daughters… Li Xiamei’s husband is this ‘Old Feng’?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.” Sun Yanshun replied, his expression grave. He held up three fingers before them. “Old Feng’s family has lived for at least three hundred years.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And ‘Li Xiamei’ is said to love raising dogs—she feeds them human hearts, livers, and entrails, making them vicious, attacking and devouring anyone they see…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now we don’t know if we just happened to stumble into her place—or if her place happened upon us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since we’ve met, we must find a way past this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words terrified the three youths behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Zhou Chang felt no fear—only growing curiosity: could something that lived three hundred years still be human?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The goatee’s words were bizarre, like delirium.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was all this just a dream?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if it were a dream, how could it feel so real?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And according to the old man, he had been buried in earth for seven days… what state was he in now, after being dug up?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was he now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Sanji stared at the poster’s “Li Xiamei,” silent. After a long pause, as Sun Yanshun grew impatient, he suddenly said: “The ‘Old Feng family’ are said to guard the ‘Ghost Secret Treasury’—ordinary people rarely attract their attention.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I haven’t done anything—why has this ‘Li Xiamei’ suddenly come after me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I haven’t done anything either—but it’s here now.” Sun Yanshun spread his hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three men behind him lowered their eyes, saying nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the tools in their hands now stood out sharply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang recalled Sun Yanshun’s compass and hemp rope—perhaps this group had come specifically to dig up the treasure guarded by Old Feng’s family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Zhou Sanji silent, Sun Yanshun scanned the room’s furnishings, then smiled. “You’re a true master, you’ve already figured out a way, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have.” Zhou Sanji listened to the mounting wind outside, stood up, took brush and cinnabar jar, walked to Zhou Chang, dipped the brush in cinnabar ink, and began drawing on his chest and back. “I plan to summon Zhong Kui to protect us. As long as Li Xiamei hasn’t raised her banner to become a ‘secular deity,’ as long as she remains a ‘desire demon,’ Zhong Kui can suppress her!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Using Zhong Kui’s power, we’ll break out of here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Zhou Sanji meant to “summon Zhong Kui,” Sun Yanshun frowned. “You may have real skill, but summoning Zhong Kui’s power—you’re not qualified, are you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How will you summon Zhong Kui?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Put on a play: ‘Zhong Kui Marries Off His Sister!’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zhong Kui’s sister is getting married—he’ll surely glance this way, grant us passage?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Will Ah Chang be the groom?” Sun Yanshun asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes!” Zhou Sanji replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yanshun drew a deep breath, pointed at the other side of the black cloth, voice trembling: “You plan to make that thing—whether human or ghost—Zhong Kui’s sister?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Will Zhong Kui agree?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lowered his voice further: “That thing was pulled right out of Ah Chang’s coffin!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1730,"2026-06-19T18:47:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","31dbc7c28f45907b05b8d5be87c7a177ccccf837893c55f74a36036a1d11ffce","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-3","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-1",209,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthere-is-a-malevolent-spirit-cover.jpg"]