[{"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-40":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},2263146,4416,"Chapter 40","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-40",40,"\u003Cp>39. Qu Li Bai Ma\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The paper face’s lips were pressed tight, its expression icy as it stared at the wall’s thangka in silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Zhou Chang changed tack: “If you won’t say that, can you at least tell me your name?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this, the paper face smiled faintly, looking at Zhou Chang as she lifted her chin slightly, her gaze tinged with pride: “According to Han naming customs, my surname should be Liu.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm.” Zhou Chang’s heart stirred slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fact that she had volunteered her surname meant she had once lived in the Hidden Realm, unlike the vast majority of nameless Hidden Realm dwellers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those who bore surnames in the Hidden Realm were usually of noble origin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In our native Hidden Realm tongue, my surname is ‘Degé.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My name is Degé·Quli Baima.” The paper face’s expression softened with memory; she seemed to recall something, and the radiance that had briefly lit her face upon mentioning her surname vanished, “Those are all past matters now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I have no surname anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You may call me ‘Baima.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang committed Baima’s full name to memory, planning to ask local Hidden Realm traders about it when the chance arose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rolled up the poster again and tucked it behind his waist, then stepped out of the room and searched another chamber—this one, too, was an empty room housing a thangka of Jambhala.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang left the room and continued forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His earlier exchange with Baima had been full of verbal parries and hidden traps, consuming considerable time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet even after so long, he had yet to see any sign of Li Xiamei’s eldest or second daughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had they been delayed by other matters—or were they setting a trap for him right now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang wasn’t in a hurry; he walked onward, opening nearly every door he passed to inspect the interiors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, opportunities to sneak into the homes of thought-demons and ghost-class entities were rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially since he’d just probed Baima and learned that Li Xiamei was currently away—her great thought-demon absent, leaving only two minor ghost-class entities behind—Zhou Chang had to seize this chance to search thoroughly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His meticulous search did indeed yield results.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pushed open the door to one room; from outside, it appeared ordinary, but stepping inside, one immediately sensed the interior layout had changed—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What looked from without to be a side chamber was, within, unmistakably the main hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The walls of the hall were blackened by smoke and soot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ceiling beams and rafters were likewise charred by smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A row of long, pitch-black garments hung on the walls beside the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the wall directly opposite the door, a small shrine was nailed one foot above the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shrine was so low that Zhou Chang noticed it at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stepped closer and saw a brazier before it, its incense ashes still warm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the brazier sat three offerings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the central dish lay a head, its skin stripped away, gender indistinguishable; its vivid red muscle and yellow fat glistened with fresh, uncoagulated blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the left dish lay a complete set of cleaned intestines, also taken from a living person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the right dish rested a piece of braised skin; the aroma of the brine mingled with the thick stench of blood, seeping into Zhou Chang’s nostrils.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang’s eyes flickered; he looked up and saw the single tablet inside the shrine, one foot above the ground: “Sheng Leng Heichang Feng Si, Divine Banner Altar.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Old Feng’s family…” Zhou Chang murmured, pulling the poster from his waist and unfurling it before the skinless head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared at the paper face in the painting and asked: “Li Xiamei’s husband, Old Feng—your adopted father—apparently he’s no longer a thought-demon. He’s become a folk deity with a banner?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baima looked into Zhou Chang’s eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze now felt alien to her; she felt a pang of unease, raised her head higher, and her voice grew colder: “Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He doesn’t seem to be home today.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Most folk deities sleep most of the time, unless they find a body capable of housing their worship.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fate like Bai Xiue’s, with such innate potential, is most to their taste.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps my adopted father is in this very room now—but without a body to descend into, he can do nothing to you now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Even as a folk deity, he’s merely a wandering, one-foot-tall black chang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang nodded, looked at Baima, and suddenly asked: “Have you ever killed anyone?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His expression was no longer cold and hard; his tone was casual, almost gentle as he posed the question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Baima’s heart lurched; she suddenly felt that her answer would determine whether they became allies or enemies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment’s hesitation, she spoke honestly: “I’ve never killed anyone yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if the chance arises, I intend to try—see what fun it is to scheme a murder…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang studied her deeply, treating her last remark as idle chatter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He placed the three offerings one by one into the brazier, took a firestarter from the corner, and burned them to ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he seized a bamboo pole behind the door and pulled down one of the hanging “long garments.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The walls were lined with these pitch-black garments; only when he took one down did he realize they were complete human skins, slit open only along the back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the tanned skins, faint traces of blood vessels were visible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even faint traces of worship-energy flowed sluggishly through those withered vessel patterns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang immediately understood these skins were not mere decorations for this folk deity’s hall—they had a practical purpose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So these are the ghost-skins Li Xiamei’s eldest and second daughters need?” Zhou Chang asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baima’s voice came from behind him: “These are the ‘shells’ thought-demons wear to preserve their minds and blend among humans—not ghost-skins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When a thought-demon sheds this shell, it becomes the most terrifying ghost-class entity, but unlike minor ghosts, it doesn’t need to wear ghost-skins to move or attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These shells were collected over years by Li Xiamei.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She uses them to blend into human society, absorbing human qi to maintain her sanity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without these human-skin garments, her sanity would dwindle, she’d grow increasingly mad, and kill indiscriminately according to her unchanging pattern until someone cracked it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that point, the thought-demon would fall into ‘dormancy.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If dormancy lasts too long, people forget the thought-demon, and it gradually ‘dissolves’ into death.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Baima, these ‘shells’ were like thought-demons’ ‘respawns.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as they possessed these shells, even if their killing pattern was cracked or suppressed, they could restore themselves fully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if all their shells were gone, with no way to regain sanity, they could be subdued, fall into dormancy, or even die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang understood Baima’s words, and he took down all the dozen or so ‘thought-demon shells’ from the walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Xiamei’s daughters are truly a handful—never give their mother a moment’s peace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’ve got the very thing keeping her alive hidden in the house, yet they keep inviting outsiders in!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now look—” Zhou Chang stared at the pile of thought-demon shells in the center of the room, feigning regret, “these shells are like a firecracker dangling before a child’s eyes, while the child holds a lit incense stick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—How am I supposed to resist lighting it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The shells are vital to thought-demons. If you burn these shells now, your adopted mother will sense it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she’ll come for you with her two daughters… don’t regret it later.” The paper face smiled sweetly, “Still, stepping into a thought-demon’s home was never easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most people die without ever crossing the threshold. You’re just lucky…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Indeed,” Zhou Chang sighed. “Opportunities like this are rare—must be cherished.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tossed one shell into the brazier first, set it alight; when multicolored flames surged from the brazier, he hurled the entire pile into the fire!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoosh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The illusory, multicolored flames erupted violently, nearly swallowing the room!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the eye sockets of every burning shell, multicolored fire poured forth; their wrinkled faces smoothed under the flames, suddenly appearing grotesque!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black blood streamed down the shrine tablet: “Sheng Leng Heichang Feng Si, Divine Banner Altar.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the burning shells shrieked together: “Third daughter! Third daughter!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You deliberately led the thief in—this will be reported to Jambhala!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1386,"2026-06-19T18:47:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","f3c47f7139c3c7c71d63afc29d941be15dfff8116640fe76cb545e6496b67af7","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-41","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-39",209,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthere-is-a-malevolent-spirit-cover.jpg"]