55: Vajra Yihuang Man

The sudden intervention of an Evil Path cultivator complicated the original spirit-exorcism mission. Lin Luo wasn't sure if this counted as completion. Just as he was about to click 'mission failed,' he keenly noticed — the surging presence of Hanako from the toilet stall hadn't dissipated; it had merely receded like a tide, hiding itself, with the core of its malevolence still lurking deep within.

"Mafuyu, stay here, lock the door, and don't come out no matter what you hear," Lin Luo quickly instructed Kirisu Mafuyu. Though worried, Mafuyu obediently nodded. After settling her, Lin Luo immediately turned and silently, swiftly, crept towards the source of the presence.

At the end of the corridor, under the dim light, the scene was eerie. The evil monk who called himself Kongō Masarao had re-donned his kasaya, attempting to restore his dignified appearance, but the look of sated indulgence and residual malice in his brows refused to fade.

Beside him, the woman possessed by Hanako leaned against the mottled wall, her clothes disheveled, her eyes vacant and unfocused, as if her Soul had been extracted.

The dense malevolence around her had indeed thinned considerably, but it wasn't purified. Instead, it was more like it had been forcibly suppressed, like a hibernating venomous snake, hiding its fangs, waiting for the opportune moment to strike back.

"Hey, who are you? Why are you here?!" Kongō Masarao suddenly discovered Lin Luo's presence and immediately questioned him sharply and vigilantly, while subtly shifting to block the woman behind him.

Lin Luo didn't answer his question. His gaze swept over the woman's vacant eyes and disheveled clothes, finally resting on the evil monk's seemingly righteous but inwardly lewd face. He snorted coldly, "'Purifying evil spirits,' indeed. Defiling the host with lewd techniques and forcibly suppressing vengeful spirits, aren't you, this rogue evil monk, afraid of the malevolence backlashing and sending you to boundless Hell?"

Upon hearing this, Kongō Masarao, far from being angry, revealed a knowing smile. He pressed his palms together, feigning profundity: "So, a fellow practitioner. It seems Your Excellency is also here to deal with this anomaly."

He paused, his tone carrying a hint of self-satisfaction, "The flesh is but an illusion, and beauty is but a skeleton. this humble monk merely uses a special method to liberate the vengeful spirit's obsession and malice. You only see the superficial, but you don't know that regardless of the means, the anomaly here has indeed been pacified by this humble monk."

He scrutinized Lin Luo, a glint of calculation in his eyes: "I am Kongō Masarao, practicing the 'Joyful Zen Method,' specializing in resolving the suffering of resentment in the world. Since Your Excellency is here, you must also be entrusted by someone. Now that the matter is resolved, why not part ways here?"

Lin Luo sneered inwardly. This evil monk clearly sensed that he was not easy to deal with and wanted to avoid trouble. What he said sounded high-minded, calling it the "Joyful Zen Method," but it was clearly using the name of exorcism to commit lewd acts. Hanako's malevolence was only temporarily suppressed, not purified or dispelled at all. Instead, this blasphemous act harbored an even deeper crisis.

"Kongō Masarao?" Lin Luo repeated the name, his tone undisguisedly sarcastic, "'Masarao,' indeed. Is your 'Zen method' 'liberating' a woman possessed by a vengeful spirit in a toilet stall of an abandoned school building?"

The evil monk's face subtly changed, evidently catching the sarcasm and hostility in Lin Luo's words. His eyes grew a little sinister, and a murky spiritual light began to subtly flow around him: "Why must Your Excellency be so aggressive? Each person has their own method. this humble monk has indeed pacified the malevolence here. If you don't believe me, you can investigate it yourself."

Lin Luo naturally perceived the temporary pacification of the malevolence, but this was precisely the most dangerous signal.

"Pacified?" He took a step forward, his aura suddenly becoming incredibly sharp, like a drawn sword. "You're merely burying a more dangerous seed. Now, you have two choices: get out of here immediately; or, I'll 'help' you get out."

"Arrogant!" The hypocrisy vanished from Kongō Masarao's face, replaced by utter ferocity. "Since you insist on seeking death, this humble monk shall send you to your next life!"

Before his words finished, black prayer beads scattered like bullets, shooting out. Murky spiritual light, like living tendrils, coiled around his arms and condensed in his palm, transforming into an energy ball interwoven with pink and dark black, emanating a strong lewd and blasphemous aura, carrying a pungent stench, directly rushing towards Lin Luo's face! This energy not only contained physical impact but also carried an evil power that corroded the mind and incited desires.

"Heretical Dao!" Lin Luo snorted coldly. After dodging the prayer beads, he pointed his right hand like a sword, spiritual power condensing at his fingertip, a scorching white light rising like the morning sun, carrying the righteous aura of dispelling evil and slaying demons, and pointed it out!

"Hiss—!"

The spiritual power and that lewd energy ball collided head-on. There was no earth-shattering explosion; the pink and black energy ball, like ice and snow meeting scorching sun, emitted a piercing corrosive sound, rapidly dissolving and disintegrating, its evil thoughts purified by the pure Yang spiritual power.

Kongō Masarao's expression changed, and he let out a strange cry. He rapidly formed hand seals, muttering incantations, and the murky spiritual light around him surged, transforming into several twisted tentacles, condensed from tangible desires, coiling towards Lin Luo from different angles, attempting to bind his movements and directly pollute his spirit body.

Lin Luo's figure swayed, his footwork profound, leaving afterimages in the narrow corridor, skillfully avoiding all the coiling tentacles. At the same time, lightning flickered in his left palm, and he let out a low shout: "Palm Thunder, break!"

"Boom!"

A brilliant bolt of lightning erupted from his palm, not a widespread blast, but condensed like a spear, accurately striking towards Kongō Masarao's body. The ultimate Yang and rigid power of lightning was precisely the bane of such lewd Cultivation Techniques.

Kongō Masarao was terrified. In a hurry, he gathered the murky spiritual light in front of him to form a shield.

"Puff!"

The lightning spear easily tore through the seemingly thick evil Qi shield, and the residual lightning power slammed into his chest.

"Ugh!" Kongō Masarao screamed, spitting blood, his kasaya scorched and torn, his aura instantly weakening. His eyes were filled with fear and disbelief; he knew he was no match for Lin Luo.

"You... you just wait!" He glared at Lin Luo with venom, then glanced at the vacant-eyed woman beside him, seemingly unwilling, but the will to survive overwhelmed everything. He suddenly pulled out a Talisman and slapped it on himself. Black smoke exploded, and his figure rapidly faded and distorted within the smoke.

Lin Luo was about to pursue, but the black smoke carried strong spatial disturbance and obscuring effects, instantly enveloping the entire end of the corridor. When he waved his sleeve to disperse the smoke, only the motionless woman remained. Kongō Masarao had escaped with the help of that strange Talisman, vanishing without a trace, leaving only a faint trace of evil Qi and a harsh threat echoing in the corridor:

"You ruined my plans! This grudge will surely be repaid!"

Lin Luo did not blindly pursue. It's unwise to chase a cornered foe, and the situation was unclear. He was more concerned about the state of the possessed woman and the lurking Hanako. He walked up to the woman, frowned as he looked at her vacant eyes. Although the evil monk had been driven away, the mess he left behind, and Hanako's even more unpredictable state after being forcibly suppressed, required his immediate attention.

Without hesitation, he immediately summoned the cicada song collection from his pendant. The book did not need to be held; it floated up on its own, hovering above the vacant-eyed woman. The pages flipped rapidly without wind, rustling, and finally stopped on a page in the latter half — it wasn't a page with text, but a pure, blank space that seemed to absorb all light.

The next second, an anomaly suddenly occurred.

That blank page seemed to transform into a miniature vortex, and a powerful yet not violent suction force was released from it, precisely enveloping the woman below.

Immediately after, dense, ink-like, twisting and swirling black Qi, accompanied by ear-splitting wails and curses, was forcibly extracted from the woman's seven orifices and from the pores all over her body, as if pulled by invisible threads, struggling and screaming as it rushed towards the blank page.

"Ugh—!"

The moment the malevolence was largely drawn out, the woman's previously vacant eyes suddenly regained focus, but the light flickering in them was not her own spirit, but a crazy and violent blood-red glow! The remaining consciousness of "Hanako" was making its final resistance.

She let out an extremely shrill scream, completely unlike a human voice, clutching her head with both hands, her body trembling violently, her voice filled with endless fear and pleading, yet sharp and piercing:

"No! Don't! Let me go! Don't lock me up—! It's... it's so dark in there! I don't want to go back!!!"

This scream seemed to contain Soul-piercing power, echoing repeatedly in the empty, dilapidated school corridor, sending chills down one's spine.

Lin Luo's expression was calm, completely unmoved. He changed his hand seal and let out a low shout: "Seal!"

The suction from the blank page of the cicada song collection suddenly intensified. The struggling black Qi of malevolence, like all rivers flowing into the sea, was swallowed up at an even faster rate. The red light in the woman's eyes flickered violently like a candle in the wind, finally extinguishing completely with reluctance.

When the last trace of black Qi was absorbed into the page, the faint image of a young girl appeared on the blank paper, a look somewhat similar to the woman in front of him, but much more childish.

The cicada song collection gently closed and returned to Lin Luo's hand, cool to the touch.

At the same time, the woman, deprived of Hanako's malevolent support, went limp and collapsed to the ground. Her face was as pale as paper, her breathing shallow, and she fell into a deep coma, but the gloomy and malicious aura of the vengeful spirit on her brows had vanished.

At the same time, the woman, deprived of Hanako's malevolent support, went limp and collapsed to the ground. Her face was as pale as paper, her breathing shallow, and she fell into a deep coma, but the gloomy and malicious aura of the vengeful spirit on her brows had vanished.

Kirisu Mafuyu, who received Lin Luo's message, ran over from not far away. Upon seeing the disheveled and bruised state of the woman before her, her face turned red, but her eyes involuntarily showed compassion.

Lin Luo saw this and gently shook his head: "Mafuyu, there's no need for excessive sympathy. Demonic possession is never a one-sided coercion. Hanako chose her precisely because there was some kind of resonance in their hearts—either a deep-seated desire or a similar dark side. To be exploited by such a powerful vengeful spirit, her own heart is probably not entirely innocent."

His voice was calm and objective, carrying the composure of someone who saw through worldly affairs. Mafuyu was slightly startled upon hearing this. When she looked at the unconscious woman on the ground again, her eyes became much more complex, and her overflowing sympathy also slightly receded. She understood that in this bizarre world, many things could not be simply distinguished by right or wrong, good or evil.