465: Chapter 465 Possessed by Evil Spirits, Water and Land Assembly

"Not only that..."

Second Young Master Chen Xuan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his voice filled with uncontainable terror:

"The wrinkles on his face are much fewer, and he looks several years younger than in my memory."

"I almost couldn't recognize his original appearance, thinking someone else had been swapped into the coffin."

"That feeling... it was as if what lay inside wasn't a corpse at all."

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"Instead, it was a... monster experiencing reverse growth while fast asleep!"

Second Young Master Chen Xuan narrated slowly, the bizarreness and grotesqueness behind the event making listeners' spines chill.

Bailing couldn't help rubbing her arms, as if a chill was crawling up her spine, giving her goosebumps all over her body.

Lin Chuqiao sat across the table, her willow eyebrows tightly furrowed as she fell into deep thought.

After hearing Second Young Master Chen Xuan's account, Fang Cheng glanced at Pan Wendi beside him.

When this guy sneaked into the dark building to investigate earlier, he had sworn up and down that the corpse in the basement had no breathing and didn't look like a living person at all.

Noticing his gaze, Pan Wendi smiled awkwardly, shrugged, and silently mouthed: "How would I know?"

Fang Cheng speechlessly withdrew his gaze, staring at the pale-faced Second Young Master Chen Xuan:

"So, you think the corpse lying in the coffin suddenly resurrected and killed the Chen Family people and other outsiders?"

"When things are abnormal, there must be a demon at play."

Second Young Master Chen Xuan let out a foul breath and said in a deep voice:

"Although I didn't witness the process of it committing murder with my own eyes, out of the entire Chen Family Manor, only that dark building is the most abnormal."

"If that corpse isn't the one acting up, what else could it be?!"

"That's right!"

Bailing nodded heavily, obviously persuaded by Second Young Master Chen Xuan's description.

Fang Cheng did not express his stance immediately.

Previously, when everyone was discussing privately, they had guessed that the murderer should be an insider of the Family.

If it was truly as Second Young Master Chen Xuan said, it was Old Master Chen returning from the dead through a borrowed corpse.

That could indeed explain why the other party could come and go freely in the Family, and clear up why the corpses of the victims in the dark building mysteriously disappeared.

As for whether a corpse that had been dead for three years could crawl out of the coffin to kill people...

Having witnessed the existence of a Ghoul King like Jiang Chen, such a matter wasn't particularly bizarre to Fang Cheng.

The only thing that puzzled him was how those invisible sorcery arts that kill without a trace were actually executed.

Imagine a zombie sitting in a coffin, casting sorcery on people from afar; it always felt a bit off.

Fang Cheng's gaze flickered slightly as he pondered inwardly.

Perhaps, another accomplice was hidden behind this?

Furthermore, why would Old Master Chen commit such a vicious act against his own kin?

Could it be that lying in the coffin for three years made him completely lose his sanity, turning him into a monster that only knew how to kill?

"Young Master Chen."

After pondering for a long time, Lin Chuqiao took the lead to break the silence in the lounge:

"Didn't you tell other members of the Family about this? What was their reaction?"

"I did."

A trace of a helpless expression appeared on Second Young Master Chen Xuan's face:

"After I ran out of the dark building, I told my grandmother what I saw at the first instance."

"Yet she didn't seem surprised at all, only saying calmly that this is a normal phenomenon of our Chen Family Bloodline ability."

"She also said my grandfather was exceptionally talented, which is why his appearance was not destroyed after death, telling me not to make a fuss. She said once the period for keeping the bier expires, moving him into the Secret Realm for burial will naturally be fine."

"The Chen Family's Bloodline ability?"

Fang Cheng raised his eyebrows, keenly grasping this crucial piece of information.

Second Young Master Chen Xuan hesitated for a moment, seeming to weigh whether he should speak or not.

In the end, he sighed. In order to investigate the truth as soon as possible and resolve the Family crisis, he still chose to inform them truthfully:

"Aside from the 'Spirit Pupils' declared to the outside world, our Chen Family's Bloodline ability actually has another trait that few people know about, called 'Solidification'."

"When driving this ability, the hardness of the body can become as indestructible as jade in a short time."

"Moreover, this characteristic will even affect the body after death, making the decomposition rate of our clansmen's corpses much slower than ordinary people."

"But... no matter how slow, it's impossible to have that kind of reverse growth that defies common sense."

"This is no longer strange; it is a terror that makes one's scalp tingle!"

While speaking, Second Young Master Chen Xuan's voice suddenly rose, his emotions agitated again as he clenched his hands into fists.

"I even suspect that what is lying in the coffin is not my grandfather at all!"

Lin Chuqiao ignored his agitated performance, instead lowering her eyelids, her slender fingers gently sliding across the table, seeming to sort through a mass of messy information.

After a moment, she raised her head and slowly spoke:

"As far as I know, in this world, the only monsters capable of achieving things like 'resurrection' and 'reverse growth' after death are two kinds—Ghouls and vampires."

"Coincidentally, both kinds of monsters like to feed on human flesh and blood to replenish their own energy."

"The more blood and flesh they eat, the younger their bodies appear, and the more powerful the strength they obtain."

Hearing this, Second Young Master Chen Xuan couldn't help but be startled.

"You mean... my grandfather mutated into that kind of man-eating monster?"

His mouth opened slightly, eyes staring wide, obviously finding it somewhat hard to believe.

"That's right."

Lin Chuqiao nodded slightly, her tone unchanged:

"Although the mental state of Family members is more stable than ordinary transcendent beings, the possibility of completely mutating into a monster is not entirely absent."

"It's just that this situation is very rare, usually appearing only during periods when the Legacy is cut off and the Family is declining."

She paused, simply spelling things out completely:

"Because of the lack of the purification effect of the Secret Realm of Legacy, the long-term accumulated negative consciousness and power cannot be channeled, which ultimately causes Family members to lose their minds, go completely crazy, and degenerate into monsters that only know how to kill."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng's heart stirred.

He suddenly remembered that back in the "chat room", he and Cheng Jiashu had also discussed topics regarding Families and mutation.

What Lin Chuqiao said was largely similar to Cheng Jiashu's view.

Looking at the solemn-expressioned Second Young Master Chen Xuan, Lin Chuqiao's eyes flickered as she continued:

"As far as I know, your Chen Family has only been established for a little over a hundred years and is at its peak; logically, this kind of situation shouldn't happen."

"Unless... some kind of accident occurred in your Family's Secret Realm of Legacy, causing the purification ability to weaken or fail..."

Saying this, she paused deliberately, her eyes gazing at Second Young Master Chen Xuan to observe his reaction.

Seeing Second Young Master Chen Xuan's face tighten a bit, her tone then shifted, slowing down:

"Of course, there is another possibility."

"Combining the nightmare your grandmother had earlier, we can perhaps deduce that your grandfather had already encountered some kind of vicious mental attack while he was alive, which was why he suddenly fell ill and died."

"Moreover, he found no peace even after death, as that evil force took advantage of his vulnerability to devour his original Soul, usurping his body."

"In other words, the 'he' who can move and is lying in the coffin now is merely a shell possessed and utilized by an evil spirit!"

"Evil spirit possession?!"

Second Young Master Chen Xuan's face instantly turned even paler.

This explanation terrified him even more than his grandfather turning into a monster.

A monster might still be due to Bloodline issues causing the Physical Body to mutate.

Evil spirit possession clearly meant that a hidden formidable enemy was watching the Chen Family, step by step plotting to harm the clansmen.

Pan Wendi and Bailing were also listening dumbfounded on the side.

Obviously, they didn't expect the matter to have an even more terrifying and sinister direction.

Fang Cheng's expression was calm, and numerous thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind.

The clues regarding the strange events of the Chen Family were slowly stringing together, and the truth seemed to be vaguely surfacing.

Lin Chuqiao's gaze swept across everyone, and she continued clearly:

"The origin of this matter lies in the Chen Family members supposedly being harmed by sorcery, and among the Nanyang sorcerer factions, there is an extremely special faction called 'Spirit Sorcery'."

"Unlike traditional 'Medicine Sorcery' and 'Gu Sorcery', the caster of 'Spirit Sorcery' Focus on cultivating their own mental power."

"Elementary 'Spirit Sorcery' can use one's own willpower to remotely influence the victim's emotions, causing them to hallucinate and lose their minds."

"And Spirit Sorcerers who have cultivated to a higher Realm can even achieve Soul Emergence, silently sneaking into others' dreams to cast sorcery and kill people without a trace."

"What's more."

Her tone paused, and she added with increased emphasis:

"There is an evil art called 'Flying Head Sorcery'. Once mastered, the sorcerer's head can detach from the body at night, engage in Flight alone, and suck the vital blood of living people."

"As for their Souls, due to long-term cultivation of evil arts and devouring the vital blood of living people, even if their Physical Body dies, they can exist in the form of a spiritual body for a very long time, and even maintain self-awareness for decades in certain special spiritual Secret Realms."

"If... the murderer is truly such an evil spirit whose consciousness does not dissipate after death."

Lin Chuqiao made her guess, but her tone appeared increasingly certain:

"Then many doubts in this sorcery murder case can be explained."

"It is formless and faceless, able to cast sorcery in secret, causing people to fall for it unknowingly without leaving any traces afterward."

"It can even influence and manipulate the consciousness of the Chen Family members, making someone become its accomplice and provide convenience for it without even realizing it themselves!"

Hearing this, Fang Cheng suddenly became enlightened.

Lin Chuqiao's deduction was undoubtedly the closest to the truth.

Perhaps, Uncle and the professor traveled thousands of miles to Tiannan Province precisely to track this formless, traceless, ghost-like special enemy.

Because the other party had no physical entity, it had always been hidden in some unknown mental Domain.

Therefore, they also chose to hide in the dark, wait and see how things develop, and wait for the moment when the storm in the Chen Family reached its peak and the enemy completely revealed its true form.

If this is the case...

Fang Cheng raised his eyebrows, looked up at Second Young Master Chen Xuan who was also lost in thought, and spoke:

"Young Master Chen, we can temporarily believe your statement. Now that the murderer's traces have been revealed, how do you plan to handle this matter?"

Finishing his words, he gazed brightly at Second Young Master Chen Xuan.

After all, that acting-up corpse was the former head of the Chen Family and Second Young Master Chen Xuan's grandfather; outsiders could not directly interfere.

All of this ultimately had to be decided by the man before them, the current acting head of the Chen Family.

Second Young Master Chen Xuan's expression on his face changed a few times, from shock to fear, and then to anger.

In the end, all emotions transformed into a resolute ruthlessness.

"I want to burn it, once and for all!"

He raised his head and said word by word:

"I believe that the thing lying in the coffin is no longer my grandfather!"

"Because if he were still my grandfather, he would definitely not lose his sanity and commit such a vicious act against his own kin!"

During his words, Second Young Master Chen Xuan was almost gritting his teeth, a faint anger burning in his eyes.

Lin Chuqiao turned her head sideways, glanced at the pensive Fang Cheng, and then took the initiative to say:

"Mr. Chen, as mission takers of this case, we have the obligation to thoroughly investigate the truth. If you need help, we will not hesitate to do so."

"Thank you all!"

Second Young Master Chen Xuan seemed to have found a pillar of support, his spirit instantly lifting:

"According to Young Miss Chu's statement, the thing possessing my grandfather is an extremely ferocious evil spirit. Relying solely on the remaining manpower of our Chen Family, we are probably unable to cope."

"With all you experts assisting, I believe everything will be foolproof!"

After this morning's Needle Sorcery storm, the forces the Chen Family could mobilize were severely depleted.

The joining of Fang Cheng and the others was undoubtedly a powerful fresh force.

"Then shall we set off now?"

Bailing was already somewhat impatient, wanting to resolve this gloomy and terrifying pervert earlier.

"That's right!"

Pan Wendi also got spirited, slapping his thigh:

"It is currently noon, the time when Yang Qi is most abundant."

"The movies I watched all say that monsters like vampires and zombies are most afraid of sunlight. Let's strike while the iron is hot and take its life!"

"Everyone, don't be anxious yet."

Second Young Master Chen Xuan shook his head, however, and said with a solemn expression:

"Before that, I need to go to Cuicheng Temple first to invite the high monks from the temple to prepare a water-land grand ceremony for my grandfather."

He paused, his eyes suddenly turning sharp, and his right hand clenched tightly into a fist.

"Not only to deliver his Soul from purgatory, but also to... suppress that evil spirit!"

The setting sun slanted.

The golden afterglow penetrated the dense treetops of Chen Family Manor, casting mottled light and shadows on the neatly trimmed lawn.

In the backyard of the manor, in a wide open space, the originally peaceful atmosphere was replaced by a solemn and respectful air.

More than a dozen servants dressed in gray uniforms bustled back and forth, building a temporary dharma altar according to Second Young Master Chen Xuan's instructions.

Incense tables, offerings, scripture banners, and Soul-guiding banners were placed in position one by one.

The air was permeated with a faint scent of sandalwood, mixed with the smell of ashes left after burning paper money.

Before the grand ceremony officially started, the sounds of bells and cymbals testing tones came from all around, clanging and clattering.

Second Young Master Chen Xuan personally supervised from the side, occasionally talking with an elderly monk draped in a cassock and solemn in appearance.

The elderly monk had crane-like hair and a child's complexion, holding a nine-ringed pewter staff. He was precisely the high monk specially invited from Cuicheng Temple, with the Buddhist name "Yuanjue".

Rushing from the hospital to Cuicheng Temple in the suburbs, and then inviting the high monk back to the manor to prepare the grand ceremony.

This back-and-forth journey, plus the preparations before the ritual, after a busy round, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Fang Cheng, Lin Chuqiao, Pan Wendi, and Bailing stood to the side, watching the hustle and bustle.

In front of the dharma altar, the large black-lacquered coffin that Pan Wendi had previously discovered in the basement was now jointly lifted out by four robust servants and placed under the broad daylight.

The coffin lid had been opened, revealing the "corpse" inside, strikingly subjected to the exposure of sunlight.