Shrouded in dense fog

Fortunately, Uncle Li came back in time, which calmed me down a bit. As I was about to get up, I noticed Uncle Li staring intently behind me.

Being stared at like that by Uncle Li made my recently calmed heart start to race again.

It seemed that ever since we left that alley, everyone I encountered, whether it was people or other things, kept staring behind me. And now, seeing Uncle Li staring behind me so intently, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"Uncle Li, what are you looking at?" I forced a smile, although there were no mirrors around, I could feel that my smile must have looked awkward because my facial muscles were extremely stiff!!!

"Nothing," Uncle Li finally withdrew his gaze and said to me with a strange expression, "You wait here for a moment, I'll go upstairs."

With that, Uncle Li hurried upstairs, leaving me standing there stiffly, not daring to move. After Uncle Li's gaze had been withdrawn, although he looked as if nothing was wrong, I knew him too well. I could still sense that something was off with him, as if he was deliberately acting nonchalant...

What could have happened?

Why was everyone and everything staring behind me incessantly? Could there be something behind me?

Just as I was lost in thought, Uncle Li came back downstairs. He had completely changed, striding confidently with a stern expression, eyes wide open, like an angry deity. In his hand was a fist-sized gold seal, and he rushed to me in a few steps, roaring, "Evil creature, don't harm my nephew!"

I was completely stunned by Uncle Li's roar. After all, the Uncle Li I knew had always been a gentle and respectable elder. Where did this imposing aura come from? For a moment, my legs felt like they were made of lead, standing stiffly in place, just watching as Uncle Li rushed towards me, lifting the gold seal in his hand and smashing it viciously towards my back.

Boom!

There was a muffled sound behind me, followed by a sharp, piercing scream.

The scream didn't sound human, it was sharp, cold, with a hint of bitterness and pain, making goosebumps cover my body.

Then, I felt a gust of cold wind behind me, and the door behind me opened with a clang...

I felt a lightness in my body, as if a heavy burden had suddenly been lifted. Without knowing where I got the courage, I turned around to look at the door, and what I saw made my eyes widen in disbelief.

I saw an old lady with white hair flying behind her, hunched over with a withered body, wearing a black funeral shroud, running madly away. She was wearing a pair of small shoes with a sole no more than three inches in size, with a wide and round sole, resembling a flowerpot. Despite their small size, she was running extremely fast, disappearing into the darkness of the street in a few blinks.

From start to finish, I didn't see the old lady's face, I only saw her back, but it was enough to shock me!

Who wears funeral shrouds? And even if there are still elderly people wearing foot-binding shoes nowadays, they definitely wouldn't wear shoes with soles that are wide and round like flowerpots. Those shoes are called lotus shoes, worn by women in the Qing Dynasty, and have long been outdated. Except for people like me who study antiques all day, ordinary people wouldn't even know the name of those shoes!!

Putting it all together, I broke out in a cold sweat, that old lady... wasn't human!

"Xiaotian, it's all right."

Uncle Li's voice brought me back from my daze. When I turned my head, Uncle Li was already standing beside me, his face pale, staring at the direction where the old lady in black had left, as if deep in thought.

I forced a bitter smile and asked a question that I found ridiculous even to myself, "Was that thing just behind me?"

"It was on your back. That thing is extremely fierce, clearly intending to harm you. It's not just a wandering spirit!" Uncle Li sighed and said in a deep voice, "I guess it must have tried to make you turn around, but failed. Seeing that you have three yang fires protecting you, it couldn't harm you directly, so it simply climbed onto your back."

No wonder I felt so heavy before, it turned out there was something dirty crawling on my back!

At this moment, I realized that my whole body was covered in goosebumps. I had heard my father tell a similar story before.

A rich man's son had an affair with a college girl, but when he got her pregnant, he left her with a few thousand dollars and ran away. The college girl, unable to bear it, hung herself with red clothes and shoes at midnight, the most Yin time of the day. On the seventh day after her death, her spirit returned and went to the rich man's son's house. Since the rich man's son had a powerful talisman on him, she couldn't possess him to harm him, so she simply crawled onto his back, leaving him with broken spine and drained yang energy, almost turning him into a bag of bones, even his hair turned white in his twenties.

I couldn't help but feel lucky. If it weren't for Uncle Li, I might have ended up like that rich man's son. Now I sincerely thanked Uncle Li.

"Don't be polite with Uncle. I won't let anything happen to you," Uncle Li said firmly. Then, he looked at me seriously and asked, "Xiaotian, tell me everything that happened before you came to the store. I can't figure out how you attracted such a fierce thing."

"To be honest, I don't know either."

I smiled bitterly and recounted everything that had happened to me from leaving home to coming to the store, not leaving out the mysterious woman who took away the fake Uncle Li. After all, Uncle Li was my only lifeline now, and I dared not hide anything.

After I finished speaking, Uncle Li lit a cigarette and fell into deep thought, his brows furrowed, as if pondering something. In the swirling smoke, his face looked uncertain.

After more than ten minutes of silence, Uncle Li finally exhaled a long breath. "By rights, this spirit should also follow the rules. A child just made a mistake because of greed, and it should have given some warning even if it came to collect a debt. How can it just come and try to kill you without giving you any chance?"

I was a bit panicked when Uncle Li made it clear that those things were clearly trying to kill me without any chance of reconciliation. I hurriedly asked, "Uncle, do I still have a chance to survive?"

"Yes! Xiaotian, don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." Uncle Li gave a definite answer and said in a deep voice, "The only thing that puzzles me now is the one who sent you the marriage proposal, the mysterious woman you mentioned, and the dirty thing that impersonated me. I can't be sure if they are human! As for the driver not seeing the thing on your back, that's easy to explain. Drivers who dare to drive at night are usually tough characters, with strong yang energy. Plus, that thing on your back wasn't targeting him, so it's normal that he couldn't see it."

I felt a little more settled in my heart, then looked at the gold seal in Uncle Li's hand, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "By the way, Uncle Li, what is this thing in your hand? And how do you have this exorcism technique?"

Uncle Li smiled, "I'm getting old, and I've been in this business for a long time, so I've picked up a few tricks."

With that, Uncle Li glanced at the gold seal in his hand and directly threw it to me, saying, "This thing isn't mine, to be accurate, it's yours. Keep it with you for the next few days. With this thing, at least you'll be safe for now. Later, when it's bright, I'll take you to see someone who can help you figure out what's bothering you."

Taking the gold seal, I looked at Uncle Li with some confusion. For a moment, I found it hard to understand this usually smiling and amiable elder.

It seemed that after experiencing tonight's series of events, everything around me had become unpredictable, even my destiny!