To put it bluntly—they’d triggered a clash between red and white twin evils.
The “Red and White Twin Evils” is a forbidden Maoshan technique, extremely rare and dangerous. It can only be encountered under specific circumstances and in a special feng shui layout.
The “Red Evil” refers to a bride who dies on her wedding day, wearing red garments. Her resentment is deep and intense. The “White Evil” refers to a powerful water ghost who can walk on land, typically accompanying the coffin of a young man who died unexpectedly.
One brings joy, the other death. When the two evils cross paths, neither is willing to give way.
Jiang Luo had read about the “Red and White Twin Evils” in books. To encounter it, a very intricate and unusual feng shui layout is required. Once the red and white forces collide, if someone gets caught in the middle without sufficient skill… they’re as good as dead.
Lu Youyi looked at them pitifully and said, “I just didn’t feel confident on my own. But now that you’re all here with me, I’m not scared anymore.”
Although they still felt like punching him, since they were already here, everyone resigned themselves to reality.
“We’ll talk business tonight,” Jiang Luo stretched lazily. “For now, let us enjoy ourselves a little.”
Lu Youyi beamed, flashing a mouthful of white teeth. “Of course!”
After dropping off their luggage in their rooms, they got ready to head to the hot springs. Jiang Luo took a shower in the bathroom, washing off the dust from the journey. He then put on the clothing provided by the resort.
The resort had prepared a bathrobe, a towel, and a pair of disposable underwear. The material wasn’t great, but not terrible either. After putting them on, Jiang Luo felt they were a bit tight.
He’d always been satisfied with his figure. After months of training, a light layer of muscle now covered his body. At a glance, he looked lean and toned in all the right places. There was a full-length mirror in the bathroom; Jiang Luo tied the robe’s sash in front of it, slowly admiring his reflection.
His long black hair hung over his shoulders, still wet and beaded with droplets. His slightly raised lips held a careless, beautiful smile. He was truly pleasing to look at.
He’d had this face for over twenty years, and he was thankful the cannon-fodder Jiang Luo from the original novel had the exact same one.
“Maybe after I deal with that ticking time bomb Chi You,” Jiang Luo murmured to himself, “I should finally get over my emotional wounds and start a new relationship.”
Behind him, in the unnoticed laundry basket, an invisible wind was rustling through the clothes. Fabric lifted and fell as if something was searching for something.
But upon hearing that sentence, the wind suddenly paused—then disappeared without a trace into the clothes.
Outside, Lu Youyi called out, “Jiang Luo, hurry up!”
Jiang Luo came back to himself, loosely twisting up his wet hair and tossing it over his shoulder as he leisurely walked out of the bathroom.
The main attraction of the resort was its hot springs. The indoor baths were gender-separated and required full nudity. The outdoor baths offered scenic views but required bathing suits, as they were mixed-gender.
Under normal circumstances, they would’ve chosen the indoor baths for cleanliness. But this time was different—the only guests at the resort were the nine of them. Every bath, inside and out, was spotless.
They found a large outdoor hot spring pool and soaked in it together, chatting lazily.
The sulfuric smell was mixed with the scent of disinfectant, and the rising steam quickly helped everyone relax.
Wenren Lian handed Jiang Luo a bottle of water. Jiang Luo opened his eyes, glanced at Wenren Lian, raised a hand to take the bottle, and teased, “Wenren, nice body.”
When Wenren Lian dressed as a woman, no one ever felt it was out of place—he always seemed a bit too slender. But without the disguise, it became clear he had a tall, well-proportioned figure, every line of his body combining strength and beauty. There was nothing feminine about it—on the contrary, he looked strikingly handsome.
“Do you like it?” Wenren Lian winked at him.
Jiang Luo thoughtfully rubbed his chin, giving him a once-over. “Not bad.”
Wenren Lian almost burst into laughter, but managed to say his next line with a straight face, “Want to try it with me tonight?”
“Sure,” Jiang Luo raised an eyebrow. “But I’m only topping.”
Wenren Lian sighed in disappointment. “What a pity. Me too.”
Off to the side, Kuang Zheng, who had been quietly soaking in the water, asked seriously, “What do you mean by ‘topping’?”
Jiang Luo and Wenren Lian went silent for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. Wenren Lian turned to Kuang Zheng, raised a finger to his lips, and said gently, “That’s not something a child needs to know.”
Kuang Zheng looked at him, helpless.
Meanwhile, Lu Youyi and Cyril were singing—badly. Cyril’s tone-deaf voice was truly unforgettable. Jiang Luo closed his eyes, his mind drifting on the edge of sleep, a faint smile curling on his lips as he listened to the chatter.
Qi Ye’s gaze flickered subtly toward Jiang Luo. Zhuo Zhongqiu suddenly asked, “Why do you keep looking at Jiang Luo?”
Qi Ye’s face turned bright red, nearly jumping out of the bath. “I wasn’t looking at him!”
Zhuo Zhongqiu said flatly, “Then why are you so worked up?”
Qi Ye choked on his words, stiffly sinking back into the bath, deliberately turning to look away from Jiang Luo as if saying, “See? I’m not interested.” “I’m not talking to you.”
But the more he told himself not to look, the more he wanted to. From the corner of his eye, he peeked at Zhuo Zhongqiu, and when she wasn’t paying attention, he quickly snuck a glance at Jiang Luo.
At that exact moment, Jiang Luo suddenly stood up from the water. His cheeks were slightly flushed, eyes half-lidded, his voice drowsy and lazy. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed first.”
After a few murmured responses, Jiang Luo slowly walked out of the bath. He grabbed a clean towel from a nearby chair and tossed it over his shoulders with a casual flourish. Just as he was about to leave, he turned his head and said, “Don’t stay in the hot springs too long.”
His gorgeous eyes narrowed slightly, and his teasing smile curled up again. “If you pass out, don’t come crying to me.”
Ge Zhu joked, “If we pass out, we’ll crawl to your room just to faint properly.”
This kind of friendly banter was rare for Jiang Luo, but he liked it.
He shrugged, waved at them, and returned to his room in good spirits for a nap.
He slept like the dead. The blazing sunlight outside gradually turned into a heavy golden dusk. Only after the twilight was completely devoured by night did Jiang Luo finally open his eyes.
He blinked slowly, his eyelids fluttering twice as he looked toward the window.
The sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon. A gentle breeze stirred, and only a faint trace of purple-red twilight remained glowing on the edge of the sky.
Jiang Luo glanced at his phone—turns out, it was already seven in the evening.
There were only a few of them in the hot spring manor, so they luxuriously occupied one room each. When Jiang Luo returned, he hadn’t turned on the lights. Now, the room looked even darker than the outside, as if some man-eating monster lurked in the shadows.
Jiang Luo snapped awake and leaned over to switch on the light. In an instant, the bright glow banished the darkness. He looked toward the doors and windows—the talismans he had stuck up before bed were still perfectly intact.
He felt reassured, got up, and left the room to eat.
At the very moment he closed the door behind him, a sudden evil wind slammed against the window from outside. The suppression talisman at the window—already having resisted several such blows—finally gave out. Flames ignited from the base of the talisman, and in seconds it turned to ash, scattering across the windowsill.
***
Jiang Luo ate dinner alone, then strolled around the manor for half an hour. Once he felt his food had settled, he had the urge to soak in the hot spring again. So, he picked a secluded, empty little pool and sank into it once more.
The electric meter beside the spring read 38°C—neither too hot nor too cold, just the ideal temperature. Jiang Luo let out a breath, leaned against the pool’s edge, and enjoyed the rare moment of solitude.
But gradually, the temperature started to drop.
At first, Jiang Luo thought he’d just gotten used to the warmth. But it didn’t take long for him to sense something was off.
He opened his eyes. Mist still hovered over the water’s surface, but instead of rising steam, a creeping chill had taken over. Jiang Luo quickly stood up, cautiously backing away from the pool. The moment he stepped out, the 38-degree water instantly froze into solid ice.
If he had hesitated even a moment longer, he’d have been frozen in there too.
Grabbing a towel from nearby, Jiang Luo’s expression darkened. “F*ck.”
He was about to wrap the towel around himself when his hands were suddenly gripped by another.
The stranger’s palms were strong, fingers long and slender, with fingertips as cold and soft as a corpse’s. He was at least half a head taller than Jiang Luo. He leaned in close. Their shadows—drawn long by the moonlight—intertwined like a pair of mandarin ducks, merging within the scattered shadows of the bamboo leaves, stretching over the pool’s edge and onto the frozen spring water.
A black-haired man emerged near Jiang Luo’s ear, smiling. “Already planning to forget your ‘old flame’ and jump into a new relationship?”
The Yin-Yang hoop on Jiang Luo’s finger shook violently three times. The Si Snake lunged behind Jiang Luo, prompting him to break free from the man’s grip and spin around—but behind him, there was no one.
His gaze turned razor-sharp as he swept the surroundings. The trees were still, the wind faint. Not a single shadow in sight.
He reached out and stroked the Si Snake’s head. It coiled around his arm and shoulder, its rune-marked tongue flicking across Jiang Luo’s face. Its vertical pupils vigilantly scanned the area.
Finding nothing, the Si Snake slithered back into the Yin-Yang hoop. Jiang Luo used the towel to dry his hair and turned to leave.
“Ran off pretty fast…” he said, voice even and calm, as if speaking directly to someone hidden in the dark. A trace of mockery laced his tone. “Barely let my guard down for a bit and you’re already here. Teacher Chi’s ‘obsession’ with me is truly flattering.”
Even though Jiang Luo knew Chi You was here for the statue’s heart and the Yuan Tian Bead, he didn’t hold back his barbs.
He had been prepared for the vengeful spirit to retaliate. But unexpectedly, even after returning to the main hall, nothing happened.
Had Chi You changed?
Impossible.
Jiang Luo grew more suspicious, glancing back over his shoulder several times.
What exactly was Chi You planning?
Jiang Luo, uneasy and full of doubt, entered the dining room. Inside, his classmates were having a late-night snack. Jiang Luo sat down at the table, absentmindedly pouring himself a glass of water—then noticed someone was missing. “Where’s Cyril?”
Ge Zhu, gnawing on a chicken leg, replied, “He went out while I was asleep. No idea where he went. Still hasn’t come back.”
Just as he finished speaking, someone walked in from outside—blond hair, blue eyes—unmistakably Cyril.
Cyril’s eyes looked a bit dull, and his expression was blank. As if he didn’t see anyone in the dining room, he walked straight past them, heading toward the elevator.
Everyone looked at each other. Ge Zhu raised his voice. “Cyril?”
At that, Cyril suddenly shivered, like his soul had just been called back. He scratched his head, his sky-blue eyes filled with confusion.
He turned and saw his classmates, breaking into a bright smile. Cheerfully, he ran over. “Good evening, everyone!”
Full of energy—completely different from the vacant state just now.
Ge Zhu, worried, placed a palm on Cyril’s forehead and muttered a short incantation. Then he said with surprise, “His soul’s still here.”
Cyril blinked blankly. “Ge, what are you doing?”
Jiang Luo asked, “Where did you just go?”
Cyril replied obediently, “I went to watch a movie.”
“Then why didn’t you respond just now when we called you?”
A flicker of confusion passed over Cyril’s face. “Maybe I just… wasn’t quite back to myself.”
Jiang Luo and the others didn’t notice anything odd in his words and set the matter aside for the moment. They chatted and snacked, quietly waiting for midnight to arrive.
After a clash between red and white energies, if neither side gives way, both spirits will remain at the site—indefinitely—until one yields. Midnight is when they are most likely to appear.
