Chapter 57 Sculpting Spirit Level
Upon discovering a black figure get out of bed and stand up, Lv Jiayan's body began to tremble like a sieve, her voice unclear as she said, "Mom, is it Dad... did Dad get up? I'm... scared!"
It wasn't only Lv Jiayan; Wang Qin was now shaking more violently than her daughter, feeling a buzzing in her head that might cause her to faint at any moment.
Although all the curtains were drawn in the bedroom, there was still light seeping in through the window, weak though it was. After adjusting to the darkness, everything could still be seen in a vague blur.
Wang Qin was certain that it was Lü Qiang standing by the bed at that moment.
But even after getting up, Lü Qiang didn't speak. He just stood there, without moving at all.
Wang Qin felt a surge of panic and almost blurted out Lü Qiang's name.
But the intense fear compelled her to keep her mouth shut, so Wang Qin clenched her mouth tightly, resisting calling out to her husband.
She leaned close to her daughter's ear, lowering her voice as much as possible, and whispered, "Don't... speak..."
In fact, if she could scream right now, she believed her scream could pierce the sky at this moment, easily blow the roof off, and rupture eardrums.
Yes, eardrums.
At this moment, not only Wang Qin herself but even Lv Jiayan could feel that the Lü Qiang in front of them was no longer the familiar dad they knew.
He felt unfamiliar; his body emitted an unfamiliar aura, as if... all of a sudden, there was no life in him.
The mother and daughter held their breath, standing motionless at the bedroom door, clutching each other's hands, their bodies continually trembling.
The bedroom was eerily silent.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Their gaze fixed steadily on the figure standing by the bed, not daring to blink.
Suddenly, the figure bent over, a cracking sound coming from his throat, and then he began to vomit.
From the sounds of vomiting, it was clear that he wasn't vomiting due to drunkenness. Instead, he was dry heaving, and something very dry was coming out, going on and on as if there was no end.
The faint light from outside allowed Wang Qin to see that those were some soft items, similar to hair, a large amount of very long hair tangled together to the size of a fist, stretching Lü Qiang's mouth wide, pouring out continuously.
For a moment, Wang Qin had the impulse to turn the doorknob, open the door, and run away.
But she didn't know what the situation was outside, and the noise from turning the doorknob would undoubtedly attract Lü Qiang's attention.
She didn't want to draw his attention.
She even imagined herself as invisible, as long as she didn't attract Lü Qiang's attention, just standing silently behind the door.
However, contrary to her wishes, after a bout of vomiting, Lü Qiang, still bent over and maintaining the posture of a person vomiting, with a large amount of hair hanging from his mouth, staggered toward the door.
At this moment, Wang Qin felt as if her scalp was exploding. She disregarded everything, twisted the doorknob with a click.
This sound indeed startled Lü Qiang, who, seeing his bent figure shake, quickened his pace like a hunched old crone, charging at the mother and daughter.
The hair hanging from his mouth was now dragging on the floor, causing the mother and daughter to feel a surge of panic and nausea upon seeing this scene.
Twisting open the door, Wang Qin's legs trembling, she almost dragged her daughter, whose body had gone limp, out of the bedroom.
They crashed into a soft, fleshy mass, which turned out to be the slightly plump, two-star Exorcist Lan Jing.
Lan Jing also looked terrified, a sight rarely seen in an exorcist, especially one who was a two-star Exorcist.
"Let's go, leave this place!"
Wang Qin was grabbed by the arm, pulled along as they rushed toward the living room door, which was already open at that moment.
Seconds later, the three of them dashed out of apartment 12-4.
There stood Huang Chen, pale and trembling slightly, frantically pressing the elevator buttons in the corridor.
"Lan... Ms. Lan, didn't you say... my mom couldn't... come here?" Wang Qin blurted out in panic.
"Your mom has evolved into a Sculpting Spirit class, at least a Semi-Sculpting Spirit class, capable of Spirit-Splitting, blocking the transdimensional wave bands, and can resist any attack on Wandering Spirits. Not to mention this place; even if it was our Exorcist Squad branch, she could get in."
As Lan Jing explained, she looked back, her words leaving Wang Qin completely bewildered.
The elevator was descending from the twentieth floor and had not yet reached the twelfth floor.
During this time, Huang Chen glanced again at the stairwell of the safety passage.
Lan Jing reminded, "You can't take the stairs; few people go there, the Yin Energy is strong, the path is long, and there are too many variables."
No sooner had she spoken than a tiptoeing sound of footsteps arose from the dark room of apartment 12-4, as if it were about to emerge any second.
Lan Jing took out a square-shaped Hidden Buckle and threw it towards the door. It was a 'Collapse' Hidden Buckle that, upon hitting a Strangeness, could spread an extremely high amplitude of energy, shattering the Strange Body instantly.
The tip of a cotton shoe had just stepped out of the door of apartment 12-4 when the 'Collapse' Hidden Buckle exploded, releasing energy waves that pushed Granny Ren's Strange Body back into the room.
The tip of the foot vanished.
Just then, the elevator arrived.
"Quick, get in the elevator, the 'Collapse' Hidden Buckle can't stop her!" Lan Jing pushed Wang Qin and Lv Jiayan into the elevator, which had just opened halfway.
Huang Chen followed without a word and leaped in.
Lan Jing brought up the rear, the last to step into the elevator.
Then she glanced back; the tiptoeing footsteps resumed from inside the apartment, moving rapidly and urgently to the front of apartment 12-4.
The moment the familiar cotton shoe tip appeared outside the door, the elevator closed and began to descend.
Wang Qin held Lv Jiayan tightly, both mother and daughter white as sheets.
They never imagined that Granny Ren's Strangeness had become so formidable, far beyond the common strangenesses usually mentioned by people.
It was a great malignancy filled with deep resentment.
The elevator was descending, but Lan Jing was not idle; she took out another square-shaped Hidden Buckle, this one gray, and said to Huang Chen, "This is a 'High-Energy Collapse' Hidden Buckle. It's the only one I have. Once activated, it can create a short-term energy field blockade inside the elevator, preventing Granny Ren from entering.
However, all three of you will experience temporary dizziness. Remember not to move around, I'll adjust the wave state, and soon you'll be able to adapt."
After hastily finishing her words, without waiting for the three to react, Lan Jing threw the 'High-Energy Collapse' Hidden Buckle at her feet.
With a buzz, a ring of energy ripples spread, instantly filling the entire elevator.
Huang Chen, Wang Qin, and Lv Jiayan all went blank at the same moment, their vision blurry, unable to see anything, but obediently none of them moved.
Lan Jing quickly dialed the black disc in her hand with practiced movements.
About several seconds later, the trio's vision gradually returned to clarity.
By then, the elevator had reached the second floor.
Suddenly, the elevator jolted to a stop with a loud bang, and the lights inside flickered a few times before going out completely.
"She can only trap the elevator, but don't worry, Granny Ren can't get in for now," Lan Jing said. "Everyone stay still for safety, form a circle and hold hands. I'll figure something out!"
"Zhang... Mr. Zhang Lai?" Wang Qin, noticing someone was missing, could not help but ask in terror.
"He's dead," Huang Chen answered.
Wang Qin was so frightened, she couldn't speak.
"I had also warned Lv Xin, who was outside the door just now. He should have run far away by now," Lan Jing spoke while taking Lv Jiayan's hand with one hand and grabbing Huang Chen with the other.
Huang Chen held Wang Qin, and Wang Qin held her daughter Lv Jiayan, the four people forming a circle in the pitch-dark elevator.