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Chen Mo suddenly recalled the formula for the Medicinal Wine that Tong Ren Tang had abruptly stopped producing thirty years ago. Its main ingredient was used to preserve the corpses of Ming Hun. The scent wafting from the Dragon's Blood Incense in the Principal's Office clearly mingled with the same herbal aroma.
At that moment, his phone screen lit up, revealing a message from Forensic Doctor Zhou with the test results of the soil samples from the Lin Family Old Residence: the ashes in the incense burner contained components from human fat combustion, identical to the residues found during the burning of Paper Man in the Lin Family Case fifteen years ago.
The intricately carved wooden door of the Lin Family Old Residence closed silently behind Chen Mo, and moonlight filtered through the lattice window, casting a spiderweb-like shadow on the floor. He raised his flashlight towards the main hall, and suddenly, the Seven Star Lantern Formation on the offering table reflected seven points of eerie blue light—inside those overturned oil lamps lay congealed corpse oil.
With a crackle, the flashlight flickered. As its beam swept across the eastern wing, Chen Mo spotted a paper-made Maiden moving against the wall. The blush on her cheeks had faded to a dark brown, and beneath her Gold Thread embroidered Double Lotus wedding dress, moss clung to the hem. The paper shoes dragged along the ground, leaving behind winding trails of moisture.
"Old Zhang, bring along someone from forensics..." Chen Mo whispered into his phone, only to find that the signal had dropped to zero. Suddenly, the Bronze Incense Burner beneath the offering table toppled over, and a rusty copper bell rolled out of the incense ash, its inner wall engraved with the characters "Jia Shen."
From upstairs came a creaking sound as if someone was stepping on the wooden floorboards. Chen Mo tightened his grip on the Peach Wood Sword he had found in the gatehouse; unexpectedly, the red cord wrapped around its hilt began to move on its own without any wind. As he stepped onto the third stair, strands of chestnut hair suddenly dangled down from above—looking up in an instant, he saw a Paper Bride dressed in a Blood Red Wedding Dress hanging upside down from a beam, her pale face almost touching his nose.
Chen Mo stumbled backward and fell down the stairs, hitting his head against the blue brick floor. In his daze, he saw Seven Paper Figures closing in from all directions, their Gold Thread embroidered garments fluttering like death banners. The Peach Wood Sword spontaneously ignited, casting a greenish glow that illuminated a half-hidden dark door at the base of the wall.
The chilling air in the dark room made his teeth chatter. Chen Mo's flashlight swept across a Bronze Coffin in the corner; on its lid was painted with Cinnabar depicting the Big Dipper, with one spoon handle pointing directly towards the Principal's Office. When he attempted to push open the coffin lid, he unexpectedly touched a sticky liquid—it was black dog blood mixed with Cinnabar.
A plop echoed loudly in the silence as a drop of blood fell. Chen Mo looked up to see Seven Strings of Copper Bells hanging from above; they were stolen evidence from the Lin Family Case. In their center dangled a faded cloth doll with seven coffin nails stuck into its chest and a Yellow Talisman affixed to its neck inscribed with Lin Qiuyu's birth date.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated as dozens of delayed messages flooded in. Old Zhang's voice crackled through with static: "We've found something! The principal has a twin brother who went missing in a fire at Tong Ren Tang fifteen years ago..."
Chen Mo's temples throbbed painfully. He recalled a group photo of an archaeological team in the Principal's Office; an elderly man in Dao Pao had Five Emperor Coins hanging from his waist that matched perfectly with those embedded on top of the Bronze Coffin. Suddenly, scratching sounds emanated from inside the coffin; he felt an intense heat from what remained of his Peach Wood Sword.
Ding—
At that moment when no wind stirred yet the copper bells rang out on their own, the dark door slammed shut. Chen Mo felt along the inner side of the coffin lid for grooves; traces arranged like seven stars perfectly matched fragments of a Bagua Mirror. When he fitted one fragment into place, a heavy thud resonated within—the object was a doll wrapped in red thread whose hollow chest was just right for placing that Bagua Mirror.
The sound of Paper Bride’s embroidered shoes lingered outside. Chen Mo flipped over the doll; seven Bone Needles were driven into its spine, each needle trailing tiny silver bells about the size of rice grains.
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