Yamamura Xiaoyezi exited the airport.

In her early twenties, she was tall with long legs, had a sweet appearance, and dressed in a business-like fashion. At the moment, she was looking down at her smartphone.

Displayed on the screen were various news articles from G city.

However, they all leaned towards tabloid-style content, brimming with gossip and rumors.

Xiaoyezi's expression was serious as her fingers slid across the screen without pause.

She didn't pay much attention to celebrity scandals but instead focused on some more bizarre types, places where enthusiasts for the odd gathered.

[Three Seas Amusement Park's Doll House Emits Strange Noises at Night!]

[The Braided Girl Reappears on the Winding Mountain Road!]

[Unknown Tycoon Buys Up Haunted Houses and Evil Lands...]

[The Legend of the Exorcist Taxi at Midnight!]

...

"Pretty lady, are you here for a vacation?"

At the airport's taxi stand, a cab driver greeted her enthusiastically, "Let me help you with your luggage."

"Thank you!"

Yamamura Xiaoyezi bowed at a ninety-degree angle and replied with a perfect local accent.

"Oh? From Japan? Haha, I hope you have fun."

The taxi driver was quite chatty.

"Actually, I'm not here for a vacation, but to look for someone."

Yamamura Xiaoyezi gazed out the window at the buildings passing by as the taxi drove onto the overpass, her expression growing somber.

"Looking for someone? Who might that be?"

The taxi driver asked while steering, "Around here, the city's fortress is a good place to hide. Bankrupts, debt dodgers, all sorts of lowlifes can be found there. It's too dangerous for a girl like you to go there alone... and..."

He left a sentence unsaid.

As a notorious hotspot for strange occurrences, someone disappearing from out of town was just too common here.

And more often than not, they would vanish without a trace, dead or alive!

"My... brother!"

"He must have encountered some trouble and been spirited away..."

Yamamura Xiaoyezi touched the pendant on her chest.

Inside the locket, which could be opened, was a portrait of a young man.

She also left something unsaid.

The Yamamura family was actually a renowned Onmyoji lineage in Japan, responsible for exorcising spirits since ancient times.

And in this generation, both she and her brother, Yamamura Xiu Zai, took a keen interest in these exorcisms and supernatural occurrences.

In fact, it was more than just an interest...

Her brother, not doing well academically and unable to enroll in college, struggled to make it in society and had no choice but to pick up the family trade, taking on various exorcism tasks.

By some stroke of luck, after resolving a few incidents that were more about scaring people than genuine hauntings, he became somewhat arrogant.

Then, after receiving a hefty deposit to exorcise spirits in G city, he vanished without a trace.

"Ah... that's really unfortunate. I hope he's alright... You could try contacting Master Zhang Sheng, he's very well-known in this field."

The taxi driver suggested.

"Yes, that's exactly what I intend to do."

Yamamura Xiaoyezi nodded.

"May the Exorcist Taxi bless you..."

...

After arriving at the pre-booked hotel.

Yamamura Xiaoyezi, pulling her suitcase behind her, entered her room, opened her suitcase, and her expression instantly turned sad, "My ignorant fool of a brother..."

Although the Yamamura family liked to boast about being a prestigious line of Onmyoji,

Xiaoyezi knew very clearly that her ancestors were nothing but con artists!

Only her naive brother could be deceived by those dubious ancestral records.

After all, the true inheritor of the family's legacy was herself!

Naturally, thinking that one could exorcise demons with the talismans and rituals passed down from ancestors was a joke.

"I warned him not to continue with this..."

"Fortunately, before this fool left, he left behind some clues. Old locust tree street, number 42, the key is the timing...on the night of every full moon..."

Xiaoyezi's expression was grave.

Even if the family legacy included more cheating and swindling than anything else, traveling along the dark paths often enough would lead one to encounter the supernatural. The Yamamura family still possessed a bit of relevant knowledge passed down through generations.

Among these, the night of the full moon each month was a crucial date.

It was also known as—the Hour of Demons!

Legend had it that at this moment, the gates leading to the underworld and Hell would open!

...

A week later.

At night.

Under a bright moon.

42 Old Locust Tree Street.

From a high-rise in the distance, Yamamura Xiaoyezi nervously peered through a telescope at the target location.

According to the investigation, several disappearances had occurred here, all at night, and all in the vicinity of 42 Old Locust Tree Street.

But beyond that, there were no other clues.

Even by day, one couldn't feel even a hint of the sinister and terrifying.

Left with no other option, Yamamura Xiaoyezi could only choose to personally observe during the dangerous Hour of Demons.

As for entry?

She had prepared to leave that to a few hired detectives.

After all, recklessly exploring such an obviously dangerous place would be idiotic, right?

"It's just a pity… all the feng shui masters here are swindlers too..."

The girl's mouth twisted bitterly.

She had previously consulted Zhang Sheng and a series of other masters, but the results were disappointing.

Although they all looked respectable or spoke in captivating ways, it's hardest to deceive one's peers.

With just a few sentences exchanged, she was sure these people were just like her ancestors, ordinary people without any spiritual power!

"No matter what, I must find my brother."

"Even if… at least I must bring back his ashes, I can't let his soul lack peace in death..."

The girl silently told herself.

Then she picked up a walkie-talkie, "Start the operation!"

"OK, boss, remember to add to the pay!"

A figure descended from a van parked by the roadside and headed toward 42 Old Locust Tree Street.

"No abnormalities detected!"

"I told you... there's nothing, it's all just to scare people."

"Japanese people just create trouble out of nothing."

"Shh... The employer can hear, keep it down."

Strange voices came from the walkie-talkie; after all, what can one expect from amateur detectives?

With Xiaoyezi's financial situation, those famous detectives were definitely beyond her budget.

"Wait, Yu Xia, something's been found!"

Yu Xia approached 42, which was on a street corner, and peered into the house through the window, feeling that everything was normal.

Then suddenly, he felt a cold chill and couldn't help but look up at the moon.

Tonight's moon seemed especially full.

And this street corner also seemed exceptionally bright; from around the corner, it looked as though someone was approaching.

No, that was a... strange thing!

Pff!

The next moment, he vanished without a trace.

"Yu Xia disappeared?"

"What happened?"

"Damn it, I'm going to check, no, aah!"

Screams of terror streamed one after another from the walkie-talkie.

Cold sweat beaded on Xiaoyezi's forehead as she observed carefully through the telescope.

She saw a person leap out from the van, only to disappear midway, as if erased by an eraser.

She heard screams from inside the van, and then an eerie silence ensued.

She saw... the thing that had emerged from the street corner!

'Damn, the anomaly here seems to be triggered through visual contact. The detectives inside the van didn't come out, yet they were still cursed... What about me?'

Xiaoyezi instinctively wanted to lower the telescope, but it was already too late.

She saw them, a pair of red eyes filling the entire viewfinder.

As if, the entity was pressing directly against the telescope.

The ghastly presence—right in front of her!

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