Chapter 169: Escape to Safety

　　Watching as the fog had completely engulfed the dormitory, with the cold chill spreading in the night, Duan Tiankui could no longer delay. He immediately changed the positions of the array flags.

　　"Ling'er, quickly change the array, or they will be trapped inside!"

　　"Yes!"

　　Duan Lingyue's expression also changed, and she began to act according to her grandfather's instructions.

　　Duan Tiankui took out a purple-gold compass, glanced in the direction of the haunted building, and mumbled incantations.

　　The compass needle wavered.

　　Every time the needle pointed somewhere, he placed an array flag at that spot.

　　With the thirty-six array flags in place, he strode forward, sat cross-legged in the center of the array, and replaced the compass with a hundred-year-old spirit turtle shell in his hand.

　　"Array rises with the power of heaven and earth, mighty and boundless! Righteous energy everlasting, lend me your eastern wind!"

　　Then, he took out a piece of a hundred-year-old spirit turtle shell and placed it on top of the array's eye.

　　Whoosh!

　　Inside the array, a strong wind suddenly rose from the ground, blowing fiercely towards the ghostly building.

　　The thick fog surrounding the ghostly building began to churn violently.

　　A cold wind swept through the building.

　　The fierce ghost's jet-black long hair grew back and fluttered in the air.

　　"How could this be?"

　　"This ghost was clearly seriously injured before. How could it recover so quickly?"

　　Kudeng's entire body of fat trembled intensely.

　　The golden light of the beads on the ground, strung in a line, gradually dimmed and could only last for one more minute at most.

　　But this fierce ghost simply couldn't be killed; its black hair could regrow almost instantly.

　　Even if I can hold on for ten more minutes, what's the point?

　　Tian Yuan's legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, his body cold and his eyes full of confusion.

　　He had never imagined he would be stopped here, in an old haunted school building. How could such a terrifying ghost be hiding here?

　　"Boss?" Hu Zi got up from the ground and looked at Lu Fei.

　　He felt that his boss must still have a way out.

　　Lu Fei's magical power was already depleted, and his body was somewhat weak, but at this moment, he became surprisingly calm.

　　There was still one last ghost-repelling talisman left on him.

　　He gripped it tightly in his hand, staring unblinkingly at the malevolent ghost.

　　If this malevolent ghost was truly so powerful, it could have killed them right from the start. Why would it have been running away from them?

　　There must be another reason.

　　The turning point occurred after the vengeful spirit was suddenly swept away by black hair that emerged from the walls, not from the spirit itself.

　　Wait a moment.

　　Lu Fei's heart skipped a beat.

　　Could it be that the hair...

　　"You shouldn't have come here."

　　The cold voice of the vengeful spirit brought Lu Fei back to his senses.

　　Hair flying, the vengeful spirit flew towards them, as if to end everything.

　　"Boss, it's coming!"

　　Huzi quickly raised his knife in front of him.

　　Lu Fei's heart also raced.

　　At that moment, a sudden gust of wind came from nowhere, violently slamming open the tightly shut door, and significantly dispersing the fog in the building.

　　The view became slightly clearer.

　　Lu Fei narrowed his eyes.

　　He saw a very thin, long strand of hair on top of the ghost's head, which extended upward and was actually connected to the tidal wave-like mass of black hair.

　　"So that's how it is. Those black hairs can provide her with yin energy, allowing her to recover quickly!"

　　Lu Fei's heart pounded fiercely.

　　If he could just sever that strand of hair, dealing with this ghost would not be difficult at all.

　　"Hu Zi, can you hold it off?"

　　"I'll do my best!"

　　Seeing the ghost rushing over, Hu Zi roared as he regained his ghost blade and swung it at the ghost.

　　"I'll fight you to the death!"

　　He completely disregarded his own safety, doing everything he could to attract the attention of the malevolent spirit.

　　The cold eyes of the malevolent spirit were as still as ever, as if looking at a worm in its death throes. The spirit's hair soon entangled and wrapped around Hu Zi.

　　At that moment, Lu Fei had already taken the opportunity to circle around behind the malevolent spirit.

　　With the last talisman for subduing ghosts in his hand, he struck fiercely at the long strand of hair on top of the malevolent spirit's head.

　　The malevolent spirit was suddenly startled, hastily diverting some of the hair to bind Lu Fei, but it was too late.

　　As the black hair wrapped around Lu Fei, the thin strand of hair on the top of the malevolent spirit's head abruptly snapped.

　　The talisman turned to ashes.

　　The black hair that bound both of them loosened as if it had lost its life force, instantly releasing them.

　　Lu Fei desperately tore the black hair off himself, during which a jewelry box fell to the ground in the chaos.

　　It was Guo Haitao who was supposed to give the item to Sinisterium Pawnshop.

　　But he didn't have time to pick it up now.

　　"Run!"

　　Lu Fei grabbed Hu Zi and started running toward the gate.

　　The golden light from the prayer beads had already dissipated; without Lu Fei's reminder, Kudeng ran faster than anyone else.

　　Finally, there was Tian Yuan, who was almost rolling and crawling.

　　However, the malevolent spirit did not chase after them.

　　Crossing the gate, Lu Fei looked back.

　　He saw the malevolent spirit with its head lowered, staring blankly at the small jewelry box on the ground, its hollow eyes filled with disbelief.

　　But the black hair behind it spread across the sky like a flood, surging crazily, and in an instant, it had already reached the gate.

　　"Hurry up! Don't come back!"

　　The ghost screamed in a shrill voice, waving its hand abruptly. As the door closed, it was completely engulfed by the black hair.

　　The four people outside ran a long distance in one breath.

　　"Brother Lu Fei!"

　　Duan Lingyue was overjoyed when she saw them.

　　"Grandfather, they're back!"

　　"It's good that they're back!" Duan Tiankui heaved a long sigh of relief, putting away the century-old spirit turtle shell, and rubbing his numb knees as he struggled to get up from the ground.

　　Seeing the grandfather and granddaughter, the four finally stopped, panting heavily.

　　Their backs were drenched in cold sweat, and the night breeze made them feel icy cold.

　　Lu Fei looked back with lingering fear.

　　The old dormitory building seemed as if nothing had happened, returning to its usual darkness and silence.

　　Tianyuan and Kudeng felt like survivors of a disaster, even on the verge of tears.

　　"Masters, I assume the ghosts inside have been cleaned out." Once everyone caught their breath, Duan Tiankui inquired with concern.

　　Tianyuan and Kudeng looked somewhat awkward.

　　Kudeng answered vaguely, "There were quite a few ghosts in the building; we managed to exorcise four, but there's still one particularly powerful evil spirit left."

　　"An evil spirit?" Duan Tiankui was slightly startled, "No wonder the yin energy was so intense, and even the main door was locked. Fortunately, I borrowed an opportune wind to break it open."

　　"So it was Elder Duan who opened the main door. We are truly grateful."

　　The two bowed to Duan Tiankui.

　　"It's nothing, as long as everyone is safe and sound," Duan Tiankui smiled and waved his hand, "To exterminate four ghosts in one go is already very impressive. With just a bit of rest, I'm sure you can take care of the evil spirit too!"

　　Hearing this, their expressions became even more embarrassed.

　　"Actually, it was all thanks to Manager Lu tonight. He eliminated three out of those four ghostly creatures..."

　　Although they were very reluctant to admit it, that was the truth.

　　They managed to escape from the haunted building largely due to Lu Fei. In that situation, if Lu Fei had been a bit more ruthless, he could have easily left them behind.

　　"What?"

　　Duan Tiankui was taken aback and looked at Lu Fei in disbelief.

　　"Young Lu, I never expected you to have such cultivation at such a young age!"

　　"You're too kind, Grandpa Duan. I just got lucky a few times," Lu Fei responded calmly, still thinking about everything that happened in the haunted building.

　　Why, in the final moments, did the vengeful spirit not kill them but instead helped them?