I used folk talismans to ward off the evil spirit.

Chapter 8 Folk Masters of Demon-Slaying, Mount Tai Stone Guardian

A dozen or so people filed into the management office.

Jiang Jun communicated with "Ghostly Sorrow" and discovered that the cute but fierce little creature was having a great time killing, so he didn't take it back and went inside himself.

With a creak, the door slammed shut.

Jiang Jun looked around and found that the dozen or so people he had brought were in a tense standoff with the five people who were already in the room.

"What's going on?" he snapped. "The human lanterns outside haven't even left yet, and you're already fighting here?"

"Hmph, if it weren't for you, would the human skin lantern have found its way here?" The old woman who opened the door was somewhat indignant.

Impatient with dealing with this kind of problem, Jiang Jun asked directly, "Are there any township or community officials here? Come out and resolve this conflict!"

The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment. After a long while, the middle-aged woman who had helped the girl up and the young man who had led the way stepped forward.

With Jiang Jun's formidable strength in charge, the crowd couldn't afford to cause trouble. Their years of experience in mediating conflicts came in handy.

Jiang Jun ignored all of that and scanned the interior of the management office with his gaze.

The house has a simple structure: a large hall, a small windowless room on the left, and a toilet on the right, all of which are locked.

Suddenly, a sinister aura wafted out from that small room.

"What's in there?" he asked in a deep voice.

The five people who had been hiding in the management office looked at him nervously, hesitant to speak.

Fearing potential dangers, Jiang Jun, relying on the power of the protective object, stepped forward and, with a "snap," unscrewed the lock.

"Whoosh..." A wave of eerie energy, carrying a foul stench, rushed towards us.

He quickly activated the garlic aroma to counteract and dispel the odor, then turned his gaze to the room.

On a cot lay a gaunt woman.

Beside the woman was a petri dish filled with bright red blood, feeding a maggot teeming with yin energy.

That stench was emitted by maggots.

Jiang Jun felt that the woman looked familiar, so he went over to investigate.

The other person struggled to sit up, coughing weakly as they asked, "Another monster?"

"Wait a moment, Little White will be full soon."

In the petri dish, the maggots accelerated their blood-absorbing speed, draining the blood completely in three seconds, yet their size did not increase.

The woman coughed twice, clutching the maggots in her hand: "Little White, please!"

A sense of foreboding welled up in Jiang Jun's heart.

The next instant, an indescribable stench swept from the room into the hallway and then through the cracks in the door to the outside.

Jiang Jun was jolted awake and immediately used his power to suppress his sense of smell, narrowly escaping death.

Inside the hall, the group, who had just reconciled after being mediated by two community officials, suddenly began vomiting uncontrollably.

Jiang Jun: "..."

But the stench really worked.

Outside the management office.

The human-skin lanterns, which had been relentlessly slaughtered by "Ghostly Sorrow," seemed to have encountered something extremely terrifying and scattered in all directions, quickly disappearing from sight.

"Oh? Another newcomer?" The woman coughed twice. "Sorry, when Xiaobai's abilities are activated, it really doesn't smell very good."

The familiar voice startled Jiang Jun: "Zhou Xia?"

The woman in front of him, barely breathing, was his missing tenant from room 404.

Her family was relatively poor, and she mostly used the money she earned from working to support her family. She had visited them many times to request an extension of the rent payment, which is why Jiang Jun had a deep impression of her.

"She survived in the Mirror World? And it seems she even had a miraculous encounter?"

Although Jiang Jun himself was reluctant to accept this extraordinary encounter, he had to admit that having this thing by his side would give him a better chance of survival in this dangerous and bizarre Mirror World.

He shook his head, did not acknowledge the other person, bypassed the crowd who were still vomiting, and pushed open the door to go out.

The "Sorrowful Ghost" bracelet fell down, conveying two emotions of dissatisfaction and disgust through its spiritual power.

Jiang Jun pinched its spikes and reassured it, "It's alright, this Mirror World is full of monsters, enough to keep you entertained."

With that maggot around, ordinary monsters probably won't come near, so there's no need for Jiang Jun to protect this place.

Since he had come to the Mirror Realm for the first time, he decided to explore it before the rescue arrived, so that the trip would not be in vain.

With that thought in mind, he greeted everyone in the room and told them to lock the door, then retraced his steps.

With a thought, a flash of light appeared, carrying the fragrance of willow branches, dispelling the stench of maggots.

Consequently, his presence became less noticeable; a person carrying a leather lantern passed by, but he subconsciously walked around him.

This is the power of suppression bestowed by "Gui Bu Xu".

If he hadn't needed to protect those passersby, he would have used the technique directly and wouldn't have been chased by the human skin lantern.

As he walked, he discovered that almost none of the human skin lanterns he had previously destroyed remained.

Whether it's human skin or eerie fire, they all seem like fleeting illusions, easily shattered.

Along the way, they only found two eerie candles and a grotesquely smiling human skin, both of which exuded an aura of evil.

As soon as he touched it, he naturally understood what it was.

This is a special law bestowed by the Abyss of Ghosts. Anyone who kills a monster and comes into contact with its abandoned artifacts will know its basic uses and general side effects.

Monsters that have been completely refined and altered in nature are not included.

【Strange Fire Candle】: Uses blood essence as a catalyst. Once lit, it can mask the human aura of the holder and give them a strange and eerie aura.

The holder can sacrifice their own fat to increase the length of the candle, but the sacrificed fat cannot be replenished.

【Grimace Skin】: When applied to the face, it transforms into a grotesque human skin mask, blurring the user's aura and consuming their own life essence. It can emit a grotesque laugh, causing sonic and mental attacks.

However, human skin cannot be left on the face for too long, otherwise it will grow directly onto the face and replace the original human face.

The two spoils of war not only have limited strength, but also have significant side effects.

This disappointed Jiang Jun somewhat.

He walked out of the ancient city wall park and came to Cemetery No. 3.

Strangely, the cemetery, which he had expected to be full of eerie creatures, was instead deserted and appeared very "clean".

The human skin lanterns in the ruins park make people afraid to cross the cemetery gate, as if there is some great horror inside that will devour ghosts!

In the real world, the huge commotion caused by the Ghost Cult did not affect this place. Neither the funeral home nor the cemetery on the mountain were affected.

Jiang Jun focused his senses and, after a long while, discovered a large, stable rock beneath the cemetery.

This stone is a full ten feet in size, carved in the round with a lion's head, a sword in its mouth, and inscribed below: "Suppressing all evil spirits and warding off disasters, Mount Tai Stone Guardian!"

This stone guardian, though eerie and sinister, is not evil. Instead, it exudes an aura of authority that suppresses evil spirits, much like the powerful aura emanating from beneath the tomb complex in reality.

In the center of the lion's head, there is an additional mark, which is scarlet and glows. The inscription is in small seal script: "Qingjiang City Shenyi Division-007".

"Hiss!" Jiang Jun couldn't help but shudder. "The Department of Mysteries is indeed unfathomable."

He shook his head, not daring to touch the stone guardian, and tentatively took two steps forward, sensing no danger.

With a firm resolve, Jiang Jun stepped across the broken cement ground and trod on the withered yellow grass, slowly climbing the hill-like cemetery.

Arriving at his parents' graves, he suddenly paused, "Huh?"