Electronic "Magical Artifact"

Shen Zhixia stood pressed against the wall for a long while before she confirmed that the black mist really wasn't going to burst out again.

She cautiously poked half her body out, her gaze landing on the fallen crew members at the end of the corridor. Some were slowly getting up while leaning against the wall, others were still sitting on the ground catching their breath, and a few of the bolder ones had already started checking the equipment.

"The light units are all fried, we'll need a new batch."

"Is the camera okay? Don't let the lens get broken."

"The walkie-talkie still works. Get in touch with the people outside first."

Listening to these unfamiliar words, Shen Zhixia's brow furrowed even tighter.

When she died, there weren't this many strange things in this ancient castle. Back then, there were only candlesticks, oil lamps, and the kerosene lamp she had hidden in the attic. Now, everywhere there were boxes that emitted light, cylinders that turned, and poles bristling with thin wires.

The worst part was, all these things had been glowing just moments ago.

Shen Zhixia was certain—that Resentful Energy had been blasted out by these glowing objects.

She had stayed in this ancient castle for ten years and had never seen such thick Resentful Energy. Those black mists were alive, crawling along the floor cracks and corners, slipping into every crevice. Hiding behind the second-floor windowsill at the time, watching those mists surge up from below, she had only one thought—

Were these people insane, daring to use Magical Artifacts in an ancient castle?

When she was a child, Shen Zhixia had heard many stories about Magical Artifacts. Although the Shen Family was a prestigious clan, her grandmother had once been saved by an old Heavenly Master in her youth. Grandmother often said that Magical Artifacts all possessed spiritual nature—the more powerful the Artifact, the more brilliant its radiance, and when activated, it emitted a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering hum. Back then, Shen Zhixia took it as a story, but now a chill ran down her spine.

Those things just now called 'photography equipment'—they all matched perfectly!

Especially the biggest one, the black box mounted on three legs—that was the 'camera'. Not only did it emit a piercing red light like a Dharma Eye, but it also rotated slowly, its lens extending and retracting with a clicking, gear-like sound. Shen Zhixia was certain that pitch-black lens must be the legendary 'Ghost-Collecting Tube'—once aimed at you, even your soul would be sucked in. And that blindingly white 'fill light'—it must be the 'Blazing Sun Talisman Lamp' used to suppress evil. When it had burst open just now, the heat wave nearly melted her icy-cold body.

Not to mention those long poles with fluffy tops that people held in their hands—were those 'boom poles'? They looked exactly like the Horsetail Whisk in a Heavenly Master's hand, specifically used to sweep away evil energy and trap wandering souls. Shen Zhixia shrank her neck, secretly relieved she had dodged quickly. If that 'great Horsetail Whisk' had swept over her, even her hair would have been purified away.

'Nowadays, humans actually make Magical Artifacts so compact and exquisite…' Watching someone nearby pull out a 'phone' to take a selfie, a beam of intense light shooting from the small box nearly startled her off the windowsill. 'Even passersby carry miniature compasses on them to pinpoint ghost positions?'

The more Shen Zhixia thought about it, the more she felt this film crew was fraught with hidden dangers, as if she had stumbled into a Heavenly Master stronghold.

She crept slowly along the wall, her skirt hem brushing lightly across the floor without making a sound. Everyone in the corridor was busy packing things up; no one noticed a semi-transparent figure in the corner.

"Put the fill lights away first, don't let them burst again."

"Take down the boom poles too, the wires are all tangled up."

Hearing these words, Shen Zhixia silently committed them to memory. Fill light, boom pole, and that thing called a camera. She had to remember the names of these Magical Artifacts, so she could keep her distance in the future.

Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly saw a crew member walking toward her.

Shen Zhixia immediately shrank back into the corner, pressing her whole body against the wall, holding even her breath. The man stopped less than three steps away from her and pulled a thin, rectangular object from his pocket.

That object suddenly lit up.

Shen Zhixia was so startled she almost screamed.

Wide-eyed, she stared at that glowing little box, her heart pounding as if it would jump out of her chest. The man held the box and took a few photos of the corridor, muttering to himself: "Got to document this for the insurance claim later."

Looking at that little box, only one thought filled Shen Zhixia's mind—this was also a Magical Artifact.

And it was a Magical Artifact that could fit in a pocket.

She recalled that when the black mist had burst out earlier, many people had pulled out these little boxes. Some held them up toward the ceiling, some toward the floor, and some toward the fallen lights.

Suddenly, Shen Zhixia understood.

These people weren't an ordinary film crew—they were here to catch ghosts.

Those big glowing boxes were for trapping ghosts, those little boxes were for locating ghosts, and those long poles were for sweeping away evil energy. They had brought all these Magical Artifacts into the ancient castle just to capture her.

The more Shen Zhixia thought about it, the more frightened she became, her form starting to grow faint and translucent.

She had to hide.

Pressing close to the wall, she made her way back, trying to avoid those who were still working. The corridor was strewn with scattered equipment. Carefully, she stepped around the fallen lights, around the tangled wires, around the still-smoking power outlets.

Then she saw those black mists.

Shen Zhixia stopped, her gaze falling to the ground.

Those black mists hadn't dispersed. Instead, they crawled slowly along the floor cracks. As if conscious, they avoided the crowds, traveling along the walls and baseboards, strand by strand burrowing deep into the corridor.

Hesitantly, Shen Zhixia crouched down. Curiosity overcoming fear, she carefully lifted her pomegranate-red skirt and extended a slender, pale finger, tentatively touching the drifting black mist.

The moment her fingertip grazed the edge of the black mist, an extreme cold, carrying a thick,腐朽 (decaying) pain, instantly bored into her marrow. Shen Zhixia let out a short cry, yanking her hand back like a frightened fawn, her form flickering faintly from the pain. She looked down and saw a layer of bluish-gray death aura clinging to her ivory-white fingertip that couldn't be wiped off, with faint cracks spreading like porcelain frozen and split by severe cold.

This pain wasn't physical—it was her soul being devoured by another, more malevolent will. She was the master (Earthbound Spirit) of this ancient castle, and logically, this Resentful Energy should share the same origin as her. But now, these black things were actually rejecting her, hurting her.

'This isn't pure Resentful Energy; it's toxic…' Gritting her lips against the sting, Shen Zhixia noticed that those black mists weren't just randomly scurrying through the corridor. They were flowing in an eerie direction, as if drawn by some invisible lure. They avoided the Yang Fire of human vitality, yet precisely followed the gaps between floor tiles, cracks in the walls, and even climbed along the snapped, charred cables, silently converging deeper into the castle.

The black mist traveled all the way down the corridor, slipping into every floor crack, every corner, every exposed wire. Shen Zhixia followed them around and discovered that these mists weren't moving randomly—they had a fixed route.

It was as if they were searching for something.

Shen Zhixia recalled that when the mist had burst out earlier, the first things it surged toward were those glowing devices. The lights, the cameras, the boxes full of wires—all had been entangled by the black mist.

Suddenly, a guess formed in her mind.

This Resentful Energy was targeting those Magical Artifacts.

Shen Zhixia quickened her pace, following the black mist all the way. She crossed the corridor, turned corners, passed through rooms piled high with clutter, and finally stopped before a tightly shut door.

It was the stairway entrance to the basement.

Ten years ago, this door had been sealed shut. Shen Zhixia remembered it clearly, because on the night she died, the sound had come from behind this door. Now, those black mists paused at the gap in the door, as if hesitating, or as if listening to some kind of summons from beyond. They slowly gathered, condensed into a mass, and squeezed through the crack bit by bit, as if that was their true nest.

Shen Zhixia stared at that door, an indescribable unease rising in her heart. She could sense that behind that door gap was not just coldness, but a malice that made even her soul tremble. It wasn't a power she, an Earthbound Spirit, could contend with—more like a great beast lurking in the abyss, peering outward through these black mists. Instinctively, she wanted to retreat, but she noticed that the black mist that had been seeping into the floor cracks was growing restless because of the lights being re-lit at the other end of the corridor.

The ancient castle had temporarily regained its peace. Just as Shen Zhixia was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the footsteps of the living suddenly sounded behind her.

"All departments, standby. Resuming filming in five minutes."

"Lighting team, check the backup equipment. Camera, recalibrate."

"Is Teacher Lu ready over there?"

Shen Zhixia whipped her head around and saw the crowd at the end of the corridor gathering again. Fallen lights were set upright, scattered wires were reconnected, and those glowing boxes lit up one after another.

The next instant, the black mist moved.

As if pulled by something, they all withdrew from the door gap at once, crawling back rapidly along the walls and floor cracks. Shen Zhixia watched helplessly as they gathered into a mass in the middle of the corridor, then split into thin strands, shooting straight toward the reactivated equipment. The camera lens, the fill light's shade, the boxes full of wires—none escaped. The black mist seeped through the gaps and vanished into the humming things in the blink of an eye.

Shen Zhixia stood still, a chill creeping up her spine. She finally understood—these black things weren't afraid of these "Magical Artifacts"; they were using them. They knew these people would start again, knew the equipment would light up again, so they had been waiting—waiting for the living to restart, so they could follow these glowing things into every person's shadow.

She wanted to stop them, but her fingertips still remembered the biting, blue-tinged pain from earlier. She was just an Earthbound Spirit trapped here, barely able to protect herself, let alone confront this purposeful malice. Shen Zhixia bit her lower lip and instinctively looked toward the man in the black coat at the end of the corridor. Lu Chenzhou was looking down, adjusting his cufflinks, the Black Bead Bracelet on his wrist glinting coldly under the lights—the only presence in all this chaos that gave her a strange sense of peace.

But he was also the most dangerous "Great Heavenly Master." Shen Zhixia shrank her neck and, taking advantage of the noise from the humming equipment, quietly slipped back along the wall. She had to figure out just what kind of abyss these black mists were trying to drag this film crew into.