Voodoo Doll
Chen He took a step back, a flicker of discomfort crossing his face.
“Yeah… just a bit of insomnia.”
As an actor, he’s definitely not up to standard in terms of acting.
Lu Congxing responded with a vague “oh” and said nothing more, but his clear eyes remained fixed on Chen He, as if they could see right through the handsome facade to the malice hidden underneath.
Judging from his features, Chen He had clearly had some work done, but his original face was still somewhat discernible. The narrow space between his eyebrows and the abundance of white in his eyes suggested a jealous and vengeful nature.
Under such a scrutinizing gaze, even Chen He couldn’t keep up his pretense, no matter how thick-skinned he was. President He didn’t even bother to spare him another glance.
Chen He muttered another excuse and walked away, his retreating figure visibly flustered.
Wen Yi muttered under her breath, “So weird.”
No one paid much attention to the little incident—except for Lu Congxing, who cast one last heavy glance at Chen He’s back.
On Chen He’s right shoulder, a small, eyeless ghost clung to him. Its bruised, purplish neck twisted 180 degrees as it grinned at Lu Congxing. Rancid drool dripped from its mouth, turning into a wisp of black smoke the moment it hit the floor.
Chen He, of course, remained completely unaware.
Using the excuse of a friendly visit to the set, Lin Yang had managed to sneak in again—this time with an elderly man with a white beard by his side.
Lin Yang looked quite pleased.
“Yi Yi, with my master here, we’ll definitely catch the person who set you up!”
A few minutes later…
Everyone was crammed into a small break room, staring at each other awkwardly.
Wen Yi felt the atmosphere was getting a little too heavy, and her face showed growing despair.
It felt a bit like going in for a check-up and seeing all the doctors gathered in a solemn emergency meeting, silently staring at you.
Eventually, the old man broke the silence. He looked at Lu Congxing with admiration. “Young man, you have a bright future ahead of you.”
Lin Yang quickly introduced him. “This is my master, also a senior elder of the Lin family.”
His master had been in seclusion for half a year. Lin Yang had only told him about the strange events out of curiosity, but to his surprise, the old man insisted on coming along.
Originally, Lin Yang thought his master just wanted to help his childhood sweetheart through a tough time. Now, it seemed there was another motive entirely.
This was Lu Congxing’s first encounter with a core figure from an exorcist clan.
As the junior, he greeted the elder respectfully.
Lin Hude was even more pleased. Stroking his beard with a sage-like demeanor, he nodded repeatedly. “Very good, very good. You’re blessed with great fortune. You’re destined for greatness.”
Having been plagued by misfortune since childhood, Lu Congxing had never heard someone say he was blessed before. He snuck a glance at the silent man beside him.
Hmm… it was probably all thanks to his guardian demon.
Not only had the guardian helped him through his unstable phase, but even shared its luck with him.
Still, if he were truly that lucky, would he really have been dragged into all this just for helping someone out?
Clearly, he was still a walking disaster.
With that thought, Lu Congxing regained his composure.
Lin Yang looked between his master and Lu Congxing with growing horror.
Could it be… Master wants to take him as a disciple!?
Having someone this talented as a junior disciple… that’d be way too much pressure!
The more Lin Hude looked at Lu Congxing, the more satisfied he became, and the smile on his face only widened.
The only downside was the man beside him—his aura was overwhelmingly ominous.
After watching them for a while, Lin Hude realized this man was likely the boy’s “older brother,” and that he doted on him meticulously—passing him juice when he was thirsty, opening games for him when he was bored.
He was the picture of a doting parent.
Under such intense gazes, Lu Congxing finally spoke up to get down to business.
He turned to Wen Yi. “Can you make a list of people who might’ve wanted to frame you?”
Wen Yi looked anxious. “So I was framed?”
Before she could finish, Lin Hude interrupted, stroking his big white beard.
“Little girl, there’s still residual yin energy on you—it’s clearly man-made. Let me see your hand.”
He looked just like those wise sages you see on TV, and with the aura of an ancient family backing him, his words carried weight.
Without hesitation, Wen Yi held out her pale hand.
Lin Hude examined two slightly crossed lines and her curved life line. He grew even more confident. “Your fate was meant to be smooth sailing. That barrier you encountered—it’s something few could overcome. You shouldn’t have faced it. Someone clearly sabotaged you. But luckily, you met a benefactor.”
It was obvious who the “benefactor” was.
Lin Hude nodded approvingly. “Fate works in mysterious ways. Though you encountered a death calamity you weren’t destined for, your benefactor turned it into an opportunity.”
Lin Yang gazed at his master with admiration, not daring to interrupt.
His master must be using his vast wisdom to impress Lu Congxing—probably planning to offer discipleship afterward. That’d definitely move him!
Lin Hude had practically poured out every word he’d saved during his six months in seclusion. Only after fully analyzing Wen Yi’s situation did he finally take a sip of water.
Wen Yi’s eyes welled up with tears. “I-I’ll get that list ready right away.”
She went outside and called over her assistant.
Not long after, the assistant returned with a long list of names—dozens of them.
The few men unfamiliar with the entertainment industry fell silent for a moment.
Lin Yang spoke hesitantly, “Are all these people possible suspects who tried to harm you?”
To him, his childhood sweetheart was the most adorable girl in the world. He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that so many people would want to hurt her.
His first instinct was that there must be some mistake.
Wen Yi nodded. “Yeah, it’s really easy to have conflicts of interest in the entertainment world. And once there’s a conflict, you might get cursed. Hmm… should we count haters too?”
If haters were included, the list would be endless.
Lin Hude stayed enthusiastic. “No, they don’t count. It has to be someone who had direct, prolonged contact with you.”
Wen Yi thought for a moment and then crossed out a few names—celebrities she’d only clashed with over endorsement deals but had never actually worked with.
That at least narrowed the list a little.
Lu Congxing’s gaze landed on the very top of the list. The name “Chen He” was written there in bold.
Lin Hude eagerly took the list. “I’ll take care of the investigation.”
For a proper exorcist, it was easy to tell if someone had recently dabbled in dark arts.
They quickly came to an agreement. Lin Hude didn’t question why Lu Congxing insisted on personally investigating Chen He. He had lived long enough to know when not to pry.
Lu Congxing knew very well—if He Zhouyan hadn’t been around today, the little ghost attached to Chen He would’ve come after him already.
He had been targeted by malevolent ghosts too many times. He knew that if he didn’t handle this himself, it wouldn’t just go away.
The ghost had been nourished until its yin energy was running wild. If it was left alone and managed to devour Chen He, its next target would definitely be him.
He had to cut off this hidden danger with his own hands.
Wen Yi brought them to the hotel the film crew had booked out. The hotel had excellent security—only crew members were allowed on the top floor.
Chen He lived right next door to Wen Yi.
Inside Wen Yi’s room, Lu Congxing summoned his little flame.
The moment it appeared, the flame transformed into a tiny blue fire-pup and began sniffing around everywhere.
The little fire-dog thoroughly inspected everything from the bed to the bathroom, even the hotel trash bins and the base of the potted plants, before returning to them and barking furiously at the ceiling.
Despite its intense effort, its barking sounded soft and cutesy to others—completely different from the intimidating aura it gave off when burning away evil.
If you hadn’t seen it yourself, you’d never believe such a tiny fire could burn even the most vicious ghosts to ash.
Lu Congxing quickly retracted the flame.
Even though he was already eighteen, by the standards of the demon clans, he was still just a cub. So no matter how powerful his innate flame looked, it was still only a juvenile karmic fire.
Annoyed, he turned and glanced at He Zhouyan.
The man had a slight smile in his eyes—it was obvious he’d heard the fire-pup’s cute little bark.
“Good little cub.”
He mouthed the words silently.
Lu Congxing wasn’t the type to lose his cool easily, but in that moment, his eyes widened like a cat whose fur had just been brushed the wrong way.
Too mean.
That was his verdict in his heart. His guardian demon really was awful—like a human who loved teasing little kids just for fun.
Most demons at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs were kind to the cub, but none were like Bai Ze.
Was it because he was just that old and had lived too long?
After deliberately teasing the cub, He Zhouyan calmly released his spiritual energy, breaking open the ceiling.
Quite perceptive.
As expected, Lu Congxing’s attention was immediately drawn to the disturbance.
The ceiling had only just cracked open when a putrid, bloody stench seeped out, instantly overpowering the hotel’s faint fragrance of aromatherapy.
Lin Yang quickly rushed to open the windows and let the smell out.
As the foul odor intensified, something bloodied and unidentifiable fell from above.
Because the ceiling crack was directly above the bed, the object landed squarely on the pristine white sheets.
The sheets were instantly stained pitch black.
With one hand in his pocket, He Zhouyan used his spiritual energy to flip the thing over.
The moment its identity was revealed, Wen Yi gasped and covered her mouth in horror. She inhaled sharply, unable to believe that such a vile thing had been hovering right above her while she slept for the past few days.
It was a voodoo doll soaked in foul-smelling fluid. Iron nails pierced through its limbs, and instead of cotton, its torn body exposed real flesh and blood—like a tiny, living human had been sewn inside the fabric.
And most terrifying of all, the doll’s face… was an exact replica of her own!
It was hard to describe the sheer visual horror of it. Though it was crudely made from rough cloth, a shrunken human face had somehow been fused onto it—lifelike to the point it seemed to have been torn straight from a real person. Even the individual eyebrows were distinctly visible.
On that skin-like face, the miniature Wen Yi wore a pained expression. Dried blood tears had streamed from its hollow eyes, as if every needle stuck into the doll had truly been felt.
And because it had fallen face-down, it meant that while it was lodged in the ceiling, it had been staring straight down at her all along.
It wasn’t just a chill down her spine—it was bone-deep terror that gripped her heart in an instant.
That grotesque, human-like face had been watching her every night through the ceiling.
Watching as her nightmares began… and slowly dragged her deeper into that nightmare realm.
On all those sleepless nights, she had stared blankly at the ceiling, completely unaware that something with her exact face was staring back at her.
A twisted, silent stare exchanged in the dark.
Now, flipped over, the voodoo doll seemed to lock eyes with everyone in the room, its expression one of agonizing sorrow.
Snap.
The hotel lights went out.
In the pitch-black room, Wen Yi let out a quiet sob of fear.
Lin Yang immediately shouted, “Yiyi, don’t cry—I’m right here!”
He reached out, trying to grab Wen Yi’s hand—only to touch something soft and ice-cold.
Then, from his right side, another trembling voice slowly emerged:
“I… I’m not crying.”
It was the exact same voice.
It matched the sobbing perfectly.