Jin Ling said, "This chair is placed next to my bed, very close to it. At first it was empty, but after a while, a man in black suddenly sat there."

Jin Ling wanted to see the face clearly, but the man had his head lowered, with half of his long hair covering his face. Only a pair of snow-white hands were visible, resting on the armrest.

He quietly adjusted the position of the mirror, but as soon as his wrist moved, the woman seemed to sense something and slowly raised her head.

That face was covered with dozens of bloody knife scars.

Wei Wuxian was not surprised, but the younger generations were all stunned.

"Wait?" Lan Jingyi placed a bowl of porridge in front of Jin Ling and said, "Female ghost? How could it be a female ghost? Are you so scared that you saw it wrong..."

Jin Ling slapped him with his palm: "I don't want to hear you say that I'm stupid. Although the blood is blood and the hair is hair, it is basically impossible to see what she looks like, but the bun and clothes are the style of a young woman, which is definitely correct. We are looking in the wrong direction." He said, "Although there is indeed resentment on the iron hook, the one causing trouble in the white room is probably not the hook hand."

Lan Jingyi said: "Why don't you take a little more time to take a closer look and see her appearance clearly... Maybe you can find out her identity based on her facial features, such as moles or birthmarks."

Jin Ling said unhappily, "You think I didn't mean to? I meant to, but the evil woman noticed the moonlight reflected by the mirror and immediately looked up this way. The mirror reflected her eyes, and I accidentally made eye contact with her."

If you are discovered by an evil spirit while you are spying, you must not continue to look. You must immediately put down the mirror, close your eyes, and pretend to be asleep. Otherwise, it may arouse the evil spirit's viciousness and increase its murderous intent. Lan Jingyi said, "That was a close call..."

People at the table were talking at once: "But the thief didn't see the woman in his eyes."

"Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Maybe the thief is in a wrong position..."

"No, this female ghost, why is it a female ghost, who is she?"

Lan Sizhui said, "This woman's face was slashed dozens of times, so she is likely one of Hook Hand's many victims. What Jin Ling saw must be the afterimage of her resentment."

The afterimage of resentment is the recurrence of a scene that the evil spirit feels resentful about, usually the moment before death, or something that makes it hate the most.

Jin Ling said, "Yes. I saw the white house reflected in the mirror last night. The furnishings are completely different from now. It looks like an inn. Before the Bai Mansion was built, there used to be an inn here. The woman was murdered in this inn."

Lan Jingyi said, "Oh, come to think of it, it is true. Someone mentioned in the things we found that Hook Hand can easily pick the lock of the inn. He often sneaks in at night and picks on women who are alone outside!"

Lan Sizhui said, “And the room where this girl, or madam, was killed is exactly in the same location as the white house built in the Bai Mansion!”

No wonder the head of the Bai family insisted that there were no old secret cases in the Bai Mansion and no one had died unexpectedly. It was not because he was deliberately covering up or concealing the truth, but because they were really innocent and this was really none of their business!

Jin Ling took a sip of the porridge and pretended to be calm, "I knew it wouldn't be that simple. Well, it has to be solved anyway."

Wei WuXian said: “Jin Ling, you should catch up on some sleep later, as you still have work to do tonight.”

Lan Jingyi glanced at his bowl and said, "Senior Wei, you haven't finished eating yet, don't leave any leftovers."

Wei WuXian said, “No more. Eat more, Jingyi. You’re the one leading the charge tonight.”

Lan Jingyi was so shocked that he almost dropped his bowl: "Ah? Me?? What do you want to be the first to fight?!"

Wei WuXian said, “Jin Ling didn’t finish watching it last night, so let’s finish watching it together today and see for ourselves. You take the lead.”

Lan Jingyi was shocked: "Senior Wei, did you make a mistake? How could it be me?"

Wei WuXian said, “There is no mistake. As for training, everyone has a share, everyone has a chance, and everyone should go. SiZhui and Jin Ling have both gone, so the next decision will be yours.”

“Why did I decide to be the next one…”

Wei Wuxian of course wouldn’t say it directly because apart from Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling, he only remembered Lan Jingyi’s name among the group of kids. He just patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him: “That’s a good thing! Look at the others, how much they all want to go up.”

"There are no other people. They all ran away long ago!"

No matter how Lan Jingyi protested, at midnight, he was pushed to the front of the white room.

Outside the white house, there were several benches, filled with people. One person poked a hole in the paper, and in an instant the paper window became riddled with holes, a horrible sight.

Lan Sizhui poked the hole in his window with one finger and thought to himself, "I feel like... this can't be called 'spying' at all. It's better to just take down the paper window..."

As expected, Lan Jingyi was moved to the front seat by Wei Wuxian. From this position, he could see the most, most complete, and clearest things. If he were watching a play, it would be a first-class seat that was worth a fortune. It was a pity that Lan Jingyi didn't want this first-class seat at all.

He was sandwiched between Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui, and said tremblingly: "Can I sit somewhere else..."

Wei WuXian kept pacing around and said, “No.”

When the others heard this, they all felt that Wei Wuxian's tone of voice was very much like Lan Wangji's. Some even chuckled. Wei Wuxian said, "You have a good attitude. You are so relaxed. That's good, very good."

Lan Sizhui, who just couldn't help himself, quickly straightened his face. Wei Wuxian then said to Lan Jingyi, "Look, I don't even have a seat. Don't be ungrateful for what you have."

Lan Jingyi said: "Senior, can I give you my seat..."

Wei WuXian said, “No.”

Lan Jingyi: "What's the use of that?"

Wei WuXian said, “You can ask questions.”

Lan Jingyi had no choice but to say to Lan Sizhui, "Sizhui, if I pass out later, you, you have to copy my notes for me."

Lan Sizhui didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "Okay."

Lan Jingyi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Then I feel relieved."

Lan Sizhui encouraged: "Don't worry, Jingyi, you can definitely hold on."

Lan Jingyi just showed a grateful look, Jin Ling patted his shoulder, looking very reliable, and said: "Yes, don't worry, if you faint, I will wake you up immediately."

Lan Jingyi was alarmed and slapped his hand away: "Go away, go away, God knows what means you will use to wake me up."

As he was muttering to himself, a blood-red light appeared faintly through the paper window, as if someone had suddenly lit a red lamp in the dark room.

Everyone immediately fell silent and held their breath.

Red light also shone through the tiny windows, making the prying eyes look like they were covered in bloodshot.

Lan Jingyi raised his hand tremblingly and said, "Senior... why, why does this room look so red? I, I have never seen such a blood-red afterimage. Was there a red light on in the room at that time?"

Lan Sizhui whispered: "It's not the blood-red light, it's because this person..."

Jin Ling said: "It's because blood got into this person's eyes."

In the red light, something new suddenly appeared in the room.

A chair, and a "person" sitting on the chair.

Wei WuXian asked, “Jin Ling, is this what you saw last night?”

Jin Ling nodded and said, "However, I didn't look carefully last night. She was not sitting on the chair... She was tied to the chair."

Just as he said, the woman's hands, which were placed on the handrail, were tied tightly with hemp rope.

Everyone was waiting to take a closer look when suddenly a black shadow flashed by and another figure appeared in the room.

There is actually another "person".

As for the second person, his eyelids and upper and lower lips were cut off. He couldn't blink or close his mouth. His bloodshot eyeballs and bright red gums were exposed. It was a thousand times more terrifying than the legend!

Lan Jingyi cried out: "Hook Hand!"

"What's going on? Wasn't the hook melted? How come the hook hand is still there?"

"There are actually two evil spirits in this house?"

Hearing this, Wei WuXian asked, “Two? Is there one or two evil spirits in this room? Can someone explain it clearly?”

Lan Sizhui said, “One.”

Jin Ling also said, "One. The hook hand in this white room is not a real evil spirit. It is just an afterimage of the death scene that the woman recreated with her resentment."

Lan Jingyi said: "Although it is an afterimage, it is still as creepy as ever!!"

As they talked, the face slowly moved towards the wooden door. It was getting closer, clearer, and more ferocious. Even though everyone knew it was just an afterimage, and the iron hook that was actually carrying the remnant of the hookman had been refined, and this afterimage would never really go through the door, there was always a creepy thought that lingered in their minds:

He found out!

If the unfortunate thief had seen this scene when he peeped into the white house in the middle of the night, it's no wonder he would have had a heart attack from fear.

The face came to within a foot of the paper window, paused for a while, then turned and strode towards the chair.

Everyone then started breathing again at the same time.

Inside, Hookman was walking around the room, the old wooden planks creaking under his feet. Outside, Jin Ling suddenly felt strange.

He said, "From just now, there is one thing that I am very concerned about."

Lan Sizhui asked, “What’s the matter?”

Jin Ling said: "The resentful afterimage must be the scene before this woman died. However, when facing a murderer, would ordinary people be so calm and not make any sound? In other words."

He said: "This woman is clearly awake, why doesn't she scream for help?"

Lan Jingyi asked, "Are you scared?"

Jin Ling said: "That doesn't mean she won't say a word or even cry. Aren't women supposed to cry when they are extremely scared?"

Lan Sizhui asked, “Is the tongue still there?”

Jin Ling said: "There is no blood at the corner of his mouth, so it should be still there. And even if he has lost his tongue and can't speak clearly, he shouldn't be unable to make any sound at all."

Lan Jingyi was sandwiched between the two of them, as if he was about to die: "Can you please not discuss such a terrible thing in such a calm tone in my ear..."

A young man asked, "Could it be because this inn is abandoned, or there's no one else here, and they know shouting is useless, so they just stop shouting?"

Lan Jingyi, who saw the most clearly here, had something to say: "No way, looking at this afterimage, the furnishings in the room are not covered with dust, and it is obvious that they have been in use all the time. It is impossible that there is no one else here, otherwise she would not have moved in."

Jin Ling said, "You are not hopelessly stupid. Besides, whether there are other people around is one thing, whether you will scream is another. For example, if you are being chased by someone in the wilderness, even if you know that there will be no third person to save you, won't you still be scared and scream for help?"

Wei WuXian quietly clapped his hands at the side and whispered, “Oh my god, you are worthy of being Sect Master Jin.”

Jin Ling blushed and said angrily: "What are you doing? Please don't distract me like this!"

Wei WuXian said: “You can be distracted like this, which means you need to practice your concentration. Look, look, it looks like Hook Hand is about to take action!”

Everyone turned around to look. They saw the hookman took out a hemp rope, put it around the woman's neck, and was slowly tightening it.

The sound of twisting hemp rope!

It turns out that this is what the owner of the Bai family said, the source of the strange "squeaking" sound in the White House every night.

The dozens of scars on the woman's face were bleeding profusely under the pressure, but she didn't make a sound. Everyone was distressed, and someone couldn't help but whispered, "Call someone, call someone!"

But contrary to their expectations, the victim did not move, but the murderer did. The hemp rope suddenly loosened, and the hookman took out a shiny iron hook from behind.

A group of young men were standing outside the door, their hair standing on end in anxiety. They wished they could jump in and roar in place of the woman, waking up everyone in the city. The back of the hook-hand blocked their view, and a hand was extended forward. From where they were, they could only see the back of a hand resting on the handrail, and the veins on the back of the hand suddenly popped out.

Even at this point, the woman still didn't say a word!

Jin Ling couldn't help but start to doubt: "Is she mentally abnormal?"

"What do you mean by mental abnormality?"

"Maybe... stupid."

“…”

Although saying that someone is stupid sounds quite impolite, judging from the current situation, this is actually the most likely scenario. Otherwise, if it is a normal person, why would he have no reaction at this moment?

Lan Jingyi's head ached as he watched, and he turned away. But Wei Wuxian whispered, "Watch carefully."

Lan Jingyi couldn't bear it and said, "Senior, I... I really can't watch this anymore."

Wei WuXian said: “There are things in the world that are thousands of times more tragic than this. If you don’t even dare to face it, there’s no point in talking about anything else.”

Hearing this, Lan Jingyi calmed down, turned around, gritted his teeth, and continued to watch with a miserable expression. Unexpectedly, at this moment, something strange happened -

The woman suddenly opened her mouth and bit the iron hook!

This bite startled a group of teenagers outside the door so much that they jumped up in a row.

The hook-wielding man in the house seemed to be frightened as well, and immediately withdrew his hand. However, he was unable to pull the iron hook out from between the woman's teeth. Instead, he was tackled by the woman along with the  chair . The iron hook that was originally intended to cut someone else's tongue somehow ended up cutting his own lower abdomen!

The young men screamed incoherently, almost clinging to the door, and they all wanted to stick their eyes through the window holes into the white room to take a closer look. Hookhand was injured and in pain, and suddenly he was startled, as if he remembered something, and grabbed the woman's chest with his right hand, as if he wanted to dig her heart out alive. The woman rolled with  the chair to avoid the heart-diggering blow, but with a "swish", her clothes on her chest were torn.

In such a situation and scene, the young people had no time to worry about what was inappropriate.

But what shocked them was that the chest of that "woman" was extremely flat and smooth.

This is not a "woman" at all - this person is actually a man dressed as a woman!

The hook-wielding man rushed forward and strangled him with his bare hands, forgetting that the hook was still in his mouth. The man turned his head sharply, and the iron hook instantly cut into his wrist. One tried his best to break the other's neck, and the other tried his best to bleed the other. For a moment, the two of them were in a stalemate...

It was not until the cock crowed and the sky brightened that the red light in the house disappeared and the afterimages faded away.

The group of young men gathered at the door of the white house were already staring in a daze.

After a long while, Lan Jingyi finally stammered, "Hey, hey, these two..."

Everyone had one thought in mind:

In the end, neither of these two people will survive...

Unexpectedly, the evil spirit that had been tormenting the Bai Mansion for decades was not Hook Hand, but the hero who eliminated Hook Hand.

Everyone was discussing the matter heatedly.

"I never expected that Hookman would be subdued in this way..."

"Think about it carefully, this is the only way, right? After all, Hook Hand is elusive and no one knows where he is. If we don't disguise ourselves as a woman to lure him out, there's no way to catch him."

"But it's so dangerous!"

"It's very dangerous. Look, this knight was tied up by his trick, so he was at a disadvantage from the beginning. Otherwise, if the two of them were to fight head-on, how could he be at such a disadvantage!"

"Yes, and he can't call for help. Hookman has killed countless people and is extremely cruel. Even if he calls for ordinary people, they will probably die..."

"That's why he refused to ask for help!"

"We both died..."

"The rumors didn't mention the chivalrous deeds of this hero! I really don't understand."

"That's normal. Compared to heroes and knights, people still think the legend of the murderer is more interesting."

Jin Ling analyzed: "The deceased is unwilling to be reborn, it is nothing more than having unfulfilled human wishes. And the deceased with incomplete bodies are unwilling to be reborn, often because they have not found the part of their body that they lost. This is the crux of why he is haunting."

Even if it is just a burden, if you carry it with you for decades, you will not be willing to let it go, let alone a piece of meat in your mouth.

Lan Jingyi was already in awe after hearing this: "Then we must find the tongue as soon as possible and burn it for him so that he can pass away!"

Everyone was ready to fight, and suddenly stood up and said, "That's right, how can we let such a hero die without a complete body!"

"Search, search, search. Start from the graveyard in the west of the city, the cemetery, the entire Bai Mansion, and the old house where the Hook Hand used to live. Don't miss any of them."

The group of young men rushed out of the door with great enthusiasm. Before leaving, Jin Ling turned back to look at Wei Wuxian.

Wei WuXian asked, “What’s wrong?”

During the discussion, Wei Wuxian remained silent and didn't say a word, which made Jin Ling feel uneasy and wondered if there was something wrong. But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that he had not missed any key points, so he said, "Nothing."

Wei WuXian smiled and said, “If there is nothing, go find it. Be patient.”

Jin Ling went out with a heroic and high-spirited manner.

It was several days later that he finally understood what Wei Wuxian meant by "be patient".

Wei Wuxian and Lan Sizhui had found the hook before, and it only took them half an hour. But this time, Wei Wuxian didn't interfere in the search for the tongue, letting them figure it out on their own, and it took them five days to find it.

When Lan Jingyi jumped up holding something, everyone else was almost exhausted.

However, even though they were in a mess, their clothes were in disarray and they smelled bad, everyone was very happy. After listening to what they said, Wei Wuxian told them the truth very seriously: it was already amazing for them to find it in five days. You know, there were many cultivators who gave up after ten days or half a month without finding it.

A group of people were very excited, circling around the dead man's tongue. It was said that things with evil spirits would turn green, but that thing was not only green, but black, hard and painful to the touch, and exuded an evil spirit. It was impossible to tell that it was once a piece of human flesh. If it were not so, it would have rotted long ago.

After doing this, my tongue was burned, and it seemed that a big thing was finally settled.

Having come this far, it’s time to end it no matter what.

Therefore, Jin Ling was quite satisfied with this night hunt.

Unexpectedly, before they were satisfied for a few days, the master of the Bai family came to Jinlin Terrace again.

It turned out that after the knight's tongue was burned, there was indeed two days of peace. However, it was only two days.

On the third night, strange noises were heard again in the Bai House, and they became louder and louder day by day. By the fifth night, the entire Bai Mansion was completely unable to sleep.

This time it came with more force and was scarier than any other time. The strange sound was neither the twisting of hemp rope nor the cutting of meat - it was a human voice!

According to the description of the Bai family's owner, the voice was very hoarse, as if the tongue that had not been used for many years was moving heavily. The words could not be heard clearly, but it was definitely a man screaming.

After she finished shouting, she continued to cry, miserably, weakly at first, then gradually louder and louder, and finally almost hysterical, very pitiful and very scary. Not to mention the Bai Mansion, even outside the Bai Mansion, three streets away, she could hear it, and passers-by were terrified and scared out of their wits.

Jin Ling was also very worried. He was too busy at the end of the year to deal with it personally, so he sent a few disciples to check it out. After they came back, they reported that apart from the fact that the screams were indeed very miserable, there was no other harm.

It doesn't count as disturbing the public.

When handing over the Night Hunting Notes, Lan Sizhui told Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian about this. After listening, Wei Wuxian took a cake from Lan Wangji's desk and ate it, saying, "Oh, then there's nothing to worry about."

Lan Sizhui said, “There’s nothing to worry about even if it screams like this… right? Logically speaking, after the obsession is resolved, the dead soul should be liberated.”

Wei WuXian said, “It’s true that resolving obsessions can help the dead souls to be liberated. But have you ever thought that maybe the real obsession of that knight is not to find his tongue and reincarnate?”

Lan Jingyi finally got an A this time. Thinking that he no longer had to copy as punishment, he was so happy that he secretly shed tears. At this moment, he couldn't help but ask, "What is that? Is it that you howl every night so that others can't sleep?"

Unexpectedly, Wei WuXian actually nodded: “That’s right.”

Lan Sizhui was stunned: "Senior Wei, what does this mean?"

Wei WuXian said, “Didn’t you infer earlier that this knight didn’t want the lives of innocent people to be endangered, so when he was tortured by the hook hand, he tried his best to endure it and refused to make a sound?”

Lan Sizhui sat up straight and said, "That's right. Is there something wrong?"

Wei WuXian said, “It’s not wrong, but let me ask you a question - if there is a murderer, waving a knife in front of you, letting your blood flow, slashing your face, strangling your neck, hooking your tongue, is it scary? Are you scared? Do you want to cry or not?”

Lan Jingyi thought for a moment and said palely, "Help!"

Lan Sizhui said sternly: "As our family motto says, even in times of danger..."

Wei WuXian: "SiZhui, don't talk to me about anything else. I'm asking you if you're scared or not. Just tell me straight away."

Lan Sizhui blushed, straightened his back, and said, "Sizhui, don't..."

Wei WuXian: “No?”

Lan Sizhui said honestly: "I can't say I'm not afraid. Ahem."

After saying this, he glanced at Lan Wangji anxiously.

Wei WuXian was overjoyed: "Why are you ashamed? When people are in pain and fear, they will be afraid, they will want someone to save them, they will want to shout and cry, isn't this human nature? Don't you think so? HanGuang-Jun, look at your SiZhui, he is afraid of being punished by you, he is secretly looking at you. Hurry up and say yes. If you say 'yes', it means you agree with my point of view, and I will not punish him."

He used his elbow to gently poke Lan Wangji's abdomen a few times as he sat upright and took notes. Lan Wangji said calmly, "Yes."

After saying that, he grabbed his waist and held him tightly to prevent him from moving, and continued to mark the notes that were submitted.

Lan Sizhui's face turned even redder.

Wei WuXian struggled twice but failed to free himself, so he maintained this position and continued to speak to Lan SiZhui in a serious tone, “So, forcing yourself not to scream is indeed a heroic act, but it goes against human nature and common sense, and this is also the truth.”

Lan Sizhui tried to ignore his gesture, thought about it, and felt a little sympathy for the knight.

Wei WuXian asked, “Is Jin Ling still bothered by this?”

Lan Jingyi said, “Yeah, big or small… uh, Mr. Jin doesn’t know what went wrong.”

Lan Sizhui asked: "Well, if that's the case, how should we deal with this evil spirit?"

Wei WuXian said, “Let him yell.”

“…”

Lan Sizhui asked, "Just, let him call?"

Wei WuXian said, “Yes. When you’ve shouted enough, you’ll naturally leave.”

Lan Sizhui immediately shared half of his sympathy with everyone in the Bai Mansion.

Fortunately, although the knight felt aggrieved, he had no intention of harming anyone. The strange noises coming from the white room continued for several months before gradually stopping. I guess the knight finally got his share of the blame after his death, and was reincarnated with satisfaction.

It only made everyone in the Bai Mansion suffer. They tossed and turned in agony for a long time and could not sleep at night. The Bai Mansion also became famous again.