“Wailing!” Fu Miaoxue howled. “My boyfriend is about to die! How am I supposed to have any heart for singing opera?!”

“Sing it! It might draw the Bone-Hauling Woman over here!” Bai Youwei shouted urgently. “Sing it now!!!”

“What?” Fu Miaoxue blinked, and then it clicked. “Right, right — last time, after I sang, it drew the paper figure in. Maybe this tune can call a ghost?!”

She looked out through the doorway. The murky curtain of rain obscured her view; she couldn’t see what was happening to Du Lai and Shen Mo, only hear the shrill laughter echoing in the distance.

But if she really did draw the Bone-Hauling Woman over — Du Lai and Shen Mo would escape, but what about her and Bai Youwei?

The door of this decrepit house had already been broken when they first arrived. It couldn’t be locked.

…Forget it!

Fu Miaoxue screamed out into the dark rainy void: “Du Lai!!! Run to the old scholar’s house! Or I’m breaking up with you! Breaking up!!!”

“Stop talking nonsense — sing already!” Bai Youwei urged her.

Fu Miaoxue snapped back: “I need to get into the right mood!”

Bai Youwei was even more impatient: “Keep getting into the mood for a few more seconds, and you’ll be hauling Du Lai’s remains yourself!!!”

Fu Miaoxue burst into a fresh wail: “Damn it! Shut up! Don’t scare me like that!”

Just then, they heard Du Lai’s voice calling from somewhere in the distance: “Miaoxue! Use the puzzle piece! Come outside and wait for me!”

His voice was fading — he seemed to be running toward the old scholar’s house.

Fu Miaoxue fumbled along her back, finding a slim puzzle piece tucked inside her waistband.

She bristled: “That sneaky so-and-so — when did he hide it there…”

Then she looked back out at the dark rain and finally steeled herself to open her mouth and sing:

*”In an instant…*

*In an instant, cold air assails me, dark clouds spreading on all sides.*

*This humble one can only struggle on, daring not to pause.*

*In the wild and desolate outskirts, there is nowhere to take shelter.*

*Wave after wave, oh,*

*Wave after wave of bitter wind and miserable rain, soaking through my garments.*

*Ah…*

*Oh…”*

While Fu Miaoxue was singing, she heard Bai Youwei’s voice behind her say: “Teacher Cheng — quick, give me your hand!”

Fu Miaoxue’s scalp prickled. There were clearly only the two of them in the house — who was Bai Youwei talking to?!

“Bai Youwei, you’re scaring me again!” She said miserably. “You made me forget the words, do you know that…”

She was about to turn and look — when the front courtyard gate was suddenly rammed open. A dried-out, skeletal old woman crawled rapidly across the ground toward them.

“AHHHHH!!!” Fu Miaoxue shrieked in terror!

Bai Youwei hurled something with force!

Fu Miaoxue didn’t catch what it was — but then a flash of white darted past her eyes. It was the rabbit on Bai Youwei’s person, which leapt down and unleashed a crackling barrage of lightning at the oncoming monster.

The Bone-Hauling Woman’s body shuddered violently and lurched backward two meters.

Fu Miaoxue scrambled behind Bai Youwei, exclaiming in awe: “Your item is incredible!”

“Go close the door!” Bai Youwei commanded.

Fu Miaoxue stared. “You’re just leaving your rabbit out there?”

“Never mind it!” Bai Youwei ordered. “Close the door — now!”

Fu Miaoxue closed the door, then used the only rotting wooden table in the room to brace it shut, both hands gripping the edge of the table, pressing hard.

The Bone-Hauling Woman, driven back by the lightning, came charging at them again!

*Boom!*

The entire door panel rattled!

Fu Miaoxue was frantic with fear. “How is this monster not even afraid of lightning?!”

Outside, blue-violet light flared again —

The lightning was extraordinarily powerful, erupting with a thunderous boom.

Then — silence outside the door.

Fu Miaoxue hadn’t heard Li Shi ram into the door panel again. Heart in her throat, she peered through the crack — just in time to see the Bone-Hauling Woman retreating in haste, crawling out of the courtyard.

“She’s gone?!” Fu Miaoxue was overjoyed. “She’s scared of lightning!”

“She’s not scared of lightning,” Bai Youwei said coolly. “She’s scared of someone taking her remains.” She continued: “Move the table. While her attention is elsewhere, we’ll head to the old scholar’s estate and take cover.”

—