Changing the doors went smoothly.
Since all the doors at the Ping'an Inn looked the same, they only needed to swap the doors, switch the locks, then erase the handprints from one door and draw them onto the other. That way, everything would be seamless.
Before long, the door swap was complete.
Room 406, which Qi Zhiyong had taken, now had the door from Room 403—the very door that had been marked last night—while Room 403 received a clean, unmarked door.
Wu Xian and the others would stay in Qi Zhiyong's former Room 402 that night.
That room was absolutely safe tonight.
The purpose of switching doors was to test the logic behind the "door-breaking spirit's" behavior.
If the mark was on the door itself, then Qi Zhiyong was surely doomed tonight—and Wu Xian wouldn't have to lift a finger to get revenge.
If the mark was on the room, then Wu Xian wouldn't lose out either; either way, the information would be useful sooner or later.
After finishing the swap, the two went downstairs together to search for the statues.
Shi Ji was completely dazed. Wu Xian had utterly confused him.
Switching doors, erasing handprints—did that mean the rules everyone had blindly trusted were actually being toyed with by Wu Xian all along?
Only Wu Xian himself knew which rooms were truly safe?
After searching for a while without finding any statues, Shi Ji finally shook off his shock and remembered he had something to ask Wu Xian. Lowering his voice, he asked mysteriously:
"Brother Xian, since you performed the ritual yesterday, have you experienced anything unusual?"
Wu Xian raised an eyebrow. "Be specific. What do you mean exactly?"
"Ever since the ritual, I feel like something's been watching me."
"Something keeps stalking me, spying on me. It's strongest when I'm on the toilet."
"Last night, just as I sat down to go, I felt a cold breeze blowing up from beneath. I jumped up immediately. When I flushed, the water splashed all over the place, like a hand was stirring the water inside, stirring and stirring…"
"And this morning, when I tried to pee, I just felt someone staring right at me. It was so intense it gave me the creeps—I couldn't even go."
"It's slowly getting closer to me. I'm afraid that before the big spirit finds me, I might…"
"Ugh…"
Shi Ji slapped his own large backside, face sour.
"Since the ritual yesterday, I haven't been able to use the toilet properly. I'm about to burst."
Wu Xian narrowed his eyes, realizing Shi Ji had triggered a negative effect from the ritual!
He had experienced something similar when he performed the ritual for the second time—then, after worshiping the Xuanming statue, he'd been cursed by Mr. Wang, and unless he freed him, his body temperature would keep dropping.
Later, the invitation had explained the risks: worshiping the gods carried a chance of negative effects—heavenly officials bestow evil, earthly officials punish sins, and water officials curse.
Shi Ji had worshiped the heavenly official, which meant he had been "bestowed evil."
But what exactly did "bestowed evil" mean?
From Shi Ji's description, it seemed some malevolent spirit was attracted to him and was drawing closer by the minute—especially fast when he was in the bathroom.
"This might not be entirely bad," Wu Xian thought, a smile creeping to his lips as he patted Shi Ji on the shoulder.
"I'll take you to the toilet. Don't hold it in too long."
…
Outside the bathroom door, Shi Ji hesitated.
"Are you sure this will work?"
Wu Xian led Shi Ji to a random bathroom, shut off the water supply, poured a bucket of diesel into the toilet tank, and then pushed Shi Ji to sit on the toilet.
"Don't worry. Like I said before, I've got you covered this time."
According to Wu Xian's experience, places where danger had occurred were more likely to harbor statues and spirit incense.
Now that statues were hard to find, and Shi Ji attracted evil spirits, wouldn't defeating the spirits drawn to him lead them right to the statues?
Shi Ji's face twisted, veins bulging.
He was sitting on the toilet just to lure the evil spirit—he couldn't actually risk using it.
But as soon as he sat, his stomach cramped like a knife twisting inside him. His intestines contorted, and he clenched his teeth, barely holding back—it was agonizing.
Wu Xian stood outside, flipping his middle finger, waiting.
After Shi Ji sat, the air around grew noticeably colder. The copper coin sword in Wu Xian's hand began to heat up, signaling that the evil spirit fixated on Shi Ji was about to appear.
Shi Ji felt it more keenly—the eyes of the lurking presence peered through the toilet, malice crawling into his body as if it wanted to devour him inside and out.
"It's coming! It's coming!"
Shi Ji shivered, then tumbled forward like a stubborn mule. In the next second, a greenish hand shot out from the toilet bowl!
If Shi Ji had been slower, that hand would have grabbed him and torn him apart!
Behind the hand followed a body as thick as a sewer pipe, writhing and twisting in the air, emitting a dreadful stench.
After a moment, the spirit fully revealed itself.
It was fat as a pig, covered in filth, with countless eyes embedded in its grime.
It was a toilet spirit.
The toilet spirit fixed its gaze on Shi Ji, licking the filth off its lips as if it had just spotted a delicious feast. But then it frowned.
What was on its lips?
Not stinky enough?
It seemed like diesel… but what was diesel?
Since becoming an evil spirit, it rarely recalled its human memories—only occasional fragments flickered through its mind.
Before it could make sense of it, Wu Xian suddenly sprang forward. With a snap of his middle finger, a slender flame shot out like a thread of fire.
True Fire Curse!
The True Fire Curse ignited instantly upon contact with the diesel, blazing into a fierce inferno. The toilet spirit screamed in agony and tried to retreat back into the toilet bowl, but the fire only intensified because of the diesel.
Enraged, the toilet spirit roared and charged at Wu Xian and Shi Ji.
Wu Xian was startled.
Covered in diesel and set aflame by the True Fire Curse, the toilet spirit still hadn't died.
This was bad.
It was filthy and blazing with fire—a walking, living ball of burning filth. Fighting it up close with the copper coin sword meant risking both physical and spiritual harm.
If he used the last True Fire Curse…
The cost would be too high to recover.
Just as Wu Xian hesitated, Shi Ji suddenly sprang up from the ground, pulling out a black donkey's hoof talisman from his pocket. With all his strength, he slammed it onto the toilet spirit's forehead.
The toilet spirit, already weakened and scorched by the True Fire Curse, was dealt a heavy blow by the black donkey's hoof talisman. Its neck twisted, and it collapsed onto the floor.
Dead!
The flames burned the fat and grime off the spirit's body, releasing a pungent stench. On the ground lay a thick yellow incense stick. Inside the room, a strange sound echoed—perhaps a statue had appeared.
This toilet spirit was stronger than a typical evil spirit, but trading a spirit encounter for a chance to worship the gods wasn't a bad deal.
Wu Xian picked up the incense, ready to perform the ritual.
Then he saw Shi Ji clenching his legs, his face twisted in discomfort as he bent and twisted his waist.
Wu Xian chuckled, "Go ahead and use the toilet. Don't hold it in so long you blow up."
Shi Ji shook his head. "It's not over yet!"