"Bang!"

A dull thud of flesh colliding echoed deep within the water factory.

Zhou Ming flew through the air like a sandbag, crashing heavily into a pile of rusty pipes.

Then, he lay on the ground, violently gagging, and spat out a mouthful of foul-smelling black water.

As the black water sprayed out, the shadow entangled within him let out a shrill scream before quickly dissipating into the air.

The signs of Zhou Ming’s rolled-back eyes began to disappear, and his pupils regained their dark focus.

He stared blankly for two seconds, then suddenly took a sharp inhalation of breath.

"Hiss—my face!!!"

Zhou Ming clutched his cheek, which was swelling visibly, and let out a wail.

Then he struggled to get up, using both his hands and feet.

At this moment, the black-framed glasses on his nose had only one leg hanging on his ear, teetering with his movement.

Zhou Ming looked around in confusion.

Finally, his gaze fell on Fang Cheng, who was leisurely shaking his wrist, and he mumblingly asked:

"Fang, Fang Cheng? What happened? Why do I feel like a big truck just hit my face?"

Fang Cheng’s expression remained calm.

He stepped forward, bent down, picked up the half-broken leg of Zhou Ming’s glasses, and handed it back to him.

"Did you forget? A monster just attached itself to you. To save you, I had to use some rather intense physical methods."

"Physical methods?"

Zhou Ming grimaced painfully, utterly bewildered:

"What... what did you do?"

Fang Cheng looked at his face, swollen like a steamed bun, and said sincerely:

"After you got possessed, you couldn’t stand steady and took a tumble, just happened your face crashed into this pile of pipes. Luckily, the monster got knocked out of you."

Standing nearby, Wang Lan couldn’t stop her lips from twitching violently.

She subconsciously touched her still painfully throbbing neck.

Suddenly understanding why her throat had felt so fiery earlier.

Apparently, she had just experienced this "physical method" treatment too.

Wang Lan gritted her teeth, her expression extremely bewildered.

Facing Fang Cheng’s calm profile, she was momentarily unsure whether she should be grateful for his life-saving act or blame him for being so heavy-handed.

..................

Half an hour later.

Sitting sprawled across the weed-covered stone steps in front of the water plant’s gate were five high school students.

Aside from Fang Cheng, the other four were all battered and bruised, covered in dust and black stains, looking as disheveled as could be.

"Cough cough... My god, I almost thought I wasn’t going to make it out today."

Zhou Ming gasped heavily, clutching his swollen left cheek.

"Mm, mm, good thing I didn’t lose the snacks I brought..."

Li Dazhuang opened his backpack, shook out a pile of food, and handed them out to Fang Cheng and everyone else.

He himself opened a bottle of cola and drank several big gulps to calm his nerves.

In fact, he was probably the least frightened of everyone, having barely seen what had happened or understood why he had been possessed.

It only sounded so terrifying from his classmates that he felt a bit spooked thinking back on it. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Lin Xue clutched the now damaged detector tightly, her face still pale.

Yet her eyes were filled with an irrepressible excitement, her mouth couldn’t stop moving:

"Our Supernatural Research Society has been established for almost a year, and today we finally saw the real deal."

"So there really are ghosts and monsters in this world, it’s just amazing!"

Hearing this, Zhou Ming couldn’t help but twist his mouth.

The implication being, isn’t your family running a Shrine? Isn’t your mom a witch?

Do you really need to come here with us to verify something like this?

"Yes, we really have to thank Fang Cheng this time."

Wang Lan stood beside, gently moving her sore neck, and sincerely remarked:

"Usually, he seems so delicate, who knew he’d be so reliable when faced with danger. Those punches earlier, they were really powerful, even more effective than Lin Xue’s talismanic water!"

Hearing this, Lin Xue, sitting on the steps, blushed with embarrassment.

She lowered her head to glance at the colorful water guns by her feet, awkwardly nudging them with her toe, sheepishly defending:

"That... that’s because the talismanic water from my mom at the Shrine is mainly for dealing with mountain sprite creatures."

"This water plant belongs to a modern industrial ruin, its magnetic field and feng shui are different, it’s... cross-boundary."

"Right, cross-boundary, and the talismanic water might be expired, so it didn’t show its effectiveness..."

Her earnest attempt to save face caused Wang Lan to unreservedly roll her eyes.

In the relief of surviving the ordeal, the atmosphere finally became much lighter.

The group rested on the steps for a while, their breathing gradually calming down.

By this time, the outside sky had completely darkened.

The suburban area, scarce in streetlights, appeared particularly desolate.

The autumn wind blew coldly, bringing a biting chill.

"It’s already dark, we should hurry home, otherwise our families will start worrying."

Lin Xue pulled her thin coat tighter, and suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement, helping each other up, and walked along the dirt road towards the main street.

"Fang Cheng, I owe you one this time. I’ll treat you to a big pork chop tomorrow at lunch!"

Zhou Ming walked beside him, speaking eagerly, ready to brag further about how brave he was in the face of the shadow earlier.

"Wait..."

Fang Cheng suddenly stopped, uttering two words.

"What’s wrong?"

Zhou Ming turned back in confusion to look at him.

Fang Cheng didn’t answer, instead, he raised his head, looking at the sky with a slightly puzzled expression.