As the sarcophagus burst open, Lao Wu yanked out an oilskin-wrapped tome. Pages fluttered in the foul wind, landing on a blood-drawn "Truth-Revealing Sigil." He smeared blood on the illustration—the sigil detached, burning azure in midair.

  "Eyes shut!" Lao Wu's shout trembled.

  Feng glimpsed reality before the glare—no chains nor coffin. They stood in a Qing-style shadow temple's courtyard. Nine pillars encircled a faceless deity, carved with "戊戌年亥时生者祭" (Sacrifice those born 1898, 9-11 PM). Construction crew IDs littered the ground, plastic gnawed by teeth.

  Annals of Folk Mysteries flipped open autonomously, showing vascular text: '1898 Hunan corpse riot had identical patterns—seven related corpses' palm prints activated the kin-fed sha array.'

  "Corpse-stacking curse with mirage formation—Zhang's masterpiece." Lao Wu kicked a skull, his light revealing modern corpses at the pedestal. The top corpse clutched a yellow talisman.

  Feng extracted it with tweezers. UV light revealed hidden blueprints—the Zhang ancestral compound with a crimson X. Lao Wu sneered: "The old bastard gave us sachets with these, called them protective..."

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  The tome levitated before the deity, pages settling on "Deity Feeding Chapter." The faceless idol illustration bled text: 「Sacrifice seven kin, steal a century's lifespan」.

  Feng's camera erupted in burst mode. Preview showed a hidden canal behind the deity—water cloudy with adipocere. His boot crushed a brick near the canal, exposing a moldy ledger titled "Zhang Sacrificial Records, 1900."

  Entries chilled the blood:

  1900: Sacrificed firstborn son, gained silver vein

  1945: Sacrificed eldest grandson's wife Wang, avoided war

  2018: Sacrificed...

  Vermillion annotations read: Shadow temple requires 1898-born sacrifices, others feed the well.

  The final line was bloodstained. Lao Wu sprayed developer, revealing a family portrait—elderly village chief with seven blurred youths.

  The temple quaked.

  The deity's neck cracked, spewing maggot-filled mucus. Feng grabbed the ledger but found exits sealed. A henchman produced grenades—"Methane!" Feng warned.

  The fallen tome revealed temple blueprints. Feng traced the diagram—his finger found rat-claw indents in the deity's left ear.

  "Bestial blood!" Lao Wu roared. "Defile..."

  Infant wails erupted upon blood contact.

  A henchman vomited bronze fragments. Feng bagged one etched with "樽" (ritual vessel).

  The deity's face morphed—amalgamating their features, mouth stretching ear-to-ear: "The hour..."

  Lao Wu's Luoyang shovel shattered the knee. Cracks spiderwebbed the idol, oozing yellow pus.

  Feng's phone buzzed—a blurry photo: Republic-era basement shelves filled with "Zhang"-marked bronzeware. Something rat-tailed lurked in shadows.