The coffin exploded. Feng grabbed the Annals—no seven corpses, just a mold-furred cadaver.

  Its claw jammed the coffin seam, fungal tendrils consuming the wood. Feng retreated over scattered rice, spotting bronze glint in the idol's base—a key engraved "戊戌亥时" (Wu-Xu-Hai period).

  "Lao Wu! Under the idol!" His shout echoed. Tactical light revealed the key lodged in the deity's navel, blade smeared with yellow grease.

  As Erzhu reached, the mold corpse convulsed. Black mist formed an inverted Bagua overhead. Feng's camera flashed—the "Kan" position aligned with Erzhu's brow.

  "Don't touch it!" The Annals flipped to page 127: "Sha requires counterfeit lives..."

  Lao Wu collapsed, veins pulsating—patterns mirroring the key's engravings.

  Feng's temple throbbed. He threw grave soil—particles forming broken birth characters. Sacrificial rules, live-burial records, key orientation—pieces snapped together.

  "It's not matching births!" Feng's nails drew blood. "The key alters contactees' fate!"

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  UV light exposed sigils under Lao Wu's veins—"Grafting Sigil" from Annals page 79.

  "Erzhu! Hair!" Feng kicked the advancing corpse, producing a straw effigy.

  "Wh-where from?"

  "Roots!"

  As Erzhu screamed, Feng wrapped follicle-rich hair around the effigy. Grave soil and Lao Wu's blood painted an inverted Bagua. Seven flashes branded "庚子年卯时" (1900, 5-7 AM) on its back.

  The Bagua froze. Feng slapped the effigy onto the idol—the key ejected. The mold corpse shrieked, tendrils retreating.

  "Now!" Feng's pick hooked the key toward Lao Wu. "Eye socket!"

  Lao Wu caught it mid-roll, stabbing the idol's right eye. Creaking fissures oozed black fluid—solidifying into a shriveled child's face.

  "Wu-Xu-Hai..." It grinned toothlessly. "Need seven..."

  Feng realized the ledger's blank—the Zhangs never found the seventh sacrifice, using the key to forge victims!

  The coffin detonated. Mold tendrils lunged—corpse missing three left fingers.

  Annals page 79's bloodstained illustration surfaced: "Severed fingers feed sha, evading heaven's wrath"

  "Erzhu! Prybar!" Lao Wu's scream cracked. The corpse avoided a fan-shaped zone.

  Feng dodged, snapping the idol's eye socket. Inscriptions read: "Mirror reverses souls." He recalled the buried bronze mirror.

  "Lao Wu! Right eye!" Feng threw his amulet.

  Too late—mold claws pierced Erzhu's chest. Blood mist coated the idol as it cackled in an elder's voice: "Seventh!"

  The Annals flipped to its end—a family photo emerged. The patriarch's wrist bore the bronze key.