Chapter 16: Clues in the Secret Room

What happened after entering the blessed land.

Made He Qiong believe he was the chosen one.

A sudden, terrifying crisis caused the two sisters to put aside their grudges and willingly stay with He Qiong; facing the threat of evil spirits, he miraculously obtained several items useful against them.

They did encounter terrifying evil spirits.

But these evil spirits were like minor enemies in a game—defeating them granted stronger power.

What moved He Qiong most was that every prayer was performed by the Su sisters, so the side effects that occasionally appeared during prayer never fell upon him, and afterward, the Su sisters would hand the items over to him.

Only someone who truly loved him would do such a thing!

Nine people shared dinner yesterday; by tonight, only six remained. Everyone knew that, aside from Fang Zhi, the two who didn’t return were almost certainly dead.

……

The statue of Tian Guan—Kui Xing Guan Lu, the Master of Fortune, offered Wu Xian three talismans to choose from: Spirit-Replenishing Method, Talisman-Crafting Method, and Dual-Activation Method.

The stairwell was pitch dark.

Time was precious; there was no room for prolonged thought. Wu Xian wrapped the Dual-Activation Method around his index finger and completed the imprint.

“The First Ghost—the Mother Who Seeks Her Child!”

After reciting it, she stood up and smiled at Yue Mei: “We’ve survived this long thanks to her. Kiss the sacred object before you—she will protect you from evil spirits.”

After walking a distance, they arrived at a room.

The Su sisters embraced and wept, tears and snot streaming down their faces.

The female ghost Yu Yinghua tried to chase after them but was blocked by a gleaming silver spear.

Wu Xian had no artifact needing spirit replenishment; the Talisman-Crafting Method theoretically had the highest upper limit, but its randomness was too great—if he drew two useless talismans, it would be disastrous.

Wu Xian had seen the Dual-Activation Method before—it doubled the number of times the next activated talisman would take effect.

The Spirit-Replenishing Method restored spirit energy to overused artifacts.

After multiple prayers, Wu Xian had begun to understand some patterns.

……

The first-floor lobby of the guesthouse.

So Wu Xian chose the Dual-Activation Method.

“Did you notice? A minor thunder talisman only injured her hand.”

A iron pot sat over a warm fire, bubbling with scallion-braised pig intestines; a group gathered around the fire, sharing tonight’s meal.

The red candle before the statue suddenly went out. Without its light, the basement plunged into darkness; only faint shadows could be seen through the door’s external glow.

He Qiong roared: “Let go of Hui Lan!”

Wu Xian glanced at the sky—there was still time. He had one last place he wanted to go.

He pulled a marble from his pocket and threw it; mid-air, it transformed into a bolt of lightning that exploded against Yu Yinghua’s hand. Su Hui Lan seized the chance to break free, dragging her sister out of the basement.

Due to the abnormal passage of time in the blessed land, they had only one meal per day; everyone was now ravenously hungry.

……

Yet no one moved to pick up their chopsticks.

“This isn’t an ordinary minor spirit—it’s likely among the strongest, second only to the great ones. That fool boy probably hasn’t realized it yet.”

Yue Mei followed the old woman, her expression tense.

In just two months since the evil spirit disaster began, people had already grown accustomed to the collapse of civilization.

Following the letter’s instructions, she sought out surviving native inhabitants of the blessed land for help. To gain their trust, she used hard-to-find medicine to stabilize the old woman’s illness, and only then did the woman agree to tell Yue Mei how to avoid the “Knocking Spirit” and the “Breaking-Door Spirit.”

Su Huijin burned the spirit incense and bowed, receiving from the statue a small straw doll that hopped over to He Qiong’s side.

The next instant, a terrified scream erupted from the basement.

“Then… let’s do it!”

Yu Yinghua’s emotions surged; she lunged forward, grabbing Su Hui Lan’s arm while reaching with her other hand to crush her head into the mud.

Yue Mei hesitated: “Who is she…?”

The old woman smiled, revealing only three teeth left in her mouth.

The smoke from the spirit incense spread thickly.

But before He Qiong could make out what it was.

The three tensed, hurried toward the door—but after just a few steps, all three turned pale.

The Master of Fortune bestowed “Talismans,” which added special enhancements to objects;

“Praise the Ghost Mother, offer me…”

Along the way, she encountered several people dressed in the same coarse hemp garments—men, women, young and old—all staring at her with strange eyes: envy, jealousy, and a naked possessiveness.

The statue depicted a woman.

The woman’s clothes were torn, her body deformed, her face saturated with unrelenting hatred and madness; at her feet lay a worn black eye patch.

“Why?!”

Mr. Wang’s house.

Yue Mei swallowed hard. Her reason told her that worshipping the Ghost Mother was extremely dangerous—but she had no other path left.

The ground was soft!

Somehow, the solid cement floor had turned into a swamp.

Splash!

A hand caked in mud reached up from the sludge!

The three watched in horror as a woman covered in mud crawled out of the cement floor—if Lu Yuzhu and Fang Zhi were still alive, they would recognize her.

He Qiong held a spear in one hand and a marble in the other, standing firm against the spirit, a confident smile on his lips—a truly imposing figure.

The old woman in hemp garments carried an oil lamp, moving slowly forward.

Wu Xian fished out a “Dual-Activation Method” from the smoke, ending the prayer.

“Even if He Qiong can defeat her, all the items we’ve painstakingly gathered will be exhausted!”

The old woman knelt before the statue and recited the prayer Yue Mei had heard before.

Under the old woman’s eerie gaze, Yue Mei lifted the black eye patch.

Yu Yinghua’s eyes were sealed shut with cement; tears washed streaks through the mud on her face as she crawled through it, speaking in a mournful tone.

“Zhiwu, is that you? I won’t betray you—why won’t you believe me?”

The woman was Yu Yinghua—the one who knocked daily at Ping’an Guesthouse!

The Master of Kui Xing Guan Lu bestowed “Methods,” which had no direct effect but could assist other prayer items;

As for the other statues, information was too scarce for Wu Xian to draw conclusions.

The room was on the top floor, spacious and empty, with no furniture. A hole in the ceiling allowed sunlight to fall directly onto a grotesque statue.

All the Tian Guan statues, after prayer, bestowed talismans.

The Su sisters, fleeing in disarray from the basement, exchanged glances—each saw terror in the other’s eyes.

These stares made Yue Mei’s unease grow.

The Talisman-Crafting Method randomly produced two talismans.

“It’s our fault—we ruined Ah Qiong.”

“It’s all our fault—we deserve to die! How can we live without Ah Qiong?!”

(End of Chapter)