Chapter 418: The Unusual in the Mist

After Wu Xian left.

Gong Gong Xiujuan, the madwoman, and Zhao Zhao Zixuan.

Huddled around the bonfire for warmth.

The palace lanterns flickered intermittently, and the bonfire, far brighter than torches, burned continuously, making this large cavern vastly safer than the complex, rugged tunnels outside.

But that didn't mean staying in the large cavern was completely safe.

Some minor malevolences always lingered around the cavern, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Brain worms, intestinal worms, wind-roll corpses, running heads… all sorts of sinister things kept those guarding the cavern in a state of constant tension.

But since Wu Xian had left, the large cavern had been unusually quiet—those minor monsters merely circled nearby, never once attempting to approach.

This greatly eased Gong Gong Xiujuan's nerves.

Before leaving the cavern to explore, Wu Xian had told her about the other version of herself; she should have been terrified and repulsed, but in this underground labyrinth, she instead felt it was a good thing to have a malevolence inside her.

Thus, she accepted the existence of her other self without much effort.

Then she looked at Huang Huang Debiao's charred corpse.

Wu Xian had told them that malevolences could also be allies; perhaps the current safety of the large cavern was due to the Yin Mansion Elder's efforts—those minor malevolences were deterred by her presence, allowing them to enjoy peace.

The black-and-white photograph inside the corpse looked eerie, but Gong Gong Xiujuan found it familiar.

When she was a child, Gong Gong Xiujuan had been raised by her grandmother, and since funeral portraits all shared similar makeup, in her eyes, the Yin Mansion Elder resembled her own deceased grandmother closely.

"Thank you for your help!"

Gong Gong Xiujuan bowed sincerely to the Yin Mansion Elder.

The elderly woman in the black-and-white portrait nodded slightly, her face breaking into a kind smile—completely different from her demeanor toward Wu Xian.

Gong Gong Xiujuan sat back down and began working on handicrafts with the other two.

They didn't go out to explore, but they had to help Wu Xian prepare the items needed for his expeditions; they couldn't leave everything to him to do alone.

As they worked, the three noticed that a faint mist had somehow formed inside the large cavern.

The mist wasn't thick, but it dimmed the firelight, weakening its suppression of the surrounding tunnels; strange sounds rose and fell, making all three's hearts leap to their throats.

Rustle, rustle…

Out of the thick fog, a procession suddenly appeared.

There were seven or eight white-robed figures, each tall and gaunt, standing at least two and a half meters high; they danced in eerie motions, waving strange objects that emitted a rustling sound.

The white-robed figures moved slowly, yet they imposed immense psychological pressure.

When they drew close enough, Zhao Zhao Zixuan couldn't help but scream—he had the best eyesight and was the first to see what the white-robed figures held.

It was a sharp, two-pronged fork, each prong threaded with dried human limbs; as they swung the forks, the limbs clattered together, producing the rustling sound.

The three were instantly trapped.

These white-robed figures were clearly no good; the three of them stood no chance against these monsters, and the prepared torches were all on the other side—if they tried to flee the cavern, they'd have to plunge into darkness, which was just another death sentence! "Come out, please, come out!"

Gong Gong Xiujuan whispered a plea, trying to summon the Red-Lipped Female Malevolence to resolve the crisis.

Her face turned pale, and crimson high-heeled shoes appeared on her feet.

"Come this way!"

At that moment, the three in despair heard a frail, aged voice.

Gong Gong Xiujuan's transformation halted; they turned urgently toward the voice's source.

Huang Huang Debiao's charred corpse had suddenly grown several times larger, its side flanked by a charred door; the Yin Mansion Elder stood inside, waving frantically. "Hurry over! These are Wuchang ghosts—they hunt unclaimed souls. If you hide in my Yin Mansion, they won't touch you!"

The three were overjoyed.

With no other options left, they each scrambled through the charred door.

The Yin Mansion Elder watched the dancing Wuchang ghosts for a moment, then slowly closed the charred door.

…

While waiting for the corpse to burn.

Fu Liang Jian'an recounted his experience in detail once more.

He was calmer now and had more time, so he added many more details than last time.

The glowing marble girl ghost was only one part of the horror in the Hanging Corpses Forest; this time, he added details about how he'd been repeatedly lured off-course by the sound of marbles during his exploration of the labyrinth.

Wu Xian questioned him carefully, drawing out details Fu Liang Jian'an himself hadn't noticed.

In the end, Wu Xian concluded that Fu Liang Jian'an had survived the labyrinth solely thanks to the marble girl's help—whenever he stepped into a dead end, she used the sound of marbles to guide him away from danger…

Perhaps the girl also had the ability to soothe malevolences.

"The sound of marbles… guiding people to safety…"

Suddenly, Wu Xian's eyes widened.

"Wait—this description sounds exactly like the marble sound in Huang Huang Debiao's story!"

"Huang Huang Debiao was tricked by the Yin Mansion contract precisely because the marble sound woke him up, making him realize his home was full of ghosts—but even in that dire situation, he still blindly fled his house…"

"Both the Yin Mansion Elder and the marble girl appeared—this one story summoned two malevolences!"

"Are both of them targets of the labyrinth, or is one merely an accidental byproduct summoned along with the other…?"

Wu Xian had always found it strange that Huang Huang Debiao had survived.

He spent midnight in the same room as three malevolences, exposed their disguises, yet still lived—impossible for an ordinary person under such conditions.

But after learning that Xiong Gang had been purified, Wu Xian had thought perhaps the Yin Mansion Elder wasn't evil—that Huang Huang Debiao had simply frightened himself.

But now it seemed…

The Yin Mansion Elder had clearly intended to harm Huang Huang Debiao; she was protected only by the marble sound, and her bizarre act of turning his corpse into her Yin Mansion…

"The contract!"

Wu Xian's eyes lit up.

Once he began suspecting the Yin Mansion Elder, he immediately noticed the inconsistencies in her behavior.

Huang Huang Debiao had been too terrified to read the purchase contract carefully; Wu Xian had assumed its terms were that the Yin Mansion Elder wanted to buy Huang Huang Debiao's house as her Yin Mansion.

But now he realized—this made no sense.

If the Yin Mansion Elder cared about the contract, then her Yin Mansion should have been Huang Huang Debiao's house alone—she shouldn't have transformed his corpse into her Yin Mansion.

If she didn't care about the contract, then she had no reason to chase him to sign and seal it—he'd already left his home; she could've just taken possession of the property outright.

Unless…

The contract's terms weren't about buying a house as a Yin Mansion.

From the very beginning, the contract's purpose was to use Huang Huang Debiao's body as the Yin Mansion!

(End of Chapter)