Chapter 251: Infinite Flow: Saving the Crazy Beautiful Person 10

In the village, the power cutting off at night seemed to be some kind of tradition; every household had candles for lighting at night, but the spirit hall was inherently eerie—after lighting three large white candles, the flames flickered, making it even more grim.

Jin Chen ignored Hexian's frustrated stomping behind him, took Nanyu's hand, and stepped into the spirit hall first.

The coffin lay there unharmed; the middle-aged man's blood had been completely drained, his body collapsed, eyes wide open, bloodshot, as if he died without peace.

Meanwhile, the paper figures grew more vivid in color, especially their almond‑shaped eyes, which looked lifelike, as if they would smile any second.

Jin Chen noticed that, ever since the two of them entered, no matter how they moved, the tiny pupils that suddenly appeared on the paper figures always followed their movements, fixedly staring.

"Jin Chen, look here."

Nanyu had somehow slipped behind the coffin and was squatting there, where a few bricks that had been used to prop up the coffin legs lay in disarray, so the coffin now rested directly on the ground.

He picked up two bricks and said, "Someone moved the coffin—this could cause a corpse to rise."

Jin Chen approached and examined the coffin's material; the fir coffin with its yin‑yang head was of normal construction, except that the tightly fitted mortise‑and‑tenon strips at the bottom had been pulled out.

He hadn't forgotten that this village valued spiritual essence; after death they were not buried but hung coffins in the mountains, so from placing the body in the coffin to raising it, the coffin must never touch the ground throughout the process.

"This person… seems to have been smothered to death inside the coffin."

Nanyu added, pulling Jin Chen down to squat beside him, and pointed to the two sides of the corpse inside the coffin.

Fingerprints—chaotic, urgent bloody fingerprints—seemed to show the owner's desire to escape, yet they could not budge the coffin lid, a despair.

Jin Chen thought: "Looking at his relatives' recent behavior and attitude, it doesn't seem like they could have smothered him to death in the coffin."

Unless everyone in this village has extraordinary acting skills.

"Maybe they aren't human."

Nanyu tossed the bricks aside, clapped his hands, rested his chin on his palms, tilted his head at Jin Chen, made a ghostly face, and said, "Like a ghost."

Amused by his playful look, Jin Chen rubbed his head; Nanyu didn't resist, leaned into the rub, and smiled with his eyes crinkling.

Suddenly, the two felt a fixed stare as they locked eyes.

They quickly rose and turned around to see the three brightly colored paper children, who had somehow moved behind them, their mouths' smiles widening a bit, hands making a choking gesture.

But when they looked, the figures stopped moving.

"Oh, trying a sneak attack."

Nanyu narrowed his eyes and picked up a candle from the wall.

Outside the spirit hall, the onlookers saw Nanyu pick up a candle and approach; the paper figures' bodies instantly ignited, flames spreading.

But just then, a mist drifted from the burning paper figures, enveloping the entire spirit hall.

When the mist cleared, only ashes of the paper figures remained.

Jin Chen and Nanyu had vanished.

Zhaoling and the others jumped up in shock, eyes wide.

"No, no… they're gone!"

Baiyi stammered even more from fright.

"Could they have… done something they shouldn't and already died?" Hexian asked tentatively.

Zhaoling shook his head. "Maybe they triggered a side quest—Nanyu wouldn't die so easily."

That answer was easier for them to accept; Baiyi nodded, patted his chest, sat down again, and said, "I… think so too!"

Hexian bit his lip, his gaze toward the spirit hall ambiguous.

Zhoucheng frowned. "We'll wait for their shift change; if they still don't return, we'll send another group in."

Everyone nodded, eyes fixed on the spirit hall.

Following their gaze, the paper ashes were blown away by the wind, dissipating with the night mist into darkness.

In fact, Jin Chen and Nanyu had indeed triggered another scene.

But what they saw seemed different.

When the mist cleared, Jin Chen found himself on a small road opposite the wine shop; across from him stood a building he had never seen before, antique in style, looking aged.

He looked around; the vast village seemed to have only him left, Nanyu nowhere nearby, the surroundings filled with gloomy mist, so he could only go inward.

"Spirits open! White silk rise!"

Suddenly a man's voice shouted.

Jin Chen felt like an outsider, as if he were in a dream—no one could see him, yet he could clearly see the scene before him.

In the building's courtyard, countless white silk ribbons floated up; dozens of women in strange attire, barefoot, with disheveled hair, slowly pulled down the hanging white silk, slipped their heads into it, looking mournful and desperate.

On either side of the inner courtyard flickered white candles, along with the usual sacrificial three animals and incense.

"Three animals sacrificed, the offering woman falls!"

Another male voice shouted.

Three burly men walked in from outside, each wielding a large knife, dressed similarly in strange attire, yet their fate differed greatly from the women's.

The leading man gazed afar at one of the women.

From Jin Chen's perspective, he could clearly see the woman pleading for help to the man; though she could not speak, her tears never ceased.

The man turned his face away, as if seeing nothing, and together with the two others raised his knife high, chopping down at the heads of the three live animals.

At the same time, the white silk was pulled up, the women's throats were constricted, they were lifted into the air, unable to resist.

After an unknown period, one of the white silk ribbons snapped, dropping a woman who fell onto the ground covered in talismans.

The others rushed in, lifted the woman, and shouted that the deity had manifested, lowering a spirit maiden for the Wushan tribe.

Jin Chen carefully examined the woman's face, which gradually matched the wrinkled face of the old woman from the wine shop.

And the leading man who wielded the knife, whose face was that of Awa Lao Si from the coffin.

The woman gazing afar from him, like the others, was hanged alive on the white silk.

Yet the others seemed indifferent, or perhaps already accustomed, as they gathered around the young old woman and left.

The illusion ended here; mist once again shrouded the inner courtyard, and in the haze Jin Chen seemed to see those women still struggling, until everything fell into silence.

His vision gradually darkened, he realized the scene was about to change, and his heart felt somewhat heavy.

Using a living person as sacrifice, it is Distorted and cruel.

「Jin Chen……」

Nanyu's call came from beside his ear, seeming far yet near, as if veiled by mist, yet he could hear the urgency and helplessness in his tone.

Jin Chen opened his eyes again, the mist cleared, and before him was a new scene: Nanyu curled up in the corner, eyes red with tears, a crimson short dagger fallen to the ground, and his arm was sliced open again.

「Nanyu！」

Jin Chen hurried to his side, pulled him into his embrace, tore off cloth to bind the still-bleeding wound, without hesitation, using Spiritual Power to heal him.

This wound was still self-inflicted, but he faintly felt that perhaps Nanyu could not control it.

「Jin Chen……」

Nanyu sensed his approach, his phoenix eyes slightly opened, he curled into his embrace, utterly obedient, "You…"

Before he could finish speaking, the next second his expression changed abruptly.