Chapter 177: Like Walking Corpses

Older sister, eat the candy.

Xin'er's voice sounded again, instantly pulling my confused thoughts back.

When my gaze fell on Xin'er, I saw Xin'er tearing up.

She held the candy in both hands, and a stream of blood tears flowed from her eyes.

Blood also seeped from the cracks in her skin.

Older sister, eat the candy.

Older sister, quickly eat the candy.

……

She stood there the whole time, shedding blood tears, earnestly urging me to eat the candy.

Over and over, like a wind-up mechanical porcelain doll.

These strange scenes made my original determination to investigate the Qilin Temple waver at this moment.

The hidden mysteries in the Qilin Temple are probably far more perilous than I had anticipated.

Older sister, eat the candy……

In Xin'er's pleading voice once again, I stepped back and drew the bowstring taut again.

This time I didn't nock a copper coin; instead, at the instant the bow was fully drawn, I suddenly aimed the long bow at the sky and released my grip.

A mass of flame burst through the white smoke, unstoppably shooting toward the sky.

Feng Wu's flame can burn away yin and evil qi.

But after it shot out, I realized something was wrong.

The sky, changed.

Originally a hazy white sky, it suddenly turned black.

It wasn't the darkness of clouds pressing down, because the area around me was still bright; it felt as if someone had drawn a black curtain across the sky above my head.

Feng Wu's flame shot into the sky, exploding into a splendid spark beneath the black curtain, but was instantly swallowed by the curtain.

What's going on?

Older sister, eat the candy, please, eat the candy.

Tong Tong, save your little brother; a drop of blood, as long as you give him a drop, he can live.

Give me a drop of blood; one drop is enough.

……

When the black curtain appeared, Xin'er seemed to break down a little, her voice suddenly rising, somewhat hysterical.

And the villagers began to anxiously crawl toward me on their knees, surrounding me.

My grandma was closest to me; she stretched out her hand with a broken middle finger, grabbed my leg, her nails digging deep into my flesh, her mouth opening and closing, constantly begging me for a drop of blood.

Incense ash filled the air, white smoke drifting about.

I felt somewhat unable to catch my breath, yet my mind was unprecedentedly clear—these people had long been dead!

Including Xin'er.

They are now puppets on strings, secretly manipulated by someone.

I could not give blood to anyone, nor could I eat Xin'er's candy.

Once I start, this crowd could tear me apart and devour me alive.

The black curtain pressed down inch by inch; the light didn't dim, but it grew increasingly oppressive.

Tong Tong, give grandma a drop of blood; as long as I have one drop I can live on, afterwards I'll be your ox and horse, love you well, and make up for all the affection I've owed you these years, okay?

Moreover… moreover, give your little brother a drop of blood; he's still young, he is the root of our Jiang family, the root cannot be cut.

Also… also give your dad a drop; he is the main beam of the household……

My grandma, as if counting treasures, arranged every drop of blood flowing in my body.

Every drop of blood has its use, except that it shouldn't stay in my body.

I suddenly sneered, twitching the corner of my mouth: 'Kill me, then you can hug me and suck as much as you want—see if that works.'

My grandma, who had been mechanically chattering on, suddenly glitched.

I gave her no chance to react, aiming the long bow at her forehead.

Draw the bow fully, release.

The bowstring twanged powerfully, a flame instantly sinking into my grandma's brow.

The incense ash met the flame and lit up instantly, no fire, just a reddish gloom.

My grandma's eyes widened instantly, full of disbelief.

She could not believe that the granddaughter she could once pinch and shape at will would now abandon her to die, even strike her down.

I too had never imagined killing anyone, and up to this moment I was certain that these people… were no longer human.

They were like walking corpses.

Beneath my grandma's skin, from the brow outward, the reddish gloom gradually seeped through, her whole body resembling a red lantern made of human skin that had been lit.

Just moments ago, the villagers who had surrounded her, wanting a drop of blood from me, now each retreated in shock, fearing I would draw the bow again and set them ablaze.

I seized the opportunity, picking up the long bow and striding down the mountain.

Tong Tong, older sister……older sister……candy……

Xin'er's voice kept coming from behind me; I didn't turn back, my steps growing faster and faster.

I don't know why; though I was clearly going down the mountain, clearly getting farther from the Qilin Temple, my unease only grew.

Perhaps it was because the black curtain above my head was pressing lower and lower.

Or perhaps because the mountain path beneath my feet seemed endless.

I felt my pocket, pulled out a yellow talisman, and before I could chant, the talisman burst into flames with a bang, instantly turning to ash.

I was stunned, took out another, and it too burned up instantly.

What heavy yin energy!

I looked around, not understanding where this strong yin energy came from.

I looked up at the sky, the dark canopy already close above my head.

And at that very moment, I saw light like electricity streaming through the dark canopy, spreading like a spiderweb in all directions.

I furrowed my brows; this scene felt familiar.

I remembered that on the Pearl Plate River, when the black coffin appeared, the sky above had looked just like this!

Heaven's punishment?

Those two words flashed through my mind, yet I could not shake them away.

Isn't it said that the Kirin Divine Lord protects Tafengcun?

Where then does this heavenly punishment come from?

I steadied my mind and continued forward.

But before I had gone far, two people suddenly appeared on the mountain path ahead.

Two children knelt on the ground, heads bowed, revealing the backs of their necks.

One boy, one girl, a pair of dragon-phoenix twins.

The boy was named Song Xunian, the girl Song Mingxuan.

I jerked back two steps, my temples throbbing.

How could it be them?!

This pair of dragon-phoenix twins were the ones the Song family had sacrificed to Wangting Mountain back then.

Later, in Tafengcun, another pair of dragon-phoenix twins appeared, with exactly the same names.

This was also the spark that first made me doubt the Kirin's child-bestowing!

No, this road is problematic.

I instinctively turned around, wanting to find another mountain path to go down.

But as soon as I turned my head, I saw a child kneeling not far behind me.

In the same eerie posture.

Immediately after, I turned in another direction…

After repeatedly changing directions, I finally discovered that on every side around me, one or two such children had appeared, encircling me in their eerie sacrificial posture.

They did not know when they had appeared.

But I had a vague suspicion that their appearance was aimed at me, and the directions they knelt in likely formed some kind of formation array.

They used this formation array to trap me.

And within this formation array, the yin energy was extremely heavy.

What's worse, I saw my grandmother's name on the back of a girl's neck…