Chapter 460: Lighting the Human Candle

That person wore a monk's robe, draped with a kasaya, broad-backed, his whole head covered in golden copper coins……it was a Copper Coin Person!

This Copper Coin Person looked exactly like the Copper Coin Person on the main deity's altar in the god shrine when the west room was just opened.

But it was obvious that this one before us was alive.

We could not only hear his chanting, but also feel the vast internal power emanating from his whole body; even the mysterious cat loved to lie on his shoulders, half‑closed eyes receiving the influence of the Buddhist sutras.

Bái Sōnglán turned her head and went out.

At this moment I finally understood Bái Sōnglán's feelings.

Seeing him, she felt as if she were seeing the evil monk from back then, right?

But she also understood that while an evil monk could approach, the Manifestation Buddha infused with the soul of a Reincarnated Spirit Child must not harbor even the slightest irreverent thought.

Late summer night, after the storm had passed, a cool breeze blew gently.

I and Bái Sōnglán sat in the courtyard, the two of us staring blankly at the pitch‑black sky.

I asked: "Can you let it go?"

"I let it go long ago." Bái Sōnglán said, "It was merely my one‑sided wish; he has his mission, I have my future—seeing him well puts my heart at ease."

There is only one Manifestation Buddha, and the Copper Coin Person will eventually be stored away as well.

And Bái Sōnglán will stay in Wufu Town, or perhaps go to Jiǔyàn qū.

In the end, they are no longer on the same path.

Fortunately, they both have excellent prospects ahead.

"He probably won't stay long at the pawn shop." I told the truth, "Once Āyàn starts his journey across the world, he'll likely leave; whether he'll ever return to the pawn shop after that is unknown."

Bái Sōnglán nodded: "Mm, that's pretty good."

For a moment I didn't know what to say to comfort her.

Everyone understands the reasoning and can say it, but deep down we still feel a bit sad, right?

After a silence, she asked me: "When will Seventh Lord begin his journey across the world?"

I then repeated Liu Junyan's whole set of explanations to her.

"It might just be a temporary departure; once we completely smash the enemy's Nine Dragon Crown Baptism Formation, he'll be able to retire with merit."

"That would be fine too."

Bái Sōnglán was low in spirits, her whole person shrouded in a sense of loss.

We chatted on and off like that until deep into the night.

After midnight I closed the pawn shop's door and went back to my room to sleep.

The Soul-guiding Lamp wasn't hung in the corridor; instead it was placed in the west room, because the lamp's cavity contains a Cinnabar Spirit Bone, and I was a little worried someone might come to steal it.

After all, Feng Xianqiu once drove a flock of crows to attack the Soul-guiding Lamp, so it's hardly surprising he might repeat the trick.

Having obtained this vertebral bone, I returned to the pawn shop; tonight a Pawn Ticket from Yin Dang Hang should appear.

Thinking that, I washed up and went to bed.

The result was that as soon as I fell asleep, nightmares came one after another.

In the dream everything was the grim scene inside Yin Dang Hang.

This bloody memory clung to me like a plaster, impossible to shake off.

I realized this might be the workings of a "weave‑dream‑into‑reality" witchcraft, strengthening this altered memory through repeated reenactments, ultimately achieving the effect of confusing the false with the true.

But this seriously affects the quality of life.

I can't possibly go through life never sleeping or staying in a daze, can I?

I just kept being startled awake by nightmares, forcing myself to sleep again, then startled awake again, sleeping again…

After tossing all night, only when dawn approached did I finally get a sound sleep, my whole listless and lethargic.

The next two days were the same.

Even with Liu Junyan beside me, sending true qi to my temples as before was of no use.

I couldn't help wondering whether the Seven Halls Yama had also experienced all that I am going through now.

What's more unsettling is not knowing whether, because I can't sleep normally, the Pawn Ticket from Yin Dang Hang has never shown up.

On the third night, as usual I closed the pawn shop door, lay down on the bed, and had just fallen into a nightmare when Liu Junyan called me awake: "Xiao Jiu, something's happened in the side room—you need to go check it out."

I was still lost in the nightmare, not having come to, but hearing that I jerked upright: "Is it… senior sister…?"

Seeing Liu Junyan nod, I didn't hesitate—I flung off the blankets, jumped out of bed, and ran toward the main courtyard.

Liu Junyan grabbed me and pulled me back, helped me put on my shoes and throw on my coat, then we went together.

Yu Nian was sleeping on Li Qingying's bed, with an extra small bed set up beside it; Li Qingying and Tang Tang were taking care of her together.

At this moment Yu Nian lay curled up on the bed, her body trembling nonstop, as if in great pain.

Yet her tongue was numb, and she could not speak.

These past days her fingers and toes have indeed grown back, but they're still not very nimble; one hand presses against her chest as she gasps heavily.

Bái Sōnglán had already come over; Yu Nian's condition prevented a deeper examination, but a superficial check revealed some clues.

"Xiao Jiu, move a little closer and sniff."

I obeyed and did as told.

With that sniff I immediately frowned: "Is that incense smell, coming from the senior sister's mouth?"

Bái Sōnglán nodded.

She pressed hard on the hand Yu Nian had against her chest; Yu Nian opened her mouth to cry out in pain, but no sound came, only her eyes flickered open.

It was just that tiny eye‑opening motion that let me clearly see: in Yu Nian's clear Buddha Eyes, it looked as if two incense sticks were lit, their tips even sparking with little embers…

This eerie sight startled everyone present.

And in my mind a flash of the Great Witch's spell notes appeared, as if they had recorded a similar witchcraft.

That kind of witchcraft is called—Point Human Candle.

The so-called Point Human Candle means, through witchcraft, treating a person like a candle and 'burning' them.

Of course, it's not actual physical burning, but through witchcraft to temper the one subjected to the spell, refining her.

This refinement refines the tendons and bones of the one subjected to the spell.

And what Yu Nian first refined was this pair of Buddha Eyes; what appeared in the Buddha Eyes was not a candle, but incense.

So, this should be... Point Buddha Incense?

What does the other party intend to refine Yu Nian into?

However, what's most important now is how I should act to stop this witchcraft from continuing, thereby preserving Yu Nian's life.

I went through all the related information recorded in the witchcraft notes in my mind.

But there is only a record, with no solution.

At this moment, I deeply realized that the Great Witch's witchcraft level, compared to the hidden black python, is utterly insignificant!

At that moment, the Xuan cat came running in, meowing, grabbed my pant leg with its mouth, and pulled me outward.

I hurriedly followed it.

The Xuan cat directly brought me to the west room, arriving before the Soul-guiding Lamp.

At this moment, on the chamber of the Soul-guiding Lamp, those several ghost faces, wailing and howling like wolves, kept rotating around the chamber.

And inside the chamber, that spinal bone emitted a bewitching red light.

I reached out to take the Soul-guiding Lamp.

Before my fingers even touched the Soul-guiding Lamp, that spinal bone flew out from the chamber and landed in my hand.

Immediately after, a pale green pawn ticket suddenly appeared before me, hovering in midair, waiting for me to open it...