Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 5: Avoid Breaking Taboos

When Fang Xiu returned to the courtyard, he was speechless.

In the courtyard, there were seven people. Except for him and the woman who hadn’t summoned a ghost, everyone else had two shadows. Their fierce ghosts had all possessed them, hiding within their shadows. 

Bai Shuangying followed behind Fang Xiu, his bright white figure particularly eye-catching. As a supposed (fake) seductive ghost, his presence was astonishing, causing someone to gasp in surprise.

Fang Xiu hadn’t intended to draw attention, but he ended up making a big scene. He reflected for two seconds, thinking it was due to his mindset—

Last night’s illusion was indeed exaggerated, with grand scenes and big productions, but at its core, it was just an escape room challenge. The ghost hands were quite intimidating, but Bai Shuangying essentially only tried to strangle him, which was quite straightforward and unremarkable. 

So, when Bai Shuangying said he wasn’t strong, Fang Xiu believed him without a doubt.

For the others, their fierce ghosts might be some sort of trump card, and there were certainly those who didn’t want to show theirs. But Fang Xiu didn’t expect that everyone was hiding theirs, leaving him as the only one exposed when the tide receded. 

What a decline in morals!

Bai Shuangying also sensed that something was off and glanced at Fang Xiu.

Fang Xiu whispered to him, “When you possess someone like this, does it mean you can’t move around freely?”

“Yeah.”

“Then forget it, go ahead and play.” Fang Xiu shook his head. “You can possess me if you feel like it.”

There was no need to restrict a child just for the sake of appearances. A lack of space to move around was detrimental to both mental and physical health.

Bai Shuangying paused, his face slightly wrinkled, as if a cat had been kicked by a mouse.

Seeing him hesitate, Fang Xiu gently asked, “What’s wrong? Do you want to possess me?”

His tone was so softened it sounded almost affectionate.

“No.” Bai Shuangying slowly turned his head away.

Bai Shuangying seemed a bit upset. 

Of course, even during the lot-drawing phase, Bai Shuangying’s attitude had been extremely resistant. Fang Xiu understood; being weak and still pushed to do something was bound to be frustrating. 

If something were to happen, Fang Xiu would just have to protect Bai Shuangying more. After all, he only had this one ghost and couldn’t afford to lose him easily.

Bai Shuangying indeed felt a bit upset. 

Because of that word “mediocre”, this person seemed to have developed some very disrespectful misunderstandings about him. 

He wanted to keep a low profile, and Fang Xiu didn’t need his help, so he should have been content. But why did it feel so…off?

One human and one ghost each had their own thoughts as they continued moving forward.

……

Participating in the sacrifice was quite simple. 

People just had to step onto the stairs in the middle of the courtyard, climbing from the first floor to the second, shrouded in darkness. Beyond the darkness, the second-floor corridor looked like a dirt road in a rural area, ending at a rotting wooden door. 

Outside the door was a large expanse of muddy ground, and it was pouring rain. The damp air rushed against them, mixed with the pungent smell of earth.

Fang Xiu, busy whispering with Bai Shuangying, was the last to enter. As soon as he crossed the door, it disappeared, leaving only a dirt wall behind them.

And just like that, the sacrifice began. Fang Xiu touched the dirt wall and looked around.

Summer hadn’t ended yet. The rain was slightly warm, sticking to them with a muggy, smothering feeling. 

The area in front of them was sparsely covered with weeds, possibly an abandoned drying field for grains. It was right next to a village, but there wasn’t a person in sight. The distant scenery was swallowed up by the rain, obscuring everything.

Fang Xiu: “Huh?” 

The situation wasn’t what he had expected.

When they arrived, there were already quite a few people standing in the field—

Four were huddled in the center of the open space, led by a tall, sturdy man. 

About a dozen meters away from this group stood two people with serious expressions. They were covered in strange, magical artifacts, looking like experienced veterans. 

There was also a man with a crazed look, dressed in rags. He was squatting alone in a corner, digging in the mud with his hands, muttering to himself as if he had already gone mad.

So many people, Fang Xiu thought to himself in amazement.

On second thought, it wasn’t surprising. 

The Disaster Relief Tower was a tower, so it couldn’t have just been their little courtyard on that floor. The entire tower could have thousands of sacrificial offerings, all separated by different levels. 

What interested him more was that all these people had only one shadow. It seemed fierce ghosts weren’t standard, and the “defensive measures” for different groups weren’t necessarily the same.

These people were also observing them. While everyone scrutinized each other for a while, there was no sign of the rain letting up.

Jia Xu turned around and broke the silence first. “Let’s find a place to take shelter from the rain.”

His voice was neither loud nor soft, but his tone was more of a command than a suggestion. With these words, he essentially declared himself the leader to the others.

Next to Fang Xiu, the gloomy teenager let out a forceful “hmph” but didn’t say anything. 

Instead, the young man with dyed yellow hair spoke up in opposition, pointing into the distance, “This place seems pretty normal. We should go explore. Maybe we’ll run into someone.”

“Better not.” 

The pair of experienced veterans responded. One was a man and the other a woman. It was the man who spoke. “If you go too far, there are ghosts everywhere that will tear you apart.”

The yellow-haired young man snorted dismissively. He deliberately shifted his body, and the two shadows at his feet moved along with him.

“Let’s find a place to take shelter from the rain first. We can figure it out once the rain stops.”   Jia Xu’s tone hardened a bit, then he turned to the two veterans. “How should we address you?”

“Lao* Mian. She’s called Mai Zi, my wife,” the man said, clearly using fake names. “Is this your first time? I can see all eight of you are here.”

*Old (老). When used as a form of address, it signifies respect, familiarity, or endearment generally used for someone who is older.

Fang Xiu raised an eyebrow. Lao Mian clearly counted Bai Shuangying as a person.

Jia Xu didn’t correct him. “What’s the significance of all eight people being here?”

Lao Mian smiled. “Someone always dies in the first sacrifice. See, only the two of us are left in our group, and this is just our fourth time. We haven’t even made it halfway.”

“The sun is about to set. It’s not safe to wander around at night. Let’s find a place to stay for the night,” Mai Zi added.

Fang Xiu looked up at the sky. It was hard to judge the time on a rainy day, but the sky was indeed getting darker. They had just finished breakfast, so the timing didn’t add up at all. 

Everyone had been busy interviewing with their ghosts last night, basically pulling an all-nighter, so it was a good chance to get some rest.

“Shouldn’t we call the others?” The middle-aged woman pointed to the distance.

Fang Xiu had noticed during breakfast that the middle-aged woman was named Cheng Songyun. Earlier, she had summoned a vengeful ghost that covered its face with long sleeves. 

Cheng Songyun was the type to have an overflow of kindness. Thankfully, she was receptive to advice. It was unclear whether it was because she was quick-witted or simply indecisive. 

People like her could be quite useful at times, like right now.

Yeah, why not call the others?  

Never mind the lunatic; the group of four didn’t look like newbies and could be of help.

Lao Mian and Mai Zi exchanged a complicated glance. 

After a while, Lao Mian approached Jia Xu. “See the leader of that group over there? Doesn’t he have a lot of jade Buddha pendants around his neck?”

“We’ve heard about those jade Buddhas. Each one is worth three lives. He took his teammates’ jade Buddhas so he’s not someone you can lightly deal with…”

Fang Xiu glanced over with his peripheral vision. Around the neck of the tall, sturdy man hung five or six jade Buddha pendants, the red cords of the necklaces standing out. 

Everyone’s “defensive measures” were indeed different. The jade Buddhas were identical in style, probably issued by the underworld. Since the man was openly wearing several of them, it seemed that taking them from others still counted.

The man was covered in muscles and had so many jade Buddhas that it made him harder to kill than a demon cat with nine lives. Fang Xiu couldn’t help but take a few more looks.

Of course, he wasn’t sure if Lao Mian and Mai Zi were telling the truth. 

After all, the two veterans had plenty of magical artifacts themselves, likely picked up from others.

“…We don’t have enough manpower. We need trustworthy people. It’s your first sacrifice, and you need our experience. Let’s work together fairly,” Lao Mian continued sincerely. “You all have two shadows, so you must have items like spells that can’t be taken away. No need to worry about us killing for loot.” 

What he said was reasonable, making it hard to refuse.

Half an hour later. 

With the two veterans leading, the group found shelter in an empty house at the edge of the village. 

Inside the house, there were only a few bundles of firewood, suggesting it was a spare storage room. The windows were covered with newspaper, and the ground was unpaved, exposing dirty mud.

The rainy day made the air hot and humid, with a damp, moldy smell. Nine people crowded into the narrow space, making it almost unbearably uncomfortable.

Instinctively, Fang Xiu stayed close to Bai Shuangying. The ghost was cool to the touch, which was quite pleasant. Bai Shuangying remained motionless, stiff like a corpse.

“‘E has a lot of yin energy around it, attracting evil spirits. It’s best to investigate during the day and defend at night,” Mai Zi explained kindly before anyone could complain. “When choosing a place to spend the night, make sure to pick one with little connection to karma. It’s less likely to break any taboos.”

“Taboos?” Fang Xiu asked curiously.

Mai Zi gave a wry smile. “Yes, avoid breaking taboos or you could die in a confusing way.”

“The paper figure only said that ‘E’ is a source of yin energy pollution…but actually, ‘E’ does more than just release yin energy. It carries its own taboos.”

The term “taboo” was too vague, leaving everyone puzzled.

“For example, during our first sacrifice, the ‘E’ was a butcher’s knife. It was used as a murder weapon and hidden in an ancestral tomb by the killer,” Mai Zi recalled with a grim expression. “The taboos of that ‘E’, let me think, were ‘don’t stay indoors alone’ and ‘don’t respond to any invitations’…breaking a taboo would definitely bring trouble.” 

“It’s not too bad to face some trouble, but some taboos are deadly, like ‘don’t get injured and bleed’. If someone starts bleeding, the wound will keep opening until all their blood is drained.”

“That’s easy. Just be careful,” Blondie scoffed.

“Easy? There are no hints about the taboos. We have to figure them out ourselves,” Mai Zi said, enunciating each word.

“In short, the sacrifice involves three steps: identify the taboo of the ‘E’, understand the karma associated with it, and finally find the ‘E’ itself.”

Fang Xiu silently took note.

It seemed that the taboos of an “E” weren’t randomly generated but were subtly linked to its origin. 

So as long as they figured out the taboos, they could use them as clues to locate the “E”.

A few steps away, Cheng Songyun opened and closed her mouth several times before finally asking, “Miss, do you know what’s happening outside? Are we considered missing? What about our families…?”

Mai Zi’s expression softened slightly. “No need to worry about that. After the first sacrifice, the paper figure will explain… It’s getting dark. Let’s leave it for today.” 

Cheng Songyun seemed to want to ask more but, seeing this, could only close her mouth in disappointment.

Lao Mian waved the copper coin sword in his hand and walked over to Mai Zi. “Don’t rush. It’s only the first day. We can talk more tomorrow during the day.” 

“We’ll keep watch tonight. If you don’t trust us, feel free to have someone keep watch with us—”

“We trust you,” Jia Xu said generously.

It has nothing to do with trust. It was the confidence his ghost gave him, Fang Xiu thought. Ghosts didn’t need to sleep and could secretly keep an eye on things.

The group prepared to spend the night. 

Fang Xiu picked a corner far from the windows and pulled over a bundle of firewood to use as a backrest, making sure to leave space beside him for Bai Shuangying. As Bai Shuangying settled next to him, Fang Xiu naturally gathered his long hair to keep it from touching the dirt.

“I’ll keep watch for you,” Bai Shuangying offered. 

No, he wouldn’t. He planned to take this chance to go out for a walk, eat a ghost or two, and clear his head. As long as Fang Xiu didn’t die, it would be fine.

“No need. Just pretend you’re human,” 

Fang Xiu took the opportunity to put an arm around Bai Shuangying’s shoulder, holding him tightly like a mother hen protecting her chicks. “Let’s rest together. I’m a light sleeper.”

Bai Shuangying: “……”

He wasn’t particularly happy, remembering that time they had “interlocked fingers”.

This time was similar; Fang Xiu’s fingers were practically digging into his flesh. Bai Shuangying gave the arm a sidelong glance but ultimately didn’t pull away.

After settling his ghost, Fang Xiu yawned. 

He heard Lao Mian and Mai Zi whispering to each other, with Lao Mian repeatedly urging Mai Zi to be careful, showing a strong bond between the couple.

Before falling asleep, Fang Xiu drowsily thought about gathering some information from the couple tomorrow and probing their character. 

However, when he opened his eyes again, all those plans were dashed.

The next day, they found the bodies of Lao Mian and Mai Zi. 

Their deaths were extremely tragic, and they died silently. 

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The author has something to say:

The novice guide was tragically skipped! 

Bai Shuangying: My strength is “mediocre” (compared to my unrestrained self). 

Fang Xiu: “Mediocre strength” = “lack of strength” = very weak, got it. 

Bai Shuangying: ? 

Bai Shuangying: Don’t believe or spread rumors.

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