Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 63: Courtyard in the Forest
The beginning of the fourth ritual was remarkably quiet.
Fang Xiu wasn’t the type to hold big or small meetings casually. He simply issued a formulaic statement, “Everyone follow orders and don’t mess around”, and wrapped up the pre-ritual briefing.
At this point, anyone with half a brain already understood the basic ritual routine.
To be honest, Fang Xiu didn’t feel responsible for “protecting everyone,” so his expectations weren’t high. As long as no one went against him, everything was negotiable.
With Jia Xu’s self-destruction as a cautionary tale, no one objected.
The paper figure Dian’er led the group to the second floor. At the moment, golden-red leaves blanketed the floor, and the entrance to the “Hall of Disaster Resolution” had turned into a familiar countryside courtyard gate.
Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying, as usual, walked at the rear of the group. Fang Xiu instinctively reached out his hand and Bai Shuangying habitually extended his wrist.
Fang Xiu hadn’t expected such cooperation. He didn’t stop in time, and his fingernails lightly scratched Bai Shuangying’s hand making his heart skip a beat.
Bai Shuangying showed no reaction. Fang Xiu took the opportunity to adjust his grip and tried to act like the handholding was perfectly natural.
Then he became unsure about how tightly to hold Bai Shuangying’s hand.
Too loose and it might slip, too tight and he might hurt the ghost. After hesitating for too long, he started worrying whether his palm would get sweaty. That would certainly be embarrassing.
Fang Xiu began questioning the romance stories he had seen. In those, the protagonists all seemed born with innate mastery of handholding, hugging, flirting; everything was timed perfectly.
In practice, he was nervously readjusting his grip every other second. Those screenwriters were all liars. Even he, a liar himself, had been duped.
…Even killing someone didn’t make his heart beat this erratically!
There was an upside, though: Fang Xiu suddenly noticed his observational skills had improved dramatically. The whole world looked like it had been given a dreamy filter, looking vibrant, crisp, and clear.
For instance, he noticed the toe of his left shoe was scuffed, and his pants were overly wrinkled. He noticed how Bai Shuangying’s hair ends were so clean they looked synthetic, and his white clothes shimmered with a faint, soft glow.
Out of the corner of his eye, Fang Xiu saw Bai Shuangying watching him intently. He turned his head to meet his ghost’s gaze directly.
Though Bai Shuangying’s sclera looked human, they lacked visible capillaries, like flawless porcelain.
Noticing the human looking at him again, Bai Shuangying blinked.
His gaze had been fixed on Fang Xiu’s lips.
Yesterday, Fang Xiu had sucked his injured fingertip, and Bai Shuangying still remembered that burning warmth and comfort.
Unfortunately, once saliva left Fang Xiu’s mouth, the vital energy quickly dispersed into yin energy. If he wanted to taste Fang Xiu’s soul essence, kissing or having sex were the most efficient methods.
But Fang Xiu didn’t agree. He’d said, “Only if you like me.”
Bai Shuangying had seen countless expressions of joy, anger, sorrow, love, and hatred, both among humans and animals. He had seen a herd of pigs run but had never tasted pork himself*.
*Clarity: It’s a colloquial way of saying you haven’t experienced it personally, but have heard about it, seen it, so you have a slight understanding of it.
…Had he ever truly liked anything?
He had existed for so long, he’d grown used to being alone, never needing to “cling” to anything external.
Yes, he had been curious about many things, but everything lost its novelty eventually. He had never liked anything, only disliked.
“Understanding Fang Xiu” was proving to be difficult, Bai Shuangying thought, but at least it wasn’t unpleasant.
Before stepping through the gateway, they both turned their heads in unison toward the direction of the “Shrine of All E’s.”
Sure enough, under the Underworld’s illusion, they couldn’t see the shrine at all.
Fang Xiu muttered a few words regretfully. If it were truly a top-secret place, the paper figure wouldn’t have shown it to them at all. Compared to some “millennia-old dark secret of the Underworld”, the shrine felt more like a “restricted factory zone” of the human world.
“If we get the chance, I’ll take you inside to see,” Fang Xiu said, squeezing Bai Shuangying’s wrist.
“Mm.”
……
As they stepped across the threshold, a crisp autumn breeze greeted them.
The morning sun illuminated a forest of golden-red trees. Birds chirped clearly, accompanied by the low drone of autumn cicadas. The air was fresh and dry. Fang Xiu instinctively took a deep breath, his lungs feeling freshly rinsed by the wind.
Before them lay a modestly sized country courtyard.
Though it was an abandoned courtyard in the forest, Fang Xiu didn’t sense anything ominous. The walls were freshly whitewashed, and the layout was clean and dignified. It was clearly once cared for meticulously.
The surrounding shrubs were a bit overgrown but artfully arranged.
The season was right. Red berries dotted the bushes, and unknown wildflowers bloomed along the fence. At a glance, Fang Xiu spotted a disused vegetable garden, a chicken coop, and a dusty air conditioner unit.
Compared to this, Weishan Village had felt steeped in cursed yin energy.
Without Jia Xu around to yap and point, the others scanned the area and then turned to look at Fang Xiu. He sighed, paused at the half-open courtyard gate, and knocked gently.
“Coming!” a voice called from inside, surprisingly warm and welcoming.
Then the wooden door creaked open, revealing a slightly nervous round face. It was a very young man in a brightly printed hoodie. His soft, pampered skin and trendy outfit didn’t match the rustic courtyard at all.
Sure enough, the young man scanned the five of them and cautiously asked, “You guys are sacrifices too?”
Fang Xiu: “…Yeah.”
Amazing. Without even being asked, this guy had blurted out, “I’m a newbie,” “I’m a sacrifice,” “I’m not cunning”…all at once.
After scrutinizing them for a moment, the youth gave an “oh” and awkwardly opened the gate wider.
Inside were already two other groups, visibly distinct in style.
One group was all young people. Exactly eight of them, looking so fresh-faced it was almost touching. Like the round-faced youth, they radiated the naïveté unique to students.
The other group consisted of only one man. He was well-groomed, with a strange aura, appearing in his forties or fifties.
His attire was plain, revealing no obvious magic weapons. He stood silently in the shadows, observing Fang Xiu. He was definitely a veteran.
A gust of wind stirred the fallen leaves. Fang Xiu’s ankle felt a chill, and he shuffled his pant leg down.
“What a big courtyard,” Guan He couldn’t help but exclaim.
Guan He followed Fang Xiu closely, but his attention was drawn to the scenery rather than the people…
The inside of the courtyard was even more refined than the outside.
It held a main house and two wings. Handwritten couplets graced the doors, bold and powerful, though the red paper had faded.
Several beautiful persimmon trees stood in the courtyard, branches heavy with fruit. An old-fashioned hand pump stood in the center and there were even scallions and chili peppers grew in the corners. Everything evoked a sense of comfort.
With the surrounding forest scenery, the place looked entirely untouched by any E.
The round-faced youth hesitated briefly, then introduced himself: “This is our first… first time participating in a ritual. If we cause any trouble, please forgive us…”
The other seven nodded anxiously.
It all felt like a lifetime ago.
When they had met Lao Mian and Mai Zi in Weishan Village, the couple had also been in their fourth ritual, while they were pure rookies. Only half a month had passed, and the roles were reversed.
Cheng Songyun and Guan He looked thoughtful. Cheng Songyun smiled and nodded at the young group, who visibly relaxed.
During their conversation, the lone man in the corner quietly slipped out of the courtyard.
Fang Xiu said, “Cheng Jie, Guan He, Mei Lan… You three set up camp here. Don’t touch anything in the rooms yet. I’ll scout around with Du Zhichao.”
Cheng Songyun and Guan He nodded steadily. Mei Lan gave her usual quiet response without any particular reaction.
Cheng Songyun kept glancing toward the new kids, so Fang Xiu added quietly, “You can tell them the basics, but keep your distance.”
He’d chosen these three because they had reliable self-defense skills. If there were any threats among the new kids, they could handle it.
As for basic information… newbies didn’t even know what taboos were. Better to warn them ahead of time than risk disaster.
With everything settled, Fang Xiu left the courtyard with Bai Shuangying and Blondie.
Blondie wore his usual ingratiating smile, eyes darting around. “Fang Ge, this place is incredible. There’s nothing’s lacking… Hey look, these wild greens are edible, and I even spotted rabbit droppings. There are wild hares here!”
Fang Xiu stepped on the soft leaves and gave two absent-minded replies.
The area was indeed well-stocked. They hadn’t gone far before seeing chestnut and apple trees laden with fruit. Mushrooms and greens were abundant, making this a far better ritual than the ones.
But he hadn’t brought Blondie along to test survival skills.
“You used to hang around Jia Xu a lot. Did he ever mention gambling?” Fang Xiu asked casually.
Blondie answered immediately, “Course he did! That guy never shut up about how good he was. Yeah right. He couldn’t play for shit!”
Fang Xiu filtered the nonsense. “He invited a lot of people to gamble at his place. You knew about that, right?”
“Yeah, but they weren’t really friends…”
According to Jia Xu’s bragging, he brought “tasteful and well-off” “high-class people” to his place. He hosted sessions himself, offering fine tobacco and liquor.
Besides the app, they also livestreamed betting sessions in a private room, betting on stones, horses, anything. It was a full-on upscale gambling den.
Jia Xu made a lot of money from this “service”, but it all became his gambling fund.
“He acted like such a big shot, but he was just a setup guy for a scam ring. Who knows what he was so proud of,” Blondie sneered.
But Fang Xiu didn’t think it added up.
Jia Xu came from an average background, young and recently rich. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve been hard for him to mingle with middle-aged elites or wealthy second gens, let alone host such events.
Plus, he had a day job and lived with his girlfriend at night. There was no time to run a gambling ring.
…More likely, someone else had set it up and just used Jia Xu’s name.
Fang Xiu frowned. “He never mentioned anything else?”
Blondie shook his head, then remembered something. “He complained once that the person managing the house was rude to him. That’s it.”
“Someone managing his house?”
“Like a housekeeper or something. He didn’t say much.”
Fang Xiu sighed. He’d known it… Anything that didn’t sound cool, Jia Xu wouldn’t elaborate on.
As he mulled it over, he rubbed his arms. Maybe it was just his imagination, but the forest wind seemed stronger now.
Blondie, fit as ever, darted around happily. Suddenly he climbed a jujube tree. “Shit… There are people outside the forest! Someone’s working in the fields!”
He leapt down and headed that way. Fang Xiu frowned and followed cautiously.
But after just a few steps, the strange wind intensified.
It didn’t stir a single leaf yet made it hard for Fang Xiu to stand. If Bai Shuangying hadn’t grabbed him, he might’ve toppled over.
Blondie pressed forward another few steps. The wind distorted his face and peeled at his skin. Finally, he retreated, crawling back with wind-chapped skin.
Fang Xiu looked behind them. The wind wall’s placement was uncanny. Just a few more steps, and the farmhouse courtyard would’ve vanished from sight.
“This is a taboo… Not a ghost or Underworld doing,” Bai Shuangying said concisely.
He’d been strangely quiet the whole time. Fang Xiu rubbed a tree trunk and asked softly, “Did you sense anything unusual?”
Bai Shuangying: “The yin energy is thick here, but there are very few ghosts. Too clean.”
“…?” That sounded eerily like the Huanxi E. Fang Xiu tensed immediately.
Bai Shuangying spread his fingers, feeling the wind normalize. “Yin energy is suppressed during daylight. It’s best to investigate again at midnight.”
As he’d said, daytime was boringly peaceful. They walked around the “wind wall boundary” with the courtyard as center.
Aside from finding part of a taboo, Fang Xiu picked up chestnuts and jujubes, and enjoyed the autumn scenery.
There were no creepy tombstones, hidden chambers, or twisted sacrificial altars.
The ritual zone was so normal it felt like a Class 4A scenic area, and the resources were outrageously rich. If not for the taboo, Fang Xiu would’ve assumed this was a “reward level”.
He glanced at Bai Shuangying.
Bathed in golden autumn light, Bai Shuangying’s ghost aura was subdued. Dressed in flowing white, standing quietly among the trees, he seemed like one with nature.
But Bai Shuangying caught him staring. After a pause, he solemnly handed Fang Xiu some sweet jujubes, instantly breaking his ethereal vibe.
Under that intense gaze, Fang Xiu obediently ate the jujubes.
They were crisp and sweet. Bai Shuangying really had a knack for picking fruit. Damn, if he hadn’t brought Blondie, this scouting trip would’ve been perfect.
They had been out nearly all morning. It was time to return.
……
Back in the courtyard.
After Cheng Songyun’s “Taboo 101”, the eight newbie players looked confused, then shifted into ultra-cautious mode, classic rookie behavior. Now aware of the death taboo, they didn’t even dare sneeze, eyes tearing up from the effort.
A few wanted to pick some persimmons for supplies but backed off. Their faces were filled with unease.
Cheng Songyun suddenly understood how Mai Zi must’ve felt watching over them before. These newbies really did look harmless.
“I’m Lu Yang,” the round-faced youth introduced himself. “Thank you so much for explaining. Otherwise, we’d be totally lost.”
Though he didn’t seem very reliable, compared to his panicking companions, he was relatively “emotionally stable”.
At least he had the presence of mind not to mention the Underworld’s support outright.
Just as Lu Yang was expressing thanks, a loud shout startled Guan He, who nearly pulled out his black gauze veil.
A couple among the new eight had started fighting.
“Are you fucking psycho? What the hell’s wrong with you?!” shouted a boy with pierced lips.
“I brought that food. If you’re gonna eat it, ask first!” the girl snapped. She wore a cute backpack and had huge wavy curls. Her voice clashed wildly with her appearance.
Lu Yang: “…Ignore them. They fight every few days and make up fast.”
The other five acted unsurprised, turning their heads or muttering complaints under their breath.
The couple’s argument devolved into local dialect, their pitch rising and vocabulary growing incomprehensible.
Cheng Songyun, as an outsider, couldn’t intervene and just waited quietly.
But after a few minutes, the boy suddenly screamed. The newbies scattered in panic.
The girl froze, face turning pale. “What’s wrong, babe?”
The boy didn’t answer and just stared in horror at his right leg. His pants were quickly soaking with blood, and the smell filled the air.
Before Cheng Songyun could react, the lone man from before appeared out of nowhere. “Take them off.”
The boy winced, sweating. “What the f—”
The man cut him off calmly. “If you don’t want to die, take them off.”
Faced with spreading blood, the boy caved. He pulled down his jeans, and everyone gasped.
A chunk of flesh the size of a walnut was missing from his thigh.
The wound’s edge was rough, as if the flesh had vanished into thin air and blood was flowing freely.
The lone man crouched down, inspected the wound, then pulled a yellow talisman from his pocket. He dipped it in the blood and drew an unrecognizable symbol.
Then he snapped his fingers, and the paper burned with a pure white flame.
“It’s not the death taboo. Just bandage it up. You’ll be fine. I’m off.” He stood and left.
The girl threw herself on the boy, sobbing like he’d just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The rest stared at the man in awe.
Cheng Songyun’s long theoretical lecture couldn’t compete with this dramatic scene.
Cheng Songyun and Guan He watched too.
After checking the wound, the man turned back and lean against the wall to smoke with a relaxed expression.
When he crouched down earlier, a red string had peeked from his collar. It seemed something was hanging from it.
The author has something to say:
After three stressful instances, time for a light interlude!
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