Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 73: White Abyss

Lu Yang blinked and the tiled indoor floor beneath his feet turned into outdoor earth.

He sluggishly looked around. Everything had a strangely familiar feel.

Then again, why should this place feel unfamiliar? Lu Yang tried hard to think. Maybe it was like staring at a word too long; you start to think it’s spelled wrong.

…This was clearly his home.

It was like sobering up after a long drink. That eerie sense of distance vanished. The sky above was starry and clear, the evening breeze cool and refreshing.

Wait, he really was sobering up… They’d had too much to drink tonight and had come outside for air.

Lu Yang shook his head hard, clearing it a bit more.

The lights were still on in the main house and the two side rooms. Shadows flickered in the side room where they kept the corpse. In the firelight, he could make out two people moving around, busy with something.

The yard must not be big enough. They had to store the corpse in the side room with no bed. Autumn had arrived, so the ground was getting cold. Tomorrow morning, they could chop some trees and build a few beds.

The chicken coop needed fixing too.

It was crammed with chickens. Some had grown so tall they had to bend over just to squat inside. They curled up their extra limbs to make space for the others.

The persimmon tree was lined with rows of owls. They craned their necks and waved at him, beckoning him closer.

Lu Yang didn’t get it. Why were these human-headed creatures called “owls”?

Maybe zoologists just didn’t care about logic.

“Not a good omen,” A’Qiao muttered. He grabbed a bamboo pole and started whacking the branches.

The owls let out howling laughter and clung stubbornly to the tree.

“Stop it, stop it! Those are Class II protected animals,” Lu Yang hurried to stop him.

“There are too many mosquitoes tonight. Let’s clean up and head to bed. We’ve gotta chop firewood tomorrow.”

A’Qiao put the pole away. “Damn autumn mosquitoes are fierce.”

He slapped one off his arm. It had taken a chunk of meat with it. The smell of blood drew more of them buzzing closer.

He lit a mosquito-repelling talisman, and they scattered again, annoyingly persistent.

Bitten already…they had to go back and apply medicine.

Lu Yang waved to the corpse in the side room and headed toward the main house with A’Qiao. A bloated corpse stood at the doorway smiling at them as they approached.

Something was circling at his feet. Oh right, the little dog. Every household had to keep a watchdog. They had to treat these dogs well, or else they’d turn rabid.

Lu Yang gave the dog a few pats, then turned to Jiang Xun.

“Lao Jiang, check the windows again. I don’t know where the face went tonight. If the windows aren’t sealed right, we might get a draft.”

Jiang Xun stood there squinting at them, looking a bit off.

That made Lu Yang pause too. He felt like he was forgetting something important, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall.

Forgot to feed the chickens? Forgot to tend the corpses? Left the stove burning?

Ah, whatever. They were too drunk tonight. He would deal with it in the morning.

Lu Wei had drunk so much he couldn’t even stand. He was still collapsed at Jiang Xun’s feet.

Lu Yang and A’Qiao left Jiang Xun behind and pushed open the door to go inside.

The main house was brightly lit. Candles lined the corners. A can of soda sat in the center of the table, another one rolling joyfully around on the floor.

Suddenly, Jiang Xun’s voice rang out from the eastern bedroom:

“It’s all an illusion!” he barked. “Wake up! You’re in the courtyard!”

What nonsense. Lu Yang, groggy, thought: Didn’t we just come back inside?

……

Bai Shuangying glanced at Fang Xiu with a hint of annoyance. “You’re interfering.”

When his earlier tactic of “selective treatment” didn’t scare Lu Yang off, he switched to using illusions indiscriminately, sprinkling in some karmic contamination while he was at it.

Jiang Xun sensed something odd and stayed put. Lu Yang and A’Qiao, however, were easily drawn out of the main house and into the courtyard, or rather, into the illusory courtyard, where they thought they were simply going inside to rest.

Next, he only needed to transform the courtyard gate into a bedroom door. Then the two newbies would walk themselves right out of the courtyard.

But Fang Xiu ruined it… He created a Jiang Xun illusion to try and wake them up.

That human had the nerve to look innocent. “How is that interfering? I’m just competing fairly.”

Bai Shuangying: “They treat both of us like enemies. Why bother helping?”

“There’s no third-party interference, and we’re not in a hurry,” Fang Xiu replied indifferently. “It’s a competition. I want to win too.”

There was, in fact, no outside interference, Bai Shuangying thought.

The little black dog was having the time of its life with so many people to play with, dashing in and out of the house. The other spirits in the courtyard were so scared they didn’t even dare breathe.

It suddenly struck Bai Shuangying that Fang Xiu had turned this courtyard into a chessboard. He was happily playing a match against Bai Shuangying using human beings as chess pieces.

Then his next move was…

The Peach Bone Evil trembled slightly and more tangled karma surged. With a bit more interference, the Underworld wouldn’t notice.

Within the illusion, Lu Yang shivered. He looked at the “Jiang Xun” who was shouting like crazy but couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

Whatever. He wasn’t human. There was no need to understand.

Lu Yang stumbled toward the bedroom door. He was a pillow. Pillows belonged on beds, not wandering around the living room.

A’Qiao clearly had the same idea. Pillow to pillow, they headed for the “bedroom door” hand in hand, except it was actually the courtyard gate.

Watching the two of them approach the “bedroom door”, Bai Shuangying lowered his hand. He’d gone this far… Fang Xiu wouldn’t be able to stop it.

He was about to win. Just ten steps more… eight… five…

Creak.

Jiang Xun dragged the half-conscious Lu Wei and pushed the door open, stepping into the courtyard.

His sage-like aura was gone, replaced with disdain and coldness. He tossed away the yellow talismans in his hand, pulled out a calligraphy brush from his robes, then adjusted his collar and drew out a jade pendant.

“Useless trash that can’t be helped… whatever.” He sighed deeply.

Under the moonlight, the jade pendant emitted an eerie green glow.

Jiang Xun flicked his brush. The dark red ink bloomed from the tip. He abandoned the yellow paper and began drawing in the air.

Brush strokes danced like dragons. The red runes lit up one by one, then transformed into ghostly green fire, almost identical in hue to the jade pendant.

They encircled him like a planetary ring.

And within a one-step radius of Jiang Xun, Bai Shuangying’s illusion was suppressed. The real world broke through.

“Return, return…”

“All merit complete, all rejoice…” Jiang Xun chanted under his breath.

The runes spun faster. Three of them shot out and hit the newbies squarely in the back.

Lu Yang and A’Qiao’s dull eyes flickered. They stopped mid-step, clutching their heads, clearly thrown into confusion.

Bai Shuangying’s expression went blank.

Even with most of his power sealed, karmic pollution wasn’t so easily dispelled. Not even half-baked Taoist priest or most evil spirit could suppress it. Only a true ghost immortal from the Underworld could.

For Jiang Xun’s spells to counter his illusions meant only one thing: These spells were designed specifically to counter his kind.

…Such spells brought back a lot of old memories.

…Fine. Whatever Fang Xiu was planning, he wouldn’t let this man leave the ritual alive.

Crack.

A sound drew Bai Shuangying’s attention.

Fang Xiu had clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked. His black eyes were lifeless, like a beast staring down prey.

“You knew all along?”

“Jiang Xun’s earlier moves weren’t even as good as Shan Huanzi’s. I just figured he wasn’t trying yet and wanted to push him a bit.”

Fang Xiu’s mouth curved, but his voice was devoid of humor, only killing intent.

“…Well, I didn’t expect to push out this.”

Bai Shuangying stared at him.

So that was it. Fang Xiu’s true goal was never the haunting competition.

From suggesting the competition to his so-called “interference,” this human had been coaxing Bai Shuangying to intensify the illusion, gradually forcing Jiang Xun to his limits.

Because the pressure came from an evil spirit like Bai Shuangying, Jiang Xun wouldn’t suspect and would be forced to reveal his trump card.

Nearby, Jiang Xun’s despicable spell was still in effect, but Bai Shuangying felt strangely calm.

He suddenly realized that, in this moment, they both viewed the same man as their enemy. They both craved the same kill. It was bizarre, and thrilling.

So even if Fang Xiu didn’t want the so-called “game,” Bai Shuangying was going to continue it.

……

Lu Yang’s head throbbed.

One minute, he believed he was a farmer living in this courtyard. The next, he was convinced he was a plump buckwheat pillow. Then he thought he was a sacrificial offering in a bizarre ritual.

Farming seemed most logical… but wait, his family wasn’t even in agriculture, was it?

He remembered he should be indoors, yet every time he blinked, images of the courtyard flashed before him. He’d be terrified of ghosts and corpses one moment, and the next, he was convinced they were just livestock.

His thoughts twisted and warped. He felt like a clay figure in someone’s palm, his brain kneaded at will. It was like drowning, bobbing between illusion and reality, choking on breath.

He couldn’t take it anymore and dry-heaved endlessly.

His vision doubled. Only the courtyard gate remained painfully clear in his sight. He had to run. Anywhere. Just get away from here…

This place isn’t right. Something’s very wrong.

Staggering toward the gate, Lu Yang tried to move. Then his right shoe vanished into thin air. He stumbled, nearly falling.

At the same time, A’Qiao’s collapsed voice screamed beside him. “I want to go home! What the fuck is this place?! Stop messing with me…!”

In his flickering vision, A’Qiao’s shoe was gone too.

“You can’t leave this place, or you’ll lose your shoes… What a curious taboo. It wasn’t something a human would think of.”

A voice approached through the chaos, calm with a hint of mockery. “Yes, it seems the ‘E’ here is a dog.”

It was Jiang Xun. This is Jiang Xun’s voice, Lu Yang thought in a trance. Taboo. That’s right, Jiang Xun had taught them about taboos.

He said you couldn’t walk into the wind. Couldn’t damage the courtyard. Those were two of the taboos.

He also said he could distinguish between “haunting” and “taboo”. Hauntings were slower, inconsistent. Taboos were instant, consistent.

He had taught seriously, no worse than Cheng Songyun.

And he had said… he would protect the newbies till the end.

“You’re all too much trouble.” In the eerie green light Jiang Xun said lightly, “The three taboos are confirmed. Live or die, it’s up to you.”

He waved his hand and the green runes flew off, and with them, Lu Yang’s lifeline.

Was he a person? A pillow? A sacrifice?

Terror gripped him. He just wanted to escape. The warped world before him kept drawing him toward the gate. Its allure was powerful and clear.

A’Qiao and Lu Wei were already running for it, flailing in panic.

It felt… familiar.

Like that day a year ago, when he first saw human meat roasting on a fire. Despair, panic, and desire flooding in all at once.

Lu Yang dropped to his knees, his throat convulsing. His clothes were drenched in sweat, but he didn’t move.

To minimize interference, he shut his eyes tight and mentally commanded the corpse to drag him back inside. Whether he could even do that, he didn’t know. Whether the corpse would listen, he didn’t know. Whether he was sane, he didn’t know.

But he did know this: If he was human, he shouldn’t be wandering outside at night. If he was a pillow, he shouldn’t be wandering outside at night. If he was a sacrifice, he definitely shouldn’t be wandering outside at night.

No one here could be trusted. This was his own decision!

In the dizziness, a breeze circled him.

“Well done,” came a young voice, vaguely familiar, passing by his ear. Whose voice was it?

Pain pricked the back of his neck…then everything went dark.

……

Jiang Xun ignored the panicked A’Qiao and Lu Wei, letting them run toward the gate.

No matter how fearsome the Great Evil was, it still craved yin energy and living souls. It would surely hunt down the two rookies, saving him the trouble.

Despite the setback, he had identified three taboos tonight. That was something. He could finish the rest tomorrow.

The “Master” was a dog, and the “E” was dog-related. He’d suspected it the moment the Underworld sent him here, this ritual wouldn’t be simple.

The E and the Master shared karmic ties. The E was on the dog.

His next mission was to kill the dog.

Maintaining his anti-illusion spell, Jiang Xun carefully made his way to the main house.

With no newbies around, there was no need to hide his strength.

He could set up a proper formation tonight and sleep well.

As he reached out to push open the door, a humanoid spirit lunged at him from the shadows.

“Courting death.” Jiang Xun sneered and blasted it with a spell.

The spirit opened its mouth and spurted out a series of crisp sounds of splintering wood.

Wait… splintering wood?

Could it be what he just chopped up was… No. Impossible. He clearly used the dispel illusion spell!

Jiang Xun’s pupils shrank. Before he could curse, he saw the courtyard gate before him.

“Do not damage the courtyard or you’ll be expelled.”

Damn it. He’d really triggered a taboo!

……

Fang Xiu looked at Bai Shuangying in mild surprise.

The two newbies were about to run out of the courtyard. Bai Shuangying had this one in the bag.

Things were going as Fang Xiu had expected. Once Jiang Xun felt the newbies weren’t worth the effort, he’d focus on testing taboos and abandon them.

That meant they’d seen Jiang Xun’s full power and Bai Shuangying would win the haunting match. A win-win.

Next, he only needed to protect the little dog and focus on dealing with Jiang Xun.

But before Fang Xiu could act, Bai Shuangying pressed his hand down and forcibly altered the illusion skill.

The Peach Bone Evil lightly touched Fang Xiu’s hand, like a firework bursting above the pedestrian street, a delicate illusion appeared before Jiang Xun…

A fake spirit. One that didn’t exist.

Standing right in Jiang Xun’s path.

Jiang Xun’s spell could suppress Bai Shuangying’s illusions, but it couldn’t suppress the designated illusion skill from the Underworld. He had no idea another illusion was nested within the first. His spell hit and destroyed the main house door.

Amid the little dog’s angry barking, Jiang Xun was thrown out of the courtyard by the taboo, just a few seconds before A’Qiao and Lu Wei.

The three collided outside the gate in a heap.

“Jiang Xun stepped out first. You win,” Bai Shuangying said softly, turning to meet Fang Xiu’s gaze.

Fang Xiu: “……”

Bai Shuangying calmly looked at him.

“I don’t need a victory handed to me.”

Fang Xiu quickly replied, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to undermine you. I just…”

“Then the competition continues.” Bai Shuangying cut him off. “Next round: whoever kills Jiang Xun first. I’ll guide the two newbies. You command your allies.”

He wanted to kill Jiang Xun quietly. Fang Xiu also wanted Jiang Xun dead. It was the perfect excuse to keep the game going. Fun and fair.

Fang Xiu stared at Bai Shuangying. A glint of surprise and joy sparkled in his eyes.

Bai Shuangying assumed he hadn’t reacted yet. He adjusted his sleeve, then solemnly declared, “Yes. I know your allies are outside the courtyard.”

“You deliberately used an illusion to let them see you leave. You knew if you stayed too long, they’d come looking. You used my power to force out Jiang Xun’s strength. You tested your allies with the evil spirits in the woods… I understand your thinking.”

Fang Xiu stood still, scanning his ghost again and again.

His killing intent faded, from a panting predator to a squirrel finding its winter acorns.

The little black dog trotted to Fang Xiu’s feet, tail wagging obliviously.

“You’ve been watching me, and I’ve been watching you.” Fang Xiu wiped his face and momentarily lost focus. “I just can’t seem to get around you, this abyss.”

Bai Shuangying: “?”

“It means… I’m willing to keep playing.” Fang Xiu smiled. “And in order not to fall headfirst into you, I need to be very, very careful.”

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