Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 118: The Unsolvable Situation

Everyone froze for two seconds.

Cen Ling was the first to react. He confidently made a gesture to summon the swallowed luminous cup. He flipped his hand repeatedly, but Fang Xiu remained expressionless.

Fang Xiu held onto Bai Shuangying with one hand and swiftly reached for Cen Ling with the other. The moment his fingers got close, a crackle of purple lightning erupted.

Cen Ling retreated at high speed and flung three yellow talismans behind him. But before they reached their target, a blast of ghost wind knocked them down. Bai Shuangying loosely wrapped an arm around Fang Xiu’s shoulders, glaring at Cen Ling in warning.

Under that pale gaze, Cen Ling’s mind blanked out. His fighting spirit vanished. For a moment, he nearly forgot why he was even standing there—until the jade pendant on his chest scorched his skin, jolting him back to awareness. He retreated even farther.

He grabbed Bai Sui’s collar and leapt over countless wandering spirits. With a flash of light, both of them vanished, leaving only a palm-sized paper kite behind. Its red and green pigments had faded, giving it a subtly sinister look.

The paper kite fluttered in place twice, then shot away like lightning.

Fang Xiu clutched his injured throat, voice hoarse. “…Why is it here again?”

The kite’s power was astonishing. It completely concealed the two men, so even the Grave-Sealing E couldn’t detect their whereabouts.

Cen Ling had attacked with full force but withdrew the moment the situation turned unfavorable. How pragmatic.

When you can’t see your enemy’s methods clearly, going behind the scenes is the smartest move.

Especially since the Six Ghosts Remnants Immortal was now sealed, and Cen Ling was no longer in front of him. Fang Xiu had to rely on instinct to deal with the remaining intruders, including the three humans who had just helped him.

The fighting had stopped, but his killing intent hadn’t subsided.

Fang Xiu shook his spinning head, trying to stay alert. The swarming spirits dispersed at his gesture, though the skinless beings sealing the Six Ghosts remained diligently at work.

“Don’t… come any closer.” He raised a hand toward the worried-looking Cheng Songyun and the others, making a warding motion. “Find a safe place to hide…”

With that, he turned his back to them, no longer looking at the trio’s varied expressions. The young woman among them hurried forward, as if wanting to say something. But Fang Xiu’s head rang so loudly he couldn’t take anything in.

To him, these people running toward him looked like roasted chickens dancing around a starving man, just asking for trouble.

“Take me away, Bai Shuangying. Back to our room.” Fang Xiu leaned against Bai Shuangying, unsteady on his feet. The tension was visible in the veins bulging at his temple.

Bai Shuangying gently picked him up.

He could tell, if Fang Xiu weren’t doing everything in his power to suppress the Grave-Sealing E’s corruption, those three humans would already be dead.

It was hard to say which surprised him more: Fang Xiu’s resistance to corruption, or Cen Ling’s “infinite Immortal E”.

Bai Shuangying glanced at the trio one last time and swiftly left the scene.

……

A few minutes later, Bai Shuangying understood why Fang Xiu had insisted on being alone. “Protecting his companions” wasn’t the only thing he had in mind.

“Can you get it out?” Fang Xiu rubbed his stomach.

Bai Shuangying: “…???”

“I only swallowed it. It should still be in my stomach.”

Fang Xiu spoke in a gentle tone like a biology teacher. “It’s too big to vomit up. We’ll have to cut open the stomach or use magic to pull it out… Can you help me?”

Bai Shuangying cautiously sensed their surroundings. It seemed like Ghost Immortal A’Shou had gone off to track Cen Ling. He relaxed slightly and nodded.

“Perfect. I thought I’d have to dissect myself.”

Fang Xiu scooted forward happily, opening his mouth without any hesitation.

Bai Shuangying traced his lips with a finger, shifting into his true form and slowly sliding down Fang Xiu’s throat. Fang Xiu’s brow twitched as his esophagus spasmed, but he stayed completely still.

The Grave-Sealing E’s influence made Fang Xiu’s body cold and lifeless. It was like digging into a cold piece of meat. His stomach was almost empty with barely any gastric fluid in sight.

Eventually, Bai Shuangying grasped the small luminous cup.

Only then did he notice it had once been a tall jade goblet that was now broken with only the bowl remaining. The severed edge was razor-sharp. Fang Xiu’s stomach already smelled faintly of blood.

Carefully gripping the jagged rim, Bai Shuangying began guiding it back up the esophagus. The pressure forced Fang Xiu’s eyes to redden at the corners. He clutched Bai Shuangying’s arm, fidgeting nervously, as if torn between coughing and holding still.

With patience, Bai Shuangying pulled it free. With a soft “pop”, the bloodstained, mucus-slicked goblet emerged, still glowing with a seductive light.

Fang Xiu doubled over coughing, spitting up blood-tinged foam. It took him a long while to catch his breath. His lips were streaked with blood, but that made him look a bit more alive.

As he panted, he turned the luminous cup over and over, examining it.

“This item is called the Immortal E. Normally it’s under the Underworld’s control,” Bai Shuangying explained.

Its taboo effect caused dizziness and could generate protective armor on the user making it quite practical. But who knew how useful it’d be in their hands.

He also gave a brief explanation of how the Underworld handled eliminating the E’s. He didn’t expect Fang Xiu to remember, but meaningless talk was still better than silence.

Fang Xiu touched the Grave-Sealing E on his tongue, then looked at the luminous cup in his hand.

“I thought we were tomb robbers,” he said with a smile. “So now you’ve figured out every taboo but one?”

Bai Shuangying: “Only the death taboo remains. Once I confirm it, I can try to save you.”

Fang Xiu ran a finger along the rim. “Makes sense—like confirming the diagnosis before surgery. You can’t just operate at random… But are you sure I can still be saved?”

He sounded so casual that Bai Shuangying faltered. Frowning, he practically wore question marks on his face.

“I don’t remember anything about rituals. But if your theory is right, the first two taboos were aimed at the ‘chosen controller’.”

Fang Xiu sat down on a pile of bones, absently brushing them with his hand. “And those two were already enough to kill everyone else… so the death taboo is probably targeting me too.”

A powerful soul whose karma got corrupted, and a grave sealed by ever-changing corpses.

Commanding the earth demons to guard the tomb alone.

Bai Shuangying pressed a hand to his temple.

Indeed, with the first two taboos in motion, the grave would inevitably end up with just one person left: the one possessed by the Grave-Sealing E. There was no need to waste the death taboo on anyone else.

“E’s” were born from obsession, not designed with complex rules.

If he were Fang Xiu, what would he think?

An “E” is just a dead thing. The rules don’t need to be intricate. The Grave-Sealing E exists to seal graves. It doesn’t let intruders go…

After a long silence, Bai Shuangying looked at Fang Xiu, still sprawled in the bones. He had thought of something, but it was a cruel conclusion.

“You might…”

He didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

“Yeah. In a way, I might already be dead.”

Fang Xiu stared at his pale fingers. “That’s why losing the E would mean instant death. It’s been devouring my consciousness. It doesn’t need my soul, only my abilities and knowledge.”

“The one talking to you now might just be a ‘resonance’. Strange, huh?”

Bai Shuangying stood silently in the cramped tomb, unsure what to feel.

If it were anyone else, being possessed by the Grave-Sealing E meant certain death, body and soul. Not even the gods could help.

And this time, there was no chance to slowly wear it down.

If they let it continue, Fang Xiu’s soul would be eroded by the E. But to save him, they had to end the ritual. And to end the ritual… they had to destroy the E.

Destroy it, and Fang Xiu’s soul would vanish instantly.

He was still here, speaking in his usual tone, but realistically, he no longer had a chance of survival.

What stood before him was merely the “faint echo” of a soul on the brink of collapse.

While Bai Shuangying brooded, Fang Xiu gently ran his fingers over his skin. The word “survive” was still slowly bleeding. The pain hadn’t gone away.

There was no panic in his eyes. Only contemplation.

As he lowered his gaze, a shadow moved into view. Bai Shuangying pressed a cool palm to Fang Xiu’s head.

“Let’s go for a walk,” he said.

“…Why?”

“I have an idea,” Bai Shuangying murmured. “But we have to test it.”

……

At one corner of the tomb.

“Cen Ge, taking it out didn’t cause any problems, right?”

Bai Sui no longer wore his relaxed expression. He asked worriedly, “If they report this to the Underworld, won’t we be in trouble?”

Cen Ling shook his head. “The unbelievers weren’t meant to stay alive. And one of them is ‘Fang Xiu’. Kill them all, and it’s fine.”

He spoke in a serious manner as if he was ticking items off a shopping list.

Cen Ling hated wasting time searching for “Fang Xiu”, just as he hated dealing with taboos step by step. In a game full of evil spirits, cheating always beats following the rules.

Bai Sui glanced at the kite in Cen Ling’s hand but still looked uneasy.

This entire ritual felt like a game. The two of them could easily tear through monsters, and if that failed, they had the Heaven-Breaking Techinique for defense.

Once they found the E, Cen Ling could secretly use the Immortal E to protect himself and take it for his own. It might have the word “immortal” in it, but it could still counter E’s like a ghost immortal suppresses evil spirits.

The best part? After borrowing its power, he could quietly return it.

So long as he wasn’t obvious, the Underworld, blind to their own E’s inventory in the Disaster Relief Tower, would never notice. It was comparable to Cen Ling own back garden.

With those cheats and a golden finger, Bai Sui had never suffered a loss.

Cen Ling didn’t care much about the unbelievers, but he doted on his own followers. Watching average people panic and bleed while being terrorized by taboos made Bai Sui giddy.

…That smug sense of “chosen one” superiority was euphoric.

But this time, they’d met opponents who didn’t play by the rules. That Hong Shuangxi guy actually ate the cup. What the hell?

And then Mei Lan betrayed them, and worse, attacked him first, a minor! Thinking about what a big loss he suffered made Bai Sui fume.

“The cup’s still in that guy’s hand. Cen Ge, we’ve got to get it back, or we can’t return it,” Bai Sui muttered irritably. “That bitch is bad news. She’s definitely plotting against us.”

Cen Ling raised a hand. With a faint clinking of chains, the paper kite vanished into thin air. He sighed lightly. “True, fewer loose ends is better.”

“Want me to kill her?” Bai Sui looked eager. “I’ll say I panicked, had a breakdown, and came crawling back. They’ll believe it for sure.”

Cen Ling flicked his forehead. “You’re just a kid. Stay out of the grown-ups’ business.”

“So we just sit and wait?!” Bai Sui pouted, rubbing his forehead.

“No need. Better let the Grave-Sealing E and that traitor tear each other apart. If we step in, they’ll just team up against us.”

Cen Ling’s voice was calm. “Let me think…”

He drew a complicated sigil in his palm, muttering an incantation. Soon after, more chain sounds echoed, and a rough cloth doll fell into his hand.

Bai Sui eyed the filthy little rag doll. “We’ve recorded this one before?”

“It’s been a few years.”

Cen Ling examined it with a frown. “It’s not very reliable, but we don’t have many Immortal E on record.”

“If they all belonged to us, that’d be perfect,” Bai Sui sighed.

Even if they could borrow these powers, Cen Ling wasn’t a god. The Immortal E’s didn’t come with user manuals.

So they had to borrow ones the Guishan Sect had already documented. This dirty doll wasn’t exactly what Bai Sui had hoped for.

Cen Ling took out a vermilion brush and carefully wrote Mei Lan’s name and birthdate on the doll’s back. As the brush moved, the rag writhed like something alive, gradually morphing into Mei Lan’s form.

A miniature Mei Lan opened her eyes wide, expressionless. But she had complete eyelashes, flowing hair, and even a rising and falling chest.

Cen Ling watched her quietly for a while, a trace of regret in his eyes.

“Why betray us, sister?”

He sighed. “We gave you a job. We gave you love. This side was always your true home.”

“Just a crazy hag,” Bai Sui sneered. “I killed my stupid parents too. No drama. Can’t reason with someone like her.”

Cen Ling kept gazing at the doll, his eyes full of pity.

“…Fine. Let her clean up the mess with the Grave-Sealing E. That can be her atonement.”

He reached out and gently closed Mei Lan’s eyes.

“Go. Show them what you’re capable of.”

……

Far away, Mei Lan was pouring water for Guan He when her body suddenly trembled.

The cup tipped in her stiff hand. Water streamed past her fingers and splashed onto the cold stone floor.

For a moment, her expression flickered with confusion, then turned into a complex smile.

She opened her lips and let out a long sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Guan He rushed to wipe up the spill.

Mei Lan untied her scarf, pulled out a green jade pendant, and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, her pupils glowed with the same luminous green as the jade.

“I’m fine,” she said gently.

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