Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 132: Unknown Evil Spirit

Just like before, a sacrificial altar had been placed before the white porcelain statue. Even the types of offerings and drink brands were identical to the one in the Weishan ritual.

Only the strange statue itself and the golden couplets flanking it bore subtle differences.

“Oh, there are even drinks!”

Dou Dou picked up a can of Wangzai Milk and turned it over in her hands. “The production date’s from last year. Someone’s been making offerings here recently.”

She looked genuinely delighted but didn’t touch any of the food or drink. Grandpa Dao made a gesture, and a plain-looking middle-aged man from his team stepped forward.

The man popped a bead into his mouth and began tasting each item on the altar one by one. After he finished, he spit out the bead. “Safe.”

Only then did Dou Dou open a can of canned yellow peaches and smile sincerely. “Thanks, brother.”

“Aside from offerings, nothing else here can be consumed. That taboo is quite interesting.”

Grandpa Dao stroked his beard, mumbling to himself.

Staring at the full table of food, Guan He couldn’t bring himself to eat a single bite.

He suddenly realized how friendly the Weishan ritual had been—he couldn’t even imagine what would’ve happened if they, like these clueless believers, had walked into a nested ritual setup like this one.

The believers had misjudged the nature of the taboo from the very start.

In the increasingly gloomy air, shadows slid slowly across the surface of the white porcelain statue.

Its rough, featureless craftsmanship did match the tiny shrine, but Guan He would rather face the God of Weishan again than deal with this unfamiliar statue of unknown origin.

This wasn’t even a god statue. It offered no protection whatsoever!

Last time, his little child ghost had refused to enter the Weishan shrine. This time, it had no objections and yawned peacefully within his shadow.

At last, darkness fell.

The moment the cloudy sky dimmed further, all the previously extinguished candles within the shrine lit up at once. Outside, the whispers of wandering evil spirits began. The shrine’s door closed slowly without a breeze. Only vague human shadows flickered across the paper windows, near and far.

Now Guan He understood why the statue lacked protective power—there was no true evil spirit aura outside at all.

Back during the Fierce Wind Ritual, Guan He had worked with many unwilling spirit “coaches”. He wasn’t a true metaphysics expert, but he could at least recognize the cold, sticky aura of evil spirits.

…So what were those things outside?

Inside the familiar yet unfamiliar shrine, the faceless statue somehow seemed to be watching them all.

Unable to help himself, Guan He retreated two steps closer to Fang Xiu, only to see him standing with hands behind his back, observing the giant porcelain statue like a casual tourist.

What he couldn’t see was that Bai Shuangying was circling the statue, tapping and examining it here and there.

The statue was hollow. But unlike the containers in the Shrine of All E’s, this statue didn’t store anything at all. It was just an ordinary ceramic sculpture.

The fact that it was “normal” made it all the stranger in this place.

Seeing the frown still on Bai Shuangying’s face, Fang Xiu could more or less guess what was going on. He grabbed a candy from the altar and rolled it between his fingers.

According to how the first ritual played out, the next death should involve “turning into roasted meat”. Now that all the sacrifices were gathered in one place, he was very curious to see how such a death might be carried out.

He already knew his ghost was strong—strong enough to recognize any magic weapon or technique at a glance. Yet now Bai Shuangying had actually developed an anxious expression. That said everything about how difficult the situation was.

A re-creation of the Weishan ritual.

But the inconsistencies had all become warped beyond recognition.

For example, the Skinny Monkey Tree was present, but neither “Skinny Monkey” nor the “cage” existed in this ritual. Corresponding descriptions had also become vague.

And the shrine—while the original plaque clearly bore the words “Weishan Shrine”, the first few letters here seemed covered in mold. All that remained was a weathered, unreadable surface.

These distorted details and strange texts were undoubtedly the key to solving the mystery.

The way forward was simple.

He just needed to redirect the eight deaths slots towards the cultists of the Guishan Sect and observe at leisure. But if they followed the enemy’s script, would this ritual really come to an end?

Fang Xiu rubbed his lower lip in thought.

…What if, after playing through this round, they were dragged into a new round of the Weishan rituals, like some giant “spot-the-difference” puzzle game?

…Or maybe it would lead into a fake Mid-Autumn Ritual? And then cycle back to the seventh ritual, starting all over again?

Facing the bizarre powers of the “Immortal Encounter E” Fang Xiu couldn’t be certain. If things really turned out that way, this was going to be a hell of a ride.

As he thought, a swirl of white cloth fluttered by. Having finished examining the statue, Bai Shuangying landed lightly on the ground. His ghost looked up at the statue with a dark and unreadable expression.

Fang Xiu: “Someone you know?”

Still staring at the statue, Bai Shuangying only shook his head.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he quickly stepped over to Fang Xiu. “Your hand.”

Hands couldn’t offer spiritual energy.

Fang Xiu looked at him, confused, but obediently held out his hand and pressed it against Bai Shuangying’s palm.

Bai Shuangying pulled out the hair-ring from his chest and slid it onto Fang Xiu’s middle finger. The moment he saw the ring, it was like a bucket of ice water dumped over Fang Xiu’s head and he sobered up instantly.

He had forgotten all about it.

During the last ritual, only his head had remained of his original body. Bai Shuangying had held onto the ring, saying he’d check and maintain it, and return it to him at the start of the seventh ritual.

But ever since entering this fake “Weishan Village”, Fang Xiu hadn’t remembered it once.

It was only now that it hit him—yes, Bai Shuangying had given him that hair-ring.

During the first ritual, the first time they came to the shrine.

Realization dawned, and Fang Xiu slowly looked up at the white porcelain statue across from him.

…That’s right. During the “first” ritual, the “first” time they saw the shrine.

“You just remembered too?” Fang Xiu muttered, lightly smacking his own head.

Bai Shuangying looked conflicted. “Yes.”

Worried he hadn’t made himself clear, he added, “It’s not sentimentality. I just had a bad feeling about this place and remembered I hadn’t returned the ring yet…”

He had taken it out almost reflexively, only to be struck by overwhelming déjà vu.

“In other words, the Immortal Encounter E didn’t forcibly rewrite reality. It’s trying to recreate similar events through normal cause and effect.”

Fang Xiu turned the once-lost ring in his fingers. “Hmm… then let’s see just how far the Immortal Encounter E can go.”

Sometimes the best strategy is to retreat. If they stopped playing along with its fake Weishan reenactment, what would it do?

After months together, Bai Shuangying already understood Fang Xiu’s thought process. “You want to leave.”

“This place really is near Xushan. If it’s not the real ritual site, then the Underworld shouldn’t have sealed off the surrounding area. We can go to the real Xushan.”

Fang Xiu said softly, “There just so happen to be plenty of cultists we can use to test the taboos.”

Then he gave a bitter laugh. “So the death involving ‘escaping the village and ending up roasted’ really does have to follow cause and effect.”

“Huh?”

While Fang Xiu whispered to Bai Shuangying, Dou Dou suddenly exclaimed.

She raised a strand of freshly cut red paper flowers. A string of little people holding hands, each with a standard smiling face. At first glance, they looked quite cute.

Except one paper figure was black with its face twisted into a crying expression that didn’t match the rest.

Dou Dou moved her scissors. “Looks like this village has one big evil spirit… and only one. I could only detect that one.”

Grandpa Dao sighed. “That’s definitely not right.”

It wasn’t strange to have a major evil spirit to cultivate the E. One large evil spirit with a bunch of minor ones feeding on its residual yin energy was the classic setup.

But a single large spirit, and nothing else? That wasn’t right. Even if a lone tree grew in scorched earth of a radius of 160 miles, that tree would still seem suspicious.

Dou Dou tugged the red paper chain. “It’s not nearby. Seems like it’s circling around… Wait, its aura just vanished again.”

“Until we understand the situation, it’s best not to alert the enemy.”

Grandpa Dao’s eyes flicked briefly toward Fang Xiu, and he casually continued, “It’s nighttime now. Let’s send a few people to scout ahead and just observe from a distance.”

“I’ll send two scouts. You’re on your own, so you don’t need to go. Brother Xiao Jia, how about on your end…”

Fang Xiu looked mildly exasperated.

So much for skipping the “midnight investigation of Weishan Village” plotline. It seemed cause and effect struck again.

“Let’s go.” He made no fuss. “The more eyes we have, the fairer the conclusions. But I’ll go alone. Our team doesn’t have many people.”

Great. Here came the classic explore-with-the-enemy segment. The people chosen were Jia Xu and Fang Xiu… except this time, “Fang Xiu” was the one pretending to be Jia Xu. Close enough to call it a two-in-one.

Grandpa Dao was satisfied and gave a nod. He’d secured a hostage… no, a companion.

“Our people are very professional. We’ll watch each other’s backs. There’ll be no trouble.”

Sure there won’t.

Fang Xiu smiled and nodded politely.

Meanwhile, at the mayor’s mansion of Weishan Village.

The mansion was utterly empty. There was no red blessing characters plastered over the walls, and no fake friendly Old Man Fu. Countless characters spelling “evil spirit” writhed across the night, squirming on the surface of their host.

And on the rooftop of the mansion stood a figure. He stood beneath the storm clouds, gazing over the eerie village in its entirety.

He was dressed all in black, giving off a youthful silhouette. His garments were darker than the deepest ink, with no reflection at all. His long hair hung straight and still, devoid of shine, unmoved by the wind.

The only bit of white in that darkness was his face.

His skin was smooth and pale, completely featureless. There were no eyes, no nose, no mouth—just a delicate, flat blankness. And one dark red character, as though painted in blood:

[Pray]

He…or rather, it… turned stiffly, looking toward the brightly lit little shrine in the distance.

Inside the shrine, Bai Shuangying sensed something. He turned slightly, looking toward the direction of that “gaze”.

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The author has something to say:

Next time, Xiao Bai, when you give Xiao Fang a ring, please don’t use that finger. Just use the ring finger, okay?

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