Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 153: Taboo Trap

“Hah… hah…”

Guan He ran through the village. He was sprinting so hard that his throat felt like it was tearing apart, and the air he breathed carried a faint taste of blood.

He gripped Dou Dou’s wrist tightly. Their legs were splattered with wet mud as they ran.

“I… I’m so tired.”

Dou Dou’s voice was weak. Her already adorable face was flushed bright red, looking even more charming than usual.

Guan He used his heavy breathing to cover his expression and tried to respond gently, “Just hold on a bit longer.”

Dou Dou bit her lip and nodded hard. Her damp hair stuck to her sweaty cheeks. Standing beside the youthful and clean-cut Guan He, the scene looked like something straight out of a teen romance drama.

…Poor Guan He was screaming internally.

It had been two days since Fang Xiu left the letter. They hadn’t managed to advance the plot as cleanly and decisively as he had. The group had just entered the “Old Man Fu” side plot.

Who knew where this Old Man Fu had come from!

It seemed like a highly degraded version of the Old Man Fu from Weishan Village, likely extracted from someone’s memory. Originally, Old Man Fu’s spirit team had been thick with yin energy. Now, without that yin aura, they looked even more terrifying.

The four members of the Guishan Sect had no idea. They were still figuring out the rules of the “Weishan E”.

First taboo: Food and water in the village cannot be consumed, except for offerings.

That one was simple. Everyone naturally lived off offerings from the ancestral shrine.

Second taboo: No harming the villagers, except in self-defense.

Guan He had forced himself to deduce this one. He even risked his own safety to do it, sneaking an old ashtray out of a villager’s house and performing an impromptu demonstration of “my whole body itches”. Grandpa Dao had one of their teammates test it and confirmed that the taboo was real.

Now only the fake death taboo remained.

They had resolved the hanging-suicide slot too. To recreate the plot, Guan He and Cheng Songyun never left each other’s side at night and firmly locked themselves indoors.

Luckily, the script chose the “person who secretly visits the caged offering” to become the “Mountain God”. That believer yelled about bodily mutations and karma corruption, then took off his belt and hanged himself on the spot.

One death scene down. The remaining two were “death by breaking a taboo” and “murder”.

Guan He and Cheng Songyun breathed a sigh of relief. At least this fake taboo hadn’t chosen a good person to be the Mountain God. It was just repeating the old script.

But with that person dead, only three of the original four believers remained. Grandpa Dao and Dou Dou were now highly guarded, so they had to proceed with extreme caution.

When Fang Xiu was lying, he did it like a master—flawless and effortless.

But when Guan He tried lying, he didn’t even know what facial expression to use. Cheng Songyun was doing fine, but Guan He had been running on nerves for two days straight and hadn’t slept. His dark circles could nearly cover half his face.

Fang Xiu wanted them to drive a wedge between Dou Dou and Grandpa Dao, both seasoned cultists… Guan He felt like someone who had just finished memorizing the multiplication table being tossed into the International Math Olympiad.

This wasn’t something you could pull off with sheer guts.

After discussing with Cheng Songyun, Guan He decided to take the opposite approach. Since the other side clearly wanted them to test taboos, why not let them take the initiative and divide their forces?

…Which was exactly what he was doing right now—midway through an undercover operation.

“We ran this far, should… cough… should be okay now.”

They stopped in the shadow of a farmhouse. Dou Dou nervously leaned toward Guan He.

She kept a polite distance, just enough to avoid being overly intimate, yet still radiate charm.

Her eyes sparkled with moisture as she looked at Guan He, who felt dizzy. For about two seconds, he was like a die-hard fan gazing at his idol, ready to risk everything to protect her.

Damn it, that was probably one of Dou Dou’s abilities.

He quickly looked away and fixed his gaze on a withered weed in the corner of the farmhouse wall.

Luckily, after all that running, his face was still flushed. Now, looking away “shyly” added to the illusion of being spellbound.

“They won’t find us here.”

Guan He kept staring at the weed, trying to stay alert. “You haven’t told me yet. Why did you run?”

“I didn’t think Grandpa Dao would send me to die. I overheard him. He wants to use me to probe Old Man Fu.”

Dou Dou pulled out her hair tie and casually re-did her ponytail, releasing a sweet, warm scent from her shampoo.

“He probably figured our team has no one left and decided I wasn’t useful anymore…”

Guan He forced out his voice. “…How could he do that? Aren’t you two close?”

Well, to be fair, Dou Dou’s acting was quite good. She really had the damsel-in-distress thing down.

But Guan He had watched Fang Xiu perform too many times. Compared to him, Dou Dou’s acting felt too deliberate. The spell she’d cast on his mind had already started to wear off.

There was no way she had really fallen out with Grandpa Dao.

She just wanted to separate him from Auntie Cheng and lure him into testing the final taboo. As an experienced professional “idol”, facing a naïve high schooler with a hero-saves-the-beauty script, she had every advantage.

But objectively, if he was separated from Auntie Cheng, that also meant Dou Dou was separated from Grandpa Dao.

This was a perfect opportunity.

“Brother, even adults compete with each other, especially in a place like this.”

As expected, Dou Dou edged closer again, showing a forlorn expression.

“I’m really touched that you ran away with me.”

Oh, that’s because Auntie Cheng not only has the script but also a super-powerful Resentful Ghost Shield.

Thinking this, Guan He forced himself to go along with it. “It’s nothing. This ritual is too strange. Infighting will only get us all killed faster.”

Dou Dou’s big, round eyes stared straight at him. Guan He tried to sound righteous, but his back was soaked in cold sweat.

“And Auntie Cheng is really amazing.”

He swallowed hard and kept improvising. “She’s protected me through so many rituals. I only brought you out because she gave silent approval.”

Dou Dou’s expression finally softened. “You guys are great.”

“No, we just want to work with you. With my ability, we can sneak a look at Old Man Fu. Once we understand the situation, we can test things safely,” Guan He’s responded cautiously.

The next death should come from breaking a taboo. Supposedly it would involve offending the Mountain God.

No one had transformed into the Mountain God yet so how was this story supposed to play out…?

Rustle.

Guan He looked up and saw a familiar shade of red.

On the farmhouse roof appeared a young man wearing a long red robe. The red was identical to Fang Xiu’s T-shirt, and the hem fluttered gently in the wind.

The man had mismatched black and white eyes, his face veiled in red gauze. A cold wind howled around him, and his oppressive yin aura seemed to penetrate straight into the bones.

Who was that?

For a moment, Guan He’s mind went blank. The presence was far too powerful. He was sure there had been no such character in the last ritual. It was as if…

“Who’s there?”

Dou Dou stepped in front of Guan He at just the right moment, pulling out a red paper charm for casting spells.

The strange young man’s neck twisted stiffly. His body made the squelching sound of squeezed flesh. Several twisted limbs reached out from around him, identical to those of the previously mutated corpses.

He didn’t say a word, just stared down at them coldly.

“Retreat!”

Guan He tried to grab Dou Dou again, but the red paper charm meant for defense wrapped around his own hand.

Dou Dou turned her head and gave a particularly dazzling smile. She yanked with her right hand, and Guan He flew into the air uncontrollably, crashing toward the figure in red.

At the same time, she pressed her left hand over her chest to hold down a green jade pendant hidden under her clothes. With a burst of yin wind beneath her feet, she was ready to flee—

But the figure in red effortlessly dodged Guan He and flashed like wind in front of Dou Dou. His speed was like teleportation.

Seeing that Guan He was still alive, Dou Dou regained confidence. She let out a cold laugh and pulled out another string of red paper garlands, which whipped toward the red figure like chains.

At the sight of those crude chains, the young man’s pale left eye narrowed slightly, as if irritated. But he didn’t move. He let the garlands strike him directly in the chest.

Bang!

Dou Dou’s triumphant expression never got a chance to settle. She exploded into bloody pulp on the spot.

Guan He, who was just about to roll off the roof, scrambled back in a panic, barely avoiding the splatter. The gruesome scene made his heart pound like a drum.

Third taboo: Do not offend the God of Weishan, except the Mountain God.

…The “death by breaking a taboo” had been fulfilled, but Guan He didn’t feel the slightest bit happy.

But who was this God of Weishan?

Fang Xiu had clearly told them before that the God of Weishan was a girl!

What the hell was going on?!

In his horrified gaze, the strange figure disappeared into thin air, as if it had never been there. The moist air lingered with the metallic stench of blood.

On the other side—

Still in hiding, A’Shou numbly helped Fang Xiu emit yin energy and used the cold wind to give him a mystical hairstyle. She even tore a piece of red gauze from her wedding dress to fashion a makeshift mask for him.

Inside Fang Xiu’s body, Bai Shuangying’s true form seeped slightly through his skin, perfectly recreating the God of Weishan’s twisted limbs.

After this theatrical performance, Fang Xiu swiftly vanished again without revealing himself to Guan He.

A’Shou: “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Hadn’t he played enough pretending to be crazy in front of Zhuang Guiqu? Now he was back and couldn’t resist putting on another act? After being dead for so long, this was her first time she experienced what it was like working as a prop crew member.

Fang Xiu blinked. “Xiao Guan isn’t good at acting. If he knew I was back, he’d let his guard down and slip up. This current state is just right.”

“I don’t know what you two are plotting.” Seeing that this person was still as shameless as ever, A’Shou rubbed her forehead.  “Let me make this clear. Even if the Immortal Encounter E is still in the hands of your sedu—uh, Corner of Heaven’s Will, it either gets destroyed or refined. Otherwise, the ritual won’t end.”

Wasn’t this guy solving E’s just fine before? Why was he dragging his feet now? Rather than take on unnecessary risks, wouldn’t it be better to just burn that accursed book already?

But since Fang Xiu’s body still contained the Corner of Heaven’s Will and they were still in Bai Shuangying’s home turf, she couldn’t say that too bluntly.

“If Bai Shuangying wants to keep going, and I can still go on, then we keep going.”

Fang Xiu scratched his face and confidently defended him. “This is a good chance to train Guan He and the others. Besides, there are still two believers alive. We can’t just let them walk away.”

A’Shou threw down her veil in exasperation and wiped her face hard.

“Fine. If you’re going to play this slowly, at least tell me this—what was that death taboo just now?”

Fang Xiu: “She attacked me, who is holding Bai Shuangying. That’s the same as attacking Bai Shuangying. That’s an offense against the God of Xushan.”

“The God of Weishan is a subordinate of the God of Xushan, and Bai Shuangying personally saved her. Offending the God of Xushan means offending the God of Weishan.”

A Shou: “…”

Dou Dou’s death could only be called ridiculous. She was basically trolled to death by this guy.

Fang Xiu ignored her expression. “See? We can play the Mountain God ourselves. Isn’t that way more fun than Old Man Fu?”

It looks like the story here had no choice but to continue.

A’Shou sighed again. “Alright, do whatever you want. I’ve only got one question left.”

“That knocking sound from earlier—what exactly is it?”

---

The author has something to say:

Bad Xiao Fang, he’s using the hidden Xiao Bai to troll his teammates.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>