Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 77: The First Lie

Bai Shuangying noticed that Fang Xiu wasn’t skinny at all as a child.

Little Fang Xiu was sturdy, with soft, round cheeks and limbs. By the time he was nine, he was already 140 cm tall, with an amazingly good complexion.

The accident happened on a day when autumn leaves fluttered outside the window.

The family car had broken down, and his parents had gone out to find a mechanic. Little Fang Xiu sat obediently in the main room at his grandma’s, eating sesame pancakes and reading a book. His grandmother chatted with two neighbors, occasionally laughing out loud.

Little Fang Xiu clutched his book but didn’t really read it. He kept his ears pricked, secretly listening to his grandma’s conversation.

After his cousin’s family and his grandfather passed away, his grandma had become withdrawn. She often sat in the courtyard, dazed, for the whole day.

She refused to move, so Fang Xiu’s father took extended leave to stay with her in their hometown for a few months. Still, her mental state didn’t improve. In fact, her memory rapidly declined. During the New Year, she kept calling Fang Xiu by his cousin’s name and even forgot to put sugar in the sesame pancakes.

It was the first time Little Fang Xiu truly felt the impact of death.

Losing a loved one was like contracting a serious illness.

He was a child, so he recovered the fastest. His parents, although deeply saddened, eventually pulled through. Only his aging grandmother was completely crushed, growing weaker by the day.

She had once been full of energy, telling ghost stories from the old generation that could go on for a whole day without repeating.

Now, she could only recount one thing, over and over: She said she shouldn’t have encouraged his cousin’s family to travel. She shouldn’t have told Grandpa when they had trouble.

Expressionless, she repeated the tale like a sutra, as if by taking on all the blame, the dead might return.

After the incident, the family visited Grandma every month.

Yet to Little Fang Xiu, it felt like seeing her just once a year, because she was deteriorating at an alarming rate. A year ago, she had been walking with ease. Now her joints were stiff, trembling with every step. Her face looked like a rubber mask, completely lifeless.

…Then, one day, she smiled brilliantly again.

Grandma solemnly told the family that she had joined the “Guishan Sect”. The brothers and sisters in the sect had enlightened her…

She had done wrong in her past life and was here now to pay the price. As long as she accumulated enough merit in this life, they could all be reunited in the next leaving a peaceful and happy life.

“The sect leader knows tons of spells. He’s a descendant of a famous ancient sage, with a whole family lineage!”

Her eyes sparkled with life. “So many people in the city believe in him. Even celebrities do!”

Now that she had “confirmed” she was a sinner, Grandma was suddenly in high spirits.

Little Fang Xiu couldn’t understand why.

His parents fought about it several times. His mother insisted on taking a hard stance, even if it meant forcing Grandma to move to the city.

His father, on the other hand, wanted a softer approach. Grandma refused to leave her hometown and had finally found a source of comfort. Her mental state had just improved. If she realized she’d been deceived, she might spiral again.

They could simply visit her more often, keeping her from getting too deep into it.

“I’ve heard a lot of people believe in that sect. It’s not like they’re all doing crazy stuff.” His father smiled stiffly. “Mom just donates some money and recites scriptures. Let’s just keep an eye on it and not upset her.”

“But it’s wrong.” Little Fang Xiu frowned.

His father looked sorrowful. “When someone’s sick, you should treat them, right Xiu Xiu? But for some elderly folks, the treatment might be more harmful than the illness.”

Mom: “Just yesterday the paper reported on the cult running illegal communities, even encouraging suicide!”

“That’s in the big cities… Mom’s in a remote place. Not many locals believe here. It’s not that serious…” His father mumbled, unclear who he was trying to convince.

And so, months passed.

Mom failed to change Grandma’s beliefs, and Dad couldn’t convince her to move. They even sought police help, but since she was elderly, the authorities could only give verbal warnings.

Back then, the Guishan Sect was expanding rapidly. Officials could barely manage urban followers, let alone rural elders.

Little Fang Xiu, still a child, thought hard but found no solution. All he could do was help his parents keep an eye on Grandma.

Her energy improved, almost alarmingly so, like an engine pushed beyond its limits. She began contacting them more often. Now that the autumn break had arrived, she immediately called the family home for a seasonal visit.

…Inside the room, Grandma was still chatting with the neighbors.

One kindly looking aunt stood and handed a booklet to Fang Xiu.

“Reading is good. Take a look at this too.” The cover featured a middle-aged man in Taoist robes with a serene and noble bearing. Text along the sides read: “Zhuang Chongyue, 58th-generation descendant of Zhuang Guiqu”, “Number One Immortal Across All Realms”.

The title in large print: “Guishan Divine Words”.

What utter nonsense. Little Fang Xiu frowned deeply and turned his head away, refusing to take it.

The woman’s smile didn’t change. “No problem. I’ll just read it to you.”

“Return, return…”

“Merit complete, all will rejoice—”

Fang Xiu covered his ears.

“Xiu Xiu, don’t be rude!” Grandma chided gently, then turned to the woman. “Don’t mind him, sister. My boy’s too young. He’s been misled by those outside lies. He’ll come around.”

He’ll come around?

Little Fang Xiu looked at her in confusion. She looked down at him and smiled, mouth stretched wide.

The woman nodded with approval. “Yes, yes, your family’s smart. They know truth when they see it. Over there, they’ll be well taken care of.”

“My son takes after me. He’ll be fine.” Grandma declared proudly. “The Master’s arrangements are all in place. They should be arriving soon… If it gets too chaotic, I’ll go help calm them.”

Taken care of? Arrangements?

Grandma’s smile was warmer than ever, but Fang Xiu felt a creeping unease.

“Grandma, are you trying to send us away?” he asked.

“Oh, what a sweet, smart child. He understands!”

The two neighbor women praised him with exaggerated grins, looking at him like some primitive monkey.

Fang Xiu ignored them. He set down his book and grabbed Grandma’s clothes. “Grandma?”

“Xiu Xiu, our family made too much money so we can’t accumulate virtue.” She gently held his hand and whispered, “I told your dad many times, donate more to the gods, donate more, but he never listens… If this goes on, we won’t be family in the next life.”

“Grandma just wants your parents to attend Master’s class and learn more. It’s just like school. It’s not a bad thing.”

The neighbors parroted like a chorus. “Yes, yes, learn more. Master Zhuang’s disciples came here. They really know magic. He’s a living immortal!”

“Schools don’t teach the real stuff anymore. It’s all lies. The world these days—tsk…”

Little Fang Xiu: “…”

His wrist was hurting from Grandma’s grip, but she didn’t seem to notice. She stared at him intensely.

“Be a good boy and keep this secret for Grandma, okay?”

“Your parents have been deceived, but they’ll realize the truth soon. Then we’ll all worship the living immortal together and be one big happy family in the next life!”

Fang Xiu’s body went stiff. He didn’t respond.

“Xiu Xiu, don’t you like Grandma?” Her grip tightened.

“Keep it secret for Grandma, okay?”

“Keep it secret for Grandma, okay?”

“Keep it secret for Grandma, okay?”

She repeated the words sweetly, but her strength grew terrifying.

His wrist felt like it might snap. The two neighbors slowly closed in.

Fang Xiu parted his lips, took a breath, and squeezed out one obedient “Okay.”

Grandma finally let go. Her wrinkled face crinkled with a blissful smile.

“This child understands. He knows right from wrong.” She said, “You know, my grandson never tells lies.”

Fang Xiu played dumb and managed to slip out of the main room.

He picked up a branch and pretended to doodle by the gate. All three inside were watching him as cold sweat beaded down his back.

Who knows how long he waited before his parents returned, tired and dusty. When he heard their voices, he instinctively relaxed.

“I still think someone messed with the car. It was fine when we got here.”

“You’re overthinking. I’ll book a car in a bit.”

“Don’t wait. Book it now. These are mountain roads… We won’t get back by tomorrow…”

Their voices echoed through the yard.

Grandma and the neighbors came out smiling to greet them.

“Dad! Mom!” Little Fang Xiu dropped the stick and ran forward.

Grandma’s demeanor was strange. Fang Xiu had a bad feeling.

If the Guishan Sect really wanted to take his parents away, this was serious. And if it was serious… he shouldn’t keep it a secret.

His parents were capable. Maybe they could talk Grandma out of it.

…Being a lying bad kid just this once should be okay, right?

…Grandma loved him so much. She’d definitely forgive him.

Before his parents could enter the house, Fang Xiu hugged his dad’s waist and whispered quickly, “They said the Guishan Sect made arrangements. They want to take all of us away.”

His father froze. Two seconds later, he picked Fang Xiu up and gave his wife a look.

His mother caught on immediately and smiled warmly. “Mom, lunch can wait. We’re going to take Xiu Xiu for a walk in the mountains.”

“The mountains are dangerous. What’s there to see?”

“Yeah, a lot of people go missing up there,” the neighbor uncle said loudly. People outside slowed their steps and turned to look. They didn’t look at the ones shouting. They looked at Fang Xiu’s family.

Like ants spotting sugar.

Fang Xiu shuddered and clung tighter to his father’s neck.

Grandma looked around and her smile faded. “The mountains are dangerous. Don’t drag the kid around. Come in and eat.”

“Come on, Mom, what are you talking about? I grew up here. I know what’s safe. We’ll just take a stroll and pick some wild herbs.”

The villagers came closer. Fang Xiu’s father held him tighter, and his voice became drier.

His dad’s lie was weak. Grandma’s smile vanished entirely, her face now eerily blank like the villagers around her.

“Qiongyu, you’re lying to me,” she snapped. “Lying to your own mother?!”

His father’s voice was like burning coal. “Mom… really, we’ll be right back…”

More villagers showed up—way too many. It felt unnatural.

Like the entire village had crawled out of every corner to surround them.

Fang Xiu was dazed. But hadn’t Grandma said only a few families in the village believed this?

“Stubborn fools must be shown the truth—”

“Denying a living immortal? Must be possessed—”

“Her son’s the richest and owes the most merit—”

……

The villagers chatted loudly, eyes locked on them. They formed a wall of flesh, cheerful and oppressive. Some men held hoes or pitchforks, pacing idly.

Fang Xiu recognized two aunts who’d always been kind to him. They were now grinning, showing off gleaming scissors.

He curled up and buried his face in his father’s chest. His father was drenched in sweat, chest heaving, heartbeat like an earthquake.

Maybe seconds passed, or centuries, before his mother screamed, “Run!”

Almost instantly, Grandma bellowed, “Stop!”

Fang Xiu had never heard her scream like that.

But his parents didn’t stop.

They didn’t run for the village gate. They bolted into the mountains, knocking aside villagers in their way.

The crowd misjudged and missed the chance to intercept.

“Chase them! Hurry!”

Grandma stomped and panted, starting to run herself.

Fang Xiu felt numb.

His mother had kept him from reading too much about the Guishan Sect. He only knew it was a dangerous cult. People used words like “crazy” or “fanatic” to describe it.

Now he knew that wasn’t enough. It was like calling death “cold”. Too thin. Too empty.

The car was broken, so his parents fled on foot. As the view behind them shrank, he saw Grandma’s form pursuing wildly.

“Don’t run, Grandma…” he murmured. “It’s bad for your health.”

His parents were in good shape. The older villagers were left behind. Only a dozen or so young men kept up. Grandma fell behind too, leaning on a tree, shrinking in the distance.

“Fang Qiongyu, come back!” Her twisted body wailed. “You’re unfilial. This is a sin—!”

Fang Xiu’s father let his mother run ahead while he carried Fang Xiu at the rear.

No matter how Grandma screamed, he never looked back.

They stumbled through the mountain.

Some villagers nearly grabbed Fang Xiu’s hair.

“Fang Qiongyu, come back and collect your mother’s body!” Seeing them vanish into the forest, Grandma shrieked herself hoarse. “Fang Xiu—you lied to Grandma! …You’re demons! All of you!”

Her voice was full of grief, as if her only remaining relatives were not escaping, but running towards death.

“My merits—” She clawed at her face while tears blurred her vision and then slammed her head into a nearby tree.

Little Fang Xiu opened his eyes wide.

In his pupils, Grandma’s body sagged and slid down the trunk like a cloth bag. She didn’t move again. A bright red patch spread across her body.

There were no more screams. The world suddenly became silent and even the villagers’ shout grew faint.

At that moment, Fang Xiu didn’t feel sad. It all felt like a bizarre nightmare that he couldn’t understand… He still had a hint of sesame pancake on his tongue.

How strange, he thought. Even though they’d run so far, and Grandma looked so small, he could still see the hatred in her eyes.

Grandma hated me.

Why? Because I lied?

He remembered her picking jujubes with him, cooking his favorite sweets, stuffing his bags with snacks when he left. She’d never let him go, and now, she had thrown him away. Those memories weren’t fake. That love wasn’t fake.

…He just didn’t understand.

“Dad…” Fang Xiu mumbled as if he was dreaming. “Grandma fell…”

Warm liquid dripped onto his neck. He didn’t know if it was his father’s tears or sweat.

His father kept running and didn’t answer.

Everything dimmed and the memory faded away. Bai Shuangying knew what that meant… Fang Xiu’s grandmother had completely died.

Their karmic thread had ended.

Looking at Fang Xiu again, Bai Shuangying felt a moment of disorientation.

He couldn’t match that innocent child with the man in front of him. It was like a chubby kitten had grown into a lean, fierce leopard, like a different species.

His human really was incredible.

Unfortunately, even after seeing the karma, Bai Shuangying still didn’t know how Fang Xiu became who he was today.

After all, when the memory ended, Little Fang Xiu was still like that little black dog—bewildered and naive, unable to grasp the situation.

Still, he’d gained something from this glimpse.

Zhuang Chongyue, 58th-generation descendant of Zhuang Guiqu?

No wonder the Guishan Sect spells countered him. It turned out that the leader was the disciple of Zhuang Guiqu. After hundreds of years, that bastard’s legacy was still haunting the world.

Bai Shuangying tugged at the chains on his body and narrowed his eyes. That old Zhuang had a hand in binding him too.

And now Fang Xiu, someone with a grudge against Guishan, had summoned and unsealed him? This was too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence.

Good. Fang Xiu had fallen into his hands now.

He just needed to understand more, dig deeper… and hold tighter…

Bai Shuangying let go of his hand. The karmic thread slipped back into Fang Xiu’s body. The scenery twisted and blurred. The courtyard around them transformed into the one from Fang Xiu’s memory.

From the marks on the bricks to the branches of the jujube tree, everything matched exactly.

…Come, Fang Xiu.

We’re going to live for a very, very long time.

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The author has something to say:

Next up: Not captivity in a cat nest (×), but sweet domestic life (√)

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 76: By Your Side

“Zzzzt—”

A tiny electronic screen flickered to life, the image shaking before settling beneath a persimmon tree. It was winter in the footage. Snow blanketed the ground and tree branches.

An elderly man, around his sixties or seventies, carried a folding stool and sat at the center of the frame. He squinted with a cheerful smile as he settled in. A big yellow dog waddled over and leapt into his arms.

The dog wore a tattered red collar, clearly aged, with dry and matted fur.

“Alright, alright. Good dog, good dog.” The old man patted its head, then called out loudly, “Fan’er, Qian’er, come over and let Grandpa record you!”

Two children around ten came running, munching on candied hawthorn skewers. Dressed in thick puffy jackets, they looked like two buns smeared in colorful frosting.

The yellow dog immediately switched targets, frantically licking the sugary hawthorn.

The old man wrapped his arms around his grandkids, beaming at the camera.

“Everyone came home for the New Year. My second son bought me this camcorder, so I’m trying it out today,” he said to the camera a bit awkwardly. “This thing’s great. It helps you remember stuff!”

“Grandpa, why don’t you keep a diary?” the granddaughter asked.

“Grandpa’s uneducated and illiterate.”

“This’ll get full!” the grandson said.

“They said the card’s really big… Grandpa, you gotta use it sparingly!”

“Woof woof!” The yellow dog paced around the old man happily.

The old man laughed with pure joy.

“Dad, don’t stay out too long. It’s cold!” a woman called from off-camera.

“Alright…”

……

The next clip was from autumn. The persimmon tree was heavy with plump fruit. The little girl obediently stood beneath the tree while the old man marked her height.

The boy crouched nearby playing on a phone, game sounds chiming out.

The big yellow dog from the last video was gone. In its place lay a half-year-old mutt with black-and-yellow fur, quietly resting at the old man’s feet, its tail giving occasional flicks.

“Where’s Big Yellow? Wasn’t it always around?” the granddaughter asked.

“Big Yellow got old. It’s gone.” The old man’s smile dimmed. “That’s how dogs are. They have short lives.”

“Big Yellow was older than us, already ten. Mom and Dad said it wouldn’t make it through the winter.” The grandson muttered without looking up, “Better to be a human. Humans live longer.”

The old man was silent for a moment. “Yeah… we live longer as humans.”

The little mutt at his feet watched the three of them with round eyes.

After the girl finished marking her height, she ran over to fondle the puppy’s soft ears. Its tail swept the fallen leaves, ears twitching under her fingers.

“Dad, time to eat!” a man’s voice came from off-screen.

“Alright…”

……

The third clip was spring. There were no children this time… It was just the now-grown puppy.

The old man sat under the tree alone, breaking off pieces of a meat bun and feeding them to his dog.

“I asked Second Son’s wife, and she said this thing can record for years. I figure, I haven’t got that many years left. Just recording them coming back won’t use it up.”

He patted the dog’s head and sat upright for the camera, like preparing to go on TV.

“I’d better record more, right Douzi? What should we film today…”

The dog, “Douzi”, finished the bun and tilted its head to lick crumbs and grease from the old man’s fingers.

The old man looked down for a moment at the worn red collar.

“Well then, let’s talk about you today. Counting properly, you’d be the fifteenth…”

…The old man had raised dogs nearly his entire life.

As a child, he lost his parents in wartime and nearly froze to death in the streets, until he clung to a neighbor’s old dog and barely survived.

Since then, he insisted on raising dogs. In his words, he liked them anyway, and besides, even the heavens seemed to bless him when he did.

For this reason, with his first savings, he didn’t buy meat or clothes. He went to a leatherworker and commissioned a red collar. It was like a belt, adjustable so a dog could wear it from puppyhood to old age.

The rest of his story was quiet and uneventful.

In his youth, he traveled far and wide, always with a dog by his side for protection.

If he had one bite of food, the dog got one too. He worked at a factory while the dog waited in a nearby shack. When the nights were cold, they’d sleep together. Neither minded the other’s smell.

“Number Four had the worst luck. Some idiot stole it to eat.” The old man paused mid-story, cursing bitterly. “I beat that guy till he puked. Unfortunately, I only managed to get the collar back…”

Later, when he settled down, his dogs guarded the home.

He and his wife had two sons and one daughter. The eldest died at birth, and the daughter passed from illness at age three.

He raised his second son with difficulty, only for him to leave early for schooling. At home, it was just his wife, and his dog.

His son boarded away and only came home twice a year. From then on, his life was slowly drowned by “waiting”.

“Number Nine was the best… It chased off a thief trying to steal chickens.”

“It was a bit dumb though. Every time Second Son came home, it had to recognize him all over again. Maybe it was getting old…”

The old man muttered as he cuddled the dog.

When he turned sixty, his wife died of cancer. His son had a career and family far away, with a son and daughter of his own, only visiting during short autumn holidays or New Year’s.

Old friends either passed away or moved in with their children. The big courtyard became empty, with only the little dog dashing endlessly through it.

After he was left alone, “waiting” consumed nearly all of his life.

He waited for family when he was happy and waited for death when he was not.

“I sit here waiting. When I go out, you wait here too. We’re kind of alike.”

The old man kissed the dog’s furry head. “Life’s too long.”

“Woof!” The dog licked the tip of his nose.

Maybe from having nothing else to do, he treated the camcorder like a diary.

He’d go out in the morning to tend the plants and record for a few minutes each evening. Season after season, rain or shine.

He spoke to the dark camera lens, telling his day’s little stories, occasionally reminiscing.

At first, he was stiff, then relaxed, then fully at ease, like the machine was no longer a device, but an old friend who knew how to listen.

But as he aged, his spine hunched further. His son and daughter-in-law’s hair grayed. The grandchildren grew up and started their own families.

In his short “diary clips”, reunions grew fewer and farther between.

Until one year, during New Year’s, the gate stayed quiet. No one came.

Still, the old man always sat with his back to the persimmon tree, facing the little camcorder, or rather, the courtyard gate beyond it.

Thankfully, the recordings weren’t all bleak.

In the blurry footage, many little dogs grew up and passed on. But there was always one dog by the old man’s side, bouncing through the years, waiting faithfully.

Only when looking at them did his wrinkled face stir with the hint of a smile.

More than twenty years, compressed into just a few hours.

The final recording was in winter.

The wind was fierce that day so you could hear its howl in the footage. Snow blanketed the ground and branches. The old man, now nearly ninety, was wrapped in a black padded coat, body like a hollowed walnut.

Still, he carried out his stool and sat beneath the tree.

“This card’s nearly full. And I’m still here.”

He squinted against the wind, breath fogging faintly.

A little black dog happily bounded over, jumping into his lap.

The old man slowly lowered his head, gently petting it. His shriveled hands had been turned reddish-brown by the cold wind.

“Good dog, good dog, you’re so warm,” he murmured.

The black dog licked his hand, tail wagging nonstop.

The old man stared blankly into the lens.

His thoughts thinned like water. Memories faded. Like a sponge completely wrung dry, he couldn’t even make small talk.

“Oh right. Gotta go buy salt. We’re out of salt…”

After sitting for several minutes, he patted the dog again and shakily stood up.

The dog tilted its head, confused. Seeing him about to leave, it habitually rushed up and tried to bite the heel of his right foot.

“Don’t fuss.” The old man smiled. “Wait here. I’ll be back to play with you.”

“Woof woof!” The little black dog circled his feet.

“Sit. Wait!”

The dog obediently sat.

The old man stepped out of frame, into the howling wind.

The dog waited.

It waited until noise rose outside the gate. Until a siren wailed in the distance.

Someone shouted about the wind, about slipping, about there being no one home.

The little black dog didn’t understand.

It lay under the persimmon tree, muzzle resting on its paws, staring at the gate.

Later, someone entered the courtyard and began rummaging through things. The dog ran out of frame, barking furiously.

The camera shook and someone picked it up.

“Hey, careful, leave that. Someone’s relative might come back for it.”

“And the dog? It won’t let anyone touch it. Doesn’t matter how we try.”

“Just give it something to eat.”

The dog barked until it was tired, then stubbornly returned beneath the tree.

Dusk fell and the noise faded. The camcorder’s battery was nearing empty. Snow covered the dog. It occasionally shook it off, only to lie back down in the same spot.

The storm intensified.

The dog trembled, its breath growing faint. But it never moved.

It stared stubbornly at the gate.

Its master hadn’t come home.

He told it to wait.

[So it waited.]

…At last, the footage ended and the screen went black.

……

Fang Xiu put down the camcorder and was speechless for a moment. The little black dog circled his feet and barked proudly twice.

Bai Shuangying translated, “Its master always smiled at this thing. So it thought you’d like it too.”

Fang Xiu crouched down and gently scratched its ears. Around its neck, the red leather collar stood out sharply. Old and worn, it radiated yin qi.

After watching the video, the true form of the “E” was clear.

The object that carried all that karma and belonged to the dog was that old red collar.

This time, it didn’t hold human karma or obsession.

Dozens of dogs had worn it. They had each, in their lives, accompanied and waited for one man.

In the end, it soaked up the obsessive longing of that wait, buried beneath wind and snow, alongside the last little black dog.

…This E’s karma wasn’t vast or heavy. In fact, it was astoundingly ordinary. But in terms of karmic entanglement, it was tighter than even the Mid-Autumn E, and its obsession was terrifyingly pure.

The dog didn’t understand its master had died. It didn’t understand it had died.

It only remembered that on a windy day, the old man left and never returned.

The world beyond the gate was dangerous. The wind was dangerous. It had to protect their home. It had to keep waiting.

So, beyond the three standard taboos, the E created countless more ghostly “penalties”, punishing the bad, stopping violence. The dog wasn’t deliberately confusing the rules. It was simply doing its job: guarding its home.

“How strong is it?” Fang Xiu sat down, stroking the little dog with both hands.

“It could become an immortal at any time.” Bai Shuangying hesitated before sitting across from him. “It’s bound to the E, and it devours ghosts daily. That’s just barely enough.”

Fang Xiu paused mid-pet. “Why won’t the Underworld help it?”

“It lacks intelligence,” Bai Shuangying said plainly. “It doesn’t know it’s dead, so it never considers moving on.”

The dog licked its nose happily, panting pointlessly.

Fang Xiu: “…” So… basically, it’s too dumb.

Fang Xiu: “If I destroy the E…”

“Its obsession is too pure to become an evil spirit. Without the E to sustain it, it will eventually dissipate.” Bai Shuangying told the truth. He was in a good mood. Since Fang Xiu liked the dog, he’d surely stay longer.

Sure enough, Fang Xiu’s face dimmed a little. He picked up the soft, cold dog.

“Looks like I’ll be staying here a while longer,” he said softly, rubbing the dog hard.

Bai Shuangying: “!”

Just as he thought, coaxing was better than coercion. He was beginning to enjoy “thinking”. Watching his human willingly step into the nest gave him a strange sense of accomplishment.

Still, Fang Xiu didn’t seem truly happy.

After some intense mental effort, Bai Shuangying came up with a perfect idea—a way to help Fang Xiu relax and want to stay longer.

He shifted his gaze from the camcorder. “I can recreate your karma.”

“My karma?”

“You said your grandmother’s courtyard looked like this. If you’re staying long-term, I can use illusions to recreate it.” Bai Shuangying said, “Just like the gambler rooms in Huanxi World. I only need a thread of karmic tie.”

He would start with one thread. That way, he could understand Fang Xiu’s past, and better coax his human. It was killing two birds with one stone.

Fang Xiu: “…I said my grandmother died violently. She hated me.”

Bai Shuangying replied without pause, “But when you mentioned her, your expression was full of nostalgia.”

Fang Xiu dropped his gaze and was silent for a long time. “How do I give you my karma?”

“Let me look into your soul.” Bai Shuangying was completely justified.

He hadn’t yet recovered enough to manipulate karma at will.

Fang Xiu froze. His soul was still housed in his body. If Bai Shuangying had to touch it, did that mean…

“It’s the same as drawing essence. A kiss will do.” Bai Shuangying said, “You said you’d only kiss me if you liked me. You never said I couldn’t kiss you.”

Fang Xiu: “???”

Wait, that actually made sense. He wasn’t sure whether to marvel at Bai Shuangying’s cunning or at his devilish logic.

Fang Xiu’s heart skipped twice. If this was to extract karma, and Bai Shuangying was the one initiating… Then this wasn’t using him, right?

He was about to spend a short period of peaceful slice of life with a ghost he liked. There wouldn’t be another chance like this.

Maybe, just a little bit of sweetness… wouldn’t hurt?

…Well, the ending was already written anyway.

Fang Xiu gently set down the little dog. He patted his own face and carefully smoothed every wrinkle in his T-shirt.

After fussing with his clothes, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, adjusting his mental state. He was practically meditating.

Bai Shuangying waited patiently for half a stick of incense.

Finally, Fang Xiu opened his eyes, but his gaze drifted toward the hand pump. “I want to rinse my mouth first—no, boil water and take a bath…”

Bai Shuangying lost all patience.

He grabbed Fang Xiu, who was frantically shaking his head and shouting, “Wait, there’s mint leaves outside. Let me chew on a few pieces first,” and sealed his lips with an entirely new method.

Like a beast caught by the scruff, Fang Xiu instantly froze.

Just as soft and warm as he remembered, Bai Shuangying thought.

Humans were really obsessed with mating rituals… He’d already inhabited Fang Xiu’s body once, and that time, Fang Xiu didn’t react nearly like this.

The sudden kiss sent Fang Xiu’s temperature soaring. His soul stirred violently, spiritual essence leaking out.

Bai Shuangying stayed focused. While Fang Xiu’s soul was unstable, he pulled forth the karmic thread he wanted…

A crimson strand emerged from Fang Xiu’s chest, almost blending into his red T-shirt.

Too easy. He might as well peek a bit more.

Fang Xiu’s soul had only slightly fluctuated, maybe he could dig a bit deeper, see some other karmic ties.

While kissing, Bai Shuangying held Fang Xiu’s shoulders tightly.

He wasn’t sure how humans kissed, but he knew they used tongues. And since he could reshape his body… Well, naturally that would mean he was better than ordinary humans.

He toyed with Fang Xiu’s tongue, then split his own into multiple strands.

His tongue extended and tangled in Fang Xiu’s throat, pressing against the warm esophagus. The tips had slight keratin, tickling the soft mucosa. Fang Xiu whimpered a few times, sweat forming on his skin.

The deep kiss made his soul ripple harder. Bai Shuangying was just about to dig deeper…

“Puh—!”

Fang Xiu shoved him away, gasping for air, skin flushed as red as his shirt.

Bai Shuangying regretfully retracted his tongues. More than a dozen claw-like tips merging into one.

Oh, right. He forgot, humans needed to breathe.

He wasn’t used to invading people in human form and accidentally blocked Fang Xiu’s airway.

“…You—cough—you got the karma.” Fang Xiu stared at the red thread on his chest, trying to sound composed.

“Mm,” Bai Shuangying nodded.

It was hard to say whether Fang Xiu looked more shocked or… pleased. But the soul fluctuation proved he was moved, so Bai Shuangying didn’t mess up.

Fang Xiu rubbed his face for a long time and finally stammered. “So… uh… how’s it taste? My soul?”

Bai Shuangying: “……”

He frowned. “…I forgot to taste it.”

He wasn’t used to multitasking. He’d been too focused on peeking, to the point he forgot to savor his human…!

Fang Xiu: “?”

Seeing his ghost’s sour expression, Fang Xiu’s confusion melted into snickering.

Bai Shuangying gave him a long, reproachful stare. Fang Xiu couldn’t hold it in anymore… He hugged the little black dog and burst into laughter.

“…Well, this way you’ve got a surprise to look forward to.”

Fang Xiu wiped away tears of laughter, cheeks still bright red. “Next time, make sure you remember. I’m not reminding you.”

Bai Shuangying said nothing.

Fine. At least his human was happier now. And…

He tightened his grip on the karmic thread and began to peer inside.

……

At first glance, Bai Shuangying thought he hadn’t moved. Because… Fang Xiu’s grandmother’s courtyard looked exactly like this one.

Same main hall and two side wings. Same tree in the middle. Even the water pump was in the same spot.

Except… her tree wasn’t a persimmon. It was a jujube.

“Grandma! Grandma!”

A little boy in a red jacket ran stumbling into the courtyard, face lit with joy. He was maybe four or five years old.

Bai Shuangying watched for a while before recognizing him. Not because of age, but because he had never seen Fang Xiu look so… carefree.

“Ah, my little darling. Don’t fall!”

A sturdy old woman rushed out, scooping him into her arms. “Did our Xiu Xiu miss Grandpa and Grandma?”

“I did!”

“Not lying to Grandma?” She beamed, her wrinkles stretching smooth.

“I never lie.”

Little Fang Xiu puffed his chest. “Mom and Dad said you have to be honest. Only bad kids lie!”

“That’s right. Our Xiu Xiu is a good boy. What do you want to eat, hmm? Grandma will make anything you want.”

She pinched his chubby cheek.

“Sesame sugar cakes! Grandma makes the best sesame sugar cakes!” Little Fang Xiu ordered without hesitation.

“Alright, alright. We’ll have our fill of sugar cakes.” The old woman grabbed his hand and led him inside with a laugh.

As they walked, Little Fang Xiu kept turning back. “Mom, Dad—hurry up! Grandma’s making cakes!”

Behind him, a smiling couple followed, carrying gifts while talking and laughing.

…There was doubt about it. That was Fang Xiu’s parents. He looked strikingly like his mother. Bai Shuangying recognized her instantly.

He stared at the parents for a long time. They were a beautiful couple, clear eyes, soft expressions, expensive clothes, full of grace and warmth. And judging by their mannerisms, they had nothing to do with the metaphysics.

So, Fang Xiu’s parents were ordinary humans, probably well-educated and kind. If he’d grown up normally, he should’ve been a refined young man.

How had he turned into what he was now?

Bai Shuangying tapped his fingers and fast-forwarded along the karmic thread, skipping over all the happy moments, straight to the death of Fang Xiu’s grandfather.

That year, Fang Xiu was nine.

---

The author has something to say:

First kiss for the young couple! Fang Xiu’s explosive first kiss (…

Guess if the dog will follow him next chapter☆

---

Kinky Thoughts:

This is pretty explicit for Nian Zhong… Damn. Kinky. Is she gonna be alright on JJ?

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 75: Ending

Blondie flailed his arms in despair and swiftly summoned his ghost to claw at the scarf around his neck. But whatever that scarf was made of, the ghost’s sharp claws couldn’t leave a single mark.

It clung tightly to his windpipe, constricting like a noose. Eyes bloodshot, Blondie looked pleadingly at Mei Lan.

As the scarf loosened slightly, it revealed a red string around Mei Lan’s neck. She casually tugged it and pulled out an oddly shaped green jade pendant.

Under the moonlight, it shimmered with an uncanny glow. Maybe from the lack of oxygen, Blondie hallucinated a pair of eyes on the pendant. Mei Lan was watching him, and so was it.

…Watching him die.

The suffocating pain grew sharper, and Blondie’s thoughts spiraled, memories surging out of control.

He had always known he wasn’t the brightest, so he lived by two life lessons: find a good loophole and follow a strong boss.

He had accidentally killed someone when he was young but wasn’t held accountable due to his age.

Realizing this, he treated it like gold and quickly fell in with local “street folks”, taking on dirty jobs that adults couldn’t do.

When he got older, he pledged loyalty to a big brother in the city. He’d specifically steal from the wealthy. So long as he didn’t go too far, rich people usually wouldn’t make a fuss.

Even in this ritual, he had followed his life rules. So how did it all end up like this…?

Blondie struggled futilely. The jade pendant before his eyes began to blur and double, yet it stirred a strange familiarity.

Wait… he’d seen it before…

Back when he was with his big brother, he had met a young man called “Mr. Cen” who also wore a green jade pendant!

Mr. Cen was a prominent figure in Gui Province. Since his boss followed Mr. Cen, Blondie could loosely claim to be under him too.

Seeing that pendant now… Mei Lan must be with Mr. Cen. Mr. Cen was powerful… maybe…

“Mr. Cen… Mr. Cen…”

Blondie wracked his meager brain, tongue swollen, straining to form the words.

At that name, Mei Lan actually reacted.

She narrowed her eyes and twisted her mouth into a cold smile that didn’t look like her usual self. The scarf tightened suddenly. Blondie’s body twitched twice, then slowly collapsed.

His double pupils were bloodshot, and he died with his eyes wide open.

Mei Lan chanted softly. Blondie and Jiang Xun’s souls floated from their corpses as glimmering fragments and quickly fused into the jade pendant.

She tucked it back under her collar and retied her scarf.

[All right, come eat.] She lifted her head and called out to the nearby evil spirits.

The words she spoke were no longer human language.

The next second, flesh and organs exploded around her. Mei Lan continued smiling gently, deliberately staying still to let the blood and wounds splash all over her body.

A dozen meters away, hidden in the forest’s shadows…

Fang Xiu, tucked under Bai Shuangying’s arm, silently watched the spirits devour Blondie’s corpse.

The black dog sat at Bai Shuangying’s feet, hopping up to try and reach Fang Xiu’s hand.

Bai Shuangying was clearly entertained. “You rushed back… to see this?”

Earlier, when Jiang Xun activated his self-destruct spell, Bai Shuangying had instantly noticed something was wrong. With one sweep of his Peach Bone Evil, he hurled Jiang Xun’s body away with a massive blast of yin energy.

The explosion still reached them, but far less lethally than it could have.

Fang Xiu’s reaction was terrifyingly fast.

The moment Bai Shuangying moved, he shouted for Cheng Songyun to raise the shield, then immediately grabbed Bai Shuangying’s arm. “Quick, back to the courtyard!”

But just as they got close, they witnessed Mei Lan’s execution—the jade pendant, the bold capture of soul fragments.

As the last bit of Blondie was devoured, Fang Xiu finally spoke. “…I originally thought, since Jiang Xun knew soul-swap spells, he might fake his death and switch souls.”

“If Mei Lan wasn’t a black Taoist and ended up facing him alone, she’d definitely be silenced.”

Bai Shuangying assessed fairly. “That was definitely silencing.” It just happened that the one silenced was Jiang Xun.

“Two lives in one body. Shame about the soul fragments.” Fang Xiu lowered his head and muttered, “Looks like the ‘kill Jiang Xun’ competition ends in a draw.”

Bai Shuangying stared at Fang Xiu, waiting to see his next move.

But Fang Xiu didn’t confront Mei Lan. He waited until she finished cleaning up, then gently tugged Bai Shuangying’s wrist and walked away.

In the darkness, Bai Shuangying’s gaze remained fixed on him.

Fang Xiu then located A’Qiao and Lu Wei. Their bodies were nearly destroyed, barely hanging on. He ended their suffering with one blow each.

Afterward, he circled the site of Jiang Xun’s explosion a few times. The dog helped dig out a bloodstained jade pendant. Fang Xiu held it up to the moonlight for a long time, then buried it deep in his pocket.

Finally, he called Cheng Songyun and Guan He out from the Resentful Ghost Shield. The three strolled back to the courtyard at a calm pace.

Everything proceeded smoothly and methodically.

By the time they were done, dawn had broken.

Faced with Mei Lan’s sobs and her story that “Blondie was attacked unexpectedly”, Fang Xiu smoothly launched into performance mode…

He comforted Mei Lan in a gentle, soothing tone, as if worried about her mental trauma. He said he’d failed to assess the surrounding dangers and that this wouldn’t happen again.

To Cheng Songyun and Guan He, he wore a mask of guilt and regret, claiming he had been reckless and should have better prepared to confront Jiang Xun.

Blondie, the only one who knew the truth, was now dead.

The others knew nothing about what had really happened in the main house.

Right in front of Bai Shuangying, Fang Xiu confidently spun a tale. “Jiang Xun tricked a newbie into testing a taboo, the kid fled and begged me for help.”

The taboos and clues Fang Xiu had previously hidden were now repackaged as confessions from A’Qiao and Lu Wei earlier that night, which were perfectly reasonable to disclose now:

…Don’t leave the premises, or your right shoe will disappear.

…Don’t damage the courtyard, or you’ll be expelled.

…Don’t walk into the wind, or you’ll die instantly.

These three taboos were relatively harmless and easy to obey.

Now that only one newbie remained, there was no need to panic. Everything could proceed at a measured pace.

Lies wrapped in lies, fabrications woven into fabrications.

Fang Xiu narrated them with fluent sincerity. His slightly reddened eyes brimmed with earnestness. To his anxious teammates, his words were like a warm glass of wine. It was comforting, like finally seeing the moon after the clouds part.

Bai Shuangying silently listened while consuming the souls of A’Qiao and Lu Wei. Once, he might have marveled at Fang Xiu’s cunning and adaptability. But now a strange thought surfaced…

Bai Shuangying suddenly felt… that Fang Xiu didn’t look happy at all.

Even in the confrontation with Jiang Xun, Fang Xiu seemed more cheerful when he used the magic brush to tease the dog than he did now.

The little dog sat quietly at Fang Xiu’s side, lifting its grape-like eyes to watch him. Its tail occasionally swished. Bai Shuangying scooped it up and tapped its cold nose.

“Forget it. He said he would take it slow and would probably stay here for a while.” 

The dog licked Bai Shuangying’s fingertips and tilted its head.

“Forget what I told you before.” Bai Shuangying stroked its soft fur. “Go ahead and bother him.”

“Woof?”

“You ask why?”

“Because I want to understand him. And for that, I want him to relax a little.”

His human wore mask after mask. From hair to fingertips, his whole body was wound tight.

Only when he wasn’t lying did those masks crack just a bit, letting Bai Shuangying catch a glimpse of the real Fang Xiu.

The dog tilted its head again from side to side, trying to understand. Bai Shuangying watched it thoughtfully in silence for a long time.

“Bai Shuangying.”

When the sun fully rose, Fang Xiu finally finished spinning his web of lies.

He rested his cheek on Bai Shuangying’s arm, trying to cool his head against his ghost’s body.

“Do you have anything urgent to say? If not, I… I’m gonna nap a bit…”

He let out a massive yawn, like he could collapse and sleep right there in the courtyard.

After last night, Bai Shuangying had many things he wanted to ask his human…

For example, that vile magic the Guishan Sect was using, about the green jade pendant, about why Fang Xiu hated its followers. Now would be the perfect time to tempt and pry.

But looking at the exhausted Fang Xiu, swaying on his feet… he didn’t feel like asking anymore.

“Go ahead and sleep,” he said, pressing a hand to Fang Xiu’s forehead. “Take your time.”

The dog barked twice in agreement.

Just take your time.

Bai Shuangying silently echoed the words in his heart.

……

By noon, the smell of hot soup woke Fang Xiu.

He twitched his nose and opened his eyes from within his ghost’s sleeve.

Everything looked too familiar. He instinctively tensed until he remembered Jiang Xun was gone and there was no longer any immediate threat.

The weather outside was lovely. The window was open, letting in cool air that refreshed the whole room.

With Blondie gone, the space felt much larger. His vulgar painting leaned askew in a corner, and his uneaten fruit still sat in a bowl.

Another person gone, like a countdown ticking forward.

Fang Xiu glanced at Mei Lan.

Her eyes were swollen from crying, and she curled up under the blanket like she’d really been traumatized.

If he hadn’t witnessed the truth, he’d think she was just a scared girl.

At this point, it seemed Mei Lan wasn’t just a black Taoist priest. She, like Jiang Xun and Shan Hunzi, was part of the Guishan Sect.

Logically, Fang Xiu should eliminate her without hesitation. But she had killed Jiang Xun, a fellow believer. Sect infighting was taboo in the Guishan Sect. That made her position… interesting.

…And that vague “apocalypse” they mentioned… Fang Xiu had never heard of it before.

He decided not to alert her for now. Best to observe further.

Of course, this made her a security risk to the team. But luckily, it wasn’t his problem at the moment.

Here, he was pressing pause, trying to steal a little time from the countdown. A little time to “live”.

At that thought, Fang Xiu reached out and hugged his ghost tightly. Bai Shuangying let him, then placed his hand gently over Fang Xiu’s eyes.

Fang Xiu: “Hm?”

“You wouldn’t be able to see that dog without my magic,” Bai Shuangying said. “You seem to like it a lot.”

Just then, the dog burst into the room like a cannonball, having slipped past Cheng Songyun at the door. It leapt directly onto Fang Xiu’s stomach and began furiously licking his face.

Bai Shuangying: “…It seems to like you too.”

Fang Xiu pushed the excited dog away and sat up with effort.

But the dog dashed back, bit the hem of his T-shirt, and started pulling him toward the door.

“No, no, we eat first, then walk,” Fang Xiu muttered, patting the dog’s head.

The dog tugged harder, nearly ripping the shirt off him.

“It wants you to follow it.”

Fang Xiu was shocked. “You speak dog?”

Bai Shuangying: “…Its situation is complicated. Just follow… It probably found something to help you relax.”

He had said he wanted Fang Xiu to relax. So did the dog, it seemed.

Fang Xiu had no choice but to follow, dragged into the courtyard.

The little black dog barked joyfully and led him to a corner of the yard to the spot where Fang Xiu had once found an old shoe and plastic toys.

The dog raised a paw and began digging fast. As dirt scattered, something slowly came into view…

An old-model handheld camcorder.

It was buried under dirt yet showed no signs of rust. It didn’t emit much yin qi, clearly not the E of this place.

The dog gently grabbed the strap with its mouth and dragged it to Fang Xiu’s feet, eyes full of anticipation, tail wagging like it might take off.

Bai Shuangying: “What is that?”

Fang Xiu picked it up, quickly found the charging port, and used his skill to charge it.

“How should I put it… this is one of humanity’s mass-produced ‘E’,” Fang Xiu said.

“It can also reveal karma.”

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 74: Who Will Win?

Jiang Xun quickly shrugged off the newcomer who had crashed into him. He hadn’t even gotten his footing before he figured out what had just happened.

In short, he’d been played by Fang Xiu’s team.

If it had really been the descent of a Great Evil, the evil spirits wouldn’t have needed to mess with taboos just to kick him out of the courtyard. The fact that he triggered a taboo meant he had cut himself off from solving the E personally. The courtyard now belonged to Fang Xiu.

Silently, Jiang Xun recited “Return Home, Come Away” a few times, but he wasn’t panicking.

If Fang Xiu had this level of skill, resolving the E wouldn’t be hard.

Jiang Xun could accept losing one skill reward. As long as he held on until Fang Xiu resolved the ritual, he could still return safely to the Disaster Relief Tower.

From this moment on, his goal was no longer to “eliminate the courtyard’s Master”, but simply to survive.

He glanced at the forest swarming with ghosts, brandished his brush-shaped magic weapon, and activated the talismans around him. With a few agile leaps, he vanished into the darkness.

Fang Xiu: “So the game’s started?”

“It’s started.” 

Bai Shuangying nodded. Under the moonlight, the Peach Bone Evil shimmered with a soft white glow. A’Qiao and Lu Wei staggered to their feet, their eyes clouded like hungry ghosts.

“That crazy woman ran off… She can’t run… We need some meat to eat…”

“Someone dying saves us water… Where the hell’s the rescue team… Useless trash…”

The two of them stumbled forward like zombies, muttering broken lines. Under the influence of concealment magic, their figures slowly faded into the night, like melting shadows.

They’d consumed flesh of their own kind before, so they were easy to control. But taking his eyes off them meant Fang Xiu’s safety…

“Do whatever you want.” Fang Xiu smiled. “I’ve got a puppy with me. I’ll be fine.”

The little black dog, with a soda can in its mouth, rubbed its head against Fang Xiu’s pant leg.

Bai Shuangying nodded, then his figure also disappeared.

Fang Xiu took a deep breath. Without Bai Shuangying by his side, he felt like he’d suddenly surfaced from warm water into cold air, a hollow kind of clarity.

Good. It helped him control his emotions.

“Good dog, help me find my teammates, will you?” Fang Xiu pulled out a roasted chicken drumstick and waved it in front of the dog.

This dog looked a bit silly, but as the “Master” of this place, it was certainly smarter than its peers.

The little dog happily bit down the drumstick and swallowed it in a few chomps. Then it spun in place twice and let out a low “woof”, signaling Fang Xiu to follow.

Earlier, when Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying took walks at night, they relied on stealth. Now, walking in the dark, Fang Xiu relied on the dog. Evil spirits scattered away from it like Moses parting the Red Sea.

The black dog was also thoughtful; it would trot a few steps ahead, turn back to wag its tail until Fang Xiu caught up, then move forward again.

In less than five minutes, Fang Xiu found his teammates.

They were heading toward the courtyard. Cheng Songyun and Mei Lan were supporting the badly mutilated Blondie, while Guan He kept watch on the wind.

At the slightest movement, he would signal Cheng Songyun to activate the Resentful Ghost Shield and protect Mei Lan. Meanwhile, Blondie cursed and shifted into his ghost form, guarding the outside with Guan He. This stop-and-go pace made their return very slow.

When Guan He saw Fang Xiu, his eyes lit up. “Fang Ge!”

The black dog’s eyes lit up too. It ran around joyfully at their feet, stirring little breezes. Soon, it realized only Fang Xiu could see it, so it returned to his side with its ears drooping slightly.

Fang Xiu rubbed it with his foot and scanned the group.

Blondie was the most injured, likely from when Lu Wei swapped bodies. Mei Lan and Cheng Songyun looked disheveled but unharmed. Guan He had many new wounds, but his face was bright and full of life.

The good news: Even without him, they had solid judgment and a working combat system. He could use bolder strategies in the next ritual.

The bad news: Their cooperation was too seamless. He couldn’t test Mei Lan’s abilities. Oh well, there’d be another chance.

Fang Xiu hid his regret and greeted them as usual. “So you all made it out.”

“We heard Xiao Du scream just now and were afraid you were in trouble,” Cheng Songyun said honestly.

Guan He pointed at Blondie and reported seriously, “Fang Ge, he says he triggered a taboo and can’t return to the courtyard.”

Fang Xiu feigned ignorance. “A taboo?”

Blondie seized the chance to rant. “Yeah, yeah! Can’t mess with the courtyard! Those bastards swapped my soul, used my body to break the rules… Finally got it back and my legs got chewed up by ghosts!”

Then, full of hope, he turned to Fang Xiu. “You’ve been out here a while, you must’ve figured something out, right? Can we resolve the E and go back already? Everyone standing guard over me at night isn’t a long-term plan…”

Fang Xiu didn’t answer directly. “Let’s not talk about that. I’m going to kill Jiang Xun.”

He said it calmly, like saying “I’m going to brush my teeth before bed.”

Blondie lit up with joy. “Yes, kill him! Show those idiots who’s boss!”

The others: “…?”

Fang Xiu was always practical. He never prioritized fighting other players over resolving the E, let alone just to save face for a teammate. Even back in Huanxi World, he’d willingly take losses to win a ritual.

So what had changed?

“I’ll get you all back to the courtyard first. Guan He, Cheng Songyun, one of you lend Du Zhichao your Five-Emperors Coins. With hidden magic weapons and ghost-guarding buffs, that’ll be enough.”

He skipped explanations and went straight to orders. “If things go wrong, return to your rooms. The spirits won’t act inside.”

Mei Lan murmured in agreement. Cheng Songyun and Guan He exchanged worried glances.

Fang Xiu ignored the storm in his teammates’ hearts. His steps back to the courtyard were steady, even a bit light.

This time, hatred hadn’t fully consumed him. A tiny voice in his heart was whispering, “Hurry, hurry, if you don’t, Bai Shuangying will win.”

With faint anticipation, Fang Xiu dropped off his companions and turned to leave. The dog was delighted their walk wasn’t over, panting happily as it followed.

Bai Shuangying had told him to bring teammates to face Jiang Xun, and the black dog counted. The others were too tired to be forced along. 

Watching him go, Guan He and Cheng Songyun lingered at the courtyard gate.

“Fang Ge’s in such a hurry to attack. That Jiang Xun must be dangerous,” Guan He said. “Just now he didn’t even look for Du Zhichao right away. He must’ve found something more important.”

Cheng Songyun had a different concern. “It’s too risky for him to go alone.”

Mei Lan stared at Fang Xiu’s back, then softly said, “Want me to look after Du Zhichao while you go help him?”

“You sure you can handle it alone?” Cheng Songyun was surprised. It was rare for Mei Lan to be so proactive.

Mei Lan nodded. “I can hide in the nectar water. This ritual has plenty of spirits, enough for a water ghost sacrifice.”

Guan He hesitated, then gave her his Five-Emperors Coins. “Here, take mine. You two both carry one.”

Cheng Songyun had just lent hers to Blondie. This way, both Mei Lan and Blondie had defensive charms. It should be safe enough.

“Thanks. You two be careful,” Mei Lan said quietly, watching as Cheng Songyun and Guan He disappeared into the night.

“Well now, looks like you’re quite gentle, looking after little ol’ me. My leg’s killing me, sis. Can you gimme a rub?” With two people left, Blondie opened his mouth to flirt.

“Scram.” Mei Lan’s tone was cold, like she was talking to a cockroach.

Noticing something subtly different about her demeanor, Blondie paused. “Huh?”

Mei Lan straightened, one hand over her chest, looking down at him. The shadows devoured her face, but her stark black-and-white eyes pierced through the moonlight.

Her gaze held no emotion, like she was observing a corpse.

A chill crept up Blondie’s spine. He instinctively shut his mouth and curled in on himself. “Mei J-Jie, sorry. It’s just a joke. I didn’t expect you to actually help me…”

“You can come over any time, my brother,” Mei Lan said softly. “You and I have our karmic debts paid. All’s well that ends well.”

“Wh-what?”

Mei Lan held her posture, eyes still locked on him, like a wax statue.

“Ah, I wasn’t talking to you,” she said mildly. Her eyes curved slightly.

……

Jiang Xun held a jade pendant in his hand and withdrew his gaze from midair.

Now isn’t the time to give up, he thought.

He had a rough idea of how the evil spirits were distributed.

The courtyard and the rooms—especially the rooms—were domains marked by the Master. Only the weakest of the spirits dared to intrude, trying to lure the sacrifices.

The farther one moved from the courtyard, the stronger the spirits became.

The powerful ones were like beasts, extremely sensitive to each other’s presence. They didn’t dare approach the courtyard, fearing a direct clash with the Master.

So they lingered at the edges of the death-boundary, preying on panicked victims trying to flee and on the lesser spirits constantly drawn there.

A bizarre but stable evil spirit “ecosystem”.

Jiang Xun decided to stay close to the courtyard walls, away from the prowling powerful evil spirits. Once daylight came, he could use sticks and stones to set up a maze formation and create an outdoor base.

Rest by day, defend by night, it should be viable in theory.

Before choosing a base, he needed to scout the spirit distribution farther out to pick the ideal spot.

In the dark, deformed shapes flitted through the shadows, and sticky whispers came from between the branches.

Jiang Xun picked up a stick to use as a cane and walked through the forest with confidence.

Four or five talismans were affixed to the tip of his stick; they would instantly ignite to warn him if spirits approached.

He also moved in accordance with his sect’s footwork techniques, light steps over the leaves, sending out pulses of defensive qi. Moreover, he was shrouded in two layers of spellwork: one to hide his presence, and another to ward off spirits. Low-level threats shouldn’t get near.

As long as he stayed away from the outer boundary, he should be saf—

“Hiss!” Jiang Xun’s brows twisted in pain.

Without warning, his hand burned in agony. A large chunk of flesh disappeared into thin air, and warm blood gushed out instantly.

In the moonlight, the talismans on his stick remained motionless without any signs of burning.

A taboo? No… He’d already dealt with three of them. But this clearly wasn’t a spirit attack… Could there really be more than three taboos?

Jiang Xun stepped back two paces, warily raising his staff. His brush was ready in his right hand. But all he saw ahead was a quiet night scene, with insects chirping softly among the fallen leaves.

Crunch. Crunch.

Something tore his pants and wounded his calf. At the same time, pain seared through his shoulder as his clothes were yanked hard.

This feeling…

He glanced at the wound on his hand. The edges were horribly familiar.

Bite marks. Human bite marks.

Jiang Xun looked again at the talismans. They still hadn’t ignited. There was only one explanation: He wasn’t being bitten by a spirit, but by a living human.

Jiang Xun spat, quickly swung his brush, and activated a dispel illusion spell but the reality it revealed showed the talismans intact.

…Not an illusion.

…But how could that be? What kind of person attacked like this?

“I’m an officially sanctioned Disaster Resolver!”

He shouted, voice stern. “I’ve already triggered a taboo and can no longer resolve this E. Let’s just back off now, or the Underworld will surely record this incident!”

Bai Shuangying looked down at Jiang Xun expressionlessly and said nothing.

He wasn’t the one doing the biting, so the Underworld couldn’t pin it on him.

Hidden nearby, A’Qiao and Lu Wei stared blankly into space with green-glowing eyes.

They chomped frantically on fresh flesh, blood and spit dribbling down their chins. “Why isn’t the rescue team here yet. Why are they still not here…”

“It’s not my fault—”

The purification spells that should have repelled spirits hit their bodies like snowflakes on a lake, vanishing without a trace.

Jiang Xun pressed his back to a tree, heart pounding like a drum.

After a brief calculation, he threw down his staff, stripped off his upper garments, and began drawing talismans directly on his skin. With wild strokes, the characters took form; his horrifying wounds stopped bleeding.

From a distance, he looked like a wax statue, riddled with holes but standing upright.

He’d been through six rituals. He knew how to cut off unnecessary thoughts. No matter who or what his opponent was, if it was a human, he’d fight like it was a human.

Humans weren’t beasts; their bite strength had limits. Without the risk of bleeding out, he wouldn’t die right away.

Jiang Xun picked up his ben and drew two “大*” characters in the air. With a flash of light, the dirt and leaves began to slither, forming two gaunt humanoid figures.

*Big.

They stretched out unnaturally long arms, encircling Jiang Xun protectively. Then, they began to sway and twirl around him like some eerie ritual.

A’Qiao and Lu Wei didn’t care. They lunged forward like animals, only to crash into the summoned guardians.

With a series of sickening cracks, their bodies lost all rigidity, collapsing like water sacks.

Their brains sloshed under their scalps, eyeballs popped from their sockets, and teeth scattered from their mouths.

With no ribs or spine left intact, their torsos crumpled, and they wheezed through crushed throats.

“Hehe, hehe.” The two lumps of meat laughed eerily on the ground, trying to mimic the ritual’s motions.

They were still alive, for now.

Bai Shuangying glanced down and remarked, “You’re leeches.”

“Two leeches that think they’re human.”

“Leeches don’t need bones.”

With his words, the meat piles twisted and stretched.

Flesh and fat squirmed, skin slipped like loose covers. Their heads and necks became equally narrow, faces grotesquely deformed, and their mouths relocated to the tops of their skulls.

They writhed along the ground, drawn by the scent of blood, latching onto Jiang Xun’s legs.

Within half a minute, new bite marks appeared. Though they resembled human teeth, the shape was deeply wrong.

The invisible attackers stopped eating flesh and started sucking his blood with abandon. Jiang Xun’s vision darkened.

When Fang Xiu arrived, he saw this scene.

He looked down at the human leeches. “…Wow.”

His ghost torture techniques were certainly creative and utterly dehumanizing.

Jiang Xun dying miserably was one thing, but these two, though far from saints, didn’t deserve this. Good thing only he could see through the illusion. If Cheng Songyun or Guan He saw this, it’d be hard to explain.

Fang Xiu decided to wrap this up quickly. “Guan He, use the Five-Ghosts Relocation to steal his brush. Don’t touch the weird guardians.”

Guan He nodded and slipped through the shadows. Before Jiang Xun could react, the brush was snatched from his hand.

Seeing Fang Xiu calmly execute his plan, Jiang Xun sneered, “So it really was you!”

Fang Xiu scratched his face awkwardly. “I did have that idea.”

Bai Shuangying: “？”

Jiang Xun: “???” What the hell are you saying?

Still, Jiang Xun didn’t stop casting. He flipped his palm and tried to summon his magic weapon again. Guan He cried out as the brush tried to fly away, only for Fang Xiu to casually bat it toward the black dog.

Tree-branch fetch! The dog perked up.

Just as the brush tried to flee again, the dog leapt up and caught it in its mouth. It dropped the brush at Fang Xiu’s feet with a wag of its tail.

Jiang Xun couldn’t see Bai Shuangying or the dog. To him, the brush had simply flown to Fang Xiu on its own.

Fighting dizziness, he bit into a spiritual herb and tried to summon again. The brush rose like an arrow… Only to stop midair and bounce gently back to Fang Xiu’s feet.

Jiang Xun’s bloodshot eyes widened.

His ankle was bitten again, blood draining rapidly. His beloved magic weapon refused to return. It was clear that Fang Xiu wanted him dead.

Words were useless now. He had to go all in.

Jiang Xun had four anomaly skills.

One was “Common-Grade Duplication”, tied to talismans. It was useless now; another, “Bone-Eating Twins”, couldn’t counter Fang Xiu’s strange powers.

As for the remaining two…

He chose “A Curse Passed Down Through Generations”. To use it, he had to sacrifice one of his internal organs.

As long as he had more blood-debt than Fang Xiu, the evil spirit it summoned would destroy him. It only worked on humans and could be used once per ritual. A hidden ace.

Jiang Xun had a special role in the Guishan Sect. He persuaded people to commit suicide and orchestrated mass suicides.

His direct and indirect blood-debts numbered over 500.

Fang Xiu was so young. How could he possibly compare?

…At worst, Jiang Xun could kill Fang Xiu and command his allies to destroy the ritual Master.

In a flash, Jiang Xun made his decision.

He pressed his hands to his stomach and chanted a twisted incantation. Black light spiraled around him.

Four lidless eyeballs, each the size of a human head, floated up behind him, their red pupils spinning wildly.

Seeing the anomaly aura, Bai Shuangying’s eyes narrowed.

Jiang Xun had summoned a Great Evil and it was checking the conditions for descent. Damn. Whatever pill Jiang Xun had taken, it was keeping him conscious despite the blood loss!

Now what? If Bai Shuangying personally killed him, the Underworld would investigate. If he personally dispersed the Great Evil, they’d still investigate. He…

He zipped in front of Fang Xiu, and the Peach Bon Evil surged. This was a pain. He didn’t care anymore. He’d just do it.

Bai Shuangying was never one for schemes. He just followed his own heart. And right now, it said one thing: Fang Xiu must not die.

…He’d gone to so much trouble building this lovely nest.

Just as Great Immortal Bai prepared to go all out, the four eyeballs scanned the group, and vanished on their own.

Jiang Xun: “……???”

He clutched his stomach, his face contorting in disbelief. “Who the hell are you?! How can your blood-debt be heavier than mine?!”

Fang Xiu leaned on Bai Shuangying’s shoulder in confusion. “What’s he saying?”

Bai Shuangying: “…” He was too lazy to explain.

He gave a simple answer. “He says you’re delicious.”

Cheng Songyun readied her Resentful Ghost Shield and patted Guan He. “He’s talking nonsense, don’t believe him.”

Guan He stood tall. “Of course not! Fang Ge, anything else I should do?”

“The next bit’s not for minors. Cheng Jie, keep an eye on him,” Fang Xiu said, pulling a soda can from his pocket. “Xiao Guan, cover your eyes and ears.”

Guan He: “…”

Jiang Xun stared at Fang Xiu, pale and panting.

What kind of monster was this man? Where did he get so much blood on his hands? Not even a drug lord could rack up that kind of body count these days!

Wait… Could it be…

“You’re from the Guishan Sect too?” Jiang Xun rasped. “Wh-What level are you? If I’ve offended you, I—”

Thud!

The soda can flew out and nailed him in the forehead causing him to stagger.

“I’ve never been more disgusted by a misunderstanding in my life,” Fang Xiu said with a smile, but his eyes were dead cold.

“Trying to run? Might as well go out sprinting for once. No need to crawl.”

Jiang Xun looked toward the dense mass of spirits in the distance, then forced a weak smile.

“Seems you are not blessed by my god.”

He’d lost too much blood. His magic weapon was gone. His stomach was gone.

He still couldn’t read Fang Xiu’s techniques or background. His other magic weapons wouldn’t help much now.

This move was a gamble, but it was all he had left. While Fang Xiu turned away to speak, Jiang Xun curled up and activated his last anomaly skill.

Several hundred meters away, at the courtyard gate…

Hearing the sudden explosion, Mei Lan lifted her head briefly, then dropped her gaze again, distracted.

At her feet, Blondie’s body suddenly slumped sideways. Foam poured from his mouth. His eyes rolled back so violently that each eyeball seemed to split, and from within each one, an extra pupil emerged.

As the pupils rotated, both of his eyes turned into double pupils.

“Cough… cough…” Blondie clawed at his throat, and another voice seemed to speak from inside it:

“You and I have fulfilled our karmic duties. All’s well that ends well… protect me, sister…”

“The explosion was your doing.” Mei Lan’s fearful expression vanished. Her tone was flat.

“You self-destructed your own body to kill them?”

“Sorry for the trouble… Fang Xiu is too difficult… I can’t die yet…”

Blondie’s face twisted in terror, his mouth moving on its own. “I left a soul-swapping curse on him. I’ll just squeeze into this body for now…”

Mei Lan: “I see. So surviving the ritual with your soul intact still counts as making it through.”

“I know the truth behind the E. If you and I work together, we can end this quickly.”

Blondie’s body trembled harder. The second voice from his throat grew smoother, steadier, like it was recovering.

Mei Lan helped him to his feet and casually asked, “And what about that matter?”

“In a little while, we’ll be able to witness the end of days.”

Mei Lan raised her hand and gently pulled her scarf loose. “Is that so?”

The next moment, the scarf slithered like a snake around Blondie’s neck. His misshapen pupils widened in shock, and two voices screamed from his mouth…

“Mei Jie, stop—!”

“What are you doing?! …Cough—if you kill me, the other soul inside dies too—”

“He’s just scum, completely worthless.” Mei Lan’s voice was ice-cold. She made a small gesture, tightening the scarf. “You and I are both scums. You know that as well as I do.”

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

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.”

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 72: Illusion Symphony

After spending a few minutes in the seemingly peaceful guest room, Lu Yang felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He would rather deal with the vague whispers and apparitions. At least he could see them, and they could see him. He knew what he was facing.

Not like now, where he had no idea what would happen next. Every breath felt like holding his breath three times over.

On the other side, despite taking a heavy blow, Master Jiang hadn’t lost his composure. He scooped up some talisman ash and dabbed it four times on his own forehead, then four times on A’Qiao’s.

A protective spell!

Lu Yang took a deep breath, ready to step forward and ask for one.

But just as he lifted his foot, a shadow suddenly loomed before his eyes. The back of a massive head blocked his view, the short black hair tickling his nose.

Lu Yang jolted and stumbled backward several steps. When he finally saw the full figure, his thoughts froze for a moment.

It was himself.

Same height, same clothes, his body. That familiar yet alien figure stood with its back to him, sweat glistening on its skin.

Out-of-body experience?

Lu Yang pinched his arm hard. The skin was warm, the pain real. His tongue felt dry and bitter, his heart pounded so hard it didn’t even need checking.

…No. This wasn’t a soul leaving the body. His own body was still intact, so what was this thing in front of him?

“Master…!” In panic, Lu Yang cried out hoarsely.

His voice echoed through the small living room, but Jiang Xun gave no response. A’Qiao didn’t react either, eyes fixed in place.

It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on Lu Yang’s head. He lunged toward his teammates, shaking them and shouting, but not a single response came.

It was as if he’d been erased from the world or turned into a ghost.

As he struggled in despair, the “other Lu Yang” stepped forward, speaking timidly, “Master, the ash…”

This time, Jiang Xun heard. He dipped his finger into the ash and dabbed “Lu Yang’s” forehead four times while chanting.

“Stay close to me. No matter what you see or hear, do not believe it.” After finishing the spell, Jiang Xun gave a serious warning.

“I-I understand. Thank you, Master!”

The “Lu Yang” nodded nervously, voice and demeanor flawlessly identical to the real one.

No matter what you see or hear, don’t believe it.

…But you already did believe it!

Lu Yang clutched his hair and growled in despair.

This time, he finally got a reaction. The monster turned its back to him, and the back of its head slowly melted away, revealing a bald patch of skin.

Facial features began emerging from it one by one, warped and misplaced like a child’s crude face collage. The uneven eyes locked onto Lu Yang, then slowly stretched into a smile.

In the next instant, like a corrupted video frame, the face vanished.

Lu Yang couldn’t even scream. He backed up two steps and crashed into a small stool, its legs screeching loudly against the floor.

No. No matter what that thing was, he had to warn them…

Suddenly, Lu Yang had an idea.

He grabbed the two cans of soda from the table and started throwing them with loud clangs. When no one reacted, he opened one and splashed it straight onto A’Qiao’s face.

A sweet scent spread instantly. The milky-white liquid covered A’Qiao’s eyeballs, dripping like tears down his cheeks.

But A’Qiao just kept nervously staring at Jiang Xun, unfazed, as if the soda had never existed.

Sound didn’t work. Direct contact didn’t work. Indirect contact didn’t work either.

Lu Yang’s hand trembled, and the red can clattered to the floor. It slowly rolled past A’Qiao’s feet toward the wall.

After hitting the wall, the can suddenly stood upright, then slowly tipped over and rolled back toward Lu Yang.

Clunk… clunk…

It stopped at his feet, still sealed, full to the brim, as if never opened.

Lu Yang’s hands and feet turned icy, his mind numb.

Had he really thrown that soda at A’Qiao? Was this all just an illusion? Or was he trapped in a nightmare, paralyzed in a dream?

The can bumped gently against his shoe. Instinctively, Lu Yang kicked it away. A few seconds later, the cursed can bounced and rolled right back, sticking close to him.

A breeze brushed his ankle, chilling and unmistakably real.

Only now did Lu Yang truly understand the terror of this ritual.

What skills? What rules? What experts? In this damned place, anything could happen, and no one could be trusted!

He had to get help…had to make a bigger scene. But damaging the courtyard would violate a taboo… Desperate, Lu Yang’s eyes scanned the room and finally landed on the candles in the living room.

He stepped over the soda can that was stalking him, rushed forward, and blew out the candle in one breath.

The room plunged into darkness.

With the light extinguished, shadowy forms appeared in the corners. They lined up neatly along the walls, faint gazes locking onto Lu Yang.

But in the dark, Jiang Xun and A’Qiao remained perfectly still. They hadn’t noticed the candle going out. It was as if they were living in a different world.

In the pitch black, A’Qiao wiped his forehead. “M-Master, why’s it so quiet? The candle’s brighter than last night.”

“When a Great Evil enters, the minor spirits grow silent.”

Jiang Xun’s tone was calm. “Whatever entered is smarter than the rest. It doesn’t want to offend the Master of this place. It won’t act directly. It’ll try to lure us outside.”

The “Lu Yang” shuddered. “But it clearly locked the door…”

“Locking the door is meant to drive us out. Don’t be deceived,” Jiang Xun whispered. “My talismans can’t stop it, but they’re enough to mask us. As long as we stay still…”

“But it locked the door.”

“Lu Yang” interrupted. “I don’t like being locked in. It feels like being sealed in a coffin. I don’t want to stay here. I don’t want to be a burden. I want to leave. But opening the door means death. Opening the door means death. Opening the door means death…”

“What kind of crap are you spouting?!” A’Qiao shouted.

“A’Qiao, I mean you should open the door for me.”

The “Lu Yang” replied in a disturbingly flat tone. “I don’t know how to open it myself.”

“You said the talismans could hide us. What the hell is wrong with him?!” A’Qiao backed away behind Jiang Xun, forgetting to even call him “Master”.

Jiang Xun didn’t answer. His face darkened as he stared at the expressionless Lu Yang.

In the midst of the muttering, “Lu Yang” collapsed to the ground, limbs planted flat.

Sickening cracking noises echoed. His limbs twisted 180 degrees, elbows and knees bent backwards. His waist arched, and his head lifted high. His neck bent at a sharp right angle, vertebrae seemingly snapped.

He looked like a dog.

“Open the door. Open the door. Open the door,” he repeated loudly. “Help me open the door. I want to go out and play.”

Seeing this twisted version of himself, Lu Yang clutched his mouth but still vomited. Precious food came up in a sour wave that triggered another wave of nausea.

He wanted to faint like the night before, but couldn’t.

Jiang Xun threw a talisman at the “dog-man’s” forehead.

It didn’t react. Instead, he—it tiptoed backward a few meters, twisted its body unnaturally, and casually shook the talisman off.

Jiang Xun frowned. Then something clearly dawned on him. “This thing…”

“Open the door. Open the door. Open the door.”

The dog-man stopped next to the terrified “Lu Wei”, barking like a machine. Its voice drowned out Jiang Xun’s muttering.

“Fuck your mother…”

A’Qiao snapped. He grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and threw it at the dog-man. But from Lu Yang’s perspective, he was clearly aiming at Lu Wei’s body.

The bowl shattered with a crash, and blood immediately poured from Lu Wei’s flesh. Strangely, the dog-man also sprouted the same wounds, like the dish really hit it.

Seconds later, cuts appeared on A’Qiao himself. His loose pants darkened with spreading blood.

…No violence allowed inside the courtyard. The Master’s “taboo punishment” had arrived right on time.

“Liar!” A’Qiao’s eyes bulged, voice cracking. “You said your talismans could protect us! You said we’d be fine!”

Jiang Xun: “It’s an extremely powerful illusion…”

“Fuck your illusion! That’s Lu Yang! I hit him, and I got punished!”

With one teammate mutating before his eyes, another’s soul swapped, and himself about to be left alone, A’Qiao couldn’t take it anymore. His face spasmed, unable to hear another word.

“You lied about Lu Wei too, didn’t you? That soul-swap is fake! Bring him back…right now!”

“Lu Yang” flashed a wide, eager grin and barked on cue. “Open the door!”

“That’s not me!” Lu Yang shouted in vain.

In the chaos, Jiang Xun clicked his tongue softly.

His gaze flicked between the dog-man and A’Qiao, then landed on the “playing dead” “Lu Wei”.

He pulled out the red soul-swap talisman and tore it in half.

Hidden from view.

“Nice,” Fang Xiu said contentedly, drawing the attention of many spirits.

One of tonight’s goals was complete!

Fantastic. This was even more fun than he’d imagined…

Not long ago, after he brought Bai Shuangying and the dog into the house, all the spirits immediately quieted down. They didn’t even try to run. Instead, they neatly lined up along the walls, trying hard to minimize their presence.

It looked exactly like a group of criminals caught in a raid.

With the spirits calmed, the room suddenly became bright and peaceful, almost cozy.

The little dog sat wagging in the center of the living room happily at Fang Xiu.

“Good dog.”

Fang Xiu locked the door and rubbed its head. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt anyone and upset you.”

“Woof woof!” The dog panted happily.

“Bai Shuangying, it’s been a while since we played a good stealth game.”

Fang Xiu hugged the dog and petted it heartily. “Help me hide Lu Yang. Make it thorough.”

Bai Shuangying complied easily. But just as he began, Fang Xiu activated his own illusion skill, “Phantom Creation”, standing right beside him.

As Lu Yang disappeared, another version of him appeared at the center of the room. The dog sniffed wildly, black-bean eyes full of wonder.

“Alright, next let’s compete at haunting.” Fang Xiu declared seriously. “I’ll control the Lu Yang illusion. You distort the space. Let’s see who can drive them out of the courtyard first… how about it?”

Bai Shuangying perked up immediately.

In all his years, he’d never met a human who wanted to compete at scaring people. It sounded even more fun than counting corpses at the Mid-Autumn Ritual.

“How do we determine the winner?” he asked with dignified restraint.

Fang Xiu thought for a moment. “Jiang Xun won’t be scared by the spatial illusions. If he runs first, that means my Lu Yang illusion scared him, so I win.”

“If the others run first, it means your environmental illusion spooked them into abandoning Jiang Xun, so you win.”

Bai Shuangying agreed happily. Scaring regular folks sounded much easier than outwitting a cultivator.

“I just lent you my vision. Take a look.”

With a swing of his Peach Bone Evil, Bai Shuangying’s illusion wrapped around everyone but Lu Yang. Fang Xiu blinked. The scene before his eyes doubled, overlapping like two mirrored worlds.

Lu Yang was left alone in the real world, while the others were immersed in the illusory one. The “Lu Yang” among them was actually Fang Xiu’s skill-generated illusion, meaning even though they were in the same room, Lu Yang had essentially been exiled to another dimension.

No matter what he did—even if he set the room on fire—the others wouldn’t notice.

This illusion was terrifyingly clever. If Lu Yang had been any more impulsive, he might have run out of the room by now. Fang Xiu watched in awe.

After Lu Yang kicked the can, Fang Xiu pulled out a fresh one and started playing fetch with the dog, driving Lu Yang into a cold sweat.

When it got even more fun, Fang Xiu turned “Lu Yang” into the dog-man. The little dog didn’t understand the terror of transformation. Thinking a fellow pup had arrived, it barked happily and wagged its tail.

Bai Shuangying cheerfully manipulated the illusions to sync with Fang Xiu’s. He tweaked the lighting; Fang Xiu adjusted movements. Bai Shuangying altered A’Qiao’s aim; Fang Xiu faked injuries. There was no communication needed. Their coordination was flawless, like instruments in symphony.

In the dilapidated house, they wove a beautifully twisted nightmare.

The little dog hadn’t played with a human in a long time. It frolicked through the illusions, rolling on its back and flailing its paws in glee.

Watching the ghost frolic and the humans scream, Fang Xiu smiled. Bai Shuangying, seeing this, was in a great mood too.

“Fun, right?” Fang Xiu asked while having the dog-man spout nonsense.

“Mm.”

This kind of game was immensely satisfying, Bai Shuangying thought. He’d thought he’d have to be free to cause such chaos.

But his human had endless ideas. He actually started looking forward to the next ritual… No, wait. He should encourage Fang Xiu to stay here longer!

No more stalling. Time to win.

Now that Lu Wei had been recalled, all three newbies were back. If he scared off just one, he’d win.

…and once he won, he could ask Fang Xiu for something. Surely Fang Xiu wouldn’t say no.

“Jiang Xun’s figured out it’s an illusion. He has some real skill,” Bai Shuangying admitted. “His strength clearly exceeds what he showed earlier, yet he still walked into this trap.”

Fang Xiu patted the little dog: “Honestly, it has nothing to do with strength.”

The real issue was A’Qiao, who trusted Jiang Xun recklessly before, then flipped out the moment Jiang Xun didn’t meet expectations. When chaos breaks out, people like him can’t handle complex truths. To keep order, Jiang Xun had no choice but to end the soul-swap.

Nearby spirits whispered among themselves, and one even tried clapping before being tackled by the others.

The most fidgety one caught the dog’s attention. The dog bit it twice and swallowed it whole, leaving just half a claw.

It placed the claw in front of Fang Xiu, whimpering.

“Good boy. You can eat it yourself.” Fang Xiu smiled.

He snapped his fingers and the dog-man vanished from the living room. From the locked east bedroom came a voice. It was Jiang Xun’s voice.

“That ‘me’ is a fake… Run!” the illusion shouted. “The one I summoned back isn’t Lu Wei!”

Jiang Xun had barely started to explain when Bai Shuangying, unwilling to lose, swung his Peach Bone Evil again, warping the scene.

He transformed the “interior” into the illusion of the courtyard.

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Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 71: There’s an Evil Dog Inside

This was Lu Yang’s second night in the sacrificial ritual.

After sunset, darkness flooded the room like sewage.

Master Jiang had moved into the living room, pasting yellow talismans over every door and window. The flickering candlelight illuminated the cinnabar strokes, casting a dark, blood-red hue. Rather than feeling protective, it radiated an ominous aura.

Lu Yang sat against the wall with a dead teammate standing nearby. The corpse let out strange, guttural groans as the gases of decomposition rattled its throat. Lu Wei, tied up tightly, was dumped in a corner, mumbling through the gag, his bloodshot eyes wild.

According to Master Jiang, the body currently contained Blondie’s soul. The real Lu Wei, now controlling Blondie’s body, had been left outside the courtyard.

“If he suffers a serious injury, this talisman will react.” Master Jiang held up a blood-ink red talisman between two fingers and shook it. “When the time comes, tear this talisman, and Lu Wei will return.”

A’Qiao’s eyes sparkled with admiration, his voice eager. “Got it, got it! Even if that blond guy gets swapped back, he won’t be able to do anything while gravely injured! That’s one enemy taken out!”

Lu Yang couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Lu Wei was wandering outside, awaiting inevitable injury and torment, and this was something to gloss over with such excitement?

Wasn’t their ultimate goal to dispel disaster and resolve the E? Why did this feel like a team-based deathmatch? Why was killing someone reason for joy?

Was the ritual truly a place where the weak were prey, and he was just too naive and foolish? Or was something fundamentally wrong? Maybe they shouldn’t have fallen this far?

The claim that Fang Xiu had manipulated the pierced-lip man was solely Jiang Xun’s assertion; and earlier, A’Qiao had attacked Fang Xiu, who just laughed it off in response. Based on facts alone, the other team hadn’t hurt anyone. In fact, they had helped first.

But Jiang Xun had helped too and had already identified two taboos…

Lu Yang clutched his head, feeling like his mind was splitting in two.

By contrast, A’Qiao was remarkably calm.

After two days, he’d only suffered minor burns, which had made him bolder. Though the supernatural phenomena in the room continued, he clearly felt more at ease near Jiang Xun.

“Master, what about the talismans on the doors and windows?” A’Qiao even had the presence of mind to ask questions.

Outside, the windows were still crammed with ghostly faces, their distorted white features grinding against the glass with squeals. The talismans on the sills shuddered incessantly.

“Household doors and windows can block evil. With the addition of protective spells, one night of safety is guaranteed,” Jiang Xun replied, lounging on the sofa in a relaxed posture, preparing to rest.

“So nothing weird will happen inside the house anymore?” A’Qiao asked, half-understanding.

“Correct. There may be residual disturbances, but they won’t harm anyone.”

Jiang Xun added calmly, “Tonight is different from last night. I won’t be tied up again.”

Admittedly, that kind of confidence was extremely reassuring.

Speaking of confidence…

Lu Yang couldn’t help but think of another confident leader. He glanced at the drink cans on the table. They were as crimson as Fang Xiu’s clothes. The packaging was intact, impossible to tamper with, yet no one had touched them. Even Lu Yang didn’t have the courage to drink.

Right at that moment, what was Fang Xiu thinking?

…Bang bang bang!

The door, covered in yellow talismans, suddenly shook. Loud knocking echoed through the room. Jiang Xun instantly sat up, eyes narrowing.

The spirits at the door suddenly scattered. The ones at the windows struggled to twist their heads to look toward the entrance. Their grotesque smiles vanished, replaced by blank stares.

But under the hazy moonlight, nothing was there.

A’Qiao shuddered and rushed to stand beside Jiang Xun. Lu Yang noticed that the ghostly eyes within the room had all rotated to face the same direction…

Bang bang bang!

The knocking continued. The thin yellow paper began to tear, faint bluish-white sparks rising from it. Inside, the candle flames suddenly elongated like a zombie’s claw, flickering with a greenish-black glow.

In Blondie’s body, Lu Wei froze and shrank back, trying to make himself as small and unnoticed as possible.

Bang bang bang!

Flames erupted all at once. Talismans at the door, windowsills, and window edges burst into fire simultaneously.

The protective spells crumbled into ash. The ghostly faces crammed at the windows all turned in unison to look back inside. Their mouths stretched grotesquely, half the size of their heads, revealing even more twisted grins than before.

Ghostly eyes bulged from every gap, spinning madly. The room filled with a low, buzzing murmur like tinnitus, making Lu Yang’s teeth ache.

What happened to the promised peaceful night? How was this worse than yesterday!?

Jiang Xun scowled and snapped his wrist, sending a flurry of talismans flying like a yellow fan.

“All the talismans are destroyed. The Great Evil has arrived,” he said. “Everyone, gather! Quickly!”

The next second, the knocking stopped abruptly, and the house fell into dead silence.

Outside the door.

Fang Xiu lowered his knocking hand and exclaimed, “Knocking on a door can actually start a fire?”

Bai Shuangying replied helplessly, “It’s the talismans warding off evil.”

“But I’m not an evil spirit.” Fang Xiu looked at him innocently, sounding aggrieved.

Bai Shuangying was silent for a moment, then decided to demonstrate. He reached out his right hand and gently covered Fang Xiu’s eyes. It felt damp, as if a soft tongue had licked him.

When Fang Xiu opened his eyes again, he gasped sharply.

It was as if a second spiritual eye had opened. Everything in the courtyard appeared vividly clear. From the crawling evil spirits to the circling movement around his ankles…

A little dog.

It looked like a typical rural mutt, pitch black with a worn red collar. Its body hadn’t fully grown barely reaching Fang Xiu’s knee. It was chubby and round, looking more cute than threatening.

It was hard to imagine this little thing was the strongest spirit in the yard. No matter how he looked, Fang Xiu couldn’t detect any malevolence.

Sensing Fang Xiu looking, the dog wagged its tail excitedly, black eyes forming two white crescent moons.

“Good dog.” Fang Xiu couldn’t resist squatting down and petting it accurately.

Aside from lacking body heat, the dog’s behavior was just like a real one. It seemed unaware of its own death, still panting enthusiastically, pink tongue licking its nose.

Animals in the living world always avoided Fang Xiu. Finally catching a dog that he could actually pet, he was overjoyed, and so was the dog.

The pup bounced on the spot, playfully pawing at Fang Xiu’s legs.

Then it suddenly darted off, charging at a few nearby evil spirits, baring its teeth, again and again, until its mouth split open to the midpoint of its body.

Its upper half lifted high, resembling a dog-shaped stapler.

A gaping maw filled with long, uneven fangs chomped straight through a humanoid evil spirit. Several tongue-like tendrils shot out, wrapped around the creature, and swallowed it whole.

The entire process took no more than five seconds, casual and effortless.

After munching a few spirits, the dog returned and bounced around in front of Fang Xiu, tail spinning like a helicopter. The collar around its neck remained perfectly intact.

Fang Xiu: “…Hold up.”

This was not the cute pup he was promised. Now he understood why all the nearby evil spirits disappeared so fast.

In comparison, its “warning bites” were almost polite.

Bai Shuangying watched Fang Xiu’s stunned face with satisfaction. “It’s been following you the whole time. The talismans must’ve detected it.”

When Fang Xiu tried to enter, it simply followed dumbly. Bai Shuangying could mask his own aura, but this silly dog couldn’t. No wonder the protective talismans all activated at once.

Still, Bai Shuangying hadn’t expected it to be this close to Fang Xiu.

A dog spirit was still an evil spirit. Even if it didn’t attack humans out of malice, it shouldn’t be affectionate either.

Did Fang Xiu have some special trait? …Could it be that the mutt had sniffed out Fang Xiu’s soul as delicious?

Bai Shuangying looked down at the dog and nudged its head with his toe, silently saying, “That’s mine.”

The dog tilted its head for a few seconds, then enthusiastically pounced at Bai Shuangying’s feet, slobbering all over his robe.

Bai Shuangying: “…”

Fine. Maybe it was just especially stupid.

Beside him, Fang Xiu cracked his knuckles. “Well, the fire’s lit, the mood is set… Let’s go!”

“Mm.”

“Woof!”

Inside the house.

After the knocking ceased, everything returned to silence. A few minutes passed. Jiang Xun, on high alert, was starting to feel sore from holding his stance.

…The Great Evil outside had suddenly stopped. Had it clashed with the local Master?

The “Master” here was likely the spirit of a watchdog. Considering it wouldn’t knock on the door, the knocking must’ve been from a Great Evil being drawn to the E.

If the dog could handle the intruder, great. If not…

Bang!

Before Jiang Xun could finish thinking, the main door suddenly swung wide open, revealing the thick darkness outside.

The talismans in his hand ignited spontaneously from the surge of yin energy, rendering them useless.

The next second, the door creaked closed on its own.

Before their eyes, the bolt moved by itself, sealing the door tight. Rusty metal scraped against the frame, sounding like an old man grinding his teeth.

Cold sweat drenched Lu Yang’s back. One phrase flashed through his mind. “Close the door and beat the dog*.”

*(关门打狗) Idiom referring to trapping your opponent before attacking, ensuring they have no way to escape.

He instinctively looked toward the door and windows, but the ghostly faces were gone.

The candles returned to normal, burning quietly. There was no wind. The flames were utterly still.

No faces in sofa gaps, no eyes beneath the table, no shifting New Year paintings… Nothing at all.

Since the door locked itself, all the spirits had vanished. The house was unnaturally “clean”.

But they knew, something had entered the room.

It lurked in the shadows, watching them, clearly in no hurry to leave.

…This was going to be a sleepless night, Lu Yang thought, drenched in cold sweat.

As if in response, a scream echoed from the forest outside the courtyard.

Hearing it, Fang Xiu turned toward the window and quietly curled his lips.

……

In the wing room.

Cheng Songyun immediately tensed at the scream. “That sounded like Xiao Du!”

Mei Lan whispered, “With Fang Xiu there, it’ll be fine.”

The room fell silent for a few seconds.

“I think we should still go check.” Guan He couldn’t help saying. “What if something did happen to him? We can’t just sit here waiting for orders all the time.”

Mei Lan hesitated. “It’s dangerous to go out at night…”

“All the more reason to. At least we all have survival abilities,” Cheng Songyun reasoned. “Guan He is right. We can’t always rely on Xiao Fang. What if he’s not here? Do we just stop thinking?”

Guan He pulled down his black veil. “It’s too risky to split up tonight. Let’s go together.”

Mei Lan was silent for a long time, her fingers brushing across her chest unconsciously.

“…Understood,” she finally said softly. “Then let’s all go.”

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