Original Understanding Essence

That face was deathly pale, drained of all color, and covered in a dense web of cracks like a spider's net, with flaps of skin curling outward to reveal the flesh beneath. A pair of bloodshot eyes stared up at Chen Mo from below.

Even though he had been transported for over half a month now and knew this world was off, seeing this woman's face still sent a chill through him.

This woman was Old Master Li's daughter?

Judging by her appearance, she was dead.

So what was this thing?

Before Chen Mo could think further, he heard a "plop plop" sound.

More and more bubbles rose from the bottom of the well.

The woman's face slowly surfaced, revealing her hair, then her head.

"This damn thing, is it going to climb up the well wall next?"

Not thinking that was one thing.

But once the thought crossed his mind, the fear in his heart swelled.

Soon enough, the woman had fully emerged from the water, standing silently on the surface. She was dressed head to toe in a bright red Xiuhua Dress, and under the dim moonlight, the entire well water was dyed a bloody scarlet.

Judging by her height, she was only about twelve or thirteen years old.

Chen Mo grabbed a Brick from the ground nearby and clutched it tightly in his hand. Even so, his heart was still pounding wildly, "thump thump" without end.

He expected the girl to start climbing up the well wall next.

But Chen Mo quickly realized he had underestimated things.

Before he could even see what happened, the red-clad girl suddenly appeared halfway up the well, hovering in midair.

"She can even fly... what the hell!" Chen Mo instinctively leaned back, every hair on his body standing on end.

The next moment—

Suddenly, without any warning... the red-clad girl was at the mouth of the well, almost face-to-face with Chen Mo.

He could clearly see her cracked face, the curling rotten skin, the flesh beneath, the bloodshot eyes with no pupils. And a foul, nauseating stench hit him straight in the face, making him want to vomit.

Chen Mo slowly edged backward, staring wide-eyed at the well mouth, where a crimson glow was surging out along with a thick, putrid odor.

Then, strands of fine black hair began to spill over the well's edge. As more and more hair emerged, a pitch-black crown of a head slowly rose into view.

The head rose higher and higher, and soon the girl's cracked face lifted inch by inch from the well, staring at Chen Mo from across the air.

Then, the girl split her mouth open wide, all the way to her ears, revealing blood-red fangs, and grinned at Chen Mo.

"Ooooh~"

The girl suddenly let out a low roar, madly trying to burst out of the well, but a red light flashed at the well's mouth, forcibly shoving her back down.

The red light seemed to hurt her, twisting her face in agony and fury.

She refused to give in, lunging for the well mouth again, only to be pressed back by the crimson glow once more.

After several attempts, she was exhausted, and finally let out a hoarse, unwilling scream at Chen Mo.

Once Chen Mo was sure the girl couldn't escape the well, he let out a huge sigh of relief. Only then did he feel like he was alive again, his foggy mind slowly clearing.

"Something at the well mouth is suppressing this female ghost?"

"No wonder Old Master Li couldn't fish his daughter out... no wonder he went to block Goddess Hong Deng's sedan chair... he must have been asking for help."

"What is this power that's suppressing her?"

Even though the girl couldn't get out, being stared at by her like that... still felt terrible.

Chen Mo called up his panel and saw a barcode frame appear on the woman's forehead, with three black bars inside.

[Unidentifiable!]

"It's the same level as my Mad Demon Disease, both with three black bars... if a three-black-bar evil thing is this strong, then the Mad Demon Disease inside me is terrifying."

Just as Chen Mo was lost in thought, the next line of text caught his attention.

[Original Understanding Essence detected.]

[Tip: Obtaining Original Understanding Essence can raise your identification level.]

"Huh? This female ghost actually has Original Understanding Essence..."

If getting Original Understanding Essence could raise his identification level, then... wouldn't that mean he could identify his own Mad Demon Disease after leveling up? And find a way to cure it?

With that thought, Chen Mo felt a glimmer of hope, and his gaze toward the female ghost wasn't as fearful anymore.

Original Understanding Essence was great, but the problem was... how to get it?

He'd probably have to kill this female ghost.

Killing a female ghost... that was way too hard.

He hadn't even been killed by her himself, and that was only because the red light at the well mouth was suppressing her. That alone was like smoke rising from the ancestral graves, a Buddha manifesting... Amitabha.

Red light suppression?

Suddenly, a spark of inspiration hit Chen Mo...

It was during Chen Mo's moment of daze that the girl, after several struggles, finally lost strength and fell into the well with a splash.

Chen Mo waited a long time, but the girl didn't resurface. Only then did he muster his courage and slowly approach the ancient well, peering down into it.

The girl was still standing on the water, glaring viciously at Chen Mo.

Having had time to adjust, Chen Mo was no longer so panicked. He suppressed his fear, ignored the girl, and instead carefully examined the stones lining the well's rim.

"Something on these stones must have emitted that red light to suppress this female ghost... If I find it, I might find a way to deal with her."

Perhaps because the ancient well had been abandoned for so long, the stones were covered in a thick layer of dust and moss.

Chen Mo carefully brushed off the dust and pulled away all the moss.

After a thorough inspection, he finally spotted a stone splattered with a patch of solidified red wax.

Red wax, red light... That matched.

"Could it be that this red wax is what's suppressing the female ghost?"

Chen Mo leaned in for a closer look. It seemed no different from ordinary wax. But when he lowered his head to sniff it, he caught a faint, unusual fragrance.

"This really isn't ordinary red wax!"

Delighted by the discovery, Chen Mo thought: if he scraped off some of the red wax, he'd have more confidence facing the female ghost.

With that thought, he didn't hesitate and immediately began scraping off some of the red wax.

Just then, Chen Mo suddenly saw the girl in the well flash a sinister smile.

Something was wrong!

Chen Mo immediately stopped scraping.

A terrifying thought struck him—if he scraped off the red wax, wouldn't the girl be able to escape the well? Even if he took the wax, could he suppress the ghost once she was out?

Probably not.

The red wax worked when left on the well's rim, but he didn't know how to use it.

To be safe, he had to stop.

Sure enough, when the girl saw Chen Mo stop scraping, she became restless and agitated, baring her teeth and letting out low, guttural growls.

Chen Mo held only a tiny piece of red wax in his palm, but his heart was steady.

He knew he'd guessed right.

Thank goodness.

It seemed the girl had been trying to lure him into scraping off all the red wax.

But then came the question.

Why hadn't Old Li scraped off the red wax here before?

If he had, wouldn't his daughter have been freed?

Chen Mo pondered but couldn't find an answer. Finally, he sat by the well, studying the red wax in his hand, lost in thought.

"Since this red wax can suppress ghosts, maybe I can use it... to get out of this place?"