What had happened after entering the blessed land.
It convinced He Qiong that he was the chosen one.
The sudden terror of the crisis had put aside the sisters' grievances, and they were willing to be with He Qiong at the same time. Faced with the threat of evil spirits, he had also miraculously obtained several items useful against them.
Although they had encountered terrifying evil spirits,
those spirits were like the minor enemies in a game: kill them, and you could gain greater strength.
What moved He Qiong even more was that the Su Sisters performed every prayer to the gods. That way, the possible side effects of praying would never fall on him, and afterward the sisters would hand the items over to him.
Only people who truly loved him would be willing to do something like that!
There had been nine others sharing dinner yesterday, but by tonight only six remained. Everyone knew that, apart from Fang Zhi, the two who hadn't returned were likely doomed as well.
This statue of Kui Star Official Salary Master had given Wu Xian three talismans to choose from: the Bu Ling Technique, the Talisman Creation Technique, and the Double Activation Technique.
The corridor was dark.
Time was precious, and there was no room to think for long. Wu Xian wrapped the Double Activation Technique around his index finger and completed the Tuo Yin.
"First Ghost, Child-Seeking Ghost Mother!"
After finishing, she stood up and smiled at Yue Mei. "We're alive today only because of her. Kiss the Sacred Object in front of you, and she'll protect you from evil spirits."
After walking a short distance, they came to a room.
The Su Sisters clung to each other and wept, their tear-streaked faces covered in snot and tears.
The female ghost Yu Yinghua tried to chase after them, but a gleaming silver spear blocked her way.
Wu Xian had no Magic Treasure that needed its spiritual energy replenished. In theory, the Talisman Creation Technique had the highest potential, but it was too unpredictable. It would be disastrous if he got a couple of useless talismans.
Wu Xian had seen the Double Activation Technique before. Its effect was to double the number of times the next talisman he activated would work.
The Bu Ling Technique replenished the spiritual energy of a Magic Treasure that had been overused.
After praying to the gods several times, Wu Xian had begun to figure out some of the tricks.
The hostel's First Floor Hall.
So Wu Xian chose the Double Activation Technique.
"Did you notice? One Minor Thunder Curse only injured her hand."
A pot of scallion-braised intestines simmered over the warm fire. A group of people huddled around it, sharing today's dinner.
The red candle before the statue suddenly went out. With no candlelight, the basement was plunged into darkness. Only the light from outside the door revealed a few blurry shadows.
He Qiong shouted angrily, "Let go of Huilan!"
Wu Xian glanced at the sky. There was still some time, and there was one last place he wanted to visit.
He took a glass marble from his pocket and tossed it. Halfway there, it turned into a bolt of lightning that burst against Yu Yinghua's hand. Su Huilan seized the chance to break free and fled the basement with her younger sister.
Because time passed strangely in the blessed land, they only had one chance to eat each day. Now everyone was famished.
Even so, no one picked up their chopsticks first.
"This thing isn't an ordinary Wandering Wraith. It's probably among the strongest after the great wraiths. That idiot probably hasn't even noticed."
Yue Mei followed the old woman, looking tense.
The calamity of evil spirits had begun only two months ago, yet people were already gradually adapting to life as civilization receded.
Following the letter's instructions, she had sought help from surviving Original Inhabitants of the blessed land. To gain their trust, she had used the hard-to-find medicine she'd obtained to stabilize the old woman's condition. Only then had the old woman agreed to tell Yue Mei how to avoid the Knocking Wraith and the Door-Breaking Wraith.
Su Huijin held the wraith incense and bowed. She received a Straw Figure from the statue, then skipped over to He Qiong.
The next moment, He Qiong's terrified scream rang out from the basement.
"Then... let's do that!"
Yu Yinghua grew agitated. She suddenly rushed over and grabbed Su Huilan by the arm, reaching with her other hand for Su Huilan's head, trying to force her into the mud.
Yue Mei asked hesitantly, "She is..."
The old woman smiled, revealing the three teeth she had left.
The smoke from the wraith incense filled the air.
But before He Qiong could make out what it was,
the Blessed Land Lord gave a "talisman," which granted an item a special blessing;
"Praise the Ghost Mother, I offer..."
Along the way, she had encountered several people dressed in the same hemp clothes, both men and women, young and old. They all stared straight at her with strange expressions—somewhere between envy and jealousy, with a blatant possessiveness.
A woman was carved into the statue.
Her clothes were tattered, her body misshapen. Her face was twisted with seething hatred and madness, and an old black blindfold lay at her feet.
"Why?!"
Mr. Wang's house.
Yue Mei swallowed. Her reason told her that worshipping the Ghost Mother was dangerous, but she had no other choice.
The ground was soft!
At some point, the solid concrete floor had turned into a quagmire!
Splash!
A mud-covered hand reached up out of the muck!
The three of them watched as a woman covered in mud crawled out of the concrete floor. If Lu Yuzhu and Fang Zhi were still alive, they would have recognized her.
He Qiong faced the evil spirit with a spear in one hand and a pellet in the other, a confident smile on his lips. He looked every bit the valiant hero.
The old woman in hemp clothes carried an oil lamp as she walked slowly forward.
Wu Xian fished a "Double Activation Technique" out of the incense smoke, ending his prayer.
"Even if He Qiong can beat her, all the tools we worked so hard to gather will be used up!"
The old woman knelt before the statue and recited the prayer Yue Mei had heard before.
Under the old woman's strange gaze, Yue Mei picked up the black blindfold.
Both of Yu Yinghua's eyes were clogged with concrete. Tears washed through it, leaving two streaks down her face. As she crawled through the concrete, she spoke in a plaintive voice.
"Zhiwu, is that you? I won't betray you. Why won't you believe me?"
This was Yu Yinghua, the very woman who knocked on the Ping'an Hostel's door every day!
Kui Star Official Salary Master gave a "technique." It had no direct effect, but could support other items used in prayers to the gods;
As for the other statues, Wu Xian didn't have enough information to draw any conclusions.
The room was on the top floor. It was spacious and bare, with no furniture. A hole in the ceiling let sunlight stream down onto a sinister statue.
All the Celestial Official statues gave talismans after people prayed to them.
The Su Sisters, who had fled the basement in a panic, exchanged a look. They could both see the shock in each other's eyes.
Those stares made Yue Mei increasingly uneasy.
The Talisman Creation Technique randomly produced two talismans.
"Yes, we're the ones who got A Qiong killed."
"It's all our fault. We deserve to die. How are we supposed to live without A Qiong?"
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