Before dawn, the city lay silent.
It seemed the whole city had yet to wake from its dreams. Damp gray mist hung in the air, and a bone-chilling draft crept through the window into the room.
The alarm they had set in advance went off.
Wu Xian opened his eyes, exhaustion filling them.
They had played several rounds of the Clap Game last night, keeping their nerves on edge throughout the night.
Six people had clapped in the first round. By the second, only four remained. Shi Ji and Wu Xian had spent the whole night on tenterhooks, afraid someone in their room would die too.
Wu Xian had, in practice, become the group's leader.
The Cloud Soaring Technique especially appealed to him. Once he obtained it, he could ride five-colored clouds and fly with his own body. It was the dream of countless people!
For the rest of his life, Wu Xian wanted to live well and in style.
Several days ago, Wu Xian had already deduced from the clues that Wang Zhiwu and the others were part of a criminal gang. But he couldn't understand how that gang had become involved with evil spirits.
"How did Yue Mei die? She was the one who came up with this method, so she shouldn't have broken the rules."
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Wu Xian's mind.
"My lover killed her. Yue Mei seemed to have some special connection with the Ghost Mother. She wanted to force me to open my eyes during the Clap Game, so my lover killed that young woman to protect me."
Wen Chao hesitated, but ultimately decided to tell the truth.
Wu Xian's eyes widened.
It was a short, elderly woman with vacant eyes and a livid face. Her black fingernails were extremely long, and her lips jutted out slightly, barely covering the sharp fangs in her mouth!
It was a zombie!
There were three Technique Talismans in this chapter.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Wu Xian scanned the room.
If he had struck to kill back then, he would have been among the dead last night.
Under Shi Ji's astonished gaze, Wu Xian lifted the Joyful Bride Master Statue he had found the day before out of the box.
After Qi Zhiyong died.
"Those little white-skinned wraiths? Did Su Huilan attack them?"
"She broke the rules?"
Shi Ji was startled.
He could stroll along leisurely in front while the enemy chasing him ran themselves ragged and still couldn't catch up. It couldn't get any more stylish than that.
Cold sweat broke out across Wu Xian's back.
The Xu Xingzhi Chasing Technique was pretty good too.
Soon, he found the spot where the male corpse wraith had died last night. Some filth still remained on the ground, with a flesh-colored wraith incense stick lying beside it.
Compared to those two Technique Talismans, the Concealing Breath Technique seemed rather ordinary.
The darkness before dawn soon passed.
But after turning it over in his mind and agonizing for a long while, Wu Xian ultimately chose the Concealing Breath Technique!
Wen Chao looked like an old man who scavenged for a living, Shi Ji was covered in blood and grime, and Su Huijin was too grief-stricken over her sister's death to bother dressing herself up.
Wu Xian inserted the wraith incense stick.
The Concealing Breath Technique is my original creation. Of course, there might be a technique with the same name elsewhere, since it's such a common name.
While Wang Zhiwu and the others were staying at the hostel, they abducted the Ghost Mother's child when she was still human. That drove the Ghost Mother mad, and she began endlessly searching for her child.
Later, Wang Zhiwu and the others took over Ping'an Hostel. Lu Yao had lost even her home, and her intense hatred and madness gave birth to the first evil spirit in this world.
He had been harassed by those little wraiths too. He'd once considered using the Copper Coin Sword to kill them, but decided he wanted to observe them longer, so he let them go.
He spoke first. "Tell us how the two of them died."
"That night, I might've been a little dirty."
The Child-Seeking Ghost Mother was the former owner of Ping'an Hostel. Her name was Lu Yao.
Su Huijin nodded, aggrieved. "My sister did it for my sake."
The three talismans made Wu Xian's mouth water.
When the little wraiths first appeared, Shi Ji had been wary of the 'Bestowal of Evil' from the Heavenly Official, so he had used some unclean methods to prepare the room. That filth made evil spirits reluctant to approach.
There were only four survivors from the outside world left in the blessed land.
But what if there were a way for him to stop cowering and hiding all the time, and instead fight back against the evil spirits hunting them?
There was!
With the Concealing Breath Technique, it might be possible!
"Your lover?"
Wu Xian took a deep breath, then asked Wen Chao after a moment.
At those words, Wu Xian and the other two froze.
Wen Chao smiled.
"Yes... my lover. Lao Fu, come out and meet the children."
This was just a way to dodge the question.
Three talisman-shaped shadows condensed out of the pink mist swirling around the statue. They were:
The Concealing Breath Technique: Conceals the breath and masks the aura. One may still hear and see, but to spiritual perception and the evil eye, the user is as good as nonexistent.
Wu Xian and Shi Ji stepped out of their room. Su Huijin and Wen Chao also came out of their rooms.
Fortunately, the later rounds of the Clap Game went smoothly, with no further mishaps.
Wu Xian breathed a sigh of relief.
From the numbered claps, Wu Xian already knew that Su Huilan and Yue Mei had died last night. But they still needed to confirm the cause of their deaths.
Su Huijin rubbed her red-rimmed eyes. "My sister was killed by the Child-Seeking Ghost Mother!"
"Children?"
He turned to Shi Ji and Wen Chao. "You didn't attack the little wraiths. Why haven't they ever scratched you?"
"Maybe it's because kids don't like an old man like me."
With this wraith incense, he could make an offering to the gods again.
The Cloud Soaring Technique: Ride the clouds and mount five-colored light, traveling dozens of feet above the ground. This technique allows flight and lasts one minute.
No wonder Fang Zhi had wanted to ask Wen Chao something at the very beginning of the blessed land, only for Wen Chao to stop him with a look.
He had found the connection!
But Wu Xian didn't press him.
Su Huijin shook her head. "No. The Ghost Mother said my sister had killed her child, so she broke the rules and killed her on the spot."
Of the four of them, only Wu Xian still looked relatively clean. The other three were all in a sorry state.
More importantly, both of these Technique Talismans could help him survive. If he encountered an evil spirit he simply couldn't handle, at least these two talismans would let him escape.
Had Wen Chao come to the blessed land with his wife?
Then why hadn't she appeared all this time?
The Xu Xingzhi Chasing Technique: The one in front strolls along at an easy pace, while the pursuer gallops on horseback, yet cannot catch up. Lasts two minutes.
Thud, thud!
A figure leaped out of Room 401, where Wen Chao was staying.
If they couldn't figure out the cause of death, then they couldn't continue with their plan to use the Child-Seeking Ghost Mother to intimidate the Breaking Door Wraith.
Now, Wu Xian had finally confirmed it.
When the little wraiths appeared for the second time, he had been with Wu Xian and was attacked by the Five Filth God. After that, the little wraiths were even more afraid to approach him.
The Cloud Soaring Technique came from Mr. Pupu in Legends of Encounters with Immortals.
Later, someone was traveling through the countryside near Yiyang. At dusk, he couldn't reach the next village before dark. Suddenly, he saw a thatched hut by the road and went to ask for lodging. Inside was only an old man, who asked him why he had come. The traveler replied, "The sky is overcast and the days are short. It's already dark, so I'd like to spend the night here." The old man said, "You may stay, but I have no food." After a while, the traveler grew terribly hungry, so the old man gave him several pills. He ate them and was full. At daybreak, he said goodbye and left. When he returned later, he suddenly saw the old man riding five-colored clouds, moving dozens of feet above the ground. The traveler hurriedly bowed.
The Xu Xingzhi Chasing Technique came from Legends of Encounters with Immortals: Several years later, an imperial envoy named Fu Xianyu was sent to Shu. He saw Gong Yuan on the Blackwater Road, dressed in a cloud-patterned robe and walking slowly with a staff. Fu Xianyu spurred his horse after him, but the man remained more than ten paces ahead, and Fu Xianyu could never catch up.
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