"Hmph, you're pretty cautious." The other person snorted and rolled her eyes impatiently. "Because you're cheap. The one next door might take two corpses to satisfy."
All right, so he was cheap after all.
Thor glanced at the other two Level 1 Apprentices' corpses. She seemed to have already started choosing.
"Get moving. Don't dawdle," the icy Senior Sister urged.
Thor had no choice but to pinch the soft leather mask and walk toward the corner.
Just as he was about to step into the Magic Array, a rustling sound made him freeze in place.
The Hardcover Book grew larger, flew in front of him, and opened.
Mocking words appeared once more.
[Shuoyue Calendar, Year 314, July 11, Today is a wonderful day. You were short on materials, and someone delivered a corpse right to you. Put on the "Absolute Domain of a Maiden's Purity" like a good boy, sit obediently in the Magic Array, and carefully observe the three corpses. Huh? Why can't you see the Evil Spirit? Turn your head again. Are your eyes playing tricks on you? How did the Evil Spirit end up on Peggy? Oh, ho, ho, ho... Your eyes really are playing tricks on you. That fastidious Evil Spirit is obviously on you! Tonight, Peggy will write in the mission Registration Book: Today, I processed three Level 1 Apprentice corpses.]
Thor knew it. Good fortune never fell from the sky without a catch!!!
Anyone who claimed there were high returns without any cost was a big liar!
Never get tricked by being greedy for a small bargain!
Thor promptly decided to give up and refuse to help this time.
The words on the Diary appeared again. Thor took one look and nearly burst a blood vessel.
Well, this time the Senior Sister had turned on him and was going to kill him outright.
"What are you dawdling for? Get in there!" Peggy's voice behind him already carried unmistakable impatience.
Thor slowly turned around, wearing a smile uglier than a grimace.
"Senior Sister, I don't think one Level 1 Apprentice's corpse is enough."
Peggy's eyes widened. She asked incredulously, "You want two?"
"No, no, I'm not that greedy. It's just that I've been doing experiments lately, and I'm short a few materials."
One material after another tumbled from Thor's mouth as his mind raced to figure out how to handle the situation.
Sabotage the Magic Array?
No. The Hardcover Book mocked Thor's intelligence and told him he would die at the hands of the Evil Spirit and Peggy working together.
Thor thought of two more options, but the Hardcover Book rejected both with a single stroke.
"What kind of nonsense is this? Where am I supposed to get those materials now?"
Thor smiled bitterly and kept stalling.
"You're in a hurry, Senior Sister, right? I think today your mission Registration Book will say: Today, I processed one Level 1 Apprentice corpse. Isn't that right?"
Peggy narrowed her eyes.
"You're clever, I'll give you that. That's right, I'm going to hide this Level 2 Apprentice's corpse. If you report me afterward, I have plenty of ways to kill you."
As she spoke, she took a bulging silver pouch from her robes and tossed it into Thor's arms.
Thor caught it. The pouch rattled.
It was actually full of Magic Crystals!
"There's enough in there to buy at least ten portions of the materials you just mentioned. Get in there! If you dawdle any longer, I'll break your legs and toss you in myself."
"Thank you, Senior Sister."
Thor tucked the money pouch into his robes, held the mask, and walked into the Magic Array. He sat down obediently.
"Put the mask on!"
Peggy urged him again, her voice no longer able to conceal her murderous intent.
"Okay, let me check which side's the front."
Thor turned the mask over in his hands, while using his fingernail to pry open the seal on the little bottle concealed in his palm.
This was the last resort he had thought of. The Hardcover Book hadn't mocked his impending death this time.
"Absolute Domain of a Maiden's Purity" and "fastidious Evil Spirit" reminded him of the bottle of "Ultimate Filth of the Elemental Fairy" he had tucked into his robes.
With the Evil Spirit and Senior Sister Peggy far more powerful than he was, Thor could only gamble on the escape route the Hardcover Book had chosen for him.
As he turned the mask over, Thor poured most of the potion onto it.
After he put on the mask, a faint, fishy smell entered his nostrils.
The mask seemed sticky, and immediately clung tightly to Thor's face.
"I've already contaminated this Absolute Domain. If you're really a clean freak, don't you dare come after me!"
Meanwhile.
Peggy had been on the verge of losing her temper. That damn rookie Apprentice had finally sat down in the Magic Array she had drawn.
Of course, the Magic Array Thor was sitting in was completely useless. The mask on his face was what actually mattered.
Peggy kept a stern expression as she endured the sharp pain caused by the friction between her thighs and walked to the center of the candles.
She took off her loose outer robe, revealing a dress like a nightgown and her pale calves.
She kicked off her short boots, baring a pair of equally pale feet.
Her skin was so delicate it was almost the same color as the mask on Thor's face.
"Keep an eye on those three corpses. If you see black smoke coming from one of them, tell me! That Evil Spirit moves quickly. I need to identify its position immediately."
"Yes."
"Begin."
Peggy raised both hands, each making a different series of gestures at lightning speed.
At the same time, she began silently chanting a Curse-Spell.
The candles on the ground suddenly burst into flame.
The Magic Array Runes on the ceiling, walls, and floor writhed like living worms.
Only the Magic Array around Thor remained motionless.
Thor dutifully watched the three corpses.
The room's transformations grew more and more dramatic.
The candle flames shot up a meter, twisting constantly. They looked like living people being burned, and faint cries reached Thor's ears.
The black patterns on the floor continuously separated and reassembled, like a group of matchstick men dancing around a bonfire.
In a daze, Thor thought the matchstick men had risen from the ground. They waved their flat bodies, celebrating their leap in the quality of life.
"Tell me quickly! Where is the Evil Spirit?"
A sharp female voice rang out, interrupting Thor's observations.
Thor shifted his gaze and stared motionlessly at Peggy.
"On you, Senior Sister!" he said coldly.
Peggy paused, then whipped around, her face covered in black strands, like a demon.
"Look again!"
In Thor's eyes, the black strands peeled away from Peggy's skin and swiftly formed a twisted, hideous face.
Its empty eye sockets were as large as its gaping mouth. The moment it took shape in the air, it rushed toward Thor.
It opened its mouth wide, and black, stringy drool streamed from its lips, splattering across the floor.
Boom!
Thor's body suddenly jerked backward, as though something had rushed into him. A dizzying, icy sensation came from the mask.
But before he could recover, the sensation recoiled as abruptly as a hand touching a red-hot pot.
He endured the swelling, stinging ache in his eyes and forced them open through the tears. He saw the black Evil Spirit's face retreat into Peggy's body, contorted with pain.
"Ah—" Peggy screamed in terror. "How could this happen?!"
The black face of the Evil Spirit slammed hard against Peggy's face, and then her voice turned hoarse and unpleasant.
"Disgusting!!! So disgusting!! So disgusting!!!" Peggy's body convulsed. She gaped and spat out black, viscous fluid.
"How could there be such disgusting filth? You woman, you tricked me! That wasn't the purest maiden at all! It was a disgusting man!!!"
"Get out of me, you perverted Evil Spirit!" Peggy struggled desperately to break free of its hold.
The two souls began fighting inside Peggy's body.
In the corner, Thor yanked the mask off his face and gasped for breath.
It wasn't that he wanted to prove he was a pure virgin. The mask had turned so foul-smelling after the Evil Spirit briefly possessed it that even Thor, who had grown immune to the smell of the Corpse Room, couldn't stand it.
Every extra second he wore it made him want to die from disgust!
Amid the chaos, the Hardcover Book popped out.
[Shuoyue Calendar, Year 314, July 11, Sunny What a wondrous reaction. A piece of fresh maiden's skin, a little of an Elemental Fairy's filth, and a wisp of a cleanliness-obsessed cursed spirit had somehow been forged into an Intimidation Mask of the Necromancer! Ugh! But you'll have to figure out how to get rid of the stench first.]
Before you continue