Night Falls (First Round of PK—Please Keep Reading)

At this moment, Zhou Gu and the other three heard Lin Nan's words, and their faces all turned deathly pale.

However, they were all experienced core disciples. Without hesitation, they each pulled a blood talisman from their pouches.

Hiss!

The four talismans ignited at once, crimson flames spreading outward in rings.

In just a few breaths, the blazing sun vanished from their eyes. The surrounding light instantly dimmed, and night silently shrouded the entire temple.

The blue-brick ruins that had seemed normal beneath the sunlight transformed into broken shadows beneath the night...

It was nighttime?!

It was already nighttime?!

They had actually walked from noon until night?!

"How is that possible?! No martial artist who came out of Cold Mountain Goddess Temple has ever mentioned encountering such a bizarre ghost wall!"

Zhou Gu's expression shifted several times as he turned to Lin Nan. "How did you notice?"

Lin Nan fell silent for a moment and did not answer.

In truth, ever since he had stepped into the temple, he had vaguely felt that something was off.

Until just now, that strange feeling had grown stronger and stronger.

So he looked at the information on the [Creation Furnace]:

Yin evil energy has entered the body. Refine it?

That short sentence struck him like lightning.

He had been affected! Affected by something inside the temple!

If he had not seen the warning from the Creation Furnace, he never would have noticed anything was wrong.

Only after the yin evil energy in his body had been completely refined did Lin Nan realize that they had been lost in the ghost wall for several hours.

"It's a disturbance."

Zhang Chengchang, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke. His expression was grave.

"I once heard disciples from the gang say that demons and evil spirits around the outskirts of Black Dragon City have been growing increasingly active recently. Areas once deemed safe have recently seen many incidents of demons devouring people."

A disturbance...

It was the first time Lin Nan and the three martial academy disciples had heard that term.

"Now isn't the time to discuss this. Let's leave the temple first and regroup..."

His words came to an abrupt halt.

All five turned their heads at once.

The temple gate they had just entered through had completely vanished.

Where the doorframe had been stood only a solid wall covered in moss.

"H-how could this happen? The way we came... it's gone... We can't get out??"

Wang Luoxuan stammered in fright, nearly unable to speak.

"Reversed perception, this is reversed perception?! We've walked too far. We stopped being near the temple entrance long ago."

Lin Nan's heart lurched.

He suddenly recalled the incident in Withered Locust Village and realized that the strange situation in Cold Mountain Goddess Temple was somewhat similar to that village.

"No, this isn't the entrance..."

"...That thing has disrupted our perception, making us venture too deeply into the ancient temple while still believing we're at the entrance. We only need to return to where we started, and we can get out!"

Lin Nan spoke as he took the map from Zhou Gu and examined it carefully.

"Then let's get out of here quickly, shall we?" Wang Luoxuan anxiously looked at Zhang Chengchang and Zhou Gu. She did not want to remain in this place for another moment.

Among those present, Zhang Chengchang and Zhou Gu had the highest martial cultivation. Both were warriors at the perfected third level of the Skin-and-Flesh Realm, naturally becoming the pillars of this temporary team.

"No. Since we're already here, we'll go to the main hall, find the secret art, and then leave." A ruthless glint flashed through Zhang Chengchang's eyes.

"These evil entities do nothing more than alter our perception and distort our sense of direction to affect us. As long as we keep the blood talismans active, they can't influence us."

"That's right." Zhou Gu gritted his teeth. "I've estimated the time. It should be around the Hour of the Dog now. There's still some time before the Hour of the Rat, when demons and evil spirits become active. It's enough..."

"Fine!" Jie Ling agreed as well. "To keep the blood talismans from being used up too quickly, we'll each use one in turns!"

"Sounds good. Let's go!"

Lin Nan frowned as he looked at the map, feeling as though he had overlooked something. But there was no time for him to think further.

"Go!"

Without another moment of hesitation, the five circulated their blood and qi and sprinted forward.

Just as they passed that dried-up well.

Wang Luoxuan casually turned her head and glanced at it.

The next second, she sharply sucked in a breath, her body trembling instinctively.

"Th-there's a ghost!"

At the edge of the abandoned ancient well, a figure was slowly writhing.

It was a woman in white. Her long black hair hung in disarray, covering her entire face. Her limbs were twisted in an unnatural posture as she crawled bit by bit up the well wall.

"Something... is at the ancient well!"

"Don't stop! Get inside!"

Zhou Gu shouted lowly, and the five immediately burst into action.

Without another word, they charged headlong into the pitch-black hall ahead.

With quick reflexes, Jie Ling spun around, slammed the hall doors shut, and stuck a blood talisman onto them.

Only then did the five let out a breath of relief.

"Was that... was that a resentful ghost?"

Wang Luoxuan gasped for breath, all traces of her earlier composure gone.

"Damn it, how could a resentful ghost be active before the Hour of the Rat? This makes no sense."

Zhou Gu cursed furiously. He dearly wished he could hang up the martial artist who had sold him the intelligence and use him as a punching bag.

Resentful ghosts were a type of evil entity said to be born from human resentment. They could usually only move during the Hour of the Rat, when yin energy was at its strongest.

Lin Nan also found the ghost's appearance just now rather abrupt. Something felt wrong, but he could not put his finger on it for the moment.

The five looked around.

Hiss!

Jie Ling took out a fire striker and lit it, the weak flame revealing the scene around them.

Thick dust covered the surroundings, mixed with the smell of rotting wood. At the center of the hall, atop a stone altar, stood a wooden statue with indistinct features, holding a whisk.

A statue of the Cold Mountain Goddess!

Lin Nan suddenly noticed that this statue seemed to share certain similarities with the statue of the Blessed Life Mother worshipped by the Blessed Life Cult.

Should we try worshipping it?

A thought flashed through Lin Nan's mind.

"Search around for anything valuable, especially books and the like," Zhou Gu said sternly.

The four core disciples nodded. They acted swiftly, using the firelight to search through the corners of the hall.

Before long, Wang Luoxuan suddenly cried out softly.

"Come look, there's something here."

The others gathered around and saw a yellowed, tattered stitched notebook pressed beneath a pile of rotten weeds.

"There really is something here."

Overjoyed, they began flipping through the stitched notebook by the firelight.

"I heard that while on night duty, some people even heard a woman crying. What a joke. The Goddess possesses the bloodline of spirit exorcists—what blind evil entity would dare cause trouble at the Goddess Temple..."

"...Another disciple on night duty went missing last night. He was already the fourth junior brother to vanish mysteriously from the temple...

"Senior Brother said the Goddess Temple was haunted, and that it drank human blood every night. I don't understand. Why hasn't the Goddess come out to clear this up..."

"Someone disappeared again today! The seventh person! Senior Brother led some disciples into the residence where the Goddess lived, and it was actually empty!! Where has the Goddess gone?"

"It'll be my turn for night duty soon. I hope I'll be all right..."

"Last night, I really heard a woman crying. It came from the side hall!"

"Tonight's duty went smoothly, but someone disappeared again..."

"Tonight's duty went smoothly. The junior brother in my room disappeared too..."

"Tonight's duty went smoothly... Senior Brother disappeared as well..."

"Tonight's duty went smoothly... but someone disappeared again..."

"...I'm the only one left. Tonight, I heard knocking at the door..."