Special Barrier

In the end...

Everyone turned their gaze toward the little temple in the middle of the village.

It was the strangest place in the entire village. If their suspicions were right, the evil spirit was probably waiting for them inside that temple!

But it was already dark, precisely the time when evil spirits held the advantage.

No one wanted to risk it!

"It's getting late."

As everyone exchanged uncertain glances, Shen Lang spoke up. "And you've all been traveling all day. Why don't we each find somewhere to rest and work out a plan tomorrow?"

"Sounds good!"

Everyone nodded, agreeing that Shen Lang's suggestion was sensible.

They then split into groups of two or three according to their home cities and left to find suitable houses to rest in.

Ye Qianfan and his two companions also found a nearby house built from piled stones.

Although there was a large hole in the roof, the walls were fairly intact. Most importantly, it had a door and windows, making it an enclosed space of sorts. Staying in an enclosed space in a place like this gave them at least some sense of security.

"Don't you find this strange?"

Ye Qianfan stayed well away from the fire, mainly because he was afraid of catching fire himself.

Shen Lang sat beside it, constantly poking at it with a branch to make it burn brighter. "What do you mean, Brother Ye? The time of day?"

"Exactly!" Ye Qianfan nodded. "We set out this morning. However fast time passed, it should only have been around noon when we entered the Passage Gate, right? So why was it completely dark when we arrived here?"

"A special barrier."

Warming himself by the fire, the wealthy merchant explained, "I've heard that the Demon-Quelling Office has quite a few special items specifically meant to imprison evil spirits that can't be killed, or that are useful, in special places."

"My guess is that we aren't somewhere on the outskirts of Fog City. We're inside a special barrier!"

"A barrier we entered through the well!"

"These barriers usually have their own time and space, so it's perfectly normal to enter during the day and find that it's nighttime inside!"

"Heeheehee~"

"Heeheehee, so many people have come!"

However...

Just as they were preparing to eat something and rest, an eerie voice suddenly rang out.

It was a little girl's voice, young and innocent!

In broad daylight, there would naturally have been nothing wrong with that voice.

But after dark, hearing that childish voice coming from every direction, seeping through the closed doors and windows, was rather terrifying!

"This is..."

"It must be the evil spirit for the third trial!"

"We just don't know what kind it is. Generally speaking, the spirits of women and children are harder to deal with!"

All three looked up at the damaged roof, the most badly broken part of the entire house.

They were all worried that the evil spirit might suddenly drop down through it!

"Heeheehee~"

Just as their conversation ended, the little girl's voice rang out again through the empty night.

This time, they all heard it clearly. The voice came from the sky, from the sky above the entire village, before flowing into every room and reaching everyone's ears!

"I'm so happy! Eunuch He said lots of people would come and play with me. It really was true!"

"Big brothers and big sisters, shall we play hide-and-seek?"

"Little Nini loves hide-and-seek the most!"

As the little girl spoke, she began laughing and clapping to herself, then giggled for a long while.

"Giggle, giggle~"

"Nini is hiding in one of the rooms! Come find Nini, big brothers and big sisters. Whoever finds where Nini is hiding will get a talisman that spares them from death!"

"There's only one! Whoever finds it first gets it!"

"Giggle, giggle!"

Everyone's eyes lit up at those words.

Quite a few people rushed out of their rooms, but even more chose to stay inside and watch. They wanted to see whether anything happened to those who went out before deciding whether to leave themselves!

However...

The evil spirit saw right through their attempts to be clever.

The little girl spoke again, sounding displeased. "Huh? So many people won't come out!"

"It's no fun if everyone stays hidden!"

"Let's do this!"

"Anyone who hasn't left their room within half an incense stick's burning time will drop dead!"

"Giggle, giggle~"

The little girl's laughter instantly became even more terrifying. Her innocent sweetness turned to utter malice in a heartbeat.

But perhaps this was an evil spirit's true face!

She didn't care in the slightest whether anyone else lived or died!

"We should... go out too."

The wealthy merchant looked worried.

But Ye Qianfan shook his head. "Don't rush. Did you bring any incense, boss? Light a stick first. We only need to leave before half of it burns away!"

"I agree with Brother Ye." Shen Lang nodded repeatedly. "There must be something wrong if that evil spirit is so eager to get everyone out of the houses. And since she's willing to give us half an incense stick's worth of time, why shouldn't we make full use of it?"

"You both have a point. I was too hasty."

With that, the wealthy merchant hurriedly pulled a stick of incense from the hairpin on his hat and lit it!

This was the first time Ye Qianfan had seen the wealthy merchant take incense out of his hair.

What a talent!

"Brother Ye, my surname is Qian." After lighting the incense, the wealthy merchant cupped his fist toward Ye Qianfan. "I'm a few years older than you, so you can call me Brother Qian!"

"All right, Boss Qian!"

And...

Just as the two exchanged pleasantries!

"Aaaah!!!"

"What the hell is this thing? Back, back, back!"

"Evil spirits, begone! Get away from me—aaaah!!!"

Ye Qianfan and the others suddenly heard screams from outside. It sounded as though quite a few examinees had been killed by the evil spirits in the village.

And judging by the screams rising one after another, there was probably more than one evil spirit!

"How are there so many ghosts?!"

"I don't know either! Get back inside!"

"Fuck!"

Ye Qianfan heard the examinees in the neighboring house shouting.

He crept over to the window and peered outside through the holes riddling its paper covering!

"Uh..."

When Ye Qianfan first looked beyond the window, what he saw was not the darkness of night.

Nor was it the carnage outside!

Instead...

It was a blood-red eye.

The pupil was cloudy, while the white was covered in blood vessels, making the entire eye appear red at first glance!