The sinister temple

"The temple!"

The evil entity was actually hiding in the temple, right out in the open?

That really was unexpected. Ye Qianfan had thought the evil entity would be hiding somewhere more secluded.

Still, this was good too. It saved Ye Qianfan the trouble of searching everywhere!

Then...

Ye Qianfan told the two of them the result of his divination. Both had already witnessed how powerful his divination skills were, so naturally, they chose to follow the great Ye!

Had it been somewhere else, Ye Qianfan and the others might have found it hard to locate.

But the place the Patriarch had pointed out was the village's only temple, and it stood in the most conspicuous spot in the entire village. That made it much easier to find!

Had it been somewhere else, Ye Qianfan and the others might have found it hard to locate, but the place the Patriarch had pointed out was the village's only temple, and it stood in the most conspicuous spot in the entire village. That made it much easier to find!

Along the way, Shen Lang kept playing his flute!

"Wooo, wooo..."

Ye Qianfan had never expected Shen Lang's flute music to sound so sorrowful. It sounded like someone weeping, or someone pouring out their heart.

Listening to it for long enough, one couldn't help growing sad as well!

And now...

Ye Qianfan finally understood.

He understood why Shen Lang had said his flute music could enthrall those wandering ghosts and make them forget about harming people.

The moment the wandering ghosts approaching them along the road heard Shen Lang's flute, they sank into profound sorrow, tears streaming uncontrollably from their eyes.

It was as though the music led them unwittingly back to memories of their tragic deaths, and all the grief and pain they had suffered in life.

With every ghost crying, naturally none of them paid any attention to the three men passing by!

Ye Qianfan even noticed a woman with a white cloth tied around her head and coarse hemp mourning clothes draped over her body, sobbing...

Yet the tears falling from her eyes glittered like stars in the night sky. Before those tears could reach the ground, they simply dissolved into the darkness.

"Stop looking. Those aren't tears. They're droplets condensed from her soul."

The Taoist sighed mournfully. "Ghosts can't cry, because every time they do, they consume their soul power! Cry too much, and their souls disappear."

Hearing this, Ye Qianfan turned back.

Suddenly, he felt that being a ghost was rather pitiful. Not only did they drift through existence in a haze, they weren't even allowed to cry. If they cried too much, they would dissipate.

People became ghosts after they died, but where did ghosts go after they dissipated?

"Brother Ye, we're at the temple. Should we go straight in?"

Before long.

The three of them had arrived at the entrance to the little red-walled temple.

The temple looked quite small from a distance, but up close, Ye Qianfan discovered it was larger than he had imagined. Perhaps it was because everything, from its height to its doors and windows, and even its steps, had been built on an enlarged scale, making it seem unremarkable in size at first glance.

Yet once you approached, it gave you the illusion that the temple was outrageously large!

"Wait here at the entrance for a moment, everyone. I'll go inside and take a look."

Ye Qianfan looked up at the temple doors, which were over three meters tall. Since he couldn't die anyway, he decided to go in first and scout things out for his two teammates.

However...

Rich Merchant stepped onto the temple stairs ahead of him. "Let me do it! I've relied on your help all this way, brothers! I can't keep hiding behind you two. This time, let me take the lead!"

With that.

Rich Merchant quickly clicked the beads of his abacus!

His expression immediately relaxed considerably. Only then did he use his golden abacus to push open the temple doors!

"Creeeak!"

The temple doors swung open, and Rich Merchant quickly slipped inside.

Standing behind him, Shen Lang watched Rich Merchant's back disappear through the doorway and couldn't resist grumbling, "They say merchants are good at calculating. Today, I finally see what they mean!"

"Heh, entering the temple isn't entirely without risk. It's not a bad thing that Boss Qian is willing to scout ahead for us."

Ye Qianfan naturally understood that Shen Lang was complaining about Rich Merchant rushing into the temple because he couldn't wait to get his hands on the reward!

But he merely smiled and reassured Shen Lang. "After all, the temple is right here, and it's so conspicuous."

"We certainly aren't the only ones who've thought the evil entity might be hiding inside. If it were that easy to find, this stage would probably be over already!"

"Haha!" Shen Lang laughed at that. "You have a point, Brother Ye. Then let's wait and see how Boss Qian performs!"

However...

One minute passed, then two.

They kept hearing movement inside the temple, but Rich Merchant never came out to notify them. As time went on, the effect of Shen Lang's flute music on the wandering ghosts gradually wore off as well.

By now, quite a few wandering ghosts had caught the scent of humans and were slowly gathering toward the little temple!

Shen Lang exchanged a glance with Ye Qianfan and said, "That bastard must've lost track of time searching for things. We can't wait any longer. Let's go in."

"All right!"

Without another word, Ye Qianfan strode up to the heavy temple doors and shoved hard!

The temple doors swung open!

The instant they opened, Ye Qianfan was dumbfounded.

What lay before him was no temple at all, but an abandoned courtyard. A strange old pagoda tree stood in the middle, without a single leaf on its branches, yet laden with human heads as fruit. Rich Merchant was dangling in midair from one of its branches.

Not just Rich Merchant, but several other assessment participants from other cities were hanging in midair as well.

"Ugh..."

Rich Merchant wasn't dead yet. He was desperately reaching out toward Ye Qianfan and the others for help.

Ye Qianfan wanted to save him, but apart from knowing a little divination, he really had no offensive abilities. Fortunately, Shen Lang did. He immediately raised his flute to his lips and blew a note!

"Phee!"

It was a piercingly sharp flute note.

It made Ye Qianfan feel as though his head was about to explode. Fortunately, the sound lasted only an instant!

"Bang!"

The vine wrapped around Rich Merchant's neck instantly burst apart!

Rich Merchant fell from the tree, landing so hard that his senses reeled. Yet he didn't even dare cry out in pain. He hurriedly grabbed his fallen golden abacus and, like a terrified dog with its tail tucked between its legs, scrambled and crawled back toward Ye Qianfan and Shen Lang!

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Only after reaching Shen Lang and the others did Rich Merchant break into a fit of coughing. "You finally came! I almost thought I was going to die!"

"If you want to be the first to find the Death-Exemption Talisman, you'd better be prepared to lose your life!"

Shen Lang sneered.

Rich Merchant gave an awkward smile, not daring to argue.

The three stood beneath the eaves without being attacked. It seemed only those who stepped into the courtyard would come under attack!

Ye Qianfan looked up at a little girl in the tree, dressed in red bridal robes with a red bridal veil over her head. Looking surprised, he said, "Could she be the evil entity we're looking for?"

"What entity?" Shen Lang followed Ye Qianfan's gaze. "You mean this tree? I don't think so. My guess is that the evil entity is in the main hall behind the tree. We'll probably have to charge into the hall to catch it!"

"But that's not right. I clearly see..."

Just as Ye Qianfan was about to say that he could clearly see the evil entity sitting on the tree trunk, the little girl lowered her head to look at him and gave an eerie smile. "Heeheehee, big brother, can you see me?"