The ground was dry, without a single weed in sight. It looked like rock rather than soil.
The surface was uneven, with sharp protrusions here and small depressions there.
There were too many of those eerie beings, constantly shifting and blocking most of the view. On top of that, Bai Xian was too stiff to move, leaving Luo Bin able to see only the tiny patch beneath her feet.
Silence.
Not a sound could be heard. Even a falling pin would have been audible.
A dozen hands became several dozen.
Only a dozen or so people could stand around Bai Xian, crowding her tightly. Yet more eerie beings began crawling across the ground toward her. They too stretched out their hands and pressed them against her lower abdomen, making the crowding even worse.
The stiffness Luo Bin felt intensified, his eyes locked firmly in place.
A face tilted upward slightly and met his gaze.
"Xian, why are you afraid? I'm here."
Xu Lu's voice emerged from that face. "I'll protect you. You're safe."
The Five Purifications Curse repeated endlessly. Bai Xiaoshan's aged voice echoed all around, seeming to overlap in layer upon layer.
Threads of stabbing pain struck through his mind.
Luo Bin felt himself sinking, sinking without end.
The eerie beings around him receded, drawing farther and farther away.
His body was being torn at and shaken, the shaking growing faster and faster!
Suddenly, his body pitched sharply forward!
The grayish-purple ghost head was flung out of his head. Luo Bin then jerked backward, staring straight up at the night sky.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Luo Bin gasped for breath, then suddenly jolted and shuddered violently.
Three faces were looking down at him!
His body stiffened. For an instant, he felt unable to move.
"Mr. Luo, are you all right?"