Eye-shaped ripple

"It's dawn!"

In that instant when the white light filled the sky and earth, around the fire tower, some ghost suddenly cried out in alarm.

Then, all sounds and images paled in comparison under the white light!

The darkness that concealed countless evil spirits was also dispelled in that instant!

The villagers scattered in panic, searching everywhere for a place to hide.

Zhou Baigou, who was protecting Zhou Yang, turned his head and glanced at Zhou Yang in fear.

Its eyes were wide open, its pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints. It glanced at Zhou Yang once, then turned and ran away, completely forgetting Huang Shaozi's instructions!

The evil spirits in the darkness instilled fear in the villagers of Guan Village, whose skins were made of human skin.

Now, the white light that dispelled the darkness and stirred all of Zhou Yang's Mindfulness seemed to instill fear even in the evil spirits beneath his skin!

But legend has it that ghosts have no emotions, and therefore no fear.

Their current state is less one of fear and more one of retreat.

They flinched away from the white light shining upon them. This warm glow seemed like a knife falling from the sky to them!

Or perhaps something even more terrifying than a knife!

Zhou Yang's entire consciousness was stirred by this boundless white light.

He felt as if he were in a hot spring bath, surrounded by flowing white light that gave him a sense of "peace and freedom." At this moment, he could let go of all his guard and let his consciousness roam freely in the white light, riding the wind back home.

Just then, a sharp, stabbing pain began to emanate from his skin.

The sharp, piercing roar of the Huang Shaozi, accompanied by such pain, entered Zhou Yang's consciousness.

This intensified the pain, which had started as a sharp, needle-like pricking, and grew to feel like a wooden wedge being driven into it!

From time to time, a dent would appear on Zhou Yang's skin.

It was as if someone had driven invisible nails into his flesh!

"Zhou Yang! Zhou Yang! Zhou Yang!"

The excruciating pain shook Zhou Yang to his core!

He had to come back from that carefree, peaceful state, and in that instant, he saw "himself." He was standing in the white light, his eyes were fixed, there was a dent in the skin between his eyebrows, and he had a formulaic smile on his face.

How could I see myself?!

Zhou Yang was surprised.

Normally, how can a person see what they look like if they're not looking in a mirror?

With that thought, Zhou Yang suddenly realized!

The reason he can see himself is because his consciousness has left his body and is now exposed to this layer of white light!

In this way, you're in an observer's perspective, and naturally you can see yourself!

The Guan Nu's last words stated that in the fourth hour, it suddenly became bright daylight.

He saw that all the villagers in Guan Village in front of the fire tower were looking for places to hide, so he also hid.

What was hidden was his soul; his physical body was exposed to the Guan Village, and that was the end of his life!

In retrospect, the moment the sky suddenly brightened, the Guan Nu's body and soul had already been separated.

He then tried to hide like the others, completely unaware that his physical body was still in the same place! Zhou Yang was horrified!

The pain, like coffin nails being driven into his flesh, continued to emanate from Zhou Yang's body!

Driven by this intense pain, he resolved to return to his body—

The next instant, he truly returned to his own body!

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Yang reached out and took out the coarse cloth bag that Huang Shaozi had given him, unfolded the cloth, and revealed the small coffin inside.

Pushing open the coffin lid, the straw effigy with Zhou Yang's name pasted on its head came into view.

At this moment, a hole suddenly appeared on the left arm of the straw doll—and Zhou Yang felt a sharp pain, as if coffin nails were being driven into his body, on a certain part of his corresponding left arm!

Huang Shaozi used this method of stabbing people to continuously curse and suppress Zhou Yang, causing Zhou Yang to experience pain in the corresponding parts of his body.

It was this pain that jolted him back to his body!

Looking at the straw effigy that was about to fall apart, with one tiny hole after another appearing on its body, Zhou Yang seemed to see Huang Shaozi hiding in the dimly lit main room, kneeling in front of a dark, empty shrine, constantly sticking needles into the straw effigy with Zhou Yang's name written on it, illuminated by the white candlelight.

Eerie and sinister.

Although this method was sinister, it was of great use to Zhou Yang at this moment! Zhou Yang looked up at the blazing white light.

The blinding light engulfed the houses and walls of Guan Village, and all the scenes in the white light became simplified lines.

--What exactly is this white light that fills the sky and earth?

Even one's own Mindfulness is touched by this white light.

Even the soul resonates with it!

It has no physical form; it is more like a force that connects with the human soul!

Zhou Yang saw that several Guan Village who hadn't had time to hide were standing there like wooden stakes, looking up at the sky.

Their exposed skin was pitted and uneven, clearly burned by sparks from the fire tower, leaving many holes in their human skin.

The Ghost Rhyme originally flowed continuously from these holes.

But at this moment, not a trace of Ghost Rhyme emanated from those dark pits on their bodies.

Instead, specks of white light gathered and condensed in the dark pits on their bodies.

The white light washed over the Guan Village again and again, and the very obvious pits and blemishes on their skin, after being brushed by layers of white light, became smooth as if they had been smoothed with a skin-smoothing filter!

Not a single hidden pit remained!

Zhou Yang's mind suddenly cleared!

He had previously been puzzled, as the Human-Skin Ghost of Guan Village had most likely guarded the fire tower a few times.

Having guarded the fire tower, the human skin on their bodies inevitably developed holes and craters.

Zhou Yang had never seen such pits on a Human-Skin Ghost before, and the reason was this—after this layer of white light swept over, all the damage on the skin of the Guan Village was completely repaired!

The fact that these human skins from Guan Village have been preserved for so long is related to this white light!

White light repairs human skin, leaving the skin undamaged, making it difficult for the ghost inside to escape.

This entire Human-Skin Guan Village seemed to be a trap set by those heroes specifically for ghosts.

They used this method to trap a whole cave of ghosts!

Even if one achieves Upright Heart, it's only enough to restrain one ghost.

The current Guan Village is now imprisoning hundreds of ghosts. If no one else breaks in later, this village could have continued to exist until the white light fades away.

From another perspective, Zhou Yang seemed to see another side of Guan Village.

At this moment, Zhou Yang suddenly thought of something and abruptly turned his head to look behind him.

He saw the Cui Zhu brothers, Cui He, standing blankly behind him, their mouths slightly open and their eyes staring straight ahead—a sight exactly like Zhou Yang's when his consciousness left his body.

He exerted a great deal of effort to finally save their lives.

It would be such a pity if these two died now.

Zhou Yang's efforts were all in vain.

Therefore, without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed the two men by the neck with both hands and began to shake them violently:

Wake up, wake up!

Your souls are still outside, don't get lost!

"Come back quickly, the ghosts are going to eat your bodies!"

"Come back!" Fortunately, when Zhou Yang grabbed the two men by the neck, he felt their strong pulses beating.

Previously, Huang Shaozi's act of stabbing the effigy directly transmitted the pain to Zhou Yang's physical body, bringing him back to consciousness. This confirmed to him that now, under the white light, the pain in his body could bring him back to his consciousness.

By choking them like that, they were simply suffocating.

At this moment, they are completely out of control, and even if you were to strangle them, they probably wouldn't react at all.

Therefore, Zhou Yang quickly gave up on using this method to bring the two back to consciousness.

He swung his arm wide, sending both of their faces slamming into his palm.

The sounds, like firecrackers, continued one after another!

Alternative solutions kept flashing through Zhou Yang's mind:

"In the past, when someone in rural areas suffered a hysterical episode and attempted suicide, or when someone with a mental illness had an episode and harmed others, a traditional remedy would be used—"

"Pour some golden juice into that person's mouth, and instantly, many people's madness will be cured."

"I've seen my neighbor before. She threatens to hang herself every few days. The more you ignore her, the more she'll stick her neck into the noose."

"The old man was driven to desperation, so he asked the village sorceress to come and take a look. "From now on, if that aunt tries to hang herself again, she'll definitely have to drink a bowl of golden juice."

"After drinking it only twice, his hysterical and suicidal madness was completely cured."

"These two aren't currently experiencing hysteria, but their souls seem to have left their bodies. A strong physical stimulus is needed to bring their 'spirits' back... But where can I find this golden elixir?"

Zhou Yang was deeply troubled.

But then Cui He suddenly trembled, and her blank eyes suddenly brightened!

He received another solid slap from Zhou Yang, and his head suddenly felt dizzy. The other person really had a lot of strength!

He quickly realized what was happening, and as his anger rose, he saw Zhou Yang's cold, gleaming face in front of him. His courage pounded, and his anger vanished completely. He lowered his eyes, looking ashamed and dejected.

Next to Cui He, Cui Zhu also came to her senses.

He opened his mouth, but seeing that the person who slapped him was Zhou Yang, he remained silent.

"Are you awake now?"

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Zhou Yang immediately understood what was going on.

He immediately withdrew his hand. The dozen or so slaps had left both his hands swollen and sore.

"Awake? You're awake?"

Cui He cautiously raised her eyes, looking at Zhou Yang's face, which revealed nothing of her thoughts.

The other person seemed to be still enjoying themselves.

He didn't know whether he should wake up now.

"It's good that you're awake." Zhou Yang was a little surprised. No matter what the Cui Family brothers had done before, he always felt that they had some backbone and were willing to take responsibility. He was moved by them when he decided to save these two people.

Why are the two of them so timid and hesitant in front of him now?

He still had some things to verify at the moment and had no time to deal with these matters, so he continued, "It was bright daylight just now, but this daytime was not the true daytime in Guan Village."

"You are drawn by this white light, and your souls instantly leave your bodies."

"In this extraordinary situation, I have no choice but to use extraordinary measures to bring you both back to your senses, lest you fail to regain your composure in time and others return—that would be a bad situation."

Now that you two have come to your senses, find a place to hide.

"When the white light fades, it will be true dawn in Guan Village. At that time, you two can go wherever you wish. Remember, do not actively touch the white light in the world again, otherwise your soul will leave your body again, and there may not be another chance to call it back in time."

"Yes, yes!"

Even the most dull-witted Cui Family brothers understood at this moment that Zhou Yang, who resembled the ghost of Guan Village so closely, was indeed a living person.

And they had done him a great favor by saving their lives!

The two of them knelt down with a thud and kowtowed several times to Zhou Yang.

"You saved my life, from now on you are at my beck and call!" Cui He said.

"I am a poor, lowly person who has received such a great debt of gratitude for being saved. Even if I were to repay this debt with my insignificant body, it would be insufficient to do so in a lifetime."

"In this village, someone like me is even more afraid of being a burden to my benefactor."

"I only wish to fulfill my benefactor's requests at any time, and I will do my utmost to repay this kindness for nine generations!"

Cui Zhu said something.

Cui He, who was standing next to him, turned her head and looked at him in surprise.

I hadn't realized before that my older brother was so talkative, and even a bit bookish. "Alright!"

Zhou Yang grinned.

Cui He, her forehead covered in mud, looked up at Zhou Yang with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "My benefactor, will you still go to Old Zhang's dilapidated house during the day?"

Old Zhang's dilapidated house?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yang was slightly taken aback.

Then it dawned on me that this was the place where Cui He and Zhou Yang from Guan Village Guan Village arranged to fight.

He had previously taken the opportunity to invite Cui He to go to that dilapidated house again, hoping to try and open up the social network of Guan Village. Cui He also seemed to have some understanding of the interpersonal relationships in Guan Village.

Given this, how could he not go?

"Of course we'll go. We'll meet there at the third quarter of the first hour after dawn!"

"If I have not arrived by the third quarter of an hour, you may leave on your own."

"I often walk this road behind Guan Village. If you brothers meet me there, we can arrange a place to meet again."

Zhou Yang agreed. Then, he asked Cui He for the exact location of Old Zhang's dilapidated house before letting the two leave.

Watching the two figures disappear into the white light, Zhou Yang stood in front of the fire tower and looked up at the sky again.

In the center of the bright white sky, the eye-shaped ripple had become blurred and difficult to see.

He withdrew his gaze and looked around.

Bathed in white light, no one could be seen in any direction.

The Human-Skin Ghost all hid.

But wherever the light reaches, no matter how they hide, the wounds on their skin will eventually be repaired.

The pain of the piercing nails still lingered. Zhou Yang pushed open the small coffin and saw that the straw effigy inside was being pierced by needles again and again, almost losing its shape.

"It can probably hold on for another quarter of an hour before it completely falls apart."

"A quarter of an hour was enough—it didn't take me long to come to my senses."

"And..."

Zhou Yang reached into his clothes and pulled out the white paper strip. This was a white paper banner that A Fu had given him to save his life, specifically for use during the fourth hour.

Even now, he still can't be sure whether A Fu is friend or foe.

Perhaps we can find out the truth through this white paper banner.

Zhou Yang did not use the white paper banner while in a state of separation from his soul—at that time, his soul would leave his body, and the banner would be attached to his physical body. Even if he had a straw doll with Huang Shaozi, his methods would be somewhat limited.

Especially if A Fu harbors ill intentions towards him, he will be almost unable to defend against the white paper banner while in a state of dissociation.

Therefore, he decided to use this white paper banner right now.

Let's test the quality of this banner.

Also, let's find out what A Fu's true intentions are towards us.