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墨書 Inktalez
I dared not look closely, only sneaking glances. Therefore, I couldn't see Old Nine's face clearly. After Old Nine took shape, he struck the man who approached, calling him Old Zhao.
Old Zhao took a bell from his pocket and shook it a few times before burning a piece of talisman paper. Mu Xuanche reminded me to pay attention, and I nodded to show I understood.
In truth, I had figured out some of the mechanics. When the sound of the bell from Old Zhao reached the third shake, I naturally stood up along with everyone else in the vehicle. Under the bell's command, we kept moving forward.
Have you heard of Xiangxi Corpse Transport? In the past, they would send those who had died far from home back to their families one by one. This was somewhat similar, except that the people in this vehicle were not dead; they were likely under some kind of Illusion, which is why they were controlled by the bell.
With each shake of the bell, we took a step forward. When the leader stopped, we stopped as well. Once I understood what was happening, my performance became very convincing.
Bai Qiling and Mu Xuanche were both experts at this; they were even better than I was. I had originally worried that the cold aura surrounding Mu Xuanche would give him away, but to my surprise, he acted even more convincingly than I did.
The bell guided us into the woods as we moved forward. When we reached a riverbank, I wasn't sure if others felt it too, but I could smell a strong stench of decay.
Old Zhao, shaking his bell, climbed onto a peculiar boat. The vessel was adorned with skulls, and the oars appeared to be made of bones. Old Zhao rowed ahead while we followed behind the main group, wading through the water to cross the river.
The moment my foot touched the water, a bone-chilling cold made me shiver, but I couldn’t show it. Under the influence of the hallucinogenic drug, I was unable to perceive anything from the outside world.
As I waded through the river, the water was not too deep, just reaching my waist. However, a strong stench emanated from the water, and it was so murky that I could barely see its color.
When we reached the middle of the river, a sudden current brought something floating downstream. I felt a heavy Yin Qi rushing toward me. As the object approached, I nearly screamed—it was a female corpse, grotesquely swollen to several times its size, radiating a greasy golden glow.
I cautiously tried to avoid her; what was terrifying about this thing was how it resembled an inflated balloon. If I accidentally brushed against her, she would burst, releasing foul water that could suffocate a person—essentially a biological weapon.
Why was I always so unlucky? I managed to dodge her, but the woman next to me wasn’t as fortunate. Dressed in hip-hop style with studded clothing, she inadvertently brushed against one of the corpse's studs as it glided past her.
With a snag, it burst open.
"Whoosh," a sound echoed,
and in an instant, the girl shattered into fragments, the filth inside her spilling out.
The already foul River Surface now smelled like a Sewage Pit.
I felt as if I were trapped in a massive Sewage Pit, the stench nearly overwhelming me.
Most importantly, I couldn't show any signs of distress on my face; I had to hold my breath and suppress my reactions.
If I breathed normally, it would be easy to get discovered.
All the suffering I endured would be for nothing, so I had to endure. I was truly impressed by my own acting skills, managing to keep moving forward even as I felt myself about to faint from the stench.
Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, the water level around me began to slowly drop, indicating that we were getting closer to the shore. As long as we could get up there, everything would be fine.
Before long, we reached the bank, but the smell clung to me stubbornly.
It was still much better than being submerged in the river. The bell continued to guide us forward.
When we arrived at a clearing deep within the forest, we found several large barrels set up around a pool in the clearing.
There were also quite a few people dressed similarly to Old Zhao. Old Zhao put away the bell.
A person approached from ahead and spoke to Old Zhao.
"Old Zhao, how many people are with this batch?"
"Old Zhao replied, 'That's right, there are seven of them.'
Seven.
When I counted, there were clearly eight. Why did it become seven when it got to Old Zhao?
Then it dawned on me.
I had forgotten about that accomplice. He had been so inconspicuous along the way that I completely overlooked him.
This person truly knows how to endure; even at this point, he hadn’t revealed his true colors.
'Qingzi, aren’t you coming out?' Old Zhao shouted towards the group.
'Hahaha...'
A clear laugh rang out from the group, and then that accomplice stepped forward. His name was Qingzi.
Old Zhao laughed and scolded Qingzi, 'Qingzi, you’re just too cautious. You always have to soak in the river water of the dead before you’re satisfied.'
'Third Brother, I’m just being careful. The leader entrusted us with such an important task; we can’t afford to make a mistake.'
For someone who could endure like this, Qingzi was quite a character. The leader he mentioned must be the Spirit Cult Leader; only he could orchestrate such bizarre events.
What I still didn’t understand was their true purpose—why they had lured us here.
To uncover the truth, I could only hold back and wait for what would happen next.
Perhaps they felt we were already trapped in an Illusion, as they didn’t hesitate to converse openly beside us."
Old Zhao wanted to drink, but Qingzi advised him,
"Third Brother, let's finish our task first before we drink slowly. Otherwise, when that woman comes to collect the skins, we'll be in big trouble without them."
Old Zhao seemed to have had quite a bit to drink already; his tongue was a bit thick as he spoke.
"Qingzi, you're just too cautious. What are you afraid of? It's just a female ghost. She treats a chicken feather like a command token, and who knows where she popped up from, treated like treasure by the leader. Just look at our poor Old Nine; what has he become now?"
A female ghost.
I couldn't help but feel curious. The only female ghost I knew from the Cult of Spirits was my arch-nemesis, Jin Ping.
Could it be that we were really going to run into Jin Ping?
And what about collecting skins? Could it be that the Disciples of Xuanzong were behind this?
When Qingzi brought out a glass barrel, I knew my suspicions were confirmed.
It was indeed these guys at work; the barrel contained Mercury.
It seemed they planned to use Mercury to strip our skins away. No wonder they hadn't killed us right away.
As I watched the first person being dragged away, I started to panic.
Even though we weren't related, I couldn't bear to watch an innocent person being peeled right in front of me.
To my surprise, Qingzi, who looked so frail, acted swiftly without even blinking as he shaved off all the hair from that person's head.
The gleaming knife was about to stab down onto the person's scalp, and I finally couldn't hold back any longer.
But my body felt as if it were frozen in place, unable to move.
There was no need to think to know who was behind this; it had to be Mu Xuanche. He must have sensed my actions and taken action against me.
Could I really just watch that person die? I couldn't do that.
I struggled to free myself from the restraints holding me down. Just as I was about to shout out to draw their attention, a sudden cool breeze swept through.
The few who had not fallen under the Illusion all collapsed to the ground.
At that moment, the control over my body was lifted, and I could move freely again.
When I turned around, I happened to lock eyes with Mu Xuanche.
He handed me a piece of clothing that felt warm; I had no idea when he had gotten it.
My entire body was freezing from being soaked in water, and this clothing felt like a lifesaver to me.
Mu Xuanche led me to a hidden spot where I could change clothes.
Although it still smelled bad, at least it was warmer.
"Mu Xuanche, what method did you use to make them fall?" I asked.
"I had already left some medicine on the leaves along the way. As soon as the wind blew, it spread into the air. Inhaling just a little bit would make them fall asleep," he explained.
With that explanation, I understood; he had planned this all along while I had been foolishly panicking alone.
Returning to the previous spot, Bai Qiling had already changed into a new guise. I envied how he carried no trace of his former self.
Bai Qiling approached Mu Xuanche and asked, "What should we do next?"
Mu Xuanche glanced at Bai Qiling and replied in a low voice, "Illusion is not your strong suit; do you still need me to instruct you?"
I couldn't understand a word of their conversation.
I had originally wanted to ask something, but Mu Xuanche told me to just wait and watch.
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