“Jiangshi.” Yinyu retreated a step, only to find her ears filled with chirping, no different from a flock of birds chattering, making her ears ring.
Underground, there must be Jiangshi; they had no other place to hide.
Jiangshi moved by the breath of the living; as soon as living people approached, they would surge over. But because the huge fire on the ritual platform burned ceaselessly, the underground was scorching hot, and the Jiangshi, as if roasted by fire, kept crying out.
Lian Sheng was still looking at the peach tree. That tree grew well, its branches and leaves not lush but verdant and green. When the scorching wind passed, the leaves stirred slightly, as if possessing sentience.
Ordinary trees could never stand firm amid a great fire. This tree must have become a demon.
“I hear it,” Lian Sheng said.
Yinyu picked up another pinch of fine bone ash and scattered it, saying, “Those who died on the Altar of the Abandoned probably number in the hundreds or thousands. This dust is all from human bones.”
Lian Sheng plucked at a peach leaf. “No wonder this tree grows so well. Using living people as fertilizer is a luxury ordinary trees can’t enjoy.”
“Has it gained a spirit?” Yinyu glanced at the peach tree.
Hot air rushed at them, and the tender leaves of the tree swayed along. Viewed from a distance, it would look exactly like a graceful woman dancing.
Lian Sheng pinched a branch as if to break it; the branch swung, but it seemed to be swaying in the wind, not deliberately avoiding her.
“The Yin Energy is too thick, I can’t sense it,” she said, releasing the branch.
Yinyu brushed away the dust under her feet, trying to find a hidden mechanism, and said, “If the Jiangshi can hide underground, there must be a passage going down.”
The stone platform was covered with extremely thick dust. When brushed away, the carved marks on it were strangely shallow, almost smooth, not looking like a mechanism was hidden there.
The Ear Whisperer God was still bound in Yinyu’s arms. Its head swelling from the heat, it couldn’t help muttering, “This place is sinister! Wuxian really has done plenty of evil! Look at the vast expanses on the ground—it’s all bone ash. Either living people were burned to death directly on the platform, or they were trapped and died underground, turned into Jiangshi, tried to escape, but couldn’t avoid being burned to ash!”
“Raising Jiangshi underground—is it like raising Plague Ghosts at Overgrown Mountain, using Yin to nourish Yin?” Yinyu pondered.
“I’m furious! If I don’t capture Wuxian, my wrath won’t be quelled!” the Ear Whisperer God shouted in a childish voice.
Yinyu, annoyed, covered the wooden puppet’s mouth.
The Ear Whisperer God kept shouting, “How dare you cover my mouth with hands that touched bone powder!”
“You’re not speaking with this mouth anyway.” Yinyu let go, and grabbed another handful of dust, slowly rubbing it in her palm. “But you do have a point. This Altar of the Abandoned Rite might not only have death offerings, but also live ones.”
Human sacrifice was common in the past. For instance, some nobles and officials liked to have living people buried with them. Servants and followers went into the tomb with them, unable to escape, and starved to death.
Yinyu stood up, squinted, and said, “Could it be a tomb underneath?”
Lian Sheng let go of the peach branch, slightly averting her eyes but not moving her peripheral gaze.
Then the branch swung backward, clearly deliberately avoiding her.
Lian Sheng gave a light scoff, reached out and pinched that section of branch neither too hard nor too soft. The branch twisted ceaselessly in her hand, causing the whole tree to sway unceasingly.
“Whose tomb? Some deity who once ruled this place?” she joked lightly.
“How could that be.” Yinyu snorted. She didn’t believe Wuxian would build a tomb for her.
Wuxian was a person who took unconventional paths and might do strange things, but even if she built a tomb, she would only build it for herself.
“What’s wrong with the tree?” Seeing the peach tree swaying wildly, Yinyu also reached out to poke it.
Unexpectedly, the verdant leaf, like a woman’s slender hand, slipped away between her fingers.
Yinyu was slightly startled, but remembering they were at Wisdom Water Red Mountain where anything was possible, she calmly accepted it.
However, she didn’t let the leaf escape, chased after it, grasped it tightly, and even tugged at it.
But no matter how hard she pulled, the peach leaf remained firmly attached to the branch, neither breaking nor tearing.
From this, it would be inexplicable if the peach tree hadn’t gained a spirit.
Yinyu laughed, as if playing with the leaf. When the leaf shrank back, she pulled it back.
She bent down and said, “If you can hear, why not take form and answer my questions? Save me from racking my brains here.”
The peach leaf didn’t respond.
Lian Sheng freed the leaf from Yinyu’s hand and said lightly, “If it had legs, it would probably be a hundred feet away from you by now.”
After being freed, the peach tree got smarter and stopped swaying with the wind, just standing there motionless.
Legs? Definitely impossible.
“Planting a peach tree here—what’s the purpose?” Yinyu wiped the dust from her face with the back of her hand.
Lian Sheng held a red string in her hand; it had scorch marks, clearly singed by fire. Tied to it was something, but it was so burned it was unrecognizable.
A pitch-black piece of wood; from its remaining edges, it looked a bit like the wooden plaques used for prayers in temples.
Yinyu simply covered her mouth and nose to avoid ingesting others’ bone ash. Squinting to look closely, she realized there wasn’t just this one red string on the tree—many broken strings were tied to it, hidden among the leaves. When the scorching wind passed, they swayed ceaselessly.
At first glance, it looked like the peach tree shed several streams of red tears.
A buzzing sounded in her ears, like bells jingling, like the Spirit Bells under the eaves swaying.
Yinyu quickly turned her head, searching for the Precious Bell, but the moment she turned, she felt dizzy and disoriented, as if the smell of smoke and fire had blocked her throat and nose.
“It’s an illusion spell,” Lian Sheng suddenly said, her hands forming a hand seal like flipping flowers, and Lotus Pattern Arc Light bloomed from her hands.
Yinyu was abruptly stung in the eyes by that golden light, about to close her eyes to avoid it, when she suddenly realized all the dizziness was gone, her breathing unobstructed, even her breathing smoother. The spell must have been broken.
“Just a mere illusion.” Lian Sheng hooked her index finger, and the Lotus Pattern Arc Light condensed into a “Golden Pearl” that returned to her palm.
“It has to be you, Boss Yu.” Yinyu fixed her gaze on the peach tree, only to see a bright gap beside it, inside which a stone staircase extended downward layer upon layer, its end swallowed in darkness.
The peach tree suddenly thrashed wildly; its branches seemed to become many arms, all lashing out at the people standing by the gap.
Yinyu leaned back, barely dodging, but another peach branch nearby swung over, almost hitting her cheek.
She had only vaguely recalled some past events, and still knew nothing of divine arts or immortal methods; how could she have any means to avoid it?
The peach branch didn’t touch her face; it was intercepted halfway.
Lian Sheng brushed the branch aside, grabbed Yinyu’s arm, and said, “Let’s go.”
Yinyu was pulled into the underground, almost unable to breathe from the blast of Yin Energy.
She coughed a few times, squinted to survey the surroundings, and nearly missed a step.
Behind them, the peach branches still waved, not thrashing wildly, but as if trying to prevent them from going down.
Below the stairs, the pungent Yin Energy carried a distinctive stench of decay, perhaps because of the blazing fire above, mixed with a choking smell of burning.
Yinyu covered her mouth and nose, staying close to Lian Sheng and following closely. Ahead was pitch-black; she could see nothing.
“I’ve been an Ear Whisperer God for over a hundred years and have never seen such a frigid place,” the Ear Whisperer God, unwilling to hold back its three-tongued “divine power,” spoke again in a childish voice. “This is much colder than Overgrown Mountain. If Wuxian really did this, I’ll have to break her legs on behalf of the Wu ancestors. She’s utterly devoid of conscience!”
No one responded, and it amused itself: “Oh! There’s even a Restriction Barrier blocking the way. I’ve never seen such a barrier before. Wuxian has learned quite a few tricks.”
Ahead, the cave entrance was covered in intricately wound red strings, with talisman papers threaded through them.
Before Yinyu could see what was written on the talisman papers, Lian Sheng already formed Lotus Pattern Arc Light; the golden light, like a long sword, fiercely struck at the red strings.
Struck by the golden light, ghostly wails sounded from the red strings. The talismans threaded there swayed in unison, and palm-sized ghostly faces emerged from them!
To block the way, the red strings had to cover the entire entrance, dense like woven brocade. One string held one talisman, so the blocking talismans were countless.
Now hundreds of ashen ghostly faces emerged together, like Fierce Ghosts swarming out of the Underworld in groups.
“Evil Spirits!” the Ear Whisperer God shouted. “Wuxian trapped ghostly evil in the talismans and uses them as barrier spirits!”
Lotus Pattern Arc Light descended again, and the contorted, surging ghost heads all froze, then uniformly shrank back into the talismans.
The floating talismans instantly went still, pretending to be ordinary talisman papers.
The Ear Whisperer God let out an “Oh!” and couldn’t help exclaiming, “Wuxian’s tricks are nothing before you. It seems you are the one who can capture her for me. I was right to follow you!”
Yinyu thought to herself, why can’t she just hold the wooden puppet down until it faints. She teased, “How is it you following us? Do you have a choice?”
The Ear Whisperer God fell silent.
Lian Sheng directly tore down the red strings and carelessly tossed them at her feet.
The talismans tied to them were also crushed and torn; the ghost heads inside had just emerged before receding like a flame going out.
“Boss Yu has impressive skills,” Yinyu said, stunned.
Lian Sheng was truly formidable: she broke every spell, smashed every door, and advanced unimpeded.
Any talisman sutras or restrictive arts were reduced to nothing under the Lotus Pattern Arc Light she formed; even the blocking stone doors crashed down and shattered into dust.
The moment the door broke, the howls became extremely clear, and countless gray-black shadows surged out like an overwhelming force.
Those overlapping one another were none other than Jiangshi!
Even the Dark Snow Heaven market decades ago probably wasn’t this lively; those Jiangshi were shoulder to shoulder, packed so tight there wasn’t a crack left.
Their faces were ashen, completely without sentience, turning in unison upon sensing the living, jostling and pressing forward.
Fire was above; this underground couldn’t be comfortable anywhere, and with no air circulation, it was naturally stuffy and scorching.
Hundreds of Jiangshi emitted chirping sounds, moving with stiff steps, mouths wide open, their sharpened teeth like rakes.
Even Yinyu, who had been a Yin-Yang Guest on Little Desolate Islet for over twenty years and descended countless times into the Two-World Sea, had never seen such a scene.
She had guessed there would be many Jiangshi underground, but never imagined there would be this many.
The door had shattered into dust; it couldn’t be put back together, so how could it block the surging Jiangshi?
