Chapter 55 Part 1

This statue was very similar to the one on Overgrown Mountain, yet vastly different.

It was taller and more imposing than the one on Overgrown Mountain, even somewhat resembling the Spirit Decree statue in Little Enlightenment Ruins from her dream.

Wuxian’s reverence for the Spirit Decree could be called extremely bizarre.

Someone like Wuxian, Yinyu originally thought she would never admire anyone, would never entrust her heart. Her heart should be like her statue on Overgrown Mountain—a stubborn rock, firm and unyielding.

Yet Wuxian revered the Spirit Decree exceedingly. When first arriving at Little Enlightenment Ruins, she already couldn’t stand others disrespecting the Spirit Decree’s effigy.

As if the Spirit Decree had shown her grace, rescued her from a sea of fire, and become her reborn parents.

Wuxian was so captivated by the Spirit Decree that it wasn’t surprising her own statue bore some resemblance to the Spirit Decree.

Before, she had only heard various old tales of Dark Snow Heaven from others. Without seeing this statue with her own eyes, Yinyu wouldn’t have been certain that the person who set up the altar here for the Living Sacrifice Ritual was Wuxian.

Yinyu stood still, gazing up at the statue’s face.

The statue’s eyes clearly hadn’t been carved; the area where the eyes should be was completely flat.

It couldn’t be due to a tight schedule; the Altar of the Abandoned was built twenty-three years ago, and this statue would have been carved for twenty years, yet the eyes were deliberately left uncarved—clearly intentional.

A stone statue, like a Paper Effigy, if not given the Eye Dotting, couldn’t gather spirit and could only serve as a useless empty shell.

“Without Eye Dotting, even if someone performs the Altar of the Abandoned Rite, she won’t receive offerings.” Yinyu was puzzled, squinting to scrutinize. “Could it be that her original intention wasn’t to receive offerings? Then why build the Altar of the Abandoned?”

The matter was indeed strange; even Lian Sheng couldn’t relax her brow. She said lightly, “Judging by the matter of raising Plague Ghosts at Overgrown Mountain, she followed the Slaughter Dao, and can only use Yin to nourish Yin. Any Merits or offerings are nothing to her.”

Yinyu stepped closer and vaguely noticed some peeling lacquer behind the statue’s ear, revealing mottled colors, as if there was another layer underneath.

She scoffed, “This statue couldn’t be a cover-up, could it?”

The man who followed trembled and shook; though he hadn’t had a drop of water for days, now frightened further, he could barely hold his urine again.

He dared not look at the statue’s face, afraid of offending the divine, and quickly lowered his head, saying, “There’s actually a divine statue here! Should I… should I bow?”

The man shouted loudly, his voice breaking, as if expelling all his life energy from his belly.

The Ear Whisperer God had finally quieted down a bit, but this follower was no better.

Yinyu’s ears hurt; she turned to look at the man behind, only to see him collapse with a thud, panic-stricken.

The man pointed to the foot of the statue, his mouth agape, kneeling on the ground unable to move, stammering for a long time without uttering a complete sentence.

This place was teeming with Vengeful Spirits and Evil Entities; ever since they approached the Altar of the Abandoned, the yin evil aura around them had only increased. Yinyu, accustomed to the Yin Energy here, hadn’t noticed that after the man shouted, a group of Wandering Souls appeared beneath the statue.

The souls were transparent, all facing Wuxian’s statue with their backs to the intruders.

The stone statue stood tall, as if looking down upon everyone below, while the group of souls below seemed to be worshipping it.

The grayish-white Wandering Souls of all heights prostrated and knelt neatly, like a row of neatly arranged string puppets.

It was so similar, especially after the man cried out “What is this?” The souls all simultaneously turned their heads, with nearly identical turns.

Their ashen faces expressionless, their Death Visages varied: some with only half a head, but all were drenched in blood.

The man screamed uncontrollably, his arms propping behind him, scooting back several feet.

Then, some of the souls giggled, but remained kneeling motionless.

Yinyu looked again and realized these souls were kneeling because their knees had all been nailed with Servitude Nails, and their ankles tied with thick ropes that went into the ground, swaying slightly, connected to who knew where.

Lian Sheng said coldly, “Someone deliberately trapped them here.”

“What is that? Are they being drained of Yin Energy?” Yinyu had never seen such a device to bind ghosts.

Obviously not; there was no sign of their Yin Energy dissipating.

Yinyu quipped, “What’s the meaning? Just to make these souls pose as worshippers? What exactly does Wuxian want?”

She again glanced at the statue’s ear, wanting to see if there was another layer underneath.

The souls all started chattering at once; the noise made Yinyu’s ears ring, and she could barely understand.

“Ask the Buddha, how much sorrow do I have?”

“Ask the Buddha, when can I return home?”

“Ask the Buddha, with time in turmoil, when can I enter the Reincarnation Cycle?”

“Stop asking, stop asking! What’s the use of asking now?”

The souls first laughed self-deprecatingly, then all wept, fiercely and earth-shatteringly.

“It’s all because of my worthless son. I wanted him to give me an extra mouthful of porridge, and he thought I was giving him trouble. I wanted him dead, but in the end, I died! He personally sent me to the Kang family, and then, in a daze, I ended up here.”

“Isn’t it the same with me? My husband wanted to trade me for food. I refused and tried to escape. Alas, he caught me. How heartless, disregarding our past affection, and sent me here as a sacrifice!”

“You’re all latecomers; listen to me. I died here during the great Living Sacrifice Ritual back then. I just didn’t want to divide my land, so my good-for-nothing sons called me an Evil Entity. They pushed me into the fire pit, and when I was burned to death, everyone cheered!”

“Then why worship the god? The Altar of the Abandoned was set up by this god; without it, would we have had to die?”

“But we must worship, we must! Without devout worship, she won’t let us out!”

The souls made a racket, all staring only at the man. Their ashen faces seemed about to weep, but inspired no pity, only terror.

“Then my dear son deserves to die, all rumor-mongers deserve to die, a thousand deaths!”

“Why not let those who harmed me freeze to death in Dark Snow Heaven.”

“Just dying like that isn’t good. They can enter the Reincarnation Cycle; what about us? We must suffer here endlessly.”

“Then make them wish for death, wish for death!”

The accusations grew shriller. The man on the ground was so frightened by their stares as if he were the ultimate sinner. He hugged his head and trembled, whimpering, “Don’t look at me, don’t look at me! The person you’re talking about isn’t me! I… I was also sent in by the Kang family!”

But those souls didn’t look away, paying no heed to what the man said, just staring at him.

“Then what about the Buddha? Why hasn’t the Buddha come? Wasn’t it said she would come to liberate us?”

“I ask the Buddha day and night; why doesn’t she come?”

“She will come, she will come. Isn’t the deity of the stone statue coming next month? She comes at this time every year!”

“But she only liberates three people each time. When will it be my turn?”

“It should be my turn; don’t mess up the order!”

“It’s me, me!”

Listening to the ashen souls clamoring for so long, Yinyu could barely make out a complete sentence. After staring at them for a long while, she was shocked to discover that all these souls had Servitude Nails on them.

The Servitude Nails clearly didn’t follow the body, but the soul.

It was because the Yin Energy here was too thick and the light too dim; she then carefully observed the man behind and found he also had a Servitude Nail on him!

Yinyu narrowed her eyes and asked the man, “Do your joints often ache?”

Hearing this, Lian Sheng understood, her expression turning stern.

The man replied blankly, “They ache. In Dark Snow Heaven, whose limbs don’t ache? Everyone does!”

Yinyu froze. Previously, her True Body and soul hadn’t merged enough; she couldn’t see whether others had Servitude Nails. If only she had noticed earlier.

Lian Sheng’s eyes held a trace of anger. “Trying to control the entire Dark Snow Heaven?”

Yinyu shook her head, raising an eyebrow. “Is it Wuxian’s desire, or the desire of whoever gave her the Servitude Nails? These nails form rings within rings, just like big fish eating small fish.”

This problem couldn’t be sorted out quickly.

Yinyu simply leaned close to Lian Sheng, afraid the other couldn’t hear clearly, and said, “When Wuxian comes, everything will come to light. Didn’t these ghosts say she’ll come next month?”

Lian Sheng responded with a “Mm,” and the hand at her side formed a golden lotus.

If she released this Lotus Pattern Arc Light, those souls in the distance would all be sent away at once.

But Lian Sheng crushed the lotus in her hand and instead glanced at the man on the ground, who had nearly wet himself again, and said, “Stand up.”

The man both cried and laughed; when he stood, his legs trembled so badly he nearly fell again.

The souls beneath the statue, seeing him stand, all raised their gazes and muttered.

“He wet his pants, what a coward, just like my husband!”

“I thought he came to keep us company. Does this mean he’s leaving?”

“How can he leave after coming? I’ve never heard of anyone leaving!”

“Why can he leave while we have to stay?”

“Keep him here!”

The man was terrified, his gaze shifting between Yinyu and Lian Sheng, thinking these ghosts must see that the two possessed divine power and dared not offend them, so they only targeted him!