CHAPTER 23: CHAPTER 16: LOOKING BACK

The mist thickened by the lake.

A warm yellow light suddenly flared up, dispelling the darkness and illuminating Sang Que’s pale, terrified face.

Sang Que was drenched in cold sweat, kneeling on the ground, gasping for air, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

She looked to her right, her right arm was still there; it turned out that she had never ignited the Exorcism Talisman. From the moment the Yin Child appeared, she had been in a hallucination created by the Evil Mist.

She didn’t even know what had just happened; the instant she turned around, an indescribable deep cold, an unnameable fear enveloped her instantly.

Then, she felt a lightness on her shoulder as something forcibly pulled the Yin Child off her.

In the darkness, although there was clearly nothing around, she felt as if she was surrounded by many ’people,’ countless fragmented and overlapping whispers emanated from those ’people.’

Various terrifying scenes with blood-red backgrounds rapidly flashed in her mind, nearly driving her sanity to collapse.

But soon, she was abruptly pushed from behind, breaking through the cage of terror. Her body regained the ability to move, and she immediately ignited the Exorcism Talisman.

Sang Que looked at her right palm, the mark of the Yansheng coin seemed to deepen a bit, and she could still feel a chill within her body.

Was it the returning Yin Child that pushed her, bringing back some evil force with it?

Many unidentified insects scattered and fled on the ground. Sang Que held the Exorcism Talisman and retrieved the extinguished soul lamp.

She didn’t know if the Summoning Soul could continue, now she could only hope for a miracle.

Sang Que once again used her blood to light the soul lamp. Fortunately, she had taken an extra lock of hair at the time, or she wouldn’t be able to try again now.

After burning the hair, Sang Que called out to her surroundings.

"He Shou’an!"

Silence. After what happened earlier, there was nothing around except for a thin blue mist; even the Wandering Souls were gone.

"He Shou’an!"

Still no response. Has it really failed?

"He Shou’an, give it some effort! Your parents are waiting for you at home! He Shou’an!"

Suddenly, a blue head poked out from behind a distant tombstone; it was the nearly transparent soul of He Shou’an.

A woman’s shadow faintly appeared behind him, supporting He Shou’an’s shoulder to protect him. When Sang Que looked over, the shadow quickly dissipated.

Sang Que couldn’t worry about that for now; she continued to call He Shou’an’s name until his soul returned to the Soul-guiding Lamp.

On the road again, Sang Que carefully avoided puddles on the ground and headed towards the village, calling out periodically. The scent wafting from the soul lamp gave her a headache, making her exceedingly fatigued. She had to exert all her strength to stay awake.

One Exorcism Talisman burned out, yet there was still no sign of Wandering Souls around her, so Sang Que didn’t burn the remaining two.

She merely took out another talisman and held it tightly in her right hand, with her blood-stained forefinger hovering above it, ready to ignite it with one hand if necessary.

Mist shrouded the place, and the sky took on a bluish hue.

Sang Que identified the path they had come from, hastening her steps as much as possible to get back.

"Little Que!"

Just as she was about to exit the forest, a familiar voice called from behind, making Sang Que halt abruptly, her eyes wide open, nearly turning around to look.

But she resisted.

"Little Que, is that you? Mommy finally found you, where is this place? Little Que? Why are you ignoring mommy?"

Sang Que’s hand holding the Exorcism Talisman trembled slightly. How could her mother be here?

No, that’s not right, she crossed over because of the Yansheng coin; her mother couldn’t possibly be here!

"Little Que, I saw the notes you left on the table, so I guessed something was wrong. Your aunt came back; she really returned from another world and became a Cultivator. She brought me here to find you, but we got separated."

A yin wind brushed her nape, causing Sang Que’s hair to stand on end. The scent of candle burning in the soul lamp made her increasingly agitated, and the flame flickered violently.

She never told anyone here her real name, not even uttered it from her own mouth, how could an evil spirit possibly know she’s called Sang Que?

Sang Que suddenly thought of something, looking down at the lantern in her hand, her brow furrowing.

"Little Que, mommy is too tired to walk, can you come and carry mommy?"

Sang Que’s gaze grew cold; as she had just thought in her mind ’why don’t you walk over yourself,’ the voice gave an answer.

Her mother hadn’t used a prosthetic since the departure of her aunt, for eight years, she couldn’t stand or walk, let alone be tired from walking.

The scent from the candle in the soul lamp made her hallucinate, it was all her own thoughts. The candle, the lamp, and even the corpse mud used earlier were extremely evil, so this kind of situation was normal.

The flame in the soul lamp gradually stabilized, Sang Que’s eyes calm, as she lifted her foot to walk, ignoring the heart-piercing cries from behind.

After barely a few steps, the voice of Kou Yushan called from behind again.

"Yu Niang, Yan Daozi is waiting up ahead, wanting you to fail the Summoning Soul. I’ll take you around this way."

Sang Que still ignored them.

"Help—Is anyone coming to save me—"

"Little Que, I’m your aunt, have you seen your mom?"

"Girl, this monk got lost passing through, could you tell me where Lanruo Temple is..."

Various voices rose and fell, constantly calling from behind Sang Que. Sang Que turned a deaf ear, struggled to control her wild imaginings; if she went on, even Chu Renmei, the childhood horror, would emerge.

Sang Que took a deep breath, the flame of the soul lamp growing ever steadier. With the protection of its glow, she finally walked out of the forest minutes later, seeing from afar the small blue-brick courtyard where Yan Daozi lived.

Only...

At this moment, looking through the soul lamp’s glow, the area around the small courtyard was filled with flowing black-gray mist.

Especially around the row of houses Yan Daozi lived in, the mist was thick, forming a huge black coffin outline, extremely eerie.

Sang Que couldn’t understand, so she had to move slightly away from the courtyard. Passing by its side, Sang Que glimpsed at it; there was no shadow of Yan Daozi on the window. She didn’t know if he was still inside.

On the village’s main road, the mist slightly lessened, dim lights still flickering in the courtyards on either side, glowing all night, comforting Sang Que somewhat.

But her spirit increasingly blurred, fatigue deepening as the soul lamp consumed her spiritual power heavily.

Passing by one earth house courtyard after another, indistinct sounds reached Sang Que’s ears, like singing, like a child’s rhyme.

’Blue stones, blue, many white dots, cruel parents want to sell me... Eighteen uncles, eighteen aunts, eighteen sister-in-laws scold me... Take up the pole, go to draw water, the well is deep, the rope is thin, my little hands bloody, oh, bloody...’

The voice was ancient and hoarse, the singing sorrowful and cold, intermittently exuding an unspeakable eerie feeling.

Sang Que glanced slightly sideways, seeing in the courtyard of Skinny’s house ahead, a stooped old woman swaying by the well corner, suddenly plunged in!

Sang Que’s eyes widened in shock, yet she heard no splash nor sound of any heavy object hitting the ground. She hurriedly withdrew her gaze, ignoring it.

He Family was not far.

Sang Que lifted her eyes searching, a black shadow swiftly flashed in the Li Family yard, chicken noises coming forth, the shadow resembling a wild beast, crouching by the chicken coop, gnawing on a hen.

The shadow suddenly turned its head towards Sang Que, covered in blood, mouth clamping on a severed chicken head, face like soil, crumbling apart.

Sang Que quickly averted her gaze, clutching the soul lamp and quickening her pace.

Bang!

A heavy object hit the ground, in the Liu Family courtyard opposite the Li Family, the corpse hanging under the old locust tree dropped and disappeared, pairs of bloody footprints rapidly alternating emerging from beneath the tree, rushing towards Sang Que’s direction.

Beside the Li Family was the He Family, with only a few steps left Sang Que decisively broke into a run.

"I thought you failed the Summoning Soul!"

The mist dispersed, Yan Daozi appeared outside the He Family’s courtyard, Sang Que swiftly tucked the Exorcism Talisman inside her sleeve.

Yan Daozi was quite surprised she returned unharmed; the lake was too dangerous, he saw no reason to risk himself probing Sang Que, thus he waited here before midnight.

"Alright, give me the soul lamp, I’ll handle the rest,"

Yan Daozi fixed his eyes on Sang Que, reaching out a hand to take the soul lamp.

Watching Yan Daozi’s hand extending, Sang Que’s heart tightened; just one last step, bringing the soul lamp inside He Shou’an’s house, the summoning would be complete.

Yan Daozi clearly intended to deliberately block her; giving up now wouldn’t lead to a terrifying horror like before, but nothing good would happen either.

In a flash of lightning, Sang Que drew a machete from her waist, unhesitatingly waved it towards Yan Daozi.

"You’re fake!"

A fierce wind hit, Yan Daozi opened his eyes in shock, instinctively dodged right, only to see the machete aimed straight at him post dodge.

Sang Que predicted his dodge!

Clang!

The machete fell, Yan Daozi tilted his neck, blood streaming unstoppably from his ear.

He angrily turned around, Sang Que had already rushed into the courtyard, climbing through the window.

Yan Daozi’s face turned pale, his body was trembling uncontrollably with fury.

Even though he had harnessed the Evil Spirits, a single gesture could take one’s life, yet he was still flesh and blood, and if not careful, he could be hurt by ordinary weapons.

Moreover, Sang Que’s attack just now was too swift and accurate, completely unexpected!

Was it coincidence, or had she been pretending all along?

"Fine, very well, let’s see about this!"

Approaching midnight, Yan Daozi flung his sleeve leaving, passing by the Li Family, glanced at the courtyard, muttered a curse ’spoilsport’, quickened his pace, and vanished into the night.