Chapter 1

Candles, sculptures, corpses, and antique lattice doors. Outside the doors, a courtyard with undulating weeds, an overturned bronze incense burner, bluestone paths, and the bright moonlight.

A desolate and eerie silence permeated the air.

"This place seems to be perpetually in darkness."

Zhang Yuanqing raised his palm to his mouth and spat out the small blue pill he had been holding.

The method worked. I'm so damn clever... He happily put the pill back in his pocket, feeling a little more confident about his "future."

With them, he had a hope of surviving when facing the Red Shoes.

Then, he walked straight to the offering table, pondered for a moment, and reached out to grasp the candlestick.

Suddenly, a message appeared before his eyes:

[Name: Everlasting Candle]

[Type: Fuel]

[Function: Exorcism, Purification]

[Introduction: A tool left behind by the Niangniang of Three Paths Mountain. It is said to be refined from the oil of Changming beasts, possessing the effects of exorcism and purification.]

[Note: Sometimes, purifying fear is not necessarily a good thing. Also, it cannot be moved.]

Sure enough, you can only get information about an item by touching it. He hadn't dared to touch the candle before, so he didn't know it was a tool until he saw the information...

"Purifying fear is not necessarily a good thing. According to Guan Ya's classification, the candle is a cost-type item. The cost of using it is losing fear. But I'm very scared right now and have no intention of courting death. I'll just stay put in the main hall for now."

He sat cross-legged in front of the offering table, thinking about his next course of action.

"The next goal is to explore the eastern courtyard, figure out the hidden dangers and patterns there, and then find ways to restrain and overcome them. The exploration time should not exceed 15 minutes, otherwise, the vengeful spirit will latch onto my shoulder, and I'll definitely die."

"The blue pill is my trump card against the Red Shoes, but it may not work. And once I face the Red Shoes directly, it's either life or death... Let's explore the eastern courtyard first, get a preliminary understanding of the environment there, and then think about countermeasures."

As things came to a head, he still felt a bit of fear and trepidation, not wanting to go out. He survived last time by luck, and whether he could survive this time was still unknown.

The situation in the eastern courtyard was unclear, making it impossible to judge the degree of danger. It was easy to try and then die.

However, in this world, things are never what you don't want, so you don't have to do them.

Although the task of exploring the ancient temple had no time limit, in theory, he could stay put in the main hall forever, but no time limit also meant that if he didn't complete the task, he probably wouldn't be able to get out.

If he dragged it out for too long, his physical condition would decline due to hunger, fatigue, thirst, and other reasons.

If he went out to explore again at that time, it would be a dead end.

"It's all the same whether I stick my head out or pull it back, I can only take a chance!"

Zhang Yuanqing gritted his teeth and strode outside.

Wait, I should think about it again. It's very dangerous outside... With one foot on the threshold, he suddenly felt a retreat and couldn't help but look back at the hall, yearning for the light of this place.

The candlelight was warm, dispelling the haze, purifying filth, and bringing unparalleled courage and confidence to the heart.

No problem... Zhang Yuanqing confidently walked out the door.

........

The moonlight was as bright as frost. Zhang Yuanqing followed the pebble path on the left side of the main hall and returned to the desolate and dilapidated courtyard.

The night was devoid of insect chirps and bird calls, making it frighteningly silent.

But the silence also made him feel at ease. He was most afraid of hearing the "da-da" footsteps when he went out.

"Fifteen minutes, I only have fifteen minutes to explore the eastern courtyard before the vengeful spirit gets to me..."

He entered the easternmost room of the courtyard and retrieved the bronze mirror from the corpse leaning against the window, hiding it in his pocket.

Then, he carefully passed through the arched door and entered the eastern courtyard.

The eastern courtyard was much larger than the courtyard. What came into view was a deserted garden, with artificial hills, a pavilion, a small pond, and a large banyan tree. The trunk was thick, the branches were gnarled, and the tender green leaves reflected the bright moonlight.

There was an old well under the banyan tree.

His eyes swept past the artificial hills and the pavilion, and he could see the roof ridge of a building in the depths of the garden.

Zhang Yuanqing did not go straight to the building in the depths of the garden, but cautiously walked around the large banyan tree. The information said that this tree was very dangerous, but after he walked around it, nothing happened.

"Checking the banyan tree should also advance the exploration progress..."

Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself, glanced at the dark well, hesitated again and again, and still didn't have the courage to rush over and take a look.

He had a strong psychological shadow of the wells in these horror stories.

Zhang Yuanqing bypassed the well and walked rustlingly through the weeds towards the building in the depths of the garden.

"Crack!"

Suddenly, a crisp sound came from under his feet, scaring him to jump up on the spot.

Looking closely, it turned out to be a corpse buried in the weeds, wrapped in oxidized work clothes. Zhang Yuanqing bent down to check. The bones of this corpse were well preserved.

It was lying face down, but its head was facing behind it, which meant that something had twisted its head 180 degrees before it died.

What did it?

Zhang Yuanqing quietly became alert, got up, and was about to continue exploring forward.

At this moment, a gust of wind blew over, the weeds in the garden undulating, rustling, and the big banyan tree behind him seemed to come alive, swaying its branches in a somewhat distorted manner.

"Zhang Yuanqing, Zhang Yuanqing..."

A high-pitched voice came from behind.

The voice floated over with the wind, as if whispering in his ear, bringing a chilling feeling.

Zhang Yuanqing was about to turn around to be on guard out of instinct, when information from the records suddenly flashed through his mind:

Don't turn around!

"Zhang Yuanqing, Zhang Yuanqing..."

Seeing that he didn't respond, the voice seemed a little anxious, wanting him to turn his head quickly.

Of course, Zhang Yuanqing would not turn around. He stood still, quietly opened the zipper of his jacket pocket, took out the brass mirror, and slowly raised it to a position higher than his shoulder.

The brass mirror reflected the scene behind him, not very clearly.

From the well, a woman in white with disheveled hair crawled out. Her face had no features, and her pale flesh face was staring at Zhang Yuanqing.

Fuck your mother... Zhang Yuanqing's face turned pale, and he ran forward with his head down.

"Zhang Yuanqing, Zhang Yuanqing..."

The voice called out again and again, calling urgently, but could only helplessly watch him run further and further away.

Soon, Zhang Yuanqing bypassed the artificial hills and came to the depths of the garden, where there was a large house with a straight roof ridge, a stone foundation, and walls made of loess.

The houses here were more dilapidated than the courtyard, and the tiles on the roof were sparse and broken in many places.

"That Night Wanderer in the records also came here. He only said not to look back, but he didn't say that you can't go back. The call of the female ghost in the well may only be for those who look back. In that case, I shouldn't encounter any danger when I return later..."

He took a deep breath in place, calmed his surging fear and horror, and focused his attention on the present.

"Let's explore this house first."

There were a total of three doors in this large house, representing three rooms.

He carefully approached the leftmost one and reached out to forcefully push open the dilapidated wooden door.

"Creak~"

With the sound of the wooden door opening, Zhang Yuanqing quickly retreated, posing in a defensive stance.

After a long while, nothing happened.

Gathering his courage, he entered the house. Moonlight shone in from the dilapidated roof. He tried hard to open his eyes wide, allowing his pupils to absorb as much light as possible.

This was a kitchen and dining room, with two earth stoves built of blue bricks. Pots, bowls, vats, cabinets, and other items had long rotted and gathered dust.

There was no danger. He finally found a container... Zhang Yuanqing grabbed a dusty gourd ladle and couldn't help but let his thoughts run wild:

"I heard that boy's urine can break evil."

He considered whether or not to take a ladle of boy's urine, but after careful thought, he reluctantly gave up the idea.

Although he had never dated a girl, Zhang Yuanqing felt that he shouldn't be considered a boy.

"I've been too lenient with you guys, giving you opportunities to show off again and again." He lowered his head and stared at his hands, feeling a little distressed.

After some exploration, he confirmed that this large house was a combination of a kitchen and a dining room, with nothing special and no danger. Zhang Yuanqing took a rusty kitchen knife and a wooden stick, walked out of the house, and turned his attention to the last rectangular house.

Unlike the kitchen, which also served as a large dining room, this house had four doors, divided into four rooms.

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but clench the wooden stick and kitchen knife in his hands. They might not be useful, but they could bring psychological comfort.

He carefully checked the first and second rooms. They were utility rooms, filled with old-fashioned farm tools, furniture, and donation boxes.

Nothing of value... Zhang Yuanqing turned to the third room.

This was an armory. Knives, swords, bows, daggers, short knives, and other weapons hung on the walls. Many weapons had fallen to the ground because the hanging ropes had rotted.

Next to the windows were two rows of weapon racks, one of which had fallen over, with sticks and spears scattered all over the ground.

Next to the overturned weapon rack lay two corpses.

Seeing these weapons, Zhang Yuanqing was not surprised. The disciples in the temple were taught by the Niangniang of Three Paths Mountain. They could make corpse-suppressing talismans, so they obviously had some skills.

It would not be surprising if they could dance and wield sticks.

As usual, he checked the corpses to look for information from his predecessors.

As soon as he approached the corpses, he couldn't help but say "Huh." The two corpses lying on the ground were not skeletons, but two mummified corpses.

Their skin was dark and wrinkled, tightly attached to their bones, and their bellies were sunken.

"How could there be mummified corpses?"

Zhang Yuanqing frowned. As a student at Songhai University, he had a wealth of knowledge.

There are two reasons for the formation of mummified corpses: one is artificial preservation, and the other is natural formation.

The first one can be directly ruled out. The second one mostly occurs in dry areas such as deserts.

The conditions in the temple were obviously not suitable.

He carefully examined the two mummified corpses. There were no fatal wounds on their bodies, and their bones were not broken by the Red Shoes, but there were two obvious holes in the flesh on their necks.

They looked like they had been bitten out by the sharp fangs of a beast.

"They were sucked dry by something? Hiss........"

Zhang Yuanqing gasped, his body tensing up.

At this moment, he heard a "thump" from the next room, like the sound of knocking on a wooden door.

His scalp exploded instantly. Zhang Yuanqing, like a nimble deer, pricked up his neck and listened.