Chapter 39.1 Red Embroidered Shoes 06
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Chen Yang went to the edge of the vacant lot and picked up a dry branch. He poked the soil and soon hit something hard. He paused and used the branch to move the soil aside, revealing a decaying corpse covered in mud from the waist up.
Qiu Shengmin was shocked when she saw the corpse for the first time. “Goodness! Are there so many buried underground?”
“This is just the surface. We don’t know how many more are buried if we dig deeper.” Chen Yang threw away the branch and gave Qiu Shengmin a talisman. Then, he turned to Kou Xuanling and said, “Let’s go check the bungalows.”
Kou Xuanling nodded, and Qiu Shengmin followed. As they walked across the vacant lot, the thought of stepping on corpses made them feel unsettled. Luckily, Qiu Shengmin didn’t hesitate or complain.
Chen Yang thought Qiu Shengmin had potential. With her ability to see ghosts and her self-taught knowledge of the supernatural, he wondered if Ma Shanfeng would accept her as a disciple. Ma Shanfeng was a renowned master from the north, and Qiu Shengmin seemed like a suitable candidate for apprenticeship.
As the three of them reached the vicinity of the bungalows, the air suddenly felt chilly. The row of bungalows had tightly closed doors and windows, with overgrown weeds and dying plants at the entrance. It was so eerily quiet that not even the faintest sound of insects could be heard. Qiu Shengmin casually glanced back at the vacant lot and suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine.
Chen Yang, noticing Qiu Shengmin’s reaction, asked quietly, “What do you see?”
Nervously, Qiu Shengmin swallowed and replied, “Behind us… there are so many… they’re all staring at us.”
Chen Yang looked back, but the vacant lot appeared empty. He still couldn’t sense any Yin energy, but Qiu Shengmin could. That could only mean that something was concealing the Yin energy, making Jinshui High School appear clean. “Let’s ignore it and keep going.”
The doors of the bungalows were unlocked, except for one that had a seal and a chain. The three of them headed straight for that particular bungalow. Chen Yang tried to push the door open, but the chain was tightly secured. Qiu Shengmin picked up the large lock on the door handle, examined it for a moment, and then took out a hairpin from her pocket. With a “click,”the lock opened.
Qiu Shengmin noticed Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling’s slightly strange gaze and explained, “I do this for a living, just basic skills.”
Chen Yang nodded and said thoughtfully, “Having multiple skills doesn’t burden oneself, seems quite useful.”
“I think so too,” agreed Kou Xuanling, then said to Qiu Shengmin, “If you have time, teach us.”
“…sure.”
As Qiu Shengmin put the hairpin back in her pocket, she suddenly felt something hard, which piqued her curiosity. She took out the hard object and was astonished to find a blood-red card. The front of the card had the number 139 written on it. Her expression instantly changed.
Chen Yang glanced over. “You received a card? 139… If you are the last participant in the game, then currently there are 139 people dragged into the death game. If we subtract those who failed the game, there are still over a hundred people.”
“Wasn’t it said that the cards appear at ten o’clock at night?” She turned the card over and found the three words “count the stairs” written on the back, beneath which was the number 5. “Or is it that newcomers receive special treatment to adapt early?”
“It must be the ‘count the stairs’ game tonight, with a total of five participants,” Chen Yang took the card and examined it, confirming it was the same as the one he held last night. “Seems like getting the card at ten o’clock is not a strict rule.”
“Indeed. It might also be related to us coming to the vacant lot earlier, perhaps provoking something in the back hill that couldn’t wait to kill us,” Kou Xuanling said while taking out a red card from his own pocket.
Chen Yang also took out a card from his pocket. The back of the card had the same content as Qiu Shengmin’s. Shaking his head, he said, “If they want to kill, they should just do it directly instead of making so many twists and turns.” With that, he forcefully pushed open the door.
A large amount of dust surged out instantly, accompanied by a musty and decaying smell. Chen Yang pinched his nose and stood aside, waiting for the dust to settle before stepping into the room. The room contained some sports equipment. Before any fatalities occurred, the bungalow was a place to store sports equipment. Later, they hastily surrounded it with wire mesh, and nothing was touched inside.
The three of them entered the room, which was quite dim. Kou Xuanling opened the window, but sunlight still failed to penetrate. Although the lighting was inadequate, it was still somewhat bright. Chen Yang looked up at the ceiling beams, realizing that it was here where Teacher Bai Yan had hanged herself using a skipping rope. At this moment, they still hadn’t discovered anything, the place was empty and hollow.
Chen Yang furrowed his brow, taking a few steps back to stand at the door, gazing out at the vacant lot. The bungalow was slightly elevated compared to the vacant lot, providing a view of the entire back hill area. Then, he walked out of the bungalow to observe the surrounding terrain.
Kou Xuanling approached. “Do you see anything?”
“I have a faint sense,” Chen Yang replied, moving forward until he reached the edge of the shrubs. Now, the layout of the entire back hill and the bungalow resembled a semicircle, with the terrain sloping downward. The spot where the body was buried in the back hill remained lifeless, devoid of any vegetation, while the wild grass near the bungalow had withered. On the other hand, the outskirts of the vacant lot and the bungalow were lush with plants.
Chen Yang pushed aside the shrubs, picked up a dry twig, and poked the surface of the ground, clearing away a thick layer of fallen leaves to reveal the underlying soil. He examined it in his palm, hoping to find some clues. When Kou Xuanling approached, he spread the soil in his palm for Kou Xuanling to see. “Kaolin powder.”
Kaolin powder? Kou Xuanling immediately furrowed his brow, his expression turning serious. Kaolin was a Yin attribute material that could be used to attract spirits. Sprinkling kaolin powder on a path could attract spirits, and by setting up a kaolin formation, known as Ghost Portal Formation, all the souls in the entire mountain could be drawn to the vacant lot. This could also explain why Jinshui High School was so clean.
“Are you sure it’s Ghost Portal Formation?”
“We still need to find the ‘Ghost-Taming Stake’. Without it, it doesn’t count as Ghost Portal Formation. At best, it’s just a Soul-Attracting Formation.”
The so-called Ghost Portal Formation utilized kaolin powder to attract lonely spirits and wild ghosts to gather in one place, followed by the arrangement of a kaolin formation. At this stage, it was considered halfway completed, serving the purpose of attracting and gathering souls. Then, carved white jade stakes inscribed with soul-attracting scriptures were used as ghost-taming stakes, setting up a “ghost wall”. This forced the gathered lonely spirits and wild ghosts to circle around the stakes, unable to leave or reincarnate, eventually accumulating boundless resentment and transforming into malevolent ghosts.
If special terrain was used, it was possible to create a large-scale “ghost wall”, similar to how the students at Jinshui High School seemed inexplicably unable to leave the mountain. It was estimated that the entire deep mountain was covered by a ghost wall.
Suddenly, a scream echoed from the bungalow. Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling immediately rushed over and found Qiu Shengmin being dragged backward by a sports jump rope tightly wrapped around her neck. Chen Yang grabbed the rope, but was forcefully pulled forward, while Qiu Shengmin’s eyes rolled back from the constriction. Chen Yang furrowed his brow, quickly clasped his hands, and shouted loudly, “First slay the evil spirits, then sever the luminous night. What god remains untamed? What ghost dares to defy? Urgently as the law decrees!”
Kou Xuanling wielded a peach wood sword and swiftly severed the end of the sports jump rope. “Extinguish the ghosts, eliminate the malevolence. Eternal life shall prevail, governed by the law!”
A wretched scream erupted from the dark end of the rope, followed by a piercing shriek that filled the bungalow. After the shriek subsided, a sharp and eerie laughter, a mixture of crying and mournful wailing, pierced the air, creating a terrifying and jarring sound.
Chen Yang pulled Qiu Shengmin, who was coughing incessantly, and said to Kou Xuanling, “Let’s go first.”
The three of them quickly left the bungalow but noticed that the soil on the vacant lot had begun to loosen, and the bodies beneath were starting to stir. As they hurriedly crossed the vacant lot, decaying hands suddenly emerged from below, grabbing their feet. Kou Xuanling swung the peach wood sword, severing the grabbing hand, only to be met with countless more hands. Moreover, accompanied by the hands, the bodies below rose, intending to pounce on them.
Chen Yang pushed Qiu Shengmin towards Kou Xuanling and said, “Protect her.” Then, he activated the Northern Feng Ghost-Slaying Heart Seal. “Northern Feng Ghost-Slaying Seal, Fengdu Ghost and Deity-Summoning Seal… Prohibit all ghosts, slay the wicked gods, urgent as the law of the Great Empror of Northern Yin!”
Golden light appeared, covering all the bodies on the vacant lot. The bodies were frozen in place. Beads of sweat formed on Chen Yang’s forehead as he said, “Let’s go quickly.”
Kou Xuanling supported Chen Yang and Qiu Shengmin, maneuvering through the crowd of corpses, climbing over the wire fence, and running to the basketball court. Along the way, when they looked back, they could see a woman wearing a blood-red dress and blood-red high heels standing at the entrance of the bungalow, coldly staring at them.
As they landed on the basketball court, the commotion behind them ceased, and calmness returned to the vacant lot. It was as if the uprising of the corpses never happened. Gasping for breath, Chen Yang said, “It seems like my powers have been weakened, barely half of what they usually are.”
With his powers, he should have been able to handle a mere malevolent ghost, especially when employing the Northern Feng Ghost-Slaying Seal. This seal itself possessed immense power, capable of slaying all evil spirits and malevolent beings. However, the power he had just exerted only hindered the movement of the corpse horde, let alone causing any harm to the formidable ghost lurking in the bungalow.
Kou Xuanling: “I feel the same way. It’s as if we’re being obstructed, and our attack strength has significantly diminished.”
Qiu Shengmin, still trembling, touched her sore neck. “Indeed, something is strange,”she said, raising her head. “When you two left the bungalow, I stayed behind and felt an eerie chill. I sensed that something was off and was about to leave when I noticed a woman hanging from the ceiling beams.” Fear washed over her face as she recalled the recent events. “I was paralyzed with fear as she stared at me, gradually revealing a sinister smile. The smile grew increasingly grotesque, and I couldn’t scream or move. I watched helplessly as the jump rope formed a circle and looped around my neck. When the rope touched my neck, suddenly I could make sounds and move.”
“I believe she must be Teacher Bai Yan.”
If such horrifying events could occur during the daytime, one could only imagine what might happen in the bungalow at night. Chen Yang sighed and said, “We have to visit the bungalow again and find the Ghost-Taming Stake. If it truly is a Ghost Portal Formation, we must destroy the Ghost-Taming Stake.”
Kou Xuanling agreed. Then the three of them returned to their dormitory, where Qiu Shengming had been waiting for them. As soon as he noticed the marks on Qiu Shengmin’s neck, he expressed deep concern and inquired about what happened. After ensuring that she was fine, he spoke, “I went to see Director Jin and the other three directors, as well as the vice principal. I asked Director Jin why he could contact the outside world. At first, he refused to speak, but later he revealed that he wasn’t the one who sent the mission assignments. It was someone else. Based on the description, that person is likely the male student who previously leaked information about the school to you.”
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