Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Looking at the fierce ghost, tightly bound and pinned down within the formation, Yang Shao and Xiao Qin began to question their lives.
How could things have gone so smoothly? They’d prepared themselves for fighting with their lives, believing that only by shedding blood could they subdue the ghost… and yet, in the end, all it took was a beating from Gu Wuji?!
They felt as if they were dreaming.
Yang Shao even considered Gu Wuji’s amnesia. How terrifying would he be if he still had some memory? Fortunately, he hadn’t done anything to tamper with Gu Wuji before.
Gu Wuji sat nearby, gazing at the fierce ghost with a ferocious expression. “Tell me the truth! Who pushed you to commit such a crime? Do you realize how much you’ve betrayed Yang Shao’s trust in you?”
Yang Shao fell silent for a moment, finally realizing that Gu Wuji seemed to have implicitly accepted the fierce ghost as his bodyguard, even incorporating him into some tragic plot… The constraints he’d imposed on Gu Wuji were truly terrifying! Xiao Qin, standing nearby, was so shocked that his memory was about to return, but Gu Wuji still firmly believed that there were no ghosts!
The evil ghost was also confused, even feeling wronged. It had never met this person before, so how could it have betrayed his trust?
But after being beaten by Gu Wuji, the evil ghost was afraid of him. However, it also realized that Gu Wuji was actually a good person, so it didn’t have so much resentment.
The evil ghost confessed honestly and obediently, saying that it had been imprisoned in a dark place and was in pain all over its body. Then, suddenly, it was free and able to move freely within the confines of the two houses.
At first, it saw Gu Wuji and the other living people, thinking that its chance had come. Perhaps devouring their souls would bring it complete freedom. But who knew these people… especially Gu Wuji inside, were so ferocious and terrifying, even more terrifying than ghosts.
Yang Shao sensed a clue in the other’s words and immediately inquired, “When did you escape?”
The evil spirit, puzzled, said, “Not long ago.”
“As I expected,” Yang Shao’s face darkened. “The village chief must be trying to use us for something, deliberately sending us to this house.”
Gu Wuji seemed to understand. He hadn’t expected the village chief to be involved in Yang Shao’s feud with the wealthy. This village was truly dangerous.
“So, how are your companions now?” Gu Wuji inquired. He remembered that Yang Shao had two bodyguards… and who knew how many others were secretly plotting against him.
The evil spirit, assuming Gu Wuji was referring to the other six sealed spirits, replied, “I can sense their presence. They’ve awakened too, in other parts of the village… And the most terrifying one, it seems…”
The two were clearly speaking at cross purposes, yet the topic had strangely connected.
“I see.” Gu Wuji’s face darkened, and he thought to himself, “I’d better find some transportation to get out of the village and seek help as soon as I wake up tomorrow. I don’t think there’s any safe place left in this village.” Then, Gu Wuji left the bound evil spirit there and called the other two back to bed.
Yang Shao and Xiao Qin walked back to the hall in a daze, their minds still replaying the evil spirit’s previous words. Such a terrifying situation should have filled them with gloom, but the thought of the harmonious conversation between Gu Wuji and the evil spirit made it seem less so…
It was so shocking that they couldn’t sleep at all, their minds racing.
As for Gu Wuji, he fell asleep the moment he lay on the ground, nothing stopping him from drifting off.
No one noticed that the fog outside the house hadn’t dissipated, but instead seemed thicker, hiding countless ghosts within, making their scalps tingle.
A figure holding an umbrella slowly stalked through the mist, and the other ghosts retreated in fear, as if they had encountered some natural enemy. The figure turned around to look at the place where Gu Wuji was in the house, then turned and left.
Even though these wandering ghosts were not very conscious, they could not help but show respect on their faces when they looked at the back of this figure.
….
The next day, the villagers who delivered breakfast were surprised to find that everyone in the house was fine, especially Gu Wuji, who was in good spirits, as if he had not been tossed around at all that night.
Yang Shao and Xiao Qin had dark circles under their eyes, and they looked very tired.
Although Xiao Qin did not completely recover his memory, he also remembered some things about dealing with ghosts, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt the weirdness of Gu Wuji.
In short, both of them had roughly accepted the fact that Gu Wuji was a scary man.
As for the evil spirit that was originally tied up behind the house, it had disappeared, and only some debris was left there. No one knew what had happened.
Gu Wuji felt that this matter could not be delayed any longer, so he told all his guesses. Of course, out of consideration for Yang Shao’s feelings, he didn’t mention the family feud. Instead, he explained that a strange mold seemed to infect people in the village, causing them to experience hallucinations of ghosts… and that the village chief was suspicious, seemingly sealing off the village for some reason.
Yang Shao and Xiao Qin: “…” At this point, he still really thought it was an illusion! The other two, while perplexed by the idea, recognized the unusual nature of this village and didn’t question Gu Wuji’s words, instead promising to be more cautious.
“Today I’m going to borrow transportation from a villager near the place we stayed at the day before yesterday,” Gu Wuji said.
His suggestion wasn’t universally accepted. The other two, having never personally experienced anything strange, felt it was probably a misunderstanding, and that they shouldn’t leave so easily after all the hard work they’d put in.
“Today we’ll go check on the old man who makes coffins that the village chief recommended,” Duan Hongbo said. “It should be fine.”
Gu Wuji couldn’t stop them but agreed figuring he could return quickly with help.
Yang Shao and Xiao Qin certainly disagreed, but they felt an unprecedented sense of security in Gu Wuji’s company, so they had no courage to leave him… Besides, the household they’d visited the day before was one of the seven houses, and they might be able to uncover something there.
So, both of them outwardly supported Gu Wuji’s proposal, offering to help in any way they could.
And so, the group split up within the village.
The village was quite large, and during the day it seemed less gloomy. There were surprisingly many villagers, though they rarely interacted with the outside world, appearing somewhat strange in every way.
The villagers were initially quite resistant to these outsiders, but Gu Wuji was quite good-looking and had been helping out with various good causes within the village.
Frankly, Yang Shao and Xiao Qin were stunned. They hadn’t expected Gu Wuji to be so kind, even helping with farming! And his strength was truly astonishing.
…At first, others wanted to reject Gu Wuji, but he was such a good person, always smiling and welcoming, that it was hard to give him the cold shoulder.
In this way, Gu Wuji gained the favor of many villagers and got some inside information about the village.
“The family you stayed with the other day also committed a sin. About a decade ago, some rumor started circulating that offering sacrifices to the ghost of that house would grant wishes… It’s definitely fake!” The villagers’ faces were filled with a complex, somewhat fearful expression. If they hadn’t thought Gu Wuji was truly kind, they wouldn’t have mentioned such a thing.
“But they really wanted a son, so they sent away the eldest daughter… We’re not exactly sure, but we haven’t seen the eldest daughter since. The youngest daughter cried miserably, but not seeing her sister anymore, she soon became fine.” The three people’s expressions varied upon hearing the villager’s words, but they all realized the significance of what the villager said.
“What a sin! They said she got lost, but who in this village doesn’t know the real story? In the end, no son was born, and they even lost their life yesterday. This is probably the ghost’s revenge,” the villager said with a sigh.
Gu Wuji also sighed, remembering the mold he had seen in the house that night. Perhaps the couple, suffering from a fungal infection and hallucinations, believed their eldest daughter had returned, and so committed suicide out of guilt.
Superstition was truly terrible; such a tragedy could have been avoided. He wondered what had become of the girl; she looked underage, and he wondered if he could offer any help.
“More than a decade ago,” Yang Shao keenly noticed the problem. “I heard the original sacrifices in this village took place decades ago. How could they possibly do this?”
The villagers’ expressions grew intensified with fear. Seeing no one around, they whispered, “Legend has it that if a replacement sacrifice can be found, the original victim will be freed, and even have their wishes granted… But I’ve never considered that; they’re all ghosts, after all.”
Yang Shao’s heart skipped a beat. If that were the case, there might not just be seven ghosts in this village, but countless more.
“I see. Thank you so much,” Gu Wuji thanked him again, then inquired about the fastest way out of the village.
The villagers shook their heads and sighed. “You’ve come at the worst possible time. It’s impossible to leave this village right before or after that event… If you want to survive, you’d better keep a low profile for the next few days, and nothing will happen.”
“The village chief seems to have mentioned an event,” Gu Wuji inquired, “but he didn’t explain exactly what it was about.”
“I’m sure you all know the rumors. It’s said that the seal formed by the seven sacrifices loosens every once in a while, so the village holds a ceremony. It used to be a very important ceremony, but now it’s just entertainment, requiring the villagers to act out the events of the past.”
This was perfectly normal. Aside from the slightly more terrifying legend, it was no different from any other event. Gu Wuji and the others fully understood.
Only Yang Shao knew that the day of the ceremony was the final day of the dungeon, and that they didn’t have much time left to investigate.
The villager continued, “Although it’s a purely entertaining activity, there are always problems before and after each event… Especially for outsiders like you, it’s very dangerous. There have been outsiders who came to see the performances, only to have accidents on their way back and die. Once word got out, no one wanted to come.”
“No wonder this village can’t develop tourism,” Xiao Qin muttered. With all these rumors and the village chief’s troublemaking face, it didn’t seem unusual that so few people were coming. So, this was the reason.
“And I heard,” the villager took another deep breath, “that there aren’t enough actors this time. The village chief seems to be planning to use outsiders, especially for the actor who plays the man from outside the area. The requirements for his appearance are particularly high…”
Both Yang Shao and Xiao Qin’s expressions changed. They remembered, of course, the legend about a woman trying to elope with a man who turned out to be a scumb*g, and all the maneuvers that led to the current situation.
Under such circumstances, the person playing the scumb*g would surely die!
The villagers seemed to be pointing fingers at Gu Wuji. The two were just about to try to distance themselves from the matter when they saw Gu Wuji’s face full of interest.
“…”
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