Chapter 43

The Village Head's practiced movements made it clear this was far from the first time he'd done this to a chosen girl.

Was this the real purpose behind the Ancestral Hall's selection?

Jiang Luo placed his hands behind his back, leaving a deliberate gap. He pretended to struggle for a moment, then let the Village Head bind him without further resistance.

Due to his 'female identity,' the Village Head didn't tie the ropes very tightly. After winding several loops around Jiang Luo, the Village Head said, 'Divine Servant, I've tied her up.'

The Divine Servant turned to look and sighed. 'Village Head, is this how you tie someone?'

The Village Head rubbed his hands nervously, glancing at Jiang Luo, unsure what was wrong. 'That's how it's always been done before.'

Jiang Luo's temple twitched.

He had a premonition that Chi You was about to make trouble for him again.

Sure enough, the Divine Servant walked toward him. His soaked Black Robe had somehow dried. The enigmatic Divine Servant stopped before Jiang Luo, looking down at the dark-haired youth.

Jiang Luo watched coldly, waiting to see what he intended to do.

The Divine Servant raised a hand wrapped in layers of black cloth. He peeled back one layer of the fabric, and a strip about two fingers wide slowly slipped from his hand.

The black cloth fell away, revealing the pale, bluish-white skin of the Divine Servant's hand. He held the long strip of fabric. 'Merely binding the person is not enough.'

The Divine Servant raised his hand, bringing the black cloth close to Jiang Luo's eyes. Under the dark-haired youth's fiery, lotus-flame gaze, he gently covered those beautiful eyes that held a galaxy of brilliant stars.

'We must also blindfold him.'

Fuck.

Jiang Luo was certain he heard hidden laughter in the Divine Servant's voice.

That bastard Chi You had indeed added a new complication for him.

With his eyes covered, his vision returned to darkness. Losing sight in the face of the unknown and an enemy clearly unsettled Jiang Luo. His lips pressed into a tight, straight line.

The Divine Servant gently tied the black cloth behind his head.

Deprived of sight, his hearing became exceptionally sharp. Jiang Luo listened to the rustle of fabric near his ear, almost able to picture the Divine Servant's Black Robe brushing past his shoulder.

The faint scent of the Divine Servant reached his nose.

It was the fragrance of sandalwood and candle smoke.

The Divine Servant's movements were deliberate. To an onlooker, his wide Black Robe seemed to envelop the dark-haired youth in his arms the moment he spread them. The dark-haired youth shied away, his braid slipping outside the robe for a moment before being completely concealed again by the dark fabric.

The Village Head, the sole spectator, felt something was off. The Divine Servant had never done anything like this before.

Only after securing the blindfold did the Divine Servant step back. He glanced at the dark-haired youth, now firmly bound and blindfolded, a fleeting smile touching his pale lips. 'Village Head,' he rasped, 'come with me to fetch the sacrificial items.'

The Village Head hurriedly agreed. The sound of their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Jiang Luo waited with extreme patience for another twenty seconds. Confirming he was alone, he slid a small knife from his sleeve, exposed the blade, and cleanly severed the ropes.

With his hands free, Jiang Luo yanked off the blindfold. He almost threw it to the ground, then reconsidered and tucked the long black strip of cloth into his clothing.

Perhaps he could play the part of the Divine Servant himself.

While the Divine Servant and Village Head were still away, Jiang Luo quickly surveyed the Ancestral Hall. Holding a candle, he approached the stone walls on either side to examine the murals.

The murals depicted two scenes.

One was a scene of villagers worshipping. The villagers knelt respectfully on the ground, praying for longevity. Before them stood a black-and-white statue of a smiling Divine Statue.

Beside the Divine Statue stood two figures like guardians—one holding a Great Sword, the other dressed in red. Behind the statue flowed rolling water and a grove of orderly trees.

Jiang Luo's gaze settled on the guardian on the left, the one holding the Great Sword.

Was this Dead Guy?

The second painting showed the girls being sacrificed. They filed into a secret passage one by one and met the Divine Statue. They knelt before it, their eyes closed peacefully.

At first glance, it appeared sacred and beautiful. But upon closer inspection, a large cut was visible on each girl's wrist. Blood flowed from their wrists onto the Divine Statue, transforming it from colorless to painted.

It was as if the Divine Statue was stealing their lives, gradually coming alive from a block of stone.

Jiang Luo turned to look at the Divine Statue.

The Divine Statue sat cross-legged, its smile as kindly as in the mural. Jiang Luo moved closer with the candlestick, examining it more carefully.

Apart from the stone color of its feet, the Divine Statue was almost entirely painted.

What did the colors on the Divine Statue represent?

Jiang Luo frowned. Two sets of footsteps sounded behind him—the Divine Servant and the Village Head were returning.

Jiang Luo immediately jumped onto the altar and hid behind the Divine Statue.

Fortunately, the Divine Statue was large enough to completely conceal his crouching form. Almost the instant Jiang Luo hid, the Divine Servant and Village Head entered the Ancestral Hall.

Finding their bound sacrifice gone, the Village Head's panicked voice rang out. 'Where is she? Where did she go!'

The Divine Servant remained silent.

The Village Head's voice grew shrill with fear. 'Divine Servant, what should we do!'

Jiang Luo pricked up his ears, listening to their conversation.

For some reason, the Divine Servant didn't speak. After a moment, he said, 'The underground is a maze. She couldn't have gone far.'

'Right, right, she couldn't have gone far,' the Village Head said, looking at the ropes discarded in the passageway. 'Divine Servant, she must have run outside. Let's hurry and chase her.'

Jiang Luo tightened his grip on the knife, his palm sweating slightly. He held his breath, waiting for the Divine Servant's reply.

The Divine Servant said, 'Then let's go after her.'

The two gradually moved away.

Jiang Luo didn't emerge rashly. He stared at the back of the Divine Statue, counting silently in his mind for a full minute.

Only when no one returned for a surprise check did he believe they were truly gone.

Jiang Luo put away the small knife. Instead of descending, he took the opportunity to observe the Divine Statue up close.

Cautiously, he first summoned the Snake of Si to coil around him, wrapped his right hand with the black cloth left by the Divine Servant, and then carefully touched the Divine Statue.

Unexpectedly, the texture of the Divine Statue was much softer than he had imagined.

Jiang Luo's eyebrow twitched. He even felt as if he were touching the skin of a corpse.

Soft, cold—completely opposite to the feel of stone.

His hand moved slowly upward, probing toward the Divine Statue's neck, testing to see if it had any life.

The Divine Statue remained motionless. Just as Jiang Luo's hand was about to reach its neck, a stone-carved hand suddenly clamped around his wrist.

Jiang Luo immediately looked up, his breath catching.

The Divine Statue's head had turned ninety degrees and was looking at him with a kindly expression.

The Snake of Si smelled the evil entity and attacked fiercely. The Divine Statue's smile remained unchanged, but its other hand grabbed Jiang Luo's calf. Its stone-hard fingers pierced his skin, sinking into the flesh and leaving five terrifying indentations.

Jiang Luo grunted and kicked the Divine Statue's hand away. The Snake of Si slammed into the statue again. The altar couldn't withstand these two heavy blows and completely collapsed, revealing a massive Cave.

Jiang Luo fell into the Cave unprepared. The Snake of Si dove after him. The Divine Statue, still smiling, rolled forward and crashed thunderously into the Cave as well.

The Cave was long.

Wind whistled past Jiang Luo's ears. Blood flowed copiously from his calf, whipped backward by the wind.

Was this the great misfortune Feng Li had divined for him? Jiang Luo wondered.

But the look in his eyes grew increasingly calm and composed. Having died eighteen times already, a wound like this wasn't enough to make him surrender to fate.

The Snake of Si behind him enveloped him, bringing him down slowly to the ground. But the moment he landed, Jiang Luo recalled the Snake of Si back into the Yin-Yang Ring.

The Golden Script vanished, plunging the entire Cave into pitch-black darkness. Jiang Luo dragged his injured leg and hid in a corner. He used Spirit Papers to stop the bleeding, then tore off a piece of his clothing, wiped away the blood, and threw it to the other side. Just as he finished, a loud crash sounded—the Divine Statue had also entered the Cave.

Jiang Luo's expression remained unchanged. He turned his head, staring into the darkness where the sound came from.

During that brief moment of falling, Jiang Luo had been thinking about one thing.

Why were there no lights in the Ancestral Hall above ground, no lights on the stone steps leading underground, yet candles were lit in the underground Ancestral Hall?

He guessed that the Divine Statue couldn't see in complete darkness.

Therefore, someone had used this method to prevent the Divine Statue from leaving the underground and reaching the surface.

Of course, this was just a guess. Jiang Luo had no evidence to prove he was right, but he wanted to gamble on it now.

He slowed his breathing, listening for movement nearby.

In the darkness, the Divine Statue stood up. Made of stone, each step it took was tremendously loud. Its smiling face scanned the darkness but didn't see the sacrifice.

After a brief silence, the Divine Statue began to move again with a rumbling noise.

It was heading in Jiang Luo's direction.

Jiang Luo leaned against the wall and slowly shifted to another spot without making a sound.

The Divine Statue stopped at the spot where he had thrown the blood-soaked clothing.

It could smell the blood.

Jiang Luo assessed the situation calmly.

The Divine Statue attacked the clothing. Jiang Luo heard the sound of stone cracking. It seemed to realize no one was there, and only then did it stop.

It truly couldn't see in the dark.

Jiang Luo felt that while he was unlucky, at least he wasn't completely doomed. Leaning against the wall, he gently moved the Yin-Yang Ring.

A strand of Golden Script transformed into a rat that shot like lightning in the opposite direction. Attracted by the Golden Light, the Divine Statue heavily chased after the rat.

The ground trembled for a while before gradually calming down.

Jiang Luo propped himself against the wall and sat on the ground. He was covered in cold sweat, but his mind was clear. After resting a moment, he tore off another piece of cloth to bind the wound, waiting for the spasmodic pain in his left calf to subside before standing up again.

The wound had only pierced the flesh; fortunately, it hadn't damaged the bone or tendons. At a time like this, Jiang Luo truly envied Dead Guy's ability to heal completely in a second.

He summoned the Golden Script and used the Golden Light to survey the area. Below the Cave was a Limestone Cave. Jiang Luo even suspected he was fifty meters underground. The fact that there was an underground beneath the underground made him think Shentu Village truly lived up to its name—it was profoundly deep.

He shook the Yin-Yang Ring. It pointed north. Jiang Luo looked toward the fathomless north, exhaled a heavy breath, and walked slowly forward.

*

Above ground, after Jiang Luo entered the Ancestral Hall, Wenren Lian had been using Divination to determine his location.

They walked farther and farther from the village, eventually reaching the mountains. But once in the mountains, Wenren Lian's Compass was disrupted by magnetic interference, becoming erratic, forcing him to proceed with his Divination more cautiously and slowly.

Dead Guy, however, found the place somewhat familiar.

He didn't know why he felt that way, but he followed his intuition to a giant tree. He thrust his Great Sword into the ground with force, pressing down with all his might. The ground suddenly gave way, revealing a dark, gaping hole.

Startled by the noise, Lu You and Wenren Lian stared in shock at the black hole and hurried over. 'What is this?'

'I don't know,' Dead Guy said honestly.

He paused. 'But Jiang Luo should be down there.'

That's just what he felt.

Wenren Lian performed a Divination, his expression grave. 'Dead Guy is right. He should be down there. Let's go down quickly.'

But Dead Guy stopped Wenren Lian. 'You can't go down.'

Wenren Lian's face turned cold. His usually gentle, narrowed eyes opened wide, revealing a sharp, aggressive male side. 'Why?'

Dead Guy said, 'Your birth chart is Yin-aligned.'

Wenren Lian was taken aback, instantly understanding his meaning.

The Ancestral Hall required sacrifices with Yin-aligned birth charts. If he went down, he might become a liability or even a tool to empower something.

Wenren Lian cursed under his breath, then stepped aside. He looked deeply at Lu You and Dead Guy. 'Then I'm counting on you two.'

Lu You nodded solemnly and prepared to descend without delay. Wenren Lian suddenly called out, 'Lu You.'

Lu You turned to look at him.

Wenren Lian's lips parted briefly. He tossed him a pack of cigarettes from his person and said in a low voice, 'Come back alive with him.'

Lu You gripped the cigarettes tightly. 'Don't worry.'

He and Dead Guy jumped into the hole.

Wenren Lian watched their disappearing figures, his left eyelid twitching several times.

It wasn't that he doubted Lu You's ability; he just didn't trust Dead Guy's stability.

This living corpse had been with them for less than a day. Even if he seemed harmless now, whether he was friend or foe remained uncertain.

If Dead Guy betrayed them midway, with Lu You's utterly trusting nature, he would definitely be in danger.

Worried, Wenren Lian took out a Thousand Paper Crane folded from a Yellow Talisman. Using a brush, he wrote 'Come quickly' on its body, patted it gently, and said, 'Go.'

The Thousand Paper Crane staggered into flight, heading Below the Mountain.

*

Lu You and Dead Guy fell straight into darkness.

Lu You landed hard on his backside. 'Ouch—where is this?'

Dead Guy covered his mouth, his gaze cold and merciless as he looked into the darkness. 'Don't make a sound.'

They tentatively moved forward, with Dead Guy leading the way. In the dark, something on the ground tripped them several times. After walking for an unknown length of time, they finally saw a faint glimmer of light.

Beneath the light was a large dome.

The ground was densely packed with human-like figures, but upon closer inspection, they were all lifelike Paper Figures. The sight of so many Paper Figures standing there made one's hair stand on end. Lu You felt a chill. 'What are these...'

A hand suddenly reached out from the side, pulling him and Dead Guy into a concealed recess in the cave wall.

Lu You nearly jumped, ready to struggle, when a familiar voice sounded in his ear. 'It's me.'

It was Jiang Luo.

Lu You immediately let out a long sigh of relief. Dead Guy also put away his Great Sword and obediently followed Jiang Luo into hiding.

Jiang Luo looked utterly disheveled. He leaned against the wall, his face smudged with dirt and dust. Sweat plastered his hair, and the braid resting on his left shoulder was almost completely undone. He had torn two strips from his robe-like skirt, revealing his straight calf marred by a horrifying five-fingered imprint.

But Jiang Luo's expression was utterly calm, so much so that even in such a bedraggled state, he did not seem bedraggled at all, and instead had a strange, arresting allure.

Yet it nearly brought tears to Lu You's eyes. He whispered, 'Jiang Luo, are you okay?'

Jiang Luo shook his head and looked up at Dead Guy. 'Why did you come too?'

Dead Guy said, 'You're my friend. It's only natural for me to come rescue my friend.'

Hearing this, Jiang Luo smiled inexplicably. He asked, 'Does this place feel familiar to you?'

Dead Guy nodded slowly.

Though he didn't know why, it did feel somewhat familiar.

Jiang Luo murmured to himself, 'That settles it.'

Dead Guy really was the guardian beside the Divine Statue.

That gave a reason for why he and Lu You had been attacked by him when they went to dig up graves in the middle of the night.

Because the truth about the Divine Statue needing sacrifices couldn't be discovered by outsiders.

Jiang Luo felt the difficulty of this stage of the Competition had exceeded the judgment of the event organizers and judges. A Divine Statue, a living Divine Statue—it was asking too much for a group of not-yet-graduated metaphysics students to deal with it.

But already caught in the whirlpool, Jiang Luo disliked dwelling on what-ifs. Not only did he hold grudges against Chi You, but he also refused to take a single step back when facing other gods, people, or bastards.

—He just wanted to return the wound on his leg to the Divine Statue.

'Do you know where this is?' he asked.

Dead Guy hesitated. 'Underground?'

Jiang Luo: '...'

He'd almost forgotten—this guy was currently amnesiac.

Jiang Luo withdrew his gaze helplessly, but his peripheral vision caught sight of the cigarettes in Lu You's hand. He couldn't help but smile. 'Lu You, did you bring me a pack of cigarettes when you came down?'

He took the cigarettes. Inside the pack was a lighter. Jiang Luo smiled again, lit a cigarette with practiced ease, and narrowed his eyes as the tension in his nerves slowly eased.

Lu You whispered, 'Jiang Luo, what are those things outside?'

'Paper Figures,' Jiang Luo said. 'They look dead, but they're actually alive. The slightest sound will make them swarm and attack.'

Lu You shuddered. 'Paper Figures can be alive?'

Jiang Luo gave a cold laugh. 'If a fucking Divine Statue can be alive, why not?'

He finished the cigarette, stubbed it out, and took out some talisman paper. 'How many Fire Talismans do you two have left?'

Lu You hurriedly counted. 'Five.'

'Five? That's enough,' Jiang Luo said, unbuttoning his outer robe. He discarded the cumbersome garment, leaving only the sleeveless undershirt. 'Enough to burn all these Paper Figures to ash.'

Lu You and Dead Guy followed his lead and stripped off the clothes that hindered them. Once their arms could move freely, Jiang Luo asked, 'Did you get a clear look at what those paper figures looked like?'

Lu You was taken aback. He crept out of the cave recess to take another look outside.

The paper figure nearest him was dressed in red and green, with two bright red patches of rouge on its cheeks. The vivid colors did not make the paper figure look even a fraction more approachable; if anything, it only made it more deeply eerie, enough to send a chill through the whole body.

At first glance, Lu You didn't notice anything amiss. Puzzled, he looked again and suddenly turned pale, staggering back into the recess.

Jiang Luo lifted his eyelids to look at him. 'Notice it?'

'One of the Paper Figures,' Lu You stammered, his teeth chattering, 'looks... looks like He Zhi.'

That He Zhi from Wenxing University was the one who had gone ahead to Shentu Village alone.

Since arriving in Shentu Village, they hadn't seen He Zhi again.

Why was there a Paper Figure here that looked so much like He Zhi?

Jiang Luo said, 'It's not just He Zhi. You can find Paper Figures resembling the vast majority of people in the village here.'

Lu You swallowed. 'What does that mean?'

'It means the people above ground have likely already been replaced by Paper Figures,' Jiang Luo stated flatly, dropping a bombshell. 'The Paper Figures underground represent their true state. The villagers here seek eternal life, so they pray to gods and Buddhas. The god told them that hanging or drowning would grant them eternal life. They believed it. Sure enough, those who hanged or drowned became young and healthy again—they came back to life.'

'No one knew that what came back to life were just Paper Figures resembling the dead. But that little girl in red noticed something was wrong,' Jiang Luo smiled. 'Those who hang or drown cannot achieve Reincarnation. Their souls were likely used as fodder for the deity, helping it grow stronger, become a living entity. Is that possible?'

Lu You was stunned.

Jiang Luo continued, 'When we first arrived in Shentu Village, I found it strange. Why did the staff say, "Every time someone dies, a new life appears in the village," and not "Every time a new life appears, someone dies"? It's easy to make someone die, but making a life appear on schedule is difficult. That phrasing was odd.'

'I even suspect the police who came to investigate didn't uncover the truth about the 'new life' either. The people of Shentu Village wouldn't tell them. They probably just confirmed someone had died, then counted the total number in the village, resulting in the number 311.'

Jiang Luo stopped abruptly. 'That's just my own theory. We'll discuss it in detail after we get out. Right now, we need to burn these Paper Figures before we can proceed. Otherwise, even if we pass through their nest, any sound will make them chase us.'

Lu You's head was spinning, so he simply stopped thinking about it. 'Then how are we supposed to burn them all? I took a look, and none of them are gathered together.'

'Lure them together,' Jiang Luo said, pulling out a Fire Talisman. 'Make a sound after crossing to the other side to draw them over, then burn them all at once.'

Dead Guy and Lu You had no objections. Jiang Luo suspected they hadn't even considered whether the plan was feasible before nodding decisively.

Jiang Luo sighed and led them out of the recess.

Once the three were ready, they stepped into the Paper Figure nest.

The Paper Figures were scattered in small groups. Passing through them without alerting them was somewhat difficult. Fortunately, all three were careful. They successfully crossed the dome and reached the other side.

Jiang Luo picked up a stone from the ground and threw it down from a higher position.

A crisp sound rang out, and the paper figures, lifeless a moment ago, instantly came alive and lunged toward the place the sound had come from.

Jiang Luo threw three Fire Talismans onto them. Flames erupted, engulfing the Paper Figures and feeding the fire.

The three left the area just as the fire reached the cave entrance.

As they turned away, Jiang Luo suddenly thought of a question.

Why had Chi You impersonated the Divine Servant here?

Jiang Luo believed Chi You wasn't that idle. It made sense for him to possess a competitor to win first place and obtain the Yuantian Pearl, but what did he want by becoming a village's Divine Servant?