Without the He couple following them, the three moved much faster. But just as they were about to approach Building Nine, they saw the red-robed Judge suddenly collapse to its knees. Huge streams of black water surged out from the enormous hole in its chest, like a babbling creek, flowing from beneath its feet all the way outside Building Nine.
Those Hungry Ghosts that no one knew had been hiding where suddenly caught the scent. They came swarming out all at once, like vast swarms of flies, eagerly pouncing on it and greedily and excitedly lying on the ground to lap it up. Because there were too many of them while there was only so much black water flowing out, they piled one layer upon another, quickly forming a wall of flesh ahead of them.
“Holy shit, what the hell is that black water? These ghost children are acting just like flies seeing shit.”
After repeatedly being beaten senseless in this ghost domain, Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang felt that their psychological tolerance had already increased greatly. But now, seeing the densely packed ghost children, they still felt their trypophobia acting up.
Yan He took out all the talisman papers on his body and carefully observed the Hungry Ghosts. Seeing that all their attention was focused on the black water, he finally breathed a slight sigh of relief and whispered, “Let’s go around them. Be careful not to alarm them.”
The three of them carried the unconscious He JiaqI and carefully went around the wall formed by the ghost children, preparing to enter Building Nine through an opening on the other side. After all, the entire Building Nine was now like a sieve, with holes everywhere. It had long since become impossible to recognize its original appearance. As long as there was a hole, they could crawl through it.
But just as they were going around, a series of “sizzle” sounds suddenly came from behind them. It was as though meat had been placed on a red-hot iron plate, making a scorched sizzling sound. At the same time, an intense smell spread through the air.
It was difficult to describe whether that smell was fragrant or foul, because it was so overwhelmingly strong that it had already reached the point of causing physical discomfort.
The three turned their heads together and saw that the layers upon layers of ghost children piled together were actually beginning to melt from the bottom. Their bluish-white bodies went from having clear boundaries to becoming blurred, gradually melting into one another, and finally turning into thick black liquid that merged into the black water on the ground.
The continuous “sizzle” sounds were precisely the noises they made as they melted.
But the ghost children lying on top paid no attention to this at all. They immediately took the place of those below them, urgently and greedily licking the black water that had fused together with the other ghost children.
Then the scene that had already played out once before repeated itself.
This time, let alone Wen Dajiang and Wei Yao, even the battle-hardened Yan He felt somewhat nauseated. His brows furrowed tightly—this ghost domain was indeed extremely strange. There were many things inside that he had never seen before, and could even be said to have never heard of.
For example, the ghost domain itself hidden inside the residential building without being noticed; the man-eating red-robed Judge; the abnormally enormous Hungry Ghosts that had never been detected; and the bizarre black water before their eyes that could dissolve Hungry Ghosts.
While the three stood there in a daze for a moment, the enormous wall of flesh collapsed and melted in the blink of an eye, completely merging into the black water.
And the originally motionless black water, after merging with the Hungry Ghosts, seemed to come alive and gain consciousness. The viscous liquid slowly wriggled like slime, flowing back toward the red-robed Judge.
Yan He glanced toward the red-robed Judge and warned, “Hurry up and go. Be careful. Don’t touch this black water.”
Perhaps because of Yan He’s solemn expression, the atmosphere inexplicably became tense. Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang also put away the overly animated expressions on their faces, nodded, and carefully followed behind him.
The three went around the black water and entered Building Nine.
At the same time, Xu Muchan, who was feasting inside the red-robed Judge’s chest cavity, seemed to sense something as well. He straightened his upper body and turned his head to look at the black water flowing toward the red-robed Judge.
There seemed to be countless voices speaking within the black water. They were noisy and indistinct, impossible to hear clearly. The longer he listened, the more it seemed as though he heard someone calling out to him.
Xu Muchan seemed curious, yet also seemed to be attracted by the black water. He threw away the remains in his hand, jumped down from the red-robed Judge’s chest, and walked barefoot toward the black water, tilting his head as he looked at it.
After staring for a while, he tentatively extended his long fingernails, as though he wanted to touch it—
But just as he was about to touch the surface of the water, a voice inexplicably sounded in his mind:
“Don’t go near the Black River. It’s very dangerous.”
That voice seemed very familiar. Who was it?
Xu Muchan patted his head. For a moment, he could not remember, but at the same time, he forgot that he had wanted to touch the black water.
He warily glanced at a stream of black water that had split off and was flowing toward his feet, then immediately took a large step backward.
But when he retreated, the black water followed him forward. At the same time, he seemed to smell an extremely enticing fragrance.
Xu Muchan wrinkled the tip of his nose and became even more alert. This time, he left without looking back.
After eating his fill, Xu Muchan wandered aimlessly around inside Building Nine. He always felt that he had forgotten something, but whenever he tried to recall it, he could not remember anything.
When he passed a broken dressing mirror, he suddenly stopped and looked at the figure reflected in the mirror.
The clothes on his body were filthy. On his deathly pale skin, the wounds that were exposed had flesh turned inside out, and there was also the black liquid that had stained him from the red-robed Judge. His long black hair, reaching down to his waist, was messily spread behind him, with strands sticking to his cheeks. His whole appearance looked extremely disheveled.
As though he did not recognize himself, Xu Muchan could not help bringing his face closer to the mirror. A trace of confusion finally appeared in his pitch-black eyes.
Who was this?
The person in the mirror made the same movement as him, leaning forward until his face was very close to the mirror. On that pointed oval-shaped face, those pitch-black eyes were filled with confusion.
This seems to be me.
After staring at the mirror for a long time, Xu Muchan realized this.
But in the next moment, he unhappily slapped the already broken mirror into pieces.
So ugly. It definitely isn’t me.
Xu Muchan stepped barefoot over the shards of glass and left in satisfaction.
He did not remember where he had come from, nor did he have any destination. He simply wandered around like a wandering ghost, only to be stopped by a group of people again.
The person leading them held a copper-coin sword and looked at him in shock, calling his name:
“Xu Muchan?”
Xu Muchan tilted his head and looked at him expressionlessly.
Yan He and the other two were also extremely shocked. Although the red-robed Judge appeared to be dead, they still did not know what the thing that had fought the red-robed Judge was, nor where it had gone. Therefore, after entering Building Nine, they acted very cautiously, doing their best not to make any noise.
They also did not know where Xu Muchan had gone. The three did not even dare call out to him. They could only keep their eyes alert in every direction and their ears open, going over to investigate whenever they noticed any movement.
And then they encountered Xu Muchan wandering around.
At first, they did not recognize him at all. The Yin energy around the other person was extremely heavy, his long hair hanging down to his waist, while his skin was so pale that it had not the slightest trace of blood. Walking barefoot through Building Nine, he looked exactly like the evil ghost from an old movie that came out at midnight to kill people.
Moreover, this evil ghost might very well be the one that had taken down the red-robed Judge.
Thus, the three immediately became as though facing a formidable enemy. Yan He took out the last three Qi-Concealing Talismans, stuck them onto himself, and carefully hid to one side.
Originally, they intended to wait until this evil ghost left before taking the opportunity to leave. Who would have thought that the other party happened to turn around at that very moment?
Yan He saw the other person’s face clearly.
Although his pupils were the pure black that only ghosts possessed, and his short hair had become long hair, Yan He still recognized him at a glance.
It was Xu Muchan.
Perhaps because he was too shocked, Yan He suddenly stood up and called out.
“Has Xu Muchan been possessed by a ghost?” Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang poked their heads out from behind Yan He, cautiously peeking at their now completely unfamiliar classmate.
“I don’t know, but he looks very dangerous right now. You two wait here. If anything goes wrong, leave first. Don’t worry about me.”
Yan He could not explain it clearly for the moment, but instinct told him that the person in front of him was indeed Xu Muchan.
Since they had already found him, they naturally could not leave him unattended. So he put away his copper-coin sword and stepped forward, appearing delighted on the surface as though saying, “We finally found you,” while in reality, he carefully observed Xu Muchan’s expression and slowly approached him.
And Xu Muchan really did stand there without moving. His dark, hollow eyes occasionally shifted along with Yan He’s movements, as though he was observing Yan He as well.
Yan He’s palms began to sweat. He secretly wiped them on his pants and spoke to Xu Muchan as though nothing were wrong.
“Xu Muchan, where did you go? We’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
Xu Muchan blinked and finally spoke.
“Do I know you?”
Yan He smiled and finally walked up in front of him.
“Yes. Don’t you remember? We were all dragged into the ghost domain together. Later, you got separated from us…”
Xu Muchan listened attentively, waiting for what came next.
But there was no next part.
Yan He had been rambling on and on precisely to take the opportunity to get closer to him. His hand moved as fast as lightning, and he slapped a Ghost-Repelling Talisman onto Xu Muchan’s forehead.
Because he was nervous, he had used quite a lot of force when pressing the talisman down. Xu Muchan’s head was pushed backward by the force, then he straightened it again in confusion. The yellow Ghost-Repelling Talisman remained firmly stuck to his forehead, without the slightest reaction.
Yan He: “……”
Xu Muchan raised his hand, tore off the Ghost-Repelling Talisman, looked at it curiously, then threw it aside. His eyes continued staring at Yan He, waiting for him to continue with what came next.
But being stared at by those hollow black eyes, Yan He felt as though his entire body had stiffened and he could not move. He could only desperately move his hand behind his back and wave it, gesturing to Wen Dajiang and Wei Yao behind him.
Run!
Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang saw it. After a difficult struggle between whether to run or not, Wei Yao told Wen Dajiang to give him the Five-Thunder Talisman.
“You take He JiaqI and run first. I’ll go save Daoist Master Yan.”
Before Wen Dajiang could even move, he directly reached into the pocket of Wen Dajiang’s school uniform pants and, sure enough, found that Five-Thunder Talisman.
He clutched both Five-Thunder Talismans in his hand, said, “Don’t just stand there. Go!” and turned around, running toward Xu Muchan.
He felt that although this evil ghost in front of him looked exactly like Xu Muchan, it definitely was not Xu Muchan.
He rushed right up and shouted to Yan He, “Daoist Master Yan, I’m here to help you!”
As soon as his voice fell, the two Five-Thunder Talismans were thrown toward Xu Muchan—
Wei Yao then grabbed Yan He and ran. Thunder rumbled behind them. Wei Yao looked back at the flashing lightning and felt an excitement as though he had defeated the villain and saved the world.
The Five-Thunder Talismans were quite powerful. The thunder was still roaring, and Yan He seemed to be shouting something beside his ear, looking extremely anxious.
The hot-blooded excitement of saving the world finally faded from Wei Yao. He heard Yan He shout,
“The Five-Thunder Talismans are useless against him! You’ve angered him! I’ll hold him back. Hurry and run!”
Wei Yao: “?”
He turned his head again and saw a figure walking out from within the flashing lightning. The lightning traveled across his skin, making his waist-length hair fly wildly, yet it did not hurt him in the slightest.
“Holy shit, Daoist Master, how come your talismans don’t work either?!” Wei Yao said in despair.
Yan He had no time to joke around with him. He gripped the copper-coin sword with both hands, his eyes fixed and ready.
Wei Yao did not dare play the hero anymore either. He obediently turned around and ran.
But Xu Muchan was coming straight for him.
Wei Yao did not even see how he moved. In the next second, Xu Muchan had him by the throat.
When the dizzying, breathless feeling of suffocation surged over him, Wei Yao thought despairingly:
Ah, this feeling is so familiar.
It felt like he had already been strangled many times.
Xu Muchan examined the person in his hand. In fact, he had not really understood Yan He’s entire series of actions toward Wei Yao just now, so naturally, he could not be said to have been angered.
The reason he grabbed Wei Yao was because he saw that the other person was wearing the same clothes as him.
A white short-sleeved shirt embroidered with the school emblem, and black pants decorated along the sides with blue-and-white diagonal stripes.
These were Nanming’s school uniform, but Xu Muchan had completely forgotten that now. He only felt that his own clothes were very dirty, and there happened to be a clean set right in front of him.
So without the slightest hesitation, he stripped the clothes and pants off Wei Yao and walked away happily with the clothes.
Wei Yao, stripped until he was left wearing only a pair of boxer shorts, was thrown onto the spot. His face was full of confusion, along with a little bit of indignation and humiliation that he dared not voice.
After confirming that the strange ghost had finally left, Yan He hurried forward and helped him up, comforting him.
“You only got your clothes stripped. That’s still much better than having your skin stripped off, right?”
Wei Yao was somewhat comforted by that. He climbed to his feet with hunched shoulders and left together with him.
Xu Muchan returned to the place where he had smashed the mirror. He changed into the clean clothes, then leaned his head forward and looked at the figure in the shards of the mirror.
After changing into clean clothes, he indeed looked much more pleasing to the eye.
He nodded in satisfaction.
Just as he was about to leave, a hand suddenly covered his eyes. At the same time, a cold, Yin-filled aura appeared behind him, and an excessively huge figure completely restrained him within its embrace.
Xu Muchan immediately bristled. He violently broke free of that hand, turned around, and viciously bared his teeth at the other person in warning.
Wei Xilou looked at the young man who had completely changed. His aura also became gloomy. Because of his anger, the edges of his pitch-black soul body churned unstably.
He had only been away for a few days. He had thought that as long as A-Chan did not remove the Mountain God Tablet, there should not be any danger.
But he never expected that the one who would encounter danger on this trip would actually be himself. If he had not been held back by the thing inside the tomb, he would not have sensed A-Chan’s call until now.
The human body really did have too many limitations. He could only abandon his physical body first and hurry over to find him.
And the result was that he saw a dirty little kitten baring its teeth and claws at him.
Wei Xilou changed into his humanoid form and waved at him. “A-Chan, come here.”
Xu Muchan simply refused to listen and even warily took a step backward. The thing before his eyes had an aura much stronger than the red-robed Judge, and it also gave off a faint, indistinct fragrance.
He wriggled his nose and unconsciously swallowed again.
He seemed to be hungry again.
He was deciding whether he should run first, or find a chance to take a bite before running.
Wei Xilou saw the longing in his eyes and let out a low laugh. He restrained the Yin energy leaking from his body and exposed his neck, the most vulnerable and delicious part of himself, to the little cat. Then he waved again.
“A-Chan, come here.”
The fragrance seemed to become even stronger. Xu Muchan finally could not resist the temptation and pounced at him.
Wei Xilou caught him, allowing him to bite down on his neck, his sharp fingernails piercing into his shoulder.
A-Chan, affected by the ghost transformation, was exceptionally gluttonous. His four limbs tightly wrapped around him, his canine teeth sank deeply in, and his throat urgently swallowed, making a gurgling sound.
Wei Xilou lifted his buttocks a little higher, holding him like a child, while his palm gently stroked his long black hair. He let out a heavy breath.
“A-Chan, eat slowly.”
Xu Muchan paid no attention to him, his entire face buried in his neck.
From a distance, they looked like lovers entwining their necks in an intimate embrace.
Holding him, Wei Xilou finally found the Mountain God Tablet, wrapped inside a school uniform jacket, in a corner.
“It was your brother’s fault.”
Wei Xilou carried the boy and sat down on the ruins. Several more pale arms stretched out from behind him, wrapping around Xu Muchan so tightly that not even air could pass through.
Xu Muchan was like a butterfly that had been attracted by flower nectar and stopped there, completely immersed in the sweet nectar, entirely unaware that this was a trap.
When he was finally satisfied, he pulled his sharp canine teeth out. A trace of redness seemed to appear on his deathly pale face.
But very soon, when he realized that several arms were holding him down, he became wary and began struggling again.
But this time, the positions of hunter and food had been reversed.
The prey had become him.
Countless arms held him down. Wei Xilou reached out and covered his pitch-black eyes, then put the Mountain God Tablet back around his neck.
“A-Chan, be good. From now on, I’ll take you with me wherever I go.”
The ghost transformation had lasted too long, so the Mountain God Tablet needed time to take effect. However, Xu Muchan’s struggling had clearly become much weaker.
Like a cat that had been forcibly turned onto its back with its belly exposed, he stared with a pair of pitch-black eyes, his face filled with the dazed confusion of someone who was drunk.
Wei Xilou’s fingers wandered along his cheek, following the slender, long neck downward, but when they touched the collar of the school uniform, they strangely stopped.
Then he lowered his head and sniffed the boy’s body. Sure enough, he smelled an aura that did not belong to the boy.
His expression, which had become much calmer, instantly turned sinister. Numerous pale arms moved at the same time, tearing the clothing that did not belong to the boy into shreds before finally contentedly pulling him into his arms.
“Let’s go home.”