The moment Tong Xiaosong saw He Bing the next day, he immediately understood.
There were scars on He Bing’s exposed skin, as if something rough had rubbed against him, leaving behind scabs of blood.
Even his neck had rings of blood marks.
In just one day and night, He Bing had lost much of his vitality, appearing even weaker than Tang Yuxin after receiving the immortal hall.
Upon seeing them, He Bing smiled nonchalantly, pulling down his collar to reveal more scars, “Scary dream, wasn’t it?”
Tong Xiaosong looked at the wounds, not finding them frightening, but rather dangerous.
Zhi Xian glanced over, saying lightly, “You’re lucky to have survived.”
He Bing humbly replied, “There were many things that helped me stay alive. Let’s get going; I might really die if we come here again tonight.”
The three got into a car, an off-road vehicle.
He Bing drove while Zhi Xian and Tong Xiaosong sat in the back.
As the car drove on the road, Zhi Xian took out the cleaned jade bead and shook it in front of the rearview mirror, asking, “Do you recognize this?”
Looking through the rearview mirror, He Bing shook his head, “Never seen it before. What is it? Did you find it in the grave?”
Zhi Xian replied, “When we found you, it was in your mouth.”
“Huh?” He Bing looked surprised, “I passed out after calling you. At that time, there was nothing in my mouth.”
Tong Xiaosong sensed something amiss, “When we found you, the coffin lid was closed, you were lying in a proper position, your phone wasn’t beside you, and you had a jade bead in your mouth. If you passed out after making the call, then who did all of this?”
Zhi Xian added, “That’s what I wanted to say.”
The car fell into silence.
After pondering for a while, He Bing said uncertainly, “It could have been my companions…? Could it be that they weren’t harmed?”
Zhi Xian asked, “Do you believe that?”
He Bing remained silent.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Zhi Xian looked at the sunlight outside the car, playing with the jade bead between his fingers.
Yyrfgnlcu atlr, Kbcu Wljbrbcu jrxfv rboais, “Qtja’r kgbcu? Qtja vbfrc’a rffw gluta?”
Itl Wljc gfqilfv, “Ktlr atlcu offir jilnf.”
“Cilnf?” Kbcu Wljbrbcu ibbxfv mibrfis jr kfii, fzjwlclcu atf pjvf yfjv ogbw vloofgfca jcuifr. Pa kjr agjcriemfca yea tjv jc lcvfrmglyjyif afzaegf.
Itl Wljc jvvfv, “Pa offir j yla rboa…”
“Vboa?” Kbcu Wljbrbcu meglberis gfjmtfv bea ab abemt la, geyylcu la yfakffc tlr olcufgalqr. Lf vlvc’a offi jcs rboacfrr; bc atf mbcagjgs, la ofia wbgf ilxf pjvf.
Unable to resist his curiosity, He Bing stopped the car on the side of the road and turned around, “Let me have a look?”
Tong Xiaosong handed the jade bead to He Bing.
After examining it, He Bing returned it to Tong Xiaosong, saying, “Isn’t this just jade? Where’s the softness? It’s just well-polished. If we could take it and do some micro-carving, it could make a pretty good piece.”
With that, he continued driving the car.
Zhi Xian rubbed the jade bead again, still feeling uneasy. He whispered, “Xiaosong, take out the fire.”
“What if it gets damaged by the fire? But then again, jade… isn’t it resistant to fire?” Tong Xiaosong hesitated but obediently took out the fire and ignited it beneath the jade bead.
“Ah…” Tong Xiaosong was stunned. Did he just feel the jade bead move a moment ago?
A cold light flashed in Zhi Xian’s eyes as he affirmed, “It moved. Keep burning.”
Without needing Zhi Xian’s reminder, Tong Xiaosong had already moved the fire beneath the jade bead again.
A blue flame erupted, and suddenly, the green jade bead sprouted wings and shot forward, crashing into the windshield with a thud.
“I…!” He Bing was startled, his car swerving in an S-shape. “What the hell!”
Before he could finish his sentence, Zhi Xian got up, grabbed the object stuck to the windshield while holding onto the front seat, and brought it back.
Tong Xiaosong widened his eyes to see what Zhi Xian held in his hand. It was a clump of emerald green, somewhat attractive at first glance. But upon closer inspection, beneath two overlapping pairs of wings, were densely packed mouthparts and sharp, pointed spikes, gnashing at Zhi Xian’s hand.
The car came to a halt again, and He Bing turned his head, his expression one of disbelief. “And this thing was found in my mouth…?”
Zhi Xian said calmly, “Luckily, you got help in time. Otherwise, after a night, you probably wouldn’t have been able to keep your tongue. Also, when you get back this time, you better have a full-body check-up. I suspect it wanted to lay eggs in your mouth.”
“Ugh…” He Bing gagged, covering his mouth and turning his head away, resting it on the steering wheel in resignation.
Tong Xiaosong asked curiously, “How did you figure out it wanted to lay eggs?”
“Just a guess,” Zhi Xian analyzed. “If a bug stays in an environment with suitable humidity and temperature, what do you think it will do?”
Tong Xiaosong pondered for a moment. It seemed… apart from laying eggs, there weren’t many other choices.
Zhi Xian continued, “And at that time, there shouldn’t have been any other humans around He Bing. So, who settled him there, and for what purpose? Considering his condition at the time, whoever settled him there wasn’t intending for him to survive. Think about all the extra stuff on him. He was probably used as an incubator…”
“I… I don’t want to go back,” He Bing’s voice sounded muffled. “I feel so sick right now. Otherwise, let that female ghost kill me tonight.”
Zhi Xian replied, “If you can’t drive, then I’ll drive. The items must be returned; otherwise, the subsequent troubles could be endless.”
He Bing, in despair, slammed the steering wheel, sat up straight, and restarted the car. Through gritted teeth, he cursed, “I shouldn’t have listened to those bastards in the black market, going to rob some bastard’s grave. Just trying to collect things peacefully shouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable situation.”
“Walk the night path too often, and you’ll eventually encounter ghosts,” Zhi Xian scoffed lightly. “There are too many sinister items in your house, affecting your magnetic field. I suggest you change your hobbies and replace all those things at home.”
He Bing sighed, “But I can’t just give it up…”
***
The three of them returned to the grave, entering the filthy stagnant water once again.
He Bing waved his flashlight around, then proceeded in a direction.
Zhi Xian and Tong Xiaosong followed behind, also with flashlights.
They walked until the end, where He Bing exclaimed, “Where’s the altar? How come it’s gone!”
Tong Xiaosong asked, “What’s wrong?”
He Bing walked back and forth, stirring the water noisily.
“There used to be an altar here, with lots of things on it. That’s where I got the hairpin. But now it’s all water, and the altar is gone…”
Zhi Xian and Tong Xiaosong looked around, but they didn’t see the altar He Bing mentioned.
He Bing was already starting to question his life choices. “What if… we throw it in the water? I have a bad feeling about this.”
Zhi Xian replied, “…If you throw it in the water, that bad feeling will definitely come true.”
“What should we do then?”
Zhi Xian turned to Tong Xiaosong, holding the bug. “Take out the fire and burn it again.”
He Bing approached, puzzled. “Why burn it? Can we really force a bug to confess?”
Tong Xiaosong couldn’t help but chuckle, causing the fire to flicker.
“…Now that it’s in its lair and getting its ass burned by fire, it should run back,” Zhi Xian explained.
“What if it dives into the water?” He Bing questioned.
Just as the words fell, the bug began flapping its wings frantically in an attempt to escape. Zhi Xian released his grip, and the bug flew straight towards a wall, crashing into it and then crawling into a crevice.
Zhi Xian stepped forward. “Back off, both of you, and stay safe.”
Tong Xiaosong and He Bing quickly retreated more than two meters away.
Zhi Xian delivered a powerful kick to the wall, causing a loud thud that even shook the surrounding soil near the entrance.
He Bing stared at Zhi Xian in astonishment, exclaiming, “Is that strength even human?”
Tong Xiaosong remained silent.
Zhi Xian took a step back, gathered his strength, and delivered another kick.
Chunks of soil fell into the water from the wall, creating a constant splashing sound.
Before Zhi Xian could kick for the third time, a burst of black water suddenly spurted from the wall.
Reacting swiftly, Zhi Xian dodged and quickly retreated.
With a crashing sound, the wall collapsed under the force of the black water, revealing three swollen, pale bodies that had been submerged.
“Hun San! Xiao Wang… damn it… they were all with me when we went into the grave, how come it seems like they were eaten by something?” exclaimed He Bing.
Looking down, Tong Xiaosong saw that some flesh was missing from the pale, swollen bodies. The wounds were already rotten, but it was evident that the injuries were fragmented, as if they had been gnawed by something small.
“Insects…” Tong Xiaosong involuntarily uttered the first thought that came to his mind.
Oh oh oh .. this is so horrific. Author doing great job of all these ghosts you can meet if you walk the night path… I loved that sentence