Chapter 3: Thicket Village (Part 3)

“It’s the Six-Armed Bodhisattva Statue,” the white T-shirt guy, that is, Li Yulin, suddenly said.

Yun Xueqing took a step back and looked at Li Yulin, only to see a wrinkled old face suddenly emerge from the shadows behind him.

He frowned and subtly touched his sleeve. Then, an old man walked out from the shadows.

The old man wore gray monk robes, had no hair and no beard, but his white eyebrows were astonishingly long, nearly dragging on the ground.

His face was covered in wrinkles and age spots, and his narrow eyes were squeezed almost shut by the folds. “Tourists? This temple doesn’t provide lodging. Please head down the mountain quickly.”

Li Yulin couldn’t hide his surprise. “You’re letting us leave?”

This was a Weird Domain. The temple reeked of eeriness everywhere—it looked like a place that would devour people.

Yet this old monk wasn’t trying to keep them to eat them; instead, he was chasing them away?

Could he have been wrong? Maybe this place wasn’t dangerous at all and was actually a temporary safe house that could save their lives?

Before Li Yulin could figure it out, Yun Xueqing replied briskly and decisively, “We’ll head down the mountain right away.”

Li Yulin: “!”

He wanted to argue a bit more with the old monk, but Yun Xueqing had already walked out of the temple to the stone steps and started descending cleanly and efficiently.

Li Yulin: “…”

The temple’s old monk had issued an eviction order, and his companion had bolted. No matter how strong Li Yulin’s mentality was, he couldn’t force himself to stay in this profoundly eerie temple alone. He hurriedly jogged after Yun Xueqing.

As he trotted along, panting, he asked, “We’re… just leaving like this?”

Yun Xueqing stepped down the mountain stone steps, his expression unchanged. “I saw a small village below the temple. Most of our separated teammates are probably there.”

“A village?” Li Yulin craned his neck, half-believing. “How come I didn’t see it?”

“My eyesight is good.”

“…”

After a brief silence, Li Yulin kept his head down and walked. But after a while, the mountain path showed no sign of ending. He started complaining, “I regret it now. I shouldn’t have left that temple. The sky’s about to get dark, and if we can’t make it down, who knows what disgusting thing might pop out…”

Yun Xueqing listened to his complaints all the way, then suddenly asked, “You’re an Oracle, right? Don’t you have any abilities to deal with Weirds?”

Li Yulin’s face fell instantly, his expression miserable. “Yeah, but in a Weird Domain, an Oracle’s Spirit Energy gets weakened by more than half, and many Oracle techniques can’t be used. I’m already weak to begin with, and with this debuff stacked on, I’m probably not even as good as you.”

He suddenly grew vigilant. “Right, you’re responsible for the sacrifice duty, so don’t ditch me. You have to protect me.”

Yun Xueqing, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped. Li Yulin thought he was angry and was about to soften his stance when he heard the other say, “We’ve walked this path three times already.”

“Huh?” Li Yulin didn’t doubt him. “You mean we’ve run into a Ghost Wall?”

Yun Xueqing thought it over with his own understanding. “It should be a Formation.”

“Cut the mystical crap. We’ve just hit a Ghost Wall!” Terrified, Li Yulin scurried over to Yun Xueqing, staying less than half a meter away, which finally eased him a bit.

He muttered uncomfortably, “Some Oracles I knew before ran into Ghost Walls too. I thought they were so unlucky. I never imagined I’d hit one following you.”

Yun Xueqing still believed it was a Formation, but as a Sword Cultivator, he didn’t understand Formations. He could only ask patiently, “Did they say how to break it?”

“No,” Li Yulin shook his head. “That kind of valuable info costs extra. They wouldn’t tell me for free.”

“But it’s daytime now, so the Weirds’ yin energy is a bit lighter. The Ghost Wall should be easier to escape,” Li Yulin irritably scratched his head. “I just have no clue how!”

Yun Xueqing suddenly said, “I have a plan.”

“What could you possibly…” have.

Before Li Yulin finished speaking, Yun Xueqing lightly tapped his toe.

The person who had been standing beside him suddenly soared up like a graceful kite, ascending spiraling into the sky.

He glided like a startled swan, his wide robes billowing in the wind. Like a celestial immortal descending from heaven, his elegant and carefree back vanished from sight in an instant.

Li Yulin was utterly shocked. “Holy shit, fucking Lightness Skill!”

It was the end of the world, but Li Yulin was still a modern guy at heart. He’d never seen anyone ride the wind like that. His mouth gaped open in shock, and he stood frozen in place for a long time.

After more than ten minutes, he snapped out of it from that physics-defying move and broke down. “Holy shit, sacrifice, you actually fucking flew out! You’re just ditching me like this?!”

His voice echoed around the mountain peaks, lingering endlessly.

“I didn’t leave.”

A voice suddenly sounded behind Li Yulin. His hairs stood on end, and he stiffly turned his head.

Yun Xueqing descended from behind him, landing lightly beside him like a white crane touching down.

Li Yulin swallowed a calming pill, patting his chest. “Good thing you’re a stand-up guy and didn’t abandon me.”

He reacted a beat late. “How’d you end up behind me just now?”

That direction had been the way up the mountain, right?

Yun Xueqing shook his head without speaking and tapped his toe again, flying toward the downhill path.

Li Yulin: “…” Off he went again.

He waited in place for another ten-plus minutes before Yun Xueqing’s voice came from behind again. “As expected.”

Li Yulin was baffled. “Expected what?”

“We’re heading downward on the surface, but actually circling. No matter what, we loop back to the start.”

This was a common Ghost Wall trick, so Li Yulin wasn’t surprised. “The Weird must be blocking the right path and luring us onto the wrong one, making us go in circles.”

“Exactly,” Yun Xueqing tugged his lips. “It wants to trap us here, but what if we don’t take the path It designates for us?”

Li Yulin said woodenly, “Then… what do we do?”

The other didn’t answer. He pulled a white silk ribbon from his sleeve and swiftly tied it over his eyes. “Of course, we go down the mountain.”

Eyes could deceive, but ignoring them solved that.

He pointed at the only downhill path. “That’s another of Its deceptions.”

He turned and walked toward the uphill direction.

“You’re… you’re taking the uphill path?” Li Yulin stared dumbfounded. “You’re totally flipping the script!”

What a reversal!

But damn, it actually made some sense!

If downhill was wrong, then trying the uphill path they hadn’t taken worked!

Seeing Yun Xueqing walk faster and faster, Li Yulin feared he’d bust out Lightness Skill again and really fly off for good. “Wait for me! Wait up!”

“You’re not gonna leave me behind, right? Make me climb up alone? Uphill’s such a slog!”

Yun Xueqing turned. Though his eyes were covered by the ribbon, Li Yulin still felt a faint gaze on him.

Remembering his earlier words and actions, a twinge of guilt rose in his heart. But after two years scraping by in the apocalypse, he was flexible.

“Boss, I was wrong! I admit my barking was too loud earlier! I must be nuts—should’ve slapped myself twice at midnight!”

Li Yulin knelt and slid fast as always. His brain spun excuses while his mouth spilled them. “Good brother, don’t hold it against this idiot. Take me along… no, take your little bro! Fly with your little bro!”

Yun Xueqing’s lips curved. He extended a hand.

Li Yulin grabbed his arm desperately, clutching the wide sleeve tight.

The white robe that had seemed cumbersome and weird before now looked so friendly and practical to Li Yulin.

He hurriedly lavished praise. “Boss, with your immortal vibe, this outfit on you is straight-up ethereal. Too handsome!”

Yun Xueqing ignored his nonsense and gripped his shoulder. “Hold on tight.”

Before Li Yulin could react, his feet left the ground, and a strong sense of weightlessness hit.

“Holy shit, save me! AHHHHH!”

After flying an unknown distance, with Li Yulin’s three souls missing two, Yun Xueqing finally landed.

Luckily, they touched down right at the village entrance.

The moment they landed, Li Yulin looked green, hugged a tree, and puked his guts out. Between heaves, he said, “I… get motion sick!”

After puking for a while, his color hadn’t improved much, but he forced himself to look around. “Boss, did we really make it out?”

This absurd way of going downhill actually worked?

Yun Xueqing untied the silk ribbon from his eyes, folded it neatly, and tucked it into his sleeve. “I flew straight while sensing that Weird’s yin energy. Only here did it vanish.”

Li Yulin: “…”

So he’d flown so far they’d escaped the Weird’s Ghost Wall range.

Feeling inexplicably reassured, Li Yulin asked, “No Weird aura here? Is it safe?”

“No,” Yun Xueqing shattered his illusion. “The village has even stronger yin energy. The Weird on the mountain doesn’t dare approach.”

Li Yulin: “…Then do we still go in?”

Yun Xueqing didn’t answer. Instead, he walked to the village entrance.

The entrance had a makeshift gate of wood and thatch. Beside it stood a stone stele with “Thicket Village” scrawled in what looked like red paint or something else.

Beyond that, two burly men guarded the gate.

The two men wore earthy yellow vests, bald heads gleaming, faces sallow and gray, expressions fierce and villainous. Each held a rusty bone knife in each hand, looking unfriendly.

From the moment Yun Xueqing and Li Yulin appeared at the gate, the men’s gazes hadn’t left them.

Li Yulin felt uneasy, his mind urging retreat. He was about to persuade Yun Xueqing to leave when he sensed a breeze beside him.

Yun Xueqing stepped forward confidently. “We want to enter the village.”

The big men stirred at his words, their murky eyes moving mechanically like wooden carvings. “Outsiders wanting in must pay the village entry fee.”

Seeing the men didn’t charge with knives, Li Yulin swallowed and walked up, hesitant. “How much?”

The two big men simultaneously squinted, baring shark-like jagged teeth as if mocking his naivety.

“We don’t want money.”

One big man didn’t hide the malice and greed in his eyes. He hefted his bone knife.

“Two jin of human flesh per person, and we’ll let you in.”