Chapter 815: Chapter 506: Entering the Land of the Dead Soul (Part 2)
It was a strange ritual requiring the shaman to light a fire and incense, smear mud on his face, and then crazily dance around the fire to obtain divination information.
"Damn... Do I really need to dance for divination? And it’s such a bizarre dance... If I’d known, I’d have chosen Temple Lord instead!"
Wang Zhifan felt duped for a moment; he never thought that choosing the shaman role would mean he really had to do this. It completely challenged his personal aesthetic understanding.
But since he chose it, he had no choice but to accept reality and prepare to act, planning to perform the dance while no one was around to first understand the nearby area’s ghost information.
However, the ritual dance had a requirement he couldn’t satisfy at the moment: lighting incense.
He could start a fire and easily find mud to smear on his face, but he didn’t have incense in his portable space.
Looking around, while pondering whether to use twigs and dry grass as substitutes, he noticed something stuck in front of a few dilapidated tomb markers among the weeds. Upon closer inspection, they were indeed incense sticks that had been extinguished before burning fully.
"Just when you need something, there it is... But this incense seems hard to take. The tomb’s owner surely won’t be happy if I do."
Standing in front of the tomb, Wang Zhifan relied on his extraordinary sensory ability to confirm that evil entities were inside the tombs, every single one of them.
They were currently dormant for unknown reasons, but once provoked, peace would be shattered.
The strength of these entities was unclear; perhaps not too tricky, but he had to consider chain reactions.
This area didn’t only house entities within a few tombs; there were also more sinister presences felt in the nearby dense forest and in the distant dark mountains. Reckless actions might lose the region’s tranquility.
"This starting point, according to the instance prompt information, should be a safe zone, at least for now...
If I act recklessly, this safe zone could instantly become a danger zone...
Forget it, just arrived, I’ll lay low, figure out the basic environment before stirring things up."
After some thought, Wang Zhifan decided to play it safe; it wasn’t fear holding him back, just that creating a fuss so soon in the instance was too rash, not his style.
So he decisively abandoned the idea of performing the ritual on the spot, refraining from taking the tomb incense, and turned towards the direction of the dark mountains on the wasteland.
Looking far ahead, no matter which direction he walked, the dark mountains loomed, like a haunted area encompassed by a patch of cursed land.
With heightened caution, his steps dried the ground beneath his feet, soon passing by the nearby dense forest, slowly halting his steps.
The forest was emitting a mournful woman’s cry, extremely creepy yet strangely alluring, tempting those nearby to enter.
Due to personal attributes exceeding norms and possessing titles such as ’Dominion’ that confer immunity to control, Wang Zhifan wasn’t swayed by the woman’s singing.
He stopped of his own volition, realizing there was something more than evil presence in the forest.
"Help... Help me..."
He faintly heard another subtle voice mingled with the cries, faint but hard for someone with his acute hearing to ignore, definitely not an illusion.
"Someone’s calling for help inside the forest... Seems to be human, no trace of evil on them."
Encountering such situations, anyone’s first thought would be suspicion, thinking it’s a trick played by the forest’s evil presence to lure someone.
But Wang Zhifan’s perceptive capacity surpassed ordinary comprehension, allowing him to directly identify many subtleties, making more precise judgments.
Without much hesitation, he turned towards the forest, gripping the legendary Cyan Emperor Saber in hand, taking steady strides.
This decision wasn’t out of sudden kindness, but clearly, there might be native inhabitants, or NPCs, within the forest, and he couldn’t pass up the chance to interact with them.
Within seconds, as he closed in on the forest, the mournful cry from within grew clearer, the plea for help slightly louder.
Entering the forest, the light dimmed sharply, the two sounds intertwined, creating a chilling experience, as if stepping into a realm of spectral women.
Wang Zhifan knew for sure there were spectral women within, but they hadn’t shown much hostility yet, remaining in the forest’s depth singing and weeping alone, and not bothering the visitor, otherwise there’d be no living soul here.
Guided by the plea for help, Wang Zhifan soon navigated the forest’s outskirts until stopping before a large tree, looking up at its trunk.
A boy of about ten in rough blue clothes was suspended mid-air, strangled by branches wrapped around his neck and shoulders, faintly calling for help.
Anyone else stumbling across this scene might think they found someone hanging themselves, completely terrified.
But Wang Zhifan already knew the boy was alive, thus maintaining a calm expression.
With a flick of his hand releasing invisible saber energy, the roughly dressed boy toppled to the ground, quickly caught by Wang Zhifan and placed down.
"Kid, how’d you end up hanging up there?"
Having rescued him, despite nearby ghosts’ presence, Wang Zhifan couldn’t help but inquire.
"Thank you for saving me! I’ll tell you once we get out!"
The boy in rough blue clothes thanked profusely, simultaneously stripping branches and leaves from his neck, before sprinting towards the forest’s edge.
Seeing this, Wang Zhifan followed, confirming the boy traced straight out of the forest, stopping twenty meters outside.
"Phew... Finally outside! Thank you for saving my life earlier!"
Once outside, the boy faced Wang Zhifan, breathing heavily, a childish face expressing survival relief.
"No need for thanks, how’d you get hung up?"
Knowing children often think tangentially, Wang Zhifan asked again.
This time, the boy promptly explained,
"I was chased by a ghost into the forest in my dream, then hung up by it!
Luckily, I had grandma’s Protective Talisman on me; the ghost could only imprison, not kill me...
Oh no, my Protective Talisman broke!"
While speaking, the boy pulled out a Bodhisattva Jade Pendant, which broke in half with a vertical crack, its pristine green hue turning slightly black.
"In your dream?"
Wang Zhifan felt puzzled, not grasping the child’s reference.
Apparently, some logical inconsistency was present, perhaps due to the child’s conversational imprecision.
"In my dream! Judging by your appearance, you’re new here, right? Let me show you our village, I’ll explain on the way..."
The roughly dressed boy said, quickly leading the way towards the distant dark mountains.
Realizing the potential NPC guidance to a crucial location, Wang Zhifan followed unhesitant.
En-route, the boy shared various insights, helping Wang Zhifan deepen his understanding of the instance world.
For example, the boy’s dream hanging described being unknowingly targeted by a ghost while asleep, attacked within his dream, chased into the forest’s dreamscape, then hung in reality; fortunately, his grandmother’s left Protective Talisman prevented his death.
They headed towards a place called Xiaohe Village, the only nearby human-inhabited settlement, generally safer and selling many items to withstand ghosts—a must-visit oasis for those arriving in this realm.
