Chapter 486: Chapter 450: Lakebed
Among the four, Qin Ze was the weakest, but he could move freely in the water, something Sang Que and the others could not do.
Xia Chan had already reached the fifth layer, her strange hair had many magical uses. Her simple-mindedness made it difficult for her to handle various unexpected situations, so staying by Qin Ze’s side as a bodyguard was most suitable.
Neither Qin Ze nor Xia Chan had any objections to this, while Sang Que looked at Hua Qianmian, feeling somewhat worried about the dangers of entering the Fish Woman Village in the Hidden Realm.
Sang Que also considered Hua Qianmian’s safety, taking out the Substitute Death Grassman and White Porcelain Doll given by the Ghost Vendor. The Substitute Death Grassman was shared with Qin Ze and Xia Chan, while the White Porcelain Doll could resist the power of a Sixth-level Ghost, originally prepared for Hua Qianmian.
Sang Que herself still had the ability of Recovery, allowing her to die once, with the restart time reduced to three hours.
If the two of them didn’t separate at the bottom of the lake, they could escape to the modern world if something happened. But if they were separated due to some irresistible force, she could ensure her own safety, leaving Hua Qianmian in danger.
Upon seeing the White Porcelain Doll and hearing Sang Que’s explanation of its effect, Hua Qianmian felt relieved, "I knew following you wouldn’t be wrong!"
Hua Qianmian, having agreed to come with Sang Que, was already prepared for adventure. She was just calculating how many of her stored facial skins and identities could be used to substitute death.
Sang Que also took out the medicine given by Qiao Ling, distributing it to the others, and left two boxes of various grenades brought from the modern world for Qin Ze, along with a gun.
Qin Ze had already familiarized himself with these things at Bright Moon Mountain and knew how to use them, so Sang Que didn’t need to explain further.
After distributing the items, Sang Que familiarized the group with the map; Qin Ze and Xia Chan also needed to get acquainted with it just in case.
The Ghost Vendor described the Fish Woman Village’s perimeter as spindle-shaped, or eye-shaped, with the central area being the eyeball, and only a single spiral path leading inward, making it easy to enter but hard to exit. The Ghost Vendor had only circled the village’s perimeter initially.
The two doors Sang Que had previously seen were located underground at the very center of the Fish Woman Village. She didn’t know how the original group from the Evil Suppression Bureau managed to build the Impermanent Bureau here.
Had they completely eliminated the Fish Woman, and where was the Qingjiang Envoy once worshipped by the local people?
After nightfall, the group took turns resting and keeping watch.
Sang Que kept her gaze fixed in the direction of the lake. Previously, once night fell, the villagers controlled by the Fish Woman would come out of the lake to live normally in the village.
At that moment, the lake’s color deepened with the fall of night, and the night wind stirred up ripples, but there was no other movement.
Sang Que speculated that the Impermanent Bureau likely relocated here after their last investigation. The area had become peculiar due to the Fish Woman’s special presence, not even the Death Domain of Qinzhou affected it, making it an ideal hiding place.
The Yin Child was created by the Impermanent Bureau, indicating that they often conducted such experiments. It was unsafe whether in Shengjing City or somewhere in Jingzhou.
Moreover, since Qinzhou became the Death Domain, ghosts roamed freely, making catching ghosts in Qinzhou easier than elsewhere. Even if unexpected events occurred, it wouldn’t matter.
The corpse Sang Que fished out of the river, with the word Impermanent imprinted on its chest, was surely manufactured or discarded by the Impermanent Bureau.
Early the next morning, Xia Chan tugged on Sang Que’s sleeve, reminding her, "Sister, come out early, Little Chan will always wait for you here!"
As she spoke, a strand of Xia Chan’s hair wrapped around Sang Que’s wrist.
Hua Qianmian chimed in jealously, "Isn’t Little Chan waiting for me too?"
Xia Chan pouted, reluctantly dividing a strand of hair for Hua Qianmian as well.
Sang Que patted Xia Chan’s hand without speaking, nodded to Hua Qianmian, and headed towards the lake.
Hua Qianmian quickly caught up, "You haven’t told me who we are disguising as this time?"
Sang Que didn’t turn her head, "The old trick, disguise as Zuo Jinye, and get the Impermanent Bureau’s doors open first, those two doors are hard to deal with."
"You have quite the nerve!"
A sudden change in the voice behind her stopped Sang Que in her tracks, turning to see Zuo Jinye standing there with a cold expression, glaring at her. For a moment, Sang Que felt a strong oppressive force wash over her like a storm, making her body stiffen.
The most critical was that even her clothes had changed.
"That’s quite convenient of you."
"Who are you going to transform into? He Buning?" Hua Qianmian asked with Zuo Jinye’s face.
Sang Que continued forward, "No need, He Buning has no idea where the Impermanent Bureau is, meaning Zuo Jinye never told him. Transforming into He Buning would backfire, I’m fine as I am."
Today, Sang Que wore an old Daoist robe borrowed from Yao Zhen, her hair pinned up with a wooden hairpin. She carried scrolls in bamboo tubes and the Hundred Blade disguised as a sword sheath, with a mole affixed to her face, appearing as an ordinary female Taoist whose appearance was unrecognizable.
Hua Qianmian understood, recognizing that Sang Que intended to pose as a new recruit brought by Zuo Jinye to the Impermanent Bureau.
Reaching the lake’s edge, Sang Que instructed Hua Qianmian to step back, raised her right hand in the air, and as the trigram was activated, the air before Sang Que gradually twisted, with threads of white mist seeping from the distortion. The willow leaves flying by the river vanished without a trace upon touching the mist.
Sang Que checked the time on her pocket watch; upon entering the Hidden Realm, exposure in the mist shouldn’t exceed fifteen minutes. She should now withstand a longer duration, but adhering to fifteen minutes was prudent, leaving herself some margin.
"Let’s go."
The two entered the Hidden Realm one behind the other, vanishing at the lakeside. In the distant fishing village, Xia Chan stood on a wall, craning her neck to look out, taking occasional bites of the sausage in her hand.
...
In the Hidden Realm, mist shrouded everything, with paper ash-like substances floating in the sky as usual.
The once emerald-green lake water had disappeared, replaced by a deep pit filled with skeletons. Sang Que and Hua Qianmian stood at the lake’s edge, faintly able to see the architectural complex hidden beneath the mist.
"You lead, I’ll cover from behind, be careful," Sang Que instructed Hua Qianmian.
Hua Qianmian nodded, took a deep breath, straightened her back, with one hand placed behind, fully embodying Zuo Jinye’s role.
Among the lake’s skeletons was a man-made cleared path, indicating regular passage by someone.
As they ventured deeper under the lake, they encountered bodies with flesh not completely decomposed, bearing marks of ghostly attacks, their deaths gruesome.
Perhaps due to ghostly injuries, death aura clung to the bodies, slowing the disappearance of their flesh in the mist. Prison uniforms and the word ’Impermanent’ imprinted on chests could still be seen on them.
Hua Qianmian remained expressionless, while Sang Que frowned slightly. The multitude of skeletons around them suggested a mass grave, but whether the victims were heinous criminals or innocent civilians remained unknown.
As they descended further, Sang Que suddenly heard some faint sounds, stopping to investigate and finding all the corpses around had unknowingly raised their decaying heads, glaring at them with blood-red eyes.
