Chapter 1178: Chapter 793: Sorry to Keep You Waiting, I’m Back
"He may not directly hand us over to the Dharma Sect; I guess the probability of handing us to the Blood Sect where the Yin Temple High Priest resides is higher. But it doesn’t matter; after all, the final result will be the same."
The interaction over time had made Yang Xiao lower his guard against the Esoteric Sect. Now, calming down and reflecting, he realized Professor Cui’s concerns were valid. The Dharma Sect consisted of lawless people, and the Esoteric Sect, able to rival them, was surely no group of good people either.
After thinking for a moment, Yang Xiao shook his head. "But now, we cannot bypass the Esoteric Sect to send messages back home. If they find out, it will only bring disaster upon ourselves."
In response, Professor Cui was very candid, nodding his head. "That’s natural. I’m saying this just to make you wary. You are not alone now; we are all behind you."
"No matter what happens in the Nightmare World, remember, our lives are tied together, and everyone is waiting for your return."
"The way you put it, it only adds to my pressure." Yang Xiao took a deep breath, adjusting his emotions.
"Besides, Dean Sheng is an old hand in the world of martial arts. Whether in insight or hard strength, he is one of the top elites in the country. When dealing with him, be more vigilant." Professor Cui saw things clearly.
"Don’t worry, I know my limits."
In the evening, Yang Xiao and the others received an invitation to a banquet. The Cannibal Buddha sat at the head, Sutana accompanying him, and there were dancing girls performing, providing a joyful atmosphere for both guests and hosts.
Both Professor Cui and Sheng Yanlin were veterans in the world of martial arts, exchanging polite words flawlessly.
Looking at the harmonious scene before him, and recalling Professor Cui’s words from the afternoon, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but feel a bit dazed.
After drinking a little, Yang Xiao took his leave. To him, the Cannibal Buddha was still very lenient, even assigning someone to escort Yang Xiao back.
Yang Xiao could sense that the Cannibal Buddha held a certain gratitude towards him.
Upon returning to his room, two girls had already dressed themselves up, half-kneeling by the bathtub. Seeing Yang Xiao enter, they both looked up at him.
At this moment, the bathtub was filled with hot water, steam wafting off the surface, with a screen shielding one side.
"You both leave first. If I don’t call for you, don’t come in." Dismissing the girls, Yang Xiao took out the Soul-Capturing Mirror and instantly entered the Mirror World.
He took a deep breath, the smell of decay hovering in his nostrils, yet it was precisely this scent that inexplicably brought him peace.
This was the Mirror World, also a world belonging solely to him.
As he entered the secret chamber and pushed open the door, the scene before him caused Yang Xiao’s brows to furrow. The Mirror Ghost was lying in Sutana’s iron cage, hands flat at its sides, legs straight and together, staring blankly at the ceiling, just as Sutana used to look.
In that moment, an inexplicable emotion stirred in Yang Xiao. He instinctively thought that the Mirror Ghost under his control should be an emotionless tool, yet he distinctly sensed a different emotion emanating from the Mirror Ghost.
Summoning the Mirror Ghost, Yang Xiao checked the armor once more, along with the wooden wedge embedded in the Mirror Ghost’s chest, confirming there were no issues. Then he proceeded to use several magic artifacts from his person to tentatively attack the Mirror Ghost. The armor’s defense was exaggerated, but it wasn’t immune to attacks from spiritual magical artifacts.
After some probing, Yang Xiao gained a clearer understanding of the Mirror Ghost’s capabilities. Next time, encountering a master of the Pingzong Building Master’s level, even if the Mirror Ghost couldn’t win, it could outlast him in a one-on-one fight.
With a thought, Yang Xiao returned to his room, but before he could steady himself, he instinctively pulled out the Human Bone Staff. It was a completely reflexive reaction, as he vaguely sensed an unfamiliar presence.
Yet after careful sensing, the presence disappeared again. Yang Xiao wasn’t sure, but since this was the Esoteric Sect’s territory, even if someone came to spy, it likely wouldn’t be to his detriment.
Calmly putting away the magic artifacts, Yang Xiao exhaled a long breath, removed his clothes, and walked towards the murky medicinal bath. Recently, there had been too many incidents and too much tension; he planned to take a bath to relax a bit, as prolonged mental tension wasn’t good.
He had no interest in being served without clothes, so he didn’t call the girls outside in. As for the potential master sent by the Esoteric Sect nearby to spy, if they wanted to watch him bathe, they could watch. Yang Xiao didn’t mind being watched.
The moment his body came in contact with the slightly hot medicinal bath, waves of comfort spread through him. Yang Xiao sank his body down bit by bit, dispelling all accumulated fatigue in this moment.
He closed his eyes, a mysterious smile appearing on his face, but the next second, feeling a sudden cold touch on his buttocks, all the bliss disappeared.
Yang Xiao practically leaped out of the bathtub as if escaping, and after calming down for a few seconds, he slowly reached a hand into the murky bathwater, where he felt a square box with corners at the bottom.
Yang Xiao: "..."
Yang Xiao’s expression was oddly wonderful. He had already guessed what it was—it was the Ghost Script sent to him.
He also knew that he should be receiving a Ghost Script around this time, and he accepted this fact. But each time a Ghost Script appeared, it always caught him off guard.
Oh, this time wasn’t too excessive. Two years ago, when he cut his birthday cake, a Ghost Script came out from inside.
Yang Xiao reached out and fished out the script box. Strangely, despite soaking in water for so long, the box wasn’t waterlogged at all; it was still dry after being taken out.
The box’s surface had a peculiar gray-black color, and running a palm over the surface was incredibly rough, just like touching an old, wooden coffin.
On the lower part of the box was a string of crimson characters, written stiffly, as if the writer’s wrist couldn’t bend. Yang Xiao recognized them as Myanmar-Tai language at a glance, but he couldn’t translate them.
At first glance, the box’s background seemed to be a murky gray image, but as Yang Xiao held his breath to look closer, he realized it was a fog, and beyond the mist, he could vaguely see the outlines of several buildings.
They were some low, dilapidated thatched huts, seemingly with wooden fences and tall, thin watchtowers, filled with strange exotic vibes, and it seemed something was stirring behind the mist.
Upon opening the box, there was only a dirty lump of cloth inside. Once unfolded, the back of the cloth was filled with complex characters resembling scriptures. These characters were quite similar to Myanmar-Tai script but appeared much more ancient.
These contained crucial information, so Yang Xiao immediately retrieved his backpack, took out a pen and paper, and began to quickly copy it down stroke by stroke.
It didn’t matter if he couldn’t understand it. Once copied, he could show it to the people of the Esoteric Sect, and they would definitely be able to translate it.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle—"
The only sound in the room was the pen’s nib scratching against the paper. The content was a bit much, so he could only try to quickly jot down the main points. Yang Xiao was racing against time, and the thing he was worried about quickly found its way to him.
He vaguely heard the sound of clinking and clanking, the friction of metal chains, becoming clearer and closer.
Several times, Yang Xiao stopped writing, trying to determine the source of the sound, but failed each time. Whenever he looked up to search, the sound mysteriously vanished, and when it reappeared, it was closer than before.
Currently, the Ghost still couldn’t hurt him, so Yang Xiao resolutely continued to write furiously. The last time he wrote this fast was during an exam in college when he was cheating.
Soon, the sound was right beside Yang Xiao, too close for him to ignore.
But this time, no matter what Yang Xiao did, the sound didn’t get closer. Judging by the last sound, that thing was not more than 3 meters away from him.
A truly terrifying distance, for a Ghost, it only took a leap to pounce on him.
Scanning around, seeing nothing unusual, Yang Xiao exhibited exceptionally strong psychological resilience; he knew what needed to be done.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to lower his head, gritting his teeth and continuing to jot down notes. Yet, in that moment of bowing his head, his peripheral vision inadvertently caught sight of an alarm clock on the desk corner.
In this instant, Yang Xiao’s heartbeat slowed by half a beat, and his eye corners twitched uncontrollably.
Outside the clock was a circle of gleaming copper casing. At this moment, using the reflection, Yang Xiao saw a distorted silhouette standing behind the screen beside him.
