Chapter 890: Chapter 644: Breaking the Situation_2
They had all been tricked. Now that the grave mistake had been made, it was too late for anything, including the request before their journey to open the coffin and release the Ancestor, sacrificing their own lives to save the world. It was all a lie; the Great Mages had calculated from the beginning that they would not act in such a way.
To be precise, no matter what they did, they could not escape death; opening the coffin early merely allowed them to die with more dignity. In a sense, the other party wasn’t entirely wrong.
It indeed was a certain-death situation, without any chance of survival.
By now, it was time to give up. Nalan Shuo also knew there was no hope left; death was merely a matter of how and when.
But not this time, because he was not alone; he came with Yang Xiao. He dragged Yang Xiao into this, and although he could accept his own death, Yang Xiao should not have been involved. It was his fault.
In the thick confines of the coffin, he couldn’t hear any noise from the outside. Perhaps that Evil Spirit was lurking right outside the coffin.
Ripping open his shirt, he pulled out some candles, and a piece of Life Burning Incense left burning down to a stub. He had dropped a Fire Starter earlier, but luckily, to be cautious, he brought two. He tried igniting the Life Incense with the Fire Starter three times, but without success, indicating that there were no ghosts nearby; the Evil Spirit must have left.
Without hesitation, Nalan Shuo flipped open the coffin lid and propped himself up by leaning on it; the thick fog around had cleared, and a sudden chill night breeze revived him, carrying a strong scent of blood.
Breaking a branch to use as a crutch, he hurried towards Fu Jue Temple, not far from there. He had taught Fang Zhou how to use the Juehu Ladder to escape the Evil Spirit, but he didn’t know whether the young man was fortunate enough to have survived.
After he stepped into the temple gate, his heart chilled instantly. The temple yard was in disarray; the ground in front of the temple doors stained with blood, and a ladder wide at the top and narrow at the bottom leaned against the eaves.
No bodies were visible, but that no longer mattered. If there was no one on the small temple roof, then the outcome was clear - after all, no one could outrun a ghost.
Fang Zhou and Lou Huixiang were both dead, and he was the only one left.
Without hesitation, Nalan Shuo turned around to leave; he had to rush back to Earl Mansion in Fushou Manor to do everything possible for Yang Xiao.
Leaning on his cane, Nalan Shuo tightened his lips and quickened his pace, following the same tracks back, "Yang Xiao, wait for me..."
...
In Fushou Manor, within the Earl Mansion, screams echoed one after another, and the fire blazed brightly.
Nalan Shuo would never have imagined that the Evil Spirit could move so fast. Yang Xiao, Chang Chuchu, and Jiang Qingluan hid behind a broken wall, watching everything in terror.
Yang Xiao was frantic. Now, the entire Earl Mansion was shrouded in a gray, stinking fog. Clearly, the Ancestor had returned, and this meant that the chances for Nalan Shuo and the others were slim. They had been tricked; the coffin did not contain the Divine Turtle Shell at all. Yang Xiao vaguely guessed that these deceptions were related to the calculations of the Feng Shui Lineage Magicians, but as before, it was now too late to say anything. The grave mistake had been made. The current plan was to find a way to survive and buy as much time as possible.
After all, the task had a time limit, and by the looks of it, it wouldn’t be long before the entire Earl Mansion, and perhaps even the larger Fushou Manor would be destroyed, and the task would end.
"We... we should run amidst the chaos, it’s too late if we don’t run now!" Chang Chuchu shivered, her face turning the color of an eggplant. There seemed to be a strange power within this mist, triggering the Corpse Poison in Chang Chuchu’s body.
Now, Chang Chuchu had turned into a ticking time bomb. If she died because of the Corpse Poison within the Ghost Mist domain of the Ancestor, it was highly possible that she would turn into a Chang Ghost, similar to those Ghost Substitutes. By then, the situation would go from bad to worse.
"Where are you running to? Can you even see the way clearly?" Yang Xiao snapped at her. At this time, the screams and cries outside had gradually ceased, but this was by no means a good sign—it meant that almost all the living within the mansion had died.
After the bloodline of the Earl Mansion was extinguished, it would be their turn. Yang Xiao cursed inwardly, the centuries-old evil ritual planned by Earl Mansion had failed, and this miserable end was self-inflicted.
Time ticked away, minute by minute, and soon there was movement outside the courtyard gate—a soft rustling sound, as if someone was moving forward, their feet not leaving the ground.
Shadows flickered in and out of the fog, their movements stiff. Even more terrifying, several figures were incomplete, some even headless.
"It’s... it’s them!" Chang Chuchu exclaimed in shock, her voice temporarily lost.
Behind her, Jiang Qingluan quickly covered her mouth, her gaze fixed intently towards the courtyard gate. At this moment, several shadows were drawing nearer; among them, Yang Xiao recognized two bodies—one was Lou Huixiang, and the other...was Fang Zhou!
At this moment, both were hollow-eyed, their bodies filled with a sinister ghostly aura; it was clear they were no longer living, but had become Chang Ghosts.
Yang Xiao’s eyes reddened; indeed, something had happened to Nalan Shuo, but he strained his eyesight and still couldn’t find Nalan Shuo’s body.
"What do we do? What do we do now?" Chang Chuchu’s condition was visibly deteriorating, blood oozing from the corners of her eyes and nostrils. Her eyes were glazed with a deathly pallor. She was still human, for now... but not for much longer.
In this critical moment, Yang Xiao suddenly noticed something odd. The gray fog drifted inside the courtyard, but there was one spot where the fog was very thin, as if being repelled by some force.
It was the well inside the courtyard!
Despite being suppressed, there was indeed a ghost inside, and the current scene confirmed this.
There was no time left, they had to take a chance—the old well harboring the Drowned Ghost might be their only chance.
But the problem now was, it’s confirmed the well harbored a ghost. Standing beside the well would be okay, but anyone daring to climb inside would be seeking death.
However, Yang Xiao already had an idea; he gestured for the two behind him to follow, and they quickly reached the well. At that moment, Fang Zhou and Lou Huixiang shakily approached the courtyard gate, Lou Huixiang’s head dangling in front of his chest, swinging slightly, his eyes filled with resentment fixed on the trio.
"What are we doing here?" Chang Chuchu appeared not to realize her own transformation, still puzzled as she leaned over to look into the well, her expression tense and panic-stricken.
Yang Xiao slowly backed away and, seizing the moment Chang Chuchu was off guard, pushed her into the well. However, Chang Chuchu reacted quickly, managing to brace herself on the well’s edge. The next second, Yang Xiao picked up an angular rock from beside the well and smashed it hard against the back of Chang Chuchu’s head.
After a moment of shock, Jiang Qingluan rushed forward to help, one striking the head, the other forcing the feet, together they threw Chang Chuchu into the well.
Following a "plop" sound as the body dropped into the well, the next second, the well water suddenly boiled, churning up countless muddy bubbles—the thing buried in the silt below had come out—it was the ghost in the well!
Severely injured, Chang Chuchu barely struggled as the bloated corpse emerged from the water’s surface and dragged her to the bottom of the well, while at that moment, Yang Xiao grabbed the aged well rope, wrapping his legs around it as he climbed down.
Without needing communication, Jiang Qingluan leapt to follow him, just as Fang Zhou and Lou Huixiang, with other Chang Ghosts, pressed closer.
