Chapter 16: Uncharted Territory
Zhang Yuanqing returned to the main hall, bathing in candlelight and purifying himself as he calmed the throbbing pain brought on by the triggering of his recurring ailment. According to his calculations, if he'd stayed outside any longer, the vengeful spirit would latch onto him within a minute or two. It was definitely not the right moment to enter the eastern courtyard and confront the jiangshi.
After resting for four or five minutes, though, his physical condition only grew worse. His headache did not go away, and it was accompanied by a mild dizziness, symptoms which told him the corpse venom was gradually corroding his body. The candlelight in the main hall seemed unable to purify the toxin within his body.
I can't delay any longer, he thought.
He needed to use the thirty minutes in which the Red Dancing Shoes were in his possession to take a quick and decisive fight and clear the dungeon in one go.
Zhang Yuanqing left the main hall, following the cobblestone path through the wild grass until he was just outside the eastern courtyard. Standing amid the wild waves of weeds, he opened his Inventory and summoned the Red Dancing Shoes.
Two streams of dark red light danced nimbly through the night, transforming into a pair of brand new dancing shoes.
Choose the second form! Zhang Yuanqing silently commanded.
The Red Dancing Shoes dissolved once again into streaks of dark red light, sweeping out in two arcs that wrapped themselves around his feet. In an instant, his running shoes transformed into a pair of oversized red dancing shoes.
Zhang Yuanqing looked down at his feet uncomfortably, feeling rather strange. This... this is basically cross dressing in disguise. At least they're red dancing shoes, not high heels.
He forced himself to ignore this detail, then took out the Corpse Suppression Talisman and gripped it in his hand. He passed through the archway and entered the eastern courtyard once more.
The eastern courtyard lay peacefully under the bright moonlight, awash with the soft rustling of the banyan tree's leaves and blanketed in undulating waves of wild grass. Two large buildings stood quietly in the middle. Everything seemed so tranquil.
He carefully surveyed the area but saw no trace of the jiangshi. He cautiously crossed the courtyard toward the large building that was divided into four rooms.
The door to the coffin room had been utterly smashed. He didn't need to enter the room, instead peering inside from beyond the threshold. Moonlight streamed through gaps in the roof tiles, illuminating the corpses, coffins, overturned lids, and the gleaming bronze awl. Everything seemed exactly in place.
The room contained no sign of the jiangshi.
Could it have returned to its coffin? he wondered. From his angle, he couldn't see inside the coffin.
Just as he hesitated, he suddenly noticed the moonlight seemed to dim. A black shadow descended from above, enveloping him. The night wind drifted past, carrying a thick stench of decay and a low, guttural growl.
It was hiding in the trees! Zhang Yuanqing cursed inwardly, his heart contracting sharply in fear as he instinctively thought to dodge.
The next moment, the Red Dancing Shoes on his feet glowed with dark red light. Zhang Yuanqing suddenly found himself slipping. Before he could even react, he slid forward in a tackle that carved a trail through the wild grass.
Bang!
The jiangshi, wrapped in tattered clothing, flew through empty air.
I dodged it...! marveled Zhang Yuanqing as he scrambled to his feet, feeling overjoyed as his heart settled back into his chest. The Red Dancing Shoes truly were magical. Their evasion ability had exceeded his expectations. He never could have avoided the jiangshi's pounce if he'd been relying on his own reflexes.
His confidence soared.
"Graaah..."
The jiangshi, with hair like withered grass, released an ear-splitting roar. The savagery in its bulging eyes grew even more wild as it flexed its knees and pounced at its prey again.
It moved as quickly as a racing car at top speed.
By the time the reek of the terrifying creature filled his nose, it was already upon him. Zhang Yuanqing's feet moved on their own, spinning him around like a ballet dancer as his body carved a smooth semicircle through the air, avoiding the sharp claws of the jiangshi while dodging behind it.
Then, he "naturally" performed a full split, his body suddenly collapsing to the ground as two arms swept past his head, moving so quickly that he could feel the wake they generated.
Zhang Yuanqing's face contorted in pain. Ow, that hit me right in the balls...!
He desperately wanted to clutch his groin and scream, but the Red Dancing Shoes had already manipulated his legs to spring him upward.
He leaped high, both feet slamming hard into the jiangshi's chest.
His blow landed with a muffled thud, scattering a puff of fine dust from the jiangshi's tattered, ragged clothing. It released an angry, indignant roar as the tremendous force sent it toppling backward.
An opportunity! Zhang Yuanqing thought immediately, ignoring the searing pain in his groin as he rushed forward at full speed and slapped the Corpse Suppression Talisman in his hand hard against that foul-smelling and highly-decomposed face.
His aim was true. He smacked it right on the creature's forehead.
The frenzied, bloodthirsty jiangshi suddenly went rigid, as if hit by a paralysis spell. All movement ceased, and it returned to stillness.
The jiangshi lay stiff among the wild grass, the crimson glow in its fierce eyes slowly dimming. It had lost its "vitality."
Zhang Yuanqing panted heavily as he looked down at the jiangshi, which had become like a clay statue, unable to display its might. Joy surged into his heart, taking the edge of his exhaustion. He had survived!
Without the help of the Red Dancing Shoes, facing the jiangshi single-handed would have been very difficult, he thought to himself. And the jiangshi is just one of the supernatural threats in this realm. What a challenge... it truly deserves to be an S-rank Spirit Realm.
But there were many people in the construction crew. Logically speaking, dealing with the jiangshi shouldn't have been a problem. They were a bunch of grown men. How could they be so helpless?
The answer floated into his mind, and he sighed. He knew the reason why.
The Corpse Suppression Talisman had been found in the pocket of the corpse beneath the window. That forerunner had obtained the item, but hadn't told his companions about it, and instead hoarded it for himself.
Human hearts were more complex and terrifying than ghosts and monsters.
Having dealt with the jiangshi, it was time to go to the well to find that shameless female ghost. Before that, however, there was something else that greatly interested him.
He left the jiangshi behind and walked toward the room displaying the coffins. Supporting himself on the doorframe, he stepped across the threshold. In the dark room, moonlight fell in columns.
He stopped before the mummified corpse and bent down to pick up the bronze awl.
Though clearly made of bronze, it didn't feel cold in his grip. Instead it was warm and smooth like jade. Immediately, information appeared in his vision.
【Name: Demon-subduing Awl】
【Type: Weapon】
【Function: Purification, Spirit Suppression, Demon Breaking】
【Description: A weapon imbued with the divine Power of the Diurnal Spirit, anathema to all supernatural entities. Sacrifice blood essence to this Awl to gain power.】
【Note: Is it powerful? It will cost you your life.】
As expected, it was an item. Judging by its description, it seemed even stronger than the candles in the main hall. The construction crew who had entered this Spirit Realm before him probably wanted to use it to kill the jiangshi but failed. They had already lost too many people before even facing the jiangshi.
Zhang Yuanqing felt thankful he had made the right call. He had cleverly used the Red Dancing Shoes to overcome this challenge.
Of course, those forerunners from the construction crew had had no choice. There was no way they could have possibly subdued a Rule-type item, and most of them had been trampled to death by the Red Dancing Shoes.
With this item that specifically counters supernatural entities, as well as the Red Dancing Shoes, my chances of clearing the trial mission have greatly improved, he reasoned confidently.
Gripping the Demon-subduing Awl filled him with immeasurable conviction. It hadn't been five minutes yet. He left the room and returned to the courtyard.
This time, he headed straight for the ancient well to conduct his final investigation.
The well looked deep. The mouth of the well was dark and damp air rose out of it, carrying the smell of rotting vegetation.
Let me go down and take a look, thought Zhang Yuanqing. He gripped the Demon-subduing Awl in a defensive stance, placed one foot on the well's edge, then simply walked down along the wall of the well as if on level ground.
He definitely wouldn't have dared explore the depths of the well before. Any possible dangers aside, jumping to the bottom of the well without a rope or any sort of assistance would have meant death.
Soon, he reached the bottom of the well, which wasn't terribly deep. Still, the moonlight at the bottom was extremely faint.
The water in the well had long since dried up, replaced by a layer of black sludge that had accumulated over the years. Clusters of weeds grew around the edges, and dark green moss covered the walls.
Zhang Yuanqing frowned. There's no ghost in the well, he realized.
It didn't seem right. He had clearly seen a faceless female ghost emerge from the well before.
He thoroughly searched the bottom of the well, but since there was a limit to how long he could safely wear the Red Dancing Shoes, he eventually had no choice but to reluctantly climb back up out of the well and hurry back to the main hall.
Only once under the safety of its eaves did he safely remove the Red Dancing Shoes.
***
In the main hall, bathed in dim yellow candlelight, Zhang Yuanqing leaned weakly against the altar. The corpse venom had eroded away even more of his vitality. On top of the earlier dizziness, he now also felt a pain in his chest and had difficulty breathing, among other symptoms.
Time was running short.
I've explored both rear courtyards and successfully subdued the jiangshi, but I have yet to complete the quest, he thought to himself. This means there's still somewhere I haven't explored.
He had explored every room in the heart of the other courtyards, and even descended to the bottom of the well. He couldn't have missed anything. So what else was there, exactly?
"When you eliminate all possibilities, whatever remains, no matter how incredible, must be the truth," he muttered to himself as he struggled to support himself.
The place he hadn't yet "explored" was right there in front of him. The main hall.
Zhang Yuanqing's gaze slowly swept across the main hall, finally settling on the clay statue of the Three Paths Mountain Goddess. When he'd first entered the main hall, one detail about the statue had caught his attention.
The statue's right hand was empty, yet its fingers were curled as though gripping an object, indicating it had originally held something.
Previously, he hadn't known what had been in her grip originally. Now he knew.
It was the Demon-subduing Awl.
There was no harm in trying. Zhang Yuanqing stepped forward and inserted the golden yellow Demon-subduing Awl into the statue's palm, then jumped down from the pedestal and stepped back several paces.
Almost the instant he stepped back, the surface of the pedestal cracked with a sharp bang. The entire pedestal collapsed in a cloud of fine dust, revealing a pitch-black underground cavern.
