Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Wei Wuyang told us that he and his senior brother were both famous ghost masters in Zenlei Water Village. But ten years ago, his senior brother had been severely injured while helping someone drive out a ghost.
When he finished, he let out a heavy sigh.
“With injuries that severe, he should have died for sure. But he used Suixi.”
“Suixi is a forbidden art in the Black Book. Human and lizard become one, sharing a single lifespan. Anyone who uses it betrays their master and ancestors, and they can never stay in the water village again.”
This Mirror World felt like an independent space, beyond the traditional realms of yin and yang. In Daoism, there were also legends of the six realms and the thirty-six heavens, so that explanation actually fit.
Song Feifei’s eyes lit up.
“Sounds like a parallel world. No wonder the original rules don’t work here.”
I looked at Wei Wuyang in surprise.
“Wait a second, ten years ago? How old are you?”
Wei Wuyang glared at me.
“None of your business.”
He hurriedly grabbed a stack of talismans and stuck them onto my wrist and Lu Lingzhu’s, muttering under his breath as he sang a strange little tune.
After he finished, I clearly felt a chill around my wrist, and the pain from before had eased quite a bit.
“All right. This Suixi Egg will fall off on its own in three days. You two get out of here as fast as you can.”
Lu Lingzhu refused to leave. “What? That’s it? Are you sure?”
Wei Wuyang was getting impatient.
“Your Suixi Egg hasn’t been parasitizing you for more than a month. Getting rid of it was never that complicated. What did you expect?”
“Hurry up and go. Follow behind me in a bit, and don’t make a sound.”
We followed Wei Wuyang downstairs, not noticing that after we left, the old woman lying in the room suddenly opened her eyes, a mocking smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
“Tsk-he really is sharp.”
The moment we went down the stairs and our feet touched the water, the paper figures scattered not far away all turned to look at us.
Jiang Haoyan froze.
“They’re coming at us!”
Wei Wuyang said, “Ignore them. Get into the water and get out first.”
Jiang Haoyan was still hesitating when the paper figures suddenly sped up and charged at us, splashing up a huge spray of water. The fear of being controlled by those paper figures just now made me react instantly. I pressed one hand on Jiang Haoyan’s head and shoved him under the water, then followed him in.
“Bang!”
I felt my body drop heavily, slamming into the water.
I shook my head and struggled to my feet, dazed. Two rows of stilt houses stood facing each other, and on the glaringly bright water surface, there was only me left.
I wiped my face and lifted my wrist to look at the lizard claw in the crack. After Wei Wuyang finished chanting, the lizard seemed to have fallen asleep. It hadn’t moved at all.
I shook my hand, and the stone hanging in my chest finally dropped away.
Since the Suixi Egg problem had been solved, once I found Lu Lingzhu and the others, we could head down the mountain.
With that burden lifted, my steps felt much lighter too.
I waded forward through the water, but the farther I went, the more something felt off. After a few steps, I stared at the water rising all the way to my thighs, eyes widening in shock.
What was going on? Why had the water gotten so deep?
I froze in place, blankly looking around. One glance, and my heart lurched again.
These two rows of stilt houses each had a wooden balcony on the second floor facing the narrow lane, and in the house on my left, a middle-aged man was leaning against the railing, one hand propping up his chin as he smiled at me.
His smile made my skin crawl.
“Who are you?”
“Hahahaha-”
He threw his head back and laughed. As he laughed, his head tilted back almost a full one hundred and eighty degrees, and a crisp crack of bones breaking rang out from his neck.
“Crack!”
His entire head fell from the second floor and crashed into the water in front of me.
I jumped in shock and instinctively stumbled back a few steps.