Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I scrambled to my feet and glared at her in a huff.

“What the hell was that for!”

“Qiao Moyu?”

Hua Yuling patted her chest and said with mock indignation, “Ugh, you scared me to death. Why is your face painted like a ghost’s?”

Seeing me glaring at her, Hua Yuling walked over and hooked her arm through mine.

“Alright, it’s not like I did it on purpose. If you don’t believe me, ask Jiang Haoyan.”

“Jiang Haoyan, look at the way Qiao Moyu’s face is painted. Could you even recognize her?”

Jiang Haoyan nodded and gave me a shy glance, a faint blush creeping across his fair, handsome face.

“She still looks very beautiful.”

Hua Yuling was speechless.

I got even angrier. “Curse you! I knew you did that on purpose!”

I reached out to pinch her face, but Hua Yuling quickly ran ahead. As we were chasing and playing around, Jiang Haoyan’s face suddenly turned deathly pale.

“Stop messing around, Qiao Moyu-”

“Qiao Moyu-”

Jiang Haoyan’s voice was filled with terror, as if he were looking at something utterly horrifying.

*This guy’s courage… Little Jiang is really going to have to work on that in the future.*

I stopped in my tracks and followed his gaze. I immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.

We were in a valley surrounded by cliffs. A few cliff junipers clung to the precipices, while the rest of the rock face was covered in moss and tangled vines.

But at some point, numerous caves had suddenly appeared on those mountain walls. Like a honeycomb, they were packed so densely that it was impossible to count them all.

At the entrance of every single cave stood a tall Wild Man. They were in various poses, staring down at us like predators watching their prey.

My heart pounded wildly and my scalp tingled. I turned my head stiffly to look at Hua Yuling.

“Hua-hua, hurry up and do your spirit dance!”

Hua Yuling rolled her eyes.

“It’s not called a spirit dance.”

“There are so many of them; I don’t know if I can handle it. Once I finish chanting the shamanic curse, everyone run for the valley entrance as fast as you can.”

Hua Yuling bit her fingertip and smeared the blood onto the palm of her left hand, drawing a complex totem before pressing it near her heart.

“The hex is born of four corners, the soul is lost to the cause, the vault of heaven yields its works, a thousand kin follow.”

Hua Yuling began to strike her chest with a steady, rhythmic beat. As she struck, her feet moved in synchronized steps, her body spinning half a circle in the air. Her dark hair flew about, and the expression on her face was one of pious sanctity.

I felt a twinge of jealousy. This strange, elaborate dance of hers had way more style than me shouting ‘Swiftly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances.’ It was really annoying.

Hua Yuling continued her shamanic dance, and the earth beneath our feet seemed to tremble along with her.

“With my blood, I summon thy soul; with my body, I pray for thy descent-”

“Run!”

A massive cloud of blackness suddenly appeared in the sky, emitting a loud buzzing sound. Countless flying insects poured down from above like a deluge. At the same time, those Wild Men began to howl one after another, grabbing onto vines as they leaped down from the cliff walls.