Inside the room.
The boundary line pillow that Song Yanxing had placed so solemnly in the middle of the bed had long since flown away.
A hand with well defined knuckles rested on the waist of the person sleeping soundly on the inner side of the bed. The two were sleeping face to face, extremely close together.
As if sensing something, Song Yanxing opened his eyes. He turned over to face the figure standing by the bed. It was a head. He did not notice the head shudder for a brief moment.
Shifting his gaze downward, he saw the internal organs hanging beneath the head. The heart was still pulsing with vitality, and the stomach sac was continuously writhing.
It was quite an eyesore, Song Yanxing thought.
Then, he simply turned back, pulled the person in his arms closer, and closed his eyes to go back to sleep.
The head dangling by the bedside breathed a sigh of relief after he turned away. It floated toward the foot of the bed. It did not dare suck the blood of this one, but surely it could take the one inside.
A moment later, Song Yanxing opened his eyes again and asked the system in a friendly tone, “Can I buy on credit?”
The system, suddenly summoned, replied, [Huh?]
Morning
Xi Ye was the first to wake. Looking at the man so close to him, he could not help but marvel once more at his extraordinary looks. The features were sharply defined and deep, with a high bridge of the nose and ruby red lips. The closed eyelashes were thick and curled; every stroke seemed like a deliberate masterpiece of the Creator.
In stark contrast to his appearance was his clingy and sweet talking personality. Every time Xi Ye tried to harden his heart, he would lose his resolve halfway.
“Mmh, what time is it?” Song Yanxing opened his eyes and saw the person opposite him staring dazed at him. “Brother, what is wrong?”
His eyes were exceptionally beautiful. The brilliant gold pupils were half awake and misty, carrying an indescribable, shimmering charm.
Xi Ye coughed and looked away. “Nothing,” he said, sitting up. Recalling the movements during the night, he asked, “Did you hear anything last night? It sounded like the wind, but there was also a pitter patter sound.”
“Is that so? I did not hear anything,” Song Yanxing said, blinking innocently. “Maybe it is because Brother was here, so I slept exceptionally well.”
It seemed that tying that annoying thing up outside last night was the right choice.
Xi Ye saw his innocent expression and believed most of it. “Get up. There should be breakfast ready.”
Song Yanxing agreed and scrambled out of bed.
When the two of them finished cleaning up and stepped out of the room, they found Cole and the other two standing in the courtyard with grim expressions. When they saw the pair looking energetic, their eyes widened.
“What happened?” Xi Ye stood on his tiptoes, naturally reaching out his hand to smooth a stray lock of hair on Song’s head.
Song Yanxing obediently lowered his head to let him fix his hair, the corners of his mouth curving up. Only after a few seconds did he acknowledge the others standing there. “Good morning.”
“Phew! Thank goodness you are okay!” Upton pointed at a puddle of foul smelling water under the large tree in the yard, his voice still shaking with terror. “A Pontianak died there.”
A Pontianak is a monster that sucks human blood. By day, they appear as normal people living ordinary lives; by night, they become monsters with heads attached to internal organs. If the head does not return by sunrise, it turns into a puddle of foul water upon being struck by sunlight, never to recover.
Everyone’s gaze gathered on the puddle of water and the rope discarded on the ground.
Cole spoke up, “This monster was the old woman’s son. Last night, I followed him to your door and saw him pressed against the window peeking at you.” His gaze landed on Xi Ye, full of suspicion. “Did you two really not know?”
“Do not know, not sure, did not notice,” Song Yanxing stepped forward, shielding Xi Ye behind him. “I know the trial requirement is to obtain the spirit stone from the ghost. Even if he died mysteriously, that does not prove we killed him and took the stone.”
Xi Ye gripped Song’s wrist, shook his head, and said to Cole, “We truly did not sense him. We did not take the spirit stone either.”
Seeing the God who had been devoted to him in his past life now protecting someone else, Cole clenched his fingers. “While it is wrong to doubt my brother, Zevis’s magic is weak. You are the most likely one, Brother.”
Seeing the atmosphere turn sour, Upton stepped in to mediate. “It is just one spirit stone. We are lucky everyone is safe.”
“Yeah, and the most important thing now is facing that old woman. Who knows if she is a monster too,” Maren added.
At that moment, the old woman poked her head out from the front yard and shouted, “Boys, come and eat breakfast!”
The conflict paused, and the group headed to the living room.
“Our house only has some coarse food. I hope you do not mind,” the old woman said, her body hunched as she brought out several grain buns and some small roasted meat from the kitchen.
“We do not. Thank you, Grandma,” Xi Ye said, standing up. “Is there anything else to bring? I will help you.”
“Oh, how can I let you do that?” the old woman laughed. “There is still a vegetable soup. I need to water the vegetable garden, so I will leave it to you.”
Song Yanxing also stood up. “It is no trouble.” He followed Xi Ye into the kitchen.
The kitchen was small but tidy. Firewood for cooking was stacked up, and the corners of the walls were blackened by smoke. Song Yanxing was a step faster to pick up the vegetable soup served in a tile bowl. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a wooden bucket by the stove.
“What is it?” Xi Ye saw him stop and walked over to ask. Then, he saw the bucket filled with chopped bits of bone. More accurately, it was a pile of bloody, mangled bones and skin with veins still attached.
Song Yanxing pulled him to the other side, blocking his vision. “Do not look, Brother. It is a bit disgusting.”
“Do you think that is his son’s meat? The roasted meat” Xi Ye’s eyelids twitched. He pulled Song and hurried back to the living room.
Seeing the two of them return in a panic, Maren rubbed his empty stomach. “You are finally back. It is just soup; what took you so long?” He looked hungrily at the roasted meat on the table. “Hurry up, we are waiting for you. I am starving.”
“Do not eat that meat!” Xi Ye saw him pick up a piece and stopped him.
“Why? It might not be as good as home cooking, but it looks decent.” Maren could not wait any longer and took a bite.
Xi Ye remained silent.
Song Yanxing crossed his arms, amused. “It is just monster meat. If he wants to eat it, let him.”
“What?!” Maren instantly felt an indescribable sour bitterness in the meat. Nausea surged in his chest, and he clutched his stomach, vomiting violently.
Upton patted his back. “Are you okay? At least you did not swallow it.”
“What do you mean okay? You try it!” Maren roared. Seeing Upton’s stunned expression, he quickly added, “No, baby, I did not mean it like that.”
Upton recovered from Maren’s disgusted tone, withdrew his hand, and looked down. “It is fine.”
At that moment, the old woman walked in from outside with a vegetable basket. Looking at the untouched food, she asked, “Why are you not eating? Is the food not to your taste?”
“How could that be?” Song Yanxing met the old woman’s cloudy eyes and arched an eyebrow. “Where is your son? We have not seen him since we woke up.”
The old woman’s smile vanished. She tapped her cane against the floor and began to cackle, tilting her head. “Is he not right there on the dining table?”
A moment later, a thick black mist erupted from her. The old woman’s clothes and skin fell away, and she became a deformed mass of flesh that attacked the group.
“Die, you old hag!” Maren’s accumulated anger exploded. He gestured with his fingers, summoning lightning that crashed down upon her.
Xi Ye also conjured ice toward the mass of flesh, binding her in the air. The two of them launched a fierce assault.
The battle was intense. Cole moved toward the back, trying to stay out of sight, but was blocked.
“Lord Cole, are your talismans not going to join the fight?” Song Yanxing, as the other weak member of the team, asked.
Upton, who could only do divination and had no offensive power, also asked, “Yes, I have always heard your talisman arts are outstanding. Surely you can help quite a bit.”
“Of course I will help. I was just stepping back to use my spells better,” Cole said through gritted teeth. He pulled a talisman from his pocket, secretly sliced his finger, and threw the activated talisman onto the struggling mass of flesh.
Minutes later, the ghost was obliterated, and a spirit stone fell to the ground. Upton stepped forward to pick it up and put it into the shared backpack.
The group set off again, following the map. As night fell and the fog rose once more, they had to set up tents on a flat area to rest.
Sitting on a log and eating roasted wild rabbit handed to him by Song Yanxing, Xi Ye blinked and asked, “Is that not the old woman’s house from before?”
Song Yanxing followed his gaze and saw a wooden hut with a light on appearing not far away. After watching for a moment, he said, “It is identical.”
The others discovered the hut as well and were stunned. At that moment, the old woman standing in the yard shouted at them with the exact same words, “Young men, are you sorcerers here for the trial?”
Maren exploded, goosebumps rising all over his skin. “Holy crap, how is she still alive?!”
“Nightmare echo. We are in a loop!” Upton said, trembling.
“A loop? Then let us go again,” Song Yanxing said calmly, his brow slightly furrowed.
Xi Ye added, “Yes. We probably have to break the cause and effect to escape this cycle.”
“I agree,” Cole said.
With no other choice, they packed up their tents and headed back to the hut. The old woman was exactly the same, with no changes. Knowing what was coming, they quickly went through the motions. After dinner, midnight arrived again. This time, no one slept.
Inside the room.
“Brother, let us go to the back mountain. I saw her coming back from there last time,” Song Yanxing suggested.
Xi Ye thought for a moment and said, “Okay.”
The back mountain was desolate. All the trees had died, but the wild grass grew exceptionally high. The two walked side by side over the dry leaves, making a crunching sound.
Suddenly, the sound of a suona drifted from nearby. In front were several people dressed in black with pale faces, holding white skin lanterns. Behind them was a group playing music following a carriage. The driver, with bright red patches painted on his cheeks, steered the carriage toward them.
Xi Ye held his breath, not daring to speak. He went to turn around and look at Song Yanxing behind him, only to find the space beside him empty.
The sound of the suona drew closer. He looked up.
As the curtain was lifted by the wind, it revealed the person sitting inside the carriage. It was Song Yanxing.