The next morning, the examination venue for “Calamity Undead Sacrifice” opened.
[Welcome, examinees, to the Supernatural Academy. All examinees have arrived. Number of participants this session: 4.]
[Now releasing the final examination topic.]
[This examination topic: Calamity Undead Sacrifice.]
[This examination material: Legend has it that there exists an evil ritual in the world called the Calamity Undead Sacrifice. Once the ritual begins, evil undead will appear, hunting living beings and stealing their life force. You are the person in charge of the Supernatural Academy. You receive a phone call someone tells you that an unprecedented Calamity Undead Sacrifice is about to begin.]
[Please combine the material with the clues explored during this examination, organize your thoughts, and complete the following question: Stop the Calamity Undead Sacrifice.]
[Examination topic release complete.]
The system’s voice came to an end, but the darkness before his eyes did not disappear.
“Buzz, buzz”
Two rings of the telephone sounded, and then Qi Dengzui heard someone pick up. The male voice on the other end said, “Hello, this is the Supernatural Academy. I am the person in charge, Qi Dengzui.”
The voice was deep and pleasant to the ear, yet it sent chills down Qi Dengzui’s spine, the person answering the phone was himself!
The other end said, “Sir, I am from Shanyin Village, one hundred years in the past. A Calamity Undead Sacrifice is about to begin here. We beg you to come and stop the ritual.”
Judging by the sound, the caller was clearly using an old-fashioned telephone from a bygone era, even the reception carried a sense of age.
With that, the call ended.
From this brief exchange alone, Qi Dengzui could already discern how the final examination differed from the others.
The background of the examination seemed to have shifted from a one-way examinee clearance to the examinee accepting a commission.
In other words, the people of Shanyin Village actually knew their true identities, this was unlike any previous examination.
Moreover, this village from a hundred years ago had somehow managed to cross the torrent of time to call them.
The darkness before him gradually faded, shifting from gray to white, revealing the full appearance of the examination venue.
This was a very ancient mountain village. Wild grass grew thick and dense, and before him lay only a narrow path trampled out by travelers, flanked by thorny undergrowth and thick mud.
Qi Dengzui walked along the path. The soil beneath his feet was soft and spongy, each step sinking into a small pit.
The examination topic explicitly stated that they were the persons in charge of the Supernatural Academy, invited by the people of Shanyin Village.
Thus, Qi Dengzui was still dressed in his Supernatural Academy attire, a white shirt as the base layer, covered by a black suit jacket, with gold-rimmed glasses glinting faintly under the sunlight.
However, this neat and tidy appearance did not last long. By the time he finished walking the muddy path, both of his shoes were filled to the brim with dirt, the lower half of his trousers was stained with grime, and he could be described as thoroughly disheveled.
A girl dressed in ethnic attire waved at him, a smile beaming across her face.
“Oh! Sir, you’ve arrived! Just call me Lan Jie’er. The elder sent me to fetch you!” Lan Jie’er took Qi Dengzui’s hand and said with a bright smile, “It just finished raining, and the sun has only now come out, so the road is a bit rough. Don’t worry, sir once we enter the village, I’ll take you to change clothes. The elder knew you were coming and has already prepared everything in advance.”
Qi Dengzui had no objections to such matters. He asked, “And my companions?”
Lan Jie’er replied in a playful tone, “You mean the other sirs? They’ve already arrived you’re the last one! Hurry, the elder has been waiting for you for quite a while.”
Qi Dengzui followed Lan Jie’er’s footsteps and turned into Shanyin Village. True to its name, the village was hidden deep within the mountains. Apart from villagers like Lan Jie’er, it would be nearly impossible for anyone else to find this small settlement. Without a guide, getting lost in the forest was a common occurrence.
The closer they got to Shanyin Village, the more graves surrounded them. By the time they neared the village entrance, a massive cemetery appeared before them.
The entrance to Shanyin Village lay within the largest tomb among them. That tomb held a hidden mechanism Lan Jie’er triggered something unknown, and the middle of the tomb suddenly opened, revealing a passage.
Qi Dengzui followed Lan Jie’er inside and asked her, “Is this tomb the only way into your village?”
Lan Jie’er shook her head, still smiling at him with curved eyes, and said, “Of course not! Our village has other paths too, but those are far, probably several hours longer! This route is the fastest, and since we’re in a hurry, we naturally have to take this one.”
Before she even finished speaking, a spider suddenly dropped from above, landing squarely on her thick, jet-black hair.
Lan Jie’er paid it no mind. She caught the spider as it tried to crawl into her hair strands, poked it with her finger, and said, “Little spider, don’t scare the guests!”
She released her hand, and the spider in her palm fell to the ground, crawled along the wall into a black crack, and disappeared from sight.
Lan Jie’er turned back to Qi Dengzui and said, “Sorry, sir, I forgot to tell Little Spider not to come out. Did I startle you?”
Qi Dengzui replied, “It’s fine. Does your village have a habit of raising insects?”
Lan Jie’er seemed to notice that Qi Dengzui wasn’t afraid of insects. She took out a black medicine bottle from her satchel, uncapped it, and a stream of black smoke immediately flowed out. Endless black insects crawled out of the bottle, marching in perfect unison around Qi Dengzui, encircling him in a small ring.
“Our village raises far more than just these we have all kinds of things. You probably don’t know, sir, but our village studies witchcraft and gu arts. Every living creature, as long as it can serve the craft of sorcery and gu, is something we need to care for and raise.”
“Including these insects?”
Lan Jie’er capped the bottle. “Including them.”
“You practice witchcraft and gu arts, aren’t you afraid something might go wrong?”
Lan Jie’er said, “Sir, witchcraft and gu arts don’t only bring disaster. Our village never practices evil arts. We walk upright and sit straight, so naturally we have nothing to fear.”
The black smoke dissipated, and the insects crawling on the ground spontaneously combusted, turning to ash in the blink of an eye.
After passing through the strange underground passage beneath the tombstone, they arrived at Shanyin Village.
Unlike the grim, gloomy graveyard shrouded in yin energy where the tombstone stood, Shanyin Village itself was arranged with great style. Every household was a verdant little cottage, walls wrapped in vines, with crisscrossing paths laid out in neat, orderly fashion, brimming with life and vitality.
A world apart from the graveyard.
Lan Jie’er bounced along, leading Qi Dengzui toward the elder’s home.
She was young, lively, and cheerful, and the villagers all liked her. Along the way, people kept greeting Lan Jie’er.
“Lan Jie’er, who’s this you’re bringing in? What a handsome young man!”
Lan Jie’er chided playfully, “Auntie Wu! This is a sir invited by the elder don’t talk nonsense!”
She spotted a woman stepping out of a house and called out, “Little Aunt! Leave the things there, I’ll come back to dry them later.”
The woman slapped her thigh and laughed, “Oh my, Lan Jie’er, you’re running around so busy. Let your aunt handle these chores. When you’re done, remember to come home your mother’s looking for you.”
Lan Jie’er said, “Alright, I’ll be back tonight!”
Amid all the greetings, Qi Dengzui finally arrived at the elder’s home.
Lan Jie’er hadn’t lied to him, Guan Si and the others were indeed waiting for him at the elder’s place.
After Qi Dengzui entered, Lan Jie’er quietly stepped out and closed the door. The light inside was dim, concentrated in one spot, and staying too long made one’s head feel heavy and dizzy.
Guan Si lowered his voice and asked Qi Dengzui, “Brother Qi, did you also come in through the tomb?”
Qi Dengzui: “You too?”
“Yeah.” Guan Si said, “Looks like we all came in from there.”
Pei Su, standing nearby, leaned in and said, “Our guides were different. Mine was an adult male, He Zhu’s was a little boy, Guan Si’s was a woman, and yours was a young girl. From what I can tell, they’re a family of four.”
“Alright, got it.” Qi Dengzui said. “Let’s see how things play out first.”
After a moment, the elder arrived. His attitude was noticeably warm, and he shook hands with all four of them, his face brimming with kindness. “Sirs, I’ve been waiting for you. I am the elder of Shanyin Village.”
“Our village takes pleasure in studying witchcraft and gu arts, but we never harm others.” At that, he lowered his voice and said, “But two days ago, I discovered that our village chief is planning to initiate a Calamity Undead Sacrifice!”
“That’s a sorcery from our village’s forbidden book. Its power is immense once activated, it will summon evil undead spirits, and when that happens, none of us in the village will survive.”
“But I have no idea how to stop the ritual right now. That’s why I scoured the ancient texts, found the time-space art, and sought help from others to stop the Calamity Undead Sacrifice.”
Sure enough, the elder was the one who had made the call. From what he said, he had been able to make that time-space call from a hundred years ago to a hundred years later by using the time-space art.
Pei Su said, “Isn’t your village skilled in witchcraft and gu arts? Surely among all these villagers, there’s at least one person who can stop the Calamity Undead Sacrifice?”
The elder held his forehead and sighed, “I’m at my wit’s end. You don’t know this, but although I’m the elder, in this village, the chief has the final say. Whoever is the most powerful gu master holds the authority. If I openly accuse the chief, I’ll surely be seen as harboring treacherous intentions.”
He Zhu nodded and said, “We understand your needs now. But we don’t know anything about the ‘Calamity Undead Sacrifice’ ourselves. Elder, do you have that forbidden book?”
“I don’t, but it should be in the village’s library. Lan Jie’er has seen it there before.” The elder said hurriedly, “I’ll have Lan Jie’er take you there. She knows the village well. Go quickly and come back fast—I’ll hold the chief off for you.”
Guan Si: “Alright, thank you for your trouble.”
“Lan Jie’er!”
“Coming! Elder, what’s the matter?” Lan Jie’er answered as she entered.
“Take them to change into clothes from Shanyin Village, then head to the library to find the forbidden books. Remember to avoid everyone else,” the elder instructed. “Be very mindful of the time you only have three hours. Even if you can’t find the forbidden books, you must get out quickly.”
“Understood, Elder. I’m on it now. Please follow me, honored guests.” Sister Lan beckoned with her hand.
The men of Shanyin Village generally kept shoulder-length hair, tied at the ends with thin cords braided from red thread, giving them a brisk and spirited look.
Qi Dengzui and the others didn’t have hair that long. The young girl racked her brains but could only manage to tie a small bun at the back of her head. Pei Su, flashy as ever, adapted remarkably well he didn’t think much of it, instead finding the look quite handsome.
But that little tuft perched atop He Zhu’s head, combined with his expressionless face, was genuinely amusing.
Pei Su couldn’t help himself and tousled the hair on He Zhu’s head. “He Zhu, I never would’ve guessed you’ve got a certain charm in that getup.”
He Zhu: “…Get lost.”