Chapter 659: Acquaintance

Chapter 659: Acquaintance

“Lü... exam candidate?” Yang Xiaohai’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the man before him.

Of course, Yang Xiaohai knew this man—after all, his entire family had followed him along the way. But hadn’t this man gone with Master Lü to enjoy the pleasures of the capital city? Didn’t Senior Brother Gao even give them a grand opera house? Why was he now alone, appearing beneath Qingqiu with him?

“You... how did you end up here?” Yang Xiaohai cautiously took a half-step back. He no longer knew whether this person was truly the Lü candidate or some sinister creature in disguise.

“What am I doing here?” The “exam candidate” named Lü looked utterly confused. “I don’t know either. Yang Xiaohai, where exactly are we?”

“You ask me, I ask who?” Suddenly remembering something, Yang Xiaohai’s expression turned anxious. “Right! Did you see my wife? That Zhao Xiumei—the woman who used to follow me around like a shadow every day?”

They had come down together, yet now only he remained. Yang Xiaohai was deeply worried about Zhao Xiumei’s safety.

In response to Yang Xiaohai’s questions, Lü stood still, his face blank and confused, trying hard to think.

“Do you know how to get out of here? Where is the exit?” Yang Xiaohai frowned, glancing around into the pitch-black darkness.

These two questions left Lü standing motionless for a long time, still unable to answer.

Yet from Yang Xiaohai’s perspective, it was perhaps a small blessing. Regardless of why this person had become like this, at least he hadn’t attacked him. That meant whatever this thing was, it wasn’t a supernatural entity.

But right now, if the man couldn’t help him, it didn’t matter—he still couldn’t escape.

With no other choice, Yang Xiaohai had to find a way out on his own.

“Yes, I remember that Brother Li also ran into such trouble before. How did they manage to escape back then?”

After thinking for a while, Yang Xiaohai raised his thumb to his mouth, sucked it, and held it high, feeling the breeze in the air.

He bounced on tiptoe for a moment, then sensed a coolness in his hand toward the south. He prepared to feel his way in that direction.

After walking a few steps, he tore off a piece of cloth from his body, intending to write a letter for Zhao Xiumei, who might be coming here soon. But he realized she couldn’t read, and he hesitated.

“I’ll find the exit first, then go get help to save Xiumei. Maybe she’s not even fallen in,” Yang Xiaohai decided. Then he began following the chill in his fingers.

As he moved, Yang Xiaohai turned his head to look at the stunned Lü, who stood still in place.

“Uh, are you coming?”

“Coming? Where to?”

“To get out!” Yang Xiaohai felt this man looked just like Senior Brother Gao had once been—stupid, clueless, not knowing what had happened to make him like this.

“Get out? Okay.” Lü nodded and followed.

Yang Xiaohai held his breath, crouched low, and carefully felt his way forward, guided by the coolness from his fingertips.

The jolting touches beneath his feet made him realize they were slowly descending.

He didn’t know if that was good or bad. All he knew was that Brother Li had escaped from beneath Qingqiu this way. If he followed the same path, maybe he could escape too.

The only comfort he felt now was that although the place was pitch black, nothing strange seemed to want to harm him. That gave him renewed confidence that his wife was still alive.

Just as he thought this, a distant sound made him startle, and he reached out toward it.

As he drew closer, the noise grew louder. But as he listened, something felt off—it sounded like voices. “Where exactly is this place? Why are there so many people underground in Qingqiu?”

After a stick of incense burned, Yang Xiaohai finally saw the source of the sound—a line of strange figures wrapped in long strips of cloth.

These figures were tall, so tall that Yang Xiaohai could only see their lower halves. Their upper bodies were shrouded in darkness, barely visible. They moved their legs beneath their robes in a synchronized, dragging manner, heading in one direction.

Yang Xiaohai peered into the darkness, and it seemed to part slightly. He dimly recognized that each of these figures held an umbrella in their hands.

Just as he couldn’t make sense of it, something behind them caused him to gasp in horror.

It was people—various kinds of people. All of them were pierced through by a long mourning staff, dragged across the ground like a string of meat.

At the white end of the staff, adorned with white tassels, was held by these figures.

Each time they dragged, the people screamed in despair, clawing at the ground with helpless hands—but all they achieved was wearing away their fingers, with no change at all.

“This… this place… what is this place…?” Yang Xiaohai was completely panicked by the scene ahead, unsure of what to do.

At that moment, the dazed Lü beside him suddenly seemed to regain clarity. He saw Luo Juanhua, among the human strings, shout loudly, “Juan’er! Run!”

That cry stopped the strange figures in their tracks. The large umbrellas in the darkness slowly turned, facing Yang Xiaohai.

When he saw Lü dash toward them shouting, Yang Xiaohai instantly felt as though he were trapped in an icy cave, his mind filled with only one thought: *It’s over.*

Just as Lü reached the mourning staff and tried to rescue Luo Juanhua, the figure’s hand trembled, and the surrounding darkness reformed into a new mourning staff, piercing straight through Lü’s chest.

But it wasn’t over. The staff, now alive, twisted in midair and lunged straight at Yang Xiaohai.

Frightened beyond measure, Yang Xiaohai didn’t hesitate—he turned and fled with all his might.

The increasing rumbling beneath his feet deepened his despair. Just when he thought he would meet Lü’s fate, a gust of wind struck him in the face. In the next instant, a heavy thud echoed behind him. He was safe.

Fear made his body shake uncontrollably. When Yang Xiaohai finally turned around, trembling, he saw a familiar face standing atop a towering corpse.

“Li… Li Senior Brother?!” Yang Xiaohai stared in shock at the man before him.

The figure in red Daoist robes, wearing a copper coin mask, was none other than his Brother Li.

“Yang… Yang Xiaohai? Haha, how interesting,” Li Huowang descended leisurely from the corpse as if stepping down stairs, observing the young man with three parts curiosity and seven parts mockery.

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Next chapter update at 11:32 PM.

(End of Chapter)