Chapter 16: Unexplored Land

Chapter 16 Uncharted Territory

Zhang Yuanqing returned to the main hall, bathed in candlelight, easing the pain of his recurring illness while performing a purification on himself.

According to his calculations, the vengeful spirit would latch onto him within a minute or two, making it definitely unsuitable to enter the eastern courtyard and face the zombie.

After resting for four or five minutes, his physical condition grew worse, headaches accompanied by slight dizziness; he knew the corpse poison was gradually eroding his body, showing initial symptoms.

The candlelight in the main hall seemed unable to purify the toxins in his body.

"I can't delay any longer..."

He had to make use of the Red Dancing Shoes' half-hour usage limit, finish quickly, and clear the instance in one go.

Zhang Yuanqing left the main hall, followed the cobblestone path through the overgrown grass, and arrived at the siheyuan courtyard.

Standing in the yard with undulating weeds, he opened his inventory and summoned the Red Dancing Shoes.

Two faint dark red lights moved nimbly through the night, transforming into a brand new pair of dancing shoes.

"Select the second form!"

Zhang Yuanqing silently chanted.

The Red Dancing Shoes again dissolved into dark red glimmers, traced two arcs, and wrapped around his feet.

In an instant, the running shoes on his feet became a pair of oversized red dancing shoes.

This, isn't this just crossdressing in disguise? At least they're red dancing shoes, not high heels... Zhang Yuanqing looked at his feet uncomfortably, feeling strange.

He forced himself to ignore this detail, took out the Corpse Suppression Talisman, held it in his hand, and amid the "rustle" of the banyan tree, passed through the arched gate and arrived at the eastern courtyard.

In the eastern courtyard, weeds rose and fell, bright moonlight showered down, and two large buildings stood quietly, everything so serene.

He cautiously looked around, saw no trace of the zombie, and then carefully crossed the yard, approaching the large building divided into four rooms.

The room that displayed the coffin had its wooden door knocked off; he didn't need to enter, just looked inside from afar across the threshold.

Moonlight streamed in through gaps in the tiles; the corpse, the coffin, the thrown-off lid, and the bronze pestle all lay still in their original places, not moved an inch.

There was no sign of the zombie in the room.

"Could it have lain back in the coffin?"

From his angle, he couldn't see inside the coffin.

Just as he hesitated, he suddenly noticed the moonlight seemed to dim, and a shadow descended from the sky, enveloping him.

Then, the night wind brought a strong stench of corpse, along with a low "hehe" growl.

It, it was hiding in the tree? Zhang Yuanqing was terrified, his heart suddenly contracted, and he instinctively thought of evading.

The next moment, the Red Dancing Shoes on his feet lit up with a dark red glow; Zhang Yuanqing's feet suddenly slipped, and before he could react, he shot out in a sliding tackle, carving a trail through the weeds.

Bang!

The zombie wrapped in tattered clothes pounced on empty air.

Dodged, dodged it... Zhang Yuanqing scrambled up, overjoyed, his heart settled back into his chest.

The Red Dancing Shoes were truly magical; their evasion ability was stronger than he expected. With his own reflexes, he couldn't have dodged the zombie's pounce.

Zhang Yuanqing's confidence soared.

"Hehe..."

The zombie with hair like withered grass let out an ear-splitting roar, its protruding eyes growing even more ferocious; it flexed its knees and lunged at its prey again.

Its speed was like a car racing at full throttle.

Amid the stench, the terrifying apparition was already upon him; Zhang Yuanqing's feet twisted uncontrollably, as if performing a ballet spin, smoothly cutting a semicircle, avoiding the sharp claws while moving behind the zombie.

Then, he "naturally" performed a split, his body suddenly dropping, wind howling overhead as two arms swept across.

Pulled, pulled his groin... Zhang Yuanqing's face twisted; he wanted to clutch his crotch and scream, but the Red Dancing Shoes had already manipulated his legs to bounce him up.

He leaped high, both feet kicking hard into the zombie's chest.

Thud!

In the dull sound, the zombie's tattered clothes sent up fine dust.

It let out an angry, unwilling roar and, hit by the immense force, fell backward.

Opportunity! Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing ignored the tearing pain in his groin, dashed forward, and slapped the Corpse Suppression Talisman he held onto the zombie's heavily decayed, foul face.

Slapping its forehead.

Slap!

The frenzied, bloodthirsty zombie seemed hit by a paralysis spell, suddenly freezing.

All movement ceased, returning to silence.

The zombie lay stiff among the weeds; the red in its hideous eyes slowly dimmed.

It had lost its "life."

Looking at the zombie now like a mud statue, unable to exert its power, Zhang Yuanqing breathed heavily, fatigue and joy flooding in together.

He had survived!

"Without the Red Dancing Shoes' help, it would have been hard to deal with the zombie alone, and the zombie is just one of the anomalies. No wonder it's an S-level Spirit Realm, so difficult.

"But the construction team had many people; logically, dealing with the zombie shouldn't have been a problem. A group of grown men, how could they have been so pathetic..."

Zhang Yuanqing sighed suddenly; he knew the reason.

The Corpse Suppression Talisman was found in the pocket of the corpse under the window. That senior had obtained this item but hadn't told his companions; he had hidden it instead.

The human heart is more complicated than monsters, and also more terrifying.

With the zombie dealt with, the next step was to go find that shameless female ghost in the well.

But before that, there was something else that Zhang Yuanqing cared about very much.

He left the zombie and walked toward the room with the coffin, holding the door frame as he stepped over the threshold; in the dark room, moonlight streamed in.

He stopped before the dried corpse and bent to pick up the bronze awl.

Despite being made of bronze, it didn't feel cold in his hand but rather warm and smooth like jade.

Then, a piece of information appeared in his vision.

[Name: Demon-Subduing Pestle]

[Type: Weapon]

[Functions: Purification, Spirit-Suppression, Demon-Breaking]

[Description: A weapon imbued with the power of the Sun God, the bane of all evil beings. Offer blood to this pestle to gain the power of the Sun God.]

[Note: Powerful? Paid with life.]

It was indeed an item, and from the function description, it seemed stronger than the candles in the main hall. The construction team senior must have wanted to use it to kill the zombie but failed. Alas, they had already lost too many people before they even faced the zombie... Zhang Yuanqing was glad he had made the right judgment.

He cleverly used the Red Dancing Shoes to overcome the difficulty.

Of course, the construction team seniors had no choice; they couldn't subdue this rule-based item, and most of them had died from the trampling of the Red Dancing Shoes.

"With this item that specifically counters evil beings, paired with the Red Dancing Shoes, my chances of passing the trial mission have greatly increased."

Clutching the Demon-Subduing Pestle, a surge of powerful confidence welled up within him. Taking advantage of the fact that the five minutes had not yet passed, he left the room and returned to the courtyard.

This time, he headed straight for the ancient well to make a final investigation.

The mouth of the well was deep and dark; a damp smell of rotting vegetation surged upward.

Let's go down and take a look... Zhang Yuanqing tightened his grip on the Demon-Subduing Pestle and assumed a defensive posture. He lifted one foot onto the rim of the well, and then, he simply walked down, treading on the walls as if on level ground.

In the past, he certainly wouldn't have dared to go down and explore. Not to mention the unknown dangers at the bottom, leaping into the well without a rope or any assistance would have meant certain death.

Soon, he safely reached the shallow bottom of the well, where the moonlight was already very faint.

The water in the well had long since dried up. At the bottom, black silt had accumulated, clumps of weeds grew at the edges, and the walls were covered in dark green moss.

"There are no ghosts in the well..."

Zhang Yuanqing frowned, thinking to himself, "This isn't right. I clearly saw a faceless female ghost emerge from the well."

He inspected the bottom repeatedly, but because the time limit for wearing the Red Dancing Shoes was running out, he could only reluctantly step back up the steep walls, return to the surface, and hurry back under the eaves of the main hall.

Only then did he feel relieved enough to remove the Red Dancing Shoes.

……

In the main hall, bathed in dim candlelight, Zhang Yuanqing leaned listlessly against the altar table. The corrosion of the corpse poison on his body had deepened; after dizziness, symptoms such as difficulty breathing and chest pain began to appear.

Time was running out.

"I have already explored the two back courtyards and successfully subdued the zombie, but the task hasn't ended yet. It means there is still some place I haven't explored..."

I have explored every room in the backyards, even the bottom of the well. There can't be any oversight.

So, where could it be?

When all possibilities are eliminated, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth... He muttered to himself, and slowly propped himself up.

The place that hasn't been 'explored' is right here, this very main hall before his eyes.

Zhang Yuanqing's gaze slowly swept over the main hall, finally coming to rest on the clay statue of the Three Paths Mountain Goddess. When he first entered the main hall, a detail about the statue had already caught his attention.

The clay statue's right hand was empty, but it was posed as if grasping something, indicating it originally held an object.

Earlier, he hadn't known what her hand originally held. Now he knew.

It was the Demon-Subduing Pestle.

With the mindset that it wouldn't hurt to try, Zhang Yuanqing stepped forward and inserted the bright golden Demon-Subduing Pestle into the palm of the statue. Then he jumped off the pedestal and stepped back a few paces.

Almost the moment he stepped back, the surface of the pedestal cracked with a crunch, fissures sending up a dense cloud of dust. Then the entire pedestal collapsed, revealing a pitch-black underground cavern.