Chapter 141: Holding Hands is Just Holding Hands
“It smells so good!” Ruan Ping closed his eyes, took a deep sniff, and sighed in admiration.
Feng Shi carefully sniffed the air as well.
He felt the scent somewhat resembled the fragrance of sun-baked flowers, yet not entirely. It carried a faint, cloying sweetness.
Following the scent bit by bit, they finally discovered the source behind a massive folding screen.
“What is this?!”
The four of them tilted their heads up slightly.
Standing before them, situated behind a layer of sheer white silk, was a colossal horn taller than a grown man. The horn was shaped like a curved scimitar, and its tip flickered with a spot of crimson fire, currently burning.
The horn had already burned down by a quarter, and a thick layer of cold ash covered the floor beneath it. Judging by its burning rate, it was impossible to tell how many years it had been alight.
The fragrance here was bizarrely intense. Feng Shi couldn’t help but raise a hand to cover his nose and mouth.
At that moment, Ruan Ping suddenly took a step forward. With an infatuated tone and an outstretched neck, he murmured, “It smells so wonderful…”
Seeing this, a chill immediately shot down Feng Shi’s spine.
Under normal circumstances, following typical plot tropes, bizarre fragrances like this absolutely harbored some sinister trick. Ruan Ping’s current reaction only proved this point.
“There’s something wrong with this scent. Stop breathing it in immediately!” Feng Shi commanded, reaching out to rap Ruan Ping sharply on the head.
The entranced youth snapped back to reality. He looked left and right, then hurriedly clamped his hands over his nose, mumbling incoherently, “Mmh… Shixiong, what’s wrong?”
Feng Shi examined the bizarre horn once more. After a moment, he said, “The raw rhinoceros horn dares not be burned; burning it yields a strange fragrance. If it taints the clothes, a person can commune with ghosts.”
“I don’t know if this is a rhinoceros horn, but I can say for certain that it is nothing good. The deaths of those people outside are likely related to this.”
Hearing this, Ruan Ping clamped his hands over his nose even tighter. “T-Then what do we do? God knows how many years this underground palace has existed; it’s definitely spawned a ton of ghouls! I absolutely do not want to see them!”
Feng Shi attempted to swing his sword to sever the rhinoceros horn, but to his surprise, it was protected by a barrier that rendered it immune to all magical attacks.
“Let’s get out of here first.”
Feng Shi kicked the folding screen aside. Suddenly, the wispy white smoke rising from the horn thickened and rapidly expanded.
Although they had quickly sealed off their senses, they had already inhaled a significant amount of the fragrance before discovering the horn.
The surrounding environment warped, as if veiled by a thin, blood-red membrane. Wisps of black energy seeped out from every direction, and eerie, hair-raising shrieks echoed in their ears.
The black energy condensed until it was nearly tangible, with some even taking on human forms.
[Uh-oh~]
Feng Shi reacted swiftly, drawing his sword to slash at the closest phantom.
To his surprise, the ghost proved incredibly resilient. Slashed apart by the blade, it simply reformed and lunged at him again.
Ruan Ping had always been terrified of such things even in the mortal world. Now, he was scared completely senseless, unable to even draw his sword.
Watching as the ghostly apparition was about to pounce right onto his face, its bloody maw wide open, Ruan Ping’s legs gave out, pinning him to the spot, entirely paralyzed.
I’m going to die! His pale lips trembled, his pupils dilating in sheer terror.
Just in the nick of time, a hand abruptly reached out from beside him, clamping tightly around the ghost’s throat.
Ruan Ping held his breath, nearly nose-to-nose with the horrifying apparition.
The veins on the back of the hand bulged. With a forceful squeeze, the ghost let out a bloodcurdling shriek and shattered into a puff of fine smoke.
However, the hand was also scorched by the black energy, festering visibly before their eyes.
“Are you an idiot?! If you don’t know how to use your sword, give it to me!”
Quan Xinghe’s furious roar blasted in his ear. Ruan Ping snapped out of his daze, blinking his eyes. Large tears began to stream down his face like a broken string of pearls.
He lowered his head and cupped Quan Xinghe’s trembling hand. His eyes cleared entirely, and he asked nervously, “Y-You… how are you?”
Quan Xinghe smoothly snatched Ruan Ping’s sword from his waist to fend off the incoming ghosts. Without even looking back as he retracted his hand, he bellowed, “Shut up!”
“Stand behind me!”
Ruan Ping pulled his hands back. Knowing he was a burden, he obediently shuffled behind Quan Xinghe.
Taking a brief moment to shoot him a sidelong glance, Quan Xinghe noticed the boy’s cowardice and tear-rimmed eyes. He froze for a second but still couldn’t resist a cold, mocking remark: “You certainly had plenty of backbone when you were arguing with me earlier.”
Ruan Ping looked deeply ashamed. Biting his lower lip, he lowered his head and offered no rebuttal.
Feng Shi alone was handling the vast majority of the ghosts, yet they poured in endlessly, as if no amount of killing could wipe them out.
To make matters worse, the rhinoceros horn seemed to possess hallucinogenic properties. As they continued fighting, the four of them began to act increasingly erratic.
“Shixiong!” A warm hand suddenly grabbed Feng Shi’s.
Feng Shi turned his head, only to see that Shen Songhe’s appearance was gradually changing.
That beautiful face suddenly cracked like parched earth, and the whites of his eyes turned completely pitch-black. He was rapidly mutating to look exactly like the surrounding ghouls.
“You…”
“Shixiong, it’s an illusion. If we hold hands and don’t separate, we can avoid slaughtering each other.”
Feng Shi paused.
If that was the case, he must look like a ghoul in Shen Songhe’s eyes as well. Those sect disciples who died earlier had likely fallen prey to this exact trick.
“Alright, hold on a little longer. I’ll figure a way out of this.”
Feng Shi agreed, squeezing the youth’s hand firmly in return.
He intended to warn Ruan Ping and Quan Xinghe, but upon turning around, they were nowhere to be seen.
Or rather, they had already “transformed” into ghouls, making them indistinguishable from the rest.
Whatever, I’ll figure out the situation and buy an item first.
Feng Shi summoned his interface. “Qingqing, time to help.”
Qingqing appeared on cue. It crossed its arms, pouted, and spoke in an overly dramatic, artificial tone:
[Host Big Shot is so formidable, why would you even need my help…]
Feng Shi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hurry up and cut the crap. Weren’t you the one who told me not to rely too heavily on the system?”
Qingqing let out a hmph and turned its head to pull up the item shop, muttering as it worked:
[This rhinoceros horn was taken from the body of an ancient divine beast. The illusion it creates is indeed difficult to break, but dispelling it with a system item is a piece of cake. Cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above aren’t affected by it at all. I told you to break through earlier, but you wouldn’t listen…]
“Who put this thing here? Is it some kind of anti-grave robbing measure?” Feng Shi was perplexed.
[The Host will have to discover that on your own. There, the item has been purchased. I’ll activate it for you directly.]
Feng Shi gave an ‘OK’ gesture.
Once he exited the system space and the item took effect, the surrounding black energy indeed began to dissipate.
The ghouls vanished, and the people before him returned to their original appearances.
Feng Shi let out a sigh of relief. He tried to lift his hand, only to realize someone was still clinging tightly to it.
Shen Songhe met his gaze, his expression completely natural. “What if we encounter a similar situation again later? I think it’s safer if we stay like this.”
“…”
Feng Shi looked down, giving his fingers a slight wiggle.
Fine, holding hands is just holding hands.
Feng Shi had thought he and Shen Songhe were crossing the line, but he hadn’t expected the other two—who had barely known each other for long—to be even more ridiculous.
One was standing there with a look of utter disgust mixed with an imperceptible bashfulness. The other was literally hanging off him like a koala, eyes squeezed tightly shut, face pale with terror, muttering incessantly: “It’s all fake, it’s all fake… don’t bite me…”
Even though Ruan Ping had perceived Quan Xinghe as his worst nightmare moments ago, his subconscious instinct had still driven him to cling to the boy. That was why they ended up in their current predicament.
Meeting the inquisitive stares of Feng Shi and Shen Songhe, Quan Xinghe let out two dry coughs, feigning an impatient tone. “Alright, you idiot, get off this young master right now!”
Ruan Ping squeezed his eyes shut, his arms wrapping around Quan Xinghe’s neck even tighter. “No!”
Translator’s Note:
- Raw rhinoceros horn dares not be burned…: This is a famous ancient Chinese legend originating from the Book of Jin (晉書). The story goes that lighting a rhinoceros horn allows one to pierce the veil between the mortal world and the afterlife, enabling them to see ghosts and spirits.
- System tone (茶裡茶氣): The original text describes the system’s tone as acting like a “green tea bitch” (a Chinese slang term for someone who feigns innocence/helplessness to manipulate others).
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