Chapter 120: Chapter 98: Reviewing the Spoils

After escaping from the Ming Mansion, dawn broke quickly. The group, still shaken, returned to the main road leading to Dongyang County, stopping at a spot where the sun could reach before daring to rest for a moment.

They killed three roosters to eat, dried their clothes over a fire, and once they’d had their fill and regained their strength, the survivors of the ordeal didn’t dwell on those who had died, but continued their journey, running towards Dongyang County.

Sang Que was too exhausted, so she rode in the donkey cart with Qin Fangru, He Shouhui, He Shou’an, Xia Chan, and Xuan Yu, while the others walked.

Despite all the turmoil at the Ming Mansion, this black donkey remained perfectly fine outside, truly worthy of being Yan Daozi’s steed.

On the donkey cart, Sang Que roughly understood what had happened to He Shou’an’s family.

After He Shou’an was taken away by the fake Liu Tianyou, he was clever enough to realize something was wrong and escaped, hiding in a room.

Later, it was He Shouhui who found He Shou’an with a bamboo tube of black dog blood, using it to repel the Evil Spirits chasing He Shou’an, eventually reuniting with their parents.

Unfortunately, in the storm, the black dog blood quickly got washed away, and they didn’t have much with them. As they passed another courtyard with a well in the Ming Mansion, an Evil Spirit from the well suddenly grabbed He Shouhui’s hair, almost pulling her down into it.

It was Qin Fangru who reacted swiftly, jumping into the well and grabbing the edge, holding onto He Shouhui.

He Shouhui hadn’t expected her mother to risk everything to save her; she had always believed that only sons mattered to her parents.

But Qin Fangru told her at that moment that her biggest regret was not sacrificing herself to save her young daughter back then, so she would rather die herself than have He Shouhui get hurt again.

In the end, He Baosheng held onto Qin Fangru, and Qin Fangru told He Shouhui to climb up along her body.

Alas, the Evil Spirits in the well were too powerful for ordinary people to contend with. He Baosheng and Qin Fangru sacrificed themselves, saving their two children.

“Mom, how did you finally get saved?” He Shouhui asked.

Qin Fangru shook her head slightly, “I don’t know. At the time, your father and I were being grabbed by many hands, falling to the bottom of the well. We just thought that if we could hold on, we had to hold on, so you wouldn’t be left alone. As long as it was daylight, it would be fine.”

“Then we heard singing, the song Skinny’s mom always sang, ’The Blue Stone is Blue,’ and those hands disappeared. Then… it seemed like there was a bride, and the next thing we knew, you were seeing us.”

Sang Que listened silently beside them, thinking, it was very likely Huilan who saved Qin Fangru and He Baosheng.

Huilan didn’t have parents willing to sacrifice for her like that, so she would surely envy parents like Qin Fangru and He Baosheng.

But Sang Que could only speculate; nobody knew the truth. In any case, it was a great fortune that He Baosheng’s entire family survived.

Xia Chan lay curled up asleep on Sang Que’s lap, and Xuan Yu also slept, snoring beside them. Sang Que leaned back, closed her eyes, and continued to resist the ticking sound caused by the side effects of Recovery.

She shifted her focus and mentally calculated the gains and losses from the trip to the Ming Mansion.

When she came out of the well, there were three more items in her bag.

A copper mirror, a notebook, and a pair of embroidered shoes.

The embroidered shoes were a surprise to Sang Que because they were embroidered with peonies, unlike the embroidered shoes worn by brides in the Ming Mansion.

This pair of embroidered shoes were from when she was caught in the Hidden Realm at Black Mountain Village, being chased by the Deceitful Bride under Wan Xiangtou’s control, the same shoes worn by the Deceitful Bride.

It seemed that the wells in Shouhou’s house and throughout the Ming Mansion were interconnected by the curse of the child’s rhyme. The ancient well behind the Ming Mansion, where Huilan’s body lay, was likely the true source of the curse.

Sang Que would have to wait until reaching Dongyang County, lighting the soul candle and visualizing, to understand the copper mirror and embroidered shoes’ specific functions.

For now, she could only surmise that the copper mirror had the power to seal ghosts, and since the embroidered shoes could enter the Hidden Realm, they must also have the ability to break through the blockade of other Evil Spirits or Evil Ghosts.

But the cost of this worried Sang Que.

The notebook contained miscellaneous records kept by Ming Wanxi, detailing events related to Ming Wanxi and Huilan. Perhaps Ming Wanxi wanted someone to remember them and know their story, which was why she deliberately gave Sang Que the notebook.

If no one knew the truth, Ming Wanxi would always just be considered a freak, and Huilan a maid, never to be acknowledged.

Sang Que would read the notebook thoroughly when she had time, and she held some curiosity about Ming Wanxi and Huilan.

Besides these, they also acquired a Straight Blade capable of replenishing Evil Qi through absorbing human blood.

When she first held the blade, a scene of a battlefield strewn with corpses and rivers of blood flashed through her mind.

This suggested the blade had belonged to someone notorious on the battlefield, someone who had slain many, but there must be other reasons it became such a unique item.

Compared to swords, Sang Que preferred using blades.

There was also another yin object that Su Liangyuan hadn’t had the chance to use in the end—a long fragment of red nail, with dried flesh at the end, so unsettling that just a glance made one’s nails ache.

The specific function would be checked together with the copper mirror and embroidered shoes later.

The tangible gains were just these. What she lost included the pig-killing knife, the Corpse Worm, and the iron sword.

The non-tangible gains… hmm? The ticking in Sang Que’s mind suddenly ceased.

She leaned sideways, shielding her glance with her sleeve, to look at her pocket watch. It was ten in the morning, and the side effects of Recovery had almost entirely worn off over the past twelve hours.

Free from the torment of Recovery side effects, Sang Que inhaled deeply, trying to enter visualization, and amiably communicated with the Yin Child.

Ten minutes later, Sang Que opened her eyes, having clarified the non-tangible gain this time.

The Recovery ability provided by village resentment had its side effects reduce from twenty-four to twelve hours, meaning she could use it every twelve hours.

With the enhancement of village resentment capabilities, unlocking the Opera House revealed a Third Layer, capable of trapping Evil Spirits and people below Ghost Level.

Old Tian had reappeared on duty, combined with the Skinning Master and five children already imprisoned there, increasing their destructive power.

Village resentment was truly tragic—having barely ascended and escaped, only to be caught up by the Yin Child and pushed back down to dutifully act as the heart of the Yin Child.

Sang Que glanced at her palm; the trigram on the Yansheng coin now had seven symbols. She’d search in the woods along the way to hopefully gather eight, to also apply a ’Mountain Ghost Seal’ for village resentment, preventing any loss of control from recurring.

Finally, after the Yin Child devoured Su Liangyuan’s Evil Spirit, it smoothly stepped into the Nine Netherworld’s Third Layer, strengthening the Evil Mist.

Everything Su Liangyuan had been capable of, Sang Que could now achieve too: instant teleportation, suppressing and trapping foes, creating convincingly false illusions.

The only exception was the ability to fend off attacks from yin objects, an ability the Yin Child, this mischievous brat, hadn’t acquired.

Well, thinking it over, it made sense; the previous Evil Spirit, acting as a father willing to sacrifice its life for its child, harbored such emotions and obsessions. The Yin Child lacked such feelings; if not kept in check by Sang Que, it might have bolted at the first sign of danger, and even snuck some battle spoils when unnoticed—a troublesome, unruly little one.

Taming the Yin Child would be a long journey!

Her arm itched a bit, yet Sang Que dared not scratch. When Huilan occupied her body, the torso had been protected by chain armor, suffering no harm, but both arms had been cut several times by a man with a goatee. They’d been sewn up later with Xia Chan’s hair, leaving knife marks all over both arms now.

She feared going home, knowing her mother would fret over the injuries, but the wounds needed to be disinfected and resewn, lest they scar like centipedes all over in the future.

She wondered if the male doctor from the ER last time was still there; his suture work did not hurt, and he was very kind.

Rolling up her sleeve, Sang Que saw her scars and her eyes widened slightly.

Her wounds had nearly healed, with Xia Chan’s hair expelled, leaving only a faint pink scar and a slight fragrance of alcohol lingering on her skin, which had notably paled to a bloodless pallor.

Sang Que pressed a hand to her heart suddenly. Was this the ’Undying Curse’ from the old monk? She swallowed hard, finding herself craving blood pie!

Glancing at the mother and children sleeping opposite her, Sang Que tugged open her collar, noticing no curse mark on her chest, releasing a half-sigh of relief.

The curse left Sang Que restless and uneasy. She hastily lifted the curtain of the small window beside the carriage to let in some light, taking out Ming Wanxi’s notebook to begin examining it.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep