Chapter 326: Chapter 290: Confinement Vessel

Sang Que noticed that everything here seemed very real, but everything was essentially ink. As long as she sliced it with the Ten Victory Stone Dagger, it would turn back into ink.

Sang Que drew out an arrow shaft. The arrow shaft was made of ordinary wood, and over time, it was becoming old, with black spots appearing on it like mold, gradually transforming into ink.

The arrowhead was made of Ten Victory Stone. Usually, it was cool to the touch, but now it was scorching, indicating it was resisting the erosive forces around it.

The incident took place at a temporary cofferdam, and the nearest place from there was the Luo Family Brothers Village, now renamed West Slope Village. Sang Que promptly ran to West Slope Village.

At the entrance gate of the village, Sang Que saw the line snapped by the ink bucket and the talisman paper slowly burning from the edges.

Seeing these, Sang Que immediately knew that Yao Zhen must be inside.

The door wouldn’t open; it was locked from the inside. Sang Que stepped back two paces and shouted towards the higher ground.

“Yao Zhen!”

Soon, footsteps were heard from inside, and the door was opened from within. Yao Zhen stuck her head out, squinting to scrutinize Sang Que.

“Last time in Qinghe Town, how much did I promise to pay you for helping me?” Yao Zhen asked.

One sentence, three traps.

Sang Que replied, “Last time in Bailong County, I sought your help, promising three taels of gold.”

Correct answer, Yao Zhen let Sang Que in and closed the door securely again.

There were many villagers in the village, mostly those who worked in this area. Luo Danian and Luo Dayong were among them, and upon seeing Sang Que, Luo Danian led the people out of the house.

“Big Boss, you finally came!”

The significant changes within Bright Moon Mountain recently were all witnessed by Luo Danian, who already regarded Sang Que as their pillar.

“What’s going on?” Sang Que asked everyone.

Yao Zhen first asked Luo Danian to take everyone back inside the house, to avoid staying outside for too long. She then called Sang Que to one side, “As you can see, we are all trapped here.”

Yao Zhen came over yesterday morning after hearing that the river water here had turned black.

Her experience was similar to Sang Que’s; upon arrival, she saw all the villagers who worked here standing motionless. Yao Zhen used the Taoist Sect’s eye-opening method to see that these people had ominous black energy on their bodies.

She didn’t dare to approach but still got trapped, being struck from behind by the painting and entering here.

“I’ve explored a few times; the range of the painting world isn’t large. Surrounding it is pitch-black, somewhat resembling the Hidden Realm, where staying outside for too long will slowly erode ordinary people and objects into ink.”

“But the erosive process isn’t as fast as in the Hidden Realm. Staying indoors can slow down this erosion. Also, those who are fully eroded don’t realize it, behaving like normal people, making it hard for others to distinguish.”

As Yao Zhen spoke, Sang Que raised the Ten Victory Stone Dagger in her hand, pointing the blade at Yao Zhen.

“Hold this.”

Yao Zhen’s eyes lit up, “You’ve got plenty of good stuff on you, how large a piece of Ten Victory Stone would it take to carve out this dagger?”

“It’s not worth much; I’ll give you one when we get out,” Sang Que said, handing the dagger over further to Yao Zhen.

Yao Zhen clicked her tongue, marveling at Sang Que’s wealth, though Sang Que had told her to stay out of her dealings to remain friends.

Yao Zhen ran the back of her hand over the blade, blood immediately oozing from her hand, not black ink.

“Now, are you assured?”

Sang Que retrieved the dagger with a nod, “The ink feature here is enough to assume it’s the Zhuangyuan Ghost. However, in Wangshan City, the Zhuangyuan Ghost didn’t need to trap people in a painting; it could directly unveil a Ghost Realm, turning ordinary people into Ink and Water Evil Ghosts in an instant. Why does it feel like the Zhuangyuan Ghost is weakened now?”

Yao Zhen mused, “I have the same feeling. This painting might be a tool to detain ghosts, its inner conditions changing with the captive ghost. I’ve heard stories about the Zhuangyuan Ghost, how it loved to paint when alive and painted numerous strange works before dying in its room. Tempted by a special painting, it likely got caught.”

Sang Que had shared about the Wangshan City events with Yao Zhen; they both knew the Zhuangyuan Ghost was a highly intelligent specter.

Sang Que recalled the process of being trapped, “According to your theory, the painting only weakens the Zhuangyuan Ghost without suppressing it entirely, allowing it to trap people it encounters into the painting.”

“Given its level, killing us is a piece of cake, yet it does nothing. Could it be that it can’t leave by its own power, hoping to use us to create an escape route?”

Sang Que instinctively pressed her crossbody bag, where the embroidered shoes were inside, wrapped with red cloth and tied with red thread.

If this theory is correct, unwrapping the red cloth could potentially summon the Zhuangyuan Ghost to snatch the embroidered shoes.

The embroidered shoes were her means of escape, usable by only one person, thus she couldn’t bring others along. No need to take it out now; better find other ways first.

“Who trapped the Zhuangyuan Ghost in the painting?” Sang Que asked again.

Yao Zhen smiled bitterly, “I wish I knew; whoever it is, they’re surely targeting the Zhuangyuan Ghost and possess the capability to imprison it.”

Sang Que thoughtfully recalled that she hadn’t seen anyone else earlier; there were no living people around the temporary cofferdam, only transformed Ink and Water ghosts and this painting.

After a moment of reflection, Sang Que and Yao Zhen exchanged a glance.

No need for words; Sang Que knew that she and Yao Zhen had the same idea.

Since the Zhuangyuan Ghost is weakened here, why not attempt to imprison it?

With the Zhuangyuan Ghost imprisoned, Sang Que could take out the embroidered shoes, escape this place first, then find a way from outside to control the painting or to find the person using it.

That person’s goal is to detain the Zhuangyuan Ghost; it could be used in exchange to free everyone.

Sang Que reached into her bag, raising her copper mirror a bit for Yao Zhen to see its edge.

Yao Zhen got the hint; the crucial part of imprisoning a ghost is having a containment object. Being impoverished, Yao Zhen didn’t have anything like that; she would usually draw talismans on rags for temporary containment, hastily delivering ghosts to the Evil Suppression Bureau before the talismans wore off.

She had seen Sang Que’s copper mirror before; it could contain a Fourth Layer Evil Ghost. For those of Third Layer and below, containing about a hundred didn’t seem to be a problem.

The Zhuangyuan Ghost was once controlled by Qinzhou’s Yin Walking General Cao Huiyuan, dropping from the sixth to the fifth layer, and consumed much power escaping from the Wangshan City’s Evil Ghost Bureau. Being trapped in this painting by a mysterious person now, the copper mirror had a high chance of successful containment.

If not sufficient, Yao Zhen could add a blood talisman on the mirror’s surface, allowing enough time to come up with another plan within an hour.

Sang Que’s copper mirror still held some baby spirits. After Yao Zhen nodded, Sang Que had to suffer the pain of devouring a portion of them to replenish a trigram consumed on her return.

What couldn’t be swallowed would be left for the Yin Child to consume; meek sustenance was better than none, better than letting it all go.

Exchanging glances with Sang Que, Yao Zhen conveyed through eye contact that the Zhuangyuan Ghost’s intelligence indicated any trapped villagers in other villages were ordinary with no value to it.

The Zhuangyuan Ghost was likely there among their current company; throughout Bright Moon Mountain, either Yao Zhen or Sang Que was bound to find a way out.

While Yao Zhen considered ways to identify and ambush the Zhuangyuan Ghost, Sang Que muttered softly, “No need to search; be prepared; it will reveal itself.”

With that, Sang Que reached into her bag, grasping the red cloth wrapping the embroidered shoes.

Yao Zhen quickly pressed down on Sang Que’s hand, “Don’t rush; it’s easy to harm others here. I have a few suspects; you wait for me in that corner.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep