Chapter 365: Chapter 329: Trapped Like Rats in a Jar

After Sang Que finished speaking, they heard the sound of bells accompanied by the cries of a baby coming from the west, approaching rapidly.

Sang Que, bearing the pressure exerted by the Death Domain, instantly teleported to Xia Chan’s side, pulling her along into the county government.

They publicly burned down the Xishen Temple to first relieve the townspeople of the pressure it exerted, thereby reducing their fear.

Then they would enter the county government, establishing the battlefield there while they searched for a pen to write city rules, anticipating that the enemy would come seeking them, preventing the enemy from entering, taking the pen, and writing their death on a notice board.

If the enemy came directly to take the pen, they would inadvertently lead the way for them.

This was Sang Que’s plan: confront them directly, quick battle, and decisive victory.

…

Outside the county government, just after Sang Que had gone inside, a group of beast-like baby spirits with blue-hued bodies crawled from all over the walls and rooftops, converging in front of the county government doors, their cries melding together.

Behind those baby spirits followed a dwarf with a face painted like a clown, a topknot on his head with a bell hanging from its tip, wobbling as he walked.

Seeing the Xishen Temple aflame with yin fire, the dwarf was furious. “Anger Xishen, and you will all die!”

The dwarf tried to put out the fire, but as soon as he got close, the fire tongues of yin fire sprayed towards his face, forcing him back.

A baby spirit accidentally touched the fire and was immediately engulfed, rolling on the ground and wailing before quickly turning to ash.

The yin fire in the Xishen Temple continued to burn, showing no signs of extinguishing on its own.

Yin fire primarily burns with yin energy; with the dense yin energy in the Death Domain, unless it’s put out with water mixed with rooster blood or black dog blood, this fire would keep burning and spread everywhere.

The dwarf was so angry he ordered the baby spirits to force a few elderly townspeople from nearby houses and ordered them to find a way to extinguish the fire.

Hearing that the culprit called themselves the Evil Suppression Bureau Night Wanderer Sang Mulan and entered the county government, the dwarf’s eyes lit up, immediately thinking of the Yin Child.

He clapped his hands in delight, “What you seek is hard to find, but fortune brings me this without trouble; watch me capture the Yin Child and claim the reward from the Class Leader.”

The dwarf, shaking his head with bells ringing, laughed gleefully as all the baby spirits giggled, surging towards the county government in a mighty stream.

The dwarf ran into the county government, stopped after a few steps, turned around, and shouted at a corner, “Come out! I can see you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a man dressed in black, even his face wrapped in black cloth, slowly revealed himself, leaning against the wall with arms crossed—the same puppet master who had escaped Sang Que’s clutches before.

“You’re coming with me to catch the Yin Child!” the dwarf ordered.

The puppet master stood still, “Don’t blame me for not warning you, that Sang Mulan isn’t easily dealt with. She has a jumping corpse cultivated by Qu Tianhe by her side, the Daomadan’s skin has been stripped by her, and the death of Wan Xiangtou probably has a lot to do with her too, even Wan Xiangtou’s Deceitful Bride is already under her control.”

The dwarf’s eyes widened, stepping back dramatically like a stage performance.

“She has control over two ghosts?”

“Two ghosts and a jumping corpse, and accompanying her inside was He Buning’s sworn sister from the Evil Suppression Bureau, and she’s an Evil Person!”

“Another Evil Person? Oh my, now that’s a big problem!”

The dwarf raised a hand to cover his face, keeping an exaggerated gesture.

But the next moment, he put his hand down and laughed loudly, “Isn’t this perfect! Capture them, and the Class Leader will surely reward me well.”

“Even if the Class Leader rewards you, you’ll need to be alive to receive it!”

The dwarf resumed his normal demeanor, “If you and I join forces, what is there to fear in capturing them? This is our Death Domain.”

“Why should I join forces with you?” The puppet master turned his head aside.

The dwarf sneered, “Don’t forget, it was your incompetence that caused the loss of supplies. The Class Leader and Xishen haven’t had a chance to punish you yet; if you don’t redeem yourself, the Class Leader will surely take your life!”

The puppet master’s fingers tightened; it was precisely this concern that kept him ambushed at the county government’s entrance, waiting to decide whether to assist the dwarf or escape preemptively.

As the puppet master pondered, a drumbeat suddenly echoed from outside the county government.

When the drumbeat fell, the county government doors closed autonomously, and the puppet master immediately stood upright, shocked, rushing to the county government doors, only to see them vanish before his eyes.

“Are you mad!”

A drumbeat signals midnight; after midnight, the county government closes, prohibiting anyone from entering or exiting.

The dwarf chuckled, shaking his head, “Now the fish is in the barrel, and no one should think of escaping.”

The puppet master, angry, turned back, “I’m just worried you’ll end up as that fish! Quickly beat the drum again and let me out!”

The dwarf sneered, “It’s impossible now; the corpse slave outside who beats the drum has been killed by me. If you want to get out, either capture the Yin Child or endure for three hours, go in and catch them~”

Surrounding baby spirits cried and surged into the county government, leaving the puppet master fuming.

All of them were only at the fourth layer strength, with the ghost realm controlling this area being of higher rank than them, and the city rules had a certain effect on them too.

That ghost was special; it wouldn’t stay in the Death Domain all the time, so after each city forms a Death Domain, the ghost would leave, leaving behind city rules to manage it.

Now they were all trapped within the county government, and if the dwarf indeed hadn’t left drum-beating corpse slaves outside, he really had only two options: kill Sang Mulan or hide for three hours.

Reflecting on the last encounter in Sang Mulan’s Ghost Realm, the puppet master thought if the dwarf died, he might not survive for three hours.

The puppet master cursed quietly and melded back into the darkness, strands of spider silk swaying in the wind, mechanical sounds echoing throughout the county government.

…

Under the shroud of night, the ancient county government was deathly silent. Sang Que and Xia Chan carefully navigated through it, with Sang Que using her Ghost Eye to scan the surroundings, avoiding places with dense yin energy, and searching for locations storing special items.

They hadn’t been inside long when the cries of infants began to resound from all directions, sharp and mournful.

Traversing the courthouse where cases were usually judged, Sang Que pulled Xia Chan aside to hide in a dark corner; in the courtyard, some people in constable uniforms roamed stiffly, their movements twisted.

The light from the red lanterns under the eaves illuminated them, all casting no shadows.

Sang Que remembered the city rules; being touched by these shadowless people would turn a normal person’s shadow into a corpse. With the effects of the Death Domain’s city rules, these shadowless people could likely not be completely eliminated and needed to be avoided.

Sang Que whispered to Xia Chan, “Put out all those lanterns, you on your side, and I on mine.”

The duo divided their efforts, with Sang Que loading regular arrows into her Hand Crossbow, taking down a lantern with each shot.

Recently, Xia Chan had been learning Flying Needle acupuncture techniques from Qiao Ling. She leaned forward, squinting, and used her hair as a Flying Needle to target the lanterns under the eaves.

Initially, her hair pierced through the lanterns but didn’t extinguish the candle flame, and Xia Chan pouted in frustration, but Sang Que encouraged her with a pat on the shoulder to keep trying.

Xia Chan reflected; acupuncture required fine needles, but here she needed to extinguish the flame, so she twisted her hair into thicker ’needles’.

Dozens of ’needles’ flew out with a puffing sound, causing the lanterns to sway, and the candle flames went out.

As Xia Chan succeeded on her second attempt, Sang Que retrieved a painting, releasing the Red Ghost and those special White-haired Zombies, ambushing them in the surrounding darkness.

After completing these preparations, just as Sang Que put away the painting, her leg suddenly felt a weight, and piercing cold like needles pricked her leg, causing it to immediately go numb.

Sang Que looked down and saw a blue, rotten baby spirit clinging to her leg, reaching to bite her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep