Chapter 13: A Glimmer of Hope

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The other survivors had all gathered outside Fang Zhi’s room.

Wen Chao’s eyes were faintly red. He stood there for a long while before finally letting out a heavy sigh.

“What a pity.”

He rubbed his face and turned to leave.

Compared with mourning a student, he had more important matters to attend to. Ghosts and evil spirits truly existed within the Blessed Land, which meant that things impossible in the real world might happen here.

Perhaps... they could meet again.

...

The others were in poor spirits as well.

Yesterday had been their first day in the Blessed Land. Although Lu Yuzhu’s death had dealt them a heavy blow, she had still been a stranger to them. They had regarded her as part of the Blessed Land’s setting, while secretly clinging to a shred of luck.

But the person who had died today was Fang Zhi, who had acted alongside them yesterday!

The sight of his shattered skull seared their eyes. At last, they had gained a true understanding of the Blessed Land’s cruelty. The next person to die in such a manner could be any one of them.

Fear, like weeds beneath deep water, coiled around every heart.

Yue Mei was affected most of all.

Her legs had gone weak with terror. She could barely remain standing with the wall supporting her. Sweat covered her pallid face, and she looked as though she might faint at any moment. Slowly, she moved to Wu Xian’s side, where he was enjoying the spectacle, and asked with trembling lips,

“I—I’m a little frightened. Could I stay with you tonight?”

If this had happened in the outside world, Wu Xian might have agreed to let a pretty girl move in with him. But this was the Blessed Land, so he shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t take that risk. I hope you understand.”

At his words, the light faded from Yue Mei’s eyes. Wu Xian had been the last person to leave that morning, and she had already asked everyone else. Not one of them had been willing to accept her request.

That morning, just as she was about to leave, she discovered a letter stuffed beneath her door.

It read:

“Your room has been marked. I wiped away the handprint for you, but I do not know whether that will help. You had better find somewhere else to stay tonight. If no one is willing to take you in, try asking the native survivors for help. Since they have managed to remain alive in the Blessed Land until now, they must have some way of avoiding the evil spirits.”

At first, Yue Mei had not believed what the letter said.

But after stepping outside, she noticed that her door had indeed been wiped clean in places compared with the previous day.

Then she remembered that when Yu Yinghua had knocked on her door the night before, she had accidentally bumped against the corner of the table. The sound had been very faint—but what if Yu Yinghua had heard it?

At that thought, Yue Mei’s heart began to race. She realized that everything written in the letter was true.

And so she sought help from the others.

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But with the situation in the Blessed Land still unclear and everyone’s life under threat, how could anyone dare take her in recklessly?

Now she had nowhere else to go.

She remained where she was for a long time, constantly encouraging herself. At last, she made up her mind, gathered some supplies, and set off to seek out the other survivors within the Blessed Land.

...

“Hey, she’s finally gone.”

Wu Xian breathed a sigh of relief when Yue Mei departed.

Of course, he had been the one to slip the letter beneath her door.

He had no liking for Qi Zhiyong, but he bore Yue Mei no ill will.

If that great evil spirit killed people for reasons unrelated to the handprints, then wiping away the mark outside Yue Mei’s room would only have harmed her by leaving her unprepared for the danger to come.

That was why he had written the letter.

By giving her a possible way to survive, he had at least made up for setting her up in the first place.

Inside Fang Zhi’s room, Wu Xian had obtained some aged arborvitae incense. He planned to visit the place where Mr. Wang had been killed the previous day and worship the deity there before trying to locate the statue.

At present, Wu Xian could still cast the True Fire Incantation twice, while his coin sword could strike eight more times. Against an ordinary wandering evil spirit in a direct confrontation, he would basically not be at a disadvantage.

But the true danger of the Blessed Land had never come from wandering evil spirits attacking head-on.

The methods of ghosts and monsters were impossible to guard against. When danger appeared, he might not even have the chance to use the True Fire Incantation or coin sword. A trap, a vase, or a length of rope could all suddenly claim a life.

Not to mention the mysterious great evil spirit whose nature remained unknown and which had yet to show itself directly.

He had just reached the ground floor when he saw Shi Ji approaching.

“Brother, what took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you.”

Wu Xian asked in confusion, “Did you need something?”

Shi Ji slapped him on the shoulder.

“That fellow Qi bullied you far too badly. It reminded me of my former self, so today I’m taking you to find something good.”

Wu Xian grew wary.

“You’re not cooking today?”

“We’re still having intestines today. I washed them yesterday. Yesterday’s were braised in soy sauce, and today’s will be stir-fried with scallions!”

Shi Ji waved his hand and spoke with a solemn expression.

“Besides, if we want to survive in the Blessed Land, how can we waste all our time cooking and rely on someone else to protect us? Can we really count on that fellow Qi?”

“Then what is this good thing you mentioned?”

Shi Ji glanced around, leaned close to Wu Xian, and whispered into his ear,

“Since entering the Blessed Land, have you seen any deity statues?”

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Wu Xian’s heart jolted. Had this man seen through his disguise?

Before Wu Xian could answer, Shi Ji continued mysteriously,

“I have. I’ve seen several of them!”

“From the very beginning, I felt that Qi Zhiyong couldn’t be trusted, so I secretly kept an eye on him whenever I had a moment while cooking.”

“All those weapons of his were found in a hidden room at the inn. One glance was enough to tell that they had all been stained with blood. He also found a deity statue there!”

“After worshiping it, a short sword gleaming with cold light suddenly appeared in his hand!”

“That bastard who eats dog excrement even told us to stay away from the deity statues. So it turns out that worshiping them is the only way to stay alive in the Blessed Land.”

Wu Xian narrowed his eyes.

The inn had a hidden room, and that room even contained a variety of deadly weapons. The place was clearly abnormal. It was quite possible that, even before the calamity of evil spirits erupted, this had already been a place of slaughter.

Moreover, Shi Ji had only just discovered the function of the deity statues. This proved that someone like himself—one who had been able to worship a deity from the very beginning—was indeed special.

Since Shi Ji had a lead on a deity statue, there was no harm in cooperating with him for the time being.

Wu Xian therefore pretended to lose his temper.

“That Qi Zhiyong really isn’t human. I hope he fathers a dozen children with nothing but assholes. Yesterday, it was clearly me who—”

As Wu Xian cursed, Shi Ji chimed in beside him.

“Exactly, exactly. Don’t count on him to protect us. It would already be a blessing if he didn’t take advantage of us when we were down.”

Wu Xian then put on a puzzled expression.

“If you already know the truth, why didn’t you search for one yourself? Why come and tell me?”

Shi Ji thumped his chest.

“I simply sympathized with what you went through and wanted to help.”

“Really? I don’t believe you.”

“All right, all right. This is how things stand...”

Shi Ji smiled sheepishly.

“I know a place with two deity statues, but I can’t handle it alone. Give me a hand, and once it’s done, we’ll split the statues evenly. How does that sound?”

“Deal!”

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