Chapter 62: The Secret of the Divine Statue

The low whisper between the master and disciple finally drew to a close.

Ma Wenwen broke the brief silence. "Your ghostly energy is scattering and your souls are unstable. If you do not report to the underworld soon, I fear even the chance of reincarnation will dissipate entirely."

Li Gang's dark silhouette seemed to nod, growing even more ethereal.

He cast one last look at his foolish disciple, then bowed slightly toward Le Dong and the others as a final farewell.

The disciple, Xiaoyong, reined in all his emotions and bowed deeply toward his master's direction.

At the very moment when the two wisps of black smoke were about to merge completely into the air and vanish between heaven and earth, Xiaoyong seemed to hesitate. He raised his head and looked at Le Dong and Cai Kun. On that dark, gaunt face, a trace of... embarrassed awkwardness actually appeared?

"Um..." Xiaoyong's voice carried a hint of nervousness. "So... sorry... earlier, while looking for my master... we messed up your car on the side of the road..."

"Look, look, look, I knew it!" Cai Kun's eyes bulged, pointing at the wisps of black smoke on the verge of vanishing, his lips trembling with rage.

"I kept wondering how that lousy road suddenly... suddenly..." He opened his mouth, wanting to hurl some harsh curses, but looking at the opponent's impending disappearance and catching the glance shot by Lin Xun beside him, he ultimately swallowed back the harsher words he had prepared. He merely let out a heavy "hum," his face turning ashen.

Having uttered this apology, Xiaoyong seemed to have exhausted his last remaining strength, and his figure completely merged into the black smoke of Li Gang, which was likewise dissipating.

"Hoo..."

A faint gust of wind swept past.

Inside the repair shed, there was no longer the slightest hint of chill; only the damp air after the rain remained. The green-painted iron door that had been knocked open swayed gently in the wind, emitting a creaking sound.

The repair shed fell somewhat quiet.

Full half a minute later, Cai Kun leaped up as if a needle had been poked into his backside!

"This is wrong, how could we run into ghosts? The divine statue! Where is the divine statue?!" he shrieked, running toward the trunk.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, Cai Kun let out a miserable wail: "Ah—what is going on? Why are the statue's eyes white? This damn thing is broken!"

With a crying face, he turned around from the back of the car, clutching the wooden carved statue of Zhong Kui, pointing at the statue's eyes with a voice that sounded like he was about to burst into tears: "Look, look at these eyes, they've turned completely white! No wonder, no wonder those two ghosts were able to get close! We're done for, we're done for... Now that old ghost Hu, that malevolent star... will definitely track us down! We're... we're dead for sure!"

Cai Kun's panic spread like a plague through the tiny repair shed. Le Dong's heart sank as well, and his gaze involuntarily drifted toward the gloomy mountain path outside the shed.

Even Ma Wenwen pressed her lips together, her gloomy expression revealing no clue as to what she was thinking.

Lin Xun, who had remained silent all this while, walked over at that moment. Ignoring Cai Kun's wailing, she reached out and took the divine statue, examining it closely.

Her gaze lingered for a long time, particularly on the pair of completely grayish-white eyes.

"Is this a kind of... ritual instrument you brought along when you set out?" Lin Xun asked, her voice carrying a probing tone.

Ma Wenwen took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, it's something passed down from my ancestors, which has always been worshipped."

"Mhm." Lin Xun nodded thoughtfully, her fingers gently brushing over the grayish-white eye area of the statue. "This statue... the most crucial part seems to be these eyes. Why is it that only the eyes were washed white by the rain?"

She seemed to be talking to herself, yet also inquiring. "The material of the entire statue should be the same, and the surface coating should be identical. Even if it got rained on, the fading should happen overall, or certain fragile parts should fade first. There is no reason why only the eyes managed to 'fade' so precisely into white while the other parts showed no obvious change."

She raised her head after finishing and swept her gaze across the group. "Unless... the original color of these eyes and the rest of the statue's body were simply not the same coating at all!"

Lin Xun's words were like a pebble tossed into a calm lake, stirring ripples.

Le Dong and Cai Kun were both stunned, subconsciously looking toward Ma Wenwen, who appeared to know little about it and was listening attentively.

Lin Xun continued her analysis. "Moreover, what kind of coating is so lacking in water resistance? Ordinary pigments, even the cheapest ones, wouldn't wash out this quickly from rainwater, unless..." She paused, her gaze growing deeper. "Unless the material used to paint those eyes was extremely special in the first place, and... extremely 'fragile'."

She looked at Ma Wenwen, recalling, "I previously... happened to overhear Mr. Chen mention a few casual remarks.

He said that some old items, especially ritual statues used for suppressing malevolent spirits or handling special events, would use some extremely special 'pigments' on crucial parts like the eyes.

Some are mixed with cinnabar and rooster's crest blood, taking the meaning of extreme Yang to break malevolence; some are bottom-of-the-pot soot from centuries-old stoves, taking the meaning of mortal hearth-fire and heavy sedimentation; and there are even weirder ones... rumored to use... human blood."

"Human blood?" Cai Kun blurted out, his expression peculiar.

Lin Xun ignored him, her gaze slowly locking onto Ma Wenwen's face, specifically locking onto the circle of yellow cloth strips wrapped around his eyes. "The purpose of using such extreme materials usually has only one objective—either to suppress some extremely fierce and vicious evil entity, or... to deter, or even mark some powerful grievance-ridden ghost that is hard to shake off! To make that thing... submit, or... be kept in captivity?"

When Lin Xun uttered the words "human blood" and "deterring some powerful vengeful ghost," Le Dong's pupils shrank violently!

Almost instinctively, he instantly whipped his head around to look at Ma Wenwen. He recalled the night at the villa, the moment when that terrifying red light had burst from Ma Wenwen's eyes—those were definitely not human eyes!

At the same time, Cai Kun reacted as if struck by lightning, abruptly turning his head to look at Ma Wenwen. His face was filled with shock and terror; clearly, he too had recalled that horrifying scene!

Ma Wenwen's expression shifted again and again under Lin Xun's analysis and the abruptly focused gazes of Le Dong and Cai Kun.

The atmosphere inside the shed plummeted to freezing point due to the secret of the statue's eyes and Lin Xun's conjecture, becoming even more oppressive and tense than when facing the ghosts just moments ago.

"Ahem, ahem!"

Le Dong was crushed by the heavy atmosphere to the point of breathlessness. He gave two dry coughs, forcefully breaking the silence.

"Well... Officer Lin's analysis makes a lot of sense, but discussing this now is useless. Soldiers will be blocked by generals, water will be dammed by earth! Maybe that old ghost Hu got lost and didn't manage to chase us down?"

He attempted to ease the mood with a relaxed tone. "The most urgent matter right now is what to do about this car?"

Cai Kun also snapped back to his senses. Delving deeper into the secret of the statue's eyes was not only useless right now, but it might also provoke Ma Wenwen, the only one with any real capability.

He hurriedly followed Le Dong's cue, pointing at the micro-van. "Yes, yes, Le Dong is right, having the car break down here is no solution, and who knows how much road we have left to cover! Officer Lin, what do you think?"

Lin Xun's gaze lingered for a few seconds on Ma Wenwen's silent, tense profile, swept past Le Dong and Cai Kun, and finally landed on the stalled micro-van.

"This car... which of you knows how to handle it well enough to give it a try? Repair it?"

Seeing everyone shake their heads, she walked over to the edge of the shed and looked outside.

Unbeknownst to them, the downpour had gradually ceased, leaving only sporadic raindrops falling from the edge of the roof.

The heavy dark clouds had parted somewhat, revealing a few wisps of pale daylight.

"The rain is almost stopping." Lin Xun gazed at the muddy path, her brows tightly knitted. "We can only wait for the road surface to dry a bit, and then find a way to see if we can push it, or..." She paused, her tone carrying helplessness. "Wait for a passing car to rescue us."

Hearing this, Le Dong and the others had no other choice either, and could only pack their luggage while awaiting the imminent clearing of the weather...