Chapter 96 - 94: Ghost Wall

Chapter 96: Chapter 94: Ghost Wall

Fox Village wasn’t built on a large, flat plain. The terrain was rugged and uneven, and the paths were a complete mess.

Feng Ling and her group sometimes ascended stone slopes, other times cut through fields, crossed small streams, or found their path blocked by tangled woods.

The village houses were scattered about haphazardly, with no discernible plan.

Feng Ling skirted a patch of tangled woods and found the scene before her growing familiar.

’It’s like I’ve been here before.’

After walking a little further, she saw a stout, old willow tree ahead. Beneath it was a stone table bearing a smiling face—the very same card-drawing Divine Statue she had seen earlier.

Pei Xianjue saw it too. "How is there another Divine Statue here?" she asked in surprise. "Are there two of them in the village?"

"This is the same Divine Statue from before," Feng Ling said.

"Huh?" Pei Xianjue stared blankly for a moment, glanced back the way they came, then looked ahead again. "...It’s like we’re bewitched. How did we end up back here?"

Feng Ling frowned in thought for a moment before saying, "Let’s try a different direction."

She carefully memorized the area around the Divine Statue, her mind filled with doubt.

She had absorbed a bat Card, and one of its abilities allowed her to memorize any route, no matter how complex, at a single glance, making it impossible for her to get lost. But here in this village, the bat’s ability seemed to be ineffective.

After changing course, Feng Ling walked in a straight line for about half an hour, only for them to once again end up back under the old willow tree.

"We’re trapped in a loop," Pei Xianjue said, her face pale. "Don’t tell me we’re stuck here forever..."

Feng Ling thought for a moment. "If we can’t get out, it’s highly likely Liang Zhou can’t either. He must still be somewhere in the village."

Pei Xianjue glanced at the nearby houses. "We’ve been walking for so long, and all we’ve seen are foxes. Could the Hero be hiding in one of the houses?"

Feng Ling nodded. "Yes, we can try looking."

Huangfu Miaomiao was getting impatient. "We’re still looking? We’ve already walked this loop twice. Let’s rest for a while! I’m about to get blisters."

She was the shortest, so for every step Feng Ling took, Huangfu Miaomiao had to take two just to keep up.

Hearing her complain, Pei Xianjue realized her own legs were aching and her feet were going numb. They had been trekking along mountain paths ever since leaving Three Pure Ones Palace, the descent alone taking several hours. Now, after walking two laps around Fox Village, they were really feeling tired.

Feng Ling looked toward a nearby empty house. "We’ll rest over there."

The house was dilapidated. Inside, it was dark and damp, with nests of sowbugs at the base of the walls. It hardly looked like a place to rest. Fortunately, the house came with a small, fenced-in yard that was reasonably flat and clean.

Huangfu Miaomiao took out a moisture-proof mat, spread it out in the yard, and eagerly sat down to rest.

Feng Ling and Pei Xianjue also found their own empty spots to sit.

Since they were all girls, it would have been awkward for Li Qing to crowd in with them. Spying a dry, weed-choked well in the yard, he leaned against its rim and sat down cross-legged to meditate.

Huangfu Miaomiao took out a bottle of water and some bread and handed them to Feng Ling.

Feng Ling asked Li Qing, "Daoist, would you like some water?"

"No need," Li Qing said with a straight face. "I am abstaining from food."

Feng Ling laughed. "You’re abstaining from food, but not even drinking water?"

Huangfu Miaomiao said sarcastically, "The system won’t let a Maze Administrator die of thirst."

Pei Xianjue took a water bottle and some rations from her own bag. She took a sip of water, then broke a cracker into small pieces and ate it slowly, bite by bite.

Her mood was low. She felt it was very likely that Liang Zhou was already dead; otherwise, there was no reason they shouldn’t have been able to find him by now.

Even if Liang Zhou were hiding in one of the houses, it made no sense that he wouldn’t call out after seeing her.

’What if we not only fail to find Liang Zhou, but I can’t even get out of this village myself? We’ve walked two laps and we’re still in the same spot. It’s too bizarre... It’s as if this place is being manipulated by some mysterious force.’

Feng Ling said, "Daoist, you haven’t used your beads today, have you? The first use of the day has a 92% success rate. Why don’t you do a divination now and see which direction we need to go to leave the village?"

Li Qing fell silent for a moment, then took out his phone and detached three beads from its strap.

Feng Ling noticed his phone strap was almost bare; there weren’t many beads left.

He clutched the three beads in his hand, closed his eyes to concentrate, and then tossed them straight up with his palm facing upward—

One bead fell into a patch of grass, another rolled across the ground, and the third hit the rim of the well, bounced, and dropped inside.

Feng Ling was speechless.

Li Qing fell silent.

After a moment, he looked up at Feng Ling. "I can’t get a reading."

Feng Ling’s lips pressed into a thin line. Then, the line slowly curved upward into a smile.

"No problem," Feng Ling said with a smile. "If worse comes to worst, we’ll just kill every fox in this village and then burn it to the ground. We’ll find a way out eventually."

Huangfu Miaomiao, who had grown bolder, immediately nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let’s do that."

Pei Xianjue swallowed a piece of her cracker and said hesitantly, "...Is it just me, or do those foxes seem to be getting more and more human-like?"

"They are?" Huangfu Miaomiao frowned as she looked out. "I just think they’re getting closer and closer to us."

The foxes that were chopping wood, tilling the fields, and fetching water to do laundry had originally kept their distance. Now, however, they were casting glances in their direction, intentionally or not, and creeping closer.

Two of them, who were especially bold, strolled past the front of the yard arm in arm. Their slanted, foxy eyes sized up the group restlessly as they let out soft giggles, though at what, no one could tell.

Had an ordinary person encountered such a scene, their hair would have been standing on end by now.

Feng Ling, who was munching on her bread, suddenly raised her arm and hurled it at one of the foxes!

The two foxes jumped in surprise.

A moment ago they had been walking arm in arm like people, but after being pelted, they dropped to all fours and scurried away.

The piece of bread Feng Ling had thrown rolled a few times on the ground, picking up dirt.

She waited patiently for a moment, and once she was sure the foxes weren’t going to eat it, she remarked, "I thought they were after the bread. Turns out they’re after us."

"What? They’d dare?" Huangfu Miaomiao’s eyes went wide. "But they’re so weak."

It wasn’t that Huangfu Miaomiao was being arrogant; the Fox Demons here really did look weak. For one, they were short. For another, they were lanky. They had absolutely no intimidating presence.

Feng Ling gave a faint smile. "They might look weak, but nine times out of ten, they’re the ones keeping us trapped here."

Huangfu Miaomiao asked Feng Ling, "Should I kill one or two of them to scare the rest off?"

Feng Ling shook her head and glanced at her Cat Owl and Cat Spider.

The Cat Owl instantly flapped its wings and took flight, targeting one Fox Demon and diving sharply from above!

Seeing this, the Fox Demon covered its head and scurried away, quickly ducking into a house and slamming the door shut with a BANG.

The Cat Spider was just as aggressive, pouncing on a Fox Demon that was carrying firewood. Unfortunately, the fox was too fast, and the Cat Spider only managed to tear off a scrap of cloth from its clothing.

With her two pets wreaking havoc, the sound of slamming doors echoed one after another. In no time, not a single Fox Demon was left in sight; they had all retreated into their houses to hide.

Huangfu Miaomiao exclaimed, "These foxes are such cowards!"

Although both the Cat Owl and Cat Spider had grown quite a bit, they were still a good deal smaller than the Fox Demons. But even so, they had scared the foxes badly, which is why Huangfu Miaomiao thought they were cowards.

With the prying Fox Demons gone, the area became much quieter.

Pei Xianjue had just breathed a sigh of relief when she heard a man’s hearty laughter from afar.

Her eyes flew wide. Brushing off some cracker crumbs, she said, "That’s the Hero’s voice!"