Chapter 16: Unexplored Territory

 Chapter 16: Unexplored Territory

Zhang Yuanqing returned to the main hall, bathed in candlelight, calming the resurgent pain of his old illness, and also purifying himself in the process.

According to his calculations, the vengeful spirits would likely catch up to him within a minute or two. It was definitely not the right time to enter the eastern courtyard and face the zombies.

After resting for four to five minutes, his physical condition worsened. He felt a headache accompanied by slight dizziness. He knew it was the corpse poison gradually taking its toll on his body, showing its initial symptoms.

The candlelight in the main hall seemed unable to cleanse the toxins inside his body.

"I can't delay any longer..." He decided to make the most of the thirty-minute time limit of the red dancing shoes and swiftly complete the instance.

Zhang Yuanqing left the main hall, walking along the cobblestone path, weaving through the overgrown grass, and arrived at the quadrangle.

Standing in the yard with undulating wild grass, he opened the inventory and summoned the red dancing shoes. Two dark red glimmers danced gracefully in the night, transforming into a pair of brand new dancing shoes.

"Choose the second form!" Zhang Yuanqing silently recited.

The red dancing shoes disintegrated once again into faint red glimmers, forming two arcs that wrapped around his feet. In an instant, the running shoes on his feet turned into a pair of large red dancing shoes.

This... Isn't this essentially crossdressing? Fortunately, they are red dancing shoes, not high heels... Zhang Yuanqing felt a bit strange as he looked at his feet, but forced himself not to dwell on this detail. He took out the corpse-sealing talisman, held it in his hand, and amidst the rustling sound of the banyan tree, he passed through the arched door, returning to the eastern courtyard.

In the eastern courtyard, with undulating grass and moonlight shining brightly, two large houses stood quietly, everything so serene.

He carefully looked around and didn't see any traces of zombies. He cautiously passed through the courtyard and approached the large house divided into four rooms.

The room that displayed the coffins had its wooden door already knocked down. He didn't need to go inside, instead, he peered inside from a distance beyond the threshold.

Moonlight shone through a gap in the tiles, illuminating the corpses, coffins, and the overturned coffin lid, as well as that brass pestle. They all remained in their original places, not moved in the slightest.

There were no signs of zombies in the room.

"Could it have returned to the coffin?" He couldn't see the inside of the coffin from his angle.

Just as he hesitated, he suddenly noticed that the moonlight seemed to dim, and a black shadow descended from above, enveloping him.

Immediately after, the night wind carried a strong stench of decay, along with low growls.

It, it's hiding in the trees? Zhang Yuanqing was greatly startled, and his heart suddenly tightened as he instinctively thought about evading.

In the next moment, the red dancing shoes on his feet emitted a dim red light. Zhang Yuanqing's feet slipped suddenly, and before he could react, he slid forward, leaving a trace in the overgrown grass.

Thud!

The zombie clad in ragged clothes missed its attack.

Avoided... Zhang Yuanqing scrambled to his feet in a fluster, overjoyed that his heart settled back in its place.

The red dancing shoes were indeed miraculous; their evasive capabilities were even stronger than he had expected. With his own reaction speed, he couldn't have dodged the zombie's attack just now.

Zhang Yuanqing's confidence soared.

"Growl..."

The zombie, with hair like dry grass, emitted a roar that shook the eardrums. Its bulging eyes looked even more ferocious, and it bounced its knees, pouncing at its prey once again.

Its speed was as fast as a racing car.

Amidst the pungent wind, the terrifying specter was already close at hand. Zhang Yuanqing's uncontrollable legs twisted like a ballet dancer, smoothly cutting out a half-circle to avoid the sharp nails and end up behind the zombie.

Immediately after, he instinctively performed a split, his body collapsed abruptly, and a fierce wind whistled above his head as his two arms swept through.

Rip, he tore into the crotch... Zhang Yuanqing's face contorted, feeling like screaming in agony, but the red dancing shoes manipulated his legs to spring up, propelling him into the air.

He leaped high and kicked the zombie's chest fiercely.

Thud!

In a muffled sound, fine dust flew up from the tattered clothes of the zombie.

It let out a roar of anger and unwillingness, knocked backward by the tremendous force, falling on its back.

An opportunity! Seeing this scene, Zhang Yuanqing ignored the tearing pain in his crotch and sprinted forward, fiercely smacking the corpse-sealing talisman in his hand towards the highly decayed and foul-smelling face before him.

He smacked it on the forehead.

Snap!

The ferocious bloodthirsty zombie seemed to be hit by a petrification curse, suddenly freezing in place.

Everything went quiet, returning to stillness.

The zombie lay stiff in the midst of the overgrown grass, its ferocious eyes gradually dimming to a crimson hue.

It had lost its "vitality."

Looking at the motionless zombie, which had turned into an inanimate sculpture unable to show its might, Zhang Yuanqing gasped heavily, a mix of exhaustion and joy flooding his heart.

He had survived!

"Without the help of the red dancing shoes, it's difficult to deal with the zombies alone. Zombies are just one of the weird things. They truly deserve to be at the S-rank Spiritual Realm; they're too tough."

"But the construction team is a large group. It should have been no problem for them to deal with the zombies. How could they end up like this..." Zhang Yuanqing suddenly sighed; he understood the reason.

He found the corpse-sealing talisman in the pocket of the corpse under the window. The senior practitioner obtained this item, but he didn't tell his companions and instead hid it for himself.

Human hearts are more complex and terrifying than ghosts and monsters.

Having dealt with the zombies, the next task was to go down the well and find that shameless female ghost.

However, before that, there was something that Zhang Yuanqing cared about very much.

He left the zombie and walked towards the room where the coffins were displayed. Crossing the threshold with his hand on the door frame, the moonlight shone through, forming beams in the dim room.

He stomped his feet in front of the mummy, bending down to pick up the copper cone.

Though it was clearly made of copper, it didn't feel cold in his hand; instead, it felt warm and smooth like jade.

Immediately, information appeared in his field of view.

【Name: Demon Subduing Pestle】

【Type: Weapon】

【Abilities: Purification, Spirit Suppression, Demon Slaying】

【Introduction: A weapon infused with the power of the sun god, it is the nemesis of all Yin creatures. Sacrifice blood to this pestle, and you will obtain the power of the sun god.】

[Note: Powerful? At the cost of life.]

As expected, it was an item. Judging from its capabilities, it seemed to be even more potent than the candles in the main hall. The senior members of the construction team must have wanted to use it to kill the zombies, but they failed. Alas, they had already suffered too many casualties before dealing with the zombies... Zhang Yuanqing felt relieved that he made the right judgment.

Cleverly using the red dancing shoes to overcome the difficulty.

Of course, the senior members of the construction team had no choice. They couldn't possibly control this rule-based item, and most of them died under the stampede of the red dancing shoes.

"With this item specially targeting Yin creatures, combined with the red dancing shoes, my chances of completing the trial task will greatly increase."

With the Demon Subduing Pestle in his hand, he felt a powerful self-confidence. Before the five minutes were up, he left the room and returned to the courtyard.

This time, he headed straight for that ancient well to conduct a final investigation.

The well's opening was deep and dark, exuding a damp and decaying smell.

Let's go down and take a look... Zhang Yuanqing gripped the Demon Subduing Pestle, assumed a defensive stance, lifted one foot onto the well's edge, and then, step by step, he descended into the well, as if walking on level ground along the well's wall.

Previously, he definitely wouldn't have dared to explore down here. Not to mention whether there were any dangers at the bottom of the well, jumping down without ropes or assistance would have been suicidal.

Soon, he safely reached the not-so-deep bottom of the well, where the moonlight was already very faint.

The water in the well had long dried up, and the bottom was covered in black mud. Clumps of weeds grew along the edges, and the well walls were covered in dark green moss.

"There's no ghost in the well..." Zhang Yuanqing frowned, thinking that something was off. He clearly saw a faceless female ghost appear in the well.

He checked the well's bottom repeatedly, but due to the limited time for wearing the red dancing shoes, he had no choice but to tread the steep well walls and return to the surface, quickly hurrying back to the eaves of the main hall.

Only then did he feel at ease to remove the red dancing shoes.

.........

In the main hall, bathed in the dim candlelight, Zhang Yuanqing looked tired as he leaned against the offering table. The invasion of corpse poison had intensified, and after the dizziness, he now experienced difficulty breathing and pain in his heart and lungs.

Time was running out.

"I've explored both courtyards and successfully subdued the zombies, but the task is not over yet, which means there's still someplace I haven't explored..."

He had searched every room in the courtyards, even going down the well. It was impossible for any omissions to exist.

So, which place could it be?

After excluding all possibilities, whatever was left, no matter how inconceivable, must be the truth... he muttered to himself and slowly propped his body up.

The only place not "explored" was this place, the main hall right in front of him.

Zhang Yuanqing's gaze swept over the main hall and finally stopped on the clay sculpture of San Niang Niang (Three Virtues Goddess). When he first entered the main hall, a detail on the clay sculpture caught his attention.

The clay sculpture's right hand was empty but in a grip-like pose, indicating that it originally held something.

Now he knew what it held.

It was the Demon Subduing Pestle.

With the mindset of trying wouldn't hurt, Zhang Yuanqing stepped forward, inserted the golden Demon Subduing Pestle into the clay sculpture's palm, and then leaped off the pedestal, retreating a few steps.

Almost at the moment he retreated, the surface of the pedestal "cracked," and cracks sent up a dense cloud of dust. Immediately afterward, the entire pedestal collapsed, revealing a dark underground chamber.