Candles, sculptures, corpses, and an ancient lattice door. Outside the door is a courtyard covered with weeds, a tilted bronze incense burner, a bluestone road, and bright moonlight.
The dead silence was desolate and eerie.
“This place seems to be in perpetual darkness.”
Zhang Yuanqing raised his palm to his mouth and spat out the small blue pill in his mouth.
The method worked, I was so damn smart... He happily put the pill in his pocket, and felt a little more confident about his "future".
With them, there is hope of saving your life when facing the red dancing shoes.
Then he walked straight to the tribute table, thought for a moment, and reached out to hold the candlestick.
Suddenly, a piece of information appeared before my eyes:
【Name: The Candle That Never Goes Out】
【Type: Fuel】
【Function: Suppress evil, purify】
[Introduction: This tool was left behind by the Sanda Mountain Goddess. It is said to be made from the fat of the Changming Beast and has the effect of suppressing evil and purifying.]
[Note: Sometimes, purifying fear is not necessarily a good thing. In addition, it cannot be moved. ]
Sure enough, you can only get information from the props by touching them yourself. I didn’t dare to touch the candle before, so I didn’t know it was a prop until I read the information…
"Purifying fear may not be a good thing. According to Guan Ya's classification, candles are a price category. The price of using them is losing fear. But I'm very scared now and have no intention of committing suicide. I'll just stay in the main hall for now..."
He sat cross-legged in front of the tribute table, thinking about his next move.
"The next goal of the operation is to explore the courtyard to the east, find out the hidden dangers and patterns there, and then find ways to restrain and overcome them. The exploration time cannot exceed 15 minutes, otherwise the vengeful spirit will be on your shoulder and you will die."
"The blue pill is my trump card against the Red Shoes, but it may not work. Once I face the Red Shoes, it's either life or death... Let's explore the East Courtyard first, get a preliminary understanding of the environment there, and then think about how to deal with it."
When the time came, he still had some fear in his heart, and he didn't want to go out. He was lucky to survive last time, and it was still unknown whether he could survive this time.
The situation in the East Courtyard is unclear and it is impossible to judge how dangerous it is. It is easy to die if you try.
However, there is nothing in this world that you can avoid just because you don’t want to.
Although there is no time limit for the mission to explore the ancient temple, theoretically he can stay in the main hall forever, but the lack of a time limit also means that if he does not complete the mission, he will most likely never be able to get out.
If you delay for too long, your body's condition will deteriorate due to hunger, sleepiness, thirst, etc.
If we go out to explore again at that time, it will be a dead end.
"Whether you stick your head out or hide your head, you'll be killed in the end. We have no choice but to fight!"
Zhang Yuanqing gritted his teeth and strode out.
Wait, I should think about it again, it's very dangerous outside... With one foot out of the threshold, he suddenly backed out and couldn't help but look back at the hall, lingering on the glory of this place.
The warmth of candlelight dispels the haze, purifies the filth, and brings people unparalleled courage and confidence.
It’s not a big problem... Zhang Yuanqing went out confidently.
........
The moonlight was as bright as frost. Zhang Yuanqing walked along the cobblestone path on the left side of the main hall and returned to the desolate and dilapidated courtyard.
The night without the chirping of insects and birds is so quiet that it is frightening.
But silence also makes people feel at ease. What he fears most is hearing the sound of footsteps when going out.
"Fifteen minutes. I only have fifteen minutes to explore the East Courtyard before the evil spirits come to haunt me..."
He entered the easternmost room of the courtyard, retrieved the bronze mirror from the corpse leaning against the window, and hid it in his pocket.
Then carefully pass through the arched door and enter the east courtyard.
The East Courtyard is much larger than the Siheyuan. What comes into view is a deserted garden with rockery, pavilions, a small pond, and a large banyan tree with a thick trunk, gnarled branches, and tender green leaves reflecting the bright moonlight.
There is an ancient well under the banyan tree.
Looking past the rockery pavilion, you can see a straight-line roof ridge emerging from the depths of the garden.
Zhang Yuanqing did not go straight to the building deep in the garden, but walked carefully around the big banyan tree. The information said that this tree was very dangerous, but after he walked around it, nothing unexpected happened.
"Checking the big banyan tree should also help to advance the exploration..."
Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself and glanced at the dark ancient well. After hesitating for a long time, he still didn't have the courage to rush over to take a look.
He has a strong psychological trauma from the ancient wells in horror stories like this.
Zhang Yuanqing walked around the ancient well, rustling through the weeds, and headed towards the buildings deep in the garden.
“Crack!”
Suddenly, there was a crisp sound under his feet, and he jumped up on the spot in fright.
Looking closely, it turned out to be a corpse buried in weeds and wrapped in oxidized work clothes. Zhang Yuanqing leaned over to check and found that the skeleton was well preserved.
It was lying face down on the ground, but its head was facing backwards, which meant that something had twisted its head 180 degrees before it died.
What did it do?
Zhang Yuanqing quietly became alert, stood up, and was about to continue exploring forward.
Just then, a gust of wind blew over, and the weeds in the garden swayed and rustled. The big banyan tree behind him seemed to come alive, shaking its branches in a twisted manner.
"Zhang Yuanqing, Zhang Yuanqing..."
A shrill cry came from behind.
The voice drifted over with the wind, as if whispering in the ear, bringing waves of creepy chills.
Zhang Yuanqing instinctively turned around and was on guard. Suddenly, the information in the file flashed through his mind:
Don't look back!
"Zhang Yuanqing, Zhang Yuanqing..."
Seeing that he didn't respond, the voice seemed anxious, wanting him to turn around quickly.
Of course Zhang Yuanqing would not turn around. He stood still, quietly unzipped the pocket of his jacket, took out the brass mirror, and slowly raised it to a position above his shoulder.
The brass mirror reflected the scene behind him, not very clearly.
A woman in white with disheveled hair emerged from the ancient well. She had no facial features and was staring at Zhang Yuanqing with her pale face.
Fuck your uncle... Zhang Yuanqing’s face turned pale and he ran forward.
"Zhang Yuanqing, Zhang Yuanqing..."
The voice called out again and again, calling out urgently, but all she could do was helplessly watch him run further and further away.
Soon, Zhang Yuanqing walked around the rockery and came to the depths of the garden. There was a big house with a straight roof, a stone foundation, and walls made of loess.
The houses here are even more dilapidated than the courtyard houses. The tiles on the roof are sparse and have many holes.
"The night wandering god in the information has also been here. He only said not to look back, but did not say that we cannot go back. The call of the female ghost in the well may only be for those who turn back. In this case, I should not encounter any danger when I return later..."
He took a deep breath, calmed the surging fear and terror, and focused on the present.
"Let's explore the house first."
There are three doors in this big house, representing three rooms.
He carefully approached the room on the far left and reached out to push open the tattered wooden door.
“Squeak~”
Hearing the sound of the wooden door opening, Zhang Yuanqing quickly stepped back and took a defensive stance.
For a long while, nothing happened.
He bravely walked into the house, the moonlight shone in from the tattered roof, and he tried to open his eyes wide so that his pupils could absorb as much light as possible.
This is the kitchen and canteen. There are two earthen stoves made of blue bricks, and items such as pots, pans, water tanks, and cabinets have long since rotted and accumulated dust.
No danger, I finally found the container... Zhang Yuanqing grabbed a gray gourd and couldn't help but think:
"I heard that boy's urine can dispel evil."
He considered whether to collect a bucket of boy's urine, but after careful consideration, he gave up the idea reluctantly.
Although he has never dated a girl, Zhang Yuanqing feels that he cannot be considered a virgin.
"I have indulged you too much, giving you the opportunity to show off again and again." He lowered his head and stared at his hands, feeling a little heartbroken.
After some exploration and confirming that the big house was a combination of a kitchen and a canteen, and that there was nothing special or dangerous about it, Zhang Yuanqing walked out of the house with a rusty kitchen knife and a wooden stick, and turned his attention to the last rectangular house.
Unlike the kitchen which also served as a large dining room, this house had four doors, dividing it into four rooms.
Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but clench the wooden stick and kitchen knife in his hands. They might not be useful, but they could bring people psychological comfort.
He carefully checked the first and second rooms, which were utility rooms filled with old-fashioned farm tools, furniture, and donation boxes.
It’s of no value... Zhang Yuanqing turned and went to the third room.
This is an armory. Swords, bows, daggers, short knives and other weapons are hung on the walls. Many of the weapons have fallen to the ground because the ropes hanging on them have rotted.
There were two rows of weapon racks next to the window, one of which had fallen over, with sticks and spears scattered all over the ground.
Two bodies were lying next to the overturned weapons rack.
Zhang Yuanqing was not surprised to see these weapons. The disciples in the temple learned from Sandashan Niangniang and were able to make talismans to suppress corpses. It was obvious that they had some abilities.
It's no surprise that he can dance and play with sticks.
As usual, he went to examine the bodies and look for information from his predecessors.
As soon as he approached the corpses, he couldn't help but exclaimed, the two corpses lying on the ground were not skeletons, but two mummies.
The skin is gray, wrinkled, and close to the bones, and the belly is sunken.
"Why is there a mummy?"
Zhang Yuanqing frowned. As a student of Songhai University, he had a rich reserve of knowledge.
There are two reasons for the formation of mummies, one is artificial preservation and the other is natural formation.
The first type can be ruled out directly, but the second type is mostly formed in dry areas such as deserts.
The conditions in the temple are obviously not up to standard.
He carefully examined the two mummies. There were no fatal injuries on their bodies, and their bones were not broken by the red dancing shoes. However, there were two obvious holes in the flesh at the neck.
It looked like it was bitten by the sharp fangs of a wild beast.
"What sucked them dry? Hiss..."
Zhang Yuanqing took a breath and his whole body tensed up.
At this moment, he heard a "dong" coming from the next room, like the sound of knocking on a wooden door.
His scalp suddenly tingled and Zhang Yuanqing tilted his neck to listen like a alert wild deer.