For a mont, everyone held their breath, an endless dead silence fell upon the scene, and the half-pale face looked particularly ghastly.
The drizzling rain continued unabated, and from the roots of the walls in the shrine, a deep chill spread.
Almost instantaneously, Huang Duren abruptly raised his hand, blood surged forth, spilling onto the ground like a slender serpent, forming blood-red patterns, precisely for the spell to drive away spirits and banish ghosts.
The blood pooled silently on the floor, with a thud, then another, flowing quietly.
The spell was gone?
Is it ineffective against such... malevolent presence?!
A chill crept up everyone's spine, freezing them in place, they dared not breathe deeply, their limbs trembled lightly, afraid to anger the malevolent presence before them.
That ghastly pale face continued to watch them, a smile curled at the corners of its twisted mouth.
No one knew how long it had been, but the shrine remained in silence.
Hoo.
An untily gust squeezed in through the door crack, raising goosebumps on everyone, chilling their necks as if soone stood behind them, gently squeezing their neck, and... blew that half face down.
Woosh.
Half of Lord Stove's portrait slowly fluttered to the ground, with kind-looking brows and eyes, a face full of kindness.
The group froze instantly, speechless for quite a while, this desolate village had been abandoned for ages, the shrine hadn't been swept, the wind and rain battered, and the portrait of Lord Stove behind the deity had long been decayed halfway, from afar, it appeared like a peeking ghost face.
Huang Duren, with cheeks resembling a monkey's, flushed red, it was just a portrait of Lord Stove all along, making him seem overly reactive.
After a while, Violet Compassion Sage coughed twice, stepping in to ease the situation, saying, "It's nothing, just a worn-out portrait, only our White Lotus shall prosper in the world."
As the words fell, the people of White Lotus Sect reluctantly breathed a sigh of relief and sat down, though it turned out to be a false alarm, they remained uneasy, the drizzling rain outside continued unabated, their breaths rising and falling, only after silently chanting scriptures did they finally calm down.
The silence almost seed bringing them so comfort.
Just then, soone murmured in confusion, "It's strange... why did the deity's position move..."
Suddenly, as if a cold gust swept past, their hearts filled with unease.
After so ti, Huang Duren spoke, "...perhaps we should find another place."
"This village has few places that are both safe and spacious..." Venerable Red hesitated and replied.
"Safe... it's not exactly safe here either, this is... a shrine, a place like this, how safe can it be?" Huang Duren surveyed the surroundings, his hands slowly clenched, unsure if it was an illusion, staying here felt like countless eyes were secretly watching.
As the argunt was about to reach an impasse, Violet Compassion Sage spoke, "Check the map again, there must be soplace, even if a bit dangerous does not matter, the more dangerous places may unexpectedly be safer."
Venerable Red could only comply, he held up the oil lamp, carefully studied the map for quite a while, then said, "There is a place... at the end of the village, a bit far."
"Distance doesn't matter, let's set out early."
After so tidying, realizing they would leave the shrine, the White Lotus Sect barely sighed with relief, but once out the door, their anxiety rose again, the village's narrow alleys were pitch-black and eerily deep, the drizzle striking their faces, giving off a chilling sensation.
The withered trees on both sides tilted and slanted, with tangled weeds growing beneath the roots, the houses along the way were not tall, but coffins piled at their doors, extending infinitely into the depths, the night atmosphere made their skin crawl.
"How did these people... all die?" Azure Lotus Adept's voice trembled, "There's not a single soul..."
"Don't think too much, let's keep moving..." Venerable Red swallowed his saliva and advised.
The White Lotus Sect moved deeper into the village, the coffins lining the road weighed heavily on their hearts, no one dared to speak, only the sound of breathing amidst the drizzle was heard.
The dark and narrow alleys, with doors on either side firmly shut, the windows and doors even nailed with planks, as if fearing sothing would escape from inside.
"Opera house?"
As the outline of the building appeared, the people of White Lotus Sect paused for a mont, amidst the cold and chilling rain stood a xieshan-style opera house, with wooden pillars cracked and supporting triple grey tile eaves that seed on the verge of collapse.
The doors opened inward, deep and unfathomable, as if soone had been waiting inside for a long ti.
"Is this all there is?"
"This is all there is..." Venerable Red forced himself to be calm, spread the map to the group, "There's nowhere else to go."
On the map, a dozen red crosses marked the locations, if wanting to go elsewhere, one would either have to detour far or trespass into labeled forbidden zones, besides, there were unexplored areas on the map, not aning it was without danger, rely unexplored.
With no other choice, the people of White Lotus Sect squeezed into the opera house, the pitch-black interior appeared particularly deep, the faint firelight couldn't bring them peace of mind, instead, it suggested sothing was lurking in the shadows.
Struggling to reach the center, they spotted a stage barely rising to knee height, looking up, they saw an eight-foot-wide caisson atop, its paint mottled, it seed a face was drooping down...
"Damn it, who carved Guanyin there!" Azure Lotus Adept couldn't help but curse, the atmosphere slightly eased at this mont.
Then, they wandered around this opera house for quite a while, finding nothing unusual, their hearts settling a bit, to avoid anyone getting lost, they gathered in three rooms on the left side of the third floor.
Outside, the drizzling rain continued, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief, so were fighting sleepiness and soon fell into deep slumber.
But so were belatedly thinking, a desolate village... how could there be an opera house?
...
Chen Yi glanced over the eager Immortal Fairy and Immortal crowd.
These Immortal Fairy and Immortal spoke disdainfully of the White Lotus Sect, calling them all maniacs, yet now they were all excited.
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