Retracing the path, Yang Xiao was no longer letting his thoughts run wild; after all, there was still soone hiding among the paper dolls to deal with. Yet when he looked down with his left eye, there was only a crowd of strangely shaped paper dolls.
Moving cautiously, he now had his back to altar number four. Yang Xiao closed his left eye and quietly opened his right. The scene below had completely changed: a group of drowned ghosts with soaking wet bodies were huddled together, water still dripping from their hair, staring straight up at the stage.
And there, just three ters in front of Yang Xiao, a ghost face erged from amidst them, staring dead at him, even stretching out a leg, blocking the path that Yang Xiao had to take.
It was this creature that had tripped him earlier!
If he tried to walk normally past it, he would inevitably be tripped again. For a mont, the elder’s warning flashed through Yang Xiao’s mind, "Fortune cos with risks."
Worried about being noticed by the drowned ghosts, Yang Xiao opened his left eye and pretended as if nothing had happened, taking careful steps and rubbing his foot forward, and when he was about to reach the leg, he suddenly closed his left eye and opened his right. The blackish, rotting leg was right in front of his own, and the ghost sitting there in a strange pose was just lifting its head, its decaying face contorted into a hideous smile.
But the next second, it could smile no more. Yang Xiao suddenly lifted his foot and stomped down hard on that leg.
"Crack!"
The sound was crisp, unexpected even to Yang Xiao. It felt as if he was snapping the leg of a real paper doll, and the bamboo splints inside were also broken. A pain-filled wail echoed in his ears, but Yang Xiao, like an emotionless machine, ignored it and walked straight back to his seat to sit down.
Glancing sideways slightly, he used the peripheral view of his left eye to observe: half a paper doll’s leg lay on the ground, the scene was quite tragic.
At this mont, the ghost play on the stage grew ever more lively. Su Tingting displayed several complex movents in quick succession, her singing becoming more lodious and lingering. With a series of "yi-yi-ya-ya" tunes rising, that peculiar feeling inside Yang Xiao finally burst forth unavoidably.
Although he did not understand opera, he could still discern the tune and tone. This singing voice... it sounded different from what he had heard by the lake before.
Even though both displayed superb skill, capturing the turns and reaching the high points perfectly, the voice indeed did not sound like the sa person.
This speculation frightened Yang Xiao, and, after pondering for a mont, he decided to take a risk and open his right eye to see what kind of ghost was singing on the stage.
Despite being ntally prepared, this look still shocked him. Su Tingting was gone from the stage, replaced by a swollen, rotten corpse.
The corpse was dressed in bright red opera costu, head adorned with a Phoenix Crown studded with jewels and pearls, continuously changing postures on stage, striking bizarre poses. Sticky, cream-colored corpse fluid dripped from the sleeves and trouser legs onto the floor, and that bloated, waterlogged dead face actually revealed an expression of extre satisfaction.
Dressed in an opera costu, able to sing, and having drowned to death... this had to be Xi Yao!
Before Yang Xiao could ponder further, the singing corpse on stage abruptly paused, and those eyes hidden within folds of flesh suddenly stared at Yang Xiao.
Realizing he had been discovered, Yang Xiao imdiately opened his left eye and returned to reality, where everything seed normal again.
Su Tingting was light-footed on stage, her singing voice lodious as ever, and the paper dolls below all seated obediently.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Xiao tried to compose himself. Ever since he arrived in this world, he had been constantly on guard, but it hadn’t been all for naught: he now had material for a new script. His theater friends would definitely love these things.
"Yi—, ya—!"
The off-key sound startled Yang Xiao, causing him to jerk his head up. The voice was shaking, and what was crucial, Su Tingting was staring at him with a look of horror on her face.
It’s wrong, she was reminding herself, reminding herself to pay attention to her surroundings!
But... what was wrong with her own surroundings?
Su Tingting was on the verge of tears. Yang Xiao no longer hesitated. Closing his left eye while opening his right, the next second, he saw the most terrifying scene he had encountered so far.
Right in front of his face, 10 centiters away, were several decaying ghost faces crowding in on him, with a dozen ghosts either squatting or standing, completely surrounding him.
Yang Xiao’s heartbeat stopped for an instant; yet as a chilly breeze blew by, his body swayed with the wind as if nothing had happened. With his expression unchanged, he continued to look up and watch the show.
...
By the lakeside.
Shi Dali raised his head to stare at the pitch-black sky. It was truly not a good night, with neither stars nor the moon, the sky resembled an inverted lake.
Shi Guanming stared at the water beneath the boat, fearfully swallowing, "Shi... Brother Shi, isn’t it too late for us to be getting into the water now?"
Quite so ti had passed since they had seen the red lanterns rise, and only now had Shi Dali ordered the boat to be put into the water.
Already irritated, Shi Dali still patiently explained, "Brother Shi, you don’t understand. Who knows if those red lanterns are real or fake? What if they’re ghost tricks and the lanterns disappear as soon as we get in the water? That would be terrible."
Shi Dali had his own plans; he was waiting for the ghost show by the other team to stabilize. That would be the opportune mont to enter the water. Otherwise, if anything went wrong with the ghost show, stranded out in the lake without a village in sight or a shop behind them, if Xi Yao turned back for a counterattack, there would be nowhere to run.
"Brother Shi, I’ll follow your lead since you have the experience. But what do we do now?" At that mont, the two of them could see the Third Young Master of the Feng Family’s corpse, face down, floating on the pitch-black water, gently rocking with the waves.
"Let’s get into the water first."
The two of them grasped the rope along the edge of the boat and slowly made their way into the water. Only once subrged did they realize how cold the lake was, chilling Shi Guanming to the point of shivering.
Shi Dali plunged his face into the murky water, where visibility was very low. Strangely enough, there was a faint glimr under the water, a dim red light.
"The sunken ship is right beneath the corpse." Lifting his head, Shi Dali wiped the water off his face, looking earnestly at Shi Guanming, "You lack experience, so follow closely when we dive."
With the assurance that Shi Dali would lead, Shi Guanming felt significantly more at ease, thinking to himself that Brother Shi was indeed a kind person. He vowed to personally thank him if they made it out alive.
"Rember, prepare well before diving. Once you’re under, you must never surface for air again, or you’ll attract the ghost’s attention. We have to do it all in one go, find Xi Yao’s corpse," Shi Dali’s expression turned serious, "Visibility is very low underwater, don’t panic if you can’t see each other; staying focused on the task is what ultimately matters."
"Okay," Shi Guanming understood the stakes involved as well.
Regulating his breathing, Shi Dali took a deep breath and dived first. A few seconds later, Shi Guanming also held a big breath and subrged.
Indeed, just as Brother Shi had said, visibility was poor underwater. Even with his eyes open, Shi Guanming could barely see, but there was a faint red glow, sowhat like an indicator. Presumably, Brother Shi had already gone ahead in that direction, so Shi Guanming swam vigorously towards the red light.
Suddenly, a burst of water erupted not far from the surface. After wiping his face, Shi Dali looked around and, failing to see Shi Guanming’s shadow, did not hesitate; he swam with all his strength towards the small boat stopped on the lake.
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