PTYS Chapter 178

Seeing the paper figure coming towards them again, Zuo Tiantian hurriedly took out the guidance incense card.

Looking at the mysterious words on the card now, it seemed as if it was meant for this particular scenario.

Zuo Tiantian calmed down, lit the incense in her hand, and began to recite, “Once you enter the world of Yin and Yang, little ghosts run wild. The dead know not where to go, and the living know not where to head…” As soon as Zuo Tiantian finished reciting, the smoke that originally swirled above the incense began to float forward like a thread.

At the same time, the severed head attached to the paper figure fell from the wooden stick with a thud and started rolling on the ground, following the guidance incense. This scene sent shivers down the spines of Xiao Muyu and the others.

“Why, why is it following us too?” Zuo Tiantian swallowed hard, her voice tight.

“Maybe, although he is dead, his head is real. Unlike Bai He Langjun, he belongs to the living world,” Xiao Muyu also found the scene eerie but increasingly believed in the guidance incense’s efficacy.

The incense pointed in the direction from which the paper figure had come. Xiao Muyu immediately crouched down and carried Shen Qingqiu on her back, saying, “Let’s go quickly.”

Xiao Muyu almost ran to hurry, trying to keep steady but inevitably jostling. She said softly, “Qingqiu, lift yourself a bit; don’t touch your wound.”

Shen Qingqiu chuckled lightly, “I know. If it hurts, I’ll naturally avoid it. You’re already exhausted carrying me; don’t worry about this.”

Xiao Muyu, carrying Shen Qingqiu, could feel the coldness of her body even through her clothes, causing her heart to tighten with worry.

Shen Qingqiu’s body was in trouble, and they had no solutions. Perhaps because they were in this so-called Yin world, Shen Qingqiu was being affected. Xiao Muyu only hoped to get out quickly so that Shen Qingqiu could rest.

As the five of them followed the rolling head, a sudden girl’s laugh echoed as they crossed an intersection, startling them.

Xiao Muyu noticed something flash to her right. She turned to see a paper doll of a girl almost right next to them.

The sight gave Xiao Muyu a jolt, and Chen Kaijie screamed, quickly helping Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu move aside.

Seeing them scared, the paper doll hopped away and stopped at the intersection, pointing in the same direction as the guidance incense—west.

“Is she the paper doll blocking our way, guiding us?” Su Jin asked cautiously, remembering her.

Xiao Muyu paused briefly, “It seems we’ve triggered a clue. Even without the guidance incense, we would have encountered her. Since the directions match, let’s keep going.”

Since meeting the two little ghosts, it seemed inevitable that they would come here.

Seeing the girl doll reminded Xiao Muyu of the two paper dolls—a girl in red and a boy in white. It felt deliberate.

Su Jin and the others followed Xiao Muyu, continuing in the direction of the guidance incense. But after passing four intersections, Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian stopped, their voices trembling, “Captain Xiao, look…”

Xiao Muyu looked up to see a man standing in the middle of the road. His left hand hung down, and his right hand held the hilt of a sword at his waist.

But the man was headless, with a bloody, gory neck stump. Zuo Tiantian turned away, unable to look.

She’d rather face ghosts than this gruesome scene, which made her shudder with fear.

Xiao Muyu breathed heavily, her eyes on the headless body. The clothes he wore were familiar—it was one of her guards.

“He’s looking for his head,” Shen Qingqiu said solemnly. The head rolled to the man’s feet, and he squatted, picked it up with his left hand, then stiffly moved aside, clearly indicating for them to pass.

Xiao Muyu’s voice was tense, “Let’s go.”

The five of them, highly alert, passed the headless body.

The man remained still until they had left. Then he drew his sword and faced the pursuing paper figures.

After they passed, another figure emerged from the shadows of a roof. With a gaping hole in his back where his heart should be, he walked stiffly to the headless man and looked up.

Now Xiao Muyu knew the fate of the two guards.

“What… what does this mean? Captain Xiao, is he still protecting you?” Chen Kaijie asked in astonishment.

Xiao Muyu glanced back, shaking her head with mixed feelings.

She didn’t know if these two were among the murderers from years ago, but they had followed Xiao Qian’s orders and continued their duties even in death.

The two corpses were already fighting the paper figures. Xiao Muyu stopped watching, turned, and continued following the guidance incense, silently memorizing their path.

The city of Yingzhou was built systematically, with streets running north-south and east-west, crisscrossing like a chessboard.

Following the guidance incense, Xiao Muyu realized they had been heading west from the start.

She kept track of their path, now at the eighth intersection, still heading west.

At the next intersection, the guidance incense turned south. Xiao Muyu stepped forward, but Su Jin stopped again, looking at the ground.

“Captain Xiao, look at this.”

Xiao Muyu walked over, Shen Qingqiu on her back, also looking down.

Su Jin’s toe touched something, but it was too dark to see clearly.

Su Jin bent down carefully and picked it up, looking at Xiao Muyu with a face full of suspicion.

It was a red copper paper coin, round on the outside and square on the inside, exactly like the one she had picked up and given to the little girl while searching for Shen Qingqiu.

Chen Kaijie and Zuo Tiantian both saw it, and the group looked at each other in confusion, unsure of what to say.

“We’re on the right track. If I’m not mistaken, we should go six more blocks, and the boy should appear.”

As they finished speaking, they felt a chill down their spines. Turning around, they saw the boy staring at them expressionlessly. Even the strongest hearts couldn’t endure this continuous fright. Zuo Tiantian felt numb.

He looked at them eerily, then bared his black teeth at them fiercely before pointing north and quickly disappearing.

Zuo Tiantian was puzzled, “How did you know, Xiao?”

“When we went to find Qingqiu, they both appeared. You should remember that I put this in their hands at that time.” Xiao Muyu took the paper coin in her hand, looking down at it.

“I specifically counted then, nine coins for the girl and six for the boy. But I didn’t expect these numbers to be used here.

If I hadn’t seen this paper coin and counted nine intersections, I wouldn’t have connected the dots. We must have missed something, and by taking a shortcut with the Guiding Incense, we skipped some clues.”

“Probably. Not everyone has Guiding Incense. Unless the system is designed specifically for us, which is unlikely, it’s probably very angry right now.” Shen Qingqiu knew the system’s intentions well.

“But for now, clearing the level is our priority. Let’s not dwell on it and move on.”

Lying on Xiao Muyu’s back, Shen Qingqiu pondered, “East, west, north, south, east positive, west negative, south positive, north negative. The directions for the living and the dead are opposite. If the boy points north, it means south, but why does the girl pointing west mean west? How would we determine without the Guiding Incense?”

Xiao Muyu shook her head, “According to your theory, it should be that the boy is positive and the girl is negative. The boy’s direction is correct, and the girl’s is the opposite.

But in fact, it’s the other way around. The girl’s direction is right, and the boy’s is wrong. There must be another reason we haven’t found.”

As they talked, they reached the sixth intersection and, sure enough, saw a white paper coin on the ground.

Shen Qingqiu stood aside, watching Xiao Muyu pick up the coin from the ground, but ahead of them was still the street with no houses, and the Guiding Incense was no longer pointing the way.

Su Jin and the others were a bit anxious. After coming this far, if they were still wrong, they wouldn’t know what to do.

“Xiao, why can’t we find it?”

Xiao Muyu looked down at the two paper coins in her hand. The Guiding Incense couldn’t be wrong, and her deduction was correct, so why couldn’t they see it? Was it an illusion?

Shen Qingqiu knew they were anxious but still motioned for them to be quiet, turning to look behind her.

Zuo Tiantian quickly ran over, face tense, and started building a wall on the street. Although it would be crossed eventually, it could buy some time. Chen Kaijie and Su Jin hurried to help. Xiao Muyu needed to focus now.

Su Jin took out a black garlic bulb and handed a clove to each person, holding their breath.

This black garlic bulb was something Su Jin got from Instance 006. She had been holding back from using it, but now she had no choice.

Eating raw garlic keeps ghosts away for three minutes.

Chen Kaijie felt nauseated holding the black clove. Not only did it repel ghosts, but it also repelled people.

Shen Qingqiu held one for Xiao Muyu, muttering in disgust, “If she eats this, she won’t want to kiss me for days.”

Then she moved closer to Xiao Muyu but kept a bit of distance.

Xiao Muyu noticed her movement, glanced at her, and saw Shen Qingqiu showing her the garlic clove, “So I don’t stink you out.”

Xiao Muyu smiled, her eyes gentle, and continued looking ahead, unconsciously rubbing the paper coin.

“According to the clues, we should be there. Why can’t we find the house?” Shen Qingqiu frowned.

“There must be an illusion.” In a paranormal instance, such tricks are basic.

Shen Qingqiu took a few steps forward, finding nothing, then slowly walked back, looking at Xiao Muyu and then at Chen Kaijie and Su Jin, who were tense.

“People perceive the world mainly through their eyes, so we unconsciously trust them too much. These illusions, like magic, can deceive the brain by fooling the eyes.

Do you think we’ve been deceived? If so, how do we break it? Stop using our eyes? Or look in a different way?”

Listening to Shen Qingqiu, Xiao Muyu frowned and then lowered her head in thought.

Suddenly, she glanced at the ground through the paper coin’s hole, and her eyes widened. What did she see?

Xiao Muyu quickly raised her hand, looking at the two coins and their square holes.

“I get it now. This is how it works.” She held up the coins to her eyes. Through the two square holes, the empty street with only lanterns transformed into a small house with two lanterns, as she remembered.

At the same time, all five felt a surge of moisture, and mist began to gather around them. Paper figures angrily hit the wall behind them, becoming more violent.

But in front of them, the familiar house reappeared, only this time the red lanterns outside had turned white, and the happiness character changed to mourning. The red silk turned to white cloth, a scene of mourning.

Despite the eerie sight, Chen Kaijie and the others clenched their fists in excitement.

“We found it! We found it!”

“Let’s go in.” Xiao Muyu picked up Shen Qingqiu, the strong garlic smell making her gag, but she held back.

“Even though I know it’s the garlic’s power, gagging in my face is hurtful.” Shen Qingqiu wrapped it in a cloth, sighing.

Xiao Muyu, sensitive to the smell, reacted strongly but smiled at Shen Qingqiu’s words.

Finding the exit made her happy, and she joked, “Every coin has two sides. I’m holding you despite the smell; isn’t that proof enough?”

Shen Qingqiu laughed, “Xiao is getting cheeky because of me.”

Inside, Shen Qingqiu stopped teasing and seriously examined their surroundings.

Finding the house didn’t mean an easy escape. Every detail mattered.

Just like Xiao Muyu discovering the coin’s use, missing one clue would ruin everything.

Inside, the layout was the same as the hall where Shen Qingqiu was forced to wed, but when they reached the main hall, they stopped.

This time, there was no illusion. A red happiness character hung on the right half of the hall, split with white on the left. The hall seemed divided in half, half for celebration, half for mourning.

On the table sat two paper figures, a man on the right and a woman on the left, with an elderly woman in between.

Despite the eerie scene, they recognized them, “That’s Lord Baihe’s parents and grandmother.”

“Yes.” Xiao Muyu approached. The hall was split, with a wedding procession on the red side, led by four people with instruments and eight carrying the sedan chair.

On the white side was the funeral procession that took Xiao Muyu, also twelve people, but missing the strange paper figure.

A coffin, a bridal sedan, a wedding, and a funeral appeared together, creating a powerful visual impact.

Author’s Note: Ah, writing is exhausting, killing brain cells. Some parts would make more sense if I had planned ahead, but ideas come spontaneously sometimes.