Chapter 71

Chapter 71: The Hall of Chains II

The midsummer heat was intense, and a sudden gust of cold wind rose from the ground.

The door of the Wúcháng Hall, which had a mysterious aura, was slammed shut by the fierce wind, making a loud "clang."

"…"

Both students turned around at the same time.

Zhāng Qíqí was still caught off guard by Míng Yuè's "lotus roots are on the market," and when she saw the closed square behind her, cold sweat started to pour down her back. "What's going on?"

She quickly took out the Cleansing Mouth Charm and pressed it to her lips.

Míng Yuè glanced at her.

Finally, she saw someone whose first instinct was to use the Cleansing Mouth Charm when things went wrong.

There was a reason why Dì Dà could rise to prominence.

People say that foul words can release the impurities and filth in one's senses, and the Cleansing Mouth Charm's main function was to prevent conflicts between the foul air of the human world and the rules of the underworld during an encounter with spirits, thus serving a purifying role.

From a procedural point of view, this charm was a "precautionary measure."

Míng Yuè: "We've stepped into it."

"This hall indeed has ghosts, and now they don't want to let us two big white geese go."

"They've shut the door."

Zhāng Qíqí looked around.

She still hadn't noticed the lotus water jar—its hands were almost touching the ground.

"Where are the ghosts?"

Míng Yuè: "…"

For a second, Míng Yuè thought about slapping the Yin Revealing Symbol [Note] hard on Zhāng Qíqí's head but still responded objectively.

"In front of you.""Senior, look at that water jar."

Zhāng Qíqí cautiously looked over.

The tender, pale human flesh in the jar emitted a mesmerizing sheen under the faint sunlight. It was shiny and still subtly trembling. It moved faster and faster, adjusting its direction, heading toward the two students.

Zhāng Qíqí: "…"

Zhāng Qíqí's face shifted to one of sheer panic, her expression a mix of horror and disbelief.

"W-What is this?" she stuttered, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Míng Yuè casually stuck her hands in her pockets. "I don't know either."

"Since we're here, we might as well accept it. Let's treat it as a new year's gift of lotus roots from the Wúcháng Hall."

Zhāng Qíqí: "…"

Zhāng Qíqí: "Míng Yuè, you really have a broad mind."

"What do we do now?"

Míng Yuè gestured to her slim arm and the narrow gap between her trident, realizing that with the trident, she wouldn't even be able to cut a single lotus root piece. She figured it was time to use a blade, so she tucked the trident back and pulled out a long knife from her bag.

The knife was ordinary in appearance, with some old marks on the handle. The only distinguishing feature was the double blood grooves along the blade, gleaming with a chilling light. It was a weapon that had seen bloodshed and been used in battle.

Míng Yuè switched the knife to her other hand and weighed it carefully:

"What do we do?"

"Cut the lotus roots, of course. Are we supposed to do nothing while the enemy moves?"

Zhāng Qíqí frowned. "I didn't mean that."

"I just thought we could consider retreating," she said, pointing to the two pathways leading out of the inner hall. Both of them connected to the endless palace complex behind.

Míng Yuè: "…"

Míng Yuè finally realized what was strange about Zhāng Qíqí. She had felt something was off when she heard her talk about changing the feng shui earlier:

"No, Senior, retreating is fine.""But isn't it a bit too… humble to think about retreating before even having a single round of facing the enemy?" Could you be any more cowardly?

Zhāng Qíqí didn't think she was wrong. After spending two hours with Míng Yuè, she had already realized that their styles were completely different.

"Planning thoroughly before taking risks is the right choice."

"I'll act according to my abilities. If I can score points, then great; if not, then it’s fine."

"It's better than being too proud to fight, only to end up using a life-saving talisman to retreat."

"As long as you stay in the field long enough, the points will slowly accumulate," Zhāng Qíqí spoke cautiously. She had already started to doubt whether Míng Yuè was really a second-year student.

Later tonight, it's highly likely there will be a free-for-all between the students. At that point, fighting for points is easier than struggling with the ghostly beings in the Yin-Yang separation.

As they spoke, the lotus flowers in the water jar bloomed more vividly, and human arms began to sprout densely from the brick-covered ground.

Míng Yuè frowned slightly.

"Just like when you adjusted the scenery and water on the road?"

"The ghost-slaying exam tests adaptability and strategy—what’s the point of picking vegetables in the whole field?"

"Senior, I’m not good with words, don’t mind me."

"The 10 points you accumulated slowly with your 'leisurely' pace might not even be worth a single 10-point ghost kill, which has much higher value."

"The Fengdu exam is not a standard test; the experience is rare. If you fight well, you’ll learn a lot, and wasting it would be a pity."

Zhāng Qíqí was getting angry.

"The exam is best completed in one go. What do you know about it?"

"Is the second round of exams really that interesting?"

Míng Yuè remained silent.

Zhāng Qíqí was right. Míng Yuè was only in her second year and still had another chance during her undergraduate period.

But Zhāng Qíqí might not.

You can't fully understand other people's thoughts by just considering your own.

However, seeing her cautious and steady demeanor, it truly undermined the reputation of the Spirit Institute at Emperor University.Míng Yuè was straightforward and efficient, disliking unnecessary entanglements. Upon hearing this, she swung her blade:

"Alright, Senior, you can pick up the leftovers."

"If you can't handle it, find your own way out."

"I'm going ahead."

Zhāng Qíqí, still angry and wanting to argue, was left speechless:

"…"

What the hell!

Does this person not argue at all?

What kind of style is this?!

Are all the people from the Spirit Sealing Institute like this?

Zhāng Qíqí didn’t understand.

Míng Yuè’s style didn’t align with her utilitarian philosophy of survival.

The Míng family didn’t avoid or hide from trouble. They were the kind of heroic figures who took the first blow during a storm, but this also made them prone to suffering and torment.

There were many people in the Spirit Sealing Institute who shared Míng Yuè's beliefs. It seemed that such people were not uncommon.

Different paths, no cooperation.

As she watched the ground filled with "walking hands," turning into clusters of white flesh, Míng Yuè couldn't tell whether it was the Yang energy or the Yin energy that was reacting. She got closer to the water jar, and the arms on the ground, soft like loaches, began to coil around her.

So docile, yet so disgusting.

Swish, swish, swish.

Unable to discern the patterns of these hands, with a spirit of exploration, Míng Yuè drew her blade and tried slashing through a few of them.

Slurp.

The sound of the cold blade making contact with the greasy, rotting flesh and then pulling away made her ears itch.Splurt A few sounds echoed as black blood mixed with tissue fragments spilled out from the cut elbow joints.

At the same time, the arms in the water jar were emerging even faster, snow-white and smooth. The entire jar resembled a boil covered in white maggots, violently squeezed, constantly cracking, and expelling more "lotus stems" filled with pus.

Míng Yuè: "…"

Why can’t I see where the shoulders are?

Does your arm stretch this long?

However, all they had were elliptical, decaying shoulder joints, like they had been torn off someone else’s body.

This doesn’t make sense.

The spirits that form usually have a head and a tail.

They usually start from the most spiritual parts of the corpse.

For example, the skull, or the heart.

Míng Yuè had once seen a lone head become a spirit under the tea tree at the West Gate of the Water City.

Limbs, as extremities, didn’t receive much favor from the rules of Yin and Yang.

She’d seen a hand become a spirit before.

But it was rare to see an entire arm.

Let alone so many arms in front of her.

Something’s wrong.

Where did so many arms come from?

Or rather, she should ask, if there are so many hands here, where are the rest of the bodies?

Míng Yuè had doubts in her heart. With the mindset of exploring the truth, she continued to observe.

Who would have thought—

The three arms that had been cut off began growing back from the break points, forming complete upper arms and palms, turning into six arms.Míng Yuè: "…"

Zhāng Qíqí, seeing the situation go south, had already run to one of the side paths. She looked back and saw Míng Yuè surrounded in the center by a group of white hands like snakes—oh my god, she was practically a beautiful cabbage surrounded by decaying maggots. Zhāng Qíqí couldn’t bear it in her heart. Gritting her teeth, she shouted:

"Míng Yuè! Forget it!"

"Let’s leave!"

"There are other halls!"

Míng Yuè stood still, unmoving. The water jar continued to vomit hands endlessly, and she called out:

"It’s useless! This is the Hall of Chains!"

"The ones behind definitely aren’t good either!"

"The main door is locked, at least right now we already know the strange things about this one, don’t we!" Who knows what kind of mysterious gods are waiting behind!

"If you're in a hurry, you can leave first!"

Zhāng Qíqí felt both anxious and angry.

How can this person not listen!

At this moment, a cold-blooded thought emerged. Zhāng Qíqí suppressed the gratitude she felt for Míng Yuè saving her life earlier, masked her emotions, didn’t say goodbye, and turned to leave—

Míng Yuè glanced at her, but didn’t move.

A rotten, fleshy hand climbed up the back of her foot, like a small animal, using the decaying joint surface to face Míng Yuè, inching upward step by step.

Just as Zhāng Qíqí’s figure was about to disappear around the corner...

In the blink of an eye!

The large white lotus roots on the square suddenly changed direction, shifting away from Míng Yuè and surging toward the side path.

Zhāng Qíqí was about to leave when she suddenly heard a voice from behind: "Be careful—!"

Zhāng Qíqí ignored it, thinking it was just Míng Yuè’s futile attempt to keep her from leaving, but before she knew it, an enormous pulling force suddenly tugged at her ankle, yanking her entire body to the ground!

Bang! A huge crash!Zhāng Qíqí’s face smashed into the stone ground, her nose almost breaking, pain flooding her entire face!

She cried out loudly!

Tears and snot streaming down her face, she looked back and saw her ankle being dragged by the slippery, sticky large white lotus root, scraping and pulling her into the rotting hand forest.

At this moment, the entire square was filled with human hands, waving joyfully, as if it was a sea of celebration. Thick, oppressive yin energy emanated from the broken, bloody stumps, surging out in waves.

"Zhāng Qíqí, stand up!"

"Stop crying!"

Míng Yuè shouted, keeping a close eye on the struggling Zhāng Qíqí.

She consciously slowed down her movements.

Zhāng Qíqí, however, was like a fish that had been dragged ashore, constantly flailing.

Sure enough, the more she struggled on the ground, the faster the dead hands moved. It was as if Zhāng Qíqí wasn’t a living person but a bonfire, and the hands were like moths, swarming toward her.

This strange contrast made Míng Yuè squint.

At this moment, a hand had crawled up to Míng Yuè’s head, and it seemed "cute" in its own way, particularly interested in digging out her right eyeball.

Míng Yuè turned her head to the left, and the hand followed.

She turned her head to the right, and it followed again.

Shii.

Míng Yuè placed the blade of her knife between her eyelid and the claw-like hand, calculating in her mind, then sliced the hand off with a single stroke.

Currently, there were two pieces of information known:

Míng Yuè’s movements were slower than Zhāng Qíqí’s (Zhāng Qíqí was struggling), and similarly, the dead hands on Míng Yuè’s side were also moving slowly.

The hands were trying to gouge out Míng Yuè’s right eye but ignored the left one, as if it wasn’t even there.

The right eye was the yang eye, and the left eye was the yin eye. This was obvious.

Perhaps it was bold to hypothesize, but it would be carefully analyzed afterward.

From her eyelid, bloody and decayed flesh hung down, slowly growing, sprouting new hands. Míng Yuè’s gaze remained fixed on it, her thoughts rapidly turning.I bet these hands chase after yang energy.

I also bet that these hands move with the wind of yin energy, as deceitful as the ghost from the bridge just now.

The courtyard is filled with yin energy, and as people move, they stir the air. The faster you move, the more "lotus roots" will grow in the water jar.

The beautiful lotus flowers sway slowly in the black wind, and the sound of Zhāng Qíqí’s tragic screams fills the air.

Míng Yuè then pushed aside the "big white lotus" above her head, took a blank talisman paper from her pocket, and turned back for one last glance at the Unchanging Hall from where she came.

I respect it.

No matter how strange things were in that small hall, I had already paid my respects as a junior.

Now, at this point, don’t blame me for being bold and ruthless.

Saying this, Míng Yuè bit down on her finger.

The wound, still open, was instantly torn apart, and fresh blood surged out.

Not far away, Zhāng Qíqí was still trapped in the white human flesh mud, screaming in agony, as the grey, dead fingers crawled up to her neck.

Everything happened so fast!

The entire area was filled with grey yin energy, and from Míng Yuè's fingertips, the yang energy blood exploded with a dazzling golden light. The large white lotus roots on the ground seemed to smell the blood, like sharks, quickly turning their "heads" toward her, madly rushing toward Míng Yuè!

On the field, centered around Míng Yuè, a vortex of white flesh began to twist. Layers upon layers of densely packed human hands stretched out their fingers, fiercely pouncing toward the center.

Míng Yuè, with an expressionless face, drew a golden light divine spell with her bloodied finger, letting countless hands coil around her body.

This was the fastest and least confident time she had written the spell since she had self-taught the Eight Divine Spells.

But what does that matter!

Facing danger without fear, and accepting the challenge, is the true meaning of real combat.

How could a human-ghost battle always give you time to slowly prepare everything!

Alright.

If the Unchanging Hall of Féngdū wants to see my grand design, then let it see!Míng Yuè thought to herself, with the final stroke complete, she inhaled sharply, holding the remaining blood in her fingers, then spat it onto the blood talisman with golden light. In the split second before her vision was completely blocked by the dead hands, she crumpled the talisman and threw it far away—!

She watched in slow motion as the paper ball flew out and landed in the surging flesh pool.

Silent, without a sound.

Zhāng Qíqí had barely managed to burn a few of the hands with fire talismans, rolling up to stand. Before she could even steady herself, there was a loud “bang!”

A massive explosion erupted.

At the center of the area, a burst of golden light flared, spewing a river of crimson gold. The blood of the living, stimulated by the clash of yin and yang energies, swelled and expanded into fine mist, floating gracefully in the air, carrying with it deadly and overwhelming yang energy. The hands on the ground exploded, their veins bulging, stretching out fiercely, with golden paint crawling up them, coldly sealing all the "big white lotus roots," as if crushing an ant.

Then, the yang energy blood mist that floated in the air descended like scattered embers falling onto a dry, yellow winter field, bringing with it a fierce flame of rebirth.

Zhāng Qíqí: "......"

Zhāng Qíqí, frightened, nearly lost her grip on the knife in her hand.

Meanwhile, Míng Yuè, having freed her limbs from the grasp of the dead hands, walked over, stepping on the ground covered with golden "handprints."

"Are you alright, Miss?" As the situation calmed, Míng Yuè stopped calling Zhāng Qíqí by name.

Zhāng Qíqí stared at Míng Yuè in disbelief: "Just now... just now, what did you throw out?"

In an instant, Míng Yuè grasped the essence of the academy’s disdain chain, smiling as she answered:

"One of the Eight Divine Spells, the Golden Light Divine Spell you saw earlier."

"It’s not very effective; it can only imprison, not dispel evil."

"So, I rubbed some human blood onto the talisman paper." Míng Yuè selectively told part of the truth.

Zhāng Qíqí: "......"

Zhāng Qíqí staggered as if unable to bear the blow.

She should have realized it.

She should have realized it sooner.

How could a student from the Spirit-Sealing Academy not know how to draw the Eight Divine Spells?The Eight Divine Spells were like a living legend in the industry and academic circles.

Hearing their name, yet not seeing their "person."

These eight talismans, as one of the standards in the industry, when speculated upon, were not something all active demon hunters could perform. Even among those who could, the level of proficiency varied greatly.

Every time they were mentioned, it was usually accompanied by the supreme and illustrious reputation of the Spirit-Sealing Academy, which had produced the Eight Divine Spells.

Zhāng Qíqí did not like this.

Wasn't the Imperial University supposed to be the leader of new-century disciplines?

Why was everyone so quick to praise Spirit-Sealing Academy's power?

However, the truth lay before her eyes.

The century-long prestige of the Golden Spirit-Sealing Academy was dusted by time. With just a casual wipe, it revealed the brilliance forged in blood and tears, shining with an immortal golden light.

This was the first time in Zhāng Qíqí's life that she had seen someone able to perform the Golden Light Divine Spell to this extent!

The whole place!

There must be at least several hundred hands!

How did she do it?

Míng Yuè noticed that Zhāng Qíqí was stunned and turned around to clean up the burnt ashes on the ground, being the good, responsible youth who picks up trash.

"......"

Zhāng Qíqí closed her eyes, watching her figure.

She no longer wanted to question whether this person was really a fourth-year student.

It didn’t matter anymore.

If she was a fourth-year, with this strength, such planning and on-the-spot adaptability, she would definitely be one of the leading figures in the fourth-year class of Spirit-Sealing Academy.

If she wasn't a fourth-year, then she was like a calm, deep, unfathomable cold pool.

Míng Yuè had already surpassed the "benchmark."The selective entrance exam for the hundred-school alliance was precisely looking for people like this.

So, whether she was a fourth-year or not, it no longer mattered.

The communicator sounded on time.

Míng Yuè was surprised to discover that after dealing with the hand forest, she had gained 15 points.

The side paths awaited ahead, with inner halls leading to different building complexes on both sides. Míng Yuè briefly told Zhāng Qíqí to wait and then turned to walk toward the Wúcháng Hall's small hall to meet the two statues of the Black and White Wúcháng.

She suddenly realized something was off.

It was the position.

Black and White Wúcháng.

The White one is usually on the left, the Black one on the right.

However, the Wúcháng statues she had passed earlier were not like that.

Entering the small hall, Míng Yuè exerted force and, with a few grunts, moved the simple Wúcháng statues to swap their positions. Sure enough, after the switch, both statues slowly opened their eyes.

Míng Yuè carefully wiped the dusty faces of the two ghostly officials with her sleeve, bowed again, and whispered:

"I apologize, honored ones."

"It was not my intention to disturb the souls you protect within this hall."

"By the end of this year, I will burn three million pieces of paper money for each of you."

"I am truly sorry."

With that, the doors of the Wúcháng Hall, which had been closed for an hour, suddenly banged open.

Míng Yuè: "......"

Zhāng Qíqí, trailing behind: "......"

Míng Yuè was still dazed, and Zhāng Qíqí laughed, murmuring, "Truly, gods and ghosts are unpredictable."

"What’s your plan next, Míng Yuè?" she asked.

Míng Yuè: "Let’s check the side paths, go left or right, then continue through the next hall.""Miss, do you want to go left or right? I’ll follow your lead."

Zhāng Qíqí looked at her and, after a moment, smiled calmly.

"I think... I’ll exit the Wúcháng Hall."

"I’ll give up on this place."

"......" Míng Yuè was stunned. "What happened?"

It was obvious that Liánhuán Hall was a good place to earn points, and Míng Yuè couldn’t understand.

Zhāng Qíqí walked toward the main door with her blade, passing Míng Yuè and patting her shoulder.

"I'm not good at handling situations like this, as you said."

"Goodbye, Míng Yuè."

"I hope we both get to see the crescent moon at 3 a.m. tonight."

"I’m really happy to have met you. You’ve taught me so much."

After speaking, she stepped over the threshold and quickly disappeared from the doorway, leaving Míng Yuè standing alone in the small hall, surrounded by incense smoke, in a daze.

Zhāng Qíqí knew that she was just an ordinary star, emitting some light and warmth.

However, no star would want to appear next to the sun.

Because, in that case, its radiance would be overshadowed, not showing at all.

Míng Yuè, meeting you was fate, Zhāng Qíqí thought as she walked away.

Thank you for showing me the Spirit-Sealing Academy hidden by public opinion.

And thank you for letting me witness a heroic character.

But, in the end, our paths are different.