I Am Your Natural Enemy

Chapter 518: Chapter 209: Eating from the inside out, pretending to be dirty to open one’s eyes (5k)

In the crisscrossed ravines of sparsely populated northern Guanzhong County, inside an Earth Temple carved into the mountainside, a Taoist stood at the threshold, gazing silently for a long while, then softly chanted a sacred name.

He turned back into the temple, sat upon a straw mat, gazed at the wooden idol, and sighed quietly.

”You were too hasty, drew attention to yourself. Though there are few experts in the Scorching Sun Department, their intelligence network is not lacking in the slightest.

In truth, their overall strength is not weak either. It’s only that they have too many matters to deal with.

The Scorching Sun Department in the Divine Land is not the same as the ones outside. They truly have to take charge of everything, and everyone believes it is their responsibility.

Do you understand what that means?

You might not even know what it means for your priority level to be raised.

It means we are not far from death.”

The idol slowly opened its eyes, revealing a pair of gem-like eyes, their depths seemingly tinged with confusion.

The Taoist sighed softly, formed a respectful incense mudra with his hand, and lightly offered four sticks of incense.

”Fortunately, their number of experts is small. There aren’t enough hands to cover every corner of the Divine Land.

There is still a way to salvage this, as long as someone else’s priority is higher than yours, it won’t be your turn.

So don’t worry.”

The Taoist lowered his brow and eyes, muttering to himself.

Just then, an old model brick phone of his received an advertisement text message—it was for shoes.

Soon after, two more different ads appeared.

He glanced at them, frowned slightly, walked to the Earth Temple entrance, looked into the distance, then switched off his phone, taking out both the SIM card and battery for good measure.

”Even this place gets a signal; the government’s truly gone mad.”

He looked at the night, then down at the footprints outside the temple. He knew it was time to change locations.

Three advertisement texts, when taken together, were sending a message: the person from the Ghost Forbidden Area had left the Rakshasa Ghost Market—now, only a mysterious, elusive Great Killer Star remained there.

Thinking of that enigmatic person who’d just come by to give a warning—

The Taoist knew that, according to rumor, the one called Wen Yan in the Ghost Forbidden Area had plunged into the Netherworld. No one knew how he came back, but now, going again, it could only be for the sake of the idol.

Someone once saw Wen Yan in the Netherworld, and they happened to encounter one such person—in that stretch of time, Wen Yan was neither seen alive nor did his corpse appear.

It just so happened that Wen Yan was in Lord Zhu’s manor then. When the manor vanished, Wen Yan disappeared as well.

So some speculated that Wen Yan was a special type, catching the very instant of the Netherworld’s emergence—his flesh tumbled into the Netherworld.

At first, no one paid much attention to this. No matter how special, he was flesh and blood, still needed to eat, drink, and evacuate. In the Netherworld, no matter how one endures, surviving a year or so would be remarkable enough.

No amount of support could last that long either.

Food might be manageable—not eating for ten days might not kill you—but go ten days without water, and you’d definitely be stiff as a corpse.

But no one expected Wen Yan would quietly reappear.

This matter caused quite a stir. Not many people knew, but there were some.

Fortunately, anyone with the means knew the true state of the Netherworld; otherwise, those who should have acted would have lost all restraint by now.

Taking advantage of the night, the Taoist slipped away from the Earth Temple without a sound.

Before leaving, he carefully tidied his things. As he departed, his wide sleeve swept up clouds of earth and dust.

By the time he had been gone a while, a layer of dust already coated the Earth Temple, as though no one had visited in ages.

The idol on the altar had vanished at some unknown hour.

The faint footprints on the little dirt path outside were quickly swallowed up by the night wind; dust swirled, concealing every last trace.

In autumn and winter on the Loess Plateau, vegetation withers and dies, the air is dry and rain scarce—the one thing never lacking is dust.

...

At an entrance of the Rakshasa Ghost Market in Central Plains County, two Ghosts violently shoved another Ghost into a small jade cage, then entered the Rakshasa Ghost Market together.

Upon arriving at Lord Zhu’s other residence inside the Ghost Market, the cage was opened. With a gentle shake, a Ghost tumbled out.

That Ghost looked at Lord Zhu, who was sitting, drinking tea, and at once his legs gave way. He stammered in terror.

”Prince, I really don’t know anything...”

”Hey, now that’s odd. We haven’t even asked a thing, and you’re already saying you don’t know?”

”Prince... I... I...”

”What’s your name?”

”My name is Liu Qiang...”

”See, that’s something you do know, isn’t it.”

At the end of Lord Zhu’s words, a smiling young man stepped out from behind, pulling out a menacing, baleful Finger-cutting Knife, and gently slipped it over Liu Qiang’s finger.

Then he sweetly reminded him,

”Don’t worry, you’re a Ghost. It’s not fatal.”

Without a sound, one of Liu Qiang’s ghostly fingers was severed.

Before his shriek could even escape his lips, the two Ghosts escorting Liu Qiang, well trained in such matters, had already sealed his mouth with talismans.

Lord Zhu’s eyes darkened with a menacing air as he set down his teacup.

”If memory serves, you came to the Rakshasa Ghost Market eight years ago—an old papermaker from Old Liu’s family recommended you in.

While alive, you dabbled in petty theft, but you’d gone straight for several years before your death. You made your living honestly. At last, to treat your ailing mother, you stole again, were caught, panicked, tried to escape over a windowsill, and fell to your death.

Out of respect for your filial piety, I let you join the Ghost Market to help out, gave money for your mother’s illness, and found someone to look after her.