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The courtyard hosting the funeral was large, the village’s only three-story building. White cloth and wreaths hung everywhere, inside and out. At the entrance stood several soul-summoning banners swaying in the ominous wind, their purpose unclear. Only fierce ghosts could manifest in this village; ordinary lingering souls simply couldn’t exist here.

Occasionally, a few pieces of joss paper were caught by the wind, swirling in the air before fluttering down. One even drifted towards Bai Yu, whether by chance or design.

Bai Yu raised Zhao Mingyue’s hand, encased in blood threads like a ghostly claw, caught the piece of joss paper, and casually let it go, watching it twirl and disappear into the darkness.

“The malice of the gods, perhaps,” she mused.

Crouched on a chimney behind the three-story building, Bai Yu observed the funeral from afar.

There were living people inside, quite a few in fact, at least a dozen moving back and forth.

They had arranged the funeral setup, the courtyard lights, wreaths, and banners. After opening the main gate, they uniformly returned to the memorial hall, donning mourning clothes to keep vigil.

From her position, Bai Yu could just make out the large black coffin and portrait in the hall. She was certain she had seen the old woman in the portrait before, undoubtedly the same one she and Zhao Mingyue had witnessed being taken away earlier.

The question was, if the old woman had already been removed during the day, coffin and all, then what was this coffin in the memorial hall?

With the person gone, who were these people keeping vigil for?

Of course, these weren’t the main concerns. The focus was on the “guests” in the courtyard.

The courtyard was filled with people, men and women, young and old, presenting a lively scene. But upon closer inspection, something seemed amiss.

For a funeral with so many “people,” it was unnaturally quiet.

Bai Yu wondered what the purpose of these wax corpses’ presence was. Were they simply there to keep vigil?

“What was taken away during the day wasn’t the corpse, but the old woman’s ghost. She must have become a fierce ghost. So these wax corpses aren’t here to prevent her return, but for another purpose?”

“Every household has evil god talismans on their doors. They’re definitely not warding off the wax corpses.”

“Assuming these talismans aren’t meant to guard against the ‘See No Evil’ god, then they must be protecting against these fierce ghosts.” ¹

Bai Yu pondered, piecing together clues with limited information.

Silently observing the funeral, she waited until all the wax corpses had gathered and stood motionless in the courtyard. Then, the mourners inside began to act. They removed their mourning clothes and upper garments, baring their upper bodies.

Their backs were covered in inscribed symbols, with the character for “ear” visible. (耳)

After gathering, the dozen or so people began chanting. Then, with clear division of tasks, they removed all the offerings before the coffin and brought out something else from the house.

Compared to the earlier chicken and rice, the new sacrificial items had a distinctly different theme.

Bai Yu saw a pair of eyeballs, a heart, a pair of ears, and a mouth. These four items were placed in black ceramic bowls at the four corners of the coffin. Then they brought out rotting animal entrails, a lock of hair tied with red string, a bowl of black, unknown liquid, and a dead snake.

These items were clearly not for the deceased in the coffin. Presumably, they were offerings for the evil god, meant to summon its will.

After arranging the offerings, these people kowtowed before the coffin. The leader stepped forward and kicked over the burning incense burner with paper offerings. Several others worked together to open the coffin lid.

Seeing this, Bai Yu was basically certain of her judgment.

If she wasn’t mistaken, they would summon the evil god’s will next, beginning the wax-sealing process for the corpse. At that point, the old woman’s ghost might return to cause trouble, with the wax corpses and evil god as her greatest obstacles.

Perhaps the old woman’s ghost was also one of the offerings. By dealing with her through some means, this wax corpse could be considered truly successful.

This would align with the evil god’s interests. Ghosts harboring deep resentment made excellent supplements to strengthen themselves.

Just as Bai Yu was contemplating when to make her move, a dramatic change occurred at the funeral.

At the most critical moment of the ritual, the old woman’s corpse suddenly flew out of the coffin, crashing heavily to the ground and knocking over the offerings beside it.

From inside the coffin came a woman’s voice.

“Damn this noisy ruckus, what the hell is whispering in my ear, telling me to get lost? Like hell I’m leaving!”

A scene even more bizarre than the funeral itself unfolded.

After the rightful owner, the old woman’s corpse, had been flung out, a blonde woman sat up from inside the coffin, cursing non-stop.

She calmly stood up, cursing all the while, and dusted herself off.

“What use are these lonely ghosts and wild spirits to you? Why not follow me instead? Staying in this backwater village is all you’ll amount to in this lifetime, understand?”

“And stop your nagging.” She kicked a mourner in the face, using his body to vault out of the coffin.

The blonde woman flicked her hair back, producing a hair tie from somewhere and skillfully tying her hair into a ponytail.

“Since I’m here, and your followers are summoning you, I’m here specifically for you.”

Shlick!

She slit the throats of two mourners with a knife, her movements too fast for those around to see.

“I’ve been hiding for so long because I lacked power. Now it’s just beginning. Cooperating with me is your best choice. Or rather, you should consider yourself fortunate that I found you first.”

She stabbed a knife into the eye socket of a charging follower, then kicked another away.

Seemingly unintentional but deliberate, as she retracted her foot, she crushed the ceramic bowl containing the ear offering, grinding the already decaying ear into mush with her heel.

Flinging away the corpse, the blonde woman advanced a few steps. A man who had been rushing at her faltered, retreating a few steps and even tripping over himself.

“What are you afraid of, hmm?”

A wisp of flame ignited at her fingertip. With her hand, she slashed open the man’s throat. The flame, upon contact with blood, erupted violently, gradually consuming his entire body.

“Any other friends here? Care to come out and chat?”

Twirling a small knife, the blonde woman didn’t advance further. Her gaze swept over the wax corpses in the courtyard before glancing in Bai Yu’s direction.

“The ritual has begun. Why not come out now? We can still talk things over.”

“Fire Demon, you still have that foul mouth.”

Bang!

Two wax corpses were smashed aside as a woman emerged from the group. She wore tattered cloth strips, having clearly blended in with the wax corpses earlier.

In fact, the cloth strips weren’t crucial. She had initially considered donning a wax corpse’s skin, but after violently dissecting a few, she found their flesh had hardened like stone, crumbling at the slightest touch, making it impossible to peel off the skin.

So she willingly accepted the curse, allowing it to envelop her while keeping it under control.

This way, she became one of Pingshan Village’s “own” while no longer needing to hide.

As for the curse’s power, who cares?

Holding a spiked hatchet, the short-haired woman strode up to Fire Demon.

“Let’s split it. We take the power, then deal with the others who show up. I suspect there’s more than one evil god here, so we can monopolize it all later.”

The game had only just begun, and the initial accumulation was most crucial. If they didn’t put in effort now, they would always lag behind once others started snowballing.

And lagging behind meant death.

“Let’s do it your way. But first, I need to know who you are.” Fire Demon put away her knife, her smile deepening.

“I’m… the Doctor.” The short-haired woman also smiled.

“A doctor wielding a hatchet?” Fire Demon’s expression darkened. The small knife reappeared in her hand, its blade igniting with flames. Without another word, she suddenly thrust it towards the short-haired woman’s throat.

“Hahaha, brother—no, sister—relax, just kidding.” The short-haired woman easily dodged. “Scorpion, should we introduce ourselves to our friend?”

One moment she was thrusting a knife at her throat, the next, Fire Demon’s face broke into a smile again. “Sure.”

Not far away, Bai Yu coldly watched the two, blood threads in her hand coalescing into a long sword. She leaped down from the rooftop, the blade angled towards the ground as she stepped into the courtyard.

Twirling the sword, wax corpse heads fell one after another, leaving a trail of twisted bodies in her wake as she cut her way into the courtyard.

“What should we call our friend?” Scorpion retreated a few steps, almost standing beside Fire Demon.

Beneath the mask, Bai Yu’s expression remained unchanged. She stood silently, sword in hand, exuding an oppressive aura that made it hard to breathe. Even before engaging, her presence and demeanor overwhelmed the opposition.

The silver mask, the long leather coat, the sharp aura, and the long sword.

Scorpion and Fire Demon had a vague idea of who she was.

Shhing!

A blood sword light flew out as Bai Yu, controlling Zhao Mingyue’s body, took a step forward, her speed nearly matching the sword light’s.

Seeing the rapidly approaching blood-red blade, Scorpion’s pupils constricted. It was too fast; she could only desperately raise her arms to block.

Blocking the sword light, Bai Yu’s foot arrived next.

One kick sent Scorpion flying. Turning to Fire Demon, Bai Yu closed in, the blade slicing through the air with a chilling wail. A flash of blood threads, and Fire Demon’s short knife blade shattered with a shower of sparks.

Her left fist struck Fire Demon’s abdomen, blood threads impaling her body. With the close distance, Bai Yu could only swing the sword hilt, smashing it heavily into Fire Demon’s face. Fire Demon reacted swiftly, enduring the gut punch to grab the sword hilt.

Boom! Flames and blood threads erupted almost simultaneously. Fire Demon’s palm was pierced, and had she not instinctively thrown her head back, her brain would have been skewered too.

The blast sent Bai Yu staggering back two steps. She glanced at the injury to her right hand.

The charred blood thread shell automatically shed, a new layer growing over it.

Compared to Fire Demon’s wounds, hers didn’t even qualify as minor.

A hatchet suddenly plunged down from above with immense force.

Bai Yu sidestepped, only for a steel spike to thrust towards her predicted position.

This move didn’t need to inflict major damage. A single strike would be enough to unleash the venom within.

The long sword slashed out at a cunning angle, severing the steel spike. Colorless, odorless venom oozed out, sizzling on the ground.

With the first strike missed, dozens of steel needles flew in from various angles.

Bai Yu retreated another step, her sword slashing repeatedly to cut down all the needles.

Two against one, she had taken the upper hand from the start, yet Bai Yu didn’t recklessly advance.

“Hehehe, long time no see, Doctor.” Fire Demon used her flames to cauterize her wound. Though painful, at least it stopped the bleeding. Excessive blood loss during combat could be fatal.

“Even an evil god like this caught your interest?”

Bai Yu remained silent. She glanced at her feet, then kicked two wax corpse heads towards the women. Raising her hand, she unleashed several slashes, the blood sword lights splitting into hundreds of tiny blades, sealing off all escape routes.

Scorpion cleaved through a wax corpse head with her hatchet. Looking up, she saw the dense array of sword lights already upon them.

Even the seasoned Scorpion couldn’t help but curse inwardly, forced to reveal her trump card.

She flung something out, which the sword lights shredded, releasing an odorless, colorless toxic mist that corroded the blood threads to nothingness.

With a flick of her coat hem, Bai Yu dispersed most of the toxic mist.

Suddenly, her movements paused. Stabilizing her weight on her left foot, she twisted her body, swinging her right leg out horizontally to kick aside the incoming hatchet.

The hatchet veered off course, and Scorpion was too late to regain control.

The blade cleaved through the air, a flash of blood threads, and with a splattering sound, a bloodied hand still clutching the hatchet flew into the air.

“So fast!” Scorpion could scarcely believe it.

Bai Yu stepped forward, this time pivoting on her right foot as her left leg kicked out diagonally, aiming for Scorpion’s chin.

Like Fire Demon, Scorpion instinctively raised her arm to block, her body leaning back.

Bai Yu’s foot grazed Scorpion’s chin, the blood thread blade at her heel slicing through some flesh.

It was then that Scorpion realized something.

At the wound on her chin, blood threads grew wildly, blooming into a crimson lotus that tore away a large chunk of flesh.

Scorpion was still essentially a regular person, just slightly more formidable. The pain from such an injury was beyond what sheer willpower could endure.

The blade slashed across her throat, trailing a spray of blood.

Scorpion retreated two steps, disbelief on her face. But in her final moments, her expression became serene.

This could be considered a release from suffering, right?

Truly worthy of being called the Doctor.

The long sword in her hand vanished as Bai Yu paid Fire Demon no mind, turning to leave.

Fire Demon watched Bai Yu depart, touching her chin.

She hadn’t intervened to save Scorpion mainly because she had exchanged a glance with Bai Yu and understood her intention.

“Is this… a show of trust in me…?”

She didn’t understand why the Doctor hadn’t killed her, but this feeling of having her life spared was truly remarkable.

1. “See No Evil” is the same as “do not see” in chapter 85, I have now fixed chapter 85.