Chapter 360: The Strange Battlefield

The scene was utterly absurd: their behavior was entirely like that of living people, yet they were merely made of paper.

What should be done now?

Was all this the Witch's illusion? How could it be broken?

He Lingchuan thought for a moment, identified his bearings, then jumped down from the large tree and headed towards the Gan family residence.

All this trouble stemmed from Third Master Gan. He Lingchuan had a persistent feeling that the crux of the problem lay with him.

Besides, Third Master Gan seemed to be the only living person he could find.

The evil spirits on the road, surprisingly sharp-sensed, soon discovered him and controlled the paper figures to give chase.

With a vast swarm of pursuers behind him, He Lingchuan had no desire to waste more energy. He navigated through halls and alleys.

Midway, several turns led him to encounter enormous bronze mirrors, typically used by tea houses and inns for guests to adjust their attire. He Lingchuan unexpectedly found himself staring into them.

The reflections in the mirrors eagerly tried to seize him, but He Lingchuan was already on guard, keeping his mind alert. How could they succeed so easily?

Just then, the Eyeball Spider suddenly transmitted a signal.

He Lingchuan connected to it and saw that Third Master Gan, dragging his wounded body, had finally managed to crawl back to his own large mansion. However, the house was completely empty, inside and out!

Old Lady Mao wasn't there, nor was Second Master.

All the servants and maids had vanished.

It was an empty residence. The night wind, whistling through the hall and window lattices, sounded like a ghostly wail.

Third Master Gan called out for a long time with no reply. As he stood bewildered, he suddenly heard a voice calling, "Third Master Gan, Third Master Gan!"

He shivered with fright. "Who's there?"

It wasn't a family member's voice, yet it continued to call to him.

Third Master Gan, gathering his courage, crawled forward a few steps. Suddenly, an entire row of lanterns under the eaves lit up on their own, sweeping away the darkness in the courtyard.

He saw a reflection in the pond, but it wasn't his own.

Then, someone rose from the pond water and walked towards him, step by step.

"Witch..." His teeth chattered uncontrollably. "The Witch?"

Who else could this middle-aged woman be but the Witch?

"Weren't you dead?" So, that boy named He hadn't killed the Witch, and now she was here for revenge!

He Lingchuan, watching the live feed, frowned. Through the Eyeball Spider's perspective, he couldn't discern if the resurrected Witch was a paper figure or if she was entangled with evil spirits.

"I am immortal." The Witch walked up to Third Master Gan, crouched down, and her tone, far from being sinister, was full of compassion. "I put my heart into everything I did for you, so why did you help an outsider against me?"

"I... I was forced." The closer her face came, the more terrified Third Master Gan became. "If I didn't lead the way, that boy named He would have killed me."

"Do you want to live?"

"...Yes."

"Do you want to save the Gan Family Business Association?"

"Yes!" So the Witch knew everything?

"Do you want to kill that boy named He?"

Third Master Gan hesitated, not daring to speak.

"Your thoughts cannot escape me." The Witch smiled, revealing chillingly white teeth. "You want him dead, desperately!"

Third Master Gan only pleaded, "Witch, spare my life!"

"Not only will I spare your life, but I will also help you solve all your troubles." The Witch extended her palm, which glowed like a red-hot iron. On it were dense, tiny characters, as small as fly heads, each word radiating light.

Third Master Gan stammered, "What is this for?"

"A contract," the Witch said softly. "Place your palm on mine, and we will successfully seal the contract. After that, you can leave everything to me."

"W-why are you helping me?"

"Originally, once I completed three tasks for you, the contract would be successfully sealed," the Witch sighed. "But midway, it couldn't be transferred to others, and this last task hasn't even been done yet. I might as well just have you sign the contract directly."

"This contract..." Third Master Gan, though terrified, also felt something was amiss. "What do I have to do?"

"You don't have to do anything; just watch!" The Witch smiled. "I will do my best to fulfill the desires in your heart."

Third Master Gan's eyes darted around restlessly.

"If you don't sign, you won't be able to leave. Before you die of thirst or hunger, you'll be eaten by other evil spirits!" the Witch enticed. "Even if you could leave, you wouldn't be the Third Master Gan who once wielded influence in Wuzhe County. The Gan Family Business Association is on the verge of collapse; you're about to become a street beggar, fighting for scraps with stray dogs!"

She cackled, "You're already in this state. Even if you sign a contract with me, could things get any worse than they are now?"

These words truly struck Third Master Gan where it hurt. He even stopped trembling, only murmuring, "If I sign, can I go back to my old life?"

Indeed, his life had never sunk to such a low.

"Of course, and it will even reach new heights!" the Witch smiled. "Then you won't be constrained by First Master Gan, and Old Lady and Second Master Gan will obey your every command."

Third Master Gan's breathing eased.

He Lingchuan had already rushed to the main gate of the Gan residence. Just as he leaped over the courtyard screen wall, he heard this and shouted, "Don't sign the contract! It's tricking you!"

Huh, something seemed wrong here.

At such a critical moment, he couldn't stop to examine details. He strode swiftly into the courtyard.

At this moment, the Witch made a sweeping gesture towards the direction He Lingchuan was coming from, then said to Third Master Gan, "Seal the contract! You can kill him right now! Think of the humiliation you've suffered these past two days!"

Go back to your old life!

No, live even better!

Third Master Gan gritted his teeth, reached out, and pressed his hand onto her palm.

"Ah—" It was like pressing his hand onto a hot iron, and he couldn't pull it away. The pain made him scream loudly.

The Witch opposite him rapidly withered, her skin shriveling. In mere moments, she became a skeletal old woman, her body hunched and covered in wrinkles, appearing far older than Old Lady Mao.

She withdrew her hand, no longer composed, and instead looked up at the night sky, sighing with emotion:

"Finally, I am free."

"I hope you too will soon be free."

After speaking these two sentences, her skin darkened, and her entire body turned into paper ash, which was scattered by the wind.

Third Master Gan looked at his palm; the small, glowing red characters had transferred onto his own hand.

He clenched his fist and then opened it again; the characters were gone, and his palm was smooth.

At this point, his gaze had changed. He suddenly let out two cold laughs.

He Lingchuan was in the middle of cursing the fool, but immediately after passing through the moon gate, the scenery before him abruptly changed.

Before passing through the gate, he had clearly seen a three-story building ahead.

After passing through the gate, he found himself standing at a dusty street corner, where cavalry rode back and forth, slashing, and commoners fled in panic. Burning residences and cries of terror and despair were everywhere.

It was as if he had entered a city battlefield in an instant.

This isn't right, a scene change in one second?

But when he looked closer, those on horseback, those fleeing on the road, those looting house by house, those laughing and screaming—all of them were paper figures!

This grand war spectacle, with enemy troops, defending forces, and commoners, was all portrayed by evil spirits, performing with meticulous precision.

It was both grotesque and terrifying.

Several cavalrymen spotted He Lingchuan and galloped towards him, brandishing their weapons.

He immediately jumped back over the wall, vaulted through several passages, and shook off the cavalry.

The layout of this building was entirely different from that of the Gan residence.

Not only the Gan residence, but all the buildings he saw on the street were different from those in Wuzhe County, being larger and more ancient in style.

Just by the width of the streets, it seemed like a capital or a major city.

Just then, he heard a strange, long cry—grand, clear, and awe-inspiring.

He Lingchuan jumped onto the wall to get a view and was then shocked:

In the sky, a giant crimson bird soared, its head adorned with a high crest, its tail feathered magnificently. Over ten zhang long, its wings spread wide, blotting out the sun and easily casting the buildings and people below into their shadow.

Its size was comparable to a giant whale, yet it flew in the sky, making it even more spectacular.

The enormous bird mercilessly spewed fireballs onto the ground.

Each explosion demolished a building.

So, that's where the raging flames everywhere came from.

Although this great bird was also made of paper, He Lingchuan had no doubt about the power of the real fire it spat.

Furthermore, he felt an endless oppressive aura emanating from the giant bird. With such a creature circling overhead, it truly felt as if the end of the world was nigh.

Wherever it passed, the horses below either whinnied in terror and fled, or simply buckled at the knees and collapsed to the ground.

The great bird flew for a while, dancing gracefully, and on the ground, seven or eight tornadoes formed, each at least ten zhang in diameter.

The fire, fueled by the wind, suddenly transformed into fire tornadoes, consuming everything in their path.

It should be noted that if it weren't for He Lingchuan's "truth filter," to anyone else, these figures, birds, and beasts would appear remarkably vivid and lifelike. Thus, the scene of the city's civilians and children screaming and fleeing only to be devoured by the fire tornadoes would have been exceptionally realistic and tragic.

Just as it seemed the creature could burn half the city alone, several points of light suddenly flew in from the horizon.

He Lingchuan gazed intently and was even more astounded:

These appeared to be six or seven mages, some arriving on cranes, others riding auspicious clouds. They spread out around the crimson bird, almost simultaneously each throwing a mirror.

These mirrors were positioned above, below, left, right, front, and back of the crimson bird, precisely six directions. Each shot out a beam of light, striking the crimson bird.

The crimson bird, which had been darting about, was surprisingly fixed in place by these six beams of light. It flapped its wings repeatedly but couldn't fly away.

However, its power also seemed immense. After several furious shrieks, hurricanes raged over the city, with winds seemingly at least force fourteen, causing the six mirrors to sway violently, almost failing to hold their positions.

One of the mages shouted loudly towards below, "General You, now's your chance!"

General You? He Lingchuan wondered if he had heard that name somewhere before.

From the alley ahead, several riders suddenly leaped out. The general leading them was not mounted on an ordinary steed, but on a tall, exotic beast. It resembled a fierce tiger but had a taut belly and narrow waist, covered in markings, with a single horn on its head and three tails.

He Lingchuan saw this exotic beast and couldn't help but whisper:

"Zheng!"

In the Coiled Dragon Dream Realm, he had read many leisure books, some specifically describing ancient great monsters and exotic beasts, even accompanied by very rough and abstract illustrations. Although the artist's style was unrefined, the appearance of these exotic beasts was distinctive enough not to hinder recognition.

This was the Zheng. People had even coined a specific term for it:

Zhengneng (meaning 'ferocious' or 'hideous').

It was said that an adult Zheng possessed five tails, but General You's mount only had three, indicating it hadn't fully matured.

Even so, its movements were astonishingly agile. Under General You's control, it made several consecutive leaps, jumping higher than the rooftop of the four-story building He Lingchuan was on!