Chapter 661: Familiar Face

"Lu... Juren?" Yang Xiaohai's eyes widened as he stared at the person before him.

Yang Xiaohai certainly recognized this person. After all, his whole family had traveled with him.

But wasn't he supposed to have gone with Master Lu to the capital to enjoy a prosperous life? Senior Brother Gao even gifted them a large theater. How could he be here, alone with Yang Xiaohai, beneath Qingqiu?

"You... how are you here?" Yang Xiaohai cautiously took half a step back. He wasn't sure if this person was truly Juren Lu or some malevolent spirit in disguise.

"How am I here?" Juren Lu seemed confused by the question. "I don't know either, Yang Xiaohai. Where is this place?"

"You ask me, who should I ask?" Yang Xiaohai's expression suddenly turned anxious as something occurred to him. "Oh, by the way, have you seen my wife? Zhao Xiumei, the woman who used to follow me around all the time?"

They had clearly come down together, but now he was alone. Yang Xiaohai was deeply worried about Zhao Xiumei's safety.

In response to Yang Xiaohai's questions, Juren Lu remained in place, appearing dazed as he struggled to think.

"Do you know how to get out of here? Where's the exit?" Yang Xiaohai asked, his face grim as he peered into the surrounding darkness.

Juren Lu stood there for a long time, pondering these two questions, but still couldn't come up with an answer.

However, from Yang Xiaohai's perspective, this was a small mercy. Regardless of why this person had changed, the fact that he hadn't attacked meant he likely wasn't an evil spirit.

But at this point, even if he wasn't being harmed, it was useless if he couldn't find a way out.

Since the other person was clearly no help, Yang Xiaohai realized he would have to find a way to escape this peculiar place on his own.

"Right, I remember Senior Brother Li encountered similar trouble before. How did they manage to get out of it?"

After a moment of contemplation, Yang Xiaohai put his thumb in his mouth and then held it up, sensing the subtle breeze in the air.

After swaying on his tiptoes for a bit, Yang Xiaohai felt a coolness in his hand, originating from the south, and decided to grope his way in that direction.

After taking a few steps, he tore a piece of cloth from his clothing, intending to write a message for Zhao Xiumei, should she arrive. However, he then remembered she couldn't read, which presented a momentary dilemma.

"I'll find the exit first, then return with help for Xiumei. Perhaps she didn't even fall in." With this plan in mind, Yang Xiaohai prepared to follow the cool sensation on his finger.

As he began to leave, Yang Xiaohai turned his head to look at Juren Lu, who remained rooted to the spot behind him. "Hey, are you coming?"

"Go? Where to?"

"Out, of course!" Yang Xiaohai felt that the other man's current state reminded him a bit of Senior Brother Gao back then—dazed and confused. He had no idea what could have happened to make him this way.

"Out? Okay." Juren Lu nodded and followed along.

Yang Xiaohai held his breath, bending low as he carefully groped forward, guided by the cool sensation on his finger.

From the fumbling bumps and scrapes around their feet, Yang Xiaohai sensed they were gradually descending.

He didn't know if this was a good sign or a bad one. All he knew was that Senior Brother Li had once escaped from beneath Qingqiu using this exact method, so he figured he could probably do the same.

The only thing that brought him a glimmer of comfort was that despite the oppressive darkness, there seemed to be nothing strange trying to harm them. This bolstered his hope that his wife was still alive.

Just as Yang Xiaohai was thinking this, a disturbance in the distance jolted him. He cautiously groped his way towards it.

As he drew closer, the sounds grew louder. However, as Yang Xiaohai listened, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss; the sounds seemed to be human voices. "Where exactly is this place? Why are there so many people beneath Qingqiu?"

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Yang Xiaohai finally spotted the source of the sounds: a line of grotesque figures adorned with long strips of cloth.

These monstrous figures were so tall that Yang Xiaohai could only see their lower halves; their upper bodies were completely obscured by darkness, making them difficult to discern. They shuffled their legs beneath their robes, moving uniformly in one direction, as if dragging something.

Yang Xiaohai peered intently into the darkness, which seemed to recede slightly. He could faintly make out that each of these strange figures held an umbrella.

Just as he was trying to comprehend the scene, the sight of what the grotesque figures were dragging behind them made him gasp.

They were people—all kinds of people—strung together by a long mourning staff, being dragged across the ground like a chain of meat.

One end of the white mourning staff, adorned with white tassels, was clutched in the hands of these strange beings.

With every dragging motion, the people cried out in desperate wails, helplessly scratching at the ground. Yet, despite their efforts, nothing changed; their fingers simply wore away.

"This... where is this place! This is..." Yang Xiaohai watched the distant scene, completely panicked and unsure of what to do.

Just then, Juren Lu, who had been bewildered by his side, seemed to regain his senses in a sudden burst of clarity. He spotted Luo Juanhua among the strung-up people and let out a furious roar: "Juan'er! Run!"

The loud cry caused the grotesque figures in the distance to halt. The large umbrella in the darkness slowly turned, now facing Yang Xiaohai.

When Yang Xiaohai saw Juren Lu yelling and charging towards the strange figures, he instantly felt as if he were plunged into an ice-cold abyss, a single thought echoing in his mind: "It's over."

As Juren Lu rushed to the mourning staff, reaching out to rescue Luo Juanhua, one of the grotesque figures flicked its hand. The surrounding darkness instantly coalesced into a new mourning staff, which impaled Juren Lu directly through the chest.

But it wasn't over. The mourning staff, with Juren Lu still impaled on it, twisted in the air like a living thing and lunged directly at Yang Xiaohai.

Terrified, Yang Xiaohai abandoned all other thoughts, spun around, and ran for his life.

The increasingly close thudding sounds deepened his despair. Just as he believed he was about to meet the same fate as Juren Lu, a gust of wind rushed past him. The next instant, a heavy thud echoed from behind. He was safe.

Fear made his body tremble uncontrollably. When Yang Xiaohai shakily turned around, he saw a familiar face standing atop the enormous corpse.

"Li... Senior Brother Li?!" Yang Xiaohai stared in shock at the familiar man in the distance.

The figure in the distance, dressed in a red Taoist robe and wearing a copper coin mask, could be no one else but his Senior Brother Li.

"Yang... Yang Xiaohai? Heh, what a surprise." Li Huowang stepped down from the corpse as if descending stairs, casually strolling towards the young man before him, observing him with a mix of curiosity and amusement.