AGJN 047: Alright, I’ve Activated My Cheat

“It’s fine, it just hasn’t fully woken up from hibernation yet. It’ll warm up and drink some water before going back to sleep,” Lan He vaguely recalled some hedgehog care tips. “I’ll just take it with me to Xiao Song’s house, let it play with his hedgehog…”

Lan He hadn’t planned on bringing Bai Wu along, but now it seemed leaving Bai Wu alone with Teacher Long might suffocate the poor thing. So, he took the hedgehog from Teacher Long’s hands, wiped it with a towel, and stuffed it into his backpack.

“Hey, aren’t you going to wrap it up? Its spines might harden later and poke holes in your backpack.” Teacher Long, ever the worrier, insisted that Lan He first wrap Yi Ping in a plastic bag before putting it inside.

Lan He slung the backpack over his shoulders, casually stuffing it with plenty of paper. He exchanged a knowing look with Hu 79.

“Still acting like a kid, huh? Going to a friend’s house with a pet to play make-believe…” Teacher Long muttered as she sent them out. Just before the door closed, Hu 79 darted out.

Hu 79 cupped her face. “Sigh, Teacher Long, how can you say that? How can that be considered a hygiene dead zone?”

Oh right, what was it that Hu 79 had said? Lan He said, “Hahaha, then when you come back, you’ll have to butterfly stroke through the sewers, right?”

Hu 79: “…………”

She vowed to never act pitiful in front of Lan He again. It was pointless—he would just rub salt in the wound.

Lan He peeked into his backpack. Yi Ping was still curled up, probably going to stay like that for a while, so he left it alone. As they descended to the parking garage, he said to Hu 79, “I just heard about a girl who took the South City God as her godfather and then supposedly lost her soul. So, we’re going to check out the South City God Temple to see which clueless evil spirit has taken over the god’s position.”

It was probably because Beijing had been in chaos lately, with the ghost messengers, immortals, and all kinds of practitioners overwhelmed. Otherwise, with the density of experts in Beijing, Lan He wouldn’t have needed to get involved.

“The South City God Temple… Is that the Jiangnan City God Temple?” Hu 79 seemed to remember. This temple had been around for centuries, and she said faintly, “I recall that every Qingming Festival, Ghost Festival, and Winter Clothes Festival, there would be a temple fair. Back then, the area was full of mass graves, ashes swirling in the air, and Taoran Pavilion was desolate—unlike the bustling Yanluo Temple…”

Taoran Pavilion used to be one of the four famous pavilions. Clearly, the Taoran Pavilion in Hu 79’s memory was quite different from the present one.

There’s an old saying in Beijing: “The East is rich, the West is noble, the South is poor, and the North is low.” The aristocrats used to live in the west, and the warehouses were in the east. The main City God Temple was in the west. The South City God Temple, on the outskirts of the city, was surrounded by mass graves and vegetable gardens, and strange events occurred frequently, which led many to offer incense there.

“That was back then. Times have changed,” Lan He sighed deeply.

Hu 79 nodded thoughtfully. “Mm…”

Still immersed in nostalgia, Hu 79 was jolted back when Lan He continued, “These days, second-hand houses there are going for over ten million per square meter!”

Hu 79: “…………”

A honk sounded—Song Futan must have seen them and honked to get their attention.

Lan He walked over, and Hu 79 weakly climbed into the back seat. Song Futan glanced at her, and Lan He explained, “Ah, we were just discussing housing prices, past and present—a bit emotional.”

Hu 79: …Fair enough, it is pretty emotional.

.

Ying Shao had barely stepped off the plane when a car sent by Yu Hangjia picked him up.

He had just finished a glorious year. Last year, he finally made something of himself—not only did he not starve in Beijing, but he also returned with plenty of gifts. His relatives, who had always been skeptical about his profession—you’re from the Northeast, raising Gu insects and trying to make it in Beijing, no wonder you couldn’t succeed—were now eating their words. Not only had he succeeded, but apparently, he had a celebrity neighbor. Many of his relatives even asked him for autographed photos…

At the Yu family estate, Ying Shao was still a bit puzzled. “President Yu, what’s going on?”

“Mr. Ying is here,” Yu Hangjia said quietly. “We’d like to ask for your help to find someone.”

“Find someone? Who?”

“My father—he’s gone missing.”

“Missing? Do you mean… kidnapping?” Ying Shao immediately thought of that possibility, though he was puzzled. He knew the Yu family had Melonhead Immortal as their household deity, and such deities were quite adept at locating people, especially their own kin. Why would they bypass Melonhead Immortal and come to him?

“I’m afraid not. I already lit incense and informed our household deity. Melonhead Immortal responded, but he couldn’t sense my father’s soul.” Normally, Melonhead Immortal would be able to tell where Yu’s father was, whether alive or dead. Yu Hangjia continued, “The Immortal suspects my father might have accidentally wandered into the underworld, or worse, been mistakenly taken.”

The reason he said “mistakenly” was because Melonhead Immortal had seen that Yu’s father still had time left on his life span. If it was an unnatural death, that was a different story.

Because Ying Shao had connections with the netherworld officials, Melonhead Immortal suggested bringing him in. The Immortal also knew that the underworld had been very busy recently, but Ying Shao might still have some sway with the big bosses down there.

Ying Shao quickly set up an altar to summon Lord Lai, but it didn’t always work. This time, Lord Lai didn’t appear, and Ying Shao awkwardly said, “Uh, he might be busy with something…”

Just then, Yu’s wife spoke up, her voice strange—Melonhead Immortal was speaking through her. “Never mind, Beijing’s been busy lately. It’s understandable. Hangjia, tell me exactly where your father went yesterday.”

Since the deity couldn’t sense anything, they’d have to use mundane methods to investigate.

Yu Hangjia had his hands full. His bodyguards were searching everywhere, and they’d already tracked the phone’s location. “He was last seen on Changsheng Street. We only found his phone there, and after that, nothing… Immortal, you must find my father! He can’t come to any harm!”

Setting aside the fact that it was his father, more practically, the massive Kunlun business still needed Yu’s father as its backbone.

So Yu Hangjia was still keeping his father’s disappearance tightly under wraps. No one outside the family knew, not even his own siblings. But with so much movement, and so many eyes on the situation, it wouldn’t stay hidden for long.

“Got it, stop nagging!” Melonhead Immortal barked fiercely. “I’ve taken it upon myself to protect the Yu family. If your father has died unjustly, I’ll storm the underworld to bring him back!”

As he said this, a fierce expression crossed his face.

Though Melonhead Immortal was usually rough around the edges, Ying Shao had no doubt he meant it. Growing up in the Northeast, Ying Shao had heard many stories of household gods risking their lives to save their disciples, even clashing head-on with the underworld.

Using Yu’s wife’s body as a medium, Melonhead Immortal’s eyes darted around in a manner that didn’t fit her appearance. “Bring me a map. Show me where Changsheng Street is—I’m not familiar with your city anymore.”

Yu Hangjia brought the map over, and after looking at it and comparing it to the image of old Beijing in his mind, Melonhead Immortal muttered, “Ah, I knew it. That’s right by the South City God Temple, a dodgy place filled with bad vibes!”

Even the local vendors back in the day would say they’d seen ghostly figures like the death messengers buying paper offerings in the middle of the night.

Since the City God left, there had been fewer strange occurrences, but in these chaotic times, places that once attracted ghosts could still harbor strange creatures.

Melonhead Immortal squatted down, prompting Yu Hangjia to quickly use his jacket to cover his wife’s skirt…

Melonhead Immortal mused, “Why couldn’t we trace him earlier? No matter, I need to go there in person. Even if nothing happened on the street, I’ll check for any lingering traces.”

Plus, the old man was likely carrying protective talismans or artifacts. The Yu family was known for that sort of thing, which made Melonhead Immortal suspect this situation might be more troublesome than usual. “Hmm… Yu Hangjia, didn’t you recently acquire a copy of *Chao Zhen Tu*?”

Yu Hangjia hesitated. “Uh, yeah…”

*Chao Zhen Tu* was a draft of an ancient painting. Yu Hangjia had bought a sketch of a Taoist temple wall painting, typically passed down through generations of artists to restore damaged murals. This particular piece, a prized possession worth three million yuan, was a religious artwork depicting immortal worship. Some famous murals were based on this draft, created by a renowned painter from a previous dynasty, Li Yong. It had been a rare find.

Yu Hangjia felt uneasy as Melonhead Immortal brought it up.

“Bring it! Have that kid take it with us. Li Yong’s depictions of gods and Buddhas are incredibly lifelike, and the painting has been in a temple, receiving incense and offerings. If there’s a ghost, it’ll scare them off.”

“Scare them off, huh…” Yu Hangjia rubbed his hands, gritting his teeth. “Alright, but please, take good care of it. It took me a lot of effort to get.”

Ying Shao was baffled. “I’m going too?”

Melonhead Immortal retorted, “You came all this way, and you’re not going? And you still call yourself a follower of Lord Lai?”

Ying Shao: “…”

Is that really how it works?

Melonhead Immortal scoffed, “Besides, I can’t carry the painting myself, can I? I’ll have to use your body. And my wife here is coming too—we’ll get your father back!”

“Alright.” Ying Shao scratched his head. After all, Yu Hangjia was his biggest client and had been a key supporter, so of course, he had to help.

…

Changsheng Street.

Song Futan pulled over by the roadside. “Crossing this street will take us to the old site of the South City God Temple. The original temple was demolished due to structural issues, but they later rebuilt it.”

“I’ll just separate my soul here,” Lan He said, noticing that most of the shops were closed.

“I’ll go check it out first,” Hu 79 volunteered eagerly. “If I take care of it, you won’t even need to get out of the car.”

Hu 79 was always particularly enthusiastic about such tasks, but Lan He shook his head. “No, you’re too impulsive. I’ll go with you.”

Lan He separated his soul, nodded at Song Futan to keep an eye on his body, and left the plastic bag with the hedgehog behind, taking only his backpack as he floated away.

There weren’t many people on the street. Lan He drifted across Changsheng Street, reaching the courtyard wall behind the City God Temple. Above it were the words “Supervisor of Divine Observance.” The archway adorned with cloud and dragon patterns had long been bricked up, but to a death messenger, no door posed an obstacle.

Yet, after surveying the area for a while, Lan He felt underwhelmed. The place seemed deserted, with the dusty bricks and tiles giving off no scent of incense or candles, and the interior was pitch-black.

“Even if an evil spirit took over the god’s position, there has to be something to gain from it. But this place hasn’t seen offerings in ages,” Lan He said.

Hu 79 nodded in agreement. “Should we… just leave?”

Lan He was tempted to leave too, his hand resting on his official hat. But he thought of the inscription above and reminded himself that as a death messenger, it was important to stay true to one’s mission. He hesitated, “But, we’ve already come this far…”

Just then, a faint sound came from inside the courtyard wall. Lan He floated up and peeked over the wall—

.

Ying Shao followed Melonhead Immortal to Changsheng Street. The couple sniffed around, but there was still no trace of Old Yu. Ying Shao glanced at the South City God Temple and asked, “Should we check inside the temple?”

Melonhead Immortal responded impatiently, “What’s the point of going in there? From here, I can only smell dust.”

Ying Shao was still thinking about Lord Lai. “Maybe we could ask the ghost messengers there.”

Melonhead Immortal scoffed. “There are no ghost messengers left there, not even a god. Let’s go.”

The Golden Silkworm Gu stirred slightly, making Ying Shao uneasy. “Immortal, you’ve searched every other place three or five times. Why are you so reluctant to check the City God Temple? Even if there are no ghost messengers, what if someone really did collapse there?”

“…That’s because!” Melonhead Immortal stammered but couldn’t finish his sentence. Adjusting his melon hat thoughtfully, he murmured, “Yeah, why is that…”

The City God Temple’s main gate was firmly shut, ostensibly to protect the structure, though it had clearly been abandoned for years. An old couplet adorned the gate: “The wicked of the living world defy heaven’s laws by their own hands; the underworld’s retribution has spared none throughout history.”

Melonhead Immortal’s wife stared at the gate’s lock. “Shall we go in?”

Melonhead Immortal licked his fingers and tapped the lock three times. With a click, the gate creaked open, and the three of them ventured into the darkness. They could barely make out two large halls in front of them, both tightly closed, with no way to see what lay inside.

As they entered, the gate behind them seemed to be gently pushed by the wind, closing softly.

Ying Shao shivered. “It really looks like no one’s been here for ages.”

Melonhead Immortal sniffed the air and said, “No, something’s off… I smell incense, and it’s strong…”

Melonhead Immortal followed the scent, but since the hall doors were shut, they had to go around to the back of the hall.

The moonlight softly illuminated the area, providing a faint light. The back door of the main hall was wide open. Three men knelt at the entrance, each with three nearly burnt-out sticks of incense stuck in their heads.

A female ghost, holding a tray, was replacing the burnt incense sticks in their heads with fresh ones from her tray. The men, utterly silent and expressionless, went about their task without acknowledging Ying Shao and the others.

“…What is this?” Ying Shao’s skin crawled, goosebumps covering his body.

Melonhead Immortal’s lips twitched slightly. Without realizing it, he stood back-to-back with his wife, scanning the area cautiously. In a low voice, he explained, “This is ‘meat incense’… Burning incense inserted into holes in the body, even cutting off flesh to burn in the censer, as a display of sincerity. I haven’t seen this method of offering incense in years.”

Without Lan He’s skill in crafting incense, some people resorted to extreme methods. But in this modern age, who would use such a self-mutilating ritual?

Burning incense in their bodies? Ying Shao felt nauseous. He couldn’t see the faces of the men, but one of them, with almost entirely white hair and a frail frame, resembled the image of Yu’s father. Ying Shao called out his name, “Yu Zhengqing?!”

There was no response.

However, the female ghost finally turned slowly, as if responding to Melonhead Immortal. She appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen, dressed in a school uniform. Her round, slightly chubby face smiled faintly, as if responding to Melonhead Immortal: “The meat incense… smells so good…”

Ying Shao muttered, “Is that you?”

“Of course not! This is clearly a living soul, and she’s not the one receiving the offerings!” Melonhead Immortal stepped closer to the main hall and peered inside. There, a statue of the City God sat in the main seat, facing the outside and appearing to enjoy the sacrifice of meat incense!

Melonhead Immortal squinted. He couldn’t quite make out what kind of creature was within the statue.

“What kind of demon are you?” Melonhead Immortal had a bad feeling about this. He whispered to Ying Shao, “Quickly, try summoning that rascal Lai again.”

“I already tried once.” Ying Shao was about to explain when he suddenly heard a loud crash. A bull-headed clay statue inside the hall had leapt off the altar and was striding toward them, each step landing heavily, with shards of clay crumbling off its form.

Melonhead Immortal and his wife both stepped forward simultaneously, bracing against one of the bull-headed figure’s arms, their faces twisted with the effort.

Ying Shao quickly chanted a spell, “With this incense, I summon Lord Lai from the eight directions—”

“I’m here already! Stop chanting!” A sharp voice called out, and Lord Lai floated down from the courtyard wall, landing right in front of Ying Shao.

Ying Shao: “…………”

I didn’t even finish the incantation! Did he fly here or something??

Lan He leapt onto the clay figure, swiftly wrapping a chain around it. Hu 79 darted up and viciously tackled the figure, throwing it to the ground where it shattered into pieces.

Lan He quickly scanned the area. His gaze passed over the kneeling men with incense in their heads and lingered momentarily on the girl in the school uniform, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Having been on duty for a while now, Lan He could tell that the girl wasn’t a ghost but a living soul.

A wandering soul? A middle-aged man’s face flashed through Lan He’s mind, his features vaguely resembling hers.

So she had acknowledged the City God as her godfather—except it wasn’t the real City God but some imposter who had taken her as a servant…

“Lord Lai…” Melonhead Immortal approached eagerly, ready to flatter him, but was met with a punch from Lan He.

Clutching his eye, Melonhead Immortal wailed, “When did you arrive? Did you hear me calling you a rascal Lai?!”

Lan He: “Huh? Did you just call me a ‘big rascal’?”

Melonhead Immortal screamed, “…Then why did you hit me?! My wife has never even hit me!”

Lan He: “…”

Melonhead Immortal’s wife: “…”

Lan He remembered that last time Melonhead had badmouthed him right in front of him, so the punch wasn’t entirely unjustified. Nonchalantly, Lan He asked, “What are you guys doing here?”

“Yu Hangjia’s father went missing, and we traced him here. This place is really strange. We were about to leave when Ying Shao asked why we weren’t going inside, and that’s when I realized… I was unconsciously trying to avoid this place,” Melonhead Immortal explained nervously, glancing at Lan He and the obviously dangerous Hu 79 next to him. He thought, maybe Lord Lai wasn’t summoned after all.

That made sense. Ying Shao, having raised the Golden Silkworm Gu, had some resistance to these things. It was no wonder he hadn’t gone home—he’d come here instead…

Lan He realized he had also been tempted to leave earlier. “Were we unconsciously being manipulated?”

Speaking of manipulation, Lan He recalled someone in particular. He couldn’t help but glance toward Hu 79.

Hu 79 sniffed the air, her tail swishing lightly against the ground. “I smell blood. Whose big tooth fell out and hasn’t been replaced? …Hu Si, are you coming out?”

Melonhead Immortal gasped, “It’s Hu Si!”

Lan He thought back to the incident at Juehui Temple, where Hu Si had suffered a loss. The ghost messengers had been searching for her everywhere, but she had vanished. It turned out she’d been hiding here.

Hu Si, skilled in illusions, had taken over this place and lured people to offer incense, likely to regain her strength. Despite the ghost messengers’ search for her broken tooth, they had somehow missed this temple—probably because, like him, anyone who got close felt the urge to leave, showing how advanced her illusion magic was.

Though Hu 79 had called out Hu Si’s name, the temple remained eerily quiet. Only the statues of Ox-Head and the ghost messengers creaked as they shifted slightly, producing a grinding noise against the stone floor.

Lan He quickly pulled out some paper and sent a message to Old Bai. “Hurry, brothers, come over, we’re going to gang up on Hu Si…”

The previously quiet temple was suddenly filled with a hateful female voice. “It’s you again! Always you… You only know how to gang up on me, always using a bunch of brutes to bully me!!”

She was furious at this ghost messenger for knocking out her tooth!

“What, do you expect a one-on-one fight?” Lan He found this odd. “We ghost messengers are an organized, united collective.” If he hadn’t used most of his paper horses to deliver messages, he would’ve sent some livestock to plow over Hu Si by now.

Hu Si was both enraged at Lan He and wary of him calling for backup. Who knew, maybe a couple of trucks full of ghost messengers would arrive soon. So, she cursed, “Go to hell!”

With that, the belly of the City God statue cracked open, and a ragged, tailless fox with torn ears leapt out, darting past them and over the courtyard wall.

She’s running away? That’s not like Hu Si’s usual style… Could she have been too badly injured last time to fight?

But Lan He was prepared. He grabbed his paper horse and gave chase, while Hu 79 had already pounced onto the wall in pursuit.

…

Ying Shao and Melonhead Immortal were a step behind. They first pulled the incense sticks out of the heads of the three men, and Melonhead Immortal spat on their wounds to seal them up.

The three men, along with their souls, looked utterly bewildered. Ying Shao led them out, but as soon as he opened the door, he froze. Outside was nothing but a desolate wind, the street and neighborhood had disappeared, replaced by an endless graveyard. Looking back, the courtyard wall and the City God Temple had also vanished, replaced by more graves.

Or rather, given the bodies wrapped in rotting grass mats, this should be called a mass grave.

Lan He and Hu 79 were already outside, having emerged earlier. Hu 79 was grinding her back teeth. “Illusions… I can smell her. She’s still here.”

To change the surroundings this drastically on a whim, Hu Si had to be physically present, controlling the illusion from within.

Hu 79’s sharp eyes scanned the area, trying to determine which stone, which tree, or even which ant might be Hu Si.

It was just like the scene Hu 79 had described before—white paper money fluttering down from the sky, and the faint, sorrowful cries of a woman echoed hauntingly from an unknown direction.

The scene was so real, it made every living creature’s skin crawl.

Seeing through Hu Si’s illusions was nearly impossible. Even Ying Shao, with his Golden Silkworm Gu, felt a chill run through him. The more frightened he became, the more realistic the scene appeared.

It wasn’t just Ying Shao—Melonhead Immortal and his wife also couldn’t help but feel fear.

Even though they knew Hu Si was behind this, they couldn’t escape the terror. Not only was she affecting their minds, but they also had to be on constant alert for her sudden attacks. Their nerves were stretched to the breaking point.

Hu Si’s voice came from somewhere unseen. “Scared, aren’t you? Heh, if you hadn’t looked away from the sight of the meat incense, I wouldn’t have guessed…”

Hu Si hated Lan He to the core. Before the swarm of ghost messengers arrived, she was determined to kill him, to make him suffer like she had when surrounded by enemies.

Lan He felt uneasy—he was, indeed, a little scared. But, of course, he couldn’t show it on his face. He even looked around, feigning confusion, as if asking, “Who here is afraid of ghosts?”

Hu 79: “…”

Melonhead Immortal didn’t doubt for a second. Since no one admitted to being scared, he thought Hu Si’s illusions were targeting the humans present, given that Ying Shao had the protection of the Golden Silkworm Gu.

As a weasel spirit, Melonhead Immortal was used to dealing with ghosts and had no fear of them. But now, even he felt affected—not by the ghosts themselves, but by fear itself, as Hu Si’s illusions were masterful enough to unsettle even a spirit skilled in deception.

Lan He quickly burned some of First Lady Hu’s fingernails, which had helped clear his mind slightly and boost his courage. Yet, despite the clarity, the illusion remained strong, with countless ghosts rising from the mass graves surrounding them, moving slowly in their direction.

These ghosts retained the terrifying forms they had in death, their grotesque and horrifying faces blocking every path Lan He looked.

The power of First Lady Hu gave Lan He a vague sense of where Hu Si was, but only vaguely. He felt that if the illusions swarmed him all at once, it would be impossible to tell which was real and which was Hu Si…

At that moment, Lan He found himself thinking of Song Futan.

If Ying Shao’s resistance to illusions was a mere level three, then Song Futan was already at level ten, with a perfect illusion-breaking ability and even some bonus defense. Last time, although Song Futan had been captured by Hu Si, he had assured Lan He afterward that it wouldn’t happen again.

Too bad they hadn’t known Hu Si was hiding here earlier.

“Don’t be afraid. Just think about how valuable this place would be in reality; its true face is scarier than any ghost—housing prices!” Lan He encouraged himself. He took a deep breath but almost gagged again—the illusion was so vivid that he could smell the stench of rotting corpses.

Hu 79: “…” Oddly enough, she actually felt a bit comforted by that.

Lan He threw all the paper horses in his hands into the air, transforming them into majestic steeds that formed a protective circle around them. Pinching his nose, he rallied both his companions and himself, “No fear! Ghost messengers, Gu masters, fox spirits, and weasel spirits—none of us should fear ghosts!”

But just then, as if on cue, the three men with the meat incense embedded in their heads regained consciousness, saw their surroundings, and immediately began to scream in horror: “Aaaaah—Aaaaah!”

The girl’s soul, dressed in her school uniform, also woke up from her daze. Upon seeing a ghost with its intestines spilling out just meters away, she broke down in loud sobs.

The three men turned to look at her, mistaking her for another ghost, which only made their cries even more hysterical as they tried to crawl away from her.

The girl: “…”

The tension in the air escalated sharply.

Lan He: “Alright, stop crying.”

Hu 79 also shouted, having been somewhat encouraged by Lan He’s ramblings. “Will you all quiet down!”

“…!” The three men and the girl’s soul, seeing a ghost messenger and a talking fox, of course, couldn’t calm down. If anything, they felt certain they were about to die, and all four began wailing even louder.

Lan He: “…”

The mix of human cries and ghostly wails blended into an oppressive atmosphere, further lowering everyone’s morale—exactly what Hu Si had been aiming for.

Melonhead Immortal pinched his thigh to steady himself, trying to suppress the tremors of fear. He turned to Yu’s father, who was clutching his head in both pain and terror, and said, “Yu Zhengqing, do you recognize me? I’m your family’s household god, Melonhead Immortal!”

Yu’s father nodded vigorously and began crawling toward Melonhead. As he moved, his foot knocked into something—looking down, he saw a skull, and his heart nearly stopped in fright.

Melonhead continued, “Just sit still, close your eyes, and ignore everything. I promise… if anyone dies, you’ll be the last!”

Yu’s father: “…”

The old man, already weak and unable to handle the stress, finally passed out.

The remaining two men and the girl’s soul continued to scream in terror. They wanted to faint but couldn’t, and every attempt to flee was blocked by the encroaching ghostly figures. Even closing their eyes didn’t help; they could still feel the spirits closing in on them, and it felt like they would be overwhelmed by the next moment.

Ying Shao, having never encountered anything like this before, was at a loss for how to comfort them. In the midst of the chaos, he muttered, “What do we do?”

Lan He pulled more paper from his backpack and calmly analyzed the situation. “The key is not to panic. Hu Si’s tough on the outside but weak on the inside. At worst, we just hold out until Old Bai and the others arrive. We can do this.”

Hu 79 pressed close to Lan He, crouching low to the ground and growling quietly. It was true—Hu Si might appear calm and collected, using her illusions to pressure them, but in reality, she was the one eager to end this quickly. This meant that they couldn’t afford to lose their composure. As long as they held her off, they had a chance…

Melonhead told Ying Shao to spread out the draft of *Chao Zhen Tu*, placing it over the unconscious Yu’s father. Despite the vivid and lifelike depictions of gods and immortals on the paper, Melonhead still felt anxious. He nervously scratched at his paws and muttered, “How do we stop being afraid…”

Honk honk.

From the right, the sudden blare of a car horn broke through the tense atmosphere. Everyone turned to see a black car calmly driving into view, looking completely out of place amidst the mass graves.

Song Futan drove straight through the ghostly crowd, seemingly unfazed. Through the car window, one could vaguely see a set of prayer beads glowing with a faint golden light—a small glimmer, but one that stood out sharply in the graveyard.

He stepped out of the car, carrying a bag with a hedgehog inside, walking with the same calm and composed demeanor as always.

Lan He let out a sigh of relief, his tone suddenly turning cocky, “Alright, my cheat has arrived.”

---

Author’s note:

Your clarity buff, god-tier shield, aggro item… and a bag of a dying hedgehog have now gone online.

Hu Si: ?? I want to report this!