Volume One: The Soul-Summoning Gourd and the Spirit-Burning Lamp Chapter 81: In the Darkness

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Pfft—

Without warning, Xiao Yulou, who had been sitting cross-legged, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Across from him, Li Hetang was hit by the spray in an instant.

The suddenness of it all left Li Hetang, his face already covered in blood, utterly bewildered.

Gu Mo, whose expression had shifted to shock and horror, darted forward in a flash, shouting anxiously, “Mophead!”

He crouched before Xiao Yulou, hands gently shaking the odd little Daoist.

Xiao Yulou’s face turned deathly pale, as white as snow. He looked weakly at Gu Mo, a faint, wan smile emerging on his lips. “Brother Gu, this poor Daoist is all right…”

Gu Mo shot him a fierce glare. “Mophead, why are you like a fire hydrant, coughing up blood at the slightest provocation?”

Xiao Yulou gave a wan smile, lifting heavy eyelids with a hint of bitterness. “Do you think prying into the will of Heaven comes without a price, Brother Gu?”

At those words, both Gu Mo and Li Hetang felt a nameless unease.

“Weren’t we just supposed to do a simple divination? How did it turn into probing the heavens?”

In the blink of an eye, Xiao Yulou, with his otherworldly Daoist air, formed a hand seal and circulated his Dao energy. Wisps of golden light enveloped him, and his ghastly pale complexion began to recover.

Gu Mo, watching Xiao Yulou’s eyes, asked softly, “Brother Xiao, why didn’t you just use a yellow talisman to ignite the lotus lantern earlier? And what was the point of gently warming those nine grains of glutinous rice?”

Li Hetang, having just wiped the blood from his face with a disinfectant wipe, snorted and added, “Mr. Gu is right. I think Master Xiao was just making things unnecessarily complicated!”

Xiao Yulou, still shrouded in a faint golden glow as he healed, managed a sly grin. “Heh, those nine grains of glutinous rice represent the ‘heavenly numbers.’ As for me…”

Gu Mo and Li Hetang furrowed their brows, ready to listen, but Xiao Yulou’s next words left them both dumbstruck.

“I do possess some cultivation, after all. If I simply used a lighter to ignite the lotus lantern array, wouldn’t that be dreadfully lacking in drama? Even the visual effect would be lackluster!”

He took a deep breath, grinning at the two of them. “When performing a ritual, there must be a sense of ceremony!”

Li Hetang instantly understood that Xiao Yulou was showing off. He burst out with a string of expletives, “Damn it! Master Xiao, you really are something else!”

Gu Mo, crouched nearby, glanced over just in time to see Li Hetang wiping his face with a bloodstained disinfectant wipe.

Why does that look so familiar?

Seeing the bloody wipe again, Gu Mo’s anger flared. He pointed at Li Hetang and cursed, “You bastard! You said you’d go out as bait, so why did you leave a bloody disinfectant wipe right by me?”

Li Hetang gave a sheepish grin, but a fraction of a second later, he dropped the awkward smile and began to protest, his shifty nature emerging. “During the fight, the scarecrow in my eyes was ‘Codename O.’ She has no grudge against you, so she shouldn’t have harmed you. And that bloody disinfectant wipe—I just dropped it by accident!”

Gu Mo narrowed his eyes, incredulous. “Really? You’re the kind of guy who even puts out his cigarette butts in his pocket. Wasn’t that a habit drilled into you during training to avoid leaving evidence?”

He watched Li Hetang’s micro-expressions closely, pressing further, “Would you really be careless enough to leave a bloody wipe behind?”

The pointed question left Li Hetang stunned. He hadn’t expected Gu Mo to be so meticulous and sharp.

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The feeling of having his little trick seen through made Li Hetang want to crawl into a hole.

Turning defensive, Li Hetang spread his legs, revealing a pair of plaid boxers, and flushed as he demanded, “You can kill me, but you can’t humiliate me! Why, when I came to, did I find a sickle stuck in my crotch? One inch closer and I’d be squatting to pee for the rest of my life!”

Gu Mo immediately scowled, jabbing a finger at Li Hetang’s nose. “Enough! If your grandpa here hadn’t intervened, you’d have lost your head! And you’ve got the nerve to complain?”

Li Hetang was left thoroughly confused, as was Xiao Yulou, who was completely in the dark.

At that moment, the gluttonous little ghost perched on Gu Mo’s shoulder began to gurgle.

All three turned their eyes to the pitch-black creature.

Suddenly, enlightenment seemed to dawn on Xiao Yulou. He said, “That’s right. The memories of our battle with the ancient terror are still in our heads. We can use the gluttonous ghost to share them with each other!”

Li Hetang was startled, his freshly cleaned face contorted with a hard-to-describe expression. “What do you call this coal-ball pet? It can share memories?”

The adorably clueless ghost stuck out its long tongue, draping it around Gu Mo’s neck. Gu Mo, in turn, reached out to grasp the hands of Xiao Yulou and Li Hetang.

A faint current passed through them, and their vision went black. Li Hetang’s memories were the first to be read.

In his mind’s eye, the scarecrow transformed into ‘Codename O,’ wielding a sickle and slashing relentlessly at Li Hetang, who dodged desperately. After a few exchanges, Li Hetang was riddled with wounds, a gash in his shoulder so deep the bone was visible.

(Truth be told, Li Hetang’s fighting was quite commendable!)

Soon, as he fought and retreated, Li Hetang accidentally met the eerie gaze of Codename O. Instantly, his spirit wavered, he dropped to his knees and began to remove his body armor, exposing his pale neck.

(It was then that the scarecrow seized his mind!)

The next memory was of Gu Mo stepping forward to intervene...

When it came to Xiao Yulou’s memory, things took a strange turn.

In his recollection, the skeletal figure before him was a man in black Daoist robes—his disciple, the Mud Ox Daoist. The man sat cross-legged as well, with a topknot and honest features, thick brows and big eyes, exuding simplicity and trustworthiness.

Such a guileless appearance would make anyone lower their guard.

Xiao Yulou remembered sitting with this Daoist, drinking and conversing...

The gluttonous ghost then retracted its long tongue, severing the telepathic link. Yet the subtle distance between the three was now gone.

Having shared memories, the trio wrapped up their post-battle reflections.

A few seconds later, they sat in silence around the Well of Gods and Demons, each exhaling clouds of smoke.

...

One cigarette later, they exchanged glances and stood at the well’s edge, ready to investigate.

After all, the main goal of this operation was to rescue the woman known as ‘Codename O.’

“Boundless Heavenly Master!”

Xiao Yulou, with an air of celestial grace, flicked his robe’s sleeve and chanted the incantation of the Three Pure Ones. Afterward, he traced a talisman in the air with his sword fingers, then gently pressed the foreheads of Gu Mo and Li Hetang.

Instantly, their minds became crystal clear, as if empowered by Daoist magic.

With a whoosh, Xiao Yulou, without so much as a warning, leapt straight into the well!

Seeing this, Li Hetang’s rear clenched tight, his body shuddered, while Gu Mo, holding his Heaven-Measuring Ruler, could only shrug helplessly and force a bitter smile.

“Just the usual!” (No need to double-tap 666.)

With things as they were, Gu Mo inhaled deeply and, ruler in hand, jumped in as well.

A chill wind rose as Li Hetang, standing alone at the well’s edge, was left in utter disarray.

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“Damn it—are these two always this ridiculous?”

Muttering his complaint, Li Hetang hoisted his tactical pack and followed them, leaping into the pitch-dark mouth of the well...

A rumble like thunder echoed in his ears. The biting cold wind stung his eyes, making it hard to keep them open. Though the well was only a meter or so across, it felt like an endless abyss.

The sensation was like falling from a great height—thoroughly unpleasant.

As his body plummeted, it felt as if his soul was left hovering above his head. The pressure was immense, blood racing, his heart pounding so wildly it seemed ready to burst from his chest!

When Li Hetang finally landed, he felt as though he’d landed on something soft. Gu Mo, standing in the darkness, was equally bewildered.

A pair of green-glowing eyes made Li Hetang shudder, a chill running through him. “Mr. Gu...are you a wolf? Why are your eyes glowing?”

Gu Mo gave an embarrassed laugh and turned his head away.

Suddenly, with a boom—

A fireball the size of a watermelon blazed to life, and Xiao Yulou’s aggrieved voice rang in their minds. “Hey! Could you two get off me before you start chatting?”

Realizing this, Gu Mo and Li Hetang hurriedly scrambled off Xiao Yulou’s soft, sofa-like body, not bothering to survey their surroundings.

Pat, pat, pat—

With a face full of grievance, Xiao Yulou dusted off the footprints on his robes and glared at the other two. “You two have no sense of decorum, standing on a poor Daoist and chatting away. And you, talking about glowing eyes!”

Gu Mo curled his lips into a wicked smile—a look that clearly said, “You only have yourself to blame for jumping in without a word!”

Click!

Suddenly, Li Hetang flicked off the safety on his pistol and aimed into the darkness.

Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou immediately stood, the three of them instinctively pressing their backs together.

Whoosh!

The gluttonous ghost on Gu Mo’s shoulder spat out the Soul-Burning Lantern.

But this strange device failed to ignite its usual green ghostly flame.

Seeing this, Gu Mo knew that no demons or evil spirits lurked nearby.

After all, Li Hetang, with his hellish training, had the instincts of a ‘king of soldiers’—and those instincts could be trusted.

Gu Mo whispered in a voice as quiet as a mosquito, “Hetang, is there an enemy?”

Li Hetang’s brows knitted, his face grave as he stared into the distance. “There’s a huge creature nearby.”

At these words, all three of their hearts leapt into their throats.

By the light of Xiao Yulou’s conjured fire, they peered into the utter darkness, the air damp and chill in their nostrils.

Neither Gu Mo nor Li Hetang would have believed that this bizarre Well of Gods and Demons concealed such a world within.

Suddenly, as they stood back to back, they heard a rustling noise.

In an instant, the eerie atmosphere thickened.

In the distance, a pair of black-glowing eyes watched curiously—observing these three intruders who had so abruptly entered its hunting grounds...