The air in Huangshi Dead Village felt incredibly heavy, as if time itself had frozen in this place. There was no sound of birds, no rustling of the wind. Only a deadly silence. Fifty dusty, empty houses stood tall, each door adorned with a spiral symbol carved in dried blood. This was a ghost village, a place filled with whispers and shadows from the past.
In the center of the village, a main altar loomed. It wasn't an ordinary stone altar, but a pyramid-shaped arrangement of children's skulls, with a baby's skull at the top. A distinct odor, a mixture of rotten honey and sulfur, stung their noses. This was the scent of the Hei Ye Ting ritual.
"They're here," Li Xian muttered, touching the spiral symbol on a door. His meridians reacted spontaneously, emitting an unpleasant burning sensation. The dark energy in this place was so thick, as if the air itself was a poison crawling on their skin.
Luo Feng didn't answer. He squatted down, observing the dust patterns on the ground. "This dust pattern... the wind outside is moving at 10 knots, so this dust should have been gone. This means these tracks are less than three hours old," he said, his eyes sharp. "They're still alive."
Suddenly, Luo Feng's eyes were fixed on something caught on a rusty nail on the doorframe. A shimmering strand of blue hair. The hair looked so foreign in the darkness of the village, like a single thread of hope remaining. "This... this is the hair of the special child. The prophesied child."
A gust of wind blew, carrying an unreal whisper. "A trap... go away..." The whisper sounded like a crying child, calling their names. Then, a more horrifying sight occurred. Crows perched on the rooftops of the village suddenly fell from the sky, dead instantly, as if the air itself had become poison.
"We have to go in," Li Xian said, his eyes full of determination.
"It's a trap, Li Xian," Luo Feng warned.
"I know. But we have no choice. We've come this far."
They found an entrance to the underground ritual complex beneath the skull altar. It was a labyrinth designed to kill.
On Level 1, they found the Holding Room, where victims were kept before the ritual. The air there was damp and smelled of despair. Their first trap was a hallucinogenic gas. Li Xian and Luo Feng struggled against the hallucinations, holding on tightly to each other to distinguish reality from the nightmare.
On Level 2, they arrived at the Torture Area. The floor was made of iron, and Luo Feng could feel the heat radiating from it. The hot iron floor was designed to burn the soles of anyone who tried to pass, with a hidden fire mechanism underneath.
"I'll create a distraction," Luo Feng whispered. He took some fireworks from his backpack and sprinkled devil's pepper around. "Get ready."
He caused a commotion in the armory, throwing fireworks into a pile of weapons, creating an explosion and a cloud of smoke that stung the eyes and made the nose itch. Panic spread among the guards.
While Luo Feng created chaos, Li Xian infiltrated. He slipped through a narrow ventilation shaft filled with barbed wire. Every scratch from the wire felt like it was slicing his skin. He felt the dark energy sensors react to him, sending shockwaves through his meridians. Damn it, he cursed softly to himself. I've become a part of this darkness. I can't hide anymore.
On Level 3, he finally found the main altar. There, on a cold basalt altar, five children with jade eyes were chained. They looked weak and pale, but there was still a hint of hope left in their eyes. A ritual machine ticked beside them, made of rusty bronze, with sharp metal needles pointing at each child's chest.
Li Xian felt his heart pound. He tried to interact with one of the children. "I'll set you free," he whispered, but the child only looked at him with fear.
Their plan collapsed in an instant.
Fatal Mistake 1: When Luo Feng tried to escape from the guards, he slipped in a puddle of blood and landed on a mystic whistle. Its piercing sound filled the corridor. All the guards, including Shanghai Hei, were on high alert.
Fatal Mistake 2: Li Xian, in a panic, touched the iron chains to free the children. The chains released an energy field. The pain was not just physical, but spiritual, as if the energy was trying to tear his soul apart. The victims screamed in pain, and the ritual machine sped up. Its metal needles moved faster, getting closer to their hearts.
Suddenly, Shanghai Hei appeared from behind a curtain of shadows, his robe billowing. "Welcome to the stage of death, cursed children! You've come just in time to witness the birth of a new demon!"
He smiled a cruel smile and pressed an emergency button. The altar floor opened, revealing a blazing fire pit below. The victims fell.
"No!" Li Xian screamed.
Luo Feng, who had just arrived, jumped to save the last child. He managed to catch the child, but a blast of dark energy from the fire pit surged towards him. His right hand blackened, and his left eye clouded with gray mist. He stumbled, enduring an incredible pain.
Li Xian went berserk. His anger consumed him. He unleashed a burst of dark energy that destroyed the ritual machine, but it was too late. A brief scream was heard from the pit, and four victims were burned alive in the fire pit.
Luo Feng collapsed on the ground, shivering violently. His face was pale, but his hand was blackened.
Phase 1 (10 minutes): The meridians in his hand glowed a blue-black, like snakes crawling under his skin. Cold sweat poured from his pores, his body temperature dropping drastically to -10°C. He saw the shadows of the victims who died in the fire pit, accusing them. "Why... why did you come too late?" the shadows whispered in his ear.
Phase 2 (30 minutes): His skin began to crack like dry soil in the summer, emitting black smoke that smelled of death. His blood turned into dark crystals, and his heart only beat ten times per minute. He knew he was dying.
"I'll suck out the poison," Li Xian said, bringing his mouth to Luo Feng's hand.
"Don't!" Luo Feng shouted, his voice hoarse. "Your dark energy... will only make this worse."
Li Xian tried Luo Feng's emergency potion, but the potion turned into acid in Luo Feng's stomach. In desperation, Li Xian opened Luo Feng's grandfather's legacy book. Inside, there was a horrifying warning with a frantic handwritten note next to it: "The Separated Soul Poison can only be countered with a forbidden ritual."
They searched Shanghai Hei's room. There, on a workbench, they found a dusty ancient manuscript made of human skin: "Jingluo Xie Mo" Chapter 9: The Soul Exchange Ritual. Li Xian read the contents, his eyes widening in shock.
Ritual ingredients: Blood of the victims' families + pure dark energy.
Warning: "The user will lose half of their soul."
Li Xian was faced with an impossible dilemma. Option 1: Let Luo Feng die in one hour, and continue his mission alone, with the unbearable burden of failure. Option 2: Perform the ritual, save Luo Feng's life, but turn him into a half-demon.
The shadows of his parents appeared before him, transparent and fragile. "My son, do not fall into the same darkness. Do not repeat our mistakes!"
Li Xian made a decision. He prepared a circle of blood, mixing his blood with the hair of the deceased victims. He began the incantation, his voice hoarse. "With my soul, I redeem your soul..."
The black smoke from Luo Feng's body moved, entering Li Xian's body. Li Xian screamed in pain. It felt like a thousand ants were crawling under his skin, biting every nerve.
Impact on Li Xian: His left eye was permanently blind, turning into dark onyx.
Beautiful memories with his parents were erased, replaced by a cold void. He tried to remember his mother's face, but all he saw was a fog.
The demonic mark on his forehead pulsed like a heart, alive and beating.
Impact on Luo Feng: The poison disappeared, but a spiral tattoo appeared on his chest.
New ability: He could "sense" dark energy.
A strange premonition: He dreamed of becoming a member of Hei Ye Ting, carving symbols on the walls, with a smile on his face.
They buried four talismans representing the victims on the river cliff, erecting a gravestone: "Here Lies Our Hope."
"I hear their whispers... the victims are calling you," Luo Feng said, his voice weak.
"Let them call," Li Xian replied, his eyes empty. "I have my own hell to visit."
The black smoke formed the faces of the four children above the river. A strand of blue hair flew into Li Xian's hand, turning into a new, dimly glowing map.
Li Xian's onyx eye reflected the image of Shanghai Hei smiling contentedly in the distance, as if he had won this game.