The invincible female ghost is a bit love-struck.

Chapter 290 As long as the people's wishes endure, the evil god will never die.

"Name isn't determined by brand, and fate isn't determined by rope."

"Children have surnames, and life and death have their own paths."

"The evil god uses a hand, not a human body."

"Say your name, and break the sacrifice beneath your feet."

His hand trembled slightly on the back of the knife.

The crying from the well started again, first from one child, then from a dozen, then dozens of children, layer upon layer, as if the whole well was sobbing.

The driver's wooden sign face emitted a grating laugh.

"He has no name."

"He was put into a well as soon as he was born."

"His parents said to just call him 'little devil'."

"The villagers say it's fine to call him Jingwa."

"The evil god said he was just angry."

"How can those without names leave the sacrifice?"

Lu Yuan pressed down on the small hand with his fingers.

Did you hear that?

The well fell silent.

"They say you don't have a name."

The little hand moved slowly, as if groping in the dark.

What do you think?

There was still no answer.

Lu Yuan did not urge him.

He sheathed his knife, placed the blade horizontally on the cart, and leaned down to look at the well opening.

There is no water in the well.

There was only a thick, impenetrable black fog.

Deep in the black fog, a child huddled against the well wall, wrapped in an oversized cotton-padded coat.

The cotton-padded jacket was sewn with many strips of cloth, each with a different name written on it.

Little devil, Jingwa, Xiaoman, Gouwa, Wangsheng.

There was another one that was soaked in blood, with only half of the character "生" remaining.

The child looked up.

He looked no more than five or six years old, but there was a black needle mark between his eyebrows, from which blood was constantly seeping out.

"You are not without a name."

Lu Yuandao.

"You've just been called by too many names, and you no longer know which one is your own."

The child asked timidly, "What's my name?"

"you tell me."

"I have no idea."

"Then think of something that no one can decide for you."

"What is it?"

What would you like to eat?

The child was stunned.

All the crying in the well stopped at the same time.

After a long while, he whispered, "I want to eat—roasted potatoes."

"What else do you want?"

"I want to bask in the sun."

"What else do you want?"

"I want to wear a pair of shoes that fit."

"What else do you want?"

The child looked down at his hands.

"I want my mother to hug me."

Lu Yuan nodded.

"These are your thoughts."

"An evil god can take away other people's prayers, but he can't think of the first thing for you."

"Your name is hidden in the first thing you want."

The child murmured, "Potatoes—"

"Potato cannot be a name."

"That—Yang?"

"Can."

The child shook his head.

"It's too bright, I'm scared."

He thought for a long time, then suddenly looked up and said, "My name is Xiaoman."

The three incense sticks in the carriage went out at the same time.

The wooden plaque that read "human sacrifice" suddenly cracked open.

A withered hand emerged from the black mist and gripped the child's neck tightly.

"Who gave you permission to acknowledge your name!"

The driver's wooden sign suddenly contorted, the roots under the cart shaft all straightened, and the snow on all sides bulged up at the same time.

Lu Yuan raised his hand and made a hand seal, pressing his thumb against his middle finger, and pointing his index and middle fingers together like a sword towards the well opening.

"One's name is determined by oneself, and one's soul is guarded by oneself."

"Today we will not worship evil, nor will we borrow from gods."

"Well-in-the-well, heed my command!"

"Feet off the altar, hands off the offering ropes."

"out!"

With a flick of his finger, the withered hand in the black mist was shaken away.

Xiaoman's body flew out of the well and landed in Lu Yuan's arms.

The child was so light he didn't seem alive, and his whole body was so cold it looked like he had just been dug out of frozen ground.

Lu Yuan stuck a piece of yellow paper on his back, then turned around and jumped off the carriage.

Just then, the small well inside the carriage suddenly overturned.

A huge human face was revealed at the bottom of the well.

The face had no eyes, but its mouth stretched all the way to its ears.

"One new word, one lamp."

"You saved him, and the second lamp will light up."

A red spark spit out of the black-faced man's mouth.

Mars pierced through the snow curtain and flew towards Xiaoman Village in the distance.

A moment later, a bell rang from the foot of the mountain in the southeast.

thump.

The second altar glowed red.

Lu Yuan handed Xiaoman over to Song Qinghe.

"Protect his back and keep him awake."

Song Qinghe nodded, formed the "Soul-Soothing Seal" with her hands, pressed her index and middle fingers together on Xiaoman's forehead, and whispered, "May the heavens be clear and the earth peaceful, may your soul return to its rightful place."

"A hole between the brows, do not be startled by evil spirits."

"The left soul returns to the left, the right spirit returns to the right."

"Though living in the human world, one's dreams should not enter a well."

"Certainly!"

Xiaoman's body stopped trembling, but she kept her eyes closed.

Ah Sheng leaned on Song Qinghe's shoulder and whispered, "He wasn't trapped in the car."

"He was trapped under the second lamp."

Lu Yuan turned his head.

"Can you see the power supply line?"

Ah Sheng raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Xiaoman Village.

"There are three lines below the red light."

"One rope leads to the well, one to the cart, and one to the person."

"The one that leads the person is the thickest."

"Someone in the village is keeping watch over the lamp for the evil god."

Wang Cheng'an frowned: "Are the villagers volunteering to guard this place?"

"It wasn't voluntary," Ah Sheng said. "Each of them had a red string on their wrist, and the other end of the string was tied to a child in their family."

Lu Yuan's gaze darkened slightly.

The driver's wooden sign suddenly tilted back.

"You heard that."

"If you keep going forward, you'll reach the entire village."

"The people there won't allow you to turn off the lights."

"If you disturb the altar, they will all die."

"Do you want to save one child, or the whole village?"

Lu Yuan looked at the overturned well in the carriage.

"You haven't learned to tell the complete truth yet."

Which statement is untrue?

Offering altars is not about saving them.

"They're just putting their lives on your shoulders."

Lu Yuan raised his broken sword and slashed at the axle.

The axle broke, and the truck immediately tilted to one side.

The bottom of the car revealed a dense array of black memorial tablets.

Each memorial tablet has a name engraved on it.

Some names are still clear, while others have been worn away halfway.

Red ropes were tied between the wooden signs, and the ropes were bundled together, all leading to Xiaoman Village.

"These are the power supply lines."

Lu Yuandao.

"The wooden sign for the driver was just for gatekeeping."

"The real lamp is named after a family in the village."

The wooden sign face roared in anger.

"How dare you ruin their ancestral name!"

"Zu Ming is not your account."

Lu Yuan gripped the knife with both hands and slashed down fiercely at the bottom of the car.

Just as the blade struck the memorial tablet bundle, a hoarse voice suddenly roared from under the cart: "Stop!"

At the end of the snow slope, an old man in a black sheepskin coat, leaning on a wooden cane, walked over with a dozen villagers.

The villagers all had their heads down, with red ropes tied around their wrists.

The old man stopped about ten steps away from the group.

"Outsiders, who gave you permission to touch our village's animal protection plaque?"

Wang Chengan stepped forward.

"What you are offering are not protective amulets, but the bones of evil gods."

"nonsense."

The old man raised his wooden cane, revealing a red string on his wrist.

"This red rope is a life-saving rope."

"One light per household, as long as the light stays on, the child won't get sick."

"Whoever dares to turn off the lights is risking the lives of everyone in the village."

In the crowd, a woman holding a child in her arms called out to Lu Yuan, "My child had a high fever a few days ago, it lasted for three days and three nights, and it only subsided after the altar was lit!"

Another man said, "My father was bedridden for ten years, but after we started offering lamps, he can now get out of bed and walk a few steps!"

"You are Taoist priests, outsiders, what right do you have to interfere in our affairs?"

"If you're so capable, cure my child's illness first!"

The crowd's voices grew louder and louder.

With each word spoken, the red string on his wrist tightened a little.

Several people's skin had been bled from the constriction.

Lu Yuan did not argue.

He looked at the old man.

"When did the offering of animal protection amulets begin?"

"It was passed down from my ancestors."

Who were your ancestors?

The old man's expression changed slightly.

"What's it to you?"

"If you say it protects life, you should at least know where it came from."

"The rules left by our ancestors must have their reasons."

Lu Yuan walked to the nearest memorial tablet and tapped it with the back of his knife.

"Are the names on this sign from your village?"

The old man did not answer.

The memorial tablet was inscribed with two characters: "Gu Chuan".

Wang Chengan glanced down at it.

"Isn't that a name from inside the Great Wall?"

Lin Zhaoxuan continued, "The characters are also in the old style from within the Great Wall, unlike the local memorial tablets."

Lu Yuan continued reading.

The second piece reads "Liu Jing".

The third piece reads "Chen Shouyi".

The fourth piece reads "Song Zhicheng".

None of these names belong to locals.

They passed through the crowds of refugees fleeing from beyond the Great Wall and were eventually buried under this supply vehicle.

The old man gripped his wooden cane tightly.

"They are protectors of life."

"They voluntarily left their names before they died."

"Who said that?"

"They said it themselves."

"So what did they leave behind?"

Lu Yuan pointed to the back of the memorial tablet.

Behind each memorial tablet is engraved the same sentence: "May I be buried alone, to protect all the lives of the village."

"This is not protecting life."

Lu Yuandao.

"It's about exchanging one person's death for the lives of many."

"If it was truly voluntary, no further words would be added to the memorial tablet."

He used the tip of his knife to pry open a section of the back of the memorial tablet that was covered by black lacquer.

The black paint peeled off, revealing the fine characters on the back: "The living shall continue to make offerings every year, the dead shall not be allowed to return to the earth."

The crowd immediately fell silent.

The old man's hand, which was holding a wooden cane, began to tremble.

"That was added by later generations."

"Who added it?"

No one answered.

Lu Yuan looked at the red ropes on the villagers' wrists.

"The one who added the word stands among you."

The old man suddenly swung his cane.

"Let's do it!"

A dozen or so villagers rushed at the same time.

They had no knives, only incense and wooden plaques.

As soon as the incense sticks approached, black smoke billowed from the cigarette butts, transforming into thin snakes that lunged at the faces of the crowd.

Xu Erxiao drew his sword and charged forward.

"Senior brother, what should we do about the villagers?"

"We'll only use the offerings, not harm anyone!"

Wang Chengan grabbed the abacus frame and used it to block a black snake.

"Does this thing bite?"

"It will bite your mind."

Lu Yuandao.

"Don't let them touch your forehead!"

Lin Zhaoxuan flicked out the ink line, the end of which was stained with cinnabar and tangled around three sticks of incense.

"Fire arises from incense, and incense arises from wishes."

"May the incense never return to the altar, and may it cease on its own!"

He pressed his thumb against the knuckle of his middle finger, forming the "Fragrance-Severing Technique".

All three incense sticks went out at the same time.

The villager holding the incense swayed, and his eyes regained their clarity.

"Who was I trying to hit just now?"

"You've been misled by the supply line," Lu Yuan said. "Step back and protect your wrists."

But the old man had already stood next to the supply truck.

He took out a copper bell from his pocket and shook it sharply.

As the bell rang, the red ropes on the wrists of all the villagers tightened simultaneously.

Several women immediately knelt down.

The children in their arms began to cry.

"The lights are going out!"

"My child will die!"

The old man shouted sternly, "Whoever dares to back down will have their livelihood cut off first!"

Lu Yuan stared at the copper bell.

The bell has no clapper.

There was a black human tooth stuck inside.

"The ringtone is fake."

Song Qinghe said.

"The real sound comes from the bones in the rope."

"right."

Lu Yuan raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, his thumb pressing down on the base of his ring finger, palm facing down.

"The bones are in the body, the bell is in the heart."

"A bell has no tongue, so it cannot transmit sound."

"Humans have ears, but they do not heed evil commands."

"close!"

As he made the hand gesture, the copper bell shattered silently.

The black tooth fell to the ground and immediately transformed into the phantom of a seven or eight-year-old child.

The child stood beside the old man, wearing a tattered cotton-padded coat, with no facial features.

The old man froze when he saw the child.

"Ah Shun————"

"Is this your son?" Lu Yuan asked.

The old man did not answer.

The phantom child raised his hand and pointed at the old man's chest.

There was a thick red rope wrapped around it.

The end of the red rope wasn't tied to any child, but rather stuck into the old man's own heart.

Lu Yuan finally understood.

"You are the chief priest of the altar."

"The ropes in their hands are all tied to you."

"You've staked your life on an evil god, and you're spreading fear throughout the village."

The old man's face was deathly pale.

"I just want to protect the children."

"How did your son die?"

"fever."

"How long have you been dead?"

The old man's lips trembled.

"Twenty-seven years."

"Then why are you still making offerings?"

"Because it says that as long as the light doesn't go out, the children won't die."

"Have you ever seen it protect anyone?"

The old man was stunned.

Lu Yuan pointed to the crowd.

Those children were sick to varying degrees; some were pale, some had persistent coughs, and some had thin red threads wrapped around their necks.

"It didn't protect them."

"It's just keeping the disease bottled up on the supply line, waiting for the day when it can all be collected at once."

The old man's wooden cane fell into the snow.

"No way—"

"If you don't believe me, untie the red string."

"After the problem is solved, if a child gets sick or an elderly person is in pain, don't blame the lamp anymore."

"Do you dare let them live on their own?"

The old man raised his head.

For the first time, genuine fear was revealed in those cloudy eyes.

In the distance, at Xiaoman Village, the second red light suddenly shone brightly.

The sound of a woman crying came from the well at the village entrance.

"Father, come back and light the lamp."

"Dad, don't let the light go out."

"Father, I don't want to die."

The old man's body trembled slightly, then he suddenly picked up his wooden cane and turned to walk towards the village.

Lu Yuan did not stop him.

The old man had only taken two steps when a circle of black characters appeared beneath his feet: "Those who continue to provide for the village will protect the entire village."

He stopped.

"As long as I continue, the children will live."

"That's what it wrote."

Lu Yuandao.

"It wasn't you who said that."

The old man turned to look at him.

"What do you want me to do?"

"First, tell me your son's name."

The old man opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

The phantom child stood in the snow, waiting quietly.

After a long time, the old man knelt down.

His name is Zhao Xiaoman.

Ah Sheng suddenly opened his eyes in Song Qinghe's arms.

"Xiaoman?"

"It wasn't me."

The child in the well cart said softly.

"It's my father's name."

Lu Yuan looked at the faceless phantom.

"You heard me."

Facial features gradually appeared on the phantom child's face.

It was a young boy whose features resembled those of an old man.

He walked towards the old man and reached out to touch his forehead.

"Dad, I'm cold."

The old man wailed and cried loudly.

"Dad will take you home."

"Go back where?"

The old man was stunned.

The boy looked in the direction of Xiaoman Village.

"My kang (heated brick bed) is no longer in the house."

"Then I won't go back to the kang (heated brick bed)."

Lu Yuandao.

"Place him in the ground."

The old man looked up.

"But as soon as the lights go out, the whole village—"

"The light isn't life itself."

"It's what binds your fears together."

Lu Yuan walked up to the old man and handed him the broken nail.

"Take this and go to the well."

"Remove your son's name from the vehicle registration."

"Then I cut my own red string."

"If you don't break it off first, others won't dare to."

The old man took the raw nail, and his palm was immediately burned by the black energy, which emitted white smoke.

He gritted his teeth and didn't let go.

"What if they refuse?"

"Then let them see that even after the lights go out, the sky will still brighten."

The old man turned and walked towards Xiaoman Village.

The villagers looked at each other, and finally someone followed.

The first one is a woman holding a child.

The second one is a man with a red rope wrapped around his waist.

Then, a dozen or so people followed behind the old man.

The red ropes were stretched taut one by one, and the black water flowed back towards the supply truck along the ropes.

Lu Yuan looked at the license plate under the car.

"Burn the supply truck."

Zhou Heng asked, "Where are these memorial tablets?"

"The memorial tablets must not be burned."

Lu Yuandao.

"Burning wood will cause the meeting to disperse."

He took out blank offering paper and spread it on the snow.

"Take the memorial tablets down one by one, face up, and send them to the ancestral graves in the village."

"Those without graves are buried under birch trees."

"A name should be associated with the earth element, not the fire element."

Lin Zhaoxuan and Wang Chengan immediately took action.

Xu Erxiao stayed behind to protect Zhao Shun and Li Guilan.

Song Qinghe, holding Xiaoman and Asheng, stood by the car watching over the dying lamp.

Lu Yuan finally walked up to the wooden sign for the driver.

The wooden sign was covered in cracks, from which black water seeped continuously.

"What's your name?"

The wooden sign remained silent.

"The life evacuation vehicle is not your name."

"The altar is not named after you either."

"Say it."

The cracks on the wooden sign widened to reveal an old human face inside.

His face was covered in frostbite, and his left eye was rotten.

My name is Gu Chuan.

Lu Yuan turned around and looked at the license plate under the car.

The first plaque bears this name.

"You did not offer your testimony voluntarily."

Gu Chuan smiled.

"I fled from inside the pass with seventeen men."

"That year, the snow was heavy, and we ran out of grain."

"The elders in the village said that as long as I leave my name with the mountain god, the mountain god will let everyone pass through the ordeal."

"And the result?"

"I died, they lived."

Did they survive?

Gu Chuan did not answer.

Lu Yuan already knew the answer.

Once the offering begins, the living must continue to fill the gaps with others.

"Why are you still driving for it?"

"Because they nailed my name to the car."

"Do you want to go back to the earth?"

Gu Chuan's one eye looked at the memorial tablet with his name on it.

"think."

Lu Yuan raised his knife, but did not cut the wooden sign.

"Then walk down yourself."

"I can't walk."

"Do you have legs?"

The wooden sign slowly cracked open, revealing two white bones entangled by black roots.

"These are my legs."

Lu Yuan took out an ink line from his waist and wrapped it around the base of the white bone.

"Lin Zhaoxuan, lend me some thread."

Lin Zhaoxuan handed him the ink line.

Lu Yuan tied the thread to the memorial tablet, and with his left hand he formed the "Unbinding Incantation": "Wood has a name, bones have a master."

"The dead are buried in the earth, not turned into wheels."

"The old road is blocked, and a new road cannot be built."

"untie!"

The ink lines suddenly tightened.

The black roots broke off one by one.

Gu Chuan let out a low, labored breath, and the wooden plaque fell off the cart shaft.

The moment the memorial tablet hit the ground, the second red light in Xiaoman Village in the distance suddenly went out.

All the red ropes were released at the same time.

A gasp of surprise came from the village.

Then came the sounds of crying, shouting, and children running.

In the darkness, the third altar suddenly lit up.

It's redder than the previous two.

The direction of the red light was towards the wellhead in the old village.

Asheng broke free from Song Qinghe's embrace and staggered to Lu Yuan's side.

"It's not the third one."

Lu Yuan looked down at him.

"What is that?"

Ah Sheng pointed to the red light.

"It is the root of the first lamp."

"It was hiding in the car."

Lu Yuan looked at the tire tracks in the snow.

At the end of the ruts, a series of wet footprints appeared out of nowhere.

The footprints were very small.

Like a child.

It leads all the way to the old well on the back mountain of Xiaoman Village.

With each step, a black flower blooms beneath one's feet.

Lu Yuan gripped the broken knife tightly.

"Zhao Shun and Li Guilan will stay in the village for now."

"Zhou Heng, you guard the village entrance."

"Zhaoxuan, go to the ancestral graves and check the memorial tablets."

"Cheng'an, keep an eye on those red ropes. If a black thread reappears on anyone's hand, call me immediately."

"The second child is with me."

Xu Erxiao nodded.

"Where is Ah Sheng?"

Lu Yuan looked at Ah Sheng.

Ah Sheng pursed his lips.

"I'll go too."

"You've just recovered your ability to read."

"So I know where it's going to come out from."

Lu Yuan did not object.

Song Qinghe followed, carrying the flickering lamp.

"I'll go too."

"The light is unstable."

"It is precisely because of the instability that we can see where the fire is being borrowed."

Lu Yuan nodded.

The four followed the black footprints toward the old well on the back hill.

The snow is getting heavier.

Next to the well stands a land temple that has collapsed halfway.

The temple gate had no door panels, but three new bowls were placed on the altar.

The bowl contained not incense ash, but black rice.

On each grain of rice, there is an extremely fine engraving of the character "生" (sheng, meaning life).

A person was standing by the well.

The man was wearing an old-fashioned long gown from the Republican era, holding a black oil-paper umbrella, with his back to the crowd.

The umbrella surface is densely stitched with white threads, which form a giant eye.

"Master Lu."

The man spoke slowly.

"You arrived faster than I expected."

Lu Yuan stopped outside the temple gate.

"Who are you?"

"To relay a message for the people in the mountains."

"A messenger of an evil god?"

"They call me sir."

"What's your name?"

The man turned around.

He wore round-framed glasses, his face was deathly pale, and a gentle smile played on his lips.

My surname is Meng.

Lu Yuan stared at him.

Full name.

Mr. Meng's smile faltered slightly.

"A name is just a form of address."

"It's a title for the living, but a nameplate for evil gods."

"If you refuse to tell me, it means your name no longer completely belongs to you."

Mr. Meng put away his oil-paper umbrella.

The umbrella ribs made a soft sound, like countless fingernails scraping a wooden board.

"Master Lu, you have already turned off two lamps."

"The villagers will hate you."

"The people in the old village will be afraid of you."

"After dawn, they will personally drive you out of the pass."

"That's exactly what I want to see."

"What are you looking at?"

"See whether they are worshipping evil gods or worshipping the fears they dare not face."

Mr. Meng laughed.

"You think turning off the lights is exorcising evil spirits?"

"The lamp is just a watch."

He pointed to the old well.

"The real sustenance is underground."

Black water churned at the wellhead.

An old voice came from the well: "Give one man a chance to protect a village."

"To sacrifice a village, to protect a mountain."

"Offer a mountain to protect the area beyond the pass."

"As long as someone is willing to give their life, the mountain will not collapse."

Lu Yuan walked to the edge of the well and leaned down to look down.

A stone tablet stands at the bottom of the well.

The inscription on the monument does not include the words "name", "birth", or "death".

Only four words in blood: "May all people become gods."

Song Qinghe's expression changed.

"This is not the true form of the evil god."

"It is its oath monument."

Lu Yuan nodded.

"The real source of the power supply is not inside the mountain."

"Here."

Ah Sheng looked at the bottom of the well, and his body suddenly began to tremble violently.

"Brother Lu, something in the well is calling to me."

"What does it call you?"

Ah Sheng looked up, and a blackness appeared in his eyes.

"It told me to go home."

Lu Yuan grasped his shoulder.

"You have no home in the well."

"Your home is not determined by it."

The blood-red words at the bottom of the well suddenly lit up.

All the lights that had just been turned off in Xiaomantun were turned back on at the same instant.

A chorus of terrified cries echoed through the village.

Mr. Meng stepped back under the eaves of the temple and said softly, "Now you understand, right?"

"When people's hearts stir, the light will shine."

"The evil gods don't need to force them."

"They will ask for it themselves."

Lu Yuan raised his broken sword and pointed it at the oath monument at the bottom of the well.

"Then let's break their oath first."

Mr. Meng's smile vanished.

"You dare touch the monument of public wishes?"

"I came here to kill it."

He raised his hand to form a mudra, bending his five fingers and pressing his thumb against his palm.

Suddenly, from the bottom of the well came the chanting of thousands of people: "May the mountain god protect life."

May the mountain god protect our home.

May the mountain god protect the road.

May the mountain god protect us even in death.

The black water rose rapidly along the well wall and soon overflowed the well opening.

Countless faces surfaced in the water.

There were villagers, refugees, and people who had been dead for many years.

They all looked at Lu Yuan.

Every face seemed to be asking, "Why are you forbidding us from even asking for a living?"

Lu Yuan did not retreat.

He inserted the broken sword into the edge of the well and formed the "Wish-Severing Incantation" with both hands.

Press your left thumb against your index finger and your right thumb against your middle finger, bring your palms together, and then separate them outwards.

The key point is to emphasize each word clearly: "A wish is a human wish, not a divine wish."

"It is people who ask for help, not gods."

"Anyone who takes fear as incense, life as a lamp, and the death of another as their own life is a fool."

"Today, let's first examine our own hearts."

"A wish can be changed, a vow can be revoked, and a name can be restored."

"The will of the masses cannot make a god!"

"cut!"

All the faces in the well opened their mouths at the same time.

A stream of black water shot into the sky.

In the black water, a giant hand reached out to grab Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan drew his sword and charged forward.

The blade pierced into the well.

The five characters "All wish to become gods" on the oath monument were finally broken in the middle.

The broken blood-red characters transformed into five streaks of black fire, flying towards each household in Xiaoman Village.

With each drop of black fire, the red rope of a family would come loose on its own.

The village was quiet at first.

Then, the sound of a child crying came from one of the houses.

Next was another household.

The cries blended together, but did not transform into the chanting of an evil god.

That was the real crying of a living person.

Mr. Meng's face turned ashen, and he slammed the oil-paper umbrella into the ground.

"You cannot thwart the wishes of the masses."

"As long as there is even one person who wants it, the oath monument can be erected again!"

"Then let them know exactly what they are asking for."

Lu Yuan turned around and inserted the broken knife into the edge of the well.

"Erxiao, Cheng'an, notify the villagers to bring their offering lamps here."

"Lin Zhaoxuan, Zhou Heng, guard the village entrance and don't let anyone into the mountains."

"Qinghe, protect Xiaoman and Asheng."

"Mr. Meng, please hand it over to me."

Mr. Meng took a step back.

"You think you can keep me here?"

"I don't need to keep you here."

Lu Yuan looked down at his feet.

Black roots had already wrapped around Mr. Meng's legs.

"You are also part of the power supply."

"If you want to leave, first ask the bottom of the well if it will allow it."

Mr. Meng looked down and for the first time, fear appeared on his face.

Roots burrowed into the sole of his shoe and quickly climbed up his calf.

He raised his hands in a hand seal and chanted, "Heavenly gates open, earthly gates close, five ghosts protect the body, all evil spirits retreat!"

The black roots did not recede.

Lu Yuandao said, "You are reciting a protective incantation."

"But you don't have your own body."

Mr. Meng suddenly looked up.

Lu Yuan swung his knife and cut off the front of his clothes.

There was no flesh and blood beneath the clothes, only layers of yellow paper pasted onto the bones.

Each yellow sheet of paper had a person's name written on it.

The names included both men and women, young and old. The top one read: "Meng Changgeng".

Lu Yuan looked at the paper.

"This is your real name."

Mr. Meng clutched his chest tightly.

"Don't tear it."

"Tearing this will kill me."

"You're already dead."

"You're just putting your name on other people's names and living by their wishes."

Meng Changgeng shouted sternly, "I'll live to protect their lamp!"

"You live to watch the lamp for the evil god."

"I saved many people!"

"Then let them say it themselves."

Lu Yuan reached out and grabbed the topmost piece of yellow paper.

Meng Changgeng struggled desperately, his five fingers forming a series of complex hand seals.

"The Big Dipper shines upon our destiny, and ghostly soldiers lend us their way!"

Black water churned in the well, and seven armored figures crawled out of it.

They held long spears, wore old-fashioned iron helmets, and had red cloth wrapped around the tips of their spears.

Lu Yuan did not engage in combat.

He tore the yellow paper off Meng Changgeng's chest and pressed it into his palm.

"The names of men are returned to men, but the ghostly soldiers have no orders."

"If you are sent by someone, call on their name."

The seven dark figures stopped at the same time.

Lu Yuan held up the yellow paper.

"Meng Changgeng, do you recognize him?"

Mr. Meng's face began to melt.

"I don't acknowledge it!"

"Then no one will guide you."

The seven dark figures slowly turned their heads and looked at Mr. Meng.

One of them raised a long spear, the tip of which pierced his chest.

Meng Changgeng let out a piercing scream.

His body was like paper being blown away by the wind, peeling away layer by layer.

The three characters "Meng Changgeng" on the yellow paper did not disappear.

Lu Yuan folded it into a paper figure and placed it by the well.

"First, recognize yourself."

"Let's talk about who we're protecting the lamp for."

Meng Changgeng knelt on the ground, clutching his face with both hands.

The black and yellow papers fell off his body and into the well.

With each card that fell into the well, a cry came from the bottom of the well.

Lu Yuan looked at the cracked monument of wishes.

The cracks on the monument are still widening.

But the aura of the evil god did not disappear from the depths of the crack.

Beneath the black water, a massive body appears to be slowly turning over.

Ah Sheng suddenly grabbed Lu Yuan's sleeve.

"It hasn't been killed yet."

"I know."

"The oath monument is just a thin layer of skin."

"What's down in the well?"

Ah Sheng looked up at Lu Yuan, her voice as soft as snow falling on the edge of a well.

"That's its real belly."

"Everything that was brought in is inside."

"Names, wishes, the dead, the life force of the living —"

"Are there still unfulfilled wishes?"

"They all grew up inside."

Lu Yuan looked at the bottom of the well.

A red umbilical cord emerged from the depths of the black water and slowly wrapped around the shattered oath monument.

The other end of the umbilical cord leads to the mountains further away from Xiaoman Village.

A fourth red light appeared there.

It is farther and higher than the previous three lamps.

It's like a temple standing on the ridge of the mountains outside the pass.

Lu Yuan gripped the broken knife tightly.

"Tonight isn't over yet."

Xu Erxiao ran back from the village, his face grave.

"Brother Lu, the villagers have brought all the offering lamps."

"But one of the lamps lit itself."

"Where?"

Xu Erxiao raised his hand and pointed to the edge of the well.

The lamp was placed next to Meng Changgeng.

The lamp was made of bronze, the oil was black, but the flame was bright red.

Lu Yuan stared at the lamp and suddenly smiled.

It's not happiness.

It was as if the evil god had finally revealed its deepest source of power.

"It wants to take my wish to open a door for itself."

Song Qinghe asked, "What should we do?"

Lu Yuan raised his hand and formed the "Severing Wish Incantation".

"Don't destroy it yet."

"Keep it."

"Since it wants me to return home, let it show me the way back."

Lu Yuan raised his hand and used the tip of his knife to pry open the lampshade, revealing the red thread coiled inside.

One end of the red thread leads to the mountain ridge, and the other end is wrapped around his wrist.

Lu Yuan let the red thread wrap around his arm and whispered, "May your wishes arise from your heart, and may your path be revealed by the lamplight."

"The evil god lends me his way, and I borrow his evil traces."

"Now I will use myself as bait and the lamp as a guide."

"Guard my three fires and protect my original name."

"Where the red line leads, there is an evil altar."

"open circuit!"

The flames of the bronze lamp shot skyward.

The fourth point of red light on the ridge responded at the same time.

A red line pierced through the wind and snow, falling straight down into the deeper beyond the pass.

There were no villages there, only an old Taoist temple buried by a blizzard.

A plaque that was already crooked hung on the gate.

The plaque originally read "Taiqing Temple".

Now only the character "清" remains.