You made all the streamers on the internet kneel before you when you were asked to make a game.

Professor Chen gave a timely and insightful commentary.

The "fragrance" that ghosts speak of is not the fragrance of ordinary mortals.

[The first is the three fires within a person, the fragrance of yang energy; the second is the fragrance of sacrificial offerings, the fragrance of smoke and fire; the third is the fragrance of extreme thoughts, the fragrance of love and hate.]

Giving away yang energy is tantamount to suicide.

She had no offerings.

So, only the third option remains...

Liu Yedao paused, so it still had to be that handkerchief? It was tainted with the dancer's last vestige of devotion before her liberation.

In the world of Chinese horror, obsession is sometimes a word so heavy that it can crush everything.

It is love, it is hate, it is unrequited love, it is dying with regrets.

For ghosts and monsters, this might be a more delicious meal than any living flesh and blood.

But the problem is...

Would she dare to give it to this old lady blocking her way? Would she dare to accept it?

If this old lady really accepts the offer, will it have any impact on her?

Liu Yedao stood still, weighing his options, and met the old woman's pale face.

The paper money in the brazier glowed dimly, reflecting on its ambiguous, smiling face.

"Little girl...have you thought it through?"

"If you don't give it to me soon... this old woman... will have to come and get it herself..."

The lancet finally removed the clean white handkerchief.

The handkerchief was very ordinary; it was just a clean piece of white cloth with a small azalea embroidered on it in red thread.

There were no unusual phenomena, nor any yin energy.

It looks ordinary.

Liu Yedao took two steps forward and handed over the handkerchief.

"Is this okay?"

The old lady's gaze was instantly drawn to the handkerchief.

It suddenly stretched out its dry, claw-like hand and snatched the handkerchief away.

Then, it brought the handkerchief to its nose and took a deep sniff.

An extremely morbid ecstasy appeared on the old woman's pale face.

Its body began to tremble violently and uncontrollably, its cloudy eyes wide open as if it had smelled the most delicious thing in the world.

"It smells...it smells so good..."

"It's...it's hate...it's love...it's...unwillingness..."

It murmured greedily, as if trying to absorb the last trace of obsession remaining on the handkerchief into its own soul.

[Holy crap! It actually dares to suck! The streamer made the wrong bet!]

[This ghost has absorbed the red-clad dancer's obsession; it might turn into a boss on the spot!]

The live stream was filled with wails of despair.

But they didn't have any good solutions.

After all, even if Professor Chen were present, there would be no other choice.

Just then, the old woman, who had fallen into madness, began to have her yin energy rise steadily, almost forming a tangible black mist.

Its movements suddenly froze.

Its ecstatic face froze instantly, fear rising within it.

It was as if, in its perception, something more terrifying than death was about to descend.

"No...no...this...this aura..."

The old woman's teeth began to chatter, and her voice was filled with horror.

It suddenly threw the handkerchief to the ground, then scrambled backward as if the handkerchief were some kind of deadly monster.

"It's...it's the one from the mountaintop...it's her stuff..."

"I...how could I...how could I dare touch her things..."

The old woman screamed in terror, her soul becoming unstable, flickering between light and darkness.

Its gaze toward the lancet had changed from greed to awe and fear.

It was as if the lancet was not a living person passing by, but a messenger existing on the mountaintop.

The viewers in the live stream were completely stunned.

This reversal came too quickly and was too unexpected.

Holy crap?! You can do that?!

[I understand! This handkerchief is like a token from the red-clad dancer! This old lady is of too low a rank; seeing the token is like seeing the woman herself! How could it dare to act rashly!]

So, the dancer in red didn't die?

[Hey, isn't that obvious?! A mere fire couldn't possibly kill her!]

Looking at the old woman trembling on the ground, Liu Yedao felt a slight sense of relief.

That dancer in red was indeed not as simple as she seemed.

"This...this sir...this humble one was blind and did not recognize your greatness, I have offended you..."

The old woman knelt on the ground, trembling.

"This toll... consider it your payment... no, no, it's a little devil's tribute to you!"

As it spoke, it hurriedly scooped up a handful of still-burning ashes from the brazier.

The ashes in its hand did not extinguish; instead, they emitted a faint glow.

"Sir, this is 'Guiding Ashes,' please take it..."

"Sprinkle it in front of you, and the mist of this mass grave will no longer be able to trap you..."

The old lady respectfully handed the handful of ashes to the scalpel.

Liu Yedao didn't reply, but simply reached out and took the handful of warm ashes, turned around, and stopped looking at the ghost blocking his way.

She gently tossed the ashes from the paper in her hand into the thick fog ahead.

"call--"

The thick fog that had been so dense began to disperse to both sides.

A path paved with bluestone slabs was clearly visible at the feet of the lancet.

The path wound its way deeper into the mass grave, leading to the mountains shrouded in even deeper darkness.

On both sides of the path are cliffs densely covered with hanging coffins.

It's eerily quiet here.

After Liu Yedao stepped in, he subconsciously slowed his pace and even his breathing became cautious.

The cliffs on both sides blocked most of the sunlight, making the entire plank road dim.

She looked up, her gaze sweeping over the coffins hanging high above her.

They come in all shapes and sizes; some are large, some are small, and some are dilapidated, revealing dark, gaping holes.

Some are well-preserved, with faded vermilion lacquer and blurred carvings still visible.

They were like countless silent eyes, looking down on her, the sole intruder, from above.

The camera in the live stream slowly moved upwards along with the perspective of the scalpel, sending chills down my spine.

Professor Chen's popular science articles are back online.

Hanging coffins were a very special burial custom in ancient times, and their significance was threefold.

One reason is ascension to heaven. Ancient people believed that placing the coffin in a high place would allow the deceased's soul to get closer to heaven and ascend to paradise sooner.

[Secondly, to avoid disaster, to prevent the body from being eaten by wild animals or dug up by humans, and to seek peace in the afterlife.]

[The third method is suppression. If the person in the coffin is a very ominous person, then the method of hanging the coffin is used to trap them between heaven and earth, neither touching the sky nor the earth, so that they will never be reincarnated.]

[Given the treacherous terrain and the gathering of yin energy here, with hundreds upon hundreds of hanging coffins... the third possibility is probably the most likely.]

Professor Chen's analysis sent chills down the spines of all the viewers.

If those suppressed here are all extremely vicious people...

Isn't that willow-leaf dagger now walking in the middle of a prison made up of vengeful ghosts?

The plank road is very long, and you can't see the end of it.

The lancet maintained a steady pace, keeping its eyes fixed straight ahead, moving forward step by step.

In unknown and eerie environments, curiosity equals death.

The more you focus on something, the more likely it is to cause problems.

But some things won't just stay away from her if she doesn't pay attention to them.

"Creak—"

A soft groan, the sound of wood straining under its weight, suddenly came from above.

Liu Yedao's steps did not falter at all, but his pupils contracted slightly.

Just three steps in front of her, next to her shadow, a slender, swaying shadow appeared on the ground.

The shape of the shadow...

It looks like an arm hanging down from above.