Chapter 458: The Snipe and the Clam Grapple

Blood flowed from his lower abdomen. The soft skin was peeled back, revealing a narrow but deep wound, as if slashed by an animal's claws.

His distinctive local outerwear was dyed red. His Paper Doll Mask had slipped off, exposing the sallow face of a man around thirty. His eyes were wide open, harboring a trace of deeply hidden terror.

He lay right in front of me, his blood splattering onto my shoes. The sudden turn of events made my brain shut down; I froze for a second or two before I finally reacted.

I instinctively looked toward the front of the procession. Several people had already been wounded. Shouting in a dialect I couldn't understand, they gripped various makeshift weapons they had snatched up, guarding the Soul Sedan Chair with extreme caution.

Compared to the highly tense god-welcoming procession, the enemy blocking their path appeared much smaller.

It was a blood-red silhouette. Its fur looked like a mass of burning flames, and no matter how many times I looked at it, the creature exuded an absolute arrogance and dominance.

"Blood Fox!"

My voice was dry, my Adam's apple bobbing as I trembled. When I boarded the Death Train, there had been a strange noise from the roof. I had suspected then that the Blood Fox's corpse had followed me. But because the journey had been so harrowing, I had subconsciously ignored the threat, assuming it wouldn't attack me.

But now the truth was laid bare before me. Not only had it boarded the train, but it had also followed me all the way to the Yin-Yang Boundary.

"What a lingering spirit!" I pretended to support the unlucky villager, using his body to shield myself. Leaving the god-welcoming procession right now would be suicide. I did my best to act normal, holding the villager up as I backed away.

Perhaps because I had put on the clothes of a coffin bearer and wore a local Paper Doll Mask while carrying the coffin earlier, the Blood Fox didn't immediately recognize me. This allowed me to retreat safely back into the crowd.

"How did this little fox show up? I didn't see it get on the train," Feng Minglong said. He had seen the Blood Fox at the subway station. The few people who hadn't evacuated the station in time had most likely died at its hands.

"This fox looks quite unusual. Have you guys seen it before?" Wang Shi asked. He had been in the October 26th Carriage the whole time and didn't know what had happened with Feng Minglong and me.

"Of course. Mr. Lu and I were forced to board the train because of it. Don't be fooled by its cute appearance; its favorite food is the hearts of living people." Feng Minglong recounted the events at the Jiangcheng Northern Suburb Subway Station to Wang Shi, who then gave me a silent look.

Wang Shi was far smarter than Feng Minglong. With just a little thought, he came up with a rough guess. "Number Twelve, did you lead this fox here? What's your relationship with it?"

"Our relationship isn't important. What matters is that this fox presents a rare opportunity for us. Although it's formidable, it can't fight the entire village." I wasn't stupid enough to tell Wang Shi about my grudge with the Blood Fox, choosing to deflect the issue instead. "Since things have come to this, I won't lie to you two anymore. I know a way to completely escape this hellhole, but it has severe limitations. Later, do exactly as I say. We three outsiders are grasshoppers on the same rope; we can only escape if we work together."

Feng Minglong nodded honestly. Wang Shi remained skeptical, but he didn't say anything more.

The three of us outsiders blended into the procession, so we weren't very conspicuous. The Blood Fox was indeed hard to deal with, but right now, if the sky fell, the tallest would bear the brunt. The village's god-welcoming ritual was being disrupted, so the most anxious ones were definitely the locals.

The god-welcoming procession and the Blood Fox faced off at the village entrance. After about a dozen seconds, the Blood Fox launched the first attack.

Even with my Judging Eye, I could barely make out a red blur, let alone the villagers. This village might harbor some massive secret, but the villagers themselves were no different from ordinary people. If injured, they bled just the same; if the wounds were severe, they died just the same.

The moment the Blood Fox began its slaughter, the agonized screams of the villagers rang out around the Soul Sedan Chair. It was simply too fast. Often, by the time a villager screamed, the Blood Fox had already lunged at its next target.

The villagers around the Soul Sedan Chair fell one after another. The clan elder was anxious but completely helpless.

'The Blood Fox keeps hunting the people next to the Soul Sedan Chair. Could something inside be attracting it?' My question was quickly answered. The villagers around the Soul Sedan Chair simply couldn't stop the Blood Fox. After clawing several people, it found an opening and dove right inside.

"Lu Shan is in danger." I had a decent impression of the Double-Faced Woman, and I wanted to help her, but I simply didn't have the strength. "Lu Shan should be the only remaining underworld walker in the village. She's extremely important to the god-welcoming ritual. If something happens to her, the ritual will naturally end, but I don't know what will happen to the massive crowd of dead people following behind us."

I gestured to Wang Shi and Feng Minglong, leading the two of them away from the Blood Fox and the corpses wearing Paper Doll Masks behind us, retreating toward a corner.

'The Deep Well should be the channel connecting the Yang Realm and the Yin-Yang Boundary. However, jumping directly into the well is too risky. If an accident happens, it would mean certain death. I need to act cautiously, or maybe I could let Wang Shi and Feng Minglong try it first.' As I pondered this, a new change occurred at the Soul Sedan Chair.

A sinister wind surged, blowing the sedan curtains open. A blood-red figure flew backward out of it, crashing heavily onto the ground.

'The Blood Fox actually failed?' As long as Lu Shan didn't die, the god-welcoming ritual wouldn't end. Now was not the best time to leave.

The Blood Fox had a brutal nature, which could be seen from the Turbid Blood Ancestor's way of doing things. It never understood endurance or retreat; it preferred a direct approach, crushing others with sheer force.

Collapsed on the ground, the Blood Fox radiated a heavy, baleful aura. Its eyes also turned completely blood-red at this moment.

Baring its sharp fangs, it charged back at an even faster speed. The curtains of the Soul Sedan Chair were instantly torn to shreds, revealing a surprising scene inside.

Lu Shan sat securely within the sedan. The White Jade Buddha Statue in her arms emitted a faint, shimmering light. At the position of the Buddha statue's heart, the Good and Evil Sarira revolved according to some profound, mystical rule, resembling two koi fish—one black, one white—circling head-to-tail.

The White Jade Buddha seemed to give off a special feeling because of this Good and Evil Sarira—majestic and solemn. It was as if what sat before us was not a Buddha statue, but a true Buddha living in the mortal world.

'Is this aura what they call Buddha-nature?' The White Jade Buddha gave off a very complex feeling. It had two sides to one body. Good people would see more of its benevolent side, while those harboring wicked intentions would focus more on the White Jade Buddha's malicious side—like Wang Shi, who stood beside me. From the moment the Jade Buddha appeared, Wang Shi had been staring fixedly at the ferocious Buddha face. His body trembled faintly, as if he had seen his own sins.

The Blood Fox lunged at the Soul Sedan Chair. Its target didn't seem to be Lu Shan, but rather the Buddha statue in her arms.

It relentlessly attacked the Jade Buddha with its claws and teeth. Although the Buddha statue was shrouded in a layer of faint light, under the pressure of the Blood Fox's baleful aura, that light gradually faded, and shallow cracks began to appear on the statue's surface.

'The Blood Fox also wants to get the Good and Evil Sarira? It was formed through the corpse reanimation of a fox immortal, so what use does it have for a Buddhist sarira?' The Blood Fox's attacks could already be described as frenzied. It was knocked back again and again, yet it charged forward again and again without a moment's rest, just like a machine.

Seeing the light on the Jade Buddha growing dimmer, the clan elder and the injured villagers around it suddenly retreated and fell to their knees, bowing down.

'What are they trying to do? Offer up their faith?' With the living kneeling on the ground, the three of us outsiders suddenly stood out conspicuously. Fortunately, the Blood Fox was frantically attacking the Jade Buddha and didn't notice me.

"Something feels off," I muttered. Just as I finished speaking, my body was pushed aside. I turned my head to look, and the scene behind me made my scalp tingle.

The corpses wearing Paper Doll Masks that had walked out of the stone houses were slowly moving toward the Soul Sedan Chair. Like a surging black river, they crashed toward the Blood Fox.

My face turned deathly pale. I quickly moved out of the way, watching them swarm the Blood Fox wave after wave, using their own bodies to exhaust its stamina.

'The Blood Fox itself was formed through the corpse reanimation of the Fox Immortal Corpse. Those corpses surrounding it should also be the Lu Clan Ancestors from the village. Thinking about it this way, could the Good and Evil Sarira provide massive benefits to corpses?' I thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure it out. I simply slipped away along the corner of the wall. With the villagers and the Blood Fox tangled up together right now, it was the perfect opportunity for me to investigate the Deep Well.