Chapter 760: Yin Soil (1)

"The hero in your story is, in my eyes, nothing more than a madman who resorts to any means to achieve his goals—a deeply scheming villain," I said, refusing to spare Uncle Xu's feelings and speaking my mind bluntly.

"But he was the one who survived in the end." Uncle Xu shifted his weight and crossed his arms. He looked a bit comical, but I couldn't bring myself to laugh. His story was incredibly dark, serving as a metaphor for the current Longchang—revealing a hint of helplessness amid the cruelty. Everyone in the building was just like the villagers trekking up the snowy mountain; under the 'hero's' leadership, they had already passed the point of no return.

Uncle Xu was a clear-headed man. He understood the current situation perfectly, which was why he insisted on guarding the door. In his eyes, the girl and I trying to escape under the cover of night was simply foolish. Hungry, greedy eyes were watching this place from outside. Rebelling against the rules would only end with us being devoured by the crowd.

"I hope you two understand what I mean and don't make things too difficult for my old bones."

Someone tugged my arm. I looked back and saw the girl gently shaking her head at me.

Uncle Xu was blocking the only way out. I wasn't ready to fall out with them just yet, and besides, making too much noise wouldn't benefit anyone. After thinking it over, I lowered my head and returned to the room with the girl.

"That's right. I know it's hard on you both, and if I weren't forced into this, I wouldn't want to do it either." Uncle Xu gave me a deep look. "My son and daughter-in-law are gone, and I watched the two of you grow up. No matter what, I won't harm you."

With that, he turned, walked out, and closed the door behind him.

"Junsheng, thanks to Uncle Xu's care these past few days, we haven't been bullied. He does have a point..."

"You can justify eating people just to survive? I think you're all crazy!" I let go of the girl's hand and looked out the window. A faint glimmer of starlight shone through the pitch-black night. Prompted by a sudden thought, I walked toward the window.

The girl's hand hung in midair. She didn't seem to expect me to say something like that—at least, the Junsheng in her memory never would have.

"Have you thought this through? If the two of us run away, regardless of the outcome, Uncle Xu will definitely be implicated. If we die out there and our bodies aren't found, the next one to be eaten will probably be Uncle Xu." The girl walked up behind me and raised her hands, seemingly wanting to rest them gently against my back.

I could hear her shallow breathing and smell a faint, gardenia-like fragrance. She was very close to me, but she ultimately stopped herself. Her hands slowly dropped, and her eyes grew a bit dim.

"Junsheng, I have something for you." She carried the charm of a classical Eastern woman. She rarely refused anything and never got angry. Her voice was gentle and calm as usual. "I spent a long time embroidering it..."

I stood at the window with my back to her. Looking out, the entire world was pitch-black. The only light came from the sky, from high above the thick clouds. No one could see exactly what was emitting it.

I had lost my Judging Eye, so my vision was just like an ordinary person's. The world outside the window was swallowed by darkness. At first glance, it didn't seem much different from a night in the Yang Realm.

'Uncle Xu is guarding the door, so the only way out now is through the window.' The girl lived on the first floor. There were no security bars on the window, just a few thick branches wedged across the frame. I tried shaking them a bit, and they were noticeably loose. 'We'll leave from here to create the illusion of an escape, circle back around, and then hide on the top floor. I'll wait for the Copper Mirror to activate and seize the chance to take the girl away.'

The risk of doing this was high, but right now, I had no other choice.

The dark night was full of danger. There was no telling what terrifying things might be hiding in my blind spots.

'The Phantom Pig ran out of the Animal Realm. Judging by how the Red Building Tenants treated the Phantom Pig, that thing isn't considered a powerful monster on this side of reincarnation at all. It's nothing more than a bottom-tier existence.' At my peak, I had to rely on the Blood Fox Tattoo to subdue the Phantom Pig. Now that I was completely stripped of my methods, if I truly encountered those monsters, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The road ahead was dark and hope was slim, but it was the only thing I could do.

I gripped the wooden branches on the window frame with both hands. Suddenly, I felt a warm breath brush against the back of my neck. I looked back. The girl was very close to me, almost pressed against my back. She wore a faint smile, but her body was trembling slightly. I didn't know if it was out of fear or some other reason.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just a little cold." She raised her hands, then let them fall back down in front of her. I understood what she meant. If it were Junsheng inside this body instead of me, he probably would have turned around and pulled her into a hug. In the Pig Cage Apartments, they had leaned on each other. Caught between life and death, they only had each other in their hearts.

"What did you just say?" I grabbed the girl's hand. The temperature of her palm had dropped significantly. The cold she mentioned was probably related to her physical body in the Yang Realm.

Inside the Red Building in the Yang Realm, the breath of yang qi from the Old Granny was dissipating. The longer this dragged on, the lower the girl's body temperature would drop. Once that breath in the Yang Realm completely scattered, she probably wouldn't be able to leave this place ever again.

"I have something to give you." The girl brought over the bamboo basket beside her. She lifted the silk covering, revealing the Embroidered Ball underneath.

With six sides and twelve petals, it was petite, exquisite, and dazzlingly bright. A different pattern was embroidered on each petal.

Compared to the colorful silk, the embroidered patterns were slightly monotonous; the threads used were entirely black.

"Hair embroidery?" My Embroidered Ball had merged with Junsheng's, but after entering this side of reincarnation, the Embroidered Ball in my hand had vanished. Only the three items swept along by my will remained.

The situation had been too tense for me to notice earlier. It wasn't until I saw the Embroidered Ball here again that I suddenly remembered.

Everything that had happened back then replayed once more. The girl held the Embroidered Ball with a hint of awkwardness and nervousness. She kept her head down, occasionally stealing a glance at me. "This Embroidered Ball... I will only embroider one in my lifetime."

The girl could never have imagined that she herself would preserve this Embroidered Ball—the one she would only embroider once in her lifetime—for decades.

The colors of the silk had long faded, leaving only the dark strands of hair from back then, unchanging over the decades.

Though I had been entirely focused on finding an escape route, my heart was moved the moment I saw the Embroidered Ball. My body instinctively reached out to take it, holding it in my palms as if cradling the most precious thing in the world.

This wasn't my own conscious reaction. Upon seeing the Embroidered Ball, Junsheng's body recovered a trace of its spirit, and his memories, sealed by reincarnation, seemed to loosen just a bit.

'That makes sense. After all, this Embroidered Ball accompanied him as he wandered through reincarnation for decades.' Every time Junsheng left the Animal Realm, he would bring the Embroidered Ball with him. This object was the switch that triggered his memories.

Seeing me accept it, the girl offered a faint smile. She was like a daffodil—ethereally beautiful, yet evoking a deep sense of pity.

"I will definitely get you out of here."

Having crossed the Other Shore of Reincarnation carrying Junsheng's hopes, I couldn't let their tragedy repeat itself. I pulled out the last wooden branch, stepped onto the windowsill, and extended my hand to the Old Granny. "I have a lot to tell you. Let's leave this place first, alright?"

This time, the girl didn't refuse. Together, we jumped down from the windowsill.

The girl's living quarters were on the first floor. I had been to this room before, so I quickly pinpointed my location. After figuring out the directions, I relied on the layout of the Pig Cage Apartments from decades later in my memory to search for an escape route.

With my will inhabiting Junsheng's body, even with my eyes wide open, I could only clearly see things three or four meters away. In the pitch-black darkness, it was no different from being blind.

"Be careful." The girl supported my arm. She was about the same height as Junsheng. Since girls hit puberty earlier, judging by their builds alone, Junsheng actually seemed a bit thinner and weaker than her. "There are people guarding the front entrance. There are fewer people at the back door, but I heard Uncle Xu say that the adults from Room Four often go 'hunting' there."

I quickly understood what she meant by hunting. If the maniacs from Room Four saw us, the girl and I would be eaten tonight.

'The very first scent of cooking meat in Longchang drifted out from Room Four. That was where the obsession took root and sprouted. Now, using the flesh and blood of the Phantom Pig as a guide, the obsession has prepared for decades to finally cross reincarnation and arrive here. The place they descend is very likely Room Four.'

Just like my will, the obsession needed a soul and a physical body as vessels to cross reincarnation. They would definitely latch onto certain monsters, and the most likely hosts for the obsession were the maniacs in Room Four.

"It's fine, we'll take the back door. This is a rare opportunity." I wasn't actually trying to escape, but rather to create the illusion that the girl and I had already fled Longchang Apartments. I wanted to make them search blindly in the wilderness, thereby ignoring the building itself. Only then would I have a chance to stay hidden until dawn.

The girl gave a soft hum of agreement. Letting me hold her hand, she followed behind me, seemingly a little absent-minded.

The layout of Longchang Community in the Animal Realm wasn't much different from the one in the Yang Realm. I speculated that Longchang, just like Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital, was built on a special kind of terrain.

Unfortunately, I only had a half-baked understanding of feng shui. During this livestream, neither Half-Immortal Liu nor Daoist master Wan was present. Master Tianxin was a Buddhist practitioner, so he didn't know much about feng shui and geomancy.

'The architectural layout of Longchang Community in the Animal Realm is almost identical to the one in the Yang Realm. This terrain is definitely not simple. Once this livestream is over, I have to get to the bottom of this. I might even reap some unexpected gains.' This thought flashed through my mind, but the most urgent matter at hand was to escape.

The four main buildings stood in the center, surrounded by shanties built by refugees. The girl and I didn't encounter any patrolling monsters along the way. It was terrifyingly quiet, as if we had ventured deep into a dead zone.

The back gate of Longchang could be seen in the distance, unguarded between the low blue-brick buildings.

'We can escape this smoothly?' The more it seemed so, the more uneasy I felt. After all, to save the Old Granny back then, Junsheng had had to kneel to everyone on the entire floor and promise to take her place. That was the only way he managed to spare her life.

'Something must be wrong. There's probably something bizarre waiting outside Longchang.'