Chapter 1 They're Not Human

The old man walked slowly towards them, leaning on his cane.

Qiao Yu didn't dare underestimate him. He hadn't forgotten what Tang Lan had said—the old man had been following them the whole way.

Qiao Yu believed that if the old man dropped his cane, he could probably run faster than him, and maybe even throw in a set of military boxing for good measure.

"You're all up pretty early. Let's go, I'll take you to that road."

After saying that, the old man started walking ahead on his own.

Qiao Yu and the others quickly followed.

The big yellow dog limped ahead of everyone else, as if it was the one who knew the way.

The big yellow dog led them onto a small path within the Soul Cleansing Rainforest.

Even though it was daytime, thick fog suddenly began to rise on both sides of the road as they walked.

The white fog rapidly decreased visibility, and even more startling to Qiao Yu...

There were people in the fog!

The figures swayed, walking aimlessly with their heads lowered.

Scattered here and there, a few of them stood on the roadside, staring blankly at Qiao Yu and his group.

"Don't look. Anything you see on the side of this road isn't human," the old man said without turning his head.

"Then what are they? Evil spirits?" Mi Yuan asked.

"Them? They're a group of pitiful people just like you."

The old man turned half of his sinister face and smiled.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. On this road, speak less, ask less, and don't answer."

Suddenly.

Qiao Yu saw another figure, but this one wasn't on the side of the road, but right in the middle of it!

The group quickly got closer and closer to the figure.

As they got closer, Qiao Yu saw that it was a middle-aged woman.

She was wearing a bright red floral dress, her face as white as if it had been plastered with three pounds of flour, with two red circles on her cheeks.

"Oh my? Rare guests! Where are you all going? I'll show you the way."

The woman smiled sweetly, but her voice was as sharp as a chicken being strangled.

The group pursed their lips and didn't answer. Only the big yellow dog barked.

Seeing that no one paid attention to her, the smile on the woman's face suddenly disappeared, and she glanced at Qiao Yu and the others with a sinister look before walking to the side of the road.

As they continued forward, the fog gradually dissipated, and the strange figures on the roadside became much fewer.

Qiao Yu had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard singing in his ear.

"Mommy, watch over my red wedding dress."

"Don't let me die too soon, too soon."

"Oh, Mommy, watch over my red wedding dress."

"Don't let me die too soon, too soon."

The melodious and gentle female voice seemed to come directly from Qiao Yu's mind, eerily.

Qiao Yu's body stiffened, and his brows furrowed instantly.

"Mommy, watch over my bomber? What the hell? Someone dares to steal a bomber? That's too criminal!"

The female voice was singing softly, and a bit slurred, so the words "red wedding dress" sounded like "bomber." No wonder Qiao Yu misheard.

No!

Qiao Yu suddenly reacted. He remembered the fourth rule of the Soul Cleansing Forest.

[4. If you suddenly hear strange singing or murmuring in your ear, immediately curse loudly with the most vicious language until the sound disappears.]

"The most vicious language? But I'm not very good at cursing."

Qiao Yu quickly thought of various words in his mind. He took a deep breath and then blurted out a large string of C language.

"You sing your ****! Sing your whole family's ***, you stinky **, why don't you take a **** and look at yourself, singing like you're ***, I'll ** your ****!"

"Your mom's ***, I'll ** your ***, *****..."

The extremely "mom"-filled insults stunned everyone in the group.

Qin Qianxue turned her head and stared blankly at Qiao Yu, as if she was seeing him for the first time.

The others also had strange expressions. How many years had this kid been an internet troll to have this level of skill?

Along with Qiao Yu's barrage of curses, the strange singing and murmuring finally disappeared.

Qiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing everyone staring at him in a daze, he scratched his head embarrassedly.

"Sorry, I suddenly heard strange singing in my ear just now. I'm not very good at cursing, so I've made a fool of myself."

Qin Qianxue: "..."

Mi Yuan: "..."

Tang Lan: "..."

They felt that Qiao Yu's cursing voice and combat power could be compared to those aunties who搶菜 (qiang cai - fight over vegetables) in supermarkets and those who dance in public squares.

To say that he wasn't good at cursing at this level, he was indeed quite humble...

Qiao Yu smiled sheepishly. He didn't want to be like this either, but ever since he followed the old man onto this road, he had been encountering strange things.

"Don't be afraid. Those things will be fine if you curse them away," the old man's voice said.

"We're almost there. Speed up a bit, and it will be hard to walk when it gets dark."

For some reason, Qiao Yu felt a hint of urgency in the old man's tone.

He glanced at Tang Lan and followed after seeing that she didn't react at all.

The fog gradually dissipated, and the strange figures disappeared without a trace.

At the end of this road was actually an antique cyan mansion!

The mansion was surrounded by four high walls, all made of bluestone bricks, with some dark brown moss on the bricks.

Two bronze Qilin (a mythical hooved creature) stood at the entrance of the mansion. Qilin should be auspicious beasts.

But the bronze Qilin at the entrance of this mansion were ferocious, with their mouths wide open, as if they were about to pounce and devour people at any moment.

A black plaque hung above the door of the two bronze Qilin, with the four characters "Soul Cleansing Ancient House" written on it.

Behind the Soul Cleansing Ancient House was the Soul Cleansing Lake that Qiao Yu and the others had been longing for.

"Old man, didn't you say you were going to take us to the lake? What's the meaning of this house?" Mi Yuan questioned, staring at the old man's back.

"Hehe, the passage that can bypass the evil spirits is in this Soul Cleansing Ancient House."

The old man took a step forward and creaked open the door of the ancient house.

The wind blowing out from behind the door had a musty smell of wood, obviously, this place hadn't been visited for a long time.

"Come in."

After the air circulated, the old man stepped directly inside, followed closely by the big yellow dog.

Then Cao Shao and Wu Chengfu followed in without hesitation.

Seeing this, Qin Qianxue was about to follow when Mi Yuan grabbed her.

"Wait a minute, let's see what's going on first. I feel like something's not right," Mi Yuan said, pursing her lips.

After a while, Cao Shao poked his head out from the Soul Cleansing Ancient House.

"What are you doing dawdling at the door? If you're not coming, we'll go first."

"What's the situation inside the ancient house?" Mi Yuan asked.

"Hehe, why don't you come in and see for yourself? I'm not afraid, but you are, that's funny."

Cao Shao showed a mocking smile, then turned around and walked into the Soul Cleansing Ancient House without paying any more attention to Mi Yuan.

Seeing this, Mi Yuan raised her eyebrows and was about to chase after him with her broadsword.

"Sister Mi Yuan, wait," Qiao Yu stopped Mi Yuan. He felt that Cao Shao was getting weirder and weirder.

"Skeleton Summoning."

Qiao Yu waved his staff, and two skeleton warriors wobbled out of the ground.

He wanted to use undead creatures to scout the way, but as soon as the two skeletons walked in front of the bronze Qilin, the soul fire in their eye sockets went out.

The bronze Qilin actually had the function of suppressing evil! Low-level undead creatures like skeleton soldiers were directly suppressed and killed.

"No need to bother. No matter what weirdness Cao Shao has, his strength can't turn the world upside down."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mi Yuan stepped into the Soul Cleansing Ancient House.

Seeing this, Qiao Yu and the others could only follow Mi Yuan's footsteps.

After entering the door, there was a spacious courtyard.

In the center of the courtyard, there was a pyramid-shaped object about two meters high, covered with a black cloth.

"Where's the old man? Where did he go?" Mi Yuan asked.

Cao Shao and Wu Chengfu were still in the courtyard, but the old man and the dog were gone.

"How would I know? Didn't I just go out to find you?" Cao Shao spread his hands.

Mi Yuan frowned. She seemed to want to ask something, but a loud bang interrupted her.

Qiao Yu turned his head and saw that the two doors of the Soul Cleansing Ancient House had been closed!