Chapter 1 The Staring

The paper doll's face was dull and stiff, devoid of life. In its pallid eye sockets, two spots of bright red stared fixedly at the space beneath the bed.

In that instant, Zhang Yuanqing's heart clenched violently. Fine goosebumps erupted on his arms, and a long-lost fear surged into his mind. This fear wasn't merely a fear of danger; it was more of a human dread of bizarre and macabre elements.

Like being afraid to go to the bathroom after watching a horror movie, or covering your head with a blanket when you sleep.

Yes, Zhang Yuanqing was frightened by the paper doll back to his childhood fears. Since becoming a Night Wanderer, he had never encountered such a situation. The "Night Wander" skill was unpredictable and always effective. He had encountered enemies who used skills to restrain Night Wander, but this was the first time a vengeful spirit had directly seen through it.

Yes, Zhang Yuanqing was absolutely certain that the paper doll had seen him. He was terrified, but his actions were not hesitant. He rolled out from under the bed, grabbed into the void, pulled out the Burst Pistol, and calmly pulled the trigger.

The paper doll had a physical form. If it had a physical form, it could be destroyed. A pistol, which could be used for long-range shooting, was the most suitable.

According to the Rouge Box's attribute description, vengeful spirits could only possess objects smeared with rouge. If the possessed object was destroyed, the paper doll should be "solved." Let's try it!

"Bang, bang, bang~"

Flames spewed from the muzzle, and trails of dark red intersected as they struck the paper doll. But the bullets didn't explode. Instead, there was a soft, faint sizzling sound.

Like a hot iron plunged into mud.

A deep and dense Yin energy rose around the paper doll. The bullets struck it, their kinetic energy dissolved, their flames extinguished, vanishing into nothingness. The almost solidified Yin energy caused Zhang Yuanqing's pupils to dilate slightly. This was definitely not power that a vengeful spirit at the transcendent stage could possess.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Zhang Yuanqing maintained his shooting stance, allowing the bullets to densely penetrate the Yin energy, splashing dark red glimmers and emitting a sizzling sound.

At the same time, two faint red glows appeared in the dark room. *Da da, da da*...

The Red Dancing Shoes rose and fell, doing a stationary march.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately ordered them to hunt down the paper doll.

"Da da da..."

The Red Dancing Shoes darted out, stamping hard and accurately on the paper doll's face. The dense Yin energy rippled violently, like the surface of a lake disturbed by a splash. The paper doll's face was undamaged. The Red Dancing Shoes failed to break through the Yin energy surrounding it.

But the Red Dancing Shoes didn't give up, relentlessly attacking. Faced with this level of vengeful spirit, the Red Dancing Shoes' output wasn't enough, ah. Zhang Yuanqing wasn't surprised. He knew the limits of the Red Dancing Shoes very well. Summoning them was purely to disrupt the vengeful spirit and increase the enemy's pressure. Zhang Yuanqing quickly reviewed his items and methods. He first thought of the Red Veil, then gave up. The Ghost Bride's Yin energy was much weaker than the paper doll's.

And he didn't have the courage to engage in close combat with the paper doll.

The Houtu Boots' deadly kick could unleash the power of a Saint Realm. It shouldn't be difficult to use them to destroy the paper doll… Zhang Yuanqing didn't hesitate to grab the Houtu Boots and toss them to Undead No. 1 beside him.

Undead No. 1 slipped his feet into the boots, completing the wearing. Zhang Yuanqing himself donned the Yin-Yang Daoist Robe.

*Deng deng deng*. Undead No. 1 charged forward with heavy steps. As he approached the paper doll, the boots on his right foot lit up with a thick, almost substantial, yellow light. The muscles in his right leg suddenly bulged, tearing his trouser leg. *Pa!*

The whip kick created afterimages in the air, shattering the paper doll like a reflection. The force of the kick stirred up a gust of wind in the room.

The paper doll was gone. What Undead No. 1 had shattered was an illusion created by illusion magic. This kind of ghostly technique was most easily employed by a vengeful spirit.

*Da da da*... The Red Dancing Shoes suddenly ran toward their master.

Behind me?! Zhang Yuanqing's heart skipped a beat.

Almost at the same time, a paper doll with a pale face smeared with bright red rouge appeared behind him, raising its stiff arm to grab the human's nape.

Before the paper doll's crude hand could touch him, a cold aura rushed over him. Zhang Yuanqing's back and neck were covered in a thin layer of frost. "Bang!"

He raised his gun and fired at Undead No. 1's chest. The bullet exploded, and a flash of fire erupted.

With a "whoosh," a stream of crimson fire surged, engulfing Zhang Yuanqing's body. The flames from the exploding bullet were about to die out, but then suddenly expanded, solidifying into a figure wearing a Yin-Yang Daoist Robe.

He put on the Yin-Yang Daoist Robe not to cast the Water-Fire Great Array, but to use the Fire Adept's fire element and the Water Ghost's water manipulation ability to entangle with the paper doll. Water-fire clones ignored physical attacks, but they couldn't ignore spiritual attacks.

Against a powerful vengeful spirit, deploying the robe's great array was a foolish act, because dividing the spirit in two was akin to crippling one's own martial arts, and would result in being instantly killed by the powerful vengeful spirit.

When dealing with the Ghost Doll, it was mainly because there weren't enough people, so the clone was used to make up the numbers. As long as the number of people was met, the Ghost Doll couldn't attack.

But the paper doll was different.

Zhang Yuanqing's palm ignited with flames, which he pressed against the back of his neck. His face twisted immediately, his mouth twitched, and his neck sizzled, emitting wisps of smoke. *Hiss*, this Yin energy can "freeze" my flesh. If it grabs me, even a Night Wanderer can't withstand it… Zhang Yuanqing dispelled the Yin energy with flames, while his other hand wasn't idle, constantly pulling the trigger.

At the same time, he communicated with the brand in his sea of consciousness, and his spirit split in two, entering the Yin corpse and launching a heavy and powerful charge.

Zhang Yuanqing stopped shooting, reached into his pocket, and pressed one of the buttons on the Cat King speaker.

*Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!*

Deafening drumbeats echoed in the room, bringing a tremendous sense of oppression, shaking the mind, and inspiring fear from the bottom of the heart.

The paper doll's body trembled, then froze.

*Deng deng deng*, Undead No. 1 approached with heavy steps, the boots on his right foot glowing with a thick, substantial yellow light.

From the previous exchange, Zhang Yuanqing had discovered that the paper doll was very afraid of the Houtu Boots' "deadly kick," after all, this kick could unleash the power of a Saint Realm. Therefore, he quickly formulated a plan: use the Cat King speaker's drumbeats to deter the paper doll, which was a vengeful spirit. The spirit was divided in two because the drumbeats didn't distinguish between friend and foe, and Undead No. 1 couldn't be immune. Only he, the master, could. Undead No. 1's right leg muscles thickened, and he was about to unleash a whip kick. Suddenly, the two spots of blood color in the paper doll's eye sockets lit up, solidifying into two twisted, strange incantations.

Eyes of Bewitchment!!

*Crap*... Seeing the incantations through the Yin corpse's perspective, Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank. The next moment, his will was completely chaotic, his thoughts were like tangled hemp, and he lost his ability to think calmly.

The Yin energy surrounding the paper doll swelled. With a series of "crack" sounds, a thin layer of ice formed on Undead No. 1's body, quickly spreading and instantly turning him into an ice sculpture.

Then, the paper doll tilted its head ninety degrees and looked at Zhang Yuanqing behind the Yin corpse. Its figure then disappeared and reappeared behind the only human in the room.

The crude paper arm rose, grabbing Zhang Yuanqing's nape. The Yin energy in the room rippled violently, and a spiral-shaped invisible cyclone was created in response at the nape of his neck. Large amounts of essence blood were drawn away by the cyclone and poured into the paper doll's body. Its pale face even showed a hint of human rosiness. Under the intense stimulation, Zhang Yuanqing broke free from the influence of the Eyes of Bewitchment, and then felt his limbs stiff and numb, his body frozen by a terrifying Yin energy, making it difficult to even move his fingers. In just a few breaths, Zhang Yuanqing's skin lost its luster, becoming dry and dull. Then, fine wrinkles crept onto the corners of his eyes, onto his forehead, and his nasolabial folds deepened...

He suddenly looked twenty years older.

Zhang Yuanqing desperately issued attack commands to the Yin corpse, but Undead No. 1 was in a frozen state, his joints and flesh were frozen and numb, unable to support his master.

The attempt failed. The paper doll couldn't be defeated. The difference in strength was too great. Zhang Yuanqing pessimistically and desperately discovered that the plan to brute-force the small boss wasn't realistic.

Even with so many props and so many tactics, he still couldn't defeat the paper doll.

Then he could only use the Vajra Pestle. Zhang Yuanqing didn't want to use this prop unless absolutely necessary. Quenching thirst with poison couldn't solve the problem. But now there was no choice. Quenching thirst with poison could at least allow him to live a little longer. Sensing the weakness and fatigue emanating from his bones, Zhang Yuanqing made a desperate gamble, gathering his last bit of strength, his fingers trembling, slowly reaching into his pocket, planning to turn on the Cat King speaker's suona.

He wanted to use this to make his body shine one last time, restoring a certain amount of strength, so that after taking out the Vajra Pestle, he would have the strength to attack the paper doll. As his fingers reached in, touching the suona button, a question suddenly flashed through Zhang Yuanqing's mind: How did the Demon Lord win against it? The paper doll's level clearly didn't belong to the transcendent stage. No matter how strong the Demon Lord was, as a rogue cultivator, his overall strength at the transcendent stage might not have been stronger than mine. Even I have no hope, so how did he pass this level... In a flash of lightning, fragments of information from the dungeon flashed quickly through Zhang Yuanqing's mind.

Finally, two important pieces of information were filtered out:

One: On the night Mr. Xu bought the Rouge Box, the paper doll only killed Mr. Xu. The villagers next door were not harmed.

Two: Vengeful spirits have an extremely strong desire for blood. Only sacrificing enough essence blood can appease them.

I understand. The Rouge Box only kills one person a night, or one person's blood can satisfy it. After sucking the target's blood dry, it won't kill anyone else, so the only one who died that day was Mr. Xu...

*Damn it*, this is a single-player dungeon. For a Lingjing Xingzhe, only killing one person is equivalent to certain death. Zhang Yuanqing loosened the finger that was on the suona button and instead grabbed into the air.

He grabbed a glass test tube, which contained a clear, crystalline golden liquid.

The mouth of the test tube was sealed with a wooden stopper, and a vigorous life force was firmly sealed inside.

Life Nectar!

A phantom-like figure floated out of Zhang Yuanqing's body, wrapped the glass test tube, and掠向 Undead No. 1.

Chapter 228 Narrow Escape and Sudden Enlightenment

This illusory figure was Zhang Yuanqing's spirit. He used Spirit Travel to escape his body.

Zhang Yuanqing planned to take a gamble, letting his body be drained of essence blood, to see if the paper doll would leave satisfied after "killing" someone, or continue to attack Undead No. 1.

If it was the former, then he would have won the gamble. If it was the latter, his spirit would immediately use the Life Nectar to save his body, and then summon the Vajra Pestle to perish together with the vengeful spirit.

He dared to gamble like this, partly because he had Life Nectar in hand, and partly because after using Spirit Travel, his body would enter a state of suspended animation. If the spirit returned within twenty minutes, there was hope of saving his body.

So he wasn't afraid of his essence blood being sucked dry.

What Zhang Yuanqing was even less afraid of was that the paper doll would prioritize attacking his spirit, because the item information for the Blood Rouge mentioned that the paper doll only craved blood. Although Undead No. 1 was a Yin object, it at least had a "life" aura.

It wouldn't be the spirit's turn to face the crisis.

To take a step back, if the paper doll really attacked him in his spiritual state, then Zhang Yuanqing had another trick, which was to immediately return to his body, let the Red Dancing Shoes activate their second form, and take him to escape.

In terms of fleeing and dodging, the Red Dancing Emperor would never be second to anyone. At this time, his body had rapidly withered, his cheeks were sunken, and his skin was covered with wrinkles due to dehydration, gradually turning into a dried corpse. Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but hold his breath (psychologically). He didn't know if the Demon Lord had used a similar method, but this was the only way to break the situation that he had gleaned based on the dungeon information.

One person and one spirit nervously watched. Only the Red Dancing Shoes were unconvinced, continuing to attack the paper doll. In fact, because of the death of their master's body, they were angry. Their stomping became more frequent, and their power seemed to be even fiercer. Finally, the body was completely turned into a dried corpse. The dignified Primordial Heavenly Lord died at the hands of a vengeful spirit.

The paper doll, full of essence blood, had an increasingly bright rouge on its face.

"Pa ta~"

It loosened its crude hand, letting the shriveled corpse fall.

The paper doll stiffly turned its head, looking at Undead No. 1. After about ten seconds of silence, the paper doll took stiff steps and walked toward the door with a soft "sha sha" sound. It stopped killing.

The Red Dancing Shoes followed like a shadow, relentlessly chasing the paper doll. "I bet right, dispel, dispel." Zhang Yuanqing stopped them from their endless pursuit.

Watching the feet in embroidered shoes step over the threshold and walk into the darkness step by step, Zhang Yuanqing in his spiritual state remained tense, not letting his guard down.

After about five minutes, the house was silent inside and out. No sound came from the dense darkness.

No, there was sound.

The Red Dancing Shoes wandered around the house, sometimes stopping by the body, sometimes stopping by the spirit, with a message floating above them:

[Would you like to dance with me...]

But they didn't know whether to demand a price from the dead body or seek a reward from the spirit that couldn't dance.

This was the first time they had encountered this kind of bug.

"It should be gone..." Zhang Yuanqing finally couldn't wait to float toward his body. With a "po" sound, he pulled out the wooden stopper, pried open his body's stiff jaw, and directly inserted the test tube deep into his throat.

This was because his body couldn't swallow.

When all the Life Nectar in the test tube had entered his body's stomach, Zhang Yuanqing pulled it out. Again, there was a "po" sound.

Soon, his shriveled skin gradually became full, and his flesh filled out his loose skin. Every second, his body became fuller. This process lasted for more than ten seconds. Not only did his skin completely recover,

but it was also more supple and smooth, as if he had been reborn.

But there was no breathing, no heartbeat.

That's how the Night Wanderer's body was when his spirit left his body. This was the state of suspended animation.

Zhang Yuanqing finally truly felt relieved, and plunged into his body. The next second, his body opened its eyes, his pupils staring blankly at the ceiling, then quickly contracted. He gasped for breath, like a drowning person recovering his heartbeat.

And at this time, Undead No. 1 completely expelled the Yin energy from his body, and his joints regained their agility.

"Huff! Huff! Huff..."

"Too hard, this can't possibly be an A-level dungeon. I don't want to do anything, I want to rest. No one can disturb me!" Zhang Yuanqing greedily breathed in the fresh air.

Then, he heard the light "da da" sound echoing in his ears. "You're the exception..." Zhang Yuanqing's expression froze, and he silently got up. After dancing a dance with the Red Dancing Shoes, Zhang Yuanqing sat down on the edge of the bed. This wasn't to rest, but to sit down to think more easily.

*《Invincible Starts From Sacrificing the Ancestral Master》*

Although he had escaped the crisis of the paper doll by luck, Zhang Yuanqing didn't feel the slightest joy, because he had already realized that something was wrong.

"This is an A-level dungeon? This is more brutal than an S-level dungeon. The paper doll at the second watch almost exhausted all my trump cards. What about the boss at the third watch? What about the magistrate's daughter?"

The difficulty level of Lost Voice Village completely exceeded the scope of A-level. Even in S-level, it was probably in the most dangerous echelon. This was obviously unreasonable.

Zhang Yuanqing frowned deeply:

"This dungeon is strange. Something must be wrong. I have to find the problem before the third watch, otherwise I'm doomed."

Taking a deep breath to calm his emotions, he replayed all the details since entering the dungeon.

His conversation with Wang Xiao'er, his conversation with the old man, his communication with the Cat King speaker, as well as the details of what he had seen and heard.

Time slowly passed. In the repeated replays, he vaguely grasped something, but it wasn't clear enough.

Zhang Yuanqing wasn't in a hurry to grasp that faint idea. He took out a few blue pills from his pocket, held them in his palm, and then recalled his father's last appearance in his mind.

His brain slowly began to boil, and his heart began to beat beyond its capacity. He quickly entered the "super-brain" state, and messy fragments of memory flashed quickly, and his ears were filled with meaningless noise.

His nose became hot, and bright red blood flowed out.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately swallowed the pills to calm these negative states. Then, all the scenes since entering the dungeon, frame by frame, were replayed. The texture of the stone house, the direction in which the roadside weeds were bent - no detail was spared, and he rehearsed it again in his mind.

"Some time ago, I met a wandering Daoist. He said that the back mountain is a treasure land of Feng Shui, and there must be a large tomb in the mountain..."

"The villager Wang Xiao'er stole the burial objects, planning to sell them to wealthy families in the provincial capital. Unexpectedly, that night, she came out with them..."

"At the fourth watch, everyone in the village died..."

"The location of the ancient tomb: southwest of the back mountain, twenty-three li."

"Run, run quickly~"

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly woke up and exited the "playback" state. His eyes widened, enlightened.

"I understand the real way to play this dungeon..."

ps: Will correct typos after updating first, the chapter tomorrow morning will be delayed until the evening.