"What should we do now? The most urgent thing is to leave this place quickly. Wang Heqiang's injuries cannot be delayed any longer."
Looking at the malicious Chen Family Village ghosts around them, Zhou Haidong spoke gravely.
"I don't know either, let's just leave here first," Sun Yan shook his head.
The group followed Sun Yan forward, and the Chen Family Village ghosts blocking their path dispersed, making way for them.
As they passed, Zhou Haidong looked wistfully at the spirit of the deceased Folklore Association member.
The other merely nodded in farewell, without any other actions.
Life and death part ways, humans and ghosts have different paths.
Even if they were once friends, there is no longer a reason to reminisce.
As Sun Yan and the others strode away, a cold smile suddenly appeared on the face of the hunched old man.
...
Upon returning to the location of the opera stage, as they were about to head towards the village entrance, a fork appeared with two roads in front of them.
One was paved with stone slabs, the path pointed out by the hunched old man.
The other was the route Sun Yan and the others had taken into the Chen Family Village Underworld, following the sound of opera.
With two choices, despite knowing that the advice of the hunched old man might be problematic, they were at a loss about which road to take.
"Let's first go to where we found the wedding sedan earlier; the sedan obviously has issues that might relate to why we ended up here," Sun Yan suggested aloud.
Knowing there were problems with the Chen Family Village ghosts in the Underworld, he certainly wouldn't believe them.
In that case, it would be better to return to the starting point to find clues for escape.
With Sun Yan's previous impressive performance, having led them out of the ancestral hall alive, he was now the backbone in Zhou Haidong and others' hearts.
Since Sun Yan suggested it, they naturally wouldn't refuse.
The group headed down the unpaved road and retraced their steps based on memory.
At that moment, urgent shouts suddenly came from behind.
"Wrong way, you're going the wrong way, it's that way."
"Come back quickly; if you take that road, you'll never leave."
Hearing the voices from behind, Chen Xijiu instinctively wanted to look back but was stopped by Sun Yan, "Don't look back, and ignore them. The more they oppose, the more it means we're doing the right thing."
As they continued further, the voices behind gradually changed from urgent shouts to mournful wails.
The ghosts roared beside Sun Yan and the others with intense malice, trying to obstruct their steps, but to no avail.
When the wedding sedan finally appeared on the roadside in their vision, the ghostly cries behind them abruptly vanished, and everything returned to calm.
Chen Xijiu was already drenched in cold sweat, his back soaked.
He couldn't help but ask, "Thank heavens, are we safe now?"
"We'll only be safe after leaving this haunted place."
Sun Yan strode toward the wedding sedan, raised the Golden Halberd in his hand, and slashed at the crimson curtain.
Swish!
The curtain was instantly sliced in half by the axe blade, and as the red fabric fell, Sun Yan saw a faceless woman dressed in a red dress before him.
She sat motionlessly inside the wedding sedan, her skin completely peeled off, leaving it blood-red.
Her hollow eyes, only two black cavities remained, stared at Sun Yan outside the sedan.
Sun Yan was quite astonished to find that there was a second red-clad Evil Spirit within the Chen Family Village Underworld.
"Help me get revenge, and I can help you leave here."
Just as Sun Yan raised the Golden Halberd, preparing to bash the red-clad Evil Spirit to pieces, his hand halted at the woman's words, surprised.
"Who do you want to take revenge on?"
"Chen Dong! Take me to find Chen Dong. It's all his fault that I've become like this. He didn't hesitate to use me, his biological sister, as a sacrifice to find the hidden Black Curse Buddha Mother! I'm in so much pain, I want him to come here and experience being a ghost."
The faceless woman's eye sockets suddenly filled with blood, making her even more hideous.
Sun Yan contemplated for a few seconds and nodded in agreement, "Okay, deal."
The faceless woman raised her hands and slowly made a gesture towards Sun Yan, where the backs of her hands met, with fingers spread like blooming flowers.
Sun Yan immediately recognized this gesture as the Eight Directions Celestial Hand Seal.
The Eight Directions Heaven, originally referred to as the Eight Celestial Guardians, are the Dharma-Protector Deities that preside over the eight directions.
However, the faceless woman's gesture differed from the orthodox Eight Directions Celestial Hand Seal, which should have the backs of the hands pointing to the sides, with palms facing each other.
But the faceless woman's gesture was reversed, which not only failed to bring blessings but might also have the opposite effect, attracting some unclean things.
The next second, the faceless woman, along with the wedding sedan, suddenly vanished before Sun Yan's eyes, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
The surrounding white mist quickly dissipated, and although the environment seemed largely unchanged, everyone clearly felt that they should have returned to the real world.
In the original spot where the wedding sedan was placed, there was now only a hanging rope covered in yellow talismans on the ground.
Sun Yan reached out to pick up the rope, weighing it thoughtfully, his heart filled with sentiments.
Who would have thought that when they came to the Chen Family Village merely to help with exorcism, they would end up uncovering a bloodstained and sinister ancient affair.