I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 182 - 155: Blood Robe Evil
In the maple forest, with nothing else to do, Sang Que took out the Summoning Soul incense, lit it, and stuck it on the tree.
Last time in Pinghu Village, Xu San had given her a Summoning Soul incense, which, once lit, could attract nearby evil spirits, and it was only effective on them.
Sang Que had already exhausted the power of the Yin Child, and now she had to rely on herself to catch evil spirits. Just now, the Ghost Flower Carriage and Ghost Coffin had passed through the woods, scaring away the wandering souls and evil spirits, so she had to wait a bit longer.
She took down the wooden bow from her back and pulled out a particularly simple-looking arrow from the Arrow Quiver.
Old Yu had taught her, with peach wood as bow, thorns as arrows, and chicken feathers as fletching, they could wound Fierce Ghosts.
The bow she brought this time wasn’t the Hunting Bow from the modern era, but a specially made peach wood bow with thirty arrows made from thorns and rooster tail feathers in the quiver. The arrowheads were also dipped in vermillion.
The Evil Suppression Bureau only issued knives and uniforms; other special weapons could be borrowed with Merit Points.
Considering that the bow needed frequent use to work well, Sang Que finally decided to buy one herself.
And just this bow cost three thousand coins, while her monthly salary was only five coins. This bow’s peach wood came from a Taoist Temple, specifically planted as Exorcism Peach Wood; without this factor, she could have custom-made one in the modern era.
She had just pledged to donate her entire salary next month.
Learning witchcraft from Old Yu, she could receive part of the supplies from the Evil Suppression Bureau, but she still needed to buy some special materials, bits and pieces, and these arrows were consumables.
Everything requires money, she used to think five coins a month was more than enough, but now she realized, how could money ever be endless?
Studying is better, no need to worry about earning money; who said work brings freedom? She didn’t feel any freedom at all, and now she had to worry about making ends meet.
Recently, it’s better not to buy meals from outside; eat in the Evil Suppression Bureau’s canteen with Little Chan, otherwise, she will only have less than two coins left, unable to last until the next month’s salary.
She originally thought, in her spare time, she could refurbish the small courtyard, build a cleaner toilet, make a manual shower room, and install some plum stakes for martial arts practice, along with an arrow target and weapon rack.
She had already asked Jiang Zao to draw the blueprints, and Jiang Zao joked that while he had seen people bringing personal makeup and styling teams for shoots, he had never seen one with a personal props master.
Now, with her funds low, she could only prioritize fixing the toilet.
While pondering, Sang Que caught a glimpse in the corner of her eye of a flash of red light appearing behind her, and she immediately turned around. A hollow red robe hung mid-air, with its sleeves spread, dripping blood.
The moment Sang Que looked at it, the blood robe immediately floated away, towards a place she couldn’t see.
This was a Blood Robe Evil, a Third Layer evil spirit, fond of ambushing people from behind. Once enveloped by the blood robe, one would have all their blood absorbed, turned into a dried corpse.
You cannot turn your back on a Blood Robe Evil; staring at it continuously is the key rule.
Sang Que immediately drew her bow and readied her arrow, sensing the Blood Robe Evil preparing to pounce from behind. Sang Que spun around quickly, and when her gaze locked onto the blood robe again, the evil vanished before she could release the arrow.
Sang Que remained on high alert, adjusting her direction as soon as she saw the blood robe appear around her. But each time her gaze met it, it would run away, proving difficult to catch.
The ticking sound in her mind agitated Sang Que. Holding the bowstring for so long made her arm begin to ache.
"Sister——"
Xia Chan’s voice suddenly came, causing the blood robe hanging in mid-air to pause.
The Blood Robe Evil wouldn’t attack a group of people; it only targets those alone in the wilderness.
With more people around, there’s always a gaze that can lock onto it.
Sang Que released her grip, and the arrow with rooster tail feathers shot out like lightning, hitting the blood robe squarely in the chest.
Bang!
With a muffled sound, the entire blood robe got pinned to the tree behind, unable to break free for the time being.
Sang Que quickly took out the copper mirror, rushed a few steps to snap the copper mirror against the blood robe. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
A flash of red light got absorbed into the mirror, and Sang Que heard the sound of galloping hooves approaching. She hurriedly took out a key, hanging it above the mirror, and a phantom of the Opera House flickered and disappeared around them, with the blood robe being dragged into it, vanishing without a trace.
Sang Que felt a weight lift off her shoulders, the key’s side effects finally relieved, and she hastened to extinguish the Summoning Soul incense on the tree.
After a while, Sang Que saw He Buning riding over, holding the reins of another horse, and Xia Chan jumped off that horse, rushing towards Sang Que.
Meow——
Xuan Yu was quicker, leaping into Sang Que’s arms.
Xia Chan paused her footsteps, angrily shouted, "I was the one who found Sister first!"
Xia Chan had left a strand of hair on Sang Que, using its position to guide He Buning to find Sang Que.
Sang Que stroked Xuan Yu, walked to Xia Chan, "So, did you catch the person?"
Xia Chan nodded excitedly, puffed out her chest proudly, "Little Chan caught him."
"I knew it, our Little Chan is the best, way better than Sister!"
Sang Que’s compliment made Xia Chan beam with pride. He Buning watched silently by the side, lost in thought.
Before He Buning could speak, Sang Que said proactively, "Qu Tianhe released a Sickness Ghost. It can kill with the sound of coughing, I lost track of it."
Sang Que got lost, circling all the way back to the vicinity of the bandit lair. He Buning guessed that she must have been delayed by something, thus she didn’t follow.
He Buning glanced at the arrow left on the nearby tree, nodded, "Understood, let’s regroup first."
He Buning led the way on horseback, with Sang Que and Xia Chan riding double on one horse. The three emerged from the forest, arriving yet again at the ’Baoguang Temple’, where Sang Que had earlier donated Life-saving Money.
At this moment, the temple gate was half open, with Qin Ze standing at the entrance holding a lantern.
The pieces of a coffin and paper streamers scattered at the temple gate had disappeared, Sang Que cleared her throat, pretending it was her first visit.
After tying up the horse and following He Buning into the temple, Qin Ze locked the door behind them.
The monks of the temple had prepared two meditation rooms for their rest, and Sang Que saw Xiao Liu, his arm wrapped in white cloth, looking pale as he smiled at her.
"Mulan Sister, Little Chan is really amazing, why didn’t you tell us earlier?"
Xiao Wu remained stoic, though his concerned gaze occasionally fell on Xiao Liu.
"We’re not familiar with each other, I was afraid you’d harm her," Sang Que replied bluntly.
It wasn’t a lie, and the others present could understand.
After briefly describing the night’s situation, He Buning told everyone to rest for the night. The next morning, the garrison of Qinzhou would start besieging the mountain bandit lair, aiming to completely eradicate this group of bandits.
Once they returned to the Evil Suppression Bureau, merits would be rewarded, granting them Merit Points. As for Xia Chan’s future arrangements, He Buning hadn’t made up his mind yet.
And the escaped Sickness Ghost was hard to track, they could only find a way to capture it when it appeared again.
At night, unable to fall asleep, Sang Que saw Qin Ze keeping watch outside, fiddling with his son’s wooden dagger, so she went over to ask him.
"Is the temple here dedicated to the Longevity Buddha?"
Qin Ze put away the wooden dagger and nodded, "Yes, it’s the Longevity Buddha."
"Then why is it different from the portrait in the Evil Suppression Bureau?"
Qin Ze sized up Sang Que in confusion, "Isn’t that common knowledge? The Longevity Buddha offered at home is modified, looking kind and benevolent, so people don’t feel afraid. The Longevity Buddha worshipped in these wild temples is in its original form, fiercer, to deter evil ghosts."
Sang Que nodded, realizing the reason.
The Daoist Lord and Longevity Buddha in this world both had rather eerie appearances.
"By the way, do you know about Life-saving Money? Today, I suddenly thought of a way to counter it."
Sang Que didn’t mention encountering the Ghost Coffin, only saying she suddenly thought of a method and shared it with Qin Ze.
After listening, Qin Ze waved his hand, "It won’t work, that method has been tried before. Life-saving Money can’t be put into the Merit Box. The Daoist Lord and Longevity Buddha are exalted Gods, why would they intervene for mere wild ghosts?"
Sang Que frowned, looking towards the direction of the main hall.
But she did put it in, and the Longevity Buddha even helped; could it be because he fancied her five coins a month salary?
After casually chatting with Qin Ze, Sang Que went to sleep.
The night passed without incident, and the next morning everyone set out back to the city, taking two days on the road.
On the afternoon of November 3 in modern time, a weary Sang Que and Xia Chan finally returned to their courtyard. Before they could even wash their faces, Old Yu sent someone to find them.
A bizarre and bloody case related to the Thousand-faced God had occurred in Wangshan City, and Old Yu requested her immediate assistance at the scene.
