I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 409 - 373: Fifth Layer

Qiao Ling and Cheng Ge followed the Dragon and Snake, avoiding dangerous places as they fled.

Half a day later, with the help of the Five Ghosts, the Ghost Vendor caught up with them and said that Mo Yan Shu was missing.

Following Mo Yan Shu all the way, the Ghost Vendor left the Ghost Realm from the west of Jianshui City and found Mo Yan Shu’s fan, representing the storyteller, snapped in half in the woods. Mo Yan Shu himself was nowhere to be found, and his life or death could not be confirmed.

The situation in Qinzhou grew increasingly bizarre. The sky was constantly blood-red. Initially, only ghosts were crushed bit by bit by invisible forces. Then, even people like Qiao Ling began to feel life being stripped away by some presence.

Fortunately, the Ghost Vendor had the ability to enter the Hidden Realm and took Qiao Ling and the others there to temporarily avoid danger.

The Hidden Realm in Qinzhou was also affected to a certain degree. The grey-white mist was tinged with a faint blood color. Originally, normal people could stay in the mist for about fifteen minutes before being eroded and starting to disappear. Now, after at most five minutes, they had to find shelter in a place with four walls and a roof.

Jianshui City wasn’t far from Yunzhou. Although Qiao Ling was reluctant, now, to quickly leave Qinzhou, he could only take Sang Que toward Yunzhou.

Along the way, Qiao Ling tried various methods to wake Sang Que, but she remained unconscious. The Yin Child within her was also silent. Cheng Ge used the sacrificial spell of Yunzhou to try to awaken the Five Spirits Saintess but received no response.

Qiao Ling was at a loss. In her current state, Sang Que was even more susceptible to erosion from the mist in the Hidden Realm.

At last, the Ghost Vendor hastily constructed a cart and a coffin, sealing Sang Que inside to protect her from external forces.

After Xingzhu transformed into the Dragon and Snake, it couldn’t recover temporarily and coiled around Cheng Ge’s collar.

With the Five Ghosts driving the cart, the three of them wore raincoats that resisted the Hidden Mist and lessened their presence, traveling by day and hiding by night in the Hidden Realm.

The farther they traveled from Jianshui City, the fainter the blood color became in the mist. Still, both the Ghost Vendor and Qiao Ling could feel that something was always following them through the hazy mist, occasionally making rustling sounds, impossible to shake off.

...

Sang Que didn’t know how long she had slept. At the moment when White Impermanence struck her, her life flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern. She felt as if her soul was out of her body, but was pulled back by the Mountain Ghost Coin.

However, since then, her soul felt somewhat mismatched with her body, always trying to escape.

Fortunately, the power of the Mountain Ghost Coin steadily strengthened, gradually anchoring her soul to her body. During this time, Sang Que felt her body drifting lightly downward, like a feather wafting through a frozen landscape.

Until reaching a critical point, the surrounding ice and snow suddenly melted away, the temperature soared, and she plunged into a pot of hot soup. Watching as her skin turned red, then swelled and decomposed, and finally sloughed off to expose bone.

Panic and pain filled the depths of her soul. Through the hot soup, Sang Que saw her reflection, half of her face stripped of flesh, a long scarlet tongue hanging from her mouth.

The hot soup began to bubble, and figures with peeling skin reached up from below to grasp at Sang Que.

She swam desperately, but her ankle was suddenly seized and dragged down into the hot soup, among a mass of cooked people.

Sang Que was submerged, unable to breathe and choking on water, continuously sinking deeper.

In utter panic, Sang Que was desperate to escape. She gasped for air and opened her eyes. Daylight streamed through the window, the lights were on, and the hum of the air conditioner was doing its best to cool the room.

Sang Que’s chest heaved violently, her consciousness not fully returned when suddenly, the ceiling light and the air conditioner both emitted a ’sizzle’ and short-circuited.

The other small electrical appliances in the room also started to emit electric sounds one after another, broken by an invisible force.

Sang Que hurried to calm herself, steadying her heartbeat and reining in her spilling powers.

Her arm felt a bit heavy. When Sang Que looked, she saw Xia Chan using her arm as a pillow, sleeping soundly by the bed.

Meow~

Xuan Yu jumped onto the desk at the side of the bed, scanning Sang Que with its green eyes to check if she was alright.

Sang Que moved her arm slightly. Xia Chan mumbled sleepily, "Xuan Yu stop it, Little Chan still wants to sleep a while longer."

Meow!

Xuan Yu leapt off the desk, landing beside Xia Chan’s head, and began swatting at Xia Chan’s face with its paw pads, slapping rhythmically.

"Ouch, it hurts!"

Xia Chan sat up, fuming and rubbing her forehead, about to scold Xuan Yu when she suddenly noticed Sang Que rising, and she exclaimed in delight.

"Sister! You’re finally awake! Aunt Sang, sister is awake!"

As soon as Xia Chan called out, the bedroom door swung open, and Sang Wan, still looking a bit sickly, sighed in relief at the sight of Sang Que awake.

"When did I come back?"

Sang Que sat up and asked. Her head still felt dizzy and heavy, her body unusually cold, her heartbeat growing slower.

Sang Wan walked over, instinctively reaching to feel Sang Que’s forehead for temperature. Seeing this, Xia Chan also reached out, but Xuan Yu raised a paw to stop her.

"Last night, you suddenly collapsed just inside your bedroom door. I was going to send you to the hospital, but Xia Chan examined you and said you were just asleep. I was worried that taking you to the hospital might cause a stir, so Xia Chan and I laid you on the bed to sleep."

Xia Chan nodded vigorously to confirm, getting closer to Sang Que, "Sister has become more powerful. Little Chan can feel it; Sister makes Little Chan’s hair stand with fear, but Little Chan isn’t afraid, because she knows Sister won’t harm Little Chan."

Sang Que patted Xia Chan’s head, also sensing that her body was now even closer to that of the dead, her internal power strengthened.

In her earlier unconsciousness, the boiling pot of soup she saw was actually symbolic of the Ninth Floor of Nine Netherworld, specifically the cauldron of boiled punishment. The long tongue represented that the Yin Child had successfully integrated that tongue.

Moreover, she felt her connection with the Yin Child was now more intimate. The Yin Child felt like a part of her body, not just something she controlled.

Using the Yin Child’s various abilities now, the frequency limit should have increased greatly, and her own powers like the Ghost Realm had also significantly enhanced.

However, the power of her Heart Lamp remained a bit lacking. She could distinctly feel a sense of ’instability,’ a feeling hard to articulate. If it weren’t for the Mountain Ghost Seal, the Yin Child might have already backfired against her.

A shadow appeared in the corner of Sang Que’s vision. When she turned her head, there was nothing there.

The black General, lurking at the doorway and afraid to enter, sensed the abnormality, barking incessantly at the room’s corner.

"Alright, stop barking."

Woof woof! Woof woof!

The General continued to bark, ignoring commands, causing Xuan Yu to arch its back in that direction, its fur bristling, growling in warning.

The Little Ghost that Sang Wan raised before dutifully appeared by her side, intending to protect her.

"Sister, is there something in the room?" Xia Chan instinctively huddled closer to Sang Que.

In the corner of her vision, Sang Que constantly saw a shadow resembling a mountain demon. But each time she looked directly at it, nothing was there, a chilling sensation creeping from the back of her neck throughout her body.

Sang Que realized it was the debt-collecting Earth Ghost waiting for her to fulfill her promise. She was surprised to find it had managed to follow her into modern times.

Her plan to use the divide between the two realms to break the contract seemed futile.