I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 89 - 71: Zhongyuan Taboos

"What about now?" Sang Que asked.

Kou Yushan wasn’t confident, either. The training he usually conducted with the guard team focused on various daytime emergencies. As for spending the night outdoors, he had only experienced it once in his life.

If he hadn’t met Sang Que’s mother, he would have died that night.

But at this moment, they had no retreat and could only grit their teeth and persist.

"Tonight, we camp by the roadside woods, and at dawn, we’ll head to Dongyang County along the official road."

Kou Yushan informed everyone of his decision. Sang Que immediately allowed the Evil Mist to spread from her surroundings; earlier, her Evil Mist could only maintain a five-meter radius.

Now, after fully controlling the Yin Child, her Evil Mist could extend to a fifty-meter range.

Once the Evil Mist emerged, the Suicide Rope was utterly no match for it and was quickly engulfed, turning into pure Evil Spirit energy, absorbed by the Yansheng coin in Sang Que’s palm.

The Yansheng coin, which originally had only one trigram, quickly gained three more, providing Sang Que with some life-saving capital.

In the dark, anything lower in rank than the Yin Child dared not approach this Evil Mist.

Under the cover of the Evil Mist, Kou Yushan led the villagers into the woods by the roadside. As they had during the afternoon rain, they sought high ground and lit several fires, wrapping trees with cords soaked in black dog blood.

In addition, Kou Yushan instructed each household to tie the roosters they’d brought under the trees, and had the Yang-energy strong children encircle the camp, sprinkling a ring of child urine around the trees.

Sang Que distributed the glutinous rice she brought to everyone, along with a bit of vermilion. If they encountered a Corpse Evil, they could resist it with glutinous rice. If possessed by an Evil Spirit, they could mix rooster blood with vermilion and apply it to the forehead to drive away the Evil Spirit.

The premise was that these Evil Spirits and Corpse Evils did not exceed the first layer. Should they encounter second-layer ones, this method might not be effective and would rely on luck. If they were third-layer, they might not survive long enough to do anything.

Ghost Level was even worse; on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the first rule they had to follow was not to mention the word ’ghost.’

Some older villagers drew circles and burned Yellow Paper on all sides of the camp, offering incense candles and food to the Ghost Gods passing through during the Mid-Autumn Festival, praying for safety.

The village guard team led two black dogs, taking turns patrolling the camp perimeter.

Sang Que could sustain the Evil Mist for only half an hour before feeling headaches and fatigue, primarily because the ticking in her head made her uncontrollably restless. The effect of the Dao Bell was also gradually weakening.

The bloodthirsty, dismembering urge from being possessed by the Yin Child previously was awakening within her.

Sang Que realized that even though she fully controlled the Yin Child, she still couldn’t avoid the erosion of the Yin Child’s power. The more frequently she used it, the stronger the erosion.

Slowly, she retracted the Evil Mist, leaned against a tree, and instinctively rotated the ring on her right index finger that her mother gave her, firming her belief and stabilizing herself.

Xia Chan, holding Xuan Yu in one hand and a wild vegetable bun in the other, sat beside Sang Que. Seeing Sang Que’s discomfort, she swallowed her bite and whispered, "Sister, don’t be afraid. Little Chan will protect you."

Meow~

Xuan Yu meowed, indicating its presence, too.

Sang Que gave a weary smile, hummed at Xia Chan, and rubbed Xuan Yu’s head.

Despite her fatigue, Sang Que felt her Heart Lamp was gradually strengthening, with a warm current in her heart helping her resist the erosion of the Yin Child’s power.

Sweeping her gaze across the camp, whenever the villagers saw her, they nodded in acknowledgment, thankful for the Glutinous Rice and Vermilion she provided. Many villagers had their kids bring their carried dry food to her, which she gave all to Xia Chan.

Xia Chan had a big appetite, as if her energy replenishment mainly came from eating. From the moment they camped, her cheeks were constantly moving, and Xuan Yu’s head was covered with crumbs Xia Chan dropped.

Among the seventy-eight villagers, excluding the children who understood nothing, she could earn the respect of over forty people, all gained with just some Glutinous Rice and Vermilion.

Previously, the followers she gained from short videos had decreased significantly, and her mother’s book had just been published and had yet to gain traction. All in all, her current Heart Lamp level just reached the Second Layer 99th Rank, equivalent to the Yin Child.

Sang Que felt she would soon know what the ritual for the Yin Child to advance to the Third Layer of the Nine Netherworld was.

Regarding this, she was both excited and anxious.

Seeing that the camp was more or less settled, Sang Que retracted all the Evil Mist, leaving herself a bit of strength to respond to unexpected situations.

"Everyone!" Kou Yushan stood in the center of the crowd. "While we’re still in the first half of the night, I’ll remind you once more of the Mid-Autumn Festival taboos."

The noise gradually subsided, and everyone looked toward Kou Yushan. At that moment, all that was heard around them was the rustling of leaves in the evil wind and the ghostly wails coming from an unknown direction.

Kou Yushan paid no mind to this and continued, "Do not call others by their full names, do not pat people’s shoulders, do not hang clothes to dry, do not steal offerings, do not step on ash or pick up paper money, and do not mention that word."

"Put away anything that casts a shadow or makes noise, and if you hear any disturbance, do not leave the camp range on your own. Avoid yelling, and please keep a close watch on your children. Tonight, we will surely make it through safely."

Suddenly, the cry of a baby emerged from the back of the crowd, drawing everyone’s attention to the Li Family Widow. Frantically, she picked up the crying child and gently comforted it with a rattle.

The baby, who was usually hard to console, quickly quieted upon hearing the sound of the rattle. However, not far away, the black dogs continued to bark at her.

Even Xuan Yu, in Xia Chan’s arms, perked up its ears and gazed at the Li Family Widow with its emerald eyes.

The villagers knew her family was plagued by an Earth Ghost, so they were frightened and isolated Li Guwu, her mother-in-law, and her two children in a corner of the camp, with only a few of their little pups guarding them.

"Brother Yushan, what if we encounter Yin Soldiers borrowing the path?"

Someone in the crowd voiced this concern, and the feeling of panic spread once again.