Li Qingxian reached for the second square and pulled out a black Wooden Token. On it was written a single, vivid red character: "Live."
"Wow! This one’s super lucky too! It’s from the ’Live Person, Dead Person, Living Dead’ game. It’s a good item!" the six children clapped and praised.
The group looked at the Wooden Token with envy. But when they took a closer look, a chill went straight to their hearts.
The character for "Live" on the black Wooden Token was actually formed from an interwoven intestine. It squirmed slowly, dripping fresh blood and emitting an indescribable stench.
"Yours is even better," Guanzhou said, looking at Li Qingxian with envy.
Songg Baige shot Guanzhou a look. "Don’t be so ungrateful. He’s the one who passed the game, he’s the one who spotted the good prize, and you were the one who got to pick first. What more do you want?"
"No, no, you’ve got me wrong! I was just congratulating him," Guanzhou said, not daring to argue back with the son of the Capital Governor and a Runner-Up Scholar.
"Do you dare to play again?" Li Qingxian asked the group.
"No way!" Guanzhou said, still shaken.
"Yeah, that was too terrifying. Who would have thought a seemingly ordinary game would nearly cost us all our noses?"
"The price is a bit steep."
Songg Baige said, "Wrong! For a Deceitful Land, a price like that is practically no price at all. Besides, as long as we can pass the games, we won’t suffer any losses even if we don’t get a prize. I want to keep looking for games."
"I don’t! I suspect that by the end of all these games, we’ll all be missing arms and legs. We probably won’t even be able to dodge ropes and sandbags and will just die with regrets."
"Good point. We need to be careful about that."
"Come to think of it, a nose isn’t really that useful. It’s not nearly as important as our eyes and mouths."
Li Qingxian thought for a moment, then said, "How about this: we’ll head toward my house and search from a different direction. Those who want to continue, follow me. Those who don’t can stay near my house."
Songg Baige smiled at the group. "Do you really think the Deceitful Land will let you stay safely in one place? If you don’t look for a Guii Youxi, a Guii Youxi will definitely find you. Believe it or not."
The ones who had been thinking of backing out now felt the drums of retreat beating even louder in their hearts, but their legs wouldn’t move.
Wang Buku kindly advised, "Once you’ve entered the Deceitful Land, there’s no turning back. Following Ye Han is far better than going it alone. From now on, let’s all stick together. Otherwise, if any of you run into trouble, we won’t be able to help. Like Guanzhou—sometimes he can’t hear the children’s voices, and that’s the most dangerous time."
"I’m following Ye Han!" Guanzhou said.
The others looked at each other and all agreed not to leave.
"Alright, then we’ll keep searching," Li Qingxian said.
Li Qingxian moved forward slowly, continuing to use his Immortal-Seeking Bee to detect danger.
This Life Artifact truly lived up to its reputation as a Great Inheritance of the Life-Seeking Sect. Although it couldn’t find the games directly, it could always sense dangerous areas.
After walking for a while, a group of about twenty people suddenly appeared ahead. They were all dressed in black robes with blood-red patterns.
The leader wore a black cloak with the hood up and a mask with a blood-red branch pattern on a black background. His eyes were like green Gemstones.
On his back was a massive bundle wrapped in black cloth, towering two feet above his head.
He was tall, and his steps were slower than everyone else’s, but his strides were long. Each time his foot landed, it made a heavy sound.
When this person looked over, his gemstone-green eyes had no pupils, only swirling black mist. The group felt dazed and disoriented.
Luo Jing gave Li Qingxian a meaningful look, then hurried forward, bowed, and clasped his hands. "Luo Jing of the South Star Sect greets the Grave Carver."
Hearing it was the Grave Carver, everyone’s heart trembled. They all clasped their fists in greeting.
"Why are you with the Alien Race?" The Grave Carver’s voice was like a steel chisel striking hard stone—sharp and powerful.
Everyone’s expression changed. In the Evil Sects, "Alien Race" was a slur, referring to anyone who didn’t believe in the Evil Gods.
"I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to find you all, so I was forced to join an outside team. They are all officials of the Imperial Court, my colleagues," Luo Jing explained.
The Grave Carver scanned the group, his gaze lingering for a moment on Li Qingxian and Guanzhou, before walking straight ahead.
"Watch your step."
The two groups passed each other. Some of the Evil Cultivators swept their eerie gazes over Li Qingxian’s party.
The Evil Cultivators’ gazes were slimy, making one’s skin crawl.
Once the Grave Carver and his Evil Sect group were far away, Songg Baige said with a grin, "Not bad, not bad. In the Deceitful Land, even the Evil Sect has to walk with their tails between their legs. The fact they only dare to curse us under their breath just proves they’re all bark and no bite."
"Could you say a little less? If they overhear you, we’ll be in for a nasty fight."
"I heard the Evil Gods’ power is suppressed in the Deceitful Land, right?" Songg Baige asked with a smile.
Luo Jing replied helplessly, "In the Deceitful Land, we can’t contact the gods. However, people like the Grave Carver and the Bone Filth Child carry Divine Statues on them, so there’s not much difference from when they’re outside. We can’t underestimate them." As he spoke, he glanced at Li Qingxian.
Li Qingxian smiled. "Don’t worry, I won’t underestimate them. I was able to repel the Bone Filth Child last time for two reasons: one, I had enough time to prepare, and two, he hadn’t used the Evil God’s power yet."
"As long as you know. An Evil Cultivator and an Evil Cultivator using the power of a Divine Spirit are two completely different things," Luo Jing said.
As the group walked on, they heard the children shout in unison.
"What time is it, Mr. Wolf?"
"Ten o’clock," a familiar voice replied.
Li Qingxian looked up at the misty sky. He hadn’t realized how quickly time was passing; it was already ten in the morning.
Fangfang tilted her small face up and said, "Brother, when it’s Noon, we have to go home. Mom will definitely have delicious food ready."
Li Qingxian’s eyebrow twitched. "Can I just... not eat?"
"Mom would be sad."
Li Qingxian sighed. "We’ll look a little longer. If we don’t find a new game, we’ll head back."
"I’ve got red!" Songg Baige suddenly exclaimed, holding up his exam paper.
Everyone quickly opened their own "World Peace" exam paper.
"A red stroke! I got one stroke!"
"What a relief."
"You really get a piece of the action following Ye Han."
Li Qingxian glanced at his own exam paper and froze. Of the four strokes in the character for "sky," three were now glowing red.
Songg Baige leaned in for a look and wailed, "That’s insane! How did you get two strokes at once?"
Everyone else crowded around to see, their faces full of envy.
Wang Buku smiled. "Now we know a new rule. That is, you get one stroke for passing a specific game, and if you were the key person responsible for succeeding, you get an extra stroke."
"Ye Han deserves it all," Guanzhou said with a smile.
Wang Buku said, "Ye Han, keep it up. Getting these strokes is so difficult, I think if you can complete a full character, there might be an unexpected reward."
"That’s very likely!" Songg Baige’s eyes lit up.
Li Qingxian thought for a moment. "Not necessarily. If that were the case, wouldn’t everyone be able to get a reward?"
"Wait, could it be that only the first person to complete a character, or the first to finish ’World Peace,’ gets the reward?" Songg Baige asked.
"Very likely!"
"Ye Han, it’s all up to you! The more rewards you get, the better!"
"Right. We can tell from the ’pin the nose’ game that this isn’t actually an individual game. Otherwise, one person’s success wouldn’t have freed everyone."
"It’s only going to get harder from here. We might even all have to participate. The more rewards Ye Han gets, the better our chances of winning."
"That’s right! We should change our strategy and bet everything on Ye Han!" Wang Buku said, a look of sudden realization on his face.
"Yes, yes, yes..."
The group’s thinking suddenly became clear, and they all began to strategize.