Bang after bang echoed without cease, and the mist completely dissipated.
Within the courtyard, in every direction, at least a dozen blood fiends had fallen, and even two had collapsed at the edge of the well, looking particularly desolate.
The smell of charred remains filled the courtyard.
By now, I had passed beyond halfway across the yard and could see Zhou Yan standing in front of the hall.
Sweat beads dripped from Zhou Yan's forehead as he stared at me with a look of disbelief.
I sheathed the Four Rules Mirror, looked at him indifferently, and continued to walk forward.
Yu Xiu stood up and followed me mechanically.
At that moment, she suddenly let out a muffled groan, her face twisting in pain.
The next moment, her clothes had transformed, becoming splattered with blood and speckled with daggers.
Her face was even paler, without any trace of blood, looking like a corpse's face.
However, before that, Yu Xiu had a talisman on her face, but now she has none.
Her eyeballs were a strange deep blue, with not a trace of sclera visible!
A low groan, especially painful, reached the ears.
In the sight of my eyes, on the right side of the hall, one person seemed to be hiding there, but stumbled out.
Zhou Yan turned around abruptly, looking alarmed and rushed forward to support him.
My pupils narrowed as I suddenly thought of something.
The people brought by Zhu Chang in were all mysteriously dead.
The person who stumbled out was wearing a set of plain, Tang-style clothes...
Is it him who killed the people behind the scenes with some special means?
As for his current miserable state, it's because he also wanted to kill Yu Xiu. However, he didn't realize that Yu Xiu was already a corpse herself and ended up being harmed by her in return?
The streak of deep blue in Yu Xiu's eyes sent a shiver down one's spine...
That's why, Yu Xiu is so fierce...
She's not only the Eight Losing Widow, but also a living green corpse that's hanging onto its last breath. How did the Old Gong head use some means to keep Yu Xiu and the Lüan family together in the Old Kuan Village?
And... I have a feeling that the previous Yu Xiu, although fierce, seemed to be restrained.
Because of the talisman the Old Qin head had placed on her head?
Talismans have a suppressive effect, and they also seal the vitality, preventing Yu Xiu's anger from dissipating? Her soul becoming a wandering soul?
Old Qin seems to have gained a lot with one stroke.
He didn't leave many fallbacks, allowing Zhu Xiu's talisman to save me while still preserving her, because he thought that letting Zhu Xiu become ineffective at that time was enough?
After all, it wasn't long after that when I received his letter, and by some twist of fate, I followed part of his inferred arrangement...
I think I understand now.
Perhaps Old Qin thought that Yu Xiu was difficult to control, and it was time for her to dissipate. And since I had two destinies, in his eyes, I would be able to command plagues and demons in the future. There was no need to keep Yu Xiu by his side anymore?
This is not just an overthinking on my part, because the streak of blue in Yu Xiu's eyes was so deep, it even obscured her inherent dullness, revealing an unusual sense of resentment.
She slightly trembled her lips, as if she was restraining herself.
"Xiu!" I whisper.
Yu Xiu's body suddenly trembled as if she was also struggling to control herself.
In the next instant, more blood flowed out of her body, forming a puddle on the ground. The puddle of blood quickly spread and diffused, looking like ink spilled on white paper, with chaotic ink streaks spreading across the paper!
My face changed again, as if something was wrong...
My original guess was that Yu Xiu was hard to control.
Her reaction confirmed that.
But now, it seems like it's not just about being hard to control?
More blood flowed out, and all the wounds on Yu Xiu's body were bleeding!
Yu Xiu held her head with both hands, continuously emitting cries of agony and screams of despair, as if she was facing immense suffering at the moment!
It seems that the master's secret methods have injured Yu Xiu, and he himself has suffered a backlash!
But at the same time, it seems to have triggered something inside Yu Xiu...
The blood smell permeated the entire courtyard, and gradually rising was the blood-colored mist...
This mist seemed like a pair of hands reaching towards the hall, its target seemingly aiming to grasp the master!
And besides those hands, the blue mist was still spreading...
What I see before me seems to have changed...
The Zhou family's yard was gradually replaced by another layer.
The mist was hazy, as if it were the entrance to a certain village.
The stone archway stood tall and majestic, and though I couldn't see the characters on the top of the archway through the blood-blue mist, I could hear the gentle sound of flowing water and still faint sobs.
The sobs sound particularly innocent, as if it were a child.
The vision became clearer, and I stood right at the bottom of the archway. Everything from the Zhou family had vanished, and what I could see was this village!
I suddenly understood.
This must be... a nightmare?
Nightmares are a special ability of the dead.
However, nightmares are not necessarily hellish prisons.
Ordinarily, corpses above the level of black fiends, along with the black fiends themselves, can have nightmares that drag people into dreams and cause a series of terrifying events.
The nightmares are false; as long as one wakes up, nothing really happened. At most, one is merely frightened.
If the nightmares become true, it will be a dreamlike hell, as it was for Qi Yaoqi.
But, I can't judge now...
Is this just a simple nightmare or a nightmare hell?
If I had known that the master's methods would affect Yu Xiu to this extent, I definitely wouldn't have brought her along.
To wake up from a nightmare, one can only force themselves to wake up, like a deeper sleep paralysis.
If it's a nightmare hell, there must be a node...
Cold sweat broke out on my back.
The faint crying sound seemed to become much clearer, constantly echoing in my ears.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward and walked in the direction of the crying sound.
The mist around me seemed to dissipate after I walked past.
As I approached the source of the crying sound, I saw a river.
A clear and winding little river.
By the river, there was a washing stone, and a little girl was sitting on it, crying.
The little girl was no more than seven or eight years old. She cried so hard that her eyes were puffy, and her pupils were filled with blood vessels.
She was wearing a white mourning outfit and had a pointed hat on her head.
It seemed like her family had lost someone, and she was mourning as if she were in a state of mourning.
The cries are too heavy, giving one a feeling of agitation.
I dare not get too close, unable to determine whether this is a nightmare or a nightmare hell. If this little girl is very fierce, then trouble will be caused...
I need to find Yu Xiu as soon as possible...
Perhaps seeing her will dispel this nightmare.
I forgot to mention something earlier. If it had been timely, perhaps Yu Xiu could have woken up and this wouldn't have happened.
Just as I was about to turn around, suddenly, I shivered.
My gaze was entirely fixed on the little girl by the water.
What startled and confused me was that her appearance was eerily reminiscent of Yu Xiu...
Just a few seconds later, it wasn't just like!
The eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth were distinctly like Yu Xiu's, only she was still young and hadn't fully grown.
In the nightmare, Yu Xiu is still a little girl?
What has happened to her?
Is she the Eight Failed Widows?
This nightmare has been haunting her since she was so young?
Taking a deep breath, I need to move closer to Yu Xiu.
