Shinju Rina slowly moved her hand and then walked down the passage to the right.
Her actions seed like she was guiding Beichuan Si.
Since the other party dared to lead the way, Beichuan Si had no reason to hesitate.
After all, the strength of Shinju Rina was only of a junior high-level resentful spirit, close to that of a dium-level but still falling short. For the current Beichuan Si, such a spirit couldn’t pose much of a threat.
As long as it couldn’t kill in one blow, Beichuan Si’s Death Qi Healing had a lot of room for maneuver.
This was the advantage of having activated the skill branch of Death Qi Healing; at least it t the necessary conditions for a physical fight, removing the need to tread cautiously worrying about injuries affecting movent.
Beichuan Si followed Shinju Rina’s pace, and at the next fork, Shinju Rina pointed to the left.
There was an inconspicuous dead end.
This dead end made Beichuan Si feel a profound sense of incongruity.
There was no need for such a design here; this protruding dead end was simply a waste of building materials, utterly pointless.
But Shinju Rina’s guidance and the inexplicable misgiving precisely indicated that sothing was hidden here.
Could this be the location of the underground palace?
Shinju Rina dissipated and vanished once again.
Beichuan Si couldn’t understand the thoughts of this Shrine Maiden spirit.
But now, the entrance to the underground palace might be right in front of him...
Beichuan Si walked over, crouched down, and gently tapped the wooden floor with the handle of his flashlight.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump—
At the third vertical wooden plank, Beichuan Si distinctly heard a different sound.
"Though the space underneath the wooden floor is hollow, the sound from this spot is distinctly different, implying a different depth of excavation..."
Beichuan Si held Jian Ding horizontally and efficiently cut a 50-centiter irregular square in the wood.
Under the flashlight’s beam, the dark passage was illuminated, and Beichuan Si clearly saw the semi-circular stone steps winding downward.
The underground palace!
Beichuan Si didn’t stop his movents and briskly flipped the movable floorboard open.
The edges of the movable floorboard showed signs of being rubbed by thin steel wires, suggesting that the Shenzhu Family used to tie the thin steel wires around the edges of the floorboard running through the seams to pull it open.
To avoid the situation where it couldn’t be opened after being sealed, Beichuan Si kicked the movable floorboard apart and then reached down with his flashlight.
The underground palace, long uncleaned, had accumulated so water on the stone steps; Beichuan Si could clearly hear the sound of water droplets falling from the ceiling of the underground palace.
The farther down the semicircular stone steps he went, the more intense the damp, musty sll beca.
The cylindrical light from the flashlight revealed many small puddles on the stone steps.
And perhaps due to the curvature of the stairs, the farther he walked, the more oppressive the atmosphere felt.
The entire underground palace gave Beichuan Si an uncomfortable feeling.
Though the underground palace was unpleasant, the air inside was unexpectedly clean.
Possibly, vents hidden elsewhere were still operational.
Beichuan Si unhesitatingly continued downward.
After about three minutes, he had descended the stone steps and arrived at a circular stone chamber.
At the center of this chamber was a vertically stacked stone stele.
Beichuan Si directed the flashlight’s beam upwards.
The nas on the stone stele all began with "Shenzhu," and judging by the nas, they were mostly female.
Was this... a burial site or a shrine?
Among these several stone steles of varying sizes, Beichuan Si spotted a familiar na.
Shenzhu Mazi.
"Shenzhu Mazi... one of the Soul Suppressing Twins who died after the blood extraction purification ritual..."
Shenzhu Mazi was a Soul Suppressing Twin from the sa era as Magong Dongzi during the Showa period.
The majority of the nas on the stone stele were female.
Could it be assud that this place was the burial site for the Soul Suppressing Twins who had violated taboos, the impure ones?
Beichuan Si’s gaze skipped over the cluster of steles and looked farther back.
The corridor split into three.
Each path was incredibly dim, inducing an indescribable terror.
Beichuan Si glanced at Nishijou Kelian, noticed her continued listlessness, then chose the rightmost corridor closest to him.
The corridor was very deep, and each supporting wooden pillar was bound with a brazier; so fragnts of combustible material were scattered within.
Beichuan Si continued to feel his way inside.
"This is..."
The corridor ended in a room.
The room was sealed by a long bar gate, which was covered entirely with white cinnabar talismans.
The color of the talismans had faded.
Through the bar gate, Beichuan Si could see the scene inside.
It was a low-ceilinged room.
A putrid odor emanated from it.
Aligned in the center was a wooden long table stained with splotchy blood, giving off a depressing vibe with its dark red stains.
Various knives and chains hung on the side walls.
The knives hadn’t been cleaned; the blood on what should have been gleaming edges had turned black, and just a glance was enough for Beichuan Si to feel the deep resentnt entwined around them.
Beichuan Si pulled open the gate covered in talismans.
Perhaps too many years had passed, the talismans had no effect, and Beichuan Si easily tore open the gate with a light pull.
But his steps halted as he moved forward.
In front of the long table, the soiled figure of Shinju Rina reappeared.
Her neck hung at an unnatural 90-degree angle, her yellowed eyeballs swiveled towards Beichuan Si.
After a while, the dagger in Shinju Rina’s hand dispersed into a resentful spirit, and she cupped a corner of a hemp sleeve in her hands.
Ti had passed unknowingly for many years, and this corner of the sleeve had long since turned into a rag.
She remained as before, not showing any sign of attacking Beichuan Si; with her twisted and deford hands, she just clutched that piece of hemp sleeve and walked step by step towards him.
Ah... ah—
A black liquid squeezed from Shinju Rina’s throat, and fragnted syllables followed.
Beichuan Si furrowed his brow, "You an for to take this sleeve?"
Shinju Rina had clutched Asao Shizuka’s sleeve tightly when she died.
Was it torn off?
The notion of death instinctively flashed across Beichuan Si’s eyes.
Under the scrutiny of death, a round swirl of black aura rose from the sleeve.
Much like the black aura that Nishijou Kelian had gathered in the courtyard.
If it possessed the sa ability as the death aura given by Nishijou Kelian, able to see into the past—
Then perhaps it was possible to learn about ancient happenings from this sleeve.
If among them there were so clues useful to him now...
Beichuan Si weighed the risks and benefits in his mind, and for the mont, he could not decide.
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