Chapter 014

Chapter 15: Red Dancing Shoes

"Thump"

Another sound similar to knocking on a door.

There's something next door!

Zhang Yuanqing quickly exchanged the rusty cleaver for a rusty dagger, and the wooden stick for a spear.

Carrying the weapons, he ran out of the room with light footsteps. The moonlight was like frost, and everything around was silent.

Zhang Yuanqing bent down and quietly approached the window.

The paper covering the window was already tattered. He crouched under the window, carefully raised his head, and peeked through one of the holes in the lattice window.

The frosty moonlight, compressed into beams by the holes in the roof, brought light to this narrow room.

Seeing the scene inside the room, Zhang Yuanqing's heart skipped a beat.

In the dim and quiet room, there were three old coffins, with black paint peeling off and the lids covered in dust.

Two mummies lay beside the coffins, wearing work clothes. A copper awl had rolled out of one of their hands.

That awl caught Zhang Yuanqing's attention. It was about half an arm's length, made of brass, with inscriptions and carvings on the handle, finely crafted. The key point was, while all other weapons had rusted, this one remained bright yellow, without any trace of copper rust.

An image involuntarily flashed in his mind: one hand of the Three Mountain Goddesses, with five fingers closed as if holding something.

But the palm was empty.

"Thump"

The muffled sound came again, forcing Zhang Yuanqing to shift his gaze towards the middle coffin.

A teeth-grinding "creak" sounded, and the coffin lid slowly slid open.

A bluish-black hand reached out, grabbing the edge of the coffin.

Then, a terrifying figure sat up from the coffin.

In the clear moonlight shining through the roof, Zhang Yuanqing saw the creature's appearance clearly. It was wrapped in tattered clothes, its face swollen and highly decomposed, with lifeless eyeballs protruding.

Its hair was like withered grass, messily sitting atop its head.

"Ho ho~"

It raised its head towards the moonlight above, exhaling a turbid breath of corpse gas, its two sharp fangs shocking to behold.

A jiangshi? A jiangshi!!

Zhang Yuanqing felt his Uncle Ying PTSD acting up.

So it's a jiangshi, yes, it must be a jiangshi, otherwise what's the point of having the Jiangshi Suppression Talisman as a consumable item? Zhang Yuanqing felt the urge to retreat, having gathered enough information from this exploration.

It was time to return to the main hall.

But just then, a sudden weight pressed on his shoulder, bringing a familiar cold sensation that invaded his body, causing goosebumps to rise.

At this critical moment, the shoulder-riding ghost had arrived.

Fifteen minutes were up, Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank.

In this ancient temple full of dangers, with his mind highly alert, it was difficult to spare attention to count time, and he could only estimate based on feeling, which would inevitably lead to discrepancies.

The appearance of the shoulder-riding vengeful spirit was like adding frost to snow, and what happened next was like pouring oil on fire.

As if sensing the presence of a living person, the jiangshi sitting in the coffin stopped raising its head. Its protruding eyeballs dropped, looking towards the window, towards the eyes peeking at itself from outside the window.

Zhang Yuanqing, amidst the horror of his rising goosebumps, sprang up and turned to run.

As soon as he turned, he heard the loud 'bang' of the coffin lid hitting the ground.

Not daring to look back, carrying the vengeful spirit on his shoulder, he ran with heavy steps.

Another loud 'bang' sounded, the door had been knocked off.

Zhang Yuanqing ran wildly while turning his head, seeing the figure wrapped in tattered clothes, ferocious and horrifying, bursting out of the room, suddenly leaping and chasing after him like a hungry tiger pouncing on a sheep.

Is this a jiangshi? Where's the stiffness? His face changed drastically, his feet pivoted, using the momentum to complete a turn, thrusting the spear towards the jiangshi's chest.

He planted the butt of the spear on the ground, forming a simple barrier.

At the same time, he saw a gruesome hollow in the jiangshi's chest, its heart seemingly dug out.

Senior Brother? Is the jiangshi the Senior Brother from the notebook!

The next moment, the jiangshi charged into the spear, the finger-thick shaft bending like a full moon, then 'crack' - it snapped.

With no time to think further, Zhang Yuanqing seized the opportunity created by the spear, rolling past the jiangshi's feet, his nostrils filled with the stench of decay, hearing the sound of a large knife chopping the ground behind him.

He rolled all the way behind the jiangshi, his knees springing up, leaping to his feet, swinging the dagger in his hand.

"Clang!"

The dagger struck the back of the jiangshi's head, as if hitting steel, only cutting off a few strands of withered grass-like hair without causing any damage.

Instead, Zhang Yuanqing's tiger's mouth ached intensely from the force transmitted back through the knife handle, nearly losing his grip on the weapon.

"Copper skin and iron bones?"

Zhang Yuanqing's heart was greatly alarmed, and then he saw the jiangshi quickly turning around, raising its hands with black sharp nails, gripping his shoulders.

Pain immediately struck.

The black sharp nails pierced his skin, crimson blood staining his jacket.

The smell of blood stimulated it, red light surging in the depths of its protruding eyeballs. The jiangshi opened its fangs, exhaling foul-smelling breath, fiercely biting towards Zhang Yuanqing's neck.

The purifying effect of the candle was still active, preventing him from losing his rationality to fear. With a thought, a blue inventory appeared, and a talisman appeared in his hand.

Tap tap tap... The jiangshi, which had been ferocious and violent just a moment ago, upon seeing this paper talisman, actually retreated repeatedly, as if avoiding a snake or scorpion.

It's effective, it fears me, it has some intelligence, Zhang Yuanqing thought, enduring the pain from the wounds on his arms, tensing his muscles, staring fixedly at the jiangshi, with the vengeful spirit on his shoulder, slowly retreating step by step.

As he retreated, he prayed that the female ghost in the well wouldn't pop up to add to the trouble.

During this process, the jiangshi's rotting throat emitted an eerie low growl, its crimson gaze fixed on Zhang Yuanqing.

Luckily, whether due to the jiangshi or Zhang Yuanqing's backward walking, the female ghost from the well didn't appear. Zhang Yuanqing retreated from the east courtyard, returned to the quadrangle, not daring to stop for a moment, stumbling towards the main hall. As he approached the upturned eaves of the main hall, a ghostly, shrill scream sounded in his ears.

His shoulder lightened, all negative effects dissipating.

"Huff huff..."

Inside the main hall, Zhang Yuanqing leaned against the lattice door, panting incessantly, his legs involuntarily spasming.

This was partly due to fear, and partly a physiological reaction after the adrenaline wore off.

After resting for a few minutes, as the adrenaline subsided, the wounds on his arms began to hurt. Grimacing, he took off his jacket and t-shirt, revealing his two arms mangled and bloody, the flowing blood dark red.

Evidently, the jiangshi's nails contained a potent poison.

The situation suddenly became worse.

"There's no disinfectant here, no tetanus shot, how fast does corpse poison take effect? I won't die from poisoning, will I?"

A series of thoughts flashed through Zhang Yuanqing's mind, and he was surprised to find that he wasn't very afraid, then realized... this had nothing to do with him, it was the courage given by the candle.

Bathed in candlelight, his emotions gradually calmed.

"Now that I'm infected with corpse poison, I can't delay any longer. Let's directly implement the second plan."

Before entering the spirit realm, Zhang Yuanqing had made two plans for himself. The first plan was to cautiously explore the Mountain God Temple, gather information, and then seek a method to break through.

This was the steady approach.

Then, inspired by playing games with his aunt, finding patterns and methods, he formulated a second, relatively risky plan.

Try to subdue the red dancing shoes.

Since they were all tools, if the yellow paper talisman could be used by him, who said the red dancing shoes couldn't?

Guan Ya had said that breaking the rules of rule-based tools had a certain probability of subduing them.

"With my abilities, it's unlikely that I can stick the yellow paper talisman on the jiangshi's forehead by myself."

To stick a talisman on the forehead of a ferocious, terrifying, and intelligent yin entity would be like a child trying to duel an adult with a knife. Although the adult would be wary of the blade, it doesn't mean the child could actually harm the adult.

Zhang Yuanqing wasted no more time. Supporting himself on the lattice door, he stood up, crossed the threshold, and came to the courtyard in front of the main hall.

This was where he first encountered the red dancing shoes.

The moon was like a plate, ancient buildings, wild grass, tree shadows swaying.

He waited and waited, standing among the wild grass for a long time, alert to changes around him, but the red dancing shoes didn't appear.

These shoes seemed to have no fixed territory. At first, they followed behind him when entering the temple, then appeared in the quadrangle, and now had gone who knows where.

Zhang Yuanqing, whose physical condition was worsening with each delay, sighed and turned around reluctantly, returning to the main hall.

Just as he completed his turn, his body suddenly froze.

"Tap tap..."

Between him and the main hall, a pair of red dancing shoes emitting a dark red glow were rising and falling, as if an invisible person was wearing them and stepping in place.

The footsteps echoed eerily in the vast, silent night.

Can you change your entrance method? It's so creepy every time... Zhang Yuanqing's startled soul slowly settled back, and he quietly swallowed.

Although he had been anticipating its appearance, when directly facing these bizarre dancing shoes, Zhang Yuanqing still felt his sanity value uncontrollably dropping...

The red dancing shoes continued to step in place, the heels striking the ground with crisp sounds. The echoing "tap tap" overlapped, increasingly lonely, increasingly terrifying.

Suddenly, a blue message popped up in Zhang Yuanqing's view:

[Would you like to dance with me? If yes, please step in place.]

This message appeared next to the red dancing shoes, as if they were communicating with him.

So it does demand dancing, killing those who don't dance with it. What a vicious pair of shoes... Zhang Yuanqing had no choice but to take a desperate gamble, because he realized something - the red dancing shoes had cut off his retreat.

They had appeared between Zhang Yuanqing and the main hall.

If he failed at dancing, he would surely die.

Was it a coincidence? Or did these shoes do it intentionally? Did they have intelligence too... Zhang Yuanqing gathered his thoughts, calmed his emotions, and visualized his father's face in his mind.

At the same time, he lifted his foot to step in place.

Tap tap... As if it were the switch to activate this tool, along with his stepping, the rhythm of the red dancing shoes' rising and falling changed, launching into an extremely fast tap dance.

They were performing a tap dance, with a catchy rhythm and extremely fast speed. The loud "tap tap" sounds echoed in the silent night sky, echoed in the abandoned ancient temple.

Under the moonlight, among the wild grass, on the small path paved with soft stones, a pair of red dancing shoes danced lonely, with an indescribable bewitching beauty.

Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes wide, letting his pupils absorb the moonlight, staring intently at the red dancing shoes. He didn't need to deliberately memorize; he just needed to let the other's footsteps imprint in his eyes.

At the same time, his heart was like an overloaded engine, beating rapidly. His ears were full of chaotic noise, and countless fragmented images flashed through his mind.

His brain began to automatically receive information from the outside world: the sound of the blowing wind, the slightly bent posture of the wild grass, the frequency of the leaves swaying on the distant locust tree, the posture and frequency of the red dancing shoes' tapping...

The brain quickly analyzed and memorized the received information.

A few minutes later, the red dancing shoes stopped contentedly, the left foot stepping back, standing on tiptoe.

This posture looked strange, but if someone were wearing them, it would be a standard curtsy.

Quite polite... Zhang Yuanqing, with blood flowing from his nostrils, mumbled inwardly, then saw a sentence floating above the red dancing shoes:

[Your turn!]

In those few minutes, they had performed hundreds of rhythms, and all the steps were different, which was beyond the speed memory ability of ordinary people.

Zhang Yuanqing steadied himself, took out a small pill from his pocket, and held it in his mouth.

Then, his brain entered a strange state, replaying the scenes from the past few minutes frame by frame.

"Tap tap tap tap..."

He danced a few rhythms at a slow pace, with clumsy posture, then carefully observed the red dancing shoes.

If the standard was to be exactly the same as the original, even if he could remember all the rhythms and movements, it would be impossible to complete the task.

Seeing no abnormality from them, Zhang Yuanqing felt relieved and began to dance with full concentration.

Tap dancing, spinning, small jumps, crossing left and right feet - he danced very slowly, with awkward and unsightly postures. Compared to the fluid movements of the red dancing shoes, it was simply unbearable to watch.

But the slow-paced dance steps ensured no mistakes.

After seven or eight minutes, Zhang Yuanqing had replicated all the steps of the red dancing shoes and stopped, panting heavily.

His nostrils were filled with warm liquid, dripping down his lips and chin, but he couldn't wipe it away, fixating his gaze on the red dancing shoes.

Whether he could leave the spirit realm alive, whether he could successfully complete the trial.

It all depended on this moment.

[Your dancing skills are as terrible as ever!]

The red dancing shoes displayed this message, and then dissolved into a dark red glow, dissipating into the night.

Immediately after, Zhang Yuanqing heard a cold voice in his mind:

[Ding! You have completed a dance with the red dancing shoes. Congratulations on earning the red dancing shoes' appreciation, but due to your extremely poor dancing skills, the red dancing shoes only appreciate you for half an hour. Good luck!]

Zhang Yuanqing collapsed to the ground, exhausted, his face pale, his brain throbbing with pain.

Half a minute later, the symptoms eased. He sat up, his face still pale, and eagerly opened his inventory.

In the second slot lay a pair of red, brand new dancing shoes.

After staring at the shoes for a few seconds, the item information automatically appeared.

[Name: Red Dancing Shoes]

[Type: Footwear]

[Function: Tracking, Hunting]

[Description: Its former owner was a princess from a Western kingdom. The princess was born beautiful and skilled in dancing, enchanting all the men in the kingdom. However, her evil stepmother, jealous of her talent and beauty, imprisoned her in a high tower. The lonely princess danced alone under the cold moonlight until she died. These red dancing shoes inherited her will and began to wander, dancing endlessly.]

[Note 1: Usage Form 1: Throw the red dancing shoes at a designated target (or use the target's blood, hair, or other cells as a medium to lock onto the target). They will relentlessly hunt the target. During the hunt, they ignore any physical obstacles, cannot be escaped from or destroyed, until the target dies or completes a dance with them. The type of dance is not limited.]

[Usage Form 2: Wear the red dancing shoes to increase agility, improve evasion ability, run ignoring terrain, and without consuming stamina. The only thing you need to pay attention to is that you can only wear them for five minutes each time. If you exceed this duration, the red dancing shoes can never be taken off, and you will keep running with them until your life ends or you cut off your feet.]

[Note 2: Won't dance with me? You'll all die young.]

"It's a divine artifact," Zhang Yuanqing thought excitedly after reading the item's attribute description.

Is this what a rule-based item is like?

It's absurdly powerful.

The previous yellow paper talisman and candle had relatively simple item descriptions, just a few sentences, while the information for these red dancing shoes was extensive.

From this point alone, one could see the uniqueness of the red dancing shoes.

"It's a pity they only appreciate me for half an hour"

Zhang Yuanqing noticed the countdown next to the inventory slot and felt a sense of regret.

If such a divine artifact could become his permanently, it would be incredibly useful both in reality and in future spirit realm entries.

PS: Here's an extra-large chapter, please vote for monthly tickets. Typos will be fixed after the update.

(End of Chapter)

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