Chapter 394: A Familiar Face
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Warden Xiao summoned two of his deputies, and together, they performed intricate hand seals. Before them, the seemingly solid stone platform cracked open, revealing a gaping entrance.
As soon as the opening appeared, dense yin energy surged outward. A fierce wind howled through the chamber, carrying with it the shrill cries of unknown beasts.
The eunuch, without hesitation, shoved her into the abyss.
“Such a pity. No one has ever walked out of the Grievous Prison alive,” a young guard sighed.
Nan Mu Bai finally felt his heart settle.
“Don’t blame me. Zhi Yi was born to be the Goddess. She has sacrificed everything for this position.”
“She cannot fall from the divine pedestal.”
“The Goddess can only be her.”
—
“Men lie, scoundrels all! Three drinks in, and they’ll deceive you until you weep…”
Lu Chao Chao muttered complaints as she walked. Xiao Tian Dao was right—men were not to be trusted.
Inside the Grievous Prison, the sky was an eternal shade of gray, shrouded in thick clouds. Ravens and crows flocked overhead.
Looking up, there was no trace of the sun.
The gloomy weather seeped into one’s heart, weighing it down with unease.
Lu Chao Chao flexed her tiny hands. Crack.
The shackles shattered into two pieces.
“See? I was kind enough to play along with your little act…” She gave the broken chains a kick, sending them tumbling into the undergrowth.
Suddenly, a crunching sound echoed from the shadows.
Her chubby little face scrunched up in discomfort. “Ugh, that sound makes my teeth ache…”
Turning her head, she spotted something lurking in the darkness, gnawing the chains to bits.
Her stomach grumbled.
“So hungry… Chao Chao’s tummy is crying…” She rubbed her belly and pulled out a Night-Luminescent Pearl, hanging it around her neck.
The dim glow barely illuminated the path ahead.
All around her, eerie wails and whispers seemed to brush against her ears like ghostly breaths.
Thud, thud, thud…
Something rolled to her feet.
Looking down, she found a round, severed head, mouth wide open in a silent scream.
“My head…”
“My head…”
“Have you seen my head?” A headless, blood-drenched corpse staggered forward, its mournful cries filling the air.
Despite lacking eyes, Lu Chao Chao could feel it staring at her.
Tilting her head, she lifted her tiny foot and kicked the head into the bushes.
“Nope. Go look over there,” she pointed toward a shimmering stream in the distance.
The cries ceased momentarily.
Then, a sharp scream pierced the air.
“My head! My head! Give it back!” The spirit dove into the bushes, fighting with unseen forces.
Lu Chao Chao yawned. Boring.
After a long moment, the female corpse reappeared, clutching her battered head. Blood tears streamed from empty sockets as she pointed a trembling finger at Lu Chao Chao, too enraged to speak.
“Point at me again, and I’ll break your fingers,” Lu Chao Chao warned. She hated being pointed at.
“Little one, how old are you to be thrown into the Grievous Prison? Are you even three yet?”
The ghost licked her lips. She had heard tales of how delicious children were but had never tasted one herself.
“Nonsense! Chao Chao is three and a half!” she declared in her childish voice.
“Small, but brave,” the ghost mused, stepping closer and taking a deep breath.
What a rich, enticing aroma.
No wonder the major fiends in the prison were desperate to escape.
She, too, wanted a taste.
The ghost suddenly transformed into a gentle, elegant woman.
“Poor thing. Three and a half years old and abandoned in such a dreadful place. Defenseless children are highly prized in the Grievous Prison, you know?”
“Such tender flesh, perfect for the fiends to feast on.”
“I am Madam Yuan. Why don’t you come with me? I’ll find a safe place for you.”
“Seeing such an adorable child, my heart aches with affection,” Madam Yuan cooed, eyes glinting with calculation.
She belonged to Ten-Thousand Souls Mountain, a gathering of malevolent spirits. But she was only a low-ranking member.
In the constant power struggles of the mountain, she was too weak to compete. She had spent a century lingering near the Grievous Prison gates, hoping to snatch an easy opportunity.
Now, she had found one—Lu Chao Chao.
If she offered this child to the great fiends of Ten-Thousand Souls Mountain, she could finally secure protection!
Survival in the Grievous Prison was a constant struggle against being devoured.
“Do you know how powerful our Ghost King is? He was once a legendary cultivator from ancient times!”
“With him protecting you, no one would dare harm you!”
“Is there food?” Lu Chao Chao’s eyes lit up.
“Chao Chao can’t go hungry. If I get hungry, I get mad…” she mumbled.
For some reason, Madam Yuan suddenly felt an eerie chill.
“Food… There should be food… Yes, definitely!” Madam Yuan lied without hesitation. Joking aside, no human had entered the prison in a hundred years. Where would food come from?
Lu Chao Chao believed her, for now.
She followed Madam Yuan, but after a while, her pace slowed. “Tired…” She reached out her hands.
Madam Yuan blinked in disbelief, pointing at herself. “Me… I have to carry you?”
“Duh! You’re the only one here!” Without waiting for permission, Lu Chao Chao ordered, “Kneel down!”
Madam Yuan wanted to refuse, but her body moved against her will, kneeling immediately.
A natural suppression.
Lu Chao Chao draped herself over Madam Yuan’s shoulders.
“You need a bath.”
Madam Yuan shivered. Had she just felt some kind of oppression? It was so fleeting it might have been an illusion.
Avoiding the river, she sprinted toward Ten-Thousand Souls Mountain.
Gravestones dotted the landscape, some tilted, others fallen. As they neared, hands and heads emerged from the stones.
“So fragrant… Such rich, meaty scent…”
“What is that? A living human?” The murmurs swelled around them. Madam Yuan hunched her shoulders and bolted up the mountain.
Lu Chao Chao, meanwhile, giggled.
As they ascended, the graves became denser, stretching endlessly toward the horizon.
Finally, they arrived at a valley.
Tombstones lined both sides, their ominous presence sending shivers down Madam Yuan’s spine.
In the valley’s center, a crimson coffin hovered midair, exuding a deathly chill.
“Ghost King, Madam Yuan brings a great offering!” She dropped to her knees, reverently presenting Lu Chao Chao.
Lu Chao Chao tilted her head. “Madam Yuan, where’s the food?”
The lids of countless coffins creaked open.
Grotesque spirits, sharp-fanged and drooling, rose from their graves, salivating at the sight of her.
Yet none dared to approach.
From the floating coffin, a pair of pallid, bloodless hands emerged.
All spirits prostrated themselves.
Madam Yuan trembled. In all of Grievous Prison, none were more fearsome than the Ghost King.
Her voice quivered. “Little girl, our Ghost King was once a legendary cultivator, an equal to the Sword Immortal in the ancient days. To be eaten by him is your honor.”
Lu Chao Chao’s eyes widened. “Ancient times? Equal to a Sword Immortal?!”