As long as she sacrificed one person,
she could remain safe for a while,
peacefully surviving the remaining time in the Blessed Land.
Before the next offering to the Ghost Mother,
she would be able to leave the Blessed Land and return to a normal life.
In her eyes, Wen Chao was already doomed.
Any act of resistance from Wen Chao
would break the Ghost Mother's rules.
But her hands never touched Wen Chao.
A hand with long nails suddenly covered her mouth,
while another arm wrapped around her tightly—
though slender, it gripped her like iron pincers.
Yue Mei struggled with all her strength,
but couldn't budge that arm even slightly,
nor could she make a sound.
Without Yue Mei's interference,
Wen Chao successfully transferred the Seeker identity to the Ghost Mother.
The Ghost Mother ignored this follower and,
following Su Huilan's five consecutive claps,
slowly left room 401 and headed towards 402.
With his eyes closed, Wen Chao whispered softly to Yue Mei,
"小 girl, do you have many questions?"
"Actually, you shouldn't hate me.
I wanted to help you, but there were important things in my room
that I couldn't let you see."
"So… I'm sorry."
His tone softened.
"I've been making you eat corpses all this time—
I'm truly sorry for that.
Now there's something fresh. You can start eating,
but be careful not to make too much noise or dirty the room."
Yue Mei's eyes widened in horror.
She realized her fate.
Right against the back of her neck,
a mouth full of sharp teeth opened wide.
Shriiiip!
Until she lost consciousness,
not a single cry escaped her lips.
Listening to the sound of Yue Mei being torn apart,
a gentle smile appeared on Wen Chao's face.
…
Room 404.
The Su sisters waited for the Ghost Mother's arrival.
Though they appeared delicate,
they were seasoned devotees who had survived multiple rounds in the Blessed Land.
They had seen this scene many times before,
so they remained far calmer than the four earlier players.
The most important thing in this game was to follow the rules.
As long as you didn't cause chaos,
you were likely to remain safe.
The Ghost Mother gently stroked Su Huilan's face,
then blew a breath into her eyes, completing the transfer smoothly.
Su Huilan then passed the Seeker qualification to Su Huijun.
Su Huijun easily found the nearby Seeker Ghost Mother.
Just as she was about to blow air to complete the handover,
a cold voice suddenly came from across the room:
"You've seen my child!"
"???"
Su Huijun froze.
What was going on? No one had mentioned anything like this before.
The Ghost Mother ignored the game's rules now.
Her pale hand grabbed Su Huijun's arm, nails sinking deeply into her flesh.
"You killed my child!"
The hatred in the Ghost Mother's words sent chills down the Su sisters' spines.
Su Huijun's arm throbbed painfully,
and she ignored the rules, opening her eyes to face the Ghost Mother.
"I have never seen your child,
let alone kill…"
She suddenly hesitated.
She recalled that one night not long ago,
a group of pale little spirits had rushed into their room,
trying to touch them with those tiny ghostly hands.
In response, she used a lethal talisman to kill two of them,
forcing the rest to flee.
Could those have been the Ghost Mother's children?
But weren't those little spirits released by the Broken Door Curse?
Su Huijun realized the situation had gone bad.
Today, the Seeker Ghost Mother was definitely going to kill her.
But she wasn't ready to die.
To survive until now,
she had paid a great price—
selling out her conscience, her body,
spinning endless lies,
betraying all who trusted and cared for her.
She couldn't afford to die in such a trivial game.
So she reached into her skirt,
pulled out a straw doll,
quickly wrote down a name on it,
then immediately shut her eyes and held her breath.
The name she wrote was Su Huilan's.
The Ghost Mother's palm was almost touching Su Huijun's eyelids,
but after the name was written, she stopped her movement.
Then she turned her gaze toward Su Huilan,
her eyes filled with seething hatred.
Su Huilan didn't know what was about to happen.
She closed her eyes, tears flowing,
mourning her sister's fate.
Hearing the Ghost Mother's words,
Su Huilan realized her sister would probably die here,
but she was powerless to help—
all she could do was grieve silently.
But strangely,
she didn't hear her sister's screams.
Just then, in confusion…
A pair of icy palms gripped her head.
"You killed my child."
Su Huilan's face twisted in horror.
"Wait, I didn't—she did…"
But the Seeker Ghost Mother's actions showed no hesitation.
Both pale hands plunged fully into Su Huilan's eye sockets.
In the fleeting moment before her consciousness faded,
Su Huilan suddenly remembered the magical tool Su Huijun had obtained the day He Qiong died.
Substitute Straw Doll:
Bind hair, imprint the Eight Characters of birth, write the name—
once conditions are met, the attack target of the evil spirit can be transferred onto someone nearby.
Her own sister had used the substitute straw doll on her!
"That damned—"
Su Huilan's thoughts abruptly stopped.
The Ghost Mother tore apart her brain with bare hands,
then, bloodied hands withdrawn, stood still.
Her hatred had been vented.
She closed her eyes and returned to the game.
Summoning all her courage, Su Huijun found the Ghost Mother again.
She blew a breath into the ghost's eye sockets, completing the transfer of the Seeker identity.
After finishing all this, once the Ghost Mother left,
Su Huijun knelt silently by her sister's corpse, wiping away tears.
The two sisters had survived the Blessed Land four times.
After narrowly escaping death the first time,
they had earned the favor of the "Partial God of Wealth,"
and received the "Borrow and Return" blessing.
This blessing allowed them to lend their talismans, magical tools, and powers to others.
At any time.
If they chose to stop lending,
they could reclaim the lent items instantly.
Thanks to this blessing,
before every entry into the Blessed Land,
they deliberately used their beauty to find an unfortunate soul like He Qiong,
tricked him into entering with them.
When danger arose inside the Blessed Land,
they'd let the unlucky one take the front line.
If he could no longer hold off the threat,
they'd abandon him, letting him draw the evil spirits' attention—
while they escaped unnoticed.
After all, their tools wouldn't vanish with the unlucky one's death.
The "Borrow and Return" blessing guaranteed easy retrieval.
By relying on this routine,
they had survived four rounds in the Blessed Land.
But this time, Su Huijun had no choice but to abandon her own sister.
Yet even Su Huijun was helpless.
The substitute straw doll was powerful, but came with strict conditions.
It required the target's hair buried in the doll,
the birth date written on the back,
the target's name inscribed,
and the target had to be within sight for the effect to take hold.
The only person she could use as a substitute was her sister.
"Sis… I'm sorry."
"But I truly had no other way.
No matter what I did growing up, you always forgave me.
This time… you'll forgive me too, won't you?"
Su Huijun cried many times inside the Blessed Land.
But this time, it was different.
From this day forward,
she would never truly cry over anyone's sacrifice again.
As long as she survived,
everything else could be sacrificed.
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