Immediately, Li Zhiyuan and Tan Wenbin stepped out of the room, casting one last glance at the three closed doors, or more precisely, the two doors that couldn’t be opened.
A snapping of the fingers.
Li Zhiyuan ended his journey through the underworld, and his vision returned to normal.
Tan Wenbin also opened his eyes, feeling as if he had just woken from a sleep, his head throbbing.
Cracks appeared on the small lion statues placed on the ground, and the bronze swords hanging above them fell, dispersing the sealing array.
Through the crack of the door, they could see everyone inside waking up. Standing in the center, Mao Zhushan was holding a long incense stick, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, yet his expression displayed a sinister excitement.
Mao Zhushan: "Heh, you all saw it, didn’t you."
In the previous memory scenes, the people in the room could see each other’s memories, and Li Zhiyuan and Tan Wenbin, who entered later, though Binbin became assimilated.
Mao Zhushan’s words were not actually directed at the living people present; when he spoke, he first looked towards the faceless corpses hanging overhead, then towards the statue of the general.
Ran Qiuping threw herself at Wu Xinhui like a mad woman: "It was you, you killed my daughter, you murdered my daughter!"
Wu Xinhui struggled to push her away, but the woman was now past caring, and even though he was a strong man, he couldn’t break free.
"You beast, return my daughter’s life, give me back my daughter’s life!"
Wu Xinhui yelled: "I didn’t kill her, I didn’t kill her!"
Zhu Hongyu and Liu Xinya, having come to their senses, quickly stepped forward to help Wu Xinhui push Ran Qiuping away.
"You beast, you still won’t admit it, I’ll fight you, I will fight you!"
When Ran Qiuping lunged at him again, Wu Xinhui simply grabbed her neck and threw her to the ground; Zhu Hongyu and Liu Xinya also came over to help hold her down.
"I didn’t kill her, I really didn’t kill her!" Wu Xinhui then turned his head towards Mao Zhushan, "Did you give us some kind of poison or hallucinogenic drug, I didn’t kill Qiu Minmin, it wasn’t me!"
Meanwhile, Sun Hongxia was dazed for a long time; she first looked towards Wu Xinhui, then turned towards Mao Zhushan.
She had been apologizing with her son’s portrait for so many years, had been atoning for so many years, was her son really wronged?
She deeply regretted, why hadn’t she chosen to believe her own son.
"It was you, you killed my son!"
Sun Hongxia rushed towards Mao Zhushan, who smirked at the corners of his mouth.
Above, Qiu Minmin fell down, extending a hand and grabbing Sun Hongxia’s neck, who struggled in vain.
Ran Qiuping, already held down by the three, turned her head to see this scene and immediately screamed: "Minmin, kill him, kill him, he’s the real murderer!"
But her normally "obedient and compliant" daughter remained indifferent.
Mao Zhushan smiled and said, "Go."
Sun Hongxia was thrown by Qiu Minmin, crashing below the statue of the general.
Immediately afterward, Qiu Minmin lunged towards Wu Xinhui.
Wu Xinhui, Zhu Hongyu, and Liu Xinya, frightened, hurriedly let go of Ran Qiuping and backed away.
Rage appeared on Ran Qiuping’s face as she tried to get up, but the next moment, a hand pierced through her chest.
She looked incredulously towards her side—it was a faceless face, but she had always known it was her daughter.
Ran Qiuping’s blood quickly began to recede, absorbed by Qiu Minmin.
Zhu Hongyu and Liu Xinya screamed, the scene was too horrifying.
Then, the statue of the general suddenly collapsed backward.
After the trembling noise ceased, a bronze door appeared below, accumulated with a pool of water, in which lay a corpse that slowly sat up.
Sun Hongxia looked up at Zhao Junfeng, murmuring, "Son, are you still alive? Mom is sorry, I shouldn’t have doubted you, Mom..."
Zhao Junfeng bent down, biting into Sun Hongxia’s neck. Her body began to convulse, unable to make a sound.
Following that, Zhao Junfeng shook his head, flinging away Sun Hongxia’s corpse, his face covered in her blood.
On the other side, Qiu Minmin drew back her arm, and Ran Qiuping collapsed, her arm also covered in Ran Qiuping’s blood.
Wu Xinhui shouted, preparing to flee; for ordinary people, this scene was horrifying beyond anything they could have imagined in their worst nightmares.
"Heh." Mao Zhushan chuckled.
Qiu Minmin appeared in front of Wu Xinhui and the other two, blocking their way, while Zhao Junfeng stood at the back, blocking their retreat.
Immediately after, Mao Zhushan flicked his finger, and a mirror rose above, with long paintings falling on both sides, forming a ghost-wall array. This was actually very simple, but it was enough to prevent the three inside from escaping.
"Ah!!!" Zhu Hongyu screamed holding her head.
Wu Xinhui knelt down, knocking his forehead on the floor: "I’ll give you money, I’ll give you anything, just let me go, please let me go!"
Outside, Tan Wenbin, peering through the crack of the window in shock and confusion, quietly asked Li Zhiyuan:
"Brother Xiao Yuan, what exactly is happening here?"
Li Zhiyuan: "He is conducting... a life and death companion ritual."
With shock on his face, Tan Wenbin, having read about this, remembered this segment from Wei Zhengdao’s "Jianghu Chronicles": Male and female corpses, representing yin and yang, select an auspicious day, murder the closest kin and the avenged kin, douse their blood, and bind them as companions.