Josh nodded, "I remember."
The old Holy Daughter glanced at Yue Xi, signaling her to take Josh back to the boathouse.
Only then was Josh freed, following Yue Xi out.
Just as she was about to step out, she suddenly felt something cold slip into her body.
Josh instinctively touched her Dantian, experiencing an indescribable strange feeling.
She turned to glance at the statue, then shook her head and caught up with Yue Xi.
"Aunt Yue Xi, what did the Holy Daughter mean just now?"
Yue Xi bowed respectfully to her, "Returning to the Sacrificial Girl, it is exactly as the words say."
Josh thought for a moment and held Yue Xi’s hand, "Aunt Yue Xi, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have complained about you in front of the Holy Daughter just now. Because you always seem to dislike me, I wanted to draw your attention."
Yue Xi frowned slightly, trying to break free, "The Sacrificial Girl need not say so, I do not dislike you."
Josh looked at her, "Aunt, you look so much like my aunt, she had the same beautiful face as you, high cheekbones and very defined, she doted on me a lot, so every time I see your expressionless face towards me, I can’t help but try to get your attention, please forgive me."
Yue Xi lowered her head, her attitude much more relaxed, "Yue Xi dares not."
Josh gently smiled, knowing that no one strikes a smiling face.
She affectionately hooked her arm through Yue Xi’s, "Aunt Yue Xi, I still rely on your care. You don’t know, before I came, I had a high fever, my mind was muddled, I’ve forgotten many things about the Moon Clan and know none of the rules, always accidentally offending you all."
A flash of understanding passed through Yue Xi’s eyes, "Don’t worry, Sacrificial Girl, you’ll learn the rules every morning, you’ll gradually understand."
Josh nodded with a smile, "I don’t know why, but seeing Aunt Yue Xi, I feel especially close, like looking at my mother."
[Ding, Yue Xi’s favorability increased by 10.]
Yue Xi’s expression stiffened slightly, "Let’s stop here, Sacrificial Girl, go inside, it’s unsafe to go out at night."
Josh nodded, watching Yue Xi leave before turning back to her room.
In the middle of the night, Josh vaguely heard the sound of flowing water, drop by drop, as if carrying an illusion, and the room gradually cooled.
Josh turned over, wanting to pull the quilt over her, but grasped something furry, like hair.
She suddenly opened her eyes and sat up.
By the moonlight filtering in from outside, the quilt was still a quilt.
She sensed the increasingly cold aura in the room, growing wary, pulled up the quilt, and continued to lie down to sleep.
The dripping sound echoed once more, a wild wind gradually gathering outside, sounding like a woman’s screaming wails.
Josh turned over to continue sleeping.
A chill suddenly crept up from the back of her neck, like an opened fridge pressing against her back.
Josh slowly opened her eyes, suddenly seeing a long-haired figure standing by the bed.
"Boom," a thunderclap exploded outside, lightning streaking across the room.
The white-robed female ghost with long black hair appeared with the lightning and then vanished instantly.
Josh sat up, reaching under her pillow for the talisman paper, only to grasp a cold, stiff hand.
She jerked her hand back, lifted the pillow, finding nothing beneath it, including the talisman paper.
"Ha..." a woman’s sharp, soft laugh echoed in the room.
Josh frowned slightly, watching as blood seeped through the bamboo cracks in the walls, flowing down the seams.
The talisman paper was nowhere to be found.
She frowned slightly, trying to summon her spiritual power to draw a void symbol, but inexplicably, there was nothing at her fingertips.
It was as if she had suddenly become an ordinary person, losing her connection to her inner core and spiritual power.
Josh’s heart sank, she tried again.
Still nothing.
Drawing in the void did nothing, the Illusion Realm remained unbroken.
She suddenly recalled the moment before stepping out of the ancestral hall, something cold entered her body.
Could it be the Sea God Statue?
Damn it!
Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm!
She silently summoned her weapon, her slim hands covered in white gloves.
The room suddenly filled with a woman’s eerie singing.
Silhouettes reflected outside the window, two shadows intertwining at the window, singing a love ballad with odd pronunciations.
Josh frowned slightly, focused to barely discern part of the meaning.
The ballad seemed to tell the story of a pure sacrificial girl and an infatuated young man.
The Sacrificial Girl came from a large family within the clan, living a rich life, met a handyman at the Sea God festival, the two fell in love at first sight and agreed to elope.
The eerie singing voice gradually faded away.
Josh thought it was a clue, quickly getting up to follow.
She opened the window, coming face to face with two blood-stained, stitched-together, rigid faces.
Startled, she instinctively took a step back, only then seeing they were human-shaped lanterns.
Lanterns, one male, one female, their faces appeared crudely assembled from patches of some sort of human-like skin, with roughly drawn features.
Because the workmanship was poor, blood seeped from the faces, making them appear ever more grotesque, bizarre, sinister, and frightening.
Just as Josh was about to leave, the lanterns’ eyes flashed red, lunging toward her.
She quickly shut the window and backed away, the lanterns crashing into the window.
The lanterns, confined by their stiff forms, could only repeatedly ram themselves against the window, attempting to break through.
Josh frowned slightly, such a commotion, yet no one in the other rooms responded.
Even the vigilant patrolling women seemed to have vanished suddenly.
She turned and walked toward the door.
A thunderclap sounded.
Lightning flashed, revealing a white-robed female ghost hanging her head at the door, her thick hair parting to reveal eyes staring intensely, but they were empty, no eyeballs at all!
Only blood continuously seeped out.
Josh warily tugged the Spider Silk in her hand.
No matter what, there was still Yuze’s Spider Silk; as long as she kept pulling it tightly, she could escape to Yuze’s side.
But now, the problem was how to get out.
The door and window were blocked.
Josh silently and cautiously retreated.
Suddenly, a hand emerged from the floor, tightly gripping her ankle.
Josh quickly lifted her other foot, stomping down hard.
The hand quickly withdrew.
When she looked up again, she found herself face to face with the white-robed female ghost, nose to nose.
A strong fishy stench mixed with a marine odor assaulted her senses.
The ghost grinned, growling at her like some beast.
Revealing a mouth full of black, pus-dripping teeth, with various parasitic shellfish and soft-bodied creatures inside.