More and more Remnant Souls noticed the presence of the four women, circling the perimeter covered by the white light.
The pendant finally reached the limit of its consumption.
Tang Shifu, who held the pendant, grew pale.
Her previously steady pupils occasionally lost focus as her Mental Power plummeted rapidly.
By now, it was too late to regret and turn back to leave the courtyard.
The Station had left them no path of retreat.
When they stepped into the courtyard, the sky had suddenly darkened.
No one could tell if it was a precursor to nightfall; looking back, the setting sun had already vanished, leaving only the faint afterglow on the horizon.
It was about to get dark.
If they left now, they might live a little longer, but they would fail the task to “survive in the Ancestral Temple until the next day,” and they would be unable to return to The Train.
“Quick, reduce the number of Remnant Souls! I can’t hold on much longer!”
Tang Shifu opened her personal panel.
Seeing that over half of her Mental Power was spent, she immediately called for help.
Ye Yuan had never used a Little Spirit Flame Talisman before.
In her urgency, she chose the most reliable method.
Seizing the moment when several Remnant Souls gathered, she aimed and pulled the trigger.
*Whoosh!*
The crossbow bolt whistled through the air.
The moment it touched a Remnant Soul’s Spirit Body, the enchanted runes flared with a brilliant orange-red light, illuminating nearly half the courtyard.
The flames erupted with a soft *bang*.
Within a radius of approximately 2 meters, all the Remnant Souls were tainted by the orange-red fire.
If even the slightest spark clung to a Spirit Body, it instantly turned into a person of fire, and piercing shrieks echoed one after another.
Strangely, although the bolt “exploded” very close to the four of them and some sparks landed on their skin, they extinguished immediately.
The four women were completely unharmed.
This effect instantly gave them a profound sense of security, Mu Bai included.
‘This is… the Little Spirit Flame Talisman? Where is the “little” in that!’
One could only say that as expected of something from a Level 3 Difficulty Station treasure box, one could not judge its power simply by the item description!
With this single shot, not only were the majority of the surrounding Remnant Souls destroyed—at least a dozen by a conservative estimate—but the remaining souls instinctively stayed away from the explosion site.
The pressure on the pendant lightened until it was nearly nonexistent!
Seizing this opportunity, the four women quickened their pace.
They crossed the piles of skeletal remains at top speed and rushed into the Ancestral Temple.
Entering the building and closing the main doors, they finally let out a long sigh of relief.
The interior of the Ancestral Temple was the dwelling of the Fierce Ghost.
The Remnant Souls outside did not dare to enter and found it difficult even to approach.
“Don’t relax. Be careful of the Fierce Ghost here,” Mu Bai warned when she felt the three women beside her lower their guard.
“It’s fine, don’t be too nervous…”
Mo Cha comforted her.
“The Sacrifice takes place at midnight. That means the Fierce Ghost won’t appear for a while.”
Hearing this, the other three finally relaxed.
Outside, the world had turned completely dark.
There were no candles inside the Ancestral Temple; it was pitch black.
Mu Bai was still feeling annoyed at herself for not bringing a fire-starting tool when the *scritch-scratch* of friction sounded nearby, and a flame flickered to life.
It was Tang Shifu, who had pulled a rolling-wheel lighter from her backpack.
“Should we start a fire?”
Tang Shifu asked.
“Can we?”
Mu Bai asked, her voice surprised.
Could the other woman have even brought fuel?
“I can tear down the window frames to use as firewood.”
“Oh. I see.”
***
With a light source, the layout of the Ancestral Temple was revealed.
Four red pillars were distributed symmetrically in the center of the building.
At the very back stood a clay statue whose features were indistinguishable; this was likely where the Fierce Ghost resided.
No one was suicidal enough to approach the clay statue.
After a brief check of the temple’s interior to confirm there was no immediate danger, the four women leaned against a pillar and started a fire as far from the statue as possible.
Mu Bai, Ye Yuan, Tang Shifu, and Mo Cha.
The four of them sat around the campfire and pulled their respective food and water from their backpacks to replenish their energy and recover their state.
Tang Shifu and Mo Cha had bread and dried meat.
Mu Bai and Ye Yuan, however, brought out the luxury versions of self-heating rice, braised eggs, and starch sausages they had obtained from the supermarket.
Half a minute later, the aroma of hot rice and dishes filled the Ancestral Temple.
Tang Shifu and Mo Cha:
“…”
Suddenly, the dried meat didn’t seem so appetizing anymore.
In terms of combat power, probably few players were their match, and they didn’t lack supplies, but their food reserves were truly not as rich as Mu Bai and Ye Yuan’s.
The desire for the food was one thing, but Mo Cha was becoming increasingly curious.
Since entering the Station, she had been silently observing Mu Bai and Ye Yuan.
This team had obtained Infinite Water faster than them and even had enough surplus to trade upgrade materials for a Mechanical Butterfly Watch and a Special Dagger.
She had thought they both possessed Talents highly suited for survival, but she hadn’t expected that Mu Bai’s Talent wouldn’t show, while her physical fitness was so poor she seemed to be a burden to Ye Yuan.
And yet…
Whether it was the financial power or the decision-making authority of the team, both were held by the seemingly soft and delicate Mu Bai.
Ye Yuan, the expert, was a woman of few words who valued Mu Bai’s opinion immensely.
She followed Mu Bai’s instructions almost implicitly, like a knight guarding a princess.
‘What exactly is their relationship?’
‘Could it be because they knew each other before the Survival Game?’
‘Or perhaps Mu Bai’s Talent plays a decisive role in the team’s survival?’
Mo Cha was very curious.
“Um…”
The one who spoke was not Mo Cha, but Tang Shifu.
Ever since entering the Ancestral Temple, she had looked like she wanted to say something, hesitating for a long time.
It seemed she had finally made up her mind.
“…Where did you get that kind of enchanted Talisman paper? How many do you have left?”
She asked the question without much confidence.
How could anyone just tell you about a trump card that could instantly wipe out so many Remnant Souls?
The question was somewhat out of line.
Ye Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly when she heard this, but she only looked at Mu Bai out of the corner of her eye and said nothing.
“A Level 3 Difficulty Doomsday Station, a Bronze Treasure Box… Do you know about treasure boxes?”
Mu Bai thought for a moment before answering.
“I know.”
Tang Shifu nodded.
The pendant was something Mo Cha had obtained from a treasure box using her Talent.
“That’s good,” Mu Bai said, seeing she didn’t need to explain what a treasure box was. She continued, “Most of them have already been used on the weapons. Do you want to trade, or — “
She let the sentence trail off, making her point clear.
She certainly couldn’t reveal the specific amount; it depended on the other party’s intentions.
“Chacha, take out the scroll and let us see it,” Tang Shifu said, turning her head without answering directly.
“Is there something for me to do?”
Mo Cha blinked.
She roughly understood what Tang Shifu was thinking.
Cooperating, she spread the scroll on the ground.
By the light of the fire, the four of them looked at it simultaneously.
There was no text on the scroll, nor were there drawings of little people performing movements…
It was actually an ink wash painting.
There were no characters in the painting, only a complex scene filled with strange trees, jagged rocks, waterfalls, streams, birds, beasts, insects, and fish…
All sorts of natural scenes were painted and piled together in the entire scroll, looking like a tangled mess.
‘This is a Fist Manual?’
Mu Bai looked at Mo Cha in confusion.
‘Is this reliable…’
But before Mo Cha could react, Ye Yuan felt a slight wave of dizziness and grabbed her head.
Tang Shifu fared even worse, nearly lunging headfirst into the fire before Mo Cha caught her.