Chapter 58 : People Scare People

“I remember.”

Wen Ling shook her head.

“It was Senior Zihan who suggested coming here in the first place.”

Such an obvious clue couldn’t be overlooked by Ning Rong.

Zhang Feng had asked before, and Wen Ling had always answered truthfully, but it clearly had no effect.

Because the person was already dead.

“This is troublesome…”

Jiang Yin glanced at the darkened sky and the tourists who had mostly left.

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket rang.

“Hello? Brother Zhang, what…”

“Run! Leave that temple!”

As the words fell, the young couple with the child beside them suddenly threw the child aside.

Each pulled out a loaded repeating crossbow and aimed at the two of them.

“Damn it.”

The white-haired girl reacted instantly.

Her right hand flashed from beneath her skirt, producing a silver dagger to deflect the incoming arrow.

At the same time, her left foot kicked Wen Ling’s backside, sending her tumbling forward and narrowly dodging the flying arrow.

But at that moment, a heavy Grudge Spirit surged from the infant’s body, and it flew toward Jiang Yin at high speed.

“I knew this wristband was unreliable!”

Feeling the delayed pain in her wrist, Jiang Yin switched her grip on the dagger, thrusting it forward.

Most of the Magic within her surged out, expelling the Grudge Spirit from the infant’s body.

The baby’s once soft skin shriveled instantly, turning into a dry corpse on the ground.

Dead.

This Artificial Monster’s energy level wasn’t high—at most D-Class.

Jiang Yin’s Magic was enough to slay it.

The truly dangerous ones were…

The young man and woman retreated in perfect sync, firing their crossbows wildly.

In just three seconds, they loosed five or six bolts.

After transforming, Jiang Yin’s physical abilities and reflexes had strengthened under Magic, but she was far from superhuman.

Faced with this attack, she had to deploy a Magical Shield for defense.

In those brief seconds, the pair had already slipped into a blind spot of the side hall, vanishing from sight.

They were clearly familiar with the terrain.

With Wen Ling, an ordinary person, at her side, Jiang Yin couldn’t pursue and had to lead Wen Ling down the mountain.

***

“Brother Zhang, what exactly is going on?”

Back in the safety of the inn, Jiang Yin sat on the bed and called Zhang Feng again.

“We caught the guy pretending to be a ghost in the abandoned building that night.”

With a sigh, Jiang Yin learned the investigation details from Zhang Feng.

After Jiang Yin’s group left, Zhang Feng arranged a thorough search, eventually using facial recognition to identify the main culprit.

‘Jia Yuhang.’

But when they found him, he had already been consumed by Grudge Spirit and was mentally unstable.

After exhausting all means, they brought in Si Beili, who managed to extract information from him.

“The Temple of Self-Inquiry is a hidden base of the Yuan Ming Cult.”

This didn’t surprise Jiang Yin.

But what Zhang Feng said next did.

“Li Zihan was a missionary of the Yuan Ming Cult. When Wen Ling joined the club, they had already been manipulated, though they remained half-believing.”

“The trip to the Temple of Self-Inquiry was intended to have them fully join. The original plan was for several people to kill Wen Ling and two other male freshmen, making them into ‘Yuan Ming Relics’ as tokens of loyalty.”

“But at that time, the temple was becoming famous, which attracted Investigator attention. The Yuan Ming Cult decided to abandon the base, so they returned to school unharmed.”

“Jia Yuhang doesn’t know what happened afterward. He only knows he went to Southeast Asia after graduation, and when he returned, his mind was already unclear.”

“That’s all the information we have for now. By the way, the other members of the Freaks Club we wanted to investigate, aside from Wen Ling, all left the country by plane and are still missing. The two sophomore boys knew nothing of the matter.”

“Senior Zihan…”

Wen Ling’s hand trembled, her eyes filled with fear as she stared out the inn window.

Jiang Yin quickly turned to look in the same direction but only saw a shadow flicker by, disappearing before she could catch it.

“Don’t be scared!”

She hurriedly hugged the hyperventilating Wen Ling.

“It’s okay. I’m here. I’ll protect you.”

“You saw it yourself. I’m strong. It’s okay, Wen Ling.”

She comforted her for three whole minutes before Wen Ling, overwhelmed by fear, finally calmed down and took a sip of water.

“That was definitely Senior Zihan just now. She’s not dead!”

“But why is she here… to threaten you? Wait!”

Jiang Yin suddenly realized something, grabbing Wen Ling’s right hand and pouring Magic into it.

“I knew it!”

She felt something was wrong from the start.

First, ‘Jia Yuhang’ tried to scare them in the abandoned building.

Then, Wen Ling was cursed at night.

Now, the supposedly dead ‘Li Zihan’ appeared, causing Wen Ling to hyperventilate.

Such elaborate theatrics—unless necessary, no rational person would risk doing something so dangerous and pointless.

Eliminating all other possibilities, the only explanation was that their Curse required the victim to be in extreme fear!

“This place isn’t safe anymore. Brother Zhang, send someone to pick us up!”

“Understood.”

On the other end, Zhang Feng’s voice was muffled, distorted, and strange.

The next second, someone knocked on the door.

At the same time, Zhang Feng’s voice continued through the phone.

“Open the door. They’re here.”

“Open the door, open the door, open! Open! Open! Open——!!!”

The sound from the phone grew louder, wilder, more distorted, laced with static and electronic noise.

Zhang Feng’s usually gentle, weary tone had become so warped it was barely recognizable.

“Jiang…what’s happening!?”

“Brother Zhang…”

“Don’t be afraid.”

Jiang Yin narrowed her eyes and pressed the alarm button on the back of her phone.

“Ring——!!”

A piercing alarm sliced through the night.

She stood, not opening the door.

Instead, she went to the window where ‘Li Zihan’ had appeared moments ago, reaching out.

As expected, she found a strand of hair.

Taking out a lighter, she burned it and sniffed carefully.

In an instant, she understood everything.

“As expected of an Evil Cult that specializes in Curses. Their tricks are top-notch.”

“If I’m not mistaken, your Senior Zihan has already run away.”

“….?”

Wen Ling’s mind went blank.