Chapter 115: Moving Statues

    Xinxin’s throat tightened and he desperately tried to salvage his grim situation. "I–Is there anything else?" If he did not perish at the hands of the Nightmare, he would definitely suffocate to death first!

    However, Jin Jiuchi pushed him further to the brink of despair by shaking his head. "N–ope! This is the only thing I have on me. If you don’t want it, then..." he began to put away the bandages, but Xinxin hurriedly stopped him.

    "I want!" He jumped up like a spooked mouse and begged Jin Jiuchi, "Da Shen, please lend me the bandages!"

    "Hehe, here you are." Jin Jiuchi handed the bandages to him. His grin widened as he reveled in Xinxin’s bleak face that looked as if he had nothing left to live for. He even offered his help, "Do you want me to tie them for you?"

    Xinxin’s imaginary tears flowed even harder. "Y–Yes..."

    Shen Nianzu was rendered speechless as he looked at Jin Jiuchi’s delightful expression. He was really enjoying this, wasn’t he?

    Soon after, Xinxin’s lower face was tightly wrapped in bandages, leaving only his eyes and nose exposed. His thin frame trembled as he cautiously took a breath, only to gag in disgust as the putrid stench assaulted his senses. Alas, he could not even vomit as his mouth was already sealed shut, and thus he could only make desperate ’mm-mmh!’ sounds from his throat.

    Shen Nianzu stroked his chin and commented, "It looks like this method will work just fine. How about you?" He raised his head just in time to catch Jin Jiuchi looking away from the coffin. "Can you really hold on for the rest of the night?" He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing. Compared to the silver-eyed Jin Jiuchi, this man was harder to read and gave him an extremely dangerous feeling, it was as if he was walking around with a bomb strapped to his waist.

    Jin Jiuchi flashed him a sharp grin and replied vaguely, "I don’t know, but I will try my best. Didn’t you say that you’re going to look around for clues, Nian’er? Shall I help you? What kind of clues are you looking for?"

    Shen Nianzu stared at him for one long moment before he said, "I don’t know either. But I plan to examine these murals to see if I can gather some info there." With those words, he stepped towards the nearest murals and lifted his head to study the intricate details. Thanks to the luminescent glow it emitted, he did not even need a flashlight to see. Without turning around, he suddenly remarked, "If the coffin bothers you so much, you should stay away from it."

    Jin Jiuchi, who had already taken a step toward the coffin, quickly retracted his leg and assumed an innocent look. Geez, Nian’er must really have eyes behind his head!

    "Aren’t we going to check the coffin, Nian’er?" He grumbled as he went to stand beside the jade doll to inspect the murals with a bored look.

    Shen Nianzu looked at him as if he was a disobedient toddler who did not know what’s good for him, "Remember the death condition? Do you think I will be stupid enough to open the coffin when it’s clearly the most disrespectful act of all?"

    Apparently, Jin Jiuchi had not thought that far either. He scratched his head in confusion. "If we’re not allowed to touch the coffin, how can we get rid of the things inside?"

    "’The things inside’?" Shen Nianzu echoed his words and quirked an intrigued brow. His pale purple eyes were so sharp that they could cut through metals. "Why does it sound to me like you already know what we will find inside the coffin, Da Shen?"

    "Me?" Jin Jiuchi pointed at his own nose, baffled. "How am I supposed to know something like that? Aren’t we here to destroy the source of the mental pollution? So it’s natural that we have to open the coffin, no?"

    "Hmm..." Shen Nianzu narrowed his eyes in scrutiny. He could not ascertain whether Jin Jiuchi was lying or not, but the man’s behavior was becoming more suspicious in his eyes.

    At a time like this, Shen Nianzu found himself missing the silver-eyed Jin Jiuchi quite a bit, as the man would always wear his heart on his sleeves and never hesitate to speak his mind. Trusting others was not an easy task for Shen Nianzu, but the silver-eyed Jin Jiuchi’s genuine and honest demeanor had a strange way to put him at ease. In contrast, the current situation demanded his utmost vigilance and caution.

    Should he activate ’Song of a Depraved Siren’ to force the truth out of Jin Jiuchi’s mouth again? As soon as that idea crossed his mind, Shen Nianzu immediately dismissed it. No, he could not. Now was not the time for it. If he were to suffer from the side effects afterwards, he would not be able to defend himself should anything happen in the temple.

    "Well, we will take care of the coffin later," was what he said in the end, turning his gaze to the front again. "Let us inspect the murals first."

    While keeping half of his attention on Jin Jiuchi, Shen Nianzu began to examine the murals seriously. The one before him depicted an ancient ritual where worshippers offered sacrifices to Anubis. However, he could not help but notice a subtle but chilling detail — the worshippers’ faces were filled with terror and despair, and it was distorted further by the eerie blue glow that emanated from the wall.

    In the next scene, one of the worshippers fearlessly rushed forward with a spear and beheaded the deity. The worshipper took on the jackal head of Anubis for himself, and since then, he assumed the god’s form and power.

    Below the murals were a string of ancient texts, and thanks to Shen Nianzu’s comprehensive studying, he could discern one or two words just fine. He leaned forward slightly, his eyes slowly tracing over the glowing hieroglyphics.

    "The end of... rebellion... against evil..."

    "AHH!!" An ear-splitting shriek pierced through the air, causing Shen Nianzu to jolt in surprise. He whipped his head around to see Fatty scrambling away from the statue which he had been leaning against, terror-stricken. "IT MOVED! THE STATUE IS MOVING!!!"

    "Mmmph!!" Startled, Xinxin’s eyes flew wide in horror as he, too, realized that not only the statue near Fatty had come to life, but every single statue in the temple had awakened as well.

    "It’s starting," Shen Nianzu summoned his blade and held it tightly in his hands, his purple eyes gleaming in a cold light. However, before he could make a move, Jin Jiuchi stopped him and gestured for him to watch.

    Perplexed, Shen Nianzu turned his gaze to the front and saw that Fatty, driven by a surge of adrenaline and the desperate will to survive, sprung up to his feet and made a mad dash towards the exit. But in his haste, he knocked over several moving statues, causing them to crack and fracture in multiple places. In an instant, Fatty’s face contorted in agony as he collapsed to the ground, convulsing and writhing in pain. "IT HURTS... AHH, IT HURTS!! HELP!!!"

    Witnessing this scene, Shen Nianzu’s eyes widened in realization. Damn it, destroying the statues in the temple also counted as disrespect and would trigger the death condition! How were they supposed to defend themselves this way?!

    Xinxin agilely sidestepped to evade a statue lunging for him, and he let out a high-pitched ’mmm-mmh!’ to ask Shen Nianzu what they should do next. Having seen Fatty’s plight, he also realized that they must not harm the statues no matter what.

    Did it mean they had to dodge the onslaught of attack for the rest of the night?! No, impossible! Sooner or later, they would be captured for sure!

    — What would happen if they were caught?

    As if to answer the question in his mind, a chorus of anguished sobs and cries echoed in the air. Shen Nianzu, Jin Jiuchi and Xinxin immediately recognized the voices of Luo Qing and Zhang Lei, who had been missing until now!

    And to their disbelief, the source of the voices had come... from the coffin!