Just moments later, Zhang Chen's head suddenly popped out from under the quilt. He yanked the quilt off his body, swiftly sat up, grabbed the long knife hidden under his pillow, and picked up the flint by his side. He felt the gunpowder hanging on his clothes, gradually shook off the drowsiness, and became fully alert.
Listening to the sound of the fierce wind carrying sand and stones outside, the first thought in Zhang Chen's mind was: "Such a big sandstorm! I'm lucky my thatched cottage is sturdy enough, otherwise it would have been blown to bits by that fierce wind."
The thatched cottage swayed continuously in the wind, trembling lightly and slightly out of shape.
"Someone knocking at the door in the dead of night? That's very unusual. Could it be Blacksmith Cui got found out? Maybe those people want to kill me to silence me?" Thoughts tumbled in Zhang Chen's mind, his eyes filled with horror. He then slowly stood up from the bed, knife in hand, approaching the door.
"Tap tap tap~"
The knocking grew increasingly urgent. Zhang Chen stood inside the house, a hint of coldness in his eyes: "Attacking first gives you an advantage, attacking later could spell disaster. I might as well open the door, let them in, and then use the terrain to slaughter them all. Then I'll think about escaping or reporting it to the authorities."
Listening to the howling wind outside, a sneer curled Zhang Chen's lips, cold in the darkness: "What a fine night for murder and arson!"
The next moment, Zhang Chen used the knife tip to lift the latch and opened the door with a gust of wind. He quickly crouched down, his eyes fixed intently on the door, ready to strike anyone who came in.
But just then, a sudden golden light burst around him. A flash of red light appeared at the door, followed by a faint scream in the wind and sand. Then the dark wind in the sky suddenly stopped, and the clouds parted. Bright moonlight shone down, illuminating the outside of the house as if streetlights were lit. Where was the sandstorm? Where were the knocking sounds?
"What's going on?" Crouched inside the house, Zhang Chen looked at the radiant moonlight, a hint of confusion in his eyes. He quickly regained his composure, his gaze turning cold: "What kind of filthy thing did I run into?"
Only when encountering something foul would the Light of the True God automatically retaliate, primarily aiming to suppress all strangeness.
"How did I attract such a thing?" Zhang Chen stood inside the house, holding the knife, not stepping out. After cautiously staring at the door for a good two quarters of an hour, he closed the door with the long knife, re-latched it, and lay back on the bed, lost in thought.
Next door
The Fox Spirit's eyes widened, filled with disbelief: "What the hell is that golden light? It actually made this ghostly thing flee in panic?"
"Although that golden light is weak, it is very pure, seemingly restraining all evil forces between Heaven and Earth. And, in just a few days, that kid's Protective Golden Light has grown even stronger?" The eyes of the Fox Spirit were filled with terror: "Even with my soul inside the body, it was vaguely suppressed by that golden light. What the hell is that golden light?"
But the Fox Spirit soon regained focus, elation glinting in her eyes: "It's good news for me that the kid's golden light is so powerful. It means he can go further into the tomb and hopefully retrieve the Supreme Treasure. By then, the Qingqiu Race can tear up the 'New Covenant,' cross the White Bone Great Wall again, and enter the Divine Land."
The Fox Spirit felt delighted, but soon she couldn't laugh anymore. Suddenly, she glanced at Zhang Chen's table, and the Fox Spirit jumped up in shock. There on the table appeared a red document, precisely the document she had thrown into Zhang Chen's room earlier.
"Damn it! How is this possible? How did this happen?"
"Impossible! Impossible!"
The Fox Spirit's eyes were fixed on that document, filled with horror: "Zhang Chen has been marked by that damned aberration?"
The Fox Spirit leaped onto the table, snatched up the red document before Zhang Chen could react, and burned it under the lamp. As the blood-red document turned into ashes in the lamp's flame, the Little Fox slowly breathed a sigh of relief: "Lucky! Lucky! Finally burned this eerie thing. I once heard the Fox Race's ancestors say that buried in the Princess's tomb is a mysterious tombstone, not originally the Princess's. The 'Emperor' dug up the grave of an old enemy, fancied the tombstone, and took it for the Princess. It is said the tombstone holds a great secret the 'Emperor' couldn't unravel. But why did it suddenly start acting up?"
The Fox Spirit was utterly puzzled.
Just then, Zhang Chen came to his senses. Human and fox glared at each other, but Zhang Chen did not blame the Fox Spirit, a bitter smile crossing his lips as he picked up some incense and went to an altar. Carefully lighting three sticks of incense, he prayed: "Immortal above, please watch over me!"
Having offered incense, he turned to the Little Fox: "My dear ancestor, where did you get that bizarre thing that almost got me killed?"
Human and fox, big eyes staring at small eyes, the Little Fox looked innocently back. She just wanted to seize some fortuitous opportunities—how could it be her fault?
"I must not stay too far from that brute next door in the future. Without his golden light's restraint, a big disaster might occur." The Little Fox silently vowed to keep watching over Zhang Chen.
But thinking about how quickly Zhang Chen's golden light was strengthening, she couldn't help but groan inwardly: "What bad luck! That golden light upgrades too fast—how long can I keep watching him?"
The night passed without incident. The next morning, Zhang Chen was awakened by a scream from next door, tossed off his quilt, and grumbled: "Holler! Knock knock knock! Never a quiet moment!"
Next door
The Little Fox looked horrified at the table. On it lay the blood-red scripture that had been burned last night, perfectly intact. An otherworldly scream tore from the Little Fox's throat.
Last night, Zhang Chen was half-asleep and didn't sleep soundly until the early morning. He was roused by the Fox Spirit's scream and looked where the Little Fox was staring. A scream erupted from Zhang Chen's throat.
He remembered the Little Fox herself burned that document last night, but how did it appear again, entirely intact?
"What's going on? Can a broken mirror be whole again? How can a burned object reappear?" Zhang Chen's eyes were filled with dread, all his expressions horrified. He was so scared that his limbs went numb, sitting on the bed in a daze.
Whether Little Fox or Zhang Chen, both knew they faced a huge problem!
Not just an ordinary small problem, but a colossal one!