581: Chapter 581 Jing Ji!

Ye Chen retracted his perception, a slight smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "Interesting. To think that kind of thing actually exists."

Upon hearing this, Yan Qingwu's eyebrows shot up, and she couldn't help but lean in closer.

"Did you discover something?"

Generally speaking.

If this guy hadn't found something, there was no way he would say such a thing.

Therefore.

Nine times out of ten, there was something there...

Ye Chen glanced at her sideways and said mysteriously, "It's a secret. You'll know once we're inside."

Yan Qingwu: "..."

Li Mu: "..."

Wait...

The atmosphere is already at this point, and he's still keeping them in suspense?

It was truly maddening!

But there was nothing they could do about Ye Chen...

Immediately.

Yan Qingwu took a deep breath, trying her best to suppress the urge to pin Ye Chen to the ground and give him a beating. Gritting her teeth, she squeezed out a sentence: "You'd better not be playing with us."

Ye Chen shrugged and turned to walk toward the old house.

"Stay close and don't fall behind."

"Otherwise, don't blame me for not warning you if you get possessed."

Li Mu's whole body jolted. "Mr. Ye, do you think I still have a chance not to go in?"

"No chance."

Ye Chen didn't look back. "Because the moment we got close to this place, that thing already noticed us."

Li Mu's expression changed, and he hurriedly caught up.

"I don't want the chance anymore!"

Yan Qingwu was speechless and could only follow along.

The path leading to the old house was overgrown with weeds, and the stone-paved road beneath their feet was pitted and uneven.

The further they walked, the colder the air became.

It wasn't a normal cold, but a gloomy chill, as if countless invisible hands were stroking their skin, making their hair stand on end.

Li Mu shivered and instinctively rubbed his arms. "This place... why is the Yin energy so heavy?"

Yan Qingwu wasn't doing much better. Her right hand was already resting on the hilt of the ink dragon sword at her waist, and the True Qi within her body was quietly circulating, ready to respond to any sudden situation at any time.

Only Ye Chen walked at the very front, hands in his pockets, his pace leisurely.

After walking for about five minutes, the three of them arrived in front of the old house.

The two wooden doors were tightly shut.

A plaque hung above the door frame with four large characters written on it—

"Youjian Antiques."

Ye Chen looked up at it and couldn't help but laugh. "This name is chosen quite casually."

Yan Qingwu didn't laugh. Her gaze fell on the crack between the doors, her brow furrowed tightly.

From the crack, a faint scent of blood was vaguely emanating.

It was very faint; ordinary people wouldn't be able to smell it at all.

But she was a Cultivator, and her five senses far exceeded those of a normal person. Although the bloody scent was weak, it couldn't escape her nose.

"There's blood inside," Yan Qingwu whispered.

Ye Chen nodded and pushed the door open directly.

The next second.

A wave of decay rushed toward them.

It smelled like rotting corpses, and also like the stench emitted by something fermenting in the shadows.

Li Mu's stomach churned, and he almost vomited.

Ye Chen, however, remained expressionless as he stepped over the threshold and walked in.

Yan Qingwu followed closely behind.

Li Mu couldn't hold it together anymore and looked at Yan Qingwu. "Miss, don't you find it disgusting?"

"I've sealed my nose and mouth with True Qi," Yan Qingwu glanced at him.

Li Mu: "???"

Oh man!

So it turns out he's suffering because his innate talent is poor; since his strength won't go up, he just has to endure the stench, right?

The inside of the house was pitch black, so dark one couldn't see their own hand in front of them.

Ye Chen snapped his fingers, and a ball of pale golden light lit up at his fingertips, illuminating the surroundings.

The interior of the antique shop was much larger than it appeared from the outside. Rows of mahogany display shelves stood against the walls, filled with all kinds of antiques.

Porcelain, jade, bronze, calligraphy and paintings... everything was there.

Ye Chen's gaze swept over the display shelves and finally landed on the floor.

Because there were dragging marks on the floor, leaving behind streaks of dark red stains.

The stains extended from deep within the shop all the way toward the backyard.

"Let's go."

Ye Chen said a single word and followed the stains toward the backyard.

Yan Qingwu and the other man quickly followed.

Passing through a moon gate, the three of them reached the backyard.

The yard wasn't large. In the center was an ancient well, surrounded by several dead trees. Their bare branches swayed gently in the night wind, looking like withered hands beckoning.

The bloody scent and the smell of decay became even more intense here.

Yan Qingwu's gaze fell on the ancient well, her brow knitting into a knot. "The smell is coming from the well."

Li Mu grew even more panicked, his voice trembling.

"Holy crap!"

“Ye... Mr. Ye, there couldn't really be something unclean here, right?"

Ye Chen glanced at him and said calmly, "Believe in science."

Li Mu froze for a moment, a glimmer of hope igniting in his eyes.

"Re... really?"

"It's not what I think?"

Ye Chen nodded and said with a straight face, "That's right. After all, the end of science is metaphysics."

Li Mu: "..."

He felt like he was being played, but he had no proof.

Beside them, Yan Qingwu's shoulders were shaking from suppressed laughter.

Ye Chen stopped paying attention to Li Mu's look of utter despair. He turned around, his gaze falling on the ancient well.

The mouth of the well was a dark hole, like the eye of the earth, staring at them coldly.

That cold, decaying aura surged out from the bottom of the well continuously, growing thicker and thicker.

Ye Chen stood with his hands behind his back and spoke calmly, "Get out yourself, or do I have to drag you out?"

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Only the wailing sound of the night wind blowing through the dead branches echoed in the yard.

There was no movement from the well.

But that cold aura continued to surge, yet nothing appeared.

Yan Qingwu frowned and asked in a low voice.

"Could it be... it doesn't understand the Dragon Country language?"

Ye Chen thought about it and felt it made sense.

And so.

He cleared his throat and shouted in a clear, measured voice.

"You-di, get out-di for work-di!"

"Otherwise, shila-shila-di!"

Yan Qingwu: "..."

Li Mu: "..."

Standing behind Ye Chen, their expressions were quite a sight.

Yan Qingwu's mouth twitched several times before she managed to squeeze out a sentence: "You... you call this the Wa language?"

Ye Chen tilted his head and looked at her with an innocent face.

"Isn't it standard?"

"I saw them speak like this in TV dramas."

"Last time when we were robbing the museum in the USA, we did it this way too."

Yan Qingwu took a deep breath, trying hard to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"You should watch fewer TV dramas from now on."

Li Mu muttered quietly from the side, "It's more than just non-standard, this is practically an insult to intelligence..."

However.

As soon as he finished speaking, an eerie scene occurred...

"Gurgle, gurgle—"

A strange sound of water suddenly came from the bottom of the well.

It sounded like something was rolling in the well water, and like countless bubbles were surging up from the depths, colliding and bursting against the narrow well walls.

The three of them turned their gazes back to the well mouth in unison.

Li Mu's cold sweat broke out instantly. "Ye... Mr. Ye, there really seems to be something..."

Ye Chen didn't move, just stared at the well mouth.

"Finally willing to come out?"

At the well mouth, a thick black mist surged out from the depths.

The black mist was as thick as ink and carried a bone-chilling cold. Wherever it passed, the moss on the well walls withered instantly, and even the stones seemed to be corroded.

Gradually, a face emerged from the black mist.

It was the face of a woman.

Pale as paper, without a hint of blood, yet her features were incredibly exquisite, as if a craftsman had outlined them stroke by stroke with the finest brush.

But those eyes had no pupils, only two clusters of eerie green ghost fire.

The face peeked out from the well mouth, floating within the black mist, looking down at the three of them from above.

"Finally willing to come out?" Ye Chen looked up at the face.

The face's brow furrowed slightly.

"Who are you?"

"How dare you disturb this Princess's slumber?"

Ye Chen tilted his head, a slight smirk appearing.

"I am the one who will capture you."

"Be sensible and let the people go."

"If you aren't sensible..."

"I'll make it so you never come out again."

The face froze for a moment, then laughed eerily.

"Hehehe..."

"Do you think I, Well-Princess, was raised on threats?"

"A mere mortal dares to speak such arrogant words before this Princess?"

"Do you know how many years this Princess has lived in this well?"

She paused, and the eerie green ghost fires flickered violently.

"A full three hundred years!"

"For three hundred years, countless arrogant fools like you have blustered before this Princess."

"And then..."

"They all became nourishment for this Princess."

Standing behind Ye Chen, Li Mu was completely stunned when he heard the name "Well-Princess."

"Holy shit..."

"Well-Princess... that yokai from the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons?"

Yan Qingwu's brow also furrowed.

The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, the yokai tales from Wa Country legends.

It recorded all kinds of yokai—some good, some evil, some strong, and some weak.

And Well-Princess was precisely one of them.

According to legend, Well-Princess resides in ancient wells and feeds on the essence of living people.

She uses various means to lure passersby near the well mouth, then drags them to the bottom, sucking their essence dry and turning them into withered bones.

Over three hundred years, the number of innocent people who died at her hands was countless.

But that was just a legend...

How could there be a real one?

After hearing Well-Princess's words, Ye Chen not only wasn't afraid but instead laughed.

"I gave you a chance."

"You're the one who didn't cherish it."

"Then I won't be polite."