Chapter 91: A Glimmer of Hope (Part One)

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Qin Ye slung his knife over his shoulder and coldly gazed at the corridor already cloaked in shadow.

Thump... thump... The sound was rhythmic, growing louder in the empty dormitory building. After a minute, with a sharp clap, a pale hand landed on the door.

“Zzz... zzzz...” An eerie, chilling noise, low and brief, like someone licking brains with a crimson tongue.

Suddenly, silence fell. Qin Ye gripped his long knife tighter.

In the next moment, amidst the dead stillness, a gigantic head emerged from the corner of the wall.

It was a paper effigy’s head, a full meter tall! Poorly drawn features were uneven and grotesque. The setting sun cast its blood-red light on the ghastly, distorted face, evoking a shiver down one’s spine.

Atop its head sat a tall white hat; two bloodshot paper eyes stared vacantly. Its neck, snake-like, extended toward the doorway, but beneath the hat hung dry, twisted human hair. Its nose twitched like a vicious dog's, as if sniffing something, before those scarlet eyes turned toward the washroom inside.

The last rays of sunlight cast mottled shadows. Their eyes met, and Qin Ye waved, “Hi.”

“Zzz!!!” The paper effigy let out a heart-wrenching scream, like a shark sensing blood. The painted mouth suddenly stretched wide to the ears. The massive head filled the washroom doorway, revealing rows of needle-like sharp teeth and a snake-like tongue.

Before the scream ended, a blade flashed through the air.

Whoosh... Like a crescent moon in the dark night, the dazzling knife light slashed, cutting a half-meter crack across the giant head, producing a dull thud. The spectral greenish fire suddenly flared.

One strike’s might turned the effigy’s scream into a wail. The huge head retracted sharply. Qin Ye withdrew and followed swiftly. As he stepped out of the washroom, he finally discerned the ghostly creature’s form.

It was enormous.

If standing upright, it would be at least five or six meters tall. Now, its massive body was curled up in the relatively narrow corridor, resembling a paper mountain—oppressive and eerie.

Pure white all over, dressed in paper-cut garments, with dry hair draped on its body. It stood on half-meter-high stilts. The terrifying thumping sound came from those stilts striking the floor.

Like a starving wolf crouched low, its posture twisted. The once comical painted features had turned savage. The moment Qin Ye appeared, the mountain-like figure charged at him!

“Blood feast... fresh blood feast!! Zzz!!!”

Thump, thump, thump! The corridor behind echoed under the stilted footsteps, plaster crumbling from the walls. The empty hallway was blocked entirely by the paper effigy, leaving Qin Ye nowhere to retreat.

“Juhun?” Qin Ye’s gaze grew colder. “Bao’an City really is a land of heroes... Other prefecture-level cities reportedly have only two or three Juhun at most, but here they appear in groups? And there’s no trace of yin energy... tsk, tsk, tsk...”

He slowly drew his blade. “Is this the power of ‘Kua Fu’?”

Boom!!

As he spoke, the handle of the ghost-head knife blazed with fierce spectral flames, several times more intense than before! The next second, a blade of light like a razor streaked across the entire corridor!

Matching the corridor’s height, the floor beneath shattered violently, cracking into countless fissures. Where the blade passed, all went silent.

Clang... The long knife sheathed. The paper effigy maintained its previous momentum. Less than half a meter from Qin Ye, its black fingernails nearly touched his face.

Yet it could no longer advance an inch.

“You... you...” It struggled to utter two words before thin flames spread from its mouth, instantly cleaving the effigy in two and consuming it in a blaze of ghost fire.

That single slash had severed this Juhun spirit in half!

Among spirits of the same rank, Yin Chai was invincible!

Qin Ye remained still.

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He quietly looked at the ashes on the ground and finally said, “There’s one more.”

“What?”

“At the time, I left behind three paper effigies. Two mutated. The last one couldn’t have survived either. But the key is...” He frowned deeply, “Where did they mutate?”

“And these mutations are identical to those in Feeding Zone Four—reaching Juhun in just days, without any detectable yin energy. Feeding Zone Four is built on Kua Fu itself. How did these mutate?”

Arthas paused, then floated forward, her voice trembling. “You mean... they also came into contact with Kua Fu?!”

Qin Ye lightly traced patterns on the ground with his knife. The implication was immense; he had only just realized it.

“Let’s work through this carefully,” he said, excitement creeping into his voice. If they could break through here, Kua Fu’s true nature, the underworld, everything would fall into place!

“First, because of Kua Fu’s presence, the entire Bao’an City lacks any detectable yin energy. However, only spirits that have contacted it ascend to the Juhun level swiftly. That’s Kua Fu’s hallmark.”

Arthas’s tone grew grave. “Is it possible these three paper effigies visited Feeding Zone Four during the day? Were they influenced by Kua Fu’s yin energy?”

“Impossible!” Qin Ye said firmly. “Don’t forget, they’re earthbound spirits!”

The term “earthbound spirits” struck Arthas like thunder, making her tremble with excitement.

Both had a premonition: this time, they were only one door away from uncovering Kua Fu’s true form.

Unwittingly, they had found the key to that door!

Their thoughts crystallized. Arthas restrained her surging emotions and spoke cautiously: “Earthbound spirits are trapped within a given territory. They can’t travel beyond it. Therefore, there’s no chance they reached Feeding Zone Four. In other words... they encountered Kua Fu right here at Hui University!”

Qin Ye’s chest heaved. A gem he thought lost was found elsewhere.

“So... is there a place here where they could have contacted Kua Fu?”

They fell silent briefly. Moments later, their eyes brightened. The Soul-Sealing Orb floated swiftly ahead, and Qin Ye practically dashed downward.

First floor, the reception room!

Below, Cao Youdao’s old lair!

This was the only possible location!

They hurried to the reception room. The old man had long left. They burst into an elevator-like chamber. Qin Ye’s aura fluctuated, as if sensing the presence of Yin Chai. The elevator roared downward!

Neither spoke. The magnitude of this possibility was too great. Who among the underworld’s fallen could survive its collapse and reach the mortal realm? Watching the mirrored panels display “-1,” “-2,” up to “-6,” they exited the elevator together.

Before them stretched the same narrow, ancient path, engraved with patterns, the eternal lamp still burning.

Qin Ye suddenly stopped and gently touched the wall’s carvings. Before Arthas could speak, he struck the wall hard: “It’s here... it must be here!”

“Do you remember the big door at SRC?”

Arthas instantly recalled.

Yes... there had been clues. The door at SRC bore nearly identical patterns!

Cao Youdao’s lair was a vast, undiscovered ancient tomb.

This tomb extended across the entirety of Bao’an City!

And Kua Fu had burst from the underworld into this tomb!

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They entered the Ullambana Club. Inside was still a mess, dust thick in the air. Some lights flickered faintly.

In this twilight realm, a pale figure crouched, mouth extending something into the ground, emitting delighted “zzz” sounds.

Hearing movement behind, it turned sharply, only to face a long knife ablaze with ghost fire.

“Get lost!!”

“Zzz!!” The last paper effigy vanished like smoke.

Qin Ye and Arthas stood where it had been, stunned, both struck with sudden clarity.

“So that’s it...” Qin Ye sighed, “I should have realized sooner...”

It was that great pit...

The deep pit in the Underworld Records!

Now... thick, tangible black yin energy churned relentlessly beneath the pit but could not break the surface.

No golden scales, no blockages!

“We were wrong... wrong from the start,” Arthas trembled with excitement. “At first, I thought these were fragments rising from the Underworld Records. But... how could something like the Underworld Records, a treasure beneath the Earthly Judge’s seal, become fragments? How could it remain so intact?”

“Something brought it here. And that something...” Qin Ye inhaled deeply, “is Kua Fu!”

“And this hole.” Together they stared at the abyssal, yin-infused opening, “leads straight to Kua Fu’s hiding place!”

The three paper effigies had absorbed Kua Fu’s yin energy there, transforming.

“Can you guarantee my safety?” Qin Ye stepped forward, even though the chill winds swirling from the hole whipped his clothes.

“No.” Arthas bit her lip, “But... I will do everything I can!”

Damn it... Qin Ye grabbed his hair fiercely. He couldn’t bear not to see for himself.

Just one look... only one! The risk far outweighed the reward, but the payoff could be worth billions!

“I’ve been a coward all these years... never thought I’d have to risk it all...” Qin Ye gritted his teeth, steeling himself, then leapt downward.

The Soul-Sealing Orb became a streak of light, plunging fast.

Darkness engulfed the pit, filled with endless wails and cries. Above, the sky was thick with swirling black clouds.

But through cracks in this dense veil of shadow, Qin Ye saw.

The space grew wider... the deeper he fell, the larger the cavern.

After ten seconds, no walls were in sight.

At least a thousand meters down...

Beneath, a thunderous snore rumbled faintly through the endless clouds.

With each breath, the shadow clouds quivered and contracted.

He dared not imagine the being whose breath seemed to inhale and exhale the very heavens!