Chapter 277 - 276: Living Dead

Chapter 277: Chapter 276: Living Dead

Gu Qingyin ignored her and sat down to think.

The Dream Master was captured. Now she had to figure out how to get out of this dreamscape.

’Should I just kill the Dream Master?’ Gu Qingyin looked over at Niu Niu, her gaze dark with ill intent.

Niu Niu didn’t know what she was thinking, but that didn’t stop a chill from running down her spine as a sense of foreboding washed over her.

"No," Gu Qingyin muttered, dismissing her own idea. If the Dream Master died and the dreamscape collapsed, she’d be done for.

Gu Qingyin beckoned with a finger, and the Light Prison dragged Niu Niu to float before her. She grinned like the big bad wolf. "How about we make a deal? You let me out, and I’ll send you off to be reincarnated."

Niu Niu remained expressionless. "I don’t want to be reincarnated."

Gu Qingyin tsked. "Then what do you want? I can consider granting your wish."

Niu Niu fell silent. After a long moment, a sneer crossed her face. "I want to see my parents. Can you do that?" She clearly had little hope as she spoke, but deep in her eyes lay an anticipation she herself wasn’t aware of.

"I can," Gu Qingyin said, not thinking it was a difficult request. "Are your parents still alive?"

Niu Niu froze, then said hesitantly, "They should... still be alive, I think."

Now it was Gu Qingyin’s turn to be silent. "Fine. We’ll search for them among both the living and the dead."

Niu Niu gazed at her with a complicated expression. Over the years, plenty of people had wandered into the village and ended up staying. There had even been other Heavenly Masters, but Gu Qingyin was the first one to offer help.

"What are you spacing out for?" Gu Qingyin urged with a frown. "Let me out."

Niu Niu’s expression grew even more complicated. "Maybe you should take a look at yourself before making demands." She gestured with her eyes toward the Light Prison that still bound her.

Gu Qingyin cleared her throat and, with a snap of her fingers, dispelled the Light Prison.

As if returning the favor, Niu Niu copied her and snapped her fingers. Like an old photograph, the dreamscape faded and crumbled away in the blink of an eye, revealing the reality outside.

Gu Qingyin scoffed, "Little kid."

Niu Niu, who had thought herself quite cool just a moment ago, froze at the comment. Her face darkened as she shot Gu Qingyin a glare and said threateningly, "My grandparents aren’t as easy to deal with as I am."

"Hmm..." Gu Qingyin started to reply, but then she looked up and couldn’t help but laugh. "You’re right, they aren’t easy to deal with. And it looks like the solution was a bit violent."

Niu Niu turned to look as well, and was rendered completely speechless.

In the living room, her grandparents lay hog-tied on the floor, their faces bruised and swollen. It was clear they’d taken quite a beating.

Huo Yunjing and Huo Xingchen were sitting on the sofa, while Master Huo stood to the side. All three of them—two adults and one child—breathed a sigh of relief when Gu Qingyin appeared unharmed.

Village Chief Liu and Aunt Liu, on the other hand, looked toward Niu Niu, who was standing freely beside Gu Qingyin. Their eyes lit up as if their savior had arrived.

Niu Niu shifted uncomfortably under their gaze, cleared her throat, and said, "...We’ve made a deal. She said she’ll help me bring my parents back."

The two of them froze, then simultaneously turned their gazes to Gu Qingyin.

Gu Qingyin walked over and squeezed onto the sofa next to Huo Yunjing. "Give me the details. It’ll make it easier to find them."

"Can you untie them first?" Niu Niu asked.

Master Huo glanced at Gu Qingyin, then with a flick of his fingers, released the two "people."

Gu Qingyin spotted the red marks on their wrists and asked with confusion, "What exactly are you?"

Village Chief Liu and Aunt Liu exchanged a glance, then answered hesitantly, "A type of living dead, you could say. We’re dead during the day, but we come alive at night, just like normal people."

Gu Qingyin nodded. "So, are you about to die now?" she asked, pointing to the gradually lightening sky outside.

The expressions of the three living dead changed. They quickly got up and headed for the stairs. "We need to go to sleep. We’ll talk more tonight."

Without waiting for a reply, they scrambled upstairs as if something was chasing them.

"They must be afraid of sunlight," Huo Yunjing surmised. "Low-level evil objects generally have an instinctive fear of the sun."

Huo Xingchen’s eyes lit up with realization. "No wonder this place is like a dead village during the day."

"Let’s go," Gu Qingyin said, getting up. "We can investigate more places while we have daylight."

"No rush." Huo Yunjing pulled her back down into her seat. "Let’s eat first."

"Huh? Where are we going to get food?"

"I’ll make it." Huo Yunjing headed for the kitchen.

Huo Xingchen trotted happily after him.

"You’re going to cook too?" Gu Qingyin asked in surprise.

Huo Xingchen puffed out his chest. "All the ingredients are with me! I’m a walking warehouse!"

Gu Qingyin chuckled and gave him a thumbs-up.

After the father and son duo went into the kitchen, Gu Qingyin finally noticed that the house wasn’t as filthy and dilapidated as it had appeared in the dream. While it wasn’t as pristine as it had seemed the previous night, it was still tidy.

She looked at Master Huo and asked curiously, "Did you really eat all that food last night? And drink the wine?"

Master Huo nodded. "There was nothing unusual about the food."

Gu Qingyin found it fascinating. It wasn’t uncommon for the living dead to need sustenance, but this was the first time she’d encountered any that ate normal food.

"They replenish their power in dreams, devouring and absorbing Soul Power and trapping it there completely. A single person’s soul power is enough to sustain them for many years."

Master Huo paused before continuing, "We knew something was wrong the moment we fell asleep last night, but it took us some time to investigate the dream world."

"Village Chief Liu’s dreamscape is vast, encompassing the entire village. After we brought him under control, we went to check on the other families. Their lives at night are no different from the lives of ordinary people during the day."

"They feed livestock, till the fields, grow vegetables, do laundry, cook... even the children have to study and do their homework."

The more Gu Qingyin heard, the more incredible it sounded. "It’s like they’ve evolved into an entirely different species."

A nocturnal species that’s remarkably similar to humans.

Master Huo nodded as well. "Indeed. That’s what makes this so tricky for the Heavenly Master Association."

"When the Association first discovered this place, the original plan was to eradicate them. But when they realized they might be evolving into a new species, the decision was made to isolate and observe them instead."

"But the time required for a species to evolve is immense. After a long period with no observable progress, the village was forgotten by the Association."

"The village was sealed off. In all these years, no outsiders have ever entered. You are the first."

"From what we can see, consuming human souls seems to be almost instinctual for them; it’s not something that will change with time. And yet, despite going so long without consuming any souls, they haven’t died."

"It’s quite peculiar."

Gu Qingyin had never seen this report. In fact, the briefing they received before coming was extremely simple.

Gu Qingyin frowned. "Then why send us here? For close observation, or for complete eradication?"

Master Huo was silent for two seconds before saying, "That’s up to you. It depends on your judgment."

Gu Qingyin understood instantly and let out a laugh, half in anger, half in amusement.

’It’s obvious. The Association wants to use us to deal with this ghost village. No matter how we handle it, the Association can remain perfectly uninvolved.’

’If we decide to eliminate the living dead, and people call us cruel in the future, the Association will have us to take the fall.’

’If we decide to continue observing and problems arise later, we’ll still be the ones taking the fall.’

’The Heavenly Master Association really has it all figured out!’