Chapter 60 - 59: A Real Haunted House?
Chapter 60: Chapter 59: A Real Haunted House?
Late at night, Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou were in the empty hall, preparing a Sealing Technique for the sculpture.
The pitch-black darkness wouldn’t have affected them much, especially since the sky was currently full of stars.
The empty hall was about 50 square meters. The starlight and moonlight were particularly bright, projecting down from the sky through the holes in the hall’s ceiling, casting arcane symbols on the floor.
"Those old-timers really knew how to pull a fast one. To think they’d hide a trick even in a place like this..."
Qin Xiaoxia remarked, looking at the ground while kneading a clay-like substance in his hands.
Doudou couldn’t agree more.
As for the specks of starlight on the floor that shifted with the stars over time, if he couldn’t sense the complete absence of Magic Power or any special energy, even he would have been fooled.
"Heh, the real trick is up there."
Qin Xiaoxia said with a smile, pointing to the variously sized holes in the ceiling above.
"The insides of the holes are embedded with Crystal Stones—well, maybe just glass."
"This hall is so bright during the day thanks to this hidden design. But on a clear night, the refracted starlight is magnified, casting colorful shapes that change angles with time. It really is quite magical."
On the floor, between the patches of starlight, one could faintly see the lines of a pattern covering the entire area. It was the "blueprint" that Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou had drawn beforehand with chalk.
As Qin Xiaoxia kneaded the substance relentlessly, Magic Power flowed from his body, down his arms, and out from his fingertips into the Shaping Material in his hands.
"Doudou, we’re short-handed right now, so I’m counting on you to fill in the gaps in a bit."
Doudou’s eyes showed his apprehension.
"Big Bro, I... with my small amount of Magic Power... aren’t you overestimating me..."
"How many times do you think you can patch it?"
Qin Xiaoxia pulled a thin thread from the "clay ball" in his hand and began laying it along the chalk lines drawn on the floor.
"Modo~in~saluoming~"
As the low-toned Magic Language was spoken, the thin thread began to glow with a faint purple light.
The moment the thread touched the floor, it was as if it had grown eyes, finding and adhering perfectly to the chalk lines.
The "clay" in his hands was a mixture of book ash, water, a small amount of adhesive, and other miscellaneous materials like lard and flour. Through a constant process of infusing his own Magic Power and making adjustments, it had fermented into a usable Shaping Material.
Among the ingredients, only the book ash could be considered a proper key component. The rest were just things scrounged up on the fly.
Strictly speaking, this Shaping Material couldn’t even be called low-quality.
But there was no other choice. Although Earth was currently facing crises from multiple Otherworlds, things were still in the early stages.
The materials for true Shaping Material were hard to find, at least for now. Not unless Qin Xiaoxia could teleport around the world, hunting and killing monsters from the Otherworlds to see if he could harvest materials from them.
If the corpse of the Faceless Shadow Ghost from last time were still around, it would have been dozens or even hundreds of times better than water and adhesive. But even if it were, he probably wouldn’t have used something so disgusting.
Then again, he didn’t need anything too high-grade right now. It was just a stopgap measure, so the materials could be makeshift as well.
He could only afford to be this casual because the quality of his Magic Power was ridiculously high.
The previous hour or so had been spent drawing the chalk lines and infusing Magic Power into the pseudo-Shaping Material.
Actually laying out the Sealing Technique for the Secret Realm would take less than five minutes.
Once all the threads had adhered to the pattern, the entire design on the floor lit up with a swath of pale purple light, echoing the starlight projected from above.
The next second, all the magical radiance vanished, taking the original chalk lines on the floor with it.
Only the pre-existing starlight remained.
Qin Xiaoxia clapped his hands together, quite satisfied that a pair of amateurs like him and Doudou could succeed on the first try.
"Alright, the Secret Realm Engraving is complete. Now for the crucial part. Doudou, you haven’t answered my question yet. How many times can you patch it?"
He scratched his head and pulled off his hat, revealing a pair of large, almost jarringly big ears.
"Um... does half a time count..."
Doudou was genuinely unconfident.
Not only was his total amount of Wish Magic Power low, but it also recovered slowly. Even though it was just a Secret Realm Engraving for a 50-square-meter area, with an activation range that would at most cover the house and yard, he still wasn’t sure he could handle it.
What Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou were doing was a Secret Realm Engraving Technique, one of the methods for weaving a Secret Realm.
Unlike a Weaving Technique, a Secret Realm is a high-level application of Magic Power.
Once successfully woven, it forms a true Secret Realm, just as its name implies—a Secret Realm belonging to its Weaver.
Depending on the weaving, the functions available within the Secret Realm vary. They typically serve to block line of sight or provide protection, but can also be offensive, utilitarian, or even residential.
Because of the renowned achievements of the Magson Fairies in the field of Secret Realms, their techniques have become widespread.
This particular Secret Realm was specially prepared for the creation of the Statue of Comir. It was designed to create an environment of order close to "truth" and was named the "Fall of the Red Demoness."
Of course, it also had defensive properties. Attracting a Power of Order on the level of the "Six Great" would generate immense revulsion from anything that opposed them.
This was essential in other worlds. On Earth, while it might not be so extreme at the moment, there was no way of knowing if the "environment of order" was sufficient. It was better to be safe.
The more complex the Secret Realm’s Engraving and the larger its activation range, the higher the requirements for the Weavers.
The Secret Realm Qin Xiaoxia was preparing now would, at most, cover the old house, making it a very, very small one.
Furthermore, without later maintenance, it would only last for one month. That was why they were setting it up just before starting the work.
Of course, a true master could create a Secret Realm with a tiny area of coverage that opened up into a vast world inside—practically a personal pocket dimension. These types of Secret Realms were often residential and typically beyond the capabilities of a single person, requiring the accumulated effort of a group or even an entire species over generations.
The most famous example was the "Fairy Ring" in Magson World. Woven by generations of Fairies, it formed a Secret Realm Ring—a nexus of countless Secret Realms. It was attached to a forest in Magson but existed independently of it, forming the Elf Kingdom within.
It was precisely because Doudou viewed Secret Realms as "high-level technology" that he lacked confidence, even though his Big Bro’s Magic Power quality and control were frighteningly high.
However, when Qin Xiaoxia heard Doudou’s "half a time," he wasn’t the least bit annoyed.
Instead, he crouched down and rubbed Doudou’s two big ears.
"I’m telling you, have you not realized it yourself? Your Mischievous Elf’s Wish Magic Power may be weak, but the ability to grant wishes is an incredibly amazing power in itself. If you ever feel like you can’t do it, why not ask your own Magic Power for help? Let it figure things out."
Besides, Qin Xiaoxia had a strange confidence of his own. Now that he knew the whole process, there was no reason he shouldn’t be able to control such a small Secret Realm. He might not even need a supplementary Magic Controller to patch it during the weaving.
It was like a master chef who was confident in his skills. When making a simple, unfamiliar dish, he might not achieve a perfect flavor, but he certainly wouldn’t ruin it.
"I’m starting, Doudou! Get outside the Engraving and be ready!"
Before Doudou could get ready, Qin Xiaoxia shouted once, and his Magic Power erupted with a BOOM, instantly suffusing the air around him.
It condensed into a particle-like state, creating immense pressure that bore down on Doudou.
"Wait, wait, wait... Big Bro, wait until I’ve run out of here!!!"
Doudou frantically hopped and ran out of the empty hall, hugging a pillar to steady himself.
Qin Xiaoxia gently closed his eyes and held his breath. The Magic Power contained within the Technique Array he had just engraved was already beginning to resonate faintly with him.
"Modo~~in~saluoming~"
He spoke, transforming the Magic Language into a Curse, guiding the Magic Power to respond.
"Kuluo~li~ya~ma~siyama~modo~saiwenmoniao~siyamagusalaman~~"
Unlike the low-toned Magic Language from before, the final phrase—a True Word Curse representing truth—produced a sound like the echoing of a great bell.
The next instant.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—"
A piercing, feminine shriek—a sudden, hair-raising wail—erupted from Qin Xiaoxia’s mouth.
First Anomaly—Banshee’s Howl.
But this sound was clearly different from Doudou’s previous understanding of it; it was a mixture of sound waves and Magic Power.
* * *
The house had no electricity, so even though there were plenty of rooms, South Wind and his two companions had decided to move three beds into one room to sleep together.
Suddenly, in their sleep, goosebumps erupted all over their bodies, from the tips of their toes to the tops of their heads.
A terrifying, suffocating scream had jolted them awake.
Clutching the blanket to his chest, South Wind quietly turned to look at his companions, who were also awake, their faces pale with panic.
He didn’t dare make a sound, only mouthing the words.
’It’s really haunted!!!???’
PS: Thank you to reader WeepLucife for the 10,000 coin donation, to reader "The Last Three Matches" for the 500 coin donation, and to readers Blood Race Night Blade, Li Yi, Tian Jiao Si Yang, and Xing Zhuan Liu for the 100 coin donations~~
By the way, the supporting character South Wind is actually a cameo for the reader also named South Wind. I kept forgetting to mention it, haha~