After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: I’m Not Scared at All

Shen Wensi was stunned for a long time before she righted the person in her arms.

She found that Jiang Huaiyi’s cheeks were flushed and her body was burning hot.

She must have a fever. This fragile human body, with the sudden hot and cold, was indeed prone to getting sick.

Coupled with her tiny courage, it was normal for a high fever not to subside after being excessively frightened.

In the past two days, she had experienced too much. It was reasonable for her body to not be able to handle it.

After helping her lie down, Shen Wensi thought for a moment and took off her own clothes, covering Jiang Huaiyi with them.

A cold wind howled in the cave. The fire in front of them flickered, looking like it would go out at any moment, but not a single bit of dust on the ground was stirred up.

It was clear that this cold wind was aimed at them.

Jiang Huaiyi’s consciousness was a little blurry. She opened her eyes and found that the fire was spinning. She felt that Shen Wensi’s face was also spinning.

Even with clothes covering her, she still felt very cold. She slept like this for a while.

The clothes on the rack were quickly dried by the fire. When she woke up again, she found the clothes neatly folded next to her.

The dizziness had also gotten a lot better.

Her short fever got better without even taking medicine. This was thanks to her excellent physical quality.

Shen Wensi was sitting next to her, looking at her phone. The weak light from the phone shone on her face.

Jiang Huaiyi sat up and looked at the map by the light of the fire: “I’m much better. Where are we?”

Shen Wensi put away her phone and replied, “The air-raid shelter under the pond. After you were grabbed, I saw you in the water. Something was grabbing you from below. I went down to investigate and didn’t expect to be pulled down with you.”

She looked at the ceiling and paused before continuing: “However, there seems to be no way out here. After I came down, I saw you lying here, and the entrance we just came through disappeared instantly.”

Jiang Huaiyi thought for a while: “This should be an illusion. If there’s a way in, there must be a way out. This is a bit like the ‘Ghost Walls’ from old legends. We should be able to break out if we look for it.”

She was so-so at “Qimen Dunjia” (Mystical Door and Shield). It was a bit laughable. Jiang Huaiyi had mastered the skill of exorcising ghosts and chanting funeral rites perfectly, but she was naturally timid, so even if she learned it, she basically couldn’t use it.

Shen Wensi nodded. She was also completely lost. Once she was down here, she couldn’t get out, just like in a “Ghost Wall.”

With Shen Wensi’s help, Jiang Huaiyi stood up. The fire in front of them was still warm, but as they moved away from it, she only felt a cold wind blowing.

She quickly put on all her clothes, held a torch, and walked outside.

This place was a very large space. There were also a lot of messy things scattered inside. They were at the innermost part of the place. There was a raised earth stove where the fire was.

There was almost everything down here. She even saw a few old quilts with patches on them. A sour, foul smell wafted over. The air was not very good.

Further out, there were piles of boxes on both sides of the walls. They looked like they were used to store supplies.

Now, they were empty, with an indescribable sense of disharmony.

After she gently touched a few large, spotless boxes, she finally understood where this sense of disharmony came from.

The air-raid shelter was used in the last century. Decades had passed, so why was this place still so clean?

But her question was soon answered. The further out they went, the more things there were.

Jiang Huaiyi even saw flickering fires and a few diesel lamps.

Every place with light had a circle of people.

Their clothes were a little old. They were wearing ill-fitting gray cloth robes, which looked like winter attire. The bodies under the robes looked empty and unnaturally thin.

Those sallow, emaciated faces didn’t look like people from this era at all.

Even the beggars on the street looked better than these people.

Their expressions were numb, and their empty eyes had no life in them.

They sat there blankly, like puppets who had lost their emotions.

When Jiang Huaiyi walked through the middle, she barely received any attention.

Men, women, and children of all ages were here. The huge air-raid shelter was left with only the crackling sound of burning firewood.

Jiang Huaiyi looked at Shen Wensi walking beside her and asked, “Didn’t you say there was nothing down here?”

Shen Wensi spread her hands and replied in a low voice, “When I looked just now, there was indeed nothing. I don’t know how these people suddenly appeared here.”

Jiang Huaiyi looked around. They must have entered an “Enchantment,” which was why they could see these people.

There couldn’t be so many people down here. Most of them were ghosts.

Thinking of this, Jiang Huaiyi was a little scared. She unconsciously shrank closer to Shen Wensi and said, “Let’s find the exit. Don’t look at the people here.”

Shen Wensi was not afraid. She was the only one who was afraid. These people looked like normal people now, but who knows when the balance within the “Enchantment” would be broken.

These spirits trapped inside might also become terrifying. Shen Wensi was holding the fine silk cloth in her hand and suddenly let out a “huh.”

Jiang Huaiyi stopped when she heard that and leaned her head next to hers, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Wensi’s finger pointed to a line of words above: “Look here. Did this just appear?”

Jiang Huaiyi focused her eyes and saw a line of elegant small words: “Please Do Not Summon Impermanence.”

Jiang Huaiyi: …

She instantly understood the meaning of these small words. It seemed that the fine silk cloth had discovered her cheating method.

She had already planned to summon the Sir every time she encountered a ghost and have him take the ghost away, so she wouldn’t have to worry about encountering ghosts anymore.

She didn’t expect this cheating method to be mercilessly banned. It seemed that from now on, she would have to rely on herself.

She silently prayed in her heart that as time passed, she would be able to remember more Daoist spells.

Otherwise, she would only be a punching bag from now on. After all, Shen Wensi couldn’t help at all.

It seemed that she didn’t know anything about ghost cultivation.

In the past few days, she had completely understood that her “arch-nemesis” really only had a rich theoretical knowledge, but no practical skills.

But there were also advantages. At least she had very good physical strength, a lot of courage, and a very flexible mind.

Jiang Huaiyi secretly glanced at that beautiful face. Hmm, she was also very good-looking.

She cleared her throat and said softly, “It seems we can’t summon the Sir anymore from now on.”

The scroll on the fine silk cloth was very noticeable. She said, “If we can’t find an exit here, we might have to find this scroll to get out.”

Shen Wensi nodded in agreement.

The location of this scroll was not very far from them. They just didn’t know how big the air-raid shelter was. If it was as big as the pond above, it would be a little troublesome to find.

The two of them discussed it and decided that it would be safer to walk together. Mainly, Jiang Huaiyi didn’t dare to walk alone down here.

She felt that if there was no one beside her, and a ghost suddenly appeared, she would be scared to death.

The air-raid shelter was not small. In addition, there were a lot of sundries on the path, so the two of them’s pace was not fast at all.

It seemed that the rumor that there was a large air-raid shelter under the pond was not unfounded.

After walking for a long time, the two of them still hadn’t gotten close to the location of the scroll.

Jiang Huaiyi’s condition was not very good. After walking for a while, she felt extremely tired.

The two of them stopped again to study the fine silk cloth. The smell in the air-raid shelter was truly unpleasant.

The lack of ventilation and various smells made it so that Jiang Huaiyi could barely keep her eyes open.

She rubbed her eyes and used a cloth to make a simple mask for herself.

This blocked some of the smell.

Just as she was about to lower her head, the corner of her eye caught a glimpse of a figure that was completely green.

Her head, which was lowered, instantly stiffened. A fine layer of cold sweat appeared on her still-pale forehead.

Her stuffy nose was instantly cleared by the fright. Her heart was beating heavily, almost coming out of her dry throat.

Jiang Huaiyi raised her hand, rubbed her eyes, and looked again at the dark, cave-like place where she had just seen the figure.

She swallowed hard and found that a child with a green body was really standing there.

He was hidden in the dark entrance of the cave. If it weren’t for the fire in front of her flickering, Jiang Huaiyi might not have even seen him.

Although the child’s figure was a little blurry, she could see him clearly.

This child was none other than the little ghost who had pulled her into the water.

At this moment, he seemed to have noticed that Jiang Huaiyi had seen him. A pair of pitch-black eyes with no whites were staring at Jiang Huaiyi.

Jiang Huaiyi stood rooted to the spot, almost stopping her breathing.

Shen Wensi saw her abnormal reaction. She followed her gaze and immediately found the little boy with a green body in the corner.

He obviously didn’t look like a living person. It seemed that this thing had scared her to the point of being unable to move.

She slowly took Jiang Huaiyi’s wrist and asked softly, “Are you okay?”

Jiang Huaiyi forced a smile. She felt that it was a little difficult to speak: “Do I look okay?”

Shen Wensi: “Don’t be nervous. Relax. He’s not moving. Look at how useless you are. You’re more stiff than a corpse from fright.”

Jiang Huaiyi: …

Jiang Huaiyi: “Thank you. I feel much better.”

Shen Wensi: “You’re welcome. Just think about something else to relax.”

She still felt a chill all over her body. She didn’t know if it was because she wasn’t feeling well or because she was scared.

Jiang Huaiyi asked, as if possessed, “By the way, did you order the food at home before?”

The person next to her looked at her, a little confused. For the first time, her beautiful eyes showed a look of bewilderment.

She didn’t look at Shen Wensi but continued, “Next time, remember to wash your hands after cutting chili. My mouth was swollen until I went to bed, and there was no spicy food on the table.”

Jiang Huaiyi pointed to her still-swollen lips and watched her unnaturally turn her head away. She suddenly felt her tense nerves relax.

Shen Wensi’s voice came over lightly: “It was a delivery. I can’t believe you found out.”

Jiang Huaiyi thought to herself, “I knew it.” This kind of normal conversation made her, who was originally extremely nervous, feel a sense of relaxation.

After being exposed, Shen Wensi asked about Jiang Huaiyi’s sore spot with a bit of awkwardness: “Are all people from the Xuanmen school like you?”

She knew that the other person was asking if they were all as timid as her.

Jiang Huaiyi retorted: “This is only temporary. I wasn’t this timid before.”

As she was explaining, she saw the little boy in the cave suddenly walk toward them. He moved very fast.

The orange firelight shone on his body, making his originally green body look very eerie.

Jiang Huaiyi’s voice stopped abruptly. With a “squawk,” she grabbed Shen Wensi and ran in the opposite direction.

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