After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Can’t Get Out

Jiang Huaiyi ran away in a frantic state, knocking over many things and startling many people along the way.

The originally wooden people stood up one after another and became a little more lively.

The quiet air-raid shelter suddenly became noisy, with men cursing, women crying, and children making a fuss.

It was like a huge loudspeaker, and all sorts of chaotic noises poured into her ears.

The two of them didn’t know how long they had been running until they stopped at a corner of the air-raid shelter.

Jiang Huaiyi didn’t dare to look back. Shen Wensi pulled her wrist out of her hand, turned back, and said, “They didn’t follow us.”

Only then did she dare to take a deep breath. She put her hands on her hips and tried to calm her rapid breathing.

She didn’t know the origin of this little ghost. He obviously had his own consciousness.

The people here seemed to have no idea that they were trapped underground. They couldn’t see them just now, but now they all turned their gazes on them.

A few children who were so hungry that their eyes were glowing green were too tired to cry. The adults were squatting beside the children, just watching the two of them.

A disheveled woman couldn’t help but ask, “Do you have any food?”

Perhaps it was because the two of them were dressed so fashionably and looked very clean, they were out of place with the sallow, emaciated, and dirty crowd.

Jiang Huaiyi was stunned for a moment and subconsciously reached for her backpack, but Shen Wensi grabbed her hand.

Her cold voice immediately sounded: “No.”

The woman lowered her head, looking sorrowfully at the hungry and sleepy child in her arms, and sighed helplessly.

But the people around them obviously didn’t believe it and were still staring at the two of them.

Jiang Huaiyi understood her thoughts almost instantly. If she gave it to this woman, then more people would ask her for it.

The people down here were ghosts. Now, their hunger and prayers for food were just a repetition of their actions before they died.

They didn’t need their food at all. Giving it to them would only make them crazy and cause harm to the two of them.

The people trapped here couldn’t get food, so she wondered if the paper ingots in her backpack could help them.

Jiang Huaiyi changed her mind. If they couldn’t get out, burning them now would be useless. This idea was immediately dismissed as soon as it came to mind.

Fortunately, the people leaning on the sides were so hungry that they were just staring at them and didn’t have the strength to get up and do anything to them.

The two of them walked a few steps inside and hid behind a wooden box.

Only then did they take out the fine silk cloth again to look. Their current location was even farther from the scroll than when they first came in. Jiang Huaiyi frowned, wondering why.

Shen Wensi asked, “Did you see any scrolls just now?”

Jiang Huaiyi shook her head.

The two of them were running in a hurry just now. She didn’t see any scrolls along the way. Could it be hidden somewhere, and she missed it?

But if she had to go back, she really wasn’t willing to. After all, who knew if that ghost was behind them?

It might pop out of some corner and grab her foot, and she would really scream so loud that the people above could hear it.

A look of fear appeared on Jiang Huaiyi’s face. She turned her head to look at Shen Wensi and found that the other person’s expression was a little speechless.

For some reason, she always felt that Shen Wensi’s expression seemed to be one of disdain.

She couldn’t muster the courage to say something like, “Let’s go back and look.” She could only lower her head silently.

The person next to her folded the fine silk cloth again and said, “How about you wait for me here? I’ll go back and look for it.”

Jiang Huaiyi immediately shook her head. It would be better to let her die than to let her stay here alone.

Shen Wensi glanced at her and said, “Then let’s go together.”

Jiang Huaiyi always felt like she had been tricked.

If she had said “let’s go together” from the start, Jiang Huaiyi might have hesitated, but she gave a worse option, which made the other option seem not so difficult to accept.

The two of them walked back along the way. Because she was scared, Jiang Huaiyi unconsciously held onto Shen Wensi’s sleeve.

Seeing that she didn’t react, she simply hugged her entire arm. They were very close, and she immediately felt much more comfortable.

Shen Wensi’s arm stiffened. She turned her head and looked down at her: “Why don’t you just hang on me?”

Jiang Huaiyi looked up. Her round eyes, filled with mist, looked at her innocently.

She didn’t feel the playful tone in Shen Wensi’s words but thought seriously for a moment.

She stammered and asked, “Can I really?”

Shen Wensi: …

She figured out that Jiang Huaiyi was not someone you could joke with because this fool seemed to take it seriously.

Looking at her hopeful eyes, Shen Wensi ultimately didn’t say what was on her lips.

Jiang Huaiyi only saw her right hand grab her arm and was about to put her hand on her shoulder. A subtle smile even appeared on her lips.

The expression on her face was very strange. Jiang Huaiyi couldn’t help but ask, “What are you smiling about?”

Shen Wensi steadily put her on her shoulder and said with a hint of a smile: “You know that a person’s ‘anger’ is on their two shoulders. With you blocking for me, I can relax.”

The heart that Jiang Huaiyi had just put down on her warm back suddenly leaped up again.

She stuttered: “Wh-what… what did you say?”

She, of course, knew what Shen Wensi was talking about. Was Shen Wensi treating her as a backplate?

Shen Wensi let out a light laugh. She could imagine Jiang Huaiyi’s terrified expression without even turning her head. She had seen the frightened expressions on other people’s faces quite often.

But every time she saw it on Jiang Huaiyi’s face, she found it extraordinarily interesting. A “Xuanmen” (Mystical Gate) disciple who was afraid of ghosts, she was probably the first one.

She couldn’t help but want to tease her. She let out a light laugh and continued, “Hold on tight. When the ghost comes, remember to hide behind me.”

She walked very fast, leaving Jiang Huaiyi with a face full of shock and fear.

She was so scared that she hugged her tightly, her hands clutching her neck.

Gradually, she felt that Jiang Huaiyi’s tight hands were a little suffocating her neck.

She coughed lightly, and the person behind her loosened up a little.

Shen Wensi carried her and walked on the dirty and messy path, not seeming to be struggling at all.

This was the first time Jiang Huaiyi had experienced this height of scenery. She was nervous and curious, looking around.

Some boxes that were taller than her head were now level with her eyes. She looked from side to side, occasionally blocking her eyes with her hands, afraid of seeing something bad.

Fortunately, there was nothing unusual around them. She took out the fine silk cloth and started to check the location of the scroll.

She found that the distance between them hadn’t changed. She was a little strange. Could the scroll also move?

The two of them almost reached the dark cave entrance where they had just found the child but still hadn’t found the scroll.

Jiang Huaiyi was a little confused. The moment she lowered her head, she found that Shen Wensi was also looking down at her wrist. The two of them were very close.

She could even smell the sweet scent of tuberose on her, like a ripe cedar fruit, a hint of gentleness in the cool and aloofness.

Even the small mole on her jade-like earlobe was clearly visible. Jiang Huaiyi pursed her lips. Both of them came from the pond. How was she so clean?

Looking at her own wrinkled clothes, she was a little embarrassed and wanted to get off Shen Wensi’s back. As soon as she moved, she felt her grip tighten.

Shen Wensi said, “Don’t move. Roll up your sleeve and let me see.”

Jiang Huaiyi stopped moving and rolled up her sleeve. The finger marks were still clearly visible. The ones on her feet should have faded a lot.

This was a mark left by the ghost in the pond. Logically, it should disappear as long as the ghost was eliminated, but the female ghost’s whereabouts were unknown.

So the handprint was still there. Jiang Huaiyi felt that she probably wouldn’t think about coming down. After all, this place was an “Enchantment,” and the ghosts who came down would most likely be trapped inside.

It wasn’t worth it. She could choose to harm more people. There was no need to die on her.

After seeing the bluish-purple mark on her hand, Shen Wensi put her down.

“Don’t you think that little boy actually knows where you are?”

Shen Wensi asked. Jiang Huaiyi’s hand, which was tidying her sleeve, paused.

“Are you saying that the ghost who left this mark and that child are a team? No way. Old man Zhang just died recently.”

Shen Wensi nodded and continued to analyze: “He just died recently, but he has obviously become one with the pond. There is obviously some kind of magical array down here that prevents the souls who die here from being at peace.”

Jiang Huaiyi also remembered the “Plum Blossom Incense Array” that her uncle and senior sister had lit. Her eyes lit up: “You’re right. At that time, I saw my uncle lighting incense under the locust tree. The two sets of incense were different. One was for the family, and the other should be for the pond.”

When she said this, her face turned pale. The one for the family was “Mourning Clothes Incense.” Since they were now under the pond, the “Life-Urging Incense” was most likely lit for them.

Jiang Huaiyi’s face was very pale. Her clenched hands undoubtedly showed her nervous mood. She just stood by Shen Wensi’s side, her mind racing, thinking about all sorts of messy things, trying to find a clue about the scroll and how to get out.

Shen Wensi was about to walk toward the dark cave entrance to find out what was inside. A deafening explosion sounded in their ears. The entire air-raid shelter shook.

Dust fell down. The explosion made Jiang Huaiyi’s eardrums hurt. It felt like a speaker had exploded inside her head.

Everything went black in front of her. Her throat became sweet and metallic, and she almost coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Besides the pain, all her other senses almost disappeared. In the chaos, the originally noisy crowd let out a sharp wail.

Jiang Huaiyi felt herself being pulled into a warm embrace, and her vision fell into a long period of darkness.

When she had recovered a little, her vision gradually became clear.

She was huddled in a small cave. There were a few other people who had huddled in there. They were the people who were outside just now. Next to her was Shen Wensi.

At this moment, she was resting with her eyes closed, her eyebrows tightly furrowed. Her body was also covered in dust, completely unlike her calm demeanor from before.

Her head was throbbing from the huge bang just now. She must not be feeling well either.

The few people in front of her were all covering their ears in horror, their mouths wide open. This was a way to deal with an explosion. She also followed the example of the people around her, opening her mouth to try and relieve the pain.

The continuous ringing in her ears made her temporarily unable to hear what the people around her were saying.

Jiang Huaiyi laboriously read the lips of the people from their repeated words.

Those people were all saying the same thing, which made her shudder:

“It’s collapsed! We can’t get out!”

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