I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 10

“Hey! Don’t!” Qi Yan was startled and instinctively tried to stop him. The bald man was indeed infuriating, but the current situation was unclear, and he was still a living person after all. Deep down, Qi Yan didn’t want Bai Qing to take a life.

No matter how much she didn’t want to accept it, the reality was that she had already formed a spiritual contract with Bai Qing. If Bai Qing killed someone, it would be as if she had done it herself.

The white mist moved far too quickly Qi Yan’s words didn’t even have time to fully leave her mouth. But perhaps due to the telepathic connection of their spiritual bond, Bai Qing didn’t actually kill the bald man.

The white mist condensed into a strong, rope-like strand, tightly winding around the bald man from head to toe. Then, as if it had a mind of its own, the mist swung him through the air as effortlessly as if he were a leaf.

Qi Yan looked up in shock, her eyes wide as she watched the bald man being flung skyward by the white rope. He had no strength to resist at all, he could only scream incessantly, his mouth hanging open.

Huo Zheng and Tang Shanshan were equally stunned. Following the misty rope back to Qi Yan’s left hand, they clearly saw the smoke emanating from the ring.

As fellow players who had also drawn beginner talismans, they instantly realized: this was the magical artifact Qi Yan had obtained.

After a long while, Bai Qing finally seemed to have vented her anger and dispersed the mist, releasing the bald man. However, she made no effort to lower him back to the ground. Instead, she simply let the mist vanish mid-air, causing the bald man to lose his restraints and plummet straight down.

With a heavy thud, the bald man crashed onto the ground, groaned once, and passed out.

Qi Yan gaped at the unconscious man sprawled on the ground, only belatedly noticing that both Huo Zheng and Tang Shanshan were staring at her.

“Sister Qi, you that was amazing. Is that ring the artifact you drew?”

Qi Yan forced a dry laugh but didn’t offer any explanation, nor did she want anyone to know the truth about the ring. Since Bai Qing hadn’t revealed herself in front of the others, it was clear she wanted to keep it hidden. No matter what, they were bound together now, this wasn’t just about mutual benefit. Protecting each other meant protecting themselves.

Huo Zheng only glanced at Qi Yan a few times before crouching to check on the bald man. “He seems to have just passed out.”

Not only had he passed out, he had also vomited. Traces of bile and saliva still clung to the corners of his mouth. Huo Zheng wrinkled his nose in disgust and didn’t touch him.

The three of them exchanged glances, each seeing the same revulsion reflected in the others’ eyes. Without a word, they silently agreed to leave the bald man where he was.

As they continued toward the Lu family ancestral hall, Qi Yan heard Bai Qing’s icy voice: “Had I not sensed your reluctance to let me kill him, I would have taken his life without hesitation.”

Qi Yan fell silent. After a moment, she quietly asked in her mind, Why were you so angry?

Bai Qing’s temper still hadn’t settled. She seethed, You and I have formed a spiritual contract, you are my wife. What kind of lowly creature is he, to dare spew such filth at you?!

Qi Yan couldn’t help but laugh. You’re really taking this seriously.

The contract is no trivial matter! Bai Qing’s tone was deadly serious.

Qi Yan smirked but said nothing more. She knew Bai Qing protected her because of their spiritual contract this so-called marital bond. But she was also acutely aware that there was no genuine affection behind it. It was more about the fact that Qi Yan was still of great use to her, coupled with the pride of a demon king who couldn’t tolerate disrespect.

The demon king likely regarded his so-called “wife” as his possession.

But that was fine by her. At the very least, she knew Bai Qing would step in to protect her in times of danger. As for his true motives, Qi Yan didn’t care, she only cared about the outcome.

The Lu family ancestral hall was much more remote than the Bronze Deer Terrace. It took them nearly half an hour to reach it. Before them stood another ceremonial archway, but this one was clearly made of different materials not ordinary brick or stone, but something far more refined. Qi Yan couldn’t identify what it was.

Huo Zheng ran his fingers over the archway, frowning. “The construction of this ancestral hall seems unusually meticulous. It doesn’t look like something you’d find in a backwater village.”

Qi Yan felt the same. Just the material used for this archway alone was clearly no ordinary commodity.

“First a bronze deer, then a golden base and now this jade-like archway. Baishui Town seems more like an extremely wealthy place,” Qi Yan mused.

Yet this contradicted what they had seen in the town. Take their lodgings at Cuilan’s guesthouse, for example though it was a three-story building, the interior was quite shabby, the rooms small, and some walls even had patches of mold.

Qi Yan said, “But because of the heavy fog, we’ve only seen Cui Lan’s place and haven’t had a chance to see how other families in town live. Maybe the town is actually full of wealthy people?”

It was hard to say. Huo Zheng nodded. “Let’s set that aside for now and see what’s inside the ancestral hall.”

What could an ancestral hall possibly contain? Just tablets honoring ancestors, of course. The Lu family ancestral hall was no exception, except that beyond the archway lay an enormous courtyard paved with a pebbled path. Crossing the courtyard led them to the main hall, where a massive altar table stood, densely packed with rows of black ancestral tablets.

The tablets were stacked in layers from bottom to top, a testament to the generations of the Lu family who had lived and guarded this mountain town.

The incense on the altar hadn’t yet burned out, which puzzled Huo Zheng. “Where’s the caretaker of the ancestral hall?”

In his hometown, ancestral halls were always tended by someone responsible for maintaining the incense offerings.

But here in the Lu family ancestral hall, though the incense was still burning as if recently replaced, there wasn’t a soul in sight.

Qi Yan bent down to examine the tablets closely. The bottom row belonged to the 35th generation of the Lu family. A rough estimate suggested the family had been in Bai Shui Town for at least four or five centuries.

“The names on the tablets are illegible probably not important details, omitted by the script.” Qi Yan remarked. “After all, if they had to invent this many names, the script’s CPU would probably overheat.”

“Then there’s nothing else to see here for now.” Tang Shanshan had barely finished speaking when the sound of a cane tapping against the ground suddenly echoed from behind the ancestral hall, one tap, then another, slow and deliberate.

Tang Shanshan shrank closer to Huo Zheng, her eyes nervously fixed on the dense rows of tablets.

The sound grew nearer. The curtain behind the ancestral hall lifted, and an elderly figure emerged, a hunched, white-haired old man who shuffled forward step by step until he stood before them.

The old man’s hair was extremely long, and his stooped posture made it impossible to see his face clearly.

Had he not spoken, they wouldn’t even have been able to tell if he was a man or a woman.

“Outsiders, you have overstepped your bounds.”

The old man’s voice was unusually hoarse, sounding as if his vocal cords were completely ruined more grating than the screech of sawing wood.

To make matters worse, he spoke slowly, each word laboriously dragged out, making it particularly agonizing to listen to.

Tang Shanshan took another half-step back, clearly a little afraid of him. Huo Zheng and Qi Yan, however, remained composed. Exchanging a glance, they let Huo Zheng take the lead in addressing the old man.

“Elder, we apologize for disturbing you. We mean no disrespect.”

The old man tilted his head slightly, revealing a single eye through the long, unkempt hair that covered his face. He stared fixedly at Huo Zheng.

He didn’t speak, only pinned Huo Zheng under that inscrutable gaze. Despite his usual boldness, Huo Zheng was thoroughly unnerved, his heart pounding wildly as if screaming at him to flee immediately.

He truly wanted to run, but his legs felt nailed to the ground, refusing to move. Beads of sweat had already begun forming on his forehead.

The old man appeared short and unimpressive, yet the pressure he exuded was overwhelming just one look was enough to paralyze Huo Zheng.

After a moment, the old man’s raspy voice sounded again: “Travelers from afar. Since you’ve come here you must offer incense to the ancestors of the Lu family.”

Qi Yan was taken aback. Offer incense to someone else’s ancestors?

It sounded bizarre, this wasn’t like praying to Buddha.

Under normal circumstances, Qi Yan would’ve questioned it outright, but given the current situation, she didn’t dare. Who knew if this was somehow tied to the secrets of this script?

Remembering that Red Sister had sent the players to this ancestral hall, Qi Yan glanced at the half-burned incense on the table.

Suddenly, she asked, “Elder, were there others who came before us?”

The old man’s eyes abruptly shifted, moving from Huo Zheng to Qi Yan’s face.

Instantly, the suffocating pressure weighing on Huo Zheng lifted, leaving him feeling utterly drained.

Qi Yan, now under the old man’s single-eyed gaze, strangely didn’t experience the same oppressive feeling as Huo Zheng. She met his stare calmly.

Huo Zheng watched her in surprise, unsure whether she was feigning composure or genuinely unaffected by the old man’s presence. Could that be possible? Did it only work on him?

The old man, too, seemed startled. He sensed something unusual about Qi Yan but couldn’t pinpoint the source of her difference.

After studying her for a long moment, he finally answered her question: “Not long ago, two came. They’ve already left.”

Qi Yan pointed at the incense burner on the table. “Did they offer that incense?”

The old man replied, “They fled as soon as they saw me. They didn’t get the chance.”

Qi Yan frowned slightly, guessing that the two were likely the couple from earlier. If that was the case, they hadn’t followed the old man’s instructions to offer incense. So, what would happen now? An uneasy premonition settled over her.

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