My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 860 A sudden turn of events
"Are you going to accept the old executioner's request?"

"The old executioner wants you to go to the depths of the town of disaster and rescue those souls that may not have been devoured yet."

"But Master Pisma Daimou is the lord of the Disaster Town. Everything that happens here cannot escape his insight. Therefore, your actions are destined to not upset Master Pisma Daimou."

"And if you really agree to the old executioner's request, it would be tantamount to wanting to cut off the lifeblood of the Lord of Sackcloth and Mourning, which is equivalent to severing his life and killing his parents and relatives. Once the Lord of Sackcloth and Mourning knows about this, he will definitely kill you in the most cruel way, and your actions in the town of disaster will be difficult."

"The old executioner noticed your hesitation and worry, and said that the Lord in Sackcloth and Mourning was seriously injured, and he needed to sleep for a period of time every time he devoured a soul. Normally, unless a strong enemy came, the Lord in Sackcloth and Mourning would be in deep sleep and would not care about what happened in the town."

"As long as you don't make too much noise, I don't think you will disturb the sleeping master in mourning."

"In order to dispel your concerns, the old executioner took out a dull bone bracelet from his abdomen."

"This is a tiger whisker bracelet forged by the old executioner using the remains of a tiger and its hair. It is a common item used by people in the mountains. Putting tiger whiskers inside the bracelet can emit the scent of a fierce tiger. Within a one-mile radius, no wild animal will dare to approach."

"But since this item is made from the remains of a mountain lion that has practiced Taoism for hundreds of years, the aura and power it exudes are far beyond the reach of ordinary objects. Once you wear it, no wild beast will dare to invade within a radius of at least 20 miles."

"If you wear this tiger whisker bracelet, you can avoid being harassed by other monsters in the town. It can also deceive the weak perception of the master in mourning when he is asleep. The other party will only think that it is the old executioner who is unwilling to give up and goes to investigate. Unless the master in mourning wakes up from his sleep, he can truly sense the true aura hidden under the tiger whisker bracelet."

"You have obtained the Tiger Whisker Bracelet."

"Tiger Whiskers Bracelet (rare item), a bone bracelet forged from the remains of a mountain lion mixed with its hair. It has the ability to ward off evil spirits and disasters, and expel ghosts and monsters. It has a strong ability to suppress the monsters in the mountains and forests. But for some reason, this tiger whisker bone bracelet contains a deep resentment."

"The old executioner gave you the tiger whisker bracelet, which will allow you to move more freely in the town of Yan without worrying about being threatened by other things. It can also ensure that the lord in mourning will not find you to the greatest extent possible."

"What are you going to choose now?"

"Are you going to agree to the old executioner's request?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought about it. The new task had been delivered to his door, but whether to agree to it depended entirely on his own willingness. It was not a mandatory task, but there was no reward either.

Moreover, they gave me a magic weapon in advance. Even if I don't agree now and turn around and leave, it will be a net profit. But this quest line will probably be completely cut off.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Xinghuo decided to agree to the old executioner's request. The benefits had already been taken, and it would be a bit rude to just run away. Besides, he also wanted to know the truth behind the matter.

He always felt that there was something wrong with what the old executioner said.

If the Lord in mourning really wanted to heal his injuries by devouring souls, there are many ways to do it. There is no need to kidnap all the teachers and students of the medical school in a high-profile manner, which would only attract the attention of others.

It is said that wearing mourning clothes mainly means that one is seriously injured, and one should try to reduce one's presence as much as possible to prevent some vicious people from coveting its inheritance and treasures.

You know, in this world, there is never a shortage of ambitious people, and it is not uncommon for the weak to overthrow the strong. If you try hard to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle, you may be able to obtain all the inheritance of the master in mourning.

Just like how King Taiping usurped the authority and position of Gushe Immortal, if you win, you will win supreme status and power.

As a strong survivor of the old world, the Lord in Mourning could not have failed to understand this. However, instead of hiding and licking his wounds, he exposed his existence with great fanfare. This was not reasonable no matter how one looked at it.

Also, the image of this old executioner is too great and glorious, and he completely puts himself on the moral high ground. He believes that what the old executioner said is true, but he doesn't know how much water there is in it.

After all, when he explored Lingshen Village, he learned about the events that happened in Kanto that year, which coincided with the time narrated by the old executioner.

Therefore, if you want to know the truth of the matter, you have to go and explore it yourself!
After some consideration, Jiang Xinghuo decided to take on this task and see what the subsequent developments would be. Otherwise, he would always feel itchy in his heart and would always be thinking about this matter.

"You decided to take on the task entrusted by the old executioner and go to the prison where the Lord in mourning holds those souls to find out what is going on."

"You have obtained the map of the Disaster Prison."

"The Disaster Prison is where the Lord of Sackcloth-clad Mourning punishes evildoers. It is also a well-known forbidden place in Disaster Town. Living beings who go against the Lord of Sackcloth-clad Mourning's wishes are imprisoned there. Unless they obtain the Lord of Sackcloth-clad Mourning's forgiveness, they will never be able to escape from here."

"What are your options next?"

"Will you continue to wander around and explore in the Disaster Town? Or will you go to the Disaster Prison to find out what's going on?"

"You chose to continue wandering around in Yan Town."

Jiang Xinghuo was not in a hurry to explore this prison of disasters. Instead, he took out the Good Fortune Incense from his backpack, clicked on it and chose to use it, intending to see if he could trigger some new plot interactions.

"You lit the good fortune incense."

"The power of the Fortune Incense lingers on you, and your luck gets a temporary boost."

"As you continue walking along Shahun Street, you suddenly hear a faint sound of copper and iron knocking coming from the small house next to you. It seems to be some ancient Yue Opera sound. Do you want to go over and take a look?"

When Jiang Xinghuo saw the text, he thought to himself, as expected, it has come. He knew that using the Hongyun Incense would trigger some interactions outside the original plot, so he chose yes without hesitation.

"Listen carefully and identify the source of the sound of copper and iron knocking. It should be the sound coming from the small house on the left hand side. You follow the source of the sound and find that room, but the door of that room is locked. Do you want to break the door lock forcibly?" Jiang Xinghuo chose no, then took out the Seven Treasures Key from his backpack and clicked to use it.

This Seven Treasures Key was an object he found in the Bashu Ghost House. It had only one function, which was to crack all locks that used mechanical kinetic energy.

"You used the Shippo Key."

"You opened the closed door of the hut, and the sound of copper and iron knocking became clearer and clearer. But to your surprise, there was no living creature in the room. There was only an empty room with mottled walls on all four sides."

"But you clearly felt that the sound came from this room. You can confirm this and there is absolutely no mistake. What are you going to do next?"

"Do you choose to leave this room and explore the next room? Or do you choose to continue exploring in this room?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought about it and decided to stay here, then activated his talent of Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils.

"You activated the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils."

"Your eyes transformed into two golden suns. The red-gold light swept across the walls of the house. An illusory talisman suddenly took on its true form and quickly burned."

"After the talisman burned to ashes, the room suddenly changed. Although it was still empty, a mural appeared on the mottled walls. The mural showed a gaunt ghost-headed man holding a dark ghost-headed broadsword in his hand, chopping at an iron tree. The sound of copper and iron knocking that you heard earlier came from this mural."

"But you found that the ghost-headed guest was unable to cut down the iron tree. Every time he chopped the tree with a new knife, the old knife marks would immediately recover. Unless he could completely cut down the iron tree in an instant, this cycle would continue endlessly."

"What are you going to do now? Do you choose to watch the fun from the side? Or do you choose to leave immediately and pretend that you didn't notice anything? Or do you choose to help cut down the iron tree?"

There are three options: stand idly by, leave immediately, or help.

Jiang Xinghuo hesitated for a moment and chose the last option, helping the other party to cut down the iron tree!
If he guessed correctly, the iron tree should be a seal, and it was a seal specifically targeting the Ghost-Headed Guest. As long as the iron tree continued to seal and was not broken, the Ghost-Headed Guest would be trapped inside forever.

This ghost-headed guest should be the opportunity for him to trigger the mission this time.

"You chose to cut down the iron tree. You condensed the fire of the Kitchen God into a sawtooth flywheel, which spun at high speed towards the mural in front of you. The moment it touched the mural, the fire wheel immediately sank into the mural, as if it had existed in the mural from the beginning, and began to cut and spin around the iron tree."

"The Ghost Head Guest seemed to know that someone was helping him, so he picked up the Ghost Head Knife with even more vigor and chopped straight at the iron tree. With one chop, the iron tree broke, the picture was shattered, the mural on the wall suddenly disappeared, and the Ghost Head Guest was freed from the unknown seal."

"After the ghost-headed guest escaped, he bowed to you and thanked you. If you hadn't helped him, he would have been trapped in the mural world and entangled with the iron tree, and there would have been no end in sight for him to escape."

"You inquired about the specific cause of the incident and learned what happened to the ghost-headed guest. It turned out that this ghost-headed guest was the owner of the Grandma Temple."

"There are many unorthodox professions, among which executioners, paper figurines, coroners, and corpse sewers are the most evil, and are known as the four evil professions."

"Among the four major Yin sects, the most vicious are the executioners. The ranks of the executioners are also quite particular. The most skilled are called grandmas, followed by the eldest aunt, the second aunt, the third aunt, and so on until the newly-appointed apprentice nephew. They need to pass numerous tormenting tests before they can take the position of grandma."

"This ghost-headed guest is the last grandmother in the secular world. Since the fall of the Lord of the Secular World, a new era has arrived. Firearms have replaced cold weapons, bullets have replaced ghost-head knives, and executioners have also lost their living space."

"The Guitouke died of depression and came to the town of Yang after his death. The Lord, wearing mourning clothes, took pity on his sincerity in life and granted him a temple to his grandmother, allowing him to walk freely in the town."

"But it didn't last long before the Ghost Head Guest was led here by an old friend and fell into the sealed world in the mural. In the mural world, there are countless ghosts and an indestructible iron tree."

"The ghost-headed guest relied on the ghost-head knife in his hand to kill all the ghosts in the mural world, but the only thing he couldn't destroy was the iron tree, so he was trapped in the painting and couldn't break free. Fortunately, you helped him to get out of the predicament."

Seeing this, Jiang Xinghuo's guess was somewhat confirmed. There was indeed something wrong with the old executioner in the Grandma Temple. At least that temple did not belong to him!

"You asked who the person was who hurt him. Gui Tou Ke said sadly that he was his old friend and senior brother, the great elder of the Xing Sect. He didn't expect that his senior brother, who was as close to him as a brother, would hurt him like this. He also wanted to ask him why he did this to him."

"What are you going to choose now?"

"Will you choose to persuade the Ghost Head Guest to temporarily give up the idea of ​​looking for the old executioner? Or will you let it act freely and do what it wants?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought about it and chose the former.

If we let it go to confront the old executioner now, it would easily alert the old executioner and let him know that there was a flaw in his plan, which would easily lead to more variables.

"You briefly explained the whole process to Gui Tou Ke, especially the fact that all the teachers and students of Lingnan City Medical College were extradited here. When Gui Tou Ke heard the old executioner say that the Lord in mourning was doing this in order to devour the souls of the living to heal his injuries, he immediately denied it."

"Although it doesn't know why the Lord of Mourning did this, with his compassion and tolerance, he would never do such a thing. Otherwise, the souls in the town of disaster would be enough for it to recover from its injuries, and it would not risk the world's condemnation and go to the secular world to take souls and claim lives."

"The ghost took out a mask from his body and said it was the mask of the jailer of the Disaster Prison. The Disaster Prison is not an ordinary prison. If ordinary people enter it, they will be directly sunk into the water prison. Only those who become jailers can walk freely in it. This mask is the identity symbol of the jailer."

"The ghost head guest gave this mask to you and asked you to find out the truth yourself. He believes that the master in mourning is not that kind of person."

"And it won't go to the Grandma Temple to alarm the old executioner, but will wait here for you to come back. It wants to learn the truth and answer from you. It believes that the Lord in mourning must have been splashed with dirty water!!"

(End of this chapter)