Master of Kaidan-Chapter 526: Burning Incense

"It looks like it’s been abandoned for decades," Feng Xue commented as she gazed at the decrepit wooden houses with collapsed roofs. Though they appeared unappealing, there was a surprising absence of any rotten smell.

But it was exactly this absence that made it even more eerie.

It was as if—

the decay of this village had been abruptly halted by some force.

Passing through the small alleys formed by the wooden houses, the crying sounds gradually became clearer. Moments later, Feng Xue’s view abruptly opened up, revealing a black coffin in front of her.

In front of the coffin were a pair of white candles, with Netherworld Paper crumpled around, scattered in various directions. In the center of the candles, a Fire Pit burned sluggishly, the heat generating air currents that lifted the surrounding Netherworld Paper into the sky before slowly drifting back down.

Everything seemed to suggest that not long ago, there had been a ritual here to mourn the dead. But now, aside from the still fluttering Netherworld Paper and the flickering flames, there was no sign of life. Only the intermittent sobbing coming from near the coffin, making one’s heart anxious.

"Well, isn’t this unfortunate?" Feng Xue remarked with a tone of unexpected delight. She immediately stepped forward to the coffin, took a deep breath, and blew out the two white candles. She then scrounged several rotten wooden planks from a nearby house and threw them into the Fire Pit.

The damp planks immediately produced a large amount of black smoke, but also snuffed out the fire in the Pit.

"Fire Pit, white candles, some Netherworld Paper still unburned, huh, just missing an incense burner."

Feng Xue picked up the remaining well-conditioned Netherworld Paper, grouped it with the candles and candle holders, and began searching for an incense burner.

It seemed that she was so odd as a player that the previous cries got stuck for a few seconds. Soon after, a pale white shadow began to flash in and out of Feng Xue’s peripheral vision, as if trying to draw attention, yet not wanting to manifest directly.

Feng Xue was utterly unaccommodating to such behavior. Channeling her classic Bert-era blindness, she thought, no matter how much you flutter around, if I decide not to see, then I will not see.

"Incense burner, incense burner... The ancestral hall should have one, right? Villages like this usually cluster around a tree, there should be a big tree near the ancestral hall... Ah, there it is!"

As Feng Xue mumbled to herself and looked around, she completely ignored the ghostly shadow that was drawing closer behind her. Finally, just as she suddenly bent down, the ghostly figure aggressively pressed forward, and a pair of hands with sharp nails suddenly reached out—

"Ow!"

A sharp scream tore through the sky at that moment, helping Feng Xue truly understand what was meant by a banshee’s wail.

Glancing down at the Fire Pit she held, then at the ghostly hands that had thrust themselves into it, Feng Xue’s face showed a look of sympathy. The pale ghostly shadow grimaced at her, and seeing her expression, no longer cared why an ordinary Fire Pit could burn it. It immediately turned into a puff of black smoke and disappeared from Feng Xue’s sight.

"Always the black smoke; is that a standard skill for specters in this game, or was it really just a ghost?" Feng Xue shook her head, canceled the temporary Phantom Transformation of the Fire Pit, emptied the ashes, and holding the white candles and Netherworld Paper, she walked toward the direction of what she estimated to be the ancestral hall.

...

"Bro, is this guy really not afraid of dying?" Two players observing Feng Xue from a great distance through binoculars looked at each other in bewilderment. They had never seen such a fearless player. Yet seeing how the ghost reacted to the heat of the Fire Pit, they couldn’t help but feel excited.

"Could it be that the ghosts in this set are afraid of fire?" Putting down the binoculars, one player immediately broke a few branches from a nearby dead tree, ignited them with a lighter as makeshift torches, and instantly felt a bit more at ease. But just then, he suddenly felt something was amiss.

"Bro!" Seeing his younger brother’s terrified expression, the player immediately realized something and turned deathly pale. But before he could throw away the dry branches in his hand, whispers already began echoing in his ears—

"Ouch, it hurts so much... my hand hurts so much..."

The player stiffly turned his head to look at the withered branch in his hand, only to find that the original branch had somehow turned into a bony arm, with ghostly blue flames burning fiercely at the break, yet failing to emit any warmth.

"Fuck!"

...

Not to mention how the other players were doing, but Feng Xue had already scavenged a copper incense burner and several boxes of damp incense from the ancestral hall.

"Although it’s still a bit shabby, but in extraordinary times, at least I’m not burning paper, right?" Feng Xue moistened the damp, broken incense sticks with water, re-rolled them into thin strips. Despite being several decades old, a few usable sticks could still be picked out, but after selecting a few, Feng Xue noticed a problem—

Although these incense sticks appeared usable, they were of uneven sizes and varying qualities, and with the burning of incense, one should either not do it at all or ensure uniformity to avoid complications.

After understanding the dangers behind this, Feng Xue immediately abandoned the idea of using them as they were. Though confident in his ability to beat this "game," since he was here to learn, he naturally had to follow the local rules properly.

It was also fortunate that he was a Martial Arts Grandmaster; otherwise, without some professional equipment, it would have been impossible to handle such a large batch.

The slightly thick incense sticks were lined up in the fire pit, and Feng Xue lit a campfire using the wood he’d pulled from a dilapidated house, setting up the fire pit over the flames intending to dry out the incense.

Well, maybe it was more like smoking?

Let these antiques taste the flavor of "smoked incense."

Feng Xue muttered discernibly as he added more wood to the fire, continuing to roll the incense sticks. Two hours later, he managed to produce quite a substantial bunch.

"Even though I don’t know how many people are buried in this cemetery, given the size of this village, turning them all into ghosts should probably be enough."

Feng Xue wrapped the incense sticks with Netherworld Paper to avoid any damage, then, holding a fire pit full of materials, followed the path he had taken downhill and headed up the mountain.

"Wuu wuu wuu~~~"

"Wuu wuu wuu~~~"

The mournful wailing resounded in his ears once again. However, this time it sounded particularly sincere, as if the ghost had suffered some great injustice. But at this moment, the returning Feng Xue, acting like he heard nothing, carried the fire pit and briskly dashed up the mountain.

"You took my fire pit, the least you could do is burn some incense for me!"

Finally, just as Feng Xue was about to leave the village, a voice full of grievances rang in his ears. Feng Xue’s lips curled into a smile as he turned back to the coffin, replying helplessly:

"If you wanted it, you should have said something! How would I know if you don’t tell me? Just a matter of offering three sticks of incense, is it necessary to scare people? Let’s make a deal, I’ll offer the incense and you won’t trouble me again, okay?"

As Feng Xue spoke, he rolled a mound of earth in front of the coffin, in a posture of negotiating terms.

Hearing this, the ghost couldn’t help but be amused and showed its ghostly shadow, saying:

"Agreed."

Yet, when Feng Xue heard this, he extended his right hand, raised his pinky finger, and spoke earnestly, "Words are wind, let’s pinky swear!"

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