"Idol curse magic?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Wei Dong guessed, "...Is it related to idol stars and young heartthrobs?"
Yue Cen explained softly, "The 'idol' here refers to a physical image such as a sculpture or wooden carving, a symbol in people's minds that possesses some kind of mysterious power, or a symbol on which they want to apply mysterious power. And 'image' is easier to understand; it means portrait or image.
"Idol curse magic is to curse and attack statues, sculptures, portraits, or other idols in order to strike at the person or spirit they represent. This is a typical imitation witchcraft that was once widely popular among various ethnic groups around the world.
"So, can we assume that the Nine Cauldrons are actually witchcraft artifacts used by great witches to cast idol curse magic against beings in other worlds?"
"That makes sense!" Wei Dong suddenly realized.
However, he saw Ke Xun next to him frown, looking solemn.
"Ke'er, what's wrong?" Wei Dong's heart skipped a beat.
Ke Xun looked at his companions, his tone equally grave: "Sister Cen said that idol curses are used to curse and attack statues, sculptures, paintings, or other idols—the patterns on the Nine Tripods, which are both sculptures and paintings, are the targets of these curses and attacks. It's like pricking a little doll with a needle; the pain is felt by the real person the doll represents—but don't forget, the needle is also pricking the doll."
Zhu Haowen's eyes widened, his tone becoming somewhat sharp: "In other words, we, who possess the bone structure of the Nine Tripods patterns—are those 'little dolls,' and the real 'needle prick' attack is directly applied to us!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed immediately.
"What does that mean—" Wei Dong asked anxiously, "Does it mean the force of the attack will directly hit us, and then through us, those things from the other world will subside?"
"If we follow this line of reasoning… it seems to be the case for now," Hua Jiqiu said in a deep voice.
"No wonder Wu You could easily see the patterns on our bones after we cleaned all the shamanic runes off the rock face," Ke Xun said, glancing outside the tent. "It seems the power of the shamanic runes from the other world summoned the sealing power on our bones. Our bones sensed the invasion of the other world's shamanic power and immediately manifested themselves to resist it."
"Then, what do we do?" Wei Dong rubbed his face. "Are we just going to sit here and wait to be pricked?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment until it was time to eat, at which point they temporarily stopped discussing.
The atmosphere during the meal was tense.
After a short rest after the meal, they didn't turn on the projector again but sat together to discuss countermeasures.
"What do we do now?" Li Xiaochun looked everyone over. "What do you think about us trying to destroy that rocky platform tonight? Like, maybe we could get some gunpowder and blow it up?"
His gaze fell on Ke Xun, as if he thought that only this person in the group would actually dare to do such a thing.
"Yiran, do you have any gunpowder in your trunk?" This person actually asked.
"…I don't have that kind of stuff."
Ke Xun shrugged at Li Xiaochun.
"How about we try destroying the shamanic runes on the rock wall?" Wu You asked, inspired. "Since the other world opens the passage to the human world through the power of shamanic spells, wouldn't destroying their shamanic runes render their spells ineffective?"
"But we can't be sure if doing so will cause a backlash," Gu Qingqing said hesitantly. "Shamanic runes themselves possess great power. If they are forcibly destroyed by external forces, they may trigger a counterattack or self-protective power."
"But even if we don't destroy them, we'll still die," Li Xiaochun pointed outside the tent, though it was calm outside. "Don't forget the tornadoes that appear every night. They're getting stronger and bigger every day, and there are more and more of them. When they merge into one, we'll have nowhere to escape and we'll still die. Since we're going to die anyway, we might as well try to fight back."
Hua Jiqiu nodded: "Xiaochun is right. We can't just sit here and wait to die. We should try destroying the talismans."
Everyone agreed, and Shao Ling said: "Then let's try it tonight, but before we try, we must be fully prepared and predict all possible scenarios."
"I have an idea," Ke Xun said. "Remember—HuaTui can't recognize phones."
"Use exploding phones to destroy the talismans?" Zhu Haowen immediately understood Ke Xun's meaning.
"I brought a whole box of phones." Ke Xun smiled mischievously.
"You've got it, Ke'er!" Wei Dong and several veteran members cheered. "Maybe this time it'll be the same as before, because the painting app can't recognize the phone, so it won't backfire on us!"
"That's right, this method might really work!" Qin Ci added.
A glimmer of hope rose in the hearts of the participants like a morning star in the dark night, sweeping away their gloomy mood. Everyone began to actively prepare for tonight's operation. Ke Xun taught everyone how to set up the phone self-destruction. By nightfall, everything was ready.
Tonight's tornado was indeed several times larger and more terrifying than the previous nights. The dense columns of wind, near and far, were enough to make anyone's scalp tingle and their heart tremble.
Everyone waited for the wind to stop in the large tent. Ke Xun remained sitting at the tent entrance, looking out through the cracks.
"These tornado columns only exist in this other world right now, right?" Ke Xun asked Mu Yiran, who was sitting next to him. "Once they completely merge together, will they break through the spatial limitations and come to the human world?"
"I think so." Mu Yiran also peeked out through the gap, his sideburns brushing against Ke Xun's.
Ke Xun rubbed his face against him and continued, "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I stared at the largest tornado column closest to us for a long time, and I felt like there was something in the wind."
Hearing this, Mu Yiran stared out for a while and said, "I left the infrared binoculars in the car. Shall we come together?"
"Okay."
The two greeted everyone, braved the sandstorm, crawled out of the tent, and got into the car next to them. As soon as the car door closed, Ke Xun was pulled into her boyfriend's arms.
No wonder he suggested coming together. Ke Xun thought, cupping the back of his head with her hand.
Five minutes later, the two leaned against each other, taking turns using the binoculars to look at the nearest tornado outside the car window.
"Any discoveries?" Mu Yiran asked Ke Xun, who had been observing for a long time.
"I can't quite put my finger on it..." Ke Xun tapped the telescope barrel lightly with his fingers. "If you look closely, it seems like there's nothing but withered grass and dust. But outside my field of vision, in those blurry areas, it feels like something strange is appearing and disappearing. But if I look closer, I can't see it anymore."
"If you can't see it, don't worry about it for now," Mu Yiran took the telescope and looked at it. "I think we'll find out the truth sooner or later, or rather, very soon."
Ke Xun turned to look at him, and after he put down the telescope, he leaned closer, rested his chin on his shoulder, closed his eyes, and whispered in his ear, "Yiran, I really have a bad feeling this time. My intuition is usually very accurate."
Mu Yiran paused for a moment, then whispered, "For me, a hundred bad things can't compare to one good thing: being able to stay with the person I cherish until death."
Ke Xun smiled, his eyes narrowing. "That's right. To live and die together, what more could one ask for? Yiran, these past few days, whenever my mind is idle, all the scenes from our first meeting to now uncontrollably surface. It feels like a long dream, and now this dream seems to be ending... I'm especially afraid that, like some dreams, the moment I open my eyes, I'll completely forget everything in the dream. I'm afraid we'll forget each other..."
Mu Yiran He raised his hand to stroke the back of his neck and said gently, "Ke Xun, you know, I'm not someone who easily trusts others. I never place my hopes on others. Years of life experience have taught me one thing: trust yourself more than anyone else, and rely on no one but yourself. But I trust you completely. I never doubt that you can do your best as I expect. I completely believe in you. I believe you will remember me. You have that ability; even if the whole world forgets me, you will remember me."
Ke Xun buried his face in his neck and shoulder, and hugged him tightly.
After the wind subsided, the two got out of the car, and the others crawled out of the tent. As planned during the day, they didn't waste a moment and immediately set up a cell phone network around the rock face, making sure the phones were pressed tightly against the talismans on the rock. After setting it up, they retreated to a safe distance, activated the mechanism, and detonated the phones one by one.
A series of popping and crackling sounds echoed through the valley. The group warily watched their surroundings, but nothing unusual happened until all the phones had detonated.
They went to examine the rock face, finding that some areas were blackened from the explosions, others were fragmented with rock, but the talismans remained completely undamaged.
"Can't they be damaged?" They exchanged
bewildered glances, at a loss for what to do. "Then let's just go for it!" Li Xiaochun declared resolutely. In the beam of his flashlight, a bluish-black tinge appeared on his face,
a look of utter desperation. "Xiaochun!" Hua Jiqiu called out in alarm.
"Ah—" Gu Qingqing gasped, quickly covering her mouth, her eyes, peeking out from behind her hand, filled with terror as she looked at Wu You beside her.
"W-What's wrong?" Wu You exclaimed in alarm. "Qingqing, what did you see? Don't scare me!"
"Everyone's complexion is abnormal!" Qin Ci's gaze swept urgently across everyone's faces. "Everyone!"
Ke Xun quickly cupped Mu Yiran's face in his hands, leaning closer to examine it closely, then frowned deeply. "It looks like some patterns are trying to show through the skin... Is it bone structure?"
"That's right, it's bone structure." Mu Yiran had also looked at his face. "Now, not only Wu You can see it, but we can also vaguely see it. The bone structure is materializing and gradually showing through the skin from the bones."
"Could this be the backlash?" Shao Ling glanced at his bluish-black hands. "Is it because we tried to destroy the talisman?"
"I don't think so," Mu Yiran said. "Our bone structure has been materializing. For example, Wu You used to need to use some means to see our bone structure, but later it evolved into something that he could see directly without any assistance. Now, the bone structure has become even more materialized, to the point that even we can almost see it. This has nothing to do with whether we destroyed the witch talisman or not, but rather with time. As time goes by, the patterns of our bone structure will probably become clearer and clearer on our skin until they are completely revealed."
"—This is disgusting—" Luo Yiran rubbed his face frantically. "Will our skin be covered in black patterns by then? That's disgusting!"
"This is not a good sign," Zhu Haowen said solemnly. "I think our bone structure patterns are likely to become more and more obvious, just like those tornado pillars. Perhaps when all the patterns are completely revealed on our skin, that will be our death."
"What should we do—we can't just sit here and wait to die!" Wei Dong said anxiously.
"Either way, I'm going to die, so I'll fight it to the death!" Li Xiaochun was a migrant worker who wandered from place to place. To make a living, to protect himself, and to avoid being bullied, he had been tempered with a ruthless streak. Now that he was at his wit's end, this ruthlessness was unleashed. Before anyone could react, he had already grabbed his entrenching tool and fiercely shoveled at the shamanic inscriptions on the rock wall.
With a "clang," the shovel bounced back, carrying away bits of rock. Li Xiaochun didn't stop, shoveling seven or eight more times, until Shao Ling and Hua Jiqiu grabbed his arms on either side.
"That's enough." Shao Ling didn't have the urge to reprimand him. The deed was done, and saying anything more would be pointless. He simply leaned closer to examine the area he had shoveled and saw that only the surface layer of rock that everyone hadn't cleaned properly had been shoveled away, while the layer of rock with the shamanic inscriptions remained completely undamaged.
"It's no use." Shao Ling turned to look at everyone. "I think even if we brought explosives, we probably wouldn't be able to damage this rock carving in the slightest."
"So we can only watch helplessly as the bone structure rises to the surface and then wait to die?!" Li Xiaochun gasped, his eyes red.
The failure of the operation to destroy the witch talisman tonight suddenly brought everyone's fate to the edge of a precipice.
All the self-deceptive calmness and glimmer of hope they had before were shattered by the cruel reality.
"How about we try with guns?" Fang Fei suggested.
Everyone was willing to risk it, retreating to a safe distance and firing dozens of shots at the rock wall.
Still, they couldn't damage the witch talisman in the slightest.
"How about we try this?" Yue Cen took off his collar button. "It's inlaid with diamonds. Maybe its hardness can scratch it."
Ke Xun took it, ran to the rock wall, and scratched it a few times. It didn't leave any marks, but instead caused some wear on the diamonds.
"It seems the talisman can't be destroyed." Shao Ling sighed inwardly, turning to look at the others. "All the clues have come to an end. Staying here, we can't obtain any new clues, nor can we do anything else related. It seems that only one option remains for us: climb the rock platform."
Author's Note:
Ke Xun: This is the first time the boss has said something sweet; I'm so happy I can't stop laughing.
Boss: (Quietly closes the "100 Sweet Talk Lines to Help You Get a Hookup" phone page.)