Chapter 29: Confronting the Moon Goddess

Fear and trembling arose from the depths of Qian Cangyi's heart, completely occupying his mind.

The headless corpses in the huge pit seemed to have received a command, slowly crawling toward the direction where Qian Cangyi was. Their speed was getting faster and faster, as if they wanted to pull Qian Cangyi into the pit to be buried with them. The severed heads inside the pit uttered shrill, wicked laughter, one after another, mixed with malicious curses.

At this sight, Qian Cangyi felt his legs turn to jelly, and Ningjing beside him was almost frightened into sitting down on the ground.

"Let's go!" Qian Cangyi shouted, his voice trembling.

Ningjing scrambled up from the ground, fleeing in panic toward the moon-phase door frame behind them that led to the spiral staircase.

Qian Cangyi followed closely behind.

By this time, the headless corpses had already crawled out of the pit, surging forward like a tidal wave. The fleshy bumps on their smooth necks were densely packed, twitching slightly along with their bodies, and even oozing a small amount of fresh blood.

"Will they follow us?" Ningjing's teeth chattering.

"Maybe." Qian Cangyi glanced back, then immediately turned his head back.

"What should we do if they follow us onto the spiral staircase?" Ningjing tried hard to steady her voice, forcing herself to calm down.

"We'll see when the time comes!" Qian Cangyi didn't want to ponder these questions for the moment; he just wanted to get away from here.

Before long, the two of them passed through the moon-phase door frame, fled back, and returned to the spiral staircase.

Once back on the spiral staircase, Qian Cangyi felt a bit better in his heart. The feeling of being "stared at" by the Moon God just now had filled him with terror, almost making him kneel before the Moon God, just like the humans depicted in fear on the murals.

Qian Cangyi let out a sigh of relief, glanced back at the door frame, and said,

"We'd better stay away for now, just in case they really crawl out."

With that, he began walking down the spiral staircase.

Ningjing nodded, following closely behind him.

After walking a few steps, Qian Cangyi sensed an unusual commotion from behind. He turned his head and saw several pale white hands reaching out from within the moon-phase door frame. Shortly after, headless necks with smooth amputation stumps emerged along with their bodies.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry." Qian Cangyi picked up his pace, though the wounds on his body began to ache faintly.

"How are you holding up?" Ningjing asked with concern.

"I'm fine." Qian Cangyi drew a sharp breath, gritting his teeth as he continued to run forward. However, the spiral staircase seemed endless, and the corpses behind them did not consume physical stamina. If this stalemate continued, being caught by them was only a matter of time. "We need to get back to the other side. If we keep going like this, we'll be caught sooner or later."

"I know, but who's going across?" Ningjing looked up at the darkness above, her expression heavy.

Qian Cangyi gauged the pain in his legs, sighed softly, and said,

"I'm injured; I'm afraid I can't make it up."

"We don't have time to hesitate now. I'll boost you up first, and you can tell him what happened here and see what he wants to do."

"I hope there's a way."

Having said this, he broke into a sprint for a short distance, then pressed his back against the wall, half-squatting on the ground to serve as a stepping stone.

"Take care of yourself." Ningjing took a deep breath, took two steps back, and charged toward Qian Cangyi. She stepped on Qian Cangyi's knee with her left foot and his left shoulder with her right foot, leaping upward with all her might. As she reached her apex, she kicked off the wall with her left foot, using the rebound force to propel herself a little higher.

Qian Cangyi raised his head and watched Ningjing disappear into the darkness. Two seconds later, he called out loudly,

"How is it?"

Ningjing's voice came back from the opposite side shortly after, "I've made it across. Take care of yourself."

Qian Cangyi sighed, using his right hand against the wall to push himself up, and then turned his head to look in the direction from which the corpses were crawling.

"This is killing me. My injuries from just now haven't healed, and now I have to run again, not giving people even a shred of a break. Is there really no other way?"

Complaining aside, Qian Cangyi still forced himself to stand up.

Five minutes later, Qian Cangyi's legs could no longer carry him; the pain in his limbs felt like needle pricks. Just as he intended to stop and rest for a couple of seconds, suddenly, his ankle was grabbed by a cold hand.

We're done for.

This thought flashed through Qian Cangyi's mind. The next second, several more hands seized his feet, and he tried to break free, but to no avail.

Shortly after, he tumbled to the ground, and the pursuing corpses grabbed his body, dragging him toward the moon-phase door frame.

"They didn't kill me—could it be that they want to take me to see the Moon God?"

Qian Cangyi shielded his head with his left hand while trying to grab the edge of the stairs with his right, but he had already run out of strength, let alone the ability to contend with the brute force of this horde of corpses.

Before long, he was brought back behind the moon-phase door frame and into the huge pit.

The corpses dragged Qian Cangyi across the pit, while the severed heads inside giggled, seemingly mocking him for meeting the exact same fate as themselves.

The joyous expressions in the eyes of the severed heads now felt like the most vicious curse; they desperately wanted Qian Cangyi to suffer and be tormented alongside them.

Qian Cangyi's gaze turned icy. His right hand suddenly shot out, grabbing the hair of a man's severed head and dragging it across the ground right along with himself.

"Ah, ah, ah! Let me go! Let go!" the severed head wailed.

Yet Qian Cangyi began to laugh, "Hehehehe." Only, there was not the slightest trace of joy in his laughter—only endless sorrow and despair.

The corpses dragged Qian Cangyi out of the pit, bringing him right before the Moon God before returning to the pit.

The sensation of a rabbit being watched by an eagle washed over him. Qian Cangyi propped himself up with both hands and laboriously climbed to his feet. Afterward, he faced the Moon God, a deity that should only ever exist in murals and legends.

The crimson sphere slowly rotated atop the black robe, resembling an exquisite work of art.

"I, I ask the Moon God to take back the wish." Qian Cangyi placed his right hand over his chest, breathing heavily.

The Moon God stood quietly in place, doing nothing at all. Suddenly, a cold voice echoed in Qian Cangyi's mind.

"Human, you possess two souls."

This... Is the Moon God speaking directly to me? Directly inside my mind?

Qian Cangyi was utterly shocked, feeling as though he were dreaming—a bizarre dream from which he did not know if he could ever wake.

"One soul has already surrendered to me, while the other soul harbors a special power."

The voice sounded once more.

A chill ran through Qian Cangyi's heart.

The soul that had already surrendered to the Moon God was naturally Mo An's soul, and the other soul was undoubtedly his own. But what was this special power? Could it refer to the power of Hell Movie? After all, he now belonged to Hell Movie and was an actor of Hell Movie.

"What on earth is it?" The Moon God's voice emerged again, though this time, it gave Qian Cangyi no further time to ponder.

The next second, Qian Cangyi felt the crimson sphere—serving as the Moon God's head—gradually drawing closer to him, and all his attention became focused entirely on that crimson sphere. Suddenly, a sensation of weightlessness made Qian Cangyi's body jerk; he realized it wasn't the crimson sphere drawing closer to him, but rather that he was falling toward the crimson sphere. He was plummeting!