The oil lamps in the burial cave flickered. Those dismembered corpses might be lying in wait in some corner for living people to arrive.

The thought of this was enough to send a chill down their spines, even though they knew immortal arts.

Before long, they found another girl statue.

This girl statue's appearance was mottled, with some of its color flaked off. At first glance, it looked as if one half of its lips was smiling, while the other half was crying.

With the shadow of the last statue looming over them, they hesitated, not daring to draw their swords.

But then, a gust of wind brushed past them, followed by a few crisp cracking sounds, and the girl statue split apart from a distance. This time, the statue was empty again. There was no one inside, only blood and claw marks, as if the person sealed within had once scratched desperately at the pottery statue, trying to get out...

Looking at the fragments on the ground, it meant... it had really gotten out.

A paper talisman suddenly flew out from the fragments with a "swoosh," landing between Xiao Fuxuan's fingers. He unfolded the paper and saw written on it: Respectfully Offered by Immortal Envoy Gao Er.

"Gao Er?" the Immortal Sect disciple mused.

Seeing one of them with a conflicted expression, Wu Xingxue asked, "What's wrong? You look like you're in agony."

"Gao Er..."

"Hiss, Gao Er?"

The young disciple repeated the name a few more times, then shook his head. "I was just wondering which family she belongs to. I've heard this name before, but I don't think it was from my senior brothers or sisters. Ah, I can't remember. I've heard too many names of victims recently, they're all mixed up."

Speaking of too many victims, they glanced at Xiao Fuxuan. They seemed to want to ask something but were too intimidated to do so.

They turned and picked the handsome and gentle-looking Yi Wusheng. "Senior, since you're knowledgeable about the origin and use of this Life Spirit Talisman, do you know how many boy and girl statues are needed in total if one truly wants to bring the god statue to life?"

"'Don't take the words 'bring the god statue to life' seriously. It's just a distorted rumor, after all,'" Yi Wusheng said. "'In a hundred years, I've never heard of anyone succeeding.'"

In fact, even calling it a summoning isn't quite right. The essence of it is just to let the god statue be imbued with a little bit of spirit, so the summoning family can then use the statue to convey their words to the main deity in the Immortal Capital. Whether it's actually heard is another matter entirely.

This is a formation that even proper Immortal Sects rarely use; it's mostly regarded as folklore.

As a youth, Yi Wusheng happened to love listening to these urban folk tales. Although they were crude and unsystematic, they were very interesting, and he remembered most of what he had heard. But he never expected to one day encounter that folklore in such a way.

He was silent for a moment, then answered, "It should be thirty-three boys and girls."

"That's right then," the Immortal Sect disciple nodded.

"If I remember correctly, there were indeed thirty-three households that were Summoned. Right, senior brother?"

"Right. Including today's, it's exactly thirty-three households."

Exactly thirty-three households?

Wu Xingxue suddenly spoke up, "Why don't you think again, could you have overcounted?"

The young Immortal Sect disciple was stunned, his face flushing red. "Senior, please don't tease us. There are only thirty-three households in total, how could we miscount?"

"Then that's not right," Wu Xingxue said. "One household offered two people. Thirty-three households, doesn't that make thirty-four people?"

The young disciples were stunned, then it dawned on them.

The family that brought them to Great Sorrow Valley had lost two little girls, Ah Yuan and Ah Tai. If counted that way, then there was one extra person.

If they were short, one could say they hadn't gathered enough people yet. But now there was one extra, so could the formation still work?

"Besides, why is there an extra person?"

"Did we miscount someone?"

"Let's ask."

The young disciple wanted to ask the commoners, but when he turned his head, he found the woman standing right behind him, extremely close, her pitch-black eyes staring at him eerily.

In that instant, the young disciple suddenly remembered and cried out, "Gao Er!"

He finally remembered. The name "Gao Er" on the girl statue wasn't one he'd heard from his senior brothers or sisters; it was what this woman had said when she came to him and introduced herself. She had said her two daughters were Summoned into Great Sorrow Valley and wanted their help to go into the valley to search.

What if the ones who were Summoned weren't her two daughters at all?

What if... it was she herself?

Then the thirty-three households would make for exactly the right number of people.

Immediately after, he also thought of how among the boy and girl statues they had found, there were a total of four empty ones. Judging by the names, they were two male and two female.

And the commoners who had asked them to enter the valley also happened to number four—two men and two women!

Gao Er gave him a smile. Her pitch-black eyes curved, and her mouth, revealed from under the thick cloth scarf, also curved into a black, hollow arc.

The young disciple's hair stood on end, and his flying sword shot out.

In an instant, the thick cloth scarf wrapped around Gao Er's neck came undone, revealing the characters on her neck. Her neck had been cut along the characters, held together by only a sliver of flesh and skin. As she moved, it wobbled precariously.

The young disciple suddenly understood why these commoners were wrapped in thick coats, their hands and feet bound so tightly.

It was because they were afraid of falling apart...

Perhaps realizing they could no longer keep up the pretense, the four commoners stopped acting and each picked a person to cling to.

Three of them chose the three young Immortal Sect disciples. As for the extra one, it darted toward the other side.

When Wu Xingxue felt the breath on his back, he sighed softly.

'They sure know how to pick,' he thought.

His fingers were already raised, but when he turned his head, he met Xiao Fuxuan's eyes.

Wu Xingxue: "..."

The next instant, the Lord of Zhaoye City, who had just ground a pile of Yin Creatures to dust, lowered his hand and pivoted on his toes to get behind Xiao Fuxuan. He pressed his fingers against the High Immortal's back, pushed him a step forward, and said, "High Immortal, save me, I'm scared."

Xiao Fuxuan: "..."

Ning Huaishan and Fang Chu: ".............................."

'Believe it or not, the two of us are more scared of you!'