Path of the Witch God
"Oh... Then when will you be back?"
"Probably in the afternoon. I'll be back for dinner."
"Okay."
After saying that, Chen Ling in the cotton-padded jacket took a deep look at Chen Yan, turned around, pushed the door open, and left.
The old wooden door emitted a creaking sound. As Chen Ling in the cotton-padded jacket passed a small mirror on the wall, he subconsciously stopped in his tracks... Chen Ling met the eyes of his cotton-padded jacket wearing self in the mirror. Seeing that haggard and pale face, his heart was filled with mixed feelings.
At such a close distance, Chen Ling could see all the details on that face clearly... That was a gray and gloomy face, seemingly radiating sickness and suffering from the inside out. Although Chen Ling didn't know how to read faces, presumably anyone seeing this face could tell that his life was about to come to an end. This was the face of a dying person.
Congenital heart disease... could it torture a person to this extent?
At this moment, upon seeing his own appearance, District 3 Chen Ling's gaze also inevitably wavered, but after a long silence, a look of determination still surfaced in his eyes.
It was around five o'clock at this time, and the sky was not yet bright. Under the pitch-black night sky, the youth stood alone amidst the wind and snow, and his breaths condensed into white mist.
After taking a deep breath, he lowered his head and advanced along the street, his footprints extending towards the end of the street...
Crunch— Crunch...
Before he could walk too far, a melodious Opera Vocals came from the house behind him, echoing amidst the dim scattered snow.
"The Icy Moon Over the Sea is just beginning to rise~ Seeing the Jade Rabbit, the Jade Rabbit is also rising early in the east. That icy moon leaves the sea island, the universe is exceptionally bright, the bright moon is in the sky, exactly like Chang'e leaving the Moon Palace, I am like Chang'e leaving the Moon Palace..."
The youth in the cotton-padded jacket stopped in the snow and looked back.
"This kid..."
After a long while, he smiled helplessly and continued walking in the direction of District 2.
By the time he crossed Frost Street, Chen Yan's voice could no longer be heard. Holding a Kerosene Lamp, District 3 Chen Ling walked straight ahead along the road, the dim light and shadow tearing open a corner of the dark night...
Right at this moment, an unhealthy flush suddenly appeared on his face, and with a stumble beneath his feet, he directly fell to the ground.
"Cough cough cough cough cough..."
Amidst the violent coughing sounds, fresh blood frantically overflowed from his fingertips, splashing onto the pale snowfield.
But bizarrely, this fresh blood was actually not red, but tinged with blackness. Wisps of a bizarre Aura drifted out from it, causing even Chen Ling, who was currently possessing his body, to instantly furrow his brows!
Something's not right...
Even if it was congenital heart disease, it wouldn't change the color of the blood, right?
Moreover, Chen Ling actually sensed a trace of an extremely familiar Aura within that fresh blood... Thinking carefully, Chen Ling's pupils abruptly contracted.
He remembered. Before he was about to step onto the twisted Path of the Actor, there were three Divine Path Stars that extended an olive branch to him: the black Path of the Soldier, the red Path of the Actor, and a purple star... At the time, Chen Ling didn't know what that purple star represented, but later, after coming into contact with the Witchcraft Association in the Red Dust Domain, he realized that it was the Divine Path Star representing the Path of the Witch God.
If his talent for the Path of the Soldier originated from himself, and his talent for the Path of the Actor originated from Chen Yan, then where... did the Divine Path Star of the Path of the Witch God that lit up in the sky back then originate from?
"... It's you?"
Chen Ling looked at the youth in the cotton-padded jacket vomiting blood in the snow and muttered to himself, "I was favored by the Path of the Witch God... because of you?"
No wonder the last time he broke free from the Mirror of True Self, a burst of purple light erupted from District 3 Chen Ling's body. Thinking about it carefully, perhaps it was related to the Path of the Witch God!
But Chen Ling didn't understand. Even if District 3 Chen Ling had once been favored by the Path of the Witch God, it shouldn't go as far as having the Aura of the Path of the Witch God contained within his blood...
While Chen Ling was puzzled, the youth in the cotton-padded jacket slowly stood up from the pool of black blood. After wiping the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth, his face became increasingly pale amidst the wind and snow.
He took a deep breath, dragged his heavy body, and walked slowly forward.
Chen Ling remembered the road from District 3 to District 2. This stretch of road was very long and very steep. Even on a sunny day, it was difficult to walk, let alone on a snowy day when the sky was not yet bright. Moreover, District 3 Chen Ling's physical condition was already this terrible...
Just when Chen Ling was worried whether he could walk to the destination, the youth in the cotton-padded jacket changed direction and actually came to a short and inconspicuous small Hill.
Familiar with the path, he walked a circle around the Hill, and ultimately arrived beside a bare tree trunk. After looking around, he slowly began to dig in the snow with both hands...
"This place is..."
Seeing this familiar place, Chen Ling suddenly froze.
Although it was covered by white snow at this moment, Chen Ling could still recognize at a glance that this was exactly the place where he and Chen Yan were buried after being killed back then!
The cold wind whimpered, and the flying snow fluttered.
That youth wearing the worn-out cotton-padded jacket dug open the thick accumulated snow with his hands. Underneath was a wooden board. The moment he removed the wooden board, Chen Ling's eyes were full of astonishment.
Beneath the wooden board was a small storage dirt pit.
As District 3 Chen Ling coughed while taking those things out one by one, a dazzling array of items was laid out on the snow... A black hen that had been dead for who knows how long, a tattered tree branch of unknown material, a bottle of container holding a mysterious liquid that emitted a foul stench, a cross tied together with unknown bones, and large bags upon large bags of countless animal hearts...
Perhaps because they had always been buried under the snow, these things had been frozen solid. They hadn't rotted and didn't have much smell, being perfectly preserved.
After doing all this, District 3 Chen Ling rested for quite a while before getting up again. He unplugged the container holding the mysterious liquid and poured it little by little onto the snow.
This liquid soaked into the snow, as pitch-black as ink, gradually interweaving into a certain mysterious and complex circular Markings. District 3 Chen Ling was very careful, making sure every drop accurately landed where he intended. About three minutes later, a complete black formation with a radius of over four meters surfaced on the snow.
Immediately after, he began placing those branches, the hen, the cross, and a large amount of animal hearts at corresponding positions in the formation... like a bizarre and crude ritual of Sacrifice.
The youth in the cotton-padded jacket stood in the center of the formation and slowly raised his head. Under the dim sky with flying snow, a purple star was faintly discernible.
"I'll trust you once..."
"If this ghostly thing is really effective, I am willing to sacrifice everything to you... If the ritual ends and my illness still shows no signs of recovery, then those dreams are ultimately just dreams... I will no longer believe in whatever Witchcraft, nor will I accept those things you instilled."
"Mom and Dad said they contacted a famous doctor in District 2 who can replace my heart for me... Even if this fails, I still have at least one chance to survive."
District 3 Chen Ling's murmurs rang out.
Hearing these words, the Chen Ling possessing his body felt hundreds of doubts surging up in his heart.