Chapter 21: Guidance
The candle flame flickered. After entering the black mist, the flame on the white tallow candle emitted a hazy white light, dispelling the nearby black mist while also calming the mind.
The white tallow candle had two functions: first, to dispel the black mist, and second, to stabilize one's emotions. Su Xiao barely felt the second effect. Blade techniques inherently cultivated the mind, and coupled with his high willpower attribute, the combination allowed him to directly ignore the candle's second effect.
Su Xiao walked through the black mist passage. The path carved out by the white tallow candle was only two meters high and one meter wide, quite cramped. If someone had claustrophobia, they would need to be pinched on the philtrum for resuscitation at this point.
The black mist passage was not only cramped but also silent. If it had remained quiet, that would have been fine, but after Su Xiao advanced a certain distance, whispers emerged from the black mist on both sides. These fragmented sounds were completely unintelligible.
The white tallow candle could only burn for 20 minutes in the black mist. If Su Xiao couldn't exit the black mist or find a wooden cabin within that time, he would be trapped and eventually die from the mist's erosion.
Unfortunately, there was no way to speed things up now. The candlelight dispelled the black mist slowly, allowing only a normal walking pace.
Wax dripped from Su Xiao's fingers, falling to the ground without leaving any trace. Looking back, a trail of wax droplets glowed with an ethereal white light.
After advancing for three minutes, Su Xiao stopped and raised his right arm. In Su Xiao's team, this gesture meant silence.
Faint footsteps came from ahead. An oil lamp appeared in the distance, dispelling a large area of black mist.
A hunched old woman approached, carrying the oil lamp. She wore an old gray robe and carried an equally worn square wooden box on her back. Her white hair was messy and split, and her mouth was completely sewn shut.
Thump, thump~
The old woman tapped her oil lamp with a bone staff in her hand. The threads stitching her lips together came to life, pulling away from her mouth like black thin worms writhing beside her lips.
"Young man, want to buy a candle?"
The old woman's voice was dry and harsh, yet strangely, it didn't evoke annoyance.
"What's the price?"
Seeing the old woman, Su Xiao wanted her oil lamp, but whether he could defeat her was the question—no, after provoking her, he wouldn't even have a chance for a strategic retreat.
"One shadow stone for one white tallow candle."
The hunched old woman unstrapped the wooden box from her back and opened it, revealing dozens of neatly arranged white tallow candles inside. Quite the wealthy display.
Su Xiao hesitated. The white tallow candle was far too expensive. For the dead, a shadow stone meant a certain degree of freedom. Even if they couldn't leave the Death House, they wouldn't be confined to a small wooden cabin of thirty or forty square meters. For that freedom, it was clear what the dead were willing to pay.
And this hunched old woman was asking for one shadow stone in exchange for one white tallow candle. Trading would be a loss, but not trading meant that when the candle in his hand burned out, everything would end. The three shadow stones he kept wouldn't even have a chance to go into the coffin with him.
Su Xiao's luck fluctuated between good and bad. When it was good, even the lucky king would grit their teeth in envy and shed tears of admiration. When it was bad, even the unluckiest would smile with relief.
Therefore, he wasn't sure if he could find a wooden cabin in the black mist before one white tallow candle burned out.
"I'll trade for one."
"As you wish, young man."
The hunched old woman took out a white tallow candle and handed it to Su Xiao. Su Xiao likewise produced a shadow stone.
Just as the transaction was completed, the hunched old woman suddenly grabbed Su Xiao's wrist.
"Get lost!"
The old woman's voice wasn't loud, but her eyes widened, and her white hair flew wildly without wind. Her aura was so powerful that Brother Axe and the Spider Hunter were like cute little animals compared to her.
Su Xiao had encountered another old woman this strong before—a demon clan crone, said to be a monster among demons, the kind not even requested for assistance during wars with other races.
The hunched old woman's hair slowly fell back down, and hurried fleeing sounds came from the surrounding black mist.
She released Su Xiao's wrist and lightly patted his arm.
"They'll be drawn by the candle flame. Be careful. When fear takes hold in your heart, they'll devour you completely."
"Oh."
"Don't worry. They won't dare come again before the candle burns out. Head in that direction—it'll bring you more gains. Two white tallow candles are enough to get you to..."
Before the hunched old woman could finish, the black threads beside her lips threaded through the holes in her lips, sewing her mouth shut again.
The Voiceless Ones were not supposed to give hints. But once someone bought a white tallow candle from her, she would endure the pain of soul stitching to offer guidance to the buyer, because one white tallow candle wasn't worth a shadow stone. This was her compensation as a Voiceless One.
The hunched old woman shouldered her wooden box, picked up her oil lamp, and walked away. As soon as she left, the dispelled black mist quickly converged back, and the passage returned to being two meters high and one meter wide.
Su Xiao glanced at the white tallow candle in his hand and began moving in the direction the hunched old woman had indicated. It wasn't that he trusted her, but even if danger lay in that direction, it was still more reliable than wandering aimlessly in the black mist.
Su Xiao had no fear of danger. What worried him most was finding nothing in the black mist and eventually dying from its erosion—that would be the most unbearable outcome.
However, he also worried about another scenario: after reaching the direction the hunched old woman pointed, she would be waiting there and say, "Young man, want another white tallow candle?"
The whispers beside his ears occasionally appeared, but after encountering the hunched old woman, their frequency noticeably decreased and shortened, each lasting only two or three seconds before vanishing.
After advancing for nearly 16 minutes, the first white tallow candle in Su Xiao's hand burned out. He lit the second one, leaving only 20 minutes.
"Young man, you've strayed off course."
The hunched old woman's voice came from within the black mist. Hearing this, Su Xiao stopped.
"Another white tallow candle."
Su Xiao tested the waters. If the old woman responded, he could at least determine whether she was friend or foe.
"Don't waste shadow stones. They're too precious."
The hunched old woman's voice faded away.
Su Xiao's mind never stopped churning. After a moment of deliberation, he said, "Don't you regret not becoming the master of the Death House?"
"...Of course... I regret it. Safe travels, young man."
The light of the oil lamp gradually receded into the distance.
After advancing for another 14 minutes and 22 seconds, Su Xiao stopped. Two meters ahead of him, a wooden wall had appeared.
As Su Xiao approached the wooden wall, he realized it was actually a wooden cabin.
Following the cabin's wall, he quickly found the door. His hand pressed against the wooden door and slowly pushed it open.
Creak~
The wooden door swung open, and candlelight slowly illuminated the room.
When Su Xiao fully opened the door, he saw a woman whose neck, wrists, and ankles were all bound with iron shackles.
On the wooden table beside this woman lay a white tallow candle as thick as an arm and nearly a meter long. Baha was stunned, feeling that this thing could no longer be called a candle.
Not only that, but next to this oversized white tallow candle lay a short blade and a gem. By the look of it, this was at least a Holy Spirit-rank gem.
PS: (Recommending a friend's book, title: Life Exchange Game).