Chapter 738: Witch God Path

"Oh... when will you be back?"

"This afternoon, for dinner."

With that, the Chen Ling wearing the cotton coat gave Chen Yan a deep look, then turned and pushed the door open to leave.

The old wooden door creaked. As the Chen Ling in the cotton coat passed a small mirror on the wall, he instinctively stopped. Chen Ling gazed at his reflection in the mirror, seeing a haggard and pale face, and a myriad of emotions stirred within him.

At such close proximity, Chen Ling could discern every detail on that face. It was a pallid face, appearing to radiate illness and suffering from within. Although Chen Ling could not read faces, anyone who saw this face would surely realize that his life was nearing its end. This was the face of a dying person.

Congenital heart disease... could it torment someone to this extent?

Chen Ling from District Three, seeing his own appearance at that moment, couldn't help but waver, but after a long silence, a look of determination emerged in his eyes.

He pulled his worn cotton coat tighter, stepped out the front door, and scattered snowflakes, carried by the cold wind, brushed against his face, instantly turning his pale complexion a vivid red from the cold.

It was around five o'clock, still dark, and the young man stood alone in the wind and snow under the black sky, his breath condensing into white mist.

After taking a deep breath, he lowered his head and walked along the street, his footprints extending towards the end of the road.

Shhh—shhh...

Before he had walked too far, a melodious operatic tune drifted from the house behind him, echoing amidst the dim, falling snow.

"The icy moon on the island begins to ascend, seeing the Jade Rabbit, the Jade Rabbit has risen early in the east. The icy moon departs the island, the world is exceptionally bright, the brilliant moon hangs in the sky, just like Chang'e leaving the Moon Palace, I am like Chang'e leaving the Moon Palace..."

The boy in the cotton coat paused in the snow and looked back.

"This kid..."

After a long moment, he smiled helplessly and continued towards District Two.

By the time he passed through Frost Street, Chen Yan's voice could no longer be heard. Chen Ling from District Three carried a kerosene lamp, walking straight along the road, the dim light tearing open a corner of the night.

Just then, an unhealthy flush suddenly spread across his face, and he stumbled, falling directly to the ground.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..."

Amidst violent coughing, blood poured out from his fingertips, splattering onto the pale snow.

But strangely, this blood was not red; it was tinged with black, and wisps of an eerie aura diffused from it. Even Chen Ling, who was currently possessing him, instantly frowned!

No...

Even congenital heart disease wouldn't change the color of blood, would it?

Moreover, Chen Ling felt an extremely familiar aura within that blood... After carefully recalling, Chen Ling's pupils suddenly constricted.

He remembered now. Before he was about to embark on the Twisted Divine Path of Performance, three Divine Path stars had extended an olive branch to him: the black Divine Path of Warfare, the red Divine Path of Performance, and a purple star... At the time, Chen Ling didn't know what the purple star represented, but later, after encountering the Witchcraft Association in the Mortal World Realm, he realized it was a Divine Path star representing the Divine Path of Witchcraft.

If his talent for the Divine Path of Warfare came from himself, and his talent for the Divine Path of Performance came from Chen Yan, then where did the Divine Path of Witchcraft star that lit up in the sky come from?

"...Is it you?"

Chen Ling looked at the boy in the cotton coat, who was spitting blood into the snow, and murmured, "I was favored by the Divine Path of Witchcraft... was it because of you?"

No wonder, last time when he escaped from the True Self Mirror, a purple light erupted from Chen Ling from District Three. Thinking about it carefully, it might indeed be related to the Divine Path of Witchcraft!

But Chen Ling didn't understand. Even if Chen Ling from District Three had been favored by the Divine Path of Witchcraft, it shouldn't mean that his blood contained the aura of the Divine Path of Witchcraft...

As Chen Ling pondered in confusion, the boy in the cotton coat slowly rose from the black pool of blood. After wiping the blood from the corners of his mouth, his face in the wind and snow grew even paler.

He took a deep breath, dragged his heavy body, and slowly walked forward.

Chen Ling remembered the path from District Three to District Two; it was long and steep, difficult to traverse even on a clear day, let alone on a snowy day before dawn, and Chen Ling from District Three's physical condition was this poor...

Just as Chen Ling worried whether he could make it to his destination, the boy in the cotton coat changed direction, unexpectedly heading towards a small, inconspicuous hill.

He skillfully circled the hill and finally came to a bare tree trunk. After looking around, he slowly began digging in the snow with both hands.

"This is..."

Chen Ling suddenly froze, seeing this familiar place.

Although it was covered by white snow at the moment, Chen Ling could instantly recognize it: this was where he and Chen Yan were buried after they were killed!

The cold wind whimpered, and snowflakes drifted down.

The young man in the old cotton coat dug away the thick snow with his hands. Beneath it was a wooden board. The moment he removed the board, Chen Ling's eyes were filled with astonishment.

Beneath the board was a small storage pit in the earth.

As Chen Ling from District Three coughed and took out the items one by one, a dazzling array of objects was laid out on the snow... a black hen that had been dead for an unknown period, a broken tree branch of an unknown material, a container holding a mysterious, foul-smelling liquid, a cross made from unidentified bones tied together, and large bags filled with countless animal hearts...

Perhaps because they had remained buried under the snow, these items were frozen, not decomposed, and had little odor, preserved remarkably well.

After completing all of this, Chen Ling from District Three rested for a while before getting up again, uncorking the container of mysterious liquid, and slowly pouring it onto the snow.

The liquid permeated the snow, black as ink, gradually intertwining into a mysterious and complex circular pattern. Chen Ling from District Three was very careful, every drop falling precisely where he intended. Approximately three minutes later, a complete black array, with a radius of several meters, fully emerged on the snow.

Next, he began to place the branches, the hen, the cross, and the large quantity of animal hearts at their corresponding positions within the array... like a strange and rudimentary sacrificial ritual.

The boy in the cotton coat stood at the center of the array, slowly raising his head. Beneath the dim, snowy sky, a purple star shimmered faintly.

"I'll trust you this once..."

"If this strange thing actually works, I am willing to offer everything to you... If the ritual ends and there's no sign of my illness recovering, then those dreams are just dreams after all... I won't believe in any witchcraft anymore, nor will I accept the things you've instilled in me."

"Mom and Dad said they found a famous doctor in District Two who can give me a heart transplant... Even if this fails, I'll still have at least one more chance to live."

Chen Ling from District Three's murmur sounded.

Hearing these words, a multitude of questions surged within Chen Ling, who was possessing him.