The pit was roughly ten square meters in diameter and funneled downward into a large opening about two meters wide. Beyond the opening, it was pitch black. Shining a flashlight inside felt like peering into an endless abyss. Wisps of cold smoke swirled through the flashlight beam, making the scene all the more eerie.
Xiao Ying appeared anxious. She reached out to help Xiao Gun Knife up from the pit's edge, then prepared to jump down herself. I grabbed her arm.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm going down to save my cousin!" she declared.
"Do you even know what's down there? Jumping in is suicide. You're not saving him—you're joining him in a death trap!" I snapped, frustrated at her impulsiveness.
"Whether I live or die for my cousin is none of your business," Xiao Ying retorted, shaking off my grip and sliding down the slope toward the bottom.
Big Mouth Rong, leaning over the edge and panting, called after her. "Hey, girl! The kid's got a point. Don't rush in; let's think of a plan first."
Xiao Gun Knife chimed in, "Young lady, don't do anything rash. People who die can't come back…"
But Xiao Ying ignored them and slid to the bottom of the slope, stopping just short of the opening. She glared back at us. "I'm not going into the hole. Why are you all freaking out?"
Xiao Gun Knife fell silent, realizing we had misunderstood her. I followed her down, sliding to the bottom. The soil was soft, and there was a narrow ledge at the base that prevented us from tumbling into the opening. Judging by the marks on the slope, Big Mouth Rong and Xiao Gun Knife must have been pulled here earlier. Without that buffer, they might have fallen straight into the abyss.
Xiao Ying didn't acknowledge me. Instead, she snatched the flashlight from my hand and squatted to shine it into the darkness. Upon closer inspection, the opening wasn't as deep as it had seemed. The cold smoke obscured the light beam, but I estimated it was only four or five meters down.
"I don't think it's that deep," Xiao Ying muttered to herself, still sulking. "A sixty-meter rope should do."
Her words reminded me that we did have rope in our packs. Wasting no time, I grabbed the climbing rope from her bag and tossed one end to the others above.
"Find something sturdy to tie it to," I called up.
Big Mouth Rong opened a lantern and wandered off, presumably to look for something suitable. After some bickering and cursing, the two of them announced that the rope was securely anchored. I gave it a firm tug; it held fast.
Xiao Ying immediately strapped on her harness and prepared to descend.
"Wait!" Xiao Gun Knife shouted. "The bottom might be the heart of a ghost array. The yin energy is too strong—it could harm your body."
At the mention of a ghost array, my scalp tingled. "Are you guessing?" I asked.
"No," Xiao Gun Knife replied. "When I was escorting a ghost cargo, I met a spirit who had escaped from this area. It said it had died in a pit full of ghosts. Based on its description, I think this is the place. This must be the heart of the ghost array!"
If that was true, we were in over our heads. Even Xiao Ning was terrified of ghost arrays. But seeing Xiao Ying's determined expression, I knew there was no stopping her. Gritting my teeth, I suggested, "We could burn the array with Samadhi Fire."
I fumbled for talismans, only to remember I had discarded the soggy, ruined ones earlier.
"Don't even think about using fire!" Big Mouth Rong shouted. "There are ghosts everywhere down there. If you burn the array, they'll all escape, and none of us will survive!"
"So what do we do?" Xiao Ying asked, frustrated.
Xiao Gun Knife scratched his head. "I have one artifact left—a Spirit Officer's Belt. But without talismans, it can only handle one or two ghosts. To suppress the entire array, we'd need to draw runes on it with yin-yang blood."
Big Mouth Rong scoffed. "Yin-yang blood? That's just nonsense. Where would we even find that?"
"What's yin-yang blood?" I asked, curious.
Xiao Gun Knife opened his mouth to explain, but Big Mouth Rong cut him off. "It's the combined blood of a pure yang man and a pure yin woman. Both are rare enough on their own, let alone together. None of us fit the bill. I mean, I'm definitely not a pure yang man."
"You're a eunuch!" Xiao Gun Knife retorted.
"And you're a damn idiot!" Big Mouth Rong shot back.
As the two bickered, I interrupted. "Actually, we have what you need. Xiao Ying and I are your yin-yang pair."
The two stared at me in disbelief, their eyes wide. Then they exchanged a sly grin. Big Mouth Rong smirked, "Well, then, start bleeding."
Xiao Gun Knife eagerly pulled a small brush from his pack, his eyes gleaming. "We're saved! I might even recover my ghost cargo!"
Their predatory expressions made me uneasy, but Xiao Ying and I climbed back up and donated a bit of blood. Xiao Gun Knife brought out his Spirit Officer's Belt, an old silk sash embroidered with Daoist scripture. The characters were faded and yellowed with age, but his deft movements as he painted runes with our blood impressed me.
The completed rune glowed faintly as Xiao Gun Knife closed his eyes, chanted the Spirit Officer's Mantra, and threw the belt into the pit. It disappeared into the darkness.
"Check for changes," he instructed.
Big Mouth Rong jumped down and shone his lantern into the opening. He grinned. "The yin energy is gone. The ghost array is suppressed!"
"Then let's go!" Xiao Gun Knife exclaimed, sliding down the rope into the pit.
I was skeptical that such a worn belt, marked with a bit of blood, could subdue a ghost array that even terrified Xiao Ning. But seeing Xiao Gun Knife's confidence, I followed without hesitation. If he was willing to risk it, so was I.