1TWITF[C Chapter 72

Chapter 72

He was doing it on purpose. Without the villagers’ guidance, they couldn’t enter the forbidden area. Therefore, he hoped to get more villagers to go to the forbidden area.

Lu Yanli and An Xingyu had already slipped away. The other villagers looked at each other, wondering where the rumor had come from.

His eyes were full of sorrow: “That’s to atone for sins! Those buried in the forbidden area have to atone for the sins committed by their ancestors for all eternity!”

“We have to guard it for the rest of our lives! We can’t leave even after death! Otherwise, even if we die, our souls will never be at peace!”

“Atonement?” Xie Ziqing repeated the word softly, “What atonement?”

The four of them hid in the crowd, inconspicuous.

Honestly, Xie Ziqing didn’t want to go to the forbidden area. He could sense the extremely terrifying aura in the forbidden area after only going there once. If he had to choose between the forbidden area and the fierce ghosts in the village, he would rather return to the village. At least Lili would protect them.

Xie Ziqing and Yu Huan didn’t know much about the secrets that the others had investigated, so they naturally didn’t know what the village chief meant by atonement.

An Xingyu explained simply, “Their ancestors should be grave robbers. The forbidden area is the tomb they robbed. Because of the curse, they have to guard this place for the rest of their lives.”

Wait! He suddenly realized something was wrong.

Since they had to guard it for the rest of their lives, why were there still young people from the village who went out to develop? When they saw people returning from outside to worship their ancestors, the villagers weren’t surprised at all.

Yu Huan hissed softly, “Good heavens, a bunch of grave robbers. This group of people deserves it.” He had a relative who worked in archaeology and usually read tomb-raiding novels, but he hated grave robbers. Under his influence, Yu Huan also disliked tomb raiding.

Xie Ziqing bumped him, “Don’t gloat. Now we’re also villagers of Shangxian Village.”

Yu Huan immediately frowned again in worry.

The villager who had questioned earlier became dejected: “So we can only wait for death? And we don’t know where Lili has gone, that ingrate!”

The village chief had no choice but to emphasize again: “It’s not necessarily that bad. Let’s all go back first. Standing by this reservoir isn’t a good idea. Lili, she… she’ll be back in a while, right?”

He himself didn’t have much confidence in these words. Lili didn’t care even when her whole family was gone, let alone the other villagers.

“Saying she’ll be back, when will she be back?”

“It’ll be fine after the ancestral Ancestor worshiprites are over. Wasn’t it like this before? Things always happen before the ancestral Ancestor worshiprites, but it’ll be fine after worshiping the ancestors.”

Lu Yanli felt something was strange.

ancestral Ancestor worshiprites… worshiping ancestors, but their ancestors were clearly grave robbers who had offended the tomb owner. Why did they think that worshiping ancestors could protect them?

What exactly were they worshiping during their ancestral Ancestor worshiprites?

But the villagers obviously didn’t intend to explain. When ancestral Ancestor worshiprites were mentioned, everyone’s spirits were lifted.

“That’s right, it’ll be fine after the ancestral Ancestor worshiprites are over. It’s only a few days, everyone hold on, just don’t break any taboos.”

The villagers were actually hesitant about whether to go to the forbidden area. Since the village chief had said so, everyone looked at each other and eventually slowly walked back, grumbling as they went.

Lu Yanli followed in the crowd. A familiar villager patted him on the shoulder: “Hey, Little Lu, you’ve been living in Zhang Bai’s house for a while. Do you know where Lili might have gone?”

Lu Yanli shook his head: “I only know she’ll go to the reservoir.”

He hesitated for a few seconds and still asked, “Doesn’t Lili go to the forbidden area? Why doesn’t everyone look for her in the forbidden area?”

The villager looked at Lu Yanli suspiciously and thought that he had just returned from outside and probably didn’t know much, so he explained to him: “You don’t know, Lili never goes to the forbidden area. Even the Baojiaxian guardian spirits invited by the village can’t go. Terrible things will happen if they go.”

“What terrible things?”

No matter how he pressed, the villager only shook his head and kept silent.

Now Lu Yanli was a little worried.

So, what would happen?

Lu Yanli was carrying the identity of a cult member, and he already knew that Lili knew he was of unknown origin. The reason she kept him around was just to draw out the people behind him. In addition, the Double Fish Jade Pendant had come back to him after so many twists and turns. To Lu Yanli now, Lili posed a much greater threat than the forbidden area.

That was why he took the initiative to cooperate with Lin Chu.

But… what would happen if Lili entered the forbidden area?

There were still two days until the first day of the Lunar New Year. Could they hold on for two days?

The ancestral Ancestor worshiprites two days later…

Lu Yanli pricked up his ears to listen.

It was a fear that welled up from the depths of the soul, penetrating into the bone marrow, inescapable, uncontrollable, the deepest level of fear and despair.

More terrible than death?

Lu Yanli couldn’t help but care about this sentence. He had long realized that there were too many things more terrible than death. If a person simply died, it might be a happy thing.

“What about the Lao Zhang family?”

“What can we do? We’ll deal with it together on the day of the ancestral Ancestor worshiprites. Who would dare to go to their door now?”

“Wait, when we came out just now, was their door closed?”

“Who was the last one out?”

Some people turned their gazes to Lu Yanli, who said, “I was the last one out. I closed the door.”

“That’s good, that’s good.”

After all, it was the place where the true form of Hu San Tai Nai was enshrined. Closing the door would help a little.

At this moment, in the village.

A little girl walked slowly from the entrance of the village. Her skin was very white, her hair was very black, and her face was delicate and beautiful. Even though it was already deep winter and the mountains were cold, she was still wearing a bright red dress.

She walked step by step to the door of Zhang Bo’s house, looked up, and then pushed open the door of Zhang Bo’s house.

Everywhere was wrapped in plain white, decorated with white cloth. The little girl’s red dress became the most beautiful color in the entire courtyard.

A cold wind blew past, and the three portrait photos on the mourning hall fell to the ground with a “pa” sound.

The paper figurine placed next to the coffin was blown high into the air by the wind with a “whoosh,” swaying in mid-air, as if someone were flying a kite.

After a while, the paper figurine was blown far away by the strong wind and disappeared.

In the forest, the villagers were still hurrying on their way.

When they came, they rushed forward out of fear. Now that they were returning, they realized that the journey was long. As they walked, some people noticed something was wrong.

“Have you guys noticed…”

“Noticed what?”

“It’s the back, the back… where are the people behind us?” One villager’s legs went weak.

He was walking in the middle and slightly behind the crowd. He clearly remembered that there were about thirty people behind him, but now when he looked… were people missing?

Had they fallen behind or…?

About a few hundred meters behind them, two paper dolls walked slowly.

Their faces were painted with two red circles, and the white paper background was pale. On the paper-made hands, blood dripped down.

Behind them, a bloody corpse lay on the ground, its skin completely peeled off, revealing bloody muscles. Some places were not peeled carefully, and even the yellow fat under the skin had flowed out.

In winter, many animals couldn’t find food. Two bloody corpses were placed here, and soon, the excited barking of wild dogs could be heard.

“I don’t want to walk in the back. People who walk in the back all die.”

“Don’t young people know how to respect the old and care for the young? Why are you squeezing us old people?”

“What squeezing? I was originally standing here. You were the one who cut in line.”

This forest, which everyone had always been very familiar with, was now full of murderous intent.

Lu Yanli, on the other hand, walked at the very front. It was hard to say whether he was squeezed out or did it on purpose.

Seeing this, An Xingyu tried hard to get through the crowd, and Yu Huan and Xie Ziqing quickly followed. In short, with someone leading the way, the team slowly began to move forward again.

However, the center of the team wasn’t so safe either.

The villager didn’t have time to dodge, and the branch went straight into his throat from his open mouth.

Blood splattered.

“Ah—”

The villagers around him scattered quickly. The villager still had some disbelief in his eyes, but the vitality in his eyes quickly disappeared. With a “bang,” the corpse fell to the ground.

“Ghost… it’s a ghost!”

Therefore, they didn’t see that on the towering tree, a little girl in a red dress was sitting. Her eyes had completely turned black, without a trace of white. Her expression was twisted and resentful. Rather than an ordinary person, she was more like a fierce ghost in a little girl’s skin!

The branch that killed the villager just now was thrown by her. Otherwise, an ordinary falling branch wouldn’t accurately fall into a person’s mouth in this way.

“What’s happening in the back?” Yu Huan asked curiously.

Xie Ziqing quickened his pace: “Probably someone died again.”

Just as he finished speaking, the village chief, who was walking behind them, fell to the ground with an “ouch.”

What had tripped the village chief was a sharp stone, and the village chief’s throat happened to fall on the top when he fell. As soon as he was helped up, a lot of blood spurted from his neck.

It turned out that the village chief had already died the moment he fell.

Everything happened so quickly. The people walking near the village chief stopped, but the villagers behind didn’t know and were still pushing forward desperately. People pushed people, and soon a few more fell.

“Don’t squeeze! You’ll squeeze people to death!”

“Don’t push! Stop! The village chief is dead!”

“You motherfuckers in the back, can’t you understand human language? Don’t squeeze!”

The villagers began to clamor, impatiently pushing and shoving, but their voices were too loud and noisy, and the people behind couldn’t hear them. They still tried to push forward, carrying the entire team forward.

There were also several old people among them. They were old and had hurriedly followed to the reservoir to find people. Their bones were brittle and couldn’t withstand falls. Originally, it would have been good to help them back and recuperate for a few days, but now…

“Crazy, it’s really crazy.” Yu Huan muttered as he ran forward. He now understood why An Xingyu and the others wanted to run to the front of the team. Otherwise, with the villagers’ crazy energy, he wouldn’t be able to get up again if he accidentally fell.

Now everyone realized again that it was unsafe to walk at the back and in the middle, and they should walk at the very front! Therefore, the team’s speed increased again. Everyone wanted to run to the first place, and Lu Yanli and the others had to speed up.

Behind the crowd, a little girl walked unhurriedly.

In her hand, she was still playing with origami.

The girl breathed on the top of the paper airplane and threw it out forcefully.

As the paper airplane flew, it slowly dispersed, changing from a paper airplane to a sheet of hell money soaked in blood. Just a few seconds before it completely fell apart, it landed on the face of a villager who glanced back.

Then, it stuck to the villager’s face as if it had been glued with super glue.

The villager’s mouth and nose were covered, wet and sticky, and a strong bloody smell drilled straight into his nasal cavity. He wanted to tear the paper apart, to break it, but he didn’t know what the paper was made of. No matter how he tore it, he couldn’t tear it off.

“Little Li! What’s wrong!” The person next to him was shocked. When Little Li turned his head, he was immediately startled.

“Ghost!”

“Not a ghost… help me! Help me!”

Little Li wanted to speak, but he couldn’t speak. No matter how he tore, the paper was firmly attached to his face, and the pain of suffocation had already made his head swell. He suddenly remembered that he had a bunch of keys in his pocket and quickly took them out and Sketchscratched his face.

The tip of the key was very useful, and it immediately scratched a gap. Little Li was overjoyed and tore along the gap, tearing off a bloody red piece of paper.

But his nose and mouth were still blocked. He went all out, touched the rolled-up edge on his face, and also pulled forcefully towards his mouth.

There was a soft “chīlā” sound.

The paper was torn off.

However, his face was still red.

Because while tearing off the paper, he also tore off his skin. If he lowered his head and looked carefully at the paper in his hand, he would find that there was also a layer of soft dermis attached to it.

But he never saw it.

“Don’t cry. Let’s count how many people are left.”

Some individuals thought that their families had gone to Zhang Bo’s house to pay their condolences and went to the door, but they also died there. The entire village’s population lost nearly one-fifth in just one day!

Even… even the village chief died.

Now, the village chief was dead, which meant that some of the village’s secrets would forever become secrets.

She cried particularly loudly, drowning out the voices of other people crying. The villager who had been trying to persuade people was named Yan Guangyao. He immediately turned around to comfort her: “Aunt Zhao, don’t cry. There’s nothing we can do. Let’s all go home according to what the village chief said before, okay?”

Aunt Zhao was stunned, covering her face and crying bitterly.

Yan Guangyao’s words attracted Lu Yanli’s attention.

The curse… what exactly was the curse that the villagers were under? If they left Shangxian Village, what would happen?

Why could many young people leave the village?

An Xingyu gestured to Yu Huan, who was a little reluctant, but he knew that if he continued to do nothing, he might really be abandoned. Therefore, he pretended to be curious and approached Yan Guangyao.

“Well, I’m just asking. Since you say that everyone can’t leave Shangxian Village, why can we go outside?”

Yu Huan: “How could that be? I came back for the ancestral Ancestor worshiprites. I just want to ask clearly.”

However, no matter how he asked, the other party didn’t say anything, only arranging for everyone to go home. If their residence was close to Zhang Bo’s house, they should stay at a friend’s house first.

In this way, he persuaded most of the villagers to go home after much persuasion.

Lu Yanli and the others didn’t need him to persuade them. They also left after everyone left.

As for how many people would die tonight… who knew?

After so much tossing and turning, the sky had slowly darkened. Yan Guangyao quietly watched the dense forest not far away, shook his head, and walked towards the village chief’s house.

He needed to get the treasure map hidden in the village chief’s house.

*

“Actually, staying together can’t do much, right? They can’t block the ghosts either.” Xie Ziqing said, “It’s better to be scattered. Isn’t concentrating together just letting them wipe us all out in one go?”

An Xingyu said, “It’s late now. It’s best not to go out at night. Let’s investigate again tomorrow.”

“Are we really not going to sleep?” An Xingyu was a little worried.

Lu Yanli shook his head: “A few days ago, I fell asleep and still encountered ghost Pressurebed pressing.” So falling asleep doesn’t prevent ghosts from invading, but rather loses the initiative.

The four quickly arranged the order. Yu Huan and Xie Ziqing would keep watch for the first half of the night, and An Xingyu and Lu Yanli would keep watch for the second half of the night.

Those two had already regarded Lu Yanli as a task taker, and Lu Yanli didn’t refute it, tacitly agreeing to everything. On the contrary, An Xingyu was a little worried, afraid that they would say something they shouldn’t and make Lu Yanli suspicious.

They lived in a building. Before going to bed, they turned on the lights in all the rooms on the second floor and locked the doors and windows. Then they came to the lobby on the first floor, closed the doors and windows, and turned off the lights. Only a little light from the second floor could illuminate the interior.

Lu Yanli and An Xingyu lay on the sofa with their clothes on, closing their eyes to rest.

Xie Ziqing and Yu Huan sat together, chatting softly.

Although they were told to sleep first, An Xingyu couldn’t sleep. He always felt that he had overlooked something in this mission. Until now, he hadn’t met Luo Ying, and God hadn’t sent any instructions, which made him very uneasy.

Lu Yanli closed his eyes, breathing evenly.

He hadn’t slept seriously for many, many years and had already developed a habit of light sleep. Sometimes, if necessary, he could even rest with his eyes open.

He was also thinking about the forbidden area.

And the All-Knowing God, the Double Fish Jade Pendant…

What was the relationship between them? Why was the so-called resurrection of that “God” so similar to the function of the Double Fish Jade Pendant?

Also, the painting in the village chief’s house…

In the silent night, the sound of dripping water suddenly rang out.

Drip.

Drip.

Yu Huan, who was already a startled bird, felt his scalp tingle. He thought a lot in an instant, such as the ghost turning on the tap, the sound of blood dripping after the ghost killed someone, and so on. But he couldn’t shout out loud and could only force himself to hold back.

Ghost… a ghost has come!

His heart was beating fast, almost jumping out of his throat.

The sound of dripping water came from the second floor. Maybe the ghost had already reached the second floor!

His gaze swept across Lu Yanli and An Xingyu’s sleeping faces, and Yu Huan’s chest heaved violently a few times.

Should he…

No, no, no, heaven punishes those who aren’t for themselves. If he woke them up, wouldn’t he also be alerting the ghost?

But, could he really survive without An Xingyu? He had been reminded of the path to survival these past few days.

He gently pushed Xie Ziqing, who was sitting behind him.

“Buddy…”

Xie Ziqing didn’t move. A sinister, cold aura came from him.

Almost in an instant, Yu Huan thought of something. He turned around stiffly and met Xie Ziqing’s face.

But they… were clearly sitting back to back.

The ghost wasn’t on the second floor! It was in the living room on the first floor!!

Yu Huan’s soul flew away. He didn’t even know where he got the courage to suppress the scream that welled up in his throat. Quietly, little by little, he stood up and retreated towards the door.

He gently opened the door and then suddenly turned around, running out without looking back.

It wasn’t until the cold, wet air of the night invaded his mind that he began to regret it.

He had run away without looking back, and An Xingyu and Lu Yanli were still sleeping. Would they…

Another weak voice told him that wasn’t that just right?

That way, they could take a beating for him.

Thinking this way, he suddenly noticed something was wrong.

Was this road… this long? Under the moonlight, he couldn’t see the end at a glance.

Yu Huan’s cold sweat dripped down.

He realized that when he had just run out, he didn’t seem to have… closed the door?

But he was too scared, and the cold wind was bone-chilling, making him shiver all over. He had no time to think about other things. He turned back and found that behind him was the same long road that he couldn’t see the end of.

Yu Huan would never get out.

Whether Yu Huan had opened the door could not be verified now. After searching a few rounds in a hurry, they confirmed that Yu Huan had indeed disappeared.

Now the few people had no mood to sleep anymore. They sat together in the yard, keeping their eyes open until dawn.

The sun rose as usual, dispelling the darkness in the room.

The new village chief, Yan Guangyao, told everyone to gather in the square. He had something to say.

“What do you think is going on?”

“Did he think of any way? Or did Lili come back?”

“Otherwise, let’s just go to the forbidden area to hide. Anyway, there are only one or two days left…”

Lu Yanli and the others also went out, gathering in the crowd, listening to the villagers chatting, trying to extract some useful information.

Yan Guangyao was already waiting in the village square. He was wearing Mai mourning clothes for funerals, a Hat mourning cap, and holding a painting.

An Xingyu could tell at a glance that it was the painting hanging in the village chief’s house.

Lu Yanli also discovered the painting and raised his eyebrows slightly.

He had originally planned to trick Luo Ying into going to the village chief’s house to take it away, but he didn’t expect…

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Yan Guangyao cleared his throat, shook his hand, and unfolded the painting to face all the villagers.