1TWITF[C Chapter 75
by REX-NOVELISTSChapter 75
Time trickled away, bit by bit.
More and more evil spirits gathered on the mountain road, their faces blurred with rotten flesh and blood. A cold wind howled, their funeral shrouds fluttering, making it seem as if they would be blown away. But they weren’t; instead, they steadily advanced. The procession stretched long, its end out of sight.
Finally, the first evil spirit stepped into the village.
Lu Yanli and the others were completely unaware of these events.
Their premonition had been correct: continuing to stay in the village would only lead to the final reckoning. Once the evil spirits confined to the back mountain were released…
No one could escape. No one.
With each step the first evil spirit took into the village, their face gradually regained a semblance of its former self. By the time they stood completely before the little girl, their face had entirely transformed into that of a normal person.
If Lu Yanli and the others were here, they would undoubtedly be shocked to discover that this evil spirit’s appearance… was exactly the same as Yan Guangyao’s.
At the same time, Yan Guangyao’s corpse, which had died in the village, slowly began to move…
One after another, evil spirits with decayed faces emerged from the mountain. Following them, corpse after corpse rose from the ground in the village and headed towards the back mountain.
Time trickled away. Eventually, it seemed as if all the villagers had returned, and aside from a slightly pale complexion, they were no different from ordinary people.
They wore funeral shrouds and slowly walked towards their homes.
This was their curse: even after death, transformed into evil spirits, they could not escape.
The village seemed to have returned to its former tranquility.
Inside the forbidden area, everyone felt a sense of urgency, yet they were unsure what to do.
An Xingyu and Lin Chu knew their task was to perform ancestral rites, but with no villagers present, they had no way of knowing the proper procedures. They could only guess: were sacrificial items needed?
Also, what did Yan Guangyao mean by that statement he made earlier?
The ground beneath their feet continued to shake, shifting in an unknown direction. Gradually, the shaking grew more violent, almost making it impossible to stand. Even the tombstones above began to totter.
The surroundings grew darker and darker, night having completely fallen. But the four remaining individuals in the forbidden area had no way of knowing the passage of time, save for looking at their watches. They couldn’t see the stars or the moon above, and below was only the pitch-black earth and pale tombstones. Even their own shadows were imperceptible to one another.
Lu Yanli continued to walk upwards, constantly noting the tombstones along the way.
So did An Xingyu. Luo Ying followed near him, still pondering the painting.
She had to know where the village’s treasure was hidden.
“If we go back, she’ll still be there,” An Xingyu said truthfully.
This was also troubling Luo Ying. The evil spirit in the form of a little girl in the village was simply too terrifying. She didn’t have any good ideas for the time being.
“Is there any way to make her leave the village?” Luo Ying hypothesized.
She could obviously tell that the other party was unable to leave for some reason.
An Xingyu said, “I don’t know.”
Luo Ying sighed, “Yes, entering the tomb is too dangerous. Even if we have a map now, it’s hard to guarantee our safety.”
Therefore, even though she knew there were more treasures in the ancient tomb, she could only wait for the main force to act together.
Little did she know, on the other side, Lu Yanli was also thinking about this problem.
He recognized that the little girl was not Lili.
Lili’s hair was shorter, and she always wore it in braids. So, although the little girl looked very similar to Lili and wore the same clothes, he still keenly noticed the difference.
Combining this with Lili’s earlier statement of “lending her clothes to her aunt,” Lu Yanli made a bold assumption.
Under the cover of darkness, what he didn’t see were wisps of icy, cold aura seeping out from the grave he had just dug, and then slowly permeating into the soil not far from it.
Gradually, there was some movement in the loose soil.
A pale, man’s hand slowly emerged from the dirt.
The other four were unaware, still each with their own thoughts, considering how to get through their current predicament. They all thought the forbidden area was safe, but now… an evil spirit had already been resurrected in the forbidden area.
Lu Yanli quickened his pace. After verifying his conjecture, he walked upwards. He knew that An Xingyu, Luo Ying, and Lin Chu would eventually have to walk upwards.
He was looking forward to meeting them again.
The first to meet him was Lin Chu.
The two didn’t exchange too many pleasantries, and went straight to the point.
Lu Yanli: “What secrets?” He sensed danger in the back mountain and didn’t completely circle the forbidden area, so he naturally didn’t know what Lin Chu had discovered.
If the information on the tombstone was correct, then the people buried in the tombs… were they also exactly the same?
Sixty years…
He immediately thought of what Yan Guangyao said, a cycle of sixty years, and told this to Lin Chu.
“Reincarnation…” Lin Chu lowered her head and thought.
As they spoke, the two came to the top of this slope.
The air was getting colder and colder, but they had already gotten used to it and were somewhat numb from the cold.
Not far ahead, the last circle of tombstones surrounded the tomb raiding hole.
“Did you see this tomb raiding hole when you went to the other side?”
“I saw it, exactly the same, the same size.”
Lin Chu suddenly said, “It’s just like that double fish jade pendant.”
Speaking of the jade pendant, Lu Yanli’s mood was a little complicated.
If what Luo Ying said was reliable, then the function of the double fish jade pendant was not to copy, but to bring the future self to the past.
The real Zhang Huixuan killed the future him at the entrance of the village. Lu Yanli didn’t know how long into the future that was. If their mission was still not completed, then when he reached the corresponding node in the future, would he be suddenly brought back to the past and killed?
Xie Ziqing’s death was more unexpected, and he was more inclined to believe that it was Zhang Huixuan’s doing.
He told Lin Chu about this as well, so as not to let the other party relax their vigilance.
Lin Chu fell into deep thought.
They suddenly heard faint voices not far away.
Lu Yanli quickly recognized the identity of the people who came, it was Luo Ying.
Luo Ying was happily notifying An Xingyu: “Our people are here, at the entrance of the village.”
An Xingyu: “Should we let them come to the forbidden area?”
Luo Ying shook her head: “No, they are all… Anyway, they will enter the village to get the treasure.”
Treasure… An Xingyu clenched the double fish jade pendant in his pocket. He wrapped it in a small piece of cloth torn from his pants, so that it would not suddenly copy him.
Was this also a treasure?
Should he hand it over?
Who is it?
Who else is in the forbidden area?
An Xingyu thought: Even if one of them is Lin Chu, what about the other one?
His eyesight was very good and he could see the three figures below… wait! Three people?
Who is the third one?
“Get out of the way!” An Xingyu screamed, pushed Luo Ying away and dodged away.
Behind them… was a corpse that had already mutated.
Didn’t they say that it was impossible for corpses to cheat in the forbidden area? Why?
An Xingyu didn’t have time to think about these questions, and his voice immediately alerted Lin Chu above: “Is that An Xingyu’s voice? What danger did he encounter?”
Lu Yanli saw the appearance of the corpse and was surprised.
This was clearly his own appearance!
“I didn’t expect that corpses could also mutate in the forbidden area.” Lin Chu was not afraid of exposing her target. After shouting, she said to Lu Yanli.
She couldn’t see very clearly, but from the way the corpse was chasing, she thought of the cat-faced old lady she had seen.
Lu Yanli felt complicated.
“Does it mean that the mutation is about to stop?” Lin Chu was very optimistic, “But why do I feel colder and colder? Strange.”
Lu Yanli also noticed the coolness.
His intuition told him that he could no longer go down.
Otherwise, he would die!
At this moment, the vibration under his feet finally stopped completely.
The four of them shook due to the sudden stop and stood still.
With the help of the faint light, the four of them widened their eyes little by little.
Where… where is this?!
What was under their feet was still the forbidden area, and the surroundings were still mountains, but the scene had completely changed! It was as if they and the land under their feet had been moved to other places. The huge forbidden area was completely surrounded by the surrounding mountains.
An Xingyu’s intuition was correct.
On the mountain not far from the forbidden area, on the winding mountain road, all the dead villagers were standing there. If he continued to run down, he would run into the mountain.
One after another, corpses with rotten faces that were indistinguishable from their true faces, wearing villagers’ clothes, stood quietly on the mountain road, densely packed, forming a long line.
Where is this? Why are all the villagers’ corpses here?
Not only An Xingyu, but the other three also discovered it, and they all gasped.
At the same time, An Xingyu suddenly turned his head and saw the corpse not far behind him.
Although its eyes were white, there were some traces of rot on its face, and it was covered with dirt, An Xingyu could easily recognize it from its clothing and somewhat familiar appearance: This was Lu Yanli.
The corpse slowly turned its direction and followed behind him.
It walked very slowly, but every time An Xingyu looked back, he could see that the distance between him and it was constantly getting closer. And the worst thing was that the evil spirits on the surrounding mountains also began to move!
They raised their heads neatly, revealing one rotten face after another, and slowly walked down the mountain.
Their speed was very fast. Before long, the forbidden area was filled with evil spirits.
Pairs of eyes, either white or pure black without pupils, stared intently at the forbidden area.
“What should we do? Where should we go?”
Seeing the evil spirits surrounding the forbidden area, starting from the first one, they tried their best to squeeze forward, trying to break through into the forbidden area.
They succeeded.
The dense corpses slowly walked towards the center of the forbidden area, slowly surrounding the four people.
Lin Chu poked him: “How do we explain?” She was asking how to explain to An Xingyu. As for Luo Ying, she believed that the other party didn’t intend to pay attention to her.
Lu Yanli shook his head: “Let’s think about what to do first.”
With so many evil spirits surrounding them, it was impossible for them to escape.
Lu Yanli’s eyes drifted to the tomb raiding hole.
Exactly, so did Lin Chu.
Luo Ying had already approached, and An Xingyu was not far behind her, running with shortness of breath. Further away were almost endless evil spirits.
He could already smell the cold and rotten smell.
“Don’t hesitate, we will die anyway, why don’t we go down and see if we can find clues for ancestral rites inside.” Lin Chu gritted her teeth and revealed a raccoon-like painted face, “Isn’t it just mutation? What am I afraid of?”
As soon as he met those eyes, An Xingyu nodded vaguely, took out the jade pendant and returned it to him.
An Xingyu knew that it was not the time to be polite, grabbed the rope and jumped in. Lu Yanli took one last look at the evil spirit that looked exactly like him and jumped in as well.
Darkness, damp and cold.
This was their first feeling.
Suddenly, the only beam of light above was blocked.
Lu Yanli looked up and saw a face that looked exactly like him appearing at the entrance of the cave.
A small snake crawled out of its chest, spitting out letters and wrapping around its neck.
Thinking of the village chief’s mother and Granny Li, Lu Yanli felt that he knew the reason why his corpse cheated.
The face occupied the entrance of the cave and did not intend to jump in, but it did not intend to leave.
Luo Ying’s question came from below.
“Has it not reached the bottom yet?”
Then Lin Chu replied: “I don’t know, there is still a distance.”
After a while, Lin Chu was annoyed: “It’s over, the rope is used up.”
Lu Yanli said: “I have more here, catch it and tie a knot.”
An Xingyu and Luo Ying helped pass it on. Lin Chu gasped and continued to put herself down after receiving the rope below.
“That what, it seems a bit redundant…” Lin Chu coughed, “I just picked it up, and it’s reached the bottom.”
If she had known this, wouldn’t she have just jumped down?
Anyway, reaching the bottom was a good thing. Lin Chu moved to the side, turned on the flashlight, Luo Ying silently descended from her side, followed by An Xingyu and Lu Yanli.
“Lu Yanli, you cheated on your corpse.” Lin Chu sighed.
Her cold joke did not make anyone laugh. Lin Chu touched her nose and turned to look around.
In addition to darkness, there was also dampness, coldness, and an ancient and vicissitudes of life coming from an unknown direction.
But they did not mutate.
“Which direction should we go?” Lin Chu really brought a lot of things. She shivered and took out the compass, only to find that the pointer was spinning randomly and she couldn’t see anything, so she asked.
The other people looked at each other and couldn’t make a decision either.
Lu Yanli suddenly said: “Luo Ying, open the scroll and take a look.”
Since it was a treasure map, there might be clues.
Luo Ying was reminded and immediately shook the scroll open.
It was still a picture of gods riding clouds and driving fog. In the dark, it seemed to have a different feeling.
“Wait, Lin Chu, turn off the flashlight and try.”
An Xingyu happened to be standing on the back of the picture. Just now when the light flashed, he seemed to see some different lines.
Lin Chu turned off the flashlight.
Luo Ying understood and turned the painting over.
The entrance of the cave was completely covered by the corpse. There was no light underneath. The four people gathered together and saw patterns slowly appearing on the back of the painting with fluorescent lines.
“There really is one…” Lin Chu sighed.
The image was displayed little by little. In the dark, the light was particularly obvious.
It’s another map!
The village chief hung it in the room day and night, but he didn’t find any mystery on the back of the painting. Yan Guangyao was very interested in the painting, but unfortunately, he didn’t take over for long. He had only heard a few words from the village chief, saying that it was probably a treasure map passed down from his ancestors.
The four people stared at it without blinking.
The west side was a long tomb passage, and the cartographer marked on the tomb passage: Undeveloped area.
“Now, where should we go?”
They memorized the pictures repeatedly, making sure they wouldn’t forget them. Lin Chu turned on the flashlight again, and the four of them identified the direction and moved forward a little to the east.
After they walked a long way, the corpse at the entrance of the cave also moved.
It turned over, fell down, and then landed heavily on the ground.
“Did you hear anything?” Lin Chu, who was walking in the front, asked.
Just now, there was a “thump” sound behind them, and they didn’t know what it was.
The other people also heard it, but they couldn’t see anything when they turned around, so they had to continue forward.
Luo Ying walked in the second place, An Xingyu followed behind her, and Lu Yanli walked in the last place.
His eyes swept over the treasure map behind Luo Ying and lowered his eyes, covering the murderous intent in his eyes.
What he didn’t know was that Luo Ying had concealed part of the function of the double fish jade pendant.
Lu Yanli’s behavior of letting An Xingyu take the corpse to the forbidden area because he was worried that his corpse would be used by Zhang Huixuan, but because of the lack of information, the corpse mutated, and because of the close-range attraction, it brought disaster to him.
Now, the mutated corpse was coming to find him.
Lu Yanli had not noticed it yet and was just following forward.
They didn’t know what was here, and the treasure map only had the route and did not mark any mechanisms, so they took every step carefully.
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