Chapter 56: Blood Fish Seeks Soul

  Those red little snakes entwined together, like a pile of red wriggling hair, fell from Hanzi's mouth to the ground. I felt as if a cool breeze swept across my body, and goosebumps emerged one after another all over me.

  I felt that those little red snakes were wriggling on my head at this moment, so I couldn't help shivering all over.

  However, I didn't have time to hesitate. After those snakes fell from the man's mouth, the ground was suddenly red all over, and the small snakes were fleeing in all directions.

  I grabbed a nearby bowl of strong liquor, poured it heavily and threw the flames into the liquor. With a loud roar, the liquor ignited, and the snakes twisted and rolled in the fire, eventually burning into a pile of charred black corpses.

  Inside the house, the villager's eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground with a thud. At the door, Wang Dabao was holding a basin of hot water, ready to enter, but the basin tilted unexpectedly, and the hot water flowed down her body, yet she remained completely unaware.

  I felt a bit nauseous and quickly laid the man who had just spat out the small snake on the bed, and as soon as I ran to the door, I vomited with a "wow".

  Half a minute later, we returned to the house. Wang's aunt was shaking with both hands, scalded by boiling water and red, and even had a blister on her hand. The villager sat beside me, seemingly stunned, staring at the ceiling motionless.

  I took a rest and felt a bit better, so I asked the two of them to use hot water to clean the wound of the man who had undergone surgery and bandage it up. As for me, I held the Soul-Cutting Knife and walked towards another man who hadn't undergone surgery yet.

  Then we witnessed such a scene again, which made our hair stand on end. We all leaned back in our chairs, feeling like we were about to ascend to heaven or die.

  After bandaging the second man, I felt much better and at least didn't vomit again. At this moment, outside the house, the sky was slightly brightening. We finally got through this night.

  I was somewhat exhausted, relying on the last bit of consciousness to glance at the two men on the bed, and found that their complexions had improved a lot. As soon as I relaxed my mind, I fell directly into a deep sleep.

  When I woke up, it was already 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and the village head who went up the mountain to collect medicine had returned.

  As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw them walking into the house with their heads hung low. The village chief led the way, and all of them stood in front of me with their heads bowed. Their appearance had already given away what they wanted to say, so I naturally knew what was going on - probably they hadn't found any herbs.

  As soon as he entered the house, the village chief slapped himself on the ear: "We're useless."

  The villagers all lowered their heads and fell silent behind the village chief. I stood up from my chair, hastily grabbed the village chief's hand: "What's going on? You slapped yourself because you didn't pick any medicine, right?"

  The village chief patted his chest vigorously, then looked out the door: "I've lived in this mountain for decades, I love this place deeply. Love the people here, love the smell here, every tree has a special fragrance."

  Before me, the village chief suddenly started muttering to himself. Seeing him like this, I remained silent and quietly watched him.

  The village head continued: "I had a dream, the trees no longer emitted fragrance, but instead gave off a foul odor. The people here all grew ferocious and sinister, everything here changed overnight. However, I was helpless, I couldn't do anything."

  At this point, the village chief suddenly sat on the ground with a thud and burst into tears.

  Seeing the village chief like this, my heart is also churning. His words reminded me of my own home. That shabby and dilapidated home, although not what I liked, held memories for me. But in just one night, it turned into a living hell, and my home was no longer mine.

  In my elementary school years, I learned a song that told the story of how my hometown was destroyed and its people rose up in resistance to drive out the invaders.

  Farewell, friends, farewell, farewell. That morning I woke up from a dream to find invaders breaking into my hometown.

  Sometimes we can be reckless, even with our own lives.

  I walked towards the village chief, helped him up, and then said to the people behind him: "Don't worry about the medicine anymore, I've thought of another way. You all haven't slept for a night, go rest now."

  I said to the village chief: "Village chief uncle, actually your words are incorrect. You're not helpless and you won't be helpless."

  The village head looked at me with some confusion and was soon supported away by others.

  I sat down on the chair and clenched my fists tightly. That's right, he wouldn't be helpless.

  I had just woken up, and my stomach was growling with hunger. Before long, Wang Dajie stood at the door of the house, looking exhausted, and led me to the dinner table. I wolfed down the food in a flurry, sweeping everything on the table clean.

  After finishing the meal, I couldn't help but let out a loud "I'm so full!" I stood up, stretched my waist, and lazily said to Aunt Wang: "We've eaten our fill, slept enough, it's time to hit the road."

  "Old Mrs. Wang's face changed: 'What are you talking nonsense about, child?'"

  I smiled and said: "Nothing, just kidding."

  After finishing this sentence, I ran out of the house, and behind me came the voice of Wang Dasa: "Xiao Sen, where are you going, what are you doing?"

  I didn't pay attention to her and continued running ahead. I guess Wang Dajie probably saw it too, when I was eating, there was a line of sweat on my back.

  I ran faster and faster, sprinting out of the village in one breath, my fists clenched tightly all the way. In my heart, I was silently chanting, "I must become stronger." And in that instant, all memories appeared before my eyes - the aged Wu Xianyi, Grandpa's face on the tree at the village entrance.

  Unconsciously, I have run back to the riverbank again.

  Just now, I actually struggled in my heart for a while, whether to help the village chief or not. After all, that old woman is not easy to mess with, and if I mess with her, I'll probably lose my own life too. And this village has nothing to do with me, I can completely abandon it and leave.

  But in the end, when Wu Xianyi's face appeared before my eyes, I no longer hesitated. Because I wasn't helping their village, but myself. I want to become stronger and fulfill Wu Xianyi's five-year promise. Now, with a flash of an eye, more than half a year has passed, and the five years are not far off.

  I came to the riverbank and stopped. Lowering my head, I looked at the river surface, only to see a calm expanse of water, with a pile of ashes on the riverbank that I had burned last night.

  I took a glance and walked along the river towards the direction of the water pool. When I arrived at the edge of the water pool, I looked into it again where the old woman was muttering incantations yesterday. All I saw were several wooden sticks inserted around the edge of the pool, each wrapped with red cloth.

  That old woman had obviously tampered with the water, although I didn't quite understand, but as soon as I saw that wooden stick wrapped in red cloth, I felt a surge of evil energy.

  I crouched down by the edge of the pond, staring at the wooden stick for a couple of seconds, and suddenly a strange feeling emerged in my heart. Just then, the pond suddenly bubbled up with several bubbles, and after they burst out of the water surface, I looked down into the bottom of the pond, only to see that there was actually a big fish inside.

  It's strange that the fish was entirely blood red in color. The fish was really too big, I estimate it to be at least as large as a 7 or 8 year old child.

  The water surface below was a bit blurry, I couldn't help but lean my head closer, staring at the water surface. Suddenly, I was stunned for a moment, not knowing if it was an illusion or not, and found that the red fish at the bottom of the water was staring at me motionlessly.

  I'm a bit skeptical, after all, I've never seen any red fish in my life, even carp haven't been this thoroughly crimson. However, I have heard some rumors before that there were indeed such strange fish appearing.

  But these rumors are all about some evil door affairs, saying that a child was bathing in the river and suddenly saw a fish appear in the river, which is very beautiful.

  The child felt happy at that time, so he went to chase. As a result, no matter how hard he chased, he couldn't catch up. Moreover, sometimes he felt that he had already touched the fish, but he didn't catch anything. In the end, the fish suddenly disappeared, and where the fish disappeared, a corpse appeared.

  The child returned home and immediately fell seriously ill. After all the doctors had examined him, they couldn't find any cause for his illness. In the end, it was an old witch who burned two eggs to cure the child.

  At this moment, seeing the red fish, I feel curious, but I don't dare to get too close. Seeing that the fish is staring at me motionlessly, I feel even more uneasy, and I immediately withdraw my body and take a few steps back.

  At that very moment, the fish suddenly flicked its tail with great force. A loud "Boom" sound echoed through the air, and before I could even react, a burst of water exploded from the pool, and amidst this splash, I saw a pale hand.

  It was just a little short, and that hand would have grabbed my body. The water splashed on my face, and I couldn't help but shiver all over, this water was as cold as an ice cube.

  In an instant, the splash disappeared again. My heart still racing, I hastily retreated several steps back and didn't dare to get close to the pool of water anymore.

  I patted the human skin drum at my waist and finally felt a little relieved.

  At this moment, my mind was racing. Although I didn't know what the old woman had done to Tan Shui, it was definitely not simple. Tan Shui was too mysterious, and I felt that even if it were me, I would have to tread carefully around him.

  I didn't get closer to the pond, but turned around and went back to the village. I somehow felt that this matter was also related to that village.

  When I arrived at the village, it was already late. As soon as I entered the village, I found that everyone in the whole village was standing at the entrance of the village, looking at me with a very strange expression.

  At the sight of this, I immediately stood still, very puzzled. What's even stranger is that all the people in the village just looked at me with strange expressions, and not a single person came up to greet me.

  My heart was racing and I felt a pang of fear. But I still walked cautiously in their direction.

  I approached and saw Aunt Wang, feeling a glimmer of hope again. I asked Aunt Wang, "Auntie, what's going on with all of you?"

  Wang's aunt suddenly opened her big mouth and burst into tears: "Xiao Sen, I'm sorry."