Chapter Twenty-Four: Qiankang Village

  The zombies suddenly received a command and immediately stopped their actions, standing still like wooden puppets.

  "Mom, don't leave me again, I won't let you go."

  Jiang Fengniao lay in Xue Shi's arms, her whole body trembling as she wailed for a long time, and finally fell asleep with a tilt of her head.

  First she was bullied by the old woman, then frightened by the zombies. Now it's already late at night, and she hasn't had a good rest yet. She must be physically and mentally exhausted too.

  Xue Shi gently stroked Jiang Feng's head with a bloody ghost claw, and Jiang Feng's hair was soon stained with crimson blood.

  And behind the blood corpse, where Nokia was branded, the magma-like red blood is still flowing out.

  The corpse's body was shrinking at a visibly slow pace.

  What a desolate, strange and yet warm picture this is.

  It was already late at night, with corpses guarding the town, and the hordes of zombies outside also standing still like wooden puppets. My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally relaxed a little, followed by an extreme drowsiness, feeling like I just wanted to fall asleep.

  But I still plucked up the courage, taking advantage of Blood Corpse's inattention, picked up the Nokia on the ground, grasped it tightly in my hand, and stared at Blood Corpse's every move with wide eyes.

  I'm afraid it will suddenly go on a violent rampage, and without warning, I, Sakura, and Jiang Feng will definitely be torn to pieces.

  I gradually felt more and more sleepy, my eyelids were as heavy as a thousand pounds, and I couldn't open them no matter how hard I tried. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but my mind was in a daze. In the end, I involuntarily fell into a deep sleep.

  "Dong Dong Dong Dong Dong"

  In a daze, I was woken up by a gloomy and mournful bell tolling. In a daze, I opened my eyes to see that the group of corpses outside the door had retreated cleanly, leaving behind only a large pile of black ash.

  Take another look at little Sakura, still fast asleep, breathing softly through her nose.

  Jiang Fengniao was lying on a rotten and shriveled corpse, sleeping soundly, with bloodstains all over her body.

  The corpse was yesterday's bloody body shrunk down to almost just skin and bones.

  I was horrified and quickly helped her up, carrying her to a relatively clean corner and letting her lean against the wall.

  I'm thinking about whether I should wake up Xiao Ying and leave this dirty and eerie place immediately.

  But just at this moment, "Rumble rumble" in the blink of an eye, the sky was dark and the earth was dark, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, and a heavy rain poured down.

  Want to leave but can't.

  I let out a yawn, and even the brief sleep wasn't enough to revive my spirits. I forced myself to stay awake, lit an incense stick, and cremated the rotting corpse on the ground. Unable to resist the waves of drowsiness, I fell asleep again beside Xiao Ying.

  I don't know how long I slept, but I finally woke up completely. When I opened my eyes, the heavy rain outside had stopped, but the sky was still gloomy and overcast with clouds and fog.

  At this time, Xiao Ying also stretched a big lazy waist, woke up, rubbed her eyes like a big lazy cat, looked around blankly, and was a bit dazed, but her complexion was still quite good, it seemed that she had recovered. I couldn't help but laugh.

  Sakura saw me laughing at her, her pretty face turned red, and she shouted with a pout: "What are you laughing at? You look silly, haven't you ever seen a beauty wake up?"

  I burst out laughing and said: "Haven't seen a beauty, but I did see a big lazy cat."

  Sakura pounced on me with a scowl, I hastily dodged and shouted at her: "Lazy cat, we have to leave here quickly, leave this village. This place is quite eerie."

  Xiao Ying also saw Jiang Fengniao who was still fast asleep, and didn't chase me anymore. She said in surprise: "Where did this girl come from?"

  She was injured last night and has been unconscious, so she shouldn't know anything about what happened last night. So I briefly told her what had happened last night.

  Her pretty face showed a look of surprise: "I didn't expect such a big thing to happen last night, Su Hai, you coward, I didn't think you wouldn't be scared silly."

  She smiled again, put her hands on her hips, looked me up and down: "Not bad, not bad. Considering your good performance last night, I'll be less bullying you in the future as a reward."

  I couldn't help but feel a headache, and suddenly I remembered the bloody corpse of Jiang Feng's mother last night, so I asked her: "What's going on with that bloody corpse?"

  Little Sakura's face showed shock:

  "I hadn't seen it before either, but I heard Grandpa talk about blood corpses."

  "The blood corpse needs to be created before he dies, in front of him, brutally killing his most beloved family and friends, making him watch them die with his own eyes. Then, the person is subjected to an inhumane ritual sacrifice, turning him into a half-human, half-demon monster."

  That is to say, Jiang Feng's mother had gone missing seven or eight years ago. In fact, she hadn't left home but was imprisoned at home by someone, usually an evil ghost master, with some powerful means, making her invisible to her children and family members.

  "But she could see her children and loved ones, watching them one by one being brutally killed in front of her, while she was powerless to do anything. She might have even seen her own son being turned into a woman, the old lady being deceived into drinking evil water, and even her husband becoming inhuman."

  My hair stood on end and I was about to explode with rage: "You're worse than a beast, you have no humanity at all, this is outrageous!"

  Xiao Ying sighed: "One grain of rice can feed a hundred people, and this world indeed has all kinds of evil people. This blood corpse is extremely evil because it has been refined through sacrifice, its ferocity and resentment have been strengthened, and it kills anyone it sees. Fortunately, Jiang Feng's mother was a kind and gentle person in life, and she cared deeply about her daughter, so this also formed an obsession. Jiang Feng's call awakened the blood corpse's inner obsession. The greatness of maternal love, till death do us part."

  "In other words, its malevolent and murderous intentions were forcibly suppressed, which is why the three of us managed to survive"

  I took over from Little Sakura.

  Sakura's expression was solemn, and she nodded: "That's right, this blood corpse, even if I wasn't injured, I wouldn't have a full grasp of dealing with it. If Jiang Feng didn't show up at the time, we would have probably been torn to shreds already."

  "What kind of person is this, what grudge or grievance do they have against the Jiang family, to be able to do something so devoid of humanity?"

  I am burning with rage.

  "Do you know when Jiang Long entered Lire's?"

  Xiao Ying asked me.

  I recalled it and suddenly felt a chill: "Jiang Longge was already quite famous in Lire, because he was an old employee who had worked at Lire for seven or eight years. When the hospital held meetings to motivate employees, they would always use Jiang Longge as an example. So I remembered very clearly."

  Sakura nodded: "That's right, Jiang Long should have entered Lire just a short while ago, and his mother disappeared. Perhaps that year, this should be a huge conspiracy, which has been set up as early as seven or eight years ago. Now looking at the situation, the entire Old Building Village should be within the scope of this conspiracy."

  I couldn't help but shiver: "To set up a trap at the cost of the entire village's lives, the culprit hiding behind us must be extremely cunning and ruthless. Could it be another one of Principal Lire's plots?"

  Sakura thought for a moment and said, "A small beauty salon owner, if he's normal, shouldn't have such great ability. There must be a more powerful and sinister force behind him. And Luo Ming is just a running dog."

  I felt a chill run down my spine, and I hastily grabbed Sakura's hand: "I'm just a medical school student, a tiny existence smaller than an ant. Why did you get me involved in this situation, Sakura? You have to save me."

  Sakura shook off my hand, glanced at Jiang Fengniao who was still asleep, and said with a huff: "Can't you see someone is here? Don't touch me! If you want to stay alive, hurry back to Guangfu City, find Lire's remains and investigate. I'm sure there's something evil lurking inside."

  I hastily nodded and said: "You don't have to say it, I also want to leave immediately, this village is full of eerie atmosphere everywhere."

  Xiao Ying gave me a glance and then looked at Jiang Feng's wife: "This girl, how are you going to deal with her?"

  I scratched my head, and indeed, how to arrange for Jiang Feng was a problem. Her parents and family members had all died, and with this village being fraught with danger, it would be suicidal for her to continue staying here. But if I were to bring her into the city, how could I possibly provide for her? After Lirei disappeared, I was already penniless, and on top of that, I was being hunted by a powerful evil spirit, so I couldn't even protect myself.

  I thought for a moment and gritted my teeth: "Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. I think it's better to take her back to Guangfu City."

  Xiao Ying looked at me with a very disdainful gaze, a sly smile: "Don't pretend to be so troubled, I can see you're eager to take this little beauty into the city, Su bad bad, hehe"

  I couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. Actually, I did have such thoughts. But what I was considering more was the burden of the future.

  Xiao Ying suddenly pounced over, twisting my ear: "Su bad bad, you can bring her into the city, but if you dare to have any dirty thoughts about her, even a little bit, this girl will chop off your paw."

  I hastily raised both hands, indicating surrender.

  Now I'm no match for this violent girl, I'm thinking, a big man can yield and stretch, when I become strong in the future, I must put them in eighteen postures at the same time, hehe.

  After waking up Jiang Fengniu, she was overcome with grief and burst into tears again. It took a lot of effort from me and Xiaoying to calm her down.

  I heard that we are going to take her into the city, but she insisted on not doing so: "My family and relatives are all here, I also want to accompany them here. Brother and sister, thank you for your kindness."

  I tried to persuade Xiaoying, but she wouldn't listen, her temper is really stubborn.

  Finally, Xiaoying got angry and slapped a blue talisman on her back. From then on, Jiang Feng immediately became obedient, following us with a wooden expression. When we went east, she followed to the east; when we went south, she wouldn't take a step north.

  "Fu, hehe"

  Sakura smiled and clapped her hands.

  So I complained to her, with such good things, why didn't you take them out early, and made me waste my breath.

  Xiao Ying suddenly shook out a blue token and asked me: Do you also want one?

  I hastily waved my hand and obediently shut my mouth.

  We rummaged through the Jiang's house for something to fill our stomachs, and also found some rain gear to put on. Then, I and Xiaoying set out with Jiang Fengniao.

  I glanced at my phone, it was already past 12 o'clock, but the sky was still a dull gray, with thick dark clouds covering the entire old village, and a steady drizzle had started to fall. The mist swirled around everywhere, casting a gloomy atmosphere that was suffocating. Except for the sound of raindrops falling from the leaves, the whole mountain village was eerily silent, devoid of any vitality.

  This atmosphere was indeed eerie, but I and Xiao Ying didn't want to stay any longer, hastily rushing towards the small bridge at the village entrance.

  After crossing the bridge, we arrived at the main road, and then we can take a car to the town, far away from this haunted place.

  But when we arrived at the village entrance, we were shocked by the scene in front of us, leaving us speechless.

  We actually walked through this mountain village once before. The village road winds around and there's only one path, so logically we shouldn't get lost.

  But we seem to have taken the wrong path.

  Why is it said that we are like walking in the wrong direction? Because if we walk to the end of a road, we will not actually be walking in the wrong direction, but we will arrive at a completely different place.

  "Mom, isn't this the old Loucun Village we just arrived at?"

  I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  When we first came, we had walked over a small bridge. But now the bridge is gone, as if it never existed before. The village road leads to the riverbank and ends there, surrounded by tall weeds that have grown up to our knees. A giant parasol-like pagoda tree blocks the way ahead.

  What makes me even more terrified is that, in my impression, this river was a small one, and the water wasn't deep either. Walking ten or so steps would take you across the bridge and over the river already.

  But now, looking around, the whole river is surging and rolling, with waves crashing against each other, having the momentum of a great Yangtze River; the river above is shrouded in mist, with drizzle and fog, and it's impossible to see the opposite bank at a glance.

  "This is really weird, as if I've been blinded by a ghost"

  I rubbed my eyes hard and couldn't help but burst into a loud scolding.

  "Sū Hǎi, kuài kàn"

  Translation: "Su Hai, look quickly"

  Sakura pointed at some place in the middle of the river and said to me.

  I followed her pointing direction and looked over, only to see the river waves rolling, rain and fog swirling, and a faint blood color appeared.

  I hastily rubbed my eyes and took a closer look, and in the middle of the river, there was actually a tall archway standing upright. The archway was shrouded in a misty rain, and if you didn't look carefully, it would be hard to notice.

  The pavilion was at least four or five stories high, with three crimson characters carved on top:

  Senkō Village

  Every word is written with sinister and eerie strokes, red to the point of bleeding, as if it were truly carved in human blood.