Terror!
Great terror!
A rich fear filled the hearts of the clansn who ca to mourn the elder.
Looking at the dense fog around them, still reeking of blood, they were petrified and scrambled back to Yaoguandu, bringing the news with them.
A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples.
Suddenly, the whole Yaoguandu was in an uproar.
People started gathering to discuss counterasures.
As they talked, they began to bla each other and fought.
Everyone accused the others of wrongdoing, praising the virtues of the late elder.
Especially Guan Daniu, who was pelted with rotten eggs by the angry crowd and beaten rcilessly.
If it weren’t for his insistence on seeking a sorcerer, perhaps things wouldn’t have co to this pass.
It was him!
It was him!
He angered the elder!
In such monts of fear and panic, no one wanted to take the bla upon themselves.
Rather than reflecting on their actions, they found it easier to denigrate others.
The irrational townsfolk completely forgot that they too had donated money and goods for hiring the sorcerer.
They were sure they weren’t at fault; they had been duped by the likes of Guan Daniu and his young faction.
"Beat him to death!"
"Beat him to death!"
"Guan Daniu, are you even human? Your martial skills were taught by the elder, he even provided his secret dicine for your training, how else could you be where you are today?"
"Guan Daniu’s father was the forr chief, surely resentful that his position was taken by the elder, thus he beguiled us, let’s avenge the elder!"
Angry roars echoed among the crowd.
Insanity, sheer insanity.
Frustrated emotions needed an outlet, and Guan Daniu was the perfect target.
He was no match for the mob.
In no ti at all, Guan Daniu, who was being assaulted by everyone, was beaten until he could barely breathe.
After venting their emotions, the crowd dispersed sullenly. They went ho to kill chickens and sheep, offering sacrifices to the late elder, hoping for his rcy to spare them.
Night fell, and an air of panic perated the entire village.
The dark sky was devoid of stars, a heavy curtain of cosmic iron enshrouded Yaoguandu.
It was destined to be a sleepless night.
On the fourth day, just as dawn was breaking,
Yaoguandu suddenly erupted into chaos, and terrified cries filled the air.
Dead! All dead!
Soone co quick!
At such tis, hardly anyone could sleep peacefully, all nerves strained to breaking.
Upon hearing any noise, all of Yaoguandu’s surviving n, won, children, and elderly were up in an instant.
Dog Boy was in the crowd too.
Dog Boy was a hard man from Yaoguandu, known to dare wade into Wujang River for corpses, braver than most, but he swore he had never seen such a ghastly scene in his life.
Limbs scattered everywhere, blood and gore sared around, red, white, green, and blue, spattered across the ground—the whole squad preparing to venture out for a sorcerer was dead.
Even the oxen pulling the carts were dead!
Guan Daniu, who led the team, hung by his buttocks from the rafters, the rest of his body mashed into a pulp, showing signs of being devoured by so fearso creature.
The site was littered with a unique water plant found only in the depths of Wujang.
Damn it!
How could this water plant be found in the hos of the dead in Yaoguandu?
Still dripping water.
Fresh!
Fear! Fear! Fear!
Spreading! Spreading! Spreading!
Looking at each other, the timid ones let out a scream and fainted away.
The few brave ones hastily dug a pit, buried all the dismbered corpses, and then left.
In rooms throughout Yaoguandu, sobs could be heard from ti to ti.
As daylight broke and the sun rose in the sky, Yaoguandu remained shrouded in a thick fog, the whole town gloomy, perated with an indescribable, damp cold.
And there was the stench of sli from the riverbed depths.
On the fifth day.
The panic continued to spread.
A new change occurred.
Even more chickens and ducks died.
Suddenly, about a hundred people in the town claid they had dreamt of the old chief.
Strange.
A hundred people all having the sa dream, the sa scene, even the words were nearly identical.
They dreamt of the elder lying at the bottom of the muddy Wujang River, his body bloated and turned white from the icy waters, parts of his flesh torn ragged by passing fish, with stark white bones exposed in places.
In the deep river’s dark abyss, they saw a weird blood-colored token embedded in the elder’s chest, the only source of light in the gloomy depths.
They saw the elder’s bloated, fish-nibbled jaw, the exposed white bones in motion, the skeletal fra grinding and producing ghastly sounds.
A poisonous, chilling sound, inexpressible in words, suddenly resonated in the depths of their souls.
"I’m so cold."
"It hurts so much."
"So many fish biting ."
"I can see my bones."
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"
"Why are you doing this to !"
"Why!!!"
"If that’s the case, then co keep company!"
The voice stopped abruptly at that point, and the colorful dreamscape suddenly shattered, leaving only the endless sound of water and darkness enveloping the drear’s soul.
A feeling of suffocation, intense pain, and being devoured spread through their hearts.
It was like being pinned down by a ghost, they struggled to break free from the cruel dream that resembled hell, but they couldn’t.
All they could do was silently endure this indescribable agony.
It wasn’t until the last rooster of Yao Guandu crowed that the person in the dream managed to struggle up from the bed, drenched in cold sweat, looking as if they had just been fished out of water, entirely covered in false sweat, their eyes filled with terror.
Right, the last rooster in Yao Guandu was raised by the old patriarch.
A companion of ten years.
The sixth day.
Dogwa, who couldn’t fall asleep anyway, heard rustling noises outside his window.
Mustering his courage, he cracked open a sliver of the window and glanced out.
That one grim look almost scared two souls and six spirits out of him.
All he saw were the people who said they had dreamt of the old patriarch the day before, lined up outside, each with their hand on the shoulder of the person in front, walking slowly and directly toward the Wujang ferry dock.
Their steps were faltering; their eyes hollowed out with pupils missing, leaving only the whites showing.
Purple and black veins were bulging at their temples and the corners of their eyes.
Their faces were pale as if powdered, with dark circles around their eyes like a panda’s, and their lips were cyanotic.
It seed like they noticed Dogwa watching them because they suddenly halted. They all turned to look at Dogwa in unison and revealed creepy smiles as if carved from the sa mold. Then they continued their march toward the Wujang ferry dock.
The scene was bone-chilling.
Yet, under the silent night sky, no one dared to speak up, no one dared to intervene.
Because the bold Dogwa clearly saw an elderly mother with white hair, unable to bear her son following the crowd to their doom. She was crying, pulling on her son’s arm, as if trying to awaken his consciousness.
Eventually, the old woman’s eyes also gradually turned white, and she joined the end of the procession.
Ming Yue shed her light; the townspeople lined up towards Wujang!
It was the old patriarch, coming to take people away!
In the dark night, Dogwa’s heart thumped wildly at the sight, and even his hair stood on end.
He could even hear the rushing sound of blood flowing through his veins.
The seventh day.
Over a hundred more people in the town dreamt of the old patriarch.
"Don’t sleep, everyone, please don’t sleep!"
"If you dream of the old patriarch, you’ll die!"
Dogwa frantically waved his hands and went from door to door, telling the townspeople.
However, the townspeople who opened their doors one by one had a dull gaze, their expressions numb, utterly lifeless.
A couple even continued to enjoy themselves in ti, unashadly and boldly...
Despair shrouded the entire Yaguandu, with people dying every day, and even heinous cris such as rape and murder occurred, as well as people hanging themselves to commit suicide.
The tragicody of human life kept refreshing and unfolding in Yaguandu.
It was as if hell had descended upon the living world.
However, thankfully, a considerable number of people chose to follow the advice of Dog Waizi, actively storing food and seeking invigorating dicines, and proactively saving themselves.
At the crossroads of life and death, even a beast has the right to survive, so why not humans?
...
...
Thinking, thinking, Dog Waizi’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier, as if they were weighed down by a thousand-pound boulder, unable even for the prick of a needle to awaken his spirits.
He leaned against the wall, struggling, with a wry smile.
In the end, could he not escape the fate of death after all?
He had tried so hard to live.
Old chieftain, I, Dog Waizi, have failed you; the people of Yaguandu have failed you, but you’ve already killed enough, please stop, old chieftain.
Old chieftain, I’m sorry, I’m giving my life back to you now.
With this thought, Dog Waizi, whose willpower was stretched to its limit, could no longer bear it, and his eyelids slowly closed.
He was too tired, he wanted to sleep so much.
In an instant, he entered a dream. He heard the sound of a river flowing, he saw a terrifying evil roaring and twisting at the bottom of the river, he saw the Old Chieftain, his face beyond recognition, he saw a blood-red token at the bottom of the river, flashing like breathing.
He fell asleep.
...
...
Yi Chen and Little Miao hurried along the mountain road; it had been five days since they last killed the Tyrant Chicken.
After killing Brother Chicken, the Deep Red Points it gave to Yi Chen were not very generous, only a re two hundred points, but Yi Chen forgave it generously and continued on his journey.
In the afternoon, as the sun set in the west,
beside a mountain spring, Yi Chen skewered two large sheep hind legs with an iron stick and roasted them over a pine charcoal fire, the tantalizing aroma wafting through the air.
"Grilled lamb legs really need pine charcoal to have a soul, delicious!"
"It has much more soul than roasting with internal energy."
"Miao Zi, catch, you cat, you never do anything right, you never leave anything uneaten, you’ve finished off everything edible in the storage ring. We’ve got nothing to eat next," Yi Chen said, tossing half a roasted lamb leg to Little Miao.
It wasn’t that Yi Chen was gluttonous; mainly, children couldn’t eat too much, it’s indigestible.
Little Miao elegantly caught it with her paws, let out a protesting ow, wondering who ate more, then she sat on two large leaves she found from sowhere and began to feast contentedly.
After eating, she stared with a flattened cat face at the roasted lamb leg in Yi Chen’s hand, owing desperately for more.
"No more, no more, we won’t have anything to eat until we reach Wujang Prefecture. Your dad can absorb light; you can nibble on so wild fruits," Yi Chen said, licking the grease off his hands and finishing the last bite of at, smiling.
Little Miao owed in protest, then pounced onto a large tree, gazed into the distance, and suddenly began excitedly owing loudly.
"A town in the distant mountain basin? Can we buy supplies and have a good night’s rest and repairs? Let take a look." Yi Chen said, pulling out a map to inspect it closely. The three words "Yaguandu" erged clearly on the map.
"Lucky you, we have co across a town that is not too far away."
"Alright, I’ll listen to you. We’ll stop there to rest up and buy so supplies before we leave," Yi Chen said with a hearty laugh.
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