Everyone exchanged glances.
But Tian Dawei, who had lost a finger, obviously didn’t plan to give anyone any face.
"I’ve become disabled! You think we’re just going to let this slide?" He pointed at the Old Village Chief’s nose, cursing loudly.
The commotion at the village entrance quickly spread throughout the village, and soon, a dense series of door-opening sounds echoed.
One by one, dark and skinny faces peeked out from the cracks in the doors, staring at them.
Even someone as rough as Tian Dawei shivered.
No other reason... it’s just that these villagers, who leaned half their bodies out of the cracks, were too ugly.
No... or maybe they were... just too strange-looking.
Although they weren’t deformed or disabled, their features were extraordinarily bizarre. Some had eyes that were astonishingly small, others had mouths that were alarmingly large. In short... they were filled with an eerie sense of mismatch.
"We will compensate..." The Old Village Chief heard Tian Dawei’s words and still remained courteous.
Upon hearing this, Tian Dawei snorted coldly but didn’t cause more trouble. This promise was made in front of everyone; he would have a reason to cause a scene if they reneged later.
At this moment, the young woman who had been supporting the Old Village Chief suddenly spoke.
These simple four words made the Old Village Chief’s expression change slightly, and he hurriedly said, "Let’s go... let’s get back inside."
At the same time, those villagers who had craned their heads out from the cracks quickly closed their doors, not making another sound.
The Old Village Chief walked in haste, as if something was chasing him.
A few minutes later, just before the sun set, the group finally arrived at the village chief’s house.
The Old Village Chief’s home was relatively spacious, but it definitely couldn’t accommodate thirteen people.
"I apologize to everyone, there are only three vacant rooms here. Please make do with sleeping on the floor for tonight," the Old Village Chief said apologetically to everyone. "If you’re still unable to leave by daylight, I’ll arrange for you to stay with other families temporarily."
"What?" He Miao was the first to disagree. Hugging the corgi, which had been lifeless since entering the village, she said, "No way! I’ll pay you—let me have a single room!"
"Screw you! I’m injured and I haven’t asked for a single room, who do you think you are?" Tian Dawei’s face turned slightly pale. Though the bleeding from his finger was stopped by the ashes from herbs, the pain persisted.
This made his already bad temper even more irritable and prone to anger.
"Ah... I think let’s do it this way: three vacant rooms, one for the men and one for the women. As for the remaining room, we’ll decide who stays," suggested the elderly Chen Qingshan to ease the tension.
"Village chief, the seven of us are friends from the same town. Could we have a room to ourselves? It doesn’t matter if there aren’t beds; we just want to chat, pass the time, and rest a bit," Lin Yan voiced her thoughts.
Of course, her proposal was agreed upon by the most people, representing the thoughts of six others.
After much ado, Tian Dawei was ultimately overruled by the larger group.
Bai Yanliang and his party were allocated a large room, laid out their bedding, and went in to rest, disregarding Tian Dawei and company’s further disturbances.
Bai Yanliang placed Yu Sheng, who had difficulty moving, onto the bedding. Yu Sheng softly thanked him, then quietly leaned against the wall, observing everyone.
The room was spacious enough; even with seven people, it didn’t feel cramped.
Mostly because they didn’t plan on all sleeping anyway.
"We are seven people, how about each of us keeps watch for an hour?" Yu Hanzhou proposed.
His suggestion was quite sensible, and no one opposed it.
In a village where they were aware of the presence of a ghost, sleeping soundly was simply out of the question, so cooperation was crucial.
"What are your thoughts on this village?"
Huang Yourong, who had been standing, sat down cross-legged to join the discussion.
"That village chief is suspicious," Lin Yan said, her eyes sparkling with insight. "After entering the village, it takes another five to six minutes to reach the village chief’s house. But earlier, when the dog started barking to the time the village chief and his granddaughter appeared was roughly only two minutes. Where were they then? Why is it that aside from the village chief and his granddaughter, only a young man named Xiao Bin showed up?"
Lin Yan’s question echoed everyone’s doubt; the village seemed undeniably odd.
An iron cage covered with black cloth at every household, women attacking people and consuming raw flesh. Villagers locked inside, not daring to step out...
"Also, the village chief’s granddaughter said something strange: ’It’s getting dark.’ Could it be... something appears after dark that they fear?"
Huang Yourong chimed in.
"Mr. Bai, what do you think?"
Bai Yanliang was leaning against the wall, seemingly daydreaming, but suddenly realized someone was asking for his opinion.
Moreover, was it Li Mu?
Bai Yanliang wasn’t holding back anything. He looked at everyone and shared his thoughts: "The village chief’s granddaughter mentioned the Homecoming Festival, and the decryption also included ’sacrifice.’ I’ve been pondering what ’skinning and deboning, sacrificial blood heartless’ meant until just now."
His words perked everyone up. Had Bai Yanliang cracked the decryption’s implications?
"The Old Village Chief said he was the chief of Jixue Village. Jixue... Sacrificial blood... I don’t think this is merely a play on sounds. This fierce ghost is very likely linked to the Homecoming Festival."
Bai Yanliang’s thoughts gained everyone’s agreement.
"Yes, Mr. Bai makes sense. We should start by investigating the Homecoming Festival. Perhaps there was an accident during this festival, causing the death of people who weren’t supposed to die..."
"Or, perhaps it was intended as a human sacrifice, and now... those dead have returned for revenge," Su Qian, sitting beside Yu Hanzhou, stated clearly.
"I... also found something," a gentle voice emerged from the corner. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs NoveI[F]ire.net
Everyone turned to look, realizing it was Yu Sheng who spoke.
"Just now... on the way here, I noticed that none of the houses in Jixue Village have any windows."
Yu Sheng’s revelation surprised everyone, then it dawned on them.
"No wonder... I kept feeling there’s a peculiar sense of oppression from the architecture in this village. It turns out this is why!" Huang Yourong clapped his hand with a sigh.
Bai Yanliang glanced at Yu Sheng, noticed she was looking back at him, and nodded slightly.
Why don’t the villagers of Jixue Village build windows?
"Do you think they might be afraid of something outside the window secretly watching them?" Huang Yourong suddenly speculated thoughtfully.
Huang Yourong’s suggestion was quite eerie. If true, what exactly was that thing outside the window?
Li Mu instinctively touched his fingers, his habitual gesture when thinking deeply.
This time, he was the resentful, and as a resentful responsible for survival tasks, he was almost certain to be targeted by the fierce ghost.
Therefore, Li Mu’s intent from the beginning was not merely to survive the three days but, like Qi Nian, to discover the hidden rule, and then... eliminate it!