Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Eerie Moonlit Dance
After walking for over half an hour, Li Jiajun arrived at a village: Chen Family Village.
It had once been a rather prosperous village.
Over a decade ago, the villagers all worshipped the Great Black Buddha Mother. It was said that if one prayed with absolute devotion, the Great Black Buddha Mother would grant any wish, even possessing the miraculous power to resurrect the dead.
However, disaster struck without warning.
In the span of just two short years, misfortune fell upon them. Many villagers’ bodies began to rot for no apparent reason, and eventually, the entire population perished.
All sorts of rumors circulated, the most common of which claimed the village’s decline was due to a haunting.
Some often heard an infant crying at night, while others claimed to have seen the eerie image of a pregnant woman weeping in a restroom.
Every night, mysterious figures would appear on the roof of the ancestral hall, singing and dancing. The sight was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
However, these were all just rumors and were never definitively confirmed.
With the rise of livestreaming, the last couple of years had seen paranormal exploration streamers come here to broadcast.
But aside from the village’s stark desolation, they found nothing out of the ordinary.
Perhaps because she had heard the rumors about Chen Family Village, Li Ruonan’s face was filled with terror as she reached the entrance.
She froze at the gate, hesitating, too scared to go inside.
Shen Zhiyao glanced back at Li Ruonan and said, "Your daughter is already inside. Aren’t you going in?"
Li Ruonan’s voice trembled as she asked, "Streamer, I heard Chen Family Village is haunted. Is it true? Can you... perform exorcisms or something?"
Shen Zhiyao answered calmly, "I can."
Li Ruonan asked again, her voice urgent, "Streamer, can you please help me get my daughter out of there and bring her back to normal? Don’t worry, money is no object. We’re very wealthy. Just name your price."
Shen Zhiyao sighed. "Money isn’t important. The point is, if you don’t go inside, I can’t guarantee your daughter’s life."
Li Ruonan gritted her teeth. Steeling herself, she finally followed Shen Zhiyao into Chen Family Village.
Tonight, the moonlight was like liquid silver. The village’s buildings and trees were bathed in a soft, clear glow, casting long shadows.
Having been abandoned for years, the building walls were covered in moss, and the village railings were stained with unidentifiable red marks.
Weeds grew wild on the dirt paths, and the faint, intermittent cries of a baby sent a chill down the spine.
Li Ruonan looked around frantically as she walked, but she saw no sign of her daughter.
Her anxiety grew. "Streamer, Chen Family Village is huge. Where should we even start looking?"
Shen Zhiyao raised her hand and pointed. "Your daughter is over there."
Following her finger, they saw a girl standing on the rooftop of the seven-story Chen Family Ancestral Hall. It was none other than Li Ruonan’s daughter.
Under the moonlight, the girl danced gracefully—spinning, leaping, and waving her arms. Each movement was powerful, wild, yet elegant.
But she was dancing on the very edge of the roof. The slightest misstep would send her plummeting to her death, a sight that made any observer’s heart pound with fear.
"AHHH—"
Li Ruonan couldn’t help but scream.
Startled by the scream, the dancing girl stopped her performance and stared directly at her.
Her gaze was filled with a mournful resentment and a profound hatred that they could feel keenly, even from a great distance.
Shen Zhiyao said, "Let’s go. Someone has been waiting for us for quite some time."
Li Ruonan’s legs began to tremble, and her first instinct was to flee.
But with her only daughter in such peril, she couldn’t possibly abandon her and leave alone.
"Streamer!" Li Ruonan pleaded. "You have to save my daughter and me! As long as we’re both safe, I’ll give you one hundred thousand... no, a million! I’ll give you a million!"
’A million was no small sum—enough to tempt almost anyone.’
But Shen Zhiyao only replied dispassionately, "I’ll do my best. Let’s go up first. If we delay any longer and *she* grows impatient, your daughter will be in real danger."
Shen Zhiyao didn’t specify who this "she" was.
The Chen Family Ancestral Hall had been abandoned for over a decade, but as they stepped inside, the lights flickered on without warning.
The dim lights flickered incessantly in the darkness. A long, red streak appeared on the floor, as if guiding them forward.
When they reached the fourth floor, an infant’s cry suddenly echoed from a restroom, immediately followed by a woman’s shrill scream: "Get away from me! Get away! SOB SOB... You’ll all get what’s coming to you! Put down my child!"
Just as Li Ruonan was about to speak, several burly men ran past, shoving her aside as they rushed toward the restroom.
"What is..." Li Ruonan’s mind went blank. It was as if she’d lost the ability to think, completely forgetting that the village had been abandoned for over a decade.
In her daze, she felt as if she had been transported to the past. The village’s ritual sacrifices seemed to be starting anew. Everyone had to burn incense and worship the Buddha Mother, lest they suffer her curse and die a miserable death.
And so, she quickened her pace, running all the way to the sixth floor and pushing open the main doors of the hall.
"AH—"
The moment she stepped through the door, a piercing sound assaulted her ears.
Before she could even react, a wave of malicious laughter rang in her ears.
Gradually, the laughter morphed into vicious curses.
’She wanted to curse back, but her fear was paralyzing. She lost all courage to fight back and could only stand there, frozen.’
"You dare glare at me?! This coward actually dares to glare at someone! Try it again, I dare you!"
"So you like being our enemy, huh? Go on, try and oppose us again! Always the hero, aren’t you? Always have to be the center of attention!"
"She loves the spotlight so much, she must have some tricks up her sleeve to fool people. How else would she get so much attention! Right?!"
...
Just then, Li Ruonan summoned her courage and roared, "..."