Free Web NovelChapter 1251: Chapter 830: Siblings
This was the name Datou shouted out before he died, and Yang Xiao immediately brought it up.
On the other side, the tavern owner was also very quick-witted. He cooperated with Yang Xiao and took out Datou’s clothes, the coat with blood writing on it. freewebnσvel.cѳm
With these two pieces of evidence, Sopa immediately believed it. She hastily said it’s not time to leave yet and gestured for Yang Xiao and others to follow her upstairs.
The group arrived on the second floor, where they saw several Ghost Village People here as well. Their faces were all turned toward the corner of the room, where there was a candle.
The candle flickered eerily, with flames constantly jumping amidst the gusts of ominous wind. At this moment, Yang Xiao clearly saw that next to the candle was a dark hole.
"These guys rely on shadows to kill. I used a bit of strategy to trap their shadows in the pit."
Sopa spoke quickly, "I got separated from my brother. I hid in the village, but soon, as the moon in the sky was covered by mist, this long-lost quiet village suddenly came to life."
"The doors of every household stood open; these villagers walked out one by one, wandering around like Evil Ghosts."
"But I noticed only one door that didn’t open, and that was here."
"I suspected there was a secret in the house, so I found a way to sneak in."
"Sure enough, after some searching, I found a secret chamber, but unfortunately, I also alerted the ghostly creatures in the courtyard, which started guarding near the secret chamber."
"I led all their shadows out and trapped them under the secret chamber, but the downside was that I couldn’t go down either."
In this way, Sopa held off against the ghostly creatures, and as the candle slowly burned out, the situation she faced grew increasingly unfavorable.
Listening to Sopa’s introduction, Yang Xiao’s evaluation of this pair of siblings kept rising. Not to mention Datou, his sister was no ordinary person either.
Brave, careful, and decisive in action—not everyone dares to venture alone into a haunted house for exploration.
Despite unfavorable conditions, she boldly acted based on her observations and analysis, infiltrating the haunted house alone and trapping the shadows of these ghostly creatures in the secret chamber—truly skillful.
"Hurry up, why are we still waiting around?" The tavern owner was only focused on urging; he had no other thoughts but to leave and go home to see his mother.
"No, we must go down and take a look, otherwise we’ve come in vain!" Sopa’s attitude was resolute, clearly seeing the pros and cons.
Yang Xiao knew Sopa was right. He left Sopa to guard the candle, then turned around and, amidst Sopa and the tavern owner’s shocked gazes, picked up a Ghost Village Person and went to the window, smashing it open and throwing the person down.
"Don’t just stand there watching me, lend a hand!" Yang Xiao called the tavern owner to work.
The tavern owner understood now too; if the mountain doesn’t move, I move. Ghost shadows die when they leave their bodies at a certain distance, so they just need to move their bodies further away.
Through experimentation, Yang Xiao found that simply throwing the bodies out of the window wasn’t enough to kill the Ghost Village People; they needed to carry them at least ten meters outside the fence.
After carrying a body for twenty meters outside the yard, Yang Xiao immediately noticed the body’s rapid swelling on his shoulder and, as it became heavier, there was a viscous, fetid corpse fluid oozing down.
There were more than twenty bodies altogether upstairs and downstairs. Sopa was responsible for throwing the bodies out of the window or pushing them through the door, while Yang Xiao and the tavern owner were responsible for moving the bodies to a distance.
The three cooperated tacitly, quickly sweeping the entire small building clean of Ghost Village People, or rather "killing" them all.
Indeed, peering again outside the entrance to the secret chamber, there were no ghost shadows inside.
However, to be safe, Yang Xiao still lit a candle before going down, leaving Sopa at the entrance to respond, while the tavern owner stayed outside to keep watch.
Upon descending the wooden, simple bamboo ladder, Yang Xiao confirmed it was indeed a secret chamber.
Because there were walls all around, no doors, not even a small window, the only way in or out was through the ladder at the small opening above.
As soon as he entered, Yang Xiao’s alertness heightened quickly; he sensed a strange yet familiar scent.
It was difficult to describe the burnt smell, mixed with a fetid odor, similar to the smell Yang Xiao had encountered only when the Painted Woman appeared.
He immediately realized Sopa’s judgment was correct; this place was crucial and must conceal clues related to the killing Painted Woman.
Following the scent, he found a corner, lifting a patchwork beast skin beneath which was hidden a black wooden box with rivets.
As the beast skin covering was lifted, the scent in the air grew stronger. Yang Xiao confirmed that what he wanted was hidden inside this box. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
First, he moved the box tentatively with his hand, finding it nearly immobile; there’s some heavy object inside, causing Yang Xiao’s face to show a bit of distress as he suspected it contained a corpse.
If it were an ordinary corpse, it wouldn’t matter; he was most worried it was something like the Painted Woman, as the scent was unmistakable.
But at this point, if he turned and left, all his previous efforts would be for naught.
In tasks, it is normal to avoid risks and pursue benefits. However, at certain key moments, it is necessary to take some risks.
Without daring to open it rashly, Yang Xiao took a candle from his pocket, lit it, and set it over a meter away behind himself, ensuring he wouldn’t suddenly be attacked from behind when opening the box.
Then, he took a dagger made from an unknown animal’s bone off the wall, using it to pry open the box lid.
As the box lid flipped open, a waft of stale air dispersed, revealing the contents inside, which made Yang Xiao’s eyes light up—it was a stone tablet!
The stone tablet was wrapped in a large beast skin but not completely covered; the exposed part had engraved writing.
With one glance, Yang Xiao confirmed this stone tablet was the missing lower part of the one he had seen in the cave.
"How are you doing?" Sopa poked her head down from the entrance above, concernedly asking.
"I’m fine. I found a stone tablet that is part of the one I saw in the cave—it might hold some clues," Yang Xiao replied.
"Be careful and hurry up!" Sopa urged.
Yang Xiao stopped responding and focused, reaching to drag the stone tablet out of the box. But the strength was insufficient; his left arm, injured by the ghostly Shadows’ strike, couldn’t muster much force.
He had to switch up his approach, quickly tearing off the wrapping beast skin, while holding the candle closer to discern the writing on the stone tablet bit by bit.
This stone tablet was in much better condition than the half-part in the cave; at least there weren’t any moss or other attachments, making it easier to identify.
The content on the stone tablet wasn’t extensive; in less than three minutes, Yang Xiao had comprehended it roughly, realizing its significance as a warning.
It warned the villagers to never reveal the secrets of the Divine Statue in the cave, or they would face divine punishment, being the village’s forbidden land.
Moreover, the stone tablet sternly cautioned that if anyone were to steal the Divine Statue from the cave’s forbidden land, it would trigger an unpredictable catastrophe.
That’s all the content. Yang Xiao’s brain raced; although it didn’t explicitly state how to solve the Painted Woman issues, based on the current clues, he believed the "living coffin" that imprisoned the Painted Woman should be returned to the village, to the forbidden cave.
The foul odor emanating from the box clearly wasn’t from the stone tablet. Yang Xiao reached out to feel, discovering hidden at the bottom a peculiarly shaped porcelain bottle and a book wrapped in beast skin.
The porcelain bottle was hefty in hand, filled inside, with the foul odor assaulting the nose upon approaching.
Opening the porcelain bottle here was unwise, so Yang Xiao tucked it away, intending to inspect the book.
However, the beast skin wrapping the book was ragged with large holes, and most bizarrely, the tactile sensation of the beast skin was exceedingly smooth and tender.
Yang Xiao’s heart trembled; he slowly unfolded the not-so-large beast skin, and the next second, his pupils jumped violently—it was a face skin!
A human face skin, with features aligned, and accompanying scalp and remaining areas of skin, were entirely peeled off with blades.
"Quick! Get out fast!" Sopa’s urging came from above, clearly a sign of trouble.
