Free Web NovelChapter 399: Chapter 343: Monk
"Who? Who caused you to end up like this?" Yang Xiao pressed.
Cheng Cha’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Yang Xiao was indeed cunning; his question was insightful. Just moments ago, the two groups were on the brink of a fight to the death, but Yang Xiao’s question, asking who had harmed them, immediately transformed the Du Family Villagers from recent aggressors into tragic victims, significantly narrowing the gap between everyone.
As if recalling horrifying scenes, the Patriarch Du’s face twisted, and his breathing became rapid, "We don’t know him, but he was... he was a monk!"
Upon hearing the word "monk," Yang Xiao immediately thought of the Ghost Envoy, whose attire resembled a kasaya—it must have been him without a doubt.
"Is it the ghost that brought the strange dreams, the one troubling you?" Sui Chengguo quickly connected the dots with the village’s eerie incidents, thinking of the fierce ghost that haunted Du Family Village. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"That’s right," Patriarch Du nodded.
"How did you come to provoke this ghost?" Yang Xiao asked further.
As soon as he finished speaking, someone hurried in from outside, panic-stricken and not speaking clearly, "Patriarch, the Soul-Attracting Incense outside the main gate is burning exceptionally fast tonight, there’s no time... no time left, those things are about to come out!"
Hearing this, usually composed Patriarch Du immediately panicked, quickly explaining to Yang Xiao and the two others: "We’ll talk more tomorrow, you better head back now, remember, lock your doors and windows at night, no matter what noises you hear, don’t be curious, and definitely don’t respond, go quickly!"
Practically chased out by Patriarch Du, the courtyard of the ancestral hall fell into chaos. The villagers who had not yet taken their medicinal baths rushed into the hall, disregarding whether the tubs were occupied, stripping off their clothes and jumping in, even mixing genders in the tubs; one tub was crammed with three or four people, creating a mess inside the hall.
Feeling the palpable fear of these villagers, Yang Xiao knew this was not an act; something terrifying might come knocking in the middle of the night. Not daring to delay, the three of them took a lantern and hurriedly made their way back. Along the way, Yang Xiao and Sui Chengguo thanked Cheng Cha, even though they had still been caught in the end, his willingness to reach out and help was rare indeed, "You’re quite reliable, lad. I was worried you might betray us if you were caught."
Sui Chengguo patted Cheng Cha forcefully on the shoulder, almost knocking Cheng Cha, who was barely holding himself up, to the ground.
Cheng Cha struggled to stand, a bitter smile on his face, "Betraying you wouldn’t do any good, just dragging more scapegoats into this. You staying alive can help avenge me."
"What if betraying us could save your life?" Yang Xiao turned to ask casually.
"Then I probably would’ve done it," Cheng Cha answered decisively.
Neither Yang Xiao nor Sui Chengguo found this answer offensive; they just thought the lad was being honest. They were strangers brought together by chance, looking out for oneself first in danger is only human nature.
"Right, the man who came to report earlier said those things were about to come out, which means he wasn’t talking about the dream-inducing ghost. What was he referring to then?" Sui Chengguo suddenly asked. freewebnσvel.cѳm
Cheng Cha suddenly remembered what he had seen in the bridal chamber, sharing about the closet stuffed with dirty clothes and the ghostly feet behind the screen gaps.
Yang Xiao pondered, "Du San stuffed the clothes of the murdered into the closet, meaning each piece of clothing represents a murdered person. Perhaps what the villagers fear are these wronged fierce ghosts."
The three then analyzed the red-dressed ghost who had saved Cheng Cha twice. However, their opinions diverged; some inclined to believe this red-dressed ghost was Liu Haiping, others thought it was just another "fake bride" who had died in the bridal chamber previously.
But regardless, the ghost bride had indeed saved Cheng Cha, which meant that in this mission, ghosts weren’t necessarily murderers; so far, they even seemed to save people.
Regarding this, Yang Xiao boldly speculated that the ghosts in this mission targeted Du Family Village’s villagers, indicating a grievance with a clear cause and debt owner. These ghosts weren’t ruthlessly eliminating outsiders, as shown by Cheng Cha’s example. More crucially, there was more than one ghost involved in this mission.
Upon returning to their residence and conversing through a window, Yang Xiao and the others discovered that Hu Yanming hadn’t returned. Considering what Cheng Cha witnessed beneath the bedroom bed, they were sure that Hu Yanming had died, most likely killed by Du San.
Once this was confirmed, Yang Xiao and the others were allowed to return to their rooms. Wuma Haoming was nearly crying; he had been hoarse from pleading, but Tong Han and the rest had refused to open the door.
Although tonight was dangerous, it brought significant revelations. Yang Xiao was comforted by the fact that his teammates, Cheng Cha and Sui Chengguo, were inherently good, a rare trait in the Nightmare World.
This mission was peculiar, and had there been any internal strife within the team, they all would have likely perished there. This was something Yang Xiao, Tong Han, Sui Chengguo, and Cheng Cha all understood.
Hearing about the others’ encounters, Quan Doufeng turned pale with fear, "You said the villagers of Du Family Village have rotting bodies, so are they humans or ghosts?"
"They are neither human nor ghost. The Feng Shui here is very strange. There was once a master who laid out a formation here, which I think relates to the Monk Ghost. The Yin energy rises, the Yang energy falls, blood is shed, life is taken, everything appears alive but is actually dead, a very rare Feng Shui formation," said Cheng Cha in a long-winded manner, but hardly anyone understood.
Quan Doufeng was on the verge of losing it, pleading with a mournful face, "Speak human, please talk in a comprehensible way, brother!"
Cheng Cha ignored him, but Yang Xiao caught the gist of it. Indeed, there was something bizarre about the things in this village, appearing alive but actually dead. Just recently, there was that crooked tree, which looked lush and vibrant on the outside, but inside it was completely dead.
Similarly, the villagers were just the same; dressed up, they looked normal from the outside, but inside, their bodies were thoroughly rotten.
Looking alive but actually dead, the phrase hit the nail on the head.
After a long and busy night, everyone was exhausted. After arranging who would keep watch, they all hurried to get some rest. Initially, Yang Xiao thought it would be hard to fall asleep, with the image of the Du Family Patriarch’s decaying, pus-filled body or his final words hinting at the emergence of something terrifying tonight. Nevertheless, Yang Xiao soon turned over and unexpectedly drifted into an oblivious sleep.
He had a bizarre dream where he got up from the bed and walked outside uncontrollably, as if someone was beckoning him. Following the voice, he continued out the grand entrance of the Du Family Ancestral Home. Outside, the night was dark, but there were quite a few people on the village paths, dressed in ordinary villagers’ clothes, yet all hung their heads low and moved stiffly, like zombies.
Yang Xiao couldn’t control himself. His legs seemed cursed as he remembered only walking east until a strange building appeared ahead. His memory then blurred, but after a long time, he suddenly recalled that the building was the ancestral hall of Du Family Village!
At that moment, the ancestral hall was brightly lit, as if hosting a significant ceremony, and waves of chanting emanated from within. There seemed to be hundreds of people inside.
Drawn in by the chanting, Yang Xiao approached the entrance of the ancestral hall. Peeking through a crack in the door, he saw a dense crowd of heads inside. At the very front of the ancestral hall, a Monk dressed in a kasaya was leading the chant while sitting on a cushion. Since he was facing away, Yang Xiao couldn’t see his face.
Beneath the ancestral ranking of the stone platform in the hall, there was a carved pattern of a circle with about a quarter section left unjoined, seemingly enclosing a character inside, but it was blocked by the Monk’s back.
Not giving up, Yang Xiao immediately moved to a different position, arriving outside a window on another wall. Peering through, his view was excellent, now directly at the side of the ancestral hall. However, in the next second, Yang Xiao froze. A strong chill surged from below his feet to the top of his head. He saw that the Monk kept just a head left; the kasaya below was opened, and it was hollow – utterly devoid of a body!
It wasn’t just the Monk; the villagers behind him were the same, wearing varying clothes but all hollow underneath; their bodies were completely gone. Their chanting pace accelerated increasingly, eventually merging into one continuous sound, which Yang Xiao couldn’t distinguish. At the same time, an even more horrific scene occurred – these hollow heads began weeping blood tears, trembling mid-air as if they might fall to the ground any second.
These hollow heads wept blood tears, each trembling in mid-air as if about to crash down any moment.
