The village chief swung his torch and turned to leave, and the group hurriedly followed. The tall young man hoisted his torch high and voluntarily brought up the rear of the group.
Zhao Ming, cowardly and fearful, scrambled in front of Xiaoyou in a panic, making sure he was positioned in the middle of the group. Jiang Younian gave him a look of silent contempt, then turned to thank the young man who was silently guarding the rear.
Following the winding, zigzagging path, the group finally arrived at the village. Scattered, well-ordered stone houses were embedded in the complex mountain terrain, the stones reflecting a cold, sharp gleam under the moonlight.
"Stay at my place for tonight. Tomorrow, I will help you contact for rescue."
The village chief settled everyone into his home, then, ignoring them completely, headed straight upstairs to sleep.
"The village chief is getting on in years. Follow me."
The young man led them upstairs to three rooms and told them to divide themselves up. He warned them not to leave their rooms at night, and above all, not to go near the lake.
Zhao Ming, Brother Tai, and Kong Que shared one room; Uncle Zhang and Xiaoyou shared another; and Jiang Younian and Xie Nanzhou shared the third.
Xiaoyou slammed her small hand against the table. "Why aren't Brother Xiaoxie and I in the same room, and Jiang Younian with Uncle Zhang?"
Kong Que and his two companions, feeling this had nothing to do with them, beat a retreat from the battlefield and returned to their room.
Jiang Younian scratched his head awkwardly. "Fine, I'll switch with you."
"No." Xie Nanzhou flatly rejected their trade.
Facing the stares of the three, Xie Nanzhou remained expressionless. "I have matters to discuss with your Brother Jiang."
"What matters? I want to hear them too!"
Xiaoyou refused to leave, but Uncle Zhang grabbed her and pulled her into their room. "Don't bother your Brother Xie and Brother Jiang."
Jiang Younian and Xie Nanzhou were left standing in the hallway.
"Let's go downstairs and have a look."
"All right."
The two were reluctant to return to their rooms, their unspoken understanding clear. When the village chief had brought them inside, they had both noticed the strange altar by the door downstairs.
A dim light cast an eerie glow over the altar. However, it was not a deity being worshipped there, but several tattered books. Jiang Younian reached out to pick one up, but Xie Nanzhou stopped him.
"Be careful with everything here. Don't be reckless."
Thinking of Chen Dan, who had been dragged into the lake after breaking a taboo, Jiang Younian pulled his hand back with lingering fear, silently reminding himself: watch your words and mind your actions.
"Right, watch your words and mind your actions."
"Hm?" Jiang Younian turned his head in surprise to look at Xie Nanzhou, who was still examining the incense table. How did he know what he had just been thinking?
Sensing the gaze beside him, Xie Nanzhou regained his composure. "What's wrong?"
Seeing the confusion on Xie Nanzhou’s face, Jiang Younian assumed it must be a coincidence. The strange environment was just making him paranoid.
"It’s nothing. These books look a bit familiar. The color distribution on the covers looks like college English textbooks."
"These books are so worn; who knows how many years old they are? Are you sure they are the same edition as the textbooks you use now?"
Jiang Younian pursed his lips, feeling a small sense of triumph. "I'm a library manager at my school. We have an old textbook display area. I remember it very clearly."
Xie Nanzhou nodded in understanding. Jiang Younian turned his gaze back to the altar. The cover of the topmost book on the altar was severely worn, with only faint traces of color remaining. The rest of the books were crumpled and brittle, the paper quality so poor it seemed they would crumble at a touch. They were so old that any original writing was completely illegible.
After observing for a long time without finding anything further, the two decided to head upstairs to rest. After all, they had been running all day; even a body made of iron couldn't take it. Jiang Younian collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep without even taking off his shoes.
Xie Nanzhou’s gaze fell on the sleeping face before him, and he stared intently for a long time. Then, with a bitter smile, he turned off the light and lay down beside Jiang Younian.
Past midnight, a shrill, piercing scream shattered the silence of the night.
Xie Nanzhou sat up on the bed instantly, not a hint of sleep in his eyes, his frost-covered gaze scanning the surroundings vigilantly. Jiang Younian followed suit, raising his guard to the maximum, his face full of caution. "What was that sound?"
"Let's go out and see."
Xie Nanzhou got up and opened the door. The others opened theirs as well, and they gathered in the hallway in an emergency meeting.
"What was that sound? It was terrifying." Kong Que’s legs trembled as he clung to Brother Tai’s brawny arm.
The sound had ceased, as if that scream had been a mere hallucination. Just as the group was about to return to their rooms, Jiang Younian subconsciously raised a hand. "Everyone, be quiet."
They held their breath and focused. They could faintly hear a small, rustling sound, as if something were crawling. Following the sound, everyone looked toward the ceiling, guided by Jiang Younian’s eyes. The roof tiles shifted, as if something were crawling over them.
"Clatter!"
A tile was crushed by some powerful force and fell from the rafters. Xie Nanzhou pulled Jiang Younian, who had been standing in the middle of the hallway, out of the way of the falling debris.
"Hey, Zhao Ming, stop pulling at me!" Kong Que turned around and snapped in irritation at Zhao Ming behind him. He was already terrified, and this Zhao Ming kept pressing against him and Brother Tai.
"I’m not touching you!" Zhao Ming looked at the distance between himself and Kong Que, innocent, as they were still several steps apart.
"Then you..."
Before Kong Que could continue to argue with Zhao Ming, Xie Nanzhou interrupted him. "Don't move."
Xie Nanzhou’s grave expression made everyone tense up. They all followed his gaze, seeing strands of black hair spreading at an eerie speed, coiling one circle after another around Kong Que’s ankles.
"What is it? Why are you all looking at me?" Kong Que was confused, feeling his skin crawl under their stares. Zhao Ming bolted in terror, putting distance between himself and Kong Que.
Brother Tai looked alarmed. "Boss!"
Only then did Kong Que realize what was happening and looked down at his legs. Like snakes with eyes, the writhing strands of hair coiled upward, reaching the middle of his calf. Kong Que panicked and tried to stomp his foot to shake them off, but the things seemed to sense it, tightening their grip instantly.
His lower leg was squeezed tightly in an instant, and his dress pants were shredded by the sharp hair. The strands seized the opportunity to embed themselves into the tears. Kong Que screamed in terror.
"Wooo... save... save me, Brother Nan, save me... I'll give you my entire fortune once I'm out of here!"
"Don't move," Xie Nanzhou commanded, stopping Kong Que’s frantic struggling. He feared that any exertion would cause the hair to tighten further; if it got any tighter, it would likely snap his leg.
Just as the situation reached a stalemate and no one could think of a solution, something flowed down the front of Kong Que’s trousers with a splash.
Like sulfuric acid with the power to destroy everything, the black hair began to hiss and smoke. The shackle on Kong Que’s leg was rapidly dismantled, vanishing in the blink of an eye under the corrosion of the liquid. The sequence happened too fast for anyone to even see clearly how the hair had been eradicated.
Kong Que stood there with his legs splayed, covered in tears and snot, with mysterious liquid still dripping from his flashy rose-colored crotch. An acrid, urine-like stench filled the air. Xiaoyou pinched her nose in disgust.
"Big Peacock, stop crying, it reeks."
Jiang Younian looked at the puddle of yellowish liquid on the ground and suddenly understood. "Is this... could this be boy's urine?"