Facing the bloody words “Xin Meng” carved on the large stone in front of her, Xin Meng felt the hairs on her back stand on end.
“What the hell is this?!” came the startled and cursing voice of Li Yougen from the side. He was already timid, and now his legs were shaking with fear. “Is this a tombstone?”
No one could answer him. In this forbidden area, which had supposedly existed for countless years and was strictly guarded by the entire Xiuse Village, stood six large stones resembling tombstones, and on these stones were carved the names of the five of them, in a vivid, blood-red color!
It was too bizarre…
What on earth did this mean? Did it symbolize that they were about to bleed and then die here?!
Or was it… that this place would be their burial site, and these stones were their future tombstones?!
The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became. Xin Meng couldn’t help but glance over at You Yi, only to see him staring at one of the stones, which was completely blank. All their names were there, except for this one, which should have had Qi Xiaokui’s name…
But why was hers missing? Was it because she wasn’t here right now?
As if sensing Xin Meng’s gaze, You Yi turned his attention back to her and walked over. With someone as strong as him backing her up, Xin Meng felt a bit more at ease. Just as she was about to take a closer look at the stones, a sudden loud crash came from the other side. She turned to see Xiong Jiabao kicking one of the stones, causing it to topple over!
“What are you doing?!” Xin Meng exclaimed, quickly pulling You Yi along as they rushed over. “You’re being reckless! You haven’t even assessed the situation, and you just pushed it over!”
Xiong Jiabao casually adjusted his colorful hair. “What’s unclear about it? Didn’t the card say it depends on us whether to push it or not? But if we don’t push it, we definitely can’t trigger the mission plot. We have to push it, no matter what.”
His reasoning was so sound that Xin Meng was left speechless…
She shook off the black line that had fallen on her head and kept analyzing the potential outcomes of pushing versus not pushing. She didn’t really believe that knocking over the stones was the only way; otherwise, the hints on the card wouldn’t be so ambiguous. It felt more like a situation in a game where players are given two options to choose from, leading to different endings based on their choices. They had to be cautious.
However, another loud crash echoed, and Xiong Jiabao walked over, kicking down the stone with Li Yougen’s name on it, then the one with Dong Xiu’s name. The others were startled and didn’t have time to stop him. In the blink of an eye, all six stones had fallen.
Suddenly, the surroundings fell silent.
The entire small grove felt like it had turned into a vacuum, with no sound able to travel, making their ears, accustomed to noise, feel uncomfortable. Xin Meng looked up and vaguely felt that the sky had darkened, and a chill ran through her. An ominous premonition surged in her heart, and she couldn’t help but take a step back. Just then, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by You Yi. She turned to look, only to see his face was very serious as he hissed, “Run!”
After saying that, he pulled her and dashed out quickly. Xin Meng had no time to ask anything and could only follow closely behind. The others also sensed something was wrong and hurriedly ran along, but just as they were about to step out of the grove, a sharp, piercing wail suddenly erupted in their ears!
The sound was neither a cry nor a laugh, sharp as a steel needle, piercing through their limbs and bones, making their hearts ache and their eardrums feel like they were about to burst. They screamed in pain, instinctively covering their ears, but it was useless; the sound penetrated all barriers, striking deep into their hearts!
Fragile capillaries burst in an instant, blood oozing from their ears, eyes, and noses. Xin Meng, the weakest among them, immediately fainted, and You Yi caught her in his arms. His brows furrowed tightly as he gritted his teeth, lifting her by the legs and carrying her up. With a powerful step, he charged out of the grove, and the sound diminished significantly, but he didn’t stop, rushing down the mountain!
The one closest behind them was Xiong Jiabao, who had turned into a bloody mess, his face covered in blood, and his skin torn with many small wounds, blood gushing out. He wasn’t as close to the exit as You Yi and Xin Meng, and even if he gritted his teeth, he couldn’t run out immediately. Moreover, he didn’t know why, but the impact he felt was several times greater than the others. The sound tortured him continuously, and he could barely walk. After stumbling a few steps, he fell to the ground. Nearby, Dong Xiu and Li Yougen were also struggling to run toward the exit, and they were clearly less affected than Xiong Jiabao.
Xiong Jiabao’s knees pressed against the rotting leaves, his hands supporting him on the ground, his vision becoming blurry. He felt someone run past him; it was Li Yougen. He reached out, trying to grab the hem of his pants. “Pull… pull me up…”
But Li Yougen ignored him and quickly ran away. Xiong Jiabao immediately tried to grab Dong Xiu, who was the second to pass, but instead of helping him, Dong Xiu kicked him hard, fearing he would be dragged down. Xiong Jiabao rolled on the ground twice, his body feeling light as his consciousness slipped into darkness.
When Dong Xiu and Li Yougen ran out of the grove, they could barely lift their legs. Dong Xiu accidentally tripped over a tree root and fell, and Li Yougen couldn’t stop in time, tumbling over him, and they rolled into a heap.
Strangely enough, as soon as they left the grove, the sound diminished significantly. Although they could still faintly hear it, it was no longer aggressive. Once they regained their senses, they could clearly identify the sound as… crying.
It rose and fell, sometimes distant, sometimes near, neither purely sad nor purely joyful, filled with anger and resentment.
It was chilling.
Normal people couldn’t produce such a sound, but there was no other way to categorize it besides crying.
“This… this is…” Li Yougen stammered, recalling the rumors from his hometown, which he had once dismissed as superstitions. “This is ‘the cry of the ghost’!”
Dong Xiu’s face turned pale, and he wiped his nose, instantly smearing blood on the back of his hand. He pushed Li Yougen forcefully.
“Get off me, let’s get back to the village!”
Li Yougen scrambled to his feet, and the two quickly ran down the mountain, not daring to look back, moving faster than if zombies were chasing them.
No one thought to check on the unconscious Xiong Jiabao.
As soon as they entered the village, the eerie crying sound vanished without a trace. The village was peaceful and serene, with a big yellow dog lazily lying on the ground soaking up the sun. Hearing the commotion, it lifted its head to glance at them before laying it back down to continue sleeping.
It felt as if they had suddenly returned from a hellish nightmare to the human world, and the abrupt silence was unsettling.
Covered in blood, they naturally couldn’t rush into the villagers’ homes like this. After hastily wiping their faces, they collapsed next to the big yellow dog. The dog twitched its nose but didn’t bark, not even lifting its eyelids, continuing to bask in the sun and sleep.
Dong Xiu and the others didn’t care about the dog; it was better if it didn’t bark. After soaking up some sun and feeling a bit of strength return, they stood up, dusted off their pants, and went to look for Xin Meng and You Yi.
Xin Meng had already been placed on a bed in the small storage room lent by the village chief. You Yi had jumped in through the window with her in his arms, carefully cleaning her wounds, giving her some medicine, and feeding her a few sips of water. The treatment she received was far better than that of the other three, and she quickly regained consciousness.
“What happened?” Xin Meng blinked as she opened her eyes, feeling a bit disoriented. Why was she in the village chief’s house? Was she still dreaming, and had just had a nightmare?
Clearly not. You Yi, standing beside her, told her, “You fainted. I brought you back to rest.”
Xin Meng immediately grabbed his sleeve. “What about the others?”
You Yi’s response was still brief: “I don’t know.”
That made sense; at that moment, they could only focus on saving themselves. It was already quite difficult to take care of one person, let alone others. But they couldn’t completely ignore the situation; otherwise, who knew what might happen? Xin Meng quickly decided, “We need to go back and check.”
You Yi had no objections. Seeing that she had mostly recovered, he helped her get off the bed.
The sound had been too terrifying. Now, they were not only in a disheveled state but had also suffered some real injuries. Right now, as Xin Meng stood on the ground, she felt dizzy, her ears ringing, and stars flashing in her vision. If she tried to walk on her own, she would either fall or run into a wall, so she had to keep holding onto You Yi. You Yi, on the other hand, looked much better; on the surface, he only appeared slightly pale and hadn’t even bled.
“Just the sound alone had such strong attacking power. What on earth was that?” Xin Meng rubbed her temples, feeling a wave of fear.
“The cry of the ghost,” You Yi replied.
“Ghost… cry?” Just hearing the name didn’t sound good. Xin Meng shivered. “Is it related to Xiong Jiabao kicking over the tombstone?”
The answer was obvious.
“I have a feeling something bad is going to happen…” Xin Meng murmured, “Is it really that easy to come out?”
This time, even You Yi couldn’t provide her with an answer.
As they stepped outside, they ran into Dong Xiu and Li Yougen, who were looking for them. The four of them regrouped, and Xin Meng suggested they go look for Xiong Jiabao, but Dong Xiu and Li Yougen strongly opposed.
“You want to go back to that kind of place again?!” Li Yougen shouted in disbelief. “Are you crazy or just stupid?!”
Dong Xiu frowned in refusal, though his reasoning was slightly more dignified. “I just sustained internal injuries and can’t move well. Following along would only slow you down, so I won’t go.”
Damn internal injuries.
Xin Meng knew the nature of these two and didn’t waste any more effort trying to persuade them. She decided to go back with You Yi.
However, this time, even as they approached the small grove, they didn’t hear any sounds.
Xiong Jiabao was still lying on the ground, unconscious.
Xin Meng looked into the grove; the six stones still lay on the ground, and the sky had returned to its normal brightness. The sounds of insects and birds resumed, everything looked normal. She tentatively tried to enter but was stopped by You Yi. He stepped into the grove first, walked straight to Xiong Jiabao’s side, but instead of picking him up, he grabbed his legs and dragged him along the ground out of the grove. Xiong Jiabao’s back scraped against the ground, his hair getting tangled with rotten leaves.
Xin Meng: “…”
What happened to team camaraderie?
Moreover, why did she feel this… faint sense of pleasure after receiving such differential treatment?!
It felt a bit unfair to Xiong Jiabao.
