Chapter 220

Chapter 220

“There are so many caves in mountains like these. Just a few of us won’t be able to find it.” Miao Jie didn’t want to believe the Tree Deity was evil, but her boyfriend really wasn’t himself. She had no choice but to follow Cheng Miao’s reasoning.

Cheng Miao touched the ring on her hand. In the previous instance, she had received the “Resentment of Twenty Employees.” She didn’t know whether it would be useful here.

“Miss Cheng, neither my brother nor I are in very good health. We might not be much help searching for a cave.” Tan Wu looked at her with clear eyes. “But I can try to help you find out what that cave is like.”

Cheng Miao’s eyes lit up. “Then thank you.”

Tan Ge said little, only looking at his sister with concern. She gently squeezed his hand in reassurance and asked for a sheet of paper and a pencil.

She closed her eyes and sat quietly. Just as everyone began to think she’d fallen asleep, her brows suddenly drew tight, and large drops of sweat fell from her forehead.

Tan Ge stood beside her with his lips tightly pressed together, saying nothing. The others hardly dared breathe.

Before long, with her eyes still firmly shut, she picked up the pencil and rapidly sketched across the white paper.

Only after seven or eight minutes did she let out a long breath and open her eyes.

Seeing her even paler face, Cheng Miao knew this skill probably had strong side effects, much like her own buff for inviting ghosts to possess her.

She patted Tan Wu’s hand. “Thank you for doing that.”

Tan Wu managed a smile and handed her the drawing.

The players gathered around Cheng Miao. But Qi Jiajia and Qiudong’s intimidating presence kept them from crowding too close. They craned their heads to look at the picture.

“What… what is that?” Miao Jie cried out and covered her mouth.

The sketch lines were a little messy. They showed a cave, with a large tree at its entrance blocking most of the light.

Inside was a thin stream of water, probably the source of the sound Lin Zhu had heard.

At the center of the drawing was something unidentifiable. It looked like a sphere formed from countless human limbs and grievances.

Broken arms were visible, along with pained faces faintly rising to the surface.

Strangely, Tan Wu’s drawing wasn’t particularly fine, nor could her technique be called masterful. Yet it sent the players looking at it into a cold sweat.

It was as though, through that thin sheet of paper, they could see resentment soaring to the heavens and hear heart-rending screams.

“This is probably… the Tree Deity’s true form.” Cheng Miao pressed her lips together, examined the picture closely, and passed it to the other players.

“Qiudong and I will go out. The rest of you should rest here.” Before she’d finished, Qin Musong interrupted.

“No. Lin Zhu isn’t well, and Jiajia is young, but I can still manage. Cough, cough… I’m all right. I’ll go with you.” He refused outright.

Cheng Miao looked at him worriedly. She knew he wouldn’t simply wait here while she went out to take risks.

But he had been in the first group to receive grass bracelets. Though he wasn’t terribly ill yet, they couldn’t be careless.

“At worst, I’ll search the areas closest to the village.” Knowing that Cheng Miao was stubborn too, Qin Musong could only compromise.

She sighed and nodded.

Although Qi Jiajia felt no discomfort, she didn’t clamor to go either.

Lin Zhu definitely couldn’t overexert himself in his current state. She had to stay and watch over him.

Cheng Miao looked at the others. The only people who could help now were Yang Ke, Zhu Cong, Ma Yang, Kong Fan, and Wang Yang.
The others were either too sick themselves or needed to look after someone who was.

Cheng Miao carefully explained where the cave might be and reminded them to pay attention to flowing water and the large tree blocking its entrance.

“The mountains are so vast. Who knows when we’ll find it?” Ma Yang sighed heavily, voicing everyone’s thoughts.

“Enough. If you have time to complain, start moving instead.” Zhu Cong understood clearly that Cheng Miao’s reasoning was correct.

Never mind whether they truly had enough autonomy in their dreams. Even if they did, there was no guarantee that attacking the supposed Tree Deity there would work, or that it wouldn’t backfire.

Better to find the cave, then make a plan.

Once everyone had left in twos and threes, Cheng Miao took Qiudong and Qin Musong to a secluded spot outside the village.

“I obtained twenty vengeful spirits in the last instance. I don’t know how to use them, but I want to try.” She looked at the other two.

Taking a deep breath, she released Monkey’s vengeful spirit first.

The figure that appeared before them had stark white eyes, with the corners of his mouth and his cheeks crudely stitched together with thick thread.

Her buff had trained Cheng Miao to be less afraid of ghosts, but the sudden appearance of such a frightening one still made her and Qin Musong take a step back in perfect unison.

Qiudong found it amusing, but kept it to himself to spare her pride.

After calming down, she said, “I need to find this place.” She held out the drawing.

As she did, she hesitated. Those eyes… could they see?

To her surprise, Monkey’s vengeful spirit lowered his head to look, then floated away on his own.

Watching him leave, Qin Musong quietly stepped forward again. Cheng Miao regarded Monkey’s retreating figure thoughtfully.

“It really works like that. Let’s send out five. No need for more.” After asking for the others’ opinion, she released the vengeful spirits of Kiki, Fan Rui, Shen Si, Tang Ying, and Tang Shouren.

With a group of spirits with different but universally miserable appearances in death earnestly studying a sheet of paper, the atmosphere was somehow quite harmonious.

Once all the spirits had gone, Cheng Miao stretched her limbs. “Let’s go too.”

Time passed quickly. Before long, the day was over, and she had found nothing.

The mountain streams were clean, and there was plenty of wild fruit, so at least they wouldn’t go hungry.

That thing appeared to be right beside the water. But if they really wanted to argue the point, the well water might not be clean either.

Cheng Miao simply stopped thinking about it. Once it grew dark, she brought the two men back to the courtyard.

The others had returned not long before, all looking dejected.

The mountains were too vast. Most of them were city people. Walking mountain paths was hard enough. Not getting lost was an achievement, never mind finding a cave.

Cheng Miao checked on Lin Zhu. He was reasonably alert. That afternoon, Qi Jiajia had brought the village doctor to the courtyard to examine the sick.

He hadn’t found a single problem. If it wasn’t heatstroke, it was a failure to adjust to the local environment.

Anyone could see something was wrong. Even the Village Head had been alerted.

Unfortunately, the players wouldn’t leave, and he could do nothing. He could only hint that these were signs of serious illness to come.

The players were all young, and this was the peak season for the Tree Deity’s marriages. They needed to be prepared.

As darkness fell, Cheng Miao could only remind the second group not to answer the Tree Deity readily if they dreamed.

For the first group, she had no solution.