Chapter 265
Chapter 265
They all switched on their high-powered flashlights, casting brilliant white beams through the darkness.
Our surroundings immediately brightened, and our view became clearer.
That eased the oppressive, sinister atmosphere somewhat.
“Oh! This damned place really is strange. I wonder if we’ll run into any delicious evil entities later for this magnificent bird to eat.”
The moment Roundy arrived, it flapped its wings and flew in circles around us, chattering nonstop. It even slapped its fat belly with its wings as though they were human hands.
It was a gluttonous chatterbox of a bird through and through!
Zhao Xu, the leader of the burly men in black, pointed at the decaying wooden gateway ahead and exclaimed,
“That’s right! This is it. This is Daling Village. Back when it was still aboveground, I came here several times on the boss’s behalf to visit the villagers. I never imagined the whole place really had sunk deep underground. It’s unbelievable…”
He had only half believed me earlier.
Now he was truly convinced.
Yuan Fei said calmly beside him,
“Captain Zhao, people in our line of work don’t speak irresponsibly, especially where serious matters like this are concerned. Otherwise, trouble follows.”
Then he looked at me.
“What do we do now, Xiao Wu?”
I spread my hands and gave a helpless, wry smile.
“Uncle Yuan, I was only responsible for locating Daling Village. As for exactly what we do next, of course we should listen to seniors like you. You can’t seriously expect a youngster like me to make all the decisions.”
“Hahaha! Xiao Wu is far too modest. Talented and virtuous, unassuming and humble, with such a mild temper too. You have the bearing of a true master!”
Yuan Fei laughed and patted me on the shoulder.
But when he said “mild temper,” I distinctly caught the odd expressions on the two bodyguards whose arms I had dislocated with Taijiquan force a few days ago. They looked as though they wanted to say something but thought better of it…
They had provoked me. How was that my fault?
Ordinarily, my temper really was mild. I never went out of my way to bully the weak.
After Ni Yang, Old Cao, and Yuan Fei discussed matters for a while, they decided to enter the village and investigate!
Although everything here felt sinister and uncanny, we had four fairly powerful cultivators, four brawny coffin carriers, and several armed bodyguards…
It was an absolutely formidable lineup.
Even if we encountered a terrifying creature like a corpse fiend, we could destroy it!
“Once we enter the village, everyone must stay close and explore together. Do not split up under any circumstances. Something about this place keeps making me uneasy.”
As Ni Yang organized the group, he repeatedly warned the bodyguards in black, afraid that they might not understand the danger and run off recklessly.
Zhao Xu hurriedly assured him that while they were skilled fighters who did not fear blood or pain, a place this bizarre only made them want to cling to the masters all the more. How could they possibly wander off?
We set out together.
The closer we drew, the stronger the sinister oppression became.
Just as we stepped beyond the decaying wooden gateway…
Whoosh!
A dark shadow suddenly attacked from above.
“Watch out!”
As Old Cao roared the warning, he swept his phoenix pole upward from below, striking the shadow.
Bang… Crash!
Glass shattered. Old Cao sent a kerosene lamp flying more than ten meters away, where it broke apart into fragments in midair.
It turned out that one of the abandoned kerosene lamps hanging from the wooden gateway had fallen.
It had been a false alarm.
Still, why would a kerosene lamp hanging securely from the gateway suddenly fall on its own?
Old Cao said gravely,
“Let’s keep moving. Since we’ve come this far, we’re bound to encounter plenty of strange and sinister things. I want to see what rogue cultivator or evil entity is behind all this.”
Once we passed beneath the gateway, we had fully entered Daling Village.
A cobblestone road over three meters wide extended into the darkness ahead. At various points, it branched into narrower paths leading throughout the village.
Such a broad road was rare in a small, sparsely populated village deep in the mountains.
After all, every road in Wujia Village was still a country dirt track.
We moved cautiously along the main road at a slow pace. A short distance separated the village gateway from the first houses, so open ground still surrounded us…
Zhao Xu’s remarks answered my unspoken question.
He said,
“About ten years ago, the boss sent me back to oversee the construction of these paths in Daling Village. They poured cement and embedded cobblestones in it to keep them in place. It made walking easier for the elderly villagers and cost quite a bit of money.”
“They also pulled all the weeds around here, leveled the ground, and paved it with cement to create grain-drying yards. The villagers could use them to dry grain and the like.”
At the time, Wang Wenguang had considered moving some of the people who had helped him out of the village and settling them in nearby Guxin Town.
But they were all old and accustomed to living in the mountains, so they had refused to leave.
“It seems Wang Wenguang really does remember and repay kindness… He could be called the outstanding man shaped by the concentrated fortune of Daling Village’s once-excellent feng shui.”
I thought to myself.
Just then, a sudden chill ran inexplicably down my back. An uneasy instinct seized me, as though someone nearby were spying on us!
I whipped my head toward a side path ahead and to the right, swinging the beam of my high-powered flashlight in the same direction.
Inside the open doorway of a house, a black shadow seemed to flicker past the edge of the door!
“What the hell is that?!”
One of the bodyguards in black seemed to have seen it too. Overcome by fear of the unknown, he raised his hand and fired without thinking.
Bang!
The bullet struck the doorframe and lodged inside, shaking loose puffs of dust.
Ni Yang frowned.
“Little Liu, don’t fire recklessly. Bullets are useless against some things here. And even where they work, we need to conserve ammunition. It wasn’t easy for Boss Wang to obtain these weapons.”
“Sorry, Brother Ni. I was just a little…”
He trailed off, presumably unable to bring himself to say the word “afraid.”
Old Cao spoke up.
“We entered the village to uncover the truth, so we’ll have to search the houses one by one. Since we’ve already found a clue, we’ll start with this one. Let’s go!”
The house stood only a dozen or so meters away, and we soon reached it.
Unlike many rural homes, it had no courtyard. The lane ran directly past its front door.
The door had decayed. Only one half remained in the frame; the other had fallen to the ground and bore signs of being gnawed by snakes, insects, rats, and other vermin…
We shone our flashlights inside. The tables and chairs remained in the central room, but a thick layer of dust covered them, and cobwebs stretched everywhere.
“If the house is still enclosed and nothing came out while we approached, then whatever we glimpsed just now should still be inside.”
Old Cao sounded fairly certain.
Exactly!
I nodded, agreeing with him.
Although I had not seen what the black shadow was, the fleeting shape had not looked like a ghost or another incorporeal evil entity. It had a physical body.
As long as the house had no breaches, it should still be inside!
Ni Yang asked,
“Should we go in and take a look?”
Yuan Fei gripped his Ghost-Beating Staff and considered for a moment before saying,
“We certainly need to enter… but this house doesn’t look large. The interior is cramped. If we all go inside, there will be too many of us and no room to use our skills. That would only make things less convenient.”
He had a point.
There were so many of us, and we had only just entered the village. We obviously should not all swarm inside at once.
Everyone turned to the most experienced person present, Old Cao, and waited for him to make the arrangements…