Chapter 11 The Island in the Lake

Zhu Jie was dumbfounded by Jiang Cheng's words, and Tang Qisheng shuddered. For a moment, they couldn't quite visualize such a scene: a fake Grandpa with Xiu Ling's face lying on the back of a corpse… it was too terrifying!

Most importantly, they couldn't understand the logic behind it.

Jiang Cheng naturally wouldn't give them time to think. This was originally his fabrication. Now he had a rough guess about the corpse's origin. "Quiet, we'll follow them."

Exiting the courtyard and turning right, they followed the corpse, maintaining a seemingly safe distance. He had walked this road before, and it led towards the village center.

After walking for a long time, Fatty suddenly felt unreal looking at the figure in the mist ahead. He looked at the figure, then turned to look at the surrounding direction, feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Suddenly, a hand touched him, and Yao Shunyu's low voice sounded, "Don't look around. This road is strange; it's not a village road."

Fatty was stunned. He naturally trusted Yao Shunyu, but... what did it mean that it wasn't a village road? Had they already left Wugong Village?

"Yao Shunyu is right; this road is extra," Jiang Cheng said, vigilantly staring at the figure in the mist, his voice lowered. "Although this village is small, it's fairly well-planned. The village roads only run east-west and north-south. But look at the road we're on now."

With Jiang Cheng's reminder, Fatty gradually realized it. After a moment, he finally realized the problem: the road beneath their feet cut into the village center at an odd angle, and the original crossroads in the village had been cut off by the appearance of this road. The bizarre scene defied description.

"No wonder we couldn't find that living shrine. So this is the road leading to the living shrine," Shao Tong sighed, his sigh filled with complexity.

Following the corpse, everyone felt like they were forgotten by time, on their way to another world.

Silent ears gradually heard sounds. They faintly heard the sound of waves lapping against the embankment, fierce and rapid, and shattered by sharp reefs the next second.

Jiang Cheng sniffed lightly, the damp smell of lake water reaching his nose.

"Creak—"

Fatty's molars ached as if an extremely heavy door had been pushed open, and moist water vapor rushed towards them, carrying a cold wind.

The group followed the figure forward, and after walking for an unknown amount of time, the fog gradually dissipated. At this moment, even though they were prepared, everyone was still shocked.

Appearing before them was a boundless body of water. The black lake water exuded a strange luster, making people dizzy just by looking at it.

And something like an island in the lake was looming under the cover of the fog.

Zhang Qizheng's corpse had disappeared. They were now at the shore. Tang Qisheng squatted down and dug out a water plant from the crevices of the reef.

"Beauty Fragrance..."

The water plant was already rotten, but Zhu Jie immediately recognized it as the unique Beauty Fragrance of Chun Shen Lake.

It seemed this was Chun Shen Lake, but how could such a vast Chun Shen Lake appear in the village? What exactly happened?

They found an old fishing boat on the shore. The fishing boat was not very big, but the equipment on it was intact, showing signs of frequent use. There was also a low cabin in the back.

Fatty had sharp eyes and immediately noticed the muddy footprints on the boat. The footprints disappeared outside the cabin door, the toes pointing towards the door.

Cautiously opening the cabin door, Fatty turned on the light on his phone. Even though he was mentally prepared, he couldn't help but feel terrified at the sight before him. There was a wooden bed in the low cabin, and a corpse was lying on the bed.

"It's Zhang Qizheng..." Tang Qisheng's face turned ugly.

They suddenly thought of what the antique shop owner had said: those fishermen who had been tied up by the government soldiers were driven onto a boat at night and ordered to sail into the depths of the lake, and there was a corpse in the cabin of that boat.

Now it seemed that this should be some kind of ritual, similar to the sacrificial rites of some tribes in ancient times in remote areas.

But now, it was impossible to retreat. Everyone could only bite the bullet and board the boat.

Shao Tong searched the cabin and concluded: "This boat is specially prepared for the ceremony. There are blood stains on the wooden bed. This kind of ceremony should have been held many times. Also, the windows in the cabin are all nailed shut."

Because of Jiang Cheng's previous words, everyone was now avoiding Zhang Qizheng's corpse. Fatty was worried that the corpse would suddenly rise up halfway. If that happened while they were on the lake, they would be truly helpless. Without *Wu* (a ghost) showing up, they had no chance of winning.

"Should we... should we throw the corpse down?" Fatty asked tentatively. Although he also had great respect for Old Man Zhang, they couldn't care about that now.

Shao Tong looked at the corpse and shook his head decisively. "No, this corpse may be the key to opening that island."

The word "key" caught everyone's attention. Jiang Cheng didn't speak, but Yao Shunyu, who was leaning against the ship's railing, became vigilant and stared at Shao Tong, asking, "What do you mean by key?"

Shao Tong smiled at him, saying meaningfully: "I'm just guessing, you don't need to get so excited."

"How many clues are you still hiding?" Yao Shunyu's attitude was aggressive.

Tang Qisheng also smiled strangely and waved his hand at Yao Shunyu nonchalantly, "Hey, Brother Yao, don't get excited. Now we're all in the same boat. Shao Tong has no reason to harm us, and... I feel what he said this time makes a lot of sense."

Yao Shunyu looked at Tang Qisheng in disbelief, then angrily said: "Have you been brainwashed too? He clearly knows a lot of clues that we don't know, but he just won't say it."

"That's right, I say let's tie up this bad guy first and beat him up, and he'll confess everything!" Fatty stood firmly on Yao Shunyu's side, waving his fist, looking fierce and capable of fighting.

"Enough!" Jiang Cheng directly stopped the argument, "Everyone shut up. Leave the corpse for now, let's set sail."

Yao Shunyu and Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng in confusion. Fatty had even prepared the rope for tying people up, but Jiang Cheng seemed not to care. His gaze was fixed on the island in the distant mist.

Amidst a burst of turbulence, the small boat sailed towards the distant island. Fatty sat very close to the cabin. If there was any abnormal noise in the cabin, he would immediately warn them. Fortunately, nothing happened along the way.

As the distance closed, the island in the mist finally revealed its true appearance. This was an island made entirely of black silt, and in the very center of the island, an ancestral hall-style ancient building quietly appeared.