Chapter 1 The Broken Bridge

The stone bridge was dilapidated, with some parts of the surface already collapsed. Some of the most severely damaged areas were blackened by fire.

Li Bai immediately saw that the bridge had been blown up, and with professional skill. It must have been done by the dead soldiers.

There were bundles of large wooden planks nearby, some long and some short, the longest being several meters, and they looked very solid.

From the strong woman, Li Bai learned the specific details of their mission: they needed to use these wooden planks to repair the holes in the bridge surface.

It was said to be repairing, but in reality, it was just temporarily putting the wooden planks up there, enough to ensure the Xue Niangniang (Blood Goddess) Shehuo procession could cross the bridge.

The task seemed easy, just a little troublesome, a physical job, but Li Bai knew it would not be as simple as it seemed. Something strange was bound to happen along the way.

"Hurry up!"

The strong woman seemed very anxious, and she kept looking towards the village from time to time, as if predicting that the Shehuo procession would arrive soon.

Several other familiar women came forward, lifting a large wooden plank and handing it over. Wu Qiang, who was closest, subconsciously reached out to take it.

"Wait!"

Li Bai quickly walked a few steps and interrupted Wu Qiang. Then, she gave the women staring at her with puzzled eyes an apologetic smile. "Sorry, he's a clumsy man. Let me do it."

Li Bai didn't immediately take the plank, but carefully observed it while talking to distract the women. "Hehe, we can't be careless with the wooden planks for repairing the bridge. If they're not sturdy enough, the Zhusheng Niangniang (Childbirth Goddess) will definitely be unhappy."

After some observation, Li Bai found no problems. She tapped it with her fingers, and it made a dull "du du du" sound, which sounded very solid.

While checking the wooden planks, Li Bai also secretly observed the women's reactions. The women were becoming more and more impatient, which perfectly matched Li Bai's impression of them, and they were all familiar faces.

"Can you hurry up?" The strong woman in the lead frowned.

"Okay, let's start now."

Li Bai smiled apologetically and summoned Lü Zhangyuan and Wu Qiang. The three of them lifted the wooden plank together and walked towards the bridge. Under Li Bai's direction, they steadily laid the plank on a section of the bridge surface that had been blown open with a huge gap.

Practice makes perfect. After finding no problems, the three of them sped up, and soon, the several damaged spots closest to the shore were repaired.

Li Bai stood on the bridge and looked around, finding nothing strange, until she looked down at the water under the bridge.

It was pitch black under the bridge. It was normal for it to be dark at night, but Li Bai just felt that something was wrong, as if she had overlooked something.

The next second, Li Bai suddenly realized that there was water under the bridge, but when she shone the torch down, the water below didn't reflect her shadow.

Under the bridge was pure darkness, not even a trace of light, as if it were a black hole that could swallow everything, including light.

Li Bai realized that the greatest danger in this bridge repair mission probably came from underwater.

Time passed by. Wu Qiang wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He used to work as a porter, had good stamina, and was the main force in this carrying task.

Now, half of the bridge had been paved, but the problem was that there were not many wooden planks left.

"Excuse me, where are the remaining wooden planks?" Li Bai asked the strong woman in the lead.

But the strong woman seemed to have a bad impression of Li Bai because of what had happened earlier. She glanced at her with some dissatisfaction and said sarcastically, "What? Do I owe you something? Am I supposed to be bossed around by you?"

"If you want wooden planks, go get them yourself. I'm warning you, if you delay Niangniang's crossing, you'll all die!"

"Where are the wooden planks? We'll go get them ourselves." Li Bai didn't bother arguing with her.

"Heh, that's more like it." The strong woman turned around. "Come with me. It's not far. It's not easy to find some usable wooden planks, and they're all going to you male thieves."

Following the strong woman into the fog, Li Bai was constantly vigilant for possible changes, and even had Lü Zhangyuan and Wu Qiang grab her sleeves. The three of them were like conjoined twins.

After all, Li Bai had seen many such environments. She was worried that if she wasn't careful, her teammates in the fog would be replaced.

Moreover, these villagers might not have good intentions.

The journey was not long, and they arrived quickly. Li Bai didn't expect that there were dozens of villagers waiting here, some lying down, some squatting on the ground, looking very tired.

Within this area, dozens or hundreds of wooden planks of various sizes were stuck upright, extending far into the depths of the fog.

"Hao's family, you've finally arrived. We've brought all the wooden planks we could find. We really... we really can't walk anymore." A villager squatting on the ground barely stood up, his legs seemingly weakened.

The strong woman's face darkened. "What are you all complaining about? The village chief is urging us, and besides, we're doing this for Niangniang. You're all being picky."

However, after hearing the word Niangniang, all the complaints were swallowed back into their stomachs. Zhusheng Niangniang seemed to be a divine being in their eyes, only to be admired and revered.

After settling these people, the strong woman sat down on the ground and waved her hand at Li Bai and the others. "Alright, you can go ahead. Take whichever one you like. I'm going to rest for a while."

Looking at the wooden planks that were standing upright, Li Bai and the others instinctively felt a trace of discomfort, as if these were not wooden planks, but tombstones.

Li Bai raised her head, her eyes scanning the faces around her, faces that were either tired or dissatisfied. She found them all familiar, which gave her a little sense of security.

But the next second, Li Bai's pupils trembled violently. She suddenly realized a very crucial problem: why did every face look familiar to her? Not to mention her memory, she had only met a few people in Blackwater Village, but here... here were at least dozens of people!

With this doubt, Li Bai looked at these faces again. Then, a strange scene occurred. She clearly felt that these faces were familiar, but they didn't match the faces of the villagers of Blackwater Village in her memory at all. It was an indescribable, strange feeling, as if something was constantly influencing her.

But at least Li Bai knew that these guys had a problem. They were probably all ghosts.

"What are you dawdling about?" The strong woman in the lead glared.

"Coming, coming."

Li Bai perfunctorily walked slowly towards the nearest wooden plank. Since these guys' purpose was to get them to pull out the wooden planks to repair the bridge, then the problem should lie in these wooden planks.

But after careful observation, there was nothing wrong with this wooden plank except that it was a bit old.

Li Bai didn't act rashly and continued to check the next one. There was nothing wrong with the next three wooden planks, until the fourth one.

This wooden plank looked a bit darker than the previous three and gave a very heavy feeling. Li Bai touched it with her hand. It was relatively cool to the touch at first, making her feel very comfortable, but soon, this coolness turned into a bone-chilling cold.