Chapter 1 Is the Blood Maiden Temple Fair About to Begin?

Li Bai's words served as a warning for everyone. As soon as he finished speaking, in the opposite direction of the lights below the mountain, about a few *li* away, lights also appeared, but these lights were much smaller and flickering.

"What... what is that ghost thing?" After several scares, Huang Jun's expression was distorted.

Yao Shunyu stared at the second light source and nodded thoughtfully, "It's in the direction of the Blackwater River, corresponding to the bridge-building task."

Time was of the essence, they had to set off immediately. Now that Weng Chenglin was dead, only 6 people remained. Li Bai and Yao Shunyu each took two people. Yao Shunyu was responsible for the Blood Maiden Temple Fair task, while Li Bai took people to build the bridge.

After determining the task details, the two groups parted ways and quickly rushed to their respective positions.

Because the bridge-building location was in the opposite direction from the Zhusheng Niangniang Temple, the two groups were almost running in opposite directions.

Walking on the forest path, the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive. The screams of Weng Chenglin before his death constantly echoed in Huang Jun's mind, making him dispirited.

"Don't think so much. Life and death are predestined; wealth and honor are determined by fate. If possible, we'll avenge him." Yao Shunyu patted his arm, as a form of comfort.

Huang Jun nodded reluctantly.

But to be honest, Huang Jun wasn't thinking about revenge or anything. After all, these villagers were too weird. No, that's not right; the entire Blackwater Village was strange.

He and Weng Chenglin weren't particularly close. He just wanted to escape from here as soon as possible.

"Hmm?" Luan Lihui, who was walking in the front holding the torch, suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?"

Sensing something was wrong, Yao Shunyu suddenly became vigilant. Luan Lihui paused, and replied in an uncertain tone, "There... there seems to be someone ahead. I just saw a light, like someone holding a torch."

"Someone..."

Yao Shunyu looked in the direction Luan Lihui was pointing, but he didn't see anyone, not even a ghost. Besides, in this wilderness, where would anyone come from?

Huang Jun, who was already scared, was about to cry when he heard this, and stammered, "Are you sure you saw clearly? Don't... don't scare us."

"Shut up!"

Scolded by Yao Shunyu, Huang Jun immediately became obedient. Yao Shunyu had encountered similar situations countless times, and he had never been wrong once.

"Put out the torch, quickly!"

If it was a blessing, it wasn't a disaster. If it was a disaster, it couldn't be avoided. Since they had encountered it, there must be a reason. But to have something like this happen before the Blood Maiden task was really too much.

Grabbing mud and damp leaves, he pressed them onto the torch. As the torch went out, the group rested for a moment. After their eyes got used to the darkness, they lowered their footsteps and quickly followed.

After about a few minutes, they saw a light flickering in the distance. In the dark environment, the light was particularly dazzling, but when they saw the person holding the torch, even Yao Shunyu couldn't help but gasp.

"How... how could it be them?" Luan Lihui was so surprised that his eyes widened, and he couldn't speak properly.

The person holding the torch was Wu Qiang, the dark-skinned, honest man. They had just separated not long ago, and they were walking in completely opposite directions. There was no reason for them to run into each other.

Li Bai, and Lu Zhangyuan, whose shoulder was injured, were also there. They followed beside Wu Qiang, one in front and one behind. The flickering torchlight illuminated their faces, making them appear alternately bright and dark.

"What's going on? Still trying to trick us?" Huang Jun felt angry when he thought of the voice coming from inside the cave. Were they trying to play them for fools again?

Yao Shunyu hid in the dark, staring at Li Bai and the others. His eyes gradually became strange. In his understanding, those ghost things, even if they weren't very smart, were definitely not stupid. Anyone could tell that something was wrong with the current situation.

"Why?"

"Why are those things trying to deceive themselves in such a stupid way?"

Moreover, after Yao Shunyu's observation, Li Bai and the others seemed normal. Li Bai even turned back to look every so often, as if he had noticed something was wrong.

"Something's not right." Yao Shunyu held his breath, "It seems real."

Hearing this, Huang Jun and Luan Lihui were stunned. Huang Jun was especially anxious, "Brother Yao, what are you talking about? How could it be real? How could they really get here?"

"You guys stay here and wait for me to come back."

Yao Shunyu left alone. He didn't go far; instead, he followed Li Bai and the others from a distance. At the same time, after confirming that he was out of Huang Jun and Luan Lihui's sight, he took out his phone and sent a message to Li Bai.

Almost at the same time, Li Bai, who was walking, clearly paused, then slowed down and secretly took out his phone from his pocket to scan it while the two in front weren't paying attention.

After several messages back and forth, including the previously agreed-upon code words, Yao Shunyu finally confirmed that these people were his own, although he didn't know why this was happening.

Just to be safe, Yao Shunyu didn't reveal his location. Instead, he snuck back and found Huang Jun and Luan Lihui. "I've basically confirmed that those are our people. Now, I'll go over there alone, and you guys follow quietly behind."

After pausing for a moment, Yao Shunyu emphasized, "If something happens to me, you guys should just leave, but I warn you, the task must be completed, otherwise everyone will die. You won't be able to escape."

When Yao Shunyu said this, his expression was very serious. He wasn't trying to create a false sense of mystery. Every word he said was true, and he didn't want Li Bai to be implicated after he died.

"Got... got it!"

A moment later, when Li Bai and the others saw Yao Shunyu coming up from behind, their reactions were equally strong. Wu Qiang even picked up a large rock from the ground.

"Don't worry, it's really me. The messages just now were from me too." Yao Shunyu patted his right pocket at Li Bai, indicating that his phone was there.

"Why did you come after us alone? Aren't you going to complete your task?" Lu Zhangyuan first looked behind Yao Shunyu, and when he didn't see anyone else, he became even more vigilant.

After Yao Shunyu explained the whole story, Li Bai and the others' expressions became colorful. Wu Qiang stared at Yao Shunyu with a suspicious look, "How could this happen? We've been moving forward along the marked direction. There were no forks in the road."

Yao Shunyu wasn't interested in Lu Zhangyuan and Wu Qiang's reactions. He stared intently at Li Bai, because he knew what the real Li Bai would do in this situation. In the next few seconds, he would be able to determine whether these people were real or fake.

Li Bai looked around. This was a relatively dense forest. Perhaps because of the low-lying terrain, the village below the mountain and the Blackwater River couldn't be seen from here, and hadn't been for a long time.

"It's a ghost wall (ghost messing with directions)." Li Bai seemed to have thought of something. The next moment, his expression also dimmed. "Or it could be another Road of Resentful Ghosts."