Chapter 41

Behind her came a violent grinding sound, as if a huge body was inching its way into the tunnel, its rough skin scraping against the rock walls, crushing the clay figures on both sides.

Li Bai's eyes widened suddenly. She knew that the Zhusheng Niangniang (Goddess of Childbirth) was catching up.

The next moment, Zhang Yuanchao's voice changed, becoming furious. Li Bai could well imagine that the old but robust man must be awe-inspiring at this moment. "Come on! I've been looking for you for a long time, old hag! Ahhh... Give me back my daughter's life!"

Accompanied by a final roar, the man rushed towards the Zhusheng Niangniang without hesitation, and Li Bai finally stumbled out of the tunnel.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she listened to the shrill screams of the monster babies coming from far behind her. Countless times she wanted to turn back, to take one more look at the man, but she couldn't. Once she turned back, everything would be in vain, and Zhang Yuanchao's death would be meaningless.

She had to live, to finish what Zhang Yuanchao had not finished, to destroy Blackwater Village, to destroy this hell on earth!

At this moment, it no longer seemed like a simple task, but her responsibility, an inescapable responsibility.

She rushed to the rickety ladder, then climbed up with all her might. She could already hear the rustling sounds coming from the tunnel behind her. Countless monster babies were chasing her.

After climbing out of the well, she lay on the edge and looked down, her eyes already red and swollen from crying. How she wished she could see Zhang Yuanchao again, but as more and more monster babies poured out of the tunnel, Li Bai despaired. She held on until the monster babies climbed onto the ladder before slamming the heavy cover shut.

Inserting the sturdy wooden bolt, Li Bai collapsed to the ground like a lost soul, listening to the sound of the monster babies' claws scratching at the cover. Li Bai broke down and finally burst into tears.

Zhang Yuanchao was dead and would never come back. She had lost a loved one.

A very light footstep reached Li Bai's back. After confirming that the person in front of her was Li Bai, Yao Shunyu quickly stepped forward.

"What's wrong?" Yao Shunyu helped Li Bai up, and at the same time heard the scratching sound under the heavy cover, which made him frown. "Let's get out of here first."

On the way back, according to Li Bai's disjointed descriptions, Yao Shunyu also learned the whole story, and a bit of respect arose in his heart for the honest-faced man. "So it was Senior Hanshan Ren (Caller of the Mountain), alas, what a... what a pity."

Li Bai had many abrasions on her body while escaping, and her knees were also bruised. Yao Shunyu carried her on his back, and the two walked back together.

To Li Bai's surprise, Yao Shunyu knew more about the Hanshan Ren than she did. According to Yao Shunyu, the entry requirements for the Hanshan Ren were even more stringent than those for ordinary Yin practitioners. Not to mention the Five Deficiencies and Three Shortcomings, it was best to be the kind of person whose family had suffered a great disaster, and Zhang Yuanchao clearly belonged to this category.

Once they entered the mountain gate, the Hanshan Ren would never be able to leave the mountain for the rest of their lives. Apart from ordinary work, the most important job of the Hanshan Ren was to find people. What required the Hanshan Ren's help were generally not ordinary disappearances, but those who had been blinded by mountain spirits and forest monsters, or, in their jargon, people who had been "eaten" by the mountain.

However, it was precisely because of this that the Hanshan Ren's reputation became more and more bizarre.

The Hanshan Ren revered the mountains and forests and worshiped the Mountain God Laobaotou (Old Chief), so they could still reason with ordinary mountain spirits and forest monsters, but they did not dare to provoke those truly evil things that had grown into a climate, which gave rise to another custom of the Hanshan Ren—life exchange.

The Hanshan Ren could save those who were "eaten" by the mountain, but they had to use another life to exchange for it, so that they could save people without offending those evil things.

And the people who were rescued had to keep silent about it. This was the rule of the Hanshan Ren, and also the rule of the Mountain God. Once someone talked nonsense, they would be "invited" back by the Mountain God sooner or later.

The person who saved people had to be willing. The Hanshan Ren took this person to find the lost person, then left this person behind, and then took the lost person out of the mountain.

However, this changed its flavor in the eyes of outsiders, who suspected that the Hanshan Ren had strange methods, or even had evil intentions.

Having experienced what had just happened, Li Bai knew that what Yao Shunyu said was true, but what she didn't understand was, how did Yao Shunyu know these secrets?

Yao Shunyu left her a slightly stiff profile, and sighed after a long while, "Because I once met a Hanshan Ren, in a mission, we were caught in a ghost wall, and he saved us all."

Li Bai's eyes suddenly widened. "Did he also sacrifice himself?"

"Heh, you think too much. That Hanshan Ren was a ruthless guy. Among us, there was a wounded person at the time. He picked the tendons of this person's hands and feet, cut off this person's eyelids, tied the person to a tree, and kept an eye on the road behind us for us."

Yao Shunyu paused, then turned to look at Li Bai, and said in a complicated tone: "The Hanshan Ren are not kind people. Senior Zhang Yuanchao really treated you as his daughter."

"His wish is to avenge his daughter. Since he doesn't have a chance, then I will help him. I must destroy this place before I leave!" Li Bai gritted her teeth with hatred, but this also strengthened her determination to take revenge.

"Okay! We will do it together. We must not only leave alive, but also completely destroy this ghostly place!"

Since Zhang Yuanchao had saved Li Bai at the cost of his life, Yao Shunyu admitted that he also owed him a favor. The crimes committed by this Blackwater Village were shocking, and besides, they had now found the weakness of those monster babies.

They are afraid of water!

This is probably also the reason why they cannot leave Blackwater Village, because it is completely isolated by the Blackwater River.

"Hold on, we must get out alive! Brother Jiang and Brother Fugui are still waiting for us!"

...

"Ugh..."

Tang Qisheng's mind was in a mess, and countless bizarre scenes flashed in it, like a slide show.

There are also clues, all kinds of clues, and Tang Qisheng was uncontrollably immersed in them.

In the afternoon, he quietly went to the vicinity of the elevator to look for clues, but unfortunately, the buttons outside the elevator were broken, and judging from the dusty elevator doors, the elevator had not been used for at least a year.

However, he was still not giving up. Perhaps there was only a problem with the elevator button on the second floor. For Jiang Cheng and Wang Fugui, he had to go to the first floor to take a look.

But... but only if he can survive tonight.

In the evening, the broadcast in the corridor suddenly sounded, broadcasting an emergency notice: A special patient was lost in the hospital. In order to prevent the patient from escaping, the hospital urgently closed all the exits of this building, and no one is allowed to enter or leave tonight.

In addition, orderlies will cooperate in the capture tonight. Everyone is reminded to report immediately once they find the whereabouts of this patient.