Chapter 1 The Beginning

Although the statue was covered in a layer of mud, giving it the texture of an ordinary sculpture, Li Bai was convinced that the real Zhusheng Niangniang (Goddess of Childbirth) was hidden inside, facing the same predicament as Yao, Shun, and Yu before!

"Go! Quick!"

Li Bai grabbed Zhang Yuanchao, who was still examining the statue, and headed towards the tunnel entrance. She didn't tell him what she had discovered, not for any particular reason, but because she was afraid of scaring him.

Li Bai had witnessed people being driven insane by the horrors of missions, and most of them hadn't survived.

Re-entering the tunnel, the two were noticeably more cautious this time, slowing their pace.

Afraid of being tricked again, Li Bai took the lead, while Zhang Yuanchao followed behind with the lantern.

"Girl, I..."

"Don't talk!"

Li Bai, completely focused, had no energy to listen to Zhang Yuanchao's nonsense.

But a few seconds later—

"Girl!"

This sudden call made Li Bai quickly turn around. The tone of the "girl" had changed, becoming somewhat sharp.

However, when Li Bai saw Zhang Yuanchao's face clearly, she realized things weren't so simple. Zhang Yuanchao's face was pale, his expression extremely terrified. "No, it wasn't me... I didn't shout that just now!"

"The first call was me calling you, the second... the second call wasn't," Zhang Yuanchao stammered, gripped by panic.

Hearing this, Li Bai reached out and pulled Zhang Yuanchao behind her, holding the lantern up to observe the surrounding clay figures. "Which direction did the voice come from?"

Zhang Yuanchao trembled as he pointed to the right side of the tunnel. "I think it was... it sounded like it was from there."

There were more than a dozen clay figures placed there, dimly visible in the light.

Li Bai slowly approached with the lantern, and Zhang Yuanchao, now regaining his senses, hurried to catch up.

The craftsmanship of these clay figures was uneven, but after observation, they were all real clay figures. As the lantern light gradually moved, a discovery was made on the shoulder of a female clay figure. Li Bai's pupils slightly constricted as she approached. It was a bloody handprint.

The handprint was small, with distinct fingers, and looked like it was left by an infant. But how could there be a child in this ghostly place?

Zhang Yuanchao also saw the handprint. He couldn't help but reach out and touch it, then suddenly recoiled. "It's... it's really blood! Not paint. The blood hasn't dried yet. It was just left recently!"

"This place is not suitable for staying long. Let's go!"

Just as Li Bai turned around, her clothes accidentally brushed against a clay figure. Then, this unfinished clay figure, without even a face carved, fell to the ground with a thud.

The next moment, Li Bai and Zhang Yuanchao were both stunned, followed by a chill that instantly swept through their entire bodies.

They saw the clay figure land headfirst, the wrapping mud cracking to reveal a shriveled, cyan-purple face. The face was extremely distorted, the mouth wide open, and the dark, empty eye sockets stared directly at Li Bai.

Even more terrifying was that there was a fist-sized hole in the back of the clay figure, the edges of the hole protruding outward, with obvious claw marks around it, as if something had been forcibly clawed out from the inside.

Thinking of the bloody handprint left by the infant, a terrifying picture unfolded in Li Bai's mind. Almost at the same time, she thought of Zhusheng Niangniang. Last night, Zhusheng Niangniang had captured Li Maochun and used a huge fleshy tentacle to produce something like an egg in Li Maochun's stomach.

It was conceivable that these clay figures were all wrapped around corpses, and those eggs were hatched in the bodies of living people.

The painting teacher from the beginning, and Li Maochun last night, they... they should all be here!

Zhusheng Niangniang's size obviously made it impossible for her to do such delicate work. These insane acts of imprisoning living people in clay figures were done by the villagers of Blackwater Village, those cruel women!

This was not Ni Ren Zhang's (Clay Figure Zhang's) cellar at all. It was clearly Zhusheng Niangniang's lair.

Having figured this out, Li Bai immediately grabbed Zhang Yuanchao's arm. "Go! Quick!"

The two ran forward as if fleeing for their lives. There were probably hundreds of clay figures here, and each clay figure was a complete egg. There must be many unhatched ghostly things here. The one that left the bloody handprint was one of them.

No wonder... no wonder the villagers of Blackwater Village asked them to come here to worship Buddha. They were clearly asking them to offer their flesh and blood to Zhusheng Niangniang. The two of them were the offerings!

These damned villagers!

Seeming to realize that Li Bai and Zhang Yuanchao had seen through their conspiracy, more and more voices came from the dark corners on both sides.

"Girl!"

"Old man!"

"Don't talk!"

"Hurry up!"

...

Distorted and sharp voices echoed in the narrow tunnel, as if from all directions.

Gradually, Li Bai also understood the abilities of these things. They seemed unable to actively attack people, at least not yet. Moreover, everything these things said was repeating what she and Zhang Yuanchao had said before, meaning these things weren't very smart.

From this perspective, they really did seem like newborn babies, learning everything.

But recalling the large hole in the back of the clay figure's corpse, Li Bai didn't believe that these newborn ghostly things posed no threat to them. At least, the claws that could tear open hard mud with their bare hands were enough to give them a headache.

Soon, firelight appeared ahead in the tunnel. The two continued to quicken their pace, consciously ignoring the rising and falling calls around them.

But when they rushed out of the tunnel, the scene before them couldn't help but make them feel a little despair.

"We're back, we're back again..." Zhang Yuanchao roared helplessly, his eyes turning red, with bloodshot appearing on them.

More urgent than this ghostly tunnel that they couldn't escape was Zhusheng Niangniang not far away. At this moment, Zhusheng Niangniang moved again.

And this time, the movement was even more exaggerated. The statue of Zhusheng Niangniang actually stood up.

No, that wasn't the statue of Zhusheng Niangniang. That was the real Zhusheng Niangniang!

The mud shell outside the statue had fallen off quite a bit, and cyan-purple flesh and blood could already be seen in the gaps of the shell. A rotting stench of flesh came from the direction of the Zhusheng Niangniang statue.

Although the situation was urgent, Li Bai didn't rashly enter the tunnel again this time, because she knew that rushing in again would be futile. Not only would they not be able to get out, but the next time they came back, Zhusheng Niangniang could be anywhere.

Just as Li Bai was holding her breath and thinking about a way out, suddenly, a call made her shudder.

"Li... Li Bai..."

Li Bai turned around abruptly. The call was especially soft, so soft that it would be ignored if you didn't pay attention. It was also weak and powerless, completely different from the strange and sharp voices before.

More importantly, the other party called Li Bai, her name, and since coming down to this underground place, no one had mentioned these two words.