Chapter 10 What Happened

Li Bai wasn't hasty. She needed to confirm "Wu Qiang's" identity. "I ask you, how many of us came this time in total?"

"Ten people, Miss Li. What's wrong with you..."

As the dried corpse answered, dried blood and flesh kept falling from its face. This scene was almost too much for even the experienced Li Bai to bear.

"I ask you again, when Huang Jun shielded Yao Shunyu from the knife, what did I tell you?"

This question clearly stumped the dried corpse, and its unusually hoarse voice changed. "Miss Li, you didn't tell me anything. And... and wasn't it Lü Zhangyuan who shielded Yao Shunyu from the knife?"

The next second, Li Bai forcibly suppressed the resistance in her heart, grabbed the dried corpse's arm, and at the same time, used her other hand to pull the rope around her waist, two slow and one fast. This was the code she and Lü Zhangyuan had agreed upon.

Soon, the rope responded, and a force was pulling her outwards. But before Li Bai could relax, the surrounding mist seemed to be stimulated and suddenly surged up, blocking Li Bai's sight in a few breaths. Fortunately, Li Bai was still tightly holding the dried corpse's thin arm.

"Ah!"

A short exclamation suddenly rang out in front of her. Li Bai could tell it was Wu Qiang, the dried corpse.

"What's wrong?" Li Bai asked quickly.

"There's... there's a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back," Wu Qiang's voice trembled.

As soon as he finished speaking, the dried corpse uncontrollably retreated into the mist, dragged away by a force. Li Bai couldn't stand still either and was pulled into the mist.

"Damn it..."

Li Bai had considered similar situations, but she didn't have a countermeasure.

Now, her link to the outside world was Lü Zhangyuan. If Lü Zhangyuan was also pulled in, all three of them would be finished.

However, Li Bai soon realized that she was overthinking it. Lü Zhangyuan wouldn't sit idly by and let himself be dragged in. He would naturally let go when he couldn't hold on any longer.

Li Bai had already told him this, and she wouldn't blame Lü Zhangyuan.

As the rope was continuously dragged in, Li Bai inevitably panicked. She knew that Lü Zhangyuan outside was getting closer and closer to the bridge pier. She and Wu Qiang, the two of them, could be abandoned at any time. This feeling of being abandoned at any moment was like a quagmire, the more she struggled, the more desperate she became.

The dried corpse suddenly let go and then pushed Li Bai outwards with force. "Miss Li, go back quickly. I can't do it anymore. I can't implicate you any further!"

Wu Qiang was a good person, with a generous and kind personality. This was one of the reasons why Li Bai decided to risk saving him. But as Lü Zhangyuan said, he was just a stranger after all.

Li Bai had tried her best, and she had no regrets. She was ready to give up, but just as Li Bai was about to let go, a huge force suddenly came from her waist. This force was extremely strong, definitely not from Lü Zhangyuan.

Another thing that made Li Bai instantly vigilant was that a cold aura was spreading along the rope, almost freezing her stiff.

Li Bai didn't know what exactly was happening, but she knew that something must have happened outside, and Lü Zhangyuan must have encountered danger as well.

Things were developing in an irreversible direction. She and Wu Qiang were trapped on the bridge pier, and Lü Zhangyuan, the only one who could help from the outside, had also run into trouble.

Gradually, Li Bai realized something was wrong. After that cold aura came, the force pulling Wu Qiang in the mist had weakened a lot, and now it had almost completely disappeared.

Li Bai was now starting to worry about the force pulling the rope.

But she didn't have much time to think. Li Bai and Wu Qiang were soon pulled out of the mist. When the fog in front of them dissipated, Li Bai finally saw Wu Qiang. At this moment, his face was full of joy after surviving the disaster. "We're out! I... I escaped from that thick fog!"

"Huff—"

Heavy panting came from not far behind Li Bai. Li Bai didn't dare to turn her head but slowly rotated her body. Lü Zhangyuan was standing very close behind her.

But now Lü Zhangyuan looked quite miserable, his hands tightly gripping the rope, completely exhausted.

His feet were stopped at the edge of the broken bridge; if he took another step forward, he would fall off the bridge.

Shocking bloodstains remained on the rope. To protect the rope, he had worn his palms raw.

And what shocked Li Bai even more was that the other end of the rope was actually hanging under the bridge.

Li Bai suddenly looked at Lü Zhangyuan, her pupils trembling. "You..."

Lü Zhangyuan squeezed out an ugly smile and let go of his bloody palms. "Sister Li, your guess was right. The ghost thing that trapped you was indeed afraid of water. I couldn't hold on any longer in the end, so I threw the rope into the river. Sure enough, you came out safe and sound."

Lü Zhangyuan's tone was relaxed, as if he were talking about an insignificant matter, but Li Bai listened with trepidation because although Lü Zhangyuan threw the other end of the rope into the river, he didn't let go himself. This was equivalent to betting his life on her and Wu Qiang's safe return.

Moreover, Li Bai could fully feel how strong the Yin (cold, negative) energy coming from the river was. But what was important was that Lü Zhangyuan was the first to come into contact with that Yin energy, and he suffered more damage.

Thinking of this, Li Bai's gaze towards Lü Zhangyuan changed. She hadn't suspected him, but now…

But Lü Zhangyuan seemed to have noticed nothing and smiled at Li Bai while relaxing his stiff arms. "Sister Li, you're still amazing. You know what happened as soon as I threw the rope into the river."

Li Bai calmed down. "What happened?"

"Hey, the bottom of the bridge instantly became a mess, with crackling and banging sounds. They were all the sounds of splashing water. I took a look with courage, and it almost scared me to fall down." Lü Zhangyuan seemed to have thought of the terrifying scene at the time, and his whole face became tense. "Under the water, especially... especially around the bridge pier, many hands stretched out, and they were all black. Those black hands kept waving and grabbing the rope. The scene was terrifying."

Li Bai looked at Lü Zhangyuan, who was constantly moving his arms but didn't show any flaws on his face, and didn't know what to say for a while.

At this moment, Wu Qiang seemed to have recovered as well, constantly thanking Li Bai and Lü Zhangyuan. He was tearful and snotty, and it could be seen that he was really frightened. The experience of walking between life and death was no joke.

Before they could catch their breath, the three of them almost simultaneously looked towards Blackwater Village. They heard a strange sound.

"It seems... it seems like the Blood Maiden Shehuo troupe is almost here," Wu Qiang couldn't help but swallow.

There was no other choice at the moment. Li Bai immediately ordered, "Quickly pave the bridge surface. Remember, go back the same way you came. As long as you don't look back, you'll be fine. Don't turn around even if you hear someone calling your name. It's all fake."

As Wu Qiang and Lü Zhangyuan worked enthusiastically, Li Bai quickly ran towards the end of the bridge closer to Blackwater Village. She found a high point to stand on. Soon, a long, winding procession walked out from behind a forest. Some people in the procession held torches, which were especially glaring in the dim night.

Slowly, Li Bai widened her eyes. She actually saw a huge sedan chair, and a large sculpture was sitting upright in the sedan chair.

The sculpture also had a red hijab covering its head. The hijab was blood-red, unspeakably strange under the torchlight, as if it had just been dyed red with fresh blood.

Almost instantly, Li Bai figured out what kind of ritual Blackwater Village was holding tonight. They were going to cross the river. Not only were the villagers going over, but they also wanted to carry the Zhusheng Niangniang (Goddess of Childbirth) over.

No, that's not right. These villagers were, to some extent, all children of the Zhusheng Niangniang. They naturally obeyed their "mother's" orders. All of this was prepared for tonight. Their ultimate goal was to cross the river and leave this Blackwater River that bound them.

"Quick! Hurry up!"

Li Bai also dragged a wooden plank over to help.

In the Blood Maiden's procession, Yao Shunyu's situation was even worse than Li Bai's. He was covered in blood, large clumps of hair were falling out, he was missing an ear, and his arm was broken. With every step he took, blood splattered down his trouser legs.

Fortunately, these villagers kept their promise. After his opponent died, the villagers, including the high-ranking village chief and Elder Sun, didn't bother him again.

The ordinary villagers were even more terrified. They would tremble if Yao Shunyu gave them a second glance, and no one dared to meet his eyes.

"Pah!" Yao Shunyu spat heavily on the ground. "Bullying the weak and fearing the strong!"

His disgust for these disgusting things had reached its peak, and he would never let them leave.

Not long ago, it was still a group of three. Now, Huang Jun was stuffed into a box as an offering, and Luan Lihui's head was still being boiled in that pot of boiling water, his flesh already peeling off, revealing pale bones.

But now, Yao Shunyu was most worried about Li Bai's situation.

"It must succeed..." Yao Shunyu murmured in his heart.

"It's done!" Wu Qiang put down the last wooden plank and stood up happily.

Li Bai and Lü Zhangyuan were also there. The three of them looked at the shore so close at hand and were filled with mixed feelings.

Li Bai took a step and was about to be the first to step onto the opposite shore.

But the next second, a rough hand stopped her. "Miss Li, don't take risks. Let me go!" Wu Qiang stubbornly said, "Those ghost things are very evil. There might be some traps."

After speaking, Wu Qiang didn't dawdle and took a few steps onto the shore. He hopped back and forth a few times. After realizing there was no problem, he happily waved to Li Bai. "Miss Li, Brother Lü, there's no problem. Come quickly!"

With his feet on the soft soil, Li Bai felt a sense of peace. She half-knelt on the ground, tore off a few blades of grass, rubbed them a few times, and gently sniffed them. A unique smell entered her nostrils.

"There really is a smell. This place is real!" Li Bai couldn't hide the joy in her heart. Not long ago in the dense forest, he had tried it, but the grass there had no smell at all.

Everything in Blackwater Village was fake. It was like a completely fictional absurd world, and Li Bai didn't know how to describe it.

At this moment, Li Bai and the others could already see the approaching Blood Maiden's procession. As the villagers with torches ascended the bridge, Li Bai finally saw Yao Shunyu following behind the Zhusheng Niangniang's sedan chair.

And there was only Yao Shunyu, with no sign of the other two.

Seeing Yao Shunyu's miserable appearance now, the anger in Li Bai's heart instantly exploded. She picked up her backpack, which contained a whole bag of explosives.

"Miss Li, don't be impulsive!" Wu Qiang quickly advised, "Yao Shunyu is still in the procession. If we blow up the bridge now, he'll be done for too."

Li Bai understood this logic, but the current situation was that Yao Shunyu was behind Zhusheng Niangniang. If they wanted to ensure that Yao Shunyu could cross the bridge, then Zhusheng Niangniang would definitely be able to come over as well.

Li Bai could be sure that once Zhusheng Niangniang crossed the Blackwater River, there would be nothing to restrain it anymore. It would kill everyone in the most cruel way.

Li Bai wasn't afraid of death, but she didn't want to implicate her friends. Now it seemed that the three worlds were interconnected. If Zhusheng Niangniang won and successfully left Blackwater Village, it was hard to guarantee that it wouldn't appear in Wang Fugui's world in Jiangcheng.

The advance party of the Blood Maiden's procession had already reached the middle of the bridge. It could be seen that the villagers were also walking very carefully, even repeatedly using their feet to confirm whether the wooden planks were solid.

Yao Shunyu, who was far away and saw Li Bai, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had a more thorough understanding of his current situation than Li Bai and the others. He tried to walk a few steps faster. If he could pass the bridge surface before the procession arrived, then Li Bai could feel free to blow up the bridge.

But as soon as he moved, he was blocked by several villagers using their bodies. It was the same several times in a row, with no possibility of breaking through.

Now he had calmed down. He was sincerely happy for her to learn that Li Bai was still alive.

Waving goodbye to Li Bai, Yao Shunyu reached into his clothes, where there was not only a dead infant but also a pack of explosives.

Now he understood that the so-called escort team was just a cover. Zhusheng Niangniang needed them as hostages.

Even if all three of them died, there might be villagers pretending to be them to confuse Li Bai and the others.

A fierce look appeared in his eyes. Since Zhusheng Niangniang wouldn't let him live, he couldn't let Zhusheng Niangniang and these damn villagers have a good time either. He planned to detonate the explosives later when Zhusheng Niangniang happened to be in the middle of the bridge.

With the power of the explosives, it would be no problem to blow up the temporary wooden planks on the bridge. When they fell into the water, Zhusheng Niangniang would definitely not be able to hold on.

By that time, Li Bai would detonate the explosives at the bridgehead again. Even if these ghost things didn't fall into the water, they would never be able to leave Blackwater Village again.

Yao Shunyu guessed that these villagers relied on Zhusheng Niangniang's strange abilities to survive. As long as Zhusheng Niangniang died, these villagers wouldn't live long either.

"I'll go think of a way. You guys wait. If... if it's too late, blow up the bridge! We must not let those ghost things cross the bridge!"

Li Bai left two bundles of explosives, then carried a full backpack of explosives on her back, resolutely running towards the bloody procession.

The sound of footsteps falling on the wooden planks made a "dong dong dong" sound. Soon Li Bai noticed something was wrong. There were also footsteps behind her.

"Miss Li, we're here to help you too!"