Chapter 15 Weak Water Abyss

Wu Qiang followed closely behind Li Bai, with Lü Zhangyuan silently trailing behind.

As the three encountered the villagers with their bloody makeup, the villagers didn't stop them. Instead, their eyes shifted, revealing eerie smiles.

Yao Shunyu was initially stunned to see them, then his face contorted in anger as he waved frantically at Li Bai. But by then, Li Bai and the others had already bypassed the Zhusheng Niangniang’s (Birth Goddess) large sedan and stood before him.

"What are you doing here?" Yao Shunyu trembled with rage. "You can't do anything here except die with me!"

Li Bai didn't deny it, as she hadn't yet come up with an escape plan. She intended to find a weakness in the Zhusheng Niangniang.

With no other choice, Yao Shunyu peered over the edge of the bridge, but it was pitch black below, reflecting no light. "If all else fails, we'll have to jump off the bridge. We'll light the dynamite fuse, and at the last moment before the explosion, we'll jump together."

"Life and death are predetermined; wealth lies in the heavens. Even if we all die, we can't let this monster cross the river." Yao Shunyu said whatever came to mind, not caring if the Zhusheng Niangniang could hear him.

"No."

A rather hoarse voice sounded, instantly drawing the attention of Li Bai and Yao Shunyu. Lü Zhangyuan shook his head slightly, his tone firm, "Jumping down is definitely not a good choice. Certain death."

Wu Qiang, looking at the increasingly strange villagers around them, was already losing his composure. "What's wrong with it? I... I can swim, I'm a good swimmer, you..."

"It's not about swimming. The water down there is not right."

As if to prove his point, Lü Zhangyuan directly took off his clothes and threw them into the water, then threw the torch down.

Under the light of the torch, the clothes landed on the surface, but the next moment, a surprising scene unfolded. The clothes fell straight down into the water, without encountering any resistance.

Li Bai's eyes widened slowly. "This... this water has no buoyancy?"

Lü Zhangyuan nodded. "That's right. This water can't float anything."

"Weak Water, this is the Abyss of Weak Water!" Li Bai exclaimed.

According to the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*: "North of Kunlun there is water, whose strength cannot overcome a mustard seed, hence the name Weak Water."

In other words, Weak Water itself has no buoyancy. Even a blade of grass would sink. Legend has it that not even ghosts or gods can cross such a place, and the water is highly poisonous to ghosts and gods, so it is also called Ghost's Sorrow Crossing.

Now Li Bai and Yao Shunyu finally understood why a mere river could trap the villagers of Blackwater Village and the Zhusheng Niangniang. This was the legendary Abyss of Weak Water.

Wu Qiang didn't understand these things, but the abnormality of the water was obvious. Wu Qiang despaired again. "Then... then what do we do? Are we doomed?"

"Not necessarily."

At that moment, Yao Shunyu suddenly realized that the scholarly air had dissipated from Lü Zhangyuan, replaced by a convincing decisiveness, as if he were a different person. Lü Zhangyuan said quickly, "We found the secret of the last bridge pier. It has nine living human stakes driven into it, filled with resentment. As long as you look back near it, you'll be trapped, still on the bridge, but in another space."

Yao Shunyu couldn't process so much information at once. After all, he hadn't experienced the strangeness of the last bridge pier, but Li Bai was different. She quickly understood Lü Zhangyuan's plan.

A moment later, Li Bai's eyes lit up. "You mean we ignite the dynamite when we reach the last pier, then turn around at the same time, placing ourselves in another world, and come back after the explosion?"

"Exactly." Lü Zhangyuan nodded solemnly. "You've seen it too. That bridge pier is very solid. The soldiers used a lot of dynamite before, blasting the entire bridge full of holes, but the last pier remained firm. As long as we get the distance right, there won't be any problems."

They had wasted a lot of time here, but fortunately, the Zhusheng Niangniang's pace was getting slower and slower. The villagers in the front were moving forward almost one small step at a time. They also seemed to be afraid of the last bridge pier.

A moment later, Li Bai frowned slightly, and she noticed a flaw. "But how do we get out?"

Hearing this, Lü Zhangyuan was silent. He turned to look at Wu Qiang, his eyes full of complexity.

Wu Qiang was flustered by Lü Zhangyuan's gaze, and swallowed hard. "Brother Lü... just tell me what's on your mind!"

"I'm sorry." Lü Zhangyuan gave Wu Qiang an apologetic look. "Wu Qiang, this path to survival is not suitable for you, because you've already turned back on the bridge, and been trapped once."

"Look at your shoulder," Lü Zhangyuan continued.

As Wu Qiang tremblingly pulled down his clothes, the three were surprised to find a handprint on Wu Qiang's right shoulder.

The handprint was pitch black, like ink. Wu Qiang broke down, crying and desperately rubbing it with his hands, then tearing at it with his nails, until he drew blood, but he couldn't remove it. It was as if it had been branded into his flesh. "Why can't I get it off, why?"

"This is a *gui da jian* (ghost's shoulder tap), it's a mark left on you by a resentful ghost. As long as you enter that space again, you'll be found immediately, and once the ghost taps your other shoulder, you'll never get out," Lü Zhangyuan said in a serious and steady tone. He was simply stating the facts.

"Then what do we do? What do we do?" Wu Qiang looked at Lü Zhangyuan, Li Bai, and Yao Shunyu with pleading eyes, but none of them had an answer.

Finally, Lü Zhangyuan spoke, shaking his head slowly as he looked at Wu Qiang. "There's no way, really no way."

At that moment, the procession had completely stopped, right in front of the last bridge pier, as if waiting for something. The atmosphere was solemn, but one could see the excitement hidden in the eyes of these villagers. After all, they were about to escape, as long as they crossed the bridge.

Li Bai and Yao Shunyu both knew that the procession had stopped to wait for someone, to wait for someone to clear the way for them. According to the rules of tonight, someone needed to cross the bridge first, as if to open a long-sealed restriction for the procession.

In this oppressive atmosphere, everyone stopped talking. Li Bai wanted to say something to break the damn silence, but her throat was hoarse, and she couldn't say a word. After suffering together, she had developed feelings for Wu Qiang.

Any words she could say now would be nothing more than lies to trick Wu Qiang into sacrificing himself. In this regard, Li Bai still admired Lü Zhangyuan. He was willing to tell the truth, otherwise, with his abilities, he could have deceived Wu Qiang, making him believe that he still had a glimmer of hope, which would have made him much easier to use.

A minute, or even less, Wu Qiang finally raised his head, his bloodshot eyes sweeping over the faces of the three, finally stopping on Li Bai's face. Li Bai subconsciously avoided his gaze, because there was nothing she could do.

"Hoo—" Wu Qiang took a long breath, and the next moment, his whole person was relieved. "Looks like this is my fate. Miss Li, you saved me. If it weren't for you, I would have died long ago."

Wu Qiang forced a smile. "Consider this life as me paying you back. We've known each other, you're all good people, and I'm really relieved to be able to help you in the end."

"Wu Qiang..." Touched by the dark-skinned man in front of her, Li Bai couldn't help but choke up.

"What do you need me to do?" Wu Qiang looked at Lü Zhangyuan, his eyes full of determination.

"We'll take off all our clothes and twist them into a rope. You take the rope to the front of the procession, cross the bridge, and tie the rope to the shore. We'll buy you time, but you have to come back immediately. If you stay on the shore, these ghosts will follow. Finally, when the procession steps onto the last bridge pier, we'll detonate the dynamite, and then you..." Lü Zhangyuan stopped there, pursing his lips.

After a moment, he continued, "I don't recommend that you turn around and hide in the previous space." Lü Zhangyuan was speaking from the heart. To be left behind forever, watching yourself die little by little, that kind of death was too terrifying.

"Got it." Wu Qiang took a deep breath. As the others took off their clothes, a rope was quickly made.

Without saying goodbye, Wu Qiang grabbed the rope and walked towards the other side of the bridge.

Things were just as Lü Zhangyuan had said. No villagers stopped Wu Qiang from leaving, and they were all staring at him with strange eyes.

But after walking more than ten steps, Wu Qiang turned around and came back.

"I... I didn't regret it, I still have something to ask you." Wu Qiang took out a crumpled piece of paper from his close-fitting chest. There were words on the paper. "This is a letter I left for my wife and daughter. I wrote it before, but I didn't expect... I didn't expect it would actually be used. Please help me send it home. By the way, my home address is Yujia Gan Village, Huangsha Town, Nanping City. My wife's name is Deng Shuping, and my daughter's name is Wu Liying."

After saying these things, Wu Qiang didn't stop. He turned around and resolutely walked towards the other side of the bridge. Without any worries, he was no longer afraid of the bloody villagers. He didn't even bother to go around when he encountered villagers blocking his way. He simply pushed them away. He reached into his arms and took out a pack of dynamite. Wu Qiang strode forward, with an indomitable aura. He was no longer the honest, dark-skinned man, but clearly a general charging into battle.

Watching Wu Qiang leave like this, Li Bai and the others all knew that this was goodbye forever.

As Wu Qiang quickly tied the rope, the long-awaited villagers began to move forward little by little. Wu Qiang turned around and returned to the bridge, standing tall at the head of the bridge, facing the villagers and the Zhusheng Niangniang, glaring coldly, with the aura of one man guarding the pass against ten thousand.

Sun Elder, who had been moved to the front, couldn't restrain himself any longer. He took small steps forward, reaching out his withered claws towards Wu Qiang. Wu Qiang suddenly widened his eyes, and punched Sun Elder's face. "Now!" Wu Qiang shouted, and then tore open the fuse of the dynamite with his teeth.

"Go to hell!"

Yao Shunyu roared, throwing the dynamite in his hand, hissing and sputtering sparks, towards the Zhusheng Niangniang.

Li Bai then threw a backpack of dynamite in her hand, all of it onto the Zhusheng Niangniang's large sedan. The dynamite inside rolled out, falling in front of the village chief with wide eyes.

"Turn around!"

Almost the moment the dynamite exploded in Wu Qiang's hand, Li Bai and the others also turned around. Not long ago, they had heard a calling voice from behind. The voice sounded very familiar, and made people feel at ease, but after calming down and thinking about it, they couldn't tell whose voice it was.

The three pulled on each other, and the only rope was tied around Li Bai's waist.

As they turned around, the surging explosive wave disappeared instantly. They were still on the bridge, but all the people on the bridge were gone. A mist of unknown origin rolled in, surrounding them, the scene was incredibly strange.

"Huh?" Wu Qiang's surprised voice came from behind. "What's going on? I... why didn't I die? I really didn't die!"

"Haha, I didn't die, we can leave here together!"

Wu Qiang's voice was full of joy after surviving a disaster, but none of the three turned around. Li Bai bit her lip, her eyes slightly red.

She knew that Wu Qiang had no chance of surviving. The voice behind them was a ghost in disguise, because Wu Qiang would not say "I," he would only say "me."

The rope around Li Bai's waist was not straight, but bent strangely in mid-air, but it was very tight. This abnormal scene looked extremely strange, as if the space had been distorted by some strange force.

Without hesitation, Li Bai grabbed the rope and walked out little by little along the rope. This rope was their only chance to leave.

The opportunity that Wu Qiang had finally won for them.

Soon, with a change of light and shadow, they finally left that space and returned to the last bridge pier.

But now, looking around, the entire bridge was unrecognizable. The temporary wooden planks laid on the bridge were almost completely destroyed by the shock wave generated by the explosion. The large sedan on the bridge, the Zhusheng Niangniang, and the villagers were all gone.

On the other side of the bridge behind them, and on the small section of remaining wooden planks near the other side, there were still some villagers standing, but now the villagers seemed to be insane, standing in place, convulsing non-stop, coupled with terrifying makeup, as if a group of demons were dancing wildly.

The Zhusheng Niangniang should have fallen into the river and died, and the crisis was thus resolved.

As the three stepped onto the opposite bank, the situation changed again. Yao Shunyu protected Li Bai behind him, staring at Lü Zhangyuan with a wary expression.

He really didn't expect that this young man who was willing to take a knife for him was actually Shen Hong (Deep Red). The other party's concealment was extremely deep.

Now that the crisis had passed, it was likely to be a never-ending situation.

But to Yao Shunyu's surprise, Lü Zhangyuan was very calm. He turned to look at the broken bridge, slowly took out the crumpled piece of paper from his arms. The handwriting on the paper was crooked, looking quite comical, but Lü Zhangyuan's face was full of seriousness. "Unfortunately, we can't fulfill our promise. Wu Qiang is ultimately different from us."

"He's a good man." Li Bai recalled Wu Qiang's departing back, and couldn't help but think of Zhang Yuanzhao again. They were both people who valued loyalty.

Lü Zhangyuan turned around, looked at Li Bai and Yao Shunyu, his eyes lost for a moment. "But you're not bad people either."