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Chapter 309 Ghost Village
Fu Yu found it difficult to describe what that feeling was like.

It was as if worms were burrowing into his mind—his marrow, nerves, and even all his thoughts were stirred into a gray mess. The blood moon in the sky seemed to come alive, its silent, maniacal laughter echoing in his ears, finally transforming into a nonsensical phrase.

"A solemn announcement at the end of all ages."

Otherwise.

Before he could finish muttering, a large shovel was shoved onto the back of his head.

"Kid, wake up!"

As a result, everything collapsed.

The blood moon still hangs in the sky, but the maniacal smile is gone. Only withered branches surround him, and the invisible words can no longer be heard.

Seeing this scene, Fu Yu was somewhat stunned.

What just happened to me?

But Zhou You simply drew the Broken Evil Blade from its sheath, even taking out the Broken Moon Bow and slinging it over his shoulder, before replying.

"I don't know, but I felt like you were bewitched by something just now—by the way, kid, you and your master came in here once before, didn't you sense anything unusual then?"

Fu Yu paused for a moment, then shook his head slowly and blankly.

"Master, there was nothing unusual when you took me in, and you didn't tell me anything. It was just that when we entered the village, we suddenly saw some monsters, and you sacrificed your armored corpse to cover me."

"—Do you remember what those monsters looked like?"

Unexpectedly, Fu Yu fell into an even longer daze this time.

He tried his best to search his mind. He could remember how he came, how he left, and even the unwilling look on his master's face when he sacrificed the armored corpse. But why couldn't he remember anything about the village?
Seeing the bewildered look in his eyes, Zhou You didn't say anything more. He just patted Fu Yu on the shoulder, signaling him to follow closely behind him, and then picked up his sword and headed into the village.

Just like outside, the village remained desolate and dilapidated, with empty streets and no one in sight—but also no monsters to be seen.

Fu Yu's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he finally couldn't help but speak.

“I wasn’t like this when I came here a few days ago, I clearly do.”

But before he could finish speaking, Zhou You grabbed him forcefully and pulled him into a shadowy corner.

"Master, what is this?"

The question had just been uttered when it was abruptly cut off.

Under the crimson moonlight, a figure staggered over.

At first glance, this thing looks no different from an ordinary person, but upon closer inspection, one can discover that it does indeed resemble a person, but it is merely...
Nothing was growing where it was supposed to be.

His head was attached to his crotch, while his legs were propped up on his neck. His two hands took over the function of his legs as he struggled to walk on the ground. One eye in his navel was rolling around like an insect searching for prey.

Fu Yu instinctively wanted to cry out, but Zhou You immediately covered her mouth.

"This thing hasn't noticed us yet, so let's not make a sound."

Seeing that Fu Yu had calmed down, Zhou You frowned and began to think.

This thing doesn't seem particularly powerful, but for some reason, there's a strange feeling about it that I can't shake off. And I have this feeling that I've seen it somewhere before, but the problem is, where?
Zhou You pondered for a long time, and suddenly a word flashed into his mind.

"Wait a minute, this thing... why does it look so similar to those things in the underworld?"

Zhou You composed himself, wanting to take a closer look—but unfortunately, in that short time, the thing had already gone far away and disappeared without a trace.

Fu Yu finally broke free and looked in the direction the thing had gone, still unsettled, and said.

"Master, what was that just now?"

"I have guesses, but I can't be sure." Halfway through his sentence, Zhou You seemed to remember something and asked Fu Yu, "By the way, your master never mentioned this to you before? Even knowing you were coming with me, he never mentioned it to you?"

Fu Yu simply shook his head blankly.

"My master only said that you, Master, are blessed with destiny, and told me that no matter what happens, as long as I stay close to you, I will be safe and sound. He didn't say a word else."

"Destined to be a blessing?"

Upon hearing this familiar word, Zhou You immediately frowned.

He had initially thought that this old Taoist priest was upright and dedicated to serving the people, but his strength was only average. However, it now seemed that he was just like the old monk in the Buddha Heart incident, who had also seen through his own identity.
But what exactly is this so-called destiny?

But he hadn't had time to think about it carefully.

Suddenly, another unexpected event occurred.

The sky grew increasingly dark, and the blood-red moon hung in the sky, as large as a giant eye—then blue veins began to crawl all over the ghost village, vaguely seeming to stir and throb like living things.

The next moment, a sharp scream rang out.

—Not from monsters, but from humans?
Wait, are there still living people in this godforsaken place?
Zhou You only pondered for a few seconds before making up his mind. He first gave Fu Yu a wink, then stepped into the shadows of the room and sprinted toward the direction from which the shouts came.

Russia.

A half-collapsed outhouse came into view.

At the same time, several twisted monsters were also attracted by the scream. They saw a man sticking his head out, his neck extending three or four feet out, and then, with a strange smile on his face, he peered into the house at the victim who was about to become a sacrifice.

She was a village woman, probably in her thirties or forties, with an unremarkable appearance.

And just as I heard, this is a real, living person.

Just as the teeth were about to bite down—but the next moment, a flash of silver light quietly appeared.

The next moment, the monster's smiling face suddenly twisted, and then, retaining its peasant-like expression, its entire head fell straight into the haystack. Although its mouth was still opening and closing, it could not utter any words.

Only then did blood spurt from his neck like a fountain—and the two monsters finally reacted, turning their heads to look in the direction from which the attack had occurred.

However, what they saw was still that silvery glow, like fireflies.

The sword was so fast that even the shadow was hard to see. One of the monsters was disemboweled on the spot, while the other, seeing the danger, had no choice but to run away.

But no matter how fast his legs are, how could they possibly outrun the sound?

A voice boomed like a thunderclap in spring.

"Om!"

Although the mantra only caused it to pause for less than a breath, it was enough for the longsword to catch up from behind and, as easily as taking something out of a bag, snatch away all its life force.

—After a moment, the sound ceased.

Only a few wreckages remained.

Zhou You glanced at the blood-red moon in the sky, then at the shadowy houses around him, seemingly hiding countless monsters. He shook his head, then used the evil energy from his Duanxie to form a red mist, which slowly devoured all the corpses as if chewing them. Only then did he casually close the door, looking at the woman huddled in the corner, trembling as if she had been terrified. After thinking for a moment, he bent down and spoke gently.

"aunt."

"."

"Um, ma'am?"

"."

"Aunt?"

pity.

All the greetings went unanswered.

Seeing this, Zhou You could only stand up and decide to find a way to get the mentally unstable woman out of the house. But just then, as the door was pushed open, Fu Yu also barged in.

"Taoist priest, I just saw... Oh, Aunt Zhu, what are you doing here?"

After a while, with Fu Yu's gentle words of comfort, the woman's emotions finally calmed down.

"Master, let me introduce you—do you remember the village we passed by? This Aunt Zhu is from that village. She took good care of us when my master and I stayed there before. But Aunt Zhu, weren't you forcibly conscripted for labor? My master and I have been trying to rescue you—how did you end up here?"

The woman sipped the water cautiously, first glancing up at Zhou You. Seeing that his face could be described as kind, she then spoke timidly.

"I don't know either. All I know is that after working in the laundry room all day, I was exhausted. When I got back to my room, I just collapsed and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes again, I was here."

Before Fu Yu could speak, Zhou You spoke up.

"Auntie, has anyone else come here with you?"

"There were four or five people, I think. I can't quite remember."

"Where are they now?"

But the woman just shook her head blankly.

"I don't know. I got separated from them shortly after arriving here, and then I hid in this house for three or four days. Just now, I don't know how, several monsters suddenly surrounded me. I was so scared that I couldn't help but scream, and that's how I attracted you, Master."

Zhou You's brows remained furrowed, and he continued to ask questions.

"Then the next question is, what day did you arrive?"

"Around mid-March, I think. I haven't been to school, so I don't remember exactly. What's wrong?"

Zhou You and Fu Yu's expressions both darkened.

—The woman said the timing was wrong.

It's already late April, and summer is just around the corner. If this woman came in March, then at least a month has passed—definitely not just three or four days as she claims.

Moreover, how did she survive in such a situation where there was no food or water?

Fu Yu also gripped his sword tightly in nervousness. Seeing their expressions, the woman seemed to realize something as well. She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to explain something.

But the next moment, the moonlight shifted once more.

—When you look again, there is no woman in sight.
It's just a pile of collapsed, rotten wood.

"Taoist Master!" Fu Yu was now trembling with fear, his face no longer showing the excited and expectant look from before. "How...how did Aunt Zhu disappear? Are we...are we seeing a ghost?"

"No, she wasn't a ghost. She was definitely alive just now—at least in that scene."

But Zhou You didn't explain anything further to Fu Yu, who was completely confused. He simply said...

"I remember you said before that you knew a little bit of Maoshan magic, right? Your master also said that this stuff is closely related to your Maoshan sect, so can you now find out where the village's leader is?"

Fu Yu shakily pulled out a talisman disc, fiddled with it for a few moments, and then pointed in a direction.

"I'm not entirely sure either. But the divination refers to that side."

Zhou You then stopped talking, simply picked up Duanxie, and headed straight in that direction.
-
About an hour later.

This ghost village is clearly larger than it should be. Even considering the distance traveled by foot, it would take one round trip to a proper prefecture, yet it still stretches as far as the eye can see.

After that, they killed several more waves of monsters and also encountered several groups of civilians.

They came from all over the country, and not all of them were forced laborers, but they all had one thing in common—they all inexplicably appeared here after falling asleep.
Everyone's timing is off.

Fu Yu was increasingly alarmed—only now did he realize the immense price his master had paid to get him out of this hellish place.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he regrets it now, it's already too late.

He could only hold the talisman disc in his hands and carefully discern the direction.

The road gradually widened, and the surrounding scenery became increasingly eerie and gloomy.

All the withered branches were trembling, like the hands of someone crying for help; the blood moon grew larger and larger, seemingly about to crush down at any moment; the blue veins had spread to every corner, and every time you stepped on them, you could hear a faint scream.

After an unknown amount of time, the two finally arrived at a building covered in moss.

That's the village's ancestral hall.

Similarly, this is also the final direction indicated by the talisman in Fu Yu's hand.

Zhou You peeked inside through the crack in the door.

Strangely, despite the numerous monsters on the road, the shrine was completely empty, without a single ghost in sight. Only a pitch-black stone tablet stood at the far end, but due to the poor lighting, it was impossible to see what was written on it.

"Master, have we arrived at our destination?"

Seeing Fu Yu's expression, which seemed to show relief yet was also extremely tense, Zhou You comforted him.

"It seems so, but I can go in by myself later. If you're worried, you can just stand guard at the door."

Fu Yu immediately wanted to agree—but when he remembered his master's instructions before leaving, his expression turned extremely bitter.

"Well, Daoist Master, we're already this far, how can I let you risk your life alone? Why don't we go in together?"

Zhou You didn't try to persuade him any further, but simply swept away the evil spirits and used their malevolent energy to cover Fu Yu's body.

Although I don't particularly like this kid, it's fate that we met, and his master is a rare good person in this chaotic world, so I should lend a hand if I can.

Then, Zhou You pushed the door open again.

But the next moment, the scenery before my eyes changed abruptly.

(End of this chapter)