Gao Wu: I'll enjoy the benefits, but you'll bear the side effects.

Huang Xu's eyelids felt as if they were being weighed down by a thousand pounds. He opened them slowly and with difficulty, and his once clear eyes still held a trace of confusion and bewilderment.

His vision was initially blurred, and he could only see the interplay of light and shadow. As his focus gradually returned and he saw Gao Jie's familiar figure standing quietly not far away, his nerves, which had been taut like a fully drawn bowstring, finally relaxed a little, as if touched by a gentle hand. He let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.

"I thought you were going to be far away from me, but I didn't expect you to finally show up. Do you know where I was just now?"

Huang Xu's voice trembled slightly, filled with the relief and lingering fear of surviving a disaster. Each word seemed to be uttered with great difficulty, as if he had used all his strength.

"I felt like I went to a really scary place, it was so terrifying, my legs were shaking."

The dark, eerie scene involuntarily surfaced in his mind, with countless pairs of eerie green eyes flickering in the darkness, staring intently at him as if they were about to devour him at any moment.

"I felt like there were so many eyes watching me, it was terrifying. What on earth was that thing? I'll never eat it again, even if you kill me."

The thought of the Soul-Hooking Fruit that had led him to this predicament made Huang Xu's body tremble slightly.

Gao Jie walked forward with steady steps, reached out and gently patted Huang Xu's shoulder. The warmth of his hand seemed to penetrate Huang Xu's clothes and reach his heart, giving him a sense of comfort.

Gao Jie's eyes held a hint of solemnity and seriousness, as if he knew many secrets unknown to others.

"You're right not to eat it. To tell you the truth, that thing is not simple. It comes from outside. In short, avoid that kind of fruit in the future."

Gao Jie's tone was low and powerful, each word like a warning bell echoing in Huang Xu's ears, leaving no room for the slightest disregard.

"Take a rest. If you feel better, come out and help me."

After Gao Jie finished speaking, he turned around, his clothes fluttering gently in the wind, and walked outside. His back view exuded a sense of determination and mystery.

Huang Xu stared blankly at Gao Jie's departing figure, feeling as if countless kittens' paws were gently scratching at his heart, filled with doubt.

"Where are we going all of a sudden?"

He pondered to himself, filled with questions, and slowly sat up, supporting himself with his hands.

At this moment, a slight noise caught his attention. He turned his head and saw Huang Muran quietly cleaning things up.

Huang Xu's curiosity was instantly ignited. As if drawn by a magnet, he immediately moved closer, ready to ask some related questions.

But Huang Muran was already panting heavily, as if all his energy had been drained.

For him, going to the back mountain to dig radishes was a difficult ordeal.

His clothes were soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to his back, and his hair was disheveled and plastered to his forehead, strands of it damp with perspiration, making him look utterly disheveled. Moreover, this radish was nothing like the ordinary radish Huang Xu had imagined.

This type of radish is called ground radish, and it is a valuable medicinal herb whose roots and stems are eaten.

As Huang Muran listlessly cleaned the mud-covered tools, he explained haltingly:

"This thing can cure all poisons, but you have to dig down at least a meter to see the root of the ground radish. It has basically no medicinal value elsewhere."

His eyes revealed a hint of helplessness and exhaustion. Recalling the arduous experience he had just had on the back mountain, he couldn't help but frown.

"I dug up several trees just now, but I couldn't find the roots. The soil was as hard as stone. Every time I dug with my hoe, it felt like I used up all my strength. Now I don't want to say a word. I just want to find a place to sit for a while. As for other things, they are not as simple as I imagined."

"What do you mean? I get the feeling you two have something to say?"

Huang Xu felt increasingly suspicious, and his doubts grew like a snowball, prompting him to press for answers.

"But it seems like you guys don't want to say anything. What's going on?"

Upon hearing this, Huang Muran simply shook his head slightly, the movement slow and weak, as if even shaking his head had exhausted a great deal of his strength.

He said wearily:

"It's nothing. Didn't I just ask you to go help? Go quickly, and you'll know what the situation is once you get there."

Hearing this, Huang Xu, though still having doubts, obediently stood up and went to the side to change his shoes.

His movements were slightly hurried, and his fingers trembled slightly as he tied his shoelaces, his mind constantly trying to guess what was happening outside.

After changing his shoes, he hurriedly ran out.

But it wasn't until he came out that he realized something was wrong, and it wasn't the kind of thing he had thought was wrong.

As soon as he stepped out the door, a suffocating atmosphere hit him, as if an invisible thick fog was shrouding the surroundings.

In the distance, Gao Jie stood on an empty grassland. His posture was upright yet exuded a sense of loneliness, as if he was waiting for something of utmost importance to arrive, or as if he was pondering something of life and death.

Huang Xu's doubts deepened, and he unconsciously quickened his pace, each step carrying his desire for the truth as he walked towards Gao Jie, wanting to find out the truth.

Huang Xu looked at Gao Jie, who was digging a hole, with a deep sense of doubt. His brows were furrowed into a deep frown, and his eyes were full of confusion.

"What are you doing all of a sudden? Why are you digging a hole? Is there something you need us to do?" Huang Xu said as he slowly approached Gao Jie, his footsteps unconsciously becoming lighter, as if afraid of disturbing something.

"Gao Jie, do you remember the dream I just told you about? Seriously, I feel like I've never had such a vivid dream in my life, it was terrifying."

Huang Xu's voice trembled slightly, as if he still felt lingering fear when recalling that dream. A hint of fear was revealed in his eyes, and his body trembled involuntarily.

"Anyway, I think those dreams are so terrifying, they can really kill you. They almost scared me to death."

As Huang Xu spoke, he placed his hand on his chest, as if this could calm his wildly beating heart a little.

Gao Jie focused intently on digging the hole, his hoe constantly turning over the soil, fine beads of sweat glistening on his forehead under the moonlight.

Before long, the pit was almost finished.

He straightened up, patted the dirt off his body, then walked forward and patted Huang Xu heavily on the shoulder, gesturing for him to walk with him to where Li Youcai's body was.

Huang Xu kept muttering about the terrifying dream until he saw Li Youcai lying face down on the ground. He froze as if he had been frozen in place, as if his soul had been ripped away.

His eyes were wide open, his face was full of panic, and his mouth was slightly open, but he couldn't say a word for a long time.

Seeing that Gao Jie was still planning to leave, Huang Xu seemed to be suddenly injected with a force. He rushed forward and grabbed Gao Jie's clothes.

"Hey buddy, where do you think you're going? Stop right there!"

Huang Xu's voice became sharp with tension, and he gripped Gao Jie's hand tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

"Listen to me carefully, what the hell are you doing?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Jie turned his head slightly, a slightly embarrassed smile on his face, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired and want to go back and rest."

Huang Xu said casually, but his eyes unconsciously drifted to the side.

Gao Jie seemed to see through his thoughts, grabbed his arm, and looked at him with a stern expression.

"Don't try that on me. I've known you for a while now. I know what you're up to. Just do your job properly, or if you mess around again, believe me, I'll teach you a lesson."

Gao Jie's tone left no room for argument, as if he were issuing an inviolable command.

"To tell you the truth, if you hadn't gotten injured today, we wouldn't be in this mess. Anyway, you'd better come with me now and don't think about anything else."

Upon hearing that he was to help bury the body, Huang Xu felt a mix of emotions and was extremely unwilling.

But seeing Gao Jie's resolute gaze, he knew he had no choice but to obediently comply. He walked to the corpse, reluctantly lifting his legs, muttering to himself:

"What bad luck! How did I end up with this?"

Huang Xu's face was as gloomy as the sky before a storm, and his eyes were full of disgust and helplessness.

Gao Jie looked at Huang Xu with a smile and tried to comfort him.

"It's okay, this isn't bad luck. You just need to obediently carry the person over. Don't worry, I don't mean anything by it. I'll let you go in a bit, okay?"

Gao Jie's smile was somewhat jarring to Huang Xu, who sighed helplessly and continued carrying the corpse.

Huang Xu was somewhat helpless, while Gao Jie helped him push the body into the dug pit.

Li Youcai died from the side effects of poisoning. His body was slightly contorted, and the things on his body fell off as he collapsed.

Gao Jie was also surprised that he could actually get equipment. Gao Jie's eyes lit up instantly, as if he had discovered a treasure. He squatted down, reached out and picked up two items, examined them carefully, and after confirming that they were still usable, he simply pushed the items back into the pit. Then he picked up the shovel next to him and began to fill the pit with soil.

After burying the body, the two returned with their belongings. Back inside the house, Gao Jie took the items out, placed them on the table, and examined them carefully.

He discovered that one of them was a dagger. The blade gleamed coldly under the light, and the hilt was engraved with strange patterns, exuding a mysterious aura.

The other object was a pattern-like thing, resembling some kind of ancient rune, with complex and mysterious lines, but neither of them really knew what it was.

However, the best course of action right now is to store these things away first and ignore the rest for the time being.

The two washed their hands and went back. Gao Jie lay on the bed, casually flipping through the book in his hand.

The book's pages were yellowed and gave off an old smell. The words in the book were a bit blurry, but Gao Jie read it with great interest.

Huang Xu, standing to the side, was still muttering to himself, his voice like a buzzing fly, sounding particularly jarring in the quiet room.

Gao Jie was getting annoyed by his nagging and couldn't help but ask:

"Hey, what are you muttering? What nonsense are you talking about? Let me tell you, don't mutter things at night. It'll be troublesome if you actually attract a ghost, understand?"

Gao Jie frowned, a hint of warning in his eyes.

"The things you ate today were actually things that grew out of dead people's bones. Remember, don't eat anything on the mountain indiscriminately. Only eat what birds are eating, understand?"

As Gao Jie spoke, he sat up, looked at Huang Xu, and his eyes showed a hint of seriousness.

Huang Xu nodded, but after thinking for a moment, he still came closer.

"Gao Jie, I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to ask you, how long are we going to stay here? I feel a bit creeped out at night."

A hint of fear flashed in Huang Xu's eyes, and he leaned slightly closer to Gao Jie, as if seeking a sense of security.

"Moreover, I feel that this place is particularly strange, in a way that is hard to describe."

Huang Xu frowned, trying hard to describe that strange feeling.

"What was this place used to be? Why does it feel like this when I get close? To be honest, I'm really scared. This is the first time I've ever experienced such a terrifying place."

Gao Jie looked puzzled, because no one else seemed to have any particular feeling, so why would he say that?

Gao Jie's eyes were full of doubt as he carefully examined Huang Xu, trying to find the answer on his face.

Before he could react, he noticed that the kid seemed to be in a daze.

"Stop overthinking. You're just not fully cured of the poison yet. You must not have eaten enough radishes. Go dig up a couple of hairy radishes yourself tomorrow morning."

As Gao Jie spoke, he lay back down on the bed. "Just cook it with vinegar and it'll be fine. Go to sleep now."

Huang Xu scratched his face, like an obedient child, and turned over to go to sleep.

Gao Jie was lying in bed when he suddenly felt a pang of hunger. He then realized that he hadn't eaten dinner when he got back that night, and that they should have finished eating long ago. So he got up and went to the kitchen.

I searched the kitchen for ages but only found a small bowl of vegetables; the steamed buns were nowhere to be found.

Gao Jie's stomach was growling with hunger. He sighed helplessly and was about to grab something to eat to fill his stomach.

Just then, Huang Muran came in wearing a face mask. Her face was covered with a white mask, only her eyes and mouth were visible, which looked particularly eerie in the dim light.

Gao Jie was caught off guard and almost fainted from fright.

"Hey lady, what are you doing putting on a face mask out here in the middle of the night? Aren't you afraid of seeing a ghost and giving it bad luck?"

Gao Jie's voice became somewhat shrill from fright. He clutched his chest tightly, his heart still pounding wildly.

Huang Muran, however, seemed indifferent. She looked at Gao Jie's terrified expression and couldn't help but laugh.

"Look how scared you are, you're such a coward."

Huang Muran's laughter echoed in the quiet kitchen, making the already somewhat eerie atmosphere even stranger.