Chapter 17 Yin Yang Stream (Part 5) Gu Lianzhou felt his scalp tingling...

After days of traveling, I finally managed to lie down and rest, but all I found myself lying on was a long bench with spar bars.

It was a roughly made, uneven bench.

Gu Lianzhou stood stiffly with his arms crossed, not daring to move an inch—thanks to the stool, every time he moved, it would make a grating creaking sound, which was particularly jarring in the night.

Therefore, he did not sleep soundly.

In a half-dream, half-awake state, I suddenly felt a hand fall on my body.

Gu Lianzhou opened his eyes in astonishment.

A dark figure stood nearby.

He's my senior.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the hand on his shoulder suddenly withdrew, and then a cold hand pressed heavily against his lips.

Song San leaned closer and raised his index finger to signal for silence.

The warm breath sprayed onto his palm, causing a slight itch. Song San curled his fingers slightly, then moved his palm away, stood up straight and looked out the window.

The pale red moonlight spilled onto the yellowish-brown window paper, revealing an eerie persimmon red hue. The shadows cast by the windowpanes fell inside, painting faces into uneven patches of color.

A faint chewing sound leaked in through the crack in the window, reaching Gu and Song's ears, sounding particularly abrupt in the quiet night.

Song San's heart began to pound.

She waved to Gu Lianzhou behind her, signaling him to follow, while she quietly approached the window, removed the latch, and pushed it open slightly.

Under the moonlight, on the snow-covered ground, blood flowed in streams, red and white intermingling, displaying an unusual and beautiful color.

In the large courtyard, a horse lay quietly on the ground, its lower abdomen ulcerated and a thin, elongated object was dragging out.

A thin, hunched figure was crawling on its body, its head rising and falling rhythmically, its shoulders and back shrugging as it gnawed on the horse meat, making gurgling swallowing sounds.

monster.

Song San swallowed hard, then turned to face Gu Lianzhou.

Young Master Gu's face turned deathly pale, and he opened his mouth but said silently: "Our horse has been eaten."

Right now, in this courtyard, a robust horse has been gutted and its flesh eaten.

It's simply unbelievable.

The chewing sound suddenly stopped, and the two stiffly turned their heads, only to see that the monster had straightened its upper body at some point. The next moment, as if it sensed something, it turned its head to look in their direction.

A woman's face, covered in wrinkles and dripping with blood, was revealed.

"Bang—" Song San's hand trembled, and the window immediately slammed shut.

After a flurry of activity, she re-latched the window, pulled Gu Lianzhou over, and pressed him down onto the bed, whispering quickly, "No matter what happens later, you are not allowed to make a sound."

As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled over a thick quilt and covered them both with it.

Gu Lianzhou held his breath, recalling the bloody scene outside the window just now, and his heart began to pound wildly.

Blood moons and monsters followed one after another.

It all felt like a terrifying nightmare.

Only the strong smell of blood in his nostrils reminded him that this was not a dream.

The wooden bed was pitifully small; just as he had expected, he could only curl up with his knees bent when lying on it, let alone squeeze in with another person.

His senior brother's arms were wrapped around his neck, his body almost pressed against his, and his warm, moist breath sprayed against his ear, making him tremble slightly.

"Don't move." His senior brother tightened his arms, holding him even closer.

A moment later, a series of rustling footsteps grew closer and closer, as if they were stepping on the two people's eardrums.

A moment later, the footsteps stopped outside the window.

Gu Lianzhou opened his eyes wide and silently covered his mouth, afraid that even a breath of hot air might escape from his mouth and nose.

He was such an unlucky fellow, constantly falling into water or attracting evil spirits along the way. He finally came across a village, but unexpectedly encountered a bloodthirsty monster.

This is truly an unlucky year.

Footsteps sounded again, but they went into the distance. Just as Gu Lianzhou was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the sound of a door suddenly opening came from inside the house.

The wooden door swung open slowly, making a long, piercing sound, which, along with the blood-red moonlight, spilled into the room.

Gu Lianzhou felt like his scalp was about to explode.

The monster actually got into the house!

Perhaps it hasn't eaten enough yet and is coming to eat them?

As he was filled with surprise, the arm that had been across his neck slowly moved down and pressed on his shoulder as if to soothe him.

Gu Lianzhou paused, his breath catching in his throat.

Yes, he also has a senior brother.

My senior brother is still recovering from a cold and is in a weak state. As his junior brother, he should take on the responsibility of protecting others.

If that monster comes at them, at worst... at worst, he can act as bait to restrain it.

Although we don't know the extent of the opponent's demonic power, it would be good to stall for half an hour. At that time, with my senior brother's skills, escaping should not be a problem.

In that way, he could be considered a hero.

As I was lost in thought, the restraints on my body loosened, and I heard my senior brother say softly, "It went into the inner room, let's go."

As soon as he finished speaking, the blankets on his body were thrown off. His senior brother jumped off the bed, opened the door with lightning speed, and turned back to him, saying, "What are you still standing there for? Run!"

The door opened wide, and thick white fog rushed in, filling the room.

Because of his ability to see ghosts, Gu Lianzhou could see more clearly at night. Seeing this strange scene, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

His senior's urging jolted him awake. He groaned and scrambled out of bed, running out the door without looking back, not even bothering to grab his luggage from the car, and raced wildly down the endless road.

*

Under the crimson moon, the snowfield was also tinged with an ambiguous red.

The bare branches swayed, and fine snowflakes fell. Two figures ran quickly past under the tree, causing the ground to tremble slightly and snowflakes to fly as they passed.

Before half a cup of tea could be brewed, two heavy breaths sounded one after the other. The taller one stopped, looked at the snow covered with footprints, and said breathlessly, "Senior brother, we... we think we just walked this path."

Upon hearing this, Song San stopped and turned to look at Gu Lianzhou.

She had already caught a cold, and after sweating profusely, the wind caused her cheeks to turn an unnatural red, but her dark eyes remained calm and undisturbed.

"How many times?" she asked.

Gu Lianzhou asked, puzzled, "What?"

Song San coughed lightly, his voice uncontrollably hoarse, "Have you counted how many times we've passed this road?"

“About…” Gu Lianzhou looked at the overlapping and messy footprints on the ground and said uncertainly, “It must have been about five times.”

Although the road seemed endless, he knew it by heart when he drove here. It was less than four hundred steps, and there should be a fork in the road after passing a crooked tree.

But they have now walked far more than four hundred steps.

The crooked tree from my memory has yet to appear, as if... as if they've been lost in a maze.

Thinking of this, he cautiously voiced his thoughts, only to find his senior brother with a gloomy face, remaining silent.

Finally, his icy expression suddenly melted away, and the senior brother's lips curled up as he let out a soft snort, "A mere trick, nothing more than a smokescreen."

Song San squatted down, picked up a pinch of fine snow, and brought it close to his eyes to examine it closely.

The snowflakes were icy to the touch, and the chill quickly seeped into one's bones, making one wish to shake them off completely.

She frowned slightly, crushing the snowflakes again and again, then looked up and met Gu Lianzhou's astonished gaze.

"Senior brother." Gu Lianzhou gasped, pointing at the handful of snow, "Why doesn't this snow melt when it gets hot?"

Song San put down the "snow," clapped his hands, stood up with his knees on his hands, looked around, and said, "Because it's all fake."

The snow was fake, the blood moon in the sky was fake, and even the village they lived in was probably fake.

Then what else is real?

Song San frowned slightly.

When exactly did they step into the demonic illusion?

She glanced at the blood moon in the sky and said, "If it really is a maze, blindly moving forward will only lead to losing our way."

Gu Lianzhou: "So, what does Senior Brother mean?"

“Go against the grain.” Song San turned around and offered his left hand to Gu Lianzhou. “Hold on tight, you’ll need to close your eyes in a bit.”

Gu Lianzhou naturally obeyed his senior brother's words. Upon hearing this, he obediently reached out and took the cold hand into his palm.

"Walk."

As soon as she finished speaking, Song San closed her eyes. Darkness descended, and she felt a heaviness in her head, as if an invisible force was pulling her hair backward.

It must be the work of demonic forces.

Song San gritted his teeth, focused his energy in his dantian, steadied his steps, and tried to take a step back.

Guided by her, Gu Lianzhou slowly moved backward.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Fifty steps.

With a creaking sound, an unusual sensation came from underfoot.

"Senior brother?"

Song San suddenly stopped in his tracks, opened his eyes, and then looked down.

What she could see was a strange rope-like object stuck to the sole of her shoe; when she lifted her foot, she felt a sticky, wet pulling sensation.

She loosened her grip and gazed intently.

This is a rein soaked in blood.

Reins...

Song San turned around and looked at the familiar courtyard, a surge of frustration rising in his heart.

They managed to break through the "ghost wall," but they couldn't escape the dilapidated courtyard.

Gu Lianzhou's face turned deathly pale. Looking at the gruesome horse carcass in front of him, he took a step back. "Senior brother, we're back again."

Song San nodded and said, "Yes, it seems that we were just wandering around in the courtyard and didn't step out of the gate at all."

She paused, then continued, "This courtyard is under a protective barrier; I'm afraid we won't be able to leave tonight."

Gu Lianzhou asked helplessly, "Then what should we do?"

Not far away, shrouded in red light, the old man's wooden house appeared even more strange and eerie, making people afraid to approach.

And the monster that ate the horse is still inside...

I wonder how the old man is doing? Is he still alive?

As if sensing something, a bright yellow lamp bean quietly lit up behind the window frame, standing out starkly against the crimson night.

A moment later, the door was opened from the inside, and an old man stepped out, holding a candlestick, and said sleepily, "It's so late, are you getting up to use the restroom?"

Seeing the two standing there in a daze, he added, "There's a chamber pot inside. It's cold and the road is slippery, so there's no need to go out to relieve yourself. Be careful not to slip and fall."

Gu Lianzhou slowly tightened his grip on his side, looking warily behind the old man.

A ghostly figure slowly emerged from the darkness, its ashen face resting on the old man's shoulder, grinning at them to reveal its bare gums.

It was none other than the old woman who had just been eating flesh and drinking blood.

Song San immediately felt a chill run down his spine. He reached into the hidden pouch at his waist, and just as he touched the edge of the talisman, he saw the wicked old woman raise her hand towards them, slowly beckoning, and say in a hoarse and drawn-out tone, "Good children, come inside quickly."

The hand that had picked up the talisman suddenly stopped.

Song San lowered his eyes, glancing at the horse carcass lying on the ground and the blood everywhere, then raised his eyes to meet the gaze of the "culprit".

A murderous intent surged in his eyes.

The dead horse lay between the four of them, a scene of bloodshed and devastation, yet the couple seemed oblivious, speaking as casually as if they were discussing the weather.

She could understand that the wicked woman was not an ordinary person, but why was the old man like that as well?

What kind of bewitching potion did he get given?

A note from the author:

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This week's list is now complete. The next update will be on Thursday. (Heart emoji)