"Have you forgotten what Grandpa said about not being allowed to leave the village after dark?"

"Grandpa just likes to make things mysterious."

Ye Anning muttered something, then pulled Xu Xiwang and walked out of the village.

The village was quiet, with only the occasional chirping of birds. Ye Anning held Xu Xiwang's hand and walked away into the distance, their vision soon blurring.

"Ah Da, where are we going?"

You'll see when you get there.

In the pitch-black night, apart from the rustling of the treetops in the breeze, there were only two intertwined breaths.

The mountain path was exceptionally rugged at night, and Ye Anning's shoes crunched on the gravel.

The stone tablet at the village entrance looked even more eerie and terrifying in the darkness.

Xu Xiwang stared at the stone tablet, but only noticed that there seemed to be an extra line of words on the stone tablet in the darkness.

How much do you know about this stone tablet?

Xu Xiwang turned his head and looked at Ye Anning's profile.

"I don't know much about it."

Ye Anning shrugged. After all, she was just a child; how could she possibly study the stone tablet in detail?

Do you recognize this line of text?

Xu Xiwang pointed to the stone tablet and said in a deep voice.

“This is…” Ye Anning leaned closer to examine the stone tablet, staring at it for a long time before frowning and saying, “Where are the words? I can’t see them?”

"No?"

"No, but this stone tablet should have been left by the village chief's grandfather. It is said that everyone in the village kowtows and burns incense to it, but after so many years, everyone knows that there are no words on the stone at all."

Xu Xiwang nodded thoughtfully, looking at the stone tablet and muttering to himself, "Am I the only one who can see those words? Enter the other shore, enter the cycle of reincarnation."

Xu Xiwang looked up and his gaze fell on the spider lily pattern carved on the stone tablet.

Red spider lily...

Xu Xiwang stared at the stone tablet, lost in thought. Ye Anning, seeing her strange expression, whispered, "Ah Da, don't overthink it. If you wait any longer, Grandpa will find out."

Xu Xiwang remained silent for a long time, but he couldn't persuade Ye Anning otherwise, so he could only let her pull his arm and continue walking forward.

Xu Xiwang was pulled along by Ye Anning, and they walked towards the foot of the mountain.

The further down he went, the more his heart pounded, as if some bad premonition was calling to him. He took a deep breath, trying his best to remain calm.

Have you been out at night?

"I've sneaked out many times before, and nothing's happened."

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, and Xu Xiwang shuddered, as if a pair of cold and sinister eyes were staring at him from behind.

"Who goes there!"

Xu Xi turned around but didn't notice anyone following them.

He frowned, his head was down, and his mind was a complete blank.

Ye Anning noticed his change and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Ah Da, Ah Da?"

Xu Xiwang looked up, gazing at Ye Anning with a puzzled expression, "Don't you feel like there's someone behind us?"

"Are you talking in your sleep? There's no one behind us."

"Maybe I'm just imagining things."

Xu Xiwang rubbed his temples, trying to shake off these strange feelings. "Let's go."

Xu Xiwang clenched his fists, feeling his whole body burning hot, as if he were about to catch fire.

"Ah Da, are you feeling unwell?"

"Let's go back quickly."

"good."

Xu Xiwang hurriedly left with Ye Anning, completely unaware that a pair of icy blue eyes were staring resentfully at them from the shadows.