Chapter 47

"After Teng Yu'e had the village chief's adopted son kill the village chief, the two had twin sons. More and more outsiders entered Xinghua Village, but one day Teng Yu'e ran away with one of them."

"From that day on, the village chief sealed off the village. However, the village chief's eldest son wanted to go to Lin'an to participate in the spring examination. He went secretly, and by the time Shouquanli realized what had happened, he was no longer in the village. In his anger, Shouquanli cursed everyone in the village."

"Anyone who leaves this village will feel as if they are being stabbed with needles, living a life worse than death. Shou Changyue was thrown into the village, stripped naked, and lay under the apricot tree, her body covered in bloody scars."

"Shou Quan drove away the onlookers and carried him home. After that, Shou Changyue never left his house. Five months later, a raging fire broke out in Xinghua Village, burning all the villagers to death."

Zhou Xiuqi calmly recounted, "I have a younger brother, my twin. He died in that fire trying to protect me."

His eyes were clear: "I know everything about this place from the past, but everything has changed. From the moment I began practicing the path of the Dao, I was forbidden from harboring resentment, hatred, or evil. This village wasn't like this in my memory."

"The people of Xinghua Village were once searching for the meaning of their lives."

Meng Yingying was speechless. It's not scary for a person to die; what's scary is living numbly. People always say that there's nothing scary about death, but that living a life worse than death is truly terrifying. Isn't that the reason?

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zheyu wasn't particularly emotional. Looking at his numb expression, the image of a white-clad man's back flashed through her mind.

Zhou Xiuqi had once thought that he might come back to this place, but now he has become numb and has begun to feel timid and afraid.

With a creak, the silence was broken. Meng Yingying turned around in response. The newcomer walked slowly, holding a wooden fish in his hand. He gave a wry smile and squinted his eyes, a sight he hadn't shown in a long time: "You didn't expect we would meet, did you?"

Meng Yingying's expression tightened. As soon as she lifted her foot, a tingling sensation spread through her calf, and she slumped back down. She looked up at the others and stood motionless in place.

Tan Yuhua opened her eyes and said bitterly, "Meng Yuan, if I call you by that name, will you recognize me?"

Meng Yingying's legs were weak and numb, and she had no strength left in her body. She could only look at him with disdain: "You dare to come looking for me? Aren't you afraid of dying?"

Tan Yuhua gave a bitter laugh: "Death? You?" He shook his head slightly: "You're too weak, you can't kill me."

Tan Yuhua bent down, and Meng Yingying lowered her head, turning her face away, unwilling to look up at him. Tan Yuhua said, "Do you think I'm the person you should kill?"

Meng Yingying didn't want to pay attention. She observed the motionless appearance of the others and realized that Tan Yuhua could indeed control many things in this place.

“The person you should kill is Shang Mang,” he said slowly. Meng Yingying’s heart trembled, but she remained silent. Tan Yuhua continued to strike the wooden fish, the sound of the wooden fish clapping and striking in short, powerful strokes.

Shang Mang.....

Tan Yuhua held the wooden fish, his upper body hovering above her head: "You are from another world, am I right?"

The wooden fish drumbeats quickened, the sound syncing with her heartbeat. Panic began to creep into her mind. Meng Yingying told herself, "Meng Yingying, don't let him cloud your judgment. He definitely wouldn't dare appear so brazenly in front of them. This one is definitely fake."

Tan Yuhua: "Meng Yuan, you've lived two lives!"

Like a heavy hammer blow, it struck her heart dully, breaching her last line of defense.

Ignoring everything else, Meng Yingying reached out and grabbed his neck. A sudden flash of insight appeared in her muddled mind: "What do you know! Me, me, who am I? Why did I transmigrate into a book? And, and, I've lived two lives, is it because I can't get out of this place? Am I really dead?" Her emotions surged like a mountain, and all her calm thinking collapsed at this moment.

Tan Yuhua, her hand gripped tightly, savored her expression and said forcefully, "Meng Yuan, you're so stupid! You could have gotten out, but because of your excessive sympathy for Shang Mang, in your past life, Shang Mang killed you, so you can't get out!"

"You will never, ever get out!" His compassionate eyes faded, and Meng Yingying watched his breath disappear. She hurriedly let go of his hand, and Tan Yuhua's body deflated like a balloon, turning into a piece of skin.

Meng Yingying lay on the ground, breathing rapidly. Someone patted her back, and Meng Yingying stopped breathing. She looked up and saw Xiao Zheyu looking at her with suspicion in his eyes.

Meng Yingying looked down and saw that she was holding the Calamity in her hand. The Calamity was emitting resentment, which she inhaled into her nose.

She clutched her chest and coughed violently, the cold, resentful air seeping into her nostrils incessantly. Her hand suddenly went empty; the calamity had been flung away and landed some distance away, finally stopping her cough. Meng Yingying's teeth ached.

"What's wrong with you?" Zhou Xiuqi took her wrist and placed his hand on it.

His expression darkened, and he said coldly, "Why is your pulse getting weaker and weaker?"

Kong Fusheng also squatted down, still shaken: "Senior Meng, you just suddenly grabbed Miss Xiao and almost strangled her to death!"

Meng Yingying shook her head; she heard the system's voice.

System: [Cannon fodder female supporting character's health: rapidly decreasing.]

Meng Yingying remembered that this life value was also one of the tasks. Apart from that one warning, Meng Yingying rarely received any information from the system about this task. She tried to calm her breathing.

He mentally communicated with the system: "How can I increase my health points when they decrease?"

The system chimed: [The host only needs to hunt down ghosts to increase the cannon fodder female supporting character's health. For each low-level ghost killed, her health will increase by 0.1%.]

[Current cannon fodder health: 85%]

Meng Yingying clenched her fist and slammed it hard on the ground. She silently got up and said, "I'm tired. I want to rest."

As she passed Xiao Zheyu, she said guiltily, "I'm sorry." She was absent-minded, and Zhou Xiuqi stood there watching her walk away.

Xiao Zheyu walked to his side and said, "Aren't you going to see her?"

Zhou Xiuqi didn't answer, his gaze fixed on the red mark on her neck: "Apply the medicine." He reached out and took her wrist, producing some medicine from somewhere. He scooped out a small piece with his fingertip, and seeing she didn't move, said, "Look up."

Xiao Zheyu slightly raised his chin. The skin on his neck was very thin. His fingertips were warm, but the ointment was cool. The sensation was very clear.

Kong Fusheng, standing to the side, looked around uncomfortably. When he caught sight of Cong Rong staring intently in their direction, he lowered his head.

Meng Yingying leaned against the door and slid to the ground. She had lived two lives in this world. In her previous life, Shang Mang killed her, and all of this fueled her hatred for Shang Mang.