Chapter 30 The Princess is Missing
Yan Chongyan rushed back to the village and saw a person lying on the ground not far from the village chief's house. He quickly went forward and found that it was indeed Xie Xiyue.
He quickly helped her up and saw that her eyes were closed and there was a bloody hole in her forehead from being hit, from which blood was flowing continuously.
In an emergency, he quickly tore open his sleeve and pressed it against her wound.
"Junior Sister Xie?" He patted her shoulder, but there was no reaction.
He frowned, trying to contact his junior brother from earlier, but he couldn't reach him no matter what he tried.
The princess was waiting in the distance. His master's daughter was injured and unconscious, which really gave him a headache.
Yan Chongyan picked up Xie Xiyue and strode quickly toward the house his junior brother had mentioned. As they walked, the ground began to shake again, and he moved gracefully, constantly dodging falling rocks.
They finally arrived at the house and soon saw several figures working hard, one of whom was dressed in Hua Guangzong's clothes.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief.
When his junior brother saw him coming, he immediately looked like he had found a savior. "Senior Brother Yan, you've finally arrived! Come and help us! Junior Brother Yuan and a little girl from the village are buried underneath! I just heard their voices."
But when his gaze fell on the person in his arms, his smile vanished. "Junior Sister Xie, are you seriously injured?"
Yan Chongyan looked down at Xie Xiyue; her face and lips were turning pale, and she needed treatment as soon as possible.
"Can you contact the princess's attendants?" he asked.
The junior brother shook his head. "How can we possibly contact their communication talisman?"
Indeed, even he couldn't get in touch with them, and Yan Chongyan was getting anxious. He asked again, "Where are they staying?"
The junior brother pointed ahead, "We need to go a little further in. It's closer to the mountain over there, and the path is blocked by huge rocks. The situation is probably even worse there."
Yan Chongyan glanced at the dark mountain.
There are priorities. Junior Sister Xie and Junior Brother Yuan are in mortal danger, but the princess is not in any danger.
He took a breath and decided to deal with the immediate matter before going back to find the princess.
"I'll help you. After we rescue the person, we'll go to Yuanqing County to find a doctor immediately."
Qianyu was pulled out of the ruins by Aying. Both of them were covered in dust, had various abrasions, and their clothes were tattered, but they dared not rest for a moment and rushed straight to the village chief's house.
Both of them were asleep when the earthquake struck and were trapped under the rocks. Fortunately, Aying pushed the rocks off and pulled her out.
She couldn't help but worry anxiously, what about the princess? Would something happen to her...?
She quickly stopped her distracting thoughts. With Young Master Yan by her side, the princess would be fine!
However, the situation here was not much better; they called out several times, but there was no response.
With trembling hands, Qianyu took out a storage bag from her bosom and used a communication talisman to contact Yan Chongyan.
But to everyone's surprise, the talisman on Aying's side lit up first.
Aying channeled spiritual energy into the communication talisman and heard Zhizhi's urgent voice: "Aying! Master Jingyan just contacted us, saying there are corpse demons in your area! Young Master Xiao has already gone there! Are you with the princess?"
A rapid-fire string of words made Qianyu's face turn deathly pale. Yan Chongyan's voice came through the communication talisman in her hand: "Miss Qianyu, where are you?"
"Where is the princess?" she asked directly.
"The princess is in the northern farmland, it's very safe there, about three or four miles from here. I have some business to attend to here, you should go find her first."
"What could be more important than the princess!" Qianyu shouted, somewhat out of control. "Are there corpse demons around here? Didn't you get wind of it?"
There was a pause on the other end, probably to check the communication talisman, before he said, "I'll be there right away."
Qianyu ended her conversation with him, and the communication talisman lit up again, this time with a somewhat hoarse voice.
"Where is the princess?"
Xiao Sui?
Asahi said, "We are on our way there. If there are no new developments, please do not send any messages for the time being."
"Where?" he asked again.
"You can't get here in time, so what's the use of knowing where it is?" Qianyu said urgently.
"I'm here, I've reached the village entrance."
Qianyu stared blankly at the entrance of the village, and there was indeed a black figure standing there, with a veil covering its face.
She hurried forward, not having time to question him about why he had followed her. She simply told him the location Yan Chongyan had given her, and the three of them rushed into the farmland together.
They walked a thousand eight hundred steps north, but still hadn't seen anyone. Instead, someone flew down from the sky on a sword and landed in front of them. It was Yan Chongyan.
"Where is the princess?" Qianyu rushed over and demanded.
Yan Chongyan also frowned, "It should be around here."
Qianyu and Aying both shouted at the top of their lungs, their voices carrying far in the open space, but no one heard an echo.
Xiao Sui stood still and said in a hoarse voice, "There is blood here."
Everyone rushed over immediately, and as soon as they got close, they smelled a strong stench of blood.
There was a large pool of thick blood on the vegetable patch, meandering into the distance, and everyone present turned pale.
Such a amount of bleeding... I'm afraid...
"Was this place just now?" Xiao Sui raised his head and questioned Yan Chongyan.
Yan Chongyan's throat tightened. "Yes."
The next instant, a fist slammed into his face, stunning him completely.
Yan Chongyan got up from the ground, somewhat shocked. How could this person's spiritual power be so strong?
A thunderclap suddenly resounded in the sky, and lightning flashed continuously in the clouds.
After delivering the punch, Xiao Sui immediately chased after the trail of blood, his figure almost blending into the darkness.
The remaining people quickly followed.
——
Let's go back half an hour.
Ning Qi sat in the farmland, growing colder and colder, the wind almost extinguishing the tinderbox.
She didn't know what was happening to the others, only that there had been an aftershock and the surroundings were now eerily quiet, which made people feel fearful.
She shivered and said to the system, "Give me directions, I'll go back and check. I don't know how long I've been waiting, how unreliable is the male lead?"
"I guess things aren't going well over there," the system said. "Directions will cost 50 points."
Ning Xi wanted to yell at the system, but it only gave her five points at a time, and it was asking for fifty. It was outrageous.
"Forget it, I'll just find my own way back."
Anyway, they headed north just now, so if they head south now they should be able to find their way back.
Ning Qi walked very slowly with a limp.
Suddenly she heard the rustling sound of footsteps on the vegetable garden, and she immediately picked up a tinderbox and shone it in the direction of the sound.
A blood-stained face appeared not far from her, startling Ning Xi.
The man said, "Immortal, it is I. Please do not be afraid."
The voice sounded familiar, and after a closer look, she realized it was the village chief.
"You've come here to seek refuge too?" Ning Qi asked.
The village chief flashed his honest smile again, but it looked somewhat frightening on his injured face.
Half of his face was hidden in the darkness. He raised his hand and pointed in another direction: "Yes, I came with my wife and children."
Ning Qi looked in the direction he pointed and indeed saw three straight figures standing further away.
Wait, how come there are three people? She remembers he only has one son.
"Who is the other person?" she asked curiously.
The village chief maintained his smile, which looked somewhat stiff. "He's my son too. You heard his voice in the woodshed."
Ning Qi frowned, a chill running down his spine. He had clearly said earlier that there was a dog in the woodshed.
The joy of encountering living people vanished instantly. Her intuition told her she should stay away from this family as much as possible. She quietly took half a step back and said, "I'm going to find someone. You can do as you please."
To everyone's surprise, the village chief took a big step toward her, and the others also crowded around her.
“A celestial being.” The village chief revealed his blackened teeth. “My son is hungry. Please let him try some celestial flesh.”
One sentence sent chills down Ning Qi's spine.
She turned her head to look at the taller boy. The blood on his face had turned reddish-brown, his mouth was stuffed with wood, his sharp teeth were sticking out, and his pupils were almost... completely black!
Oh no, oh no, it's a Corpse Demon!
Ning Qi immediately had the system block out her pain, and bought pills to increase her movement speed and strength, which she then swallowed.
She had just swallowed the pill when she saw Aunt Zhang removing the cork from her son's mouth.
"No!" she cried out.
But the man wouldn't listen to her at all, and even untied the rope that was binding him.
The Corpse Demon immediately emitted a low, strange sound, like a bird's call, which Ning Qi had heard several times before.
She pushed aside the village chief's youngest son, trying to break through their encirclement, but the village chief grabbed her sleeve.
As it broke free, a heart-wrenching scream echoed in my ears, startling a flock of birds into flight.
If you get close, you can hear a chilling chewing sound coming from beneath the screams, which is especially unsettling in the darkness.
The two stopped moving. Ning Qi picked up the tinderbox with trembling hands and glanced at it in the dim light. The corpse demon, which had just been released, was biting his mother's neck, which was closest to him, and blood was gushing out.
"You child, how could you eat your mother?" the village chief scolded. "Didn't I find you a tender and delicate one?"
It's so bizarre, it's really too bizarre.
Ning Qi felt a sense of panic.
His wife was eaten by his son, but he acted as if his son had eaten an extra piece of braised pork.
Startled, Ning Qi shoved the man violently, knocking him to the ground before running away.
Various sounds came from behind: the sound of chasing footsteps, the gradually fading cries of pain, and the eerie voice of the corpse demon.
The tinderbox went out completely. She ran in the dark for an unknown distance until all the sounds behind her disappeared, and then she stopped, panting heavily.
"I can't take it anymore, I've never been this tired." Ning Qi supported her knees and collapsed onto the ground. Her lungs were burning with pain, and she felt like she was swallowing blood.
A sudden clap of thunder shook her, and soon after, a torrential downpour began.
Ning Qi was drenched to the bone.
This is what they mean by "when it rains, it pours"!
She asked the system, "Is there anywhere nearby where I can take shelter from the rain?"
Before the system could speak, she added, "Don't deduct my points; it won't benefit you if I do."
System: "...Go two miles further west, there is a cave."
Ning Qi gritted her teeth and walked forward, shivering from the cold.
After walking for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, she was completely soaked in sweat. Finally, she saw the cave the system had mentioned and practically crawled in on her hands.
As soon as she went inside, she shivered again.
It was very cold inside, and her clothes were all soaked, making it really uncomfortable.
No, she couldn't stay up all night. Even a normal person would get sick, let alone someone with her delicate constitution.
She didn't care about the points being deducted; she simply bought tinder and wood and started a campfire.
Phew, that feels much better.
Ning Qi took off Yan Chongyan's coat and put it on a rock by the campfire to dry. She hesitated whether to take off her own undergarment as well, since there was no one else around.
She thought about it and decided against it. If she encountered the Corpse Demon again, it would be too indecent for her to run around naked.
She thought for a moment, then moved closer to the fire, found a rock to rest her head on, and unconsciously closed her eyes.
"Wake up!" A piercing alarm blared wildly in her head.
Ning Qi suddenly woke up and heard a familiar, strange sound.
"The Corpse Demon has been attracted by your campfire," the system said.
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Author's Note: My darlings, I'm going on vacation [cat emoji]. I can only try to update more [poor face emoji]. I'll update more when I get back [dog emoji with rose emoji].
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