He figured it out!
My heart sank suddenly.
"Old Chen, how did you figure that out?"
"It's quite obvious. You can vaguely tell from his face that he has this kind of fate. Moreover, I can feel a kind of evil aura about him, the kind of aura of a cursed lone star. Perhaps ordinary people can't see it, but those of us who have one foot in the underworld are particularly sensitive to this kind of evil aura."
Even Old Chen, who isn't very experienced, could see it?
I suddenly felt weak and leaned against the wall.
But a sliver of hope remained in my heart, so I looked up at Old Chen and asked:
"With Seventh Uncle's abilities, do you think he could sense Li Huai's destiny?"
Upon hearing my question, Li Huai and Luo Tianhe simultaneously realized something.
They all held their breath, waiting for Old Chen's answer.
Old Chen seemed puzzled by my question, and our attitude puzzled him even more. He scratched his head, paused for a moment, and then answered:
"Seventh Uncle has been in the village for so long, and his cultivation is unfathomable. Even I can vaguely sense it, so naturally he couldn't possibly not sense it."
His words came to an abrupt halt, and the expression on his face froze instantly.
He wasn't involved, and only now is he beginning to understand the implications.
We told him before that Uncle Seven told us that someone among us had been marked, but he didn't know why, while he could tell at a glance.
I recalled my several meetings with my seventh uncle. The first time we met, he warned us not to wander around at night and that it would be best to stay under the old locust tree at the east end of the village. He said he was trying to help us.
The second time we met, they rescued us from the crowd; it was a life-saving favor.
The third time was at a large banquet, when he warned us not to drink the "Tai Sui soup," which was also a well-intentioned reminder.
The fourth time, just now, he pointed out a clear path for us, which can be considered a timely help.
But why did he not mention Li Huai being marked at all from beginning to end?
Even when we asked him directly, he brushed us off by saying that it was possible we had disturbed the soil on the grave or taken away offerings—things that were simply impossible.
Did he genuinely not notice, or did he notice but deliberately choose not to say anything?
If he figured it out but didn't say anything, what does that mean?!
Does this mean he might have known Li Huai was the target, yet still guided our actions?
Does this mean that all his help might be driven by some motive that we cannot understand?
For a moment, I felt like my brain was a paste, and I couldn't think things through calmly at all.
Fine beads of cold sweat covered my forehead. I recalled my seventh uncle's eyes, which were always cloudy, yet occasionally flashed with a sharp light!
And his eccentric and nonsensical appearance!
And the things that the normal Wang Fugui said to me at the very beginning.
"That old man isn't human!"
"He was already in his seventies when I was a child, and now I'm in my forties, but he still looks like he's in his seventies!"
And, most strangely,
In the presence of a normal Wang Fugui, he was not even human, just a crazy, lame old man.
But in front of the enigmatic Wang Fugui, he was the highly respected Seventh Uncle, and everyone had to give him some face.
As I pondered, an invisible fear gripped my heart like a giant hand, making it impossible for me to breathe.
What is real and what is fake?!
"Brother Yan, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale all of a sudden?"
Li Huai noticed my unusual behavior and asked with concern.
He and Luo Tianhe realized the conflict, but they didn't think much of it.
I opened my mouth, but didn't know how to explain.
Could it be that our only trusted guide might be harboring malicious intentions?
I looked at Old Chen:
"Old Chen, how many years have you been in the village? Do you think Uncle Qi has changed at all over the years?"
Upon hearing this, Old Chen frowned, a look of reminiscence on his face.
"I've been here for three or four years, and from what you've said, it seems that Uncle Qi hasn't changed much over the years. He always looks like he's in his seventies. But when people get old, even if they age a few years, it's not that obvious, is it?"
He hesitated for a moment before saying that he really didn't know much about these things.
I forgot that Lao Chen has only been here for three or four years, so he is destined not to give me a satisfactory answer on this matter.
However, for people living in such a strange environment, a year must be far more complicated than a normal year.
Take me, Li Huai, Luo Tianhe, and myself as an example.
We've only been here a few days, and we all look haggard and worn out.
If we lived here for a year, we would probably look three or four years older.
Thinking of this, my seventh uncle's old, deeply lined face gradually became distorted in my memory.
"Chen Yan, what's wrong? What the hell are you doing, trying to be a riddle teller?!"
Luo Tianhe was somewhat anxious and even swore.
I took a deep breath, preparing to voice this terrifying suspicion.
"Tick-tock".
A soft sound suddenly reached our ears.
The sound was very close to us, almost right on our faces.
Our eyes were instantly drawn to it. This was a tomb, so why was there a dripping sound? It wasn't a cave.
In the center of these tombs, next to the oil lamp, there was a "person" who had appeared out of nowhere.
It had its back to us, dressed in wet, mud-stained coarse cloth, as if it had just crawled out of a pond.
Its long, messy hair, like seaweed, clung to its scalp and neck, dripping murky water droplets that spread into a small, dark puddle on the ground.
Suddenly, I felt a chill run through my body, and my hair stood on end.
"Holy crap, what the hell is that?!"
Li Huai's voice trembled, and his body shook like a sieve.
Luo Tianhe couldn't help but clench his teeth, his body stiffening instantly.
Old Chen and I also looked extremely unwell.
Outside, Old Chen had clearly made some arrangements to prevent such evil things from happening!
When I arrived, I simply set up an evil-repelling array outside the tomb. How did it appear so quietly?
Tick-tock, tick-tock
The sound of water droplets hitting the ground echoed continuously in the deathly silent tomb, sounding particularly jarring.
I conjured a yellow talisman, bit my tongue, and prepared to bleed at any moment.
Old Chen slowly took out an iron rod engraved with runes, which looked like an extraordinary object.
Suddenly, the "person's" head began to turn in our direction in an extremely unnatural manner.
As we turned our necks, we heard a sickening grinding sound of bones grinding together.
Then, what we saw was its wet profile!
Its skin is a bluish-white color, like the belly of a dead fish, and its cheeks are covered with dense, tiny fish scales!
What the hell is this thing?!
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