Old Chen trusts Seventh Uncle even more than I imagined.
Moreover, what he said made sense. Uncle Qi did tell us that this mass grave was unusual and might contain other things.
But he felt it was still better than us facing those zombies in the village.
I couldn't help but fall into deep thought. If I had to choose, would I face the water ghost from before, or those eerie villagers?
I quickly arrived at the answer.
I really can't tell whether the technicians are helping us or harming us.
Right now, my mind is as heavy as mush, and all I want to do is rest.
"I can't take it anymore, Lao Chen. You keep watch for a while. I'll rest for a bit, then I'll take over. The four of us can take turns and get our energy back."
"No need, you three can sleep here. I still have plenty of energy."
Old Chen shook his head and continued to search inside the side chamber.
By this time, I was completely exhausted and could only speak through sheer willpower.
Hearing him say that, I was too lazy to refuse anymore, so I simply closed my eyes, leaned against the wall, and fell asleep.
When I woke up again, I found that Li Huai and Luo Tianhe had also woken up.
Old Chen, on the other hand, was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, probably resting.
Luo Tianhe, Li Huai, and I exchanged a glance, and without making a sound, we leaned against the wall and waited for Old Chen to wake up.
I checked my phone and saw that it was already past midnight, nine o'clock.
Unsurprisingly, there was still no signal, and we were unable to contact anyone outside.
Not long after, Old Chen slowly woke up and saw the three of us waiting for him, so he couldn't help but give an awkward smile.
He previously said he was full of energy and didn't need to rest, but now he's made us wait for ages.
I didn't pay much attention to these old people. After all, they had stayed up all night and helped me kill that water ghost. If they really didn't need to rest, then whether they were even human was debatable.
I glanced at Old Chen, and without any special opening remarks, I went straight to the point and asked.
"Old Chen, you're familiar with this place. Do you know any other way out that can lead directly out of the cemetery, preferably out of the village?"
Upon hearing this, Old Chen frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said:
“We are in the deep mountains after all, and there are only one or two small paths leading out. The rest of the place is surrounded by mountains.”
"If you want to leave the village, there are basically only a few roads, and they will definitely guard them."
However, I do know a little-known path that goes past the edge of the cemetery and leads to the back mountain. But that back mountain isn't a good place either; it's said to be even more haunted, and normally no one dares to go there. Besides, that path has been abandoned for a long time, so I'm not really sure if it's even passable.
The back mountain?
Does Old Chen mean we shouldn't go back the way we came, but instead go back the way we came and get outside?
That's true. As long as you can stay connected with the outside world, it doesn't really matter which way you go.
But that back mountain doesn't look like it's going to be easy to climb.
Thinking of this, I looked at Li Huai and Luo Tianhe:
“This matter is beyond our ability to resolve. The entire village is against us, and the three of us simply cannot uncover the mastermind. We might as well go out and find someone to help us. Master Zhang Qingxiao should be free by now.”
"Okay, I don't want to stay in this awful place for even a minute longer."
Li Huai pursed his lips, clearly not wanting to go back to the village, so he agreed with my idea and suggested we go to the back mountain to try our luck.
After thinking for a while, Luo Tianhe nodded solemnly and agreed.
Seeing that both of them had agreed, I looked at Old Chen again.
After all, he's the one who knows the way. Only by persuading him will we have a chance to leave this place.
Old Chen gave a wry smile and nodded.
"Actually, I think Uncle Qi is trying to help us. But just waiting isn't in my nature. Besides, I get along quite well with you all. So let's do this and give it a shot!"
Hearing the old man say that, I couldn't help but smile.
In my opinion, the danger of going to the back mountain to take a gamble is about the same as waiting here.
I just don't want to be controlled by Uncle Seven anymore; I want to take the initiative into my own hands!
Even if the road ahead is unknown, even if the back mountain may be more dangerous, I no longer want to be like Uncle Qi's pawn, following the path he has planned.
“Okay, let’s rest for one last hour, get ready, and then officially set off. In any case, we must at least get out of this graveyard.”
I said those words, then leaned against the wall, seizing this brief moment of peace to recover my strength.
An hour passed quickly, and no one was able to truly fall asleep; they were all resting with their eyes closed.
Everyone strained their ears, trying to catch any sound coming from inside or outside the tomb.
What's a bit strange is that we occasionally hear some indistinguishable sounds coming from the main burial chamber.
Fortunately, the sound seemed completely unaware of the ear chamber and showed no sign of approaching it. We only began to move our bodies after the sound outside disappeared not far away.
At this moment, my energy was completely restored, and I felt better than ever before.
Before, in the village, we hardly slept well, and we were always on edge every day!
Although he is now in a tomb, he has finally found peace and rest.
Old Chen led the way, since he knew this area best.
He stretched his stiff body, pressed his ear against the door and listened for a while. After confirming that no one was coming up, he walked towards the door and gestured for us to follow him.
We carefully made our way through the low passageway back to the main burial chamber, which reeked of a foul stench.
The remains of the water ghost had almost turned into a pool of viscous yellow pus, with only a few charred bones and scales scattered among them.
The loaches seemed to have all turned into black ash, but most of the maggots were still alive, wriggling and rolling in the yellow pus.
It made my stomach churn again.
Luo Tianhe couldn't help but gag.
We held our breath, avoiding the disgusting smell and filth, and quickly passed through the main burial chamber to reach the mass grave outside.
It was already late, and a few eerie green will-o'-the-wisps still shone in the distance. The deathly silence in the graveyard was even greater than during the day.
However, this deathly silence made me feel more at ease. If all I could see were ghosts, it would be lively, but the thought of that scene was terrifying.
"This way."
Old Chen lowered his voice, identified the direction, and then headed towards the deeper part of the cemetery, closer to the back of the mountain.
I looked around at the surrounding graves. Almost all the tombstones here were broken and weathered, so they must have been very old.
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