The voices in the corridor disappeared completely as the metal door closed.
Su Wan crouched down in the shadow of the artificial hill, took two deep breaths to calm herself down.
From the moment she decided to leave, she would face Jiang Yan, who was wandering the sacred land, alone. She had to remain calm and silent, find the defensive gun, and then confront Jiang Yan.
She listened intently to the sounds around her. Jiang Yan had lost her mind and would never conceal her footsteps.
The entire holy site was extremely quiet, as if there were no living people there, with only the sound of the night wind rustling the leaves.
She carefully crawled out from under the artificial hill, stood up straight, and looked around.
As far as the eye could see, the holy site looked as if it had been struck by a powerful earthquake; ruins and rubble were everywhere, and hardly a single house was intact. Pale moonlight shone on the piles of rubble, casting dappled shadows. In the darkness, flickering lights could be seen, like unburnt candles.
To find the defensive gun, we first need to find the people who went out. Only one of them came back; where are the other nine?
The courtyard wasn't particularly large; even if it were just pure luck, one should be able to find those people.
She tiptoed along the path between the two piles of ruins, first arriving at the long corridor.
The pillars of the corridor had all broken, and the entire ceiling of the corridor had collapsed. She stretched out her hands, grabbed the edge of the ceiling, stepped on the window frame next to her, and climbed onto the ceiling by supporting herself with her hands.
Next to her was the room where she had rested, now only a pile of rubble remained. Everything inside was buried underneath, and there was no one wearing black armor.
She dared not stand up straight, fearing she would be discovered by Jiang Yan lurking in the shadows, so she lay prone on the ceiling, crawling forward like a soldier. Each time she reached the next room, she would peer out at the collapsed roof.
After climbing to the end of the corridor, I found no one in any of the rooms along the way.
The courtyard wall in front hasn't completely collapsed yet; even the gate is half-standing. To get through, you'd have to climb the wall.
She dared not climb the wall rashly, lest it collapse and crush her. She braced her hands on the edge of the ceiling, her body dangling in the air, and stretched her right leg down as far as she could. After a couple of attempts, she stepped on a protruding square brick, then bent her right knee and stretched her left leg down.
My left foot didn't touch the ground when I stepped down; instead, it landed on something soft and squishy.
She trembled slightly, quickly lifted her foot, and tilted her head to look down.
The ceiling blocked the moonlight, and the ground was so dark that it was hard to see clearly, but you could make out that there seemed to be someone lying there.
She shifted her feet to the ground, squatted down, placed two fingers under the man's nostrils to check his pulse, then placed them on his carotid artery to feel for it, shook her head, and stood up.
Arriving at the half-open door, she gently pulled it open, the hinges creaking.
This sound is especially loud when it's late at night and everyone is asleep.
She was startled and quickly used both hands to hold the door and lift it up, so that the friction noise of the door hinges would be less loud.
Once the door was wide enough for her to enter, she slipped inside.
Beyond the gate lay a plaza, the moonlight illuminating the open space with exceptional clarity. Seven or eight people lay sprawled on the ground, their identities unknown. A broken lantern still glowed with embers, illuminating the bloodstains on the ground.
Several weapons lay on the ground: a longsword broken in two, an axe, and a dagger.
I remember when the blacksmiths set off, apart from those carrying defensive guns, the rest of them were carrying hammers. These people must have been killed by Jiang Yan before she entered the forge.
Since there was no trace of the blacksmiths here, she planned to search elsewhere as soon as possible.
She didn't pick up the weapons; they were useless to Jiang Yan. Finding the defensive gun was the only solution.
I had only taken a few steps when suddenly my ankle tightened, as if something was gripping it.
She almost screamed, but thankfully covered her mouth in time. Looking down, she saw a man reaching out and grabbing her ankle.
"Help...help me," the man said, almost using all his strength.
There was a large pool of blood beneath him, and it was unclear where he was injured. His will to live was clearly very strong, as he gripped Su Wan's ankle so tightly it hurt.
Su Wan was startled. Although the man's voice was weak, it was still enough to attract attention. She quickly squatted down and raised her finger to her lips to signal the man to be quiet.
These people don't understand the characteristics of ghosts. People who are injected with an overdose of the secret medicine will lose their minds, but they are very sensitive to sounds and moving objects, which she understands very well.
The man seemed not to see her gesture and raised his voice, saying, "Help me, help me."
Su Wan said anxiously in a low voice, "Don't make a sound. If we attract the Others, we'll both die."
"Help...help me." The man stared straight at her, still refusing to stop, just repeating over and over, "Help me, help me."
Su Wan could tell that the man was on the verge of death and clearly delirious, so talking to him would be pointless. Just as she was thinking about how to escape, heavy footsteps sounded in the distance, approaching them.
Terrifying monsters roam the sacred land; no normal human would dare walk like this, only Jiang Yan would.
Su Wan's face turned pale instantly, and she reached out to try to pry open the man's fingers. The man's grip was tight, and she was too weak to pry them open at all.
She let go of his hand and used her other foot to kick his hand, kicking him several times with all her might. But he didn't let go. Instead, he grabbed her hand like a drowning person grasping at a straw, the more he held on, the tighter he became.
"Help me! Help me!"
The footsteps grew closer, until they were only a wall away. Su Wan saw a dagger within reach and, without thinking, grabbed it and stabbed the man's wrist.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com