Chapter 184 Following
A gentle night breeze caressed the back of the loquat's neck, sending a chill down my spine.
He's gone mad...
The people in this village must have gone mad...
As Pipa pondered this, she subconsciously stepped back.
Whether it was the elderly man speaking with conviction on the stage or the excited crowd below, their faces, illuminated by the bonfire, all wore a strange kind of excitement.
The joyful expression on his face and the exaggerated smile he had drawn instantly overlapped, becoming indistinguishable.
Amidst their ecstasy, a hint of bloodlust lurked beneath the surface. It was as if each of them was eager to throw themselves into the upcoming hunt.
I'm not sure what the loquat was referring to as an offering, and I just hope it's not what I think it is.
However, judging from their unusual mental state...
Pipa had good reason to suspect that even if the offering had some other purpose, if she were caught spying here, she might be taken along and thrown into that pot, becoming some kind of damned pious offering.
Pipa held her breath, lowered her body, and slowly backed away.
The area where he was located was overgrown with weeds that were half a person tall. As long as he could get through the area smoothly and take the side path, it shouldn't take too long.
Now is the time.
Just keep carefully calming your mind like this, and then go all out...
Suddenly, the loquat stopped its backward movement.
He felt something suddenly press against his lower back in the darkness. It didn't feel like a bush or a rock, because it was not only warm but also breathing heavily.
—It's alive!
Pipa's heart skipped a beat. She stiffly turned around, slowly lowered her head, and used the excessively bright moonlight falling from above to guide her.
He immediately spotted the strange face grinning at him.
An intense sense of fear rushed to my head!
The scene before her eyes instantly awakened the nightmare Pipa had once had about dropping the handkerchief, and the terrifying monkey face in the dream.
Caught between two terrifying attacks, Pipa nearly screamed in terror.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, he covered his mouth tightly, thus preventing the slightest sound from arousing suspicion.
Although her mouth was blocked, Pipa's breathing inevitably became rapid.
He stared intently at the strange smiling face not far away, not daring to make a move.
The pale, hairy face tilted its head to look at the loquat, its narrow mouth splitting open to reveal a gaping maw that looked like it had just eaten a child, from which a long, dark tongue protruded, along with hot, pungent breath.
Good news.
After a moment of mental blankness, Pipa recognized that the thing in front of her was not the strange monkey from her memory, but the village chief's guard dog.
The dog was a common brown-yellow mongrel found in the countryside, which usually stayed in the yard looking listless.
It never barks, and I've never heard of it biting anyone. It's not particularly large either. Even a three-year-old passing by can easily go over and pet it.
Normally, loquats are not afraid of it.
The reason he was so frightened was twofold: firstly, his nerves were already on edge, and secondly, it was thanks to some prank, someone had painted the same smiling face makeup on the dog's face as the villagers he had just seen.
To paint a human smile on a dog is as incongruous as dressing a monkey in human clothes.
On such a special occasion, the loquat even felt a little nauseous.
Especially when he noticed that after staring at him for a while, the dog started drooling, as if it had been starving for a long time and was extremely hungry.
Seeing this, Pipa frowned.
He wasn't sure if the dog would follow him or bark at him if he just walked away now.
Just as he was hesitating about how to get away, the dog suddenly stuck out its long tongue and licked Pipa's taut hand, leaving his hand covered in thick, fishy-smelling saliva.
The loquat was disgusted.
He had been licked by Yuanxiao before, but he didn't feel anything special at the time.
Perhaps it's because the other person doesn't have that much saliva, or that long and hot tongue...
Pipa suppressed her discomfort, patted the dog's head that was tilted to one side reassuringly, and said patiently in a soft voice, "Shh, just pretend you didn't see me, okay?"
He was afraid the dog wouldn't understand, so he gestured for it to be quiet.
The dog stared at him, seemingly oblivious to whether it understood him or not. Its clear black and white eyes were more human-like than those of ordinary animals.
This is why Pipa prefers cats to dogs.
"Quiet, don't make a sound, don't move. I'll bring you food next time we meet."
He lowered his voice and whispered his promise, adding deliberately, "I'll bring meat. Big chunks of meat."
Pipa's words and gestures worked wonders, because when the dog heard Pipa say the word "meat," it visibly drooled even more.
Hearing new noises coming from the open space, as if they were about to disperse, Pipa took a deep breath and forced a final smile at the dog.
"Then let's agree on this."
With that, he turned to leave.
Unfortunately, he had only taken two steps when, with a rustling sound behind him, the dog, with its strange grin, followed closely behind him.
"you……"
A sudden surge of irritation arose in my heart.
Just then, a noisy commotion suddenly came from the open space.
Pipa felt a sense of foreboding. Following the sound, she looked up and indeed saw countless points of light scattered in the darkness, like stars. The lights moved in the darkness and gradually dispersed.
They were villagers holding torches.
—They began.
One or two of the flames were even heading straight for where they were hiding.
Immediately, Pipa didn't care about anything else, and regardless of whether the dog wanted to follow her or not, she took off running in the direction she remembered from returning home.
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