Strange Tales from the Deep Mountains (Part 7)
The sound of footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
My wildly beating heart finally got a moment's respite.
Fortunately, the two of them just passed by him and then walked to the front.
"Are you wearing your gloves? That woman doesn't like 'Her' bride smelling like us."
"Put it on properly. We've done this so many times, how could I forget this?" The man paused for two seconds after speaking, then leaned close to the person next to him and whispered, "Hey, anyway, nobody knows now. Tell me, which bride did Doctor Qi touch? Let me see what kind of woman Doctor Qi would touch on his own initiative."
Li Su held his breath, afraid that the two would come to his side at any moment.
The thick-browed man beside him immediately became alert, staring intently at him. "What do you want?"
The man sighed helplessly, "Tsk, how could I dare to have any thoughts about that person's bride? I just wanted to see who could get Doctor Qi to come into contact with her before that person even saw her."
After saying that, he lowered his voice and asked the thick-browed man, "By the way, do you think 'He' still wants the bride that Doctor Qi touched?"
The man with thick eyebrows changed the subject, "I wouldn't dare say that. I'm not as bold as you to speak ill of that person."
"What a coward." The man shrugged. "Fine, don't tell me then, I'll find it myself."
The sound of the silver bells on the man's body gradually drew closer. Li Su felt his heart was about to jump out of his throat. His heartbeat seemed too fast. Would the man hear it?
Li Su didn't even dare to think about it.
"Damn! What's that smell?!"
The footsteps approaching Li Su stopped abruptly, and then the person quickly took two steps back.
The thick-browed man, puzzled, urged in a low voice, "What's wrong with you now? Hurry up, or we'll be late and the consequences will be something neither of us can afford!"
The man replied with annoyance, "Okay!"
He then covered his nose and returned to his original position.
The clear, crisp sound of silver bells, accompanied by rustling noises, gradually faded away outside the door.
The moment the door closed, Li Su immediately opened her eyes.
"Lin Ran!" Li Su lowered his voice and nudged Lin Ran, who was still lying unconscious beside him.
Unfortunately, Lin Ran seemed to have been drugged, and no matter how much Li Su pushed her, she showed no sign of waking up.
He was the only one awake in the entire room. Li Su closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress his uncontrollably trembling hands.
He needs to calm down; he's the only one who's sober now.
Li Su carefully examined the area with the help of a kerosene lamp and discovered that Jiang Yue, who was sleeping at the innermost part of the room, was gone.
Without time to think, Li Su carefully pushed open the gate, only to find that the two villagers had vanished.
Li Su took a step forward but then pulled back.
It was so dark outside that his feet seemed to be swallowed up by the darkness as soon as he stretched them out, disappearing completely into the darkness.
Li Su walked to the table and picked up the kerosene lamp. As he moved, the flame flickered slightly, but the liquid inside remained frozen, without the slightest ripple.
"Commander, this kerosene lamp isn't working properly, is it?" Li Su leaned closer and suddenly smelled a faint sweet scent mixed with a hint of fishiness.
Before the system could speak, Li Su shook her head again, looking away from the kerosene lamp. "Forget it, don't tell me, or I won't dare to hold it."
【......good. 】
There was no other way. Although the light from the kerosene lamp was dim and probably not very useful, the light could still offer some comfort.
"Hahaha, my wife is so cute!"
Su Su: Forget it, don't tell me it's normal that I didn't know.
"How can my baby be both timid and brave? I love her even more, hehehe..."
"So cute, so cute, so cute!!!"
As soon as he pushed open the door, gusts of cold wind swept past him. Li Su lowered his head and, with the help of the dim light of the kerosene lamp, tried hard to make out the footprints on the ground.
All the brides wore narrow embroidered cloth shoes, while the men in Wuzhai wore heavy, intricately patterned leather boots. The footprints left by the two types of shoes were completely different, and Lisu soon discovered fresh leather boot footprints.
Just as Li Su was about to move forward, he felt a gust of cold wind sneak in from under his skirt.
"Men...men...go to hell...go to hell..."
Li Su stiffly lowered her head, her gaze meeting that of a disheveled, pale-faced female ghost.
The female ghost had clearly recognized that he was not a woman, so now her pale face was filled with hatred, her features even began to distort, and she kept cursing "man, die" and other such words.
Li Su was bewildered. Although he was dressed as a woman, he had no grudge against this female ghost, so why did she hate him so much? Li Su couldn't understand.
His fingers gripped the kerosene lamp tightly; the kerosene lamp, which he had just been afraid of, had now become his only comfort.
Li Su felt that she could no longer scream, as if someone had gripped her neck tightly, and all her sounds were blocked.
Like all their "brides," the female ghost in front of them was also wearing the same embroidered dress.
The biting coldness traveled up my thighs like a snake, and the hairs on my skin stood on end wherever it went.
Li Su wanted to run, but found that her whole body was frozen in place and she couldn't move at all.
"Why...why...do men...die...?"
A damp, chilling aura spread from the back of his neck. To Li Su's despair, he discovered that there was not only one female ghost on his legs, but at least two more on his shoulders and back. The surrounding yin energy grew stronger and stronger, and the temperature plummeted, making him shiver uncontrollably.
But he couldn't move at all; only the most basic physiological responses continued. His heart pounded wildly, his breathing was rapid, and cold sweat streamed down his forehead, trickling into his eyes. A sharp pain forced out more physiological tears, but Li Su couldn't even blink.
The female ghost beneath him had already climbed up his waist and was showing signs of continuing to climb higher.
"Tick-tock—"
Warm tears fell onto the female ghost's upturned face.
Li Su noticed that the female ghost paused for a moment, and then her bright red tongue, of an unusually long length, licked the teardrop that had fallen from Li Su's eye.
"Ha...bitter..." The female ghost's red lips curled up to her ears, followed by a burst of sharp laughter.
"Hahahahaha..." The shrill laughter almost pierced Li Su's eardrums, but he couldn't escape at all; he couldn't even raise his hand to cover his ears.
"So your tears are bitter too..." Li Su saw that the smile on the female ghost's face was even uglier than her tears.
After a brief burst of laughter, the female ghost's expression turned fierce again.
The next instant, intense yin energy rushed straight to his heart.
It's over...
He's really going to die now...
Witnessing his own death was too stimulating for him; more physical tears mixed with cold sweat dripping from his forehead rolled down his cheeks.
The moment the female ghost's finger touched Li Su's chest, golden light shot out from the pendant on his chest, enveloping his entire body.
The female ghost clinging to him was instantly burned and flung away.
The NPC's mysterious gift: a necklace.
Gift effect: Activated.
Gift Strength: Grade B (Defense Level)
Gift Usage: This necklace will automatically activate when attacked by a ghost, preventing ghosts from approaching.
The moment the system notification sounded, Li Su felt the invisible restraints on his body suddenly disappear, and he was finally able to move.
Before Li Su could even check the necklace on his chest, the ghost that had been flung away pounced on him again. This time, however, the ghost's arm was burned halfway off his hand as soon as it touched his clothes before she was flung away a distance.
Thick black smoke billowed from the female ghost's burned palm.
But the female ghost seemed completely unconcerned and crawled over from a distance, yelling, "Why did you hurt me! Why! Why!!!"
The female ghost's voice was extremely shrill. Li Su's face turned pale, and she took two steps back. "It's not me! You've mistaken me for someone else!"
"Huh? Who did that female ghost mistake my wife for?"
"Poor baby, he's been treated like a heartless man."
"What grudge could they possibly hold against you to this extent?"
"If she hates so much, does that mean she loved someone when she was alive? Maybe..."
"I'll haunt you even as a ghost" (real-life version).
The female ghost seemed not to hear Li Su's words at all. Her eyes widened as if they were about to burst, and she screamed repeatedly, "Kill you! Kill you! Kill you!"
As Li Su retreated, she observed the female ghosts that kept lunging at her.
The other female ghosts seemed frightened by her half-burnt hand and stood aside, their eyes still fixed on Li Su, but they didn't dare to approach him at all.
The female ghost lunging at Li Su raised her hands high and leaped upwards, causing her short embroidered top to ride up and reveal her abdomen.
Li Su's pupils suddenly contracted.
The female ghost had no belly.
A huge hole had been cut into his abdomen, leaving only two rows of exposed white ribs.
"Ah—" The female ghost was thrown back again, letting out a terrible scream.
Li Su steadied himself and discovered that one of the female ghost's legs had also been completely burned, and she could only stare at him from the ground, black liquid constantly flowing from her eyes.
"You...you mustn't come any closer, you'll get hurt..."
As Li Su advised the female ghosts around him, he carefully walked forward. The female ghosts who had been surrounding him scattered and fled, but they were unwilling to leave completely. Instead, they dispersed into various dark places, waiting for an opportunity to attack him.
Using the kerosene lamp in her hand, Li Su discovered that none of the female ghosts had bellies, so she quickly called out to the system: "They are the brides who came to the witch village from outside, right? But now they have all turned into female ghosts."
[Congratulations to player Li Su for successfully uncovering part of the truth about the witch village deep in the mountains. The current progress of Main Quest 1 is 10%. Please continue your efforts.]
The system's voice confirmed his guess; Li Su looked at the empty abdomen of the female ghost.
And what about the children? And why are all these brides' bellies empty? Was it 'He' who did it?
The small red crescent moon on his chest still showed no abnormality, as if the light that had initially emanated from the necklace was merely an illusion.
Li Su touched the pendant on her chest, took two steps forward, and squatted down in front of the female ghost. "Who sent you here? Do you know who 'He' is? Where is your child?"
The female ghost, as if possessed, kept uttering the same words from her split red lips: "Kill you...kill you...kill you..."
The scorched areas on the female ghost emitted a foul odor. Li Su frowned and moved closer to the ghost, but he was careful to prevent her from actually touching him, trying to get more information from her.
Li Su tried to ignore the female ghost's terrifying face and mutilated body, and mustered her courage to ask, "Look carefully, I'm not the person you want to kill. Who do you want to kill? Did your husband send you here? And what about him...?"
"Husband?" The female ghost seemed to freeze for a moment.
Li Su quickly seized the opportunity: "Yes, I'm not your husband, look closely."
When Li Su saw that the black liquid had stopped flowing from the female ghost's eyes, her head stiffly turned and looked in his direction.
The female ghost's pale face was now covered with black liquid, her hair was disheveled, her limbs were mutilated, and her stomach was empty. The female ghost struggled to crawl two steps toward him, and the stench from the burns became even more pronounced.
Despite her churning stomach and pale face, Li Su mustered her courage to meet the female ghost's gaze. "Right? I'm not your husband, am I? You've mistaken me for someone else..."
The female ghost continued forward, but this time she didn't touch Li Su. Her nose hovered less than a millimeter away from Li Su's nose, her pitch-black eyes fixed on Li Su's face. "It's not him, you're not him..."
Seeing that the female ghost had calmed down, Li Su continued to comfort her, "Yes, I am not him."
The female ghost in front of her kept repeating the same words. Li Su took a step back and asked again, "Are you looking for your husband? Why are you looking for him? Do you hate him?"
The female ghost seemed not to hear him, only repeating, "It's not him, you're not him..."
Li Su thought for a moment and decided to change the question: "Do you know where that person is? Who is the 'He' that the villagers talk about?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com