Strange Tales from the Deep Mountains (19)
Li Xue grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground, the necklace mixed with the fishy-smelling soil, but she didn't care. She immediately held the necklace up to the nearest female ghost.
"Get away!"
The moment she received the necklace, her heart leaped back into her stomach. Li Xue was disheveled, covered in blood and sweat, but she had no time to care; her eyes shone with an eerie light.
The female ghost moved her head downwards, as if looking at the necklace in her hand.
Li Xue moved the necklace up further and shouted, "Don't come any closer! I have the necklace!"
Hahahaha—
The female ghost in front of her paused for a moment, then laughed. The female ghosts around her also followed with sharp laughter. Li Xue was stunned by their reaction and stood there dumbfounded.
What's the meaning?
Li Xue gripped the necklace tightly, staring at them nervously.
"Little girl, we're not afraid of this necklace," one of the female ghosts said in a low voice, her laughter fading.
The female ghost in front of her stopped laughing, her empty eyes staring at the necklace in Li Xue's hand, and said, "Besides, this necklace of yours is no longer effective against us."
No effect? How could that be!
Her heart pounded violently in her chest. Li Xue didn't believe their nonsense at all, her chest heaving as she retorted, "Nonsense! You were all too afraid to get close to Li Su when he was with you!"
Gu Qingyan heard the witch doctor beside her click her tongue again, clearly showing his impatience.
Li Xue suddenly noticed that the female ghosts beside her were tense, as if they had encountered something extremely terrifying. She became even more convinced that what they had just said was a lie.
Feeling more confident, Li Xue gripped the necklace tightly and shouted, "Get away!"
The female ghosts glanced quickly behind Li Xue with barely any movement before looking away. Li Xue naturally noticed this as well, but just as she was about to turn around, her neck was already being grabbed.
"Uh! Hehe—"
The pressure on her neck was slowly tightening, and the instinct for survival made Li Xue struggle frantically, causing the necklace in her hand to fall to the ground again.
The female ghost looked at Li Xue's face, which was flushed red and purple, and said softly, "You can only blame yourself for messing with the wrong person."
Li Xue was surrounded by female ghosts, and Gu Qingyan couldn't see what was happening behind her.
The witch doctor beside her glanced at her lazily, as if speaking to her or talking to himself: "I don't want to keep any of them, but he'll be angry."
"Him? Who is the witch doctor talking about?"
"Su Su? Who else could it be?"
"Help! I really love seeing this wild beast tethered by an invisible rope! Even though his wife isn't around, he still remembers her words all the time. Fine, serves the witch doctor right for having a wife!"
Gu Qingyan felt a chill run down her spine, as if she were being stared at by a wild beast. She unconsciously held her breath until the man beside her looked away with a hint of regret. Only then did she snap out of it and gasp for air.
Gu Qingyan had just caught her breath when she saw a female ghost coming towards them. She wanted to run, but her muscles wouldn't obey her brain's commands. She was frozen in place, unable to move.
Fortunately, the female ghost seemed to have no intention of paying attention to her at all. She walked straight to the witch doctor beside her, stood respectfully a few steps away from the man, lowered her head, and said, "Your necklace..."
Gu Qingyan opened her eyes wide and stared at the necklace in the female ghost's hand, which was covered in mud.
Is this necklace his?
The man's enigmatic question, Li Xue's fate, and how she herself was brought here by the man...
All the confusion from before has been resolved at this moment.
Gu Qingyan belatedly broke out in a cold sweat; she had unknowingly saved her own life.
She looked up at the place where she was completely surrounded by female ghosts and couldn't see anyone at all; her face turned deathly pale.
If, if she hadn't chosen to wait for Li Su, but instead left with Li Xue...
Gu Qingyan shivered, and when she felt the man's gaze, she trembled reflexively.
Qi the witch doctor lazily withdrew his gaze, looked at the necklace the female ghost was holding in her hand, his brows furrowed, and said impatiently, "Throw it away, it's filthy."
The female ghost trembled and stammered, "Yes."
Gu Qingyan's throat was dry. She vaguely felt that the man's mention of "dirt" might not simply refer to the dirt on the necklace...
The man beside her had already left. Gu Qingyan pinched her palm hard and hurried after him, but when she saw the man's cold gaze sweeping over her, she couldn't help but take two steps back.
"Thank you so much!"
The man ignored her and turned to leave, but Gu Qingyan mustered her courage and called out to him, "Can you save my friend?"
Seeing the witch doctor stop, Gu Qingyan quickly continued, "His name is Li Su, and he was attacked by that giant python..."
"You don't need to tell me." Doctor Qi calmly withdrew his gaze, took two steps forward, then seemed to remember something, turned back to look at Gu Qingyan, whose face was pale, and said, "Find a way to hide and save your own life."
Gu Qingyan was completely surprised that the man would remind her, and she quickly thanked him, "Yes! Thank you!"
The ringtone faded into the distance, and the man's figure slowly disappeared into the darkness.
Although she didn't know the witch doctor's true identity, Gu Qingyan knew that his identity must be extraordinary. She wiped away her tears, took off all the silver bells from her body, and carefully hid in the depths of the forest, lifting her skirt.
On the other side, inside the wooden house surrounded by will-o'-the-wisps.
The little snake on the bed watched curiously as Li Su touched his neck, tilted its head and asked, "Daddy, what are you looking for?"
Li Su paused, her face drained of color, and she shook her head stiffly, saying, "N-nothing..."
No wonder the red-clad female ghost Rou Rou was able to touch his hand directly.
Li Su belatedly realized that at first he thought the NPCs of the special missions were different from the female ghosts who couldn't touch him, and he never thought about the possibility that he had lost the necklace.
When was the necklace lost? Li Su found that she couldn't remember at all.
Now that he has nothing to protect him from ghosts, he has to be extra careful.
"Daddy, do you still want to run away?" The little snake tilted its head, a harmless smile on its face, and looked at him, saying, "The older sisters outside are all waiting for Daddy. Do you want to go out?"
Without the necklace given to him by Doctor Qi, going out now would mean certain death. Li Su still remembered the reactions of the female ghosts outside when they saw men.
He shook his head, trying to calm himself down. "I'm not going out."
"Oh, okay." The little snake smiled, its eyes crinkling. "Since we're not going out, Daddy, how about we play games?"
The mere mention of "games" would cause an unnatural glint in the eyes of the little snake on the bed, making Li Su's hair stand on end. Li Su didn't want to play the so-called "games" with this little snake, but he had no other choice at the moment.
Li Su took a deep breath, took a few steps towards the little snake, nodded, and asked, "What game?"
"Hide-and-seek, Daddy, you and I played it before." The little snake puffed out his cheeks, looking a little aggrieved. "Daddy, don't you remember?"
Li Su was stunned as she looked at the innocent-looking little snake on the bed.
This mother and son are really strange. He just arrived here, and one of them calls him husband and the other calls him father, but he clearly doesn't know anything about them.
You've mistaken me for someone else, haven't you?
Thinking this to herself, Li Su shook her head and said, "Sorry, I don't remember."
The little snake seemed to have anticipated his answer and showed no surprise, simply nodding and saying, "It's alright, Daddy will remember soon!"
"I'll count to ten, Daddy, you'd better hide quickly, or I'll catch you!"
As the little snake spoke, he shook his head, his fluffy curly hair swaying with his movements. If it weren't for this environment, he would indeed be an irresistibly cute child.
After the little snake finished speaking, it turned around and began the countdown: "10..."
Li Su sighed silently. He didn't know what the child was up to, but he could only look for a place to hide in the room.
Outside the door were female ghosts guarding the area. He had already observed the environment inside the room; apart from a standing wooden wardrobe, there was nowhere to hide.
"9......"
Seemingly not hearing any movement, the little snake urged, "Daddy, you'd better hurry up!"
"8......"
Li Su walked resignedly toward the wooden wardrobe in the corner.
"7......"
There was a horizontal latch on the outside of the wardrobe, which wasn't locked. Pulling out a small cylindrical iron rod opened the wardrobe door.
“6......”
Hearing the sound of the latch being opened, the little snake's countdown became excited, and its sharp green tail gently patted the bed sheet again and again.
There were a few clothes hanging in the closet. Li Su pushed them further in, and the empty space was just enough for one person.
5......
"Daddy, hurry up! I can't wait any longer!" The little snake's tail thumped faster.
Li Su crawled into the closet and gently closed the wardrobe door behind her.
Li Su chuckled as he watched himself carefully close the door. He really had gotten himself into a game of hide-and-seek with this kid. This was the only place in the whole house where someone could hide, and the kid probably already knew that, so there was no point in him being so careful to avoid being discovered.
"Hmm... Daddy, you're hiding well?" The little snake turned around, revealing one of its not-yet-completely-faded fangs from its upper lip, stuck on its pale pink lower lip.
"Then I'll go find it!" The little snake excitedly got out of bed.
The wardrobe doors weren't completely closed; there was a narrow gap between the two doors. Through this gap, Li Su saw the adorable-looking little snake get off the bed and head straight for the wooden cabinet where he was hiding.
Li Su smiled; as expected, he had guessed that the little snake knew where he was hiding.
Li Su held onto the cabinet door, contemplating when to push it open and admit defeat.
But the little devil outside the cabinet door seemed to be seriously playing this game of hide-and-seek. Even though he had already reached the cabinet door, he blinked in confusion and muttered, "Where is Daddy hiding?"
Li Su lowered her hand from the cabinet door. If this little rascal wants to play, then she'll play with him a little longer.
"Where did Daddy go hiding...?" The little snake pressed its round, big eyes against the crack in the cabinet door.
Li Su was startled by the suddenly enlarged eyes, and the smile on her face froze before she could even take it off.
"Oh~ so Daddy was hiding here!" the little snake exclaimed excitedly.
Her heart was still pounding uncontrollably. Li Su steadied her voice and said, "You win. Take two steps back. I'm going to open the door and come out."
The wardrobe doors open outwards, and Li Su was afraid that if she suddenly pushed the door open, she would bump into the little devil.
Hehe~
Li Su heard the little devil outside the cabinet door chuckle, and a soft voice sounded from outside the cabinet door: "Hmm? I didn't say that Daddy could come out."
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