Chapter 43
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“My son…”
“Dazhu…”
“…Wife… I’ve come to find you and our daughter…”
Anomaly voices echoed from outside the ancestral hall, coming from afar. The people inside the hall looked around in confusion, engaging in a clamor of discussion.
“Isn’t that my father’s voice?”
“Uncle, did you hear my mother’s voice?”
“But they… they’re ghosts, aren’t they?”
The crowd began to panic, with many people standing up and cautiously looking out of the windows and doors of the ancestral hall.
With the dawn breaking, amidst the rain and mist, countless stiff figures approached the ancestral hall, closely resembling the family members who had been replaced by ghosts in each household in the village.
“Ah, they’re here!”
Before the fearful emotions could spread, Duan Zege immediately asked Teacher Lin and a few others to calm everyone down, then used whatever was available to block the door. The people scrambled around, the elderly protecting the children at the back, while the young and strong men and women pressed against the door. Despair and fear were written on everyone’s faces, but seeing the terrified expressions on the faces of the elderly and children hiding behind them, the ones pressing against the door felt a surge of courage.
They held makeshift “weapons” they had picked up from their homes or the road, mostly shovels, clubs, and sickles. About twenty sturdy men stood by the door, swallowing their saliva, prepared to fight whatever was outside with all their might.
Duan Zege pulled Lu Haoxiu over and asked him to look outside through a crack in the door. When the people outside were about fifty to sixty meters away from the ancestral hall, Duan Zege asked, “How about it, can you use your talent to crush their hearts from this distance?”
Lu Haoxiu almost kneeled to him, his face full of sorrow as he said, “Bro, do you know the specifics of my talent? I just think of something, and there’s a chance I’ll touch it. If I think of touching a heart, who knows whose heart, inside or outside the house? Unless I can directly touch them like I did with Liu Kang’s phone in his belly, I really can’t say whose heart I’ll touch. Spare me, bro!”
Duan Zege clicked his tongue. Lu Haoxiu feeling a strong sense of disgust, struggled. He sobbed and pleaded, “I can bring more weapons!”
“Go play elsewhere,” Duan Zege waved his hand, “Protect Little Yu and make sure not to let her out of your sight. Also, keep an eye on the ghost baby and don’t let it escape.”
Lu Haoxiu left with reluctance.
Li Sanxin was also arranged to stay in a corner—because he had to hold onto the ghost baby, he couldn’t let it get close to ordinary people either, to avoid making things worse. Liu Kang, seeing Li Sanxin, quietly moved to his side and sat against the wall, whispering, “Bro, why isn’t my eldest brother here?”
After a night of turmoil, even the tall men looked exhausted. Li Sanxin’s face was pale, the handsome corners of his lips and chin were covered in stubble, and his refined appearance had completely deteriorated, making people feel uncomfortable just looking at him.
In fact, that was the case. Li Sanxin had been holding onto the ghost baby all along, and the skin on his body was growing rapidly under the contamination of the ghost baby’s power. Li Sanxin could feel himself transforming in a sinister direction. The changes inside his body were obvious yet subtle, and Li Sanxin felt an unmistakable thirst rising urgently in his throat.
He looked at Liu Kang’s throat moving as he spoke, couldn’t help but swallow his saliva, and even felt the delicious smell of blood.
“I’m starving…”
Li Sanxin swallowed another mouthful of saliva and unconsciously asked, “Who’s your eldest brother?”
Liu Kang was oblivious, “Oh, it’s your buddy, you call him Lou Yan.”
Lou Yan!
The name was like a bucket of cold water, abruptly waking Li Sanxin up. He sat up straight, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead in an instant.
Liu Kang was startled by his reaction, almost thinking something was wrong, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?!”
“…Nothing,” Li Sanxin gritted his teeth as he spoke, biting his cheek hard to force himself to stay alert, “He’ll be back soon. Why aren’t you helping out?”
Liu Kang nervously shifted his gaze, “Well, you’re not helping either, are you?”
Li Sanxin gave him a glance, then stopped talking to him, worriedly standing up and walking towards the door of the ancestral hall. After taking a few steps, the crowd pressed against the windows and doors of the ancestral hall suddenly screamed.
“They’re here! They’re here! Hold them back!”
Countless dark figures pressed against the windows and doors of the ancestral hall, peeking inside with twisted faces through the old wooden doors and yellowed glass, various shouts and cries disturbing everyone’s hearts.
“Niu Xin, why did you leave me outside? Please open the door for me, I’m scared!”
“Daughter, daughter! Save me, come out and find me!”
The shouts, cries, and laughter surrounded the ancestral hall from all sides, invading every person’s ears. These figures tried every means to peer into the ancestral hall, their eyes wide with greed as they stared intently at every person inside.
The scene made even the adults tremble with fear, let alone the children. The children were scared into loud sobs, their cries mingling with the sounds from outside, adding to the restlessness and anxiety.
Teacher Lin and a few others tried to calm everyone down, while Duan Zege held an iron rod, closely observing the movements of these anomalies.
Soon, Duan Zege loudly exclaimed, “Don’t panic! These ghosts can’t enter the ancestral hall!”
Upon hearing this, the people around him, seeing that the anomalies outside were only pressing against the doors and windows to scare them but not attempting to force their way in, felt relieved and quickly informed others, “Everyone, relax, they can’t come in!”
“Quiet! Quiet! Protect your children and don’t panic, we’re still safe!”
The voices inside the ancestral hall gradually quieted down, with even the children’s cries stopped as their parents covered their mouths.
After most of the people quieted down, Duan Zege was afraid that the people inside the ancestral hall would be affected by the sounds outside, so he instructed everyone to stuff their ears with tissue paper if they had any, and tear off pieces of clothing to plug their ears if they didn’t.
It was better than nothing, but at least it could alleviate some of the panic in people’s hearts.
Seeing the villagers doing as instructed, Teacher Lin looked at the faces pressed against the windows outside, feeling extremely uncertain. She gripped the sickle in her sweaty palms and asked hoarsely, “Little Brother Duan, will this work?”
Duan Zege didn’t answer her question but instead muttered to himself, “Why aren’t they trying to come in…”
Lu Haoxiu ran over to Li Sanxin with Little Yu in his arms, “Bro, are you okay?”
Li Sanxin pulled his colorless lips and looked at the different colored mottled skin on his calf, attracting attention.
“It’s already spread to my calves,” Lu Haoxiu’s face turned ugly, lips tightly pursed, he looked at the ghost baby in Li Sanxin’s arms, “Brother, we can’t delay any longer!”
However, Li Sanxin seemed distracted, furrowing his brows as he listened to the sounds outside.
They were standing close to a window, and Li Sanxin hadn’t stuffed his ears, so the anomaly cries kept ringing in his ears.
“Cui Er, let me in, okay? I want to come in and find you.”
“Big brother, why are you inside the ancestral hall? Hurry up and come home with me, mom’s getting angry!”
Li Sanxin felt increasingly annoyed by the incessant voices in his ears. He knew this annoyance was the effect the anomalies wanted to achieve. He suppressed this irritation and looked around, suddenly remembering something. His face flashed with astonishment, “Don’t agree to let them in!”
Lu Haoxiu’s heart skipped a beat, “What?!”
“Listen, every word they say is a request to come in or for someone inside to go out,” Li Sanxin’s heart was pounding rapidly, he licked his dry lips and said anxiously, “They can’t come in, but if someone agrees to their request, they might be able to come in!”
Lu Haoxiu’s expression immediately became serious, blurting out like a machine gun, “I’ll go tell Brother Duan! Don’t worry about this, bro, everyone here knows that the people outside are ghosts. They won’t agree to the voices from outside! And those who don’t believe that the outside is haunted have been tied up and their mouths blocked by us. You deal with your skin first, I’ll be right back!”
He turned and ran, leaving behind Liu Kang who had heard their conversation and took a sharp intake of breath, his face turning pale.
Li Sanxin heard the gasp and turned around to see Liu Kang’s pale face. His eyelids twitched, feeling a bad premonition, “What’s wrong?”
Liu Kang muttered, “It’s over, it’s over… I just removed the cloth from my third uncle’s mouth and haven’t put it back yet…”
Li Sanxin cursed, “D*mn it!” Anger flared up, “Hurry up and go plug his mouth!”
Liu Kang turned pale and ran towards his third uncle, but before he could take two steps, he saw a familiar yet elderly face sticking to the window next to his third uncle.
The face was wrinkled, with white hair, kind eyes, but unfortunately covered with many large black spots. Pressed tightly against the window, her face distorted by the glass, her eyes searching around until she saw the group of tied-up people leaning against the wall, a greedy and vicious light flashing in her eyes.
“Big Geng’s Dad,” the old woman spoke with a hoarse voice, her words wrapped in a layer of sand, “Big Geng’s Dad, what are you doing here? I’ve been looking for you for so long. It’s too dangerous outside. Let me bring Big Geng in to find you.”
Liu Kang’s expression was terrified, and he ran quickly towards his uncle. He felt like he had never run so desperately in his life.
Don’t agree! Don’t agree!
Uncle, don’t agree!!!
—But it was too late.
The bound old man, still startled from the previous scene, subconsciously looked towards the source of the voice and immediately saw his wife.
His heart tightened, ignoring what his wife had said, he hurriedly said, “Come in, come in quickly. They say there are ghosts outside! Honey, I’ll have Kangzi open the door for you. Hurry, take Big Geng and hide inside!”
As soon as he said this, all the voices outside the ancestral hall stopped abruptly.
This sudden silence was extremely strange, making everyone inside the ancestral hall look at each other in unease and confusion, feeling a sense of foreboding.
“What’s going on…?”
The faces pressed against the doors and windows all showed identical, strange and bizarre smiles.
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