Chapter 33

The person left, but their soul was left behind.

This was supposed to be a woman teasing her lover for being entranced by other beautiful women, but it wasn't entirely baseless.

Previously, when Zhao Zhu left the village with everyone else, his soul, or rather his consciousness, remained in the village. If it weren't for Yan Xing shouting Daoist incantations in Zhao Zhu's ear and striking the back of his head with a duster imbued with blessing power, Zhao Zhu would have likely forgotten everything and followed the old man back home to drink.

His body would have turned into a living dead or a vegetative state.

Such places and such incidents are not uncommon. According to records, during the Japanese invasion of China, a small squad of about seven or eight soldiers from the Kwantung Army, while passing through the ruins of a Chinese village they had themselves massacred, heard various sounds from the village, as if the villagers were still alive and living there, but no one could be seen.

That night, six of the Japanese soldiers died after returning to their camp. The only survivor, it was said, had bowed and prayed at the village entrance before entering. In his post-war diary, he recalled seeing many people in the village, many of whom should have been dead but appeared alive before him.

He also saw his comrades being led home by other villagers, some going to eat, others being pulled away by girls. Originally, someone was about to pull him along too, and he would have followed, feeling that he wouldn't oppose anything they said, a very strange state and feeling, as if he had lost his ability to think.

But halfway through, an elderly man in the village stopped him, wordlessly sending him back to the village entrance. He left in a daze, seeing his comrades walking with him. At the time, he was puzzled, thinking his comrades had gone to eat and play with the village girls. Later, when the group returned to the camp, he felt very uncomfortable and nauseous, so he went to sleep first. The next day, he learned that his other six comrades had all died in their sleep.

After Zhao Zhu regained consciousness and looked around, he found that not only himself, but half of the eight people were in a similar state, kneeling on the ground and panting heavily. Huang Tianci, Wang Ye, and Ma Ruixi were in the same condition, indicating they had already been affected. Li Liangjian, Shi Chong, and Xiao Ge, along with Yan Xing, remained normal. This clearly showed the disparity in strength.

"Day is breaking. Let's move forward a bit more. There's a mountain stream ahead. We'll set up camp and rest there."

Yan Xing was also tired, as continuously helping several people recover their souls was quite a burden. But they hadn't even entered the ancient tomb yet. If they lost half their people, the team might as well disband.

Shi Chong muttered不满地: "All these people are just wasting time."

Since Shi Chong was standing behind Zhao Zhu, the others didn't hear, but Zhao Zhu did. However, he continued to sit on the ground, panting as if he hadn't heard.

Beside the mountain stream, everyone took out their sleeping bags and crawled in. Since it was almost dawn, there was no need to set up tents. Yan Xing lit some incense, which effectively repelled insects.

Zhao Zhu was extremely tired, and the nausea kept coming back, making his head feel heavy. After forcing himself to eat some compressed biscuits, he fell into a deep sleep.

He slept from dawn until dusk, feeling extremely thirsty when he finally woke up. Sleep is the best rest, and after a full day's rest, the nausea and dizziness were gone. Zhao Zhu took out a bottle of mineral water and drank it all in one go, feeling a refreshing coolness in his chest, a sense of relief.

However, his relief was short-lived. There were three other sleeping bags next to him, occupied by Huang Tianci, Wang Ye, and Ma Ruixi. But apart from these four, no one else was around.

Yan Xing, Li Liangjian, Shi Chong, and Xiao Ge were all gone.

For a moment, Zhao Zhu bit his lip. He knew what had happened. Those four had left the four of them behind and set off on their own.

"Damn it!"

In a fit of anger, Zhao Zhu threw the bottle away and quickly got up to pack his sleeping bag and belongings. He had to catch up with the others before they got too far. The previous encounter had taught him that going alone or with the three others had the same effect. If they encountered danger, they would all be in the same boat. Therefore, he had to catch up with Yan Xing and the others as soon as possible, or he might not even make it to the entrance of the ancient tomb alive.

At this moment, the benefits of regular exercise became apparent. Zhao Zhu carried his backpack and jogged through the forest for nearly an hour but managed to keep going. Along the way, he found some marks that Yan Xing and the others had deliberately left, which made the journey safer, even though he had a map on his phone.

Huang Tianci and the others were still far behind, but Zhao Zhu couldn't afford to wait for them. He had to take care of himself first.

After another hour, Zhao Zhu felt he was getting closer to Yan Xing. He had just found a piece of gum on a tree trunk, still warm and sticky, clearly left not long ago.

Zhao Zhu adjusted his breathing and continued forward. He knew he could catch up with the group in at most fifteen minutes. However, after walking for just five more minutes, he had to stop because he heard the sound of a suona (a type of Chinese horn) and a woman's singing from not far away.

"Not again, encountering ghosts at this time."

Zhao Zhu was speechless and wanted to curse. If he had caught up with the group, with Yan Xing and the others, encountering a ghost in the forest wouldn't be a problem. But now, he was alone, and it was a bit tricky.

Sure enough, after about ten breaths, Zhao Zhu saw a group of people in front of him. They were all dressed in festive red, with red flowers on their chests and heavy rouge on their faces. The people at the front were blowing suonas, and those behind were carrying a flower sedan chair, presumably with the bride inside.

On both sides of the sedan chair, several maids were scattering flower petals. This should have been a joyful wedding procession, but in Zhao Zhu's eyes, it was very strange. Not only did a wedding procession suddenly appear in the foggy forest, but the fact that everyone's feet were not touching the ground but were suspended in the air was enough to indicate the problem.

If he couldn't fight them, he could at least avoid them. Zhao Zhu ran in another direction, determined not to meet the wedding procession. As he ran, he felt lost, but he didn't care. He had to get to a safe distance first. Suddenly, the ground became slippery, and Zhao Zhu, caught off guard, fell with his backpack, rolling down a ravine and then down a slope. This series of falls left him disoriented. He lay on the ground, gritting his teeth and preparing to get up, but a fragrant breeze blew in his face, and a large red flower sedan chair landed in front of him. From inside the sedan chair, a woman's soft and melodious voice said:

"Darling, where are you going? Don't leave me behind. I miss you so much, my heart aches..."