Chapter 14

Withdrawing his gaze from the night sky, Qin Shaoyou divided the people into two groups.

"Everyone, bear with it tonight. We'll take shifts. I and Monk Ma will take the first half of the night with a few others, while Scholar Zhu will take the second half with the rest."

"Yes," Monk Ma and the warriors responded in low voices, then quickly dismounted and began unloading their equipment, placing it near their sleeping spots to prepare for the night watch.

Soon, Scholar Zhu, who had gone to inspect the statues, returned.

"How was it? Did you find anything?" Qin Shaoyou asked.

Scholar Zhu shook his head: "I walked around the statues several times but found nothing, and I didn't sense any danger. I also asked a few caravan members who had stayed here before, and they said the statues have been here since the Wu family fortress was built, but they couldn't identify who the statues represent..."

This result was within Qin Shaoyou's expectations, and he wasn't too disappointed. He then informed Scholar Zhu of the night watch plan he had just decided on.

Scholar Zhu naturally had no objections.

After eating some dry rations, Scholar Zhu and the warriors responsible for the second half of the night wrapped themselves in blankets and lay down on the mats.

They needed to get some sleep to be well-rested for their watch later in the night.

Even while sleeping, they kept their weapons close at hand, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

Qin Shaoyou and Monk Ma also wrapped themselves in blankets and sat against the earthen wall.

He even took a shield wrapped in cloth and placed it under his buttocks as a precaution.

Though they appeared to be dozing, their eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings, filled with vigilance.

After a while, the caravan and travelers in the shelter also went to sleep.

Although they had arranged for night watch, their alertness was far less than Qin Shaoyou's group.

They soon began to yawn and nod off, and some even started snoring.

The Wu family fortress gradually became quiet.

Apart from the night wind causing the torches to crackle, only the intermittent snoring could be heard.

At this point, Qin Shaoyou still hadn't discovered anything.

Time quickly approached midnight.

The night grew darker.

Suddenly, Qin Shaoyou, who had been very alert, felt an overwhelming drowsiness.

His head became heavy, and his eyelids drooped. After a yawn, he fell asleep against the earthen wall.

However, he woke up abruptly after just a few seconds, his eyes wide open.

"How did I fall asleep?" he wondered in shock.

Given his cultivation at the Bone and Sinew level, he should have been able to stay awake, even if he was tired. Moreover, he wasn't that tired just a moment ago. How could he have fallen asleep so suddenly?

Looking at Monk Ma and the others, who were all in a strange deep sleep, snoring loudly, Qin Shaoyou immediately understood.

Something must have hypnotized them, causing them to fall asleep suddenly.

Qin Shaoyou was able to wake up not only because of his sensitivity to danger but also because he had consumed a lot of Purple Snow Cool Threads in the past few days, which strengthened his mental resistance, allowing him to recover quickly from the hypnosis.

Realizing the situation, Qin Shaoyou was about to wake Monk Ma and Scholar Zhu when he suddenly saw dark shadows emerging from the statues, silently pouncing on the people who had taken shelter for the night.

One of the shadows was heading straight for them.

"This place is indeed problematic!"

Qin Shaoyou cursed inwardly, temporarily abandoning the idea of waking Monk Ma and Scholar Zhu to avoid alerting the approaching shadow.

He narrowed his eyes, pretending to sleep, while his hand, hidden in the blanket, quietly gripped the knife in his chest. He held his breath, waiting for the right moment to attack.

Qin Shaoyou's corner was relatively far from the statues, so when the shadow pouncing on them was still on its way, the other shadows had already reached the caravan and travelers around the shelter.

These shadows swayed and transformed into human shapes.

However, due to the distance and the dim light, Qin Shaoyou couldn't see their exact forms.

After transforming into human shapes, the shadows woke the sleeping people and asked them in a very eerie and terrifying tone:

"Do you think I look like a human or a god?"

Is this a plea for recognition?

Qin Shaoyou's mind raced.

He had heard stories about such pleas.

According to legend, when animals reach a certain level of cultivation, they would come to humans to seek recognition.

If you say they look like a god, their cultivation would greatly advance, but you would bear the consequences, even affecting your family.

If you say they look like a human, you would ruin their cultivation, and they would hold a grudge against you, leading to a bad outcome.

However, the plea for recognition in the Wu family fortress was different from the legends Qin Shaoyou had heard.

The people awakened by the shadows were clearly in a dazed state, appearing confused.

When they heard the shadows' question, some answered, "Like a god," while others muttered, "Like a human... hehe, like a human."

Those who answered "like a human" were immediately invaded by the shadows through their open mouths.

A moment later, when the shadows re-emerged, the original living people were left as nothing but skin.

Their flesh, organs, and even bones had been devoured by the shadows.

Those who answered "like a god" were also invaded by the shadows.

However, when the shadows emerged, the people were not left as mere skin; they could still move as if unaffected.

But upon closer inspection, it was clear that they had lost all their blood, becoming puppets controlled by the shadows!

In these pleas for recognition, whether the answer was "human" or "god," the result was death, and they would be devoured.

The only difference was that one was a single dish, and the other was a grand feast.

In the blink of an eye, the shadow pouncing on Qin Shaoyou and his group had also arrived.

Bathed in the faint light from the earthen wall, Qin Shaoyou clearly saw the shadow transform into a human shape.

It was a short, thin old man with a hunched back and shifty eyes.

He ignored the truly sleeping Scholar Zhu and Monk Ma, focusing instead on the feigning Qin Shaoyou.

He grinned, and a bone-chilling coldness surged into Qin Shaoyou's body, making him shiver. His mind seemed to freeze, becoming sluggish and dazed.

Fortunately, he quickly returned to normal.

The Purple Snow Cool Threads had worked again!

The short, thin old man, transformed from the shadow, didn't realize Qin Shaoyou was awake.

He opened his mouth, revealing a set of yellow, blood-streaked fangs, and asked in a strange, eerie tone, "Young man, what do you think I look like, a human or a god?"

"I think you look like..."

Qin Shaoyou feigned a dazed state and mumbled:

"A twin-tailed black stocking little demon JK!"

"Huh?"

The short, thin old man was bewildered.

He couldn't understand what Qin Shaoyou was saying.

This was a huge cultural gap between two worlds. How could a mere evil spirit understand the hobbies of perverts from another world?