Chapter 88

After all the commotion, Chu Ci could finally quietly accompany Weilan and贞子 for a stroll. Watching the two of them excitedly browsing through the street stalls, looking at accessories and buying various snacks, he felt that this trip to Beiguo Town was worth it.

In contrast, the other two groups did not fare as well. As soon as the rain stopped, Huang Wu urged his group of newbies to set off. As for Chu Ci's group, whether they wanted to leave on their own or follow him, it didn't matter; the location was at Lanruo Temple, and no one could leave until the seven days were up. So Huang Wu was very relaxed about these people.

The newbies also had their own thoughts. Some, seeing Huang Wu's youthful and inexperienced appearance, thought he was unreliable and chose to leave, suspecting it was a high-tech prank and malicious kidnapping. Others chose to stay, hoping to survive by relying on Huang Wu. However, regardless of their choices, Chu Ci's departure and Huang Wu's indifference left the newbies with no initiative, only two options: to follow or to leave.

Since Huang Wu planned to enter Lanruo Temple directly, the task was to find the place. Huang Wu didn't have Chu Ci's Bai Que Ling, but he had his own unique way of finding the path.

"Night Parade of One Hundred Demons." Shadows split from Huang Wu's feet and merged into the dense forest's shadows. Soon, Huang Wu's eyes lit up, and he waved his hand, saying, "Follow me."

A faint gray light enveloped Huang Wu's body as he walked on the mountain path, unimpeded by the thorns. But this was tough for the newbies. The remaining newbies were mostly women, with five or six men of various ages, totaling fourteen newbies. They were generally weak, the kind who might excel in office work but were completely useless in physical labor, almost like pseudo-disabled individuals.

Tall trees blocked the sun, and the grass and ferns on the ground were over a meter high. For the shorter children, they could be completely hidden, creating a scene of wild and primitive wilderness.

If a natural exploration team were to come here, they would be ecstatic, but the newbies in this place were all complaining. In the first few minutes, they could still take care of each other, but as the time passed and they grew tired, they stopped talking, and the originally dense formation gradually dispersed into a loose and weak line. The people at the back could only keep their eyes on the figures in front, striving to follow them to avoid getting lost.

The only two children were already exhausted and lying on their parents' backs, adding to their parents' burden, but no one looked at them, fearing that someone might ask for help. In the face of life, everyone became extremely humble.

"Be careful," Huang Wu suddenly said, his eyes like lightning, staring at the last mother and daughter.

"What's wrong?" The newbies' breathing became rapid; they hadn't forgotten where they were.

This was "A Chinese Ghost Story."

"Don't panic, don't run around," Huang Wu, who had once been a newbie himself, knew the fragile psychological endurance of newbies, so he added, "Stay where you are, and I'll save you."

With that, Huang Wu rushed to the last mother and daughter. His right hand flicked, and a high-frequency oscillating knife with demon-sealing runes on the handle appeared in his palm. With a clear shout, he swung the knife at the mother and daughter's heads.

This almost scared the soul out of the single mother. Her legs gave way, and both the mother and daughter fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding the deadly branches of the demon tree. The knife in Huang Wu's hand had been enchanted in the Main God Space, capable of dealing damage to mystical entities. The blade had fine saw teeth, and with a light swing, it oscillated from the hilt to the tip, combining physical and magical damage. The high-frequency oscillating knife cut through the demon tree branches like a red-hot dagger slicing through fat, instantly severing them. The remaining parts retreated into the dense foliage, disappearing without a trace.

The newbies hadn't even cheered when Huang Wu's expression turned serious, urging them to leave, "Everyone, form a circle and leave this forest."

The newbies didn't dare to run around anymore. Once the mother and daughter with weak legs joined, they immediately headed in the direction Huang Wu pointed. Five miles ahead was the stage for this grand drama—Lanruo Temple.

A few bold newbies, without Huang Wu's protection, followed the terrain down the mountain, grumbling all the way, each boasting about their own wisdom and bravery.

After several hours, the bold newbies vaguely sensed something was wrong.

"Are we lost?" A man's mouth trembled, his eyes full of unease. In the wilderness, getting lost was more dangerous than any wild beast.

"Probably, in the forest, it's possible we've gone in circles. Let's make a mark, then use three points to form a line, using trees as coordinates. We'll definitely get out," a fat man said, a bit anxious, but he had some cunning and quickly came up with a solution. Everyone agreed, and some were responsible for making marks, while others watched the trees, forming a straight line and continuing to walk.

An hour later, the fat man's face turned pale. Not far away, the white flesh of the tree, beaten out, seemed to mock his foolishness with a pale and sinister smile.

Not far away, a woman's ethereal and alluring song drifted over. The newbies strained to identify the words but couldn't understand any of them. They only felt it was a rare and beautiful melody, clear and enchanting.

"Bro, something's not right."

"Something's not right. Could that brat have been telling the truth?"

If they were ordinary people from "A Chinese Ghost Story," they might appreciate the song, but these few, accustomed to modern music, felt a chill to the bone.

This is too real.

Then, several figures emerged from the depths of the forest, singing and dancing, slowly appearing before the newbies. Each one was a beauty, dressed in light silk, their graceful figures and alluring dance moves making them seem like celestial maidens.

"Damn, they really are ghosts." In this situation, most people would drool and rush forward, but the newbies' first reaction was to look at the dancers' white ankles. They all stood in the forest's shadows, not touched by sunlight, showing no flaws. But one sharp-eyed person suddenly noticed that the flying silk, which should have cast a shadow through the gaps, was faintly disappearing and reappearing. This realization filled him with great fear, and he shouted, turning to run.

This run caused the others to follow, rolling and crawling, wishing their parents had given them extra legs to get away from the ghosts.

After running a few hundred meters, the leading newbie suddenly stopped, blocking those behind. The newbies in front, not seeing clearly, cursed, but the leading newbie turned his face, full of despair, and moved aside to let them pass.

Not far away, the dancers continued their ethereal and inhuman dance.

"Ahh!"

Screams echoed in the forest, and the dark, dense forest became even more fertile.

...

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