Seizing the mont before the villagers could trap him to death, Yang Xiao held up the Soul-Attracting Incense and, spotting an opportunity, dashed through a gap and escaped.
But then he noticed sothing even more terrifying — the incense in his hand was burning at an alarmingly fast rate, visibly shrinking before his very eyes. At the sa ti, the incense smoke eerily drifted to one side and disappeared into thin air.
It was clear to Yang Xiao that the Ghost Monk was behind this; he was sucking away the incense smoke. Given the current rate at which the Soul-Attracting Incense was burning, he had no chance of returning to the Du Family Ancestral Ho. Once the incense ran out midway, the Ghost Monk might not personally kill him, but the villagers chasing him would surely do so!
No, continuing to run like this would be a death sentence. Yang Xiao’s brain worked at lightning speed, and suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a courtyard house. Its entrance was blocked by a semicircular line of incense ash.
A plan imdiately ford in Yang Xiao’s mind, and with a fierce look on his face, he said, "You won’t let us live, I won’t make it easy for you either!"
The next second, Yang Xiao abruptly turned and ran in the opposite direction of the Du Family Ancestral Ho. The foggy shadows behind him flitted with the grim faces of several villagers, who followed him in a strange manner.
Fearing that the Ghost Monk would step on his shadow again, Yang Xiao dared not run in a straight line. As the incense in his hand was about to burn out, he finally reached the entrance of a courtyard. After confirming it several tis, Yang Xiao’s face twisted into a horrific smile.
He recognized it; this was Du San’s house, which they had visited that afternoon.
At this mont, the Ghost Villagers were also catching up. Their target was clear: first to snatch the finger bone in Yang Xiao’s possession, and then to kill. According to the Du Family Patriarch, at least one person had to die every night, and that was unlikely to be a lie.
Every inhabited courtyard house in Du Family Village had incense ash outside the entrance to prevent ghosts from breaking in, and Yang Xiao’s face was also in front of one — these were the protective asures of Du San’s house, and there was even a larger amount of incense ash there than at most places he passed, except for the Du Family Ancestral Ho.
But all the incense ash was of no use now. At that mont, Yang Xiao was pressed to the outside of the courtyard by a crowd of ghosts. He stepped back and crushed the incense ash at the entrance of Du San’s house with the sole of his shoe, kicking open a large gap. Then, spreading his hand wide for all the Ghost Villagers to see the finger bone in his palm, he turned around and flung the bone into Du San’s yard along the wall.
The next second, the Ghost Villagers surged towards the courtyard gate, breaking through the gap in the incense ash. Their arms seed to be broken, unable to lift, so they crowded in front of the gate, faces against the door, incessantly battering it with their heads, "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The loud knocking reverberated throughout the village, creating an eerily religious scene. The thick wooden door trembled nonstop from the impacts, and Yang Xiao faintly heard chaotic sounds coming from the courtyard — fortunately, Du San was at ho, which put Yang Xiao at ease.
The next second, the robust courtyard door was smashed open, and the villagers rushed in en masse. Following the sound of shattering doors and windows, there were human screams.
It was Du San’s voice. Yang Xiao heard it very clearly. Indeed, in front of the real Du Family mbers, he was not the primary target.
When the villagers rushed in, Yang Xiao simply stood to the side. After throwing the finger bone into the yard, none of the villagers even glanced at him directly.
Although losing the finger bone was a pity, it was a necessary sacrifice. Yang Xiao didn’t feel like he had done anything wrong.
Without any further delay, as the last of the villagers in the mist charged into the courtyard, Yang Xiao tiptoed away from the gate. Once he was sure no one had noticed him, he broke into a run toward the Du Family Ancestral Ho.
User Comments
0 comments from readers