Chapter 91: Chapter 91: I Want You to Be Trapped Here Too

The little girl asked timidly, “Um… Master, can I stay in contact with you the whole time?”

Shen Zhiyao did a quick divination. This reading wouldn’t take long, an hour and a half at most, so they replied, “You can.”

So the little girl took out a map and, following Shen Zhiyao’s directions, found the location of Mute Village.

As it turned out, a viewer in the livestream chat happened to be nearby:

[So it’s that village! It’s right behind my house. I can go with her.]

[I’m nearby too. I can come as well!]

Right away, they offered to accompany the girl to Mute Village. This made the girl give a sweet smile. “Thank you. Thank you both so much for offering to come with me. I’m really, really grateful!”

Such an innocent expression melted the hearts of all the netizens watching.

She had been mercilessly bullied by the villagers because of her Yin Yang Eye, yet she still treated the world with the greatest kindness.

In less than three minutes, the two of them arrived together at the entrance to Mute Village.

One was a young man in his twenties named Zhang Ruo, who had come out because he was bored at home. The other was a thirty-year-old photographer, Zhang Qiang, who was planning to do some scenic photography here.

And so, the three of them entered Mute Village side by side.

They hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary from the outside, but the moment they stepped into the village, a bizarre scene greeted them.

In the thick, disorienting fog, every family’s courtyard had a pagoda tree, and tied beneath each tree was a dog.

Seeing this, the girl was completely stunned. “Oh my god! There are so many dogs in this village, and they’re all kept by the front doors! Are these dogs really alive?”

Zhang Qiang immediately replied, “They’re alive. Their noses are twitching.”

The three of them began to walk deeper into the village along a road covered in fallen leaves.

The village was utterly silent, unnervingly so, even for the dead of night.

There wasn’t a single stir in the village, which made the girl wonder, “Are all the villagers in Mute Village actually mute? How come there isn’t a single sound?”

The words had barely left her mouth when a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder. “AHHHHH! A GHOST!”

The girl finally managed to stop screaming, only to find a woman had appeared behind her. “Shh, don’t make a sound. Follow me!”

Zhang Ruo, noticing the woman’s coarse hands, shoved her away. “Are you crazy?! Coming out here in the middle of the night scaring people! If you scare us to death, are you going to pay for it?!”

The woman made a hushing gesture and said, “Let me introduce myself. My name is Li Qiong, and I’m a villager from Chen Family Village. Never mind that for now, just follow me!”

The woman glanced around nervously, as if on guard against something.

Zhang Ruo spoke up angrily, “Who do you think you are?! Why should we go with you!?”

“Stop asking so many questions. Just follow me for now. I know where it’s safe.”

After saying this, she turned down a small path to the left.

Shen Zhiyao said gravely, “If you want to know the truth, follow her!”

The female ghost followed after her without hesitation.

The three of them had no choice but to chase after her.

As she left, the girl glanced back, and what she saw made her blood run cold.

At some point, dozens of black figures had appeared in the gloomy fog…

After entering a dim, narrow room, Li Qiong cautiously glanced outside.

Zhang Ruo scoffed and said disdainfully, “This little wreck of a shack is what you call a safe house?”

Hearing Zhang Ruo say that, the viewers in the livestream couldn’t hold it in anymore and started laughing:

[Hahahahaha, is this Li Qiong trying to make me die laughing so she can inherit my ten-thousand-yuan loan?]

[She was so serious, I thought the apocalypse had come and this was some specially built safe house. But in the end, this is it?]

[Oh, my god, that mud-brick house doesn’t even look sturdy. And she calls it a safe house? Seriously, is she some kind of clown?]

Shen Zhiyao replied, “That’s normal. There are no better houses in this village; this mud-brick house is actually one of the better ones. This livestream isn’t that dangerous. You can all just watch it like a story.”

As soon as the girl sat down at the table, she sized up Li Qiong. “You’re not from Chen Family Village, are you?”

Li Qiong admitted it directly. “That’s right. I’m an outsider, but I’ve been staying here for the past six months. And… I hope you can stay here with me…”

She took a deep breath and couldn’t help but glance out the window.

Outside, a thick fog swirled, glowing with an eerie white in the dark of night. Everything was silent; not even a single dog barked.

Li Qiong said, “The reason this place is called Mute Village is because everyone who lives here is mute. When we first arrived, the village was already this… gloomy and haunted.”

Zhang Ruo asked in confusion, “What about the others? Didn’t you come here with your friends?”

Li Qiong lowered her head, her hands unconsciously tightening around her water cup. “Everyone but me… is dead… They died on the sacrificial altar in Mute Village…”

’They all died on the sacrificial altar in Mute Village? What’s going on?’

’Holy crap, this woman is up to no good! All her friends are dead, and she still wants us to stay here? She’s completely nuts!’

The girl forced the shocked expression off her face. “Um… I’d like to ask, are the people in this village like NPCs in a video game? Do they have fixed movement patterns?”

Li Qiong sighed. “The people in the village aren’t like video game NPCs. It’s just that their level of civilization is like that of a remote, impoverished mountain region. I’ve tried to get something out of them, but I found they have absolutely no desire to leave. They just exist here in a daze, holding a ritual sacrifice once every year.”

Zhang Ruo asked, puzzled, “What kind of ritual?”

The girl blew on the hot steam rising from her tea, then lifted her gaze to give Li Qiong a deep look.

Li Qiong said, “The ritual held in the village is the very reason I want you to stay.”

She glanced at the fog outside the window and, seeing no monsters, continued with relief, “The villagers told me you have to be careful living here… When it gets foggy, you must be extremely cautious… You can’t go out in the fog… because there are monsters in the fog…”

The girl understood at once. “The ritual is to drive away the monsters in the fog, isn’t it!”

“Right!”

“And the reason you can’t leave has something to do with some kind of seal or barrier.”

“Right! But… how did you know…”

The girl chuckled and glanced at the female ghost beside her. “Because you said you hoped we would stay!”

The girl took a light sip of her tea and chuckled again. “Well, I’m afraid we really can’t stay! You being trapped here by a barrier has nothing to do with us!”

Li Qiong slammed both hands on the table, looked her in the eye, and said through gritted teeth, “Then let me tell you, whether you want to stay or not, you’re staying!”

“Tsk, who do you think you’re threatening!” the girl roared, flipping the table. “Who knows what you want us to stay for! Let’s go!”

With that, she turned to leave with the two men.

But Li Qiong blocked their way. “You can’t leave! Mute Village is holding its ritual today. You can only leave after it’s over!”

The girl let out a small laugh. “Why should we listen to you! You’re so insistent on making us stay because you want to use us as the sacrifice, don’t you?! Look at the state of this village! Does it look like they can afford sacrifices? You think we’re idiots, don’t you?!”

Zhang Qiang and Zhang Ruo also grew wary.

The gazes of all three fell on Li Qiong, scrutinizing her.

In the small, dim room, the wooden bed was low and old, and the stove was covered in a thick layer of dust. No matter how you looked at it, the room didn’t seem like a place someone had been living in.

Zhang Ruo also sensed something was wrong. “Look at this house. Does it look like anyone’s been living here? If someone lived here, why would the whole room be covered in spiderwebs?!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep