Black Things

"Haha, we're here! This place doesn't seem very prosperous, but the rural charm is quite nice," Tan Fei shouted excitedly, and everyone was drawn to the simple, pure atmosphere here.

The car drove along a very narrow cement road in the countryside. On both sides of the road were scattered rural cottages. However, it was already close to one o'clock in the afternoon, and there wasn't a single person working in the surrounding fields. Every house had its doors tightly shut, and even the curtains were drawn.

"Are they all taking a nap?" Zhang Chen also found the scene a bit strange.

"Ah!" Wang Yizhi and Dai Xu exclaimed loudly as they looked out the window.

A group of people followed their gaze and saw that a small pond by the roadside was filled with white bones. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that the bones varied in size. The larger skulls had visible horns, while the smaller ones appeared to be the remains of cats or dogs. However, the sheer quantity of these bones was overwhelming, filling the small pond, which was nearly four meters long.

"It's nothing, just some cow and dog carcasses," Zhang Chen said, and everyone else realized it too.

"Why are there so many animal carcasses? Is there some kind of plague?" Zhang Chen worried about this. However, their destination shouldn't be in this village, so if anything happened, they could immediately ask to leave.

As the car continued, more ponds similar to the one they had just seen appeared along the roadside, which truly made Zhang Chen uneasy. He glanced back at the people from the other school, who were equally tense, except for the one guy who sat there as if nothing was wrong.

"Master, how much further to our destination?" Zhang Chen suddenly asked.

"Not far after you leave the village," the driver replied.

Hearing that they would be leaving the village, Zhang Chen felt a bit relieved.

Indeed, within five minutes, the car drove out of the village, and a vast forest appeared before them. The car then stopped.

"We're here? Where's the villa?" the people from the other school began to ask.

"The person who called me asked me to bring you here, so it should be close," the driver said, turning around.

"Master, could you leave your phone number? If anything happens, we can contact you," Zhang Chen said with a smile.

"Sure, but the company only paid me for the trip here. It seems I'm not responsible for picking you up," the driver said.

"If you need us to pick you up, we'll pay you ourselves."

"Okay, then. Remember my number." After the driver left his number with Zhang Chen, everyone got out of the car, and the people from the other school also disembarked.

"Where are the people from the travel company? Why aren't they here to greet us? There should at least be a tour guide," a curly-haired girl from the other school said, hands on her hips.

"The people from the other school don't know either. It seems no one really knows much about this company. Since we're already here, let's find the villa first. The villa on the brochure seemed to have a lot of trees around it, so it should be in the middle of this forest," Zhang Chen mused.

Looking at the endless forest before them, it covered a vast area, and the shortest trees were at least three meters tall, a stark contrast to the village they had just left.

"Come here quickly." Er Wa, carrying his backpack, seemed to have discovered something to his left.

Zhang Chen and the other three walked over first, and the six people from the other school followed after Jia Xin nodded.

Indeed, nailed to a tree with rusty iron nails was a piece of wood that was almost moldy. The writing on the board was still clear.

"Auguste Rodin Private Area, Trespassers Beware!"

"Haha, this Rodin guy must have been the previous owner of the villa. The travel company has probably taken over now. Let's head inside; the villa should be in there. This is good, it feels like an adventure," Er Wa said proudly, pulling out his Swiss Army knife and being the first to enter the forest.

Wang Yizhi looked at Zhang Chen, then linked her arm with his and walked in. The forest was quite dense, and even though it was broad daylight, she still felt a bit scared.

The remaining Dai Xu had no choice but to follow Tan Fei into the forest. Of course, the people from the other school followed behind them.

Er Wa, leading the way, made a mark on a tree every minute with his knife. Before anyone could ask, he explained to himself, "Making a mark."

The forest was very quiet. A large forest like this in the summer should be filled with birds or cicadas, but after walking for nearly ten minutes, no one heard any birdsong or cicadas. They didn't even see any snakes or mice, which the girls found terrifying.

To describe this forest in one word, it would be "dead."

Suddenly, Zhang Chen turned his head and stared at the forest to his left, stopped, and said to Wang Yizhi, "Yizhi, you and Dai Xu go ahead together. I have something to do, and I'll catch up with you later."

"Be careful, don't get lost." Wang Yizhi, having walked for so long without anything happening, was no longer as scared.

Zhang Chen nodded and walked over to the people from the other school who were following behind them. He said something to Jia Xin.

"Jia Xin, let's go check out that area. We'll meet up with them later. I think I saw something," Zhang Chen said with a smile, pointing to the forest on the left.

"I think I saw it too. Let's go." Jia Xin readily agreed. The people from the other school standing nearby found Jia Xin's reaction very strange, as if this wasn't his usual demeanor.

The two then separated from the group.

Zhang Chen actually didn't want to go, and even if he did, he didn't want to bring Jia Xin along. However, his actions in the car seemed to have been noticed by Jia Xin, and to avoid any misunderstandings, it was better to clarify things sooner rather than later.

Another crucial point was that from the moment Zhang Chen entered this forest, he had felt a sickening aura, not emanating from a specific spot, but from every tree. This might also be why no animals lived in this forest.

Furthermore, Zhang Chen had clearly sensed and seen a massive black object not far away, but it had vanished instantly. The aura emanating from that huge black object was comparable to the level of danger he had felt in Xie Wen's basement.

Therefore, Zhang Chen decided to bring Jia Xin along. Firstly, if there was real danger, he would have an extra helper, and at least now they were on the same side, so their combined efforts would have a greater chance of success. Secondly, if they could improve their relationship through this incident, it would reduce a lot of trouble during the next seven days.

"I'll make the first move later. If I get trapped, you must support me immediately," Jia Xin suddenly said after they had walked for a while in silence, his tone very serious, completely different from his previous state.

Zhang Chen nodded in agreement. Truthfully, he wasn't sure why Jia Xin trusted him, especially since his own strength hadn't been revealed at all.

The two walked to the spot where the black object had appeared. It was still surrounded by endless trees, and Wang Yizhi and the others were long out of sight.

"I'll lure it out. You hide in the trees first," Jia Xin said.

Zhang Chen didn't refuse. If Jia Xin had a way to lure the creature out, that would be best. Zhang Chen hated those hit-and-run ghosts the most.

Zhang Chen stepped directly onto a tree trunk and, with a series of leaps, reached the highest branches.

Seeing Zhang Chen ascend, Jia Xin below took out a straw doll from his backpack, bit his finger, and dripped blood onto the doll. He then produced a yellow talisman from goodness knows where, stuck it on the doll's head, chanted a few words, and buried the doll in the pile of leaves at his feet.

After finishing, Jia Xin didn't climb a tree. Instead, he walked to a large tree about three meters away and concealed himself behind it. Within a few minutes, Zhang Chen suddenly felt the tree trunk vibrate.

Not far away, a giant humanoid monster, over three meters tall and massive in build, wearing butcher's clothing, with its face, body, and hands covered in iron nails, its face seemingly stitched together, with no eyes or nose, only a circular, serrated mouth. It dragged a giant, blood-stained shovel towards them.

The monster walked to where the straw doll was buried, looked around, then picked up the giant shovel in its hand and began to dig.

Since the straw doll was buried shallowly, the monster dug it out with one scoop and grabbed it in its hand.

Suddenly, the talisman on the straw doll's head detached itself and stuck to the monster's hand. Instantly, flames erupted, and the monster's left hand was burned into cooked meat.

"Aaaaaaaah~~~~~~" The monster let out a strange scream and looked around for who was ambushing it. At this time, Jia Xin was behind a tree not far behind the monster.

Zhang Chen's gaze was not primarily on the monster, but on Jia Xin. He wanted to see how strong this guy was. As expected, when the guy saw the black monster moving in the opposite direction, he instantly flashed out, touched the ground with his toes, and approached at an extremely fast speed.

"Lightness skill?" Zhang Chen was shocked. This was like a scene from a movie. Although Jia Xin didn't fly, his speed of movement with his toes touching the ground was so fast that Zhang Chen estimated he could only run that fast at full speed.

Jia Xin had already reached the monster's back. He pushed off the ground with both feet, leaped up, and used his two fingers as a sword, directly pointing at the monster's head.

"Pfft!" Black blood spurted from the monster's forehead. Jia Xin's finger had actually pierced the monster's skull.

After Jia Xin landed, his expression suddenly changed drastically. The black monster, whose head had been pierced, seemed completely unharmed. It turned around, raised its thick leg, and kicked towards Jia Xin.

Jia Xin jumped, dodging the monster's kick, and at the same time, he repeatedly poked the monster more than ten times with his fingers. Instantly, more than ten bloody holes appeared on the monster, and black, viscous blood flowed out from its back.

"Still not dead?" Jia Xin said. The monster, unaffected, grabbed Jia Xin, who was suspended in the air, tightly with its right hand. At the same time, a long, red, worm-like creature suddenly grew from its circular mouth, seemingly intending to eat Jia Xin.

"Help!" Jia Xin, who was being held, panicked and blurted it out.

Zhang Chen smiled, his claws extended, and he dropped straight down from the tree towards the monster's head. Facing the disgusting worm, Jia Xin used his left hand, his only mobile finger, to reach for his waist and take out a white talisman. With the force of his finger, he stuck the talisman onto the monster's arm.

Just as the fleshy worm opened its mouth to swallow Jia Xin, with a "swoosh," the monster's head, along with the red worm in its mouth, separated from its body and fell to the ground.

With a "bang!", an explosion sounded, and the arm that had grabbed Jia Xin also broke into two segments. The forearm flew out with Jia Xin, and residual lightning flickered from the severed arm.

The monster, without its head and right arm, was still able to move as if nothing happened. The wounds on its head and right arm were even bulging with flesh and blood, seemingly healing itself.

"Control it with all your might, I'll handle it!" Zhang Chen said to Jia Xin, who had been blown away, seeing that the situation was not good.

Jia Xin glanced at Zhang Chen and, seeing his determined gaze, took out a wooden roulette from his waist and placed it on the ground. He put his palm into the groove in the center of the roulette and turned it forcefully. At the same time, a pained expression appeared on Jia Xin's face.

However, with this action, more than ten wooden stakes emerged from the ground around the monster, locking it tightly in place. But the monster's strength was immense; as soon as it was locked, two wooden stakes were shaken open, but two more stakes rose again.

"Hurry up and act!" Jia Xin's palm, which was in the wooden disk, was already bleeding profusely, and he shouted painfully at Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen took a deep breath. This guy was a full three meters tall. He didn't know if he could swallow it. He opened his mouth with all his might. Although it was already very large, it could only swallow half at most.

"Bigger..." Zhang Chen's veins bulged on his forehead, and sweat dripped down.

A prompt sound rang out: "Gluttonous Ghost's main soul's compatibility with ** has increased by 6%, reaching 41%."

His mouth suddenly became incredibly huge, and he swallowed the giant monster trapped within the wooden stakes, along with the stakes themselves