Ghoul Trickery

This was an old wooden house, and because there was no electricity, it was a bit dark inside.

Upon entering, there was the living room, with two rooms on each side.

"You all sit down for a bit, I'll call my old man out."

After the old woman entered the house, she lit a candle and placed it in the living room. The few people stood in the living room, looking around.

Seeing the somewhat moldy floor, Su Ti frowned, instinctively feeling something strange.

"Do you feel like something's not right?"

"What's not right?"

When everyone heard him say this, they all perked up their ears.

Su Ti glanced at the old woman who had entered the house and whispered.

"She said they usually rely on young strong men to bring them supplies to live, but the road we took into the mountain was full of branches and vines, and no one has walked on it for a long time."

"If they rely on young strong men to bring them supplies to live, how could that mountain road not have been used by people for so long?!"

"That's true..."

Everyone was startled, and a hint of vigilance appeared on their faces.

However, Lao Li quickly retorted.

"My hometown is in a mountain village. Mountain roads like this in mountain villages won't just have one. The one we took might not be the one they usually take. Maybe the mountain road those young people use to bring in supplies is another one?"

As soon as he said this, everyone also felt it made sense.

Su Ti also nodded slightly. What Lao Li said was not unreasonable. In short, in this desolate mountain wilderness, perhaps he was overthinking things.

But his senses, which surpassed ordinary people at the Inner Refinement Fourth Layer, always vaguely felt that something was not right here. Although he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong, he just had a strange feeling.

While everyone was talking, the old woman brought out her old man.

Her old man was an old man with a hunched back and a face also full of wrinkles.

He was also smiling and greeted everyone warmly when he came out.

There wasn't much in the countryside, so he brought out a few cups of hot water, added tea, and offered it to everyone.

"You've come a long way, have some water."

Everyone repeatedly agreed, but because of Su Ti's words earlier, coupled with their initial caution, they all didn't drink the water, making excuses that they weren't thirsty.

Seeing this, the old man didn't force them, but said.

"There happen to be two guest rooms, which were left for A Hu and the others to stay overnight. You can make do and sleep in those two rooms tonight."

Through the conversation between Xu Lao and the old woman earlier, they learned that A Hu was the young strong man who often came to take care of them.

Everyone agreed.

Those two guest rooms were tidied up very cleanly. The few people allocated them and moved in.

Xu Lao and the other three shared one room. They often stayed outdoors and were used to sticking together. There was no issue with four people staying in one room, and they had already prepared sleeping bags and tents anyway.

Su Ti, on the other hand, had a room to himself.

In the room, it was already around eleven o'clock at night. Looking at the unfamiliar environment, Su Ti tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the door. Su Ti went to open the door, and it was the old woman who came in.

"Child, you've been traveling all the way for your trip, it must have been hard. My old man and I don't have much to entertain you with, so I boiled some sweet potato soup for you to drink."

Looking at the old woman's kind and amiable face, Su Ti slightly lowered his guard and nodded gently.

"You can put it there, I'll drink it later."

"Drink it while it's hot, it won't taste good when it cools down."

Facing the particularly enthusiastic old woman, Su Ti could only repeatedly agree, saying that he would drink it immediately, and then closed the door.

Not long after Su Ti closed the door, he heard the same sound from next door. Apparently, the old woman had sent sweet potato soup to Xu Lao and the other four.

Su Ti looked at the sweet potato soup in front of him. It was ordinary, just ordinary sweet potatoes boiled with water, nothing different.

He leaned in and sniffed carefully, but didn't smell anything. However, after thinking about it, he still didn't drink it.

When you're away from home, be careful about everything.

The floor in the room was old and in disrepair. Su Ti slightly pried up a wooden board and poured the sweet potato soup through the floor into the soil layer below. Then he placed the empty bowl outside the door, indicating that he had finished drinking it.

Afterward, he took out an energy bar from his pocket, took a bite, and then took out a bottle of mineral water and gulped it down. Only after eating and drinking his fill did he lie down on the bed and go to sleep.

Su Ti slept very lightly. In the middle of the night, he suddenly heard a faint sound of a door opening.

He immediately woke up, but his strong control kept his body from opening his eyes. He remained lying on the bed motionless, breathing evenly.

After the door opened, two sets of footsteps walked towards his bed.

Not long after, the footsteps stopped, and two figures stood at the head of his bed, whispering.

A hoarse, aged voice said.

"Let's start with him. He's young, strong, and his meat is fragrant. Made into cured sausage, it can be eaten for a long time. I haven't had enough of the last batch yet."

A young voice also spoke.

"Right, this group is too vigilant. Only this young man drank the sugar water, the others didn't. Let's take care of him first, then contact everyone else to strike together and kill the remaining four as well!"

The two chatted and chuckled softly.

Then they began to act.

A kitchen knife, flashing with cold light, silently stabbed towards Su Ti's neck.

The two revealed bloodthirsty eyes, just as they were about to succeed.

A large hand grabbed the arm that was stabbing.

Then a pair of eyes, filled with fierce light, opened in the darkness, staring intently at the two astonished people.

Su Ti opened his eyes, also greatly astonished.

He wasn't shocked that the two wanted to kill him,

but that although one of them was the old woman who had opened the door for him earlier, the other was not the old man he had expected!

It was himself!

Another Su Ti stood by his bed, his face, appearance, and clothes identical to his own. The only difference was that his face was ferocious, his eyes bloodthirsty and cruel, and he held a sharp, cold kitchen knife in his hand, stabbing towards his neck.

Someone who looked exactly like himself, standing by his bed in the middle of the night with a kitchen knife to assassinate him?!

An ordinary person seeing such a bizarre and terrifying situation would surely be scared to death on the spot!

Although Su Ti's eyes showed shock, there was no fear.

He used one hand to block the opponent's knife, and with a backhand, he slapped the person's glabella!

He didn't feel the hard texture of a forehead; instead, he felt a wet, slippery, and soft sensation, as if he had slapped a tumor.

Boom!

The person who was slapped flew backward, directly hitting the wall!

After a brief moment of astonishment, the old woman's expression immediately turned ferocious. She held another cleaver in one hand and chopped towards Su Ti.

But Su Ti's movements were faster than hers. While her knife was still in mid-air, Su Ti's palm had already landed on her neck.

A powerful force erupted, and with a crack, the old woman's cervical vertebrae broke. She flew horizontally, hitting the wall heavily, and died on the spot!

Su Ti immediately got up from the bed, his brows tightly furrowed as he looked at the two.

At this moment, the commotion from his room also disturbed the people next door.

Xu Lao and the other four rushed into Su Ti's room, just in time to see the bodies of 'Su Ti' and the old woman lying on the ground.

And at this moment, there was actually another Su Ti standing in the center of the room!

This bizarre scene caused the four people to show shock on their faces. Their eyes constantly moved between the 'Su Ti' corpse on the ground and Su Ti himself, full of suspicion and uncertainty.

"These two things on the ground came into my room in the middle of the night trying to kill me, and then I killed them."

Su Ti explained calmly.

Although he explained, Su Ti could see that the others still looked at him with suspicion. After all, his corpse was lying on the ground, and his one-sided explanation was not convincing.

However, Su Ti didn't care, nor did he feel the need to explain to everyone that he was real and the one on the ground was fake.

This was simply because his strength was the strongest among them, and even if they suspected him, it was useless.

He didn't need to prove anything, because his strength was his greatest confidence and the best proof.

Ignoring the suspicious looks of the others, Xu Lao, after examining Su Ti himself and the corpse on the ground several times, suddenly paused. He took out a bottle of Feng You Jing from his backpack and took a deep breath in front of his nose.

Then, when he looked at the ground again, his pupils contracted sharply!

"Godfather, how is it?"

Cao Man asked quickly when she saw this. Xu Lao's face was solemn, and he handed the Feng You Jing to the others.

"See for yourselves."

After Xu Lao handed the Feng You Jing to the others, everyone took a deep breath in front of their noses. When they looked at the two corpses on the ground again, their expressions changed dramatically!

At this moment, Su Ti also took the Feng You Jing, took a deep breath in front of his nose, and a cool scent penetrated his brain. His somewhat groggy mind instantly cleared up!

Using this clarity, he looked closely and saw that the bodies of the old woman and himself on the ground had disappeared without a trace.

In their place were two pale, bloated corpses with severely distorted faces, their faces swollen like steamed buns!

The appearance of these two corpses was like they had been soaked in water for a month and then salvaged, ugly and terrifying!

At the same time, a strong stench assailed them. It was the smell of decay accompanied by corpse oil!

Smelling this stench, Su Ti felt a moment of trance. The corpses on the ground gradually distorted and changed back into the appearance of the old woman and his own corpse.

"This is a Yu!"

Xu Lao took out another bottle of Feng You Jing at this moment, applied it to the tip of his nose, maintaining the cool sensation, and said decisively.

"Yu?"

Su Ti was puzzled, and it sounded a little familiar. Although he had listened to Xu Lao talk about evil spirits all afternoon, it was only a rough listen, not as detailed as his research.

"That's right, it's a type of evil spirit. It has a foul smell, can create illusions, and likes to eat people. The foul smell on them can cause humans to hallucinate and blind our five senses, so what we saw before were all illusions they created for us!"

"Moreover, the Yu are very cunning and skilled in deception. The so-called ghoul trickery refers to this kind of monster!"

Saying this, Xu Lao shook the Feng You Jing in his hand.

"This strong scent can dispel the foul smell brought by the Yu, allowing people to temporarily regain clarity."

"The old man and old woman we saw before, as well as Su Ti, were all impersonated by the two Yu on the ground, in order to gain our trust!"

As Xu Lao said this, everyone also reacted. Thinking about talking to such monsters before, their backs felt a chill.

"Then what should we do now?"

"What to do..."

Xu Lao's eyes flickered, clearly also thinking about this question.

When they entered the village, there were still two houses with lights on. If this house was inhabited by Yu, then what lived in the other two houses?

Just then, Su Ti suddenly squatted down and touched the floating corpse on the ground with his finger.

Since the corpse puppets he encountered before provided him with energy, then the Yu, being evil spirits of the same kind, should also work.

Under the slippery touch of the corpse's surface, a cool energy surged into his body along his finger.

Energy 130%

Energy 140%

Two pieces of information flashed, and Su Ti's energy increased by 20%.

At this point, he turned and touched another corpse.

As expected, the other corpse also provided Su Ti with 20% energy.

After obtaining the energy from these two corpses, Su Ti's heart skipped a beat, and a hint of excitement was faintly visible at the corner of his mouth.

In his eyes, these things were no longer disgusting corpses and terrifying ghosts, but experience babies that could provide him with experience points.

Thinking of the conversation between the two Yu earlier, about summoning the big guys to kill Xu Lao and the others together, Su Ti picked up the bottle of Feng You Jing and walked out, casually saying to everyone.

"Stay here and don't move. I'll be back soon."

Dong dong dong, Su Ti knocked on the door of another house a hundred meters away.

Not long after, the door opened.

A pale, swollen corpse poked its head out from the doorway. Seeing Su Ti, it was first stunned, then with surprise and emitting a strong foul smell, it spoke.

"You child? Is something wrong?"

Su Ti sniffed the scent of Feng You Jing at the tip of his nose and smiled as he spoke.

"I'm a traveler here for tourism. It's too late, and I'd like to borrow your place to rest for a while."

The corpse became even more excited upon hearing this, and the corner of its mouth slightly curved as it spoke.

"Alright, alright, then come in first."

"No rush, is there anyone else in your family? I'd like to say hello to them before going in."

"Yes, yes, I'll call them out right away."

A cold light flickered in Su Ti's eyes. After seeing through these strange tricks, the corpses' clumsy acting seemed like a joke in front of him.

However, before he saw through these tricks, even he was fooled.

The corpse quickly called its family to meet Su Ti. Somewhat unexpectedly, it was actually a family of three. The extra person made a hint of satisfaction flash in Su Ti's eyes.

After meeting each other, Su Ti walked into the house. The moment he closed the door, he revealed a brilliant smile.