Secret

The kitchen was almost entirely visible, and the thing she was looking for wasn't there.

So, she turned her gaze back to the room next door, which was piled high with dry firewood.

King Yama wears a mask...

Zheng Wuyou had always felt this person was Zhu Li, but he claimed to be the maintainer of the rules.

If he wears a mask, then what mask is it?

With a creak, she carefully pushed open the door to the room that looked like a woodshed.

The moment she stepped into the room.

As if triggering some mechanism, all the neatly stacked firewood inside fell to the ground.

Revealing a black, irregular wall behind the woodpile in front of her.

Zheng Wuyou stood frozen on the spot, took a deep breath, and scanned the three walls in front of her in disbelief.

Her eyes were filled with complex emotions at this moment, her mind frozen as she clenched her fists.

Because the three walls directly facing the entrance were hung with various women's items.

A half-torn red bellyband... floral cloth shoes, about a size 34...

And various ornate decorative items for women.

Earrings with pearl and jade pendants, an embroidered cattail fan half-covered in mud, and so on...

Among them was the book Madam Zhao often held in her hands...

Not a single item here was neat or perfect.

It was as if they were saying how desperate those women must have been in the last moments before their beloved possessions were snatched away, after being eternally trapped in this place...

The scene before her made Zheng Wuyou understand instantly.

This day, it wasn't the people of Zhu Village who were trapped, but every woman who had been trafficked here.

King Yama wears a mask...

Not a mask of falsehood and hypocrisy.

But the resolute and fearless aspect of countless women...

They were going to flatten this place.

As Zheng Wuyou was shocked, her heart was filled with mixed emotions.

At this moment, she was completely immersed in this intense emotional impact.

So much so that she didn't notice a faint, subtle sound quietly approaching from behind her.

The sound was very weak at first...

But it grew clearer as time went on.

Even so, Zheng Wuyou remained completely unaware.

Until a pair of strong hands suddenly reached out from behind her...

One hand covered her mouth and nose.

The other hand, with lightning speed, yanked her behind the woodpile to the side.

And pulled her down with him.

Immediately, those hands quickly grabbed bundles of tightly tied firewood and methodically stacked them in front of the two of them.

In a short while.

The firewood was stacked into a narrow, semicircular wall.

As the person behind her grabbed and stacked the firewood...

Zheng Wuyou caught a glimpse of a familiar ink-blue hem.

Instantly, a name flashed through her mind—Miao Laisheng!

What is going on?

Zheng Wuyou was full of confusion, unable to think clearly with her mouth and nose covered.

I clearly instructed him to stay in the main hall and closely observe Zhu Li's every move.

Why did he follow me now?

At the same time, she could clearly feel Miao Laisheng's warm breath blowing just above her head.

She also noticed that he was intentionally controlling and slowing down his breathing rate.

Did something happen in the main hall?

Because the events happened too suddenly, Zheng Wuyou didn't even have time to react.

At this moment, she was almost sitting down in a clumsy, fallen posture.

Into the embrace of the person behind her.

No...

Too close...

Startled, Zheng Wuyou wanted to pull away and create some distance.

However, through a gap in the pile of firewood, her peripheral vision caught sight of another familiar figure approaching from outside.

Familiar, yet not quite.

Because the half-head on the ground belonged to the eyes that had met hers on the first night.

The half-human, half-head seemed to be searching for something, or perhaps aimlessly wandering around the woodshed.

Zheng Wuyou felt the hand covering her mouth and nose tighten slightly...

The half-head scraped back and forth across the rough ground.

It made a chilling "shushing" sound.

Wherever it went, it left a long, horrifyingly bloody trail.

This bloodstain, like a venomous snake, writhed its way across the floor.

And mixed within the scarlet bloodstains were strands of pale, viscous matter.

It was brain matter...

It made one's stomach churn.

The half-human figure on the ground, like a blind person, groped forward blindly.

Trembling, he extended his pale, paper-like hands, waving them wildly in the air as if trying to grasp something to support his teetering body.

Finally, when his fingers touched the pile of firewood closest to the door, he plunged his hands deep into it.

As he stirred with force, the previously still pile of firewood instantly became chaotic.

The dry logs collided and rubbed against each other, making crackling sounds that filled the entire room.

After disturbing the wood, the figure didn't stop. Instead, he slowly moved along the pile of firewood, inch by inch, towards the wall opposite the door.

His figure became increasingly blurred, gradually disappearing from Zheng Wuyou's line of sight.

Because the gaps between the firewood were very narrow, Zheng Wuyou could only stare at the wall directly in front of her, her heart filled with unease.

The rustling sound in her ears didn't stop.

The half-human, half-head was still inside.

They seemed to be looking for her...

Because their secret had been discovered!

Zheng Wuyou could feel the person behind her gently pull her waist back with his left hand, drawing her a few centimeters closer.

She was about to lower her head and pry open his left arm that was wrapped around her waist.

Just a second later.

The pale hands from outside the firewood "swished" into the gap she had been observing.

It was mere inches from her wide-open eyes.

Zheng Wuyou swallowed.

Her dilated pupils reflected the shadow outside the gap.

Even with Miao Laisheng's right hand covering her mouth and nose, she didn't dare to breathe too quickly at this moment.

Afraid of attracting attention.

If Miao Laisheng hadn't been here, she might have been finished.

The hands, seemingly unable to find their target, frantically stirred the pile of firewood in front of them in rage.

But Miao Laisheng had stacked them very methodically. Even as the firewood below collapsed, it still managed to conceal their figures.

Zheng Wuyou let the wood chips fall onto her face.

She could only close her eyes to avoid getting debris in them.

After what felt like a long wait, the room finally fell silent.

If those hands had gone a little further in.

She would have become a lamb delivered into his grasp.

The two remained in their tense position, silently waiting for a few more minutes.

Only then did Zheng Wuyou feel the left hand around her waist slowly release its grip.

Zheng Wuyou's taut nerves relaxed slightly.

The hand on her face also tactfully withdrew, and she finally began to adjust her rapid breathing.

However, their positions were still awkward due to the pile of firewood, making it difficult to move.

Unconsciously, their breathing fell into sync.

"A little nervous," Zheng Wuyou murmured softly.

The person behind her exhaled, his breath brushing her head. "Nervous about what?"

"Understandable, girls always react a little when they see a handsome guy."