Had Any of You Seen That Girl?

The disappearance of the two people did nothing to slow the group's progress.

Neither Chen Ye nor the Young Sword Immortal stopped because of it.

Chen Ye and the others headed toward the Big Willow Tree in the center of the village.

The deeper they went into the village, the more pressure the survivors felt.

An eerie sense of dread settled over everyone.

There were many houses on both sides of the village road. Many of their doors stood open, revealing pitch-black interiors.

Some survivors had made up their minds to stick with Chen Ye and the others.

Others, however, were still wavering.

Following them deeper into the village might not yield more supplies, but it would certainly be more dangerous.

Yet entering the houses would surely be dangerous too.

Among them, the Zhou sisters, Zhou Lan and Zhou Xiaoxiao, were firmly in favor of staying with the group.

Suddenly, Chen Ye stopped. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he raised his hand crossbow a little, aiming it ahead.

Iron Lion and the Young Sword Immortal beside him did the same as Chen Ye.

All three stared ahead warily.

It was that hunched old man!

Rather than an old man, he looked more like a marionette. Everything from his movements to his facial expressions resembled a puppet's.

"You... came~~~"

The Hunchbacked Old Puppet's eerie voice drifted over, making everyone's skin crawl.

It was as though the old man had been waiting specifically for Chen Ye and the others.

The survivors behind them hurried to hide behind the three.

"Are you from this village?"

Chen Ye was the first to ask.

The Hunchbacked Old Puppet chuckled without answering Chen Ye's question. Instead, he said eerily, "I know you're here to look for supplies. There's a little supermarket beneath the Big Willow Tree, with plenty of supplies inside. You can take a look there!"

"Keep following this road, and you'll reach the Big Willow Supermarket!"

"Heh heh... lots of tasty things there!"

"Lots..."

With that, the old man slowly turned and left.

The whole sequence was like a preset computer program, making their scalps prickle.

Just then, Chen Ye heard an eerie voice calling, "Help... me, help... me..."

The voice seemed to drift near and far, as though... as though...

Chen Ye's expression changed. He turned to Iron Lion. "Big guy, did you hear something?"

Iron Lion looked unsettled too. He nodded and said, "I did. Someone's saying 'help me.'"

"It came from inside that old man's body!"

Nana spoke up.

"There's something wrong with that old man!"

Without a second thought, Chen Ye raised his hand crossbow, aimed at the Hunchbacked Old Puppet, and fired a bolt.

To survive, Chen Ye had spent plenty of time practicing with his hand crossbow lately. His aim was already fairly good.

The bolt coated in black dog blood struck the old puppet squarely between the brows.

A wisp of smoke rose from the spot, and a trace of pain crossed his face.

Chen Ye felt a surge of delight.

The bolts soaked in black dog blood worked.

At the same time, a system notification appeared before Chen Ye's eyes.

[You damaged the Hunchbacked Old Puppet. You gained slaughter value +100.]

Before Chen Ye could celebrate,

the Hunchbacked Old Puppet shot Chen Ye a venomous look, reached up, pulled the bolt from between his brows, and tossed it onto the ground.

That bolt between his brows had posed no threat to him at all.

Black dog blood might work, but its effect was extremely limited.

It was nowhere near as effective as the bolt he had fired at the White-Clad Scissor Woman back in Apricot Blossom Town.

Of course, Iron Lion deserved most of the credit for that shot.

"Attack!"

Nana's eyes flashed, and the longsword in her hand became a streak of light, striking straight at the Hunchbacked Old Puppet.

Iron Lion moved a little slower, but he radiated danger as he charged forward bare-handed, like a bulldozer running at full power.

Chen Ye drew back the string and began loading a second bolt.

With one slash, the Young Sword Immortal's longsword cut the Hunchbacked Old Puppet in two.

Before the survivors around them could celebrate, they saw that not a single drop of blood flowed from either half of the Hunchbacked Old Puppet's body.

The two halves hopped like a pair of monkeys, dodging the big lug's fists before scrambling onto a nearby roof and escaping.

Two halves of a body...

A mournful, pleading voice drifted from the Hunchbacked Old Puppet's direction. "Help... me... please... help me..."

The voice was still utterly chilling!!!

Nana quickly grabbed Iron Lion as he tried to chase after him. "Big guy, calm down. Gathering supplies comes first."

Everything had happened so quickly, almost in the blink of an eye.

But the survivors behind them were left staring in shock.

Several felt a warm wetness spread through their crotches.

No matter how many times they had encountered these horrors, they still couldn't stop fear from rising within them.

"I'm not going! Go yourselves if you want! I'm not going..."

One survivor screamed in terror, turned, and ran toward the village entrance.

"I'm not going either! I don't want to die yet..."

Two more survivors immediately broke away from the group and rushed toward the village entrance.

Chen Ye glanced at the Zhou sisters following behind him, but still said nothing.

No, the Zhou sisters were following behind all three of them.

Seemingly sensing Chen Ye's gaze,

the famous star Zhou Lan showed the faintest hint of pleading and regret in her eyes, but quickly concealed it.

Zhou Xiaoxiao lowered her head, avoiding Chen Ye's gaze.

The three said nothing. They glanced toward the Big Willow Tree and continued straight ahead.

The atmosphere was oppressive.

There was still no one in the village.

Within the ghost domain, everything felt oppressive, as though they were walking through another plane of existence.

As they walked, a terrified scream suddenly came from behind them. "A Zi! A Zi's gone..."

The three turned back again.

A girl with disheveled hair was sobbing hysterically. "A Zi's gone..."

"A Zi was here just a moment ago!"

"A Zi's gone... sob, sob..."

The girl crouched on the ground, crying her heart out. Her sobs sounded like wind blowing through a cavern.

Chen Ye frowned slightly.

They hadn't even reached the Big Willow Supermarket, yet so many things had already gone wrong.

Longevity Village really was much more vicious than Apricot Blossom Town.

Unable to bear the sight, Zhou Lan crouched down to comfort her. "Don't cry. Maybe A Zi has already gone back. We might see her when we get back later."

A trace of impatience crossed Zhou Xiaoxiao's face.

The girl shook her head frantically, her black hair writhing like snakes.

"No! I can't be without A Zi! I can't live without her!"

Before anyone could react again,

the girl stood up and suddenly dashed back the way they had come.

"You..."

Zhou Lan tried to grab her, but her hand caught nothing.

No one said a word. They simply stared in the direction the girl had gone.

Yes, they were so much like that girl.

Every survivor who had lived this long had lost loved ones.

Some had lost husbands, others wives and children...

But this was the apocalypse!

Perhaps they themselves wouldn't make it out of Longevity Village today.

It felt as though a heavy stone weighed on everyone's heart.

Chen Ye lit a cigarette to ease the heaviness in his chest.

He kept feeling that something about all this was wrong.

But he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

As he exhaled a smoke ring, Chen Ye suddenly asked in a quiet, unsettling voice:

"Had any of you... seen that girl in the convoy?"