[Rain-Praying Village] Up the mountain

By the time they returned to the Guesthouse again, it was already afternoon.

The two had a quick meal and noticed that the bespectacled man and his two companions were there too. Their faces looked grim, and they had a few injuries.

Fortunately, their injuries were minor. But when the bespectacled man saw Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng return without Bai Xiaoxiao, his face immediately darkened.

After all, they had taken an enormous risk to draw the Spirit Medium away, nearly losing their lives in the process, only to come away with nothing. It was hard not to feel discouraged.

"D-didn't you find Sister Bai?"

The timid girl, Zong Fang, asked in a small voice.

Ning Qiushui fell silent for a moment.

"We found her, but she's in very bad shape right now... Also, the Spirit Medium is dead. That's very good news for us."

Only upon hearing that the Spirit Medium was dead did everyone's expressions finally ease.

After all, she was the one in this village who had been trying to kill them!

"That's great!"

The bespectacled man pumped his fist hard.

"Now that the Spirit Medium is dead, we're safe!"

Liu Chengfeng, who stood by the window looking outside, gave a derisive laugh.

"Safe? In your dreams!"

The bespectacled man's expression stiffened at the mockery. Then he asked in confusion:

"Aren't we?"

"The Spirit Medium and the villagers were the ones trying to kill us all along. Now that she's dead, the villagers have no leader. Naturally, we're much safer!"

Ning Qiushui said:

"Why don't you think again... Why did the Spirit Medium and the villagers want to sacrifice us to those dead people?"

At Ning Qiushui's words, the bespectacled man froze for a moment. Then he seemed to realize something, and a fine sheen of sweat immediately formed on his forehead!

That was right...

Although the Spirit Medium and the villagers of Rain-Praying Village had been trying to kill them all along, why would they attack outsiders unless they had no other choice?

At its core, the real threat still came from the people in the village who had died over the years!

"This book records a way to enter the village's Back Mountain safely. We'll split into two groups when the time comes. You three will look for the monk's missing head, while we look for Bai Xiaoxiao's body..."

After Ning Qiushui finished, the third member accompanying the bespectacled man spoke up.

"Do we really have to waste time and energy saving her... I mean, her head's been cut off. There's absolutely no reason she should still be alive!"

"At least that's a possibility, isn't it? If we take an enormous risk to bring her body out, only to find that she's going to die anyway, wouldn't that mean we'd done something completely pointless?"

This member was a man who usually kept quiet within the group and rarely spoke. Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng barely even remembered him, let alone knew his name.

His objections caused a slight shift in everyone's attitude.

It was indeed a heartless thing to do.

They would be abandoning a companion-and one who had contributed to the group, at that.

They could hardly avoid feeling guilty about it.

But this was no longer the moment when they had first entered this blood gate.

They had witnessed several terrifying sights and nearly lost their lives here. Under that intense pressure to survive, all they wanted now was to find a way out as quickly as possible and leave this blood gate alive!

As for guilt and remorse... those would have to wait until they survived!

"You can stand here and say that without a shred of guilt because someone else has already done the dangerous work for you."

"I hope that when you're in danger, all you can do is watch your teammates walk away without looking back!"

Liu Chengfeng sneered, but the man merely replied offhandedly:

"But I'm not the one in danger right now, am I?"

At those words, Liu Chengfeng could no longer contain himself. He sprang to his feet, looking ready to start a fight, but Ning Qiushui held him back.

"We've already told you how to get up the mountain. From here on, we'll go our separate ways. None of us owes the others anything."

The bespectacled man nodded.

"All right. Still, thank you for sharing this book with us... We'll do our best to find the head."

As they got up to leave, the man whose name they didn't know glanced back at Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng and scoffed:

"Two idiots!"

With that, they left without looking back.

Liu Chengfeng was furious and slammed his fist onto the table.

Bang!

"That bastard! We shouldn't have shared what was in the book with them!"

Ning Qiushui replied calmly:

"Whether they want to or not, they have to help us. After all, if that head isn't found, everyone will be in danger!"

"Let's get ready. Now's the perfect time to set out for Back Mountain!"

"We have to get back before dark and return Sister Bai's body to her."

Liu Chengfeng nodded.

They quickly sorted out their rope and backpacks. After making sure they hadn't forgotten anything, they passed through the woods and reached the foot of Back Mountain.

It was their first time here.

It was much as the book had described. The whole of Back Mountain was shrouded in a faint red mist...

The moment they reached the foot of the mountain, Liu Chengfeng couldn't help shivering.

"Damn, why did it suddenly get so cold here?"

He muttered, his eyes darting around uneasily.

He wasn't imagining it. The moment they approached Back Mountain, Ning Qiushui had also felt the temperature plunge!

The mountain was utterly still.

So still that it was almost eerie.

A long, neatly built stone stairway wound its way toward the summit.

The two looked up, but their eyes could not penetrate the faint red mist. They couldn't make out what lay on the mountain.

They simply felt a vague sense of unease.

It was as though something behind that red mist was staring coldly at them!

But having come this far, neither had any intention of turning back.

They stepped onto the stone stairs, ready to make their way up one step at a time.

At that very moment, everything changed!

As their feet landed on the stone steps, a terrifying sight unfolded!

They suddenly saw blood streaming down the once clean, tidy stairway!

The sickening, heavy stench of blood flooded their nostrils.

They looked up again. The sky overhead was dim and veiled in thick mist, and the blood trickling down the steps was flowing from deep within the dense, pale red fog that obscured the end of the stairway...

More terrifying still, when they gathered their senses again, the blood-covered stone stairs were packed with corpses, sprawled every which way...