[Rain-Praying Village] Fleeing for Their Lives

Hearing those footsteps, the two men in the darkness felt as though their very souls were about to freeze!

"B-buddy, what do we do now?"

Liu Chengfeng's voice shook violently. His mind had gone completely blank!

Ning Qiushui did not answer him. He was already clutching the bronze mirror Bai Xiaoxiao had left him!

If anything could save their lives now, it could only be this bronze mirror!

He had witnessed its power firsthand at the Everlasting Well.

Bai Xiaoxiao had merely shone the bronze mirror into the well for a moment, and every vengeful soul at the bottom had been driven away.

Of course, Ning Qiushui also knew that the vicious ghost inside the Temple was far beyond anything beneath the Everlasting Well!

This must be Guang Xiu... His resentment is overwhelming!

The footsteps drew closer behind them, each one seeming to land on their chests, threatening to crush their hearts!

Thump-

Tap-

Thump-

With every footstep, their fear continued to build!

Ning Qiushui gripped the bronze mirror tightly, his palm slick with sticky sweat.

At last, the footsteps stopped behind him.

What followed was a long stretch of utter, deathly silence...

Waiting in the darkness for judgment was an unbearable feeling.

Even someone as mentally resilient as Ning Qiushui felt cold sweat seeping from every pore!

He knew that terrifying being was right behind him, staring fixedly at him!

Ning Qiushui desperately wanted to turn around, but he could not move at all.

The Blood Jade against his chest kept radiating searing heat, almost scorching his skin!

Ning Qiushui could not imagine how terrifying the ghost behind him must be to make the Blood Jade grow so hot that it seemed about to melt!

"Hungry..."

The voice sounded as though it had been squeezed from deep within a throat-a bubbling rasp, wretched, weak, and hoarse. Yet it stabbed into their eardrums like steel needles!

For an instant, Ning Qiushui's vision went black, and he nearly fainted!

Something cold and sharp pressed against the middle of his back!

It sliced through the skin, sending a surge of agony through him!

At that very moment, the bronze mirror that had lain dormant in his palm awakened!

"Oooh... oooh..."

A woman's muffled sobbing rose from nowhere in the darkness.

The instant it sounded, the two men, already chilled, felt a cold that pierced them to the bone!

They shuddered violently-and only then realized they could move!

"Beardy, get that door open!"

Ning Qiushui all but roared.

Liu Chengfeng knew the female ghost could not buy them much time. He shook himself into action, sprinted forward, and slammed the Temple's doors open!

Light streamed in from outside.

The two men, who had been on the verge of suffocating, finally caught a breath of hope!

They charged out of the Temple without looking back and ran toward the foot of the mountain.

Before starting down, Ning Qiushui glanced back.

He saw the female ghost in her bridal gown standing before Guang Xiu, her red figure fading at a speed visible to the naked eye...

Guang Xiu remained where he stood, seemingly held back by the female ghost. But on his hideously shattered, crack-riddled face, a pair of blood-red eyes remained fixed on the two men descending the mountain!

The malice in those eyes threatened to spill over!

"Faster!!!"

Ning Qiushui shouted another urgent warning.

Running in front with Bai Xiaoxiao's body in his arms, Liu Chengfeng heard Ning Qiushui's shout and sped up again!

He gulped down air as he sprinted, not daring to look back!

Ning Qiushui ran behind Liu Chengfeng. Suddenly, something cracked in his hand. He looked down and discovered that the bronze mirror had shattered completely!

The female ghost in the bridal gown vanished from the mirror at that same moment!

His heart... sank.

He had thought they might be able to use it a second time, but it seemed its durability had already reached its limit.

If Guang Xiu caught up with them now, they would be dead for certain!

At that thought, Ning Qiushui glanced back again. A single look made his heart clench!

At the summit behind them, Guang Xiu had walked out of the Temple and stood above the bloodstained stone steps, watching them coldly!

Although his feet never moved, every second his body appeared on the next small landing, nine steps farther down!

His speed was frightening. The two men racing downhill did not dare run too fast for fear of falling; each flight of nine steps took them at least two seconds!

"Liu Chengfeng, faster! He's catching up!!"

Ning Qiushui shouted.

Liu Chengfeng, running ahead, howled desperately:

"I'm already going as fast as I can, buddy! I can't go any faster!"

Ning Qiushui accelerated and snatched Bai Xiaoxiao's body off Liu Chengfeng's shoulder.

Bai Xiaoxiao was not heavy, and with her head missing, she weighed only a little over fifty kilograms. But an ordinary person could not run for long carrying fifty kilograms!

Fortunately, Ning Qiushui was in good physical shape. Running with Bai Xiaoxiao's body over his shoulder was much easier for him than it had been for Liu Chengfeng!

The distance from the summit to the foot of the mountain was short, so the two men soon reached the bottom of the stone steps. Neither daring to look back nor stop, they plunged into the woods!

Suddenly, three figures appeared ahead.

Ning Qiushui looked up. It was the man with glasses and his companions.

"Run!"

Despite everything, Ning Qiushui still shouted a warning at them.

The three clearly had no idea what was happening. Watching Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng race toward them as though their lives depended on it, they stood momentarily bewildered.

What the hell was going on?

While they stood there in a daze, Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng had already dashed past them!

"Run!!"

Without looking back, Ning Qiushui shouted again.

This time, everyone moved!

Partly, their powerful instinct to follow the others had stirred the fear within them.

But they had also seen Guang Xiu, his entire body riddled with cracks and bloody chunks of flesh jutting outward, as though he might fall apart at any moment!

"Fuck!!"

The man with glasses swore under his breath, but still ran after Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng.

Running behind them seemed to draw Guang Xiu's hostility. He stopped pursuing Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng directly and turned his attention to the other three!

"Fuck you, Ning Qiushui!!"

The man at the very back roared at Ning Qiushui, his eyes filled with ferocity and terror!

Unlike the others, they had been injured in the village that morning while trying to lure the Spirit Medium, and his injury had been to his leg!

Now, with panic and fear gripping him as well, he could barely run. All he could do was watch the four people ahead pull farther and farther away...