Guan Village's crop fields (thanks to Taiqing Ju Huo Chi Tianxian for the alliance leader support, 4K, 1/2)

A huge pit lay before Zhou Yang's eyes.

Not far from him was a grove of dead trees, with vines and withered grass crawling all over the ground, making it difficult to pass.

Beside this large pit, which resembles a small landslide dam, a few scattered earthen courtyards still stand.

The roofs of these houses are mostly thatched, and many of the roofs have collapsed. The mud walls are also cracked in various places, making them look like they are uninhabited and have been in disrepair for many years.

A narrow road is nestled between these houses and large pits.

Ahead, the narrow road turned a corner and extended into another path, which led to a deep alley surrounded by mud houses.

That alley was the Guo Family Alley, which Zhou's father strictly forbade his family from setting foot in.

Guo Family Alley is haunted.

Legend has it that all fifty-plus members of the Guo family hanged themselves in their own house for no apparent reason.

The Guo Family Alley where they originally lived became deserted, and even the surrounding villagers were afraid of the evil spirits in this place, so they moved away one after another.

Most of the people in Guan Village are ghosts, Zhou Laogou is no exception.

But even a ghost like him, after donning human skin, became afraid of ghosts.

It feels both absurd and real.

Zhou Yang came here not to seek death in Guo Family Alley, but to bypass the large pit behind the village and reach the edge of the farmland.

Although he is currently disguised as Zhou Heigou, he still needs to be extra careful and try to avoid being discovered.

Wearing Zhou Heigou 'Zhou Heigou appearance and causing trouble for him would be ideal, but if that trouble were to follow him and backfire on him, that would be something Zhou Yang would be happy to do.

Zhou Yang craned his neck and looked towards Guo Family Alley.

In the Guan Village, the chill seeped into the bones, but thankfully the world was already bright and clear.

In this brightly lit area, only Guo Family Alley looked particularly gloomy.

It was as if even the daylight could not illuminate that place.

There might really be something in there.

Zhou Yang walked away from the path leading to Guo Family Alley, circling around the edge of the ditch.

Only after leaving the area of that large pit and climbing a long, gentle slope did a vast expanse of farmland appear before his eyes.

The sight in the fields left him speechless.

On the gentle slope, there was a large area of land that, while slightly undulating, was generally flat.

On this land, furrows of varying depths enclosed plots of land.

Beside each field, you can see a knee-high Shitou with the words "So-and-so's family's shady field" carved on Shitou.

The furrows enclosing the farmland were not the straight, grid-like furrows that Zhou Yang remembered, but rather circular ones, each circle "enclosing a plot of land"—yet the more Zhou Yang looked at these circles, the more familiar they seemed!

Isn't this the "circle" that people draw on the ground with twigs to enclose the paper money and offerings they burn for their deceased ancestors when visiting their graves during Qingming and Hanshi festivals?!

The furrows in Guan Village today appear to be of varying depths and crooked, merely forming a hastily arranged circle.

It's exactly the same as the circles you casually draw with a twig when visiting a grave!

At this moment, the vast fields of crops are covered with lush, vibrant green rice.

Zhou Heigou previously said that it's almost harvest time now.

As the winter harvest approached, the rice was still lush and green, showing no signs of ripening or turning yellow.

Or is it that the crops in Guan Village are always this vibrant green when they ripen?

The yellowing is actually from the newly planted seedlings?

Everything here is the opposite of what the living do. Zhou Yang looked at the rice stalks that were half a person tall, topped with clumps of huge ears of grain, like ears of corn, which were clearly nearing maturity.

He increasingly felt that the growth of crops in Guan Village might follow a pattern that was the opposite of what happened in the outside world!

The rice ears, resembling corn cobs, stood tall and straight, showing no sign of crushing the straw stalks, which were as thick as chopsticks.

This is also abnormal.

The mature rice ears, filled with sap and heavy with grain, always bow their heads.

But now, with such a large ear of rice supported by such a thin stalk, yet still growing straight for Zhou Yang, one can't help but suspect that there are actually very few grains of rice in that seemingly huge ear of rice!

"Whoosh"

Just then, a cold wind swept across the field.

The rice stalks all over the ground swayed in the wind like pieces of paper.

The rustling sound was like the turning of pages in a book!

Zhou Yang increasingly felt that such large ears of grain might just be empty husks, with no grain inside at all!

He didn't dare go into someone's field to pick a single ear of grain, knowing that ghosts roamed everywhere. If he stole someone's crops and things got serious, Zhou Yang might have to pay with his life.

Zhou Yang stood there for a moment, and seeing that no one was around, he went down into the field along the path between the ridges.

As they walked, they twitched their nostrils, sniffing out the life force that Zhou Heigou exuded in the air.

Just as the breath between his nostrils grew stronger, Zhou Yang stopped in time.

The people of Guan Village live a very regular life, and many of them go to the fields every day at the same time.

However, Zhou Yang didn't see many people working in the fields that week.

They acted as if it wasn't yet time to "clock out" for work in the fields.

Right now, Zhou Heigou and Zhou Laogou are indeed in their own field.

In the vast field of crops, there were only the two of them.

"What are those two really plotting behind the scenes?"

"Even when they went to the fields, they chose times when the villagers weren't around."

Zhou Yang hid behind a woodpile at the edge of a grove of trees. Ghost Head Averting God sprayed the scent of Zhou Heigou onto his paper clothes. At that moment, his scent mingled with that of Zhou Heigou, who was standing with his clothes open in the field in front of the grove of trees. They were indistinguishable.

"Father, hurry!"

The Heigou's shirt was open, and he spoke in a trembling voice.

The Laogou knelt on the ground like a lamb suckling its mother, its two hands gripping the Heigou's wrists that were pressed against its waist, its head buried under Zhou Heigou's belly, nodding frequently at the sound, and making a series of indistinct syllables in its throat.

After those indistinct syllables came chilling sobs and chewing sounds.

From Zhou Yang's position, he could see the father and son facing away from him.

However, Zhou Heigou's open clothes obscured the Laogou's head and the scene in front of his belly, so Zhou Yang couldn't see what the Laogou was doing.

Judging from their actions alone, Zhou Yang couldn't help but have some unpleasant thoughts.

His expression changed.

Is this what the Laogou meant by "the Heigou loves him"?

This is truly true love.

Zhou Yang was deep in thought.

Then Zhou Heigou suddenly said urgently, "Father, that's enough, that's enough!"

"I'm going to rip your chest out!"

The word "chest" made Zhou Yang squint.

He stared intently at the two men on the other side of the field, watching Zhou Heigou shout as he backed away, the clothes covering his belly and Zhou Laogou's head swaying, vaguely revealing his belly.

But the Laogou was kneeling on the ground, its head seemingly glued to Zhou Heigou's belly!

The Heigou took a step back, and he followed closely behind!

The sound, like a wild beast devouring flesh while simultaneously emitting a defiant growl to the onlookers, grew louder and louder!

As the two figures swayed, Zhou Yang vaguely saw half of Zhou Laogou's blood-splattered face!

The Laogou wasn't doing the kind of terrible thing he thought he was doing!

It's eating!

From Zhou Heigou's belly

Is Zhou Heigou still alive?!

Zhou Yang was deeply shocked!

Now!

Zhou Heigou was terrified. He finally dared not feed Zhou Laogou anymore. He immediately reached out to push away the other's head, which was still pressed against his stomach, and shouted, "Someone's coming, Dad!"

They'll want to eat it too!

"If they eat it all, you won't have any left!"

"Someone's coming!"

These words had an immediate effect!

The Laogou, who had been chasing Zhou Heigou like a madman, suddenly stopped, raised its head, and revealed its face covered with pink blood foam and fragments of internal organs.

His face was covered in blood, but his eyes stood out sharply, black and white.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhou Yang, who was behind the woodpile, saw clearly the condition of Zhou Heigou's belly.

There was a clear gash on his abdomen.

Inside that crack was a dark red cavity.

Inside the cavity were some unrecognizable fragments of internal organs, only a few remnants.

Zhou Laogou ate what was inside this cavity.

Zhou Yang squinted and looked closely at the crack that had been stretched open. It was now slowly wriggling and closing. Around the crack was a cashew-shaped area with a skin color that was very different from Zhou Heigou Hei Gou's skin color. It was purplish-red, as if it was not Zhou Heigou's original skin.

Cashews? Are they kidneys?

It should be the stomach!

As Zhou Yang looked closely at the cashew-shaped piece of skin with cracks, several thoughts flashed through his mind.

The connection immediately came to mind!

He first connected that patch of skin to the shape of a kidney.

Then I suddenly remembered that the shape of the stomach depicted on the packaging and in the advertisements of some stomach medicines was quite similar to the skin on Zhou Heigou's stomach.

"Zhou Heigou has unique stomachs!"

"He would offer up his stomach's 'internal organs' for the Laogou to eat?!"

A guess immediately formed in Zhou Yang's mind!

Like the previous Guan Nu, the Heigou likely already knew some information about this Guan Village, located in the Fanhe Burial Ground, " before entering the Guan Village!

He had made preparations based on this, and the thing that could grow internal organs on his belly was one of his preparations!

With this item, Zhou Heigou should have no problem smoothly navigating the Revelation Ceremony!

He was better prepared and had a deeper foundation than that dead Guan Nu!

Where is he/she?

"Heigou'er, you need to explain yourself clearly."

Just then, Zhou Laogou's voice came from afar.

Hearing the sound, Zhou Yang quietly turned around from behind the woodpile and glanced at Zhou Laogou and his companion. He saw Zhou Laogou, who had been interrupted from eating and was not satisfied, with a gloomy face. His two pairs of canine teeth were sticking out of his lips, and red saliva was dripping from the corners of his mouth.

It licked the blood off its face as it asked Zhou Heigou a question.

The tone was extremely displeased.

Fearing that his father would reprimand him, Zhou Heigou only wanted to distract his father. He looked around and suddenly pointed to the woodpile where Zhou Yang was hiding. "It's right behind there!"

"Father, I saw someone run away from behind that woodpile!"

Zhou Heigou was just making things up on the spot, but he unexpectedly hit the nail on the head!

Zhou Yang was hiding behind the woodpile when he heard the Heigou's words. A chill ran down his spine, and his hair stood on end in shock!

"Puppy meat!"

He cursed under his breath, while simultaneously opening the Ghost Mouth hidden beneath his clothes.

Zhou Yang's exposed skin appeared completely normal.

Beneath his clothes lay countless dark ant nests.

A surge of power coursed through his body, ready to leap and flee at the slightest provocation!

However, even though Zhou Yang's scalp was about to explode, he still suppressed the urge to run away immediately.

The demon is nearby, and although he has mastered the Breathing of the Ghost, he may not be able to escape its pursuit.

On the contrary, he believed that Ghost Head Averting God to conceal and alter his aura was enough to fool everyone, and that Zhou Laogou would never...

It sensed the presence of any third person nearby—though it might not believe the Heigou's claim and actually come to investigate what lay behind the woodpile.

Once this section is covered, Zhou Yang can naturally leave the scene at any time.

Even if the Laogou really comes to investigate, it won't be too late for him to run away then.

Suppressing your thoughts and keeping them hidden is the most beneficial course of action right now.

Zhou Yang's heart was pounding like thunder.

In the nearby fields, Zhou Laogou said coldly, "I don't see anyone there, Heigou'er."

Zhou Heigou hurriedly said, "I must have been seeing things, but there must have been someone around just now!"

"It's either behind that woodpile, or there, or somewhere else!"

He then pointed in several more directions.

Laogou glanced at him, then finally wiped the blood from his face, his expression blank, and ran in the direction Zhou Heigou pointed out—a place that was not where Zhou Yang was hiding.

Zhou Heigou watched his father's figure disappear into the field, finally letting out a long sigh and slumping down on the edge of the field.

At this moment, Zhou Yang silently peeked out from behind the woodpile and looked at the Heigou's belly, which hadn't been covered up. The tear had healed completely, and even the purplish-red, cashew-shaped patch of skin had become the same color as the surrounding skin.

His eyes held a deep, unfathomable light.

He didn't detect the slightest Ghost Rhyme from Zhou Heigou.

What exactly is that stomach on the other person's belly that can grow internal organs for the ghost to devour?

Zhou Yang leaned against the woodpile, lost in thought.

The Heigou was panting not far away, completely unaware that behind the seemingly ordinary woodpile in front of him, a Yang'er dressed in a dog skin was watching his every move.

Before long, Zhou Heigou left in a hurry.

Before he left, Zhou Yang had disappeared from behind the woodpile.

As Zhou Yang walked towards A Fu's house, he opened the coarse cloth bag that Huang Shaozi had given him.

A piece of coarse cloth, no bigger than the palm of your hand, was used to wrap a wooden coffin about the length of a finger.

Push open the coffin lid, and you'll see a straw effigy stained red with blood inside.

A small piece of yellow paper was pasted on the head of the straw figure.

The words "Zhou Yang" were written on the paper.

Could I really use this when I'm guarding the fire tower?

Zhou Yang pondered for a moment, then wrapped the small coffin in coarse cloth and tucked it into his bosom.

"Huang Shaozi is a very superstitious person" and he does some strange and mysterious things.

The fact that she did something similar to "pinching a voodoo doll" is actually in line with her public image.

The little figure had Zhou Yang's name written on it, and Huang Shaozi seemed to intend to use it to protect Zhou Yang.

So what specific effects will this little figure have?

After passing through an alley, Zhou Yang spotted the large locust tree in front of A Fu's house in the distance.

There was never any human skin of A Fu hanging on the branches of the locust tree.

Zhou Yang looked towards A Fu's house under the locust tree.

Then he saw A Fu peeking out from between the two open courtyard gates, looking in his direction.

A Fu smiled slyly.

From a distance, Zhou Yang watched his strange movements and expression. Instead of being alarmed, he was delighted. On the surface, he pretended to be a little flustered and hesitated for a moment before stepping forward.

He planned to ask A Fu about "guarding the fire tower".

Even if what A Fu said cannot be believed, it still has some reference value.