The whole village was in chaos, and some villagers were chasing Zhao Chuan. The sky turned gray and lower, and the cold and damp air became stronger and stronger.
In the other direction where the villagers were running, He Lou, Shen Na, An Xingyu and Wang Jing were running continuously.
An Xingyu's memory has not yet recovered. He kept shouting that he wanted to go, and questioned He Lou why he wanted to escape. If the village had not given him a few years of virtual memories that made him particularly convinced of He Lou, He Lou would not be able to take him away at this moment.
Even so, He Lou was a little impatient, and seeing that An Xingyu was still clamoring to go, he simply let go of his hand and ran forward with Shen Na and others.
When they first arrived, Honghe Village was thriving, with wide roads and neatly arranged houses and crops. Now, how could the entire Honghe Village still have the prosperity it had during the day? The sky was gloomy, and everything was in ruins. The roads were visibly narrower, and there were jagged rocks and withered wild grass and vines growing on the rocks.
The further we ran, the more desolate it became, the colder the air became, even our breath felt wet, and our nostrils were filled with the smell of water. The bleak and desolate scene, coupled with the rapidly darkening sky, was terrifying.
"Lou, Brother Lou, are we really running out of the village?" Shen Na followed behind, always careful not to trip. Her memory had just been restored, and her brain was still a little confused. Although she didn't quite understand why they were running out of the village now, since He Lou himself was running away, she had no reason to doubt it.
Even if He Lou wanted to use her as a scapegoat, she was confident that she could handle him.
"But it hasn't been a month yet," Wang Jing continued.
Wang Jing had only experienced two missions, and everything was confusing. She was even more confused in this strange world, and she was only alive today by luck.
He Lou knew that if he didn't explain clearly to Shen Na, the other party would still be suspicious, so he had no choice but to briefly repeat the information conveyed by Lu Yanli while running.
Shen Na understood as soon as she heard it, but Wang Jing was still a little confused. She vaguely understood one thing, that is, she could now escape from the village!
As she thought about it, Wang Jing became confused: "No, that's not right. Isn't the time of our mission calculated according to the outside world's time?" However, her question was not heard by the people running in front.
She was not as fit as Shen Na and He Lou and was soon left behind. Even though she knew that villagers would come to hunt her down soon, there was no one around now and she could not care less. She slowed down and looked at the watch on her wrist. The hands were spinning wildly and she had no idea what time it was. She took out her cell phone and the time on it was also a mess, with the numbers changing every now and then. She had no idea what day or month it was.
Time in this village... is chaotic.
Wang Jing thought, so, can I really leave
Wait, since time is chaotic, how can they ensure that this path is the right one
Thinking of this, Wang Jing was immediately frightened. She slowed down again, looking around, trying to find some clues.
After running just now, they have gone away from the main road and entered a dense forest. The already gloomy weather became even darker in the dense forest. The road surface was a little unclear and the soil under their feet was a little wet, as if it had just rained.
Just as she slowed down for a while, the two people who were fleeing in front of her could no longer catch up with her. She could still hear some sounds before, but now the whole dense forest was completely silent, and even the sound of wind blowing through the leaves could not be heard.
No, don't... Am I the only one here? Wang Jing trembled with fear. She continued to run forward in a daze, and suddenly she saw a white shadow passing by the corner of her eye!
It's a ghost!
“Ahh—”
She ran forward regardless of anything, her whole body exhausted from fear, the overlapping branches in the dense forest scraped her all over, but Wang Jing was so frightened that she could not even feel the pain and just kept running forward.
Escape! Escape immediately!
She doesn't want to die!
After running for an unknown amount of time, Wang Jing finally slowed down his pace, breathing heavily.
She really couldn't run anymore, so she might as well save energy.
At this moment, a little light suddenly appeared at the end of the dim path. This little light was particularly attractive to Wang Jing, who had been running in the dark for a long time. She regained her courage and ran towards the light regardless of anything.
There was only that flickering light in her eyes, so she naturally didn't notice that the soil under her feet was becoming increasingly moist.
Finally, she ran to the faint light, which was a lantern. She walked over slowly and raised her head. Just then, the wind blew gently, and the lantern swayed and lowered its head to look at her.
What caught Wang Jing's eyes was...
"ah!!"
"Strange, this road doesn't feel right." Shen Na said as she ran, "Brother Lou, are you sure we are running in the right direction?"
The man in front didn't answer, he just kept running with his head down. His steps were strange and a little light. Shen Na suddenly became alert. She looked down and saw that the man was running forward on his toes without touching the ground with his heels.
Shen Na's heart sank suddenly.
This is not Helou!
Looking again, she saw that the road ahead was becoming more and more rugged. After making full preparations, she immediately braked, turned around and ran forward without hesitation!
Seeing that the situation was not good, Wang Jing also followed.
Shen Na thought as she ran, this village is in chaos, so the rules must be followed. According to the current situation, once someone breaks the rules, the village will fall into complete chaos.
Just like now - the sky is bright and dark, the road is strange, a flat highway is connected to a small road, the forest is lush and dry, and the weather is hot and cold.
It's as if time and space are completely disrupted!
This is the way to survive, right
In this chaotic village, if we really live honestly for "a month" according to the literal meaning, who knows how long this month will be distorted? How long is considered a month
She rushed down a short slope, but unexpectedly there was a small pond behind it. She almost couldn't brake. Shen Na stopped in front of the pond and felt it was very familiar.
Ten minutes ago, she passed by this pond.
How do I get through this
No, even the roads are in chaos, and running in one direction is really useful? Who knows if the road will be twisted into something like a Möbius strip, and after running for a long time, you will end up back where you started
When she turned around, Wang Jing was running over, panting, saying, "Shen Na, what should we do now?"
Shen Na spread her hands and said, "You can see that this road is blocked. Let's go back the same way and avoid the villagers."
"Okay." Wang Jing said breathlessly.
She came to Shen Na and slowly put her hand on her shoulder.
"Stay away from me!" Shen Na was very alert. She was about to shake off the other person, but when she glanced out of the corner of her eye, she saw her reflection clearly in the pond.
Yes, there was only her own reflection.
The chill quickly spread throughout her body, and Shen Na's heart trembled violently. She had long since developed her courage, so she kicked "Wang Jing" into the river, then ran away without looking back.
After "Wang Jing" fell down, he floated lightly on the water, rising and falling with the small waves. Soon, his entire body was wet.
After running for an unknown amount of time, Shen Na finally felt at ease.
She was walking on an unknown path, which was more rugged and steep than any other path she had walked before. What surprised her was that until now, no villagers had come to look for them. She did not see a single villager.
So, when running out, all I have to do is pay attention to the terrain of the village and find the way
Is it really that simple
Shouldn't it be? Wasn't it the same in previous missions? As long as you find a way to survive, you can escape.
Just when she felt a little relieved, she felt something strange.
Why do I feel a little... a little breathless
What happened
She opened her mouth involuntarily, her face turned red, and she couldn't stand steadily. Lack of oxygen made her vision blurred. She finally noticed something cold on her neck.
Shen Na reluctantly lowered her head and saw... two pale hands!
The moment she shook off Wang Jing, the two hands broke off from her body and remained hanging on her neck. She didn't notice it until now!
Now, she can no longer shake it off.
The water in the small pond was instantly dyed red, and soon, that red spread to the entire pond. Two pale female corpses were floating above with their eyes wide open. Strangely, their hands had disappeared.
A young man passed by in the distance. He took off the binoculars hanging around his neck and had a cold expression on his face.
"Brother Lu, where are we going now?"
The whole village was in chaos, and the villagers all chased after Zhao Chuan. Shen Na, He Lou, and Wang Jing also ran out of the village for some reason. An Xingyu followed them for a while but was left behind again, and happened to run into Lu Yanli.
Now, Lu Yanli was taking him somewhere unknown.
Lu Yanli said: "Let's go and help find Zhao Chuan too."
I don't know if He Lou ran away, I hope not. Shen Na is dead, and now only An Xingyu, whose memory has not been restored, is left.
As he walked, he said, "An Xingyu, would you like to lend me your diary?"
After recovering his memory, he realized something was wrong. Every household had no calendars, and they basically didn't play with mobile phones or use too many modern electronic devices. Only clocks were everywhere. They could always know what time it was, but they didn't know what year or date it was. For this reason, he stole An Xingyu's diary, and An Xingyu happened to write down the time he remembered in his diary!
He had just received the book and had not had time to read it. He just quickly flipped through a few pages and returned to the courtyard and handed it to He Lou.
An Xingyu nodded, he subconsciously opened the diary, and suddenly stopped.
"I… "
He looked somewhat painful, as part of his memory gradually became blurred while the other part gradually became clearer.
Mission... Honghe Village... Ghost Marriage...
An Xingyu suddenly came back to his senses.
He also understood everything and took a few quick breaths.
"Your memory has recovered?" Lu Yanli was a little surprised.
An Xingyu nodded and quickly regained his senses: "Didn't you just say that you were going to find Zhao Chuan? Shall we go now?"
Although I don't know who Lu Yanli is, based on my memories during this period, I can trust him for now. Even if he is also a ghost in disguise, it will cause immeasurable consequences if I expose him rashly during the period of disguise.
On the contrary, his attitude was quite friendly.
The two of them ran slowly on the twisting and rugged path. Lu Yanli flipped through the diary as he ran. After reading it, he finally confirmed it completely.
"Why are we looking for Zhao Chuan now?" An Xingyu asked while running.
Since An Xingyu showed goodwill and Lu Yanli was not the kind of psychopath who would kill anyone he saw, the two of them had already reached a tacit cooperative relationship, and Lu Yanli had nothing to hide from him.
He urgently needed to find Zhao Chuan, or to be more precise, to find the village chief who was chasing Zhao Chuan. The village chief was the source of everything.
He had a question long ago, and today he was able to solve it. Although it was a big risk, he couldn't care less.
"You mean, the problem lies with the village chief?"
"Yes, do you remember? Every time someone violated the village rules, the village chief would change his expression first, and then everyone else would. All of them acted according to the village chief's words. So, it's better to say that they obeyed the village rules set by the village chief than to say that they obeyed the village rules."
He had already installed surveillance cameras in everyone's room, so naturally he saw some strange scenes.
"Then, how do you explain the Red River in the village?" An Xingyu continued to ask, and he did not slow down. "When I first understood their rules, I had a guess. Some people have to rely on the Red River, or a certain existence in the Red River to live. Their weddings, funerals, and punishments all depend on that river."
He recorded it in his diary using cryptic code words. After the first four people disappeared, although they speculated that the four people had turned into scarecrows, he later went to the Red River again and happened to see several corpses.
"What is the relationship between Honghe and the village chief? If you break the rules, you will die. Who is doing it? Apart from the village chief, have you seen other villagers do it themselves? I even suspect that Uncle Wu is also the village chief, because they have never appeared at the same time."
An Xingyu integrated Lu Yanli's words with what he had just said, and his eyes immediately widened.
Lu Yanli: "Have you figured it out?"
An Xingyu nodded but didn't say anything because the guess was too scary.
Maybe... the village chief is the river, or maybe the village chief is a certain being in the river.
It was not that the Red River gave birth to all the villagers, including the village chief, but that the village chief came first, and then the Red River and other villagers! Otherwise, if the entire village was part of a strange existence, their conversation would have been discovered long ago.
The village chief can create so many avatars, and the villagers can only rely on the village chief to act and cannot punish violations on their own.
They are the eyes of the village chief, helping him to determine violations, but they are just eyes.
“No wonder…” No wonder the four companions who got up early on the first day only faced the warning from the hotel owner and did not die on the spot.
Because she couldn't do it herself.
That day, the village chief opened his mouth wide, and his mouth was full of red liquid similar to the Red River water, and it seemed that he was about to swallow He Lou; based on this situation, they should have understood that only the village chief could punish violators.
Or themselves, like Shen Na did to Ding Conglu.
An Xingyu quickly substituted the equation in his mind: village chief = rules = Red River, villagers = village chief's eyes.
"So, what is our way out?"
The source of everything was the village chief, and now they were going to find the village chief? An Xingyu believed that the other party would not seek death, and he could not help but wonder.
"All village rules come from the village chief. Therefore, how long you have lived in the village is also determined by the village chief."
If He Lou didn't understand this and rushed out rashly...
Lu Yanli was looking forward to it.