The World Below Surface

Chapter 31

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He Lou looked at the scene in shock.

In front of him, Zhao Chuan's steps suddenly stopped, and the whole person seemed to have been paused. Then, he opened his mouth in pain, his face flushed red, and strands of heat came out of his body. He was very hot, and drops of sweat overflowed, soaking his clothes.

It was like being roasted over flames.

‌, ‌Yes…

He Lou remembered what he had said. At that time, the village chief had asked them how they wanted to die.

What Zhao Chuan said at that time was...

It corresponds completely!

Zhao Chuan cried out in pain, but soon, he could no longer cry out. The skin and flesh on his body were festering and he could grab a few pieces with his hands. An hour later, he was scalded to death in front of He Lou's eyes by the non-existent boiling water.

There was even the aroma of cooked meat.

He Lou felt that he would definitely not eat meat again in the short term.

Apart from being frightened, He Lou was not angry. What Lu Yanli said was a lie!

Is he deliberately deceiving himself again, or is he unable to be sure

But he was the one who asked Lu Yanli to tell him about this way out, and he also told me at that time that I was sure about it. It was I who believed his speculation, so it was not reasonable to blame him.

And now... he has brought himself to his own end.

Behind him, several pale paper figures floated closer and closer!

He ducked into the station and tried to find another way out.

At this time, Lu Yanli and An Xingyu were on the way to collect materials.

Uncle Wu's family had limited lanterns, and the two paper figures had already used up most of the materials. After collecting more, it was still not enough. In order to save He Lou and Zhao Chuan, they had to go out to find more materials.

An Xingyu was holding a bunch of thin bamboo sticks in his hand, and Lu Yanli was holding folded paper and human skin. They were busy with their hands even while walking.

"I don't know where Brother Lou and Brother Zhao went. I hope they are okay." An Xingyu spotted a lantern that was blown down in the grass by the wind and immediately ran to pick it up. But to his disappointment, the lantern was soaked, so he put it back to its original place.

Ordinary paper was useless. They had just experimented and knew what material the lantern made by Uncle Wu was made of, but it should be the same as the paper man.

"I hope so." Lu Yanli said as he walked, "But while you are worried about them, you should think more about how we can get the recognition of the village chief."

Hearing this, An Xingyu looked thoughtful, but after thinking for a while he still couldn't come up with any good idea.

"It all depends on whether the village chief can communicate now. Maybe I can exchange it for agreeing to a ghost marriage."

Although the village chief knew that they were outsiders, he knew that they only needed to stay for a month and perhaps he could take advantage of this information gap.

However, in the past, they would automatically return after each mission time was up. After getting the approval of the village chief, will it be possible this time

If possible, they'd better choose a location on the edge of the village so that they can leave at any time.

After dangerously passing through the dense forest and running down the path, the two finally saw a house.

Where there are houses, that means there are lanterns!

An Xingyu ran over quickly and searched the house. After his thorough search, he finally found three intact lanterns.

But this was far from enough. They wanted to save two people, and the paper and human skin they had were only enough for one person.

"How about this, you continue looking, and I'll finish here." Their paper substitutes are still there and will not die for the time being. An Xingyu agreed and continued to walk carefully along the road.

Once he has gathered all the materials, or Lu Yanli has finished making the paper mannequin, they can meet up along the main road.

Lu Yanli sat in the house, but he didn't look anxious at all. He sat quietly for a while, counted the paper people floating in the sky, and then slowly started to work.

Unlike him, An Xingyu ran very fast to save people. Most of the houses in Honghe Village were densely distributed. Except for Uncle Wu who lived in the woods, everyone else's house was far from the main road. Even so, when An Xingyu came back, Lu Yanli had just finished the first one. He picked up the pen and drew the facial features on the paper man's face.

The strokes are very simple, but they are somewhat similar to Zhao Chuan's.

But unexpectedly, the paper man shook, and soon it trembled and wilted as if it had been poured with boiling water, with heat coming out of its body.

"It's useless, Zhao Chuan is dead." Lu Yanli sighed.

An Xingyu frowned: "I found the materials, it should be enough, is it convenient to make Helou now?"

He vaguely sensed that Lu Yanli and He Lou might have some connection, otherwise He Lou would have stared at him and gone up to him to ask questions on the day when the village chief held a wedding banquet for his son.

However, it seems that the relationship between the two is pretty good now. Otherwise, no matter from which perspective, Lu Yanli should choose to save He Lou first.

Lu Yanli threw the pen away and said, "My hands are sore, do it yourself." He turned his wrist, looking tired.

An Xingyu had nothing to say.

His life was saved by the other party, and he really had no obligation to save He Lou. Therefore, he had no choice but to sit down opposite Lu Yanli and start doing his handicraft seriously.

The paper figurine Lu Yanli made was very crude. He simply disassembled the bases of two lanterns and connected them together, then disassembled the bottom, pasted white paper on it, and then painted the face. An Xingyu recalled his steps and quickly completed the frame.

It was just this last step of painting... He looked at Lu Yanli for help: "Can you please paint it for me?"

Because An Xingyu had secrets that he needed to explore, Lu Yanli closed his eyes, took the brush, and began to paint on the white paper.

When ordinary people burn paper figures for the dead, they are most taboo to light the eyes. People believe that eyes have spirits, and if the eyes are lit, some well-known evil spirits will possess them and bring bad luck.

Lu Yanli drew the mouth first, then the nose, and when he was about to add the finishing touches to the paper figure, he suddenly paused and looked out the window. This glance made him put down his pen.

"It's no use. He's dead."

"What? How come?"

An Xingyu followed and looked out the window.

Outside the window, there were several paper figures with smiling faces floating around. One of the faces looked extremely similar to He Lou's.

"No, I won't..."

An Xingyu grabbed the pen and tapped the paper man’s eyes.

His dark eyes rolled around, but before he could feel happy, he heard a slight tearing sound coming from the paper man's abdomen.

The next moment, the paper tore open and bright red blood gushed out, quickly soaking the entire table.

Lu Yanli sighed heavily on his face, but laughed heartily in his heart.

Very good, now his hidden danger has been eliminated.

An Xingyu felt a little melancholy, but he had no doubt that he had done his best.

"Let's go, let's go find the village chief now." Lu Yanli pretended to be sad for half a second, then immediately stood up and walked out of the house.

Now, they are the only two living people in the entire village. It is hard to say how long the two paper figures can replace them. If the village chief changes the rules again, they will be in danger again.

As soon as I walked out of the door, I bumped into a villager head-on. The villager was very surprised: "What's going on? Why are you in my house? Are you trying to steal something?!"

Neither of them admitted it. They just turned around and ran away after saying "No".

The villager entered the house in confusion, but saw a blood-soaked paper man on his table. The pale face saw him opening the door and glared at him. He was immediately frightened and ran out shouting, "Ghost... Help! It's haunted!"

"Where do you think we should go now?"

The village has returned to its state when they first arrived, quiet and peaceful. Ordinary-looking villagers can be seen everywhere along the road. An Xingyu asked as he ran.

"Go to the station and be ready to leave at any time."

Because of the villager's shouting just now, a few people followed the villager's home. Lu Yanli turned his head and said, "Let's lead the village chief and others over there."

As long as they could get the village chief to acknowledge that they had lived in the village for more than a month, they would be successful.

More and more villagers came out, all because they had heard about the ghost story. The first villagers all complained: "I just went home to get something, and I saw them sneaking out of my house. It must be them who did it..."

Hearing this, He Lou in the crowd also became anxious. As outsiders, they needed to abide by the rules in order to be accepted by the villagers. Now someone broke the rules, which would undoubtedly make the whole village exclude them.

He Lou hurriedly explained: "Yes, it has nothing to do with them."

Zhao Chuan and Liu Xia also followed suit to defend themselves.

"How about this, let's find them and ask them in person."

"By the way, where did they go?"

“I saw them running away.”

After a while, a group of villagers gathered behind the two fleeing people, and the one leading them was... He Lou.

Faster! Faster!

There were more and more people behind him, and all the dead people came back to life and chased after him. An Xingyu didn't dare to slow down at all, and the two of them ran all the way along the road.

They passed a few houses on the way, and some residents came out of those houses and tried to stop them, but the two men ignored them and continued to run.

It was also thanks to the fact that they were not engaged, otherwise, this behavior would inevitably be considered as running away from marriage.

“Stop it now!”

"Stop! You're running!"

No matter how the villagers behind them shouted, they did not look back and just kept rushing forward.

Faster!

The outline of the station was already in sight, and the railway tracks appeared, and they continued to run along the tracks.

The village chief hasn't spoken yet and he hasn't appeared yet.

Where will he be

Without the village chief's recognition, they could only stop near the border, catching their breath and waiting. Soon, the group of villagers came over, and the leader, He Lou, asked sternly, "Why are you two back? Why are you running?"

Neither of them spoke, they just kept calming their breathing.

"You broke the rules, you broke into someone else's house and stole something..."

When they heard that the rules were violated, the faces of the others turned pale instantly, the corners of their lips raised high, and their eyes were filled with cold malice.

"You broke the rules..."

Shout after shout, the villagers gradually surrounded the two of them, but no one went behind them, as if there was some forbidden area behind them that could not be crossed.

More and more people gathered around, their pale and ferocious faces filled with hatred, staring at them intently.

Where is the village chief

Where is the village chief

Even though they knew the villagers couldn't take action, their encirclement was getting smaller and smaller, and they could already smell the strong stench of decay coming from them.

"Where is the village chief? The village chief didn't even say that we broke the rules. What gives you the right to say that?" An Xingyu's chest was still heaving. The long-distance run just now was too exhausting. He gritted his teeth and spoke loudly.

Until now, we can only take a gamble.

Now they are back to normal, which means they can communicate.

Upon hearing these words, the villagers seemed to have pressed the pause button. The expressions on their pale faces all froze, remaining on a distorted and terrifying expression.

After a while, an old man walked out of the crowd. The wrinkles on his face were like thousands of ravines and gullies, and a pair of sharp eyes that ordinary old people would never have were hidden in the wrinkles.

It was the village chief.

"Village chief, we have lived in the village for three years and are very familiar with the village rules. We did not steal anything." An Xingyu said this tentatively. His heart almost jumped out of his throat, but he still maintained his calm.

calm.

Just let it acknowledge it.

It will know...

A very long time passed, so long that An Xingyu felt like he was standing still like the other villagers. Finally, he saw the village chief nod slowly.

"You have lived here for three years, you should know..."

When An Xingyu heard this, it was like hearing heavenly music. How could he care about anything else? He pulled Lu Yanli and turned around and jumped out of the boundary line of Honghe Village!

The next moment, his vision blurred and everything went black.

Mission… accomplished.

Everyone died, only he survived.

I don’t know what will happen to that person named Lu Yanli. I hope he is okay.

This was An Xingyu’s thought before he fell into a coma.

The moment Lu Yanli stepped out of the line, the whole world shattered before his eyes.

When I looked back, there was no village or station anywhere.

He stood on a barren hillside and looked down. In front of him was a large number of lonely graves standing at the foot of the mountain. They were densely packed all over the mountain and looked extremely scary. Two lanterns were hung in front of each grave, swaying gently in the cold mountain breeze.

It is said that the road to the underworld is long and dark, and without a lamp, wandering ghosts will not be able to find the way to reincarnate.

And now, all the raised grave mounds were gushing out large amounts of blood, instantly flooding the entire valley.

The wind in the mountains was extremely cold, and the sound of suona could be heard faintly.

That is joy, someone is getting married.

Lu Yanli took out a white bag from his pocket, threw it down from a high altitude, and let the wind blow it away. Then, he left this place.

"Xiaoyu, you don't look very good recently. Eat more. Studying is important, but you won't ruin your health." At the dinner table, the relatively young mother picked up a piece of food for An Xingyu with chopsticks. She looked at her son with concern.

An Xingyu nodded: "I know."

An Xingyu's mother looked at her son's cold face and felt sad.

If... If that incident had happened, Xiaoyu would be like this now, even though he was so lively and cheerful before.

There was news on TV.

"Reporter from Channel xx reports to you that a major murder case has occurred at xx station, with as many as twelve people dead..."

Mom watched the TV and took a deep breath. "That's terrible, Xiaoyu. Do you usually pass by that station? Next time, avoid it and go there."

An Xingyu continued to nod.

After dinner, he returned to his room, locked the door, turned on his computer, and logged into a mysterious website that few people knew about.

The website shows that there are more than 600 people online.

The total number of registered people is also increasing.

A trace of worry flashed in An Xingyu's eyes. He posted a message and wrote the process of this mission in detail. However, for some reason, he intentionally or unintentionally omitted the existence of Lu Yanli when he wrote it.

Naturally, this post caused a stir on the site.

Once again... Once again, only one person survived a mission. It was too terrible.

An Xingyu pursed his lips and continued typing, telling everyone the news that Gao Lou Jiangqing also died in this mission.

Ignoring the numerous replies below, he clicked on another forum.

This forum is very peculiar. When you click on the homepage, you can see a huge logo, a bright red inverted cross, like a sword inserted straight into an inverted seven-pointed star.

It is exactly the same as the tattoo that was revealed on An Xingyu’s leg after it came into contact with water.

A pious look appeared on An Xingyu's face. He operated in the forum for a while and found the "confession room". Then, he closed his eyes, made a strange gesture with his hands, and prayed devoutly with his eyes closed.

Lu Yanli took a car back to his residence.

‌Mentioning the various evil drivers and passers-by he met along the way, the first thing Lu Yanli did after arriving home was to draw the pattern on An Xingyu's leg.

‌,‌there will be mistakes.

Exactly the same...

He raised his head and glanced out the window, his cold eyes hiding his excitement.

Hope this is just a coincidence.

He has been disappointed too many times.