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Following the ethereal melody, they walked onward, the sound gradually becoming clearer. It was emanating from the nearby woods, not too far away. Fearing to alert any lurking dangers, none of them dared to turn on their flashlights. The night was pitch black, and with visibility reduced to nothing, the familiar terrain was led by Luo Yu, with the others trailing behind.
They moved silently for a while, getting closer to the source of the song. Finally, as they approached, illuminated by the faint moonlight in the night sky, they spotted a dark silhouette on a nearby hill. It was a human-shaped shadow, gracefully moving its long sleeves in a hazy manner.
“Is it a ghost?” Yuan Jun couldn't help but whisper.
No one replied; the scene was too bizarre. In the dead of night, a vague figure was dancing on the hill not far away, and that eerie song was coming from this indistinct shape. The voice was soft and delicate, seeming to drift from afar yet whispering right next to their ears.
Everyone held their breath, afraid to make a sound. This inevitably reminded Yuan Jun of the mysterious knocking on the door from the first night. If it wasn't a ghost, who would be dancing on a hill at such an hour?
The figure's movements were slow; her arms swayed gently while her waist twisted gracefully. If this scene were on a stage, it might have been beautiful, but in this context, it sent chills down their spines.
“While he rejoices, I am heartbroken; my feelings are as complicated as the moon—meeting is rare but parting is easy…”
The night was eerily quiet; the singer seemed to be murmuring to herself, yet her voice echoed all around them. The sorrow and lamentation struck deep into their hearts like a vengeful spirit of death, as if an unseen hand were scratching at their hearts with despair.
At this moment, Yuan Jun was terrified beyond measure. This unknown entity—whether human or ghost—only presented them with its back. Yuan Jun's heart raced anxiously; she feared that at any moment this ghost might turn around or appear right beside her.
Then came a soft whisper in her ear: “I have actually been waiting for you for a long time.”
The group nearly flattened themselves against the ground, staring at the shadow on the hill.
The forest was terrifyingly silent; there were no birds chirping or insects buzzing. Each person could hear their own heart pounding loudly in their chests.
“Ah! Ah!”
Yuan Jun's worst fear came true. Just as everyone held their breath in anticipation, the ghost suddenly turned around and let out a piercing scream that seemed to shatter their eardrums. The suddenness of it made their hearts feel like they might leap out of their chests.
A piercing sound cut through the forest, a mournful wail filled with deep sorrow.
Her limbs seemed broken, as if they hadn't been used in ages and had rusted over. Her body swayed unsteadily, facing the crowd, yet her legs moved backward as if they were bent the wrong way. Her hands reached out toward them, twisted and pale.
Her face was obscured by a mass of hair that nearly covered her entire visage. Half of her body was hidden behind a hill, and it wouldn't be long before she completely vanished from their sight.
"I never believed there were ghosts in this world!" Luo Yu suddenly stood up and rushed forward, gripping a machete that he had drawn from his waist, seemingly intent on charging at the ghostly figure to cleave her in two.
Following closely behind Luo Yu was Jiang He. Seeing Luo Yu dash ahead, Jiang He followed suit.
The ghost's shadow grew fainter, and due to the hill's obstruction, the crowd could barely see her anymore.
"What is that thing!" Luo Yu shouted. "Isn't there some curse in the village? Aren't you supposed to be a ghost? I'm right here! If you have the guts, come kill me! Show yourself if you dare!"
Luo Yu's words failed to provoke the ghost; she did not strike him down immediately.
As he neared the hill, Luo Yu was just seconds away from reaching it.
But at that moment, Jiang He suddenly lunged at Luo Yu, tackling him from the side. The two rolled several times before finally coming to a stop nearby.
In their tumble, they unknowingly crushed numerous stones and branches, leaving both of them covered in scrapes and bruises.
Jiang He's arm was torn open again, blood streaming down his arm.
"What are you doing!" Luo Yu reacted quickly, raising his machete against Jiang He's neck.
The blade was incredibly sharp; with just a slight cut, a torrent of blood would flow from Jiang He's throat.
"What are you doing! Let him go!"
Yuan Jun had just arrived, witnessing Luo Yu holding a machete against Jiang He's neck.
Blood dripped from Jiang He's arm onto Luo Yu, but Jiang He showed no reaction. He pointed to the side and said, "Look closely."
Luo Yu was unsure what Jiang He was hinting at, but given the current situation, there was no way Jiang He could kill him. With that thought, he turned to look, studying the scene for a moment. Cold sweat began to bead on his forehead as he understood why Jiang He had acted this way.
"My life was given to me by you; I will return it when the opportunity arises."
With that, Luo Yu sheathed the machete at his waist and helped Jiang He to his feet.
"Are you okay?" Luo Yu asked.
"I'm fine," Jiang He replied.
"But how did you know?" Luo Yu cautiously took a few steps forward and looked down.
"Observation!" Jiang He offered no further explanation.
He stood beside Luo Yu and addressed the group, "Turn on your flashlights and look down."
As the flashlights illuminated the area, everyone finally saw the situation ahead.
Before them was a pit, rectangular at the opening, with a structure that narrowed at the top and widened at the bottom. Roughly estimating, the pit was about seven or eight meters deep, with an opening approximately seven or eight meters long and three or four meters wide. At the bottom of the pit were wooden stakes driven into the ground. The tops of these stakes were sharpened and measured over twenty centimeters in length.
If someone were unfortunate enough to fall into the pit, they would be impaled by these stakes. Even if they survived, it would be impossible to climb out of such a deep pit with injuries.
The flashlight illuminated the scene, revealing a terrifying sight.
In the pit lay numerous skeletal remains. Some bones were impaled on wooden stakes, while others lay flat on the ground.
"I counted carefully; there are at least twelve corpses!" Xu Yiman exclaimed.
The sheer number of bones in this pit was shocking and horrifying.
"These bodies have all turned to skeletons; it seems they've been here for a long time," Jiang He remarked.
"No!" Xu Yiman interrupted Jiang He.
She glanced at Luo Yu and then back at Jiang He, speaking calmly, "You know I'm the most knowledgeable about this in our archaeological team. Based on the degree of decomposition of these skeletons, some have been here for several years, but others definitely haven't been here for more than a week."
"A week?" Jiang He stroked his chin. "Brother Luo, you hunters have been up in the mountains; surely you've never come across a place like this?"
Luo Yu remained silent for a long time, as if making a difficult decision. He sighed and said, "Logically, the secrets of the village shouldn't be shared with outsiders. If I tell you, my fate might not be any better. However, since you just saved my life, I will tell you if you want to know."
Jiang He nodded.
Luo Yu continued, "I do know of such a place, but we hunters never come to this part of the mountains, so I don't know its exact location. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for our village to leave the mountains? Even essential supplies are brought back by Li Sanhan and his lackeys once a month."
After a pause, Luo Yu added, "Actually, that old tradition has persisted until now; as long as no one is around, outsiders won't discover it. You should understand this principle. This is essentially the secret that our village has kept. Many adventurers come here; every year there are travelers who get lost in the woods. I wonder if you understand what I'm saying."
"Murder?" Jiang He guessed.
Luo Yu nodded.
At that moment, Xu Yiman suddenly spoke up, "Look at these bones; each one has bite marks, and these marks penetrate deep into the bone."
"Dog punishment," Jiang He said. "Your old traditions have indeed been passed down. Tourists who get lost in the mountains inadvertently stumble upon your village. Some meddlesome Traveler might accidentally discover many secrets of this village, and then they cannot leave. They are taken by the villagers to this place, pushed down into this deep pit, and then the dogs in the pit will pounce on them, turning them into white bones."
Jiang He stepped a few paces toward Luo Yu, crouching down as if carefully observing the situation in the pit.
As he observed, he continued, "But for some reason, those dogs should not have been able to escape from this pit. Yet things have developed in an uncontrollable direction. The dogs in this pit must have been released by someone, and that so-called female ghost is likely the one who set the wild dogs free."
Jiang He reached for the machete that had fallen by the roadside during their earlier struggle, stood up, and continued, "We need to go back and find Old Shao. Brother Luo, I hope you won't go out. If the villagers find out we know the secrets of the village, our fate could very well end up like those bones in the pit."
Brother Luo smiled and said, "You are my savior; I will repay this debt. Don't worry."
Jiang He sighed in relief and replied, "That's good."
But in an instant, Jiang He suddenly shouted, "You two, run!"
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