"Dad, I want to investigate the truth of the village."
This was Bai Momin's last message to Uncle An. The next time he saw his son, Bai Momin was dead in the old well, his body horribly gnawed by something.
His son was, in a way, the first person from Bai Mu Village to truly venture out in a thousand years.
Bai Momin had experienced too much of the outside world and learned that Bai Mu Village was merely a feudal, small village where the village chief's family held absolute power. He also knew that Bai Mu Village's customs were deeply sinful relics of feudalism.
After returning from abroad, Bai Momin had been eager to change the status quo of Bai Mu Village, because he knew that if the affairs of Bai Mu Village were exposed, the entire village would face annihilation!
At that time, Uncle An had advised his son against it, but after hearing him out, he decided to support his son's actions.
Yet, the next time he saw his son, he was lifeless.
From then on, Uncle An had strongly resisted Bai Mu Village's customs and secretly investigated the truth of his son's death.
Until one day, he accidentally photographed himself transforming into a monster with the camera his son left behind. Uncle An knew then that he had stumbled upon the deepest secret of this familiar yet strange village.
Later, he found his son's diary under the bed and investigated a vast amount of information about Bai Mu Village, including records of villagers turning into monsters!
Only then did Uncle An realize that his son had known all this for a long time, but he dared not speak of it. If it were exposed, the entire village would face not only imprisonment but also the danger of being slaughtered and wiped out.
After understanding these things, Uncle An chose the same path as his son. He remained silent until a few days ago—he met a young man around his son's age. His deep-seated memories were reawakened.
He wanted to save this young man. Even though they were not related by blood, he could not bear to see another "son" die before him, nor could he bear to see the villagers living in a daze, enslaved by someone in secret!
He would rather become an enemy of all the monsters in the village to help Fang Ming escape, and let the outside world destroy this twisted, demonic village!
"Bang!" A pair of claws gripped the flailing long neck, and cold eyes stared at the face on the neck.
Uncle An struggled with all his might, and another head quickly came to support, trying to save the first one.
But he had greatly underestimated the strength of the monster before him. With a crack, the neck in the monster's grasp snapped and was brutally torn into two pieces!
"Crunch, crunch..." The monster threw the severed head into its mouth, chewing and swallowing, then its bloodthirsty, cold gaze fixed on the other head.
Uncle An's head had been torn off, and in agony, he quickly retreated. Despite his powerful physique, another new head grew from the severed end. However, any discerning eye could see that the newly grown head and part of the neck were clearly more fragile. Uncle An had to withdraw this head to defend himself cautiously, letting the other head face the enemy.
"Bang!" Fang Ming was slammed hard onto the ground. A gaping wound through his chest was rapidly healing, but his momentum was declining.
"Uncle An, what's going on with these two monsters? Why are they so much stronger than the previous ones?" Fang Ming sprang up like a carp, standing back-to-back with Uncle An, guarding against the two monsters surrounding them.
These two monsters resembled cheetahs, with their four paws on the ground and two sharp claws growing from their backs. Their monstrous mouths revealed rows of gleaming teeth, and their lean, muscular bodies exuded a powerful pressure.
This was the first time Fang Ming had seen monsters of this appearance in Bai Mu Village, and their strength far surpassed Uncle An's.
Uncle An gave a bitter smile and said, "These two are definitely sent by the village chief. They must have consumed a large amount of well water before coming, completely exhausting their physical potential. They will die once they recover their human form."
As an elder of Bai Mu Village who held the village's secrets, he naturally knew about these "one-time use" individuals. He just hadn't expected the village chief to dare do this; these were living people!
"Then what do we do? If we keep fighting, we'll definitely be killed by these two," Fang Ming said nervously. This was his first real battle against monsters, and facing such formidable opponents made him, an ordinary person, panic.
Uncle An looked at Fang Ming, then at the two monsters poised for attack, his eyes resolute. "You run east without stopping, and you'll be able to leave this dark area. Once you're out, flee the village immediately and call the police!"
Fang Ming was stunned. "What about you, Uncle An? Aren't you escaping with me?"
"I can't escape," Uncle An sighed, his eyes moist. This was the place that gave birth to him and raised him; where could he escape to?
Uncle An touched the wooden block on his chest. It had shrunk by more than half. In about an hour, the item restoring his sanity would be gone, and he would revert to being a bloodthirsty, brutal slave monster.
"Go!" Uncle An suddenly shouted. Fang Ming paused, knowing it wasn't the time to argue. He looked at Uncle An with regret in his eyes. Although he hadn't known the old man for long, Fang Ming knew he was the only clear-headed person in Bai Mu Village.
"Remember to take my son's portrait back with you and get it out of Bai Mu Village!" Uncle An laughed heartily and took out another bottle of clear water from his embrace.
"Uncle An... you must survive!" Fang Ming prayed silently and headed straight east.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp..." Seeing Fang Ming leave, Uncle An drank the clear water in one go. The two monsters' targets were only Uncle An, and they didn't pursue Fang Ming.
"Ah!"
Uncle An let out a roar of agony. The skin on his back split open, and a head grew out at a visible speed. The scales on his body became denser, muscles bulged, veins protruded, his six eyes turned scarlet, and the consumption of the wooden block in his chest rapidly increased.
The two monsters felt Uncle An's terrifying transformation. They stopped looking for opportunities to attack and leaped up simultaneously, preparing for a full-frontal assault.
But at this moment, Uncle An's strength had reached terrifying levels. Wisps of black smoke emerged from his body, showing signs of transforming into a formidable entity.
"Die..." Uncle An's muffled voice sounded like a summons from hell. Both heads attacked, and two blurs of movement flashed past. The two monsters were sent flying, and upon landing, it was revealed that Uncle An's heads had carved two watermelon-sized holes in their chests.
Domination!
Uncle An, having depleted all his life force, possessed unexpectedly terrifying power. The two monsters that had previously overpowered him were no match for him.
"You should find liberation sooner," Uncle An walked up to the two monsters. They were still struggling, their wounds slowly healing.
"Crack!" Uncle An twisted their necks and tore off their heads. The monsters' auras quickly dissipated, and they died instantly.
Uncle An looked up towards a certain spot in the darkness. Having moved towards a formidable state, he could vaguely sense the direction of the entity watching him.
"Then let's cause some chaos," Uncle An grinned and sped off in the direction he sensed.
...
Fang Ming followed Uncle An's instructions and walked straight east. Now a monster himself, his speed was astonishing. In less than the time it takes to steep tea, he reached the edge of the area, where an iron gate appeared before his eyes.
"An exit?" Fang Ming's expression was complex. He turned to look in Uncle An's direction. He didn't know how Uncle An would deal with those two terrifying monsters, but he still hoped Uncle An would survive.
He pulled open the iron gate, and a beam of white light shone into the dark space. Fang Ming's body gradually returned to human form under the light.
Stepping through the gate, Fang Ming surveyed his surroundings: a massive locust tree, rows of small rooms, and sunlight dappling through the leaves onto him.
It was the back courtyard of the ancestral hall! After experiencing life and death, he had finally arrived here.
"As expected... gone?" Looking at his empty, tattered sleeve, his right arm was missing. He now had only one arm. His backpack was gone, and his diary was nowhere to be found.
"Zhao Xue..."
Fang Ming felt lost. He didn't know if saving Zhao Xue was good or bad. Because of saving her, Uncle An's fate was unknown, he himself was crippled, and most importantly, he still hadn't found Zhao Xue.
Given the circumstances, Fang Ming couldn't and wouldn't give up. He couldn't afford to delay any longer and quickly began searching the rooms for Zhao Xue.
There were about twenty rooms here, and Fang Ming didn't know which one Zhao Xue was specifically confined in, so he had to check them one by one.
"What is that..." Fang Ming suddenly stopped before a room and peered inside through a crack in the window.
A massive water sphere floated in the room, with vines piercing into it, absorbing nutrients. On the surface of the water sphere, distorted human faces flickered, struggling to escape, but unable to break free from the water sphere's control.
"That Qinghe Fierce Specter?"
It was imprisoned here?! Those vines... Fang Ming glanced back at the towering, ancient locust tree behind him. These were its branches, weren't they?
Fang Ming had a guess in his heart, but he couldn't be sure, so he suppressed his thoughts and continued searching for Zhao Xue.
Soon, a slender figure appeared in Fang Ming's eyes.
"Zhao Xue!" Fang Ming exclaimed excitedly and called out.
"Huh?" Zhao Xue's heart skipped a beat upon hearing the familiar voice. She quickly struggled to her feet and looked towards the window. A familiar yet strange face came into view – it was the man she had been thinking of!
"You've finally come," Zhao Xue said excitedly. "I thought you'd abandoned me."
Fang Ming hurried to open the door, but he encountered an embarrassing situation – he couldn't unlock it.
His tools were all in his backpack, and the backpack was lost in that dark space. Now, unarmed, how could he open the door?
"The lock is too strong, I can't open it for now. Let me think of a way," Fang Ming said helplessly, trying for a while with no success.
"You're too useless," Zhao Xue said, a little displeased. Fang Ming frowned slightly upon hearing her words, but considering she had been confined here for so long, he understood she might have emotions and remained silent.
The entire backyard was clean. After searching around, he found no tools. Fang Ming felt dejected. Would his plan fail because of a broken lock? How could he be reconciled to that?