Leave a comment

Ainsel is a freelancer, you can support them on:

Anyone could tell the eeriness of this phone call. If it were just Zhao Mingyue alone, she definitely wouldn’t go back. She was afraid that if she went back this time, she wouldn’t be able to return. She couldn’t even be sure if her uncle was alive or dead.

But she had Bai Yu with her, at least ensuring her safety.

“The village where your grandmother and uncle live, is it the former village or the later village?”

“It’s the later village. Hardly anyone lives in the former village anymore.” Zhao Mingyue sighed. “My relationship with my grandmother is very bad, extremely bad. Because my grandmother favors boys over girls, and my mother had two daughters, me and my sister, she has always disliked my mother and treated me and my sister very poorly.”

“My being chosen as a sacrifice, according to my sister, was recommended by my grandmother, wanting to exchange me for a little boy.”

“My relationship with my uncle isn’t very good either.”

“Normally, even if it’s really my grandmother’s 80th birthday, she shouldn’t invite me. I’m just a lowly younger generation in the family, and one with such a low presence. Why would they specially invite me? They’d rather I didn’t go.”

“Do you think they’re still alive? That tone was really strange.”

Whether they were dead or not wasn’t important. They weren’t close anyway. What was important was that if they were all dead and could still call her, that would be terrifying.

Actually, even if they were dead and calling, it wouldn’t matter. But if you’re going to call, just call. Why ask me to go? Are you after my life? I’ve already run away, and you still want to drag me back. Why must you keep pestering me?

Thinking this, Zhao Mingyue felt a bit helpless. She really didn’t understand what these people were thinking.

“Let’s go and see.” Bai Yu sat beside her. “What’s meant to come will come. If I’m not mistaken, if you don’t go the day after tomorrow, they’ll come find you themselves.”

“Personally find me?”

“Want to hear my thoughts?” Bai Yu said, “They are not dead yet, but they’re not much better than being dead. Whether they will eventually die depends on whether you will go back, and what choices you will make.”

“If you don’t go back, they will definitely come to find you. In the end, you will return to that place.”

After Bai Yu’s words, Zhao Mingyue fell silent. “I feel like you’re trying to trick me.”

“Just a guess.”

“Then I’ll go back. I don’t want to see them show up at my house.”

Zhao Mingyue confirmed her plan for the next few days. The day after tomorrow was her grandmother’s 80th birthday. Logically, she should go back a day early, which was tomorrow, to make preparations in advance.

But after going, she would definitely have to spend the night there tomorrow. The thought of spending the night there, where even the daytime was frightening enough, was something Zhao Mingyue didn’t even dare to think.

She definitely wouldn’t dare to do it alone. Fortunately, she had Bai Yu.

After asking for Bai Yu’s opinion, Zhao Mingyue no choice but to schedule their departure for tomorrow afternoon, spending one night there.

Of course, she didn’t agree for nothing.

Her request was for Bai Yu to continue pretending to be alive and accompany her.

Bai Yu hiding in her shadow was fine, but it always gave Zhao Mingyue a feeling of fighting alone. Having no one by her side was still scary. But with Bai Yu pretending to be alive and accompanying her, it was different. At least she had company and would feel more at ease.

Bai Yu thought about it and agreed, on the condition that she wouldn’t wear a skirt.

Skirts are not suitable for combat, only for daily wear.

·

·

Zhao Mingyue didn’t go to school the next day. Given the current situation, going to school would probably result in being surrounded by teachers and students.

It was quite normal. If she heard that a student at her school had repelled an armed criminal with her bare hands, she would definitely want to see this “little hero” for herself.

She did need to go to the convenience store, though, since she had a reason to be absent from school.

In the afternoon, Zhao Mingyue stayed at home to rest. Before she could even call her homeroom teacher, the teacher had already called her. After a round of greetings and well-wishes, the teacher immediately said that she didn’t need to come for the next few days.

The police officer had already said that the criminal had not been caught and was very likely to retaliate against Zhao Mingyue. Letting her come to class at this time would only harm her.

As soon as the homeroom teacher’s call ended, the old store manager’s call came.

It was the same thing. She didn’t need to go to work for the next few days, and her salary would still be calculated as usual.

The homeroom teacher’s words didn’t move her, but the store manager’s words truly touched her deeply. Not only did she not have to work for five days, but her salary was still calculated normally.

After thanking the store manager, Zhao Mingyue lay on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Suddenly having free time, she didn’t know what to do.

“Bai Yu, do you think I can become very powerful too?”

Raising her delicate hand and clenching it into a fist, her eyes were unfocused. She was fine now. When Bai Yu left her body, she could feel the soreness, but there were no other major issues.

This also indirectly showed that her body could handle that level of intensity.

After all, her physical fitness had been enhanced through tasks.

But she was still very weak.

When Bai Yu used her body, it was like two extremes. Being able to drive away that red-haired criminal was enough to prove everything.

Controlling her own body, she couldn’t achieve such outrageous results, but one-third of that combat strength should be possible, right?

But in reality, forget a third, she didn’t even have a thirtieth.

“It’s possible, but the process will be very painful, you might even die.”

“What if we slow it down a bit? I don’t need to be as strong as you. Just being able to barely protect myself is enough.” Zhao Mingyue sat up with a whoosh, her eyes shining as she looked at Bai Yu.

“Are you sure?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“It’s not urgent for now. Physical techniques are only a part of it. There are many other things to consider.” Bai Yu’s gaze lowered. She fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “There’s a shortcut you can take. If successful, your strength will increase significantly.”

“However, the success rate is very low. I can’t guarantee a 100% success rate.”

“What method?” Zhao Mingyue’s eyes lit up.

“There’s something sleeping in your body. It can take over your body, but conversely, you can also devour it.”

“If you can devour this thing, you’ll become stronger, even without professional training.”

At this, Zhao Mingyue hesitated for a moment. “How dangerous is it?”

“It can’t be determined for now, but this is a step you must go through. When the time comes, I will help you.”

“Then let’s do it!” Zhao Mingyue agreed without asking more questions. With Bai Yu’s words, she directly agreed.

She believed Bai Yu wouldn’t deliberately try to harm her. Since she brought it up, it meant this matter was feasible, with a not-too-low success rate.

In the blink of an eye, it was night. With Bai Yu in the house, Zhao Mingyue was not afraid at all that the red-haired woman from the day would come to take revenge or that the person who sent her the message would come to the door.

The night passed without words, and in the blink of an eye, it was the next day.

The day after tomorrow was Zhao Mingyue’s grandmother’s 80th birthday. She had to go today, but she wasn’t in a hurry. She slept until 9 in the morning, making up for the sleep she missed.

It wasn’t until after finishing lunch that she left with Bai Yu.

Today, Bai Yu was no longer in a dress, nor was she wearing the clothes Zhao Mingyue had bought for her. She wore a black tracksuit formed from blood threads, which was not the old combination, mainly to avoid being recognized.

What clothes she wore wasn’t important, as long as they were suitable for combat.

Zhao Mingyue stroked her chin and observed for a long time, only nodding in satisfaction after changing Bai Yu’s hairstyle to a high ponytail.

They got off the bus and walked along a cement road leading to the village. Walking straight and turning a corner from here was the later village.

The former village was remote, and actually, so was the later.

Near Pingshan Mountain, there were only two villages within a thirty kilometer radius of Pingshan Village, and they were quite far apart. It could be said that once there, there was neither village ahead nor shop behind.

Tianchang City was not particularly wealthy, but it wasn’t poor either. However, the main development was in the center, and the surrounding villages and towns appeared very backward, especially the villages in the mountains.

“Our village has always been quite strange, with some odd requirements, such as not being allowed to bring outsiders into the village and not being allowed to keep dogs in the village.”

“It should be better now, not as backward and outdated as before.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m going back to my own home, and they’re the ones who asked me to go back. So who I bring back is my freedom. If they have a problem, they can try to drive me away.”

Along the small path, Zhao Mingyue muttered nonstop.

“Bai Yu, when you go there later, if anyone says anything strange to you, don’t pay attention to them. Just ignore them.”

“There’s no need to follow those broken rules either. Investigate whatever you want to investigate. Since we’re going back, we can’t lose out.”

As they walked, Zhao Mingyue couldn’t tell if it was her illusion, but she always felt that the surrounding light had dimmed a lot, like at dusk, even though it was only 2:30 PM.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, giving the illusion of being back at No. 13 Middle School.

There wasn’t a single bird call or insect chirp, nor any passing cars or electric bikes. After walking for twenty minutes, she hadn’t seen a single living person.

The fields on both sides of the road were mostly barren, and the numerous mounds of graves in those wastelands were very conspicuous.

Zhao Mingyue noticed that not only were the fields barren, but even the weeds on both sides of the cement road were withered and blackened.

As far as the eye could see, there was hardly any green.

Strangely, there were two rows of trees planted on both sides of the road. These dead trees with drooping branches and twigs extended along the small path.

Walking on such a small path with few reference points on either side often brought the illusion of not moving forward.

Looking back, the road was very, very far away, but the village ahead still couldn’t be seen clearly.

Zhao Mingyue had just thought that it was too quiet when a crow flew over, flapping its wings, and landed on a roadside branch, making a harsh, unpleasant caw.

There seemed to be black smoke in the sky, as if there was a fire somewhere. The further Zhao Mingyue walked in, the colder she felt.

Despite it being June and the hottest time of the day, and her not wearing very thick clothes, just a tracksuit like Bai Yu, with a backpack. How could she feel cold?

As she wondered, Bai Yu suddenly spoke up beside her.

“Ghost wall.”