Samuel patted his shoulder and said, "Don't be afraid. How about this: you stand here and don't move, I'll go to the village first to see what's going on, and see if I can win you a slim chance of survival."

After saying this, he turned and left.

A few steps later, David Carter gritted his teeth and caught up:

"Little Daoist, you truly are a hero, but I, Wang, am no coward either!"

"All these things I've encountered are fate. If I'm destined to die today, I won't drag it out till tomorrow. If I'm not meant to die today, even if King Yama himself comes, it won't matter!"

"At worst, it's just death. When a man dies, a bird flies to the sky; if the bird doesn't die, it flies forward. I'm not afraid anymore!"

Samuel looked at him in shock.

Do you have to be this tough? Honestly, if you're not scared, I am!

He hesitated for a moment, then handed the peachwood sword on his back to David Carter: "If there are ghosts later, this might be useful."

David Carter stroked the old peachwood sword, his face showing shock: "But what about you? Little Daoist, what will you do?"

Samuel gripped the string of silver coins tightly and said nothing, just strode forward.

Suddenly, David Carter felt that today's rain tasted a bit salty.

By now, it was already late.

Under the shroud of dark clouds, dusk was deepening.

Weary birds returning to their nests flapped their wings chaotically, darting through the curtain of rain.

Occasionally, a large bird would sweep overhead with a 'caw caw', bringing down even more rainwater.

Kantou Village was indeed a ghost village; its space was unreal.

When the two of them first spotted the village, they were still dozens of meters from the entrance, but after just a few steps, they reached the entrance and saw the scene inside.

It was a desolate village in the rain.

Weeds grew rampant in the village, scattered among houses of various sizes, all similar in style—simple and dilapidated.

The thin walls were originally made of mud mixed with broken stones. After years of wind and rain, much of the mud had fallen away, leaving many messy stones exposed.

The two of them became alert as they reached the first thatched hut outside, but after circling the hut, they didn't encounter anything strange.

But they did notice something odd.

This house had no door.

Nor did it have any windows.

There was only an offering table on the north side of the house.

On the table sat a Buddhist shrine.

In front of the shrine stood an incense burner.

Next to the incense burner was a stack of yellow joss paper, already stuck together by the rain.

The sky was dim, the rain chaotic.

Inside the shrine was pitch black; Samuel couldn't see what was inside.

Nor did he want to look.

The strange thatched hut, the strange offering table—after circling the hut, Samuel couldn't help but shiver.

Seeing this, David Carter also started to tremble.

Samuel comforted him, saying, "Blessings from the Supreme Celestial Lord. Donor Wang, you've misunderstood. I'm not shivering from fear, it's just the cold rain slapping me, making me shiver."

The situation with the house was very odd, but he mustered his courage and continued along the village path.

David Carter followed closely behind.

There were more thatched huts ahead along the mountain path.

Samuel braved the wind and rain, hurrying along the path, and was startled to find that all the houses were the same:

Old stone walls, dilapidated thatched roofs.

Regardless of size, none of the houses had doors or windows.

All had an offering table against the north wall.

All had a Buddhist shrine, incense burner, and yellow joss paper on the table.

The entire mountain village was like this!

After realizing this, he trembled even more, so he said to David Carter first, "It's fine, this is probably just a village custom, a mountain custom. Nothing to be afraid of, don't worry."

The village was eerily quiet.

Only the 'plop' of raindrops hitting the ground could be heard.

This sound was a bit like something tiptoeing around.

Rain fell from all directions, making it sound as if the place was crowded with things tiptoeing about.

What were they?

There was no answer.

Because from beginning to end, nothing frightening actually appeared.

With Samuel leading the way, the two of them hurried through the village and reached the end of the mountain village.

The last house appeared before him.

Because of the poor light, Samuel didn't notice anything unusual about the house at first.

But as he walked through the village and approached the house, he discovered—

This house had doors and windows.

But the doors and windows were half-blocked by mud and stones...

In other words, the other houses didn't lack doors and windows—they had been sealed up.

Were they trying to seal something inside?

Just as this question surfaced in Samuel's mind, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed.

In an instant, the gloomy mountain village was lit up as bright as day.

Lightning shone through the gaps in the doors and windows, and in that moment, Samuel saw a patch of ghastly white and a patch of blood red inside the house.

The white was the house packed full of paper effigies.

The red was the walls plastered with red talisman papers.

Rainwater, blown in by the wind through the gaps, flowed back out through the cracks, its color dark red.

"Waah!"

As the lightning faded, a shrill wail suddenly erupted from inside the house.

A cold wind, black as ink, swept out from the house, making the paper effigies sway wildly, as if they were all scrambling to get out!

Samuel was terrified, instinctively raising his hand to prepare to throw something at the enemy.

But then, something strange happened right in front of him: