Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âBrother Dao? Whatâs wrong?â Seeing Li Yidao remain silent for a while, Zhang Goudan attempted to speak, his eyes filled with surprise and confusion.
Why would Brother Dao have such a strong reaction?
Li Yidao had now regained his composure.
He noticed that the ghostly image of Miner Ermao in front of him was entangled by countless thin threads.
Not only that, there was also the ghostly image of a scarecrow behind him.
This scarecrowâs appearance was identical to the one at the village entrance.
As for the scarecrowâs gaze⦠It seemed to be observing him as well?
Li Yidaoâs expression returned to a calm state.
He now knew there was a problem with this situation, but the specifics of the problem were unclear.
He would have to proceed step by step to find out.
Li Yidao intentionally shifted his gaze away from the ghostly image of Miner Ermao in front of him, attempting to hide the fact that he could see the situation with these entities.
If possible, he wanted to lower their guard, whether it was the scarecrow entities or the organization behind them.
It was best to keep them underestimating him until he had gathered more information.
He had experimented with using the Blade of Death earlier, but unfortunately, the ability had no effect on the ghostly images he was currently observing.
Only the scarecrows in the corners could be affected by the Blade of Death, with a lifespan consumption of one year.
This indirectly confirmed that these scarecrows were not the main reason for the crisis he was facing.
So, Li Yidao was not in a hurry.
He did not respond to Zhang Goudan and instead slowly approached Miner Ermaoâs body.
As a bone-chilling cold pierced deep into his bones, Li Yidao couldnât help but shiver.
Indeed, it was very cold. Moreover, Miner Ermaoâs body was exceptionally well-preserved, adorned in funeral attire, with impeccable grooming, which was either done by Zhang Goudan himself or by someone he had hired.
Everything seemed to be in order, at least for now.
âTomorrow, for the burial, do you have pallbearers?â Li Yidao observed for a while, then turned to Zhang Goudan.
Zhang Goudan quickly replied, âYes, several uncles from the village specifically rushed back, and the graveâs location has been chosen.â
âWe originally planned to bury him yesterday, but⦠with this⦠thatâs whyâ¦â
Zhang Goudan hesitated in his speech, but Li Yidao understood what he was trying to convey.
It was likely because of the strange dream he had described earlier that Zhang Goudan sought Li Yidaoâs help, leading to the current situation.
Li Yidao didnât say anything, just nodded.
To be honest, he didnât have a good solution for how to proceed with Zhang Ermaoâs burial either.
Under the effects of Soul Detection, he noticed some strangeness, but he had no way to solve the mystery just yet.
He had a gut feeling that after tonight, everything would become clear.
Whatever this organization or individual had involved, or whatever preparations they had made, it was likely that something would happen tonight.
At the same time, while Li Yidao had just entered the village, he was unaware that there was someone following him from behind.
If he could see this person, he would notice that their face bore a striking resemblance to the woman who had come to his funeral shop, delivered a stone, and taken one of his paper dolls.
This person didnât enter the village but sat down on a small hill outside the small village.
She found a spot, sat cross-legged, and squinted her eyes. If someone could see her silhouette, they would understand that this person was no ordinary
person.
The night in the mountain village was particularly tranquil.
The moon hung high in the sky, casting a silvery glow over the entire village.
The silver moonlight gave the night an especially peaceful feeling.
Zhang Goudan arranged for Li Yidao to stay in the main bedroom of the house.
As for himself, he chose to keep vigil.
Li Yidao didnât refuse, instead, he burned some yellow paper he had brought with him.
He also lit four candles around the mourning hall.
These four candles, along with the yellow paper, were obtained by Li Yidao through Soul Attachment.
It cost him ten years of his lifespan.
In addition to these, he had also brought a paper doll.
However, this paper doll was of the kind without a skeleton. He planned to make it by stuffing straw into it in the morning.
Originally, this was his plan.
But today, he already felt that something was unusual.
So he didnât wait until morning, instead, he had already made the paper doll at night.
Moreover, he placed it in his room, facing the door.
Because he had noticed one thingâafter undergoing Soul Attachment, these paper dolls seemed to have a hint of his own soul within them.
The one that had consumed a hundred years of his lifespan felt even clearer.
This new paper doll didnât have that level of effect.
However, it seemed to serve as a warning.
As for Li Yidao, he couldnât really fall asleep.
Even if he had confidence, he couldnât simply hand his life over to the unknown.
That wouldnât be confidence but foolishness.
Yet, he maintained the appearance of being asleep.
At least he needed to give the other party a chance to make a move.
Only when the other party felt that everything was under control would they reveal their true intentions.
Tonight⦠was destined to be a stormy night.
In Cherry Blossom Country, in the room where the elder had communicated with the Cherry Blossom Grim Reaper earlier, two individuals dressed in special attire now stood before the elder.
Well, not exactly.
They were standing before the elderâs lifeless body.
As they looked into the elderâs lifeless eyes, both of their expressions were particularly solemn.
After a while, one of them spoke with a hint of regret, âI never expected Brother Dao to have such capabilities. He even managed to bring down this old man.â
The other person chimed in, âIndeed. You and I wouldnât have been able to withstand this curse without any preparations.â
âWhatâs surprising is that he mentioned to me before his actions that this curse would cost a substituteâs life, but I never thought that both of them would die.â Surprisingly, the speaker was a woman.
âNext, weâll await news from Furuhashi. If he fails as wellâ¦â A man spoke, and his gaze turned serious as he spoke.
The woman took over, âIf Furuhashi also fails⦠then weâll have to go there ourselves. But if Geqiaoâs enigmatic Scarecrow Technique also fails, our chances of success when we go thereâ¦â
At this moment, a hint of helplessness flashed in the womanâs eyes.
The meaning was already conveyed quite clearly.
If the person she referred to as Furuhashi also failed at this point, their journey would likely fail.
The possibility of success was exceedingly slim.
Howeverâ¦
They still had to go.
They could die in the mission.
But they absolutely couldnât refuse to carry out their task.
This was the rule of their organization.
If they refused⦠what awaited them would be something more terrifying than death.
This was something they couldnât endure or bear.
After all, in this world, there were many occasions when death wasnât the frightening part.
There were many things scarier than death.
This was why some people would rather face death than continue to face life.
Each self-termination required immense courage.
If it werenât for encountering something more terrifying than death, who would willingly end their own life?