Chapter 59: The Bride’s Lament (29)

It was precisely because of this that the village chief acted without restraint. His mood now was so urgent that he no longer cared about any consequences.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Su Man raised her hand, wanting to clarify her thoughts. “You just said they can’t die yet, which means later they must die, right?”

Miao Sheng was momentarily speechless. Su Man continued, “You and the village chief used the same formation. If you want to revive Shu Yi, you will definitely need the nourishment of fresh blood from these people.”

“You’re not wrong. If I said it wasn’t necessary, you wouldn’t believe me. But it doesn’t have to be them...”

“If not them, then who else could it be?”

“It could be anyone. Even an enemy you dislike could do.” Miao Sheng sighed. He knew exactly what Su Man was worried about. “Chang Gui is, after all, my nephew.”

Su Man neither agreed nor disagreed. “The key figure for the formation’s core—are you referring to Lin Qi?”

“Yes. His fate is perfectly suited to be the last core figure.”

Su Man fell silent for a second, then asked, “Will he die?”

She looked up. “In your heart, you’ve already decided he will die, haven’t you?”

Miao Sheng was silent as well. Talking with a clever person meant she understood everything, but it also meant she could instantly deduce what he didn’t want her to know.

“Strictly speaking, he’s already a dead man.”

He knew Lin Qi and Su Man were acquainted, but to him, Lin Qi was just a stranger.

“Su Man, even without you, both my plan and the village chief’s plan would proceed. Things have reached a point where the arrow is nocked and must be released. You cannot change anything.”

If she insisted on saving Lin Qi, she would have to face the wrath of both him and the village chief.

Su Man was smart enough to hear the threat in his words.

She didn’t give a definite answer, instead shifting the topic, “I also showed Chang Gui Shu Yi’s portrait earlier, but he didn’t recognize her.”

“I’m not sure about that. It seems no one in the village can remember Shu Yi’s appearance, except for me.”

He wasn’t lying; there was no reason to lie. Because of this, he and Shu Yi had their later connection.

Having learned all she needed to know, Su Man bid farewell to Miao Sheng and went off to carry out the task he assigned her.

It wasn’t especially difficult—just what she had planned to do anyway.

Destroy the formation core where Chang Gui and the others were, then rescue Lin Qi from the village chief.

When it came to destroying the formation’s core, by the time Su Man returned to the house where Chang Gui stayed, Mei Huan, empowered by the talismans, had already raised several core points.

Seeing Su Man, Mei Huan excitedly came over to boast, “Look, I’ve done everything you arranged for me!”

She wore an extremely proud expression. “Who even talks about Celestial Master Village? Those villagers were so scared, they wet themselves!”

Su Man wasn’t surprised. Those who came were barely capable, only slightly stronger than ordinary people, while the talismans she gave Mei Huan were top-tier; Chang Gui had been heartbroken handing them over.

According to Miao Sheng, the truly skilled ones were sent to die by the village chief.

And the village chief probably never expected her to escape that house; otherwise, someone more formidable would have been stationed to keep order.

With Su Man joining in, the destruction of the formation’s core sped up. The villagers noticed the breaches and tried to repair them, but their abilities were limited. They could only attend to one area at a time, and in the end, Su Man broke all the cores.

“You really came back again!”

Even after experiencing the same scene twice, Chang Gui still found it unbelievable.

Su Man simply nodded, not wasting time on small talk. “Pack up quickly and leave here.”

Everyone gathered at Chang Gui’s house once more.

There was nowhere truly safe anymore; anywhere was as good as nowhere.

But on the way back, Huang Mei held her ears, clearly in pain. “There are screams and cries.”

Her face was pale. She had already tried to lower her hearing, but the cries were still piercing, as if someone was wailing right in front of her.

“So many, so many.” The despair in those voices made her feel miserable, her eyes red with tears. “They say they don’t want to die.”

She had never experienced anything like this before; the crying was unbearable.

“Where?” Su Man thought of something and asked.

“I don’t know, everywhere, all around! Ah!!” Huang Mei couldn’t handle the emotional overload, screaming as she rolled on the floor, blood seeping from her eyes, nose, and ears.

Su Man frowned. “You need to rest.”

She called Sun Li. “Knock her out.”

Sun Li couldn’t care less about being gentle. His large fist landed on Huang Mei’s forehead. She groaned, rolled her eyes, and lost consciousness.

“What happened? Why did she suddenly become like this?” Chang Gui, unaware of the situation, was puzzled. “Who’s crying?”

Su Man didn’t want to explain to him. With the suspicion growing in her mind, she quickened her pace.

Sun Li hoisted Huang Mei and followed closely.

They finally arrived at Chang Gui’s home. Su Man rushed straight into the room where Lin Qi had originally stayed.

Lin Qi’s room had other roommates at first, but after he became a terror, they all fled to other rooms.

Su Man began searching through the room.

She was particularly interested in the camera Lin Qi mentioned. Even if it wasn’t for that specific matter, she needed the camera—for spirit communication, which she had already considered as a way to save Lin Qi.

But no matter how she searched, there was no sign of the camera.

Everything else of Lin Qi’s remained, except for the camera.

Chang Gui apparently guessed she was looking for the camera. He helped her search, but when they found nothing, he muttered, “Maybe someone took it?”

He ran a tour group; there were occasional thefts in the group, especially since Lin Qi was already dead, his belongings would be considered ownerless.

Su Man paused, called Sun Li, and turned to kick open the neighboring dormitory door. Several grown men huddled together in the corner, frightened like little chicks, their eyes blinking uneasily, not daring to move.

“Lin Qi’s camera. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

She got straight to the point; there was no time for pleasantries.

She didn’t realize how terrifying she looked at that moment. The men were just ordinary tourists, now scared out of their wits.

The talkative uncle was among them. He didn’t dare acknowledge Su Man, but finally, trembling, he pointed to the camera on the table. “There... they brought it here, not sure if it’s the one you’re looking for.”