I screamed and stumbled back. Suddenly, behind me, black streams of energy—like ropes—shot out, wrapping around the child. Ironmask flashed to the child's side in an instant.
The little ghost with blood streaming from its seven orifices shrieked. A hand suddenly gripped a crimson, beating heart, yanking it from the ghost's chest. Black energy exploded, and the ghost was torn apart, its body shattered into pieces.
I felt nothing—not a trace of fear in my heart. It was as if I had grown accustomed to such scenes.
"Hmph, escaped, did you? Clever." Ironmask tossed aside the heart in his hand. The moment it hit the ground, it sank into the earth like mud.
Somehow, Ironmask now held a black longsword, walking toward me.
"I'll give it back to you, Ethan Zhang. My trouble here is solved—thanks. Here, take it."
I cried out in alarm as the Iron-Faced Man thrust the black sword toward my heart. I shouted, and then woke up—the sky outside was already completely dark.
The room was pitch black. I fumbled for my phone and turned on the light. Downstairs, laughter and chatter echoed from Tina Wu and the others.
It seemed no one had heard my screams. I peeked out and saw that, as night fell, Riverbend Village's lights came on. Only our place had no electric lights—the village chief said these rooms were for entertaining outsiders.
After sitting for a while, I got up and went downstairs.
Downstairs, Lily Wu, Nathan Li, Victor Zeng, and Tina Wu sat around a table, chatting and laughing. Several candles flickered on the tabletop, casting a dim yellow glow. I walked over, about to greet them, then froze.
All four of their faces were pale. Though they were smiling, I noticed something dirty on their cheeks—dark smudges that were hard to make out.
I stepped closer and suddenly realized—it was blood. Each of their faces—Lily Wu, Nathan Li, Victor Zeng, Tina Wu—was streaked with bloody marks. I let out a loud scream.
Wu Xiaoli turned to face me. Terrified, I stared at her, mouth agape, pointing at her cheek.
"Blood. There's blood on your face..." I said to Lily Wu, glancing at Victor Zeng.
"Hey, Ethan, did you wake up stupid?" Nathan Li came over and patted my shoulder. I closed my eyes, then opened them again. Their faces were clean—nothing there at all. Maybe I really had imagined it.
A sense of unease welled up inside me, especially when I looked at Victor Zeng. Even though he wore a smile, something about him felt off. And Tina Wu—sometimes a fierce look flashed in her eyes, though she herself seemed blissfully unaware, as innocent as ever.
"Let's go out and have a look," Nathan Li suddenly suggested. Instantly, all four of them—Lily Wu, Victor Zeng, Tina Wu, and Nathan Li—except me—raised their hands in agreement.
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The moment we stepped outside, we noticed thick smoke billowing from the Riverbend Village entrance. Driven by curiosity, we walked over, one after another.
Aside from the lights in the houses, we didn't see a single person.
"What's going on? Nobody's here?" Li Nan spoke first. We had reached the area with the well, but there was no one around. The smoke was billowing out from the well itself.
"Could there really be ghosts?"
"What are you all doing here?" Victor Zeng asked, and Nathan Li looked uneasy.
All five of us cried out in shock and turned around. It was the village chief, standing right behind us with a stern expression.
"I told you—not to come out after eight. Hurry back, go now..." the village chief urged us, and we had no choice but to head back to where we were staying. Nathan Li and Victor Zeng exchanged worried glances.
But as we turned to look back, we were all stunned, mouths agape. The area around the well was packed with villagers, standing shoulder to shoulder.
Tina Wu was the first to scream. We all hurriedly ran away.
Back inside, all five of us were panicked. We had all seen it—the villagers looked like walking corpses.
The two girls started arguing, wanting to leave. Suddenly, Li Nan shouted.
"What's all the fuss about? So what if we saw ghosts? There have always been rumors here. If you go out now, you'll be courting death. Go to sleep—we'll deal with it in the morning."
Thinking it over, we agreed. We locked the doors and windows and went back to our rooms. Lately, Lily Wu and Nathan Li seemed to be getting closer.
I've often caught them whispering together—more than once or twice. I used to suspect they were hiding something from me, but after thinking it over, I dismissed the idea.
Lily Wu clung close to me, clearly scared. We huddled under the covers and soon fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, I woke up needing to pee. Lily Wu was still sound asleep, so I got up and tiptoed downstairs. Suddenly, I heard the creak of a door opening. In the moonlight, I saw Victor Zeng. I was about to call out to him, but noticed his stern face as he hurried outside.
Again, he had that fierce look in his eyes. I considered minding my own business—especially after seeing those ghoul-like villagers, fear gripped me. But on a sudden impulse, I quietly followed him out.
It was as if I was possessed—I hadn't intended to follow, but couldn't help myself. I trailed after Victor Zeng, who was carrying a large bag.
He headed toward the back of the village, so I followed. The village was pitch dark. I saw a vegetable garden—Victor Zeng circled around it and slipped into a narrow passage. I quickly followed.
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Something felt strange—like my body was moving on its own.
After nearly half an hour of walking, the sound of rushing water reached my ears.
It was a river. Suddenly, I saw a waterfall ahead, the moonlight shimmering on the white water. When Victor Zeng reached the riverbank, he knelt down reverently, opened his bag, and took out what looked like a pile of food. He tossed it all into the river, pressed his palms together, and began to chant.
"River God, please, I beg you—tell me the truth. I want to know the truth..."
My heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, I saw a jet of water shoot up from the calm river surface—a thing like a water spirit, smiling.
With a clang, a knife landed by the riverbank. Victor Zeng grabbed the knife and suddenly stood up. I saw his face twisted with murderous intent as he glared viciously at everything around him.
Suddenly, he turned around. I quickly hid in the woods. When I looked back at the river, the water spirit was gone. A chill hung in the air, making me almost sneeze. I dared not make a sound as Zeng Wei stormed past on the path in front of me.
Alarmed, I sensed something was about to happen. I hurried after him, but Zeng Wei had already vanished from sight.
I jogged all the way back and saw our place ahead. When I reached it, the door was already shut. I knocked, went in, but no one responded. After a long while, the door creaked open—it was Victor Zeng, looking sleepy.
"What are you doing, Ethan?" He seemed perfectly normal, so I put on a sycophantic smile and replied.
"Just went out to pee."
I barely slept at all that night.
But early the next morning, Tina Wu was gone—missing. Victor Zeng looked so anxious he was about to cry. We searched all over Riverbend Village—no one was around. We knocked on the village chief's door, but got no answer.
Helpless, I kept thinking about what I saw last night.
"Right, last night..." I started to say, but suddenly Zeng Wei shot me a vicious glare and put a hand on my shoulder.
A chill ran down my spine. I just smiled and said nothing.
"Last night, I had a dream. Dreamed of ghosts—so scary." I brushed it off. We kept searching Riverbend Village, but couldn't find Tina Wu anywhere.
With no other choice, we went to the waterfall behind the village. In daylight, the waterfall looked spectacular—over ten meters high, cascading down and sending up clouds of mist. It was truly a beautiful sight.
Lily Wu shouted excitedly, snapping photos with her camera. Victor Zeng also seemed cheerful, looking around as if he wasn't at all bothered by Tina Wu's disappearance.
I planned to find a chance to tell Lily Wu and Nathan Li about what I saw last night, but soon we were searching again for Tina Wu. We had planned to leave today, but with Tina Wu missing and no villagers around, we had no choice but to stay another day at Nathan Li's suggestion.
Night came quickly. I still couldn't find a way to get Zeng Wei alone. By the time it was dark, we ate some dry rations and stayed together the whole time.
Needing to pee, I went outside and found a corner. Just as I finished, I spun around—and nearly pissed myself in fright. Zeng Wei stood behind me, expressionless, glaring at me viciously.
"If you dare mention what happened last night, I'll kill you all. Remember that."
I stared wide-eyed at Zeng Wei's twisted face, a chill creeping into my heart.
Back inside, I noticed Zeng Wei was always with Li Nan, one hand always in his pocket. I was certain he had a knife in there.
When night fell and we were about to sleep, Zeng Wei suddenly spoke.
"Xiao Zhang, if you need to pee tonight, wake me up. I'll be sleeping with Li Nan. Remember, I get up at night too."