C49

The stone tablet's appearance was similar to that of the tombstone, and the words on it were also blood-red.

The word 'soul' seemed to have some sort of magic to it, and it made the surroundings seem even more eerie and strange.

Not only that, but when the forest reached the stone monument, it was as if they had reached the end of the line.

I walked on for a distance before I realised that the forest had not come to an end.

It was just a temporary clearing, a huge open space surrounded by trees.

The existence of this empty land was very sudden, because in such a large forest, there was such a large area.

Not to mention a tree, there wasn't even any grass, yet there were … Something else...

This open space was definitely not made by human beings. If this open space used to have trees, it definitely wouldn't be so clean now.

In other words, there was something special about this area. It was a place where not even a blade of grass grew.

However, this place where not even a blade of grass grew was completely barren …

This was because there were over a hundred scarecrows lining the empty space.

The surroundings were filled with trees. Even though this was an open area, there was no sunlight and the ground was slightly wet.

In the air, there was a trace of a decaying smell. The smell that I smelled on the other side of the mountain the other day was the same.

It wasn't particularly thick, but it still made me feel uncomfortable.

At this moment, I was standing in the middle of the open space and the scarecrows were facing me. In this gloomy environment, the scarecrows looked extremely strange, like they were malevolent ghosts.

These scarecrows were all as tall as real people, some even taller than me.

Behind each of them was a wooden stick stuck into the ground, supporting the scarecrow's body.

Perhaps it was because they were blocked by the surrounding trees, but there was not much wind in the clearing, so the scarecrows seemed very quiet.

It was unknown how long these scarecrows had been here, nor did they know why they were here.

In short, the villagers might not even know that such a thing had appeared in the mountains.

These scarecrows, could they be the ones that their foster father and the Aunt Zhang were looking at right before they died?

Also, what was the meaning behind the soul-attracting stone tablet written in the Wasteland? When did the stone tablet appear?

Looking at the stone tablet, it shouldn't take more than ten years, but it was definitely more than five years.

The word 'soul' on it seemed shocking, and it was definitely carved with great care.

Moreover, the stone used for the stone stele was clearly man-made, so it had to have been pulled up from the bottom of the mountain.

As someone who had just come up, he had a deep understanding of how dangerous this mountain path was.

And carrying such a heavy stone monument up on top of it meant that this stone monument should be something very important.

Could all these scarecrows have been made by their adoptive father?

Ever since the death of Aunt Zhang, his foster father often went out to drink and wasn't home for a long time. It wasn't strange for his foster father to have produced so many scarecrows and this stone tablet in the past few years.

After all that had happened recently, I had finally begun to re-examine my adoptive father's years.

Before he died, I thought he was just getting drunk every day or studying strange things.

It was as if he was messing around.

But after his death, I came to realize that the adoptive father was doing something purposefully.

Just like Liu Qing, although it looked to be muddled, it actually looked to be very serious …

He was a serious person, yet he acted like he was indifferent. This kind of person, either had this kind of character.

I don't understand Liu Qing, but I understand his adoptive father, so he shouldn't be this kind of person.

Then there was only one possibility. He was using this kind of carelessness to conceal something.

In other words, they didn't dare to reveal their sincerity, as if they were afraid that someone would see through them …

Thinking about this, I was confused. In the village, a foster father was feared by others. Could it be that he also had something to fear?

And if the adoptive father goes mad with alcohol all these years, it's all to cover up his seriousness.

In that case, the serious things that he had done must have been very extraordinary and worthy of him doing so.

In addition, how much perseverance and good acting skills did he have …

The more I thought about it, the colder I felt.

Over the years, without my knowledge, it seems like a lot of things have happened...

It might be some incredible thing, but I didn't realize it before …

I slowly approached the scarecrows. The time difference between these scarecrows should also be very large.

It was just that some of the scarecrows were clearly quite old, yet they seemed very old and undamaged.

One had to know that scarecrows would be blown away by the wind or disappear naturally after a long time.

However, on some scarecrows, even though they could clearly see their wounds, they were still able to stand upright.

When I was young, I heard the villagers say that the Grandma Daocao's body substitute for others was just like this. It was as if it carried a mysterious power, and it remained intact for many years.

This kind of thing was often treated as a talk by the villagers after their meals, mixed together with the theories of ghosts and gods.

It was precisely because of this theory of ghosts and gods that Grandma Daocao received so much respect.

In every village, there were one or two foggy legendary figures, usually associated with ghosts and gods.

In our village, there used to be two such people. One was our adoptive father, and the other was the Grandma Daocao.

The difference was that the former was a scolding while the latter was a good name.

Approaching the scarecrow, he could vaguely see some new scarecrows that hadn't been here for too long. There were also some red words written on them.

It should have been written with a large brush or brush. Upon closer inspection, it should be the names of some people.

But... I've never heard of any of these names. None of them seem to be from our village.

Looking carefully, it seemed that every scarecrow had a name on them, but some of them had completely disappeared because of the length of time they had been there.

Since it wasn't the name of a villager, then what did this name mean?

No one would be so bored as to give every scarecrow a name.

Then, he looked at the stone tablet. It was placed there as if it was specially placed for the straw people to see.

If I were to continue along this path, I would arrive at the other part of the mountain. Just like I said earlier, although the two parts of the mountain are connected, the road is very difficult and there is no way to cross it.

Some of the more dangerous terrain was basically like a cliff.

But looking at these scarecrows, their posture was as if the army was walking side by side.

Thinking of the two words on the stone tablet, the word 'soul luring', it seemed to indicate the meaning of guiding the soul, or the meaning of guiding the way.

Could it be that the direction that the scarecrow was facing right now was the path to the soul?

If you were to understand it literally, this should be what it meant.

Could the scarecrow in this forest have something to do with the scarecrow nailed to a tree in the birch forest? Could this' draw 'be the link between the two …?

I had an idea.

However … How could this be possible? The two places were too far apart, a bunch of scarecrows.

However, this thought was the only way he could understand it. For the time being, he could not deny it. After all, no matter how unreasonable something was, it might be reasonable.

Just as I was deep in my thoughts, a crashing sound suddenly came from the depths of these scarecrows …

It seemed like there was something moving among the scarecrows. At the same time, the sounds of nails scratching against rocks could be heard …

Could it be that among the scarecrows, there was something else …

I thought as I slowly walked towards the crowd of straw.

Walking into the crowd of straw people, I had a strange feeling that these scarecrows were all alive and staring at me …

I actually felt as though I had entered a crowd. Perhaps it was because I was too nervous, but I could hear the sound of breathing beside my ear …