CH 90

Hearing that, Fan Dayong got stunned for a moment. Then, immediately realizing what Chen Man just said, he grabbed Chen Man’s arm and asked, "What happened? Didn't you follow them properly? You didn't grab onto team leader's clothes?"

Chen Man looked annoyed at himself and explained as he scratched at his hair, "I was trying to wipe the water off my face, and my hand unconsciously..."

Fan Dayong gasped violently and clenched his teeth tightly. He turned his head to look around but it is pitch black everywhere and he couldn't see anything.

"What should we do now?" Fan Dayong whispered, "The man in black robe warned us not to lose the sound of bell."

...

The moment the pulling force behind him suddenly disappeared, Gao Yi's heart tightened. He turned his head to see and… there isn’t anyone behind him. Chen Man and Fan Dayong could not be seen at all. The sound of the bell in front of him continued, and he couldn't bear to think more about it, so he could only turn his head and continue to walk forward.

Having 2 teammates suddenly disappeared, Gao Yi couldn't describe how he felt. Originally, his team and Tong Fei’s team formed a 6-member senior team, but now some went missing while some got lost. He is the only one left following the intermediate team. No matter what, it makes him feel a little uncomfortable in his heart. Though he felt heavy in his heart, Gao Yi didn't say anything to the person in front of him.

…

Chen Man and Fan Dayong stood there for a while, discussing what to do next.

"Chen Man, what should we do now?"

Fan Dayong came from the countryside and is not very cultured. To be able to get to this point, it’s all thanks to Gao Yi who carry him along. If asking for manpower, Fan Dayong can contribute. But if asking for brain power, he can only rest at the side.

Chen Man's mind is a mess at the moment, but he is trying his best to sort out his thoughts. If he couldn't find a way to calm himself down, the two of them would just wait here and die. After thinking for a while, Chen Man took out the light from his backpack and turned it on. He adjusted it to the lowest brightness and shone it around, but he could see nothing but the stone walls.

"We can't just stand here, the bell won't come back to us. We have to find a way out." Chen Man said calmly, "Let's walk around first and be careful."

Fan Dayong has no comments and immediately nodded in agreement, "Okay, I'll take the lead."

Chen Man stopped Fan Dayong and said, "Wait, I'll take the lead first. Your gun is a long-range weapon and can't react quickly in case of danger. If we can go back to the village, we'll join up with Wen Lang and Jiang Dong."

Fan Dayong's spirit weapon is a gun, and the bullets inside are steel balls, which can be regarded as long-range attack weapons. On the other hand, Chen Man's spirit weapon is a big axe. But still, Fan Dayong is moved by his initiative to go ahead. The two relied on the weak light source to grope forward, not daring to go too fast. There is a lot of water vapor wafting from the stone wall. They seeped out from the stone wall and dripped, forming a small pool of water on the ground.

"It's clammy and cold here. Why does it feel like we are underground?" Fan Dayong pressed his hand against the stone wall and whispered to Chen Man in front of him.

Chen Man reminded, "Be careful. You better hold onto me instead. Don't touch anything that shouldn't be touched."

Fan Dayong immediately retracted his hand and rubbed at his clothes, as if he really touched something terrible. Listening to Chen Man's words, he felt that his hand didn’t touch a stone wall seeping with water, but a cold python instead.

After walking carefully for a while, forks began to appear in the path, and the dark holes looked particularly terrifying. Chen Man's face is sullen, and he could only choose a path randomly by fate. At this moment, he only hoped that he could have the same good luck as Lou Fan. Turning around a stone wall, Chen Man immediately stopped. Fan Dayong, who is walking behind, almost collided with him, but fortunately stopped in time. Chen Man immediately grabbed Fan Dayong and ducked to the back.

"There are people in the cave and someone lying on the ground. Let's take a look first." Chen Man said to Fan Dayong in a low breath.

Fan Dayong wanted to look inside, but Chen Man pulled him back and mouthed the word ‘Be careful’. Fan Dayong stretched out half of his body and saw that the figure is very dark, kind of like the ghostly being they saw taking off human skin on the shore before. There is a figure on the ground, it’s human indeed as their skin is pale white. That ghostly being is squatting in front of the human, doing something to his limbs.

Fan Dayong had a thought in his heart and couldn't help feeling agitated all over his body. He turned around and asked Chen Man, "That thing is... skinning people?"

Chen Man's face is solemn and he nodded with difficulty.

Fan Dayong is an honest man, so hearing that cause a surge of anger to rise from his heart at this moment. He raised the gun in his hand and aimed at the ghost. Suddenly a hand stretched out from the side and stopped him. Then with a clever twist of a hand, the gun is moved to point down instead. Chen Man reacted immediately and raised his axe to slash at the newcomer. A green vine instantly wrapped around his wrist and axe, making him unable to move for a while.

"You two want to die?" Feng Zhi's cold voice sounded.

Chen Man and Fan Dayong saw that it is Tong Fei’s team of 3.

Tong Fei whispered, "If you want to die, don't get us involved. There is only 1 ghost here but there are more than a dozen ghosts in the cave next door. According to preliminary estimates, there are nearly 100 ghosts here."

100 ghosts? If surrounded, even if 1 takes a bite at a time, they can be devoured without leaving a single bit.

Jiang Rou took back her vines, and Fan Dayong took back his gun. Tong Fei made a gesture and took the lead to walk to a nearby cave hole. Feng Zhi and Jiang Rou followed without a word, and Chen Man and Fan Dayong immediately followed.

Seeing Tong Fei’s team here, Chen Man and Fan Dayong immediately settled down in their hearts. They stopped panicking and looked relaxed.

The 5 people walked to a recessed stone wall. The position of this concave wall is very good. They can see the surrounding situation very well and it is not very conspicuous from a distance, so it is not easy to be found at first glance.

Tong Fei looked at Chen Man and asked, "Why are you two here?"

Chen Man paused for a while, then told what happened after they followed Gao Yi into the woods. Then, he talked about what happened after Lou Fan and the others went in to find them, and what happened after they met the black-robed man. Finally, when he reached the part where he lost Gao Yi, his face showed a little uncomfortable expression.

This is indeed his problem.

Tong Fei let out a soft En.

Chen Man asked the girls again how they got here, "Everyone looked around the village and didn't see you. We only saw your bags in the house and thought you girls went missing. Wen Lang and Jiang Dong are waiting in the village for you."

Hearing that the 2 members are waiting for them in the village, Jiang Rou smiled and said happily, "Brother Lou and his team are so loyal. Wen Lang actually stayed and waited for us."

Tong Fei laughed, "These people are too unrestrained. If we're not in the village, wouldn't they have waited there in vain and can't get on the train when the mission ends?"

Although Tong Fei is complaining about the intermediate team, her eyes are full of gentle smiles.

Seeing that the girls are perfectly fine, Chen Man asked strangely, "How did you 3 get here? Because we followed the sound of the 'village chief' bell."

There is a sound in the distance, and the five of them became vigilant. Tong Fei quickly said, "Don't make a sound for now, we'll talk about it later."

The five people stuck close to the wall. After a while, a group of figures walked through the cave not far away. They are all dark figures, and they are the ghostly things in the village.

Chen Man suddenly felt that he seemed to know how Tong Fei’s team got here. When the ghosts disappeared, Chen Man asked in a low voice, "Did you girls follow those things into the water, from the lake to this place?"

Tong Fei raised her eyebrows to look at Chen Man and praised, "I didn't expect you to be smart this time."

Hearing that, Fan Dayong's eyes widened, "You 3 are too daring. To follow those ghosts to the lake..."

Although in Lazuli, risks have always coexisted with benefits, this risk is also a little too great.

"How can we find their lair if we don't come down?" Feng Zhi asked coldly, "Also, the 'village chief' has to pass through here, it means that this place is very important to them. Finding this place is one of the clues. It's just that right now, should we kill these ghosts or wait first? That's the question."

Tong Fei recalled what Chen Man said and thought for a moment. Then she said, "I think it's better to wait until Lou Fan and the others get the clues and come back. Let's go back to the village to meet with Wen Lang and Jiang Dong."

After Tong Fei’s team first entered the cave, they deliberately left a mark along the way so it is easy to find the way back. Besides, this place is crawling with those ghostly things so they have to go ashore first before the ghosts go back. In case the situation happens where the way back disappears after the sun rises, it will be bad for them.

…

At Lou Fan’s side, they followed the ‘village chief’ through twists and turns for a long time and finally came out of the cave. As soon as they went out, a person is standing on each side of the entrance of the cave, with a long weapon, fiercely guarding the entrance. At a glance, they looked like the ancient door gods. The 'village chief' stood in front and keep ringing the bell in his hand. After shaking it several times, the 2 ‘door gods’ put down their weapons and gave way.

Lou Fan was a little nervous, but Qin Tan in front is very calm and followed with a steady pace. Lou Fan breathed a sigh of relief after he passed in front of the two guards smoothly. The next moment, he wondered what would happen if one approaches without the bell of the 'village chief'.

Just as Lou Fan is thinking about it, a loud shout suddenly sounded from behind. The group turned their heads and looked over, only to see a ghost coming out about 10 meters behind them. But the ghost got stopped by 2 guards. When that loud shout sounded, the guards stabbed their weapons straight into the ghost's body. The next moment, the ghost disappeared. As if nothing happened, the 2 guards returned to their original positions mechanically, still glaring at each other.

The guards didn't say any warning and simply stab down, it kind of hurts to look at. After returning to their senses, the group of people did not know if they had passed the customs, but they still followed closely forward.

The road is sandwiched between 2 mountains. A gentle slope goes up, and when the group reaches the top, they knew that they have arrived on the side of the holy lake.

The clear and icy blue lake water appeared in front of them. The top of the gentle slope turned out to be a lake. The fishes in the water are swimming happily, and a gust of breeze blew. It only made people feel like the clear lake water is blowing on their faces with the wind, and it is refreshing. Looking further forward, a city stands by the lake with one side adjacent to the lake, and a tall city wall surrounds a prosperous town. In the dark, bright lights are shining from the city, as bright as day.

This is very different from the situation on the other side of Ghost Lake.

The 'village chief' walked to the city gate with the group of people following behind him. The city gate is wide open, and the bustling scene of people coming and going inside could be seen from the outside. Everyone in the group looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

Lou Fan thought to himself, wondering where to find the key clue.

Raw word count: 3053

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Banana: To those who are still reading this, thank you. I'm still alive lol, was too busy with my recent move. I underestimated it, thinking that everything will be done after I moved out from the old place but I forgot about the unpacking at the new place.

For a week, I only clear the space from the door to my bedroom. I felt too tired from coming home after work so I don't want to do anything else _(;3/ I'll try to be a bit more consistent next month yo.