Chapter 153: Goudan in the Coffin, Strange Village!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Yidao stared at Zhang Goudan without saying a word, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
He had only said he could save him, but there were conditions for the exchange.
Whether he would truly save him depended on Zhang Goudan’s sincerity.
Seeing Li Yidao’s silence, Zhang Goudan gritted his teeth once again.
Subconsciously, he looked in the direction of the village entrance.
In the end, the hope of survival overcame everything else.
He struggled to sit up.
“Fine! I’ll tell you everything I know,” Zhang Goudan said, taking a deep breath before continuing, “But you have to promise that as soon as I finish telling you what you want to know, you will save me. “Otherwise, I won’t spare you even in death!”
Li Yidao smiled slightly.
“As long as you don’t hide anything and tell me everything, I promise to save you.”
“But… if you try to deceive me with lies…” Li Yidao’s voice trailed off, and a hint of cruelty appeared in his eyes. “Well, I might not let you die so quickly.” These words made Zhang Goudan shiver involuntarily.
“Alright! I’ll tell you everything I know,” Zhang Goudan said, taking a deep breath, preparing to speak.
However, at that moment, a sudden gust of cold wind blew through.
Li Yidao felt a bone-chilling cold sensation and instinctively turned to look at the mourning hall’s location.
To his surprise, Zhang Ermao’s ghostly figure appeared to come to life, completely different from the previous blank expression.
The scarecrow behind him had an even more bizarre expression. Li Yidao could sense, or perhaps see, the scarecrow tilting its head as if confirming the fact that he could see it.
Countless strands of threads wrapped around Zhang Ermao’s ghostly form began extending, with the extra threads drifting in the direction of the village entrance.
Li Yidao had a foreboding feeling in his heart.
He no longer paid attention to what was happening inside the mourning hall but turned to Zhang Goudan.
“Quickly, tell me what you know! If you do, I’ll help you extend your life,” Li Yidao demanded.
However, Zhang Goudan, perhaps due to the earlier chilling wind, was now completely overtaken by fear.
His will to survive had seemingly vanished, and he had entered a state of shock.
Seeing this, Li Yidao’s heart sank. The breakthrough he had just achieved appeared to be in vain.
“Smack!” Li Yidao suddenly slapped Zhang Goudan across the face.
The temporary pain seemed to jolt Zhang Goudan back to his senses, but the fear still lingered.
“Tell me what you know, and I can save you now. Otherwise, you can wait for death on your own!”
Li Yidao made one final effort.
Zhang Goudan hesitated for a moment, then quickly swallowed and began to speak, “The Scarecrow God is a deity worshipped within our organization. Any follower of the Scarecrow God can use the abilities granted by the deity.”
But as soon as Zhang Goudan had spoken those two sentences, his pupils dilated, and fear once again filled his eyes.
He clutched his throat as if something was suppressing it.
As for Li Yidao, he watched the unfolding events with a cold and detached expression, his eyes fixed firmly on what was happening behind Zhang
Goudan.
Behind him, the shadowy figure of the scarecrow, which Li Yidao had seen earlier, seemed to come to life.
While Zhang Goudan was narrating, the scarecrow reached from behind and strangled him.
Li Yidao attempted to use the Blade of Death, but to his dismay, it did not affect the shadowy scarecrow.
That was why he remained motionless, unable to take any action.
What were these shadowy scarecrows?
Li Yidao couldn’t help but wonder.
After about ten seconds, Zhang Goudan in front of Li Yidao died, his eyes filled with reluctance.
As for the shadowy scarecrow behind him, it turned into an illusion and dissipated with the wind, as if Zhang Goudan’s death marked the end of its existence.
Watching all this unfold, it seemed even more mysterious now.
Li Yidao observed the events in front of him, unsure of how to make sense of this or what to do next.
However, at that moment, a hoarse voice sounded from somewhere…
“Young man, leave quickly. This place isn’t clean,” an old man in traditional Chinese attire suddenly appeared at the door.
He continued, “That kid from the Zhang family brought this upon himself. Let’s bury him with his father early tomorrow morning…”
Li Yidao scanned the area and then noticed an old man’s figure at the door, dressed in a Chinese tunic suit.
The old man held a large tobacco pipe and had a stooped posture due to age. Li Yidao was stunned.
It was late at night, and this man suddenly appeared and said such things.
It could give someone quite a scare.
However, Li Yidao could tell at a glance that this old man clearly knew something, and had experienced something.
Otherwise, how could he witness Zhang Goudan’s death without any reaction?
That wasn’t a normal response.
“Kid, I won’t advise you to leave, but there are many times when knowing too much isn’t necessarily a good thing. Sometimes, it’s better to avoid some things,” the old man said.
“Forget it, I’ve said too much, and it’s useless. I can see that you don’t plan on leaving, ” he continued.
“Since you’re a funeral master, just wait here. I’ll go get some people to bring Zhang’s body to the mourning hall.”
“Tomorrow morning, you can organize their burials. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, no matter the grudges, once people die, it’s over.”
With that said, the old man turned around and left.
Watching the old man’s back, Li Yidao became even more puzzled.
What was going on in this village?
Why were there so many strange people?
First, they wanted him to leave, and now they were giving him a job.
Not only that, as Li Yidao turned around again, he found that Zhang Ermao’s ghostly figure in the mourning hall had disappeared!
The ghostly scarecrow figure that had trapped him was also gone!
Now, the only things remaining in the entire Zhang family courtyard were Zhang Goudan’s body and the already placed coffin containing Zhang Ermao’s body.
The only other presence was the scarecrow lying on the ground.
Li Yidao silently absorbed the eerie atmosphere in the courtyard as he contemplated the information Zhang Goudan had shared.
Their organization truly seemed mysterious!
Worshipping different “deities”?
And gaining corresponding powers by worshipping these “deities”?
Li Yidao couldn’t believe it!
In this world, there were no such things as deities!
So, there must be something he couldn’t fathom within all this…
After about half an hour, a group of people entered the Zhang family courtyard in silence.
Their ages ranged from fifty to seventy.
Several elderly individuals, including the one who had spoken to Li Yidao earlier, stood in the same spot near the entrance.
They gazed into the courtyard, their expressions devoid of joy or sorrow, impossible to read.
Moreover, they all made it clear that they were staying outside the gate!
Not only that, the people who entered skillfully walked into one of the rooms, lifted a coffin, placed Zhang Goudan’s body into it with remarkable proficiency, and then closed the coffin.
Every step, from handling the corpse to closing the coffin, was executed flawlessly, as if they had done it countless times before.
Li Yidao watched all of this unfold in silence without saying a word.
The more he observed their actions, the more unsettled he felt.
What kind of place was this village?
Why were all the villagers so peculiar?
Not only did they show no concern for Zhang Goudan’s death, but everything they did was performed with incredible efficiency, as if it were routine.
The more Li Yidao saw, the more bewildered he became.
One thing was certain. This village had issues.
Not only that, but these issues were significant!
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