Chapter 393: Chapter 359: After Some Back and Forth, We Don’t Owe Each Other a Thing
Under Chang Zimo’s lead,
Chu He, Lai Yu Yao, Sun Canxing, Yu Yingjie, and the others walked slowly down the main road of Xia Shui Village.
The night sky hung low and heavy, like a giant swath of black silk,
enveloping the entire village in a dense shroud of twilight.
The main road was like a long, deep corridor,
stretching into the endless darkness as if it had no end.
The surroundings were eerily still, the silence broken only by their somewhat heavy footsteps
and the occasional whisper of the evening wind.
The wind was like a mysterious messenger,
murmuring unknown stories into their ears but refusing to reveal any of its secrets.
An oppressive aura hung in the air, so tangible
that it weighed down on everyone’s hearts, making it hard to breathe.
Along the road, the doors and windows of every house were shut tight, like silent barriers.
Their sealed state seemed to be a firm rejection of any outside prying,
or perhaps a careful guarding of some unspeakable secret.
Behind every window, it was as if pairs of peering eyes were set into the frames.
They belonged to women of all ages.
Some were white-haired and wrinkled, the deep marks of time carved into their faces.
Others were still young and innocent, their gazes filled with a naive curiosity and confusion about the world outside.
Their faces were all different, but without exception, they were all leaning against their windowsills,
silently watching the group of young people pass by.
On some windows, the dust of ages formed a fine cobweb,
casting a thin haze that blurred the faces behind them.
It was like viewing them through a mysterious veil,
creating a dreamlike, surreal feeling, as if they belonged to another world.
Other windows, however, were clean and bright, like mirrors clearly reflecting the women’s faces.
Their gazes were complex and hard to read.
Some eyes sparkled with curiosity, like stars in the night sky, eager to see through these outsiders.
Others held a scrutinizing look, as if assessing whether the young people posed a threat to the village.
And still others were as cold as ice, their stares piercing straight into the young people’s hearts like a winter wind.
These varied gazes were like invisible chains,
wrapping tightly around them, binding them to this strange and unsettling atmosphere.
It gave them a suffocating feeling of being trapped in a mire with no escape.
As the young men and women felt these gazes upon them,
an inexplicable chill involuntarily rose in their hearts.
It was like a cold snake slithering up their spines, instantly spreading throughout their bodies
and leaving them chilled to the bone.
The night grew thicker, like a pool of ink spreading ever outward.
The dim yellow halos of the streetlights swayed gently in the breeze,
their flickering light like will-o’-the-wisps dancing in the darkness.
The halos illuminated the faces behind the windows,
making them appear somewhat sinister and cold in the shifting light and shadow,
like a series of surreal paintings.
Every detail in the scene seemed meticulously crafted,
solely to create this bone-chilling atmosphere,
instilling fear in anyone who saw it, as if they were trapped in a terrifying nightmare.
Chang Zimo and his men, however, seemed completely unaffected by the eerie atmosphere.
Their faces were as calm as still water, showing not the slightest ripple of emotion,
like a bottomless ancient well.
Their steps were steady and strong, each one landing firmly on the ground with a solid sound,
as if they were long accustomed to all of this, as if it were a scene they experienced every day.
Or perhaps they simply hadn’t noticed the undercurrent hidden beneath the calm surface—
an undercurrent like a raging whirlpool, ready to drag someone into endless darkness at any moment.
Their shadows stretched long under the dim yellow streetlights,
intertwining with the peering gazes from all around,
creating a stark yet bizarre contrast and adding an extra layer of indescribable mystery,
making one feel all the more that this village was full of unknown enigmas.
"I’m a little scared..."
A timid girl gripped her companion’s arm tightly, her fingers turning white from the force. Her voice trembled like a leaf in the wind,
quavering with a fear that seemed to penetrate to her very bones.
In the houses on both sides of the main road, every window framed a woman’s face.
The faces of these women—tall and short, plump and thin, old and young—were pressed tightly against the glass.
No matter how you looked at it, the scene was utterly terrifying.
A chill rose from the soles of their feet,
shooting straight to the crowns of their heads and making their legs feel weak.
"See no evil, hear no evil. See no evil, hear no evil. See no evil, hear no evil..."
Another young man pressed his palms together in front of his chest. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, trying to focus inward and force his attention only on the road immediately before him as he stuck close to the group. He was muttering incessantly.
Though his voice was quiet, it was unusually clear in the silent atmosphere,
as if he were chanting a protective spell to banish the fear in his heart.
Seeing this, a few of the able-bodied men from Xia Shui Village couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
They grinned, revealing uneven teeth, their eyes filled with open contempt.
Comments