Xu Muchan and Wei Xilou reached the nearest house. Xu Muchan lifted the skylight on the roof and looked inside. As expected, there was no one there. He immediately climbed in with Wei Xilou, then closed the skylight and bolted it from the inside.
Faint sounds of skylights opening and closing came from outside. The others had apparently taken his warning and followed suit, hiding inside the houses.
After a while, the sounds of skylights opening and closing stopped. The entire village became extremely quiet, and the “gurgle, gurgle” sound became more distinct.
The houses inhabited by the chicken-headed people had no windows, so there was no way to see what was happening outside. However, through the cracks around the skylight, Xu Muchan noticed that it had apparently become night outside. The cracks that had still been faintly glowing white were now pitch-black.
It was as if the entire world had gone from perpetual daylight to eternal night in an instant.
Xu Muchan pressed his ear against the wall and carefully listened to the sounds outside.
Apart from the “gurgle, gurgle” noises, there was also a heavy dragging sound. At first, it seemed to be quite far away, but before long, the heavy dragging grew closer. Xu Muchan estimated that the thing was now only a few houses away from them.
A “knock, knock” sound came from nearby, sounding like someone knocking on a door.
“Is anyone inside?”
After the knocking, a strange voice buzzed through the air. It was difficult to describe. It sounded as though the voices of countless people had been mixed together—men, women, the elderly, and children all speaking at once, yet somehow all coming through a single voice.
No one answered.
The thing fell silent for a moment, then the dragging sound moved toward the next house.
Then came the repeated knocking and questioning.
“Knock, knock.”
“Is anyone inside?”
No one answered. After a moment, it moved on to the next house.
Soon, it reached the house where Xu Muchan was hiding. The skylight was knocked on, and the muffled “knock, knock” echoed throughout the narrow room. The strange voice buzzed, “Is anyone inside?”
Xu Muchan breathed as quietly as possible, both hands gripping Wei Xilou tightly. Wei Xilou’s eyes were faintly reddened.
Wei Xilou frowned at the skylight, his face filled with displeasure. If Xu Muchan had not been holding him tightly, he might already have opened the skylight and rushed outside.
The outside became very quiet.
Xu Muchan held his breath and waited for the thing to leave.
But after a while, the skylight was knocked on again.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
This time, the force behind the knocking seemed greater. The skylight shook violently, and fine dust fell through the cracks.
The thing outside asked in its buzzing voice, “Why aren’t the people inside saying anything?”
Xu Muchan looked up at the skylight but still did not answer. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he gauged the height of the skylight.
Although the house was not large, it was nearly three meters high. Yet before the thing outside knocked on the skylight, he had not heard any sound of it climbing. That meant the thing outside was definitely enormous.
To knock on a skylight nearly three meters above the ground, it did not even need to climb. It could simply raise its hand.
The people inside and the thing outside silently faced off.
After about five minutes, a sound that seemed almost like a sigh came from outside. Only then did the heavy dragging begin again, accompanied by the “gurgle, gurgle” noises as it moved toward another house.
Although he had no idea why this monster could not enter the house, Xu Muchan was at least somewhat relieved.
The situation in this ghost domain was unclear. They had only just arrived and had yet to figure anything out, so it was better not to provoke a confrontation.
He pulled the displeased Wei Xilou over to sit beside the bed and continued listening to the sounds outside.
The thing outside seemed to be knocking on each house one by one. If no one answered, it would move on to the next house. Only when it reached Xu Muchan’s house did it refuse to leave for a long time, asking twice.
Xu Muchan frowned in thought. What was special about this place? Could it be that the thing had discovered that he and Brother were different?
Just as he turned his face to study Wei Xilou, he suddenly heard the thing outside say, “Then I’m coming in.”
Xu Muchan abruptly raised his head and looked toward the source of the voice.
Someone had answered the monster?
Next, he clearly heard the skylight being opened, followed by sounds of something being dragged. It was as though the enormous creature was squeezing through the narrow skylight and pulling out the person hiding inside.
In the silent night, a high-pitched scream rang out, then abruptly stopped.
The village fell silent again.
The heavy dragging sound was gone. The “gurgle, gurgle” noises were gone as well, as though everything that had happened before had merely been an illusion.
In the dead silence, there was not a sound.
No one dared to recklessly open the skylight to check what had happened outside. Judging from the sound just now, the victim had been a man. His voice had sounded somewhat familiar, and after thinking for a moment, Xu Muchan identified him.
He was one of the people Ouyang Mu had brought with him.
He had been responsible for driving earlier. He did not talk much, but his voice was rather distinctive.
Xu Muchan frowned, unable to understand why the man had opened the skylight. As long as he had remained silent and not answered, the thing would have left on its own.
What had happened in between?
Xu Muchan could not figure it out. The crack around the skylight was still pitch-black, which meant dawn had not yet come and it was still nighttime.
He did not venture outside. Instead, he simply lay back on the hard wooden bed, rested his head on Wei Xilou’s lap, and closed his eyes.
“I’ll rest for a while. Wake me when it’s daylight.”
Wei Xilou lowered his eyes and gently touched his eyelashes.
Xu Muchan’s eyelids trembled, but he did not open his eyes again.
Calling it rest was really just closing his eyes and recuperating for a while. This night seemed unusually long. It felt as though an eternity had passed before Xu Muchan finally felt light filtering through the cracks of the skylight.
There was no need for Wei Xilou to wake him. He sat up on his own and looked up at the skylight.
“It’s daylight.”
It was still very quiet outside, without the sound of any living creature. Xu Muchan guessed that the others still did not dare to come out recklessly.
He pulled open the latch on the skylight, then leaped up, grabbed its edge, and climbed out.
Wei Xilou followed closely behind.
It was indeed daytime outside, but there was no transition from night to day whatsoever. It was like changing slides in a PowerPoint presentation—the world had gone from night to blazing midday sunshine in an instant.
Xu Muchan raised a hand to shield his eyes and looked up at the sky. He discovered that the sun was in exactly the same position as it had been yesterday.
At that moment, movement came from the Ascension Tower again.
Standing on the roof gave Xu Muchan an advantage in height, and at a glance, he saw the chicken-headed people who had disappeared without a trace during the night gradually emerging from the Ascension Tower.
Some continued doing what they had not finished the night before, while others headed toward the houses.
Xu Muchan’s brows twitched. He silently dropped to the ground, quickly knocked on the nearby houses, and reminded the people inside to come out immediately.
Yesterday, when the chicken-headed people had allowed them to stay, they had specifically warned them not to wander around.
Now that the entire village was filled with strange phenomena, it was difficult to say what would happen if the chicken-headed people discovered that they had entered the houses.
The people who received the warning gradually came out of the houses.
Everyone looked rather grim. Jin Qingqing quickly counted the people, then her brows furrowed.
“We’re missing two.”
Only one person had gotten into trouble last night. Where had the other person gone?
Everyone immediately began searching in all directions.
Then they saw the chicken-headed people scattered throughout the village suddenly gathering around the house closest to the Ascension Tower. Faint sounds of arguing could be heard.
Everyone hurried over as well, only to see the missing person being surrounded by a group of chicken-headed people outside the house.
The missing person was also someone Ouyang Mu had brought with him. His name was Zhu Zhicheng. He had probably become separated from everyone while hiding last night, then come out late today, only to coincidentally be blocked by the chicken-headed people returning home.
The chicken-headed people were speaking loudly. When they became angry, the deformed arms with wings attached to their backs spread open, creating an extremely oppressive sight.
Zhu Zhicheng was doing his best to explain.
“I encountered danger last night, so I had no choice but to hide inside the house. I didn’t touch any of your things either. If you don’t believe me, you can go inside and take a look…”
The chicken-headed people did not listen to his explanation at all. They angrily accused him.
“Thief. You don’t follow the rules. Drive these mortals out.”
Seeing this, Jin Qingqing hurried forward to mediate.
After experiencing the terrifying night, she was even more cautious around the chicken-headed people. Fortunately, during the day, these chicken-headed people were still relatively reasonable. After Jin Qingqing and the others repeatedly apologized and promised not to do it again, they finally managed to avoid another confrontation.
Zhu Zhicheng emerged from the chicken-headed people’s encirclement and walked behind Ouyang Mu, letting out a breath of relief as though he had just survived a disaster.
The chicken-headed homeowner glared angrily at him. “If you dare do it again, I won’t let you off!”
No one responded to that. They cautiously retreated to the outskirts of the village. Only then did Jin Qingqing say gravely, “What happened last night? Why did Sun Qing open the skylight?”
Everyone shook their heads. Ouyang Mu said, “Something happened suddenly yesterday. We were worried that if everyone gathered together there might be an accident, so we scattered and hid. Sun Qing was hiding in the room next to mine. I didn’t hear any particularly unusual sounds.”
But no matter how they thought about it, it didn’t make sense. Why would Sun Qing open the door and let the monsters in for no reason? Wasn’t that simply courting death?
Jin Qingqing frowned so deeply she could have crushed a fly between her brows. She asked Ouyang Mu again, “You were hiding here last night. Go check on Sun Qing’s body first……”
But after she finished speaking, she noticed that Ouyang Mu’s expression was strange, and the others’ expressions were also somewhat off.
“What?”
Ouyang Mu slowly said, “I checked the room next door when I came out. There was no body. Sun Qing is missing.”
Xu Muchan looked at Ouyang Mu when he heard this. “What about any other traces?”
“Nothing. There were no signs of struggling or fighting, and no blood left behind.” Ouyang Mu pointed toward the room where Sun Qing had hidden. “That one. You can go take a look yourselves.”
“If I hadn’t personally seen Sun Qing hide in there, I’d have thought I remembered the wrong room.”
The chicken-headed people were all busy in the open space on the left. The group approached quietly and glanced over from a distance. There really wasn’t any trace of blood.
It was far too strange.
Sun Qing had screamed so miserably last night that almost everyone had assumed they would inevitably have to face a gruesome, blood-soaked scene today.
Yet now Sun Qing’s body had vanished without a trace.
Just as everyone was thinking solemnly about this, two chicken-headed people carried a sheep past them.
Everyone else had developed a psychological shadow from these chicken-headed people and instinctively avoided them. Only Xu Muchan stared at the sheep they were carrying, frowned, and followed them.
The sheep was carried to the open space in the middle and hung upside down from a thick iron hook.
The chicken-headed people skillfully bled the sheep, skinned it, and separated the bright-red chunks of meat according to their respective sections.
All the chicken-headed people gathered around to watch, and the atmosphere was as lively as the New Year.
Xu Muchan looked toward the nearest chicken-headed person. Recognizing him as the one he’d spoken with yesterday, he casually asked, “Why is there still a sheep in the village? Don’t immortals not need to eat?”
The chicken-headed person glanced at him. He didn’t seem to dislike him and explained with a cheerful smile, “Normally, we indeed don’t need to eat. But this sheep was bestowed upon us by the Immortal.”
As they spoke, the sheep, now stripped of its meat, was taken down. An iron skewer was pushed through it, and it was placed over a bonfire that had been lit.
Xu Muchan glanced at the sheep, withdrew from the chicken-headed people’s circle, and said to Jin Qingqing and the others who had followed him, “That’s Sun Qing.”