Even hybrid monsters have their day

Chapter 148 Gathering the Crowd

To avoid being discovered, Geng Miaowan didn't approach. Zheng Xiuxiu's breasts were all on her father's body, and she didn't even notice Geng Miaowan following behind her.

The further they went, the denser the trees and weeds became; by this point, it was pitch black. She couldn't think of any reason why someone of her age would come to this place, where there wasn't a soul in sight, in the middle of the night.

After walking a few more steps, a sliver of light appeared in the distant woods. Gradually, a clearing came into view, where many elderly men, each holding a torch, stood.

Zheng Xiuxiu stopped on the outer edge, and Geng Miaowan stood beside her. Because she had no head, Geng Miaowan didn't know if she turned to look at her. Anyway, as soon as she stood still, Zheng Xiuxiu's voice rang out, "Why are you here too?"

“I’m afraid something might happen to you,” she said, looking curiously at the group of old men in the open space ahead. Seeing the old man whom Zheng Xiuxiu called “Dad” also walking into the crowd, she asked, “Do you know all these people?”

Zheng Xiuxiu paused for a moment, as if observing, "Although they're all quite old, they all look like they're from Qiluo Village. A few of them are my uncles." She pointed, "That one standing next to my dad is my second uncle, Zheng Cunwei. I often heard my dad talk about him when I was little, saying that my grandfather wanted him to grow up to be the most successful person in the village, which is why he gave him that name. He's also the person I met on the mountain last night. Hehe..."

Recalling the past, she giggled.

Geng Miaowan thought her grandfather was truly a talented person. While looking in the direction Zheng Xiuxiu was pointing, she casually asked, "What's your father's name?"

“My father’s name is Zheng Cunsheng.”

Judging from the name, Zheng Xiuxiu's grandfather was definitely biased. But that's not the point. The point is that when Geng Miaowan looked in the direction Zheng Xiuxiu was pointing, she discovered that the father Zheng Cunsheng she mentioned was actually the old man who had urged her to leave the village that morning.

This... it's such a coincidence!

After entering the crowd, Zheng Cunsheng greeted a thin, elderly man and then stood aside without doing anything else.

"What are they doing?" Seeing this group of people standing there for about ten minutes, Geng Miaowan couldn't help but ask Zheng Xiuxiu. They looked like they were waiting for someone, but it was the middle of the night. Who would come up this mountain?

Zheng Xiuxiu: "I don't know either."

"Then what did you mean when you said we couldn't come from here?" Geng Miaowan recalled what Zheng Xiuxiu had said before she went to chase after Zheng Cunsheng.

“I just saw my dad walking in this direction, and for some reason, I suddenly had a sense of danger in my mind.” Zheng Xiuxiu thought for a while and then said, “Now that I think about it, over the years, I’ve searched every nook and cranny of the surrounding area for his head, but I never seem to have thought of looking here. Every time I found this area, I would go around to another place.”

"How could this be..." Geng Miaowan didn't know how a headless ghost could sense the danger signals in her brain, but her words reminded her. She tentatively asked, "Think carefully. Have you been here before, and what happened to you?"

Zheng Xiuxiu's figure flickered again, and after a moment, she suddenly screamed and disappeared.

"Zheng Xiuxiu, Zheng Xiuxiu..." Geng Miaowan called out several times, but received no response. Afraid of disturbing the group of old men in front, she didn't dare to call out loudly, but only called out softly nearby.

Zheng Xiuxiu's voice just now seemed to contain endless fear, like a midnight terror. The piercing scream not only reached Geng Miaowan's ears, but also the ears of every villager in the open space in front. The villagers in the open space opposite all stirred restlessly, looking in fright toward where Zheng Xiuxiu had just stood.

Geng Miaowan was startled and quickly bent down, hiding in the dense grass. Fortunately, the grass on this mountain was always so lush, no matter where you were.

What was that sound just now?

"I don't know, I think I saw a white shadow flash by."

"Could it be a headless ghost?"

"The headless ghost is coming to claim my life..."

The crowd buzzed with discussion, as if everyone sensed something was amiss, and those who knew each other huddled together, fearing that the headless ghost might appear before them at any moment.

"Quiet!" At that moment, the gaunt old man spoke. His face was serious, and his stern eyes swept across the grove of trees where the sound was coming from. He turned to them and said, "Don't scare yourselves. It's probably just the wind."

At this moment, an old man stepped forward and said, "Village chief, Zheng Cunwei said he saw that headless ghost with his own eyes last night."

It turns out this person is the village chief.

At this moment, another person spoke up, "Yes, and Jiang Lao Er, his flashlight was taken by the headless ghost."

"So, that headless ghost really came to claim a life?"

"This is how to do?"

Once someone started it, fear was like a tap that had been turned on, and it couldn't be turned off.

The village chief coughed a few times and said authoritatively, "For so many years, we've only heard of headless ghosts, but who has actually seen one? You all say that Jiang Lao Er and Zheng Cunwei saw one yesterday, but they're still alive and kicking, and they don't seem to be missing an arm or a leg. So even if a headless ghost really exists, it's not that scary. We just need to take good care of the one in the cave."

His words were like a reassuring pill, instantly silencing everyone present. Everyone turned to look at the cave in the distance, their eyes filled with awe, fear, and confusion…

“That thing is completely different from the headless ghost…” Zheng Cunwei muttered under his breath. Zheng Cunsheng looked around in a panic and, finding that no one had noticed what he had just said, tugged at his sleeve and whispered, “Don’t talk nonsense, or someone will hear you and cause trouble.”

Zheng Cunwei curled his lip. Last night he encountered a headless ghost, but the ghost did not show any intention of harming him. If he had accidentally entered that cave, he dared to say that he would never have come out alive.

The creature inside the cave is absolutely a devil—fierce, bloodthirsty, and inhuman.

Anyone with common sense would understand the implications of this, so he couldn't comprehend how these people could be so ignorant and foolish as to do it year after year. At the same time, he felt a deep self-loathing. Knowing that so many innocent people were being harmed, he dared not speak out because of the village chief's authority in the village, and even helped them do such heinous things.

Zheng Cunsheng seemed to sense his dissatisfaction and sighed softly, "There are some things we can't change." (To be continued.)