The black bear was momentarily stunned when it saw Zhang Chu and the others charging at it.
But soon, its ferocity was aroused, and it lumbered towards Tong Qingshan.
Three minutes later, inside the bear's cave.
Zhang Chu lit a fire and set up a grill, while Tong Qingshan sharpened a stick to roast the bear paw.
Little Grapes rested her chin in her hands, drooling with hunger.
As the sun set, darkness flooded in like a torrent from the west, swallowing the entire land in an instant.
At the entrance of the cave, a blood-red, mushroom-shaped stone emitted a faint orange-red glow.
The light enveloped the cave entrance, keeping the darkness at bay.
Following the customs of Zaoye Village, Zhang Chu placed a piece of meat under the stone.
Soon, the meat disappeared, and the orange-red glow at the entrance intensified a bit.
Zhang Chu sighed in relief, "Thankfully, it's a meat-eater."
In Yaoxu, not all guardian spirits consume meat; some require the most peculiar things.
Tong Qingshan remarked, "If every day could be as peaceful as today, that would be great!"
...
Outside the cave, the silence was eerie.
Suddenly, Little Grapes seemed drawn to something outside the cave. She turned her head, her big eyes looking towards the entrance.
At that moment, Little Grapes' mouth dropped open in shock, as if she had seen something unbelievable.
Zhang Chu frowned slightly and followed her gaze outside the cave.
It was pitch black; nothing was visible.
The nights in Yaoxu were always like this—no moon, no stars.
Once the sun set, it was pure darkness, and ordinary people couldn't see a thing.
So Zhang Chu asked Little Grapes, "Little Grapes, what did you see?"
Tong Qingshan also looked at Little Grapes.
Little Grapes suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Mom, it's Mom!"
"Mom?" Zhang Chu and Tong Qingshan felt a chill run down their spines!
At this moment, they looked outside the cave again.
Still, it was nothing but darkness, nothing could be seen.
But Little Grapes appeared anxious, staring into the darkness outside the cave, suddenly shouting, "Mom, it hurts, run, you have to run!"
Zhang Chu quickly hugged Little Grapes tightly, "Little Grapes, don't talk nonsense, how could Mom be outside!"
In truth, Little Grapes' mother had long passed away.
Zhang Chu had seen Little Grapes' mother, a woman with a pale face. After giving birth to Little Grapes, her mental state was never good, always muttering to herself. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Two years ago, on a night when the village was preparing dinner, Little Grapes' mother took a basin of meat and suddenly ran out of the village with a silly smile.
It happened so suddenly that no one could stop her.
Since then, Little Grapes' mother had completely disappeared.
In Yaoxu, such things happened often; people would suddenly lose their minds, rush into the darkness, and never return.
But now, Little Grapes was calling for her mother...
Tong Qingshan could only raise his spear, shielding Zhang Chu and Little Grapes behind him, guarding against any potential danger.
Zhang Chu comforted Little Grapes, "That's not Mom, it's a monster."
Little Grapes shook her head vigorously, "It's not a monster, that's Mom, Mom is chained by a monster!"
Then, Little Grapes shouted into the darkness, "Mom, run, run!"
Tong Qingshan and Zhang Chu were both so frightened by Little Grapes' behavior that they got goosebumps. At this point, Tong Qingshan could only shout into the darkness, "Who?"
Little Grapes pointed outside and shouted, "Dad, hit her, that old lady is a bad person, she looks so scary, her eyelids are flipped..."
As Little Grapes' voice fell, the entire cave plunged into a terrifying silence.
Around them, it was so quiet it was frightening, only the crackling of burning firewood could be heard.
Tong Qingshan's hand holding the spear was sweaty.
Facing this unknown darkness, Tong Qingshan felt more pressure than when facing the Great Horned Python.
Little Grapes also sensed something was wrong, she quieted down, hiding in Zhang Chu's arms, covering her eyes with her hands.
But she couldn't help peeking through her fingers at the outside, as if she could really see something in the darkness.
This eerie silence lasted for an unknown amount of time until suddenly, a light rustling of footsteps came from outside the cave.
The footsteps gradually moved away.
It was as if someone had been standing at the cave entrance all along, but now they were leaving.
As the footsteps faded, the terrifying sense of deathly silence around them disappeared.
At this moment, Little Grapes whispered, "They left."
Zhang Chu exhaled, his heart pounding.
Tong Qingshan gently put away his spear, his voice trembling slightly, "They won't... come back, right?"
Zhang Chu quickly said, "Qingshan, block the entrance with branches, don't let the light from inside the cave shine outside."
"Okay!"
Soon, some pre-prepared branches were used to block the entrance, completely isolating the darkness outside.
With that, the three of them felt much safer. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
At this moment, Zhang Chu looked at Little Grapes, "Little Grapes, what exactly did you see just now?"
"I saw Mom, being led by an old lady with iron chains." Little Grapes looked very scared.
"An old lady? Iron chains? Mom?" Zhang Chu frowned.
He thought Little Grapes shouldn't remember her mother because when her mother left, Little Grapes was still very young, not even able to walk or talk.
But soon, Zhang Chu asked again, "How many people was the old lady leading?"
"A lot!" Little Grapes said, "Many sisters and aunts, all being led by that old lady, they formed a long line."
Then, Little Grapes said dejectedly, "But I recognized Mom, and Mom didn't recognize me, she didn't even look at me."
Zhang Chu asked more, but Little Grapes couldn't say anything further.
At this point, Tong Qingshan punched a stone beside him, shattering it, and said angrily, "I really want to train quickly, so one day I can venture into the darkness and see what's really there!"
Zhang Chu knew that Tong Qingshan had always had unresolved feelings about Little Grapes' mother's disappearance.
At this moment, Zhang Chu patted Tong Qingshan on the shoulder without saying a word.
The night passed uneventfully.
The next morning, the three of them ate some bear meat and bear paw before setting off again.
Although they deliberately avoided most villages and Great Demons, they still encountered some hunting teams from other villages.
However, there were no conflicts between them, and everyone got along peacefully.
But the further they went, the heavier Zhang Chu and Tong Qingshan's hearts became.
Because they had already come across six corrupted villages in a row.
From a distance, those corrupted villages had guardian deities that were malfunctioning, with the leaves of plant guardian deities crawling with all sorts of terrifying insects.
Some stone guardian deities were riddled with holes.
Yet, the corrupted people seemed completely unaware of their condition, interacting normally and even greeting them kindly...
Besides these people, they also encountered more mutated animals.
There were mutated hornets, their bodies tattered, yet they could still fly.
Of course, these hornets weren't so friendly; upon seeing Zhang Chu and Tong Qingshan, they immediately flew over, trying to sting them.
Zhang Chu and Tong Qingshan ran for their lives, not daring to let these hornets touch them.
There were also corrupted wolf packs trying to hunt Zhang Chu and the others, but they managed to avoid them.
"Why is the corruption so severe around here? It feels like half the creatures have been corrupted," Tong Qingshan said.
Zhang Chu also frowned, a sense of foreboding lingering in his heart.
Another day was coming to an end.
In the evening, Zhang Chu and Tong Qingshan targeted a tiger lizard, planning to take over its lair for the night.