Just like what he heard from the black-robed man, the holy lake and the ghost lake were once a whole lake, and no one knows when they suddenly got split into 2 lakes. The water of the holy lake nurtures the people of Holy Lake City, making them prosperous and happy, while the ghost lake is predictably miserable. In the beginning, the people of ghost lake village needed to go to the holy lake to fetch water to drink. Later, gradually no one came to fetch water.
The old woman sighed, “I’m older, so of course I know a lot more. On the ghost lake’s side are all the people who were expelled from Holy Lake City. When someone makes a mistake, commits a crime, or angers the city lord, they will be expelled to the ghost lake’s side. The name is called ghost lake, of course, ghosts exist there. My aunt is also over there.”
When the old woman said this, Lou Fan immediately looked at her. Her face looked calm and her eyes are expressionless.
“If the ghost lake and the holy lake can be connected, the two lakes will be integrated again… then, the people of the ghost lake village will be able to come back.”
The old woman stopped and looked at Lou Fan.
Lou Fan asked anxiously, “Then do you know how to connect the 2 lakes?”
“Child, of course I know. If you can help me with something, I’ll tell you how to connect them.”
This is it! Lou Fan immediately replied, “Just said it, we will do our best.”
“Go to the City Lord’s mansion and rescue my Ah Feng.”
…
The group of 7 people hid behind the wooden house, watching as the ghosts took off their human skins and sank into the water one by one. When there is no more figures on the shore, they came out and began to prepare to enter the water.
Wen Lang’s breath-holding skill is alright but Jiang Dong is a bit bad at it. Fortunately, Wen Lang still had a small pearl in his hand so he handed it to Jiang Dong. Jiang Dong refused, and Wen Lang pretended to be angry, “I still have a few more of this thing. Don’t force yourself to endure. The moment you can’t hold back down there, you’ll drown. Then, won’t you become a drowned ghost?”
Jiang Dong wanted to laugh but after thinking about it, he felt that what Wen Lang said is quite right so he held back. In fact, as Tong Fei and the others said, they don’t need to dive too far so he just endures a bit and it’ll be fine, but Wen Lang’s kindness means he is caring about him.
Seeing that it is almost time, Tong Fei took the lead and stepped into the water. Soon, her whole body sank and disappeared. The other 6 people followed suit. This is the first time Wen Lang enter the water after the Lao Ye Temple mission world. Wen Lang felt that this lake is a teeny weeny little better than Lao Ye Temple’s lake.
Sure enough, just like what Tong Fei said, about 10 minutes after they got into the water, they saw something like the mouth of a cave. They couldn’t see anything further down, it is pitch black. After swimming into the cave, Wen Lang’s feet stepped on the ground, and after swimming forward for more than 10 meters, the water stopped coming in. Wen Lang twisted the water from his clothing and looked back. He felt that the lake is really strange. There is a hole in the lake but the water couldn’t get in, how strange.
“Be careful with those ghosts.” Tong Fei and the rest leaned against the stone wall vigilantly. She reminded Wen Lang, who is still standing in the middle.
Hearing that, Jiang Dong pulled Wen Lang, and he immediately slammed into Jiang Dong’s arms, making Wen Lang feel like his ribs are about to break. The pain made Wen Lang bared his teeth, “Damn it, are you made of steel?!”
Jiang Rou smirked, and Tong Fei also curved the corners of her mouth.
Feng Zhi is still very indifferent, “Don’t waste time and follow our initial plan.”
Wen Lang is a little afraid of people like Feng Zhi as she reminded him of the dean of the school when he was a student. Immediately, he behaved himself and didn’t dare to grimace too much.
The main purpose of the group is to find a way to the holy lake so that they can go to meet Qin Tan and the others. Because it is the 2nd time she came down, Tong Fei found a hidden place with some familiarity. They silently observed the ghosts and found that they are just wandering in the cave. Soon, they will disappear somewhere else after a while, and they didn’t know what the ghosts are actually doing. However, the group doesn’t care too much. The important thing is not the ghosts, but to find the way.
Chen Man and Fan Dayong passed here with the ‘village chief’ once. Several people analyzed the cave. Since they can come into this cave from the lake, why the ‘village chief’ has to come in through another entrance and have to ring the bell? The reason is probably that the ‘village chief’ must keep wearing human skin, which means he can’t take off the human skin and enter the hole from the water. Another point is that the bell must be a very important tool. If there is no bell, it may be difficult to get through.
But anyway, finding the way to the holy lake first is the most important thing.
Those ghosts are very familiar with the cave, so the group has to be careful. They don’t dare to make a sound when the ghosts passed by and stick closely to the stone wall. Cold water seeps out of the stone walls, and they gathered into puddles on the ground.
Crap. Wen Lang’s heart sank[1].
A soft sound rang out from the hole. To the group, it sounded like the sound is magnified countless times. They don’t dare to breathe and can only hope that the ghosts passing by don’t hear it. Regrettably, 6 or 7 ghosts immediately gathered around.
Tong Fei ran away into a fork without saying a word, followed by Jiang Rou. On the other hand, Feng Zhi ran to the other direction of the fork and Wen Lang immediately chased after her, followed by Jiang Dong. Chen Man’s reaction is also immediate. He pulled Fan Dayong and ran, their speed is fast.
In the cave, the ghosts seemed to have a buff in their ability. They chased after the 3 teams for a while, with a sharp sound from their mouths. Soon, other ghosts followed behind.
The 3 teams all ran very fast, and the weapons in their hands kept swinging out. Jiang Rou’s vines rolled up the ghosts blocking their way and threw them behind, slowing down those ghosts who are behind. Feng Zhi’s umbrella opened and kept spinning. The edge of the umbrella is extremely sharp. With Wen Lang’s poker and Jiang Dong’s bandages that seem unlimited, the 3-people team has the least amount of ghosts in their way.
In comparison, Chen Man and Fan Dayong’s luck is very bad as many ghosts are chasing after them. Chen Man held an axe to open the way in front. Although Fan Dayong’s gun is also an intermediate spirit weapon, it is a long-range weapon after all. When they turned into a fork in a panic, a large group of ghosts came oncoming.
“ARGH!” Chen Man ruthlessly charged, holding his axe and desperately slashing at the ghost. When he managed to slash a gap in front of him, Chen Man gritted his teeth and grabbed Fan Dayong who was behind him, and pushed him forward to the gap. After that, he turned to face the ghost behind them and continued slashing. Then he shouted while slashing, “Da Yong, hurry up, be sure to follow the team leader.”
Fan Dayong gritted his teeth and wanted to step forward. He held his gun and kept shooting. However, the steel balls are not very effective on the ghosts, so they kept pouncing on Chen Man. Chen Man let out a low roar, and shouted again while enduring the pain, “Go, quickly!”
The group of ghosts gathered around Chen Man. Seeing that he is about to lose his hold, Fan Dayong said “I’m sorry”, turned around, and ran away with red eyes and gritted teeth. Soon, his figure could not be seen anymore.
“I’ll fight you guys to death!” Chen Man yelled, raised his axe, and rushed towards the ghosts.
…
“Are you all right?” Wen Lang asked.
Tong Fei and Jiang Rou looked a little bit in a sorry state. As for Feng Zhi, Wen Lang, and Jiang Dong, they looked normal as usual.
Jiang Rou said with a smile, “It’s okay, Sister Fei’s big sword is very powerful.”
Tong Fei didn’t see the other two people and asked, “Did you see Chen Man and Fan Dayong?”
All 3 people shook their heads.
Tong Fei felt helpless, but after thinking about it, she said, “Let’s look for them along the way.” It’s pure luck that the 5 people managed to meet up again from randomly running around.
Turning a corner, an unusual-looking hole appeared in front of them, and there is actually a ray of light shining from there. The group of 5 people walked in slowly, with Jiang Dong on guard at the end.
There are glowing beads on the stone walls inside the cave and 2 rows of poles like clothes drying poles in the middle. A row of hangers hangs from each pole, neatly drying a row of human skins.
Except for Jiang Dong who is still behind and hasn’t seen anything, the other 4 couldn’t help bursting into a cold sweat. This is like a factory, producing human skins. Seeing those caused chills to run down their back.
“Let’s go.” Jiang Rou’s voice is trembling and her face is pale. She looked like she is about to vomit in the next second.
Tong Fei nodded and took her out immediately. Wen Lang also grabbed Jiang Dong and walked out. He didn’t want to stay for a moment longer. This scene is making goosebumps stand up all over his body.
Feng Zhi is the calmest among them. She even went in for a walk and found that the human skin is really a complete state, from head to toe.
“Where did these human skins come from?” Feng Zhi calmly analyzed, “And what are they used for? They won’t belong to the villagers because their skins are all on the shore.”
…
Lou Fan and Qin Tan walked from the old woman’s yard to the door and found 3 people waiting at the door. When the other team members saw Lou Fan and Qin Tan coming out, they immediately greeted them. They are relieved to see that both men are in good condition.
Gao Yi glanced inside and whispered, “Why did you stay there for so long? We couldn’t knock on the door, and couldn’t get in. We almost wanted to try breaking down the door.”
“Why can’t you knock on the door?” Lou Fan wondered.
Gao Yi also looked inexplicable as he replied, “I don’t know. No one answered when I knocked, and I couldn’t push it open.”
Nie Feng was leaning against the wall earlier, but now he straightened up and said lazily, “It should be the restriction of the NPC, you can’t force the door.”
Qin Tan is very satisfied with his team member and said with a smile, “Nie Feng’s analysis is good. Let’s go back to the inn first. You should have also gotten some news, right? We will summarize it when we go back.”
The group of 5 people gathered in Lou Fan’s room, and Lou Fan and Qin Tan told the members what happened today.
“I knew it, Brother Lou would definitely be able to find the key NPC. See, this is an important clue.” Chen Shuyang’s flatters are coming out smoothly.
Gao Yi didn’t expect the old woman to be really a key NPC and also gave them an important clue. Since he had missed it before, this time he couldn’t screw it up again. He immediately said, “Count me in to save the girl.”
Nie Feng also opened his eyes and thought seriously for a few seconds. Then he said, “I’m going to save the girl too. Lou Fan is tired from today’s NPC mission, so he should take a rest.”
Qin Tan glanced at the 2 men, nodded, and said, “Okay, then the 3 of us will go save the girl.”
Chen Shuyang didn’t say anything. He isn’t someone who should be charging into battle. The military advisor of the team doesn’t have to be at the front line. This is what everyone agreed with so Chen Shuyang doesn’t uncomfortable at all (of not helping out with battles).
Lou Fan put his arms around Chen Shuyang and said, “Alright, Shuyang and I will wait for you guys to come back. We will go out for a walk along the way.”
Gao Yi asked, “Then, what does Ah Feng look like? Did the old woman tell you where she is locked?”
Lou Fan looked helpless as he answered, “The old woman said that her Ah Feng is very good-looking. She has a mole on her face and is quite tall and strong. En… anyway, she’s pretty.”
With such a description, he couldn’t imagine how good-looking Ah Feng will be. In summary, she is just a tall and strong girl which has nothing to do with being good-looking.
Raw word count: 3037
#SorryChenManDude
#RestInPeaceMan
#EditedMTL
#IAmABananaTranslation
#AppreciateKofi
#AppreciateComments
#NoRepostInWattpad
#PleaseTurnOffAdblock
#ManyThanksForReading
[1] Not sure if author missed out something and didn’t write it or just trying to make it mysterious, but he/she didn’t state what/who made the soft sound. Banana is guessing someone accidentally stepped onto a puddle :v