Chu Tian extended his divine sense again, but this time, he didn't spread it outwards.
Instead, he directed it in one direction. He discovered that doing so could actually extend the range of his spiritual sense.
It was like stretching a piece of dough.
When his divine sense touched a spot he felt was different, he stopped.
This was the place...
The grove of trees behind the village was arranged in neat rows.
It seemed they weren't naturally grown but planted there.
According to the arrangement, Chu Tian's current location should have a tree.
"Let's go take a look!" Chu Tian said to everyone.
Finally, some clues?
Everyone thought this, following behind Chu Tian.
They entered the dense forest and walked for over five hundred meters.
Chu Tian stopped, crouched down, and touched a fir tree that had been cut from its base.
"Do you remember what kind of trees were around when we approached the village?" Chu Tian stood up and looked around.
"It seemed like there were a lot of cypress trees," Gao Kai replied.
Chu Tian nodded. "I remember most of them were cypress trees.
These fir trees in the grove must be over sixty years old to be this thick, right?"
The others didn't quite understand Chu Tian's meaning. Why were they suddenly discussing trees?
"I think so, at least sixty or seventy years old."
Chu Tian scanned the surrounding trees with his divine sense and said slowly, "To be precise, sixty-three to sixty-four years."
Then he pointed to the ground. "Look, this tree root, when it was felled, the growth period should have been nineteen to twenty years."
After he finished, Zhao Lei lay on the ground and carefully counted the growth rings.
"There are indeed nineteen growth rings, but what does that have to do with anything?" Zhao Lei asked.
"Remember the house at the village entrance? When Xu Duoduo was telling us about it, she said that house was the newest in the village.
And we just surveyed the area, and besides the cypress trees nearby, there's only this grove of fir trees.
The beams of that house are made of fir wood, likely from this very tree," Chu Tian explained.
After Chu Tian finished, everyone still looked at him in confusion.
Seeing that they still didn't understand, he continued, "Think about that eighth knife mark. To be precise, it should be the first one.
That mark was likely made when the bark was still on the tree.
So, if someone hanged themselves on it when there was bark, it must have been when this tree was alive!"
At this, everyone finally understood: "You mean this tree was a crooked-neck tree? Someone hanged themselves on it, and then it was cut down to be used as a beam.
The ghost of the hanged person attached itself to the tree and killed that family of seven?"
Chu Tian gave a wry smile. "If there are really ghosts, then that's probably how it happened."
At this moment, Ye Ling suddenly made a shushing gesture.
Everyone followed her gaze.
Xu Duoduo whispered in surprise, "How is this possible? It's never appeared so many times in one day.
If you count the first time Chu Tian saw it, this is the third time it's appeared before us!"
The night lynx cat had reappeared. This time, it was on a tree not far from them, staring intently at everyone.
To be precise, it was staring at Chu Tian among them.
Everyone looked at him. Was it appearing repeatedly because it was looking for Chu Tian?
Zhao Lei raised his hand to fire, but Ye Ling grabbed him and shook her head.
After a whole night of searching, there was still no clue.
Everyone could only place their hopes on this lynx cat.
Chu Tian knew what everyone was thinking, but looking at the eerie night lynx cat, he felt a shiver.
Thus, the five people and one soul were locked in a standoff with the lynx cat.
Suddenly, someone kicked Chu Tian in the butt.
He stumbled forward and looked back, only to see everyone behind him with innocent expressions.
Chu Tian cursed inwardly: Damn it... it must have been Zhao Lei.
He gave Zhao Lei a fierce glare, but Zhao Lei shrugged, as if to say, "It wasn't me!"
The lynx cat on the tree, seeing their movement, instantly tensed up.
But when it saw that it was Chu Tian who moved, it didn't do anything else and just stared intently at him.
Chu Tian took a deep breath and took another step forward.
Seeing Chu Tian turn around, Zhao Lei gave Jing Kaiyu a thumbs-up and whispered, "You're really sly and cunning..."
Jing Kaiyu turned his head and mumbled, "At least I don't have to take the blame."
"Damn it..." Zhao Lei had only said two words when Ye Ling's glare silenced him.
At this moment, Chu Tian's heart rate quickened slightly as he moved step by step towards the lynx cat.
When he was about five to six meters away from everyone else, the lynx cat suddenly leaped down from the tree.
Everyone's hearts skipped a beat, thinking it was going to run away.
But to everyone's surprise, after landing, it started walking towards Chu Tian.
He stood there blankly, waiting for the lynx cat to approach.
It was impossible not to be scared at this moment.
The lynx cat came to Chu Tian's feet, sniffed him, and then looked up at Ye Ling and the others.
Then, it suddenly turned and ran a few steps. Before Chu Tian could react, it stopped and looked back at him.
It made a human-like gesture, as if inviting them to follow it.
Chu Tian turned to look at everyone.
Ye Ling nodded.
Then, they all followed behind the lynx cat.
They arrived again at the spot where it always disappeared.
It looked back at them again, then suddenly accelerated and ran headfirst into the large tree.
This time, everyone watched clearly. As it touched the tree, its body vanished with a bang.
Chu Tian quickly ran a few steps and touched the trunk.
It was just an ordinary fir tree, with nothing unusual about it.
At this point, Ye Ling and the others also ran over.
Chu Tian scanned the tree again with his divine sense but found nothing.
What was going on? The night lynx cat had led them here again and then disappeared.
What did it mean?
For a moment, everyone looked at each other, seeing surprise and astonishment in each other's eyes.
"Is this beast leading us on a tour of the small forest?" Zhao Lei muttered.
As soon as he finished speaking, they heard a "hiss..." from behind them.
Everyone turned sharply. The night lynx cat had reappeared behind them at some point.
It had appeared silently, looking at Zhao Lei with bared teeth, making a "hiss..." sound.
It was clear that it had heard Zhao Lei call it a beast.
Its sudden appearance startled everyone.
They all said cats walked silently, but they never expected such a large lynx cat to move without a sound.
Zhao Lei, in particular, was startled by its attitude towards him, but somehow, he found the courage.
He stepped forward, holding his submachine gun, and roared, "Believe it or not, I'll blast you to bits."
The lynx cat, seeing Zhao Lei step forward, was taken aback.
Then, it made a gesture that everyone understood: disdain.
Just as Zhao Lei was about to make his next move, the smell of cooking filled the air.
Everyone froze. The lynx cat clearly smelled it too, its fur bristling.
It turned its head sharply and looked towards the village.
Everyone looked up. In this deserted village, said to have been uninhabited for forty-four years, they witnessed something incredibly horrifying.