"I was shocked, “You took the hit for us!”

A warlock, if willing to sacrifice their life, could indeed block a disaster for someone.

According to fortune tellers, disasters are part of destiny; there's no escaping them unless someone takes your place, perhaps allowing you to avoid calamity.

Before Feng Ruoxing could speak, the tour guide at the front of the bus suddenly said, "Actually, that welcoming stone was originally a pair. It's just that the other half fell down the mountain."

"There's also a legend in Taiqu Mountain about the half of the stone that fell."

The story goes that a man, after drinking too much, was walking home late at night when the familiar road grew increasingly distant, eventually leading him to the mountainside. As he walked along the cliff, he heard a loud crash behind him and turned to see a stone the size of a millstone had fallen to the ground.

The man was immediately startled into a cold sweat, and the alcohol's effects mostly vanished as he turned and headed home.

However, the more he walked, the more he felt someone following him, occasionally calling his name.

The man was terrified. He knew that in the mountains, you must never turn around when you hear someone call your full name.

In the mountains, only mountain spirits call people by their full names, and if you turn around, you'll be trapped by the ghost.

The more the man thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he scrambled all the way home.

He wanted to say a few words to his wife, but he saw her already asleep, facing the wall. He called her name twice but couldn't wake her, so he decided to lie down and sleep first.

When he woke up, he saw his wife lying next to him, dressed in red and pale as a ghost. She was already stiff.

The man was so frightened that he ran out shouting for help, but none of the villagers who came dared to touch the body.

They all said that although her eyes were closed, the corpse seemed to be watching them, and anyone who went near it felt like the eyes were moving.

According to local beliefs, the woman had become a vengeful spirit.

The villagers dared not touch the body, but they couldn't leave it lying in the house like that. Finally, they had to ask a respected monk at the temple for help.

The man, following the village chief's instructions, went to the temple on the mountain to burn incense and make a wish.

That night, a monk indeed arrived.

The high monk told him, "Your wife was no ordinary person; she possessed some magic. She calculated that you were destined for a natural disaster, so she died in your place.

When you came back last night, did you stand for a while near the place where the stone fell?"

The man hesitantly told the high monk that he had felt a sudden urge while walking below the cliff, and he had urinated there.

The high monk said, "That's right! When you stood under the cliff, you were actually waiting to die. When the time came, that stone would have taken your life.

You didn't die because your wife's soul stood on your head, helping you bear the weight of that stone. After you left, she let the stone fall.

Her soul came out to save you, but without guidance, it couldn't find its way back.

That night, she kept calling you from behind. If you had just turned your head, you could have led her home, and she would have lived.

But you mistook her for a soul-reaping mountain spirit and ran home as fast as you could.

Her soul couldn't catch up to you, so it floated outside. At daybreak, her soul got lost, and she died."

The tour guide paused there, and I added, "There must be more to this story, right?"

The tour guide smiled, "Indeed, there is a sequel to this story. But, I don't think you want to hear what happened next."

I laughed, "I really want to hear the rest of the story."

The tour guide held up the microphone and asked, "Is there anyone else who wants to hear the rest of the story? If there are enough people who want to hear it, I'll continue."

More than half of the passengers on the bus raised their hands.

The tour guide smiled and said, "Since everyone wants to hear it, I'll continue. But…"

The tour guide pointed out the window and said, "We're almost at the hotel. After everyone has had dinner, I'll tell you the rest of the story. Everyone, get off the bus and find your rooms."

I glanced out the window and saw that the bus was indeed approaching the hotel.

I gave Ye Yang a look, signaling him to watch Feng Ruoxing while Lin Zhao and I got off the bus to get our luggage.

My eyes were fixed on the suitcase that people had crawled out of until all the passengers had left the bus, but no one touched the suitcase.

Could that suitcase be something that Xu Yulong and his group brought?

What are they doing with a master thief?

I wanted to ask the tour guide, but she went into the hotel first, and I could only follow her inside.

Once we were in the room, I immediately asked Feng Ruoxing, "Did you just block a disaster for us?"

Feng Ruoxing shook his head, "I'm not a fortuneteller; I can't block disasters. I just saw that most of the people on the bus were surrounded by a bloody aura, so I started urging people to leave."

I pressed, "Did Xu Yulong's group also have a bloody aura?"

"No!" Feng Ruoxing shook his head, "Only half of the people had blood on them."

I frowned slightly, "Lin Zhao, when we eat later, find a way to take pictures of everyone and send them to Chen Shuyu. Have her find information on these people no matter what. I have a feeling we're missing something."