“Cough, cough…”

The sudden coughing interrupted everyone’s thoughts. Following the sound, it came from a room not far away. It sounded muffled, like an old man.

Hearing the sound, the woman stood up nervously, her pretty face full of worry. “It’s Grandfather. Grandfather is not well.”

“I know a little about medicine. If needed, I’d be happy to help.”

In order to gain the girl’s trust, and also to learn more about the secrets of Wugong Village, Li Bai enthusiastically promoted himself to the woman, and took out some herbs.

The woman looked at the herbs, clearly tempted, but then she turned to look outside the door. The sky in the distance had completely darkened, or rather, it was foggy. It seemed that the ghost fog had enveloped the entire village, and the sky was unusually low, bringing a strong sense of oppression.

“It’s getting late. Tomorrow will be fine. Get some rest tonight.”

Just as she stepped out of the door, the woman stopped and turned around, saying, “Look at my memory, I forgot to mention the most important thing. Don’t go out at night. The fog near the village is very heavy during this time, even blurring the line between day and night.”

After a pause, the woman’s expression became serious. “You must remember, the daylight you see may not be real. You must hear the gong. Only the sound of the gong means it’s dawn.”

“Cough…”

“Cough, cough…”

The coughing became more rapid. After saying this, the woman closed the door and ran away. Jiang Cheng and the others huddled in the room. The space here was too small, with no decent furniture, only a broken table and two wooden chairs that couldn’t even stand steadily. Near the wall, a dirt platform was built, which was too crowded for three people to sleep on.

Tang Qisheng found some firewood from behind the door, and the group started a fire. They then gathered around the stove. The flames dispelled some of the chill, and the fatigue from the road was finally released.

Pulling the door open a crack, the sky became even darker. Jiang Cheng looked at another house not far away, which was pitch black. “We’d better split up and have some people live there. This room is too small, and there’s no room to maneuver if something happens. Moreover, the doors and windows of the two rooms face different directions, providing mutual support and a better view.”

After some discussion, Tang Qisheng, Zhu Jie, and Zhang Qizheng volunteered to go over. Finally, Yao Shunyu also stood up, complaining that it was too crowded here and he wanted to try his luck to see if there was a chance to sleep in a bed.

Fatty didn’t want Yao Shunyu to leave. After all, the doctor had analyzed that the three teammates might not be reliable. But he winked at Yao Shunyu, but the other party didn’t respond.

Taking advantage of the fact that the sky outside hadn’t completely darkened, Yao Shunyu took a torch from the stove, and then brought some firewood for backup. The four of them moved into another room.

Seeing the firelight in their room, Jiang Cheng closed the door. Fatty couldn’t help but complain, “What is Yao Shunyu trying to do? Isn’t it good to live with us?”

“People with too many thoughts live a tiring life. They don’t trust anyone.”

Shao Tong narrowed his eyes contentedly. His status naturally didn’t allow him to sit on a chair. He squatted on the ground, comfortably warming himself by the fire, the firelight illuminating his face.

Fatty was annoyed just looking at him, and questioned with a straight face, “Why didn’t you go? I’m telling you, don’t play any tricks on us.”

Hearing Fatty’s words, Shao Tong suddenly laughed. He leaned back against the wall, tilted his head and smiled, “I would like to go, but I’m worried that if I really go, someone won’t be able to sleep.”

Fatty was choked by Shao Tong’s words. He naturally knew that the person Shao Tong was talking about was the doctor. During this time, Fatty had seen clearly that the doctor was watching Shao Tong closely and would never let him out of his sight.

Jiang Cheng kicked a few pieces of firewood to Shao Tong’s feet and looked at him, asking, “What do you think about this village?”

Shao Tong straightened his back, thought for a moment, and then said, “The Marquis’s people said very clearly that our destination is Daotou Village, so I think we shouldn’t be involved in another supernatural event for no reason, so…” After a pause, Shao Tong pointed to the ground, meaningfully saying, “This should be Daotou Village.”

“Yes, I think the same way. The woman said that the ghosts in the fog are evil cultivators, Taoists who have gone mad. Do you remember? We found many thunder-struck wooden plaques in the Marquis’s mansion, as well as many arrangements in the Marquis’s haunted house. These are all Taoist things. There is probably a connection between them.”

Hearing Jiang Cheng’s analysis, Li Bai nodded in agreement. “I remember that the servant who died that night said that their amulets all came from a place called the Tianshi Mansion. It sounds like a Taoist temple.”

The more Fatty listened, the more frightened he became. He suddenly said, “Also, when the doctor and I were at the antique shop, the shop owner told us the story of the fishermen. The fishermen said that the night they were forced into the lake, a master calculated it. The soldiers called him… that’s right! They called him Tianshi!” (Celestial Master)

For a moment, a glimmer of order finally emerged from the chaotic thoughts, but the haze over everyone’s heads had not dissipated. The key now was to find out the secrets of this fishing village.

After a long time, Li Bai said, “Changing the name of a village is a big deal. If this Wugong Village really used the name Daotou Village before, then something must have happened in between.”

Undoubtedly, this change must be related to the ghost fog surrounding the village, as well as the evil cultivators in the ghost fog. But what Jiang Cheng couldn’t understand was why a group of Taoists with considerable skills would be involved with an obscure and remote fishing village.

Time passed by minute by minute, and a sense of fatigue surged like a tide. Jiang Cheng pulled Shao Tong to take the first watch, letting Fatty and Li Bai go to rest first.

Fatty lay on his side on the bed, originally wanting to think more about the issues related to this fishing village, but before long, his eyelids slowly closed, and he fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Fatty suddenly felt a pain in his chest and woke up suddenly. It turned out that he had been poked when he turned over. There was a token in the inner pocket of his clothes, an identity token given by General Yuwen, with the Marquis’s mark on it.

But groggily, just as Fatty wanted to continue sleeping, he suddenly noticed something was wrong. He found that the candle in the room had gone out.

That wasn’t all. The stove used for heating in the room had also gone out. The room was now dim.

Fatty was completely awake. Having seen many strange things, he tried his best to calm himself down, and then reached out to his side. He wanted to wake up Li Bai, who was sleeping with him.

But unexpectedly, he touched empty space. Li Bai’s spot was still warm, indicating that he had just left.

But what kind of situation would cause everyone, including the doctor, Shao Tong, and Li Bai, to disappear silently? Fatty couldn’t understand it, and didn’t dare to think about it at all, until his peripheral vision swept across the window, and his pupils suddenly shrank.