Chapter 1
"Everyone, avoid unnecessary movements, keep a close watch on your belongings, and follow the steps we discussed earlier. Let's hope everything goes smoothly."

After giving the last instruction, Yao Shunyu and the other five separated, and tonight's mission officially began at this moment.

Without rushing, Yao Shunyu first walked around the vicinity of the mountain wall, then headed towards the cave entrance with the character "Yao" written above it, maintaining a safe distance before stopping.

The cave entrance was blocked by a brick wall, with only a gap at the top. The bricks used for this wall were the same as the one he carried.

His gaze fixed on the gap, where it was pitch black. Staring at it for too long felt as if the whole world was spinning, like a vortex about to swallow him.

Yao Shunyu decisively withdrew his gaze. He took out his phone, opened the camera, aimed it at the cave entrance, and zoomed in, and zoomed in again. This time, he finally saw clearly that hidden in the darkness behind the gap was a pair of blood-red eyes.

"Found it…"

Yao Shunyu breathed a sigh of relief. He was sure there would be something wrong inside the cave; he had been mentally prepared for this for a long time. What he was really worried about was the cave being empty.

Putting away his phone, Yao Shunyu walked to the cave entrance. Closer now, he could see the details more clearly. The cave was directly carved into the mountain wall, and the space inside didn't seem small. Digging such a cave into the hard mountain wall wouldn't have been easy.

As his gaze shifted, Yao Shunyu noticed something more crucial. There were scraping marks along the edge of the cave, as if it had been dug out little by little with sharp claws.

He instantly recalled what Li Bai had said about the monstrous infants hatched from the mud-figure corpses underground.

Those monstrous infants also had sharp claws. If Zhang Yuanchao hadn't risked his life to keep an eye on the path, Li Bai would have surely had his intestines ripped out.

Without further hesitation, Yao Shunyu took out the items he was carrying one by one. First, the food box, then the tomb brick. When his hand reached the cloth bag tied around his waist, he hesitated for a moment, but decided not to take it off. It was full of incense ash.

According to the rules, he needed to perform a kowtow ritual to the cave, then offer the food box, and after waiting for a while, pile up the tomb brick.

This tomb brick had a special name here, called a waguan zhuan (earthenware pot brick). After an elderly person in the jisiyiao (寄死窑,寄死窑) died, this cave would naturally become the elderly person's tomb. Because the entrance of this tomb was small and the belly was large, resembling an earthenware pot, it was also called a waguan fen (earthenware pot grave).

After carefully thinking through the next actions, Yao Shunyu moved. He knelt down and began to kowtow respectfully to the cave entrance.

Just as the first kowtow landed, before he could even lift his head, a voice suddenly came from inside the cave. It was... it was an old voice, trembling even as it tried to suppress itself, "Child, you… why are you here again? Didn't I tell you not to come see mother anymore?"

"How much grain is left in the rice jar at home? Don't waste any more."

"Mother knows there's a severe drought this year, and the family has already eaten all the surplus grain. Even the seeds for next year are gone. Mother is old and useless. Alas, if it weren't for mother being a burden, your family wouldn't have to tighten their belts to make ends meet."

"Oh, by the way, does Xiaohui know you're here? Quickly take the food back. Mother isn't hungry. Don't argue with her because of me. It's not easy for Xiaohui to raise the child alone. Don't blame her."

"Your father passed away early, and you've suffered a lot since you were a child. It's… it's all mother's fault…"

"Waa… waa…"

As she spoke, the old woman in the cave actually began to sob. Yao Shunyu's eyes also turned red. He had lost his parents a long time ago, and the old woman's voice, which had been blurry at first, now sounded increasingly familiar, as if it were his long-deceased mother.

"Child, don't cry. Listen to your mother, don't come here anymore, okay? Mother… mother is also reluctant to let you go!" The old woman cried even harder, her pent-up emotions instantly released. "You… you come over here, let mother take a good look at you, let mother touch you, so mother can have something to remember you by."

There was the sound of loose bricks, and the old woman inside seemed to really be reaching out her hand, wanting to stroke her child.

Yao Shunyu's tears fell to the ground, his mind filled with his mother's blurred face, but he didn't move closer, nor did he look up, because he knew that it was all fake.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Yao Shunyu heavily kowtowed twice on the ground, completing the first step of the ritual before slowly standing up.

At this moment, the cave was silent, with only the sound of the wind around. Everything before seemed like just his illusion.

But Yao Shunyu knew it wasn't like that, because the cave entrance had changed. The bricks at the top of the wall showed signs of loosening, and the most horrifying thing was a bloody handprint on the wall.

The direction of the handprint faced outwards, obviously reaching out from the cave entrance, and the five fingers were twice as long as normal. It wasn't a human hand at all.

It was conceivable that just now, if he had moved closer, this terrifying ghost hand would have instantly snapped his neck, or even dragged him into the cave.

Okay, this hurdle was temporarily over. He picked up the food box on the ground, preparing to send it into the cave, as required by the task.

After completing this task, he only needed to pile up the tomb brick, and the jisiyiao (寄死窑,寄死窑) mission would be completely over.

But just as he picked up the food box, thinking about how to send it into the cave, his peripheral vision suddenly noticed something nearby.

The surrounding area was woodland. Through the gaps between a few trees, Yao Shunyu accidentally saw Weng Chenglin, wearing an old suit, standing sideways with his back to him.

But that wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that Weng Chenglin was kneeling on the ground, kowtowing to the cave in front of him, and that cave had the character "Yao" written on it in crooked strokes.

…

Coming to this ghostly place also made Weng Chenglin feel very uneasy. He constantly encouraged himself in his heart, recalling the various steps, fearing that he would make a mistake.

The cave in front of him gave him an unspeakable sense of crisis.

Just as Weng Chenglin carefully kowtowed three times, before he could even stand up, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.

"Weng Chenglin, watch out behind you!"

Weng Chenglin's pupils suddenly shrank. It was actually Li Bai's voice. Her voice was urgent and carried a hint of despair, as if something extremely terrible had happened.

Weng Chenglin subconsciously wanted to turn his head, but he stopped himself. "No, something's not right! Li Bai should be chanting scriptures outside; that's her task for tonight. How could she abandon her task and run to warn me?"

"Besides, I'm not related to her in any way. It might be possible for her to risk her life to save Yao Shunyu, but it's absolutely impossible for her to save me."

"So…" Weng Chenglin's forehead broke out in cold sweat, "The Li Bai behind me… is a ghost!"