Chapter 14 The Curse of Begetting

The four law enforcement old women retrieved a rusty iron chain from who knows where and tightly locked the girl up. Then, they picked up the large soup ladle that Yao Shunyu had discarded, filled it with boiling water, and poured it over the girl's head amidst her desperate wails.

In an instant, the girl let out a scream that didn't sound human. The boiling water melted her hair and scalp, even directly burning through her skull. After struggling violently a few times, the girl's legs straightened out, and she went still.

She was dead. Most of her head had melted, turning into a pool of disgusting pus, still emitting a foul stench. She couldn't be more dead.

Seeing this, Huang Jun's eyes gradually shifted from initial shock and fear to hope and joy. He had to admit that Yao Shunyu was really powerful. He had found a way out for himself!

As long as... as long as next time, he also learned to pour boiling water over his head. No, perhaps he didn't even need to pour it over his head. Judging by how afraid those things were of water, as long as he poured it on his body, those ghostly things would be finished!

Yao Shunyu didn't look much better. After several tortures, plus that spoonful of boiling water, he could barely be considered half alive.

Seeing this, a trace of relief surfaced in Huang Jun's heart. Compared to Luan Lihui and Yao Shunyu, he was undoubtedly lucky.

His competitor was dead, so Yao Shunyu naturally won the gamble, and the dead infant in his arms was rightfully kept.

But just as Huang Jun was wondering when his own gamble would start again, the procession that should have moved again stopped strangely. The girl's body was dragged away, and all the villagers looked up, gazing at the high and mighty Zhusheng Niangniang (Child-Bestowing Goddess) with an almost reverent gaze.

Huang Jun's heart "thumped" – he had a very bad feeling.

A moment later, the village chief slowly stood up, his empty eye sockets exuding an invisible pressure that stifled Huang Jun's breathing.

"Bring them up!"

With the village chief's order, more than a dozen tin boxes were carried up. The large boxes were arranged in a row, and when the lids were opened one by one, they revealed more than a dozen disheveled men.

These men had obviously been subjected to a lot of torture. They were covered in wounds, some with broken hands and feet, cut off ears and noses, and gouged out eyeballs – a truly horrific sight.

Huang Jun shuddered. He suddenly realized that these men were very similar to them earlier, and seemed to have also suffered the torment of that terrible ritual.

Before Huang Jun could think further, the village chief's distinctive voice came over, "These treacherous men have eaten Niangniang's kindness in vain and cannot continue the village's lineage. Their crime deserves death!"

"However, Niangniang is kind and compassionate, and has decided to personally bestow offspring upon these treacherous men to continue the bloodline." The village chief cleared his throat, suddenly raised his hands high, and shouted in a drawn-out voice, "Welcome... Niangniang!"

"Welcome... Niangniang!"

"Welcome... Niangniang!"

"Welcome... Niangniang!"

...

The villagers seemed to have fallen into extreme madness. The cheers of welcoming Niangniang grew louder and louder, and everyone wore the same joyful expression, their eyebrows arched and the corners of their mouths exaggeratedly upturned.

A terrible scene unfolded. Amid the villagers' overwhelming cheers, Zhusheng Niangniang actually moved. Something was wriggling intensely under the red veil, like a mass of twisted snakes.

In an instant, more than a dozen fleshy tentacles, thicker than gas pipes, shot out from under the veil. The next second, these tentacles seemed to have eyes, and they wrapped around the men present, including Huang Jun and Yao Shunyu.

A huge fleshy tentacle slammed into a box, smashing it open, and then burrowed into a man's mouth, lifting his entire body into the air. The man's body convulsed, and his only remaining right eyeball almost popped out of its socket, a horrifying sight.

Huang Jun and Yao Shunyu were also caught by the fleshy tentacles and pulled into the air, but after the fleshy tentacle tore open Yao Shunyu's clothes and the dead infant fell out, the fleshy tentacle abandoned Yao Shunyu.

Huang Jun, who didn't have a dead infant, didn't have such an opportunity. The fleshy tentacle didn't seem to want to kill him immediately, but instead wrapped him up like a python hunting, applying pressure bit by bit.

Looking down at Yao Shunyu, who was slowly getting up from the ground, and the dead infant in Yao Shunyu's hands, Huang Jun completely regretted it, but it was too late. He was now facing immense pressure, and he could even hear the sound of his bones cracking little by little. Blood was flowing from his mouth, nostrils, and ears and eyes, and the immense pressure was already crushing his internal organs.

Huang Jun couldn't make a sound anymore. His consciousness was gradually fading away, and in the last moment, a fleshy tentacle rushed into his mouth in an extremely brutal manner, smashing his mouthful of teeth, and then continued to go deeper.

Similar scenes were playing out everywhere. Along the disgusting meat tubes made of flesh and membranes, things were constantly being injected into these men's bodies, things like eggs, still wriggling inside the enlarged, translucent meat tubes, clearly alive.

Watching all this, Yao Shunyu felt a mix of emotions. Because he was afraid of pain and greedy for temporary ease, Huang Jun ultimately paid the price with his life, and Yao Shunyu was the only one left of the three.

Whether it was Huang Jun or Luan Lihui, everyone was just a chance acquaintance. Yao Shunyu couldn't even confirm whether they were truly people, but seeing them being harmed and dying in front of him, covered in blood, the anger was real. If he could, he would definitely avenge them, destroy Blackwater Village, and kill these merciless monsters.

As the men with swollen bellies fell down one by one, the nearby villagers quickly resealed these men back into the boxes.

A moment later, the chaotic procession lined up, and the villagers, in an extremely joyful atmosphere, set off again, each with their face raised high, as if on a pilgrimage, heading towards their final destination.

......

On the broken stone bridge over the Blackwater River, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. Wu Qiang rarely stopped to rest, the high-intensity work was taking a toll even on him, who was used to physical labor.

But fortunately, most of the bridge repair work had been completed. There were a total of 7 piers on the bridge, and the first 6 had already been connected with wooden planks.

"Brother Wu, we... we should hurry," Lü Zhangyuan urged anxiously.

Wu Qiang wiped the sweat from his forehead and gave Lü Zhangyuan an honest smile, "Alright, alright."

He had a very good impression of this young man dressed as a scholar. He was loyal and didn't slack off when working, and his physical strength was even better than his.

"Come on, Brother Wu, lend a hand, you go first." Lü Zhangyuan pretended to lift the other end of the wooden plank.