Chapter 1 What the Wooden Boards Are

A picture flashed through Li Bai's mind, and she knew what the wooden boards were, and also understood the intentions of these "villagers."

This was *yin chen mu* (sunken wood). To cover up the *yin sha qi* (yin evil energy) on it, they had specially wrapped it in a layer of tung oil. *Yin chen mu* has been used since ancient times to suppress evil and drive away decay. In ancient times, it was often used by nobles for coffins, and it was also used to suppress some evil corpses.

The upright *yin chen mu* in front of them, like a tombstone, naturally belonged to the latter. It was erected here to suppress corpses.

It was suppressing these guys in front of them!

Looking at the dozens or hundreds of wooden boards in front of her, Li Bai understood that only a small portion were *yin chen mu*, and the rest were usable wooden boards. If they accidentally pulled out the *yin chen mu* hidden among them, the fierce ghosts suppressed below would be freed from their restraints, and the consequences would be disastrous.

As if they knew that Li Bai had seen through their trick, the strong woman at the head, and the people around her, stood up one after another. Their originally calm faces became faintly sinister, and their eyes stared at them venomously. Seeing this scene, Wu Qiang didn't dare to move. He watched as the face of a woman closest to him turned dark green.

Suddenly, a hand stretched out to block his view. "Don't look, steady your mind!" Lu Zhangyuan retracted his gaze from a distance and gave Wu Qiang a warning look.

"Don't touch this one. Pull out the three previous ones. Remember, you are not allowed to pull out any wooden boards without my permission."

These physical tasks were left to Wu Qiang and Lu Zhangyuan. Li Bai's task was to identify the *yin chen mu* hidden among them, and Li Bai chose to ignore the venomous gazes of these guys around her.

After all, having seen through the deception, these suppressed fierce ghosts could not do anything to them before the *yin chen mu* was pulled out.

At first, Wu Qiang and Lu Zhangyuan were a little scared of the strange phenomena around them, but after realizing there was no danger, they quickly let go and got to work. Before long, they had pulled out many wooden boards.

"Phew—" Wu Qiang wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was parched. "Li... Miss Li, I think these wooden boards should be enough."

There were many wooden boards, but fortunately they weren't very heavy. It took them a lot of effort to transport the wooden boards back, but fortunately, those guys didn't follow them. Their figures were left behind, slowly disappearing into the mist.

Standing at the bridgehead, Li Bai glanced back at the direction of Blackwater Village. "Quick, hurry up and repair the bridge!"

......

"These bastards..."

Yao Shunyu gritted his teeth in hatred. Not long ago, the advancing team had stopped again, and the familiar absurd drama was staged again, but this time it was Luan Lihui's turn, and the method was even more direct.

A female villager, also dressed as a man, was dragged out, and after a model opera-like trial, the female villager identified Luan Lihui.

In this way, the two of them ended up kneeling together in front of the Zhusheng Niangniang (Goddess of Childbirth) on the large palanquin.

The village chief raised his heavy eyelids and began to list Luan Lihui's and the other person's crimes one by one, which were nothing more than words related to childbirth.

"I ask you two, do you confess your guilt?" After asking, the village chief's voice suddenly changed.

"Guilty, please have mercy, Niangniang!" The other person kowtowed on the ground, and Luan Lihui followed suit.

"Good." The village chief nodded. "Who will be the first to have joy?"

As soon as these words came out, the whole place fell silent. The female villager dressed as a man turned her head and stared at Luan Lihui with a venomous look.

After confirming that Luan Lihui had no reaction, the female villager suddenly shouted loudly, "This humble one will be the first to have joy, I hope Niangniang will fulfill my wish!"

As this person joyfully stuffed the discarded stillborn baby into her clothes, the next second, the strange-toned shouts sounded again, and Yao Shunyu couldn't help clenching his fists.

"Da… Sheng… Le (Delivering… Birth… Now)!"

It was another storm-like beating, and this time it was obviously more severe than the last. The villager dressed as a man lay on the ground for a long time before barely getting up, his mouth and face covered in blood.

But this time the onlookers were even more excited, as if the good show had just begun. One of the four old women threw the wooden stick in her hand on the ground expressionlessly, in front of this female villager.

The female villager trembled and grabbed the wooden stick, a fierce look appearing in her eyes. Luan Lihui, who was very close to her, took two steps back warily.

"Beat!"

"Beat!"

The villagers dressed in various costumes around them seemed to be crazy, erupting in bursts of cheers, their blood-stained faces full of fanaticism.

The next second, the female villager smiled strangely at Luan Lihui, then raised the wooden stick and slammed it down on her left hand.

One, two… The wooden stick had small thorns on it, and the left hand quickly became torn and bloody, and the bone was broken, twisting the entire hand strangely.

Even so, the surrounding audience was still not satisfied, and continued to cheer loudly, even the sound of drums was heard.

"Harder!"

"Harder!"

The villagers shouted at the top of their lungs, their voices uniform, one wave higher than another, their eyes widened as much as possible, as if they were about to tear their eye sockets.

Luan Lihui was in the center of the storm. He had never seen such a scene before. Everything around him was crazy, and he felt like he was going crazy too.

In the villagers' shouts, the female villager also became more and more excited. She gave up her bloody left hand and began to beat her left arm hard, and the left arm was soon broken.

"Bear or not?" Elder Sun asked loudly.

"Bear!"

"Pain or not?"

"No pain!"

Elder Sun looked at the female villager with a bloody left arm with joy, and at the same time retracted the large scissors in his hand, shouting to the Zhusheng Niangniang (Goddess of Childbirth), "De… Xi… Lou (Got… Joy… Now)!"

Before Luan Lihui could react, the four old women rushed over suddenly, knocking him to the ground with a stick, and then began to beat him more brutally.

Huang Jun was horrified to see this scene, but he couldn't help but feel a little lucky. The other party was beating Luan Lihui more fiercely than when they beat him. It seemed that this so-called ritual was also gradual, but… but could the three of them really withstand it?

Huang Jun's eyes dimmed. He didn't know if they would be beaten to death by these crazy women before they even reached the bridge.

And after the beating, before Luan Lihui could get up, a wooden stick was thrown in front of him.

"Harder!"

"Harder!"

In the frenzied cheers of the surrounding crowd, Yao Shunyu understood. This was clearly asking Luan Lihui to repeat the self-mutilation method of the previous woman, but it could only be heavier and bloodier.

This was forcing Luan Lihui to compete with that person. Only the one who was more ruthless to himself and more willing to attack could get the chance to give birth.

However, judging from the current situation, it would be more appropriate to say that it was a chance to survive.

Luan Lihui was not stupid. Yao Shunyu saw him pick up the wooden stick, cast a fierce look at the woman, and spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm on the ground. "Okay, let's compare ruthlessness, shall we? I'll see who of us is more ruthless!"