Chapter 57

On the yellow dirt road, a simple yet luxurious carriage was slowly moving. Inside the carriage, a young girl was leaning on the window, her delicate brows slightly furrowed, occasionally licking her red, tender lips.

As there were now three people setting out, the task of driving the carriage naturally fell to Bai Sha.

Meng Xin Yi sat leaning against the carriage door with her arms crossed. She glanced up at the young girl, her gaze lowering slightly, and suddenly smiled lightly: “Was your mouth bitten by mosquitoes yesterday or what? Why is it so swollen and red?”

Shen Yao Xing’s brows furrowed deeper. She raised her hand to touch her lips, feeling quite annoyed inside.

Because of this, she had been in a daze all day, thinking back and forth about what happened last night. Was it a dream or was it real? The scene in her mind was vague and blurry, making her increasingly unable to be certain.

But the pain on her lips seemed to be proving the reality of last night.

Did that person… really come in the middle of the night to forcefully kiss her?

She couldn’t help but recall the hazy, ambiguous feeling, and the man’s sickly enjoyable expression, all reminding her of the reality of last night’s events.

Shen Yao Xing shuddered, feeling that her whole being was not well.

“What’s wrong, are you cold?” Meng Xin Yi teased from the side.

The young girl’s expression was somewhat blank. She glanced at her without saying a word, half of her body leaning out of the window.

Shen Yao Xing squinted her eyes, feeling the cleansing of the cool breeze under the scorching sun, hoping it could wash away all the messy thoughts in her head.

It was too scary, last night must have been a nightmare.

The first day of the journey ended with the young girl’s rare quietness. As the sky approached dusk, the three of them stopped to rest in a small town along the way, planning to set out again early the next morning.

They found an inn in the town, but as soon as they entered, they felt something was amiss.

Bai Sha looked around and whispered in the young girl’s ear: “Miss, this inn is quite strange, why are yellow talismans pasted everywhere?”

Shen Yao Xing didn’t speak, her gaze discreetly surveying the surroundings. At the entrance, each of the two doors had a yellow talisman pasted on it. Inside the inn was even more exaggerated, with talismans pasted on almost every wall and piece of furniture, even on the stair railings.

It wasn’t that they had never seen such talismans before. After all, there were many superstitious people in this world, and even in the capital city, it was common to see a talisman pasted on the front of shops or homes, said to ward off evil and attract wealth.

However, this was the first time they had seen them pasted in such a manner.

The three walked to the counter, where the innkeeper was a middle-aged woman of about forty. She was currently lowering her head as if calculating accounts, her hand placed on an abacus without moving. Only when they got closer did they realize she was actually standing and dozing off.

“Thump thump” Bai Sha knocked twice on the counter surface. The drowsy middle-aged woman startled awake and finally looked up at them.

Her eye bags were as dark as if she hadn’t slept well for several nights.

“Are you guests here for a meal or to stay the night?”

“We’re staying. We need three rooms,” Bai Sha took out her money pouch, ready to generously toss out a silver ingot.

“Alright, alright.” The innkeeper flipped open the account book and glanced at the three of them: “One room is ten taels of silver, so three rooms would be thirty taels of silver.”

Shen Yao Xing was surprised at this room rate. In the capital city, even a high-class room would only cost about ten taels of silver. How could a random room here cost ten taels? The environment here wasn’t even as good as any random inn in the capital.

Even in other towns they had visited before, no one dared to charge such a high price.

“Innkeeper, are you trying to take advantage of us outsiders who don’t know the prices?” Shen Yao Xing couldn’t bear it anymore. Although she had brought enough silver for this trip, based on her many experiences, it was always better to save where possible.

“Sigh, young lady, you can’t say that. I’m not overcharging you.” The innkeeper suddenly bent down and fumbled under the counter, pulling out several yellow talismans. She said to them: “Three taels of silver is for the rooms you’re staying in, the rest is for these talismans.”

Shen Yao Xing glanced at the yellow talismans in her hand and asked in confusion: “What do we need these for?”

“That’s right, your inn is already strange enough, and now you want us to join in? Besides, how can these shabby talismans be worth so many taels of silver!” Bai Sha chimed in from behind, disgruntled.

“Sigh” The innkeeper sighed, and finally explained to them in a low voice: “Our town hasn’t been peaceful lately…” She glanced at the yellow talismans on the wall, suddenly lowering her voice mysteriously: “It’s very eerie!”

Eerie?

“Oh? How eerie?” At this point, Meng Xin Yi beside them became interested. She glanced at the talismans in the middle-aged woman’s hand and said with interest: “Don’t tell me you’re making up a story to trick us into buying them?”

“Oh, young lady, you can’t say that. I’ve always been an honest person, how could I do such a thing!” The innkeeper seemed a bit anxious and raised her hand to point in a direction: “Didn’t you see the notice posted there when you entered the town? I’m doing this for your own good. If you don’t want to buy them, that’s fine, but if something happens later, that’s your own business. Don’t blame me for not warning you.”

Notice?

Shen Yao Xing turned her head to ask Bai Sha: “Did you see it?”

Bai Sha nodded: “Yes, Miss. The notice said there was something unclean in this town, and everyone entering the town needs to buy talismans for protection.”

“That’s right, that’s right,” the innkeeper chimed in repeatedly: “You can’t blame me for charging too much. These talismans are really expensive. They’ve all been blessed by a great master, they’re very effective! With these, no ghosts or monsters will dare to come near you.”

No matter how eerie the innkeeper made it sound, Shen Yao Xing wouldn’t believe it. She insisted on not paying for those talismans.

Bai Sha behind her, however, listened until her spine was chilled. After hesitating for a while, she couldn’t help but whisper in the young girl’s ear: “Miss, this person sounds quite convincing. Should we buy one for protection?”

Even if it’s fake, having a blessed talisman as a protective charm would be good.

Shen Yao Xing gave her an exasperated sidelong glance, still insisting on not buying.

The innkeeper didn’t force them either, and after checking them in, she instructed the inn boy to show them to their respective rooms.

Night fell. This place wasn’t as bustling as the capital city, nor was it as lively as some ordinary small towns. It was so quiet that not even the sound of crickets could be heard.

Shen Yao Xing, who had just finished dinner not long ago, felt like having a midnight snack again. Once this thought occurred, she couldn’t control it. She slowly went downstairs, only to find the inn’s main door tightly closed and not a single person in the lobby.

The innkeeper probably thought no more guests would come at this hour, Shen Yao Xing thought to herself as she walked to the counter and knocked hard.

Obviously, the innkeeper hadn’t gone to bed this early. She lifted the curtain and came out: “What’s the matter, guest?”

“Is there anything to eat?”

“At this hour, there’s nothing to eat anymore. You should go back and rest quickly. It’s too late, you might see something unclean.”

The innkeeper seemed somewhat anxious, urging her to go upstairs.

Shen Yao Xing scratched her neck, looking unconcerned: “Well, are there any food stalls still open outside?”

“At this hour, all the townspeople have gone to rest. Who would dare to wander outside!”

The innkeeper’s exaggerated manner made Shen Yao Xing even more exasperated. It had only just gotten dark, how could it be as dramatic as she described?

Unable to find food, Shen Yao Xing honestly returned to her room, casually ate a fruit, and went to bed early.

The small town was exceptionally quiet at night, with no sound other than the rustling of the wind sweeping across the ground. The full moon hanging high in the sky was obscured by dark clouds.

In the deep of night, Shen Yao Xing was awakened by a strange sound. She frowned and turned over, but the strange sound persisted. It was like the sound of an asthma attack, a “ho ho” sound that was very uncomfortable to hear.

Shen Yao Xing endured for a while but finally couldn’t bear it anymore. She jumped out of bed and came to the window with an annoyed face. When she looked out onto the street, she realized that the fog was extremely thick, so thick that she could barely see the houses across the street.

She frowned and squinted, examining the street, trying to locate the source of the strange sound. She could still hear the “ho ho” sound, but the fog was too thick to see clearly.

Just as Shen Yao Xing was about to jump down to investigate, she caught a glimpse of something moving in the thick fog out of the corner of her eye. She paused in her window-climbing action and looked down into the thick fog.

The thick fog seemed to have come alive, swirling around the dark shadow. When the shadow moved, it followed; when the shadow stopped, it stopped too.

The full moon, previously hidden by dark clouds, showed its face again. The silver light showered onto the earth, and the thick fog dissipated at a visible speed in an instant. Shen Yao Xing finally saw the true face of the “dark shadow”.

It was… a person?

The dark shadow was hopping up and down, occasionally stopping to open its mouth and make a “ho ho” gasping sound. Shen Yao Xing maintained her window-climbing posture, watching this scene without blinking, her mind blank for a moment.

What… what is this thing?

The raised arms and the hopping motion once again shattered Shen Yao Xing’s composure. She stared at the figure with wide eyes and a dumbfounded expression.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, the dark shadow stopped its hopping steps. Its neck stiffly turned towards her, the long fangs at the corners of its mouth gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

Shen Yao Xing retracted her body at the speed of light, forcefully closed the window with a “bang”, and quickly jumped onto the bed, covering her entire body with the quilt.

It wasn’t until daybreak when Meng Xin Yi came to knock on the door. With no response, she pushed the door open and entered, seeing the person still lying in bed. She looked somewhat helpless as she walked over and lifted the quilt: “The sun is almost out and you’re still not…”

Meng Xin Yi’s voice caught in her throat, startled by the young girl’s blank stare: “You’re awake, why haven’t you gotten up?”

Shen Yao Xing, who hadn’t been able to sleep all night, was in a daze. She touched her forehead and slowly sat up, her blank gaze staring at the woman, and spoke of the mind-blowing event from last night: “There was a zombie…”

“What?”

Shen Yao Xing raised her hand to mimic a motion, lowering her voice with disbelief in her eyes: “I saw it jumping…”

“…What jumping?”

The young girl started to mumble to herself, saying some things that Meng Xin Yi couldn’t understand at all. She just said she must have had a dream and told her to get up quickly to set out.

Even at the lobby counter, Shen Yao Xing was still mumbling to herself. She even raised her index finger, curved it at the corner of her mouth, and gestured to Bai Sha: “Such a big zombie, with teeth this long…”

It was unclear whether the young girl was scared or too excited. She talked so much that even the innkeeper overheard. The innkeeper’s hand froze on the abacus, looking over in fear: “Y-young lady, did you see it too?”

Shen Yao Xing’s gesturing motion paused, her eyes staring straight at her.