IWOL Chapter 244: ⏹

Ren Heming was about to rush over, but Dong Zheng stopped him and quietly said, “Shixiong, she has the plague.”

Following Dong Zheng’s reminder, Ren Heming also saw the festering patch of skin on the girl’s arm. His breath caught in his throat and he whispered, “But we can’t just watch her get killed!”

“I didn’t say that I wouldn’t save her from death,” Dong Zheng said. “Don’t we have talisman paper? Just make a little movement to chase the bear away.”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Ren Heming smacked his head and remembered. He fished out the fire talisman papers from his pocket, and threw one out into the open space in front of them.

A few seconds later, it exploded with a loud bang, startling both the brown bear and the girl. The girl drew back, nearly falling off the cliff. She fell into a sitting position on the ground instead, while the brown bear, who naturally feared fire, turned its head in panic and fled into the forest.

“That’s good.” Dong Zheng let out a sigh of relief. Although he knew that such a small child had a negligible chance of surviving in the forest alone, he still managed to save her while ensuring his own safety.

The girl stared at the flames that had arrived without warning. Then, she seemed to notice Dong Zheng and Ren Heming hiding behind the tree, and scrambling up, she quickly ran away.

Ren Heming’s tensed heart relaxed. “Let’s go back too.”

They went back, grabbed their horses, and continued their journey. Night had nearly descended, and the forest at night was extremely dangerous. They needed to find a safe resting place as soon as possible.

Fortunately, they were quite lucky. Before the sun could completely sink into the horizon, they rode under the burning clouds of the sunset and founded a deserted temple.

This temple seemed to have been abandoned a long time ago. The statues of the gods were covered with a layer of dirt so thick that it was nearly impossible to see the idols underneath. The candles in the temple were scattered all over, and when Ren Heming tried to light a few, they lit up with a faint light.

The temple may be broken down with crumbling walls, but it had a roof and that was better than sleeping in the wilds. Dong Zheng spread some hay on the ground and sat with Ren Heming, resting with his back against a column.

The last glimmer of sunlight in the sky was now completely swallowed by darkness.

A fog quietly spread.

Dong Zheng leaned against the column with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed, resting his mind. He and Ren Heming had agreed to alternate taking watch over the night, and it didn’t take long for Ren Heming to fall asleep next to him, snoring tiredly.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he suddenly heard an unusual sound, as if something was crawling very fast with hard feet brushing across the ground, making a rustling sound.

Dong Zheng’s eyes opened, and he looked out into the fog. It gave him poor visibility, but the quick rustling sound was still there, quickly moving from one place to the next.

It seemed to herald an unknown danger.

Dong Zheng jabbed Ren Heming with his elbow and said in whisper, “Listen.”

Ren Heming instantly woke up from his sleep, eyes narrowed vaguely. He heard the strange and unusual sound. They looked at each other and tacitly stood up at the same time. Taking out their swords, they approached the sound.

The sound became clearer as they approached. Dong Zheng quietly unsheathed his sword, and at this moment, his surroundings became deathly quiet.

It was as if someone had pressed the mute button.

Were they discovered?

Dong Zheng lowered his head and saw a bunch of strange marks under his feet. It looked like some type of polypedal animal with claws were crawling all around. It was very large, and if it was a crab, then this crab was certainly larger than any he’d seen before.

The thin crawling marks continued through the thick fog, with no end in sight. Ren Heming drew in a breath and whispered, “It’s the evil spirit.”

These were the traces left behind by the evil spirit they were hunting down?

Dong Zheng was a little surprised. He didn’t know why, but he thought that the evil spirit would have an intangible form.

But looking at these marks, the evil spirit must look very strange.

Dong Zheng asked, “Do you want to go after it?”

Ren Heming considered this question for a moment, and said, “The fog is too heavy, and so it’s much too dangerous right now. Let’s go back to the shrine and wait. Since it’s taking the initiative to approach us, it must want to do something.”

Dong Zheng let out a sound of agreement, but when they turned to go back, they realized that the temple had vanished.

Only the endless fog stretched out over every inch of space behind them, as if the dilapidated temple was just an illusion.

“…It’s gone?”

The sense of trepidation increased. Hiding in the thick fog was an evil spirit that had killed many humans before. They needed to hide as soon as possible.

We walked aimlessly in the fog and soon found a toppled stone tablet with a cave hidden behind it.

“Let’s go in and hide for the time being.”

⏺ Go to Chapter 253.

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