Chapter 67: The Woman

The next day, at a mass grave roughly 10 kilometers (~6.2 miles) from Xue Family Village.

“Um... Daoist Priest, are you sure it’s enough for me to bring you here? You really don’t need me to accompany you any farther?”

The village chief spoke cautiously.

“That place has become a notorious death trap lately.”

“A while back, several young men from Hua Village ran over there to see if they could find some grain to stave off hunger.”

“In the end, every one of them vanished without a trace.”

“Neither living nor dead could be found.”

“Daoist Priest, are you sure you don’t need a hand?”

A hand?

Zhou You glanced at the village chief’s hunched body, then at his slightly crippled leg and unsteady stance.

Then he sincerely replied,

“Elder, really, there’s no need.”

“And you don’t have to be so heartfelt about this either. I bear some responsibility for what happened earlier.”

“If I hadn’t brought that transformed donkey here, your nephew wouldn’t have suffered through all that.”

“You’ve already done me a huge favor by bringing me this far.”

“I truly don’t dare trouble you any further.”

The white-haired old man gazed deeply at Zhou You for a while.

In the end, he let out a sigh.

“Then I won’t insist.”

“I can only wish you a safe journey, Daoist Priest.”

“And let this old man say one more thing.”

“Ever since I first met you, I’ve had a faint feeling.”

“Daoist Priest, you just might be able to save this half of Cangzhou from disaster.”

After parting ways with the village chief, there was little conversation to be had.

The mass grave was filled with tombstones.

The atmosphere was eerie and ghostly.

The fortunate dead at least had a mound of earth raised over them and a stone marker engraved with a few words.

The less fortunate were merely wrapped in a straw mat.

Some did not even have that.

Their bones were simply left exposed in the wilderness.

Yet because the drought had plagued the province for so long, fresh corpses were now difficult to find.

When Zhou You occasionally stepped on the ground, all he could see were exposed white bones and dried, cracked skeletons.

Zhou You felt no fear.

Instead, he examined the surroundings with interest.

The trees were dead.

Birds and beasts were nowhere to be seen.

There was not the slightest trace of living creatures.

Only the occasional mournful wail drifted from the bushes.

Yet upon closer inspection, one would discover it was merely the wind passing through skulls.

Without realizing it, this place had already become a ghostly domain.

“So really...”

Zhou You rubbed his chin.

“Who in their right mind opens an inn in a place like this?”

No one could answer him.

Only countless white bones stared silently in his direction.

The old Daoist’s head also seemed affected by the scene.

For a time, even he fell silent.

Thus, the road was left with nothing but the sound of Zhou You’s footsteps.

After an unknown length of time, he rounded a grove of dead scholar trees.

His vision suddenly opened up.

The endless tombstones and skeletons had vanished.

The surrounding trees had all been cut down.

In the middle of the mass grave, someone had deliberately cleared a large open space.

At its center stood a wooden building.

It appeared to be the Splendid Glory Inn marked on the map.

Zhou You did not hurry inside.

Instead, he circled the inn twice.

Nothing seemed wrong with the exterior.

Aside from being rather crude, it looked normal enough.

He casually touched one of the walls and discovered that even the wooden splinters had not been fully sanded away.

It seemed the structure had been completed only a few months ago.

Overall, nothing appeared especially suspicious.

Yet for some reason, a strange scent of blood lingered throughout the building.

It made the place feel less like an inn and more like a slaughterhouse.

Zhou You frowned.

In the end, however, he abandoned the matter and returned to the front entrance.

Then he gently knocked on the door.

No one responded.

After a long while, just as Zhou You was preparing to knock again, a lazy and seductive voice finally sounded from within.

“Who is it?”

It was a simple sentence.

Yet the voice brushed against the ears like a teasing feather.

With only a few words, it stirred the blood and captivated the heart.

The thing inside is definitely some kind of evil monster.

Even without seeing her, Zhou You could immediately reach that conclusion.

An ordinary man would probably already be unable to control himself.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Zhou You had been consuming heart blood so frequently recently that the negative effects of the Yin Ghost Feeding Chant had already begun approaching a second stage.

Thus, even after hearing such an alluring voice, he remained exceptionally calm.

“Sorry to disturb you. I’m here to do business.”

Another long wait followed.

Only then did the voice speak again.

“Doing business at a time like this? Are you one of the meat transport caravans?”

“Forget it. Come inside first.”

“Whatever it is, we can discuss it face-to-face.”

Hearing this, Zhou You pushed open the door and entered.

The first thing he saw was a face of breathtaking beauty.

It was difficult to describe with words.

She seemed like the incarnation of one of the demonic enchantresses from legend.

Every smile, every frown, every glance, every movement brought the concept of seduction to its absolute extreme.

This was a woman beautiful beyond all reason.

At that moment, the beauty looked at Zhou You with visible surprise in her eyes.

“Oh? A new face.”

“You’re new here?”

Then she glanced behind him.

Her curved brows immediately furrowed.

“Why are you alone?”

“Where’s your cargo?”

“And where are the people being used for payment?”

“Do you even know the rules?”

Hearing the question, Zhou You straightened his expression and replied evenly.

“My apologies. I’m not part of any caravan.”

“I’m not transporting meat either.”

“I simply hoped to purchase some...”

But before he could finish, the woman suddenly smiled radiantly.

“Not from a caravan?”

“How strange.”

“The only humans who come to our little establishment are the meat transport teams.”

“Aside from them, only government officials come here.”

“You say you’re not from a caravan.”

“And you certainly don’t look like someone from the government.”

“In that case...”

The woman rose from behind the counter and slowly walked toward Zhou You.

Every sway of her graceful figure carried endless charm.

Every gesture overflowed with tenderness and seduction.

Combined with her highly revealing red dress, it became difficult to know where one should look.

Step by step, she approached.

Soon she stood directly before Zhou You.

Then, accompanied by the fragrance of cosmetics, she lifted her gaze toward him.

“Young sir, could it be that you’re merely an ordinary commoner who wandered in here by mistake?”

The moment she raised her head, the neckline of her dress seemed to fall open accidentally.

Yet as Zhou You looked there, not the slightest ripple appeared in his eyes.

This was not because of the Yin Ghost Feeding Chant’s influence.

Rather...

Between the folds of her clothing, there was none of the pale, soft skin one might expect.

What Zhou You saw instead was a bloody internal cavity and a heap of organs already rotting and stinking.

Nothing more.