137 Disappearance

A somewhat chaotic noise of arguing echoed from afar. It seemed the man and the newcomer had started brawling, their voices growing increasingly fierce.

She knew this was a deliberate attempt to buy her time.

Even though the other party understood that the consequences of doing so would be extremely severe, perhaps even leaving them with no place to find refuge in the village ever again.

The young girl took a gentle breath, her eyes turning red as she carefully placed the clay figurine on the ground and smiled desolately. "However... I suppose I still cannot be that selfish after all..."

Elsewhere, flashes of lightning occasionally illuminated the dark sky. Inside the village chief's room, the chief sat in a chair, his expression shifting unpredictably. Kneeling before him on the floor was a young man, his head lowered and his lips sealed in silence.

"Father..." The young man's voice was slightly hoarse.

"Foolishness! Absolute foolishness! Do you think our village isn't chaotic enough already?" The chief slammed his hand hard upon the table, glaring with burning eyes.

"Father, I beg you! Xiaoyun is innocent!" The young man bowed heavily, striking the floor with a force that left a faint trace of blood.

"If the River God still refuses to relent, then let me take her place. I will go offer myself to the god!" he said, pronouncing every single word with absolute conviction.

"You... you unfilial wretch!" The chief opened his mouth as if to say more, but could only utter this bitter rebuke before turning his gaze toward the open door. After a long, heavy silence, he finally spoke slowly, "So be it. Take her and go..."

At these words, the young man abruptly raised his head, staring at his father in disbelief.

"With this River God around, Stream Water Village is destined for nothing but decline. As for me, I am already old, but I cannot bear to watch you young people remain bound to this rotten tree until the day you die." The chief's demeanor seemed suddenly aged and weary as he continued, "Take the youths of the village—as many as are willing, take them all and leave. Do not ever return."

"Father... let us go together!" the young man urged anxiously.

Then, he heard the chief murmur softly, almost to himself, "It is already too late..."

"What?" The young man paused slightly in confusion.

"Hurry and leave! Before I change my mind!" the chief suddenly snapped.

"I..." After a brief hesitation, the young man bowed heavily once more. "I... I shall go at once!"

The dead of night brought no tranquility to Stream Water Village.

From a distance, Li Xintian had already caught the commotion outside. Having experienced the earlier ordeal, he had not been sleeping deeply to begin with, so he curiously stepped out to take a look. What he saw was a crowd of villagers clad in straw raincapes and bamboo hats, gripping hoes, sickles, and axes as they shouted and marched continuously toward the river embankment.

"What is happening here?"

Li Xintian asked himself with a hint of doubt.

Once he had dressed and stepped outside, he happened to catch sight of several anxious servants hurrying back from the direction of the river.

"This is terrible, Young Master!" One of the servants cried out urgently upon spotting him. "The river water is rising much too fast! The embankment is unlikely to hold much longer!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Linqing and the others froze. An instant later, a piercing chill surged from the soles of their feet straight to the crown of their heads, causing them to shudder involuntarily.

Ever since earlier that night, Li Xintian had been constantly on guard against ghosts, spirits, and demons, yet he had never anticipated that the most fatal threat would prove to be unpredictable, merciless natural disaster!

If the river truly breached its banks, Stream Water Village, situated right in the downstream path, would likely be transformed into a vast watery abyss within moments, leaving almost no chance of survival!

"There is no need for everyone to panic. What is the situation over there right now?"

Li Xintian quickly demanded.

"It is still alright. Although it is somewhat dangerous, the embankment is currently holding firm and will not be washed away in the immediate future."

The servant replied.

"Quickly gather our things and prepare to leave Stream Water Village at once."

After a brief calculation, Li Xintian immediately issued orders, instructing them to pack their belongings without delay and ready themselves to set off at any moment.

Although the deep of night coupled with the heavy rain was hardly ideal for travel, it was far more acceptable than facing the constant, imminent danger of a catastrophic flood.

Before long, the courtyard bustled with activity once more. Despite their exhaustion, once they realized the perilous situation they faced, no one dared utter a single word of complaint; instead, they doubled the speed of their movements.

Suddenly, Li Xintian noticed a strange anomaly in the color of the sky, prompting him to lift his head abruptly and stare into the pitch-black firmament!

Right after that, joyful shouts rang out from the surrounding people: "The rain is easing! It is stopping! It is stopping!"

Indeed, the downpour grew steadily lighter. The curtain of rain shrouding the world gradually thinned and finally vanished altogether, leaving behind only the gentle patter of lingering droplets to bear witness to the ferocious storm that had just passed.

Yet Li Xintian's entire body still tingled with a faint, needle-pricking premonition of danger, warning him that the crisis had not dispersed. The cessation of rain was merely a superficial illusion.

A pair of eyes remained fixed upon them from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike!

Just then, an experienced driver stepped forward to offer a warning: "We must not linger. Although the skies have cleared for the moment, I can tell it will not last. In about an hour, another storm is bound to break! If we wait until then to leave, it will likely be far too late!"

His assessment won the immediate agreement of the others. Chen Linqing lost no time in issuing the command: taking advantage of the temporary lull in the rain, the entire company must hurry away at once.

No one could guarantee whether the next downpour would directly collapse the dam, and no one dared to wager their life on such a gamble.

"Everyone, pick up the pace! Hurry along!"

Chenzi Shan shouted loudly, urging the servants to put more effort into packing the cargo.

At last, everything was ready, and the carriage convoy prepared to set off once more.

Since the female family members still required rest, Li Xintian mounted a horse.

A moment later, the driver gently flicked his whip. With a slight jolt, the carriages began to roll forward once again, following closely behind Li Xintian.

Because of the earlier rain, the ground remained pitted with puddles of varying sizes. The carriages possessed poor shock absorption, making bumps and jolts during travel entirely inevitable.

As the convoy slowly rolled away from the small village, Li Xintian inadvertently cast his gaze toward the nearby riverbank and caught a glimpse of a deeply bizarre scene!

Under the pitch-black canopy of night, a dense crowd of dark figures was writhing slightly along the riverbank. Water seemed to be dripping from their bodies as they danced about. The joints of their limbs were twisted at angles beyond mortal comprehension, as though they were performing a silent yet grand sacrificial ceremony.

And their audience was none other than the churning, swelling waters of the stream!

Just as the carriages rolled past, those figures turned their heads in unison. Pair after pair of eyes, brimming with an indescribable, malevolent evil, stared fixedly at the travelers. Their wrists and ankles contorted in unnatural ways in mid-air as they began to walk slowly forward, seemingly intending to approach the convoy.

"It is that group of villagers from earlier!"

Li Xintian's pupils contracted violently, and the sense of unease in his heart grew overwhelming!

He swiftly shifted his gaze back to the river itself. Massive waves were ceaselessly rising and crashing against the banks, even though not a single gust of wind strong enough to stir up such billows was blowing!

A sickening, putrid stench drifted through the air with every crashing wave, and the murky, fathomless center of the river seemed to devour all surrounding light, as though some terrifying entity within it was preparing to emerge at any second.

"Speed up, everyone!"

Li Xintian immediately urged the driver onward, having the servants pass the message to the rest of the group: "Leave this place immediately!"

The speed of the convoy increased. Finally, they left the heavy, oppressive presence far behind, and the needle-pricking sense of alarm finally faded away along with it.

After a long while, Li Xintian let out a slow breath. His nerves had been taut to the breaking point, dreading some sudden, catastrophic mishap.

Fortunately, it seemed everything was safe now...

At least, it seemed so...

Just then, a sudden commotion broke out at the rear of the convoy. Li Xintian reined in his horse, and the procession quickly ground to a halt.

Before he could ask what had happened, Chen Yuanwen stumbled out of the leading carriage in a panic, looking wildly about in all directions. The moment he spotted Li Xintian, it was as though he had found his anchor. Disregarding the mud on the ground, he ran over in short strides, his eyes red-rimmed as he cried out, "Cousin, save your cousin-in-law! She is gone!"

"What?! Speak quickly, what has happened?"

Stunned, Li Xintian immediately dismounted and stared at Chen Yuanwen in disbelief.

"I... I saw with my own eyes your cousin-in-law board the carriage ahead of mine... I even remember her gently urging me to get some rest... But... but..." Chen Yuanwen's eyes were bloodshot and brimming with tears as he stammered, "Why did she suddenly vanish from inside the carriage... No matter how we search, she cannot be found... Just a moment ago, she was still right inside!"

"How can this be?!"

The ominous premonition in Li Xintian's heart solidified like a heavy hammer striking his chest. After all, she was someone he had brought along on this journey.

"Dammit, I am going to rescue her immediately! The rest of you, stay put and do not wander off!"

After a panicked head count, the frantic company realized that not only had the carriage belonging to Chen Yuanwen's wife been emptied, but Hu Qiuyan had also vanished, along with several other servants. Throughout the entire journey, no one had noticed the slightest anomaly!

It was as though they had been cleanly swallowed by something lurking in the dark, leaving behind not a single trace of life.

Li Xintian instructed Zongwu to guard his physical body, while commanding the Flying Tiger King to protect the others.

"Originally, I had no intention of crossing paths with you. But since you wish for me to return, I shall grant your wish and see if you can withstand my wrath!"

Sitting inside the carriage, Li Xintian's soul departed from his mortal frame.

His spirit had already undergone a transformation; encircled by dragons and phoenixes, his soul was now impervious to all manner of sorcery and laws.

Once taut nerves suddenly relax, fatigue and drowsiness inevitably follow, often breeding wild fancies in the mind.

Inside that particular carriage sat only Ding Jieyun, Chen Yuanwen's wife. She lay reclined with her eyes closed, her mind drifting between memories of her usual hardships and the earnest teachings of her father during her childhood.

Yet right at that moment, she abruptly sensed that something was amiss.

The carriage seemed to have stopped.

Not yet realizing the danger of her situation and assuming some accident had occurred—since even Chen Yuanwen was nowhere to be seen—she curiously lifted the carriage curtain to ask the driver what was happening. But a single glance left her utterly frozen.

There was no sign of the vast Chen family convoy anywhere around; not even a half-person's shadow was in sight!

A lone, solitary carriage sat stranded in the middle of a muddy road, flanked on both sides by endless, bottomless darkness and rows of unfamiliar, low-eaved earthen houses devoid of a single glimmer of light, as though the place had been uninhabited for ages.