I Return From Hell

Chapter 83: Chapter 78: Entering the Village

An unknown amount of time passed.

All the surrounding Mutants had been killed, yet Xia Yu didn’t have a single scratch on her. Drenched in sweat, she calmly wiped the beads from her smooth forehead and tugged at her collar.

Survivors: 4.

Human corpses: 11.

Mutant corpses: 42.

”The numbers are wrong.”

As Xia Yu sliced open the Mutants’ heads, she gazed toward the nearby village, her expression tense. ”At least ten people ran in there.”

”And there were at least thirty Mutants.”

The fierce sounds of battle could be heard faintly from within the village.

”B-beautiful... lady, thank you.”

”I’m Zhu Fangfang, the manager of Mengyuan Bar. Do you know what’s going on here?”

A voice spoke up.

Xia Yu had just dug out a Crystal Core. Gripping it in her hand, she replied without turning, ”I don’t know. I was just at your bar having a good time when I suddenly ended up here.”

Zhu Fangfang frowned slightly.

Mengyuan Bar had had trouble in the past, so the owner strictly prohibited customers from bringing in any knives. The strange Butterfly Knife in this woman’s hand was definitely on the list of banned items.

’Clearly, this beautiful woman who could fight so well was lying!’

’And besides, is she some kind of special forces soldier?’

’She fights so well!’

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Fangfang dropped the subject. Instead, she forced herself to ignore the pain in her ankle and limped after Xia Yu. ”Miss, what should I call you?”

”Get to the point.”

”Uh... it’s nothing.”

Zhu Fangfang had a rough idea of the beautiful woman’s personality now. She stopped trying to make small talk and just kept following.

’In a situation like this, sticking with her was the only way she’d feel safe.’

The other three survivors felt the same way.

They were the man with hemorrhoids, the pure-looking girl’s male companion, and the ”Brother Huan” Zhao An had mentioned.

「A few minutes later.」

The sky grew darker.

By the time Xia Yu had finished cracking open all the Mutant skulls, she had collected a total of six Crystal Cores. ”Not bad. A lucky start.”

She began to survey her surroundings. The regulated mist wasn’t far off. The man with hemorrhoids and the others had already tested it—this time, it seemed normal, only serving to seal the area off from the outside world.

The ground underfoot was uneven, littered with rubble and overgrown with weeds.

Before her stood a village, sitting in isolation within the space shrouded by the regulated mist. Everything seemed normal.

The surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power was incredibly dense. As Xia Yu activated her Ancient Guidance Technique, it even formed a small Spiritual Energy Vortex around her.

’After this Mist Event, my power will increase dramatically.’

She could feel her physical condition improving far faster than during any previous Mist Event.

”What is she doing? Why is she torturing those monsters?”

”Those monsters eat people! Nothing you do to them is going too far!”

”We were just having a good time at the bar. How did we suddenly end up in a hellhole like this?”

...

The other survivors, having recovered from the initial shock, began murmuring amongst themselves, their faces masks of fear and confusion.

”Into the village.”

Xia Yu glanced at the sky and strode towards the village.

’I need to scout the village layout before dark and prepare for whatever dangers lie ahead. After all, my vision and movement will be restricted once the sun goes down. Too inconvenient. And too dangerous.’

Zhu Fangfang and the other three survivors hurried to keep up.

BANG.

”Don’t be scared! Kill them!”

...

The sounds of fighting echoed from nearby.

”It’s Zhao An and the others!”

The speaker was ”Brother Huan,” who had been with Zhao An earlier. His real name was Zhao Huan, a quintessential otaku—an expert on anime, games, novels, and the technical specs of any electronic product.

”Should we go take a look?”

”It sounds like they’re still fighting those monsters.”

Many of them were tempted by the idea.

In a place this strange, there was safety in numbers.

Still, they instinctively looked to Xia Yu for a decision.

”Let’s go.”

Xia Yu nodded in agreement.

’The fact that they were looking to her for guidance was satisfying. It proved that her display of strength had been effective, uniting this scattered group of individuals into something resembling a team. This will be a huge advantage for what comes next.’

The moment the group stepped into the village, Zhu Fangfang sensed something. She glanced back, her pupils contracting in shock. ”Behind us!” she cried out. ”Look behind us!”

Everyone whipped their heads around.

The village entrance was gone!

In its place stood a house with its main gate wide open. The courtyard was strewn with joss paper, and white funeral banners hung from the eaves. Inside the main hall rested a small coffin.

The next moment, the joss paper began to dance in the air and the funeral banners swayed, revealing the faint outline of a figure in white kneeling beside the coffin, sobbing quietly.

”I don’t feel any wind,” the man with hemorrhoids remarked.

His words sent a chill down everyone’s spines.

’That’s right.’

’There was no wind.’

’So how was the joss paper flying?’

’How were the funeral banners swaying?’

Just then, a banner fell back into place, obscuring the figure from view.

When the banner drifted in the other direction again, the white figure by the coffin was gone.

”Holy shit!” Zhao Huan cried out in fear.

The others were just as terrified, on the verge of panic, and a hair’s breadth away from bolting.

Just then.

”Have you seen my daughter?”

A hoarse voice asked from behind them.

”AHH!”

Everyone shrieked and spun around.

She was a woman in her forties, dressed in pure white mourning clothes. Her face was etched with anxiety as if she were desperately searching for something. ”Her name is Little Flower,” she said. ”She’s five years old, with two pigtails, and she’s wearing a floral padded jacket. She’s about this tall.”

She gestured to indicate the height, then continued, ”She said she lost something and went outside to look for it, but she’s been gone for ages. I have to keep watch over the wake, so I can’t leave. Could you please keep an eye out for her?”

”If you find her, please tell her to come home right away.”

Xia Yu’s eyes narrowed.

’She immediately began reciting an incantation in her mind: ’People come separated by thick paper, but ghosts are held back by mountains. A thousand evils cannot arise, and ten thousand cannot break free...’ An invisible power enveloped her, rendering her impervious to ghosts and monsters. But the scene before her didn’t change. It’s not an illusion? She’s not a ghost? Then what was all that just now?’

”Okay, ma’am.”

Hiding in the middle of the crowd, Zhao Huan spoke up. ”We’ll keep an eye out for her. But can you help us, too? Can you tell us where we are? Why did we suddenly end up here?”

The woman shook her head, a look of confusion on her face. ”People show up in our village out of nowhere all the time,” she said. ”I don’t know why it happens either.”

Seeing that the woman seemed perfectly normal—they could hear her breathing, see her chest rising and falling, and most importantly, she cast a shadow—the group breathed a collective sigh of relief.

They figured they had just been overly nervous, seeing danger in every shadow.

”I must return to the wake.”

The woman walked past the group and into the courtyard. Then, as if remembering something, she stopped and looked back at Zhao Huan. ”The village is a dangerous place,” she warned. ”Don’t trust anyone.”

Everyone was stunned.

’What did she mean by that?’

They exchanged glances, momentarily confused.

But before anyone could ask, the woman had already turned away and was walking toward the hall where the wake was being held.

”She looks just like that figure we saw kneeling by the coffin,” Zhu Fangfang murmured, her powers of observation kicking in.

The man with hemorrhoids, who was standing nearby, overheard and gave her a strange look. ”Manager Zhu, don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid?”

”How could someone teleport that far in the blink of an eye?”

Zhu Fangfang frowned. He had a point.

But she had climbed her way to the position of bar manager by relying on her sharp eyes. Even in the dim lighting of the bar, she could identify someone just from their silhouette or profile, and she had never once been mistaken.

It made her start to doubt herself.

”Don’t be so quick to dismiss your intuition.”

Xia Yu’s voice cut in. ”It’s often more reliable than your eyes.”

Huh?

Zhu Fangfang was taken aback, not quite understanding what Xia Yu meant.

”You’re just psyching yourself out.”

”If you don’t believe in ghosts and gods, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

The man with hemorrhoids scoffed, dismissive of Xia Yu’s words.

A moment later.

He saw the woman in mourning clothes kneeling by the coffin once more. A wave of déja vu washed over him.

The color drained from his face.