239: Chapter 239 Screams

By the dim fire pit.

The Great Priest's heavy voice finally faded completely into the silence of the stilted building along with the last spark of dry tobacco.

"Enough, enough."

Lin Ye was the first to break the suffocating silence.

He stretched lazily, his bones emitting a few crisp popping sounds.

"Aunty, your storytelling is really not bad; it's a pity you don't go tell stories under the overpass."

"However, in the middle of the night, let's not stir up a tragic atmosphere here. Tomorrow's matters can be discussed tomorrow; if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up, so you should rest early, old lady."

Lin Ye stood up, patted the dust off his buttocks, and then placed his hand on Ayugu's shoulder.

"Let's go, my Miao Territory Saintess. This is your territory after all, and as your boss, I'm coming to your house as a guest today. If you don't hurry up and tidy up the guest room, do you want me to sleep by the fire pit and be baked into old cured meat?"

With Lin Ye's witty banter, the originally heavy and oppressive atmosphere was instantly diluted quite a bit.

Ayugu sniffed her slightly sore nose and forced back the tears at the corners of her eyes.

"What's with the rushing! In Jiangzhou you're the boss, but when you arrive at Hulu Ancient Village, I am truly the landlady!"

Ayugu put her hands on her hips and proudly lifted her chin, like a little hen inspecting her territory.

"Come with me. This stilted building of mine is the largest and most spacious in the entire village, guaranteed to make you live comfortably."

Watching her daughter act so unrestrained in front of Lin Ye, a trace of complex gratification flashed through the Great Priest's cloudy eyes.

She did not say anything more, only leaning on her skull-headed cane, supported by the eldest and second uncles, and silently retreated to the back hall to rest.

Ayugu led the group up the second floor along the wooden stairs.

The second floor was the real living room, paved with thick and flat wooden floors.

The third floor was a semi-open attic used for drying grains and herbs.

"Look, this room is the largest master bedroom, facing south with the best ventilation, and it will be left for..."

Before Ayugu could finish her words, Leng Yue had already gracefully stepped out with her slender legs and walked straight in.

That pair of dark golden eyes casually scanned the room, nodded slightly with satisfaction, and then turned to look at Lin Ye: "Husband, let's stay here tonight. The mountains are heavily chilled, and this concubine will warm the bed for you."

"Alright, then Helena, you go to the adjacent secondary bedroom."

"And boss, the bathroom is at the end of the corridor. Although there is no water heater like in your city, the magic array at the bottom of that big wooden tub is warmed by fire gu, and the water is always hot."

"You've been traveling all day, take a bath to relieve your fatigue. I'm covered in mud, I'll go wash first!"

Ayugu spoke again.

Then, she pointed at the half-hidden wooden door at the end of the corridor, rummaged through her bag for a change of clothes, and skipped over...

Deep in the night.

Lin Ye leaned against the wooden railing on the second floor and lit a cigarette.

The crimson cigarette butt flickered in the dark.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the forbidden mountain peak in the distance that was shrouded in black fog all year round.

In his mind, he continuously pondered the two eerie stories the Great Priest told tonight.

The greedy gu, the cowardly shadow.

The thing suppressed beneath the Miao Territory ground was definitely not some ordinary demon.

It was more like a "conceptual aggregate" born from absorbing human negative emotions over thousands of years.

"Splash..."

From the bathroom at the end of the corridor came crisp splashing sounds.

That was Ayugu taking a bath.

The sound insulation of the wooden walls was indeed average.

In this silent night, the crisp sounds of water droplets slapping against the girl's delicate skin, along with an unknown Miao ditty she hummed, drifted into Lin Ye's ears without missing a beat.

"This girl usually looks like a tomboy, but I didn't expect her singing voice to be quite sweet."

Lin Ye exhaled a puff of blue smoke, preparing to pinch out the cigarette butt and return to his room to sleep.

Right at this moment.

"Ah——！！q"

A scream burst out from the bathroom without any warning!

"Something happened?!"

Lin Ye's gaze sharpened, and the laziness on his body instantly vanished without a trace.

This was the core ancient village of Miao Territory, and the Great Priest had just said that the taboo beneath the ground was almost unable to be suppressed!

Could it be that some ancient poisonous gu, or eerie malicious aura, had broken through the defense and sneaked directly into the stilted building?!

Without any hesitation.

Lin Ye exerted force under his feet, Pure Yang Qi erupting from the soles of his feet. With a "bang", his entire body turned into an afterimage, rushing straight towards the bathroom at the end of the corridor!

"Get out of the way!"

He raised his right leg, carrying the momentum of a thunderbolt, and kicked fiercely against the thin wooden door!

"Boom!"

The wooden door along with the door frame was kicked into pieces by his single kick, and wood chips flew everywhere!

"What demons and ghosts, get the hell out..."

Lin Ye let out a loud shout, the Pure Yang True Qi mixed with Taiyi Divine Thunder already condensed in his palm. His Pure Yang Eyes swept across the entire bathroom in an instant, preparing to blast the monster that dared to attack Ayugu into slag.

However.

When he saw clearly the scene inside the bathroom, that domineering roar in his throat was abruptly stuck in his windpipe, as if tightly gripped by an invisible big hand.

The bathroom was filled with dense water vapor.

Beside that huge cypress wooden bathtub.

There was simply no ferocious monster as imagined, nor any eerie dark shadow.

There was only one girl.

Ayugu, whose whole body was completely exposed to the air without a single shred of fabric covering her!

Hearing the loud noise of the door being violently kicked to pieces.

Ayugu turned around in terror.

Time fell into absolute stillness at this very second.

Lin Ye's eyes, capable of seeing through the falsehoods of the world, were like two high-definition, dead-angle-free scanners at this moment, branding the scene before him deep into his mind without missing a single detail.

To be fair, Ayugu was not the kind of exaggerated figure that won by being "large".

She didn't have Leng Yue's high-and-mighty plumpness, nor Frost Star's yandere curves that could burst clothes.

But she possessed the primitive, perfect proportions unique to a Miao Territory girl.

Under the lingering mist of water vapor, her wheat-colored skin shimmered with a healthy and alluring luster.

Warm water droplets slid down her slender and straight neck, flowing across her beautifully lined collarbone.

Finally gliding across her flat lower abdomen without a shred of excess fat.

"..."

Death-like silence in the bathroom.

Until Ayugu's originally wheat-colored face instantly turned into a ripe red apple with a "swish".

"Ahhhhhh!!! Pervert!!!"

Ayugu covered her chest and lower body in a panic with both hands.

She was filled with shame and indignation, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into right on the spot.

"Uhm... I thought there was an assassin..."

Lin Ye touched his nose; even though his skin was as thick as a city wall, he inevitably felt a bit awkward at this moment.

But he still dutifully glanced toward the corner of the bathroom, trying to find the culprit that made Ayugu scream.

As a result.

In a corner beside the cypress wooden bathtub.

A white-browed giant crab spider with long fuzz, as large as an adult's palm, was lying motionless on the wall.

"Just this?"

Lin Ye's mouth twitched fiercely twice.

"You, dignified Miao Territory Saintess, play with gu worms like a pro, and sleep in the same bed with poisonous snakes and centipedes every day, yet you fucking screamed in the shower because of a non-venomous big spider?!"

"If this gets out, you won't need to be this Miao Territory Saintess anymore."

Lin Ye smiled helplessly.

"What do you know! Right after listening to a 'ghost story', it suddenly fell on my head! Spiders are so ugly, even as a Miao Territory Saintess I can't not be afraid of ugly things!"

Ayugu casually grabbed a wooden water ladle nearby and smashed it fiercely towards Lin Ye's face.

"Haven't you looked enough! Still not getting the hell out! Big pervert! Freak!"

Lin Ye tilted his head slightly, easily dodging the physical attack of the water ladle.

He cast one last reluctant glance.

Then he calmly turned around, and conveniently pulled over the wooden door that had already been kicked to pieces by half, barely blocking the line of sight.

"Ahem. It's quite well-developed, very spirited."

"Finish washing quickly and come out, don't catch a cold."

Lin Ye walked out swaggeringly with his hands in his pockets and a beatable smile.

Leaving behind Ayugu in the bathroom who was furiously splashing the water out of shame and anger, and that innocent big spider still lying on the wall watching the show.