Shui Miao simply felt that everyone was very capable, always rushing to take on tasks enthusiastically, so he didn’t think much else. However, that Headless Slope definitely had some issues, and he needed to personally investigate it thoroughly.
After lunch, Lin Zhiling and Xiao Shuang drove into the city to purchase surveillance equipment.
Sister Tang stayed at the base with her few close friends, slaughtering five hares and three marmots. The fertile grasslands were vast and sparsely populated, home not only to wolves but occasionally wild horse herds and gazelle groups as well. Most common, though, were hares, pheasants, and marmots, along with eagles. A local old hunter named Da’ertu often used traps and ambushes to capture these animals and sold them at the market. However, since Shui Miao and his group arrived, Da’ertu, who had some difficulty walking, had started bringing his daily catch to sell to them.
Sister Tang, having worked in the kitchen for a long time, knew these wild meats were highly nutritious. Since they weren’t expensive anyway, she bought all of them. If they could eat them all, great; if not, she stored them in the ice chest in the vehicle, saving them for the cold season when there would be no game, so everyone wouldn’t have to worry about having no meat to eat.
After lunch, with nothing else to do, Shui Miao went to find Lin Xue and decided to visit the Headless Slope again.
Thus, Lin Xue rode a white horse, leading two large Tibetan Mastiffs and three puppies running ahead.
Shui Miao, on the other hand, drove a silver-gray pickup truck slowly behind them.
Having just recently learned to drive, Shui Miao wasn’t in a hurry. He patiently followed along, watching the three young Tibetan Mastiffs grow stronger. A warm feeling gradually rose in his heart. Almost every household on the grasslands kept dogs, all of them large and powerful breeds with strong territorial instincts. Especially in the home of the old hunter Da’ertu, five large yellow dogs were kept. However, even these big dogs couldn’t compare with the Tibetan Mastiffs. The Mastiffs were larger, stronger, majestic like lions, and even the big dogs were afraid of them. Particularly when Lin Xue also carried a gun, the few brave dogs that had dared to challenge the Mastiffs immediately cowered in fear at the sound of gunfire.
Life on the grasslands was very relaxed and free, without the tense and oppressive atmosphere of big cities.
Moreover, Chen Group was not short of money; establishing a dairy company was naturally a very easy task.
Therefore, Shui Miao lived a very comfortable life.
Shui Miao had lost his supernatural abilities and special powers, retaining only a tiny bit of his original Soul Devouring Force. However, if he wanted to cultivate again, he could absolutely start all over with that little bit. But for now, he had given up the idea of cultivation. He wanted to live as an ordinary person for a while, gain more understanding from everyday life, and wait until his worldly affairs were settled before striving once more.
How wonderful!
This life was so easygoing and beautiful!
Shui Miao couldn’t help but sigh, thinking how wonderful this carefree life was. If only this kind of peaceful life could last forever!
For some reason, Shui Miao always feared losing everything he had now, vaguely sensing that such good days wouldn’t last long.
He also knew that after experiencing so many incredible things, it was impossible for him to completely relax so easily.
He understood even more that his blood ran with vengeance; perhaps this period was merely his final moments of happiness.
In short, his mood was very complicated…
※※※
Around one o’clock in the afternoon, Shui Miao stopped the car, opened the door, and immediately heard Lin Xue’s white horse shaking its head repeatedly, hooves constantly stepping backward, clearly afraid and unwilling to move forward another step.
They were still some distance from the Headless Slope.
“What’s wrong, Lin Xue?”
Shui Miao let the puppies out of the car. The two large Tibetan Mastiffs seemed to sense danger and immediately pushed the puppies behind them.
Lin Xue looked through her binoculars toward the Headless Slope, then dismounted and handed the binoculars to Shui Miao, saying, “I don’t know what’s going on. It seems like nothing’s wrong, but the animals’ abnormal reactions tell me there must be something happening here, and it’s getting worse. This morning we still went to the top of the hill, but now from such a distance, the horse refuses to go any further.”
“Maybe it’s because we’re against the wind.”
Shui Miao looked through the binoculars but didn’t notice anything unusual. “Let’s go. We’ll circle around to the back and approach from the downwind side.”
“…”
Lin Xue looked suspiciously at the surrounding green grass. The leaves weren’t moving much. She had considered the wind direction too, but she felt there was barely any wind today, so she wasn’t quite sure about Shui Miao’s suggestion.
So the two went to the downwind side, attempting to approach the Headless Slope.
However, the white horse refused to go any closer from a distance.
The Tibetan Mastiffs also looked fearfully toward the Headless Slope, not even daring to bark.
“That’s strange. Why has the wind suddenly changed direction?”
Shui Miao closed his eyes for a moment to sense the wind direction and realized it was blowing toward him. Earlier, the wind had clearly been blowing eastward, but now it had suddenly shifted westward. Moreover, the wind carried a faint stench.
“I suspect this stench is coming from underground at the Headless Slope. There’s practically no wind today, as you can see from the surrounding grass,” Lin Xue said, mounting her horse and turning it around. “Shui Miao, let’s go. We should find more locals to ask around. Perhaps what Elder Bili Su said wasn’t the whole story.”
“Yeah, okay!”
Shui Miao didn’t want to stay and smell the stench either, so he quickly picked up the puppies and drove away.
“Hmm?”
Shui Miao happened to glance at the rearview mirror and suddenly noticed that all the grass in the area fifty meters behind him had fallen down, turning a withered yellow. A large patch was covered in a murky, grayish haze, looking lifeless and eerie.
“What is that?”
Shui Miao stopped the car, leaning out of the window to look back…
The murky, gray haze looked like a swirl of black dust, but Shui Miao knew there was no black dust here. Therefore, this haze must have risen from underground. Observing the nearby vegetation and combining it with the information provided by Elder Bili Su, Shui Miao became even more puzzled about the mystery of the Headless Slope.
Logically speaking, even if hundreds of people had been slaughtered here centuries ago, their bodies should have long since decayed, turning into fertilizer that would nourish lush vegetation. Yet the current situation was completely opposite. Why was that?
“Wait…”
Suddenly, Shui Miao noticed the haze was moving toward him. Patch after patch of green grass fell down, turning into grayish dead grass. From a distance, it looked like a yellow arrow on a map, moving by itself…
“What the hell is this!?”
Shui Miao quickly shifted gears and stepped on the gas, speeding away.
At that moment, the sun was suddenly covered by a dark cloud, and the haze surged suddenly. Countless black vapors rapidly spread from underground, forming a massive dark shadow silently chasing after Shui Miao…
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