Chapter 262: Green to the Point of Panic
Happy initially didn't react when he saw the white bone in the woman's hand, but then he realized that what she held wasn't firewood at all—it was distinctly a white bone.
Not only was the object in her hand a white bone, but even the bundles of "firewood" stacked beside her were all bones of varying sizes and lengths, simply bound together by force.
Furthermore, he noticed that the material burning fiercely in the brazier wasn't dry kindling either; it, too, was nothing but ghastly white bones.
The cabin, which had just moments ago seemed so exquisite, now appeared utterly dilapidated and covered in cobwebs.
In that instant, Happy suddenly recalled a crucial detail.
When he had first spotted the wooden hut with his flashlight, it had looked quite ruined.
If it appeared ramshackle from a distance, then it should have seemed even more decrepit up close. Yet, the reality was the opposite; when he approached, he found the hut not at all ruined, but instead remarkably refined, crafted with exceptional detail.
This was inherently a deeply unsettling anomaly, but he had been flustered by the sudden downpour and overlooked it.
Then the woman appeared, and her beauty had entranced him, utterly bewitching his mind and soul, making it even less likely for him to notice the discrepancy.
Happy knew he had definitely encountered something unclean. This impossibly beautiful woman before him was, in all likelihood, not human.
A chill rose from his feet to the crown of his head. Happy's face was devoid of even a trace of a smile; it was pale, bloodless, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
At this moment, Happy was anything but happy, for he was utterly consumed by terror.
The woman noticed Happy's change. She tossed the white bone into the stove, then slowly rose to her feet, as if she had suddenly transformed into a different person. A smile bloomed on her face, and her expression became extraordinarily alluring.
Even with a straight face, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Now, with her sudden shift to a seductive demeanor, she was even more captivating—words like "sinking fish, falling geese, eclipsed moon, shamed flowers" hardly did her justice.
However, Happy was now consumed by fear and had no mind to admire such beauty, let alone entertain any fantasies of "sealing the deal."
To die beneath a peony, even as a ghost, one would be carefree and romantic. If one were to place the scholars from movies into this current scenario, perhaps they truly would act in ways that even demons and monsters couldn't ignore. But Happy was no scholar; he hadn't even finished elementary school, so the scene before him brought him nothing but terror.
"Didn't you just say you wanted to repay me? Didn't you say any repayment would do? Then, can you give me your body?"
Happy's lips trembled. Utterly collapsed, he could no longer suppress the fear in his heart.
"Ah!"
A heart-rending scream tore from his throat. He dashed madly towards the wooden door, towards the very door he had personally closed.
He recalled how, when he had eagerly closed that door earlier, his heart had fluttered with anticipation. Now, his heart pounded just as wildly, but while before it was with excitement, now it was with terror, desperate to open it.
The wooden door didn't remain stubbornly shut as he might have expected. With a forceful shove from Happy, it swung open due to his sheer desperation.
However, once the wooden door opened, Happy froze in place.
A bolt of lightning flashed, illuminating the night sky. Outside the wooden door stood a person, completely drenched by the rain, yet utterly unconcerned, letting the wild wind and downpour lash against their body.
A smile graced his face as he gazed at the terrified Happy.
This person was none other than the Old Farmer who had given Happy directions down the mountain, repeatedly emphasizing not to go up.
"I told you not to go up the mountain, but you just wouldn't listen. Ah, young man, why won't you listen to advice?"
The Old Farmer's appearance first startled Happy, then filled him with a surge of joy, as if he had suddenly clutched onto a lifeline.
"Old man, save me! Save me! I've encountered a ghost! I've truly encountered a ghost!"
Happy rushed out of the room and hid behind the Old Farmer. To prove he wasn't lying, his trembling finger pointed towards the woman behind him, his face etched with terror and panic.
A "hehe" laugh emanated from the Old Farmer's throat. This laugh, instead of bringing Happy a sense of security, made his body tremble even more violently.
For the Old Farmer's laughter was hoarse and eerie, utterly unlike a sound that could come from a human.
"Old man, you're here to save me, right? You're one of those reclusive masters from movies and novels, aren't you?"
Happy's heart pounded. The Old Farmer's appearance did offer a glimmer of hope, yet the laughter he had just emitted intensified his inner dread.
Still, he clung to a sliver of hope, fantasizing that the Old Farmer was sent by heaven to rescue him.
A series of clicking and cracking sounds was the only answer Happy received. The Old Farmer's head slowly rotated to face backwards, like a machine, like a puppet.
The Old Farmer's eyes had undergone a drastic transformation at some point. They no longer resembled human eyes; instead, they were more like an animal's, emitting a faint green glow as they stared at Happy, the gaze like a beast toying with its prey.
Happy's pupils dilated, and his body shook like a sieve. The scene before him pushed his fear to its absolute peak.
"Ah!"
A gut-wrenching scream ripped from Happy's mouth. Filled with despair and terror, he turned and fled.
No direction, no route—he just wanted to leave this place immediately, no matter where he went.
On Happy's chest was a protective talisman. He had specifically sought it from the Talisman Order. Before deciding to become a ghost-hunting streamer, for safety's sake, he had made a special trip to the Talisman Order to acquire this protective talisman.
He was naturally not a particularly brave person, so having a protective talisman on him, regardless of its efficacy, at least offered some psychological comfort.
That's what Happy had thought at the time. So he folded the talisman, wrapped it in red cloth, and then threaded it with a red string to hang around his neck, preventing it from falling off. The talisman itself was hidden beneath his clothes, concealed on his chest.
He had only intended it for peace of mind. However, this protective talisman he had acquired from the Talisman Order was not merely a prop; it was a genuinely effective talisman. He had been lost in the woman's beauty, utterly unable to extricate himself, and it was precisely the presence of this talisman that had brought him back to his senses.
But at that moment, Happy had been too shocked by the scene inside the wooden hut to even consider the talisman on his chest. Now, he was experiencing an even more intense fright, and with his sole focus on escaping, he paid even less attention to the talisman.
Happy scrambled away, rolling and stumbling, screaming for help. He hoped someone would hear him and extend a helping hand, leading him away from this horrifying place.
Unfortunately, they were on the mountaintop, and with the raging wind, pouring rain, and booming thunder, even if there were people nearby, they wouldn't have been able to hear his cries for help.
Watching Happy flee into the distance, the woman stood in the doorway, not moving a muscle. A seductive smile played on her lips as she watched Happy scramble away, seemingly with no intention of pursuing him.
"Master, I'll go chase him down."
The Old Farmer's neck rotated back to its normal position. Looking at the woman in the doorway, his eyes gleamed with green light as he spoke respectfully.
The woman nodded, and with a captivating smile, she said, "Go on, have your fun. He has a talisman on him. Although its power isn't great, it will still cause you some harm. Be careful, don't capsize in the gutter."
The Old Farmer acknowledged her with a respectful bow, then chased after Happy in the direction he had fled.
The woman stood in the doorway, watching the Old Farmer disappear into the wind and rain, then looked up at the space above the wooden door. There, a series of intricate talismans were carved.
As she gazed at these carved talismans, the seductive smile on the woman's face slowly faded, replaced by an expression of pure malevolence.
"One day, I will break your seal, and then I will kill you with my own hands!"
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