Chapter 13 Underworld Paradise
The sun moved faster than they had anticipated.
The side street and most areas were shrouded in shadows.
It really was bad luck.
On the façade of a supermarket, its gigantic billboard was distinctly taller than the neat storefront.
It was the shadow cast by this billboard onto the street that created a protrusion in the shadowy tide line!
The faster runners had already crossed this protruding shadow.
While the bloated guy had only just arrived!
The two had already run until their eyes were glassy, paying no attention to the fact that their feet were already under the billboard's shadow!
Thus, as soon as their feet stepped in, the "Water Ghosts" gathered in this zone of death suddenly sprang up, their ghostly monkey-like claws clutching the bloated man's legs tightly!
The bloated man was scared out of his wits, his massive body falling to the ground!
He didn't just fall onto the concrete; it was as if he collapsed into a den, as dozens of Shadow Evil Spirits emerged from the billboard-sized shadow zone.
They quickly crawled all over the bloated man, claws tearing, fangs gnawing, and even after disemboweling him, one smaller Shadow Evil Spirit burrowed into his body from within, eating him from the inside out!
"Ahhhh!!!!"
The screams echoed through the street.
In a place like this, death wasn't the scariest thing.
Throughout the entire feeding frenzy, the bloated man remained alive. The Shadow Water Ghosts were vicious and cruel, knowing exactly where to start eating first to keep their prey alive and the meat fresh longer...
Yang Qin was so scared that her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
If she hadn't turned back in time, she would have ended up just like the bloated man!
It was too terrifying!
This place was too terrifying!!
She didn't want to stay in such a place at all.
"Stupid." Su Li watched the entire process coldly.
In fact, when Jiang Wang and Xu Yan made this decision, Su Li had already known these people wouldn't survive.
They had no understanding of the rules of the evil sun.
It was completely different from the bright, clear day they remembered.
Its movement speed was actually faster!
So not just the bloated man who couldn't run away, but no one else could hope to escape the side street alive!
"Ahhhh!!!!"
Indeed, the screeches sounded again, clearly audible even from a mile away.
It was the older man, who, due to exhaustion, veered into the shadow, looking like a piece of meat falling into a pool of piranhas, blood spraying, forming a visible mist!
"Faster!!"
"Faster!!"
Jiang Wang and Xu Yan ran at the front.
They saw that they were about to reach the main street, which basked in ample sunlight.
But the side street's shadow was like a merciless giant stone door, closing bit by bit!
Finally, when they were less than a hundred meters from the side street, the shadows completely covered the entire street, and hundreds of Shadow Water Ghosts began to hunt them!
"No, no, no! No, no, no!!" Jiang Wang screamed in despair.
But as soon as he opened his mouth, a sharp claw forced its way in!
It was a large Shadow Water Ghost, its claw hooked like a bent hook.
So they saw Jiang Wang lifted cruelly, like a fish hooked by its throat.
Next, other Shadow Water Ghosts, like diners at a hotpot restaurant, orderly yet greedily carved sushi off Jiang Wang's body, savoring the fresh and tender meat!
Xu Yan met the same fate as Jiang Wang.
The other two running in the middle didn't even leave bones behind in just a short time.
Although it was just a shadowy street, the moment the sunlight disappeared, it turned into an underworld hell, and the scene played out was beyond horrific!
Wu Hen stood at a distance, witnessing the entire process.
Unlike the man-eating monsters he had seen in movies, the real monsters in the otherworldly realm had their own habits, almost as if they had their own food culture.
This meticulousness and detail made death even more frightening and horrifying.
"Let's go, the sunlight is now tilting towards the front road." Su Li's calm voice broke the silence.
Wu Hen nodded, following closely behind Su Li.
The others were already shell-shocked. They were most grateful they had chosen to follow Su Li, so now they wouldn't think too much; they would go wherever Su Li told them to go.
Yang Qin remained limp on the ground, completely drained of strength.
"Wake her up." Su Li said blandly.
Wu Hen glanced at the collapsed Yang Qin.
Ah, youth, able to nap at any time...
Wu Hen approached her and gave her a few slaps.
Yang Qin, her face swollen, quickly came to her senses.
Realizing that if she didn't get up to follow the group, she would certainly die here, she stood up weakly, crying as she did so.
Wu Hen gave her a hand, noticing a wet spot where Yang Qin had been sitting...
Sigh, Yang Qin, how can someone so grown still drool like this?
...
Su Li clearly knew the route well.
Next, the group smoothly left the high-rise area, arriving near the old train station.
"Do we need to go inside? There are many areas in the station where sunlight doesn't reach," asked the older woman in the group.
"No need to go inside the platform, the train is parked outside, we can just walk along the tracks." Su Li said.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness!" The others sighed in relief upon hearing this news.
Although the Shadow Evil Spirits weren't powerful, their numbers were overwhelming. If many Shadow Evil Spirits were residing inside the train station, they would still be doomed.
"Climb over this wall, and there's the track. The train is about four or five kilometers ahead on the track, there's no building shadow or any light-blocking sheds along the way." Su Li explained again.
The old train station was surrounded by old, low-rise buildings, most of which were covered in moss and vines, clearly abandoned.
The wall before them was a low brick wall covered with climbing plants, with some old electrical wires on top, but it wasn't hard to climb over.
A few people began to help each other climb over the low train station wall, ending up in the open space with the tracks.
"Give me your hand." Wu Hen, lying on the wall, reached out to Yang Qin.
Yang Qin looked delighted, quickly extending both hands.
Wu Hen pulled her up onto the wall and then down to the other side.
Yang Qin's eyes showed gratitude, and she wanted to express her thanks coyly to get closer to Wu Hen, but he ignored her, leaving her pouting and following him dejectedly.
"Did I offend him somehow? Why is he so indifferent to me?" Yang Qin was puzzled.
However, before Yang Qin could think further, the anxious and uneasy mood of the others alerted her that something was wrong!
The other members of the group turned in circles in place like frightened horses; some even wanted to climb back over the wall.
"Su Li, what do you mean by this? Didn't you see what's on the ground ahead???" The older woman in the group screeched.
"Midnight Mass!! Those are all Midnight Mass!! Did you bring us to the Midnight Mass's nest, Su Li!!"
"Let me go back, let me go back, I don't want to stay in this hellish place!!"
The group descended into chaos, everyone unable to stay calm.
It would have been fine if they hadn't climbed over the wall without knowing the state of the train station area.
But after crossing, they realized the train station and both sides of the extended track were densely lined with terrifying stone statues!
It was like accidentally stepping into a terrifying stone sculpture factory.
The problem was, everyone living here knew those motionless things under the sunlight weren't ordinary stones; they were more frightening than the Dusk Evil Spirits and Shadow Evil Spirits—Midnight Mass!!!
Su Li hadn't told them the truth.
The old train station was the Midnight Mass's nest!!
"This is the only way to leave this piece of Evil Soil." Su Li said calmly.
"But..."
"But what, if you're not lost, you should know Midnight Mass can't move during the day, not even on cloudy days, when they're in statue form. Right now, they're just statues!" Su Li said.
The group, hearing Su Li's stern reprimand, quickly stopped their uneasy racket.
Indeed, if the Midnight Mass could move, they'd have been devoured upon crossing the wall!
To get through the Midnight Mass's nest...
Leaving here towards the Nuwa Divine Tree wouldn't be too far now.
Their final destination was the Nuwa Divine Tree.
"We have two hours until sunset; the Midnight Mass won't attack us, so let's follow Su Li's plan." The scar-faced uncle in the group said.
"It's too late to go back now." Wu Hen added.
The four to five kilometers of track also had no obstructions, and the sunlight covered the bare railway, slightly easing the others' anxiety.
"Let's go." Su Li still led the group at the front.
However, this time she drew her gun, maintaining a vigilant posture.
Su Li gave Wu Hen a look, signaling him to stick close to her no matter what.
Wu Hen wished he could shrink into a baby, nestling in the butt of Su Li's long gun. A wise and capable older sister, what's not to love!
"These Midnight Mass, they really won't move?" Yang Qin asked the scar-faced uncle in a small voice.
"They shouldn't."
"Sh...should??" Yang Qin's eyes widened in fear, tears of terror starting to form again.
Alongside the track, weeds flourished; even under the bright sunlight, it still exuded a cemetery-like eeriness.
Moreover, those statuesque evil spirits standing one after another, their statue state eerily lifelike, especially their faces. They smiled differently, yet each grinned with a chilling deceitfulness!
If anything, they resembled the ghost messengers in hell who come to greet you.
They welcomed you to the Underworld Paradise with smiling faces, outwardly polite, yet always showing tiny expressions and movements impatiently ready to torment you!
With the light source, did they really not move?
Yang Qin still felt that no matter where she went, their eyes were always on her.