Chapter 544: The Crying Melon

　　Dense pine forests blocked the sunlight.

　　No insect chirps or bird calls echoed in the dead silence, yet faint yin winds whispered through the branches.

　　Lu Fei gazed into the distance, scanning his surroundings.

　　The mountain hollow ahead seemed perfectly centered within this massive range.

　　Yin winds swirled around the depression, drawing dark energy from all directions.

　　Over time, the concentrated yin energy had permeated every inch of soil in the hollow, forming an ideal Extreme Yin Land.

　　"This is actually an Extreme Yin Land!""

　　Lu Fei's expression turned grave.

　　"Young Lu, what's an Extreme Yin Land?" Brother Gua's scalp tingled. Despite the sweltering heat, he felt chilled to the bone standing in this forest.

　　The sinister cold intensified as they approached the hollow.

　　"Simply put, it's a place where yin energy has condensed to its extreme."

　　"So that's why those harmful shadow melons grow here?""

　　"Growing shadow melons in such a place is child's play." Lu Fei glanced at the darkening sky. "Brother Gua, we must hurry. This place becomes dangerously treacherous after nightfall."

　　"What kind of danger?""

　　The melon farmer asked naively.

　　Without answering, Lu Fei pasted a ghost-repelling talisman on the man's back and gestured for Xiao Hei to advance toward the hollow.

　　The depression proved larger than expected, filled with swirling mist and overgrown with lush vegetation.

　　The fog grew denser near the center.

　　Shadowy silhouettes flickered indistinctly in the thickest mist, their forms obscured by the eerie haze.

　　The two men and the dog found a gentle slope, carefully grasping wild grass as they slid bit by bit into the mountain depression.

　　Their feet landed on thick layers of fallen leaves.

　　In the faint mist lingered various dark green plants.

　　"So cold!"

　　Brother Gua shivered violently. The air here chilled to the bone, yet the next moment he felt cooling relief spreading through his hands, the burning pain and itching noticeably diminishing.

　　It seemed to be the effect of the icy mist.

　　"Young Lu, my hands feel much better! Are we close to finding the melon field?" He exclaimed with mingled surprise and delight.

　　"Feeling better?"

　　Lu Fei glanced at him and frowned.

　　"This isn't good news! The mist in this depression is condensed Yin Qi. Your hands are being numbed by it. If you stay here too long, the Yin Qi will invade your internal organs. Even if your hands were severed, you wouldn't feel it."

　　"Hiss——"

　　Brother Gua sucked in a cold breath, his joy instantly transforming into terror.

　　"We'll leave as soon as we find the melon field!"

　　Xiao Hei scouted ahead.

　　The two men pushed through dense vegetation.

　　Lu Fei noticed the plants in the depression grew exceptionally large and lush, many leaves broad and thick with a dark green so intense it seemed to drip moisture.

　　The damp, chilly air created an illusion of walking through tropical rainforest.

　　What differed was the complete absence of animals amidst these absurdly luxuriant plants.

　　After creeping forward cautiously for a while, Xiao Hei apparently discovered something. The dog glanced back at Lu Fei before trotting ahead.

　　"Brother Gua, keep up!"

　　Lu Fei called Gua Ge and quickened their pace.

　　Parting the thick branches and leaves, the space ahead suddenly opened up.

　　Both men froze at the sight before them.

　　The ground ahead was divided into plots, each growing different plants that somewhat resembled common vegetables, yet bore strange, unsettling differences.

　　"Someone's farming here?!"

　　Gua Ge's eyes widened in disbelief.

　　Never mind this being an extremely yin location—who would farm deep in these primordial mountains?

　　Yet the overturned soil clearly showed human cultivation; these crops absolutely didn't grow naturally.

　　"If that's the case, the Yin melons were probably cultivated this way too," Lu Fei said with growing unease. "Never mind why—finding the melon vines comes first."

　　Xiao Hei led the way.

　　The two men carefully skirted the outermost edge of the farmland.

　　Beyond the vegetable plots loomed what appeared to be an orchard shrouded in dense fog, where crimson fruits glimmered faintly amidst the mist.

　　While vegetable gardens and orchards were common in villages, their presence here felt profoundly unnatural.

　　Could someone actually be living deep in that fruit grove?

　　And would such a dweller even be human?

　　As they pondered, Xiao Hei halted.

　　Lu Fei looked ahead.

　　Before them stretched a melon field.

　　Rows of lush green vines thrived with vitality, their leaves dotted with white blossoms and melons of varying sizes.

　　The fully formed fruits appeared indistinguishable from ordinary watermelons at first glance.

　　"Great, finally found it!" Brother Gua cheered up again.

　　"Brother Gua, make it quick. Don't touch anything else! Little Hei keeps watch!" Lu Fei instructed.

　　The two took out pre-prepared scissors and walked into the melon field, ready to cut some vines.

　　Little Hei obediently crouched nearby, small ears perked up, bright black eyes vigilantly watching the orchard direction.

　　Lu Fei located a vine with relatively few fruits and snipped with the scissors.

　　Unexpectedly, the vine proved remarkably resilient - the scissors couldn't cut through.

　　Brother Gua faced the same problem. Grunting with effort, he exerted all his strength but still failed to sever the vine, leaving only shallow indentations.

　　The vine instead trembled its leaves like experiencing pain, emitting whimpering sounds.

　　"Young Lu... what's that noise?"

　　Brother Gua turned pale with fright and hastily stopped the scissors.

　　They saw a ripe Yin melon on the vine slowly rotating itself, shockingly displaying human facial features.

　　Eyes and nose scrunched together, its open mouth moaned "aiyo-aiyo".

　　As if Brother Gua hadn't been cutting a vine, but its actual body.

　　"H-human head?"

　　Brother Gua's face instantly changed color as he staggered backward.

　　Human-headed melon?!

　　Lu Fei also froze in shock.

　　These Yin melons were more sinister than he'd imagined.

　　At this moment, Little Hei suddenly stood up, apparently noticing something.

　　Shadowy figures seemed to be moving in the orchard.

　　"Not good, there's movement over there! Brother Gua, hide quickly!"

　　Sensing something amiss, Lu Fei immediately pulled Brother Gua out of the vegetable field and hid in the dense thicket.

　　The clever Xiao Hei moved even faster than them.

　　In the melon field, the melon with a human face continued to moan rhythmically.

　　The fruit grove's branches shook slightly as a deathly pale dog leaped out.

　　This massive dog possessed muscular limbs and bore a red, skull-shaped tumor on its forehead.

　　Sharp fangs protruded from its jaws, while two green eyes swept the surroundings like cold radars.

　　What kind of dog is this?

　　The grotesque sight made Brother Gua tremble. Lu Fei quickly pressed down on his shoulder to prevent any movement that might attract the white dog.

　　The human-faced melon's moans gradually ceased as its head slowly turned back.

　　The melon field returned to silence.

　　After coldly scanning the area, the white dog patrolled the field once. Apparently finding nothing amiss, it dashed back into the fruit grove and soon vanished from their sight.

　　"What the hell was that thing?"

　　Brother Gua remained curled up, his voice quivering.

　　"There's a type of dog that grows these skull-like tumors on their heads," Lu Fei answered gravely.

　　"What kind of dog?"