Chapter 546: The Cabin in the Woods
The shrill, urgent howls reverberated through the mountain hollow.
Shadows stirred behind the fruit grove.
In an instant, someone had already rushed over.
"So quick to react!"
Lu Fei's forehead beaded with sweat as he clenched his teeth and exerted all his strength to pull out the last melon vine.
Footsteps gradually approached.
Xiao Hei anxiously ran over to help, tugging Lu Fei's clothes with his teeth to pull backwards.
With a rustling sound.
A decomposed human head mixed with soil was pulled out, just as a figure emerged from the orchard.
Lu Fei hastily hid the melon vine behind his back.
It was a hunchbacked old man.
He wore faded, coarse linen clothes, with disheveled grey hair and beard obscuring his aged face, revealing only a pair of murky yellow eyes.
His body leaned crookedly, his left hand curled inward like a claw—apparently disabled—while his right hand gripped a bone-white sickle.
His pupils shifted, glancing at the corpse-devouring dog before fixing on Lu Fei.
The corpse-devouring dog ceased its screeching, struggling desperately within the entanglement of black hair, whimpering urgently upon seeing its master.
With hands behind his back, Lu Fei swiftly cut the roots with scissors and stuffed the vine into his backpack.
"Old sir, we apologize! We got lost and strayed here by accident. We'll leave immediately!" He retreated cautiously.
Now that three melon vines were secured, priority was to return and neutralize the Yin Gua Poison—everything else was secondary.
The hunchbacked old man stared fixedly at Lu Fei with turbid eyes, advancing wordlessly while limping forward with his sickle.
Though seemingly disabled and swaying unsteadily as if about to collapse, the old man moved with terrifying speed, crossing into the vegetable field in the blink of an eye.
"Old sir, we truly meant no offense!"
Not daring to underestimate him, Lu Fei quickly retreated from the field.
"We accidentally got poisoned by the Yin melon and had no choice but to pull up a vine. How about I compensate you?"
But the old man completely ignored him, his eyes icy as he instantly appeared before Lu Fei, swinging his sharp sickle toward the young man's neck.
A lethal strike from the very first move.
As if Lu Fei weren't a living person, but mere grass or scallion.
Lu Fei startled backward, barely avoiding the sickle.
Yet the bone-white sickle reappeared before his eyes the next moment. The old man's movements were extremely bizarre - Lu Fei couldn't even track them clearly.
Channeling spiritual energy through his body, Lu Fei barely managed to dodge the old man through frantic movements, retreating behind the black umbrella.
Raven hair writhed like claws, tightly constricting the ghoul-hound.
The beast showed terrifying vitality - even with its neck nearly crushed, it still wouldn't die.
The hunchbacked old man seemed indifferent to both the ghoul-hound's fate and the black umbrella, his murky eyes fixed unblinkingly on Lu Fei as the bone sickle pursued relentlessly.
Several strands of black hair shot forward to intercept, only to be effortlessly severed by the sickle.
Lu Fei's heart sank. Knowing he couldn't shake off this eerie old man quickly, he gritted his teeth and shouted at Gua Ge clinging to the tree behind them.
"Gua Ge! Follow Xiao Hei and run! Xiao Hei, go now!"
Xiao Hei shot Lu Fei a profound look before barking and darting toward the mountain pass exit.
"But what about you..." Gua Ge trembled, frozen in place.
"Keep dawdling and I can't protect you anymore!"
At this, Gua Ge turned deathly pale, practically tumbling from the tree before scrambling after Xiao Hei on hands and knees.
The hunchback's gaze shifted toward Gua Ge.
"Xiao San!"
Fearing pursuit, Lu Fei bit down hard and sprinted toward the orchard.
The Black Umbrella grabbed the Ghoul Dog and slammed it toward the hunchbacked old man, then immediately followed Lu Fei.
With a wave of his experienced hand, the hunchbacked old man sent the Ghoul Dog rolling to the ground. Its body, riddled with wounds from the dark strands, rapidly healed.
Seeing Lu Fei dart into the fruit forest, a flash of anger crossed the old man's eyes. His mismatched legs moved with an uncanny gait as he pursued Lu Fei.
The Ghoul Dog shook its head and closely followed its master.
Hearing the limping footsteps, Lu Fei gripped the Black Umbrella tightly, his mind racing.
Hei San carried him as they flew up into a tall fruit tree, carefully concealing themselves.
The fruit tree here had lush branches and dense leaves, laden with crimson fruits that resembled apples, exuding an alluring fragrance.
The hunchbacked old man chased him to the base of the tree, lost track of Lu Fei's traces, paused to survey the surroundings, then began searching throughout the orchard with the corpse-eating dog.
Lu Fei suppressed his aura, dared not even breathe heavily, and avoided direct eye contact with the hunchbacked old man, observing only through his peripheral vision.
After patrolling back and forth through the orchard several times without finding Lu Fei, the hunchbacked old man halted momentarily before raising his head to gaze at the dense canopy.
Lu Fei hurriedly closed his eyes and held his breath.
The hunchbacked old man swept his icy gaze around, then turned to stare deep into the orchard. His brows furrowed deeply before he quickly ran towards the heart of the fruit trees.
Lu Fei exhaled in relief - apparently the old man thought the intruder had fled deeper into the grove.
He wondered what lay within that made the old man seem so agitated.
Squinting, he parted some foliage and peered curiously in that direction.
Surprisingly, the orchard's depths held expansive flower clusters. They appeared to be camellias, blooming vibrantly in a riot of colors, so beautiful it was almost startling.
At the center of these blossoms stood a simple yet well-kept wooden cabin.
Lu Fei's gaze traveled further, surveying the surroundings. This cottage seemed to occupy the very core of the mountain hollow.
A picket fence enclosed a small yard around the structure.
The yard contained a half-swept pile of fallen leaves, with an abandoned broom lying beside them.
It seemed that the hunchbacked old man had rushed to the vegetable patch upon hearing the Corpse-Eating Dog's barks while sweeping the yard.
"This old man has a peculiar taste for romance, planting flowers and vegetables alone in the deep mountains and dense forests."
Lu Fei couldn't help but tease in his heart.
This place resembled a Peach Blossom Spring, albeit with an underworldly aesthetic.
Those melons were grown from human heads—who knows how those flowers sprouted?
The old man hurried into the yard, but instead of entering the wooden hut, he reverently inspected the doors and windows, visibly relieved after confirming Lu Fei hadn't broken in.
The Corpse-Eating Dog didn't even enter the yard, cautiously guarding outside the fence.
"Could there be someone else living in the wooden hut..."
Lu Fei widened his eyes, curiously observing, when he suddenly realized the old man had vanished.
Where did he go in the blink of an eye?
Moments later.
Lu Fei looked down.
The hunchbacked old man now stood glaring beneath the fruit tree, his murky eyes filled with sinister resentment and killing intent.
The Corpse-Eating Dog also came charging toward them.
Yet Lu Fei remained calm.
By now, Gua Ge and Xiao Hei must have fled far enough.
He retrieved the cloth doll from his backpack, grasped its crude little hand, and smiled at the old man beneath the tree.
"Old man, goodbye!"
Then.
Right under the hunchbacked elder's watchful gaze, he vanished into thin air.
The old man was utterly astonished, frozen for several seconds. By the time he regained his senses, Lu Fei had already dashed out of the vegetable field and scrambled up the hillside.
"Stop—"
The old man seemed unable to leave this place, his furious roar echoing through the entire mountain hollow.
"That was close!""
Lu Fei brushed the dirt off his clothes, glanced back at the mist-shrouded mountain hollow, and quickly ran away.