695 A Million Times for You 57 (1/2)

”Of course I do. I've always forbidden my children from coming to this mountain. I'm still a little paranoid and cautious. I'm afraid that what my ancestors said would turn out to be true.”

An Xiaoning continued to wait patiently.

Half an hour later, the villager returned with a rooster, which he held with both hands and threw inside the cave right before everyone's eyes. The rooster, which was initially flapping its wings and moving about, died and collapsed onto the ground within just seconds.

Everyone's faces turned as pale as a sheet at the sight of the scene before them.

A sudden shriek sounded from nowhere, and the villagers frantically retreated back a great distance.

An Xiaoning could strongly sense that something was amiss.

She was certain that she did not see any supernatural beings in the cave. Why did that happen?

A hair-raising eeriness filled the air.

The people around An Xiaoning held their breaths in fear.

The gray clouds were getting heavier.

Everything seemed to gradually become much more surreal.

An Xiaoning stepped forward and inched closer toward the cave opening. Wang Jinsheng yelled to stop her in her tracks. ”Ms. An, why don't we head back first and refrain from coming here for the time being?”

She waved and said, ”I'm not going in.”

An Xiaoning stopped at the cave opening and craned her neck to peek inside. All of a sudden, her eyes widened and a grave expression formed on her face. The rosiness of her cheeks instantly disappeared as her face turned pale and colorless.

She took a deep breath and said to the villagers, ”This place seems somewhat cursed and eerie. Tell your fellow villagers not to come to this mountain ever again in the future. As for the corpses stuck inside, we'll think of a solution to move them out and bury them. You guys may go descend the mountain first.”

”Alright.” The villagers proceeded to leave the mountains as advised. After all, it was already past three o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun would be setting very soon in another couple of hours, especially since the days were shorter during winter. It would be difficult to make their descent down the mountain once the sky has turned dark.

After the villagers left, An Xiaoning said to the archeologists, ”Let's try and pull the corpses out with a rope.”

”Will that work?”

”Let's give it a try.”

An Xiaoning unzipped her quilt jacket to reveal the rope that was tied around her waist, causing their jaws to drop as they stared wide-eyed in shock.

”Ms. An, will this rope really work? It seems a little thin.”

”It may be thin, but it's very sturdy. There won't be a problem.” An Xiaoning held onto the end of the rope, which had a hook, and flung it toward one of the corpses inside the cave, allowing the hook to latch onto the corpse's clothing.

It did work according to her plan. She looked at the dumbfounded men and prompted, ”What are you still standing there for? Hurry and help me pull the other end of the rope. How can I manage to pull the corpse out on my own?”

”Yes, yes, we'll hurry.”

The men then pulled the rope outward with all their might and dragged the corpse of a man out of the cave.

They managed to pull the remaining corpses out using the same method.

Everyone surrounded the corpses that were lying motionless on the ground and observed their faces, only to find that there was nothing unusual about them.

Although they seemed to be just asleep, they were, in fact, already dead.

Their bodies had turned stiff and clammy.

”Bring them down the mountains and get the villagers to bury them.”