Chapter 117: Echoes of Vengeance

Run!

Without hesitation!

Almost the moment the female corpse locked onto him, Yenir felt an overwhelming sense of death descend upon him, as if all his thoughts had frozen.

He spun around and dashed out of the ground without pausing, activating his Thunder Dash to race desperately toward the boundary of the Settlement!

Behind him came the sound of the earth cracking open.

From the split ground emerged a woman, towering like a skyscraper, silently clawing her way out and relentlessly pursuing him like a crumpled scrap of paper.

Her enormous mouth gaped wide—so vast and narrow it resembled a coffin—as a powerful suction burst forth.

His heart skipped a beat.

Yenir fought hard to remain calm against the suction, ready to deploy his Dimensional Slash at any moment to put distance between them.

That was close.

Had it not been for the resistance granted by the Resentment Orb—a warm surge that shattered the freezing effect—he feared he would have been swallowed the instant he saw the female corpse!

No wonder Fang He perished!

The corpse they were after was in the little girl’s house! And that girl had somehow brought back both the corpse and a ghost!

As he fled, a surge of doubt and unease welled up in Yenir’s heart.

How did the corpse get brought back?

If the corpse had returned, why did the girl’s grandmother keep insisting she had found it?!

Could it be that the corpse returned all on its own, without either the girl or the old woman knowing?

Was it carried back by the water the villagers brought?

…….

Elsewhere, on the riverbank.

“Aaaahhhh!!”

A bloodcurdling scream echoed.

Under the control of Chen Yong and his group, the girl—her face twisted into a grimace—thrust a pair of scissors into a middle-aged man’s mouth, relentlessly slitting his tongue.

As his mouth overflowed with blood, several jagged pieces of his severed tongue fell to the ground.

Even Chen Yong and the others watching from the sidelines felt their hearts sink.

Although these survivors were already trapped in a nascent nightmare, destined to meet their end, the girl’s act still struck them as utterly perverse.

“Uncle, can you help me throw him into the river?”

The blood-splattered girl smiled cheerfully, yet her innocent face now held a chilling, unsettling look.

“Alright…”

Forcing a smile, Chen Yong gritted his teeth and hurled the tongue-less middle-aged man into the water.

“Plop.”

With the heavy thud of a body hitting the water, the victim, as motionless as a stone, was soon overwhelmed by the river and sank to the bottom.

The remaining bound survivors, upon witnessing the unfolding murders, lost all semblance of composure and began pleading tearfully and hysterically.

“Please, spare us!”

“Xiaorou! It’s Uncle Zhang! I swear I didn’t say anything—your mother wasn’t forced to her death by me! Please, I beg you, spare me!”

It was a heart-wrenching cry.

None of them wished to die; driven by the instinct to survive, a few nearly collapsing began hurling curses at one another:

“It’s all your fault! You’re the one spreading lies! It was you who started the rumor about Sister Zhang after being rejected!”

“Kill him! Spare me! I only mentioned that Aunt Zhang took something, but he’s the one who cursed the most!”

…

Watching the bickering and curses among them, a glimmer of pleasure flickered in the girl’s eyes—as if savoring the taste of revenge:

“Mom said you’re all doomed, Uncle Zhang. I want to let you go too.”

“But Mom said you’re next as well.”

Like a well-behaved child, the little girl once again looked at Chen Yong:

“Uncle, cut his tongue next! It’s too noisy!”

Seeing the girl ready to kill again, Chen Yong managed a bitter smile and complied. The only useful tip left by Fang He was a warning: do not provoke the girl. Now, they could only bet on whether it would be her revenge—or her mother’s retribution—that finally ended this nightmare.

Yet, seeing the lingering mist of water all around, unease crept into every heart.

Even after the killings, nothing seemed to change.

“Have you informed Lord Ye Lin about what’s happening here?”

“Does he have any ideas?”

Worried, Chen Yong quietly asked the few Awakener behind him. Just a minute ago, they had informed Yenir of the killings, and now they hoped he’d give guidance—should they continue or not?

Of course, it would be best if Yenir could unearth further clues.

“No response yet…”

“Not sure what’s going on…”

With a troubled expression, Wang Zheng kept staring at his sent messages. By all accounts, Yenir should have replied long ago.

“Uncle!”

“Hurry up! Are you in cahoots with them?!”

Without a second thought, Chen Yong, listening to the little girl’s urging and subtle threats, sighed inwardly and decided to bring out one more person.

..

“Plop…”

“Plop…”

The pace of killing quickened. Perhaps the girl sensed that her revenge was near completion—within two to three minutes, four of the six individuals had been slain. Seeing only two remain, an uneasy Wang Zheng couldn’t help but grab Chen Yong.

“No… Ye Lin hasn’t messaged yet! I suspect something’s happened to him!”

“Should we wait…”

Before any word could be finished, the girl instantly fixed her gaze on the halted Wang Zheng.

“Uncle, once they’re all dead, I’ll have avenged my mother.”

“What, are you lying to me? Don’t you want to help me avenge her?”

As the little girl’s eyes grew colder by the second, everyone froze. She was just a child, yet an instinctive sense of danger emanated from her.

“Enough talk! Kill them! Avenge her, no doubt about it!”

Snapping back to reality, Chen Yong looked at the little girl striding toward him, head held high and fixed on him, and hurriedly forced a smile to assure her he would help.

“Plop!”

As water splashed up again, the ground became littered with fragments of tongues, resembling bloodstained fish scales.

One left…

Seeing a patch of red drifting on the river’s surface, everyone felt a tight knot of anxiety.

“Little Sister Li Rou, there’s just one left. Once he’s dead, your mother’s revenge will be complete, right?”

“Of course. And if you still want to find your mother’s corpse, we can help you!”

Forcing a smile, Chen Yong nervously glanced at the little girl. They were now in a no-win situation, and he could only hope she would give him a definitive answer.

At the sound, the girl turned her head and beamed a sweet smile.

“Yes, Uncle… there’s still one left.”

“But…”

“You don’t have to look for me.”

“My mother is here. She said… you’re all going to die…”

In an instant, Chen Yong’s expression changed dramatically as he sensed a terrifying aura drawing closer from behind.

Spinning around, everyone saw a gigantic, deathly pale female corpse dripping water, silently appearing behind them and glaring with vengeful malice.

…….

Outside the nascent nightmare replica.

Gasping heavily, Yenir looked grimly at his now cooling Dimensional Slash, a chill of dread washing over him.

Chased to the very last moment, he was lucky to have Dimensional Slash save him, propelling him out of harm’s way.

Standing at the boundary between reality and the replica, he finally had a moment to gather his thoughts about the clues he’d just uncovered.

“Something’s not right…”

“If the corpse had been found long ago, then what exactly did the girl’s grandmother mean?”

“Fang He’s death could be explained as Zhang Xuemei’s doing, but what about Chen Fang?”

“Why was Chen Fang attacked? He’s not even on the list… why did both die at the same time?”

While Yenir was deep in thought and about to reply to Wang Zheng’s message, a sudden set of footsteps echoed from afar.

A sorrowful woman was seen cradling a package, gazing at Yenir—who stood outside the Settlement—with a puzzled expression.

“Who are you?”

It was rare for a stranger to appear outside the Settlement, and the woman instinctively asked.

Suddenly, turning back, Yenir recognized the woman’s familiar face and felt his heart skip a beat.

It was as if he finally understood the root of the problem.

A terrifying thought instantly flashed through his mind.

“What’s your name!?”

He demanded urgently.

In the next second, the woman looked at Yenir warily and spoke hesitantly.

“I’m Zhang Xuemei. What’s wrong?”