The true heiress felt a pang of heartache, and the crazed villains panicked.

Chapter 203 Closing the Gate, Releasing Li Ye

Meng Yu's words made Si Xingran laugh.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, raised his chin, and said, "Sure, go ahead and call the police. Sue us for illegally disposing of a corpse, and while you're at it, see if you can get in touch with anyone outside."

Meng Yu was speechless for a moment.

At this moment, Meng Yu's seventy or eighty-year-old father stepped forward and said, "Let them dissect it and see what they can find out."

Meng Yu glanced at him, then lowered her head and remained silent.

Lin Sui glanced casually at her elderly father, then suddenly asked, "Meng Yu, were you also chosen by the Cave God?"

Meng Yu paused for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, I was chosen half a year ago. But look, I'm perfectly fine, and I can even find someone else I like to marry."

“Because the cave god doesn’t really want us to be His brides; He only wants to bless us.”

She is still trying to persuade Lin Sui.

Unfortunately, Lin Sui only heard the word "right," and ignored everything else.

The topic changed quite quickly: "Since there are no objections, you can leave now."

"..." Meng Yu's unfinished words were stuck in her throat.

The father and daughter hesitated and did not move.

Lu Xiang said impatiently, "What, do I have to treat you?"

"Then don't leave. Close the door and let Li Ye go."

Li Ye: "..." He didn't understand, but still silently pulled out his gun.

The father and daughter quickly turned around and left.

Over there, Tangxi had already prepared the dissection tools.

As she turned her back to the crowd and faced the corpse, preparing to remove her mask and put on a face mask, she suddenly noticed the already stiffening corpse twitch its fingers.

Tangxi was startled and instinctively lunged forward to hold the corpse down.

The corpse possessed extraordinary power, which even Tangxi, with her immense strength, could not withstand.

Suddenly, it leaped up and overturned Tangxi, then smashed open the window next to the bed with a bang and jumped out.

"Tangtang!"

The accident happened in the blink of an eye; Lin Sui only had time to help Tang Xi, who had fallen in front of her.

The others immediately jumped out of the window to give chase, but they only saw the figure land on all fours and disappear into the dense forest behind the stilted house in the blink of an eye.

"Messenger! Father has been chosen as the messenger!"

The father, who witnessed this scene from outside, knelt down in emotion and exclaimed, "May the gods bless my Meng family!"

Lin Sui was carefully examining Tang Xi's body, constantly asking her if she was injured anywhere.

Tangxi didn't say anything, but just squinted her eyes and happily enjoyed her concern.

Then, when Lin Sui looked down at her, she blinked her round almond-shaped eyes and shook her head innocently.

Lin Sui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the autopsy was unsuccessful, at least they now know that the shadowy monsters blocking the door outside are indeed mutated humans.

The Meng family members were still kneeling outside, devoutly praying towards the dense forest.

Lin Sui could tell how many people were in the family just by looking at the child's face.

She casually counted them and found two were missing: one was Meng Yu's pregnant mother, and the other...

He was the same kind of person as Meng Yu, and the young girl who had previously hidden among the villagers and was responsible for inciting emotions.

"That's strange." After leaving the Meng family, Si Xingran rubbed his nose and muttered, "Why do some people from the same longevity village smell of mildew while others don't?"

As the child was carried away by a young woman and passed by him, he took a sniff; neither of them smelled musty.

Yu Ci smiled and said, "Maybe they're either not old enough or not qualified enough."

As he spoke, he looked at Lin Sui and smiled, "Right, squad leader?"

Lin Sui hummed in agreement: "Perhaps."

Actually, she had a vague guess in her heart, but she couldn't be sure yet.

If the dissection is successful, it might be possible to confirm the diagnosis.

"A musty smell?" Cheng Feng scratched his head. "Does it? I can't smell it."

He turned to Cheng Yuexiu and asked, "A-Yue, can you smell it?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Sui also looked over.

Ever since witnessing the scene of the wizard talking to the ghosts and gods, Cheng Yuexiu has been in a daze.

At this moment, he raised his eyes in a daze and met Lin Sui's calm and profound gaze.

For some reason, Cheng Yuexiu felt a sudden panic in her heart.

He unconsciously lowered his head, avoiding Lin Sui's all-seeing gaze.

Lin Sui pretended not to see the panic and fear in his eyes.

Suddenly, Yu Cinian asked again where to go next. Lin Sui thought for a moment, then turned around and said, "Come with me."

Unable to leave the village and unable to fight off those armed with guns and cannons, the villagers who had fought the battle could only return to their own homes.

So along the way, wherever Lin Sui and his group went, they were met with condemning and resentful gazes.

Of course, many people simply couldn't understand it, looking at them like they were idiots.

You should know that, in their view, being blessed by the Cave God is the highest honor.

It's something countless people would beg for but can't have.

It wasn't that no one had tried to jump into the river to search for the Cave God's whereabouts, but all of them returned empty-handed.

Some people even tried to fake illness and attempted to replace the chosen person, but all of these attempts failed.

Otherwise, they would have long ago gone to take Lin Sui's place.

"I have to say, these people look so convincing that I almost believed them." Lu Xiang raised an eyebrow.

As she said this, she couldn't help but feel regretful.

I wish she had been chosen.

Whether it's true or not, she will agree to be this so-called bride.

After all, Lin Sui is already Si Xingran's mother, so how can she not be considered her elder?

She was willing to take any risks as long as Lin Sui could have a healthy body.

"Lu Xiang, you'd better stop having those dangerous thoughts in your head right now."

Lin Sui suddenly spoke, his tone somewhat sinister.

Lu Xiang felt a chill on the back of her head. She coughed lightly and looked away, asking, "How did you know what I was thinking?"

Looking at her obviously guilty expression, Lin Sui said with a blank face, "I wasn't sure before, but I know now."

Lu Xiang: "..."

Lin Sui sighed: "I think you should understand that if my health requires you to risk your life, I would rather not have it."

Lu Xiang pursed her lips: "What if it's true?"

“There are no ‘what ifs’,” Lin Sui replied quickly. “Everything in this world has a price tag, not just money, but also health, time, life, love, family, friendship…”

"No matter the cost, I will live with guilt for the rest of my life."

Lu Xiang fell completely silent.

Lin Sui thought she had listened to her, so she continued walking forward.

Therefore, we couldn't see the hint of stubbornness hidden between her brows.

The premise is that Lin Sui must be alright.

Otherwise... at worst, she'll come secretly and not let Lin Sui know.

Tangxi patted her arm understandingly and whispered, "I... support you!"

Si Xingran, Li Ye, and Yu Cinian exchanged glances and saw the same regret in each other's eyes.

—Unfortunately, the cave god doesn't want the groom.

Lin Sui was going to a place on the west side of the village.

It was also a stilted house, surrounded by waist-high weeds, with mottled and rotten wooden walls, clearly abandoned for many years, exuding a gloomy and decadent atmosphere.

"Is this the family that was wiped out ten years ago because they refused the Cave God?" Lu Xiang asked, looking around.

"Ah."

Lin Sui had just responded when Cheng Feng, who had been following behind, said blankly, "It's strange, why do I feel like I've been here before?"

It was too dark to see anything last night, and there was a lot of noise this morning.

It wasn't until he had just walked through the village, passing granaries, covered bridges, a stage, and rows of stilted houses, that he felt a sense of déjà vu.

From the moment she faced the abandoned stilted house, Cheng Yuexiu seemed afraid of something and kept hiding behind Cheng Feng.

Hearing Cheng Feng's words, he hesitated and said in a dry voice, "When you were little, your parents brought you... us, to travel here."

"Huh, I don't remember?" Cheng Feng scratched his head. "A-Yue, you're even younger than me."

Cheng Yuexiu smiled and said, "Besides eating, what else do you remember?"

These are the words their mother often said to Cheng Feng.

But right now, their mother is in the hospital, waiting for money.

The two brothers fell silent.

Lin Sui also withdrew her gaze and said, "Let's go in."

With the doors and windows locked, Li Ye took the lead and kicked open the rotten wooden door.

Everyone filed in.

Cheng Feng wanted to follow, but Cheng Yuexiu grabbed him, saying, "Brother, I'm scared. Let's wait outside."

Cheng Feng thought that since Lin Sui and the others were inside, it would be fine for them to keep watch outside, since they weren't far away anyway, so he agreed.

After Lin Sui and his group entered the house, they were greeted by many shadowy figures.

Si Xingran thought that some kind of messenger had barged in and was about to draw his sword.

"Look at your pathetic self," Lu Xiang said disdainfully. "Look closely, they're just paper figures."

The windows were boarded up, making the building dark, with only a little light coming in from the open door.

Wherever the light shines, lifelike paper figures are displayed.

These paper figures were dressed in brightly colored clothes, with rouge painted on their pale faces and lips as red as if they were smeared with blood. They looked eerie no matter how you looked at them.

Lin Sui explained, "This family has the skill of making paper figures, and they make a living from it."

"The musty smell in this room is terrible." Yu Cinian, wearing a mask, was spraying disinfectant around him like a disinfection machine, just like always.

Li Ye also said, "It's not quite the same as what's on a person's body."

The musty smell also had a fishy odor, making it even more unpleasant than pure musty smell.

"Really? I don't smell anything." Luo Rulan, who was following them, looked around but didn't see anything obviously moldy.

She pulled her coat tighter around herself, feeling a chill in the air, with only the stench of a long-abandoned wooden building rotting away.

Tang Xi looked at her in confusion and tugged at Lin Sui's sleeve: "Why...why?"

Why couldn't she and Cheng Feng smell it?

Lin Sui pondered for a moment, then asked in return, "Have you all been reading the introductory books on metaphysics that I gave you these past two days?"

Tangxi's eyes sparkled, and she nodded emphatically.

Seeing the obvious plea for praise in her eyes, Lin Sui readily gave her a thumbs up: "You're really amazing, you've already got the hang of it."

That wasn't an ordinary musty smell; only those who cultivate the Tao could detect it.

Thinking of this, Lin Sui was also amazed.

She had previously worried that they wouldn't be able to learn it and that their self-esteem would be hurt.

This is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

But as things stand now, they are undoubtedly very talented... Lin Sui then thought of the infant spirit on Cloud Rain Island, which was sealed and protected in a cabinet by another force.

Tangxi's blood can also open the cabinet door.

Could this be one of the reasons they were targeted by the evil god?

The others had no idea what Lin Sui was thinking, and were immediately invigorated by the praise.

You know, they were really shaken up by that cryptic book of scribbled symbols these past two days.

They thought they weren't good enough to learn, but somehow they somehow figured it out.

Si Xingran immediately became so smug that his platinum ahoge (antenna-like hair sticking up) stood up: "I knew it! There's nothing in this world that can stump me."

"You haven't even turned the first page," Li Ye coldly exposed.

Si Xingran retorted, "Aren't you the same?"

"I'm sorry," Yu Cinian smiled slightly, "this morning, I turned to the second page."

The others paused, then glared at each other angrily: "Outcast! Get out of here!"

Yu Cinian doesn't want to fit in on this.

He bent down and got right up to Lin Sui's face, the small mole on his nose clearly visible: "Captain, don't you think I'm still the best..."

"Snapped!"

Tangxi stood on tiptoe and slapped that pretty face, her little face tense as she said, "I...don't think so!"

Yu Cinian, whose face was completely covered by a slap: "..."

Lin Sui chuckled.

She turned and climbed the stairs against the wall: "There's nothing to see downstairs except these paper figures. Let's go upstairs and take a look."

The upstairs area was even more damp and dark, with cobwebs on the ceiling and mushrooms growing in the corners.

Lin Sui casually pushed open a wooden door, which seemed to lead to a bedroom.

A bed was placed against the wall, and there were many simple line drawings on the wall, depicting a little girl sometimes holding a doll and sometimes combing her hair in front of a mirror.

There are also two comic strips where a little girl is being bullied by a tall boy, and she cries as she runs into her mother's arms.

The mother chased after the boy and scolded him, and the little girl stopped crying and started laughing.

Lin Sui opened the desk drawer against the wall, inside which were crayons, sketchbooks, and a diary scattered about.

The diary pages were yellowed, and the handwriting was like a cartoon, round and cute.

—My parents are hoping I'll grow up quickly so I'll have a chance to be chosen by the Cave God. But that would mean staying here forever. I don't want to. I want to go out and see the world. My brother says I'm unfilial.

—A family of tourists came to the village. They were talking to Sister Mengxiang, saying they had seen her ten years ago and she hadn't changed much. Sister Mengxiang said she was Mengxiang's daughter. I found it strange, because Mengxiang is Mengxiang, she doesn't have a daughter.

—That boy named Xiaofeng has a lot of fun things that I've never seen before. He also told me a lot about the outside world, which made me even more eager to go out and see it.

My beloved parents have changed, they've become so scary. I don't understand why, they were the gentlest and kindest to me.

—The water is so cold, I've been soaking for so long, I feel like I'm going to die…

The last sentence was written in crooked and illegible handwriting.

It was as if the person writing was too weak to hold the pen.

After that, there was a blank; the diary never continued.

Lin Sui flipped through the pages again, and a photo fell out of the diary.

Lu Xiang picked it up and looked at it.

The color photograph was wrapped in a layer of adhesive paper, yet the faces on it remained clearly visible.

It's a family of four: Dad, Mom, brother, and sister.

"It looks familiar..." Lu Xiang said with a frown, as if she remembered something, and hurriedly ran downstairs.