Chapter 4, The Face of the Dead

I know that this group of crows will definitely launch a second wave of attack, so I encourage Panzi to stay strong and not to flee later. We will cooperate together and strive to drive them away as soon as possible

I have taken on this thicket, which has made things easier for Panzi, as he follows behind without much effort

Coincidentally, there were several holes poked into the dead man's face. Panzi began to dig into these holes, and when he pulled his finger out, he brought out a piece of straw mixed with cotton.

I pondered for quite a while but could not come up with a reasonable explanation. In the end, Panzi looked down along the strange face and discovered a faintly engraved line of small characters beneath it

The claws of this crow are sharp, and in an instant, it has drawn several blood trails on his neck. These birds are all wild. I glanced at Panzi's wound and felt a deep concern, truly fearing that this bird might carry diseases such as avian influenza.

This group of crows has also grown tired, temporarily letting the two of us go, flying chaotically in the air. I cannot quite describe how I feel right now; I am quite frustrated, yet there is also a hint of helplessness. I did not expect that as soon as we entered the territory of Suiyuan Village, before we could even attend to our business, we would be bullied by a flock of birds

He and I stood back to back, preparing ourselves. Strangely, after hearing that laughter, the crow became frightened, disregarding the two of us entirely, and all at once turned around, flapping its wings with astonishing speed to flee back.

If it is said that the previous phenomenon of stones bleeding was due to plant sap, then this laughter cannot be explained by plants at all. In my memory, I have never heard of any plant that can make a sound

This group of crows is particularly fast. Just as I and the book were crouching down, still trying to catch our breath, they rushed over. I initially thought they would continue flying past without stopping, but unexpectedly, they suddenly slowed down.

I have a suspicion that this strange face appearing on the stele, especially being concealed within the fault, is certainly not a simple matter of being randomly carved. What does it conceal

Pan Zi considered another aspect; he stared at the scarecrow and asked me, "Du Rui, do you think that laughter we heard just now could have come from this scarecrow?"

It is often said that two fists cannot match four hands. We remained vigilant, but after a stalemate for a while, we fell into a trap. Panzi, in a moment of carelessness, was clawed a few times on the neck by a crow.

The two of us, being strong men, would not find it difficult to face a group of crows in ordinary circumstances. However, the peculiar thing is that this group of crows is quite clever; they surrounded us and attacked from all directions

At first glance, what Panzi said seems a bit absurd, but after searching for so long, we haven't found anyone else, only this scarecrow in front of us. Could it be that Panzi was actually right? What is so strange about this scarecrow that it can emit human laughter?

But at that moment, something unexpected happened. A brief and rapid strange laughter came from the bushes ahead, "Hee hee hee!"

I noticed a detail: when Panzi's spring knife pierced the dead man's face, it went in completely with a hiss. If it were truly a human face, no matter how much force Panzi used, it would not have penetrated so deeply with a single stab

In such a desolate wilderness, the sudden emergence of this laughter is undoubtedly as unsettling as a *picture* book, leaving both Panzi and me somewhat stunned as we looked around together

According to what is said, the danger posed by the crows has been eliminated, and we should be able to breathe a sigh of relief. However, in reality, the two of us have become even more vigilant. What does it indicate that this group of crows is afraid of the sound of ghostly laughter?

Just as I pushed aside a bush, suddenly, a face emerged from the thicket ahead.

This thicket is particularly large, almost impossible to see the end at a glance, especially since the bushes inside are particularly dense, at least more than a person's height. I cautioned Panzi to be careful and told him that we should go inside to see what that laughter really is.

At that moment, a sudden laughter echoed from a distance, a giggle reminiscent of a three or four-year-old child playing mischievously

I find it quite puzzling, thinking to myself, isn't this the territory of Suiyuan Village? How come it was a restricted area before?

Neither Panzi nor I engaged in any excessive actions, nor did we provoke them. However, one among them took the lead, leading this group of flat-haired beasts to charge at the two of us

We both lifted our feet high and rushed into the bushes together. We ran quite a distance this time, stopping fifty meters away from the dirt road, both half-squatting as we raised our heads to observe.

Its probe happened to come right in front of my eyes, almost resulting in a nose-to-nose encounter.

I exclaimed and quickly pulled my head back

We were forced into a corner, with no time to evade the situation. I had no choice but to brace myself and confront Panzi, preparing for a fight

I suddenly realized and thought to myself, could this be fake? I suppressed the chaotic feeling in my chest and shouted for him to calm down.

However, we did not pay attention to the specific direction from which the laughter came. Now that we want to find it, we are somewhat at a loss. I said that the laughter appeared to our left, but Panzi suspected it was coming from the right.

Pan nodded and said it was fine. I went ahead, first pushing aside a patch of bushes to find a place to land. I felt that these bushes were particularly tough and quite resilient; when I pushed them aside, I really had to exert some effort, otherwise they would spring back.

I was stared at so closely by a dead face that, in an instant, every hair on my body stood on end from fright

Panzi could no longer bear it, let out a muffled groan, and turned to flee. I wanted to call out to him not to run away, for in the face of this flock of flying birds, there was nowhere for us to escape.

Now neither of us had the heart to continue on our journey, and we squatted together by the stone tablet. I also took out the small gift box and looked at the bone bell inside. I had a strong intuition that this bell would definitely be useful to us, but it was hard to say exactly how.

Once cleaned thoroughly, this line of small text is completely revealed, stating "Danger Zone!"

Pan Zi seemed a bit dull, and it took several stabs before he reacted. He looked at me, then cautiously touched this lifeless face.

As I pushed through the bushes, I listened intently, even though I could not see what lay within. My eyes were also scanning the surroundings. I thought I was being cautious enough, yet I was still caught off guard by an unexpected situation

This small inscription was originally covered by plants, but just now, we cleared it away with a thorough cleaning, allowing the red liquid that flowed out to soak it thoroughly. I felt around in my backpack and pulled out a small piece of tissue paper, using it to wipe the surface.

Pan Zi was walking behind, and I had no idea what was going on. Not only did he not back off, but he also bumped his nose against the back of my head, and he was holding his nose and groaning.

We both stood up deliberately, straining our ears in anticipation, hoping that laughter would resound once more. However, before the laughter could arrive, other peculiar sounds emerged.

I understand that a scarecrow is a type of figure that guards the fields, preventing birds from damaging the crops. However, this is a thicket, and the bushes are even taller than the scarecrow. What is the point of placing such a lifelike scarecrow here

This time, both Panzi and I heard clearly and knew the source of the laughter. Neither of us needed to remind the other, as we both turned our gaze towards the same thicket.

In a flash, Panzi's field of vision widened, and he also saw the dead face. Just one glance, and he forgot the pain, stunned for a moment in fear

Pan Zi, driven to desperation, adopted a reckless attitude, baring his teeth in a fierce grimace, and shouted, "Damn it, I’m going all out!"

I can vaguely discern that this is a group of birds, and the occasional cawing further confirms that they are all crows

This group of crows followed closely behind us, displaying an unrelenting pursuit. As a result, the two of us ran while fighting, estimating that we had covered at least a mile, and the uneven terrain made it difficult to move. In the end, not only were we both covered in bruises, but we were also panting heavily from exhaustion

Then he became ruthless, truly merciless, brandishing a spring knife and lunging at the dead, stabbing at their faces repeatedly, while cursing loudly, "F*** your mother, f*** your mother"

This is actually a scarecrow. I felt puzzled again, so I approached it, groping around the face of this figure, and even used a knife to cut back some of the nearby bushes to clear a space.

I have never seen such a large group of crows, especially since they do not appear very friendly. I do not want to get into trouble, so I said to Panzi, "Let's go hide in the bushes to avoid the commotion"

I was startled by the laughter, thinking to myself that what I fear is indeed coming to pass; I haven't dealt with the crow yet, and now this ghostly laughter is joining in the commotion

A mass of dark clouds appeared in the distance, moving in a particularly orderly manner, rapidly approaching us along the dirt road

But after I called out a few times, Pan Zixin was so flustered that he didn't listen to me. In the end, I had no choice; I couldn't just leave him be, so I had to turn around and chase after him into the building.

It is approximately life-sized, propped up at an angle by a wooden stake driven into the ground, and its face is deliberately leaning forward a bit. Although it is already riddled with holes, it still grins at the two of us in a sinister manner

This face is not like that of a normal person; it is pale and devoid of any color, with bulging eyes, a wide mouth, and a sinister grin.

I was blocked by Panzi, and the fear in my heart had not yet subsided. I hurriedly sidestepped to the side, wanting to retreat a bit further to maintain a certain distance from this deadpan face.

After a flurry of activity, the scarecrow appeared before us in its entirety

Our purpose in coming this time is to investigate the corpse with the eerie smile; the smile on this stone tablet undoubtedly pierces our most sensitive nerves like a needle.