A short, old woman pushed her way out of the crowd, her brows tightly knit.
"Dig a hole? What for?"
Xianan replied calmly, "That creature seems to have poor eyesight but a strong sense of smell. If we dig a pit to hide in and cover the top with a few corpses, the scent of blood should mask ours. That way, it won't detect us easily—and we might have a chance to survive."
The woman let out a cold snort.
"You've only seen that thing a few times. How could you possibly know its habits?"
"I… I once went to the Wood Realm with my father. That creature looks very similar to the Wood Hound. And just now, you saw it yourselves—those who hid behind corpses and smeared blood on themselves were able to avoid it."
However, the old woman ignored her completely. Turning to the others, she raised her voice:
"What Wood Hound? I've never heard of such a thing. Don't listen to this child's nonsense! It was the Great Moon Goddess who saved us just now. Those who died lacked faith—lacked righteousness. Come, everyone, pray with me. The Great Moon Goddess will surely protect us!"
The Great Moon Goddess was a widely worshipped deity in the legends of the Soil Realm.
After speaking, the woman led a group to sit down on a flat patch of ground. They closed their eyes and began chanting softly, their lips moving in unison.
Only a small portion of people stayed behind. After exchanging a few words with Xianan, they began digging.
Xianan watched the praying crowd, a fire rising in her chest. Unable to hold back, she rushed over again and called out,
"Please, dig a pit and hide! There's no time left. Sitting here and praying won't save you!"
But no matter how she tried, they ignored her, continuing to sit cross-legged, eyes shut, murmuring their prayers.
Jin Zhou pulled her back.
"Xianan, there's no time. Let's dig. They're not going to listen."
She looked at the praying figures once more, then gave a heavy nod.
Together, she and Jin Zhou found several long, hard bones and began digging.
More than two hours passed before their pit was finally finished. By then, they were drenched in sweat and streaked with blood, their clothes clinging to their bodies.
Han looked at them and laughed lightly.
"Just look at you two—you should go wash up."
Jin Zhou snorted.
"You're no better yourself."
Xianan leaned against the wall of the pit, half reclining, utterly exhausted.
"It's been so long… the creature should be coming soon."
"If my guess is right, we still have at least another hour," Han said.
Xianan nodded, her tightly wound nerves easing just a little. Her gaze drifted back to the group still praying, and she let out a quiet sigh.
Jin noticed.
"You're still worried about them?"
"I just don't understand… why they believe so completely in something like the Great Moon Goddess."
Uncle Wei said quietly, "The poorer and more helpless people are, the more they cling to something for comfort."
Xianan turned to him. His hands were covered in dried blood and scabs.
"Uncle Wei, your pit is ready, right?"
"It is." He sighed. "I have elders at home… and children. If I don't make it back, I don't know what will happen to them." His voice faltered, and tears gathered in his eyes.
Jin Zhou said.
"Let's not think about that now. Our pit is ready—we'll get through this. When we get out, I'm going to study hard and get into Golden Academy."
"Golden Academy?" Han tilted her head slightly, a faint, skeptical smile on her lips.
"Yes."
"That's not easy."
Jin asked. "What about you, Han?"
"Of course the same. Who wouldn't want to go to Golden Academy?"
Xianan smiled faintly.
"Then you can go together."
Not long after, a strange melody echoed through the air—completely different from before. In the distance, the cave wall slowly began to rise again.
Why had the music changed?
There was no time to dwell on it. Xianan's entire body tensed like a drawn bow.
"Quick! Into the pits!"
She and Jin Zhou immediately climbed into their hiding pit, pulling several corpses over the entrance as cover.
Her heart pounded violently in her chest. Yet after a long moment, she heard no heavy footsteps, no monstrous roars—only the sound of people screaming.
What's going on? Didn't it come?
Then what were those screams?
As the thought crossed her mind, a faint buzzing filled her ears. Something slipped through the gaps between the corpses above.
She focused—and her breath caught.
A wasp.
Its stinger gleamed with a cold metallic sheen, as long as a finger.
For a moment, her mind went blank.
Then she snapped back to herself. Tearing off part of her clothing, she covered the wasp and pressed down hard. The insect struggled violently, its stinger nearly piercing through the fabric.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the stinger with both hands and slammed it toward the bottom of the pit.
It struggled for what felt like forever before finally going still.
Xianan slowly released her grip and carefully rearranged the corpses above her.
Pressing a hand to her chest, she took a few shaky breaths before looking down at the dead wasp, confusion rising in her mind.
Where had something like this come from?
She stared at the stinger for a moment, then pulled it free, wrapped it in cloth, and tucked it into her waistband.
If that Wood Hound came again… this might prove useful.
Time dragged on.
Curled inside the pit, her legs numb and her body aching, Xianan couldn't stop worrying about Jin and the others. All she could do was silently hope that no wasps would find their way into the other pits.
Then suddenly—
A shaft of light broke in.
The corpses covering the entrance were lifted away.
Her heart lurched.
She looked up—and froze.
It was the same old woman who had led the prayers.
Before Xianan could react, the old woman grabbed her shoulder with crushing force, like iron clamps, trying to drag her out.
"What are you doing?!" Xianan cried, struggling.
"Get out of here!" The woman's face twisted into something monstrous, her voice low and hoarse, as if rising from the depths of hell.
Xianan was weaker. She was dragged halfway out of the pit.
"Let go of me!"
But the woman showed no sign of stopping. She even raised her foot and kicked at Xianan's head.
Warm blood ran down from Xianan's forehead.
Let go… let go…
She screamed in her mind, but no sound came out.
In the distance, horrifying screams tore through the air. Swarms of wasps descended upon the crowd, wrapping around people and stabbing them again and again with their hardened stingers, leaving them soaked in blood.
Xianan struggled desperately—but she had never been strong.
Then suddenly—
Something slipped loose at her waist.
The stinger!
She reached out and grabbed it tightly.
"Let go! Or I'll stab you!" she shouted.
But the old woman didn't seem to hear her at all, dragging her out with a crazed, distorted expression.
Seeing a swarm of wasps moving toward them, Xianan made her choice.
She clenched her teeth—and drove the stinger hard into the woman's hand.
The woman cried out and recoiled.
Xianan seized the moment and retreated into the pit.
At that instant, the swarm arrived, engulfing the woman.
Xianan hurriedly pulled the corpses back into place.
Her heart raced wildly, her entire body trembling. Tears streamed down her face without her even realizing it, her usually soft, round features now twisted with fear.
The woman's agonized screams rang in her ears.
Xianan quickly pulled the corpses back over the entrance and gripped the wasp stinger tightly in her hand.
Her heart pounded violently, her entire body trembling. Tears streamed down her face without her realizing it. Her round face was now twisted and creased with fear.
After an unknown amount of time, the eerie music echoed once again. Then, at last, everything outside fell silent.
Xianan cautiously peered out.
The wasps were gone.
She carefully shifted the corpses above her and climbed out of the pit.
The moment she saw the scene outside, she sucked in a sharp breath.
Bodies lay scattered everywhere—both human and wasp.
The wasps had likely been crushed during the struggle, but the human corpses were riddled with holes, dark red-black blood seeping from countless wounds.
She looked farther into the distance.
Several hiding pits had been broken open, left wide and exposed. Around their entrances lay more bodies—but inside, the pits were empty.
Xianan frowned.
Had those people… been dragged out just like she had?
Those believers, who spoke so much of righteousness and virtue… could be this cruel?
"Xianan! Are you alright?"
Jin Zhou and Han ran toward her.
"I'm fine… but they…" She stared at the bodies on the ground, unable to finish her sentence.
One by one, the survivors crawled out from their pits.
At a glance, Xianan noticed that some of them were the same believers who had refused to dig earlier.
Jin Zhou pointed at them, stammering,
"You—you… why are you in the pits? What about the people who were inside before?"
"Brother… they're all dead," Xianan said quietly.
"You… you murderers!" Jin Zhou shouted.
The believers lowered their heads, not daring to meet anyone's eyes.
Han glanced around and said calmly,
"Enough. What's done is done. Blaming them won't change anything. We should think about what to do next. There are wasp corpses here—let's take a look."
They approached the bodies and examined them closely.
"Their stingers… they're incredibly hard," Xianan said.
Han nodded.
"Then we should take them. Keep them on us."
"Alright." Xianan touched the stinger tucked at her waist.
After collecting the stingers, Jin Zhou's stomach twisted painfully. His head felt heavy, and he leaned weakly against the pit wall, too drained to speak.
The others were no better.
Before, fear had dulled their hunger. Now that things had calmed slightly, the hunger came crashing back like a tide, clawing at them, leaving them restless and irritable.
A few of the stronger ones couldn't endure it any longer.
They turned toward the corpses.
"Those people…" Xianan, Jin Zhou, and Han quickly looked away, unable to watch.
Uncle Wei, however, remained calm, as if this were nothing unusual.
Jin Zhou asked, "Uncle Wei… aren't you afraid at all?"
Uncle Wei said quietly,
"You grew up in Peach Blossom Village, where life is stable. But in many parts of the Soil Realm, corpses lie everywhere. Cannibalism is nothing unusual. When people are starving… even eating their own children is not uncommon."
Xianan froze.
Eating children…
She knew the Soil Realm was harsh—but she had never imagined it could be this cruel.
If not for her father's protection… if she hadn't grown up in Peach Blossom Village…
An orphan like her would likely not have survived at all.
After about five more hours, the eerie music echoed once again.
A chill ran through the crowd. Without hesitation, everyone rushed toward their hiding pits.
But this time—
It wasn't the Wood Hound.Nor was it the swarm of wasps.
What came instead…
was a cart.