Chapter 49:

All seven members of the volunteer team have returned safely!

After Xu Siya and Xu Erya’s spirits both vanished, the village’s strange occurrences disappeared to nothing.

Jin Guijuan covered her mouth, unable to speak, but tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

Manman walked over, bent down, and picked up ‘Journey to Hell’, which Xu Siya had thrown to the ground.

Surprisingly, though the book’s attributes were unchanged, the remarks section now bore new details.

[Remarks: This is a magical book that may give you a spiritual shock when you read it. Apparently, there were some atheists who read it and thought it was a joke to fool others. Some people with weak beliefs had their views turned upside down after reading it. The book’s previous owner, Xu Siya, threw it away as she no longer needed to use its crude illustrations to imagine the delicious food in a frying pan. She once feared death, yet she embraced it herself. This is an end, but also a rebirth…]

Manman silently repeated the last few words of the remarks, then grabbed the silently weeping Jin Guijuan and placed ‘Journey to Hell’ into her hands.

Jin Guijuan hesitated for a moment when she noticed the changes in the item’s remarks.

Manman said nothing further, simply patting Jin Guijuan gently on the shoulder.

The villagers were also overwhelmed with complicated emotions following the disappearance of Xu Siya and Xu Erya.

The dead were revered, and for the moment, the murmurs of gossip ceased. Instead, sighs and solemn expressions filled the air.

The village chief and his wife exchanged glances and sighed deeply before addressing Jing Qizhen and the others, “Those two girls… the Xu family really brought this upon themselves!”

Jing Qizhen, still silently comforting the distressed Earth in his mind, eventually felt its sorrow subside.

However, when Earth thought of the planets in other parallel universes, it suddenly grew agitated again and furiously insulted the other balls in a thick Northeastern accent. Only after venting its anger did it finally calm down.

Jing Qizhen waited until Earth had finished before sighing softly. He turned his gaze toward the Xu family’s courtyard and pointed to the pump well, saying to the village chief, “Xu Siya mentioned earlier that part of Xu Erya’s tombstone is embedded in the base of the well. I’d like to dismantle it.”

The village chief nodded. “Of course. It was her last wish, after all. Alas…”

The Xu family’s head of the house, supposedly working in the city, was still nowhere to be found. With Xu Siya dragging the Xu family’s woman to their mutual demise, the Xu house now stood abandoned.

After reaching an agreement with the village chief, Jing Qizhen and his group entered the courtyard, grabbed whatever tools they could find, and began dismantling the pump well.

The village chief was briefly stunned by their urgency. “Hey, it’s the middle of the night and you’re already getting to work?”

Jing Qizhen turned around with a wry smile. He shook his head and said, “So much has happened today. It’s hard to even think about sleeping. Let’s finish this as soon as possible and get it over with.”

The village chief nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right.”

With that, the village chief called a few strong young men from among the villagers standing behind him to help Jing Qizhen and the others, who were busy dismantling the hand-pump well.

Before long, the well in the Xu family’s courtyard was completely dismantled and several stones buried underneath were carefully removed. Among them, a neatly edged, square-shaped stone was turned over to reveal some engraved characters on its surface.

It revealed the first two characters of Xu Erya’s name, as well as the name of the young man from the neighboring village they finally learnt – Xu Lu.

Seeing the partial inscription, Jing Qizhen let out a long breath and murmured, “We’ve found it.”

Lu Lingxi also saw the name on the broken tombstone and his feelings became complicated. “So it really was because of the character ‘Lu’ in the name!”

The strange little girl who had repeatedly approached Lu Lingxi before had likely been drawn instinctively to someone with the same character in their name.

After finding the broken tombstone, the couple living in the house near the village entrance—the first people Jing Qizhen and his group had interacted with—brought their small cart over. Given that it was in the middle of the night and considering the earlier eerie scenes involving the oil pan hell, the couple bickered along the way while leaving their son safely at home. They even gathered some straw to line the cart thickly, then helped a few strong men lift the halved stone tablet onto the straw to prevent damage.

When they saw the epitaph, the wife of the couple quietly remarked, “The neighboring village is Xujia Village. A lot of people there have the surname Xu.”

Jing Qizhen nodded.

Lu Lingxi then retrieved a bundle of green nylon rope from his travel bag and wrapped it securely around the stone tablet. After all, they still needed to trek through mountain paths, where the terrain was uneven. So, securing the stone tablet properly was essential.

The villagers, who were already burdened with sorrow over the tragedies that had occurred, were deeply invested in helping. Before heading up the mountain, Jing Qizhen made a point of seeking out the village chief and asked, “What about Xu Siya? Are there any customs or traditions regarding her burial?”

The chief was slightly startled. “Huh?”

Jing Qizhen clarified, “I wanted to ask how gravestones are typically arranged for someone like Xu Siya…”

The village chief then understood, his gaze toward Jing Qizhen carrying a hint of appreciation.

He explained, “For children who pass away young, our village usually doesn’t set up gravestones. We bury them quietly near the graves of their elders and create a small new mound nearby.”

Jin Guijuan, clutching the ‘Journey to Hell’ tightly, interjected firmly, “Siya wouldn’t want to stay with the Xu family!”

Jing Qizhen gave her a reassuring glance and suggested to the village chief, “Xu Siya was so young and we don’t even have her remains. Do you think it’s possible to gather some of her and Xu Erya’s belongings from the Xu family? That way, Xu Siya can stay with her sister.”

Before the village chief could respond, his wife nodded immediately and gathered a few women who had stayed behind. They decided to act as witnesses and entered the Xu family home to search for items.

Pleased, the village chief whispered to Jing Qizhen with a hint of pride, “My wife used to serve as the women’s committee leader in the village for many years!”

Jing Qizhen blinked. “That’s wonderful!”

“Yes! She’s very meticulous.” The village chief nodded proudly.

It was only then that Jing Qizhen realized the situation fully and went, “…???”

Previously, when Manman and Si Jiayang flaunted their affection, it was always obvious, as if they were force-feeding dog food by luring the single dog indoors and stuffing it down its throat. But now he was facing the elderly village chief who was secretly showing affection with his equally elderly wife?

After the village chief’s wife and the others had gathered some of Xu Siya’s belongings, she handed a bundle of incense sticks to Jing Qizhen.

The village chief’s wife said, “My legs aren’t in good condition, so I won’t go up the mountain with you young ones. Please take these sticks of incense to the graves of the two children for me.”

Jing Qizhen nodded in agreement.

He had a strong feeling that after restoring Xu Erya’s gravestone and creating a symbolic burial mound for Xu Siya nearby, they might finally be able to leave the erosion area.

Soon after, with Xu Siya’s belongings packed, a group of young villagers joined Jing Qizhen’s party of outsiders and helped push the cart carrying the half-broken gravestone as they made their way up the mountain.

The sky had cleared and the moonlight shone gently, illuminating the forest ahead. The snow from before had melted away at some point, nourishing the earth and the life in the mountains.

The once withered and bare mountain vegetation now seemed to come alive. Though it was still March, the trees and plants exuded a vibrant vitality, no longer appearing desolate and lifeless.

Manman spoke softly, “It’s just like Xu Erya said. She returned the life force to the forest.”

Grandma Fang sighed lightly as she gazed at the flourishing forest.

The gravestone was heavy and the mountain path was difficult to traverse. The group was forced to take turns pushing the cart. They walked for over two hours before they finally reached the mountain ravine.

Previously, only the plants within the ravine were thriving. However, now the vibrancy of the place had become unremarkable as it blended seamlessly with the rest of the forest.

Xu Siya had asked Jing Qizhen to restore Xu Erya’s gravestone. All along the way, he had been pondering how to piece the two halves of the stone together. If necessary, he thought he might have to replicate methods used for artificial rock gardens. Perhaps, he could even ask the village chief to provide some glue or even crafting a framework with vines from the nearby mountains to secure the pieces.

But to their surprise, as soon as they aligned the two halves of the gravestone, a faint flame spontaneously ignited along the seam.

Startled, the young men who had been helping to lift the gravestone quickly stepped back. They watched in awe as the delicate flames burned without touching even a single blade of dry grass nearby. Instead, the fire fused the broken gravestone seamlessly together, then vanished without a trace.

The young villagers were stunned. “This… what just happened?”

Jing Qizhen’s gaze rested on the restored gravestone, still bearing the names of Xu Erya and Xu Lu, weathered with age. He said softly, “This must be Xu Siya’s final wish.”

The young villagers fell silent.

With their help, a small mound was soon dug near Xu Erya’s gravestone. Xu Siya’s belongings were placed inside a wooden box and buried there.

According to village customs, children who died young were not given gravestones. Jing Qizhen thought to himself that Xu Siya probably didn’t mind. As long as she could stay close to Xu Erya, she would likely be content.

A gentle breeze swept through the mountains and a thin layer of mist rose in the ravine.

After a long, exhausting night, dawn was finally approaching. The stars in the sky began to fade.

Jing Qizhen’s group, having been busy all night, couldn’t help but let out yawns as the task was completed.

The young villagers were initially preparing to head back down the mountain, but suddenly, the scenery around them began to flicker, as if they were characters in an old film, their images distorted on a screen, turning shadowy and indistinct.

Jing Qizhen snapped back to his senses and was startled by the eerie spectacle, a shiver running down his spine.

The Earth: “Whoa, I’ve detected de’ energy of dis’ erosion area! I’m good now! I’m back in action! Dis’ feels amazin’! That trash ball—get lost! Roll away, ye’ jerk! Hahaha!”

Still reeling from the glitching scenery, Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but mutter a curse under his breath as Earth’s exaggerated and heavily accented voice rang out in his mind.

In the next moment, they all found themselves no longer in the mountain ravine but back in the real world and standing at the corresponding location in the forest.

Jing Qizhen’s sudden outburst had startled his companions, who were still lost in their own emotions. They turned to him with puzzled looks.

Jing Qizhen cleared his throat awkwardly. “…Sorry about that.”

Manman thought for a moment and said, “There must’ve been a reason for that. What did the ball say to you this time?”

She had noticed by now that every time Jing Qizhen’s control slipped, it was usually because Earth was ranting in his head.

Three seconds later, a beam of light from a helicopter shone directly on them, like a theatrical spotlight.

Under the beam, everyone froze. “=口=???”

A voice came through the walkie-talkie with an urgent message, loud enough to override the static.

“Attention all teams! Volunteer squad has successfully returned! Coordinates locked! However, return point is 721 meters from original entry coordinates. All nearby teams, proceed to support!”

Jing Qizhen and the others: “…”

The group shared a knowing look as they recalled the heavily guarded, hazmat-suited reception they’d received after returning from the Yunhai Wancheng Department Store.

Tang Song, you never disappoint.

Lu Lingxi calmly activated his headset. “Report. All seven members of the volunteer team have returned safely.”

“I’ll be there in three minutes. Welcome back, heroes,” Tang Song’s cheerful voice came through the line.

Jing Qizhen remained silent for a moment, then called out in his mind, “Hey, Earth.”

The Earth: “What now?”

Jing Qizhen: “Tang Song’s voice is surprisingly normal.”

The Earth: “…?”

Jing Qizhen decisively added, “Unlike you, adapting the accent so fast.”

The Earth, being ridiculed by Jing Qizhen: “!!!”

(need final revision)