Horror Movie Set: This extra is too good at playing the tricks.

Chapter 48 Night Wanderer

"Bang, bang, bang."

Someone was frantically slamming and hitting the door panel.

Immediately afterwards, two high-pitched child voices came from outside the door: "Brother Dan, Brother Dan, come out quickly, the village chief wants you to come and worship the gods."

Lu Dan frowned. His inherent caution prevented him from responding immediately. Instead, he peered through the crack in the door.

Two chubby little boys stood outside the door, wearing red bibs and dressed as white as a freshly painted wall. Their cheeks were smeared with rosy blush, like monkey bottoms, and they seemed oblivious to the cold, barefoot on the dark mud, grinning at the crack in the door. Their dark mouths held no teeth, only two rows of pink gums.

"The paper effigy has come to life?" Lu Dan cursed inwardly. Before he could come up with a solution, the two chubby little devils lost their patience and their four plump little hands pierced through the wooden door, grabbing Lu Dan's wrists.

A chilling coldness shot from his wrist straight to the top of his head. Lu Dan felt his strength drain away instantly, and his legs were dragged forward against his will.

The door bolt snapped with a "crack," and he was dragged out of the house.

"The auspicious time has arrived! Time to welcome the gods!" the two little devils shouted as they ran, their voices echoing along the village road.

Lu Dan was dragged to the village entrance, stumbling and staggering. The old locust tree was covered with pale white paper banners, which moved on their own even without wind.

The area under the tree was filled with kneeling people, all of them villagers dressed in funeral clothes, their heads bowed, holding white paper lanterns, illuminating the entire village entrance like a mourning hall.

"Here it comes, here it comes, our 'horse' is here!"

A hunched figure slowly rose from the crowd—it was the village chief. But if people saw him like this during the day, they would probably vomit their dinner from the night before.

The old man's skin hung loosely on his face like boiled pork, with yellowish-green pus dripping down his wrinkles.

He opened his mouth, and a long, purplish-black tongue dangled down to his chest. He mumbled indistinctly, "Adan, today is a big day. It's your turn to be a mount for the gods. This is a blessing you've accumulated over several lifetimes."

"This blessing is for you, do you want it?"

Lu Dan wanted to retaliate by kicking the old rotten meat in the face, but his body completely betrayed his will.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he respectfully stepped forward, his knees buckled, and he knelt down in the mud with a thud, raising his hands high above his head.

The village chief flicked his tongue, picked up a broken bowl filled with thick, foul-smelling black water, and handed it to Lu Dan.

"Only by drinking it will God be pleased."

Lu Dan's brain was frantically resisting, but his hands steadily picked up the bowl, tilted his head back, and drank the bowl of some unknown concoction in one gulp.

The icy liquid slid down his esophagus, like swallowing a whole swarm of wriggling worms. Then, a strange tremor emanated from deep within his throat, his mouth gaped open, and a sharp, high-pitched, eerie operatic voice burst forth: "Eek! Twin blossoms open, from the paths of Yin and Yang! Welcome—the Immortal—to take his seat!"

The sound was shrill and piercing, soaring straight to the sky.

As the lyrics ended, the temperature at the village entrance plummeted.

A gust of foul wind swept up the paper money from the ground, and the paper banners on the old locust tree frantically swayed.

In the darkness, a thick, impenetrable shadow slowly descended, and Lu Dan felt a weight on his shoulder.

That is "God".

Two cold, stiff legs clamped tightly around his neck, and an unseen hand pressed against the top of his head.

The feeling of being ridden like livestock was a great insult to Lu Dan's self-esteem.

But the strange force that controlled his body subsided at that moment.

"go ahead."

A voice that was neither male nor female suddenly rang out in his mind.

The ghostly villagers kneeling on the ground all raised their heads, their pale faces revealing a mixture of greed and awe. They urged in unison, "Let's go, A'dan, don't keep the gods waiting!"

"Fine, you guys win." Lu Dan gritted his teeth. To be on the safe side, he decided to be a qualified Didi driver for the time being.

He gritted his teeth, carrying the heavy load on his neck, and walked step by step toward the village.

At each house he passed, the tightly closed door would creak open automatically. Then, the people inside would emerge like puppets, bowing and kowtowing deeply before the object around his neck: "Gods, bless me—bless me with meat!"

Lu Dan coldly observed everything, and he keenly sensed the strangeness of the village—it seemed that the people here were very hungry.

The procession walked all the way to Lu Dan's own house, and the main door of the house opened by itself without any wind.

Lu Dan subconsciously stopped in his tracks. Logically, he should be the only one living here.

But at that moment, the curtain of the west wing was lifted, and a short-haired woman wearing a windbreaker came out. It was Chen Hua.

But her current state was clearly wrong. Her eyes were rolled back, only the whites of her eyes were visible, and her face was covered with scratches and blood, indicating that she had just experienced a hysterical self-harm. Barefoot, she walked stiffly towards Lu Dan, making meaningless sounds.

Is anyone inside?

Lu Dan's heart skipped a beat.

"Who is this woman? Why is she in my house?"

The "god" on the neck saw the offering approaching and let out a joyful sigh.

"reward!"

As soon as the word was uttered, Lu Dan saw a flash of red light before his eyes, and the thing riding on his neck drooped down a wide, black robe from beside his ear.

The sleeves suddenly opened wide, like a giant mouth that swelled in the wind, instantly covering Chen Hua who was walking over.

All that could be heard was a chilling chewing sound, like bones being ground by a stone mill.

Just a few seconds later, the black sleeves flicked, and with a whoosh, a pool of red and white rotten flesh and blood was spat onto the ground.

"Thank you, divine being, for your gift! Thank you, divine being, for your gift!"

The villagers who had been kneeling around suddenly went berserk, rushing forward like vicious dogs fighting for food, frantically licking the blood.

Some people even bit off the ear of the person next to them in order to grab a piece of bone.

Lu Dan stood still, carrying the "god" who had just finished eating on his back, looking at the hellish scene before him.

"It's already this exciting after just arriving?"

That night, Lu Dan was treated like a tireless beast of burden, carrying the monster through every alley in the village. At each place, a similar ritual would be performed, but no "outsiders" would step forward as sacrifices anymore.

As dawn broke, the village loudspeaker announced: "It is now 8:55 a.m., and there are 5 minutes left before the gods rest. All villagers, please go home immediately, go to bed, close your eyes, and turn off the lights."

The weight on his neck suddenly lightened, and the "spirit" that had been pressing down on him all night seemed to have evaporated and disappeared.

Lu Dan collapsed to the ground instantly, his knees aching from the impact.

With only 5 minutes to spare, he ignored the soreness in his body and scrambled into his yard.

Since the woman came out of the west wing, it means there might be other people in the room.

He kicked open the door to the east wing. There were two men on the bed, one wearing a leather jacket and the other a fat man fast asleep, completely unaware of what was happening outside.

He rushed into the west wing, where a girl with a ponytail was lying on the bed, breathing steadily. The empty bed next to her had only slightly messy bedding, proving that someone had slept there last night.

There were four outsiders in the room. Lu Dan stared at the empty bed, his mind racing. He had absolutely no idea what these people were doing.

"Go to sleep, go to sleep!"

A wave of dizziness washed over me.

Lu Dan staggered back to the main room and lay down on his hard bed. He wanted to find paper and pen to leave clues, but his hands wouldn't obey him, and his eyelids felt as heavy as lead.

"Damn it...that woman is dead!"

The second hand ticked, it was exactly 9 o'clock.

The darkness receded like the tide, and Lu Dan suddenly opened his eyes.

The sunlight was dazzling, and the birdsong was melodious.

He only remembered eating two sweet potatoes last night and then taking a nap.

"I slept so hard last night, it felt like I carried sandbags all night."

Lu Dan rubbed his sore neck and prepared to get out of bed.

Suddenly, a sharp scream came from the west wing.

"Sister Chen? Sister Chen, where did you go?"

Then came Zhang Min's tearful voice: "Team leader, Brother Lu, come quick! Sister Chen is missing!"

Lu Dan paused, his eyes instantly sharpening.

"Losses on the first night?" He touched his chest; the slingshot was still there.

"It seems this census work is not going to be easy."