Book 3: Chapter 39: Night Comes


    At this time, there were already a lot of trees near us, so it could be said that we were almost in the forest. And although the sky was bright, our surroundings were already very dark after the setting sun went behind the mountain.


    It would be impossible to sleep tonight, so our best bet was to keep moving forward. At least, I was nning on doing that, but Fattys sudden shout immediately made me nervous.


    I could see the outline of Ping Lians body, but I couldnt see the specific details very clearly. Fattys eyes were special, but mine werent as good as his so I turned on my shlight and pointed it at Ping Lian.


    I immediately saw Ping Lian sitting there, but his back was ramrod straight. In fact, I couldnt help but think that he was sitting <em>too</em> straight, just like a person.


    And his eyes werepletely white like they had rolled into the back of his head.


    He just continued to sit there, looking like a serious old man sitting ramrod straight. It reminded me of those very serious portraits of emperors youd see in textbooks.


    "Ping Lian, what are you doing?! Fatty shouted. Who are you trying to scare?"


    Ping Lian didnt move.


    I had my own way of dealing with dogs and was just about to go over to him when Poker-Face suddenly stopped me.


    "Is something wrong?" Fatty asked us.


    I also looked at Poker-Face, "Did something happen?"


    Poker-Face nodded, took the bronze mirror off of my backpack, and pointed it towards Ping Lian.


    I immediately understood and moved to look at Ping Lian out of the corner of my eye (after everything we had experienced before, this had basically be a conditioned reflex by now).


    But I didn''t see anything.


    There was nothing reflected in Poker-Face''s bronze mirror, but as soon as he moved it, Ping Lian stood up and retreated far away.


    It seemed that no matter what it had been used for previously, this bronze mirror really was kind of useful.


    At almost the exact same time Ping Lian reacted, Poker-Face suddenlyunched into motion. He put his other hand to the ground, leaned his body forward, and then quickly elerated, rushing at Ping Lian like an arrow shot straight from the bolt.


    Dogs reacted faster than humans, and even if they werent prepared for an attack, they could still escape from this distance. I definitely wouldnt give chase, but Poker-Face was just too fast. The moment Ping Lian reacted and jumped up, Poker-Face moved like a cat and grabbed the fur on his back.


    Ping Lian struggled like crazy, but nothing could ever escape from Poker-Face''s hold if he refused to let go.


    Poker-Face held the bronze mirror up in front of Ping Lian and the dog immediately quieted down, his eyes now fixed on the bronze mirror. There was still no trace of his pupils, just the whites of his eyes. After a brief moment, he began to twitch. Fatty and I rushed over to help hold down his neck and hind legs as he began to vomit countless ck things that gave off a foul odor.


    When I illuminated them with my shlight, I saw that Ping Lian had vomited what appeared to be charred meat. It waspletely undigested.


    Fattys face was pale, "It ate those charred corpses."


    I never imagined that someones dog would actually eat this kind of thing. Then, Ping Lian began projectile vomiting what appeared to be fresh meat and skin that was covered in brown hair.


    Fatty lifted up a piece of skin with his dagger and looked at me.


    I couldnt believe it, but I still had enoughmon sense to immediately recognize it.


    This was horse skin.


    I felt my body go cold all over. As Fatty continued to use his dagger to poke through therge pool of things that Ping Lian had spit out, I saw brown horse hair on a lot of the meat.


    "Ping Lian, what in the world did you do to them?" Fatty asked him. "We told you to watch the horses. Did you eat them all?"


    Poker-Face motioned for me to take over, so I put my shlight in my mouth, moved over, and held the dog with both hands. Poker-Face moved his hands up to Ping Lians face and stuck the bronze mirror closer.


    Ping Lian suddenly put up a fierce struggle and broke free from my hold. The fur I had been gripping was ripped out, leaving me with a clump of bloody fur in one hand. Almost at the same time, he twisted his head and moved to bite my neck.


    It was a very close call, but luckily, I reacted quickly and fell backwards. Poker-Face also moved fast and immediately raised his hand and grabbed Ping Lians mouth. But before the dog could bite down, Poker-Face suddenly exerted his strength and dislocated his jaw.


    Ping Lian let out a series of loud whines, ran about three or four meters away, and then looked back at us.


    His jaw was hanging down from where it was dislocated, but he became desperate when he saw Poker-Face arrive behind him and hold him down again.


    I tossed the bloody fur from my hand and turned back to exchange a nce with Fatty, noticing in my peripheral vision that Poker-Face suddenly released his hold on Ping Lian.


    I was just thinking that it was a little odd when Poker-Face suddenly started rushing right towards me. I quickly turned my head and looked at Fatty.


    Fatty was standing just a few centimeters behind mealmost touching meand his eyes had gonepletely white.


    At this time, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and saw that there was a ck human head behind his head, but it was only showing half of its face.


    The distance was so close this time that I could see everything clearly. That thing was wearing the same kind of hat that the ceramic figurine from before had been wearing but the silk on it waspletely rotten.


    Poker-Face arrived in an instant and pulled me away, his strength causing me to fall to the ground and roll. When I got up, I found that the bronze mirror had been stuffed into my clothes and Poker-Face and Fatty were no longer there. I swept my shlight around and saw Ping Lian.


    I reflexively looked at him out of the corner of my eye, and this time, I finally saw the problemthere was something like a ck child hanging from his belly. Its position had made it really hard to find.


    Ping Lian was about to rush at me again, but then he stopped after only one movement and turned and fled into the darkness.


    I turned my head and saw Poker-Face walking over. He was supporting Fatty with one hand and holding a ck head in the other.


    "You killed one? Great! What is it?" I was just starting to feel overjoyed when my shlight suddenly went out. But instead of instantly being shrouded in darkness, it was more like the darkness rushed up from behind Poker-Face and enveloped us all at once.


    I couldnt see anything at all.