C158

On both sides of the mountain road, the towering trees and the luxuriant foliage covered the initially weak sunlight. Although it was still daytime, it was as if Li Xian'er was walking at night on the winding, thorny mountain path, struggling her way forward.

"We will reach Willow Town after we cross this mountain." Li Xian'er wiped the perspiration off her face as she thought to herself.

The deeper they went into the forest, the darker it became. Gradually, the forest became shrouded in fog, and they could no longer see the road clearly. Cold gusts of wind would blow through the forest from time to time. Slowly, Lin Xian`er began to feel hungry and cold. She was somewhat regretful that she should have bought a few cakes from the town and brought them with her. After all, this mountain was not for her to climb over in a short period of time. Li Xian'er originally wanted to eat so much in the afternoon, but she could still last through the night. She didn't expect that now she was hungry again, she had really become a rice bucket.

It was dark, cold, hungry, and alone in the forest. What if … Li Xian'er really did not dare to think any further. Previously, when she went to the town of Liu Ji, she met bandits and wolves in the forest. Although this time and last time were not in the same forest, she was afraid of encountering something bad.

She did not dare to look back, and only glanced sideways at her own shoulder to see that it was a hand, and a withered hand was placed on her shoulder. Li Xian'er let out a cry, and when she turned around, she saw that there was an ugly woman, whose face was filled with furrows, whose eyes were sunken in, whose nose was pointed to the sky, staring straight at her. Li Xian'er could not help but take a few steps back in fear.

The ugly woman forced a smile and said with her hoarse voice:

"Apologies, I've scared you, little gongzi, hehehehe …"

These laughter sounded very gloomy and low.

"Ah, no, nothing." She fixed her eyes on the ugly woman in front of her. Her white hair was scattered, her clothes were tattered, and she carried a walking stick in her hands. She seemed to be carrying a basket on her back.

Even though the woman in front of her was old and ugly, she was still a human after all. Li Xian'er's worried heart had finally calmed down a little.

She asked the old woman, "Grandma, where are you going?"

"Oh, there's no rice left at home, so my old lady went down the mountain and bought some rice. "Old age is slow, it's already dark, and there's even fog. My old lady's eyes aren't good. She's groping her way over here, then she accidentally bumped into little gongzi. She's offending a lot, offending a lot, hehehe …"

For some reason, when this old lady laughed, Li Xian'er felt goosebumps all over her body. She couldn't help but shiver.

"Hehe, little gongzi, it's getting late and we've walked so many mountain roads. You must be hungry, if you don't mind my old lady, please stay in the mountain hut for the night and continue on the next day, right?"

Hearing the old lady's words, Li Xian'er felt her legs grow heavier, and her stomach grow hungry. She didn't have the strength to continue walking, and although the old lady didn't give off a good feeling, she couldn't judge a book by its cover. Thinking of this, Li Xian'er bravely followed the old lady up the mountain.

Li Xian'er helped the old lady carry the basket and led the way. After about two hours of walking, they finally arrived at the thatched cottage on the mountaintop.

She endured the stench as she followed the old woman into the house. The old woman was holding a paper roll in her hand as she lit up the candle on the table, and as she put down the basket, she felt as if her entire body was falling apart. Using the faint yellow light from the candle, she looked around her and saw that the room was very simple and crude. The wall outside was covered with beast skins, while tools such as knives, axes, hooks, and forks were scattered all over the table. The bed was made of simple wooden planks covered with straw mats...

"Young master, you should sleep in the inner chamber. This outer chamber is indeed a bit dirty. The inner chamber is also a bit more spacious." The old woman handed a candle to Li Xian'er, and Li Xian'er accepted it and entered the room. Using the light of the candle, she saw that the room was indeed a bit cleaner, at least the bed was more comfortable than the outside, and there was even a thin mattress on top of the straw matting, perhaps due to the passage of time, there were some stains on the mattress, and Li Xian'er was really tired, so she didn't care too much, and immediately fell onto the bed.

"Little gongzi, you must be hungry. This is my old lady's porridge, quickly drink it while it's still hot." The old woman walked in with a steaming bowl.

"Thank you, Granny." Li Xian'er took the bowl and blew the hot air on it. It smelled very special, so she placed it on the table and looked at it by candlelight. She then asked, "Nanny, what kind of porridge is this?"

"Oh, this is precious mountain porridge, made from mountain mushrooms, wood ears, mountain medicine, Lingzhi, and other precious ingredients. It's greatly beneficial to the body. Drinking it will make one feel refreshed, hehehehe …"

Due to being too hungry, Li Xian'er didn't think too much about it. After a short while, she finished the bowl of congee, but then saw the old lady smiling: "How is it? Would you like another bowl? "

Li Xian'er felt a strange thing in her mouth that was tough enough to chew, so she placed it into the light of the candle in her hand. When she looked at it, it was actually a little finger, causing her to scream in fear, the bowl and the severed finger fell to the ground, causing her to vomit uncontrollably.

"Aiya, little gongzi, you're so rude. My old lady was kind enough to make porridge for you, but you actually broke the bowl. You really deserve to die!" The old woman spoke in a sinister manner, her eyes emitting killing intent.

At this moment, Li Xian`er felt a dull pain in her stomach before it turned into something akin to a knife twisting around her body. The pain was unbearable, and she cried out in pain as she rolled over and knocked over the bed, revealing a pile of human bones underneath.

The old woman walked over to Li Xian'er and stretched out her hand. The pain made her sweat profusely as she crawled over the pile of human bones, gasping for breath. The old woman smiled sinisterly as she approached Li Xian'er, the bones beneath her feet creaking.

Li Xian'er looked at the old woman who was slowly walking towards her, and said with difficulty: "Granny, I, I have no enmity with you, but you … Yet, you dare to harm me like this, you … You want to do... "What for?" Beads of sweat ran down her forehead and onto her long eyelashes.

"Hahahaha …" The old woman laughed madly before squatting down in front of Li Xian'er, proudly saying: "Little gongzi, you and I have no enmity between us, but I can only blame you for being too handsome."

The old woman's long fingernails moved across Li Xian`er's face and down to her neck. The sharp nails pricked her neck and she continued to speak, "You little brat, you have the skin of ice and bones, red lips, white teeth, pretty eyes, even more beautiful than a little girl. You truly are a good man, my old lady is very envious of you, when I peel your skin off and put it on my face, I will then use your bone to concoct pills, then use your meat to make soup, and add on those mountain treasures, it will definitely be very nourishing, hehe hehe. "Hahaha …" The old woman smiled eerily.