This Damned Thirst for Survival

Chapter 48

Jiang Luo, clutching the stolen heart of a divine statue, raced back to Shentu Village with haste.

Shentu Village had undergone a bizarre transformation; shadows of individuals in pairs or small groups were visible throughout, yet these figures were not human but paper effigies dressed in human attire.

The effigies bore an uncanny resemblance to living people, nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. On closer inspection, the entire village was populated with these paper figures, with only a handful of living souls in sight.

Jiang Luo darted past these paper beings, casting brief glances at them. Villagers he once knew, including the village head, the parents of a little girl in red, and even two competitors who had somehow been replaced by paper effigies, had all been transformed. A quick count revealed over two hundred paper figures.

After Jiang Luo set the paper figures below ground ablaze, the ones above seemed to lose their vitality, reverting to their original form in an instant. The village, once home to over three hundred people, now had only a few dozen alive. This sudden change startled the competitors, who hurriedly notified the staff.

Without lingering, Jiang Luo scanned the area and headed to the mountains to find Wen Renlian and others.

Except for one who had left for the hospital carrying Lu Youyi, the rest were waiting by the cave entrance, ready for action. They were almost at the point of venturing into the cave themselves after counting down an hour. Thankfully, Jiang Luo arrived in time. Without stopping to explain, he said, "Let's find a rock to block this entrance first."

The group moved a massive rock to block the cave entrance. Jiang Luo wiped off his sweat and looked up to find everyone's gaze fixed on his legs.

"What happened to you?" Ge Zhu pointed at his pants. "How did they get torn?"

Looking down, Jiang Luo noticed one leg of his pants was torn halfway. Deciding to even it out, he tore the other leg to make his cargo pants into knee-length shorts. "There's too much to tell, I'll explain after we descend. Something's happened in the village."

Without further delay, they hurried down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, the staff and police had already entered Shentu Village.

The sight of the paper figures throughout the village gave Ge Zhu and the others the creeps. "How did all these people turn into paper figures?"

Jiang Luo briefly explained the situation to them.

Zhuo Zhongqiu shivered, "So, the ones we were talking to were all paper figures?"

Ge Zhu's face turned ashen, "And the meals we ate... were made by paper figures."

The staff were busy dealing with the situation in Shentu Village, their expressions grave. This incident had clearly exceeded the organizers' expectations, and the staff were too busy to manage the remaining competitors. After confirming the number of surviving competitors, they, along with the police, began a thorough search of Shentu Village.

Jiang Luo and the others also lent a hand, noting down the names of the surviving villagers in a small notebook.

The little girl in red that he and Lu Youyi had encountered was on the list of survivors.

Out of 311 villagers, only 36 were found to be alive. Among these, the majority were beautiful girls who had been offered as sacrifices to the deities. The rest had all been replaced by paper figures.

Wang Qian, the village chief's son, was among the survivors. While his parents had turned into paper figures, he had been eating with them. Mid-meal, he noticed his parents stopped moving. Looking up from his bowl, he saw two paper figures in bright colors, staring at him with a creepy smile.