Chapter 982: Protection

The Big Ghosts appeared to have sensed something appear at the same time. Paper money fluttered about. The old chief pressed the shoulders of his third son. When he calmed down, he pushed the cart with the offerings and went forward alone. He was like a servant and placed the offerings before each altar.

"Fu Sheng, you should know that these are not what we want." A unisexual voice came out of the butterfly altar. The voice had no emotions. "We've given you too many chances. The dark night can't be delayed anymore. The first ghost wants to get out."

"Give me some more time. I'll convince the people in the city..."

"You can't do it!" Before the chief could finish, a voice cut him off. A human face surfaced out of the meat blob to glare at the chief, "We'll give you one last chance. Will you choose to be a human or a ghost?"

The chief anticipated this day. His face was etched in pain. If he chose to be a ghost, he would never leave the grave. He would become a part of the grave. If he chose to be a human, he would not be able to leave that night, and he couldn't protect the people he wanted to.

"Fu Sheng, think of your past. How did those people treat you? Think about your life. You spent your childhood being built. You spent your adulthood being treated as a test subject. It was the people on the surface who made you like this! They were the ones who gave you all the despair!" The beautiful butterfly wings fluttered. "There are five managers in Grave Village. I agreed for you to be the final village chief because you've experienced despair that even amazed me."

"I..." The chief frowned. His heart struggled. The Big Ghosts got impatient. The beast made from negative emotions jumped down from its altar and howled.

"How about we have your child persuade you?" The thousand-hand black figurine opened its eyes. It looked at the chief's second son.

"Father, my body is heavily mutated. I can't be a human anymore." The carpenter tore off the bandage around his arm and removed his shirt. Black vessels pumped under his skin. Several giant wounds were left on his back. Arms once grew out of them, but he had cut them off.

"No. We need to remain neutral!" The eldest son grabbed his father's hand. When he said that, the Big Ghosts growled with malice. Neither humans nor ghosts liked neutrality.

"Your second son can't be a human anymore. If you still can't make a decision, we'll turn your eldest son and youngest son into monsters too." The Butterfly's voice turned evil. The yin energy seeped into their bodies. Other than the chief, the others started to mutate. The process was painful, but no one made any sound.

"Don't think you can escape. If you don't make a choice, this will be your grave." The Big Ghosts didn't give the chief any chance. When his youngest son fell to the ground and blood vessels pumped on his face, the chief finally spoke. "I know what you want."

The chief stood up. "I choose to be a ghost."

"You should have done so much earlier. It was not us who forced you to do this but the people on the surface who have everything but cannot be satisfied!" The human face in the meat blob smiled. "The grave is filled with despair that came from the surface. It's time for them to pay. Death is their best atonement."

"Once you become a ghost, you can't turn back." The voice in the butterfly altar said again. Before the chief said yes, it kept pushing him. Once the chief said yes, it became paranoid. However, since the other Big Ghosts didn't say anything, they only left a short statement.

The chief pushed the cart with the offering and led his three sons through the altar. They moved deeper into the grave. The ghosts on the altars followed them. They went down for a long time until they heard the sound of water. They followed the sound and discovered a giant carcass in the dark. All the negative emotions fell on this body. It was human but not human.

"This is the first ghost buried here."

The Big Ghosts appeared so small compared to this ghost.

"The ritual this year is so interesting." The human face in the meat blob stared at the chief. "Initiate it."

Surrounded by Big Ghosts, the chief had no choice. He took out a knife and climbed onto the carcass with his kids. They slowly moved to the heart. The chief gripped the knife. At that moment, he was under a lot of pain and pressure.

"You adopted me. My life is yours. I have nothing to give back to you. You've given me a good twenty years." The youngest son had nothing to lose. He wanted to make a move, but the knife was snatched away by the carpenter.

"My body is highly mutated. Let me do it first." The carpenter didn't hesitate. He pierced the special knife into the heart. Black blood vessels climbed onto the carpenter's body. His heart fell from his chest and joined with the first ghost's heart. At that moment, the carpenter mutated fully. A special connection was formed between him and the giant body. Negative emotions surged toward the carpenter's body. His skin was torn apart. His face was ruined, and he turned into a monster!

Rationality left the carpenter's eyes. His soul radiated a special presence. His mutated arms waved around like he had mastered a kind of negative emotion in the grave.

"It's my turn." The middle-aged man took the blade and looked at the black abyss. The knife cut into his heart. The pain was not something a normal person could sustain. Blood splattered everywhere until the paint on his body turned red. The bright blood and pumping heart fell into the darkness.

The middle-aged man smiled madly. He looked at his mutating body like a painting being ruined.

The youngest son reached for the knife. But the chief grabbed the knife before he could. "Don't forget what you need to do."

"Yes..."

"Actually I hope you can live a normal life, but... I'm sorry." The chief grabbed the knife and stood up to look at the Big Ghosts. "Since I've decided to take up everyone's despair, I need to carry it to the end." The blade cut into the heart. Blood poured out. The chief seemed to open some kind of seal.

Various events happened. The chief's heart didn't combine with the ghost's. Instead, he absorbed energy from the carcass. "I hate the human world because it has everyone who has harmed me. However, if I act like you, then, how different will I be from the people who have harmed me?"

Despair crawled out of the chief's mind. His body mutated. The mutation was stronger than the Big Ghosts.

The despair had been festering in the village chief's mind. It contained the despair of all the black box owners and formed a scary power.

"Fu Sheng, what are you doing?"

The black figurine was closest to the chief. It was the first to be attacked. The hands that touched human emotions were severed.

"What I want to do is simple. It is to kill all of you and destroy this grave!" The chief made the final choice. The box in his mind opened. A complicated divine pattern appeared on his body. He was the person with the greatest despair. He was the only ghost who could turn that despair into power.

"Follow the plan!" The middle-aged pushed the baby and the young man away. But at that moment, the butterfly wings flapped, and the dream dust settled to stop their way.

"Leave with the baby! Don't turn back!" The middle-aged man's mutation worsened. He couldn't remain sane another. After pushing his brother away, he fought the butterfly. The middle-aged man fought the butterfly while the chief dealt with the other ghosts. The carpenter still hesitated.

Several minutes later, the carpenter charged at the third son. He looked like he was making chase but actually, he was trying to protect them.

"Brother!"

The youngest son had never experienced something like this. He had always been protected by his father and brothers, but now he had to leave this place alone.

"Don't stop!"

Resisting the pain and curses, the third son rushed towards the entrance with protection from the carpenter.

After paying a heavy price, just as they were about to reach the exit, a giant boom came from the hole. The 'medicine' provided by the humans exploded. Most of the tunnels were blocked off.

"Don't be scared. Keep on climbing. You have to bring father's will out." The carpenter's eyes were red. This was already his limit.

The carpenter watched his brother leave. Then, he turned around and dragged his heavy body back into the grave. Based on his father's plan, he needed to kill the person he respected the most.

Darkness consumed the grave and buried the altar that guarded the entrance.

The third son was covered in wounds as he struggled to climb out of the hole. When he looked up, the despair in his eyes deepened.

The people on the surface didn't follow their promise. They didn't plan to look after the villagers!

The latest batch of trash was tinkered with. They hid deep malice. Once the boom came from the grave, the trash mountain also exploded. The walls of the deep hole collapsed.

"They want to bury the villagers alive..."