The scene in the darkness was not clear, but it was so horrifying that everyone focused their attention on it.

　　The relief on the pillar began to twist and deform, as if something was trying to break free from it.

　　This continued for only a moment, and then everyone saw a pale hand, forcefully squeezed out of the relief.

　　The hand was enormous, painted with bright red nails, and it fumbled around in the air before grabbing the wooden railing next to it.

　　Once it grabbed the railing, the hand seemed to find a fulcrum and began to pull, slowly dragging its body and head out of the pillar.

　　The whole scene was strange and terrifying, making everyone's breath catch in their throats.

　　"What are you still looking at! Run!" Ruan's voice startled everyone who seemed to be in a trance.

　　Lin also came to his senses.

　　When he looked again, he found that the creature had already squeezed itself out of the pillar.

　　"Run!!" Ruan shouted, "Run!!"

　　At her command, everyone ran as fast as they could.

　　 Lin didn't dare to waste any more time and ran towards home with all his might.

　　But the sound from behind grew louder.

　　The creature seemed to have successfully broken free from the pillar and was now pursuing them.

　　Lin heard a scraping sound on the snow.

　　He knew he shouldn't look back, but he couldn't resist.

　　He glanced behind him.

　　This glance made him stumble.

　　The monster had indeed squeezed itself out of the pillar.

　　 It looked like a woman, naked and with long black hair.

　　But her body was several times larger than a normal person, her long limbs like those of an arthropod, moving in a strange way on the ground.

　　Her face was unclear, but what was most striking was the long-handled axe in her hand, stained with red liquid.

　　"Damn it!!!" Lin finally couldn't help but curse.

　　The previous encounters had felt somewhat like hallucinations.

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　　This time, everyone had seen this thing so clearly, finally giving them a real sense of being in a different dimension.

　　Others in the group also turned their heads. Anyone who saw this thing was terrified.

　　The urge to survive made everyone speed up their pace, but the snow was slippery and the path at the head of the village was narrow.

　　No matter how fast they ran, they wouldn't be able to outrun it.

　　In just a blink of an eye, they were about to be caught.

　　"Help—" Xiao seemed to have stumbled and fallen in the snow while running too fast.

　　 She wanted to get back up, but fear made her weak and unable to muster the strength. " Chi— help me—"

　　Everyone thought Xiao was done for.

　　At this critical moment, it was a question of whether they could even save themselves, let alone worry about others.

　　But after Xiao's desperate call, Chi, gritting his teeth, stopped in his tracks and turned back to pull Xiao up from the snow. "Go!"

　　"Chi." Xiao cried, tears streaming down her face.

　　She was about to thank Chi when she felt a shadow looming over her.

　　The woman with the axe was here.

　　She looked down at the two people in front of her, who were frozen like stones with fear.

　　She grinned, revealing a gaping mouth full of densely packed teeth.

　　Her extremely long hands gripped a rusty axe.

　　She raised her arm and swung the axe down at the two in front of her.

　　"Ahhhhh!!!" Xiao screamed, clinging tightly to Chi, not daring to look at the scene in front of her.

　　Chi gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as well, seemingly giving up on resisting.

　　But just as the axe fell, a faint golden light appeared around the two of them.

　　The axe struck the golden light, making a crisp sound of metal hitting metal.

　　The tall woman let out an indignant roar and, without bothering with Xiao and Chi, continued to chase after the others.

　　Xiao and Chi had escaped death.

　　Both of them collapsed in the snow.

　　"Chi, what was that?" Xiao asked in a trembling voice.

　　Chi remained silent for a moment before saying hoarsely, "Do you remember the Buddha statue we prayed to when we first entered the temple?"

　　Xiao nodded.

　　"Maybe he protected us." Chi looked up in the direction the woman ran.

　　"So those who went into the temple alone..." Xiao apparently understood what Chi meant.

　　She remembered that those who had gone into the temple alone had not seen the benevolent Buddha statue they had seen, but instead had seen the woman with the axe in front of them.

　　"They're dead." Chi chuckled wryly.

　　Lin and Ruan ran frantically, eventually going through a similar experience to Xiao and Chi.

　　This time, however, Ruan protected the exhausted Lin in her arms.

　　She didn't seem to have much fear in the face of the monstrous creature, and even took the time to gently kiss Lin on the head, saying, "Don't be afraid."

　　Lin wanted to help Ruan block the monster, but Ruan held him tightly, almost preventing him from moving.

　　 He watched helplessly as the axe swung towards them, then was stopped by the golden light in front of them.

　　"Heh." Ruan laughed.

　　Lin was stunned, and then saw the woman quickly turn and rush towards the people beside them.

　　The person saw what happened to Lin and Ruan, but they were only stunned for a few seconds before realizing that the woman was standing in front of them.

　　"Are we, are we saved?" The person asked Lin, "The light on us..."

　　"Pshhh"— the sound of a sharp object piercing flesh.

　　His words were cut short.

　　He was split in half by the sharp axe. Even as he died, his face was filled with disbelief, as if he couldn't understand why the same thing had a different outcome when it happened to him.

　　Lin sat in the snow, watching the blood flow on the ground.

　　The woman laughed and, axe in hand, continued to search for other people, leaving behind a trail of blood-red remains.

　　He pursed his lips, trying to suppress his urge to vomit.

　　"It's over." Ruan patted his back, "It's over."

　　"Was it because the number of people who entered the temple was wrong?" Lin asked.