Happy Little Farmer
Chapter 498

Chapter 498: Chapter 498

Yang Fan found himself in a real dilemma, caught between the proverbial wolf in front and the tiger behind.

Neither advancing nor retreating were friendly options for him; there was no relatively safe choice.

In such a situation, Yang Fan could only choose the option that was relatively advantageous to him, one that wouldn’t leave him and Xiang Xue Ting in a desperate predicament.

"I’ll follow your lead!" Xiang Xue Ting said firmly.

She still looked extremely nervous, but her attitude had become resolute.

"Good, let’s go," Yang Fan said in a deep voice.

Suddenly, he furrowed his brow slightly.

A strand of cold energy had entered his Dantian, only slightly less in scale than what he had experienced when he killed that Whisperer, and it was much greater than the usual mysterious phenomena.

As this cold energy flowed in, an odd change occurred within Yang Fan’s Dantian.

A second strand of cold energy was born!

This newly formed cold energy was about one-tenth the size of the previous one.

In his Dantian, these two strands, one thick and one thin, formed a Yin Yang Fish pattern, intertwined and rotating slowly, wandering about. As they spun, wisps and strands of cool meaning spread into Yang Fan’s meridians.

This was another new change.

Previously, when there was only one strand of cold energy, Yang Fan had to deliberately guide and mobilize it to use its power.

But now, with the Yin Yang Fish rotating and wandering, very slight cold energies began to travel along his meridians.

Yang Fan felt a refreshing coolness throughout his body; although there was no surge in strength as before, he felt that his vitality, energy, and spirit had climbed several levels instantly. His senses were sharper, and his mind seemed to clear up in an instant.

He silently mobilized the cold energy within his Dantian, and with a thought, the Yin Yang Fish rapidly spun. Yang Fan instantly felt his hands fill with strength and also gained a very mysterious sense of agility.

He had the intuition that with a single swing of his wooden mace, he should be able to smoothly chop off the head of that ghostly thing.

After taking a moment to feel this change, a smile finally curled the corners of Yang Fan’s mouth.

This change had increased his chances of surviving by a considerable margin.

It was a rare piece of good news in his otherwise grim situation.

"What’s wrong?" Xiang Xue Ting noticed the change in Yang Fan and asked nervously.

Yang Fan gestured with his hand, "It’s nothing, let’s go."

"...Okay."

The two of them exited the alley with great caution.

The bustling noise outside instantly became clear. Xiang Xue Ting was stunned by the sight before her, instinctively wanting to speak out, but remembering Yang Fan’s warning, she shut her mouth and quickly followed closely behind him.

Yang Fan watched the various mysterious figures coming and going warily, walking slowly towards the right side of the street.

The scene on the street was somewhat paradoxical to him.

The vendors were shouting loudly, their facial features looking more animated.

But the pedestrians roaming the street seemed like marionettes on strings.

Just like the creature Yang Fan had just killed, they didn’t know how to speak, only uttering strange, guttural noises.

A group of lively vendors selling goods to a group of string-pulled puppets—what was this all about?

Selling loneliness?

"Bro, that’s badass, bringing your girlfriend to this place for a date without even disguising it!"

Suddenly, a voice arose beside Yang Fan.

Yang Fan turned his head sharply, but only saw a mysterious figure with a blank expression slowly rubbing past him.

"Who’s speaking?" Yang Fan asked quietly.

"Eh, turns out to be a newbie, you really aren’t afraid of dying. Probably another one who accidentally got some trivial supernatural transformation, getting curious and seeking death. Bad luck, don’t drag me into it," the voice spoke again.

Yang Fan looked intently and saw a mysterious figure with a swift gait moving away from behind him and into a side alley.

"Mr. Yang, it seems to be a living person," Xiang Xue Ting whispered, covering her mouth as she spoke to Yang Fan in a very soft voice.

Yang Fan nodded, his eyes lighting up slightly.

That guy was definitely alive.

And the presence of a living person meant there was a way out.

He looked at the street vendors on either side of the street selling all kinds of strange things, suspecting they might all be alive.

Maybe by asking them, they could find a way out.

"Grab my hand!" Yang Fan said in a low voice.

This woman was easily startled; he was concerned that if he reached for her hand rashly, she might let out a scream.

Xiang Xue Ting gently nodded, moved closer to Yang Fan, and took his left hand with her right.

Her palm was very cold and sweaty.

It looked like she was nervous.

However, it was very soft, felt weak and boneless, not at all like a hand that held a gun.

Yang Fan gathered his focus, taking Xiang Xue Ting by the hand and walking towards the stall on the right.

Just then, a sudden chill wind swept through the street. The mysterious figures that had been coming and going all stopped in their tracks, slowly twisted their necks, and looked towards Yang Fan and Xiang Xue Ting.

Their grey, lifeless eyes simultaneously revealed a look of longing, like starving wolves eying delicious prey.

Yang Fan quickly stopped in his tracks as his heart clenched tight.

It was over; they had been discovered.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the street vendors skillfully roll up their goods and dart into the alleys on either side of the street, with faint cursing sounds coming from somewhere.

Yang Fan confirmed his earlier judgment, but his predicament seemed to be getting worse.

"Run!" Yang Fan grabbed Xiang Xue Ting’s hand and started sprinting forward.

The mysterious beings moved in an instant as well.

Intermittent hoarse sounds accompanied by bursts of cold wind came from behind Yang Fan.

Suddenly, a seven or eight-year-old boy appeared in front of Yang Fan.

He had his hands drooping and blocked Yang Fan’s path, his eyes gleaming with malevolence as he licked his lips greedily, "Fresh souls and bodies... Sister, won’t you stay with me? I’m so lonely here by myself."

He could speak.

But he was obviously not a living person.

Yang Fan didn’t care whether it was right or wrong, he swung his wooden mace with all his might.

"Mr. Yang, he’s a living person!" Xiang Xue Ting shouted urgently.

"Where do you see that he’s a living person? Stop causing trouble," Yang Fan said gravely, his wooden mace swinging out forcefully.

Thump.

The wooden mace, tinged with a faint eerie blue, struck the boy, chopping his tender-looking head off, which rolled to the side by a very old wooden pushcart.

"Ah... it hurts, it hurts, sister, it hurts so much," the boy’s mouth opened and closed, his face filled with pain.

"Turns out he really isn’t human," Xiang Xue Ting suddenly stepped forward and kicked the head away.

Yang Fan was stunned for a moment.

He quickly followed, kicking away the boy’s staggering headless body and sprinted forward.

"You are so cruel-hearted, so cruel..."

The boy’s voice floated around them ethereally.

A sudden pain struck the back of Yang Fan’s neck, he turned around sharply, only to find the boy had somehow climbed onto his back and was biting his neck.

"Fuck!"