The number of monkeys was truly overwhelming. As soon as one was thrown out, another one immediately pounced in. Before long, both Liu Tianyi and Brother Xiang were covered in scratches. Honestly, I started to admire Liu Tianyi a little. He was battered, gasping for air, but he didn’t back down. That’s a rare determination.

On second thought, it made sense. He’s a rich kid, not one of those brainless idiots you’d see in novels. He’d been brought up with better education than us regular folks. Even though his words sometimes came off as looking down on us, his overall abilities were undeniably superior. Especially now, when it was clear: fight for your life, or lose it.

Brother Xiang, however, wasn’t as tough as Liu Tianyi. That guy, after realizing he couldn’t handle it, slapped a Ward Off talisman onto the window. The monkeys didn’t dare come through his spot anymore. But since the talisman’s effect only lasted a minute, he’d fight for a while, rest for a while—it was honestly the most leisurely approach anyone could manage in this situation.

The commotion was loudest at the front door. I couldn’t see Tai Long or Han Sifan, but the noise over there was deafening. I could barely stand it anymore. Testing my arm a little, it still hurt, but it was manageable. I slapped a Fire talisman on the wooden board and another one on the window. These would ignite if any monsters got too close. Then I picked up a brick and charged outside to help.

As I ran out, I saw Xia Yumeng, Jin Xishan, and Xi Que all covering their eyes with their hands. Turns out, every so often, Liu Tianyi would smash a Mei Hou’s head, sending its brains splattering. Of course, the girls couldn’t handle watching that. Little Fatty, meanwhile, was trembling, clutching a stick and crouching protectively in front of them. Seeing the four of them unharmed, I felt a little relieved.

Looking over at Han Sifan and Tai Long, the sight was rough. Tai Long had already lost his shirt, his entire upper body covered in claw marks and streaked with blood. Of course, it also showed off his strong physique and his much-prided muscles. Tai Long was truly impressive; his window was completely broken, and four or five monkeys surrounded him. With a single punch, he could knock one flying, but another would immediately take its place. It was a stalemate of raw grit.

Han Sifan’s clothes weren’t faring much better—ripped in several places by claws. Unfortunately, the monkeys hadn’t managed to tear anything in “critical areas”. What a waste, huh? Damn it, why am I even thinking about that now? Shaking off the thought, I focused again.

Han Sifan’s peachwood sword was drenched in blood, and seven or eight Mei Hou corpses lay at her feet. As soon as a monkey charged her, she’d grab it by the neck and stab its chest with the sword without hesitation. It was brutally efficient, but the cost was evident in her injuries. Logically, with her skills, she shouldn’t have more wounds than Brother Xiang. But she knew that if she used a Ward Off talisman to defend herself, the other sides would face even more pressure.

“Sister Fan, I’ll help you!” I shouted, rushing over with my brick just as a Mei Hou lunged at her. She was busy holding one down with her sword embedded in its chest, unable to free her hands. Without thinking, I swung the brick and smacked the attacking monkey square on the head, sending it flying out of the temple.

Han Sifan dropped the corpse and said, “There are at least sixty of these Mei Hou here. I’m already exhausted after killing ten. We can’t keep fighting. We need to get out of here and lose them.”

I nodded and shouted at Brother Xiang, “Brother Xiang, how many Ward Off talismans do we have left?”

Brother Xiang turned and counted, “Four. Why?”

“Perfect! Stick them on the front door and the windows to the east, west, and south. We’ll escape through the back. There’s a doghole we can crawl through!” I explained, then turned to Little Fatty. “Take Xia Yumeng and the others to the back door. There’s a wooden board there—we’ll escape through it.”

Little Fatty’s eyes lit up at the mention of an escape route. He quickly led the girls to the back while Brother Xiang, Tai Long, Liu Tianyi, Han Sifan, and I fought desperately, not caring about our injuries. We flung every last Mei Hou out before Brother Xiang ran around slapping talismans on the windows and the main door.

“Let’s go!”

We hurried to the back. I grabbed two Fire talismans, tore down the wooden board covering the hole, and crawled out first. Behind the temple was a dense forest filled with towering trees. Jin Xishan quickly figured out the direction and pointed south. “That way—that’s the direction of the village.”

Without another word, the nine of us dashed into the woods. Despite the pain of our wounds, no one complained. Talking would only waste energy; it was better to focus on running.

After thirty minutes of running, the monkeys didn’t seem to be chasing us anymore. We were utterly exhausted, finally finding a hidden patch of grass to collapse into. Cuts and bruises covered us, but after the fierce fight and endless sprinting, we all passed out immediately, too tired to care about whether the Mei Hou would find us.

That was one of the deepest, sweetest sleeps I’ve ever had.

When we woke up, it was already noon. Without our bags, we were starving and worn out. Jin Xishan checked the direction again and led us toward her village.

We barely spoke along the way, except for Little Fatty, who occasionally pestered Brother Xiang about how his Ward Off talismans worked. Brother Xiang brushed him off, saying they were blessed in a temple. Looking back, we were all terrified. Those monkeys were horrifying—too dangerous to even imagine.

When we asked Jin Xishan if her village had dealt with Mei Hou before, she explained that when her grandfather was a child, the monkeys used to snatch kids all the time. But about fifty years ago, a Yin-Yang master came to their village and changed the feng shui. Since then, the Mei Hou hadn’t caused trouble in the area. She’d lived there until she was six before moving to Chongqing and had always thought the stories her grandfather told were just fairy tales. She never expected them to be real.

No matter what, last night had been life-threatening. Han Sifan counted over ten wounds on her body, Tai Long had more than twenty, and Liu Tianyi and Brother Xiang had seven or eight each. It had been an absolutely brutal fight.

We walked for about four hours and as dusk approached, we finally saw smoke rising from the chimneys of a small village in the distance. This was Hong Ye Village.