Chapter 350 388: The Deepest Fear in the Human Heart

Inside the Mountain God Temple, Guo Laojiang and his men waited with earnest anticipation, but outside, Song Ciwan remained stubbornly unmoved.

No matter how Guo Laojiang tried to persuade her, she flatly refused to enter the Mountain God Temple.

At his wits' end, Guo Laojiang could only shake his head and sigh. "Young lady, you're far too guarded. You must understand, sometimes you just have to trust people. If you don't listen to your elders, you'll live to regret it... Ah..."

He sighed again, then gestured for his men to sit huddled together near the Mountain God Statue, leaving the space by the entrance for Song Ciwan.

He even added, "Miss, it's only natural for you to be wary of us. We understand. In any case, we've saved this spot for you. If it gets too rough out there, feel free to come into the Mountain God Temple whenever you like."

His words were certainly pleasant to the ear. Song Ciwan offered a respectful nod to the men inside the Mountain God Temple to express her gratitude, then sat down by the entrance, cradling the Big White Goose.

In the desolate wilderness, beside the Mountain God Temple, the young woman sat with the goose in her arms, seemingly gazing at the sky, seemingly at rest.

The Big White Goose leaned against her, a heavy, comforting weight. A unique warmth flowed between the woman and the goose.

One of Song Ciwan's hands hung at her side. With an occasional flick of her fingers, a few small Black Insects would launch from her fingertips. The tiny creatures would leap and fly, and the Big White Goose would stretch out its long neck, snap its beak, and instantly gobble up every last one.

The Big White Goose's flat beak snapped open and shut as it ate with relish.

The young woman casually fed her goose. As she did, the pull of sleep seemed to wash over her in the dark of night. The flicking of Black Insects ceased. Her eyes began to droop, her head slowly sank, and she began to nod, clearly teetering on the verge of a deep slumber.

An unknown amount of time passed. Or perhaps it was only an instant.

Suddenly, a light breeze rustled by, and with it came the faintest sound of breathing, drawing near.

Song Ciwan didn't look up. She held the Big White Goose close, the two of them nestled together, seemingly fast asleep.

A moment later, the breathing grew louder, closer, until it sounded as if it were right upon them.

It was accompanied by a strange footstep—a sound both light and heavy. THUD... THUD... THUD...

The sound involuntarily conjured the image of a great foot, dragging what seemed to be a heavy chain behind it.

Then, in a single instant, Song Ciwan looked up.

The very instant she raised her head, the Big White Goose raised its own. It then opened its beak and let out a bloodcurdling cry. "GAAAAAA—!"

"GAK GAK GAK!"

"HONK HONK HONK!"

"SKRAWK SKRAWK SKRAWK!"

The Big White Goose threw its head back and shrieked with all its might.

The moment it opened its eyes and looked up, it was truly terrified.

It was horrifying. Simply horrifying. Anyone, roused from a deep sleep and looking up to see a colossal, bristly foot looming before them, would scream in terror. A foot covered in grotesque protrusions, which were themselves studded with distorted, writhing eyeballs.

The Big White Goose had a heart of flesh and blood—how could it possibly not be terrified?

It was scared to death. And the most terrifying part wasn't just the foot itself, but the fact that it was a single, solitary foot.

That's right. Just one foot. Not a pair. And no body attached.

The giant, three-foot-tall appendage was severed cleanly at the ankle, and fresh blood dripped ceaselessly from the stump.

The dripping blood trickled over the bulging eyeballs and coarse bristles. With every blink, the eyes let out a faint, wheezing breath.

The wheezing breath washed over the Big White Goose, whose feathers instantly puffed out. Its wings shot up, and the entire goose was about to bolt into the Mountain God Temple behind them.

Of course, even in its frantic rush, the Big White Goose didn't forget Song Ciwan.

It nudged her with its head and shoved her with its wings, urging her to hurry up and take shelter in the Mountain God Temple.

Song Ciwan...

Did Song Ciwan feel nothing in the face of such a bizarre, monstrous foot? Of course not.

In all her years of Cultivation, she had seen countless strange and varied things, but she had not cultivated her heart to the point of numbness. Her Willpower might be far stronger than the Big White Goose's, her courage much greater, but she... she could feel fear, too!

After all, joy, anger, sorrow, worry, grief, fear, and shock... these are basic human emotions.

Song Ciwan had not yet cultivated the seven emotions and six desires into the Void, nor did she wish to extinguish all her feelings.

Seeking the Dao was one thing, but no matter how far she walked that path, Song Ciwan still wanted to be Human.

...

'If I'm not Human, what's the point of Cultivation?'

But to be Human is to feel fear.

In her past life, the most terrifying horror story a young Song Ciwan had ever heard was about the "Hairy Foot."

Her aunt had loved to frighten her with tales of the Hairy Foot. Whenever she did the slightest thing to displease her, the woman would whisper sinister descriptions of the creature into her ear.

"Wanwan," her aunt would say, "the Hairy Foot appears in the dead of night. It waits outside a child's door. If you get up to use the toilet, just as you squat down, it will pounce from behind and... eat you!"

"Heh heh heh... it'll eat you right up..."

The sinister Hairy Foot became the shadow that haunted Song Ciwan's childhood.

And now, as if crossing time and space without any warning, the Hairy Foot from her childhood nightmares had appeared right before her, exactly as it lived in her most terrifying memories!

How could Song Ciwan possibly remain unmoved?

In the depths of her heart, for one brief, genuine moment, she felt an indescribable terror.

If she could have, she would have leapt up in pure instinct.

Fortunately, the Big White Goose had jumped first, and screamed first.

The Big White Goose's piercing shriek snapped Song Ciwan out of it, allowing her to overcome her fear in an instant. She raised her hand and unleashed a Palm Thunder.

BOOM!

A bolt of intense, high-temperature lightning lit up the pitch-black night, instantly charring the Hairy Foot that had loomed before her.

CRACKLE! The charred Hairy Foot split apart and crumbled.

As the Hairy Foot disintegrated, its bristles and eyeballs tumbled to the ground.

The eyeballs rolled on the ground, picking up the bristles and instantly transforming into bizarre, spiny spheres.

These spiky spheres, with eyeballs at their core, bounced on the ground. Then, using the momentum, they launched themselves toward Song Ciwan.

The Big White Goose spread its wings, attempting to shield Song Ciwan.

With a flick of her finger, the thin blades of grass on the ground suddenly shot up in a mad growth spurt.

The blades of grass crisscrossed with lightning speed, weaving a cage that instantly ensnared the spiky spheres.

Song Ciwan raised her hand again, unleashing the Wind and Thunder Skill of the Five Thunders Righteous Method!

This time, she didn't release just one or two bolts of lightning, but an entire ocean of thunder.

An ocean that even engulfed the Mountain God Temple behind her!