The iron hammer traced an arc, smashing into the Sacrificial Tablet, followed by tiny crackling noises that arose in front of him.
However, this scene looked completely different in Hawkeye's eyes.
Hawkeye saw Qian Cangyi swing the iron hammer; yet, the hammer froze mid-air midway through the swing.
The figure of the Black Shadow on the empty ground started to flicker, with conspicuous distortion appearing around its edges.
"It's effective, keep going!" Hawkeye shouted, picking up an iron hammer and running over.
Qian Cangyi raised his iron hammer, took a deep breath, ready to strike once more; suddenly, the Black Shadow in front got to its feet as if rising from paper.
The standing Black Shadow wrapped its arm around Qian Cangyi in a hug, and Qian Cangyi instantly felt his strength deplete.
Using the last breath he had, he managed to swing his iron hammer, but... the hammer fell right onto the ground.
"What!" exclaimed Qian Cangyi, his face painted with shock.
The hammer hadn't slipped from his hand earlier, but had instead fallen straight through him from above, as if it passed through his body.
Qian Cangyi was pinned to the ground by Black Shadow's attack.
The situation he was in is what Bian Zhe encountered in the script of the First Act.
Qian Cangyi felt completely drained, struggling to open his eyes with the sheer force of his will to survive. He stretched his right hand towards the iron hammer beside him, but his hand simply passed through it.
He couldn't touch the hammer, as if it existed in a different world from him.
It's over...
Qian Cangyi tried again, to the same effect.
On the other side, Hawkeye was already on his way over, but was intercepted by the Black Shadow.
After being struck by the hammer, the movements of the Black Shadow were noticeably affected.
The Black Shadow that had just risen had vanished after its attack on Qian Cangyi. The remaining Black Shadow seemed to be still recovering, taking a second before it began to slide towards Hawkeye.
Upon discovering the Black Shadow wrapping around him, Hawkeye forcefully stomped on the ground, his body floating mid-air.
This short moment of levitation was crucial – the Black Shadow couldn't attack him.
Hawkeye closed his eyes, his iron hammer striking down heavily.
A crisp sound echoed throughout the empty ground, suggesting that the Sacrificial Tablet was cracking.
Qian Cangyi looked around and saw the Black Shadow surrounding Hawkeye began to shake intensely – even more so than before – to the point that it couldn't maintain its human form.
However, the Black Shadow was already waiting where Hawkeye would land.
Hawkeye, after landing, tried to dodge, but after a roll, he also ended up on the ground like Qian Cangyi. His strength too had been siphoned off.
"Almost there, just a bit more!"
Qian Cangyi wanted to shout, but his voice seemed to be stuck in his throat. He stretched his hand towards the hammer once more.
This time, he could grab it.
The spark of hope that was about to extinguish had been rekindled, but... he had no more strength, not to mention lifting the hammer, he couldn't even stand up.
"Is it over..."
Qian Cangyi, while holding the hammer tight, watched the Black Shadow that was gradually recovering.
Suddenly, a pair of feet appeared in front of him, those of a child.
Qian Cangyi raised his head and saw a juvenile face.
It was the face of Li Ling. Behind Li Ling, more and more shadows started to emerge.
All the residents of Yu Xi Village appeared around him, and then, they all reached out their hands to him.
With the help of the villagers, Qian Cangyi got up off the ground. Subsequently, a muscular villager lifted up his hands that were gripping the iron hammer.
He knew that the villagers could not touch the hammer themselves because they couldn't. But because of the Sacrificial Tablet, they could touch him.
"Thank you for your help."
Qian Cangyi closed his eyes.
Logic dictates that his eyes should only see darkness, but that was not the case now.
The Sacrificial Tablet full of cracks appeared in front of him, with countless mysterious symbols revolving around it.
Centered on the cracked Sacrificial Tablet, light and dark separated into two sides.
The villagers standing on Qian Cangyi's side represented light, while the Black Shadow on the side of the Sacrificial Tablet represented darkness.
The next moment, light and dark started rotating and then overlapping, assuming a state similar to an alternating black and white dartboard pattern.
The boundary between life and death was blurred at this moment.
Without any hesitation, Qian Cangyi, with the villagers' assistance, swung the iron hammer in his hand heavily towards the Sacrificial Tablet.
"Shatter!"
The black iron hammer accurately hit the Sacrificial Tablet, delivering the final blow.
With a clanking sound.
The Sacrificial Tablet shattered entirely, unable to retain its original form, like a collapsing house.
At the same time, the villagers of Yu Xi Village disappeared completely.
Having lost the help of the villagers, Qian Cangyi fell to the ground once again, the iron hammer dropping beside him.
"Did I survive?"
Qian Cangyi asked himself, but he didn't know the answer.
Ahead of him, the true nature of the shattered Sacrificial Tablet was revealed. The upper half was broken into small pieces while approximately one-third of the bottom part was still intact.
In the distant horizon, the last speck of light also vanished.
Dark night descended.
The strength he had just lost was returning to his body. An expression of joy appeared on Qian Cangyi's face as he propped himself up on both hands and climbed up.
Hawkeye also stood up.
In the sky, a red lightning streaked across, illuminating the night sky.
The shattered Sacrificial Tablet began to transform unexpectedly. The intact part gradually condensed into a completely black human body, resembling a mannequin in a mall.
After the black figure took shape, it started moving towards them, swaying from side to side, seemingly not adapted to its new body yet.
"What is this?" Qian Cangyi looked horrified.
"Run!" shouted Hawkeye, and began running towards the entrance of Yu Xi Village.
At this moment, the black figure turned to face Qian Cangyi, revealing a crescent-shaped white smile.
Seeing this smile, Qian Cangyi felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave.
Hawkeye grabbed Qian Cangyi's arm, dragging him towards the entrance of the village.
Collecting his senses, Qian Cangyi attempted to keep pace with Hawkeye.
Although he'd regained a lot of his strength, the fatigue in his legs had not dissipated.
Now, Qian Cangyi felt as if his legs were no longer his own.
After they had been running for a while, Qian Cangyi suddenly felt a chill run down his back. He hastened his speed, the feeling of being touched on the back made him break out in cold sweat.
Another red lightning streaked across the sky.
Qian Cangyi took the opportunity to look back. The black figure, it was right behind him.
Hawkeye also noticed this, he shouted at Qian Canygi:
"You'll surely die if this goes on."
"We must split up. I'll draw the ghost behind us away. You'll take the shortcut to the village entrance while I take the longer route. Rush and leave."
"Even if the ghost starts chasing you mid-way, I won't come to save you. You will have to figure out the rest of the way yourself."
"Good luck."
Having said that, Hawkeye sped up, practically dragging Qian Cangyi along.
Qian Cangyi felt that at this point, as long as he didn't trip, he could sprint straight to the entrance of Yu Xi Village.
A fork in the road appeared ahead. One to the left, and one to the right.
The left road led upwards and the right road downwards.
Hawkeye took Qian Cangyi towards the left road which was the longer route.
During their investigation, both of them had basically searched every corner, and that's why they could recognize the fork in the road so quickly now.
The journey back was different from the investigation.
During the investigation, they needed to check each room, but now they were directly heading to the village entrance, so the path was much shorter.
"Okay," Qian Cangyi nodded.
There was no point in saying anything given the current situation. As long as they escaped from Yu Xi Village, they could survive.
The question was, could they?
Qian Cangyi was uncertain.
Hawkeye couldn't possibly explain to him at this time either.
The black figure formed from the Sacrificial Tablet trailed relentlessly behind the two of them.
Red lightning cut through the sky again, illuminating the path ahead, the path to survival.