As soon as Nobita shouted "Run!", he was the first one to take off in a rather uncooperative manner.

Nie Chuan and I froze for a beat, then hurried to follow.

Because I was running too slowly, a little Zongzi grabbed my trousers, and it took several kicks before I managed to shake it off.

Fortunately, the Zongzi were all reanimated corpses. While they could perform any action a human could, their movements were stiff; they could only manage a brisk walk.

We quickly lost that group of little Zongzi. Just as we were about to breathe a sigh of relief, I suddenly saw the woman who had been wearing the kimono earlier blocking our path.

This time she faced us directly, but her hair was so long it obscured her face, making it impossible to see clearly.

Judging by her figure, the woman was short and stout, with surprisingly stubby limbs, and her stomach was covered in thick, layered rolls of fat that were plainly visible even through her clothes.

Seeing that we had stopped, this grotesque woman let out a strange, cackling laugh and started walking towards us.

The moment we saw her gait, cold sweat broke out on our skin.

Because the woman walked with a severe pigeon-toe stance—her heels touching while her toes pointed outward—her short, fat legs formed an 'O' shape, making her walk extremely bizarre.

Furthermore, as she walked, her head swung from side to side, giving her the look of a duck.

Seeing the layer of black hair growing on her arms and her long, sharp fingernails, we couldn't help but swallow nervously.

"What the hell is this thing? It looks so disgusting!" Nobita, who was ahead, took a step back, clearly wary of this woman.

We also backed away repeatedly because the thing in front of us was too utterly strange.

However, despite her bizarre posture, the woman moved with astonishing speed, and the little Zongzi behind us were slowly closing in.

"Forget her, let's take her down first!" Seeing the Zongzi approach, Nobita roared and charged toward the monster ahead.

As Nobita lunged, the woman let out a harsh "Gua!" sound, like an infant's cry, and stretched out her hooked claws toward Nobita's neck.

Any ordinary person seeing this terrifying and bizarre woman would surely be scared stiff, having no courage for a direct confrontation. But it was Nobita charging, and when he got angry, even if Sadako climbed out of the television, he could forcefully stuff her right back in.

The bear-like Nobita had lost all reason. Before the monstrous woman could latch onto his throat, he slammed a punch into her forehead, causing her swaying head to jerk backward as she flew through the air.

We heard a sharp kaka sound; we couldn't tell if that punch had broken the woman’s neck.

Seeing the woman twitching on the ground, Nobita cursed, "Serves you right for trying to play ghost."

Just as Nobita was feeling smug, the woman on the ground let out a weird cry of "Gua!" and dissolved into countless black feathers.

From the black feathers, a large black bird flapped its wings twice, attempting to soar into the sky.

Little did the bird know, Nobita seemed to have anticipated this. He immediately pounced, planting a foot firmly on the strange bird's neck.

But the bird was clearly immensely strong. After a few struggles, it flung Nobita to the ground, then violently slashed its giant claws across Nobita’s body, pecking at him with its beak.

Seeing Nobita struggling, we rushed up to help.

Nie Chuan picked up a stone from the ground and threw it. The impact made the strange bird screech "Gua!" and flap its wings, trying to fly away again.

But Nobita, that determined fellow, managed to grab one of its legs at that moment, preventing it from leaving.

Seeing Nobita succeed, I threw myself forward, pinning the monstrous bird down onto Nobita.

Then I felt Nie Chuan press down on my back. At that point, no matter how much the bird thrashed, it couldn't break free.

However, the bird had a long neck. I felt it stretch its neck out from under my armpit and start fighting with Nie Chuan above me.

Pressed down by Nie Chuan, I could barely breathe and was completely useless in helping.

But after struggling for a moment, Nie Chuan let out a strange shriek of "Waa!" and sprung off me entirely.

I quickly asked him what was wrong, only to see a monstrous face with eight pairs of eyes leaning toward me.

This strange face had deathly pale skin, covered in lumps and warts, making it look bloated and grotesque.

But the crucial part was the eight pairs of eyes spread across its face like a spider's.

As it leaned its head toward me, it opened a black maw filled with sharp, jagged teeth, lunging to bite.

Noticing its yellowed teeth and a tongue writhing like a tangled earthworm, I panicked instinctively and thrust two fingers toward one of its eyes.

All eight pairs of eyes on the monstrous face snapped shut, but my fingers still scraped hard across its eyelids.

The grotesque face screamed "Waa!" in pain and sprayed me in the face with foul, smelly fluid.

Stung by the pain, the creature’s strength surged, immediately lifting me up before flapping backward several paces.

At this moment, Nobita rolled over, got up, and again threw his arms around the bird's waist.

The bird ignored Nobita, forcefully beating its wings to ascend.

Nobita’s nearly two-hundred-pound body was actually lifted into the air by the creature.

But with its vision impaired, the bird flew wildly for a moment before crashing violently into a thick bamboo stalk, falling from the sky.

The impact of hitting the ground wouldn't have been so bad, but it was crushed by Nobita on its back, causing the bird to spit out its tongue.

Nobita was also dazed and disoriented from the fall. Throwing caution aside, he wildly grabbed the bird’s neck and began twisting it brutally.

His grip was heavy, and the bird’s neck made a series of strange gaga sounds as it twisted, quickly turning into a knotted pretzel.

We watched the strange face on the bird’s neck—its long tongue hanging out, black blood dribbling from its mouth—as it finally died.

Seeing the monstrous bird go still, Nobita released his grip and stood up.

But as soon as he stood, he swayed dangerously and nearly collapsed.

We rushed to support him, but Nobita pushed us both away, saying, "It's nothing, I'm just a little dizzy from the fall."

We saw that his clothes were merely torn and he had some scrapes, confirming he was fine, and we all let out a breath of relief.

At this point, the group of little Zongzi that had been following us gave up their attack. Seeing the monstrous bird dead, they all craned their necks and let out strange cries toward the sky.

Nobita, annoyed, prepared to charge them again. But perhaps intimidated by the sheer ferocity Nobita had displayed, the little Zongzi scattered and fled in disarray.

Seeing that he had scared the Zongzi away, Nobita stamped his foot proudly.

But before he could utter any further threats, a rustling sound started directly above our heads.

I knew instantly that whatever the little Zongzi had been leading must be something else, so I urged, "Hurry up and go, it's too late! Something else is coming!"

The other two had clearly noticed the strange movement in the woods and immediately bolted with me, running for their lives.

As we ran, we heard the heavy sounds of bamboo branches snapping under a great weight behind us, like a colossal serpent slithering across the top of the bamboo canopy.

The image of the giant snake with a woman's face from Inuyasha flashed through my mind, and I secretly quickened my pace.

The light in this forest was dim, and the bamboo was dense; it would be easy to get lost if one wasn't careful.

Fortunately, we had the foresight to bring a compass.

So we sprinted due north. About ten minutes later, we saw the bamboo thinning ahead, with light seeping through the gaps.

A surge of joy hit us. We rushed toward the light, and suddenly the view opened up—we had burst out of the bamboo forest.

Before us lay a meadow bathed in sunlight.

But calling it a meadow was generous; it was overgrown with weeds, so tall they reached our waists due to the neglect.

It was fortunate there were some winding flagstone paths through the middle of the field, otherwise, it would have been hard to say what strange things might be lurking in the grass.

A gentle breeze swept across the meadow, making the countless wild grasses sway softly. The air was thick with the fragrance of unknown wildflowers, instantly invigorating the spirit.

"Is this the backyard? It looks more like a vegetable patch. Are you sure the medicinal herbs we need are here?" Nobita turned to ask me.

I frowned, glanced at the compass in my hand, and said, "The direction is right. Let's walk a bit further."

Saying that, we continued along the small path.

We had only taken a few steps when the rustling sound from the bamboo forest behind us grew frantic. Many stalks creaked and groaned, as if something immense was about to crush them.