《The World Below Surface》
Chapter 1: Woman on the billboard
Chapter 1: Woman on the billboard
[Attention, the following text is edited MTL that I tossed in Grammarly multiple times and corrected characters'' names. I''m posting this to draw attention to this novel, hoping someone else will trante it properly. Plus, I want to see how others view such text. Like andment on what you think.]
[] The World Below Surface [Infinite Stream] Author
RAW: http://.jjwxc/onebook.php?novelid=4716194
The text of this article: Lu Yan lives in the most horrific and absurd world.
People here live in harmony and contentment and were oblivious of all paranormal urrences.
People here were sacrificed to the living, and the children were eaten like lycheesfirst the skin was peeled off, then the soft flesh was nibbled into.
......
The world had gone mad.
The only individuals who were normal like hime from the outside world and call themselves yers.
And in his struggle to live and learn the reality of this world, he can only rely on these people.
......
yer A: In the world I recently visited, I met an NPC. He waspletely different from other psychotic NPCs in that he was so innocent and humble.
yer B: Yeah, yeah, me too. He helped me a lot. I feel like he''s more intelligent than the captain, but unfortunately, it''s an NPC.
yer C, who was screwed by the innocent and humble NPC, died and now came back as a living dead, cast a sympathetic nce: ...... hehe. YOu mean Lu Yan, right? Good luck to you guys.
*Pseudo- infinite stream + horror spooky + trying to burn your brain + chaos unresolved
Disorderly crazy creepy society; modern overhead; really confusing, don''t try to find logic.
All viins use each other to backstab each other; male protagonist Lawful Evil, asionally chaotic.
Sub-style horror, traditional flow, ghosts, and monsters are unresolved and invincible, no live room, no psychic powers, no upgrades, card draw, and other elements
Involves a trace of the fourth heavenly disaster; Cthulhu elements; SCP Monsters in Containment
The air that the cool air conditioning circted had a faint odour of disinfectant, blood, and another type of decayed protein cooked previously. All of thisbined to provide a sweet, fishy fragrance.
Lu Yan () had long been familiar with the smell. After saying goodbye to his colleague, he saw his colleague turn his head and smile only with the right side of his face. His colleague watched him walk away while waving at him even after he was far from sight.
Putting on his hood and mask, Lu Yan stepped through the door of the subway carriage and, inside, ''identally'' stepped on a palm that was a bit soft and rotten in texture. Without stopping, he kicked the object opposite towards the door, right into the rusty billboard outside.
The corners of the billboard''s softly smiling actress'' lips widened a little, slowly grinning down to the roots of her ears. Her smiling eyes began to move down to stare at the palm that had fallen below her nose.
The mouth opened wide, and a thin, bright red tongue stuck out. The palm twitched to get away, yet the tongue still wrapped around it, sticking out of the enormous lips and pulling in. Her pointed white teeth were hidden behind a closed mouth, and both cheeks puffed out.
The sound of chewing rang out.
Clearly, the hand was soft and boneless, but Lu Yan heard the creaking sound of bones breaking.
After a while, the woman on the billboard revealed an insatiable smile, her lips bright red.
Lu Yan did not meet those eyes. He knew that the woman on the billboard must be staring at him, so he kept his head down and yed with his phone.
The doors closed, and the subway car shifted and started to move forward.
The feeling of being watched didn''t go away.
At some point, pretty actresses appeared in every subway poster, staring at Lu Yan and smiling.
Lu Yan was concentrating on his mobile phone, not listening to what was happening outside.
The subway lights were dim, tinged with an unsettling red. The phone screen reflected the corners of the starlet''s mouth rising higher and higher from the posters, as well as her long tongue slowly extending.
He could hear the hissing sound of a snake crawling, and although she was smiling, her eyes were cold.
The carriage went dark, and then the next moment, the lights came on.
The tip of his nose twitched.
The smell that had been permeating the carriage disappeared, bing fresh and clean.
When he looked up again, all the rust and blood in the carriage was gone. The windows were clear, and the passengers, though few, were sitting or standing peacefully as the electronic female voice yed the arrival station. The air conditioning dispersed thest of the summer night''s heat and even cooled it a little.
It was quiet and peaceful, just like the ordinary world Lu Yan would have remembered, and he didn''t have to be careful any more.
Yet, Lu Yan knew that this was the beginning of the vignce he had to exercise.
When the bizarre world begins to masquerade as normal, it must be when it hides its fangs and then sows its malice...... everywhere.
At the next station, a group of people came up.
This group obviously knew each other but seemed to have nothing inmon. Men and women, young and old, identity and age varied, got in the car while whispering in low voices. Lu Yan took one look and then withdrew his eyes to continue ying with his phone. At the same time, the other passengers also nced curiously, so his behaviour was not at all unusual.
But the group was clearly not uninterested in him.
Lu Yan was looking down when a shadow suddenly appeared on his phone screen.
It was a woman from the group. She was probably in her early twenties and had a gentle, affable smile. She seemed a little embarrassed to talk to him: "Sir, do you have a moment? I have something that I would like to talk to you about."
Individual passengers cast envious nces.
What was this? A beautiful woman starting up a conversation with an average guy?
The young woman''s face was still a little shy. Her head was lowered while she spoke in a soft and gentle tone. But her words were not as ambiguous as the other passersby might have thought.
Only then did the man shift his gaze from the phone screen to her, almost subconsciously taking a step back, his bodynguage full of caution, "What do you mean?"
"Sir, there is no need to be afraid because we had the same experience." The young woman wore a smile and said, "We met those... too." She moved closer, and her voice lowered even more. Passersby couldn''t hear what she was saying, but the man reacted frantically, and his breathing instantly sharpened. The woman could almost hear the other man''s heartbeat speed up.
"I, how do I know if what you guys are saying is true or not?" Lu Yan''s voice tightened a little. He obviously realized this too and cleared his throat, "I mean, who am I to believe you guys?"
"After all, there''s no better option now, so why not try?" The woman smiled at him, "Are you willing to sit around and wait for death?"
Lu Yan subconsciously shook his head, and the woman''s smile widened, "Don''t be afraid. We''ll all help you."
"Help me? You?" Lu Yan''s tone was hesitant.
Seeing that her most sociable teammate had managed to strike up a conversation with the NPC on the first try, a slightly chubby man in the crowd gave her a thumbs up and showed his teeth in a smile.
Everyone slowly padded over and gathered around Lu Yan.
"Are you thepanions she was referring to?" Lu Yan said, frowning a little in chagrin as he said it, realizing he still didn''t know the woman''s name.
The woman said, in due course, "Introducing myself; I am Li Fang Yu()."
The others likewise said their names.
They imed to be the same as Lu Yan, suffering from "otherworldy hauntings" () and living in constant fear. Hence, they formed a small group to try to find a way to save themselves and discover the world''s truth.
Lu Yan observed that the group intentionally or unintentionally listened to a young, tall, and thin man named He Lou (). He introduced himself as an ordinary office worker.
But looking at his cold air and how people were convinced by him, it was obvious that he was not just an office worker.
Lu Yan didn''t know if he believed them or not. Still, he had made a preliminary acquaintance and asked with some curiosity, "You guys have formed a group. Do you have any solutions for these... things?"
When he said the word "things," his expression was clearly scornful, and his voice was unconsciously lowered. You can tell that he must have been tortured by certain events.
The crowd exchanged nces, shook their heads and lowered their voices to speak.
"Ghosts, spirits, curses and other ...... things are not humanly possible to eliminate, and we have, up to now, only been able to find escape routes in the face of these spirits, without any hard-core methods."
"Trying to solve it ourselves is impossible. We can only keep running away. Of course, most events have hints. Survival is still elementary if we find a way to escape."
"It''s no use asking God and worshipping Buddha, church or Buddhist temple. There''s no ce where you can get away with it once and for all. You can only rely on yourself to find the pattern."
"It''s risky, but as long as you find the pattern, you can survive."
Hearing their words, the sorrow between Lu Yan''s brows deepened.
He was handsome, even with his hat and mask on, and when the somewhat cold eyes he revealed were tinged with sorrow, he could quickly draw the hearts of young girls to him.
"Then would I not ......" The words had just left his mouth when he swallowed them back as if realizing that something was wrong.
"Is it convenient for Mr Lu to tell us what difficult things he has encountered recently? Perhaps we can help you." He Lou asked.
He Lou didn''t say much and gave off a cold-faced, warm-hearted feeling.
Lu Yan frowned more tightly, sighed, wanted to say something, opened his mouth, and held back. He was a little suspicious again, nced at everyone, and slowly began speaking up.
"I recently ...... how to say it, the apartment upstairs, someone bizarre moved in. Since he moved in, strange things are happening more and more ......"
Lu Yan was saying when He Lou suddenly raised his hand and interrupted his narrative: "Wait first."
Thetter gazed coldly at the carriage overhead light: "Have you noticed that the light has dimmed a bit?"
He did not use the word "seemed" but was confident that the lights had dimmed and that the change must have been caused by some unusual reason.
The group was immediately alerted.
He Lou''s words were soon confirmed as the light dimmednot wholly, but to more dark red.
It was like a thin veil of blood was covered over them.
Immediately afterwards, they heard a toothsome sound that came from nowhere and was indescribable, thin, and overwhelming. Yet, it was so tiny that they would have thought it was just ringing in their ears if they hadn''t listened closely.
What was it exactly..?
"Everyone, be ready to flee." He Lou nced at Lu Yan and added, "Don''t leave the carriage; walk backwards."
The subway station arrived just in time. After a ring, several passengers waiting on the side stood up and prepared to go out.
"Why?" Lu Yan asked.
Li Fang Yu whispered softly, "Look out the window."
Lu Yan nced out of the window, and his expression changed dramatically.
His face was covered by a mask, but the crowd could still detect the shock in his eyes.
It was no wonder that he was surprised. Ayer of blood mist had drifted up outside the window at some point, and it was getting closer and closer, thicker and thicker. Still, in an instant, it had already gathered around the subway.
It looked like it wasing for them.
The lights that had just dimmed, also because of the blood mist, gradually gathered next to themps. The light and faint dark red in the air then became denser and denser, to the point where it was no longer visible to the naked eye.
"Ah! What''s going on?"
"What the hell is this?!"
The other passengers finally noticed the anomaly and shrieked, one after the other, individuals taking off their jackets, desperately trying to clear a field free of the blood mist the moment the iron doors opened, screaming and running out the door, pushing each other in panic and nearly causing a stampede.
The small group was no exception, "Run!" A voice came from the small group as they watched the bloody fog about to spread over them. They worked their way against the flow through the crowd and towards the back of the carriage.
The slightly chubby man who had previously given a thumbs up to Li Fang Yu''s eyes nced at them and suddenly stared in shock, "Holy shit! This N...... Lu Yan, what the hell is he up to?"
Everyone was supposed to leave together, but Lu Yan returned to stop the passengers about to run outside: "Don''t run outside, calm down! It''s more dangerous outside!"
Before he could finish his sentence, the passenger he had dragged by the door half a step away suddenly stared wide-eyed and hissed in pain, struggling.
"Help ......"
The words of distress were not finished as the body he had stepped outside melted as quickly as if ice had met the sun. First, there was ayer of skin that faded to reveal the scarlet-white flesh, white bone and still-beating organs inside ......
The living man had only twoyers of skin. Still, the blood mist had peeled off an unknown amount downwards, devouringyer afteryer.
It all happened so fast, but in an instant, the man Lu Yan was tugging was left with only one intact hand, held in Lu Yan''s hand. Like the other passengers who hadn''t stepped out of the door, he stood stunned in his ce, unable to react until now.
The broken hand snapped to the ground, and Lu Yan took a step back in horror, his eyes wide with fear.
"Ah..."
The broken handnded at the feet of one of the young passengers. Because there was less blood and mist in the carriage, the hand was consumed much slower. Now the skin had only faded away, and the texture of the mechanism and the gradually visible skeleton could be seen. Apparently, one of the passengers couldn''t take the excitement and subconsciously kicked the severed hand out, which happened tond on an advertising wall.
A stunning actress was on the advertising wall, and they weren''t sure if it was an illusion. She was watching everyone with a weird and beautiful smile. The handnded on her lips, and her lips twitched as her long tongue reached out, pulling the wrist into her mouth and hooking it, her fine white pointed teeth slowly chewing.
A pair of beautiful, flirtatious eyes, slowly beginning to focus, turned towards the passenger. Anyone could see the unmistakable mad malice in her eyes.
The group backed away in unison in horror.
The passenger, who knew he was dead even if he was stupid, looked around, and only Lu Yan, who had just helped someone, looked more reliable. He shivered and approached Lu Yan before grabbing his hand: "Help me ...... help me, please help me... ..."
"I ......" Lu Yan was clearly hesitating.
He Lou''s face sank: "Go! Bring him over."
The group was too big a target, and another tall, thin, yellow-haired youth trotted back and got into the crowd. He looked at the two people still pulling and tugging. His eyes narrowed slightly before he kicked the man to the ground and dragged Lu Yan out of the crowd with one hand, running desperately and wildly backwards.
The other passengers also reacted and fled after them.
The yellow-haired young man was tempted to curse Lu Yan as a reincarnation of the Virgin Mary or something like that, but in the end, he held back, stifled his head, and charged forward. He was so strong that Lu Yan could not break free, so he ran after him back to the centre of this somewhat odd little group.
Of course, also following him were several other passengers, many of whom were office workers, whose sudden strenuous exercise had left them gasping for breath. They were about to talk when they were met with a cold re from a highly tall, fierce-looking man in the crowd.
Lu Yan noticed that the same re swept over him with slight dislike and that others were more or less unkind. Yet, he breathed a sigh of relief and swept his eyes unobtrusively over the few people who had followed him.
There were six.
''Six options, so if something happenster, someone with less skill and less helpful will be chosen to be pushed out instead of me, right?''
Lu Yan was in a happy mood.
His eyes slid over the passengers. Suddenly his gaze stopped, and he immediately averted his eyes, pretending not to see.
That person.... why does that person keep tiptoeing?
Trantors Notes
If you enjoy the Hell App, this is fairly simr; however, the MC is an NPC rather than a yer.
Chapter 2: Shes staring at me
Chapter 2: She''s staring at me
Lu Yan maintained his expression and leaned further towards the small group, making an appearance of fear. He did not say what he had found but let the group observe for themselves.
The subway swayed, and with a long "creak, "the doors closed and departed slowly.
On the advertising wall, the resentful eyes of the actress had disappeared, never to be seen again.
The six passengers were slightly relieved, and a few were bold enough to ask the small group across what was going on. Still, they were invariably met with a few sharp stares.
However, Lu Yan did not put his mind at ease as he nced up at the rear carriage and the faintly diffused blood mist.
The thing had not entered the subway, and the blood mist had likewise coalesced in the front portion of the carriage. Either the subway went backwards, where the so-called "sanctuary" was, or there was something even more terrifying than them back there.
He still looked frightened, and the group pulled him away from the other passengers, and then together, they lowered their voices to discuss.
"Now, do we just wait here until the station? I still have a bit of an uneasy feeling." The person who said this was a short-haired girl with a delicate face. She had a short haircut like a man, red lips and studded eyebrows.
She was Lai Li Fang Zhi (), the twin sister of Li Fang Yu.
Li Fang Yu followed and said, "One of the passengers just now is likely to have carried a curse on him, so we should stay away from them."
Everyone in the crowd, except He Lou, believed in Li Fang Yu. Yet when he heard her say this, He Lou nodded likewise and went further in.
The biggest group member clicked his fingers at the passengers who were about to follow with a fierce look on his face: "I''m warning you, don''t follow us."
Lu Yan followed the fat middle-aged man and chatted with him. He nced a little worriedly at the passengers behind him who wanted to follow but were afraid to do so, sighed quietly, and did not persuade.
''I don''t know how many of them will "survive." Will they be enough to save me from death?''
In the eyes of others, this was a sign that he had good intentions but did not dare to do anything.
Many people have some disdain for this.
Those who have survived horrific psychic events have long given up their so-calledpassion and kindness. If it wasn''t for the mission requiring Lu Yan to provide clues, he would have been among those who were left.
The subway moved forward in silence. The windows were dark outside, and the heavy night airpletely enveloped the subway. The atmosphere in the interior carriage grew colder and eerier.
It was as if something wereing out ...
"AH!!!"
A scream broke the silence, and the few people who had just been whispering in hushed voices were abruptly startled.
"Something''s wrong!"
"Run!"
They ran towards the back of the carriage with extreme caution, intentionally or unintentionally pinning Lu Yan in the middle with the big fierce man padding behind. Lu Yan looked back as he ran.
Expecting to see nothing, Lu Yan still saw a passenger leaping high above the big man''s shoulder.
His face was blue. Arge portion of his neck had been bitten off by something, revealing a bowl-sized, ckened wound, with a bit of flesh remaining wrapped around the skeleton. It made one worry that the head would fall off.
As the man behind him was too tall, Lu Yan could only see one head. He took a quick nce and immediately showed an expression of horror as he turned around and continued to run after him.
Over the chaotic footsteps, one could hear a mixed "thud, thud, thud" as something jumped up and down.
When the big man behind him saw Lu Yan''s reaction, he immediately understood there must be something behind him. Still, he didn''t dare to turn around and could only run as fast as he could.
Lu Yan pondered as he ran.
The interior of the subway was small, yet as they rushed all the way forward, they didn''t find anyone. He wondered where these people went.
Also, among passengers, the big guy was definitely the tallest in the group. Yet, he could see the monster''s head from behind the big guy. Once again, when you think about the regr thumping sound you heard, Lu Yan guessed that maybe it was something like a Chinese zombie, or else the other side only had one leg and had to jump.
Unfortunately, the six men had stalled for some time, but none were left.
Thinking of this, Lu Yan shouted as he ran, "Faster, everyone! There''s something following behind us!"
At the moment, he still had use to them, so the gang would try to protect him. When he had given out all the information, then, when running away like today, the one at the back would definitely be him.
But for now, everyone hadn''t torn their faces off yet. So he reminded them not to stop, earning goodwill points from the group.
At those words, the escape brigade immediately increased its speed.
For some reason, the subway was particrly long, and they had been running for a long, long time, but it felt like they couldn''t reach the end.
There was only the messy sound of footsteps and ragged panting.
Moreover, they don''t know if it was an illusion, but the further they ran, the more outdated the carriages became.
Lu Yan dodged a few pieces of debris that had fallen from the roof of the dpidated car and then looked around, which had somehow be an old Shanghai tram, and was sure of it.
When he looked back again, the thing he had been following was gone, and all the lights in the carriage behind them were dimmed, and it was pitch ck. Only the carriage they were in and the area ahead of them that hadn''t run away were brightly lit.
"But ... it''s okay ... there''s nothing left."
With therge man still following behind him, he had to call the man to a halt before slowlying to a halt himself. He nced at the crowd, slowly stopping because of his shout, and gradually calmed his breathing in front of them.
The mask had long since been half removed in his escape, covering only his chin. After running for so long, it would have been easy to arouse their suspicion if he hadn''t been out of breath.
When they stopped, the subway also slowed down.
The carriage was so old that slowing down made it creak and squeak. But to everyone''s ears, the sound was less like an ageing vehicle and more like the popping of bones when someone stretched.
It was as if the subway was some kind of living thing ...
The subway was getting slower and slower, finally letting out an unbearably long sound. The next instant, the originally darkened windows suddenly lit up. All the doors automatically opened to the sides.
Lu Yan looked out the door, and his pupils shrank.
Even though they had run so far, the advertising wall not far outside the door still had a huge advertisement of that female celebrity posted on it. Although the makeup was more retro, the artist was still a brand of dazzling acenaphthene ration huanzhu
"Where is this? Should we go out?"
"After running for so long, we''ve finally stopped now."
"Xiao Zhi, did you have a tracker that counts how far you''ve run?"
Li Fang Zhi held up her phone, "The pedometer says I ran nearly four kilometres in 26 minutes." She was dressed in a unisex style and looked quite remarkable, but she answered the question with a flourish.
He Lou nodded and asked, "How''s everyone''s stamina? Can we continue?"
The oldest in the crowd was the slightly chubby middle-aged man Yu Gao Yi ().
Sweating profusely, he was first to say, "I''ll need to take a break."
Some were okay, while others were equally exhausted and sat bolt-upright in their seats, panting heavily to calm their breathing.
Lu Yan saw that they had yet to bring it up. He allowed himself to look immediately filled with a sense of dread before shivering and subconsciously taking a step backwards.
Li Fang Yu, who had been watching him, immediately asked softly, "What''s wrong with you?"
Lu Yan shook his head, his voice lowered to a whisper, "Didn''t you notice?" His lowered hand pointed covertly at the door.
The others looked towards the door, uprehending.
"What''s wrong?"
"Is there anything unusual?"
They''d encountered quite a few anomalies tonight. How could you distinguish them when there were so many of them.
"Have you ... seen that woman?"
"Which one?" He Lou was immediately alerted, "Describe it."
"I ... the woman on the billboard ..." Lu Yan''s forehead seeped with sweat, and he unconsciously swallowed, "The woman on the billboard before we left. The woman on the billboard, she''s still ... staring at me."
What?!
The others immediately turned their heads alertly but saw nothing.
Li Fang Yu said, "I don''t see anything; it is pitch ck."
The rest of them nodded.
This time Lu Yan''s face turnedpletely white.
Even though he was wearing a mask and hat, they could tell that the other man didn''t look quite right, and he muttered, "She''s still staring at me; she''s smiling ..."
"In that case, shall we go out?" The yellow-haired young man asked.
He Lou said, "Wait a little longer." He nced at Lu Yan, "Say in time if anything changes."
Before Lu Yan could agree, the woman in his vision changed again. Her face gradually turned blue, her smile slowly disappearing, her eyes fierce and resentful, full of morbid coldness.
"She ..."
Lu Yan opened his mouth, "She, she disappeared ..."
He was just about to open his mouth when everything outside the door had vanished into thin air, only pitch ck like the giant mouth of an abyss.
"ck."
It sounded like a gramophone opening.
Immediately afterwards, the faint sound of singing came from all directions. It started softly, very low, and got louder and louder, almost as if a woman was standing next to you, softly and gently singing in your ear.
The lyrics were in a dialect from somewhere, but they couldn''t make out what was being sung. They just thought it was a good tune and got lost in it for a while, wanting to listen for a bit longer.
''I want to listen to it all the time...''
''What a beautiful song. It was so moving ...''
The darkness outside the door slowly brightened as the song grew louder and louder. As the music grew louder and louder, the soft female voice became shrill, and the daylight outside the door disappeared. Yet the crowd remained absorbed in the song, mesmerised.
Gradually, blood poured out of their ears.
Their hands began to tremble unnaturally, and their heads tilted, catching each other on the neck of the one nearest to them. And so, with a happy smile, each man slowly reached out and strangled the other.
Even though the backs of their hands were pushed so hard, they burst into bruises. Their faces began to redden fromck of oxygen. Their tongues stuck out uncontrobly... They still wore happy and engrossed grins.
It was so wonderful ...
Lu Yan had long since plugged his ears, yet he could not prevent the music from drilling into his brain. These people were hurting each other two by two, and he was the only one left alone. He pinched equally hard around the neck and clenched his tongue, trying to use the stinging pain to keep himself awake.
His eyes went straight to He Lou.
''No ... I can''t reveal myself yet.''
The eyes immediately withdrew. He stumbled over to him, and with an "inadvertent" fall, he used the momentum to m into He Lou with force.
He Lou''s eyes sobered for a moment.
"Everyone, move! Hurry!!!"
He Lou really lived up to his expectations, shouting out loud, waking up the crowd, and looking at each other with some panic in their eyes.
After He Lou''s sentence, he took the lead and ran towards the door. Soon, everyone ran out after him. And as soon as they got out of the car, they were shocked by the scene outside the door.
"This, this is ..."
"Wait a minute! There are still people who haven''te down!" The yellow-haired young man''s jaw dropped, and he pointed at the carriage.
The two men, a middle-aged man who was slightly chubby and a man with sses, were too tired from running all the way down. They sat down on the subway seats directly after the car stopped. Now the two of them were repeatedly tapping on the window and screaming at them as they couldn''t stand up.
"Help me!!! Help me! I can''t get up!!! Help me!!!"
"Help! Brother Lou! Help me!"
"Please! Help!!!"
However, no matter how much they shouted, no one would go up to help. Everyone just stood there in silence, watching the situation unfold.
The carriage door mmed shut, the lights went out, and the carriage was instantly dark as the pleas turned into angry curses, which soon turned into wails.
"Aaaaahhhh-"
The screams came to an abrupt halt.
From inside came the sound of ... something being chewed.
Chapter 3: The Law of the Blood Mist
Chapter 3: The Law of the Blood Mist
It didn''t take long for the numbing voices to die and for one of them to speak out softly.
"Where are we going now?"
The ce they were in was also a small stop station, butpared to the underground station they had just been in, it looked like a building from the 80s or 90s. The walls were a bit yellowed and dusted, and about the time of the return of the south, all the walls were a bit wet and stained, smelling musty and faintly fishy.
On the side was a kiosk where it felt like all the staff were chasing after a star. The walls where the menu should have been posted were covered everywhere with yellowed posters. They revealed a pretty woman with long curly hair and a fairplexion looking at everyone with a gentle face.
It was impossible to say that there was nothing unusual about the posters of the actress that appeared again and again. Everyone recalled the scenes they had seen on the underground station earlier and didn''t dare to look at the posters much. However, there were simply too many posters here. Unless they closed their eyes, wherever they went, they would be gazed at by those seemingly gentle but, in fact, steely eyes.
Li Fang Yu asked, "Mr Lu, do you know this star?"
They weren''t from this world, so they didn''t understand the people in this world, and naturally, they didn''t know any stars or anything like that.
Lu Yan shook his head, "I don''t remember."
He added, "I like to listen to old songs and watch movies and stuff, so if there are more famous movie stars and singers, even if they are older, I wouldn''t recognise them." He paused and asked rhetorically, "What about you guys? Do you know her?"
He Lou heard what Lu Yan meant. This woman was either not famous or a figment of his imagination. He began by saying, "I don''t know either."
"I don''t know either."
"Never met."
Li Fang Zhi said coldly, "Shall we wait here or go out first? It feels ufortable to be stared at."
There were posters of women everywhere, even on the ceiling when they looked up. With so many identical faces staring at her, it was no wonder Li Fang Zhi, sensitive to this aspect, was ufortable.
But Li Fang Yu stopped her, saying, "Don''t do anything rash now. Just because we''re in the station now means it''s safe."
The others followed suit, and the yellow-haired young man named Huang Mao () couldn''t resist asking, "How long do we have to stay? I''m feeling a bit queasy too." I don''t know if it was a psychological shadow, but he always felt that the paintings would suddenly stick out their tongues and pull him in.
Li Fang Yu, who looked gentle but had an authoritarian style, said, "We don''t know what''s out there yet, so maybe we need to look for clues in the station and find a way to break it. It''s not a good idea to be stuck here all the time."
The mention of looking for clues made everyone bristle a little.
Who knows if you''ll find a clue or a curse?
Huang Mao looked bitter: "s, my luck is so bad. I remember thest time I found a bag, but just as I tried to pick it up, a hand came out of the bag and almost got me ......"
Before the word "death" could be uttered, Li Fang Zhi suddenly raised her voice: "Shut up, don''t talk nonsense, don''t you understand?"
Every mission gave back one life while taking nine deaths; every world was weird and scary to unimaginable existence. If they were careful with their every word and action, they might be able toe back from the dead and live to the end. Or perhaps, their unintentional words touched some trigger, which could kill them like the two men before them, who couldn''t get up because they had simply sat down after running.
The saddest thing was that they could not resist. There was no way for them to fight the terror. They can only keep running and keep running ......
Even at the cost of sacrificing their teammates, they absolutely had to survive!
The two people who had almost quarrelled were, at best, acquaintances and not a tightly-knit group. They were people who spoke respectfully and would never be soft when it was time to pull out. Now, it''s just because it''s not thest word.
There was a delicate bnce between them, with the sisters He Lou, Li Fang Zhi and Li Fang Yu trying to find a way out of the situation. These people willingly acted as pawns for the time being.
He Lou suddenly turned his head and asked Lu Yan, "What did you see?"
"Sh, what?"
He exined, "Just now, you saw something that none of us saw. How about now?"
Lu Yan was silent for a moment: "In my eyes, it was just a ...... very ordinary old station, a lot of posters of women ......"
He Lou pursued, "Exactly the same posters? Or not quite the same?"
"It''s all the same woman, exactly the same, only different sizes." To answer, Lu Yan looked around more and quickly noticed the poster stuck to the ticket window. The smile on the woman''s mouth raised a little, and her eyes looked straight at him.
He immediately lowered his eyes, not daring to look more.
What could that ...... be?
A pale mist of blood slowly floated in the air once again, little by little, filling the air.
"Let''s go first." Seeing the blood fog gradually thicken, they had to leave and keep walking in the opposite direction along which the blood fog hade.
Lu Yan followed them, slowly falling to the very back. His eyes darted a nce at the toes of the crowd, his heart chilling.
Seeing that none of them noticed, they just walked along the road. Lu Yan didn''t say anything more but just fell behind and followed.
The next building they came to was an empty building next to an open road. There was still an identical station with the women''s posters stered inside and out.
"Have you noticed that her smile has changed?" A man in the crowd spoke with trepidation the words no one dared to utter.
Everyone had noticed it a long time ago. On the poster, the woman''s smile went up a little, blood slowly flowing from the corners of her eyes as she looked at them with malice.
All around them, there seemed to be singing again, faintly, softly, like a sheepish hand trying to drag people into hell.
The song grew louder, the fog thicker, the woman''s smile bloomed, her eyes filled with icy malice, no longer the gentle image they had been when they first met.
"Everyone, move!!!"
The song could confuse people; the blood mist would devour human flesh and blood. As for posters, they had no idea if they would be able to eat people outright like what they had seen at the underground station earlier.
But just by looking at the woman''s fine white sharp teeth, the group didn''t doubt for a moment that the face was lethal.
Everyone had to run away again, doing their best to think as they did so.
"It''s not a good idea to keep running. How long are we going to run away anyway?"
"That is, can''t we break the game?"
They were a little anxious, and Li Fang Yu whispered as she ran, "Brother Lou, at this rate, I''m afraid we won''tst until the next mission."
He Lou looked equally ufortable, "We''ve obviously only received one quest. Why is there an additional hidden quest?"
The mission they had initially received was to spend a week with Lu Yan at the t they were in and then return to their own world a weekter at ground zero. That was why they were desperate to protect Lu Yan, but if Lu Yan died, who would go in with them? Would they have to carry the body on their backs if they found the location?
Of course, once they had entered the t, Lu Yan''s life was not so important. As long as he could "stay" in the apartment, what did it matter if he was dead or alive?
The dead would be more obedient.
He Lou was already prepared to let Lu Yan be "quieted" if he insisted on going out after entering the t.
He had been through too many life-and-death situations and had survived with many lives in his hands. After all, every mission is a life-and-death experience, with some unlucky ones dying on the way.
Therefore, when they encountered the blood mist underground, they thought it was just a minor hurdle on the way. Who knew it would lead to them not even being able to enter Lu Yan''s t now?
This was clearly a hidden mission! How could they have imagined that there would be two simultaneous missions?
If they didn''t enter Lu Yan''s t at the required time ...... the consequences would be unthinkable!
What is the way of life ......?
The blood fog, the carriage, the woman''s poster, the song ......
Who is this "woman"? Does the blood fog have anything to do with her? Is she the one who sang the song?
"Brother Lou, do something quickly!
"Yes! All our lives depend on you; you can''t just run away alone!"
"Have you thought of anything at all?"
He Lou was a little angry, "Have you guys said enough?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he was shocked to realise something was wrong.
He shouldn''t have been angry. Anger affects one''s sanity, so why would he be mad at a few prodding words?
And these people ...... were also people who had returned from several missions, more or less capable of taking charge of their own. Even if they wanted to finish him off, they should have used him as a shield before terrorising him, so why would he be angry over this little thing?
Anger ......
The thought shed through his mind when a steep pain shot through his back.
"Fuck you! Putting on a face every day and acting like a boss, I''m going to get you killed today!" It was a tall, thin man in a sweatshirt in the group. After he threw the stone, his eyes had turnedpletely red, and he pulled a dagger from his waist, aiming it at He Lou''s back and about to lunge.
The others looked at each other coldly, eyes full of malice and intense anger.
"Kill him! Kill him!!!"
"Kill him! We''ll be able to get out!"
Seeing that Li Fang Zhi''s eyes were also about to glow red, Li Fang Yu raised her hand and gave her sister a p, "Calm down!"
The crowd slowly surrounded He Lou, who took a few deep breaths and simrly drew his folding knife from his sleeve.
Lu Yan hurriedly lunged over and stopped the tall, thin man, "Calm down!"
"Get lost! You let go! I''ll kill him!!!" The man he had pounced on struggled angrily. He was so strong that he tried several times to thrust the tip of the knife at Lu Yan, who had the same irritation welling up in him. He dodged the dagger and punched the tall thin man hard in the face, knocking him to the ground.
He could stop one, but not the second, and the others had long-standing grievances and resentment.
He Lou drew his folding knife but did not strike, but gasped and crossed it in front of him.
The song ...... angry ......
They smiled after the first song ......
He yelled, "Everybody calm down! This song is not right!!!"
"The song causes our emotions to fluctuate. The first song was a joy; now it''s anger. Calm down!"
Joy, anger, mourning and disgust be next?
Don''t dare bet on it.
A loud bellow more or less woke everyone up for a moment. The others gasped and struggled to contain their impulses, except for the tall, thin man who had been knocked down by Lu Yan. He slowly rose from the ground.
His limbs were already stiff, his gaze grim, his face gradually turning blue and white, his cheeks deeply sunken, his mouth salivating unnaturally at the corners, and his breathing in ragged gasps.
He didn''t look like a living person anymore.
Rather, he looked ...... like a zombie.
He rose from the ground and slowly turned his head. A pair of ck eyes deadly stare at Lu Yan.
"Old Wu ()! Stop him!!!" Li Fang Yu screamed in defiance of her image.
Old Wu, the tallest man in the group, was the closest to the tall, thin man and slowly lifted his head at the sound of his voice, striding towards the two men. Lu Yan, however, did not feel saved at all. He did not hesitate to duck behind the pole beside him!
Old Wu, the one in the group whose pace he saw was not right, was walking on tiptoe!
Almost simultaneously, Old Wu turned a corner and elerated straight at him. Lu Yan was hurrying to dodge, and the other man''s outstretched hands fell on a telephone pole.
On the pole, there was a poster of a woman.
Lu Yan gasped, his eyes fixed on Old Wu, and one of his hands touched the woman''s face.
The woman on the poster instantly changed her face.
Or rather, all the women on the posters from all sides began to turn pale, their faces grim and blue, their eyes focused on that one hand.
Not one of them?
Lu Yan guessed as he dodged the tall, thin man.
The next thing he knew, the woman''s bright red lips were grinning from her face to her ears, and the hand was reaching for the poster bit by bit.
And then the sound of chewing resumed.
The woman''s expression calmed down, and she stayed still on the poster.
The blood mist around her likewise dispersed considerably.
This did not reassure the group. For no reason other than that, the little friend who had been able tomunicate and work together without any problems had turned into a monster of some unknown species in an instant. He, or more appropriately "it", had stiffened his limbs, his hands were t in the air, his knees were stiff, and he was jumping, jumping, jumping after the group.
Old Wu was dead, and the tall, thin man had be a monster. In a sh, two more members were lost.
Counting Lu Yan, only eleven of the initial fifteen remained!
If they couldn''t think of a way out, all eleven would likely break down here.
"Everyone, be careful! Don''t let it scratch you!" The yellow-haired young man shouted.
In the old Hong Kong movies, if one was scratched or bitten by a zombie, the injured one would likewise be infected as a zombie. Although this might differ from the zombies in Hong Kong movies, no one wanted to check whether it was true. Just look at the other person''s long nails that were green and dripping with an unknown liquid.
It was not long before the transformation, its movements were still a bit stiff and slow, and the big guy could still turn and dodge so that it could not pounce. Theter the transformation, the more sensitive and athletic its movements became, the less able they were to avoid, and the more we brushed against the sharp nails from time to time.
Even more frightening was that it possessed a certain degree of intelligence. Everyone tried to repeat the same trick as Lu Yan had done before, but they did not fall for it.
He Lou, and the others thought about things as they dodged.
It seemed that the woman on the poster didn''t distinguish whether the prey was a human or anything else, and as long as it came across it, it ate it up. Every time it devoured, the blood mist would dissipate, and the song would subside. Judging by the pattern of power and timing, a new round must be even more horrific and bloody.
It was as if it could gain some sort of sustenance from that flesh and blood.
Chapter 4: They killed him
Chapter 4: They killed him
Damn it, what the hell is this?
Why were there zombies?
Initially, everyone had fled outside because fewer posters of women were outside the station. Now that the threat of the posters had subsided for the time being, He Lou simply led the crowd into the station once again.
Was this the only way to escape?
The effects of the blood mist still seemed to be there, and He Lou''s thoughts were a little confused. Then he looked at the sisters, Li Fang Yu and Lai Li Fang Zhi, who was doing the same, thinking only of escaping and evading the zombies.
In fact, they both knew that there was another way.
Just tear off a random poster of a woman and stick it on the zombie.
But no one did anything about it.
The proposal was almost as childish and ridiculous as a group of rats discussing how to hide from a cat. The answer was something like tying a bell around the cat''s neck.
Who was going to do it? Who would be happy to sacrifice themselves for someone else?
Everyone knows that touching such spooky things rashly was a sure way to die. Even if they return to their original world, the curse from the evil spirits may cross the barrier between the two worlds and then kill you without notice .......
"Everyone now ...... look for another clue and be careful not to run into the poster."
"Anything could be a clue, don''t hesitate if this is the time to just think about relying on others ......" He Lou caught his breath, dodged the zombie that came at him with a dodge and went around to kick the other man hard in the back. Thetter''s stiff arm fell straight into the wooden table in front of the ticket counter as if there was no obstruction.
The hard wooden table was as soft as tofu in front of its nails.
It is not difficult to imagine if the human body ......
"At this time, still thinking of cking off and relying on others, this is the time to wait for death!" He Lou roared low.
Sister Li Fang Yu sniffed and said, "Let''s see if we can find some information anywhere."
Lu Yan was simrly ncing around.
Clues ...... What exactly are clues? Where is it?
He brought up his mask and hat. His ragged breathing separated the fabric, and perhaps for that reason, the zombies didn''t chase him much.
The yellow-haired young man suggested, "Didn''t they say zombies are afraid of fire? And glutinous rice and sunlight and all that." He looked up at the sky, and although the sunlight was not blinding, it was indeed daytime here, and he asked aloud instead, "Does anyone have a lighter with them?"
"How can a little lighter alone be enough? Get something to burn!" Another man answered him.
The yellow-haired young man was worried: "There''s nothing to burn here, there''s no firewood, and there are posters everywhere. Can I burn this?"
"Then the movie even says you can hold your breath; you hold one?"
"Brother Lou, you try!"
At that, He Lou really did as they said and closed his breath hard, yet the zombie still chased after him. He quickly took a deep breath, gasped for air, and replied, "Ineffective!"
The others had to continue to help find the clues. They had now agreed that every five minutes, another person would attract the zombie''s attention so that they could look for clues.
Lu Yan wanted to take the initiative and take over the burden. Still, He Lou asked another person to take his ce.
In the current situation, no one could afford to let anything happen to Lu Yan. If they couldn''t get to Lu Yan''s residence ...... then everyone would die! No one could escape!
The one who took over from He Lou was Li Fang Zhi, who was running with thetter, dodging left and right. Her long hours of exercise had made her no less potent than the able-bodied men, and she was even more agile than He Lou.
As Li Fang Yu helped her, her eyes nced around, and then her gaze flickered.
She noticed the poster stuck to the ss window of the ticket hall.
She had noticed it before, but it was a square poster, unlike other posters with other fancy backgrounds, and at first nce, she thought a real person was sitting there ......
The eyes of the person who was sitting there were suddenly cold.
What is this, what is ...... this?!!!
"Sis! Get out of the way!!!"
Li Fang Zhi''s scream came from afar.
In the next second, she was pulled aside by a strong force - Lu Yan pulled her away. He found an iron bar from somewhere and hooked the w. At that moment, the zombie smoothly lunged at her while then brought thetter down with force, making thest lunge to the ground.
The wall and table could be poked through, but what about the ground?
Its arms plunged straight into the ground, and its entire shrunken and stiff body clung to the ground, making it challenging to rise upright for a while.
Li Fang Zhi looked gratefully at Lu Yan and darted, pulling Li Fang Yu away.
"Get out of the way!!!"
A bucket of petrol was poured over the zombie, who kept struggling and jumping.
"Quick!!! Lighter!!!"
The tiny lighter lit up a me and threw it over.
In the next second, mes leapt up and burned, and the zombie released a violent hissing sound.
The sound was strange, sharp, and hoarse as if two pieces of rusty iron were rubbing together.
In the crowd, a young man named Feng Chu Chu () looked thankful: "Luckily, we found the petrol. The petrol in the station has been sitting for a bit too long, but it''s good that it still works."
The yellow-haired young man breathed a sigh of relief, "Well done!"
The guys looked at each other with a rare sigh of relief.
The mes burned and crackled, emitting a rotting stench and burning extremely disgusting protein. The me-covered zombie kept struggling and hissing, but it still couldn''t escape its bonds. Gradually, its struggle subsided, and a foul-smelling blood mist emanated from its body.
It was as if a balloon had leaked, and wisps of blood mist drifted away.
"Is it almost finished?" Huang Mao walked over to sister Li Fang Yu and turned his head tofort her, "What happened to you just now? Why didn''t you move all of a sudden?"
Li Fang Yu''s face was pale, and she didn''t say anything. Instead, Li Fang Zhi red at him, "What''s it to you? Get lost!"
"I''m just concerned about the pretty girl." The yellow-haired youth was not angry and moved away, humming a little tune.
The next moment his tune was no longer humming.
After the stench gradually dissipated, the stiff corpse on the ground shook and suddenly jumped up nimbly, the man screaming miserably as he ran, "What are you doing? Why are you killing me?"
"Help me!!! Put out the fire!!! Help!!!"
"Help me!!!"
His voice - he was the tall, thin man from before he turned into a zombie - stung from the heat. After he stumbled and escaped from the small area where the petrol had puddled out, he rolled on the ground as best he could. He issued a plea for help in a voice that was already hoarse from the fire.
"Help me. ......"
To his despair, the big guys were too far away for anyone to save him. When they saw him struggling to roll his body to tumble over, the yellow-haired youth snatched the iron bar from Lu Yan''s hand and stabbed the other man further away.
With his hands still sweating, he subconsciously turned his head and said, "Brother Lou, he he is soft."
The touching from the end of the iron rod was different from the cold, rigid, metallic feel of the zombie before.
He had really ...... be human again.
Should we save him?
Everyone subconsciously avoided the question.
"How can he be human again when we''ve obviously watched him turn into a zombie? There must still be some curse on him."
"Yeah, that''s right. He''s already turned into a zombie, so who knows if something tricked us?"
"Besides, even if we were to save him now, it''s toote. There''s no fire extinguisher here. How can we save him?"
They untutoredly found an excellent reason to keep an eye on their surroundings while keeping a close eye on the whole process of the zombie being burned. This experience mighte in handyter.
Lu Yan spoke up, "Or else ......"
The other man stopped him, "Or else what? Are you going to save him? Who knows if it''s a human or a zombie now?"
So Lu Yan had to shrink back. He inclined his head and covered his nose. Several other people thought he had never seen it before and didn''t pay attention to him or care.
Under the brim of his hat, a hint of mockery darted across his eyes.
"Save ...... me ......."
The struggling humanoid kept screaming miserably but atst ran out of struggle, gradually shrinking into a dark, unidentified mass, bubbling with grease, dripping down drop by drop, sshing into the mes.
The air smelled like charred meat.
You won''t save me?
Why didn''t you save me?
Why?!!!
If you want to die, let''s all die together!!!
The tall, thin man tried to recall the scene''syout he had seen earlier. His eyeballs had been scalded, and he could not see. With thest bit of strength he used, he got up and rushed towards the nearest pole beside him, hugging it with his body full of mes.
Soon he was motionless, but the corpse was still clinging to the pole with mes.
No one knew that thest expression on this corpse''s face before it died was a smile.
The others didn''t care if he died or not.
The only thing they cared about was that - on the pole - were two flyers of that woman.
"Fucking crazy! Why drag us into your own death?!"
They were really going mad.
The flyers were smeared with a ck, oily, unknown substance. The edges burned by fire and began to yellow and curl inwards ......
Not just one, but almost all of the flyers began to show signs of curling before the fire.
It''s over ......
This was the thought of almost everyone present.
"Run!!!"
The crowd scattered and fled.
Running was useless as the woman''s expression grew twisted and grim as she red at everyone sternly. In the next instant, she opened her mouth, and her long, bright red tongue protruded from two rows of thin, white, sharp teeth. It looked soft but was so fast that it pierced the chest of the young man who had thrown the lighter before and then pulled back!
The young man didn''t even have time to scream before he was dragged into the woman''s open mouth.
There wasn''t even a chewing sound this time, and a man had disappeared.
Worse still, the blood mist became iparably thicker in an instant.
Through the thickyer of blood mist, Lu Yan saw that the woman''s expression was not happy that she had eaten one person. Instead, her cold and gloomy gaze darted over the others as if she was wondering which one she should eat next.
The only redeeming feature was that the woman did not need to devour the others through the blood mist now. It preferred to use its own tongue to get a good taste. For this reason, Lu Yan felt no more than breathless in the smoke as he struggled to dispel the sticky, bloody fog and went carefully to find what he wanted.
This ...... doesn''t seem to be entirely up to snuff.
But let''s try it first.
Lu Yan stepped away and walked in a particr direction, picking up whatever was on the ground.
Instead of fleeing as far as the others, he advanced inside the station, dragging a ck mass in his hand through the heavy blood fog and straight to the ticket window.
Behind him, a man raised his knife ......
Lu Yan suddenly turned around.
The blood fog was utterly unable to affect him. As the two were separated by a close distance, Lu Yan quickly spotted who it was.
"What do you want?!" He let out a terrified shout.
If the man had been able to see his expression through the blood mist, or at least see his eyes clearly hidden under his hat, he would at least not have chosen to offend him.
The next second, the noise returned to silence in the blood mist.
"Cackle cackle ......" the sound of chewing rang out.
......
At the other end, the blood fog grew thicker and thicker.
Everyone ran apart, with only the scarlet hue so thick in their eyes that they could not see clearly around them. Their nostrils were equally filled with the heavy smell of blood as if, instantly, the ce had be a blood prison on earth.
Behind the figure, a long, slippery tongue slowly emerged.
The tongue slowly rose up and was about to wrap itself around the figure''s neck. The next moment, it stopped as if making a difficult decision and gradually disappeared into the same ce.
The blood mist came and went quickly, and in no time, the space returned to the original scene as if the blood red in front of them was an illusion.
"What''s going on here? Are we saved?"
The yellow-haired young man was in a state of shock and disbelief. He had just run far, far away, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself back in his original position, standing in front of the station. Not far in front of him was an electric pole with an unknown ck substance, still giving off a burnt smell.
All the women''s posters regained theirposure with gentle looks on their faces.
Lu Yan came out of the station. He seemed a little frail, greeted the yellow-haired young man when he saw him and asked him in a sad tone, "Are you all okay now? How many of you are still there?"
The yellow-haired young man sighed, "I don''t know, just wait. They''ll be hereter."
And who broke the game? How on earth did he find his way to life?
Was it Brother Lou? Or the Lai sisters?
He didn''t count out the rotten and timid youth in front of him.
"That''s strange. Where''s that guy''s ......?" The yellow-haired youth was scrupulous and didn''t say the word corpse out loud. He raised his chin, indicating that the charred mass of the corpse under the pole was gone.
Lu Yan was equally surprised and shook his head, "I don''t know, I didn''t see it when I came over just now either. Could it have been ......" he made a slight allusion to the poster on the pole.
"Didn''t expect that, and with a barbecue." Yellow hair muttered.
Chapter 5: "Buying" tickets
Chapter 5: "Buying" tickets
Lu Yan''s eyes, exposed outside his mask, curved, "Luckily, the blood mist disappeared. Do you know what happened?"
Although Huang Mao didn''t like his personality, he was an important candidate for the mission. He gave thetter an equally kind smile, "I''d like to know too, but I guess it was something Lou did."
"You guys are awesome." Lu Yan let out a sincere sigh, "I usually have enough of a headache when I encounter individual psychic incidents. Do you guys encounter things like this often?" He seemed tired of running and coughed twice, his voice a little hoarse.
"Yeah, there''s no way around it. It''s our destiny."
As he said this, the yellow-haired young man had a numb look.
He looked left and right to see no one there and said quietly, "What happened to that neighbour of yours that you didn''t finish on the underground earlier? Tell me first."
"Tell you first?"
"Yes." The yellow-haired young man nodded, "I''m an experienced person, so I might be able to help you analyse what''s going on. We''ll brainstorm together when they arrive."
Lu Yan didn''t doubt it, "Okay, I''ll think about where to start."
He spoke slowly, "It also starts with the day my neighbour moved ......"
"The upstairs of my house had been empty before. Originally an old couple lived there, then their son went abroad, so they moved with them, which was empty for a long time. Untilst month, when a new neighbour moved in."
"It''s strange to say that I''ve never seen that neighbour until now. All I know is that someone moved in, or maybe it was a family? Not sure. Anyway, the building manager says someone had moved in, and it feels like it''s getting popr. There''s usually some noisy renovation noises......" said Lu Yan, scratching his head, "It''s not their problem either. They all choose weekdays for renovations. I hear it purely because I took the day off, which is why I found it annoying."
"You know, people in the city don''t have good neighbourly rtions nowadays, but I thought they were new neighbours after all. They may be new to the city, so I wanted to ask around and see if there was anything I could do. Afraid of disturbing them, I even picked a weekday afternoon to go over when most people should be at home ......"
"I made some roast meat and brought it over to them. But I knocked on the door for a long time that day, and no one opened the door inside. But I clearly heard the sound of the renovation inside. I don''t know if it was because the sound of their construction was so loud that they didn''t hear the knocking. Still, in any case, I didn''t see anyone that day, and the roast meat was brought to a young couple of neighbours downstairs to eat ......"
This is very much in line with the character Lu Yan has shown, soft-hearted and abrasive. The yellow-haired young man did not suspect that he was listening patiently but gradually became impatient. Lu Yan pulled many things together and could not get to the point. Still, he could not let him speak faster to avoid missing the details. Just when he could not resist saying, Li Fang Zhi arrived with Li Fang Yu on her back.
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing ......" The yellow-haired youth was just about to speak when he saw Lu Yan happily get up and walk over to him, "You''re finally here. Thankfully, you survived."
Li Fang Zhi hmmed coldly and asked that question again, "What were you talking about?"
Lu Yan looked slightly defensive and said, "Talking about my neighbours."
Li Fang Zhi''s eyes coldly swept over the yellow-haired young man, her heart clear. For the first time in her life, she gave Lu Yan a slightly softer expression: "Everyone wants to help you, so don''t you have to exin one by one when theyeter? We might as well wait until everyone is here."
She had always been cold-faced towards everyone and could not help but speak in amanding manner regrly. Li Fang Zhi was not a fool. She knew she could usually maintain the status quo because she had her own sister. She only needed to protect her sister. She would naturally tell her all the information.
Now that Li Fang Yu was in aa, it was her turn to gather information. Of course, she would not be foolish enough to ask questions in a tone that would easily arouse Lu Yan''s disgust.
Lu Yan was already disying a soft-hearted character, and since Li Fang Zhi had said so, he nodded: "It''s fine."
Secretly, Li Fang Zhi gazed at the yellow-haired youth with an icy look again.
Thetter was very uneasy.
Sister Li Fang Yu had always been willing to partner with He Lou. Three intelligent people came together, even if they tacitly agreed to use the other team members as cannon fodder and stepping stones. But at least there was still hope ofpleting the mission by following them. They have a tacit agreement that unless only three of them were left, they would make it a prerequisite to saving each other in a pinch and never fight among themselves.
Looking at the way Li Fang Zhi looked, she would probably tell He Lou.
The yellow-haired young man was angry and scared, but he knew how powerful Li Fang Zhi was, and he ...... couldn''t beat him. Even if the other party now had a person on his back, he couldn''t fight.
He could almost imagine the scene where he was godlessly killed by the ghosts and monsters as He Lou and the Li sisters were used as stepping stones.
Li Fang Zhi could not afford to hate, nor did she dare to, so it was only Lu Yan who was an excellent bully and did not belong to the same world as him, so he should just go to hell!
Are you a fool? Why did you tell her?
Lu Yan was still wearing his mask and hat. His expression had not changed. He was pure and innocent, as if he did not know that he had just offended the young man with yellow hair.
Huang Mao was indignant but did not dare to do anything to Lu Yan.
Shortly afterwards, a man came slowly from a distance, and that man was He Lou.
Li Fang Zhi said, "Lu Yan, can you please bring him here?"
Lu Yan didn''t say anything and went up. Li Fang Zhi was initially sitting on the ground, resting her sister on herp. Seeing him leave, Li Fang Zhi stood up and held Li Fang Yu, lowering her voice to the yellow-haired youth and saying, "Just this once, it won''t happen again."
Her eyes were beautiful and sharp: "If you dare to do such a thing again, you don''t have to wait for He Lou. I will dispose of you first."
It was almost an instantaneous feeling of going from hell to heaven. The yellow-haired youth''s legs went weak: "You, you won''t tell them?"
Li Fang Zhi sneered, "I''ll let you off first." Saying this, she carefully picked up Li Fang Yu and left with giant strides.
She didn''t seem worried about the yellow-haired youth attacking from behind. Behind her, Huang Mao''s eyes flickered. He gritted his teeth and followed, "Many thanks."
He was outwardly respectful to He Lou, but if He Lou knew that he had a small mind, he was afraid that the next time He Lou had any news, he would not tell himself.
He Lou had brought back good news.
He had found four tickets.
"Tickets?"He Lou handed one of the tickets to Lu Yan: "Take a look."
Lu Yan took the ticket and was shocked: "This is the ticket that leads to my home."
"Are you sure?"
Lu Yan''s eyes, exposed outside his mask, curved, "I''m sure the address is correct."
"Brother Lou, where did you find it?"
He Lou said, "Since it''s a bus station and there''s a ticket office, where is the car? I tried to go to the ticket window and found that I could buy a ticket."
As for what he paid to "buy" the ticket ......
Just now, he was confused by the blood mist, and someone was trying to kill him. To protect himself, of course, he had to choose to fight back.
He used the man to "buy" four tickets at the ticket window.
He didn''t finish the rest of his sentence, but the others had already understood his meaning.
He Lou said, "What about Wang Wen Tao''s () body? If you didn''t take it with you, you could exchange it for one more or less."
Wang Wen Tao was the tall, thin man who had unfortunately turned into a zombie and waster burnt to death. At that, the yellow-haired young man wondered, "I don''t know, I didn''t see it when I first arrived."
Lu Yan nodded after him, "Me too."
"I don''t know if there are others. Let''s wait." Huang Mao looked at the four tickets in He Lou''s hand, his eyes twinkling.
Needless to say, it must have been the four of them who split them.
Lu Yan ...... this fool, what gives?!
But now, all three of them were present. Li Fang Zhi was already quietly standing beside Lu Yan with Li Fang Yu on her back, meaning very clearly.
With He Lou and Li Fang Zhi protecting him, it would be impossible for him to snatch Lu Yan''s ticket. What''s more, even if they grabbed the ticket, they would only be able toplete their mission with Lu Yan.
Damn it ...... was there anyone else? Was there anyone left?
Five people were left: Lu Yan, He Lou, the Li sisters, and Huang Mao himself.
Where was he going to find a ticket?!!!
As if hearing the call in his heart, three more members came running in the distance, and as soon as they saw them, those three dropped their hearts and greeted from afar, "Finally, we found you."
Yellow Hair greeted them happily, "You guys are finally here. Brother Lou has found a way to leave. Come on!"
Apart from the unconscious Li Fang Yu, the remaining three kept a subtle silence. Lu Yan seemed intolerant and turned away with his head bowed somewhat sadly.
Not long after, only a scream was heard, and in the next instant, the yellow-haired youth dragged a man by his feet and came towards them.
The other two were still outside the situation, not yet reacting. Seeing that He Lou did not stop them, they followed him with some rm, separated by most of a metre so they could be ready to run away at any moment. Yellow Hair wiped the blood sttered on his face and asked cheerfully, "Brother Lou, how did you buy the tickets just now?"
He bit off the word "buy tickets", and the two remaining men heard what was going on and followed behind Huang Mao in silence as a sign of obedience.
He Lou said indifferently, "Buy it directly, tell it you want to buy a ticket first, and then hand over the stuff."
At that, Yellow Hair happily dragged the man''s foot towards the ticket hall. At the same time, the other survivor had long since followed. One dragged a foot, and the other, seeing that their "ticket" was about to wake up, squatted down, pulled the man''s head to the ground, and knocked it hard.
Two hands dragged across the ground, his head knocked out blood ...... his chest heaving slightly.
The man was still alive.
A short whileter, there was the sound of a woman cackling and chewing, and Yellow Hair, clutching four tickets in his hand, excitedly rejoined them.
A car''s horn sounded in the distance, followed by a car in disrepair, not knowing if it would fall apart next, slowly driving from afar.
"Get in." He Lou smiled kindly at Lu Yan and handed him a ticket.
Li Fang Zhi took two.
The remaining two, Feng Chu Chu and the other Mo Yun (), had talked their way out of it and finally managed to get one from the yellow hair.
The car slowly stopped past them, and in the driver''s seat was a figure whose face could not be seen. He Lou nodded at them as he checked the number te against the car.
They pushed Feng Chu Chu out and were the first to get into the car. He gritted his teeth and stepped up, and the driver turned his head, his eyes hidden in the shadows, grim and cold, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Ticket?"
Feng Chu Chu trembled and handed over the ticket.
The driver seemed a little disappointed and waved his hand to let him go.
Seeing that Feng Chu Chu was fine, the crowd filed in. I don''t know if it was intentional, but Lu Yan was the first to get on the bus before Li Fang Zhi, and he stood not far from the driver, quietly looking at the Li sisters.
The driver also looked at Li Fang Zhi ...... or, to be precise, at Li Fang Yu on her back. Somehow, Li Fang Zhi always felt that the shadow revealed a smile full of malice.
"Sit tight."
This was thest thing the driver said.
At those words, Lu Yan obediently returned to his seat, his hands in his pockets, his head lowered as he wondered what he was thinking.
In his pockets, his hands were clutching a total of four tickets.
Chapter 6: What did you just see?
Chapter 6: What did you just see?
Unfortunately, there was no trouble on the bus. The further the bus drove, the newer the furnishings became, and by the time it reached its destination. Everyone got off; the vehicle had been refurbished and looked no different from an ordinary bus in the outside world.
It was clearlyte at night when they got on the underground, and now the sun still hadn''t risen, and outside the windows were the lights of ate urban night.
"Get off." The driver said, his voice still hoarse.
The back door slowly opened.
Lu Yan stepped in the middle and got out, and it was only when his feet hit the ground that he had the solid feeling that he had escaped from that other dimension.
The others did the same, first thankful that they had survived, then seeing the few people left, they felt a bit sad that the rabbit had died.
Fourteen people had initially entered the world, and now there were only six left, yet their real mission had yet to begin...
He Lou took several deep breaths to calm himself down.
This time, the mission must be hazardous! He must survive.
He cast a stealthy nce at Lu Yan, who had always acted foolishly and with unrealistic and naive fantasies.
Was he really as harmless as he appeared to be? Had he survived because of luck, mission protection, or something else?
Without waiting for them to say anything, Lu Yan took a moment to get his bearings and volunteered, "Thank you all so much. You''ve been busy all night, if you don''t mind, would you like toe and rest at my house? I will definitely treat you all well."
He added, "I have three rooms at home, so I can still sleep in a squeeze. After all, it''s not very convenient to go and stay in a hotel when everyone is like this ......"
Coming out of the blood mist, everyone had a thinyer of sma stuck to their bodies. Going to a hotel like this might get them alerted by the attendant.
He Lou and the others were supposed to go to Lu Yan''s home, so how could they refuse? Without even a token excuse, they agreed to go.
It waste at night, and there were only faint lights in and around the square. The night was nearly autumnal, and the cold wind was chilly.
Lu Yan took the initiative to walk at the front, saying as he went, "I''ve been interrupted before, so now I''d better finish my neighbour''s story. My upstairs neighbour ......"
The crowd struggled to get to the point from Lu Yan''s long-winded ramblings full of nonsense.
He had a new neighbour upstairs that he had never met before, and when he knocked to get acquainted, the other party wouldn''t open the door. Every night he could smell the strong smell of blood and the sound of chopping meat, which made Lu Yan sleepless.
At first, he only thought that his neighbour loved meat and had bought raw meat to dispose of, but the more he thought about it, the more wrong it became. What kind of raw meat could bleed so much? Why had he never heard the sound it made if it was an animal?
After discussing the matter with a few other neighbours, he was frightened by his imagination and decided to call the police. However, bizarrely, the police came to the house and found nothing. The other person''s ce was clean, except for a bit of meat filling for dumplings in the fridge. Nothing of the blood, corpse ...... he had imagined.
In front of the police, the neighbour said he just wanted to eat dumplings, needed to work during the day, and only at night to have time to chop the filling. He did not expect to cause a misunderstanding.
The police also did a bloodstain test, and the house proved clean.
It was a misunderstanding.
The neighbour was wearing a mask, and several other people could not see his face. When they saw his excellent attitude when he faced the police, they thought they had really misunderstood. When the police left, they took the initiative to apologise. They offered to buy him dinner, only for that neighbour to kick them out the door fiercely.
Lu Yan shook: "The man ...... he was wearing a mask, and before he went out the door, he called out to me, and then ......"
Then he took off the mask, and underneath it was ......
"What is it?" Yellow Hair asked after him.
Lu Yan drifted off briefly and shook his head, "I can''t remember."
As they spoke, they arrived at the block building where Lu Y lived. The crowd, whose attention had been drawn by Lu Yan''s conversation, did not notice that something was wrong with their shadows.
The street light was dull, and with it, their shadows were equally t. Li Fang Yu clearly only had shoulder-length Hair, yet she was crouched on Li Fang Zhi''s back, and what appeared in her shadow was a woman with waist-length Hair.
When the wind blew, the shadow''s long hair fluttered and slowly melted into the shadow of this building.
"Here we are. I live here."Stepping out of the lift, Lu Yan enthusiastically came to a door and pulled out his key to open it.
He Lou looked up at door number 304.
This meant his upstairs neighbour lived in 404.
In horror films, the number 4 is often used as a surrogate for horror, such as a car number, a mobile phone number, etc. He didn''t find it that unusual as he stood at the door and quickly looked at the house''s furnishings.
The house wasrge and rtively empty and looked like the premises of an ordinary single man''s residence. Li Fang Zhi looked at her wristwatch. It was now eleven fifty-two minutes.
They had finally arrived at the location before the time required by the mission.
And what would happen down there, none of them knew.
Lu Yankewise looked at the time and ah a sentence, "It''s sote; everyone is tired, right? I have two bathrooms at home, so why don''t we all discuss the order to take a shower? By the way, have you guys brought any clothes?"
The people looked at each other with nk faces.
Seeing this, Lu Yan said, "If you don''t mind, everyone wear mine? It''s just ......" His eyes nced apologetically at the Li sisters.
Li Fang Zhi said, "Do you have clean pyjamas? I can go buy them tomorrow."
Having already reached her destination, her tone reverted to her previous icy coldness.
Lu Yan''s previous performance had indeed made them lower their guard. Still, it had also made them look down on him involuntarily. The current Lu Yan was no more than an information provider in their eyes. The mission required them to stay for a whole week, and it was best for them to stay out of the t toplete the mission rigorously, but there might be no loopholes to exploit.
Lu Yan good-naturedly moved towards the room, "I''ll look for it. There should be one."
He still needed to remove his hat and mask. Under the shadow of his hat brim, his eyes were sad and joyless but inexplicably sarcastic.
Lu Yan rummaged through several sets of new, clean clothes and walked out.
Li Fang Zhi had already ced her sister on the sofa. She took the clothes and nodded in satisfaction, sweeping her gaze at everyone except He Lou: "We''ll go first."
At that moment, the sound of chopping meat suddenly came from upstairs, extremely loud and evident in the silence of the night.
The man chopping the meat was so loud that one wondered if he was nning to chop up the board in one piece.
Everyone in the room looked up, trying to see what was going on upstairs through the ceiling. At the same time, the heavy, pungent smell of blood drifted in through the window.
Lu Yan reached out and pointed upstairs, the helplessness in his eyes unmistakable.
Yellow hair had no words to say: "So vigorous, it''s no wonder you suspected him before ......"
"No way, the police came and found nothing. But I still think something is wrong. These days, whenever I go to work or walk downstairs, I see a man standing at the window above my house." Lu Yan sighed, "Although I couldn''t see his face, I could feel ...... him ring at me."
He said so, and the others said smoothly, "It''s okay. We''re here."
"There are so many people now. He wouldn''t dare do anything."
It wasn''t until everyone had finished washing up that the sound of chopping meat died. The heavy smell of blood, which lingered in the nostrils, only gradually dissipated after the sun had risen.
Everyone hadn''t slept enough that night, and they weren''t in too good spirits when they got up.
Fortunately, Li Fang Yu was finally awake after a long slumber. For some reason, everyone didn''t suspect anything but was happy that she had awakened.
They sat down to breakfast together, He Lou and Li sisters lowering their voices to discuss things.
The time limit forpleting the mission was one week. Although episodes of ghosts suddenly going mad and killing people maliciously could not be ruled out, the first day was usually not too dangerous.
As Lu Yan had said before, he and his neighbours had called the police and knocked on doors, and there was no danger. So He Lou was inclined to go upstairs and look during the first two days of protection.
"Who''sing with me?" His eyes darted among the Leigh sisters and the three remaining men.
"It''s best if we can lure it away, and then we go in to investigate."
Lu Yan seemed to remember something: "You guys said to lure him away, right? He seems to go out every third afternoon."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I''ve been following him all along." Lu Yan said.
After his bathst night, he had taken off his mask and was, unsurprisingly, a very handsome-looking man. Now he was smiling as he said this, sending chills down the crowd''s spines for no apparent reason.
"I''ve been watching him every day now, and that''s what I''vee to after two weeks of observation. He''s not at home every third day from 2pm to 5pm and will drive to Ocean Park ...... downtown," Lu Yan said nonchntly about his stalking observations.
He still looked harmless, obviously a bit cold-looking. Still, Lu Yan kept smiling as if he didn''t notice his abnormal behaviour.
Sure enough ......
He Lou even had a feeling in his heart that it had finallye.
Often faced with these bizarre events, how could Lu Yan have remained a cowardly rotten person? There was bound to be something abnormal about him, and that was normal.
"So, let''s go ahead and knock on the door and ask today." He went down with determination, "Li Fang Yu, are you better now?"
Li Fang Yu had been a lot quieter since she woke up. What no one else noticed was that her hair had grown longer. She raised her eyes and said lightly, "Yes."
No one else seemed to see the difference in her attitude.
"Huang Mao, you go too."
Huang Mao was just about to make an excuse when Li Fang Zhi''s eyes red at him sharply for a split second. Huang Mao swallowed and had to agree.
If Li Fang Zhi didn''t say anything, He Lou might still protect him, but if Li Fang Zhi did, He Lou would definitely watch him die.
With Li Fang Yu around, Huang Mao, who was under Li Fang Zhi''s control, could not escape He Lou''s grasp. Lu Yan thought to himself.
At around ten o''clock, the group went upstairs. Lu Yan raised his hand and knocked on the door.
"Sir, are you home? I''m the neighbour who lives downstairs from you."
"Sir?"
For some reason, this door gave him an extraordinarily chilly feeling. Obviously, it was not yet the cold season, but he reached out and knocked on it only to feel a bone-chilling gloom.
The smell of blood seemed even more potent.
After knocking for half a day, no one answered, as if no one had ever lived in this room.
The opposite door creaked open, and a bald head came out of the doorway, grinning when he saw Lu Yan and opened the door: "Little Lu, you''vee to settle scores with this guy again?"
Lu Yan smiled bitterly, "Yes, did you hear thatst night? It was so noisy that I didn''t sleep."
The bald man red at the door before whispering, "Forget it; just put up with it. This guy is evil; something is not right." He saw the people behind Lu Yan and asked, "By the way, who are these people?"
"They''re all my friends visiting." Lu Yan said.
"Oh, oh, friends, okay." The big man scratched his head, "I advise you not to expect to tell him to change his ways. Anyway, this old man is nning to move. Motherfucker, the noise every day is annoying as hell!"
"Move?" Lu Yan seemed to be inspired.
"Yeah, I''ve got my house all figured out. I''m moving out next week. I''ll move out next week". The old man said, "If you want to move, move quickly, I hear there''s no one living across the street from my new house."
"Okay, I''ll think about it." Lu Yan said.
The old man closed the door, and Lu Yan introduced him to the others, saying, "That man is called Guan Yun Long (). He has been taking care of me since he came here. If he really moves out, I really feel sorry for him. I''m thinking about moving out too."
As he said that, he went back to the door and knocked again, but as expected, the door was still not open.
"Why don''t you try knocking on the door too?" Lu Yan knocked for a while and shook his hand off.
Yellow Hair said, "I''ll do it."
He used the exact words as Lu Yan, and after knocking for a while, he somehow got up and pressed against the cat''s eye to see.
The image in the cat''s eye was white with some red threads, he didn''t know what it was, but he felt a palpitation for no reason, and He Lou yanked the other man back: "Don''t you want to die?"
Only then did Huang Mao shake his head off, seemingly surprised at his sudden stupidity.
When they returned to Lu Yan''s ce, He Lou asked, "What did you see just now?"
"I didn''t see anything, just ...... a white patch." Yellow hair suddenly shivered.
"Forget it." He Lou twisted his head and asked, "When will he go to Ocean Park again?"
Lu Yan calcted the time and said with certainty, "It''s today."
Chapter 7: The cause of Lan Zhi Yus death
Chapter 7: The cause of Lan Zhi Yu''s death
"Let''s take a trip to the marine park." He Lou said.
Huang Mao was surprised: "The mission isn''t ......" No sooner had the words left his mouth than he was nudged gently by Feng Chu Chu, ncing covertly at Lu Yan and not speaking.
It could not be revealed to Lu Yan that they were on a mission.
Li Fang Zhi understood what He Lou meant.
Judging from the fact that they could go out to the upstairs neighbour, perhaps the focus of this mission was on "being by Lu Yan''s side" rather than being limited to the t. Of course, he couldn''t just go out and try it out. Before leaving the t, Huang Mao called another group member and threatened him to step out first.
Lu Yan looked at the group of people standing at the door of the t and repeatedly said, "Brother Lou, Brother Huang, you can''t do this ......"
"What''s wrong?" He asked them as he took the lead and walked out the door, standing in the sunlight confused.
Huang Mao kicked the man out.
The next second, the man raised his hand to his neck and screamed violently. His shadow twisted in the sunlight, and wisps of blood rose before finally returning calm.
And the man was already dead.
They hadn''t gone out in the morning to be on the safe side, and everyone''s clothes had been repurchased by asking Lu Yan. Now it seemed that what the mission requirements said about going to the t where they were with Lu Yan referred to the entire apartment building.
But not a step more.
"This, this is ...... what''s wrong with him? What''s wrong with you guys?" Lu Yan didn''t know what was happening and had a horrified look on his face, not daring to look at the corpse more than once.
The others were calm, and Yellow Hair said, "It''s okay. He''s just allergic to the sun. He faints in the sun, so please bring him back."
Was it really all right?
The man on the ground had lost the rise and fall of his chest and was bleeding from his seven orifices. No one looked like he was fine. Lu Yan opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
"Really, he''s just unconscious." Yellow hair said with a smile, "If you let him sunbathe again, he might die."
At this, Lu Yan looked at the "man" on the ground with difficulty but finally bent down and intended to pick him up and walk him into the t.
When he reached out and grabbed the man''s arm, his hand suddenly moved and tried to catch him, and it felt cold to the touch. Lu Yan didn''t care, dragging the corpse towards the t, the ticket slightly warm in his coat pocket. The hand clutched his wrist in a death grip before gradually releasing it.
The group regrouped, and He Lou looked down and said something to Huang Mao before turning his head to look at Lu Yan.
"So it looks like we can''t go, so we''ll have to bother you." He Lou''s tone was gentle, "By the way, do you have a camera at home?"
"Yes." Lu Yan still needed to figure out the situation.
"For the sake of ourmon goal, please bring your camera with you and record the entire process?"
Lu Yan opened his mouth, but his gaze was hesitant. The others saw a chance, and immediately you spoke up with one word.
"That is, we have no choice. We really can''t go, so please go for a while."
"Isn''t everyone''s goal to survive? We''ll all die here if we don''t figure out his secret."
They spoke in a low voice to avoid other people hearing them. Lu Yan did not know how to retort, so he had to agree toe down.
The group re-entered the lift with the corpse, and it was good that everyone was now on their lunch break as Feng Chu Chu dragged the body with him. When they reached the third floor, he and Huang Mao did not follow the others out of the lift but continued upwards.
To prevent a fraudulent corpse, He Lou told them to leave the corpse at the 404 entrance.
Even if the body hadn''t changed and the upants wanted to call the police, they would only suspect the already strange 404 upants, not them. They didn''t want to experience being forcibly taken away by the police.
I wonder if it was an illusion. Still, the lift was extraordinarily cold after Lu Yan, and the others went out.
Not the cold air of the air conditioner, but the sticky, cold air from all sides, almost to the bone.
It''s only the first day. It won''t be ...... dangerous.
Huang Mao''s legs were shaking, and he tried to cheer himself up, trying not to let the horrific images he had seene to mind, but he still couldn''t help thinking about it more.
The short distance of one floor high also seemed extraordinarily long.
With a ding, the lift stopped, and the car doors opened.
"Come on, be careful."
The two men, one resting on their shoulders and the other lifting their feet, dragged the man to the door of room 404, where they dared not look much further. They immediately retook the lift and ran back after spreading the body t on the room door.
So they didn''t see that the corpse suddenly moved spontaneously towards one of the room doors, and soon it was sucked in like a thin sheet of paper.
"Well?" He Lou asked.
Yellow hair showed an OK.
He Lou nodded his head.
Lu Yan was already running with the camera to the Oceanarium. He always seemed to be like that, silly and not knowing how to say no.
Right now, He Lou was using hisputer to surf the inte.
He reminisced about the station''s era and then searched carefully for actresses of recent years.
For some reason, the shadows still haunted him. He did not believe escaping from the station would free him from the curse.
The only way to get rid of the curse was to find the source of the haunting or the formation of the curse.
Finally ...... after a long, extended search, he finally saw a familiar face.
Just because it was extraordinarily familiar, he shuddered a little when he saw the face, constantly feeling that the next moment she would turn into a dead and unconscious image, staring at herself with a grim face.
"Everyone,e and look." He Lou said.
He moved his mouse and clicked on the actress'' introduction.
"Lan Zhi Yu, born in 1964, died in 1985 ......"
He searched the introduction, which he didn''t know to be urate. When he checked the othercy news, there were conflicting stories about her death. Some said it was due to domestic violence, martyrdom due to the death of her boyfriend, and that she died due to the repercussions of raising a demons. But Lu Yan didn''t seem to be lying to them. Lan Zhi Yu wasn''t too well known, and the most popr online story about her was
He Lou''s gaze lingered on the option of "raising demons" for a moment longer.
Could it be because of raising demons?
On the other end, Lu Yan had already sent a small video.
"I''m here now. The Oceanarium is empty today as there are fewer people." He was standing in front of the Oceanarium gates, and his phone recorded the name of the Oceanarium.
That name ...... was clearly the Lan Zhi Yu Oceanarium.
He Lou''s heart jumped up violently for a moment.
Lan Zhiyu was definitely not amon name, so why would this Oceanarium be called Lan Zhiyu? What did it have to do with the real actress Lan Zhi Yu?
Lan Zhi Yu, what was the reason for her death?
Lu Yan had a bag slung over his shoulder with some devices to hold the camera in ce. He checked it onest time and walked into the Oceanarium.
In the other room, He Lou and the others couldn''t get out, so they had to look for clues on the inte for the time being.
He was a master hacker, and theworks were simr in both worlds. After pondering for a while, he quickly broke into some secret websites and started looking for clues to Lan Zhiyu.
It was so old that some of the paper archives were long gone, so one could only hope that the case officer at the time had taken some video or photos.
"Have you found it?" Li Fang Yu asked quietly.
Around the time she was injured in the blood mist, until now, Li Fang Yu''s face was pale, and she had be less talkative. But everyone did not notice her abnormality and only thought she was in a somewhat lousy spirit, subconsciously tolerating her and being considerate of her.
At that, He Lou said gently, "Found it."
"The cause of death was ......"
He saw some photos, and his pupils shrank.
This was definitely not a usual way to die. At least, not by being drained all the blood out of her body like this. The originally beautiful woman was only ayer of skin and bones, and her death was hideous and gruesome.
"Kind of like being drained by a vampire." Huang Mao came up andmented after seeing the photos.
Of course, they didn''t dare to look at the photos much, they were taken by who knows who, and although they were a bit blurry, looking at ...... they always seemed like they were staring into those eyes.
"I''ll look for other incidents of hers and see if I can find any clues." He Lou''s hands flew over the keyboard.
He felt that he had to get to the bottom of this, or there was a good chance he wouldn''t be able to escape the t.
"There, found it." He Lou created a new document and began consolidating that information,paring it and then deleting the obviously fictitious gossip, finally piecing together some clues.
It turned out that Lan Zhi Yu was a lesser-known singer in the circle; although she was pretty, she could not act and only sing. However, in terms of singing, her voice was not the most outstanding, and the most famous news about her at that time would have been that she had dated several boyfriends.
After all, not everyone can afford to have every boyfriend go missing. In each case, it had nothing to do with her; she was either working in public or heading out of town for a busy day, and when she returned, her boyfriend was gone.
No one was seen alive, and no one was seen dead.
But he had vaguely noticed some patterns. Every time her boyfriend disappeared, she got excellent resources, such as singing for a big film or event.
No wonder some people suspected her of raising demons or even that she was using her boyfriend to summon them.
The information also shows that Lan Zhi Yu likes to talk about scriptures and often goes to some famous Taoist mountains to find Taoist priests. This provides even more evidence to support the im that she was raising a demon.
Raising demons?
He Lou couldn''t help but be a little suspicious.
He posted some posts in several anonymous inte areas and then continued to search for information.
After about two hours, the tantalizing aroma of rice came from every house, and the door of room 304 clicked open.
Lu Yan stood at the door with the dishes and changed his shoes, smiling at them: "I''m back from the Oceanarium. By the way, where is Brother Lou? I''ll give him the video."
"Brother Lou is in his room. You go and cook. I''ll take it to him." Huang Mao said naturally.
Lu Yan froze, true to his word, and carried the dishes to the kitchen to prepare for cooking.
He had also repurchased many household items, which relieved them.
There was a soft, bang-bang-bang sound of chopping vegetables from the kitchen.
Take your time to watch the video!
You''ll find some surprises inside.
Chapter 8: Where did he go?
Chapter 8: Where did he go?
People like them have no sympathy for people from the same world as themselves, let alone NPCs from another world. It was only fitting that he sat inside the living room and watched Lu Yan go about his business.
Huang Mao hooked up the footage to the TV, and everyone sat ready to watch.
The picture started a little shaky. They watched Lu Yan pass through the checkpoint, enter the door and round a few corners. Into view was a tall ss wall, behind which were bubbling deep blue waters and countless colourful ocean fish.
"This is thergest viewing area of the Oceanarium." The voice of Lu Yan''s introduction came over the screen.
As the screen moved, Lu Yan could be seen walking along the ss wall, and he seemed to be admiring this beautiful sea view. Immediately afterwards, he stepped back, presumably to allow the camera to capture the panoramic view.
"In the past, when I followed, I topped out to the door for fear of him finding out, so I didn''t know where he had gone to visit, so I had to film the entire view from the Oceanarium. Please judge."
Lu Yan crumbled as he stepped back, and he seemed to adjust the satchel strap so that the camera was aimed at the ss wall.
There seemed to be only uncountable fish and various underwater creatures.
A sea turtle that had been alive for who knows how long slowly swam by.
They have to say Lu Yan''s photo-taking skills are still good. Suppose they don''t consider the pressing circumstances right now. In that case, they could still appreciate some of the beauty of the ocean he had captured.
But now ...... who wants to see the view?
To make sure to get all the key information, they also had to sit down and look carefully for fear of missing some clues.
After about five or six minutes, the sound of frying in a pan came from the kitchen, and the TV screen was finally nning to change to a different screen.
"Now, I''m going to the next slightly smaller viewing area, and I''ll see if ...... has any staff I can ask."
The camera screen pans as the owner walks, but unfortunately, the Oceanarium was empty and cold. It''s still a weekday, so he only runs into a few people.
At some point, several people in front of the television began to stare at the picture with rapt attention. Their heart rose and fell closely with the movement of the camera.
It was as if ...... it was as if something was going to happen the next moment.
A song was ying in the Oceanarium.
Soft, soft female voices, with unknown dialects, sang never heard before the song...... make for a fascinating listen.
Lu Yan seemed oblivious and was still looking around. Still, the faint sound of the song he recorded had wrapped itself around everyone''s heart and soul in a silky way.
It''s sad ......
That pain, sadness, the resignation of being betrayed ......
Why do you do this to me? Why? What have I done wrong?
Why do I have to put up with this? Why can''t I have a peaceful life?
The song eventually became increasingly shrill and harsh, and the water in several tanks in the Oceanarium seemed to ssh up.
The few people in front of the TV had be wholly absorbed in the woman''s painfully sad song.
At the end of the song, atst, the lyrics appeared that they could understand.
It was the three words that appeared over and over again :
Go to hell, go to hell, go to hell, go to hell, go to hell ......
In the kitchen, chopping vegetables gradually ovepped with the song, forming a strange beat.
Lu Yan seemed not to hear the singing outside, his eyes were tearing up, but his clothes were deceased moundmp coins (4) taken.
Another ticket has been invalidated. ......
Lu Yan was busy stir-frying. A te of scrambled eggs with tomatoes was ready. He pushed open the kitchen door and set the te carefully on the table while blowing on his burned-red hands.
The living room had beenpletely transformed, except for Li Fang Yu, who was still sitting, and the others were all crying and wailing.
One of their limbs had already stiffened a little.
Lu Yan dodged the group of demons about to bash their heads on the floor and went to the television.
The camera, which had only been filming scenes from various scenic spots, was suddenly raised. Immediately afterwards, the camera aimed at Lu Yan''s own face.
The familiar face showed a smile on the screen, "Did you hear that?"
"Snap."
Lu Yan turned off the television, copied a vase from the side with his hand, and smashed it against it.
In an instant, the ss shattered.
The song came to a screeching halt, and a loud bang caused the bodies of the few people crying in pain to stiffen and slowly calm down.
He Lou shook his head, he was the earliest one toe to his senses, and after recalling what had just happened, his pupils shrank: "The song just came back?"
"Right. Joy, anger, sorrow, the next song will most likely be ......" Lu Yan did not say it explicitly.
"I was frying in the kitchen and didn''t hear the song, then it got louder and louder, so I rushed out and had to turn the TV off." Lu Yan''s face was a little pale; the ends of his eyes were red with tear stains, so he was obviously affected by it.
"Is everyone okay?"
Several other people came to their senses one after another, as for the one with stiff limbs ...... He Lou asked, "Do you have any glutinous rice at home? Quickly bring some."
ording to the information he searched, Lan Zhiyu wasn''t raising brats. What she was growing was simply zombies!
After He Lou posted some posts on certain specific websites. A user who called himself a Wu Wei Taoist replied to him with the answer. To prevent a person from bing a zombie, all one had to do was bring him into the sunlight when he was unformed, sprinkle glutinous rice and chicken blood, and have a copper coin to suppress it. If there was a wound, it should also be washed with glutinous rice. After the ckness has dissipated, he should be allowed to straddle a fire bowl, sunbathe, or eliminate the yin energy from his body.
This reminds He Lou of the zombie series he saw as a child.
The man whose limbs were gradually stiffening and whose face was turning blue was Huang Mao. He Lou, Li Fang Zhi and Feng Chu Chu held him down, controlling him in the sunlight as he struggled with ragged breaths.
The nails on his outstretched hands were gradually darkening and sharpening ......
"I''ll find it right away! Wait for me!" Lu Yan immediately ran to the kitchen and rummaged around. At the same time, He Lou held the man down while yelling, "Is there any chicken blood? You can use chicken blood!"
Lu Yan responded equally loudly, "No!"
"Hurry up!"
"Right away! It''ll be ready soon."
Saying that Lu Yan had already found a bag of glutinous rice, "Glutinous rice found! How do I use it?"
"Just sprinkle it! Align it!"
Lu Yan hurriedly ran with a big bag of glutinous rice in his arms, grabbed a handful and sprinkled it on Huang Mao''s head.
It was like a few drops of water poured on hot oil, and the sound of stinging and stabbing rang out continuously.
Seeing it was working, Lu Yan hurriedly sprinkled more, from head to tail. When the white glutinous rice was spotted on the stiff body, white smoke suddenly rose up. The sound of nuisance did not stop; when itnded on the ground, it turned into a ck, unknown object.
"Go on! Quickly!"
The struggling Huang Mao finally quieted as the bag of glutinous rice was about to be scattered. The dark blue that had flushed his skin gradually faded away, the skin tone belonging to a human slowly revealed itself, and his breathing slowed down.
He Lou breathed a sigh of relief.
Ever since the tall, thin man had been burned at that unknown station and turned back from a zombie to a human instead, he had suspected that the transformation of a human into a zombie could be reversed for a while and that burning with fire was too extreme. He was unwilling to use such a method until it was indispensable.
Therefore, he used the clue from Lan Zhiyu as bait and posted the message on several unique websites, which garnered arge number of responses in a short time.
Now the method provided by that person was correct.
Huang Mao''s soul was going to fly when he was pinned underneath three men, his head full of ck and white glutinous rice grains that fell down when he moved. Huang Mao said with a bitter face, "Brother Lou, can you let go of me now? I feel like I''m recovering."
Only when he heard him speak did He Lou really let go, and a few people stood up to pat the dust and look at Huang Mao, lying on the floor gasping for air.
"I''m much better now. I just still don''t feel too well. I''ll stay here in the sun for a while longer." Huang Mao said, drained of energy.
Lu Yan brought him a chair and took a broom to sweep up the glutinous rice scattered on the floor.
Frankly speaking, Huang Mao''s conscience was a little uneasy at this point as an NPC.
"So what? Can you please bring the rice over for meter? I''ll eat here." Huang Mao tried.
"Sure. Do you eat spicy food? Is there anything you should avoid? I''m afraid my cooking is not to your taste." Lu Yan smiled warmly and gently.
He was always patient when dealing with people who were about to die.
"Just feel free." Huang Mao could already smell the food''s aroma and thought it should be alright.
What''s more, how could it be worse than mouldy bread full of maggots?
He wasn''t sure if it was the after-effects, but Huang Mao felt that the sunlight was particrly blinding. Still, he was afraid of the sun when he thought of zombies, so he forced himself to sit in the sunlight, turning around every now and then to ensure that his body got plenty of the sun.
The group settled, cleaned up and sat at the lunch table.
The video was definitely not to be watched again, and He Lou had to ask himself.
Lu Yan was also confused and said, "But ...... I didn''t hear the song when I was at the Oceanarium."
Then ...... where did this singinge from?
Lu Yan''s answer made several people''s hearts chill a little. Especially Huang Mao, who was almost turned into a zombie, and now his body had no strength. If he heard singing again without notice, the first one to mutate would definitely be him!
"Didn''t you encounter anything unusual in the Oceanarium?"
Lu Yan shook his head: "No, there were very few people at the Oceanarium today, so I didn''t meet anyone. Beforeing back, I went around all the ces, even the gents."
He looked at the time, lowered his voice and pointed upstairs, "He should be passing soon too."
The group fell silent.
After a tasteless meal, the hour hand slowly turned to two o''clock.
ording to the pattern Lu Yan had discovered, the neighbour should be going out.
He ...... wasn''t right, it, would it see the body at the door?
The soundproofing of this t was quite good. If the sound was not loud, like the kind of meat chopping in the middle of the night every day, the everyday sounds couldn''t be heard.
He was unsure of the species of his upstairs neighbours, so he did not dare to open the door to confirm, so he asked everyone to listen with their ears on the wall.
The sound of the door mming shut reached his ears with an unmistakable thud.
Was he the one who had gone out?
The door to Lu Yan''s room faced the lift, and He Lou called Feng Chu Chu to stare out through the cat''s eye.
A short whileter, Feng Chu Chu shivered and came down the door. Lu Yan was standing by the window next to Huang Mao, sittingzily in the sun. After a moment, Lu Yan said, "He''s gone."
He saw the man''s figure striding away, still carrying an oddlyrge bag.
At that, He Lou and the others immediately gathered at the window. They watched together as the tightly wrapped ck figure left.
Somehow, He Lou always felt that this figure was a bit familiar.
"Gone? Is he really gone?"Feng Chu Chu nced up at the cat''s eye again, a nce that caused him to instantly fall into an ice cave and fall heavily back onto the floor.
"Then why? Why is it still red when you look through the cat''s eye?"
"Red? Where''s red?" Lu Yan walked over in surprise and darted a nce towards the cat''s eye, "No, are you looking at it wrong?"
He helped Feng Chu Chu, who was shivering with cold, up, "Could it be that you didn''t sleep wellst night or were too stressed out and misread it?"
Lu Yan looked straight into Feng Chu Chu''s eyes as he spoke, his voice carrying a slightly strange taste.
"Impossible, I clearly saw it just now ...... I saw ......" Yeah, what did I see? Feng Chu Chu shook her head, "Maybe I was stressed out, and I was the one who saw it wrong."
Lu Yan said peacefully, "Then do you want to return to your room and rest? I''ll call you when it''s time to eat."
"Okay."
Feng Chu Chu couldn''t help but feel a little grateful to Lu Yan.
He was a bit stupid, but he was really too kind.
Feng Chu Chu couldn''t help but ask, "Won''t anyone usually bully you in life like this?"
Lu Yan seemed a bit confused: "Bullying me? Why? Everyone is very nice to me." He waved his hand repeatedly, "Just like you guys have been to me, you''ve been so kind to me and saved my life. Of course, I have to repay."
He spoke so earnestly that Feng Chu Chu did not know whether his words were sincere or sarcastic. Seeing that there was nothing else to do for the time being, he turned around and went back to his room to sleep.
Lu Yan''s past observations were correct. At 5pm, the figure appeared in the small area on time, but the difference was that therge parcel he was carrying was gone.
On the third floor, several people crouched behind the curtains and saw the figure walking towards the t.
This time Feng Chu Chu said nothing to look into the cat''s eye. Everyone listened against the wall and heard another thud, the sound of a door closing.
Night came quietly.
Huang Mao had spent the afternoon in the sun and felt like he was practically tanning. However, he was still a little uneasy and intended to continue basking in the moonlight by the living room balcony.
Moonlight was also a refraction of sunlight, so it should be helpful......, right?
Early the following day, Feng Chu Chu woke up and found that Huang Mao''sforter, who lived in the same room, was empty.
"Brother Huang? Brother Huang?"
He was first to get up and call out, but he searched every room and couldn''t find him.
He felt panic for no reason and shook Lu Yan, who was sleeping on the sofa, awake.
"Have you seen Huang Mao?"
"Huang ...... Huang Mao is missing?" Lu Yan was confused for a split second and then suddenly stared wide-eyed.
"Yes, he''s gone."
"Could it be that he went out? There''s no rush. You call him on the phone." Lu Yan immediately sat up.
At that, Feng Chu Chu immediately dialled Huang Mao''s phone number.
"Die to love ......"
A ringing sound, through ayer of the ceiling, came from upstairs.
Chapter 9: What have they overlooked?
Chapter 9: What have they overlooked?
The phone rang extra loudly. It wasing from the spot above their heads.
Feng Chu Chu''s face changed dramatically.
Why was Huang Mao''s mobile phone ringing ......ing from upstairs?
The neighbour upstairs never showed his face. What did he want to do?
Most importantly, how did Huang Mao he get up there? Is he still alive?
He was a man of little courage. From the time he entered the first world to do his first mission, he had been hugging other people to survive. Because he was sensible, obedient and did not go soft when it was time to do something.
He wanted to live, but even Huang Mao, who had brought him all the way to this point, had died, so could he really live?
He Lou and the Li sisters might give him a hand for the sake of the few remaining team members, but would they really save themselves? Perhaps ...... they could survive?
Feng Chu Chu stood frozen, not hanging up the phone in time.
After the phone rang four times, there was a beep, and it was answered."Hello? Who is it?"
Feng Chu Chu trembled, her face as pale as paper for an instant.
This voice, this voice, was Huang Mao''s.
If he still had a slight illusion about Huang Mao''s survival before, those few remaining illusions disappeared without a trace. Almost as soon as he heard the call, he hung up.
"You said no talking, huh? Who are you? Who are you looking for?"
"Speak up!"
Huang Mao''s questioning voice still came from the other end.
Why didn''t he hang up?
Feng Chu Chu didn''t dare to speak. He fumbled and tried desperately to hang up the phone and kept turning it off, but to no avail. The phone screen was still lit up, and the voice was stilling from the other side.
Please, hang up quickly.
Hang up!
Feng Chu Chu had already picked off the battery. He mmed the phone onto the ground, jumped on it and stomped on it desperately, but to no avail. Huang Mao''s voice was stilling from inside, getting louder and sharper and sharper.
What to do? What to do?
"Speak up? Who are you? Hurry up and speak! Or I''ming for you!"
"Who are you? I''ming for you!"
Feng Chu Chu rushed into the toilet, threw the phone straight into the bathroom, put the lid on and flushed.
Now it won''t be able to find me, will it? It must not be able to find it.
"Who are you ...... I''ming to find you ......"
"I, I, I''m going toe to find you, you......"
To Feng Chu Chu''s despair, a voice resembling a machine rusting and jamming rang in her ears in a guttural way.
Why? Why is it still a shadowy spirit?! Why is it me?
I just made a phone call. Why not Lu Yan?
Yes, why not Lu Yan?
He was there, too.
A daring thought suddenly came to his mind, and Feng Chu Chu suddenly calmed down, wiped the tears that had appeared on his face at some point, pulled open the toilet door and walked out.
Lu Yan was still standing in the living room, and when he saw hime out, his eyes were tinged with concern. But his expression was not the least bit warm in the eyes of Feng Chu Chu, who was about to die after learning that she was being targeted by a ghost. Before Lu Yan could say anything, he had already rushed up and grabbed the other man by the cor.
"Tell him who you are." Feng Chu Chu did not dare to speak but could only silently hint with her mouth while raising the knife in her hand."Hurry up, or I''ll get you killed."
Lu Yan''s eyes widened in shock as he kept struggling.
Feng Chu Chu had already fallen into aplete frenzy. He had one hand on his opponent''s neck, leaving a gap so that he could make a sound. In contrast, the other hand held the knife, the tip dangling above Lu Yan''s eyes. It still trembling a little from the excitement, making it doubtful that he would identally stab him.
But he didn''t care about that any more. It would have been better if Lu Yan had been blind. The NPCs were just that. They just needed to be used.
He could live as long as Lu Yan couldn''t help but make a little noise.
What clues, what remaining use value? He is going to die soon. Is it wrong to want to live?
The general sound of a hypnotic soul continued, getting louder and sharper and sharper. Feng Chu Chu took a deep breath, "Hurry up!" He urged soundlessly.
It was clear that they were making such a loud noise, but He Lou and the Li sisters were hard-pressed not to wake up. Only the two of them were in the empty living room, and the ce under their feet was exactly where Lu Yan had sprinkled glutinous rice to revive Huang Mao on his way to bing a zombie yesterday. There were still some ck marks on the floor as if they had been burnt.
The fear on Lu Yan''s face slowly disappeared. The stupid expression he had kept faded, reced by an expression alien to Feng Chu Chu. As befits his face - cold and superior, like a god watching a few tiny ants fight.
"You ......" Feng Chu Chu dared not utter a word, her eyes full of horror.
The malicious smile at the corner of Lu Yan''s mouth grew bigger and bigger, yanking the wrist of the incredulous Feng Chu Chu wrist down and pushing him backwards with force. His strength was so great that Feng Chu Chu was powerless to resist and was pushed hard to the ground.
After that, Lu Yan approached him step by step.
At this moment, where were Lu Yan''s good manners? It would not be too much to say that he was a madman!
Feng Chu Chu had already regained his senses, terrified and shivering as he stepped back. He still had the knife in his hand, but he didn''t have the guts to fight with the other party. The former crouched down pleasurably. Every time Feng Chu Chu struggled to move back a little, he patiently moved forward, pressing step by step, forcing the man into a corner. The shadows were cast on the other''s face.
Lu Yan carefully straightened Feng Chu Chu''s cor and, in the end, smiled gently at Feng Chu Chu, saying wordlessly with a mouthpiece."Go, die, go-"
In the next instant, Feng Chu Chu''s hand holding the knife was yanked up by Lu Yan, who stabbed him fiercely on his own thigh.
"Ah..."
Feng Chu Chu screamed in agony, immediately realising something was wrong.
"I''ve found you."
A hoarse and grim voice came from upstairs.
......
He Lou struggled to wake up from his dream, dazedly touching his mobile phone to see the time. The few remaining tiredness immediately disappeared without a trace.
What was going on? How could he have slept for so long?
He Lou hurriedly got up, put on his clothes and went out to see that Lu Yan was asleep on the sofa. When he opened the doors of the two rooms, Li Fang Zhi and Li Fang Yu were still sleeping, while the other room, ......, was empty.
What happened? Where were the others?
He turned around and left the room, pushing Lu Yan, who was sleeping on the sofa, awake.
Lu Yan opened his eyes in a daze, his voice still raspy with a thirst for sleep: "What''s wrong?"
"Wake up! Have you seen Huang Mao and Feng Chu Chu?"
Lu Yan''s eyes also snapped open this time, and he immediately sat up, "What''s wrong? Have they disappeared?"
"Yes, they''ve disappeared." He Lou said, "And, it''s already twelve noon." Even if the sounds from upstairs had made them sleepterst night, there was no way they would have woken up until now.
"How, how could this be?" Lu Yan''s throat was dry, and he didn''t know what had urred to him, his face as pale as paper, "He, where could they have gone?"
"Just in time, I wanted to ask you. You were sleeping in the living room, didn''t you hear?"
Lu Yan shook his head nkly.
"Would they, would they ......" He dared not utter that word.
He Lou was silent, closing his eyes hard and not answering.
It was only the second day of the mission, fourteen people, and only three were left by now. In the past, no matter how cruel, the first two days would be more or less protected, and more than half of the team could always remain.
What was wrong?
What had gone wrong?
"So, what about the two girls?" Lu Yan asked hastily.
"They''re still sleeping in their rooms."
Lu Yan sighed with relief as if he had found his backbone, "I''ll go and get them up."
Looking at his back, He Lou''s eyes took on a probing look.
Did it have anything to do with him or not?
......
The lunch today was even more silent than the previous two days.
He Lou was not a man of many words. Li Fang Zhi spoke little, and initially, Li Fang Yu would regte the atmosphere at any time, yet she also had inexplicably be indifferent. Lu Yan was the only one at the table trying to ease the atmosphere. After dryly saying a bunch of things without anyone responding, his voice grew lower and lower, and he slowly shut up.
After lunch, Lu Yan cleaned up his dishes while He Lou leaned against the kitchen door and looked at him carefully.
Soft-hearted, cowardly, stupid ...... and lucky to have survived until now?
Lu Yan was a little ufortable with his look. After hurriedly washing the dishes, turned his head to ask him, "Brother Lou, is there something wrong?"
He Lou casually said, "Not for now, but don''t you need to go to work?"
"Huh?" Lu Yan scratched his head, "I asked for leave from thepany because you guys are here."
"Well then, let''s look around the building after we finish eating. By the way, how many residents are there in this building?"
Lu Yan didn''t object to the first half of the question, but the second half put him off: "This, I''m not sure."
He Lou said, "Then we''ll ask for clues one by er, door by door. Remember, be keen and find out what''s unusual about them."
Lu Yan nodded his head and agreed.
He Lou couldn''t help but be suspicious when he saw him look a bit silly, but there was no way around it.
There were only three of them left now. He Lou had to find a way to rope in some NPCs for his own use. Although these people looked just like them, they could cry andugh and have feelings and a life of their own.
However, they were not from the same world, so why sympathise with them? At most, they could only manage not to kill indiscriminately, as the dead ones might also turn into evil spirits. Still, it was impossible to ask them to think about the lives of NPCs and even to protect them.
"Before you set off, tell us what you know."
The building had nine floors, with four houses on the ground floor. Li Fang Zhi and Li Fang Yu checked from the upper floors and were responsible for floors nine to five. He Lou, with Lu Yan, was in charge of the first to fourth floors.
This was a precarious approach; their task was to stay in the t for an entire week, which meant that there was bound to be something wrong with it. But there was nothing else they could do, their numbers had plummeted, and if they couldn''t find the cause, they were bound to face total annihtion.
At around 2pm, He Lou and Lu Yan took the lift down one floor and stood in room 101, ready to knock on the door.
When the lift went down, Li Fang Zhi waited for it toe up, holding Li Fang Yu before taking it to the roof.
When the lift went up to the top floor, Li Fang Zhi stepped out of the ride and felt something was wrong.
They had both overlooked a fundamental issue, and this issue, most likely, was the key!
Chapter 10: An extra layer
Chapter 10: An extrayer
What Li Fang Zhi didn''t see was that behind her, Li Fang Yu was quietly watching her. The lift doors closed, illuminating Li Fang Yu''s back, her dark curly hair reaching her waist. She had clearly turned into another woman!
However, Li Fang Zhi did not care, as if she was oblivious to her sister''s strange back. She turned around and pulled her sister away, sending a message to He Lou with her other hand.
[Brother Lou, we''ve all overlooked a problem.]
[This building was not just the ninth floor, but the tenth floor!
He Lou and Lu Yan were knocking on the ground floor door when they heard the message beep and picked up the phone to take a look, their hearts shaking.
Ten floors?
The extra floor, where was it?
No wonder they didn''t know. They were confined to the t and couldn''t go outside, so naturally, they couldn''t count how high the building was and could only get the answer from Lu Yan''s mouth.
He steadied his mind, the door was already open over there, and after a quick reply, he put the phone back in his pocket and started to talk to the upants.
The floor of 101 was upied by a family of three, and the couple was home on weekends. He pretended he was visiting friends and saw that the building was good and wanted to buy it, so he took this opportunity to ask some questions.
The young couple was enthusiastic and talked to him a lot, quietly telling him that if he wanted to live here, he should forget about it or buy an at a discount. There was a man who chopped meat every night, making a lot of noise, and it was useless to call the police.
"I stayed at a friend''s housest night and heard it. It was really noisy." He Lou expressed his understanding, and after a few words of small talk, he naturally asked, "You have ten floors in this building, I heard, don''t you? Why is the lift only on the ninth floor?"
"Ten floors?" The couple living on the ground floor expressed their confusion. Lu Yan was also slightly surprised. After the young couple closed the door, Lu Yan asked, "Brother Lou, what''s with the ten floors? How do you know there are ten floors?"
He Lou shook his head, not saying how he knew, but only asking Lu Yan to count the floors outside.
Only now did he realize the wed nature of this mission.
They were restricted from leaving the t, and only nine floors were in the lift. If Li Fang Zhi hadn''t been so keen on numbers and hadn''t noticed that the time it took for the lift to go up one floor and the time it took to reach the top of the building weren''t quite right, they might not have noticed that there was an extra floor.
Lu Yan dutifully went out to count it. He even took a picture of it, came in and counted it carefully with a gloomy face, "There really is an extra floor ......"
This extrayer, how manyyers was it?
Strangely, this photo has some magic power. No matter how they counted, they couldn''t measure it clearly.
He Lou had an unpleasant guess in his mind. For some reason, he always felt that the extrayer might be near the third floor.
And this suspicion sent chills all over his body in the early autumn, when summer heat had not yet subsided.
"Brother Lou, what''s wrong?" Lu Yan was puzzled and reached out to shake his hand in front of him. He still looked a little foolishly naive and concerned.
He Lou suddenly asked, "Do you really not know?"
Would he really ignore this anomaly in his t, given the weirdness he had been dealing with?
If he was really this stupid, how had he survived in the past?
Lu Yan blinked, "Huh?"
Only three people left, so even if He Lou was stupid, he should have understood that something was wrong with him.
But Lu Yan didn''t care. The group''s mission was still a few days away, and if He Lou knew what he was doing, he wouldn''t have flipped out on him.
He Lou paused, really not showing any difference, and sighed, "It''s still too careless of us to notice such a big blind spot."
The fact that he had to be in the t for a week and they were not allowed to go out implied, apart from the fact that there was something unusual about the t, it also suggested that there were clues that had to be obtained outside the t.
Seemingly unconcerned, but each with their own agenda, the two men moved on to the next house to ask for information.
102 was an elderly couple who had lived here for a long time.
103 was a single woman who, for some reason, looked familiar to He Lou.
104 was unupied. They wondered if anyone was living there.
Next were 201 and 202 ......
Neither of them noticed that they had overlooked an even bigger mistake.
After each house had been questioned one by one, Li Fang Zhi brought Li Fang Yu down from upstairs, and several people met up at Lu Yan''s home.
"Did you get any information?" Li Fang Zhi asked.
He Lou shook his head.
Everyone looked like regr residents living in an ordinary t, nothing out of the ordinary, and a simple question about the surrounding buildings corresponded to the map He Lou had specially checked.
"When you went downstairs, did you notice which floor was the extra floor?"
"Yes." Li Fang Zhi looked grave and reached out to point at the ceiling.
Surprisingly, it was right above them?
He Lou didn''t even know whether to say this was expected or unexpected. Seeing Li Fang Zhi''s answer, he was relieved in his heart instead.
Anomalies ...... This t is an anomaly, right?
Lu Yan looked stunned, swallowed his saliva and pointed at the ceiling, not daring to speak too loudly: "You said this extra floor is ......?"
Li Fang Zhi nodded.
"Then ...... that sound we heard?" Lu Yan said, " No wonder my upstairs neighbour said he was just chopping dumpling filling, and the police didn''t find out anything ......"
"Then every night, the one making the sound ......" Lu Yan didn''t dare to say more.
"You can''t draw conclusions so quickly yet." He Lou said, his gaze turning to Lu Yan, "To determine the source of the sound, we''ll wait on the fourth floor this evening."
"No way! The fourth floor is too ......" Lu Yan lowered his voice, "What if it really is the fourth floor? Wouldn''t that be too dangerous? Let''s go to the fifth floor. There''s no other floor more or less clear to hear."
He Lou vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but Li Fang Zhi felt that Lu Yan had a point and agreed with him.
"Indeed, we can''t take any more chances now that the fifth floor can also be heard clearly. Or perhaps, Lu Yan, do you have more recording equipment at home?"
The camera from thest trip to the Oceanarium was recorded into something that shouldn''t have been recorded and couldn''t be used any more. Lu Yan had thrown it out long ago.
Lu Yan subconsciously shook his head and suddenly remembered something and said, "There is still a camera that I bought a long time ago."
"Then let''s wait on the fifth floor tonight and put the camera on the fourth floor. Will it still work now?"
"It should work, you wait, and I''ll look for it."
Seeing Lu Yan rummaging through the boxes and starting to look for them, He Lou and Li Fang Zhi exchanged a look. He Lou then walked, seemingly unintentionally, to the living room television. He quickly reced the batteries in a miniature VCR in the corner with new ones and reced the memory card.
Although ghosts could often affect electronic devices, features such as audio and video recording could instead make the ghosts appear and help them keep track of the NPCs'' whereabouts. On the first day they moved in, the trio had installed surveince Lang II pouches in every room.
He Lou was also curious to know what Lu Yan had done. Whether he was really as innocent as he appeared to be.
In the other room, Lu Yan had already found an old camera and ran out with gusto: "I found it, it still works, I''ll charge it up."
"Good, we''ll rely on it tonight."
Night falls.
The four of them got into the lift, and topare the time it took to get upstairs, they went down to the ground floor first, then took the lift to the fifth floor. He Lou made a point of using a stopwatch to keep track.
Sure enough, reaching the fourth floor after the third floor was about half as slow as the other floors.
[TN: IF you liked it, like andment, and I''ll post more of these lightly edited chapters. If no, I''ll go back to sleeep.]
Chapter 11: Are the Dumplings Good?
Chapter 11: Are the Dumplings Good?
[Attention, the following text is only lightly edited MTL that I tossed in Grammarly multiple times and corrected characters'' names. I''m posting this to draw attention to this novel, hoping someone else will trante it properly. Plus, I want to see how others view such text. Like andment on what you think. For now, I''ll post 10 chapters. If there is enough response, I could post more if people like this.]
"It seems that it is indeed true." He Lou''s heart was racing with excitement.
They had lost so many people, and they were only now making headway. He Lou felt conflicted for a moment and took a deep breath to calm himself down.
''Four more days, rx..... four more days.''
This was just the start.
He Lou''s heart was clouded with anxiety following the excitement.
Could they really make it?
Usually, the first stage of the mission was easier. At the very least, the ghosts were restrained. They could not kill at will, so yers could sleep soundly. The ghosts'' restraints will gradually be rxed as time passed, especially once they have made some progress. They might see ghosts even while eating and drinking by then, as in horror movies. Every move could result in death.
When the lift arrived at the fourth floor, Lu Yan volunteered to adjust the camera and exited the building. He ced the camera in an inconspicuous location, and the group returned upstairs.
Little by little, time passed, and the fifth floor became quiet and shrouded in darkness.
The sound-controlled lights did not turn on, and the short corridor was empty and silent, with only the soft breathing of a few people audible.
It was peculiar. During the day, many residents were clearly still present in the building. What was the cause of thete-night silence? There was no noiseing from any of the houses. Had they all gone to bed so early?
A thinyer of sweat seeped out on He Lou''s forehead.
This dark space seemed to be airtight, with a cold aura surrounding everyone. That aura grew thicker and thicker, leaving people almost breathless.
What was it?
The sound of "bang, bang, bang" suddenly rang out, and He Lou shivered violently. Still, it was because of the sudden sound that the sound-controlled lights came on, and the whole building instantly brightened up.
After a moment of recognition, the sound did seem to being from a different floor.
So it really was on the fourth floor - that extra fourth floor?
They didn''t dare to go down immediately. ording to the pattern of the previous days, the one on the fourth floor was ready to start at zero o''clock every day. The fact that they heard the sound now meant that it was already past zero o''clock.
Another day had passed.
There was anotheryer of less restraint on the ghosts.
......
Ground floor.
"I can''t stand it any more, it''s noisy every day, every day, and the kids have to go to school."
"Ugh, stop it. The police can''t even do anything about him. What can we do?"
"No! Are you still a man?" The young wife pushed her husband awake, "I don''t care so much, carry a knife over there. Anyway, this guy is chopping meat again. I really want to chop him up too. What kind of psycho chopping dumpling filling at night ......"
The young woman got angry and got out of bed, put on her slippers and ran to the kitchen and drew a kitchen knife, standing in front of the room with an angry face: "Are you going?"
"Fine, fine, I''ll go, can''t I?"
"That''s more like it." The young woman muttered.
The two entered the lift in their pyjamas and pressed the lift button before the car door closed.
She didn''t know if it was the lighting, but the young woman always felt that the lift door was not the right image of the two; their faces were pale, and they looked very bad, like dead people.
"This air conditioning is too high, isn''t it, husband? Do you feel a bit cold?"
"A little. It''ll be fine when we get outter."
"Why is it so slow? Does it take so long on the fourth floor? Is it broken?"
"I''ll go and talk to the property tomorrow."
"Honey, do you ever feel ...... like someone is watching us."
"......"
"Honey? Hubby?"
The woman nudged her husband, and the other man''s bleak, lifeless face turned to look down at her.
"You, who are you? Husband? Husband?!"
"Help-"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
A scream was followed by the numbing sound of tearing.
On the fourth floor, here it was.
A pool of blood slowly flowed out of the lift doorway, and soon, as if alive, the pool of blood all gushed towards a specific door and was sucked cleanly, leaving no trace on the floor.
The lift door then opened immediately. Arge mass of fresh raw meat froth was quietly ced in the lift''s centre. It''s red and white, like a raw meat dumpling filling from a vegetable market. Unexpectedly, it was gradually pressed into a ttened shape by some invisible pressure the next moment, like a piece of paper being lightly sucked into the crack of some door.
The sound of chopping meat paused and then became more and more ferocious.
......
Ground floor, 101.
The young man yawned and opened the door to his home. He entered the room and looked at his wife and children. Seeing them both asleep, a smile lifts the man''s weary face, followed by the tantalizing smell from the kitchen.
His wife must have known he was workingte and had left it for him.
The young man''s heart swells with warmth, and he gingerly enters the kitchen and switches on the light.
Even the sound of chopping meat upstairs was less annoying with thete-night food.
He ate the dumplings with satisfaction.
I''ll move out when I make more money to avoid this disgusting neighbourhood and chopping dumpling filling? Who are you kidding?
405 That damn bald guy!
He bit into the dumplings angrily, as if he were biting into the flesh of that other man. After finishing his meal and drinking, the man washed up and went into his room to lie down on the bed, carefully reaching out to wrap his arms around his wife so as not to wake her up.
"Was it good?" The young woman''s voice rang out in the darkened room.
The wife''s voice seemed a little grim. No, her voice and whole being breathed an icy coldness that seeped throughout her body along the stiff skin his hands touched.
"You ......" The man froze in ce.
......
On the fifth floor, a few people waited for the bang, bang, bang sound topletely disappear before they were ready to go downstairs.
''I don''t know why, but today the sound was longer than usual, as if ...... it had new ingredients.''
He Lou made a note of this anomaly. In the darkness, he nced once again in the direction of Lu Yan. The other side seemed to sense his gaze and smiled sideways at him with some reassurance.
He didn''t feel anyfort at all, but there was a big stone weighing heavily on his heart.
What was the way of life, what was the way of life?
The strange station. The actress who keeps zombies. The extra fourth floor. The weird neighbours and the sound of chopping meat in the middle of the night. The marine park was named after the actress whom the neighbours often visit ......
Everything seemed unrted, but He Lou always felt as if he had overlooked something, and what he had overlooked was the clue that would tie everything together.
Also, what role does Lu Yan y in all of this? Why was he safe and sound until now?
Even though Lu Yan was acting as cowardly and stupid as ever, he no longer dared to underestimate him.
Fortunately, they made it back to Lu Yan''s house without a word to each other, washed up and went to their rooms to sleep.
With Huang Mao and Feng Chu Chu dead, the room was naturally empty. They had upied Lu Yan''s room, but now the original owner could finally return to his own room to rest.
He Lou watched Lu Yan enter his room, his eyes flickering. Only after seeing the light dim in the doorway of the other party''s room did he return to his room.
Instead of resting, he turned on hisputer and surfed anonymous websites.
Here, he initially found out about Lan Zhi Yu raising zombies and the method of their elimination. Because he had posted some of Lan Zhi Yu''s hidden news, he had several more people following him. Some private messages asked him if he had any other news about zombies.
Seeming to see that he didn''t know much about zombies, some others were kind enough to tell him something about them.
In the darkness, He Lou reviewed them one by one at a rapid pace, and his gaze suddenly froze.
Immediately afterwards, he started searching for messages like a madman.
"...... If a zombie has been sleeping for many years, it needs fresh flesh and blood to wake up ......"
Sleeping for many years ...... Yeah, his search these days showed that he hadn''t seen any news of zombies running amok. It wasn''t that the relevant authorities had stepped in to squash ithe''d browsed several top-secret documents. He had yet to find simr information in recent years.
Why had zombies popped up in the underground as soon as they arrived? Was it because of their mission?
Theputer screen released the surveince footage, which was clearly the underground station where they had arrived that night. He Lou worked his hands on the keyboard, immediately tuning into the corresponding station, zooming in, and focusing.
He adjusted the speed, and the picture changed rapidly ...... Immediately afterwards, he found the figure of Lu Yan. Before entering the station, he first pulled something white out of his bag and dropped it on the ground, then, with a kick, kicked it onto the billboard opposite.
Oddly enough, just because there weren''t many peoplete at night didn''t mean there wasn''t a single passenger. The object that should have been ejected by the reaction force did not fall out even after he kicked it onto the billboard as if it had been sucked in by the billboard.
He Lou, on the contrary, calmed down at this moment, intercepted the screen and zoomed in to look carefully.
The surveince was one-way, and he could not see clearly what the opposite billboard looked like. But He Lou could already imagine that on the billboard opposite, it was bound to be Lan Zhi Yu!
A cold chill rushed to his heart and then spread throughout his body. Perhaps He Lou didn''t even realise it himself, but now he was trembling, not knowing whether it was anger or fear or perhaps both.
He Lou had never imagined that it was Lu Yan who had awakened it.
Why? Why had he done this?
Did he know something?
How could he still put on such an innocent face and make peace with them?!
Even if their mission this time might have something to do with the zombies, what could he gain by involving himself in it?
A hint of blood bubbled up in his mouth. He Lou returned to his senses, only to realise that he had unknowingly pushed himself so hard that he had bitten his lip. He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down, so he wouldn''t rush next door and kill the other side with a single blow.
Since Lu Yan had awakened the zombie, what else had he done?
The zombie ...... right, the day Huang Mao almost turned into a zombie, the next day at noon up to find that they had disappeared. Lu Yan was clearly just in the living room sleeping. He really did not know anything?
Chapter 12: Found out!
Chapter 12: Found out!
He Lou took a deep breath, took a memory card from his pocket, swapped it for a USB stick, and inserted it into hisputer.
This was the simple surveince system he had earlier installed in the living room. He hadn''t had the opportunity to watch it a few days ago. He needed to find out what Lu Yan had done today.
He saw the scene from that day on theputer screen, multiplied by the speed of the images.
Huang Mao became a zombie that day as a result of the song emanating from the television set. He and Feng Chu Chu rushed up to the man and held him under the sun to prevent him from biting. Lu Yan found glutinous rice and sprinkled it on Huang Mao, allowing him to gradually transform back into a human. They both saw the upstairs neighbours depart again, and Feng Chu Chu was shocked by the image in the cat''s eye.
What happened after that?
A little bit of time passed, and a few tiny figures walked around on the screen.
After lunch, Huang Mao sat in his rocking chair in the sun.
Lu Yan was busy doing his chores, talking to Huang Mao every now and then.
Even under such circumstances, Lu Yan did not show the slightest sign of difference. After sweeping the floor and tidying up the living room, he went back to tidy up the room. When the afternoon came, Lu Yan again went to the kitchen to make dinner.
The time soon came in the evening, and after the group had eaten, they each went to their rooms to rest.
At that time, he was in his room gathering information.
Lan Zhi Yu Oceanarium ...... Since there was an oceanarium, would there be other buildings simrly named after her? As soon as he thought of this, He Lou immediately searched, and sure enough, he found quite a few, such as the Lan Zhi Yu Zoo, Lan Zhi Yu Pet Hospital, and so on.
He wondered why they were all zoos and hospitals. It was either an oceanarium or a vegetable market. When he made the connection that Lan Zhi Yu was raising zombies, he felt no wonder.
Maybe someone continued to raise zombies in her name and therefore needed fresh flesh and blood.
Afterpiling this info, he specifically added the anomaly of the t. Then he made it public on that mystery website, hoping that someone would notice something amiss. He had been in his room and had not noticed any movement outside.
Nor did he notice that Huang Mao was discussing with Lu Yan about changing rooms.
Lu Yan''s original room was not particrly well-positioned. Living room, however, allowed for some daylight and venttion, so when Huang Mao desired more sunlight, he assumed that moonlight was simr.
So, that night, it was Huang Mao who slept in the living room! Lu Yan went into the room to be with Feng Chu Chu!
Seeing this, He Lou could no longer deceive himself that their disappearance had nothing to do with Lu Yan.
Why did he see Lu Yan sleeping on the sofa when he awoke in the living room if he hadn''t done anything? He even imed to know nothing about it.
He Lou''s chest rose and fell violently as he suppressed his rage and continued to observe.
Huang Mao absorbed more and more moonlight as time passed. His eyes became dull and white, his face turned blue, his nails lengthened, and drool oozed from the corners of his mouth.
As the ce where He Lou ced the miniature camera was next to the television set, the camera had a night vision function. The camera recorded the process of Huang Mao''s transformation without missing a second.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was about to turn into a zombie.
Just then, a human figure appeared in front of him.
The figure pulled out an iron bar from behind him, dropped it high and smashed it hard on Huang Mao''s head with such force that a shallow "click" sound could be heard from his neck.
Huang Mao, still struggling, fainted and was tied up by the man''s hands and feet, grabbed by the ankles, and slowly dragged out.
Just as he had done to hispanion for a ticket, the person being dragged out by the arms and legs was himself.
Where would Lu Yan take the body?
The answer to that question was clear!
In the beginning, when they had someone try to see if they could leave the t, didn''t they also have the corpse carried to that ce?
It was some time before Lu Yan returned. He cleaned up any possible traces of the living room as if nothing had happened and threw the iron bar away somewhere. Still, as long as he left it outside the t, He Lou and the others couldn''t find it. After Lu Yan finished packing his things, he returned to lie on the sofa.
No, that''s not right...... so much noise. How could they not hear it?
He Lou suddenly raised his hand to cover his face, and a little bit of silent, bitterughing air tone leaked out of his fingers.
These days, they have been living in Lu Yan''s house, and he wants to move a little. It couldn''t be simpler. He didn''t even need to be sneaky. He Lou can easily list many ways to put people to death let alone make them unconscious by adding something to the food.
He Lou gathered his emotions and was about to continue watching the video from where he had left off. But at this moment, Lu Yan, lying on the sofa on the screen, turned sideways. Then, without any warning, his eyes snapped open. His eyes looked straight into the camera, directly into the eyes of He Lou outside the screen!
He Lou fiercely stiffened, and a chill ran down his spine.
It was him ...... he knew about the camera''s existence all along!
The corners of Lu Yan''s lips hooked up in a grim, mocking smile as he stared straight into the camera. His lips moved soundlessly. And then, his head turned back, his eyes closed in a sleeping pose, and he was asleep before long.
What he said was, "You finally found out?"
He Lou could only feel his face burning with pain.
This was his eighth mission, his eighth visit to other realm. Senior questers were plenty here, but so were those who couldn''t even break through for the fifth time.
He Lou didn''t know how many missions he had toplete before being released, but he couldn''t give up as long as he kept living.
Keep on living.
No matter which world he was in, he only had to race against the ghosts and fight against the other missionaries. The native people of the other world would always be associated with a "shield" and "scapegoat" in their eyes. They could easily give up their lives for themselves with a few words. They can easily get them to give their lives in exchange for clues. As long as they are not the ones who die, what does it matter who they are?
It''s just that the value of their use is different.
Who knew that he would run into such a ...... He Lou was no longer willing to use NPC to describe Lu Yan. He stared fiercely at the man sleeping peacefully on the screen, his expression grim and terrifying.
Arge part of the team had been killed by Lu Yan, either directly or indirectly! What He Lou didn''t want to admit despite his resentment was that deep down, he was extraordinarily scornful.
There was a new reply to his posting on several anonymous forums.
He Lou settled down and clicked on the new message to check it.
As he watched, his eyes widened.
In the other room, Lu Yan was lying on the bed, holding his mobile phone in both hands, seemingly ying with it.
On the phone screen, He Lou''s changing face was ying.
He admired it for a while before turning it off and going pleasantly into dreand.
Speaking of which, when he was on the fifth floor today, he vaguely heard a bit of a scream as if it was a woman.
Which one of the upants of this building was a woman?
......
The next day, the only four people left woke up as usual. He Lou looked as usual and, after talking to Li Fang Zhi, sat at the dining table waiting for Lu Yan to make breakfast.
Since he wanted to pretend, let him pretend. If Lu Yan wanted to poison, he should have done it long ago, and since he had purposely left the three on his side until now, perhaps they were useful to him.
Then they could talk.
Today Lu Yan seemed to be in extraordinarily high spirits, humming and cooking meat porridge and bringing it up for them to eat. He Lou had been a little sceptical, but when he saw Lu Yan eating it himself, he followed suit.
"Did you find anything new today?" Li Fang Zhi asked.
For some reason, her face was also a little pale. At the same time, Li Fang Yu, sitting quietly drinking her porridge, was even stranger, her face as white as the wall behind her, expressionless. Still, the other three didn''t feel that something was wrong.
Everyone uncharacteristically ignored Li Fang Yu''s abnormality.
Li Fang Zhi was a little anxious.
Another day had passed, another day short of the one-week time limit, which meant there was a little less restraint on the ghosts.
He Lou nodded, "There is."
He shared out the information he had received.
He had found all the buildings in the country named after Lan Zhi Yu and posted them in that forum. And then someone contacted him and told him about the locations of these buildings. If they were connected in a line, it was said to constitute a certain long-lost spell formation of the Daoists.
It was unclear for the moment what the spell formation was, but it had something to do with suppression approximately.
"The centre of this spell formation is the Lan Zhi Yu Oceanarium." He Lou said slowly.
Only four people were present, so he had no qualms about ncing at Lu Yan now and then to get a good look at his opponent''s expression.
To his dismay, Lu Yan showed no difference.
Li Fang Zhi asked with some trepidation, "Then... the one upstairs, who often goes to the Oceanarium, could it be that he wants to destroy something?"
"Not sure." He Lou shook his head and whirled. He made a bold decision.
"Tomorrow is Tuesday. Let''s go to 404 together while he''s not at home."
Because it was just upstairs, He Lou spoke in a whisper, yet they could not doubt the firmness in his words.
Instead of sitting back and letting the ghosts kill themselves for no apparent reason, it was better to take the initiative and perhaps find some tools in 404 that would allow them to escape.
He gazed at Lu Yan, his eyes narrowing slightly, and asked, "Why don''t youe along too?"
Lu Yan froze and nodded his head in agreement, "Yes."
Chapter 13: Dont open the door!
Chapter 13: Don''t open the door!
Li Fang Zhi was a little worried: "Do we have to go over there?"
He Lou nodded affirmatively.
"What if ......" Li Fang Zhi wanted to say something.
"There is no eventuality, and even if there is, we must still go and look." He Lou said with certainty, raising a smile, "Besides, I''ve invited some helpers, and they''ll probably arrive soon."
Helpers?
Now Lu Yan''s gaze also turned, and his eyebrows raised slightly.
What kind of helpers had He Lou found?
I don''t know if it was because he had discovered everything and intended to break the ice. Still, He Lou had regained his calmness when he first met him. He told them where those helpers came from.
It turned out that He Lou had contacted a group of Taoist priests who imed to be monks on that mysterious website. Their ancestor had set up the great sealing formation in the first ce, said to be surnamed Lin, and they no longer knew his Daoist name. The only thing known was that they needed to fulfill their ancestor''s legacy and destroy Lan Zhi Yu, who might turn into a Jumping Undead ().
Only now did He Lou realise that this mission of his, which said that he had to stay in the t for an entire week, was a week before the deadline, right? If they didn''t find the secret hidden inside the t and help seal the "zombie", then within a week, they would all be the flesh and blood sacrifices needed to awaken the undead!
When Lu Yan heard about the helpers, he felt no fear as He Lou thought he should. Still, He Lou looked at him with confusion and thought, ''This man is really strong mentally. He can''t escape even after the zombies are awakened, so why did he do this?''
Is there such a person in the world who would harm others and himself?
Lu Yan was in his element,pletely ignoring the tentative look in He Lou''s gaze, as he had been the other day. A little cowardly and foolish in his amiability: "Help? That''s great. I''ll have to buy some more food to serve them."
No one was interested in what he bought, so he did as he pleased and returned from a supermarket trip in the afternoon.
Early the following day, four figures lined up in a neat line, walking on the road to themunity.
"Brother Lin, do we have to go?" The person who asked was the woman walking at the end, with fine lines at the corners of her eyes, and her face was not young. The man at the head of the group, whom she called Brother Lin, looked only sixteen or seventeen, just like a handsome teenager, with only a pair of eyes that revealed an old sullenness.
"There''s no other way." The teenager at the head of the group said softly, "Senior sister Li, the ancestor, set up a seal back then to ensure that it could consume the power of that zombie. It would turn into dust after a hundred years, but recently I don''t know what kind of person is awakening it ......"
Of the four people, only the two talked. The middle two were wrapped from head to toe in wide ck robes. If someone looked closely, they would undoubtedly be surprised to find that the two ck figures did not walk as normally but gently and in small jumps and hopped forward. Their bodies were stiff and unlike living people.
The distance between the four men was as precise as if someone had measured them with a ruler, forever maintaining a fixed, not too far, not too close length.
"Senior Brother Lin, are you sure what that man said is true?" Senior Sister Li asked again.
"As long as I can seal it up, what matters if it''s true?" The teenager she called Senior Brother Lin sighed.
"Senior Brother, are you sure?"
This time, the teenager at the head of the group was silent for a long time.
"No." He said indifferently. "Perhaps, we will all die here."
At this moment, they reached the district entrance just in time, and the teenager tilted his head to look at a few tall buildings, his gaze sullen.
In these words, Li''s sister was also silent, and after a while, she forced herself to say, "This is our destiny."
*
"They are already in the neighbourhood." He Lou smiled and looked at Lu Yan, "Can I trouble you to pick them up for a moment?"
Lu Yan smiled softly and looked straight at He Lou with both eyes, "Sure."
Now He Lou needed to figure out what he wanted to do.
Saying that he wanted to live, he could do what he did to wake Lan Zhi Yu at the underground station. He said he wanted to take everyone to die, doing whatever he was told to do these days without the slightestint. Now that the Daoist priest he had invited had arrived, the other party also looked happy.
Lu Yan''s smile, which was very different from his usual one, made the sweat on Li Fang Zhi''s body explode. She looked at Lu Yan warily. However, thetter looked at them with an innocent look and a smile, "What''s wrong?"
After saying that, he tapped his fingertips on the table, saying, "I won''t disturb you to discuss things. Now, I''ll go down to greet them."
After he had left, Li Fang Zhi immediately turned her head, her eyes silently questioning.
He Lou''s face was grave: "It was an oversight on my part. We all underestimated him." After saying this, he told Li Fang Zhi all the information he had found.
Li Fang Zhi sat on the side, her expression changing.
Although she had vaguely sensed something was wrong with Lu Yan, she had been equally concealed by the little bit of wrongness he had deliberately disyed.
How could she not have imagined that from the very beginning, it was Lu Yan who had awakened the zombie?
"So ...... it was him all along." Li Fang Zhi murmured, and she was abruptly shocked, "Then the camera he put there in the past?"
"Since he''s willing to install it, let him go and get it back. When the Daoist priests arrive, let them check it out." He Lou''s tone was cold.
Speaking of cameras, the thought of something shed through his mind before he pounded his fist on the tabletop fiercely.
Initially, he asked Lu Yan if there were any cameras at home, but the other party denied it too quickly. While he should not have had a sudden change in attitude, now that he thought about it ...... this was obviously not normal.
Li Fang Zhi saw He Lou suddenly stand up and walk towards the room with a sweeping gaze, then moved a stool to step on it and took out something from the trademark of the air conditioner.
It was a miniature camera, still shing red before removing it, obviously working.
The fist holding the camera slowly clenched, almost crushing its small parts. He Lou took a deep breath and jumped off the stool, showing the camera in his hand to Li Fang Zhi.
"You''d better check if the room you''re staying in has one too."
Li Fang Zhi disappeared quickly. A short whileter, she emerged from her room with an equally ugly face, spreading her palm with the same miniature camera in her palm.
*
"Knock, knock, knock."
There were three knocks on the door, followed by a click as it opened.
Lu Yan walked in with four figures and asked the two sitting on the sofa curiously, "Have you discussed it yet?"
He Lou smiled, "Yes, we have."
"That''s good. I was worried about disturbing you guys. Now I''ll introduce you." Lu Yan was always polite when dealing with strangers.
"This is He Lou, and this is Li Fang Zhi." Lu Yan introduced them one by one, "These two are Taoist masters!"
The young man at the head of the group, dressed in a modern outfit but with his long hair tied back, carried a peach wood sword. His gaze old and sullen like ate man, he nodded slightly, "I dare not call myself a master, but I will do my best."
"As for these two ...... figures," faced with the two figures in ck robes, Lu Yan was in a quandary.
Grandmaster Lin said, "These are the two I have invited out of the ancestor''s lineage. I only hope they can be of help."
With that, Master Li lifted his hand. He lifted the two ck robes, revealing two green and white faces affixed with yellow-backed, red-printed Taoist talismans.
Even more striking was the costume of the two zombies, with their red pointed round hats, indigo waistcoat robes and a long braid at the back of their heads. They were dressed as Qing Dynasty officials!
He Lou''s eyelids jumped.
This kind of thing that he had only seen in movies in the past appeared in front of his eyes and was a bit frightening.
"This, this is ......" Lu Yan was so surprised that he was a little speechless.
"Not bad. It is none other than the two Jumping Undeads left behind by the ancestor." Speaking of ancestors, Master Lin''s eyes were filled with pride. "It may be barely enough to deal with Lan Zhi Yu. but against that ...... one upstairs," he reached out and pointed, "one is sufficient."
But He Lou said, "Be careful." His heart was dripping blood as he said this.
"Master Lin, we put cameras up there yesterday. It''s better to know more about it." Saying that, he turned his head to look at Lu Yan, "Now, can I trouble you to go to the fourth floor and take the camera down?"
Lu Yan was a bit embarrassed and politely declined the question for the first time, "It''s noon. Several masters havee a long way. Why don''t you sit down and eat first? I''ll go back after we''ve eaten."
It was hard for He Lou to trust him. He always felt he would take advantage of the opportunity to do something again. However, he was eating and living with Lu Yan in front of the "masters" and forced the hosts to go up without eating. It was unjustifiable, so he agreed to go down.
Lu Yan consciously went to the kitchen to cook. Li Fang Zhi received He Lou''s look and followed him to guard the kitchen door in case the other party wanted to add some kind of drugs to the food. She stood by the door and listened to the conversationing from the living room.
What they did not know was the scene outside the door.
The doors of almost all the upants were knocked on at that exact moment.
"Knock, knock, knock ......"
"Who is it?" Someone from each houseined before getting up to check the cat''s eye.
"Who is it?"
"I don''t know. The cat''s eye looks red through."
"Then don''t open it."
Yet the knocking continued, and the noise grew louder and louder, to the point where it was almost as if a hammer was being used to smash the door so hard it could have broken it open.
"Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!"
"Get out of here! Stop knocking! Or I''ll call the police!"
"Go away! I''m calling the police!"
"The door, the door was knocked open ......"
"What is it? Help! ......"
"Ahhhhhhhhh-"
The noise did not reach 304 in any way. At that moment, inside 304, a few people were happily talking and sitting, waiting for dinner to start.
What they didn''t know was that the whole t had be a purgatory on earth.
There was some kind of monster that was eating them.
Chapter 14: I Want To Survive
Chapter 14: I Want To Survive
After lunch, Lu Yan washed the dishes.
He was always such a hard worker these days and so easy to bully. It was no wonder that the others were easily confused.
Li Fang Zhi stood at the kitchen door, staring at his busy back, her eyes inquisitive.
The seconds ticked down to noon.
Suddenly, everyone felt an unexined palpitation.
What was it?
What was going on?
At this moment, if they went out to check, they would inevitably be dumbfounded. Except for the door to room 304, almost all the doors to the housing were neatly opened at that moment. A pale, broken limb rubbed on the floor with a smooth creak as it moved neatly towards a particr door.
The door opened with a bang when thest limbs had fallen into the gap.
A terrifying aura spread.
If anyone could have observed it and looked down from above, they would have seen it rapidly extending towards the Orchid Jade Oceanarium in the city centre. All the people passing by felt a palpitation along the way.
Master Lin sank and walked over to the window to look up, his face suddenly bing even more gloomy.
"Shit, they''ve moved the n up."
A little bewildered, Lu Yan asked, "What n has been brought forward?"
Li Fang Zhi couldn''t stand the man''s pretentious face any longer, so she stepped forward and punched him. She had practised kung fu, and an ordinary man couldn''t dodge her punches and kicks. But Lu Yan stepped back with ease and smoothly came behind He Lou and put his hand on his neck as if he were brothers.
Of course, he wasn''t that friendly.
Lu Yan gave up his original, somewhat stupid expression. He moved his facial muscles and raised a smile with naked malice. A nakedly malicious smile and then a sidelong nce at Li Fang Zhi: "I advise you to calm down. Let''s all sit down together and think of a solution."
The force in his hand was powerful. With the sudden attack, the unprepared He Lou was caught unawares and could not break free for a moment but could only feel in vain that his opponent''s fingertips were almost poking through the flesh of his neck.
He was not strangling He Lou''s neck, so he could not breathe, but his fingertips were so hard that they almost sank into his skin. If the force was a little more potent and the nails a little sharper, Li Fang Zhi suspected that he could have poked several bloody holes in He Lou''s neck.
"Let''s all work together to find a way?" Even though He Lou''s life was under control, he still did not change his face, "Where is everyone? Didn''t you kill them all? Now you''re finally not willing to go on in disguise?"
"Disguise?" Lu Yan repeated the word yfully andughed a little, "Hahahahahahaha ...... I can certainly maintain the status quo if you guys are willing." He seemed to find it uninteresting and let go of his hand, putting the person down on the ground. He Lou straightened up, coughing half-heartedly, before looking straight at the crazy man in front of him.
"It''s just a shame - why did you guys have to break it up in advance?" A genuine regret was revealed in his eyes.
Li Fang Zhi couldn''t help but say, "You crazy, man!"
Even if they would kill to survive, they wouldn''t be so unprincipled as to get an NPC killed on sight. Compared to Lu Yan, Li Fang Zhi suddenly felt that people like herself could simply be described as kind.
"Call me crazy. Are you guys normal people?" Lu Yan was a little surprised, "Don''t forget that the first time you saw me, you were calcting how to take advantage of it and how to get rid of me if I didn''t do as you were told. "What? I''ve been obedient enough these past few days, haven''t I? I''ve fed you well, fed you well, and obeyed you, but you still want to get rid of me, don''t you?"
Li Fang Zhi still wanted to argue a few words but was stopped by He Lou''s eyes. He was not agitated or angry but said calmly, "I apologize for how we behaved before. Now can you tell us why you wanted to kill them and why you are suddenly willing to cooperate?"
When he got serious, Lu Yan lost his bad taste in intimidating others. Raised his eyes to nce upstairs with an indifferent expression, "Because I want to live too, do you understand?"
When he saw Lan Zhi Yu, he understood that the people who came this time would also bring the zombies. Without understanding when those things would be awakened, he preferred to take the initiative into his own hands.
Afterwards, the men joined him. When he knew they couldn''t leave the t, he decided to eliminate a group of "idiots" in advance. Otherwise, how would he cope if they turned into zombies in the t?
"So, since we all have the same goal, maybe we can work together for a while?" He Lou coughed a few more times, barely easing away the diforting from his throat.
Hearing He Lou''s words, Li Fang Zhi also quickly calmed down, "Indeed, I hope we can work together happily."
Now the situation was stronger than the people. Even if she and He Lou joined forces, they might be unable to finish each other off. The two masters invited had no intention of intervening. Besides, Lu Yan looked like someone who was mad and didn''t want to die, their enemy was a ghost, a zombie, and there was no need to fight Lu Yan to death here.
Moreover, if Lu Yan wanted to kill them, he could have poisoned the meal long before. Leaving the three of them behind meant he could cooperate adequately.
Lu Yan: "All right."
The sky was a little darker, with dark clouds and a cold, wet wind rustling through.
"It doesn''t look like we can wait until tomorrow." Senior Brother Lin said indifferently, "Just for now, let''s go up and look."
He took a brass bell out of his sleeve and gently shook it.
There was no sound, but the few people present seemed to hear a long, long bell.
Another bell rang, and they leapt forward in a neat step.
"Let''s go." Saying this, the teenage old and sullen Master Lin took the lead and opened the door to his home.
The rest of the few people followed, yet they all couldn''t help but be shocked for a moment once they saw the scene inside the building.
In the other three rooms, the doors were wide open, and a trail of blood trailed out from inside the doors, stretching from the stairway to the deep, almost invisible upper floors. There was no need to think about it. These homes must be in a bad way.
Perhaps the entire building''s upants had ......
The thought of this possibility made He Lou''s heart skip a beat, and when he looked at Lu Yan again, he was calm and unruffled on the other side, as if nothing was on his mind.
Even if these are neighbours who have lived together for so long.
He Lou suddenly had a bit of cold teeth. What about these neighbours if Lu Yan had killed them because he sensed their malice?
When they went together to ask questions, they could perceive that the neighbourhood of this building was quite good. They must have usually treated Lu Yan very well.
Was he that cold-blooded?
The group stopped on the fourth floor.
The remaining three doors were open at the moment, except for one forbidden door.
He Lou looked at the forbidden 404 door and said in a deep voice, "Master, this is the ce."
Master Lin looked at the 404 room door and knitted his brows, "Are you sure this was the ce?"
Lu Yan suddenly revealed a cynical smile and shook his head, "No, no, no, you all guessed wrong."
"This building, 404, has always been unupied. The person who chops the meat every night is Guan Yunlong of 405 ah ......"
Saying that, he reached out and took hold of the handle of room 404''s door, pressed it downwards and pulled it open backwards.
Behind that door, there was a snow-white wall!
It was an aged wall with some cracks.
"The 404 harmonic has a very bad meaning. Initially, the developer never intended for the 404 to be inhabited. This room is all filled up." Lu Yanughed heartily.
He Lou''s mind suddenly recalled a phrase that Huang Mao and Feng Chu Chu had each said.
"There is nothing to see, just ...... a white patch."
"...... Why is it still red when you look through the cat''s eye?"
What I saw before in 404 was just the wall.
Whenever Lu Yan described it, he said, "he lives upstairs." He never mentioned the door number because he took it for granted that there was something wrong with 404, so he ignored Guan Yunlong, who looked normal at 405.
It turned out that there was an oversight a long time ago.
He could have spotted it.
With another nce at Lu Yan, smiling extraordinarily happily, He Lou didn''t even feel angry any more.
A chill rose up his spine.
"What exactly do you want to do?" He couldn''t help but ask out loud.
"What do I want to do?" Lu Yan repeated the words with a bit of surprise and then said with a smile, "Didn''t I tell you a long time ago? I''m going to live."
When the outsiders came, the zombies were bound to be awakened, and he didn''t want to die at the hands of the ghosts, let alone the outsiders. Those things would be awakened anyway, so he chose to sacrifice the outsiders who were stupid and would get in the way of his ns first.
When the zombies were fed, they wouldn''t be on him.
He could live a little longer and hold on until the end.
Chapter 15: Where to hide?
Chapter 15: Where to hide?
He Lou vaguely understood Lu Yan''s meaning beyond his words and had mixed feelings.
To put it mildly, it seemed like they had brought this on themselves; if Lu Yan hadn''t sensed their killing intent, he wouldn''t have done it?
But at least He Lou and the Li sisters had survived until now, which meant that Lu Yan did not want to kill them for the time being, or perhaps because they were still of use to Lu Yan.
He Lou had mixed feelings. The prey and the hunter had switched.
The few hints of madness that had leaked out from Lu Yan''s eyes were all curbed. He nced at the three before turning to ask Master Lin, "Do you see where the source is?"
Master Lin was silent, not bothered by the personal feud that had erupted in front of him, and when he heard Lu Yan''s question, he only slowly raised his hand and shook the brass bell in his palm.
"Jingle-"
There was another long, ethereal ringing sound. One of the two zombies immediately turned, stiffened its body, and leapt up andnded. The yellow paper on its forehead was rustled by the wind, causing people to worry that it would be blown away in the next moment.
The fear was superfluous as it steadily made its way towards 405-room.
Meanwhile, the teenage Master Lin slowly closed his eyes and used them to scan the interior.
"It is no longer here."
The room was empty except for the bloodstains.
He Lou pursued the question, "Then why is there an extra floor in this building?"
Still, with his eyes closed, the teenager squatted down and pressed his palm to the ground, sensing it carefully.
The next second, he jerked his hand back as if he had been burned, and his always t face wavered a little more.
"This is ...... inside," he said with an uncontainable shock in his tone.
*.
Downtown, Lan Zhi Yu Oceanarium.
The staff was already small on weekdays, and it was even colder today. A tall figure slowly stepped through the doors, standing in front of the vast dark blue ss wall and reaching up to pull down his hood and mask.
It was Guan Yunlong, a resident of 405.
He kept moving, removing the hood and then unzipping it, pulling off his jacket, followed by short sleeves, trousers and underwear. Soon, his entire body was stripped naked.
Meanwhile, inside the wall, the calm waters suddenly fluctuated violently.
I don''t know which one started first. Perhaps it was one of the small fish. It suddenly swam forward with all its might, straight outwards with great speed, and mmed its head hard against the clear ss with such force that it was hard to believe that it was only a tiny fish the size of a finger.
The impact left a blood stain and a white substance on the ss wall, quickly disappearing as the water rippled.
The carcass slowly rose to the surface and was swallowed by several fish, who then swam off into the distance. When they were about the same distance away, they rushed straight at the ss wall and crashed into it with a "thud".
One, two, three ...... countless ...... all the fish like crazy to send dead in unison, one after another. The fresh carcass was fought over and devoured. The always docile swimming fish rushed each other, tearing the clean water surface with blood muddy, countlessrge and small. The clean water was muddied a little by the blood, numerous fish bodies of all sizes floated up, and new ones arrived in the distance. By the time the man stood naked in front of the ss wall, it had be ake of blood.
The man did not stop moving, reaching his hands over to the back of his head and feeling careful. A small piece of bone protruded from the neck below the back of his head, and the tips of his left and right fingers stabbed down hard. "With a poof, a column of eight holes opened up, blood sshed, gurgling down his elbows and sttering the ground.
As the blood flowed out, he stood still like a deted balloon. His skin drying out rapidly. In the end, the figure standing in front of the ss wall was no different from a dry corpse, with bones protruding and only a thinyer of skin covering it.
But the dry body''s abdomen bulged out a little.
*
"Now the source is no longer here, it''s moving towards ......" the teenage-looking Master Lin closed his eyes and perceived it, "it''s moving towards the Oceanarium downtown.
"We have to make a trip there!"
He opened his eyes, and the zombie that had entered the room to check on him had returned to its ce at some point, standing quietly behind him, arms stiff and t, tiptoeing, emitting the stench of cold silence and decay.
Li''s face was calm, as if she had already epted the fate of death.
"Go on, then." Lu Yan took off the camera he had ced on the floor and handed it to He Lou, "We''ll wait here for you to return."
He looked around the room, constantly feeling that something was wrong.
What was it exactly?
He Lou took it and turned his head to ask Master Lin, "Can I look at it?"
The sullen old teenager gazed at the camera he held in his hand for a moment and nodded.
That was no problem.
He Lou asked Lu Yan again, "Aren''t you going with them?"
Lu Yan''s lips curled, "I told you I want to live."
What was he doing going to the Oceanarium?
To die?
As long as these people left, he would be safe.
He Lou didn''t want to stay with Lu Yan, but he couldn''t leave the t. Right now, only Lu Yan''s house could remain in the whole apartment. The other rooms looked like a hurricane had swept through them from the outside, and they were all in a mess, bloodstained.
Lu Yan took them to the bottom of the t and watched them leave before turning around and going upstairs.
"Come on, let''s watch the video together."
He Lou also felt something was wrong when he followed into the room. He hesitated for a moment or asked the other two, "Do you feel ...... anything wrong?"
Lu Yan frowned, "That question, I was just about to ask as well."
Li Fang Zhi likewise frowned.
There was always a feeling that they had overlooked something.
What had they overlooked?
Li Fang Zhi shook her head, "Forget it. I can''t think of anything right now. Let''s watch the video first, the three of us." Wait, three people?
Li Fang Zhi''s heart skipped a beat. She looked left and right. There were only three people in the room.
Me, where''s my sister?
"Wait!"
In a sh of lightning, all three thought of something.
The one they had been ignoring and forgetting - Li Fang Yu.
"Where''s Li Fang Yu?"
"Where''s your sister?"
"Where''s my sister?"
The three looked at each other, their faces all a little ugly.
It was unreasonable for them to ignore someone together.
What exactly had happened to Li Fang Yu? Since when have they started ignoring her? And when had she disappeared?
Li Fang Zhi took a deep breath, her nostrils filled with the stench of blood and rotting flesh. She calmed down and turned her head to ask, "Lu Yan, how long have you been installing surveince in our room?"
In the heat of the moment, Lu Yan didn''t bother with his choice of words: "On the first day you stayed here."
"Well then, to save time, let''s watch several videos simultaneously, and we''ll sit and watch them together." Li Fang Zhi knew that He Lou had also installed video equipment in the living room in his way.
**
The weather was bad today and rained.. The dark clouds were low and horribly gloomy.
A beautiful long-haired woman walked along the road. Her pace was fast and somewhat peculiar, as if she were walking and dancing simultaneously. As she advanced, she sang softly and softly.
It was a song that had never been heard before. A piece of wonderfully beautiful music that could awaken the most beautiful yearnings in one''s heart. Made one feel like one was in bliss, prated all barriers and reached one''s ears.
No matter what you are doing, you cannot escape the call of this song.
The song is heard more and more in small street shops, high-rise office blocks, residential buildings and parks .......
It''s wonderful ......
People''s faces flushed, and their smiles widened.
It was so wonderful. Even if they died in the next second of the song, it was worth it.
The blood mist filled the air, and the whole city dropped what they were doing and poured in that direction. Their faces smiled with fascination. Their eyes lost their lustre and grew dull as they took to the streets, stumbling to keep up with the figure.
Some of those in the tallest buildings opened their windows and leapt down to the ground, where blood mist filled the bottom. A puddle of flesh and blood rose tremulously to follow the mass of people.
*
As soon as the song started, the three people sitting on the sofa watching the video reacted quickly. They were closing the windows, pulling the curtains, and turning the lights. Completing the whole house thoroughly. Putting earplugs in their ears, turning on theirputers and stereos, and ying all kinds of music to block out the pervasive theme and the blood mist.
But it was of little use.
There were still wisps of blood misting in from the corners, and as soon as theputer was turned on, the figure of Li Fang Yu, who had transformed entirely into Lan Zhi Yu, popped up. Li Fang Zhi''s heart ached, but she had to be ruthless and shut theputer down, smashing it hard.
"What to do?"
They stood at the window and saw the steady stream of people below them, and a chill ran through their hearts.
*
The question came not only between the three, but equally between the two Taoist priests.
Master Lin was in a bit of a mess, and he added three more talismans to each of the zombies'' foreheads, which calmed the two restless ones.
But he ignored his senior sister''s question. After a moment of silence, he said, "I left a few talismans for each of them so that they might be able to resist for a little longer."
Sister Li sighed, "What time is it that you still care about others? If this matter is not handled properly, the whole city will ......"
She nced at the sky, and a steady stream of blood-coloured mist gathered within an invisible space to ordinary people.
"We''ve already destroyed one of the formations in that t just now. Now go to the next one. Let''s dy it for a while." The old adult teenager sighed in the same way.
Grandmaster, you''ve left a big hidden danger behind ......
Li Fang Yu, or now Lan Zhi Yu, had entered the Oceanarium.
The dry corpse standing in front of the Oceanarium slowly turned around, revealing a bulging abdomen. His hand was still on his back, and with one push, the human skin was pulled away like gauze. Little by little, like a zip, he ripped the skin off his back, revealing a long opening.
Strangely, it was not bone and flesh inside.
The dryad reached into therge hole in his back, felt around and pulled out a pale hand, followed by the arm and a whole body, which was ripped out and dropped to the ground. He moved quickly, one body after another, and the body was like a bottomless pit that could not be emptied. Before long, the ss wall was filled with bodies, swollen, pale and strewn in a mountain of bodies.
Time was of the essence; these were the ones she hadn''t been able to finish digesting and could only be stored on the extra floor between the third and fourth floors for now.
The floor Master Lin had sensed just now was where it was used to store the reserve food!
At this moment, Lu Yan was sitting on the sofa, trying his best to focus. His eyes were deadly fixed on the video, his handsome face a little red and swollen as if someone had beaten him.
He Lou and Li Fang Zhi did the same, covering their ears and watching the video while keeping an eye on the other two with their afterimages. As soon as they spotted anyone with a tendency to mutate, they would use their way to bring the other to his senses.
For some reason, the other two were ruthless in the face of Lu Yan''s asional outbursts. Of course, Lu Yan was not far behind, and all three were left hanging.
There was a rustling sound from upstairs, as if something was dragging on the floor. At first, the sound was minimal, but gradually it became louder and louder. Even though the three were struggling to resist, they heard it but couldn''t think about what the hell it was again, just trying to keep themselves awake.
"Do you think ...... they will ...... win?"
Li Fang Zhi spat out a sentence with difficulty. She felt likeughing along again, pinching the needle in her hand and stabbing it hard into her thigh, her eyes regaining rity.
He Lou did not answer. Instead, it was Lu Yan whoughed. Li Fang Zhi''s eyes lit up; she thought she could retake personal revenge; who knew that Lu Yan struggled to sit a little further away: "It''s okay if you can''t win ......"
"Let''s all die together." He nced at He Lou and Li Fang Zhi, thinking it was better to die together with these two than be with those fools from before. "By the way, you guys, when ...... will you be able to leave?"
He Lou was not surprised that he knew he had a time limit this time; he took a deep breath, "Zero hours of the seventh day."
"...... Then, two more days."
If they couldn''t leave, they would probably end up in the same ce as Guan Yunlong upstairs, right?
Lu Yan was a little out of it.
For now, Lan Zhi Yu''s sacrifice should be enough; the three were unimportant people, so Lan Zhi Yu wouldn''t have to eat them.
They would be fine if they could escape for two days.
Hiding for two days ......
Where could they hide?
Chapter 16: The stairs that never end
Chapter 16: The stairs that never end
It took a long time for the rustling upstairs to die down, and then it was utterly silent.
Lu Yan looked up at the ceiling.
"What are, what are you thinking about?" He Lou was afraid of him, and worried that the bastard would make another mess.
"I was thinking, what was ...... upstairs just now?" Lu Yan breathed deeply, suppressing the urge tough.
"I also want to ask you, an extrayer, you ...... really, do not know?"
"Don''t know, really don''t know ......" Lu Yan muttered, "not before he moved here."So, why did he need such a space? And surprisingly, they never found it either.
What was this ce used for?
No, this space had never been discovered, even from the outside, and one could not help but overlook it. Master Lin had said before that there were no ghosts there.
Was there a better ce to hide than that?
Suddenly thinking of this possibility, Lu Yan''s heart shook.
Coincidentally, this question also urred to Li Fang Zhi at that moment.
He Lou suddenly blossomed into a smile, and the two of them looked at each other and immediately rushed over to pinch and scratch the man so that he could quicklye to his senses.
"We, have to go upstairs and have a look."
"No, not upstairs, it''s that ...... extra floor."
"How do we ...... er, how do we get in?"
Master Lin had said that the thing upstairs was gone, meaning they wouldn''t be facing the ghosts directly even if they went over there now. It wasn''t confident there would be any other dangers yet, but they couldn''t care less about that.
"Whatever, let''s go up there and check it out." Lu Yan gave a brutal twist to his thigh that showed no mercy at all, and the pain caused his eyes to clear over, "Let''s go to ......405 first. Maybe we can find a clue."
Better...... better than going outside.
Lu Yan cast his gaze out the window.
Outside the window was a thick fog of blood. Peopleughed obsessively and wildly in the blood fog, twisting and turning their bodies to move downtown. Even if they were knocked out of control and crushed into mush by the wheels, they still got up and squirmed, and their bloody faces could still be seenughing obsessively.
He definitely, did not want to look like this!
At the moment, he was d he had taken out the others first. Otherwise, with their minds, they could easily have turned into zombies, and they wouldn''t have been able to leave the t, and it would only have been his own bad luck.
There were only two of them, and even if they suddenly mutated, he was still sure of himself.
He Lou was already standing at the door, took a deep breath, wrapped his head and face, and then opened the door with one hand!
The blood mist, so thick that it could almost drown a person, slowly poured in, and therge amount of fishy-sweet aroma mixed with the smell of blood made people want to vomit.
The moment the door was opened, He Lou had already crouched down. The other two did the same, wrapping themselves up tightly and avoiding the area where the blood mist was thick as much as possible.
The talisman paper in their pockets glowed faintly, and their dizziness improved as they stumbled and helped each other towards the stairs, each covering his mouth and nose to death. He Lou pounced on the lift and pressed the button desperately. Amid blood, the numbers on the lift disy moved up a little, and the door opened with a ding.
But they stopped in their tracks in unison.
There was a small child in the lift with an uncharacteristically dopey smile on his young face.
Lu Yan knew him.
It was the child of the young couple on the ground floor.
He Lou immediately pressed the button on the ground floor to send them away.
The lift was out of the question, so they had to take the stairs. They turned to the stairwell.
The stairs were used as a fire escape, and hardly anyone came. The stairwell doors were typically closed. Plus, after the man moved in, everyone ignored the unreasonable floor level even more. He Lou banged hard a few times and finally got the door open, and then froze.
On the floor, a trail of blood had been dragged upwards. When he looked downstairs again, he saw that all the bloodstains were also on the fourth floor.
He Lou suddenly wanted tough, it turned out that the clue was there all along, but they just didn''t find it.
The fourth floor, no, that extra floor was where it used to store the food, right? Just now, they heard the rustling sound of those corpses stuffed in the mezzanine moving around!
Only, the bodies had moved to who knows where, to the centre of the city, he thought?
The blood mist had thickened, so they could barely see anything around them. Even opening their eyes, they could feel them seemingly trying to get into their eyes.
They all closed their eyes and groped a little along the railing, heading upstairs.
In fact, it was useless to open their eyes. It was alreadypletely dark, and all the lights in the building had been destroyed. Even with their eyes open, they couldn''t see anything.
And the usually ordinary hallway seemed extraordinarily long today; no matter how they walked, they never felt their way around the corner.
*
At the other end, the old adult boy and his sister arrived at one of the corners of the city.
This was the "Orchid Jade Pet Hospital".
"Let''s go, the third one." Master Lin couldn''t confront the soon-to-be-revived Lan Zhi Yu head-on, so he had to find a way to start from somewhere else, such as - destroying a part of its formation.
Now that Lan Zhi Yu had presumably reacted, the nearby residents had changed direction and wereing steadily towards where they were. The smiles they wore on their faces gradually stiffened, their faces turning a little green and white, their skin drying out a little.
And as their skin dried, the blood mist surrounding them grew even thicker.
Luckily, they had two zombies, which had been refined for many years. Their killing power was naturally notparable to that of the inhabitants of the first mutation. Protected by the two zombies, the two entered the Orchid Jade Pet Hospital.
The pet hospital was no better, all the animals had been drained of their flesh and blood, and only white skeletons remained in the cages.
"Brother, I ...... I''ve wanted to ask you for a long time." Senior Sister Li suddenly asked, "Is it true that what you gave them was a charm to make them resist?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean? Senior Brother, you should know very well." Senior Sister Li said, "Are you really destroying the formations? Why do these formations look so familiar to me? Why did you not allow the other uncles to go out of the mountain when they obviously said they could? Saying that you can solve it yourself, yet you only brought me and two jumping undead?" Senior Sister Li did not evade and looked straight at Senior Brother Lin, "You chose me because you think I am still the same senior sister who is not good at formations, right? Thirty years ago, you suddenly returned to the vige with a broken heart, then cultivated your body and concentrated on cultivation. Your uncles and aunts all thought you had changed your nature, but who were you changing your nature for? What have you been studying all these years? Although I''m not good at some of the arts, I can see that you''re not destroying the great formation, you''re clearly releasing it!"
With every word, the old mature teenager''s face became more gloomy. At this moment, where was the pitiful demeanour he had when he first arrived? The lights inside the pet hospital were dim, illuminating his face in obscurity.
Master Li said bitterly, "You''re going against the ancestral teachings! The Ancestor will not forgive you!"
"As long as she can live. We can live with the heavens, why do I need anyone''s forgiveness?" Master Lin had regained hisposure, "I wanted to keep you until the end and let you go in peace, but now it seems that ...... cannot keep you."
At this moment, the three, still feeling their way up the stairs, had been walking for a long, long time. How could they not feel their way to the corner of the railing?
They all couldn''t help but wonder: were they ...... really going up the stairs?
Chapter 17: Someone at the Door
Chapter 17: Someone at the Door
Lu Yan felt the talisman he kept close to him, which the Taoist priest had just given him.
Three people, one for each.
Not caring so much, he held the talisman up nearly a foot from his forehead to dispel some of the blood mist in front of him. With his other hand, he fumbled for his mobile phone, which he painstakingly lowered to bring up his torch so that he could at least open his eyes to see what was around him.
After walking so long, so long that his legs were sore, it was surprising that they stayed where they were.
When they looked up, the bright red "4" was still in the distance, even through the thick fog of blood. It still appeared starkly on the snowy white wall.
They knew there was a problem, but out of ostrich mentality, no one had dared to raise it.
As long as they took their time, preferably until two dayster, they would be relieved for the time being.
Lu Yan slowed his breathing as he took his bearings, swatted away the almost threadbare mist of blood trying to get into his eyes, and stumbled up the railing.
Wouldn''t the talisman dispel the evil spirits? Why ...... did he feel fainter in his head?
He nced at the time disyed on his phone.
It was after two o''clock, and the hallway was dark and scarlet except for a bit of light from the phone.
Where were the other two people?
His mind became even dizzier.
What was the way to survive?
Lu Yan grabbed himself by the neck and gave himself a hard blow, and in a few moments, the choking sensation brought him to his senses. He shook his head, took thest remaining ticket out of his pocket, put it in front of his eyes and waved it twice.
Better for the two together than one alone, right?
The ticket was frighteningly hot the next instant, and the talisman burst into mes in his hand. The fire seemed to have some other function, instantly dispelling much of the blood mist and clearing a pitch-ck void without it in front of him.
With this momentary brightness, he finally saw the other two people.
Li Fang Zhi was standing quietly in the corner. The talisman presented by the Taoist priest had somehow been affixed to her forehead, her body was stiff, and her skin was sunken. The moment the light came on, the head slowly turned, and the pair of eyes blocking the talisman looked over through a thin blood mist.
She had mutated.
He Lou was better, crouched on the ground, constantly trembling as if he was trying his best to contain something. Lu Yan stumbled back and tapped him on the shoulder.
He Lou paused and looked back.
A vaguely green face was smiling dementedly.
Good, there was still help.
Lu Yan unceremoniously gave him a violent beating, snatched the talisman from his hand, and tore it up as soon as possible, which brought him to his senses.
This was why he had to exclude some of them first. Since they were going to be transformed into zombies and had taken the initiative toe to him, it meant that the mission was rted to him. If those fools remained, they couldn''t possibly turn into helpers but would only be a liability!
"There''s something wrong with that Taoist priest." Lu Yan slowed his breath and pointed at Li Fang Zhi, who hadpletely turned into a zombie in the corner. He Lou understood at first nce, and a chill rose from his heart.
Almost ...... close, he was going to put this talisman on his forehead.
Without the talisman on his body, he didn''t know if it was an illusion, but the concentration of the blood fog around him dropped a bit. They could notice that the mist was all drifting towards the area where Li Fang Zhi was. It slowly disappeared into the talisman in front of her forehead.
Lu Yan reached out his hand and carefully touched Li Fang Zhi.
Thetter''s body was stiff and metallic to the touch, and the smell of decay had begun to emanate from her body. Lu Yan yelled at He Lou, "Why don''t youe and help quickly?"
The two men carefully carried Li Fang Zhi to the lift room, figuring that the brat should have gone, and pressed the switch.
A momentter, however, the lift creaked up, and the child inside was surprisingly still there, looking up, grinning at the two men and jumping up and down to jump out.
He was the child of the young couple on the ground floor and, for some reason, had not followed them out.
As soon as Lu Yan pushed Li Fang Zhi in, he pushed down on top of the child and quickly pressed the button.
Before the lift doors closed, he could still see the child''s resentful and hideous eyes for a moment.
"Get out of here." Lu Yan gave He Lou a tug.
This time, the two proceeded much more normally up the stairs and arrived at the 405 entrance without incident. Lu Yan took a step back and used his backhand to push He Lou through the door.
He Lou''s entire body was frozen by the sudden coldness that overcame him before he could curse.
"How do you feel?" Lu Yan asked loudly.
He Lou took a few moments to catch his breath. He couldn''t care less about being angry.
"The floor...... isn''t quite right......," he shivered after a moment of recognition.
"Are you cold?"
He Lou nodded and hmphed.
After waiting for a while, seeing no other difference in He Lou, Lu Yan followed and stepped into 405.
The first reaction was cold, so cold that he shivered.
It was as if the whole person had been locked into a refrigerator. At this moment, Lu Yan still had the leisure to think wildly: could this be the zombie''s refrigerator?
"Find ...... find it."
It was only cold, Lu Yan felt he could still endure it, and after taking his bearings in the darkness, he wrapped his clothes tighter and walked towards the house.
It was pitch ck and difficult to see. He Lou shivered and took out his mobile phone and turned on his torch.
Both of them instantly froze in ce when the light came on.
The walls, the ceiling, the table, the chairs, the fridge and the coffee table were all densely covered with posters of a woman!
On each woman''s poster''s forehead was a yellow background with red-striped talismans, silky red threads glued between the talismans, and brass bells hanging from all four corners.
"We, we can''t mess with it ......"
If the red threads of the talisman or whatever were identally touched off, or if they identally touched this woman''s face, then the consequences would never be what they wanted to see.
So the Taoist priest lied to them when he said there was no danger in the building, right?
Where is the path to...... life?
How do they locate the mezzanine?
Lan Zhi Yu Oceanarium.
Master Li escaped and ran all the way in this direction. Before she left, her uncle gave her another brass bell; now, both Jumping Undeads were hers. Shey on one of the Jumping Undeads and drove them to take her there in time.
She already knew that her elder brother had put a puppet in that t, and this puppet was the one he used to take charge of collecting blood and flesh for supplying to Lan Zhi Yu.
The puppet was Guan Yunlong 405.
If she could just get the puppet under her control, she might be able to wait for her uncle and the others to arrive!
She took off quickly, and the teenager who hadpletely transformed into his green-faced fanged form pursued her. When he finally caught up, she could almost smell the strong fishy odouring from the other side. There was a sea of confused, insane smiles beyond that.
Inside room 405 of the t, He Lou and Lu Yan cautiously retreated towards the door.
The room and the living room ...... were all stered with posters and talismans; if they weren''t careful, they would tug on some thread. They decided to retreat to the door first to figure out what to do. But just the moment they stepped out the door, all their blood seemed to freeze.
The building was pitch ck, and the phone torch shone on a pair of shoes.
The shoes looked familiar.
The light shone upwards until it reached the figure''s face. Li Fang Zhi it was. Her cheeks werepletely sunken, her face was blue, and her arms were straight and rigid. And the talisman that was supposed to restrain her had vanished from her forehead!
Chapter 18: What is ...... under the bed?
Chapter 18: What is ...... under the bed?
Almost as soon as they had a clear view, the two reacted, with one heading upstairs and the other darting downstairs to flee.
Lu Yan, who was running downstairs, was regretful. He''d just stepped onto the third-floor stairwell when he noticed a child jumping downwards in the darkness.
He came to a dead standstill and even took a small step back.
Running upwards, He Lou was also regretting it. Outside the window, a small light flickered, and he heard the "thump, thump, thump" of a jump, clearly approaching him.
He was quicker on his feet.
He had walked for a long time during the ghostly fight and thought his strength had disappeared. Still, in the face of the zombies chasing him, his body''s potential exploded in a life-and-death situation. He increased his speed again, just enough to avoid the sharp ws almost poking his back.
What to do? What to do?
He couldn''t run upward for long. He would always get to the top of the building, and when he did, where else could he go?
Once he reached the ground floor, it would be certain death if he stepped out of the t before time was up.
Wait a minute?
Certain death?
A thought suddenly came to his mind.
Li Fang Zhi, who had turned into a zombie, also needed to follow the mission''s rules, right?
But he was in no state to do so. With the bright white moonlight streaming in from another staircase opening, he rounded the corner, dashed into one of the ts, and mmed the door shut!
He didn''t think the door could withstand the zombies, so he entered with a ragged breath, not knowing if it was due to the blood mist, but the lights in the room wouldn''t turn on. After a brief moment of confusion, he broke into one of the rooms. He crawled beneath the bed, his heart pounding like a drum.
At least ...... dyed for a while to regain his strength a little. Otherwise, he might not have been able to finish the job.
The zombie''s body was too stiff to adjust when it first mutated. He Lou silently recalled what Master Lin had said and only hoped that he would not lie to himself about this matter at least.
He heard the increasingly violent banging of the door outside, one after another, thunderous and with such force that the whole t seemed to copse.
Finally, the door was smashed.
One after another, the sound of footsteps came a little towards the room door.
He Lou almost held his breath.
Somehow, the sound suddenly stopped again.
What was going on?
It was dark in the middle of the night, not to mention that he was under the bed, with the sheets hanging down to the floor. He couldn''t see what was happening outside and had to rely on sound to identify it.
What was happening?
Should he take a look?
It shouldn''t matter if he lifted the curtain to have a look, right? Just a nce.
No, no, no, no.
He Lou shrank a little further into the bed in case he got too close to the edge, and something went wrong.
And it was with this retreat that his arm seemed to touch something. A stiff, cold touch that immediately made his sweat stand on end.
He slowly turned his head and came face to face with a pale, blue face.
That face, it was Feng Chu Chu''s.
He smiled.
Flee!!!
He Lou dashed out almost immediately. Surprisingly, there was no Li Fang Zhi figure outside the room. He hurried downstairs, hoping to catch up with Lu Yan.
Lu Yan couldn''t be so heartless as to take him out with him now that he was the only one left. He was still useful.
It was sad to say, but He Lou never thought that one day his position with the NPCs would bepletely reversed, and how long he would live would depend on his own use. But he had to admit that even if Lu Yan was scary, as long as he could see through his intentions, it was better to be with him than to face the ghosts directly.
Just as he ran outside, he bumped into a figure. Lu Yan gently shouted at him, "Why are you running so fast?"
He had already sent Li Fang Zhi and that little kid away. Why did he still look like he had seen a ghost?
The first time he hit a human body, He Lou stiffened for a moment. Still, the body carried the body heat. He immediately put his mind at ease and lowered his voice to quickly finish the story: "I just hid from Li Fang Zhi and went under the bed. Li Fang Zhi was gone, but I saw Feng Chu Chu under the bed."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the sound of thump, thump, thump reappeared.
A miserable white head bounced out a little with a demented smile. It was so white that the expression on its face could be seen vaguely in the darkness of the night by the moonlight.
If you didn''t see that it was just a head, the jumping look would be no different from that of a ball.
As Feng Chu Chu''s head leapt closer, it opened its mouth, filled with a few white, sharp teeth. It quickly bit at the two of them...
Toote, Lu Yan stabbed a stick into its mouth, but in an instant, he had thrown the head, along with the iron rod, out of the window.
Fortunately, the ce where they were standing was in the hallway, and the windows of each hallway were wide open.
The rule of not leaving the t for a week had to be observed, even to the point of death. The moment Feng Chuchu''s head was thrown outside the t, it suddenly let out a miserable scream, and the next second, a mist of blood emerged from it, as if it had been corrupted, and quickly disappeared.
"Where''s Li Fang Zhi and the other one?"
Seeing that Feng Chu Chu''s threat was gone, He Lou felt a lot more at ease and asked about the whereabouts of Li Fang Zhi. Although he hadn''t seen the imp chasing Lu Yan, he thought about it and knew why Li Fang Zhi''s charm was gone.
It was probably the talisman that the thing in the lift had torn off for her.
Lu Yan breathed softly and pointed to the window, "Just now I found the talisman that the little ghost had torn off for her from the elevator, and I put it back on her."
This was why He Lou suddenly heard the beating stop, and after Lu Yan had passed the talisman, he carried the corpse and threw it out the window.
"I threw it outside as well."
The word also caused He Lou to fall silent.
Although his strategy was to find a way to get Li Fang Zhi out of the t, Lu Yan really did it. Remembering the days they had worked together, He Lou still couldn''t help but feel a tinge of sadness.
Just like that, no more ......
He shook his head, throwing out the excess emotion.
There was very little blood mist in the air any more. Looking out the window, there were still quite a few citizens dementedly and epileptically hurrying towards the city centre.
Instead, He Lou grew uneasy.
Master Lin was obviously restless. Did this mean that they hadn''t seeded in sealing it?
As a Heavenly Master, zombies should be of great use, right? Otherwise, he wouldn''t have had to act like he valued those two zombies so much. Could he have had no intention of going after Lan Zhi Yu?
Looking at the situation, it was close to sess.
Will he still be able to hold out until it''s time for the mission to bepleted?
As soon as the time is up, he will automatically return to the world he is in and be able to gain a short period of safety. As for what will happen to Lu Yan ...... who cares?
The worlds they do their missions will sometimes be the same. If Lu Yan doesn''t die, there''s a good chance they''ll meet up again.
It''s tragic to even think about it.
There was no telling how much interest could be exchanged for the news of such an NPC anomaly.
But it would all need to wait for the return before it could be cashed in, and it was still unknown whether he would survive.
He Lou shot a veiled nce at Lu Yan, took a deep breath and asked, "Where should we go now?"
Lu Yan said with certainty, "The mezzanine in the middle of the third or fourth floor!"
He Lou''s heart was clear. The more the Daoist priest didn''t let them go, the more it meant something was wrong. He nodded his head and agreed.
Unbeknownst to him, Lu Yan was also unsure in his heart.
But it didn''t matter. Just let He Lou go in first and try.
It was almost dawn.
Chapter 19: Footsteps Overhead
Chapter 19: Footsteps Overhead
The sky was white with the belly of a fish, and the mist of blood that had been floating around gradually dissipated.
The whole city was silent, almost empty.
The blood mist dissipated, and the songs ceased. He Lou reckoned that Lan Zhi Yu was probably too busy devouring other citizens to care about the two fish that had slipped through the. He nced at the bell tower in the distance, always an uneasy little inside.
Even if he did not regard the inhabitants of the other world as human beings like himself, the demise of the whole city gave him the chills.
Especially when he saw Lu Yan''s nd expression reflected in the ss window, his scalp tingled.
He just really ...... didn''t care at all?
"How do we get into the mezzanine now?" He Lou asked again.
What he was very reluctant to admit was that he now had to rely on Lu Yan.
As long as Lu Yan''s goal was also to survive, they could work together.
Lu Yan, for his part, gazed downstairs, wondering what he was thinking. He Lou followed him over to look and found that what he was staring at was the corpse of Li Fang Zhi downstairs.
After turning into a zombie, all flesh and blood of her body had been eliminated, leaving only ayer of skin and bones. She had fallen to the ground after being thrown from a height. He didn''t know if it was because of the talisman or some other reason, but it stayed in ce and didn''t move.
"Is this what you will be when you leave the t?" Lu Yan asked coldly.
He Lou looked down at Li Fang Zhi''s miserable state, not understanding why the other party was asking this, but still nodded.
Lu Yan said, "I have a guess, let''s watch the video first while it can''t care about us now." He unzipped his shirt pocket and took out a small memory card.
"Where is this footage from?"
"The other day, at my ce." Lu Yan didn''t say much.
They found a random home, rummaged through the rubble that littered the ce, pulled out the newputer and inserted the memory card to check it.
"Crank it up a bit and look specifically at the contents of Li Fang Yu."
He Lou quickly operated it and soon cut out several images of Li Fang Yu.
Halfway through, Lu Yan suddenly said, "Stop! This is it!" He Lou clicked his finger, and the image stopped at the bathroom door before Li Fang Yu exited.
"Zoom in here."
In the video, her face was pale, and her hair was waist-length, but the figure reflected in the ss ...... face was Lan Zhi Yu!
It turned out that Li Fang Yu had long been possessed by Lan Zhi Yu, and they hadn''t even noticed it at all. They had just lived with Lan Zhi Yu for several days without this knowledge.
At the thought of this conclusion, He Lou only felt the blood in his body freeze for a moment.
"I could detect from a few songs that she could confuse people''s minds. Isn''t this kind of tropemon in horror movies? After a ghost kills or possesses someone, it disguises itself as that person and goes on with its life, undetectable to others."
And now, she was possessed by Li Fang Yu, which was instead to their advantage.
While He Lou was still dwelling on the aftermath, a thought urred to Lu Yan -
Noticing that the other party hadn''t spoken for half a day, He Lou took the initiative and said, "Forget about that now, let''s find the mezzanine first."
405 That room was nowhere to be found.
Lu Yan gave him a look and agreed: "Each find the tools, 405 can''t be broken through, then we''ll go in through 404."
After saying that, he lifted his feet and headed upstairs, "Hurry up while you can, find the tools that can cut through the floor."
He was afraid of him. He always felt as if the other man was nning something again, but he couldn''t argue with him for a moment. He went after him and found that the other man was looking for tools, so he had to follow him next door.
It was a challenging task. They found their way upstairs to downstairs before they managed to retrieve a few sapper shovels from Lu Yan''s own home that no ordinary person would have.
"I suddenly remembered that I used to have a collection of them." Facing He Lou''s surprised gaze, Lu Yan said frankly.
Even if He Lou knew what he must have done while the two were apart, he couldn''t count that much, and the two carried the shovels up the stairs and into a room ready for work.
*
Lan Zhi Yu Oceanarium.
Sister Li was at the end of her tether but didn''t look the least bit scared.
The teenager, who had taken on the appearance of a green-faced fang, slowly stepped into the Oceanarium. Beside him, the beautiful woman stood quietly. Her skin was so white and gorgeous that no one would realise from her appearance alone that she was actually the legendary and terrifying zombie.
"I don''t actually want to kill you." Master Lin nced at Lan Zhi Yu, his eyes showing infatuation, and when he turned his head to face Senior Sister Li, there was regret in his eyes.
"If you were a little dumber or smarter, I wouldn''t have killed you." A little dumber, and she would not have found out; a little wiser, and she would have known what to say and what not to say.
Sister Li ambled quietly to the ground, her eyes fixed on them with a deadly stare, wondering what she was thinking.
"You''re still thinking about the others?" The young man gradually reverted to his usual handsome appearance and slowly walked over to her, bowing his head and stepping on her hand, "Die, the whole city is here now and they will witness her return."
Outside the Oceanarium, a steady stream of blood and flesh poured in. Behind the beautiful woman, several scarlet and soft bands of tubing were attached.
The old, mature teenager spoke with a frenzied tone, and soon, his words changed to look at his sister on the ground, who was no longer in her glory.
"But, at least we have had decades of fellowship, I will put youst."
With that promise, Senior Sister Li pulled that hand out from under his feet with force and looked up into the midair with a listless look, "That''s what you said."
Her reaction wasn''t quite right, and the teenager frowned but couldn''t figure out what was wrong.
All that remained in the air for a moment was a simrly quiet, baby-sucking-like sound.
The woman''s face grew more and more beautiful as the nutrients continued to be infused and replenished.
After an unknown time, Master Lin slowly walked towards his senior sister on the floor.
Senior Sister Li opened her eyes, "Is it my turn?"
She looked over sideways, her eyes were already a little blurred, yet she could still make out that none of the bodies survived in the distance. All turned to white bones and piled up outside the door again as night fell again.
A whole day ...... of people from an entire city.
She reconfirmed, "The whole city is gone?"
Master Lin sensed something was wrong: "What do you mean?" After saying that, sensing that his talismans were all destroyed, he frowned, "You still expect those two people in the t to take revenge for you?"
Only then did Senior Sister Li burst outughing, and at Senior Brother Lin''s scornful look, she raised her hand to shake the brass bell that Fang had hidden somewhere.
The two Jumping Undeads quickly came to her side. Just as the teenager looked on defensively, she gave onestmand that the teenager could not understand.
"Go! Kill Lu Yan and He Lou!"
Consciousness conveyed themand, and the two Jumping Undeads shed out of sight.
"You, you are ......" Senior Brother Lin was a little disturbed in his heart, and when he pinched his fingers, it was a great omen of evil. He was so shocked and angry that he couldn''t care less and raised his sword to point at his senior sister lying on the ground and asked in a stern voice, "What the hell are you up to?"
Senior Sister Liyfortably on the ground. She counted the time in her mind, estimating that with the speed of the Jumping Undead, those two people should be dead by now. Only then did she speak leisurely, "Senior Brother is very scared? After going through all the trouble to find a body for Lan Zhi Yu, she took it upon herself to take someone else''s body. Senior Brother Lin, I wonder if you''ve noticed anything wrong with this body?"
The young man''s face was instantly horrifying, and one hand was as fast as lightning as he strangled Senior Sister Li''s neck, his face livid, "What did you say?!"
"I said, there''s something wrong with that body! She can''t get out of that t." Master Li smiled in response to him, "It''s not just her, none of that group can leave the t. Any step out and they will all be killed by the curse. If you don''t believe me, go and see Li Fang Zhi."
Ah ...... I''ve finally won you over for once. She sighed in her heart.
No sooner had the words been said that she cut her own heart and veins than the whole person died of breath.
The teenager was left strangling her neck, eyes wide open.
No, it can''t be ......
How could there be such a curse? It must have been a trick on him!
The teenager, shocked and angry, looked at the beautiful woman and the empty street outside the door, gritted his teeth, took Lan Zhi Yu and flew away.
Inwardly, however, he was told that what Senior Sister Li had said was most likely genuine. She had deliberately dyed telling him the truth before the formation was finallypleted.
The curse would be hard to break for a while, and if she hadn''t said it when Lan Zhi Yu fused with this body, she would only be wiped out by the curse immediately!
She had deliberately cut herself off and let the Jumping Undead go and kill Lu Yan and He Lou, just so that he wouldn''t be able to find the next carrier at the right time! If he missed this chance, he would only have to wait another sixty years for the next one.
How could he wait another sixty years?
No, there was still a chance!
If none of that lot could get out of the t, she did not need to purposely have the Jumping Undead go and kill the man. One of those two must be thest chance!
* *
The t is on one of the floors.
He Lou was almost dizzy from the overwhelming stench of blood and decay. It took him a long time to adjust before he could barely react. His body was soaked in blood, almost as if he had just been fished out of the sma, with a bit of unidentified body tissue still on him.
Lu Yan was no better but looked calm and didn''t say a word.
Seeing that Lu Yan had no intention of not letting him speak, He Lou asked in a low voice: "Can we really get away with this?"
Lu Yan''s voice was even lower: "Take a gamble." He did all he could.
They were close to the ground, and there was a thump, thump jumping sound from the floor. There was no need to even guess. One could tell it was the sound of a zombie jumping. The two men looked at each other and immediately shut up, even as their breathing slowed.
The jumping continued, one after another, and gradually, the sound came above their heads.
One, and then another, getting heavier and heavier.
Chapter 20: Time is Up
Chapter 20: Time is Up
[TN: Leave a like if you want more :P]
[What''s that?] He Lou asked wordlessly with his mouth.
Lu Yan was silent and shook his head.
From the sound of it, it sounded like a zombie, but he couldn''t be sure for now.
He had deliberately sent the message about Li Fang Zhi and the curse to that senior sister Li. If she was in cahoots with that Master Lin, they would havee over as soon as they received the message. And if she was going against the grain with Master Lin, it was reasonable to say that Senior Sister Li would have dyed a little longer.
Now, there was only the sound of the zombies jumping around, but their conversation could not be heard. Could it be that ...... something had happened to her?
The beating above his head continued. He looked at the time on his wrist, didn''t know what to count, and wordlessly said to He Lou: [First you, then me]
[What?] He Lou was a bit confused.
Lu Yan didn''t intend to exin much and repeated the gesture: [First you, then me. You run down, I go up]
In the darkness of scarlet, he stared into He Lou''s eyes, eyes that He Lou could easily associate with the look of a wolf staring deadly at its prey.
But he could be sure that Lu Yan''s prey was not him at this moment.
Then who could it be?
Just as the words left his mouth, the beating sound on the roof of the building changed.
The familiar brass bell rang out, but it was different from the one they had heard. Harsh, sharp and urgent, and with it, the jumping sound was hurried.
Objects falling, brass bells ringing, hissing, the toothsome sh of metal ...... The two ambled silently, unmoving.
The 405 was inessible. They returned to the bottom of the bed where He Lou had previously hidden but found Feng Chu Chu''s head. They dug a hole there to reach the sealed-up 404 downstairs. Then drilled a hole through the floor of the 404 to get to the mezzanine, where countless bodies had once been piled.
Upon entering, the overwhelming stench of rotting blood overwhelmed the two men. Still, they had to endure it to survive. After taking their bearings, they crawled a little to the bottom of room 405 and waited for time to pass without moving.
The noise died down.
The young man carried his sword and looked around.
He had ced Ran no Yu in the room, and almost everywhere was stered with her pretty face, looking at him with a smile. He gazed at the smiling face, tried to calm his breathing, reached up and brushed his hand over his own face, hiding the grimace of his green-faced face under the clean-cut look of a teenager, and reared his smile.
"Lu Yan! He Lou?"
"Are you still alive?"
"I''ve sorted things out, you cane out now."
Lu Yan and He Lou crouched in the mezzanine. Even their breathing slowed to anguorous pace, not taking a breath in the face of Master Lin''s anxious search for fear of being discovered.
He Lou was still a little uncertain, but Lu Yan knew she had believed the message he had secretly sent to that senior sister Li earlier.
Master Lin should have believed it, too. After all, Li Fang Zhi''s corpse downstairs was not a fake.
No woman''s voice was heard, and Senior Sister Li was not there? So who was he fighting with just now? Anyway, he did not believe that the other party wanted to remove Lan Zhi Yu.
No matter which floor the teenager went to and how he asked, all he got was silence. Time passed, with nearly an hour to go.
This time, perhaps, was Lan Zhi Yu''s deadline, and the teenager''s voice was no longer warm and fierce, one more intense than the next.
"Come out now!!!"
"I know you are still alive,e out quickly!"
He forced himself to hold back his anger and found his way from upstairs to downstairs but found nothing.
Where could they have gone?
Unable to calcte where they were, the teenager found his way from upstairs to downstairs, his eyes angry to the point of filling with blood.
He could see from the corpse of Li Fang Zhi downstairs that the curse was real and bizarre, and he could not break it. He could only pin his hopes on finding a suitable carrier again. If he couldn''t find it again, Lan Zhi Yu would have to stay in this body and never set foot outside the t again.
How could he possibly endure that?
But now, the whole city was gone, but his substitute''s Jumping Undead had also been destroyed. It would be difficult to get out of the city within the time limit.
"Where are you? Come out!!!" The roar from outside became even more desperate, almost hissing. It was easy to imagine what the other side was going through.
Fifty minutes to go.
"Come out!!!" He shed his sword at the other room, panting slightly, his chest heaving violently.
He had a feeling that those two must still be inside this t.
To find them ...... they had to be found!
Yes ...... if they were in this t, how could he not find them?
They must be hiding there! The floor that he had set up by the hand of the puppet was able to keep everyone out of sight ...... he wondered how they got in? He was even concealed.
After calming down, the teenager sank and returned to the fourth floor, plunging his sword into the ground.
He Lou was still tense, waiting for the countdown when suddenly, a little crumb fell from his ear. A sword grazed straight across his cheek the next second before retracting upwards.
The floor poked open, and the teenager''s face appeared in the hole.
"Found you guys." He grinned a little.
......
The room was dimly lit, and the smell of blood was thick and sickening. The yellow paper was rustling from the chilly breeze blowing from the t earth. The bright red runes seemed to be dripping blood.
The beautiful faces of the women all over the walls and houses gradually smiled at the sound of the brass bells, and their dark eyes focused a little on the man in the formation.
A gathering, and a thousand other blood threads condensed from their own blood, connected to the eyes of each beautiful painting.
That was He Lou.
In the past could still calmly analyze the great mind a faint, nothing can think. Only the body''s blood gradually cooled, even limbs a little stiff, wet, and cold.
How much longer ......?
After they were discovered, the teenager, who was already covered in bruises, had no time to make false usations about them. After Lu Yan gave a low bellow, He Lou was suddenly blessed to react to what Lu Yan had said. He drew his legs to flee downstairs.
Unsurprisingly, the teenager caught them back, but he was trapped in the middle of the spell. Lu Yan was ced to one side and looked at what was happening in front of him with a face full of horror.
A cold and icy aura gradually attached itself to him, and everything in front of him began to look unclear. The delicate face of the woman sitting face to face with him faded a little, and her long hair slowly became shorter. Her face was so beautiful that it did not look like a living person gradually regained life.
In contrast, the shadow behind He Lou slowly grew long hair, her figure gradually became slender, and her facial lines softened a little.
The young man''s face showed joy.
He Lou was so dazed that it was hard to think about anything else. As he struggled to open his eyes, he saw Li Fang Yu, sitting opposite him, suddenly let out a scream of pain and raised her hand to a death grip around her neck with such force that her tongue spat out in a moment. But then she uncontrobly closed her teeth in a deadly grip and bit down on her tongue.
Within moments, the bloody half of her tongue fell out, and her whole body fell to the ground. The expression on Ivana''s face was horror, and she did not understand what had happened until she died.
The residents were not allowed to leave the t during the mission, Lan Zhi Yu could go, but Li Fang Yu had broken the rules.
Seeing this scene, the teenager was even more confident of the curse''s existence.
Luckily, it was fortunate that he had discovered this in time and was still able to remedy the situation.
He gazed at He Lou, who was gradually changing in the field, with a look of madness and joy.
Fifteen minutes to go.
The nails slowly grew longer, the chest gradually bulged, and the skin grew whiter ......
"Ahhhhhh-"
As if suddenly stimted, Lu Yan, tied up and put aside as reserve food, leapt up and fled towards the door. Despite his frightened face, he was still careful not to touch anything he shouldn''t.
The young man was in a tight spot and had no time for him, so he let him go and returned to his business. A short timeter, he nced out the window and saw the other man flying away from the t, almost out of sight!
So he was the one who wasn''t controlled by the curse!
The teenager''s mind exploded into a nk, and his eyes were wide with anger. He raised his hand to stop the formation and leapt gently from the high building to chase after him.
He recalled that after he and He Lou had agreed on the forum, He Lou imed that someone would pick him up at the block''s entrance. Only for Lu Yan to simply wait at the bottom of the apartment building, saying he didn''t want to be in the sun. It was because of this that he didn''t suspect too much.
However, no matter how clever Lu Yan was, he would not have anticipated this step. He was just in the habit of acting like everyone else in front of some key people. Even in the past few days, he had entrusted the enthusiastic young couple on the ground floor to go out and buy clothes.
It wasn''t until today that Lu Yan decided to take advantage of this and take a gamble.
He won the bet.
Lu Yan tried his best to dodge, but he was quickly caught up by the teenager and brought back.
He Lou, in the centre of the formation, returned to normal little by little, not knowing whether it was because of the cold or something else. His pale paper-like face was tinged with the colour of a living person. He slowly opened his eyes.
Sitting opposite him was Lu Yan, tied up with five flowers.
He said a word wordlessly, which He Lou read through his muzzle.
[Five more minutes].
The chilly aura gradually transferred to Lu Yan, and the teenager was unwilling to give up faster and faster. His eyes flushed red.
Hold on a little longer ......
The teenager again increased his speed, and the blood threads wrapped around the man''s body became denser and denser.
[Two minutes to go]
"Ahhhhhhh - why?!" The more anxious he was, the more likely he was to make a mistake. The teenager had inadvertently hooked a blood thread in the wrong ce, and it was clearly just a silk thread. Yet the breakage of that thread seemed like a harbinger of the copse of his decades of effort that had been reduced to nothing.
In a fit of rage, he ripped the thread out.
How could he ept it? He had waited for decades for this day toe, so how could he ept it?
A fragile thread of blood drawn from his body was broken off, but Lu Yan could not help but let out a stifled grunt. Followed by the capiries all over his body seeming to rupture at the exact moment, turning his entire body into a bloody man.
[One minute to go]
Despite this, he continued calmly counting the seconds in his mind to calcte.
"Death to all of you...... she can''te back, death to all of you!!!" The teenager had fallen into a frenzy, not even looking at Lu Yan, who had dropped to the ground holding his breath and pretending to be dead. He raised his sword and went after He Lou.
Twenty seconds...
He Lou was thrown to the ground.
Ten seconds -
A sword pierced his waist, and He Lou felt a lightness in his body, and when he looked down, his body was severed and split open.
Blood flowed into a river.
In the next second, He Lou disappeared.
Time was up.
The whole world seemed to change. The city that was dead suddenly had more sound. All the wounds on Lu Yan''s body quickly healed as if he had never been hurt. Even the t room, smashed and pitted beneath their feet, was instantly restored to a clean state, with the charms, blood threads, and posters ...... all gone.
It waste at night, and Lu Yan stood frozen in the empty room of the t, pulled open the door and headed for the lift.
Two memories yed in his mind. One told him he was just an ordinary resident who hade to the building at the request of a friend looking for a ce to live to help see how the empty room was. The other memory, however, told him that everything was a lie.
The lift doors opened, and the twin sisters stood inside, their mouths curving in identical lines as they smiled quietly at Lu Yan. The lift lights flickered as if inviting him in.
Lu Yan didn''t bother and took a step backwards.
The sisters waited for a moment. They jumped out of the lift on their own. Their bodies were linked together by their long hair, their hands sped together so tightly that they could not be separated. With that position, they jumped, one after the other, into the 405.
[TN: Leave a like if you want more :P]
Chapter 21: Who took the picture?
Chapter 21: Who took the picture?
Lu Yan gazed at the backs of the sisters, turned and entered the elevator. The air inside the elevator gradually became gloomy, and the liquid was dripping.
Lu Yan felt a slight itch on his neck, like a soft touch of hair. He lowered his head slightly and noticed a few strands of ck hair hanging from his neck. The mirror in front of him was gradually bing blurred, but he could still make out his figure, with his face obscured by a head covered in long, ck hair.
A corpse hung down from the top, staring directly at Lu Yan. However, from Lu Yan''s point of view, he could only see his pale face under the icy lights in the mirror, and the sensation on his neck seemed like an illusion. He didn''t pay much attention to it, said nothing, and the elevator''s stalling and shing lights didn''t change his expression. Eventually, he returned safely to his floor, unlocked the door, and made dinner as usual.
At night, he sat on the couch and watched TV. Recently, there have been more and more strange news, and the female host on the screen was reciting the news. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and swallowed her partner''s head. Then she realized she was live on air and covered her mouth with a shy smile, "I''m so sorry, but he always makes fun of my big mouth. I''m not happy. I hope everyone can understand me."
Lu Yan nodded in agreement, and the hostess on the screen smiled with satisfaction as she continued with the news. A figure plummeted to the ground outside the window, emitting a mournful scream. Lu Yan ignored it and continued to focus on the TV. Momentster, another identical figure fell, making the same scream. Throughout the night, the same scream echoed repeatedly, and Lu Yan couldn''t determine how many times it had happened.
When Lu Yan stepped out of his t the following day, the ground was clean and unupied, as if the hundred jumps from the previous night had been nothing more than an illusion.
Lu Yan walked towards the nearby underground station and passed a park where people were seated, forming a red and white yin-yang symbol. The group leader finished reciting a prayer, "Today, for the sake of our all-knowing and all-powerful Lord, I will praise Him forever and dwell with Him in the Holy Kingdom of Heaven forever..." Just as he finished, the park exploded with a deafening boom.
Lu Yan, who had already entered the next block, did not turn back at the sound of the explosion as he continued towards the underground station. As a journalist for a news agency, he was due at work and arrived at the office on time. He entered his superior editor''s office, ready to start the day.
"Well, did you bring the news?" His supervisor munched on a snack, his teeth crunching tiny human knuckles. His eyes were fixed on Lu Yan.
Lu Yan nodded, "I brought it," he said, cing a USB stick and a thick envelope on the table.
The supervisor set down the snack bag picked up the photos, and examined them one by one, nodding in approval. "Not bad, not bad," he said, "you actually captured the process of a human turning into a zombie...huh? Lan Zhiyu has been dead for decades, yet you captured her story. Looks like we''ll definitely take first ce this year." He praised Lu Yan and offered him a snack, but Lu Yan declined. The supervisor finished the bag of bones on his own and then continued with his assignments.
"Some of our newspaper staff are just too weak, they die after two or three interviews. But you, you''re more durable. Next week, you''ll go and cover this vige." He smiled at Lu Yan, "This vige is famous for its underworld wedding customs and has set a historical record for the ghost brides. You''ll go and learn about it."
Lu Yan agreed without a word.
This world...this world went mad a long time ago.
He wasn''t sure when it all began maybe it was when humans first heard the crazed, incoherent ravings from another world; perhaps it started when the heads of condemned prisoners appeared on the necks of innocent people; or maybe it was from a small, unconscious act of human exploration into the unknown.
Regardless, the world had gone mad. Ghosts and monsters, once only found in horror stories, had taken over, and humanity was filled with bloodshed, terror, and cold corpses.
But the revival was only frightening; there were no gods, and humans were helpless. People caught in the chaos didn''t resist and embraced the new world joyfully.
There were no wars, for there was no point in fighting. Death was no longer feared, as the line between life and death was blurred. The death penalty was abolished, and no one dared tomit a crime for fear of retaliation.
They lived in a world of true peace and happiness.
Lu Yan entered the elevator and searched for information about the small vige. The vige was called Red River Vige, and it was said that anyone who broke the strict rules was bled and thrown into the river, turning it into a river of red blood.
As he was reading, the elevator suddenly plunged, the numbers on disy dropping until it finally stopped at -18. The elevator doors opened to reveal a zing fire, a pool of boiling, inverted blood, and a head wailing in the pool.
Lu Yan didn''t step out but moved to the corner to avoid crowding the other passengers. After a while, the elevator appeared to fill with people, and the doors closed, rising slowly.
The ck hair appeared again, wrapping around his neck in a circle, pulling out a woman who fell to the floor before him. A woman with arge belly pulled at Lu Yan''s pant leg and smiled up at him, "Let''s... Let''s have a baby, okay?"
Lu Yan found himself in a difficult situation as the person gripping his pant leg was holding on too tight for him to move freely. Although he couldn''t provide a straightforward answer, he had to do something to extricate himself from the situation. He gazed into his captor''s ck, tear-filled eyes and decided to take action. With a deep breath, he squatted down, withdrew the knife he carried, handed it over to the person, and then gestured towards their stomach.
The woman was stunned but quickly realized the situation. She then took matters into her own hands by reaching down and slicing open her stomach, revealing one tiny, bruised baby after another.
In no time, the infants were crawling all over the floor with their eyes closed, and the hall was littered with long, twisted umbilical cords, with Lu Yan having long since left the scene.
Since he was headed to Red River Vige, he did not waste any time. After a quick stop at home, he packed his belongings. He had spent nearly a week rest before setting out on his journey.
The twin sisters who lived upstairs were the newest residents in the building. The older sister was named Li Fang Ivana. In contrast, the younger was named Li Fang Zhi, and they were incredibly close and seldom apart. As Lu Yan said goodbye to them, they bounced out the door and asked, "What a coincidence, another business trip?"
Lu Yan nodded and then took a taxi to the train station, where he boarded the train to Red River Vige.
**
"This mission is quite strange," said Chen Zheng Hao. "Living in Red River Vige for a full month? And the name Red River Vige sounds ominoss" "It probably conjures up images of a red river of blood,"mented Ding Cong Lu as she tightly gripped Chen Zheng Hao''s hand. "But we can definitely make it, let''s not give up!" she added, looking at her boyfriend with determination.
"I won''t," replied Chen Zheng Hao, embracing his girlfriend in a firm hug. "We must survive, Little Lu," he whispered in her ear.
Just as the two were lost in their embrace, a voice interrupted them. "You two are also headed to Red River Vige, correct?"
Ding Cong Lu pulled away from the hug, embarrassed, and introduced herself and her boyfriend. "Yes, we''re going to Red River Vige. I''m Ding Cong Lu and this is my boyfriend, Chen Zheng Hao."
The visitor was a tall, athletic woman with a wheat-colouredplexion who stood taller than Chen Zheng Hao. She introduced herself, "I''m Shen Na."
As more people arrived, twelve individuals gathered, ranging in age from high school students to someone in their forties.
"Now, let''s go over the mission," announced Shen Na. "We are to arrive at Station XX in the city of XX precisely at 11:00 AM on October 11. We will board Train 444 to Red River Vige and remain there for the entirety of the month. Our mission begins at zero hour on October 12 and ends at zero hour on November 12. During this time, we must not leave the boundaries of Red River Vige or the mission will be deemed a failure."
She exuded amanding presence, inspiring confidence and earning her the right to speak. However, one man was sceptical and muttered, "Why should I listen to you?"
Shen Na replied calmly, "Our ultimate goal is to survive, and it''s best if we don''t engage in internal conflicts. We must discuss everything together. Let''s start by sharing how many missions each of us haspleted. We can use the experience of the person with the most missions as the basis for our decision-making."
The man''s face stiffened. "Three missions," he said.
Ding Cong Lu and Chen Zheng Hao, both neers, whispered sheepishly, "Two missions." They had previously discussed fabricating their experiences to avoid discrimination.
"Three missions," another person chimed in.
"Two missions," added another.
"Six missions," came a surprise from the group''s youngest member, a high school student named An Xing Yu.
Everyone turned their attention to An Xing Yu, taken aback by his unexpected revtion.
These "missions" were a mystery to everyone. They all suddenly received a consciousness, instructing them to travel to another world at a designated time to perform specific survival tasks. Failure meant death, and their nightmares about various gruesome deaths provided evidence of the reality of their situation. One person who had initially disregarded the warnings met a violent and tragic end after failing to arrive on time at the designated gathering ce.
After several attempts, they were forced to heed the guidance of the consciousness and embark on the missions. The group of individuals participating in each mission was usually not small. Upon realizing that many others worldwide had experienced the same thing, they created a secret website to share their experiences with one another.
Upon consolidating the ounts from other "questers" on the website, they discovered that most of the missions involved psychic horror events of all types and that the ghosts were indestructible. There was no solution to the ghosts or curses; they could only find ways to save themselves from death.
The world where the missions took ce appeared simr to their own, but once the mission began, it became fraught with danger, where every move could result in death.
The missions did not offer any rewards or benefits like in some infinite level-based novels. The onlypensation was recovering any trauma from the task after returning to reality. No matter how long the missionsted, it would only take a fraction of a second in reality. Those who returned from the mission alive could continue with their everyday lives, while those who failed died instantly.
An Xing Yu''s experiencepleting six missions at a young age was awe-inspiring. Ding Cong Lu couldn''t resist asking, "When did you start doing missions?"
An Xing Yu replied with a voice devoid of emotion, "I started my first mission on January 14 of this year."
At a rate of nearly one mission every two months, they all wondered when this would ever end.
There was a moment of silence before Shen Na spoke up, "Eight missions."
The individuals who had just posed the question fell silent, their hearts filled with a sense offort. One of them spoke up, "Wait, are you the person behind the website post send in by [Tall buildings will fall]? I recall reading that they hadpleted eight times and there was an experience-sharing post after the eighth mission. It warned us to be cautious of NPCs."
They only needed to be wary of those who imed to be native to the world. There was always a chance they could be ghostly entities posing as humans. On the other hand, people paid little attention to off-world natives as long as they were sure they were human.
In fact, many individuals took advantage of the natives, using them as tools for exploration within the game. Despite their ability to converse,ugh, and have their own thoughts, these individuals were often referred to as NPCs, reflecting that they were nothing more than tools to be used.
It was as if they paralyzed themselves into thinking that it was all just a game. The NPCs were considered safe to use in their quest for survival.
Shen Na spoke up, "It''s not me."
"Not you? Then who could it be?" asked another.
"There are so many people on the website. I can''t be the only one who''spleted it eight times," replied Shen Na.
Just as the group was curious, a voice from the corner called out, "It''s me."
A cold and stoic man emerged from the shadows, walking towards the group. He introduced himself, "I''m the one who posted it. My name is He Lou."
With this, the number of individuals who hadpleted the task rose to thirteen.
"Excuse me," said An Xing Yu, sensing there was still time before their arrival in Red River Vige. "What do you mean by ''beware of NPCs''?"
He Lou, who still looked pale, replied simply, "Literally." The psychological shadow of his previous experience still haunted him, and he couldn''t shake the fear of losing his limbs again. "Have you ever considered that those NPCs are living, breathing individuals with minds of their own, just like us?" he asked, highlighting the injustice of exploiting them. Although He Lou''s attitude made the others uneasy, he didn''t borate further.
The train arrived at precisely 11 o''clock, and the passengers boarded an empty carriage. They found seats and began chatting in small groups. He Lou gazed out the window at the passing darkness, his mind drifting to the man from his previous mission. Mission frequencies had decreased, but the time intervals between tasks for the same person had shortened. Just a week after hisst assignment, He Lou had received a new one, and he couldn''t help but wonder what would happen this time.
The passengers eventually drifted off to sleep, and when they woke up, the train was approaching Red River Vige. "The train is about to arrive. Red River Vige, please take your belongings with you," a voice announced.
He Lou opened his eyes to find himself seated in a crowded train carriage, with stewards making final announcements about the approaching station. Taking a quick nce around, he surveyed the other passengers before doing a head count and confirming that everyone was present and ounted for. He reached the door, waiting to disembark as the train pulled into Red River Vige.
As he prepared to leave the train, an elderly man nearby struck up a conversation. "Are you heading to the vige as well?" he asked.
He Lou smiled in response. "Yes, we''re here to have some fun."
The man''s enthusiasm was infectious. "That''s great! I''m from Red River Vige myself. Are you familiar with the area? Do you have a ce to stay?"
He Lou shook his head. "No, we don''t."
"It''s quitete, and with so many of you, I''d rmend staying at the vige''s hotel by the train station. It''s owned by a rtive of my family, and I can even offer you a discount if you mention my name, Li Youcai."
As the train came to a stop, He Lou and his group disembarked, thirteen people in total. He proposed they spend the night at the hotel and explore the vige the following day. The group had no objections, and soon they settled into their new amodations.
What struck He Lou most about the vige was how seamlessly it blended the two worlds. The currency could be exchanged without issue, and there were no problems with documentation. If not for their inability to ess information from their own reality, they might have believed they were in the same world.
They had all slept peacefully through the night in the vige''s inn. The following day, Shen Na descended the stairs and found An Xing Yu chatting with the innkeeper''s wife. An Xing Yu, who was delicate and pale, had a polite manner and quickly won over the proprietress, who was now excitedly sharing information about Red River Vige.
The proprietress, eager to share her knowledge, asked, "Do you know how the vige got its name? The experts say it''s because of the microorganisms in the soil that dye the river water red and make it a beautiful sight."
"Auntie, don''t you usually have trouble with water?"
"No, the water we drink is clean."
Curious to see the red river, Shen Na interjected, "Where can I see it? I want to take a look."
The proprietress put down her cleaning rag, wiped her hands on her apron, and pointed toward the river. "Take the main road west from here, don''t turn around, and you''ll eventuallye upon it," she instructed.
"Okay, thank you auntie." An Xing Yu, inquired, "Apart from the red river, are there any other interesting and delicious ces to visit?"
This sparked a lively discussion, with others gathering around to listen. The innkeeper''s wife eagerly listed local delicacies like mushrooms, ck tea, and unique papernterns.
"By the way," she added, "tomorrow the vige headman''s grandson is getting married, and there will be a reception in the evening. Everyone from the vige is expected to attend, so you''re wee to join us."
Ding Cong Lu, hesitant about attending the reception, asked, "We''re just here to sightsee. Would it be inappropriate to attend the reception?"
The proprietress reassured them, "It''s just how things are done in our vige. Everyone is expected to attend, and it would be against the rules not to. You don''t need to bring anything fancy, just a white packet as a small token of appreciation."
The group was confused when they heard the proprietress mention a "white packet," as they were ustomed to giving "red packets" as gifts.
"A white packet?"
"The vige headman''s son has been gone for three years, but he has finally found a wife, so he is very happy today," the boss''s wife said with excitement as she returned to the counter, pulling out a pile of white packets from the drawer. "I watched that boy grow up and sent him away with my own hands. He was very picky and didn''t want an ordinary girl. But now it''s good. I heard that this one is a university student and has a beautiful photo. He must be happy. By the way, you just came from outside, so you might not have prepared a white packet. That''s okay, I can give it to you here," she added.
The crowd looked at each other, but Shen Na was the first to take it. "Thanks, then. We''ll go and ask for a cup of wedding wine tomorrow," she said.
Seeing Shen Na take it, the bossdy smiled more happily. She looked at the others and asked suspiciously, "Don''t you guys want it? Or is it that you guys don''t want to go?"
It was almost as if it was an illusion, but when she asked thetter half of the question, even the temperature in the air dropped a few points.
"Of course, we want to go!" the few people who didn''t take it shivered and quickly took the white bag.
Only when they held it in their hands did they realise that the white packet was a little rough, no different in texture from the paper money customarily used for burning.
"That''s good," the bossdy said meaningfully. "ept the white packet and make sure you go for a drink. Don''t lose it. Also, when you enter our Red River Vige, you must abide by the rules of our vige. Yesterday, you arrived toote, so I did not talk to you. Tomorrow, when you go drinking, let the vige chief tell you."
With a smile, the bossdy seemed to turn the other cheek, and no one could say that she had a bad attitude.
Although not all the yers were on the ground floor, one young yer had just woken up ande downstairs to find everyone gathered. Whispering what had happened, they told him to ask the boss''s wife for a white bag.
"I can''t believe you slept in sote," the boss''s wife sneered at Yao Wendong, theter, with an extraordinarily hateful look. "People like you won''t be wee in our Red River Vige." Adding insult to injury, she refused to give him the white bag.
Yao Wendong, who was already on edge, couldn''t resistining in a low voice, "If you don''t give it, you don''t give it." Despite his unhappiness, he stood aside.
The boss''s wife''s face became even grimmer as she squeezed out a few stern words through her teeth, "You won''t be able to stay in Red River Vige if you don''t respect the old and love the young, and if you don''t know the rules."
Even Yao Wendong, who was not typically bold, was intimidated by the stern expression on the boss''s face. Soon after, a few more people who had also overslept came downstairs. The boss''s wife''s expression became even more severe as she red at them as if they hadmitted a heinous crime. Not only did they not receive a white bag, but they also didn''t get to eat breakfast. The few who had sleptte regretted it, but they could do nothing.
Eventually, the group headed towards the Red River, located west of the vige. Although Red River vige was notrge, it looked new, with antique buildings everywhere resembling a tourist attraction. No matter who they met on the way, they were warmly greeted and expected to respond in kind lest they provoke a sour expression from the other party.
He Lou, who was part of the group, remembered the words "Speaking the rules," and the boss''s wife''s reaction, and he sensed something was amiss. They walked together as a group of a dozen people, quite conspicuous, along the avenue that stretched from the entrance to the end of the vige. He Lou kept his head down and searched the inte for news about Red River Vige as the group walked. It was a bit coldtely, and the wind had picked up considerably, chilling the group. One of the men had his hat on, but the wind was so strong that it blew his hat out andnded in a nearby paddy field. The others didn''t pay much attention; they just nced at it before withdrawing their eyes. The man didn''t seem to mind the situation. He stooped down by the side of the road and tried to grab an object, but it was just out of reach. So, he broke a nearby branch to retrieve it. As he surveyed the area to ensure there were no vigers nearby, he stepped cautiously into the rice field and reached out again. With the object back in hand, he wiped away the dirt and ced it on his head. When he tried to stand up, he realised he couldn''t move his legs and felt slightly stiff as he floated towards the centre of the field. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. "Oh no, this must be a ghost!" he yelled for help, but the group had already left, and no one responded. His eyes were wide open, and he felt his insides emptied out as he floated there. Shen Na turned around unintentionally and felt a sense of unease. "Wait a minute! Someone''s missing," she eximed. The group quickly panicked and took a headcount, realising that one person was missing.
The more prominent men were flustered, as they knew that the missing person, like them, had not taken the white bag belonging to the boss''s wife. They feared the disappeared person was likely already gone. Just then, a man came running towards them, panting and waving his arms. "Wait for me! You guys are moving too fast!" It was the missing man. The group, who had only just been scared by their imagination, let out a sigh of relief and startedining. "What happened? Why did you take so long?" they asked. The man looked embarrassed and exined, "I just had a stomach ache and had to go to the toilet. I thought I would catch up quickly, so I didn''t tell anyone." They had recently passed a public toilet. When reminded of this, the others brushed it off, reminding each other to inform the group when they needed to go anywhere. Shen Na cast a suspicious gaze but remained silent, slowly distancing herself. As they spoke, the Red River appeared before them. Its fishy scent could be detected from a distance. Despite the lush greenery surrounding the vige, the banks of the river were barren with no sign of life. The water was thick and slow-moving, a strange shade of sticky red. One of the group muttered in awe, "How is this red river a bit like...," but trailed off, too afraid to finish the thought everyone else had to. Shen Na broke the silence, "Okay, let''s take pictures now. The bossdy just said we could take pictures here." The bossdy had also mentioned the possibility of attending the vige chief''s son''s wedding banquet, but whether it was a requirement or not was unclear. The group embraced their role as tourists, taking individual and group photos before returning to the hotel for lunch.
"Excellent, everyone arrived on time for dinner today without any tardiness. Being punctual is highly valued in our Red River Vige," the proprietress praised them, giving a round of apuse and guiding several of them to sit in a booth. One of the few waiters working in the shop brought out dishes from the kitchen, and An Xing Yu and He Lou expressed their gratitude. Shen Na followed their example, and the rest of the group did the same. As the meal progressed, the waiter continued bringing out more kitchen dishes.
During a lull in the conversation, He Lou spoke up in a severe tone, "I would like to remind everyone that it is essential to follow the vige rules while staying here. Please keep them in mind and do not break them, or there will be consequences." He quickly nced at the woman at the counter who was busily pressing a calctor and smirked.
Evidently, the repeated emphasis on the rules by the owner''s wife and the vigers'' reactions on the road had given them an idea that something was amiss in the vige. The first dish served was a soup made from some animal''s innards, and the scent was overpowering. He Lou took one look at it and declined to drink it. Then, all sorts of dishes were brought to the table. The boss''s wife reappeared, "Everyone is free to walk in the afternoon and go to bed early at night. Anyone who stays up past 11 PM is not wee in Red River Vige." Everyone listened attentively to the boss''s wife, and after they finished eating, they formed small groups of two or three to discuss what they had heard. He Lou and An Xing Yu went together and decided to visit the vige head''s house first.
As they walked, An Xing Yu said, "Don''t you think this vige''s rules are a bit too strict? They can''t be broken at all." He Lou nodded in agreement, "I did some research online beforeing here. This vige is somewhat famous and is now developing tourism. They want to establish a reputation as a ceremonial vige, so they''re particrly strict about the rules." ''But they''re being harsh,'' An Xing Yu frowned, ''And if they care so much about etiquette, then what do they call...'' He looked left and right to ensure no one was around before whispering, ''...their ghost marriage practices?'' He Lou''s gaze deepened for a moment, and he slowly shook his head, "Such words should be spoken as little as possible." He was well aware of the anomaly, but the tragedy of hisst mission still weighed heavily on his mind, and he couldn''t forget it.
"Let''s visit the vige headman first," suggested He Lou. The headman''s house was in the vige and was a small three-story wooden antique building. At the corners of the front and back of the house, white papernterns with ck "Xi" symbols on a white background were hanging, swaying in thete autumn breeze. Two rows of half-height paper figures in the courtyard were neatly arranged with white faces, red mouths, smiling eyes, and brightly dressed. They appeared somewhat eerie from a distance. As the innkeeper had mentioned, the vige headman was at home and in an excellent mood. The tradition of "ghost marriage" has existed since ancient times and has faded into obscurity. However, it still exists in some rural areas. It is believed that if a young man or woman dies and is not given a spouse, the deceased''s spirit will be restless and disturb the family home. The vige headman firmly believed in this tradition. He was beaming with satisfaction as he spoke of his daughter-inw. "I actually wanted to get one when I first left, but I couldn''t find a woman with good qualifications. But she''s young and filial, and my Tianbao will love her," he said with a smile before trailing off. "It also saves him from haunting me every day..." However, the headman seemed to realize he had said something inappropriate and quickly changed the subject. He Lou and hispanion were aware that the rules in this Red River vige were strict and didn''t want to cause any trouble.
"Of course, I''ll be there tomorrow," said He Lou, eager to be polite and show good manners.
The headman weed their presence, "I wee young disciplined people like you who know how to be polite and behave." The word "disciplined" sent a chill down their spines, however, He Lou was curious about the consequences of breaking the rules in the vige, so he asked,
"Vige Chief, what happens to those who identally break the rules?"
The headman''s face immediately became stern, "That is not for you to ask." Seeing the tense situation, He Lou calmly addressed the vige chief, "Excuse me, we are visitors to this vige and are not familiar with the rules. Could you kindly show us where we can learn more about them to avoid any future misunderstandings?" The vige chief''s expression softened, and he rose from his seat to retrieve a small booklet. He handed it to He Lou and An Xing Yu and said, "Our vige rules are not harsh, but the youth these days can be quite impulsive. I must say, it''s refreshing to see people who are calm and polite like you two."
He Lou smiled and, after a brief visit, made an excuse to leave with An Xing Yu. Upon leaving, they examined the booklet. The first few pages contained basic guidelines, such as the requirement to be in bed by eleven o''clock and to rise by eight in the morning, to not speak while eating or sleeping, and so on. However, as they flipped through the pages, the rules became increasingly strict, prohibitingining, celebrating other people''s joys, and attending other people''s funerals. There were even specific dress codes mentioned.
"What do you think after reading this?" He Lou asked An Xing Yu.
"It''s like undergoing military training," An Xing Yu replied. "Being subjected to such strict rules for an extended period of time can either break a person or turn them into a mere puppet."
At Red River Vige, He Lou and An Xing Yu received preferential treatment on their first day.
However, as the evening approached, they noticed a shift in their treatment. The owner''s wife kept a watchful eye on their every move - from eating and talking to walking and sitting. If anything was out of ce, she would scowl and threaten to ban them from the vige.
By the end of the day, the constant surveince had taken a toll on the group.
To save money and ensure their safety, they shared a room with two. One of them couldn''t contain his frustration in one room and muttered aint about the vige, "What a terrible ce. So many rules just for the sake of tourism. Who woulde here?"
The other man, who had been quiet until then, looked up at hispanion as he expressed his disdain towards the concept of ghost marriages.
"What''s wrong with you? Not a word and acting so strange after picking up a hat anding back." The man patted hispanion''s shoulder but suddenly noticed something amiss.
The touch under his hand was soft and rustling, and even through the clothing, he could feel a roughness. It was like tapping on a pile of leather-wrapped straw.
"You...," the man watched in horror as hispanion''s features gradually ttened out, his mouth seemingly cut open and closing, and his blood flowing backwards, freezing him in ce.
"You don''t keep to the rules," the scarecrow''s shed mouth opened and closed, his voice hoarse. Straws burrowed through all the holes in his head, filling his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, rustling and burrowing into his body.
"Unruly and deserving of punishment," the scarecrow spoke again.
"Help me...," the man tried to scream for help, but his voice wouldn''te out.
In the next moment, he felt his own stomach being cut open. The other man''s movements were no different from the killing of a chicken at a vegetable market. There was no blood, the organs were pulled out with a single gulp, and the empty abdominal cavity was filled with arge pile of straw.
The room fell into an eerie silence as the two scarecrowsy motionless on the bed, wrapped in their nkets. They had to stick to their strict bedtime and early wake-up schedule to be weed in Red River Vige.
Shen Na checked her phone and scrolled through the news of Red River Vige. However, she was disappointed that it was mostly about ghost marriages and the rise of a ghost marriage culture. As she went through the photos taken during the day, she frowned at the sight of the Red River, which looked like a pool of blood sma, a fishy red and sticky liquid. Despite being at the river''s edge, there was no hint of the blood''s odour, making the scene all the more haunting. It was like looking into the legendary pool of blood in hell.
She took a closer look at the photos, first of the river, then of individual and group photos. As she gazed at the group photo, she unconsciously started counting the people in the picture.
There were thirteen people, all of whom appeared stiff and tense as if they were in the midst of a horror mission. Shen Na wondered how many of them would still be alive by the end of it. But no matter what, she was determined to survive. Her resolve was evident in her steely gaze. Shen Na put down her phone and went to wash up, but even the warm water sshing on her body couldn''t ease the nagging feeling that something was wrong. And then, it hit her. The group photo had thirteen people, but who had taken the picture for them?
Chapter 22: Wedding Banquet
Chapter 22: Wedding Banquet
Shen Na was deep in thought when a sudden realization made her shiver uncontrobly, her teeth chattering. She struggled to recall the faces of the thirteen people in the group photo, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn''t seem to remember them.
After quickly wiping herself down, she retrieved her phone to check the photo. The picture showed all thirteen people, and she carefully matched each face to herpanions from the previous day, only to discover that one person was missing.
"What was the order in which they took the group photo?" she wondered, trying to piece together the events from the day before. She remembered being first, followed by An Xing Yu, but then the memory became hazy.
Suddenly, the sound of the clock striking eleven startled Shen Na, and she immediately went to bed. As she drifted off to sleep, she noticed that Ding Cong Lu, who was sleeping in the next bed, was already sound asleep.
She knew that she must follow the vige rules, and the next morning, all of the party members woke up early and obediently sat downstairs in a line, softly requesting breakfast from the hotel waiter. They had all read the rules the day before and didn''t want to risk breaking them by taking pictures. They knew that waking up past eight o''clock was not allowed.
The owner''s wife was pleased with theirpliance and had a big smile on her face. However, as time passed, it became apparent that four people were missing from breakfast. When one of the guests asked the owner''s wife, she replied with a smile, "Of course, those who don''t follow the rules should be punished."
Although she didn''t say what happened to the missing people, it was clear that the consequences were not good.
After finishing breakfast, a few guests looked at each other and decided to investigate upstairs together. It wasn''t against the rules, so they walked along the wooden corridor on the first floor. The floorboards creaked under their feet, and whitenterns swayed gently outside. An Xing Yu walked beside He Lou and whispered, "What do you see?"
"Thesenterns are very simr to the ones at the vige chief''s house," replied He Lou. "Also, do you remember? The owner''s wife said on the first day that the specialty of this ce was their papernterns. Could it be these papernterns?"
"Wait and askter," suggested An Xing Yu.
They soon arrived at the two empty rooms on the first floor. Four people who had gotten upte yesterday had been put together, as nobody wanted to stay with them. The room was still as they had left it, with their bags, phones, and pyjamas neatly arranged, but the people themselves were missing.
"Look carefully, are there any clues?" said Shen Na, reminding the group not to rummage through things.
They split into two groups and each went into a room. He Lou and his admirer ("hug his thigh"), Qi Yan, searched the same room. Suddenly, He Lou''s gaze flickered, and he bent down to pick up a long, thin, yellow straw by the tip. Why was there straw in the room?
"Brother Lou, is there anything wrong with this straw?" asked Qi Yan.
"I''m not sure yet," replied He Lou, putting the straw back in its ce. "Let''s go next door and take a look."
He Lou searched the other room just as thoroughly, but it too yielded nothing of interest. Then he went to the bed and examined it closely. To his surprise, he found a straw in a crack along the bed.
Shen Na approached and asked, "What''s the matter?"
"I found a straw by the bed in both rooms. Could this be a clue to something?" He Lou replied.
"Maybe it just got stuck on their shoes while they were walking. There are a lot of straw men in the fields around here," Shen Na suggested.
An Xing Yu''s eyes remained emotionless, but his tone conveyed a hint of intrigue. "If it were in just one room, it could be a coincidence. But if it''s in both rooms, it''s more likely to be significant."
After taking note of this strange coincidence, they left the room. As soon as they stepped outside, they saw the owner''s wife staring at them with an odd and ufortable expression. But she quickly regained herposure and greeted them with a smile, asking if they wanted to go out and explore the area.
An Xing Yu took the lead and inquired about the papernterns. "You mentionednterns. Are they a specialty here?"
The proprietress beamed with pride. "Yes, every household in this vige makes them. We hang them for weddings, funerals, and other special asions. It''s our tradition."
Her smile seemed forced, and upon closer inspection, it became apparent that she was not genuinely happy. Although the corners of her mouth were turned upward, her eyes remained devoid of any joy or warmth.
Again the rules ......
An Xing Yu inquired about purchasingnterns.
"If you guys want to buynterns, you can go to Uncle Wu in our vige, he has the best craftsmanship. He lives in -"
An Xing Yu had several questions before leaving and saying thanks. Walking with He Lou, the two of them stepped outside and spotted Shen Na standing under a nearby tree. She raised her phone and gestured for them toe over.
"Do you guys still remember? We took some group photos yesterday," Shen Na asked, and the two men nodded. "Do you guys remember the order of the photos?" Shen Na took a deep breath to calm herself down, and He Lou asked, "What happened?"
Shen Na pulled up the photo album and handed it over, "Just look at it yourself."
He Lou lowered his head to look at the photo album together with An Xing Yu, and his pupils shrank as he examined it. "This, this is..."
"You guys noticed it too, right? The number of people is not right," Shen Na said, swallowing hard and moistening her dry throat. "There are thirteen of us here, but there are thirteen on the...photo as well."
An Xing Yu remained calm as he took the phone and ced it in front of Shen Na. "But obviously, the problem now is not just the number."
On the photo, the faces of the four people who were missing this morning had beenpletely blurred, like a paper diagram stained with water, their facespletely haloed, making it impossible to see what they originally looked like.
Thirteen people stood in regr order, wearing identical smiles, with four of them having blurred faces. Moreover, Shen Na always felt that the haloed faces of those people were twisted into a very strange pattern, like a smiley face or two curved down lines for the eyes and one curved up line for the mouth, the kind of sketchy smiley face simr to a child''s drawing.
Shen Na had been holding onto hope, but now she was finally sure that those four people were most likely noting back.
"Will there be a problem with this photo? Should I delete it?" Shen Na asked.
He Lou shook his head and replied, "For now, there is no danger, you can keep it for now."
Shen Na did not deny it. The photos were on her phone, so he was putting it mildly. She superficially agreed, and the three of them went ahead together to the home of Wu Bo, whom the bossdy had just introduced.
On the way, Shen Na pondered, "If there were no such bizarre events, it would be quite nice toe to Red River Vige for a holiday. It''s just a pity..."
She was right; the vige was beautiful. The main road was clean and tidy, and as they walked along, there were paddy fields on one side and small woods on the other. The weather was a bit gloomy, but there was a different vor to a cloudy day.
An Xing Yu walked at the very back, his pure ck, almost inorganic eyes carefully surveying the fields on his right. It was too... regr. Although he had experienced farming life firsthand in order to write his essay, the rice fields in the countryside could never be as neat as here. The scarecrows in the fields looked like they had measured the distance, and the gap between them would not be more than half a meter when you looked at them visually.
Suddenly, something caught An Xing Yu''s eye. He examined a scarecrow with a peculiar hat and realized that it looked familiar. As a small flock of sparrowsnded on the scarecrow, a few of them chattered and hopped. Several birds suddenly fell headfirst into the paddy field, startling An Xing Yu.
"What''s wrong?" He Lou noticed that An Xing Yu had stopped and walked over to him in a few quick steps. In He Lou''s opinion, An Xing Yu was smart, calm, and a good person to work with. They could work together on future missions.
An Xing Yu pointed at the scarecrow and said, "That hat looks a bit familiar."
Shen Na froze and immediately took out her phone to check the photo album. One of the missing men was wearing the same hat! In the photo, his face became more blurred, while the smiling face gradually became clearer. Shen Na suddenly understood what had felt familiar. The blurry smiley face on the photo was exactly the same as the sketchy smiley face painted on the scarecrow''s face. She quickly closed the album and didn''t say anything more.
The three of them looked at each other and realized that the scarecrow and missing person might be linked. They felt a chill in their hearts. After a while, He Lou said, "Let''s go to Uncle Wu''s house."
Uncle Wu lived a little far away and made his living by sellingnterns. ording to the owner''s wife, he lived alone deep in the grove. It was already noon when the three arrived, and the sun was hidden behind dark clouds. The grove was rattling in the wind.
From a distance, they could see a corner of the roof peeking out from a small hillside. As they walked quickly past, they were all stunned. It wasn''t surprising to seenterns hanging in front and behind the house, but they were all bizarre, no matter what shape they were, rabbits or cats, all with ufortably bright colors. The expressions on thenterns were strange, with the corners of their mouths turned upwards in bright red paint, but no smiles in their eyes. Although thenterns were made with great skill, they always gave people an ufortable feeling.
Shen Na wanted to tell He Lou about what she found, but when she saw him staring in another direction, she nudged him and asked, "What have you found?"
"Nothing," He Lou replied, shaking his head. He had seen an extraordinarily familiar back, but he knew that the person he saw couldn''t have survived his mission. He figured it was just an illusion and stopped paying attention. Meanwhile, An Xing Yu was raising his hand to let them in quickly.
Uncle Wu was working in the courtyard, with arge table set up in front of him. The three of them watched as he worked on the skeleton of a newntern. It was made of thin bamboo strips with a rounded top and a circle stuck in a third of the way. The bottom was even rounder and bigger, resembling a gourd at first nce. Uncle Wu oiled ayer of skin of some kind, brushed it with paste, and carefully glued it onto the bamboo strips. He was skilled and was able to wrap the softyer of skin without any gaps or folds. Once onentern was finished, Uncle Wu sketched it out in detail with a brush.
It was then that the three of them realized that Uncle Wu was now making a female dollntern. He painted two dark buns of hair, a rounded face like that of a New Year''s painting doll, and a bib that revealed the lotus root-like arms and legs. Only when the shape was finished did Wu switch to a brush and carefully color the bib. The deep red, sticky paint reminded He Lou of the vige''s Red River and ... blood.
Wu Bo was fast and soon reached the final step - painting the face. Little by little, the fine brush drew a smiling face that was not too different from the scarecrow''s face. It had no smile in its eyes, but its bright red lips curved high at the corners.
"Finally the painting is done," Wu Bo said, looking at thentern in his hand with satisfaction and cing it carefully on the ground.
"Very good, you are very well behaved, you didn''t disturb my work," said Uncle Wu, hemming in augh. His voice was a little hoarse, and his cloudy eyes made him look ufortable as he stared straight at the group.
"Uncle Wu, may I ask if thisntern you made is...?" Shen Na began to ask.
Uncle Wu interrupted her and took out anotherntern from under the table. It was a male doll posed with a female doll as a pair of golden girls. He explored the twonterns with iparably fascinated eyes and finally put them away reluctantly.
"These twonterns are what I want to give to the vige chief. It''s hard for his son to get a daughter-inw, so I have to bring out my family skills," Wu Bo exined with a hint of embarrassment. His gaze lingered on Shen Na for a moment longer.
He Louplimented thenterns against their will, and seeing this, the other two alsoplimented them and offered to buy a few when they left. Uncle Wu agreed to sell them and invited them to stay for lunch. They agreed, and when Wu Bo pushed himself towards the house, they realized he was disabled and relied on a wheelchair to get around.
As a group of rule-abiding tourists, they naturally had to help with the cooking. He Lou and Shen Na went into the kitchen, leaving An Xing Yu outside to chat with Uncle Wu. They had a peaceful lunch, and before saying goodbye, Uncle Wu gave them each a small whitentern.
When they returned to the hotel, several other people saw thenterns and also nned to try to get one from Uncle Wu. They went separately to explore the vige''s many specialties. He Lou picked up a mushroom the others had brought back and noticed something strange about the bright red color. "It was thew of nature that the brighter they were, the more poisonous they were. This bright red mushroom..." He Lou gently scraped the mushroom with his fingernail, scraping off ayer of skin and causing the fishy red juice to drip down.
He Lou frowned, "Is this really edible?"
An Xing Yu replied, "Just to be safe, don''t eat it for now."
It didn''t take long for the others to return one by one, each carrying a smallntern. There was nothing else to do for the day, so they all waited for the evening feast.
Night fell quickly, and the cool autumn air brought rustling sounds from the leaves. At the end of the streets andnes,nterns from every house suddenly lit up, swaying lightly in the wind.
The group of tourists gathered at the hotel entrance, dumbfounded by what they saw. Thenterns they had made revealed a sketch of a smiling face painted on the white paper, with bright red lips and arched eyebrows that looked ufortable.
"The auspicious time hase - wee the bride -" a long, drawn-out shout came from nowhere, perhaps from all directions. Then, the high-pitched sound of an oboe mmed into the air.
A suona, blowing for new life, marriage, and death, came from the vige head. The bride wasing.
Firecrackers crackled and homes opened their doors, with peopleing out one by one with smiling faces. The boss''s wife led a group of people out the door, all carryingnterns, and joined the crowd heading for the vige head''s house.
Although there were many people, the road seemed unable to illuminate the heavy night, with faces blurred in the dead of night. Only their chilling smiles could be seen.
Fortunately, there was a tform in front of the vige head''s house that had been neatly set up during the day with tables and chairs. At the top was an altar with three white incense candles burning, the white smoke blurring the young man''s face in the ck and white photo. Beneath the table were piles of wreaths, paper houses, and paper-tied gold and silver jewelry. In the front row were half-high paper figures with small red mouths, white faces, and smiling eyes.
The whole vige had gathered for the wedding banquet, but there was no lively atmosphere as everyone followed the strict rules of not talking out of turn. They waited for the host family to speak first.
"Today, it''s my son''s big day..." said the vige headman, who was beaming with happiness as he stood in front of the altar to speak. He praised how good his future daughter-inw was, and it was clear that his son was also pleased as evidenced by the photo, which showed the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
The task enforcers noticed that something was off and felt a chill run down their backs, like a cold wind passing through. However, they didn''t dare say anything due to the strict rules.
He Lou also felt the same, and he couldn''t help but tremble. He was shocked not by the smiling picture, but by the young man standing next to the vige chief who was listening intently to the speech.
"That man...is Lu Yan, who else could he be?"
Chapter 23: The Brides Wedding
Chapter 23: The Bride''s Wedding
As He Lou''s gazended on the gentle-looking young man, thetter turned his head and met his eyes, looking a little confused but still offering a polite smile and nod before diverting his attention elsewhere.
An Xing Yu, noticing the change in He Lou''s demeanor, followed his gaze and noticed the young man too. He then gently touched He Lou''s elbow, his inorganic eyes silently questioning.
After a moment, He Lou forced himself to calm down and shook his head gently. He had never expected Lu Yan to survive, especially after facing the all-powerful and insane Daoist priest. Despite Lu Yan''s terrifyingly smart and cold demeanor, He Lou couldn''t fathom how he had managed to get away with it. What puzzled him more, however, was the strange look in Lu Yan''s eyes. Did he not recognize him? Why did it feel like he was looking at a stranger?
He Lou remembered Lu Yan''s cowardly, kind, and good-natured appearance when they had first met, so he couldn''t help but wonder whether Lu Yan truly didn''t recognize him or was just pretending. Perhaps there was someone else in this world who looked like him?
Lost in his own thoughts, he continued to listen to the impassioned speech of the vige chief while stealing nces at Lu Yan from time to time.
Abruptly, the vige chief stopped talking, freezing his gaze on He Lou, and his face turned grim and ghastly under the eerie dim light of thentern. "There is an unruly guest here...." he dered, his words trailing off ominously.
The entire crowd fell silent, their expressions as eerie as the vige chief''s. They turned their heads in unison, fixating on He Lou.
Then, as one, they opened their mouths to speak. "Guest, why don''t you behave yourself?" their voices ringing hollow and cold.
On closer inspection, their faces resembled the paper dolls ced under the hearth, their curved, smiling eyes not smiling but rather full of coldness and cruelty.
Lu Yan stood among the vigers, turning his head to fixate on He Lou with a twisted expression of terror and cruelty that they had never seen before. His eyes glimmered with an unsettling intensity as their lips quivered in unison as they chanted, "Guest, you don''t follow the rules...you don''t follow the rules..."
He Lou was drenched in cold sweat. He had never imagined that his mere nces in Lu Yan''s direction could be so easily detected by the vige headman. It was unnerving to think that these "people" in the vige may not even be human, and their strict adherence to the rules was far beyond that of any ordinary person. Perhaps, their sensitivity to any deviation was heightened to an extreme level.
He couldn''t help but wonder what to do now. He was aware of the vige''s punishment. The consequences of breaking the rules could be severe, even lethal, especially when dealt with by a group of vengeful ghosts. He was at a loss, his mind racing with a flurry of questions and concerns.
The other yers who had apanied He Lou were equally petrified, having underestimated the severity of the situation. While they had read the vige rules and knew the importance of adhering to them, they were not aware of the extreme consequences that could result from any transgression.
An Xing Yu, who was standing beside He Lou, grew anxious and looked seriously at the vige chief, sweating for his teammate.
He Lou, despite his panic, was a seasoned professional who had dealt with simr situations before. He quickly apologized before the vige headman could mete out punishment. "Vige Chief, the vige rules say that everyone must be happy and celebrate together during the wedding banquet," he emphasized.
The word "happy" hung in the air, causing the vigers'' smiles to freeze on their faces. Even Lu Yan''s wry smile paused in shock.
The sound of the suona, firecrackers, and the distant sound of the weing bride grew louder, but the wind seemed to freeze. The only thing still moving was the ck and white photograph of the vige headman''s son, whose smile slowly drooped, and his eyes bore into He Lou.
He Lou repeated his words, trying to soundposed, even though his palms were drenched in sweat. The vigers had to abide by the vige rules, and he knew they could not be unhappy at a happy feast.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...the silence was deafening.
Finally, the stagnant wind stirred, and the vige headman''s face broke into a smile. "Today is my son''s wedding feast, so let''s all celebrate with high spirits," he announced, lifting the tension in the air.
With a collective exhale, the square thawed and its inhabitants resumed their merry facades, as if the recent disruption was nothing more than a fleeting illusion. Not a soul spoke of the word "rules" again, nor did any of them give He Lou so much as a sidelong nce. Even Lu Yan diverted his gaze and blended in with the crowd, dutifully pping when it was time to do so.
The atmosphere of the square had shifted, and the sense of tension that had previously filled the air had dissipated. But He Lou knew better than to test the limits of the vige rules again. He couldn''t imagine the consequences of a second offense.
The strange customs of Red River vige continued to baffle He Lou and his team.
The marriage customs were particrly peculiar. The timing of the ceremony was determined based on the date of the deceased''s death, and the coffin had to be moved on the same day. The bride had to calcte the "auspicious time" and carry the new coffin into the groom''s home within a minute. And at midnight, the two would meet and decide whether to formally meet and pay their respects to heaven and earth.
The couple''s bones would then be united in one coffin, which would be taken to the red river at the end of the vige. There, the coffin would be pushed to the surface until it sank naturally in the middle of the river. This ceremony marked the end of the marriage ritual.
The vige chief''s speech ended and he announced that everyone could take their seats. One of the vigers who shared a seat with He Lou proceeded to exin the rules to the bewildered outsider.
The vige headman spoke at length, reciting a litany of words that, upon closer examination, amounted to nothing more than a fatherly admonishment to his son to treat his new wife well, without creating any further disturbances in the house. As for the bride, she would be epted by everyone in Red River Vige as long as she abided by the vige rules. If not, the vige would bepelled to punish her and bid her farewell.
The group of mission performers were once again reminded of how paramount the rules were to the vigers of Red River.
The rules were sacrosanct and not to be broken under any circumstances.
He Lou cast one final nce at Lu Yan''s retreating back before redirecting his attention to the wedding banquet at hand. Lu Yan could wait until the morrow; for now, the focus was on the festivities.
The first course of dishes was served, and the enforcers found themselves clenching their fists involuntarily. "Why aren''t you eating?" queried the vigers, puzzled by the enforcers'' hesitation.
"That''s right, why aren''t you eating?" echoed the vigers seated at the neighboring tables, who had turned to observe the enforcers with a menacing glint in their eyes.
Their mouths contorted into a thin, disapproving line. "Why aren''t you partaking in the feast?"
As the vige headman muttered "unruly guest" under his breath, several others in the room felt a cold sweat break out on their backs.
The dishes on the table were strange, to say the least - bright red mushrooms soaked in a thick red syrup, a monkey''s head that had been freshly severed with its skull exposed to reveal its white brains, a newborn rat cub squeaking in a cage, and a fishy red sauce on the side that no one could identify.
One viger opened the cage and used his chopsticks to pick up a small, pinkish-white, hairless, and eyeless rat that kept squeaking and squealing. The viger, ignoring the cries of the poor creature, took a big bite and chewed with a look of enjoyment on his face. The sound of the chewing mixed with the final squeak of the rat created an eerie atmosphere.
"Why don''t you eat?" the viger asked, with a pink tail still visible at the corner of his mouth, showing off his sharp, white teeth. "You don''t follow the rules," he added, a cruel glint in his eyes.
He Lou quickly replied, "It says in the vige rules that you can''t talk when you have something in your mouth."
The viger paused and swallowed, the pink tail disappearing from his mouth. As he turned to look at He Lou, the cruelty in his eyes grew even more intense. "You... don''t follow the rules," he snarled.
Thinking quickly, He Lou said, "I''ll eat." He picked up his chopsticks with a determined air and selected a piece of the bright red mushroom. He put it in his mouth, biting down strongly and suppressing the urge to retch. The thick, blood-like liquid exploded in his mouth, but he forced it down, smiling through the pain.
"It''s delicious," he said, hoping to escape further scrutiny.
The viger finally looked away and gazed straight up at the others. Observing this, the group, who had already seated themselves at the table, followed suit when they saw He Lou bravely take the first bite of the mushrooms, quickly picking up their chopsticks to do the same. In an inexplicable coincidence, the te was emptied of mushrooms. The viger''s countenance improved, and he was restored to his former look. However, other yers were in dire straits, as they ingested the mushrooms unwittingly and almost retched from the overpowering stench of blood.
He Lou interjected, "Everyone should enjoy the food," invoking the vige''s rule that no food should go to waste. The group barely swallowed. Except for Chen Zheng Hao.
As soon as He Lou finished eating, Chen Zheng Hao eagerly extended his chopsticks towards the mushrooms, bringing them to his mouth.
Ignoring He Lou''s unchanged expression, Chen Zheng Hao promptly swallowed the mushrooms, only to be overwhelmed by the rancid, month-old blood taste that nearly made him vomit.
The other members of the group forced themselves to consume the mushrooms, putting on a show of enjoyment. As a result, the vigers'' eyes shifted towards Chen Zheng Hao.
"Guest, you are not following the rules," echoed voices from all directions, malicious gazes piercing Chen Zheng Hao''s consciousness. Terrified, he realized he had broken the vige''s rules.
What could he do?
In a state of panic, Chen Zheng Hao shot up from his seat before He Lou could even remind him, frantically waving his hands in apology. "I am so sorry, I didn''t mean to do that," he stammered, trembling uncontrobly. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead, and his voice shook with fear.
To his dismay, the vigers'' smiles widened in response to his admission, a miserable white face sporting the same grin. "Guest, you have misbehaved and will be punished!!!" they dered in unison.
Petrified, Chen Zheng Hao realized his fate was sealed.
He Lou hung his head, while An Xing Yu let out a barely audible sigh. Shen Na sat beside Ding Cong Lu, forcibly holding her back and ring her down when she attempted to stand up.
Ding Cong Lu''s eyes brimmed with tears, and she struggled against Shen Na''s grip, but thetter''s strength proved too much. An Xing Yu''s pure ck eyes shed as he handed her a handkerchief, muffling her screams before restraining her convulsing body.
In truth, the moment Chen Zheng Hao had stood up, he felt consumed with regret and contemted taking his own life to escape horrors that surely would follow..
It was evident that He Lou had just set an example that one could evade punishment as long as they kept cool and pointed out the ws in the vigers'' actions. So, why should Chen Zheng Hao confess to his mistake?
However, the words had already escaped his lips and it was toote to retract them. With his back to the table, Chen Zheng Hao was engulfed by the vigers'' high-pitched cackles, which only added to his fear and despair. He knew his end was near and swallowed hard, his trembling body on the verge of copse.
''I''m going to die...'' he thought frantically, berating himself for his foolishness. ''It''s only the second time, why did I have to be so stupid?''
His thoughts turned to Xiao Lu, his timid girlfriend, and the looming prospect of leaving her unprotected. A pang of regret shot through him as he gazed at the tear-filled eyes of Ding Cong Lu. He shook his head resolutely and mouthed a silent "thank you" to Shen Na and An Xing Yu, who were holding her down.
Meanwhile, Ding Cong Lu''s muffled cries grew more intense, her futile attempts to remove the handkerchief adding to her anguish. Her gaze flitted from one face to another, beseeching help and empathy.
''Please, someone help him!'' Ding Cong Lu pleaded, her eyes full of desperation as she looked at He Lou, hoping that he could do something to save Chen Zheng Hao from the vigers'' wrath. But He Lou could only meet her gaze with a slow shake of his head, conveying his helplessness in the situation. It was toote for regrets now.
"To be punished! To be punished!" The high-pitched voices of the children filled the air, as they pped and sang in unison. "To punish, how to punish? Ask the vige chief! What does the vige chief say, what should be the punishment?"
All eyes turned to the vige chief, who was barely visible in the dimntern light. With a smirk on his face, he dered, "He has broken the rules and will be punished." The excitement in the vigers'' faces was palpable.
"Makenterns for Uncle Wu tonight!" The vige chief''s words were met with a chorus of cheers and the children''s song continued. "Bignterns, littlenterns,ntern dolls touching their heads, boy dolls to cut off their hands, girl dolls to cut off their tongues...."
The children enthusiastically apuded, their small hands pping together as they belted out familiar nursery rhymes. Despite their efforts, their joyful noise was muffled by the distinct sound of an approaching oboe.
Those who dared to break the rules were met with swift punishment. However, such urrences were rare and the vigers remained content. Chen Zheng Hao felt a weight lifted off his chest and his body slumped in relief. His breathing was ragged, rising and falling with intensity.
By some stroke of luck, he was assigned to makenterns instead of facing a harsher penalty. Even if he had to spend an entire month crafting these luminous creations, it was a small price to paypared to losing his life.
Ovee with relief, Chen Zheng Hao and Ding Cong Lu embraced each other, tears of gratitude streaming down their faces. Unbeknownst to them, several onlookers gave them pitying nces.
Chen Zheng Hao spoke with sincerity, "Xiao Lu, I made a grave mistake breaking the vige rules. You must not do the same." Ding Cong Lu obediently nestled in his arms and nodded, "I understand. Take greater care when making thenterns."
Shen Na and He Lou exchanged nces, recalling thentern they had seen at Wu Bo''s house. Thentern, made from some sort of animal skin, now hung in front of the spirit hall, a boy and girl doll affixed to it, both depicted asughing gleefully.
The animal skin used for thentern was of unknown origin, causing a sense of unease among tmore experianced yers. However, no one mentioned it, opting to keep the cheerful atmosphere for the little couple a while longer.
The cold wind blew stronger as the night thickened, shrouding the heavy, colorednterns in darkness. All light seemed to be devoured by the ckness of the night.
The yers remained silent, their nerves on edge, as they waited for the appointed hour.
Strangely enough, the sound of the suona, a traditional Chinese wind instrument, grew louder and more prominent than the others. People spected that it was the bride''s arrival, yet she failed to show up. The sound of the suona drew nearer, only to drift away once more, teasingly elusive.
The mayor''s son''s coffin had already been disinterred and brought to the room where he had once resided. All that remained was for the two individuals to open the coffin and perform the ritual at the stroke of midnight.
"Quick! Bring my son here!" The vige chief, aware that it was almost time, urgently called for theborers to bring the coffin forward.
Several strongborers abandoned their meal and headed towards the inner room, ready toplete their task.
Within moments, the stench of the fish carried by the wind filled the air, intermingling with the reek of putrid flesh and long-buried soil. Four burly men slowly carried the weighty, ck coffin towards the center of the hall, its bulk swaying gently with theirborious footsteps.
An Xing Yu observed that the coffin was not securely nailed shut, and the lid remained ajar. The bottom of the coffin was still coated with moist soil and the remnants of dead foliage, evidence of its recent exhumation.
An Xing Yu scrutinized the coffin, his gaze fixed on the footprints of the bearers which were imprinted deeply into the mud due to their substantial weight. Lost in thought, he was interrupted by a teammate who whispered, "What are you pondering about?"
An Xing Yu shook his head, remaining silent. Though he had been trying to ascertain the coffin''s weight by the depth of the footprints, he now believed that such an exercise was futile.
"The groom has arrived," bellowed the vige elder, his voice raspy and powerful enough to slice through the sound of the nging cymbals. The music instantly crescendoed, filling the air with an electrifying energy. At the far end of the road, four burly men emerged, shouldering a pristine white pnquin. Their faces were fixed with identical, unnerving grins, mirroring the shape of thenterns that dangled from the pnquin''s sides, with their downturned eyes and upturned lips devoid of any mirth.
The ring procession of suonas, trumpets, gongs, and drums reverberated through the vige, spurring the men around the fire to smile even wider. "The bride has arrived--" the elder cried out again.
As the chilly wind picked up, the vigers huddled closer, but all eyes remained fixed on the approaching pnquin.
They strained their necks to catch a glimpse of the bride, eager to see the beautiful woman who would marry the mayor''s son. An Xing Yu nced at the man in front of him and noticed how his neck stretched impossibly long, almost extra five centimeters. While swan like necks were often considered graceful and desirable by girls, the sight of such an elongated neck was unsettling, even eerie.
After the ban on speaking was lifted, the people congregated in small groups of two or three, engaging in lively conversations. Some spoke of the bride and groom being a match made in heaven, while others bestowed blessings upon the newlyweds, wishing them a smooth and sessful marriage, as per the tradition of the Red River.
Meanwhile, several members of the mission performers seized the opportunity to huddle together, exchanging hushed whispers. Amidst the drone of their voices, He Lou scanned his surroundings, only to discover that something was amiss.
A sense of unease crept over him as he noticed the conspicuous absence of young people in the vicinity. ording to the vige''s customs, everyone was expected to attend the wedding feast, especially since it was the celebration of the vige head''s family. However, to his surprise, he saw only middle-aged and elderly folks, the youngest amongst them being in their thirties.
As he pondered over the oddity of the situation, he couldn''t help but wonder where the young adults, in their twenties, had vanished to. Although children ran amok throughout the vige, there was a conspicuous absence of those in the prime of their lives.
As He Lou mulled over the strange absence of young people in the Red River Vige, he couldn''t help but surmise that the man he spotted earlier did not hail from the vige. After all, could he be the only youthful member of the entiremunity? His thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of the very same gentleman''s back, and without further ado, He Lou strode over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
The man turned around, and as their eyes met, He Lou''s lips curved into a smile, although his insides churned. The face before him was one he recognized only too well, stirring up memories of hisst harrowing mission. Despite the nagging voice in his head warning him to stay away, He Lou pressed on, "Excuse me, are you Lu Yan?"
Lu Yan appeared befuddled for a moment but soon broke into a friendly smile, "Yes, that''s me. How can I assist you?"
For a split second, He Lou hesitated, grappling with the internal battle raging within him. Nheless, he pushed past his misgivings and extended a hand, "Hi, I''m He Lou, and I''m here with a friend to explore the countryside. What brings you to Red River Vige?"
Lu Yan''s expression brightened as he revealed, "I''m a journalist on a folklore expedition to this charming hamlet. The vigers here are warm and friendly, and their customs and cuisine are renowned throughout the region, particrly the tradition of ghost marriages."
He Lou raised an eyebrow, surprised by the mention of such an unusual practice. Sensing his apprehension, Lu Yan quickly added, "The vige chief even treated us to the most delectable local delicacies. You must have sampled some earlier, weren''t they divine?"
He Lou suppressed a shudder as he recalled the stomach-churning dishes on the banquet table, but managed a strained grin, "Yes, they were delightful."
''Do you truly have no recollection, or are you simply feigning ignorance?'' He Lou pondered, but the fear of awakening the other party to their ghostly state prevented him from voicing his query. Such was the premise of countless horror films, where the dead and the living appeared indistinguishable until the realization of death transformed them into terrifying apparitions.
Even the living Lu Yan was an imposing figure to contend with, and He Lou could only imagine the ferocity and cruelty that would apany the revtion of his death. Whether Lu Yan still lived or had passed on, He Lou wished to avoid any further involvement with him.
As a crowd gathered to witness the bride''s ceremonial departure from the coffin, He Lou maintained a distance from Lu Yan, observing as a bright red embroidered shoe emerged from the white pnquin and met the ground. The scene was both eerie and captivating, and He Lou found himself transfixed.
Chapter 24: Whats wrong?
Chapter 24: What''s wrong?
Wait a minute, wasn''t this supposed to be a ghost wedding? If that''s the case, shouldn''t the bride already be dead? Why is sheing out of the pnquin?
He Lou and hispanions were frozen in ce, too scared to breathe as they watched the embroidered shoe touch the ground. Despite the darkness of the night, the shoe was a vibrant red colour that seemed to glow like blood against the wet, dark soil. A bloodless hand followed, pulling back the curtain to reveal...
No! Don''t look!
The sense of foreboding and fear building up in the missionaries reached a crescendo as the curtain revealed a glimpse of the red cover. All of them felt a sudden chill sweep through the area. They instinctively knew not to look any further. Heads down, they remained motionless, hoping that whatever horror unfolded before they would soon be over.
The vigers were oblivious as they gathered around, eagerly watching as the matchmaker helped the bride off the pnquin. Two older women stepped forward to lend a hand, supporting the limp figure as it stumbled forward. Bride''s embroidered shoes dragged onto the muddy ground, now stained with dirt.
Amidst the cheering and apuse, someone shouted, "The bride is so beautiful!" Others joined in, "The vige head''s family is blessed to have such a good daughter-inw."
Lu Yan quickly nced at the bride before bowing his head in respect. She was being dragged forward between two people, her bright red wedding dress and embroidered shoes a stark contrast against her pale, stiff hands. Her hands looked lifeless, even with jade bracelets and red nail polish.
The matchmaker followed closely behind, holding arge ck and white picture frame with a portrait of the bride. Her beautiful eyebrows were furrowed in a frown, revealing her true feelings. Behind the matchmaker were two neat rows of honour guards and bands dressed in linen.
As the music faded, yellow paper money flew into the sky, floating gently to the ground or being carried away by the wind. The bridegroom was beaming with satisfaction, but the bride was drooping. It was clear to anyone who looked that she was unhappy. It was evident that she was not here willingly.
The vigers were still festive, blissfully unaware of the situation. They kept cheering and gushing over the beautiful bride and how perfect the couple looked together.
The matchmaker announced, "The auspicious time hase."
The two photo frames were ced side by side, and while the man was overjoyed, the woman remained expressionless.
The vige chief suddenly walked over to his son''s coffin and lifted the lid. The room was filled with a fishy, nauseating smell, but the vige chief pulled out a white bony hand from inside the coffin before anyone could react.
"Good son, I have found a good daughter-inw for you," said the vige headman with a smile, and with a push of his hand, he pulled out the entire skeleton in its birthday suit. "Come here, give me a hand; they''re going to pay their respects!" he instructed, beckoning the vigers to help him. "One on each side! Don''t dy the auspicious time. Hurry, hurry!"
Everyone''s attention was solely on the bride and groom, and nobody paid attention to the yers, who were free to whisper and chat. He Lou didn''t dare look directly at the couple, feeling as though it might be the end of him if he did. Lu Yan quickly nced at them before joining in the vigers'' apuse.
As the vigers helped the two corpses bow respectfully, the gloomy wind suddenly picked up. At the moment the two heads were pressed down, thenterns went out, and the whole ce plunged into darkness.
What''s going on?
He looked up at Lu Yan, but the darkness concealed any trace of him. The next moment, he was also engulfed in pitch-ck darkness... It was a rare day of bright sunshine inte autumn.
"Hey, He Lou! Your family found a daughter-inw so easily. When''s the wedding?" he strolled along the road while an uncle nted rice seedlings in the field and called out to him.
He Lou replied, "Uncle Zheng, we have the wine tomorrow!"
He felt delighted helping his best friend find a new daughter-inw. As they made their way home, the vigers they encountered inquired about it. He Lou didn''t mind; no one living in Red River Vige would be unhappy. He smiled and answered all the queries until they reached their house.
He had several great friends, but unfortunately, one of them died identally. ording to the vige''s custom, it was best to pair a young man who died prematurely with a Yin rtive, or else his soul would never rest in peace.
"Chen Zheng Hao, we have arranged everything for you. The girl is excellent; you can wee her peacefully," he reminded his deceased friend, offering incense in front of his ck and white photo disyed in the hall.
"Brother Lou," a tall woman walked through the door and smiled, "Everything went well. Although the wedding was somewhat hasty, all the families were kind enough to lend us everything we needed. Uncle Wu even sent twonterns."
Here''s an improved version of the text while preserving its details:
"Really? Uncle Wu made thenterns! That''s wonderful," He Lou eximed with joy.
The wedding banquet was a grand affair, and a group of their close friends sat together and discussed it seriously. They were all travellers who hade to Honghe Vige many years ago. The water and soil in the vige were so nurturing that they couldn''t bear to leave after their visit. They decided to stay for a few more months, which eventually turned into several years. They had be part of the vige and itsmunity.
However, although they were like family, He Lou couldn''t help feeling uneasy about his best friend''spanion, Lu Yan. Despite being kind and never doing anything to provoke He Lou, he couldn''t shake off the fear he felt every time he saw Lu Yan.
When Lu Yan walked in, He Lou involuntarily shrank back in terror. "He Lou, you''re here too," Lu Yan said, smiling at him. "I''ve found a great daughter-inw for you. We''ll have the wedding in a few days."
He Lou didn''t care about the daughter-inw and agreed silently, but he felt a sense of unease in his heart. Something just didn''t feel right.
Chapter 25: Bride-swapping
Chapter 25: Bride-swapping
He Lou returned to the hall to pay his respects to his good friend Chen Zheng Hao by lighting a stick of incense. In the ck and white photo, Chen Zheng Hao''s lifeless eyes took on a glint as he looked directly at He Lou. He Lou raised his ss and spoke to the photo, "I know you always liked that girl. Don''t worry; I''ll bring her down tomorrow to keep youpany." Despite the eerie response, He Lou was unfazed and walked out of the hall to join Shen Na.
Shen Na, who had just entered, smiled at the photo and addressed Chen Zheng Hao, "Brother Chen Zheng Hao, the vige may have punished you before, but now that you have reformed yourself, they will still find you a good wife. Just remember to follow the rules with her." With that, they left the hall.
The wedding preparations were in full swing, with whitenterns and wreaths hanging everywhere. He Lou and Shen Na stood under a beautiful acacia tree in the courtyard, scanning the surroundings to ensure Chen Zheng Hao couldn''t hear them. "What do we do now?" Shen Na sighed. "Ding Cong Lu is strongly against it and thinks we''re crazy. She''s telling us to wake up and remember our mission. This custom of tonic marriage has been around for generations; how can we break it because of one girl?"
He Lou furrowed his brows, feeling the weight of his responsibility as their small group leader. Their sess in quickly establishing themselves in Red River Vige was due to his leadership, and he had to make the right decision for his team.
"Now someone is actually misbehaving. Isn''t this making it impossible for us to get along in Red River Vige?" He Lou frowned, deeply concerned. "I''ll go check on her," he said, determined to take action.
Shen Na nodded in agreement. "That''s the only way. She won''t listen to anyone now. She''s crazy and doesn''t follow any rules."
At that moment, a man named Liu Xia, a team member, entered the courtyard and overheard their conversation about Ding Cong Lu. He spoke up, "Brother Lou, it would be good if you stepped in. Usually, Ding listens to you. I don''t know what''s wrong with her these days. She''s as mad as hell. If it weren''t for her getting married soon, how could the other vigers tolerate her being so unruly?"
He Lou asked, "Where is she now?"
Liu Xia replied, "She''s locked up in the basement. She''s crying and screaming about going on a hunger strike. After all, she won''t be as pretty if she goes on a hunger strike. So I''ve asked Lu Xiu Xiu to watch her and feed her some food."
Lu Xiu Xiu was another member of their team. She wasn''t particrly attractive, nor was she talkative, but she was obedient to Liu Xia.
He Lou said, "Okay, take me there."
As they were leaving the courtyard, they ran into Lu Yan, standing on the corner. Lu Yan looked at the indignant trio up and down a few times, and with an indescribable smile, he asked, "You''re going to send her on her way now?"
Liu Xia saw He Lou suddenly pause in ce after seeing Lu Yan and immediately stepped forward. "What else? Are we supposed to keep her, and then we can''t live?"
Lu Yan, the handsome young man, seemed amused by their predicament.
Liu Xia held He Lou in high esteem; without him, they would never have been able to establish themselves in Red River Vige, and the few years they had spent together had created a deep bond between them. In contrast, everyone treated Lu Yan, who hade to Red River Vige with them, rather coldly. Although Liu Xia knew that the vige rules stated that he had to be friendly to his friends, he couldn''t get close to Lu Yan.
Lu Yan said indifferently, "It''s against the rules to speak badly to your friends."
Liu Xia was startled and immediately fell silent. He Lou then asked, "Do you want toe with us to persuade her?"
Lu Yan turned his head to look inside the room and locked eyes with the man in the ck and white photo. Just when He Lou thought he would decline, Lu Yan chuckled and again looked at the others with a gaze that He Lou couldn''t quite decipher. "Sure," he said.
Now the group was four, with Liu Xia leading the way. They all lived together in a small building at the vige entrance, with each person having their own room. The basement was a short walk through the courtyard gate to the woodshed opposite and through a small door on the woodshed floor.
The weather was gloomy that day, with a cold wind blowing fiercely. In the woodshed were piles of paper-tied gold and silver treasures, so to prevent them from being blown away by the wind, Liu Xia closed the door after the four of them entered. The already dim woodshed became even darker, and only the outlines of each person could be seen. Liu Xia lit the paraffinmp in the room and handed it to Shen Na to carry.
When they first entered the room, they could hear a faint sound, and as they lifted the board, the woman''s cries became even louder, even though she was gagged.
As the group approached the cave entrance, an insidiously cold breath poured out, causing several of them to shiver and tightly wrap their clothes around. Although they felt the chill, they didn''t pay it much attention.
Liu Xia pointed to the woman inside the cave and said, "Look, she''s been screaming like this for a while."
Shen Na wore an expression of genuine abhorrence, "Such a fuss; it''s ack of discipline!"
Even He Lou, who was usually calm, frowned and looked disgusted. On the other hand, Lu Yan remained silent and gazed quietly at the dark hole.
He Lou suggested, "Well since they are our friends who have lived together for years, let''s be more considerate." He then took the paraffinmp from An Xing Yu and shone it down the hole, calling out, "Lu Xiu Xiu, are you there?"
There was no response, only the sound of muffled sobs.
Liu Xia was puzzled, "That''s strange; I clearly told her to stay inside."
He Lou suddenly realized something, "Quick! Let''s go down!"
With that, he jumped down into the hole. The basement was constructed peculiarly, with a downward slope leading to the actual basement room, where the bodies for ghost weddings were stored. This basement was one of thergest underground mortuary rooms in the vige. It was attached to the small building where they lived.
As they were good friends, they couldn''t treat Ding Cong Lu badly. He Lou''s face was gloomy as he thought about the possibility of Ding Cong Lu being ungrateful. He hoped that she wouldn''t end up drinking the penalty wine.
Shen Na and several others leaped down from the ledge after He Lou, their eyes trained on his hunched figure. The gravity of the situation had not escaped them, and one among them was so incensed that they gritted their teeth and called out Lu Xiu Xiu''s name.
As the group approached the source of the woman''s anguished cries, Lu Yan trailed behind them, his eyes flitting around the woodshed. A pile of firewood caught his attention, but he said nothing as he mbered down to join the others.
As soon as hended, a bone-chilling cold seeped through his body as though emanating from the depths of the earth. The mud underfoot was a deep red, like it had been soaked in blood, and Lu Yan''s shoes were stained crimson as he trudged forward.
The narrow path opened into arge basement, and Liu Xia caught up with He Lou, taking the opportunity to walk beside him. Shen Na, on the other hand, chose to keep her distance, sticking to the rear of the group as they wound their way through the basement''s twists and turns.
The scent of damp earth grew stronger as they approached an empty room, its size spanning between 20 and 30 square meters. In the centery a dark, imposing wooden coffin, its lid slightly ajar, from which Lu Xiu Xiu''s heart-rending cries could be heard.
"Is that you, Lu Xiu Xiu?" He Lou called out, his voice echoing off the walls. He handed themp to Shen Na and moved to the front, beckoning Liu Xia to help him open the coffin.
The wood was sturdy, and it took both men to pry it open, the lid creaking as it shifted to the side.
As soon as the cries ceased, an eerie chill permeated the basement, seeping through every nook and cranny. The bone-chilling cold was so extreme that it caused He Lou, closest to the coffin, to tremble uncontrobly. The paraffinmp in Shen Na''s hand flickered twice and abruptly extinguished, plunging the basement into darkness.
Liu Xia fished a lighter out of his pocket and struck it, but the me immediately snuffed out, to his dismay, as if someone had yed a cruel trick on him. He tried several more times but to no avail. He stuffed the lighter back into his pocket, frustrated at theck of light in the basement.
"Lu, Lu Xiu Xiu?" He Lou called out in uncertainty.
"Lu Xiu Xiu, are you there?" Shen Na added, "Quit ying games and show yourself."
It took a few moments of shouting before the woman''s cries resumed, and the paraffinmp flickered back on, casting a warm and dim light across the room.
"It''s me...I''m here..." The voice came from inside the coffin.
After the earlier darkness, the group shifted their positions. Liu Xia subconsciously walked towards the head of the slightly ajar coffin and peered down. "What happened to you?" he asked before a pair of ghostly white arms emerged from the coffin and wrapped themselves tightly around his neck. With a sudden tug, Liu Xia was yanked into the coffin, leaving the others in shock and disbelief.
"Liu Xia!!!" He Lou and Shen Na cried out in unison, frantically trying to push the lid of the coffin. Despite their best efforts, the lid remained stubbornly sealed. After a few moments, the paraffinmp flickered again, and the lid of the coffin began to move of its own ord, inching slowly towards the end of the coffin.
As the lid moved away, a woman dressed in a striking red wedding gown with a deadly whiteplexion slowly emerged from the coffin. He Lou and Shen Na stood still, shaken by the sight of the woman. Their purpose foring to the basement was clear - to find both Lu Xiu Xiu and Ding Cong Lu. Thetter had been imprisoned beneath the ground, with Lu Xiu Xiu tasked to watch her. However, upon reaching the basement, they found Lu Xiu Xiu trapped in the coffin instead, wearing the very wedding dress that Ding Cong Lu was supposed to do.
Was Ding Cong Lu on the run?
He Lou and Shen Na were infuriated and immediately stepped forward to help Lu Xiu Xiu out of the coffin. As she emerged, she moved the coffin to the side, her body like a cold, slithering serpent. She took the two people''s hands for support and was gradually helped out of the coffin. Herrge, embroidered red shoes trailed on the ground.
Shen Na was indignant. "This is outrageous! How could Ding Cong Lu do this? Xiu Xiu, do you have any idea where she has gone?"
Lu Xiu Xiu shook her head slowly, and Shen Na found herself at a loss. "What do we do now? The wedding banquet is tomorrow."
He Lou''s expression darkened. "We need to inform the vige chief and have the whole vige search for her," he said grimly.
"But what if we do find her?" Shen Na wondered aloud. "Would Chen Zheng Hao still want to marry a woman who has broken the vige rules and fled from the marriage?"
He Lou was unequivocal. "We will dispose of her as per the rules."
He turned his gaze to Lu Xiu Xiu, already dressed in her wedding attire. "Regardless, the wedding banquet is tomorrow, and we already have a bride. I will talk to Chen Zheng Haoter, and it''s fine if Lu Xiu Xiu takes Ding Cong Lu''s ce."
As they approached the entrance to the tunnel, Shen Na took the lead and nimbly scaled the wall. Extending her arm, she helped pull Lu Xiu Xiu up from the depths of the earth. The touch of Lu Xiu Xiu''s hand was bone-chilling and sent shivers down Shen Na''s spine, but she soldiered on and hauled the woman up with all her strength. He Lou was next, lifting himself up and out of the darkness. Last came Lu Yan, his movements slow and deliberate, as if lost in thought.
Curiously, throughout the climb, not one of them mentioned their missingpanion, Liu Xia. He was nowhere to be seen, and the group remained silent, uncertain how to address his absence.
Chapter 26: You should be happy as well
Chapter 26: You should be happy as well
After He Lou informed the vigers, the usually tranquil and celebratory atmosphere of the vige immediately erupted like boiling water. How could a bride dare to escape? This was an utterly scandalous event in Red River Vige, where rules held greater importance than the sky.
He Lou stood before the vige chief, consumed by shame and ming himself. "I did not educate them well enough for this to ur," he confessed. Had He Lou been sober, he would never have uttered such words. In Red River Vige, admitting mistakes typically resulted in punishment.
Hearing these words, the vige chief''s expression immediately transformed. The corners of his mouth lifted high as if he had heard the most delightful news. Yet, his eyes were filled with frigidity and resentment as he fixed his gaze on He Lou. Gradually, his face ttened like a paper doll, and his bright, red lips opened and closed. "This is what you stated," he said. "You have made a mistake and will...will be punished."
The vige chief''s metamorphosis was enough to send shivers down their spines, but presently, they felt no unease. Instead, they gathered around him, hoping to sway his decision. Another man named Zhao Chuan immediately interjected. "Vige chief, He Lou did not intend for this to happen. This matter is not his fault."
Zhao Chuan had been the one to question Shen Na initially, but he could not recollect that now. He merely remembered that he had lived with the team for many years, and their rtionship had grown stronger with time, much like biological siblings.
At this moment, though he recognized that there was no justification for breaking the vige rules, he believed that Ding Cong Lu''s offense was hers alone. What did it have to do with He Lou? Observing this, several other individuals spoke up. "Vige chief, if you seek to punish, you should only punish Ding Cong Lu. She was the one who sought to flee."
"Yes," another interjected. "Brother Lou arrived to report the incident to the vige as soon as he became aware. It is not his fault."
The group united in pleading for mercy, except for Lu Yan, who remained still. This agitated the others, but the vige rules dictated that they must be kind to their peers. Otherwise, they would have forced Lu Yan to speak up.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yan remained quiet for a moment before speaking up. "Vige chief, I have arranged a marriage for He Lou, and a wedding banquet will be held in a few days."
Upon hearing this, the vige chief ceased muttering, and his empty gaze fixed upon Lu Yan. "I have found a bride for him after much difficulty," Lu Yan said tly.
Initially, Lu Yan had chosen Shen Na. Still, now that Lu Xiu Xiu had passed away, he could readily rece her with someone else. There was thirteen total, and four had broken the rules and transformed into scarecrows. The wedding banquet could be postponed for three or four days, but theter the ghosts arrived, the more frequently they transformed, and he had to ensure he could survive the month.
Whom should Ding Cong Lu, Chen Zheng Hao, He Lou, Lu Xiu Xiu, and Shen Na be paired with? Liu Xia was missing...no. In a few days, he would return. But Shen Na and Liu Xia, with whom else?
As Lu Yan surveyed the other individuals present, his gaze moved over them with a lifeless quality. Thankfully, the rest of the group was dazed in an illusion, or else they would have noticed the disturbing way he was studying them. But it was precisely because of his detached demeanor that Lu Yan could assess them so thoroughly.
He Lou''s miraculous survival of the Daoist priest''s attack elevated him in Lu Yan''s eyes. The sword had been perilously close to piercing his throat, but the timing was perfect. If Lu Yan had been even a fraction of a second slower in rescuing He Lou, both would have been killed. And yet, he couldn''t decide whether he felt guilty about this fact. After all, death in this realm was transitory, and they would eventually be reborn. But somewhere deep within, a voice warned him that he absolutely could not die. The consequences would be too terrible to bear.
As a result, He Lou had to be disposed of. Despite the man''s current loyalty, who could say that he wouldn''t reveal Lu Yan''s secret to others? Moreover, in the many years he had spent in this world, Lu Yan had never witnessed anyone from another realm reappearing in such a short period. It could happen in the future, but not now.
And once the ghost marriage was performed, He Lou would be condemned to die.
Only when Lu Yan reminded him did He Lou suddenly recall the impending nuptials. "Yes," he said with gratitude shining in his eyes. "He helped me find a bride, and we''re getting married in just a few days."
In Red River Vige, vige rules held greater significance than anything else, including marriage, which was considered above the vige rules. Thus, any viger who managed to find a match for a ghost marriage was exempt from punishment, even if they hadmitted a grave offense. However, Ding Cong Lu had dared to run away from the marriage, and as a result, the vige chief''s ghastly white face contorted with rage.
Gradually, his features rxed, and after a while, he smiled and congratted He Lou as if he had forgotten what he had just said. Shen Na, An Xing Yu, Zhao Chuan, and the others breathed a sigh of relief and looked at He Lou with envy. In their eyes, being able to perform a ghost marriage was a great honor.
He Lou beamed with happiness as he received the vige chief''s blessing. At the same time, his fellow vigers mentally vowed to punish Ding Cong Lu properly. They bound her with twine and brought her before the vige chief. Ding Cong Lu was gagged, tears streaming down her face, and terror was written all over her features. She looked at her familiarpanion with a look of abhorrence, repeatedly whimpering, her eyes begging for mercy.
Conversely, the children found the situation amusing and began to p their hands and circle around her, singing nursery rhymes.
"Bride, disobey, be punished, be punished ......"
Ding Cong Lu shook her head in terror. She knew all too well that the so-called punishment was far worse than death. Her lover, Chen Zheng Hao, had broken the rules, so he was forced to makenterns after the wedding banquet. She had witnessed Uncle Wu peel his skin off, piece by piece, starting from the head. It was a gruesome sight, like watching the process of making a crocodile skin bag. Human skin was glued onto thentern skeleton bit by bit until a newntern was made.
Despite witnessing her boyfriend''s excruciating pain and agony as he was bewitched by the ghost, Ding Cong Lu remained under the ghost''s spell and watched him die without remorse. The memory of that traumatic event flooded her mind as she gazed upon her current teammates, who were still blinded by the ghost''s power, desperately struggling to reach out to her. The grief of losing her lover overwhelmed her, but Ding knew she had to escape it and find a way out of their current predicament.
''Come to your senses quickly!'' she urged herpanions. ''Don''t be deceived by this vige. We must find a way out of this.''
The vige headman approached Ding Cong Lu and scolded her. "You didn''t follow the rules," he said sternly, his mouth gaping wide open.
The vigers echoed his words in unison, and the atmosphere turned icy cold, causing Ding Cong Lu to shiver. But this sudden chill somehow cleared her mind.
Determined to find a way out, Ding Cong Lu remembered the clue they had found earlier. ording to the vige rules, breaking them would lead to grave consequences. But thest rule stipted that everyone must consummate a ghost marriage. And that included Ding Cong Lu, who was to be married to the ghost on the following day the day she was destined to die.
Panic threatened to consume her, but Ding Cong Lu knew she had to stay calm and think of a solution. She turned to herpanions with tears in her eyes, unsure of what to do next.
Showing some empathy, Shen Na suggested they hear Ding Cong Lu out. "What if she knows she''s made a mistake?" she said.
An Xing Yu chimed in, "And if Brother Chen Zheng Hao likes her so much, maybe she could still go through with the wedding."
Ding Cong Lu was grateful for their support, but deep down, she knew that going through with the wedding was not an option. She had to find a way to break the ghost''s spell and escape the vige before it was toote.
He Lou''s suggestion made sense, and Ding Cong Lu turned her head to look at him, her mind in turmoil. "Let me ask you," He Lou said, turning to face Ding Cong Lu. "Are you still willing to marry Chen Zheng Hao now? If you don''t run away from the wedding, just nod."
Ding Cong Lu was stunned. Of course, she was willing to marry Chen Zheng Hao. Every young woman in love yearned to be with her beloved forever. But now that Ahao was... her thoughts trailed off as she recalled the way Chen Zheng Hao had shaken his head, urging her to keep quiet when he learned of his own certain death and how they had agreed to live together before leaving. Ding Cong Lu''s heart felt like it had been cut with a knife, and tears flowed once more.
She wanted very much to live, but she knew there was a good chance she wouldn''t survive. If that was the case, what did a ghost marriage matter? At least she could still be with Chen Zheng Hao. She nodded her head.
The child at her side reached out and removed the cloth from her mouth. Ding Cong Lu took a few deep breaths and said, "I''m not running away from the marriage. I want to marry Chen Zheng Hao."
All the vigers around her cheered, and several children gathered around her, singing happily. He Lou and the others were also pleased, and even Lu Yan, who was always distant, showed a smile.
"The wedding banquet will be held tomorrow, so let''s send the bride down today," the vige chief said with a smile. A few middle-aged women, looking like vigers, brought in arge tray carrying red wedding clothes adorned with white silk ribbons, smiling and saying, "We will make the bride look beautiful, without a doubt."
The vige chief''s eyes swept over the vigers. "Who will send the bride on her way?" he asked, then reached out and took the white silk ribbon. After much thought, he handed it to Shen Na, who had just spoken up for Ding Cong Lu.
"You."
Shen Na took the silk ribbon and walked towards Ding Cong Lu.
Though prepared to die, Ding Cong Lu found herself begging for her life when the two vigers holding her tightened their grip. She struggled, trying to break free of their confinement, but to no avail.
"Think fast, you guys! We''re here on a mission, not from Red River Vige!"
As the silk belt tightened around her neck, Ding Cong Lu''s breath became shallower and shallower. Her mind racing, she gasped for air and tried to plead with Shen Na and the others.
"He Lou, remember the eight missions we''ve carried out? Shen Na, you too..." she managed to say before her voice was cut off by the tightening of the silk belt. Her lungs burned, and she felt herself losing consciousness.
Ding Cong Lu''s vision began to blur, and her hands iled unconsciously. Her nails scratched at the back of Shen Na''s hand, drawing blood. An Xing Yu and He Lou quickly intervened, holding Ding Cong Lu''s hands to prevent her from harming Shen Na.
Through her hazy vision, Ding Cong Lu could see Shen Na''s pleasant smile as she tightened the silk belt. As she felt herself slipping away, she tried to urge them to remember.
But it was toote.
"Good, oh! The bride is on her way!" The vigers cheered.
The vigers cheered, celebrating the "bride''s" arrival. Shen Na and the others joined in, happy with their aplishment.
Noticing the joy on He Lou''s face, Lu Yan asked: "Do you like Lu Xiu Xiu?"
He Lou was taken aback. "What?" he said.
Lu Yan replied, "The bride I mentioned earlier is her. When your timees to get married, you''ll be just as thrilled as you are now."
Lu Yan watched as the vigers took Ding Cong Lu''s lifeless body away to prepare her for the wedding, his voice barely above a whisper.
Chapter 27: Remember!
Chapter 27: Remember!
He Lou sensed something amiss, but Lu Yan''s enigmatic expression masked any ill intentions, and so He Lou received the news as a blessing, offering an affirmative nod and a smile.
The vigers erupted in cheers and scampered off to prepare for the wedding, while Shen Na set out to aid in dressing the bride. The rest of the group disbanded, with Lu Yan bringing up the rear, his steps leisurely but his mind frenzied.
What was the mystery behind Red River Vige? Was it tied to the river? What was the obsession with ghost marriages? The final phase involved banishing the bride and groom to the Red River, which sounded suspiciously like a sacrifice. How could he hope to survive a month in Red River Vige?
He refused to ept the nonsensical notion that he could survive by simply abiding by the vige''sws. On the surface, the rules didn''t appear too arduous, but thest and most recent amendment decreed that all outsiders were obligated to engage in a ghost marriage, and once that went into effect, death was inevitable. He could let the others take over for the time being, but he needed to devise a solution before it was his turn.
Otherwise, even if he departed the vige, the curse would linger.
What were those macabre human skinnterns and strange, crimson mushrooms in the vige? Was the memory loss rted to the consumption of those fungi, or were they all caught in a phantasmagoria?
Having confronted supernatural phenomena for an extensive duration, Lu Yan had gained a measure of insight into the indomitability of ghosts. Existing solely in the realm of the mind, they could not be vanquished by human willpower. They could tamper with human recollection and the senses with impunity. Confronted with the almost omnipotent phantoms, humans appeared infinitesimal and escape proved nigh impossible.
The outsiders, in contrast, presented him with a rare opportunity. Their arrival signified the restoration of the pre-mutation state, where the once eerie entities would return to their former normalcy. Even more significantly, these individuals from another world offered a glimmer of hope to rid the world of its oddities!
Initially, when he stumbled upon the missionaries, he felt they were out of ce. However, it wasn''t untilter when he taught himself hypnosis and obtained some illicit drugs that he could extract valuable information from these outsiders. While he couldn''t delve too deeply into the subject without risking their immediate selfdestruction, Lu Yan managed to piece together information about their mission and its ultimate purpose. Who was behind the rules and regtions that even the ghosts werepelled to follow remained a mystery.
What made him so special? Howe he could stay awake while others couldn''t? He couldn''t recall any particr trait that would enable him to confront the specters with ease. However, his heightened awareness in the midst of chaos and his ability to resist the ghosts'' negative effects proved beneficial in his survival.
Returning to his room and shutting the door, Lu Yan retrieved his phone and brought up the CCTV footage. While the spirits had a knack for manipting memories and visual recordings, his body''s resistance to their influence, which he had honed through numerous life-and-death battles, usually proved useful in detecting tampering attempts.
On his smartphone, a nine-grid surveince screen materialized, and Lu Yan swiftly extracted the video footage from Ding Cong Lu''s room at the appropriate time and forwarded through it. To his surprise, Ding Cong Lu, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly jolted awake, her eyes widening with terror as she trembled uncontrobly in bed.
Lu Yan''s mind raced with questions. What had caused this sudden reaction? What did it mean for him? As he perused the footage, he noticed something eerie - precisely at midnight, a ghostly hand had appeared on the screen and covered the entire image, sending chills down his spine.
Reacting instinctively, he flung his phone out the window and fled the room, not daring to look back. The incident had sparked a guess in his mind, and he knew he had to wait until the next wedding to verify it.
Chen Zheng Hao and Ding Cong Lu''s wedding was fast approaching, and like the vige headman''s wedding before, Uncle Wu had fashioned twonterns out of human skin as gifts. All the vigers gathered at the vige square, carrying white papernterns as they walked in a long procession, the dim light casting an eerie glow over the night.
Lu Yan walked behind the crowd, carefully observing the vigers andparing them with the ones he had seen the previous day at the vige headman''s wedding. Everything was eerily simr, from the way they dressed to their asional conversations, even the way they lined up was exactly the same, except for the two newlyweds - Chen Zheng Hao and Ding Cong Lu.
The ensuing proceedings mirrored those of the previous wedding. The sole deviationy in the fact that, as soon as the vige elder concluded his speech, the executioners assumed responsibility for serving the food and promptly began to consume it.
"Hold on a moment!" Lu Yan interjected, a trace of suspicion taking root in his mind. He meticulously examined each dish and managed to surreptitiously ce diferent foods onto each person''s tes. With his convincing arguments, the men remained unsuspecting. He Lou sampled a piece of "couple''s lung slice". An Xing Yu savored the "monkey brain". Shen Na relished the "fried meat in the shape of a human hand". Zhao Chuan consumed a live rat.
As for himself, he partook in another serving of mushrooms. Despite the repugnant taste of blood that permeated his mouth, Lu Yan maintained a cid countenance and smiled. Likewise, the other men wore the same smile, bing indistinguishable from the vigers. The wan, sorrowful light cast on their faces transformed them into simr, smiling visages.
"Let us pay homage to the heavens and earth-" The bride, shrouded in a red veil, alighted from the sedan, the groom, now a skeleton d in his wedding attire,y in his coffin, the golden girl bore a ck and white photo frame, the suona''s re rent the sky, and thenterns swayed in the breeze. The two skeletons paid their respects. Suddenly, Lu Yan''s vision cked out.
When he came to, he found himself staring at Zhao Chuan''s visage.
"Come on, snap out of it! Brother Lou is about to get hitched. Let''s go lend a hand," Zhao Chuan said. The memories in Lu Yan''s mind were still jumbled, but the instincts he had honed over time impelled him to nod subconsciously and silently follow Zhao Chuan.
Incidentally, they were now about to lend a hand to He Lou. The woman he had taken as his wife was none other than Lu Xiu Xiu. Lu Yan trailed behind Zhao Chuan, sensing that something was amiss, yet struggling to articte what it was. He kept the anomaly at the forefront of his thoughts, ruminating over it, but his gut instinct prevented him from inquiring, and his countenance remained unchanged.
In due course, they reached He Lou''s abode. Having resided in Red River Vige for several years, and having alwaysplied with its regtions, the inhabitants of the vige had weed them with open arms, and they all enjoyed a cordial rtionship.
A few days earlier, Lu Xiu Xiu had passed away and since the outsiders had been very close-knit, He Lou decided to wed her after a brief period of mourning. The vige chief and the vigers were ted for the couple, and the entire vige was bustling with preparations for a joyous wedding.
However, upon arriving at He Lou''s home, the two of them realized that something was amiss. He Lou, who had always exuded an air of maturity and stability, like a big brother figure, was now incensed, frantically attempting to rify something to An Xing Yu, with a forlorn and contemptuous Shen Na at his side.
"What is happening here?" Zhao Chuan inquired immediately, feeling a heightened sense of reverence for He Lou. How could he suddenly have a change of heart?
Meanwhile, Lu Yan had an inkling that something was awry. He remained outside the door, refraining from entering, and instead took a step back to keep guard.
Upon seeing Zhao Chuan, Shen Na disyed an impatient expression and uttered, "You have finally arrived. He Lou doesn''t seem to know what he wants anymore, and wishes to dissolve the marriage." A profound disgust was evident on her face.
Being a member of Red River Vige, she loathed individuals like He Lou who had agreed to a union and then wanted to rescind it.
Zhao Chuan was equally taken aback.
How could someone want to renounce their marriage? This unprecedented situation caused quite a stir in the tightly-knitmunity of Red River Vige.
"I am not attempting to renounce my marriage, I implore you toe to your senses and recall the events that have taken ce!" He Lou, well aware of the vige''s strict traditions, quickly retracted his statement.
He was acutely aware of the dire situation at hand and the unusual circumstances surrounding the vige, causing beads of sweat to trickle down his forehead.
He could neither deny nor confirm the marriage, as both options would result in execution as per the vige''s unforgiving rules.
Despite his teammates'' confusion and unawareness, even if they were to recall the events, they would still be bound to the vige for a full month before they could depart.
Unfortunately, only a week had passed since their arrival, leaving them with a sense of helplessness and uncertainty.
What could be done now...?
After Ding''s escape from He Lou, the vigers apprehended her, leaving her with nowhere to hide for the remaining three weeks.
"Brother Lou, is everything alright? What did you want us to remember?" inquired Zhao Chuan, perplexed. "What''s wrong with Brother Lou today? Did something upset him?"
An Xing Yu responded with a shake of his head, "I''m not certain. He was acting normal when he woke up, but then he suddenly became erratic."
"I''m not acting out of sorts, it''s you all who are out of sorts. An Xing Yu, Shen Na, do you remember our mission? Thirteen of us arrived in Red River Vige, and we had to stay for a full month before departing. Lu Xiu Xiu was with us as well."
Shen Na''s face twisted in disgust, "Enough, don''t mention Xiu Xiu''s name again. You''re the one who wanted to repent of your marriage, yet you have the audacity to speak of her?"
An Xing Yu also appeared bewildered, "Brother Lou, what are you talking about? We''ve been living in Red River Vige for the past five or six years."
Zhao Chuan chimed in, "Yes, Brother Lou. Remember, you wanted to engage in a ghost marriage a long time ago, but there was never an avable single woman in the vige. If it weren''t for Lu Xiu Xiu identally trapping herself in a coffin and suffocating, you would never have had the chance."
Despite his attempts to evoke memories of the past, the group continued to regard him as if he was spouting nonsense.
He Lou was left with a pressing question: what could he do now?
He Lou didn''t shout frantically like Ding Cong Lu; he knew it wouldn''t help. However, if he answered affirmatively, he might be strangled to death by the vigers in due course.
Moreover, why was it his turn to be married in the underworld?
He Lou suddenly recollected that day when Lu Yan called out to him and said something. He had put Lu Xiu Xiu in front of him and he had not objected in the slightest; rather, he had happily gone to report to the vige chief.
Life and death, he no longer had the strength to regret or generate any other emotions. His mind was racing, trying to find a way to live.
Interestingly, wasn''t that what happened to Ding Cong Lu? She suddenly came to her senses and cried about repudiating her marriage because she had already remembered at that time, right?
It was undoubtedly not a coincidence that Ding Cong Lu''s sudden recovery of memory and his own memory recovery both urred the day before the wedding.
Could it be that the day before the wedding, their memory would be restored?
He Lou sensed the nefarious intent behind this mission.
By requiring the outsiders to adhere to the vige''s regtions, they were gradually bing a part of Red River Vige. However, a peculiar custom of the vige was a ghost wedding, which condemned those who partook in it to death! Adding to the mission''s distress was the fact that the missionaries'' memories would be restored a day before the wedding, leaving them no room for confusion as they watched theirrades kill each other.
In addition to avoiding encounters with ghosts and monsters, every mission yed with people''s emotions and drove them into the depths of despair. He Lou hade full circle, yet he was determined to do whatever it took to survive.
Noticing Shen Na''s impending departure to report the matter to the vige chief, He Lou made his decision and held her hand. "I am not regretting the marriage. All I want is to be with everyone," he spoke calmly, reminiscing about their journey to and growth in Red River Vige. "These were delightful times that I will never forget. As my closest friends, I long to have a splendid wedding with you all."
Alternatively, they could postpone the wedding and reschedule it for the following month.
By the way, what was Lu Yan''s level of knowledge about the situation? Did he know about the proposal when it was initially made? Had his memories returned to him? If only he had not suggested it, he wouldn''t be in this predicament now.
He Lou had regained hisposure and addressed Shen Na with a smile, "What is your opinion of Lu Yan? I believe you are match made in haven."
Shen Na appeared hesitant, saying, "But, he...".
He Lou interjected with assurance, "There is no ''but.'' Do you not believe he is suitable? We have been living together for many years; you should be familiar with his character." Seeing that Shen Na was still somewhat uncertain, He Lou''s tone grew more intense, "Moreover, he has always adhered to the rules of Red River Vige. What more can you ask for?"
Shen Na''s eyes showed a hint of resistance, as if there were still doubts in her mind, "Let me...consider it."
Meanwhile, Lu Yan was hiding behind the door, pressed against the wall, struggling internally. He pounded his head in frustration, trying to recall his memories, unsure whether they were authentic or not. He needed to remember quickly!
Lu Yan breathed deeply and opened his eyes, his gaze clear. He was not a native of Red River Vige.
He...was alive and needed to return.
Chapter 28: Must escape!
Chapter 28: Must escape!
Leaning against the wall, Lu Yan took deep breaths to conceal the mncholy etched between his brows. He absorbed He Lou''s words and grasped the gravity of the situation, just like Ding Cong Lu had twenty-four hours before her wedding, when a sudden memory had hinted at something beyond just the culinary delights on offer. The banquet held a more significant purpose or, perhaps, an unpleasant surprise.
He Lou attempted to ensnare Lu Yan, but he was no easy prey. Calm andposed, he strode out to confront He Lou, whose pupils shrank as he realised he had been caught red-handed in a treacherous scheme. He had always been wary of Lu Yan, knowing that he was not one to be trifled with.
Lu Yan acknowledged He Lou''s presence with a nod, and He Lou nervously inquired, "Were you outside all this time?"
"Yes, I heard everything," Lu Yan responded promptly. He turned to Shen Na with a sly grin, "You don''t need to select me. Instead, why not join Liu Xia''s? Unfortunately, Liu Xia recently passed away. He was a dutiful viger, just like you." His tone was smooth, yet calcting, akin to a predator eyeing his prey.
He Lou was caught off guard and eximed, "You!" He was on the verge of saying something more, but the scorching rage emanating from Lu Yan''s eyes silenced him. Meanwhile, the other man''s lips moved silently, leaving He Lou to swallow his words. If Lu Yan had a solution, he didn''t care about anyone else.
"Shen Na, do you have any reservations about him? It was challenging for me to find one for you," He Lou cajoled Shen Na, attempting to sway her decision.
Shen Na was hesitant, "That''s true. Liu Xia just happened to pass away, so it could be him, right?"
The duo took turns persuading her, and in a dazed state, Shen Na ultimately agreed.
He Lou, however, couldn''t focus on that anymore. He noticed Shen Na had given her consent and left them to discuss it amongst themselves before scurrying over to Lu Yan and speaking in a hushed tone, "What did you mean by that?"
As the weight of his impending execution hung heavily over him, He Lou''s mind was consumed by a flurry of thoughts, desperately searching for a way to escape the inevitable. Even with the absence of Lu Yan''s looming threat, He Lou still needed his assistance toplete their mission and evade certain death.
Lu Yan hinted at a potential way out, but his cryptic words left He Lou in the dark. "There is a method, but I cannot yet be certain of its sess. Therefore, I am unable to disclose it at this moment," Lu Yan said, his tone enigmatic.
The sounds of the approaching vigers heightened He Lou''s sense of urgency. He could feel his execution drawing nearer, and the thought of the vigers'' smiles only served to intensify his anxiety. He felt as though he was walking towards a fiery furnace or a sharpened de, desperate to escape.
As the vigers drew closer, He Lou considered fabricating an excuse to dy his execution. The notion of requesting a postponement of the wedding date flitted through his mind, but he knew that it would be a flimsy excuse and likely viewed as a breach of their customs.
He was in a precarious situation that necessitated quick thinking and a stroke of good luck. Even if the excuse he offered was false, he knew that he had to try, regardless of the consequences.
"I beg of you, please tell me. What is this way out you speak of?"
"Very well, in that case, let me reveal a solution: you must flee," Lu Yan dered with a cool demeanor, momentarily stunning He Lou.
Although He Lou''s intuition hinted at the veracity of Lu Yan''s words, the threat of death and the enigmatic ambiance of the vige had stifled their cognitive abilities, making it difficult to analyze the situation.
"However, we are obliged to stay for a month, and even if we tried to escape, where could we possibly go?" He Lou articted with a sense of unease.
Lu Yan responded impassively, "Where you choose to flee is of no consequence to me. I merely ask, how long have you truly resided in this vige?" With a flick of his wrist, Lu Yan retrieved a slim notebook from his satchel and presented it to He Lou.
He Lou was dumbfounded. How long had they lived in the vige? Hadn''t they just arrived recently?
The memories in his mind were a tangled mess. On one hand, he recollected living in the vige for years with his friends, but on the other hand, he had a nagging feeling that something was amiss. The moment the "newlyweds" prostrated themselves at the first wedding banquet, their memories vanished, and their perception of time became distorted, jumping ahead three years. Then, after the second wedding for Chen Zheng Hao and Ding Cong Lu, their world rewound several months. The disorientation was overwhelming.
As He Lou attempted to sort through his thoughts, he found himself unconsciously reaching for the notebook Lu Yan held. But as he began to peruse its pages, he suddenly froze. Whose diary was this?
Before he could make sense of the situation, several people emerged from the courtyard. An Xing Yu led the group and immediately spotted the notebook in He Lou''s hand. "What are you doing with my diary?" he eximed in surprise.
Only then did He Lou realize that the book did look familiar. Since arriving in this world, An Xing Yu had taken to scribbling in his notebook during his free time, jotting down personal reflections or working on academic topics. Whenever asked about it, he would simply reply, "If I make it back alive, I still need to prepare for my college entrance exams." But now, as He Lou pondered the absurdity of such a notion, he couldn''t shake the feeling that something sinister was at y.
Gingerly grasping the notebook with trepidation, He Lou detected a disquieting aura surrounding it. "I chanced upon this diary," he said, attempting to appear casual, "does it belong to you, by any chance?"
With a deft movement, he tendered the journal to An Xing Yu.
In Red River Vige, harboring lost objects had severe repercussions one was subject to execution if found guilty. However, deception was another matter entirely. So long as one remained undiscovered and refused to confess, one''s safety was secure.
An Xing Yu epted the diary with a hint of annoyance but withheld any verbal reproach. Holding the book, he simply nodded at He Lou.
Observing the scene with a smirk on his lips, Zhao Chuan remarked, "The vige chief and his cohort are approaching, likely to offer Brother Lou a ride."
Preferring not to pursue the matter further, He Lou turned his thoughts to other ponderings what was the impetus behind Lu Yan''s theft of An Xing Yu''s diary? Could there be something of value written within its pages?
As the vigers drew nearer, Shen Na and herrades greeted them with palpable exuberance, borating on the situation to the vige chief, who headed the group.
The chief''s delight was discernible upon learning that all the pledges had been found, as his furrowed countenance transformed into one of pure tion. The crowd erupted into cheers, buoyed by their leader''s felicity.
However, He Lou''sughter was stifled. As he scrutinized the procession, he spied a viger trailing behind the chief, carrying a tray that held a menacing dagger. They were condemning him to death. But what was the genuine means of survival? Was it genuinely as uplicated as fleeing, as Lu Yan had suggested? Even if He Lou evaded the vigers, he would face certain death if he vited the rules and his allotted time had not yete.
While simultaneously lowering his head, Lu Yan whispered to He Lou, "The diary holds little significance; it is the recorded time that matters." The timeline of Red River Vige was in a state of chaos, a stark contrast to their traditionally strict adherence to customs and regtions. For generations, the vige had prided itself on its rigid adherence to rules and traditions.
However, the vige itself was in a constant state of disorder. Did it truly matter to keep track of time in this chaotic vige? ording to the vige''s "rules," they had been living there for years. If they were forced to keep up with the outside world''s time, the vige would be considered "unruly," and an unruly vige cannot survive.
He Lou attempted to check the time on his phone, but it had somehow malfunctioned.
"Don''t bother, I cannot read the time on my phone either," Lu Yan replied without hesitation when He Lou turned to him.
The vige headman arrived, wearing a kind smile that appeared no different from that of an ordinary old man. He said, "He Lou, tomorrow is your wedding day. Today, we havee to send you on your way."
He Lou had now calmed down, putting on the same smile as if he hadn''t noticed the extreme malice behind the vige chief''s facade. Calmness was his only chance now. Lu Yan wouldn''t assist him in escaping; instead, he would likely exploit He Lou''s flight and escape.
Nheless, He Lou tentatively asked, "Vige Chief, I want to have a wedding with my friends... Should we postpone it for a few days?" All the vigers turned their heads simultaneously, their mouths agape.
Lu Yan was observing carefully. Most of the time vigers appeared like ordinary individuals, nothing out of the ordinary. However, once someone vited the rules, their faces collectively transformed into a t, miserable white, much like... paper people.
The vige chief''s voice was stern as he spoke, "You have set a date for your wedding, and now you wish to retract your promise?"
When Lu Yan initially proposed the wedding date, it was done so for the purpose of experimentation. However, it was fruitless, for as soon as the wedding banquet was held, they would immediately shift to the corresponding time point.
Realizing this, He Lou altered his approach, "No, I simply wish to celebrate with my friends, for we journeyed to Red River Vige together..."
Instead of softening, the vige chief''s expression grew increasingly menacing, and his eyes shone with cold malice and resentment. Slowly, his mouth opened wider and wider, stretching beyond the limits of human physiology until it gaped all the way to his waist. Within that colossal mouth, a seething torrent of red liquid surged, threatening to consume He Lou.
Faced with the imminent threat of being devoured, He Lou swiftly changed his tune, dering with conviction, "I shall not alter the wedding date!"
These words caused the vige chief''s agape maw to freeze mid-action, and the rest of the vigers likewise froze in ce, as though someone had paused a video. Even Lu Yan remained motionless.
One second ticked by, then another, until finally, the vige chief''s mouth returned to its normal size, and his expression softened, as though he had not just been on the brink of swallowing a human whole. He Lou breathed a sigh of relief, "My friends will also be getting married tomorrow, alongside me."
If they were to escape, it would be more economical for all of them to escape together. Therefore, it was best to awaken their memories now.
The vige headman, who had regained hisposure, wore a look of surprise and concern when he asked, "Is that so? Have you all found someone?"
He Lou, with a calm faade, was drenched with sweat, and the cool wind made him more alert. "Yes, we''ve found good partners," he replied.
"Shen Na and Liu Xia, Zhao Chuan and Wang Jing, An Xing Yu and...," He Lou stuttered.
In their group, there were only four female members: Shen Na, Ding Cong Lu, Lu Xiu Xiu, and Wang Jing. What about An Xing Yu?
An Xing Yu turned to look at He Lou with the same confusion, his youthful face making him look like an ordinary high school student. He no longer appeared as calm and robotic as when they first met. "Who is my partner?" he asked.
Sweat trickled down He Lou''s forehead. "I have found one for you. You and...you and..." His eyes wandered around as he searched for a suitable match.
"Who is it?" An Xing Yu trailed off.
"You and...," He Lou turned his head and saw Lu Yan. Without thinking, he blurted out Lu Yan''s name.
Lu Yan''s eyes red with hostility. "He Lou, in Red River Vige, it''s against the rules for men to marry men."
Rules, always rules! So not having a ghost marriage partner was the key to survival?
Lu Yan gave He Lou a quick nce before withdrawing his gaze. He paid little attention to He Lou''s babbling, still preupied with the scene he had just witnessed.
When the vige chief opened his mouth, it was filled with fishy red liquid, which could have been blood or some other red substance, such as the Red River in the vige. Lu Yan also remembered the red mushrooms that spilled the same foul-smelling liquid when bitten.
Were there any simrities between these things?
The vige headman smiled and said, "So, you''re all nning to get married tomorrow, are you?"
He Lou''s influence over the crowd was still apparent, as Shen Na and Zhao Chuan nodded in agreement. A few others who had not found suitable partners also congratted them without any hard feelings.
He Lou''s entire body tensed up. Would their memories return twenty-four hours before the wedding? Was it true or not? The most crucial thing now was to separate them.
"Vige Chief, please allow us..." He Lou began.
The vige headman was still smiling. "Oh, you all want to get married? That''s great! We''ll all get together and have a good time. Then it''s settled. You all will get married tomorrow without any objections, right?"
Shen Na spoke up, "I have no problem with it."
Zhao Chuan and Wang Jing both nodded in agreement.
He Lou gestured towards a wedding dress held up by one of the vigers and addressed the vige chief, "Vige Chief, with the increase in weddings, do we have enough wedding dresses? Is there anything else we should consider?"
It was then that the vige chief suddenly recalled the matter and instructed the other vigers to retrieve additional wedding attire without dy.
Of the seven or eight vigers following behind, more than half had already gone ahead.
He Lou realized that this was his opportunity.
As the vige chief walked ahead of him towards the courtyard, he asked in passing, "He Lou, have you decided how you would like to die? Would you prefer to be killed with a sharp knife that will slit your throat in one cut?" Despite the gruesome topic, He Lou managed to remainposed and calmly replied, "I have no objection to that."
Shen Na, on the other hand, wrinkled her brows and expressed her preference, "I''d like to change my method. How about being strangled with bare hands instead of satin? I enjoy the sensation of having my throat squeezed by bare hands."
Zhao Chuan chimed in, "I don''t want a knife either. Pour boiling water on me from head to toe, and I''ll be scalded to death in an instant."
The people were now invested in discussing their preferred method of death. He Lou found himself even more resolute and managed to listen without betraying any emotion, though he inwardly cried out in desperation. Just then, he caught a glimpse of Shen Na''s face suddenly turning pale.
This, this is ......
She, what was she doing?
Was tomorrow truly the day of her death? And had she just revealed her preferred way of dying?
With the mental fortitude honed by many missions, Shen Na managed to hide any signs of panic or distress. He Lou had quickly approached her, gripping her hand tightly, his gaze unwavering as he shook his head slowly and mouthed silently, "I have a n."
However, Zhao Chuan and Wang Jing were not asposed. Within moments, Zhao Chuan''splexion turned pale as a flood of memories crashed into his mind, reminding him of their mission. He had unwittingly agreed to a ghost marriage, and it was set to take ce the following day!
The vige chief''s menacing visage loomed before him, and Zhao Chuan jerked upright before making a dash for the door. He managed to keep his mouth shut, but the expression on his face spoke volumes, and the vige headman could already sense what had happened.
"Someone has broken the rules and is attempting to flee the marriage," the vige chief said, his toneced with regret.
The other vigers'' faces mirrored his sorrow as their bodied became light as paper and they drifted in air towards Zhao Chuan, ready to catch the disobedient man and punish him severely.
The entire room chased after them.
Wang Jing also finally snapped out of his daze and realized what was happening.
He Lou bellowed, "Run!" and quickly pulled An Xing Yu, who was still in shock, out of the house and in the opposite direction. Shen Na was hot on their heels, sprinting towards the edge of the vige.
"We have to escape!" she urged, her voice filled with urgency.
Chapter 29: The Secret of Red River Village
Chapter 29: The Secret of Red River Vige
Pandemonium had engulfed the entirety of Red River Vige. Every viger was scouring the area in search of Zhao Chuan.
The sky grew darker, and the chilly, wet atmosphere thickened with each passing moment. Meanwhile, He Lou, Shen Na, An Xing Yu and Wang Jing were sprinting in the opposite direction.
An Xing Yu, who still had not regained his memory, kept protesting and pleading to go back. If not for the virtual memories that the vige had imnted in him, he would never have believed in He Lou''s leadership. Impatient, He Lou let go of An Xing Yu''s hand and ran ahead with Shen Na and the others.
Initially, Red River Vige had appeared to be a thrivingmunity with broad roads, sturdy homes and healthy crops. However, now, it was almost unrecognizable. The paths had narrowed, bing littered with sharp rocks and tangled weeds and vines.
As they ran deeper into the destendscape, the temperature plummeted, and even their breath felt damp. The bleak and forbidding environment, coupled with the rapidly darkening sky, filled them with dread.
"Lou, are we really headed outside the vige?" Shen Na asked, trailing behind and watching her footing. Although her memory had just returned, she was still a bit disoriented. Nevertheless, since He Lou was leading them, she had no reason to question the course of action.
"But it hasn''t been a full month yet," Wang Jing chimed in. She had only been on two missions and feltpletely out of her depth in this strange world. So far, she had managed to survive purely by chance.
He Lou understood that he needed to provide a clear exnation to dispel any lingering doubts in Shen Na''s mind. He ran ahead, simultaneously rying the information Lu Yan had shared with him. Shen Na quicklyprehended the situation, but Wang Jing remained somewhat confused. Nevertheless, she realized that this was her chance to escape the vige.
However, a perplexing question arose in Wang Jing''s mind. "Isn''t the time of our mission calcted ording to the time of the outside world?" she wondered. Nevertheless, she kept her thoughts to herself and focused on keeping up with the others.
Although she was aware that the vigers would pursue them, there was no sign of them at present, so Wang Jing felt rtively unconcerned. She paused to check her wristwatch, but the hands were spinning aimlessly, leaving her clueless about the time, month, or day. She found the vige to be disorienting and confusing. Nheless, the thought of leaving it filled her with hope.
However, Wang Jing''s hope was short-lived, as she began to worry about the uracy of the path they were taking. The confusing time calctions made her question if they were on the right track. She slowed down and looked around, searching for any clues that could guide them. As they moved deeper into the dense forest, the path became increasingly difficult to navigate, and the weather grew dimmer, making it hard to see.
The two people ahead of her were leaving her behind, and Wang Jing could still hear their faint footsteps. Suddenly, she saw a white shadow out of the corner of her eye, which caused her to panic. She thought it was a ghost and screamed in terror. She ran through the dense forest, her body aching from the branches and undergrowth that scraped her.
Wang Jing kept running until she was too exhausted to continue. Finally, she slowed down, panting heavily.
She was at her limit, her body unable to continue running any further. However, with the glimmer of light that appeared at the end of the dimly lit path, Wang Jing found new motivation to persevere. The light''s faintness only made it more alluring, and she charged towards it with renewed vigor. Unfortunately, in her excitement, she failed to notice the wet mud beneath her feet.
When she finally arrived at the source of the light, antern, she approached it slowly. As the wind blew gently, thentern swayed, seemingly gazing back at her. It was then that Wang Jing noticed the object that had caught her eye.
"Ahhh!" she eximed.
Meanwhile, Shen Na panted heavily beside herpanion, whose unusual gait and weightless strides had set her on edge. "Brother Lou, are we heading the right way?" she asked anxiously, but the man in front of her remained silent, his head bowed and hands sped together.
It was then that she noticed something peculiar about his movement: his heels never touched the ground, and he drifted forward like a ghost. A sinking feeling gripped her as she realized that this was not He Lou.
A quick nce ahead confirmed her fears: the road ahead was growing more rugged and unstable by the second. Without a moment''s hesitation, Shen Na spun on her heel and began running back the way they hade. Wang Jing, who had witnessed the strange scene, followed suit.
As they fled, Shen Na pondered the consequences of breaking the vige''s rules, knowing that such disobedience could plunge it into chaos. The sky was alternating between light and dark, the terrain was disorienting, and the climate was erratic. It was as if the fabric of time and space had been torn asunder.
In this chaotic environment, a "month" could stretch into an eternity. She stumbled down a short slope, narrowly avoiding a small pond that she had seen only ten minutes earlier. How were they ever going to get past it?
"No," Shen Na eximed, looking at the twisted road ahead of them. "Even the road seems confused. What good will it do to keep running in one direction? Who knows if it will turn into something like a Mbius ring and we''ll end up back where we started."
Wang Jing caught up to her, panting heavily. "Shen Na, what should we do now?"
Shen Na shrugged. "This road won''t work. Let''s go back the way we came, but be careful to avoid the vigers."
"Good idea," Wang Jing muttered under her breath.
As they walked, Wang Jing ced a hand on Shen Na''s shoulder, but Shen Na quickly dodged away. "Stay away from me!" she warned, ncing at her own reflection in the nearby pond.
A chill ran through her as she realized that only her own reflection was visible. Her heart pounding, Shen Na kicked "Wang Jing" into the water and ran away.
"Wang Jing" floated on the surface of the water, motionless except for the ripples caused by the waves.
Shen Na ran for an unknown amount of time until she felt more at ease. The path was rough and steep, but she hadn''t seen any vigers. Had they managed to avoid them by paying attention to the terrain? Just when she began to feel a bit more rxed, she suddenly felt short of breath. She couldn''t catch her breath, and her vision blurred. Finally, she noticed something cold on her neck. It was two white hands!
The hands had broken off from Wang Jing''s body and had been hanging around Shen Na''s neck since she had shaken her off. She tried to shake them off but couldn''t.
She felt theck of oxygen and her vision began to fade.
The water in the small pond was intantly tinged with red. Two ghastly white female corpses floated above with their eyes wide open, and strangely enough, their hands were missing.
In the distance, a young man passed by with a cold expression, removing his binocrs from around his neck.
"Brother Lu, where are we headed now?"
The chaos in the vige had sent the locals scrambling after Zhao Chuan, and Shen Na, He Lou, and Wang Jing had fled the vige for reasons unknown. An Xing Yu had followed them for a while, but had fallen behind and bumped into Lu Yan. Now, Lu Yan was leading him on a path to nowhere.
"Let''s go and help find Zhao Chuan too," said Lu Yan.
He wondered if He Lou and Zhao Chuan had managed to escape and hoped they hadn''t. Shen Na was dead, and the onlypany left was An Xing Yu, whose memory had yet to return. As they walked, he asked, "An Xing Yu, would you be willing to lend me your diary so I can take a look?"
After regaining his memory, Lu Yan had noticed that something was amiss. Though clocks were ubiquitous, mobile phones and other modern electronic devices were rare in the vige, and most householdscked a calendar. This realization led him to sneak a look at An Xing Yu''s diary, in which he had recorded the time he had deduced from his memory.
However, he had not kept the diary long enough to read it thoroughly and had only managed to flip through a few pages before returning it to He Lou in haste. As he opened the diary, An Xing Yu nodded subconsciously but suddenly paused.
"I...," he began, appearing to be in pain as his memories grew fuzzy and then began to clear.
The mission...Red River Vige...Underworld Wedding...
An Xing Yu quickly regained his senses.
"Your memory has returned?" asked Lu Yan, surprised.
An Xing Yu nodded and took a few deep breaths. "Didn''t you say we were going to find Zhao Chuan? Let''s go now," he said, ready to move on.
Although Lu Yan was unfamiliar to him, he seemed trustworthy for the time being, based on his recollection of this period. Even if Lu Yan was a ghost masquerading as a human, it would be unwise to recklessly expose his disguise, as it could have disastrous consequences. Therefore, An Xing Yu opted to adopt a friendly demeanor towards him. As they sprinted along the treacherous and convoluted path, Lu Yan perused the diary, graduallying to a definitive conclusion.
"Why the sudden interest in finding Zhao Chuan?" An Xing Yu inquired as they ran.
Since An Xing Yu had exhibited benevolence towards him, and since Lu Yan was not inclined to eliminate individuals without due cause, the two had established an unspoken agreement to coborate. As such, Lu Yan saw no reason to conceal anything from him. He urgently needed to locate Zhao Chuan, specifically the vige chieftain who was pursuing him, as he was the root cause of all the problems.
"I had a query for a long time, and today I have the means to resolve it. It''s a significant gamble, but I can no longer afford to be indifferent."
"Do you mean to say that the vige chieftain is to me for everything?" An Xing Yu inquired.
"Indeed. Do you recall how the vige chieftain always turns pale whenever someone vites the vige''s regtions, and then the others follow his lead? It''s not the vige rules they''re following, but rather the vige chieftain''s edicts," Lu Yan exined.
He had long ago installed cameras in everyone''s quarters and had consequently witnessed some strange events.
"So, what''s your exnation for the red river in the vige?" An Xing Yu queried, his pace showing no signs of slowing down. "My hypothesis was that the vigers werepelled to reside by the Red River, or some entity within it. Therefore, their nuptials, funerals, and punishments were all determined by the river."
An Xing Yu had jotted down in his diary, in an enigmatic cipher, that following the initial disappearance of the four men, although they had spected that the four had be scarecrows, he hadter made another trip to the Red River and had chanced four corpses.
"What was the link between the vige chieftain and the Red River? Who administers the punishment when you vite the rules and die? Have you ever witnessed any of the vigers, aside from the vige chieftain, dispensing punishment? I''m even beginning to suspect that Wu Bo might be the vige chieftain, given that they haven''t been seen together in some time," An Xing Yu interjected, synthesizing Lu Yan''s statements with his own. His eyes widened as he spoke.
Lu Yan posed the question to An Xing Yu, "Have you figured it out too?"
An Xing Yu nodded, but he refrained from voicing his conjecture aloud because the implications were too terrifying. It was possible that the vige chief was not a mere mortal but rather an entity that resided in the river. The vige chief could have been the river itself or a being that governed the river.
ording to An Xing Yu''s theory, the vigers did not originate from the Red River. Instead, the vige chief was the first to exist, followed by the creation of the Red River and the other vigers. This would exin why none of the vigers possessed the same level of power as the vige chief. They were merely his eyes, watching and reporting any transgressions they witnessed.
The vige chief had the ability to manifest multiple avatars, but the vigers could not act without his permission. Although they could observe and report wrongdoing, theycked the authority to discipline like the vige chief himself.
"No wonder..." An Xing Yu trailed off as he considered how the four earlypanions had only faced a warning from the innkeeper''s wife. The innkeeper''s wifecked the means to execute them.
The vige chief''s power was absolute, as demonstrated by his attempt to devour He Lou. His mouth was filled with a red liquid that resembled the water of the Red River. This incident made it abundantly clear that only the vige chief possessed the power to punish offenders.
An Xing Yu contemted the equation: vige chief equals rules equals Red River, vigers equals vige chief''s eyes. It became apparent that everything in the vige, including the duration of their existence, was subject to the vige chief''s control.
"What does this mean for us?" An Xing Yu wondered aloud. They were all headed to the vige chief, the source of their existence. An Xing Yu believed that they would not meet their demise, but he could not help but feel apprehensive.
"The vige chief created all the rules, and the length of time we have lived here is also determined by him," Lu Yan added, emphasizing the vige chief''s omnipotence.
If He Lou failed to consider this and left the vige without caution, the consequences could be dire.
Lu Yan was looking forward to it.
Chapter 30: Substitute Paper Man
Chapter 30: Substitute Paper Man
[Want more? Give a Heart/ Like!!!]
As they pushed forward, the frigid wind whipped around them, ying tricks on their senses. One moment they were surrounded by dense trees, and the next they found themselves on a deste in, with small pools of water appearing suddenly beneath their feet. Despite their urgent need to find the vige chief, they had to tread carefully in these treacherous conditions.
The vige was inplete chaos, and they wondered if they could find the vige chief. Even if they did, would he readily admit how long they had been there? With the sky getting darker by the minute, their range of vision reduced, and with no lighting, they could only keep their eyes open to avoid falling over.
Another puddle appeared in front of them, and without noticing, An Xing Yu stepped into it, sinking up to his waist. As he tried to pull his leg out, he felt hands under the water grabbing his ankles and pulling them downwards.
"Lu, please help me," he called out to Lu Yan, who had followed him to a stop.
Without much hesitation, Lu Yan grabbed An Xing Yu''s outstretched hand with all his might, and allowed him to break free from the puddle. The water in the puddle appeared normal, but after An Xing Yu climbed out, the lower half of his body waspletely soaked in a sticky, red liquid resembling blood sma.
"Thanks," An Xing Yu said before standing up. But when he looked up, his eyes widened in shock as he saw something iprehensible. Lu Yan watched him for a moment before looking up himself, and his pupils instantly shrank.
In the sky, which had turnedpletely ck, floated white paper folded figure with childlike, crooked smile, dressed in gaudy clothes, and with two red circles painted on their faces. They seemed to be showing a big smile.
No, there was more than one.
From all directions, more and more paper people floated, wobbling and hovering high in the air. The smiling faces painted on their human-like heads were obviously simplistic, yet they appeared as rotting human heads. One ghastly white head was remarkably lifelike, and the strong stench of decay lingered in the air.
It was as though someone was flying a kite. As if sensing their gaze, the eyes of the paper figures looked down.
"Don''t look up! Move forward!" Lu Yan instructed. He quickly lowered his head after just one nce, his memory conjuring up the scene in its entirety. He recalled that the faces on thenterns were strikingly simr to the vigers he had seen earlier that day.
Perhaps, they were the vigers.
An Xing Yu looked up, and the paper people descended in a violent straight line, as though they were about tond on top of them. Not wanting to take any chances, An Xing Yu quickly put his head down, and they both concentrated on running forward without uttering another word.
As the puddles on the ground became increasingly abundant, they identified their location by using the reflections in the water to observe the orientation of the paper figures.
The paper people let out crispughter that intertwined high and low.
"Hee hee hee......"
"Hee hee hee hee......"
Don''t look! Don''t listen!
The night grew deeper, and the darkness was so intense that they could barely see anything. Their pace slowed down considerably.
Theughter of the paper people overhead grew closer, gradually transforming into hoarse and grimughter. It was a sound that didn''t seem human. They couldn''t stand still; otherwise, the paper people would get closer and closer. The mud under their feet would swallow them up quickly. Thus, even though it was difficult to walk, they continued to move forward into the unknown.
"Brother Lu, which way should we go now?" An Xing Yu asked, keeping his voice low. He could sense that the other person was right beside him and moving forward slowly. However, the breathing from the other person''s body was chillingly cold.
"Keep moving forward," a voice replied.
"Hmm," An Xing Yu responded, trying his best to remainposed. However, his heart was pounding with shock. This wasn''t Lu Yan! The person following him, who could it be?
An Xing Yu''s forehead broke out in cold sweat, but he remained silent, determined to stay expressionless. He was just an ordinary high school student, and he couldn''t believe he was involved in a paranormal incident for no apparent reason. Nheless, he followed the mission instructions and waited for the mission to open at an abandoned school.
During his first mission, An Xing Yu witnessed an extremely harrowing psychic phenomenon. The scene shook him so deeply that, to this day, he still vividly recalls the look of horror etched on the man''s face as he sumbed to death. If the mission had failed, An Xing Yu would have been transformed into a cold, decaying corpse, devoid of all vitality.
Upon logging onto the website, he encountered numerous individuals who had undergone missions simr to his own. The website also housed an extensive collection of memory records saved by survivors. An Xing Yu dedicated several nights to scrutinizing these records like he was preparing for an exam, scouring for any discernible patterns.
Regardless of the mission''s nature, the only survivors were those who possessed the acuity to remainposed and think rationally. Individuals who gave in to panic and disarray in the beginning were swiftly eliminated. Serenity was the ultimate key to survival.
All of An Xing Yu''s mission coborators assumed that he was naturally devoid of emotion. Nevertheless, he knew that this was far from the truth. While he certainly felt fear and trepidation, a fierce desire to survive and an inkling of teenage pride precluded him from betraying his vulnerability. He refused to expose it, even in the presence of a specter.
"Let''s split up. You go left, and I''ll go right," An Xing Yu stated in an unwavering voice. He clenched his fists in a deathly grip, his eyes still maintaining an almost robotic calmness. Despite urging himself to calm down, hepletely disregarded the fact that the other person had yet to agree. He turned to his right, but to his horror, the entity followed him.
Although the darkness was imprable, An Xing Yu could perceive that the figure was staring directly at him from a short distance away. His pace quickened as he attempted to flee from the being, yet it continued to close in from his side. The road was nearly unnavigable, littered with thorns and jagged rocks. Every step An Xing Yu took, sharp branches inflicted fresh wounds on his legs. Although the crimson stains had long since dried, a steady stream of minor cuts persisted. Despite the difort, he persisted, pushing himself to move as quickly as possible.
As he halted, the entity chasing him would inevitably catch up, and the paper man suspended in the sky would instantaneously be visible. Suddenly, the earth ahead of the road caved in, and without paying attention, An Xing Yu stepped on it and tumbled down the slope.
As he rolled down, he locked gazes with the paper man in the sky, and in that moment, he observed the paper man''s grinning face magnify. He pondered why the paper man hastened its pace and drifted towards him upon spotting them. The creature tailing him would also race towards him if he relied on his physical senses to sense it.
Then, a supposition arose in An Xing Yu''s mind. Merely an instant before numerous ghostly white faces plummeted straight down, their decaying arms outstretched, and one of their sharp, razor-like ws aimed at his eyes, he shut his eyes.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds. . . .
No motion.
With closed eyes, An Xing Yu mbered to his feet. His conjecture was correct. Once you perceive something, it perceives you. From the texture on his palms and underneath him, he was now standing on an even terrain. The thistles, rocks, and puddles had vanished, and he felt the sun''s warmth on his exposed skin.
He tentatively reached out to explore, but suddenly, he sensed a slight warmth. Instinctively, he was about to brush it away, but he immediately realized that the warmth indicated the presence of another living individual. They might be the only survivors in the vige now.
"Who are you?" he inquired warily.
"Quiet, wait a moment." It was Lu Yan''s voice.
His eyes were also shut, and he was working on something in his hands. Every so often, he would open his eyes to nce before swiftly closing them again. In his possession was a paper figure that was half-human in height, and the most terrifying aspect was that the facial features of the paper figure, although merely outlined, bore a resemnce to his own.
Lu Yan closed his eyes and relied on the momentary glimpse he received when he opened his eyes from time to time toplete a paper figure that resembled himself.
An Xing Yu had used up almost all his chances to open his eyes, and he realized that one of the paper figures was dangerously close to him. The possibility of being killed by the paper figure with just one more opening left him uneasy. However, the presence of another living person provided him with somefort, so he remained still with his eyes closed.
Unseen by An Xing Yu, Lu Yan finished the paper figure resembling him and released it into the air. The figure floated up and joined the other paper figures, merging with them seamlessly.
Lu Yan cautiously touched the empty space where the paper figure had been before slowly opening his eyes. He had been on high alert and ready to leave if anything strange happened, leaving An Xing Yu to bear the brunt of it. Fortunately, Lu Yan''s bet paid off, and the paper figure made in his likeness remained unchanged in mid-air. He then took a moment to survey the surroundings and noticed a small courtyard in the middle of the forest, with wooden houses and scatterednterns.
All the paper figures under the eaves were gone. It was Uncle Wu''s courtyard. Lu Yan had some unused materials at hand, including paper, thin bamboo strips, and light-skinned sheets that had a faint flesh color. Those were, in fact, human skins removed by him from thenterns, and there was still some material left over.
Meanwhile, An Xing Yu sat quietly with his eyes closed, aware that opening them would cause the paper people to attack him. He felt a little stiff and noticed that his lower half was covered in dried bloodstains, and arge part of his trouser leg had been ripped, exposing a scar caused by a tree branch.
Lu Yan quickly averted his gaze, but soon redirected it to An Xing Yu''s leg where he noticed a bright red mark, almost undetectable by ordinary people. Upon seeing the shape of the mark, Lu Yan trembled with excitement, but suppressed the urge to reveal the secret and said in a t voice, "Wait a little while and then you can open your eyes."
An Xing Yu was unaware that his secret had been discovered, but he sensed that Lu Yan was making an effort and expressed his gratitude.
Lu Yan observed the mark until it faded away, and then quickly created a paper figure of An Xing Yu''s image. With his eyes open this time, Lu Yan was more efficient in creating the paper figure. Hepared the paper figure with An Xing Yu to make sure it passed the test, and then let it fly high into the air. "Alright, you can open your eyes now and try," said Lu Yan.
An Xing Yu slowly opened his eyes and this time, there were no paper figures or ck shadows in sight. Everything around him was normal, and he knew it was all thanks to Lu Yan. He expressed his gratitude again, but Lu Yan told him that it wasn''t necessary.
Lu Yan then locked eyes with An Xing Yu and said, "Rx, you''re safe now....After you hear a snap of the fingers, you will fall asleep...you will hear a few questions...." An Xing Yu''s eyes grew dazed as he nodded in confusion, and soon fell asleep after Lu Yan snapped his fingers.
Meanwhile, Zhao Chuan and He Lou had been running for hours and finally reached the edge of the vige, panting heavily. They had been dodging paper figures of vigers that had been chasing them, and were relieved to have made it this far.
"Quick, we can leave now!" He Lou eximed loudly, "The vige is in chaos!"
At his words, Zhao Chuan quickened his pace. They were running along a railway track, having arrived at Red River Vige by train at the beginning of their mission. The station was now within reach. He Lou had studied the map, and knew that as long as they passed the station, they would be out of the range of the vige.
"Hurry up, faster!" He Lou urged as they fled from a group of paper figures floating behind them. He had found a solution even in times of emergency. Every mission had restrictions ced on the ghosts, otherwise, it would be impossible for them to survive. But why were there so many paper people in the vige this time? Because these ghostscked the ability to sense their targets, they had to increase their numbers to find them.
He Lou took advantage of this loophole and managed to save Zhao Chuan. As they approached the station, Zhao Chuan, exhausted but determined, let out a loud shout and rushed to the other side of the station.
He Lou followed close behind but suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening.
[Want more? Give a Heart/Like!!!]
Chapter 31: Lets hope its not a coincidence
Chapter 31: Let''s hope it''s not a coincidence
He Lou stood in shock, taking in the scene before him.
In an instant, Zhao Chuan''s steps abruptly halted as if he had hit a pause button. His face twisted in agony, his mouth gaping open, emitting puffs of hot air, and his body drenched in sweat as if being scorched over a fire.
It was an unbearable sight... yet familiar.
Suddenly, He Lou recalled Zhao Chuan''s words when talking to the vige chief. They perfectly corresponded to the situation at hand.
Zhao Chuan screamed and writhed in pain, but his voice eventually trailed off as his flesh began to blister and fester. He slowly cooked alive before He Lou''s very eyes as if in boiling water.
He Lou was not only afraid but also enraged at Lu Yan''s deceitful lies. However, he knew that he had requested Lu Yan to disclose this information and that he couldn''t entirely me him.
As he tried to escape from the horrific scene, He Lou noticed numerous white paper figures drawing nearer to him. He scurried into the station, frantically searching for another way out.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan and An Xing Yu were out collecting materials. Thenterns in Wu Bo''s home were limited, and two paper figures had already used most of the avable materials. Even after collecting more materials, there still weren''t enoughnterns to save He Lou and Zhao Chuan. Therefore, An Xing Yu and Lu Yan set out to search for more supplies.
As they walked, An Xing Yu carried a bundle of thin bamboo sticks, while Lu Yan held folded paper and human skin.
"I wonder where Brother Lou and Brother Zhao have gone. I hope they''re safe," said An Xing Yu, scanning the area with sharp eyes. Spotting antern that had been blown down by the wind andnded in the grass, he rushed over to pick it up. Unfortunately, it was soaked and unusable, so he ced it back where he had found it.
The ordinary paper they had on hand was not suitable for the task at hand, and they didn''t know what materials Wu Bo had used to create thenterns. However, they spected that it was the same material used to make the paper figures.
"Let''s hope for the best," said Lu Yan. "But rather than worrying about them, we should focus on gaining the vige head''s recognition."
An Xing Yu furrowed his brows, deep in thought. Despite thinking for some time, he still had no solid n.
"Perhaps we can offer a ghost marriage in exchange for the vige chief''s cooperation," he suggested.
While the vige chief knew they were outsiders, he was unaware of their short stay and the potential leverage it presented.
However, in the past, they were able to automatically return after each mission uponpletion. Would it be feasible this time with the vige head''s endorsement?
If not, it would be prudent for them to select a site at the vige periphery for a swift exit.
After a perilous sprint through the dense forest and down the path, the duo finally spotted a dwelling.
A house meantnterns!
An Xing Yu darted over and scoured the house, conducting a thorough search. Afterwards, he ultimately discovered three intactnterns.
However, it was woefully inadequate. They had two individuals to rescue, and the paper and human skin they possessed were only sufficient to save one person.
"I''ve got an idea. You go find them, and I''ll take care of this." Their double paper man was still intact and would not expire any time soon. An Xing Yu consented and cautiously proceeded on the main road by himself.
Once he had umted all the necessary materials, or after Lu Yan finished crafting the paper man, they could rendezvous on the main road.
Lu Yan remained still for a while, counting the paper figures hovering in the air beforemencing his work.
In contrast, An Xing Yu sprinted at a rapid pace. Most of the dwellings in Red River Vige were densely dispersed. Except for Uncle Wu, who resided in the woods, everyone else''s abode was not far from the main road. Nevertheless, by the time An Xing Yu returned, Lu Yan had only justpleted the initial paper figure, and he began sketching the five senses on the paper figure''s face with a brush.
The brushstrokes were simplistic, yet they possessed a faint resemnce to Zhao Chuan.
Unexpectedly, the paper figure quivered and swiftly withered as if scalded by boiling water and emitting heated air.
"It''s futile," sighed Lu Yan, "Zhao Chuan is no more."
An Xing Yu frowned, "I have obtained the necessary materials. Can we proceed with He Lou''s now?"
He had a vague sense that Lu Yan and He Lou had some sort of a connection. Otherwise, why would the vige chief stare at him and question him during his son''s wedding banquet? Now, it seemed that the two were not on good terms, or else Lu Yan would have chosen to make He Lou''s paper figure first, regardless of the situation.
Lu Yan threw his pen away, "My hands are sore. You can do it yourself." He massaged his weary wrist.
An Xing Yu had nothing to say. The other party had saved his life, and he felt no obligation to save He Lou. Hence, he sat opposite Lu Yan and began to craft the paper figure in earnest.
Lu Yan''s paper figure was crude,prising twontern bases joined together. The bottom part was removed, with white paper glued on and the face painting. An Xing Yu recalled the steps and swiftly assembled the frame.
However, it was thest step of painting that presented a challenge. An Xing Yu pleaded with Lu Yan, "Could you paint it, please?"
Because An Xing Yu had secrets to explore, Lu Yan closed his eyes, took up the brush, and traced it on the white paper. When people burned paper for the deceased, lighting up their eyes was the most taboo. It was believed that the eyes contained spirits. If lit up, they could attract unknown malevolent spirits that brought misfortune.
Lu Yan drew the mouth and nose first. As he reached thest step of dotting the eyes of the paper figure, he paused, gazing out of the window. The nce caused him to put down his brush abruptly, saying, "It''s pointless; he''s gone."
"What? How?" An Xing Yu asked, following Lu Yan''s gaze out the window.
Outside, countless smiling paper figures floated, one of which bore a striking resemnce to He Lou''s face.
"No... he can''t..." An Xing Yu muttered dejectedly, his grip tightening around the pen as he dotted the paper man''s eyes.
The dark orbs swivelled, and before An Xing Yu could rejoice, he heard a soft, tearful sound emanating from the paper man''s abdomen. The paper ruptured in the next instant, and a deluge of crimson blood pulp spurted out, quickly saturating the entire table.
Although Lu Yan feigned disappointment, inside, he chuckled. On the other hand, An Xing Yu felt a tinge of mncholy in his heart, knowing that he had done all he could.
"Come, let''s find the vige head," Lu Yan suggested as he got up and strode towards the door, feigning a mournful expression.
With only two living individuals remaining in the vige, it was uncertain how long the two paper figures would suffice. If the vige headman were to change the rules again, An Xing Yu and Lu Yan would again be in jeopardy.
When they exited the room, they collided with a perplexed viger, who asked, "What''s going on? Why are you in my house? Are you attempting to pilfer something?"
Neither admitted it, so the duo ran off instantly.
In bewilderment, the viger entered his abode, only to discover a blood-sodden paper figure on his table, a white face beaming at him. He recoiled in horror, dashing out of the house, screeching, "It''s haunted...a ghost!"
"Where to now?" An Xing Yu inquired, spotting vigers scattered along the road as they ran.
"To the station, where we can depart," Lu Yan replied, aware that the viger''s outcry had lured many individuals.
Without looking back, he added, "Let''s lure the vige chief and others there." If they could get the vige chief to acknowledge that they had resided in the vige for more than a month, their mission would be aplished. An increasing number of vigers poured out, drawn by the reports of the haunting. The initial viger, who had spotted An Xing Yu and Lu Yan leaving his home, lodged aint. "I returned home briefly to collect my belongings when I saw them sneaking out of my house. They must have been up to no good..."
Upon hearing these words, He Lou felt a tinge of anxiety. As outsiders, they had to abide by the vige''s rules to gain eptance from the locals. However, someone had just broken the rules, jeopardising their standing.
He Lou hastily interjected, "No, it''s not them. They had nothing to do with it."
Zhao Chuan, Liu Xia, and the others chimed in, "We agree. Let''s find them and clear this up face to face."
"By the way, where did they run off to?" someone inquired.
"I saw them head towards the station," another person responded.
...
Soon, a group of vigers, led by none other than He Lou, caught up with the fleeing duo. "Hurry up! We can''t let them get away!" he shouted.
As they raced down the main road, they passed by several houses, and some residents tried to impede their progress. However, they were focused on their goal and ran on, grateful that they didn''t have a marriage contract with anyone, as that would have made running as breaking the rules.
"Stop running! Come back here!" the vigers cried, but the two refused to slow down.
Faster and faster, they ran until the station came into view. However, there was no sign of the vige chief. With no other choice, they stopped near the border, awaiting the arrival of the vigers.
He Lou, their leader, confronted them sternly, demanding an exnation for their behaviour. "What''s wrong with you two? Why are you running?"
Silently, the pair just focused on catching their breath.
"You broke the rules by going into someone''s house and stealing something," He Lou continued, his voice firm and unwavering.
At the sound of rule-breaking, the others'' faces drained of colour, and their lips twisted upward, but their eyes glinted with malice.
"You have vited the rules," the vigers closed in one after another, forming a ring around the two culprits. None dared to approach from behind as if some forbidden groundy there.
As the crowd swelled, their pallid and grimy faces contorted with hatred and the promise of retribution.
Where was the vige chief? Though the vigerscked the authority to act, their encirclement tightened, the stench of decay thickening with each breath.
"The vige chief didn''t use us of breaking the rules, so who are you to do so?" An Xing Yu''s chest heaved as he spoke, still catching his breath from the exertion of his escape.
It was a risky gambit, but if they could reestablishmunication, perhaps they could solve this situation.
At his words, the vigers froze, their twisted expressions locked in ce like a paused video.
But then, an old man emerged from the crowd, his face etched with a thousand lines and sharp eyes hidden within the wrinkles.
The figure before them was none other than the vige chief himself.
"Respected Vige Chief," An Xing Yu began, his words measured and cautious. "We have been living in this vige for three years and are well-versed in its customs. We swear by our innocence and insist that we have not stolen anything."
An Xing Yu tried to keep hisposure, despite his heart pounding furiously in his chest. He knew this was a critical moment and that any misstep could result in disastrous consequences.
Stay calm, An Xing Yu thought; just get it to admit it.
On the other hand, the chief appeared to be deep in thought, his face inscrutable.
Minutes ticked by, and An Xing Yu felt like time hade to a standstill. Just as he was about to lose hope, the chief nodded slightly.
"You have been here for three years," the chief said slowly, "and you should know that stealing is strictly forbidden in our vige."
An Xing Yu could hardly contain his relief. He didn''t wait for the chief to finish his sentence before grabbing Lu Yan''s hand and hurrying out of the vige.
In the next moment, An Xing Yu was plunged into darkness. Before he lost consciousness, thest thing An Xing Yu managed to wonder was about Lu Yan''s fate, hoping he was safe.
As Lu Yan stepped over the boundary line, the world shattered before his eyes. When he looked back again, no vige or station was found. He stood on a hill overlooking a vast expanse of lonely graves, towering ominously at the foot of the mountain. Ghastly trees loomed over each grave, their branches swaying gently in the cold mountain wind, each adorned with twonterns.
ording to legend, the path to the Yellow Spring was long, dark, and bereft of guiding lights to lead the lost souls back to the realm of the afterlife.
An eerie silence hung over the valley as if the very air held its breath, anticipating the arrival of something ominous.
Suddenly, a torrent of blood erupted from the graves, staining the earth red and drowning everything in its wake. The sight was both ghastly and surreal, which would haunt the beholder for a long time toe.
Amid this chaos, the mournful strains of shawms echoed across the mountains, mingling with the screams of the damned and the wails of the dying. It was a symphony of sorrow and despair, a requiem for the living and the dead alike.
Yet amidst this cacophony of misery, a joyous melody arose, clear and pure. It was the music of a wedding procession, a celebration of love and hope in the face of death and destruction.
Lu Yan stood atop a hill, gazing down at the carnage below. He held a small white packet in his hand, which he opened and scattered over the scene below. Then he turned and left, never to look back.
**
At the dinner table, An Xing Yu''s mother ced chopsticks and food in front of him and spoke concernedly, "Xiao Yu, you haven''t been looking too welltely. Ensure you eat enough and care for your body while studying."
An Xing Yu responded with a curt nod. His mother''s gaze lingered on his cold expression, her heart heavy with sadness. If only that tragedy hadn''t happened, her son wouldn''t be like this - once lively and cheerful, now distant and aloof.
As the television broadcasted thetest news, An Xing Yu''s mother gasped in horror, "...A major murder case at the XX station! Twelve people dead..." She turned to her son, "Don''t you usually pass by there? Please be careful and avoid that area from now on."
An Xing Yu nodded again, his mind preupied with the recent events.
An Xing Yu finished his meal and returned to his room, locking the door behind him. He opened hisputer and essed a secretive website known to only a select few.
Over six hundred individuals were online, with the number of registered users increasing.
A trace of concern crossed An Xing Yu''s face as he carefully crafted a post detailing the events of his recent mission, intentionally omitting any mention of Lu Yan''s involvement. The post sparked a flurry of activity on the website, with users expressing shock and horror at yet another mission resulting in only one survivor.
An Xing Yu''s fingers continued to dance across the keyboard, detailing the death of [The tall building will fall] in the mission.
Ignoring the piles of replies, he navigated to another forum, its homepage adorned with a striking logo - a bright red inverted cross plunging into a reverse heptagram, identical to the tattoo on An Xing Yu''s leg that revealed itself when wet.
An air of reverence overtook An Xing Yu as he spent time browsing the forum and eventually found the "confession room". He closed his eyes, made a particr hand gesture, and prayed silently in this virtual sanctuary.
**
Lu Yan drove home silently, his mind consumed with the design he had seen on An Xing Yu''s leg. As he navigated through the crowded streets, he couldn''t help but feel a sense of anxiety creeping up on him. He knew what he had seen but couldn''t shake off the feeling of doubt that gnawed at his mind.
Finally, he arrived home and wasted no time. With a sense of urgency, he drew the same design,paring it carefully to the one he had seen earlier. His heart pounding with anticipation, he examined it closely, scrutinising every detail, every line and curve. There could be no mistake. He''d been disappointed too many times before.
Chapter 32: Horror games
Chapter 32: Horror games
In the dimly lit room, Lu Yan sat hunched over hisputer, brow furrowed in deep concentration. His fingers tapped incessantly on the keyboard, searching for information on the screen before him.
"No, there was no mistaking ......" he muttered under his breath, eyes fixed on a particr pattern on the screen. It was an intricate design that seemed to pulsate with a life of its own.
The image brought to mind a group of people he had seen in the park earlier that day, just before they exploded. He remembered the tattoos on their skin, each bearing the same unmistakable pattern as before him.
He had a vague notion that these people were part of a religious group and that their actions were in some way rted to a sacrifice they were making to their god. But before, he had not delved too deeply into their beliefs or tried to uncover their motivations. It was enough that he knew they were dangerous.
As he pondered what to do next, a sudden thought struck him: What if these people were still around tomorrow?
He delved deeper, scouring for any information he could find. He found what he sought - the religion behind the pattern, the Omniscient Divine Sect. They believed in an all-powerful and all-knowing god and that by following its guidance, they could reach heaven and wash away their sins.
The religion he stumbled upon in his search was the same one An Xing Yu had told him about. The Omniscient Divine Sect existed in this world too.
He quickly erased the pattern he had drawn on paper to avoid "misfortune." He gave himself a mental suggestion not to dwell too much on the symbol.
As he pondered the implications of his discovery, he thought of the people from the other world who believed in science and not in ghosts or gods. It was a world he once knew that was now lost to him.
Lu Yan had hypnotized dozens of taskers; all seemed to be hailing from the same ce and had the same basic understanding of their world, except that their world was not his. Due to a mutation, there were no famous names or locations ovepping between the two worlds, and many significant events had never urred.
Whenever he inquired about task-rted information, they were suddenly controlled by an unknown force and driven to suicide. No amount of restraint could save them from a terrifying fate. There was even a case of someone inexplicably suffocating to death whilepletely unconscious. Since then, he had never attempted a simr experiment.
For years, he had been searching formonalities between the two worlds and exploring the reason for his world''s mutation, which seemed to send countless ordinary people over to undertake impossible tasks. Whenever these people arrived, his world would return to a sense of "normalcy." If taskers died, they would reappear in this world in another form.
It was as if a force was at y, exchanging humans between two separate worlds like pieces in a game.
Was it just his delusion, or had the whole world gone wrong?
Was he losing his sanity, or was the world losing its grip on reality?
Were there truly two worlds, or was it merely his memory ying tricks on him?
Lu Yan had tirelessly searched for answers, once even cing faith in the divine and attempting self-hypnosis, yet all to no avail. He was forced to confront this peculiar and crumbling world.
But he refused to surrender.
At every opportunity, he contacted the group of taskers and extracted information from them. The Omniscient Sect''s discovery was a significant milestone in his years-long study!
A sharp scream pierced the air outside the window. Lu Yan looked at the reflection on hisputer screen and saw a red silhouette against the ss. Its face was ashen, and eyes gouged out, staring unblinkingly into the room.
Simultaneously, he heard tapping at the window.
Ignoring it, he seamlessly switched theputer page to some game.
In the next moment, an icy hand grabbed his ankle!
Lu Yan rose from his seat and proceeded to the living room to prepare tea. The hand suddenly vanished upon standing as if it had all been a mere illusion.
A figure dressed in red stared at Lu Yan with an intense fixation for a long while before disappearing outside the window.
Lu Yan lowered his head slightly, inspecting the charred handprint on his ankle.
**
In a different world, a youth with ivory skin prayed and reported histest mission in full detail. Afterwards, he logged out with a devout smile, thanking the gods and the omniscient deity for their protection.
An Xing Yu may not have survived without the all-knowing Omniscient deity''s intervention. An Xing Yu was fortunate to encounter the first batch of taskers during his first mission. They informed him of the tasker website''s existence. One of them was a follower of the Omniscient Sect, which led him to join the religion.
Although the tasker had died during a mission, An Xing Yu firmly believed that he had returned to the gods'' embrace. He would exist in a kingdom of eternal happiness and peace without the suffering of ageing, sickness, and death.
"Oh god, please bless me," An Xing Yu repeated the prayer before opening his book to review. Following his first mission, An Xing Yu fell gravely ill due to overwhelming psychological pressure. As a result, he applied for home study, and his teacher, concerned about any potential incidents, reluctantly approved it.
Except for his weekly attendance of sses in weak subjects and sporadic exams, he spent most of his time studying at home.
However, none of his teachers, ssmates or even his parents suspected he was engaged in something truly horrific.
Later that evening, An Xing Yu''s father arrived home.
An Ru, An Xing Yu''s father, was a policeman who frequently dealt with various cases and was often required to travel. Thus, opportunities to dine together as a family were exceedingly rare.
During dinner, the three inevitably began chatting.
An Ru had previously been very strict with his son, but since that one incident, he had never again hindered his child''s studies. On the contrary, An Xing Yu himself had taken to studying untilte every night, and his grades had since skyrocketed.
"Have you seen the news today? The big case at the station, twelve people, all died simultaneously..." An Ru began before being interrupted by his wife, who twisted his leg under the table and quickly retorted, "We''re having dinner; why are you talking about this in front of the child?"
"It''s alright, Mom; we saw the news during the day, didn''t we?" An Xing Yu reassured her, showing no sign of difort. "Dad, did you handle this case today?"
"Yes," An Ru sighed, shaking his head. "In recent years, I don''t know what''s going on, but these cases are increasing."
As stress weighed heavily on him, his once dark hair gradually gave way to a sea of white, and his brow knitted tightly.
In recent years, there had been a surge in reports about major death incidents. What was most troubling was that the culprit remained elusive in every case. Without any evidence to support the notion that it was a homicide, the horrific nature of the deaths made it hard for even the authorities to believe it was a suicide. As a result, the police station had been flooded with files on these unsolved cases, which could only be suppressed through local officials'' intervention.
With a palpable sense of fear gripping the popce, small cult organizations had been rapidly gaining traction. The one that posed the greatest challenge was the "Omniscient Divine Sect". Nobody knew when it was first established, but scores of people would die at every gathering. To make matters worse, the cult had managed to infiltrate many schools, prompting An Ru to acquiesce to An Xing Yu''s home-schooling arrangement.
"Dad, thank you for everything," An Xing Yu said in a stilted tone.
An Ru looked at his son intently for a while before finally relenting and patting him on the shoulder. The three of them exchanged nces and couldn''t help but burst outughing.
After dinner, instead of retiring to his room, An Xing Yu asked his father to provide more details about the case.
Uponpleting his mission, he rushed home from the train station, oblivious to those around him. An Ru still bore the unmistakable stench of blood, suggesting that he had been to the crime scene and perhaps even sifted through files at the police station.
An Xing Yu frequently inquired about the details of such cases from his father, An Ru, who had grown ustomed to it. asionally, he shared some information with him. However, this time, he sighed and said nothing, letting his son return to his studies.
The incident urred at the most crowded and bustling train station. It was alreadyte at night, and the old-fashioned green carriages, which had not yet been phased out, had fewer passengers.
In particr, thest carriage was empty. The door was closed, with the ss window blurred and unclear, discovered only when the conductor checked every carriage.
He retrieved the key and unlocked the door from the outside, but the sight inside was enough to make everyone shudder: twelve people were dead inside the carriage!
Even more chilling was that each person''s death was unique yet equally grotesque and repugnant. Four had their organs scooped out and reced with straw without a trace of blood. One male corpse had been cut open, with blood sttered everywhere. Two female corpses had their hands severed, and another male corpse had been cooked alive...
These deaths were enough to make everyone''s skin crawl. The first conductor to discover the scene was a recent hire, and upon opening the door, he was scared out of his wits. Many colleagues who went to the scene vomited on the spot.
An Ru''s expression wasplex.
He had been a materialistic atheist for decades, but the cases he encountered became increasingly bizarre in recent years. Seeing what he saw today, it was difficult for him to maintain his beliefs.
Could humans truly be capable of such atrocities?
Without prompting, An Xing Yu confined himself to his room and dedicated his time to studying vocabry, finding sce in the process.
An Ru watched as his son''s figure receded, a pang of heartache piercing his chest.
The once jovial young man had transformed into a lifeless shell after the incident in less than a year.
Those cursed cultists!
**
The following day, Lu Yan arose and drew the curtains open.
Beyond the window, many eerie balloons floated by, each one shaped like a human head! Giggling, they ascended into the sky, bursting at a certain height due to air pressure and drenching the area with sticky, red and white fluid as their strings fell below.
One of the strings coiled around an innocent bystander, tightening with a life of its own until the person gasped and cried out in pain.
"Ah - no, it hurts! Mom..."
A little girl nearby suffered a simr fate, her pleas for help falling on deaf ears as her mother looked on, pping with glee. The thread eventually snapped the girl''s neck, turning her into a new balloon.
Lu Yan kept his distance from those inexplicable balloons and made his way back to the park.
Despite the devastation wrought the previous day, the buildings had been restored to their former glory, as if the explosion had never happened. Red- and white-robed cultists had congregated in the park. With keen eyesight, Lu Yan spotted a red tattoo near the leader''s ear and another on the back of a woman''s hand. When he raised his arm, a man''s tattoo peeked out from beneath his sleeve.
The formation was bizarre, reminiscent of the Yin Yang Fish from Taoism. But the tattoos adorning their skin bore an inverted cross, emblematic of Western mysticism. How incongruous.
Lu Yan scrutinized the group, but when they sensed his gaze, he turned promptly and left.
One person halted and watched Lu Yan depart with a sympathetic gaze. She sighed and wished him well, "May God bless you..."
The wind swept up her robe, revealing her lower leg with a fresh red tattoo: a reversed cross and an inverted seven-pointed star.
Upon his return, Lu Yan submitted a brief report to his superiors. They were engrossed in entangling with their lovers and granted his leave request without hesitation.
As Lu Yan stepped out of thepany''s gate, several human head balloons floated in the sky, only to burst with a pop.
To his surprise, the explosioncked the expected gore and paranormal activity. The balloons burst like ordinary ones, leaving no trace of cotton thread.
Lu Yan looked back and discovered the buildings behind him transformed, now pristine and orderly. The street full of suicidal and hysterical people was now reced with ordinary pedestrians.
"Mom, buy me a balloon." A girl pulled her mother''s hand, gesturing toward a street vendor. The young mother smiled patiently and indulged her daughter.
Without fail, the taskers had returned.
Lu Yan pondered what it would be this time.
**
"ying a horror game? This mission is too strange."
"Each mission always has an eerie air to it, does it not?"
"Although that may be true, I have no desire to eat ash rice. The mere thought of it is repugnant."
"Even so, you still ate raw cat meatst time to save your life."
"Speaking of which, this mission is particrly peculiar. We must y a horror game for seven days and recruit random pedestrians every midnight to make up a group of six yers. However, only four of us are there, so we need to find two more people."
"Brother Chu, do you have any ideas?"
Inside a ck four-wheel-drive, four individuals engaged in a heated discussion. Three of them were incessantly chatting away while Brother Chu sat in the front passenger seat, his dark eyes fixed on the road ahead. He curved his lips upon hearing his name and nced at the man and woman in the back seat through the rearview mirror. "Do you not understand that the task''s difficulty must be bnced? The more tasks a performerpletes, the more arduous the tasks assigned to them."
In other words, this mission was excessively challenging, and not many people couldplete it. Therefore, ordinary taskers were not required to join.
The man in the back seat let out a long sigh and slumped back. The woman beside him hastily asked, "So, Brother Chu, have you noticed any clues this time?"
In the passenger seat was Chu Xiu (), a young man whose task count was incalcble and who asionally joined missions that weren''t his own. No one knew his motives, but the death toll was always lower with his presence.
Thus, their spirits lifted when the three heard of their assignment with Chu Xiu, known on the site as Feng Xiu Zi.
Chu Xiu fixed his gaze on the dimming road ahead and the skies that slowly became overcast, murmuring, "Perhaps we should exercise caution with the required NPCs this time."
Who could say for certain that they were really "passersby"?
"And the task does not specify a specific number of locals. We must assemble six people. So, if one of us dies, we must find one more."
That would only increase the likelihood of finding ghosts!
The three passengers trembled with apprehension, imagining the dire consequences of choosing a ghost in human guise. They agreed to select passersby carefully.
And besides... Chu Xiu recalled the file sent by [Tall buildings will fall].
[Tall buildings will fall] had installed an automatic sending system that would automatically dispatch the file to Chu Xiu''s mailbox if left unattended for 24 hours.
The other party imed that some NPCs had awakened and be aware of outsiders. What did they mean?
Chapter 33: The Black Cat
Chapter 33: The ck Cat
The Awakening of NPCs...
Was it an individual or a group? Was there a trigger for it? To what extent have they awakened? Why did "Tall buildings will fall" use the phrase they have an awakening? The other party would not have used such dramatguage if they were simply high-intelligence NPCs.
Chu Xiu had many questions but wanted to avoid publicising this issue.
Task-takers can''t predict the future or find hope. Like ordinary people, if nothing unexpected happens, they would have spend their lives in peace. Yet they live on the edge of life and death.
Unfortunately, they''ve been pulled into the most terrifying and darkest world, where the scythe of death always looms. The psychological pressure is unimaginable for ordinary people. Every month, the website records over a dozen suicides. Batch after batch of people dies, yet the number of registered users on the site only increases and never decreases.
The other three people in the car appear optimistic,ughing and ying around. But it''s precisely because they know they could die at any moment. They try their best to leave a smile on their face in theirst moments of life.
After experiencing life-and-death escapes, it''s difficult for them to follow the rules and regtions of modern society. They''ve already epted the behaviour of the taskers venting their anger on the local residents of this world and calling them NPCs.
Killing people here was still preferable to killing people in the real world.
This was the reason why Chu Xiu chose to conceal this information.
If this matter were made public, it would undoubtedly cause the executors'' already fragile mental state to spiral out of control, with immeasurable consequences. "Tall buildings will fall" may have had the same thought, so he shared the information with Chu Xiu. However, although he imed to have only informed Chu Xiu, it couldn''t be guaranteed that he was telling the truth. It remains to be seen whether others received the same information.
While He Lou''s message hinted unease, Chu Xiu had a different perspective.
Many have attempted to uncover the secrets behind the tasks, but they''ve alle up empty-handed. The NPC that He Lou mentioned might be a turning point.
Unfortunately, there was no further information disclosed. Chu Xiu needed to find out who this NPC was and whether he could be found in this world.
As the vehicle continued to drive, the four people inside chatted away, appearing no different from ordinary tourists if it weren''t for the fact that the areas they passed through were bing increasingly remote and deste.
Upon arriving at their destination, the sight before them was terrifying. It was silent and devoid of any people; not even the insects that had constantly been chirping before could be heard now.
The sun-bleached road revealed a mottled white background, and the trees were bare and leafless.
The vehicle came to a halt in front of an old signpost. The sign had an unusual appearance, with its blue paint mostly worn off, revealing the shiny silver metal underneath. However, the words on top were bright red and entirely intact, clearly spelling out the words "Yin-Yang Road".
It was as though the words were written with... blood.
"Okay, this is it. Let''s go over the mission again. Seven days, seven games. On the first day, we''ll randomly select two passersby from Yin-Yang Road and y a game called Shadow with them at the crossroads at midnight. Each person takes a turn and mustplete all the steps. Only when everyone has finished can we leave." The driver, Nie Yun Zhen (), spoke first after stopping the car.
Once he had finished exining the mission, he looked at the signpost and felt a heavy weight in his heart. There seemed to be something ominous about this ce, something lurking in the corner, watching everyone closely!
"To y this game in such a ce..." The man in the back seat turned pale.
He had tried to steer the conversation away from this topic earlier to ease his fears. Still, Nie Yun Zhen''s words mercilessly shattered his illusion.
He was still afraid of the whole thing, including the game.
The game was called Shadow, but it might also have another name - Summoning Ghosts! It required the yers to stand alone on the roadside after midnight, facing their shadows while walking forward, calling out their names with each step. Only after taking thirteen steps could they leave.
The man in the back seat, Ye Sheng Ke (), was a materialist before being inexplicably pulled into this mission. At that time, he was a very courageous person who did not believe in ghosts and often yed supernatural games with like-minded friends. He had yed everything from "Pen Fairy" () to "Bloody Mary" (), and his highest record was spending a night in a cemetery alone.
He was proud of himself at the time and filmed the entire process of ying the game, boasting to his friends, "I told you, there are no ghosts in this world; it''s all just self-scaring."
However, that was until he learned his lesson.
Three years ago, he yed "Shadow" with his friends. It was said that when you reach the thirteenth step, you will find an extra shadow on the ground, which is the "thing" you have summoned. It may help you, or it may ask for your help.
At that time, Ye Sheng Ke didn''t believe it and yed the game first. Nothing happened. His friend, who was originally a bit timid, saw that he was okay and got out of the car to face his own shadow step by step. But when he reached the thirteenth step, something indeed urred...
Ye Sheng Ke closed his eyes, unable to think about it again.
Now, he had to y the game again.
"Yezi, are you thinking about that again?" The woman seated next to himforted him.
She was petite, with a doll-like face that gave her a cute appearance, but she was actually two years older than Ye Sheng Ke and had attended the same university as him.
At this moment, her eyes disyed a gentle side inconsistent with her usual temperament. "Don''t me yourself. It wasn''t your fault. You didn''t mean to hurt him."
Ye Sheng Ke forced a bitter smile. "Sister, you don''t have tofort me. If it weren''t for me suggesting ying this game, he wouldn''t have..."
"Alright, now that we''re all here, can we say something auspicious?" Nie Yun Zhen interrupted their reminiscing. "We should be worried if any passersbye to this haunted ce."
The deste scenery was terrifying enough to be a setting for a horror movie. Even if there were people, it was uncertain whether they were really human or not. But the mission was established, and they dared not disobey. Otherwise, it would be easier to grab two people randomly from the bustling city.
"Forget about whether there are passersby; even if there are, it''s challenging to invite them to y this game together, right? We need to figure out a solution," Nie Yun Zhen said again.
After all, ordinary people weren''t foolish enough to y with this thing. They would only scare themselves. Perhaps they could only resort to some violent means.
Speaking of this, Chu Xiu, who seldom spoke, spoke up. "Don''t worry about this problem."
Nie Yun Zhen didn''t know Chu Xiu''s method, but since he was so confident, he must have some means. Nie nodded. "Then we''ll trouble Brother Chuter."
The four sat quietly in the car, waiting for any passersby toe by.
**
"QingQing, it''s already sote. Do you really want to go over there at night? It''s very dangerous," on the other side of the road, two girls carrying backpacks walked by.
The taller girl looked at her friend''s backpack and expressed concern.
She also looked frightened.
"Alright, QianQian, you don''t have to persuade me. My grandmother already told me that ''when a cat hangs from a tree, and a dog abandons the water, cmity will befall the whole family if I don''t bring Little Mimi here,''" Wen Qing () replied.
"However, this ce is terrifying. Can wee during the daylight tomorrow? It''s getting dark soon."
Winter was approaching, and the sun had already set long ago. The sky was only lit by a faint warm light. Looking at Yin-Yang Road''s name and environment it was enough to scare even the most fearless of people.
Hearing her friend''s suggestion, Wen Qing hesitated. She clutched her book bag tightly and shook her head. "No, we have to go today. He said so."
"Who is he? Did your grandma mention him?" Yun Qian () asked, but Wen Qing did not answer. She only tried to reassure her friend. "It''s okay. We''ve already made it here. We just need to find a tree quickly and hang it up."
A faint sweet smell mixed with a bloody scent emanated from her bag, causing Yun Qian to turn her head away.
"All the trees here have lost their leaves. Where can we find a dense tree?" Yun Qian asked, looking around.
The road was lined with trees, but all the leaves had fallen off in the vast forest, leaving only twisted and bare branches.
"We''ll keep looking," Wen Qing said, a little embarrassed. She held Yun Qian''s hand tightly. "Don''t worry, I''ll protect you. We''ll go back soon."
Unbeknownst to her friend, Wen Qing''s other hand clutched a talisman tightly in her pocket.
As it grew darker and darker, the two girls held hands tightly and strolled down the dark road, surrounded by the shadows of the trees.
Yun Qian wasn''t sure if it was just her imagination, but the sweet and cloying aroma in the air was bing more assertive.
In the distance, they could see a faint light, which turned out to be a car with people inside chatting. Knowing they were not alone, the two girls felt a sense of relief and hastened their steps. Illuminated by the car''s headlights, they spotted a tree with leaves growing along the side of the road.
Yun Qian squeezed Wen Qing''s hand and cried, "We''ve found it!"
The two of them ran towards the tree, leaving the main road. Wen Qing gestured that she wasn''t tall enough to reach the tree''s lowest branch. She looked at Yun Qian, who was a bit taller and should be able to reach it.
"Yun Qian, I can''t reach it..." Wen Qing said, afraid.
Yun Qian shook her head nervously, "Don''t count on me; it took a lot of courage for me toe with you. I''m afraid I can''t do it."
"Alright then." Wen Qing turned around and put down her schoolbag, taking a stic bag and a rope from it.
Inside the stic bag was a lump of something about the size of two closed fists. Wen Qing carefully peeled off eachyer of stic covering the object inside.
As she moved, the sickly sweet scent grew even more pungent, causing Yun Qian to recoil and take a few steps back to breathe. However, Wen Qing remained oblivious, intent on peeling backyer afteryer of stic bags until she revealed... the grisly, blood-soaked corpse of a ck cat!
Yun Qian was terrified and dared not look. "I''ll wait for you farther ahead," she said hurriedly before making her way to the side of the road.
Undeterred, Wen Qing wept for her little cat.
This was her beloved Mimi. Why would she be afraid?
Clutching the little cat with both hands, Wen Qing realized she didn''t have time to deal with the rope. She suddenly became aware that her behaviour was inappropriate. She should have thrown the rope over first. What should she do now?
The little cat couldn''t touch the ground.
"QingQing, can you throw the rope over for me, please? It''s clean. I''ll tie Mimi to it," said Wen Qing, lowering her head and cradling Mimi in her arms, paying no heed to the blood covering her hands. She raised her voice to call her friend.
To her surprise, a strange male voice came from behind her.
"Alright."
"Ah!" Wen Qing jumped at the sound and quickly turned around. She saw her friend standing not far behind her, fear etched on her face, yet too afraid to speak.
Yun Qian''s head was held at gunpoint.
Four people surrounded Yun Qian, including three men and one woman. The man who had just spoken was the closest to her, his face twisted with a sly grin.
"Who are you? What do you want?!" Wen Qing stepped back in fear, identally crushing a stic bag, causing a slight rustling sound. Her mind was flooded with news about the rule ofw, but it offered littlefort.
Unbeknownst to her, the dead cat she held also startled Nie Yun Zhen, standing nearby.
The four people exchanged a furtive nce. They all sensed this girl was strange, but they had no choice. These were the only two people around.
"Don''t worry, just y a game with us." The woman among the four spoke, her voiceced with reassurance. "As long as you cooperate, we won''t harm you."
Wen Qing was trembling from head to toe.
She knew what she should do: put the cat down and call the police. But she couldn''t just let Little Mimi fall to the ground.
"What...what game?" She had some ideas in mind that couldn''t be published in Jinjiang, but she couldn''t help but regret her rash behaviour.
If these men had ill intentions to do... what should she do?
What could she and Yun Qian do?
If things got out of hand, she would have to... set Little Mimi down.
But the group provided an answer that waspletely unexpected and vastly different from Wen Qing''s imagination. "The Shadow Game?"
"That''s right. Have you understood the rules of the game?" the woman inquired softly, which sounded more sinister thanforting to Wen Qing and Yun Xian.
"I understand. Can you please release her first?" Wen Qing pleaded with them.
Chu Xiu lowered his gun that was pointed at Yun Xian''s head, nudged her gently, and she immediately ran towards her friend. However, she hesitated momentarily because of the dead ck cat in her hand. She ended up standing beside her friend as a second choice.
"After midnight, once you''ve yed the game, we''ll let you go," Chu Xiu promised, hiding the gun so swiftly that nobody noticed where it went. He carefully examined the two girls, and his gaze lingered on Wen Qing''s face for a second longer.
Could she be an awakened NPC?
No, he needed to observe her further.
"You better keep your promise," Wen Qing said tremblingly. Yet, she remainedposed enough not to reveal any weakness, which surprised the group of four.
"By the way, what are you holding in your hand? Can you tell us?" Nie Yunzhen continued to smile while asking.
Wen Qing pursed her lips. "My cat, Little Mimi."
"Why did you bring it here? What were you going to do under the tree just now?" The woman among the four continued to ask in a soft voice.
Her name was Shi Yan (). Looking at the two girls leaning on each other, she saw herself and her former best friend, Axin.
Unfortunately, Axin...
Shi Yan''s eyes dimmed for a moment but quickly recovered.
There was still a long time until midnight, so they were in no rush. They needed to gather information first about these two peculiar girls and this eerie ce. What secrets were hiding behind them?
Wen Qing had no choice but to take a deep breath and answer, "Little Mimi suddenly died, and I brought it here to bury it."
"Bury it? But why do you want to hang it on the tree?"
"That''s what my grandmother told me to do. She said..."
Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of an old residential area in the city, a handsome young man knocked on a door, cradling a ck kitten in his arms.
"Excuse me, is this the Wen residence? I found the cat you posted a lost and found notice for." The man smiled warmly and invitingly, "The little girl who lost the cat, her name is Wen Qing, right?"
An elderly woman opened the door and caught a glimpse of the kitten in the young man''s grasp. She nodded repeatedly and said, "Ah, yes, thank you, young man. By the way, how did you know my granddaughter''s name?"
After asking, the old woman pped her forehead and said, "Oh, that little girl must have written her name on it too."
The ck kitten let out a gentle meow and jumped out of the young man''s arms, strolling into the house as if returning to its own home.
"Would you like toe in for a cup of tea, young man?" The old woman greeted him warmly, "By the way, what''s your name?"
The man smiled and replied, "No need to be so polite. My name is Lu Yan." He nced around the house casually, "Has your granddaughter not returned yet? I found her student ID card."
Hearing this, the old woman became worried, "Not yet. I don''t know if she went to look for the cat after school again."
Lu Yan handed over the student ID card and reassured her, "Don''t worry, she will return safely."
With that, he left without heeding the old woman''s invitation, waving goodbye.
Chapter 34: Called Shadow
Chapter 34: Called Shadow
Upon leaving the apartment, Lu Yan caught a whiff of the overpowering, sicklysweet scent. Descending the stairs and stepping outside the residential building, he nced back to find a ck cat perched atop a balcony, peering down at him with green, deeply expressive eyes that betrayed aplex emotion umon for an animal. As the old saying goes, cats have nine lives... Lu Yan hesitated for a moment before pivoting on his heel and departing.
"Little Mimi, don''t climb up to the balcony," a pair of elderly hands reached out from behind to scoop up the ck cat. It meowed softly and snuggled up in the old woman''s embrace, revelling in the affectionate strokes.
"Why is my heart always pounding so fiercely? Where could QingQing be? Why hasn''t shee home thiste?" The old woman murmured as she caressed the cat''s sleek fur.
The mounting sense of danger was causing her to feel increasingly agitated, and she hastily entered a small, enigmatic room.
This room was essible to no one but her. Once, QingQing had ventured inside as a child and received a severe beating from the old woman. Since then, QingQing had learned her lesson and had never dared to set foot in the room again.
She regarded QingQing as her child and felt just as heartbroken as the girl when she cried. But she had already chosen this path and could not let the child follow in her footsteps!
Certain areas were forbidden for humans to touch...
The room was very cramped and incredibly dark, but it was immacte, without a single speck of dust upon closer inspection. A small shrine was ced in the centre of the wall, upon which a horrifying idol was enshrined.
At first nce, it appeared nothing unusual, like a peacefuldy. But once one''s gaze met its eyes, a chill would emanate from the heart, as if... seeing something evil to the extreme. If it were not for the shrine, no one would consider it an idol, perhaps even mistaking it for a terrifying ghost.
As soon as the old woman entered the room, she knelt on the cushion and closed her eyes, whispering in a low voice, too scared to look. Unaware and too afraid to notice, the colour of the small statue turned increasingly crimson as she prayed.
Finally, when she finished praying, the old woman slowly stood up. By then, it was already veryte at night, and with no light inside the room, the idol became increasingly blurry. Only the red colour became more and more prominent in the darkness.
With shaking hands, she picked up the incense box and matches ced beneath the shrine and rubbed the match head against the sandpaper side of the matchbox. A me ignited, but strangely, it immediately went out.
"This... this is..." she stuttered.
Without hesitation, she lit another match. But to her astonishment, the me flickered and died out as quickly as before.
"No, it can''t be..." The old woman''s forehead was beaded with sweat. Striking three matches at once, she finally seeded in lighting the incense. She sighed deeply and promptly ced the three sticks into the censer on the shrine.
''May QingQing be blessed... May she return home safely...'' However, in the blink of an eye, all three incense sticks snapped in half!
The eerie idol on the shrine contorted into a grotesque shape and turned a bright red. Its lips curled into an icy smile. Before the old woman could react, the room door mmed shut.
"No..."
**
"Since you are still students, contact your families. Give them any reason; just say you''ll return homete tonight. If you take this game seriously, we will send you back safely," Nie Yun Zhen said to the two girls, leading them towards YinYang Road.
Wen Qing''s cat dangled from a tree, swaying gently in the wind. Everyone retreated and stood at a safe distance from the tree.
In numerous legends, creatures like ck cats and crows are said to be apanied by ominous signs. There are even rumours that cats have nine lives and ck cats bring bad luck. However, it doesn''t matter whether it''s a ck or white cat for those who have been on longterm missions. It could bring bad luck as long as it dies abnormally, so they don''t hesitate to avoid it.
"Really?" Wen Qing hesitated to take the phone from Nie Yun Zhen, so Shi Yan took it and ced it in the girl''s hand.
She carefully opened the call interface.
"Of course, it''s true. But I advise you to be cautious with your words," Shi Yan whispered. Her ability toe this far was due to her strength of character.
Wen Qing was intimidated by the hostility in her eyes and immediately nodded, "As long as you keep your promise."
Only Chu Xiu found something strange about her words.
Her tone wasn''t entirely pleading but instead carried a hint of warning. It seemed like she was telling them that failing to send her back would result in dire consequences.
Why would she say that?
The others didn''t pay attention. After Wen Qing took the phone, she gave it to Yun Qian to inform her family. Under everyone''s watchful eyes, she had to turn on the speaker to put their minds at ease.
Yun Qian''s parents didn''t care about her, so they didn''t pay much attention when they heard that she was going to a ssmate''s birthday party.
But when it was Wen Qing''s turn, there was a problem no one answered the call.
In a matter of moments, Wen Qing''splexion had turned pallid. She didn''t wait for anyone to speak and kept dialling the number repeatedly. Her hand trembled so violently, and her eyes were full of terror. Despite her attempts, the voice on the other end repeated the same message, "The user you''re calling is currently unavable. Please try againter."
How was this possible?
Wen Qing''s face went as white as a sheet, and she murmured, "No, I have to go back... I have to go back now! Let me go! I want to go back!"
Nie Yun Zhen and Ye Sheng Ke were nearby and instantly grabbed her. Wen Qing put up a fierce struggle. The two men thought they could easily hold her down. However, they were taken aback when they realized how much strength she possessed.
She yelled out, "Let me go back! I want to go back!"
With a resounding click, the safety was taken off the gun.
Chu Xiu raised his hand, and the muzzle was ced on her forehead.
Wen Qing froze, tears cascading down her face. Regardless of the two men''s attempts to restrain her, she knelt in one swift motion and pleaded, "Please, I want to go back... I must go back..."
"The game will end after midnight, and then you can leave." Chu Xiu said in a cold voice.
The gun remained pointed at her forehead without a hint of mercy.
Just then, the phone that had fallen to the ground lit up. The ringing had stopped.
Wen Qing''s heart raced as she heard an old woman''s hoarse and cold voice, "Hello..."
Ignoring the gun aimed at her head, she rushed to answer, "Grandma! It''s me, QingQing."
"Qing...Qing..." Each word was emphasized as if savoured by the old woman.
Wen Qing responded eagerly, her mind regaining rationality, "Grandma, I visiting Xiao Qian''s house today. Yun Qian is my friend, so I''ll returnte. Please go to bed early."
"...Qian...Qian... okay..." The old woman''s voice was rough and grating, like the sound of sandpaper, making Wen Qing feel uneasy but also relieved.
At least her grandmother was alright.
She hung up the phone and handed it back to Chu Xiu.
The surroundings grew even colder. The ck cat hanging from the tree swayed gently.
"Three hours until midnight; let''s wait in the car," Shi Yan suggested.
So, the six of them returned to the SUV. It was spacious enough for everyone to sitfortably.
Wen Qing and Yun Qian sat in the back, tightly holding hands.
With a stranger among them, the four didn''t bring up the mission again and instead turned to talk about games. They could sense that Wen Qing was somewhat different from the other girl, so the other three intentionally tried to pry for information during their conversation.
Only Chu Xiu seemed to be doing nothing, sitting in the passenger seat. However, he was using the rearview mirror to observe everyone.
Everything seemed normal, without any anomalies.
As time passed, the outside grew darker and darker, with only two beams of headlights illuminating the road. Unconsciously, even the temperature dropped. Reluctantly, Nie Yun Zhen turned on the air conditioning, causing the fog to gradually blur the car windows. He then activated the wipers, watching as the two ck wipers moved in a semi-circle.
Feeling bored, Yun Qian sighed against the window in the back seat before yfully writing a random word with her finger.
After finishing, she sighed again and heard Shi Yan call out to her. She quickly wiped away the fog with her hand and turned her head. "What? What''s wrong?"
But she didn''t catch sight of the fleeting pale face outside the window.
Finally, midnight arrived.
The car restarted and slowly drove forward until it stopped less than fifty meters from the intersection.
None of them noticed that the corpse of a ck cat, which had been hanging from a tree and swaying in the wind, suddenly fell to the ground!
It was as if someone had cut the rope.
In the car, Nie Yun Zhen spoke, "Let''s first decide who goes first. Remember, every step of the game must be done correctly. Any mistake could lead to terrible consequences that nobody can bear."
As soon as he finished his sentence, the temperature in the car dropped even further, and a feeling of indescribable horror spread among everyone.
Unexpectedly, Yun Qian, the timidest of them all, said weakly, "I''ll go first. Qing Qing and I will go first, and then you guys make sure we leave quickly."
Nie Yun Zhen saw that Chu Xiu had no objections, so he nodded in agreement. Wen Qing insisted on apanying Yun Qian and didn''t want to wait in the car. She got out and stood by the car window, watching as Yun Qian trembled and took one step at a time.
The air grew colder, and her legs shook. She didn''t know why she was the first to agree.
''Never mind, whether you stick your neck out or keep it in is all the same. The sooner it''s done, the better.''
''Nothing will happen... nothing will happen...'' Yun Qian silently repeated these words, slowly walking forward while stepping on her shadow.
Speaking of which, the weather tonight wasn''t suitable for ying this game. There was no moon, and only a few stars were visible. The road had no streetlights, and once the trees cast shadows, you couldn''t see your hand in front of your face. If it weren''t for the car headlights, you wouldn''t even see a hint of a shadow.
When she was seven or eight meters from the crossroads, Yun Qian forced herself to endure the fear in her heart and whispered her name ording to the rules they had told her.
"Yun Qian," she stepped forward, treading on her shadow.
"Yun Qian," she took another step.
"Yun Qian," one more step.
She counted to thirteen as she took each step. She became like a startled bird when she arrived at the thirteenth step. Every muscle in her body tensed with fear. She didn''t dare to look at her shadow on the ground to see if anything had changed. If she could, she would have fled back to the car immediately, but she couldn''t.
Those people had threatened her with Qing Qing.
She had toplete the steps.
Yun Qian didn''t dare utter a sound. She stood stiffly in ce, slowly lowering her head.
Looking down at the ground, her whole body felt like it had been plunged into an icehouse. Her hands and feet became cold instantly.
Her... her shadow had be two!
There was another shadow. Whose was it?
Whose?!
Her breath became rapid, but she remembered the instructions from those people.
Under no circumstances should she make a sound. She had to listen to what the other person would say.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice sounded in her ear. It was impossible to distinguish whether it belonged to a man or a woman, young or old. At the same time, an icy breath came from behind her, as if... that thing was pressing against her back!
"Find... for me..." the voice trailed off.
Find what?
She remained frozen in ce.
She would have noticed a pale figure pressed tightly against her back if she had turned her head.
The voice trailed off, "Find...find my..." Despite her efforts, Yun Qian couldn''t hear clearly. She didn''t dare ask any questions.
After those two sentences were spoken, the cold sensation behind her suddenly disappeared, and the shadow on the ground returned to its original form.
Yun Qian couldn''t resist any more and ran. She covered her mouth while sprinting back. She remembered not to utter a sound; otherwise, that thing would bring her unbearable consequences.
"What happened in the end?" Wen Qing embraced her, feeling her shivering in her arms.
She shook her head, too afraid to speak. Looking at Yun Qian, they all knew she must have encountered something paranormal. This oue left everyone feeling uneasy.
"Let''s get in the car first." Sitting in the middle, Shi Yan opened the car door and carefully helped Yun Qian get in. Wen Qing held her. They didn''t notice that the colour of the shadow under Yun Qian''s feet had slightly darkened. "Yun Qian, what did you see just now?" Shi Yan inquired.
Wen Qing and Shi Yan''s attempts to extract information proved fruitless. Yun Qian could only shake her head vigorously, tears streaming down her face, and when she tried to speak, no sound came out.
Her intense fear and psychological pressure left her unable tomunicate!
"Hey, you..." Ye Sheng Ke began to speak, but his words were cut short when Yun Qian suddenly fainted.
Nie Yun Zhen rolled down the car window. A st of cold air rushed in, clearing his restless mind. "Brother Chu, what should we do now? Should we still continue?"
"Of course, we should." Chu Xiu hadn''t spoken yet, but Shi Yan spoke up, turning to Wen Qing and saying, "It''s your turn now."
Wen Qing pursed her lips and nodded. "Don''t touch her."
"As long as you take this seriously, we won''t harm her."
Wen Qing carefully grasped Yun Qian''s cold hand and retrieved the amulet she had lent her.
She began to walk slowly forward, one step at a time.
The temperature outside the car had dropped even further, almost as cold as midwinter. Wen Qing wrapped her school uniform tightly around herself and approached where Yun Qian had just been.
"Wen Qing, Wen Qing, Wen Qing..."
She recited her name with each step, stepping on her own shadow. When she reached the thirteenth step, Wen Qing faintly heard a cat meow.
Chapter 35: So, she was already dead
Chapter 35: So, she was already dead
Meowing?
When she heard a faint meowing sound, Wen Qing''s heart was filled with doubt and uncertainty. She listened closely but couldn''t hear it anymore. She wondered if it was her imagination.
Despite her doubts, Wen Qing wanted to believe it wasn''t just her imagination. The meowing was familiar, just like the sound of her own little cat. She thought that while cats and dogs may look simr to most people, only pet owners can distinguish their pets.
Could it be her little cat?
Did she manage to call back her pet?
Wen Qing felt a rush of excitement and joy but remembered the warning from those people earlier. She had to be quiet, as making noise could have unforeseeable consequences. With great effort, she suppressed her excitement and took a few more steps forward, hoping to hear what the little cat might demand.
Unfortunately, the cat didn''t make any demands. The cool breeze was still, and there was no more meowing as if everything that had just happened was her imagination.
Doubts filled her mind, but Wen Qing refused to believe it was just her imagination. She tightly clutched the talisman and crouched down, cing it on the ground before continuing to walk. With each step, she whispered her name, but her thoughts were focused on another name as if it would bring back her little cat.
"Wen Qing." Little Mimi...
"Wen Qing." Come out, Little Mimi.
...
"Is she crazy? What''s she doing?" Nie Yun Zhen eximed from afar, watching Wen Qing crouch down before continuing to walk.
"Something''s off about her," Ye Sheng Ke remarked, frowning. "Senior, have you noticed anything?"
Despite Yun Qian''s unconsciousness, they spoke in hushed tones, using lip reading tomunicate.
Shi Yan shook her head, unsure of what was happening.
All eyes turned to Chu Xiu, but he had no desire to exin. He gazed ahead quietly into the darkness, his thoughts unknown.
Unnoticed by everyone, Yun Qian, whoy at the back, sat up silently. Her lifeless eyes fixated on the four people ahead of her. Her lips curled into a strange smile that grew wider and wider until it almost reached her ears.
However, the four people ahead were entirely unaware of Yun Qian. They didn''t see her sit up in the rearview mirror because her reflection was just an illusion.
"She took another thirteen steps," Nie Yun Zhen incredulously said.
A pair of soft, pale hands gradually stretched forward, about to wrap around Ye Sheng Ke''s neck. Just then, Shi Yan suddenly turned around, and the hands quickly retracted. Yun Qiany there quietly unconscious, her eyes still wet with tears of fear.
"When will she wake up? Should we ask her to call Wen Qing back?" Nie Yun Zhen suggested.
"It''s best not to," Chu Xiu replied unexpectedly.
Based on what had happened earlier with Yun Qian ying the game, it was inevitable that she must have encountered some supernatural event. Perhaps she was already being pursued by those things. The reason why they let Yun Qian board the car was that they needed her to coerce Wen Qing to continue ying the game. Otherwise, they should just drop the two girls off and run for safety.
Fortunately, Wen Qing''s abnormality was short-lived. The four of them observed her intently as she went beyond the designated area for a few dozen steps before turning back. However, she crouched down at some point as if tying her shoces.
Chu Xiu had a clear view and saw that she was tying her shoces as a cover, picking up something from the ground and stuffing it into her shoe.
What did she pick up?
Wen Qing approached and opened the car door. Despite her somewhat pale face, she remainedposed. Her mental strength surpassed some taskers, which impressed Ye Sheng Ke.
Shi Yan asked, "Did you encounter anything abnormal earlier?"
Wen Qing shook her head, looking concernedly at her still-unconscious friend.
Both NPCs had already yed the "game". Their earlier experiences suggest that Yun Qian encountered a supernatural event first, allowing Wen Qing to emerge unscathed. This hypothesis undoubtedly boosted their confidence.
"In that case, let''s have little Ye go next," Shi Yan suggested.
Hearing this, Ye Sheng Ke looked at her senior sister gratefully. "Thank you, senior sister..."
Chu Xiu seemed to intend to be thest to y the game. She had no intention ofpeting with Xiao Ye. As long as she proposed it before Nie Yun Zhen, he wouldn''t object.
Indeed, Chu Xiu didn''t object, and although Nie Yun Zhen''s face darkened for a moment, he ultimately agreed.
Ye Sheng Ke quietly grasped Shi Yan''s hand, feeling grateful in his heart. Without hesitation, he opened the car door and stepped out. The car''s headlights illuminated the road ahead, casting a long shadow of himself.
In a few moments, he would be stepping on his own shadow, reciting his name step by step.
Ye Sheng Ke''s courage, which had just gathered, suddenly dissipated at the thought. He looked down at his shadow and couldn''t help but recall his own experience
"Little Ye, promise me you''ll wait for me, okay?" His best friend had said.
That day, they went to a small alley near the school. There were many such alleys near the university town. Some were upied by small vendors and had be food streets, while others were intentionally or unintentionally ignored by people and had no visitors.
They naturally went to thetter, which took them a long time to find. It was said that a girl had been brutally murdered by a viin here. It had been sealed for a long time, and even during the day, visiting it always gave a creepy feeling. Gradually, fewer people visited it.
His best friend had heard the ghostly rumours and was so frightened that he repeatedly asked Ye Sheng Ke to wait for him.
''What did I say back then?'' Ye Sheng Ke thought.
"Don''t worry, we''re brothers. I''ll be waiting for you at the entrance of the alley." Ye Sheng Ke reassured his friend, "Besides, there are no such things as ghosts in this world. Don''t scare yourself."
"Okay, okay. Remember to record everything clearly. I''m going to show it to our senior sister."
"Don''t worry, I''ll capture your bravery and handsomeness on camera. Once it''s out, no one will ever call you a coward again."
"Okay! I''m going!"
Without hesitation, he exited the car and started walking forward, step by step.
Just like now, he heard faint footsteps and knew he was trembling, just like him. Despite the fear, he kept moving forward.
"Ye Sheng Ke," his voice echoed in the darkness. "Ye Sheng Ke."
Back then, he crouched at the alley entrance, with the camera in night mode aimed at his good friend. He didn''t believe in this kind of thing, and his legs became numb after squatting for a long time. He changed his position, causing the camera to shake slightly. He lowered his head to kill a mosquito before looking back at the camera.
One unforgettable scene yed out before him. His good friend took one step after another, muttering to himself and halting after each step. But in the camera''s view, a figure draped in a long white dress with flowing locks sat on his friend''s shoulder.
Ye Sheng Ke was paralyzed with shock. His blood seemed to be flowing in reverse. Finally, his friend took thirteen steps and turned around to run excitedly toward him.
"Little Ye! I did it! Did you catch it on camera?"
As his friend turned around, the girl on his shoulders also turned her head. Her ck hair parted, revealing a section of pale skin. Her hands looked abnormal, dangling bonelessly from her shoulders and wrapping around the man''s neck several times like a white scarf.
As if she sensed someone taking her picture, the woman raised her head. Ye Sheng Ke could clearly see the sly, twisted grin on her lips.
"Little Ye?"
Ye Sheng Ke''s breathing grew ragged. His entire body felt ice-cold. He looked at his friend, who was still calling out to him while running and seeming confused.
Without any hesitation, he dropped the camera and ran away.
"Little Ye? Little Ye, why are you running? Wait for me, Little Ye..."
Before long, he fled the eerie ce and arrived in a bustling downtown area. His hands continued to tremble, and he remained engulfed in fear and anxiety.
It was a ghost... there really was a ghost!
He was as nervous as a bird startled by the twang of a bowstring, seeing everyone as abnormal. He didn''t dare to return to the dormitory in the middle of the night, afraid that ghosts mighte knocking. He couldn''t stay with anyone else, fearing they might be disguised ghosts. He wandered aimlessly, not knowing where he was going. He felt relieved only when the sun rose the next day, and he immediately returned to school.
However, when he returned to school, he realized that his good friend hadn''t returned the previous night. No matter who called him, he didn''t answer. He had an important experiment the next day, and if his friend didn''t show up, he would surely fail the course.
Being responsible, the ss monitor rushed into theb after asking him to help spread the word, leaving Ye Sheng Ke feeling cold.
He wanted to tell everyone about the game and suspected his friend had met with an ident, but he didn''t dare speak up. Like an ostrich, he could onlyfort himself, telling himself that everything was fine and his friend must be okay.
However, his friend had been missing for several days a good student with perfect attendance had disappeared.
Later, the police found his and his family''s bodies, covered in blood, arranged neatly in the room. No one knew the cause of their deaths. Even more surprising was that someone had seen him near the university city that same night, but the autopsy showed that he had died in the early hours of the next day. Looking at his expenditure records, he had not purchased any travel tickets.
No one knew how he had suddenly appeared at home, thousands of miles away, in just a few hours.
Only Ye Sheng Ke knew what had happened; it would be his eternal demon.
"Ye Sheng Ke," a voice echoed for thest time.
The thirteenth step had arrived, and Ye Sheng Ke paused, gazing down at his shadow. A second shadow joined his, revealing the silhouette of a woman. Her hair flowed down her back, swaying with a delicate flutter.
Was she perched on his shoulder now?
As the tension mounted, Ye Sheng Ke instead calmed down and turned towards the car, striding confidently forward.
"Um... Are you alright?" Shi Yan''s voice called out from the car, the window rolling down as she looked at him through the ss. Though his face remained somewhat pale, Ye Sheng Ke''s rxed smile put her at ease.
"I''m fine; no harm done." He slipped into the car, trying his best to appear nonchnt. Guilt gnawed at him, but he could not bring himself to reveal the truth.
The group had further convinced themselves that the strange presence had been attracted by Yun Xuan.
The next task fell to Nie Yun Zhen, who quickly and efficientlypleted it with a smile of relief.
Shi Yan followed suit, smoothly returning to the car with ease.
Thest person was none other than Chu Xiu.
Stepping out of the car, Chu Xiu approached the crossroads with measured steps.
Inside the vehicle, Wen Qing scrutinized his back, her eyebrows furrowed.
Once he returned, the four of them would escort Wen Qing and Xiao Lan back.
Thinking of this, Wen Qing grasped Yun Qian''s hand, seeking encouragement.
Unbeknownst to her, pale, boneless arms were inching towards her ankles but abruptly recoiled as if hitting an unseen barrier.
**
In the dead of night, Lu Yan sat by the window in his solitary hotel room, gazing outside.
The sky was devoid of stars and moon, shrouded in darkness, but neon lights beyond flickered incessantly, leaving the city restless.
Only during moments like this could he truly appreciate normalcy at night.
If not for the asional visits from taskers, he might have been consumed by the madness and transformed into the same substance as them.
However, this tranquillity was short-lived. Those entities... whether or not he sought them out, they woulde knocking,unching preemptive attacks. Only by fighting back could he gain an escape.
Lu Yan watched for a while before settling back at hisputer desk. His memory served him well; he could still recall every mission he had undertaken and every tasker he had encountered in the past few years.
He was in the process of searching for information.
In the past, many of his missions werepleted with ambiguous oues. Even if they were considered sessful, many secrets lurked beneath the surface. The world he experienced during and afterpleting each mission was vastly different. This meant that even if he searched the inte, the information he found at other times would bepletely different.
On theputer screen, a promotional video for Red River Vige yed.
On that day, the region around Red River Vige had been reduced to a wastnd, with graveyards covering the mountains and a river of blood flowing across all burial mounds. But now, Red River Vige appeared the same as when he firstid eyes on it: pristine and orderly. Even the red river, as depicted in the promotional video, was an elegant shade of crimson.
Everything appeared to be so ordinary.
However, before the world had be "normal," when he opened a webpage, he saw a ghost vige!
Lu Yan''s gaze settled on the familiar face of the vige chief and...He Lou, Shen Na, Zhao Chuan, and the others who had wholly integrated into the vige were now assisting the chief. They all seemed content and satisfied.
A hint of mockery shed across Lu Yan''s eyes.
Should he choose illusory beauty or cruel reality?
He would rather confront the brutal truth alone, struggling on the brink of life and death, than live in blissful ignorance.
After gathering more intelligence about the Omniscient Divine Sect, Lu Yan retired to bed to rest.
Drawing on his past experiences, he knew that even if he refrained from approaching them, these people would somehow end up pulling him in.
**
An SUV pulled up slowly in the hotel''s parking lot.
Four individuals alighted from the vehicle Chu Xiu, Nie Yun Zhen, Shi Yan, and Ye Sheng Ke.
Although they had earlier agreed to apany Wen Qing and Yun Qian back, they couldn''t risk their lives, especially since Yun Qian was believed to be a target of supernatural entities. Hence, they left Wen Qing and the still unconscious Yun Qian at the intersection.
As they entered the hotel''s lobby, the four reserved four single rooms on the thirteenth floor. Interestingly, to the staff''s surprise, they opted for the stairs over the elevator.
People ustomed to missions of this nature would often train rigorously to stay alive. Hence, the thirteenth floor posed no difficulty for them. Taking the elevator was deemed a more significant danger. In ces known as hotspots for supernatural urrences, if a ghost suddenly appeared in the confined space of the elevator, they would have no chance of escaping. Consequently, they developed a habit of taking the stairs when on missions.
"Today''s game was rtively safe, but what about tomorrow? Everyone still remembers tomorrow''s game, right?" Nie Yun Zhen remarked.
Shi Yan nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, let''s not forget to grab a few apples and a fruit knife. We can carry out our n in the hotel."
Ye Sheng Ke looked up calmly and asked, "So, who should we invite to join us this time? We only need one more person."
Nie Yun Zhen smiled mischievously and teased, "Do you guys still remember our room numbers?"
At that moment, everyone knew exactly what he meant.
Initially, they nned to book adjacent rooms, but unfortunately, a guest had already checked into the single room in the middle. So, they didn''t need to think too hard about who the new yer would be.
Theyughed heartily and went their separate ways to their rooms.
Chu Xiu walked at the back, his gaze fixed on the three in front of him, his expression deep and inscrutable. He couldn''t believe these three had nothing to do with what was happening. Could ghosts really be that benevolent?
The other three probably shared his suspicions, so they talked but kept a distance from each other, ready to bolt at any moment.
As they reached the thirteenth floor, they noticed that the hotel had scrambled the room numbers for privacy and safety reasons. They followed the signs to their respective rooms and found that their keys were for adjacent rooms.
Chu Xiu''s thoughts meandered as he passed the door, ''The middle room...''
**
They were on the outskirts, travelling down a deste road. This area was already scarcely popted, with taxis unwilling to venture here. Earlier in the day, Wen Qing and Yun Qian took a bus to a nearby stop before walking one or two kilometres to reach their destination.
But now, the four mysterious individuals had left them stranded, with no streetlights to illuminate their path. The stars and moon were obscured behind thick clouds, enveloping everything in darkness.
Even Wen Qing, who was known for her bravery, couldn''t help but feel a sense of unease.
If only Yun Qian had been conscious, then Wen Qing could take her hand and leave together. However, Yun Qian remained in a state of unconsciousness, leaving Wen Qing feeling helpless. Carrying her was not an option; dragging her would only risk injury, so Wen Qing settled for half-carrying and halfsupporting her as they made their way to the roadside.
The only glimmer of hope provided by the four was the gift of two sleeping bags.
Wen Qingboured to cover Yun Qian with one of the sleeping bags before crawling into the other. Lying on the hard ground was ufortable, so she leaned against a nearby tree, eventually dozing off into a restless slumber.
**
Meanwhile, in the city''s heart, a coupley fast asleep, a family photo of three positioned atop their bedside table.
Frozen in time, the image of a young Yun Qian smiled back at them from within the frame.
Thedy rose from her slumber and headed to the bathroom, rubbing her groggy eyes. After finishing her business, she tried to open the bathroom door, but to her surprise, it wouldn''t budge.
"What the heck?" She gripped the doorknob and twisted it left and right, but the door remained eerily still. She pounded on the door and called out for her husband.
Bang, bang, bang! She pounded with even more force.
"Hello? Is anyone out there?"
Little did she know, her voice wasn''t carrying beyond the bathroom, and her husband couldn''t hear her. She continued banging and yelling for her husband to wake up.
"Hurry up! Don''t sleep!" Her knocks grew louder, her frustration building. As she turned her head, she caught her reflection in the mirror and was immediately filled with fear.
She was pounding on the door, but her reflection in the mirror was facing her head on!
The woman in the mirror smiled at her. The harsh lighting made her face look deathly pale.
Confused, she bent down to turn on the faucet and ssh water on her face, only to discover that the liquid flowing from the tap wasn''t water, but instead, it was a thick stream of fresh blood. Suddenly, the room was filled with an overpowering stench of blood.
The blood washed away pieces of flesh as they fell off the woman''s face. In the mirror, the woman smiled at the terrified woman outside and slowly extended her hands.
The woman''s limp, boneless, pallid arms wrapped around the victim''s neck.
"Help... me..." The plea for help was stifled and unheard.
The restroom had threepartments: the sink on the outer side, the toilet in the middle, and a curtain and barrier concealing the bathtub.
Unbeknownst to her, the man''s mangled body was soaked in arge amount of blood in the bathtub. As she turned on the faucet to wash her face, the blood drained out of the bathtub and through the pipe, slowly causing the blood level in the bathtub to drop.
"Meow"
Half awake, Wen Qing heard a mournful and piercing meow that was not her usual little cat''s cry, as if driving away something.
It was Little Mimi!
Wen Qing, who was still somewhat tired, immediately opened her eyes.
Wrapped in a sleeping bag, she stared ahead nkly.
In the thick, ink-like darkness, a darker shadow approached her. Its eyes emitted a flickering green light, and at first nce, it appeared to be two floating will-o''-the-wisps!
"Little Mimi?" Wen Qing was jolted from her sleep, scrambling out of her warm sleeping bag. The frigid wind whipped against her, but she didn''t care as she dashed towards the sound. "Is it really you, Little Mimi? You came to visit me and remember me, don''t you?"
Rushing up to the source of the voice, she squatted down, suddenly remembering something. With a careful hand, she removed an amulet hidden inside her shoe, then carefully picked up the small, ck, fluffy ball.
Like old times, Little Mimi nuzzled her palm, its fur soft andforting.
"I miss you so much. I''m d you came to see me. I''ll never forget you," Wen Qing whispered.
No matter how much she missed Little Mimi, she knew it was gone forever.
Even though her grandmother often muttered about cats having nine lives, it was just a myth. How could it be true?
What Wen Qing didn''t notice was that Yun Qian was slowly awakening behind her. Although shey motionless on the ground, two pale, soft hands emerged from her shoulders and were about to strike!
Wen Qing hugged Little Mimi tightly and turned to leave, fighting back the tears.
Little Mimi hated baths and never appreciated getting its fur wet.
Even if...even if it was a ghost, Wen Qing hoped to see Little Mimi again and keep itpany.
Unbeknownst to her, as soon as she turned around, the little cat in her hands rolled over and leapt down to the ground, standing with its tail raised high.
Despite the dark night, Wen Qing could discern that the fur on the cat''s body was bristling and emitted a nearbeastly growl from its throat.
Familiar with its behaviour, Wen Qing knew this was a sign of an imminent attack.
And the object of its growling was none other than Yun Qian!
"Little Mimi, no! She''s our friend, remembers?" Wen Qing quickly crouched down, trying to scoop up the cat. But Little Mimi was unwilling to cooperate and nimbly evaded her grasp. Then, with lightningquick movements, it lunged towards Yun Qian, who was still lying on the ground.
"Don''t"
Wen Qing shouted loudly and rushed to tightly embrace Little Mimi, disregarding its struggles and keeping it at bay.
At that moment, Little Mimi bore no resemnce to the charming feline it once was. Its sharp fangs jutted out of its mouth, and its nails grew instantly longer, razorsharp, dripping with a noxious and sweet fluid. The supple fur on its body had be coarse and rigid, its body cold and stiff.
"Little Mimi?!"
Wen Qing was so terrified that she immediately flung the cat from her grasp.
That wasn''t her beloved Little Mimi.
"It... Has it really turned into a ghost?" she gasped. "Oh no! Yun Qian is in danger!"
Just then, Yun Qian slowly stirred awake. Wen Qing rushed over and swiftly positioned herself in front of Yun Qian, her hands outstretched to block any harm from the Little Mimi. She stared firmly at the creature that had already transformed into a monster, her eyes filled with unwavering determination.
"Qian Qian,e on, let''s run!" Wen Qing''s legs trembled, but she still clung to the hope that Little Mimi might recognize her. She stood her ground.
Yun Qian was unaware of what had happened but was stunned at the ghastly sight before her. She quickly emerged from her sleeping bag, grabbed Wen Qing''s hand, and started running.
"Run! Quickly, let''s escape!" Yun Qian shouted.
"It has turned into a monster!" Wen Qing added urgently, firmly clutching Yun Qian''s hand and pushing herself to her fastest pace. Soon, they left Little Mimi far behind and vanished.
As their footsteps slowed, Wen Qing panted and said, "Okay, now we''re safe..." But she felt a sudden shortness of breath before she could finish her sentence.
A pallid hand, devoid of blood, grasped her neck, hoisting her into the air. The hand belonged to none other than Yun Qian.
Her body twisted unnaturally as she rose to her feet, apanied by strange and eerie cracking sounds. She grew taller and taller, almost blending in with the towering trees nearby. Her face, ashen and ghastly, was obscured by long, tangled ck hair.
She fixed her gaze on Wen Qing, who struggled in vain. Fresh blood trickled down Yun Qian''s pallid face, emanating a nauseating stench.
Atst, Yun Qian remembered... she had been dead for a long time.
When she yed "Shadow", she had actually called back her soul; she meant to say, "Find my... body."
Yun Qian, who had remembered everything, had turned into a vengeful ghost and wanted to kill everyone around her! The first person she wanted to kill was Wen Qing, who was closest to her! But Wen Qing had a protective talisman, so she could not harm her. So, Yun Qian was forced to kill her own parents instead.
And now, with Wen Qing having voluntarily discarded her talisman, which had been her safeguard, Yun Qian was poised to take her revenge and kill her closest friend!
Chapter 36: Dropping the lift on the 18th floor
Chapter 36: Dropping the lift on the 18th floor
As death approached, Wen Qing''s body stiffened in fear. She closed her eyes, scared to look at the terrifying face before her.
But the next second, she was hurled to the ground.
Despite the excruciating pain that coursed through her body, she was alive. Meanwhile, Little Mimi''s piercing and shrill screams echoed in the distance, sending chills down her spine.
Wen Qing opened her eyes and saw a monstrous creature: a giant ck cat, now transformed before her eyes, howling as it fought fiercely with a huge female ghost. The ghost''s skeletal frame was visible, and pieces of rotting flesh asionally fell to the ground.
It should have been a horrifying sight, but she felt incredibly relieved at that moment.
"Little Mimi, thank you..."
Wen Qing scrambled away from themotion and suddenly remembered the talisman her grandmother had given her for protection. She quickly ran back to the spot where she had dropped it earlier.
"Little Mimi, don''t be afraid; I''ll return to help you..."
The female ghost had carried Wen Qing far away, and now she had no idea where she was in the pitchck forest. She could not find any sign of the road''s direction.
What could she do?
What could she do?!
Despite Wen Qing''s usualposed demeanour, she was just an ordinary high school girl. The death of her friend had dealt her a significant blow, and now her mind was consumed with the urgent need to rescue her cat. Earlier, during the lifeanddeath situation, she had been able to remainposed, but now, as she ran through the pitchck forest, unable to see more than a few inches in front of her hand, she couldn''t help feeling disoriented. She had been running for what felt like an eternity, but she still hadn''t found the road.
Wen Qing''s thoughts were in disarray. "What should I do?" she asked herself.
After running for a long time, Wen Qing finally stopped and leaned against a tree, where she broke down in tears. It was then that she caught a whiff of a sickly sweet smell, the stench of a dead cat''s decaying body.
In shock, Wen Qing lowered her head and saw the tiny, ck cat''s corpse lying on the ground. Its limbs were still tied up with the rope she had used to bind it.
"What''s going on?" she asked herself.
Little Mimi was here, but the cat that had transformed into a monstrous creature was also Little Mimi. Wen Qing was absolutely sure of it.
As the day slowly brightened, the sun rising rapidly to light up half the sky, Wen Qing searched around and discovered that she had been circling the road all along. The protective talisman had fallen to the ground not far from the dead cat''s body.
Wen Qing had spent the entire night without rest, constantly running around. Her body was in a terrible state as she approached to pick up the protective talisman. She gazed towards the crossroads, her heart heavy with grief.
"Yun Qian...she''s dead. She''s turned into a vengeful ghost."
"If those people hadn''t coerced her into ying that game, and if they hadn''t abandoned her...Yun Qian would still be alive."
"If I hadn''t brought Yun Qian here, she wouldn''t have died."
A surge of intense hatred welled up in her heart as she gazed towards the direction where the car had leftst night, her eyes filled with a bitterness she had never felt before.
She couldn''t forgive herself, but those four people deserved to die even more!
"I will never, never forgive them!" she thought.
As the day began to break, the howling ceased. Wen Qing limped back to the road and hung the cat back up on the tree before hobbling back home to her grandmother, who was eagerly waiting for her. She boarded the bus, feeling unsteady.
**
The small room was dimly lit, and the idol was a deep shade of red.
The old woman''s bodyy on the ground, bloody and mangled. It appeared shrivelled and bony, resembling a skeleton. Suddenly, it began to inte like a balloon, and within a short time, it had reverted to its original human shape.
As it opened its eyes, an eerie smile spread across its face as it rose from the ground. It meticulously adjusted its facial features, gradually revealing a benevolent smile identical to its original appearance.
The idol on the shrine had shattered into numerous pieces, utterly devoid of its former shine and glory.
**
"This game is really creepy. You must lock yourself alone in a room after midnight and peel an apple while staring at a mirror. If the peel breaks, the task is considered a failure," Nie Yun Zhen exined while he continued to peel an apple.
This game was wellknown, and the tasks they were required toplete were supernatural games that actually existed in legends and could attract ghosts.
Nie Yun Zhen had watched some videos uploaded by upaning content creators before, but after watching too many, he made a terrifying discovery without exception, all the content creators had omitted some steps during the game.
However, they couldn''t afford to skip even a single step if they were toplete the task. Otherwise, they would undoubtedly face an unbearable fate.
Neither Nie Yun Zhen nor Ye Sheng Ke were proficient at peeling apples, let alone peeling them without breaking the skin. They had gone out early in the morning and bought three boxes to practice.
"Next door, the person hasn''t left the house," Shi Yan said as she gazed at theputer screen, but the man''s figure did not appear.
When they went to buy apples, Shi Yan disguised herself as a hotel staff member and entered the room with a small gift, iming it was a prize. While there, she installed a few gadgets to aid their surveince. However, due to the other party''s strong vignce, she could only ce the miniature camera at the entrance. Although the camera had a limited angle and couldn''t capture the entire room, it was enough to detect any movement in or out of the room.
**
Inside the room, Lu Yan gave the entrance a cold gaze. He knew he was likely being monitored by one of the task takers. But he had no idea what their mission was or how many people were involved. He wondered whether he could survive this.
With a few clicks of hisputer, Lu Yan pulled up all the surveince footage inside the hotel. He scrutinized the elevator footage, and his pupils contracted in surprise. It wasn''t that there were only four people in the footage, but a woman in a white dress sitting on one man''s shoulder!
Actually, it should be said that a female ghost in a white dress was perched on his shoulder. Due to the height restriction of the elevator, the spirit had to twist her body at a strange angle, with her pale, long arms tightly wrapped around the man''s neck.
After calcting the time, Lu Yan wondered if they had really been tormented by a female ghost in just one day.
Seeing that they seemed oblivious, Lu Yan had no intention of reminding them. He identified the man''s appearance through the surveince camera and decided to avoid himter.
Aside from the female ghost, the surveince footage showed that the other three people subtly differentiated themselves. The tallest man, sporting a leather jacket, led the group, though he remained taciturn.
As Lu Yan hacked into the hotel''s system to check the surveince, the manager bowed and apologized to a man.
"I''m terribly sorry, Mr Wen. We''ll immediately retrieve your belongings through the surveince footage. Please don''t involve the police yet. You can trust us..."
"Do I trust you? Will it help to trust you? Do you even realize the value of that thing? Do you know how many people want it? It''s only been a day, and it''s gone. Haha, let me tell you, if you can''t find it, we''ll all die together!" Mr Wen shouted in anger.
"I''m really sorry. We''ll do everything we can to retrieve it..."
"Don''t make promises to me. Check the surveince now. I''m telling you, if you can''t find it today, we''ll all die together!"
Mr Wen couldn''t calm down. His agitation didn''t seem to stem from losing a priceless treasure but rather from fear and anxiety. Judging from his expression, no one would doubt that his words about everyone dying together were false.
"Absolutely, the control room is right here. Would you like toe along?" the lobby manager asked.
"Hurry, take me there. Quick!" Mr Wen demanded.
They arrived at the control room in no time, but it was empty. The lobby manager seethed with frustration. Someone must have gone somewhere without informing anyone.
Mr Wen''s cold gaze made the manager nervous, and he hastily retrieved the list of customers who checked in fromst night until today, trying to calm himself down.
"Yesterday, seven new guests checked in. Three of them are a family staying in a double room on the third floor. The other four checked in together, but each booked a single room."
As the manager spoke, he noticed Mr Wen''s eyes widen in disbelief. He pointed at the screen, his fingers shaking as he asked, "What is this?"
The manager turned around to see the footage and was immediately petrified. A woman in a white dress was sitting on the man''s shoulder!
"It''s a ghost...a ghost!" the manager eximed in horror.
Suddenly, the splitscreen zoomed in, taking up the entire screen as if someone was manipting it. The ghostly woman on the man''s shoulder twisted her body and slowly lifted her head, making eye contact with the terrified men outside the screen.
The woman''s hands, wrapped around the man''s neck, immediately loosened and released in circles. Her abnormally long, soft and pale arms hung down. They were so long that they could hardly be contained by the entire picture frame.
Almost instantly, her hands wiped like two wip and prated through the screen and gripped the necks of the two men. With a powerful yank, the sound of bones cracking filled the air.
Everything happened so quickly that the men had no time to react. They were pulled into the screen and sat motionless in the elevator''s corner. Blood poured from the broken neck area and quickly filled the elevator.
The monitor screen returned to its densely gridded appearance, and the elevator grid disappeared without a trace. It appeared normal to anyone who looked at it.
"Phew, that was close. Thank goodness no one came to check. If the manager had seen it, I would have lost my monthly bonus again," thought Security Guard Xiao Li, who had gone to the toilet and returned to an empty room. "Just now, a guest even offered to peel me an apple, hehe..."
As he sat in front of the monitor, watching the screen, he felt his eyelids growing heavy. Before he knew it, he had dozed off in the monitoring room.
ck hair fell thickly from the ceiling, almost touching the man''s neck when suddenly a figure walked in from the door. It was the same guest who had offered him an apple earlier.
The guest opened the door and found the security guard slumped over the table.
"The sleeping pill dosage I injected into the apple was indeed just right," the person eximed as they dragged the security guard and his chair away from the surveince station. They settled in front of theputer and prepared to tamper with the footage.
Their attention was drawn to a white figure in the corner of the camera footage. "Oh, what''s this?" they wondered aloud, clicking on the monitor.
"This...this is..." the person''s face was horrified as they realized what they saw. They turned to run, but the long hair that burst forth from the screen wrapped around them tightly. In the person''s unbelieving gaze, they were sucked into the screen.
On the screen, the elevator had one more person in it.
The hotel lobby on the first floor was bustling with guests waiting for the elevator. When it finally arrived, they all rushed in. But to their surprise, the elevator rm beeped even though they were nowhere near the overload limit.
"That''s strange. None of us are overweight," the guests murmured, stepping out and waiting for the next elevator.
As the elevator doors slowly closed, the people waiting outside watched in amazement as the number on disy rapidly dropped.
"What''s happening?"
"Why are they going down? Call them back up!"
"That''s not right. Does this hotel have so many underground levels?"
"It''s impossible! I was responsible for the construction of this hotel, and there was only one parking level. This..."
In a matter of seconds, the elevator plunged to the negative eighteenth floor. The bright red number,bined with the number eighteen, immediately evoked thoughts of the eighteenth level of hell.
The disy paused on the negative eighteen momentarily before slowly ascending, stopping at each floor as if passengers were getting on and off.
"Ahhhhh!"
The people waiting at the elevator were terrified. Some called the police, while others sought the hotel manager. Most ran out of the hotel in a hurry, seeking refuge elsewhere.
The elevator eventually came to a steady stop on the first floor.
The people downstairs had already fled, but some upstairs remained oblivious and continued to wait in front of the elevator. They were also drawn in and plunged into the depths of hell.
Finally, the police arrived, and with their assistance, the hotel staff opened the elevator.
To their horror, they found it was filled with countless body parts. The corpses were pale, stiff, and covered in bloodstains, emitting a putrid, rotten stench.
When the door opened, the pile of corpses copsed outward, burying the staff member standing in front of the elevator.
However, when the police finally managed to remove the pile of corpses, they found that the staff member who had been buried was nowhere to be found. It was uncertain whether he had also be a part of the corpse pile.
The people present had never witnessed such a horrific tragedy before, leaving them all scared out of their wits. The police bravely attempted to move the body parts onto their vehicles, but before they could do so, they poured out of the elevator again, burying them all.
"There''s still more... it''s haunted! Help!"
"Quickly! Get out of here!"
"Who locked the door? Don''t do this! Let us out!"
A few onlookers ran to the door, desperately tapping on the ss and asking for help from passersby. To their disappointment, even if there were passersby, they only nced quickly and did not pay much attention.
"Help! It''s haunted!"
As they desperately pounded on the ss door, the disembodied limbs behind them surged forward, enveloping them in a macabre embrace. The muffled screams of the onlookers faded into nothingness.
The severed body parts poured out of the elevator, and a relentless tide of horror filled the lobby. No escape was possible as the limbs pursued their prey with an unwavering, eerie determination. Soon, even the ceiling was dripping with blood.
As thest corner of the lobby was filled with gruesome remains, the elevator door flickered and then opened. The limbs and blood seemed to take on a life of their own, moving of their own ord towards the elevator door. The darkness of the elevator consumed the remains until nothing was left.
The lobby returned to its previous state, clean and tidy, as if the horrific events of moments before had never urred.
The elevator doors creaked shut, the dimly lit numbers flickering erratically as if possessed, and a haunting hum echoed throughout the empty lobby. Soon enough, they opened again, and individuals with rigid, pallid expressions shuffled out one by one. The elevator seemed like a bottomless pit, letting out people without pause until the people filled the entire lobby. Each person was indistinguishable from those who had vanished before them. Standing in the lobby, their ashen faces bore a disturbing grin in unison. Gradually, the people reverted to their original expressions before parting ways.
Nie Yunzhen descended the stairs, searching for someone who had yet to return from downstairs.
As he entered the lobby, he encountered his partner, who was about to board the elevator.
"Why did you take so long? We''ve been waiting for you for ages," Nie Yunzhen inquired.
"Don''t even mention it. I was about to change the surveince footage when the lobby manager suddenly appeared. He imed that a guest had lost something essential, and he needed to review the surveince footage. He didn''t even seem upset when he saw the security guard sleeping and took the guest to look for the missing item. I had to lurk on the sidelines and wait for nearly an hour," the person exined.
"Alright, let''s head back now."
The individual quickly assented and trailed behind him as they climbed the stairs towards their room.
The sky grew dim, and the stroke of midnight approached rapidly.
Their second game was about tomence.
One cannot deny feeling nervous in this situation. Being alone, locked in a confined space, and cutting an apple in front of a mirror was already unsettling. Who knows what might appear in the mirror once the apple is sliced?
Ye Shengke voiced his frustration. "Where do all these strange paranormal gamese from? And now they''re actuallying to life. This game is obviously trying to summon ghosts, isn''t it?"
Shi Yan replied, "Well, aren''t all games just trying to summon ghosts? It''s only the second day." She turned to nce at Chu Xiu, whose face was stoic and inscrutable. Unable to resist her curiosity, she asked, "Brother Chu, what do you think of these games?"
Chu Xiu replied, "At present, it''s just spection, and we cannot confirm anything."
"In that case, let''s all share our thoughts and ideas," suggested Shi Yan.
"I have no objections," agreed Chu Xiu. "Based on all the information we''ve gathered, the games we''ve yed for the past seven days can all be ssified as summoning rituals. As for ghosts, no one truly knows what ghosts are, but when you mention ghosts, most people imagine some kind of intangible entity. After what happened yesterday, I suspect the ghosts we''ve summoned may possess someone, perhaps even without their knowledge." Chu Xiu''s words cast a dark shadow over everyone''s hearts.
If what he said was true, who among them was possessed?
Although Chu Xiu had just dropped a bombshell, he remained unfazed. He nced down and noticed some stains on his navy blue denim jacket. With a nonchnt expression, he lightly patted them off.
"On the contrary, this is one of the ways to survive. Remember Yun Qian yesterday? She didn''t die after being possessed, did she?" he said.
In other words, even if something goes wrong while ying these paranormal games, there won''t be any fatalities until the seventh day. However, what happens during the possession was uncertain.
As the sky outside gradually darkened, Chu Xiu opened the door. Everyone knew where he was headed, and Nie Yunzhen and Ye Shengke silently trailed behind him.
"No need; you guys can go back," Chu Xiu said.
ording to the surveince footage during the day, the man inside was just an ordinary young man. One person with a gun was enough; too many people would only arouse his suspicion, and he wouldn''t want to open the door.
Chu Xiu turned left after stepping out and knocked on the middle door. "Who''s there?" A young man''s voice came from inside.
Then, the sound of light footsteps could be heard. Chu Xiu could even imagine the man''s cautious expression as he approached the door.
He knocked on the door once more and took a step back. "Police. A guest at the hotel has reported missing a valuable item, and we need to ask you a few questions." He disyed his counterfeit police badge next to his face so that the person on the other side of the peephole could see it clearly.
The person inside muttered something, likely aint, but opened the door nheless.
The young man stiffened as soon as the door opened.
A gun was pointed at his head.
Lu Yan stood frozen with his hands raised in front of his chest, looking terrified. As the man outside the door moved closer step by step, Lu Yan had no choice but to retreat until Chu Xiu entered the room and used his free hand to pull the door shut.
"What do you want?" the young man asked tremblingly.
"Don''t worry, we just want you to y a game with us," Chu Xiu said.
"A game? What kind of game?" the young man asked, fear still evident in his voice.
Chu Xiu was adept at intimidating people with his cold expression. He should have been satisfied with the effect he had achieved. But looking at the fear on the young man''s face, he felt that something was amiss.
So he didn''t lower his gun.
No, something wasn''t right...
Based on his observations, the young man was very cautious, and many details suggested that he was calm and collected.
He shouldn''t have panicked so quickly.
Lu Yan noticed the doubt on Chu Xiu''s face.
In a split second, this idea came to Chu Xiu; the young man opposite turned his head at lightning speed, dodging the gun. He then grabbed Chu Xiu''s wrist and struck him in the abdomen with his elbow.
Chu Xiu felt a sharp pain in his stomach, but he used his free hand to strike the man''s neck with force despite being caught off guard. However, the man was too quick and dodged to the side, causing Chu Xiu''s chop to hit his shoulder de. Before Chu Xiu could react, the man forcefully knocked him down to the ground and hit his forehead hard on the floor.
The gun slipped out of Chu Xiu''s hand andnded on the floor outside the door with a "crack."
"Who are you? What do you want?" Lu Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief and held the man''s hands to prevent him from struggling. Then, he noticed the man had passed out due to the collision.
Lu Yan turned the man over, being extremely careful not to let go of the wrist he was holding. However, the man remained unconscious.
He hesitated for a while, then hit the man''s neck again before releasing him from his restraints and getting up to pick up the gun.
As Lu Yan stood up and walked towards the door, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.
Chu Xiu had another gun in his hand, and the butt hit the man''s iput before catching the unconscious man.
It seemed Chu Xiu''s suspicion was correct; this man had a strong sense of vignce.
Chu Xiu squatted to pick up the gun and carried the unconscious man back to his room.
Chapter 37: Mimis death
Chapter 37: Mimi''s death
As Lu Yan''s eyes fluttered open, he found himself confronted by a group of four: three men and a woman.
Upon seeing that he had awakened, their collective grins offered no sce to Lu Yan. Instead, they were reminiscent of those possessed by highwaymen.
"What is it you want?" Lu Yan''s attempts at resistance proved futile as he was bound fast to a chair. Ultimately, he acquiesced, "If it is money you desire, I can provide..."
"No, no, no, money holds no interest for us." Nie Yun Zhen interjected, "We simply request that you engage with us in a game. Let us, before we y, exchange introductions. Are you Lu Yan, yes? We first saw you at the hotel''s reception desk."
After casting his gaze down and up, Lu Yan met his eyes with Chu Xiu, "And what game do you propose?"
Lu Yan''s quick recognition of Chu Xiu as the leader did not go unnoticed by the group.
Setting aside his apple and knife, Chu Xiu regarded Lu Yan, "It is simple. Shi Yan, please elucidate the rules."
Without further ado, Shi Yan exined the game''s mechanics, yet as expected, Lu Yan was left incredulous.
Lu Yan wouldn''t have minded if it were just a game among friends, but to kidnap someone and force them to participate in a game was an obvious red g.
"I don''t mind if you don''t want to, but there are plenty of people in this hotel. We''re just making things easier for ourselves." Shi Yan''s tone was neither soft nor harsh, but she issued a threat. "Besides, this game isn''t dangerous at all. Once you''ve finished ying, we''ll take our turn. Don''t believe us? See for yourself."
All four were peeling apples with knives, and the garbage can was overflowing with long strips of apple peel, along with a pile of oxidized, peeled apples.
Shi Yan caught a glimpse of Lu Yan''s hesitation.
He asked, "You''ll let me go once I''ve yed this game, won''t you?"
"Absolutely," Shi Yan''s smile was sincere.
And so, the five of them sat down together to practice peeling apples.
None of them knew that pale figures were gathering outside the door. Without exception, they were people who had died today in the elevator incident, but no one would know that they were dead. Once discovered, the discoverer would meet the same fate.
The pallid and lifeless figures multiplied, streaming in from various floors and rooms. Their eyes bore into the door, fixated with a ravenous, bestial hunger for their prey.
Despite their growing numbers, the five individuals remained oblivious, with no intention of leaving. Thus, the dead held their positions for what felt like an eternity, their once-human faces now twisted with sinister, resentful anger that defiedprehension.
A chill wind swept through the room as the clock ticked closer to midnight.
"How strange, I could have sworn I shut the window," Ye Sheng Ke remarked, walking over to inspect it. Puzzled, he turned back and sat down.
Had he leaned out the window, he would have glimpsed a girl in a blood-soaked school uniform skirt scaling the hotel''s exterior wall, inching closer to their room. But he failed to take notice, missing the opportunity.
Was this inexplicable gust of cold wind a sign?
Every unnatural detail, no matter how small, could be a vital clue. Chu Xiu, recognizing the situation''s urgency, rose from his seat and spoke with conviction. "Mr Lu, we must relocate. Let us adjourn to your room."
Lu Yan''s lips twisted in mild annoyance, but he relented.
One by one, they filed out of the room. As they opened the door, the hallway beyond fell into a deep hush, punctuated only by the warm, muted glow of the floormps.
Lu Yan obediently opened the door under the threat of force from Chu Xiu''s gun. The weapon was withdrawn once they were inside the room. Shi Yan and Ye Sheng Ke went into the bathroom, and after a brief moment ofmotion, they returned.
"Alright, it''s all on you now. We''ll be waiting for you next door. There''s a surveince camera in front of the mirror, so don''t even think about ying tricks," Nie Yun Zhen handed Lu Yan an apple and a fruit knife with a mysterious smile. "See youter."
Lu Yan felt uneasy, interpreting the statement as if he needed hope for his safe return. Without a word, he calmly took the items and went into the bathroom.
The four left and shut the door.
It was ridiculous that they had to enter and exit together to prevent anyone from being reced by a ghost. Waiting for Lu Yan on the side was even more absurd.
Inside the hotel room, theputer screen disyed dark surveince footage.
A man sat in front of the mirror, and the only light came from a thin sliver of illumination sneaking through the gap in the door. It might have been an illusion, but his face appeared exceptionally pale in the mirror.
Following the game''s rules, he lit the white candle before the mirror.
A flicker of me burst forth, casting an eerie glow. Gradually, the image in the mirror became blurred, obscuring his vision.
Lu Yan nced at the mirror briefly before picking up the apple and small knife. He lowered his head and began peeling the fruit, the de removing the skin in a thin, deliberately long slice. The peel spiralled down and piled up, forming a small, circr mountain.
Lu Yan appeared fearful, refusing to look at his reflection in the mirror. Instead, he focused on peeling the apple.
As he continued to peel, the apple''s skin grew longer, and the image in the mirror grew clearer. However, the reflection remained mundane, showing only a man peeling an apple.
Finally, he finished. The apple peel was unbroken from start to finish, and nothing seemed amiss in the dimly lit room, including the mirror''s reflection. There was no blood or flesh, no hint of horror.
Lu Yan visibly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly exited the bathroom, and knocked on the door outside.
The four people inside the room were unsure whether to feel relieved or disappointed. Nevertheless, it was better to avoid inviting any ghosts into the room. If they did, they would not know what to do.
"It appears that today''s game may not carry many risks," Nie Yun Zhen said, chuckling at his statement.
They heard knocking, and Ye Sheng Ke answered the door.
Outside, Lu Yan spoke coldly, "I''ve done what you asked. Can I have my room key back now?"
"Not yet," Chu Xiu said, flipping the key. "There are still four of us here."
Lu Yan remained silent and simply entered the room, watching as Shi Yan departed. Shi Yan became the second person to be selected.
The surveince footage showed a pitch-ck room until Shi Yan''s figure emerged. She entered the room and sat before the mirror, lighting a candle like Lu Yan''s.
The light of the candle flickered and illuminated the space. As it did, Shi Yan recalled something that made her body freeze and her blood run cold.
Lu Yan had not extinguished the candle after finishing the game. So, who had?
The thought that an unknown presence could lurk in the shadows and stare at her sent chills down Shi Yan''s spine.
But the mission had to bepleted.
With a trembling hand, she picked up the bright red apple. She only realized her hand was shaking as she tried to steady the knife.
"It''s okay...Lu Yan emerged unscathed, didn''t he?"
Shi Yan rallied and encouraged herself, pushing her fear aside. After ensuring the candle remained steady, she ced the fruit knife''s de against the apple''s skin and began peeling it at an angle.
The apple''s peel curled and fell, forming a spiral pile as the person in the mirror became more distinct.
As the peel continued to fall, Shi Yan shuddered unexpectedly.
It wasn''t fear that gripped her, but a chilling sensation crept over her skin and seeped into her bones.
Why...why is it so co...?
She couldn''t bring herself to think more. All she could do was sit there, her body rigid with tension, her hands shaking as she struggled to peel the apple faster.
Faster...don''t let it break...
Even faster...
Who knows what unimaginable horrors awaited her if she stayed in that room a moment longer!
Never before had Shi Yan trusted her instincts with such conviction.
Atst, with relief flooding through her, she finished peeling the apple. She took a deep breath and quickly made her way to the door, checking to ensure she was safe before returning to the room.
As she left, the white candle before the mirror extinguished itself.
But as she reentered the room, she noticed an unusual silence had fallen over the group. "What''s wrong?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Did something happen?"
Ye Sheng Ke''s face was ashen as he pointed to theputer screen. "Sister Shi...while you were peeling the apple, there was a woman in white. She...she kept blowing on your neck."
As he rewound the footage, the group watched in silence.
The screen flickered, revealing a white figure with long, flowing hair standing behind her. The woman stood, her face hidden behind a curtain of hair, her eyes locked onto the reflection of the woman in front of her.
In an instant, Shi Yan''splexion drained of colour.
She had done it... summoned something!
The ghost had been blowing on her just a moment ago, exining the sudden chill that had overtaken her.
"So, what do we do now?" Shi Yan''s voice shook with panic as she nced over her shoulder. "She isn''t following me, is she?"
Ye Sheng Ke shook his head. "No, she''s retreated into the mirror."
But the ghost had already found them. There was no doubt that the next task would be extremely dangerous.
Who would be next?
There was a real ghost in the mirror!
Chu Xiu made the final decision. "Let''s move to a different room and carry on."
They had reserved four rooms in total. Even if the things they summoned didn''t follow them, what was the harm to these NPCs if they left the hotel after finishing the game?
No one opposed the idea. Lu Yan opted to remain the invisible man. Given the impact of thest scene, he wasn''t in a hurry to reim his room key. "Can I leave now?"
Hisplexion turned ashen as he stood there; the previous image had been too much to bear, dealing a heavy blow to his years of dedication to science.
"I''ve already told you, you cannot leave until the four of us are done," Chu Xiu stated before turning and exiting the room.
With only a few mini-cut cameras, retrieving one from the previous room was impossible. Thus, they agreed to inform each other if anything unusual urred.
Chu Xiu walked up to the mirror, following the necessary steps.
To his surprise, nothing happened.
After he emerged, he exined the situation honestly. However, the other three were dubious, and their suspicions turned into scepticism as they recalled that only Yun Xian had been harmed the previous night.
Next was Nie Yun Zhen''s turn.
The previous three hadpleted the task without any trouble, so Nie Yun Zhen regained some confidence. He entered the room that Chu Xiu had left only moments ago and sat in front of the mirror.
The candle remained lit this time, and a fruity aroma filled the air. Nie Yun Zhen surveyed the utensils he needed before beginning his work with practised ease.
Yet, when he was halfway through peeling the apple, the image in the mirror abruptly shifted in a bizarre direction.
The ghastly scene caused his hands to freeze, and a violent tremor coursed through his body.
He couldn''t let the peel break!
He steadied himself, determined to continue peeling the apple, but his hands trembled, and his gaze kept darting to the mirror, distracting him from the task.
He witnessed a horrifying scene: a ghostly figure tore off his head and flung it into a nearby basketball hoop, which remained lodged. His eyes widened in terror, his face twisted in a grimace of horror.
Was this an omen of his impending demise?
In the next instant, the image flickered and revealed the hotel lobby. But it was not the tranquil space he had seen earlier. Instead, a relentless torrent of pale, lifeless body parts spilt from the side elevator, flooding the room and swallowing up anyone who remained.
The gruesome body parts then recoiled and surged back towards the elevator with the force of a plunger yanked from a filled tub, disappearing instantly.
He continued peeling the apple, his hand moving painstakingly slowly until only a sliver of skin remained.
Nie Yun Zhen took a deep breath and slowly lowered the knife, the metallic tang of fear still sharp in his mouth.
The mirror image vanished, exposing his ghastly countenance.
Why...how... did this game show him the future?
What day had the mirror image revealed? When would ite to pass?
No matter; he had to flee at once.
The hotel was uninhabitable.
Nie Yun Zhen emerged from the cramped space and reunited with the group. He shook his head, facing Lu Yan, signalling that nothing had urred.
Thest to go was Ye Sheng Ke.
Lu Yan appeared to nce past him, but his vignce was palpable.
Was the white-d female ghost still perched on his neck?
Could the white-d apparition be the one who blew breath behind Shi Yan earlier?
Lu Yan kept hisposure, and the others didn''t notice. After a brief greeting from the typically reticent Ye Sheng Ke, he departed for another room.
Upon entering, Ye Sheng Ke was again reminded of his dying friend''s final cry.
He could never forgive himself. He was a coward, through and through.
He would make amends at his friend''s grave if he survived this ordeal.
Ye Sheng Ke retrieved the knife.
The candle me quivered.
With each twist of the de, the image in the mirror sharpened. And what he saw was...
The fruit knife ttered onto the floor.
Minutester, Ye Sheng Ke returned to the room and shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
The mission had a seven-day duration. Despite it being already the second day, there hadn''t been any casualties.
Unsure who to trust, Chu Xiu calmly said, "It''s fortunate that nothing unusual urred. As it''s alreadyte, I suggest everyone return to their rooms and rest. We will continue with our tasks tomorrow."
The third day''s mission was stranger and more surreal than the previous one, and they needed to be well-rested.
Gradually, the group dispersed upon his words, except Ye Sheng Ke, who shared his room with Chu Xiu after his previous room was used as a ghost-baiting spot, opting to sleep on the sofa.
"May I have the room card?" Lu Yan asked Chu Xiu sinctly and directly.
Without any hesitation, Chu Xiu handed the card back to him. "Are you certain you want to return and stay there now?" he inquired.
"Changing hotels isn''t out of the question, is it?" Lu Yan retorted.
Tsk, changing hotels...
Whether they chose to climb the stairs or take the elevator, being on the thirteenth floor, there were bound to be surprised after midnight.
Chu Xiu did not try to stop Lu Yan and watched as he left the room.
"Ye Sheng Ke, do you believe that tomorrow''s task will be as sessful as today''s?" he asked, suspicionced in his tone as he observed Lu Yan''s departure with unease.
Ye Sheng Ke shook his head, showing a rare hint of concern. "It''s difficult to say, but what''s most important is that tomorrow''s task requires only the four of us without seeking help from others."
This also meant they could no longer rely on NPCs as human shields.
The game they would y on the third day was even more peculiar, known as the "Four Corners Game."
After midnight, four individuals stood in a dimly lit room, each positioned in a corner. One of them began to walk clockwise towards the next corner, and as they reached it, the person who had upied it followed suit, continuing in the same direction. If someone arrived at an unupied corner, they would cough before continuing.
Legend had it that after ying this game for some time, a prolonged silence would follow, signifying that all four corners were taken.
So, who or what was the extra presence?
Chu Xiu suggested, "Let''s proceed step by step per the task''s arrangement."
The night grew even darker, and the entire hotel was silent. Even the receptionist couldn''t help but yawn repeatedly.
To everyone''s surprise, the night was eerily calm, too much so for it to be normal. Soon, the sky began to lighten, and the sun gradually rose.
In the dim light, a figure descended from the thirteenth floor.
His steps were fast and unrelenting as if he knew the hotel like the back of his hand. He swiftly made his way to the surveince room, knocked out the security guard on duty, and began to search for something.
That person was none other than Nie Yun Zhen!
Last night, when he saw his reflection in the mirror, he realized that he might have caught a glimpse of a future event.
In the future, he would have his head removed and be thrown into a basket by a ghost, like a basketball. He would remain there until he rotted away and turned into a pile of bones.
He couldn''t die! He mustn''t die!
Nie Yun Zhen''s eyes widened as he meticulously searched for the information he needed from the surveince footage.
Yesterday, Nie Yun Zhen overheard that a man with the surname Wen had checked into the hotel and lost a valuable item. The man was seething with anger and had been relentlessly grilling the hotel staff. This was also the pretext Chu Xiu used to dupe Lu Yan into opening the door under the guise of a police search. Since there was indeed amotion in the hotel about a missing item, so Chu Xiu''s ploy worked like a charm.
As fate would have it, the security guard let slip that the man had brought a very peculiar object - a statue from overseas. The statue was tightly wrapped but had disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Mr Wen had returned to the hotel in the morning to inquire about the lost item and had inadvertently revealed that his daughter was Wen Qing!
They had personally witnessed strange things about Wen Qing. Could they be connected to her father?
Moreover, Wen Qing kept mentioning "grandma". Obviously, there must be some family secret lurking in the shadows.
If only he could locate that statue...
Taking a deep breath, Nie Yun Zhen resumed carefully examining the surveince footage. Suddenly, his eyes locked on a blurry figure entering a room on the second floor. The person''s pockets were bulging, and a corner of a red wooden statue was faintly visible.
Could this be the missing statue?
Nie Yun Zhen carefully captured a screenshot of the surveince footage, zoomed in for a closer inspection, and the more he looked, the more convinced he became that it was the same statue. The red edge was indelibly etched in his mind, so he decided to investigate further.
Before leaving, he meticulously positioned the security guard on the table to make it appear as if he had fallen asleep. That way, he wouldn''t suspect a thing upon waking.
He strolled towards the reception desk, casually conversing with the receptionist before swiftly rendering her unconscious and procuring the room key.
It all went off without a hitch, almost too smoothly to be believed. He found himself on the second floor, outside the same room he had been seeking. With the key in hand, he noiselessly unlocked the door. Inside, the figurey sleeping, their head obscured by the covers, while on the bedside table sat the crimson statue he had long sought.
Upon first sight, Nie Yun Zhen was entranced.
It resembled a handmaiden, standing silently with a serene countenance, yet the blood-red hue and unnerving texture of the wood brought to mind words like twisted and macabre.
He had no doubts about the guard''s warning. This statue... must possess some extraordinary power.
In the meantime, Lu Yan descended the stairs, preparing to depart the hotel.
"Excuse me? Is anyone there?" He rapped insistently upon the reception desk until the attendant, who had been dozing, stirred and rubbed their eyes. "Oh, my apologies, sir. Can I assist you with something?"
"I wish to check out."
"Certainly; please give me a moment." The attendant''s demeanour was pleasant and efficient, quickly processed his request.
Afterpleting the checkout formalities, Lu Yan strode out of the hotel, his form illuminated by the revolving ss door.
An idea suddenly struck him.
As he departed the hotel, he deliberately tried to ignore the strikingly vivid skeleton poised at the reception desk, visible through the ss entrance.
The receptionist, still as a statue, maintained a smile with eerie perfection behind the desk.
Abruptly, her eyes rolled towards the ceiling, piercing through it to fixate on a minuscule mouse scurrying across the floorboards above.
In a dpidated, crowded urbanplex, a single roomy drenched in blood, and three bodies were strewn about. The corpses belonged to an older woman, a young girl, and a ck cat, all mangled beyond recognition and immersed in a crimson pool. The blood took on a life of its own, forming a ghastly pattern.
Unexpectedly, the young girl''s eyelid fluttered.
Despite her corpse-like pallor, unmoving chest, and grisly wounds, believing she was still alive was difficult. But her eyelid twitched as if she struggled to stir from slumber.
In the cramped room, the shattered statuey scattered across the floor.
On the shrine, a twisted and disfigured idol had reced the previous one. The new statue, as red as its predecessor, emanated a terrifying aura.
As the girl''s eyelids continued to struggle, the crimson hue of the idol grew increasingly vivid until it seemed as though blood might drip from its surface.
"Kill...kill them... Revenge for Yun Qian..." The girl''s voice was barely above a whisper as she repeated, "End them all..." Her eyes snapped open wide with an unspoken terror. She sat up and surveyed her surroundings. The familiar room was ordinary in every way, except for the bloodied remains of her beloved felinepanion, Little Mimi, lying beside her.
"Little Mimi? What happened to you? Who did this?!" she cried, her heart breaking at the sight of the mangled body. As she mourned the loss of her pet, Wen Qing forgot that she had already died, forgotten that her grandmother had been possessed and had killed both her and Little Mimi. Confused and disoriented, she clung to the tiny creature''s lifeless form and wept for a long, long time until she finally stirred her grandmother from her slumber.
"QingQing, what''s wrong? It''s so early in the morning; why are you so sad?" Grandma walked out of the room.
"Grandma, something terrible has happened. Little Mimi is dead," she sobbed, seeking sce in the old woman''s embrace.
"Well," Grandma said, her expression somewhat sheepish. "I identally killed her. She was making too much noise at night, so I threw her out the window..."
"What?!" Wen Qing stared at her in disbelief.
Though her grandmother''s demeanour remained kind and benevolent, there was something unsettling that sent chills down Wen Qing''s spine.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 38: Extra Unknown
Chapter 38: Extra Unknown
[TN: I think it is time to start guessing who will survive, who will not. Or maybe no one?] [Comment below ^^]
"Hey, QingQing, what''s up?" Yun Qian noticed that her bosom friend seemed off today.
Wen Qing seemed haunted by something, her face pallid and forehead drenched in sweat. When they departed from ss earlier, even a light tap on her back was enough to make Wen Qing scream in terror.
This was uncharacteristic of her.
Wen Qing still bore a petrified expression. She appeared on the verge of saying something, yet she mped her lips together and shook her head, electing to remain silent.
Yun Qian felt ill at ease witnessing her friend''s distress. She stretched her hand and held Wen Qing''s, feeling an iciness she had never before experienced. "Shall we depart together after school?" she inquired.
"Nay, I am fine," Wen Qing declined again, shaking her head. "I have something to attend to."
"What is it? Do you want me to apany you?" Yun Qian asked. "You know my parents never bother about me. I finished my homework today, so I have nothing to do at home."
As Wen Qing hesitated, Yun Qian shook her friend''s arm. "Come on; it''ll be fun... Wait, what''s that odour?"
Abruptly, Yun Qian caught a strange smell emanating from Wen Qing''s schoolbag. She was intrigued and queried, "QingQing, what is in your bag? The smell is so..."
"Nothing!" Wen Qing''s face changed drastically as soon as Yun Qian asked. She hurriedly covered her bag with her hands. "Nothing at all!"
Seeing this, Yun Qian''s suspicion deepened. But seeing how nervous Wen Qing was, she decided to step back. "Okay, okay, if you say there''s nothing, then there''s nothing."
As school let out, Yun Qian covertly trailed behind Wen Qing onto a bus, which they swapped out at each stop, venturing further and further into the countryside.
What could Wen Qing possibly be up to? Was she walking into danger?
Finally, the bus pulled over to a remote location, a lonely road that led to an unknown destination. Yun Qian didn''t have time to hide before her presence was discovered...
"I...I just wanted to make sure you''re okay..." Yun Qian stuttered nervously, aware that being followed was never wee.
Wen Qing sighed, "Ah, forget it. We''ll return together after I finish what I came for."
Yun Qian breathed a small sigh of relief, "Sure. By the way, what are you doing out here?"
Wen Qing''s eyes glistened with tears, "Little Mimi passed away. I need to give it a proper burial."
Yun Qian''s heart sank at the news, "Oh my! "
Yun Qian didn''t know whether to grieve for Little Mimi first or ask why Wen Qing had to bury it in such a remote ce. She had always noticed how much Wen Qing cared for that cat. After thinking for a while, she awkwardly said, "Take care of yourself and don''t be too sad... By the way, why did Little Mimi... was it your dad?"
Wen Qing''s father loathed cats, especially ck ones, unlike his daughter. Being in business, he believed ck cats were a sign of misfortune and would bring about financial loss. Yun Qian had been to Wen Qing''s house several times and overheard them quarrel over the cat. Her father had even threatened to buy rat poison to kill it.
Despite Wen Qing''s insistence on keeping the cat, her father didn''t want it to remain at their house. As a result, Wen Qing and the cat moved to her grandma''s house.
"Not him. My father is still away on a business trip and hasn''t returned yet." She shook her head, reluctant to divulge the identity of the culprit.
It dawned on Yun Qian that the unsettling odour emanating from her backpack might be...
The thought sent a shiver down her spine, causing her to move away from her friend''s backpack instinctively. However, she quickly realized the need to be more righteous and reached out to sp her friend''s icy hand, whispering, "Why must you venture to such a remote locale? And where exactly are you headed?"
Wen Qing''s response was scarcely audible; her voiceced with an eerie quality, "YinYang Road..."
Yun Qian recoiled in fright, the pallidplexion of her friend unnerving her. She hesitated before managing to inquire, "Why there?"
YinYang Roady on the southwest fringes of their city, already a remote location. It was initially ted for a train station to boost economic growth. However, construction work proved to be fraught with mishaps. The fatality rate ofbourers was unprecedented, and even the contractor fell victim to the same fate. Later, a feng shui master was consulted, and the station ns were abandoned and reced with an ordinary road. Despite its eerie moniker, no one contested the decision to name it YinYang Road, and the name endured.
Legend had it that the area was where the forces of Yin and Yang converge, with few brave souls daring to venture there. As a result, YinYang Road became infamous, attracting thrill-seekers and social media enthusiasts alike, only for them to disappear or suffer a grizzly fate.
Wen Qing''s reassurance echoed in her mind, "Don''t fret." She urged, "Let''s take Little Mi there. Nothing will happen."
Yun Qian acquiesced, and the duo boarded another bus.
As they watched the bus getting further and further away from the main road and the bleakness of the outskirts encroach, a knot formed in Yun Qian''s stomach.
"We''re at YinYang Road." The driver''s gravelly voice announced the terminus.
Save for the two girls; the bus was devoid of any passengers.
As they disembarked, a frigid gust weed them, inducing a shiver. Yun Qian surveyed their surroundings, "So this is YinYang Road, quite deste."
The bareness of the trees, the hushed atmosphere, and the absence of life rendered the ce eerie. The hum of silence was only punctuated by the sound of their footsteps and the whispers of the wind. There wasn''t even a single bird.
"Actually, we need to go a bit further." Wen Qing corrected before marching ahead. Yun Qian trailed closely.
The sun set, casting a foreboding pall over the surroundings. It was as if the darkness was thicking and liking its sharp teeth.
In the distance, an SUV approached, carrying four passengers.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan left the strange hotel, lingering in the middle of the sidewalk, unsure of his next move.
Suddenly, something soft brushed against his leg.
Lu Yan''s gaze fell upon a small ck cat whose green eyes shimmered brightly in the sunset. The feline held something in its mouth, and as he examined it, Lu Yan noticed a lost cat poster affixed to the electricity pole nearby, featuring a cat identical to the one before him.
He muttered hesitantly, "Little Mimi?"
To his surprise, the cat nodded, conveying an understanding beyond its species. It leapt onto his hand, released the item it had clutched, and then alighted on his shoulder. Lu Yan examined the object the cat had relinquished, a student ID card bearing a girl''s name. It matched the contact person listed on the lost cat poster.
He surmised that the girl was the ck cat''s owner, yet his altruism was not forting, and the situation struck him as suspicious. As he was about to decline, he gazed into the ck cat''s eyes, which bore an uncanny resemnce to human eyes.
Eventually, he relented and decided to track down the cat''s owner, Wen Qing, at her residence.
Upon arrival, he discovered Wen Qing was absent, though a gracious elder was present. After bidding his farewell, Lu Yan involuntarily turned back, only to glimpse the cat on the balcony, its eyes filled with mixed emotions. Its gaze was not that of an ordinary cat; instead, it seemed to belong to a human.
Their eyes met for only a fleeting moment before Lu Yan rapidly departed.
Inside the apartment, the old woman scooped up the kitten from the balcony and murmured, "Where could QingQing have gone? Why hasn''t she returned home, even at thiste hour?"
The kitten remained silent. Its deep green irises flickered with a hint of red, observing the older woman''s hasty retreat into the little room.
**
"I never thought we would have to return to that cursed road to y this game again." Four individuals, three men and one woman, sat in an off-road vehicle. The man seated at the back spoke.
Shi Yan seized the conversation, "However, it appears that the ce should be safe." They returned safely the day before, so nothing unexpected should ur today, right?
Ye Sheng Ke agreed with a nod, "Hopefully."
As they travelled forward, the road grew increasingly bleak. The twilight failed to prate the surroundings despite the sun having just set. It was as though the clouds in this area could swallow all light and warmth.
Further ahead, it grew colder and darker. The surroundings became entirely pitch-ck, with their hands barely visible before their faces. Even the headlights appeared to be engulfed by the thick shroud of darkness.
After arriving at the ce they had yed the previous night, they turned the corner and collided with something. None of the four proposed getting out of the car to investigate, and they continued driving forward.
After a while, an abandoned building came into view.
The headlights pierced the darkness and revealed the two-story, abandoned building that upied a space of two or three hundred square metres. Its decrepit walls were riddled with holes, and half of the second floor had already copsed, leaving the building on the brink of imminent destruction.
"This is it," Shi Yan said as she surveyed the building. "It''s eerie, to say the least."
The structure was a natural horror house, with decay and dpidation engulfing every inch of its exterior. Even under the re of the headlights, it failed to offer anyfort, as if something malevolent resided within.
They were about to y the ghost summoning game inside the buildingter.
"The game we were assigned is also avable in our world. However, if it were in the past, I would have dismissed it as a scam," Ye Sheng Ke shared his thoughts.
"I wish it were," one of them muttered, "so we wouldn''t be here doing this now..."
"Enough," Chu Xiu interrupted. "We should focus on the steps for the gameter."
The mission mandated them to stay in the building for an hour before they could leave. The four of them surveyed the structure carefully. Unfortunately, the inside of the building was too dark to make out anything.
"Let''s go inside and figure out which room to y inter," Chu Xiu suggested.
He was the first to get off the car, holding a shlight and standing beside it.
The others quickly followed suit, unbuckling their seat belts and getting off the car, each holding a shlight and standing by his side.
As they stood before the looming building, a shiver of otherworldly cold crept up their spines, sending chills through their bodies. It was a feeling they hadn''t experienced during their car ride, a feeling that warned of danger and the unknown.
Despite the fear that gripped them, they knew the mission had to be done. "Let''s go," Chu Xiu spoke calmly. "We''lle backter."
The four walked in unison, approaching the small building and pushing open the creaky front door on the ground floor. The door, wrought with rust and peeling paint, resisted their efforts to open it, screeching loudly as they heaved it aside, protesting their intrusion.
As they entered, the scene on the ground floor greeted them with a thickyer of dust that rose with the door''s movement. Cobwebs clung to every corner, and the worn tables and chairs were a testament to the years of neglect.
"I heard a train station was supposed to be built here," one of them remarked. "But it was abandoned after a series of idents. The workers probably built this building at that time."
Their research on YinYang Road revealed a dark and ominous history, suggesting it was not a ce for the faint-hearted. Ghost stories circted like a disease, and now that they stood in the heart of it, they knew the rumours held truth.
The lobby was spacious and bare, the shlight beam casting eerie shadows against the walls. Their eyes scanned the room for anything out of ce, but nothing could be seen. Of course, ying a supernatural game in the middle of nowhere was not ordinary, to begin with.
Shi Yan hesitated, covering her mouth due to the excessive dust, as she surveyed the dusty hall. "Are we going to y here?" she asked, her voice muffled.
Chu Xiu nodded in affirmation. "Yes, right here."
The others looked at each other, bewildered. "Why?" Nie Yun Zhen asked, frowning.
Chu Xiu spoke gravely, "ording to the legend of the Four Corners game, the more rounds you make, the greater the likelihood of something happening. We should make our roundsrger to minimize the number of rounds we make. This way, we reduce the probability of hearing or not hearing coughing sounds."
Chu Xiu''s exnation failed to remove the chill in the air. Although it was no guarantee that they would avoid ghosts, it was better than nothing.
The others listened to Chu Xiu''s words and nodded their agreement. They walked around the hall once, noting the time and checking their watches.
They had spent a lot of money on the most urate watches to prevent being lost in the task due to timing. Their timepieces were luminous, with two pointers that emitted an eerie green light in the darkness.
The time was 11:25 pm. It would take about twelve minutes toplete one round. They would hear coughing sounds every twelve minutes, and even if they slowed down, they couldn''t stretch it beyond fifteen minutes.
They had toplete at least four rounds in an hour.
The four retreated to the car and fell into an uneasy silence. Time slipped away, each second a painful reminder of their dread. Before long, the clock struck midnight. The witching hour had arrived.
ording to the game rules, no light was allowed. They left their shlights behind. The car''s lights flickered off as they stepped out, and the inky ckness of the night smothered them whole.
The gate hung ajar, beckoning to them. One by one, they slipped through its creaking jaws and shut the door behind them. "As we agreed," Chu Xiu murmured, "find your spot." He walked towards the diagonal left, Ye Sheng Ke to the diagonal right, Nie Yun Zhen in the left corner, and Shi Yan to the right. Each stood sentinel in their assigned corner, their backs to one another.
"Are we all set?" Chu Xiu asked.
"Yes."
"I''m ready."
"Affirmative."
"Excellent. Cover your watches with your sleeve and take onest nce. In three seconds, we begin," Chu Xiumanded.
Three.
Two.
One.
The game was afoot. Chu Xiu clockwise traced the wall, his steps measured and deliberate. It was said that ack of vitamin A in the body could lead to night blindness, making it difficult to see things at night.
Despite training their night vision to the peak of their capabilities, theplete darkness rendered their efforts futile. The four were reduced to groping through the abyss, blinded to their surroundings. Chu Xiu hugged the wall as he walked, his footsteps muffled by the ominous silence.
The first-floor lobby was long and narrow, rectangr, meaning he didn''t have to walk a long way in the first round.
Still, he slowed his pace. The other two members in the corners kept time, their minds counting the seconds.
After what felt like an eternity, he felt a presence. A person close by. Ye Sheng Ke, judging by the direction.
As Chu Xiu approached, Ye Sheng Ke apparently sensed him too and retreated, giving him the corner position. Ye Sheng Ke continued down the passage, his steps measured and careful. Chu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief.
Almost five minutes passed before the first set of footsteps ceased, followed by a second set, distinct from the previous ones.
The path ahead was shrouded in darkness, and Ye Sheng Ke''s eyes could discern nothing. Whether he opened or covered them made no difference. He pressed forward, the only way to go, one step at a time.
The darkness was oppressive as if it had a will of its own that sought to consume his very being. Ye Sheng Ke''s mind was gued with wild thoughts. One moment, he feared a phantom might materialize before him; the next, he worried that the person he would swap with at the next corner would not be his senior sister. As his imagination ran amok, he rounded the corner.
A figure stood there, and he could sense its body warmth and a faint fragrance.
It was his senior sister!
Shi Yan made way for him and proceeded forward, step by measured step.
The path ahead was particrly special, passing by the main entrance. After some time, Shi Yan surmised that she had almost arrived.
Suddenly, a metallic sound echoed through the air.
Her footsteps faltered momentarily, and she felt the urge to turn and flee. But the thought of the consequences of failure held her in ce, and she gritted her teeth, pressing on despite her fear.
When the others heard Shi Yan''s footsteps stutter, they feared the worst, their hearts racing. Fortunately, her gait quickly steadied, and Ye Sheng Ke breathed a sigh of relief, convincing himself that it was a mere misstep.
In due course, Shi Yan arrived at Nie Yun Zhen''s location.
As Nie Yun Zhen sensed someone walking towards him, his heart raced, and he felt the heat source gradually approaching him. He stepped back, making space for the approaching figure before turning his head, locking onto the next corner clockwise.
Under normal circumstances, the next corner should be deserted; he needed to cough and walk to Chu Xiu''s position. Still, he couldn''t help but ponder the possibility of something being there - something that shouldn''t be.
Despite his apprehension, Nie Yun Zhen took a deep breath, holding back his fear. Donning a coat with a spacious pocket, he''d secured the statue, even if its eerie aura unsettled him. He needed it to survive the next seven days - no matter the risks, even if the statue concealed an evil spirit.
He''d prayed to countless gods in the past, but none had evere to his aid. He didn''t care anymore whether he believed in ghosts or evil gods. His survival was all that mattered.
Wait, where''s the statue?!
His hands shook as he searched his pocket to no avail. Panic surged through him as he broke out in a cold sweat. He knew he had ced the statue in his pocket, but when had it vanished?
Could the others have stolen it?
As soon as the idea struck him, it clung to him like the resilient wild grass of spring, refusing to be shaken off. The more Nie Yun Zhen ruminated on it, the more usible it seemed, and his breaths became increasinglyboured.
Just then, he rounded the corner.
The space before him was empty, devoid of any presence.
Nie Yun Zhen released a deep sigh of relief and coughed a few times heavily before resuming his advance.
The other three breathed a simr sigh of relief upon hearing his coughs.
There was no ghost during the Four Corners game''s first round.
Yet, as Nie Yun Zhen made his first step, a sudden realization sent chills down his spine.
Why did it seem like someone else had just coughed alongside him?!
He had only coughed thrice; where had the fourth noisee from?
It had already happened... A ghost had slithered its way in!
And it was now perilously close.
Nie Yun Zhen''s heart pounded, but the Four Corners game couldn''t halt. No matter how paralyzed he felt, he had to remain vignt and keep moving.
Where had the ghost vanished to? Was it still stalking him?
Please, no... Just leave me be!
Why couldn''t it follow someone else?!
As Nie Yun Zhen contemted, his heart pounded with fear, and he couldn''t help but hasten his steps. But what unnerved him was the sound of light footsteps that relentlessly followed him, no matter how quickly or widely he strode, always a whisper behind... like a shadow.
Chu Xiu was quick to pick up on Nie Yun Zhen''s sudden pace and couldn''t help but wonder, ''How strange... Could something be wrong?''
Soon after, Nie Yun Zhen arrived, and Chu Xiu, sensing his living presence, sighed in relief. He rxed slightly and took a step toward the next corner.
Nie Yun Zhen stood in the corner, facing the wall. He assumed the "thing" had trailed Chu Xiu and felt somewhat relieved. But suddenly, he felt a light breath on the back of his neck, and he froze, his body stiff as a board. The chill that ran down his spine was the same feeling he had earlier experienced.
Since everyone had to remain silent, Chu Xiu failed to notice the despair on Nie Yun Zhen''s face. Even if he had, he could have done nothing to help.
The sound of footsteps echoed again.
As they walked for an indefinite time, turning corners repeatedly, Chu Xiu arrived at the next corner, only to realize that it had been quite a while since he had heard any coughing.
Therefore, now each of the four corners was upied by one person.
Chu Xiu''s heart was racing with fear.
Where could that extra thing be lurking now? Which corner was it hiding in?
Chu Xiu was left in the dark, so he had no choice but toply with the rules and continue descending.
As he turned the corner, there was a "person" standing.
If viewed from above, they appeared to be walking in endless circles, their heads spinning. Chu Xiu, like earlier, had noted the count but was led astray by an inexplicable force and forgot the number of rounds and time...
"Atst, you''vee out."
Upon seeing a figure emerge from the gate, Shi Yan breathed a sigh of relief and weed him with a hushed greeting.
The prolonged absence of coughing suggested that they had aroused some unclean entity. They must leave immediately.
Chu Xiu acquiesced and boarded the vehicle.
Nie Yun Zhen instructed, "Buckle up; let''s hurry back."
Unbeknownst to them, the real Chu Xiu was still entangled in an endless cycle of rounds.
He was still ying the four-corner game with three unknown things.
"Now, where shall we go? Why don''t we return to the hotel?" Nie Yun Zhen suggested, "We haven''t checked out yet."
He was gued by anxiety as he could not locate the statue, unsure if it had been inadvertently left at the hotel.
"Agreed." Without waiting for Shi Yan and Ye Sheng Ke to object, Chu Xiu nodded from the passenger seat, assenting to the proposal.
Nie Yun Zhen gave Chu Xiu a grateful nce as the vehicle started and swiftly drove towards the hotel.
On the city''s opposite end, Lu Yan arrived at a hotel and proceeded to check in.
He had a nagging feeling that he had forgotten something, and the receptionist''s sharine smile made him uneasy.
"...I woke up to find my precious belongings missing! If I don''t receive a satisfactory exnation, I will have to contact the authorities!" As he checked in, a man stormed out of the elevator and bellowed indignantly.
Behind him, a bewildered receptionist stood at a loss.
The elevator doors gradually shut, showing a bright "1" before the disy panel suddenly went berserk, and the numbers started plummeting.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 39: Lift games
Chapter 39: Lift games
Lu Yan arrived at the hotel, his gut churning with an unshakable sense that something was amiss. Though he couldn''t quite ce what was wrong, a creeping unease wed at his mind. As he sifted through the search results on hisputer screen, his eyes froze on several faces that he knew all too well. It wasn''t their features that he recognized, but rather an inexplicable sense of dj vu that washed over him like an icy wave. Living in a world so fraught with strangeness had honed his instincts to a razor''s edge, and he couldn''t shake the feeling that something was deeply wrong. But what?
He nced at the time disyed on hisputer desktop, racking his brain for any memory of what he''d done that day. Lu Yan didn''t keep a diary, relying on his mind alone to keep track of his daily activities. In a world where ghosts could easily alter audiovisual and physical records, he knew better than to trust any external sources of information. Though ghosts could still manipte memories, if there came a day when he couldn''t even remember the past, it would be better to remain lost.
What had he done today?
He left the hotel and returned a lost cat to its grateful owner before returning to his hotel. But as he stared at the reflection of the receptionist in the ss door...
No, this wasn''t like him.
Before unexinable horrors had upended the world, he might have done something kindhearted like returning a lost pet. But now? The very idea seemed ridiculous.
What happened yesterday?
Yesterday, he...He returned a lost feline to its owner, arrived at the hotel, and was coerced into ying a supernatural game with four individuals who summoned a female ghost... But why couldn''t he recollect this urrence? Lu Yan took several deep breaths to recall what had happened yesterday. No, his memory had not been tampered with. Rather, he had instinctively rationalized the strange nature of the situation. With his usual level of caution, he would never have returned to the hotel, knowing there was a ghost lurking in the bathroom mirror.
After all, this was not his usual version of the world, and with the presence of these outsiders, even if he did nothing, he could still be pulled into the most spine-chilling and oundish events. Was it just him, or had everyone who participated in the game forgotten? What secrets did that ck cat hold?
Lu Yan''s eyes flicked to the clock. In just a few hours, it would be midnight. Would those people stille to him tonight if his memory were wiped clean?
**
"Tomorrow night''s game is equally eerie; it will take ce inside the elevator," said Ye Sheng Ke.
As they drove back to the urban district, the vehicle was hurtling through the night, causing Nie Yun Zhen''s heart to pound with anxiety. All he wanted was to return to the statue as soon as possible. The others sat silently, gazing out the window at the dimly lit cityscape while chatting in hushed tones.
"In reality, every game we y is terrifying, but tomorrow night''s..." Shi Yan trailed off, her forehead creased in concern.
Thanks to years of experience and a plethora of horror movies, they had learned to avoid ces like mirrors, toilets, and elevators - all prime locations for paranormal phenomena - during their missions. Elevators, in particr, were especially fraught with danger.
As a confined space, an elevator was a death trap in the event of a supernatural encounter. Shi Yan knew this firsthand, having undertaken a mission involving an elevator malfunction. They had managed to subdue the ghost and open the door, but the elevator was stuck between the second and third floors. Shi Yan climbed out and returned to help herpanion, only for the elevator to plummet to the ground when they were halfway out.
As they fell, Shi Yan held tightly onto herpanion''s hand. Blood sttered across her face, and she could only grasp the upper half of her friend''s body while the lower half disappeared into the abyss.
Then, Shi Yan saw her - the red-clothed woman, twisted and grotesque, lying on top of the elevator. The same ghost who had cut the cable condemned them to their fate.
Since that day, Shi Yan had been gued by a deep psychological trauma that made her avoid elevators at all costs. She took the stairs whenever possible, even though it put her at risk of encountering other terrifying entities.
"Senior, are you afraid?" Ye Sheng Ke''s voice wavered with concern.
Shi Yan''s response was unyielding. "What can fear aplish? We must press on."
Shi Yan''s resolute faade concealed her quivering hands. Whenever she confronted an elevator, the image of her colleague''s mangled lower half would surface in her mind, along with the haunting prospect of a female spirit lurking on top of the elevator.
"We are in this together," Ye Sheng Ke soothed, albeit hesitantly.
Although Ye Sheng Ke sought to assuage his teammate''s trepidations, he could not dispel the uneasy forebodings which gued them both.
Shi Yan''s brow furrowed with worry. "While we didn''t encounter any danger at the hotel yesterday, we have still invoked a ghost. Are we certain we want to return to the same ce today?"
Even Ye Sheng Ke could not confidently answer Shi Yan''s apprehensive query.
Nie Yun Zhen''s reassurances belied his own doubts. "Why not try our luck today? Perhaps we may uncover some clues."
Despite his words, his inward thoughts remained a mystery.
Nie Yun Zhen was always known for his courage, so it was unsurprising that he entertained such thoughts. When Shi Yan had to turn to Chu Xiu for help again, he responded with a cold and dismissive "Go," closing his eyes and ignoring her.
As the morning light grew stronger and the sun began to rise, they arrived at the hotel where they had stayed yesterday, the faint light of dawn still lingering in the sky.
"That game tonight is rted to the elevator. Let''s take a ride on it before we go up today," Chu Xiu suggested as they exited the car.
His gaze lingered on Shi Yan for a moment, a subtle hint that his words were intended for her. She agreed, but her expression seemed strained, betraying the fear gnawing at her insides.
As they made their way to the elevator in the lobby, Shi Yan''s eyes widened in terror, as if she were facing a terrifying beast. The elevator seemed to loom over her, ominous and foreboding.
Chu Xiu led the way, positioning himself closest to the door and within reach of the emergency and elevator buttons. The other three followed suit, stepping hesitantly into the small enclosure.
The elevator door slowly closed with a resounding "Ding," sealing them inside. The air grew heavy and frigid, sending chills down their spines. Shi Yan felt her nerves tighten as the elevator began its ascent.
Surprisingly, nothing happened on the way up to the thirteenth floor, which exceeded her expectations and made her feel that her vignce was unnecessary.
As they exited the elevator, Ye Sheng Ke stretched his neck, feeling a twinge of pain.
Strange, he thought to himself, why does my neck feel sore?
He followed the others back to the room without giving it too much thought.
In the monitoring room, security guard Xiao Li sat with droopy eyes, the screen in front of him disying the various hotel sections under surveince. In one, four people were taking the elevator upstairs, and shockingly, there was a woman in white sitting on one of the men''s shoulders! But Xiao Li was too tired to notice, and his head soon drooped down onto the desk as he drifted off to sleep.
"Today''s game also requires five people. Who should we invite?" Nie Yun Zhen asked, peering out the window at the dawn light just starting to creep over the horizon, signalling the start of a new day.
He yearned to rush down to the monitoring room downstairs and unravel the mystery surrounding the missing statue. At first, he harboured suspicions that the other three may have stolen it but soon dismissed the thought as improbable.
Even though everyone wore clothing with pockets, it seemed imusible that they could have concealed a statue of such length on their persons. Furthermore, finding a hiding ce proved to be an equally daunting task. As the driver, he thoroughly searched the vehicle after the first person exited the building where they had yed the four-corner game, but his search proved fruitless.
The question remained: where was the statue?
After much deliberation, the four of them discussed where to find a scapegoat to help them, given that this game did not specify a particr number of yers nor stipte that only one person could y at a time. They decided to seek out one or two NPCs to act as shields without any qualms.
"Alternatively, we could use the man from yesterday. If we enlist someone who is slow-witted, it is very likely to impede our progress," one of them suggested.
The man who lived next door to them had proved himself to be a capable team yer, judging by his performance the previous day.
"However, he has already seen our faces. It will be difficult to trick him into opening the door for us again."
Chu Xiu spoke calmly, "We just need someone to open the door." Hispanions immediately understood what he meant.
Nie Yun Zhen raised his hand, "I can do it. Or, if needed, I could even break the lock in the monitoring room." In truth, Nie Yun Zhen desired to sneak into the monitoring room unnoticed. If caught, he would im that he was nning to sabotage it.
Chu Xiu nodded and retrieved a gun from his waist, handing it to Nie Yun Zhen. Nie Yun Zhen was taken aback but held the gun, gaining confidence. He gave a thumbs-up with his free hand, "I''ll go then!"
He hurried out of the room, excited toplete his task. Someone suddenly mped a towel over his mouth and nose as he turned a corner. Nie Yun Zhen''s first instinct was to shout, but he quickly realized his mistake as he inhaled. He struggled, trying to turn his head to see his attacker. However, the person behind him was too strong, and Nie Yun Zhen could not break free. Despite his efforts to hold his breath, he inhaled some gas from the cloth and passed out.
...
After about twenty minutes, Nie Yun Zhen returned to the room with an unconscious man. To everyone''s surprise, it wasn''t Lu Yan; but another older man dressed sharply, with a faint trickle of blood on the back of his head.
Shi Yan was taken aback, "Who is this?"
"I had no choice; Lu Yan refused to open the door no matter what. I even sent a woman to knock, but it was no use. I don''t know if he was asleep or if there was another reason, so I picked someone at random," Nie Yun Zhen exined.
"But what about him...?"
Nie Yun Zhen gestured dismissively, "Knocked him out.. Rest assured, I know exactly what I''m doing, and he won''t suffer permanent harm."
Now unconscious, the man they brought into the room was none other than Wen Qing''s father the very same man who had lost the precious statue.
Nie Yun Zhen had hoped that this aggressive tactic would force the man to divulge the statue''s location.
However, he soon realized the difficulty in achieving his aims keeping the statue''s whereabouts hidden and engaging in the game together. It would be far better to work together to find the statue.
Nheless, Nie Yun Zhen could not be the one to offer up the information. Otherwise, his previous n to steal the statue would be apparent.
Indeed, before this, he had already gone downstairs and erased all corresponding surveince footage, leaving no evidence to implicate him.
After some time, the middle-aged man gradually regained consciousness, his dry eyelids fluttering open to reveal a pair of widened, alert eyes.
"Shh... it''s best you remain silent. One wrong move and my hand might slip." The leader levelled his gun at the man''s forehead, a chilling warning.
The middle-aged man swallowed hard, nodding in silent agreement to indicate hisprehension.
Nie Yun Zhen asked him, "What''s your name?"
"My name is Wen Zheng Xin," the man quivered, his voice barely above a whisper. "Please, spare my life. I can pay you whatever sum you want..."
"Mr. Wen, there is no need to fear." Shi Yan spoke with a soft and gentle voice. "We''re not interested in money. But we do require your participation in a game tonight. Then, and only then, will we release you."
Wen Zheng Xin''s throat tightened as he spoke, "Ah? W-what game?"
"Well..." Thinking that they would be togetherter, Shi Yan did not want to waste time exining. She frowned and said coldly, "You don''t need to worry about it. Just take the elevator with us tonight and keep your mouth shut."
On the fourth night, they''ll y "Another World."
Starting from the first floor, they must take the elevator to the roof. There they won''t leave the elevator when it stops at the top. Instead, they''ll press the button for the second floor. Upon arrival at the second floor, they''ll stay inside the elevator and press the button for the second tost floor. When the elevator reached the second tost floor, they won''t leave but pressed the button for the third floor...
They''ll repeat this pattern until they reach the middle floor, where the elevator doors open to reveal another world. They could choose to step out or stay inside. They needed to repeat the steps in reverse order to return to their own world.
As they journeyed, a woman may enter the elevator. Remember! Don''t look at her, don''t speak to her, and pretend not to hear anything she says. Making any inappropriate movements may leave you stranded in that world forever.
Shi Yan nervously repeated the rules in her mind, her imagination filling her with fear.
''Is there really another world?'' she wondered with a wry smile. To them, this world was already another world, after all.
As she considered the strange rules of the game, Shi Yan couldn''t help but wonder what would happen when five people were confined in the elevator''s narrow space.
Seeing Shi Yan''s bad expression, Wen Zheng Xin immediately understood the situation and agreed to her request. "Alright, I promise to y if you sent me back right after," he nodded.
Nie Yun Zhen carefully observed his expression. Though Wen Zheng Xin appeared afraid, he didn''t fully grasp the situation''s danger. Shi Yan chose not to exin the reason for the game, but Nie Yun Zhen felt the need to borate. He hoped that scaring this man would prompt him to voluntarily give information about the statue.
"It''s okay, let me exin it to you," Nie Yun Zhen said with a friendly smile as he grabbed a chair and sat in front of Wen Zheng Xin. "Perhaps you''ve heard of a game called ''Another World''?"...
Wen''s eyes widened with each passing moment as he recounted their n.
Lu Yan sat in the adjacent room, wearing his headphones and listening intently to the conversation between Wen Zheng Xin and Nie Yun Zhen. When he returned the kitten, he had identally seen a family photo on the table at Wen''s house.
Now that he was staying at this inn, he met Wen Qing''s father. Likewise, the four-taskers also moved in. He didn''t think it was a coincidence, so he had already tampered with Wen Zheng Xin''s belongings and nted a listening device on him.
Later, when Nie Yun Zhen went out, Lu Yan sessfully drugged and hypnotized him and learned about the game they needed to y and their original n. If it were another game, Lu Yan might have had some confidence in breaking through, but not this one... he wasn''t sure.
Therefore, he had Nie Yun Zhen find Wen Zheng Xin and bring him to y.
He wanted to know if this person, Wen Qing''s father, had some unknown secrets.
"No, we can''t do this. Don''t go looking for death," Wen Zheng Xin said, his face drained of colour after hearing the game''s rules. "Even if you want to die, can you not drag me into it?"
"What are you talking about? Where do you find ghosts these days?" Nie Yun Zhen lied without changing his expression or heartbeat. "As long as you cooperate, we guarantee that you will return safely."
Wen Zheng Xin shook his head, "You are too reckless, daring to y anything. There are some things... some things that humans should not touch." As the man spoke, the curious eyes of the other three turned towards him.
Chu Xiu strode up to him and pressed his gun to his forehead, towering over him and demanding, "What did you mean by that? What knowledge do you have of this?"
Wen Zheng Xin''s legs trembled beneath him, and he tumbled from his chair to the ground. "Nothing. I don''t know anything," he stammered. "Absolutely nothing..."
If only he could keep quiet.
If only he could return home unharmed.
"I''ll give you five seconds to gather your thoughts." Chu Xiu''s fingers toyed with the trigger, his eyes cial and indifferent as if he regarded a corpse.
"Five."
"No...you can''t do this."
"Four."
"Murder is against thew. The police wille knocking on your door if you kill me..."
"Three."
"I''ll talk! I''ll talk!" Wen Zheng Xin shrieked. His chest rose and fell violently, and his brow was slick with sweat.
Chu Xiu lowered his gun.
The story begins a few years ago when Wen Zheng Xin''s daughter had just adopted a ck cat. "She was very fond of it," he said.
Shi Yan interrupted, "Wait, what is your daughter''s name?"
Also surnamed Wen, she had thought of a possibility.
Wen Zheng Xin hesitated, "Wen, Wen Qing."
When this name was uttered, the four of them exchanged a look, each seeing something incredible in the other''s eyes.
Could it be a coincidence?
They did a good job of concealing their surprise, and Wen Zheng Xin didn''t notice anything unusual, continuing with his story. "...Later, my business was not going well, and I set up a statue at home. Actually, I didn''t believe in it at first, but... what happened to my daughter was too unbelievable. I had to believe it. My child and her grandmother sought the help of every god and goddess, but it was no use. We couldn''t bear to abandon the cat, so we finally invited a statue to be ced in our house, and we worshipped it day and night. That''s when..."
Outside the window, the sky was bright.
Lu Yan nced out the window and thought about what he had overheard earlier.
Countless pieces of information ran through his mind, and he felt he might have missed something.
"A ck cat... a statue.... the road to the underworld..." he mused.
Perhaps he should go and take a look at the road to the underworld.
There was no sounding from the next room. Everything that needed to be asked had been asked. Lu Yan took off his headphones and walked out.
**
The road to the underworldy at the end of the crossroads, leading to an abandoned building.
One person persisted in circling the same path, refusing to yield.
He continued to walk until he reached a gate emanating a metallic smell, losing track of how many times he had circled. Without warning, he uttered, "Game over." With a sudden burst of energy, he flung open the gate and bolted out!
This person was none other than Chu Xiu.
He didn''t even look back as he made his way to the central road in the forest. As Chu Xiu approached the gate, he saw no sign of the car. The absence of hisrades suggested that they had already departed. However, he knew they would not abandon him so easily. The only conclusion was that someone had assumed his identity and fled with them. Of course, the worst-case scenario was that all three had died, and the car had been moved. But Chu Xiu felt that this option was a bit far-fetched.
Hence, he could confirm that a ghost apanied the three of them. While he had yed alone and epassed by not one, but three ghosts. As he paced the room, a realization hit him like a bolt of lightning - he had been wandering for what felt like an eternity. Each time he turned a corner, the chilling aura of someone else''s presence grew stronger.
Without a moment''s hesitation, Chu Xiu broke into a sprint. Unlike the previous day when he had arrived, he veered off in a new direction, his mind racing with the image of the map he hade across and the route he had taken the day before.
Yesterday''s main road had consumed much of his time, and he estimated it would take him a full morning to traverse it alone. Instead, he decided to take a risk and breach from an uncharted direction.
As he raced through the scenery, everything around him blurred and hastened at a breakneck speed.
Suddenly, his pupils constricted in fear.
A tree was ahead of him, mere feet away from the roadside. Its presence was insignificant, but it stood out because it was the only tree among the barren branches that had retained its emerald foliage. A rope hung from one of its outstretched branches, supporting the weight of a long-deceased ck cat.
But that was not all. It was not just a single feline that hung on the tree, but multiple...
The tree was almostpletely covered in the grotesque remains of ck cats, their flesh and blood mangled and swinging lightly in the wind. Despite his extensive history with missions, the macabre scene was unlike anything Chu Xiu had ever experienced. He felt the urge to turn and flee but gritted his teeth and charged forward.
To his relief, nothing happened. Chu Xiu passed by the tree, filled with the overpowering scent of dead cats, and continued running.
In the distance, he heard the faint sound of car horns. Exhausted, he felt renewed energy and ran towards the source, waving his arms.
To his surprise, the car stopped about a hundred meters ahead of him. Chu Xiu ran towards it, panting heavily. As he drew closer, his expression shifted slightly.
Lu Yan? What was he doing here?
Unbeknownst to Chu Xiu, Lu Yan was just as shocked as he was.
As Chu Xiu recognized the man from the hotel, he noted that he had cast a shadow under the sun. Realizing it wasn''t a ghost, he rushed towards the person and leapt into the car''s back seat.
"Excuse me, could you take me away? Please turn around and head back," Chu Xiu requested, his gun pointing at the back of Lu Yan''s head, though he maintained his politeness.
Lu Yan was silent for a moment before starting the engine. Yet, he did notply with Chu Xiu''s request to turn around. Instead, he elerated forward, causing the vehicle to surge ahead.
Chu Xiu eximed, "You...?"
Lu Yan sneered, "If you have the courage, shoot me."
With the elerator pressed to the limit, the car''s speed skyrocketed. At this point, a single mistake from the driver could result in a devastating car ident.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 40: The Woman in the Elevator
Chapter 40: The Woman in the Elevator
The two men locked eyes through the rearview mirror, their gazes unrelenting. It felt like an eternity before Chu Xiu let out a heavy sigh, retracted his firearm, and concealed it somewhere unseen with a flick of his wrist.
Lu Yan''s tense expression gradually eased, but their car continued to hurtle down the open road with lightning speed, swerving past the tree draped in the lifeless bodies of ck cats. Only just before the intersection did Lu Yan barely tap the brakes before jerking the steering wheel hard, skillfully executing a dangerously sharp drift? Chu Xiu even heard the scrape of the tires against the road, generating sparks that flew into the air.
It wasn''t until they turned onto YinMing Road that Chu Xiu sat upright in his seat.
"Excellent driving," he praised.
Not just anyone could have executed that turn under such circumstances.
However, Lu Yan''s countenance remained cold, and he didn''t nce back. His voice was frigidly firm as hemanded, "Buckle up."
He mmed the gas pedal to the floor, and the engine roared through the trees.
"Wait! You..." Chu Xiu was cut off as he was nearly thrown from his seat. When he managed to steady himself, he realized something was amiss.
Lu Yan didn''t strike him as the sort of person to gamble with his life just to intimidate someone. So what could have prompted him to drive like a madman?
The angle of the rearview mirror seemed purposely adjusted so that only the driver could glimpse what was trailing behind them. Chu Xiu struggled to find the proper angle amid the bumps, but he eventually glimpsed the reason for Lu Yan''s sudden departure.
And it was...
Chu Xiu''s eyes grew wide.
A figure he knew all too well was at the intersection, shrinking to a tiny dot in the distance. He was a tall andnky figure in a brown leather jacket. It was himself!
As the figure at the intersection stared straight at them, Chu Xiu''s heart sank. He wished he could seize the steering wheel and take control of the car, but Lu Yan seemed to be moreposed now as if he had braced himself for what wasing.
"Did you see that?" Lu Yan suddenly asked from the driver''s seat.
Chu Xiu nodded silently.
"This haunted ce is real," Lu Yan sighed heavily. "What do you want? Are you looking for death?"
"You''re here too," Chu Xiu said, stepping back. He softened his tone, not wanting to provoke resistance. "Why did youe here?"
"That''s not your concern," Lu Yan replied coldly.
The trees rushed past them, and the wind howled, rattling the windows. Soon, they could see the exit up ahead.
Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Lu Yan was somewhat unwilling since he had met Chu Xiu, he couldn''t ignore this lead without verifying its authenticity.
"What about your friends?" Lu Yan asked.
"They left me behind to y games," Chu Xiu said. "By the way, are you still staying at that hotel?" He wanted to confirm if someone was impersonating him.
Lu Yan''s expression turned bitter, and he coldlyughed at Chu Xiu''s expectant gaze. "I have nothing to say. Also, I''ll drop you off at the next intersection."
"No rush," Chu Xiu said, "Are you interested in ying another game with me?"
"I''m not interested. And put away your gun." The vehicle suddenly stopped, and Lu Yan said coldly, "Now, get off the car immediately!"
"Alright." Chu Xiu got out of the car nonchntly.
YinMing Road was an empty stretch, with only a few people around, even on workdays. Some buildings were scattered in the vicinity. Chu Xiu scanned the area before loading bullets into his gun and aiming at the wheels. He squeezed the trigger.
Meanwhile, inside the hotel, four individuals sat in a group, discussing Wen Zheng Xin''s ount. The atmosphere was sombre, and they spoke in hushed tones, making it hard for Wen Zheng Xin to hear them. He studied their lip movements and expressions, looking for any signs of hope.
"Whether you believe it or not, there are things in this world that exist. I have shared my experiences with you, and you must realize that there are things that humans cannot touch," Wen Zheng Xin said with a bitter smile.
"We believe you, of course," said Shi Yan. "So, where is the statue you brought with you?"
Wen Zheng Xin hesitated before speaking. He was unsure about these four people, but they didn''t appear to be the type he could lie to. He stammered momentarily before reluctantly admitting, "It''s gone."
"Gone?!" The four eximed in unison, with Nie Yun Zhen being the most agitated. "When did it disappear?"
Wen Zheng Xin''s voice was barely above a whisper. "Just this morning. I had wrapped it up and ced it in my bag. But when I woke up this morning and checked, it was gone."
A sudden realization hit Nie Yun Zhen like a bucket of cold water. He had entered the hotel room and spotted the statue on the bedside table, despite Wen Zheng Xin''s insistence that it was in his bag. The question now was, who had put it there?
He turned to Wen Zheng Xin and asked again, "Are you absolutely certain you ced the statue in your bag?"
Wen Zheng Xin''s voice trembled slightly as he replied, "Yes, I''m positive. I wrapped it in parchment paper given by the master and tucked it into my bag, which I then ced in the closet. But this morning, when I opened the bag, the statue was gone. If you don''t believe me, you can search for it."
Nie Yun Zhen''s mind raced. He remembered stealing the statue from the bedside table without any parchment paper. The front desk attendant had conveniently passed out, providing him a perfect opportunity.
And who was the person captured on the surveince camera entering the room?
But none of them notices the girl in the blood-stained school uniform climbing the hotel''s outer wall. Her twisted limbs and abnormal bluish-purpleplexion made anyone''s skin crawl, and the long trail of blood she left behind only added to the horror. She disappeared shortly after, but not before ring with her glowing green eyes full of resentment and malice at a certain window on the first floor. Eventually, she crept into the elevator and vanished from sight.
"Let''s go look for it," Nie Yun Zhen suggested, hoping to uncover more clues. "If we can find it, we''ll have another bargaining chip."
Shi Yan couldn''t help but feel concerned. She worried they were too passionate about this matter, especially considering that the "divine statue" hadn''t yet been confirmed effective. Any strange curse they might stumble upon would undoubtedly be a death sentence.
But even Chu Xiu agreed that they needed to pursue this matter further.
Surviving until now wasrgely due to Chu Xiu''s presence. So Ye Sheng Ke and Shi Yan agreed, and the four of them apanied Wen Zheng Xin downstairs to find the hotel manager.
Today, the hotel''s business was clearly suffering, with few customers. Wen Zheng Xin knew the hotel owner, and after making a phone call, the manager quickly led all the security guards and staff to them.
"This is a troublesome matter. We don''t know who stole it, and we had to search for it for so long,"ined two staff members hiding in the toilet to chat.
"He even asked if any suspicious individuals had entered the hotel recently? I think he''s strange himself. He doesn''t let anyone into his room to clean, even after staying for several days. I don''t know what''s inside."
"Hey, do you think he locked himself in?"
They were chatting across a door panel when they suddenly heard light footsteps walking into the toilet from outside. They immediately fell silent.
If someone with bad intentions heard them talking behind a guest''s back, they would be in trouble.
After the two staff members quieted down, the sound of water flowing from the faucet in the toilet suddenly came on.
It turned out that the person was just washing their hands. The two of them hoped that the person would hurry up and leave so they could continue gossiping.
However, even after waiting a long time, they still did not hear the sound of footsteps leaving, and the faucet continued to flow with the sound of rushing water.
One of them sighed, ''This is so annoying. It must be someone who forgot to turn off the faucet after washing their hands. When they find out, they''ll have to pay a fine.''
She hastily pulled up her underwear and smoothed her skirt as she rose to her feet. With her back to the door panel, she flushed the toilet, then turned to face the door.
Above the door panel, a face appeared. Its skin was rotting and pale, and its lips curved into a strange, unsettling smile.
She couldn''t contain the terror that gripped her. It''s a ghost! The thought shed through her mind, but before she could scream, a soft, pale hand covered her mouth and shoved her into the toilet bowl.
She fought to free herself, but the hand was too strong. With a gurgling sound, she was pulled into the tiny hole, disappearing without a trace. Only a few strands of hair floated on the water''s surface.
The flush button was pressed again, and a torrent of bloody water rushed out, removing any evidence of her existence. When the water cleared, the bathroom was once again empty.
On the first floor, the hotel manager apologized to the group. "We did our best to search for him, but we couldn''t find him. Except for a guest with the surname Lu who checked out, everyone else is still here. Mr. Wen, is it possible that you misced it somewher e-?"
"-Do you have Lu''s contact information?" interrupted Wen Zheng Xin.
"Wait a minute," said Nie Yun Zhen, looking at Wen Zheng Xin with suspicion in his eyes. "You said all the rooms were searched, what about your own room?"
"Mine? If I could find it in my room, would I have made such a big deal about it?" Wen Zheng Xin angrily retorted, but no matter how you looked at him, he seemed to be concealing something.
"Regardless, it won''t hurt to check," Chu Xiu interjected, and they followed the manager to Wen Zheng Xin''s room.
"Ah, there really isn''t anything there. You won''t find anything even if you go," Wen Zheng Xin protested several times, but his efforts were in vain. Instead, they grew more convinced of his guilt.
A strange and pungent odour filled the room, making Shi Yan suspicious of Wen Zheng Xin. Thetter''s face turned pale, and he muttered a few words before shutting his mouth.
As the scent grew stronger, they discovered it came from the closet. The manager gestured, and a security guard cautiously approached and opened the closet door. Inside, there were only hotel bedding and linens; nothing else.
The smell, like decaying protein, dissipated when the closet door opened.
After thoroughly searching Wen Zheng Xin''s room, they concluded that there was nothing there.
But Wen Zheng Xin didn''t feel relieved. His face looked even worse, and he walked to the door, petrified.
How could it be?
How could the wardrobe be empty? Where did she go?
"What''s wrong with you? You look very nervous," Ye Sheng Ke asked as he followed him. He offered him a cigarette and smiled, but the smile only made Wen Zheng Xin uneasy.
"No, nothing, just thinking about tonight..." Wen Zheng Xin''s throat was dry. He took the cigarette but didn''t smoke it. Instead, he put it in his pocket, his hands trembling. His face, however, had already regained itsposure.
No, he couldn''t y this game. He had to find a way to escape.
His daughter was still waiting for him.
If something were to happen to him, what would Qingqing do? Her grandmother was already... there was no way to bring her back to life. It pained him to think of his young and innocent daughter, losing her life just like that. Who could be so cruel as to break into their home and take a life?
Thinking of himself returning from a business trip a few days ago, taking a detour to Qingqing''s grandmother''s house to see her, only to find his daughter lying in a pool of blood. The memory was like a knife twisting in his heart. If not for the statue that the delirious old woman clung to, Qingqing would have been left alone in the world.
The statue held power to bring the dead back to life, but only if certain conditions were met. He had to ensure that Qingqing''s favourite creatures were killed before her death and that the statue was bathed in enough blood. He had already sacrificed the ck cat that had brought them bad luck and tearfully bid farewell to Qingqing''s grandmother.
Now, he had to find Yun Qian, Qingqing''s best friend from school, and sacrifice her in front of the statue. He had already kidnapped her and nned to take her to the old house, but she was nowhere to be found.
He wondered if Yun Qian had somehow taken the statue and left. If that were the case, it would mean Qingqing had not yet been resurrected, but perhaps something else had happened. Had she undergone a mutation? The sudden thought chilled Wen Zheng Xin to the bone. He had to find out what had happened to the statue and Yun Qian, no matter the cost.
But... He saw her die with his own eyes, but what would her current state be if it was really her?
He was trapped in guilt, unable to confess his heinous crime. Exposing the truth now would mean giving up hope of recovering the statue or reviving his daughter.
"What''s bothering you?" Ye Sheng Ke asked, sensing his unease.
Wen Zheng Xin shook his head, forcing a watery smile. "It''s nothing, really."
They had made a fuss throughout the day, even stopping for a meal midway. The sun was setting, and they were nning to y the elevator game in this hotel.
Everyone, including Ye Sheng Ke, Shi Yan, and Nie Yun Zhen, had reservations about ying here, especially after losing the statue. Chu Xiu was the only one insistent on staying put. No one could understand why, and they eventually gave in.
Meanwhile, two men sat in the lobby of a luxury hotel on the other side of the city, their strained rtionship palpable. They were suppressing their urge to argue, and the tension in the air was so thick that even the waiters hesitated to approach them.
"Don''t worry, we''ll leave once the game is done," Chu Xiu reassured Lu Yan.
"You sure about that? You''re just looking for someone to be the scapegoat," Lu Yan retorted.
Chu Xiu''s hands were in his pockets, tightly gripping something Lu Yan knew too well. [TN: If this was a BL novel, lol]
"No need to worry, no one''s going to die," Chu Xiu said in a calm tone, his finger hovering over the trigger.
Though his voice was rxed, Lu Yan knew that if Chu Xiu decided to leave, he wouldn''t hesitate to pull the trigger.
"Why don''t you find someone else?" Lu Yan hesitated to participate in the game, intending only to record it and avoid any risks.
But a small voice within him whispered that if he could survive the game, he would receive unexpected rewards.
Chu Xiu surveyed the hotel lobby, his eyes scanning every detail with a hawk-like intensity. The two receptionists seemed preupied with theirputer screens, and the security guards appeared half-asleep in their chairs. Chu Xiu muttered, "I don''t want to work with amateurs."
Lu Yan studied Chu Xiu''s face, hoping to decipher his thoughts, but found nothing revealing. He made a vague noise of agreement and continued to observe the lobby.
After a few minutes, they checked in and took the elevator to their room. Once inside, they began to y a game of twenty-one, intentionally throwing the game at each other. It ended in a tie.
At midnight, Chu Xiu spoke up, "Let''s go."
Throughout the game, Chu Xiu kept his hands in his pockets, and the muzzle of his gun was constantly aimed at Lu Yan. He had yet to release his grip.
Suddenly realizing that he hadn''t briefed Lu Yan about the elevator game, he quickly said, "I almost forgot to mention the rules. Listen carefully. If a woman enters the elevator during the game, you can''t speak or look at her. Don''t draw her attention, or we''ll end up in a ce we don''t want to be."
Lu Yan replied coolly, "That''s quite terrifying."
At the same time, two groups were waiting in the lobbies of two hotels for the elevator to arrive.
Before entering the elevator, Nie Yun Zhen reiterated the rules to Wen Zheng Xin, hoping he wouldn''t jeopardize their mission. With a pale face, Wen Zheng Xin nodded in agreement.
For some unknown reason, both hotels were entirely deserted. The once lively city had grown quiet, and an eerie chill had seeped into the lobby. Even the receptionists appeared to be dozing off.
"Let''s begin," Chu Xiu said, stepping into the elevator, with Lu Yan trailing behind.
The hotel where the two were staying had eighteen floors. They selected the topmost floor, number eighteen, and the elevator began to ascend.
Chu Xiu grasped at straws for a topic of conversation. "Do you anticipate that someone will board the elevator midway?" he asked, searching for any shred of conversation to break the unbearable silence.
"It is possible," Lu Yan responded indifferently.
They held their breath as the elevator climbed to the eighteenth floor. The lift continued to ascend without a glitch. Upon the doors opening, they were greeted by a warm, yellow-lit corridor.
"Next stop, second floor," Lu Yan pressed the button for the second floor, and the elevator gradually descended to the target level.
"And then, the seventeenth floor," Chu Xiu added as the elevator again started its ascent. They had unintentionally fallen into a routine of only pressing the button for the next target floor, not daring to exit the elevator.
An icy chill gradually filled the elevator, enveloping them in a bone-deep coldness that sent shivers down their spines. "Do you feel it getting colder?" Chu Xiu inquired.
Lu Yan nodded gravely. The coldness they felt was not solely from the weather outside but something from deep within themselves, a cold that permeated their very bones and left them feeling numb.
They lost count of how many times they had pressed the buttons and how many times the elevator had stopped. Finally, they began pressing the buttons for the middle floors, hoping to escape this unnatural chill. Both of them had stopped talking, their teeth chattering as the coldness seemed to cling to their bodies like a second skin.
As the elevator doors opened again, this time on the eighth floor, they were horrified to find only pitch darkness waiting for them. A noxious, musty smell emanated from the darkness like the corridor beyond had not been tended to in years. The elevator lights flickered, casting ominous shadows over their faces.
Their fear intensified as the woman stood outside the elevator door, waiting to enter. Chu Xiu and Lu Yan immediately lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact with her. They knew the rules: do not look, listen, or talk to her.
Their shallow breathing was the only sound in the elevator''s silence. The woman entered the elevator and randomly pressed a button, her presence sending chills down their spines. The elevator descended, its destination unknown.
"Hello," the woman spoke in a strange, hoarse voice. Her words were cold and slow as if she had been submerged in a frozen wastnd for an eternity.
Both passengers pretended not to hear her, keeping their heads down and avoiding eye contact.
The elevator had a mirror, but even looking at their reflections felt like breaking the rules, so they fixed their gaze on their shoes.
"Why are you ignoring me? Where are you going?" the woman asked, her voice growing impatient.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, I''m going down to the 18th floor. Which floor are you headed to?" she asked, her tone growing more insistent.
"Speak up, why are you ignoring me? Which floor do you want to go to?" she demanded, her impatience escting into hostility.
"Hurry up, speak!" she barked, her voice now icy and menacing.
But the passengers remained silent, unable to answer her.
They knew that responding to her could lead to a fate worse than death.
In another hotel, five people found themselves on the same elevator, which also had 18 floors. As they frantically pressed buttons, a woman entered the elevator on the ninth floor.
What started as a mere game quickly turned into a chilling horror...
In unison, the five people averted their gaze, avoiding eye contact with the woman.
"Hello, where do you want to go?" the woman''s voice pierced through the uneasy silence.
Wen Zheng Xin stood closest to her, and hispanions couldn''t help but worry that he might break the rules and respond to her.
Although he was trembling with fear, Wen Zheng Xin remained steadfast, refusing to engage with the woman no matter how insistently she spoke.
Despite this, the game appeared far from over.
The elevator descended with excruciating slowness, the descent continuing interminably, and no one knew where they were headed.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, a schoolgirl drenched in bloody atop the elevator car, her face twisted with malice and resentment, her deathly stare focused on the unsuspecting passengers.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 41: The rebellious boy Lu Yan
Chapter 41: The rebellious boy Lu Yan
In the confines of the lift, three figures loomed: two men and a woman, their presence barely acknowledged as the disy screen outside ticked down each descending floor.
Chu Xiu cast his gaze downward, his eyes narrowed to a mere sliver as he sought sce in the darkness. Lu Yan followed suit, his eyes squeezed shut as he leaned against the frigid wall.
The woman between them simmered with indignation, her features contorting with each unreturned nce. Gradually, her neck elongated like a rubber band until her head hovered near Chu Xiu''s side, a seething hiss escaping her lips. Sensing something amiss, Chu Xiu recoiled and stered himself against the wall.
The metal enclosure reeked of rust and iron, a potent blend that assailed their senses. Huddling together for warmth, the two men were engulfed in an eerie silence as the lift hurtled towards its unknown destination. Finally, the car shuddered to a stop, the doors sliding open with a soft whoosh.
The woman disembarked with measured steps. Was she truly gone?
Lu Yan nudged Chu Xiu, but thetter remained tight-lipped, merely shifting away.
Both men were wary, unwilling to let their guard down. Lu Yan edged towards the door, his fingers grazing the icy metal before locating the buttons. After hesitating, he punched in the relevant floor, and the lift began its ascent.
Yet the chill lingered, an unsettling reminder of the unknown horrors beyond.
Was the world outside truly a realm beyondprehension?
As the lift rose, Chu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes flicking open to survey the frost-coated walls. "It''s all right," he murmured. "She''s gone."
Lu Yan mirrored his actions, taking in their surroundings with mounting dread. The six walls seemed to exude a palpable coldness, the door rimmed with a delicate veneer of frost.
Chu Xiu scrutinized the buttons, his gaze alighting on Lu Yan. "You did hit the tenth floor, didn''t you?"
Lu Yan stepped back. "I thought you said to reverse it?"
Their fatesy in the hands of the ascending lift, the tenth floor fast approaching.
The hotel had eighteen floors, and to y the Elevator Game, Chu Xiu and Lu Yan needed to follow a specific sequence of floors, beginning from the first floor and going to the eighteenth floor. They would then descend to the second floor and ascend to the seventeenth, continuing until they reached the tenth floor, the game''s midpoint. Reversing the sequence of floors would allow them to return to the real world, starting from the tenth floor and going on to the ninth.
After a brief pause, the elevator halted with a melodious "ding" as the door slid open, revealing a dimly lit area. Cobwebs clung to the long-forgotten corridor, and Chu Xiu''s eyes wandered over the piles of abandoned items scattered around them.
"It does seem like a different world," he murmured, his brow furrowing. "Do you want to venture out and explore?"
Lu Yan hesitated, intrigued but fearful. "You''re not really nning on going out, are you?" This world was already strange enough. As a mere pawn in the game, he was reluctant to take any risks without safety guarantees. Still, his curiosity burned within him. What could this "different world" be like, and how would it differ from his own and those of outsiders?
Could this world be even more eerie and terrifying than their current surroundings?
Chu Xiu, equally intrigued, was wary of the potential danger. "I''m tempted, but it''s too risky. What do you think?" He pressed the button for the ninth floor, a look of caution on his face.
As the doors began to close, they caught sight of a figure slipping past the gap, sending chills down their spines.
"Are we sure the rules work as they im?" Lu Yan asked, his voice strained.
Chu Xiu replied, "ording to the rules, yes. Also, if we want to go out and take a look, we can, but we''ll have to find this elevator again to return. And the longer we stay in the other world, the more likely we are to get lost."
The elevator doors opened on the ninth floor, and they exchanged nces before continuing their conversation as Chu Xiu skillfully selected the next button, sending them to the eleventh floor.
"Did the rules say anything about what the other world looks like?"
Chu Xiu shook his head. "There are different ounts. Some say it''s a mirrored world, while others believe it''s the world of the dead."
As the elevator doors slid shut, a fleeting figure darted past, too swift for Lu Yan and Chu Xiu to discern its gender. They didn''t dare to steal a second nce, promptly averting their gazes the moment it whisked by.
The moment the doors sealed them in, relief washed over them.
"Did you manage to get a proper look at that shadow?"
Chu Xiu nodded in affirmation.
Lu Yan had a notion brewing within, yet it remained unverified. Upon reaching the next floor, they opted to remain in the lift, hitting the button for the 8th floor.
The doors shut in that split second, and the shadow materialized once more.
With unease creeping up on them, they exchanged nces, each reflecting the other''s trepidation.
The shadow drew closer to the elevator, leaving no room for denial.
It wanted in!
If it seeded, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The ride from the 11th to the 8th floor took only a few seconds, with neither uttering a word. Upon arrival, they hesitated, foregoing the button for a moment.
Counting the seconds down in their heads, they were bbergasted when the entity failed to reappear despite having expected it to.
Chu Xiu hit the button for the 12th floor, the doors closing as the shadow streaked by once more. This time, it drew dangerously close, narrowly avoiding getting wedged in the narrow hallway.
"It appears we''re being coerced out. Want to investigate together?" Lu Yan proposed nonchntly.
Oddly, he no longer felt petrified at this juncture. After all, he had lived in a world devoid of living or the dead. Even if it were the afterlife lurking beyond the doors, what of it? At least he could perceive the presence of death unequivocally.
As opposed to their present state...
Lu Yan cast a fleeting nce at Chu Xiu, wondering silently, ''What would he be like if he were to die? Will he find happiness in this ce, like the previous upants did before him? Tsk, if that naively innocent smile shows up on his face...''
Chu Xiu immediately sensed the danger, and his body bristled with tension. Yet, as suddenly as it appeared, the sense of impending doom dissipated.
He fixed his gaze on the door.
It wasn''t a mirage.
What could be outside the door?
They had arrived on the 12th floor.
Chu Xiu stepped out.
**
''When you see a personing inter, you must not speak or look at her. Do you understand? If she takes notice of you, the consequences... may be even more ghastly than death!'' Wen Zheng Xin kept repeating Shi Yan''s warning in his head, and the more he thought about it, the more fear gripped him. He couldn''t help but tremble, especially as the elevator suddenly plunged downwards, as though the cable had snapped.
"Ding."
They reached the negative 18th floor.
The woman''s light footsteps echoed as she approached the elevator door. When the doors slid shut again, the four remaining passengers exhaled with relief.
Unconsciously, cold sweat trickled down their faces, drenching them.
Just as the woman left, Wen Zheng Xin silently raised his head, attempting to peek through the crack in the door. However, what he saw made his eyes widen in disbelief.
Outside the door... a pool of blood flowed upside-down while the ground was engulfed in mes. In that instant, he seemed to glimpse the horrors of the 18yers of hell that humans had imagined.
He was stunned and inadvertently knocked Ye Sheng Ke over.
Ye Sheng Ke cried in rm, "Hey, what are you doing?"
Wen Zheng Xin was unable to answer. He copsed to the ground, his face drained of colour, his eyes rolling back into his head. He muttered something incoherent, but no one could discern his words.
Shi Yan spun around. "What''s wrong with him?"
Nie Yun Zhen replied, "Perhaps he saw something he shouldn''t have seen."
Ye Sheng Ke inquired, "Do we still need to keep him now?"
The woman had already departed. Per protocol, they pressed the elevator button in reverse, endeavouring to return to their original realm. They had no intention of venturing into another world.
"No need," a voice echoed in the elevator.
"Alright," Nie Yun Zhen replied as he and Ye Sheng Ke pulled the middle-aged man up reluctantly. As soon as the elevator doors opened, they pushed him out hard without even ncing at the pitch-ck surroundings.
The doors closed again, and Nie Yun Zhen and Ye Sheng Ke sighed in relief. However, Shi Yan broke out in a cold sweat.
"Chu, Brother Chu," her voice trembled, "did you ask them to throw him out?"
Chu Xiu shook his head, and Ye Sheng Ke and Nie Yun Zhen''s pale faces showed unease. If it wasn''t Chu Xiu, then who spoke?
As usual, Chu Xiu remained impassive, gazing intently at the crack in the elevator door.
**
The world he had just traversed...appeared to be ordinary?
Wen Zheng Xin staggered into an unfamiliar hallway, but he felt nothing. He giggled foolishly for a moment before breaking down in tears, burying his head in his hands.
For humans, touching the forbidden realm, even briefly,es at a high cost. Those who are as muddled as Wen Zheng Xin are considered fortunate.
"What''s wrong, Mr Wen?" Due to an unknown cause, the hotel experienced a power outage. Two staff members patrolled the hallway with shlights when they suddenly shone the light on him. Observing his frenzied appearance, they immediately approached with concern.
What the quartet in the elevator did not anticipate was that instead of randomly shifting into another world and returning to their original realm, they had inadvertently transported him back. And now, they were striving to return ording to the rules.
However, the hotel was now in no better condition.
A frigid, horrifying, and contorted aura emanated deep within the earth.
"Today is an ominous day. Why is there a power outage and a sudden cold wave?" The manager grumbled. "Is the backup generator ready yet?"
"It is nearly ready. The technician reported a circuit malfunction," a staff member replied.
"Is anyone using the elevator?" asked one of the guests.
"I don''t believe so. I just went downstairs and it wasn''t moving," replied the other.
Unbeknownst to them, the four individuals still trapped inside the elevator had no idea of the sudden power outage in the hotel. The elevator was still illuminated, and it continued to operate as usual.
But perhaps fate had something else in store for them, as the elevator soon transported them to another realm.
Just then, two staff members approached the manager, supporting the incoherent Wen Zheng Xin,ughing and crying uncontrobly. The two staff members appeared anxious and distressed as they spoke to the manager.
"Manager, look at Mr. Wen," one of them said.
The manager was taken aback. "What happened? What''s wrong with him?" he asked, crouching and waving his hand. "Mr. Wen, are you okay?"
"We don''t know. We found him upstairs like this. He was already in this state by the time we reached him," one of the staff members said anxiously. "Manager, what should we do?"
"We''re all going to die...hahaha," Wen Zheng Xin suddenly burst intoughter. "We''re all going to die. I can''t find it...we''re all going to die!"
With the lobby still dark, candles and shlights were the only light sources. The sight of Wen Zheng Xin''s twisted face illuminated by the flickering candlelight was enough to startle the manager.
Is he truly losing his mind?
What could be causing this?
"Everyone, calm down. Let''s take Mr. Wen to his room and contact his family toe and get him," the manager instructed, attempting to calm himself and the others. He pped his hands, and the two staff members who had found Wen Zheng Xin promptly took him back to his room.
"Speaking of which, it''s quite terrifying. I think Mr. Wen may have been somewhat unstable to begin with. And that statue he lost...do you think it could be rted?" one of the staff mused.
The other staff countered, "Come on, it''s the 21st century. Who still believes in such things?"
"But don''t you find it scary? What if ghosts do exist in this world?"
As they conversed, they arrived at Wen Zheng Xin''s room. They used his keycard to enter, then assisted him onto the bed. By now, Wen Zheng Xin had calmed down considerably and was no longer making a scene. He sat huddled at the head of the bed, repeating that he wanted to see his daughter.
At that moment, the hotel room was shrouded in darkness as Wen Zheng Xin sat on the edge of the bed, hispanion''s features obscured by the shadows. Both of them felt a sense of relief as they believed they hadpleted their task, and they departed the room.
"I can''t do this. I feel so scared. My intuition has been urate since childhood, and it''s telling me to leave," one of them clutched the other''s arm, shivering.
"...Is it because of me?" The other person gazed down at her.
Suddenly, the hotel''s power surged back, illuminating the corridor with bright lights, and the two exchanged a brief nce.
The woman finally saw herpanion''s face, and her expression froze in disbelief. She had been holding onto a faceless figure all along!
"Are you scared of me?" the person questioned as her face began to melt like hot wax, warping into a grotesque mask. She could barely recognize her own reflection in the eerie glow.
Frozen with fear, she remained motionless, forgetting to run.
A faint scream echoed in the corridor before it fell silent again.
Meanwhile, a schoolgirl in uniform climbed desperately up the elevator shaft, her eyes filled with hatred and cruelty. Her once-beautiful face contorted into a grotesque, unrecognizable mask.
Meanwhile, the four yers remained trapped in the elevator.
"We can''t leave yet. We mustplete the procedures, or we''ll be stuck in this false world," Shi Yan reminded them.
"In this world, anything can happen. You may think you''ve returned home, but you might have entered someone else''s home in another world."
The elevator doors opened as she spoke, revealing a familiar hotel corridor. A man was standing outside the door, and the four stared at him in shock.
The man also seemed surprised and muttered to himself before closing the elevator and waiting for the next one. As the doors slid shut, they heard him murmur, "Huh, strange. Why are so many people taking the elevator in the middle of the night?"
Chilled to the bone, the four of them shuddered in unison.
**
As the elevator doors slid open, Chu Xiu and Lu Yan entered an eerily deserted corridor. Despite the flurry of figures they''d glimpsed through the crack earlier, there wasn''t a soul in sight. The walls were yellowed and peeling, adorned with dusty oil paintings and childish scribbles. Piles of debris cluttered the floor, forcing them to navigate the space single-file.
"We should stick together," Chu Xiu advised, aware of the potential danger of getting separated. Lu Yan grunted in agreement, though he hardly needed reminding to exercise caution.
Without warning, Chu Xiu was struck across the face. Stunned, he stumbled backwards, trying to discern the source of the attack. The space around him had turned pitch ck, like the light had been snuffed out. Squinting into the darkness, Chu Xiu could see nothing, but he could sense the presence of another being. Someone or something was approaching him, moving with light footsteps.
The sound of its approach only served to tighten Chu Xiu''s nerves further. He could feel its emotions - nervousness, perhaps even fear. Was it a living person or something else entirely? He couldn''t be sure.
Finally, the figure stopped before him, its features indiscernible in the darkness. Chu Xiu tensed, unsure of what to do next.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan was growing increasingly anxious. Chu Xiu had disappeared without a trace, leaving him alone in this strange and unsettling ce. He couldn''t even begin to fathom the rules that governed the ghosts'' movements or how many of them there were.
Should he continue exploring or wait for Chu Xiu to return?
Lu Yan turned his head, noticing that the elevator door remained ajar as though beckoning him to return. The disy screen glowed faintly with a green hue, yet the floor numbers were muddled and indistinguishable.
Since he had alreadye this far, he might as well press on.
Lu Yan tried to steady his gait and tiptoed gingerly forward. However, the absence of Chu Xiu made him apprehensive. He paused, deliberated momentarily, and retraced his steps, going a different way.
Should Chu Xiu make it back alive, he would ask himter.
But wait, what if the Chu Xiu who returned was not the genuine one?
As Lu Yan progressed, the hall gradually grew dimmer. It seemed an endless passageway with no rooms or windows. He couldn''t discern the source of the light that illuminated his path.
The farther he ventured, the more bloodstains he stumbled upon, while cobwebs became scanty, adding to his difort.
Even the spiders appeared to have deserted the ce, indicating a severe shortage of surviving creatures ahead.
When he arrived at the end of the corridor, he spotted a staircase.
Lu Yan hesitated momentarily, then swivelled his head in the elevator''s direction before resuming his descent.
It didn''t matter anymore. He only had to survive. As long as he could survive, what did it matter which world he lived in?
With this mindset, Lu Yan descended the stairs at a leisurely pace.
As he reached the ground floor, he suddenly widened his eyes.
What was this vision?
How did he end up in his childhood home?
"Xiaolu, you''re finallying down. You''ve been hiding in the attic all day long. Your entire body must be covered in dust, right?" Lu Yan''s mother emerged from the kitchen, holding a te of scrumptious, steaming food.
"Mom?" Lu Yan''s voice quavered with uncertainty.
"What''s the matter?"
"Is there anything special happening?" Lu Yan looked around his old home, feeling perplexed and stuttering.
Everything was normal: sunlight, blossoms, a tidy house, his mother''s beloved teddy bear on the couch, and their dog frolicking around in delight.
Lu Yan still vividly recalled that during the first six months of the world''s bizarre outbreak, that tiny dog fell into the bathtub and shattered into fragments before their eyes.
Was all of it a mere illusion? Could every strange event be a figment of his imagination, conjured up while sleeping in the attic?
What is genuine and what is not?
Have all those years been nothing but an illusion?
"Xiao Lu, hurry and tidy up yourself. Your father will be back soon. If he sees you in this state, he will beat you again."
"Dad ising back?" Lu Yan inquired.
He gazed at the calendar.
He remembered well that his father should be out on a mission at this hour. His father was the sternest of all and despised his "slovenly" appearance.
What was he like back then? He lowered his head and looked down at himself, wearing torn clothes and jeans. He reached for a clump of hair and pulled it before his eyes. Indeed, it was dyed red.
It was utterly different from hister style.
Before, he feared his fathering back every time, as he would beat him upon sight, not with brutal force but with a beating that disyed his disappointment. Despite everything, the father-son rtionship was far from good.
"By the way, Xiaolu, your father said he would introduce you to arade''s daughter this time. I heard she''s rather beautiful. They should be arriving soon, so hurry and tidy up to go!" Lu''s mother re-entered the kitchen, sticking half of her body out and brandishing a spat in her hand.
Everything appeared so real.
However...
"Is everything truly real?" Lu Yanli asked abruptly.
"What is it that you consider real or false? What is going on with you today? Why are you acting so strange?" The woman appeared perplexed.
"It''s nothing."
"You can tell your mother anything, go ahead and speak."
Lu Yanli gazed at the woman''s face.
He had dreamed of and yearned for this moment countless times. Yet his recollections reminded him that it was all a sham. He had watched as the other person drenched herself in gasoline and set herself aze. This house... had exploded right before his eyes, leaving nothing but ruins.
Despite this house and the woman before him returning intact after just a few days, he knew that someone who had already passed away wouldn''t be the same upon their return.
"It''s all a deceit." He resolutely turned around and ascended the stairs.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 42: Twisted Space and Time
Chapter 42: Twisted Space and Time
"Hey? What are you doing upstairs?" Mrs Lu queried with an edge in her voice.
Lu Yan disregarded her and made a beeline towards the attic, driven by a strong desire to return. The atmosphere in this ce was too overwhelming. He''d rather face the phantoms outside his deste apartment than confront the scenes of tranquillity that were masking everything that had happened before, making him feelpelled to remain recklessly.
As he ascended the stairs, he was taken aback. The attic was a modest space with no remarkable features, and the lengthy hallway and elevator he had used to get there had vanished without a trace.
He spun around suddenly, and Mrs Lu, clutching adle, followed him upstairs, taken aback by his expressionless face. "I told you to go back and change your clothes. What are you doing up here?" she queried, clearly bewildered.
Lu Yan stayed quiet, submitting to her as they descended the stairs together. He was yearning to uncover the enigma of this world.
And where was the way out?
Lu Yan meticulously searched the entire house but to no avail. He defied Mrs Lu''s request to change his clothes.
The more he bes entangled with the world, the harder it bes to extricate himself. He stood in the living room, scrutinizing his surroundings, trying to distinguish between the present and his recollections.
"What are you up to?" Mrs Lu''s voice interrupted his thoughts as she stepped out of the kitchen with a dish.
Lu Yan remained silent.
"What''s wrong with you today? You haven''t said a word. Is there something bothering you?" Mrs Lu''s concern was evident in her voice.
In fact, the previous Lu Yan, whose parents had gone to great lengths to name, had apletely different demeanour. He had always lived recklessly and fearlessly, relying on his wit and intelligence to act with impunity. However, unless necessary, he could go an entire day without speaking a word, even though his striking red hair still stood out. His demeanour had be subdued, like heavy ash residue after a fire had burnt out.
He looked directly at the image of his mother in his mind as ifmitting it to memory and then resolutely stepped out of the door, ignoring the frantic calls behind him and heading towards the street.
The owner of the house returned. His father''s car stopped in front of him.
Lu Yan took note of the route and increased his pace towards the exit without sparing a nce at his father.
"What do you think you''re doing, boy?!" His father''s voice trailed behind him.
But he had already walked away without turning back.
The street was still the same as he remembered, but the flow of people became less and less until no one was left. Lu Yan noted the route and walked straight for about a kilometre before stopping.
As soon as his father arrived, Lu Yan realized there was no turning back, but as he walked down the road, the world around him transformed into something increasingly strange. The bright sky gradually darkened, and the middle of the street lifted into a high arc, causing the buildings above to rise and fall. Even the ground developed intricate patterns.
Lu Yan could sense the eyes of the missing people fixed on him through the windows as though they had seen something unusual. Strangely, instead of fear, he felt a sense of relief. This world was indeed abnormal, not just a figment of his imagination.
Now his priority was to find a way out of this dangerous ce. Even though it was rtively calm, the lingering dead air made him uneasy. Lu Yan quickened his pace, trying to find the entrance he hade from. However, before he could take two steps, the sky dimmed perceptibly.
The darkness was absolute, with no stars or moon, and he couldn''t even tell where he was going. Suddenly,ntern polls began to rise from the ground, along with papernterns, their thin paper trembling in the chilly wind. Childlike graffiti smiley faces were drawn on the white background, but their feeble light barely illuminated the dark night sky.
As Lu Yan walked on, the people hiding in their homes came out, their eyes filled with obsession and joy. They stared nkly at the white skynterns, vainly reaching out to grab them, but they were always out of reach. Only pairs of pale arms waved incessantly from the windows.
As he passed a small hill, a massive crack appeared in the road. The scenery had be so unfamiliar that Lu Yan had to choose one of the paths to continue on. The road had narrowed, and he had to avoid the arms reaching out from both sides, preventing the fanatics from scratching him.
Just then, a sound came from above, making Lu Yan stop.
Lu Yan struggled to articte the otherworldly sound that had infiltrated his ears. It was as though some ethereal entity was attempting tomunicate, yet the noise wasposed of frequencies beyond human capability. It was a blend of rasping, icy notes, like being enveloped in a thick, imprable fog with only the asional fragmented utterance discernible from a great distance.
This was anguage beyond humanprehension.
Upon hearing this enigmatic noise, the throng of individuals already enraptured with the edifices lining the road became even more frenzied. Their cheering amplified with each undtion as if they could break through the brick walls before them.
Lu Yan stood at the street''s terminus, gazing stoically at the frenzied mob.
He had arrived at his destination, where an abandoned structure stood. It was challenging to discern in the darkness, but it was approximately two or three stories tall, with a ck metallic entrance facing him. The door bore no designs, only rust and an extremely menacing, sinister atmosphere.
For now, Lu Yan did not push open the door. However, he moved closer to avoid the maniacal crowd that abruptly poured out of the building.
On the opposite side of the road, music resembling a music box tinkled. It was melodious and gentle, but even the most enchanting melody seemed eerie within the context of this unending night and creepy street.
Subsequently, an enormous white object materialized in the distance. The road was excessively long, and the night was interminable. Lu Yan could only perceive the thing from a distance, but it seemed to be a colossal spherical entity, it''s surface writhing.
As it drew closer, the crowd cheered again, dashing toward the object with all their might.
What was that?
As it approached nearer and nearer, Lu Yan gradually widened his eyes--
A colossal ball of flesh,posed entirely of human bodies, emerged on the street. It resembled a swarm of ants wrapping themselves into a ball in the face of a fire. The tangled mass of limbs rolled forward, and more people joined in, swelling the already massive ball. It grew in size until it towered above the buildings on either side.
The monotonous melody of a music box yed on while the individuals trapped within the flesh ball continued tough. Their faces were contorted into silly grins as their bodies intertwined.
From a distance, the magnitude of this grotesque spectacle was apparent, and as it neared, the reality of its enormity was overwhelming.
Lu Yan gazed at the spectacle and discerned two familiar faces amid the horde. They were among the people caught up in a frenzy, their limbs entangled with those of strangers. The monstrosity was now within a hundred meters of him, and Lu Yan found himself frozen, unwilling to open the door and confront the beastly mass.
Despite the chaos, he remainedposed. He surveyed the buildings nearby and discovered a narrow alleyway between two edifices on the brink of copse from the rolling ball''s weight. He darted into the alley, and just as he entered, the immense flesh ball, apanied by deafeningughter, rushed by. Faces atop the ball sneered down at him, but he remained resolute. Once the ball had passed, he emerged from the alley and sprinted towards another street on the opposite side of the copsed houses.
As he ran, the pavement''s strange patterns became more apparent, and the road''s colour deepened into a dark red like an old bloodstain. He kept running for what seemed like an eternity until he reached the end of the road. He stopped, confronted by an obstacle he could not ovee.
There was no road ahead.
A precipitous slope loomed at the end of the road, with an incline of at least sixty or seventy degrees. Beyond ity an opaque, inky expanse. Descending that slope blindly in the dark seemed like a recipe for disaster, as he couldn''t guarantee that he wouldn''t end up with broken bones.
However, the situation behind him was equally dire. The monster had rolled to the end of the road and rolled back again, closing in on him rapidly. Gritting his teeth, he flung himself down the slope, moving sideways desperately to avoid injury.
The sensation of tumbling head over heels was sickening, and Lu Yan struggled to shield his head from the impact. When he came to a halt, he was battered and bruised in several ces. The slope gave way to a raised tform about half a meter high, and he plummeted onto it, hitting the ground hard.
His eyes widened in shock, but he didn''t waste any time. Springing up, he bolted out of there like a man possessed. He spotted a car parked nearby and, without a second thought, picked up a brick and smashed the windows. Terrified, the driver cowered in his seat as Lu Yan hauled him out and took off, flooring the elerator and leaving a trail of dust in his wake.
The car hurtled down the road at breakneck speed, covering an incredible distance that spanned an entire city before abruptly stopping. But Lu Yan still couldn''t shake off the horror that had seized him. Since the world had been thrown into chaos, he hadn''t felt so out of control. This sense of unease was unfamiliar to him.
However, if his suspicions were correct if what he had witnessed was real, then...
Stepping out of the car, Lu Yan surveyed his surroundings slowly. His hunch had been correct. On the opposite side of the city stood a towering statue, its colossal size dwarfing the surrounding buildings like ythings. Even though he had driven for what seemed like an eternity, he could only make out the lower half of the statue, its upper regions obscured by a thick shroud of clouds.
The statue''s shadow cast the entire city in a perpetual darkness that never lifted.
So, the ce where he hadnded after his frantic escape was the foot of this gargantuan statue.
Lu Yan shuddered involuntarily. He was still in the other world. How was he ever going to find his way back?
In the presence of gargantuan objects, people are often struck by their insignificance; some may even experience extreme fear or fainting. Lu Yan was not afflicted with a fear of enormous monsters, yet he felt a sense of hopelessness deep within.
How could he discover any clues in the face of such a colossal statue? And where had the path he had taken led him?
As he stood there momentarily, unsure of what to do next, he noticed a long procession approaching from a distance. A woman dressed in a red robe led the group, her face exuding a serene and pious expression. Her followers wore either red or white robes and chanted in unison as they moved steadily forward. In no time, they arrived beside Lu Yan.
"Are you troubled, sir?" inquired the woman at the head of the group.
Lu Yan remained silent, but his demeanour betrayed his inner turmoil. Without waiting for a response, the woman gestured to someone behind her, who quickly brought forward a red statue. She gazed upon him with apassionate and benevolent look. "ce your faith in my Lord, and you shall never be cast into the depths of despair, never be entangled in worldly affairs, and all your heart''s desires shall be fulfilled."
The omniscient God? The deity whose name transcends the two worlds? Could they be one and the same?
Lu Yan''s eyes locked onto the red statue. It was identical to the one that Wen Zhengxin had lost.
A suspicion took root in Lu Yan''s mind, like a ray of sunlight piercing through the fog of his confusion after many days. He finally spoke up. "All wishese true?"
Noticing his interest, the woman''s smile became even gentler. "Indeed, those who put their faith in my Lord shall have all their wishes granted."
"What if I wished to bring someone back to life?" Lu Yan queried.
The woman''s smile widened slightly, losing some of its sanctity and taking on a hint of something more peculiar. "God can do anything," she replied.
"What price must I pay to bring someone back from the dead?" Lu Yan pressed.
"Although my Lord is merciful, we must not be greedy or squander God''s grace. We must offer the Lord his favored offerings," she replied, her smile turning upwards once more at the corners of her lips.
Lu Yan epted the situation without further inquiry, thanked the woman, and turned to leave. The woman stood silently, watching as his figure gradually disappeared into the distance. She lingered there for a while longer before turning around and joining her group to continue spreading the gospel of the divine abode.
**
Meanwhile, Chu Xiu stood in the darkness, his senses heightened. As a figure approached him, he felt an eerie sense of familiarity. Gripping the knife tightly in his hand, he remained still, cautious not to make a sound. He knew that even the slightest noise could give away his position in the pitch-ck.
As the figure drew nearer, Chu Xiu''s eyes adjusted, and he finally saw the man''s face. To his surprise, the man recognized him too, and they both froze in ce.
Chu Xiu''s mind raced with countless thoughts, but he quickly regained hisposure, realizing what to do. Without hesitation, he thrust the knife into the man''s neck, his movements swift and precise. As the man took hisst breath, Chu Xiu gently lowered him to the ground.
The shock of what had just transpired left Chu Xiu momentarily dazed. He watched as the man whispered something to the beyond, his eyes wide with disbelief. But there was no time to dwell on it. Chu Xiu dragged the body aside and continued in the direction that the man hade from.
It wasn''t until he arrived at the factory at the Yin-Ming Road intersection that it hit him. This was where he had yed the four-corner game! It all came rushing back to him in a split second, and he realized he hade full circle.
Had the darkness not obscured his features, someone would have noticed that the man lying on the ground and walking away were one and the same - Chu Xiu.
After ying two rounds, Chu Xiu immediately announced, "Game over!" ording to the rules, and then bolted out of the building where he met Lu Yan, who hade to check on them by car.
Upon leaving, they saw Chu Xiu''s figure through the rearview mirror. He wasn''t a phantom, but the same Chu Xiu who had exited the elevator and fled the factory but hadn''t crossed paths with Lu Yan. He would have to find his way out alone.
The Chu Xiu who left with the three others the night before was also Chu Xiu! It was only the Chu Xiu who departed early, sensing that something was amiss.
The remaining individuals still engrossed in the Four Corners game within the room were still Chu Xiu! Bewildered, they continued to tread in circles, unaware they would soon fall prey to the new arrival.
Chu Xiu wasted no time attacking his former self upon sight. He reckoned that if his future self confronted a simr predicament, he would do the same. Only then could the Four Corners game persist, and he could escape and discover a genuine means of breaking the cycle of reincarnation.
Chu Xiu did not observe orprehend the ever-growing heap of Chu Xiu corpses in the house.
No matter how Chu Xiu perished, there was always a never-ending supply of new Chu Xiu to take his ce. Unless... he could avoid that elevator, regardless of whether he chose to apany Lu Yan or his threepanions, he would end up here.
Then, he would kill his past self, flee under his identity, and attempt a new strategy.
What he remained oblivious to was that every self he yed would contemte the omniscient and omnipotent God before dying and then make a wish, yearning to start anew and genuinely escape.
But God''s deals were never fair or just. "Starting over" could take many forms, like making time and space chaotic and observing ants crawling in a twisted Mobius ring to give Him a little amusement.
Sadly, Chu Xiu had yet to grasp this. He was solely focused on starting over and escaping the elevator game.
That night, he took Lu Yan captive into the elevator, repeatedly ascending and descending ording to the regtions, until a peculiar woman entered.
Both parties refrained from speaking or moving, andter, they opted not to depart the elevator. But this, too, was a dead end.
As the figure outside the door approached, the gap in the elevator door slowly closed. When they reached the 12th floor, the hand crept into the shrinking opening.
Suddenly, the elevator plunged, and the hand was severed, thudding to the ground with a sickening thud, exposing a bloody cross-section.
The hand split open, revealing deep red and brownish crevices that quickly widened. Tentacles emerged, their blood-red hue pulsating as they twisted and turned with deadly intent. The tentacles effortlessly struck the two upants of the elevator, ending their lives.
Before Chuxiu met his demise, he desperately wished to start anew. He returned to the same small ck room,pelled to repeat the elevator game with Lu Yan as his captive. However, this time, he stepped out of the elevator.
"What should we do? Should we leave now?" Ye Sheng Ke''s voice trembled with fear as the frigid air inside the elevator intensified. He couldn''t stop shaking, feeling that his neck was getting heavier, and he could barely hold it up.
"Perhaps we shouldn''t," Shi Yan said, trying to calm him down. "They say the world outside the elevator is a different realm, and once we leave, we may never return."
Chuxiu nodded in agreement. "We cannot leave."
Nie Yun Zhen''s heart raced with unease.
"I wonder what the other world looks like," Nie Yun Zhen mused aloud. "Hey, have you guys noticed the old man? He seems suspicious. The odor emanating from his room is definitely that of a dead body, and his demeanor seems guilty. Maybe he''s the killer, but I''m not sure who he murdered."
Shi Yan fixed him with a stern re. "Stop trying to provoke trouble."
Nie Yun Zhen shrugged nonchntly. "Don''t you find him odd though? I can''t shake off this feeling that something isn''t right."
The putrid scent of decay had lingered in the room''s air, an odour that had be familiar to the yers who had spent countless hours surrounded by blood and corpses. Though nobody mentioned it before, it was an unwritten rule to ignore the stench and continue the game.
Nie Yun Zhen broke the silence, and Shi Yan''s memory was jolted. With a shake of her head, she decided not to dwell on the unnerving odour any further. "Let''s talk about it outside. What good would it do to discuss it now?"
The elevator opened again, revealing a dark corridor emanating an aura of malevolence and doom.
Each time the elevator stopped, they remained silent, wary of drawing attention to themselves. Only when the doors closed would they dare to chat.
Shi Yan stood before Ye Sheng Ke, feeling an unexpected itch on her neck. Bewildered, she turned around and saw that Ye Sheng Ke''s hands were idle and still.
She immediately sensed something was off. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Did you touch my neck just now?"
Ye Sheng Ke''s neck was tilted at an almost burdensome angle as if he were carrying a heavy load. He tried to shake his head but couldn''t, so he spoke in a strained tone, "No, I didn''t."
"Then what just touched me?" Shi Yan''s voice quivered in the elevator''s confined space.
The air suddenly grew colder, and Nie Yun Zhen''s voice faltered. "Please don''t frighten me on purpose. It''s not funny."
"I''m not joking," Shi Yan insisted. "I felt something on my neck."
Chu Xiu interjected, "What kind of feeling?"
After contemting, Shi Yan replied, "It was like...human hair."
Upon the utterance of her words, a vivid image of a female ghost hanging upside down with her long hair brushing against her neck immediately came to Nie Yun Zhen''s mind. The thought frightened him, and he rubbed his arms forfort. "Perhaps it''s just your imagination?" he suggested, trying to calm Shi Yan down.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Shi Yan''s eyes widened, and she looked directly behind him. The other two followed suit, huddling together instantly, leaving Nie Yun Zhen standing alone in the centre of the elevator.
Slowly turning his head, he saw a ghastly pale face and the long hair he had imagined hanging down, brushing against his neck and causing an unbearable itch.
With a "ding", the elevator door opened.
It goes without saying that they all rushed out.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 43: The Omniscient God
Chapter 43: The Omniscient God
The Elevator Game presented yers with a daunting choice: remain within the confines of the elevator or embark on an exploration of unknown terrain. Though they were well aware of the precarious nature of the game, they had little choice but to proceed with caution.
As soon as the four of them stepped out, they suddenly stopped. The corridor before them was long, narrow, and chillingly dim, with an amorphous atmosphere that evoked the feeling of traversing through a hazy, grey mist.
"Stay close and be mindful not to lose sight of each other," Chu Xiu advised. "It''s best if we cling to each other''s clothing."
The passageway was too cramped to amodate their side by side, so they formed a single file and clung to the person before them. Chu Xiu led the way, followed by Shi Yan, Nie Yun Zhen, and Ye Sheng Ke, who hastened their pace.
"Remember, it''s easy to lose one''s way in another world, so we mustn''t separate and must keep track of the path that leads us back," Chu Xiu reiterated, quickening his stride.
Their predicament was such that they had no other recourse. The female ghost they encountered in the elevator could catch up with them at any moment, and remaining in the elevator indefinitely was not an option. Therefore, Chu Xiu devised a n to lure the ghost out and lose themselves in this strange world, hoping to return to the elevator eventually.
But why did the corridor seem to grow eerier by the minute?
The walls, which had a base colour of white, were barely visible through the thickyer of dust that coated them. Scrawled across the borders was a series of drawings that resembled the work of a child''s hand. Chu Xiu nced at them fleetingly before resuming his march.
The drawings grew more bizarre and unsettling as they progressed deeper into the passage. They mostly depicted twisted faces and limbs with grotesque expressions. The use of dark colours in the palette made them all the more unsettling.
Chu Xiu nced behind him, and his gaze alighted on the three figures trailing him. At the sight of them, he felt a modicum of relief and proceeded to lead them forward.
Softened by time and wear, the floor yielded underfoot like decaying flesh. Yet despite the soft surface, the three of them pressed on, their footsteps resolute and unwavering.
Breaking the silence, Shi Yan whispered, "This corridor seems never-ending."
"Indeed," Nie Yun Zhen murmured in agreement, his voice pitched low. The three had agreed to speak every few minutes to prevent anyone from getting lost and maintain a semnce of humanity in their grim situation.
They walked on, and their hushed conversation was broken only by the sound of their steps until it was time for Ye Sheng Ke to speak. But when his turn came, there was only silence.
Nie Yun Zhen''s heart raced as he realized the hand holding onto his jacket was icy cold. The footsteps behind him were soft and insubstantial, like moth wings fluttering. He tried to remain calm, but fear seized him as the hand crept up towards his neck, four fingers digging into his skin.
"Xiaoye, please stop poking me. It hurts," Nie Yun Zhen said, his voice feigning casualness, hoping to mask the terror that gripped him.
There was no response from behind him. The hand continued its slow advance up his neck, sending a chill coursing through his veins. He reached out to poke Shi Yan''s back, trying to keep his tone even. "Wait a moment, I need to tie my shoces," he said, hoping the excuse would give him a chance to assess the situation.
In reality, none of them wore shoes withces. But the ruse gave him a moment''s respite, allowing him to take stock of their surroundings and formte a n. The stakes were high; one false move could mean the difference between life and death.
The words had scarcely left his lips when he feigned a bow to the ground, pretending to tie his shoces in an borate knot. All the while, he used the opportunity to swivel his head slightly, and there, looming before him, he spotted a ghastly apparition, a wraith as white as snowkes and seemingly crafted out of white paper, hovering weightlessly on its feet, standing mere inches behind him! Its pallid hand still bore the traces of a symbolic gesture.
Without a doubt, Ye Sheng Ke had vanished into thin air.
Nie Yun Zhen''s heartstrings constricted suddenly. The ghost''s ability to abduct Ye Sheng Ke unnoticed was genuinely petrifying.
He averted his gaze and faked tying his shoces, buying time to think. With lightning-fast reflexes, his mind raced.
What could he do? The corridor was too narrow, and he stood third in line. Two people blocked his path ahead, so there was no way he could dart past them unobserved. And if he let them go first, wouldn''t he wind up thest man standing?
And where had Ye Sheng Ke gone?
To avoid catching the attention of the spectre behind him, Nie Yun Zhen had to remainposed, even though he quivered with fear. He rose gradually, clutched Shi Yan''s coat, and steadied himself.
Simultaneously, the ghost behind him snatched his coat.
"Let us proceed," Nie Yun Zhen asserted firmly, refusing to betray hisposure.
Hold on a moment! Why is Shi Yan''s dress hem as light and flimsy as a sheet of paper?
As Nie Yun Zhen watched in astonishment, Shi Yan and Chu Xiu, who led the way, swivelled slowly around. Their faces were now entirely akin to papier-mch dolls: pallid skin, scarlet lips, their heads spun 180 degrees, grinning maniacally at Nie Yun Zhen. "What''s the matter?" they chorused.
The paper doll behind him sidled closer, ced a hand on his shoulder, and a mouth resembling a narrow slit opened and shut, speaking in Ye Sheng Ke''s voice.
"What''s the matter?"
These were thest words Nie Yun Zhen heard before cking out.
If Lu Yan were present, he would have identified that the paper dolls resembled those they had encountered in Red River Vige. But he was absent, so Nie Yun Zhen plunged deeper into the unknown realm.
"This passageway seems endless." After an eternity of walking, Shi Yan could not contain her exasperation.
Perhaps it was her senses deceiving her, but as she pressed forward, the simple sketches on the wall seemed to take on their own life. She could even discern the strong emotions the artist imbued in the images. The eyes in each portrait conveyed a message of bitter resentment and malevolence that seemed to fixate on her.
''These paintings are most unnerving...'' thought Shi Yan to herself.
She turned her head to confront one of the images, feeling an icy shiver dance down her spine. As she rubbed her arms and averted her gaze, she suddenly noticed that the other three were nowhere to be seen!
She was the only one left, standing in the hallway, staring into the inky ckness. Her fear was so intense it was as though her very soul had fled her body.
How how could this be happening?
She couldn''t fathom how they could have vanished without a trace. She had yet to encounter any ghosts during this mission that could dispatch multiple people simultaneously. That meant the only one in danger was herself.
Stay calm, stay calm. Shi Yan stifled the urge to scream and concentrated on thinking clearly. She remembered looking at one of the paintings before they parted ways. Was that the key?
This time, Shi Yan fought against thepulsion to gaze at the paintings and instead lowered her head to stare intently at her shoes. She slowed her pace and listened intently, trying to catch a whisper of the other people''s footsteps.
Shi Yan was left disappointed yet relieved that despite her strained attempts at listening, all she heard were her own footfalls. There was no trace of the other three to be found.
''Where... Where am I?''
It was then that she heard the mysterious sound of rustling from all directions. She searched the surroundings with bewilderment, but the excessively dark environment hindered her sight, causing her to nearly ck out several times due to the abundance of paintings on the walls.
The paintings grew increasingly dense, but the style remained rough. However, that face...that face was evident!
Somehow, when she saw that face, Shi Yan''s heart became overwhelmed with an unidentifiable feeling of difort, irritation and depression. She instinctively avoided the face and quickened her pace, soon finding herself running away from it altogether.
''But where should I run to?'' she asked herself, only to find that the corridor had no end.
With a firm clench of her teeth and a resolute expression, Shi Yan made a tough decision and abruptly spun around, determined to run back the way she came. In horror tales, the protagonist was often warned against such actions lest they glimpse some monstrous apparition lurking behind them. Nevertheless, Shi Yan cared little for such cautionary tales.
Surely, the female ghost that haunted the elevator had been lured away by now, right? Even if she returned to the scene of the supernatural encounter, it shouldn''t pose a problem. But what greeted her was sheer shock and despair: the path ahead grew narrower by the second!
''This is not good! The corridor is shifting!''
As soon as she realized this, the faces on both sides of the hallway began to manifest in greater detail, their skull-like features bing increasingly pronounced. Their malevolent expressions bore down upon her from every angle, and the bumps on the walls took on a menacing quality.
The walls were drawing closer and closer, and no matter where she turned, there was no escape. She sprinted forward desperately to reach the elevator, but to her cruel dismay, the walls closed in, leaving her trapped just ten meters away.
"No!" Shi Yan uttered a piercing scream, her hands iling as she attempted to push through the narrowing gap. At that moment, it didn''t matter if the grotesque creatures with one-eyed heads sank their teeth into her flesh; all she cared about was escaping with her life.
However, the elevator was now beyond her reach.
"Mother..." she gasped, her final word before the walls echoed with a faint "creak, creak," the macabre sound of starving mouths devouring their feast.
An enormous gush of fresh blood sprayed forth, only to be swiftly absorbed by the walls, which promptly resumed their original state, unfolding slowly on either side.
"Remember, we''ll wait outside for a while, and when five minutes are up, we''ll promptly return to the real world by taking the elevator," Chu Xiu advised.
After several minutes leading his trio of teammates, he abruptly halted and prepared to hold their ground temporarily.
With several tasks, they had no leisure to amble through the otherworld. Furthermore, if they failed to finish the next game by midnight the following day, the retribution that awaited them would be far more frightful than death!
When he finished speaking, however, there was no response behind him. To his astonishment, Chu Xiu whirled around to find no one standing behind him!
Who was it that tugged at his sleeve just moments before?
Without further thought, Chu Xiu spun around and darted back in the direction he hade from, only to pivot once again after running for a short while.
The reason became evident as Chu Xiu gazed upon a figure in a school uniform, its form contorted and its bones realigned, crawling towards him on the ground. The girl dragged a long trail of blood behind her, and though her crawling speed was not particrly quick, she closed the distance between them with each passing moment. The putrid scent of decay emanated from her form.
Chu Xiu''s heart sank as he realized her identity - the crawling girl was none other than Wen Qing.
After Ghost Granny had killed her, Wen Qing had prayed fervently to the gods for a chance to start anew, to right the wrongs she hadmitted and save everyone. Her wish had been granted by the almighty god, but at a cost - an entire hotel''s worth of lives was to be sacrificed.
To ensure her survival, Wen Qing hid in the elevator and killed everyone who crossed her path. However, she had never anticipated that her father would be among the victims. Upon discovering her father''s decapitated head amidst the piles of corpses, Wen Qing realized the gravity of her actions - the god would not grant her the same wish twice.
However, her father had already pleaded to god - to bring his daughter back to life. The price he had paid was steep, the sacrifice of all the living beings that his daughter held dear.
Wen Qing''s ck cat, grandmother, and Yun Qian had all fallen victim to his cruel and ruthless hand. Yet, he spared himself, the perpetrator behind these atrocities.
In a twisted turn of fate, Wen Qing was the one toplete the sacrifice. The elevator, filled with both victim and perpetrator, plummeted to their deaths. However, Wen Qing was granted a second chance at life, resurrected from the dead.
But the trauma she endured had taken its toll. Her memories were lost to her, and she could only rely on her friend to navigate the familiar yet unfamiliar street of Yin-Ming Road. Death seemed to follow her, dying and resurrecting again and again.
Little did Chu Xiu and his entourageprehend that by randomly selecting two pedestrians instead of Wen Qing, they could have evaded the subsequent events spawned by the malevolent deity, and their lives would not have been thrown into chaos.
Wen Qing and Yun Qian''s appearance on Yin-Ming Road had been carefully orchestrated, a n to break the game cycle. The only way out was to refuse to y along with the spirits.
Yet, it was toote for them. The Four-Corner and Elevator games were traps designed to ensnare unsuspecting victims in a vortex of time and space. Surviving one round only increased the difficulty of the next, as the challengers artificially increased the stakes.
Chu Xiu sprinted through the narrow corridors, his heart pounding. The twists and turns of thebyrinthine hallways slowed him down, making it difficult to outrun the danger behind him. A feeling of dread crept over him as he ran, a sense that something was amiss. He heard the scratching sound of something creeping behind him, but when he turned around, the sound stopped. Suddenly, he felt a presence above him and swiftly crouched to the ground, barely avoiding the ghost''s sharp ws.
His eyes widened as he saw the ghostly figure crawling up the wall and onto the ceiling. He remembered how it had chased him earlier, moving with incredible speed and agility.
Now empty and lifeless, Wen Qing''s eyes were fixed on him with a resentful and vicious gaze. She looked like a broken doll, her bones shattered, and her skin as white as a sheet. Yet, somehow, she managed to crawl onto the ground and move with lightning speed along the ceiling.
Panic rising within him, Chu Xiu frantically searched for a way out. He ran to the end of the corridor, where he spotted a staircase. Without hesitation, he slid down the railing, leaving the ghost behind.
Hended with a thud and quickly assessed his surroundings. To his surprise, he found himself standing on a bustling street. His dishevelled appearance starkly contrasted with the well-dressed crowds that passed by him, barely sparing him a nce. Two girls, however, secretly took his picture as they walked past.
Chu Xiu remained motionless, standing still, his heart racing with a mix of fear and curiosity. He nced back at the empty space where the staircase and the hotel had stood just moments ago. As he turned his attention back to the street, a group of people dressed in red and white robes caught his eye. Their unnerving gaze was fixed on him with an unsettling intensity.
At the sight of this group of people, Chu Xiu''s brow furrowed. He was familiar with the cult that proimed itself as all-knowing and all-powerful and worshipped an allegedly omniscient god, but his knowledge was limited.
Chu Xiu made his way on the pavement, creating a path they could pass through without drawing their attention. However, as the group approached, the woman leading them abruptly stopped before him, scrutinizing his face. "Excuse me, sir, do you believe in the existence of an all-knowing and all-powerful god in this world?"
Chu Xiu had no desire to converse, but the woman persisted, beckoning her followers to bring the idol forth with a serene and devout smile.
That idol...it was unmistakably familiar!
"Believe in my Lord, and you shall have eternal life. My Lord knows everything and can do anything."
"Is that so?" Chu Xiu replied. "Then, can it transport me back?"
At his question, the woman''s gentle smile grew even warmer. "My Lord can do anything, but only in exchange for something of equal value."
"Equal value exchange?" Before Chu Xiu could enquire further, someone in the distance called out his name loudly. Chu Xiu didn''t respond immediately; instead, he turned to look.
Ye Sheng Ke was standing on the opposite side of the road, waving at him, lookingpletely at ease. If only his shadow on the ground wasn''t a bit too long.
Chu Xiu''s steps, which were initially meant to rush over, abruptly stopped. His mind was filled with doubt.
At that moment, a different call reached his ears. "Chu Xiu, over here."
Chu Xiu spun around and looked up to the second-floor balcony, where he caught sight of Lu Yan, the person he had been searching for.
Without hesitation, Chu Xiu bid farewell and rushed towards the stairs, taking them two at a time. By the time he reached the second floor, the long queue below had vanished.
"Have you discovered anything?" Lu Yan asked, his tone blunt.
"Have you ever heard of the Omnipotent Cult?" Chu Xiu replied.
Lu Yan naturally had.
"I intend to make a wish to Him, to see if I can escape my current predicament," Chu Xiu murmured to himself.
Lu Yan didn''t find this odd. After all, he had made a simr wish to the all-knowing god not long ago.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 44: The way to life is ......
Chapter 44: The way to life is ......
"What do you n to wish for It?" asked Lu Yan.
"It" in Chinese sounds the same as "He". Therefore, Chu Xiu didn''t notice anything wrong with Lu Yan''s description. On the contrary, his tone sounded quite pious.
Chu Xiu looked out the window. The scenery outside was no different from usual. The streets were clean and tidy under the sunshine, and vehicles came and went, bustling with prosperity.
"I still have some thoughts to sort out," Chu Xiu muttered. "I feel like I''ve overlooked some crucial information." He changed the subject, "How about you? If it were you, would you make a wish?"
Lu Yan smiled bitterly, "Do I have any other choices now?"
Indeed, there was no difference for them, whether it was a ghost or a god. Whatever they wanted to do, ordinary people couldn''t resist.
"But I always feel..." Chu Xiu hesitated.
He always felt that everything was not that simple. Compared to the bloody and ferocious killings by ghosts and monsters, the so-called "wishes" of gods gave him a chilling sense of danger.
From Wen Qing to them, everything seemed to be... under the control of that "god." Who else had made a wish to the god? What price did they pay? Chu Xiu had no idea.
Lu Yan stared at him and suddenly said, "Did you make a wish to it?"
Although his tone was questioning, it was more confident. Chu Xiu was surprised and blurted out, "How did you know?"
"I just casually asked, but you admitted it." In fact, it was suspicious enough that Chu Xiu did not directly deny it because of the restraint of that "god."
"What did you wish for?" Lu Yan asked, his gaze fixed on Chu Xiu''s face, sharp as a knife. "As you can see, it''s difficult for us to live with our strength; only cooperation gives us a chance. So, you''d better not hide anything anymore. Simrly, I will tell you what I know."
Chu Xiu remained silent and asked, "What else do you know?"
"It depends on what you want to know, one for one."
Chu Xiu asked, "How did you know I made a wish?"
"Because I made a wish too. What was your wish?"
Chu Xiu expressed his desire, "I wish I coulde back to life one day earlier, but now it doesn''t seem like a good wish." Did he only yearn to go back one day because his subconscious hoped to avoid the first day of the game? He inquired, "What''s your wish?"
Lu Yan replied, "I will disclose it when the moment is right, but I can barter it with other information."
After confirming that the other party was not intentionally deceiving him, Chu Xiu agreed to the deal. "One for three."
"Agreed." Lu Yan pondered for a moment. "First, Ye Sheng Ke has been ensnared by a female ghost that can be seen through devices such as cameras. Second, Wen Qing and Wen Zhengxin both have a statue of a god, and it is uncertain whether it is the same. Given their circumstances, where they have died but have been reborn, it is reasonable to suspect that they have been reanimated by making a wish to an evil god. The current cost is unknown. Third, for unknown reasons, Wen Zhengxin killed Yun Qian, his daughter''s best friend, and it is suspected that it may be connected to Wen Qing."
Chu Xiu interrupted, "Wait, you said Yun Qian was murdered by Wen Zhengxin? When?"
"Yes, he kept Yun Qian''s body in his closet in his room."
"How do you know?"
"I witnessed it." After identifying Wen Zhengxin, Lu Yan infiltrated the room and discovered Yun Qian''s body in the closet. He managed to take the statue away.
The video that Nie Yun Zhen watchedter was intentionally edited by Lu Yan, who reced the statue on Wen Zhengxin''s bedside table. He desired to observe what would ur when this group did the task with the statue.
However, Chu Xiu did not need to know this.
"But then..." Chu Xiu realised something was amiss. "The cause and effect arepletely out of line. Isn''t this an endless loop?"
"What else?" Lu Yan questioned, "Is it really so benevolent?"
Chu Xiu lowered his head and pondered for a moment. Lu Yan ced his hand on Chu Xiu''s shoulder and gazed straight into his eyes, which seemed even more profound. He asked in a voice with a hint of temptation, "Tell me, what round are you, Chu Xiu? And how did you arrive here?"
Chu Xiu suddenly felt strange, as if the secret he should have guarded was not that crucial. The person before him was reliable, so why not confide in him? If he kept concealing it, he might die many more times.
"It''s the fifth time," Chu Xiu responded. "The first round...was when we yed the Four Corners game. We were in the factory at the end of YinMing Road''s crossroads. I died inexplicably inside. So, I prayed toe back to life one day earlier.
The second round ended without a hitch, and the apple-peeling game did not incur any losses. We returned to the hotel for another round of the elevator game. I entered the elevator with three others for my second attempt, only to suffer a tragic death. In the third round, I sought you out as mypanion for the elevator game. This time, we chose to leave the elevator but inexplicably found ourselves transported to another realm. As I faced certain death, I pleaded to be revived.
In the fourth round, I returned to the factory, where we yed the four corners game. There, I confronted and killed my past self, finally realising who had killed me during the first round. Despite surviving the ordeal, I still perished when I decided not to leave the elevator. I followed the correct path on the fifth and final round and arrived here." Chu Xiu felt the weight of their stare and recounted his tale.
That was why he wasn''t surprised to see Lu Yan, hispanion from the previous round''s elevator game, in this new world.
Lu Yan withdrew his hand from Chu Xiu''s shoulder, his gaze retreating. "I understand."
Chu Xiu sensed something amiss and refocused. "Did you use psychological maniption on me?" His eyes betrayed a hint of concealed anger, but this disy of emotion was barely distinguishable from none for Lu Yan.
No one would willingly let others tamper with their mind. Yet, Lu Yan was unconcerned with Chu Xiu''s adverse reaction and replied calmly, with a touch of sarcasm. "Did you request my permission at the beginning? It''s only now that you''re upset."
Chu Xiu quickly reined in his emotions and apologised. "I''m sorry." He then inquired, "How many rounds have you experienced?"
Lu Yan considered before shaking his head. "I cannot say." He was uncertain how he had dealt with the repeated deaths and revivals that Chu Xiu had undergone. Still, the oue was unlikely to be favourable.
"You..."
"But you can try another method. Try returning to the beginning and taking a different path; see if you can solve the problem from the root."
"Are you so certain that we will die here?"
"Indeed, it is predetermined," dered Lu Yan. "Though I cannot fathom your desire to seek death, don''t bring me along."
Taken aback, Chu Xiu inquired, "Do you know a solution then?"
"I?" Lu Yan''s lips barely moved, forming a cold smile. "You need not concern yourself with that."
Before Chu Xiu could ponder further, Lu Yan interjected, "Wait. Let us make a wish togetherter. Try to go back to the beginning and steer clear of Wen Qing and herpanion Yun Qian! And stay far away from that hotel."
"Are you suggesting that the path to survival is" Chu Xiu began to realise as if waking from a hazy dream.
"Indeed. Otherwise, where did your belief in a wish-granting god originates? If you fail to make a wish for revival, you will not perish due to it," exined Lu Yan.
Although he had only attempted it once, he had discerned everything he had observed and heard with remarkable rity.
Fully alert, Chu Xiu murmured, "So, that''s how it is."
Their mission demanded that they entice two strangers to y together on the first day. They came across Wen Qing and Yun Qian on the YinMing Road and assumed they were the lifelines arranged by the task.
However, by selecting them, they had unwittingly chosen a dead end. Wen Qing and Yun Qian were ensnared in a peculiar cycle of praying to the gods for resurrection and then dying repeatedly. They were forcibly embroiled in it.
This was the task''s trap. They had fallen into it from the outset, and since they had misjudged the danger of the game on the first day, the ghosts were drawn to Yun Qian. Like that, they believed to be safe and continued to make mistakes.
It was akin to a Mobius strip. Once they entered it, no matter how they chose, they would inevitably arrive at the same conclusion.
When Chu Xiu spoke aloud, Lu Yan added, "Do you believe it''s only a Mobius strip? It..." Lu Yan hesitated before using an ambiguous reference, "can also ovep all the consequences of our choices, putting all our selves from different times and spaces together."
Thus, the more times they made a wish, the more opportunities they had to start anew and the more "other worlds" they created. It appeared that they had countless opportunities. However, once they entered the other world through the elevator game, they would be lost and unable to find a way out, ultimately leading to their demise.
The only way to break the cycle was to abstain from making a wish from the beginning! To refrain from starting over!
"Understood," Chu Xiu nodded, hoping to break the cycle fundamentally. After reflection, he asked, "What about you?"
Lu Yan gazed out the window and uttered, "I told you not to fret about it."
As a person of few words, Chu Xiu promptly concluded, "Since it''s settled, we''ll go our separate ways."
As he opened his eyes again, he found himself seated in the backseat of a car, the road ahead disappearing into a bleak, destendscape. He took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down. He had discovered a crucial clue. Had they not taken this choice, they wouldn''t have been stuck in an endless horror cycle. Chu Xiu knew that if they had kept Wen Qing and Yun Xi alive or managed to avoid them, the mission wouldn''t have spiralled out of control.
"Hold on, we need to find two people here," Chu Xiu suddenly said, surprising hispanions.
"Are you certain this is the ce, Brother Chu?" one of them asked, uncertain.
"Let''s just find them," Chu Xiu replied, his response vague. Hispanions had no choice but to search for the people he had asked for.
After some time, the car resumed its journey with two unconscious figures in the backseat. As they drove, two familiar youngdies appeared before them. This time, they passed by Wen Qing and Yun Xi, and Ye Sheng Ke was affected by the ghost-summoning game during the night.
Later, due to Chu Xiu''s persistent insistence, they moved to a different hotel. Away from the influence of the "god," the following games were not as arduous.
It was because, previously, Wen Qing had to tail them, thinking they had killed Yun Xi. But without the interference of Yun Xi and Wen Qing, they managed to pass the elevator game unscathed.
As Chu Xiu left, Lu Yan overheard his voice filled with hope, "All-knowing and all-powerful god, please let me...let me survive."
That was his only wish.
At a particr hotel in the city centre, Chu Xiu waited outside the door for an extended period until his target finally appeared. He felt excited and followed the man for a while before approaching him. "Excuse me, sir, would you like to y a game?"
Lu Yan''s body tensed up.
The reaction to facing the barrel of a gun is always the same, no matter who you are. Recalling the surveinceyout in the parking lot, Lu Yan realised that the blind spot they were in was not easily visible.
He asked, "What game?"
"Don''t worry, nobody dies. If you cooperate, your life will be safe," Chu Xiu replied.
Lu Yan raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Is that so?"
Before he could react, Chu Xiu sensed that something was off. The gun pressed against his waist was removed and thrown out of reach. Then, he felt a heavy blow to his head, causing him to copse onto the ground.
Lu Yan grabbed his neck and tightened his grip slowly. "Didn''t I tell you? If you''re looking for death, don''t bother me again."
He had made a wish to the so-called omniscient god, but the price he paid was considerable. "You remember?" he gasped.
Lu Yan hit him with his elbow again and stood up with a cold face. "What if I remember? What if I don''t? Don''t drag me down with you if you want to die."
"Wait! Let''s talk." Chu Xiu fought through the pain and stood up from the ground. "I''ve been investigating you for the past few days. Did you join the so-called omniscient god cult?"
Lu Yan nodded in response, refusing to say anything.
"I know a lot about this religion. If you participate, I''ll provide you with information. What do you say?" Chu Xiu didn''t believe that Lu Yan joined the omniscient god cult because of his beliefs; he must have had other motives.
Lu Yan sneered. "Do you take me for a fool? At first, you didn''t even know what the omniscient god was. Now you say you know a lot about it?"
"I have my ways of gathering information. I will give you the information in about two or three months," Chu Xiu exined.
Lu Yan knew what he meant. He said two to three months, but it was probably just the frequency of his missions. After a long pause, he finally nodded in agreement.
As they walked, Chu Xiu filled Lu Yan in on the past few days'' events. When Ye Sheng Ke yed games that day, nothing significant happened. But the next day, when everyone went to call him, they found that he had died in bed. His body was covered in blood, and deep purple bruises were on his neck.
"So now there are only three people left, and I must find one more," Chu Xiu exined.
"Hmm, what game do you intend to y this time?" inquired Lu Yan.
Chu Xiu found it difficult to reply upon hearing the question.
"At midnight, at the crossroads of the underworld road, we shall set up a bowl of rice, light three incense sticks and insert them into the rice. After they burn out, mix the ashes with the rice and eat it," he eventually revealed.
Lu Yan: "..."
Chu Xiu: "You have already agreed." This game was hard to find yers for; if an ordinary person consumed it and vomited, it could summon some strange events. After pondering it, it was better to y with someone familiar.
Lu Yan: "No problem." He nced outside the window and suddenly revealed a creepy smile. "Incense ashes are nothing...I have even tasted bone ashes."
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 45: Mixed rice with incense ash
Chapter 45: Mixed rice with incense ash
In just one sentence, the temperature inside the car dropped several degrees. After a moment of silence, Chu Xiu spoke up, his voiceced with uncertainty, "What you just said... is it true?"
Lu Yan, donning his usual expressionless facade, lowered his gaze and appeared to be deep in thought. After a brief pause, he responded nonchntly, "Believe it or not, it''s up to you."
Their journey led them to another hotel, where Nie Yun Zhen and Shi Yan eagerly greeted them as soon as they parked. It was clear they were intrigued by Lu Yan''s presence.
They couldn''t help but wonder about their connection. How long had they known each other? Had he been fooled into thinking that they were trustworthypanions? But as they observed Lu Yan''s shrewd demeanour, they dismissed the possibility.
Ignoring their curious stares, Lu Yan nodded in their direction, but didn''t bother to initiate a greeting. He had aplished his goal anyway.
Since Chu Xiu promised to investigate the Omniscient God Sect for him, Lu Yan had been subtly reinforcing his psychological suggestion. He had initially set his sights on An Xing Yu, but they had parted ways abruptly in Red River Vige before he could fully manipte his mind.
However, Chu Xiu seemed like a better candidate. He was older and had more experience, which meant he was more likely to survive longer than An Xing Yu. Lu Yan had been searching for so long that he was losing hope. But encountering people like Chu Xiu asionally gave him glimpses of the ordinary world before the mutations urred. He refused to give up.
The group spent the rest of the day running errands and buying supplies. Lu Yan requested that the boss pack four bowls of rice mixed with fragrant ash for dinner. It was also known as dead man''s rice, and ording to urban legend, it was believed to help lost spirits find their way home.
Eating this rice was also said to make seeing dead people easier and even make one a ghost. The group found themselves on Yinming Road, where yin and yang supposedly converged, adding to the ominous atmosphere.
As they strolled along the street, the sun began to set. Suddenly, a ck cat leapt from a tree andnded in Lu Yan''s arms. A missing cat noticed hanging from the tree had the same photo as the cat in his arms. It appeared to be stepping on his elbow as if seeking refuge.
Wen Qing was the contact person, and she and her group appeared trapped in an endless cycle. The ck cat from a few days ago had returned, just like before, and was now standing before them.
Shi Yan''s heart melted at the sight of the feline, and she asked, "Do you want to send it back?"
Chu Xiu led the way, carefully avoiding Wen Qing and Yun Qian''s deadly grasp, but Shi Yan couldn''t resist being kind to the cat. Lu Yan shook his head, saying, "Let''s not waste time." He ced the cat on the ground, put the student ID back into its mouth, and patted it on the backside. "You can find your own way back."
The cat disappeared into the foliage, evading Shi Yan''s hand and reaching to pet it. It was best not to search for the cat. Wen Qing''s resurrection required a vital condition: the cat had to be dead after killing everyone in the hotel, including Wen Zheng Xin. This was a possible solution to breaking the cycle.
As they waited for nightfall, the surroundings grew gloomier, like a pot of undiluted ink, and the trees became more abundant, but there were no verdant leaves to be found. Finally, they arrived at YinMing Road, which they nned to cross after midnight.
Shi Yan sat in the back seat, holding a thermos filled with rice and gazing out the window. She thought of Ye Sheng Ke and sighed softly, ''Little leaf is gone... How much longer will Ist?'' She was tired of the prolonged, hopeless darkness that awaited her in the future. Her desire for life prevented her from picking up the knife and ending it all, but she longed for a way out.
Nie Yun Zhen noticed Shi Yan''s sombre expression in the mirror and switched to a more upbeat song, saying, "Alright, we can''t bring the dead back to life, so let''s focus on what''s essential right now."
Shi Yan took a deep breath, trying to snap out of her grief and fear of death. Nie Yun Zhen''s words left asting impact on her. Why choose death when life is an option? Those were Ye Sheng Ke''s words of sce to her, and she knew he was right. She had to keep fighting, no matter how hopeless the situation seemed.
Can the dead truly be resurrected?
The cold seeped into their bones as the night wore on, and the heavy frost and dew finally gave way to midnight. Nie Yun Zhen had started the car and was driving through the darkness when the crossroads came into view.
"Shall we begin?" Nie Yun Zhen asked tentatively. Chu Xiu replied, "Let''s start. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go back."
The four of them alighted from the car, the biting wind swirling around them as they made their way to the centre of the crossroads. Since the task did not require them to work alone, they decided to work together. Nie Yun Zhen produced over a dozen sticks of incense from his bag and a lighter from his pocket, attempting to light them. However, something strange urred - his lighter produced a spark, but the me went out instantly. What did this mean?
The other three people also contemted the terrible possibility...
Chu Xiu chided, "Don''t scare yourself," before holding his hands together and blocking the wind to allow Nie Yun Zhen to continue lighting the incense. This time, ten or so incense sticks were easily ignited, and three sticks were distributed to each person.
Shi Yan and Lu Yan had previously prepared the food, selecting the smallest bowls to avoid any mishaps. Four bowls of white rice were arranged with three sticks of incense inserted neatly into each one. White smoke wafted upwards as the three incense sticks burned little by little until they werepletely consumed, leaving ash on the cooled rice.
Then it was time to eat.
Shi Yan stirred her bowl with chopsticks, and the white rice clumped together, forming grey granr substances that appeared nauseating. She gritted her teeth and took a bite, struggling to swallow the disgusting mixture.
Shi Yan resisted the urge to vomit to survive, but she noticed that the others'' expressions were equally pained. Only the neer, Lu Yan, appeared calm, almost like a robot pouring oil into his mouth with no visible emotion. This demeanour put people off their appetite and made them feel less nauseous.
Shi Yan understood why Chu Xiu had insisted on finding the neer himself and was pleased with his resilience. Encouraging herself, she persevered and continued to eat.
One small bowl was quickly consumed, but after a few seconds of patience, Lu Yan''s stomach felt like it was torn apart by sharp objects. He sat up straight and scanned his surroundings, wondering if he would see ghosts after eating food for dead people. However, he saw nothing but the pitch-ck night sky and the pale-white road, all nk with nothing in sight.
As Lu Yan scanned his surroundings, Shi Yan''s eyes widened - she had seen it. She had seen something!
ording to legend, if one unintentionallyys eyes on a ghost, one must not utter a single sound. It''s best to feign blindness. If the ghost senses you or if you lock eyes with it, death or bad luck will befall you.
Shi Yan kept her head low and refrained from talking, but her gaze slowly drifted towards Chu Xiu and Nie Yun Zhen.
Can they see it?
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 46: Cars colliding at intersection
Chapter 46: Cars colliding at intersection
The pungent taste of burnt ashes mingled with the cooled rice was utterly repugnant. Its nauseating effect was not lost on the trio, whose minds were already wandering, contemting the deeper meaning behind the game. But the putrid taste made it impossible for them to digest the reality of what they were doing.
"Will we really...see ghosts?" Shi Yan forced herself to sound casual, struggling to mask her unease. She avoided eye contact with anything out of the ordinary, hoping not to attract any attention.
In many horror stories, those who could see ghosts would inevitably draw the spirits'' attention, bing attractive to certain paranormal entities. Shi Yan found herself in this situation now, but thest thing she wanted was to be noticed; however, except for Lu Yan, the other two already sensed something was amiss.
The frigid sensation on their skin grew more intense with each passing moment, making them shiver uncontrobly, despite being bundled in thick clothing. The ghosts wereing, and they were close.
From every direction, indistinct shadows emerged at the intersection, their bodies hazy and translucent to the trio''s eyes, with some appearing iplete.
The crossroad was infamous for its high incidence of car idents. It was regarded as one of the most haunted ces due to its high Yin energy levels. There were rumours of methods to summon ghosts by repeatedly knocking on bowls at night at crossroads. It was said that this could attract lost souls and wandering spirits, not to mention eating "dead man''s rice" at the intersection of the YinMing Road. Now, it seemed that the power of the ritual was more significant than they had anticipated.
The "dead man''s rice" was a delicacy for hungry ghosts, but it was difficult for the living to swallow. They gulped it, trying toplete the task as quickly as possible. And when the hungry ghosts caught a whiff of the scent, the bowl was already empty.
Suddenly, the ravenous ghosts turned their attention from the rice to the three living people.
One of the ghastly apparitions, a semi-transparent, bloodied figure, had alreadytched onto Shi Yan. She seemed to be a woman in her previous life, her pallid face twisted in agony, her limbs crushed into a pulp of meat. Despite her grotesque appearance, she moved quickly, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Shi Yan; her arm that looked like disintegrated a pile of flesh, extended slowly towards her.
"Hurry up! Aren''t you done yet?" Shi Yan screamed, trying to dodge the ghostly hands, which felt as light and insubstantial as air.
When the ghostly apparition first appeared at the intersection, Nie Yun Zhen had already scooped two spoonfuls of rice from the thermos into a bowl. He lit three sticks of incense, which he inserted into the rice, and the fragrant smoke rose in curls. Now, the three incense sticks still burned slowly, and their ash had mixed with the rice, turning it a ghostly white-grey.
"Not yet, hold on a little longer," Nie Yun Zhen pleaded, his voice filled with desperation. The red tip of the incense sticks still glowed, indicating that there was still a small amount left to burn. He held the lighter to the incense, hoping to elerate the process.
The frigid air had condensed the incense sticks, causing them to burn at a much slower pace. As they waited, a cold, raspy voice interrupted the silence.
"I''m so hungry..." it moaned in Shi Yan''s ear, sending shivers down everyone''s spines.
The sighs came in waves like a switch had been flipped, and soon the intersection was enveloped in a blur of ghostly apparitions. A mist settled around them, obscuring their view of the outside world. The ghosts grew restless, and the sense of danger was palpable.
"The ghosts are bing impatient," Lu Yan whispered.
"Damn it, when did so many of theme?" Nie Yun Zhen darted left and right, trying to evade the ghosts that moved sluggishly but inexorably.
The trio were in disarray but could not stop moving, for they feared getting injured. If they were to bleed, they knew they themselves would be hungry ghosts feast.
"I''m hungry," the voice echoed once more.
"I...am so hungry," another voice chimed in.
Theirmentations grew louder and more frequent, forming a sound circle around the three yers. The sobs became a symphony of despair, and the ghosts closed tighter.
"Ah--" Suddenly, Nie Yun Zhen screamed in agony, his hand bitten by one of the child-like ghosts. The pain was excruciating, and he dropped the bowl that, luckily, was caught by Lu Yan. Blood sttered onto the bowl, mixing with the grey powder that remained. The three incense sticks had burned down to nothing, marking the end.
"Run!" bellowed Chu Xiu as he snatched the bowl from the other person''s hand, threw it to the ground, and ignored the ghosts that rushed towards them. The four of them ran out of the encirclement.
They dared to turn their heads only after they had fled the circle. A horde of ghosts was rending and fighting with each other, their translucent bodies almost fusing together and continually emitting ear-splitting howls and shrieks.
With no time to spare, the quartet swiftly scrambled into the car. Nie Yun Zhen''s hand had been gnawed off a chunk of flesh, making it impossible for him to drive. Chu Xiumandeered the driver''s seat and pressed the elerator to the floor. In the inky ck night, they careened out recklessly.
Nobody knew how long the rice wouldst, but unfortunately, so many ghosts had arrived. The consequences would be unimaginable if they finished devouring the food and came back looking for them.
Nie Yun Zhen slumped in the back seat, and Shi Yan wrapped his wound with multiple rounds of gauze. He gritted his teeth against the agony and said jokingly, "Fortunately, we brought plenty of supplies earlier; otherwise, we wouldn''t have made it out."
He didn''t expect that the one who would respond was Lu Yan, who had been mute in the co-drivers seat. "It''s a double-edged sword. The more rice fore dead we make, the more ghosts we attract." His gaze skimmed through the ss window, and he appeared to glimpse something. The look in his eyes made Nie Yun Zhen uneasy. He sensed that the other person preferred to gaze at the monotonous nocturnal scene outside the window rather than nce at him.
Chu Xiu sighed, "Don''t forget our game for tomorrow."
Tomorrow''s mission location was still on YinMing Road. Who knew if these spectres would depart in a single day?
After Chu Xiu finished speaking, there was silence in the back seat. Nie Yun Zhen must have recognized the gravity of the problem. Peering in the rearview mirror, hisplexion was wan and eerie, and Shi Yan, who had assisted him in bandaging, was equally sallow.
Seemingly aware of Chu Xiu''s scrutiny through the mirror, Shi Yan stared directly at it. Suddenly, she sported a ghostly smile.
Chu Xiu stomped on the brakes, swivelled his head abruptly, and instantly felt a chill cascade down his spine.
Where were the man and woman figures in the back seat? In just a few seconds, the two had vanished without a trace.
They were ghosts!
As Chu Xiu turned around, he realized that Lu Yan, sitting in the passenger seat, had disappeared, leaving him alone in the car. However, looking in the rearview mirror, he could still see the other three passengers and hear Lu Yan''s inquiry, "What happened? Why did we suddenly stop?"
Chu Xiu gritted his teeth and drove forward, preparing to abandon the car and flee as soon as they reached the city''s edge. The deste location and potential danger made him cautious. He knew that recklessly leaving the vehicle could cost him his life.
Although the vehicle was at its maximum speed, it began to behave erratically, with waves appearing on the previously straight road. "What are you doing?!" Lu Yan yelled as he almost fell out of his seat. After returning to his seat, he realized something was amiss. Chu Xiu''s eyes were open, but he seemed unconscious.
Lu Yan took control of the steering wheel as the car almost collided with a nearby tree. Shi Yan, who had not yet understood what was happening, asked in a panic, "What''s wrong? What happened to Brother Chu?" But she soon realized the dire situation.
Chu Xiu''s head was tilted to one side, and he appeared to be in a trance. If he wasn''t wearing his seat belt, the sudden jolt of the car would have tossed him out of his seat. When Lu Yan hit the brake, the vehicle''s speed increased instead of decreasing. Nie Yun Zhen grabbed the armrest, frightened by the sharp turn. "Brother Chu is in trouble; please help us!"
As they struggled to regain control, the car''s speed continued to rise, and the scenery outside the window changed abruptly. The passengers'' vision blurred, and the vehicle suddenly returned to the crossroads a few hundred meters behind them. They were speeding towards the intersection again, only to find three identical cars racing towards them from the other three roads. It was nearly impossible to distinguish the genuine car from the replicas as if four identical vehicles were present.
"What''s going on?!"
Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen were in disbelief at the shocking scene. The oing car''s bright headlights made it hard to see, and the vehicle they were in was driving at an rming speed.
"Brake quickly! Please!" they yelled desperately.
Lu Yan was also taken aback by the situation. He used excessive force to kick Chu Xiu''s foot off the elerator, nearly breaking his opponent''s leg. Despite this, the brake pedal failed to work, and the speed continued to increase.
"The brakes have failed," Lu Yan informed them calmly.
Nie Yun Zhen felt anxiety wash over him as he tried to lean forward and assist, but the unconscious Chu Xiu blocked his way. Suddenly, a jolt threw him back in his seat.
Within seconds, the distance between the four cars rapidly decreased, and they were on the verge of a fatal collision. Even if they were to survive, the impact at this speed would cause serious injury.
Unbeknownst to them, a pale figure was clinging to the car''s underside, the culprit responsible for sabotaging the brakes.
In the face of impending doom, Lu Yan remainedposed. He surveyed the surroundings carefully in the light and made a decisive decision. He turned the steering wheel to the right in the final second before reaching the intersection.
The car turned sharply at high speed. If it had been someone less skilled, it would have flipped over. The passengers inside were thrown about by the force of the turn. Before they could evenin, they narrowly avoided a collision with an off-road vehicle emerging from the right intersection. The two cars'' copies collided and shattered, leaving numerous marks on their bodies.
As they passed the other vehicle, they caught a glimpse of its upants. To their horror, four perfectly arranged white human bones were seated inside.
Luckily, despite the severe damage inflicted on their car, they emerged unscathed, spared from the gruesome fate that befell the three vehicles behind them, which collided with a deafening cacophony of destruction. One car from the left vanished in the violent burst of the impact.
Atst, Lu Yan exhaled a sigh of relief, having narrowly avoided the same gruesome fate.
His intuition had proven correct.
Beside him, Nie Yun Zhen struggled to catch his breath, his head having taken several hard knocks during the ordeal. He had expected to either meet his end or be yed alive, yet the car that rammed them had disappeared into thin air.
"How did you manage that?" He asked, still in disbelief.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 47: Missing bodies
Chapter 47: Missing bodies
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.] As the car elerated, the darkness outside the window appeared imprable, like a shroud draped over the world. They left the explosion site behind, watching as it slowly shrank into the distance. The bowls they had abandoned earlier were nowhere to be seen, presumably obliterated in the st.
Chu Xiu remained unconscious, and the difort of the situation made it difficult to switch drivers. Lu Yan struggled to navigate the steering wheel with one hand while using the other to release Chu Xiu''s seat belt. Nie Yun Zhen helped by dragging him to the back seat.
As they drove down the highway, they graduated from copilots to drivers.
Only when they once again caught sight of the city lights ahead of them did Lu Yan respond to Nie Yun Zhen''s query. "About your previous question, I saw a reflection."
"A reflection?"
"Yes. Four identical cars collided at the intersection simultaneously. Do you think that''s possible?"
"If it''s a ghost, then it''s definitely possible," Nie Yun Zhen mused, pondering the supernatural being''s ability to manipte time and space.
Ghosts possessed the capability to do anything, from teleportation to reversing time. Their curses were equally formidable, and you could not evade them no matter where you fled. They had no way of eradicating ghosts aside fromplying with the mission''s regtions.
"I made a gamble," said Lu Yan, settling into the driver''s seat. He didn''t bother to buckle his seat belt, and his face was cold and stern against the night sky. He looked at Nie Yun Zhen in the rearview mirror and spoke gravely. "The headlights were blinding, but I could still make out some details. The caring from the left at the intersection had a reflection on its window, while the one on the right did not. The car heading straight towards us also had a reflection. And when I turned to help Chu Xiu, I saw the reflection of the car behind us on the rear windshield."
In horror stories, ghosts and supernatural entities are often visible on reflective surfaces like mirrors. The fact that the car on the left wasn''t reflected by the car opposite made Lu Yan wonder if it was an illusion. Based on what he had seen at that moment, he decided to take a gamble. And it paid off.
But even as Lu Yan spoke, Nie Yun Zhen still felt like something was off. "If that''s the case," he said, "why didn''t you turn left?"
The car on the left was fake, so logically, turning left should not have caused any damage. Lu Yan elucidated, "But I can''t be certain what would happen if we touched an illusion."
In reality, Lu Yan had been preparing for the worst for some time. As the front passenger on the right-hand side, he had positioned himself closer to the ghost car when turning right, bringing him closer to where Chu Xiu was unconscious on the left. He had even prepared to jump out of the car or push Chu Xiu out if something went wrong. But thankfully, nothing abnormal urred, and Chu Xiu remained under his control for the time being.
Nie Yun Zhen quickly understood the situation. "Colliding with an illusion might have consequences. It''s better to deal with something tangible."
Invisible supernatural phenomena were always more terrifying than visible ones. Shi Yan listened in on their conversation and whispered, "What about Chu Xiu? He passed out and doesn''t know what''s going on."
Even Nie Yun Zhen felt a hint of distress. "Let''s get him back first, but..." He leaned in and whispered something to Shi Yan, causing her to hesitate before nodding in agreement.
Still in the back seat, Chu Xiu looked pale and had shallow breathing. It was as though he was trapped in an endless nightmare.
**
They drove onward until they sighted the familiar main road and city lights in the distance, and only then did Chu Xiu breathe a sigh of relief.
The temperature within the car continually plummeted. Despite cranking the heat up to the maximum, the cheerful faces of the other three in the rearview mirror appeared particrly sombre beneath the shing lights. As soon as he turned around, the seats were once again unupied.
However, Chu Xiu feigned ignorance and conversed with them as if everything was normal. Although their dialogues were exceedingly odd, Chu Xiu still acted as though he knew nothing, trying to seek an opportunity to escape.
But what frightened him was that the car door seemed jammed and refused to open, no matter how hard he tried.
"Lu Yan," seated in the front passenger seat, had lost his patience. He sat upright and faced forward, but his eyes gradually widened. Then, a pair of lifeless, ck eyeballs gradually swivelled leftward, locking onto Chu Xiu.
In the mirror, his pupils grew increasingly askew, as though they might tumble out...no, they truly did drop out and ttered onto the ground. One of them chanced to roll to the underside of Chu Xiu''s foot as he ced it down.
He stepped on it without warning, and his entire body stiffened in response.
"Do you... see my... eyes?" The man in the passenger seat opened his mouth, revealing a set of white teeth. "I''m... so hungry..."
A voice from the back seat echoed the man''s words. "I''m... so hungry..."
Chu Xiu attempted to speak, but his gaze shot upward before he could, and he suddenly copsed.
He caught a glimpse of his headless body on the driver''s seat, with a gush of fresh blood spurting from his broken neck. The surrounding objects appeared to growrger... no, his head had shrunk, rolling to the ground. A familiar shoe stepped on it the next second.
He then realised that he had stepped on his shrunken head, not an eyeball.
"Chu-ge, wake up," someone murmured. Chu Xiu detected someone shaking him.
He opened his eyes and saw Shi Yan''s concerned expression. When she saw that he had awoken, her worry dissipated, reced by relief. "You''re finally awake."
Chu Xiu sat up and surveyed his surroundings. He remained inside the car, with Lu Yan at the wheel. Nie Yun Zhen, Shi Yan, and he were seated in the back, all looking concerned.
His memories were still stuck in the illusion he had just experienced. He touched his neck to ensure it was still there and thanked Lu Yan before urgently inquiring about Nie Yun Zhen, "What happened to me just now?"
Nie Yun Zhen responded, "You became motionless all of a sudden, your eyes open, facing sideways. Fortunately, Lu Yan was seated next to you, so we avoided a car ident."
Chu Xiu noted the time and realised that nearly an hour had psed since they departed the crossroads. Could it be that he had emerged from that illusion after dying? Could it be that straightforward?
"Did something else ur just now?" Chu Xiu inquired.
Nie Yun Zhen nodded, "Yes, but it''s been resolved." He then recounted the events that took ce at the intersection. After Chu Xiu finished listening, he felt that something was amiss. He knew the illusion was on the left, so why did they turn right? Was it because of what he had said that they were afraid of encountering something even more peculiar if they collided with the illusion?
Chu Xiupared his and Lu Yan''s positions and instantlyprehended the truth. He gritted his teeth but still remained silent, muttering a thank you.
Could he still care about this matter if he was still alive?
Lu Yan didn''t even nce back, he simply drove on without acknowledging Chu Xiu''s thanks. The streets were empty at this point, with even the lights dimming.
"Speaking of which, we were incredibly lucky this time. Despite theplications, we managed to escape unscathed," Nie Yun Zhen sighed. "I hope the uing tasks will be just as smooth."
Shi Yan spoke up, "It''s just too bad about Little Ye..."
"A dead man cannot return to life. Let it go," Nie Yun Zhen consoled her. "No one can guarantee that they will always be alive."
"You''re right."
Chu Xiu looked out the window at the unfamiliar street and asked with some confusion, "Did we change hotels?"
"Yes, while you were unconscious, I received news that a murder took ce at the hotel we were previously staying at. Therefore, we had to relocate," Nie Yun Zhen replied, pointing to his phone screen. "Here, it''s a bit far."
The city centre was far from the gloomy suburbs, and the drive was long.
Speaking of which, Brother Chu, what should we do tomorrow?" Nie Yun Zhen asked, feeling bored and frustrated as he grabbed his hair.
At that moment, Lu Yan, driving in the front seat, interrupted, "What do you guys want to do again?"
Chu Xiu replied, "How about ying hide and seek tomorrow night? The location is on YinMing Road."
Lu Yan sneered, "Seems like you''re tired of living."
Nie Yun Zhen couldn''t help but say, "It''s not like we have a choice to..." He didn''t finish his sentence as Shi Yan signalled for him to stop.
They were aware that taking on the mission was their only option. If they didn''t, it would surely be a death sentence. Going on the task at least offered them a chance, but they kept this fact to themselves, knowing that Lu Yan, who wasn''t one of the mission executors, didn''t need to know.
Nie Yun Zhen shook off his distraction, feeling frustrated for almost slipping up and revealing too much. They continued to chat as they made their way to the hotel they had selected.
Lu Yan pulled up to the hotel''s parking lot and parked the car, turning to face them. "I''ve done my part. Don''te to me for help again," he warned them.
Chu Xiu nodded in agreement, "Understood."
Although the hotel was brightly lit, it gave off an ominous vibe. As the trio stepped out of the car and walked towards the entrance, they watched as Lu Yan drove away and disappeared from sight.
Suddenly, an unexpected event urred - a car backed up and violently collided with Shi Yan, who was at the back of the group. She was sent flying and didn''t even have time to scream before hitting the ground and rolling several times before finally stopping at Chu Xiu''s feet with a loud crash.
Her eyes remained open wide as arge pool of blood oozed out from under her, staining her clothes a deep shade of red.
Inside the parking lot, car sirens red incessantly. Nie Yun Zhen hadn''t even had a chance to grieve yet. When he heard the rms and footsteps approaching from afar, along with the security guard''s questioning voice, he immediately seized Chu Xiu and urged him to leave. "We need to leave quickly! If they call the police, it could cause problems."
Although the incident had nothing to do with them, it was apparent that it resulted from a supernatural urrence. After all, how could a properly parked vehicle suddenly reverse and hit someone? But could they confide in the police about it? That would be a real dead end if they were detained and prevented from going to Yin-Ming Road at midnight tonight!
Chu Xiu also understood this, and they hastily took a detour and left. After all, the hotel''s security guard had already arrived, and he would take the injured person to the hospital. If Shi Yan didn''t pull through...
Chu Xiu shook his head and kept running forward.
The parking lot was in turmoil, with rms ring everywhere as though someone was haphazardly kicking the cars and activating security signals. To make matters worse, as they were about to exit the parking lot, some unmanned vehicles slowly started up and elerated towards them.
"Bad news! Be careful!"
Chu Xiu and Nie Yun Zhen instantly ran in opposite directions, dodging the two cars approaching from the front and back. The two vehicles collided, and their pieces scattered all over the ground.
Why was this happening? Did they activate some kind of death g?
"Who''s in the parking lot? Stop running!" A louder roar came from a distance, and the security guard must have been infuriated. He even summoned more people toe over, and the sound of footsteps became more frequent.
Chu Xiu and Nie Yun Zhen frantically tried to escape the chaos of the parking lot, dodging cars left and right. However, they could not escape the danger and inadvertently went further into the parking lot. Eventually, they were separated as a car raced towards them. Chu Xiu was left to fend for himself and faced another car speeding towards him. He quickly made a daring move and jumped onto the roof of another vehicle to avoid being hit. The car behind him smashed into the car he was standing on, but thankfully, there was no explosion. Chu Xiu took a moment to catch his breath and assess the situation, only to find that the other cars in the parking lot still crashed uncontrobly. He couldn''t locate Nie Yun Zhen, and the security guards seemed to be the targets of the out-of-control vehicles.
Just as Chu Xiu was wondering where Nie Yun Zhen could be, he heard a loud explosion and felt something hit him from behind. He was sent flying and tumbled before realizing that Nie Yun Zhen''s dying body had hit him. Chu Xiu was filled with disbelief and shock. They had been on countless missions before and had never faced such danger. How could something as simple as avoiding a few cars lead to Nie Yun Zhen''s death? Chu Xiu ignored his pain and wiped the blood from his forehead as he searched for a way out of the parking lot. He cautiously moved forward, avoiding any obstacles that could harm him. Suddenly, a headless corpse fell before him, and Chu Xiu was left wondering what was happening.
He thought back to the bowl for the dead he had consumed at the crossroads and wondered if it had summoned these ghosts. The body before him looked very familiar, and he realized it belonged to Shi Yan. The body was intact, but the head was missing.
He had to tread cautiously and manoeuvre around the corpse as he made his way forward. The headless body suddenly grasped his ankle as he was about to depart. Chu Xiu yanked his foot free and ran ahead without looking back. This time, he could leave smoothly, and he finally arrived at the intersection where a car was parked. The driver''s window rolled down, and to his surprise, it was Lu Yan.
"Get in the car!" urged Lu Yan, and without hesitation, Chu Xiu opened the door and hopped in.
Grateful for the ride, Chu Xiu sighed in relief, but suddenly he felt a wave of nausea hit him. Was it because of that bowl of rice? The difort was almost unbearable.
Lu Yan, who was behind the wheel, seemed to feel the same way, judging by the grimace on his face. Observing Chu Xiu''s pallidplexion, he asked, "Do you feel something''s amiss too?"
Chu Xiu nodded, but before he could say anything, he leaned out the car window and violently vomited a stream of ck beetles rattling as they fell to the ground and scurried forward.
To his surprise, what came out of Chu Xiu''s mouth wasn''t vomit but a continuous stream of ck beetles with shiny ck shells and red patterns, each about half the size of a finger. These were hammer beetles, also known as corpse beetles, because they preferred feeding on the corpses of humans or animals.
The thought of these creatures inside his body made Chu Xiu feel even more nauseous, causing him to continue vomiting. Once he was finished, he quickly closed the window to prevent any of the beetles from crawling back in.
After a terrifying experience, Chu Xiu finally had a chance to check on Lu Yan. "Are you okay?" he asked, his face pale as gold paper from the ordeal. Lu Yan''s face was equally pale, and he covered his mouth as he dried heaved a few times. His grip on the steering wheel was unsteady, and once he handed over control to Chu Xiu, he leaned back heavily in the seat, gasping for air.
Watching Lu Yan bend over, Chu Xiu grew anxious. "Don''t hold it in! It might be corpse beetles. Open the window and spit outside."
Lu Yan waved his hand dismissively. "It''s not corpse worms," he said weakly as he pulled a slender white bone from his mouth. More and more followed, piling up next to his seat. Soon, the bones formed a tall stack that almost reached the seat level.
Chu Xiu''s hand on the steering wheel grew cold. He realised this Lu Yan was fake, just like everything else that had happened so far. He wanted to step on the brakes, but the ground beneath the car was covered in bones. The fake Lu Yan continued spitting bones, and Chu Xiu realised he couldn''t open the door.
Suddenly, the bones on the ground began to move...
**
Back at the hotel, Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen were extremely anxious. "What should we do? It''s almost afternoon, and Brother Chu hasn''t woken up yet."
They feared for their lives, knowing they might not survive without Chu Xiu''s help.
After sending the three to the hotel, Lu Yan was clever enough to leave alone, but they had no idea what to do next. Nie Yun Zhen was injured and unable to apany Chu Xiu. Chu Xiu was in lousy shape, sweating profusely with arge wound on his forehead for no apparent reason, clearly in a precarious state.
"There''s no other choice," Nie Yun Zhen gasped, gripping his hair in frustration. "If he hasn''t woken up by eight o''clock tonight, I''ll grab some passers-by from the hotel."
It takes at least two hours by car to get to YinMing Road. If they wait longer for him, all three of them will die!
"What about him?" Shi Yan asked.
Nie Yun Zhen''s brow furrowed deeper.
"Maybe we could drag him over there and hide him first, then start ying hide-and-seek," Shi Yan suggested.
"That sounds easy, but who knows what will happen if he gets caught? And what if the ghost can''t catch people? What if someone finds him hidden? Besides, who will do the hiding? Me or you?"
Although Shi Yan had trained herself for the task, she couldn''t carry a man too far. Nie Yun Zhen had to do it.
"Also, if I''m hiding him, will you be responsible for suppressing the people we catch? If you don''t keep an eye on them and they find him, Chu Xiu will be the first one caught."
"I''ll take care of it. Give me a gun, and I''ll see who dares to peek," Shi Yan said.
Nie Yun Zhen closed his eyes. "Actually...that''s not the point," he said slowly, looking at the unconscious, pale, twisted Chu Xiu. "I''ll just say it. We have to draw lots to be the ghost. If any of us draw the lot, are you sure you won''t go after him?"
Upon reflection, he knew that he would not miss this opportunity if he drew the ghost slip and no one else was found. Even though Chu Xiu had assisted them greatly, they couldn''t risk their lives at a crucial moment.
Shi Yan pursed her lips and agreed, "Okay, if he doesn''t wake up by nightfall, then it''s his misfortune, and we can''t me ourselves."
Nie Yun Zhen knew that Shi Yan had always been protective of their team members, whether Ye Shengke before or Chu Xiu now. As long as they were coborating partners, Shi Yan would do her utmost to keep them secure. Nie Yun Zhen disagreed, but since Shi Yan had already spoken, if they hid Chu Xiu away, it would be tantamount to knowing a yer''s fixed hiding ce, which would actually benefit him. Nie Yun Zhen didn''t hesitate and consented.
After they left the room, the person on the bed changed. Shiny ck beetles with red patterns on their backs crawled out of Chu Xiu''s mouth one by one. There were too many of them, and they moved in a continuous stream, covering the bed entirely. Eventually, they crawled down to the floor and scattered in every direction.
Their bodies were tiny, measuring only two or three centimetres long, slightly ttened, and they could easily crawl out of the door crack. Some corpse insects wriggled into the bathroom and burrowed into the sewer.
A little boy ying with his phone in the hotel''s other room requested, "Mummy, I want some water."
"Alright, I''ll boil some now." After speaking, the woman picked up the kettle next to the TV and headed to the bathroom to fetch some water. However, she shrieked in terror when she turned on the faucet, and the kettle was flung aside.
Instead of water, a never-ending stream of small ck beetles emerged from the faucet.
"Mummy, what''s wrong?" The little boy asked in confusion, then screamed in fright, "Ah - mummy, what is that?"
"It''s filthy! Quick, let''s leave!"
The boy''s question echoed through the small room, "Do we leave our clothes and bags?"
As the woman turned around, she was met with a horrifying sight. The tiny room was swarming with small ck insects. The creepy crawly creatures moved so rapidly that the bed was covered in a matter of seconds, and the woman''s scalp started to tingle with fear.
She wanted to gather her belongings, but the room was no longer safe. "No, forget it. Baby, let''s go!" The woman quickly scooped up the little boy and made a dash for the door.
To her astonishment, the door of the adjacent room was wide open, and an endless army of ck insects flowed out, transforming the hallway into a moving, ck carpet. The swarm swallowed up the two, leaving them with nowhere to escape.
"We need to leave right away! Something''s not right with this hotel!" Shi Yan hurriedly sought out Nie Yun Zhen. "I''ll pack up. You get Chu Xiu. Hurry!"
As seasoned missionaries, they were used to quick, efficient action. Nie Yun Zhen did not hesitate and immediately went to fetch Chu Xiu.
He went to Chu Xiu''s room without incident; strangely, he had not encountered the bug horde. When he opened the door, he found Chu Xiufortably lying in bed. He picked him up and rushed out.
"Hurry up, let''s go! The elevator''s down; we''ll have to take the stairs." Shi Yan was waiting outside the door, bags in one hand and luggage in the other. The three of them bolted down the stairwell, and only then did Nie Yun Zhen realize the gravity of the situation.
Where were these corpse bugsing from?
The beetles had covered almost the entire hallway, their glossy shells shining like a sea of darkness. They had no choice but to step on them to move forward, the sickening sound of shells crunching and the stter of sludge apanying every step. They had to constantly brush off the bugs climbing them to avoid being swarmed.
Nie Yun Zhen carried Chu Xiu with both hands while Shi Yan took care of the luggage and swatted away the bugs with her coat. Finally, they arrived at the lobby on the ground floor, pushed the door open and bolted out into the safety of the outside world.
Finally, they could breathe a sigh of relief. Nie Yun Zhen, heavily gasping for air, carried arge man and ran up the stairs, consuming much of his stamina. "That was horrible. I don''t know where those bugs came from," he said.
Shi Yan was equally disgusted, frowning as she examined the sole of her shoe. "Yeah, it was too disgusting," she said, feeling nauseous at the memory.
Suddenly, Nie Yun Zhen stood opposite her, mouth agape in shock. "Wait, look at this," he said.
Confused, Shi Yan turned around to see a continuous stream of tiny ck bugs crawling up the outeryer of the building. The entire structure was gradually being covered by ck corpse insects.
"Let''s go," Nie Yun Zhen said, lightly nudging Shi Yan''s shoulder. She finally reacted, "Ah? Okay, let''s go."
Their car was parked in the lot with arge scratch on the left side and a broken rearview mirror. However, they had no time to fix it and couldn''t be picky. They ced Chu Xiu in the back seat and drove to the city with Shi Yan behind the wheel.
"You know, what if we find some students? High school or college students will do," Nie Yun Zhen suggested.
Shi Yan was surprised by his suggestion. "Students?"
"Yes, aren''t their many students who like to y these exciting adventure games?"
"But, but..."
ording to the site executors'' feedback, they generally did not choose students for their tasks. Their targets were usually young and middle-aged residents who looked intelligent. Perhaps this was their only disy of conscience.
Unbeknownst to Shi Yan, they had already chosen two students, Wen Qing and Yun Qian, at the beginning of theirst ythrough. The consequence was that they paid a painful price. This was also why Shi Yan felt a vague resistance in her heart, although she didn''t fully understand it.
"Stop with the buts. Who else can we find now?" Nie Yun Zhen interrupted, shaking his injured hand and removing the bandage to apply for new medicine. The wound was still ck. "Besides, the mission doesn''t specify the number of people. The more people we find, the better."
He found tricking people intoing was a more straightforward approachpared to threatening them with a gun if he needed someone. Nevertheless, he knew those lured in under the pretence of a game were likely to perish quicker due to inattentiveness. Thus, Chu Xiu favoured using a firearm to coerce them, keeping the participants alert and pushing them to work harder to save themselves.
"I''ll post something now and invite them," Shi Yan said, but she didn''t exude confidence. She lowered her gaze and quickly searched for a high school near YinMing Road.
At the school:
"Hey, have you all heard? Tian Le from the next ss is taking leave tonight."
"Leave? So what?"
"Guess what he''s doing during his leave?"
"Is he going on a date?"
"No, that''s not it." The girl who instigated the conversation lowered her voice. "He arranged to explore YinMing Road tonight, ying hide and seek. How thrilling, isn''t it?"
"Wow... that''s too audacious. Count me out."
"But wait, didn''t they say three cars crashed on YinMing Roadst night? I heard that people died. The traffic police should be patrolling the area now, right?"
"They patrol during the day but not at night, right?"
"It''s too frightening; I won''t go."
"Where did he learn of this news? And who is he going with?"
"I heard it was someone from out of town, interested in the ghost stories and keen on visiting YinMing Road." The girl who first spread the news lowered her voice. "Tian Le is going for a reason. The person who posted stated they were too scared to go alone and offered to pay one thousand yuan for someone to apany them and y for two hours before returning."
Tian Le''s family was not wealthy, so the allure of one thousand yuan for two hours proved to be irresistible to him. Especially since it wasn''t illegal or immoral.
The news about the post quickly spread throughout the entire grade. The poster imed no limit to the number of participants, and the more people who joined, the better. All one had to do was stay with them and y; each person would receive one thousand. The city wasn''t mainly developed, simr to Tiantianle, and many high school students who imed to be brave were tempted.
"Hey, Qingqing, have you heard?"
Yun Qian and Wen Qing returned from the restroom and overheard everyone discussing something. A few girls pulled them over to join the huddle.
"What''s going on?" Wen Qing asked curiously.
"It''s about someone nning to explore YinMing Road."
"What?!" Wen Qing''s face turned pale. "You can''t go there!"
She wanted to say more, but the bell rang, and the teacher walked in. Wen Qing returned to her seat and took out her book. However, her thoughts were elsewhere.
YinMing Road... Why would anyone want to explore there?
Throughout the ss, Wen Qing was distracted. Even when the teacher called on her to answer a question, she couldn''t respond, and herplexion was poor. The teacher assumed she was unwell and didn''t bother her, telling her to rest well.
After ss, the teacher went to the office with something, and Wen Qing immediately rushed to the girls she had been chatting with earlier. "What do you mean by going to YinMing Road?"
"Huh? You don''t know?" The messenger girl excitedly pulled her over to sit down and exined what had happened.
After hearing her out, Wen Qing''s lips even turned white. "There was a car ident justst night, and they must know. How could they be so reckless?"
"The recent car ident was not caused by the driver shing his high beams and brake failure. But it''s bizarre; at the crossroads, three cars collided. Anyway, don''t tell anyone; Tian Le wants to make some extra money," she added.
Wen Qing was surprised and shook her head in disbelief. "No, you don''t know, this money can''t be made, and that ce can''t be visited!" Her eyes shifted towards the girl. "Besides Tian Le, who else said they wanted to go?"
"Um...Tian Le, Fang Nan, Ling Wei Wei..." The girl counted on her fingers and listed seven or eight names, causing Wen Qing to grow increasingly panicked. She nodded and rushed out of the ssroom, leaving Yun Qian behind.
Yun Qian approached the girl and inquired about the one thousand yuan Tian Le had mentioned.
Wen Qing hurried to the next ssroom and called out Tian Le''s name, causing a smallmotion. Being considered a beauty by many of her ssmates, Wen Qing was often the subject of gossip. Tian Le walked out of the door, a bit nervous.
Although Tian Le liked Wen Qing, he wouldn''t say he was deeply in love. But a little bit of adolescent infatuation was enough to make him shy in front of the pretty girl.
"Are you going to YinMing Road tonight?" Wen Qing asked directly. "Believe me, you can''t go there; it''s dangerous."
Tian Le didn''t want to go, but he wanted the money. Poverty seemed embarrassing in front of the girl he liked. He turned his head. "I''ll go and take a look ande back. It''s none of your business, so don''t worry about it."
Wen Qing was angry and stomped her foot. "Do you know that people have died there? You guys are going to y there; it''s like you''re asking for death."
"It''s okay; trust science. Besides, we''ll be back after ying; nothing will happen." Tian Le regretted his words as soon as he spoke. He sounded stubborn and defensive.
"If something happens, it will be toote for regrets!" Wen Qing was anxious and knew she couldn''t convince him with a few words. She turned and left, nning to tell the ss teacher.
At the City Police Station.
The atmosphere in the conference room was sombre as several police officers held stacks of photos and information, the contents of which could shock the entire country if made public. The younger police officer at the bottom of the table exhaled slowly, sweat breaking out on his forehead as he asked, "These... Can humans really do this?" His question went unanswered as everyone avoided seeking the answer.
"This is a big deal. Everyone remember that all information rted to the YinMing Road crossroad case will be kept confidential. From today on, YinMing Road is sealed off, and no one is allowed to enter," the woman at the top of the table said after they finished reviewing the materials. Her features were exquisite, but the strong dignity in her eyebrows and eyes made her appear distant at first nce rather than appreciated for her beauty.
The conference room members replied equally seriously, knowing they might have stepped into some mysterious realm. "Understood," they chorused.
"Now, let''s discuss our ideas and see if there are any solutions. Any questions can be raised now," the woman continued.
One of the officers raised his hand and asked, "I''m thinking, is it possible that the killer dismantled the victim''s bones and reassembled them? Otherwise, it is difficult to exin why several skeletons showed that they belong to the same person."
"The forensic team has considered your question. They tested all the skulls and confirmed that the results of the skull DNA tests were identical," the woman replied, adding to their incredulity.
Another officer said, "What about the bowls found at the scene? There was a bowl of spoiled rice and ashes. Does this have any meaning?"
Just then, there was an urgent knock on the conference room door. After permission was granted, a young police officer rushed in and whispered something to the woman at the top of the table. She widened her eyes suddenly and eximed, "What?"
"The meeting has ended, and taking any materials out of the conference room is forbidden. Xiao Liu, please make sure to collect them," the policewoman ordered before leaving the room with the young police officer, leaving the rest of the group perplexed.
Lately, more and more strange urrences have been urring, each challenging their materialistic beliefs.
"It''s hard to say. There might actually be ghosts in the world," one person suggested.
"I believe in science, so let''s not talk nonsense," another countered.
"I know, but there''s a saying that we have to consider. The limits of science lead to mysticism," a third person contributed.
"I agree. I used to have faith in science, but some things in this world are too inexplicable. How else can you exin that the gas tanks in those off-road vehicles were all filled with blood?" a fourth person added.
"Exactly, and what about those identical skulls? Can one person have multiple skulls?" a fifth person questioned.
"I was just thinking the same thing. Eating rice mixed with fragrant ash at a crossroads is just asking for trouble. I don''t know if they were too bold and summoned something..." a sixth person stated.
"Enough, let''s not talk about it anymore. We must show respect for the dead and say less," someone intervened.
"Oh, by the way, what news did Zhao Sister hear just now? She seems anxious," someone else inquired.
Everyone looked at each other, but no one knew the answer.
Zhao''s Sister, in a rush, followed the young police officer out of the room. When they reached the ground floor, she lowered her voice and asked, "What''s going on? All the bodies are gone?"
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 48: Hide-and-Seek
Chapter 48: Hide-and-Seek
The young police officer being questioned appeared anxious, "No, Sister Zhao, the situation is bizarre, and we can''t exin it clearly for now. You shoulde and take a look in person."
As they spoke, they entered the elevator and pressed the button. The elevator slowly descended to the basement level of the building where the morgue was located. The elevator doors opened, and a st of cold air rushed out, sending shivers down their spines.
The forensic examiner was waiting for them at the door. He didn''t waste any time and led them directly to the scene. "A total of twenty-four bodies were here, allid out nicely. We went to have lunch, and when we returned in the afternoon, they were all gone," he said as he pointed to one of the cab walls. Twenty-four drawers were pulled open, but they were all empty.
"Did you check the surveince cameras? Who opened the drawers?" Officer Zhao asked.
"I opened them and was nning to continue working on themter. But when I opened one, I found nothing inside. I opened another one, and there was still nothing. I don''t know why, but they just disappeared. We checked the surveince cameras, but there was nothing unusual," the examiner exined.
"Are you sure there were no anomalies?"
"None."
"How long did you take for lunch?"
"Less than twenty minutes. I was thinking about this and didn''t waste much time," the examiner replied.
The situation was too bizarre to ignore; just thinking about it was enough to send shivers down one''s spine. Officer Zhao asked more questions but still got no answers. But in just twenty minutes, where could twenty-four bodies have gone? Even if it was just a skeleton, the volume was still there. No matter how it was broken down or hidden, it didn''t seem possible in such a short amount of time.
The information that had just been sent out shed through her mind, and Officer Zhao pursed her lips, lost in thought.
For a long time, she had heard about the Legend of the YinMing Road, where strange murders urred almost yearly. Despite this, the authorities never closed off the area, opting to keep the information suppressed. The truth remained a secret amongst the older generation in the department.
Her predecessor had gone missing the year before after insisting on exploring YinMing Road, and there had been no news.
"I''ll take care of this matter. You guys go do something else," said Officrt Zhao, determined. She quickly left with her subordinates.
Back in the school, in the teacher''s office, Mr Li looked serious as he asked, "ying hide-and-seek in YinMing Road? Wen Qing, who initiated this? Do you know who else has decided to go?"
Wen Qing was relieved to see her teacher''s severe expression and responded, "I heard from my ssmates that they all knew about it. Someone posted on the forum, asking people to apany her to y there. As long as they go, they''ll get paid. Several of them said they would go." She named each person one by one. "But, teacher, YinMing Road is very dangerous. We can''t let them go there to y."
"Okay, I got it. I''ll make sure to handle this matter," Mr Li promised.
When Wen Qing left, Mr Li rubbed his forehead, muttering, "These little brats are nothing but trouble, going out and risking their lives. By the way, should we inform the grade leader?"
However, his usually chatty colleagues exchanged hidden looks, none supporting his suggestion.
Confused, Mr Li asked, "What''s going on?"
"Little Li, it''s better if you don''t get involved. Let them go," a senior teacher in the office smiled.
"How can you just ignore this?" Teacher Li asked, puzzled. "Going to a ghostly ce in the middle of the night and giving money before going must be a scam, right? What if they really get kidnapped?"
The two teachers beside him exchanged a knowing look and slightly pursed their lips. "I''m just reminding you out of goodwill," one said. "Just pretend you don''t know anything rted to that ce. It''s better for you that way."
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
Teacher Li became even more confused. "What do you mean?" he asked, but no one would talk to him. They seemed afraid of getting into trouble. Finally, he seemed to understand and changed his tone. "I see," he said. "If the students want to go and see for themselves, as a teacher, I should respect their personal wishes as long as it doesn''t affect their studies."
The office returned to its former harmonious state. Wen Qing returned to the ssroom in a calm mood. The bell rang in time, and she hurried back to her seat to prepare for ss. After a long math ss, the homeroom meeting began. Wen Qing looked forward to her homeroom teacher, Teacher Li, saying something about the issue, and Teacher Li did not disappoint her. He started talking about safety issues, such as winter heating, electric and fire prevention, and preventing food poisoning. Finally, he got to the point of reminding them to be careful when going home at night.
However, Wen Qing''s expectant eyes were disappointed as Teacher Li looked away and started talking about the ss''s academic performance. Wen Qing couldn''t help but wonder why Teacher Li wasn''t addressing the issue. Was there another n? She waited suspiciously, but her doubts were not resolved until after school that afternoon. Teacher Li had made up his mind not to care.
Wen Qing went to the office after school to look for her homeroom teacher, but he wasn''t there. The other teachers were all busy with their work and said they didn''t know anything about it. She told the homeroom teacher of the next ss about this, but the other party responded with a vague "uh-huh," which seemed like a brush-off.
Wen Qing was engulfed by intense anxiety, feeling as though she was trapped in an inferno. Despite her overwhelming distress, the teacher next door remained indifferent, advising her against interfering. A student who attempted to skip the evening self-study was publicly reprimanded and warned to be cautious. But safety was a scarcemodity in that ce.
Undeterred, Wen Qing chased the person she was after.
A group in an office observed in silence as Wen Qing''s figure dwindled in the distance.
In an off-road vehicle near Yin-Ming Road, a man and a woman conversed.
"Are you certain this approach will work?" the man asked.
"It should. I merely posted a message on a nearby high school forum. The tuition fees aren''t exorbitant, and many studentse from modest families and are motivated by the opportunity to earn money," replied the woman.
After a thorough discussion, they turned their attention to the unconscious Chu Xiu in the back seat, writhing in agony.
"What about him?" Nie Yun Zhen gestured towards Chu Xiu.
"Shall we conceal him?" Shi Yan''sst vestige ofpassion went into those words.
This way, when those studentse searching, they won''t mistake him for a hide-and-seek yer. However, if he faced any danger in his unconscious state, they would be powerless to help.
Nie Yun Zhen gazed outside at the sky, witnessing the sunset and the sky changing into a yellow hue. He gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, let''s proceed together."
Since they needed to pick up the students earlier, they arrived at Yin-Ming Road ahead of schedule. Hearing the man''s words, she started the car and headed deep into the forest.
"I don''t know what happened here after we left yesterday. I hope it''s not..." The woman''s voice trailed off, grief evident on her face. She tightly gripped the steering wheel, causing her fingers to turn white.
Nie Yun Zhen remained silent, pondering their situation. "We can''t be so unlucky that none of us can aplish the mission, can we?"
Nervously driving, Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen arrived at the crossroad without incident. However, their attention was drawn to a yellow seal wrapped around a nearby tree a few hundred meters away. A notice on the tree warned that a severe car ident had urred here the previous night and that unauthorized personnel were not allowed to enter.
"Car ident?" Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen exchanged a worried look, both realizing the gravity of the situation.
Could this be the same ident...?
After parking the car, they carefully examined the area before helping Chu Xiu, unconscious, onto Nie Yun Zhen''s back. Although he appeared thin, he was carrying an abnormally heavy burden. Shi Yan assisted him on the side to prevent Chu Xiu from falling, and the two of them made their way towards the forest''s depths.
At the municipal police station, journalists swarmed the building upon hearing the news of the ident. When they learned about a major news story, they raced to the scene like wolves drawn to the scent of meat.
"Excuse me, is it true that a major car ident urred on YinMing Road?" asked one journalist. "The public is very sceptical about the truth of the case. Can someone in charge provide answers?"
"I heard that there were no survivors at the scene. Why did the police rule it as a suicide? Did the people in the three carsmit suicide together?" asked another.
Outside the station, Zhao''s police car was surrounded by people as she attempted to leave. It wasn''t because they knew her but because the sight of a police car stirred their curiosity, and they hoped to uncover some news.
Feeling annoyed in the car, Zhao wondered what she could say. She knew there were doubts about the case, but could she disclose that to the public? Admit that there were ghosts in the world? Hahaha, that was absurd.
She couldn''t say anything. The test results of the corpse were supposed to bepared with the missing persons in the city to identify the deceased. However, with the body missing and the results stolen, she didn''t even know who had died. What could she say?
As she nced at her mobile phone, a multimedia message from an unknown sender caught her attention. As she viewed the news, a sense of anger brewed within her. "What kind of depraved individual would encourage students to y hide and seek in such a ce?!" she muttered, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
Returning to the police courtyard, she swiftly reported the message to the local school authorities. The security guards immediately intervened, halting the group of journalists, while Officer Zhao began her investigation by logging into the anonymous forum from which the screenshot was sent.
The results of the inquiry shook her to her core. The post was genuine, with roughly thirty responses expressing the desire to y the game.
Damn it ......
Among the group of journalists, a stoic and striking man stood out. He also possessed a press pass around his neck, but unlike the others, he calmly retrieved his phone, sent a message, and stowed it away without pushing or shoving.
Meanwhile, at a high school on the opposite side of the city, a group of students embarked on a bus, which was not part of their usual routine. They were all from the same school and wore matching uniforms. Despite some being strangers, they quickly exchanged names and got acquainted with each other.
The driver became curious, suspecting an event taking ce that day, but the students remained tight-lipped and evaded his queries.
After exiting the school gates, they boarded a bus, disembarked three stops before their final destination, and transferred to another bus to reach their ultimate goal.
Initially, they were all reserved, but their excitement grew as they changed buses. The young students conversed loudly, unconcerned whether they knew each other, sharing ghost stories that sent shivers down some of the girls'' spines.
"By the way, who''s going to y the ghost?" asked one of the students.
"It should be fine if we lose, right? But it''s so exhrating; I''ve only ever slept on a grave before," replied another, grinning with anticipation.
"As a child, while living in the countryside, my mother once took me to the edge of the cemetery. Naive and ignorant, I saw a girlbing her hair while crying inside. I wanted to investigate, but my mother hastily took me away without allowing me to say a word. However, after returning home, I fell ill and remained sick for several days before eventually recovering."
As another person shared their ghost story, the bus ride proved unusually lively, despite only the driver remaining. Before exiting, the passengers said their goodbyes to the driver, who gave them a strange grin and invited them to return soon. His smile seemed to suggest that he hoped to see them alive.
Upon disembarking, the students were met with a deste and eerie scene.
"Is this the road to the underworld?" one said.
"How barren! Even the trees are stripped of leaves."
"And this ce gives me a creepy feeling," yet another stated.
Despite their unease, the group of eleven foundfort in theirpany, so they smiled and continued forward.
"By the way, where is the person who invited us to y hide-and-seek together? The one who posted the message?" someone asked.
"He instructed us to continue until we found a sign for the road to the underworld and that a car would be waiting for us there," another replied.
The group walked and chatted until they came across an off-road vehicle. The people inside, a man and a woman, appeared to have noticed them from the rearview mirror and exited the car.
"Hello, did youe here after reading the post?" the woman asked with a smile. She was petite and approachable, and she put the students at ease, and they continued chatting with her.
"Yes, we came after reading the post. Are you looking for someone?"
The woman''s voice was melodic as she spoke, "Indeed, we''vee to partake in an adventure game. My name is Shi Yan, but feel free to call me Yan Yan. It would be lovely if we could introduce ourselves first."
The man, observing silently until now, shed a smile, "I am Nie Yun Zhen."
"My name is Fang Nan, and I couldn''t help but wonder about the reward you mentioned for the game..." Fang Nan trailed off, feeling apprehensive about discussing money with strangers.
Shi Yan grinned sheepishly again, "No need to worry; everyone will receive their fair share." She retrieved a stack of cash from her bag and handed each person a bill. Despite some of them feeling embarrassed and refusing to ept it, she insisted, "It''s merely a deposit. But please do not leave before it''s time to go, alright? We''re both rather timid. We''ll leave togetherter, and I''ll give everyone the remainder of the money. Is that eptable?"
Theirst shred of concern vanished with the deposit now in their hands. They were all unfamiliar students with no intention of breaking anyws in the wilderness. They dutifully divulged their names and showcased their school badges to verify their identities in case anyone doubted them.
Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen silently tallied the number of individuals present. There were eleven students altogether:
Three girls: Yun Qian, Ling Wei Wei, and Zhang Dan.
Eight boys: Tian Le, Fang Nan, Liang Qiucheng, Sun Hao, Xie Yu, Zhang Zhi Jie, Huang Yuan Wang, and Liu Chengliang.
"Alright, let''s discuss the game''s rules now." Shi Yan pped her hands together, "The game is known as hide-and-seek. We''ll begin once it''s past midnight and everyone is acquainted with the rules, right? After midnight, we''ll pull ying cards to randomly designate one person as the ghost. The ghost will stay near the car while everyone else hides for ten minutes. After ten minutes, we''ll begin pursuing one another. The game willst for half an hour, after which we''ll all reconvene at the car."
The students had watched and could keep track of time.
"Will there be any rewards or penalties for winning or losing?" one of the students queried spontaneously.
Shi Yan hesitated initially; her initial instinct was to refuse the proposal. However, the thought of the potential loss of lives made her reconsider. She weighed the consequences of denying the request and ultimately gave in, thinking it less possibility of someone turning into a ghost and less trouble it would bring. "While there won''t be any punishment for the losers, those who manage to avoid getting caught can add another two hundred yuan to their reward. And don''t forget, we''lle looking for you next time," she added firmly.
The students were thrilled to hear this and eagerly epted the terms. Shi Yan looked up at the sky with a hint of concern. "I didn''t expect so many people toe. Unfortunately, we don''t have enough cars to take everyone at once. We''ll have to make two trips, which will take some time. Are you all okay with waiting here a bit longer?" she added, "but are you guys afraid?"
The students nodded in agreement. "We''ll wait here for as long as it takes," they said.
Yun Qian, eager for the reward, forced herself to speak up. "I''m not afraid," she said, though her voice trembled slightly.
After exining the rules, the first group to drive there settled down and began chatting casually. Shi Yan even produced a small tablecloth from the car and ced it under a light while some boys gathered kindling and started a bonfire.
Ignoring the eerie and foreboding environment, it looked almost like an ordinary outdoor barbecue.
The temperature plummeted as the night wore on, and the wind picked up, howling like a beast in the dark. Shi Yan distributed food from the car, and the students shared it while studying in the warmth of the bonfire. Gradually, the chatter died, and an eerie silence filled the air.
What seemed like an easy job earlier became a gruelling test of endurance. Many students began to regret participating, but they couldn''t just leave withoutpleting the game. They gritted their teeth and pushed on, waiting for midnight to arrive.
When the witching hour finally came, a bone-chilling gust of wind swept through the area, causing everyone to shudder in fear. They quickly bundled up in their coats, believing it was just a product of the rapidly dropping temperature.
"Alright, everyone can draw a card now." Shi Yan produced a deck of sealed cards and drew the joker card. She pulled one card from each suit, ranging from A to 3, andbined them with the joker to create thirteen cards.
"The person who draws the joker card will be the ghost, and catching someone means taking their ying card as evidence. Does that sound good to everyone?" Shi Yan rified.
Tian Le inquired, "What if the other party refuses to surrender it?"
Shi Yan arched her head and proposed, "Let''s agree on three conditions. Once the ghost catches you, remember, it must seize, not just spot you; even if you make contact, the captive must willingly hand over the ying cards and proceed back to the car. We''ll keep the fire, and the car headlights will remain on, making it apparent."
No one voiced objections to this.
Each person stretched out their hand to draw a card.
"Okay, now expose your cards."
To everyone''s amazement, the timid one in their midst, Yun Qian, pulled the joker card.
"Huh? It''s me...," Yun Qian faltered. She had just struck an agreement with Ling Wei Wei to hide together. Now, she had to capture someone single-handedly as the ghost, terror visibly etched on her face.
"It''s alright; it''s just a game. We''re merely fooling around. You don''t have to capture anyone," Shi Yan consoled. She hoped Yun Qian wouldn''t apprehend anyone. Shi Yan could perceive at a nce that Yun Qian was the least courageous among the group, so she discreetly manipted things and handed her the ghost card.
"Okay, okay, I''ll do my best," Yun Qian responded, clutching the joker card while her ssmatesforted her.
With all the roles filled, there was no need to dy further. Shi Yan promptly organized everything, and everyone dispersed. Yun Qian was left alone, reclining in the backseat of the car.
She adhered to the rules and didn''t peek around indiscriminately, intermittently ncing at her wristwatch and silently calcting the time.
Deep within the dense woods, beneath a slope, a man suddenly opened his eyes and began to pant heavily.
He nced at the sky, withdrew his phone to verify the time, and his countenance instantly transformed.
It was beyond midnight, and the game of hide-and-seek had begun!
Chu Xiu had escaped punishment for not ying. His phone beeped with a message from Shi Yan. The message provided detailed information on what had happened while he was unconscious and ended with a statement that Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen had done all they could and that it was now up to Chu Xiu.
Despite the ordeal, Chu Xiu was grateful they had not abandoned him. He stood up, brushed off the dust, and surveyed his surroundings. In the pitch-ck darkness, he could not see anything, so he decided to wait where he was.
As he waited, he messaged Shi Yan to inquire about the game of hide-and-seek. Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen had run east together, knowing exactly where to hide. Their impressive physical fitness allowed them to cover a significant distance in ten minutes.
Shi Yan had set her phone to silent, and when she checked it after ten minutes, she was overjoyed to find that Chu Xiu had awoken.
"Chu Xiu woke up," she whispered to Nie Yun Zhen, who expressed genuine relief upon hearing the news.
Meanwhile, Chu Xiu was shocked to receive a message indicating that among the students they had found to y with were none other than Yun Qian, who was a real ghost. He had changed history, allowing them to evade Yun Qian and Wen Qing in the first game, so naturally, they had no idea what had transpired with the two girls.
Chu Xiu took a deep breath, feeling helpless against his fate. He promptly messaged Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen.
[If the student you found to be the ghost is really named Yun Qian, all I can say is, run! Run fast! Don''t let her catch you.]
[Because she really is a ghost!]
Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen were initially puzzled by the first message but were sent into a cold sweat upon receiving the second.
At this moment, ten minutes had passed.
The Hunt Begins.
A pale hand opened the car door, and a girl in a school uniform stepped out. She nced towards the dark and barren woods ahead, her destination to meet her good friends.
She strode forward leisurely, passing the smouldering bonfire, which abruptly extinguished as she left.
Little did the other students know, but the huntnot the game, had begun. The brave boys dared not to hide alone, so they clumped together in groups of two or three. Yet, one timid boy named Zhang Zhi Jie stood apart from the others. After running around for a fewps, he sauntered toward the parking lot.
Zhang Zhi Jie found it effortless to y hide-and-seek, knowing he would receive a reward merely for appearing. Even if he lost, there would be no punishment. It was better to be caught early and take a break in the car, where he could also read some books.
His n was astutely devised. He strolled along the main road and spied Yun Qian approaching. He greeted her with a smile and an outstretched hand, saying, "Come on, catch me, and you''ll get some achievements."
It was too dark at night to see clearly, but as he got closer to Yun Qian, he realized something was wrong with her pale face.
"What''s wrong with you? Why do you look so pale?" Zhang Zhi Jie waved his hand before her eyes. "Are you dazed?"
The next moment, the dazed one became him.
Yun Qian opened her mouth but did not speak. Her mouth stretched wider and wider as if her jawbone had be dislocated, and her skin had unlimited sticity until it reached her waist.
"You...you are..." He gasped. A genuine ghost!
Yun Qian was a real ghost!
Sadly, he could not convey these words or warn his ssmates.
A male student''s scream reverberated through the night sky. Soon after, a ying card fluttered to the ground.
The hand that picked it up was hoarse and cold. "First one found," it dered.
"First sacrifice has been made," a voice echoed through the darkness. The three figures responsible for the deed knew the implications all too well and hastily fled, their legs pumping with all the strength they could muster.
Now, the whereabouts of the ghost remains unknown. If it possessed any additional abilities, such as the power to conjure illusions or multiply itself, dealing with it would be even more daunting.
The blood-curdling scream had not gone unnoticed by other students. Its intensity was impossible to feign, and their hearts were racing in response.
"What''s happening? That sounded like Zhang Zhi Jie''s voice."
"What''s wrong with Zhang Zhi Jie?"
Almost every student carried a phone, courtesy of which they were aware of the forum''s activity. Even the most financially challenged student, Tian Le, had a phone thanks to Fang Nan''s generosity. Scratching his head, Fang Nan posed the question to their group.
Within seconds, someone responded.
[What?! Did you guys actually go out to y? That''s insane!]
[Hold on a minute, did you just say you heard Zhang Zhi Jie scream? Who''s the ghost now?]
Fang Nan replied, [It''s Yun Qian, didn''t I tell you that earlier?]
However, the ensuing replies in the group chat sent shivers down his spine.
[Yun Qian? But she died in an ident five days ago. Don''t joke around.]
Realization dawned on Fang Nan as memories flooded his mind. Yun Qian...she had indeed passed away. The one ying hide-and-seek with them now was none other than a real ghost!
"Run!"
The scene shifted to a hotel located at the heart of the city.
Seated in the room, aely man pored over some documents while a newspapery on his desk with a headline disyed in bold letters, reporting a colossal tragedy.
In the ck and white photograph, the countenance of Yun Qian featured prominently.
Besides her face, there were over a dozen immacte photographs of young high school students.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 49: With little stars in her eyes...
Chapter 49: With little stars in her eyes...
In the dead of night, a frigid wind blew fiercely.
Nie Yun Zhen and Shi Yan ran in the inky darkness, their path shrouded in mystery. The former deeply regretted his decision, "Had I known..."
He should not have allowed those people toe! If only it were just the two of them, they could have yed for as long as they wanted.
Shi Yan couldn''t help but also nurse a grudge. However, when she thought about it, she had tampered with the deck and tricked her into being the ghost. She didn''t seem to have the right to use Nie Yun Zhen.
Instead, their meticulously crafted n had trapped them in a deadly game. Truly, they had brought it upon themselves.
"Stop talking and keep running," urged Shi Yan, aware that further deliberations were futile.
Having run for an extended period, they breathed in the damp, cold air of the night and grew increasingly alert.
"Hold on, I have a sudden question," Nie Yun Zhen said. With no ghosts in pursuit, his scrambled brain struggled to regain rity, and he posed a question that Shi Yan had hesitated to ask.
"What if... Chu Xiu''s message was fake? What then?"
Shi Yan was struck speechless by a single sentence. Her eyes traced the features of the man standing before her, illuminated by the moonlight. Though he didn''t appear dishonest, she couldn''t shake off her suspicions.
''Yes, who can prove that ''Chu Xiu'' was real. Or, who can prove that the current Nie Yun Zhen was real?''
Nie Yun Zhen looked puzzled at her expression, prompting Shi Yan to continue, "You''re right. Given the circumstances, it''s impossible to ascertain who is human and who is a ghost. Our best option is to separate."
"What do you mean?" Nie Yun Zhen asked.
"In this situation, we cannot rely on each other," Shi Yan exined. "We can only trust that we are not ghosts. However, even if we are not ghosts now, they could rece uster without our knowledge. So, we must split up. Set our phones to silent mode andmunicate only through messages, but never disclose our locations or inquire about the other''s whereabouts."
Nie Yun Zhen quickly grasped the situation, and though hesitant, he nodded in agreement. "It''s best to split up. We can be more cautious and trust only ourselves."
Shi Yan nodded in agreement. "There''s a fork in the road up ahead. We''ll split up there. I''ll take a left; you can choose any other path."
"Very well," Nie Yun Zhen replied, and they began to jog towards the fork in the road. Shi Yangged behind, gasping for breath, before finally catching up with him and disappearing into the inky darkness.
Not long after, they received a message from Chu Xiu.
[Are you two together? It''s safer to split up and avoid discussing your whereabouts. Ensure your phones are on silent,] the message read.
Chu Xiu sent another message, [Don''tmunicate with each other anymore. Return home separately in the morning.]
The tone of his messages made it clear that he had relinquished any hope of rendezvous after the game.
Chu Xiu pocketed his phone and looked around apprehensively. Once he identified the correct direction, he started walking.
"What do we do? That sound earlier must have been Zhang Zhi Jie," Ling Wei Wei stammered, clutching Sun Hao''s sleeve tightly.
Yun Qian was designated as a ghost, so she teamed up with Zhang Dan. Since neither of them was particrly courageous, they recruited two boys to join them: Sun Hao, who was in Yun Qian''s ss, and Huang Yuan Wang, who didn''t want to be left alone, but she was unsure from which ss he was.
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
The two remaining boys were paralyzed with fear, especially Huang Yuan Wang, who had been discussing the game with Zhang Zhi Jie in the car only moments before receiving news of his death. This cruel reality left him on the brink of a mental breakdown.
"Stop talking nonsense. What if we misheard? Perhaps Zhang Zhi Jie simply enjoys shouting loudly," Huang Yuan Wang muttered, attempting to convince the others with his flimsy excuse, which he did not believe.
"What should we do now? Should we hide?" Initially, they had nned to conceal themselves for a few rounds and wait until someone was discovered before returning to avoid losing face or wasting too much time. However, who would have the courage to be caught after encountering a genuine ghost?
That was a real ghost...
The thought of being on YinMing Road with a ghost, riding the same bus, and ying hide-and-seek were terrifying.
"We must hide, for sure. The issue now is where to hide." Zhang Dan, who usually didn''t stand out, was the first to calm down. She attempted to cate everyone and said, "There are only dead trees scattered around, no small inclines, caves, or anything. Aside from the pitch-ck night, there is no viable hiding spot for us to y hide-and-seek. The darkness is our greatest obstacle now. We can hardly see a thing, and I don''t know if Yun Qian is facing the same challenge," Zhang Dan voiced her concerns, shuddering at the mention of the name.
Her calm demeanour gradually spread to the others, making her the de facto leader. Sun Hao, however, was still restless. "What do we do now?" he asked, scratching his head in frustration.
Zhang Dan''s answer was simple. "We keep moving. Standing still is not an option. I''ve yed enough escape games to know that." She turned her gaze towards Ling Wei Wei, whose face had turned pale with fear, and she continued with a hint of ruthlessness, "Moreover, we should spread out and run. That way, we can increase our chances of survival."
Ling Wei Wei was doubtful. "But won''t it make us more vulnerable?"
Zhang Dan shook her head. "Whether we stay together or split up, the chance of getting caught remains the same. But if we spread out, it''ll be harder for the ghost to catch all of us at once."
Before Huang Yuan Wang could question her logic, Sun Hao interjected, "She''s right. We have a better chance if we separate. We can''t fight it, but we can try to outrun it."
Ling Wei Wei was still hesitant, but Zhang Dan understood her fear. "We''re all scared," she reassured her. "But we have to try. We never expected this to happen."
Although Ling Wei Wei initially hesitated to join, the lure of the money proved too strong to resist. She envisioned using the funds to buy her younger sister some delectable treats and a charming dress. The surplus of the money would be saved for the end of the semester. Yet now she clutched herself tightly and only wished toe back alive. Furthermore, she vowed never to return to the treacherous YinMing Road.
During the discussion, the group of four debated and expressed opposing views. Ultimately, Sun Hao and Zhang Dan opted to venture out alone, while Huang Yuan Wang and Ling Wei Wei proceeded together.
"I''m scared too," Huang Yuan Wang admitted, "But I''ll make sure you run first when the timees."
Though Ling Wei Wei''s beauty was striking, and ordinarily, Huang Yuan Wang might have had some fanciful thoughts, fear stifled any romantic notions.
Ling Wei Wei''s face brightened, and she nodded in appreciation, "Thank you. Let''s continue and attempt to leave this ce. I won''t hold you back."
Hand in hand, they sprinted forward. Approximately five hundred meters behind them, a schoolgirl in uniform strolled leisurely. Though her eyescked whites, her appearance otherwise resembled an ordinary girl''s.
Meanwhile, at the city police station, Officer Zhao had been waiting impatiently for the reporters to depart. Finally, after they had all gone, she sighed and hastened to her car in the parking lot. Much to her chagrin, a vehicle blocked her exit, making her unable to manoeuvre out of the tight spot. She muttered curses in frustration.
"Who the hell is this? They''re crazy!" she seethed.
Suddenly, the car''s headlights flickered to life, and it reversed a few inches. Was someone inside the vehicle?
As she rounded the back of the car, she noticed that the side windows were made of one-way ss, with only the front ones allowing visibility. The driver, a fair and gentle-looking man, sat behind the wheel.
Officer Zhao remainedposed, her hand poised to reach for her stun gun. "What can I do for you?" she asked.
The young man in the car raised his hands in a gesture of peace and exited the vehicle, assuring her that he meant no harm. "Officer Zhao, right? My name is Lu, and I''m a journalist." He disyed his press card, and there was no mistaking the authenticity of it.
Officer Zhao''s brow furrowed, wary of this reporter''s intentions. She forced a smile to avoid the possibility of damaging the police''s reputation. "Hello, Mr Lu," she said. "What can I assist you with? If it''s information about the previous hit-and-run case on YinMing Road, you can refer to the case report."
The journalist shook his head, redirecting the conversation to a different topic. "I have faith in the police''s credibility, so I inquired about another case." His speech grew slower and more deliberate as he spoke, his eyes deepening subtly. "Don''t worry, I won''t overstay my wee," he added enigmatically.
Their eyes met, and Officer Zhao felt her earlier unease dissipate. She realized that her initial manner may have been a bit brusque, given that they were public servants obligated to answer the public''s inquiries.
"Speak."
"Officer Zhao, are you familiar with the All-Knowing God?" he asked, searching her eyes.
"I am aware of it," she responded, recalling the repeated warnings of her superiors to quash religious sects and keep them out of schools.
"Is the recent death of a student at the Fourth Middle School connected to the All-Knowing God cult?" Lu Yan questioned, hoping for a breakthrough.
Officer Zhao''s brow creased as if she was struggling to recollect something. After a moment, she shook her head. "No," she replied, her voice tinged with uncertainty.
Lu Yan was taken aback. How could that be possible? Every family of the deceased student believed in the All-Knowing God.
"Can you confirm if the high-level authorities of the school have any affiliation with the All-Knowing God cult?" Lu Yan pressed on, hoping for any lead.
Officer Zhao''s frown deepened, and she responded listlessly, "I am not certain. I am new to this team, and the previous team leader knew more about it."
"Who was the previous team leader?" Lu Yan asked.
"It was An Ru ()," Officer Zhao replied.
"Where did he go?" Lu Yan inquired.
"He went to investigate the YinMing Road. Despite the warnings, he went anyway and never returned," she answered.
Lu Yan felt a jolt in his gut, sensing a critical breakthrough. "Do you have a photograph of An Ru?" he asked.
Officer Zhao shook her head, stating that she had just transferred from another city and wasn''t familiar with the situation.
Despite that, Lu Yan continued his investigation, believing that An Ru''s pursuit of the YinMing Road and the All-Knowing God cult might lead to a breakthrough.
"Thank you, Officer Zhao. You can go home now," Lu Yan said politely, making way for her car.
Officer Zhao rubbed her eyes groggily and found herself standing in front of the car, lost in thought. She couldn''t help but smile bitterly. Is the pressure too muchtely? She needed to rx when she went home on the weekend.
The sound of another car starting came from the direction of the parking lot entrance, and Officer Zhao looked over subconsciously. A small private car was preparing to leave.
Abruptly, Officer Zhao felt something was amiss and spun around, her sharp eyes scouring the nearly empty parking lot. As an experienced old police officer, she knew that if someone were lurking here, they would never escape her scrutiny. However, there was no one in sight, yet she felt an eerie sensation of being covertly watched.
The feeling of being stalked by an unseen gaze made her profoundly uneasy as if she were prey in the sight of a ravenous predator. "Who''s there?" she called out, but her words echoed back to her from the silent lot.
Abruptly, the lights in the farthest part of the parking lot went out, one after another, shrouding the area in pitch-ck darkness. Officer Zhao''s unease deepened into an inexplicable fear that seemed to have seeped into her very bones. She quickly opened the car door and sat inside, intending to start the car and leave. Yet, as she reached for the ignition, she froze.
Slowly, she lowered her head.
The safety belt she had fastened was icy and slippery, but it was not the safety belt she felt. A group of beetles clinging to her belt and crawling over her body. As she attempted to escape, the safety belt tightened around her, and suddenly, a pair of white, delicate arms reached out from the backseat and tightly constricted her neck.
"No... stop!" she gasped, but the hand squeezed tighter, silencing her voice. She struggled to free herself, slicing the belt with a knife, but it would not break. She attempted to pry off the frigid grip of the hand, but it held her firmly in ce, and she could do nothing but watch helplessly as she was slowly strangled.
Before she drew her final breath, she realized the whole lot was teeming with them. Like a wave of death, the ck tide surged forward, chasing the car as it fled from the parking lot.
Lu Yan tightened his grip on the steering wheel and mmed the elerator to the floor.
Despite being in the city, it was odd for the streets to bepletely empty and devoid of human presence, especially at night. Nevertheless, Lu Yan had no time to ponder over the strange urrence. He broke every traffic rule in the book, careening through the empty roads and pushing the vehicle beyond its limits.
As he drove, the darkness kept on swallowing the street behind him. With every second that passed, the ck swarm surged forward, consuming everything in its path.
He gritted his teeth and fought to maintain his focus and discern the right path forward. The tires screeched and echoed through the silence of the night, and he knew he was reaching the vehicle''s maximum speed limit.
But the swarm was faster, closing in on him like a tidal wave. It was baffling where the swarm had emerged from or why it had appeared in such numbers. Lu Yan had already driven halfway across the city, yet the swarm chased him relentlessly.
In desperation, he turned the steering wheel and headed towards YinMing Road.
Meanwhile, Tian Le was running as if his life depended on it, holding Fang Nan''s mobile phone. Tears and sweat streamed down his face, turning to ice as the cold wind hit him.
"Zhang Zhi Jie is dead; Fang Nan is also dead," he whispered, his voice trembling with grief.
Just moments ago, he and Fang Nan had been walking together when a pair of white hands snatched Fang Nan away. Yun Qian''s voice had rung out cold and hoarse in the darkness.
"I found you~."
Little did he know that another figure emerged from behind the same tree a while after he left. The figure wore a school uniform, had a pale, blue-tinged face, and had a deep gash on its neck.
Yun Qian exchanged a strange smile with the figure before both went their separate ways to search for the others.
Good friends should always y together.
Tian Le sprinted away as fast as he could, hearing the distant sound of a car driving. He kept running forward without a moment''s pause, not caring where he was going or what he might stumble upon. Suddenly, he tripped, and his phone was flung out,nding near a pair of shoes.
As he got up, he caught sight of a figure illuminated by a flickering light. Tian Le realized that he had never seen this person before, and the thought of encountering a stranger on YinMing Road filled him with terror. He quickly darted away in a different direction, abandoning his phone without a second thought.
The stranger bent down and picked up the phone, illuminating his face. A man hiding behind a tree was stunned to see Lu Yan. What was he doing here?
Upon ncing at the phone, Lu Yan shone his shlight in the man''s direction. His eyebrows lifted slightly as he said, "Chu Xiu, you again."
"Wait, don''te any closer," Chu Xiu said warily as Lu Yan walked towards him. "I can''t be sure if you''re..."
Lu Yan perused the phone and looked at the group chat page. When he saw the name disyed on the chat, he turned off the phone and hurled it away. "Let''s not talk about that," he said sharply. "Tell me, did you bring a group of students here to y hide and seek?"
Chu Xiu replied, "How did you know?" He hesitated before quickly adding, "I cked out during the nning. This was a decision made by Nie Yun Zhen and Shi Yan, but I''m also responsible..."
Lu Yan interrupted him, his eyes zing in the darkness. His anger was palpable as he gritted his teeth and said, "Do you have a death wish?" Each word wasden with fury and a hint of reluctance.
He never imagined that these people would willingly walk into a deadly trap. What made him feel even more powerless was that he had fallen into such a dire situation.
Chu Xiu felt uneasy under Lu Yan''s intense gaze. "What''s wrong?"
Chu Xiu''s mind worked fast, and his voice wasced with concern. "Don''t tell me all these students are..." His voice trailed off, but the look in Lu Yan''s eyes conveyed his correct guess.
All... are ghosts? Chu Xiu''s mind reeled as he tried toprehend the gravity of what Lu Yan had just revealed. But he instinctively believed him; there was no reason to doubt the authenticity of his words.
Lu Yan took a few deep breaths, visibly weakened by the information he had just imparted. "Forget it," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Even if you don''t take the initiative, these things will find a way toe to you."
In this world, there weren''t many living people left. As long as the entity behind the mission willed it, they could turn anyone into a ghost.
"How did you get here?" Chu Xiu asked, eager to learn more.
Lu Yan''s back stiffened slightly. He knew that ying hide-and-seek in this ce without encountering ghosts was impossible. He had brought those things along, hoping to make them fight each other. But the ghosts had the upper hand, and none of those corpse insects had flown in.
"You don''t need to worry about that. I have my own business," Lu Yan said, changing the subject. "Are those two still alive? If they are, you need to notify them."
Without a second thought, Chu Xiu messaged the other two, and the shock of his message was beyond measure.
Everyone... was a ghost? They weren''t ying hide and seek with just one ghost, but with eleven ghosts?
Nie Yun Zhen wished he could turn back time and undo his suggestion, while Shi Yan was gripped by an all-consuming regret.
How could this have happened?
In the depths of the forest, inside an abandoned factory, a putrid stench filled the air. The smell of decaying bodies was so strong that even the bravest among them couldn''t ignore it. If an experienced detective were here, they would easily recognize the scent of death that hung heavily in the air.
Despite the decaying corpses lying around, there were surprisingly few flies. Instead, fireflies emerged one by one from within the factory, their luminescent green glow lighting up the darkness. What should have been a romantic scene now looked terrifying on the deste YinMing Road. One could easily mistake the fireflies for ghost lights.
Yun Qian, Zhang Zhi Jie, Fang Nan, and Xie Yu stood stoically before the factory. Behind them, twelve white bones were arranged in perfect order. They were in the process of cing something on the bones, and as they looked at each other, their sinister smiles sent shivers down the spine. They sang a haunting melody before departing, searching for their other good friends.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are..."
The voices of the young boys and girls were soft as they drifted through the night sky. Unfortunately, tonight, there were no stars or moon to be seen, just fireflies flitting in the sky, scarcely resembling "little stars."
As they walked away, a girl rushed out from behind the factory, pinching her nose. The girl was Wen Qing. She had taken a taxi to get there, but it was already dark by the time she arrived. She had no idea where the group had arranged to meet, so she searched the nearby intersection for them. She didn''t have a phone, so she had no way of contacting them and could only search on her own.
Finally, she saw the headlights of a car. As Yun Qian exited the vehicle, Wen Qing ran over, but she witnessed Yun Qian open her mouth and swallow Zhang Zhi Jie whole. Even now, the scene remained etched in her memory, sending shivers down her spine.
Yun Qian... she''s not human anymore.
The spectacle yed out before her once more. Yun Qian parted her lips again andmenced spewing forth bone after bone. The heap of bones on the ground gradually began to take shape, coalescing into a human figure. Before long, Zhang Zhi Jie, who had previously been swallowed, reappeared.
Wen Qing, overwhelmed by shock and anguish, seemed to have forgotten her fear. Her only concern now was to locate her fellow ssmates and make a swift exit from the area.
With cautious steps, Wen Qing approached a row of bleached bones, bowing her head to scrutinize them closely. She perceived that some object had been ced atop them, and upon closer inspection, she discovered that they were ying cards.
ying cards? What on earth could this signify?
Bewildered and mystified, Wen Qing ruminated over the cards for an extended period before reaching out to collect the four ying cards and tucking them away in her pocket.
Meanwhile, the singing persisted in the distance, piercing through the air and reverberating throughout the forest with its crystal-clear and dulcet melody.
"Light hanging in the sky, like many little eyes..."
Gradually, fireflies began to creep out from within the bones, wriggling their way into the skull. Two murky eye sockets illuminated with a brilliant emerald glow.
"Eyes full of little stars..."
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 51: Ghostly Staircase Game
Chapter 51: Ghostly Staircase Game
Shi Yan was befuddled by their insistence on going to the crossroads, but the unyielding determination in Chu Xiu''s eyes spurred her to follow him, her feet pounding the pavement as she ran to catch up. Wen Qing, oblivious to what was happening, trailed behind them. Shi Yan had nned to ask her to stay behind, but Lu Yan spun around and barked, "Everyone follows!"
The crossroads were a considerable distance away, and despite their rapid pace, they still had several minutes to go. As they sprinted down the ink-ck road, the eerie singing from the woods abruptly ceased. A frigid gust swept over the entire forest in a sh, sending shivers down their spines.
The end of the game had arrived, and the rules that had once restrained the ghosts were now non-existent. They hastened their pace, running for their lives. A split-second hesitation could be fatal. Finally, the crossroads emerged before their eyes, blurry and indistinct. Three cars had collided, their mangled fronts caving in heavily, while four sets of bones stilly inside.
Hindsight revealed that the game of hide-and-seek had provided them with a clue. The screams had not only indicated the location of the "ghost" but also had a subtler implication: if caught, they would be "ghosts" themselves. Thus, as long as Wen Qing remained uncaught, she wouldn''t pose much of a danger.
Shi Yan ran in the middle of the group, sending an urgent message to Nie Yun Zhen to hurry over. After sending the message, she felt she had done everything in her power and scurried to catch up.
Twenty-four bodies had inexplicably vanished from the police station, taken away for the game of hide-and-seek, right? It made sense. The four sets of bones in the three cars, along with the twelve sets of bones belonging to the students, added up to twenty-four! No, wait, something still wasn''t right...
Lu Yan abruptly turned around. At the end of each of the four roads, figures in school uniforms were approaching them. Which car was the real one? Or perhaps all of them?
"Quickly! Move those bones!"
Without hesitation, Shi Yan and Chu Xiu charged forward, their small metal knives shattering the car''s windows and doors easily. ss fragments sprayed everywhere as they pried out the white bones concealed inside.
Though unarmed, Lu Yan spotted a brick on the roadside and used it to smash the car window with all his might. The sound of shattering ss filled the air as sharp fragments sliced through his hand and forehead, even as he tried to shield himself with his elbow. He ignored the pain and threw stones, shattering the remaining ss and retrieving the two corpses from the front seat.
The four sets of white bones they had found were identical to them. Lu Yan remembered something and reached into one of the corpses, pulling out a deck of cards. It was the key to their escape!
Suddenly, something caught Lu Yan''s eye. He spun around and hurled a stone with all his might, striking a pale-faced student. The creature transformed into blue smoke and dissipated, only to reform into a more terrifying and hideous form than before. Earlier, it had lunged at Wen Qing but was interrupted.
When the creature shattered, Wen Qing took advantage of the situation and ran towards Lu Yan, who handed her a white bone to hold. It was light and cold to the touch. She didn''t understand its significance, but when she saw the others clutching their bones, she gripped hers tightly, forcing herself to calm down.
But something was amiss.
Wen Qing gazed down at the white bones in her arms, trying to identify the clothing draped over them. The darkness obscured her vision, but as her eyes adjusted, she recognised the clothes as the same worn by the man who had smashed the window. A chill raced down her spine, and she wondered what could happen here.
Her heart pounded with trepidation as she considered the possibility that the man might be a ghost. Could the bones she held be the remains of a ghost, too? The mere thought sent shivers down her spine. She tried to flee. But it was toote. She saw a school uniform-d figure heading her way in the distance. As the person drew closer, she could make out the form of Yun Qian.
Even in the dark, Wen Qing could recognise her best friend''s gait. The sapphire tinge of Yun Qian''splexion, paired with the onyx depths of her eyes, was unmistakable. Wen Qing''s feet refused to budge as Yun Qian closed in, one footfall at a time.
Lu Yan trailed behind Wen Qing, holding three corpses as he followed. Despite the macabre spectacle, the nearness of a living, breathing person warmed Wen Qing''s heart.
With a grisly sneer, Yun Qian neared Wen Qing, extending her ghastly, bloodless hand toward Wen Qing''s face. "Found another one," she spat.
Just as Yun Qian''s withered fingers were about to brush Wen Qing''s cheek, a sudden revtion dawned on Wen Qing regarding the purpose of the ivory bones. She dipped into her pocket, withdrew the card disying her identity, and lifted the skull from the pile of white bones, cing it under Yun Qian''s hand.
Yun Qian paused.
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
Wen Qing could smell the putrid odour emanating from the other person''s body. It was like the stench of death was oozing from the depths of the earth. She was paralysed with fear, unable to move or even make a sound.
After what felt like an aeon, Yun Qian''s hand inched forward. The twisted grin on her face expanded as she slowly extended her hand. Wen Qing''s heart was racing as she watched it creep closer...inch by inch... until itnded on the white bone.
A sharp click was heard, and the skull of the white bone disintegrated into fragments. Yun Qian transformed into a puff of green smoke and disappeared, leaving Wen Qing gasping for air, still clutching the ying card.
One by one, the other ghosts present grabbed white bones and disappeared. Who would have thought that yesterday''s death would be today''s way of life? But when thest student vanished, two sets of white bones remained.
"Damn it! They must have gone after Nie Yun Zhen!" Shi Yan eximed, her face turning pale.
The others had alreadye to the same conclusion. Even Chu Xiu, who never cared much about his teammates, had a headache. This mission was different, with an endless cycle of life and death. One wrong move could spell disaster. They all hoped that Nie Yun Zhen was safe.
On the other hand, Lu Yan was relieved that he wouldn''t be in immediate danger. "What do we do now?" he asked, unsure of their next move. If the crisis on the YinYang Road was resolved, he didn''t mind staying longer, but only if Nie Yun Zhen was not turned into a ghost.
Chu Xiu considered their options and proposed, "Let''s wait inside the car for now." They still had bones to use against him if he failed to show. He was just d that Wen Qing had survived. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have enough bones. A sudden epiphany struck him. Could this be Lu Yan''s n? He couldn''t take any chances, so he kept Wen Qing with them.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan and Wen Qing chatted while Chu Xiu closely watched him. Lu Yan didn''t seem to care about exining himself.
Chu Xiu and Lu Yanter carried the corpses back to the car. As they approached, the car''s headlights illuminated the area around them. Just as they were about to get in, they heard footsteps andboured breathing in the distance. As the figure drew closer, they recognised him.
It was Nie Yun Zhen! He had survived after all. They were all surprised but tried to keep their emotions in check.
"I''ve finally found you! Thank goodness. Did you find a way out?" After pondering the message for a lengthy period, Nie Yun Zhen believed it legitimate and hurried to their location. Thankfully, he hadn''t been pursued by any spirits along the way.
Chu Xiu nodded and told Nie Yun Zhen about Lu Yan''s theory. He also watched him closely, hoping to find clues about his true identity.
"What''s the matter? Why are you staring at me like that?" Nie Yun Zhen looked bewildered as Chu Xiu stared at him intensely. However, nothing seemed suspicious about him, and he appeared to be his usual self.
Chu Xiu finally stepped back and told him to get into the car, saying, "Let''s go."
But just as the words left his mouth, a hand jutted out from under the car and grabbed Wen Qing''s ankle with a vice-like grip. The attacker pulled her under the car with such force that she vanished into thin air before anyone could react.
The sudden attack left everyone stunned, their heads swivelling around in search of the culprit. Chu Xiu''s heart pounded in his chest as he cautiously crouched and turned on his phone''s shlight, sweeping it across the car''s underbelly. But nothing could be found. Wen Qing had vanished without a trace.
In the end, they failed to rescue her.
After ensuring that the area was safe and thoroughly searched, the four of them quickly climbed into the car, stowed the skeletons, and prepared to leave. Chu Xiu typed a message on his phone and passed it to Lu Yan, asking, [Now, will you tell me why you came to YinYang Road?]
There had to be a reason for him to risk his life in this treacherous ce. What could have driven him to venture into the dangerous and ominous YinYang Road?
Lu Yan stared out the window at the inky ckness, a darkness that felt like an old friendpared to the grotesque swarm of corpse beetles he had seen earlier.
"Corpse beetles," he murmured, foregoing his phone and speaking aloud.
Chu Xiu''s face contorted in disbelief. "Corpse beetles?" he repeated, incredulous.
"Yes, I encountered them during my stay at the hotel. I almost drowned in them, so I fled in this direction," he exined calmly.
The mere thought of such a scene caused Chu Xiu''s lips to twitch with horror. So, Lu Yan hade with the mindset of "hunting the tiger and driving away the wolves"?
"Weren''t you afraid the two evils might unite against us?" Chu Xiu asked with concern. If that happened, they would be doomed.
Although Lu Yan exuded confidence, he couldn''t reveal his cards yet. He leaned back in his seat and replied nonchntly, "No, I wasn''t." Then he changed the topic. "Do you still wish to y games?"
"Ourst game." Chu Xiu recited the instructions word for word as if it was etched in his memory. "After midnight, arrive at the teaching building of XX Fourth Middle School, holding a mirror. The mirror must face your own face, and as you climb each step, you must say your name in front of the mirror. After reaching the fourth floor, the game can end at any time. If you need to end the game, you must bite your finger, write your name on the mirror with your fingertip blood, and immediately run downstairs without looking back or at the mirror. Otherwise, the consequences will be yours to bear. Also, no matter what you see or hear during the game, do not agree or turn back."
Seated at the back, Shi Yan wheezed, "The students who were hunting us earlier, they attend this school."
Lu Yan paid no heed, his fingers tapping lightly against the armrest as he pondered whether to partake in the final day''s adventure. Chu Xiu had be one of his pawns tasked with gathering information on the Omniscient Sect. This game seemed to offer some insights into this religious group. What secrets could this school hold?
Or perhaps the secrety with Wen Qing alone? Otherwise, it was difficult toprehend the time-space turbulence that urred a few days ago. Even now, Lu Yan couldn''t ascertain if these people were still enduring death after death in the hotel across another time and space.
As Chu Xiu drove, he suddenly mmed on the brakes, causing Lu Yan to jerk forward in surprise. "What happened?" he demanded.
"I think I hit something," Chu Xiu replied, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
Given the time of night, YinYang Road was deserted. Therefore, the object they collided with had to be...
No questions were required, as the car''s luminous beams revealed a pair of ashen and lifeless feet danglingnguidly outside the window, suspended from above.
The four upants inside the vehicle grimaced in terror.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 52: They were all bewitched by ghosts
Chapter 52: They were all bewitched by ghosts
At the very moment, those pale feet appeared, the car lights flickered and died, plunging the interior into an eerie darkness. The temperature plummeted. Shi Yan''s heart sank. The previous ghosts'' performance had lulled her into a false sense of security, but this crisis shattered any illusion of safety.
"What do we do? Is that Wen Qing?" Shi Yan''s voice shook with trepidation, but the two individuals in the front seat remained silent.
They only had two skeletons, but who knew which one of them it might attack?
"Yes," a voice finally answered from the front.
However, Shi Yan sensed that something was awry. Whose voice was that?
Suddenly, everything spun around. When Shi Yan opened her eyes again, she gasped in shock. She was back in the same car from the previous night, yet with three ghastly white skeletons upying the other seats. Meanwhile, ring lights red from the opposite direction.
She had, in fact, returned to the same situation fromst night! On the opposite side, a mirror car careened toward them, neither vehicle demonstrating any desire to brake.
Shi Yan''s mind spun out of control. She attempted to recall what Lu Yan did yesterday and tried to view the reflection on the opposite car''s window. However, the luminous beams were blinding, and she couldn''t discern anything clearly. Nheless, she felt that none of the four vehicles was fake. Shi Yan pushed aside the skeleton that had fallen onto her due to the bumps and forced open the car door, stunned to find that it opened effortlessly.
A strong gust of wind buffeted her face, causing her to hesitate. If she jumped out at this speed...
Unbeknownst to her, Nie Yun Zhen sat in the driver''s seat of the oing car; his hand was also on the door handle, his mind reeling with confusion and terror. Three skeletons upied the other seats, and the dazzling lights obscured his vision.
The events transpired at a breakneck pace. Shi Yan, Chu Xiu, Lu Yan, and Nie Yun Zhen were all bewildered, struggling toprehend the surreal situation. They had all been whisked away to four identical cars in an instant that hurtled towards each other at a catastrophic collision.
The gravity of the situation was amplified by the fact that all four of them found themselves in the driver''s seats. A collision at such high speed would lead to certain death or severe injury.
Why...would this happen?
Despite their iplete game of hide-and-seek, it made little sense for all four of them to return to the cars. upants sat in each of the four vehicles, and distinguishing the right direction proved challenging.
Abruptly, Lu Yan grasped something and was suddenly filled with dread.
This wasn''t caused by Wen Qing''s influence! The other ghosts in the hide-and-seek game only required the remains of one human being.
Lu Yan''s fingers clenched around the door handle as he pushed with all his might. They hadn''t seen through such a simple deception, or perhaps they were all bewitched by the ghosts, failing to sense something was amiss.
The ident at the intersection the day before had involved only two cars, one fake and one on their own, so why was there a third car now? Even the body count in the police station added up. The situation grew more perplexing when the body count didn''t match the number of vehicles.
As it turned out, the third car was a death trap - a fact that became known only after the incident. Had they known earlier, they might have seen through the anomaly. But the die was cast, and it was toote.
When the door opened, a gust of chilly evening wind rushed in. Lu Yan unbuckled his seatbelt and, without hesitation, seized the skeleton on the passenger seat before darting into the back seat.
To Chu Xiu''s astonishment, Lu Yan did not jump out of the car. He halted him in the motion of opening the door. In a flurry, he followed Lu Yan''s lead and secured the skeleton in the back seat.
Now, Lu Yan clutched the cold bones, huddled in the back seat, anticipating his fate. He didn''t know if the heavens intended to im his life, but he had done everything possible to survive.
The four cars collided with a deafening crash in a moment of cataclysmic impact. The front of Lu Yan''s car was ttened beyond recognition, sending him hurtling uncontrobly into the back seat, where hended amidst a twisted pile of metal.
The collision was a violent force, but Lu Yan felt the skeleton beneath him absorb the brunt of the impact, shielding him from the sharp metal frames that threatened to impale him. The car''s roof was also critically damaged, dangerously close to piercing his back.
The fuel tank hissed and leaked. A small me flickered to life, a harbinger of the inferno that could consume him at any moment. Trapped amidst the destruction, Lu Yan was encircled by the twisted wreckage and unable to escape.
Yet, he remained alive.
With excruciating pain surging through his body, Lu Yan struggled to catch his breath, gasping for air. His voice was a whisper, as if he had to convince himself of his existence. "I am still alive."
After taking a deep breath, heposed himself and regained hisposure. His upper body was tightly squeezed between the skeleton and car parts, making it challenging to reach out. He attempted to press the door handle with his toes, and after a few tries, a satisfying "click" was heard. He then violently kicked the door open and quickly scurried out of the car.
As Lu Yan prepared to depart, cries for help erupted from the opposite side. Chu Xiu was in the same predicament as he was stuck and unable to open the car door. Observing someone else escaping through a small gap, Chu Xiu shouted for assistance.
Nie Yun Zhen and Shi Yan had opted to leap out of the car, with the former now lying on the ground, soaked in blood, uncertain of their fate. Thetter had softened the impact with a skeleton and was in better shape, able to stand and walk. She heard Chu Xiu''s cries for help and hobbled over.
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
Just as she straightened her body, a hemp rope suddenly descended from a nearby tree branch. The dark sky made it difficult to see. She was unaware as she approached the loop of the rope, which ultimately caught her chin.
The hemp rope instantly constricted, snapping her neck upward. Shi Yan didn''t even have time to call for help before her body hung from the tree. Upon closer inspection, the supposed hemp rope was, in reality, a cold and slippery arm.
The hand that held Shi Yan''s neck contracted slightly. She hung her head limply, motionless.
"Found another one," a cold, raspy voice reverberated from nowhere, and then the arm transformed into blue smoke. Shi Yan''s body fell to the ground.
Lu Yan nced briefly but quickly averted his gaze, sprinting towards Chu Xiu.
As he had suspected, even if Shi Yan survived the car ident, some other ident would have taken her life.
Chu Xiu was in better condition than Nie Yun Zhen, whoy on the ground, bathed in blood. At least his upper body was free, but his leg was entrapped, and he couldn''t free himself. Lu Yan paid no heed and removed a gun from Chu Xiu''s body, disengaged the safety catch, fired two shots at the sealed car door, and then pulled it with force, eventually revealing Chu Xiu''s situation.
One of the skeletons had broken into pieces, lodging a bone in Chu Xiu''s leg, and the white bones that had pierced his calf were wedged in the car door''s crevice. Lu Yan''s rough pulling motion twisted the bone, exacerbating the wound.
However, Lu Yan paid no attention; he violently yanked out the bone, causing crimson blood to stter like a fresh fountain. Even though Chu Xiu''s muffled groans of agony pierced the air, Lu Yan paid no heed to his difort and instructed him to endure the torment. Lu Yan then went to the other side of the car to drag out Chu Xiu and quickly left.
Chu Xiu did not protest despite the rough handling as he was dragged along the rough terrain. Observing that Lu Yan was also wounded, he realized he was fortunate enough to apany him. He endured the pain stoically, leaving a long, bloody trail in his wake, obediently ying the part of a mere sack.
Fortunately, Lu Yan didn''t linger in the vicinity. After pulling them about twenty or thirty meters away, all four cars erupted simultaneously, engulfing the suburbs in a ze of an inferno. The congration illuminated half of the suburb, and the seismic shockwave generated a scorching st that ignited numerous trees.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Yan realized that his prayer to the divine beings had been heard, and he was still alive.
"Bloody hell! We must flee this ce immediately!" Chu Xiu eximed frantically. Wildfire was nothing to scoff at. Chu Xiu clung to Lu Yan and pleaded, "You must have driven here, right? Please help us."
Chu Xiu sensed that he could be useful to Lu Yan, and as long as he could preserve himself, Lu Yan wouldn''t hesitate to lend a hand.
Lu Yan responded, "But I cannot drag the two of you."
The implication was that Chu Xiu should give up on the unconscious Nie Yun Zhen. Lu Yan was forcing him to make a choice. He wouldn''t tell Chu Xiu that his wish to the so-called gods was not to die until he found out the truth. That was why he only suffered minor injuries, the vehicles dyed their explosion, and he came alone to pick them up. The wildfire was unlikely to ur.
Chu Xiu was silent for a few moments before nodding resolutely. The supernatural game had only one day left, and this final challenge required just a few participants.
Without ncing at Nie Yun Zhen, who had put his life on the line with them only a few days ago, Chu Xiu barely supported himself as he dered, "I am relying on you. Whatever your demand is, I will do my best to fulfil it."
"Very well, I shall keep my promise," Lu Yan heaved Chu Xiu onto his shoulder and dashed towards his car.
Lu Yan slowed his pace as he recalled the location of the car. After a few minutes of jogging, he spotted it and helped Chu Xiu into the front passenger seat. With urgency in his actions, he quickly hopped in the driver''s seat and revved the engine.
"Are you injured?" Chu Xiu asked, finally finding his voice after being jostled around during their escape. He felt deceived because he could still move with him on his back.
Lu Yan coughed up blood as soon as he spoke but wiped it away nonchntly. "Just internal injuries," he said, disregarding the gravity of the situation.
Chu Xiu was grateful and could not find the words to express his gratitude.
Lu Yan sighed heavily, "I don''t know if the group of corpse beetles is still following us." He stepped on the elerator.
"I have a question," Chu Xiu began. "Earlier, you said the police lost twenty-four corpses, twelve students. The remaining twelve had identical test results. They might be us. But on the night of the ident, when four cars collided, one of which was fake, we left in the car we were supposed to. Why were there still three cars at the scene?"
It was a simple question, yet they could not find an answer. No one noticed it before, so their simple hide-and-seek game became something abnormal.
Thinking of this, Chu Xiu shuddered.
Was this the horror of their mission? It confuses their minds while they are unaware. They said the mission required finding a way out, but it blinded them to the exit.
Lu Yan spoke, "In fact, I only recently discovered that something was amiss. When did the extra car and the corpses appear? I don''t know either."
Lu Yan spoke the truth. The strange things usually have no logic but reveal hints when logic crumbles. That''s the genuine challenge. Because you never know which strange things have rules behind them and which appear randomly.
Chu Xiu wanted to inquire again, but the scene in the rearview mirror made him forget what he wanted to say.
Behind them, the inferno surged skyward with a deafening boom, illuminating half the night with a searing red ze. The mes soared high above the heavens.
Lu Yan crushed the elerator with all his might and hurtled toward the exit. Merely a few dozen meters behind the vehicle, a sea of fire swept through dead trees on either side. The speed of the spread multiplied, and the mes nearly licked the car''s rear.
The duo inside the vehicle could feel the blistering air outside, and the car''s velocity surged to the maximum with no restrictions. Luckily, they didn''t crash, nor were they engulfed in mes. A small car bolted out just before the inferno consumed the YinYang Road area.
Thereafter, they saw that the surging mes were as though they were encased in an invisible ss dome within the confines of the woods as if the massive wave could only thrash about within a certain range.
Chu Xiu was at a loss, unable toprehend the reason behind the bizarre events, and could only temporarily attribute them to the mission.
Lu Yan observed everything unfolding through the rearview mirror with a slightly frigid stare. He knew that this was the doing of that "deity." He didn''t speak a word, slowed down, and drove through the dark and tranquil night. Underneath the cor concealing his corbone was a fresh scarlet mark, a reversed cross and a seven-pointed star, crimson as though it could drip blood.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 53: Consequences of wishing
Chapter 53: Consequences of wishing
The entire cityy dormant in a peaceful slumber, not awakened by the sound of speeding vehicles. Lu Yan turned the steering wheel, driving away from the urban centre, navigating an unfamiliar path.
Curious about their destination, Chu Xiu asked, "Where are we heading?"
"Didn''t you n to y the game at Fourth High School? Let''s explore the vicinity today," Lu Yan responded.
The mere mention of the uing Seven-Day Supernatural Game silenced Chu Xiu. The first six days had drained him, Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen had perished, and the mystery of Wen Qing and Yun Qian''s reincarnation vortex remained unresolved. A divine being with omnipotent knowledge had recently surfaced, adding to his exhaustion.
Chu Xiu had never felt as helpless in any task, but he couldn''t shirk his responsibility. It all began when he introduced Wen Qing and Yun Qian into the game on the first day.
Yet, a slight feeling, deep within Chu Xiu''s core, whispered that even if he hadn''t invited Wen Qing, she would have entered for some reason. And wherever she was involved, time and space would inevitably spiral out of control.
As with this time, the game should have concluded, but they were dragged back to the intersection again. Although he had granted Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen multiple second chances to live, they still met their demise unexpectedly near the end.
He sensed that an invisible force was pulling the strings behind the scenes. It wasn''t Wen Qing''s participation but that "god" who was manipting everything!
That "god" had transformed their mission into a chaotic experience. However, once the mission began, wishes would surface, dragging them deeper into the temporal and spatial vortex.
Chu Xiu expressed his suspicion while observing Lu Yan''s demeanour in the rearview mirror, hoping for any indications.
Unknown to him, Lu Yan had already made a deal with the god, trading his faith for survival.
Listening attentively to Chu Xiu''s conjectures, Lu Yan believed his choice was correct. Chu Xiu had the ability to deduce without any evidence. When he returned, he would collect more information for him in that world.
Nevertheless, he was uncertain whether his psychological maniption of Chu Xiu would still work when he returned. Furthermore, it would be challenging to encounter Chu Xiu in another world if he came back.
"I can''t conclude anything yet. What''s behind everything? It''s not a mere ghost or monster," Chu Xiu concluded, "With Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen''s abilities, they shouldn''t have..." Chu Xiu halted, leaving the remainder of his statement unspoken. Nevertheless, he believed Lu Yan understood his unspoken words.
Lu Yan''s words resounded in the murky air, "They died in the first round; thus, their fate is already sealed. Even if they were to start over again and again, their end would be the same." He continued. "Their deaths are predetermined, whether it be Wen Qing, Yun Qianan, Shi Yan, or Nie Yun Zhen... even if they are given a chance to live again, they cannot escape their fate. Unless they pay the price and vow to the gods, just like us."
Chu Xiu scratched his chin, bewildered. "But if we survived by making a vow, why did Wen Qing survive without doing so?"
"God is omnipotent," proimed Lu Yan suddenly, his eyes alight with a fanatical zeal. "He has the power to bring back the dead, to turn back time, to create anything!"
Lu Yan''s sudden transformation took aback Chu Xiu. The man had turned into a raving madman, praising god with an almost frightening fervour.
But then, as suddenly as it hade, Lu Yan''s madness was gone. "However," he continued, "God does not resurrect the dead. He merely sends them back to the starting point to walk a new path again."
Real resurrection was impossible. He had searched for such a miracle countless times but always came up empty-handed. Those who believed in resurrection were more likely to be dragged down into the abyss, requiring more and more sacrifices.
"This starting point," Chu Xiu mused.
Lu Yan gestured towards the flow of a river.
"The river of time and space flows endlessly, and like its current, the saying goes that no one can step into the same river twice, not even the gods," Lu Yan began, his voice deep andmanding. "It draws us out of the moment of death and propels us to die once more in that same time and space. And then, it thrusts us into another moment of the river, but that river is no longer the same as before. There may be another version of ourselves, or perhaps not, for we all are mere drifters in this river, and there may be intersections."
Chu Xiu nodded, his eyes fixed on Lu Yan.
"Though the gods may be merciful, their majesty is invible. Only those willing to pay the price can be granted a chance to start anew. We have paid the price, and therefore we can change our future, but Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen did not pay the price. How can they be worthy of the god''s gift?" Lu Yan''s voice was heavy with judgement, his eyes aze with conviction.
In other words, they had "resurrected" without paying the price, so it was natural that they would die.
The death trap they had just escaped from was meant for them. And while Chu Xiu was also gravely injured, he knew that he would not have survived if the "god" had truly wanted him dead.
But it was Lu Yan''s tone that gave Chu Xiu pause. His words were those of a devout believer, yet his expression was cold and distant. It was a contradiction that was hard to reconcile.
Still, Chu Xiu knew whether Lu Yan believed that god had little consequence. He had other things on his mind.
"So, is Wen Qing also doomed to die?" he asked, his voice low and serious. "Even though she made a wish, why did she still die?"
Lu Yan''s eyes narrowed as he considered the question. "She is different," he said slowly. "When I said she was destined to die, it was because no matter how many times she starts over, she will always end up on the path of death again and again due to her reasons. She could save herself, but instead, she chooses death over and over because of other people''s sacrifices."
The cycle was not eternal, and making a wish came at a cost. But what price could Wen Qing pay for repeatedly starting over?
He couldn''t help but wonder what price he would have to pay for making his wish. Mimicking Lu Yan''s pious expression, he asked, "The god''s gift must be paid for. Otherwise, it will be collected in another form?"
Lu Yan nodded, his face serious.
This way, it made sense. Because of Chu Xiu, Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen "came back to life" at the time they were supposed to die, but they didn''t pay any price, so the "god" would naturally find a way to take back his "gift."
"I see... It exins why we suddenly found ourselves back at the crossroads. But why did we see a third car?" Chu Xiu asked.
At the intersection, there should have only been two vehicles that collided. However, the trio was confounded by the third phantom car, causing them to overlook the peculiarity.
If the first intersection was part of a game of death, why did the third car appear after the collision? Was it the doing of the task or the "god," or perhaps both?
"On this matter, I can only offer a conjecture," Lu Yan said. "The third car was probably intended to screen our dead ends. We survived by chance. However, if Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen hadn''t met their untimely demise, they would have had their dead ends in due course."
Otherwise, it''s hard to exin how they were all deceived by the third car.
They approached a red light, and Lu Yan halted the vehicle. However, he continued the discussion without pause. A query he posed sent a chill down Chu Xiu''s spine. "And furthermore, are you entirely sure that you have sessfully passed your dead end?"
Chu Xiu''s body grew tense. "What do you mean?"
"Rewardse at a price. How many times have you wished to start over? What toll have you paid?" Lu Yan stated.
In other words, after restarting so many times, were you sure that the price you paid was enough?
Lu Yan didn''t know how he broke free from the dream but knew it had something to do with the "god."
"I... " Chu Xiu hesitated, realizing he wasn''t certain. He had relied on the "god" to escape the dream.
"Be cautious in tomorrow''s game," Lu Yan concluded.
It was thest day of Chu Xiu''s mission it was easy to imagine how high the price he would have to pay.
Chu Xiu fell silent for a prolonged period, then nodded and said, "Thank you." Yet, as he gazed ahead, his suspicions were deepening. As the car drove through another traffic light, he asked coldly, "Do you know a man called He Lou?"
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 54: White Bone Reflection
Chapter 54: White Bone Reflection
Lu Yan was taken aback, his expression betraying his surprise. "He Lou? Who is He Lou?" His demeanour seemed genuine as if he were hearing the name for the first time. But inside, a tempest was already raging, churning up thoughts and questions in his mind.
Why did Chu Xiu know about He Lou? Was there a connection between them? Had he uncovered something?
He should have eliminated He Lou long ago instead of letting him live until the next mission. The most pressing issue was how much Chu Xiu knew. And if He Lou had divulged any of his secrets to others.
Chu Xiu maintained a curious expression, keeping his cards close to his chest. Naturally, he wouldn''t reveal anything and only responded cryptically, "Just someone I know."
Lu Yan pondered for a moment, his mind racing. If Chu Xiu hadn''t probed him, it would have been unusual. So he decided to be frank, "If it''s just someone you know, why ask me specifically? Do you suspect he has any connection with me?"
Chu Xiu had to fabricate a lie to satisfy Lu Yan''s inquiry, "He came to this city before, but I lost contact with him afterwards. I''m concerned that he may have encountered some supernatural events, so I wanted to ask you for information."
"Such matters should be reported to the authorities, not me."
Lu Yan''s response put Chu Xiu at ease. He knew he had likely hoodwinked the other man and nodded in agreement. But just as he let his guard down, Lu Yan continued to probe, "What kind of events did he experience? Perhaps I know something."
How could Chu Xiu possibly know? He Lou was an adept hacker, only revealing what he deemed necessary through his online presence. Chu Xiu feigned recollection and sighed, "I''m not certain. But he..ter on..." He trailed off as if he couldn''t or wouldn''t say any more.
Lu Yan "understood" and didn''t press any further, feeling relieved. Chu Xiu didn''t appear to be privy to much information; his questions were merely a test.
Lu Yan needed to ensure Chu Xiu didn''t bber on after returning home.
As the sun set, the pale horizon gradually transformed into a fish-belly white, and the road was jammed with more vehicles, bringing a slight relief. Lu Yan drove to the nearby family hospital, and the on-duty doctor promptly attended to Chu Xiu''s injuries.
Lu Yan had a few superficial scratches, but Chu Xiu''s wounds were severe. Blood loss had drained the colour from his face, and the white bone of his thigh jutted out, skewering his leg. The hasty bandage failed to stanch the flow, and blood saturated the seat. Lu Yan had to support Chu Xiu as they exited the car.
After the doctor tended to their injuries, they waited outside the hospital ward. Chu Xiu surveyed the people already queued up and whispered, "Can you help me again?"
Chu Xiu''s injuries rendered him incapable of walking or running, let alone participating in the dangerous activity tonight. His chances of survival had plunged following the car crash. Chu Xiu finally realized the significance of Lu Yan''s prior statement: Shi Yan and Nie Yun Zhen had "resurrected" without a price to pay because of Chu Xiu''s actions, and the cost had to be reimed.
"I won''t sacrifice myself," Lu Yan refused point-nk.
"It''s not about sacrificing you; it''s about bargaining," Chu Xiu calmly countered. "I sense that you''re fascinated by the omniscient god. If you help me this time, I will hold the god statue for a month, record all the details, and provide video proof. Furthermore, I''ll pay the price upfront and make a wish to ensure both our survival."
Chu Xiu had no other options and doubted he could deceive ordinary people. Only Lu Yan could assist him in surviving.
Lu Yan appeared intrigued by Chu Xiu''s proposition.
Seeing the glimmer of interest on Lu Yan''s face, Chu Xiu continued, "Also, look at my legs. You can run away if something happens; all you need to do is watch and lend me a hand." The game did not require a mandatory number of participants, and he didn''t want Lu Yan to participate for various reasons.
If Lu Yan died identally, the aftermath would be troublesome.
Lu Yan fell silent, considering the proposal.
Chu Xiu didn''t interrupt, formting his ns for the night. After a while, Lu Yan said,
"Deal." Replied Lu Yan, "As long as it doesn''t jeopardize my safety, I don''t mind apanying you. But be warned, should anything untoward ur, I will not be able to rescue you."
Chu Xiu nodded in acknowledgement. "That suffices, thank you."
He withheld from disclosing to Lu Yan that his sole aim was toplete the game by traversing the four levels and, thus, immediately return to his world. As such, he felt no pressure when Lu Yan proposed abandoning him and running away. Unbeknownst to Chu Xiu, the danger would depart with them once thest contestant exited or perished.
The two conspirators concealed their ulterior motives and agreed to an ostensibly equitable arrangement.
"Since we''re ying the game, do you have a mirror?" inquired Lu Yan.
"I will purchase er," replied Chu Xiu. The mirror needed to reflect his countenance, and he needed to inscribe his name with his blood at the end. Undoubtedly, the mirror could not be too small.
After sitting for a while, Chu Xiu declined the doctor''s proposal for hospitalization and limped out using a crutch when his IV bag was nearly empty.
Their hospital was situated proximal to the school. Chu Xiu purchased a half-face mirror of the appropriate size to reflect his entire face without appearing too extravagant. Additionally, he carried a small ck de that students were fond of using for sharpening pencils, fearing that he may encounter difficulties biting his fingerster.
Moreover, he disguised himself as a schoolteacher and piloted a small electric scooter straight onto the campus to investigate.
All appeared ordinary.
He targeted the teaching building closest to the main entrance of the school. Everything was prepared, awaiting the stroke of midnight.
At this moment, the bell for the end of ss rang. Hordes of students streamed out of the school, chatting and congregating in groups of three to five en route to the cafeteria to grab some sustenance. Numerous people were befuddled and assumed Chu Xiu was a teacher, even greeting him.
Chu Xiu smiled, resembling a genuine educator and reciprocating the greeting. Meanwhile, Lu Yan was also meandering around the campus, observing.
This game was peculiar. Previous games were not at specific ces aside from the Yin-Yang road. So why was the game set in a school this time? What was unique about this ce?
Lu Yan could not discern the reason. Just as he was about to depart, the conversation of two girls who passed by seized his attention.
"Hey, have you heard? Those who went to y hide and seek yesterday returned with 1,000 yuan."
"That''s fantastic! They stated that it was not frightening and that they merely yed before returning."
"I wish I had gone with them yesterday. I want to participate as well."
Lu Yan overheard more conversations but failed to catch them clearly. However, a single sentence stood out and struck him deeply: "Yesterday, those students who yed hide and seek, have theye back?" He shuddered at the eerie implications of the phrase, wondering what it meant. Who, or what had returned?
Lu Yan turned to look, but the two girls had vanished into the crowd, and he couldn''t distinguish them from the others. He had to pause and ponder his next move.
The campus boasted an excellent student bulletin board, and Lu Yan made a beeline for it. With his sharp memory, he could easily recall the names of the participants in the game of hide and seek from the previous night. Wen Qing''s stood out in particr among the photos and names disyed on the board.
"Wen Qing, ss 11, Grade 2. Exceptional academic achievements..." After carefully perusing the information, Lu Yan decided to investigate further. He roamed around the campus, taking note of his surroundings.
The campus was bustling with life in the aftermath of school hours. The tantalizing aroma of food wafted from the cafeteria, and Lu Yan walked against the tide of students streaming out of the buildings. He searched each ssroom but found nothing unusual, forcing him to abandon his search.
He failed to notice that, when he left the room, his shadow on the ss window revealed a forest of white bones! The wind blew through the window, scattering pen bags on students'' desks. Lu Yan looked up and saw an ordinary scene.
Later that day, Lu Yan bumped into Chu Xiu and brieflypared notes on their investigations before parting ways. Lu Yan then posed as a teacher and sauntered through the teaching building''s corridors, pretending to be on official business.
ss 11, Grade 2...
Lu Yan deduced that all sses from 1 to 11 of Grade 2 were situated on the building''s fourth floor, with ss 11 being the farthest from the staircase. The corridor was typically noisy, and the lighting was poor.
ss 10 was in session, so Lu Yan stood by the stairs and peered through the ssroom''s central window. His eyes quickly settled on Wen Qing, seated in the middle of the room, diligently scribbling notes like any other student.
After a moment''s observation, Lu Yan departed for the teacher''s office.
"Excuse me, is the homeroom teacher of Wen Qing here?" He knocked on the homeroom teacher''s office door, and abruptly, all chatter ceased. The voice on the other side instructed him to enter. Lu Yan produced his work ID and feigned interest in investigating the family life of standout students on campus. He pelted the teacher with a volley of questions, not just about Wen Qing but also about many other exceptional students'' academic and personal lives. Lu Yan, typically a man of few words, could spin yarns like a master salesman. s, his efforts were in vain as the teachers refused to spill any beans.
"Thank you all for your cooperation. Oh, before I go, I have a small question. Yesterday on the school forum, I saw a post inviting students to y hide-and-seek on YinYang Road. Did anyone actually go there?"
Teacher Li''s countenance transformed in an instant. "No! Where did youe across that?" He spected that Lu Yan might be a journalist and did not wish to offend him. Perhaps a fib would suffice. Teacher Li quickly shifted his tone. "That post was a sham. It emerged out of nowhere. Our students are well-mannered and focused on their studies. Nobody went there."
"Are you sure? I overheard some students talking about it at school..."
"Who? Which student was it?" Teacher Li exploded with rage and pounded the table. "We''ve already rified this. Can you tell us who''s spreading these rumours? We will definitely punish them."
The other teachers nodded in agreement.
"Unbelievable."
"These students are always ying dangerous games. We inspected the dormitories yesterday and received feedback from parents. Everyone returned home on time. We hope there won''t be any more of these lies..."
The peaceful environment so painstakingly constructed was destroyed in a sh, and several teachers appeared ready to write "get out" on their faces. Lu Yan had no option but to bid them farewell and exit the room.
A chilly breeze whipped past him as he stepped outside, and he suddenly realised. Yes, who were the two girls discussing it? Why didn''t their faces ring a bell? It appeared that the entire school was abnormal, not just Wen Qing.
As Lu Yan departed, the oppressive air lifted in the office with a subtle hint of reprieve.
Teacher Li fretfully inquired, "What''s to be done? Another journalist hase snooping around."
Others attempted to reassure him with a cating grin, "Fear not, our principal shall deal with it. Over these years, what reporter has dared to speak up? Just settle down."
Nheless, Teacher Li remained anxious, hastily rising, "I shall return to the ssroom and reiterate its significance. Any bastard who dares to say anything, watch me kill him."
"Off with you, then."
In Teacher Li''s wake, the remaining educators indulged in the leisure of their time, sipping tea, correcting assignments, and perfecting their lectures.
Their unspoken rule was that if any person dared to pry into the secrets of YinYang Road within the school''s confines, that individual would quickly meet their untimely end.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 50: The lifeline to hide-and-seek is ......
Chapter 50: The lifeline to hide-and-seek is ......
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.] The song''s melody drifted through the dense forest, its childish tune unsettling in the eerie atmosphere. Earlier, Chu Xiu had suggested they split up, but now he found himself running into Lu Yan. After hesitating, Chu Xiu decided to take a chance and follow Lu Yan, hoping he had some excellent ideas.
Deep in thought, Lu Yan considered how to escape their predicament. He couldn''t be sure that Chu Xiu wasn''t some ghost in disguise, but he needed all the information he could get, even from a potential enemy. Besides, Lu Yan had already wished the deity for survival, so he felt confident that he would make it through the night.
"Do you have any ideas?" Chu Xiu asked, keeping a few paces behind him.
As they walked, Lu Yan responded, "What made you guys y this horror game in the first ce? And what are the rules?"
Chu Xiu didn''t hesitate to answer, "We have to reach the YinMing Road and y a game of hide and seek for at least thirty minutes after midnight. We draw cards to choose one person to be the ghost, who must catch the others. If the ghost catches more than half of the yers, they win."
At first nce, the rules seemed like any other game of hide and seek, which was why Nie Yun Zhen included more people. The more yers, the harder it would be for the ghost to catch half of them. But he never could have imagined that this would lead them all down a path of no return.
"Thirty minutes long, is it?" Lu Yan pondered.
It sounded like a short enough time, but only if there was only one ghost, not eleven.
Lu Yan couldn''t help but think about the twenty-four missing bodies from the police station. The test results showed that one of the skulls belonged to the same person, and he immediately thought of the danger they were all in due to that "wish" they had made to the deity.
Their wish had caused them to endlessly resurrect and fall into an infinite death trap, even leading to the strange phenomenon of two people appearing in the same space and time.
After pleading to God for a way out, he repeated the same events multiple times, but no matter his choice, he was met with a dead end. Ultimately, he had no other option but to start from the beginning and avoid Wen Qing and Yun Qian to continue his journey.
Now, there was another identical skull discovered. Could it be possible that some of them were also caught in this never-ending loop?
Who were the others?
Eleven students, plus Chu Xiu, Shi Yan, Nie Yun Zhen, and himself, were participating in a game of hide-and-seek, forming four groups. Despite their calctions, the numbers didn''t add up.
Lu Yan spected, and Chu Xiu racked his brain.
He had made several wishes and even yed the Four Corners game at the abandoned YinMing Road factory until he died. After pondering for a long time, this was the only solution he coulde up with.
Who else was trapped in this cycle?
Being directly involved, they didn''t bother to ask for the names of the other two students, subconsciously assuming that Wen Qing and Yun Qian were included among the eleven, which left them puzzled about the existence of twenty-four bones.
Whose remains were the other two?
The "dead" students'' voices continued to echo around them, making it impossible to locate the source and causing them to wander blindly.
In another direction, Zhang Dan and herpanions picked up their pace after parting ways.
"Don''te near me!" she screamed.
Although YinMing Road was only one street, it covered a vast area. With his good memory, Zhang Dan recalled their path and kept running forward without looking back.
As he ran, he spotted someone wearing a school uniform standing nearby, which rmed Zhang Dan. Uncertain of who it was, she immediately turned around and fled in the opposite direction.
The figure had also intended to escape, but upon seeing the other person running, he realized they were in the same situation, so he chased them and shouted, "Don''t be afraid! It''s me; I''m not a ghost."
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
Recognizing his voice, Zhang Dan calmed down. He had been the loudest on the bus, and she didn''t hear him scream just now, so... he probably wasn''t a ghost, right?
Escaping alone felt bad. Zhang Dan managed to hold on, but she believed having a partner would boost her confidence.
With that thought in mind, she slowed her pace.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the other person increased his speed and suggested, "How about we walk together?"
As he approached her, a sudden chill sent shivers down Zhang Dan''s spine, and her heart started racing inexplicably. Without a second thought, she followed her intuition and sprinted forward, unaware of her surroundings. The distance between them widened once again.
"Hey, why are you running? I''m not a ghost! Wait for me!" the young man called out, chasing after her.
"Why are you shouting so loudly? Aren''t you afraid they will find us?" Zhang Dan yelled back, slightly panicked.
The young man''s voice immediately dropped. "I don''t want to lose you. I got separated from my friends."
Zhang Dan couldn''t shake off the strange feeling that lingered inside her. The young man didn''t seem like a ghost, but she couldn''t be sure. She signalled him to stop shouting as she waited for him. "Speak clearly. I''m listening."
"Okay." The young man jogged a few steps to catch up with her. "I must say, you''re pretty brave. I don''t think I could handle being alone."
In the dark, Zhang Dan could barely make out the young man''s silhouette. His features became clearer as he drew closer, and her breathing hitched.
He was facing her with a grin, but his body below the neck twisted away from her!
It was as if a person''s head had spun 180 degrees.
Could a normal person do that?
Zhang Dan''s instincts screamed at her to run, but fear rooted her to the spot. She might have crumpled to the ground if she hadn''t had a shred of consciousness left.
"You''re too fast for me. I can''t keep up," the young man chuckled, seemingly oblivious to the horror he had unleashed.
Suddenly, he turned around and faced her with the back of his head. Zhang Dan watched in terror as he used both hands to twist his head back to the front, his smile fading as his face turned deathly pale. Blood stains marred his school uniform.
"I found another one, hehe..." he whispered.
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the forest.
Chu Xiu''s mood shifted instantly. "There''s another one."
Lu Yan''s expression darkened. "Have you seen those students?"
Chu Xiu shook his head. "I cked out and didn''t see them."
Nie Yun Zhen and Shi Yan must have observed the students and deemed them seemingly unremarkable. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have extended an invitation to join. Countless possibilities ran through their minds. Perhaps the students'' screams were a deception, a clever ploy to mislead them into thinking that they were human but haunted by ghosts, and to lure them towards the captive students, to safeguard them.
Chu Xiu nodded in agreement, contemting the intricacies of their task. He couldn''t resist suggesting, "There may be another option."
Lu Yan was intrigued, "What might that be?"
"To level the ying field, the deceased students scream to expose the location of a ghost and to indicate that their numbers have grown," replied Chu Xiu, recalling the equilibrium of previous missions.
Since ghosts multiplied by "killing" their peers, they must be weaker in other aspects. The game would be impossible if they could employ tactics like teleportation and mind-reading to outsmart the opposing team. Chu Xiu surmised that the ghosts'' weakness was their inability to locate themselves like bona fide ghosts. Consequently, the team had to avoid all "students" to survive.
"Do we need to search for those students?" Chu Xiu inquired, implying that reducing the number of ghosts was their best chance.
Lu Yan pondered the query before responding, "Let''s not take any risks. Who knows if the mechanism will trigger and jolt their memories?"
He gazed up at the sky, obscured by dense clouds. "How much time remains?"
"Eighteen minutes," Chu Xiu replied. Nevertheless, they remained apprehensive and vignt, despite the waning time.
The ghosts could not exert their influence directly and could only search like ordinary people. But once the game ended, and the ghosts were no longer constrained by the rules, what then? Could they genuinely escape?
The remaining students quivered with fear on the opposite end of the woods. What could they do? Zhang Dan was dead, and theymented ying this dangerous game of hide-and-seek. It felt like they had signed up for their own demise.
As Zhang Dan screamed, the boy gently tapped her head. Suddenly, Zhang Dan''s head detached from her neck and rolled into the darkness, ttering as it went. Despite losing her head, Zhang Dan walked alongside the boy, humming a tune. They switched to another nursery rhyme and began to sing joyfully.
On the other end, Ling Wei Wei heard the scream, and her legs weakened with fear. She copsed onto a nearby tree, her tears streaming down her face. "When will this end?" she sobbed. "Why is this happening?"
Although Huang Yuan Wang was fond of Ling Wei Wei, he realized that his survival was paramount. Besides, his affection for her was nothing more than a teenage infatuation brought about by her beauty. He couldn''t have genuine feelings for her. Huang Yuan Wang''s own fear and anxiety were heightened by Ling Wei Wei''s crying.
"Stop crying," he said impatiently. "We have to go. No one else can help us at this point."
"But... Zhang Dan is dead," Ling Wei Wei cried.
"If you miss her, you can stay behind and keep herpany," Huang Yuan Wang muttered, turning to leave.
Huang Yuan Wang found it bizarre that the ghosts could sing. The tune that seemed harmless before now sent chills down his spine. He tried to think of other things to bolster his courage, but as he took a few steps, he came upon another tree and realized something was wrong.
The singing seemed to being from above. Was something in the tree? He looked up, and a pale head grinned at him before falling to the ground with a thud.
"Run! Run quickly!" Huang Yuan Wang''s mind raced as he pulled Ling Wei Wei along. He didn''t understand why, but he instinctively grabbed her hand, even though his initial n was to save himself.
Ling Wei Wei also recognized the gravity of the situation and ran, wiping away her tears as they fled. The singing continued to emanate from nearby.
The runners were sprinting through the chilly night, their breaths heavy andboured, as the gusts of wind hurled themselves past them. Ling Wei Wei was on the verge of copsing, but she could not stop. She was terrified that if she paused for a moment, she would be confronted with the gruesome sight of the severed head trailing her.
After running for what seemed like an eternity, the singing faded away, and Huang Yuan Wang''s energy ebbed away, reducing them both to a slow and torturous pace. Their chests heaved as they struggled to push forward.
"They won''t chase us anymore, will they?" Ling Wei Wei gasped, feeling her throat parched and raw. She would have tumbled to the ground if it hadn''t been for Huang Yuan Wang''s support.
Huang Yuan Wang was still trembling. "They won''t, right?" He turned to nce at Ling Wei Wei, and his heart skipped a beat as he observed her posture.
Ling Wei Wei was bent over, trying to catch her breath, but in that position, Huang Yuan Wang could clearly see... Zhang Dan''s head! It was attached to her back. Strangely, she was oblivious to this fact and continued to gasp for air while periodically checking behind them.
In the instant that Ling Wei Wei turned around, Zhang Dan''s head swivelled to face him, grinning wickedly.
Then, Huang Yuan Wang realized why they had not heard the singing again. Zhang Dan had mped down on Ling Wei Wei''s hair with her mouth and was suspended behind her without uttering a sound.
Huang Yuan Wang''s breath caught in his throat, and his skin broke out in goosebumps, his muscles constricting in response. He called out Ling Wei Wei''s name in a shaky voice, and she swivelled around in confusion. Without hesitation, Huang Yuan Wang shoved her to the ground and took off, heedless of the danger ahead.
"What are you doing? Wait for me!" Ling Wei Wei attempted to rise, but she had twisted her ankle. She was furious and anxious, tears cascading down her cheeks.
The eerie singing started up once more in the background.
"Searching for friends, searching, searching for a good friend..."
Ling Wei Wei''s body went rigid. That voice, no, it was right beside her! She spun her head, and on her shoulder was a bluish-white, grotesque head bearing a malevolent grin that met her gaze.
A piercing shriek resonated through the woods.
Chu Xiu furrowed his brow as he did the math. "Another one died," he announced. Lu Yan fell silent, deep in thought, trying to devise a solution. Turning a corner, they were stunned to run into Shi Yan.
Shi Yan''s first instinct was to run, but Chu Xiu stopped her. "Don''t run. We''re all human. We need you to exin what happened in detail. Otherwise, we won''t figure out what to do."
Shi Yan knew that the game had be more difficult because of her and Nie Yun Zhen. She couldn''t tell if they were dealing with a human or a ghost, but she recognized the tone and reluctantly began to tell her story.
Chu Xiu listened intently. "So, you gave each of them a ying card, right?" he pondered.
Neither Chu Xiu nor Lu Yan had a ying card. Chu Xiu asked again, "Where''s your card?"
Shi Yan hesitated before taking it out of her pocket and handing it over, biting her lip. "I tried to throw it away, but I couldn''t. I couldn''t even tear it up. I buried it in the ground and ran away for a while, but it returned to me somehow."
Lu Yan suddenly interrupted, "Did you see those things now?"
Shi Yan nodded.
She had also guessed that if those ssmates hadn''t died, they wouldn''t have realized they were ghosts too. So, she tricked someone into taking her ce.
"That makes sense," Chu Xiu said. "But if we walk with Shi Yan and her ying card, we might encounter those things."
Shi Yan shook her head. "No, that''s not right. If you don''t have a card, then you''re not ying the game." They all knew what terrible punishment awaited those who failed toplete the task.
Chu Xiu frowned. "Did you give me a card?" He searched his pockets as he spoke, and Shi Yan shook her head again. "No, I only gave out thirteen cards." When she finished speaking, Chu Xiu pulled out a ying card from his pocket.
Shi Yan''s eyes widened. "What? How is this possible? I didn''t give you a card!"
Chu Xiu tried to tear it up, but just as Shi Yan said it was indestructible. "Maybe it''s a supply from the game," he said offhandedly.
Perhaps it was the card that attracted the ghosts?
Lu Yan searched himself and, fortunately, found nothing. Watching the two others distressed about the card, something suddenly urred to him. "Wait, can you repeat the rules again?" he asked.
Shi Yan quickly recounted the rules. When she mentioned, "The person who is caught must willingly hand over the ying card," her eyes lit up. ncing at Chu Xiu, she felt relieved. Perhaps this was their way out.
"The question is, how do we hand over the ying cards to those ghosts? Would they take them without killing us?"
This question troubled them. Lu Yan thought about the 24 missing bodies at the police station. He remembered two crucial individuals and asked, "You chose Yun Qian as the ghost, but what about Wen Qing?"
"Wen Qing? Who is Wen Qing? There''s no one named Wen Qing among the students," Shi Yan wondered.
This sentence surprised them both.
"You don''t know Wen Qing?!" Chu Xiu asked, incredulous.
"I don''t know," Shi Yan answered honestly.
"Who else is on the student list? Tell us," Lu Yan and Chu Xiu exchanged nces as she recounted the student list. They both saw doubt in each other''s eyes.
Did Wen Qing not show up?
Half an hour passed.
The ghosts could no longer wait, and their screams echoed through the dense forest. The students killed by their ssmates had turned into pale and stiff ghosts, searching for others.
As Wen Qing darted through the winding forest path, she couldn''t shake the nagging feeling that something was closing in on her. Even though she was usually fearless, the thought of being pursued by a dozen ghosts, who were once her ssmates, left her trembling with fear.
Her mind raced with questions: what should she do? Was she thest living person in the game?
Desperate for a solution, an idea suddenly struck her. Her ssmates had mentioned two individuals who were too frightened to y, forcing them to tag along. Who were those two people, and could they still be alive?
Driven by this glimmer of hope, Wen Qing resolved to find those two individuals. She scanned the forest frantically as she ran, unaware that her former ssmates were doing the same.
Unbeknownst to her, the massacre in the forest had reached its climactic finale. Wen Qing was the only one left alive, alongside four others.
Eleven ghosts had assembled, with their sights firmly set on Wen Qing. They longed to reunite thest survivor with herself.
"Give the poker cards to the ghosts...let them have them..." Lu Yan muttered, deep in thought.
Handing over the cards was the only way to emerge alive, but facing the ghosts was practically a death sentence. Once time ran out and the game rules dissolved, the ghosts would be free to strike without any constraints.
What was the way out? As he pondered this question, ''twenty-four victims'' echoed silently in his mind.
Lu Yan''s head snapped as he fixed his gaze on Chu Xiu. "Do you remember the Four Corners Game?"
Chu Xiu nodded, quickly realizing what Lu Yan was getting at. The factory where they had yed the game still existed. If everything went as nned, the Chu Xiu who yed the game might still be inside.
Shi Yan furrowed her eyebrows, "What Four Corners Game? Didn''t we already y it?"
Lu Yan brushed Shi Yan''s question aside, "Never mind that, let''s go find that factory. Perhaps we''ll find some clues."
Shi Yan didn''t object, and the trio jogged towards the factory, their urgency evident.
"Do you think it''s possible to rece ourselves with another version of ourselves from inside?" Chu Xiu''s mind raced with wild ideas. "I know myself well and would fight back to the death."
"Then kill him," Lu Yan said without batting an eyelid. "Oh, and make sure you kill a few more and rece us too."
As they sprinted forward, a figure appeared, running towards them from the opposite direction. It was Wen Qing!
Wen Qing saw the three people on the other side and didn''t know whether they were human or ghosts. She tightened the protective talisman on her body and ran over to ask, "Excuse me, are you guys ying hide-and-seek?"
Shi Yan replied, "Yes, who are you?"
"My name is Wen Qing, and I''m looking for my ssmates." Wen Qing had finally stopped running and, panting, waved her hand, "You guys should be more careful. All my ssmates are dead." She took a deep breath, sadness filling her eyes, "You shouldn''t havee to this ce called Yin-Ming Road. You should go back quickly."
Lu Yan checked his watch; time was running out, and they had only a few minutes left until half an hour. He didn''t have the patience to beat around the bush, so he went straight up to Wen Qing and looked into her eyes, "Don''t panic; tell me, what did you see just now?"
His voice was a soothing melody, its cadence smooth as silk. His eyes fixed intently on Wen Qing, and in their depths, a beguiling charm stirred that was impossible to articte.
Wen Qing fell under his spell, confessing all she had seen without hesitation.
"Twelve sets of bones, each with ying cardsid upon them," she revealed.
A sense of relief washed over Lu Yan, and finally, a clue to follow.
"Lead us to where you saw them," he urged.
Wen Qing nodded, still in a daze. "Alright."
Surprisingly, they encountered no apparitions on their way there. These ghosts seemed to be waiting for the right moment to make their presence known.
Soon, they arrived at the spot where Wen Qing had discovered the macabre disy. Before they even drew near, she reached for the ying cards she had taken, only to find them missing. Instead, she produced a fresh deck from her pocket.
"This...this is..." she stammered, "I didn''t lie. I really took out four cards a moment ago."
"We know," Lu Yan replied.
In the centre of each bleached white skeletony eleven neatly arranged ying cards.
One was missing.
Twelve sets of bones belonging to twelve students ounted for.
But where were the remaining four?
Perhaps another Chu Xiu was ying games amidst the chaos of the factory''s twisting, turning corridors. But where were the others?
Chu Xiu pondered the question, unwilling to face the possibility of their deaths. While he had toe to terms with the potential demise of hisrades, he did not wish Lu Yan, a unique presence in this mission realm, to meet the same fate. Unbeknownst to him, Chu Xiu''s thoughts were influenced by Lu Yan''s hypnotism.
With only three minutes left before the half-hour deadline, an idea struck Lu Yan. He pivoted on his heel, his gaze locking on the crossroads. He recalled seeing an identical off-road vehicle, one containing four sets of bones.
The numbers matched. This was their lifeline.
"Hurry, to the crossroads!" he cried.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
Chapter 55: The Chase on Campus
Chapter 55: The Chase on Campus
Teacher Li abruptly ceased the lesson during ss and ascended the stairs to the principal''s office. Upon arrival, Teacher Li addressed the principal, a figure sitting behind a desk, "Principal, another inquiry hase our way. One of them is a journalist, and the other is unknown. They are likely here to reveal something."
The unmoved principal responded, "Do I need to exin what to do in situations like this? But as a new teacher, you may not have experience. Simply ask the other teachers in the office."
Teacher Li agreed, "I understand."
The principal added, "Oh, and if any students go to that ce in the future, you know what to do, right?"
"I understand. Students experience a lot of academic pressure, so it''s natural for them to seek rxation. I don''t need to intervene too much as a teacher," replied Teacher Li.
The principal smiled, "Is that so? That''s correct."
Hearing the principal''s satisfaction, Teacher Li felt the same. Afterplimenting the principal, he left the office and shut the door.
The principal extinguished his cigarette inside the office, stood up, and approached the bookshelf. He opened a door that revealed a hidden shrine. The bright red deity within the shrine appeared otherworldly and indescribable, its impression twisted, eerie, and bizarre, causing shivers to run down one''s spine.
The principal worshipped the deity with fanaticism and reverence, lost in his world.
Shortly after, a man entered the room and announced, "Principal, I''ve checked. This Lu Yan is indeed a journalist. He has strong abilities and has previously exposed the trading of human organs in a private hospital."
The principal''s smile widened, "Since that''s the case, you don''t need me to exin what to do, right?"
The man nodded, "Okay, I''ll make the arrangements now. Let the students go home early today."
Later that afternoon, Chu Xiu and Lu Yan met and exchanged information.
Chu Xiu gazed intently at the building at a restaurant table opposite the school gates. "I always feel that there is something unusual about this school," he remarked his senses on high alert.
Although the school was quiet and seemingly ordinary, Chu Xiu had an ominous feeling that something was amiss, like a dark creature lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.
Lu Yan added, "I inquired about ''that ce'' today, but the teachers'' reactions were peculiar. It was as if they knew something but were hesitant to reveal it." He proceeded to share his experience with Chu Xiu.
Upon hearing this, Chu Xiu''s brow furrowed. "If the teachers know it, what about the students and the principal? Perhaps even the leaders behind the school? Could they also be involved?" His tone was uncertain yet resolute.
The task at hand was peculiar and seemed to have the shadow of an all-knowing deity looming over it. Previous games had caused temporal disturbances, and Chu Xiu wondered if this one would lead to simr turbulence.
Without realizing it, he had posed his question aloud. Ghosts within the game possessed uncanny abilities, even capable of transporting people through time and space... Chu Xiu shook his head to clear his mind of any stray thoughts.
Lu Yan was lost in deep contemtion. He needed topare the experiences of all the task executors. Each task was unique and perplexing, but it became easier to solve once they uncovered the underlying pattern.
Reflecting on past tasks, Lu Yan''s brow furrowed unconsciously. In previous tasks, it became easy to solve as soon as they found the pattern concealed beneath the eerie facade. For example, in thest Red River Vige incident, they needed the vige chief to confirm that they had lived there for a month to escape. But what about this time?
Temporal disturbances and karmic loops made it impossible to predict whether their actions would affect the future or the past. Nevertheless, there was one thing that they were sure of - an invisible hand was controlling everything from behind the scenes.
Lu Yan''s intuition from past near-death experiences had often guided him to safety. He knew they needed to walk along the path away from Wen Qing, but the task returned them to her. He couldn''t shake the feeling that something was off. Tasks used to be small in scale, but now they were growing, involving more people and expanding in scope. Would it eventually consume the entire country, the world? When that day arrived, would there be any difference between the task world and his ''ordinary'' world?
Moreover, what of the so-called omniscient god? How could he have overlooked such anomalies, and why had he turned a blind eye to them till now?
Chu Xiu''s voice brought Lu Yan back to the present. "What are you thinking?" he asked.
Shaken from his thoughts, Lu Yan replied, "I''m curious; why do you guys y this game? Are you being forced?"
As the number of tasks increased, Chu Xiu became ustomed to them. Initially, he had wanted to discover the truth behind these tasks. Still, as time passed, he realized that uncovering their secrets would be impossible. The secrets behind the tasks were far beyond their control, and even ghosts and monsters posed little resistance to whoever controlled them. When Lu Yan asked about the task, Chu Xiu shrugged, "I can''t say."
Some kind-hearted taskers had attempted to reveal the secrets of the task to the world''s residents, but without fail, they met their demise. After answering Lu Yan''s question, Chu Xiu sensed something amiss. Lu Yan was an intelligent person, and his question seemed pointless. Suddenly, Chu Xiu realized that Lu Yan was hinting at something. Was there a rtionship between the task and the omniscient god?
He feared he wouldn''t be able to hold on if he overthought Lu Yan''s words. He needed to focus on the present without letting his mind wander.
After a prolonged silence, Lu Yan asked, "Should we go in now or wait until tonight?"
As the afternoon wore on, Lu Yan knew that he didn''t have much time left before the evening self-study sses started. He was aware of the risk of going to school, but he couldn''t shake the feeling that he might miss out on something important if he didn''t take the chance. The foreboding sense of danger emanating from the school''s leaders only added to his apprehension.
Suddenly, his phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. It was an unknown number, but he decided to answer after a moment of hesitation. The homeroom teacher, Li, exined in detail that his students had no connection to religion. He then invited him for an interview and offered to let him observe the evening self-study sses.
Li put his phone on speaker inside the teacher''s office for all the other teachers to hear.
"If you want to interview us, our school''s evening self-study is also a feature. You cane and take a look," Li said.
The other teachers in the office perked up their ears to listen as the other party seemed to hesitate momentarily before asking, "What time is better for me toe?"
"Nine o''clock is fine. The students will be in their third self-study session by then. If youe, you can call me, and I''ll meet you two at the school gate," Li replied.
After hanging up, the teachers in the office exchanged knowing nces, revealing a tacit smile.
With the school day almost over and enrollment season not yet in sight, the sudden arrival of two reporters was like a timely rain. It was a chance for them to make their mark and gain recognition.
Li couldn''t suppress his excitement. "Hey, Lao Zhang, have you prepared the tools?" He had only recently joined the school, and now he finally felt part of a collective activity.
Lao Zhang replied, "They are ready. I will send them to everyone now. Oh, Li, you may not have much experience. Just take a smaller knife."
Li protested, "Are you underestimating me? I remember there''s also a small chainsaw."
"That works, too," Lao Zhang said. He pulled out a small chainsaw from the box in the office and handed it to Li. "Be careful not to leave too many marks. Otherwise, our ss will lose points again in tomorrow''s sanitation inspection."
The other teachers also joked andughed, each taking their tools and preparing for the collective teacher activity at night.
"Hey, do you reckon they''ll bolt?" the teacher inquired.
"Unlikely. The owner of the establishment is kin of Professor Wang. They''re keeping tabs on them," the other retorted.
"It''s still risky. We should have a student on duty stationed outside the schoolter to be safe."
"Sure."
Lu Yan ended the call in the cafe and maintained his easygoing smile. However, his tone shifted as he talked about his own wanderlust. His digits scribbled onto the notepad. He gently passed it towards Chu Xiu, signalling him to be cautious when perusing it.
[We''ve been found out. Watch yourself. They might be monitoring us from the cafe.]
Chu Xiu''s pupils dted with rm, but he kept hisposure, tapping smoothly on Lu Yan''s phone screen with his fingertips.
"That ce? I''ve been there too. Beautiful scenery," Chu Xiu said.
[How''d you know?]
"The prices were too steep. I only stayed for a few days..." Lu Yan replied.
[Earlier on the phone, Teacher Li said he would pick us two at the school gate.]
Lu Yan acted solo, so why did Teacher Li say "two"?
Chu Xiu didn''t want to arouse suspicion by passing the phone back and forth, so he avoided the question, instead asking, "I''m heading there too. What time did you buy your tickets? Any advice?"
"Nine o''clock. Brought gear for hiking, just in case," Lu Yan answered.
"Is it packed with people?"
Lu Yan hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Very busy. There are many people," he said, pausing for a moment before asking, "It''s the high season for tourists. Are you sure you want to go?"
Chu Xiu nodded with a solemn expression.
After a brief while, they got up and left.
Outside the school gate, many students were in uniform with red armbands, evenly distributed on both sides of the street. It appeared they were on duty. As they emerged, numerous students instantly looked towards them. As they realized something was off, they quickly looked away, their gazes evasive,ing from various directions.
Chu Xiu still had a wound on his leg, so he needed Lu Yan''s support to move; he spoke in hushed tones, "Seems like we can''t wait until midnight. Do we need to go now?"
A chilling surprise awaited them as they arrived at their parking spot - their car tire had been shed. Chu Xiu chuckled bitterly, "Looks like we can''t leave now."
It wasn''t entirely unexpected. They were being watched, and someone had been anticipating their move. Lu Yan didn''t seem too concerned and scanned their surroundings before saying, "Let''s take a break."
Their appointment was for after nine o''clock in the evening. As long as they didn''t disy any intention to flee, their adversaries probably wouldn''t act beforehand. The waiter who had just served them could have doped them up with enough drugs to make their escape impossible. Four hours were left until their appointment.
The teachers in the office were puzzled upon hearing the report, "They''ve been in the car the whole time? They haven''t left?"
"Yes, they''ve been resting in the car. A student went to sweep the floor and saw the one with the limp sleeping in the back seat while the other was ying games in the front row," the informant responded.
"Weird..." mumbled one of the teachers.
"Let''s wait until the students finish school in the evening; they got an early dismissal today. Make sure those students bring something with them, so they won''t run away," said the senior teacher as he held an axe and practised his swing.
"Remember, everything must be taken care of before midnight," emphasized the principal, "After midnight, absolutely no sound should be made."
"Understood," the teachers responded in unison.
Chu Xiuy on the back seat, his coat covering his face, pretending to slumber, while hemunicated with Lu Yan while texting.
[I''ve just looked, and this school has more issues than National Geographic. The Chairman also happens to be the Principal, and he''s got some significant political backup. In short, he had bagged several construction projects in other ces, but none came through. Somehow, he managed tond the contract for Fourth Middle School. I came across some reports on his corrupt practices, but they were all hushed up. Every journalist who wrote about him vanished without a trace.]
The word was that they had vanished, but both Chu Xiu and Lu Yan knew that they were more than likely murdered.
By coincidence, Lu Yan was pretending to be a journalist for an interview. [So, what''s the dirty little secret that this school is hiding? Is the principal so ruthless that he would stoop to violence? And what''s his story? Why didn''t the disappearance of those journalists cause a ruckus?]
Chu Xiu had no desire to deal with any of this. All he wanted was to finish the mission. But if he left Lu Yan behind, could he handle himself? Chu Xiu had always been the kind of guy who didn''t turn a blind eye to death. However, something had happened, and now, for Lu Yan''s sake or for some other reason, Chu Xiu needed him to survive.
The worlds he was sent to were never the same, and he had no idea when he''d be back. Nevertheless, he hoped that he would find Lu Yan again. Lu Yan had a secret, and maybe, just maybe, this secret was precisely what he needed to explore.
Lu Yan replied, [It''s not just the school that''s got problems; the annual financial statements are suspicious too.]
As they had observed when they entered the school earlier, many teaching buildings were archaic and hadn''t been renovated. Many ssrooms still use chalkboards and chalk for teaching. Yet the school''s hardware investment data that was published annually showed that they had spent a considerable amount of money. They just didn''t know where the money had gone.
[The sries and bonuses of many teachers in the school are peculiar, and there is a vast disparity between the new and old teachers who don''t have much background; the former receives meagre wages.]
In other words, experienced senior teachers can earn quite a lot.
[The culture of this school is rotten to the core.] Chu Xiu perused the school forum, taken aback by the intense malevolence festering within the student body. The most rming thing was how adept they were at concealing it. Today, when he entered the school, many students even voluntarily helped out.
The sky gradually dimmed, suffusing the surroundings with an eerie ambience.
Chu Xiu continued his research and graduallyprehended the extent of the principal''s misdeeds. He sat up and raised his coat, only to freeze at sight before him.
Students crowded around both sides of the car, smearing the ss with their palms and peering inside. Chu Xiu came face to face with the pallid visage of a student, illuminated by the flickering streetlights and the handprints imprinted on the ss. He turned his gaze to the driver''s seat, where Lu Yany motionless, more terrifying than the throng outside.
When he came, the students scattered, and Chu Xiu called out his name. But there was no reply. He reached out and gave him a shove.
After several attempts, Lu Yan finally raised his head. His face, reflected in the rearview mirror, was ashen, a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his eye and dribbling down his cheek as if he wept blood.
"What''s wrong with you?" Chu Xiu cried.
Lu Yan seemed indifferent to the state he was in. He noticed the blood and used a tissue to clean it off, his expression icy as ever. "Nothing. I just made another wish."
"What did you offer up this time?"
Lu Yan gestured to his eyes, shook his head, and said nothing.
"We''re almost out of time. Let''s go." Lu Yan opened the car door and stepped out. Chu Xiu wanted to probe further but bit his tongue and followed him.
The biting wind stung their faces, and the school''s silhouette was nearly indiscernible in the darkness. They crossed the zebra crossing and headed towards the school gates.
Teacher Li awaited them at the entrance, his previous hostile demeanour reced with exaggerated warmth, insisting they visit his office for a chat.
"We don''t need it; we just want to take a look around the school," said Lu Yan, his face a mask of stoic determination as he gazed out into the dark and empty expanse of the school grounds. "The scenery of the school is outstanding."
"Good to hear that, Mr Lu. Please feel free to give us your valuable feedback on the school," replied Teacher Li, a genial smile on his lips. Noticing Chu Xiu''sboured steps, he stepped forward to lend a helping hand. "If this gentleman has trouble walking, why don''t youe to our office? It''s cold outside. Have a cup of hot tea."
Lu Yan gazed at the brightly-lit teaching building looming before them and hesitated momentarily. "Excuse me, which floor is your office on?"
"The fifth floor," replied Teacher Li, sensing the hesitation in Lu Yan''s voice. "But don''t worry, we have a teacher''s office on the first floor too. Why don''t youe and sit there?"
Chu Xiu and Lu Yan nodded their assent, supporting each other as they entered the office. Teacher Li bustled about, pouring water into disposable cups and brewing two cups of steaming hot tea.
"Since this gentleman has difficulty walking, how about this? You rest here, and Mr Lu and I will go upstairs to take a look?" suggested Teacher Li.
Chu Xiu and Lu Yan exchanged a quick nce, and Chu Xiu nodded almost imperceptibly. He was more than capable of protecting himself. Lu Yan agreed, and he followed Teacher Li out of the room.
As soon as they left, Chu Xiu''s eyes darted around the room, his paranoia and anxiety mounting. He shivered, feeling a sudden chill seeping into his bones. With practised ease, he pushed the desks in front of the door, locking it as securely as he could. The windows were fitted with anti-theft screens, but he still didn''t feel safe. He nned to push the bookshelves against the door, creating a makeshift barricade.
But then he stumbled upon a problem. He expected to see a in white wall when he moved the bookshelves. Instead, there was a closet that looked like a shrine adorned with a bright red statue that seemed to pulse with eerie energy.
Chu Xiu''s mind reeled, and he heard a loud buzzing. With trembling hands, he pushed the bookshelves back to their original position. His wounded leg protested, and he gritted his teeth in pain. After catching his breath, Chu Xiu searched the entire office for any usable tools.
With only a handful of bullets left, Chu Xiu handed one of his guns to Lu Yan, keeping the other for himself. His metal knife was short, not suitable for long-range attacks. After scouring the room, he spotted an office desk and promptly turned its leg into a weapon. With a few expert swings, he gauged its potential and was pleased. Then, dragging a chair over, he sat down, his gaze fixed on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock." Three loud knocks echoed through the room.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan and Teacher Li approached the end of the corridor leading to the teaching building''s staircase. As they ascended, Lu Yan noticed although the ssroom''s lights were on, there wasn''t a single student''s voice to be heard. The silence unsettled him, and he halted in his tracks.
The evening''s self-study time was far too silent. Lu Yan halted in his tracks.
Teacher Li loomed over him and smirked. "Mr Lu, why did you stop? The second-year students are still studying."
Lu Yan responded calmly, "Which grade is this? I''ll have a look around."
Teacher Li''s countenance morphed into a scowl. "That''s the junior high school section; they''ve already dismissed," he tried to restrain him. But Lu Yan whirled around and dashed down the stairs. He was exceedingly swift and vanished in seconds.
A few heads popped out from the floor above.
"What''s going on? Did he spot something?"
"Why are you idling about? Let''s hurry and catch him."
"Teacher Wang and Teacher Liu are on the second floor. They should be able to intercept him."
As a precaution, they sent the students home early today, citing the excuse that the school''s main gate was under renovation. All the pupils were asked to exit through the back door. They had even instructed the ssrooms to leave the lights on. But they never foresaw that Lu Yan wouldn''t be deceived and would immediately run for it.
Around ten individuals raced down the stairs, brandishing various prohibited weapons.
Mr Li seethed with rage, his first group activity ruined by his failure. "Where did they go?" he barked, snatching a small electric saw from a fellow teacher and sprinting after the rest of the group. But as they rounded the stairwell on the second floor, two teachersy writhing on the ground, moaning in agony.
A moment before, without hesitation, Lu Yan charged down the stairs, only to be met with a vicious wooden stick. He dodged the blow with catlike reflexes, elbowing his assant in the face with a savage force. The attacker howled in pain, but Lu Yan was already on the offensive, mming the man''s wrist with a small knife until he dropped the stick.
With his attacker stunned, Lu Yan snatched up the wooden weapon and delivered a swift, punishing blow to knock him out cold. In the space of a single minute, Lu Yan had silenced two opponents and fled the scene, leaving the rest of the group in his wake.
"He must be looking for his aplice. After him!" the group cried, darting down the stairs in pursuit.
"I instructed the security guards to stand guard at the entrance. No one will get away," said another teacher.
But even as they closed in, they found that Lu Yan had ignored the aplice altogether. Da Zhang had gone to search for the man named Chu on the first floor, but he had locked himself inside an office.
"He''s locked himself in and piled something against the door. I can''t budge it."
Two men hurled themselves at the door with brute force while the other teachers moured for Chu Xiu to open up.
Inside the room, as they kicked and pounded on the door, Chu Xiu had barricaded himself behind the door with heaps of clutter. His leg throbbed with excruciating pain, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent. The windows were firmly shut, and the curtains were drawn, so no one could see inside. He huddled against the wall, straining to eavesdrop on their conversation, knowing full well that Lu Yan had slipped away.
What was his next move? Suddenly, a mechanical whirr echoed in the room. Why on earth did they even have a chainsaw?
After dispatching the two guards at the stairs with a swift blow, Lu Yan pretended to go down. Instead, he hurled himself out of the window on the second floor andnded with the grace of a panther on thewn beneath. He had purposely worn the dark clothes he had kept in his car, which helped him blend into the shadows as hey in wait, biding his time in a flower bed.
Downstairs, a group of people had congregated around the office on the first floor, struggling to gain entry. Chu Xiu had concocted some sort of barrier that prevented them from getting in. They''d attempted to force their way through the door with a battering ram to no avail. Li, the teacher with the chainsaw, had descended the stairs to lend a hand, brandishing the lethal tool in an attempt to open the door.
Lu Yan considered whether he should help but decided to bide his time and continue surveince. With a deafening roar, the chainsaw carved a gaping hole in the wooden door, and if Chu Xiu had been standing there, he would have been diced to pieces instantly.
"Someone must have ratted us out; otherwise, how else would he have been able to block the door?" one of the agitated voices eximed.
"My desk! The principal should reimburse me for this!"mented another.
"What now? The door is open, but we still can''t get in. The desks are blocking the way."
"Then let''s try the windows!" The towering PE teacher grabbed the chainsaw and began slicing through the metal security bars.
With no obstacle to impede them, the group made swift progress and soon climbed into the office. Lu Yan faintly heard their cries of disbelief.
"Where is he? Where could he have fled to?"
"It''s impossible! I''ve been guarding the door the whole time, and no one came out."
"Search for him immediately, everyone! We cannot let him escape!"
Lu Yan also found it odd. Where could Chu Xiu have gone? Was there a secret passage in the office? It didn''t add up. He kept a watchful eye for a while, then felt a sudden shiver run down his spine. He swiftly pivoted his head.
The building behind him emanated a glimmer of light, casting a faint halo on the rooftop, where a figure stood by the window. Although the pitch-ck night obscured people''s vision, Lu Yan could feel the weight of their gaze burning into him. He knew they were watching him. Without a moment''s hesitation, he bolted from his position.
As he fled, the other teachers soon caught on and pursued him without mercy. Their voices echoed through the silent night air.
"Don''t run! Stop right there!"
"You can''t escape!"
"If you tell us who sent you, we won''t chase you!"
"Where did your aplice go? Confess!"
The word "aplice" resonated in Lu Yan''s mind, and he thought of something. He continued running inside the campus, with the other teachers hot on his heels. Suddenly, a gunshot shattered the quiet.
Lu Yan holstered his gun and charged forward, ignoring the moans of a teacher clutching his leg a hundred meters behind him.
"He actually brought a gun." The teachers were all taken aback.
"Do you know that carrying a gun is illegal?"
"How dare you kill someone?! Stop right now!"
Lu Yan paid them no heed.
After a day of reconnaissance, he had be familiar with the campusyout, which was decidedly peculiar with curved paths, irregr buildings, and no straight lines. Now, it worked in his favour as he made his escape.
He turned around and fired another shot, hitting another male teacher in the leg.
The screams and curses of the pursuing teachers fell on deaf ears as he circled around a few times, then suddenly elerated and broke free of their grasp. He returned to the teaching building, where he had noticed someone spying on him, taking the stairs two at a time.
Who was the person who saw him? Lu Yan''s intuition growled, the question reverberating in his mind like a peal of thunder. He knew the answer held immense importance.
Chu Xiu crouched in the dark, stifling a gasp. Yet, it wasn''t the looming presence of the search party, whobed the area mere inches away, that had him shaking. It was the vermilion statue beside him that made his skin crawl. He inched away, careful not to touch it.
Outside, the searchers scurried with fervour but then halted abruptly. Were they chasing Lu Yan? Chu Xiu raised a brow, doubt gnawing at him, but what other exnation could there be?
Soon after, a gunshot rang out, then another. Chu Xiu''s suspicions were confirmed. He hoped it was a calcted ploy to distract their pursuers, not ast-ditch effort.
As the silence grew thicker, Chu Xiu gingerly shifted his weight, careful not to disturb the frigid statue. He cautiously pushed the bookshelf, and a sliver of light streamed in. A face leered back at him, grinning from ear to ear.
"I found you!"
As it turned out, Teacher Li was lurking in the office all along. He caught wind of the noise from the bookcase and sensed something was amiss. Armed with a chainsaw, he bided his time, hoping to contribute to the Fourth Middle School''s faculty without calling for backup.
The sound of a gunshot echoed through the room. Teacher Li''s excited expression morphed into disbelief as the bullet pierced his thigh, sending him tumbling to the ground. As the gunpowder smoke cleared, Chu Xiu could hear the footsteps of his pursuers closing in on him. He didn''t hesitate to push with all his might, sending a towering bookshelf toppling down onto Mr Li, crushing his lower body in a sickening crunch.
As the gunfire revealed his location, Chu Xiu acted quickly, his mind working at lightning speed. Snatching the electric saw, Chu Xiu leapt out the window, his body moving with lightning speed.
"What happened? Did that persone back?" a group of people asked in a hurry.
Shortly after he escaped, a group of people ran in, their faces filled with shock and horror.
"Oh my god! This, this is..." they gasped, staring at the shrine behind the fallen bookshelf. The statue was bright red, like blood. They immediately knelt down in respect before preparing to save Mr Li.
Weakly, Mr Li spoke, "That guy was hiding behind the bookshelf the whole time, and he took the chainsaw. Be careful."
"We understand. Don''t worry about it now," someone replied, trying to soothe him.
"We will avenge you for this despicable thing."
"They both had guns. What should we do?"
The head teacher pondered momentarily and said, "Old Luo, you take him to the hospital, and I''ll ask the principal. The rest can carry on with the search."
Mr Luo nodded in agreement and hoisted Mr Li onto his back, heading towards the door to take him to the hospital. The rest of the group dispersed, continuing their search for the culprit.
As Chu Xiu, gritting his teeth through the agony, hid and clutched the chainsaw, Lu Yan eventually ascended to the top floor, standing outside the door to the headmaster''s office. It appeared that the one spying was likely the headmaster himself.
He knocked on the door.
The upant inside probably didn''t anticipate someone toe knocking directly at the door, and there was a long period of silence.
Lu Yan persisted in rapping his knuckles against the door, a monotonous thudding that echoed through the night. The frosty air invigorated his feverish mind, which had been whirring incessantly. He clutched the gunstock tightly in one hand and the wooden stick in the other, continuing his assault on the door.
"Is someone there?" Lu Yan enquired his voice a whisper in the darkness.
He retreated his firearm and, cing his palm on the doorknob, rotated it with the utmost care. The door creaked open.
With a sudden lunge, Lu Yan hurled the door open and leapt back, brandishing the gun, ready to confront his foe.
But no one was there.
The room was aglow, with warm light streaming from within. On the desky a cup of tea, hot steam curling upwards. The curtains were drawn, and the windows open. Whoever spied on him was standing here but now had vanished.
Lu Yan entered the office, his pace measured and cautious. Yet, as soon as he had stepped over the threshold, a shiver ran down his spine. It felt like the temperature had plummeted all of a sudden. The source of this cold was unknown, yet it invaded his flesh and plunged deep into his soul.
Where was the person? Lu Yan surveyed the room, scrutinizing every nook and cranny, but found nothing.
His eyes rested upon the wide-open window, and his heart missed a beat. Without hesitation, he raced to the window, looked down, and saw...
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 56: What did he see?
Chapter 56: What did he see?
Despite the towering height of the building, Lu Yan could still discern the objects below in the murky darkness of the night. A lump of fleshy still, almost unrecognizable, amidst the bloodstains on the cement floor.
Questions haunted him. Had the principal jumped off the building? Or was it someone else? Doubts besieged him, but this wasn''t the time to ponder. He shifted his gaze and surveyed the office once more.
Suddenly, something caught his attention. A cab door was swaying gently, concealing a secret within. Lu Yan crept towards it, stopping in front of the door, hesitant for a moment before reaching out and prying it open. What he saw made him freeze in his tracks.
A twisted, bright red statue of a deity was perched on an altar within the cab. Lu Yan mmed the door shut and bolted out of the room without a backward nce. It wasn''t until he was out of the door that he realized he had been holding his breath, and his forehead was coated in a cold sweat.
When he looked at the statue, he had an inexplicable urge to prostrate himself in worship, consequences be damned. Was it because he had chosen to be a believer? Would this influence strengthen over time? Could he keep his sanity intact in the end?
Lu Yan loosened his cor, his gaze on the mark beneath his corbone. The mark grew redder, almost as if it were on the verge of bleeding. He buttoned up his shirt, turned to face the door, and went to the end of the hallway, fading into the shadows to wait.
Before long, faintmotion from the lower floors reached his ears.
"The Principal!!"
"The headmaster leapt from the building? And what shall we do now?"
"Someone must be upstairs!"
"Indeed!"
But before they could take any further action, the head teacher arrived at the scene, aghast and enraged at the sight of the lifeless body on the ground. He wept bitterly, copsing to the earth in despair. His cries were contagious, and soon other faculty members joined in, their tears flowing freely.
Yet, as suddenly as he had begun to weep, the head teacher ceased his sorrowful outburst, wiping away his tears with a determined hand. "Nay, my friends," he spoke with conviction, "the headmaster did not take his own life. It was those two reporters! We must find them and bring them to justice!"
"Aye, catch them!"
"For the principal''s revenge!"
The school''s teaching buildingyout was peculiar, with just one staircase at the far end of the left wing. Lu Yan observed from his elevated position as the searchers ascended the stairs, stationing a few sentinels on each floor. At the same time, the rest scoured the ssrooms for any signs of the culprit.
He would indeed be discovered before long. Thinking quickly, Lu Yan sprinted to the opposite end of the corridor, reaching the restroom soon. The door was unlocked, and he slipped inside, listening carefully to footsteps drawing nearer with each passing second.
"Search every nook and cranny!" one of the searchers barked. "We mustn''t let him slip away!"
Minutes passed like hours as the search party scoured each floor, moving closer and closer to the topmost level. Lu Yan held his breath, listening intently as door after door opened, but he remained hidden from view.
"There''s no sign of him here either," one searcher eximed, his voice heavy with frustration. "This is impossible. Where could he have gone?"
"There''s no one in the office," another added.
And then, just as suddenly as they had arrived, the footsteps began to fade away, gradually growing softer and softer until they were nought but a distant echo.
Lu Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but his triumph was short-lived. Something was amiss.
He didn''t seek refuge in thevatory. Instead, he slithered out of the window. He clutched onto the outer wall''s water pipes and air conditioning units. As he heard the footsteps fade away and were on the brink of leaping back into the window, a sharp gaze caught his attention from the left. His head jerked towards the source.
A face, indistinct yet grinning, met his gaze on the left side of the teaching building. As soon as it realized it had captured his attention, its smile became even more affable.
The water pipes next to his arm began to break. At this critical moment, Lu Yan pushed against the wall, jumped up, grabbed the window with force, and flipped inside.
As soon as he was within, he was petrified in position, and his breath caught in his throat. The voice-activated light failed to illuminate, but he could still discern a pitch-ck, hunched-over figure stationed at the bathroom''s threshold.
At the sight of the figure, Lu Yan lowered his gaze and avoided meeting its eyes. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a head floating in from outside the window.
What could he do?
Lu Yan had encountered this type of predicament before. He had grown ustomed to discovering a way out from a dead end. He clutched the gun and wooden stick tightly in his hand, gradually smoothing his breathing, and inched one step at a time toward the figure.
A niggling suspicion crept into his mind. With a furtive nce, the figure remained motionless as though waiting for something. Looking up once more, Lu Yan instantly understood. It was not a figure with its head bowed but a headless corpse! It stood at the door, awaiting its own head!
With the realization dawning upon him, Lu Yan''s senses keenly detected that the other figure''s stance was not quite right. In an instant, he knew what it meant. It, the headless thing, could not see itself. After grasping at the disembodied head bounding towards him, Lu Yan ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
As he dashed past the looming figure, Lu Yan could feel the icy chill emanating from it. He didn''t waste a second, racing straight towards the stairs opposite the bathroom.
Faster!
Faster still!
If it reimed its head...
In a mere dozen seconds, Lu Yan had descended the stairs, sting a shot into the void as he did so. The deafening gunshot reverberated in the eerie silence, and he quickly heard the voices of the teachers from below.
"Over here!"
"Hurry! Stop him!"
Those teachers, if they could still be called that, were hollow shells, their fanatical and obsessed expressions as ghastly as their cracked and bloodied faces. They looked like shattered ster statues brought back to life. They swarmed upstairs, already on the third floor and confronting Lu Yan, racing down from the fourth.
With no time to spare, Lu Yan''s sole focus was to outrun the thing upstairs before it could reim its head. He bolted downwards at breakneck speed, ploughing through the two teachers obstructing his way and flipping over the railing. Hended with a thud on the next level, swinging his wooden stick with force to shatter the barricade of bodies ahead of him. Without a second thought, Lu Yan bolted into the open, not daring to look back.
The moment his foot hit the pavement, darkness engulfed the entire edifice.
Lu Yan''s heart pounded as he ran for his life. The ghostly apparition had alreadyid eyes upon him, and it was only a matter of time before it came for him. For reasons unknown, the thought crept into Lu Yan''s mind, fueled by the primal fear that drives us all: run.
Inside the teaching building, chaos reigned.
"Why did the power go out? Everyone take out your phones and follow!" The order was barked, and the groupplied.
"Who got hurt just now?" Another voice chimed in, tinged with panic.
"Damn it, why did the power go out at this time? Director, shouldn''t we fix the equipment in our building? It''s unbearable to have it stop every two or three days." The words were barely out of his mouth when a voice called out from the darkness.
"Director, someone else just came down from above; I don''t know who it is."
"Definitely an aplice! Catch him!" The director''s voice was authoritative, his orders snapping like a whip.
"Director, it...it doesn''t seem like..." The voice trailed off into a blood-curdling scream.
After a series of harrowing screams, only discarded phones littered the ground. The figure of the ghostly entity passed by, and the light extinguished in its wake.
Lu Yan continued to shuttle through the campus, his adrenaline-fueled escape leaving him with a few injuries. Bandaging them would have to wait. All he could do now was run. His survival depended on Chu Xiu finishing the game after midnight, regardless of whether he emerged victorious.
He checked his watch and saw that there was still almost half an hour until midnight. Lu Yan took a deep breath, slowed down his pace, and began to recall everything in his mind, scanning his surroundings with caution.
The God of Omniscience was once a mere symbol to him, a religion without any impression. But once he recognized it as a detailed faith, the Church of Omniscience seemed to crop up more and more, impossible to ignore, even influencing the tasks of outsiders. It was a strange rtionship between the God of Omniscience, ghosts, and tasks that lingered even after the tasks werepleted.
Andtely, the tasks had be increasingly bizarre, far moreplex than the ghosts and their stories from the start. Too many interfering factors were at y, all linked to the God of Omniscience.
As time ticked slowly toward midnight, the few remaining teachers in the school grew anxious. The school rules were clear - wandering around campus after twelve o''clock was strictly forbidden, with consequences to be borne by those who disobeyed. After discussing their options, they simply up and left. The principal was already dead, so they figured it didn''t matter.
Chu Xiu, on the other hand, stood on the second floor of the teaching building opposite the main entrance, watching their figures recede into the distance.
"Why did they suddenly leave?" he wondered, befuddled. But before he could ponder it further, the lights on the side of a teaching building went out. Not one light at a time, but all at once, as though someone had pulled the plug on the entire building.
Did Lu Yan have something to do with it? Did he cut off the power?
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
Just as Chu Xiu was about to contact Lu Yan to inform him that the teachers had already left, he noticed something amiss. A figure emerged from the side teaching building, and as it passed each streetlight, the light would quickly go out.
Taking in a sharp breath of icy air, Chu Xiu knew right away that what he faced was not a living person.
He couldn''t flee now. He''d collide with the spectre head-on if he bolted down the stairs. Chu Xiu swivelled on his heel and rushed into the ssroom. Yet, every window was mped tight with anti-theft screens.
He pressed his shoulder against the windowpane, the electric saw in his grip snarling and buzzing, slicing through the iron mesh as thick as a finger. Its shrill mour echoed in the mute campus, flinging sparks into the air.
But Chu Xiu didn''t give a damn. He gouged a gap in the anti-theft screen in three or four shes, sprang out of the second floor, broke through the branches, tumbled onto the grass, rolled twice, staggered to his feet and stumbled away.
His wounded leg must have worsened; blood seeped down his thigh. But Chu Xiu brushed it aside.
Did he catch sight of his silhouette, illuminated by the light, flickering out of sight and plunging into darkness? Without ncing back, he sensed that all the lights in the edifice had snuffed out.
Limping towards the darkness, Chu Xiu knew that the most dangerous ce was often the safest. When other lit teaching buildings went dark, the ghost had left. All the teachers had already left the school. Yet, an inexplicable ck figure appeared, and he had to find a secure building to hide until he could y the game.
But where was Lu Yan? He''d managed to escape, hadn''t he?
Chu Xiu waited for roughly ten minutes, and the lights in the teaching building situated a hundred meters to his left suddenly snuffed out. The ghost must have gone there!
With the ghost''s path mapped out in his mind, Chu Xiu wasted no time and charged towards the distant teaching building. Ignoring the searing pain in his legs and the blood trickling down, he pushed himself to the limit and reached the building farthest from where the lights had flickered.
The witching hour was rapidly approaching, and the entire campus was cloaked in darkness as the final teaching building went dark.
Huddled in the shadows, Lu Yan kept his breathing steady. Like Chu Xiu, he swiftly retreated to a building as far away as possible from where the lights had vanished, hoping to keep a safe distance from the ghost.
But the moment he tried to escape, he discovered that the school gates were locked tight. The walls were too high to climb, and he suspected the entity wouldn''t let him leave the premises so quickly.
Therefore, Chu Xiu needed to finish the game as soon as possible. Once he did, all the eerie happenings would cease.
Lu Yan had cast aside his stick and now had his hand on the mark below his vicle, scanning the area cautiously.
As the clock struck midnight, Chu Xiu and Lu Yan froze.
In an instant, every single teaching building on campus was illuminated, the lights flickering on one by one. Students roamed the corridors and ssrooms, flipping through textbooks and engaging in lively discussions. Had it not been for the pitch-ckness that had enveloped the buildings just moments before, the scene would have looked like any other bustling high school, a hive of activity and productivity.
None of the students paid them any heed. It was as if they were invisible. Lu Yan stood rooted to the spot, his heart pounding with apprehension at this bizarre spectacle.
"What is this?" wondered Lu Yan, his voice barely above a whisper. Was it a ghostly illusion? He stood in disbelief as two students carrying textbooks came up the stairs and walked straight through him. They continued, smiling and oblivious that they had just walked through a human figure.
Lu Yan pinched himself to check if he was still alive. A sharp, painful sensation indicated that he had pinched something real. He tentatively reached out to touch a student nearby, but his fingers met with nothingness. It was a relief when he confirmed that he was invisible to the students. Lu Yan pulled out his phone and contacted Chu Xiu, determined to find out where he was. Once he knew, he left the building and headed towards Chu Xiu''s location, his curiosity piqued.
"Ding-ling-ling...ss is starting," the bell rang, jolting Lu Yan out of his thoughts.
The students, still wandering in the corridor, quickly returned to their ssrooms, holding their books and test papers. In a short while, the sound of students reading aloud could be hearding from some ssrooms. Lu Yan suddenly remembered what Teacher Li had said before he entered the school, iming that the evening self-study ss was also a unique feature of this school.
"It is quite a unique feature, indeed," thought Lu Yan.
Finally, Lu Yan met Chu Xiu in the building closest to the school gate. Chu Xiu still had his mirror, and it was intact, but he looked terrible. His legs were bleeding heavily, his lips pale, and he was only being propelled by sheer willpower.
"I''m going to y the game right away, so please wait for me downstairs," Chu Xiu said, taking out his mirror. "I''ve calcted that I won''t take more than ten minutes to get to the fourth floor at my current speed. If I don''t give you a warning after ten minutes, you should leave immediately."
Chu Xiu could have followed the game rules and left immediately after the game ended. However, when he and Lu Yan were separated, the other party must have gathered a certain amount of information, and he hoped to learn something. So he was ready to dy as much time as possible.
Lu Yan acquiesced with a nod and supplemented, "When you''re in danger, a warning is necessary, and I''ll reciprocate."
"Agreed. A gunshot will be the signal."
Hearing that, Lu Yan reached out, "I''m out of ammo."
Chu Xiu responded, "It''s my oversight." After speaking, he took two rounds from his magazine and handed them to Lu Yan.
Next, Chu Xiu limped into the building. Lu Yan watched everything unfold from a distance.
The sound of students reading aloud resonated from within the edifice. Chu Xiu retrieved a mirror, positioned it to his face and said his name, advancing to the first stair.
"Chu Xiu."
"Chu Xiu."
His eyes never left the mirror, one hand grasping the railing, the other sping the mirror, ascending the stairs step by step. It was queer to hear his own name, but Chu Xiu didn''t detect anything peculiar after reaching the first floor. However, when he called out his name, he felt somewhat awkward. He descended to the next floor.
Stepping down one level. "Chu Xiu."
Second level. "Chu Xiu."
Upon reaching the third level, Chu Xiu''s voice faltered momentarily.
The image in the mirror...changed.
The mirror fogged up, bing hazy and hard to see. Chu Xiu had to reach out and wipe it clean. But as he finished wiping, he was startled to find his reflection with a bluish-purpleplexion and white, rolling eyes the face of a dead person!
His own face!
He shuddered but couldn''t stop walking, continuing up the stairs. Each step he took decayed the dead face in the mirror more. At first, it was barely noticeable, but it became increasingly obvious as he climbed higher. On thest step of the second floor, the person''s face in the mirror was unrecognizable, terrifying, and disgusting.
Remaining calm was his only option. Chu Xiu took a deep breath, changed direction, and headed to the third floor.
The scene in the mirror changed once again, and Chu Xiu stood frozen, trembling hand holding the mirror so much that he could hardly hold it. In the mirror, the face of a woman he knew very well appeared Chu Xian, his sister.
"Sleeve? Is that you? Where are you?" Chu Xian''s voice came from the mirror. Chu Xian always liked to call him Sleeve, a nickname she especially gave him.
Chu Xiu called his name, "Chu Xiu," and continued up the stairs.
"Hey? Sleeve, don''t scare me. Where are you?" Chu Xian looked puzzled, searching around in the mirror.
Chu Xiu''s lungs burned as he struggled to catch his breath. Suddenly, a memory resurfaced in his mind. Before they were thrown into this wretched world of tasks, Chu Xian told him about a day when she heard him calling her name while she was alone. He hadn''t believed her then and dismissed it as a mere hallucination. But after listening to the recording at her insistence, both siblings felt uneasy. Chu Xiu had stayed with her the whole day, but the eerie urrence never repeated. Eventually, Chu Xian forgot about it.
"Chu Xiu," he called out again.
In the mirror, Chu Xian''s face twisted with fear as she frantically searched for the source of the voice.
"Don''t try to scare me, or I''ll beat you up," Chu Xian threatened as she barged into the room. However, after scouring every corner of the house and finding nothing, she heard the voice again. Fear etched on her face; she couldn''t hide it any longer.
"Chu Xiu," the voice echoed, sending shivers down his spine. His mind raced as he struggled to understand what was happening. Why was his current task affecting his past world?
In the mirror, Chu Xian pulled out her phone and began recording a few sentences of Chu Xiu''s voice. Hastily, she fled the house, leaving the mirror image to fade into darkness. He had reached the fourth floor.
Taking a deep breath, Chu Xiu wiped away a tear and continued to climb. His eyes remained glued to the mirror.
Suddenly, he saw Lu Yan''s figure lurking in the corner of the reflection. How had he made it up here? Chu Xiu dared not turn around when the game rules prohibited it. Instead, he turned the corner and stood at the staircase on the fourth floor.
Lu Yan followed up on Chu Xiu without mentioning that ten minutes had already psed. Seizing the brief window earlier, he quickly scanned the building across the street. The teaching building was calm, and the instructors were busy teaching their sses. Lu Yan tried to use the mirror to spy on the group of people, but he saw nothing in the reflection.
That ck silhouette had vanished.
Puzzled, Lu Yan couldn''t fathom the reason. Without any answers, he decided to keep pace with Chu Xiu, who walked with a confused expression, taking one step and halting the next as if he had seen something strange in the mirror.
Lu Yan was cautious, avoiding angles that would reflect his image in the mirror while monitoring their progress with his wristwatch. What he failed to realize was that this task was routine.
If not for the "deity''s" interference, Chu Xiu and his friends would have randomly selected two ordinary students to y the game and might have survived or died before reaching the YinYang Road. The second and third-day horror games would have been a simple affair, and they would not have been trapped in the cycle of reincarnation.
Thest day''s mirror game was supposed to ur on the fourth day. They would have encountered the dark figure and the eerie sight of students attending sses on campus. Through the games and the students they met over the next three days, they would have to unravel the school''s mystery to escape.
However, their task had been wholly disrupted, and the normal flow of time and space was out of control. Only Chu Xiu and Lu Yan remained, unaware of the truth.
Chu Xiu was once again confronted with a situation beyond his control. In the mirror, he saw himself and Chu Xian performing a task in the past.
In the past, he was not like the present. Chu Xiu had attempted to encourage the taskers to cooperate and assist one another. After all, individual strength was insufficient, and unity provided the only chance of survival. Chu Xian instilled this idea in him, who was intelligent and courageous but a dreamer, far removed from reality.
The mission was drawing to a close. Chu Xiu watched helplessly as the task member he had rescued to survive turned on Chu Xian, causing her tog behind as they fled before ultimately being devoured by a monster. In that instant of returning to the real world, Chu Xiu personally strangled the traitor and left with Chu Xian''s corpse. From that day forth, he vowed never to save another person again. To Chu Xiu, everyone was just a pawn to be used.
Now, as he looked into the mirror, the scene was ying out once more, and he desperately wanted to shout out to Chu Xian to tell her to hide. He gasped for breath, his eyes bulging as he tightly grasped the mirror. A knife materialized behind Chu Xian, poised to strike.
Chu Xiu shouted recklessly, "Hide, Chu Xian! Hide!" He reached out and pushed away the de, seeding in saving her.
In the mirror, Chu Xian revealed a strange smile, grabbed Chu Xiu''s hand, and extended it into the ss, yanking him into the mirror. As the mirror fell in the hallway, Lu Yan caught it with the reverse side facing him, not daring to touch the reflective surface. He stood there, frozen, pondering what Chu Xiu had witnessed. Who was Chu Xian? And what was on the front of the mirror? Would Chu Xiu meet his demise?
The bell rang, signalling the end of ss. Lu Yan believed the students couldn''t see him and didn''t move. But to his surprise, groups of students walked out of the ssroom one after another. They quickly spotted the stranger on the stairs, their eyes fixed on him.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 57: The Mirror World
Chapter 57: The Mirror World
One by one, the students emerged from their ssrooms, their feet dragging along the dull linoleum floors. The lights in the hallway flickered erratically, casting a sickly pallor over the scene. The students did not shriek or giggle as they usually would but instead stood in eerie silence, their eyes fixed on a figure in their midst.
A strange man, bearing a mirror.
Lu Yan stood motionless, his gaze shifting to the students gathered on the lower level. They, too, had ascended the stairs and now stood at a respectful distance, their faces blurred and indistinct, as though they had been rubbed raw. But despite their spectral appearance, Lu Yan felt no fear. These students seemed to pose no threat, simply watching him with an otherworldly curiosity.
Had the ghosts stopped killing people? Or was it that he hadn''t triggered the death mechanism? Perhaps, he thought, God was blessing him.
But the idea was preposterous, even to himself.
The group of students didn''t move, and he waited for another two minutes, trying to gauge their intentions. But he couldn''t shake off the feeling of difort, the sense that something was off-kilter. He decided to move out of the hallway and find a ss window to use the reflection to see what was in the mirror.
As he lifted his hand, all the students raised theirs in unison. They still stared at him, their expressions unchanged, but he felt a physiological shiver running down his spine, a premonition of death descending on him.
His movement stopped, and he tried to suppress the involuntary tremor in his body.
Why had they reacted like that?
Was it because he''d moved?
''Does motion trigger death?'' Lu Yan struggled toprehend the thought, but he had faced countless inexplicable events in his past. This possibility wasn''t the most outrageous one he had encountered. In the world of ghosts, the rules were chaotic and distorted, having no rtion to the karmic retribution in traditional ghost tales. Lu Yan had survived numerous missions by barely grasping some of the rules.
The mirror he clutched sent shivers down his spine. He thought it was just his imagination, but he noticed the thinyer of frost on his fingertips.
Putting down the mirror and running far away seemed like the best action. Even though Chu Xiu had been absorbed into the mirror, he hadn''t paid the price for his wish yet, so he couldn''t die yet.
Lu Yan rubbed the mirror''s smooth surface, perplexed about his next move. At that moment, the lights in the distant teaching building flickered off.
The group of students turned their heads to the darkened building, fear etched on their faces. Even Lu Yan''s heart trembled, for that figure wasing for him!
He attempted to flee, but as he lifted his foot, the group of students all turned to face him, their calm and inorganic eyescking any malice. Nevertheless, Lu Yan sensed that he would meet his end if he took that step.
Thus, he halted in his tracks. His brain worked furiously, searching for a way out. The lights were gradually dying out building by building as if the footsteps of death were drawing closer. The students began to stir but still crowded in the corridor outside the door, reluctant to leave.
Before long, the darkness will consume their building too.
The lights flickered and died out, casting the hallway into darkness one by one. Lu Yan could hear the footsteps ttering up the stairs, each step reverberating through his bones. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest, like a war drum in battle. Desperately searching for a hiding ce, he scanned his surroundings with growing anxiety but found nothing.
A dangerous idea bloomed in his mind, a mad gamble with life-threatening stakes. He knelt slowly and carefully,ying the mirror t on the ground, facing upwards. It was an ordinary-looking mirror, reflecting the dimly lit ceiling. But something was off, and Lu Yan sensed it without being able to put his finger on what exactly.
The figure had already reached the corner of the third floor, and the lights on that level extinguished, plunging everything into absolute darkness. The figure, a pale face shrouded in shadows, turned to him. Lu Yan had an uncanny sense that he knew the face yet couldn''t recall where he had seen it.
His attention quickly shifted back to the mirror. He could see the other students if he could find the right angle. Lu Yan knew he had to enter the world inside the mirror, find Chu Xiu, andplete the game to survive.
Without warning, a bony hand shot out from the darkness, seized his ankle with an icy grip and yanked him into the mirror. As soon as hended on the other side, his eyes widened in disbelief. He was in a ssroom, surrounded by other students, all focused on their lessons, just like any other day. A stern teacher red at him from the podium, demanding an exnation.
"Lu Yan, why did you suddenly stand up?" the teacher barked, his eyes boring into him with cold disapproval. The other students turned to look at him in eerie unison; their gazes were piercing and usatory.
Lu Yan''s heart raced as he looked around the unfamiliar school, his mind churning with confusion. The Fourth Middle School? This wasn''t his school, of that he was sure. The uniforms worn by the students around him were indeed from the Fourth Middle School, but the teacher standing at the podium had a familiarity about him. Lu Yan had some impression of the man; he was one of the members who had chased after him just moments ago.
"Teacher," Lu Yan spoke calmly, "I want to go to the toilet."
The teacher''s face twisted with displeasure, but he begrudgingly waved his hand and allowed Lu Yan to leave. Lu Yan walked out of the ssroom door, the eerie gaze of his ssmates following him. The sky above was heavy and gloomy as ifyers of thick, dark clouds had covered the sunlight. Lu Yan had been on many missions with taskers before and found himself in alternate spaces like this many times. He could leave as long as he found the centre of the world and solved the puzzle. But where was the key to the world in the mirror? And where was Chu Xiu? If he was dead, it would be very troublesome for him to leave.
Comparing the current scene with his recollection of the campus, Lu Yan strolled towards thevatory. Even though everything was exactly the same, he felt something eerie about it, something he couldn''t quite put his finger on.
What was wrong?
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
As he arrived at the end of the corridor, Lu Yan noticed a mirror outside the toilet. His reflection stared back at him, and it wasn''t until this moment that he suddenly returned to his senses. There were no ss signs outside the ssrooms he had just passed, and there wasn''t even any writing on the ckboard, as if they feared he would discover something.
Staring into his reflection, Lu Yan noticed his appearance was slightly different.
The faces of ordinary people were not perfectly symmetrical; what they saw in the mirror was the opposite reflection of themselves. Lu Yan was intimately acquainted with his face, right down to the small mole above his left eyelid. But in the reflection, the mole sat inexplicably on his left eyelid. Was this a consequence of a reflected image? He lowered his hand and stepped back to examine the curious urrence. Despite the discrepancy, the group of people around him seemed to be oblivious to anything awry.
Abruptly, he collided with a figure behind him. As though it was a reflex, he stiffened before taking two quick steps into the restroom doorway. His thoughts raced; why did the figure not appear in the mirror? What could be behind him? Should he turn around?
"What are you doing here? Aren''t you going to ss?" a voice demanded from behind.
Lu Yan steadied himself and pivoted, only to find a middle-aged man suspiciously regarding him. It was him. The shadow that had appeared inexplicably on campus! He was dressed as a typical security guard, patrolling the grounds, encountering a student who had strayed from their path.
"I''ll be back in a minute," Lu Yan replied, his instincts telling him that the man was far from ordinary. He pivoted back to the sink and turned on the faucet, his heart pounding, yet his gaze remained fixed on the mirror without blinking. His reflection remained the only thing in sight.
After he finished washing his hands, he calmly walked past the man. In that fleeting moment, he tilted his head slightly and looked back through the nted ss window, the other man doing the same. Something about him felt familiar, but Lu Yan couldn''t put his finger on it. Who was he?
He strode down the corridor, his mind made up. The ssroom was thest ce he wanted to be, and he had no intention of returning. He pretended to head towards the ssroom, then swiftly turned and ran downstairs.
"Hey, wait! Aren''t you supposed to go back to the ssroom?" The security guard was taken aback by the audacity of the student who had brazenly skipped ss. He gave chase, but by the time he reached the stairs, the student had vanished into thin air. The guard searched the first floor but found no trace of him.
Lu Yan went to another teaching building, determined to find the principal''s office and try his luck there.
In this world of mirrors, did a "god" also exist?
He sensed someone watching him as he bounded down the stairs. He looked up and saw the security guard staring at him. After a brief moment of eye contact, Lu Yan sprinted towards the principal''s building.
As soon as he ascended the stairs, a figure descended from above. They stared at each other, both stunned.
"Chu Xiu?"
"Lu Yan?"
Lu Yan regarded the other person suspiciously. "What are you doing here?" He remembered the man had witnessed a mncholy scene and was dragged into the mirror world. Lu Yan had assumed he was possessed by a demon, but it now appeared that a ghost had pulled him into this otherworldly ce.
Chu Xiu was equally curious. "Never mind me. Why are you here?"
Lu Yan briefly recounted his situation. Chu Xiu had been on his way out of the building, but now he apanied Lu Yan, hobbling along with some difficulty.
"Why are you going to see the principal? I suspect the abnormality of the entire school is rted to him."
"It is indeed rted to him and that ''god''," Lu Yan exined. "There is a statue of the god in his office."
"Why are they everywhere?" Chu Xiu grasped the gravity of the situation. A few days ago, the game was thrown into chaos because of its involvement. If this game had its shadow, too, it could only mean...
The two soon arrived at the door of the principal''s office. They knocked but received no answer. They picked the lock and entered without hesitation, shutting the door behind them. No one was in the office, and they had no idea where the principal had gone.
"Where''s the statue you mentioned?" Chu Xiu asked.
Lu Yan lifted his chin slightly and approached the bookshelf. Chu Xiu mentally prepared himself before gently opening the cab door. The vivid red statue resembled blood and had an eerie and twisted appearance. Chu Xiu immediately closed the cab door.
"You made a promise earlier, and now it''s time to fulfil it," Lu Yan gestured, his intent clear.
"We''re still in the mirror; we haven''t left yet. Can we wait until we''re out before we discuss this?" Chu Xiu said firmly, unwavering in his resolve. "I won''t go back on my word, and I''ll record a video to prove it."
Lu Yan pondered for a moment before slowly shaking his head. He wanted to know whether the "gods" in his own world could affect people from another world. After he finished the game and left, where would he find Chu Xiu again?
Chu Xiu looked troubled, thinking of possible arguments when the sound of a lock being opened suddenly came from outside the door.
This was bad!
The two of them exchanged nces, seeing the same meaning in each other''s eyes. They immediately dodged behind the furniture, taking cover in the spacious and luxurious principal''s office.
One of them hid behind the curtains of the wall bookshelf. In contrast, the other hid under the tea table, carefully observing through the cracks.
Unexpectedly, the person who came in was not the principal but a hooded man of medium height with his face hidden. Lu Yan recognized him, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Who was he? And why was he here?
When the man entered the office, his sharp eyes roamed the room''s furnishings. He made a beeline for the desk, sifting through the papers on its surface before wrenching open a drawer and delving inside in search of something.
He checked several drawers before advancing onto the safe. After fumbling with the lock, he pried it open and reached in to extract a bundle of documents. Upon scrutinizing them, a grin crept across his face. He was just about to capture a snapshot of them when the door suddenly burst open!
"Who are you?! What are you doing here?" the headmaster bellowed as he stormed in.
Without hesitation, the man bolted out of the room, pelting down the stairs. The headmaster gave chase but could only m the door shut, leaving the papers scattered on the ground.
Lu Yan and Chu Xiu nced at each other before wordlessly stepping forward to gather the scattered documents.
"This..." They both felt disoriented as they looked at the words on the pages.
All the characters on the documents were reversed! How were they supposed to read them?
Lu Yan took out a small mirror he carried with him and ced it on the edge of the paper, then began reading each word out loud.
As he spoke, their expressions grew increasingly grave. It turned out to be a stack of liability waivers written by parents. The gist was that even though their children had been in idents at school, the parents had decided not to hold the school responsible, although they were deeply saddened.
The subsequent waiver was the same as the one after that. They pulled out a thick stack of documents, but the only thing different was the names of the parents and students involved.
"How many incidents have urred at this school?" they wondered, seeing how many waivers were necessary.
As they continued to flip through the documents, they came across several experiment records. The data on the left makes both of them feel uneasy.
"On X day of X month in X year, two students from ss 2 in Year 1 went to YinYang Road and disappeared without a trace..."
"On the X day of X month in X year, three students from ss 18 in Year 1 went to YinYang Road. Three dayster, two students returned, but one remained missing. One of the returnees suffered from mental illness and had to take a leave of absence..."
"On the X day of X month in X year, all the students from ss 2 in Year 3 went on a field trip to YinYang Road. The ss teacher disappeared, and one student went missing. The other forty-nine returned after a week. ording to follow-up tracking, the forty-nine students'' physical conditions were as follows..."
Chu Xiu shuddered with each report he read. His prolonged exposure to the horrors of his missions and the tragic loss of his sister, Chu Xian, had left him almost desensitized to emotions. Yet, he never thought that the school would conduct such inhumane experiments on its students.
The man who had been present before was likely here to collect the experiment reports. Lu Yan shared Chu Xiu''s disbelief, but for a different reason. He stumbled upon a familiar name and face while perusing through one of the missing reports - An Xing Yu.
The discovery left Lu Yan gasping for air, overwhelmed with shock.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 58: Strange Quilt
Chapter 58: Strange Quilt
''An Xing Yu...'' Lu Yan''s heart leapt with excitement, his mind going momentarily nk. He forced himself to calm down and took another look at the student file. ''It''s him, no doubt.''
Lu Yan had always known that people from the other world if they died during their mission, would survive in this world in another strange form. He had also wondered whether people in this world could reach the other world, but unfortunately, he couldn''t verify it himself. Now, he finally had a living example right in front of him.
Could this be real? After searching for so long, had he finally made progress?
Quickly scanning the student file, Lu Yan''s gaze froze as he realized who An Xing Yu''s father was. Under the father''s name column, the font was reversed, but it was clear that the name was An Ru - the previous person in charge whom Zhao, the police officer, had told him about. An Ru had gone to investigate the YinYang Road incident and disappeared, but he turned out to be An Xing Yu''s father.
Lu Yan found him familiar and realized why - he and An Xing Yu looked somewhat alike.
Chu Xiu noticed Lu Yan''s difort and asked, "What''s wrong?"
Although Lu Yan was ustomed to disguising his emotions, he quickly regained hisposure and changed the subject. "I''m thinking about why the school sent students to YinYang Road? What''s there?"
They had all been to YinYang Road, which was indeed strange to the extreme, but if they were asked to describe what was there, they wouldn''t be able to exin it.
Was it ghosts, or was it "gods"?
Chu Xiu''s expression was equally solemn as he shook his head. "By the way, look at the time on these student files," he pointed out.
Even thetest document was three years old. Was it possible that the world they were in was actually the past?
Most of their past missions had involved illusions. They couldn''t change the past but could gather information from these illusions. However, their recent experience in a horror game was a different story.
"We should leave now." They exchanged nces, and without a second thought, they pulled out their phones to record everything before quickly flipping through the thick stack of files and leaving the scene.
They found an empty ssroom and carefully examined each photo, trying to find any clues.
"Although the school history of No.4 Middle School isn''t very long, it''s quite famous in the area. Firstly, it has a high admission rate, and secondly, the tuition fees are cheap, and the rewards are rich. Many students from poor familiese here to study. There are also a lot of students who have graduated from orphanages and advanced to this school."
It didn''t take long for them to realize that incidents involving poor students wouldn''t cause too much concern.
"The current principal has a good reputation because he often waives the tuition fees for students. So, even though students go missing frequently, his support among other students is still very high..."
As Lu Yan browsed through the photos, he thought, ''The missing students here...An Xing Yu went missing, but An Xing Yu came from another world... The people in that world died but were resurrected in this world...?''
The idea was bizarre, but it was the only exnation that made sense to Lu Yan. Could Chu Xiu be trusted? Should he tell him? No, not yet. He needed to wait a bit longer. ording to the pattern, it wouldn''t take more than half a year for An Xing Yu toe back here. Then he could find a way to locate him.
Lu Yan took a deep breath, attempting to steady their thoughts.
"Is it possible that the students were sacrificed to that... entity?" Chu Xiu questioned, avoiding mentioning the name of the deity. From his perspective, the missing students were undoubtedly offerings for the god.
Lu Yan interjected, "But how do you exin the survival of some students?" Even though most of the returned students were mentally unstable, they still managed to return. Was it possible that the god had not desired those particr sacrifices?
Chu Xiu was no longer specting. Ghosts'' motives were beyond theprehension of ordinary people, let alone a "god" that operated on a higher ne.
"Incidentally, Zhao, the police officer who dealt with the YinYang Road incident, informed me that her predecessor, An Ru, disappeared while investigating YinYang Road and has yet to be found," Lu Yan reported, erging the photograph and sliding it over to Chu Xiu. "I don''t think this is a coincidence."
Chu Xiu studied the photograph, his expression turning solemn. "When we meet An Ru, we should inquire if he knows anything."
"Agreed."
The sssted forty-five minutes, leaving them with three minutes remaining. Checking the schedule beforehand, they chose to wait until the next ssmenced before departing to avoid being seen. Despite this, the school was so extensive that they were unsure where to begin their search for An Ru. Theypleted onep before being caught by a disciplinary teacher.
"Run!" Lu Yangged behind intentionally, prompting the disciplinary teacher to chase after him. After Chu Xiu barely managed to flee, Lu Yan vanished.
The school was vast, with ayout that differed somewhat from what he had seen outside. Lu Yan ran twops before seeking refuge in an empty ssroom, intending to depart after school.
ss ended, and it was time to go home. He wished to test whether he could leave the school in the Mirror World.
Chu Xiu received a message from Lu Yan about his n. Soon after, Chu Xiu arrived, his leg oozing blood, wounded even more severely than before. "After you left, the headmaster came after me," Chu Xiu waved his hand, recounting his escape. He had knocked the headmaster unconscious, but it was a close call. Upon hearing Lu Yan''s proposal, Chu Xiu hesitated. Lu Yan''s suggestion was tempting, but Chu Xiu had his own n toplete the game after midnight in the Mirror World so that he could return to the normal world.
"Why do you n to leave school?" Chu Xiu asked, curious about Lu Yan''s decision.
Tapping his fingertips on the table, Lu Yan replied, "I want to see the YinYang Road."
Lu Yan wondered what exactly was on the YinYang Road and if he would end up like An Xing Yu, travelling to another world.
Though he also wanted to go, Chu Xiu valued his life. He realized that he had almost exhausted the cost of his wish to the gods, and if he did not cherish it anymore, he might end up like Nie Yun Zhen and the others.
After a long time, he said, "Since that''s the case, we''ll split up."
Chu Xiu would stay in school and y the game, while Lu Yan would venture to the YinYang Road alone.
As the two agreed, Lu Yan left the school gate immediately after ss. Surprisingly, he did not feel hungry, even though he had not eaten for nearly a day.
During dinner time, Chu Xiu wandered around again without his mirror. He randomly took a girl''s mirror from the ss, put it in his pocket and left. He thought everything was going smoothly, but what caught him off guard was that the entire school suddenly became tense. The school had brought in a group of security guards from somewhere, searching one building after another.
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
Chu Xiu had no idea what they were looking for. After narrowly avoiding them, he messaged Lu Yan about the situation.
On the other end, Lu Yan left the school smoothly and got on the bus to YinYang Road.
Alone in the bus, the darkness crept in with each turn, the surroundings gradually became sparsely popted, and the trees withered into gnarled shadows. As he stepped off the bus, the frigid air stung his face, and he huddled his coat tighter around his frame.
Lu Yan scanned the destendscape, ensuring no one lurked in the shadows before taking a deep breath and forging ahead down the bleak road.
The gloom was imprable, and the dampness clung to his skin. Although the sun still hung in the sky, the road was enveloped in a deep shade, and the trees appeared as if they had been dead for ages, lined neatly in two rows along the pale pathway. One couldn''t see where it led to as if the road extended to eternity.
Lu Yan did not act on a whim. He suspected the illusion was the work of the insidious deity lurking behind the scenes. He was also taking a gamble, betting on whether An Ru woulde to the gloomy road today or not.
He strolled along the path, and in the distance, he spotted an abandoned factory.
Chu Xiu had recounted his experience ying Four Corners at this spot, so Lu Yan''s intuition warned him something was amiss. Would there be other Chu Xius from different dimensions inside?
He halted outside the factory, scrutinizing his surroundings. Abruptly, he heard a car horn ring in the distance. Lu Yan hastened to open the factory''s first-floor door and peered through the crack.
A fleet of small cars drew to a stop outside the factory. Lu Yan was taken aback and quickly moved, darting up the stairs in the murky gloom to the second floor.
The second floor was filled with debris and dust, identical to the first. Taking a few breaths felt like breathing in asthma-inducing fumes. Lu Yan shielded his mouth and nose, hushed his footsteps, and listened attentively.
The noise of something heavy being dragged on the ground reverberated through the stillness, followed by a thud and a body hitting the floor. It seemed as though the thing that was pulled was a human.
He was a mare human, stumbling over his own words. But his anguished screams were soon drowned out by fists mming into flesh.
Lu Yan could almost picture the scene below: a group of people catching hold of someone, dragging them into the factory, throwing them to the ground, and then mercilessly kicking and punching them.
"You fucking bastard, I told you to keep away; why didn''t you listen!" spat one of the attackers.
"You think you''re so capable? Then why didn''t you find out when you would die?" growled another.
The man being beaten gasped for breath, coughing violently before managing to make a faint sound.
"You...where did you take...the students?"
The group fell silent. Lu Yan, practically lying on the ground, strained to listen but could only catch fragments of the conversation.
"What''s wrong? Can''t the great police officer An handle it? You can''t find out? Guess then!"
"The students? Aren''t they all doing well?"
They didn''t answer him, only jeering and delivering more blows.
"Alright, enough wasting time." A middle-aged man''s voice rang out. "Get on with it!"
Lu Yan had made his way to the edge of the wall outside the stairs on the second floor. He peered cautiously around the corner, careful not to be detected in the dark factory. He watched as the group produced a small electric saw and started it up, the saw emitting a small, concentrated roar.
Then, the group burst intoughter and began to sever the man''s head bit by bit.
Lu Yan couldn''t take it anymore. He leaned against the wall on the second floor, slowly making his way towards the window''s edge. He breathed slowly and steadily, trying to calm himself.
Was this An Ru''s past?
From below came a chorus of unintelligible murmurs and jeers. Then, the heamps of several vehicles outside the factory illuminated the night. The mob gathered their gear, loaded it into their cars, and departed.
In other words, that person''s body should still be on the first floor.
Lu Yan observed the procession of vehicles vanish into the darkness before descending the stairs to the heart of the lobby.
He surveyed the blood-soaked corpse on the ground using his phone''s light. The crimson stains saturated his clothes, the colour so vivid that it verged on ck. The body wascerated from head to toe.
Yet, one crucial thing was missing - the head. The headless cadaver, drenched in blood,y on the ground!
Recalling the departing group of thugs, Lu Yan realized they carried tool bags. One person had a stic bag, presumably containing An Ru''s head.
They took An Ru''s head with them, so he had to return to the school - to recover his head. And that''s why those teachers met their tragic fate.
Lu Yan took onest nce at the headless body before turning and making his exit. The cause of An Ru''s death was now apparent, but he needed to solve another puzzle urgently.
He messaged Chu Xiu, inquiring about his progress, and while waiting for a response, he continued on his way. It wasn''t until muchter that Chu Xiu answered his message.
[Come back soon,] the reply read. [The teachers are conducting room checks tonight, and it''ll be bad if you''re absent.]
In the office, a group of people were lecturing Chu Xiu on the subject of love.
Chu Xiu gazed hopelessly at the table where his phone and guny. The teacher had fallen for his lie about the toy gun, but the teachers didn''t pay much attention to it, too preupied with his lecture on the perils of truancy and mobile phone addiction. His phone beeped with a new message from Lu Yan. He longed to seize it, but his body was bound to the chair, leaving him helpless as he watched the other person respond to the text.
Would he realize something was amiss?
The head teacher''s stern voice interrupted his thoughts, "I just messaged your aplice. He''ll be here shortly. You two delinquents skipped ss and ignored your teachers'' instructions. You''ll stand for an hour now. Tomorrow morning, you''ll scrub the yground for me."
On the other end of the line, Lu Yan received the message and sensed something amiss. He mulled over it momentarily before sending a reply, feigning no knowledge of the unfolding events.
The taxi''s tires screeched as it hurtled towards the school. Lu Yan knew better than to break any ghosts'' rules, especially in this otherworldly ce. He urged the driver, desperate to arrive at the school on time.
When Lu Yan arrived, he discovered he was also to be punished with Chu Xiu, standing side by side. The two boys exchanged information, whispering together in hushed tones.
Chu Xiu murmured, "I''ll try again tonight. I don''t know if I can return to the mirror world."
Lu Yan nodded, equally determined. They stood there for an hour before the head teacher dismissed them to the dormitory.
The six-person dormitory was cramped, but Chu Xiu and Lu Yan had to ept the arrangement. They shrugged off their jackets andid down on their respective beds. As they drifted off to sleep, they chatted a little longer, discussing their ns for the next day.
One of theds could barely bear the biting cold. He caught sight of Lu Yan''s quilt, which seemed thick enough to smother a small fire. With a hesitant tone, he asked if he could swap. Lu Yan, unperturbed, lifted the earthy yellow quilt from his bed and carried it over to the boy''s bed.
Having no intention of dozing off, Lu Yan leaned against the bedpost and shut his eyes to rest. Time crawled along, and the clock crept closer to midnight.
Eerie sounds, almost whispers, drifted through the dorm. The boy who''d borrowed the quilt still shuddered, cold as the Arctic, chattering his teeth so hard the entire room could hear.
"What''s the matter? Are you taken ill?" asked the others.
"I don''t know...I''m just bloody cold..." The boy shook violently.
"Ever since your trek to the YinYang Road, you''ve felt this chill. Want to take a leave and see a doc at home?" suggested one of the roommates.
"Nah...not necessary...I''ll just catch a wink... Lu Yan lent me his...his quilt..." The boy continued to shake as he spoke.
"Alright, then." The other roommates eventually stopped talking, allowing the whispers to fill the silence once again.
"So cold..." The boy wrapped the quilt around himself tighter and tighter.
Drenched in sweat, he still felt the chill seeping through his skin, despite the suffocating heat. The tighter he wrapped himself, the more sweat he produced, and the more sweat he produced, the more the cold consumed him.
He was drenched as if the bed sheets had been dragged through a river. The only action was to curl up his body until he finally surrendered and buried his head under the covers.
"What in God''s name..." He tried to move, but he felt stuck, paralyzed. Was it the cold that numbed him to the core? No, it couldn''t be that.
The boy tried to lift the covers, but his hands were glued to the cotton sheets! Slowly melting into them! He couldn''t move his legs either! His entire being was merging with the covers!
This revtion was enough to drive him insane. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. Gazing downwards, he realized half of his neck was already assimted with the quilt, melding like a wax effigy.
The dormitory was filled with obliviousness as nobody noticed his anomaly. Everyone was just relieved that he had stopped trembling. He opened his eyes and slowly fused with the covers.
The earthy yellow quilt thickened and emanated warmth, like an embrace from a lover.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 59: I know youre awake.
Chapter 59: I know you''re awake.
The incident with the nket went undetected by Lu Yan. He leaned against the wall while lying in bed, eyes closed, anticipating the arrival of midnight. Each passing moment was an eternity until, atst, he pried his eyes open.
Chu Xiu followed suit, and in the shadows, they locked gazes before rising to their feet. Suddenly, a thin beam of light prated the window atop the steel door, illuminating the room.
"Get back to sleep. The room check is imminent, and any points deducted will result in disciplinary action," the dorm leader cautioned them.
The sound of steps drew near, apanied by the ttering of other dorm doors thrown wide open. Was this a mere inspection? Lu Yan scrambled to cover his head with a nket, feigning slumber while remaining silent.
The footsteps grew louder, their mour intensified by the curses and cries of male students. It was unclear where they were being dragged. The "disciplinary action" mentioned by the dorm leader was anything but trivial.
With a deafening crash, the door burst open, yet the dorm''s inhabitants remained still as statues. Lu Yany there, still as the night, as if sound asleep. But he could sense a presence scrutinizing the tiny chamber, chilling and malevolent as if scouring for prey.
The footsteps crept closer to his bed, each a deliberate beat in a macabre march. Lu Yan slowed his breathing and muted his heartbeat, bing as still as a statue. Any observer would be convinced that he was deep in slumber.
The dormitory was quiet as the grave, the only sound the mournful howling of the wind blowing through the open door. The male voice that had been pleading only moments before had been silenced, along with the footsteps that had apanied it.
Lu Yany supine, lost in a peaceful sleep. Yet, he could sense that the entity had not abandoned him. It hung suspended above him, reeking of decay and death, a ghostly presence with an unshakeable grip.
What manner of being was this?
At first, he thought this was just another hallucination, an echo of the past relived through the prism of his mind. But the events of the night had him doubting his judgment.
Was this an apparition of days gone by at Fourth High School, or was it a manifestation of the student''s own nightmarish experiences? Perhaps their terror had conjured up ghastly images of the principal, vice principal, and other school leaders.
He waited patiently, his senses attuned to the shifting shadows around him. After an interminable wait, the frosty breath suffocating him began to dissipate. The entity had changed its target and now hovered menacingly above the student on the top bunk.
The student who had borrowed his nket earlier nowy silent, lost in silence.
However, the sound of the nket being yanked off the bed echoed through the stillness, a sudden intrusion of violence in an otherwise peaceful night.
''Why?'' Lu Yan wondered, perplexed. What rule did he break?
Unable to pry his eyes open, Lu Yan was forced to rely on his other senses. The rustling noise from the top bunk continued, even as the nket vanished from sight.
Time passed like a river, ebbing and flowing, until a chilling voice pierced the silence. ''I know you''re not sleeping.''
Though spoken in a soft tone, the words reverberated through the dormitory, quickening the breath of a fellow student on the opposite bunk.
The entity revelled in its newfound target, and with glee, it yanked the male student from his resting ce. The hapless victim crashed to the floor with a sickening thud, his skull cracking against the ground. He pleaded, begged, and wept for mercy.
Then, the voice changed as if he had seen the most horrifying thing in the world, something so petrifying it robbed the teen of speech. All that remained was a choking gasp, a ''heh heh'' sound that emanated from the boy''s throat.
Heavy objects were dragged away, followed by the dormitory door m.
All returned to calm.
Lu Yan''s eyes remained shut as he calcted the time, realizing that midnight had passed and it was now about one o''clock. The question lingered in his mind, How many more bed checks would there be tonight? Was this hallucination of past events a manifestation of a student''s nightmares? Nevertheless, the school was anything but ordinary.
Determined to get to the bottom of things, Lu Yan had no intention of rising from his slumber this night. He would wait until the morning to inquire at the school. He was certain Chu Xiu felt the same way. The two slept until dawn and were up before anyone could call them.
Lu Yan opened his eyes, and immediately, his gaze narrowed slightly. On the wooden board of the upper bunk, he saw a humanoid water stain. He got up and surveyed the room, noticing drag marks on both beds. Strangely enough, both students were gone.
Did the student whoined of cold just disappear quietly like that? Stepping on thedder, he looked up at his own upper bunk. The same student who borrowed his nketst night had disappeared, along with the nket. The bed was damp with a humanoid water stain.
Lu Yan had a faint inkling of what was happening, so he leapt down and ceased his investigation.
This school...this school is haunted!
Maybe the students demonized the image of the discipline office and others, but that alone couldn''t rify the eerie events that took ce in the dormitory. Were these events merely a figment of their imagination?
The other students in the dormitory had awakened and were washing up. The dormitory leader washed his face with a water basin in the bathroom. Lu Yan stood by his side, reaching out to ept the water.
Abruptly, he asked, "Does this school have ghosts?"
The dormitory leader was taken aback and bellowed, "What balderdash are you spouting? Do you wish to die?"
Realizing his error, Lu Yan shook his head and solemnly responded, "I don''t wish to die."
His demeanour pacified the jittery dormitory leader, who scrutinized him sceptically a few times before concealing his face in the damp towel and muttering indecisively, "If you truly don''t want to, then...then join us in worshipping God."
"God?" Lu Yan undid his cor, exposing a mark beneath his vicle. "Is this the deity you''re referring to?"
The dormitory leader gazed at the mark in awe for a moment before slowly nodding, his throat parched.
Lu Yan secured his cor, fixating his gaze on the dormitory leader, his words carrying an enigmatic undertone, "So, as long as you be a follower, you won''t die?"
The dormitory leader nodded, his nk expression meeting Lu Yan''s profound gaze. The deity seemed deeply intertwined with everyone at the school, both students and teachers alike.
Lu Yan probed further, but when he inquired about the nature of the school''s experiments, the dormitory leader convulsed in agony, his eyes zing over. Lu Yan was immediately on high alert. The answer to this question was crucial.
"The school... is sacrificing. They seek to summon... something."
His voice was so low that he might not have heard of Lu Yan had not been intently listening. The dormitory leader immediately copsed, his limbs spasming uncontrobly, his face twisted in excruciating pain.
This statement appeared to trigger something, and as he passed out, the temperature in the dormitory plummeted. Lu Yan supported the dormitory leader and watched the view outside the window transform.
The walls, doors, windows, and trees... all cracked like a mirror had shattered. Lu Yan stuck his head out the window and observed that even the sky had faint cracks.
Chu Xiu burst through the door, demanding, "What have you done?"
The moment he entered, his eyes bugged out of his skull. He saw a poor sod sprawled on the floor, facial cracks mapped over their skin like a broken ster cast, no blood seeping from the crevices. Lu Yanid the person t without a word, then snagged Chu Xiu and bolted for the door.
This ce had be a death trap.
[Hey, somebody copy pasted my trantions on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on /inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won''t be able to find it anywhere else.]
Chu Xiu didn''t grasp the gravity of the situation, but he followed obediently. He would soon learn the reason behind the fear gripping Lu Yan.
One by one, pupils filtered out of the dormitory, taking up positions in the hall, eyes locked onto them. Their faces crumbled like the surrounding walls, cracks spidering over their skin.
"What in the hell do we do? The whole bloody world is about to rupture. How do we get out of here?" Chu Xiu, his eyes peeled on Lu Yan, witnessed the cracks fissuring through his clothes, his panic pitching a fever. "You''re splitting apart too!"
Lu Yan shrugged off his coat, flinging it to the ground. "Forget it. We need to find a mirror now. Finish the damn game!"
"But we must wait until midnight on the seventh day," Chu Xiu protested.
"After midnight on the seventh day, isn''t it now?" Lu Yan spat back.
Chu Xiu''s mind was jolted by his response. "Of course!" he thought. It was well past midnight now. The recent game had deceived him into thinking that it was another day.
As soon as he realized this, they dashed into other dormitories to scavenge for mirrors. The boys'' dormitory had scarce mirrors, but they eventually found a suitable one. Without hesitation, they bolted to the first floor. Chu Xiu ascended the stairs while gazing at his reflection.
In that instant, not only did Lu Yan''s face start to crack, but Chu Xiu''s visage was also splitting apart. The mirror reflected his appearance in all its terrifying glory, even more, ghastly than any time he had seen his reflection in the outside world. His face was covered in fissures, and from within, soft red appendages reached out, wriggling in the breeze.
Chu Xiu wished to avert his eyes, but he couldn''t. He whispered his name repeatedly. By the time he arrived at the second floor, his reflection in the mirror had already been dismembered.
With unwavering focus, he ascended the second level at a breakneck pace. Lu Yan marched ahead of him, alert to any sudden developments.
"Chu Xiu."
"Chu Xiu."
...
In the mirror, the ghost of Chu Xiu''s sister appeared once again - reying the task they had undertaken before. Chu Xiu stoically pressed forward despite his heartbreak without uttering a single sound.
"Sleeve, the pain is unbearable...it''s killing me..." Chu Xian whimpered as she wept and clutched her wounds, her image reflected in the mirror. "You goddamn bastard, where did you go? Won''t you help me?"
Chu Xiu made a heartless decision, ignoring her cries and continuing his ascent. With each step he took, another bloody wound appeared on Chu Xian''s body. When he reached the top of the second floor and arrived at the entrance of the stairs leading to the third, Chu Xiu was unaware that his face was awash with tears.
The stairs leading down began to crumble, and the building started to copse. Debris rained down from the top of the structure with a cacophonous mour.
The mirror world wanted to ensnare them!
Chu Xiu deftly sidestepped all the rocks hurtling towards the mirror surface. He barely flinched, resolutely marching towards the mirror even when inadvertently struck a few times. Lu Yan worked diligently to clear the rocks that had tumbled down, obstructing their path on the stairs and allowing Chu Xiu to keep climbing.
"You twoe down! How dare you masquerade as students!" bellowed a voice from below.
The outerwall had long since crumbled, leaving the situation on the stairs exposed to the outside world. Lu Yan peered outside and saw that all the teachers and leaders of the school had congregated below, attempting to ascend.
Emphasis on attempted, as a throng of students barred their path. One after another, they tried to push the teachers away, but the teachers made quick work of them. They had only failed to seed because of their sheer numbers.
"Ignore them; move quickly!" Lu Yan barked, eyes scanning the scene, knowing the students wouldn''t hold up for much longer.
Suspicion had been gnawing at him for some time now. The illusion was a manifestation of the students'' memories. It seemed likely that they were pulled into the mirror world because that was the only ce where they could glean the information they needed.
Chu Xiu finally made it to the fourth floor, but his arrival was met with a group of leaders surging up towards him. These were no longer human forms - their skin cracked and mottled, their pallor resembling sun-dried paper figures.
Paper figures? Lu Yan wondered; why did that idea pop up?
Lu Yan hurried to Chu Xiu''s side, who deftly moved the mirror away from the advancing group and continued their ascent. Lu Yan pushed down falling rocks and used them to barricade the path, but the strain was taking its toll. His hands were splitting open, kes of flesh king off, but he didn''t falter.
Those climbing up after them were not fairing much better, with some barely clinging on with half their body as they tried to stop the two from proceeding.
Lu Yan was alone and overwhelmed, unable to stop dozens of people from attacking. He was quickly forced to approach them.
Heaving with exertion, Chu Xiu continued his climb. Just now, he was hit by a rock, and although he had managed to avoid any vital areas, his injured leg was hit. He had nearly lost his grip on the mirror for a split second.
But escape was still some time away.
Lu Yan stood before the shattered balcony, confronting a horde of encroaching figures. Without hesitation, he raised his firearm and fired at a recognizable shadow. The target''s head erupted into a burst of gore, wobbled precariously, and then tumbled over the balcony''s edge.
"Director!!"
As his quarry plummeted to their doom, Lu Yan bolted forward and leapt off the edge after them. Chu Xiu, who had just reached thest bend of his climb, bore witness to the entire cmity. His heart seized up, but he knew there was no chance to intervene. The only path was upwards.
His left hand had been reduced to rubble, and his right held only three digits. Struggling to grip the mirror, Chu Xiu pressed onward, despite his leg being shattered beyond repair. Remarkably, he felt no pain. At this moment, he was grateful that he could still speak and that the game might still be won.
He could only hope that Lu Yan held fast and avoided the fate waiting in the abyss.
On the other side, Lu Yan''s body contorted and crumpled, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. His fragmented form splintered even further. Attempting to rise to his feet, he discovered that his legs had been pulverized into fragments, and his shoulder had also shattered. By a stroke of luck, he had leapt in the right direction. The principal he had previously knocked down was positioned directly before him.
He used his rtively intact hand to prop himself up and dragged himself to the principal''s side, delving inside his body to retrieve something.
Gazing upon the crowd, he bellowed, "I''m here, and your principal is too!"
The crowd, unsure of how to react, iled around like headless flies briefly before another gunshot rang out, striking one of their own in the head.
Lu Yan lowered his weapon and cast a cold, unflinching re at them with his remaining eye. Although he had deceived Chu Xiu earlier, he had now truly exhausted his ammunition.
The mob quickly came to a decision after a moment of chaos. Most of them thundered downstairs in hot pursuit while a small faction stayed behind to clear a path and apprehend Chu Xiu.
Chu Xiu had already ascended to the top floor, sinking his teeth into his remaining fingers to scrawl his name on the mirror. He needed to flee immediately, descending the staircase without looking back, no matter what he heard or saw.
He dropped the mirror and hobbled down the stairs, only to find seven or eight people obstructing his path. His teeth clenched in determination as he darted past them, running for his life.
He couldn''t stay. He couldn''t look back.
The mangled remains of several bodiesy twisted together. Chu Xiu muttered the rules of the game under his breath, but then a phrase from the instructions suddenly sprang to mind. His eyes widened with inspiration as he spied an opening. He darted out onto the balcony just as Lu Yan had before.
He hit the ground with a resounding thud, and the world went dark.
Two pairs of eyes simultaneously snapped open, and they found themselves right back where they started on the night of the game before they were dragged into the mirror world. But all the students had vanished, leaving only an eerie quiet within the teaching building and a hazy shadow lurking below.
"Come on, keep ying," Lu Yan shoved Chu Xiu, who clutched the mirror tightly and quickly regained his bearings, reciting his name as he ascended the stairs.
Lu Yan''s heart raced, pounding hard in his chest.
He extracted his phone from his pocket and opened the gallery, tilting his head down to keep his line of sight within a visible range of about ten meters.
He watched as the shadow crept up, level by level. Those feet eventually came to a halt directly in front of him.
An Run had relentlessly pursued leads on the YinYang Road road, continuing even after his death, driven not only by his profession but also by his love for his son.
Lu Yan hoisted his phone aloft, the screen illuminated by the stark image of An Xing Yu''s missing person report. He deftly flipped the text horizontally, creating a mirror image of the report.
Lu Yan had a peculiar habit: he was always prepared with multiple backups for everything. Even in this instance, he had foreseen that the group of students wouldn''t pose a threat, but the shadow - An Run - would still pursue him, having caught a glimpse of himself.
The shadow wouldn''t cease chasing him unless it had something to do with his investigation results or his son. He required An Xing Yu''s missing person report for this purpose. Unfortunately, the paper version remained in the principal''s office in the mirror world, and his phone was confiscated by the head teacher. Therefore, he had no other option but to take a chance and see if the head teacher carried a copy with him.
As Lu Yan stood there, the shadow appeared before him, sporting a noticeable red mark on his neck that seemed rugged in some areas due to a chainsaw cut. The shadow lingered for an extended time and then snatched the phone from his hand.
In the meanwhile, Chu Xiu had made it to the final level, pricked his finger, and let the blood flow to write his name on the mirror.
The game had concluded.
Both the shadow and Chu Xiu vanished, and the mirror crashed onto the ground, shattering into pieces. Lu Yan stood still, taking several deep breaths before eventually descending the stairs.
A chilly aura emanated from a mark below his corbone.
As he descended, the school atmosphere became increasingly eerie. Then, the hallway lights abruptly flickered on, revealing a student dressed in a school uniform standing quivering in the corner, his back facing him.
Suddenly, a girl in a school uniform skirt rushed by,ughing, yet where her mouth should have been was so smooth that it was difficult to imagine where theughter came from.
Lu Yan left the building with a dismissive air and exited the school hastily. Yet his mind remained preupied with the mission, his thoughts churning like a turbulent sea. From the situation of Chu Xiu''s departure, there shouldn''t have been so many strange phenomena.
But what had caused them? Was it the "god"? The same god that had now be a haunting, spectral presence that defied exnation? Lu Yan wondered what role it had yed in the mission and how it had managed to "resurrect" them. Could it truly be possible for parallel time and space to exist or even time to flow backwards?
Lost in thought, Lu Yan found himself at the street corner. The flickering neon lights in the distance coalesced into a vague human form. Lu Yan immediately averted his gaze and stopped staring.
His phone had been taken away, but fortunately, he had a backup at home. As he rode the bus back, Lu Yan''s mind wandered back to his earlier musings. Why was the world so bizarre, yet the development of technology simr to another world? What unseen force was maintaining everything in ce, and why did he feel that An Xing Yu and An Ru held the answers to these questions?
Lu Yan felt that there was much to be gleaned from them that could shed light on the mysteries of the world around him.
The calendar image materialized in his mind, and hepared and recalled the frequency of his "acquaintances". Lu Yan flipped through the calendar, his fingers tracing the inked markings on several dates.
Anticipation coursed through his veins as he imagined the next meeting with An Xing Yu and Chu Xiu.
Chu Xiu''s eyes snapped open, and he bolted upright. The four of them were huddled in an abandoned factory, groggy and disoriented. One by one, the others stirred awake, only to meet their demise in the next moment.
A twinge of sorrow flickered in Chu Xiu''s eyes, but he knew it was not the time to grieve. He uttered his goodbyes and hastened away from the grisly scene.
Three lifeless bodies, their eyes fixedly staring, bore witness to his exit.
"Someone died again recently, Little Yu. Be cautious, and avoid venturing out." An Ru was rare at the dinner table, but he looked concerned at his thin son. "It''s not safetely, try not to provoke anyone, and stay inside if possible."
An Xing Yu nodded in agreement, finished his meal, and dutifully washed the dishes before retreating to his room to tackle his homework.
As he wrote, his pen slipped, leaving an unsightly scar on his notebook. The task had reared its head once more. An Xing Yu promptly switched to a fresh sheet of paper and jotted down the assignment details with meticulous care.
"Curious, another bloody vige," he muttered to himself.
An Xing Yu scribbled down the task with urgency, booted up hisputer, and logged into a unique website where he posted a vague request forpanionship, shrouding the critical details in ambiguity.
In no time, several unfamiliar ounts contacted him. Once they verified the secret code, they scheduled a rendezvous at a dingy cafe in the city where An Xing Yu resided.
Meanwhile, Chu Xiu also scoured the same website, methodically jotting down the task''s particrs as he meticulously analyzed and nned his approach.
What was this "All-Knowing God"?
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 60: Religious Madness
Chapter 60: Religious Madness
On the following day, Chu Xiu found himself unable to shake off the disconcerting feeling that had been gnawing at him since Lu Yan entrusted him with that cryptic message. Although he hadmitted his fair share of unsavoury deeds in the past, not to mention Lu Yan had been nothing more than a mere NPC to him. Also, there was no telling whether or not he would even cross paths with him again on his next mission. Nevertheless, the nagging sense of guilt lingered with him throughout the day, tormenting him with the thought that he had failed to keep his promise. Finally, when he had some free time to spare, he had someone deliver a statue to him so that he could worship it at home every day, recording the activities both on video and in writing, hoping to alleviate the sense of unease that had taken hold of him.
"Brother Chu, I never thought you believed in this too," chuckled his friend when he visited and caught a glimpse of the shrine. "I thought you were an atheist."
Chu Xiu did not argue with him, nor did he wish to. In fact, he longed to return to his former state of disbelief. However, there were simply some things in this world that could not be exined by science alone. After his friend finishedughing, Chu Xiu finally asked, "Did you find out anything about what you were investigating?"
"Of course I did, who do you take me for? Don''t underestimate me!" replied his friend, producing a stack of papers from a folder and handing them over. "It wasn''t easy to unearth his true identity. We nearly had the police breathing down our necks."
Chu Xiu took the papers and perused them carefully. "Why does it still involve the police?"
"I''m not sure. He appeared to be preparing to cooperate with them, but that never came to fruition. And then he ended up dead." His friend let out a sigh. "It was an unfortunate turn of events for him. But his death was shrouded in mystery, and the police department is at a loss. I suggest you steer clear of it."
Chu Xiu had already reached the final page of the documents, and upon hearing this, he closed the folder and said, "I know my limits."
"Just be careful not to do anything reckless," his friend said, waving his hand. "By the way, isn''t your sister''s death anniversarying soon? When are you nning to pay your respects? Take me with you."
Of course, Chu Xiu had another question burning at the back of his mind, but he refrained from asking it, fearful of the reaction it might elicit. Weary, he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the fleeting glimmer of hope that had sparked within him had already been extinguished. "I''ll be heading back next week."
He did not dare meet Chu Xian''s gaze, fearful of the disappointment and pain that might be reflected therein, nor did he wish to see the look of disdain that he might see in her eyes upon beholding the person he had be today. But he longed for her all the same and yearned to see her again.
Friend bade his farewell, saying, "I won''t disturb you any longer. Take care of yourself. I''ll keep probing that matter, and I''ll inform you of any progress. You''ll receive the old customer discount."
Chu Xiu bid him goodbye and observed his friend''s departure.
As his friend was about to shut the door, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief and muttered, "Strange, did I just see the statue smile?"
Chu Xiu returned to his room, arranged the camera as usual, and directed it at the statue. He reverently ignited three incense sticks and bowed.
After the ritual, he examined the video footage and was stunned by the abnormality he witnessed. The initial footage was unremarkable, but the colour tonality of the recording made him ufortable. The middle of the video seemed to cave in, and his body bent forward unnaturally. At the same time, the statue appeared to inch closer and closer, almost brushing against him.
However, when he stood up, everything reverted to its original state. The statue returned to its original position, and there was no indication of anything peculiar.
Chu Xiu shuddered as he sensed an icy chill running down his spine and swiftly erased the recording. Only then did the cold start to dissipate.
He didn''t dare to continue and snatched hisputer to depart, intending to locate a new workce. When he arrived at his preferred coffee shop, his nerves finally calmed down.
"What''s happening? Are there ghosts lurking in this world?" he pondered, feeling apprehensive and sensing that things were spiralling out of control.
Chu Xiu pulled hisputer open and cautiously logged onto that website.
The Taskers website was a hidden gem of technology and stealth disguised as a mundane gaming domain. It was password-protected, and even those who entered it would only find a chat room for gamers that seemed innocuous. Chu Xiu had justpleted his mission and uploaded a detailed report on the forum, hoping for feedback. His post went viral, and he received countless private messages with various analyses.
Chu Xiu noticed that there was even a Level One ount. The website was a tform for taskers to assist each other. Anyone could post and review tasks. To avoid information leaks, registration only required a detailed ount of their first task, with no personal details needed. After the human moderator approves the ount, the user could choose a fixed alias or a random code from the website.
It was customary for everyone to share their experiences after finishing a task, and each sessful post would boost their user level. But this Level One ount had only done one task. Chu Xiu was puzzled, but the logic behind it was solid. He followed the other person''s suggestion and opened a new document, neatly arranging his thoughts.
**
Meanwhile, Lu Yan returned to his ce and did the same thing.
Lu Yan paid his respects at a nearby church after reporting to his superior and then headed again to the Yin and Yang path. However, the cultists had seized control of the Yin and Yang path, making it impossible for him to enter without rming them. With no other choice, Lu Yan had to abandon his n.
His pen feverishly scribbled across the page as he sat in the room, weaving a tangled web of thoughts within his mind. After grappling with the intricacies of their previous mission countless times, Lu Yan had finally managed to piece together the elusive rules of the game.
"Separated from the all-knowing ''god,'' the seven-day game is rather straightforward," he mused. "Wen Qing was caught in a temporal and spatial vortex caused by the omniscient deity. As a result, they were ensnared, forced to die and respawn ad nauseam."
Despite the ''god''s'' supposed ability to resurrect and manipte time and space, Chu Xiu''s sudden appearance in the same realm as him seemed to contradict this notion entirely. Lu Yan''s pen scratched away, tracing several wavy lines across the page.
"Time is like a river - a force that cannot be stopped or reversed," he scrawled. "Those who follow its current are mere bubbles on the surface of its rushing waters. Rather than rewinding these fragile bubbles, the ''god'' merely transports them from one space to another."
A sudden thought gave him pause, and he grew increasingly curious. "Are there alternate versions of myself in other worlds? Ones who never left the elevator and yet still managed to survive? Or perhaps versions who sessfully avoided certain death nodes?"
The idea of such parallel universes captivated him, leaving him pondering the implications of his existence. "When the task takers leave, do they disappear along with the realm''s inevitable refresh? What is the connection between my world and theirs?"
As the moon rose high in the sky, his thoughts turned to the bizarre state of the world atrge. "People may be going insane, but technological advancements continue to march on - keeping pace with their realm. It''s all so unbelievable," he muttered, his pen dancing across the page.
Despite his best efforts to piece together the puzzle, Lu Yan remained uncertain. "No matter how long I calcte, I''m groping blindly in the dark. I always seem to hit a dead end and give up," hemented.
The full moon outside the window bathed the world in an eerie glow, casting long shadows across the room.
The tranquillity that once permeated the air was shattered by the shrill screams from upstairs. Lu Yan''s mind raced as he recalled a film he had watched with a group of taskers called "The Truman Show." The notion that he could be the protagonist of a maniptive entity''s entertainment lingered in his thoughts. Suppose there was indeed an unseen force controlling everything. Why not make him sumb to madness and let go of all inhibitions?
The following day, Lu Yan was invited to attend a gathering hosted by the cult. The venue was on a deserted mountain outside the city, far from where he resided. Upon arrival, he noted that most cult members had already congregated. Dressed in a red and white robe akin to the others, he was an unenthusiastic participant in the cult''s ceremonial activities. He stood at the crowd''s periphery, observing as they danced, cheered, and subsequently prostrated themselves, convinced of their unworthiness to receive God''s grace.
The cultist crying the most fervently had already brandished a knife, determined to expunge his sins by shedding his own blood. Lu Yan kept a safe distance from the frenzied individual to avoid getting bloodstains on his robe. Others followed suit as soon as the first person began to hurt themselves. Soon, a group of individuals stood in a peculiar formation, lying in pools of blood. The cult leader was ovee with a sense of sacred tion, holding up a head and muttering incoherent words. As she spoke, she danced amongst the crowd, singing a song whose lyrics were unintelligible to Lu Yan.
After listening carefully, Lu Yan realized that the head belonged to the cult leader''s lover. She was bidding him a final farewell. She sang for an extended period before stopping abruptly, throwing the head she held into a nearby pool, which caused it to sink noiselessly. "God will surely receive our respect..." she eximed, tears of joy streaming down her face as she spoke.
Only a handful of the faithful remained, a mere shadow of the forty who had attended. Lu Yan had been hovering at the edge of the gathering, poised to depart unnoticed, when the priest snagged him by the arm.
"Next month, you''re headed to this spot." The priest slipped a photograph into his hand, its edges curling like the fingers of the dead. "Spread the good word of God to those sphemers. It''s Hismand."
Lu Yan took the photo.
At first nce, it appeared to be an ordinary family portrait with five happy faces beaming at the camera. But there was something queer about them, a sense of unease that crept beneath the skin. Their faces were sickly and bloated, the visages of those not among the living. Their smiles were odd, fox-like and sly, with pointed chins, nted eyes, and downturned mouths.
"If they resist, use the mes to cleanse them. Let them bask in the mercy of God in the cool river water..."
Lu Yan didn''t bat an eye.
"How many?" he asked.
The priest''s grin widened, each word rolling from her tongue like a curse. "All. Everyst one of them."
"I''ll see to it." Lu Yan''s voice was calm as he epted the task, nodding to the dwindling crowd as he slipped away, the vivid red of his robe drawing their eyes like a beacon.
He didn''t look back or see the carnage left in his wake: the blood, the limbs, the viscera melting into the soil. By the time he turned his gaze to the photograph once more, the evidence of the ughter had vanished as though it had never existed.
"XX Vige, X Town, X City, XX Province."
**
"Why are you sote tonight? Where''ve you been?"
An Xing Yu stepped inside his home, only to be met with his father''s unwavering interrogation. He bent down to put on his shoes and exined as he walked, "Ipleted some homework with some ssmates."
Still clutching several test papers, An Xing Yu''s assertion seemed authentic. An Ru''s keen eyes scanned his son''s figure, but An Xing Yu no longer cowered like a child under his father''s re. He stood calmly and allowed An Ru to inspect him.
"Did you really just do homework?" An Ru''s expression darkened. "Be truthful with me, where did you really go?"
"I genuinely went to do homework," An Xing Yu replied, his tone even.
An Ru remained silent. Yet, when An Xing Yu sat beside him and poured himself a ss of water, An Ru''s hand abruptly grabbed the hem of An Xing Yu''s pants and lifted it, revealing a mark on his calf.
"What''s this?" An Ru pointed at the scar and tried to suppress his anger. "You''re believing in that absurdity, aren''t you? Let me tell you..."
"It''s not absurdity!" An Xing Yu suddenly shook off his father''s hand, his previously timid face now fierce. "How can you be so disrespectful to God? Aren''t you afraid of eternal damnation?"
An Ru was entirely taken aback by his son''s baseless defiance. Before he could react, An Xing Yu shoved him away harshly before he could react and disappeared out the door.
An Ru pursued him, but An Xing Yu had already vanished. There was no trace of An Xing Yu for an extended period after that. An Ru took an extended absence from work, posting small daily advertisements, hoping to find his son.
Despite his extensive efforts, there was no news of his son.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 61: Returning to my hometown to pay respects to my ancestors
Chapter 61: Returning to my hometown to pay respects to my ancestors
An Xing Yu stood amidst the throng of people, his white robe billowing in the wind. The weight of expectations from his parents and the ever-present fear of being on the cusp of life and death had left him in constant unease. The only sce he found was in prayer and listening to the gospel, which brought him a fleeting sense of peace.
As the sacrificial ceremonymenced in the field, An Xing Yu''s face lit up with joy. Blood spattered and stained his white robe a deep crimson hue. He was not alone, for everyone present was simrly exchanging their white robes for red ones while feeling honoured by the grace of God. It was a day of grand celebration. An Xing Yu couldn''t help but break into an unusual, joyful smile.
His phone vibrated, and he nced at the caller ID. Without answering, he let the other party continue calling.
After An''s mother discovered that her son had run away from home, she was furious with her husband and searched for him daily. She followed any leads from surveince cameras and posted flyers. Still, An Xing Yu remained resolute in staying hidden from his family.
"It''s all your fault. Why did you have to argue with him? He can believe whatever he wants. Can your theories save him? Bring him back?" An''s mother wept on the sofa, filled with anger and frustration.
An Ru felt a sense of unease, "He''s already gone through so much. He''s strong enough to handle this...but isn''t it the cult that caused all of this suffering? I''m only trying to help him."
"Help him? Where is our son now?" An''s mother was beside herself with grief.
An Ru remained motionless, used by his wife of being responsible for their son''s disappearance.
Mother An''s eyes darted to An Ru, her voice lowering to a menacing growl. "You think I''m oblivious to his doings? As long as my son is unscathed, I could care less about what he believes. Does his religionmand him to harm or set fires?" She snarled, "How did you suspect him?"
An Ru hardly ever returned home, so where did he obtain the information?
"Didn''t you put a camera in his room?" An Ru said, exposing her deceit. "I saw it too. And An Xing Yu''sptop is in your possession, isn''t it? This child is quite shrewd, he knows how to encode his secrets using cryptic symbols. If I didn''t understand his tactics, I wouldn''t have unraveled the mystery."
Those words elicited a proud and mournful grin from Mother An. "Yes, he''s so astute." She evaded responsibility, "It''s all because of you! If something happens to him during this turmoil outside, we''re not done yet!"
An Ru allowed her to me him, but after a lengthy pause, he seemed to have decided. "Don''t fret; I''ll locate him."
**
In a dimly lit room, a young girl sat with a doll-like face that disyed an enigmatic smile. Her fingers flicked back and forth.
"Hehehe," the girl suddenly sprang up, exhrated. "Just as I anticipated, nothing can flummox me, a fledgling master! I''ve solved it!" Her phone rang simultaneously.
"Hello?" The girl, Lin Chu (), rubbed her short hair and cackled. "Honestly, Xiao Yu, where did you get this website? These games are rather entertaining and challenging."
The voice on the other end sounded on the brink of tears. "Chu Chu, are you at home? Can Ie over?"
Lin Chu was taken aback. "What''s wrong?"
The young man she called Xiao Yu cried out, "I''m a dead man, I...I''m outside your building right now, can you please help me?"
"Alright, um..." Lin Chu nodded slowly, her mind preupied with something that seemed to be speaking to her internally. A voice in her head made her responses slower than usual. "What... task? Vige of the Heavenly Immortals? What is that?" she asked, trying to shake off the strange sensation clouding her thoughts.
Sheposed herself and let Xiao Yu inside, but her expression remained unsightly. Xiao Yu, who had been tearful before, noticed her difort and asked, "Are you feeling unwell, Chu Chu?"
Lin Chu forced a smile, trying to push aside the nagging feeling in her mind. "No... but what about you?" she asked, attempting to redirect the conversation.
"I..." Xiao Yu''s voice faltered as his eyes filled with tears again. "I''m going to die."
Lin Chu felt her heart skip a beat. She had known Xiao Yu for years and had never seen him like this before. She guided him inside and sat him down, trying to remain calm even as her mind raced with questions.
Xiao Yu''s real name was Yu Xian Guang (), but he was called Xiao Yu as a nickname. He was Lin Chu''s closest friend. She couldn''t bear to see him in such a state.
Then she heard something that made her blood run cold.
"Anyway, that''s it. The task that I had you log in to the website and the task that was approved, was actually my personal experience. The posts that you saw were also from their personal experiences," Xiao Yu said in despair. "Next, I''m going to participate in the second task. What should I do? I won''t be able to survive."
Lin Chu felt a surge of shock and disbelief. It was too much to take in all at once. Why was he saying so simr to what she had just heard in her head?
She couldn''t help but wonder if the voice she heard just now was real?
Xiao Yu beseeched once more, his tone desperate and imploring. "Can you help me? Can you analyze it for me? You''re the best, and all the survival strategies you sifted through on that website were spot on."
Lin Chu''splexion drained of colour, her features taut with tension. "Are you being serious right now? Just a moment ago, I heard a voice instructing me to undertake a task. Right when you called."
"What? What?!" Yu Xiang Guang''s countenance was frozen in disbelief, as if he never envisioned Lin Chu would be ensnared in this game.
Lin Chu''s expression contorted as if she had glimpsed a phantom. "If I hadn''t undergone the same thing, I would''ve thought you were pranking me. Who on earth could''ve devised such a bizarre thing?"
Now, it was Yu Xiang Guang''s turn to console her. "Don''t be crestfallen. You can ask for assistance on the website. Everyone is in the same boat, and you can certainly make it through with your intellect."
Before he could finish, Lin Chu''s demeanour left him astounded. There wasn''t a scinti of the panic he envisioned. She was brimming with enthusiasm!
"What''s gotten into you?"
Lin Chu tried to suppress her glee, but it burst forth inughter. She sprang up abruptly, cing her fingers above theptop and mming it shut, her eyes dancing excitedly. "I never envisaged something like this. Life can get tedious if it continues for too long. Tsk... it''s merely a task, right? I''m in!"
Her voice grew in intensity, leaving Yu Xiang Guang speechless.
"Now, let''s discuss the task. Oh, right, my task is to go to the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals. It told me that I''m the daughter of a family who''s been studying away from home for years. My name remains the same. It''s almost Chinese New Year, and I must return to pay homage to my ancestors. Once the ritual isplete, the task will conclude. What about you?"
Yu Xiang Guang''s mind took a while to emerge from the fog. "Ah, um, me too. By the by, did you just receive the task?" he muttered, head lowered. "It shouldn''t be this way. The tasks are always released simultaneously, so why was one person added at thest minute?"
"Maybe I''m some kind of bug. Oh, and could it be that you leaked the task details to me?"
The usation made Yu Xiang Guang turn pallid. "No, I didn''t intend to harm you."
"Chill. I was just fretting about not finding the true meaning of life." Lin Chu was thrilled, licking her lips, and said, "It''s so exhrating to experience the feeling of walking on the edge of death."
Yu Xiang Guang trembled for a while before returning to his usual self. "I attended a gathering a few days ago. You see, the participants of the same batch of tasks would convene on the website after the task details were published. There were five people in total in this batch, and with you, that makes six. There was also a high school student who was particrly good and had alreadypleted many tasks."
He looked at Lin Chu expectantly. "Master, I''m counting on you."
But Lin Chu was more interested in the high school student. "High school? What''s his name? How many times has he done this?" Her round eyes narrowed slightly. "I feel like he''s a bit suspicious..."
"What''s suspicious?"
"Nothing." Lin Chu kept her thoughts to herself.
To Lin Chu, the whole situation felt like a twisted game with life-or-death stakes. It was like an infinite-flow novele to life. The stakes were high, and failure was not an option. Those who didn''t participate or failed the task were doomed to die. It was no wonder that there had been a surge of strange cases in recent years. How many of them were rted to the task?
"Why do people who want to do the task still gather to open a website?" Lin Chu mused aloud. "Hasn''t this website been discovered by the relevant departments?"
She couldn''t help but wonder if the task also screened its takers. After all, with so many people participating, someone was bound to spill the beans. But no news had surfaced yet, meaning something was suppressing it.
But then again, why had Yu Xiang Guang confided in her? Was it the survival rate of small-scale dissemination, or did she have something special? Too many questions were piling up, and she needed answers.
That''s why Lin Chu decided to investigate the site beforeing to any conclusion. She was particrly interested in the high school student and hoped to learn more information from advanced task takers. Additionally, the idea of another world was quite intriguing.
**
"We''re almost at the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals," the woman in the red robe announced. "This vige has always been rtively exclusive. Our people only recently learned about it after inquiring for a long time."
Despite the deep winter, the car was driving on a winding path, surrounded by dark green and thick trees. The atmosphere was bone-chilling. In the car, a man and woman were present. The man was driving attentively, while the woman in the red robe in the back seat looked dignified and holy. She was introducing the situation of the vige to the person in front.
"It is said that the original Vige of the Heavenly Immortals was very prosperous and covered arge area. However, after being wealthy for a period of time, the entire vige immediately encountered a curse. The specific cause and manifestation of the curse are still unknown. In short, the entire vige almost became extinct. Butter, they invited the Five Great Immortals to the vige, and the people in the vige began to survive smoothly."
"The Five Great Immortals?" repeated Lu Yan.
Lu Yan had heard of many strange things, so the legend of the Five Great Immortals was familiar to him. Up in the northern regions, folks believed in the five "great immortals" - Hu (fox), Huang (yellow weasel), Bai (hedgehog), Liu (snake), and Hui (rat). This belief system was rooted in folk legends and influenced by shamanism and Taoist culture.
Despite his familiarity with these stories, he didn''t need to show off his knowledge to the priest who had apanied him on this trip.
"It''s just a folk legend, a bunch of low-level animals, they don''t know what real gods are," the woman said dismissively, her expression still sacred and gentle. "Remember, don''t forget your identity."
She wasn''t trying to admonish him but instead reminding him. They had found a viger from the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals living outside to make a fake ID. Their n was to im that they were vigers from the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals who had lived outside for many years and returned to worship their ancestors.
"Understood, I won''t forget," Lu Yan replied, his tone confident.
As he spoke, something caught his eye. Lu Yan noticed a brownish-yellow weasel brushing past the car and the path''s edge. He looked back in the rearview mirror and saw it standing on a bare, protruding rock. Its shiny fur gleamed in the sunlight, and its round ck eyes were looking right at them through the mirror.
Suddenly, the weasel jumped down from the rock and disappeared. But before it vanished, Lu Yan saw that the weasel''s two front paws were folded across its chest like a human, and its mouth was curved in a smile simr to a human''s.
Meanwhile, the woman in the back seat continued to speak. "Let''s check again. Your name doesn''t need to change, it''s still Lu Yan. My name is Luo Ying (), and we''ve both been living outside with our parents and have never returned to the vige. We''re here this year to worship our ancestors. Do you remember?"
"Don''t worry, I won''t make any mistakes," Lu Yan reassured her, his voice calm and steady.
Luo Ying''s eyes narrowed as she leaned forward and hissed, "Remember, our mission is to ensure that the vigers worship my Lord, no matter the cost. And the best way to do that is to tear down everything they hold sacred." Herst words were almost a whisper, but the venom in her voice was unmistakable.
As the vehicle rumbled towards the vige, the sun descended, casting an amber glow over the surrounding fields. They soon arrived at the vige entrance, where a middle-aged man stood waiting. His face was rugged and leathered from years of exposure to the elements, and his lips were already cracked from the dry heat. But his smile was genuine as he rushed forward to greet them.
Lu Yan rolled down his window and was met with a warm wee. "You must be the boy from the Lu family, right?" the man said. "I''ve been waiting for you. Is this your first time back? Take a look around the vige when you enter. You young men will have to contribute to the ancestral temple when the timees."
Luo Ying emerged from the back seat, shedding her vibrant red robe in favour of a in tracksuit. "Zhang Bo (), I, too am here to pay my respects to our ancestors," she said, shing a bright smile. "I am Luo Ying, from the Luo family."
Zhang Bo''s eyes widened in recognition. "Luo family... Oh, your father is Luo Rong Shan, right? I remember now." He pped his hands together. "I never knew that Luo Rong Shan had such a stunning daughter. Come,e, let us go inside."
With Zhang Bo leading the way, the car passed through the vige. As they drove, they were met with friendly waves and warm greetings from the vigers. They slowed as they entered the vige''s parking area, savouring the sense ofmunity that pervaded the atmosphere.
The vige sprawled, a vast expanse that revealed its economic underdevelopment due to its remote location. Most vigers inhabited adobe houses with scarce tiled abodes that dotted thendscape. But asionally, exquisite wooden buildings stood tall, their grandeur unmistakable. Zhang Bo enlightened them, "These are sanctums reserved for the Five Great Immortals."
Zhang Bo''s parking spacey within arm''s reach of his home. After disembarking, he ushered them and, with a vigorous rub of his hands, dered, "On your first day back, there''ll be nothing in that old house. Spend the night at mine, and we''ll fix up your dpidated shack tomorrow. Once it''s done, how about you take up residence?"
The duo agreed and trailed behind Zhang Bo, arge pine tree looming near his abode. Verdant foliage enveloped the tree, making the season appear more vibrant. They followed a path that wound under the tree and were weed by the sight of a brand-new tiled house.
Curiously, the doorstep to Zhang Bo''s house was unnaturally high, almost reaching Luo Ying''s calves. The two of them awkwardly stepped over it, barely maintaining their bnce. As soon as they crossed the threshold, the shrine in the hall''s centre came into view.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 62: Strange Little Girl
Chapter 62: Strange Little Girl
As the sun sets in the sky, it casts a sharp divide between light and shadow in the room''s centre, illuminating an olddy statue in a shrine. The statue''s white hair and gentle smile conveyed a sense of tranquillity, while the shrine itself was cloaked in incense ash, signifying its history of worship.
The temperature dropped upon entering the room, and a faint musky odour permeated the air. Luo Ying''s expression softened, but her eyes betrayed her terrifying coldness. She had no patience for nonbelievers and longed to rid them of her presence. However, Zhang Bo failed to notice her peculiar behaviour, instead kneeling before the statue and lighting three incense sticks.
"Come on, Xiao Lu, Xiao Luo, both of you should also pay your respects and ask Old Lady Third Whisker for her blessings," Zhang Bo urged cheerfully.
Lu Yan hesitated before ncing at Luo Ying, who remained frozen. It was dark inside the room, but Zhang Bo''s shadow betrayed him, showing a curved spine and a swaying tail.
"Aren''t you going to pay your respects, Xiao Lu? Xiao Luo?" Zhang Bo''s wide smile belied his true intentions.
Luo Ying''s nails dug into her palms as she struggled to maintain herposure. Lu Yan watched curiously, wondering what Luo Ying''s endgame was. If she bowed her head, it would prove that she was not there to preach, which could only mean trouble. But why would she worship these low-level creatures while hiding her beliefs unless they had bigger ns?
After hesitating, Luo Ying took the incense from Zhang Bo and approached the shrine. Lu Yan followed her lead and knelt beside her, bowing respectfully.
But sincerity was crucial for the ritual''s sess, and Luo Ying was anything but sincere. Lu Yan could not help but wonder what their true intentions were. Was Luo Ying willing to endure this charade for the sake of the vige?
Lu Yan pretended to be ignorant, bowing thrice with respect, hoping to unravel the mystery before him.
[TN: If you are not reading this novel on /inkydragon, please support the original trantor by visiting my website. Thank you! :)]
On the god shelf, an olddy with a powdered face and white hair grasped a jade sceptre with a benevolent smile, yet Lu Yan saw beyond the facade. Thedy''s eyes curved up but were steeped in darkness, revealing unhidden murderous intent.
Light and brisk footsteps echoed from a nearby room, catching Lu Yan''s attention. A little girl, no more than six or seven years old, bolted out of the room, her bright red flowered dress fluttering behind her. Her eyes ignited with delight at the sight of Zhang Bo, and she sprinted straight into his arms, dering, "Grandpa, you''re back!"
Granted, the little girl was adorable, with snow-white skin and vivacious eyes, but something about her was unnerving. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that her lips were a ghastly shade of red. She would pursue them even when smiling, never exposing her teeth.
Zhang Bo tenderly patted her head and hushed her, saying, "Don''t be noisy, we have guests."
A soft reprimand emanated from the room, "Li Li (), don''t make noise. Old Lady Third Whisker enjoys tranquility."
A pallid and fragile young man ambled out from behind the curtain, his movements sluggish, indicating his poor health. Li Li, the little girl, obediently disengaged herself from Zhang Bo''s embrace and rushed over to hold the man''s hand, staring at the two strangers with her big ck eyes.
Zhang Bo introduced them, "Xiao Lu, Xiao Luo, this is my son, Zhang Hui Xuan (), and my granddaughter, Li Li."
Despite being unmistakably male, he was bestowed with a decidedly feminine name. After exchanging names, Lu Yan appeared perplexed. Zhang Hui Xuan took the initiative to exin, "I was born frail, and Old Lady Third Whisker conferred my name after scrutinizing my fortune. She said I required a girl''s name to subdue my fate, or else I wouldn''t survive."
Zhang Bo chuckled and gave him a thumbs up, "Old Lady Third Whisker is remarkably urate. Since changing his name, he barely fell ill, and even found a wife and had children."
At the mention of children, Li Li''s big eyes widened, and she suddenly piped up, "Daddy, I saw my auntie again yesterday. She was shivering with cold and asked for clothes to wear."
Auntie? Lu Yan''s heart stirred, though he kept his expression cid. Zhang Bo had more than one child, it seemed.
Zhang Hui Xuan nched, his face ashen. "What nonsense are you talking about again?" he snapped at Li Li.
Undeterred, the young girl persisted, "Dad, can I give Auntie some of my clothes to wear?"
Zhang Hui Xuan opened his mouth to scold the girl, but no words came. A violent cough shook his body, and he gasped for air.
Oddly enough, Zhang Bo didn''t stop Li Li''s pestering. Instead, he watched his son''s hacking with a pained expression etched on his face.
Li Li stopped giggling, observing her father''s suffering. In a small, timid voice, she asked, "Dad, can''t we? Auntie said she''s freezing."
"No!" Zhang Hui Xuan roared as he struggled to catch his breath. "No! Go back to your room!"
Li Li whined and retreated to her room, her pigtails swinging as she went.
As soon as the door mmed shut, Zhang Hui Xuan apologized to Luo Ying, "I''m sorry. We''ve spoiled Li Li."
[TN: If you are not reading this novel on /inkydragon, please support the original trantor by visiting my website. Thank you! :D]
"It''s alright," Luo Ying nodded sympathetically. Then, she asked, "Who''s the auntie Li Li mentioned earlier? Do you have any sisters?"
The air in the room grew thick with tension. Zhang Hui Xuan paled even further, his skin blending with the white walls. His reply came out cold and sharp, "What does it have to do with you? Don''t ask what you shouldn''t."
But Luo Ying didn''t back down. She smiled sweetly, "I''m also a member of Vige of the Heavenly Immortals. Of course, I want to know."
Zhang Hui Xuan''s eyes narrowed to slits, and his voice turned shrill, "Get out of here!"
Undeterred, Luo Ying stood her ground. "Even if you don''t tell me, I''ll investigate it myself." And with that, she spun on her heel and left.
Lu Yan and Luo Ying arrived together, but Zhang Hui Xuan''s anger was directed only at Luo Ying. Lu Yan attempted to walk with her, but Luo Ying gestured for him to stay behind. Lu Yan halted his steps, watching her walk away with countless thoughts filling his mind. It was clear that Luo Ying had intentionally provoked them just so she could leave alone. What was she trying to achieve?
After Luo Ying left, Zhang Hui Xuan''s attitude improved visibly, as did Zhang Bo''s. Lu Yan couldn''t help feeling their warmth was excessive, and he secretly increased his vignce. This family must be up to something.
As they sat in the main hall chatting, the sound of stir-frying could be hearding from the kitchen, and the aroma of the food drifted over, making everyone''s stomachs growl. Lu Yan had little appetite, but Zhang Hui Xuan was different. When the fragrance of the roasted chicken wafted over, he swallowed his saliva, and his sharp, thin tongue licked his lips. It was a rather animal-like behaviour.
During dinner, everyone in Zhang Bo''s family came out. It was Zhang Bo''s wife cooking in the kitchen, a short and chubby woman with a round face and a pair of fox-like eyes.
"You must be Xiao Lu, right? Just call me Auntie," Zhang Bo''s wife said, her eyes narrowing even more. Lu Yanplied and called her Auntie, which made her even happier. "Good, good, you haven''t been back for a long time. Hurry up and eat."
Everyone sat around the dining table, but Zhang Bo''s wife didn''t take a seat. She picked up one of the whole chickens on the table and walked through the courtyard to the main hall. Lu Yan followed suit and said, "Let me pay my respects too."
Zhang Bo''s wife took small steps to the shrine, cing the te of chicken in front of the deity. She prostrated herself and continuously chanted blessings. After only two or three minutes, the steam rising from the dish emitting a tantalizing aroma visibly disappeared.
Zhang Bo''s wife breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the te to leave. Lu Yan asked softly, "Auntie, how do we handle this?"
Zhang Bo''s wife didn''t even turn her head. "It needs to be buried. Only Old Lady Third Whisker has tasted it, and no one else can eat it."
With this answer, Lu Yan returned to the dining table and waited with everyone else.
To his surprise, Li Li, the youngest child in Zhang Bo''s family, sat at the head of the table, a te of roast chicken in front of her. While the others had not yet touched their chopsticks, she had already begun tearing into the meat with her hands, revealing two rows of sharp, animal-like teeth that looked particrly vicious as she ripped into the meat. As she ripped into the meat, Lu Yan noticed Li Li''s teeth were sharp, like those of a wild animal. It was clear why Li Li never smiled with her teeth showing. The others at the table were not surprised by this sight, as Zhang Hui Xuan even patted Li Li''s back lightly, telling her to eat slowly and not choke.
With a table full of family members, Lu Yan noticed that Li Li''s "aunt" and mother were absent. He didn''t want to pry, so he asked Luo Ying about it the next day.
As soon as dinner was over, Zhang Bo revealed some insider information. With the New Yearing up, every family in the vige would hold ancestral ceremonies, and their family was no exception. Coincidentally, the vige head''s elderly mother was in poor health, and Hu San''s wife said she was close to death. Each family would need to send someone to carry the coffin, but Li Li was too young, and Zhang Hui Xuan could not do it. Zhang Bo hoped that Lu Yan could rece Zhang Hui Xuan.
Lu Yan didn''t answer immediately. He still didn''t know the procedures for ancestral ceremonies in this vige. What if he rashly agreed and ended up walking to his death? "Did Old Lady Third Whisker agree to this?" he asked, trying to gather more information before making a decision.
This question stumped Zhang Bo for a moment. After a while, he hurriedly stood up and looked like he was about to enter the main room.
The dining room was adjacent to the kitchen, the dim light flickering from the single light bulb hanging on a wire above the table. Li Li sat at the head, her young voice cutting through the air just as Zhang Bo rose. "No need to ask; he can go."
A sudden gust of wind blew in, carrying with it the musky scent of a fox. Li Li''s expression was no longer that of a six-year-old girl. Her voice was sharp and insistent, her narrow eyes locked on Lu Yan. "You can go in his ce. This is Old Lady Third Whisker''s meaning."
The bulb swayed, casting ominous shadows on the wall. Two pointed ears protruded from Li Li''s shadow head, stark against her silhouette.
Lu Yan''s heart plummeted, but he reluctantly agreed. Only then did Li Li revert to her childish form, bouncing away as Lu Yan watched her shadow on the ground.
If they needed him to rece Zhang Hui Xuan in offering ancestral sacrifices, then he was safe until the ceremony. At least, they would try to ensure it. Therefore, he epted Zhang Bo''s invitation to stay the night. A guest room awaited him at the end of the hallway.
"This is how we live in the countryside. We sleep early." Zhang Bo''s wife said, tucking in the bedding. "If you hear anything during the night, don''t respond and don''te out, understand?"
She pulled an oilmp and box of matches from the bedside table, cing them within easy reach. "There are often power outages at night. This will be your only source of light."
As if on cue, the room plunged into darkness, the sound of crackling electricity filling the air. "See? Just as I was saying," Zhang Bo''s wife muttered, striking a match and holding it to the wick. A flickering me illuminated the room.
"Thank you," Lu Yan murmured, stepping aside to let her leave. "I''ll be careful."
As Lu Yan stood beside his room''s door, his eyes fell upon Li Li standing at the other end of the corridor, draped in a red dress that burned like coals in the glow of the kerosenemp she held. Her face, as white as snow, gleamed under its light. Her long hair tumbled like tendrils of night, framing her shiny ck eyes that fixed themselves upon the room he upied. Whether she peered at him or something beyond him, he could not tell.
Li Li parted the side door and slipped inside, the wood quivering gently as it closed. Zhang Bo''s wife, following close behind, entered the room and drew the door shut. Lu Yan shut his door and sat on the edge of the bed. As he was preparing to lie down, a blurry ck shape appeared on the yellowed curtain at the room''s right nk.
The farthest room to the right sat entirely alone, separated from the rest of the house. Its window looked out upon the back mountain. Zhang Bo had warned him beforehand that to thwart insects and creeping things from infiltrating the room, they had sealed its window and draped its thick curtains. To ventte it, one needed to open the door.
Lu Yan''s breath caught in his throat.
At that moment, with the group of taskers yet to arrive and the world unchanged, he resolved to act as he always had in such circumstances, pretending he had seen nothing. He shrugged off his coat, and climbed into bed. Extinguishing the kerosenemp, he shut his eyes and pretended to sleep.
Hold on! Something''s off.
A startling thought crossed his mind, leaving him short of breath. He struggled to quell the urge to flee. With a household guardian spirit at their beck and call, they should have nothing to fear... Shouldn''t they? And the team of taskers, they would arrive soon enough, wouldn''t they?
**
"Chu Chu, do you really think this is wise?" Yu Xiang Guang trailed behind Lin Chu, his expression troubled.
Lin Chu was armed to the teeth with weapons and recording devices, filling every avable space on her body. She grinned wickedly as she heard the remark from her friend. "This is a great opportunity to conduct research in another world. Of course I have to be fully prepared," she answered.
"But," Yu Xiang Guang was hesitant. "They all said not to bring too much stuff with us. Otherwise, if we encounter ghosts, we won''t be able to run," he warned.
Lin Chu shrugged off his concerns. "If we can''t run, then we''ll just die," she said nonchntly. "It''s not a bad thing to end a boring life."
Yu Xiang Guang was fearful, "Hey, don''t say that. We wille back safely."
"Okay, okay, I won''t tease you anymore," Lin Chu replied. "By the way, is it really as you guys said? Less than a second in reality?"
Yu Xiang Guang nodded.
"Is the technology in that world simr to ours?" Lin Chu asked again.
"Yes, but their country''s history and some significant events differ. We''ve tried to investigate when the changes started, but we haven''t found out," Yu Xiang Guang exined.
Lin Chu pondered deeply. ording to their ounts, no matter how long they spent on their mission - a week, a month, or even half a year - only less than a second had passed when they returned to their world. The speed of time in the two worlds was clearly different, yet the dates on their return were close. Why was this so?
Yu Xiang Guang probably couldn''t provide helpful answers, so Lin Chu decided to investigate it herself. It had been a long since she encountered something as challenging as this.
Finally, they arrived at the designated location in a university town near a small supermarket. The entrance to the other world was an inconspicuous alleyway. After midnight, if they walked to the end of the alley, they could enter the other world.
Lin Chu and Yu Xiang Guang were the first to arrive half a day early, thanks to Lin Chu''s coercion and persuasion. Yu Xiang Guang nervously guarded the entrance, peering inside.
The alley was dark and eerie, with tall, old-fashioned buildings blocking the sunlight. As they walked further in, the darkness seemed to engulf them.
Lin Chu meticulously plucked a small piece of dark green moss with her tweezers, tapping down some pieces of soil and sealing them in a transparent bag. She''d cross over to the other world at midnight to gather more materials, eager topare and contrast the differences. Carrying several storage bags in her bag, she knocked and tapped on the wall before sticking her legs in the gap. Swiftly, she installed a mini camera on the high wall, followed by another in the corner. Within moments, the area of less than one square meter was equipped with five or six cameras.
As time went by, the weather grew increasingly sombre.
As Lin Chu emerged from the alley, Yu Xiang Guang awaited her anxiously, sighing in relief at her appearance. They decided to eat first, as Yu Xiang Guang had arranged to meet the others at the small supermarket entrance at ten o''clock that night.
As the minutes ticked by, more and more students arrived to dine and drink. Located within the university city, the eatery attracted a considerable crowd. Lin Chu blended in with the college students, skillfully hiding in in sight.
Yu Xiang Guang trembled with fear, the coward that he was. Although the other taskers insisted that ghosts only existed in the other world, he remained frightened. Despite no ghosts, peculiar incidents have been reported in the area recently.
With time running out, the bustling university city showed no signs of slowing down; more students continued to flock to the area. Yu Xiang Guang urged the excited Lin Chu to hurry, eximing, "Come on, Chu Chu, it''s time to go on a mission."
Lin Chu returned to reality, replying, "Oh, right." She quickly called out to the boss, "Boss, please hurry. I need to return to the dormitory to check in."
The pair hauled their bounty of barbeque to the meeting point. Four people were already waiting by the small supermarket entrance, their eyes widening at the sight of the food. Lin Chu introduced herself, "Hi, I just received the task, so I didn''t make an appointment with you guys earlier. My name is Lin Chu. It''s my first time doing a task. How many times have you guys done it?"
As the jumbled food was passed around and Lin Chu revealed it was her first time on a mission, the corners of everyone''s mouths twitched, betraying their amusement. An Xing Yu, the youngest in the team, came forward with a nk, almost robotic expression in his gaze. "I''m An Xing Yu," he introduced himself, "I''ve done seven missions already."
Lin Chu had spotted him before. He was the only one who appeared youthful yetcked the liveliness of the rest. She chuckled and switched the stic bag to her other hand before greeting him with a handshake. "Nice to meet you, boss," she said.
With An Xing Yu leading the way, they all reintroduced themselves and arrived at the entrance of a narrow alley. They formed a circle and began discussing the possible paths for the mission ahead.
Lin Xue Yuan (), a woman with the same surname and gender as Lin Chu, noticed her and asked, "Oh, it''s your first time on a mission. Have you registered on our website?"
Lin Chu smiled, her dimples deepening. She raised her phone and shook it. "I joined, and my ID is [The first time the lightse up in the evening]."
"You''re [The first time the lightse up in the evening]?" Lin Xueyuan was taken aback.
Lin Chu had a level one ount, but she had earned a name for herself by solving all the challenging tasks in the forum with unconventional methods. Her solutions were creative and practical, as confirmed by the senior executors. They had thought she was a veteran tasker using a new identity, but they were shocked to find out she was a genuine rookie.
Everyone''s eyes changed, now looked at her with admiration and respect.
Lin Chu patted her chest. "I''ll try not to hold you guys back," she promised.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 63: A pleasant addition
Chapter 63: A pleasant addition
An Xing Yu reviewed the task and shared his ideas. He looked at her with his emotionless ck eyes, awaiting her input.
After a moment''s contemtion, Lin Chu put forward a hypothesis, "The task requires us to perform ancestor worship, but the specifics are not specified. Perhaps we should obtain information on ancestor worship from the vigers of Vige of the Heavenly Immortals. Then, could we set the process of ancestor worship ourselves? For instance, just offering incense and then leaving?"
If they had adopted the identity of vigers, could they decide how to perform the ancestor worship ritual?
The group fell silent, each lost in their thoughts, considering her conjecture. An Xing Yu shook his head, his voice t, "It''s better not to. In the past, we had simr experiences. We might encounter even greater terrors if we deliberately modified the rules to avoid risks."
Lin Chu conceded defeat, "Okay, let''s discuss itter." She wondered what kind of world they''ll end up in.
**
Meanwhile, Lu Yany on the bed, his breathing steady and eyes closed. However, as soon as he closed his eyes, he felt something was off. He saw a ck shadow outside the window, but it was pitch ck outside, and the room was well-lit. The shadow he saw was not outside but inside the room with him!
He remained motionless, feigning sleep, as the rustling sound grew louder, the source still indistinguishable.
Then, something crawled onto the bed, its weight heavy and oppressive. He couldn''t discern what it was, neither a person nor an animal. The thing was ice-cold, with an unnatural stiffness that made it grow heavier and colder as it pressed against him. Its damp, cold breath pervaded the room, seeping into his soul.
[TN: If you are not reading this novel on /inkydragon, please support the original trantor by visiting my website. Thank you! :)]
Lu Yan had feigned sleep, lying motionless on the bed, but now he was indeed paralyzed. His limbs were rigid and pinned to the mattress, his fingers unable to even curl. ''Damnation, I''m in the grip of sleep paralysis!'' In the days before the world changed, he might have sought a scientific exnation for this horror, but now he knew better. There were ghosts in this world, and one was on him. He fought to keep calm, slowing his heart and ignoring the gooseflesh that prickled his skin. He wondered what anyone would make of this sight if they dared to open the door. A dark shape was sprawled over him, face to face, as if trying to burrow into his flesh.
A little longer, he told himself. Just a little longer
The door flew open with a deafening crash, and a gale-force wind tore through the room. The curtains whipped and twisted like mad snakes, and every object not nailed down - doors, windows, tables, chairs, wardrobes - rattled and banged as if possessed. The oilmp smashed on the floor, spilling its me. Chaos reigned in the cramped space, and amid the din, one could barely discern the shrill scream of a fox and the eerie wails of some nameless beast.
The noise was deafening, but no one emerged from the other rooms. Perhaps they were deaf to the chaos or preferred to stay hidden.
A primal instinct warned him not to open his eyes or cry out. He felt the thing''s ws digging into his flesh, drawing blood. Sweat poured from his brow, but he clenched his teeth and endured the agony.
The wind raged outside, threatening to tear the roof off. Zhang Bo''s protector, deity, fought with the ck shadow, a furious struggle that seemed tost an eternity. Then, all at once, Lu Yan felt a release - the thing was gone.
Silence fell over the room, broken only by his ragged breaths. Had it all been a nightmare? No. The throbbing wounds on his shoulders and arms were proof enough that it was real. He opened his eyes and saw the chaos around him. The door had been flung open, revealing a dark corridor beyond. A st of cold air swept in, bringing with it the piney smell of the yard. He staggered to his feet and made his way to the door. He reached for the handle but stopped when he heard a faint voice. "Lu Yan" It was barely a whisper, yet so clear, as if someone was caressing his ear with their breath. He felt a strange pull, apulsion to answer it.
"If you hear anything during the night, don''t respond and don''te out, understand?" Zhang''s wife''s warning echoed in his mind. He ignored the voice and returned to his room. Hey on the bed, pulled the covers over his head, and tried to sleep. But the voice followed him, persistent and sweet. "Xiao Lu, it''s me, open the door." It sounded just like his mother, how he remembered her from long ago.
He heard a soft knock on the door.
[TN: If you are not reading this novel on /inkydragon, please support the original trantor by visiting my website. Thank you! :D]
"Xiao Lu? Are you asleep?"
"Xiao Lu, it''s so cold outside, can you open the door for Mommy? Mommy misses you so much."
"Xiao Lu, don''t ignore Mommy."
Lu Yan felt a surge of irritation. He wished the voice would leave him alone.
He had learned their tricks long ago. These thingsthese things would always try to lure him with familiar faces and voices. He was fooled the first time, but after ten times, a hundred times, he became numb. Even if they crawled up to him with his mother''s face, he would not spare them a nce!
The voice outside changed from sweet to frantic. "Xiao Lu! Xiao Lu, for God''s sake, open the door! It''s here; it''sing for me!!" She pounded on the door, desperate to get in. He heard a snarl, like a hungry beast, close behind her.
"Open the door! Please, help me! Xiao Lu, help Mom." She screamed as the beast tore into her flesh. He heard the wet sounds of ripping and chewing and the beast''s triumphant growl. Her screams grew weaker until they were barely a whisper. "Helphelp mewhy won''t you help me? Why won''t you help Mom?!"
"Ah-" She gave onest shriek of agony. Then, nothing. Lu Yany still on the bed, his eyes shut and his face nk. A tear escaped from under his eyelid and rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away with a twitch of hisshes.
He heard several knocks on the door before dawn, each pretending to be someone he knew, each begging or ordering him to open the door. They had been tormenting him all night.
Then, Zhang Bo''s wife''s voice came: "Xiao Lu, are you alright? It''s over now, Old Lady Third Whisker chased that thing away."
Lu Yan was about to reply when a warning shed in his mind. He looked up and saw the darkness still hanging behind the thick curtains. He kept quiet.
"Xiao Lu? Are you alright? Please, don''t frighten me, Xiao Lu?" The knocking grew more frantic. "Just say something if you''re alright, don''t scare us."
Lu Yan checked his watch. It was barely four o''clock. He didn''t know what was outside the door but knew it wasn''t Zhang Bo''s wife. He yawned and wondered.
The first time, he had been saved by the protective diety. Why didn''t he care the second time? Was it because it couldn''t harm him?
He was curious to open the door and see for himself, but he quickly dismissed it. He tried to think of something else.
As the dawn approached, a rooster crowed loud and clear.
The knocking on the door stopped at once.
He knew he was safe now, so he slept profoundly. A few hourster, when the sun was high, he heard Zhang Bo''s wife knocking on the door. "Xiao Lu, are you awake yet?"
He opened his eyes and got up to open the door.
Zhang Bo''s wife greeted him with a smile. She didn''t seem bothered by the chaos in his room. She took him by the arm and led him outside. "Were you scaredst night? Don''t worry, Old Lady Third Whisker protected you. Go wash up and join us for breakfast. I''ll clean up your room."
Lu Yan nodded and thanked her. "Thank you, and thank Old Lady Third Whisker too."
She beamed at him.
Zhang Bo was already at the table, ready to go to the fields after he ate. He had a hoe by the door. He saw Lu Yan and invited him to sit and eat with him. He said his son had to sleep more because of his poor health.
[TN: If you are not reading this novel on /inkydragon, please support the original trantor by visiting my website. Thank you! :X]
Li Li was there too, a little girl in red, her braids bound with ribbons of the same hue. She tore at the meat with her sharp teeth, famished and fierce. Between bites, she mumbled: "You''ll y with meter", her mouth bloody. She looked at Lu Yan with a predatory gleam in her eyes.
He didn''t answer right away. Instead, he smiled and countered, "What would you like to y?"
She pondered momentarily, then said, "I want to take you to the reservoir. We''ll catch some fish there."
Zhang Bo hissed at her. "Don''t be foolish. That ce is forbidden."
"I''m not hunting ghosts, only fish. Why can''t I go?" She snapped back at him. "If not for me, he''d be dead by now. He owes me. I''m going, whether you like it or not!"
Lu Yan kept silent as he watched the old man and child bicker, though it hardly seemed a fair fight. Zhang Bo was inly wary of Li Li and never raised his voice to her. She grew more defiant by the minute, and he had no power to stop her.
But Lu Yan had other thoughts on his mind. Li Li had imed that she had saved his lifest night. What did that mean? And what about her sharp teeth and the family''s reverence for her? He began to suspect something.
Li Li finished her meal and cleaned herself up. Then she grabbed Lu Yan''s hand and dragged him out. Her grip was cold as death, and he shuddered.
Li Li darted ahead, her smile radiant as she greeted the vigers who crossed their paths. They were all heading to the fields or the mountains, leaving the road to the reservoir untouched. She dragged Lu Yan along, her pace swift and nimble, unlike any other little girl. Lu Yan had to sprint to keep up with her.
"Look, look! That''s our vige reservoir!" Li Li eximed, pointing to the distance.
Lu Yan saw a fence and a bridge that arched high above it. The bridge looked oddly out of ce in this rural setting.
"Nobody from the vige cane here unless I say so. You couldn''t either, but you''re helping with the funeral tomorrow, so I''ll make an exception for you."
As they approached the reservoir, Lu Yan caught a whiff of something foul.
It was not the stench of stagnant water that clogged a river for too long. It was the stench of death!
Li Li led Lu Yan onto the bridge. It was a strange construction. From afar, it seemed like a vast and sturdy bridge. But up close, it was only half-finished, abruptly ending in the middle. Lu Yan leaned over the edge and looked down. He saw where the stench wasing from.
On the water''s surface, one bloated corpse after another bobbed up and down. Some had already swollen and burst apart, with chunks of flesh floating up and down, revealing white bones underneath. At a nce, there were at least thousands of corpses! The dense mass of them stretched as far as the eye could see.
Were it not for Lu Yan''s familiarity with death, any ordinary soul would have spewed their guts on the spot.
Li Liughed once more.
She drew back her lips to reveal the needle-like teeth that gleamed in her mouth, a wicked smile of ivory daggers. Her eyes, round and bright as a fox''s, glinted with inexplicable malice. "These are all disobedient people and thieves," she snarled. "Look, that thing fromst night is here too."
''Thieves?'' Lu Yan''s ears pricked up. The vige was impoverished everywhere, so what could be valuable enough for outsiders to risk their lives to steal?
He shook his head and said, "I only came to honor my ancestors."
Lu Yan knew that more talk would only lead to more mistakes, so he kept his tongue until he could make sense of the madness. He also avoided asking Li Li how she intended to catch fish. What if she told him to dive into the river and grab them with his teeth? How could he refuse?
Li Li pursed her lips and pped her hands together. "Come on, let''s catch some fish. Lucky is hungry and wants to taste their flesh."
Lu Yan breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw two fishing rods, a bucket, and a bait bucket on the bridge. Li Li gestured towards the fishing rods and sat beside one of them, beckoning to Lu Yan.
He joined her and, for the moment, forgot about the possibility of falling off the bridge. He slowly reeled in the fishing line like a little girl and nned to put bait on the hook. But as soon as he opened the lid, he froze.
The small bucket was filled with human fingers and eyeballs. Li Li giggled when she saw the expression on his face. "Don''t worry," she said, "these baits are very fresh, and the fish will love them."
Lu Yan nodded and said nothing. He picked up a finger, threaded it onto the hook, and then cast it into the water.
Li Li was right. This kind of bait was indeed very attractive to fish. One bloated corpse after another swayed and crowded towards the bait. Other corpses could also be seen rushing over through the murky water.
And then, the float shook.
Something was hooked.
Li Li rested her chin on her palm and gazed at him, toying with bait in her fingers. "You better catch one," she said, "or you''ll be my fish!"
Lu Yan slowly reeled in the line.
The stench of decay wafted from the waterlogged female corpse. The corpse''s ck hair was matted with water nts and tightly clung to her face, obscuring her features. The fishing line extended from her mouth, which was a ghastly sight even with the veil of her hair. With muscles flexed, Lu Yan gritted his teeth and dragged the "fish" onto the shore.
While it was still in the water, everything was fine. But once the whole "fish" was out of the water, it wriggled in distress as it was hauled out of the water, struggling as though it were a live fish that had been caught. Lu Yan exerted strength to drag the corpse towards the bridge, and its weight increased by the water.
Unhelpful and cheering Li Li, indifferent to the gruesome reality before them, pped as she taunted him, "Faster, faster! Lucky''s getting hungry, and if you''re not quick, you''ll end up being the catch of the day!"
Finally, it reached the bridge, but a high railing blocked its path. Lu Yan gritted his teeth and pulled with all his might. In one heaving effort, the corpse was flung into the air and crashed to the ground with a sickening thud.
Li Li pped in delight. "Wow! You''re so amazing!" Then she put her hands to her mouth and shouted towards the forest. "Lucky! Lucky,e out, there''s food!"
The sound of a beast growling filled the air, and the stench of decay grew stronger. A half-rotted dog covered in exposed bone emerged from the forest, racing towards them with incredible speed. Li Li greeted the creature with open arms, patting its dposing head as it began to feast on the corpse''s remains.
She urged it to eat, "Go ahead, eat your fill, then you''ll have the strength to guard the door."
The dog growled and lowered its head to gnaw on the corpse. Suddenly, Li Li jerked upright and looked into the distance, "Quick! Let''s go back!"
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other Trantions
Chapter 64: The nailed coffin
Chapter 64: The nailed coffin
With a swift motion, the little girl raised her hand and delivered a resounding p to the big dog''s forehead: "Go back quickly!" Lucky, the dog whimpered and exhaled a gust of putrid air, vanishing into the forest at lightning speed.
Lu Yan trailed behind Li Li, his mind gued with confusion: "What''s wrong?"
Li Li''s countenance was solemn and foreboding: "Something ising."
Her expression did not resemble that of a little girl but rather a fierce beast - her features contorted with ferocity, her eyes sharp and piercing. She red at Lu Yan, her entire being seemingly transforming into a wild beast as her pupils dted and her hair bristled. Even so, she remained adorned in a beautiful red dress. Like a child, she reached out to Lu Yan, imploring him to take her home.
What could Li Li have sensed? Was it the task-giver or an invader lurking in the vige? Lu Yan remained silent, choosing not to ask, but instead, he pulled Li Li back towards their home. With haste, Li Li''s demeanour returned to that of a regr child, nothing out of the ordinary.
Upon arriving home, Zhang Bo''s wife paced in the yard, anxiously awaiting their return. Her countenance eased as soon as she spotted them, particrly Li Li as if she had found a beacon of hope. She approached them hurriedly: "Li Li, what do we do? Someone from the vige chief''s house informed us that his wife was possessed and has vanished."
"Vanished?" Li Li''s face puffed up as she raised her eyebrows, "What could have taken her?"
Zhang Bo''s wife shook her head, "I don''t know. The vige chief ims that something called out to her by name, and when she opened the door, she was gone."
"I''ll go take a look!" Li Li responded, still seething with anger.
Zhang Bo''s wife hesitated, "Well... It''s chaotic in the vige nowadays. If you''re not here, those things in the back mountain..."
Ordinarily, it would be fine for Li Li to leave and y, but it was clear that now she had something important to attend to. If those things in the back mountain emerged...
Li Li furrowed her brow, taking a moment to consider before retrieving a bone whistle from around her neck. She cast a fleeting nce in Zhang Bo''s wife''s direction before tossing the whistle to Lu Yan. "If you have any problems, blow the whistle and call Lucky over. But if you summon it, you must feed it fish and make sure it''s full."
Lu Yan sped the whistle in his hand. "Alright."
Zhang Bo''s wife''s covetous gaze lingered on the bone whistle, but she hesitated for some unknown reason and dared not ask for it. After reminding Li Li to stay safe, she returned to the house to prepare dinner. As Li Li departed, she stealthily peeked out of the door and inquired in a low voice to Lu Yan, who was standing in the yard, "Did she take you fishing just now?"
Lu Yan responded, "Yes, and we caught one."
Zhang Bo''s wife''s eyes bulged with momentary terror. After verifying that he was unscathed, she clicked her tongue twice and remarked, "No wonder she gave it to you. You can rest in your room now. I''ll clean up for you."
Lu Yan discerned from Zhang Bo''s wife''s expression that the "fishing" excursion was also some sort of trial.
Under Zhang Bo''s wife''s scrutinizing gaze, Lu Yan dared not resist impulsively. She disyed a bashful grin before dutifully entering the house.
Before he entered, he could still see Zhang Bo''s wife''s head craning out of the kitchen door, peering out.
Lu Yan sat down in the room and surveyed his surroundings. Theyout of this house was peculiar, oriented towards the side of the mountain. The window where the shadow had appeared the previous night coincidentally faced the mountain.
What lurked on that mountainside, exactly?
Contacting Li Li about the "theft" she mentioned, Lu Yan added the fact that Luo Ying deliberately angered Zhang Hui Xuan and left her alone without carrying out any missionary activities and spected that this vige must be guarding something.
Luo Ying''s goal was guarded by the vige, and the mountain behind the vige seemed to be the most likely ce to find it. Lu Yan pinched the bone whistle, and the ice-cold and piercing touch made him clear-headed. He longed to take a look at the mountain behind the vige, but...
Rewind three days.
In a private room of a restaurant dozens of kilometres from the vige, six people had been gathered for hours, poring over maps of the area. With a note of suspicion in her voice, Lin Chu said, "Speaking of which, this Vige of the Heavenly Immortals is really strange. Other viges know to move outwards, but they keep going deeper into the mountains. What would make a group of people willingly live in the deep mountains? Either it''s to hide some secret, or there''s something that makes them have to stay away from the crowd. These two could also coexist."
She gnawed on a beef tendon barbecue, her mind racing with possibilities. "We''re returning to the vige to pay respects to our ancestors... but it''s strange. Our surnames are all different, which is notmon in a vige. Usually, a few surnames dominate a vige, especially in remote areas. But we are not like that. Do the vigers not suspect anything, or is it because this is not unusual in the vige due to the interference of the mission?"
When Lin Chu stepped foot into this world, she began gathering numerous samples. She delved deep into this realm''s historical tomes and perused popr TV dramas on various video tforms. Ultimately, she begrudgingly admitted that this world was akin to a distorted mirror of their world; alike in some aspects, yet vastly different in others.
The audacity of the neer''s actions left the others in shock, causing them to follow her lead. However, Yu Xiang Guang was at a loss and weakly nced around before inquiring, "When do we enter?"
Lin Chu finished a meat stick, wiped her mouth, and nonchntly replied, "No need to hurry. Our mission is to pay respects to our ancestors in our hometown, so we need to only return before the specified time. Moreover, that vige sounds dangerous, so it''s best to prepare beforehand."
Yu Xiang Guang gazed at the mountain of supplies Lin Chu had umted and became ensnared in his thoughts. Metal knives, ropes, miniature shlights, and other essentials cluttered the space. Lin Chu had already amassed an arsenal of weapons and was equipped with all the necessary tools. She bobbed up and down, feeling somewhat weighed down, her baby faces contorted into a distressed look.
An Xing Yu pointed to the dozens of storage bags on the table and asked, "What are these for?"
Lin Chu shot a nce towards the bags and retorted, "Maybe we can take some samples for research." She lowered her voice and continued, "Don''t you want to know the structure of ghosts? I''ve read on websites that we might encounter zombies, ghosts, and other phenomena beyond scientific exnation. Can''t we use science to study these things?" Her eyes sparkled with curiosity. "If I can get some zombie tissue this time, that would be awesome."
Yu Huan () shivered and rubbed his arms. He nced at hispanions and asked nervously, "Don''t you feel scared? What if we run into trouble with these things?"
Lin Chu lifted her head and expelled a protracted sigh. "I fear aimless living more than I fear death with purpose. Death, in itself, isn''t frightful, but dying in ignorance and foolishness is the most petrifying thing to me," she said.
One by one, the others retreated.
Lin Chu scanned her surroundings, shrugged, and smiled. "It''s alright, I know I''m weird. I''ve been this way since I was young. Besides, I''ll handle these affairs myself. I won''t burden you nor will I seek death deliberately," she said.
Yu Xiang Guang immediately interjected. "Don''t speak nonsense."
An Xing Yu chimed in. "We''re not concerned about you being a burden."
Lin Chu divested herself of several items, retaining only a few metal knives and a portable shlight. She stowed everything in her pack and smiled at An Xing Yu. "Losing one''s life is indeed terrifying, but if it''s for the sake of uncovering the truth, then for me, it''s a death worth dying."
"You..." Yu Xiang Guang wanted to interrupt, but Lin Chu waved her hand. "Alright, alright, I won''t say any more."
The group remained outside for a few more days, determined the location of the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, and rented a car to journey into the mountains.
"The more I gaze at this ce, the more deste it appears," Lin Xue Yuan said,menting as the vehicle manoeuvred through the serpentine mountain road.
The further they ventured into the mountains, the chillier it became. Peculiar rocks jutted from the narrow roadside, while on the opposite side, there was an imprable forest. Despite approaching winter, the foliage remained lush and dense. The frigid wintry air, mixed with the verdancy, sent shivers down one''s spine.
Lin Chu sat at the rear, her eyes fixed on the screen.
The drone was Lin Chu''s eye in the sky, a mechanical bird that soared above the car. But the fickle signal kept cutting out, leaving her staring at a frozen screen. The view shuddered whenever it climbed too high, forcing her to lower it an inch ahead at a snail''s pace.
The navigation system chimed in, dutifully announcing, "Seventy-five kilometers to Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, approximately..."
"Ay, why is it so far? The mountain road here is too winding!" eximed someone in the car upon hearing the distance.
Even though the vige wasn''t far in a straight line, the sinuous mountain road stretched out the journey.
Lin Chu''s screen flickered and went ck, and she scanned the view beyond the car. Tumbling through the air, her drone crashed into a thrashing sea of green.
"Shit..." she breathed.
Lin Chu fiddled with the drone''s controls as they approached a tunnel but eventually gave up.
Emerging on the other side, the navigation system chirped again, "Eighty kilometres to Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, approximately..."
"What''s going on? Why are we getting further away? Did we take a wrong turn?" asked Xie Zi Qing (), puzzled.
Even Yu Huan, the driver, was confused. "There''s only one mountain road here, how could I have taken a wrong turn? I followed the navigation system."
With the drone mishap fresh in their minds, the team fell silent, leaving only the car and the intermittent voice of the navigation system to fill the void.
After a while, Lin Chu announced, "It seems that we won''t arrive until tomorrow afternoon." She didn''t mention that, despite the car''s full tank, they might not make it to the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals before running out of gas.
**
In the vige, Lu Yan sat in his room, yanking at the curtains. The ss was frosted and nailed shut, defying his efforts to peer outside.
He pushed open the door and stepped out into the yard, but Zhang Bo''s wife appeared from the kitchen, asking him what he was doing.
Lu Yan feigned a casual stroll, moseying around the yard.
Lu Yan''s phone buzzed with a message from Luo Ying. She had sessfully executed her n: the vige head''s family had hastily arranged an early funeral for the deceased viger. She pressed Lu Yan to seize this opportunity and infiltrate the funeral procession as a mourner, hoping to discover where they hid the body. The Zhang family also wished Lu Yan to attend the funeral.
Lu Yan was baffled by their request. Given his frail condition, he couldprehend why Zhang Hui Xuan could not shoulder the coffin. Still, he found it bizarre that he was not even allowed to follow the procession. He nced out the window and saw Zhang Hui Xuan''s house sealed off from the outside world. It appeared that he never ventured out of his home and remained isted.
Lu Yan went to the kitchen, where Zhang Bo''s wife was busy preparing food. She raised her eyebrows when she spotted him and asked, "What brings you here at this hour?"
"I have some spare time," Lu Yan replied casually. "I thought I''d lend you a hand." He brushed aside her protests and picked up a knife and a cutting board. He began to chop vegetables with swift and precise movements.
Zhang Bo''s wife weed the relief of having someone to share the burden with, and the two of them exchanged meaningless chatter in the kitchen. Lu Yan casually approached the conversation and inquired, "Why doesn''t Li Li''s dade out more often? It would be good for his health to move around a bit." He lied effortlessly, without a hint of guilt, "I was weak when I was young too, but my family made mee out and y with other kids. We ran and jumped around, and it was onlyter that I slowly got better."
Zhang Bo''s wife shook her head with dismay at Lu Yan''s suggestion. "No, he can''te out often."
"Well, on the day of the olddy''s funeral, will he not go?" Lu Yan persisted.
Zhang Bo''s wife was in the middle of picking up a chicken when she heard this. She wiped the kitchen knife across the rooster''s neck, letting the thick chicken blood flow into the bowl. She frowned and said, "Don''t ask so many questions!"
Lu Yan couldn''t help but feel like she had imagined putting the knife to his throat at that moment and silencing him forever.
At noon, Zhang Bo returned, but Li Li was nowhere to be found. He exined that Li Li was still helping at the vige chief''s house.
"You don''t know, the olddy is cursed. I heard that something that shouldn''t opened the door. A wild bobcat from nowhere came into the room. The olddy turned into an jumping undead, jumping up and running around..." Zhang Bo recounted the story while eating, his face brimming with relief from surviving a disaster. "You don''t know, the olddy''s face turned into a wildcat''s, yellow and white stripes, and she suddenly grew ws to bite people. If it weren''t for Li Li, the vige chief''s family wouldn''t have been able to control her."
Zhang Hui Xuan scooped up a bowl of soup and pondered, "Where did the bobcate from?"
Zhang Bo''s head shook with uncertainty. "I''m in the dark on this one. With the New Yearing, chaos abounds. My guess is something slipped out from the back mountain." He scarcely finished when Zhang Hui Xuan nudged him in the side, shooting a subtle nce at Lu Yan. Zhang Bo wasted no time diverting the topic.
Zhang Bo''s wife clucked her tongue in response. "If that''s the case, shouldn''t we put Granny Qian to rest quickly?"
"You''ve got it. Li Li''s orders were to bury her tonight and send her off," Zhang Bo said, cramming a spoonful of rice into his mouth.
"Tonight?" Zhang Bo''s wife''s surprise was palpable.
"Can''t dally. Nightfall ushers in more than just dreams. Best we bury her fast and stifle the malevolence lurking in that ce." Zhang Bo gestured to Lu Yan. "I need to call upon you tonight to stand in."
Lu Yan nodded his agreement.
He was equally curious about what the vigers meant by "that ce," which was strictly taboo.
The whole vige banded together to orchestrate a swift and dignified funeral. The mourning hall stood erected, with the old woman''s corpse neatly tucked in a coffin andid to rest inside the main house.
What truly caught Lu Yan off guard was the coffin''s robust construction. Sealed tightly with nails all around, chicken blood smeared over it as if anticipating a desperate bid for escape.
Beside the ck-and-white memorial photograph, two statues of Old Lady Third Whisker stood stoic, one on either side. The grandsons and granddaughters of the deceased knelt upon cushions in the yard. At the same time, her sons and daughters-inw burned paper money, gold and silver ingots, and several pallid, papier-mch figures.
After a chorus of tears and wails had filled the room, the suona horn let loose a deafening st, its shrill notes echoing through the pitch-ck mountainside.
"It''s time-"
The mourning grew more tumultuous. The vige chief flung himself in front of the coffin, howling and weeping with abandon. But his sorrowful cries were cut short by a swift kick to the leg, courtesy of Li Li, resplendent in her red dress. "Enough. You''ll wake her up if you keep howling like that. Shut up!" Her sharp rebuke was all needed to bring the wailing to an abrupt end. All eyes in the mourning hall turned to Li Li.
"Now, everyone must leave the room and allow the olddy to rest. Return after midnight to see her off." Li Li spoke with the practised cadence of a seasoned funeral director. "And remember: no one is permitted to enter!"
With hermand, the mourners withdrew to the other side of the yard for a banquet.
Table of Content | | Next chapter >>
My other TrantionsCheck out
In Virtual Reality
Im A Little White Flower In An Escape Game
Chapter 65 to 77
Chapter 65 to 77
Greetings! I''ve returned from my summer hiatus, where I vanished like a evil ghost. I''ve also managed to trante the rest of the archooray! However, I''ve made a slight change in the way I share my trantions. After nearly destroying my keyboard while spending a grueling 40 minutes updating the "In Virtual Reality" novel with its 12 chapters, meticulously creating all those little links, and enduring the site''s frustratingg, I decided to opt to bezy corpse andpile everything neatly in a Google Doc.
So here is chapter 65 to 77
Please, don''t hesitate to leave yourments, ratings, and be a kind ghost by doing the same on NovelUpdates, helping more readers discover this heartwarming novel~!
Chapter 66 Whats in the Forbidden Place..?
Chapter 66 What''s in the Forbidden ce..?
Lin Chu had taken a few steps away when she suddenly turned back, her eyes widening as they caught sight of the unbelievable scene before her. She rubbed her eyes, hoping that what she was seeing was just a trick of the light.
But it wasn''t an illusion. The figure that had emerged from the coffin didn''t look like a typical revenant or ghost. There was an eerie quality to it, yet undeniably human. This wasn''t what death was supposed to look like.
With an almost graceful motion, Lu Yan slowly sat up from the coffin. His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, and there, amidst the dense forest, he spotted Lin Chu. It struck him as oddshe was here alone, probably on a mission of some sort. Questions filled his mind as he gazed at her.
Their eyes met, a moment pregnant with unspoken inquiries.
Lin Chu''s confusion mirrored his own. The figure before her showed no signs of the decay or bloating that came with death. Despite his deathly pallor, his eyes were vivid and alive. The way he panted, the way he movedeverything about him defied the notion of a ghost.
"Are you... still alive?" Lin Chu''s cautious words hung in the air as she observed the pale-faced man rising deliberately from the grave and leaping out.
Lu Yan nodded, his gaze lingering on her before he resumed scanning their surroundings.
The location itself was strange. On one side, the forest stretched into the unknown, while on the other, an expanse of folded terrain rolled out, moonlit rocky surfaces casting an otherworldly glow.
Beneath their feet, the ground was surprisingly soft, as if recently dug.
Not far off, Lucky, the giant dog, wrestled with something in the underbrush. Its shape bore an uncanny resemnce to the olddy they had encountered earlier. Could it be that Lucky intended to eat the olddy? A strange idea, but it might just save him from the fishing ordeal he dreaded.
This notion flitted across Lu Yan''s mind, pushing him to venture outward, gathering information while there was still time. He needed to stay a step ahead of Lucky''s actions and also ahead of Li Li''s likely reprimand.
Was this the forbidden graveyard that Luo Ying spoke of?
With resolve, Lu Yan pressed deeper.
In the quiet of the moment, with no vigers in sight, an absence of resistance caught Lu Yan''s attention. Thus, when Luo Ying said that she was unable to enter, he questioned if it was due to her personal background or some external barrier.
Why can''t some enter this forbidden ground?
As Lin Chu continued forward, a sense of safety gradually pervaded her, and her once hurried footsteps found a more deliberate pace. She trailed Lu Yan, her suspicion easing. His appearance seemed somewhat divergent from that of a typical viger, a notion that harmonized with the vigers'' cryptic hints.
Venturing carefully, she asked, "Are you also here for the ancestral ritual?"
The use of "also" in this sentence would be understood by the other person if they were likewise on a yer.
Lu Yan affirmed, "Indeed, are you as well?"
The term "mission" remained unspoken, an omission that intrigued Lin Chu. With names swapped, they navigated their introductory exchange, and Lin Chu, vignt, shadowed his steps as their journey unfurled.
The path ahead was challenging, a series of uneven steps shaping terraced fields that ascended inyers. Presently stationed at the outermost rim, they advanced around two to three hundred meters inward. Here, the incline grew steeper, gradually guiding them to the next tier.
On every level they traversed, an abundance of gravesy strewn like fallen leaves. Tombstones, hewn from gray-white rock, stood in a stratified manner, culminating in a gentle arc. The breadth of this expanse was immense, the faint curvature hinting at a circr arrangement of graves, a maze of the departed.
What troubled him even more, however, was the stark contrast this stretch ofnd presented inparison to the forest opposite it. There were no trees, not even a solitary de of grassjust bare ground where no vegetation could thrive.
Lin Chu found herself equally taken aback by the sight. She instinctively scooped up some soil from the ground and stashed it in her pocket. The man with them, Lu Yan, though not one for verbosity, exuded a weing demeanor that prompted her to inquire, "Do you have a specific destination in mind?"
Lu Yan''s response came with a hint of nonchnce, "Just wandering around."
With those words, he resumed his forward momentum.
What might have been somewhat subtle previously had now be unmistakable. An imperceptible drop in temperature brushed against his skin, an eerie chill that seemed to diminish even the moonlight''s glow.
He cast a nce over his shoulder, Lin Chu trailing his steps attentively. Sensing her curiosity, he pivoted and questioned, "Feeling a bit cold?"
This sentence, under different circumstances, could''ve held romantic undertones between a man and a woman. But given their extraordinary nature, Lin Chu deciphered his intention. After a thoughtful pause, she concurred, "The ambient temperature has indeed dropped."
With that, she picked up her pace, tracing a circr route inward. After a brisk trot, she halted once more, furrowing her brow as she gouged her surroundings. "No doubt about it, the temperature has plunged," she remarked.
A growing fascination gripped heran enigma unfolding.
Circle after circle, reminiscent of targets used in archery practice, formed a pattern around a central focal point. And these concentric rings of graves surrounded something. Why did the chill intensify the deeper they ventured?
Whaty enshrouded within the innermost circle?
Step by step, they journeyed into the unknown, uncertain of the distance they had covered. Lin Chu found herself walking almost shoulder to shoulder with Lu Yan, a mere few meters ahead. Unlike him, she couldn''t resist capturing the eerie beauty of the tombstones on her camera, asionally sharing these snapshots with herpanions through messages.
Unbeknownst to her, every message she sent since entering this area vanished into the void, like whispers in the wind.
*
*
Inside the car, most presumed her to be lost forever. Amidst the hopeless thoughts, Yu Xiang Guang and An Xing Yu clung to the belief that she persisted out there.
The vige of their destination weed them with open arms. Yet, when they inquired about the two fellow travelers who, like them, had embarked on this journey of ancestral worship, the vigers were clueless about their whereabouts.
Within the vige''s boundaries, they were given lodgings within their ancestral homes, almost as if their roles within this eerie mission were nned out, down to their amodations. Once the five had settled into their respective abodes, they convened for a collective discussion.
Yu Huan''s confusion echoed in the dimly lit room, "What about the pair the vigers mentioned? The ones who came for ancestral worship. Could there be two more members in our mission? Did we somehow miss them?"
Lin Xue Yuan spoke up, her brow furrowing in thought, "A man named Lu Yan and a woman named Luo Ying. Lu Yan resided in the Zhang family residence, yet after attending the vige chief''s mother''s funeral earlier tonight, he simply vanished. And Luo Ying..." She hesitated, searching for words, "It seems like the other vigers don''t really like her."
Curious, as the vige was known for its hospitality; thus, it was perplexing for someone to evoke such widespread dislike within a mere two days.
The question lingered: What had Luo Ying done to evoke such disdain?
Lin Xue Yuan didn''t consider herself exceptionally clever. Ever since surviving that miraculous first mission, she had immersed herself in psychology tutorials, absorbing them almost in a self-torturous manner. She''d analyze people''s subtle facial expressions and simr cues.
"Besides, have any of you noticed the way the vigers here sort of resemble certain animals?"
At this, Xie Zi Qing from their team nodded in agreement. "I''ve thought the same, a bit like, well...?"
Like what?
"Foxes," came a feminine voice in response.
"Yes, precisely, foxes," Xie Zi Qing nodded energetically.
Right after he responded, a realization struck him - this voice didn''t belong to any of their five members. As he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the entire courtyard plunged to freezing temperatures. Every head turned in unison towards the doorway.
Xie Zi Qing shuddered in shock, feeling as if someone had grabbed his neck. Slowly, he turned his head to gaze outside.
Standing in the doorframe was a little girl dressed in red. Her hair, long, ck, and lustrous, cascaded down to her waist. Her skin, fair and shimmering in the moonlight, made her appear even more fox-like than any of the vigers the previous mission members had encountered. This was especially true when she smiled, revealing a mouthful of snow-white, sharp teeth.
Caught in the act of behind-the-scenes gossip, the embarrassing situation left them little time for reflection. Slowly, the young girl stepped into the yard, her initial smile fading as an immense fury surged within her gaze.
"Do you know Lu Yan?" Her words dripped with an icy chill.
Exchanging nces, the group remained silent, heads shaking in unison. They refrained from speaking, wary of provoking this extraordinary girl.
"It''s better if you remain ignorant." The girl''sughter, now chilling, twisted her delicate features into a grotesque mask reminiscent of a vixen. She studied each of them carefully and then, with an air of authority, pointed a finger. "All of you, gather here and catch fish for me!"
Xie Zi Qing attempted to interject, "Catching fish? I...", but his words were abruptly silenced by Yu Huan''s hand mping down on his own, a tight squeeze of warning.
On the ground, the young girl''s shadow seemed to sprout two pointed ears, a tail swaying ominously behind her. Clearly, she wasn''t entirely human. Would they dare to resist?
The girl paid no heed to Xie Zi Qing''s words. With her promation hanging in the air, she turned and strode away. Just before reaching the door, she twisted her head malevolently. "Hurry up! If you waste any more time, you''ll end up as fish for me."
No need for imagination; the fate of bing fish certainly didn''t hold a pleasant oue. Reluctantly, the five of them trailed behind the girl, their steps cautious.
In the countryside, an early night''s rest was the norm, yet today, the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals buzzed with unusual activity. An air of unease settled upon every face, and the faint tang of blood lingered, tainting the atmosphere. Evidently, something sinister had unfolded after the funeral.
Yu Xiang Guang''s worry for Lin Chu intensified, yet he remained hesitant to seek out anyone or venture into the unknown. Retrieving his phone once more, he yearned for a new message to appear, a connection from the other side. s, his hopes were dashed.
An Xing Yu observed as they journeyed, noticing that despite the vigers'' evident panic, they would halt in their tracks and offer greetings to the young girl as she passed. Even when a young man inadvertently overlooked her and continued his conversation, a nudge from hispanion swiftly redirected his attention back to her, prompting a respectful salutation. Their demeanor carried an unmistakable reverence, a far cry from their interactions with an ordinary child.
Adding to this mystique, the vigers universally referred to her as Li Li.
With every step, the pace of the girl named Li Li quickened. In response, the group hastened their stride to keep up. A growing awareness dawned on them that Li Li possessed an unnatural stamina, prompting them to avoidgging behind. With exertion driving them forward, they eventually reached their destination.
Under the moon''s shimmer, a fetidke sprawled before them, emitting an unrelenting noxious miasma. Climbing onto the bridge and casting their eyes upon the scene, some of the less experienced members of the group nearly sumbed to nausea.
Upon the water''s surface, undting ripples created an initial impression of pristine white waves. Yet, a closer gaze revealed the truth - bloated, putrefying bodies intertwined, sinking and surfacing in a macabre dance.
"Now, should any of you fail to catch a fish, you shall be fish for me," Li Li''s words dripped with malice as she perched herself upon the bridge''s railing. Her pitch-ck eyes widened, meticulously scanning her surroundings.
Suppressing their initial repulsion, the small band exchanged knowing looks. An Xing Yu had already taken the lead, situated by the railing. With practiced ease, he opened the bait container, pausing briefly before adroitly baiting the fishing hook and casting his line into the river''s depths.
In response, the formerly tranquil expanse of floating cadavers erupted into frenzy, voraciously biting at the fishing hooks. Their thrashing gave rise to sshes that sent water droplets flying, scattering detritus while intensifying the already pungent reek of decay.
At longst, the nature of the "fish" Li Li wished them to catch became unmistakably clear.
Suppressing her queasiness, Lin Xue Yuan settled herself beside An Xing Yu. She, too, extended a hand to open her own bait container. Just as her fingers grazed the container''s surface, a jolt of rm nearly caused her to topple it.
"This..." Words nearly failed her, her countenance betraying her growing panic.
An Xing Yu shook his head silently, and the fishing rod he held descended while the fishing line stretched taut.
A fish had taken the bait!
He attempted to reel it in, but the fishing rod proved to be surprisingly heavy. Holding his breath, he engaged in a tug of war with the fish, his calls for assistance echoing in the air.
The "fish" on the line was unexpectedly massive. Yu Huan joined the effort, pulling with all his might for an extended period until they managed to bring about half of the mysterious catch to the water''s surface.
To their astonishment, it wasn''t a fish at allit was a male corpse. The clothes had disintegrated, leaving the naked body suspended from the fishing hook, a ghastly and pallid spectacle. An Xing Yu strained to pull it up, inadvertently meeting its lifeless gaze.
A somewhat indistinct red mark adorned the corpse''s chest. And shockingly, he bore an identical mark on his own calf!
An Xing Yu relinquished his hold on the fishing rod, transferring the strain to his twopanions. Yu Huan and Lu Yan stumbled forward, caught off guard by the sudden shift.
"Xiao An, what are you doing?" the tension in the air grew palpable.
In that moment, An Xing Yu''s mind raced through a flurry of thoughts.
Why were other disciples present in this location? It had to be the will of the gods. Clearly, they were entrusted with a dangerous missionhe must not expose himself!
Indeed, were there more disciples lurking within the vige? He needed to devise a n to rendezvous with them discreetly.
With these notions swirling in his mind, he summoned his strength anew. Together, they dragged the unusual "fish" closer to the shore, steadily inching it out of the water.
Li Li, the young girl, seemed to regain herposure. Standing upon the narrow, less-than-a-meter-wide railing, she shouted into the distance, "Lucky,e here!"
A noxious gust of wind swept past as a hound with a sickly green visagea creature whose flesh had nearly rotted away, leaving a skeletal visagesprinted toward them. The fetid, icy breath of the hound hung in the air as it paused near Li Li, its bony paws nervously scraping the ground.
"Feast! I know you''re hungry." Li Li urged, perched on the railing, just reaching the massive dog''s head. She tenderly patted Lucky, who responded with a soft whimper, his tail swishing as he eagerly tucked into his meal.
Lucky''s joy warmed Li Li''s smile, though her demeanor turned serious as she turned to the others. Her finger extended, wagging a reprimanding gesture. "Keep on fishing. One catch each."
None of them relished the notion of being treated as "fish". The memory of An Xing Yu''s fishing struggles propelled them into swift teamwork, an urgency driving them to not squander a moment. In short order, four fish were hauled ashore.
Lucky''s tail wagged in contentment as he savored his meal. Completing his repast, he gave a hearty shake, and Li Li rewarded him with a pat on the head. Her finger aimed into the distance. "Return."
With an agile leap, therge dog vanished from their view.
Releasing a soft exhale through her nose, Li Li directed them, "Let''s make our way back. Remember, lock your doors and seal your windows when you sleep. No matter the sounds that reach you, remain silent."
Those who understood they had narrowly escaped a disaster breathed sighs of relief, regrouping and retracing their path. An Xing Yu, however, nced back surreptitiously. Li Li''s form had melted into the surroundings.
*
*
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Lu Yan persisted in his exploration of the forbidden area.
His entry had been pure happenstance, and it hadn''t exactly endeared him to Li Li. The prospect of a subsequent entry dwindled in likelihood. Contemting the scales of curiosity, tipped by the god of omniscience, he pressed onward, delving deeper into the unknown.
"Lu Yan, don''t you feel the cold?" Lin Chu''s voice trembled from behind, her question echoing one he had asked only moments before. Back then, Lin Chu had managed to bear it, but now, her hands and feet were almost frozen, her every step a battle against the creeping numbness.
The cold wasn''t mere temperature drop; it felt like an otherworldly chill, as if it aimed to freeze their very souls. Lu Yan was no stranger to the cold either, having experienced the sensation of being an ice pop locked in a coffin. With time, he had grown ustomed to it. Blinking his dry eyes, he replied, "I''m okay."
Even as he spoke, he noticed the tightness in his own throat due to the cold. They had been walking for what seemed like an eternity, each step heavy and sluggish. Looking back, the terrain fell away in terracedyers of rock, descending into a sea of tombstones. The heart of this encircling graveyard was within their reach.
The closer they moved toward the center, the more intense the cold greden with a despairing, sinister darkness that made the urge to retreat almost irresistible. Despite it all, Lu Yan gritted his teeth and pressed on. Before him, thest circle of tombstones came into view.
Whaty at the heart of this ring of tombstones? At this moment, neither Lu Yan nor Lin Chu dwelled on the question. The need to get there propelled them forward, a shared determination that drowned out all else.
Unbeknownst to them, the first hints of crimson began streaking across the sky, a harbinger of the impending sunrise.
Lu Yan shifted within the innermost circle of tombstones, his gaze lowering to the ground. There, a pitch-ck hole sprawled, roughly half a meter wide, its circr shape far from neat. The chilling, dark aura they had sensed emanated from this very hole. Standing at its mouth, the coldness seemed to root them in ce even more.
That darkness appeared to swallow all light. What could be lurking within the hole/cave?
Lu Yan propelled himself forcefully backward, tumbling down the slope cautiously to avoid the surrounding tombstones. Coming to a halt, he looked up at Lin Chu.
Lin Chu mimicked his actions, rolling down beside him. Their rapid descent took a while to slow down.
Lu Yan steadied his breathing gradually. Hebined the terrain he''d covered with the recent scene, mentally mapping it out. This forbidden area sprawled extensively, enclosed entirely by the forest, with the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals nestled on the outskirts of the woods. The river Lili had taken him fishing nearthough he had only seen a segmentcircled the forbidden area if extended to both ends. They were guarding this forbidden area!
What, exactly, was this forbidden area?
Lin Chu pondered the same question. She panted heavily, ncing from the hole''s entrance to their path, her eyes revealing hesitation. "Hey," Lin Chu''s words escaped, her throat growing dry. Even she was surprised by her audacity. "What if we venture down there and take a peek?"
Chapter 67 Meeting again
Chapter 67 Meeting again
Lu Yan''s attention was captivated, his gaze locked onto Lin Chu. Previous yers had possessed daring spirits, yet none had exhibited audacity quite like hers. Her courage appeared to teeter on the edge of recklessness.
"It''s a perilous journey down there, carrying a true risk to your life," Lu Yan spoke candidly.
Lin Chu hesitated, a touch of reluctance shadowing her eyes.
"I can''t shake this nagging feeling that if I let this opportunity slip, I''ll regret it forever," she murmured to herself. "But you''re right. Exploring a ce like that might lead me to a dead end."
And so...
As she retraced her steps, her mind churned with thoughts of potential precautions she could employ.
Lu Yan, in an unconcerned tone, remarked, "The vigers have designated the area as forbidden. Outsiders can''t enter without their guidance."
This statement ignited an idea in Lin Chu, her eyes suddenly gleaming with inspiration.
Could she then enlist the vigers'' aid?
Lu Yan had also disclosed that he was here to honor his ancestors. What was his true understanding? How familiar was he with the vige''s secrets?
Lin Chu had been shadowing Lu Yan because he emitted an enigmatic aura. Her instincts hinted that he surpassed ordinary individuals.
Even if he transformed into a restless spirit, she could endure his presence until his true intentions unfurled. While she hadn''t entirely grasped the purpose of the ominous pit, she had managed to piece together fragments of information about it.
Unbeknownst to her, Lu Yan was also assessing her within his thoughts.
He, too, was intrigued by whaty shrouded beneath that ominous pit. What impelled the "All-Knowing Deity" to covet it? And why were numerous tombs arranged around it?
And regarding this individual...
"Um, can you tell me why you popped out of that coffin?" Lin Chu''s curiosity bubbled up after a moment''s pondering.
Lu Yan''s response was to the point, "You must''ve spotted her too that olddy who seemed more cat than human. I was at a funeral, and just as I neared the casket, she yanked me in."
His words were short, but they painted a vivid scene in Lin Chu''s mind. Not only were the departed crawling back to life, but they also retained some form of awareness?
"By the way, do you know why that olddy came back to life?"
The sunrise infused warmth into the air, and their chat found a smoother rhythm. In reply to Lu Yan''s query, Lin Chu simply shook her head. Encountering something like this for the first time, how could she know?
Lu Yan went on, "She was the vige chief''s mother. After her idental demise, they initiallyid her to rest in a chamber. But a stray cat got in, and that''s how she transformed into her current state. The vigers employed numerous methods to stave off her transformation into a ghost, yet..." He hesitated briefly, producing an ancient-looking jade ornament from his pocket.
The jade ornament, with its rudimentary etchings, looked like an artifact from the past, about the size of a finger bone and polished to a gleaming finish. Two fish tails merged at the center, forming a raised arch with a diamond-shaped hollow.
Lin Chu took the ornament from Lu Yan''s hand and scrutinized it, wondering aloud, "What''s the story behind this?"
"I stumbled upon it while I was trapped in the coffin. It still had a hint of the deceased''s spit on it. Supposedly, the vigers intended to ce it in her mouth, but somehow it fell out. I reckon it''s because it fell out that the olddy transformed into a revenant."
Lin Chu''s demeanor shifted, growing more guarded. She contemted fetching a storage bag to house the jade pendant, yet a wild notion burgeoned within her, akin to untamed springtime weeds.
"Does this charm do the trick in warding off these revenants?" She involuntarily paused her steps, her face growing serious.
Lu Yan confirmed, "If my hunch is on target."
Lin Chu found herself caught in a tug of thoughts, wrestling between conflicting ideas.
''This ce is clearly odd. The vigers have marked it as forbidden territory. Even when I wanted toe here myself before, they wouldn''t allow it. I had to sneak in. Without a viger to guide me, can I still enter on my own? This time I''m leaving, and it''ll be difficult toe again next time.''
''Should I bide my time until the next funeral and then quietly trail along?''
Lu Yan extended his hand towards Lin Chu, suggesting, "Isn''t it about time to return it to me? I''ll take it back to the vigeter."
Lin Chu abruptly pulled her hand back.
"What if we strike a deal?" She forced a seemingly harmless smile. "You lend me the jade pendant, and in return, I''ll explore the depths."
Lu Yan''s expression shifted to one of disbelief. "Have you lost your mind?"
Lin Chu released a slow breath, shaking her head. "No, I''m perfectly sane. I''m just curious, that''s all."
Her gaze lifted, as though piercing theyers of tombstones, fixating on the mysterious hole. "I want to uncover its secrets."
"This jade pendant might not guarantee your safety, though."
"It''s got to be somewhat useful, don''t you think?" Lin Chu reached into her waist pouch and extracted a twisted length of metal rope.
No doubt about it, those tombstones weren''t going anywhere. Plus, the closest tree was a good several kilometers away as the crow flies.
And so...
"Hey, pal, could you lend a hand?" With one end of the metal rope''s sp already secured to her waist, Lin Chu shed a charming smile. "Could you do me a favor and hold onto the other end out there? Just for a quick minuteI''ll peek below and be right back."
Seeing Lu Yan hesitate, she added, "Aren''t you curious about what''s down there?"
She wasn''t oblivious. She could tell he was curious too. Maybe he even hoped she''d scope things out. Emotionally perceptive might not be her strongest suit, but she had instincts.
Lu Yan''s interest was definitely piqued.
Lin Chu''s excitement was palpable; she resembled a diner enticing a passerby to step back in. Moving ahead, she made a pledge, "I''ll keep the camera rolling the whole time. Just give me five minutes... or scratch that, three minutes. Once three minutes are up, just give the rope a tug, and I''ll be back up."
As she ascended, the air grew colder. But Lin Chu''s heart raced with excitement, and the chill didn''t really faze her. Her fingers gripped the Pisces jade pendant in her pocket. Before long, they found themselves back at the mouth of the cave.
Carefully, Lin Chu positioned herself, securing a small pulley firmly into the ground. With precision, she nestled the thin rope into the groove of the metal wheel, ensuring it wouldn''t slip. After double-checking the secure buckle around her waist, she slung her phone around her neck, activated the camera, and handed the rope''s other end over to Lu Yan.
"Please, if anything feels wrong, pull me out immediately," Lin Chu implored, her sincerity evident as she stood at the mouth of the hole, taking a deep breath.
Lu Yan nodded, fullymitted to yanking her to safety if need be.
This was clear to Lin Chu. Unless Lu Yan turned out to be a "ghost," her life was probably safe.
With everything ready, she cautiously raised her leg and brought herself to the pit''s edge.
The hole yawned in front of her, unfathomably deep, a ck that seemed to swallow all light. Even with a shlight pointed downward, nothing prated the darkness.
Just standing there sent a shiver through her bones, the cold gnawing at her and setting her whole body trembling.
Determinedly, Lin Chu crouched, her teeth gritted. Meanwhile, on the other end, Lu Yan donned gloves and allowed the rope to slip out a bit more, enough to facilitate her descent.
Gradually, she extended her legs, and then, with her elbows braced against the edge, she began to inch into the bone-chilling abyss.
Then, abruptly, the thin rope in his hand pulled tight!
Carefully lowering herself with the rope, Lin Chu descended gradually.
Upon entering, a shiver ran down Lin Chu''s spine as the icy chill gripped her, rendering her speechless and even hindering her from opening her eyes. In the depths of darkness, she drifted, the delicate rope twirling her gently, her outstretched hand searching, yet finding nothing to grasp in any direction.
It felt as though she had plunged into an endless void of shadows.
Gradually limating to the darkness, Lin Chu gingerly unveiled her eyes. With that single nce, a cascade of shivers raced down her back.
Before hery...
*
*
In the early morning hours, one by one, the five team members stirred from their slumber. Fatigue was etched onto their faces, the previous night''s rest restless at best. Uninvited knocks had resonated on their doors, even adopting the voices of familiar people. Li Li''s timely reminder alone prevented them from swinging the doors ajar.
Yu Xiang Guang''s countenance was the most pallid.
Throughout the night, something had incessantly used Lin Chu''s voice to implore him to utch the door. Despite knowing that Lin Chu would never utter such words, his imagination had run rampant upon hearing the phantom sounds of ws raking at the door from beyond.
''Will Chu Chu be alright? She''s been out in the wilderness all night. No matter how many messages we''ve sent, there''s been no response. Everyone else has pretty much given up hope, except for Yu Xian Guang. He''s still holding onto a faint glimmer, hoping she''lle back soon.'' Lin Xue Yuan sighed, her concern evident.
Seeing the distress on Yu Xian Guang''s face, Lin Xue Yuan couldn''t bear it. She offered a fewforting words. The other two men stayed silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Well, a rookie''s a rookie," they seemed to agree silently, "and this was quite reckless. Looks like she''snded herself in a bit of a mess."
Before they could even think about cooking, some vigers had already extended an invitation to them. After freshening up, the group left the house apanied by the vigers.
The one who had extended the invitation was a viger named Yan Guang Yao. He had a youthful and sincere face, though his eyes had a fox-like gleam to them.
Throughout the journey, they carefully avoided any topics rted to appearances. Instead, they listened as Yan Guang Yao spoke animatedly.
Yu Xian Guang had to push aside his feelings of despondency. However, when the viger mentioned the miraculous blessings attributed to Granny Hu San within the vigehow she supposedly safeguarded the entire vigeYu Xian Guang''s eyes lit up with newfound interest.
"Brother Yan, do you think Old Lady Third Whisker could help find people? I have this friend, and she... she''s gone missing," Yu Xian Guang finally gathered his courage to ask, his voice quivering.
Yan Guang Yao''s smile lit up. "Absolutely, within the vige''s bounds, no problem at all. Old Lady Third Whisker has always bestowed her blessings upon us."
With that assurance, he shared a handful of examples. The more Yu Xian Guang listened, the more his excitement grew, as if he was ready to sprout wings and fly straight to Yan Guang Yao''s home to pay his respects.
An Xing Yu remained a silent observer throughout, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings, searching for any fellow vigers who might share his beliefs. Yet, his search was in vain. In the early morning hours, the vigers busied themselves with hoes, marching off to the fields, while children darted about, their curious eyes fixed on the unusual guests.
Before long, Yan Guang Yao led them back to his abode.
As he introduced his family, Yan Guang Yao revealed that six people resided under his roof. Grandpa and Grandma, the early risers, bustled about with the chickens and ducks in the backyard. His parents toiled side by side in the fields. The idea to invite guests for a meal was a product of his parents'' idea.
A younger sister, propped against the door frame, caught sight of her brother''s return and rushed into his embrace with swift steps.
Impatience gripped Yu Xian Guang. He longed for the moment of worship to arrive. The urgency within the visitor''s heart did not escape Yan Guang Yao''s notice, and it pleased him. Guiding him along, Yan Guang Yao led Yu Xian Guang to the main hall.
Within the dimly lit main hall, an image of an elderlydy with rosy cheeks and silver hair stood enshrined. Her hand sped a jade Pisces, a symbol of authority and blessing.
Yu Xian Guang couldn''t be certain if it was just his imagination, but the statue''s expression appeared oddly indifferent. Gathering his focus, he took three joss sticks, ignited their tips, and made his way to the meditation cushion. With a bow, he softly articted his plea.
Right as his words hung in the air, the trio of joss sticks snapped in unison, their midsections fracturing, and the small crimson mes at their tips vanishing in an instant, without a trace left behind.
Yan Guang Yao, who had waited with an air of cheer, had a drastic transformation in demeanor. He dashed forward and seized the other person''s cor, his voice a mixture of anger and demand, "What have you done?"
Yu Xian Guang wrestled, hisposure slipping into panic, "I... I haven''t done anything, truly. My friend disappeared, and I merely sought to find her."
"That''s impossible! If not, why would Old Lady Third Whisker be furious? Speak the truth! What are you really up to?" Yan Guang Yao''s fury showed no signs of waning, his gaze boring into the other person with fiery intensity.
Yu Xian Guang''s anxiety reached a breaking point; he teetered on the edge of tears. "All I wanted was to find my friend, Lin Chu. We got separatedst night, and I haven''t seen her since. I was just trying to get some answers"
Observing the sincerity in Yu Xian Guang''s eyes, Yan Guang Yao contemted for a moment. With a frustrated huff, he released his grip on Yu Xian Guang''s cor, cautioning, "If you''re lying, you''ll regret it."
Yu Xian Guang vigorously shook his head in response.
Yan Guang Yao''s gaze lingered on the shattered joss sticks on the floor, his brows knitting in concern. He hadn''tmitted any wrongdoing, so there was no reason for Old Lady Third Whisker to be upset.
Then, it hit him
With this realization, empathy welled up within Yan Guang Yao. He gave Yu Xian Guang''s shoulder a reassuring pat and shared, "If what you''re saying holds true and this scenario has unfolded, there''s only one possibility: your friend might have already"
He left his sentence hanging, yet Yu Xian Guang had already grasped the implication. Hisplexion turned pallid, whispering, "No, it can''t be! She wouldn''t"
Even when confronted by the uncanny, defenseless against its horrors, he couldn''t ept the notion of his friend sumbing so easily. He was familiar with the ounts he''d read on the websitepeople couldn''t defeat ghosts, nor could they fend them off, but they could employ rules to safeguard themselves.
Lin Chu, a trailzer in her new path, had forged new paths through every suspenseful mission. How could her life end so abruptly?
In that very moment, a chilling voice, seemingly belonging to a young girl, echoed from outside the door.
"She indeed didn''t die."
At the utterance of those words, Yu Xian Guang turned his head, his countenance alight with hope, fixated on the speaker.
Stepping through the door was a young girl garbed in a vibrant crimson dress, her twin braids resembling horns. Her pallor had worsened since yesterday, and an overwhelming fury emanated from her eyes.
"However, when shees out, I shall personally tighten my grip around her throat until her breath vanishes," Li Li enunciated each syble deliberately, her visage distorted by anger.
Yu Xian Guang, hesitating, inquired, "Err... What happened to her?"
Li Li offered no response to his query. Her gaze swept over Yu Xian Guang, imbued with an icy malevolence akin to a feral beast eyeing its quarry. Gradually, a sinister grin yed upon her lips.
Yu Xian Guang recoiled in terror, seeking aid from Yan Guang Yao. Yet, thetter delivered a harsh kick to his knee, causing him to copse onto the ground, and stared at him icily.
An immensely frigid hand mped onto his throat.
Subsequently, that hand extended, seemingly elongating, hoisting him high into the air. Yu Xian Guang widened his eyes, emitting strangled sounds from his throat, struggling to pry the icy grip from his neck.
s, his efforts proved futile.
*
*
The quartet upied their seats around the dining table, waiting. As time ticked by, Yan Guang Uao gracefully parted the curtain and stepped in, a smile ying on his lips. "Old Lady Third Whisker summoned your friend," he disclosed. "Shall we start our meal?"
Amidst a subtle exchange of nces between Yu Huan and Xie Zi Qing, An Xing Yu''s countenance remained constant, an embodiment of calm and indifference. Lin Xueyuan nibbled on her lip, a hesitant expression on the cusp of finding voice, only to retreat back into silence.
Yan Guang Yao took hold of a chair, seating himself with a fluid motion and immediately engaging with his meal. Observing this cue, the others reached for their chopsticks in session.
The meal passed with minimal gusto, prompting Yan Guang Yao''s proposal to visit the home of the vige chief.
"Yesterday, the vige head''s family held a funeral, otherwise I should have invited you sooner."
Friendly nods and smiles punctuated their path as they meandered through the vige. In due course, they arrived at the abode of the vige chief. The interior ambiance left much to be desired, the chief engrossed in tending to other visitors, one among them a young man of delicate demeanor.
As the vige chief made introductions, it was revealed that this individual had returned a few days ahead of them to fulfill ancestral rites.
An Xing Yu''s gaze intersected with the young man''s, instantly rendering him awestruck. Initially indifferent about the person''s identity, as soon as he saw him, he realized that this was indeed the same Lu Yan he was familiar with!
Chapter 68: Lu Yans calculations
Chapter 68: Lu Yan''s calctions
Lu Yan spotted An Xing Yu and greeted him with a friendly smile, arching an eyebrow. In response, An Xing Yu unconsciously drew closer, mirroring the smile.
Little did An Xing Yu know, Lu Yan had employed a subtle psychological trick that made him unwittingly forget about him until they met again. That''s why he hadn''t found it odd when both hispanions and the vigers started mentioning the name Lu Yan yet he didn''t find it familiar. The realization only dawned on him when they stood face to face again this was indeed the same Lu Yan with whom he had once escaped from the ominous Red River Vige.
Yu Huan, always the inquisitive one, couldn''t help but inquire, "Do you two know each other?"
An Xing Yu responded vaguely, "Our paths have crossed before."
Before they could delve into their shared history, their conversation was abruptly cut short. Standing by the door, Li Li''s gaze was fixed on Lu Yan, her smile carrying a frosty edge.
She had no idea where Lu Yan had been. Lucky''s sudden return with a growling stomach had already infuriated her. Discovering that Lin Chu had ventured into the forbidden area only added fuel to her anger.
A murderous intent simmered within her, but now, Lu Yan was under the watchful eye of the vige chief''s elderlydy, and Bone Whistle had willingly returned to her. The jade pendant was no longer in their possession either. She couldn''t simply eliminate him without breaking the rules.
Moreover, the woman apanying Lu Yan had her own agenda. If she aimed to eliminate those who coveted the vige, Lu Yan had to be kept alive as a potential lead.
Under Li Li''s almost predatory gaze, Lu Yan stepped back slightly, apologizing once more, "I''m sorry, it wasn''t intentional."
Intentional about what?
Curious nces were exchanged among the group.
Of the group, only Yu Huan and An Xing Yu had some experience, while the rest were rtively inexperienced. Facing Li Li, who seemed somewhat rational and after a night spent behind locked doors, their guard began to waver.
It didn''t seem as intimidating as they initially thought.
Perhaps the real challenge awaited them on the day of the ancestral sacrifice?
No matter how their minds raced with spection, they dared not utter a word of their suspicions in front of the vige chief. He had weed them warmly and invited them to dine as a group, a gesture that concealed their unease beneath pleasantries.
As the clock''s hands inched toward noon, Lin Chu''s absence persisted, and Yu Xian Guang had vanished without a trace. Li Li''s eerie gaze weighed heavily on the remaining group, casting a shadow over their appetites. Even Lu Yan, who harbored a desperate desire to escape this peculiar ce, couldn''t evade the unwavering fixation of the young girl''s eyes. It felt as though she could pounce on him at any moment, ending his existence, were it not for the fear of defying some hidden rule.
In the face of this life-threatening situation, Lu Yan didn''t tremble. Instead, a strange thrill coursed through him, intensifying his vignce. He treaded carefully around Li Li, mindful not to provoke her ire.
After the peculiar lunch, An Xing Yu took the initiative to approach Lu Yan, and they began to stroll together.
Like all taskers, An Xing Yu concealed his true identity when interacting with the local NPCs. He was curious about what had transpired during their previous visit. As they distanced themselves from the vigers, he inquired, "Lu Yan, what do you remember about our exit thest time we passed through that gate?"
Lu Yan shook his head, a wistful smile ying on his lips. "I can''t say for sure. I walked through that gate with you, and then it''s all a nk. When I finally regained consciousness, I was alone, lying in a deste graveyard." He shrugged. "What about you?"
An Xing Yu suspected there was more to the task than met the eye and chose his words carefully. "I experienced the same disorientation. Woke up by the roadside and left shortly afterward. But you were nowhere to be seen. It''s possible we ended up in different locations upon exiting."
Casting a discreet nce around, his two lifeless eyes returned to lock onto Lu Yan''s face. "Are you here for the ancestral ceremony, too?"
Lu Yan lowered his voice, conspiratorial. "No, I''m a journalist. I''vee here to investigate."
"I see," An Xing Yu whispered.
"Don''t reveal it. This vige has a big secret. We can cooperate." Lu Yan extended an invitation.
An Xing Yu''s agreement was almost instant. Apart from him, the others in this mission had little experience. Among this mission''s members, he alone possessed a keen sense for the lurking danger concealed beneath the vigers'' faade of hospitality. Without cooperation, he knew his chances of survival were tenuous at best.
"What''s this big secret you''re so keen on sharing?" He inquired, curiosity sparking in his eyes.
Lu Yan took a moment before responding. "Have you ever heard of the faith that runs deep within this vige?"
An Xing Yu nodded slowly, a hint of skepticism in his furrowed brows. "Yes, I''ve heard of it. They believe in those Five Great Immortals." His tone carried a note of disdain for such folklore. "But it seems they''re not just believers; they''re bing something else entirely."
It was uncanny how the vigers bore such an eerie resemnce to certain animals, and An Xing Yu couldn''t ignore the unsettling feeling that tugged at the edges of his thoughts.
In an instant, the pieces fell into ce, and An Xing Yu realized what had brought Lu Yan here. It had to be connected to the enigmatic secret surrounding those Five Great Immortals.
"Oh, by the way," Lu Yan added, concerned furrowing his brow, "There was someone else with me, but she''s vanished into thin air. I''d really appreciate your help in searching for her over the past few days."
"Could you provide some details?" An Xing Yu inquired.
Lu Yan didn''t hesitate, his description vivid and meticulous. "Her name''s Luo Ying, and she has a distinct red mark on her arm. It''s a surefire way to identify her and weed out any impostors."
A red mark... An Xing Yu''s heart skipped a beat as he grasped the gravity of this detail. "What exactly does this mark look like?"
Pulling out his phone, Lu Yan deftly sketched the pattern on his memo app. His drawing skills were remarkable; a single nce was all it took to replicate it wlessly. "If you happen to cross paths with her, remember to check her arm first. Those things are skilled at impersonation, especially when you''ve had a rough night''s sleep."
An Xing Yu shook his head, dispelling any lingering weariness. His expression spoke volumes, a mix of relief and determination. The moment heid eyes on that pattern, he knew with certainty that Luo Ying was his missingrade.
As for the presence of deities in this otherworldly realm, it left An Xing Yu awestruck. It seemed even in this strange ce, his all-knowing and all-powerful deity held sway. He couldn''t help but marvel at the vastness of the divine.
Lu Yan wore a satisfied smile, knowing that the reunion of An Xing Yu and Luo Ying would be a valuable asset in his quest. As for whether Luo Ying would reveal herself as a believer in these mysterious gods, well, Lu Yan had his methods.
Luo Ying''s name and facial details were etched firmly in An Xing Yu''s memory. In a sudden rush, he recalled Li Li''s words from earlier and didn''t waste a moment before asking, "Were you taken after the vige chief''s mother was turned into a revenant?"
Lu Yan nodded in confirmation.
"Have you encountered anyone else, then? A girl, not very tall, dressed in ck, goes by the name Lin Chu."
With a hint of regret in his eyes, Lu Yan responded, "I''ve seen her, but I don''t know where she wentter."
His expression held a tinge of sorrow, yet underneath, a secret n brewed.
Back then, it had taken Lu Yan less than three minutes to drag Lin Chu out from that abyss. She''d been on the brink of exhaustion, her strength as if sapped by that ce. What startled him even more was the transformation that unfurled as Lin Chu basked in the sunlight.
Her almond-shaped eyes elongated, her once cold fists contorted into w-like appendages reminiscent of some wild creature,plete with razor-sharp talons. She huddled on her back, and her cheeks sprouted a coat of fur.
She looked like a... a fox.
In that fleeting moment, Lu Yan''s mind raced back to the vigers'' peculiar features and their unwavering devotion to Old Lady Third Whisker.
But in a single descent into that abyss, Lin Chu had undergone this remarkable transformation. The cave bore a sinister curse, and the toll for it was abundantly clear.
After Lin Chu had regained her breath, Lu Yan effortlessly coaxed information from her.
Deep within the cavern, she had stumbled upon a tomb.
A tomb thaty silently in the depths of the subterranean darkness, appearing to stretch endlessly.
Lin Chu''s words cast serious doubts. In the absolute darkness, the ce appeared vast, stretching endlessly, as described by Lin Chu, yet she insisted it was a tomb.
Ancestral rituals, crypts, Lin Chu''s eerie transformation, and the peculiar behavior of the vigers, all intertwined with their devotion to the Five Heavenly Immortals, raised the question: Could these elements be the core reason behind the vigers'' reluctance to venture beyond their borders?
Lu Yan''s thoughts revisited the ominous cave and the information he had gathered earlier. "Once upon a time, the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals thrived. However, for unknown reasons, it faced numerous deaths and misfortunes, teetering on the brink of extinction. Only when they began worshiping the Five Heavenly Immortals did their fortunes improve."
A nagging suspicion began to creep into his mind.
Perhaps the wealth that once flooded this vige had questionable origins.
When Lin Chu revealed the existence of a tomb beneath that cave, he couldn''tprehend why there would be an entrance on top of a burial site.
Upon closer consideration, it became unmistakably clear that this was the work of thieves. If the vigers were indeed involved in grave robbing, every piece of this sinister puzzle would fall into ce.
After sharing this revtion, Lin Chu fell into unconsciousness. Lu Yan carefully moved her deeper into the forbidden area, all the while keeping an eye out for the lurking Li Li. As she slowly regained consciousness, the changes in her were impossible to overlook, and despair was etched across her face.
She couldn''t bring herself to return for this very reason.
Lin Chu had entrusted her secret to Lu Yan, strictly instructing him not to burden anyone by disclosing her whereabouts.
True to his word, Lu Yan hadn''t spilled a word to hispanions.
However, he felt "coerced" into confessing the truth about her entry into the forbidden graveyard to Old Lady Third Whisker, though he skillfully concealed her descent into the abyss.
An Xing Yu remained oblivious to the swirling thoughts of those around him, letting out a weary sigh.
By the second day''s dawn, they had already bid farewell to tworades, their disappearances veiled in a mysterious enigma, and the prospects of their survival appeared bleak at best.
Curiously, the others viewed this mission as a walk in the park, disying a conspicuous absence of any sense of peril.
Lu Yan offered reassurance, saying, "Don''t worry; we''ll find them in no time. Why not seek assistance from the Five Immortals?"
An Xing Yu shook his head.
Apart from his personal reservations about faith, Yu Xian Guang had vanished into thin air during his worship, and An Xing Yu had keenly sensed the impending danger.
Of course, Lu Yan had given him a stern warning.
Perhaps coborating with Luo Ying was a good idea, especially if there were others apanying her.
Once the pair embarked on their journey together, they didn''t stay side by side for long. Lu Yan, pretending to have sustained an injury the previous day, withdrew to rest, while An Xing Yu eagerly sought to reunite with Luo Ying as soon as possible.
As he departed, Lu Yan returned to the forsaken homestead of the Lu n. He had vacated Zhang Bo''s residence and chose to live in solitude from this point forward.
However, despite his earlier deration, rest was not on his agenda. Instead, he continued tomunicate with Luo Ying through cryptic symbols that would be inscrutable to anyone intercepting their messages.
Carefully, Lu Yan recounted to Luo Ying the events of his idental venture into the forbidden area, sparing no detail, which included the presence of the olddy with the cat face, Li Li''s dog, and Li Li''s watchful eyes restricting his movements.
While describing the contents of the forbidden area, he intentionally omitted any mention of the pit thaty within its depths.
Within the forbidden zone''s confines, Lin Chu had a stash ofpressed biscuits that would temporarily stave off hunger. It urred to him that if their paths were to intersect...he suspected Lin Chu would likely opt to evade him and remain in the shadows, observing their every move.
*
*
Luo Ying had been wandering along the vige reservoir for a significant period, familiarizing herself with the vige''syout. Her excitement surged when she received Lu Yan''s message.
She had long harbored suspicions that the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals concealed a tomb, and the vige''s forbidden area might well serve as its hidden entrance. Her past attempts to gain ess had been detected, but now, with Lu Yan having ventured inside, the circumstances favored them. He should have memorized the route.
Luo Ying eagerly anticipated their rendezvous and the guidance he could offer. However, the constant surveince posed a significant obstacle. Acting impulsively could jeopardize them both. Thus, she resolved to suppress her impatience and proceed with utmost caution.
Throughout history, their agents had always been in short supply, leading to a series of heartbreaking failures. She regarded the vigers with disdain, as they had callously tossed the god''s followers into the river, leaving their souls and bodies in eternal torment. Revenge had simmered in Luo Ying''s thoughts for a long time.
Once she had thoroughly familiarized herself with the forbidden area''s specifics, she began devising strategies for gaining entry.
ording to Lu Yan, the Pisces jade pendant she had taken from the peculiar olddy had supposedly found its way back to Li Li. If she ever needed ess again...
Her gaze shifted to the river, and a cunning idea immediately formed.
*
*
After deleting all the messages, Lu Yan didn''t immediately settle down. Instead, he retraced his steps to Zhang Bo''s residence.
Zhang Bo had felt some irritation about not seeing Lu Yan the previous night, which had left him to shoulder the coffin''s burden alone. However, once Lu Yan exined that his absence was due to relentless pursuit by the olddy with the cat-like face, Zhang Bo''s grievances naturally dissipated, reced by understanding and forgiveness.
At the dimly lit corridor''s end, a small room awaited him, thoughtfully arranged by Zhang Bo''s wife. It upied the spot directly opposite Zhang Hui Xuan''s room.
Even in the bright daylight, both room doors remained securely closed, cocooning their upants within the realm of slumber.
Exhaustion clung to him like an enduringpanion, preventing true rest since his arrival. Aware that this house had some level of protection, he decided that a brief period of inactivity wouldn''t hurt, mirroring his actions from the previous night.
Years of living on the edge had honed his ability to doze lightly. After several hours of fitful sleep, hovering between dreams and wakefulness, he noticed the vige slowly awakening.
With a sense of readiness, he got up from the bed, dressed himself, and cautiously cracked open the door, stepping into the charming courtyard. Just as he ventured out, a frantic viger rushed past and, upon spotting him, grabbed his arm.
"Quick, there''s been another death in the vige. You shoulde see!"
"What? What''s going on?" Lu Yan was startled from his drowsiness, following the viger''s frenzied pace.
"It''s Old Lady Li, who lives on the eastern outskirts. No one knows how she died, but she was found lifeless by the roadside." The viger panted as they hurried along. "Now the entire vige is gathering at her home, eager to offer any assistance they can."
Old Lady Li was a solitary elderly woman, her children long gone, and her grandchildren dispersed across distant horizons. Only a few individuals who shared deep connections with her in life were now burning paper money and performing ancient rituals to guide her spirit.
Lu Yan''s gaze scanned the mourners, noticing Li Li''s conspicuous absence.
This turn of events presented a certain advantage for their mission.
In a scene reminiscent of the previous day, Old Lady Li''s lifeless form upied the center of the main hall, casting a pall of somber anticipation over the vigers as they rallied to prepare for her funeral. Her passing had left a cloud of suspicion hanging in the air, and amidst the prevailing chaos, they feared the unknown. With everyone scurrying about, hastily procuring funeral garments and securing a coffin, they raced against the inexorable march of time to ready the final rites.
Amidst this fric activity, an unexpected guest darted into the courtyard from outsidea rat.
The sight sent shockwaves through the onlookers. While rats were typically regarded as creatures of good omen, offerings to the benevolent dust gods, this was not the time for auspices. The prospect of a newly deceased body encountering such a creature held the ominous potential for a revenant''s awakening. The rat had to be chased away.
However, the vigers'' calctions faltered as the rat, encircled and blocked by the crowd, eluded their grasp and made a lightning-fast incursion into the main hall, finding refuge within the confines of the open coffin.
Panic rippled through the gathering.
Within moments, the rat emitted a series of ominous squeaks, its tiny jaws working with fric determination.
By the time they managed to seize the intruder, half of Old Lady Li''s nose and one of her ears had been mercilessly gnawed away, transforming her visage into a grotesque tableau.
Yet, as the rat''s gray and fine fur began to materialize upon her face, a chilling realization descended upon the assembly.
She, too, teetered on the precipice of bing a revenant.
This disquieting revtion cast a pall of dread over the vigers, and a handful of astute souls had already sprinted to the ancestral shrine, fervently beseeching the Grandmother for protective intervention.
Lu Yan''s countenance mirrored the collective unease, his inner thoughts heavy with concern.
Lu Yan couldn''t help but think, "This has all the hallmarks of Luo Ying''s handiwork."
In the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, the vigers rarely dared to venture into the forbidden grounds except during funerals. Knowing this, Luo Ying devised a n. She possessed a Pisces jade pendant with an inherent power to ward off evil. Cunningly, she released a mouse within those hallowed boundaries, knowing it would stir enough fear to drive the vigers to seek help in exercising the perceived threat.
Now, as Lu Yan pondered the situation, he was certain that Luo Ying was lurking in some obscure corner, patiently awaiting the unfolding of her sinister scheme.
Suddenly, a deafening "bang" reverberated through the air as the door swung open.
A young girl dressed in crimson, her countenance icy and her hair disheveled from haste, now stood in the doorway. It was evident she had rushed here with great urgency.
Lu Yan had observed a while back that, while Li Li possessed formidable abilities, shecked the knack for conjuring ghostly apparitions or sensing the entire vige''s state. Nheless, she had a unique sensitivity to malevolent spirits, making her a diligent guardian of the vige, always ready to intervene when peril loomed.
For the time being, Lin Chu, concealed within the forbidden grounds, remained safe from harm.
Chapter 69 Turn around and watch
Chapter 69 Turn around and watch
In the heart of the forbidden grounds, Lin Chu found a spot amidst the eerie quietude. She dared not venture too close to the cluster of graves, an unsettling cold coursing through her. Her cautious movements ensured she didn''t identally brush against the ominous tombstones.
Yet, despite the chill that seemed to linger in her very bones, Lin Chu harbored no regret. ording to her fellow mission-goers, the curse guing her would dissipate once shepleted her task - as long as she didn''t meet an untimely demise in this sinister world.
The real quandaryy in her current, ghostly appearance. How could she return to the vige, ready to partake in the ancestral rites, without triggering a panic among the vigers that might very well result in her death?
Lin Chu reclined for a spell, basking in the sun''s faint warmth, her thoughts unfurling like tendrils of smoke. From her waist pouch, she retrieved apressed biscuit, nibbling on it with measured contemtion.
Lu Yan had offered assurances that he''d do his best to dy the vige''s guardian spirits and send her a message. Yet, time ticked on, and silence from him gnawed at her like a persistent phantom.
Two possibilities seemed usible: either he was now just another lost soul, ensnared in the clutches of the supernatural, unable tomunicate like her teammates? Or was there something else at y here?
Summoning resolve, Lin Chu drew a steadying breath, raising herself upright and casting her gaze upon the message she had dispatched into the digital void. Not a peep from anyone, including Yu Xian Guang.
Could it be that this ce concealed an even darker secret?
A pang of concern for Yu Xian Guang crossed her mind. When she returned, she had little doubt that he''d be overwhelmed with relief, likely on the verge of tears.
With uncertainty cloaking her like a shroud, Lin Chu pondered her next move.
In the heart of this forbidden expanse, the sheer vastness of it all was overwhelming. By night, the limited visibility masked its true enormity, bute daylight, one found themselves amidst endless rows of tombstones, bleached bone-white like skeletal sentinels, spanning nearly a thousand square meters. It was almost too easy to lose oneself in this macabrendscape, to be a spectral revenant adrift among the funerary monoliths.
From her elevated perch, she gazed downward, a strange mncholy inexplicably welling up from the depths of her heart. Lin Chu attempted to shake off this excess emotion with a brisk shake of her head.
Sentimentality was never her forte, and this emotional tide wasn''t of her own making. Drawing a deep breath, Lin Chu cast aside this unwanted mncholy once more, setting forth on her solitary path, tracing the circumference of her current position.
Her purpose was clear: she intended to circumnavigate and explore.
Beneath thisnd was a tomb and the hole in the ground was for tomb-robbing. Yet, did this chamber possess a formal entry point, and to whom did it belong?
Only as she continued to circle and measure her strides did she grasp the true extent of this forbidden territory. Despite her presence within the innermost circle, she had been walking for a good twenty minutes without encountering its end. The surroundings remained eerily static, as though she were trapped in a perpetual loop. Were it not for her asional nces at the inscriptions on the tombstones, she might have indeed believed herself to be ensnared in an endless spiral.
*
*
Meanwhile, anxiety consumed those in the vige.
Old Lady Li''s demise bore the sinister mark of suspicion, casting shadows of dread that she might return as a revenant. In haste, they transported her for burial, conducting a minimalistic funeral. An ancestral hall went unprepared; instead, modest adjustments were made to the vige head''s residence forst night''s wake.
The conundrumy in the fact that Old Lady Li had always enjoyed robust health. She had never deemed it pressing to have posthumous photographs taken. Now, her sudden departure left the vige in a quandary, for the sole photographic studio couldn''t take pictures of the deceased.
"Can''t we draw her? It''s more fitting," Lu Yan suggested, taking the lead in the discussion, iming his ability to draw, arguing that sketching wasn''t all that different from taking photos. The rest of the group met this idea with skepticism, but their doubts quickly dissipated when they witnessed him casually sketch a few portraits.
Inside the funeral parlor, he sat with unwavering focus, painstakingly sketching the upant of the coffin.
Li Li squatted in the courtyard, her head nestled against her knees, her gaze frosty as she observed the artist''s progress.
If only he had no longer any use...
She clenched her teeth in vexation.
Lu Yan upied a spot near the casket''s edge, gradually breathing life into his sketch. After some time, Li Li rose, shaking off her weariness, and ventured closer to inspect his work. Yet, upon viewing the drawing, her brows furrowed.
"Why did you skip the eyes?" She gestured toward the vacant eye sockets, her hair seeming to stand on end.
Lu Yan responded candidly, "I feared that if I did, she might see me."
Li Li seethed with anger.
Nevertheless, confined by the established rules, she couldn''t refute his logic. After pacing restlessly in irritation for a moment, she reluctantly halted the artist with an annoyed expression.
"I''vepleted the sketch. Could you fill in the eyes?" Lu Yan left the sketch on the chair, evidently intending to withdraw.
Handling human debts was already a daunting task, but when it came to those ''ghostly debts,'' it was an entirely different level of challenge. After all, he had epted protection, and if you delved deeper into this peculiar debt, it could easily metamorphose into a sinister, life-threatening curse.
Li Li found herself without much choice in the matter. Having recently taken a life, she couldn''t engage in any further action so hastily. She could only stand there, a silent observer, as the other figure rose, prepared to depart.
"Wait, hold on."
Lu Yan halted.
"Where''s Luo Ying?"
Lu Yan shook his head. "I don''t know." He really didn''t. Although he had his suspicions, Luo Ying hadn''t confided in him, so he couldn''t take those guesses seriously.
"What about Lin Chu?"
Lu Yan echoed his previous response, his brows furrowing. "I''m clueless."
Before leaving, Lin Chu had still been in the forbidden area, but now, he had no idea where she might have gone.
Upon hearing this, Li Li finally felt satisfied and revealed a malicious smile.
"I know," she announced, her smile brimming with anticipation. "I know she''s trespassed into forbidden territory, and you''ve crossed paths with her. I''m fairly certain she hasn''t departed yet. Convince her to return and catch me two fish, and I''ll let bygones be bygones," Li Li chimed, her voice as carefree as a child''s. "Now, you can reach out to her."
This level of kindness from a ghost was utterly imusible!
Lu Yan''s initial response was one of skepticism. He was all too familiar with these entities. Even if they temporarily reverted to their original appearances due to the intrusion of outsiders, it couldn''t erase their eerie nature.
Yet, he found himself in dire need of Lin Chu''s audacity at this moment...
The young girl in the crimson dress positively radiated enthusiasm, as if she anticipated his refusal. "Hurry up, or it''ll be you..."
Without hesitation, Lu Yan reached for his phone and dialed Lin Chu''s number.
*
*
Meanwhile, Lin Chu pressed forward, her perseverance finally yielding results. The outer path before her gently curved at an angle of about fifty to sixty degrees, leading towards an unknown destination.
A breakthrough atst!
Her heart danced with tion. She snapped a few photos and uploaded them to the cloud, jotting down notes and a rough sketch. As she continued her journey, an iing call disrupted her thoughts.
Strange, can I use my phone here?
ncing at the caller ID, she discovered it was Lu Yan.
Suspicionced her voice as she answered.
"Lin Chu?"
"It''s me," Lin Chu replied.
"Return immediately."
The transmission was marred by poor signal, causing Lu Yan''s voice to crackle as if electrified. "I''ll rendezvous with you at the vige entrance. I''ve got a n." There was a faint cough from his end. "Hurry, I can only wait until 6 PM," he coughed once more, his voice conveying a sense of cold.
There were still seven hours left until 6 PM.
"If you''re not here by the eighth hour, I won''t wait any longer. Everyone''s deeply concerned about you, especially Lin Xue Yuan," another cough, "She''s really worried about you..."
*
*
Lin Chu had been listening attentively, her eyes widening with each cough from the other side, each cough marking the end of a sentence and the start of a new one. The message was clear: "You''re in forbidden territory, and she''s found out!"
Chills raced down her spine. Who was this ominous "She"? Lin Chu wondered, debating whether to retreat.
After a thoughtful pause, no clear n of action emerged. She stared at the tombstones ahead, their edges sharp as daggers, and with determination, she decided to press forward. She could navigate her way backter.
No matter the identity of "She," Lin Chu reckoned that it probably couldn''t breach the forbidden area. If it could, it would have alreadye for her. Why resort to threatening Lu Yan and coercing him into summoning her back?
*
*
Lu Yan disconnected the call and coughed twice, hisplexion still bearing traces of fatigue, as though sleep had eluded him. He stood in the hallway, dressed lightly, letting the chilly breeze wash over him, an image of fragility.
Li Li''s face was even paler than his, and as she stood beside the paper-mache figure next to the coffin, it was challenging to discern which of them resembled a white paper doll more. After a lingering moment, a wicked grin spread across her face, revealing teeth as sharp and pointed as daggers. "You can leave now," she dered.
Having said that, she approached the ornate incense burner that stood before the spirit hall. Her fingers grasped a handful of incense ash, which she then scattered gently onto the ground. Without a word, she followed him out, ensuring the courtyard gate closed behind them.
A deathly stillness settled upon the courtyard, like the hushed anticipation before a kill.
Gradually, soft, rustling noises pierced the silence, akin to the cautious steps of an elderly soul, punctuated by asional sighs and faint coughs.
Amongst the scattered ashes, obscure footprints began to manifest, their presence slowly leading away from their point of origin.
It was a considerable span of time before, at the prompting of Li Li, the vigers cautiously swung open the courtyard gate and witnessed the telltale footprints etched into the ground. Their jubtion erupted.
Old Lady Li had returned!
Just as they had done the previous night, they hastily organized a procession, shouldering the coffin once more. Initially assigned to carry the coffin in the front, Lu Yan''s countenance had grown pallid and feeble, wracked by intense coughing fits. It was evident to all that he risked being crushed by the weight of the coffin. Consequently, he was reassigned to a different task: scattering paper money.
Being a neer to this ce, hecked proper attire. Yan Guang Yao graciously loaned him a rough hemp robe to drape over his clothes. After fastening a somber ck ribbon around his arm, he shouldered a basket and headed outdoors.
Winter''s chill had already descended, and the sunlight offered little sce from the cold. The procession marched towards the open expanse outside, the ranks appearing somewhat disheveled. At the forefront, an individual carried a monochromatic portrait. The elderlydy depicted within wore a gentle smile, yet her eyes held an eerie, unnatural quality.
Upon reaching the threshold of the vige, Lu Yan''s keen eyes discerned Zhang Hui Xuan within the gathered crowd. He appeared even more feeble, as though a gust of frigid wind might whisk him away. His gaze remained fixed on a distant point, but he never ventured beyond the vige gate.
Lu Yan mulled over Zhang Bo''s words.
So, it appears Zhang Hui Xuan is trapped within this ursed vige.
But why?
Recollections surged. Li Li''s cryptic mention of her "aunt" flitted through his mind.
Amidst the vigers, Zhang Hui Xuan seemed to stand as the least courteous toward Li Li. While others showered her with reverence, he chose harsh words and wielded his father''s authority.
The funeral procession yed out in a discordant symphony of noise and silence. The suona red, and cymbals shed, yielding sharp, metallic notes, yet not a single soul mourned.
Old Ladies Li offspring remained conspicuously absent by her side, leaving her to endure solitude in her final days. Fortunately, the vigers rallied to her aid in arranging the funerary rites.
Among the mourners marching solemnly, everyone was present except for Lin Xue Yuan. She remained in the vige, due to usations of excessive "yin energy."
An Xing Yu had made several attempts to engage Lu Yan in conversation, yet an eerie hush shrouded the procession. Words remained unspoken, and he could only watch in silence as the figure ahead pressed on.
A graceful gesture sent yellow and white circr paper money aloft, carried away by a brisk gust.
Unbeknownst to all, a woman trailed closely behind the procession, no more than a hundred meters distant.
This woman was none other than Luo Ying, the very person Li Li had relentlessly sought. Her whereabouts during her absence remained a mystery, her appearance slightly disheveled. However, her visage now radiated with an unsettling excitement.
In the past, prior expeditions had been dispatched, but the entities guarding the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals were noughing matter. Regardless of how many ventured forth, none ever returned, their fates entwined with the vige''s ominous secret. Eventually, the organization wisened up, adopting a more discreet approach - sending lone operatives, who would infiltrate themunity under the guise of vigers, gathering fragments of insight amidst the chilling silence of the vige.
As the year drew to a close, the mountain-dwelling entities behind the vige began to stir with a newfound restlessness. The handful of fake immortals guarding the hamlet found themselves overwhelmed, and for some mysterious reason, their supernatural prowess was waning. It presented an opportunity.
Lurking within the shadowy woods, Luo Ying resembled a specter in the night. Her mission was clear: secure the means to subdue the revenants before venturing into the forbidden heart of the vige.
But she couldn''t do it alone. Upon her arrival in the vige, she deliberately provoked the locals, ensuring she wouldn''t receive the protective aura of the "Guardian Immortals."
This tactical move made her elusive to their detection, yet she suffered the price of being an outcast in the vige.
For her n to seed, she relied on Lu Yan to take action.
Unbeknownst to her, a little girl, d in crimson raiment, lurked in the shadows not far behind. She watched Luo Ying with an unsettling stillness, her lips curling into a wicked grin, revealing a mouthful of razor-sharp, gleaming teeth.
Just as thest scrap of paper money in Lu Yan''s basket fluttered away, they finally stood on the precipice of the forbiddennd.
*
*
Meanwhile, Lin Chu was stealthily retracing her steps from the opposite direction.
Walking along the elevated terrain, Lin Chu''s gaze prated theyers of tombstones and the forest beyond, where the emerald leaves danced to the tune of the wind. A crimson river snaked its way through this scenery.
Lu Yan or An Xing Yu would have found this ce familiar, but Lin Chu was a stranger to it. Her typically keen mind could only grasp a vague sense of recognition, as if she might have read about it somewhere. After etching it into her mind, she pressed forward.
Amid the whispers of the wind, she discerned a mournful melody, funeral music. Had someone else died?
Lin Chu''s heart quickened, and she hastened her pace. Utilizing her elevated vantage point, she remained concealed from prying eyes as she hurried onward. Given the proximity of the sound, it couldn''t be far, especially with her energies mostly restored. Besides a bit of extra fur and a peculiar glint in her eyes, she appeared outwardly normal.
Lin Chu soon reached her destination, another sharp bend formed by the tombstones'' arrangement, eerily simr to the one she''d encountered earlier. She retraced her steps in her mind, feeling a strange blend of emotions.
Why did it feel somewhat like... an eye?
It also bore a resemnce to the hollow shape within the Pisces jade pendant she''d acquired earlier.
As she rounded the corner, her expectations were met. In the distance, a long line of people moved like a column of ants.
Crouching amidst the tombstones, she leaned forward, striving to peer through theyers of grave markers without attracting attention. Soon, familiar figures emerged from the crowd.
Lu Yan, An Xing Yu, Yu Huan, and Xie Zi Qing, they were all there.
Notably absent was any trace of women in the queue, indicating that Lin Xue Yuan must be within the vige.
But... where was little Yu?
Where had Yu Xian Guang gone?
Lin Chu''s heart leaped in her chest, her pulse quickening. Startled, she snapped to attention, fully aware of the unsettling predicament at hand. She instinctively sought refuge behind the ancient tombstone, her fragile form shivering uncontrobly in the eerie silence.
Lin Chu had always been familiar with Yu Xian Guang. He was the textbook definition of a scaredy-cat, a perpetual bundle of nerves who seemed to have a knack for tears and a penchant for dragging others into his misadventures. Solitude was his greatest nemesis.
The question loomed: would he really brave the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals alone?
Initially, Lin Chu had entertained the notion of bing a permanent resident in this forbidden enve, where every twist and turn held secrets begging to be unraveled. To her, the pursuit of discovery and the pursuit of knowledge were the holiest of callings. But now...
A gnawing unease wed at her from deep within, its origin eluding her grasp. It was an emotion she couldn''t quite rationalize, a disconcerting hunch that Yu Xian Guang might have stumbled into unforeseen peril. Regret surged within her, an emotion she couldn''t ignore.
Unbidden, Lin Chu noticed her own hands quivering, trembling like fragile leaves in the wind.
Behind her sanctuary of stone, she stood in silent vigil, allowing the biting chill of the night air to seep into her very bones. It was only after the group of workers hadpleted their solemn task and departed that she ventured forward, her descent marked by a deliberate slowness.
Her mind, which had moments ago felt as frozen as the grave itself, began to stir into action.
They had justmitted a burial.
ording to tradition, before the final interment, a bodyy in repose for a period, awaiting an auspicious day for its eternal rest. If two souls had recently departed from the mortal coil, there was no taboo in their simultaneous burial. Moreover, the deceased from the previous day had undergone a curious transformation, necessitating an immediate interment.
So, it stood to reason that thistest arrival... also had "it"?
Lin Chu''s eyes seemed to pierce theyers of earth that entombed the casket, revealing the glimmer of a jade pendant nestled within.
Lu Yan had taken the Pisces jade pendant; its return to the vige remained uncertain. Yet, one certainty lingered: that pendant had saved her life. Devoid of it, she might have met her demise right then and there.
If she dared to delve into the grave''s depths once more, she required more jade pendants or something akin in potency.
Lin Chu''s eyes grazed the tombstone once again, unwittingly tracing a line of graves behind Old Lady Li. A flood of memories, Yu Xian Guang at its core, surged within her. Suppressing her emotions, she pulled her hoodie''s hood over her head and embarked on a slow return.
The clock''s hands still pointed two hours shy of six in the evening.
In keeping with his word, Lu Yan stood at the vige''s entrance. Lin Xue Yuan and An Xing Yu, too, awaited her arrival. Meanwhile, the other pair of men had left to eat. When Lin Chu strolled back into view, disbelief flickered across Lin Xue Yuan''s face. She made to rush forward but was restrained by An Xing Yu, his countenance grave, head shaking in stern caution.
The reason was quite in: Li Li had appeared at the vige''s threshold.
She bore the pungent aroma of blood, yet her expression seemed anything but content; rather, it wore an even darker shroud of gloom. Lin Xue Yuan swiftly averted her gaze, surmising that Li Li''s recent hunt had met with failure.
The red hues of the young girl''s dress appeared even more vivid, their intensity suggesting that crimson liquid might drip forth at any instant. Her gaze, fixated upon Lin Chu, brimmed with unabashed malice.
"You,e here and catch some fish for me," Li Limanded.
Her tone held a facade of satisfaction, but beneath that veneer, a far-from-friendly demeanor lurked.
Lin Chu had, by now, discerned the unspoken rules of this ce. So long as she abided by the vige''s dictates and eded to Li Li''s requests, her life retained a precarious lease. Sensing Li Li''s evident discontent and her intent to toy with her, Lin Chu refrained from inquiring about Yu Xian Guang''s fate. She exchanged a nod with Lu Yan and proceeded toward Li Li.
"Y''all,e over here," Li Li beckoned, her finger pointing ahead. "And get those other two folks too."
Lu Yan and An Xing Yu exchanged a nce. Before they could respond, Li Li''s impatience got worse and she urged on. Lin Xue Yuan hastily dialed them, instructing them to meet at the reservoir without dy.
Together, they ventured toward the reservoir.
Li Li''s mood appeared to brighten with every step, and she hummed an eerie tune, her twin pigtails swaying with the rhythm.
If you paid close attention to the song, its lyrics sent shivers down your spine.
"Daddy''s ''bout to die, so let sister take his ce..."
"Sister cries every day, crying ''cause she''s too cold..."
The chilling words made Lin Chu shudder. A wave of coldness swept over her, prompting her to retreat a couple of steps, letting the childlike melody fade away from her ears. Lu Yan, having also caught the unsettling lyrics, couldn''t help but recall Li Li''s mention of her "aunt."
Could this song be connected to Zhang Hui Xuan and her sister?
Lin Chu wasn''t certain, and she remained clueless about what Li Li meant by "fishing for fish." Nevertheless, she followed Li Li. As they reached a decrepit bridge, a pungent, offensive odor assailed her senses.
However, since her threepanions showed no sign of distress, Lin Chu stifled her questions and continued across the deteriorating bridge with Li Li leading the way.
She peered downward and finally identified the source of the putrid stench. She had to endure it, summoning all her strength to avoid retching.
"Quick, fish for me. Remember, it must be two fish, or you''ll be the one down there bing my catch."
Lin Chu released a slow breath, and in that moment, the meaning of "fishing for fish" became clear.
Li Li hadn''t called the others for help. She sat by the bridge, her chin propped up, eyes gleaming with interest as she watched the eerie scene unfold. The others, perplexed, found themselves with no choice but to join her, drawn by the strange allure of the spectacle.
Unperturbed, Lin Chu mirrored Li Li''s posture, squatting down beside her and reaching for the nearby bait bucket. Inside, an eerie collectiony: two eyeballs and ten fingers, all grotesquely swollen from their prolonged soak.
Though Lin Chu couldn''t conceal her initial revulsion, she resolutely set it aside and began threading the gruesome bait onto the hook.
As the sharp implement pierced through the bloated finger, Li Li''sughter grew more macabre. She pped her hands eagerly, her voice urging Lin Chu, "Quickly! Lucky''s hungry."
With a flick of her fishing rod, the hook plunged beneath the murky surface.
Instantly, the cid waters convulsed. One by one, pallid, bloated corpses emerged, akin to a school of ravenous fish swarming fresh prey, frenzied and releasing an even more noxious odor into the air.
The float bobbed violently, the fishing line snapping taut.
Lin Chu had something on the line!
Without dy, she began to reel it in, exerting a powerful upward pull.
Her experience fishing alongside Yu Xian Guang proved invaluable. Confronting the macabre "fish" before her, she knew that conventional methods would be futile, leading to nothing but exhaustion.
Bearing down with unwavering determination, Lin Chu held her breath, using the bridge''s railing as a point of leverage. With each turn of the reel, she drew the line closer, inch by suspenseful inch.
Soon, the identity of her catch became apparent.
Separated by the railing, a familiar pair of eyes stared back.
Lin Chu stood frozen in her tracks, a chill racing down her spine. She blinked, not trusting her own eyes, and in that brief flutter of her eyelids, two tears welled up, betraying the turmoil within her.
For a fleeting moment, a surge of anger coursed through Lin Chu, an urge to wield her fishing rod as a deadly weapon, to rid the world of Li Li. She yearned to extinguish this girl, to cast her into the dark depths of the water. Yet, a voice named "reason" tightly restrained her impulses. Cursed self-control, it only tightened its grip as her tears fell.
The sound of shattering water reverberated, and a grotesque corpse was yanked from the depths, crashing onto the bridge with a resounding thud before lying motionless.
Li Li, atst, beheld the macabre spectacle she had so eagerly awaited and hopped off the railing, pping her hands in unrestrained delight. "Finally, one''s caught! You''re incredible!"
She tilted her head, an almost dainty appearance marred only by the presence of those menacing fangs.
Lin Chu gritted her teeth, maintaining her silence.
The others, too, recognized the wretched identity of the corpse. Lin Xue Yuan turned away, unable to bear the sight, only to be met with Li Li''s ominous deration.
"Turn around! Look closely!" With that, she bellowed, "Lucky! Lucky,e out, quickly!"
A foul, putrid gust of wind swept through, and a monstrous hound, part bone, part flesh, darted forth from the forest, halting before Li Li.
"Feast, swiftly," Li Li cooed, her hand reaching out to caress Lucky''s head, tilting her chin.
"You..." Lin Chu''s nails bore into her palm, a searing pain slicing through her.
Just as Lin Chu summoned the will to speak, Li Liughed and inquired, "What do you want to say?"
Lucky wagged his tail and set out to devour his meal.
Chapter 70 Pisces jade pendant
Chapter 70 Pisces jade pendant
Lin Chu stood off to the side, her face an enigmatic mask. Despite her reluctance to witness the scene, it felt as if some unseen forcepelled her to lower her gaze. Her eyes remained wide open, each moment etching Lucky''s voracious consumption of that "fish" deeper into her memory.
Li Li''sughter danced with macabre glee; her eyes squinted in mirth. "One more to go, quick!"
Lin Chu''s response was a subdued hum. By now, her countenance had shifted, bing inscrutable, and a faint smile even graced her lips, dimples appearing on her cheeks. Although subtle, a hint of redness could be detected in her eye sockets for those who paid attention...
Quickly, Lin Chu made her way back to the bridge, executing the same routine as before. It was at this precise moment that An Xing Yu snapped out of his stupor, realizing something utterly astonishing.
Before, it took thebined effort of three men to hoist the "fish" up, yet Lin Chu managed to reel it in single-handedly.
The second "fish" appeared rtively ordinary, hoisted onto the shore with deceptive ease. Lucky let out a guttural roar, and without a word from Li Li, he lunged at it, his teeth conspicuously sharp. With a single, savage bite, he severed flesh, bone, and sinew alike. The resulting grinding and crunching sounds set one''s teeth on edge.
"That''s enough, let''s head back." Li Li''smanding tone sliced through the macabre atmosphere.
Leading the way, Lin Chu strode forward, herpanions exchanging bewildered nces before hurriedly following suit.
Their experiences had been few, and fragments of their humanity still clung to them. Lin Xue Yuan quickened her pace to catch up with Lin Chu, her desire to console conflicted with her uncertainty about how to begin. Tentatively, her fingertips grazed Lin Chu''s shoulder, and when Lin Chu didn''t shrug her off, she pulled her into a tight embrace.
Words eluded her, and all she managed were two heartfelt sybles: "Stay strong."
Lin Chu smiled gently, raised her hand to remove her hood, and turned to face her.
Previously, she had kept her hood firmly in ce, her head bowed and her back to the others, concealing her features from prying eyes.
Her abrupt movement startled Lin Xue Yuan, sending a shiver down her spine. "What''s, what''s wrong with you?"
Lin Chu''s tone remained light as she disclosed, "I''ve been cursed."
In a short span of time, her determination to uncover the vige''s mysteries had intensified, surpassing her initial quest for knowledge to a desire to dismantle the vige''s guardian spirit.
Once Lin Xue Yuan confirmed that Lin Chu was in her right mind, a sense of trepidation overcame her as she scrutinized her friend''s visage. Yu Huan and Xie Zi Qing mirrored her unease, surreptitiously examining their own arms before casting furtive nces at Lin Chu.
Why did her transformation bear such eerie resemnce to the vigers''?
If Lin Chu''s affliction was indeed the result of a curse, could it be that the vigers...
Lu Yan extended a face mask to her. "Put this on. Just say you sustained a facial injury."
He had returned early and had specially scoured the vige to find it. Lin Chu epted it with gratitude and donned the mask, revealing only eyes that now bore a subtle difference. Her pupils had transformed into thin slits in the sunlight, glistening with a metallic sheen.
As they made their way back to their lodging, tendrils of smoke gently spiraled from the chimneys of every home, creating an eerie yetforting atmosphere. With Lin Chu now a part of their group, they decided to take charge of their own meal and graciously declined invitations from others. Their efforts yielded a bountiful harvest from the lush vegetable gardens tended by various aunts and uncles.
Lu Yan, naturally cautious, found it hard to trust outsiders. He took the lead in assisting Lin Xue Yuan in the kitchen, while Yu Huan and Xie Zi Qing took charge of the cleaning duties outside. Soon, An Xing Yu joined them in the kitchen, recing Lin Xue Yuan''s position.
"Brother Lu, can you share what you saw in that forbidden area?" An Xing Yu asked, his voice hidden beneath the sshing water as he scrubbed potatoes.
Despite having ventured into the same territory, all An Xing Yu hade across were rows of graves seemingly scattered across the hillside. An Xing Yu had a hunch that Lu Yan possessed more knowledge than he was letting on. He pressed further, "I can offer something in return."
Lu Yan, seemingly disinterested, inquired, "Such as?"
"How about the legend of the vige''s Guardian Deities?" An Xing Yu suggested.
This piqued Lu Yan''s interest. "Where did youe across that?"
An Xing Yu nced around warily before whispering, "I stumbled upon a painting in the vige chief''s residence."
During their lunch at the vige chief''s house, An Xing Yu had cleverly asked Yu Huan and Xie Zi Qing to draw the chief''s attention elsewhere. Under the pretext of needing to use the restroom, he had stealthily explored the other rooms in the chief''s house.
The painting hung in the chief''s room, depicting majestic mountains and five ethereal beings soaring among the clouds.
While no art expert, An Xing Yu sensed that it didn''t quite fit the room''s overall decor. Initially, he hadn''t paid it much heed, butter, he had faintly detected something amiss in the painting.
"I managed to snap a photo of it; take a look." An Xing Yu wiped his hands clean and handed over his phone, deftly taking charge of the cooking as if both of them were engrossed in the task.
Lu Yan carefully zoomed in on the photo, and as he scrutinized it, his eyes widened.
"Do you see it now?" An Xing Yu''s expression grew solemn. "We need to take action before the Ancestral Ceremony. If we don''t, when that day arrives, we''ll all meet our doom."
Lu Yan returned the phone to him. "I understand."
The 18th day of the twelfth lunar month had arrived, leaving them with a mere thirteen days until the fateful Ancestral Ceremony on New Year''s Day.
After theirmunal supper, Lu Yan had moved from Zhang Bo''s residence, and the six of them now upied neighboring houses, keeping a watchful eye on each other.
The vige boasted several abandoned houses. Following the passing of Old Lady Li, the vigers had cleared her belongings and incinerated her clothing and possessions, erasing any trace of her existence from the world.
Lin Chu''s dwelling sat adjacent to Old Lady Li''s, and he couldn''t help but hear a neighboring elderly woman''s mournful sighs.
Lu Yan remained baffled about Luo Ying''s elusive hiding ce, but his suspicion pointed toward her concealing herself within the vige. He had developed a newfound respect for Luo Ying''s capabilities; escaping Li Li''s clutches could only be attributed to the deity''s protection. This curiosity about the mysterious "deity" continued to gnaw at him.
Much like Luo Ying''s enigmatic disappearance, Li Li had recently evaporated without a trace. Whenever Lu Yan scouted the terrain, he frequently crossed paths with Lucky, who seemed to have been dispatched by Li Li to safeguard the vige. Initially, Lucky''s presence sent shivers down the vigers'' spines, but over time, they grewfortable greeting the creature without hesitation.
Yet, peculiar urrences within the vige multiplied relentlessly. Whether vigers traversed the roads, dined, ory in their beds, a constant specter of danger loomed over their lives. Consequently, the number of somber funeral gatherings in the vige soared. A leisurely stroll through the vige now revealed an abundance of white, and the tally of lives lost defied quantification.
Rumors hinted that, as the year''s end drew near, something from the back mountain was stirring up chaos. However, the vigers zealously guarded the secrets of the back mountain and refused to broach the subject. Lin Xue Yuan and the others were just beginning to sense that a sinister undercurrent coursed through the vigers.
Despite the mounting death toll, they continued to hold funerals and went about their lives as though nothing unusual was transpiring, with no whispers of relocation.
Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Yu Huan confronted the vige chief, who had arrived to offer condolences after yet another mysterious child''s death on the basketball court. "With all these strange incidents guing the vige, have you ever considered relocating?"
For a moment, the vige chief''s countenance darkened, as if a surge of anger threatened to burst forth, but he reined it in. Instead, he let out a profound sigh and replied, "It''s futile. This is our fate."
After uttering these words, he seemed to age significantly, his cloudy eyes sinking into the depths of sorrow.
Yu Huan had yearned for an exnation, but in reality, did he truly expect the vige chief to agree to relocation? He hungered for answers!
An Xing Yu, who had briefly excused himself to use the restroom, returned and subtly signaled "OK" with a nod of his head, prompting Yu Huan to fall silent.
*
*
While most of the vigers extended their condolences, Zhang Hui Xuan sat at home, eagerly awaiting lunch from mom. His frailty was painfully evident, as he would be breathless after just a few steps. Despite his parents'' tireless efforts to care for him, his condition showed no sign of improvement. The persistent illness had made him perpetually irritable.
A crimson figure suddenly streaked past the doorway, and Zhang Hui Xuan couldn''t shake the feeling that it was Li Li returning. Noticing that the child hadn''t even greeted him upon her return, he surmised that Li Li was probably still preupied with thoughts of her "auntie," a notion that tugged at his heartstrings.
"Li Li? Li Li?" After a brief pause, he remained seated, yet the disquiet within him refused to abate. He resolved to stand and make his way to the courtyard.
Nevertheless, the elusive figure of the young girl still eluded him. The bustling noises from the kitchen had now hushed, leaving only the crackling of firewood. After a moment''s reflection, Zhang Hui Xuan recognized that the stir-frying sounds had ceased some time ago.
"Mom? Is Li Li with you?" Without much contemtion, Zhang Hui Xuan leaned against the doorframe and opened the kitchen door.
In the next instant, he stood motionless, gripped by an intense surge of dread, coursing from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
An eternity seemed to pass before fragmented pleas for help finally escaped his throat. Yet, in his extreme terror, these pleas failed to coalesce into coherent sentences.
Within the pot, mom''s head had been simmering until it disintegrated, yet her grotesque lips still smiled at him. Nearby, a piece of human skin hung, bright red and swaying gently in the breeze, tainted with blood.
So, the crimson specter he had glimpsed earlier was this abomination...
Trembling, Zhang Hui Xuan turned to flee, but suddenly, the wind outside the courtyard intensified, and the kitchen door mmed shut with a resounding "bang."
"No! Help..."
After an agonizing time passed, a gust of wind pushed the kitchen door open again, and the wooden door swayed gently. However, there was nothing insideabsolutely nothing.
*
*
Each Lunar New Year, the vige confronted its ominous trial. Malevolent spirits ran rampant, and an eerie aura hung in the air. Those tasked with the missionprehended this all too well.
"If this persists, it''s only a matter of time before it happens to us," Lin Xue Yuan expressed with unease.
That morning, she had ventured to the stream with a girl she had coincidentally encountered while fetching water. She watched in terror as the girl slipped and tumbled into the shallow stream, scarcely half a meter deep.
Lin Xue Yuan anticipated the girl would rise on her own, but regardless of her efforts, the girl remained prone. She attempted to pull her to safety, yet her endeavors proved futile. Her cries for assistance fell on deaf ears; the vigers strolled by as though oblivious, and Lin Xue Yuan could not maintain her grip.
Ultimately, she could do naught but watch the girl sumb to the water''s embrace, her ebony hair drifting with the current.
Later that evening, the vigers exhibited an unexpectedly fervent disposition toward arranging the funeral, a stark contrast that sent shivers coursing through her core.
"Li Li hasn''t been seen in the vige for some time; I wonder where she''s gone," Yu Huan mused. Although Li Li''s actions toward Lin Chu had sent shudders down their spines that day, she currently offered a modicum of sce.
Upon hearing Li Li''s name, Lin Chu disyed no discernible reaction, but Lin Xue Yuan harbored concerns. She dreaded that Lin Chu might resort to drastic measures.
An Xing Yu was still engrossed in his phone, and they had no idea what he was searching for or what was so interesting. After a while, he stood up. "I''m going to find someone; you can do as you please."
It was evident he intended to seek out Lu Yan, and Lin Chu decided to apany him. "I''lle along with you."
The departure of the team''s two most brilliant minds had sent a chilling ripple, causing others to instinctively shy away from remaining behind. Nowhere felt safe anymore, with the eerie presence lurking in the depths of the mountain, indiscriminately iming lives. Staying together had be a matter of survival.
But what gnawed at An Xing Yu was the absence of Lu Yan, coupled with the unanswered calls to his phone. Had something dreadful happened to him? An Xing Yu had banked on Lu Yan to lead the way to Luo Ying, and anxiety coiled around him. If Lu Yan was in peril, how would he ever reach out to Luo Ying?
*
*
Unbeknownst to him, Lu Yan was currently by Luo Ying''s side. They had a vige resident in their grasp and had ventured into the forbidden heart of the vige.
Their previous attempts to navigate this forbiddenbyrinth alone had been futile, with the dense forest swallowing them each time. Hence, they had no choice but topel a viger to guide them.
During this time, the vige had witnessed its share of peculiar incidents, making the disappearance of another viger appear rtively inconspicuous. As the trio approached the fringes of the forbidden zone, Luo Ying paused, her keen eyes scanning the surroundings in search of Old Lady Li''s burial site.
The Pisces jade pendant was of utmost significance.
Lu Yan, silencing the viger with a swift blow, inquired, "Could you finally shed some light on the significance of the Pisces jade pendant?"
Luo Ying, who had already discovered Old Lady Li''s grave amidst the recent surge in vige funerals, paused briefly at the question.
"Well, there''s no harm in sharing the information with you," she replied with a sly grin. "Considering your valiant efforts, the gods won''t hold it against me."
What followed left Lu Yan utterly astounded. In a world already teeming with bizarre urrences, this was something beyond the pale.
The origins of the Pisces jade pendant legend were steeped in enigma. Several years ago, archaeologists unearthing an ancient tomb in the northwest desert had stumbled upon the pendant in the burial chamber of an unknown upant.
Initially dismissed as a finely crafted piece of jade jewelry, it was something else that truly baffled the archaeologists. Theyout of the burial chamber was anything but ordinary; it boasted perfect symmetry, with two identical coffins resting within. The experts initially focused on identifying the tomb''s upant, setting the jade pendant aside temporarily.
An inexplicable event unfurled, casting a bewildering spell upon all who bore witness.
Among the schrs, one had positioned a small jar of seeds, acquired from the tomb chamber, right alongside the jade pendant. Upon their return to the research facility the following day, a gasp escaped their lips, for not one, but two jars of seeds now stood in ce, bearing identicalbels and resting adjacent to the jade pendant.
With suspicion gnawing at him, he affixed differentbels to both jars and embarked on a meticulous examination of the twin containers, yearning to unearth any distinction between them. But no matter how relentless his scrutiny, the two jars of seeds stubbornly refused to reveal any difference, as if they had sprung from an identical source.
This revtion sent shockwaves rippling through the research facility, spurring ceaseless efforts to decipher the sudden appearance of an extra jar of seeds. After countless experiments, they arrived at a perplexing conclusionthe Pisces jade pendant seemed to harbor the power of replication.
To validate this startling hypothesis, they embarked on an experiment involving a small white mouse. The captivated audience watched in astonishment as the jade pendant conjured an exact duplicate of the white mouse.
Intrigued, they conducted an experiment where one mouse was nourished while the other was deprived of sustenance. After three days, both mice remained vibrantly alive. The next test involved introducing poison to the original mouse. Tragically, the original mouse sumbed to the lethal venom, while the replicated mouse thrived.
However, approximately seven hourster, the replicated mouse met its demise, falling victim to the same venomous fate. A subsequent examination confirmed the cause of deathpoison injected into its tiny body.
The conclusion emerged like a thunderbolt the Pisces Jade Pendant''s powery not in replication, but in its ability to draw something from another temporal dimension into the current one.
This revtion sent shockwaves through the scientificmunity, leaving them in a state of profound astonishment.
Ifboratory mice could "replicate," what might this imply for humans?
While the tomb chamber could be "replicated," the full extent of its potential ramifications remained shrouded in uncertainty.
As Luo Ying concluded her narration, she couldn''t help but chuckle. "The forebears of these vigers were a group of tomb raiders who piged burial sites extensively and eventually incurred the wrath of the tomb''s rightful owner. They were tasked with guarding the tomb for generations, as their lives depended on it. However, their understanding was limited, as they perceived the Pisces Jade Pendant merely as a talisman for warding off malevolent spirits. Consequently, they ignorantly ced it within the mouth of a mutated corpse."
Burying that corpse alongside the pendant had unquestionably sealed their fate. In roughly ten days, the entire forbidden zone could very well be overrun by elderly women, their faces resembling feline features from some eerie nightmare.
Lu Yan felt only a dryness creeping into his throat. "Are you suggesting that this jade pendant possesses the ability to summon objects from the future into the present?"
Could this potential, when applied to a person, equate to a resurrection?
Wasn''t this precisely what the All-Knowing Deity was renowned for?
So, was this the reason it coveted the Pisces Jade Pendant?
What could possibly link the pendant and the deity?
Despite his heart hammering against his ribs, threatening to escape, he was adept at concealing his true emotions. His face remainedposed. In response, Luo Ying shot him a quick nce before confirming, "Indeed, that''s why we must recover the pendant."
She sighed, "A treasure with such astonishing wonders must undoubtedly be presented to our deity."
Lu Yan offered no objections and proceeded to assist. In time, Old Lady Li''s grave was almostpletely unearthed, revealing a mud-caked coffin.
This time, they proceeded with greater caution. To forestall any potential revenants, they ced the entire coffin upside-down, with the head at the bottom and the feet at the top. It was not difficult to imagine that the upant insidey in a simr manner, immobilized.
"Now, what''s our next move?"
Luo Ying deliberately lured a rats to Old Lady Li, turning her into a revenant. Rushing to seize the jade pendant as they had done previously might lead to a simr catastrophe.
A touch of anxiety glimmered in Luo Ying''s eyes as she clenched her teeth and dered, "This time, let''s act swiftly. Cover the coffin immediately, then bury it with haste. Nothing can afford to go wrong." She scanned their surroundings and added, "This forbidden ce shouldn''t present any issues."
As they conversed, most of the soil covering the coffin had already been carefully cleared, revealing its solemn, imposing exterior.
With Luo Ying supporting the upper section and Lu Yan diligently excavating, they gradually unveiled the coffin. Thankfully, the soil in this prohibited area was soft, making the excavation rtively straightforward; otherwise, they would have required considerably more time.
The coffin''s lid held firm, secured by thick nails. With practiced precision, Luo Ying set to work, employing her specialized tools to unlock it.
One by one, she meticulously removed the nails, all the while exining, "Right now, this jade pendant seems to have a temporary suppressive effect, likely due to its long association with Li Li. But that is not its inherent power."
As her exnation concluded, thest nail yielded to her efforts.
A moment of hesitation passed before Luo Ying suggested, "Shall we open it together?"
In the burial pit, they began from the top, gradually pushing the lid aside. When they seeded in creating a small fissure, a potent, noxious odor rushed out. Both stepped back, and once the acrid fumes had somewhat dissipated, they cautiously resumed their efforts.
With caution, they exposed only a part of the coffin, revealing the swollen, pallid face of Old Lady Li. Several days of interment had already begun the gruesome work of decay.
This time, Luo Ying didn''t need to say anything. Lu Yan instinctively donned gloves, reached in with care, and swiftly retrieved the jade pendant from the lifeless mouth.
Simultaneously, Luo Ying promptly shut the coffin lid!
Fortunately, this time their actions proceeded without incident. But shortly thereafter, they heard sounds emanating from within the coffin. Without dy, Luo Ying began reinserting the nails one by one, refusing to hand over the tools to Lu Yan, who would have taken over. She worked fervently to secure the coffin. To their relief, themotion within remained rtively subdued, allowing them to restore the nails almost to their original positions.
"Next, we must set the coffin upright and reinter it," Lu Yan suggested, wiping the jade pendant clean and cing it securely in his own pocket.
Having witnessed the pendant''s effectiveness, he had no intention of letting it go.
Exerting himself, Lu Yan tried to lift the coffin from the rear. Together, they gradually returned it to an upright position before promptly covering it with soil.
Throughout this process, the sounds emanating from within the coffin steadily diminished.
While engaged in the burial task, Lu Yan''s thoughts wandered to a different matter.
Whose tomb did they rob?
He voiced this question and received a shake of the head from Luo Ying. "This is beyond my knowledge."
Her gaze drifted up to the hilltop encircled byyers of tombstones, her eyes remaining tranquil and unruffled, void of curiosity.
"Our sole mission is to obtain the Pisces Jade Pendant. As for exploring this tomb, there will be others assigned to do so." Her words were meant to deter Lu Yan from dwelling on this matter.
Lu Yan concurred.
"Very well, now hand me the jade pendant. I need to return it," Luo Ying stated, but in reality, she had an ulterior motive, one she didn''t wish to disclose to Lu Yan.
However, Lu Yan showed no inclination to surrender the pendant. "There''s no rush. We can remain in the vige until the ancestral ceremony and then depart. Don''t you want to discover what they sacrifice during the ancestral ceremony? Besides, the task you initially entrusted me with was not solely about retrieving the jade pendant."
Luo Ying''s displeasure became evident. "Are you defying the will of the gods?"
Lu Yan lightly shook his head, his tone casual as he replied, "No, no, no. Why would you think that? Ultimately, am I defying the will of the gods or your will?"
"You!" Luo Ying sensed a subtle defiance in the other person, causing her to clench her teeth.
She hadn''t anticipated that this typically timid andpliant individual would also defy her orders. ording to her original n, after securing the jade pendant, she intended to immediately contact her fellow cult members waiting outside the vige, leaving Lu Yan to contend with Li Li''s anger.
But now, the jade pendant resided in his possession.
Chapter 71 A change in the village
Chapter 71 A change in the vige
Ignoring the sudden chill in Luo Ying''s expression, Lu Yan surreptitiously clutched the jade pendant nestled in his pocket.
"I''ve got no intentions of betraying the sect," he said with a reassuring smile. "But I must take part in the ancestor worship ceremony. Can I return it to you once that''s done? Would that work for you?"
Lu Yan couldn''t quite fathom why Luo Ying was so eager to send him away, but he had a hunch it wasn''t for benevolent reasons.
With nopelling counterarguments at her disposal, Luo Ying found herself inwardly berating her early decision to entrust him with the pendant and reveal its capabilities. Unaware of the subtle hypnosis at y, she med her own carelessness. Though she didn''t ce full trust in Lu Yan, a peculiar mix of trust and a glimmer of hopepelled her to believe his words now that a hint of salvation had emerged.
"Are you absolutely sure about this? You''ll give it back after the ancestor worship ceremony?" Luo Ying hesitated.
Sensing the potency of his psychological suggestion, Lu Yan nodded, his expression tinged with unease. "Honestly, I''d rather not do this, but... I have this ominous feeling that the ancestor worship holds extraordinary danger." He let out a soft sigh. "I don''t want to meet my end. I swear, once the ancestor worship is over, I''ll promptly return the jade pendant to you. If not, may I be cursed to never reach the realm of the gods and never hear the gods'' gospel after my demise," Lu Yan intensified his vow.
This solemnmitment eventually put Luo Ying at ease. She made him reiterate the oath before releasing him.
Lu Yan retraced his steps.
Now, he had to face Li Li.
Li Li might have been absent from the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals for some time, but the possibility of a chance encounter lingered like a ghostly whisper in the wind.
But that was alright. Ever since she had killed Yu Xian Guang, she had made herself an enemy.
He reached out to Lin Chu. "...It''s me. Can you step out for a moment?"
*
*
An Xing Yu and hispanions had scoured the area, looking for any trace of Lu Yan, but hade up empty-handed. In their pursuit, Lin Chu had taken a nasty fall, injuring her ankle and prompting her to return for some rest. Yu Huan and Xie Zi Qing had escorted her back, while An Xing Yu and Lin Xue Yuan intended to venture at the back of the vige to delve deeper into the mysteries that surrounded it.
An Xing Yu was determined to uncover the secrets linking the vige reservoir to the multitude of corpses it concealed. Were all these souls victims of Li Li?
Considering how frequently Li Li''s dog "Lucky" indulged in its gruesome feasts, how many lives had she extinguished to amass such a macabre body count in the river? Who were these unfortunate souls when they were still alive?
Beneath the surface of An Xing Yu''s curiosity, there was a deep-seated desire to confirm whether any of his own faithrades had fallen prey to Li Li.
"May the gods shower their blessings upon you, and may the realm of the divine be free of suffering," An Xing Yu whispered to himself as he and Lin Xue Yuan traced the reservoir''s edge, following the downstream flow.
Their progress soon hit a snag. A thick thicket obstructed their path after just a few hundred meters. Attempts to circumvent it only led them further astray.
"What if we turn back?" Lin Xue Yuan suggested, her voice tinged with uncertainty. "Can''t we simply stay in the vige and wait for the day of ancestral worship? Yes, the vige might be fraught with danger, but we aren''t in immediate peril, are we?"
While ominous happenings hung in the air, as long as they remained cautious, refrained from reckless actions, and avoided the vige''s forbidden zones, their safety appeared rtively assured. Up to this point, only one task-taker, Yu Xian Guang, had met his demise, and the circumstances of his sh with Li Li remained shrouded in mystery. Despite her guilt over Lin Chu, Lin Xue Yuan felt a measure of gratitude toward Li Li. Without her vignt protection of the vige, she might have not survived thus far.
An Xing Yu shook his head and pressed onward.
To his surprise, this ce seemed entirely deserted and remote. Yet, every few hundred meters, they passed humble dwellings reminiscent of those back in the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals. An Xing Yu followed the path winding past these structures.
He had never believed this mission would be as straightforward as it initially seemed. The current peace and quiet felt like a mirage. His instincts warned him that unless they found a solution before the ancestor worship ceremony, not one of them would make it through this task.
No exceptions.
In Lin Xue Yuan''s eyes, defying the big shot''s intentions was out of the question. She silently trailed An Xing Yu as they ventured deeper into the dense forest. The surroundings grew darker and colder. The sparse winter bird songs fell silent, and a damp chill settled in, sending shivers down Lin Xue Yuan''s spine.
The path they followed eventually reached a dead end.
Then, suddenly, An Xing Yu looked up and spotted a distant mountain.
Describing the mountain''s eerie visage proved to be an enigma for An Xing Yu. Even as he craned his neck to look up from the mountain''s base, its summit remained shrouded in mystery. The mountain stood like a colossal void, its surface adorned with jagged, obsidian rocks that stood in stark contrast to the verdant woods that surrounded it. On this biting winter day, an eerie chill hung in the air, casting an ominous shadow over thendscape.
Yet, moments ago, this mountain had been absent from their view!
An Xing Yu''s instincts tingled with unease. He cautiously took a step closer to the mountain''s precipice, but the moment his foot touched the ground, an overwhelming, bone-chilling sensation washed over him, apanied by an undeniable sense of dread.
Another step forward promised only certain death.
Realization dawned, and he quickly retreated two paces.
Turning to Lin Xue Yuan, who quivered with the same disconcerting sensations, An Xing Yu drew near, seeking sce in her warmth. He inquired, "What''s happening?"
Lin Xue Yuan''s breath came in quick, shallow gasps as she whispered, "I wanted to take a photo, but... the camera won''t capture anything!"
"How is that even possible?" An Xing Yu eximed, his skepticism etching lines of doubt on his face. He took a step back, fetched his phone, and fired up the camera function. However, the screen presented a stark contrast to what his eyes beheld. It revealed nothing but a nk, white void, devoid of any discernible subject.
With a furrowed brow, he pressed the shutter button, reviewed the photo, and it remained a nk, utterly useless frame.
"Shouldn''t we get going? This ce feels exceedingly strange," Lin Xue Yuan implored, her voice carrying an unexinable unease. She couldn''t shake the feeling that something profoundly dreadful would unfold if they ventured closer to that looming mountain.
Unseen from a distance, untouched, unphotographable... Could this be the fabled ''back mountain'' the vigers spoke of?
Hidden within that remote, mountainous enve, An Xing Yu couldn''t fathom whaty in wait. An overwhelming unease gripped him, twisting into physical difort, dizziness, and a relentless surge of restlessness that teetered on the edge of a scream. The urge to plunge forward and unveil the truth wed at him, irresistible.
With a heaving chest, An Xing Yu suppressed the impulse and turned abruptly. "Let''s get out of here."
Lin Xue Yuan remained silent, putting a few strides between them. What remained unspoken was that the grotesque expression An Xing Yu had worn moments ago resembled that of a demon.
Unbeknownst to her, her own countenance bore a simrly pallid and sinister aspect, reflecting a demon''s image.
As they departed, a young girl in a crimson gown and long hair slowly emerged from the mountainside. Her once innocent and fair face now twisted grotesquely, her eyes a solid, ebony abyss devoid of any whites. She fixed an intense gaze upon the retreating figures, her face etched with bitter resentment.
After a while, the young girl vanished from sight.
It was only when they basked in the warmth of the sunlight that Lin Xue Yuan felt a resurgence of vitality. An Xing Yu had forged ahead a few paces, and their earlier rush nearly sent her stumbling as her shoces snagged on a small bush.
Crouching down, she ensured her shoces were securely fastened this time to prevent any mishaps. Rising to her feet, she casually remarked, "Thanks for waiting; I had to tie my shoces," without lifting her gaze as she epted his hand to stand.
But as she straightened up, an unsettling discovery shook her to the core: An Xing Yu, who had stood directly in front of her, had inexplicably vanished!
In an instant, Lin Xue Yuan felt as though she had plunged into an icy abyss, her heart hammering madly. It was inconceivable.
She had been doing nothing more than tying her shoces, and An Xing Yu was not one to abandon arade. Where on earth could he have disappeared to?
"An Xing Yu?" Lin Xue Yuan froze in her tracks, terror gripping her throat, rendering her nearly voiceless. She whispered, "Where are you? Please, don''t startle me... Reveal yourself!" Tears threatened as she grappled with the overwhelming fear closing in. With quivering steps, she pressed on.
"An Xing Yu? An Xing Yu?"
With a quickening pace, the path ahead seemed less menacing. Lin Xue Yuan rushed toward the exit, her strides gaining momentum. Atst, a familiar figure materialized in the distance, and relief flooded her. She hurried forward.
"An Xing Yu! You scared me! Why were you walking so fast?"
Seeing herpanion, the pent-up tension in her chest began to dissipate. Lin Xue Yuan slowed her pace and approached cautiously. It was then she noticed a stinging sensation in her lower legs, likely the result of grazing them during her earlier sprint.
But it all felt like a small price for surviving the ordeal.
Hold on a moment!
Suddenly, Lin Xue Yuan recollected something.
If An Xing Yu had been the one leading all along, then who had helped her stand up?
This unsettling thought sent a fresh shiver racing down Lin Xue Yuan''s spine. She nced at An Xing Yu up ahead, trying to dispel the eerie notion from her mind. Quickening her pace, she reached out to tap his shoulder. "Could you please wait for me?"
An Xing Yu halted and turned to face her.
His visage appeared as if it had been stripped of its flesh, revealing twisted, crimson muscles underneath. His eyes, or whatever remained of them, held a glint of malevolence and icy coldness. In that pivotal moment of his turn, those eyes, brimming with bitterness, locked onto her with an unwavering, piercing intensity.
It''s a ghost!
Lin Xue Yuan suddenly became aware that what she touched was chillingly icy.
"Ah, ah, ah"
The wailing abruptly ceased.
...
An Xing Yu and Lin Xue Yuan sprinted through the woods until they reached its edge. There, they slowed their pace.
At this very moment, a deep sense of unease washed over him as he observed Lin Xue Yuan''s peculiar demeanor. It was as if she had surrendered her soul, her vacant gaze drifting, and her movements akin to that of a lifeless husk. An Xing Yu called out to her repeatedly, but her eyes remained devoid of life, offering no response.
What was happening to her?
An Xing Yu extended his hand to check her breathing, finding faint signs of life. Yet, as he watched her eyes gradually whiten, it became apparent that she was in grave danger. Without intervention, her life hung by a thread.
Anxiety surged through An Xing Yu, but he felt powerless. Gritting his teeth, he hoisted her onto his back and raced toward the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, with hope in his heart that Li Li could offer assistance.
This impulsive decision had been influenced by the frigid, eerie air that had seeped down from the nearby mountains. In any other circumstance, he would never have ventured into such peril. He''d heard tales of individuals carrying others on their backs who had turned into malevolent spirits during missions or in horror tales. The rational course of action would have been to leave her in the woods and flee, but he couldn''t bring himself to do that.
Leaving her alone in the forest meant inviting uncontroble paranormal urrences!
With Lin Xue Yuan on his back, he sprinted through the woods, determination trumping his waning stamina.
He ran relentlessly, the road ahead gradually drawing near, bathed in sunlight.
He put the woods behind him.
But at that exact moment, a tightening grip wrapped around his neck.
The sensation on his back grew colder, unlike anything a living being could cause.
It dawned on An Xing Yu that what he carried was strangely light, nothing like the weight of an adult woman.
Most task performers trained to sprint faster when pursued by ghosts and monsters, and Lin Xue Yuan was no exception. Her goal wasn''t weight loss, and even if she shed pounds, it couldn''t exin this unnatural lightness.
An Xing Yu drew a hushed breath, his heart racing as he fought to steady himself.
The weight on his back pressed down, those spectral arms refusing to let go. With painstaking care, he pried them away before inching towards the eerie reservoir.
"Lin Xue Yuan, are you feeling any better?" He refrained from disclosing his predicament, instead engaging in casual conversation.
The entity clinging to him stayed frigid, unyielding, and utterly silent.
Step by step, he edged closer to the riverbank. When he came within about a hundred meters of the decrepit bridge, a small red figure sprang onto the bridge.
It was Li Li!
An Xing Yu felt a surge of relief. Even from this distance, he could make out Li Li tossing something into the water.
It seemed to be... a person.
Li Li, catching An Xing Yu''s gaze, oddly greeted him with excited waves andughter.
The arms, which had clung tenaciously to An Xing Yu''s neck, now hung limply in front of his chest, swaying with An Xing Yu''s brisk strides.
Without a moment''s hesitation, An Xing Yu sprinted toward the riverbank. With a powerful motion, he flung the burden from his back into the river, creating a sizable, noxious ssh.
As he caught his breath, he looked up at Li Li and said, "Thank you."
Li Li giggled and gestured towards the river, inviting An Xing Yu to look.
Only then did An Xing Yu get a chance to observe what had been tossed into the water.
A strange creature, with long, spindly limbs and a nk expression, floated rhythmically in the river, its entire body a sickly pallor.
But what truly shocked An Xing Yu was whaty nearby.
Her death couldn''t have been too long ago, and her distorted face was all too familiar.
It was Lin Chu...
Just like the other lifeless bodies, her eyes had been cruelly gouged out, leaving behind hollow voids. Yet, the terror that had been etched on her face still lingered. Shey among a cluster of decaying, bloated corpses, and it wouldn''t be long before she became one of them.
An Xing Yu struggled to ept that Lin Chu had met such a gruesome fate. But the harsh reality yed out before him, leaving no room for denial.
How could this have happened?
Li Li''sughter rang out as she pped her hands. "Come here and catch some fish! Lucky''s hungry."
An Xing Yu couldn''t muster the will to resist hermand. He reluctantly obeyed, much as he had done before.
True to expectations, he reeled in Lin Chu''s lifeless body.
With Lucky eagerly devouring its gruesome meal, An Xing Yu hung his head, lost in thought. However, Li Li misunderstood his expression. Her once joyful face turned icy and severe. "Keep watching! This is what happens when rules are disobeyed!"
An Xing Yu snapped back to attention, his gaze locked on the grim scene. What had befallen Yu Huan and Xie Zi Qing, thepanions who had returned with Lin Chu? Lin Xue Yuan and Yu Xian Guang had met their end, leaving just the three of them.
And as for Lu Yan, where had he vanished to?
*
*
In the heart of the Heavenly Immortals Vige, inside Zhang Bo''s dwelling, an aura of pure white surrounded them, a clear sign that a funeral was underway.
Seated at the front, Zhang Bo let out mournful cries. In the funeral hall, two monochrome photographsy side by side, their faces bearing an unmistakable familial resemnce.
By Zhang Bo''s side, Lu Yan offered consoling words in hushed tones.
"They left this way... without waiting for me... How can I go on?" The middle-aged man was so overwhelmed by grief that he could hardly stand, his tears soaking most of the paper currency, causing it to smolder slowly when ced in the incense burner.
"Take all the time you need to grieve," Lu Yan reassured him, then proceeded to help with both the preparations inside and outside the funeral hall.
With the recent increase in funerals within the vige, the residents had grown ustomed to the solemn ceremonies. Some had even stopped cooking their own meals, choosing instead to share inmunal funeral feasts.
The vige chief had entrusted Lu Yan with the solemn duty of aiding the Zhang Bo''s residence, receiving and attending to the mourners.
As he stepped outside, his eyes were drawn to the twomemorative photographs in the funeral hall, and for a moment it seemed like they blinked at him. Then gazes of the people in the pictures seemed to shift, fixing on the middle-aged man who wept before the hall. He quickly left.
Zhang Bo''s grief was unrelenting, the sudden loss of his wife and son overnight having turned half of his hair gray. His anguish was palpable.
In the photographs, the faces of the two individuals began to stir, leaning outward.
Slowly but surely, two ethereal figures emerged from the pictures. They still wore the gentle smiles captured in the photographs, reaching out their hands toward Zhang Bo.
...
"Xiao Lu, I appreciate your dedication today," the vige chief, who had also arrived, said to Lu Yan. "Zhang Bo is overwhelmed by sorrow, and at times, he utters words he doesn''t mean. Please don''t take it to heart." Lately, the chief had been exceptionally busy, dashing about ceaselessly, and he looked quite fatigued.
Lu Yan responded with a gentle smile. "Of course, and besides, I owe a great deal to Zhang Bo''s family from when I first returned to the vige."
"Goodd," the vige chief patted his shoulder. "Leaving him alone in there is not advisable. Later, we should all enter and ensure that everything is in order. These recent days have been tumultuous, and we need to restore some semnce of order."
Outside, a gathering of people enjoyed a feast, engaging in animated conversation. As the dishes on each table were all eaten, a group of sturdy, middle-agedborers stood up, knocked on the door, and entered to assist with transporting the coffin.
The courtyard, once filled with grief, now seemed eerily deserted. Zhang Bo, who had been weeping on the tform just moments ago, was nowhere to be seen.
The braziery toppled over, its contents scattered into a mound of ashes, the ground bearing signs of a struggle.
Inside the memorial hall, the mourning portrait had undergone a sinister transformation. What was once a single somber image now portrayed a family of three in stark ck and white, each of them bearing unnerving, cheerful smiles.
Fear gripped the vigers, paralyzing them with dread. None among them dared to step inside.
This... was clearly haunted!
A moment passed, and then the smiles in the photos all seemed to converge on them.
"Ghosts!!"
The cry tore through the air, quickly echoed by others. The first person to shout took off running, setting off a frenzy of panic that infected everyone. Even those absorbed in ying the suona, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, abandoned their instruments and fled from Zhang''s residence.
Lu Yan was thest one out, hurrying outside. Along the way, he ran into Yu Huan and Xie Ziqing. They watched the bewildered vigers for a moment before swiftly joining the exodus.
In the vige''s history, supernatural incidents had usually been open secret kept hidden, the popce only well aware of the higher mortality rate within theirmunity. Li Li had always maintained control over such situations. Never before had malevolent spirits dared to manifest so boldly in broad daylight.
But where was Li Li now?!
An Xing Yu had been on his way back to the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals from the reservoir when he sensed an unusualmotion in the distance. As he drew closer, he saw vigers, a rare sight near the reservoir, hurrying in his direction.
Wasn''t it a well-known fact that vigers seldom ventured close to the reservoir?
An Xing Yu couldn''t help but feel perplexed. It didn''t take long for the group of vigers to approach, and the person leading them stopped and shouted from a distance, "Have you seen Li Li?"
An Xing Yu shook his head, concerned they might not notice his gesture, and called out loudly, "She''s gone!"
His statement rang true. After Lucky had finished its meal, Li Li had left. An Xing Yu remained clueless about her whereabouts.
"Oh no, who will protect us now?" one of the middle-aged women racing ahead copsed on the ground, tears streaming. "There''s a ghost in the vige... my second child met such a tragic end..."
"A guardian deity, my foot! We''ve pampered her withvish meals and drinks all this time, but when duty calls, she''s nowhere to be found!"
"Have we not treated her well enough?! Why won''t she show herself?"
"She doesn''t even acknowledge her own father and grandparents, how could she protect us? I propose we rece her with someone else. Isn''t Madam Li''s granddaughter, who''s away studying, avable? Let''s invite her back."
The recent string of bizarre events had already left the vigers unnerved. Today, it had ignited the simmering fear in their hearts. The older generation clung to their superstitions, and even the younger ones were now calling for a recement.
An Xing Yu hurried forward, catching wind of the vigers'' candid words and beginning to form a vague notion.
Could the guardian deity be reced?
So, how did Li Li end up bing the guardian?
Despite the numerous vigers, An Xing Yu managed to locate Yu Huan and Xie Zi Qing. Once the three of them convened, An Xing Yu spoke in hushed tones, delivering a detailed ount of Lin Chu and Lin Xue Yuan''s gruesome demise.
"So, it''s just the three of us now..." Fear etched across Yu Huan''s face.
An Xing Yu nodded solemnly. "Let''s not lose hope; we still have a chance. By the way, have either of you seen Lu Yan?"
Xie Zi Qing replied, "He''s back there. Didn''t you notice him earlier?"
An Xing Yu shook his head, choosing not to reveal his discovery of the sinister "back mountain." He intended to broach the subject with Lu Yan at a more opportune moment.
With Xie Ziqing''s confirmation, An Xing Yu broke away from the crowd and made his way toward the rear. It didn''t take long before he spotted Lu Yan, leaning casually against a tree just beyond the vigers, waiting with a patient air.
"Why are you here? Oh, and I have something to share with you," An Xing Yu rushed over, recounting the same tale he had told Xie Ziqing and Yu Huan, eager to get Lu Yan''s perspective.
"Lin Chu is dead?" Lu Yan''s amazement was unmistakable as he muttered, "That doesn''t sound right; she''s not the sort..."
An Xing Yu struggled to believe it too. "But I saw it happen. Li Li threw her into the water, and then she asked me to fish. I... I caught Lin Chu..."
He quickly shifted the conversation.
"The vige isn''t safe anymore, and we can''t predict who might be the next victim," An Xing Yu voiced his growing concern. "The main problem is, we can''t figure out what''s triggering the revenants'' attacks. The old rule of pretending not to see them doesn''t seem to be working. There''s definitely a revenant in Uncle Zhang''s house, and Li Li has vanished. What''s our n?"
Lu Yan replied, "It''s not a dead end just yet. Have you forgotten? There''s still one ce in the vige that the revenants haven''t touched."
"What?" An Xing Yu asked.
Lu Yan said two words, "The forbidden area."
Recognition dawned in An Xing Yu''s eyes.
Yes, they had been to the forbidden area before and had witnessed Old Lady Li, who had been acting like a revenant, instantly calm down once she entered those forbidden grounds.
Given that, the forbidden area seemed like a promising option.
Chapter 72 The massacre begins
Chapter 72 The massacre begins
Lu Yan''s voice, rich andmanding, carried through the crowd, reaching even those vigers who were still causing a ruckus nearby. Some, particrly those with sharp minds, started considering the feasibility of his proposal.
He intentionally pursued this course of action. Without the vigers'' guidance, entering the forbidden area was a futile endeavor. He aimed to rally more of them toward this perilous venture.
Themotion steadily intensified, driven mostly by the younger vigers. The older generation remained divided in their opinions. Eventually, it reached the ears of the vige chief, who had arrivedte.
"What utter nonsense! This is sheer madness!" The vige chief erupted in anger, vehemently disapproving. "Do you believe that the forbidden area is a ce one can enter lightly? Do you realize that each time we go there, we risk our lives? Who suggested this reckless venture into the forbidden area?"
Lu Yan and An Xing Yu had discreetly vanished into the shadows. The other vigers exchanged bewildered nces, utterly mystified by the sudden emergence of these rumors.
After a moment''s silence, a young man stammered, "It''s not even New Year''s, and the vige is already cursed, with Li Li gone. Where else can we go but the forbidden area?"
"But the forbidden area is forbidden for a reason!" The vige chief cleared his throat with effort. "Do you really think it''s a good idea for our people to beid to rest there after they pass?"
Sadness welled up in his eyes. "It''s a form of redemption! Those who rest in the forbidden area must atone for the sins of their ancestors, going back generations! We must protect it in life, and even in death, we can''t leave! Otherwise, our souls will wander restlessly, even after we''re gone!"
"Atonement?" Xie Zi Qing softly muttered the word. "What kind of atonement?"
The four of them blended into the crowd, discreetly hidden.
To be honest, Xie Zi Qing had no desire to venture into that forbidden ce. He had been there once and had felt the profound dread that emanated from it. If he had to choose between facing the terrors of the forbidden area and the malevolent spirits of the vige, he''d pick the vige. At least with Li Li, they had some protection.
Xie Zi Qing and Yu Huan remained in the dark about the mysterious revtions the others had uncovered, leaving them unaware of the vige chief''s mention of "redemption."
An Xing Yu provided a brief exnation, "It''s likely that their ancestors were tomb raiders, and the forbidden ce they''re guarding is the tomb they plundered. They''ve beenpelled to protect it due to a curse, and this dutysts their entire lives."
Hold on! A sudden revtion hit him like a ghostly chill.
If they were shackled to this duty for life, why were there still young vigers leaving in search of opportunities? The return of outsiders to honor their ancestors didn''t seem to rattle the locals.
Yu Huan muttered, "Well, well, it seems they''re a bunch of tomb raiders, cursed by their own deeds."
Having a rtive deeply immersed in archaeology, and being an avid reader of tomb raiding tales himself, Yu Huan held an unyielding disdain for tomb robbers, an outlook that had taken root thanks to his family influence.
Xie Zi Qing gently nudged him, remarking, "Let''s not revel in their misfortune. We''re now residents of the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals as well."
Upon hearing the this, Yu Huan couldn''t help but crease his brow with worry.
The viger who had voiced his concerns earlier let out a disheartened sigh, his tone filled with frustration. "So, are we just going to sit here and wait for our doom? Li Li has vanished again, that cursed white-eyed wolf!"
Even the vige chief wore a perplexed expression as he tried to reassure everyone. "Perhaps the situation isn''t as bad as it appears. Let''s return to the vige for now. Staying by the reservoir is hardly safe. And as for Li Li... she''ll likely reappear soon, won''t she?"
Yet, his wordscked conviction. Li Li''s family had all died, and she seemed as apathetic as the other vigers towards the ominous events unfolding around them.
"Speaking of her returning, when do you think that will happen?"
"Yeah! Her grandfather and father are holding a funeral, and she doesn''t even show up to pay her respects?"
"Enough already; her house is right next to the back hills."
"Let''s just wait until the ancestral rites arepleted. Hasn''t it always been this way in the past? There would be some turmoil before the ancestral rites, but everything would settle down after honoring the ancestors."
Lu Yan sensed that something was amiss.
Ancestral worship... the act of showing reverence to their forebears. Yet, their ancestors were clearly tomb raiders who had provoked the wrath of the tomb''s owner. How can they believe that such rituals will bring blessings upon them?
So what, in reality, do these ancestral rites truly worship?
However, it seemed the vigers had no intention of rifying this matter. Just the mention of ancestral worship lifted everyone''s spirits.
"Yes, once the ancestral worship ispleted, everything will be set right. It''s only a matter of a few days. Please, everyone, be patient and steer clear of any taboos."
"And if any of you happen to spot young folks wandering around, make sure to call them back."
The vigers hesitated when it came to venturing into the forbidden area. However, upon the vige chief''smand, they exchanged uneasy nces and reluctantly began their journey back to the vige, grumbling softly.
As the crowd moved ahead, Lu Yan found himselfgging behind.
A familiar face from the vige reached out and tapped his shoulder, prompting him to turn. "Hey there, Xiao Lu," the viger began, concern etched in their voice. "You''ve been crashing at Zhang Bai''s cetely, right? Any idea where Li Li might''ve disappeared to?"
With a sigh, Lu Yan shook his head, "I only know she went down to the reservoir." After a brief pause, curiosity gnawed at him, and he couldn''t help but ask, "Why hasn''t anyone ventured into the forbidden area to look for her?"
The viger eyed Lu Yan suspiciously, then realized that he had just returned from the outside world and might not be privy to the local lore. They leaned in, their voice hushed as they exined, "You see, Li Li never steps foot in that forbidden area. The guardian can''t go there. If she were to enter, something truly dreadful would happen."
"What dreadful?"
As he probed for more information, the viger''s lips remained sealed, and his head shook in silence.
Even Lu Yan couldn''t help but feel a growing unease.
After closely observing the vige for several days, he had realized that Li Li never ventured anywhere near the forbidden area. This realization made Lin Chu''s n to use herself as bait to lure their enemy into that forbidden zone seem much riskier. If the ce was truly as dreadful as the vigers imed, stepping into it wouldn''t be a casual decision.
So, whaty in wait for them?
Lu Yan, concealed behind his cultist guise, had long known that Li Li was privy to his origins and had deliberately kept him close, possibly to expose those shadowy cult figures pulling the strings. Additionally, he once again possessed the Pisces jade pendant, heightening the threat posed by Li Li far beyond that of the forbidden area.
That''s precisely why he had proactively formed an alliance with Lin Chu.
But... what lurked in the forbidden area, waiting for Li Li''s fateful step?
With only a pair of days left until Chinese New Year, could they endure that long?
The impending ancestral ritual in two days...
The vige chief maintained his authoritative stance while addressing the gathered assembly, "The next couple of days might pose challenges. I implore each of you to return to your homes, secure your safety, and avoid visiting one another or wandering aimlessly. Once the two days pass, we''ll all gather for the ancestral ritual. Above all, no one should dare to breach the forbidden area! Such an act will unquestionably jeopardize us all!"
An Xing Yu leaned in closer to the viger beside him, his voice hushed as he inquired, "What happens if someone crosses the line into that forbidden territory?"
Unbeknownst to him, Lu Yan had already ventured there on multiple asions.
Lu Yan perked up his ears as he eavesdropped.
The viger, in response, shook his head slowly, his expressionden with unease. "I can''t say for sure, but I''ve got a sinking feeling... something truly horrifying awaits. Something far more horrifying than death."
For many among the younger generation, funerals were unfamiliar, and the grim secrets concealed within the forbidden grounds remained a mystery. This ignorance fueled their curiosity and eagerness to explore, while only those who had dared to tread inside understood the true nature of the terror that lurked there.
It emerged from the depths of their souls, seeping into the very core of their existencean inescapable, uncontroble dread, the most profound manifestation of fear and despair.
But all of this resisted verbal expression. The viger grappled with words, settling for likening it to something more horrifying than death itself.
More horrifying than death?
Lu Yan couldn''t ignore this statement. He''d long understood that many things surpassed death in their terror; perhaps death was a simple release.
As the crowd gathered, their fears and courage swelled in unison. Just moments ago, they''d been haunted by the vige''s malevolence. Yet now, standing together, their fear ebbed slightly. Gradually, conversations resumed, andughter even dared to creep back into the air.
"What''s the n for Old Zhang''s house?"
"What can we do? We''ll deal with it during the ancestral rites. Who''s got the nerve to venture there right now?"
"Wait, did we leave his door shut?"
"Who was thest one to exit?"
All eyes zeroed in on Lu Yan, who replied, "I was thest to leave, and I made sure to close the door."
"Well, that''s a relief, that''s a relief, at least."
After all, it was the ce where they had enshrined the actual remains of Old Lady Third Whisker. The closed door had a purpose.
Meanwhile, within the vige...
A young girl made her way into the vige, her skin porcin-pale, her hair as dark as midnight, and her face a breathtaking portrait of beauty. Despite the biting winter chill that gripped the mountains, she boldly wore a vivid red dress.
With measured steps, she approached Mr. Zhang''s residence, lifted her gaze, and forcefully pushed open the imposing gate.
The world was cloaked in white, draped in pristine fabrics. Amidst this sea of purity, the young girl''s crimson attire zed like a wild, vibrant me.
A frigid gust swept through, prompting three memorial photographs in the ancestral hall to tumble with a resonating "thud."
The paper people positioned beside the coffin soared into the air, dancing and gliding like kites manipted by an invisible hand.
Gradually, the powerful wind swept these paper folded people far into the distance, swallowing them in the vast expanse of the sky.
Deep within the forest, the vigers continued their trek homeward.
Their initial approach had been hurried and fearful, but on their way back, the reality of the journey''s length began to settle in. As they moved along, a creeping sense of unease crept over them, as someone among them finally sensed that things were not as they should be.
"Did any of you see..."
"See what?"
"The folks behind us, did anyone see... where they went?"
One viger''s legs gave out on him.
He''d been smack in the center of the group, and he vividly remembered there were about thirty people tailing them. But how in the world was it possible that now... there were fewer?
Had theygged behind or...?
Several hundred meters back, two paper dolls crept closer.
Their faces bore eerie crimson circles, and the paper they were crafted from had an otherworldly pallor. Blood oozed from their paper-crafted hands.
Right behind themy a ghastly, flesh-and-blood corpse sprawled on the ground, its skin brutally peeled away to expose blood-red muscles. Some sections had been haphazardly stripped, even revealing the yellow fat beneath the flesh.
During the winter, a time when many animals struggled to find sustenance, these two blood-soaked bodies had been abandoned here, and before long, the excited barking of feral dogs echoed through the air.
"We''ve had more casualties," An Xing Yu said, his expression weighed down by solemnity. "There''s something lurking in those woods. It''s crucial that we stick together and avoid straying."
Clearly, the other vigers had also recognized the severity of the situation. Those at the rear pushed forward with resolve, while those at the front hesitated to take the lead, their steps faltering. The pace of the procession slowed, and the individuals gradually formed a tight circle, everyone trying to secure a spot in the center of the group.
"I refuse to be at the back; those at the rear will meet their end."
"Have these youngsters forgotten their manners? Pushing aside their elders?"
"Pushing? I was here from the start; you''re the one who pushing in."
In this once-familiar forest, peril seemed to hide behind every tree and bush.
Surprisingly, Lu Yan ended up at the forefront, and it wasn''t clear whether he''d been pushed into that position or had chosen it deliberately.
Watching this unfold, An Xing Yu made a determined effort to weave through the crowd, and Yu Huan and Xie Zi Qing quickly followed suit. With a leader at the front, the group advanced cautiously.
However, even in the midst of the gathering, safety remained an elusive prize.
One viger, gued by a restless night''s slumber, let out a sleepy yawn just as he lifted his gaze. In that fleeting moment, a branch from the towering tree above unexpectedly plummeted!
Before the viger could react, the branch skewered his throat, piercing into his gaping mouth.
Blood erupted.
"Ah"
In frantic disarray, the nearby vigers scattered like frightened birds. The victim''s eyes clung to a vestige of disbelief, but the flicker of life within them rapidly extinguished. With a resounding thud, his lifeless form crumpled to the ground.
"It''s a... ghost!"
The lead viger nced back, his very soul trembling, and his voice erupted in a horrified scream as he surged ahead. Those trailing behind didn''t dare to raise their eyes, some even clutching their heads in frantic dashes, fearing a tree limb might suddenly pierce their throats.
Little did they know, they remainedpletely unaware of the colossal tree that soared into the sky, where a young girl in a crimson dress perched. Her once-pure eyes had darkened entirely to ck, her face twisted with malevolence. She bore less resemnce to an ordinary child and more to a vengeful spirit hiding beneath youthful guise!
It was she who had hurled the branch that had mercilessly imed the life of the viger. Without her intervention, a randomly falling twig wouldn''t have found its mark so perfectly, right into someone''s mouth.
Regrettably, the vigers paid scant attention, their sole focus on the mad rush forward. The already narrow forest path grew increasingly congested as they pressed on, heedless of the ominous presence lurking above.
"What''s happening behind us?" Yu Huan asked curiously.
Xie Zi Qing quickened his pace. "Probably someone else just died."
As soon as he said that, the vige chief, who was walking behind them, cried out in pain and fell to the ground.
After all, the vige chief was the vige chief. The people around him immediately helped him up, but as soon as he was raised, the viger who had been holding him let go in a panic.
The vige chief had tripped over a sharp-edged stone, and in the instant he fell, his throat happened tond on the pointed end. As he was just being raised, his neck spurted out arge amount of blood. Originally, the vige chief had breathed hisst the moment he fell.
Events spiraled into chaos with astonishing speed. Those walking near the vige chief came to an abrupt halt, but the oblivious vigers behind them continued their relentless push, causing several to stumble and fall.
"Stop pushing! You might crush someone!"
"Stop it! The vige chief is dead! Show some respect!"
"Do you people in the back not understand simple words? Quit shoving!"
Amidst the turmoil, arguments red, and impatient shoving escted, but their voices were drowned out in the pandemonium. Those at the rear remained oblivious, propelling the procession forward relentlessly.
Some of the fallen still clung to life, but the surrounding crowd couldn''t provide aid. Tragically, they perished in the stampede, and as the procession pressed on, more people stumbled and fell.
Among them were several elderly individuals, their bodies frail and brittle with age. They had hurried to the reservoir in search and couldn''t endure the falls. Initially, a few days of rest might have helped, but now...
"This is sheer madness," Yu Huan muttered as he raced ahead.
Yu Huan finally understood why An Xing Yu and the others had surged to the front of the line. Given the vigers'' frenzied determination, he realized that if he identally fell, regaining his footing would be impossible.
It was now abundantly clear to everyone that the back and middle positions were far from safe; the front was the only ce to be! Consequently, the procession''s pace quickened once more, with everyone jostling to get ahead. Lu Yan and hispanions were forced to pick up their pace.
At the rear of the processiony several bodies, mangled beyond recognition, scattered in a gruesome pile. White hair and ck hair were mixed together, drowned in the slowly spreading blood.
In the rear of the crowd, a young girl strolled casually.
In her hands, she deftly manipted a sheet of origami.
She skillfully crafted an origami airne from ghost money, a somewhat pliable paper that posed a slight challenge to fold while in motion. After a moment of contemtion, the girl crouched down, soaked the ghost money in blood, and achieved the perfect fold, now that the entire paper had absorbed the crimson liquid.
Taking a deep breath, she propelled the paper airne into the air with vigor.
As the paper ne ascended, it gradually unfurled, morphing from an airne into a piece of ghost money saturated with blood. Just moments before it disintegratedpletely, itnded upon the face of a viger who had turned around to nce.
Then, it clung to the viger''s face like it was glued there, refusing to let go.
The viger''s mouth and nose were smothered, damp with the pungent stench of blood, seeping deep into his nostrils. He tried to peel off the paper, to scrape it away, but the material, whatever it was made of, held fast, resisting his most vigorous tugs.
"Little Li! What''s happened to you!" someone nearby eximed in shock. When Little Li turned to face them, they were instantly horrified.
"It''s a ghost!"
His fellow vigers cried out and surged ahead, leaving Little Ligging behind.
''I''m not a ghost... help me! Help me!'' Little Li desperately tried to speak, but he couldn''t find his voice. No matter how hard he wed at it, that piece of paper clung tenaciously to his face, suffocating him and making his head swim.
Then, in a sudden epiphany, he remembered the bunch of keys in his pocket. He yanked them out and swiftly shed them across his own face.
The key''s pointed end proved effective, instantly slicing a slit. Little Li''s eyes lit up with joy, and he used all his strength to tear off a blood-red piece of paper along that slit.
However, his nose and mouth were still blocked. Without hesitation, he reached for the edge rolled across his face and yanked at the mouth section.
A soft tearing sound followed.
The paper came off.
Yet his face remained a gruesome sight.
You see, in his haste to tear off the paper, he had unwittingly stripped away ayer of his own flesh. If only he had examined the piece of paper more closely, he might have noticed the thin film of skin that clung to it.
But s, he remained oblivious.
"Wait up!" Xiao Li eximed with fervor, dashing ahead, the bright red, blood-dripping paper clenched tightly in his hand.
The vigers, not far behind, turned to witness his reckless sprint, their faces contorted in terror. Xiao Li had undeniably transformed into a revenant. Yet, he showed no sign of slowing down; instead, he elerated.
*
*
Finally, the group emerged from the woods. Upon spotting the familiar vige houses, exhaustion weighed heavily on many, leaving them gasping for breath. The relief of narrowly escaping death overcame some, causing them to copse on the ground, tears flowing freely.
"Don''t cry, everyone. Let''s do a headcount. How many of us made it?"
Amidst the previous chaos, not everyone had rushed to the reservoir. Some of the elderly vigers, unable to flee, sought refuge in their homes, while others continued to toil in the fields, oblivious to the unfolding events. Those who had been absent during the reservoir incident became a conspicuous absence upon their return, adding to the mystery of the dwindling vige poption.
Maybe they had gone to Zhang Bo''s house for condolences, only to meet a fate eerily simr to the others. In just one day, the vige had suffered the loss of nearly a fifth of its residents, including the vige chief himself.
The role of the vige chief was unique in this tight-knitmunity. Traditionally, each new chief inherited closely guarded secrets from their predecessor, knowledge that remained inessible to ordinary vigers. With the vige chief''s passing, some of these secrets would forever remain veiled in darkness.
"What do we do? What do we do..."
Amidst the collective distress, a middle-aged woman found herself seated on the ground, her sorrow intensifying, her sobs echoing loudly, drowning out the weeping of others.
Yan Guang Yao, who had been consoling another viger nearby, turned swiftly to offer sce. "Aunt Zhao, please don''t cry. There''s nothing we can do now. Let''s follow the vige chief''s earlier instructions and head home."
"Easy for you to say! This vige is cursed now! Going back would be suicide!" Aunt Zhao scrambled to her feet. "I was tricked into marrying into this ce. My husband is long gone, and now I want out. My daughter is still in the big city..."
"Aunt Zhao!" Yan Guang Yao admonished sternly, his voice carrying a weight of inevitability. "Do you truly believe you can escape this? You are already a part of our Vige of the Heavenly Immortals. Even if you flee to a foreignnd, it won''t make a difference. The curse will pursue and im you."
"It can''t be! I refuse to ept it." Aunt Zhao appeared utterly despondent, her voice quivering. "I bought a house in the city, and my daughter wants to bring me there to enjoy life. My husband is dead; I''m no longer tied to your vige."
"But your name is recorded in the family archives," Yan Guang Yao emphasized, his words carrying the weight of an unshakable truth. "In the end, there is no escape."
Aunt Zhao froze, tears streaming down her face, as the crushing reality closed in around her.
Yan Guang Yao''s words drew Lu Yan''s attention.
Cursed... What kind of curse had descended upon the vigers? And what awaited them if they dared to leave the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals? Why were some of the younger vigers seemingly untouched by this cmity?
With the vige chief''s demise, Yan Guang Yao had seemingly stepped into a leadership role, having been designated as the chief''s sessor from the very beginning. With a calm demeanor, he guided everyone, gradually restoring order, which in turn helped soothe many of the vigers.
An Xing Yu signaled to Yu Huan, who hesitated for a moment. Realizing that continued inaction might leave him behind, he feigned curiosity and approached Yan Guang Yao.
"I just want to ask," Yu Huan began, his tone measured, "Considering not everyone gets to leave the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, why can some of us leave here?"
Yan Guang Yao eyed him suspiciously, scanning him up and down. "Why are you asking this? You''re not thinking of escaping, are you?"
Yu Huan quickly replied, "No, not at all! I came back for the ancestral ceremony; my only aim is to understand."
Regardless of his probing questions, Yan Guang Yao remained tight-lipped. Instead, he suggested that everyone either return home or seek refuge with friends nearer to Zhang Bo''s area.
His persuasion worked on most of the vigers, convincing them to head back to their homes.
Lu Yan and the others needed no convincing; they followed the crowd and left.
As for the unknown number of casualties that might ur tonight... that remained uncertain.
After themotion, the sky slowly darkened. Yan Guang Yao gazed silently at the distant, thick forest, shook his head, and made his way toward the vige chief''s residence.
His objective? To retrieve the treasure map from the vige chief''s house.
*
*
"Doesn''t Yan Guang Yao''s behavior strike you as odd?" Yu Huan couldn''t hold back his thoughts as soon as they returned to their lodgings. "He''s telling everyone to scatter and keep their distance, but we''re in the dark about his real intentions."
"Well, sticking together wouldn''t make much difference, would it? They can''t fend off the ghosts either," Xie Zi Qing remarked. "In fact, it might be safer to spread out a bit. Being all together is like serving ourselves on a silver tter, don''t you think?"
An Xing Yu chimed in, "It''s gettingte now. It''s probably best not to venture out tonight. Let''s investigate tomorrow."
Lu Yan nodded and suggested, "Currently, the vige is witnessing random killings. There''s no apparent pattern. I propose we don''t retreat to our rooms tonight. Instead, we should rest in the living room and take turns keeping watch in pairs. If any of us encounter danger, we''ll wake the others and make a swift escape."
"Do we really have to stay awake all night?" An Xing Yu seemed a bit apprehensive.
Lu Yan shook his head. "A few days ago, I fell asleep and still faced sleep paralysis. So, slumber won''t necessarily shield us from ghostly disturbances. Instead, it might leave us vulnerable."
The true crisis had arrived, and even in the realm of dreams, safety was no guarantee. Ghosts could be lurking in the beds, poised to harm them. His words garnered unanimous agreement from the others.
The four of them swiftly organized a schedule. Yu Huan and Xie Zi Qing took the first half of the night, with An Xing Yu and Lu Yan taking the second.
These two had already integrated Lu Yan into their team, and he epted it without objection. Conversely, An Xing Yu was somewhat on edge, fearing they might say something to arouse Lu Yan''s suspicions.
Their amodations were within an apartment building. Before settling in for the night, they illuminated all the rooms on the second floor, secured doors and windows, and descended to the ground floor. There, they sealed off doors and windows, allowing only a faint glow from the second floor to escape.
Lu Yan and An Xing Yu reclined on the couch, fully clothed, their eyes shut, attempting to rest.
Xie Zi Qing and Yu Huan sat close, conversing in hushed tones.
They had decided to let them rest first, but An Xing Yu couldn''t find sleep. A persistent unease gnawed at him, a feeling that he had missed a crucial element in this mission. The absence of any sign of Luo Ying and the strikingck of divine guidance only added to his disquiet.
Lu Yan, on the other hand, closed his eyes, maintaining a steady breath. Deep slumber had eluded him for years. He had honed the skill of light sleep, able to rest even with open eyes when necessary.
His thoughts circled back to the forbidden area.
And the mysterious All-Knowing God, along with the Pisces Jade Pendant...
What was the connection between them? Why did this so-called "god" bear such a striking resemnce to the purpose of the Pisces Jade Pendant?
And then, there was the painting hidden within the vige chief''s residence...
In the midst of the tranquil night, the sudden sound of dripping water broke the silence.
Drip.
Drip.
Upstairs, a sound emerged, jarring and unmistakable.
Yu Huan, already a bundle of nerves, felt an eerie sensation creep down his spine. Instantly, a flurry of terrifying thoughts raced through his mindspectral hands manipting faucets, the eerie echo of dripping blood following a gruesome murder, and other hair-raising scenarios. But he couldn''t scream or utter a word; he had to forcibly restrain himself.
A specter... a ghost was present!
His heart raced, nearly leaping out of his chest.
The dripping noise continued from the second floor. Perhaps the ghost had already ascended to that level!
Where would it go next? Most likely, downstairs, right? There, it would surely find him.
His gaze shifted to the sleeping faces of Lu Yan and An Xing Yu, and Yu Huan''s chest heaved violently.
Should he...
No, no, no. One must not endanger others for one''s own safety. If he woke them, wouldn''t that also signal the ghost?
Yet, on the other hand, if not for An Xing Yu, could he endure this ordeal? It was An Xing Yu who had guided him through these harrowing days.
He gently nudged the figure seated behind him, Xie Zi Qing.
"Hey, buddy..."
Xie Zi Qing remained still, an unsettling chill radiating from him.
In what felt like a split second, Yu Huan connected the dots. He stiffly turned around and found himself face to face with Xie Zi Qing.
Yet, there they were, clearly seated back to back.
The ghost wasn''t on the second floor. It lingered right here in the living room on the first floor!
Yu Huan''s heart raced, his mind swirling with supernatural possibilities. He couldn''t understand where he found the courage to stifle the scream wing at his throat. Slowly and cautiously, he rose to his feet and started inching towards the door.
He gently utched the door, then suddenly spun around, darting outside without a backward nce.
Yu Huan''s heart hammered relentlessly, his thoughts consumed by the otherworldly. He couldn''t say if his actions were right or wrong, but the overwhelming dread that had gripped him just moments ago had propelled him to this decision.
It was only when the chilly night air wrapped around him that he began to question his choice.
He departed without a backward nce, leaving An Xing Yu and Lu Yan still lost in slumber. Would they...?
Yet, another faint notion whispered to him, "Isn''t this an ideal scenario?"
Ideal because they could take his ce in death.
With such grim thoughts, an unsettling feeling suddenly crept over him.
Was this road... this path before him so endless? In the moonlight, its conclusion remained elusive.
Cold sweat formed on Yu Huan''s skin.
Then it struck him, had he... forgotten to secure the door when he rushed away just moments ago?
He swiveled around to assess the distance he had traveled. Echoes of countless warnings from seasoned individuals on the web filled his thoughts, the mostmon being: "Never look back."
But fear had conquered him; the chilling, relentless gusts left him shivering uncontrobly, leaving no space for other considerations. He turned around, only to find the same endless road extending into the distance behind him.
Yu Huan was forever lost.
In the room, Xie Zi Qing slipped into slumber, a sudden and unintentional descent. When he awoke, a deep, gnawing fear gripped him because Yu Huan, who had been right behind him, had inexplicably vanished!
He urgently woke An Xing Yu and Lu Yan, both of whom had not been sleeping either. As the duo opened their eyes, they saw that the living room door stood slightly ajar.
While they couldn''t be certain if Yu Huan had left it that way, a frantic search confirmed his inexplicable disappearance.
None of them had any desire for sleep now. They gathered in the yard, their eyes wide open, enduring through the long night until daybreak.
The sun climbed into the sky as usual, dispelling the shadows that had cloaked the house.
The vigers gradually awoke from their slumber, still bearing the shock of yesterday''s events. But they were the ones who were still among the living, and life had to move forward. Those who had lost family members hadn''t even had the chance to mourn when the vige loudspeakers suddenly crackled to life.
Yan Guang Yao, the newly appointed vige chief, called everyone to gather in the square; he had something to say.
"What do you think is going on?"
"Has hee up with a solution? Or maybe Li Li has returned?"
"Perhaps we should all take refuge in the restricted zone for a while. After all, we only have a day or two left..."
Lu Yan and hispanions ventured outside, joining the gathering to eavesdrop on the vigers'' discussions, hoping to glean valuable insights.
Yan Guang Yao stood in the vige square, draped in mourning attire and a somber hat, clutching a scroll in his hand.
An Xing Yu swiftly recognized it as the same scroll that adorned the vige chief''s room. His heart clenched. Had Yan Guang Yao also stumbled upon the mystery concealed within the painting? No, wait, as the future vige chief, he likely had knowledge of the painting''s secret. What remained uncertain was the depth of that knowledge.
Lu Yan, too, noticed the scroll and raised an eyebrow. He had initially nned to persuade Luo Ying into retrieving it from the vige chief''s house, but it seemed...
Yan Guang Yao cleared his throat once everyone had gathered, and with a sweeping motion, he unfurled the scroll, revealing its contents to the entire assembly.
Chapter 73: A hand passed through his chest
Chapter 73: A hand passed through his chest
On the unfurled scroll, five celestial beings glided gracefully among billowing clouds, their feet delicately grazing the shrouded peaks of misty mountains.
This particr painting had graced the vige chief''s residence and had been seen by many vigers before. However, as Yan Guang Yao now intentionally unveiled it, uncertainty rippled through the onlookers, their eyes darting between each other, searching for the concealed message within the artwork.
An Xing Yu leaned in, his voice hushed, "What''s our move here? He seems to have caught on."
Lu Yan countered with a subtle shake of his head, whispering back, "Let''s just watch for now. Even if he has, these vigers might turn out to be our unwitting guides."
Xie Zi Qing found their conversation utterly baffling, but the gravity etched onto their facespelled him to shift his gaze towards the painting.
No matter how he scrutinized it, the artwork remained a seemingly ordinary depiction of a celestial quintet set against a picturesquendscape below. What more could it possibly conceal?
An Xing Yu dropped a hint, suggesting, "Try looking at it from a different perspective."
A different perspective?
Xie Zi Qing wasn''t entirely sure what "seeing from a different perspective" meant, but he didn''t want to appear clueless in front of An Xing Yu. So, he gave a solemn nod and pivoted, widening his stance to observe the painting from an unorthodox angle.
An Xing Yu cleared his throat. "Try this instead: flip the painting left to right."
Xie Zi Qing rose, his expression a puzzle of confusion.
Left to right?
He struggled to picture it, and the other vigers shared his bewilderment, failing to decode Yan Guang Yao''s message.
Only Lu Yan and An Xing Yu grasped the idea.
In their eyes, when the painting reversed, shifting from left to right, the flowing robes of the five celestial beings, the ethereal clouds at their feet, and the mountains melded into a discernible map. This map was nothing less than the topographicalyout of the entire Vige of the Heavenly Immortals.
At its heart, the forbidden zone, the red-clothed fox celestial known as Fox Fairy, extended downwards, creating a crimson river that encircled the vige. On the left and right nks, the two Green-robed Snake celestials and the Hedgehog celestial, forming shapes akin to twin fish, floated intertwined.
To the far left, the yellow celestial named Yellow Weasel appeared as an elderly man with white hair but youthful features, clutching a walking stick. However, he held the cane upside down, and the curved handle pointed to a specific location in thendscape below.
On the far right, the grey celestial, Old Mouse, materialized as a young man garbed in grey robes, of slight stature. If one mirrored his image from left to right, his gaze would lock onto the tail of the central fox celestial.
The White Immortal Hedgehog lowered its eyes, then shifted its gaze downward, zeroing in on the hem of Fox Fairy''s skirt beside it.
Their attention shifted toward something more substantial, every gaze fixated on the Fox Fairy''s tail. Following the Fox Fairy''s line of sight, it intersected with the tail''s orientation, precisely indicating a specific point within the forbidden area.
Suddenly, a word shed into An Xing Yu''s mind.
Yan Guang Yao emphatically articted the same word.
"You''ve probably all seen this before, but failed to notice the hidden secret within," Yan Guang Yao remarked, flipping the scroll to catch the sunlight. The moderately thin paper revealed the image as it turned over.
Now, the vigers all recognized it.
"Isn''t this the forbidden area?"
"Why does it look like some kind of map?"
...
Yan Guang Yao raised the scroll high and dered, "Indeed, it''s a map. The former vige chief had it hanging in his room, gazed upon it daily, and never kept it a secret, hoping that someone would uncover the hidden secret. But no one ever dared to bring it up. I stumbled upon it by chance. It turns out, the portrait gracing the vige chief''s room is, in fact, a treasure map!"
This revtion immediately ignited a frenzy.
A treasure map? Where''s the treasure? What''s it all about?
The vigers erupted in excited chatter, their eyes filled with anticipation as they turned to Yan Guang Yao.
At that moment, no one questioned Yan Guang Yao''s youthful appearance. They all anxiously awaited his next words.
Xie Zi Qing whispered, "Is it truly a treasure map?"
Lu Yan shook his head. "Who can say for sure?"
Initially, he had toyed with the idea of tricking Luo Ying into giving it a shot. But now, with so many vigers involved, the idea seemed more promising.
Even if there was a treasure... Well, when life dangled by a thread, what good was treasure?
Xie Zi Qing shared this sentiment. You couldn''t carry anything from this world to the next; even if you found it, it was utterly useless.
Yan Guang Yao continued, "Of course, discussing treasure isn''t quite fitting at the moment. The vige faces an enormous crisis, and the treasure map points right into the forbidden territory. That''s why I suggest we dive into the forbidden zone ahead of schedule!"
The vigers exchanged looks, and one of them voiced their concern, "But Old Qian cautioned us about entering there."
Old Qian, the former vige chief, had issued the warning.
"That was because he hadn''t uncovered the secret of the treasure map. Without the map, the forbidden area, naturally, presents a perilous zone for us. However, now that we possess the map, what do we have to fear?" Yan Guang Yao proimed forcefully.
"But..."
"No ''buts.'' Do you honestly think the vige is safe right now?" Yan Guang Yao pressed on. "Li Li has abandoned all pretenses of protecting us. Even if we were to summon Mrs. Li''s granddaughter back immediately, it would take days. Can you promise nothing bad will happen in the meantime?"
"But what about the vige''s curse..."
"Curses have origins, you know? Are you willing to bear that curse for the rest of your lives? We won''t know a moment of peace until we confront the true source of this curse!"
His words carried weight. Most of the younger generation had never faced the terror of the forbidden area. Whenpared to that, the recent turmoil within the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals over the past few days seemed much more ominous. During this period, it was primarily the elderly who had passed away. Those above fifty were few, and their voices were limited to cold, disapproving res directed at Yan Guang Yao.
"You''re all acting recklessly! Venturing there is nothing short of suicide!" The vige''s eldest survivor, despite his hearing impairment, relied on his spouse to convey his message word by word. Once he had heard it all, he couldn''t contain his anger and unleashed a vehement curse while steadying himself on his cane.
"Don''t you understand... the sacrifices we''ve made... so you could leave..." The old man''s fury shook him to his core, rendering him breathless, and he crumpled to the ground.
"Uncle Zhang!" Eximed a middle-aged person from nearby, rushing to offer support.
His spouse wept, saying, "I might not have control over you youngsters anymore, but you mustn''t lead the entire vige to its demise... I still have a few years left..."
The group of young individuals, previously stirred by Yan Guang Yao, involuntarily took a step back.
Yan Guang Yao''s eyes darkened, his words edged with tension. "Auntie Zhang, you''ve got more insight into the ancestral ritual''s secrets than any of us, don''t you? Do you know what''s really behind this year''s ancestral ritual?"
Auntie Zhang''s face shifted dramatically, her lips trembling. "Wha... what did you just say?"
Yan Guang Yao pressed on, his voice unyielding. "Are you ready to reveal the truth about the ancestral ritual?"
A young viger, looking puzzled, chimed in, "Isn''t it just about offering incense and paying respects? Why''s Yan Guang Yao treating it so seriously?"
Yan Guang Yao shook his head. "Ordinary ancestral rituals do follow that pattern, yes. But it''s been over sixty years, and each sixty-year interval marks a cycle/reincarnation. That''s why the disturbances this year are so much worse than before. And as for this year''s ancestral ritual..."
He didn''t finish his sentence, but Old Mrs. Zhang had already caught the meaning in his eyes. Her legs gave way, and she nearly crumpled to the ground.
"How do you know?" She asked the question but didn''t wait for an answer; she fainted.
Sixty years mark a cycle/reincarnation... Lu Yan took a deep breath.
Every sixty years marked a cycle on the Chinese calendar.
So, what did this year''s ancestral ritual hold? What had urred six decades ago?
This constant sense of being in the dark gnawed at him. But what truly ignited his curiosity was how Yan Guang Yao had unraveled the hidden secret within the painting.
Yan Guang Yao took center stage on an elevated tform, clutching the painting with a countenance that betrayed an almost reckless zeal. "This vige is no longer a sanctuary! Who will join me this afternoon on our expedition into the forbidden territory?"
A young man raised his hand, followed by another, and then more, one after the other. Nearly all the young folks who had grown up hearing the elders'' tales eagerly assented.
An Xing Yu asked, "Should we go too?"
"Indeed, we should," dered Lu Yan, raising his hand high. "If they''re embarking on this journey, we must apany them."
Upon seeing this, An Xing Yu and Xie Zi Qing raised their hands in agreement.
Out of the blue, one of the raised hands, ripped away, and a gory spray painted the scene. Even they couldn''t react in time. It took a moment before the crowd exploded into screams: "Ah!"
Panic spread as people desperately tried to flee.
Yet, at the far end of the square, a young girl in a crimson dress strolled forward, her pace deliberate.
"Li Li..." someone''s eyes widened, but before any words could escape, their head soared into the air.
Crimson blood sprayed those nearby, immobilizing one individual who stood in stunned silence, witnessing the severed head tumble to the ground and roll a few times.
A paper-folded figure swiftly darted over, snatched up the severed head, and started to toy with it. A sinister, small smile crept onto its deathly pale visage.
A heavy silence gripped the entire square for a few breathless seconds.
Despite the repeated ims that Li Li no longer protected the vige, the sight that met their eyes still struck them with disbelief.
Was this... Li Li?
How had she transformed like this?
The young girl''s eyes were devoid of whites, her face twisted, yet she emitted a yful, eerieughter that bordered on the macabre. She advanced toward them, her eyes bereft of pupils, sending shivers down their spines.
One step closer, and the vigers instinctively took a step back.
Yan Guang Yao''s voice pierced the silence. "Run!"
Only then did the vigers snap out of their stunned daze, scrambling to escape in the opposite direction. They jostled and pushed, their desperate cries asionally piercing the air.
The moment the little girl appeared, Lu Yan''s instincts screamed danger, and he snatched An Xing Yu, sprinting with all his might. It wasn''t long before terrified screams erupted from the vigers trailing behind them.
"Why did Li Li suddenly change like that?" An Xing Yu gasped as they raced away.
Lu Yan had no answers. He had an unsettling hunch that the little girl who had just approached them wasn''t what she seemed, but he couldn''t quite grasp the truth. All they could do was run.
The cries of the pursuing vigers grew louder and closer.
In contrast to Lu Yan and An Xing Yu, who maintained their speed due to years of rigorous exercise, Xie Zi Qinggged a bit behind. His sole advantage was his exposure to the inexplicable, which made him quicker than the vigers. He trailed the others, never letting up on his pace. Then, out of nowhere, a gruesome, gore-covered head tumbled before him, nearly causing him to stumble.
Xie Zi Qing instinctively turned his head and was instantly seized by terror.
Not far behind the fleeing vigers, severed body parts hung in grotesque disy, and the earth appeared to writhe as artificial blood rushed towards them with an eerie haste. An elderly viger inadvertently stepped into the pool of crimson, and within the blink of an eye, he was entirely swallowed by the thick, gtinous tide of gore.
The once radiant sky gradually dimmed, cloaking itself inyer uponyer of ominous, heavy clouds that almost swallowed the sun. It was like dusk falling prematurely, apanied by an icy, untamed wind that carried with it unsettling, foul odors.
Without a backward nce, Lu Yan and An Xing Yu raced forward together, retracing their steps to the vige through an alternate square exit, heading towards the forbidden territory. The vigers who had followed them dwindled, but they pressed on in their desperate escape.
Faint echoes of the vigers'' distress still reached their ears.
Xie Zi Qing turned to steal another nce back.
The petite girl continued her leisurely stroll. Her small frame didn''t necessitate swift movements, but she was slowly closing the gap between herself and the terrified vigers who were fleeing for their lives.
"Hee hee hee hee..."
In the hushed night, there were only the mournful cries of the doomed vigers on the brink of their demise and the eerieughter of the little girl.
Along the way, a multitude of white paper dolls suddenly leaped forth, frolicking in the pool of blood. Limbs, organs, drenched ck hair, and skin all became their ythings.
Xie Zi Qing shivered, unable to bear the sight any longer, and promptly buried his head before sprinting away.
Further up the path, Lu Yan had already reached the entrance to the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, taking long, determined strides.
Yet, what sent a chill down his spine was that as he moved ahead with a single step, the world around him whirled into a disorienting spin. When he regained his senses, he found himself in a shadowy and unsettling location, staring at... a recognizable broken bridge.
Lu Yan stood at the edge of the broken bridge, and a foul stench, even worse than the previous unpleasant odor, wafted up from below.
Suddenly, a young girl''s voice, crystal clear yet haunting, echoed from all directions, "Catch me some fish... quickly... hehehehe..."
In the next instant, Lu Yan found himself gripping a fishing rod, with a small bucket at his feet.
The only visible things were the bodies under the broken bridge, which surged up like waves, their pale, bloated limbs entangled. Even in the dark water, they were still visible.
No... the river''s water wasn''tpletely ck...
Lu Yan struggled to suppress his physical difort as he realized that the river was unmistakably a river of blood.
Taking a deep breath, he skillfully baited the "fishhook." Then, with a quick flick of his fishing rod, he sent the line plunging into the crimson river.
The instant the bait made contact with the water, the submerged figures went into a frenzy, as if they retained life, persistently ascending, even in death, they battled and tore at each other, flesh and fragments scattering, colossal waves churned on the surface, and the fetor intensified.
*
*
The rest of the vige disyed a simr eerie pattern.
Yan Guang Yao sprinted desperately, clutching the scroll tightly.
"All I need is to reach the forbidden area, just get there... and I''ll be safe..."
With every ounce of strength, he dashed forward. As he neared the vige entrance, the three figures ahead abruptly vanished. Fear couldn''t grip Yan Guang Yao; his determination held strong, propelling him into the forest. In the next breath, darkness engulfed his vision, and he found himself back at the vige chief''s house.
On the shrine, the statue of Old Lady Third Whisker had toppled.
A fierce gust of wind howled through, mming the front door shut.
In the final moment before the darkness swallowed him, Yan Guang Yao felt a surge of relief.
The scroll was not with him.
In that fleeting shift, he let go of the scroll. Eventually, someone would stumble upon it.
*
*
Lu Yan knew nothing about the fate of the others, but he couldn''t imagine it was any better than his situation. In the next moment, someone else materialized at his side.
It was An Xing Yu. He had been brought to this eerie ce as well.
"Let''s do some fishing together... hehehehe... quickly..."
An Xing Yu''s initial confusion faded as he settled down beside Lu Yan. He swiftly readied himself, casting his fishing line into the murky water.
The waves grew more turbulent, almost sshing onto the bridge, filling them both with a creeping sense of dread.
If someone else arrived at this moment, the churning waves, stirred by the submerged bodies, could easily sweep them away.
To worsen their unease, half a minuteter, Xie Zi Qing, still terror-stricken, emerged on the bridge as well.
"What should we do? Escaping doesn''t seem feasible..." After scanning their surroundings, Xie Zi Qing turned pale, tightly gripping his fishing rod, and looked to the other two with a pleading expression.
Lu Yan''s fishing rod quivered.
He had something on the line, but for some inexplicable reason, he didn''t feel relief. An unsettling intuition from deep within stopped him from reeling in the catch. So, he waited, patiently.
After a while, the fish swam away.
At the same time, all three of them heard a wild beast''s roar echoing from the depths of the forest.
The sound they heard defied easy description; it had surpassed the realm of ordinary animal noises. Xie Zi Qing stared in bewilderment toward its source. But Lu Yan quickly pulled him aside, his expression serious, and said, "You should go first, and quickly!"
With a grateful nce, Xie Zi Qing didn''t dwell on it and promptly crouched beside An Xing Yu to start fishing.
An Xing Yu seemed to piece something together. After a brief moment, the fishing rod in his hand also began to quiver. He cautiously raised it, and when the catch surfaced, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he let go of the rod.
His "catch" had vanished too.
From the heart of the forest, a monstrous entity emerged, towering at least twice the height of a person. Half of its form was encased in bleached bone, while the other half rotted in decayed flesh.
The term "creature" was a loose descriptor, for faint, dog-like remnants clung to it. It advanced slowly out of the woods, empty eye sockets fixated on the trio.
Xie Zi Qing, gripped by terror, urgently asked, "What do we do? Did you catch anything?" His question was aimed at An Xing Yu.
An Xing Yu clenched his teeth and replied, "No."
As they spoke, Xie Zi Qing''s fishing rod jolted with activity.
With a burst of excitement, he cried out, "Since you didn''t have any luck, hurry and give me a hand! I''ve got something on the line!" He strained with all his might to reel it in.
An Xing Yu reached out a hand, and Lu Yan joined in. Together, they exerted their strength to haul a bloated, pallid human corpse from the river, depositing it on the bridge.
Xie Zi Qing, engrossed in his task, remained unaware of the eerie turn of events. He wiped sweat from his forehead, panting. Meanwhile, Lu Yan extracted a jade pendant from his pocket and ced it next to the lifeless body.
The dog inched closer.
"Hey, Brother Lu, what''s going on?" Xie Zi Qing, oblivious to the situation, was determined to continue his riverside fishing. "Seems like my luck''s holding up today. You guys might want to pitch inter. Otherwise, we''ll have a real mess with that dog sooner orter."
As he spoke, he suddenly widened his eyes.
Before him, a scene unfolded that Xie Zi Qing couldn''t possibly wrap his head around. The body on the bridge... had somehow be two?
Why? How could this happen?
An Xing Yu shared his disbelief, both of them locked in stunned silence. But Lu Yan offered no exnation. Instead, he swiftly conjured a third corpse.
It wasn''t until now that Xie Zi Qing finally sensed that something was terribly wrong.
"Wait a minute, these corpses," he hesitated, his voice dry, "haven''t you noticed, they look... they look..."
The dog had drawn near, lowering its head.
Lu Yan forcefully shoved the corpse aside, sending one of the duplicates rolling and tumbling into the path of the foul-smelling, scorching breath of the beast.
The creature sniffed it and began to feast.
As the dog sank his teeth into the first mouthful, a chilling scream escaped Xie Zi Qing''s lips. An unseen force had viciously torn a chunk from his thigh, causing blood to stter in all directions.
He finally understood why that body looked so wrong.
Because it was him.
Another scream, and his body was bitten in half.
He fell into a silence that will continue forever.
An Xing Yu shut his eyes, unable to bear the gruesome spectacle any longer. But that ravenous creature clearly hungered for more than one victim. Amidst the gruesome gnawing, An Xing Yu turned to Lu Yan and asked, "What''s our n now?"
Lu Yan''s reply was curt, "We''ll have to lure it away first, then find an escape route." He nced at An Xing Yu, an inscrutable look in his eyes, as if he had something important to say but held it back. "We have to act fast."
"Agreed," An Xing Yu nodded.
He wanted desperately to ask Lu Yan about the strange object he held, but this wasn''t the time for exnations. Instead, he remained vignt, scanning their surroundings. He discreetly moved the other copied bodies a bit farther away, hoping to gain some precious time.
Lu Yan moved with swift precision, gauging how long it would take for the dog to finish its gruesome meal. He quickly replicated one body after another.
The Pisces jade pendant''s origins remained shrouded in mystery, and the reasons behind its unique powers remained elusive. But Lu Yan had conducted experiments, discovering that duplicating numerous bodies in rapid session temporarily drained some of its energy. Once depleted, it required time to recharge.
Several unfortunate souls had met their end by the reservoir earlier, so An Xing Yu nonchntly hauled their lifeless forms over. Just as they had managed toy out three bodies on the bridge, Lu Yan tugged at An Xing Yu, and they shared a knowing nce before making a hasty retreat.
The vige had transformed into a nightmarish scene.
A foul wind swept through, and numerous white paper effigies resembling miniature people hopped and cavorted around, while screams of agony echoed from nearly every household.
Lu Yan paid no heed and sprinted desperately. An Xing Yu couldn''t help but notice that, even in the midst of the chaos, Lu Yan was engaged in a phone call. An Xing Yu couldn''t discern the person on the other end.
"Who are you talking to?" An Xing Yu kicked aside a paper effigy that had mped onto his pant leg, his brow slick with sweat.
Lu Yan responded, "Lin Chu."
"What?! Lin Chu?" An Xing Yu eximed, his surprise evident.
"She''s not dead," Lu Yan exined with just that one sentence.
What unsettled him was that the call refused to connect. Another attempt, but the same issue persisted, leaving him baffled. Turning to Luo Ying seemed like the next logical step.
"An Xing Yu," Lu Yan said, his tone tinged with concern, "That painting is our lifeline. Without it, we might be trapped in this curse forever. We have to find it and head to the forbidden area."
An Xing Yu had a hunch about this, but the pieces of the puzzle eluded his grasp. He mumbled, "Why?"
"Have you noticed?" Lu Yan asked. "In most viges, there''s a dominant surname, and everyone''s usually rted by blood. But this vige is different. There are no connections here. Different surnames, and besides their fox-like appearances, they share nothing inmon."
Unperturbed, Lu Yan pressed forward, his stride unwavering even as he passed a macabre sight: a piece of human intestine dangled from a tree branch. "No ancestral hall, no family tree," he muttered. "I''ve asked around, Ancestral Halls, family trees, they''re all missing. Everyone I''ve questioned these past few days, they''re all outsiders. They''re all... just like us, outsiders. After taking part in the ancestor worship, they be vigers of the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals and share a slice of the curse."
Therefore, no viger disyed any hostility towards outsiders. They radiated warmth and hospitality, eager for these neers to settle in. But An Xing Yu and hispanions had to partake in the ancestor worship, and thereafter, the burden of the curse would unavoidably fall upon them.
As for the details of the curse, it remained a mystery to him.
"Sixty long years, a full cycle, and I still haven''t unraveled this enigma. Those who held the truth in this vige are probably all dead. It''s hard to believe it wasn''t intentional," Lu Yan''s mind raced with urgency. "What transpired six decades ago, I''m not certain if the vige holds any records, but for now... let''s make a dash for the forbidden grounds, examine those tombstones. Maybe we''ll stumble upon something."
Though the graveyard boasted numerous tombstones, he believed that, with theirbined memorieshis, An Xing Yu''s, and Lin Chu''s they could quickly unearth some clues.
An Xing Yu silently chanted the name of the All-Knowing Deity in his mind, nodding vigorously. "Alright! We need to get out of here pronto."
Whether it was because Li Li was preupied with hunting down other vigers or not, they managed to reach the vige''s entrance without much trouble.
From a distance, Luo Ying hurried towards them.
Luo Ying had already borne witness to the vige''s turmoil. A brief, fleeting call from Lu Yan, although abruptly severed, had managed to connect for a few seconds. Coupled with the shifting weather outside, it painted a stark picture of something monumental unfolding within the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals.
"Quick! Get out!" Luo Ying''s scream pierced the air.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan''s eyes locked onto the scroll resting just beyond the vige''s threshold. "The scroll!" he bellowed.
Luo Ying followed his gaze, sensing the scroll''s significance. She swiftly pivoted and retrieved it.
In that very moment, a pallid, spectral hand emerged from behind Lu Yan, passing straight through his chest.
Without warning, a searing agony pierced Lu Yan''s chest. His gaze dropped, locking onto a hole in his chest.
Blood oozed out, a macabre rhythm of crimson droplets. Lu Yan''s eyes widened, his body refusing to obey, gradually tilting forward.
Behind him, the crimson-d girl remained still as death. In her grasp, she clutched a heart, still pulsating with life, its blood dripping steadily.
Outside the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, An Xing Yu took a step away, his eyes involuntarily locking onto the bewildering sight behind him.
Lu Yan... was gone?
He held the Pisces jade pendant in his trembling hand.
Just moments ago, as Luo Ying turned away, Lu Yan had discreetly tossed the jade pendant to him.
In his final breaths, Lu Yan had conveyed something, words unspoken but deeply understood.
An Xing Yu''s typically steady thoughts were now in tumult. He clutched the jade pendant close to his heart, a secret he kept from Luo Ying.
Luo Ying rushed over, her eyes scanning the young man before her, then fixating on his calf.
Chapter 74 Whats on the other side of the mountain?
Chapter 74 What''s on the other side of the mountain?
An Xing Yu stood frozen in ce, his nostrils overwhelmed by the acrid scent of blood. It took Luo Ying''s insistent tug to jolt him back to reality.
"You''re a devotee of the gods too?" Luo Ying eximed, her enthusiasm bubbling over as she rolled up her sleeve, revealing an identical crimson mark on her arm.
Once upon a time, An Xing Yu would have weed this revtion with excitement, but now, after witnessing Lu Yan''s tragic demise, he found himself plunged into a profound emotional abyss. All he could manage was a silent nod, unaware of the hypnotic grip Lu Yan had held over him. He had believed it was merely their close bond keeping him tethered.
"Hurry, let''s make our way to the forbidden area," Luo Ying urged, trying to pull him along.
"Wait, I''m taking him with us," An Xing Yu firmly shook off her grasp and moved toward Lu Yan.
The young girl in her crimson attire still lingered at the vige entrance, her sightless gaze locked onto An Xing Yu with eerie intensity. Her contorted face and flowing hair seemed almost otherworldly.
Yet, she couldn''ty a finger on An Xing Yu.
That was precisely why, when they attempted to escape to the outskirts, both Lu Yan and An Xing Yu found themselves inexorably drawn back into the confines of the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals. Her power didn''t extend beyond its borders.
With measured steps, An Xing Yu closed the distance between himself and Lu Yan. He crouched down, extending his arm to draw Lu Yan''s lifeless form nearer, then shouldered the lifeless man before turning to depart.
Luo Ying''s curiosity got the best of her. "What are you doing?"
An Xing Yu replied, "He has a backup strategy. He wants me to take him to the forbidden zone."
That was thest instruction Lu Yan had conveyed silently. However, An Xing Yu chose not to disclose the part about "finding Lin Chu." He now harbored deep suspicions about Luo Ying and couldn''t risk revealing the news that Lin Chu might still be alive.
Lin Chu hadn''t died. Could the same revival await Lu Yan?
Luo Ying''s brow furrowed, but An Xing Yu had already embarked on his journey with Lu Yan slung across his back. Words remained scarce, and so she matched his pace, walking alongside him.
"As fellow children of the gods, there''s no need for secrets," Luo Ying spoke up, her gaze momentarily softening. "Have you seen a jade pendant on Lu Yan? It''s shaped like two fish, swimming head to tail."
An Xing Yu was about to respond when an abrupt, agonizing pang pierced his mind. Instinctively, he adjusted his reply, "I saw it. Li Li took it away."
Luo Ying''s frustration radiated from her. She muttered under her breath before continuing, "I''m not so sure about that. Lu Yan, he''s quite cunning. We need to search him."
An Xing Yu squirmed ufortably at the idea, but his pragmatic side prevailed. To ease Luo Ying''s suspicions, he reluctantly ced Lu Yan''s lifeless body on the ground and prepared for the search.
Turning away, he noticed something unsettling. When Li Li had ripped out the enemy''s heart earlier, she inadvertently tore a piece of fabric from the chest area, dislodging a button and revealing a patch of pale skin beneath.
And there, on his body, a red mark!
This discovery plunged An Xing Yu into a deeper emotional turmoil.
Asrades bound by faith, concealing the truth from Luo Ying already vited their code of conduct. Yet, now, realizing that Lu Yan was also a believer, An Xing Yu found somefort in his actions.
Luo Ying''s perpetual smile lingered, casting an unsettling aura over those who saw it. Faced with An Xing Yu''s unchallenged words andcking substantial evidence to the contrary, she found herself with no option but to trust him.
"It looks like Li Li has gotten her hands on it. Now, we need to figure out how to snatch it back," Luo Ying muttered quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Their hushed conversation flowed as they delved deeper into the forest. The sky had surrendered to an inky darkness, turning the forest into an abyss. Luo Ying cautiously activated a shlight, using its beam to pierce the obsidian curtain that enveloped them.
What had once been a tranquil woond now exuded an aura of danger, as if the very essence of blood and the stench of decaying flesh clung to the air. But there was something more a distinct musky animal scent.
The shlight''s beam swept across the terrain, capturing a fleeting shadow. Nearby tree trunks bore witness to mysterious movements, apanied by a chorus of animal noisessqueaks and chirps.
A shiver crept along An Xing Yu''s spine as he suddenly felt a movement on his back.
He stiffened, every muscle in his body taut with tension, quickening his stride.
In that very moment, his thoughts darted to the elderly woman with her feline visage. It was the presence of a cat that had sparked her eerie transformation.
Could Lu Yan be undergoing a simr metamorphosis?
Dread clenched An Xing Yu''s heart. Despite their current alliance, he couldn''t deny Lu Yan''s formidable nature. If he experienced any transformation, he might turn as menacing as the malevolent spirits they aimed to evade.
Thankfully, after a series of disconcerting twitches on his back, Lu Yan''s body remained still, granting some relief.
Little did he realize, a dormant snake had just dropped from the tree,nding squarely on Lu Yan''s back. Stirred by the lingering warmth, the serpent slowly coiled itself around Lu Yan''s neck and perched on his shoulder.
Meanwhile, the figure on An Xing Yu''s back grew colder with each step.
"Come on, just a little further," Luo Ying urged, picking up her pace and silently hoping that An Xing Yu would agree to leave the body behind.
To her astonishment, he soldiered on, keeping up without showing any signs of faltering. Before long, they reached the outskirts of the forbidden area.
An Xing Yu, despite his regr workouts, was still just an underage high school student. Carrying a corpse for such a distance had drained him, and he was drenched in sweat. As they crossed the threshold into the forbidden area, an imposing presence seemed to hang in the air.
The question that hung in the back of An Xing Yu''s mind was: Who could it be?
He nced upward, but the only thing he saw was a series of stark white tombstones; the source of the gaze remained concealed.
They had brought the body into the forbidden area, but what came next?
Finally, An Xing Yu gently lowered the person to the ground. The small snake, now fully awake, followed the scent of blood and slithered down, finding its way into the wound on Lu Yan''s back.
The snake, its deep color, kept unnoticed by An Xing Yu. He blinked, a bit bewildered, and asked, "What''s our next move?"
Luo Ying responded, her gaze fixed on the distant hill. "We wait, patiently, for ourrades to join us before we embark on this journey into the depths of an ancient tomb." Her hand made a sweeping motion toward the looming hill.
An Xing Yu''s curiosity piqued as he pondered aloud, "Is this truly an ancient tomb?"
As she held up the scroll, Luo Ying couldn''t help but inquire, "By the way, you never told me what''s within this scroll."
Lu Yan''s decision to entrust the scroll to Luo Ying suggested ack of secrecy, prompting An Xing Yu to respond candidly, "The vige chief mentioned it''s a treasure map."
Luo Ying''s countenance shifted subtly. She quickly scanned their surroundings, then located a level surface and unfurled the aged parchment with a decisive shake.
"A treasure map... but where is the hidden treasure?" Her shlight''s beam illuminated the scroll.
An Xing Yu stepped closer, pointing out the intricate details to her.
Unbeknownst to them, in a quiet corner, Lu Yan''s chest rose and fell with anguid rhythm, as though his heart beat at a leisurely pace.
Suddenly, Luo Ying''s heightened senses tingled, and she cast an alert gaze around their surroundings. She whispered, "Did you hear that?"
An Xing Yu, puzzled at first, soon caught the faint sound as well.
A strange, eerie rustling emanated from the nearby left, as if something sinister were slithering toward them.
Luo Ying''s expression shifted. "It''s a snake! Let''s get out of here!" Without hesitation, she yanked him back. "Once someone''s gone, don''t linger. Just run!"
"Shouldn''t snakes be hibernating during the winter?" An Xing Yu whispered, his voice barely audible, yet he matched her pace as they dashed up the hillside.
...
Shortly afterward, hands emerged from the shadows, swiftly seizing Lu Yan''s lifeless form and swiftly retreating into the darkness.
...
As they distanced themselves from the eerie sound, An Xing Yu turned to Luo Ying with a curious expression. "Any word on when ourpanions will arrive?"
Luo Ying nced at the approaching New Year''s Day and replied, "They''re due to join us during the ancestral sacrifice."
"Speaking of which," An Xing Yu continued, "the vige chief mentioned something about this year being the sixtieth and a reincarnation. What''s that all about?"
"I''m not entirely sure. When I left, the bishop didn''t share much about the vige. He believed that the less we knew, the less we could be influenced or led astray. That''s why I''ve been waiting outside the vige, gathering information discreetly."
That exined why she required someone like Lu Yan for this investigative task.
An Xing Yu''s brow creased in confusion.
Reincarnation... What on earth did that even mean? What had transpired sixty years ago? Would they be left in suspense until the dreaded Ancestral Sacrifice Day? But with the entire vige imed by death, who would be left to carry out these solemn rituals?
Luo Ying, however, didn''t appear too worried. "Don''t worry. Tomorrow, we''ll have plenty ofpanions arriving to fulfill the ceremony."
*
*
Meanwhile, at the base of the mountain, a group of individuals dressed in crimson robes made their way forward with measured steps. The mountain''s icy breath tugged at their cloaks, and a gust of wind snatched one person''s hat away.
What sent shivers down spines was that when the hat fell, it revealed a skeleton underneath! The same eerie truth applied to the others in those crimson robes; beneath the shrouded brims of their hats, gleaming white skeletons lurked! This group in red robes was no longer among the living! Nevertheless, they clung steadfastly to their mission.
They had to... ascend the mountain.
*
*
Lin Chu moved carefully among the tombstones, examining each one with meticulous attention. She recorded every detail she came across: the names, surnames, birth and death years. The night enveloped thendscape in a shroud of darkness, concealing the stars and the moon. Yet, the tombstones emitted an eerie, ghostly white glow, making every word unmistakably visible.
As she continued her work, tiny beads of sweat formed on Lin Chu''s forehead. "No... How could this be?... Is it even possible?"
Lin Chu couldn''t trust her own eyes. Perhaps it was a trick of the mind, a mere illusion. It had to be!
However, she knew better than to jump to conclusions. There had already been far too many unexinable events. What mattered now was to scrutinize, discern patterns, and extract valuable insights.
With a deep breath, Lin Chu moved silently to another section.
Her movements were deft, slipping through the shadows unnoticed. Yet, this forbidden territory sprawled widely, and she had to cover a considerable distance to reach the next area.
As expected, her initial observation had been spot on.
Lin Chu took a deep breath, ready to uncover more.
Li Li harbored murderous intentions towards Lin Chu. In response, Lu Yan suggested a coboration, proposing to create an exact replica of her using the Pisces Jade Pendant''s powers. Despite lingering doubts about the pendant''s efficacy, she couldn''t afford to dwell on it at this moment. She dispatched her doppelgnger outside the vige to attend to some errands, but it wasn''t long before her duplicate was captured and brought back.
Facing death was a harrowing experience, especially when it ended with a grim soak in foul, murky water. Driven either by her own ravenous appetite or Li Li''s sinister powers, she pounced on the fish bait, rending it apart.
In this macabre scene, she bore witness to the birth of another version of herself. The tombstones surrounding this ancient burial site in both halves were eerily simr, save for a sixty-year gap in their respective times of death. It didn''t strike her as particrly unusual.
Could it really be sixty years of reincarnation?
Lin Chu pondered, the idea of a cycle linked to the vigers'' lives crossing her mind. Did they return every sixty years or something?
However, that theory didn''t quite resonate with Lin Chu.
"It appears we''ll need to wait until the ancestral ceremony," she mused. "I''m intrigued to see how the vige ns to orchestrate it."
She nced at the sky, oblivious to the grim events that had befallen the vige, and then checked her wristwatch.
The clock disyed just three or four in the afternoon, yet darkness had already engulfed the day. As time inched toward nightfall, they would soon confront the ultimate abyss.
Amidst the eerie tranquility of the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, solitude ruled supreme.
A young girl, adorned in a crimson gown, walked the deste vige path, heading back to Uncle Zhang''s dwelling. Her eyes gradually regained their usualposure, and the unsettling expression on her face began to ease. Strangely, the chilling aura surrounding her grew stronger, now several times more terrifying than before.
Stepping into Uncle Zhang''s house, she turned and ventured into the backyard, her gaze averted from the front gate.
This house held a unique position, nestled against the mountain''s rear. From here, the shadowy outline of the mountain dominated the encroaching night.
In the entire vige, only Uncle Zhang''s home dared to upy this terrain. Li Li had been its protector, warding off the malevolent forces from the mountain.
But now...
The little girl revealed a cute smile.
If Zhang Bo had been there, he would never have mistaken her for anyone else. She wasn''t Li Li; she was Zhang Bo''ste daughter, Zhang Hui Xuan! The twisty in the fact that when she had passed away, she was the same age and bore an uncanny resemnce to Li Li. She had even been dressed in the same crimson attire. This was the very reason the vigers had gotten it all wrong.
And so, she had deliberately chosen to target Zhang Bo''s family first. Even after all these years, there was no guarantee they wouldn''t recognize her. When that moment inevitably came and they sought refuge in their household deity, her escape would be significantly moreplicated.
In the yard, a young girl stood frozen in ce. In an instant, the neighboring houses underwent a grotesque transformation, as if decades had vanished in the blink of an eye. Then, with a deafening crash, the houses crumbled!
Simultaneously, as these structures fell, the air around them turned bitterly cold in an instant.
An intensely eerie and bone-chilling aura began to seep slowly from the ruins, like the gradual awakening of some monstrous force.
*
*
"Do you think we''re headed in the right direction, ording to the treasure map?"
Deep within the forbidden territory, Luo Ying and An Xing Yu had ascended several levels, the eerie silence broken only by the shuffling of their footsteps. Luo Ying unfurled the aged parchment once more, scrutinizing its contents beneath the feeble beam of a shlight.
In her other hand, she clutched a small mirror, diligently tracing the cryptic instructions given by An Xing Yu.
After a brief pause, An Xing Yu finally acquiesced with a nod.
Luo Ying''s brow furrowed in contemtion. "It doesn''t quite add up," she remarked, her voice tinged with perplexity. "If they merely intended to safeguard a secret, why go through the trouble of encoding it in reverse? All one would need is to reflect it in a mirror, and the truth would beid bare, wouldn''t it?"
Could it be possible that the vige chief had never gazed into a mirror throughout all these years? Luo Ying couldn''t fathom that the treasure map would make the secret so readily discoverable.
"What do you think is amiss?"
Luo Ying couldn''t quite put her finger on it. Something felt decidedly off, a shiver down her spine. "It''s hard to say, but something just doesn''t feel right."
Carefully, she stowed away the mirror, letting the shlight''s beam pierce the darkness. "Consider this, if we leave it unturned, where does the fox''s tail lead?"
Beneath the mirrored surface, the mountains held their enigma, revealing forbidden scenes when viewed conventionally. Yet, when you dared to gaze without the flip...
An Xing Yu retraced his steps in thought, crafting a mental aerial map of the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, as if solving a geometry puzzle.
The tail''s trajectory pinpointed a secluded courtyard nestled deep within the lush, emerald woods. At first nce, it appeared as a tiny abyss, nestled against the imposing mountains.
Zhang Bos house! An Xing Yu eximed, his eyes widening as he realized where the foxs tail was pointing.
"Zhang Bo?"
Thats where the vige guardian fairy, Li Li, lives. Shes Zhang Bos granddaughter. He quickly did some mental calctions, frowning at the implications.
So that was it The portraits mirrored image was a red herring. It only revealed the map when flipped over, with the foxs tail indicating the center of the forbidden area. But to find the true location, one had to look at the original image before mirroring it.
He felt an urge to share this discovery with Lu Yan, then remembered that Lu Yan was already dead. But he couldnt shake the feeling that this somewhat eerie man couldnt have died so easily.
Luo Ying smiled, brushing off his gloomy mood. Well split up once our people get here at dawn. She said.
Unbeknownst to them, a young woman had been squatting nearby, eavesdropping on their conversation.
Lin Chu circled back and spotted them. She recognized An Xing Yu but not the woman beside him. So she decided to lurk in the shadows and ended up catching some valuable information.
The darkness of the night worked in her favor.
"But what about Lu Yan?" Lin Chu muttered to herself, crouching low to keep watch. "Who are these people, anyway?"
An Xing Yu seemed to have a hidden identity.
Luo Ying gave him some orders and more details, then they hunkered down and waited for dawn.
Downhill, in a corner that none of them had seen, a shadow started to dig up a grave. The tombstone had the name and dates of the dead person. It looked like a boy named Zhang, who was five or six years old when he died.
The dirt piled up until a small coffin showed up. It was upside down. The shadow paused, then reached down and pulled it out.
The moment the coffin moved, the girl in the red dress in the vige whipped her head around. Her face twisted with hate and rage. Her empty eyes seemed to cut through space and re at the intruder in the off-limits area.
The shadow took off the tombstone and got out some tools. They scraped off the old name and carved a new oneZhang Hui Xuan.
The dark clouds parted slightly, allowing the moon to cast its glow upon the face hidden in the shadows. It was none other than Lu Yan.
With determined resolve, he overturned the coffin, widening and deepening the hole before gently cing the coffin back in its resting ce and covering it with earth. Uncertainty loomed, but he believed in the wisdom of doing more rather than less when the stakes were high.
After the earth settled, he turned his attention to a lifeless figure beside him. This figure bore a striking resemnce to Lu Yan, a hole gaping in its chest where life had once thrived. Yet, something stirred within its heart, a subtle presence that eluded Lu Yan''s perception.
Unfazed, he set to work on another grave, positioned just a short distance from the previous one. The tools he had brought from the vige proved their worth, the soft soil yielding to his efforts. Before long, he hadid his own lifeless body to rest in the freshly dug grave.
His gaze shifted to a distant point, his mind consumed by a singr question: How could he get the jade pendant back from An Xing Yu without Luo Ying knowing?
All these actions, he pondered, would truly be enough to earn Zhang Hui Xuan''s mercy?
As the minutes stretched into hours, Lu Yan found sce by the graveside. He closed his eyes, seeking a moment of respite, as he awaited the stroke of midnight.
A sense of foreboding hung in the air as the year drew to a close, an eerie undercurrent beneath the surface.
With the dawn of the new year came the time-honored tradition of paying homage to ancestors and gods. Six decades of reincarnation and the enigma of the monster lurking in the back mountain weighed heavily on Lu Yan''s mind.
Lu Yan felt like he had missed something, or maybe he had been fooled by the weirdness, making him ignore some odd things.
''What did I overlook?''
Midnight inched closer, and the world fell into an eerie silence, a stark contrast to the chaotic events that had unfolded.
Suddenly, Lu Yan was seized by an overwhelming palpitation, a fear that transcended humanprehension, causing his entire body to tremble uncontrobly. He understood that fear was upon him, but the nature of this impending terror remained shrouded in uncertainty.
Was it the presence of ghosts? Or something far more sinister?
Soon, Lu Yan discerned an intriguing sound emanating from the ground beneath his feet. It wasn''t a mere illusion; the mountain itself was undergoing a subtle but unmistakable tremor. Its immense grandeur dwarfed the humans gathered before it, rendering them mere spectators as the colossal peaks and ridges stirred from their slumber, setting in motion an enigmatic mechanism. Even the most minor of movements could not be dismissed by those present.
Having already climbed higher, Lin Chu stood there, transfixed by the unfolding spectacle. Yet it wasn''t just the ground beneath them; a distant, ominous mountain also seemed to awaken and shift.
What in the world was unfolding before their eyes?
All four of them were left utterly astounded, grappling with the unbelievable nature of the phenomenon.
Meanwhile, within Zhang Bo''s humble abode, a young girl crouched down, her chin resting in her hands, her eyes devoid of pupils, fixated on the mountain range in the distance. It rotated slowly, shedding rocks, dust, and dry branches in the process. Gradually,rger boulders tumbled down, their erratic paths sometimes passing through the ethereal form of the young girl before hurtling toward the vige below.
Every sixty years, the earth dragon stirred, causing the mountains to shift. Whatevery concealed on the other side of this mountain was on the brink of revealing itself.
In the forbidden territory, all four of them sought refuge. Lin Chu resolved to sprint to the peak of the cave entrance, poised to leap if need be.
Simultaneously, Lu Yan ascended with a parallel intent concerning the cave''s entrance. The mountain itself seemed to undergo a gradual rotation, its ultimate oue veiled in mystery. Thus, discretion prevailed as the wisest course of action.
Meanwhile, Luo Ying and An Xing Yu raced with all their might.
"What lies beyond this mountain?"
"I cannot say for certain, but one thing''s clearit''s a force not to confront head-on."
The ground continued to tremble beneath their feet, the mountains quaking in response. It wasn''t an earthquake; this disturbance emanated from the mountain''s rear.
In that very moment, an unshakeable intuition gripped them allwhen that entity emerged, a grisly fate would befall them.
In the Heavenly Immortals Vige, within Zhang Bo''s residence, a transformation urred. The girl donned a smile, sinister and eerie, an eerie contrast to her cute and innocent countenance. Her lips, a vivid shade of crimson, stretched almost ear to ear, casting a disconcerting visage.
As the overwhelming terror mounted, something atst began to manifest from that end.
One by one, shadowy figures, cloaked in funeral attire, their visages concealed, materialized from the heart of the mountain. They gathered in eerie silence along the mountain path, each of them bathed in a ghastly crimson, their countenances in a state of decay.
In solemn procession, these figures stood in immacte alignment upon the moonless mountain road, nearly merging with the shroud of darkness enveloping them. Their numbers appeared boundless at a mere nce, leaving the exact count elusive.
In unison, they raised their heads andmenced a deliberate descent toward the mountain''s base. Their measured pace indicated that, as this mountainpleted its rotation, they would soon depart from its confines and rejoin the realm of the living.
At the mountain''s foot, the young girl''s scarlet gown assumed an even more striking hue, seemingly on the brink of dripping with blood. The darkest of nights failed to obscure its vivid crimson. Her coal-ck eyes bore witness to the unfolding spectacle, brimming with resentment, while her lips curled into a malevolent smile.
Chapter 75 You lied
Chapter 75 You lied
Time crept by, as if reluctant to unveil the impending dread.
Upon the mountain path, a dreadful gathering of wicked ghosts loomed ahead, their faces hidden under decaying skin and clotted gore. The wind howled and whipped their burial cloths, making them seem like they could vanish any moment, but they kept moving forward with a grim resolve. The endless horde stretched beyond sight, its end lost in the shadows.
At longst, the vanguard malevolent spirit breached the vige''s threshold.
Unbeknownst to Lu Yan and hispanions, the dire forebodings they had harbored were not without cause. If they stayed in the vige, they would face a terrible fate. It was a danger that would be unleashed when the evil spirits, imprisoned in the hintends, were set free.
Escape was an impossibility, a truth that held true for all.
With each advancing step, the lead malevolent spirit began a subtle transformation. By the time he reached a young girl, his ghastly countenance had wholly morphed into that of an ordinary person.
Had Lu Yan and herrades been present, they would have been astounded to find that this malevolent spirit bore an uncanny resemnce to Yan Guang Yao.
Simultaneously, the lifeless body of Yan Guang Yao, who had met his demise in the vige, stirred with a deliberate, spectral purpose.
One after another, malevolent ghosts with decaying faces emerged from the mountains, followed by the gradual reanimation of vigers who ascended from the vige depths. They all converged toward the hintends.
Time meandered along, as if reluctant to pass, until it appeared as though the entire vige had returned from the beyond. Save for their pallidplexions, they now bore the semnce of ordinary folk.
d in burial attire, they moved at a deliberate pace, each retracing their path to their own home. It was their curse; even in death, they remained bound by it, transforming into malevolent revenants.
The vige, it seemed, had settled back into its former peace.
*
*
In the forbiddennd, a rising sense of panic gripped them, leaving them uncertain about their next steps.
An Xing Yu and Lin Chu were acutely aware of the necessity of performing the ancestral rites, yet without the guidance of the vigers, they found themselves in the dark. They could only specte: Were there specific items required for the ceremony?
Moreover, the enigmatic words of Yan Guang Yao perplexed them further.
Beneath their feet, the ground trembled incessantly, devoid of any discernible pattern or rhythm. The relentless quakes made it a challenge to maintain their bnce, and even the tombstones teetered precariously.
The darkness around them deepened, night hadpletely fallen, but the remaining four inside the forbidden area, apart from checking their watches, had lost all sense of time passing. Looking up, they couldn''t see any stars or the moon; looking down, it was pitch-ck earth and eerie tombstones. Even their own shadows couldn''t be seen by others.
Lin Chu was still moving upwards, documenting tombstones along the way.
An Xing Yu shared the same sense of panic that had gripped Luo Ying, who remained fixated on the painting.
"We should head back to the vige," Luo Ying muttered to herself, her thoughts wandering. "I may not fully understand your dedication to ancestor worship, but if it''s that crucial... Once the ceremony is done, you must return with me. We need to investigate Zhang Bo''s house..."
Her true motive was to uncover the vige''s hidden treasure.
An Xing Yu replied earnestly, "If we go back, ''she''''ll be there."
The prospect of encountering the sinister child, who was, in reality, a malevolent ghost lurking in the vige, left Luo Ying feeling apprehensive and uncertain about their course of action.
"Is there any way we can force her to leave the vige?" Luo Ying asked, her hope tinged with doubt. It was evident to her that, for some inexplicable reason, the ghost remained trapped within.
"I don''t know," An Xing Yu admitted.
Their missions always unfolded in this perplexing manner. As they neared their conclusion, the rules became increasingly bizarre and inscrutable, making it challenging to find any semnce of logic. This time, it seemed the rules had undergone yet another transformation, possibly due to the discovery of the treasure map. They had ventured into the forbidden territory without any vigers to guide them, exacerbating their confusion.
An Xing Yu pondered, "What''s the purpose of that treasure? Do we really need to return to the vige?" What he truly meant was whether they could continue their exploration of the tombs.
Luo Ying replied, Yes, the graveyard is too risky. Even with the map we have now, we cant be sure well be safe.
Thus, despite the knowledge that the ancient tomb might still hold further treasures, they had no choice but to await the arrival of theirpanions.
But then, Luo Yings role would be small, and would the gods even notice her? She felt a bit restless but had no other option.
Unbeknownst to her, on the other side, Lu Yan grappled with simr thoughts.
He had discerned that the little girl was not Li Li.
Li Li had sported shorter hair, always neatly braided. So, despite the striking resemnce between the little girl and Li Li, including their matching attire, he could distinguish the distinction.
Recalling Li Li''s words, "Let Auntie borrow my clothes," Lu Yan dared to make a bold conjecture.
Beneath the cloak of the inky night, what eluded his notice was the eerie and bone-chilling aura oozing from the freshly unearthed grave he had just revealed. Slowly, it seeped into the nearby soil.
In due time, the supple earth began to stir.
A pale, clearly male hand came out of the soil, rising slowly from below.
The earth shifted, revealing a human shape, which then got up, shaking off chunks of dirt that showed a white face.
Unbeknownst to the other four individuals, each lost in contemtion of their present dilemma, pondering the means to navigate their predicament within the forbidden territory, an evil spirit had indeed reawakened nearby.
Lu Yan hastened his stride. Once his suspicions were confirmed, he ascended the hill, with the expectation that An Xing Yu, Luo Ying, and Lin Chu would follow suit in due course.
He eagerly anticipated their reunion.
The first person he encountered was Lin Chu.
Having grown ustomed to a life shrouded in perpetual darkness due to past harrowing experiences, Lu Yan discerned Lin Chu''s silhouette in the darkness and gently patted her shoulder. She jumped, momentarily startled, but soon regained herposure upon recognizing Lu Yan''s voice.
Without much ado, they cut to the chase.
Lin Chu inquired, "Have you inspected these tombstones? I took a closer look and stumbled upon something intriguing."
Lu Yan responded with curiosity, "What''s so intriguing?" He felt a danger in the back hills and hadnt explored the forbidden area fully, so he didnt know what Lin Chu had found.
In the dimness, Lin Chu gestured toward the graves. "These here are only half of them. The other half lies on the opposite side. Moreover, all these tombstones are identical, except for the birth and death years. The tombstones are all the same," Lin Chu marveled, struggling to grasp the reality of it. "I mean, not just the names, but the spaces between them too. And the birth and death dates, they''re all exactly sixty years apart."
Lu Yan''s voice held astonishment. "Are you implying..."
Did this eerie symmetry among the tombstones also imply identical upants within?
Sixty years...
His mind raced back to Yan Guang Yao''s words, the sixty-year cycle, and he shared this revtion with Lin Chu.
"Reincarnation..." Lin Chu murmured, her head bowed in deep thought.
Their conversation continued as they ascended the hill.
The air chilled further, but they had grown ustomed to it, standing in the numbing cold.
Not far ahead, a final circle of tombstones encircled the burial mound.
Lu Yan pointed ahead. "Did you saw that hole/cave as you crossed to the other side?"
"I did. It''s identical, even in size," Lin Chu affirmed.
Lu Yan suddenly drew a parallel. "It''s like those Pisces jade pendants, isn''t it?"
Lu Yan found himself wrestling with mixed emotions concerning the jade pendant.
If Luo Ying''s ims held true, the Pisces jade pendant didn''t duplicate, but rather had the power to transport one''s future self to the past.
Zhang Hui Xuan had murdered his future self right at the vige entrance. Lu Yan couldn''t fathom how distant this future self existed. If they failed in their mission, would he, at some point in the future, be yanked back to the past and meet the same fate?
Xie Zi Qing''s unexpected demise inclined him to suspect Zhang Hui Xuan''s involvement. He decided to share this suspicion with Lin Chu, ensuring she remained vignt.
Lin Chu delved into contemtion.
Time was slipping through their fingers.
Suddenly, faint voices resonated from nearby.
Lu Yan swiftly identified the speaker it was Luo Ying.
With an air of jubtion, Luo Ying updated An Xing Yu, "Our reinforcements have arrived, stationed right at the vige entrance."
An Xing Yu asked, "Should we invite them to the forbidden area?"
Luo Ying countered with a shake of her head, "No, they''re... Well, they''lle to the vige for the treasure."
Treasure. An Xing Yu tightened his grip on the Pisces jade pendant concealed in his pocket, carefully wrapping it in a fragment of cloth torn from his trousers, just in case it decided to duplicate himself.
Could this object also be part of the treasure?
Should he surrender it?
As he mulled over his options, a sharp, cold wind swept through the surroundings. An Xing Yu looked up, and in the distance, he could faintly make out two hazy figures. Without dy, he reached out and tugged at Luo Ying''s sleeve, signaling her to pay attention.
Luo Ying, too, spotted the figures, and their caution escted.
Who could it be?
Who else had ventured into the forbidden area?
An Xing Yu contemted, wondering if one of them could be Lin Chu. But what about the other?
They refrained from making any noise and decelerated their pace to avoid detection. However, as time passed, An Xing Yu couldn''t shake the feeling that something was amiss behind them.
Simultaneously, Lu Yan shifted his gaze downward. His keen eyesight revealed distinct figures below, but there was a twist in the tale - three figures?
Who could the mysterious third person be?
"Move aside!" An Xing Yu''s shout pierced the air, forcefully pushing Luo Ying out of harm''s way as he agilely evaded himself.
What lurked behind them was a corpse, grotesquely transformed. But wasn''t it said that revenants couldn''t manifest within this forbidden domain? Why then this anomaly?
An Xing Yu had no time to ponder these perplexities; his cry immediately alerted Lin Chu above. "Did you hear that? An Xing Yu''s voice is he in trouble?"
Lu Yan''s gaze settled firmly upon the gruesome visage of that corpse, a revtion that left him dumbfounded.
It was an undeniable mirror image of himself!
An Xing Yu sprinted upward, all while Lin Chu''s voice urged him to hasten.
"I never thought revenants could appear here," Lin Chumented, undeterred by the risk of exposing herself. She turned to Lu Yan and added, "I can''t see it clearly, but the way that corpse is pursuing us reminds me of the cat-faced olddy I encountered once."
Lu Yan''s emotions churned withplexity. His brow furrowed abruptly. "Have you noticed the trembling? It seems to be slowing down," he remarked.
"Did you?" Lin Chu paused to sense the vibrations, scanning her surroundings in an attempt to make aparison. However, her efforts proved futile. Yet, as soon as Lu Yan brought it up, she indeed felt the change.
"Could this mean the anomaly is subsiding?" Lin Chu''s optimism shone through. "But why does it feel like it''s getting colder? It''s quite peculiar."
Lu Yan, too, sensed the encroaching chill.
An Xing Yu, determined not to burden others, led the transformed revenant downward, hoping to lose it amidst the intricacies of the forbidden area. However, he was astounded as he ventured deeperthe palpitations within him grew stronger, as if his heart might burst from his chest.
Intuition warned him that he couldn''t proceed any farther.
Or else, he would meet certain death!
Just then, the ground''s tremors abruptly ceased.
All four of them swayed momentarily before regaining their footing.
Subsequently, a faint light began to grace the horizon, a sliver of daylight piercing through the chaotic darkness.
In the dim glow, all four of them gradually widened their eyes.
Where the bloody hell were they?!
Beneath their feet, the forbidden area persisted, surrounded by undting hills, but thendscape had undergone a bewildering transformation. It was as if they, along with the very ground they stood on, had been transported by some magical force. The colossal forbidden area nowy ensconced within the encircling mountains.
An Xing Yu''s intuition had proved uncannily urate.
On a neighboring peak, not too distant from the forbidden zone, along a serpentine mountain trail, the deceased vigers stood in eerie silence. Should he continue down this path, he''d collide headlong into them.
One after another, their visages so ravaged that their identities were nearly indecipherable, the bodies adorned in the vigers'' attire formed an eerie, unbroken line along the mountain road.
What in zes was this ce? How had the vigers'' corpses all ended up here?
An Xing Yu and the others, in unison, made this spine-chilling discovery, and they collectively gasped in shock.
Simultaneously, An Xing Yu swiveled around, locking eyes with the cadaver not far behind him. Despite the pallor of its lifeless gaze and the faint traces of decay on its visage, still bearing remnants of mud, An Xing Yu could readily identify it from the clothing and its somewhat familiar featuresit was Lu Yan.
Lin Chu prodded herpanion with a questioning look, her words barely more than a whisper, "How do we even begin to exin this to An Xing Yu?" Two Lu Yans, one of them dead.
As for Luo Ying, she believed the other party had no intention of engaging with her.
Lu Yan shook his head, "First, we need to figure out what to do now."
With a swarm of revenants encircling them, escaping seemed impossible.
Lu Yan''s eyes darted toward the concealed thieves'' tunnel.
Coincidentally, Lin Chu entertained the same notion.
Luo Ying had inched closer, and An Xing Yu trailed behind, breathless from his sprint. In the distance, an unending horde of revenants awaited.
The noxious, frigid odor wafted towards them.
Lin Chu''s resolve solidified. "There''s no room for hesitation here. We''ve hit a dead end above ground. Our best shot is to explore the depths and seek any clues rted to the ancestral ritual," she dered, her voice determined, a hint of audacity in her smile. "It''s just a curse, right? Little bit of fur and ws. What''s there to fear?"
From her waist pouch, she extracted a slender rope, securing one end to the tunnel''s edge. With gloved hands, she grasped the rope and initiated her descent. "I''ll go first, and you all follow suit."
Lu Yan sighed and signaled to Luo Ying, urging him to follow. With no time for deliberation, Luo Ying seized the rope and descended. Observing his descent, Lu Yan motioned for An Xing Yu to return his jade pendant to him.
As their eyes met, An Xing Yu nodded sleepily and handed over the jade pendant.
Lu Yan carefully set the two jade pendants side by side, securing them within a piece of cloth. "You go down first; I''ve got your back."
A malevolent ghost drew perilously near, now just a mere ten meters away.
An Xing Yu wasted no time on niceties. He seized the rope and leaped into the abyss, with Lu Yan stealing a final nce at the malevolent spirit that bore an uncanny resemnce before joining him.
The first sensation that enveloped them was absolute darkness and a bone-chilling dampness that seeped into their very bones.
They''d been descending for what felt like an eternity, and there was still no inkling of reaching the bottom. The depths of this tomb remained a mystery, shrouded in uncertainty.
Then, abruptly, the sole beam of light from above was swallowed by darkness.
Lu Yan nced up and found a face mirroring his own at the cave entrance.
From its chest, a tiny snake slithered forth, hissing and then coiling around the figure''s neck.
Contemting the vige chief''s mother and Mrs. Li, Lu Yan sensed he grasped the reason behind his body turning into a revenant.
The revenant stood at the cave''s entrance, neither hinting at a leap inside nor nning to leave.
Luo Ying called up from below, "Have you reached the bottom yet?"
To which Lin Chu replied, "I''m not certain, but it feels like there''s more to descend."
Momentster, Lin Chu eximed, "Oh dear, we''ve exhausted the rope."
Lu Yan offered, "I still have some here; catch it and secure a knot."
He unwound the rope with one hand and extracted a coiled metal one from his pocket. After unraveling it, he lowered it down with care.
An Xing Yu and Luo Ying assisted in passing it along, and once Lin Chu had a firm grip on the rope below, she continued her descent.
"Ah, by the way," Lin Chu remarked, "this seems a bit unnecessary... I just touched the ground."
Had she known, she might have simply leaped down, couldn''t she have?
Regardless of the circumstances, their arrival was a relief. Lin Chu shifted aside and activated her shlight. Silently, Luo Ying descended alongside her, followed by An Xing Yu and Lu Yan.
With everyone gathered below, Lin Chu aimed her shlight upward, illuminating the figure at the entrance.
"Lu Yan, you have a stalker," Lin Chu dered with a touch of dark humor.
Her attempt at levity fell t among herpanions. Lin Chu shrugged, then surveyed their surroundings.
It was an expanse of emptiness, the ground beneath soft and damp. Regardless of the direction their shlights probed, the darkness seemed to swallow the beams, rendering the distant reaches inscrutable.
Beneath the cloak of darkness, a damp chill permeated the air, apanied by an ancient, weathered scent wafting from an indeterminate source.
Yet, they encountered no immediate abnormalities.
"So, which way should we proceed?" Lin Chu had brought a plethora of supplies. She shivered as she retrieved apass, only to find the needle spinning wildly, rendering it utterly useless. She voiced her quandary.
The others exchanged uncertain nces, equally incapable of reaching a decision.
Lu Yan suddenly interjected, "Luo Ying, unfurl the scroll."
Since it was, after all, a treasure map, it might contain valuable clues.
Prompted by his reminder, Luo Ying promptly spread out the scroll.
The depiction of immortals riding upon clouds and mists still adorned it. In the midst of the darkness, it seemed to exude an altered aura.
"Wait a moment, Lin Chu, try turning off the shlight," An Xing Yu suggested.
He happened to be standing on the back of the scroll, and during the earlier flicker of light, he believed to have glimpsed different lines etched upon it.
Lin Chu clicked off the shlight and Luo Ying unfurled the scroll.
The cave entrance remained utterly shrouded in darkness, obstructed by the dead body. Drawing closer, the quartet huddled together, and gradually, faint fluorescent lines emerged on the reverse side of the scroll.
"Oho.." Lin Chu gasped.
The lines became clearer and made a picture in the dark.
It was yet another map!
The vige chief had disyed it in the room for days, never suspecting hidden markings on the scroll''s back. Yan Guang Yao, on the other hand, had shown keen interest in the artwork, yet he had assumed his position only recently and had gleaned only a few hints from the vige chief, suggesting it might be an ancestral treasure map.
All four of them stared, unblinking.
The glow showed an undergroundyout, centered around the theft hole, forming the character "" (ji). To the easty the main burial chamber, nked by expansive sacrificial burial areas, smaller tomb chambers scattered along the path, a chariot and horse burial site, and more.
In contrast, the westward route led to an extended burial passage, with a notation on the map: "Unexplored Area."
"Now, where should we go?"
This question, though seemingly redundant given their prior exploration of the east, magnified the looming uncertainty of the uncharted west.
They copied every detail of the map again, making sure they didnt miss anything. Lin Chu turned on the shlight again, and they decided where to go. They walked slowly to the east.
As they advanced, the corpse at the cave''s entrance stirred to life. It tumbled, crashing heavily to the earth, followed by a resounding thud.
Lin Chu, leading the way, turned to the group. "Did anyone else hear that?"
Moments earlier, a distinct "thud" had echoed from behind them, but no source was visible.
Herpanions had indeed heard it too. However, upon ncing back, they found nothing amiss, prompting them to resume their forward march.
Luo Ying upied the second spot, trailed by An Xing Yu, with Lu Yan guarding the rear.
Lu Yan''s gaze slid to the map behind Luo Ying. He lowered his eyes, veiling thetent malice in his eyes.
Unbeknownst to him, Luo Ying had concealed certain capabilities within the Pisces Jade Pendant.
When an item was copied, the original item drew the copy to itself by a natural force. The force grew stronger as they came closer. In the first trial, the copied white mice followed the original white mice by instinct, and they struggled more to escape the cage when they were near. When they were far away, the copies quieted down.
Lu Yans worry came from the fear of his body being taken by Zhang Hui Xuan, so he asked An Xing Yu to bring him to the forbiddennd. But hecked some information, and when his body changed and felt the pull from him because they were close, it caused trouble.
At present, that very entity was drawing nearer, unbeknownst to Lu Yan.
None among them know the true nature of their surroundings. The treasure map outlined two identical routes, omitting any differences. Thus, they advanced cautiously, overlooking a crucial detailthe terrain had undergone a dramatic shift, turning left to right. Consequently, they were unwittingly venturing into the uncharted western recesses of the burial chamber.
Chapter 76: Murals and Rivers of Blood
Chapter 76: Murals and Rivers of Blood
Behind them, a revenant trailed along at a sluggish pace.
Lin Chu inquired, "Is anyone here knowledgeable about archaeology? Can you provide any insights into the era of these graves?"
An Xing Yu responded, "Yu Huan had some knowledge; his cousin was an archaeologist." But he was already dead.
Lu Yan remained silent. Despite his venture into various fields, including archaeology, he found himself unable to decipher the unique characteristics of this burial site, leaving him perplexed.
They found themselves in a dimly lit, serpentine passage, with bricks and tiles interlocked so seamlessly that not even a thin de could find purchase. They had been navigating this subterraneanbyrinth for quite some time, yet the small sacrificial burial site marked on the map continued to elude them.
Tension hung in the air like a thick fog.
Initially reserved, Lin Chu gradually became more talkative as minutes stretched into hours. Her primary focus was on Lu Yan and Luo Ying, paying less attention to An Xing Yu. She felt that An Xing Yu, despite being fellow Taskers, shared a deeper connection with Lu Yan and Luo Ying.
While she wasn''t overly concerned about Luo Ying, the mention of a "god" piqued her curiosity. Did this world truly have gods? If not, how had someone like Luo Ying managed to survive? These questions puzzled her.
The atmosphere grew progressively thinner, and their breaths weakened without notice.
Lin Chu couldn''t help but ask once more, "Are we absolutely certain about the map''s uracy? Even with a small-scale map, we should have reached a burial pit by now, shouldn''t we?"
Engaged in conversation, they rounded a corner and cast their shlight''s beam onto a tomb chamber door of notably lighter hue. Upon a secondparison with the map, it appeared to be a smaller apanying burial pit. The chamber door stood tightly sealed, adorned with faded murals that defied easy deciphering. All they could discern were a few twisted figures and an array of unfamiliar characters.
"These grand tombs often held many individuals interred alongside the primary upant, likely a noble of high standing in ancient times. Regrettably, the dynasty eludes us in these inscriptions," An Xing Yu remarked casually, though he directed the question to Lu Yan and Luo Ying.
Luo Ying shook her head. "I can''t identify this script."
Lu Yan also conceded his ignorance. While he had explored various ancient scripts, the peculiar hieroglyphics before them boasted numerous gracefully flowing strokes and aplex yet aesthetically pleasing design, rendering them impossible to categorize.
It was as though... they originated from another world.
"Perhaps we should document this and discuss it outside?" Lin Chu suggested, readying her camera for photographs.
Strangely, her camera failed to capture anything, even when aimed directly at the wall; the resulting photos turned out nk. Lin Chu refused to be discouraged and attempted to transcribe the script with a pen, but her efforts proved futile.
She then sought tomit it to memory, but her typically sharp recollection betrayed her. Regardless of how she examined it or tried to retain it, whenever she looked away and tried to recall the characters, her mind drew a nk.
The same perplexing experience befell the others.
Luo Ying''s face was drained of color. "No... this can''t be..."
Incapable of recognition, recollection, or recitation... could this indeed be the fabled script of the gods? Anguage beyond the grasp of humanity.
No! She''d never believe this!
Lu Yan understood the source of her emotional turmoil but opted to disregard it. He scrutinized the writing again, searching for hidden patterns.
While concentrating, he found it increasingly challenging to avert his gaze. The characters transformed into ethereal musical notes, weaving a haunting, subtle melody that filled their ears. Gradually, the trio moved closer to the mural, drawn in by its enchantment.
The lone sentinel, remaining vignt, was Lu Yan.
In stark contrast to the others, who sumbed to the song''s allure upon hearing it, Lu Yan was suddenly snapped out of his trance.
This melody, these lyrics, they were all too familiar!
Why were they here as well?
Lu Yan didn''t have the luxury of pondering multiple questions. Swiftly, he closed his eyes and reached out to pull An Xing Yu away.
An Xing Yu, rudely awakened from his tranquil state, erupted in anger. He fought with frenzied determination, as if possessed, relentlessly advancing towards the mural.
Using his other hand, Lu Yan forcefully pushed Lin Chu, who was dangerously close to reaching the mural, causing her to tumble to the ground.
"My painting..." Lin Chu continued to murmur even after being pushed down.
But Lu Yan couldn''t allow them to persist.
If anything supernatural happened here, it would undoubtedly spell trouble.
Lu Yan dragged An Xing Yu farther away, knocked him out, and then returned to deal with Lin Chu in the same manner.
In reality, Lu Yan faced a straightforward yet daunting choice to escape this predicament: he could resolve it by eliminating An Xing Yu and Lin Chu. The termination of the final tasker would mark the mission''s end, providing him with a brief respite.
However, at this very moment, these two individuals emerged as the most usfull taskers he had ever encountered. It was crucial to devise a way to protect their lives.
Historically, he had managed to do so, but it remained a grim reality that nearly every tasker he had ced under hypnosis had met their demise during missions. The presence of undisclosed variables couldn''t be ruled out.
Then, a recent revtion came to light...
A shadow cast over Lu Yan''s expression.
After pulling Lin Chu and An Xing Yu to the side, he turned to see Luo Ying approaching the wall.
Her hand extended, blending seamlessly with the surface.
Lu Yan stood in stunned silence before rushing forward, determined to pull her out.
But...
*
*
Upon awakening once more, Lin Chu found herself in the same inky darkness of the thome.
A quick shake of her head left her heart suddenly aflutter. "What''s happening? What just happened to me?"
The memory of an eerie, haunting song lingered, and as her gaze settled upon the wall, a shiver traced down her spine.
"I think I heard someone singing..."
"You heard correctly," whispered Lu Yan''s voice from behind, sending a chill down Lin Chu''s spine. "That wall, it''s beyond strange."
"What about An Xing Yu and Luo Ying?" Lin Chu inquired, her eyes falling upon An Xing Yu nearby, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.
"I almost fell under its spell myself, but I snapped out of it just in time and knocked you both out. However, when I regained consciousness, I found Luo Ying..." Lu Yan''s words trailed off as the shlight''s beam fell upon the wall.
Lin Chu vaguely remembered that the wall had disyed only five shadowy figures before, yet now, alongside those five contorted forms, there stood another distinct silhouette in pitch ck.
She gaped in disbelief.
"This is way too eerie. I thought this ce was safe."
Well, perhaps it was never safe from the beginning. Had there been no signs of strangeness when they ventured into the tomb?
Lin Chu reached up to touch the smooth, inhuman fur on her face, her confusion mounting.
Then, at that very moment, faint footsteps echoed not far away.
"Who''s there?" demanded Lu Yan, his voice sharp as he turned abruptly.
The shlight''s beam swept across, revealing clothing identical to his own.
As the light beam moved up, it unveiled a face nearly identical to his own, save for one unsettling distinctionit was unmistakably not the face of the living. The skin had a pallid, bluish hue, and its eerie green eyes glinted with a metallic sheen, featuring vertical pupils. At the corner of its lips, two pointed teeth protruded.
A faint hiss escaped from its pale lips.
Compared to a living corpse, it resembled more of a serpent, and upon closer examination, tiny, densely packed scales adorned its skin.
"Oh, bloody hell! Isn''t that your revenant?" Lin Chu eximed, leaping to her feet and bolting forward. "Run!"
Lu Yan hoisted An Xing Yu onto his shoulder and followed suit.
Behind them, the corpse began to move, its steps deliberate. Though its pace was slow, with each stride, it closed the gap between itself and Lu Yan.
The closer it drew, the stronger the pull became.
It had found them.
It appeared that after rounding the initial corner, they had stumbled upon more twists and turns. Lin Chu sprinted around one, and when Lu Yan caught up, the girl''s figure had already vanished ahead.
He cast another nce over his shoulder, and both nking roads had disappeared, leaving only a single wide thoroughfare ahead.
Not far behind, his lifeless body drew nearer with each passing moment.
Lu Yan paid little attention to this eerie sight. He strained to recall the map, and the absence of this road hardly surprised him.
Could the map be inurate?
But he couldn''t afford the luxury of contemtion; he needed to maintain his forward momentum.
The footsteps behind him continued their relentless echo, like an inescapable shadow. No matter how far he went, when he stole a backward nce, that figure remained in close pursuit, maintaining an unhurried gait that defied logic.
His sojourn in the graveyard had been enduring, an unbroken streak of running without respite. His pounding heart andbored breaths were stark reminders of his depleted energy.
Thoughposure was Lu Yan''s usual demeanor, in this dire situation, a moment of anxiety gripped him.
Stay calm.
What should he do?
Why did it persistently trail him?
Because it represented his future?
He abandoned his burden, An Xing Yu, midway, but the undead paid no attention to the high school boy; it pursued relentlessly only him.
Lu Yan clenched his teeth, recalling the burial chamberyouts etched onto the map. Head down, he pressed forward.
Finally, up ahead, another crossroads emerged.
Without hesitation, Lu Yan veered onto it.
This pathway, narrower and colder, barely allowed for two abreast. Running through it presented a formidable challenge. Nevertheless, he had no other choice.
Ultimately, he traversed that narrow corridor, arriving at the threshold of the burial chamber.
On the wall, mysterious murals and inscriptions still remained.
Strangely, those characters now possessed an unsettling familiarity as Lu Yan beheld them once more.
As if... he had once tranted and used those very symbols.
Could it be? If he had truly deciphered them, why had his memory faltered?
Was his memory betraying him?
Lu Yan took a deep breath. After calming his racing heart, he examined the murals with unwavering focus.
He was well aware of the risk he was taking.
Gradually, the sweet strains of an enchanting melody filled his ears.
The choir''s melodic hymns washed over him, purifying his very soul and momentarily sweeping away his worldly concerns, guiding suffering souls towards the gates of heaven.
His gaze remained locked as he inched nearer to the mural.
Just as he stood a mere hand''s breadth from the painted surface, a figure emerged distinctly from the artworknone other than Luo Ying herself, the woman who had earlier vanished inside!
In that instant, the painted Luo Ying bore an unsettling smile, as though she was inviting Lu Yan to join her.
The figure lurking behind Lu Yan drew closer, its hand reaching out.
A bone-chilling breath, like an abyssal gale, surged from behind him. In a moment of dire need, he snapped back to his senses, sidestepping and lunging backwards and grabbing the one behind.
The transformed corpse felt icy and rigid, but he managed to force it to touch the mural.
In the next heartbeat, it seemed to blend with the painted scene.
Lu Yan shook his head, letting out a sigh of relief.
He had self-hypnotized, instructing himself to awaken once he reached a one-meter distance from the mural. He didn''t know if his self-hypnosis had worked, but there was no other choice; he had to take the gamble.
Fortunately, it had paid off this time.
However, as the body yielded without resistance and fused into the wall, he had no opportunity to react before plunging intoplete darkness.
When consciousness returned, he discovered himself confined in an oppressively tight space.
Attempting to shift, he felt a glimmer of relief as his limbs obeyed, although speech and the sensation of his own breath eluded him. Even his movements appeared limited to specific nes, as if he had shifted from a three-dimensional existence to a mere two-dimensional one.
All his belongings remained intact, including the scroll he had taken from Luo Ying earlier.
Why had this strange transformation urred?
Had he transformed into a living mural?
Lu Yan grappled with the concept of his current state. What astounded him even more was that, at this point, he retained awareness, memory, and cognitive function.
He had not sumbed to death.
The irony struck him. He had yearned for survival, yet now, in this surreal situation, the idea of not dying seemed just as absurd.
But he also sensed that if he didn''t find a way out of this predicament soon, salvation might be an unattainable dream, even for a deity.
With determination, Lu Yan began the arduous task of manipting his newfound form and initiating movement.
With newfound convenience, he quickened his pace, dashing along the wall in search of An Xing Yu and Lin Chu.
Lu Yan''s intentions were crystal clear: if they couldn''tplete the ancestral ritual again, he''d kill them.
Yet, the vastness of the cemetery now dawned upon him. As a mural, he understood that their previous path had only scratched the surface. Theyout here bore no resemnce to the map they had followed.
His movements gradually slowed. Continuing like this would consign him to the ranks of tomb robbers of old, forever etched as a mural, imprisoned within the tomb''s dark confines.
Defiance surged within him as he retraced his entry route, determined to delve deeper in the same direction. If locating them proved fruitless, he reasoned, he might as well investigate the main tomb chamber.
Could things deteriorate further?
No longer bound by human form, he found his actions more pragmatic, despite their gradual pace. Steadily, he inched closer to the heart of the tombthe main chamber.
Unmistakable in its grandeur, the main tomb chamber weed him with a profusion of burial offerings, including an array of animal and human bones, a variety of jade and bronze artifacts, chariots, and more.
Lu Yan wasted no time examining them, instead choosing to glide past, tracing the wall''s circumference toward the chamber''s center.
Upon entering the tomb chamber, a startling sight unfolded before him.
The reason was astonishingly simple: there was light within the tomb chamber!
Ancientmps, their mes burning for untold millennia, cast a feeble, almost defiant glowbearing witness to the ages and perhaps shedding light on a history concealed in shadow.
As unbelievable as it seemed, Lu Yan had no choice but to ept the reality. The tomb chamber stood adorned with several oilmp holders, their wicks emitting a dim, myriad of flickering points of light. These lights, while feeble, illuminated a colossal coffin positioned at the chamber''s very heart.
The tomb chamber and the outer room presented a stark contrast. The outer chamber exuded grandeur and opulence, as if it aimed to hoard the world''s treasures, while the inner chamber remained devoid of anything except for a solitary coffin.
With cautious steps, Lu Yan approached the inner chamber. Only then did he notice an intricately preserved mural adorning the walls. Despite the passage of years, this mural retained its freshness, mirroring the one depicted on the scroll clutched in his hand.
However, the word "almost" was crucial here. The murals diverged in their backgrounds. The wall''s mural showcased towering, sprawling mountains, whereas the one on his scroll portrayed a stark contrast with a blood-red river meandering through it. Five eerie immortals soared through the sky, resembling beings trapped in the depths of hell.
Another blood river...
Could this blood river be the same as the one he had encountered in Red River Vige? Were they one and the same?
As Lu Yan gazed at the river, memories of a chilling reality resurfaced. Once, when he had opened the elevator doors, he found himself descending eighteen floors underground, and upon reopening them, he was greeted by the crimson river, teeming with countless anguished spirits.
Upon reflection, he realized that he had encountered this river on more than one asion, though he had consistently overlooked it. Additionally, there were the paper dolls, the Fox Fairy, and the Yellow Weasel, all of which had made their appearances in the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals.
Could it truly be mere happenstance?
Lu Yan averted his gaze and drew closer to the coffin. The desire to pry it open surged within him, yet his capabilities fell short. In this moment, he resembled nothing more than a shadow, a silent observer with no agency.
He had no choice but to continue his aimless perambtion through the tomb chamber, akin to a genuine wandering spirit.
The darkness enveloped him, an apt representation of his final resting ce, perhaps.
Was there any purpose in persisting? The world teetered on the brink of abnormality, rendering his persistenceughable.
The truth of the world... It''s not something an ordinary person can seek. He had been persisting for too long in pursuit of a tiny goal that he didn''t even know where to find.
A wave of pessimism surged within him, as if nothing was worth it anymore.
His unwavering resolve felt hollow, and his battles with life and death seemed like a cruel jest. A voice whispered, "Cease your search... The truth will only shatter you..."
No... these were not his thoughts...
Lu Yan jolted back to reality, offering himself an internal pep talk. His hand extended, and to his astonishment, the Pisces jade pendant remained nestled there.
On the wall, the five "immortals" had gentle yet eerie smiles, and in front of them was an incense burner, but there was no incense on it, just empty.
A recollection stirred within him.
Not long after, another shadow appeared on the wall.
This was a very strange experience, and Lu Yan knew that the figure on the other side was also him. Although they couldn''tmunicate telepathically, they clearly had the same thoughts.
He extended a hand, passing a jade pendant to his counterpart.
In an instant, his doppelgnger vanished from the tomb''s entrance.
Now he needed to find Lin Chu and An Xing Yu.
*
*
Rounding a corner, Lin Chu suddenly noticed the sound of footsteps fading away behind her. She pivoted, only to find herself standing there inplete solitude.
On the plus side, the eerie revenant''s lifeless form hadn''t pursued her. The downside? She was now separated from the rest of the group.
Maintaining herposure, Lin Chu retrieved a shlight and pressed ahead.
This was odd... the surroundings bore little resemnce to the map she had in mind.
Clearly, there were more tomb chambers than the map had led her to believe.
These grave robbers had absolutely no respect for decency. They must have known others would use the map, yet they couldn''t be bothered to mark it urately. Lin Chu couldn''t help but think, and she wisely averted her gaze from the murals whenever she encountered them.
Ancestor worship... What was it really about?
The vigers had imed they needed to visit this forbidden area to pay homage to their forebears. But who were these ancestors, and how were they to be revered?
Could she pay her respects to them individually?
With these thoughts swirling in her mind, Lin Chu boldly selected a spot, nced around to ensure no prying eyes were upon her, and knelt down.
"Oh, ancestors, I''m a viger from the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals. I''vee to visit you, even though I''ve brought nothingno paper money, no mobile phones, no houses. But my heart is sincere. If our ancestors possess spirits, could you please guide me out?"
She performed three earnest kowtows.
As expected, silence hung heavy in the air.
Lin Chu rose to her feet, feeling somewhat foolish. A quick scan of her surroundings confirmed that her attempt to honor the ancestors had been in vain.
Either the procedure was incorrect, her words were amiss, her offerings were inadequate, or the location was off.
Or perhaps... Everything was simply wrong!
Lin Chu sighed. Contacting anyone was out of the question now. Her phone disyed no signal, and even if she wanted to retrace her steps, she couldn''t discern the way. Self-reliance was her sole option, and so she continued forward.
She paused, deep in thought.
The vige chief had always safeguarded that map, insisting it was a sacred heirloom passed down from their ancestors. However, when Lin Chu touched the weathered parchment, it felt remarkably young, not more than a century old. Considering the chief''s possession of it over the years, it hinted at a more sinister originperhaps crafted during grave-robbing expeditions.
It couldn''t be a mere coincidence...
Unless there was some tomb mechanism perpetually altering its orientation. But in that case, the narrative of grave robbers plundering vast riches seemed imusible. Precious items like the Pisces Jade Pendant were typically personal burial treasures, unlikely to be found on the outermostyer. Deeper exploration would have required multiple trips.
Hence, that possibility was dismissed.
Lin Chu''s thoughts turned to the ever-shiftingndscape beyond the restricted zone.
Could it be... that every sixty years, the entire burial grounds underwent a transformation?
And had they stumbled upon it during one such change?
Doubt and uncertainty swirled within Lin Chu. As shepared her observations to the earlier direction of sunlight outside, the puzzle pieces seemed to fall into ce.
So, their true course was to the west, wasn''t it?
The western burial grounds, uncharted territory, now appeared significantlyrger than the east.
Although it didn''t seem dangerous at the moment.
Further down the path, at a crossroads, a silhouette suddenly darted past. It was a fleeting sight, but Lin Chu recognized that figure all too well.
"Hey, hey, old Lu! Lu bro! Wait up!" Lin Chu quickened her steps to catch up.
Unfortunately, much like their previous encounters, by the time she reached the spot, the figure had vanished into thin air.
The path taken by the elusive figure led straight to a wall.
Before she could bemoan her bad luck, a gentle tap graced her shoulder. "I''ve finally found you."
It was An Xing Yu''s voice!
With joy washing over her, Lin Chu spun around, and indeed, there he stood, somewhat disheveled, his face smeared with mud.
An Xing Yu asked, "Have you seen Brother Lu?"
Lin Chu replied, "Wasn''t he running alongside you? How did you two get separated?"
An Xing Yu shook his head. "I have no idea. After I regained consciousness, I found myself alone on the ground."
Lin Chu added, "I didn''t spot him either. I saw his shadow running just now, but I don''t know where he went. Perhaps it was some sort of mirage."
An Xing Yu inquired, "Did you catch sight of his shadow? Where did he go?"
Lin Chu gestured toward the right-side wall. Unless Lu Yan possessed the ability to traverse solid walls, he couldn''t have slipped into it.
An Xing Yu proposed, "Could there be some sort of mechanism at y here? Shall we search for it?"
Lin Chu found the suggestion reasonable. She took out a pair of rubber gloves from her bag, sporting a shlight clipped to the front, and meticulously scrutinized the wall. Her movements exuded caution, as if she dreaded unintentionally triggering something.
In the end, Lu Yan was the one who found Lin Chu. At that time, she mumbled to herself while inspecting an inert revenant, her hand perilously close to peeling off a talisman adhered to the revenant''s face!
Chapter 77: Ancestor worship completed
Chapter 77: Ancestor worshippleted
Lin Chu stood there, her senses tangled in a web of illusions, utterly clueless about what was happening. Her eyes fixated on the wall, her fingertips delicately probing for concealed mechanisms, secrets hidden in the ancient stone.
Abruptly, an unseen force seized her from behind, mercilessly wrenching her backward. With a jarring impact, Lin Chu''s body collided with the unforgiving wall, her cranium bearing the brunt of the assault. Her trusty shlight, now an errant beacon, slipped through her grasp and embarked on an erratic journey across the floor.
"Ouch! What in Devil''s name..." Lin Chu''s protest escaped her lips, her hand instinctively seeking sce for her throbbing head. She strained her eyes, struggling to pierce through the consuming darkness.
Was there something on the wall? Something that lived in this ancient tomb?
Shaking her head, she tried to regain herposure, only to realize that An Xing Yu had disappeared. Her searching eyes caught a glimmer in the shadows, revealing the shlight''s precarious position, casting its revealing light upon a pair of shoes.
With determination, she closed the distance, retrieving her trusty shlight from the ground, its radiant beam now casting a revealing light upon the one she sought.
"Where did you disappear to?" Her voice was a bewildered echo in the obscurity.
An Xing Yu met her inquiry with a hesitant shake of his head. "I saw a shadow emerge from the wall and seize you."
Lin Chu could discern the tremor of fear in his eyes, the instinct to flee overwhelming him. Yet, she couldn''t help but smile reassuringly. Im okay.
But, a shadow from the wall? The underground passage was damp, cold, and dark. The walls were made of green bricks, old and worn. They looked even darker in the dim light. Without a shlight, it was impossible to see anything.
Lin Chu''s curiosity, however, refused to be swayed by darkness. She retraced her steps to the wall, casting the shlight''s illumination upon it once more.
There, she discerned a ghostly silhouette, an outline reminiscent of Lu Yan.
Lin Chu couldn''t believe her eyes as she gasped, "Is that you, Lu Yan?"
She couldn''t discern which version of Lu Yan this could be the one who had met death and returned, the one who remained alive, or perhaps, a sinister trick orchestrated by the crypt itself.
The shadow stood motionless and silent, causing a surge of courage to wash over Lin Chu, albeit tentatively.
An Xing Yu loomed behind her, his tone shrouded in foreboding darkness. "It must be him. Maybe he''s dead too"
Lin Chu shook her head, dismissing the notion. "No, I highly doubt it." Lu Yan was too clever for that. He probably had seven or eight backups of himself. He wouldnt die so easily.
This tomb is very dangerous." An Xing Yu cautioned, his voice sounding oddly husky and cold. "It could be a deceitful illusion. It feigns harmlessness, lulling you into a false sense of security..."
Lin Chu nodded, feigning agreement while grappling with inner turmoil and fear.
Lu Yan''s spectral form gestured cryptically, a silent warning that the An Xing Yu behind her was an impostor, urging her to follow him. Yet An Xing Yu insisted that Lu Yan''s apparition was a mere falsehood.
I found a way out. Follow me," An Xing Yu''s voice beckoned from behind, growing nearer.
"I... just give me a moment. I need to figure this out," Lin Chu replied, her forehead damp with cold sweat.
Confusion gnawed at her. Who could she trust?
An Xing Yu''s voice inched closer, his urgency palpable. "Hurry. Even if that''s truly Lu Yan, he''s dead. Deceased souls here always transform into malevolent ghosts."
Lu Yan''s shadoke presence detected a ghastly figure lurking behind her, subtly pushing Lin Chu toward the lifeless body.
Having traversed into the mural, his perspective shifted. The tomb revealed itself as a haunting realm, teeming with ethereal, translucent ghosts adorned with elongated tails, drifting through the dim chambers. Devoid of consciousness, they harbored an intense aversion to intruders, seeking to ensnare them within their sinister traps.
Their eerie, mockingughter echoed through the tomb, a chilling cacophony that seemed to taunt the living. ''Hee hee hee hee... hee hee hee hee hee...''"
From hidden depths and shadowed seams, they emerged, an ethereal parade surrounding Lin Chu.
Yet, Lin Chu remained deaf to their murmurs, blind to their ghostly forms, oblivious to the growing congregation of restless souls.
They yearned for life, each ghost stretching forth, attempting to clutch her hair, to ensnare her hand, to graze the warmth of a living soul. Yet, their spectral fingers found naught but emptiness. After fleeting bouts of eerieughter, frustration coursed through their incorporeal forms once more.
Unseen by Lin Chu but unmistakable in the air, the temperature plummeted. She instinctively rubbed her chilled arms, offering a serene smile to An Xing Yu.
Beneath herposed exterior, Lin Chu''s senses remained on high alert.
An Xing Yu asserted that he glimpsed a dark shadow, but within this chamber, cloaked in obsidian darkness, how could his eyes see?
"Come along, follow my lead," An Xing Yu invited, his smile unwavering.
As if ensorcelled, Lin Chu nodded, her response akin to an incantation, "Very well."
She trailed after An Xing Yu, moving with deliberate caution.
By her side, Lu Yan remained a blurry shadow against the inky wall, a phantom sentinel on her path, searching for the opportune moment to rouse her from her slumber. He harbored no desire to snuff out Lin Chu''s life, for killing served as his instrument, not his objective.
A procession of ashen and pallid ghosts trailed behind, gesticting wildly and emitting discordant, unintelligible utterancesa cacophony of disquiet.
As they navigated their return, the path branched more frequently. Lin Chu trailed behind An Xing Yu, her pace slowing. At a crossroads, she witnessed An Xing Yu proceeding straight ahead. Without a backward nce, she abruptly pivoted and retraced her steps, dashing toward the path they had left behind.
Underfoot, the verdant bricks echoed with a resonant thud. Voicessome sighing, othersughingreached her ears, but she paid them no heed. She sprinted with all her might, leaving the ghost parade behind.
At the crossroads, An Xing Yu fixated upon her vanishing silhouette, then morphed into a verdant wisp of smoke, dissolving into thin air.
Her yearning led her back to the tomb''s entrance, the eastern realm beckoning for exploration. Yet, as she retraced her path, she found herself ensnared in a bewilderingbyrinth.
Amidst the chamber''s confines, she meandered like a disoriented moth, ensnared in an endless vista of emerald brick walls and floors, with obscurity dominating the horizon.
This wasn''t merely a chamber; it resembled a bewildering maze, did it not?
The sheer expanse of the ce was overwhelming, nearly depleting Lin Chu''s supply of dry food. She ventured tirelessly, to no avail in her quest for an exit. And, shrouded by the imprable darkness, she was bereft of sight of Lu Yan, her steadfastpanion.
A subtle tug on her hem drew her attention.
"Is it you?" Lin Chu whispered. Dont y with me, I want to get out of here.
Thepletion of her ancestral rites was an imperative; failure meant imprisonment within these walls. She didn''t fear death, but she yearned to live a bit longer.
With deliberate resolve, she ced her shlight aside, allowing its beam to reveal a shadowy figure within its warm embrace.
The shadowy figure wrote into the air, one stroke at a time. Lin Chu blinked, questioning the reality of what she witnessed.
With gritted teeth, she rose to her feet.
Death seemed imminent. Why not pursue this mystery and see where it leads?
Lu Yan guided Lin Chu through thebyrinthine darkness with swift steps. They ventured through sessive chambers, eachrger andden with more precious relics than thest.
An inkling told her that she was marching toward the heart of the tomb.
What secretsy at the tomb''s core? Whose eternal rest did it protect?
Surviving on meager rations of biscuits and bread had left her famished and fatigued. Yet, an insatiable curiosity propelled her forward.
The first day of the new year was reserved for ancestral homage.
The second day held no significance.
Less than three hours remained before the first day concluded.
They had remained subterranean for nearly a full day.
Lu Yan monitored the time, for if he erred, and they failed toplete their mission... he would be forced to lead Lin Chu to a dead end...
*
*
At the base of the mountain, within the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals,
Many unfamiliar faces hade to the vige.
At the entrance, the vigers, now transformed into malevolent spirits, concealed their expressions behind a veil as they observed a group of outsiders dressed in crimson robes. These neers harbored a desire to infiltrate the vige and seize its closely-guarded secrets, yet they hesitated at the threshold, as if anticipating some unseen cue.
In the forbidden area, two figures cloaked in vermilion robes toiled with haste. Their hands, pale and w-like beneath their sleeves, relentlessly unearthed a grave. Swiftly, they uncovered a small coffin, yielding to their cruel ws without resistance.
Within the confines of the coffiny the remains of a child, reduced to bleached bones through years of decay. Upon closer inspection, a gruesome detail emerged a blood-red nail, menacingly piercing through the skull from above, imprisoning the throat in a macabre disy.
More blood-red nails adorned the shoulders, arms, legs, and so forth, pinning the skeleton to the coffin, refusing to allow it to escape. However, the nail that should have been on the left arm was conspicuously absent. On the left side of the lid, a small scratch mark marred the surface.
Undeterred by this omission, the figures in crimson robes raised the coffin from its resting ce. Extracting a freshly blood-soaked nail, its malevolence evident in its sinister appearance, they drove its wicked tip into the vacant mark on the left arm bone.
Meanwhile, within the vige, a young girl in a red dress clutched her arm and let out a piercing scream.
Then, the crimson-d figures gazed skyward and advanced with deliberate steps, entering the vige, one after another.
The vigers unleashed their fury, tearing and gnashing at them. There were growls, wails, a miasma of putrid odor, and a macabre tableau of bloodshed. Yet, most of these assants transformed into verdant wisps, vanishing into thin air. The crimson robes littered the ground as others of their ilk pressed on.
Before long, the discarded red robes began to take on human forms. They quivered and took shape with startling rapidity, quickly rejoining theirpatriots.
The ranks of the vigers dwindled steadily as the group approached the base of the rear mountain, where Zhang Bo''s hause stood.
Now, ity in ruins. In the center of the wreckage, a hole approximately one meter wide yawned.
Outside the ruins sat a little girl donning a crimson dress, her eyes devoid of pupils as they welled up with blood tears. Her gaze bore into the assembly of malevolent ghosts d in red robes.
Ghosts harbored no fear. The treasure consumed their every thought. Zhang Hui Xuan observed their relentless advance toward the coveted prize. She let out a piercing shriek, transforming into a colossal, blood-red entity.
This was her treasure... and hers alone!
*
*
Deep beneath the earth''s embrace, Lin Chu and Lu Yan remained oblivious to the vige''s unfolding plot.
Within the chamber''s confines, an otherworldly power stirred, hot on their heels.
Legend had it that the breath of the living could rekindle the departed. Lin Chu observed as she passed a burial site adorned with a bronze chariot and terracotta steeds. An eerie sight met her eyes: the terracotta warriors shifted ever so slightly.
No mirage, this. To reach the primary tomb, she had to traverse the burial pit. Yet as she gingerly stepped over it, the pit erupted into frenzied animation. The terracotta soldiers surged forth in unison, their ttering armor resounding through the stygian darkness.
Exhausted and ravenous, Lin Chu summoned herst ounces of strength, for she refused to lose sight of Lu Yan. She had no recourse but to conceal her hand within her sleeve, allowing him to lead her onward.
But it proved futile. A relentless horde trailed them relentlessly. In addition to armored warriors, decaying skeletons draped in tattered garments joined the unholy chase.
Faster! Faster!
Lin Chu gasped for breath, but her resolve found new purpose when she glimpsed the iron-d adversaries brandishing glinting des.
"What do we do? There are more ahead!"
Up ahead, another throng of skeletons appeared, their sluggish advance closing in on her.
Lu Yan halted, gently lifting her up. Ultimately, Lin Chu found herself hoisted to the ceiling.
"Is this what it''s like to be carried by a big boss?" Lin Chu mused, her eyes fixed on the relentless horde below. They seemed eager to pile up and ensnare her, but Lu Yan''s swiftness soon carried them beyond the thronged fray.
Once he set her down, Lin Chu wasted no time in resuming her desperate flight.
After an interminable odyssey, they finally reached the central tomb chamber with less than half an hour remaining until the stroke of midnight.
The central tomb chamber stood apart from the rest of the subterranean burial ground, perched upon a raised dais and encircled by formidable walls. In its midst, a still-functioning fountain sent a gentle cascade of water into a pristine pool below.
Arrayed upon the ground, an enigmatic ring of bronze vessels hinted at a mysterious purpose. Amidst them rested the skeletal remains of what was likely the tomb''s architect.
Lin Chu, her curiosity urging her to capture the scene in a photograph, hesitated, a vague recollection of potential harm it could inflict her. She was left with naught but a fuzzy impression, leaving her to pace restlessly around the elevated dais, feeling hopelessly grounded.
Her stature, diminutive inparison to the lofty tform, was a hindrance. Beneath her, only water beckoned. How could she ever bridge this daunting divide?
Topound her predicament, the echoes of approaching footsteps reverberated from all directions.
Never mind, Brother Lu, please lift me up there," she implored, determination in her voice, "and throw me to the middle urately.
Alongside the main tform, an encircling walkway ringed the tomb chamber, though it loomed a daunting three or four meters above her head. A fall from there promised certain death or grievous injury.
Yet, with no alternatives left, she steeled herself to make the perilous attempt.
Without hesitation, Lu Yan swiftly grabbed Lin Chu by her clothing, and together, they ascended to a higher tform along the wall.
He became a living painting, a tireless sentinel, though sometimes he grew stiff. This endeavor came naturally to him; he could have effortlessly pulled Lin Chu into the wall with him, had he not harbored concerns about getting her out.
"Enough, let me go," Lin Chu grumbled through clenched teeth, curling into a protective stance.
The moment those words escaped her lips, Lu Yan released his grip.
A resounding "thud" echoed as Lin Chunded forcefully on the tform. Instinctively shielding her head, she felt a disorienting dizziness wash over her.
Her internal organs seemed battered, possibly a cracked rib, and her leg throbbed with pain. Her ankle had swollen noticeably. Limping, she summoned the resolve to stand, then doubled over, coughing violently. Blood and fragments of tissue spewed forth.
Lu Yan had already arrived at the tomb chamber''s entrance, signaling for her to join him.
"Damn... I hope I regenerate automatically when I get out of here. Otherwise, my health insurance will kill me," Lin Chu muttered, wiping the persistent blood from her mouth.
Clinging to her resolve, she staggered toward the door, enduring the wretched sensation that wed at her.
"A bungee jump without a safety cord? Thrilling, thrilling... wow..."
To her astonishment, the door yielded with a gentle push. Candlelight spilled forth, illuminating the subterranean tomb chamber in its entirety.
What? Light?
The radiance seemed excessively brilliant to Lin Chu. She exerted herself, and the door swung open. Simultaneously, the candlelight within the chamber flickered out.
The tomb chamber became dark again.
Lin Chu, wielding her shlight, ventured forth with caution.
Within the chamber, a phantom-like figure resembling Lu Yan lingered silently. As she stepped inside, this apparition beckoned with a ghostly hand. Lin Chu''s gaze fell upon the mural adorning the wall and the incense burner preceding the shrine.
Ancestral worship
Mission
A wave of despair washed over her, nearly plunging her into delirium. She strained to rise, advancing towards the shrine.
How could she possibly fulfill it?
She knelt upon the cushion, finding some sce.
The painting of the Five Immortals before her seemed to shift. Her gaze fixated on the crimson sea, her eyes gradually vacant.
Lu Yan reimed his jade pendant from his shadowy doppelganger. Concealed within his pocket was a diminutive de. Ascending once more to the ceiling, he grasped the knife, its point aimed at the kneeling Lin Chu.
A mere release of his grip, and the de would plummet toward her neck.
The minutes dwindled, numbering less than ten.
He scrutinized the figure below.
Lin Chu''s vision blurred, and a haunting melody seemed to envelop her senses, beckoning her to surrender to divine forces.
"I..." Her voice trembled, barely audible. "I offer myself to..." Her words grew fainter, a mere whisper to Lu Yan''s ears.
Yet he sensed the mission''s fulfillment.
*
*
Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Immortals Vige, within Zhang Bo''s dwelling:
Zhang Hui Xuan had vanished, leaving only a scarlet dress upon the floor.
It was Li Li''s dress that she had lent to her aunt, once a binding charm that tethered her to the back mountain. But with Li Li''s death, the curse had weakened. Zhang Hui Xuan had broken free, yet the vige''s grasp still held her.
A gust of wind toyed with the dress, sending it aloft, drifting toward the back mountain.
By the reservoir, a colossal hound unleashed a mournful howl, leaping to seize the dress before vanishing into the forest.
Simultaneously, the crimson-d figures prepared to enter the cer, but an abrupt stillness seized them, freezing their advance.
*
*
Lu Yan''s world plunged into darkness, and when he blinked, he found himself atop a mountain. The moon hung high above, casting an eerie glow upon a cluster of graves, resembling a colossal, luminous eye. His trembling fingers sought sce in the touch of the jade pendant nestled within his pocket, reassuring him of its presence.
*
*
Lin Chu''s recollection grew hazy, leaving her disoriented, until she awoke within a familiar alley. The torment that had wracked her body had vanished. Could it be? Had shee back? Had the mission worked?
Abruptly, Lin Chu snapped to full awareness and surveyed her surroundings. Yu Xian Guang stood by her side, his expression etched with fear.
"Chu Chu..." he stammered hisst words, and then an inexplicable transformation seized him. Hisplexion paled and swelled, resembling a waterlogged sponge, before he crumpled to the ground.
The nightmarish ordeal continued. Yu Huan, Lin Xue Yuan, and Xie Zi Qing sumbed to bloody corpses right before her disbelieving eyes.
Only An Xing Yu was nowhere to be seen.
Tears flowed, unstoppable. Lin Chu brushed them aside, yearning to bring Yu Xian Guang along, yet...
She steeled herself, mindful of the hidden cameras she''d set up. Methodically, she dismantled her surveince gear before returning to Yu Xian Guang''s side. Gently, she extended her hand and drew his wide eyes to a close.
"Forgive me, I''ll return," she murmured into Yu Xian Guang''s ear.
They say, when life ebbs away, hearing lingersst. She couldn''t be certain if he could hear her, but she clung to that hope, willing him to await her return.
Without dy, Lin Chu sprinted outside and dialed the police.
This was the sole way she could retrieve him, openly, as kin, no secrets or subterfuge.
*
*
"There''s been a murder, you reckon Xiao An''s safe out there alone?"
Over dinner, they settled on the couch, catching thetest headlines. The TV screen revealed a grim scene: four lifeless souls discovered in a dim alley near a college town. Their silent plea echoed in their hearts, a hope for someone kind to shed light on this dark mystery.
An Xing Yu''s mother couldn''t hold back her tears. "Isn''t that the very college Xiao An dreams of? Could he...?"
An Ru embraced her tightly. "No, not him. My coworkers assure me, he''s nowhere near that ce."
His wife''s fists met his chest with frustration. "Then when? You''ve scoured the CCTV, scrutinized his journal, yet we''re no closer."
"We''ll find him, we''ll find him," An Ru repeated, his voice a feeble refrain.
Yet within, a void of despair lingered could they truly bring him back?
*
*
After nearly two weeks of relentless scrutiny, Lin Chu''s name was finally cleared of suspicion. An official notice arrived, granting her the long-awaited permission to reim his ashes.
Eager to put this ordeal behind her, Lin Chu hurried to the police station. As she approached the precinct, a slender man emerged, and they collided in a hasty encounter.
"Sorry," they both uttered simultaneously, their paths briefly intertwined, imprinting each other''s faces in their minds.
A nod of acknowledgment passed between them before they parted ways, each absorbed in their own mission. Lin Chu proceeded to seek out the person in charge.
With formalities eventually behind her, Lin Chu left the crematorium with Yu Xian Guang''s remains in a small, delicate box. She settled into her room, where a striking transformation had taken ce.
The once bare walls were now cloaked in her handwritten notes and newspaper clippings, densely popted with information. The articles chronicled a litany of abnormal deaths from recent years, interspersed with survival strategies she''d uncovered online.
In her heart, Lin Chu harbored a steadfast conviction that the reported cases represented only a fraction of the grim reality. Undoubtedly, there existed more suppressed tales of terror.
Amidst her contemtion, a news report emanated from the television''s glowing screen.
"...Recent findings by archaeologists have unveiled an expansive tomb in the heart of X province''s XX city. Noted experts assert that within this tomb..."
She cast a fleeting nce at the screen, her interest half-hearted, before redirecting her focus to the riddle that consumed her thoughts.
*
*
In a parallel world, Lu Yan found himself embroiled in a new enigma.
His quest led him to seek the origins of the Pisces jade pendant, yearning to unearth the truth behind the tomb''s rightful owner. With earnest resolve, he confided in the Omniscient Church''s bishops.
Deep sorrow welled within the clergy for the loss of Luo Ying, but they held fast to their belief that she had ascended to the heavens, guided by divine providence. After paying their respects in a solemn funeral rite, the group resolved to bolster their ranks and press on with their exploration.
Should there truly be a hidden treasure, they deemed it a sacred offering to their God.
For Lu Yan, riches held no allure; his sole pursuit was unraveling the mysteries surrounding the tomb''s possessor.
As one group of faithful ventured into the mountain vige, meeting their untimely demise, others soon reced them. Beyond the vige''s forbidden confinesy a grim tableau, with lifeless bodies steeped in crimson gore. Yet, in parallel, a corner of the tomb yielded its secrets.
What turned grim was the sudden start of new taskers influx at this very moment.
The world seemed to whirl before his eyes, and as they fluttered open once more, the tomb, the crimson-d faithful, and the forbidden domain had all vanished. Lu Yan found himself standing on the outskirts of a pristine and radiant city. Beauty adorned every corner, and the people strolling the streets brimmed with life, pulsating with humanity.
Amidst this vibrant scene, Lu Yan grappled with his own sense of discement.
He couldn''t quite identify with these humans.
In the distance, two elegantly dressed young women cast eager nces his way, their eyes brimming with curiosity, as if yearning to approach him and exchange contact information. After a brief hesitation, they decided to pursue him, only to discover that he had melted into the bustling throng.
Regardless, with the arrival of more taskers, safety appeared to be on the rise.
Lu Yan returned to his dwelling, slumbering soundly like a log. When his eyes reopened, his room bore no eerie anomalies, though a tinge of unease lingered in his thoughts.
He adhered to his daily routine, partook of a meal, and settled by hisputer to peruse the news.
"...Archaeologists had just stumbled upon a grand tomb, nestled in the outskirts of X province, X city. From its depths emerged a trove of cultural treasures, all destined for the prestigious XXX provincial museum..."
Lu Yan''s eyes widened with recognition.
Could it be? The memories of those eerie and otherworldly urrences still lingered, but now, returning to the normal world with official support, progress should surged ahead.
In his heart, Lu Yan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, he resolved to forgo participation in this task and opt instead for a visit to the museum. His hope was for a safer mission this time, one where those embarking upon it would have a greater chance at survival without him.
With determination in his step, he secured a ticket for the following day bound for X province. Returning to his room, he meticulously packed his belongings, ready for the journey ahead.
*
*
"Hey, folks, how many tasks have y''all survived?"
A cluster of individuals strolled down the bustling city street, when a young girl chimed in. "I''ve done only three myself. Hoping we can all look out for one another."
A somewhat portly man in a checkered shirt sized her up with a nce. "Four for me, but let''s not get too caught up in the ''helping each other'' talk. Truth is, we''ve got our hands full just looking out for ourselves. When things really hit the fan, gender won''t matter one bit."
"Enough bickering, you two!" The eldest woman among them interjected. "Let''s shift our focus to figuring out how we can seamlessly blend in with that archaeological crew."
TN
Lu Yan
Chu Xiu Shi Yan Nie Yun Zhen Ye Sheng Ke
Lin Chu; Yu Xiang Guang; An Xing Yu; Luo Ying; Lin Xue Yuan; Yu Huan; Xie Zi Qing
Hu-San-Tai-Nai Old Lady Third Whisker Zhang Hui Xuan
Vige of the Heavenly Immortals
Chapter 78
Chapter 78
In abyrinth of shadowy paths, a gloomy alley rejected sunlight, giving off an eerie vibe that sent chills down Chu Xiu''s spine. After days of meticulous searching, he finally found the taped-off entrance, devoid of police presence. Leaning against the wall, he agilely vaulted over it, a sense of unexinable unease settling within him.
Because of the thorough search by the police, there was little hope of finding any missed clues. However, Chu Xiu remained determined in his investigation. At the end of the alley, there were chalk outlines marking four figures, with faint traces of blood serving as a sombre reminder of the tragic event that had taken ce.
Kneeling down, Chu Xiu carefullybed the ground for any overlooked evidence, but his efforts proved futile. Feeling disheartened, he collected some soil that was stained with traces of blood before quickly leaving the scene.
"You, once part of that all-knowing cult, seeking a master''s help again?" the incredulous voice on the phone queried. "Who''s your target this time?"
Keeping it concise, Chu Xiu replied, "Recent events have intrigued me, and I need your expertise. Please help."
Chu Xiu''s friend readily agreed to help him without any hesitation.
With his usual efficiency, his friend managed to obtain the contact information of a renowned master in just three days.
"Look, this is a famous shaman from Northeast China. She is incredibly unique, a child prodigy," his friend revealed.
"A child?" Chu Xiu questioned, finding it somewhat difficult to believe.
"Yes," his friend affirmed, smoke curling from his cigarette. "But do not underestimate her; her abilities are extraordinary."
After concluding the conversation, Chu Xiu wasted no time and embarked on a journey to the vige his friend had mentioned.
On his way, he learned that locals believed that the guardian spirits in the vige often manifested as animals and asionally "possessed" individuals. In the past, elderly women took on this role without disrupting their daily lives.
However, the current situation was vastly different...
Upon reaching the vige via ne, bus, and bullock cart, Chu Xiu felt an overwhelming sense of destion. Amidst the gloomy faces, a bright spot emergedthe little girl in a red dress.
She was unlike all the gloomy-faced vigers. With a cold, disdainful nce at Chu Xiu, she only bestowed a smile after he produced a considerable amount of cash.
Yet, she seemed far from a typical child. Her exquisite appearance sharply contrasted with the other children in the vige.
As her father hastily pocketed the money, the girl gestured for Chu Xiu to follow her into an empty, secluded room where she motioned for him to sit.
"Bring it here," the little girl finally spoke.
Understanding her request, Chu Xiu retrieved a handful of soil from his bag, stained as if with fresh blood.
"What do you wish to know?"
Respectfully, Chu Xiu responded, "I seek information about the events that urred in this ce five nights ago."
Taking the soil, the little shaman nodded. "Close your eyes and, remember, stay calm."
Complying, he shut his eyes.
A pitch-ck darkness enveloped him, and suddenly, he heard faint noises.
The whistling wind mingled with murmured conversations, gradually growing louder, echoing in the vast darkness around them.
He... saw it.
A group entered the alleywaytwo girls and four boys engaged in a deep discussion about a mission.
The pieces started falling into ce.
Among them was the person he soughtAn Xing Yu.
An Xing Yu was part of the task force! He had been there on that fateful day!
Is he still alive? Excitement surged through Chu Xiu momentarily, but the shaman''s words grounded him, reining in his emotions.
However, that young girl... she seemed oddly familiar.
Chu Xiu''s memory sparkedwasn''t she the girl he bumped into outside the police station a few days back?
She was involved, too. Talking to her might yield valuable information.
Observing further, he heard the girl introduce herself.
Lin Chu... was she the user behind ''The Lights Come On in a Flourishing City ( (Hudng Ch Shng)''?
Time stretched and condensed. He "witnessed" midnight.
In a flicker akin to old TV static, the scene reduced to five people in the field.
Only Lin Chu survived; the other foury lifeless. Yu Xiang Guang''s body stained the soil with blood.
An Xing Yu''s whereabouts remained a mystery.
Why did this happen? Where did An Xing Yu vanish?!
In past missions, everyone always came back, whether alive or dead. Chu Xiu couldn''t understand why An Xing Yu suddenly disappeared. There was a chilling possibilityhe hadn''t left.
The thought was too horrifying to dwell on, and it became even more terrifying the longer Chu Xiu thought about it.
Once more, the scene blurred and descended into darkness.
With a gradual blink, Chu Xiu opened his eyes and expressed sincere gratitude to the young girl. She motioned for him to leave quickly.
As the end of the year approached, the world outside was adorned with rednterns, but the vige itselfcked any festive spirit. After gathering and organising the information, he sent it to the client.
*
*
Upon returning home from work that day, An Ru noticed the lively decorations that adorned the streets. Although the excitement of the uing Spring Festival had faded, having time off was still a reason to celebrate.
However, An Ru couldn''t find any happiness.
The New Year was approaching, and An Xing Yu was still nowhere to be found. This thought burdened his mind, causing him to let out a deep sigh.
"I''m home." As expected, there was no response upon entering. Assuming his wife was not at home, An Ru proceeded inside, only to find her seated on the living room couch, lost in thought, her eyes red and puffy.
"What''s bothering you?" His voice involuntarily softened.
His wife turned to face him, mustering a forced smile. "An Ru, please tell me the truth. Did Xiao An have nothing to do with the recent murder case in the university town a few days ago?" She spoke slowly, emphasising each word.
"No! Who gave you that false information?" An Ru responded quickly.
However, after spending years together, she knew her husband too well to be deceived. How could she not read him like an open book when he lied?
Growing increasingly agitated, he retorted, "Was it that unreliable private investigator you hired? Don''t believe a word he says."
"Unreliable? It''s you who''s being unreliable, constantly hiding the truth from me. I know you''re withholding things..." Her words trailed off, bing almost iprehensible. "Little An went to that alley, didn''t he? He did, right?"
" The detective found out, just like those cops, right? But you kept it from me because you didn''t know where he went, did you?" Her gaze turned fierce. "If you won''t tell me, I''ll find out on my own."
" An Ru, you''ve lost our son." Her stare pierced her husband, her words gentle but firm.
An Ru met his wife''s gaze, rendered speechless by the implications.
What she said... undeniably held truth. Authorities found hair and fingerprints at the scene, one of those hairs belonging to An Xing Yu!
*
*
In another world.
Lu Yan had no clue where the taskers were headed this time; all he wanted was to avoid them.
He couldn''tprehend why he stood out. However, despite his hesitation in previous missions, he always ended up getting involved when it mattered as ifpelled to participate.
In the end, he epted an active role, working hard to decipher the patterns of the missions and uncover the truth behind the world''s anomalies. Having a purpose made life bearable.
Quietly, he prayed that this time would not bring simr incidents. As he sat on the train leaving town, he felt relieved by the absence of strange urrences.
Then, his eyelid twitched.
A hunch stirred within him, hinting at the possibility of an unforeseen turn of events.
As Lu Yan journeyed along the northern road, he felt like the trip would never end. He took advantage of the luxurious seat, giving his weary eyes a break.
The overwhelmingly loud television on the train bombarded his senses.
The Broadcaster''s voice illuminated the recent extraordinary archaeological discovery. The symbols found inside the tomb did not correspond to any known historical dynasty, indicating the existence of an unrecorded civilization. These artefacts offered valuable insights into ancient rituals,nguages, and spiritual beliefs, carrying significant archaeological importance.
Most of the relics remained remarkably intact and only required minimal restoration. Consequently, a few of these items, once expertly refurbished, would be exhibited in the local provincial museum.
With his eyes shut tightly, he was suddenly struck by an even more astonishing revtion that reached his ears.
As the excavation continued, revealing the central tomb, a truly remarkable sight emerged: the body of a young man, unmistakably dressed in modern clothing!
Lu Yan''s eyes snapped open!
For some inexplicable reason, the television broadcasted a slow zoom-in of the image of the young man lying before an altar in the main chamber. His body showed minimal decay, and his clothes were clearly modern in style.
A young duo sitting opposite Lu Yan on the train were also engrossed in the television. The girl eximed, "No way! Did archaeologists really find someone from our time? A time traveller?"
The boy contemted, "Could this be connected to grave robbing? The experts did mention signs of theft."
"But they did specify that he was young. Would a young person really do something like that? It seems unlikely," the girl argued.
Equally puzzled, the boy scratched his head and said, "Unless he came from a poor family... it''s not impossible. Maybe his aplice ran away?"
As they continued to specte, a wave of despair washed over Lu Yanpletely.
An Xing Yu... Why did Xing Yu stay in this world?
Did he really stay in that tomb for good? Why?
With every bit of knowledge he gathered, it seemed more pointless, akin to a blind man groping in the dark for truth just out of reach.
As the train barreled through the wild, untamed wilderness, trees zoomed past the window one by one, gradually disappearing into the night. In the distance, the unchanging green ins slowly transformed into shades of darkness.
Finally, the train arrived at the station.
Late into the night, Lu Yan grabbed his small suitcase and joined the crowd as they exited. A cold breeze swept through, causing shivers to run down their spines as they bundled up in their warmest clothes.
Close behind, a group of men and women stepped off the train.
"Shouldn''t we wait for the archaeologists? Do we really have to go in now?"
"Don''t be silly. Wait for what? Let them uncover it themselves?"
A hushed conversation ensued, with the fear of attracting attention guiding their words.
"I just checked the news. Despite their excavation, there''s no sign of the Pisces jade pendant. It''s definitely still there."
The slightly plump man smacked his thigh. "They im they haven''t found it even after reaching the main tomb? If it''s not being reported, they''re just keeping us in the dark. Think about it, if it were something ordinary, they wouldn''t have singled it out."
Outside the station, the noise of taxi drivers looking for passengers filled the air as people headed home for the end of the year. Lu Yan waited in line for a taxi and finally got in. Before he could say where he was going, the rear door on the other side swung open and a slightly hefty man in his thirties squeezed in, followed by a thin man wearing sses. A young woman also got into the front passenger seat.
"Hey buddy, there don''t seem to be any avable rides at the moment. How about we share one, eh?" The slightly overweight man said casually. Before Lu Yan could respond, he turned to the driver. "Boss, since we''re a group, any chance of getting a discount?"
Sitting in the front seat, the girl fastened her seatbelt, nced back, and found it hard to look away. She gazed at Lu Yan with a sweet smile. "Hello handsome. Apologies for the tight squeeze. Let''s just think of it as making new friends, alright?"
The driver appeared intrigued, hesitated momentarily, and nced at Lu Yan through the rear-view mirror. Regtions prevented him from forcing anyone out.
Rxing in the backseat, Lu Yan closed his eyes. "Boss, XX Road, XX Hotel, as fast as possible."
The girl''s smile froze, and the chubby man''s outstretched hand hung in the air, both ignored.
A moment of awkwardness filled the car.
Once the passengers settled in, the driver grew restless. He revved the engine and sped off. The slim guy with ck-rimmed sses attempted to lighten the mood, "What a stroke of luck! We''re all heading to the same hotel; it''s simply perfect."
The driver rxed, picking up speed.
Observing Lu Yan''sck of interest, the others ceased their attempts to spark a conversation and instead engaged in their own discussions. Enduring an hour of mindless chatter that resembled ghostly wails and wolf howls, Lu Yan paid his share upon arriving at the hotel and wordlessly left the car.
"Why''s this NPC acting all high and mighty..." The slightly portly man sneered under his breath.
He thought the man hadn''t heard, yet as Lu Yan retrieved his luggage from the trunk, those words echoed loudly and clearly.
Lu Yan exhaled deeply and casually took hold of his suitcase before entering the hotel.
Sure enough... no matter the distance, he always seemed to encounter them.
"Cut it out, Cao Yi (: grass ceremony or weed ritual or "generation elegance"). The boy toy is gone, yet you''re still gawking like some clueless NPC," sneered the slightly plump man, eyeing the figure''s back.
Meanwhile, the girl continued to gaze, seemingly captivated.
"Can''t you just zip it, Fei Hong Sheng (: expense grand victory, cost vast sess, fee magnificent superiority, or wasteful triumphant bravery)?" Cao Yi shot back. "Since when is this your concern? Yapping all the way, aren''t you tired?"
"Heh, don''te whining to men for helpter. What''s with the high heels at this hour?" Fei Hong Sheng refused to yield.
The bespectacled man grew irritated. "Are you done having fun yet? Do you find this amusing?"
Cao Yi''s demeanour immediately softened. "It was clearly his fault. Jing Tao (: well wave, pit billow, well surge, or pit adventure), won''t you speak up?"
Jing Tao had a throbbing headache as he made his way into the hotel, shaking his head and sighing.
Soon, another car arrived, and a group of seven finally gathered. They sorted out their rooms and prepared to go upstairs and settle in.
The group consisted of three women and four men. Among them, one woman and two men stood out as veterans, while the rest seemed unremarkable or downright brainless.
In his room, Lu Yan watched the tablet disying the elevator scene. The seven continued to bicker until thergest man among them bellowed, silencing the chaos.
It had been... quite a while since he had seen taskers like this.
Lu Yan waspletely absorbed in flipping through pages to gather details about the tomb, specifically focusing on ounts rted to the recently discovered male body.
Despite the initial pixted appearance of the media''s images, Lu Yan persisted and made several attempts, eventually achieving significant rity. Gradually, the details started to emerge - the trousers on the male corpse were torn, exposing part of his calf, which had a faint red mark.
Meanwhile, in another room down the hallway, two women grew increasingly frustrated.
"What''s going on here? Our original n was already jinxed, and now they''ve put us in the farthest room in the hotel, right at the end of the corridor. Can anyone even live in that ce?"
(TN: In Chinese culture, there''s a prevalent belief in Feng Shui, which considers the flow of energy or "qi" within a space. Within this belief system, certain building areas, including the farthest rooms or corners, might be considered less desirable due to the potential for stagnant or negative energy umtion. These areas might be associated with bad luck, misfortune, or simply an ufortable feeling.)
The other woman expressed her frustration, "Weren''t they supposed to close off the rooms at the far end? How did they manage to sell it to us, saying that no other rooms were avable? They probably think they can easily take advantage of us, especially since we''re out-of-towners."
A slender, middle-aged woman interjected calmly, "So, are both of you nning on switching rooms now?"
"Of course, we''re switching. The second-tost room must be better than the one at the end, right?" The youngest one searched in her small bag, found a lip gloss, applied it carefully, puckered her lips, and tossed her long hair. "The second-tost room probably hasn''t been used yet. Let''s ask about it."
The woman, who was close to forty, had calm eyes and faint lines at the corners. She nodded gently and said, "Do as you wish. I''m leaving." With that, she picked up her small suitcase, swiped her card, and opened the door.
The two younger girls exchanged eye rolls. One of them knocked on the door while the other tried to pull her in, eager to proceed without any more dys.
Startled by a knock on the door, Lu Yan approached cautiously and asked, "Who is it?" as he stood beside the door.
A woman''s voice from outside responded, "Hello, can you open the door?"
Taking precautions, Lu Yan secured the door chain before inquiring further, "What''s the matter?"
The voice outside sounded somewhat coy, "Can you open the door so we can talk? I''m just a girl, I won''t harm you."
Recognizing the voice instantly as the woman from the recent taxi ride, Lu Yan hesitated. A momentter, another voice chimed in, "Sorry, my friend and I booked a room that''s too small for us. Could we swap rooms with you?"
ustomed to being prepared for swift departures, Lu Yan hadn''t unpacked much. "Sure, give me a moment," he agreed promptly, sensing the situation without dy.
Quickly stashing his tablet in his bag, he exited the room. As he opened the door, Cao Yi was momentarily stunned by the sight of him.
Wasn''t he the handsome guy from the taxi? Before she could express her excitement, Lu Yan turned to address the olderdy, Yi Jun (: "Easy and fine" or "Change and bamboo skin"), inquiring, "Which room am I swapping to?"
Yi Jun smiled graciously and gestured towards the room at the end, saying, "That one. I apologise for any inconvenience, and thank you very much."
With only a nod, Lu Yan acknowledged her and entered the assigned room.
There is a belief that one should avoid thest room in a hotel corridor, as it may possibly lead to paranormal urrences.
Before leaving, he discreetly ced a ''bug'' by the door of the room, wondering what might unfold.
*
*
Chu Xiu arrived just as Lin Chu woke up from her sleep.
She had spent hours immersing herself in every piece of information about the all-knowing deity and had adorned her walls with it. nning to sleep the day away, a knock interrupted her afternoon.
Annoyed, Lin Chu ran her fingers through her messy hair and got up to answer the door. "Who''s there?"
"I''m looking for ''The Lights Come On in a Flourishing City," a male voice called from the other side of the door.
"You have the wrong ce," Lin Chu replied, with no intention of opening the door.
Images of Yu Xian Guang and his urn were still in the living room. She had no interest in anything rted to missions at that moment.
The knocking continued persistently. "I''m here to find Lin Chu. I have something very important to ask about An Xing Yu. Please, could you open the door? Let''s talk."
Lin Chu felt a momentary wave of disorientation wash over her upon hearing that name.
"Ah-ah-ah" she pulled at her hair in frustration and then smoothed it out with trembling fingers before finally reaching for the doorknob.
"It''s you?" Lin Chu recognized the young man she had bumped into outside the police station.
Chu Xiu nodded in her direction, his expression softening into a gentle smile. "I have some questions about the mission involving An Xing Yu. Could I trouble you for some answers?"
Lin Chu didn''t immediately show any suspicion. After giving him a quick once-over to confirm he posed no threat, she nodded. "Come inside."
Slipping into her slippers and crossing the threshold, Chu Xiu was taken aback.
The white walls of the room werepletely covered in sticky notes, each one rting to ghosts and the supernatural in some way.
"So, you''re a tasker too?" Chu Xiu asked, already certain of the answer.
Lin Chu scratched her head. "Sort of."
"Do you know An Xing Yu?"
"I''ve never heard of them," Lin Chu immediately denied.
"No, six days ago, you were definitely seen near X City''s university town, just like An Xing Yu."
Lin Chu hesitated. "...Alright, I know them. What''s the problem?"
Chapter 79
Chapter 79
Lin Chu felt a pang of guilt. In the aftermath of the mission, she was consumed by urgency, leaving no room for reflection. However, as time passed, fragments of memories resurfaced, suggesting a possible connection between An Xing Yu''s disappearance and her own actions.
During the ancestral ritual, she had been mesmerised by the flowing river of blood, almost sacrificing herself. In that chilling moment, a subconscious urgepelled her to offer up An Xing Yu instead.
Was it conceivable that An Xing Yu had been sacrificed and left in that otherworldly realm? The troubling thought loomed, but Lin Chu was afraid to delve deeper into it.
As she poured a ss of water for Chu Xiu, she noticed that his attention was not on the drink, but on the clutter of notes that adorned the walls.
"You''re quite remarkable," hemented sincerely.
With a half-hearted smile, Lin Chu asked, "Why exactly have youe here?"
"To investigate An Xing Yu''s disappearance," Chu Xiu replied, gesturing towards a report he held. "The casualties were high in yourst mission. Everyone, except you, perished. While some deaths can be exined, why did An Xing Yu vanish? If you live, youe back. If you die, youe back.... Once word of this leaks out to other taskers, your days won''t be peaceful."
Lin Chu acknowledged the truth in those words.
Those who survived numerous tasks weren''t angels; having the ability to off NPCs meant they were capable of taking lives.
Lin Chu maintained her expression, her visage slightly pallid as if recalling an unpleasant memory, attempting to recollect but ultimately shaking her head in a nk manner, a bitter smile forced upon her lips. "I wish I knew. I want to know, too, what he encountered."
Despite Lin Chu''s disy of vulnerability, Chu Xiu''s caution didn''t wane. He always sensed deception from the other side, although clueless about the hidden truth.
"I know you don''t buy it, but we all ended up scattered in the end. I barely survived; how could I muster energy to tend to others?"
The teacup emitted steam on the table, Lin Chu''s sincerity ringing through in her tone.
Her act was seamless, leaving Chu Xiu clueless whether she lied or not. Yet, his instincts persisted, whispering that this girl wasn''t as straightforward as she seemed.
"If that''s the case, care to share your mission details? I couldn''t find a trace of it on the website."
He hinted that Lin Chu returned and concealed the mission without posting it.
The opportunity existed; certain agents returned from their missions but opted to conceal their experiences for various reasons, refraining from documenting them.
"Don''t worry," Lin Chu assured. "I''ll organise it and send itter."
A flicker of sorrow crossed her features, recalling something deeply saddening. "My best friend died during that mission, and I just can''t bring myself to go back there," she confided, a faint smile tinged with both genuine and feigned sorrow.
Chu Xiu, perceptive and not easily misled, presented a challenge for her. His manner, somewhat imposing yet not entirely unweing, required Lin Chu''s cautious and indirect approach in their unspoken sh.
Chu Xiu knew Lin Chu''s best friend was likely Yu Xian Guang.
In the living room rested the other person''s portrait, likely connected to her recent visit to the police station.
"I''m sorry for your loss," Chu Xiuposed himself. "But finding An Xingyu is important. I need a detailed ount from you."
Closing her eyes wearily, Lin Chu settled on the couch before finally speaking up, "Alright, I''ll gather my thoughts."
Chu Xiu earnestly jotted down notes.
Continuing her narrative, Lin Chu began to recount the eerie events of the mission. Her recollection, distorted by the mission''s duration, seemed tangled, leaving certain details hazy and prompting moments of contemtion.
"... There were loads of ghosts. We dashed through the amusement park in a panic, clueless about where to go. In the pitch-ck night, we stumbled upon a brightly lit wax museum. At first, we didn''t realise it, but inside, all the wax figures depicted us dying in different ways..."
However, as Lin Chu slowly recounted the mission''s events, her story diverged greatly from her actual experience. She had crafted a tale right then to deceive him.
Unaware of Lin Chu''s deception, Chu Xiu listened intently. As she described her escape from the eerie amusement park, a hint of sorrow crossed her face when she found herself alone.
"So, you''re asking me about An Xing Yu''s whereabouts? I genuinely have no idea. I''m just as curious. Why did he vanish?" Lin Chu responded, her tone curious.
Taking a moment to ponder, Chu Xiu nodded and bid her farewell, expressing his apologies for the interruption. "Thank you very much."
Lin Chu walked him to the door, then from the balcony she watched his silhouette vanish down the street. Returning to the sofa, she rummaged through her belongings, retrieving a bug and a pinhole camera.
Wrapping the two small items in tissue, she clenched her hand tightly, crushing them without hesitation.
Meanwhile, a crackling electrical sound hummed near Chu Xiu''s ear, indicating the discovery of his little toys.
*
*
The provincial museum buzzed with visitors, attracted by the allure of recently unearthed exhibits, especially fascinating history buffs. With the New Year prompting a return to hometowns, many parents happily brought their children, hoping to cultivate their appreciation for the past.
Wearing a mask, Lu Yan blended into the crowd and seamlessly passed through the security check.
Inside the dimly lit museum, photography was prohibited for most artefacts. He meticulously examined the excavated objects, silently absorbing their intricate details.
The disyed collection echoed the style of items he had encountered in the tombantique, distinctive bronze, jade, and porcin pieces encased within softly illuminated ss walls.
Due to the limited excavation period, experts had not yet deciphered much information, resulting in sparse annotations. Lu Yan quickly skimmed through the limited details, concluding his examination in no time.
He turned on his heel, striding purposefully toward the bathroom.
Within the stall, Lu Yan retrieved a stack of white papers from his bag and swiftly sketched with a pencil, capturing the fresh image etched in his mind.
As he immersed himself in drawing, noises from outside the stall drew his attention. Footsteps suggested the arrival of the trio from the hotel the previous nightapproximately three individuals.
With no one else visible in the restroom, the threesome began their conversation with unguarded frankness.
"We were supposed to infiltrate the archaeological team, right? So why are we here at the museum? We''vebed through this ce and found nothing. They must''ve hidden everything," grumbled Fei Hong Sheng.
"Do you think it''s easy to just join the archaeological team? We don''t know anyone there. We barge in and say, ''Oh, we''re here to excavate artefacts.'' Do you think they''d believe that?" added another deep voice.
"Stop bickering, you two are noisy when you''re together. Let''s figure out a solution instead. Those recent discoveries they unearthed, if not on disy here at the museum, where else could they be?" Jing Tao interjected.
"This bloody mission, hunting down a jade pendant, who knows if it''s tucked away in a museum or stashed by some bloke. We might end up in a tomb by the end of it all..." Fei Hong Sheng finally fell silent, but soon resumed grumbling about other things.
At the mere mention of the jade pendant, Lu Yan''s attention sharpened.
What jade pendant? Could it be the one he had in mind?
Their ensuing conversation confirmed Lu Yan''s suspicion; they were indeed seeking the Pisces jade pendant. The only two in existence were in Lu Yan''s possession, and strangely, after world returned, the pendants hadn''t vanished.
Lu Yan''s emotions at that moment were hard to pin down. He had been probing for any conspiracy tied to the mission, some unseen force guiding it. But he couldn''t discern any consistent thread. Yet now, his hunch had a lead.
Why, just as he acquired the jade pendant, did someone else receive a task to locate the Pisces jade pendant? Could something have silently observed him all this time?
Lu Yan couldn''t grasp it, but he was damn sure he wouldn''t allow this bunch to take away the Pisces jade pendant.
After a while, those fellows departed, and only then did Lu Yan emerge from the bathroom stall.
Passing by the mirror, he suddenly felt uneasy, causing his pupils to shrink in an instant.
As he exited, he noticed that despite leaving the cubicle door open, thepartment door began to close, one after the other, as seen in the mirror.
It was as if invisible hands were at work, closing the doors.
Bloody hell!
Lu Yan swiftly walked away.
Shortly after, a young boy, around seven or eight years old, entered the restroom.
He had been brought to the museum by his mother for a visit and was supposed to write an essay afterward. He couldn''t understand what was so fascinating about a bunch of dusty old relics; in fact, he had identally knocked over a particrly beautiful bowl. As a result, his mother was arguing with the museum staff, and the boy, muttering to himself, decided to go to the toilet on his own.
Pushing the door open, he stepped into the cubicle.
Unbeknownst to him, the mirror showed the cubicle door remaining firmly shut, never budging.
He pushed through a door that led to who knows where.
After a moment, a pale hand unexpectedly appeared on the door handle, slowly opening the stall door.
In the reflection of the mirror, gore and flesh covered the walls, floor, and ceiling of the sta scene straight out of hell.
Outside the mirror''s realm, a gentle breeze pushed open the tightly closed door, revealing a perfectly clean andpletely empty space.
The whereabouts of the little boy remained a mystery to everyone.
*
*
Inside the museum, a young mother, fresh from an argument with the staff, rubbed her sore throat and muttered to herself, "That filthy brat''s going to get a good spanking once we get home, making me cough up all that money."
Then it hit her: hadn''t Little Treasure mentioned needing to use the bathroom? Where could he be?
Unaware of the consequences of her argument, a wave of customers began to leave. Soon, half of the museum''s visitors had departed, leaving behind an eerie emptiness.
For unknown reasons, even the staff dwindled in numbers until only about twenty people remained within the museum''s walls.
Lightning cut through the thick, cloudy sky, briefly illuminating the museum with brilliance as the storm raged on, apanied by a deafening p of thunder.
"Oh, what''s happening? Why is it raining?"
"Oh no, I forgot my umbre. It''s so difficult to find a taxi around here..."
Just wait a moment, let the rain calm down before going back. The weather has been unpredictabletely. It was scorching hot just a few days ago, and now it''s suddenly chilly..."
Another thunderp, and half of the lights in the museum went out.
"Ah" a girl''s scream pierced through, followed by a chorus ofmotion.
Did the lightning strike the power lines?
Gathered at the museum entrance, the crowd watched in horror as another bolt of lightning struck, creating a dazzling burst of light that brought down the distant utility pole in an instant.
"The wires are on fire!" they eximed.
At the same time, the museum''s lights finally went outpletely, plunging everything into darkness.
Even the pouring rain couldn''t extinguish the sparking wires. The pole swayed and gradually toppled, crashing onto a row of vehicles in the parking lot. Car rms red one after another, causing a fresh wave of distress among the onlookers.
For some of them their cars were there!
*
*
"Blimey, what''s happening outside? It''s incredibly loud and absolutely rude." The young mother made her way towards the bathroom, hearing themotion near the entrance. Annoyed, she scowled. But before she could take a few steps, the overhead lights flickered twice, then disappeared.
Complete darkness.
And to make matters worse, there were dripping sounds, as if there had been a botched waterproofing job.
Enough already. Once she got out, she was definitely going to file aint against this museum. How on earth did they manage things? Leaking like this?
The young mother turned on her shlight and cautiously moved forward.
"Little one? Sweetie, are you here?" She shuffled towards the door of the men''s restroom.
Strange, why was there more water umting on the floor?
She shone her shlight inside, still inplete darkness. A gust of wind blew in from the other window, causing the partition door to rattle, bringing in a handful of cold raindrops.
"Little Treasure? Are you there?" She raised her voice, "Is anyone in the men''s restroom? Can Ie in now?"
No response, only the increasing rush of cold wind.
She cautiously stepped through the door, being careful not to soak her boots in the pooled water on the floor. Stall after stall, she peered inside.
"Little Treasure? Little Treasure?"
To her dismay, even after reaching thest partition, she found no trace of her son.
"Little Treasure, stop ying hide and seek with Mama. Come out now, alright?" Failing to locate her son, an unsettling feeling washed over her, causing her to raise her voice once again.
The shlight beamed around, and suddenly, her body tensed up abruptly, as if her blood froze in an instant.
She saw...
In the mirror, the pristine setting was gone. Outside the window, rainshed against it like blood, with long, grey-white shadows drifting back and forth. And the water on the ground... undeniably blood!
She waspletely drenched in bloodwater! The droplets that had fallen on her face, which she had casually wiped away, were now smeared into a bloody mess.
Blood handprints adorned every inch of the walls!
Ghosts... they were ghosts!
The museum was haunted!!
"Ah!!" The young woman let out a piercing scream, desperately attempting to flee. But just as she neared the closest stall, a ghastly pale hand shot out, forcefully pulling her entire being into thepartment.
The door mmed shut with a powerful gust of wind.
The wails suddenly stopped.
*
*
Naturally, the high-pitched screams caught the attention of the few people huddled at the entrance. They exchanged anxious nces.
"What''s happening? Who''s there?"
"Has something happened? Should we go take a look?"
Pushing and shoving, they urged each other forward, trying to gather their courage. Everyone switched on their shlights, illuminating the area slightly.
"Just my luck, encountering something like this on New Year''s. Good thing I have car insurance, or I''d be in big trouble."
"Doesn''t this museum have a backup generator? Where are all the staff? Why can''t we find anyone?"
"Exactly! Can''t they turn on the lights? It''s pitch ck, and it''s too scary."
They all huddled together, trying to boost each other''s courage, making the atmosphere slightly less eerie. However, there was no denying that once the museum, known for its antique decor, fell into darkness, it became quite frightening.
Among them were the seven members of the task force, whose reactions were slightly more pronounced than the others.
The others didn''t know, were they still unaware? There was definitely some ghostly activity happening in the museum. They had considered leaving quickly, but the team leader, Jing Tao, advised against a direct exit. There had been previous instances where those who left early ended up dead on the road.
"Risk is an opportunity, so why not take a chance? What if they find the Pisces jade pendant?"
The beams of seven or eight shlights scanned the area. The red dots from the several cameras on the ceiling disappeared, appearing to be out of power and no longer functioning.
There were no staff members present.
"Hey, now that there are no staff or cameras, wouldn''t it be easy for us to take a few relics without getting caught?" a man in the crowd cautiously proposed.
"Stealing is not right, mate," another man advised.
"Oh,e on, I was just joking, not being serious," chuckled the man who spoke earlier.
Nevertheless, his words unintentionally sparked thoughts in others.
Before long, another person casually mentioned, "I''ve heard that these ss cases usually trigger an rm, but after the power outage, the rms are disabled, right?"
"Even if they are, so what? These staff members seem to have disappeared into thin air."
"Yeah, and no one will notice anyways."
"The relics are highly valuable; maybe we shouldn''t."
"Haven''t you read the reports? There are many more inside the tomb, and this exhibition only showcases a small portion. Besides, what is the use of these relics anyway?"
More and more people were growing anxious, and eventually, those who opposed were silenced.
In that moment, their objective shifted. Instead of searching for the source of the screams, they began scavenging for things that were valuable and easy to carry.
Lu Yan trailed behind the crowd, releasing a deep sigh and casting a cold eye on these people, who led themselves to their own demise.
He wanted to leave, but he shared the same concerns as the rest of the group.
Heavy rain, lightning, and damaged power lines... Everything was preventing them from exiting the museum. If they were to hastily depart, they might encounter something even more horrifying.
He walked at the rear, vigntly surveying the entire hall.
Surrounding the grand exhibition hall were several smaller ones. He strolled slowly towards a disy stand, his entire body tense, ready to flee at any moment.
In one of the smaller exhibition rooms, a woman''s scream erupted once again.
Lu Yan heard a sound. It was a familiar voice from yesterday, one of the people in that tasker group called Cao Yi.
Others instinctively ran in, entering the small exhibition hall.
"What''s wrong? What happened?" They asked.
Lu Yan remained unmoving. He could hear a faint dripping sound.
It was like a tick-tock sound, dropping onto the ss disy table beside him.
He wondered from where the sound of water wasing from?
Before he could ponder it, he heard Cao Yi''s crying in distress.
"Really, I really saw a figure, a white one. Iit disappeared in an instant. I''m not blind." Cao Yi said, clearly frightened. Her makeup was a bit smudged. "I came in from the entrance into the toilets, saw several stalls, then I checked them one by one. Then, I felt something on my neck, like hair or something. I turned around and saw a white figure drifting into the wall..."
Beams of torchlight shone, making everyone''s faces appear blurred in the darkness.
The atmosphere momentarily froze, and whether it was psychological or not, the temperature inside the museum seemed to drop a few degrees, growing increasingly chilly.
"You shouldn''t spout nonsense; it''s probably just your stress getting to you, causing you to misperceive," advised Jing Tao.
"I didn''t misperceive! It''s real, I really saw it. Why don''t we hurry out? This museum is haunted..."
Even if they knew there were ghosts in this mission, they couldn''t just blurt it out like that, right? This bunch of NPCs was such perfect cannon fodder. If they ran away, what would they do themselves?
Jing Tao wished he could grab the other person''s neck and shake them to see if brains could be squeezed out. But in front of everyone, he couldn''t do that. He could only re at Cao Yi darkly, hoping to make her tone it down.
Yi Yun sighed, reached out to pat Jing Tao''s shoulder, and gently shook her head at him.
Jing Tao understood her unspoken words, his forehead tightening as he shot her another re.
Yi Yun shed a smile that seemed a bit fake no matter how you looked at it. "After all, it''s a museum, filled with relics just dug up from tombs. If they get a bit contaminated, there''s a real chance, isn''t there? It''s better to believe there''s something than to believe there''s nothing."
Her words may have been urate, but the guilty tone in her voice made them utterly unconvincing, regardless of how you looked at it.
"Don''t pretend to be bleeding innocent. I remember all of you, working together, trying to push us out and keep everything for yourselves, right?" one of the blokes sneered, seeing through her scheme.
Yi Yun waved her hands frantically, "No, no, how could you think that? I..."
"Stop daydreaming! There''s plenty in this museum for everyone! Your gang can''t scare us off just because there are more of you. Cause a scene and I''ll call the police right away. No one wille out of this looking good!"
Now Jing Tao understood what Yi Yun was trying to do and was impressed. He quickly added, "Okay, okay, you call the shots. We won''t argue with you, alright? Let''s agree not to involve the police, right? We''ll quickly find things on our own."
"That''s right," the man grumbled as he passed Cao Yi, who was still standing there dazed and muttered, "But I really did see it..."
Yi Yun''s expression turned icy as she pulled her aside, gesturing for the others to gather around to avoid eavesdropping. She didn''t hold back while scolding the woman, "If you want to get yourself killed, don''t drag us down with you! Who knows what coulde out of that ancient tomb? Right now, they''re about to test if these artefacts are cursed. If you keep spouting nonsense and scaring off these NPCs, do you think we won''t use you as the guinea pig?"
She exined it to her clearly, and finally, Cao Yi understood the situation, nodding vigorously.
She was aplete newbie, only on her second attempt. The first time, she breezed through with someone else''s help and thought it was no big deal. She even wrote a horror novel based on her own experience, which boosted her reputation as a "talented female author." Later, one of her clients discovered it and invited her to a website. She didn''t take it too seriously, thinking she had toughened up enough after watching many horror movies.
But this was her first-ever up-close encounter with a ghost, and she almost fainted on the spot.
In horror movies, no matter how scary and gruesome they may be, it''s all fiction.
However, in this moment, she truly experienced what it felt like to be on the edge of life and death.
Right now, Yi Yun made her feel the same way the experienced person who had guided her before did, and she instantly found Yi Yun quite likeable, even if she spoke with disdain. As soon as Yi Yun finished speaking, Cao Yi hurriedly caught up, wanting to walk alongside her and tugging at her clothes.
"Don''t keep following me," Yi Yun said, not interested in engaging with the other person.
Cao Yi caught a glimpse of her calm appearance, which provided some relief. She muttered under her breath."Y''know... I''m really scared."
"Ah, do whatever you want." Yi Yun turned around and surveyed the area once again.
However, her focus was not on the exhibits inside the museum; instead, she kept her gaze on the people around them.
She wanted to witness what would happen if someone tried to steal an artefact.
Before long, a man who had argued with them earlier grabbed a chair and forcefully mmed it against the ss disy case.
Although the ss case was supposedly sturdy enough to withstand a bullet, it couldn''t withstand the impact and shattered onto the floor. Two delicate ss cups were nearly destroyed inside.
The man reached out, took the two beautiful ss cups, and discreetly ced them into his backpack.
Nothing stirred.
Yi Yun kept her eyes fixed on him.
Unbeknownst to her, the hand behind her slowly turned icy. However, Yi Yun, still standing in the corner, remained unaware.
If she had nced back, she''d have seen the girl who clutched her clothes, her eyes turning white, her hair steadily lengthening.
Droplets fell, one by one.
The gentle pitter-patter, as when the storm approached, so faint yet so distinctly audible to everyone''s ears.
"This sted museum, still leaking!" The man with the ss cups cursed. Wherever he went, the irksome drip persisted, getting on hisst nerve.
Chapter 80
Chapter 80
The sound of dripping water became clearer, audible to everyone this time. It had a distinct, echoing sound that captured their attention.
Torchlights were used to scan the ceiling, revealing its dampness streaked with water, which formed rivulets trickling down.
Some of the peopleined about the museum''s poor renovations, keeping themselves busy with their tasks.
However, one man, who was holding two ss cups, stared intently at the ceiling, a feeling of unease settling in his mind.
Something didn''t feel right.
As the pooled water continued to increase and cascade, it started to take on a peculiar shape, catching the man''s eye.
Determined to understand its pattern, he raised his shlight higher, widening his eyes in an effort to make out the form.
Unfortunately, the museum''s darkness hindered him, frustrating his attempts. Damn it! What on earth could be up there?
What could it possibly be?
Yi Yun was fixated on the man. She watched as he froze, rooted to the spot and stared up at the ceiling. A surge of fear shot through her as lightning shed across the sky.
She was so focused on what was in front of her that shepletely missed the growing, chilling sensation creeping up from behind.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning tore through the sky.
In that brief moment of light, the middle-aged man''s eyes widened as he finally noticed the pattern above.
Water began streaming down from the ceiling, forming the shape of a human face.
The brightness from the lightning quickly faded, plunging the museum back into darkness. However, the middle-aged man''s eyes continued to widen.
Why did he feel like things were bing clearer instead?
It wasn''t his vision sharpening; it was the faceing closer and expanding! It twisted into a strange grin, directly aimed at the middle-aged man.
He thought he heard a creepy sound.
Someone wasughing.
Within the unsettling silence of the museum,ughter swirled, genderless and unnerving, sometimes distant, sometimes near. These ghostly pale shapes, reminiscent of spectral visions, wove through the darkness, casting an eerie pall with their translucent forms.
Amidst these figures, pale and giggling, some reached out toward him...
Yi Yun gazed at him for a prolonged moment, unaware of Cao Yi''s sudden disappearance behind her.
Maintaining a cautious distance from the middle-aged man to avoid any potential trouble, she could only make out a dark silhouette faintly against the backdrop.
What was above?
Baffled, she lifted her gaze, directing the light, but still unable to discern anything.
Then, in an instant, her eyes widened.
The man had vanished!
Driven by instinct, Yi Yun tentatively took a few steps forward, scanning her surroundings in disbelief.
The ce was silent, with the emptiness emphasised by the damp water stains on the floor. Suddenly, a single sound broke the quiet: "drip-drop." The sound echoed through the room as a droplet fell from the ceiling, creating small ripples as it hit the ground.
One couldn''t vanish without a trace in an instant. Something eerie must have happened.
What had just urred?
Was the disappearance of the middle-aged man connected to the artefact he had retrieved from the tomb? Or was it a result of his constant upward gaze?
"Cao Yi, you..." She hesitated to look up again and took two steps back. But when she turned around, the other person was gone too!
This nearly made her scream out loud.
Unconsciously, she realised that she was all alone in the museum hall.
Where had everyone gone?
Yi Yun didn''t dwell on the thought for long. She quickly moved forward, trying to contact others using her phone. However, the signal was weak, and she couldn''t send any messages.
Stay calm... considering their previous experiences, it was wise not to shout or seekpany, as it could be a ghost''s trick.
Yi Yun tightly pressed her lips together and increased her pace, despite her fear.
''I must keep pushing through, for the sake of my little one. No one else will raise her.''
Yi Yun remembered that night vividly with pouring rain and everything, just like tonights wicked weather. After dropping her little one off at home, she had the urge to take a shower after being drenched when she heard a voice in her mind. The voice told her that she had to reach a certain ce before midnight next Wednesday for a task, otherwise she would be transported to another world.
At first, Yi Yun didn''t believe it. But after days of relentless nightmares, she had no choice but to ept it. The nightmares warned her that if she didn''t participate, she would meet a gruesome end on Wednesday and the task would be passed onto her daughter.
How could she bear that? Her little one was so young.
And so, she started this cycle of tasks, one after another. Each task brought her to the brink of death, almost taking away half of her life. Resentment grew in her heart towards the tasks, towards that other world. Unfortunately, she even began to resent her own daughter.
If it weren''t for her little one... If it weren''t for her, if she hadn''t gone to pick her up that day, would any of this have happened?
Yi Yun couldn''t face her own conscience; she simply numbed herself with love for her daughter she wasn''t just surviving for herself, but for her little girl.
The shlight on the mobile phone flickered twice, then dimmed, and shortly after, the already faint lightpletely disappeared. The hall was now plunged into boundless darkness.
Sweat trickled down Yi Yun''s forehead even more profusely. She hurriedly tried to fiddle with her phone, but it had run out of battery and shut down. She then grabbed a shlight, but as soon as she turned it on, there was a faint electrical crackling sound and the beam vanished instantly.
No... I can''t panic
Yi Yun strained to widen her eyes and cautiously stepped into the depths of the hall. She moved slowly along the wall to avoid bumping into the disy cabs.
There was a faint glimmer ahead, a mere flicker in the darkness, like an oasis for a long-thirsty traveller in the desert. Yi Yun knew there might be traps, but she couldn''t resist taking step by step toward it.
As she got closer, she realised it was a small exhibition room with its door closed, emitting a faint ghostly green glow from the crack beneath it.
Almost unintentionally, she knocked on the door.
"If you open the door, you cane in," a young man''s somewhat indifferent voice came from inside.
Yi Yun suddenly noticed that the door wastched from the outside. She pulled back thetch, hesitated for a moment, and then forcefully pushed open the door.
The walls were still lined with disy cabs, but those were unimportant details. The focus was on the exhibit inside the ss cab in the middle. It was about the size of a child''s head, round, smooth, and emitted a deep, luminous green glow.
As soon as Yi Yunid eyes on it, one word came to mindNight Pearl.
(: refers to natural jewellery that glows in the dark, visible to the human eye, emitting light on its own. It''s a materialposed of luminescent substances within the depths of the Earth, formed over millions of years. Initially ejected from volcanic magma, these substances gathered through geological movements, coalescing within ores. The stones containing these rare luminescent elements, once processed, be what people call the Night Pearl. They often exhibit hues of yellow-green, light blue, orange-red, and such.)
This was the first time Yi Yun had encountered something like this. She let out a small gasp and then realised there was a young man standing at the edge of the disy cab.
It seemed like he was the one who had just responded.
Bathed in the faint, serene green light, the man''s shadow was cast against the wall, but it was nothing like a ghost.
As the man turned around, Yi Yun was momentarily stunned.
Wasn''t he the man who had switched rooms with them yesterday?
Lu Yan also recognized the woman and nodded slightly, saying, "So it''s you."
After observing the hall for a while and seeing that both of them were standing motionless, the man feared that he might end up the same as before if he lingered too long, so he moved to leave.
No matter how careful he was, he found himself unintentionally trapped in the exhibition hall. The ss door closed abruptly behind him, seeming to lock itself securely, leaving him with no choice but to wait.
A familiar face brought Yi Yun a sense of relief. "What a coincidence. I''m Yi Yun. And you?"
"Lu Yan."
"So, Mr. Lu, do you know anything about this?" Yi Yun gestured towards the Night Pearl.
"Sorry, no clue," Lu Yan''s demeanour remained cold, but Yi Yun persisted, longing forpany to boost her courage.
With the door now open, Lu Yan saw no reason to stay. After giving another a chilly nce at the Night Pearl and a polite nod at the other person, he left the hall.
Just as Yi Yun prepared to follow, two more people arrived.
Jing Tao and another trapped visitor entered, thetterpletely fixated on the Night Pearl, their eyes unwavering.
"Bloody hell, there''s a bloody Night Pearl here! Gotta be worth a fortune, right?"
"Consider this, in this pitch-ck ce, using a torch drains the battery. But with this, you wouldn''t need that torch to see clearly, right?"
The man continued talking, though not explicitly, his implications were perfectly clear.
Jin Tao appeared to be swayed, and Yi Yun joined in, saying, "But isn''t it risky to show it off like this? What if the staff checkter..."
"Just take it out for a look, give it a try. We''re not keeping it out forever, it should be fine, right?"
Yi Yun fell silent, clearly persuaded by his argument.
Tick-tock.
A drop of waternded on the ss counter.
They gathered around the Night Pearl in a circle,pletely unaware as a figure slowly walked past the doorway.
Lu Yan returned to the lobby, relying on his memory to find the spot where the middle-aged man had stood earlier, crouching down to thoroughly examine it.
The previously soaked floor hadpletely dried, with no trace of the previous water stains.
Since his disappearance, where had the ss cups gone? And why had the water stains on the floor vanished?
Lu Yan stood up and returned to the counter where the ssntern had been. Shards of ss still covered the floor.
He hesitated as faint noises caught his attention before approaching the door.
He wanted to try if he could leave.
As soon as this thought urred to him, it felt as though the ground beneath him stretched endlessly. Despite walking towards the entrance, he found himself stuck in the same ce.
Pausing, he nced once more at the door, turned on his heel, and ventured further inside.
Despite what felt like an eternity of walking, there was no end in sight. A strange thought crossed his mind: Could this museum truly be this vast?
"Ah!"
Inside the museum, a chilling scream echoed, quickly followed by hurried footstepsing from the right. The source of the chaos appeared visibly terrified.
Exiting a small exhibition room were a man, one of the taskers, and a woman, a regr visitor.
Without a clear direction in mind, they bolted towards the exit but failed to create much distance between themselves and Lu Yan, who watched them helplessly.
"What do we do? I don''t want to die!" The girl sobbed, her nose running and tears streaming down her face. "I shouldn''t havee. What kind of haunted museum is this?"
"Quiet down; what if someone hears us?" the man urgently cautioned. "Let''s figure out a way to escape, shall we?"
"You''re right. Rain or no rain, worst case scenario, we''ll catch a cold. Let''s hurry out of here. Should we ask for help?"
"Are you crazy? What are you suggesting?"
Enshrouded by darkness, they seemed unaware of Lu Yan''s presence, carrying on as if they were alone. It wasn''t until Lu Yan coughed softly that they finally noticed someone standing in the corner. The girl screamed again in terror, and the man hastily reassured her, "It''s alright, it seems like it''s just a person."
"Apologies for interrupting, but could you please rify what you mean by ''haunted''?"
Upon realising that the other person appeared human andposed, both individuals promptly began to exin.
"...We were inside another exhibition hall, admiring a disyed suit of armour. We were lingering for a moment..."
Here, the girl aggressively punched herpanion. "Clearly, he is the one who touched that armour," she used.
"Well, the head of the armour identally fell off, and we were just about to fix it. Then, unexpectedly, it started moving and chased us! This museum must be haunted!" eximed thepanion.
Lu Yan smirked subtly. "Not necessarily. What if it''s a robot? I''ve heard that some museums use disguised robots as exhibits."
"Is that true?" The man remained sceptical.
Although he had a suspicion that it could be a ghost, he wished that the eerie urrences wouldn''t ensnare them so quickly. Lu Yan''s words provided a hint of reassurance.
How much time had passed? They hadn''t even caught a glimpse of the elusive Pisces jade pendant. It would be terribly unfair if they were so early preyed upon by a ghost.
"Yes, if it were truly haunted, why didn''t it continue chasing you?" questioned Lu Yan in a calm and soothing voice. Even with his face hidden in darkness, both the man and woman couldn''t help but lean toward believing him, sensing that his reasoning might be correct.
Lu Yan had a hunch that each exhibit had its own sphere of influence. It seemed the museum lured visitors to wander off, exploring different sections of the museum. However, he needed to confirm this theory.
"Be careful with these relics; they''re very old," he warned.
He purposely avoided mentioning ghosts, which ironically made his credibility stronger.
The girl found his words somewhat believable, as her fear of ghosts made her trust him more.
"But we didn''t just run..." Her words trailed off.
Ignoring her, he changed the subject.
"What are your names? I''m Lu Yan. And you two?" In the dim lighting, Lu Yan moved closer, his eyes dark and intense, fixed on them.
"I... I''m Wang Peng Fei (: King flying on a mythical bird)."
"Ke Xiao Xue (:"Snow on a humble branch." )."
Ke Xiao Xue was still scared and made a request, "If you don''t mind, could you walk with us? I feel something really strange. Earlier, we wanted to run, but we couldn''t get out." Her voice grew weaker, "It''s like... hitting a ghost wall."
Because of the recent psychological suggestion, they all felt closer to Lu Yan.
Lu Yan smiled and said, "Sure."
Coincidentally, he also needed to witness some phenomena firsthand to verify his own spections.
As a provincial-level museum, the local government spared no expense; the museum was enormous, divided into three main exhibition halls and forty-two subsidiary ones. Among them, the two main halls, C1 and C2, stood side by side, along with thirty-one subsidiary halls, D1 to D31, on the ground floor. The rest were on the second floor, usually closed off and not open to regr visitors.
They walked past the first row of disy cabs.
Lu Yan remembered clearly that they contained small jade artefacts.
Wang Peng Fei, the tasker, carefully examined them before moving on to the next row.
Soon, they passed the second row, which mostly showcased jewellery.
Wang Peng Fei intentionally whispered to Ke Xiao Xue, "Look, these hairpins are quite beautiful, aren''t they?"
Under the glow of the shlight, several jade hairpins shimmered with a gentle, warm light.
The daylight visit had gone well, as Ke Xiao Xue had approached it in the mindset of appreciating relics. But now, the hairpins were right in front of her, within arm''s reach. No one knew about her secret desire, and no one would leak a word. Her attitude towards the hairpins immediately shifted from that of a tourist admiring artefacts to that of a woman eyeing essories.
Bloody hell... they''re so beautiful...
She reached out, her hand groping the ss case.
Lu Yan didn''t intervene; he simply stepped back.
Wang Peng Fei was even more excited. "If you really like them, we can take them out and try them on, just for a bit. We won''t take them away. After trying them on, we''ll put them back. Nothing will happen."
Ke Xiao Xue muttered, "Just try them on?"
"Yeah, just put them on and have a look. After all, they''re on disy for us to see. I don''t think it should be a problem to touch them a bit, right? Besides, they''re all made of jade. Just be a bit careful, and you won''t damage them."
While Ke Xiao Xue hesitated, Wang Peng Fei had already taken a metal knife out of his pocket and forcefully started opening the casing.
"Calm down, let''s just look," she said, but he had already sliced open a seam in the ss cab, creating an opening about the size of an open hand.
"Choose whichever catches your eye and give it a try," Wang Peng Fei encouraged her.
Ke Xiao Xue sumbed to the temptation. She reached out and plucked a pin made of vibrant jade from the shelf.
"It''s absolutely stunning..." Her expression turned enchanted as she caressed it, unaware of anything unusual.
Wang Peng Fei and Lu Yan now felt certain that something strange was in the museum''s collection.
A faint, fluorescent green glow emanated from the side. Wang Peng Fei spun around, shock evident on his face as he rushed over.
"Wow, you guys are incredible, you found the Night Pearl." He turned off the shlight,pletely amazed.
Yi Yun offered a helpless smile.
Both she and Jing Tao knew better than to handle the artefacts carelessly. They had simply enticed that ordinary tourist into taking the Night Pearl.
Now, that tourist, holding the Night Pearl, walked alongside them, almost oblivious to anything else, serving as a mobile light source.
In Yi Yun''s thoughts lingered a gnawing worry: "Could they undergo some kind of change?"
Jing Tao shook his head: "It shouldn''t. Look at the guy with the ss cups. He just disappeared. The worst that could happen is probably just disappearing, right?"
The man holding onto the Night Pearl trailed behind, then suddenly stopped at a certain distance. At the same time, Ke Xiao Xue, wearing the jade hairpin, touched her face with a dreamy expression. But as if she had just realised something, she spun around and fixed an intense gaze on the man holding the Night Pearl.
Finally, the three taskers noticed something was wrong.
"What''s going on?"
Why were they radiating so much hostility? It was as if they were about to start a fight.
Lu Yan retreated once again, hiding in the shadows, observing the only three perceptive individuals among this group of taskers.
Jing Tao cautiously reached out his hand to pull the man holding the Night Pearl forward, but the man refused to budge, standing stubbornly in ce.
It felt as though, by taking another step forward, something dreadful would happen!
Jing Tao had no other option but to give up.
Yi Yun pursed her lips. "What do you think? Is the museum causing trouble again? What''s our escape n?"
She counted on her fingers. "Once someone gets close to an artefact, they be drawn to it. Taking it forcefully could be harmful, so the first solution is to not take the artefact. But now, we have two people who possess artefacts at the same time and can''t go near each other. Is this amon urrence or unique to us?"
Wang Peng Fei understood. "Well, let''s conduct an experiment with another person."
Jing Tao and Yi Yun nodded in agreement.
Seemingly intentionally or unintentionally ignoring Lu Yan, thetter felt satisfied with his hypnotic effect. He quietly stood in the corner, waiting for the results of their experiment.
They quickly devised a n. Wang Peng Fei stayed in ce, waiting, while Jing Tao and Yi Yun, along with the person holding the Night Pearl, attempted to bring other visitors for the experiment.
Another drop of water fell,nding on the already water-covered floor.
Jing Tao and Yi Yun left, and the brightness gradually faded.
"After thinking about it, the person who stole the ss cups earlier disappeared. Where do you think the ss cups?" Jing Tao wondered after they left.
Yi Yun shook her head. "I was watching closely, but I didn''t see it. It happened so quickly, and he was gone. Even Cao Yi vanished."
As they continued on, they entered a small exhibition hall. It waspletely dark inside, but there were faint, eerie sounds seeping out.
"Is anyone here?" Yi Yun called out into the darkness, motioning for the person holding the night pearl to step forward, illuminating the entire space with its soft glow.
Under the gentle radiance of the night pearl, the exhibition hall was fully revealed. Their keen eyes spotted a girl huddled in a corner, trembling violently, her clothes soaked from the water on the floor.
And that girl... if she wasn''t Cao Yi, then who could she be?
"Cao Yi? What are you doing here?" Yi Yun demanded, her voice growing louder.
The figure remained hunched over, facing away from them, appearing unaware and unresponsive. Yi Yun approached, reaching out to turn the person around, only to be taken aback by their face.
Why did Cao Yi''s face resemble that of a wild creature?
It was akin to some mythical feline demon or simr creature.
All of a sudden, Cao Yi''s eyes flew open, shining with an eerie greenish glow; Yi Yun could even make out her pupils, sharp as straight lines.
"What in the... what''s happening?" Jing Tao was equally startled. "Run, hurry!"
Yi Yun spun around and dashed off, Jing Tao dragging her along, legs churning as they bolted away, leaving the daft tourist standing there, motionless,
Cao Yi sat up, struggling against the brightness, and knocked over that annoying light.
Chapter 81
Chapter 81
Just as they dashed out, the sound of shattering echoed behind them, creating a cacophony.
The Night Pearly shattered, plunging the museum back into darkness.
"What do we do now, Cao Yi...," Jing Tao panted, "Didn''t they say she wouldn''t undergo any mutation?"
Their sprinting stirred up the pooled water beneath them, creating a noisy symphony of sshes.
"Those who took relics won''t mutate, they''ll just disappear. But Cao Yi shouldn''t havee into contact... What other dead ends did she stumble upon?" Yi Yun strained to think.
"Where are we even going?" Jing Tao reflexively nced back. "Huh, she''s not following us?"
The pursuing footsteps from earlier had stopped, making their panicked escape seem unnecessary without anyone chasing them.
The sound of dripping water grew more intense.
Lu Yan Li and Wang Peng Fei both picked up on urgent footsteps in the distance, their expressions darkening.
Ke Xiao Xue stood still, her face filled with an intoxicated expression, seemingly unaware of the gradual change happening to her face.
Wang Peng Fei moved closer involuntarily, trying to get a clearer view.
A droplet fell into his eye, momentarily blurring his vision. As he reached to wipe it away and opened his eyes, Wang Peng Fei''s gaze widened suddenly.
Ke Xiao Xue was gone!
She had disappeared right before his eyes! Along with her disappearance, the ornate jade hairpin had also vanished. A sudden chill ran up his spine, causing his legs to feel weak.
Only then did he notice Lu Yan standing nearby in silence. Wang Peng Fei lunged toward Lu Yan, as is grasping at thest straw of hope. "Did you see that? Did you see her? She''s gone..."
But hadn''t Lu Yan been watching the whole time? At the moment Ke Xiao Xue vanished, Lu Yan witnessed a terrifying scene that was too unbelievable toprehend. However, the horrifying imagested for only a fleeting moment, so fast that it seemed like an illusion.
Was it truly... an illusion?
Lu Yan shook his head. "I didn''t see anything."
Since he had be involved in this task, he needed to ensure these few individuals survived a little longer, prolonging the existence of the "normal" world and giving him more time to investigate the burial ground.
He despised the eerie world, so he always ensured that at least one of taskers remained alive, even when it seemed pointless, only prolonging their existence a little longer.
Wang Peng Fei muttered to himself, "No, this can''t be... Where could she have disappeared to?"
If obtaining the relic resulted in disappearance, what would happen if they stumbled upon the Pisces Jade Pendant? Should they take it or not?
Wang Peng Fei always felt that the path of the task was not straightforward.
A drop of water fell from above. Just as it approached Lu Yan, he moved to the side.
In that brief moment, he saw it! It looked eerily simr to a scene from hell. The liquid falling from the ceiling was not water, but blood!
The thick bloodwater was unavoidable; they all became soaked, like being caught in a light drizzle, their damp clothes sticking to their skin. At the same time, a strange draft sent a shiver down their spines. Their phones were irreparably damaged as water seeped in from an unknown source.
Lu Yan could already imagine what they would look like in reality.
Furthermore, one after another, pale silhouettes floated through the hall. Lu Yan even saw some shadowsing from the artefacts, merging with the figures on the ceiling; certain shadows twisted and slithered back into the ss cabs.
The floor was covered in a thickyer of something. Just as Wang Pengfei was thinking about it, Yi Yun and Jing Tao returned to where they were originally standing, joining him.
The night pearl that was used for light was gone, and the two NPCs who could have shown them the way were also missing... But they still hadn''t figured out the true pattern of the ghost murders.
It seemed like another tourist had decided to mess with the artefacts. In a sh of lightning that briefly tore the world apart, the scene in front of them became blurry once again.
This time, Yi Yun saw it too! She was instantly terrified and started trembling.
"Oh my... Didn''t you all see it?" Yi Yun tried to dodge the water droplets in a hurry, but she couldn''t avoid them and ended up with blood dripping on herself.
"See what?" Jing Tao asked.
Yi Yun, annoyed, wiped her face with a tissue. Her hair was wet and stuck to her skin. "I saw a ghost!"
She described what she had witnessed. Who among the others would doubt her? They all followed suit, scared, wanting to look up at the ceiling but not daring to. It waspletely dark, and they had no way to avoid those droplets.
Jing Tao was freezing and on the verge of catching a cold. He coughed a couple of times and said, "I have an idea. The museum has two levels, and the upper one is not open to regr visitors. Should we... take a look?"
As soon as those words were uttered, the only response they received was a haunting silence.
Yi Yun and Wang Peng Fei found themselves hesitating.
Sure, in their past adventures, they had taken risks to stay alive. But knowingly charging into the unknown, especially when they knew there were ghosts ahead, wasn''t something the average person could handle.
Lu Yan looked at them, took a step forward, and headed towards the staircase.
The water that had collected on the ground had already risen above their ankles. Furthermore, the sound of dripping had escted from individual drops to a constant drizzle.
"Hm.."
His voice brought the trio back to reality. They were all slightly surprised. Why did they always instinctively overlook Lu Yan? Even though they were aware of his presence, an indescribable sense of affection and trust made each of them question themselves.
"Lu Yan? Where are you going?"
"Yeah, it''s getting dangerous in the museum. We should stick together."
Lu Yan responded, "I''m going up to the second floor."
"But it could be risky up there..."
"Haven''t you noticed? The water level is rising rapidly. If we don''t act soon, the umted water might flood the entire ground floor."
As Yi Yun followed behind, she asked, "By the way, have you seen a jade pendant? It''s called the Pisces Jade Pendant. If we can find it, it could help us solve this. So, let''s not rush to the second floor."
Both Pisces Jade Pendants were in Lu Yan''s pocket. He remained calm and replied, "No." Nevertheless, he continued towards the staircase.
Another lightning bolt streaked across the sky. A few secondster, a deafening boom reverberated, as if it wanted to tear the entire museum apart.
Amidst the sound of dripping water and the noisy rain, Lu Yan heard something elsea mixture of noises.
He scanned his surroundings vigntly; the night offered little resistance to him. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t pinpoint the source of the sounds.
Yi Yun was about to speak when a sshing sound approached from a distancea person hurrying through the water, breathing heavily, seemingly being chased by something.
"Who''s there?" Wang Peng Fei''s voice echoed.
Upon hearing his voice, the person rushing over seemed to findfort and quickly shouted, "It''s me! I''m Zhang Wen Hao. I was so scaredI was being chased by a real ghost." Zhang Wen Hao blurted out as he ran closer.
"Don''t talk nonsense," Yi Yun restrained him.
"It''s true! Just a moment ago, I was in a small exhibition room doing nothing, and suddenly, a knife hanging on the wall swung at me, nearly slicing my neck."
"After that? Maybe it was just that the shelf wasn''t set properly," Jing Tao said.
"After that? I almost died! I went to that exhibition hall dedicated to weaponry, man, and all those weapons came crashing down towards me. A few knives almost pierced right through me," Zhang Wen Hao recounted, still shaken.
As he spoke, screams echoed from other exhibition halls. People fled in panic from the smaller halls, gathering in the main hall.
Three members of the task force were missing, and most of the tourists had suffered losses. Everyone now understood: those artefacts were not to be touched. Touching them meant risking your life. And now, trapped with no way out, all the phones were damaged. Staying put meant a high chance of drowning due to the rising water.
The footsteps of the approaching Grim Reaper filled everyone with deep despair and fear. What should they do to survive? Should they go to the second floor?
The first floor was already so dangerous, what could the second floor possibly hold? They didn''t dare to imagine.
As everyone debated loudly, Zhang Wen Hao suddenly felt the urge to urinate. He looked around, trying to hold it in, but the urge grew stronger. He needed to find someone to go with him. He leaned towards Jing Tao and whispered, "Bro,e with me to the restroom, please? Look at the situation now, I can''t go alone."
Jing Tao red at him. "You''re scared to go, and you think I''ll go? What time is it and you''re thinking about the toilet?" He almost wanted to knock some sense into Zhang Wen Hao''s head. Hadn''t this guy read online summaries or watched horror movies? Toilets, elevators, enclosed spaces - those were where eerie events happened the most.
Zhang Wen Hao persisted, "I''ve had a lot to drink, I really need to go."
His voice caught the attention of a young man among the tourists, who was very friendly and said, "Do you need to use the loo? I can apany you."
Zhang Wen Hao looked gratefully at the man. He remembered him; initially, he didn''t want to take any artefacts. He used to think this guy was annoying, but now it seemed even NPCs had a sense of justice.
Together, the two of them set off, and as they were about to leave, another tourist said, "Wait, I need to go too."
In the end, it turned out that a group of five people went to the restroom together.
Zhang Wen Hao felt even more relieved. Just before leaving, he warned them not to wander off. Then, the five of them confidently made their way to the bathroom.
Lightning shed, momentarily illuminating the hall as bright as day.
While everyone else was busy looking around in the sudden brightness, Lu Yan suddenly turned his head, gazing in the direction the group had left.
There were definitely five of them, but the footsteps... they sounded like they belonged to... just one person.
So, the other few were all...
Lu Yan''s heart pounded fiercely. He hadn''t noticed it a moment ago.
Wait a second, why couldn''t he remember the appearance of those few people from earlier?
His memory was sharp; before the anomaly, he had memorised the faces of all the tourists. But those few just now... were they really the visitors who hade to tour today?
Other taskers, as well as Zhang Wen Hao, were confused and didn''t notice anything unusual. However, having someone with them provided some reassurance.
A group of people made their way towards the restroom. As they walked, the stagnant water grew deeper, gradually reaching up to their shins. Just before it could reach their shins, they stumbled upon the restroom.
Outside the restroom, there was a mirror.
Suddenly, lightning struck, causing Zhang Wen Hao to instinctively nce into the mirror.
To his horror, the mirror reflected thick, clotting blood-water that fell from the ceiling and covered the floor. Even the droplets sliding down his hair and face were blood! The thick, sticky blood drenched his entire body, making him look like a ghost. What terrified him even more was that in the mirror, there was no reflection of the other four people behind him!
Slowly, Zhang Wen Hao turned his head around. The four pitch-ck figures were still there, advancing towards him. It was as if one could almost smell the earthy, coppery scent emanating from them.
Another sh of lightning illuminated the scene.
As Zhang Wen Hao looked back at them, the four individuals simultaneously shed him a perfect smile.
A piercing scream reverberated throughout the entire museum.
"Can you believe it? Five people going to the toilet together and still ending up in trouble?" Jing Tao eximed in astonishment.
Wang Peng Fei was equally taken aback, while another tasker, Luo Chuan (: Net River), remained unfazed. "Even if there were fifty people, it wouldn''t make a difference if the restroom is haunted, right?"
"I heard only Zhang Wen Hao''s voice, I was wondering how the others were doing?"
How many of them can make it out?
It would be helpful if at least one of them could update them about the situation in the restroom.
After waiting for so long, they knew. Those four tourists, in all likelihood, had also encountered something eerie.
The taskers couldn''t help but feel irritated.
"We can''t keep waiting here indefinitely. Most of the people on the ground floor have already explored everything. Let''s discuss whether or not we should go to the second floor," suggested Yi Yun.
"Let''s go."
"Let''s go."
"Let''s go."
Initially, Yi Yun was keeping count, but when she realised that there were actually multiple identical responses, she suddenly felt horrified.
Who was responding?
Yi Yun asked hesitantly, "Did any of you just speak?"
Jing Tao shook his head, "No, I was still thinking."
"Let''s go, let''s go..."
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, let''s go..."
The voice was still responding! She could hear it more clearly now!
Lu Yanli asked, "What did you hear?"
"I heard... I heard this eerie voice, telling us to go... to the second floor..." Yi Yun trembled with fear, a mix of terror and dread overwhelming her. She nervously chewed on her fingers. "Why me? Didn''t the rest of you hear it? Only I did?"
"Tell me, damn it! You all heard it too!" Yi Yun was on the verge of madness. Biting her fingers didn''t help; she grabbed her head, screaming hysterically, and then, ignoring everything, lunged at Jing Tao. "You heard it too, right? It was you who responded to me just now!"
"Hee hee hee hee... Come and join us..."
"Go on, off you go..."
The voice persisted. Jing Tao was startled. "No, I honestly didn''t hear anything."
"Impossible!" Yi Yun shouted at him with all her strength, lookingpletely unhinged. Regardless of how you viewed it, she wasn''t behaving normally. "You all definitely heard it... More than just me..."
Suddenly, she became incredibly strong. Jing Tao couldn''t restrain her alone; it took Wang Peng Fei''s help to barely subdue her.
Lu Yan closed his eyes.
The sound of rushing water, faint murmurs, and the dripping of water droplets...
What else was there? What else?
The ss cab emitted strange sounds - the clinking of jade objects and the resonant tones of bronze ware striking against each other.
He opened his eyes. "I heard it too."
Yi Yun, who had been struggling and roaring, suddenly paused and turned to look at him. Although the darkness made it difficult to see clearly, Lu Yan felt a prating gaze fixed upon him.
Lu Yan confirmed, "I saw it too."
Yi Yun stopped her frenzy and slowly released their hands. With excitement, she eximed, "I knew it! I wasn''t the only one who heard it."
But what exactly had they heard?
Soon enough, Wang Pengfei and Jing Tao also heard it.
The peculiar sounds were originating from different ss cabs.
As the hall momentarily lit up from a lightning sh, they finally saw it...
In that brief moment of illumination, several "visitors" transformed into wisps of greyish-white smoke and vanished without a trace.
This sudden turn of events frightened them all. But what shocked them even more was the slight trembling of the ground.
"No, it''s not the ground," Yi Yun said, her voice trembling with fear and confusion.
The room''s cabs trembled violently, causing the floor to quiver and sending ripples throughout the space. rmed, everyone looked around, bewildered by the sudden movement and wondering what was happening.
In an instant, a powerful gust of wind swept through the room, dislodging the floor from its disy stands. The cabs started to loosen, hurtling towards Yi Yun. With a swift dodge, she narrowly avoided being crushed. However, before she could catch her breath, another cab came crashing down just behind her. Just as she thought her fate was sealed, a hand grabbed her and whisked her to safety. The ss cabs descended to the ground with a resounding crash, shattering into countless pieces, causing ss shards and droplets of water to scatter in all directions.
Everyone shared the same thought: "Bloody hell!" They had realised that when these artefacts were damaged, inexplicable urrences unfolded.
Before they could even begin to contemte their next move, the remaining cabs in the room began to stir. They creaked and rattled as though the ancient relics housed within were striving to break free.
Initially, Yi Yun found it slightly amusing, tickled by the whimsy of her own imagination. However, herughter soon morphed into fear as a hairpin materialised out of thin air, hurtling towards her. Reacting swiftly, Lu Yan pulled her out of harm''s way once more. The hairpin collided with the wall, emitting a loud thud before falling to the ground.
This marked the second time Lu Yan hade to her rescue, and Yi Yun felt genuine gratitude towards him.
Lu Yan had no need for her gratitude. With lightning speed, he dodged a massive bronze cauldron that had somehow moved behind him, crashing down heavily and narrowly missing him by half his height. From atop the cauldron, a sleeve sword fell, and he couldn''t dodge in time, resulting in the de barely grazing his cheek and leaving a shallow cut.
Others were also struggling. In the broad daylight, the various artefacts disyed in ss cabs seemed toe to life, striving to break free and keep them all there.
To make matters worse, heavy metallic footsteps echoed from several exhibition halls.
Listening to those footsteps was like hearing soldiers in heavy armour from centuries ago.
Their guess was correct. asionally illuminated by shes of lightning, they saw around a dozen armoured figures, wielding swords and shields, slowly advancing toward them.
Initially, their movements were somewhat awkward, but over time, the suits of armour moved as smoothly as if they had been oiled. Their speed increased, and heavy swords were raised high, descending forcefully towards the intruders.
Just as Jing Tao was about to be struck, Wang Peng Fei lunged forward and pushed him aside. Both scrambled and crawled away in haste, with dismembered armors relentlessly pursuing them from behind.
Lu Yan found himself in the most perilous situation.
Perhaps because of the Pisces jade pendant he wore, the armors chasing him were the most numerous. Additionally, he faced relentless attacks from various other objects, causing him to bear the brunt of the assault despite his resistance to the darkness''s influence, resulting in sshes of red across his body.
The museum had beenpletely sealed off, yet there was a mysterious draft. Suddenly, a painting fluttered andnded on Lu Yan''s wet face.
He couldn''t see anything; his vision was plunged into darkness!
Lu Yan had no other option but to reach out and try to remove the painting, but it wouldn''te off. Once again, he heard sounds echoing all around him. He knew those things wereing to kill him.
The stagnant water had risen to his knees. As he dodged a few attacks, Lu Yan gradually felt the pain of oxygen deprivation.
And that painting... it still wouldn''t budge!
He couldn''t afford to damage it himself, so he cautiously tried to peel it off multiple times, but without sess. With fierce determination, Lu Yan squatted down and submerged his entire body in the "stagnant water."
The painting started to disintegrate, breaking into fragments that scattered everywhere.
But Lu Yanli felt something was terribly wrong.
An icy-cold hand firmly pressed down on his head, preventing him from standing up.
Lu Yan reached out towards the hand that hovered above, his senses tracing its outline, only to grasp at emptiness. He couldn''tprehend how this could be happening.
He held his breath and attempted to rise, but despite his efforts, he remained submerged, unable to lift his head from the water despite the water only reaching his thighs.
Gradually, his consciousness blurred and his lungs burned as if on the verge of bursting. Yet, he resisted swallowing water and fought to ascend.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning streaked overhead. Underwater, he widened his eyes and caught a glimpse of his reflectiona ghostly figure, deathly pale, perched on the ceiling with unnaturally elongated arms, pinning him in ce.
Then, a force struck him from the side, sending him off bnce.
Finally freed, Lu Yan straightened up and gasped for air. Beside him, Yi Yun also caught her breath and asked in a raspy voice, "Are you alright?"
Shaking his head, Lu Yan replied, "I''m fine, thank you."
Shards of ss littered the floor, pricking him in several spots. However,pared to death, these were mere scratches.
The once serene museum nowy in disarray, with toppled disy stands andrge artefacts surrounding them. The water gradually lost its red tint, revealing its true nature bit by bit.
Dragging its long tail, the ghostly figure floated and frolicked within the vast hall, its shades of grey and white creating an eerie presence.
"Go on... go on..."
"Hee hee hee hee hee..."
The figure chuckled, trying to lure some individuals into going upstairs.
What awaited them on the upper floor?
Although the four individuals had sustained some injuries, none were severe enough to significantly impede their movements.
"Let''s check the second floor. If not, we won''t stand a chance of escaping," Lu Yan suggested.
They had exhausted all other options.
The blood falling from the ceiling resembled a torrential downpour, and the rising water threatened to reach their waists. The armour-d ghosts remained unfazed, but their movements slowed down.
"Quick! Find the stairs!" Jing Tao gritted his teeth and made a determined effort to move towards the wall.
Others exerted equal effort to locate an exit. Theyout of the museum hadpletely changed, including the positioning of the stairs. Before long, Wang Peng Fei eximed with excitement, "Hurry! The stairs are over here!"
The blood had risen above their waists, emitting a thick and nauseating stench that prated their nostrils.
But there was no other option; they could hardly move forward. Everyone knew how to swim, so they clenched their jaws and swam across, attempting to suppress their disgust.
Outside the stairwell, a deep pool of blood awaited them.
Inside the stairwell, it was immacte; absolutely nothing. Even the emergency exit signs were fixed to the wall, casting a faint green glow in the darkness.
Curiously, they hesitated.
Behind them, twelve sets of armour stood in wless alignment, wielding swords as they advanced. With no alternative means of escape, the four of them had to forcefully enter the stairwell.
Strangely, the bloodstains on their bodies vanishedpletely when they stepped up, leaving their clothes dry. Only the wounds on their bodies served as evidence of their earlier frantic escape.
Inparison to the otherworldly ambience of the grand hall on the ground floor, the second floor seemed remarkably ordinary. A few rays of light filtered down from above, enabling them to clearly see each other''s faces.
"It''s too ordinary. I... I''m afraid to go up," Yi Yun anxiously gazed upwards.
"But we''ve alreadye this far. We cannot retreat now," Jing Tao wiped his face. "I passed by a window a moment ago, and briefly considered jumping out. However, when I peered outside, I realised it was dozens of stories down. Certain death if we jumped."
"This cursed museum is determined to trap us here!" Wang Peng Fei eximed.
He exchanged a secretive nce with Jing Tao, then nodded subtly. Jing Tao leaned closer to Lu Yan, whispering once again about the significance of the double-fish jade pendant and its bloody appearance.
"Once we find it, it will all be over!"
None of them wanted to go upstairs, but they knew they had to.
As long as... as long as they found that double-fish jade pendant, they could bring this mission to a close.
Could the pendant be on the second floor?
"Since we have to go up there, let''s just get on with it," Lu Yan said,posing himself and taking the lead up the stairs.
The double-fish jade pendant seemed to be more important than he had anticipated.
Now that it was in his hands, there was absolutely no chance he would hand it over.
Seeing him forge ahead, the other three felt a bit more at ease and hurriedly followed suit.
They soon conquered the ordinary two flights of stairs.
In the corridor, therge door was slightly open, allowing a warm yellow light to seep through the gap.
Lu Yan reached out and gently pushed the door, causing it to creak open. Inside, he saw
*
*
"Old Yu are you still buried in work?" a colleague passed by, noticing Yu Huai Yao (: To go think of Yao) engrossed in front of hisputer with a screen disying an image of a restored relic. They greeted him.
He responded vaguely, "Mm, go ahead, I''ll take another look."
"Alright, take care." The colleague smiled and left without suspicion.
Once the colleague had left, the vast research institute was deserted, leaving Yu Huai Yao alone.
Yu Huai Yao had been working diligently for quite some time when suddenly, the ringing of the phone interrupted his concentration.
"Little Huai, are you busy?" It was his mother calling.
Yu Huai Yao asked, "Is something wrong?"
"It''s about that matter again. Your cousin Xiao Huan''s (: Little Soapberry) funeral is in two days. Can youe back for it?"
He marked the date on his desk calendar. "I understand."
His tone concealed any hint of emotion. But after hanging up, he stared at that date for a very long time.
"Bro, do you believe in ghosts?"
In his mind, he remembered the conversation they had a year ago when his brother had asked him that question.
At that time, he shook his head, affirming his belief in science.
Yu Huan didn''t say anything else.
Later... they lost contact for a long time.
And then, he received the news of his brother''s death.
Chapter 82
Chapter 82
In a tragic turn of events, Yu Huai Yao never imagined that his cousin would meet such a horrifying end. The discovery of their bodies, along with those of two men and a woman, in an abandoned factory at midnight was truly shocking. The sight was so distressing that their identities were almost unrecognisable amidst the tragedy.
Reluctant to expose his mother to such horror, it was Yu Huai Yao who went to identify the bodies.
Despite exhaustive investigations, the cause of death remained a mystery. The police searched for any signs of unusual behaviour prior to their deaths, but everyone confirmed that Yu Huan had shown no signs of abnormality. In the end, the incident was frustratingly concluded as suicides.
Yu Huai Yao closed his eyes, remembering the words his cousin once spoke.
"Do you believe in ghosts?"
Once a sceptic, Yu Huai Yao now pondered.
Ghosts...
As he scrutinised a series of data shing across his screen, he let out a deep sigh.
Ghosts...
Suddenly, the lights in the research institute flickered. Yu Huai Yao stood up, rubbing his temples, preparing to leave.
Unbeknownst to him, on a screen adorned with a painting of courtdies, one of the maidens suddenly widened her smile behind him, her eyes casting an eerie, sideways nce at Yu Huai Yao.
The person turned off the light and left the room.
The following day, Yu Huai Yao received a call from a middle-aged police officer named An Ru. Yu Huai Yao remembered An Ru clearly because he had heard about his missing son. Despite the thorough search, there had been no indication of the son''s whereabouts.
What An Ru revealed next deeply unsettled him.
"Officer An, are you saying that there might have been a fifth person present on the night of their deaths?" Yu Huai Yao tightened his grip on his phone, feeling the weight of this information. At that moment, he noticed his breath bing irregr.
If anyone else had seen An Ru on the other end of the line, they would have been shocked. In just over two weeks, he had lost a significant amount of weight and now had scruffy facial hair with dishevelled hair stuffed under his cap.
He blew out a smoke ring. "No need to call me an officer. I''ve resigned. I dug this up myself. Though I''m not entirely sure, you seem pretty invested, so I thought I''d share."
Yu Huai Yao wanted to inquire further, but An Ru cut to the chase, stating a time and ce. "If you want to know more, let''s talk in person."
With that, the call abruptly ended.
An Ru turned off his phone and focused his unwavering gaze on a building in front of him.
Based on the investigation carried out by the private detective hired by his wife, Little An had previously met this girl. The girl''s friend had also died in the ident.
Lin Chu walked over to the window, drew the curtains shut, and caught another glimpse of the man disguised as a sanitation worker, lurking behind a tree.
She felt a chill run down her spine as she realised she was being followed once again. Trying to shake off the feeling, Lin Chu closed the curtains, dimmed the lights, and settled on the sofa in hopes of finding some peace.
Her home had undergone aplete transformation to deter potential intruders. Lin Chu meticulously removed all the notes from the walls, leaving behind a spotless environment. Apart from the memorial photo of Yu Xian Guang on the TV cab, there was no trace of its previous appearance.
*
*
As Lu Yan pushed open the door, they were greeted by a surprising sight that left all four of them speechless.
Contrary to their expectations of a bloody or gruesome scene, the room was brightly lit, with staff members lounging on the sofa. They turned their heads in surprise when the door was pushed open.
One of them asked, "How did you guys get up here? Sorry, this area is not open to visitors."
This response left them unsure of how to react. Yi Yun muttered, "They''re unaware?"
Indeed, these individuals appearedpletely ordinary. A nearbyputer emitted the soothing sounds of falling snow, apanied by a simtion of a firece. Outside, the rain had stopped its menacing downpour, no longer posing the earlier threat that hung over them.
Wang Peng Fei was filled with both uncertainty and suspicion.
A staff member approached, noticing bleeding wounds on them, and asked cautiously, "What brings you here?"
Yi Yun, afraid of conflict, quickly replied, "We''re here for a visit, but due to the heavy rain, we couldn''t leave immediately. The power downstairs is out, so we thought we''de up and take a look around."
The staff member remained sceptical, huddling together with a few others to whisper among themselves before reluctantly allowing them entry.
"It''s pouring outside. Leave once the rain stops," said a female staff member, pouring everyone a cup of hot tea. "Here, warm yourselves up."
The paper cups they held felt slightly warm to the touch, and the staff wore gentle smiles. They even provided small nkets and cushions to ensure theirfort and warmth.
In theory, their guard should not have been so low. Perhaps it was the white noise ying in the background, gradually easing their suspicions. Or maybe it was the hot tea and snacks that were offered. Regardless, as they sat on the soft, warm sofa and observed the bustling activity around them, it became increasingly challenging to view them as ghosts.
Lu Yan sat alone on the side, abstaining from both tea and food, quietly observing the bustling staff.
An open gash ran across his face stretching from the corner of his eye to his jaw, resembling a delicate trail of blood and tears. When a staff member inquired about his need for medical attention, he remained silent.
He couldn''t shake the nagging sensation... that he had missed something. Why did these few people seem so strangely familiar?
The staff took a short break before putting on their coats and getting back to work.
It was only at this moment that taskers had an opportunity to take in their surroundings.
It made sense why regr visitors were not permitted. The exhibition hall alone contained several mummified corpses. Deeper inside, there were also some untreated wax figures. Parents who brought their children to visit might unintentionally frighten the little ones to tears.
Observing the seemingly friendly staff, Yi Yun couldn''t resist moving closer and asking, "Have all the recently unearthed artefacts been brought here?"
Few paid her any mind as they were engrossed in their work. The only person who acknowledged her presence was the one who had initially poured her tea. They responded softly, "There''s still plenty yet to be unearthed."
Yi Yun wanted to ask about the excavated items. Specifically, she was interested in whether there was a Pisces jade pendant among them.
Without even raising their head, the person replied, "No."
Yi Yun felt somewhat disappointed, and the other two exchanged a troubled nce in silence.
The mission was crystal clear: they needed to obtain that jade pendant from the tomb. Although there was no specified deadline, everyone was aware of it. The longer they stayed in this mission world, the more dangerous the situations they encountered became.
Wang Peng Fei asked, "Are you sure there is nothing? With so much being unearthed, mightn''t you have overlooked something? We just want a quick look."
Of course, that was not what he really believed. Once they found the jade pendant, they could leave.
The staff paid them no mind, deeply absorbed in handling the items they held.
Yi Yun looked around, thinking they were restoring cultural artefacts at first, but... they were handling different bones, examining them carefully before cing them down. What were they actually doing?
This time, Jing Tao posed the question. As soon as he spoke, the nearest researcher to them set down the skull they were holding and fixed their gaze on the group.
"What''s wrong?" Jing Tao felt a chill down his spine.
Suddenly, the staff member chuckled and pointed at the skull, saying, "Once these things are out of the grave, they seem quite eager to go back in."
What did that mean?
Jing Tao decided not to ask any more questions, a gut feeling telling him to remain silent.
Lu Yan cautiously tried to approach the door, only to encounter the same confusing ghost hitting the wall he faced downstairs when trying to leave.
At that moment, several more staff members entered the room, pushing a fresh corpse on a small trolley covered in a white cloth.
"Here''s another one for the show," one staff member chuckled, uncovering the white cloth.
Beneath ity yet another corpse, almostpletely drained of life, with skin clinging to bones and bulging eyesan eerie sight of despair. Despite its almost mummified appearance, the corpse looked recently deceased, with pale bluish-white skincking the glossy brown hue of dposition.
Two staff members carefully positioned the new body inside a disy cab, examining the head and then retrieving some tools from the side.
Yi Yun didn''t know their intentions and leaned in for a closer look. As she watched, her eyes widened abruptly, and a chill ran up her spine to the top of her head.
This corpse... why does it feel so familiar?
The staff member turned the body''s head to the side, revealing that it was unmistakably a female corpse with a small mole behind the ear. Yi Yun rememberedCao Yi had the exact same mole in the same spot behind her ear!
No wonder she found the body familiar... This was Cao Yi''s corpse!
Yi Yun suppressed a scream that nearly burst from her, cautiously edging backward only to collide with a chilling figure. Wheeling around, she found a staff member wearing a smile. "Where are you headed?" the figure asked innocently.
Meanwhile, Jing Tao''s instincts tingled with unease.
He stood near another staff member, observing closely. However, he didn''t recognize the deceased person, so he disregarded any strange feelings.
But... the staff member wasn''t wearing gloves and his bare hands revealed dark purplish patches, a clear sign of livor mortis.
Jing Tao slowly retreated. At the same time, the busy staff suddenly stopped, their smiles directed at them. "Leaving already?"
"Why hurry? It''s pouring outside. Stay a little longer."
"Stay."
A sh of lightning illuminated the room, followed by the ominous rumble of thunder.
The staff, once bustling with activity, now stood still, fixated on them. Gradually, eerie smiles spread across their decaying faces.
"Stay... here," echoed the haunting whispers.
The bodies, once motionless within the ss cases, stirred. Eerie creaks filled the air as they stumbled out, taking unsteady steps into the room.
"Quick, run!"
The group rushed towards the exit, only to find it inexplicably sealed, trapping them inside. Faced with the approaching undead, they had no option but to scatter like birds in different directions to evade the imminent danger.
A lightning bolt ripped across the sky, apanied by a deafening p of thunder.
In perfect alignment on the disy shelves, a row of bronze chimes began to ng wildly, creating an eerie and unyielding cacophony that sent shivers down their spines, reverberating through the air.
Downstairs, the chasing corpses appeared relentless in their pursuit of Lu Yan. Having managed to evade their attacks multiple times, he understood that his survival depended on putting an end to this ceaseless chase, let alone waiting for the others to finish their job.
In a momentary nce behind him, Lu Yan stumbled upon a shocking revtion. Instead of a wall, there was a concealed chamber with meticulously arranged coffins. Caught off guard, he lost his bnce and fell into one of the open coffins.
Thankfully, he had created a clone of himself earlier... so thought Lu Yan, just before everything faded into darkness.
" Oi, wake up! Who the hell are you? How did you end up here?"
When he opened his eyes again, the scene remained just as dark. A few beams from torchlights darted around, illuminating erged faces in front of him, filled with concern and caution.
Upon seeing Lu Yan wake up, a nearby staff member let out a sigh of relief and continued, "Why did you suddenly appear here?"
Instead of answering, Lu Yan carefully surveyed his surroundings.
It was pitch ck, gloomy, and damp, with the air thick with the smell of soil. On both sides hung miningmps, revealing two paths adorned with numerous tools, all eerily familiar.
The structure inside the graves he had seen in the forbidden area of the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals was remarkably simr, with a path splitting east and west, leading to a gaping hole.
The people before him were covered in grime, smeared with plenty of dirt.
"Where am I?" Lu Yan finally spoke up.
"You don''t know?"
Lu Yan had a vague idea in mind, but he wasn''t certain. He remained silent, and the group exchanged nces.
The distant cries echoed eerily once more, indicating that another unfortunate soul had fallen into the mysterious space. Uncertain about the source, Lu Yan''s senses sharpened, and he cautiously looked in that direction.
Jing Tao appeared, followed by Yi Yun, and eventually, Wang Peng Fei also materialised in this unexpected cean ongoing excavation of a tomb!
While Lu Yan wore a puzzled expression, the team members quietly spected: had their mission brought them close to the Pisces Jade Pendant? Otherwise, they wouldn''t have any idea about its whereabouts or how to find it.
It now seemed confirmedthe pendant must still be inside the tomb, presenting a goal for them, at the very least.
"Are you all here to steal things?" the team leader interrogated, suspiciously examining them from head to toe.
"Absolutely not. We have no clue why we''re suddenly here," Jing Tao staunchly defended, refusing to leave even when the team suggested escorting them out. They reassured the team repeatedly, emphasising their willingness to help without causing any trouble.
After persistent pleading from the four of them, they convinced the team to let them stay and assist in the excavation. They joined hands and became part of the ongoing effort.
The excavation of the tomb was nearingpletion, ready to reveal its main chambers. Positioned between the eastern and western chambers, the team prepared themselves for exploration.
The path ahead clearly led towards the east, indicating the direction for the team. Among the group, Lu Yan maintained a quiet presence. Progress was slow; the team frequently stopped to removeyers of dust, meticulously documenting the long-forgotten inscriptions that adorned the walls.
Impatience grew among the other three members, eager to uncover treasures. In contrast, Lu Yan disyed remarkable patience, driven by a thirst for knowledge about the tomb''s upant.
With each step, the inscriptions on the blue brick walls faded. The team''s deliberate pace was fueled by their dedication to transcribe and decipher these ancient writings.
"It makes you wonder... this type of script is unprecedented in history, at least ording to our records," pondered the eldest archaeologist, furiously jotting down symbols in his pocket-sized notebook.
Lu Yan walked beside him, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.
''Why is he able to write down these hieroglyphs while I cannot?''
Lu Yan''s curiosity was piqued by the wall inscription, and he eagerly asked, "Do you have any thoughts on how to decipher these characters?"
The specialist shook his head, trying to contain his excitement. "Not so fast. For now, I''ve only noticed some recurring patterns," he exined, flipping through his notebook to show Lu Yan. "Do you see these winding lines in different sections? What do they remind you of?"
"Water?" Lu Yan guessed.
"Yes, I believe it may represent ''water,'' but I don''t have conclusive evidence. We will need to return and investigate further," the specialist said with a sigh. "These unseen characters with their unique style are undoubtedly a significant archaeological discovery!"
As they continued their conversation, they turned a corner and saw the rest of the expedition members ahead, filled with jubtion. "Team Leader, we have found a mural here!"
"What?" eximed Team Leader Cen (: "Small hill), hurrying over with quick steps, followed closely by the others.
A team member meticulously removed dust from the wall using tools, gradually revealing vibrant colours inch by inch.
The scene stretched out before them like an endless mural. The taskers were not idle; they were armed with tools, ready for the task at hand. However, the archaeological team still had suspicions about these four individuals. Due to the need for technical expertise, they were not allowed to intervene.
Lu Yan lent a hand by holding up themp for illumination. He stood on the opposite side of the corridor,pletely absorbed in deciphering the mural.
The style of the mural bore a striking resemnce to the treasure map in the vige chief''s home in the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, as well as another mural in the central chamber of the forbidden area. It seemed as though they were all crafted by the same hand.
However, the mural in front of them was not the Five Immortals painting, but rather depicted a different story.
The initial images revealed andscape that was somewhat unclear to Lu Yan''s eyes. Verdant hills, lush greenery, and flourishing woods teeming with life.
Further along, anotherndscape emerged, which seemed simr yet subtly different from the previous one. Upon closer examination, it appeared as if the mountains in the preceding painting had taken a different turn.
Chapter 83
Chapter 83
So, who painted that picture in the vige chief''s house?
He scrutinised the mural with a keen eye, looking for clues. It was a strange and unsettling work of art; it seemed to consist of two separate scenes that ovepped and blended into each other, creating a third one that mirrored the first.
The archaeologists were making slow progress, brushing away the dust and mud that covered the wall with painstaking care. They were short on manpower, and Lu Yan offered to lend a hand. He had to persuade them to let him join, and they finally gave him two sets of tools with some reluctance.
He worked fast, speeding up the process considerably. The other three taskers knew they had to hurry; they were looking for a jade pendant that was their only key to returning home. They put aside their reservations and helped him out.
The mural revealed itself bit by bit.
It seemed to revolve around a mountain. The first part was just a nd depiction of thendscape, but then animals started to appear.
Then came the human figures. The mural changed drastically, as if someone else had taken over the painting. The strokes became childish, the lines crude. Lu Yan followed the experts lead, working and listening at the same time.
He had learned painting; he had many skills that he picked up for survival. He knew enough about art to tell that this mural told the story of a king.
The king was sitting on a high throne, enjoying his life. The images were almostical, showing him riding horses, hunting, surrounded by lucky clouds. People loved him; two groups of them formed a circle around him, waving their weapons in the air. Two young girls, maybe sisters or lovers, were always with him. They were painted in bright red, their faces nk, but their beauty was obvious as two groups of people danced around them, holding weapons as well.
The story became moreplex as it went on. Two animals joined the girls, and below them, a lot of clouds created a heavenly or supernatural backdrop. The girls and the king parted ways, both looking sad, but their mouths were smiling, creating a weird contrast. Lu Yan moved on, using a small brush to gently clean the stone wall, uncovering more details.
As they gazed at the crimson streams that looped around the mountain twice, they felt a chill run down their spines. A young girl, half-submerged in the blood, stared back at them with lifeless eyes. On the shore, a mob of angry people brandished their weapons and yelled curses.
"This appears to be some twisted sacrificial ritual," the expert muttered. Squinting through his dusty sses, he leaned closer to the wall.
The following images sent shivers down his spine. Jagged lines depicted bolts of lightning striking the peak of the mountain. Fiery arcs scorched the centre. Tiny figures, buried up to their necks in the dirt, had mouths agape in silent screams. Subsequent scenes showed the mountain splitting apart, with a horde of ck stick-menrepresenting the deceasedtrapped in the middle, as if... the mountain had swallowed them.
Initially, everyone was preupied with their own tasks, but as time passed, they all gravitated towards the wall, captivated by the gruesome spectacle.
The expert continued hismentary. As dust trickled from the wall, his voice grew softer. The wall art transitioned from mostly pictures to predominantly words, with only a few sketches as ents. Although he couldn''t decipher the symbols, his words flowed effortlessly, as though he was not merely tranting crude drawings but reliving the dark secrets concealed within those scenes.
"They sacrificed countless lives to attain wealth and harmony with nature... but then, their empire crumbled, their god was defeated. They fled to the mountains and concealed themselves there..."
"...This mountain is the gods'' final blessing. It is said that those who reside within the mountain are immortal. Even in death, they can be revived if they are buried in the mountain..."
However, as they continued to remove the dust, the wall became blurred, and they were unable to discern the original shapes.
"So, what happens next?" Two curious archaeologists inquired, craning their necks eagerly to hear more from the individual who had been exining.
He hesitated momentarily, then resumed his narration, facing the dimly lit walls. "They sought refuge in the mountains and kept their faith concealed. Theyid their ancestors to rest, including their king, right here..."
"But, to their astonishment, the king returned after sixty years... That was when theyprehended the true meaning of eternal life within the mountain..."
They followed the mural and turned a corner.
A little further ahead, there stood a small tomb, securely sealed. Opening it should have been someone else''s responsibility, but they were preupied with the mural and had forgotten about it.
They walked past the tomb without a second nce and ventured deeper into the tunnel.
The doors of the burial chamber creaked open, revealing a ghastly scene behind them.
A jumbled mess of bones, both human and animal,y on the floor. Two bronze warriors, armed with swords and halberds, stood at the entrance. Their faces were frozen in a grimace, eyes closed, as if they were dead.
But they weren''t dead. Their eyes flickered open, and they turned their heads to follow the explorers with keen sight.
A rustling sound echoed in the tomb, as if a beast was awakening from a long slumber. Sand and dust fell from the ceiling, and the walls trembled. The bones on the floor rattled, and the instruments on the sides jingled.
However, the explorers remained oblivious, too engrossed in discussing the mural''s story and the mysteries of the tomb to notice the ominous signs. They bravely ventured deeper into the dark tunnel.
Two skeletons emerged from the pile of bones, shaking off the dust. Then, two more skeletons joined them, standing tall and upright. Four pairs of eyes gleamed in the darkness.
At the entrance, the two bronze warriors turned their heads once more, and then marched out of the tomb in perfect harmony, like a loyal army.
They were the tomb''s guardians, whether they were made of flesh or metal, they were faithful to their master and his treasures.
They had been waiting for this for years, without knowing why. It was their duty, their destiny, their doom.
As they passed by the next two tombs, the door of one of them squeaked open, as if inviting them in.
Two cold breezes swept out of the tomb, sending shivers down their spines. The line of people following the taskers grew longer and longer.
Lu Yan had a bad feeling about this.
Where the hell were they? What had gone wrong?
He tried to pay attention to the expert''s endless babble, but he felt distracted. He heard other noises, faint and eerie.
What were they?
*
*
Lin Chu had been hiding in her room for days, but now she was out.
An Ru trailed her stealthily, keeping a low profile. He was a master of surveince, and he knew how to avoid detection. He watched her every move, curious about her destination. She headed straight for the library. There, she settled in a quiet corner, immersed in a book.
It was the Lunar New Year, and the library was almost empty. The tables were spacious, but only two people upied them. Lin Chu was one of them.
She read like a maniac, devouring two books in a sh and then returning them to the shelves. She grabbed two more and started again.
An Ru lurked behind the bookshelves, gazing at her intently.
An Ru was seized by a sudden curiosity about the books that Lin Chu had been poring over. He bided his time until she returned one to the shelf, then grabbed it discreetly.
As he leafed through the book, his eyes widened.
The books Lin Chu had been engrossed in were not what they appeared to be. They were filled with myths, hauntings, and mysterious secrets.
Lin Chu finished her book and mmed it shut. She spun around, her eyes shing like lightning. Ive been meaning to ask you, what are you up to, following me around?
She held two small knives tightly in her hand, ready to attack.
An Ru stepped out from behind the bookshelf and locked eyes with Lin Chu.
He had aged terribly in a few days. His son, An Xing Yu, had vanished without a trace, and his wife had gone after him. He was tormented by grief and guilt, and it showed on his face. He no longer resembled his son, An Xing Yu, at all.
Lin Chu had no idea who he was, only that he had been tailing her for a while. She confronted him with two steps and a question: "Why are you following me?"
She had deliberately chosen the library, attracted by its silence and spaciousness, thinking it would be a suitable ce to handle any trouble. But she was surprised to see an old man, which threw her off and made her hesitate.
An Ru''s eyes grew cold as he stared at her. After a pause, he smiled and said, "I''m An Xing Yu''s father." He watched Lin Chu closely, aware that she was a clever girl who could conceal her emotions.
Lin Chu acted as if nothing was amiss, but An Ru sensed a slight tension in her body.
Behind them, on the other side of the bookshelf, two books slid out and moved to a different position.
But... there was no one behind the bookshelf.
Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Lin Chu faced An Ru without flinching.
She had a small frame and a doll-like face, but her eyes were icy and hard, betraying no hint of weakness.
An Ru said it again, "I''m An Xing Yu''s father. He''s my son."
His eyes, once keen and piercing, were dull and weary from endless days and nights. He was only nearing fifty, but his hair was already white. He fixed his gaze on Lin Chu with a stubborn resolve and said, "You know why I''m here."
Lin Chu knew, of course, but she couldn''t tell him. She couldn''t reveal the tasks.
She shook her head, "You''re mistaken. I have no idea what you mean."
An Ru let out a raspy and scornfulugh, "Don''t lie to me. You''re clever, you know exactly what I''m talking about." He slowly pulled out a gun from his pocket, his face a mix of madness and calm, "Don''t try anything funny."
Lin Chu''s face shed with shock and fury, "You Dare?"
The gun barrel glinted briefly, then disappeared, but An Ru''s hand stayed in his pocket, outlining a menacing shape.
"Miss Lin, I need you toe with me."
Reluctantly, Lin Chu got up from her seat. "Can I put the books back first?"
"Fine, but don''t try anything stupid, like calling the cops," he warned.
An Ru had lost his wife and son, and he drowned his pain in booze and cigarettes day and night. His voice was rough and scratchy, yet he cared little. "Miss Lin, a grieving father is capable of anything."
Lin Chu felt a chill run down her spine. She had to get her left hand out of her pocket.
She grabbed the stack of books on the table and walked slowly towards the bookshelf.
She carefully scanned the bookshelf to put the books back where they belonged. Thanks to her remarkable memory, Lin Chu spotted some discrepancies.
Why were some of the books out of ce?
"Move it, please," he demanded.
Lin Chu nodded, "Okay."
The shelf was organised by function, then by alphabetical order. As Lin Chu slid thest book into ce, she felt a surge of dread.
She nced at the books on the shelf, and her eyes widened. The first characters of each title spelled out a chilling message "you can all go die."
Was this a prank?
She noticed a book that was out of ce, that belonged on the other side of the shelf. Who had moved it here?
Lin Chu reached out and gently pulled the book out, intending to put it back where it belonged. But as she did, she saw a sh of red in the gap. A bloodshot eye was gazing at her with malice!
Lin Chu recoiled in horror, mming into the shelf behind her, making a loud noise.
An Ru snapped at her, "Are you trying to get me caught? Don''t be smart with me!"
Lin Chu''s chest rose and fell rapidly. She said, "I wasn''t, I just saw..."
What did she see?
Lin Chu shook her head, confused by her own reaction. She had a vague memory of something horrifying, but when she looked again at the shelf, there was nothing there.
"What did you see?" An Ru demanded, his voice tense. He was convinced that his son''s vanishing had something to do with the supernatural, and he wouldn''t miss any clues.
"Nothing," Lin Chu lied, putting the book back. "Come on."
She was aware of the strange urrence. It made no sense for her to feel so nervous.
Why did her heart race like that? She must have seen something and forgotten.
What was it?
*
*
An Ru had set up a meeting with Yu Huai Yao in a secluded room at a restaurant. Yu Huai Yao was already there when An Ru dragged Lin Chu into the room. He was sipping a cup of hot water, patiently waiting.
"Hi, you''re Mr. An Ru, right? I''m Yu Huai Yao." Yu Huai Yao offered his hand to An Ru. After they shook hands, he turned his attention to Lin Chu. "And who is thisdy?"
"She''s Lin Chu." An Ru''s face softened, losing the crazed look of a kidnapper. "My son, An Xing Yu, and your cousin, Yu Huan, were both caught up in the same case. Thisdy, Lin Chu, is the sixth person who disappeared in the case."
As he spoke, Yu Huai Yao stared at Lin Chu with a blend of shock and curiosity in his eyes.
Lin Chu kept her cool.
She had nothing to do with An Xing Yu''s vanishing, and even less with Yu Huan''s death. An Ru was trying to misdirect, to make Yu Huai Yao believe she was involvedwishful thinking.
But getting out of this mess today would be tricky...
She knew she was under suspicion, and she couldn''t afford to expose the tasks to anyone.
*
*
The team in the tomb didn''t notice the strange figures lurking behind them. They pressed on, following the "murals" to discover the stories they told.
No one knew how long ago it was, but when the "king" died, people buried him and built the underground pce exactly as he wanted. Sixty yearster, when the mountain turned upside down, the old folks who still remembered the "king" saw him descend from the inverted mountain, along with all the vigers who were buried with him. He brought out many treasures, enriching the once poor vige.
Back from the dead, a miracle!
From then on, this ce became their sacrednd. No one feared death anymore because they all knew that death was not the end. Every sixty years, the dead would return to life.
And the "king''s" most prized possession was a jade pendant.
On the mural, the jade pendant was clearly shown, like two fish joined head to tail with a hollow centre.
Just like the jade pendant hidden by Lu Yan.
"Nobody knows where he got that jade pendant from. The old people back then said there was nothing like that among the burial items."
As he gazed at the jade pendant, Lu Yan suddenly recalled something.
His mind was flooded with pain, memories shed, and he struggled to remember those things, but the images were fuzzy. He was blind, deaf, amnesiac...
He lifted his hand to his head, trying to block the pain that stabbed like needles. His fingers clenched until they were pale, almost tearing his scalp. But he bit his lip and bore it, not making a sound.
What had he forgotten?
The jade pendant... the tomb... the museum...
Strangers, a weird world...
Behind him, Yi Yun held up the weary Lu Yan, "What''s happening to you?"
He gasped for air, his chest rising and falling. He straightened up, gripping her wrist hard. His face shifted, his eyes gleaming with an unspeakable allure. "Snap out of it, Yi Yun."
"I..." Yi Yun looked into his eyes, losing her focus.
"Shut your eyes." His voice grew gentle, "You''re on a long road... when you hear a click, open your eyes, and you''ll be awake..."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
A sharp sound rang out. Yi Yun, Wang Peng Fei, and Jing Tao jolted back to reality, scanning their surroundings with a mix of shock and doubt.
"We just..." Yi Yun''s voice trailed off, remembering her earlier trance. Jing Tao pulled her sleeve, pointing at the others.
The guide kept talking. In the dark tunnel, his shape flickered like a dying me, hard to make out. The others looked just as vague.
And the murals on the wall... What murals? There were only ck, cold walls, made of bricks and stones that had been buried for ages.
"Hey, the jade pendant!" Yi Yun suddenly recalled what she had heard. "The mural showed a jade pendant, and he said something about it. Did you catch that?"
"I did. Should we go back and check it out?" Wang Peng Fei suggested.
Yi Yun peered at the shadows behind her and shook her head, "No point. The mural had it, and he said it. It must be in the main tomb. Going back won''t do any good."
Jing Tao agreed with her and nodded, "Plus, they have all the lights now. If we split up, we might get in trouble."
Even though these archaeologists were acting weird, sticking together gave them somefort.
They pressed forward.
"But then, everything changed."
"Our king had finally had enough..." the guide''s voice trailed off, and his role shifted, "He lost his desire for immortality. He despised being confined in the mountains. He yearned to explore the world beyond, but he was bound here."
"The mountain dwellers felt the same. They had resided here for eternity, independent and never venturing beyond. The vige became overcrowded. Some grew restless with this way of life. Finally, a group defied the old man''s warning and descended the mountain."
To their surprise, they returned unharmed, as long as they came back prior to the New Year ceremony. Consequently, more individuals followed suit. However, the initial groupprised the youngest members of the vige, who had never encountered death. When the older ones, who had undergone rebirth, made their descent, horror ensued.
"Malevolent spirits arose in the mountains behind!"
"The vigers panicked, fleeing toward the sacrednd. Many perished along the way, and our king weed them just as he had before. However, they were unaware that the king also desired to depart. Yet he could not."
"If he left, his other self from the rear mountains would be set free. Then his people would be doomed."
"That was the price of immortality..." the storyteller''s voice cracked.
"In the end, the king simply fell into a deep slumber."
"The vigers had learned to be smart. They wedded strangers, making sure toe back home for holidays and celebrations. They timed it well, sending their wives to deliver their babies far away. That way, their children could have a chance to live somewhere else.
But one of them spilled the secret. He let out the ssified information, drawing a swarm of robbers hungry for the hidden treasure.
The invaders came with guns and weapons the vigers had never seen. They didn''t know that the vige chief was sleeping soundly, and they ran to the sacrednd like before. They didn''t realise that the king was asleep too. Their flight to the sacrednd was useless.
They left behind the old, the weak, and the women, and made them show them the way to the tombs. In the heart of the sacrednd, they dug a hole, disturbing the king''s quiet sleep. And then, they all died."
They said this as they walked by a heap of bones.
The bones looked like they had been there for ages. Clothes rotted, some turned to wax, with dim traces of horror on their faces, even in death. Some had be pale white bones, stuck in a clear struggle.
It was hard to imagine what dreadful thing they saw in their final moments, staying in the memories of outsiders even after years.
Was it a warning? A way to speed them up?
"Should we wake the others?" Yi Yun nced at the workers who looked dead next to her, feeling a pang of fear.
Jing Tao agreed with her. If things went on like this, who knew what would happen to these workers.
There had been previous instances in which ghosts had deceived them during their missions, transforming them into ghosts themselves. This was not an umon urrence.
Lu Yan didn''t pay much attention to this. He conversed with the other three individuals and they divided into groups, attempting to awaken the archaeologists.
"Come on, wake up, wake up..."
As they got closer, they felt a cold breathing from the archaeologists'' bodies, as if a frosty wind had blown over them. Yi Yun crept up to one archaeologist who was away from the leader, pinching her hand hard and whispering in her ear to wake her up.
Soon, the archaeologist''s eyes cleared up, and she shook her head, puzzled. "What was I doing?"
Yi Yun told her softly, and she snapped out of it, her eyes showing a hint of fear.
Slowly, more and more people came to.
They realised that the path they had taken was very odd. It was not a straight line; sometimes, they had to go through very narrow passages, and sometimes, they had to climb down stairs that were almost vertical. Atst, everyone was awake, and they followed the leader silently, listening to him tell the story.
Yes, nobody woke him up, not even his teammates who went along with it.
They wanted to understand this tomb, to uncover its history, even if they sensed something was wrong, nobody chose to wake him up.
They trailed after him, going through one tomb chamber after another.
As they went on, the doors of the tomb chambers opened softly, and out came corpses, dead for ages.
They had been buried here, never to see the daylight.
They had disturbed something ancient and terrible.
Their only way out was sealed, leaving them no hope of escape.
They were like the doomed vigers who had perished in the mountains long ago, entombed in this colossal subterranean pce.
"Anyone else hear that?" a hushed voice asked.
A faint sound echoed from behind them.
They shone their shlight, but the beam was devoured by the ckness before it could reach the end of the corridor.
"Me too. I can''t shake the feeling... that we''re being hunted."
The sound was real; it grew louder, drawing closer.
Footsteps.
Countless footsteps.
The archaeologist at the rear nced back in terror, but saw nothing; only darkness filled his vision.
What lurked in the darkness?
The light they had was dwindling, shrinking. They clung to each other as they pressed on, afraid to be left behind in the shadows.
The leader kept talking; he led the way, and none dared to overtake him. They trailed behind him, following his footsteps.
"...These tomb raiders ughtered countless vigers, plundered their treasures, and incurred their curse. Hahaha, justice, they must share the vigers'' fate, and never see the light of day..."
"But these crafty bastards, they schemed to escape. They bribed the outsiders, prayed to every god and buddha. Atst, they summoned a host of guardian spirits, wiping out thest of the vigers'' kin, ensuring their own bloodline. They would select a girl, and that girl would carry the burden..."
"They inherited the curse of the old vigers and their lifespan. They wedded the surviving women and had their offspring bury the corpses of their fallen mates in the sacred grounds. The next generation bore the same blood, granting them ess. But the guardian spirits they summoned were barred from the sacred grounds, they could only wait... wait for the king to vanish, then they could im all the riches..."
Yi Yun and the others were spellbound by the tale. Only Lu Yan was alert, aware that it was all true.
Who was the ghost possessing the leader? Why did it spill everything?
Lu Yan had no clue.
The hand in his pocket clenched the two jade pendants tied together. Lu Yan knew that some of his questions were still unresolved.
Before, he mentioned one jade pendant, always guarded by the "king." So, where did the other onee from?
And, since it was always protected, it must have been entombed with him after death. In the previous mission, how did the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals get their hands on it? Did they breach the main tomb?
Who stole the jade pendant?
The voice ahead dwindled, and the person in front ckened.
His story was nearing its end.
The light from the shlights flickered weakly. The batteries were running low, barely keeping them from the engulfing darkness.
The sounds they had initially dismissed as harmless grew louder and more ominous. It wasn''t just the footsteps of humans they heard, but also the unmistakable sounds of various beasts. Additionally, the grinding and smashing of wheels against the stone-paved road filled the air, creating a sharp noise akin to the sh of bronze.
It became clear that they were being pursued!
"Teacher Cen, hurry up..." As Teacher Cen finished his story, the person behind him rushed to his side, tapping his shoulder to wake him up. However, they soon realized that something was terribly wrong. Instead of a firm shoulder, they felt something soft and squishy, like hitting a mound of fleshy pulp under cloth.
Teacher Cen, who had been leading the way, copsed to the ground and transformed into a pool of dposed flesh, his clothes scattered around. Upon this mass of flesh, there were countless eyes, bothrge and small, tightly packed together like a cluster of frog spawn, numbering in the hundreds. All of these eyes stared back at the group.
"Ah"
The archaeologists, who had witnessed many wonders, had nevere across such a horrifying sight. The hundreds of eyes clustered together blinked in unison.
"Run!"
Just as they uttered those words, the thing that had been chasing them finally caught up.
The shlight suddenly red up, revealing the horrifying creatures behind them. They were twisted abominations of flesh. Some had only waxed over, while others were severed, crawling with four hands clutching their heads. There were bare skeletons with a long tail sprouting from their spine and others with fused legs, resembling mythical half-serpents...
"What kind of curse is this? How did they end up like this?"
"Where did these thingse from? We didn''t disturb any tombs before!"
There was no time to ponder. They had to escape, so the group sprinted ahead. The path became rougher, and the shlight''s light onlysted for a second before fading again. It seemed to only reveal what was pursuing them from behind, causing panic to set in.
Yi Yun and the others joined the stampede, shouting, "Where are we going? Should we head to the main tomb?"
"I don''t know! Jussst keep running, we''ll figure it outter," someone in the crowd replied.
Lu Yan ran with them. In that brief sh, he heard a cold, snake-like hiss. Then, he saw a figure behind him being caught by something around its waist and forcefully yanked back. The person made no sound and vanishedpletely.
Thest runner caught sight of something horrifying in the corner of his eye, and froze with dread before sprinting forward with all his might.
Just a few steps behind him, eyes swarmed like frog spawn over a soft mass of flesh, blinking like a rippling stream, approaching closer.
They could not allow this to happen to them!
"Should we head to the main tomb now? Team Cen has fallen victim to the curse. Maybe we''ll be next. We''re doomed either way, so why not take a chance in the main tomb?"
The person in front shouted back, "You think I don''t want to? I have no idea where the main tomb is. There''s only one way in, so we''ll have to keep running for now."
They had barely finished speaking when they dashed out of a narrow passage and found themselves in a spacious area. Two massive tombs faced each other, one on the left and one on the right. In front, a square was carved half a meter deep into the ground, dividing the middle. The square then split into two on the left and right, with a narrow passage in the center.
They all stopped, gathering in front of the tform. A staircase, barely wide enough for one person, led down to the entrance of the passage.
"Why don''t we go down?" the person behind them asked nervously.
"There''s something strange down there."
As they spoke, the shlight moved forward, illuminating the surface of the square. Unlike the smooth and solid stone paths outside, the square bulged, disying one terrifying mural after another.
These murals depicted scenes of the eighteen hells, surrounded by rivers around the mountain, filled with one tormented human figure after another. Even in the dim light, the murals looked lifelike, as if their screams still reverberated.
"Forget about the eerie figures on the square. We need to find a way out of here."
"Right!"
The pressure behind drove them mercilessly. Then, a shriek pierced the air.
At the back,st in the row, a female archaeologist was grazed by that heap of flesh studded with eyes. After that, her whole body liquefied, slowly copsing, and those near her tried to rescue her. But they were helpless. One of them reached for her, but with a cry, he fell victim to the mysterious curse. His bones seemed to be drained, gradually softening.
Finally, they became one with the soft flesh, the old and the new blending together. On the pink surface, bubble-like things sprouted one after another.
The bubbles grew bigger and bigger, "pop" went one, turning into an eye, blinking and staring at the humans ahead.
So, the archaeologist in the lead had no choice but to go down the stairs.
The stairs were very narrow, barely half a metre wide. The first one down the stairs carefully stepped onto the thin path in the middle of the square.
To his surprise, nothing happened.
The team member was ecstatic, waving to the others to hurry down and moving forward quickly, making space for the rest.
The stairs were too narrow, and the square was only half a metre below the ground. One person just leaped down, holding onto the edge of the ground. But as soon as hended, dozens of arms shot out from the square''s surface. He was silenced before he could scream, dragged into the ground.
No, not all the way in. He was dragged halfway, his body turned to stone, the terror still etched on his face like the surrounding murals.
He joined the mural.
"Watch out! Only the middle path is safe," the team member behind him cautioned with a razor-like heart.
Suppressing their panic, they moved forward in a single file. Some older team members offered to stay at the back, and one of them said, "I''ve lived a long life, enough for me. I can''t run anymore, so I might as well give you youngsters a chance."
"Mr. Zhou, don''t talk like that!"
"Come on." But Mr. Zhou only smiled and nudged his students ahead. She held his hand and followed him, but when they reached the stairs, she felt his hand slip away.
She looked back, and he was gone, pulled into the passage that led to darkness.
The passage narrowed from both sides.
She wiped her tears and hurried down the stairs. As soon as she rejoined the others, the passage they hade from was sealed off, trapping the countless horrors that were pursuing them inside. Who knew when they would break free again.
They had no way back.
Now, there were only a dozen archaeologists left, plus four unwee guests, making nearly twenty people.
"Everyone knows the situation; this ancient tomb is more dangerous than we anticipated. Maybe we can escape, or maybe we''re all doomed." One team member wiped his tears and whispered, "But we have to try, for our research. And we have to prepare ourselves for the worst."
"We brought tools with us, and somerge sheets of white paper. As soon as we got to the square, our first job was to draw the map. Every step we took, we added a little more. Whoever was lucky enough to get out had to take the map with them."
Her words of doom touched the others, and tears filled the eyes of the team members as they nodded gravely.
"For our research!"
"Yes, for the research!"
Even though some of the tasker members had faced death before, they were stirred by the group''s resolve. Wang Peng Fei announced, "We may not be archaeologists, but if we can get out, we''ll surely bring the map with us."
They all hid the fact that they could leave as soon as the mission was over.
It was kind to give these archaeologists some hope.
"Alright, thank you all," one of them said.
Lu Yan said nothing.
He had seen too much. Some outsiders who came in were ready to die for their loved ones, ignoring life and death. He had seen the best and the worst of humanity. But in death, they all turned into eerie beings.
Yi Yun agreed too, tentatively asking, "Before, Team Cen said that the jade pendant the King wears is also shown in the murals. Could that be the key?"
"It could be. Since he keeps it with him always, it might be buried with him. When we get to the main tomb, we might solve the mystery."
The three mission members felt a surge of excitement.
Archaeologists were ted, walking ahead of Yi Yun, when one of them missed the ground under his foot.
His half footnded off the path!
A mural sprang to life, and one of them held a crossbow in his hand. His finger pulled the trigger, and an arrow flew out. It pierced his throat, and he soared,nding in the middle of the square.
Pale hands, one after another, snatched him. Soon, another figure emerged on the mural, clutching the arrow in his throat, wearing an agonised expression.
"Everyone, watch out! Don''t step off!"
The first one got to the end of the passage, bracing himself and jumping down to the ground.
Only by standing next to the tomb could he appreciate its towering height.
As he stepped up, it was like the gates opened on both sides of the square, and blood gushed out.
"Quick! Faster at the front!"
A torrent of foul, thick blood swiftly filled the narrow path in the centre. The ones at the front sped up. Lu Yan and Yi Yun were in the middle of the group. When the blood surged in, it was Lu Yan''s turn. He leaped up andnded on the ground, then reached out to pull up the next one.
"Ah"
A girl at the back got her feet soaked with blood, instantly shrieking in pain.
"I can''t make it! You guys, go on!"
She stood still, the pain twisting her face. Not knowing what was in the blood, she thought of her mission. She took off her backpack, and hurled it towards the shore, shouting, "There are nk scrolls and tools inside!"
Before anyone could react, she fell into the blood, vanishing without a trace. The others could only stare helplessly as the one who didn''t make it was swallowed by the blood and disappeared.
Chapter 85
Chapter 85
They were down to twelve, with four of them not even part of the original group. The rest of the team had died or given up, leaving them to face the horrors of the tomb alone.
They had no idea how much further they had to go before reaching the heart of the maze. And even if they did, there was no guarantee of finding an exit. All they had was their stubborn determination to keep going.
They came to a halt at the edge of ake of blood. It oozed from the carved walls, filling the basin with a gruesome soup. Human shapes contorted and writhed in the crimson liquid, their screams of agony piercing the air. The blood stood out against the white stone, while eerie green lights danced on the surface and beneath the depths.
"This is the most horrifying thing I''ve ever witnessed," Jing Tao whispered.
The blood continued to rise until it reached the shore, then abruptly stopped. A putrid stench assaulted their nostrils, causing them to gag.
Lu Yan couldn''t tear his eyes away from the bloodke.
He had encountered one before, in the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals. He had encountered for the first time in the elevator to the eighteenth floor. And now he was seeing it for the third time, in this ursed ce.
Whaty within the bloodke?
He felt a strange urge to dive in and find out, but he knew it was too perilous. He forced himself to resist.
The water had stopped rising, for now. The archaeologists took advantage of the lull and rummaged through their bags for paper and pens. They needed to map out their route, before they forgot everything.
But forgetting was easier than remembering. The only thing that remained in their minds was Team Leader Cen''s gravelly voice recounting the ancient king''s story. Everything else was a hazy blur. They struggled to urately sketch the recent twists and turns they had taken.
How about the parts we havent seen yet?
Well have to let the next suckers deal with them.
As they hastily scribbled, a faint glow floated towards them, capturing their attention as itnded on the paper. They attempted to wipe it away, but instead, it smudged and stuck to their fingers.
What the hell is this?
They looked around and saw more green sparks in the air. They were everywhere, like fireflies on steroids.
Maybe its some kind of glowing fungus. But fungus doesnt have spores like this.
Hold on, this could be a good thing. Imagine if someone elsees here with our map and its pitch ck. They wont see a thing.... but the paper...
One of them trailed off, but the others nodded in agreement.
"So youre saying
Exactly. If it sticks to paper, we can use it to make a glowing map.
The dimness of the tomb was no match for the teams determination. They had lost some of their friends along the way, and they were not about to give up now. They stretched out their hands to catch the floating specks of light and gently dabbed them on the paper.
Some of the task force members joined them in their endeavour. They grabbed handfuls of the luminous dust and let the archaeologist who was in charge of the map take some from their fingers to trace the route.
Lu Yan was trying to help too, but he was wary of the strange substance. He didnt want to touch it directly, so he removed his coat, swung it in the air, and gathered a lot of it before folding it neatly.
But the light in the air was growing stronger, from sparse dots to a thick cloud that threatened to swallow them whole. Lu Yan couldnt escape itpletely, and his bare skin was soon covered with a faint glow. The others were even worse off, looking like walking neon signs.
Come on, we need to hurry.
The brightness of the light made them nervous; they had no idea what it was made of or what it could do to them. They rolled up the map and headed for the middle passage that led to the other chambers.
The further they went, the more they felt a strange distortion of reality. It was as if they had left the world of the living and entered a realm of perpetual darkness and doom. A ce where the dead ruled and the living were unwee.
They had no idea what awaited them at the end of their journey. They only knew they had to keep going.
"Guys, the passage is getting tighter," the leader of the group announced.
He was right. The walls of the crypt were not parallel, but angled inward, forming a huge triangle. The space between them was shrinking with every step.
The others behind him felt the squeeze. The narrow gap that had barely allowed them to walk side by side was now pressing against their shoulders. One of them, a burly man with a bit of a belly, soon found himself stuck. He had been carrying more than his share of the equipment, but now he could not move forward or backward.
"Listen, everyone, just take what you need and leave the rest here," he grunted, trying to wiggle free. "Dump your extra stuff with me. I''ll stay here and guard it."
He said it casually, but they all knew the truth. Staying behind in this ce was a death sentence.
No one argued. They quietly dropped their backpacks and moved on. The leader paused and waited for them. When they were all out, the chubby man smiled and said, "Well, it can''t be helped. My wife has been on my case about losing weight, but I never listened. Now look at me. You guys bettere back for me when you''re done. I bet I''ll be a few pounds lighter by then."
The others hugged him one by one, suppressing their grief, and continued carrying their small bags forward.
They would return.
They had to.
The portly man remained where he was, unzipping his pack and peering at the few stale rolls inside. He grinned and said, "Well, I guess it''s time to start that diet!"
Lu Yan led the way second in the front.
The glow that had coated them earlier proved useful, as it helped them spot each other in the gloom. They hugged the wall, brushing against the cold stones on either side, leaving behind faint traces of light that could serve as beacons for those who followed.
The passage was longer than they had expected. Eventually, they had to turn sideways and shuffle forward, holding their backpacks in front of them, inching along the narrowing gap.
"How much longer?" Lu Yan wondered.
The man at the front exhaled, trying to squeeze himself smaller. "No idea."
He had barely spoken when he felt his foot hit empty air, and then he tumbled out.
"We made it, we made it! Hurry up, everyone!"
The others behind him perked up and hastened their steps. Lu Yan, being slender, pushed himself forward. Soon, he too emerged from the passage.
The sight that greeted him was far more horrific and grotesque than anything he had seen before.
Was this really a tomb?
The first one to emerge from the passage stood frozen in shock, tears rolling down his cheeks. His earlier jubtion had vanished without a trace.
Behind them, the walls began to make a noise.
It sounded like... something was shifting, and the floor quivered slightly.
"Get out! Get out now! The walls are moving!" the one who had just escaped yelled back into the passage, reaching out to drag hisrade out.
"Come on! Grab my hand!"
The next one to squeeze out was Jing Tao. He pushed himself hard, and with a powerful pull from Lu Yan, he scraped his shoulder and head against the stone wall, leaving some skin behind.
Then came Yi Yun. She was petite, and after being yanked out, thest man in the line... gave up all hope.
His head was firmly stuck, and they could hear the faint sound of his skull cracking.
"Get... out... Don''t look at me..."
The sound of bones breaking could be faintly heard, apanied by a gush of fresh blood.
One of the survivors, a young woman, copsed on the floor, crying and screaming in agony.
He wished he could lose consciousness and end his suffering, but the walls were moving too slowly. It was as if they were deliberately tormenting him with their gradual approach.
The others averted their eyes. Lu Yanli remained at the entrance, observing his pitiful state for a moment. He reached into his pocket, took out a small knife, and with a forceful motion, stabbed it straight into the other''s throat.
With a final gasp, the persons chest went still.
What have you done?
Fury shed in one persons eyes, but the girl intervened, clutching his arm and shaking her head, her voice breaking, Dont be angry. He did us a favour. She nced at the walls that had almost crushed them, leaving only a narrow gap, and the blood that seeped into the soil, casting a sickly green glow. Despair clouded her eyes.
Thank you for sparing him the agony; he would have endured so much pain. The girl whispered.
Lets figure out a way to move on from here.
The first team member to escape let out a bitter sigh, his face etched with despair.
Darkness loomed ahead of them, obscuring their vision. The shlights they carried barely lit up a small patch around them; beyond that, nothing was visible.
The one who had reached the front first was frozen in horror, his face twisted by a despairing dread that none of the others could fathom.
What is it? A voice from behind him asked, breaking the silence. The speaker moved closer, curious and anxious, but as soon as he saw whaty ahead, he gasped and fell silent, his eyes wide with shock.
This this cant be
More voices followed, more footsteps, more expressions of disbelief and fear. They all drew near, drawn by a morbid curiosity, only to be repelled by a ghastly sight.
The ground was dark, so the gaping hole where a square had once stood was barely visible in the dim light. The first one who had stepped out of the narrow passage, driven by inertia, instinctively moved and reached the edge, where he had beheld the unthinkable.
In the depths of the hole, a colossal statuey toppled, its bright red surface gleaming like blood.
It was impossible to gauge the size of the statue, or the age of its origin. It was a monstrous thing, a twisted mockery of life, that filled their minds with words like eerie and distorted.
Dont look! The first one screamed, his eyes bleeding profusely. Dont look at it!
The others quickly averted their gazes, terrified by his warning. One of them reached out to drag him away, but he was stuck, as if glued to the spot, immovable.
Lu Yan had also glimpsed the statue, and felt a surge of blood in his eyes. He swiftly turned his head, but his mind was in chaos, unable to settle for a long time.
A question gnawed at his mind: why was there a statue of that thing here?
He had been led to believe that the two were enemies, locked in an eternal conflict. But then, how could he exin the presence of that "god" in the tomb of the "king"?
It made no sense. It contradicted everything he had learned.
Lu Yan felt a surge of emotion, a mix of anger, fear, and curiosity. He did something reckless, something he knew he would regret. He moved to the edge of the pit, and looked down.
He saw it, all of it.
The statue was the same, unmistakably.
The mark under his corbone sent a shiver down his spine, and blood spurted from his eyes. Lu Yan jerked back, stumbling a few steps.
"Lu Yan? What happened to you?" Yi Yun ran to his side, rmed by his sudden movement. She saw his condition, and panicked. "Why did you look at it? How are your eyes?"
He closed his eyes, blood dripping from them, obscuring the old scar. His voice was steady, as if nothing was wrong. "It''s fine."
He stood still, enduring the agony that pierced his brain, but feeling a strange relief inside. He smiled faintly, "It''s fine, I only used one eye."
Lu Yan hoped that his injured eye would have a minimal impact on the other eye, allowing him to endure until he reached the main burial chamber without losing his sightpletely.
Yi Yun was at a loss for words. She stared at him, trying to form a coherent sentence. "Now, what do you..." She trailed off, unable to finish.
Blood seeped from Lu Yan''s wounds, staining his skin and clothes. He ripped a shred of fabric from his tattered shirt and tied it over his blinded eye. His sight was impaired, but the darkness rendered it irrelevant. A surge of urgency gripped him,pelling him to reach the main tomb chamber; a more powerful impulse than any he had ever experienced.
He made his way towards a group of team members, who were tracing the contours of the area with glowing spores. He crouched beside them and said, "Let me join in."
The green light cast a sinister hue over the scene, and the team members looked strange and unnatural, but Lu Yan ignored them. His sole focus was to unravel the mystery of this ancient tomb.
As they drew, a mirthlessugh escaped Lu Yan''s lips in the dark.
This map... was it not identical to the one that hung in the vige chief''s house, when the previous batch of mission-takers had arrived? He had wondered then who had drawn that map, and now he realised he had contributed to it.
With Lu Yan''s help, they finished the map swiftly and moved on.
The square hole ahead was inessible. The team member who had reached the edge was already a dried-up corpse.
Death had be a familiar sight to them, and they had lost their fear of it. They had found a way to cross the square by using a narrow ledge along the edge.
This time, nothing strange happened. They advanced along the t path, without losing anyone else.
"We''re almost there," the temporary leader of the team announced with joy. "We had mapped out the underground pce from the outside before, and we estimated that, unless there are any more detours up or down, we should reach our destination in less than half an hour!"
These words injected a dose of excitement into the team, who were weary and wounded. They all cheered, and even Yi Yun and the others joined in the celebration.
It had been too hard. They had been lucky to survive, but the endless torment in the dark was worse than any previous missions.
Thest shlight in the team flickered again, and the captain turned it off with a gesture: "We all have fluorescent material on us. I suggest we save the light for the main burial chamber."
No one disagreed. They had abandoned most of their supplies in their escape, and they had no electronic devices left; otherwise, they would not have to draw a map with a pen.
Lu Yan requested a piece of paper from a team member.
He smeared the paper with fluorescent ink, then folded it with care. It became antern, antern that shone brightly green.
The acting team leader snatched it with eagerness, saying, "That''s brilliant! We''re lucky to have you guys on this journey."
He looked joyful, but Lu Yan recoiled when he saw his face.
The other person''s face, also coated in green fluorescent ink, was rotting. But he did not notice, onlyughing.
"Now we can go on with antern," the acting team leader said, lifting thentern in his hand and leading the way.
The first to realise something was wrong was the female team member who was drawing the map. She felt a tickle on her skin, scratched it, and found bits of flesh under her nails, with a greasy texture and a foul smell.
She hesitated but kept quiet to avoid rming her teammates.
Soon after, the rest of the team also felt the problem. They had the same idea, but to not slow down their teammates, no one said a word.
It was... something was wrong with those green fluorescent spores they used as ink!
They could not deny what they saw. A group of people trudged through the dark, following the sinister light of a green paperntern that seemed intent on leading them to a dreadful fate.
The new captain who held thentern felt a prickling in his palm.
He sensed something was off with this thing, but he had his teammates behind him, and he could not turn back.
The group was small, no more than ten people, moving forward with careful steps. Any part of their bodies that touched the phosphorescence felt scratchy, and soon, small pieces began to drop off.
The feeling of scratching seemed toe from deep inside their bones, as if something was trying to break out from within.
Lu Yan''s right fingertips were itching severely, and his hand had also been exposed to a lot of it when he helped draw the map earlier. The parts of his face that he had touched by ident were no better. But he always managed to bear it, ignoring it and only going forward. Despite his attempts, the flesh on his right hand was slowly king away.
At first, he felt nothing, no sensation at all. But soon, it turned into a painful drilling, aching and itching. He stifled the urge to make a noise, but others could not resist any longer, screaming in agony.
"Those fluorescent agents are poisonous. We didn''t notice it before."
"Keep going, there''s no other choice now. We can only move forward."
"Come on! We have to keep going, we''ve faced all kinds of challenges; are we scared of pain now?"
Team members cheered each other on, constantly encouraging others while moaning in pain, continuing to advance.
But... it was not just about pain.
Lu Yan stretched out his hand, now nothing but white bones.
With his remaining eye, he could clearly see that something was crawling out from the green-speckled areas on the hand bones.
Gradually, something green, like a young sprout, emerged from between the finger bones. It wiggled a bit and quickly grew.
It was a mushroom.
Illuminated fungi.
Once one blooms, a second follows, then a third. Slim, elongated mushrooms emerge from human bones, growing unabated.
"This isn''t poison, it''s parasitic!"
"What''s the name of this type of fungus? Does anyone know?"
"I don''t know, never seen anything like it."
"I''ve heard of some fungi that glow, but never seen this kind. Maybe it''s a new species!"
One team member suggested, "Can we pull them out?"
Lu Yan cautioned, "It''s probably best not to!"
One archaeologist grabbed hold of one, but hearing Lu Yan''s words, she let go. Only the woman who had lost her loved one earlier smiled, "Let me try this experiment; you guys must record it."
With that, she disregarded the others'' dissuasion, seized a thin mushroom growing on her face, and forcefully yanked it out.
"Ah"
A shriek of agony rent the air, as she crumpled to the ground, her body shrivelling as if all the bones had been sucked out of her. On the surface, countless thin fungi burst forth, digging their way out, draining her life force, growing and spreading their glowing caps.
A faint light radiated from the fungal cluster on her corpse.
"Come on! Don''t let her sacrifice be in vain!"
The captain cried out, his eyes brimming with tears.
The others bit back their sobs and anguish, moving on.
They had all been infected. They knew their time was running out. It was only a matter of how much.
They had to find the main tomb!
As they trudged on, another team member stumbled, falling with a loud thud.
He gasped, "I can''t go on anymore. You all must get out."
He thrust his backpack into Jing Tao''s hands. "Though I don''t know where you came from, but I''m grateful."
Jing Tao tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. He reached for the backpack, but his legs gave way, and he fell to the ground, joining him.
He said, lying on his back, "I''m finished too."
The pain was so intense that he felt nothing else. He surprised himself by how long he hadsted.
Heughed weakly and looked at Yi Yun. "You need to find it. The Pisces jade pendant. If I don''t get it, I''ll die too. And you have to go back to your daughter."
He paused, then asked, "Hey, where''s Wang Peng Fei?"
Yi Yun''s face was wet with tears and green fluid. "Don''t you remember? Wang Peng Fei... he''s gone..."
Jing Tao whispered, "Oh, yeah... he had it worse than me..."
His voice faded.
"I wish I could go back... see my mom... I miss her so much..."
As tears streamed down her face in silent anguish, Yi Yun felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Lu Yan, who had managed to stand by her side despite his horrific injuries. He bent down and grabbed the backpack, the only thing they had left from their expedition.
"Let''s go."
He was the least injured one among them, but his luck had run out long ago. The fungus had eaten away almost half of his flesh, leaving behind white bones that sprouted more green mushrooms. His blood, mixed with a greenish tinge, dripped from his wounds and stained his clothes.
"It''s just us now," he said, his voice raspy and weak. "But we made it. We''re at the main tomb chamber."
Yi Yun turned her head slowly, her mind still in a haze. She could barelyprehend his words.
"We''re... we''re here?"
She couldn''t believe it, but then she saw it. A massive structure loomed ahead of them, shrouded in mist and mystery. It had to be the main tomb chamber, the goal of their quest.
"We did it... we did it!" She felt a surge of energy, a flicker of hope. She got up and stumbled forward.
With faltering steps, Lu Yan and Yi Yun climbed the stairs, leaning on each other for support. They had endured unimaginable horrors to reach this point, but there was no sign of them now. Only an ancient underground pce, silent and still, awaited them in the darkness.
They reached the doorway, where they paused momentarily. They resembled two broken dolls, with twisted and mangled limbs, barely holding together. Even if someone were to assemble them, they would fail to create aplete doll. They stretched out their hands and pushed the door open, hoping for a miracle.
A faint light greeted them, piercing through the gloom.
It was too bright, too sudden. They flinched and closed their eyes, unable to bear the contrast.
Chapter 86
Chapter 86
A soft glow filled the tomb chamber, creating a stark contrast with the darkness outside.
Two shadows appeared at the doorway, barely recognizable as human. They had suffered unspeakable horrors on their way here, and their bodies showed the signs of their ordeal. They looked more like spectres than explorers, and anyone who saw them would have fled in terror.
"This is it. We made it. Look for the jade pendant," Yi Yun said, her voice breaking as she sobbed. She wiped her tears with her sleeve, but they kept falling.
"I need the jade pendant. I need to go home."
"My little one..."
She moved forward, clutching Lu Yan''s arm. He followed her, his steps unsteady.
They entered the chamber, where a huge coffin dominated the space. It was half as tall as they were, and covered with intricate carvings. Candles surrounded it, casting a flickering light on the walls.
"Where are they? Where are the treasures?" Yi Yun scanned the chamber, looking for any sign of the burial items they hade for. She couldn''t find anything, and her heart sank. She let out a scream of frustration and despair.
"No! It can''t be! There has to be something!"
"Where is it? Where is the jade pendant?"
Yi Yun''s voice echoed in the tomb chamber, desperate and frantic. She followed Lu Yan, who had moved to the other side of the coffin. They stopped in their tracks, stunned by what they saw.
Behind the coffin, a pile of corpsesy in a grotesque heap. They all wore the same uniforms. Their flesh was rotting, barely clinging to their bones, but their faces were still recognizable.
They knew them. They had been theirrades on the way here, the group of archaeologists.
"What is this? How did they...?" Yi Yun gasped, unable to finish her sentence. "How did they get here?"
They had seen them die, one by one, infected by a strange green parasite that had invaded their bodies. But these corpses were clean, free of any sign of the infection.
What had happened to them? Had they been dead all along?
Lu Yan approached the bodies, inspecting them with a grim expression. He could tell they had been dead for at least three days.
"Three days, that means they were..." Yi Yun whispered, half to herself, half to him.
Lu Yan didn''t reply. He was more concerned about the missing upant of the tomb. Where had he gone?
They didn''t have time to ponder, though. The tomb door mmed shut behind them, making Yi Yun jump.
Meanwhile, in a dark corner of the chamber, a candle flickered and died. It was as if someone had leaned over and snuffed it out with a breath.
But for now, neither of them noticed.
Yi Yun scanned the chamber, looking for any clue of the jade pendant. She had hoped to find it among the treasures, but there were none. It had to be in the coffin, then. It had to be.
She moved closer to the coffin, reaching out with a skeletal hand. She slowly lifted the lid, ignoring the pain that shot through her arm. As soon as her fingers touched the wood, she felt her flesh rotting away, faster than ever.
She didn''t care. She pushed harder, lifting the lid with all her remaining strength. She opened her eye, the only one she had left, and peered inside the coffin. What she saw made her scream, a sound of utter despair and horror.
Lu Yan joined her by the coffin, looking down at the empty space. He saw why she was screaming and falling apart.
There was nothing in the coffin. Nothing at all.
No body, no jewels, no jade pendant.
It was as if the owner of the tomb had never been there.
"How can this be? How can there be nothing? We risked everything... We sacrificed everything... How can there be nothing?"
"I have to go back... My daughter is waiting for me at home. She''s so young... I can''t leave her alone..."
A viscous, green fluid oozed from her eye sockets, emitting a foul odour, and sshed into the coffin. Yi Yun remained frozen, staring at the empty space. She didn''t know what to do next.
Lu Yan turned away from her, walking towards the wall. He studied the relief murals, looking for any hidden meaning.
"What are you looking at, Lu Yan?" Yi Yun asked, a glimmer of hope in her voice. "Is there something wrong with this mural? Is there?"
Lu Yan nced at her, his lone eye showing no emotion, no reaction. He said nothing, just dropped the bag from his back, took out a scroll, andid it on the floor.
He waspleting the map.
He had noticed that his body was decaying slower since they entered the tomb chamber. He had to use the time wisely, of course.
Yi Yun felt a surge of anger and frustration. She wanted to run over and stop him from drawing, to make him help her find the jade pendant. She wanted to rip the map to shreds, but she didn''t do anything. She clung to thest shred of hope, wandering around the chamber.
Another candle in the corner went out, plunging the chamber into deeper darkness.
Lu Yan finished the map quickly, it was easy for him. He put the map away, got up, and scanned the chamber, searching for new clues.
"Mr. Lu,e and see this." Yi Yun, who had regained someposure, called out to him. "There are more inscriptions on the wall, and they look familiar."
"These inscriptions and images were tranted by Team Cen," Lu Yan remembered.
Team Cen had told them a story about a "god" and a "king," but on their way here, he had encountered another "god." Were they the same?
He closed his eyes, trying to recall the wall inscriptions that Team Cen had deciphered before.
Lu Yanpared the wall inscriptions with the story that Cen had told them. He noticed some patterns in the trantion of the characters, which were simple and phic.
"These reliefs and the murals outside are the same, but the text is different."
Another candle went out in the corner, following a path that led to them.
Lu Yan felt a sudden unease as he looked at the inscriptions. They didn''t match the story that Cen had told them.
ording to Cen, the vigers had a "king" and a "god" who were kind and generous, who protected them from harm. They had hidden themselves because they were hiding from the world.
But these inscriptions and the reliefs told a different story. Lu Yan felt a cold shiver run down his spine as he studied them.
Something was wrong.
They had seen the murals from the outside in, as if that was the natural order.
But what if... the real order was from the inside out?
He tried to calm his racing heart, as he tranted the inscriptions, his eyes fixed on the reliefs.
Reversing the story of Cen interpretation...
"...Long ago, there was a mountain, a very, very dangerous one. Those who dwelled in the mountain were cursed. They had fled from the chaos of war, and settled there, refusing to leave. But they soon found out that their children were also cursed. They had no choice but to secretly ask for the protection of a guardian spirit, to ensure the survival of the vige. But the guardian spirit demanded a high price. They had to offer hefty sacrifices every year. And they had to bury the dead in a forbidden area, making them bear the curse of the living, so that they could live in peace...
Yi Yun looked puzzled. "Lu Yan, what are you saying?"
Lu Yan''s voice, which seldom showed any emotion, sounded dreamy. "There may be another version of the story about the king."
He kept reading, whispering the words.
"Later, the world outside grew more violent, and more people sought shelter. A group of soldiers from a mysteriousnd, armed and looking for a burial ce for their king, came as well. Led by theirmander, they shed with the vigers."
"It was a deadly conflict, but only a conflict between mortals so the guardian spirit ignored it, continuing sleeping... Some people tried to escape, risking their lives. When they left the mountain, a wicked spirit that had carried their curse for so long rose from the back mountain."
"A battle raged between the wicked spirit and the guardian spirit. In the end, the wicked spirit was pushed back to the back mountain, but the guardian spirit was greatly weakened. For the next sixty cycles of rebirth, the soldiers forced the vigers to build an underground pce..."
Lu Yan''s voice became a whisper as he read the inscription, "The king, who was favoured by the spirits in his life, received a... " He paused and looked at Yi Yun, his only eye piercing her. "He got a double fish jade pendant and the secret of immortality."
Yi Yun''s ears perked up at the mention of the double fish jade pendant. She lifted her head, trying to see the details of the relief on the sculpture.
"Yes, that''s it... that has to be it..." She stretched out her hand, but it was too short. The tomb chamber was too high and wide, and the relief was too big. They were like ants under the sculpture, which was as tall as several people.
Yi Yun begged Lu Yan, "Please, can you help me get up there? I need that jade pendant." She couldn''t reach it without his help.
Lu Yan said nothing.
They wouldn''t be able to reach it even if they stood on each other''s shoulders. And it wasn''t a real double fish jade pendant; it was just part of the sculpture. He told her this, and then resumed reading.
"The king wasid to rest in the mountain, as he had wished, surrounded by a wealth of treasures. Soldiers ughtered many vigers to join him in death, believing that this sacrifice would revive their king. Faithful soldiers have guarded the vige, waiting for the king''s resurrection for sixty years."
"They had spilled too much blood, and the evil spirits in the back mountains grew stronger. To keep them at bay, they had to sacrifice living people. They called upon the protective spirits that the vigers had summoned, to fight against the wicked ones."
"The Five Great Spirits loathed their king, and refused to protect them. So, the soldiers devised a n. They found a boy in the vige and said he was the rebirth of their king. They dressed him in the finest silk, gave him the tastiest food, and made him a throne."
"The boy''s family thought they had struck a fortune, and quickly agreed. But his sister was not happy. The soldiers, with great care, treated the boy as their king for a whole year, until the next sacrifice, when they nned to make the boy take the ce of their doomed king."
"The boy''s family learned of this scheme, and, after talking it over, switched the names and birthdates of the boy and the girl. So, the sister went instead of her brother."
"...The girl was thrown into the river, and the protective spirits despised that king. As a result, the girl suffered unspeakable agony..."
Lu Yan gazed at the relief, showing the girl standing in the blood river that encircled the vige, half of her body exposed, surrounded by screaming people.
"The soldiers, ignorant and afraid of the girl''s vengeance, sealed her in a coffin, making sure she couldn''t reach the back mountains even in death. After that year''s sacrifice, the protective spirit that the vigers had summoned sighed in relief. But they were still weak, and they could only find a girl to summon..."
Lu Yan remembered the scene in the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals.
The sister took the ce of the brother.
Was this not the tale of Zhang Hui Xuan?
So, it was the sister who felt hatred for her brother, who scorned everyone in the vige, even the guardian spirits who watched over them.
Behind them, more than half of the candles had gone out. Lu Yan was absorbed in the story of the relief, while Yi Yun climbed with difficulty, trying to reach the jade pendant carved from stone above their heads.
Lu Yan stepped back and noticed a smaller relief in the corner.
It showed a young boy digging a grave.
In the next scene, he lifted the lid of the small coffin in the grave and removed a nail. In the third scene, he put the coffin back in the grave.
Did Zhang Hui Xuan escape? Did she kill them all, including the guardian spirit who inhabited Li Li? Was it the brother''s remorse or curiosity? Lu Yan could not tell.
Only then did he sense something wrong behind him.
The light was fading?
He was about to turn around, when a surge of dread gripped him, his intuition warning him don''t look back!
What was behind him?
A huge shadow crept into his vision, obscuring his own shadow. The shadow grewrger, showing that its source was getting closer.
"Yi Yun! Watch out! Get down now!" Lu Yan shouted.
Yi Yun had climbed high up.
The tomb chamber could slow down the rotting, but not stop it. Most of her flesh had fallen off, leaving behind a green skeleton covered with fungus. She had kept going by sheer force of will. When she heard Lu Yan''s voice, she was about to look down, but he said, "Don''t look! Come down from the other side!"
The monster behind him was too big, and climbing higher wouldn''t help. Lu Yan thought quickly, measured the distance between him and the coffin behind him, and threw the scroll in his hand with a strong toss. Itnded inside the coffin with a dull thud.
Then, he moved forward, without turning his head.
He felt a cold breath on his neck, and it didn''t go away. He could almost taste the rotten stench, as if it had lingered for millennia.
What could he do?
He stood in front of the bas-relief, trapped. There was no way forward, unless he followed Yi Yun''s example and climbed up, hiding behind the bas-relief.
The candles in the tomb flickered and died. The shadows behind him grew darker, no... the whole tomb was sinking into ckness. In the dimness, the bas-relief looked more sinister and horrifying.
He could easily picture what would happen when the tomb was swallowed by darkness.
Yi Yun had reached the "king."
Her body was falling apart, leaving a glowing trail in the dark. Yi Yun stretched out her hand, trying to grab the carved Pisces jade pendant. It was the only thing she cared about, the only thing she saw.
But she couldn''t pull it off.
It was a stone carving, stuck in the hand of the "king."
"Please, Lu Yan... Please... I''ve searched so long for it, I''ve given everything for it..." Yi Yun sobbed, her hands reaching for the stone-carved twin fish jade pendant.
She couldn''t get it.
Her legs, which had rotted away, failed her. She lost her bnce and fell from the bas-relief,nding hard on the floor and coughing up blood.
Her breathing slowed down, her eyes still wide open, gazing at the bas-relief, trying to see what she wanted in the dark.
Lu Yan bent down to hear her, and he caught her faint voice.
"The jade pendant... Nannan..."
A cold shadow crept up behind him, almost touching his body, sending a shiver down his spine.
Before the shadow could reach him, Lu Yan reached out, putting his hand on Yi Yun''s neck.
Snap.
Everything went ck.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a museum. Parents and children walked around, enjoying the exhibits, filling the air withughter and happiness.
Chapter 87
Chapter 87
After the previous task-takers left, his world would go back to normal, including himself.
But not this time...
Lu Yan touched his left eye, feeling a sharp pain. He shut his other eye, but his vision was still dim and blurry. He could barely see.
The effects of the failed mission extended beyond the mission itself!
The mummies in the museum came to life, hunting down the children. The kids ran and shrieked, but one little girl was caught and dragged into a ss disy case. Her parents watched with a smile as their daughter shrivelled up, before reaching out to get her back.
The little girl slipped from her parents'' grasp, thud, thud, thud, and dashed outside, bumping into Lu Yan.
"Are you crying, big brother?" She grinned, her hollow eyes staring at his face.
Lu Yan looked away, ncing at the mirror. He saw the blood on his eye, making him look ghastly and frightening.
He didn''t wait for the little girl to say more. He left.
Behind him, everyone in the museum froze, turning their heads in unison, watching him leave in silence.
A cold shiver ran down Lu Yan''s spine as he sensed the oppressive silence that enveloped the museum. He did not dare to nce behind him, fearing what he might see. He flung the door open and hurried down the stairs.
But it was toote. Even outside, he felt everyone''s eyes on him, piercing through his skin with a faint but unmistakable hostility. They watched him with a morbid curiosity, as if he were a specimen on disy.
He knew the reason for their attention.
He had seen this before: whenever he was the sole survivor of a mission, he would soon be gued by unnatural phenomena that defied exnation.
And now, it was happening again...
A clown girl came bouncing towards him, her face a hideous mask of paint and blood. She had carved a grin on her face, extending from the corners of her mouth to her ears, exposing her teeth and gums. And on her nose, she had attached another person''s severed nose, creating a grotesque parody of a clown''s nose.
"Take a look!"
With a cheerful tone, a little girl in a clown costume approached Lu Yan, thrusting a brochure into his face.
Lu Yan recoiled, but her hand followed his movement, forcing him to look at the brochure.
It was an advertisement for a quaint town, where one could enjoy the rustic charm of nature and culture.
"Would you like to join us, sir?" The clown girl asked, shing a smile that exposed the gory wounds on her mouth. She had cut her lips open, creating a permanent grin that reached her ears.
"Don''t you want to see?"
"Go on, take a peek..."
A toy doll on a pumpkin carriage rolled towards Lu Yan, encircling him. It sang nursery rhymes in a high-pitched voice.
Lu Yan froze, unable to move. The clown girl stared at him with unblinking ck eyes, her smile turning into a sneer. Her eyes glinted with malice.
"Come on... take a look..." She extended her arm.
The brochure showed a face, not a clown''s, but a traditional Chinese opera mask. It was painted with bright colours, and it smiled at Lu Yan. It joined the doll in singing.
He was surrounded by a crowd of listeners, but Lu Yan was deaf to the song. He knew that it would be bad if he could hear what they were hearing.
"Go... go..." Lu Yan reluctantly grabbed the flyer from the little girl''s hand.
She let out a delightedugh, and leaped into the pumpkin carriage next to the doll. She morphed into another doll, identical to the first one. The two dolls, with their longshes and sinister faces, sang a tune as they rode away in the carriage, pulled by a small pony.
Lu Yan was left alone in the middle of the road, clutching the ominous flyer.
He had no other option but to go.
*
*
"Yi Zhen Zhen, please step outside for a moment."
The homeroom teacher''s voice interrupted the morning reading ss, and summoned Yi Zhen Zhen to the door. As soon as she left, a ripple of anxiety ran through the ss. They noticed the homeroom teacher''s grim expression, which reminded them of the time when a student she had mentored had vanished without a trace.
Yi Zhen Zhen was a quiet girl, who never stood out in the ss. Her ssmates quickly whispered their guesses, but their curiosity was cut short by the arrival of the English teacher, who looked equally sombre. The students obediently resumed their vocabry drills.
No one found out what had happened. Yi Zhen Zhen came back to the ssroom in tears, stuffing her belongings into her bag. She said she had to go home for a few days.
Her desk mate, who had barely exchanged a word with her in a year, tried to ask her what was wrong, but she shook her head, refusing to answer. She dashed out of the room with her backpack.
The homeroom teacher followed her home, watching her face with concern all the way.
"Zhen Zhen, you''re a brave girl, you have to...have to be strong. Your mom would hate to see you suffer like this..." The ss teacher repeated herself several times, feeling like she was adding insult to injury.
Zhen Zhen sat motionless in the back seat, not making a sound.
After a long pause, she said, "If you need anything, just let me know. Everyone is here for you."
Yi Zhen Zhen stayed silent.
Her tears fell without a sob. She reached the police station with swollen eyes, filled out a stack of forms, and followed the ss teacher to the morgue.
As soon as she saw the body, Yi Zhen Zhen copsed, weeping. The few police officers who were there also felt a lump in their throats, and looked away to hide their tears.
The ss teacher went to find out more about the case.
The body was discovered in a haunted house at an amusement park, along with six other victims, three women and four men. It was reported that a forensic student who was visiting the haunted house had noticed something odd with the decorations in one of the rooms, and had alerted the police. The haunted house turned out to be a macabre disy of real corpses. The haunted house had been closed down for investigation.
But everyone had a sinking feeling that this would be another unsolved mystery, like the ones before, where the killer had vanished without a trace and the deaths where stated as suicides.
"It wasn''t suicide. Something happened to her," Yi Zhen Zhen insisted, with a firm tone.
The police officer pressed, "Are you sure? Did she show any signs of distresstely? Joining any religious groups, maybe?"
Lately, they had been dealing with several new cases, all linked to cults. Whenever they encountered a situation like this, where a group of people died in a bizarre way, they suspected the involvement of the cults that were spreading like a gue.
Yi Zhen Zhen racked her brain, but finally shook her head slowly.
Then, the police showed her some photos of the other victims in this case. Yi Zhen Zhen denied knowing any of them.
After a long and exhausting process, the sky turned dark, and the homeroom teacher escorted Yi Zhen Zhen out of the police station.
Before she could think of a way to console Yi Zhen Zhen, the girl spoke first, "Teacher, I''m okay. Can I have a few days off to sort things out, please?"
The homeroom teacher, feeling helpless, gave her some advice, and left reluctantly, looking back every few steps.
Soon after, a tall, thin man trailed behind the girl.
He was none other than Chu Xiu.
Chu Xiu monitored the rising trend of local deaths that defied exnation. When he learned about the seven bizarre fatalities in a specific area, he recognized the signs of another mission.
There were few recent posts from task-takers on the website. Those who used to eagerly share their experiences were disappearing, and some even attempted to spread religious propaganda, only to be swiftly removed and banned by the site''s administrators.
He felt a twinge of unease.
Did these task-takers choose not to share, or did they fail toplete their missions? Thus, no one had any clue what their missions were.
Like this time.
After finding out the address of Yi Zhen Zhen, Chu Xiu departed, heading to examine the surveince footage in that area.
He understood why the police suspected a cult involvement. The video from the haunted house cameras was chilling. Seven people entered the haunted house, acting normally at first - talking,ughing. But after midnight, in a sh, they all dropped dead.
Another... total annihtion.
He wondered what kind of mission they had epted this time, that none of them returned alive.
Lately, the tasks they had received had grown more and more bizarre and dangerous, taking them to worlds that were stranger than ever. These realms bore no resemnce to their own, sometimes even mirroring scenes from apocalyptic films.
The death toll had risen, but in contrast, there was a steady stream of neers. The number of task performers had not dwindled; rather, it had increased.
Chu Xiu''stest assignment had brought him to a strange underworld. He was the only veteran among the group; the rest were all rookies. The mission was extremely difficult, and he was the sole survivor.
He felt the red mark on his body, thinking of someone.
The worlds that task performers explored were not always the same, but wherever they went, whatever kind of NPCs they met, he had nevere across anyone like Lu Yansomeone inexplicable.
Chu Xiu even had a faint suspicion that Lu Yan had detected the anomaly of the horrific world they were in and the intrusion of outsiders.
What made him so different?
Chu Xiu did not know, but he remained loyal to his promise, cohabiting with that idol. He was relieved that after the weird incident that day, nothing else out of the ordinary had happened.
His phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.
"Hello? Miss Lin?" Chu Xiu picked up the call, and saw Lin Chu''s name on the screen.
On the other side of the line, Lin Chu sounded courteous, asking him to meet her the next day. She said she had some issues about the mission that she wanted to talk to him about.
Chu Xiu smelled a trap, but he was confident in his skills, so he yed along. He exchanged a few clever words with her, and agreed to her request. Feeling restless, he took out some parts from his home safe, quickly put together his gun, and loaded it with bullets.
On the other end of the call, Lin Chu was in a private room, aiming the gun at Yu Huai Yao''s head. An Ru was lying on the floor, his head bleeding profusely.
"If you have any brains, you''ll know what to keep to yourself and what to spill," Lin Chu said coldly after ending the call, ring at Yu Huai Yao. "Believe it or not, I had nothing to do with Yu Huan''s death."
Yu Huai Yao, with his back to her, lifted his hands. "If you''re innocent, why can''t you tell me how he died?"
"Huh? Didn''t I tell you already? Killed by ghosts. Do you buy that?" Lin Chu pushed the gun forward, roughly hitting Yu Huai Yao on the back of his head. Lin Chu''s eyes were full of rage that contrasted with her cute appearance. "You lost your loved ones, and so did I. I suggest you, if you really want to avenge them, don''t bother me."
"Revenge..." Yu Huai Yao whispered these two words, "What are you nning to do?"
He received a brutal hit on the back of his head with the gun''s handle, followed by thest words he heard before cking out - "It''s none of your business."
Lin Chu tucked away her new gun, bent down to check that the two were still breathing, then crawled out of thepartment window and ran down the alley.
The waiter had been waiting for a long time, and it was only when the evening was almost over that he decided to knock on the door. He opened thepartment door, and let out a shriek. He quickly called the police.
*
*
It was the weekend, and a group of girls from a certain ss gathered around the TV on the ss''s all-in-one machine. They were all infatuated with a male celebrity, and at that moment, the TV was showing an interview with that celebrity.
"Everyone, love me as if your life depends on it, love me with your life!" The handsome man smiled.
"He''s so handsome..." The girl nearest to the screen flushed.
"Speaking of which, he told us to love him with our lives, but we already adore him so much." A girl in the back row said, "I''ve followed the fan club''s instructions, stained a red thread with my own blood, and wished for his fortune."
"Me too, me too. I even tattooed his name on my body, without any painkillers."
The ss president suddenly rose, spreading her arms, with a fervent expression, "Don''t you get it? Loving with our lives means giving up our lives for him!"
She gestured outside with her hand, "How amazing would it be if we all jumped from the rooftop together? He would be overjoyed, wouldn''t he?"
"Definitely!"
"It makes perfect sense! It''s a rare opportunity that the teacher is absent now. Should we seize the moment?"
"But..."
"No ''buts''! Don''t you adore him?"
"Of course, I adore him the most!" The challenged girl promptly got up. "Come on, everyone. We''ll link hands and jump together."
"Great! Linking hands, let''s jump together!"
All thirty-one girls in the ss marched to the school rooftop, sping hands, chanting the name of the same man, and jumped.
*
*
Reportedly, thirty-one female students from a certain university have collectively jumped off a building for unknown reasons. As of now, the death toll stands at thirty-one, and further investigation is currently underway.
Lin Chu listened to the news, frowning deeper and deeper.
What was wrong with people these days? Why were there so many strange news stories?
She printed out this specific news piece and added it to her pile.
The record book was bulky, and for the odd events in the city this month alone, she had filled three pages. She shuddered to think how much it would be if the scale widened to the whole country or even the entire world.
She nced at her watch, and realised the time for her meeting with Chu Xiu was near. Lin Chu opened a drawer, grabbed a pistol, armed herself with various homemade drugs, and left her home to drive to a park.
She muttered Chu Xiu''s name, and without knowing it, her eyes zed with murderous intent.
Chapter 88
Chapter 88
In a forsaken park that Lin Chu had selected, the ce was isted and the chilly, wet winter weather discouraged any passersby, making it a perfect ce for covert rendezvous.
When Chu Xiu got there, he saw her sitting on a park bench, tossing bits of ham to the stray cats.
She had dressed in a soft-coloured long skirt today, her smile sweet and innocent.
"You made it?" Lin Chu gave thest morsels of food to the cats, tapped the seat next to her, and said, "Come, let''s chat."
He was close enough to see her friendly expression, and she showed no sign of malice. Chu Xiu feltpelled to oblige.
He walked over and sat on the other end of the bench, catching a whiff of a scent that wafted from her.
He always had a nagging feeling around her, but he couldn''t pinpoint it.
"Have you taken another missiontely?" Lin Chu''s voice was like talking to an old pal.
Chu Xiu nodded, "Barely survived."
Lin Chu gazed at the stray cats in the distance, "I haven''t taken one yet. Don''t know what the next one will be."
"Say what you want to say."
Lu Yan paused for a moment. "Have you been following me againtely?"
Chu Xiu shook his head. "After I gave your information to An Xing Yu''s mother, I stopped following you."
"Really?" Lin Chu dropped her head. "I''ve had the feeling of being watchedtely. It wasn''t you?"
"No."
Lin Chu turned her head, studying him closely. Chu Xiu let her eyes roam over him, acting casual.
"Fine, if it wasn''t you, I won''t me you. Let''s talk about something else." Lin Chu pulled out a dagger from her sleeve, then put it back. "Tell me some secrets about missions, will you?"
"Can''t you find those things on the website?"
"I want to know something different. As someone who haspleted at least fifteen missions, you must have some inside knowledge, right?"
"What do you think I know?"
"For example, the causes of the world''s anomalies, the differences between the two worlds, and so on." Lin Chu smiled, showing a small dimple. "Or else, what motive do you have for joining missions that don''t need you? You must have a goal, and that goal is surely not simple."
Chu Xiu was racking his brain, trying to think of a way to get out of this, when he saw her stand up, spin around, and pull out a gun.
And the barrel was pointed straight at his throat.
"You!" Chu Xiu attempted to fight back, but found himself paralyzed, unable to move.
He smelled the perfume that came from her, and he knew the reason.
Lin Chu said, "The one who has been stalking me is An Xing Yu''s father. It''s a lucky break that I got this gun from him." As for how she did it, Chu Xiu was familiar with her methods by now.
"Now, tell me what you know. Or else..." the gun slid downward, "I won''t kill you, but I can''t guarantee I won''t cripple you, maybe snap a bone or two. It would ruin the mission, wouldn''t it?"
She pressed a gun against Chu Xiu with one hand and grabbed another gun from his waist with the other, bncing it, with a cruel smile.
Struggling to muster some force to reach back, Chu Xiu, taken by surprise, calmly said, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Or what? Am I just a madwoman?" Lin Chu mockingly tapped the gun on his face, "Didn''t you start this? Don''t give me any excuses; I don''t care. I just want to know what you''ve discovered and what secrets there are in the mission." Lin Chu was convinced that he knew something, otherwise, how could he survive time after time?
She was desperate to return to the world of missions, but there were no traces of the elusive tasks that others shunned. ording to her research, Chu Xiu entered the mission world so often that it looked suspicious.
Facing a logical but fanatical madwoman, Chu Xiu was helpless. He regretted not acting when they first met, instead being fooled by her seemingly gentle appearance, leaving him vulnerable now.
On second thought, was her being manipted during their first encounter deliberate?
"What do you want to know?" Chu Xiu tried to get away from her to recover his strength. But Lin Chu moved closer, her perfume growing stronger.
"How can you enter the missions multiple times?"
Chu Xiu hesitated, "Just join a team of mission-takers and go with them. The trouble is, no one wants to do that. Everyone cherishes their lives, so very few people are aware of it."
"What is your aim for your frequent missions?"
"...Trying to get away from them."
The perfume on Lin Chu, besides making people physically weak, seemed to have a subtle effect of making people "confess." At first, Chu Xiu attempted to hide things, but then he thought, why not team up with someone like her? He didn''t conceal much, answering whatever she asked.
But when Chu Xiu mentioned that he joined a cult because of an NPC, Lin Chu wrinkled her brows, feeling a hint of recognition in his description of the person.
"Who is this NPC you speak of?" Lin Chu asked.
Chu Xiu paused for a moment before answering, "Lu Yan."
As the name left his lips, Chu Xiu saw a sh of astonishment in Lin Chu''s eyes.
"Do you know him?"
In another world, Lu Yan was about to get on a train, heading to another city.
He had been marked, and this time, the chase seemed unusually persistent. Wherever he went, he could feel supernatural phenomena ringly gathering around him.
That was the problem...
Faced with the no-longer-human Yi Yun and Jing Tao, Lu Yan felt nothing but irritation.
But he was powerless to act. Ordinary people couldn''t y the eerie, and the supernatural urrences in his reality were not governed by any rules.
On the train''s TV, news was broadcasting, reporting the discovery of an ancient tomb.
At that moment, Lu Yan was being coerced by Yi Yun to put her "daughter" to sleep, missing the brief but oddly familiar figure on the screen.
As the figure passed by, it gave Lu Yan asting look before vanishing. When Lu Yan looked up, the pale-faced host reappeared on the screen.
Ancient tomb... ancient tomb... It seemed like everyone''s interest, including Lu Yan''s, was riveted on the ancient tomb these days. While dealing with troubles on the train, Lu Yanboured to decipher the inscriptions.
Perhaps because he had heard it once before, he finally had a sense of those characters. But some words were still unknown, and he couldn''tprehend their meaning, so he had to leave them empty for now.
What baffled him was the appearance of the king and his deity. It was unclear when they came into being, and their attire and tools were unlike any country or region in the world.
Without the equipment of a professional archaeological team, he couldn''t estimate the age based on decay. He could only tentatively infer that this nation... must have at least a three-hundred-year history.
Just as he was musing, the train abruptly stopped, plunging into darkness.
"Ah"
A collective gasp erupted from the passengers.
Lu Yan strained his ears, trying to make sense of the mingled sounds of awe and horror that filled the air. Among them, he heard something else... something inhuman, something that chilled his blood.
He nced at the girl who sat opposite him. She wore a crimson dress that contrasted with her pale skin, and she cocked her head as she gazed at him with a curious smile.
He could see her clearly, even in the dim light of the train. He lifted his hand, and saw a faint green glow emanating from his fingertips.
It was a remnant of the mission, a curse that lingered in his body. He felt a pang of fear, wondering if another mushroom would sprout from his bones.
Like a firefly, he thought, absurdly.
The train came to a sudden halt, jolting him from his reverie. "What''s going on?" The passengers started to grumble, their voices growing louder and more agitated.
A sickening stench of blood permeated the air, apanied by wet crunching noises. But no matter how much the passengersined, the train did not move.
Time crawled by, and the television screens flickered from one program to another. Then, without warning, the lights in the train shed on.
Lu Yan looked around. The train was empty, except for him. He was alone, sitting on a seat soaked with blood.
The windows were smeared with bloody handprints, as if someone had tried to escape... or get in.
The carriage door creaked open, and a stewardess wheeled in a food trolley.
A meal tray rested on the trolley, and on the tray was a severed head that looked exactly like his. However, the stewardess had no head of her own!
The trolley moved closer, bringing the decapitated head nearer to Lu Yan. The head''s eyes locked with his, and its mouth twisted into a wicked grin.
Lu Yan ignored it, allowing the trolley to pass by him.
But then, he sensed something was wrong.
If the trolley bore a head that matched "his," then what had happened to the stewardess''s head?
"Hold on!" Lu Yan shouted to the stewardess and grabbed the trolley.
As soon as he did, the stewardess''s clothes copsed and dropped to the floor. He lifted the cloth that covered the trolley... and saw what he had expected. A butchered bodyy inside, with no head to be found. Only a bloody stump remained where the head should have been.
The head on the tray, his mirror image, slowly regained its calm.
He shuddered to think what would have happened if he had let the stewardess wheel the trolley away. His head... might truly be taken away.
This was... his reality.
The train reached the station, and the doors slid open. Darkness engulfed the world outside the carriage.
Lu Yan stepped out, and cast a nce behind him. The train was full again, with the passengers who had vanished. They sat in their seats, their eyes fixed on him in silent usation.
He had no idea how long this nightmare wouldst, or when the next tasker would show up. He felt a strange longing for it.
He had seen enough of this twisted world, and he craved for something normal.
Once you have experienced life in a normal world, you will grow increasingly frustrated with its inherent strangeness.
*
*
"Why is there such a crowd for this mission?"
The taskers had followed the usual procedure, posting their details on the website and arranging to meet offline. But when they arrived, they were stunned.
There were more than thirty of them.
"Are we all on the same mission? Heading to the town of the mediums?"
"Same here."
"We have plenty of time before we depart, in two weeks'' time. Let''s get acquainted and share our thoughts."
"This mission is odd. Can you all confirm? I was told to find a missing person and assassinate someone called Lu Yan. No deadline given."
"Me too."
"By the way, they gave us some information on the town. But what about the person we have to find? Any leads?"
"None. The mission only mentions finding someone who vanished in the town of the mediums, without any details or clues."
They formed a circle and exchanged ideas, trying to make sense of it. Lin Chu was among them.
She had learned how to join the mission from Chu Xiu, and she had rushed to the meeting ce as soon as she saw the website''s instructions. Now, as she listened to the others'' mission briefs, she felt shocked inside.
Why did he have to die?
Chapter 89
Chapter 89
Unaware of the sinister plot that awaited him, Lu Yan felt a surge of dread as he sensed the impending malice directed towards him. He was already vexed by the thought of being targeted.
He found himself in a deste station, with no signs of life to be seen or heard. The moist, biting cold of the night greeted him, seeping into his bones. The winter wind howled mercilessly, shaking the station''s windows and doors with a metallic ng.
Once again, he felt that oppressive stare, like a dark figure trailing him.
Who could it be?
Who was keeping their eyes on him?
A shiver ran through his body, freezing his blood, as he felt a cloak of ice enveloping him.
The stare didn''t waver, but instead intensified, akin to a malignant wound festering and oozing.
What did it want?
What was its purpose?
He didn''t dare to turn his head, but instead quickened his steps, desperate to escape the station. However, the station seemed to taunt him, stretching its corridors and tforms beyond his reach.
His eyes darted to the door.
Out of nowhere a red figure appeared. Its face was decayed beyond recognition, but Lu Yan felt its piercing gaze, fixed on him with malicious intent.
No, it was not alone. Another grotesque and menacing figure stood behind him.
What could he do?
Ever since the world went mad, ever since he witnessed his loved ones mysteriously die and came back to life, he had not known fear. He had faced the horrors with a cool head, devising strategies to survive.
He did not halt his steps, advancing towards the door.
In the past, he could easily evade the ghosts by ignoring them. But now
Was everything going to work out?
As soon as the blood-red spectre emerged, Lu Yan regained his mobility. He made his way to the door, but this time, he slowed down his pace on purpose.
The blood-red body still red at him, putrid liquid dripping from its rotten, empty eye sockets, resembling a corpse freshly dug up.
Lu Yan approached it slowly, cautiously.
He was assaulted by the damp earthy smell that mingled with the foul odour of rotting flesh that wafted from its body.
He came face to face with the corpse.
It kept staring at him, motionless.
He took a step.
Another.
And another.
Lu Yan reached its side, but it made no move.
What was it doing there, if not to attack him? He wondered, his mind racing, but he could not shake off the feeling of familiarity.
Had he met the person who once inhabited this body?
But its face was beyond recognition, marred by dark veins that bulged and twisted, obscuring any features, its shape decayed and swollen. He dared not look at it for too long, lest he drew its attention, so he could not tell what it was.
As they brushed past each other, that corpse suddenly veered towards him.
It pounced on him in a sh, its arms reaching out, grabbing Lu Yans shoulder with a firm grip.
He felt the icy coldness of its flesh against his back, and the foul odour of its decay invaded his nostrils.
Lu Yan struggled to free himself, but its hands held on, refusing to let go. Strangely, it did not try to harm him, but let Lu Yan drag it along for a few steps, leaving a thin trail of blood on the floor.
Who was this thing? What did it want from him?
The station plunged into darkness, one light after another flickering out, as something unseen drew nearer to him. The thing on his back seemed unaware of the impending doom, but Lu Yans instincts warned him that he would not survive if that thing caught up with him!
He wasted no time, and ran as fast as he could with the rotting corpse clinging to his back.
As he sprinted down the stairs, thest light in the station hall went out. Darkness swallowed the whole ce.
Lu Yan raced for his life with the corpse on his back, the streetlights behind him going out one by one.
That thing that thing was gaining on him!
The wind whipped up with even more force, and the deserted road showed no signs of life, with all the shops on either side firmly closed. He had arrived in a bustling city; there should have been people everywhere, especially near the train station.
But now, he was alone, except for Lu Yan sprinting desperately.
The corpse, lying still on his back, did not move, but... the foul odour from behind intensified, and the arms of the body wrapped around his chest stiffened, making it harder to shake off.
What was this thing?
The corpse on his back weighed him down, its limbs not rigid but slowly bing soft, as if swelling. Determined, Lu Yan reached another crossroad and seized the hand of the corpse on his back, hurling it away, then flinging it roughly to the side...
It all happened in a matter of seconds, and finally, the corpse was violently cast off, tumbling on the ground.
Lu Yan exhaled in relief, realising he had finally freed himself from that thing.
But... nothing else happened?
As he thought that, he caught a glimpse of the back and quickened his pace. It turned out that the corpse he had discarded was slowly raising its head from the ground, its limbs twitching involuntarily, a sight that suggested an impending transformation into something else
It raised its head, and Lu Yan caught a glimpse of a mark on the rotten corpse. He did not stop to think, but turned and ran wildly towards the dimming street light that loomed ahead.
The corpse had the same mark on its chest as Lu Yan. Could it be that the corpse was him?
**
Lin Chu mingled among the crowd, eavesdropping on their conversations without contributing much, pretending to be a clueless neer.
She still had a chance to back out, but...
Why had the task suddenly changed to hunting someone down? The previous tasks were strange but understandable. This chase task seemed out of ce. What had Lu Yan done?
What had he done to provoke the entity behind the task so much that it sent a horde after him? What if they failed this time? What would happen then?
Lin Chu mulled over these questions for a long time.
She spotted many familiar taskers in the crowd, some of them veterans who hadpleted more than ten tasks, while novices were few and far between. This made her more uneasy.
Some of them, after exchanging messages, sensed that something was off, but they had a task to do, and if they failed toplete it, they were screwed.
They did not care if Lu Yan held the key to solving the mystery in the future, they would not risk their lives for a vague possibility.
How could Lu Yan survive with so many hunters on his trail?
He was not known to everyone; some of them had met him during missions but had their memories erased by hypnosis, only recognising his name. Others had never seen his face. They were thirty-five in total, and they spent almost four hours debating how to kill an NPC before they finally parted ways.
The mission was still half a month away.
What they did not realise was that Lu Yan had received the flyer, telling him to return to the small town a monthter.
The extra half month was meant to give the taskers time to adjust and get ready.
Otherwise, they might not stand a chance, even with their numbers.
The meeting dispersed, and Lin Chu sought out Chu Xiu again, her face grave.
We need to talk. Seriously. Maybe we can work together, she said.
Chu Xiu exhaled in relief, hearing what he had hoped for, almost eager to reply, Sure, Im in.
Lin Chu then outlined the tasks and issues they had discussed, while watching Chu Xius reactions.
How would he feel, knowing Lu Yan?
Two tasks? Searching for someone and killing Lu Yan, Chu Xiu scowled.
Thats right, Im just joining their meetings for now, notmitted. Thats their n, Lin Chu asked, Has anything like this happened before? Do we have to do both tasks, or is one enough to get out?
Chu Xiu shook his head, Not that I know of. And
And it was such a bloody task.
"What are your thoughts? Should we kill him?" Lin Chu looked him in the eye.
Chu Xius eyes darted nervously before he shook his head again, No, he cant die yet
I doubt he will die anyway, he added.
Perhaps not. They might be willing to do the dirty work themselves, but the tasks are so obviously targeting him, who knows, they might have some help from the task this time.
She did not name anyone, but Chu Xiu understood.
They all suspected that there was a hidden force or entity behind these tasks.
Lu Yan must not die, Lin Chu stated.
**
Night fell.
Yu Huai Yao rubbed his sore neck, ready to resume his work at his desk, when his heart missed a beat. A dreadful sensation swept over him, and at the same time, an image shed in his mind.
A voicemanded him toplete a task. If he seeded, he could carry on living; if he failed, he would die. Rejecting the task would also mean death!
The agony overwhelmed him, making him copse on the desk. As he reached for his phone to call for help, the spasms disappeared without a trace.
A bloody hallucination. That''s what it felt like.
But he knew it wasn''t. It was something else. Something worse.
Yu Huai Yao nced at his watch. The time was irrelevant. He had lost track of the days, the nights, the hours.
"Brother, do you believe in ghosts?"
The voice of Yu Huan, his dead cousin, echoed in his mind.
Bloody hell. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw him. Yu Huan, peeling off his bloody skin,yer byyer, revealing the rotting flesh and bones underneath. He screamed, he begged, he pleaded. But Yu Huai Yao could only watch, helpless and horrified. He had no choice but to believe.
Meanwhile, in another city...
Yi Zhen Zhen, who had lost her mother, sat in the living room, doing her homework. A framed photo of her mother''s smiling face was on the table, next to her books.
As she wrote, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head, like a bloody needle piercing her brain. A wave of nausea washed over her, making her gag.
"...Task? Wha-what task?"
She gasped, clutching her head. The voice was unfamiliar, cold and menacing. It sounded like it came from inside her head, but also from everywhere.
She looked around, panicked, but everything at home was as normal as ever. No sign of anything bloody wrong.
Nightmares gued her that night.
She was not the only one. Many rtives of the dead taskers had suffered the same fate, tormented by visions of horror and death. And the number of taskers had grown, spreading like a bloody infection.
Half a monthter, the veterans of the meetings gathered at the assigned task location - an amusement park that had been abandoned for years. To their astonishment, they were shocked to see that the crowd had swelled again.
Fifty-three souls. That''s how many they counted.
Lin Chu felt a surge of anxiety. She scanned the faces, looking for familiar ones. Then she saw him. Yu Huai Yao. What the hell was he doing here?
He saw her too. He made his way towards her, hoping to get some answers from her.
Soon enough, midnight arrived.
Chapter 90
Chapter 90
The amusement park should have been dark and silent, but instead, it was illuminated by twinkling lights. They had brought them along for their own illumination.
The world tilted and twisted, and their consciousness shifted.
"Next stop, our destination - Spirit Vale Town. Once we get off, everyone remembers to stick close to me. The entrance to this town is hard to find, no driving allowed, only walking."
The voice of the tour guide snapped them back to reality. They looked around and realised they were on a bus. The tour guide stood near the door, holding a small megaphone. She smiled widely, showing her teeth.
Through the window, they could see the forest speeding past. It was thick and dark, too ufortable. It made them shiver.
They tried to make small talk to distract themselves from the impending dread. But then the driver mmed on the brakes, and the bus came to a halt. They had reached the mouth of a long tunnel.
The entrance to Spirit Vale Town.
"Everyone pay attention to the order, follow me off the bus!" The woman, who worked as the tour guide, eximed. She waved a little g at them, beckoning them.
However, her smile was clearly forced. If you looked closely, you could see that her eyes were empty. There was no happiness in them. Her mouth was stretched so wide, it almost touched her ears. It was an ufortable sight.
Everyone on the bus had a mission, a bloody mission. They knew they had to follow the woman, no matter what. They got off the bus one by one, squeezing through the narrow door.
Yu Huai Yao stuck close to Lin Chu. He had many questions, but he also had some answers. He now saw this strange scene with his own eyes and understood. Yu Huan, his dead cousin, had gone through something simr, hadn''t he?
So, that''s how he ended up dying in such a bizarre manner.
He reconsidered his suspicion of Lin Chu, now that he knew the truth. But it didn''t matter.
No one else cared. There were too many, too scared, too desperate. They clung to whoever seemed willing to cooperate, seeking some warmth in the cold.
Lin Chu and Yu Huai Yao were among the "newbies". The experienced ones avoided them, knowing they were doomed. There were several pairs like them.
Lin Chu resented Yu Huai Yao, especially when he approached and a few other nervous-looking newbies noticed and joined them. One of them was a girl in a school uniform, barely out of her teens.
Yu Huai Yao muttered an apology to Lin Chu. He couldn''t say much, hindered by the crowd.
They disembarked from the bus onto a small road, where a damp, cold wind blew from the forest, carrying a chill that pierced their bones, a chill that only winter could bring.
The driver didn''t utter a word. As thest person got off, he turned the car around and drove away.
"Follow me," the tour guide said. She didn''t mind that no one spoke to her. She waved her g and marched forward.
The path ended at a tunnel, ck as night, devoid of light. The tour guide waved her g and entered without hesitation. "It''s quite dark inside. Everyone be careful and remain silent."
One of the individuals, Xi Men Yuan (), had found his teammate. He slowed down upon hearing the tour guide''s warning. He walked alongside them and said, "Looks like we can''t talk inside the tunnel."
( (Xmn) is amon surname that means west gate. (Yun) is a unisex given name that means far or distant. could be interpreted as a distant west gate or a faraway boundary.)
His teammate, Tan Xu (), nodded and kept an eye on his back.
( (Tn) is a surname that means talk or discuss. (X) is a unisex given name that means sunrise or dawn. could be interpreted as a talkative sunrise or a dawn of discussion.)
They had nned to discuss matters quietly, but now they had to wait.
However, not everyone understood this. Some experienced participants slowed down, pretending to allow the newbies to catch up. They didn''t prevent them from talking.
Driven by curiosity, they had decided to test their theories. One of them had to be the sacrificialmb.
The tunnel swallowed them whole, offering no sound or movement in return. It was a void of endless ckness.
Lin Chu followed suit, plunging into the abyss.
A wave of dread washed over her. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she felt a stark contrast between the inside and the outside, and a nagging sensation that something was lurking in the shadows, eyeing her with malice.
What was it?
The tunnel stretched on and on, seemingly without an end, and they trudged along for what felt like an eternity.
They became so immersed in their own thoughts that they almost forgot the purpose of their mission, almost lost their sense of direction. Then, the cheerful voice of the guide pierced the silence: "Everyone, we''ve reached the Spirit Vale. Hope you all have a good time in the town."
The mission participants shuddered in unison.
They knew they were not here for leisure, but for a dangerous task. Moreover, the guide''s tone was so incongruous with the situation. Her words sounded more like a curse than a blessing, making them even more anxious.
But there was a faint glimmer of light ahead of them. The participant at the front muttered something under his breath and stepped out of the tunnel, only to be greeted by a sight that took his breath away.
Too beautiful.
The houses, the roads, everything was neat and clean. It looked like a picture-perfect town, a tourist''s dream. It almost made them forget the horror that awaited them.
The sky was a pristine blue, as if it had been washed and polished by invisible hands.
With a loud p of her hands, the guide drew their attention to her cheerful face. "I see you''re all taken by the charm of Spirit Vale town. Well, if any of you fancy making this your permanent home, I have some lovely houses for you to choose from."
She reached into her bag and produced a bunch of keys, dangling them in front of the questers. They stared at her with a mixture of disbelief and envy. They had spent half their lives working hard to save up for a house, and here was an NPC casually offering them one...
Noticing the guide''s friendly smile, Xi Men Yuan decided to ask her a question that had been bothering him. "Excuse me, guide, but have there been any reports of people going missing in this town? We''ve heard some rumours..."
The guide''s expression changed in an instant. Her smile vanished and her eyes narrowed.
At that moment, a resident happened to walk by and saw the scene. He also looked angry and disgusted.
"What are you lot doing here, eh? If you''re just here to sightsee, I suggest you keep your mouths shut and don''t go spreading lies based on some outsider gossip! If that''s what you''re here for, then our town doesn''t want you here."
His words only made the questers more curious and suspicious.
Xi Men Yuan wanted to press him for more information, but the resident turned his back on them and walked away. The guide also averted her gaze, refusing to say anything else.
A hushed murmur of spection rippled through the crowd of onlookers, who stood at a safe distance from the ominous tunnel. Lin Chu scanned the faces of the group but refrained from joining the conversation.
How odd, she thought. She had distinctly heard a voice in the tunnel earlier, but now it seemed that everyone was present. Did speaking in the tunnel not trigger the curse?
Unbeknownst to Lin Chu, a few dark clouds had moved across the sky,pletely obscuring the sunlight and erasing the shadows on the ground.
If she had noticed, she might have seen that some of the people had already lost their...
They continued their walk back to their lodgings.
Despite the eerie atmosphere, Spirit Vale was a picturesque town. The buildings on either side of the road had a quaint charm, with gracefully curving eaves and intricate carvings. The snow-white walls were adorned with exquisite murals depicting scenes of life and death.
Lin Chu found herself drawn to those murals. She had been fortunate enough to escape thest tomb unharmed, but she sensed that something was amiss with the paintings. She felt a strong urge to decipher their meaning.
She also noticed that the murals bore a remarkable resemnce to the ones she had seen in the tomb chamber. Clearly, they were the work of the same artist.
Who was this mysterious painter? And did they still reside in this town?
**
Abandoning the grotesque sight of his own dposing body, Lu Yan ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He felt a surge of panic and dread, as if death itself were chasing him. Behind him, the street lights dimmed and died in a sinister sequence, as if a dark force were snuffing them out. When thest light reached the festering corpse, everything fell silent and still for a long, long time.
So long that Lu Yan had managed to escape the city limits.
He held the Pisces jade pendant in his trembling hand, examining it with a mixture of curiosity and fear.
They say the Pisces jade pendant wasn''t a simple copy, but bought things from the future to the present. But what future did that corpse belong to?
And what horrors had he endured to end up in such a pitiful state?
The corpse''s clothes were drenched in blood, as if he had been stabbed or shot multiple times. Lu Yan had no idea which version of himself from which timeline had spawned this replica.
And why had it sought him out? As he remembered his past attempts to bury his body, Lu Yan wondered if there was some kind of maic pull between the "replica" and the original.
He contemted these questions for a long, long time, until he finally decided to wrap one of the pendants in a cloth and stash it away.
He ced another piece of jade on the ground and stepped back, waiting for the inevitable.
For a long time, nothing happened. Then, the air began to warp and ripple, as if a heatwave was passing through.
A figure materialised out of thin air.
It was a person... a person who looked exactly like him.
No, this was him.
Lu Yan stared at his doppelganger.
He could read his own mind, so he could easily converse with this "person", but he also knew his own ws and secrets, so he could not trust anything he said. They both wanted the other to be the bait, to take the jade pendant and leave.
The fact that he was being hunted meant that he had stumbled upon something. Maybe his past had crossed paths with the truth, or maybe a version of him from another time and space had uncovered the truth. Either way, he had to retrace his steps and find out.
But neither Lu Yan was willing to concede or sacrifice themselves for the other. They were both too stubborn and selfish.
In the end, they both felt a sense of helplessness and frustration.
It was first Lu Yan who came up with the idea of using the jade pendant to create another copy of himself. "This is a dead end. Neither of us wants to be the sacrificialmb, so why don''t we make a third one? As soon as he appears, we''ll overpower him and get out of here."
The other nodded in agreement.
They stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the air warp and twist as the jade pendant worked its magic.
A third Lu Yan emerged.
Without hesitation, the first two pounced on him and pinned him down. They exchanged a quick nce and then fled the scene, leaving the third one to his fate.
Anyone facing certain death wouldn''t be looking rosy.
He looked out of the window, hoping for a glimpse of sunlight.
But it was dark.
Dark as night.
But it should have been morning.
He sighed, resigned to his fate.
If he had to die for "himself"...
With that thought, he opened the door and stepped into the darkness.
He had no idea what awaited him in the dark, but he walked on, feeling like he was trapped in a never-ending nightmare, unable to tell the difference between day and night, between life and death.
He drifted into a state of oblivion, bing a walking corpse. He kept moving, driven by a primal instinct.
He knew he had to find someone.
But who?
Lu Yan, his clothes stained with blood, wondered vaguely.
Suddenly, the darkness that had engulfed him retreated like a wave, and he found himself bathed in sunlight again.
He lifted his head and gazed at the horizon.
Two paths beckoned him, each with a different allure.
What awaited him on those paths? He had no clue. He paused for a moment, then made his choice and headed towards one of them.
**
They had barely reached their lodgings when the sky turned pitch ck. In a matter of seconds, the bright afternoon was reced by a gloomy night.
The townsfolk seemed unfazed by this phenomenon; they quickly turned on their lights, and the town sparkled with faint glimmers.
The tour guide was tight-lipped and unhelpful. She flicked on the lights and left them to their own devices.
"This town is bloody strange, isn''t it?"
As soon as she was gone, the group breathed a sigh of relief. They quickly agreed to meet in the lobby downstairs to discuss their situation.
"We all know this town is not normal. The darknesses out of nowhere, and the locals get twitchy if you mention the word ''missing.''"
"But that also means we have no clue who''s missing."
That was one of their tasks, to find the missing ''someone''. But it seemed like a hopeless quest.
Who the hell was missing in the first ce?
"I have another question. There''s only one missing person, and only Lu Yan who needs to die. But..." The speaker looked around nervously, "there are about fifty of us here, so how do we all kill him?"
"Shouldn''t it be enough if one of us does it, and then we all get out of here?"
"I''m more curious about Lu Yan''s identity. I asked the guide on the sly earlier, but she said she didn''t know."
"Maybe we should talk to some of the other townspeople tomorrow."
Chapter 91
Chapter 91
The hall was packed with people, more than fifty of them. Some of the neers had given up their seats to the old-timers, standing in the shadows or lean against the walls. Silent dread filled the air as they all listened to the speaker, or at least pretended to.
Lin Chu stood by the window, away from the crowd. She gazed out into the dark night, as if she was drawn to the abyss. In reality, she was observing everyone else, carefully studying their faces and movements.
She had a few individuals in her sights.
One of them was Xi Men Yuan, who sat on the far left of the sofa in the living room. His long hair was tied back in a messy bun, giving him an artsy vibe. Xi Men Yuan rarely spoke and seemed unconcerned about others. He would often simply stare at his long fingers, as if they held the most fascinating secrets in the world.
Behind Xi Men Yuan sat Tan Xu, who imed to be his friend. Tan Xu was the kind of guy who blended in with the crowd and never stood out. He had a in face, a in voice, and a in personality, making him easy to overlook.
On the opposite end of the sofa sat Shen Zhu ().
( (Shn) is anothermon surname that means sink or immerse. (Zh) is a unisex given name that means bamboo. could be interpreted as a sunken bamboo or an immersed nt.)
She had a short haircut and a stern expression. She always pursed her lips, as if holding something back. Her thick ck eyebrows made her look angry, or maybe just fierce. Shen Zhu was a survivor, one of the few who had made it out of several group wipeout missions alive. Some people said she had killed her teammates,belling her as a traitor or a monster. She was feared by many but respected by few.
Shen Zhu was surrounded by a swarm of girls, all of whom were neers. They clung to her, as if she were their defender, their leader. Lin Chu''s eyes paused on one of them, a girl with a feeble and fragile appearance named Yi Zhen Zhen.
Yi Zhen Zhen suddenly turned her head and met Lin Chu''s gaze. She smiled at her, a sweet and innocent smile, as if she had nothing to fear.
Lin Chu smiled back, a faint and polite smile, as if she were shy. She quickly looked away, pretending to be intrigued by the night sky. However, she secretly continued to observe the others through the reflection in the ss window.
It seemed like none of the taskers were ordinary folks.
Shen Zhu drummed her fingers on the table. "Since we have a crowd here, why don''t we assign some roles and responsibilities?"
On her right, another woman lounged on the sofa, presenting a striking contrast to the average Asiandy. She had a darkplexion, a muscr frame, and a height that surpassed most men. She radiated a forceful aura that demanded attention.
"I''m with you, gal. We can''t afford to waste time sitting on our arses. Let''s work out a strategy and get cracking first thing in the morning," she agreed.
Xi Men Yuan nonchntlymented, "Miss Di Ying, there''s no need to get your knickers in a twist. We''re operating on a shoestring of information right now."
At the opposite end, a man called Ling Tong () nodded in approval. "Without a trace of the missing person or a clue about this Lu Yan character, it would be foolish to act rashly. We''d be flying blind and heading straight for trouble."
( (Lng) is a unisex given name that means exceed or surpass. (Tng) is another unisex given name that means paulownia or phoenix tree. could be interpreted as a surpassing paulownia or an exceeding phoenix tree.)
Di Ying (), whose skin was as dark as the night sky, interjected, "If we don''t have enough information, we have to find it ourselves. Running around like headless chickens won''t get us anywhere. The best thing to do is to divide and conquer."
( (D) is a rare surname that means barbarian or foreigner. (Yng) is a unisex given name that means hero or flower. could be interpreted as a foreign hero or a barbarian flower.)
Among the assembled group, a man who had remained silent until then finally spoke up. "There''s something I don''t quite understand."
He scanned the faces of the others, looking for signs of agreement or dissent. "We''re supposed to either locate or eliminate two targets, right? But there are fifty-three of us here. It''s obvious that once someone aplishes the mission, we''ll all be free."
His words raised a simple question: if they all shared the same goal, what was the point of fighting each other?
The tension in the air eased slightly.
After a brief pause, Xi Men Yuan shrugged. "I don''t care either way. Anyone want to join me?"
Although they were arge group, they were vastly outnumbered by the countless households in the town. To ovee this challenge, they devised borate strategies. As soon as they reached the town centre, they split into four teams based on the cardinal directions, each assigned to a different quadrant. They agreed to meet every evening to share their findings and avoid missing anything.
Lin Chu decided to follow Shen Zhu''s lead. Yu Huai Yao, who had initially intended to join Xi Men Yuan''s group, changed his mind and followed her instead.
Shen Zhu''s team was mostlyposed of women, the same as Di Ying''s team. The other two teams had the oppositeposition.
Once the teams were settled, the man who had raised the question earlier tried to lighten the mood once more. "I hope none of you are underestimating this mission just because we have a lot of people. On the contrary, the sheer number of us should tell you how difficult this task is going to be."
With a faint smile, Xi Men Yuan nodded. "I appreciate the reminder, Jiang."
Jiang Yu () remained silent, his expression unreadable.
( (Jing) is a surname that means ginger or surname. (Y) is a unisex given name that means imperial or control. could be interpreted as ginger control or An imperial surname.)
Unnoticed by them, in a dark corner of the room, the shadows of several people began to shift and morph.
Gradually, they contorted into grotesque and unnatural forms.
Huddled in the corner, the little girl Yi Zhen Zhen felt a surge of despair. She had a vague suspicion about her mother''s fate but was too afraid to face the truth. So, she could only stare at her own toes.
As she did, something strange caught her eye.
The shadows... they were moving.
She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could utter a word, a shadow detached itself from the wall and darted towards her. It merged with her own shadow, and suddenly, Yi Zhen Zhen was assaulted by a horrifying vision.
It was her mother.
Shey in a dank and dismal chamber, covered in blood and wounds, still calling out for her daughter.
Tears welled up in Yi Zhen Zhen''s eyes, blurring the image that burned into her brain.
She couldn''t tell where the image came from, but something deep inside her knew it was real, that it was thest thing her mother ever saw.
Suddenly, another hand invaded the picture.
She followed that hand up, and found a young man she didn''t know, covered in blood and bruises, but still able to move his hand to her mother''s neck.
"No!!"
Yi Zhen Zhen sensed the horror that was about to happen.
But the hand showed no mercy. It mped down hard, crushing the windpipe of the woman lying on the ground.
In the final frame, the man''s emotionless face faded into the darkness.
"No, please!!"
At that moment, all eyes turned to the corner, where the girl had erupted into sobs and shrieks of agony.
"Do not..." A piercing scream tore through the air as Yi Zhen Zhen copsed to the ground, clutching her chest. Her mind was assaulted by a horrific vision: the face of her mother''s murderer, Lu Yan.
It was him. It had to be him. He was Lu Yan.
She wanted to rip him apart, to make him pay for what he had done.
Kill him... Kill him!
A dark and sinister force seeped out of the cracks in the floor, creeping towards the girl''s trembling form. It merged with her shadow, feeding on her rage and sorrow. Yi Zhen Zhen bowed her head, tears streaming down her face, but her eyes glinted with a cold and ruthless light.
The woman next to her recoiled in shock. "What''s the matter with you? Why did you scream like that?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Did you have a sudden nightmare?"
Yi Zhen Zhen inhaled sharply, trying to regain herposure. "No, it wasn''t a nightmare," she said, her voice hoarse.
She looked around at the others, who were staring at her with a mix of curiosity and concern. "I know what Lu Yan looks like now," she announced.
Her words caused a stir among the group, and Di Ying rose to his feet in a sh. "What do you mean? What happened?" she demanded.
Yi Zhen Zhen wasted no time in telling them what she had seen in her vision.
As she spoke, the others exchanged uneasy nces, all feeling a sense of disbelief and dread.
A surge of hope and curiosity filled their hearts as they wondered: could this be the clue for the mission?
But why would it only reveal itself to one underage girl?
The others racked their brains, but they came up empty. They felt even more frustrated when they heard Yi Zhen Zhen say that she couldn''t draw what she had seen.
Meanwhile, in a hidden spot, a bloodied figure lurked on the branches, gazing intently at everyone inside through the narrow slit of the open window.
**
Lu Yan knew that the jade pendant didn''t make a copy of him, but brought his future self to past. And now, he had doomed his future self to die, which meant he had to alter his fate before the looming death node arrived to im his life.
The taskers had already entered the world, and everything returned to normal.
"Give me one of the jade pendants," Lu Yan from the future stretched out his hand, "I don''t have time to exin, but you have to trust me."
Lu Yan stared at the other.
The eyes, mirroring his own, reflected the same icy wariness. He nodded and handed over one of the jade pendants to his other self, watching as they disappeared.
What secrets did his future self hold, what decisions did he face? Lu Yan wondered what he had uncovered in the future that had drawn such attention to him.
He had to act fast, before he got entangled in the mission.
Elsewhere, another Lu Yan strolled along the street.
He had made it back, thanks to his past self summoning. He had used various methods to find a way to travel back in time, but nothing had worked. He had struck a bargain with that god, and as a consequence, he had used his one chance to wish himself back to the past, after nting the idea of using the Pisces jade pendant in his past self''s mind.
It was time to move on to the next phase.
He had the advantage of knowing what the task was this time, as a traveller from the future, but he kept it to himself, to avoid altering the course of history.
Lu Yan hired a car, preparing to depart.
"Driver, take me to the Spirit Vale Town," he instructed. The town''s entrance was within the city limits, so it wouldn''t take long by car.
The driver nodded silently, swerving the steering wheel and taking a different route.
The journey was shrouded in silence.
But the car did not glide smoothly towards the Spirit Vale Town, as he had expected. Instead, it abruptly veered off the road, the tires screeching loudly.
He jerked his head up, but the rearview mirror showed an empty driver''s seat. The driver had vanished.
He cursed under his breath.
Lu Yan reached for the backseat handle, but the rear door was locked, resisting his attempts to open it. He whipped out a metal knife from his pocket, carving a slit in the ss, then smashed the window with a powerful elbow. He wasted no time in jumping out of the opening.
He had barelynded when the car hurtled into a dark vortex that had appeared out of nowhere, swallowing it in a thick ckness.
Lu Yan spun around and sprinted back.
The taxi had ended up in an unfamiliar ce, where a bleak silence hung in the air. On both sides of the road, bushes of various sizes loomed in the darkness, casting ominous shadows.
He sprinted forward, pushing himself to the limit. But it seemed that the thing that was after him was relentless. As he ran, he snapped out of his trance and realised that he had stumbled into a graveyard.
The darkness swallowed him, surrounding him with rows of grim tomb mounds. Lu Yan felt a chill of dread, and as he tried to escape, he discovered that the way he hade had disappeared, leaving behind a sea of graves that spanned the horizon.
On the other side, the dark tide rose again.
He was in trouble!
Lu Yan had a vague idea of what hid in the darkness. He attempted to run, but the grave in front of him burst open, unleashing a flood of blood that soaked him to the bone.
He was paralyzed.
The light around him slowly grew brighter. He squinted his eyes and saw that every tombstone in the graveyard bore his name!
There were no dates, only his name etched in crimson, with a single word below itDeath!
He was dead. Lu Yan was dead.
Grave after grave erupted, burying him in a sea of blood. A shriek of unbearable pain reverberated in the darkness.
Lu Yan, reliving his nightmare, had never imagined that he would die even sooner than before.
But he had no second chance now.
There was no link between his past self and his future self.
He could only pray that his past self would heed the clues he had left for him.
Under the watchful eye of that thing, he was powerless to do anything, or he would risk endangering his other self.
Hurry... find it.
**
The original Lu Yan was gued by a gnawing unease.
He felt a sinister presence lurking in the shadows.
Ever since the world had changed, he had felt a faint hint of something special within him, but he had no clue what it was. He had been fumbling in the dark, searching for answers. When the tasker from another world showed up, he saw the simrities between the two worlds. He kept on fighting, hoping to find a way to restore the world to normalcy.
He had spent five or six years searching for answers, but he still had nothing to show for it. His goal had shifted. He had given up on restoring the world to normal. Because... this was nothing but a world of the dead. He only wished he could escape to that normal world.
He didn''t care if he became a tasker. He didn''t mind if he faced supernatural events now and then. He didn''t bother if he never met anyone he knew again. He just wanted to live a normal life.
But... ever since he had this thought, Lu Yan noticed that the tasks that had been manageable for him before became harder and harder, and in the final stages, they were downright lethal.
Was it his fault?
Did his thoughts alter his future, endangering the thing that was after him? Was it hunting him down?
Feeling that omnipresent stare, Lu Yan clenched his muscles, but he had to act oblivious.
What had his future self found out?
Was he in mortal danger?
Lu Yan instinctively wanted to create another copy of himself, but as soon as this idea crossed his mind, the overwhelming sense of danger made him quash it.
He''s going to die.
If he does this, he will definitely die.
A sudden shiver ran through his body.
Lu Yan had always trusted his gut feeling, and right now, it was telling him that something was terribly wrong. The other him, the one he had created, was in grave danger.
Without wasting any time, he bolted out of the room, sprinting down the stairs.
He had barely left when a loud explosion rocked the building. Someone in the next room had been tampering with a microwave and a can of insect spray, causing the entire floor to go up in mes.
Lu Yan reached the roadside, his heart pounding in his chest.
If he had stayed in that room, he would have been dead.
But as this thought crossed his mind, he saw a taxi hurtling towards him from afar. It was swerving wildly, as if the driver had lost control, and it was headed straight for him.
He nced at the driver''s seat of the car, and his blood ran cold. There was no one there. It was a ghost car.
Lu Yan leapt to the other side of the road, dodging the car by a hair''s breadth. He watched as it smashed into the gas station behind him, erupting into a ball of fire.
Hold on! The gas station!
He ran for his life, feeling the heat on his back. A momentter, a thunderous st shook the ground, sending mes and debris into the air.
Someone was targeting him!
Lu Yan had no choice but to keep running.
He knew that whatever was hunting him could not harm him directly, like sending a ghost to strangle him. It had to use the environment, creating deadly idents that looked like coincidences. But he also knew that these were not real coincidences. They were traps. And he had very little chance of escaping them.
Chapter 92
Chapter 92
As darkness enveloped the city, a colossal fireball erupted, hurling fiery plumes into the air.
Illuminated by the zing inferno, Lu Yan vaulted over the railing. He barelynded on his feet when a series of detonations shattered the silence, sending a car door flying towards him. It grazed his shoulder, then mmed into the concrete where he had been moments ago.
A fraction of a second slower, and that car door would have sliced him in half.
He evaded the first onught, but more shrapnel followed in the wake of the explosion. Lu Yan twisted and turned, avoiding the worst of it, but some fragments still tore through his flesh, leaving crimson trails behind.
He didnt stop running.
On the rooftop of the next building, a hopeless man drained his final bottle of booze before plunging into the void.
A surge of urgency propelled Lu Yan, spurring him to increase his speed. He sprinted past the neighbouring building, just as a lifeless body smashed into the pavement, spraying gore everywhere.
A heartbeatter, and that body would have crushed him.
He didnt dare to nce back. He bent down, clearing a thin wire that spanned the street at the level of his throat.
A faint glimmer of light caught his eye, alerting him to the danger ahead. Otherwise, he would have run straight into the trap and gotten his head cut off.
Who was behind this ruthless attack?
He thought of his doppelganger who had taken his second jade pendant. Was he still alive? Had he escaped?
Lu Yan had always relied on his instincts to survive. He could sense danger before it struck and find the best way out of any situation. But now, he felt trapped and cornered. No matter which way he turned, there was a threat waiting for him. He had nowhere to hide, nowhere to catch his breath.
He dashed past another storefront, which exploded behind him, sending ss fragments flying in all directions. Simultaneously, a chain of sts rocked the shops in front of him, keeping pace with his frantic sprint.
It was as if someone had rigged them with bombs and was detonating them remotely. He realised he was being herded, like a sheep to the ughter.
He was already bruised and bloodied from the night''s ordeal.
He did not realise that the storefronts concealed a more sinister sight.
Inside, ghostly figures loomed, their faces pale and blurry. They fixed their gaze on him, as if they could see through the broken ss.
The windows were shattered for a reason to cut off Lu Yan''s escape.
Lu Yan, despite his exceptional skills and abilities, felt a surge of exhaustion wash over him as he faced the relentless hostility that surrounded him.
Death lurked behind every corner, waiting for a chance to strike. He had to be vignt, alert, and careful.
He could not afford to die.
Not now, not ever.
**
An Ruy in the hospital bed, enveloped by a stark white that hurt his eyes. The sterile environment contrasted sharply with the chaos in his mind.
Come on, mate, you need to look after yourself better. His colleague said, peeling an orange for him and setting it on the bedside table. You cant keep pushing yourself like this.
An Ru just stared at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. His colleague tried to cheer him up with some small talk, but soon gave up and left.
A few minutester, there was a knock on the door. Chu Xiu entered, closing the door behind him.
Chu Xiu had a vague sense of familiarity with the person who had just exited, but he could not recall where he had seen them before. He shrugged it off and approached An Ru, who gestured for him to sit down.
Both of them had done their homework on each other, digging up as much information as they could. But this was the first time they met face to face, and they had to act as if they were strangers.
Chu Xiu had agreed toe here in Lin Chu''s ce. It was the deal they made.
"I don''t think I''ll being back from this one," Lin Chu said, without a trace of emotion in her voice. "You know what I''m trying to do, and I need to know if you''re with me on this."
Chu Xiu felt a strange surge of sympathy for her, despite their past differences.
"There''s something else, though" Lin Chu hesitated, as if she wanted to share a something, but then closed her mouth. Her eyes betrayed a deep anxiety that weighed on her mind.
Chu Xiu sensed that her concern was not just about her own fate, but about something far more terrifying that loomed in the future.
"What are you nning to do, exactly?" Chu Xiu asked, feeling a chill run down his spine.
She reminded him of Lu Yan, the way she kept her cards close to her chest, making her impossible to anticipate. But Lin Chu was even more enigmatic than Lu Yan.
Lin Chu looked away, towards the distant horizon, where the sun was setting in a ze of red. "I want to put an end to this nightmare, once and for all."
As he remembered her words and faced An Ru, Chu Xiu was torn between hope and fear.
Chu Xiu greeted him with a warm smile. "Good day, Mr. An Ru, I presume?" He didn''t wait for an answer. "I have some new information for you about your son''s disappearance."
An Ru''s eyes sparkled with hope as he heard Chu Xiu''s words.
"Mr. An Ru," Chu Xiu went on, locking the door behind him and walking towards him slowly, "tell me, do you believe in ghosts in this world?"
"Ghosts? What are you talking about?"
An Ru asked, confused, as Chu Xiu reached him and opened hisptop in front of him.
NPCs cannot be informed of the mission, but he could stillmunicate with others in this world.
A weird thought crossed his mind: why hadn''t the missions been announced to the public yet?
But he dismissed it as soon as it appeared. He was like those who had leaked secrets before, and had forgotten about the inconsistency.
An Ru scanned the website, his face turning from curiosity to shock. "Is this... is this all true?"
"Every word of it," Chu Xiu said, shutting theptop. "Your son was involved in this too."
That was why he had gone missing.
Chu Xiu left him with those words, turning on his heel and walking out of the room.
An Ruy on the hospital bed, struggling to process what Chu Xiu had told him, when a powerful, inexplicable sensation, like a wave of nausea or a jolt of adrenaline, swept over him, sending his thoughts into a whirlwind.
"What... mission..."
**
Meanwhile, the ones who were actually on the mission were roaming the streets, looking for clues.
The town''s inhabitants were all friendly and hospitable, and the scenery was quite charming. But there was something off about this ce, something that made them uneasy, something that sent shivers down their spines.
Xi Men Yuan led his team towards the east of the town.
He had split them into three groups, each taking one of the main roads that led to the east. He took the middle one, apanied by his friend Tan Xu. They were joined by two rookies, who gazed around with fascination at the buildings that lined the street.
The buildings were indeed stunning. The hedges on either side of the road were neatly clipped, and among them stood many realistic statues, as if frozen in time. Ahead of them, a fountain sparkled in the park. It would have been a lovely ce to visit, if they weren''t on a mission.
A group of elderly gentlemen were using the public exercise equipment, making the iron pir groan with their efforts.
The group of taskers moved forward.
Without warning, the person at the back of the group lost his footing and tumbled to the ground.
A small uneven patch on the floor caused him to lunge forward, smashing his head against the end of the seesaw with a sickening thud.
"Come on, get up." Hispanion eximed, reaching out to pull him up, only to find him cold and lifeless.
A wave of shock and horror swept over the group, as they realised that one of their own had died right under their noses, and they had no clue how it happened. Could this be a mere coincidence, or was there something more sinister at y?
Xi Men Yuan stared at the corpse on the ground, feeling a chill run down his spine.
What exactly happened just now?
Why did the killing suddenly start?
Xi Men Yuan had surmised that this Lu Yan and the missing person must have been formidable adversaries, warranting such arge team to hunt them down. He had hoped that the bloodshed aimed at them would subside until they aplished their objective. But to his dismay, he soon discovered that they had lost a team member as soon as the operation started.
If they failed to unravel the mystery of his death, he feared that he might be the next one to meet a grisly end.
The handful of elderly people who were still engaged in their exercise routine appeared indifferent, disying no sign of rm at the sight of the lifeless body. They carried on with their workout as if nothing had happened, with one of the old men even unting his prowess by doing pull-ups, relying on his good physical strength.
Xi Men Yuan exhaled deeply, aware that this was not the time to lose his temper.
"Good day, elderly gentlemen. We are..." He rose to his feet and approached the old-timers.
But before he could utter another word, the old man who was doing pull-ups emitted a piercing shriek. His arms seemed to suddenly give way, losing their hold on the railing, and he plunged down, crashing on the ground.
The old man''s bones were fragile, and after hitting the ground, he was unable to stand up. In the distance, among a group of youngsters who were also exercising, one of them was hurling a discus.
Havingpleted his warm-up, he unleashed a loud cry and flung the discus forward with all his might. s, his aim was faulty, and the discus veered off course, striking an oblivious old man squarely on the head.
The old man toppled over, dead on the spot.
Xi Men Yuan was rooted to the spot, dumbstruck.
Could it be... that the random deaths were not limited to their group?
That even the NPCs were affected.
The other elderly people who were exercising nearby showed no shock. They casually rose from their equipment, while the young man who had thrown the discus sprinted over.
"Look at you, so reckless," chided one olddy.
The young man expressed his sincere apologies and summoned a few mates to help carry the corpse away.
"No, you can''t just..." A young man called Liang Jian (), who was standing behind Xi Men Yuan, was bbergasted.
( (Ling) is a surname that means beam or bridge. (Jin) is a unisex given name that means between or space. could be interpreted as a space between beams or a bridge between spaces.)
Since when did deaths be so trivial? How could someone''s demise be as mundane as eating and drinking?
The young man gazed at him with bewilderment. "What''s wrong?"
Tan Xu stretched out his arm and yanked him abruptly. Liang Jian came to his senses, clumsily waved his hand and feigned a smile. "It''s nothing, I just reckon you should be more cautious next time."
With a series of nods, the young man muttered, "Yeah, yeah," as he lifted the iron disc from the blood-soaked ground, feeling a pang of sorrow clutching his chest. "It''s hard to clean off the blood stains."
Watching his genuine regret, contrasting with the indifference, the tasker''s eyes drifted to hispanion, who had been chatting with him moments ago but nowy lifeless on the grass. A shiver ran down his spine, and a cold dread crept up from his core.
The town, which had once seemed so quaint and charming to him, had lost all its appeal. Only horror and eeriness lingered in his sight.
"Oh, by the way, could you move him too? He''s taking up space. Old Zhang''s grandson ising to y on the seesawter."
An elderlydy, who had resumed her exercise routine on the fitness equipment, pointed to the corpse lying nearby.
Xi Men Yuan shed a smile at the olddy. "We''ll move him right away."
He gestured to the people behind him, and despite the reluctance of the other two neers, they still bent down to lift the body, preparing to carry it back.
Xi Men Yuan and Tan Xu didn''t leave, instead staying behind to chat with the group of old people, engaging in idle conversation.
Before long, Old Zhang arrived with his grandson, apanied by seven or eight other children. They gathered around the seesaw and swing, running and ying on the grass still stained with blood, theirughter echoing into the distance.
As Xi Men Yuan observed the eerie aspects of the small town, he had to suppress his curiosity and unease until the opportune moment. He cautiously broached the topic that had brought him here, and uttered in a low voice, "There was someone I knew, once, who came to this ce as well."
Old Zhang, who went by that name among the locals, leaned in eagerly and demanded, "And then?"
Xi Men Yuan hesitated, unsure of how to continue. He whispered, "He... vanished. And I..." He stopped mid-sentence, as he noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere. Just like the previous times, the mention of vanishing elicited a palpable sense of dread among the townsfolk, as though they were confronted with a terrible secret.
Old Zhang''s face hardened into a scowl, and he snapped, "Vanished? There''s no such thing here. Why do you insist on bringing it up?"
The little girl, who had been swinging joyfully on the swing, joined the conversation with a shrill voice, "You better watch your mouth, or we''ll kick you out!"
Chapter 93
Chapter 93
The hostile res of the other elderly folk pierced through Xi Men Yuan as they gradually formed a circle around him.
"How long will you persist with this nonsense? You keep babbling about disappearances, but who are these missing people? Where is your proof?"
"You have no proof, and yet you dare to nder us!"
Xi Men Yuan felt a surge of panic, and hastily corrected himself, "No, you misunderstand me. My friend didn''t vanish here, but somewhere else."
He knew it was futile. The stubbornness of these old-timers and the guide from yesterday, who insisted that nothing strange ever happened in this town, made them impossible to reason with.
They were hiding something, he was sure of it. And this thing... it might have something to do with his mission.
What was the dark secret that bound these people together in silence?
He wondered, but he knew he wouldn''t get any answers from them. He needed to take some drastic measures, if he wanted to uncover the truth about the missing persons.
Xi Men Yuan realised that he needed to change his strategy, as his previous attempts had failed miserably.
The elderly folk still wore sour faces, clearly unconvinced by his words.
"You lot came here pretending to be tourists for a jolly holiday, but you''re nothing but troublemakers." One of the elders grabbed a cane and swung it at Xi Men Yuan with a menacing force.
Xi Men Yuan dodged the blow, holding back his urge to fight back. The old man soon ran out of steam, and rested on his cane, gasping for air.
"Keep spewing nonsense, and we''ll kick you out of this town! We don''t want your kind here!"
"We''re not, we''re not! We''re just looking for our friend."
"Is that so? Looking for your friend, are you? Then tell me, what''s your friend''s name? What does he look like? I bet you can''t even give me a clear picture, can you?"
Xi Men Yuan kept his cool, and replied, "His name is Lu Yan. He''s a traveller, who has been to many ces. He told me that he had been to the Spirit Vale Town before."
He made up some details on the spot, hoping to appease the old man. His expression softened slightly, as if he was considering his words.
As thest traces of Xi Men Yuan''s group faded into the distance, the old man finally shifted his gaze, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. "Lu Yan... that name rings a bell."
The others shook their heads. "You must be mistaken. Lu is not amon surname around here, and we don''t know anyone by that name."
"Where did you hear it? And please don''t spread it around. This group has been bothering us for too long, when will they leave us alone?"
**
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of town, Yi Zhen Zhen and herpanions walked leisurely.
She had received a sudden "hint" about the mission, and for the time being, she was the "only" one who had caught a glimpse of Lu Yan''s face. Shen Zhu had given them strict instructions to protect her with their lives.
Of course, they all understood that once Lu Yan appeared, Yi Zhen Zhen''s special status would be irrelevant.
Lin Chu stayed close to Yi Zhen Zhen.
Her face resembled that of a delicate doll, and her neer status made Yi Zhen Zhen lower her guard around her, finding Lin Chu quite friendly. The two quickly developed a good rapport.
"Is it true that you saw Lu Yan?" Lin Chu asked, her tone filled with concern.
Yi Zhen Zhen nodded with conviction, "I saw him, I''m positive it was him."
Her gaze burned with loathing, "He''s the monster who took my mother''s life, I''ll make him pay."
Lin Chu offered her sympathy and then queried, "Can you recall the surroundings?"
Yi Zhen Zhen had answered this question many times, but faced with Lin Chu''s gentle inquiry, sheplied without hesitation.
Lin Chu mulled over her words, her expression impassive.
An ancient tomb, murals, shadowy figures...
Hold on, if in the scene she witnessed, Lu Yan had transformed into a hideous creature with rotting flesh, how could she still be so confident she could identify him?
Yi Zhen Zhen shook her head, "I have no idea, but I can recognise him, even if he crumbles to dust!"
Her eyes overflowed with intense hatred.
At that instant, they reached the amusement park in the town.
One end of the small town was dominated by a shopping mall and a market, where an intable castle served as a convenient dumping ground for parents who wanted to shop in peace. Numerous children frolicked on it, having the time of their lives.
The intable castle was rather spacious, with a little girl in a red dress as its main attraction. Her face was deathly pale, except for two round rosy cheeks that were painted on, and she sported a wide grin with her arms outstretched. A longue colossal slide protruded from her open mouth to the second floor. Countless children delighted in sliding down from her mouth, giggling as they went.
Yi Zhen Zhen felt a pang of envy. She was still in high school and had a soft spot for things that appealed to younger children. But she was aware that it was not the time for fun and games now, so she could only steal a wistful nce before looking away.
Lin Chu casually purchased a bottle of drink and handed it to a young boy nearby. Noticing the boy''s flushed and sweaty face, Lin Chu smiled and dabbed his sweat for him.
"Where are your parents?" she inquired.
The young boy, without much wariness, responded, "They''re out shopping."
"Well, you stay safe, okay? Don''t go off with strangers. If you disappear, your parents will be frantic."
The young boy eyed her. "Adults always tell me not to drink water from strangers."
Lin Chu replied, "But I''m not a wicked person. If I were, I wouldn''t have cautioned you."
The young boy gulped down most of it, peeled off a sweater and ced it next to his shoes. He also put the drink bottle beside them and then dashed off to the toilet.
As a result of her earlier action of purchasing a drink, several other kids also clustered around, keenly observing Lin Chu.
Lin Chu beamed at the group of children and gestured. "Come,e, please help yourselves to some drinks."
The kids nced at each other, enticed. With one child acting as the leader, the rest trailed behind, leaping down from the edge.
The edge was not high, and kids are tough. Theynded unscathed. Lin Chu ignored them and turned to cross the road to find the drink vendor who was guarding her stand.
Hence, she failed to notice that when one of the kids jumped down, he inadvertently toppled over the drink bottle that the young boy had left on the ground.
The bottle was not securely closed, so it tipped over, rolling a few times before halting near an electrical outlet, liquid seeping out, with a few drops sttering into the outlet.
A cluster of power strips supplied the intable castle with the energy it needed to stay afloat. But as water seeped into the sockets, a faint trail of smoke curled up from the cords.
No one noticed it.
Inside the castle, a group of children huddled against the walls, gazing out of the windows, eagerly anticipating Lin Chu''seback.
Hiss... hiss...
The smoke thickened, and sparks flew from the wires. In a matter of seconds, the sparks turned into a fiery st, sending electric currents along the severed cords. The air pump sputtered and died, leaving the castle to dete slowly.
It all happened so fast, and no one noticed.
The children kept onughing and jumping, sliding down the red girl''s mouth.
Lin Chu returned with some drinks, and nced at the intable castle across the street.
Something was wrong with the slide. It looked smaller than before, and the arms on either side sagged down.
Was it leaking?
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the entire castle began to crumble, dragging down the children who had scaled its heights along with it.
"Ah"
A violent st of wind swept through, stinging their eyes and making them squint. The castle was hurled several metres away, lurching to one side and rolling over and over before smashing into the ground.
The shrieks intensified, and several tiny bodies were flung into the air, only to plummet onto the merciless concrete below.
Topound the horror, Yi Zhen Zhen was standing close by, barely a metre away, and was instantly swallowed by the mayhem.
It was as if this cmity, a concatenation of freak urrences, was designed to snuff out her life alone.
"Quick, get her out! She''s important!" Shen Zhu''s face drained of colour, and she darted towards the scene, but was forced to halt.
In the wake of the sudden upheaval, several children had been tossed onto the roadside. A car, oblivious to their plight, ran them over, causing the driver to m on the brakes. This sparked a series of crashes right in front of Shen Zhu, barring her way.
Something sinister had ensnared her from within, rendering her immobile despite Lin Chu''s strength. She strained to lift the fabric once more, but it stubbornly adhered to the ground, as if cemented there by some invisible force.
Lin Chu knew then that Yi Zhen Zhen''s fate was sealed.
But she could not afford to let her guard down.
The chaos around her was punctuated by the shrill sound of police sirens, drawing nearer by the second.
Through the fabric, Lin Chu glimpsed the faint twitching of the body underneath.
She extended her hand, groping blindly, until she found the other''s neck beneath the thickyers of cloth. She pressed her fingertips gently, feeling the pulse throbbing weakly, before she slowly applied pressure.
''I never meant to kill you. But you shouldn''t have seen Lu Yan''s face.''
He must have discovered the secret that put the shadowy entity behind him in danger, causing a mission to release a swarm of pursuers.
He couldn''t die. Not yet.
She had to keep him alive, at least for a little while longer.
Time was not an issue for this task, as long as Lu Yan drew breath, she could linger indefinitely until a clue surfaced.
Still clutching the other person''s throat with one hand, Lin Chu feigned a look of distress and sorrow and twisted her head to scream for help.
It took some time, but eventually a group of individuals arrived and started to lift the weighty fabric that had buried them. It was an intable castle, once a joyful ything for children, now a perilous snare. A few fortunate ones managed to escape, but the majority met their demise in the ensuing mayhem. Some had their necks snapped upon impact, while others had their lungs crushed under the sheer weight.
Shen Zhu waste. She had been held up by a series of bizarre events that seemed to conspire against her. But when she got there, she saw only death. Yi Zhen Zheny motionless on the ground.
Shen Zhu felt a surge of anger and frustration. She had failed.
Yu Huai Yao was alsote. He had faced simr obstacles on his way, as if someone was deliberately trying to stop him. He reached the scene just after Shen Zhu, and his face darkened when he saw the carnage. He knew what this meant. Their chances of finding Lu Yan had just dropped significantly.
"What do we do, Sister Shen?"
Without Yi Zhen Zhen, they had lost their only clue to Lu Yan''s face. The town was not too big, but not too small either. It was the perfect ce to hide someone, especially if you didn''t know their appearance.
Lin Chu echoed his question, pretending to be as worried as him. "Yes, what do we do?"
Shen Zhu''s eyes fixed on Yi Zhen Zhen''s neck for a while, until the body was zipped up and carted away.
Shen Zhu had no choice but to say, "Let''s go somewhere else first."
She had noticed the bruise on Yi Zhen Zhen''s neck, a clear indication of strangtion. Yi Zhen Zhen hadn''t died from suffocation as they initially believed. Someone had murdered her.
But who?
Shen Zhu had arrivedte. Upon her arrival, she witnessed a group of anxious townspeople attempting to assist the survivors of the intable castle copse. The only individual near Yi Zhen Zhen was Lin Chu.
Could it be Lin Chu? Could she have killed Yi Zhen Zhen and pretended to be innocent?
Shen Zhu dismissed the thought, but not entirely.
Or maybe it wasn''t a person at all. Maybe it was a ghost.
She stayed silent, keeping her thoughts hidden from the others. But she couldn''t hide her gaze, which asionally darted towards Lin Chu.
Lin Chu noticed her gaze, but didn''t say anything. She maintained the same look of anxiety and panic, just like everyone else. She yed the role of a neer perfectly, blending in with the others.
**
The night passed.
The morning sun broke through the clouds, scattering the gloom that had enveloped the town. It brought some relief to Lu Yan, who had been running for his life all night.
One peril after another, he had skillfully avoided, narrowly escaping with his life intact.
Finding a spot by the roadside, he sat down to catch his breath, keeping a vignt eye out for any indication of trouble.
In this moment of reprieve, he seized the opportunity to contemte and reflect upon his predicament.
In his current existence, there were three versions of himself - his own corpse and two other selves from an unknown future.
A total of four.
Can the same person truly exist in the same time and space?
He felt the weight of the jade pendant in his pocket, wrapped in a piece of cloth. He dared not touch it, but instead, he opened his cor and examined the mark on his chest.
Were the others still alive?
For some reason, a pang of unease gripped him, forming a knot in his stomach. He didn''t care much about his future selves, whether they lived or died. But he cared about the jade pendant.
He took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm himself. Slowly, he rose to his feet, ready to move forward.
But then, he remembered. He recalled what had transpired yesterday when he encountered his future self. He remembered the words whispered in his ear, words that had erased his memory until he felt secure enough to recall them.
Yesterday...yesterday...
His future self had hypnotised him, nting a message in his mind. A message that he would remember only when he felt safe again.
Immediately, he rushes back.
"Head to Spirit Vale Town and then proceed to the ancient tomb," his future self had instructed him.
Why that particr town, he wondered.
What had he discovered there? What secrets had he unearthed?
As the city awakened to a new day, its slumbering streets came to life. The air filled with voices, intermingling with the sounds of bustling traffic andmerce.
People hurried along the streets, tending to their daily affairs. Some cast curious nces at the man who appeared to have endured a harrowing ordeal. His clothes were tattered and stained with blood, his hair unkempt and dirty, his face bruised and weary. They whispered among themselves, but none dared to approach him.
Lu Yan paid no mind to the inquisitive stares and hushedments.
He felt a momentary sense of relief, a brief respite from the relentless threat that had pursued him since the previous night.
Yet, he remained vignt, knowing that he had not yet escaped danger. Someone was orchestrating events, leading him towards Spirit Vale Town.
What awaited him in that town?
With hisst bit of money, he purchased a bus ticket to Spirit Vale Town.
Boarding the bus, he found himself alone in the vehicle. Lu Yan settled into his usual seat by the window and the door, pulling back the curtains to observe the changingndscape outside.
The driver struck up a conversation. "You''re not the first person recently heading to Spirit Vale Town. Just the other day, a whole crowd of people filled this bus, all excited to get there. I don''t know what they were searching for, but they seemed unafraid of the disappearances that have been urring there."
Lu Yan frowned at the word choice. "A crowd of people?"
The driver nodded. "Yeah, a whole busload of them, all heading to Spirit Vale Town. What do you think they were looking for? They didn''t seem concerned about the danger of disappearing like the others who came before them."
Lu Yan felt a wave of rm. "Disappearing? What do you mean?"
The driver began to exin.
As he spoke, the bus approached Spirit Vale Town, drawing closer and closer.
**
"... Lost civilization? A recent discovery by an archaeological team in a newly unearthed ancient tomb has stunned the world..."
Chu Xiu was scrolling through the website news while the television red the news in the background. He gave it a cursory nce, uninterested, and resumed his own activity.
This website was a miracle, a mystery. How had no one in authority noticed it yet?
A sh of inspiration crossed Chu Xiu''s mind, but it quickly dimmed and disappeared, as if an eraser had wiped it out. He scowled, writing it down anyway, wavering before finally choosing to post about the website on a well-known public forum.
The oue? The post refused to be sent.
No matter what he tried - screenshots, text, even phone calls to the officials - he failed to expose this secret to the public. After several fruitless attempts, his ount was even locked. Chu Xiu had no choice but to abandon his efforts.
It appeared that sharing this with a few select people was eptable, but revealing it to the masses was forbidden.
In the meantime, the television continued to air the news.
"... Experts are working hard to decode the new type of writing and murals in the ancient tomb. They believe that this discovery will surely be one of the major breakthroughs in the archaeological field..."
By chance, at that moment, An Ru rang.
"Was what you showed me that day really real?" An Ru still doubted it.
He had finally uncovered the truth behind the sinister case he was investigating, but he also wished he could erase it from his mind.
In this world... ghosts were real! And there was another world beyond this one, a world that shattered his long-standing faith in science.
Chu Xiu said, "I''m not lying to you."
A heavy silence hung on the other end of the phone, then An Ru said, "I got a mission too."
Chu Xiu feigned surprise, "Really? What kind of mission?"
He knew what was going on. Lin Chu had informed him about the chance to enter the mission, so he realised that she was giving him a hint on how to handle An Ru.
If he was curious about his son, then he should see for himself.
Chu Xiu deduced Lin Chu''s intentions, admiring her cold-bloodedness. But as part of the bargain, he had to keep quiet and conceal it.
Only this way could he lure An Ru into it.
Chapter 94
Chapter 94
The quaint town workout area was still buzzing with the chatter of a few elderly men and women who had lingered after their morning exercise.
One of them, however, remained silent and pensive. Hispanions noticed his unusual demeanour and prodded him curiously. "What''s eating you? The visitors have been gone for a while, and you haven''t uttered a single word."
The old man gestured vaguely with his hand, his brow creased with frustration. "Doesn''t the name Lu Yan ring a bell for any of you? I have this nagging feeling that I''ve encountered it somewhere before."
"Really? It doesn''t sound familiar to me."
"Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit familiar."
"Can you borate? Perhaps I can jog my memory too."
The old man shook his head, still perplexed. "It''s baffling... Where on earth have Ie across this name before..."
As his face grew more troubled, the others sensed that something was wrong.
"Never mind, it''s probably just old age. Let the youngsters sort it out at their own pace."
"Ah, just drop it already. It''s not worth racking your brains over."
The old man paid no heed to their words, his brow crinkling more and more, his face twisting in agony.
"Where have I heard it... where? I... I''m certain I''ve heard it..." His thin hand pounded his head violently. "I must have heard it! Where? Where did this namee from?"
"Easy now, easy. There''s no need to get so worked up over this."
"No! I must have heard it! I must remember!" The old man''s eyes were bloodshot, gripping his friend''s cor desperately. "Do you remember? Do you recognise him?"
"What''s gotten into you? Let go of me, let go!"
"Where have I heard it? Where?" After being forcefully pulled away, the old man copsed, holding his head, whispering to himself.
"Who is he..."
"He''s lost his marbles, that''s what." Others backed away, wanting to steer clear of the trouble.
Images flickered in his mind, slowly gaining focus.
The old man''s eyes gradually widened, his hands trembling uncontrobly.
He remembered...
That, er, the fellow named Lu Yan, he had visited the town before, and at that time, everyone greeted him cordially. But no one could have foreseen the cmity that he would unleash upon their town!
"I remembered, I''ve figured it out!" the old man cried out suddenly, leaping from his seat fervently.
New images shed in his mind.
He saw Lu Yan''s grinning face as he swung a massive axe that was taller than a child, cleaving him in two with a single stroke...
So, he had been dead for a long time...
"You remembered? Remember what?" another person approached, observing him standing motionless and extending a hand to pat his shoulder.
But the slightest contact was enough to trigger a gruesome effect. The person split in half from head to toe and copsed to the floor in a ssh of crimson and ivory. The old man was soaked in the viscera of hispanion.
He stood there frozen, his face covered in blood, unable toprehend the horror. After a few moments, he let out a piercing scream.
**
"This is madness, this is carnage. How many people have died in the town today? Could it be because of our presence?"
As the sun set, the weary survivors made their way back to their temporary shelter, hoping for a night of rest and respite.
Shen Zhu was thest one to arrive, and as she pushed the door, she was met with a chorus of voices from within.
The rest turned their gaze towards her, searching for any indication of their crucialpanion, the one who had been essential to their mission.
Ling Tong''s brow furrowed, "Miss Shen Zhu, please tell us, what happened to Yi Zhen Zhen?"
Yu Huai Yao, who stood behind Shen Zhu, looked like a ghost, his face drained of colour and his eyes hollow. "She''s gone," he said, his voice barely audible.
"Gone?!"
The word echoed in the room, sending shockwaves through the crowd. Some of them mmed their fists on the table, demanding, "How did she die?"
Shen Zhu''s eyes were icy, as she red at them. "This is a mission, not a holiday. Death is always a possibility. No one is guaranteed to survive."
Yu Huai Yao softly narrated the events that led to Yi Zhen Zhen''s death. As he spoke, he felt a pang of doubt in his heart. It was odd, he thought, that no one had seen what happened, that no one could save her.
No, something was off... There was someone...
Shen Zhu had confided in him earlier that she had some misgivings about Lin Chu, but shecked any proof to back up her suspicions.
Yu Huai Yao''s eyes darted around, deciding to keep his doubts to himself for now. He intended to retrieve the body from the police station tomorrow. Once he had the evidence in his hands, he would confront Lin Chu and expose her lies.
The others shuddered as they learned the true cause of Yi Zhen Zhen''s death.
This town was a nightmare, a ce where death lurked around every corner.
But something was still amiss... Shen Zhu scanned the hall. "Is everyone ounted for?"
The group was smaller than before, missing not only Yi Zhen Zhen, but also five others.
Xi Men Yuan spoke up, "I''m down one person. He tripped, smashed his head on the seesaw, and bled out."
Jiang Yu said, "I lost two. One got crushed by a flowerpot that fell from the sky, and the other got electrocuted by a GG sign that came crashing down."
Di Ying continued, "Same here, two gone. One drowned in a well when the water level rose suddenly and we couldn''t pull her out. The other got stabbed in the eye by a paper ne that a kid threw at her on the street and failed to avoid the truck."
The room grew quiet as they recounted the deaths of theirrades.
These deaths were too bizarre. There were no signs of any ghosts, just a series of freak idents, but that only made it more horrifying.
Xi Men Yuan broke the silence with a question, "Any leads?"
Their eyes met, conveying their mutual frustration.
Tan Xu voiced his observation, "The locals recoil at the mere mention of ''disappearance''. They act as if we''re using them of something. They deny any knowledge of a Lu Yan."
"Maybe they''re so scared of the word because they''ve seen too many disappearances before," another chimed in.
Something was definitely off about the townspeople.
"And death doesn''t seem to bother them either, as if..." someone trailed off, unsure how to express their thoughts, "as if it''s asmonce as breathing, not a cause for rm."
What kind of twisted town was this?
"Spirit Vale..." Xi Men Yuan whispered the name, as if trying to make sense of it.
Spirit Valea town shrouded in mystery, where mediums were said to dwell, those who could speak to the dead and cross the boundary between the physical and the spiritual.
Was there any truth to these rumours?
Jiang Yu, usually silent, finally offered his opinion, "I think we need a different strategy.
This task has no deadline, which means we''re stuck in this world until we either kill Lu Yan or find the missing person.
And right now, there are no signs of any ghosts or curses or anything supernatural. All these deaths have been caused by coincidences, but these coincidences are too convenient to be random."
From another perspective, as long as we steer clear of these coincidences, we don''t have to worry aboutpleting the short-term task."
Ling Tong feltpelled to ask, "So, what are you implying?"
Jiang Yu said, "With no time pressure and such arge team, is it possible that this task is impossible toplete in the short term?"
Everyone had entertained this thought, but few had dared to say it out loud. Lingering in the mission world for too long was a bad idea.
After all, it was only the first day, and six people had already perished.
Shen Zhu said, "So, our priority for now is to protect ourselves, be as vignt as possible, and evade any threats that may arise from any potential coincidences."
"Coincidences are not as simple as they seem. I propose we review the details of the incident to see if we''ve activated some kind of death rule," Di Ying suggested.
They knew from experience that setting off some sort of death trap would result in casualties. Everything had a logic to it, otherwise, they would have been doomed.
Despite having heard the story before, they still nned to examine the incident thoroughly once more.
Jiang Yu, on the other hand, kept quiet, merely sitting and listening attentively.
"It''s pointless."
As they scrutinised the written version in front of them, everyone was trying to find clues, but Jiang Yu shook his head and repeated, "It''s pointless. Can''t you see?"
Not bothering to wait for their reactions, Jiang Yu went on, "Everything, from the patterns we''ve uncovered to the escapes we''ve devised, is slowly losing its effectiveness."
This revtion was more startling than anything else.
Ling Tong asked, "What are you implying?"
Lin Chu mimicked the same shocked look as the others, but inside, she felt no surprise.
It appeared that she was not the only one who had noticed it.
When she returned from her previous task and diligentlypiled all the tasks posted on the website once again, she couldn''t help but feel a growing sense of coldness as she read through them.
The number of tasks had spiked again in just half a month, with nearly a thousand new users joining, but the active users had dwindled drastically. And in the recent tasks, there was hardly any pattern to decipher.
It meant that deadlocks were bing moremon.
Maybe more and more task-takers were meeting their end, and they had no chance to share their task progress.
Lin Chu forced a smile. Who could tell if this time it wouldn''t be a deadlock?
Jiang Yu''s verdict chilled everyone to the bone.
"So, are we..." one of them whispered.
Are we doomed?
**
A bus was winding its way through the hills and woods, with only two people on board.
One driver and one passenger. The passenger by the door rolled down the window, admiring the view outside, making small talk with the driver now and then.
"That town, it''s no ce for ordinary folk to linger."
The bus came to a halt before a tunnel, and the driver warned, "Young man, if you''re looking for someone, make it quick and get back."
Lu Yan thanked him politely and asked, "Could you tell me why?"
The driver shook his head, "That''s not something I can share, talking about it would invite trouble."
As Lu Yan got off the bus and stood by the door, the driver pushed a button, and the doors shut.
Lu Yan turned around and headed for the tunnel.
The driver drove away, feeling a nagging sense of unease.
"Strange... Why does the name Lu Yan sound familiar?" The driver racked his brain, but couldn''t remember.
No, he had definitely met this person before! But where?
Why did he have a vague recollection of him, yet couldn''t ce him?
Where had they crossed paths?
Fleeting images of the figure wielding an axe and swinging it down shed in his mind, and the driver rubbed his head.
In his mind, that figure grew closer and clearer with every second.
He witnessed the other person''s gruesome actions of butchering a human being, chopping and chopping, blood spattering everywhere. The other person had a serene expression, as if performing a mundane task.
The visions in his mind grew sharper by the minute.
The driver''s eyes slowly widened in horror.
Atst, he saw the full picture: the man was hacking the driver''s body to pieces! Over and over, reducing the already mutted corpse to smaller chunks.
And there was his own head, lying nearby, eyes still open, unyielding in death.
The driver was paralysed with terror, his soul leaving his body. He identally caught a glimpse of the rearview mirror and was rooted to the spot.
In the mirror, he saw his own reflection, eyes bulging, face ashen, exactly like the severed head he had seen in the vision!
As soon as he realised this, his body was seized with excruciating pain. He looked down, and his body suddenly split open...
Lu Yan had barely walked a few steps when a deafening noise resounded behind him at the entrance of the dark tunnel.
He turned around and saw the bus swerve off the faraway roadside and m into a tree.
Before he could react, the vehicle exploded with a massive st, mes soaring up several metres high, instantly setting the nearby trees aze, heat surging towards him.
There was no turning back now.
Lu Yan gave onest look at the burning bus before turning and entering the tunnel.
As if swallowed by a monstrous beast, the tunnel engulfed him in its gloomy, damp maw, where soft, wet earth squelched beneath his feet. The faint cacophony of the outside world, faded into silence as he ventured deeper into the abyss. He craned his neck to look forward, but no glimmer of light pierced the pitch-ckness that loomed over him.
A shiver ran down his spine. The tunnel was eerily quiet, a soundless void that enveloped him in darkness.
Lu Yan clung to the inner wall as he crept forward, his heart pounding in his chest. He could smell the musty stench of moss that clung to the nearby wall, a sign of the dampness that pervaded the air. He could hear the faint, unknown skittering of insects that scurried along the wall, their tiny legs brushing against the rough surface. And then, his own soft footsteps, the only human sound in this deste tunnel.
How long was this tunnel? Why did it seem to have no end? How much time had psed since he entered this hellish ce?
Lu Yan knew he could easily take out his phone and check, but something deep inside him told him not to. In this tunnel, it was best to pretend to be blind and deaf, to ignore the horrors that lurked in the shadows. To hope for a way out.
He walked for what felt like an eternity, losing all sense of direction and time. He almost lost himself in the darkness, his mind wandering to the point of madness. When a faint light suddenly appeared ahead, he thought it was a hallucination, a cruel trick of his mind.
But it wasn''t a hallucination. It was real. The light was about two hundred metres away from him. He was nearing the exit.
Lu Yan quickened his pace towards the light. He was almost there. He was going to make it.
Outside the tunnel, the evening had fallen. The moon in the mountains shone with an exceptional brightness, casting a radiant silver light that bathed the surroundings in a soft glow. It was a stark contrast to the darkness he had just escaped from.
Lu Yan emerged from the tunnel and beheld the scene before him.
A small cabin stood by the road, its windows dimly lit by a flickeringmp. Two men, who had been taking turns on night duty, sprang to their feet as soon as they caught sight of a young man stepping out of the tunnel. They hurried out to meet him, their faces tense and alert.
"Who are you? Are you from the town?" the shorter one asked cautiously, his voice low and wary.
They noticed his dishevelled appearance, his clothes torn and stained by explosions, his face bruised and scratched.
Lu Yan also scanned the two men with a practised eye. He had encountered taskers like them many times before, and he could easily tell them apart from the local residents. He could even estimate how many missions they had been on. They were not seasoned veterans, but they were not rookies either.
He knew that his current appearance might arouse their suspicion, so he smiled gently and said, "I''m here for sightseeing. And what about you?"
The two men exchanged a quick nce, then stered friendly smiles on their faces. One of them extended his hand, saying, "Sightseeing? You must have a keen sense of adventure to find this ce. By the way, I''m Wang Shun De (). And you?"
( (Wng) is a surname that means king or monarch. (Shn) is a unisex given name that means smooth or obedient. (D) is a unisex given name that means virtue or morality. could be interpreted as a virtuous king or an obedient moralist)
"I''m Lu Yan, you can call me whatever you like," Lu Yan replied with a mild smile, taking his hand.
At the sound of this name, the two operatives felt a jolt of adrenaline coursing through their veins.
Lu Yan! Wasn''t he the one they were hunting?
They could barely contain their excitement for a moment. One of them almost leaped up, but Wang Shun De quickly held him back and warmly invited Lu Yan inside.
They knew that someone who prompts so many pursuers must be formidable. It was better not to make any rash moves.
By a stroke of luck, or perhaps fate, an axey in the room.
"It''s quitete now, still a few hours until dawn. Why don''t you rest here in this room? We''ll head to town together when it''s light," Wang Shun De said earnestly, his eyes gleaming with a hidden agenda. "We''re here to guard the forest against wildfires. Someone will take over in the early morning. If you don''t mind, that is."
The room was cramped and modest, consisting of two rooms with a bathroom. They had each imed a room for themselves, but now that Lu Yan had arrived, the shorter man graciously offered his room to him.
They both wished Lu Yan would drift off to sleep soon, so they could strike. Without wasting any time, they urged him to eat something and freshen up, then snuffed out the lights in the room.
"When do you think he''ll fall asleep? When should we make our move?" The shorter man whispered as theyy side by side, his heart racing with anticipation.
He had thought it would be a long and arduous task, after hearing the bosses'' ns during the day. But who would have expected, not long after, that Lu Yan would walk right into their trap?
He was eager to end his life and return to his own world. He had had enough of this!
Wang Shun De whispered to him, "No need to rush, let''s wait a little longer. We''ll sort it out after he''s dozed off."
Theymented theirck of drugs; otherwise, it would have been perfect if they could slip something into his food and drink.
After waiting for over two hours, assuming that he had fallen into a deep slumber, the two stealthily got up.
Wang Shun De grabbed the axe from the wall, and the short man likewise snatched a thick wooden stick from behind the door.
"Let''s go."
On the other side, the door to the room was slightly ajar.
The wooden cabin, long neglected, had doors in both rooms that couldn''t be securely locked. A gust of wind could easily blow into the room, making the wooden doors rattle.
He pushed the door open, bathed in the moonlight, and saw the shape of a nket heaped on the bed.
Was he sleeping under the covers?
Wang Shun De tiptoed towards the bedside, barely making a sound.
He lifted the axe high and brought it down with force!
The bed was cleaved in half, but the expected scene of blood spattering did not ur. All he had cut was the quilt on the bed.
"How can this be? Where is he?!" Wang Shun De flung the quilt aside.
The duvet was the only thing left on the bed; the figure had disappeared.
"What the hell? Wasn''t he asleep??" Wang Shun De hissed, disbelief and fear mingling in his voice.
The short man beside him scanned the room frantically, searching for any sign of their target.
A young man''s voice broke the silence from the doorway. "Are you looking for me?"
He leaned casually against the doorframe, a friendly smile ying on his lips. He was slender and wiry, with no obvious muscles or weapons, but Wang Shun De and hispanion felt a chill run down their spines as they sensed the lethal threat he posed.
"Y-you..." Wang Shun De stammered, trying to fabricate an excuse to weasel out, but Lu Yan quickly mmed the door behind him, smiling as he closed the gap between them.
The door shut, leaving only a few slivers of moonlight filtering through the window. Lu Yan moved forward, dodging when the other attacked him. He flicked his wrist, and a dagger shed in his hand. With a speed that defied belief, he pressed the de against the man''s neck from behind, swiftly knocking him out, then faced the other.
"Don''te any closer!"
Chapter 95
Chapter 95
With a casual flick of his wrist, Lu Yan flung the unconscious body to the dusty floor and advanced steadily towards his remaining adversary.
"Stay back!" Wang Shun De shrieked, his voice cracking with terror.
A cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he trembled uncontrobly, clutching the axe in his sweaty palms. He felt no reassurance from the weapon, only dread.
The man who approached him radiated a menacing aura that chilled him to the bone.
"I swear, I''ll kill you if youe any closer! Don''t you dare!" Wang Shun De brandished the axe wildly, hoping to scare off his attacker, but his panic-stricken face betrayed hisck of confidence.
Lu Yan merely arched an eyebrow, ignoring the feeble threat, and closed the distance between them with measured steps.
He had snatched the wooden stick from the limp hand of his previous victim, and he used it to his advantage. As Wang Shun De let out a desperate scream and swung the axe down with all his might, Lu Yan darted forward and mmed the stick against his arm with a sickening crack.
The axe slipped from Wang Shun De''s grasp,nding with a thud on the ground, where Lu Yan swiftly kicked it away.
"Now, can we have a little chat? Why were you trying to kill me?" Lu Yan discarded the stick as well, finding it cumbersome, and pressed his hand firmly on Wang Shun De''s shoulder, pinning him down. He asked the question softly, but his tone was anything but gentle.
Amusement was thest thing that flickered in his eyes.
To Wang Shun De, this young man who called himself Lu Yan was no different from a fierce ghost, more savage and dreadful than any of the spirits he had faced before.
"No, no, you''ve got it wrong, I was just..." Wang Shun De stammered, trying to conceal his true purpose.
Lu Yan, the young man, shed another smile, his eyes piercing, his voiceced with a peculiar charm. "Don''t be scared, calm down... Tell me, what made you want to kill me?"
Wang Shun De''s eyes zed over. "Because... because of the mission..."
"What mission?"
"To... to find the missing person... and then... kill a man named Lu Yan..."
Lu Yan felt a heavy thud in his chest.
If the previous assignment of retrieving the Pisces jade pendant could be rationalised as recovering a vital artefact, then what about this one?
That thing that lurked behind him, it had finally fixed its gaze on him.
He probed further, extracting more details from the other, then casually knocked him out, leaving him sprawled on the ground next to hispanion. He shut his eyes for a moment, as if to block out the sight.
Soon after, he stepped out of the small hut, clutching an axe that dripped blood, leaving crimson stains on the soil.
He had to go into hiding for a while, at least until he shook off the dozens of taskers. Otherwise, if these two died and he showed up, it would arouse suspicion from any angle.
The townsfolk were not entirely reliable either, and he could not rule out the possibility that the taskers would coax them into divulging his location.
However, he had no choice but to stay here, considering the hints left by his future self and the threat posed by the little girl in clown clothes.
Under the moonlight, he discerned the direction and followed one of the forks in the road, vanishing into the darkness at the end of the alley.
**
It was a bleak and dreary morning when Yan Hao Yue () along a novice tasker to the police station to reim a body.
( (Yn) is a surname that means strict or severe. (Ho) is a unisex given name that means bright or luminous. (Yu) is a unisex given name that means moon or month.
Therefore, could be interpreted as a strict months brightness or a severe luminous moon.)
The morguey beneath the police station. Once they had sorted out the paperwork, a policeman guided them down the stairs.
The passage that led to the morgue''s entrance was shrouded in shadows, the flickering lights barely illuminating the way. The passage exuded an aura of decay and destion, its white walls stained with the traces of time and neglect.
The officer, who looked barely out of his teens, cast an apologetic nce at hispanions. "Sorry about this. The lights here are always on the fritz, and we never get around to fixing them. You should hear the stories they tell about this ce at night. It''s enough to give you nightmares."
They arrived at the elevator, which looked as ancient and dpidated as the rest of the building. The officer pressed the button, which had long ago lost its colour and shine. They waited for what seemed like an eternity, until the elevator finally creaked its way up and stopped in front of them with a metallic ng.
A st of cold air greeted them as the doors slid open.
Yan Hao Yue felt a sudden jolt of rm. She fixed her gaze on the dark and narrow elevator shaft, sensing a powerful force that repelled her from entering.
Anxiety, dread...
As if something malevolent lurked within the elevator.
But the elevator was empty, and there was nothing to see.
The others stepped in without hesitation, and one of the rookies, a young man named Li Ye (), looked at her with curiosity. "Aren''t youing in, Sister Yan?"
( (L) is the mostmon surname in China that means plum or reason. (Y) is a unisex given name that means business or profession. could be interpreted as a plum business or a reasonable profession.)
Yan Hao Yue was about to follow them, when a wave of panic washed over her. She knew with absolute certainty that if she set foot in the elevator, she would meet her end!
Yan Hao Yue chose to listen to her intuition. She swiftly retreated a few steps and said, "I''m sorry, I have ustrophobia. I can''t take the elevator."
The officer was taken aback by this excuse. "Oh," he said, before Yan Hao Yueposed herself and asked softly, "Could we take the stairs instead?"
A shiver ran through the two neers as they felt a subtle shift in the air, a hint of something unnatural and sinister. Perhaps they had also detected the eerie presence in the elevator, for they wasted no time in following Sister Yan out, urging each other.
"Yes, let''s take the stairs down." Wang Ke () chimed.
( (Wng) is the second mostmon surname in China that means king or monarch. (K) is a female given name that means jade or ornament. could be interpreted as a kings jade or a monarchs ornament.)
"Yeah, it''s only three floors, hardly a bother." Agreed Li Ye.
The young policeman gave a sheepish grin, "Alright, but I should warn you, the stairs are seldom used, so they might be a bit dusty."
"It''s alright, we don''t mind." Yan Hao Yue replied softly.
The young policeman nodded and led them away from the elevator, towards the stairwell with the four of them in tow.
They had barely covered ten metres when the elevator doors slid shut behind them with a faint click.
Then, the numbers on the disy panel above the elevator began to descend slowly.
1, -1, -2, -3.
The elevator came to a halt on the negative third floor, as if someone had stepped out.
But the elevator was empty.
Completely empty.
Even though they had put some distance between themselves and the elevator, Yan Hao Yue''s fear did not abate in the slightest. The sense of looming danger grew stronger, making her feel more and more restless.
What was it?
What wasing for her?
Yan Hao Yue had no idea, but her already pallid face turned even whiter, her eyes darting around nervously, ready to bolt at the slightest provocation.
Ayer of grime coated the corridor, as if no one had bothered to clean it for ages. The stairs leading down to the basement were shrouded in darkness, the motion-sensor lights having given up long ago.
The young constable turned on his phone shlight, guiding the way and exining, "There are three basement levels in this building. The first one is misceneous storage where we dump all the stuff we don''t need, the second one is the parking lot, and the third one is the morgue. It''s going to get pretty cold down there, so be careful not to catch a cold."
Yan Hao Yue nodded slightly, murmuring her assent. Behind her, two rookies followed suit, parroting her words like scared birds.
As they descended lower and lower, the gloom deepened, the dust thickened, and the silence wrapped around them like a suffocating nket.
Slowly, they began to sense the cold seeping up from below.
Yan Hao Yue held her breath unconsciously, shrinking her presence, trailing behind the policeman in silence.
"Here we are," he dered.
Above the stairwell, a white wall disyed a bright red "-3," and the young constable rummaged through arge bunch of keys, unlocking the door below.
The door creaked open, and a st of icy air hit them like a punch.
Yan Hao Yue shuddered, and caught the two neers doing the same.
"Come on, folks. Let''s get this over with," the young constable encouraged, then switched on the lights. The morgue lit up in an instant, revealing its grim contents.
"Just give me a second, I''ll have a look around," he said, stepping inside.
The others retreated instinctively, avoiding the cold as much as possible.
Before he entered, Yan Hao Yue heard the young constable whisper to himself, "Weird, it''s never been this cold before..."
Yan Hao Yue felt a sudden drop in her stomach.
Something was definitely wrong with this ce!
The morgue was a ce of dread and horror, a fitting setting for the dark secrets of this town.
She gripped her phone in her hand, ready to contact Shen Zhu at the slightest sign of trouble. They had agreed on a n: as soon as they verified the identity of the body and any evidence of foul y, she would send her a message.
"Found it!" the voice of the young officer echoed from inside. "Come on, you lot."
The three others who had been waiting at the doorway followed him into the dimly lit interior.
"All the corpses from yesterday''s incidents are here, waiting for the autopsy," he exined, opening a freezer door with a loud ng. He gestured to the drawer he had just revealed. "See if this is the one you''re looking for."
Yan Hao Yue felt a knot of anxiety in her stomach as she approached the freezer. She had braced herself for the worst, but... nothing happened.
No sudden attacks, no undead horrors. She reached the drawer safely and peered inside.
A young girly motionless on a metal b, her skin a sickly blue hue. Her eyes were wide open, staring nkly at the ceiling. Her mouth was open too, as if she had been screaming in vain until herst breath.
Yan Hao Yue noticed the dark marks around her neck.
She hesitated for a moment, then pulled the white cloth that covered the girl''s body a little lower, exposing the full extent of the injuries on her neck.
They were unmistakable traces of fingers.
Yan Hao Yue''s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly snapped two photos and sent them to Shen Zhu. She had found what they were looking for.
But then, she heard a strange noiseing from the freezer next to her. It was barely audible, but it chilled her to the bone.
"Did you hear that?" she asked, her voice trembling.
The young officer looked at her, puzzled. "Hear what?"
"I don''t know... but there''s something weirding from here." Yan Hao Yue pointed to the freezer behind her, her face turning ashen.
As the young police officer turned his head away, oblivious to the ominous sound that echoed through the morgue, Yan Hao Yue felt a surge of anxiety wash over her. She stood frozen in ce, her eyes darting around the dimly lit room, searching for the source of the noise.
It was getting louder and louder, like a scraping of metal on metal, or a wing of nails on flesh. It sent shivers down her spine, making her scalp prickle with dread.
"Did you not hear that?" she whispered to herself, hoping that someone else would share her unease.
"What did you say?" Wang Ke, the other neer, asked, looking at her curiously.
Li Ye, who had been silent until then, suddenly let out a low chuckle. "Oh, I heard it," he said, stretching out his hand and running his fingers along the edge of the open freezer in front of him. "Is this the sound you mean?"
Yan Hao Yue nodded, but then a horrible realisation dawned on her. She recoiled in fear, her body jerking backwards. "You... who are you?"
She remembered something that she had overlooked before, something that could cost her her life.
When they had arrived, she had refused to take the elevator, insisting on taking the stairs instead. Li Ye had agreed with her, saying that there were only three floors to go down.
But how did he know that? The police officer had not given them any information about the morgue yet. How did he know that it was on the third basement floor?
And wait a minute! She had only brought one neer with her, Wang Ke.
But there was no Li Ye in their group! There was no one with that name among the task performers!
Li Ye was not human! He was a ghost!
Yan Hao Yue''s memory came flooding back, and she felt a wave of terror engulf her. She stumbled backwards, hitting the metal wall of the open drawer behind her.
Li Ye did not seem to notice her panic, or he did not care. He kept scratching the freezer with his hand, making the dreadful sound louder and louder. "You know, when you lie down for too long, you get restless. You need to stretch a bit, move around."
As he spoke, a scream of shock came from the other side of the room. "What the hell? One of the corpses is gone... Aaargh!"
A dull thump reverberated through the air, followed by a piercing scream from the young constable. The sound of flesh being dragged across the floor and the relentless wails of agony from the policeman filled Yan Hao Yue''s ears.
"God, what''s happening to him?" Wang Ke''s voice trembled with fear and confusion.
He stood behind Li Ye, unable to see anything beyond her head. He was about to sep forward, when a drawer beside him that had been firmly shut suddenly cracked open, revealing a pallid and twisted arm that stretched out. It mped onto Wang Ke''s neck with a vice-like grip, and yanked him into the freezer with a violent tug before he could even let out a cry.
The drawer snapped shut with a click.
Now, Yan Hao Yue was alone.
She stood rooted to the spot, her legs urging her to run, but a surge of coldness swept over her entire body in an instant, paralysing her with terror.
With a loud bang, the freezer door mmed shut, and the sounds of struggle and pleas for help from the young constable abruptly were cut off, plunging the room into silence.
Only the pounding of Yan Hao Yue''s heart thundered in her chest.
The "neer" moved closer and closer. As he approached, his face turned a sickly blue, slowly rotting away. Yan Hao Yue could smell the foul stench of decay wafting from him.
The morgue door crashed shut with a bang.
It was said that if the bodies in the morguey for too long, they might move...
**
Lin Chu was definitely up to something.
Shen Zhu nced at her phone, keeping her cool, and made some small talk with the others before swiftly walking out.
Lin Chu had left early in the morning, but Shen Zhu had no idea where she had gone. She looked around and saw no one, then dialled Yan Hao Yue''s number.
"Hello, Little Yue?"
There was a long pause before she answered, and Yan Hao Yue''s voice sounded faint and distant: "Hello?"
Shen Zhu felt a jolt of fear in her chest.
They had a secret code, a safeguard against danger, and they never failed to use it when they met. Yan Hao Yue was meticulous and cautious, not one to make mistakes. So why was she breaking their protocol now?
"Where are you now?"
A brief silence followed, then a faint voice reached her ear, "I''m in a... very..." The connection was poor, distorted by crackles and hisses that sounded like electric sparks. She tried to catch the words, but they were muffled and garbled, so she turned up the volume.
"What did you say? Where are you?"
"I''m... in a... "
Was it a bad signal? Shen Zhu, inexplicably, dismissed the oddity and urged Yan Hao Yue to repeat herself several times. The voice on the other end gradually grew clearer.
"I''m in a... very... very cold ce... I''m at the police station, will youe?"
Shen Zhu replied, "Should Ie to pick you up?"
"Yes... You muste..." Yan Hao Yue sounded delighted; Shen Zhu could hear her giggling over the phone.
Shen Zhu was about to say more when a figure dashed into the yard. His name was Zeng Li Hong (). He was not very experienced, but he had been around longer than most.
( (Zng) is a surname that means once or formerly. (L) is a unisex given name that means ck or dawn. (Hng) is a male given name that means swan or grand. could be interpreted as a former ckness or a dawn of grandeur.)
His face was pale and panicked as he ran over, ignoring that Shen Zhu was still on the phone. He blurted out, "Shen Zhu, both of the people who were on night duty at the tunnel entrance yesterday are dead!"
"What?!" Shen Zhu gasped. She quickly told Yan Hao Yue shelle to her as soon as possible, and gestured for him toe closer. "Exin clearly, what happened?"
Zeng Li Hong and another person were supposed to take over the shift, but when they arrived, they found a horrific scene. Those two... those two had met a gruesome end in the small wooden house, their faces contorted in terror. The wooden house was stained with blood, a sight too dreadful for Zeng Li Hong to ever want to remember.
"They''re both dead..." Shen Zhu whispered to herself.
Suddenly, a cold and creepy voice came from her phone, "I''m waiting for you here..."
"What?" Shen Zhu barely had time toprehend, before the call ended.
Zeng Li Hong had heard that voice too, and he was equally stunned. He stuttered, "Wasn''t that Yan Hao Yue''s voice? When did she die?"
Chapter 96
Chapter 96
A jolt of shock ran through Shen Zhu as she lifted her head. "What did you say?!"
She had been oblivious to Yan Hao Yue''s abnormal behaviour until Zeng Li Hong had pointed it out to her moments ago.
She had even... agreed to pick her up from the police station.
The thought made Shen Zhu shudder involuntarily.
She had just acquiesced to a ghost''s demand, ah! This was a grave taboo!
How could she get out of this?
Zeng Li Hong was equally petrified. The voice that hade from Yan Hao Yue''s phone was unmistakably that of a dead person. How could she not have heard it?
"Shen Zhu, you..." he began, his voice trembling.
Shen Zhu cut him off with a fierce re, her eyes shing with danger. "Don''t tell anyone!" she hissed. "I''ll deal with it myself!"
Zeng Li Hong nodded frantically. "Okay, okay, I won''t say anything," he assured her.
He had a hunch that Shen Zhu was scheming to lure some unsuspecting people along with her. He had no intention of being one of them.
Shen Zhu pushed down the fear that threatened to overwhelm her and smiled thinly. "You better keep your word."
Only when Zeng Li Hong swore on his life did Shen Zhu trust him.
The two made their way into the house together.
Not everyone had ventured out. Some people had stayed indoors early in the morning. When they heard the news that Zeng Li Hong brought, they were all stunned.
They didn''t entertain any other exnations; they simply assumed it was the work of ghosts. And when Zeng Li Hong recounted the horrifying scene, they grew even more fearful.
So many people had perished, yet they had not detected any pattern!
Lin Chu had also visited the scene.
After making some inquiries, she found out that there was only one entrance to the town. Hence, she decided to patrol the entrance from time to time, and if she ran into Lu Yan, she would warn him.
She believed that Lu Yan was threatening some sort of entity behind the scenes. If they got rid of him beforehand, this world might not produce another NPC like him again.
She felt no sorrow for the fallen taskers, only a cold detachment. She was willing to escort this group, hoping to find some clues in the bloody cabin.
The cabin was a gruesome sight, even for the seasoned taskers who had witnessed countless horrors. The stench of death and decay filled the air, mingling with the metallic tang of blood.
"The weapon was probably an axe, or something simr. A swift and precise strike to the head, no hesitation," Tan Xu said, emerging from the crimson room which soaked the floor. He left behind a trail of bloody footprints as he walked. "I''m inclined to think this was done by a human, not a ghost."
"A human?!" Xi Men Yuan''s brow furrowed. "Are you certain?"
Tan Xu nodded. "Yes, look at the blood spatter patterns. They''re not easy to decipher, but they suggest the killer was skilled, or at least careful. They avoided the spray of arterial blood, so they wouldn''t stain themselves too much. But this spot, here..." He pointed to a faint smear of blood on the wall, interrupted by a nk space. "The killer must have stood here when they delivered the blow."
Xi Men Yuan sensed the gravity of the situation, and he had brought several experienced taskers with him for this reason.
"Yet, Wang Shun De showed no signs of resistance, and his limbs were loosely bound. Was he unconscious when they killed him?"
"The other victim had a bruise on the back of his head, probably knocked out by a blunt object. He couldn''t put up a fight. But what about Wang Shun De? Why didn''t he dodge or scream? Could he have been drugged?"
"And look at this bed, hacked in half, the quilt shredded and tossed aside. The cuts don''t match the ones on the bodies. The ones on the bed are jagged and uneven, as if the killer had lost control or vented their rage. The ones on the bodies are clean and sharp, as if the killer had a purpose."
The taskers who had gone to check the other room came back with their findings.
"The bed in the other room shows clear signs of two people sleeping on it. The indentations on the sheet correspond to the height of the deceased."
...
As they exchanged their observations, they gradually pieced together the truth.
Someone had arrived at the cabin, a mysterious stranger. The two taskers who had stayed behind had tried to kill him, ambushing him in the night. But they had failed, and paid with their lives.
"Who do you think this person is?" Xi Men Yuan asked in a low voice.
If they had really thought it was a ghost, they would have run away long ago. If it was an ordinary person, what kind of person would make them give up a room for him to rest, and then attempt to murder him in his sleep?
The answer was bing clear.
"Be ready, Lu Yan is probably here already. We need to watch out for any strangers in town these days," Xi Men Yuan concluded.
With a practised look of horror on her face, Lin Chu melted into the throng of onlookers. She had harboured some suspicions of her own, but... could it really be Lu Yan?
A wave of whispers swept through the crowd, betraying their collective astonishment at the revtion.
It was Xi Men Yuan who had verified it. He swiftly issued orders to his subordinates, who wasted no time in spreading the word. Within minutes, every participant received a message on their phone, alerting them of Lu Yan''s potential infiltration and advising them on how to deal with it: based on the evidence, the intruder was not here for any benevolent purpose. They should avoid any direct confrontation, pretend to be friendly, and discreetly call for backup as soon as possible.
After exhausting all the leads they could find, they finally contacted the police. As a group of officers arrived to remove the corpse, Tan Xu spoke up, "Considering the nature of this mission, Lu Yan may not be our main problem."
Xi Men Yuan queried, "What makes you say that?"
"Assuming our conjecture is right, Lu Yan is still human, and he stands no chance against dozens of us. Then, the real trouble is either the missing person we can''t identify or Lu Yan is already dead!"
The mission had two objectives: to eliminate Lu Yan and to locate the missing person. They had no clue about thetter, and the former had just shown up. What if they seeded in killing Lu Yan, but still failed to find the missing person? Would that mean the mission was iplete, and they would be trapped here? And what if Lu Yan, after being killed, underwent some kind of transformation? That seemed very likely, given the circumstances.
Xi Men Yuan had evidently thought of this as well: "We can only caution everyone to act with prudence. Try to capture him alive, and wait until we discover the whereabouts of the missing residents before making any move."
Lin Chu caught every word of their conversation and stole a nce at Xi Men Yuan.
She had to admit that he was a handsome man, with his short hair tied in a neat bun, giving him an air of artistic grace. It also made people tend to underestimate him.
Xi Men Yuan and Tan Xu were a famous duo. Many people credited Tan Xu for their achievements, but Lin Chu always sensed that Xi Men Yuan was not that simple.
He radiated a more menacing aura than Tan Xu!
As they were heading back, Lin Chu received a text message.
It was from Shen Zhu, who wanted to invite her and a few others to the police station for a closer look.
Lin Chu watched the police car disappear and contemted for a moment before epting.
There were plenty of files at the police station, so they might be able to uncover some clues.
Trailing behind the crowd, Yu Huai Yao had his eyes fixed on Lin Chu. His attention did not go unnoticed by many, some of whom spected that the guy had a crush on the gal, but only she knew that was far from the truth.
He was on a quest of his own, seeking some elusive clues.
Where are you off to? Yu Huai Yao hastened his steps to match hers, falling into step beside Lin Chu.
Shen Zhu sent me a message, asking me to meet her at the police station.
Did you get one too?
Lin Chus brow furrowed. She paused for a moment, tapping out messages to several others, then scanned the replies that popped up on her screen, a slight frown marring her features.
The people she contacted were all neers, like herself, and most of them confirmed that they had also received Shen Zhus invitation.
How odd, why would she want newbies?
It made no sense, for the police station was a important ce to gather information, and surely she would prefer to consult the more experienced ones.
Something was not right.
As this thought crossed her mind, Lin Chu felt a pang of regret for agreeing to Shen Zhu.
**
Meanwhile, Shen Zhu checked her phone and saw a message from Lin Chu, informing her that Lu Yan might have shown up, which lifted her spirits a bit.
Maybe this task would not be so hard after all?
She had made a promise to Yan Hao Yue that she would pick her up today, within a span of a dozen hours.
Yes, maybe in that time, she would find Lu Yan.
With that hope, Shen Zhu pushed down the anxiety that gnawed at her heart and left in a hurry.
**
The town was neither big nor small, but it had its hidden corners. Lu Yan located a stream, rinsed off the blood that stained his axe, wrapped it with a strip of cloth, and slung it over his shoulder.
He made his way to a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the town, taking a different route.
He was short on time, and he had not done a thorough job of cleaning up. If those people were diligent enough, they might stumble upon some traces.
But it would be even better if they found nothing, for that would mean they posed little threat.
He chose an old-fashioned residential area, where the air was fresh and the elderly were plentiful. The whole neighbourhood was remarkably quiet, with barely a sound to be heard.
Lu Yan singled out a house that seemed vacant and picked the lock to get in.
He needed to rest, to recharge.
But the tasks had be more and more chaotictely, he used to have a vague sense of what they entailed, buttely there had been no feedback at all. He could not sleep peacefully, only setting a brief rm for a few minutes, shutting his eyes to rest.
Just as he closed his eyes, a blood-red shadow was cast upon the ss window. It bore down on the man inside who had closed his eyes.
Lu Yan was wide awake.
No sooner had he shut his eyes than he felt a piercing stare on him!
His breath hitched.
What had he gotten himself into this time? Was there no way back?
The tricks that had worked before seemed useless now.
He feigned sleep, his eyes tightly shut, but he knew the gaze was still there, unrelenting.
The room turned frigid and all of a sudden, the window burst open with a violent gust of wind, crashing against the wall with a deafening bang.
Lu Yan did not flinch.
It was no use.
He could sense the source of the icy aura creeping towards him.
Nearer and nearer...
His breathing was calm, his heartbeat steady, but his skin, exposed outside his clothes, prickled with goosebumps from the cold.
The figure loomed over him.
He felt a surge of frost, a foul smell that could freeze his nostrils.
This was bad!
Lu Yan clenched his eyes, trying to stir his nerves, hoping to get up and run, but he was powerless as if he was trapped in a solid block of ice.
Anyone who witnessed this scene from outside the room would be stunned by the horror.
A rotting figure in red, pressing against a man, about to fuse with his flesh.
A frigid numbness seeped into his bones, paralysing his limbs and leaving him helpless. Something sinister was crawling over him, pressing down on his chest with an invisible weight. He could only flutter his eyelids, the only sign of life in his frozen body. He felt a surge of terror, a primal instinct to flee from the unknown threat. He gathered all his willpower and forced his eyes open, hoping to confront his assant
But there was nothing there.
Only an empty room, with a gaping window that let in the biting wind. The oppressive feeling and the eerie presence vanished as soon as he looked around. It was as if he had imagined the whole thing, a nightmare that faded with the dawn.
He still felt no urge to sleep, but he closed his eyes anyway, hoping to calm his racing heart...
No! It was back again.
What was stalking him?
He had no choice but to open his eyes once more, and the moment he did, the sensation of being watched evaporated instantly.
He clutched the jade pendant in his hand. He got up and opened the door, stepping out into the silent hallway. The building was deserted, not a soul in sight. He walked slowly down the corridor, and only when he reached the ground floor did he hear some voices.
Someone was having a birthday party in the courtyard.
Why would anyone celebrate a birthday so early in the morning?
Lu Yan nced over the fence.
The birthday girl was a young woman, dressed in a pink dress and a tiara. Several tables were arranged in the square,den with food and drinks. A few friends surrounded her, singing and pping. She made a brief wish and blew out the candles, then smiled and invited everyone to help themselves. It was a strange scene, incongruous with the gloomy atmosphere.
A pair of friends exchanged mischievous looks, snickering to themselves. They waited until the birthday girl was distracted, then one of them shoved the girl''s face into the thickyer of cream.
"Ah"
Lu Yan, standing at the gate of the courtyard, heard the scream involuntarily.
The victim lifted her head, a bamboo skewer protruding from her eye, blood spilling out profusely.
Chapter 97
Chapter 97
The girl, who had a bamboo skewer protruding from her eye socket, clutched her face and sobbed, her tears mingling with the crimson fluid and heavy cream, while the others watched with amusement, theirughter ringing out loud. Soon, they resumed their festive mood, eager to dig into the cake.
"Hey, look at that. Is that the new neighbour?" one of them whispered to the birthday girl, nudging her elbow. "Should we ask them to join us for a slice?"
Lu Yan, who was passing by, tried to ignore them and keep walking, but a group of girls intercepted him.
"Hi there, are you new around here? Come on, have some cake." One of them offered him a paper te, on whichy a piece of cake thered with white and red cream, looking sickeningly rich.
Lu Yan said nothing and shook his head, turning to leave, but they blocked his way again.
He looked back, and his eyes widened in horror. The girls'' faces had transformed in a blink, bing deathly pale, with their pupils glowing a sickly green. Blood seeped from their bloated faces, forming fissures like broken pottery. One of the girls cocked her head, and it fell to the side of her shoulder, exposing a gruesome wound that almost severed her neck.
"W-why... aren''t you eating..."
"D-don''t... go..." another one whimpered.
Lu Yan wanted to back away, but they had already encircled him.
"W-why... are you leaving... why... are you leaving... why... are you leaving?" they repeated, their voices sounding like warped records.
As the sun climbed higher, casting a cold light on them, Lu Yan noticed something even stranger: these creatures cast shadows in the sunlight. He steadied his nerves and listened intently, hearing their ragged breaths.
Were these things, human or ghosts?
Lu Yan stood frozen, as they drew nearer and nearer to him, so close that... one of them pressed her head against his shoulder.
He felt the thumping of her heart in her chest.
Lu Yan held his breath and closed his eyes.
The dreadful crimson figure loomed before him once more. Amidst the swirling darkness behind his eyelids, the blood-red silhouette crept closer and closer, until Lu Yan felt its putrid breath on his face, and a coldness that seeped into his bones, as if it came from the abyss.
Yet, unlike before, it seemed to have retreated a bit from him, only advancing when he closed his eyes.
Lu Yan snapped his eyes open, breaking the spell. The "girls" who had surrounded him moments ago were gone, leaving him a narrow escape. He seized the chance and ran out of the neighbourhood, not looking back.
He knew this method was too risky. He couldn''t be sure that the next time he closed his eyes, the figure wouldn''t pounce on him and tear him apart. He had to keep moving, keep alert.
Soon after he left, those girls materialised one by one, their spectral green eyes locked on his fleeing figure.
And behind them, a faint hint of red shadow lurked, watching and waiting.
A gust of wind swept through the neighbourhood, rattling the windows and doors of the abandoned houses, but no one came out to investigate. No one lived here anymore.
One window, worn out by years of neglect, had itstch blown off by the wind, and mmed against the wall with a loud bang. It revealed the interior of the house, which was empty and dusty, except for an ancestral hall with a ck-and-white portrait of a young girl. She had the same face as the girl who had invited him to her birthday party downstairs.
The neighbourhood was eerily silent. ncing through the windows of the buildings, none of them seemed upied; instead, each one contained an ancestral hall, a portrait, a name.
Some people couldn''t afford burial plots, so they bought houses in remote suburbs to store their urns.
Sometimes, when a neighbourhood is too quiet, it''s a bad sign.
Lu Yan made his way through the less crowded areas of the town, pulling his hood over his face to avoid attention. He avoided eye contact with anyone he met, and wandered aimlessly with the crowd.
Spirit Vale Town... Spirits...
Did spirit mediums really exist here?
Lu Yan didn''t believe it. But now, he wasn''t so sure. Everyone he saw seemed strange, almost unnatural. And the townspeople seemed to have a sixth sense for outsiders. Every time he passed by them, they stopped talking and stared at him with unsettling eyes.
**
"This town is really strange. Despite such a gruesome murder having urred, it''s as if nothing happened at all. No one seems to even discuss it." Jiang Yu said, as he headed towards the library in the town.
He had a n: to scour the library for any local chronicles that might shed some light on the mystery, or failing that, to visit the museums and see what clues they might offer.
Behind him, several other taskers trailed along, among them Yu Huai Yao.
Yu Huai Yao had joined themter; he had been shadowing Lin Chu incessantly, much to her annoyance. She figured that since he had some background in archaeology, he could be useful in gathering information. So she persuaded him to abandon the idea of going to the police station and instead follow Jiang Yu''s lead.
Lin Chu, on the other hand, concocted a flimsy excuse to slip away from Shen Zhu and joined Di Ying''s team.
Di Ying headed to a differentmercial street, one that backed onto a school. It was one of the most crowded areas in the town, but since it was still winter break, the campus was eerily quiet.
Lin Chu caught up with them as they were posing as a group of parents looking for schools for their children and asking around.
What struck her as even more ludicrous was that Di Ying and her team members each carried a stack of missing person posters, pping them on every surface they could find.
The posters were woefully inadequate, containing only names, genders, and rough estimates of height and build based on Yi Zhen Zhen''s description.
"Sister Di, didn''t we agree in the meeting not to tip off the enemy?" Lin Chu cautioned her.
If Lu Yan happened to see all these posters, he would surely smell a rat.
Di Ying: "It''s fine, let''s just put them up."
She stuck a piece of A4 paper with someone else''s name on it. By some twist of fate or design, Lin Chu''s phone number was on it.
**
Meanwhile, Shen Zhu grew restless, aware that darkness would soon fall if they kept dawdling. She finally summoned her courage and led a few people to the police station.
**
Lu Yan strolled along the path, asionally catching the curious nces of people. He maintained hisposure, even going so far as to advertise his own number.
He knew that these people all watched to catch him, and his biggest edge was that they had no idea what he looked like.
But...
Lu Yan made a daring move.
The world was experiencing another anomaly; normally, when the taskers entered, the world would revert to normal. But now... even though the task was still in progress, it felt no different from his everyday reality.
Lu Yan had no idea how it all started. A faint voice in his head whispered that it was his fault, but he refused to ept that. He was nothing but a normal person, after all.
What was wrong with this mission? What was the origin of the towns strange phenomena?
And what had his future self gone through?
Lu Yan could still recall the wish he had made once, to live long enough to unravel all the mysteries. Had his future self lost his protection after finding out the truth, or was it because that truth was somehow linked to the elusive gods?
The thought sent a chill down his spine. He pulled his clothes tighter around his body and kept walking forward.
He heard a loud bang as he passed by a shop. He turned and saw a stic mannequin lying on the ground, having fallen from the ss disy window.
The shop assistant, who had been absorbed in her phone, jumped up and ran over to pick it up.
Strange I could have sworn this mannequin was wearing a red dress. She muttered, puzzled, as she propped up the mannequin. She scanned the shop, feeling that something was amiss, but she couldnt pinpoint what it was. She shrugged and returned to her phone, her mind wandering.
When she looked up again, she gasped. One of the mannequins in the window was gone.
Only the other one remained, standing still in its spot.
Oh no! Someone must have nicked it! She eximed, panicking. Then she pped her forehead, remembering that there were CCTV cameras in the shop. She quickly went back to theputer to check the footage.
But what she saw on the screen made her eyes widen in disbelief.
The mannequins in the window, which were clearly clearly just dummies, were somehow moving, slowly walking out of the shop, one by one.
No way, how is this possible
A surge of terror gripped the shop assistant''s heart, making her feel as if her soul was about to escape her body. In a panic, she let go of the mouse and tried to run away, but then she saw the mannequin''s eerie gesture. It was as if it had signalled something to her before it left.
With a shudder, she forced herself to sit back at theputer, her hands shaking uncontrobly. She reopened the image that had haunted her moments ago and zoomed in on it repeatedly.
It had to be a ghost... But what did the ghost want to tell her?
The image was still blurry, so she strained her eyes to see better. She noticed some dark shadows on the screen, which she attempted to wipe off with her hand, but to no avail. The screen was spotless and clear, with nothing on it.
The problem was not the screen, but her eyes. They felt itchy and irritated. The assistant did not pay much attention to it, rubbed her eyes, and resumed her inspection.
As the picture becamerger, the movement of the mannequin grew more distinct. It looked like it was raising its hand, pointing to its own eyes.
Eyes? What was wrong with the eyes?
She rubbed her eyes again, hoping to clear her vision, but then she felt something odd in her eyes. She walked over to therge mirror in the shop, usually reserved for girls who wanted to apply makeup, and examined her eyes closely.
"Oh, it''s just a fallen eysh, that''s all," she muttered to herself, pulling apart her eyelids to locate the short eysh and trying to rub it out.
She failed. No matter how hard she rubbed, it was useless. She only managed to pull out a tiny bit. The assistant reached out again, pinching with her fingernails carefully, and to her surprise, she caught hold of it, pulling it out slowly.
That was strange, wasn''t it supposed to be an eysh?
Why... did it get longer the more she pulled?
This was not an eysh! It was hair!
She kept pulling, and the thin ck strand of hair got longer and longer...
No! What was this?!
She had already pulled out a hair that was over a metre long, but it still showed no sign of ending, and with every tug, more hair came out, longer and longer, as if feeding on her fear.
"No... please..."
The assistant was on the brink of tears, pulling frantically, oblivious to the fact that in the mirror, something was happening to her eyeball.
If one looked closely, they would see that there was a word on her eyeball.
**
Meanwhile, Lu Yan made his way to the town''s library.
He was unaware that not far behind him, a mannequin was following him closely.
But the mannequin''s eyes had been gouged out, leaving only two ck holes.
Chapter 98
Chapter 98
A frigid sun cast its feeble rays over the town, offering no warmth orfort, only a bone-chilling cold that made Lu Yan shiver involuntarily.
Lu Yan traversed the street that seemed to be the most deste in the town, where many shops had closed their shutters and the pavement was barren. With each step he took, he encountered fewer and fewer passers-by. Many of them, upon meeting his gaze, hastily departed. Eventually, he found himself inplete solitude on the entire street.
How odd.
Lu Yan kept walking, his eyes scanning his surroundings for any clues or threats. His hand gripped the handle of his axe, which hung from his belt, ready to swing it out at the slightest provocation.
The sensation of being trailed lingered like a shadow.
Yet, no matter how scrupulously he scanned his surroundings, he could not detect the origin of the stare.
There was no one, absolutely no one, in sight. All the houses had their doors and windows locked and barred, as if they were hiding from a terrible danger. Who - or what - could be spying on him?
As he passed by a fashion store''s disy window, the feeling of being watched intensified. He lowered his head slightly, hastening his pace, then abruptly spun around.
Nothing there.
A gust of wind swept a lone leaf across the street, leaving behind a barren scene, devoid of any trace of life.
He sharpened his mind, then spun around again.
But as soon as he did, a deafening explosion erupted, shattering all the windows on the street at once, sending ss shards flying in all directions, sparkling like rainbows under the sun.
Lu Yan reacted swiftly, dodging most of the projectiles, but still getting a small cut on his cheek. He ignored the pain, and focused on the shock that gripped his mind. There was no doubt now, something was following him!
Ever since he entered this town, that thing had been following him!
And yet, he still found nothing!
A flicker of red light darted past the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, there was nothing there, as if it had been a figment of his imagination.
"Aaaah"
At that instant, a shriek pierced the air from a nearby building.
Right after, a figure, mutted and bloody, was hurled from a high ce. Lu Yan swiftly sidestepped, and the corpse tumbled a few times,ing to a halt not far from him. Its pallid, bloated face, bulging eyes, gawked at Lu Yan without blinking.
Instinctively, he looked up and saw a red figure sh by, but when he tried to follow it with his eyes, it had vanished.
Another shriek, Lu Yan traced the sound and saw a window stained with blood.
He had to escape. Now.
He sprinted forward, not daring to nce behind him. He barely made it around the corner when a deafening st shook the ground. The street he had just left was engulfed in mes.
A shadowy figure had slipped away moments before the explosion, casting a furtive look at the direction Lu Yan was heading.
The figure pressed a button, and another detonation rocked the air. The street Lu Yan was about to enter was also reduced to rubble. He skidded to a halt and veered into a narrow alley.
He didn''t stop until he emerged onto a new street, where the sound of the sts was fainter. He kept running, but something was odd. All the ss shop windows on this street were smashed, leaving shards of ss strewn on both sides of the road. He had no choice but to run along the middle of the road.
He realised that something was manipting his actions.
What was it? Why did it prevent him from going that way? And why did it destroy all the shop windows?
As he ran, Lu Yan racked his brain.
ss shop windows... ss...
What could ss do?
The sunlight glinted off the ss shards, creating a blinding re.
Reflection!
The thing that was chasing him seemed to be afraid of him seeing something in the window reflection!
Lu Yan felt a surge of dread.
What could be seen? He knew the answer, but he didn''t want to admit it. Should he try?
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he felt a wave of danger. He dashed across another street corner, where he saw a sign for a school zone and more people in sight.
But what stunned him the most was the face of one of the people, someone he knew very well.
Lin Chu?
She was here too?
He spotted a group of seven taskers, and his pace slowed down.
He had enough confidence to face these seven individuals, but he knew it woulde at a cost. He would suffer wounds and pain, and in his vulnerable state, he could not afford to alert anyone else. His chances of sess hinged on his stealth and cunning.
Lin Chu had spotted him, and she was not the only one.
"Who is this bloke? He looks out of ce, not like a local."
"Should we intercept him?"
Lin Chu took the lead. "I''ll do it." She sprinted towards him with flyers in her hand, raising her voice and waving the papers as if to attract his attention. "Excuse me, sir, are you acquainted with someone named Lu Yan?"
She was exposing herself!
Why would she do that? Wasn''t she on a mission? Her objective was to kill him.
Di Ying''s face twisted into a scowl as she red at Lin Chu with intense animosity, and the others quickly sensed the danger, wanting to silence her.
What if this was Lu Yan? Wouldn''t she be giving him a warning?
Lin Chu, with a radiant smile that matched her cheerful demeanour, closed the gap between them. "Sir, have you heard of him?"
As soon as Lu Yan met her gaze, he realised that she had no intention of, or perhaps no immediate n to, carry out her assignment. He shook his head innocently. "No, I haven''t."
"You haven''t? That''s a shame." Lin Chu gazed at his face, a faint blush spreading on her cheeks. "By the way, sir, what is your name? Could I... could I have your contact details?"
Lin Chu felt a bit awkward to stare at him, adopting a timid posture.
What was she thinking? How could she still act so flirtatiously at a time like this?
Lu Yan smiled warmly, with a trace of apprehension on his face. "My family name is Jiang, and my given name is Bai. But I''m afraid I can''t share my contact details, I''m sorry."
Lin Chu sighed, disappointment clear on her face. With her doll-like face and petite figure, looking up at the man, one could almost mistake it for a romantic encounter, if not for the dire situation.
Of course, the others couldn''t see it that way.
Di Ying was nearly enraged by Lin Chu, marching over withrge strides and casting a wary nce at Lu Yan. "Mister Jiang Bai?"
(: (Jing) is anothermon surname that means ginger or bold. (Bi) is a unisex given name that means white or pure. could be interpreted as a ginger white or a bold purity.)
Lin Chu''s shoulder was being squeezed so hard by the other woman that it hurt, tears filling her eyes. She whimpered softly in a slightly pained tone, only to be squeezed even harder by Di Ying, who mped her shoulder des firmly, trapping her in her grip.
With a friendly nod, Lu Yan tried to mask the pallor of his face after the exhausting run. He drew in a few ragged breaths and pointed over his shoulder, his voice tinged with urgency. "I don''t know what brought you here, but you should hurry and get out. There have been sts ripping through the streets behind us."
"sts? What sts?" Di Ying asked, her brow furrowing.
Lu Yan shrugged. "I haven''t got a clue. I was just running some errands when the street erupted in mes and debris. It was a nightmare to escape."
He looked like he had been through hell, his clothes torn and bloodied, his hair matted with sweat and dust. Yet, there was still a hint of charm in his features, enough to still make Lin Chu swoon.
Di Ying was not impressed, however. She scanned him from head to toe, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the axe strapped to his back. "Pardon my curiosity, but what exactly are you carrying...?"
Lu Yan answered with a guileless smile. "Just an axe. Is that a problem?"
He seemed like a harmless bystander, caught in the wrong ce at the wrong time.
But his unnaturalposure only raised Di Ying''s suspicions, but she still dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
Lu Yan exhaled softly, "Well, I''ll be on my way then. I don''t know who you''re looking for, but I suggest you leave as soon as possible. If this ce goes up in smoke too, it''ll be a catastrophe." With that, he turned around and walked away.
Lin Chu gazed after him with longing, her eyes shining with infatuation. Di Ying clenched her fist, and on a sudden impulse, she called out, "Jiang Bai?"
Lu Yan looked back, "What is it?"
Subconscious reactions were hard to fake, and Di Ying felt a twinge of doubt, but she couldn''t just attack him.
They had agreed before, if they ever ran into Lu Yan, they had to be careful. If they killed him without finding the missing person first, it could spell doom for them all.
"Nothing, just curious about your destination."
Lu Yan: "I''m heading to the hospital."
As soon as he departed, the others encircled Di Ying.
"He''s not right in the head, I tell you. If only Yi Zhen Zhen were still alive, she could recognize him." Chen Hai Qing (), one of the taskers, remarked.
( (Chn) is amon surname that means exhibit or disy. (Hi) is a masculine given name that means sea or ocean. (Qng) is a unisex given name that means clear or pure. could be interpreted as a clear disy of the sea or a pure oceanic exhibit.)
Most of them had alienated Lin Chu. To be preupied with romance in such a perilous situation was utterly foolish.
Chen Hai Qing was especially disgusted by her, shooting her a venomous re that made her cower, before resuming his speech. "Di Ying, you haven''t forgotten about the two corpses we found in the cabin this morning, have you? Tan Xu examined them and concluded that the murder weapon was most likely an axe or something simr."
Di Ying nodded. "I remember."
The mention of Yi Zhen Zhen triggered her rm bells.
Lin Chu had been thest person to see her alive.
And now Lin Chu had made such a blunder again...
Without hesitation, Di Ying pointed an using finger at her. "She''s the traitor among us! We have to keep an eye on her at all times! We can''t let her sabotage our survival any further."
"What?" Lin Chu gasped, but the others were not so gullible.
They had their own doubts about her. Di Ying''s words seemed to confirm their suspicions, and they disregarded her protests, binding her hands with a rope and assigning shifts to guard her.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan had not gone to the hospital as he imed, but rather to the town library.
It was odd, ever since he entertained the notion that he could not see his own reflection, the explosions that had been hounding him ceased abruptly. The library was not his voluntary choice either; every time he attempted to veer off course, a small st would deter him, forcing him to follow the path to the library.
It was as if a hunter hadid a snare and was herding the prey into it from all sides.
Who was the mysterious figure behind him, the one who had sent him on this perilous quest for hidden information in the library?
Lu Yan stepped into the dimly lit building, his eyes scanning the dusty shelves and the faded posters on the walls.
The librarian, an old man with a wrinkled face and a drooping moustache, slouched in his chair by the window, barely ncing at the neer. He gestured vaguely with his hand, indicating that Lu Yan could enter without registering, then returned to hisputer screen, where a crackling opera tune yed from the speakers.
The library had been constructed with some care and elegance, and Lu Yan could sense its spaciousness and grandeur as he crossed the threshold. But there was also a feeling of decay and neglect, as if the ce had been forgotten by time and people.
However...
Lu Yan approached the small window and tapped on the ss, hoping to get some guidance from the librarian. He asked politely where he could find the local chronicles, the records of the town''s history. But he received no answer, only silence.
The old man ignored himpletely, resting his head on the table, his eyes closed and his ears filled with the opera music.
Lu Yan sighed and decided to search for the books himself, wandering through the endless rows of bookshelves, looking for any signs orbels that could help him.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.
He remembered!
After thest mission had ended in a bloody disaster, with all his taskers ughtered, he had used the Pisces jade pendant to duplicate himself, to summon his future self from another timeline.
His future self had given him vital information, telling him to go to the Spirit Vale Town and to carry with him the pendant, he had also drawn a few numbers on his palm, a code that would lead him to the truth.
His future self must have imnted a psychological suggestion in his mind, making him forget the numbers until the right moment, until now, when he was standing in front of the bookshelves, staring at the alphanumeric codes that marked each section. He finally recalled the string of numbers that had been burned into his skin.
0-4-0-9...
He followed the code and located the corresponding book.
It was a very ordinary children''s picture book, with a colourful cover and a cheerful title. It seemed to tell the story of a king of a kingdom.
With a flick of his wrist, Lu Yan opened the picture book, feeling his pupils shrink in shock.
He recognised that stroke... It was unmistakable. This picture book, it was his own creation!
Without hesitation, he spun around and headed to the door, making his way to the ss window of the administrator''s cabin.
He knocked politely, "Excuse me, may I borrow this book?" He hoped to find out when this book was catalogued, pretending to be interested in borrowing it. That way, he could estimate the time period his future self hade from.
The old man remained motionless at the desk, his back turned to him, apparently unaware.
"Hello? Hello?" Lu Yan repeated his query, but received no answer. A dreadful suspicion crept into his mind.
He stretched out his hand and touched the old man''s shoulder.
The old man copsed to the floor, his sses sliding off, exposing his bulging eyes. His face was twisted with throbbing veins, a ghastly sight.
Lu Yan recalled, when he had entered moments ago, the old man had waved his hand with his back to him...
Was it really him waving?
This revtion sent a chill down his spine. Lu Yanposed himself, scanned the room, then pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The space for the old man to rest and work was cramped, a tiny room of five or six square metres, furnished with a bed and a set of tables. Normally, he could rx by opening the window and drawing the curtains. After Lu Yan entered, the already narrow space felt even more suffocating.
But he ignored that, instead, he searched on theputer using the book''s serial number.
He discovered the date the book was logged into the system.
January 20th.
January 20th, the exact date when this mission had begun.
Today was February 2nd. He had entered the Spirit Vale Town on February 1st, so why would his future self have drawn a book from the past?
He had hoped to find more useful information on theputer screen, but as his eyes scanned the monitor, he caught a fleeting glimpse of his own reflection...
A crimson tide flooded his sight, obscuring everything else. Lu Yan jerked his head away, too terrified to look again.
His heart hammered in his chest, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
What the hell was that?
The library lights flickered erratically, as if on the verge of a meltdown, and a faint electrical buzz filled the air. Lu Yan snatched a few books from the shelves and bolted out of the library, not daring to linger a second longer.
He had barely made it to the street when a thunderous st shook the ground behind him.
**
"What''s going on? Why did it suddenly explode?"
Jiang Yu and his team had nned to visit the town library to search for clues, but their route was blocked by an earlier explosion on the street, forcing them to take a longer way around. They had no idea that as they rounded the corner and spotted the library sign, they would witness the building erupting in a fiery inferno right in front of their eyes.
It was enough to make anyone paranoid. Was someone trying to kill them?
The library was full of paper books, and the explosion ignited them instantly, creating a massive bonfire. Luckily, there were no other structures nearby, or the whole street would have been consumed by the ze.
"It''s on fire! It exploded!" The residents screamed in panic.
"Quick, call the fire brigade!"
Some people tried to get help, but they were told that there were too many explosions in town today, and the police were overwhelmed, so they had to fend for themselves.
Jiang Yu gazed at the roaring mes, feeling a burning sensation not only in his eyes but also in his soul.
The library held the secrets they needed. But someone - or something - had obliterated it before they could reach it, leaving behind only ashes and rubble. A deliberate act of sabotage, or a ghost''s wrath?
Jiang Yu felt a surge of frustration and anger, his face darkening with displeasure. He scanned the surroundings, taking in the nearby shops and the locations of the corner cameras. He had to find out who was behind this. He turned to hispanions and said, "Let''s go back."
Zhang Yun (), a fellow tasker, looked puzzled. "Back? Don''t we need to check out other ces?"
( (Zhng) is amon surname that means to spread or to open. (Yn) is a unisex given name that means cloud or luck. could be interpreted as a spreading cloud or an open luck.)
Jiang Yu shook his head. "No. We need to find an inte caf now."
He had to ess aputer.
There were plenty of inte cafs in town, and the library hadputers too. But now, they were nothing but useless metal. Jiang Yu wasted no time in locating an inte caf, registering swiftly, and connecting to the inte. He hacked into the cameras he had spotted earlier, hoping to find some clues.
Soon, he retrieved the surveince footage.
On the monitor, he saw a tall, thin young man walking out of the library, carrying an axe on his back. He had a cold, sinister expression on his face. A few minutes after he left, the library erupted in a fiery st.
"This man is highly suspicious." Jiang Yu''s eyes narrowed as he made his judgement.
He quickly sent the man''s image to every tasker who was still alive, warning them to be on their guard if they encountered him.
Not long after, he received a message from Di Ying.
Jiang Bai...
Was that his real name?
**
"Shen Zhu, why are we heading to the police station sote?" one of the taskers trailing behind Shen Zhu asked. "Shouldn''t we have gone earlier?"
A faint tremor ran through Shen Zhu''s body, but she quicklyposed herself and said, "The authorities are withholding the information from us, so we have no choice but to seize it by force when the station is less crowded after the working hours. I''ve done some reconnaissance. There have been multiple explosions on the streets today, and most of the police are upied with handling them. Only a handful are left behind. If we''re discreet, we might not even raise their suspicion."
Her n sounded reasonable indeed, and none of herpanions voiced any objections.
Shen Zhu let out a silent sigh of relief.
She had no idea what awaited her at the police station. She had no doubt that Yan Hao Yue was dead. She had learned the hard way from countless missions in the past: ghosts born from those who perished during missions had no shred of sanity; they did not feel the same fear as when they were alive.
They were the embodiment of fear.
The sun had already sunk below the horizon.
In winter, the night arrived early, around four or five o''clock, and the darkness had swallowed everything in sight.
Shen Zhu stared at the police station''s gate, her eyes wide with terror.
She knew Yan Hao Yue was dead. She had received a call from beyond the grave, and she was trapped in a nightmare. But she refused to give up, refused to let her life end in vain.
Even if death was imminent, she had to fight back!
With a surge of resolve in her gaze, Shen Zhu contemted their n as the team stealthily made their way into the police station.
"Now, we need to get to the archives as soon as possible. Once you locate the documents, don''t forget to inform the others and take photos for evidence," Shen Zhu instructed them in a low voice. "We''re looking for anything rted to recent disappearances, deaths, and the like. Capture every detail."
As for Lu Yan, on the other hand, they faced a major drawback: they had no idea what their target looked like.
The taskers nodded in agreement and split up to cover more ground.
It didn''t take long for one of them to stumble upon the archives room.
Most of them had acquired some lock-picking skills afterpleting several tasks. They deftly unlocked the door and slipped inside.
"This ce is overflowing with files. How are we supposed to find what we need in time?"
"Let''s sort them by date. It makes sense to start with the most recent ones, right? If we''re after missing persons, they shouldn''t be too hard to spot."
"That sounds reasonable. It''s probably from this year or thest. The townsfolk wouldn''t be so agitated otherwise. They would have moved on by now. Let''s focus on this year''s files then."
The others concurred with the suggestion, and the taskers swiftly gathered the archives from thest two years,ying them out on the table and scanning them for clues.
What they didn''t realise was that the door to the archives room had silently shut behind them, trapping them inside. But they were too engrossed in their search to notice.
"This town is bizarre."
"And not just the missing persons cases. There are heaps of death cases too. A Spirit Vale Town... There''s something seriously wrong with it, don''t you think?"
The dossier revealed a slew of strange and gruesome cases that shocked them to the core. In their world, such horrors would have sparked a massive outcry and investigation. But the inhabitants of the Spirit Vale Town appeared to be immune to fear, carrying on with their lives as usual.
As they delved deeper into the files, the lights in the archive room started to dim and brighten, producing a soft humming noise.
A twisted ck shape slowly took form.
Chapter 99
Chapter 99
A distorted silhouette lurked outside the door, its gaze fixed on the frantic group within.
"Listen up, everyone! We need to get out of here as soon as we finish checking!"
Afterpleting so many tasks, how could they not recognize the ominous signs that heralded a dreadful urrence?
"Come on, faster!"
The folders rustled as several people hastened their movements. The one at theputer also quickened their typing, their fingers flying over the keys.
Faster...
Almost there!
A cold draft swept in, toppling a pile of dusty folders that had been stacked too high. They crashed to the floor with a loud bang, making everyone jump.
Shen Zhu, who was also holding a bunch of files, felt a surge of panic.
She was well aware that she was the most vulnerable among this group. Why had she agreed to a deal with a ghost? The thought gnawed at her, and her nerves were on edge. She whipped her head around, only to find that it was just some books that had fallen. She breathed a sigh of relief, returning her focus to the documents.
In the dim and flickering light, the photo on the file she was holding morphed into the face of Yan Hao Yue, who smiled at her wickedly.
"A crackle."
The files slipped from Shen Zhu''s hands andnded on the ground, drawing everyone''s attention once more.
"Shen Zhu, what''s wrong?"
Shen Zhu was aware that her actions had drawn attention. She quickly shook her head, trying to act casual. "It''s nothing, just slipped." She lied, hoping that no one would notice her trembling hands. She stretched out on tiptoe, pretending to adjust the files, while hiding the photo that the wind threatened to expose.
The lights flickered above her, casting eerie shadows on the walls.
"Hurry! Let''s go! We''lle backter."
One of them was standing by the door, holding it open with his foot to prevent them from being locked in. He had barely yelled into the room when the lights went outpletely, engulfing them in darkness.
No one argued with him. They all knew that he was right. They had to get out of here. Now. They ran towards the door. Shen Zhu followed them
Her head was throbbing, as if someone was hammering nails into her skull. She couldn''t think clearly. She couldn''t see clearly.
Books crashed to the floor behind her, as if someone had pushed them off the shelves. The bookcase rattled, as if someone was shaking it violently.
The man in front of her reached the door, and grabbed the hand of the person who was holding it open. "Quick! Hurry and run!" He yelled, pulling him out, yet he pulled out only the hand.
He felt something wet and slippery. He looked down, and saw blood. Blood that dripped from the severed arm that he was holding. Blood that sttered on the floor, forming a gruesome pattern. Blood that stained his clothes, his skin, his soul.
Before Shen Zhu could react, people in front of her were torn apart into a heap of limbs, spilling all over the floor.
Thick, warm blood sshed on her, soaking her from head to toe. Shen Zhu didn''t bother to wipe it off, she sprinted out the door.
Darkness engulfed the entire corridor, rendering it impossible to illuminate. Though it was only early evening, the night had fallen so swiftly and heavily that the faces of herpanions were indistinguishable. The only signs of life were the fleeting shadows that darted across the walls and the mour of footsteps.
"So, does this count as me visiting Yan Hao Yue at the police station?"
She had surveyed the ce in the daylight, when it had seemed like a straightforward corridor with a few turns. But now, it had transformed into a maze. Whichever direction she took, she encountered no boundaries. Shen Zhu felt a surge of panic; she attempted topose herself, but her heart pounded faster and faster, threatening to burst out of her chest.
Something... was trailing her!
She was certain of it; it had to be Yan Hao Yue. She had vowed toe and find her; had Yan Hao Yue finally arrived to fulfil her promise?
Shen Zhu pursued the figure ahead, oblivious to the fact that the figure in front... was nothing but a shadow.
She chased after these phantoms, plunging deeper into the abyss.
As for whether this ce was truly the police station, who could tell?
Why?
Why had she been running for so long and still not found a way out?
Where was the exit? Wait, who were these people ahead? Were they really thepanions she had arrived with?
The thought barely crossed her mind when Shen Zhu felt a surge of dread; the shapes that loomed ahead of her took on a sinister aspect in her vision.
No matter how hard she squinted, they bore no resemnce to anyone she recognised.
What was she to do? Where was she even running to?
By her reckoning, she had run far enough to circle back to the police station and her home; yet she remained trapped...
What could she do? What was she meant to do?
If only she could calm down, she would realise that her mind was ying tricks on her at this moment. But the endless darkness had eroded her will, almost robbing her of her rationality. She blurted out, "Is that you, Hao Yue? I dide to look for you, truly. I haven''t broken my promise, can you please let me go?"
She had heard it countless times, from other taskers and from herself to the neers: ghosts have no feelings or reason; it''s futile for humans to bargain with them or appeal to their souls.
When faced with a ghost, the only option was to run! Run faster. That was the only hope of survival. Pleading for mercy, negotiating, or invoking past bonds were all in vain. Of course, if one could decipher the rules of the task, perhaps they could even fight back against the ghost.
Because tasks were not only for them; ghosts had their own tasks toplete.
But Shen Zhu was too terrified, and the pain in her head was too intense, to remember this iron rule. She kept on begging in the dark void.
"I really dide to find you, and now I want to go back. Please, stop chasing me, alright?"
She didn''t want to die; she wanted to live...
"I beg you! Spare me, please. Spare me for the sake of our once good rtionship."
As soon as these words left her mouth, a light bulb hanging above the corridor flickered with electricity, then suddenly lit up.
As if by magic, the cold wind, the faint whispers, and the menacing shadows that had haunted her in the darkness all disappeared, leaving only the dim yellow light from an old bulb.
Shen Zhu''s eyes widened in disbelief. She stopped abruptly, aware that she was still in the centre of the corridor, where everyone else had vanished. The corridor, and the rooms on either side with their gaping doors, were deserted.
"Thank you, thank you, Hao Yue. I swear I''ll burn incense and offer paper money to you when I return. I''ll look after your family," Shen Zhu muttered, not daring to waste another second, sprinting towards the exit.
Only when she emerged from the main entrance, enveloped in moonlight, did she feel a surge of relief.
She had made it out alive?
Had Yan Hao Yue shown her mercy?
**
"Are you certain she''s a traitor?" Fang Tu () seized Lin Chu''s hair, yanking it back harshly, watching Lin Chu cringe in agony, he caressed her face softly, "You''d better confess truthfully, or do you want me to make you talk?"
( (Fng) is amon surname that means square or direction. (T) is a rare given name that means bitter herb or bitterness. could be interpreted as a bitter direction or a square herb.)
His voice was gentle, but it sent a chill down the spines of the other operatives, who instinctively retreated a few paces from him.
Even those who had survived multiple missions had little sympathy for others, having killed a few themselves. But... cruel individuals like Fang Tu were umon. He seemed innately immune to fear, having been fascinated by blood, bones, and the like since childhood, but unable to pursue a medical career due to legal barriers, forcing him to conceal his hobbies.
Until he became a tasker.
Almost every time, he would use NPCs for live dissections, without any respect for human life. Once, he even drove a neer mad, and he didn''t care; to him, a crazed teammate was no different from an NPC, and he eliminated them without hesitation.
This was the message conveyed by a few of his surviving teammates. Most people were terrified of such a personality, but there were also some who thought they could exploit him for their own ends.
Like now, when interrogation was required, sending him in was the most appropriate option.
Bound and helpless, Lin Chu sat in the centre of the living room, her head shaking violently as tears streamed down her face. "I really don''t know, I''m not a traitor... What was I trying to do? Even if I couldn''tplete the task, I would still die..."
Her delicate features and fearful expression gave her the appearance of an innocent child, but her words fell on deaf ears.
Xi Men Yuan crossed his arms, his eyes piercing her with a cold stare. "Yes, what were you trying to do?"
"I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, I won''t even nce at those NPCs anymore... I just thought he was good-looking..." Lin Chu sobbed, her face drenched with tears.
"Hush, don''t make a noise." Fang Tu''s voice was low and menacing, as he held a knife in his hand, the tip lightly brushing against Lin Chu''s cheek. The icy metal sent a shiver down her spine, locking her neck in ce as she looked at him with terror.
"Even though you''re crying, why do I always feel like you''re lying to me?"
Lin Chu tried to suppress her fear, shrinking her neck back as much as she could. "I''m not... I''m begging you, I really am not..."
Yu Huai Yao couldn''t help but speak up, his voice breaking the tense silence. "I also don''t think it''s her, she has no reason to obstruct our mission."
Fang Tu paused, turning around slowly, his eerie gaze scanning Yu Huai Yao from head to toe, as if calcting the best spot to plunge the knife.
"Yu Huai Yao, right? When we handle things, it''s best for you, a neer, to stay out of it." Ling Tong pushed him away, his tone blunt and dismissive.
The two missioners followed his lead and grabbed Yu Huai Yao by the arms, trying to drag him away.
But Yu Huai Yao refused to leave, digging his heels into the ground. He was used to working on cultural relics, which required physical strength and stamina, so he was not easy to move. The two struggled to pull him away, as he resisted with all his might.
Yu Huai Yao pleaded for her life. "She didn''t betray anyone, she swore it. We all had the same task toplete, and if she failed, she would die anyway," he said, trying to reason with them. "She was only a neer, naive and trusting, not a traitor. You can''t condemn her for a single mistake, can you?"
Fang Tu ignored his words, pulling Lin Chu closer to his chest. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling her scent with a mock tenderness. "Neer, huh? That''s a nice way of putting it. And what are you to her, then?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Lin Chu sobbed uncontrobly, feeling his breath on her neck. She couldn''t understand why Yu Huai Yao was standing up for her. He had seen her hurt An Ru with his own eyes. What did he want from her?
Yu Huai Yao shook his head. "I have nothing to do with her. I just hate seeing you bully the weak."
They looked like a pair of star-crossed lovers, torn apart by a cruel fate.
"Besides, how do you know that the man she stopped was Lu Yan? If you''re so suspicious of him, why don''t you just follow him and see for yourself? Why do you have to torture a girl?" he challenged them.
Xi Men Yuan scoffed. "Don''t worry, we''ve already sent some people after him. We''ll find out soon enough." He nced at Lin Chu, his eyes full of doubt. "But that doesn''t mean you''re off the hook, little missy."
Lin Chu tried to act innocent, nodding her head frantically. "Yes, yes, yes, please go and check on him. I swear I didn''t do anything wrong. I''ll never be so stupid again."
Jiang Yu, who had been silent until then, finally spoke. "That''s enough for today," he said, sounding bored. "Lin Chu''s guilt is hard to prove, but so is her innocence. She''ll have to stay under our watch at all times, and never be alone."
He didn''t bother to look at Lin Chu, as if she was beneath his notice. "Lin Chu, do you agree to this condition?"
Lin Chu nodded again, tears streaming down her face. "Okay, okay, okay, please don''t kill me. I beg you, please. I promise I''ll never be foolish again."
Jiang Yu nodded back. "Fine. Fang Tu, let her go."
Fang Tu''s eyes shed with malice. He held Lin Chu''s gaze for a moment, then threw her to the ground. He put away his surgical knife, but not before giving her a wicked smile that made her blood run cold. He walked away, leaving her to whimper in fear.
Yu Huai Yao rushed over to untie her, and Lin Chu wiped away her tears, whispering her gratitude to him and Jiang Yu.
She still looked like a pitiful and fragile girl, one who could never harm a fly.
With a silent gaze, Jiang Yu followed as Yu Huai Yao and hispanion receded.
Suddenly, he raised his voice. "Wait, Mr. Yu Huai Yao, I have a question for you."
Yu Huai Yao stopped and turned around.
"I''m curious about your profession. What do you do for a living?"
"I''m an archaeologist. I restore and preserve ancient artefacts."
Jiang Yu nodded to show he understood and gestured for them to continue.
Lin Chu, feeling puzzled, noticed that although Jiang Yu spoke the fewest words among the group, he had the authority when he did speak. What was his secret?
After they left, Xi Men Yuan asked, "What did you notice?"
Jiang Yu replied, "That Lin Chu is more than meets the eye. In this mission, there are twenty-two neers, including retired soldiers, corporate executives, provincial-level athletes, and so on... Even that Yu Huai Yao who just spoke is an archaeologist. Each neer surpasses the calibre of the previous ones, as if they''ve been handpicked."
He smirked. "So, do you think an ordinary girl prone to flights of fancy would be among them?"
Xi Men Yuan agreed with him, while Ling Tongmented, "Now, let''s see what she does."
Lin Chu and Yu Huai Yao walked side by side in the courtyard, with Yu Huai Yao murmuringforting words to her.
If it weren''t for their hidden motives, this scene would have been quite picturesque.
"So, you do know Lu Yan after all, don''t you?" Yu Huai Yao asked suddenly, suspicion evident in his voice.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the bug that Jiang Yu had given him earlier, hoping to capture any sound in the area.
Lin Chu saw the device and shook her head vigorously. "I truly don''t know him. And besides, he introduced himself as Jiang Bai, didn''t he? I mean... I suppose I was a bit foolish, but that''s hardly a crime, is it?"
Yu Huai Yao persisted, speaking earnestly. "But why would hee out of the library if he goes by Jiang Bai? He doesn''t seem like he belongs here at all," hemented. "Listen, I''ve always been on your side, you know that. I would never do anything to harm you. So if there''s anything you can tell me, anything at all, to help us get out of this situation, please, I''m begging you, just say it, okay?"
Jiang Yu was sitting in the room, listening intently to the voices of a man and a woman through his earphones.
Lin Chu sounded exasperated. "How many times do I have to say it? I don''t know anything. Why are you all so convinced that I do? If I had any idea that he was Lu Yan, I would have wasted no time in killing him andpleting the task ages ago."
Yu Huai Yao sensed Lin Chu''s rising anger and tried to soothe her. They exchanged a few more words, then parted ways and returned to their respective rooms.
Lin Chu''s performance was impable, but... Jiang Yu still couldn''t shake off his distrust of her.
The moment he hadid eyes on her, Jiang Yu''s internal rm bells had gone off. His intuition had told him that this was no ordinary person.
With a swift motion, Yu Huai Yao peeled off the bug that clung to his palm and tossed it onto the desk. Ity there, a tiny metallic speck, still transmitting his every sound and movement.
He had just followed Jiang Yu''s orders and tried to coax some answers out of Lin Chu, but he had also given her a subtle signal with his eyes: don''t say anything. He trusted that Lin Chu, with her sharp mind, would catch on to his silent plea.
He prayed that he hadn''t been too obvious.
Lin Chu, meanwhile, had retreated to her own room, shutting the door behind her with a soft click. She let out a muffled sob, her chest tight with anguish.
She shrugged off her coat and draped it over the edge of the bed. Through the bugs that Jiang Yu and Xi Men Yuan had nted on themselves, they could hear the faint sounds of clothes being shed, followed by the ssh of water as she headed to the bathroom to wash up.
They didn''t notice anything amiss.
Lin Chu cast a wary nce at her coat on the bed, then crawled under the covers. She was well aware that when they had dragged her back earlier, they had slipped a bug onto her as well, but now... she had no choice but to act oblivious.
She was ying a dangerous game. She knew her actions would arouse suspicion, but it was a risk she had to take. To protect Lu Yan from being discovered too soon, she had to do this.
And the only reason Yu Huai Yao had gone along with her was because she had made a bold im: she had poisoned him in the real world.
It was a preposterous lie, but given how she had used perfume to knock out An Ru before, Yu Huai Yao couldn''t afford to dismiss her.
The secret that Lu Yan harboured... It must have been the reason why someone wanted him dead.
How could anyone evade those relentless pursuers and reach out to Lu Yan?
The taskers who had ventured out in search of clues had alle back, except for the ones who had met their grisly fate. Shen Zhu was thest to return. Her face bore a ghostly pallor, and she slipped in without drawing any attention, exchanging a few perfunctory words with the others before heading straight to her room.
Only when shey down on her bed did Shen Zhu feel the full weight of her narrow escape from death.
She still couldn''t wrap her head around it. Yan Hao Yue had let her live. She should have been dead, transformed into a ferocious spectre, yet she had spared her.
Why?
She felt off-kilter today. Her mind was foggy and restless, her thoughts sluggish and erratic, and her emotions unstable and vtile. But she didn''t pay heed... or maybe she deliberately overlooked her own abnormality. She washed up in a hurry, and theny down to rest.
She didn''t realise that even as she was washing up, she never once looked at the mirror.
Because, if she had lifted her gaze, she would have seen her own reflection in the mirror, with a gaping hole in her skull, where swarms of white maggots writhed and squirmed, feasting on her brain.
Odd... her head was throbbing more and more.
Shen Zhu''s headache prevented her from sleeping.
Not just her head, but her whole body was growing colder and colder.
A bone-chilling cold seeped into her skin, making her shiver uncontrobly. Shen Zhu clutched the nket around her, seeking some warmth, but it was useless. The cold was relentless, unforgiving, as if it wanted to freeze her to death.
How could it be so cold? She wondered, her teeth chattering. It was winter, yes, but the nket she was under should have been made of thick cotton, soft and cozy.
But wait... thick cotton nket?
A surge of astonishment jolted her awake. She reached out to touch the nket, only to feel a thinyer of white cloth, barely covering her body. It felt rough and scratchy, like a cheap shroud. And underneath it, she could sense the hard surface of a cold metal, confining her in a cramped space.
Where the hell was she? She had been lying in bed, sleeping peacefully, just a moment ago!
Panic gripped her heart, making it pound wildly. She tried to sit up, to break free from this nightmare, but she couldn''t. She was trapped, imprisoned in a narrow, icy space that resembled a square coffin.
Where the hell was she?
She had been lying on her left side, facing the wall. She attempted to turn to the other side, hoping to find a way out, but she froze in horror.
There, right in front of her, was Yan Hao Yue''s pale face. Her eyes were wide open, staring nkly at nothing. Her eyeballs were askew, as if they had rolled back in their sockets. Her lips were blue, Her skin was grey, Her expression was lifeless.
She was dead. And she was lying next to her. She was actually lying next to Yan Hao Yue, next to her corpse.
She knew where she was. She knew what had happened.
"Ahhh"
Her scream echoed through the morgue on the third basement floor.
**
Lu Yan had not slept for days.
Sleep eluded him, but he dared not sumb to the lure of slumber. Every time he closed his eyes, a primal fear would jolt him awake,pelling him to escape. He had followed his usual routine, sneaking into the residential building near his target''s location, hoping that the ghosts would strike the target first and spare him the torment. But sleep was still a luxury he could not afford.
He sat in the dimly lit room, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. He closed them briefly, testing his luck.
A surge of crimson invaded his sight, startling him. He snapped his eyes open and looked at the window.
He did not notice the faint blood-red shape that lurked in his dark pupils. But he had a hunch.
He had to avoid seeing his own reflection, for that was the only way he could catch a glimpse of it when he closed his eyes...
It was hiding inside his eyes, so if he saw his reflection, it would see him too.
And if he kept his eyes closed for too long, it would sense his presence.
Lu Yan gazed out of the window, wondering when that thing had entered his eyes. He racked his brain and remembered a date.
It was the day he had arrived at Spirit Vale Town and found the residential building to rest. He had been puzzled by the sudden disappearance of his sleep paralysis, but now he realised that it had been lurking in his eyes ever since.
But what was it? And if it was a ghost, whose ghost was it?
His ears picked up the sound of distant explosions.
Explosions were still rocking the town, spreading chaos and death.
**
This time, the st ripped through a residential area, where most people were sleeping peacefully. The explosion shattered the night''s silence, sending a small mushroom cloud into the sky, iming lives without a loud bang.
"Damn it! Who the hell is doing this? Who''s nting these bombs?" Constable Xiao Li fumed with rage. "If I get my hands on him, I''ll blow his brains out."
"Stop wasting time, we need to save the injured!"
The sirens of ambnces, police cars, and fire trucks pierced the night air, converging on the scene of the st. But the mes were too intense, devouring everything in their path. The firefighters battled valiantly to quell the inferno, but by the time they seeded, the residential area was nothing but a smouldering heap of rubble.
No one made it out alive.
They were used to seeing death in different forms, but the sheer scale of this carnage still filled them with dread.
Who could be behind this?
A lone figure stepped out of the tall building, surveying themotion from a distance. He casually strolled into the shadows, clutching an unused pistol in his hand. A long axe hung from his back, glinting in the moonlight.
Surprisingly, it was someone who looked like Lu Yan.
He made his way along the deserted street, sensing something was following him. He suddenly sidestepped, dodging a small dagger that flew from behind. The dagger embedded itself into the wall with a thud, missing him by inches.
As he expected! It had found him again!
He sprinted away.
Chapter 100
Chapter 100
A lone figure sprinted down the empty street, his feet rapidly hitting the pavement with a sense of desperate urgency. He ran as if his very existence depended on it, because it did.
Someone was hunting him.
"Bang!"
A gunshot pierced the air, its sound barely distinguishable amidst hisboured breaths. Swiftly, he contorted his body, narrowly avoiding the bullet that ripped through a nearby tree, setting it aze.
Who wanted him dead?
On the roof of a nearby building, a shadowy figure pulled out a gun, crouched low, and moved swiftly. They assessed the distance and angle, then stood up to throw a makeshift bomb toward the street below, before continuing their pursuit.
The bomb exploded with a deafening roar, sending a wave of heat and debris in all directions. Trees were uprooted, cars were flipped, and windows shattered.
Lu Yan, who had been sprinting down the street, managed to dive into a small shop at thest moment. However, he was not unharmed. His face and left shoulder were covered inrge gashes, with blood oozing from the wounds. Ignoring the terrified gaze of the shopkeeper, he went straight to the sink to wash his injuries and ask for some bandages.
He was polite, but the shopkeeper remained wary. Seeing the calm and resolute expression on the stranger''s face, he fetched a first aid kit, hoping the stranger would soon leave. And he did. After tending to his wounds, Lu Yan expressed his gratitude and rose to leave.
A glimmer of steel.
A spray of crimson.
Lu Yan pulled his hood over his face, concealing his scars, took hold of the axe, and departed.
Knowing that he would meet his demise in the future, he made a wish to the god to be able to return to the past and alter his fate.
The god agreed.
And this time, they finally tallied up the cost of his previous wishes, demanding the lives of all the residents in the small town.
Lu Yan had be indifferent to these people, viewing them as nothing more than pawns in his gamenot enemies, not friends, just obstacles.
They appeared to be ordinary people, but why couldn''t they behave like ordinary people?
He agreed without hesitation. In the future he had envisioned, these people would perish regardless.
Besides, once hepleted his mission, the people in Spirit Vale Town woulde back to life in some other way.
He stepped out of the shop and nced up in the direction from where the bomb hade. There was no sign of anyone; they were probably gone by now.
But...
From his wounded flesh, he pulled out a small knife and held it up against his own de.
They were identical in every way.
One of them belonged to him, and the other had been wielded by his assant.
He froze, scanning his surroundings.
There was no doubt; the one who had attacked him was his own doppelganger. He had no idea if it was a future version of himself or a parallel one from another timeline, nor what the motive and the means of the attack were.
He had noticed that these missions had begun to involve more and more time anomalies, ranging from subtle to tant.
Lu Yan pocketed the knives and resumed his sprint.
He would not give up, even if he learned that his attacker was his future self, or for some other reason. He did not trust the vague notion of "his future self"; he only trusted his present self.
Another bomb screamed down from the sky, but Lu Yan was ready for it. He grabbed a jagged piece of metal from the rubble and hurled it at the missile, knocking it off course. It smashed into a nearby apartment building, sending ss and mes everywhere. Lu Yan ran for cover.
The air was thick with cries of pain, terror, and desperation... and in the far distance, the police sirens red again.
On the other side of the town
Lu Yan wasn''t asleep; he was just resting his eyes. Barely.
He had guessed correctly; that thing... it was hiding in his eyeballs. That was why the bomber could not let him see a mirror, for then that thing would locate him through the reflection.
No one could sleep tonight, most likely. The town had been rocked by at least twenty explosions, and the death toll was unknown.
Another st echoed, and Lu Yan turned his head towards the noise.
Far away, across two streets, a column of fire rose into the night.
It seemed his future self had no intention of killing him.
He could afford to take the risk of targeting his future self, knowing that he would still have a chance to live on after the mission was over. But what if his future self seeded in killing his past self? Would he then vanish into thin air, or would he create a paradox that would tear apart the fabric of reality?
**
A hasty meeting was convened in a secluded room, attended by some of the most influential figures among this batch of mission participants: Di Ying, Xi Men Yuan, Jiang Yu, Ling Tong, and Tan Xu.
Ling Tong checked his watch with a frown and asked, "Did anyone bother to inform Shen Zhu? Howe she hasn''t shown up yet?"
Di Ying responded, "I did, but she seemed unwell today. Perhaps she''s resting."
Jiang Yu interjected, "Well, in that case, let''s not waste any more time waiting for her. Just give her a gentle reminderter." He then proceeded toy out a hand-drawn map on the table, the result of his meticulous work with inputs from everyone. He also produced a set of small gs with bases and ced them strategically on the map.
"Take a good look, everyone. These are the locations where the explosions are going to happen tonight." He gestured at the map. "Do you notice anything odd?"
There were twenty-three spots in total, scattered randomly across the map, forming no discernible pattern or shape as one would expect from a typical suspense novel.
Di Ying wondered, "Are they mostly residential buildings?"
Indeed, apart from a library and a supermarket, all the other ces marked with gs bore thebel of residential buildings.
Residential buildings implied high poption density, especially at night when people were sound asleep, making it harder to flee from the st.
"That''s not all. Look closer." The man pointed his finger at a specific spot.
That spot was none other than the building where they resided.
"Our residence is also a residential building with a high concentration of people. And since we are here on a mission, we should be more appealing to the ghosts. Why would they spare our building from the explosions?"
It made no sense, even if the explosions were unpredictable, that they would skip their building based on the trajectory they followed.
As for the idea that the mission was somehow "protecting" them? Ha, they would sooner trust science than that.
"A ghost killing could be done in a more subtle way, so I suspect human involvement."
The others nodded in agreement, their eyes darting around the dimly lit room. They wondered why the killer would avoid their residence.
Ling Tong broke the silence with a sigh. "But we shouldn''t jump to conclusions. We''ll have to wait and see if this has any repercussions for us in the next few days," he said, trying to sound optimistic.
"Speaking of human involvement, do you all remember Wang Shun De? The two who were guarding at the mouth of the tunnel," stroked his chin, deep in thought. "At first, we all assumed it was the work of ghosts. Butter, we deduced that the likely culprit was Lu Yan. Do you think this explosion could also...?"
He trailed off, but everyone present understood his unspoken words.
"It''s hard to say," Jiang Yu muttered, shaking his head.
If it was really Lu Yan, why hadn''t he targeted them? Among the people who died in the explosion, there were hardly any taskers, mostly just local residents.
Furthermore, if it was really Lu Yan, why would he kill the people in town? Clearly, the townsfolk didn''t know him, so it was unlikely he was a vengeful ghost seeking indiscriminate revenge, right?
Every task had a solution. Since it was clearly stated that Lu Yan must be killed, there must be a way to eliminate him.
No one could figure out his motive, even after thinking for a while.
Di Ying broke the silence, asking, "Any news from Lin Chu''s side?"
Jiang Yu pointed to his ear, wearing a small earpiece. He said, "She''s asleep."
"What do you think of her?" Di Ying frowned, finding it hard to believe that she could sleep so soundly in such a situation, but she didn''t press further.
Xi Men Yuan said, "She''s a suspicious character."
Ling Tong added, "I don''t believe she''s unaware, but she probably doesn''t have other solutions like we spected."
"Or maybe she has some other reason that we don''t know about."
Dai Ying asked. "What about the man who''s been helping her, called Yu Huai Yao?"
Jiang Yu nodded curtly. "He''s also asleep. When we return to reality, everyone should investigate the identities of these people. I don''t think Lin Chu is as simple as she seems," he added, lowering his voice. "She might be the most dangerous one among this group of neers."
His words sent a chill down everyone''s spine.
If Jiang Yu, who had seen countless horrors and dangers, used such a word to describe her, she must be far from simple.
A hesitant voice spoke up. "Do you think it''s possible that her task is different from ours?"
Ling Tong scoffed loudly. "How could that be?"
But then he faltered, as if realising the absurdity of his own question.
Indeed, why couldn''t it be possible?
The tasks nowadays were bing increasingly bizarre, the way forward was harder to find, so what was strange about different tasks in the same world?
They had no idea what this world was nning, or what kind of game they were ying.
After some further discussion, everyone dispersed, leaving Jiang Yu alone in the room.
He muttered three names under his breath. "Lu Yan, Jiang Bai, Lin Chu..."
He pondered silently, his mind shrouded in a thick fog, unable to see the truth clearly.
If Jiang Bai was indeed Lu Yan, the first task could easily bepleted, but where should they look for the missing person?
And what about Lin Chu? What was her role in all this?
**
Meanwhile, Lu Yan was still on the run, hunted by an unknown enemy.
The ruthless hunter, who had been tracking him with lethal weapons, had retreated into the shadows and even betrayed his whereabouts to the police. Now, a small squad of armed officers was hot on his trail.
To avoid interfering with his past self along this timeline, he had stashed the axe halfway and stumbled upon a motorcycle. After breaking the lock, he revved up the engine and sped away.
The motorcycle thundered down the street, leaving behind a trail of smoke and noise. If he could just get past this intersection, he could head towards the west of town, where the streets were busier and more chaotic, making it easier to escape. He could see the traffic lights ahead, turning green.
But...
Just as he was about to cross the intersection, Lu Yan mmed on the brakes. The tires squealed against the pavement, igniting sparks of fire. Without waiting for the motorcycle toe to a halt, he flung himself off, letting it crash into a tree at the roadside.
He rolled on the ground, shielding his head. Although he sustained minor injuries, he felt more relieved than anything. He had just dodged a bullet. Or rather, a wire.
The police car behind him failed to stop in time. The metal wires that had been strung across the road at high speed sliced through the car''s roof and the heads of the four people inside, sending them flying into the air before being snagged and pulled down by the wires above.
The tyres were also cut in half, and the car, carrying four headless corpses, hurtled forward, smashing into a nearby shopfront - another st followed.
Lu Yan gasped and crawled into the shadows.
He had not expected that his future self would have set up such a deadly trap at the intersection!
This way, no matter how he tried to escape, whether on foot, on a bike, or in a car, he would surely meet a gruesome end. If he had not leaped off the bike just then, he might have shared the same fate as those people.
Two more police cars closed in. They witnessed the horrific sight of theirrades, and the second car desperately hit the brakes. However, they were toote, and they too lost their roof and the heads of the two front-seat passengers.
The young constable in the back seat felt his chest convulse with violent spasms. He had barely registered the cmity that befell the car in front of them when he instinctively bellowed "Get down!" and hurled himself onto the seat.
The two in front, however, had no chance to react; they were already doomed...
As he crouched down to avoid the wire, his hand reached for the door and nudged it open a bit. The sudden stop almost flung him out of the car, his hand still gripping the handle, but he managed to anchor himself by hooking his feet around the seat.
He raised his head and caught a glimpse of the face of the person they had been pursuing all this time through the opened gap.
The person seemed oblivious to him, apparently desperate to escape. They pulled down their hood and walked away without looking back.
He mbered out of the car, turned around, and beheld the grisly scene: half of the car had smashed into a building, with mes devouring both the upper and lower parts. He saw several severed heads scattered on the ground, and... a motorcycle.
That was the culprit''s escape vehicle.
The person had eluded them.
He hobbled over, intending to scour the car for any clues, and spotted a blood stained bandage.
It was better than nothing; it might reveal some information about the other person.
In the distance, he saw another group of teammates arriving. The young constable, whose surname was Yang, pocketed the bandage and waved to them from afar.
"Did you get a good look at him?"
He nodded and started to describe, "He had a refined appearance, quite tall, over six feet by my estimation, with a slender face, eyes..."
The artist''s hand moved swiftly over the paper, capturing the features of a young man as Xiao Yang narrated them.
"See this cheek here?" Xiao Yang gestured to the left side of the face, from the brow to the jaw. "It''s marred by burns. Not charred, but scraped raw, the skin torn and bleeding. A gruesome sight, hard to miss. The wound must have been at least three days old. I bet that gauze I found was meant to cover it up."
The artist nodded, adding the scars to the sketch with his pencil.
"That''s him, alright. No doubt about it." Xiao Yang confirmed, his eyes scanning the image.
The newly minted portrait of the suspect was soon distributed within the police station. It was printed and ready to be stered as a wanted poster the following day.
The next morning, the taskers were greeted by a familiar face on every wall and corner of the streets and alleys, even below their own residence.
"Isn''t this Jiang Bai?" Xi Men Yuan asked, snapping a photo of the poster and scrutinising the resemnce.
The only difference was the scar.
Across the street, Lu Yan stepped out of the building where he had spent the night.
He looked weary, having barely slept, but his expression wasposed, betraying no sign of awareness that a group of people were scheming to end his life.
Some of the taskers were still around, and as the prime suspect emerged, they all fixed their gaze on him.
The resemnce was uncanny...
Yet, there was a ring discrepancy. The face on the wanted poster bore arge, ugly wound, while Jiang Bai''s face was immacte, without a hint of injury.
"Jiang Bai" greeted them with a friendly smile, his slightly pallid face giving him a fragile appearance. "Good morning. What are you all staring at?"
Xi Men Yuan said nothing, his eyes scanning Jiang Bai from head to foot.
He seemed weary, as if he had hardly slept, but he was spotless... Xi Men Yuan sniffed, but he detected no trace of gunpowder on the other man.
Was it possible that there were two people who looked so alike?
"You''ll find out soon enough."
Lu Yan approached them, his gaze falling on the face on the wanted poster. He halted, his hand flying to his own face. "How can this be? This person..." He shook his head vehemently. "It''s not me. I swear... I was in my room resting all night long."
"So, Mr. Jiang Bai, do you have a twin brother?" Jiang Yu inquired.
"Jiang Bai" shook his head, his expression bewildered.
"You don''t look like a local. What brought you here? This Spirit Vale Town is quite isted, and very few outsiders venture in."
Lu Yan was about to divulge his previous motives when his eyelids flickered, and he cut himself off.
His current identity was Jiang Bai. What if they demanded to see his press credentials? He couldn''t afford to expose any of his documents now.
"I heard that the town is hosting a traditional cultural festival, and I came to seek some inspiration," Lu Yan said. "Truth be told, I''m an artist, nning to hold an art exhibition when I go back. I never anticipated to stumble upon something like this as soon as I arrived..."
"A traditional cultural festival?"
The others exchanged puzzled looks. Howe they had no clue about it?
"Yes, a traditional cultural festival." Lu Yan produced a flyer from his pocket and showed it to them.
It was the same one he had obtained earlier from the clown girl.
The flyer had transformed, the masks on it still intact, but now apanied by several lines of blood-red text, announcing the time and location of the cultural festival.
And the cultural festival was ted for the end of this month!
"I suppose you''re all outsiders,e here for the festival," Jiang Bai said, fishing for information.
Confronted by Jiang Bai''s query, Xi Men Yuan responded, "We''ve never heard of the Cultural Festival, just heard the scenery was splendid, so we decided to explore it."
"So, are you lot nning to join this Cultural Festival?" Jiang Bai asked.
All of a sudden, Lu Yan concocted a daring idea.
His gaze grew gradually malicious, boring into everyone, a cold smile curling his lips. "Are you nning to join this Cultural Festival?"
At that moment, he was indistinguishable from an ordinary person possessed by a ghost, making the closest tasker recoil in terror. "You..." His words were cut off as Jiang Yu swiftly intervened, shaking his head mutely.
Would taunting a ghost be courting death?
"Are you... going... to the Cultural Festival?"
"Jiang Bai" looked decidedly unhinged, ring at them fiercely, his face twisted in a snarl, producing an almost inhuman, spine-chilling hiss from his throat.
"You muste after seeing the flyer..."
When dealing with ordinary people, negotiation was still feasible, but when faced with someone inexplicably possessed, the taskers didn''t instantly flee, perhaps overestimating their psychological fortitude.
No sooner had the words left his lips than Jiang Bai''s eyes rolled back in his head, his body going limp as if he were about to copse. Jiang Yu, who was nearest to him, swiftly reached out to catch him, but in the next instant, Jiang Bai regained his bnce, lifting his head with a bewildered expression.
Jiang Bai pressed his hand to his forehead, inhaling and exhaling deeply. He managed topose himself after a few moments, and shed a casual smile at the others, apologising for his sudden spell. He said he wanted to go back to his room and rest, and asked them not to mention his name to the police, or he would be in trouble.
As soon as he ascended the stairs, the others resumed their conversation.
"He just now..." someone attempted to bring up Jiang Bai''s strange behaviour, but was quickly silenced by a significant look, and changed the subject instead.
They all knew, even if they did not say it out loud, that he was possessed by a ghost.
"A cultural festival? Howe I haven''t heard anyone else talk about it? And the town seems unaware of it."
"Maybe it''s because of the explosion case; everyone''s focused on that. This cultural festival might not even happen."
Jiang Yu kept his eyes on Jiang Bai''s figure until he vanished down the hallway. Then he said, "Let Lin Chu go and investigate this ''Jiang Bai.''"
Fang Tu nodded slightly, hiding his disappointment, and signalled his agreement.
His gaze had also been riveted on Jiang Bai.
People like him... they would be more interesting if they were ghosts. Cutting them open would be quite a thrill.
Would NPCs possessed by ghosts show any noticeable differences?
Jiang Yu shot him a warning look, "We don''t know how dangerous he is yet. Don''t get carried away."
With a casual nod and a flourish of his coat, Fang Tu departed.
He reached the door of Lin Chu''s room, and without waiting for a reply, barged in. He shed a sly smile at Lin Chu, who was sitting by the window and jerked her head around in fear. "You have a crush on that NPC, don''t you? Well, this is your lucky day."
Lin Chu gasped. "What are you talking about?"
Fang Tu sauntered over and untied the rope from her wrist. His skin was icy, and his soft, slender fingers crept along Lin Chu''s skin like a serpent.
He was like a snake slithering in the dark, hissing poison at his quivering victim. "You better know what to say and what not to say."
Lin Chu shuddered. "I... I know, I won''t say anything wrong."
Fang Tu escorted Lin Chu to Jiang Bai''s residence. He concealed himself at the stairwell, observing Lin Chu knock on the door before leaving with a sigh of relief.
On the other side of the town,
A man cloaked in ck sat in a deserted building, with various materials spread out before him. He was rapidly finishing the task at hand.
He knew that his past self would die in this mission, on the day of the Cultural Festival.
So, his self who died at the Cultural Festival came back to the past through a wish, which was now the present. But wishes from the gods were always unreliable, and this wish might result in even more horrific and chaotic oues.
He had to stop his past self this time! And he had to survive this Cultural Festival!
With this thought in mind, Lu Yan''s movements hastened, and soon, several homemade explosives were once again arranged on the table.
The daylight poured in, casting a faint glow on the cut scars that marred his left cheek, already crusted over and soon to fade.
On the table before himy a wanted poster, bearing a face identical to his own, except for the scars. Next to it rested a bunch of recently extinguished gunpowder tubes, forged from metal, still emanating heat.
He reached out, pressing the gunpowder tubes against his face.
A searing, scorching pain coursed through him, apanied by the stench of charred flesh. Lu Yan endured it, slowly recreating the scars.
This time... he had to survive.
In another world.
After bidding farewell to An Ru, Chu Xiu returned to his dwelling.
He had been cohabiting with that idol for over a month now. He should have gotten rid of it swiftly, but all of a sudden, he felt reluctant to do so.
This was a god... How could he desecrate it?
Chu Xiu saw nothing wrong with his actions. With reverence, he polished the idol and ced it on the altar.
(TN: Finally, I reached the 100 chapter!!! Yahoo! And there are too many Lu Yans to keep track of.)
Chapter 101
Chapter 101
Fang Tus eyes were like ice as he observed Lin Chu knocking on Lu Yans door.
"Jiang Bai, Jiang Bai, are you in there?"
The door opened, revealing Lu Yan''s haggard face. Dark circles under his eyes betrayed his sleepless nights, tormented by who knows what. He stered a smile on his face and greeted Lin Chu, Hey, what a surprise. What are you doing here?
Everything appeared normal, but Fang Tu sensed something was wrong. He heard their conversation through the earpiece, and soon, the phone screen showed him the scene.
Under his threat, Lin Chu had no choice but to follow his orders. She waited for Lu Yan to disappear into the kitchen to brew some tea, and quickly slipped a pinhole camera into the living room.
Lu Yan came back with a steaming cup of tea and handed it to Lin Chu, who expressed her gratitude and gazed at him with a look of adoration.
Fang Tu saw it all on the monitor.
Lin Chu began to babble, "Jiang Bai, did youe to this town for inspiration?"
"Jiang Bai" nodded.
"You''re a painter, right? What kind of paintings do you do? Could you do a portrait for me? I''ll pay you..."
Fang Tu was losing his patience and nudged Lin Chu, who then switched the topic to the Cultural Festival.
"Jiang Bai" thought for a moment, "Honestly, I don''t know much about this cultural festival. I wasn''t nning to join. But a few days ago, when I was at the museum, a little girl gave me a flyer at the entrance. The weird thing is, I can''t get rid of this flyer, no matter what I do. It''s indestructible." "Jiang Bai''s" eyes darkened.
Lin Chu asked, "Can I see the flyer?"
Lu Yan handed it over.
He wasn''t lying, and he had to admit, this group of taskers was the mostpetent he had ever encountered. Maybe they could crack the code, and that wouldn''t be so bad.
At first nce, the flyer looked like any other piece of paper that had been folded and unfolded too many times. Lin Chu held it in her hands, feeling its smoothness and weight. She nced at Lu Yan, who nodded his permission, and then she tried to rip it in half. Nothing happened. She frowned and applied more pressure, but the paper refused to tear.
It was just a thin sheet of paper.
She reached for the pocket knife she always carried with her and shed at the flyer. However, the de bounced off without leaving a mark. Determined, she made a second attempt, putting more force behind it, but still failed to make any impact.
Lu Yan observed her with a faint smile and then handed her a lighter. She flicked it on and held the me to the edge of the paper, but it failed to catch fire. It didn''t even singe.
"It''s too eerie," Lin Chu said, dropping the flyer on the table. "So, you..."
"Yes, that''s why I had toe here. Otherwise, I might not live to see another day."
Fang Tu''s voice came through the earpiece she wore, telling her to take the flyer with her for further analysis.
Lin Chu gave a smile and asked Lu Yan, "Do you mind if I borrow this flyer for a while? I''ll give it back to you tomorrow."
"Sure, go ahead. But don''t lose it, okay?"
"I won''t."
Another explosion sounded from somewhere outside, shaking the windows and making them all flinch.
"By the way, that person on the wanted poster, that''s not you, right?" Lin Chu asked, looking him in the eye. She was curious, not only for herself, but for the others who were listening in.
"Jiang Bai" shook his head. "No, that''s not me. I don''t know why we look so much alike." He paused, and gave her a charming smile. "Maybe I have a long-lost twin brother?"
He did not mention anything about Pisces jade pendant. He knew what it could do, how it could grant wishes to the gods, but he kept that secret to himself.
"I hope you can keep this between us. I don''t care if you want to monitor me or whatever, but I''m innocent. I swear." The young man begged, "I''m just a tourist here; I don''t want to get arrested by the police."
Lin Chu nodded, sensing his desperation. She told him that she understood, and that they would not expose him. After a few more minutes of small talk, following Fang Tu''s instructions, she wrapped up the conversation and left.
They all stared at each other, disbelief and doubt in their eyes.
"Are you telling me that he''s not the one we''re looking for?" one of them asked.
"He looks exactly like him, but there''s a difference: the wanted man has scars all over his face. This Jiang Bai doesn''t have a single scratch."
"Maybe he''s wearing a disguise. Maybe he''s lying. How can we trust him?" a third one challenged.
They had been in this town for three days now.
Three days of horror and mystery, of secrets and lies, of death and danger. The town that had seemed so peaceful and quaint when they first arrived had turned into a nightmare. They had agreed to meet every morning in the hall downstairs, to share what they had learned and to n their next move.
But this morning, they were divided.
"Hold on, where''s Shen Zhu?" Ling Tong scanned the room, looking for the missing girl. He asked, "Did anyone see her yesterday?"
They had assumed she had skipped the meetingst night because she was exhausted, but now they realised something was wrong.
Di Ying stuttered, "I-I saw her go to her roomst night. She looked fine. She said she was going to sleep."
"I saw her too. She smiled at me and said good night." one of the taskers confirmed.
Was she just sleeping in?
That seemed unlikely.
"Come on, let''s go check on her. Maybe something happened to her." Jiang Yu suggested, and a few of them dashed up the stairs, heading to her room. They opened the door and gasped. The room was empty.
"Where is she?"
"Did she run away?"
Jiang Yu shook his head. "No, she''s in trouble. Listen, if you see her, don''t say anything stupid and don''t look her in the eye."
The others murmured, but they were not surprised.
They knew what this town could do.
Three days had passed, and the death toll kept rising. Not only among them, but also among the townsfolk. Over a hundred corpses littered the streets and alleys.
How long would this go on?
**
The crash had ripped off the gauze he had wrapped around his wound. Lu Yan clenched his jaw and taped it back on, ignoring the throbbing pain. He gathered his belongings and prepared to leave.
He knew the town like the back of his hand by now. He slipped through the narrow passages, dodging most of the cameras, and retrieved the axe he had stashed away. He made his way to the crowded areas, slowly and cautiously.
He didn''t want to make another wish to that so-called "god", but he felt he had no choice. Death was breathing down his neck, and he needed a way out. Even if it meant ughtering everyone in the town, he didn''t care anymore.
Besides, his future self had died at the cultural festival. If he could wipe out everyone before the festival, he could change his fate.
But...
His face was everywhere. Wanted posters covered every wall and corner, with his likeness drawn in detail. They didn''t have his name, but they had his features. He looked too much like the man they were hunting, and he couldn''t afford to be seen.
He reached the end of an alley and ripped off one of the posters. He nted a bomb behind it and was about to turn back, when a chill ran down his spine. He spun around and saw a tall, thin figure standing at the other end.
The figure was his mirror image, carrying an identical axe on his back, wearing the same clothes, and sporting arge burn mark on his face.
It was him.
The Lu Yan in the alley felt a surge of confusion.
They had the same injuries, inflicted at the same time. So, from which time was this Lu Yan?
The other Lu Yan at the entrance of the alley didn''t move.
He felt the timer ticking inside him, counting down to his doom. He also knew that the person facing him was himself, but he would not give up his life so easily, just because of some words from his future self.
He had failed to kill himst night, and that made things harder today. And if his other self joined forces with the others in the town, including the task giver, to kill his past self, he would only create more problems for his future self.
So, he just stood there and said one thing.
"Your current actions will doom us both in the future."
The man in the alley asked, "What actions do you mean?" He didn''t wait for the man at the entrance of the alley to answer, and went on, "Killing the people in this town is the price I have to pay. I have no other option."
"But the cultural festival has to happen," said Lu Yan at the entrance of the alley. "And if I''m not wrong, you got more than one reward for making a wish, didn''t you?"
"Yes, but I can''t tell you," said Lu Yan, deep in the alley.
One of the prices he paid was to travel to the future and kill his future self, which was the condition for him toe back to the present. The other price was to wipe out everyone in the town, which was the gift from the "god" for letting him change the past.
So, he wouldn''t tell his future self about this. If his future self was prepared, he might not be able to go back to the present.
Lu Yan at the entrance of the alley said, "I see." He looked outside and said suddenly, "When I came here, it was May 1st."
It was now March 3rd, the third day the task giver was here, and the second day Lu Yan was here.
Lu Yan in the alley said, "I see." But he didn''t say when he hade back from the future.
Lu Yan at the entrance of the alley continued, "Even though I made it back, I made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"I bought something with me. It''s hiding in the eyes of the current Lu Yan," Lu Yan at the entrance of the alley continued, "That thing is me from ater timeline, I don''t know when, but anyway, if we want to live, we have to get past that point. I already told you, you have to participate in the cultural festival."
Lu Yan in the alley nodded.
But he was filled with dread.
He hade close to death at the cultural festival, and only survived by making a wish. But he had kept that secret from his future self. Maybe he was his future self from a timeline where he had died ande back to life, and then he wouldn''t need to know. Or maybe he was on a different path, and that wasn''t such a bad thing.
But this time, how would he make it through?
He was about to walk away, after saying his piece, when he stopped and asked: "Hold on, one more thing. Who are they looking for, the missing person?"
He heard the question, and gave the other him a meaningful look. He shook his head and said, "I can''t tell you."
Not "I don''t know", but "I can''t tell".
He turned around and left, leaving the other him wondering.
It didn''t take long for the townspeople to notice him.
He was the spitting image of the man on the wanted poster!
And he was strutting down the street with a huge axe on his back!
He made sure he got enough attention from the timeline that went back to May 1st, and then he bolted into the alley.
He could hear the sirens in the distance.
"Stop! Don''t run!"
"What''s your name? Stop right there!"
Some eager citizens joined the pursuit.
But it was useless. As they reached a crossroad, a st rocked the street, sending mes and smoke into the air, and catching the crowd that was behind him. More explosions followed, one after another.
Lu Yan used the chaos to escape.
He knew himself better than anyone. He didn''t have to say it, they were all stalling for his current self.
Now, he was under the taskers'' radar. But if they showed up, he could clear his name.
"Another st? Suspect spotted?"
Xi Men Yuan couldn''t believe his eyes when he saw him.
They had managed to hack into the local police system and ess the footage. And sure enough, there he was. The scar on his face still remained, stretching across half of it. To top it off, he had a long axe slung over his shoulder.
The room had been under constant surveince, and "Jiang Bai" had never set foot outside. How was it possible, then, that there was another man who bore his exact likeness?
"Jiang Bai" heard the news and came out of the room, his face a mask of astonishment. He spotted several taskers hanging around the lobby and approached them. "You see? I wasn''t lying. It wasn''t me."
The taskers could hardly believe their eyes as they saw the two identical men. What other exnation could there be? Was Jiang Bai some kind of freak with a twin he didn''t know about?
Jiang Yu, who was among the taskers, nodded at Jiang Bai. "It seems you were telling the truth, Mr. Jiang Bai. You are no longer a suspect."
"Jiang Bai" scowled. "That''s not enough. The police might still think I''m involved. Could you please vouch for me when theye?"
"Sure," Jiang Yu said. "Where are you headed now? We can arrange for someone to go with you, just in case."
"Really?" The other man brightened up. "I was nning to go to the cultural festival venue."
"That''s fine. We can go wherever you want. We have plenty of time."
Jiang Yu wondered what the real murderer would do, if he had found a perfect copy of himself. Would he try to kill him, or use him as a scapegoat?
He decided not to follow them personally, but assigned three people to escort "Jiang Bai".
Fang Tu, Lin Chu, and a man named Qiu Zhi (: could be interpreted as a sincere devotion or a earnest sender.)
Qiu Zhi was a former soldier, with exceptional skills and sharp senses. Jiang Yu trusted him and Fang Tu to deal with Jiang Bai, if he turned out to be more than he seemed. Unless he was a ghost, of course.
They followed the map on the flyer and walked in a tight formation.
Qiu Zhi stayed on Jiang Bai''s left, Lin Chu on his right, while Fang Tu draped his arm over Lin Chu''s shoulder and chatted with her.
Qiu Zhi had no patience for scoundrels like Fang Tu. He also didn''t like Lin Chu, who would probably stab them in the back. And he carried a heavy burden of guilt for Lu Yan, whom they had orders to kill.
He grappled with the moral dilemma that haunted him every waking moment. Was he willing to sacrifice others for his own survival? How could he live with himself if he did? But how could he not, when his own life was at stake?
Qiu Zhi felt torn between two impossible choices. If Lu Yan, the mysterious target of their mission, ever showed up, should he side with him or with his fellow taskers?
He cast a quick nce at Lin Chu, who was being harassed by Fang Tu. Fang Tu wore a cruel smile on his face, seemingly relishing in tormenting her. Lin Chu turned to Qiu Zhi, her eyes filled with desperation, silently pleading for help.
"Leave her alone, she hates it when you do that," Qiu Zhi said, breaking the silence.
Fang Tu''s eyes snapped to Qiu Zhi, narrowing with malice. He didn''t release his grip on Lin Chu''s neck; instead, he tightened it further, causing her to gasp for air.
"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?" he snarled. "This is none of your business."
"It is my business, because you''re being a jerk," Qiu Zhi said, shaking his head. "She might be a traitor, but that doesn''t give you the right to bully her. It''s wrong to bully anyone, especially a woman."
Lin Chu was taken aback by Qiu Zhi''s words. She was aware that Lu Yan had seen through her disguise, and Fang Tu had also harboured suspicions about her. This was why Fang Tu had been relentlessly tormenting her, attempting to make her crack. However, she had never anticipated encountering someone so naive as Qiu Zhi on their team.
"Really? And why is that?" Fang Tu said, mocking Qiu Zhi. He turned his head and bit Lin Chu''s ear, making her whimper.
He noticed a strange scenting from her, something delicate yet captivating. He also had an unusual taste in his mouth, something that didn''t match the vour of human skin.
He was about to investigate further, when Qiu Zhi grabbed his cor and threw him to the ground. Hended hard, feeling a sudden weakness in his limbs. He couldn''t dodge Qiu Zhi''s attack, and he felt humiliated by his fall.
Lin Chu trembled and thanked Qiu Zhi, looking terrified. She wanted to help Fang Tu up, but Qiu Zhi stopped her.
"Don''t bother, he can get up by himself. He''s a grown man, after all."
But he wasn''t sure if he could.
Lin Chu had a simple n: kill Fang Tu when no one was watching, and make it look like he died in an explosion. But with Qiu Zhi here, it was a bad time to execute it.
As Fang Tu threatened Lin Chu again, Qiu Zhi was about to intervene when something unexpected urred.
A de flew down from the upper floor, piercing Fang Tu''s jugr with deadly precision.
"What the hell?"
It all unfolded in a blink of an eye, and Qiu Zhi stared in shock. A shadowy figure peeked out from the high-rise above, shed him a grin, and vanished.
That person... was the suspect they were searching for, the one responsible for the bombing.
Jiang Bai stood next to him, pale and weak.
"Wait for me here," Qiu Zhi said, and dashed upstairs.
As soon as he was gone, the faces of the two remaining people changed.
Lin Chu didn''t bother to wipe the tears from her eyes as she checked herself for any bugs and distanced herself from Fang Tu''s lifeless body. "Who was that? It was you, wasn''t it?"
"Yes, that was my future self."
Lin Chu: "Well, that''s convenient. You know our mission, right?"
"I do. First, kill me. Second, find the missing person," Lu Yan confirmed, seeing her nod.
Lin Chu: "I''m not going to do the first one yet. There''s no deadline for this mission. I need to stay here a bit longer."
"Why?"
"I think I''ve found a clue," Lin Chu said, "and... something''s happening in my world. I have a feeling that something is spreading through these missions."
Spreading?
Lin Chu revealed the results of her investigation, concluding with, Death is amon urrence in a country as vast as ours. Buttely, the news reports have taken an eerie turn. I have reason to believe that theres more data thats being hidden from the public. There must be something behind the scenes thats pulling the strings of this macabre puppet show. It wants you dead, which means youve crossed it somehow. Thats why Im on your side. She said this not only to make her position clear, but also to ease Lu Yans suspicion.
We can work together, at least until I finish my investigation, she added, implying that their alliance would crumble once she had to leave.
But underneath her calm facade, Lin Chu felt a surge of sadness. She knew that Lu Yan was a bigger and more unique threat to the entity behind the scenes than anyone else.
Could she really bring herself to kill him?
Lu Yan didnt think too much about it. He was d to have some help, even if it was temporary. He still trusted Lin Chu, for now.
But sadly only one of them would make it out alive.
Lu Yan would never give up this chance to anyone else.
I dont know what Ive done to anger it. Maybe its something my future self did.
He was still in the dark about many things.
Since your death is the objective of this mission in Spirit Vale Town does that mean youve uncovered something important during this mission? Lin Chu asked.
Maybe.
How much do you know about the cultural festival?
He shrugged. Nothing. Ill have to ask around.
He sensed that the cultural festival was a big deal around here.
"You should be familiar with the information on the flyer. Ill also do some digging and let you know if I find anything interesting.
Sure, Lu Yan said.
She changed the subject. Do you know Chu Xiu?
Lin Chu continued. Hes the one who investigated me after thest mission. There was a high school kid named An Xing Yu who never came back. His parents hired Chu Xiu to look into it. He told me he knows you too.
In fact, after meeting Chu Xiust time, they both confirmed that Lu Yan was not an ordinary person.
There was another tasker, He Lou, who had left a message, probably after running into him. Three people had seen the same NPC in different tasks. What did that mean?
An Xing Yu?
She nodded. It might be my fault that hes trapped here. She couldnt tell him about the mission, so she only hinted at thest-minute decision she had made in the ancient tomb.
Hes gone, just like you thought, Lu Yan said.
He had seen the other taskers who had died, reborn in twisted shapes. But not An Xing Yu. He had never seen his ghost.
Thats impossible Lin Chu whispered.
She had recorded everything, and when she watched it at home, frame by frame, the bodies of the taskers didn''t vanish. They merely flickered for a split second and then transformed. Therefore, Lin Chu had always held onto the hope that it was something akin to souls or consciousness entering the tasks.
An Xing Yu''s body was gone. Vanished. Erased.
But not from this world. It still lingered here, somewhere, somehow.
What did that mean? Did they really enter this world with their own flesh and blood? How did they heal from the wounds they suffered during the missions?
"It makes no sense..."
The deeper they dug, the more they felt trapped in abyrinth, blind to the truth.
"Hold on! What about you? How did you fare after we came back?"
Lu Yan shared his story with candour.
There were things that they couldn''t say, couldn''t exin, so he had to give more clues, let Lin Chu infer the rest.
Lin Chu was lost in thought when Qiu Zhi''s voice interrupted them.
"Damn it, he slipped away. I couldn''t catch him." Qiu Zhi''s grim face scowled, clearly unhappy with the result.
Lin Chu quickly put on a frail facade, while Lu Yan followed suit with a faint cough, feigning exhaustion.
"What now?" Lin Chu asked with a sob, gazing at Fang Tu''s lifeless body, "Should we head back first?"
Lu Yan nodded. "Yeah, let''s stick together. It''s too risky to go solo now." He lowered his head again, coughing harder.
They were all in bad shape, barely able to fend for themselves, so Qiu Zhi had no choice but to shoulder the burden of the corpse.
Chapter 102
Chapter 102
The shock was palpable when the trio came back.
Lin Chu, what the hell happened to Fang Tu? Ling Tong blurted out soon as he saw them.
Everyones attention snapped to Lin Chu and Jiang Bai, who looked like they had just escaped from hell. Lin Chu cringed and shook her head, It wasnt me, I swear. It was the bastard who blew up the ce.
Jiang Bai and Qiu Zhi backed her up. Qiu Zhi gently lowered the corpse he had been hauling on his shoulder and said solemnly, Shes telling the truth. I was there. I saw everything. You cant keep ming her for everything. He proceeded to tell them the harrowing story of what had transpired.
Who the fuck is this guy?
They all knew Qiu Zhi was a good man, a simple man. He wouldnt lie for anyone. His words eased some of the tension and suspicion that had been building up around Lin Chu and Jiang Bai.
Except for Jiang Yu. His eyes were like daggers, piercing through Lin Chus soul.
Yi Zhen Zhen had dreamed of Lu Yans twisted face before she died.
Yan Hao Yue had gone to the police station to identify her body, pointing fingers at Lin Chu, before she met her own end.
And now, Fang Tu was gone too.
He had to have seen something, right?
Something that linked Lin Chu to the mysterious bomber.
Qiu Zhis testimony only made Jiang Yu more curious and more wary of her. He wanted to know more: why would the bomber spare Lin Chu? Why would he help her?
Lin Chu hid behind Qiu Zhi and muttered, Thank you. I appreciate it. But its no use. I know they all think Im guilty.
She didnt have to say it. Qiu Zhi knew. He knew why they all doubted her.
He would have doubted her too, if he hadnt witnessed it with his own eyes.
**
On the other side of town, Lu Yan slumped against a wall, trying to catch his breath.
He knew he wouldnt be able to sleep tonight, not with the ghost haunting his eyes.
He understood now. The ghost that haunted him was his own dying self from the future, a twisted copy made by the jade pendant of Pisces. That future self had travelled back to this time, but he had note alone. He had brought the ghost with him.
And the ghost, the "replica" spawned by the pendant, had an instinctive urge to seek out its original self.
His future self had revealed this to him, so he had no doubt about his intentions. Why else would he avoid showing himself to his present self? Because he feared the eye that could see him. The eye that would trigger the ghost''s relentless pursuit.
Lu Yan, the original one, had not slept for days.
So... that''s why he needed to deliberately appear in front of his past self and let his eyes see him.
He, marred by burn scars, closed his eyes - and all he saw was blood.
As he expected...
Now, it was his turn to be sleepless.
He could not afford to encounter his future self again, because the ghost that followed him wanted nothing more than to find the "original self", the one from his own time.
If that happened, his future self would surely die!
He switched his medication, got up, and left.
**
Lu Yan was exhausted inside the small building. His ragged appearance was not entirely fake. He knew he would never sleep if he did not get rid of the fierce ghost in his eye.
Pretending to rest, he went back to his room and tried to close his eyes.
The blood-red figure that haunted his vision... was gone?
How? What had changed today?
The surprise was too much, banishing his sleepiness. Lu Yan racked his brain, and could only think of one reason: he had met his future self today.
So, the ghost had moved to the other one?
Well, he was not going toin. The temporary relief made him rx considerably, and he drifted off on the bed.
After he fell asleep, a shadow crept into his room.
He gazed at the sleeping figure on the bed, a mirror image of himself save for the jagged scar that marred his left cheek. He gave another quick spray of the potion over the young mans nose and mouth, making sure he would not stir from his slumber as he rummaged through the room.
But the flyer was nowhere to be found.
A surge of panic rose in his chest. Where could it have gone?
He heard the heavy footsteps approaching the door and swiftly slipped into the wardrobe, closing it behind him.
The door opened with a creak, and Xi Men Yuan entered, followed by Lin Chu and a few other taskers.
Did you drug him? Xi Men Yuan demanded.
Lin Chu nodded nervously. Yes, I did. I watched him drink it.
Good girl. Youve done well, Xi Men Yuan said, patting her shoulder. He walked over to the bed and looked down at the unconscious man.
Lu Yan, concealed in the wardrobe, clenched his axe behind his back.
He knew better than to peek through the gap. Xi Men Yuan was too alert for that. He listened carefully, trying to guess what they were doing.
Xi Men Yuan hade for a simple reason: he had seen the surveince footage of him leaving the library. He must have found something there, something that could expose this ce secrets.
Whats this? Xi Men Yuan said, picking up a book from the bedside table.
It was an art book, bearing the librarys seal on the cover. He flipped through the pages, but they seemed to be nothing but sketches and paintings.
Lin Chu felt a jolt of fear in her heart.
She recognized some of the drawings. She had seen them before, on herst mission, in the Vige of the Heavenly Immortals, in the hidden tomb, and in the mural at the vige chiefs house.
Could it be that all these missions were linked?
Who was the mysterious figure buried in the ancient tomb?
This book is suspicious. He must have taken it from the library for a reason, Xi Men Yuan said, tucking the book under his arm and going outside.
Search the room. See if you can find any other clues. Especially his identification, Tan Xu instructed. We need something to confirm his identity.
Lu Yan was not worried. He had taken care of that. He had burned all his papers, leaving no trace of who he was. They would find nothing, no matter how hard they searched.
The room was a hive of activity, as a group of people scoured every inch of it for clues. On the bed, Lu Yany motionless, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow. He had been deprived of sleep for days, and now he was under the influence of a double dose of sleeping drugs.
Other Lu Yan felt the vibrations of footsteps on the floor, getting closer to the wardrobe where he was hiding. He pressed his back against the wooden wall, his muscles coiled and his heart pounding.
One step.
Two steps.
He heard two voices, talking near the wardrobe.
Do you think theres anything in there?
We should check it anyway. You never know what Jiang Bai might have hidden. Hes a suspicious bastard.
Lu Yan heard the sound of a hand grabbing the door handle. He clenched his fists and prepared tounch himself out of the wardrobe.
Suddenly, a loud gasp came from the other side of the room.
Lin Chu, what are you doing again? the male voice snapped.
"It''s nothing, I just wasn''t paying attention, bumped into something, sorry."
Lu Yan saw his chance. He pushed the wardrobe door open with all his strength, sending the man flying across the room. He crashed into the opposite wall with a thud and slid to the floor, unconscious.
Lu Yan emerged from the wardrobe, his face covered with scars.
Whats happening? a voice shouted from outside the room.
Lu Yan didnt wait to find out. He ran to the window and jumped out,nding on the street below. He saw two figures following him, Tan Xu and Qiu Zhi.
Xi Men Yuan came back and scanned the scene. He saw the man on the floor, the wardrobe door open, and the window broken.
Whats going on? he asked, bending down to check the mans pulse.
Guan Zhi Huas eyes fluttered open, and he stared at the window with a vacant expression. He raised a trembling finger and croaked, Mr. Ximen, thats him! The fugitive youre looking for, he was hiding in the wardrobe. I swear, I saw his face, its him!
( could be interpreted as a magnificent ambition under control or a splendid will for China.)
"Is that so?" Xi Men Yuan murmured softly. He ignored the mans im and asked him something else, What about Lin Chu? Did you see him talking to her?
Lin Chu? Guan Zhi Hua repeated, his brow furrowing. No, I dont think so. They didnt seem to have any connection.
Lin Chu sobbed, I told you, I dont know him, I have nothing to do with him
Silence, Xi Men Yuan snapped, his eyes narrowing. Dont think youre safe just because Fang Tu is not here. We can still make you talk.
Lin Chu mped her mouth shut, her eyes wide with terror.
They searched the room thoroughly, but they only found a book. Nothing else. Xi Men Yuan felt a surge of frustration.
The mission was getting harder and harder, as if the truth was slipping away from them. The town was in chaos, with explosions rocking the streets. The residents had lost their sense of humanity, and they were hostile to any outsiders. And when they asked them about the missing people, they refused to answer.
How long would it take them to find the missing?
Xi Men Yuan walked back to the bed, where the sleeping many. He looked peaceful, his thin body and pale face giving him a fragile appearance. He could have been an ordinary painter.
But wait!
Where were his painting tools? Why was there not even a scrap of paper in his room?
How did he paint?
Xi Men Yuans gaze darkened as he stared at Lu Yan, the suspicion growing in his mind. Lin Chu noticed his expression, but she didnt care. She stood by the wall, her face wet with tears.
She had a feeling that he was not really asleep, that he was just ying a game with them. So she kept quiet.
Xi Men Yua studied the prone figure for a long moment, weighing his options. Then he spoke, his voice low and firm.
"When Tan Xu and Qiu Zhi get back, take him to where the festival is supposed to be."
The festival...
That damn flyer haunted them, refusing to burn or tear or fade. They had nned to join the festivities in the square, but fate had other ideas.
It was almost as if... someone or something didn''t want them to see what was going on there.
Xi Men Yuan felt a surge of anxiety, mixed with a dash of recklessness. He knew he was taking a risk. But... they had lost almost half of their group, and they were still clueless. If they didn''t change their strategy soon, they might all end up dead before they could find Lu Yan and the other missing one!
Soon enough, Tan Xu and Qiu Zhi came back.
Tan Xu''s face was a mask of stoicism, while Qiu Zhi''s was a storm of anger: "He got away, the bastard. He ran like a rabbit, knew every nook and cranny of this ce."
"I see." He kept his words brief, and gave them a new order.
He knew Qiu Zhi would never agree to kill someone outright. But this was different. This was just moving the unconscious Jiang Bai to another location, a location he had expressed interest in. Qiu Zhi nodded and hoisted Jiang Bai over his shoulder.
Lin Chu sensed something was off as she watched them.
Was he really knocked out or just ying possum?
No way, right?
She made a feeble plea, "Can Ie along?"
But her eyes weren''t on Jiang Bai, but on Qiu Zhi with a look of gratitude, and she also grabbed his sleeve.
It seemed that because Qiu Zhi had defended her, she didn''t want to part with him.
He gave her a puzzled look and shrugged his consent.
As they were about to leave, they ran into another bunch of people.
As Jiang Yu walked into the courtyard with Di Ying and Ling Tong by his side, he gasped at the sight of Qiu Zhi hauling Jiang Bais limp body over his shoulder.
Where are you going with him, Xi Men Yuan? Di Ying demanded, her voice sharp with suspicion.
Xi Men Yuan shot her a disdainful look. Stop poking your nose into everything. You wont find any answers here. We need to take a risk and see what happens.
Jiang Yu blocked their path, his eyes wide with rm. A risk? Are you insane? You could get us all killed!
They red at each other, tension crackling in the air.
The sun was sinking low in the sky, bathing the courtyard in a faint yellow light. Jiang Baiy still and silent, unaware of the chaos he had caused.
But the chaos was not over yet.
A sh of metal caught their attention. A small knife was hurtling down from the roof, aimed straight at Xi Men Yuans heart.
Look out!
Xi Men Yuan froze, toote to dodge. But Tan Xu sprang into action, shoving him out of harms way. The knife hit the ground with a loud thud, embedding itself deep into the crevice between the tiles.
Who?
They all whipped their heads up, searching for the source of the attack. There, on the second floor, they saw a figure leaning out of the window, half-hidden by the shadows. That figure that figure was the one behind the explosions!
He had been hiding in this building all along! He had heard everything they had said.
Suddenly, Jiang Bai was no longer the prime suspect.
Lu Yan, the real culprit, swung an axe over his shoulder and scrambled back onto the roof, hoping to make a getaway.
**
The towns cultural festival took ce at the sports square, not far from a school.
The school had not escaped the sts that had rocked the town. It had been shut down temporarily, forcing the students to study from home.
The principal had decided to rent out the vacant dormitories, and a bunch of strangers had moved in, bringing their luggage with them.
They were a ragtag bunch of actors, hired by the town for a special asion. Death had been busy in the towntely, and every home had a funeral to mourn. Their business boomed as they sang for the departed souls. But they had made a promise to perform at the cultural festival, so the leader of the troupe chose to camp near the festival grounds.
Huang Li (: a yellow oriole or a cheerful songbird), who always donned the dresses and wigs of female roles, felt a chill in his bones as he entered the schools courtyard. "Why does this school give me the creeps?"
He had every reason to be creeped out.
The sun was sinking low, casting long shadows over the school. No lights were on, and a murder of crows cawed and pped over the yground, just beyond the school gate. The school looked old and neglected, with moss and cobwebs creeping over the walls and windows.
A loud caw from a crow startled him.
Huo Gang (: a strong descendant of Huo or a resolute leader), who yed the brave and heroic male roles, tried to calm him down. "Maybe it''s because it''s the holidays and there''s no one here? The students must have gone back to their families."
Fan Min (: a vanishing legacy of Fan or a fading memory), who specialised in making peopleugh with his antics, smirked and winked. "Or maybe it''s because schools are often haunted, you know? They say they''re built on top of graveyards, and only the students'' positive energy can keep the ghosts at bay..."
"Shut up!" Huang Li snapped, his eyes wide with fear. "Or I''ll sock you one!"
Fan Min, clutching his luggage, dodged his fist. "Hey! Easy there!"
Huang Li lunged at him, but Huo Gang held him back. "Enough, you two. We need to rest and save our voices for tomorrow."
The leader of the troupe flicked his cigarette away, his face grim. "Get to the dorms, and stay there. Don''t wander around at night."
His words silenced the others, who quickly grabbed their luggage and headed for the building.
The dormitory was on the opposite side of the school gate. The school was spacious, with well-kept gardens, lush shrubs, and towering trees. Even though it was still winter, the greenery was vibrant.
The cold wind whistled, stirring up dust and dead leaves.
Little green sparks shed here and there, floating and dancing.
Jin Can Can (: a golden brightness or a metal of glory and splendour), the only girl in the troupe, gasped. "Wow! Fireflies!"
She looked at her father. "Dad, can I catch one?"
The leader stomped on his cigarette butt, snorting. "Catch what bugs? No, get to the dorms!"
His name was Jin Fu Gui (: golden wealth and nobility or a metal of fortune and honour), and he used to y the male warrior roles. He had a son and a daughter. His son, Jin Yuan Bao (" a golden ingot or a metal of value and luck), hated school and loved games. His daughter, Jin Can Can, had grown up around the stage; she wasn''t passionate, but she could carry a tune.
Jin Can Cans expression turned sour as she gazed at the dormitory building looming ahead of them. She bit her tongue and vented her frustration by kicking pebbles along the way.
"Don''t worry, Can Can,ter I''ll catch two fireflies for you and put them in thenterns," her brother, Jin Yuan Bao, whispered in her ear.
His words worked like magic. Jin Can Can''s face lit up with a smile.
The dormitory building was a towering relic of the past, its facade stained and cracked by years of neglect. It was hard to tell what colour it had been originally, white or beige or something else. Dust and cobwebs clung to the iron railing of the gate, giving it a haunted look.
Jin Can Can shuddered as she stepped closer to the gate. She hated this ce. It looked like a haunted house from a horror movie. "This ce is so old and gross. When was thest time they fixed anything here?" sheined, wrinkling her nose.
As she stepped closer, a rat scurried out from under a bush and ran across her feet, making her scream and jump back, clutching Huo Gang''s arm.
Jin Yuan Bao snorted and put his phone away, ready to help with the luggage. "Scaredy-cat," he teased her.
"You''re the scaredy-cat! You''d wet your pants if a rat touched you!" she retorted, ring at him.
Huo Gang looked around, puzzled. "Didn''t they say all the students have gone home? Why are there still lights on in the dormitory building?"
He was right. There were several windows that glowed with a faint light, suggesting that someone was still inside.
Jin Fu Gui, their father, cleared his throat and said, "The school said some students stay in the dorms instead of going home, it''s quite lively, adds to the atmosphere." He nced at a notice on the wall and continued, "The first to third floors are for boys'' dorms, and the fourth to sixth floors are for girls. You guys will be staying in rooms 305, 306, and 307, don''t wander upstairs, got it?"
"Got it," the group of young man nodded in unison.
"What about me, Dad?" Jin Can Can asked.
"You''ll be in room 402, there are two other girls staying there, you won''t be alone."
"Okay," Jin Can Can felt a little relieved, but she was still nervous about living in this spooky dormitory building.
Just then, two boys came down from upstairs, one of them carrying a basketball. They stopped in their tracks when they saw the neers at the entrance.
"Who are you guys?"
Jin Fu Gui smiled awkwardly and said, "Young students, we are from the Fu Gui Opera Troupe, permitted by the school to stay temporarily..."
He didn''t get to finish his sentence, as the boy with the basketball cut him off. "Oh, I see, I see. The teacher told us about you. Nice to meet you. My grandmother is a big fan of operas. She might ask you to sing for her..."
The other boy, who wore sses, nudged him, "Qiang Zi, stop talking and help them with their luggage, will you?"
"Sure, sure."
As the two youngds amiably helped them lug their bags up the shabby building, they chatted and pointed out various features and trivia along the way. Their genuine friendliness and helpfulness made everyone temporarily forget about the dismal surroundings.
At that moment, another group of people arrived at the school gate.
One of them was a tall man with a limp body slung over his shoulder.
Jiang Yu had made sure to give Jiang Bai a hefty dose of sedative before they left. He didnt want him to regain consciousness and make a run for it.
Qiu Zhi had refused to have anything to do with the stolen drugs, so he had sent Tan Xu to the hospital to get them instead.
Lin Chu was a bundle of nerves. She feared that this time, Lu Yan had gone too far and gotten himself into real trouble. She had insisted oning with them, despite their protests. As she stood at the gate with the others, she felt a cold draft of air that made her shiver.
Come on, lets go.
There were no hotels near the gymnasium, only this school. They had heard that a drama troupe had taken up residence here, and that some students still lingered on the campus.
Maybe he would be safe here, for now.
They made their way to the dormitory building.
**
In another world before the mission started.
An Ruy on the bed, gasping for breath. He felt like he had been run over by a truck.
But the pain in his body was nothingpared to the turmoil in his mind.
He had spent thest few months hunting down Lin Chu, convinced that she was the one who had killed his son, An Xing Yu. He had vowed to make her pay, no matter the cost. But now, he had learned that his sons death was not a simple murder, but a supernatural phenomenon. A ghost had taken his life, and possibly his soul.
How could he cope with this revtion? It shattered his sense of reality and filled him with guilt.
Did he still have a reason to seek revenge?
How could he seek revenge? Who could he seek revenge on?
An Xing Yu his poor, innocent son, where was he now?
How could he bring him back home?
He buried his face in his hands and sobbed. My my son
His hair had turned white from the stress and grief. The nurses who came to check on him felt pity for him. They changed his medicine and left him alone, closing the door softly behind them.
A wave of agony and disorientation crashed over him, making him feel like his skull was in a vise. He barely registered a faint sound.
A voice was hissing in his ear.
What is the task the task?
An Ru screwed his eyes shut, struggling to make sense of the words.
This Saturday, go go to the city centre aquarium, and then
He was not alone in hearing the voice. All over the globe, countless others received the same cryptic message
They were all neers.
They had no clue that the tasks they were given were meant for another world, or that there were others like them, bound by this secret ordeal. They were also unaware of a website where they could share information, seek help, or scheme against each other.
With no guidance from the veterans, many neers wrote off the voice as a delusion and paid it no heed.
But it was irrelevant. This time, the task required arge number of participants. Even if some of them questioned the voice and the dream, it was irrelevant.
Chu Xiu had no clue that his careless move, following Lin Chu''s advice, would expose the existence of a group of naive neers who were given tasks that could bepleted in this world alone.
Without An Ru, this group of taskers might have never stumbled upon the website, or they might have died before they could, and their fate would be lost.
An Ru had no idea of the chaos he would unleash. He only wondered if this was the sort of task his son had faced before.
What had he endured?
An Ru yanked the syringe from his arm and stormed out of the room.
He found an inte cafe, entered the URL that Chu Xiu had given him, and followed the instructions to create an ount. Then he spilled everything he knew.
The sun was on the verge of rising. Lin Chu, Jiang Yu, Di Ying, Xi Men Yuan, and the rest from this world were gathering at the assigned spot, ready to embark on their journey to another world.
They didn''t bother to check the website, so they missed a vital piece of information that could have helped them unravel the mystery of the world.
With a cautious gaze, Chu Xiu surveyed the designated mission zone, maintaining a safe distance from it. He had no intention of going in.
He believed that this assignment was a death trap, since the mission was to eliminate Lu Yan. He doubted that anyone could pull off such a feat.
That was why he respected Lin Chu''s courage, even if it bordered on madness, for volunteering for this suicide task in pursuit of a greater goal.
Out of habit, he took out his phone and unlocked it, tapping on the icon of the tasker website he frequented.
And then he saw it.
His eyes widened in disbelief
**
With a final sweep of her hand, Jin Can Can brushed off thest specks of dust from her clothes and smiled brightly. All done! she announced. Lets go eat. I bet my dad cooked something yummy.
Sounds good to me. Her new roommate nodded.
They grabbed their lunchboxes and slipped on their slippers.
As soon as they were gone, the restroom door that they had left slightly ajar mmed shut with a loud bang.
There was no breeze. No draft. Nothing that could exin the sudden movement.
The girls didn''t hear it, nor did they look back. They were too busy following their noses to the source of the delicious smell that wafted from the ground floor.
Dad! What did you make? Jin Can Can called out as she ran towards the kitchen.
Jin Yuan Bao handed her a bowl without looking up from his game. Were having spicy hotpot tonight. I want fish tofu; save me some, you pig.
Humph! Ill eat it all! Jin Yuan Bao retorted. The two siblings had simr tastes, so they alwayspeted for their favourite food.
Jin Fu Gui had plugged in an extension cord to power the induction cooker. The pot was simmering with a rich and spicy broth, filled with various ingredients. There were no serving chopsticks, so they had to fish out what they wanted on their own.
Jin Can Can reached for a handful of fish tofu and dumped it into her bowl. Jin Yuan Bao tried to grab some too, but she pped his hand away. They started a tug-of-war over the pot, giggling and teasing each other. They moved closer to the door, unaware of the tall man who was about to enter.
Oh, sorry. Jin Can Can apologised quickly, checking her bowl. The fish tofu was still there. She looked up at the man and asked, Are you
She stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes fell on the man on his back. He was pale and limp, his eyes closed. He looked like he was dead.
Qiu Zhi had Jiang Bai slung over his shoulder, barely avoiding the collision. He gave the group a brief nce and said, "You''re staying at the school, right? So are we. I''m Qiu Zhi."
Tan Xu trailed behind him, carrying Jiang Bais backpack. "It''s just the two of us, no one else." He pointed at the unconscious man on Qiu Zhi''s back. "He''s Jiang Bai, also staying at the school. We could use some help."
Qiu Zhi found an empty seat andid Jiang Bai down gently. He was still out cold, and if Qiu Zhi hadn''t checked his pulse and breathing, he would have thought he was dead.
Tan Xu put Jiang Bais backpack next to him and nodded to the others. Thank you for your help.
And so, this group of strangers found themselves in charge of an unconscious man.
Chapter 103
Chapter 103
Jin Can Can crept closer to the chair, clutching the bowl of hot soup in her hands. She couldnt take her eyes off the man, his chest rising and falling faintly. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen, with sharp features and dark hair that framed his pale face.
He''s really handsome...
She slurped a mouthful of noodles, savouring the spicy broth and the chewy fish balls.
Hey, sis, wake up, youre drooling, her brother Jin Yuan Bao snickered and poked her in the ribs. Stop staring at him like that, hes not your prince charming.
Shut up, you jerk, Jin Can Can snapped, elbowing him back. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, feeling her cheeks burn. You dont know anything.
Before they could start a full-fledged fight, their father Jin Fu Gui stepped in, peering at the unconscious man with a serious expression. He stroked his beard, as if trying to recall something.
Dont you all think he looks familiar?
Familiar? they echoed, tilting their heads and squinting their eyes.
Huang Li squinted his eyes, trying to recall. You know, he does look a bit like that wanted criminal we saw on the posters. Huo, what do you think?
Huo Gang nodded, his expression grim. He does bear a strong resemnce, but theres one thing that doesnt match. The criminal had a scar on his face, remember?
As soon as he said that, Jin Can Can leaned in closer, her nose almost touching the mans cheek. She traced his jawline with her eyes, admiring his smoothplexion. This guy doesnt have any scars, look at his skin, its wless.
Youre getting so close youre almost kissing his face, Jin Yuan Bao groaned, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her away. Dad, what should we do with him?
Heres what well do, Little Gang, you take him upstairs first and tidy up a room for him, Jin Fu Gui decided, popping a meatball into his mouth. Little Fan, you go with him and help out.
Huo Gang nodded, and reached for the mans arms, ready to lift him up. But before he could, the mans eyelids fluttered, and he slowly sat up, holding his head. He looked around, confused and disoriented.
Lu Yan felt a surge of panic as he regained consciousness, finding himself surrounded by unfamiliar faces. He forced a smile onto his lips, concealing his inner turmoil. How had he allowed himself to let his guard down so easily? What had they done to him? What kind of drug had they slipped into his drink?
The panic subsided, reced by a wave of calm. He swiftly assessed the situation, scanning the individuals standing before him. None of them appeared familiar, and there was no evidence of bloodstains on their hands.
Excuse me, who are you? He asked, his voice hoarse and low. Where am I?
Seeing the pale man sitting up, the others exchanged nces, and Jin Fu Gui exined the situation briefly.
These people... babbled and fussed over him.
"You gave us quite a scare, you know. But you''re awake now, thank goodness!" Jin Can Can eximed, hovering over him. "How do you feel? Are you hungry? We have some food here, if you want."
Lu Yan was cautious about revealing his true self to these unfamiliar individuals.
He carefully observed their faces, searching for any hints of ill intentions or dishonesty. However, they seemed sincere, wholeheartedly enjoying their meal without any reservations. Lu Yan concluded that there was no threat of poison. ncing at their bowls, which were brimming with piping hot noodles and fish balls, he deemed the food harmless enough. Furthermore, he was famished. With a smile, he politely inquired, "May I?"
Jin Fu Gui patted his round belly. "Don''t mention it, don''t mention it! We''re all friends here. Nothing is forbidden."
Huo Gang brought out a clean bowl and handed it to Lu Yan. "By the way, what should we call you, young man?"
Lu Yan smiled, "My surname is Jiang, call me Jiang Bai."
"Jiang Bai? What a lovely name," Jin Can Can said, beaming. She was a bit ashamed of her own name, which her father had given her on a whim. She hoped he wouldn''tugh at it.
But her brother, Jin Yuan Bao, had no such qualms. He enjoyed teasing his sister, and embarrassing her in front of strangers. He blurted out their names, hoping to get a reaction.
Jin Can Can wanted to hit him, but Huo Gang stopped her. "Don''t waste time, let''s eat. The hot pot will get cold."
To her relief, Jiang Bai didn''tugh at her name.
They gathered around the table, sharing a hearty meal and a warm conversation. The wind outside was fierce, whipping the light snow into a blizzard. But inside, they felt cosy and content.
"What opera will you performter?" Lu Yan asked.
Jin Can Can answered with enthusiasm, "We''ll sing ''The Emperor''s Sacrifice'' and the ''Eight Sacrificial Songs''."
"The Eight Sacrificial Songs?" Lu Yan repeated, unfamiliar with the term.
"Yes, this song has been passed down for generations," Jin Can Can exined, holding up her fingers one by one, "First, we sacrifice to the heavens; second, we sacrifice to the earth; third, we sacrifice to all living beings; fourth, we sacrifice to the wind; fifth, we sacrifice to the water; sixth, we sacrifice to thunder and fire; seventh, we sacrifice to wood; and finally, we sacrifice to the ancestors."
Jin Yuan Bao grabbed a piece of hot bean curd with his chopsticks, dipped it in sauce, blew on it, and popped it into his mouth. He spoke with his mouth full, "I can sing those songs too. They''re so long; I used to get spanked all the time for forgetting the words."
Jin Fu Gui, who had been frowning all day, scolded him, "You rascal, I made you learn them for your own good."
"Can you tell me about ''The Emperor''s Sacrifice''?" Lu Yan requested.
"Of course!" Jin Can Can agreed, pushing her bowl aside to concentrate on telling the story.
"The Emperor''s Sacrifice" was an ancient y, shrouded in mystery and legend. Its name sounded traditional, but its plot was fantastical and bizarre.
It was about a "god" and a "king."
This story, however, was different from the ones Lu Yan had seen painted on the walls of old tombs.
The "king," obsessed with immortality, chased after the "god," causing the ruin of his realm and his kin. Before he died, he finally met the "god," only to discover that the "god" was not a divine being at all, but merely an object.
An object with incredible powers.
The "king" lost his mind in the end. He refused to ept that the "god" he had sought so fervently all his life was nothing but an object. He convinced himself that there must be other objects in the world with simr amazing abilities. He spent the rest of his days in poverty, searching for them, until he died in a small vige.
In a remote mountain vige, there was a ce shrouded in mystery and magic. It was said to be a portal between the worlds of the living and the dead, a threshold between two realms. There, time could bend and twist, and those who lingered there could cheat death and live forever.
"This story is so old, no one knows who wrote it," Jin Can Can said, pouring herself a cup of tea. "But I think it''s fascinating."
"Indeed... very fascinating." Lu Yan nodded, pretending to be interested.
But deep down, he felt a chilling dread. This story was all too familiar to him. He had encountered it before, both in a picture book he had stumbled upon in the library, and in an ancient tomb. It was the exact same story, word for word.
And it hinted at a terrible truth.
"God" was not a god, but an object.
An object with unimaginable power.
Who said "god" had to have a mind?
"Enough talk, let''s eat, everyone enjoy your meal and drink!"
Lu Yan took a sip of his soup, trying to calm his nerves.
If "god" was an object... then what was he?
Was he a real person? Or was he just an object that thought it was human?
After dinner, he asked Jin Fu Gui to talk to him in private.
Jin Fu Gui seemed to know something.
Jin Can Can and Jin Yuan Bao watched as their father left with Lu Yan. They exchanged a knowing nce and made the decision to leave as well.
"What are you guys doing sote at night?" Xie Lin (: a grateful beauty or a thankful gem), a girl who shared the dorm with Jin Can Can, asked them.
Jin Can Can: "Shh we''re going to catch fireflies, do you want toe?"
"Fireflies? Where are they?" Xie Lin''s eyes lit up.
Another girl named Zhang Su Mei (:an open-minded and simple beauty or a generous and in pretty) chimed in: "I''lle too!"
Huang Li was clearing the dishes, but when he saw Jin Can Can and the others heading out, he nced around nervously and quickly made an excuse. "Brother Huo, you wash the dishes tonight, I''ll do them tomorrow. I''m going out with Can Can and the others."
Before Huo Gang could say anything, Huang Li ran after them.
Lu Yan spoke in a calm voice, masking his curiosity and wariness. "Mr. Jin, I would like to inquire about the Emperor''s Festival. You should know the origins of ''The Emperor''s Sacrifice'', right?"
He had seized the opportunity to probe for some information, since he was already near the cultural festival square.
He missed the fierce ghost that used to lurk in his eyes, a double-edged sword that could intimidate or protect him. Now that the ghost had departed, he had to tread more carefully.
Jin Fu Gui shook his head, his expression weary and resigned. "Honestly, this tune has been passed down for generations. If you''re asking me when it started and where it came from, I have no clue."
Lu Yan''s frown deepened. His ability to gather intelligence was not to be underestimated, and yet he had never heard of this tune before. "But howe it''s so obscure? Why don''t ordinary people know about it?"
Jin Fu Gui lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard. "It''s not that I''m hiding anything from you, it''s just... ''The Emperor''s Sacrifice'' and the ''Eight Sacrificial Songs'' are a pair. These two tunes are sinister, sung for the dead, not for the living. If the living listen to them, it will invite disaster. If someone only listens to one of them, it will lure their soul away, so ordinary people have never heard of them."
Lu Yan felt a chill run down his spine. He gazed intently at the other man, trying to read his thoughts. "Since ordinary people haven''t heard of them..." he said slowly, "then, Mr. Jin, where did you hear it from? Where did you learn it from?"
Jin Fu Gui looked nervous, but he still answered. "It''s passed down from my ancestors."
Ancestors?
Lu Yan didn''t buy it, but he had no way of verifying it. He wanted to try hypnosis, but he had just woken up from a drug-induced slumber, and his body was still sluggish. Using hypnosis recklessly might backfire, so he had to give up.
Jin Fu Gui changed the subject. "By the way, what''s your rtionship with those people? Why did they send you here?"
Lu Yan sighed and hung his head. "They thought I resembled the guy on the wanted poster and got scared, so they decided to get rid of me."
Jin Fu Gui took a long drag of his cigarette, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "Funny enough, you do look like him. I heard that guy has been setting off bombs around heretely, so it''s understandable that everyone is on edge. But well..." he patted Lu Yan''s shoulder, "as long as you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear."
"Yeah."
He flicked his cigarette butt away, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, damn! Where are those two rascals?" He realised that his two mischievous kids were nowhere to be seen.
Huo Gang was washing dishes and heard the boss''s loud question, so he stuck his head out from the kitchen. "They said they went to catch fireflies."
"Catch fireflies my ass! Running around in the dark!" Jin Fu Gui exploded, "Gang, finish up and go fetch them back!"
Huo Gang: "Boss, rx, it''s only eight o''clock."
"What do you know? You can''t be running around here at night!" Jin Fu Gui was so anxious that his belly was trembling. He hurriedly dialled Jin Can Can''s number, but unfortunately, she was out of the service area. He then called Jin Yuan Bao, but encountered the same situation.
"Come on,e on! We need more people, they can''t just run off. We''ll search together and be back soon, it shouldn''t be too hard."
He said that, and then turned his eyes to Jiang Bai: "Young man, would you do me a favour... and join us?"
Lu Yan agreed.
He was curious about the rest of the secrets that this group of performers hid. He sensed that there was more to their stories than mere fiction.
Jin Fu Gui led the way, taking a handful of people with him. He had a clear memory of where he had spotted the flickering lights that resembled fireflies during the day. He headed towards the yground, where the old swings and slides stood in the dark.
The two male students who followed them were visibly nervous. They clutched their shlights and whispered to each other. They didn''t like the idea of wandering around the school on a snowy night, especially after recent bombings.
The third male student, however, was more daring.
"You know, this yground used to be a graveyard," he said, his voice soft and creepy. "They dug up the bones and ttened thend to build the school. But some of the spirits never left. Some of the students have seen them, heard them, felt them." His name was Li Ming Xuan (: a bright pavilion of plums or a clear and lofty plum tree), and he had dull eyes and an eerie smile.
"Shut up, you moron," one of the frightened students hissed. "You''re making things worse. Stop spouting nonsense." He and his friend tried to keep away from Li Ming Xuan, who seemed to relish their difort.
Li Ming Xuan justughed. He was about to say something else, when the other male student, who had been quiet until then, spoke up.
"It''s not nonsense. It''s true. I''ve seen them myself. One night... I waste for evening self-study and I had to go back to the dorm. My mum called me, saying she had a terrible stomach ache and she needed me to go with her to the hospital.
The night was cold and dark, and I hurried through the yground, just like I''m doing now. The forest that surrounded it was a ck wall of shadows, and I felt a shiver run down my spine as I crossed it. My phone rang again, and I saw it was my mum. This time she said: Sweetie, you don''t have toe. I asked her why and... she said... she said..." He paused in his storytelling, allowing an eerie stillness to settle upon them, interrupted only by the crisp crunch of the frosty snow beneath their boots.
"What did she say?"
"He''s back, darling. He''s back... Who''s back..? Your dad, honey. Your dad is back... I stared at the phone, unable to process what she had just said. My dad? But he had been dead for years. How could he be back? As I spoke on the phone I looked up, and my blood froze. In front of me, crawling out of the forest towards me, was a white shape. It had long limbs, a twisted torso, and a face that was barely recognizable as human. It had my dad''s eyes..."
"Ahhhh, stop it, stop it, stop it!" The two timid boys who were listening to the story screamed, covering their ears.
The storyteller, Liu Zhi Wei (: a great ambition to destroy or a mighty will to kill), grinned wickedly, enjoying the effect of his tale on his audience.
They were walking along the edge of the yground, trying to get to the other side. The night was snowy and dark, and the wind howled in their ears. The moon and the stars were hidden by thick clouds, and the only light they had was from their shlights. The storyteller was the bravest of them, and he led the way.
A high-pitched ringtone suddenly broke the silence, causing him to startle. He quickly fished out his phone from his pocket, without bothering to check the caller ID.
Pressing the green button, he brought the phone up to his ear. "Hmm?"
"Little Wei, where are you?" A familiar voice, strained with pain, greeted him. "Mum''s stomach is killing her today... Please, can youe home? I need you to take me to the hospital."
Under normal circumstances, he would have rushed back home without a second thought. But now..
He felt a chill run down his spine as beads of sweat formed on his brow. He had just finished telling a ghost story, a story that matched this scenario too well.
Was this some kind of sick coincidence?
"Little Wei? Are you there?" His mum sounded worried. He could hear herboured breathing.
Liu Zhi Wei opened his mouth, but no words came out. He stood frozen, clutching the phone.
His friends, who had been listening to his story with rapt attention, also heard the voice on the phone. They stared at him with wide eyes, their faces pale.
What the hell... was happening?
"Little Wei? Hello?" His mum tried again. "Is the signal bad? I can''t hear you." She sighed and hung up.
The phone went silent. Liu Zhi Wei snapped out of his trance and lowered it slowly, feeling numb.
Did it really... happen?
He didn''t mean it, he was just joking!
Would his mum call again? And, would the white ghost he had made up... show up?
"Maybe it''s nothing. Just a random coincidence. Your mom should be fine, you know. Why don''t you go back and see for yourself?" Some of his friends tried to soothe him, their voicesced with uncertainty.
Liu Zhi Wei was about to reply, when his phone buzzed again in his pocket. He felt a surge of dread as he pulled it out and saw the familiar number on the screen. His face twisted into a mask of horror.
"Oh God, oh God, it''s happening again... What do I do?" He looked around desperately, seeking help from the adults nearby.
Jin Fu Gui snatched the phone from his hand and hurled it as far as he could, his eyes shing with anger. "Don''t pick it up, just forget about it."
"Really?" Liu Zhi Wei whispered, his voice trembling.
Could it be that simple?
But... fate had other ns.
The phone, flying through the air, didn''t shatter on impact as they hoped. Instead, itnded softly on a patch of snow, where it hit something and activated the call function.
And that wasn''t all. It also switched on the speaker mode.
Suddenly, everyone could hear the voiceing from the other side.
It sounded like a normal woman''s voice.
"Wei, you don''t have toe, your dad is back, he''ll stay with me... You just focus on your studies at school." And then, the call was cut off.
"No!!" Liu Zhi Wei screamed, his eyes wide with disbelief. He yelled at the phone, still lying in the distance, "Shut up! You''re lying, you''re lying! I don''t have a dad!" He tried to say more, but two of his ssmates grabbed him and dragged him away, muffling his mouth with their hands.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
They had always dismissed the stories of ghosts haunting the school as nothing but urban legends, meant to scare the gullible and the bored. But now, they had no choice but to face the reality that they were not alone in the dark yground. Something else was there, something that defied logic and reason.
They felt a cold shiver run down their spines as they imagined what would happen if a ghost woman suddenly materialised in front of them
Without realising it, they stopped moving. They stood there, frozen in fear, clutching each others hands.
What if what if there really is a ghost? What do we do?
Its all your fault, you know that? You and your big mouth, spouting off ghost stories like a fool! another one snapped, his voice trembling. You had to jinx us, didnt you?
Liu Zhi Wei felt a surge of guilt and regret. He wished he could take back his words, but it was toote. He felt tears sting his eyes. How was I supposed to know? I didnt think it was true. I swear, I didnt.
Shut up, both of you. This is not the time to argue. We need to get out of here. Now. a third one said, trying to sound calm and rational. Maybe we should go back the way we came?
Lu Yan said nothing. He was the quietest of the group, but also the most observant. He scanned the area, looking for any signs of movement or danger. He was ready to bolt at the slightest hint of trouble.
Jin Fu Gui was worried sick. No, we cant go back. My kids are still out there. I have to find them.
Your kids can take care of themselves. We have to save ourselves first. Come on, lets go! Liu Zhi Wei urged, turning around and pulling the arm of his friend.
Hey, wait a minute. Give us back our shlight. We need it! Fan Min protested, reaching out to grab the device from a couple of students who had it.
Why should we? We cant see anything without it, either! they retorted, holding on to it tightly.
In the scuffle, the shlight slipped from their grasp and fell to the ground, rolling a few times.
It stopped when it hit something.
Something white.
Something that moved.
Something that twisted its body and slowly crawled towards them.
It was a pale, shapeless thing, crawling on the ground with its long hair covering its face. Its arms stretched out, reaching for them with a hunger that made their blood run cold.
A shrill scream pierced the air. "Oh God, it''s real! It''s a fucking ghost!"
"Ah! There really is a ghost!"
"Quick, run!"
"Move! Move! Move!" Fan Min shouted, grabbing the shlight and sprinting away. The others followed him, their feet pounding on the ground.
Behind him, he could hear the scraping and thumping of the white figure that pursued them. It moved like a broken puppet, jerking and twisting, reaching out with its pale, limp arms, its face hidden by a curtain of matted hair. It seemed slow at first, but soon it gained speed, closing the gap between them.
"God, help us!" Jin Fu Gui cried out, struggling to keep up. He was older and heavier than the rest, and his lungs burned with every breath. Huo Gang and Fan Min tugged at his arms, trying to drag him along. "What the hell is that thing? How do we get rid of it?"
"It''s all because of you, Liu Zhi Wei! You and your stupid stories!" One of the boys yelled, ncing back at the ghost. He screamed louder and ran faster.
Lu Yan, who was running next to him, turned to Liu Zhi Wei. "You''re the one who started this mess, Liu Zhi Wei. Why don''t you change the ending?"
Liu Zhi Wei felt a surge of fear and guilt. He had only wanted to scare his friends a little, not unleash a real ghost on them. He racked his brain for a solution, hoping for a miracle.
He blurted out, "How about... when the white ghost is chasing everyone, a lightning bolt strikes from the sky and kills it? Lightning can kill anything, right?"
He looked up at the sky, but it was dark and cloudy, with no sign of a storm. No thunder, no lightning, no rain. Just snow.
The ghost didn''t stop; it kept crawling after them, relentless and unstoppable.
They felt a wave of coldness wash over them, as if they had entered a freezer. They smelled a rotten, musty odour, as if they had opened a coffin.
Liu Zhi Wei sobbed, his voice breaking. "Please, someone, anyone, help us. Make this white ghost go away. I''ll do anything, anything at all."
But no one heard him. No one could help him.
Ghosts and spirits were not real. They were only products of the imagination. But once they took shape in the mind, they became unstoppable. Except for rules, they could not be killed or banished by any means. They would haunt their creators until the end of time. No one knew how to make them disappear.
There was no hope, no salvation, no escape.
There were no gods in this world.
Only monsters.
A pale hand mped around the ankle of a young man.
He was the same boy who had always been afraid of ghost stories, a shy and timidd. He shrieked and tried to shake off the hand that held him, but it was too strong.
"Ahhhh" He fell to the ground with a thud.
And then he was gone.
The white ghost dragged him into oblivion, along with itself. They disappeared without a trace. The others who were running for their lives stopped and looked back, frozen in horror.
No one dared to go near the ce where the boy had vanished. They backed away slowly, their eyes wide and their mouths dry. For a long time, no one spoke.
The silence was oppressive, weighing on their minds like a heavy nket. Fan Min broke it with a shaky voice. "Now, what do we do?"
His question echoed in the air, unanswered. Liu Zhi Wei copsed into a fit of tears, hitting himself in the face as he sobbed, "It''s all my fault... It''s all my fault! I should have kept my mouth shut! It''s me..."
"Stop it! Stop ming yourself!" His friend embraced him, and they wept together, clinging to each other. "This school was always cursed, it''s not your fault."
"This school is really cursed..." Jin Fu Gui whispered to himself.
Lu Yan said nothing, his eyes still staring into the distance.
Where the boy had fallen, there was a shadow.
A shadow he recognized.
Jin Fu Gui took a deep breath,posing himself. He walked towards the other male students, who were huddled together in fear. He bent down and handed them a shlight. "I''m terribly sorry, it was my daughter and my bastard rascal who dragged you into this mess." He spoke with a strained voice. "If you want to go back, then go back now. We''ll keep searching."
The male students exchanged nces, unsure what to do, before taking the shlight.
"We''re sorry, we hope you find them soon."
"We''ll go back now, be careful."
Out of the four male students who went looking, only three came back.
But...
Lu Yan noticed something odd about the shadows cast by their shlights. There were four of them, but only three students. He nced at Jin Fu Gui, who had a grim expression on his face. He must have seen it too. Thats why he had hurried them to leave.
When they were alone, Fan Min whispered to Jin Fu Gui, "Boss, do we really have to keep looking?"
Jin Fu Gui nodded, his voice firm but shaky. Yes, we have to. We can''t have nobody performing... We have to find them and get them back to perform."
"Alright, let''s be careful," Huo Gang said, pulling Lu Yan to his side. "Jiang Bai,e on. Watch your step."
Lu Yan agreed, following them closely.
Soon, they saw a faint green light ahead of them. It was not natural, not like fireflies or glowworms. It was something else.
Lu Yan had seen it before, in an ancient tomb.
"Stay away from the green light, don''t touch it," he warned.
They didn''t ask him how he knew. They just nodded, trusting him.
"Can Can? Can Can, where are you?" Jin Fu Gui shouted, hoping for a reply.
The others joined him, calling out their names.
"Yuan Bao, for God''s sake, get your ass back here!"
"Where the hell is Huang Li? Old Huang, you better show yourself right now!"
They were surrounded by tiny green sparks, like a swarm of angry fireflies. They clung to their skin, their clothes, their hair, as if trying to burrow inside them.
Lu Yan ripped off his coat and flung it to brush off the sparks away from him. The other three followed his example, tossing their jackets and sweaters.
"Can? Can?!"
A faint cry reached their ears, followed by a rustle of leaves. "Dad?"
Then, a girl burst out of the snow covered bushes, her face and body illuminated by the green sparks. She was smiling, oblivious to the danger. "Dad, I''m here!" she called out, holding up her hands. "Look! I caught many fireflies!"
Huang Li appeared behind her, his face also glowing like a radioactive pumpkin. He gave a sheepish grin to the others, as if to apologise for his daughter''s recklessness.
Jin Yuan Bao trailed behind them, his eyes glued to his phone. He was ying some game, barely paying attention to his surroundings. He had the fewest sparks on him.
104
"You... You..." Jin Fu Gui''s fingers twitched as he pointed at them, his mouth gaping. He couldn''t find the words to curse them.
"Come on, let''s get out of here," Jin Can Can urged, reaching for the handsome man''s arm. But Lu Yan jerked away from her touch, his face cold and distant.
Behind them, two girls stumbled out of the woods, their faces and hair glowing with a sickly green light.
Lu Yan turned his back on Jin Can Can''s pleading eyes. "Mr. Jin, if you value your life, you''ll keep your distance from these things." He gestured at the eerie green swirls that surrounded them.
"What''s wrong with these things?" Jin Can Can whimpered, feeling a surge of uneasee upon her.
Lu Yan looked at her with a pitiless stare, as if she were already dead. "Just wait and see," he said.
Wait and see?
Jin Can Can felt a pang of doubt, and lifted her hand to her face.
She gasped as she
Chapter 104
Chapter 104
"You... You..." Jin Fu Gui''s fingers twitched as he pointed at them, his mouth gaping. He couldn''t find the words to curse them.
"Come on, let''s get out of here," Jin Can Can urged, reaching for the handsome man''s arm. But Lu Yan jerked away from her touch, his face cold and distant.
Behind them, two girls stumbled out of the woods, their faces and hair glowing with a sickly green light.
Lu Yan turned his back on Jin Can Can''s pleading eyes. "Mr. Jin, if you value your life, you''ll keep your distance from these things." He gestured at the eerie green swirls that surrounded them.
"What''s wrong with these things?" Jin Can Can whimpered, feeling a surge of uneasee upon her.
Lu Yan looked at her with a pitiless stare, as if she were already dead. "Just wait and see," he said.
Wait and see?
Jin Can Can felt a pang of doubt, and lifted her hand to her face.
She gasped as she felt a sharp itch and a burning sensation on her skin. It had started as a minor irritation, but now it was driving her mad. She scratched frantically, but it only made it worse.
She wasn''t the only one. The others were also scratching themselves, tearing at their flesh. Only Jin Yuan Bao seemed less affected, and he watched them with a puzzled expression.
"Someone tell me what the hell is happening!" he demanded.
He rubbed his neck, trying to soothe the irritation. But he felt something moving under his skin.
Something was trying to get out.
The woods were alive with a ghostly glow, as if a thousand tiny green stars had fallen from the sky and settled on the snowy leaves and branches.
Jin Fu Gui felt a cold shiver run down his spine as he saw the fluorescent specks fly everywhere. He quickened his pace and snapped at the others, Shut up and move faster! We need to get out of here and wash this crap off our skin.
He looked unpleasant.
Jin Can Can followed him closely, biting her lip and suppressing herints. She knew better than to argue with him when he was in this mood.
The two girls who had joined them for this adventure felt awkward and out of ce among the grown-ups. They did as they were told and trailed behind, hoping for the best.
Jiang Bai, Jin Can Can whispered to Lu Yan, what is this stuff, really? Is it very dangerous?
She had expected to catch fireflies, like they did in the movies. But these were something else. She had been captivated by their glow and managed to catch a few. Now, though, she regretted her decision. Her entire body itched relentlessly, as if the luminosity had infiltrated her pores and was devouring her from within. Initially dismissing it as a minor skin irritation or perhaps an allergic reaction, she had paid little heed. However, fear now gripped her after the handsome man''s words.
Lu Yan turned his head and looked at her with a grave expression. He nodded slowly. Theres a risk to life.
What?! Jin Can Can gasped, her eyes wide with horror.
Stop talking nonsense, what life-threatening thing? Jin Yuan Bao, interrupted them. He was scratching himself furiously, his nails leaving bloody marks on his skin. He red at Lu Yan, who he did not trust at all. Can Cai, dont listen to him. Hes just trying to scare you.
But, but its so itchy Jin Can Can whimpered, tears streaming down her face.
She scratched harder, tearing her skin open, chunks of flesh falling to the ground: So itchy so itchy am I going to die soon?
Su Mei, are we also one of the other girls sobbed, clutching her arms.
The itching was unbearable, like a thousand needles piercing their bones.
Jin Fu Guis voice trembled. Stop saying that! Theres nothing wrong with us, we just need to get back and wash up, thats all. It will go away once we rinse it off. He wanted to hug his daughter and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he was afraid to touch her, afraid of what he might feel under her skin.
Lu Yan backed away from the group. Washing up wouldnt help. It was toote for that. Soon, their flesh would start to rot, and their bones would be infested with these things. He wondered how they appeared here.
He recalled the chilling words of one of the students: schools are all built on top of mass graves. Was that where these things came from?
Ah ah ahwhat is this? Jin Can Can wailed, her face contorted with horror and pain. She sobbed, and her tears were tinged with green. She held up her hand, and Lu Yan saw the horror that had sprouted from her palm. Several thin, long, greenish mushrooms had grown out of her flesh, twisting and writhing like worms.
Dont pull them out, you can still live a little longer. Lu Yan warned, as he watched her copse to the ground and try to yank out the fungal invaders. He knew it was useless. They had already taken root inside her, and pulling them out would only kill her.
The rest of the group was in no better shape. Jin Fu Gui and Huo Gang stared in disbelief, as more mushrooms erupted from their bodies, covering their faces and limbs with grotesque growths.
The two other girls screamed and cried, clutching at each other, as they felt the mushrooms burrow into their skin, feeding on their blood and organs. The mushrooms multiplied rapidly, bing more numerous, longer, and thicker with each passing second.
Huang Li let out a final, agonised scream. A mushroom had burst through his eyeball, emerging from his eye socket like a spear. He fell to the ground, blood and pus dripping from his ruined eye.
As the world around them crumbled into madness, Jiang Bai remained eerilyposed. His serene expression contrasted sharply with the panic and horror on the faces of the others.
Jin Fu Gui felt a chill run down his spine as he stared at him, wondering if he was some kind of alien or monster. "Mr. Jiang... Mr. Jiang, what in the world should we do with this?"
"It''s over," Jiang Bai whispered, but his words echoed like a death knell in the group''s ears. "There''s nothing we can do. We''re all going to die."
"Shut up, you bastard! You don''t know what you''re talking about!" Jin Yuan Bao snapped, his voice hoarse with anger. He clutched Jin Can Can''s hand, ignoring the burning sensation on his skin. He tried to shield her from Jiang Bai''s fatalistic words, but he knew she could hear them. She was sobbing uncontrobly, shaking her head in denial.
He whispered to her, "Can Can, don''t listen to him. He''s lying. He''s trying to scare us."
Jin Can Can looked up at him with tearful eyes. "Brother, I''m so sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn''t have dragged you into this mess."
She wiped her face with her sleeve, but it only smeared the green liquid that oozed from her pores. It left glowing trails on the ground, like radioactive breadcrumbs.
"Don''t be silly. You didn''t drag me into anything. I came here willingly," Jin Yuan Bao said, forcing a smile through the agony. "We''ll be fine. We just need to get out of here, take a nice hot shower, and forget this ever happened."
Huo Gang couldn''t stand it anymore. He ran to Lu Yan''s side, hoping for a glimmer of hope. "Mr. Jiang Bai, are you sure there''s no way out? No cure? No antidote?"
Lu Yan shook his head. "I''m afraid not."
"Then how the hell do you know what this is?" Huo Gang demanded, his eyes desperate.
Lu Yan''s voice was low as he spoke, "I can''t tell you what it is, but I''ve seen it with these eyes. It can parasitize anyone it touches, and it won''t stop until it kills its host. I wish I had a clue what it was or where it came from."
His face was wan and bookish, but his eyes held a haunted gleam that made Huo Gang flinch. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he met his gaze.
This man...
He felt a jolt of dread.
They ran towards the dormitory building, aware that they might encounter the ghost that haunted those three students. It was a risky decision, but they had no choice but to go back.
The yground was encircled by a ring of trees, blocking their view of the main road. Lu Yan led the way, pushing through the branches. As he emerged onto the pavement, he stopped dead in his tracks.
He said nothing, just advanced a few steps, waiting for the others to catch up.
"Ah!" Xie Lin, who followed him closely, shrieked.
"What is it?" Jin Fu Gui snapped.
They looked where she pointed, and felt their blood freeze. Jin Can Can turned ashen, and clutched Jin Yuan Bao''s arm, trembling uncontrobly. She couldn''t stand to look anymore.
The campus road was nked by tall trees, throwing long shadows in the darkness. Only one street light flickered, and under its feeble light, they beheld a horrifying sight.
A male student hung from a noose, his body swaying softly in the winter wind. He spun slowly, exposing his bloated, bloodshot face and his long tongue lolling out of his mouth.
Xie Lin screamed, clutching Zhang Su Mei''s arm. "He''s dead! He''s fucking dead! How do we get out of here?"
Zhang Su Mei stroked her hair, trying to calm her down. "Shh, shh, it''s okay, it''s okay. Don''t look at him, okay? Just follow me, we''ll make it back."
In the shadows, Lu Yan''s eyes fixed on the lifeless face of the boy. He recognized him as one of the trio who had gone ahead, the nerdy one with the sses.
The rest of the group was in a state of frenzy, and even Huo Gang, the tallest and strongest of them, felt a cold sweat on his forehead. Only Lu Yan seemed detached from the horror, watching everything with a clinical gaze.
The eerie glow of fireflies, the bizarre corpse hanging from the street light, none of it seemed to faze him.
"Come on,e on, it''s okay, it''s okay, just be careful, don''t touch anything, let''s go around." Jin Fu Gui was petrified, but he forced himself to sound reassuring. "It''s okay, we''ll be fine, we just need to go back."
He cursed himself inwardly. He should have never agreed to move into the school dorms to save some money.
Fucking principal, was he trying to kill them?
"Listen, don''t panic, we''ll just walk past him, and I''ll call the principal." Jin Fu Gui grabbed Huo Gang''s arm and pulled out his phone with his other hand.
But there was no answer on the other line.
Jin Fu Gui kept dialling, hoping for a response. And then, someone picked up.
A sweet voice greeted him on the phone. Im sorry, the user you are trying to reach has passed away and is temporarily unable to answer at the moment. Please try againter..."
"What... what the hell?" Jin Fu Gui was stunned by the absurd message. He immediately hung up the phone as soon as he realised what he had just heard.
The others heard it too, and they were paralyzed with fear. Jin Can Can and Huang Li covered their mouths with their hands, muffling their cries. No one dared to speak.
Im sorry, the user you are trying to reach has passed away and cannot answer at the moment. Please try againter The voice droned on, increasing in volume and intensity.
Jin Fu Gui snapped, not bothering with the SIM card. He inhaled sharply and flung the phone as far as he could.
The automated voice announcement followed the phone, amplifying its message.
Im sorry, the user you are trying to reach has passed away and is temporarily unable to Im sorry, the user you are trying to reach has passed away
Shut up! Shut up! Jin Fu Gui bellowed, hurling curses at the discarded phone, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He didnt want to think about the possibility of being haunted by a vengeful spirit.
The mechanical female voice was relentless, escting in speed and pitch. Soon, everyone within earshot could hear her cold, piercing words.
Im sorry, you are already dead. Please try againter. The final drawn-out beep was like a death knell.
What can I do? She wont leave me alone Jin Fu Gui wed at his thinning hair, his voice cracking with despair. She wont leave me alone What can I do?!
Jin Can Can clenched her teeth, shrugged off Jin Yuan Baos grip, and sprinted towards the spot where her father had thrown the phone. Dad, Ill take this call for you!
She was too fast for Jin Yuan Bao to stop her, escaping his reach. Jin Can Can ran and wept simultaneously, Dad, you and brother, live well.
Can Can! Dont do this! Jin Yuan Baos eyes were red with rage.
The shrill ring of the phone pierced the silence of the snow-covered forest.
Jin Can Can snatched it up, her voice trembling with anger and fear. "Why are you making a fuss? You think you can scare me? Come on, then! Show yourself! You''re nothing but a ghost, a pathetic remnant of a life you wasted!
She spat out thest words, defiantly, even as tears streamed down her face, mingling with the green mushrooms that had infected her skin. She didn''t know how much longer she could hold on, but she refused to give in to the terror that gripped her.
" I''m not afraid of you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a pale, skeletal hand emerged from the phone screen, like a nightmare made flesh. It wrapped around her wrist, cold and mmy, and yanked her towards the tiny device.
She screamed, but no one could help her. The phone was too small for her body, but somehow, it swallowed her whole. It fell to the ground with a thud, leaving behind a trail of blood and spores. The only sign that she had ever existed.
Everyone who witnessed the scene was stunned. A ghost had just imed a life, right in front of their eyes. It was impossible, but it was true.
Can Can!! Jin Yuan Bao ran towards the phone, hoping to find his sister, but there was nothing there. He picked up the phone, clutching it to his chest, and sobbed uncontrobly.
Jin Fu Gui copsed to his knees. He pounded his chest and stomped his feet, wailing in agony. Can Canmy baby girlwhywhy
Huo Gang felt a surge of fear and sorrow. He wiped his face, trying to calm himself down. Boss, we have to go. Now. Yuan Bao is still alive. We cant let him die too.
The young man didnt seem to hear them. He kept crying, his tears soaking the phone. His grief was so deep, so raw, that it broke Huo Gangs heart. He felt like he was watching a child lose his innocence, his hope, his everything.
Oh, Can CanI love youIm sorry
Suddenly, the phone screen flickered, casting a faint light on the snow. A voice came out of the speaker, a voice that chilled them to the bone.
Brother?
Jin Yuan Bao felt a jolt of shock. He recognized that voice. It was bright and cheerful, like a ray of sunshine.
He pressed the phone against his ear. Can Can? Is that you? Are you okay? His voice was trembling with disbelief and fear.
She giggled, as if she found his reaction amusing. Of course Im okay. Why wouldnt I be? Brother, you sound so strange. Whats the matter?
He stammered, trying to make sense of what he was hearing. Nothing, nothing. Its just I thought you were never mind. Im d youre fine.
Jin Fu Gui watched him with a stunned expression. He nudged Huo Gang, who was standing next to him. Do you think Yuan Bao is possessed? Who is he talking to on the phone?
Huo Gang shook his head slowly, his eyes wide with horror. He had no idea what was going on. Everything that had happened tonight was beyond his wildest nightmares. He wished he could wake up from this hell.
He nced at Huang Li, who had been following them in silence for a while. He wished he hadnt. The sight of him made him gasp. Half of his face was missing, leaving only a gruesome skeleton. One of his eyes was hanging out of its socket, swinging like a pendulum.
The two girls had retreated to a corner, too terrified to make a sound. They clung to each other, trying not to look at anything. They deserved some credit for not losing their minds.
Suddenly, Huang Li started to move.
"Old Huang? Huang Li?" Huo Gang followed Huang Li with a nervous expression, calling his name repeatedly. But Huang Li seemed to be in a trance, walking slowly and steadily towards an unknown destination.
Huo Gang was afraid to touch him, fearing to get parasitised by the mushrooms. He shouted louder, hoping to snap him out of it. "Huang Li! Where are you going? What''s wrong with you?"
Huang Li reached a dimly lit streetlight, where he stopped and looked up. Hanging from the metal pole was a noose, swaying gently in the breeze. It was as if it was waiting for him. Huang Li lifted his chin and slid his head into the loop, without any hesitation. The rope suddenly tightened, yanking him off the ground.
He kicked and thrashed, wing desperately at his neck. But the more he fought, the more the noose choked him. His face turned purple, his eyes bulged out of their sockets, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. He made gurgling noises.
Huo Gang watched in horror, frozen in ce. He whispered to himself, "There''s a ghost... there''s a ghost here..." He felt a cold sweat on his forehead, and his heart pounded in his chest. He backed away slowly, trying to escape the nightmare.
But then he screamed, a high-pitched, inhuman scream that echoed through the night. He clutched his head with both hands, as if it was about to explode. He copsed to the ground,ughing and crying hysterically. "A ghost... hahaha, there''s a ghost... no, there''s no ghost, hehehehe..."
Jin Fu Gui saw the scene from a distance, and shook his head sadly. "Poor Little Huo has gone mad." He tried to coax his son, who was still holding his phone.
Huo Gang was ignored by everyone. He reached out to grab Lu Yan, but the other man evaded him with ease. Huo Gang gazed at the sky with a vacant expression.
"Hahaha... so many ghosts..." he croaked, pointing at the air. "So many ghosts... so many fireflies! Catch bugs... fireflies!" He leaped to his feet and staggered into the dark heart of the forest, following the ever-growing swarm of lights.
Two female students clung to each other, shivering.
They could barely move, their bodies wracked with unbearable agony. They were on the verge of cking out, barely registering the figure that came closer to them.
Lu Yan had two small knives hidden in his sleeves. With a swift motion, he shed their throats, sending them tumbling to the snow-covered ground.
He should be grateful to those fools for leaving him his weapons.
Two corpsesy still, nothing out of the ordinary. Green blood stained the snow, and green fungi sprouted wildly, enveloping the des in a sickly glow.
Lu Yan spoke, his voice cold and calm. "I''m going back now. Are youing?"
Jin Fu Gui was too busy trying to reason with Jin Yuan Bao, and didn''t catch his words.
He only realised he was being addressed when Lu Yan repeated himself.
He was the only one left, besides this mysterious young man. (tn: Poor Fan Min, the author forgot to even describe how you died.)
The life had drained out of Jin Yuan Bao, leaving him a hollow shell of his former self.
A gust of icy wind snapped Jin Fu Gui out of his stupor, making him shiver and clutch his coat. He looked at his son''s pale face, his eyes dull and unfocused, and felt a surge of despair.
"Come on, son, we have to go. Please, don''t make me leave you here," he begged, tearing his gaze away from the lifeless figure and stumbling after Lu Yan, who was already several steps ahead.
Jin Can Can''s voice crackled through the phone, saying something that made Jin Yuan Bao smile faintly.
"Okay, okay, you want to hear ''Emperor''s Sacrifice,'' right? I''ll sing it for you, sweetie, just stop crying."
Lu Yan heard the raspy voice of Jin Yuan Bao, barely recognizable, and felt a chill run down his spine. He instinctively began to hum a random song, trying to drown out the haunting melody.
Jin Fu Gui and Lu Yan exchanged horrified looks.
"Yuanbao! What are you doing? You can''t sing ''Emperor''s Sacrifice'' like that! It''s forbidden!" Jin Fu Gui shouted, his voice trembling with fear and anger.
Lu Yan spun around, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. He stared at Jin Yuan Bao, who was still holding the phone to his ear, singing softly.
It couldn''t be. It was impossible.
But he knew that song. He had heard it before, from the lips of the famous actress Lan Zhi Yu!
Jin Yuan Bao was oblivious to everything around him, immersed in his own world. He sang to his sister, hoping to pacify her anger, unaware of his father''s frantic screams and his heavy footsteps.
"We have to get out of here! Now! This song is dangerous! It can''t be heard by anyone!" Jin Fu Gui, realising his son was beyond reason, turned to Lu Yan and ordered.
Lu Yan didn''t hesitate. He ran for his life.
As he sang, Jin Yuan Bao forgot about his phone, which he had left on the ground. He rose to his feet and lifted his voice to the moon, a pale sliver that had broken through the dark clouds. Around him, the night was alive with green sparks, drifting like fireflies.
From the phone screen, a white hand reached out, slender and smooth.
A shape followed, squeezing itself through the small opening of the device.
The wind made the corpses sway, two limp forms hanging from the streetmp. The ropes snapped and they dropped to the pavement with a thud.
Theyy still for a moment, then twitched and stirred.
Huo Gang, mad, ran after the green lights, bursting out of the woods. He stopped in front of Jin Can Can, his eyes wild and bloodshot.
The two dead girls on the ground also moved their limbs...
**
"What the hell is ''Emperor''s Sacrifice''? How do you know that song?" Lu Yan demanded, after they had put some distance between them and the horrors.
Jin Fu Gui shivered, his voice trembling. "It''s a ritual, a ritual to the emperor. You know the story, right? The emperor wanted to cheat death, but death always wins. He sought a way toe back, to die and be reborn. That''s ''Emperor''s Sacrifice''."
"Where did you learn that?" Lu Yan couldn''t believe that such a dark secret was hidden behind Lan Zhi Yu''s song.
"From an ancient tomb." Jin Fu Gui spilled everything, as if he couldn''t keep it inside any longer. He felt a strange pull towards this young man, a need to confess. "Not one that I dug up, though. That tomb has been there for ages. They say there''s a god buried there!"
Lu Yan scoffed, his tone icy. "You said a god could be anything, even a rock."
"Who knows what''s true and what''s not? It''s all legend. Some say it''s dead, others say it was never alive to begin with." Jin Fu Gui panted as he ran.
Lu Yan had made up his mind to get out of this hellhole, even if it meant braving the night terrors that lurked outside. He turned to Jin Fu Gui, and asked in a low voice, Are you sure you want to go back to the dormitory? You know whats waiting for us there, right?
Jin Fu Gui nodded nervously, clutching his phone. The principal said its the safest ce. He said they have experts working on a solution. He said they wont bother us if we just lock ourselves in and go to sleep.
Lu Yan frowned. But thats not what the voice on the phone said earlier.
Jin Fu Gui shivered. He hesitated, then said, Maybe we can wait until dawn. Its too risky to go out now. This school is crawling with them.
They continued walking, hoping to reach the dormitory building before anyone noticed them. But as they approached, they stopped in their tracks, frozen by fear.
There, in front of the dormitory building, stood a row of figures, perfectly still and silent, as if expecting them.
They heard their footsteps, and turned as one, their faces illuminated by the faint light.
Lu Yan recognized them all. Jin Can Can, Jin Yuan Bao, Huang Li and Huo Gang. But they were no longer alive. They were something else.
Their skin was pale and bloodless, their lips were bright red and wet, their eyes were nk and hungry. They looked like paper dolls, cut out from a horror story.
Jin Fu Gui felt a surge of panic in his chest and his gut, as if a thousand needles were pricking him from the inside. He stammered, "W-what do we do? Do we run for it?"
Jin Can Can shed a wicked grin, exposing a row of gleaming, razor-sharp teeth. "Daddy, you''ve been gone for so long. We''ve missed you terribly."
She spun around and faced Lu Yan, her cheeks tinted with a rosy hue. "Jiang Bai, where did you disappear to?"
But her eyes betrayed no trace of innocence or affection; instead, they exuded cold and cruel, unapologetic malice.
What was holding them back? Was the dormitory building really a safe haven?
Lu Yan hesitated; he took a step back, his muscles tense and ready to bolt at any sign of danger.
Just then, another girl descended from the upper floor, her hair damp and her skin flushed, as if she had just enjoyed a hot shower.
"Hey? Why are you all loitering at the door?" The girl asked, perplexed. She opened the door wide and gestured for them to enter. "Come on in."
A row of faces turned to stare at her, making her feel a chill down her spine. "What''s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" She wrapped her arms around herself. "Hurry up, or I''ll m the door shut."
She barely finished her sentence when Jin Yuan Bao advanced, blocking the doorway.
He bowed his head and smiled at the girl, revealing his own set of fangs.
"Let''s get out of here." Lu Yan grabbed Jin Fu Gui''s arm and dragged him along, as he snapped out of his shock and followed suit.
The dormitory building was no longer a sanctuary. This was bad; where could they go now?
They had barely escaped when a girl''s scream pierced the night from the dormitory building.
Lu Yan and Jin Fu Gui ran for their lives through the campus, shunning the dark trees that glowed with a sickly green light, sticking to the main roads.
They could hear the agonised howlsing from the dormitory building.
A deafening boom shattered the air, sending shockwaves through the ground.
Lu Yan whipped his head around, disbelief etched on his face.
The dormitory building was engulfed in mes, a fiery inferno that lit up the night sky.
Not again. His future self?
Lu Yan had a hunch and sprinted even faster, following the zing trail of destruction. He snatched Jin Fu Gui and made a beeline for the school gate.
**
"Son of a bitch! The school is blown to hell too."
One of the task assignees had been tailing Jiang Bai, the suspicious anomaly. As soon as Jiang Bai was taken to the school, their focus shifted to the building.
Jiang Yu and the others convened an emergency meeting.
"What the hell happened to the school? Is this connected to Jiang Bai?"
They were pretty sure Jiang Bai was innocent; he had nothing on him or in his bag that could trigger such a st. And they had all witnessed the bomber, a spitting image of Jiang Bai.
"Our priority now is to find out if Jiang Bai is alive. He''s a goldmine of secrets; we can''t afford to lose him like this," Di Ying remarked.
Lin Chu also got wind of the explosion, her brows furrowing.
Are you kidding me? You''re so desperate you''d blow yourself up too?
Chapter 105
Chapter 105
A fiery inferno engulfed the campus, sending tongues of me licking the night sky.
The bombs were useless against the ghosts. They only brought down the living, crushing them under the weight of the shattered dormitory. The ground trembled with each st, making Lu Yan stumble and stagger as he tried to flee.
Damn it, hes at it again! Jin Fu Gui cursed, wiping the sweat and dust from his face. When will this madman stop? How many lives has he taken?
Lu Yan: Shut up and run! Where the hell is the gate?
Jin Fu Gui, panic-stricken: We cant get out at night.
**
Somewhere else, the hooded and masked man pressed another detonator.
**
What does he want? What is his goal? Is he just a mindless killer? Jiang Yu muttered, following the news reports. He marked another spot on the map with a small g.
It was another location that had been bombed by the mysterious attacker.
Apart from residential buildings, the school was also affected. However, the area next to the school, which will be used for cultural festivals, remained undamaged.
No, look closer. Xi Men Yuan said, stroking his chin. The bombings have be less frequent and less concentrated.
Maybe hes running low on explosives? Di Ying offered.
Thats a usible exnation.
Jiang Yus head moved from side to side in a slow, weary gesture of denial. Hes not running out of bombs. He can whip up a new batch in no time, even if he exhausts his current supply. And he doesnt care where he nts them. He targets residential buildings, where anything can be a trigger. A gas leak, a faulty appliance, a loose wire. He just needs a spark, and boom. He spat out thest word with a mix of anger and fear.
He paused, then added, "The only thing we know for sure is that he''s slowed down his rampage. For some reason, he''s holding back."
He barely finished the sentence when the building they were in trembled violently.
They heard a deafening roar and saw a cloud of dust and debris raining down.
"Shit! Run!" someone screamed.
Jiang Yu couldnt believe it. He had never thought that the bomber would target them. He had always assumed that they were safe. He realised then that his previous theory was wed.
**
Lu Yan had done this on purpose.
He had met his future self, who had warned him to go to the cultural festival. He had followed the advice and reduced the frequency of the explosions.
He had wanted to thin out the crowd by the end of the month, to increase his chances of survival.
But he still couldn''t get rid of the red figure in his eyes.
Lu Yan let out a bitter sigh.
He was his own worst enemy. That much became clear when his future self spoke the bitter truth, revealing the hateful ghost that lurked behind his eyes, waiting for a chance to strike. The present him had no hope of escaping its wrath, and the future him would die if the ghost ever caught a glimpse of his eyes. There existed only one escape from this convoluted paradox: he had to sacrifice himself, the one in the middle, the one who possessed the key to their intertwined destinies.
He scanned the rooftop, his eyes darting from one corner to another, as he observed the chaotic scene that unfolded below. The panicked crowd scurried in every direction, desperately trying to save their lives while holding onto whatever precious belongings they could. Amongst them, there was a person clutching onto an illustrated book.
That one was Jiang Yu.
Lu Yan wasted no time. He sprinted down the stairs, tossing explosives behind him to scatter the mob.
Fire erupted, painting the night sky in orange and red. Sirens wailed in the distance.
The police were on their way.
He had caused chaos in this town, targeting the police station and hospital within a matter of days. He had be the most wanted criminal, despised and feared by every police officer in the area.
But he didnt run. He slipped into the shadows, following Jiang Yus trail.
Jiang Yu lost hispanions in the chaos and headed towards the main road, hoping to find a way out. Suddenly, he sensed a presence behind him and shouted, "Who''s there?" as he turned around.
Before he could react, a blow to the head silenced him, causing him to crumple to the ground and fall unconscious.
He regained consciousness after what felt like an eternity.
Opening his eyes, he gasped in horror. The street before him was a deste wastnd, strewn with debris and scattered body parts. He found himself lying amidst the gruesome aftermath, surrounded by severed limbs and blood-soaked corpses. The nauseating stench of decay and charred flesh invaded his senses.
Frantically, he looked around. Where was the book? The book was gone!
Jiang, thank God youre alive! A group of his task members sprinted towards him from the distance, their faces pale and anxious. The st is over, but the cops are clueless. No sign of the bastard who did this.
Jiang Yu nodded grimly. I figured.
He didn''t need to be a genius to connect the dots; the previous explosions were all for the sake of that book.
Jiang Yu had calcted the time gap between the two incidents, one at the school and one at their temporary home. It was obvious that the culprit had gone after Jiang Bai first, only toe up empty-handed. Then he had doubled back and struck again.
Son of a bitch
Jiang Yu clenched his teeth, his resolve hardening: he had to, he would, find this guy and make him pay.
Come on, lets get out of here, Jiang Yu said, wiping the dust and blood off his face. He got to his feet, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head.
Qiu Zhi, who had been trailing behind him, looked concerned. Shouldnt you get that wound treated first?
Jiang Yu shook his head. No time for that. We have more important things to talk about.
Theirplimentary lodging, provided by the tour guide, was now reduced to rubble. The sudden attack had caught them off guard, and most of their cash had been left behind, now burned to ashes. They were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the questions in their minds.
The task members who regrouped had to face the harsh reality of survival first.
Luckily, this town was a death trap, and vacancies were plentiful. They could find some odd jobs for the time being, and use the chance to blend in with the locals.
**
Jin Fu Guis voice was a shrill whine, punctuated by his ragged breaths. Its over, its over, what do we do now? He clutched at Lu Yans arm, his eyes wide with panic. Theyve all turned into ghosts, we cant leave the school at night.
Lu Yan shook him off. If we cant leave, then we have to find another ce to hide for now.
Thank goodness youre here. Hey, Mr. Jiang, truth be told, weve burdened you this time, Jin Fu Gui said as they ran, I shouldve stopped him earlier, that stinky kid
You dont need to thank me, Lu Yan said, ducking a small stone that flew towards him out of nowhere, Did the principal mention anything else to you?
No, nothing else. Should we hide in the ssroom building?
Its better not to. If we can stay in the open space, we should. ording to you, itll be safe after dawn. Being in buildings like that makes it very easy to get surrounded, and if were forced to higher floors, its even harder to escape.
But Jin Fu Gui nced back and was even more terrified, prompting him to run faster, Theyre catching up!
Behind them, a group of boys and girls were slowly advancing.
Although their pace wasnt fast, the gap between them was narrowing continuously.
Wait for me, dont leave me behind, Jin Fu Gui pleaded as he saw the figure ahead speeding up, growing more frantic, Im telling you, if if we cant finish the show, well all die.
What do you mean? The figure ahead indeed slowed down, reaching back to grab him, pulling him forward.
Do you know why the people in town asked me to perform? Because of the Emperors Sacrifice Song. Its a song that can bring people back to life, so theyre not afraid of death at all.
Resurrection? Lu Yan scoffed.
Trust me, aren''t they full of life and vigour? Jin Fu Gui said, gesturing to the shambling youths that followed him like a horde of zombies.
They would be better off dead. It would be more merciful.
Jin Fu Gui sighed. Dont be so harsh. I came here to find the source of this song. I have the iplete version. I dare not sing them. They say that Once these two pieces of music arepleted, it will lead us to the tomb of the deity. There, we will find the true secret of immortality.
Lu Yan narrowed his eyes. You just revealed your secret to me. Just like that?
Jin Fu Gui shrugged. What does it matter? The opera troupe is gone. I need new recruits. How about you? Do you want to join me?
No.
They continued to walk, but the distance between them and the youths was shrinking. Lu Yan could feel their cold and rotten breath on his neck.
What to do?
What to do?!
He could easily outrun Jin Fu Gui. He could leave him to his fate. But he couldnt do that. Jin Fu Gui had something he needed. A secret he had to pry from him. He had to keep him alive.
Jin Fu Gui was scared too.
He nced back and saw his daughter, Jin Can Can, among the crowd. She had been a beautiful girl, with a voice like a nightingale. Now, she was a monster, with a mouth full of fangs.
Death was not an option for him; he had dedicated too much time and effort searching the world for those elusive melodies that could save his life.
Listen, there may be a way out of this. Jin Fu Gui yed hisst card. The song that my son sang before they took him away was the Emperors Sacrificial Song. He was cut off before he could finish it. As he spoke, he ran as fast as his burning lungs would allow. Theres another song, the Eight Sacrificial Songs. I dont know what they do, exactly, but they say you have to sing them together with the Emperors Song.
Have you ever tried it yourself?
Never, Jin Fu Gui admitted, his voice heavy with regret. My master taught me this secret. He was the only one who knew. I dont know if he ever tested it himself. But hes gone now, hes gone forever
You should try it then. What did they have to lose?
Jin Fu Gui nodded, gathering his courage and his breath. He inhaled deeply and started to sing a haunting tune that Lu Yan recognized.
Behind them, the eyes of their young pursuers zed over, and their feet dragged on the ground.
Its working! Jin Fu Gui cried out in wonder.
But as soon as he paused, the eyes of the boys and girls shed white again, sending a jolt of fear through Jin Fu Gui. He resumed his singing, hoping it was not toote.
Only Lu Yan observed the scene with curiosity.
As Jin Fu Gui sang, a faint green glow surrounded his body, but it vanished whenever he stopped.
The song had a power beyond his understanding. It was not just holding back the inevitable, but reversing it.
Jin Fu Gui sang with all his heart, unaware of the miracle he was performing. Lu Yan watched from a distance, not daring to interrupt. He strained his ears to catch every word, every note, hoping to imprint them in his memory.
But as he listened, a chill ran down his spine. Something was wrong.
**
Far away from the scene, Lu Yan abruptly stopped, his fingers digging into the book.
He had been here before. In a previous timeline, he had met these taskers and concealed his true identity with an alias. However, he had no reason to go to the school, nor had he experienced the red ghost in the eye. He had followed the taskers to the festive celebration, unaware of the impending disaster.
He had died there, longing for a second chance.
And he got it. He travelled back in time, altered his path, infiltrated the school, befriended the opera troupe, and unleashed chaos upon the town.
He should be happy. He had changed his fate, saved himself, and perhaps others.
So why did he feel an unsettling dread in his chest?
**
Jin Fu Guis voice filled the air, soothing and healing.
The transformation urred among the people in front of him. Their monstrous appearances, with green, decaying flesh and luminescent fungal growths, faded away. They regained their human features, their natural colours, and their vitality was restored.
Huo Gang felt a rush of warmth spreading across his face, apanied by a glimmer of light in his eyes. He reached out and touched his cheek, finding smooth skin instead of bone. Overwhelmed by the miracle, tears streamed down his face as he fell to his knees and wept bitterly.
Huang Lis neck, stretched and scarred by the noose that had snuffed out his life, shrank back to its normal length as he crumpled to the ground like a discarded puppet.
One by one, the rest of them followed, their twisted and mutted bodies slowly returning to the state they had been in before their gruesome deaths.
Jin Fu Gui had no choice but to keep singing, his voice hoarse and strained from the endless running. His mouth was dry, his throat was on fire, but he couldnt stop.
Not until the sun rose.
And that was still more than two hours away.
Lu Yan felt a surge of panic and dread. He was losing control of his emotions, sumbing to the dark influence of the song. He knew it was a curse, a chant for the dead.
He moved away from Jin Fu Gui, his eyes fixed on the horizon, hoping for a glimpse of light.
Then he saw it.
A sh of red in the darkness, moving closer and closer.
It was a sight that chilled him to the bone, a sight that made his blood run cold. His skin prickled, his heart raced.
Run! Now! He didnt waste any time, he grabbed Jin Fu Gui and dragged him along.
He recognized it; it was the red ghost that had haunted his eye. And now, it hade back.
Why was it after him? Was it because they had been once the same person, or was it because of the song?
Lu Yan didnt know, he didnt care, he just ran for his life.
Jin Fu Gui gasped, "Oh, oh, oh, the song''s not over yet! Watch out for them"
ncing over his shoulder, he realised that the twisted ghosts had returned to their original forms, lying motionless on the cracked pavement.
Without wasting any more breath, he sprinted after Lu Yan.
**
In the ramshackle hut at the entrance of the town, Lu Yan sat hunched over the table, his fingers tracing the contours of the book before him.
He had scrubbed the blood off the walls and floor, but the air still reeked of iron, as if the wood had soaked up the gore.
He gazed at the picture book in his grasp, the product of his own handiwork. It was an exact replica of the one that the original Lu Yan had borrowed from the library and that Jiang Yu''s gang had stolen. It was impossible to distinguish between the two books; they lookedpletely identical.
However, things had changed. The original Lu Yan had taken on the name Jiang Bai, and taskers watched him while they were now being watched by another version of his future selves. To make matters worse, the red ghost was hunting them down.
How could he possibly slip this picture book to the original Lu Yan without being noticed?
Lu Yan wracked his brain for a solution, but it eluded him.
**
In a parallel world, beyond his knowledge
"New task, enter a ce called Spirit Vale Town within half an hour, and spend the Cultural Festival there. Remember, you must conceal your identity, hide your mission, blend in with the indigenous people of the town, and not reveal yourself to anyone. Whether to our own side or to the townsfolk, you must not expose your identity. There are already some taskers in the town, and you must not expose your identity to them either. After the Cultural Festival ends, you can return to your own world.
The method of entry is to silently recite the name of the town three times."
A young girl frowned at the message, feeling a surge of curiosity and apprehension. She had never received such a strange and urgent task before. What was the purpose of this mission? What was the secret of Spirit Vale Town? And why did she have to hide from everyone, even her fellow taskers?
She wondered if she should share this information with the onlinemunity of taskers, or keep it to herself. She bit her lip, undecided.
She shook her head. "That''s not an option. The mission has made it clear that this is a secret. If I leaked it, wouldn''t I be breaking the rules?"
She paused, then closed her eyes and whispered the name of the small town under her breath.
She was not alone. All over the country, others did the same, murmuring the name like a prayer.
**
Somewhere in the mortal realm, a deste ind rose from the sea. In the emptiness, a faint outline of buildings appeared, forming a small town.
A small town nestled among the mountains.
But the buildings were barely visible, like ghosts in the mist. They could easily be overlooked by a careless eye.
And on the ind, there was no one to see them.
Soon, shadows of people emerged from the town, scattering in different directions. They avoided looking at each other.
**
"Look, the sun ising up," Lu Yan said, raising his eyes to the horizon.
The sky was beginning to lighten, a pale and sickly hue that reminded them of dead fish.
They had been running all night, trapped in the endless maze of the school grounds. No matter how fast or how far they ran, the gate never came into view. It was as if the school had swallowed them whole, and refused to spit them out. But now, as the first rays of dawn pierced the gloom, they finally saw it. The gate. The way out.
"Come on," Lu Yan said, grabbing Jin Fu Gui''s arm. "We have to hurry."
Jin Fu Gui nodded, wiping the sweat and dirt from his face. His throat was raw from running and singing. He could barely speak, let alone swallow. He felt like he had swallowed sandpaper.
Just a few more minutes, he thought. Then I can drink as much water as I want.
They sprinted towards the gate, hoping that nothing would stop them this time. They crossed the threshold, feeling a surge of relief. They had made it. They were free. But then, Lu Yan looked back.
Jin Fu Gui felt a chill run down his spine. He followed Lu Yan''s gaze, and saw him. The man in red. He was standing at the gate, his eyes boring into theirs.
Then, he vanished. He turned into a puff of smoke, and dissipated in the air.
Who was he after?
Lu Yan didn''t have time to think. He pulled Jin Fu Gui along, and ran for their lives.
They barely made it out alive, running for their lives until they reached a small shop. Jin Fu Gui grabbed three bottles of water from the shelf and gulped them down, ignoring the price tag and the shopkeeper''s re. Lu Yan was panting beside him, his face pale and sweaty, but his eyes alert.
"Tell me again, why did we have to finish the opera?" he demanded, his voice hoarse. "What was so important about it that you risked your life and mine? And where are you going to find a new troupe now that yours has died?"
Jin Fu Gui felt a pang of grief at the mention of his children. He had been in a state of shock ever since, unable to process the loss, the emptiness. He had hoped it was all a nightmare, that he would wake up and find them waiting for him, ready to rehearse the final act. But Lu Yan''s words shattered his illusion, reminding him of the harsh reality.
He opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out.
"What''s wrong with you?"
He tried again, but only a faint hiss escaped his lips. His throat felt like it was on fire, seared by some invisible force. He panicked, clutching his neck, trying to make himself heard.
"Youve lost your voice?
Jin Fu Gui nodded frantically, tears welling up in his eyes.
He suddenly remembered something and immediately let go of Lu Yan, rushing back to the shop. Frantically, he searched for a pen and paper, desperate to find any means ofmunication. Finally, he located them, quickly paid for them, and hurried back to Lu Yan, hoping that he still had a chance to exin.
He scribbled on paper.
They''re all dead. The whole troupe. And I''ve lost my voice. You''re the only witness to the ''Emperor''s Sacrifice''.
Can you sing?
Jiang Bai''s mute response sent a wave of terror through Jin Fu Gui''s plump face. He stared at him with desperate eyes, his hands iling and wing in the air, as if he wanted to grab his throat and force the words out.
Please, please, you must remember. You''ve heard it all, every note, every word.
We have to sing this y, or the town will tear us apart. To put it bluntly, the reason they are so unscrupulous towards death is because they believe in the cultural festival, the miracle that brings the dead back to life.
If you won''t sing, then find me someone who will, and teach them. You don''t have to face the crowd yourself.
Lu Yan scanned the frantic words that filled the paper and nodded. "Alright. I understand."
He had a remarkable memory. He had stored every song in his mind, from the ones that Lan Zhi Yu had sung, to the ones that Jin Yuan Bao and Jin Fu Gui had performedter.
Jin Fu Gui let out a sigh of relief.
**
"Strange, how did the town get so crowded with strangers?"
The night had passed, and the taskers had intended to search for another ce to stay. However, their guide had mysteriously disappeared. The devastating impact of the bombs had left numerous neighbourhoods in ruins, the hospital was overwhelmed with injured patients, and vacant houses had been transformed into makeshift wards.
Trapped in a dead end, they had no choice but to look for some temporary work to survive. But to their dismay, they discovered that the market was flooded with new faces, all vying for the same scarce opportunities.
There was something off about these strangers. They looked like taskers yet they stood out somehow. They resisted any attempts to pry into their backgrounds. They behaved as if they belonged here.
The situation was bing increasinglyplex and dangerous.
The townsfolk had initially treated the first group of taskers with suspicion and hostility. However, they warmly weed the second group with open arms. Since these individuals were expected to assimte into the small town, they made a conscious effort to engage with the locals and quickly became an integral part of themunity.
The second wave of taskers recognized each other, but they kept their secrets well. They feigned ignorance and curiosity, even probing the first group of taskers about their assignments.
Chapter 106
Chapter 106
He couldnt believe it.
The evil presence that had haunted his gaze had vanished.
Lu Yan had resigned himself to his fate. He knew that either the cost of wishes or the evil ghost in his gaze could doom him to a graveless death.
But now what had be of the evil presence?
A shiver of dread ran through Lu Yan.
Had it gone after his future self?
God, no!
If the red ghost caught up with him, his future self would be doomed!
Lu Yan donned a mask and sprinted out.
He had to warn his future self. If he got caught, his future self, who hade back from May 1st, would perish, and none of them would make it past May 1st in their mission.
They had no way of contacting each other. Lu Yan had to rely on his own guesswork. But by the time he reached him, it was toote.
His future self, who hade back from May 1st, had been ughtered by the evil red ghost that had emerged from some unknown timeline.
In the small cabin, he stared at the mutted body and the severed head that looked just like his own, lying on the table, his limbs growing numb.
What if his murdered future self turned into a vengeful ghost?
That was the risk he had taken when he wished to go back in time. Even with a malevolent spirit hiding in his eyes, he thought he could use the wish for resurrection to fight it off. Thats why he agreed to his future selfs scheme.
But now, something had gone horribly wrong. The red ghost in his eyes had escaped and ughtered his future self.
So, this time would they make it past May Day?
Lu Yan racked his brain, but finally made up his mind.
He stripped the coat from the decapitated corpse, covering the severed head with it, then slung the headless body over his shoulder and headed out.
The ce was a crime scene, cordoned off by the police, and no ordinary people would venture here. He walked for a while, then dumped the body and the head in a phone booth by the roadside and dialled 911.
That day, the police station got a strange call.
Hello? What can I do for you?
Hello? Hello? the operator repeated.
The line was filled with weird, chaotic sounds, like scraping and whispering. The operator, sensing trouble, stayed on the line. Hello? Is everything okay?
Atst, a raspy voice of a young man broke through the phone.
Can you guess who I am?
What? Stop messing around.
Hahaha Youre all so eager to catch me, arent you? The man on the other side of the phone cackled. How have you been holding up? Well, I felt sorry for you, so I decided to ease up on the explosions a bit.
You Youre The bomber?!
The operator couldnt finish his sentence, as the young man on the other side cut him off with a gleeful tone, Now, Ill give you one final opportunity to catch me. Im in the third phone booth on XX Road. If youre not here in ten minutes, Im gone.
What the hell do you want? The operator was seething with rage at the others smug attitude. He hastily alerted his colleagues, but the other guy caught the noise.
Its fine, go ahead and tell them. Im here waiting for you, just ten minutes, my dear Mr. Police. The young man chuckled even louder, humming a strange melody. Oh, and by the way, you still havent figured out my name. Let me enlighten you, Im Lu Yan.
So, youre Lu Yan, huh? Why did you call? The operator still tried to calm the others mood, hoping to keep him talking for a bit longer, but then there was a deafening boom, followed by silence.
Hello? Hello?! Are you there?
Drip, drip Only the sound of liquid dripping.
Lu Yan was about to hang up the receiver, when he felt something wrong in his hand, cold and slick.
He nced down in horror and realised that he was not holding a receiver, but the severed arm of a headless corpse!
He hurled the limb away and bolted out, leaving the door ajar. The bloodless body slumped against the inner wall, its hand still gripping the phone.
The weirdness was upon him once more.
The authorities reached the scene in less than ten minutes.
The town cherished its old-fashioned phone booths due to their charm. The opaque walls concealed whatevery inside, causing the police to cautiously surround the booth, their guns at the ready. Fearing that any sudden movement could trigger another explosion, they were startled as the door swung open slightly, nudged by a gentle breeze.
The stench of blood was unmistakable.
What the hell?
They saw no signs of danger and found the door unlocked. Curiosity piqued, they cautiously entered the booth. What they discovered inside sent chills down their spines.
The caller was now slouched against the door, his severed head resting on top of the phone receiver. The corpse was fresh enough to reveal the face of the dead mana perfect match for the suspect on the wanted poster.
This cant be. He was just on the phone, and now hes dead?
Another twisted death.
Who could have done this to him in such a gruesome way? They didnt want to think about it.
The officers looked at each other, then approached carefully, making sure it was safe before bagging the body.
They would have to verify his identity again.
The forensic analysis confirmed that the blood-soaked gauze at the crime scene belonged to the same person found in the telephone booth. But there was another mystery.
The autopsy report showed that the victim had been dead for at least four hours when the operator got the call. Yet, the fingerprints on the phone were his own.
So who was on the line?
Who had murdered him?
After that, the explosions that used to rock the town seven or eight times a day stopped abruptly. To ease the public panic, the authorities dered that they had caught the bomber.
The suspects name was: Lu Yan.
Lu Yan? He did it? The original taskers were sceptical of this twist.
Their homes had been blown up, so they had talked about living apart, but somehow, the top brass still stuck together. Seeing this, those who had doubts grew more wary of leaving.
Lin Chu was different; she was held captive, trapped even if she wanted to go.
The police had Lu Yan in their custody, but they didn''t know what they had caught. Should they strike now and finish the first task? They had to break into the station and kill him.
But Jiang Yu shook his head, his eyes cold and calcting. "No, not yet. We only need to confirm his identity for now. If we act too hastily, we might unleash something worse. And if he escapes, the whole town will know."
He turned his attention to the second task, the one that haunted them all. "The missing person." The words hung in the air like a curse, making them feel hopeless and frustrated.
They had searched every corner of the town, every database, every record. Nothing. No trace, no clue, no name. Who was this person? Why did they matter? How could they find them? The explosion case had wiped out half of the town''s poption, leaving behind a ghost town full of secrets and dangers. Their investigation had be a nightmare.
Ling Tong mmed his fist on the table, his face twisted with anger. "Damn it, this is impossible. There has to be something, anything. How can someone just vanish like that?"
Xi Men Yuan leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. He nced at Jiang Yu, who nodded slightly. They had noticed something odd about the neers in town. Something familiar. "I think we should focus on them. The ones who arrived after us. Don''t you think they are too simr to us?"
They had imed to be from different ces, different backgrounds, different reasons. But he didn''t buy it. He sensed they were taskers from another world just like them.
Di Ying frowned, her voice hesitant. "They must be taskers, like us. But..." She paused, then asked what they all wondered. "Why would a task bring people here in groups?"
Tan Xu chimed in, his tone bitter. "And why won''t they tell us anything? Who they are, what they want, what they know. They are hiding something, I''m sure of it."
Jiang Yu nodded, his voice firm. "There''s only one exnation. Their task requires secrecy. And it''s very likely to be different from ours."
He looked at Xi Men Yuan, who smiled grimly. He remembered what he had said before, when they first met. "The task has changed. It''s not following any pattern anymore. It''s like when we started, remember? There were only thirty of us at first, then twenty more cameter."
They all kept quiet, wondering what secrets and lies lurked behind the faces of the others. Who could they trust? Who was working against them?
Jiang Yu broke the silence, his voice calm and authoritative. "Let''s talk about the cultural festival. We''ve done some research, and it seems the locals are going ahead with it." He looked around the room, meeting each pair of eyes. "We need to blend in with this town as much as we can. Otherwise, we''ll be shunned and shut out."
They had discussed this before. They had to find jobs, but the neers had snatched all the normal ones. The only ones left were the odd ones, the ones that smelled of trouble and danger.
"I''ve secured a spot at a clinic," Jiang Yu said. He was a doctor in her real life, so working at a small clinic was easy for him.
"I''m going to the library in the south," Xi Men Yuan said.
Tan Xu scribbled down their choices, while the others shared theirs. Some would work as online editors, some as supermarket clerks, some as funeral directors, cremators, gravediggers, and so on.
"What about you, Lin Chu?" Tan Xu asked, when everyone else had spoken. Lin Chu was thest one.
"I heard that a theatre troupe is looking for people. I can sing, so I thought I''d give it a try," Lin Chu said, her voice shaky.
"A theatre troupe?" Xi Men Yuan remembered something. "Is it the same one we saw when we took Jiang Bai there?"
Lin Chu nodded, her cheeks reddening, but her eyes shining with affection for Jiang Bai.
"If youre going, remember what to do and what not to do," Xi Men Yuan warned her.
Without dy, they assigned Qiu Zhi to go with her, as a watchdog and a witness.
Lin Chu was dangerous, unpredictable, and deadly. She had the ability to charm or kill anyone. On the other hand, Qiu Zhi was honest, loyal, and stubborn. He possessed a strong moralpass and would not lie, even if Lin Chu tried to trick him. By repeatedly asking Qiu Zhi about what happened, they could trust him to provide them with the truth.
**
"Jiang Bai, today I found five people, they all said theylle tomorrow to ask questions. Ill trouble you then." Jin Fu Gui said, his voice a little better, but still raspy and weak, barely able to form words, much less sing.
Jiang Bai gave him a curt nod, epting his request.
They wandered around the school grounds, looking for clues.
Lu Yan was curious about the origin of the green lights that had appeared in the night, but he knew it was too risky to explore in the dark, so he decided to investigate during the daylight hours.
Jin Fu Gui was terrified, but he had no choice but to follow Jiang Bai. He was his only hope of survival. Besides, he had a burning urge to see his children onest time and bury their corpses properly, so he tagged along.
It was a strange day, a day when nothing seemed right. The ss windows seemed to reflect a dull and dreary light, even though the sun was shining. The campus was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere, punctuated by sporadic gusts of cold wind, that whipped up the dead leaves.
They reached the yground, slowly, cautiously.
Jin Fu Gui''s body was rigid with fear, and Lu Yan''s senses were on high alert, as they made their way through the rows of trees.
In the grove, the smell of wet earth filled the air, tainted with a faint rot.
Odd... Where were the green lights? Had they disappeared?
As they walked deeper into the gloom of the small wood that ringed the yground, feeling the air grow colder and heavier with each step. When they emerged on the other side, Jin Fu Gui gasped in horror.
Hanging from the branches of the trees that lined the yground, a row of corpses dangled like grotesque ornaments. They wore school uniforms, their faces frozen in agony. Some had blood dripping from their mouths or wounds. The wind rocked them gently, making a soft creaking sound.
"Are we really going there?" Jin Fu Gui whispered, his voice trembling.
The sky was overcast, as if a storm was brewing. The wind picked up, howling in their ears. The corpses swung more violently, their ropes straining under the pressure.
It looked like... any moment now, they would drop from the trees.
"We have to get out of here, now," Jiang Bai said in a hushed tone
They ran as fast as they could.
But then, a sudden gust of wind snapped one of the ropes. A body crashed to the ground with a thud.
Slowly, the corpse stirred, its purple face and bulging eyes twitching. Its limbs bent and twisted in unnatural ways, its long hair dragging on the ground. It crawled towards them, inch by inch.
Another lifeless body hit the ground behind them.
The two had just managed to escape through the gate before dusk. They proceeded to walk along the deserted and quiet road, searching for a secure hiding spot.
Jin Fu Gui sobbed as he wiped a tear from his cheek. When can we go back in? I need to get back those two brats. I have to I have to get them out. He choked on his words, "Those two little rascals hate going to school the most. I have to... bring them back."
Lu Yan shook his head, his voice low and grim. Dont even think about going back. Its too dangerous. We need to find somewhere else to stay. He knew the town was no safer than the school, but he had to keep moving.
A faint sense of being watched crept over Lu Yan as he uttered hisst words. He nced over his shoulder, trying to act casual, and locked gazes with the silent figure that had been tailing him.
Jin Fu Gui was promptly knocked out with a blow to the head.
The scarred Lu Yan spoke, his voice harsh and urgent. Were in deep shit. Everything has gone wrong. The other version of us who came back from the future on May 1st is dead." He gestured to his eye, The red ghost killed him, and then it escaped. God knows where it is now.
Lu Yan was surprised, But the police said they caught the bomber.
The scarred Lu Yan shook his head, his expression bitter. No, it was supposed to be me. But something happened. Something I dont understand. The thing in my eye left me. It jumped to another host. It happenedst night, around three oclock. What were you doing then?
I was I was listening to music.
A heavy silence descended upon them, as they both contemted the grim reality of their situation.
"So, this is it. I have to wrap everything up before May first."
Otherwise, ording to this timeline, he would face his death on May 1st, then go back in time, experiencing an altered cycle of events, only to be killed once more by the red ghost. He would never be able to escape from this bizarre loop.
Scarred Lu Yan spoke in a low voice. "Time is running out for us." He gave him a brief nod, then turned on his heels and walked away.
He had to be careful not to reveal too much to his past self; just enough to help him survive the crucial moment, the moment that could change everything.
As he left, Jin Fu Gui stirred from his unconsciousness, groaning and holding his head.
**
In a dim corner of the town, a figure dressed in crimson emerged from the shadows.
By the school gate, a swarm of lifeless bodies in school uniforms dragged themselves out, scattering in various directions, their intentions shrouded in mystery.
Within the shopping mall, a worker was engrossed in her calctions. Unbeknownst to her, the face of a stic mannequin behind her cracked and split.
Within the hospital, a peculiar sound of bouncing echoed from the depths of the morgue.
Once again, the town was awakening to the eerie!
(Authors note: Four Lu brothers
In this timeline, the first brother, using the alias Jiang Bai, entered the town on March 1st.
Lu Yan, the second brother, who was dying at the cultural festival in the future, wished to go back to the past. In doing so, he was willing to sacrifice the lives of all the town''s poption, resulting in the explosions.
Lu Yan, the third brother, had experienced the second timeline until May 1st. He then went back to the past and prevented his second timeline self from killing the townspeople. He knew that this act would only bring greater disaster and result in his own death on May 1st.
The fourth brother became a vengeful ghost. Before the third Lu Yan died on May 1st, he used a jade pendant to create a copy of himself and summoned his future self who had already died. After wishing to go back in time again, he also idently brought the vengeful ghost back with him.)
Chapter 107
Chapter 107
Jin Fu Gui scanned the crowd of hopefuls who had answered his simple ad for singers, a flicker of relief crossing his face. He had feared that no one would show up, that his opera troupe would die out like so many others in this bleak and barrennd.
He cleared his throat, which felt like sandpaper, and croaked out his questions. "Wee, wee. Who''s here for an interview? Alright, alright, alright. What songs do you know? Can you give me a sample?" His voice was weak and slow, but his eyes sparkled with a hint of enthusiasm.
Lu Yan observed the fat man from afar, sensing something off. Jin Fu Gui hadn''t shed a tear since losing his children, merely maintaining a faint smile. But he shrugged it off since the whole town seemed off. Nobody seemed to care much about the dead bodies piling up in the streets or the eerie silence that hung over the night.
He recognized a few faces among the applicants, but most of them were unfamiliar as they belonged to the second wave of arrivals.
There was Lin Chu, a pretty girl who could carry a tune, and Qiu Zhi, a former soldier who had a booming voice. Lin Chu passed the test easily, humming a melody that Jin Fu Gui nodded along to. Qiu Zhi, however, shocked him with a loud and raucous military song that made him flinch.
Jin Fu Gui ended up hiring five people. He was a frugal man, but he knew he had to invest in his troupe if he wanted to survive. He rented a small courtyard in the town for them to stay, hoping that it would be safe andfortable. He couldn''t afford to lose any more of his performers.
He bowed deeply to Lu Yan, his voice raspy and grateful. "Brother Jiang, I''m counting on you. "
The others understood that they had to learn from this guy to master the tunes. They didn''t question his authority, no matter what they thought in their hearts, they only referred to him as Brother Jiang with respect.
Lin Chu had her suspicions, though. If Lu Yan was willing to remain in this opera troupe, there must be something odd about it.
She waited for a chance to talk to him alone, when the others were busy settling in their rooms. She approached him quietly, hoping to get some answers. Lu Yan was guarded, though, and he only told her one thing: to memorise the two songs that Jin Fu Gui had given them, as best as she could.
As the sun set over the courtyard, Lu Yan opened his mouth and let the song Emperors Sacrifice spill out. He had an uncanny memory, a perfect recall of every sound and note. But his voice was wrong, somehow. It was t and mechanical, without a trace of feeling or warmth. It sounded like a machine, not a man.
Jin Fu Gui shivered, feeling a chill run down his spine. He muttered to himself, clutching his ears as he walked away. What a strange voice Its not bad, but its not right either. Why does he sing like that?
He left behind five others, who were trapped in their own hell. They had to learn the song, or else. They had no choice, no escape. They listened to Lu Yans voice, trying to memorise the words and the tunes, but it felt like needles piercing their brains.
**
Meanwhile, in another part of the town, something was stirring.
Fang Su Li (: a simple and elegant direction or a in and beautiful square) was part of the second group of taskers. Despite the need for secrecy in the tasks, they were able to identify each other through subtle clues without openly revealing or discussing their involvement. She joined forces with a few others and together they secured temporary employment at a supermarket.
Spirit Vale Town, surviving until the Cultural Festival It sounded like a twisted joke.
Upon arriving in town, they immediately delved into the local gossip, eager to uncover the recent events that had stirred up themunity. The more they listened, the more a sense of unease crept over them, as if they had unknowingly entered a distorted version of reality.
Thank God the bastard who caused the explosion is dead. He could have taken the whole supermarket with him, Fang Su Li muttered to her friend, Zhang Yuan (:a graceful woman who spreads beauty or ady who opens up gracefully), as they walked through the dimly lit aisles.
Zhang Yuan shivered and nced around nervously. But did you hear how he died? Its so weird. Its like its like theres
Fang Su Li whispered thest word. A ghost.
Zhang Yuan nodded, feeling a cold sweat on her forehead. I know. The police got a call from him. When they got there, he was already dead. Who do you think called them?
Enough with the spooky stories, you two, another colleague, Tu Heng (: a constant painter or a permanent smearer), interrupted them. We have work to do. We have three new recruits in the troupe. Maybe we can speed up the preparations for the cultural festival.
They had taken advantage of the tragedy that killed most of the supermarket staff and had infiltrated the ce as taskers. The explosions had scared away the customers, so the manager had cut down on the electricity bills, leaving only a few lights on to cast faint shadows on the walls.
What they didnt notice was that behind them, in the clothing section, something was stirring. The face of a stic mannequin cracked open with a faint sound, revealing a bloody mess underneath.
The lights flickered.
Zhang Yuan shivered as she gazed at the flickering incandescent light above her. "This supermarket is way too run-down, and now there''s a power outage!?" She muttered a curse under her breath. The supermarket was a dpidated mess, and the sudden power outage only added to the gloom.
A sudden chill ran down her spine as she turned her head, feeling a prickling sensation on the back of her neck.
Someone was watching her.
She had seen enough horrors in her previous missions to know that this was not a good sign. She quickly whispered to Fang Su Li, who was next to her, Do you feel it too? That someone is watching us?
Tu Heng overheard her and her eyes widened. What? You felt it just now? She asked, rmed. She knew this was serious.
Zhang Yuan nodded, her hands trembling. I dont know what it is, but I feel like someone is watching me. She could not shake off the feeling of being observed by an unseen presence.
She felt very uneasy.
The gaze was still on her, like a dark weight on her chest.
What was it? What did it want?
She felt an urge to look behind her, to confront the source of her fear, but she couldn''t muster the courage. She was afraid of what she might see. She imagined a horrific creature, a twisted ghost, a nightmare made flesh.
Fang Su Li, please, can you check for me, is there really nothing behind me? Zhang Yuan looked at her with a pleading gaze, tears filling her eyes.
Fang Su Li felt a surge of pity and fear for her friend. She did not feel the gaze herself, so she felt somewhat relieved in her heart.
Fang Su Li tried to summon some courage from within. "Just a second, okay? Let me take a look," she said, squeezing Zhang Yuan''s hand as if it were her lifeline. Her palm was slick with sweat, and she felt her pulse racing. She told herself it was going to be alright, as she slowly and carefully turned her head to face the horror behind them.
But there was nothing.
The shelves were neatly stacked with clothes, each one identical to the next, creating a monotonous pattern of fabric and colour.
Except for that mannequin...
Fang Su Li frowned.
Something was off about that mannequin. She knew the owner of this supermarket was a cheapskate, but would he really use such a grotesque and distorted dummy?
"Did you see anything? Can we go now?" Zhang Yuan whispered, her voice trembling.
Fang Su Li hesitated, "No, there''s nothing there. You can look for yourself."
She let go of Zhang Yuan''s hand and took a step towards the mannequin.
As she got closer, she saw the cracks on its face widen.
It was a horrifying sight, like a broken mask.
And why did that face look so familiar?
She had seen it somewhere before.
"What are you doing? Come on, let''s get out of here. This ce gives me the creeps," Zhang Yuan pleaded, sounding close to tears.
Fang Su Li trailed off, her voice fading. "No, it''s just..." She edged closer to the mannequin, her curiosity oveing her fear. "You have to see this."
Zhang Yuan resisted, but Fang Su Li''s persistence wore her down. She reluctantly turned her head.
But what she saw made her gasp. Fang Su Li had somehow dragged the mannequin behind her, close enough to touch. It leaned towards them, its face cracked and twisted. It was barely a foot away from her!
And the lifeless eyes with pupils on the mannequin''s face locked onto hers.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Zhang Yuan shrieked and leaped back, putting as much distance as she could between them.
Fang Su Li said, "Don''t freak out. Doesn''t it look familiar? Where do we know it from?"
Her words brought Zhang Yuan back to reality.
She forced herself to look at the mannequin again. Weird, it did seem familiar.
Where had they seen it before?
The cracks on the face widened, slowly peeling off, revealing more of what was underneath. By the time they realised what it was, half of the body was exposed.
It was human skin!
So familiar... where had they seen it before?
They were so engrossed in the mannequin that they didn''t notice that Tuo Heng had gone silent.
She stood there, still and stiff, like a stic mannequin.
"Too uncanny... as if it was a living person..."
Fang Su Li gasped and pped her forehead. Oh my God, do you see it? This mannequin, its his exact replica. Lu Yan, the fugitive the police were hunting down.
She barely finished her sentence when thest shred of stic fell from the models face, revealing a human face. A familiar one, from the wanted poster. Almost too perfect!
It is him! It has to be him! Zhang Yuan eximed, feeling a surge of relief. But then, a sharp pain pierced her neck.
The next moment, she was flying through the air, her vision spinning wildly. She caught a glimpse of a headless corpse, d in her clothes, spewing blood from the gaping wound, before it hit the ground with a thud.
The stic model wielded an axe, stalking towards Fang Su Li.
Fang Su Li snapped out of her trance.
What had she done...what had she been thinking?! Why had she spent so much time ignorantly discussing the eerie mannequin with Zhang Yuan?
She spun around and sprinted, panic and remorse filling her chest. She screamed at the top of her lungs, Run! Theres a ghost! Help! Help!
The other workers heard her cries and scattered. Fang Su Li was on the second floor, in the clothing section. She dashed down the esctor, hoping to catch up with the others. She pleaded, Wait for me! Dont leave me behind!
But no one stopped for her. They all saw the figure with the long-handled axe emerging from the second floor, looming over them. That figure who could it be but Lu Yan, the man the police had dered dead?
She ran for her life, but the mannequin did not follow. It only stared with its nk eyes.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs and prepared to dash towards the exit, she felt a sudden jolt under her feet. The floor tiles gave way, revealing a dark abyss below. Before she could scream, a cold and mmy hand wrapped around her ankle and yanked her down with brutal force.
She vanished into the gaping hole, swallowed by the unknown. The esctor kept running, carrying the sound of her bones crunching and her flesh ripping.
Upstairs, the stic models that had lined the shelves began to crack open, exposing the faces hidden inside. Faces that looked just like the people who had been shopping there moments ago.
They stirred, shaking off their stiffness, and then they walked. They walked out of the store, in search of their doubles. To take their ce in the world.
The one that looked like Lu Yan carried a long-handled axe. It slipped out of the door, leaving no trace of where it was going.
One of the surviving workers burst into the apartment he shared with hispanion, gasping for breath. "It''s haunted! It''s fucking haunted!" he shouted, mming the door behind him.
He saw a human silhouette on the balcony with a long shadow and assumed it was his friend.
"What''s haunted?" a voice asked.
"There''s a haunting at the supermarket! I was just there, a vengeful spirit killed someone. Luckily, I ran fast and made it back in time," he exined.
"What haunting?" hispanion asked again.
He felt a surge of frustration and anger. "Are you deaf? The supermarket where I work part-time, you idiot! The one on Main Street!" He staggered to the coffee table and snatched a ss of water, hoping to calm his nerves.
He took a big gulp, then spat it out with a scream. "What the hell is this?"
The ss was infested with tiny white worms, wriggling and squirming in the liquid.
Had he just drunk from this?
A wave of nausea and bile rose in his throat. He was about to throw up when he heard the voice again, asking the same question. "What haunting?"
He realised something was very wrong.
Walking towards the balcony, he stepped on the shadow of hispanion. It felt cold and solid under his feet. Looking outside, he expected to see his friend leaning on the railing.
But there was no one there.
The shadow he stepped on was not attached to anyone.
"What haunting?" the voice asked for thest time.
He spun around, desperate to flee, but his own shadow betrayed him. It''s hand wrapped around his ankle like a snake, tightening its grip. He felt a cold something clutch his leg and yank him down with brutal force.
He fell.
He merged with the shadow, forming a dark stain on the ground. Soon after, the single shadow on the ground divided into two.
**
A figure emerged from the shadows of the town centre holding a bloodied, long-handled axe. With a casual stride, he entered a building on the ground floor where a family resided.
One by one, screams pierced the night, leaving behind an eerie silence as the lights in the houses flickered and died.
Chapter 108
Chapter 108
A whisper ran through the town like a cold breeze. "Haunted... It''s really haunted!"
The sky was a perpetual grey, casting a pall over the neighbourhood. The houses here were relics of a bygone era, their bricks faded and stained. A few of them had some nts in their yards, but they were all withered and brown. The only colour on the walls was a sickly orange that seeped into the cracks, making them look even more ancient.
Jiang Yu was one of the few young people who lived here, among a sea of old faces. As he made his way down the stairs that day, he caught a snippet of conversation from an old man named Wang. "It''s no secret, you know. It always happens this time of year."
A woman at the card table, busy with her knitting, didn''t even look up as she added, "But this year is worse than ever. It''s never been this bad before."
"Have you heard about Lao Zhang? In his neighbourhood, everyone disappeared overnight," the old man said.
"Disappeared? Where did they go?" Jiang Yu asked, curious.
"They just vanished, like smoke in the wind. When he woke up in the morning, his neighbourhood was a ghost town, with only him left," the woman said.
"Well, he''s lucky then," Jiang Yu said, half-joking.
He went to the neighbourhood clinic, where he worked as a nurse. He gave a ss of water to a child with a fever, while outside, under some old trees, a group of elders yed mahjong and gossiped.
Spring wasing, but it brought no warmth or joy. Jiang Yu listened carefully to the chatter, then turned back to the front desk to look for some information.
It was true; the police had issued a notice, stating that more than five hundred residents had vanished from a specific neighbourhood.
More than five hundred souls gone in one night How was that possible?
He spun around and caught sight of a young boy at the clinic''s door. The boy woreyers of clothing that hinted at his poor origins and a thick scarf that covered most of his neck. His skin was ashen, and his eyes were fixed on the clinic''s entrance.
He looked like he had been waiting there for quite a while.
Hey, kid, are you sick? Jiang Yu asked.
The boy nodded slowly.
The doctor who ran this ce had a keen ear for trouble, and he perked up at once. He peeked from behind the counter, eyed the boy, and then inquired, Wheres your family? Why didnt your mom bring you here for a check-up?
The boy shook his head and held out his hand, gripping a wrinkled one hundred yuan bill.
It didnt look like a serious case; a hundred yuan should cover it. The doctor beckoned him over and motioned for him toe in.
As they crossed paths, Jiang Yu felt a surge of coldness down his spine, warning him of a deadly threat. This instinct, alerting him to impending danger, made him bolt without a second nce.
The attending doctor was about to berate him, but when he saw the child still there, he held his tongue, and instead filled a ss of water, offering it to him. Kid, whats the matter? Where does it hurt?
The boy took the ss of water, still in a trance, and gulped it down. When he heard the doctors questions, he pointed to his throat.
Is your throat bothering you? Cant talk right, huh?
The doctor noticed that his scarf was inexplicably damp around his neck. He said, "Your scarf is wet. You''ll catch a cold. Take it off."
The little boy shook his head very slowly, indicating his unwillingness.
"Take it off, I''ll dry it for you," the doctor persuaded him, at the same time, his hand resting on the boy''s neck, coaxing him, "If you don''t take it off, you''ll get even sicker."
The scarf was wound several times around, he unwound it one loop at a time, suddenly feeling puzzledstrange, could a normal child''s neck be this thin? How many loops were there exactly? Wouldn''t it really suffocate him?
Distractedly, he finally removed thest loop
And then, he froze.
Below his head, above his shoulders, there was no neck where it should be.
The boy''s neck was gone! His head was hanging in the air!
He had just spent a long time talking to this child! And promised to treat him!
The doctor''s face turned white instantly, he took two steps back, his whole body covered in goosebumps, he saw the head of the little boy hanging in the air with a serene smile on its face.
Then, the smile on that face grew wider and wider, the mouth almost stretching to both ears...
Jiang Yu, who was walking away, heard a loud and desperate scream.
In the distance, a few old men and women were still ying mahjong, not paying attention. He just felt a chill all over his body, and immediately left the neighbourhood with a few colleagues.
**
A truckload of discarded models awaited the recycling nt manager, who scrambled up the metal bed and dug through the heap of stic flesh. He frowned as he examined the lifelike faces and limbs, barely worn or damaged. "Why are there so many of them? Are we burning through them faster than we can make them?" He jumped down and faced the young man who had delivered the cargo. The man''s eyes were dull and his lips tight. He gave no answer, only a slight nod.
The manager rubbed his hands together, eager to seal the deal. "How many are there, exactly? You know what, never mind. I''ll give you a bonus for such arge batch. Just stay put, I''ll get someone to count them for you." He darted into the factory, afraid the man might change his mind or demand more money. But when he returned, the man was gone. He had left without a word, without a penny, without a nce at the hundreds of models he had abandoned. What kind of saint was he?
The manager shrugged, feeling a surge of luck. ''A fool and his money are soon parted,'' he thought. ''Might as well make the most of it.'' He shouted, "Little Chen, Little Li,e over here, we have a special delivery today!"
The two young workers obeyed, wheeling over a trolley. They worked in tandem, one tossing the models from the truck and the other catching them below.
"These are some fine specimens, aren''t they?" Xiao Chen remarked, squeezing the cheek of a model and twisting its head. It moved with ease, as if it had a real spine. "They''re all so different, too. Look at the hair, the skin, the eyes."
"Quit gawking, we don''t have all day. There are more than five hundred of them, we need to hurry." Xiao Li snapped, impatient.
They loaded the trolley with dozens of naked, pallid models. When it was full, they pushed it into the warehouse. With a swift tilt, they dumped the models on the floor, creating a mountain of stic bodies, higher than a man, a sea of white, with tangled hair and rigid limbs.
Little Li''s nostrils red as he handled the stic limbs. "What''s that stench?" he wondered aloud.
Little Chen stopped and inhaled deeply. "What stench? It smells normal to me. Hurry up, we don''t have all day."
They faced a daunting and dull chore: clothing, mending, and moulding the load of mannequins that had been dumped on them that morning. They prayed there wouldn''t be too many blemishes or imperfections to fix. The work would be less tedious then.
They stuffed the warehouse with the five hundred mannequins, squeezing them into every corner. They finished before their shift ended and left early, relieved to be out.
The mannequins stayed in the warehouse, motionless and mute, except for the spiders that descended from the ceiling and scuttled over their faces.
Then, suddenly, the skin of one of them ripped open.
A cascade of shards followed, and soon, the rest of the mannequins started to crack and peel as well.
A putrid smell of decaying flesh wafted in the air.
**
Jin Fu Gui felt ashamed for fleeing when the new recruits were learning the song. When he came back, he found two of his five recruits sprawled on the floor, unconscious and bound.
"What did you do to them?" he asked Jiang Bai, his voice quivering.
Lin Chu replied, "They changed while they were listening. We had to knock them out and tie them up. We also sprinkled some glutinous rice around."
Lin Chu shuddered. She had sensed something wrong too, when she was listening. A weird restlessness, a loss of self. She barely had time to calm down when the two recruits turned violent. She would have been injured if Qiu Zhi hadn''t restrained one of them.
Jin Fu Gui tutted in disbelief.
The song for the dead was not meant for the ears of the living, but Jin Fu Gui had no idea of the consequences. He wondered, with a sudden jolt of suspicion, how they had acquired the glutinous rice so soon after moving in. He wanted to question Jiang Bai, but the young man had already left the room in a hurry. Jin Fu Gui sighed and turned to the others, hoping they had made some progress. Could they perform the song at the cultural festival?
Only Lin Chu had mastered it, but she kept it to herself. She pretended to be as clueless as the rest, shaking her head with a feigned expression of confusion.
The sun was setting, painting the sky with crimson streaks. In the distance, the silhouettes of cities and mountains loomed, and beyond them, a glimmer of the sea.
"Jiang Bai, what are you looking at?" Lin Chu asked, as she noticed Lu Yan''s gaze fixed on the horizon. She took a spoonful of rice from her bowl and joined him on the balcony.
Lu Yan shrugged. "Nothing."
But Lin Chu sensed there was more to it. She followed his eyes, trying to see what he saw.
"The scenery here is quite nice," she remarked, with genuine admiration.
So nice that it reminded her of her best friend, who had dead in that eerie vige. A pang of sadness gripped her heart.
He had died in this strange otherworld, without a proper burial or a farewell.
Wait... otherworld?
She looked again at the horizon.
Why... did she recognize that shape of coastline?
No, no, geographically speaking, this town being on the east side near the sea isn''t entirely impossible. Seeing the coastline isn''t such a big deal... maybe?
She gazed at it with a vacant expression, trying to make sense of it.
Jin Fu Gui proposed a walk after dinner.
"Another neighbourhood disappeared a few days ago. We can''t stay here forever. It''s better to get some fresh air," he said.
Lu Yan didn''t put up much resistance. He tagged along, and so did the others. Soon, they were joined by more people from the town.
The town had lost its charm long ago. Ruins and rubble were everywhere, and the people who passed by looked nervous and suspicious. Most of the shops on the street were shut down.
It was like a war zone.
"Things have been much quieter since they took that bastard Lu Yan away," Jin Fu Gui said, with a sigh of relief. "Whoever did it, they deserve a medal!"
The other Lu Yan kept his mouth shut, and gave a faint nod of approval.
They walked on, breaking the silence of the street with their footsteps. Then, they heard another sound,ing from the other end of the road. They saw several shapes moving towards them. They looked human, but they couldn''t be sure.
"Brother Jiang? Is that you?" Lin Chu asked, with a hint of surprise.
Jiang Yu answered, "We encountered some ghosts, had to flee."
Jin Fu Gui gasped, "Ghosts? Where are there ghosts? Don''t frighten me like that!"
Jiang Yu shook his head. "When the clinic was attacked, I had no choice but to run for my life."
"Your clinic, wasn''t it in a residentialpound?" Jiang Bai asked, with a sudden edge in his voice.
Jiang Yu nodded. "Yes, why do you ask?"
He felt that the other man was using him of abandoning the remaining residents.
When they had left Jiang Bai at the school, he must have felt betrayed and furious.
However, escaping from the school was a challenging task that required resourcefulness and bravery.
Jiang Yu set his guilt aside and promptly responded, "I did everything possible; there was no time to waste."
He barely finished his sentence, when his eyes widened in horror. "There... behind you! Watch out!"
The others on his side of the street also saw the danger. Lin Chu gasped, pointing behind them, "Behind you! Run, now!"
They all spun around, at the same moment, and faced the threat.
On both ends of the road, figures were closing in.
They had Jiang Bai''s face!
The only open shop on the street beckoned them, and without hesitation, they all dashed inside.
Chapter 109
Chapter 109
Ghosts were notorious for their tricks in horror movies and stories. They could invade the minds and memories of the living, twist their senses and perceptions, and even warp the fabric of space and time.
So when Lu Yans death resulted in two identical copies of himself, he didnt find it too bizarre.
But something was off. Why had they stormed into that store without hesitation? It was the only one open on the deserted street, a ring anomaly. And they had acted so recklessly, so unlike their usual cautious selves.
Can we Can we get out of here? Jin Fu Guis voice trembled as he spoke. The store was engulfed in darkness, and he could barely see his own hand. It was unnatural, this absence of light in the middle of the day.
No one replied. He squinted his eyes, trying to discern any shape or movement. He called out softly, Jiang Bai? Jiang Bai?
A chill ran down his spine as a cold hand gripped his shoulder, and a colder voice hissed, Shut up.
He recognized Jiang Bais voice, and felt a flicker of relief in his chest.
He nced around, and realised something was wrong. Where where is the door? How did it shut?
It didnt shut. It disappeared. There is no exit in this store, Jiang Bai answered him.
He should have known better than to enter the odd shop without a second thought. It was like plunging into a pitch-ck chamber where light and shadow shed, leaving no trace of an exit.
Lu Yan had always avoided such encounters with the unknown, the ones that could muddle his mind and trap him in a hopeless situation. And yet, here he was, surrounded by darkness that held no apparent threat, but radiated a bone-chilling presence, as if it came from the very bowels of hell.
To his surprise, even his keen eyes could not pierce the gloom. He could barely distinguish a few shapes that loomed in the dark, motionless and silent.
He felt a surge of dread and kept his distance from those shapes, instinctively backing away.
They had barely crossed the threshold, but Lu Yan had already retreated several metres, without finding any wall or limit.
He wondered: Could this be a trick of the mind, or had he been spirited away by some malevolent force?
Jin Fu Gui was about to utter a word when he suddenly whipped his head towards a certain directionthough his vision was obscured, he could sense the overwhelming, frosty aura that came from there.
What was going on outside?
Had Lu Yan, now a vengeful spirit, returned to haunt them from beyond the door?
Lin Chu cowered against the wall, too scared to make a sound, barely breathing. Jiang Yu was close to her, his body rigid with anxiety.
They all felt the unnatural coldness, as if the street outside the wall had turned into a frozen wastnd.
Slowly, faintly, light started to filter in.
A faint glow from the shop window pierced the gloom, casting a dim light over the room.
But as their eyes adjusted to the sight, they recoiled in horror.
They had stumbled into a wax museum! How could such a vast space be hidden behind the modest shop facade?
And in the centre of the museum, a macabre spectacle awaited them. Rows of wax figures, each one portraying a gruesome death sceneheads severed, limbs torn, flesh yed, bodies crucified, and every imaginable torture inflicted.
Lu Yan''s gaze fell on some familiar faces among the agonised statuesmany of them were his fellow townspeople.
But there was more... A sudden jolt of pain shot through Lu Yan''s brain, making him stagger. He clenched his teeth and fought the vertigo. When he looked again, the recognition was gone.
What was that? Why did these wax figures seem so familiar? Lu Yan examined them closely, but he was sure he had never met them before.
These solitary figures encircled a colossal disy at the heart of the hall.
There, a scene of infernal carnage was depicted in vivid red wax, with mes engulfing the floor and ake of blood filling the ceiling, where countless bones and souls writhed and screamed in the crimson tide, and in the middle, the most dreadful sight of all, a mass of white, twisted limbs, mutted beyond recognition, that made him avert his gaze.
It was like... a vision of hell.
This scene struck a chord in their memories.
Lu Yan felt a surge of familiarity, while Lin Chu felt a wave of coldness wash over her. Never had she experienced such a deep sense of hopelessness and despair.
Lu Yan was drawn to the statue in the middle, like a moth to a me. Lin Chu saw him from a distance and ran after him, calling out his name.
"Jiang Bai, stop! Don''t go there!" She reached for his arm, but he shrugged her off, oblivious to her voice. She spun around and yelled at the others, "Help me, someone! He''s not himself!"
Jiang Yu looked on with a sneer, unmoved by the scene. He wondered what horrors awaited Jiang Bai among the wax figures, and felt a twisted satisfaction.
Qiu Zhi, however, was concerned. He rushed to Lin Chu''s side and helped her pull Lu Yan back. Jin Fu Gui also joined them, adding his bulk to the effort. They barely managed to hold Lu Yan in ce.
"What''s the matter with him?" Qiu Zhi asked, his voice trembling.
Lin Chu shook her head, unable to answer. Her eyes were fixed on the wax figures in the centre, and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
This scene... it was exactly how she had lied to Chu Xiu.
She had made up a story about the wax museum to fool Chu Xiu, and even painted a picture of what it looked like inside. How could it be... that it was all true?
Or maybe it wasnt. Maybe it was one of those twisted things that were mostly true, but with a sliver of falsehood. And that silver was where the real danger hid.
"Jiang Bai, please, snap out of it!" Lin Chu pleaded, her voice cracking. She couldn''t confide in Jiang Yu, who hated her, or Qiu Zhi and the others, who didn''t know anything. She had to rely on Lu Yan, and hope that he could help her find out what had caused this disaster and destroy the existence behind it all.
"Jiang Bai? Jiang Bai?!" Lin Chu''s voice was frantic as she shook his limp body, hoping for a sign of life.
Lu Yan''s eyes stared nkly ahead, unblinking and untroubled, as if they had pierced through the veil of reality and beheld a realm beyond humanprehension.
"Come on, wake up!" Lin Chu gave him another violent shake, but his eyes only dted further, revealing a dark and empty abyss that chilled her to the bone.
He''s not human anymore!
The thought shed through her mind, unbidden and terrifying. She looked around, but saw no help from Qiu Zhi or Jin Fu Gui. She didn''t have time to think about what had happened to him. Acting on instinct, she pped his face hard, then pinched and scratched his skin. "Snap out of it!"
The pain seemed to reach him, somehow. Lu Yan blinked, then gasped, as if he had just returned from a long and dreadful journey. He caught Lin Chu''s hand as she raised it for another blow. "That''s enough."
He was sweating profusely, his forehead glistening. Avoiding her gaze, he didn''t mention his ordeal. Scanning the room for a distraction, he suggested, "Wax Museum? Let''s find a way out of here. There has to be one."
Jiang Yu and hispanions approached cautiously, seeing Jiang Bai''s eyes regain some focus. "It''s no use. Even if we get out, we don''t know if Lu Yan''s ghost is still lurking outside."
Lu Yan turned his head and looked at him.
It was a brief and casual nce, but it made Jiang Yu recoil, as if he had felt a cold and sinister presence emanating from those ck orbs. He shuddered, not knowing what he had sensed, or why he was afraid.
The only source of light was a pale sliver that seeped through the curtains of the disy window, barely enough to illuminate the dark interior of the wax museum. But there was something else that glowed in the shadows, something twisted and bloody that stood among the lifeless figures. A candle flickered in its hand, casting a sinister light on its features. No one could tell how long it had been burning.
Lu Yan felt a surge of recognition and dread as he gazed at the crimson statue. He knew it well, too well. A cold shiver ran down his spine, as if a de had sliced his skin.
The others, oblivious to Lu Yan''s horror, squinted their eyes in the dimness. Something was wrong with the wax figures. They seemed to be shifting, stirring, moving. Was it a trick of the light?
Jin Fu Gui blinked hard. He swore one of the statues had moved closer to him.
He was not imagining it. They were moving!
"Move, now!" Qiu Zhi yanked him out of harm''s way.
A statue let go of the knife it was holding and hurled it at him. The de whistled through the air, aiming for his throat. Qiu Zhi''s quick reflexes saved him from certain death.
Jin Fu Gui wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around. The scene was terrifying.
The wax figures had changed!
Behind Jiang Bai, a ghost bride emerged from the darkness, a masterpiece of wax and horror. She was dressed in a scarlet gown, the colour of blood and fire, and at her feety a headless rooster, its neck a jagged stump. Herplexion was ashen, her lips crimson, and her eyes hollow, almost ck. In her hand, she clutched a needle and thread, a long red thread that stitched her lips together, as if to silence her forever.
Jin Fu Gui knew the dark legend of the ghost marriages, where the groom''s kin would sew the bride''s mouth shut, lest she haunt them with her grievances in the afterlife.
And now, that bride, with her needle and thread, was creeping closer to Jiang Bai.
Her body was motionless, her eyes lifeless, but Jin Fu Gui felt a piercing stare from her, a cold and hungry gaze that locked on Jiang Bai.
"Jiang Bai, run, for God''s sake, run!" Jin Fu Gui screamed in panic.
Lu Yan wanted to run, but he couldn''t. His feet were trapped in a pool of molten wax, sticky and hot, that glued him to the ground. But he did not panic, he did not flinch. He reached for the axe in the hand of the wax figure next to him, lifted it with ease, and waited patiently for his moment.
As the wax figure drew near, he struck with no mercy.
"Ahhhh"
The shrill cry made them shudder as the wax figure split in two, the upper half falling to the floor, the lower half still standing. From the cut, red wax poured out like blood, making it look like he had killed a living being.
The severed halves of the wax figure melted into the thick pool of wax on the ground, viscous and slippery, slowly merging again.
With a swift turn, Lu Yan sliced through the wax figure that had sneaked up behind him. He felt a surge of adrenaline and dread, knowing that he was only dying the inevitable. As the wax figure crumbled to the floor, he wasted no time and mmed the axe into the ground, hoping to free himself from the sticky trap.
But the wax was too soft and pliable, offering no resistance to the de. The axe sank deep into the ground, and Lu Yan struggled to pull it out.
Jiang Bai, catch! A voice called out from his side.
He nced over and saw Lin Chu, who had at some point slipped away, holding two lit candles in her outstretched hand. She tossed one to him.
Lu Yan caught the candle and noticed something strange. A wax figure that had been inching towards Lin Chu suddenly changed its course and avoided her. He realised what she had discovered and gripped the candle tightly.
The wax figure of the ghost bride, its face twisted in a grotesque smile, was ready to pounce on him. But as soon as Lu Yan held the candle, it recoiled and moved away. Lu Yan seized the chance and lowered the me to the wax that had hardened around his legs. To his amazement, the small me melted the wax like butter, turning it into a pool of oil. Lu Yan stepped out of the puddle and breathed a sigh of relief.
The others saw what he did and understood. The candle was the key!
Jiang Yus loud voice pierced the gloomy silence, startling Lin Chu and the others. Where did you get those candles, Lin Chu?
His shout was like a signal for the wax figures to attack. They stirred from their frozen poses, their faces twisted in grotesque expressions. They lurched towards the sound, their limbs cracking and creaking.
Lin Chu cursed under her breath. She had no time to y nice anymore. She snapped back at Jiang Yu, loud enough for him to hear over themotion. Use your eyes, you idiot! She spat, then mped her mouth shut.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a candle. She flicked a lighter and ignited the wick. She passed the candle to Qiu Zhi, who was struggling to fend off a wax man with a hook for a hand. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, Look at the ones in the middle. Some of them have candles too. Grab them if you can.
Qiu Zhi nodded, taking the candle from her and asked her, casually, as if they were not in mortal danger. How did you figure that out?
Lin Chu shook her head, unwilling to reveal her secret. She lied, I just noticed. Now be quiet, they can hear us.
Lu Yan heard her and agreed. He whispered to the others, Shes right. We need to get more candles and get out of here. The light scares them, but the noise attracts them. And theyre getting faster and stronger by the minute.
He looked at Jiang Yu, who was dodging and kicking the wax figures with remarkable agility. But even he had some close calls, as the wax figures wed and bit at him with savage force.
They had to be silent. Or they would be dead.
With a quick snap, Lu Yan broke off a segment of his candle and ignited it. He passed the meagre light source to Jin Fu Gui, who clutched it nervously. Together, they inched their way towards the halls centre, where they hoped to find an exit.
Chapter 110
Chapter 110
The candle was slender and frail, consumed by the hungry me. Molten wax seared their skin, but they endured the pain.
Only Jin Fu Gui whimpered softly, unable to stifle his fear. The others held their breaths and advanced with caution.
They dared not hasten their pace; the feeble fire was easily snuffed out. If they stirred the air too much, the me would waver and dim, threatening to leave them in darkness.
But even as they moved with care, the fire dwindled by the second. The candle melted away, leaving Jin Fu Gui with a stub. He tried to salvage some wax from a nearby statue, hoping to extend its life.
He failed.
The statue was slick and viscous, defying his grip. He managed to break off a bit of its finger, only to unleash a gush of blood from the wound. Horrified, Jin Fu Gui recoiled and froze.
His candle died.
The faint glow revealed the wax figures around them, slowly turning their heads with a creaking sound. Their eyes rolled in their sockets, scanning the intruders.
Keep going! Lin Chu shouted, pulling out another candle from his pocket. He snapped it in half and threw it to Jin Fu Gui, who caught it with relief. He lit the candle and blew on his burnt hand, trying to soothe the sting.
Lu Yan''s gaze fell on two candles.
They flickered inside a statue that loomed seven or eight metres away, a grotesque sight that made his stomach churn. A man with a twisted grin held two candles like daggers, plunging them into a woman''s eyes as she writhed and shrieked in pain. The wax statue was so lifelike that Lu Yan felt a sharp pang in his own eyes, as if the molten wax was searing his flesh.
The heat inside the building was suffocating, and the floor was covered with a thickyer of melted wax that kept rising and spreading. The air was sticky and humid, clinging to his skin and clothes. He looked up and saw the wax mes dancing like hellish tongues, licking the ceiling that was stained with blood. The crimson liquid boiled and bubbled, sending hot vapours into the air.
Lu Yan and hispanions struggled to move forward, as more and more wax figures blocked their way. Some of them were frozen in horror, others in agony, and others in ecstasy. The wax reached their ankles, and every step was harder than thest. The wax hardened around their feet, trapping them like cement.
But Jiang Yu''s group had it worse.
They had no candles to light their way, and the wax figures were not passive. They lunged at them, grabbing and biting and scratching, trying to drag them into the wax sea and keep them there forever.
**
On the other side of the town.
A man walked down the street, carrying a long-handled axe over his shoulder. His clothes were soaked with blood, but he did not seem to mind.
It was daytime, but the sky was dark and stormy, as if a curse had fallen over the town. The clouds hung low, almost touching the roofs of the buildings, and the wind howled like a banshee, shaking the windows and doors. The people had fled to their homes, hiding from the chaos outside.
But the man did not care. He walked with a steady pace, as if he owned the street. The wind did not bother him, it seemed to go through him, leaving his clothes and hair unruffled.
He walked with a bloody axe, leaving a trail of crimson drops behind him.
A man scurried along the road, his body bent and his pace quick. He wanted to get home as soon as possible, away from the strange weather that hung over the town. He ignored the gusts of wind that whipped his face and the dark clouds that loomed above. He felt a brush on his shoulder, a sh of red in his peripheral vision. He looked back, against his better judgement.
The person who had bumped him was already ahead of him, but he had turned his head to meet his gaze.
No, he didn''t turn his body... only his head...
His neck had twisted in an unnatural way, a full 180 degrees, to stare at him with cold eyes.
The man felt a chill in his veins, a paralysis in his limbs. He tried to run, but he couldn''t. He was being pulled towards the person in the bloody clothes, as if by an invisible force.
No! Stay away! Help!
Help!
He cried out in terror, but no one heard him. His limbs betrayed him, moving him closer and closer to the person with the bloody axe.
And then, his neck snapped 180 degrees...
"Jesus Christ..."
A girl saw it all from a high-rise building across the street. She mmed the curtains shut, clutching her chest, and whispered, "It''s a ghost... It has to be a ghost, right? The police said Lu Yan was dead."
''Oh God, he saw me. Is heing for me?''
''Wait, is he the one behind all those killings, those break-ins, in the news?''
The dead man had killed many in his life, but now he was even more dangerous as a vengeful spirit.
The girl felt a surge of fear and shock at the idea.
She shivered as she crept towards the window, carefully lifting a corner of the curtains to look outside.
On the street, the bloody figure remained, seemingly unremarkable.
''Thank God... thank God he didn''t see me.''
Only then did she notice that she had been holding her breath, tense and nervous. Her palms were mmy, and the curtain was damp where she had touched it.
But... why did she still feel so uneasy?
She had the sensation of being watched.
''No! Go away! Whatever you are, go away!''
She squirmed, restless and anxious, and drank a ss of water to calm herself, but it only made her more jittery. She walked around the room, unable to sit still.
Something was wrong...
The figure she had glimpsed, there was something off about him!
What was it?
The girl tried to think, feeling her heart pounding faster, as if... something eerie was about to happen.
"Maybe maybe I should check again?
''He didn''t see me the first two times, so maybe I can sneak another look, right? As long as I''m discreet.'' She thought.
The girl approached the window, her body rigid with tension. In the silent room, she could hear her own shallow breath and the loud beating of her heart.
''No! Don''t look!!'' Her inner voice shrieked as her feet carried her to the window.
''Stop! If he sees you, you''re dead!!''
She reached the window.
''No! Don''t let him see you!! Don''t look don''t look don''t look!''
Her hand gripped the edge of the curtain, gently pulling it back, creating a small opening. Then, she leaned forward, slowly, cautiously, to peek outside.
She faced a blood-red eye.
The head hovered behind the opening, gazing at her intently, waiting for her to move the curtain. And thenkill!!
"Ahhhh"
**
Somewhere nearby, a scream pierced the air.
Di Ying, Xi Men Yuan, and others were in the same building. They heard the scream and quickly ducked behind the curtain, scanning the surroundings for the source of the sound.
They gasped at the sight of the blood-soaked building, a gruesome canvas of death and horror. How many lives had been drained to paint such a macabre scene? They watched in shock as mutted corpses were hurled from the windows,nding with sickening thuds on the pavement.
"It''s happening again, the killing spree, and our building is next on the list," Di Ying whispered, yanking the curtains closed. Her voice cracked with fear as she urged them, "We have to get out of here, now! If that thing gets inside, we''re all doomed!"
"The rooftop is our only chance. The stairs are too risky. We can leap to the next building and make a run for it on the other street."
They wasted no time in grabbing their belongings and sprinting upwards.
They had made the right call; as they reached the fifth floor, they heard the screams from below.
"Faster! Faster!"
Nobody in their right mind would use the elevator, they all scrambled up with their bags. The screams grew louder and more frantic, they could almost... taste the blood.
The rooftop was on the eighth floor, the door was locked, Tan Xu kicked it open, then turned around to grab Xi Men Yuan, and the two of them dashed inside.
They stopped dead in their tracks.
The rooftop was lined with clotheslines.
From each pole that held the clothesline, a grisly trophy dangled: a human skin, peeled off and stretched out, its yellowish hue betraying theyers of fat that clung to it. On top of each skin, a mass of ck hair waved in the wind, as if mocking the lifeless flesh below. The wind tried to tear them off, but they held on stubbornly, refusing to let go.
"Come on, don''t look at them, just move!"
The neers recoiled in horror, but Xi Men Yuan grabbed Tan Xu by the arm and dragged him along. "Hurry up! Don''t touch anything!" he hissed.
How could they have expected such a sight on the top floor?
The others followed them, weaving their way through the macabre curtains of skin that pped in the wind, making their way to the edge of the floor.
As they stepped in, the skins seemed to sense their presence, and began to writhe and twist in the wind, as if trying to break free.
The wind grew stronger.
Atst, a skin came loose, soaring in the air, spinning twice before gently falling.
It had a target. It aimed for Di Ying, who was running behind the others. It glided towards her, closing the gap between them. No matter how fast she ran, it followed her.
Di Ying clenched her teeth and sprinted forward, swerving left and right to evade the limp, bby hands that reached out from the skins, listening to the screams of agony around her.
The human skins, like hungry parasites, sought new flesh to feed on. They clung to their victims, slowly choking the life out of them. The skins of the chosen ones grew hotter and hotter, as if they were being boiled alive.
And they were. Their insides cooked until they were tender and juicy. Then, with a gentle slice of a knife, they were flipped over, and their muscles and bones spilled out like soup, forming a thick, bloody puddle on the floor.
Xi Men Yuan and Tan Xu had already escaped to the edge of the roof. They looked back and saw the carnage, feeling their stomachs churn and their throats tighten. They quickly climbed onto the railing and jumped.
The building across was only two metres away, a bit lower. They could make it if they tried hard enough. They pushed themselves to the limit andnded safely on the rooftop of the other building.
Next was Di Ying. She didn''t hesitate. She stepped on the railing, bnced herself, and leaped. Shended gracefully on the ground. The skin that was meant for her missed its target, and wrapped around another unlucky soul.
Thest one had no time to think. He ran for his life, then his eyes bulged
There was a clothesline pole on the rooftop of the other building, made of bamboo, with a sharp end.
He couldn''t change his course in mid-air, and no one was close enough to help him. He could only watch in horror as the bamboo pole impaled him through the mouth, creating a grotesque spectacle.
The image shed in his mind: a childs cruel hand, grasping a grasshopper by its legs, thrusting a slender stalk of grass into its gaping mouth, skewering it from end to end, and bending it into a loop to trap the doomed insect.
Xi Men Yuan shuddered, not knowing where this sickening vision came from, but feeling a surge of nausea.
We have to go. Now. He yanked Tan Xu by the arm, who nodded grimly and followed his lead.
Behind them, two more figures stumbled after them, barely keeping up. Together, they formed a ragged group of five, racing down the stairs.
By some miracle, this building had escaped the notice of the horrors outside, and they reached the ground floor without encountering any trouble. They burst through the door
And found themselves in a wax hell.
The ce was vast and dim, popted by grotesque and uncanny wax figures, frozen in twisted poses. The heat was oppressive, melting the wax on the floor into a sticky pool that reached their ankles.
Xi Men Yuans eyes widened as he recognized some of the faces. Jiang Yu? How did you get here?
He barely finished his question when more people poured in, stopping in shock and confusion.
Lu Yans face darkened. There were too many people, and not enough candles.
Chapter 111
Chapter 111
The crowd swelled in the dimly lit wax museum, but Jiang Yu did not flinch. A surge of relief washed over him. He weed the neers, who would share his burden and distract the waxen horrors that surrounded them.
He raised his voice, Follow Jiang Bais example and grab a candle from the centre. Its our only chance to escape. Hurry, before they run out.
His words drew curious and fearful nces from Lu Yan and the rest.
Lu Yan reached for two candles from a wax figures hands. The figure let out a piercing scream and its face began to liquefy, dripping hot wax onto their feet.
They gasped as they felt the heat seep into their skin. The wax refused to harden, creating a slippery and treacherous surface. The air grew thicker and hotter, as if they were trapped in a giant candle, slowly melting away.
They would die here, either by the wax figures ws or by bing one of them.
Jiang Yu fought against the sticky resistance, hoping to reach the centre. He felt a slight give under his feet, and he managed to advance another step.
The others followed him, braving the scorching drops that fell from the ceiling. They struggled to reach the centre, where salvation awaited.
Toss me a candle! Xi Men Yuan shouted, as he dodged a swipe from a headless knight in waxen armour. He looked at Qiu Zhi, who held a candle in his hand.
Only Jiang Bai, Lin Chu, Jin Fu Gui, and Qiu Zhi had several candles, with no wax hindering them.
Qiu Zhi had a simple mind, but he was not a fool. He watched his candles as they dwindled to stubs, then quietly lit new ones from the old, paying no attention to Xi Men Yuan''s irritated demands.
Lu Yan felt like a wax statue himself, covered in a greasyyer that burned his skin and stiffened his joints. The idea that this was not wax, but corpse oil, something derived from the deceased, made him shudder. He nced at the dim corners of the wax museum, where the figures loomed like ancient corpses, biding their time.
Suddenly, the window outside went dark.
The wax museum plunged into darkness, except for the faint glimmer of their candles.
The dim light was insufficient to see clearly, but they could all feel it. The wax figures were moving. And they were moving faster and faster!
Lin Chu scavenged about ten more candles and hurried off in a different direction. Silently mouthing "Let''s go!" to Lu Yan and the rest of the group, she urged them to move.
"Why?" Qiu Zhi whispered as he followed her.
Suddenly, a monstrous face whipped around to face him, its eyes resembling brass bells and filled with malice. Qiu Zhi gasped and quickly closed his mouth.
Lin Chu shook her head, gesturing that she had no time to exin. She looked worried.
The window outside had turned ck.
Everything was happening just as she had told.
What had she said back then?
As night fell, the world was plunged into a murky gloom, where only indistinct shapes lurked and shifted. They all cowered in their hiding ces, holding their breaths, as if something in the darkness was hunting them.
Then, we heard that noise. When the light returned, we all recoiled in horror. A girl let out a piercing shriek, a corpse was dangling from the ceiling beam, and she had been clinging to him just seconds ago, unaware of when he was reced
It wasing!
The feeble glow of candlelight trembled, as they all guarded the me fiercely, warding off the darkness that enveloped them. Their eyes darted around nervously, searching for any sign of movement.
Relentlessly, wax dripped from the candles, dissolving the wax figures that stood around them. Shadows flickered and vanished, as if mocking their fear.
At that moment, all sounds ceased, leaving only the burning sensation on their skin. They felt the heat, but not the light.
Those who had candles had some advantage, but not much. They could see a little, but not enough. Those who had none were blind, relying on the dim light that barely pierced the ckness. Some of them glimpsed grey shadows with long tails gliding, resembling spectral apparitions that haunted their nightmares.
Di Ying and a friend edged forward.
The friend was petrified, gripping her arm firmly, they both crawled ahead. They aimed for where the light was strongest.
A whooshing sound came
Di Ying dodged swiftly, avoiding a decapitated head thrown from above. She narrowed her eyes, trying to pinpoint the source.
A sudden ze of light pierced the darkness, transforming the disy window into a blinding sun.
Ah
The sound escaped Di Yings lips before she could stop it. She mped her mouth shut, cursing herself for her carelessness. But it was toote; the wax figures that surrounded her had already sensed her presence. They began to lumber towards her, their legs making a dull thud on the floor, their waxen skin melting and dripping with each step.
Xi Men Yuans voice was a low hiss in the dark. What are you doing? How many missions had she alreadypleted? What had made her scream like a banshee?
Di Ying gestured with her hand an apology.
She couldnt help it. She had just watched herpanion die in front of her eyes, apanion who had been clutching her arm a second ago. Their faces had been inches apart, almost brushing, and Di Ying had seen the light fade from her eyes as they locked with hers.
She was truly terrified. She had never experienced such a raw and primal fear since she started these missions.
Di Ying darted away from the figures that were closing in on her, trying to calm her pounding heart.
No, she shouldnt be this scared. She had seen her share of corpses, some of them even close to her. Why did this one affect her so much?
Wait! Who was she?
Di Ying strained her memory, trying to recall her name and face, but she came up empty. She had been holding her arm a moment ago, they had seemed to get along well, but now, she couldnt recall anything about her at all.
Could she have been a ghost? Or did they erase the memories of the dead from those who knew them?
She felt a chill run down her spine, despite the heat that made her sweat profusely.
**
Stay quiet, Lin Chu whispered, barely moving her lips.
They had retreated from the central area. The wax museum was vast, with various counters scattered around. They were hiding behind a row of sturdy wooden cabs, their doors ajar, hoping to avoid the wax figures that grew more sinister by the minute.
**
Strange. Who could it be?
The corpse was right behind her now. Should she turn around and see who it was?
Yes, she should. She had to know.
Di Ying stood still, paralyzed. Then, slowly, she turned her head.
She met the gaze of the corpse that hung from the ceiling beam, that face eerily familiar.
Wasnt that her own face?
She felt a sudden tug on her ankle. In an instant, her body was lifted upside down, her vision flipped, blood rushing to her head, breath bing scarce.
Help me! Help! Save me Di Ying iled her arms, pleading for help.
She had faced traps like this before in her missions, she could have bent her torso and cut the rope around her leg, but now, she felt a weight on her waist and abdomen, as if an invisible hand was pressing her down.
Save me! Please! The rope that held her grew longer, swinging without a breeze, slowly changing its position.
Help me! Ill do anything! I beg of you!
But no matter how much Di Ying screamed, no one came to her aid.
"Jiang Yu! Xi Men Yuan! How can you let me die like this?" Di Ying''s voice was shrill and desperate, but she didn''t know the true horror of her situation or the reason why nobody was willing to help her.
Behind her, a corpse as ck as night wrapped its arms around her, holding her in a deathly embrace.
She felt powerless to break free, unaware of the rotting flesh that clung to her. She only had a faint impression of something squeezing her, suffocating her.
The rope that hung her from the ceiling swung towards a wooden nk, bristling with rusty nails.
The rope broke.
"Ahhh"
Blood sprayed everywhere, staining the red wax dripping from the candles, blending the two liquids into a macabre painting.
Lu Yan ignored the screams. He gazed out the window, his eyes drawn to something important.
"As someone dies, the night descends," Lin Chu whispered, her voice barely audible.
No sooner had she uttered thest word than a face smashed into the cab door with a thud. It filled the narrow slit with its twisted features. Its eyes burned with a feral gleam, a mix of hunger and insanity.
Jin Fu Gui jerked back, a scream rising in his throat, but Qiu Zhi pped his hand over his mouth.
The face''s eyes roved wildly, scanning the dim interior of the cab, then locked onto Lin Chu.
Lin Chu steadied her hand and set down the candle, the tiny me flickering weakly. She remained still and silent, as if she had ceased to breathe.
A heartbeat.
Another.
Another...
The seconds ticked by, agonisingly slow.
Lin Chu met the face''s stare, unblinking. And then the face disappeared.
The darkness reimed the museum.
Lu Yan cautiously pried open the cab door and peeked outside.
He saw other flickers of light in the gloom, moving closer. Some of the survivors had managed to get candles, and they were creeping towards them, avoiding the ghosts'' attention.
What did they want?
Lu Yan didn''t trust them. He knew they were up to no good.
The candles were like beacons in the night; they gave away their positions. Lu Yan was ready to exploit that. He had a trap set for them.
He clenched the dagger in his pocket, his eyes never leaving the advancing specks of light outside the cab.
Lin Chu, however, was lost in her own thoughts.
She had told Chu Xiu how, after the second night of silence, they had woken up in a bizarre location. It resembled the second floor of a wax museum.
"Each of us was crammed into a separate cab. We were supposed to break free and escape, but then we heard it: the door of the room mmed open, and a dreadful sound of footsteps filled the air.
The sound came closer and closer, stopping at each cab, and then... it yanked the cab open." Lin Chu told Chu Xiu. "I heard screams."
"That person had no candle, I''m sure of it. The candle in my hand was almost burnt out, so I reached into my pocket and grabbed thest two candles I had left, ready to light them at any second."
**
Dawn broke.
Lu Yan was hit by a wave of nausea and confusion as he woke up. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a small, dark wardrobe, with no memory of how he got there.
Footsteps echoed in the dark as he pushed the door slightly, sneaking a quick nce.
The room was dark, but he could discern shapes of wax figures standing frozen in ce, emitting a scent of burnt and musty dust.
The room was lined with rows of cabs, standing upright like coffins. Lu Yan had a clear view of them from a corner of the room. The cab doors were open, exposing the wooden interiors.
He spotted a few cabs with small cracks, emitting a faint glow.
He barely had time to take in the scene when the footsteps reached the door.
With a violent kick, the door flew open, crashing into the wall. ster and dust showered down, creating a loud noise.
Lu Yan''s heart skipped a beat as he quickly shut the cab door, holding his breath.
But as soon as he did, he felt a sudden drop in temperature. The wooden cab was freezing cold, and he had no clue why. He felt his limbs stiffen, as if he was turning into ice.
The me wavered faintly, about to die out.
And in that brief moment of darkness, Lu Yan felt a horrifying presence
Behind him, there was a corpse, cold as death.
It stood still, silent and menacing, radiating a chill that pierced his soul.
As he spun around, Lu Yan caught a glimpse of the corpses face. It was barely recognizable as human, except for the unnaturallyrge and cloudy eyes that gaped at him from the shadows. They seemed to have been cut open at the corners, giving them a macabre expression of curiosity. And they were focused on the candle in his hand, the only source of light in the dark room.
The candle was almost spent. Its me danced weakly, casting eerie shadows on the walls. Lu Yan and Lin Chu had managed to find a few candles in their scavenging, but they were running low.
Lu Yan reached into his pocket and pulled out a slender red candle, one of thest ones he had. He was about to light it with the dying me, when he felt a sudden weight on his shoulder.
The ghost the ghost had leaned its head on him. Lu Yan felt the corpses neck stretching and twisting like a snake, its cold and slimy skin brushing against his own, its sickeningly sweet smell filling his nostrils. He froze, unable to move or scream, watching the me flicker and fade.
But then, a new me appeared. He sessfully lit the second candle.
The sounds outside the door were getting louder. They were not the sounds of normal people or even of human feet. They were the sounds of something big and hungry, something that was searching for prey in the cabs.
A violent throb seized Lu Yans heart as he hid in the cab on the far right of the first row. He could hear the thing that had invaded the room, a monstrous creature whose roar chilled his blood, as it ripped open the cabs on the opposite side, searching for prey.
The sound of splintering wood and crashing boards echoed in his ears, getting louder and closer with each cab. He held his breath, hoping it wouldnt find him.
He flinched as a loud bang resounded from the same row as his. The thing had opened the first cab, and it was empty. A primal roar of rage and frustration filled the air, followed by the sound of crashing metal. The thing had ripped another cab apart, and it was moving on to the next one.
The footsteps grew louder, closer, inexorable.
Lin Chu felt the same terror grip her heart in the cab across the room. She had barely managed to sneak a peek through the gap in the door and see that she was in the middle of the fourth row, a lucky coincidence that matched the lie she had told Chu Xiu. She didnt give a damn about the others, only Lu Yan. He was different, special, and she knew it. His peculiarity had made him a target.
Where was he?
He couldnt die here. He just couldnt.
Lu Yan felt the vibrations of something outside the door battering two more times.
It was closing in!!
What could he do?
Trapped in the front row position, he had no chance of escape. If he opened the door, he would likely face the horror that lurked outside. And the protection of the candle might be useless against that horror.
Lu Yan couldnt rely solely on the candle.
The fourth cab
There were about thirteen cabs in a row. The nearer it came, the more desperate his situation became.
Others also sensed themotion. They had no idea what was outside the door, but it didnt deter them from instinctively hiding in the cabs, holding their breath, hoping that the horror wouldnt detect them.
If the horror detected them
Another deafening noise, it seemed that the horror didnt find anyone, it had gone berserk. The sound of wooden cabs splintering was more violent than ever.
Lu Yan clutched a metal knife in his personal bag.
He cautiously held the candle, making sure the me didnt die, slowly turning in another direction.
In the dark and cramped cab, he saw the ghosts face again.
The evil spirit was mesmerised by the dancing mes, gazing intently at the candle, slowly turning its focus. Its body was motionless, but its head, with its elongated neck, twisted around in a full circle.
The fifth cab!
Lu Yan gently dragged the de along the wooden cabs inside, creating a soft scraping sound.
Outside the door, the loud racket stopped for a moment, and the ghost in front of him seemed to shake off its stupor, its eyes about to nce behind him.
Lu Yan quickly halted his actions, not daring to continue.
The sixth cab!
He had no other option, he was surely doomed! Unless, there was someone else hiding in one of the cabs ahead!
But how could he be sure if there was anyone in the cabs ahead?
Lin Chu faced the same predicament. Based on the rules she had devised earlier, the horror would leave for a while after it had fed on someone.
But the problem was which cab was Lu Yan in? Were there any people in the cabs ahead of him?
The sound of scraping wood earlier was too soft for her to hear. Otherwise, she could have instantly pinpointed his location, instead of now where she could only worry.
Lu Yan put away the knife and reached into his pocket.
These horrors were very sensitive to noise; maybe he could use this to his benefit!
**
Pressed against the cab door, Xi Men Yuan felt his heart hammering in his chest.
The horror that stalked the rows of lockers was drawing nearer, its monstrous breaths and growls filling the air with dread. It was almost upon him, he knew it. He was not in the first row, but he might as well have been. He had no chance of escape, no weapon to fight back, no hope of survival. He could only pray that the horror would find something more appetising in the cab opposite him, for he had no doubt that he and his taskers were its prey.
Nearer and nearer...
Xi Men Yuan held his breath, willing his heart to slow down. Maybe it would not smell him, maybe it would pass him by, maybe it would leave him alone.
Then, his phone vibrated in his pocket. There was no sound, but the vibration was loud enough to shatter his fragile calm.
He felt a surge of panic and rage. Who the hell was calling him now? Did they not know what was happening? Did they want him to die? If he could, he would have choked them with his bare hands.
No sound, he reminded himself. Maybe the thing did not hear it. Maybe it did not care. Maybe it would ignore it.
But he knew it was toote. He knew it was over. No matter how much he begged the gods for mercy, the heavy footsteps did not stop. They came closer and closer, until it will stop right in front of his cab!
With each step, the horror drew closer to him. It had given up on the front cabs, sensing a more tempting prey behind them. It lunged at him with a ferocious speed, shaking the floor with its weight.
Xi Men Yuan could hear its ragged breaths, its savage snarls, its hungry growls. It was right outside his hiding ce. It wasing for him.
He had no time to think, to act, to save himself. The cab door in front of him flew open with a violent jerk
Xi Men Yuan''s scream tore through the air.
Lu Yan exhaled slowly. He had yed his cards right.
His phone was gone, lost in the mayhem, so he had used Lin Chu''s phone to copy the numbers from the SIM card.
He had chosen Xi Men Yuan over Jiang Yu for a reason. Tan Xu.
Tan Xu would not let Xi Men Yuan die without a fight.
Behind him, about ten metres away, a man crashed through the wooden door, making the cabs rattle. The horror turned its attention to him, to Tan Xu. It dragged something behind it, something that used to be a body, leaving a trail of blood and flesh on the floor.
Right at this moment
Lu Yan swiftly pulled open the door and fled to the left.
Chapter 112
Chapter 112
The horrors feral snarls and roars echoed in the dimly lit room, punctuated by the sound of splintering wood and metal as it ripped apart the cabs in search of prey. The floor was littered with corpses and blood, dragged and tossed around by the creatures ws and teeth. The survivors cowered in their hiding ces, feeling the cold sweat run down their backs and the tremors in their limbs.
Please, please, please, we have to get out of here, it cant find me, it cant find me Jin Fu Gui whimpered, his chubby legs shaking uncontrobly.
His ck hair was soaked with a sticky substance that smelled of rot and decay, dripping onto his neck and staining his cor. He was too scared to move, too scared to peek out, his only hope was to pray and light another candle.
Lin Chu huddled in the cab, her breath shallow and quiet. She clenched her numb fingers around the candle, hoping it wouldst a little longer. She wondered when the beast would leave, and what would happen then.
She remembered what she had told Chu Xiu before: "There are evil ghosts in every cab, waiting for the horror to leave. When it does, they wille out and kill anyone who doesn''t have a candle. We are all fighting for candles, for our lives"
Feeling a cold gust of air behind her, she heard a low, raspy voice muttering something unintelligible. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the sound, and felt a cold hand grab her shoulder, squeezing it hard. The coldness spread through her body, making her shiver.
She waited for what felt like an eternity until the noise outside ceased. She could hear the horror''sboured breathing and the slow, heavy footsteps gradually moving away from the room.
But with every step it took, the coldness behind her grew stronger.
Jiang Yu felt a cold presence behind him, getting closer and closer. He could sense its icy stare, filled with hatred and cruelty, scrutinising him for weaknesses. He knew it was only a matter of time before it would strike.
A silent scream of terror filled his mind as he heard Tan Xu emerge from the cab. Hurry! Get out of here!
He was too close, way too close. If luck had been on his side, he might have been able to grab thest candles from Tan Xu''s hands. He hoped that whatever was hunting them would leave some trace of his clothes and the candles in his pockets.
Tick-tock.
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed in the dark, apanied by a faint dripping of liquid.
What was that?
Tick-tock.
Another drop.
His mind was numb, unable to process anything else. He felt a presence behind him, a cold and hungry force that wanted to consume him. But he couldnt move, he couldnt escape. It was as if the thing had taken control of his body, paralysing him with fear.
Was he possessed by a ghost?
The candle in his hand was dying, its me barely flickering. Jiang Yu knew that when it went out, so would his life.
The only constion was that the monster seemed to lose interest in him. Its footsteps receded, a final hiss, and then the door mmed shut.
He was alive. He had survived.
But for how long?
He dared not move too much, lest the me go out. Jiang Yu endured the icy chill behind him and slowly, inch by inch, pushed open the cab door.
He ventured into the ckness beyond the door, clutching a flickering candle that barely pierced the gloom. He crept forward, wary of what might lurk in the shadows.
He froze.
A sliver of light from the candle revealed a ghastly sight: a face, frozen in a rictus of agony, its eyes bulging and fixed on him, its mouth twisted in a silent scream.
It was Tan Xu who had been decapitated and hung by his hair from one of the cab doors. The sound that had drawn him here was the steady drip of blood from the severed neck, sshing on the floor.
Jiang Yu gasped, his heart pounding in his chest. He fought the urge to vomit, to run, to scream. He forced himself to push the door open wider, exposing more of the grisly scene.
"Go away, Tan Xu. Leave me alone. I didn''t kill you. It wasn''t me..." He muttered.
He knew that most of them, the task performers, did not be ghosts after death. How else could they ruthlessly betray and murder each other for the sake of survival?
He pushed the cab door aside, blocking the sight of the severed head. But he could not block the sound of the dripping blood, nor the feeling of being watched by unseen eyes. He took another tentative step forward, then emerged from the cab.
The hall was a nightmare. A suffocating darkness enveloped him, swallowing the feeble light of his candle. He could not see the walls, the ceiling, the end of the hall. He could only see the cabs, the ck wooden cabs, lined up in neat rows, filling the hall.
They looked like coffins, standing upright, waiting for their upants.
He held his breath and followed the source of the sound, moving deeper into the darkness.
The horror that lurked here might not have a taste for human flesh. If it had spared their heads, their bodies might still be intact. Tan Xu and Xi Men Yuan had carried at least two candles each.
And then there were Jiang Bai and Lin Chu.
Jiang Yu whispered their names under his breath, his heart burning with hatred.
He had felt the phone vibrate moments ago. He was sure, beyond any doubt, that one of them had made the call, and he suspected it was Lin Chu.
The floor was uneven and slick, as if coated withyers of wax. Jiang Yu walked past rows of cabs, some whole, some broken, some toppled over.
He sensed a movement, and heard another cab door open.
Click.
He spun around and looked to his right, where a thin gap had appeared in a closet door.
A pale, sharp w shot out from the gap!
The sounds of doors opening multiplied, creating a cacophony of clicks and creaks. He could not tell if they were opened by ghosts or humans.
Lin Chu opened the door.
She had no luck at all; as soon as she stepped out of the door, she came face to face with Jiang Yu.
He smiled at her, but Lin Chu felt a chill run down her spine. He wanted her dead, more than ever before.
Was it for the candles, or something else?
Lin Chu met his gaze without flinching.
Beneath the deceptive charm of her pretty face, her eyes glittered with cold contempt in the flickering light. She radiated a frosty aura that surpassed Jiang Yus own, leaving him no doubt - she had been ying them for fools all this time.
Fang Tu had been right to distrust her.
And yet, Qiu Zhi still defended this viper.
Now, Di Ying, Xi Men Yuan, and Tan Xuy dead.
He had to find a way to sway Qiu Zhi to his side, or else Jiang Bai and Lin Chu would not hesitate to team up and end his life.
Ignoring Lin Chus taunts, he veered off the main path and pressed on.
He dodged the grasping hands of the restless ghosts, the candle in his grip dwindling by the minute.
He could already glimpse Tan Xus remains.
Ripped apart, drenched in blood, barely recognizable by the scraps of clothing. He stepped over one of Tan Xus limp severed hands, making his way to therger heap of gore.
The first few rows of cabs bore the brunt of the damage, especially the back end of the first row and the second and third rows. The ones at the very front had been spared by the beasts initial rampage, but nowy in splinters.
As he advanced, he saw
A horde of ghosts feasting on Tan Xus carcass, among them the familiar face of Xi Men Yuan, whose ws dug into the flesh and crammed it into his mouth. Another ghoul yanked out a shiny white leg bone and gnawed on it leisurely.
Its nose twitched, as if sensing something, and slowly turned its head towards him.
He scanned the floor, littered with discarded clothes that the ghosts had left untouched. Among the bloody rags, he spotted three candles, their wax spilling over the tiles like blood.
How could he reach them?
His eyes darted to the grisly feast that the ghosts were devouring, tearing flesh from bone with their teeth. He felt a shiver down his spine as he heard the soft tread of Lin Chu behind him.
The candles had shrunk to mere stubs. He guessed they had no more than five minutes of life left.
His heart pounded in his chest, in sync with Lin Chu''s closing steps.
Was she after Tan Xu''s candles, and Xi Men Yuan''s too?
She must have had the same idea as him.
He slid a long dagger out of his sleeve, feeling the cold metal graze his elbow, which heightened his senses.
He had to stay calm, move carefully, to ensure the candles would not go out.
Then, a sudden whoosh cut through the silence.
He dodged by instinct, honed by years of living on the edge of survival. He caught a glimpse of the projectile as it whizzed by him, a wooden stake sharpened to a point.
They were not just aiming at him.
The second wooden projectile grazed the flickering candle in his grasp.
Darkness swallowed him.
A ravenous ghost, feasting on human flesh, snapped its head around, fixing its hungry eyes on Jiang Yu. He was still caught in the act of twisting his body to evade the flying wooden stake.
The face of his assant was Jiang Bai!
A dim glow revealed the features of Lu Yan, the fugitive wanted by thew.
Time seemed to freeze and then elerate. Jiang Yu had no chance toprehend or react, as his vision suddenly soared, surveying the pitiful survivors below.
Lin Chu met his gaze, her expression devoid of the icy resolve she had shown against the enemy, reced by a serene detachment, as if she was gazing at a corpse.
Yes, a corpse.
A dyed agony seared his neck and a weightless feeling engulfed his lower half.
On the floor, hordes of savage ghosts swarmed, reducing the carcasses to bones and scraps.
A hand lifted the bloody candle.
Lin Chu advanced towards Lu Yan. They maintained a cautious gap of five or six metres, inching their way to the edge of the hall.
From a distance, Qiu Zhi, Jin Fu Gui, and the others appeared, drawn by the firelight. Jin Fu Gui was the most animated, waving frantically at the pair, his eyes shining with hopeful anticipation.
The wick of Jin Fu Guis candle had almost reached its end, casting a feeble glow on his terrified face. He clutched the candle as if it were his lifeline, knowing that once it was gone, so was his hope of survival.
Lu Yan watched him with a cold and calcting gaze, weighing the risks and rewards of his next move. He had no idea how much longer they would be trapped in this pitch-ck tomb, or if he would ever stumble upon another source of illumination.
Lin Chu nced at him with a slow shake of her head, as if she knew what he was thinking. She had an eerie familiarity with this ce, as if she had seen it before in a vision. Maybe she had predicted this?
Lu Yan said nothing, his fingers groping the damp earth for another piece of wood. He found one and began to whittle it into a sharp point with his knife, his movements swift and silent.
Suddenly, Jin Fu Gui lurched backwards with a gurgle, his eyes wide with shock. A slender wooden stake protruded from his throat, spilling blood onto his clothes. His candle slipped from his grasp and hit the ground, its me sputtering and dying.
A horde of hungry ghosts, drawn by the smell of flesh and blood, leapt out of the shadows, their howls filling the air. They tore at Jin Fu Guis body, ripping and gnawing at his flesh. He made no sound, for the dead feel no pain.
Lu Yan pulled back his arm, his expression grim. He met the eyes of Qiu Zhi, who was approaching them.
Anger should have surged through Qiu Zhi''s veins. He had regarded Jin Fu Gui and Jiang Bai as hisrades, his allies in this hellish mission. How could he tolerate such a betrayal from one of them? Yet, as his gaze met the inky ckness of Lu Yan''s eyes, mirroring the mes that danced in the shadows, a shiver ran down his spine and he retreated involuntarily.
Lu Yan ignored him. He scanned the dim surroundings, searching for a way out.
But he saw nothing. Only darkness. A darkness that seemed alive and hungry.
It was teeming with pale, spectral figures with tails that swirled and clustered in chaotic frenzy, emitting faint moans and shrill screams, leaving trails of hair, blood, and bits of flesh in their wake. The floor was scattered with piles of ck or yellow substances, unidentifiable and repugnant. Cruel ghosts hunched over carcasses, tearing and gnawing, blood spilling over their hands and mouths.
The air was dense with a cold, charred stench,den with dust.
But the exit was nowhere to be seen.
Most of the mission leaders were already dead, but Lu Yan felt no remorse. He let the survivors re at him with hatred, and when they made a move, he dispatched them with ease, as he had done with the rest.
The sound of chewing grew louder.
Qiu Zhi had hoped that Lu Yan would spare some of them, but he soon realised that he was ying a cruel game. He waited until the ghosts had finished their meal and became restless, then he killed another one. This way, he kept the ghosts at bay.
They disappeared, one after another, into the dark abyss.
Lin Chu and Jiang Bai had made a pact, a silent understanding that sealed others fate.
Who would be next? Qiu Zhi wondered, feeling a cold sweat on his brow. He knew he was no match for their cunning and ruthlessness.
Was there nothing he could do but wait for the inevitable end?
The final corpse was devoured, leaving only bones and blood.
Lin Chu caught Lu Yan''s eye and whispered, "How should we deal with Qiu Zhi?"
Lu Yan shrugged. What do you expect me to do?
"Fair enough," she nodded. She stopped, took out a candle from her pocket, snapped off a fragment, and flung it to Qiu Zhi from a distance.
Qiu Zhi reflexively grabbed it. When he saw what it was, he froze in ce.
Consider it repaying a favour, Lin Chu thought. If they didn''t escape before the candle flickered out, Qiu Zhi was just out of luck.
Lu Yan ignored them, marching on with a determined stride.
They heard footsteps elerating behind them, pounding the ground urgently. Lin Chu and Lu Yan spun around and saw Qiu Zhi closing in on them with a determined pace, his candle flickering in the gloom.
He appeared harmless; they stopped and waited for him.
Miraculously, the candle survived the run, burning until Qiu Zhi reached them.
He squeezed the candle''s ends together, lengthening it. "Are you two attempting to solve the problem?" he asked casually.
But they understood his meaning and nodded, not resenting him for attracting the ghost''s attention with his words.
Qiu Zhi epted their response.
He straightened his back, saluted them respectfully. "Please convey my respects to my mother." Then he extinguished the candle in his hand, handed it to Lin Chu, and swiftly disappeared into the darkness without looking back.
They listened to a faint ssh, followed by the eager gnashing of the hungry spirits.
Qiu Zhi remained silent until the end.
Chapter 113
Chapter 113
A greater danger loomed ahead.
For a brief instant, Lin Chu spaced out, but a jolt of fear brought her back to the present. She shook her head as if to clear it and turned to face the others.
She remembered thest words she exchanged with Chu Xiu
So, how did you manage to escape?
She avoided his gaze and gave a vague shrug, as if hiding a secret that she dared not share, Dont ask about that. Anyway, after leaving the wax museum, I finally made it back.
She could onlymunicate with her lips, hoping Lu Yan could read them. She couldnt tell him the truth. She had to stay with him and look for a way out, even though she had no idea where it was.
The candles were not enough. They flickered weakly, barelysting for half an hour each, and they only had a handful left. And any moment now the horror coulde back!
The hall was too vast.
Lu Yan had thought he had reached the end of it, but he was wrong. It stretched on and on, into the abyss of darkness. He had no clue where it came from, or where it led to. But he knew one thing for sure - it was not part of Spirit Vale Town.
The roar of the waves echoed in his ears, mingling with the salty dampness that filled his nostrils. He wondered if there was a hidden spring or ake below this cursednd.
They advanced cautiously, side by side, but never too close. They knew better than to trust each other in this hellish ce. They could turn on each other in a heartbeat, or worse, be turned by the horrors that lurked here.
They realised something strange then. Something they had overlooked in their haste.
There were no shadows under their feet.
But behind them, they were not alone. The restless spirits followed them, trailing their long, wispy tendrils of grey mist. They felt a cold breeze wrap around them, carrying the sounds of whispers, murmurs, screams They shuddered as they heard the agony and madness of the dead. Sometimes, they caught a glimpse of a more solid shape, a ghostly face with glowing green eyes, staring at them with malice and hunger.
Lu Yan stopped abruptly, feeling a misty tendril brush against his neck, snapping at him like a rabid dog, but finding no flesh to tear. He froze, making Lin Chu halt as well. She looked at him, wary and curious.
What are the rules? Lu Yan asked, his voice low and tense.
Lin Chu shook her head, her eyes darting around. I dont know. Long ago, these things stopped following any rules.
They felt a surge of dread, as if they had stumbled into a nightmare with no logic or order. These were the true ghosts, werent they? The ones that had no boundaries, no limits, no reason. Unlike before, when they could observe and escape, when the ghosts had some semnce of rules to obey, why would they now? What kept them in check?
He knew better than to linger on this dilemma; it was a sure path to madness.
With a curt nod, Lu Yan resumed his march.
The endless darkness gnawed at his resolve, offering no glimpse of hope, only a dull and shapeless trail, haunted by ashen spectres.
He kept track of the time in his head.
By his reckoning, they had been walking for hours, but their candles showed no sign of burning out, their feeble mes flickering in sync with their steps.
They were caught in a timeless limbo, a prison of shadows, with no escape in sight.
Lu Yan came to a halt again.
Lin Chu followed suit, and they locked eyes in silent understanding.
Something was very wrong.
Are you sure you cant discern any pattern? Lu Yan asked abruptly.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the world around them shifted. The vague boundaries of their surroundings contracted, exposing solid walls on all sides.
Thud, thud, thud
The walls pulsed and warped with every thump, as if a monstrous creature was tearing at them from the other side, or as if they were moulded from the flesh and agony of the damned.
The faces multiplied, twisted and grotesque, emerging from the cracks and crevices, whispering and moaning, showering them with dust and debris, while the floor trembled under their feet.
But there was a glimmer of hope behind them.
They both instinctively turned their heads. At the far end of the dark and narrow corridor, a ss window shone like a beacon.
A pale light filtered through, revealing the silhouettes of the buildings outside.
Was that their escape route? Or was it a lure to a deadlier trap? Lin Chu wondered, her heart racing. She barely had time to think, when she realised that the window was getting closer and closer.
She felt a surge of dread, certain that something was wrong.
Lu Yan must have felt it too. They froze, torn between moving forward or backward.
They were right to be afraid. The faces became more numerous and more hideous, covering the walls and the floor, merging genders and ages, forming a grotesque coge of human features, staring at them with malice and resentment.
They both had keen eyes for details, and they quickly noticed that the corridor was shrinking, closing in on them, trapping them.
What kind of trap was this? Lin Chu watched the window warily, expecting the worst.
What was behind them? Lu Yan wondered, fearing the unknown.
Then, they heard a woman''s scream, piercing the darkness behind them.
A scream tore through the air, a final plea for her mommy from a dying woman. Lin Chu flinched at the sound, a voice she had never heard before. Beside her, Lu Yan shivered as a cold wave of dread washed over him.
He knew that voice. He knew it too well. It was Shi Yan, his partner in the twisted games they yed. She had met a gruesome fate in a car crash at an intersection, her body mangled beyond recognition.
How could he hear her voice again?
He clutched his head as a sharp pain stabbed his temples. He understood what Spirit Vale meant - a limbo between the living and the dead, a thin line that separated the worlds of light and darkness.
The echoes of the scream faded into silence, but they dared not move. Something sinister was waiting for them in the shadows; their only hope was to escape through the window ahead.
Please let there be no traps, let us get out of here safely, please
Lin Chu muttered a prayer under her breath, trying to keep her spirits up.
They crept towards the window.
The hot wax from the candles burned their hands, adding to their misery. The candles were getting shorter by the minute, a sign of their dwindling time. But instead of feeling panic, they felt a strange relief.
They were almost there. Almost free.
The window loomed before them, a colossal pane of ss that dwarfed their human forms. It was like a portal to another world, a world where the sun still shone and the sky was blue. A world where Spirit Vale Town was reduced to rubble and ash by the bombs.
They had been wandering in the dark for so long, they had almost forgotten what light looked like. They felt a surge of hope as they neared the window, eager to catch a glimpse of the outside.
But before they could reach it, the earth began to shake. A thunderous sound echoed through the room, as if a giant beast was stomping towards them. They staggered and stumbled, clutching at the carved reliefs that jutted out from the walls. They felt the vibrations in their bones, in their teeth, in their souls.
Then, a shadow swept over the window, blotting out the light. The room plunged into darkness, deeper than before. The sound stopped, reced by a heavy silence.
"What the hell is that?" Lin Chu gasped.
Lu Yan reached out and grabbed her. She peered at the window, but saw nothing but ckness. A faint glimmer of something darker and rounder in the centre of the ckness.
Lu Yan followed her gaze, his eyes narrowing. He could make out the shape of the thing that blocked the window, the thing that had caused the tremors. He felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead, a knot forming in his stomach.
He felt a strange familiarity in the air, a faint echo of something he had seen or known before. But no sooner did he entertain the idea of advancing than a cold shiver ran down his spine, a primal rm that urged him to retreat.
Back off, he whispered.
He spun on his heels, retreating as fast as he could. Behind him, the window that had been obscured by a dark mass suddenly brightened, as the thing moved away, exposing a sliver of white.
It couldnt be
As more sunlight flooded the room, they gasped in horror at the sight
A pair of human eyes!
They were far away, but unmistakable. The ck orbs, the reddened sclera, the fineshes.
Those eyes had been watching them, studying them, while they were unaware, drawn by curiosity.
The eyes blinked, then crinkled at the corners, as if amused by their reaction.
"Run, for God''s sake, run!"
A wave of coldness swept over them, freezing their blood and bones, a primal dread that seized their souls. They spun around and fled, their feet pounding the floor, their hearts hammering their chests, their eyes blind to anything but escape.
The eyes faded from the window, and a muffled babble of voices reached their ears, but the words were iprehensible. They could see the outlines of buildings and trees outside, but they seemed oddly distant and small. Had they somehow stumbled into a realm of titans, where they were nothing but ants?
They copsed in a corner, gasping for breath, trying to calm their frantic minds. The candle still flickered, casting a feeble light on their faces.
Lin Chu clutched her head, feeling a surge of nausea. She croaked out a question, after what seemed like an eternity, "What the hell... was that?"
She didn''t really expect Lu Yan to have an answer.
Were those eyes belonging to monstrous beings, towering over them like mountains, or had they shrunk to the size of insects?
Or worse, were they just specimens, bred by those things for some sinister purpose?
Lin Chu shuddered at the thought, pushing it away from her consciousness. She felt a chill in her veins, as if ice had reced her blood.
Lu Yan leaned against the wall, his face pale, his eyes haunted. He recalled being coerced into ying the elevator game with Chu Xiu, which led him into a strange world. There, he encountered a massive statue and unknowingly roamed around its foot for a considerable time.
And now, had he heard the voice - was it the haunting final scream of Shi Yan, the one who had tragically perished in the game? How did all these pieces connect?
The mist that had shrouded them in shadows dissipated, and the piercing screams that had haunted their ears fell silent, leaving only a deep stillness that was broken by their ragged breathing and pounding hearts.
The candles that had flickered in the gloom snuffed out, and a blinding light poured in through the window, so bright that it washed out the world beyond, forcing them to squint and shield their eyes as they slowly adapted to the re.
One side was drenched in light, the other swallowed by darkness.
Lu Yan stared for a long time, then moved towards the light, drawn by some instinct. He reached the edge, where light and dark met, and looked back, seeing the corridor that had led them here, a ck tunnel that seemed to go on forever.
Life and death were nothing but illusions; this world was a twisted and macabre joke. He had lost his grip on reality, but he still clung to the hope of finding some meaning in his existence.
Which way was life? Which way was death?
Lin Chu wondered the same, equally confused and lost, leaning on the wall for support as she gasped for air, her mind a nk te.
She saw Lu Yan standing motionless at the border of light and dark, as if waiting for something. She decided to follow him, but paused for a moment, unsure of what awaited them.
Outside the window, a dazzling white light hid everything from sight.
But they stepped forward anyway.
Oh, you finally made it out. What took you so long? A voice came from the haze, a middle-aged mans voice, and Lu Yan blinked several times until the fuzzy shape in front of him became clear.
"Wee back to thend of the living. Did you enjoy your little trip?" the man continued speaking. "I hope you don''t have anysting damage. You know, you signed a waiver before entering this game, stating that you had no medical conditions."
The fog lifted, revealing a stark contrast between the world they had left and the one they had entered. The air was thick with smoke and the stench of paint and dirt. Their skin, chilled by the cold, felt the warmth of the sun. Lu Yan stood frozen, taking in the scene.
Lin Chu was next to him, equally stunned. She looked like she had seen a ghost. They were in an amusement park, but behind them was a... haunted house?
The entrance was draped with a ck curtain, and above it was a sign that read ''Spirit Vale Town'' in blood-red letters. A long line of people waited outside, eager to experience the horror.
The middle-aged man waved his hand in front of Lu Yan, his voice tinged with worry. "Hey, are you guys okay? You look like you''ve been through hell."
Lu Yan muttered, "We''re fine. We''re fine." He grabbed Lin Chu''s hand and dragged her away, ignoring her confused nce. She followed him without resistance.
He still had the candle in his pocket, and the jade pendant.
But...
He scanned the surroundings, looking for something familiar.
Nothing. Nothing at all.
An unfamiliar amusement park, unfamiliar people, smiling andughing, having fun on the colourful rides. The sun was shining, and the wind was gentle.
A sharp pain in her head jolted Lin Chu back to reality. She clutched her temples and squinted at the bizarre scene around her, feeling a surge of disbelief and confusion.
Where the hell are we? She muttered, her voice barely audible over the noise of the crowd. She scanned the unfamiliar surroundings with a sense of dread, unable to make sense of anything.
They looked like a pair of ghosts among the living, out of sync with the festive atmosphere. The tourists who passed by them gave them curious or pitying looks, wondering what had befallen them.
This must be one of those twisted dimensions, Lin Chu said, trying to sound calm.
They retreated to a quieter corner and whispered to each other. Lin Chu was new to this nightmare, but Lu Yan had been trapped in these warped spaces more than once. He had learned to look for clues and patterns in the first one, at the train station, but the ones that followed were more random and unpredictable.
What was the game this time?
The speakers of the amusement park suddenly red a cheerful melody, inviting the visitors to join the fun. The crowd cheered and rushed towards the source of the music, eager to see what was in store.
Whats going on? Do you think we should follow them? Lin Chu asked, feeling a mix of curiosity and fear.
"Let''s go take a look," Lu Yan said, getting up and walking ahead.
The music cut off abruptly, reced by a distant sound. They reached the edge of the giant carousel, where a path branched off. There, they saw a group of girls in colourful dresses, leading the way. They held flowers and bells in their hands, creating a shower of petals and ribbons as they moved,ughing and singing.
A floral carriage loomed behind them, drawn by two white horses that seemed carved from marble. Their hooves trampled over the delicate petals and ribbons that adorned the road, creating a contrast of beauty and violence. The man who held the reins wore a butlers uniform, and a thick white beard that hid his lips. He lifted the whip with a flourish and tapped the horses backs, making them neigh and prance.
Lin Chu nced at the carriage, expecting to see someone of importance inside. But the carriage was empty, and she felt a surge of disappointment and curiosity. Why was it here? Who was it for?
Lu Yan shared her bewilderment, and decided to leave. He had no interest in the carriage or its mysterious driver.
They were about to walk away, when the bearded man on the carriage pointed his whip at them, as if he had singled them out for some reason.
A group of lovely girls, holding baskets of flowers and ribbons, ran towards them with smiles and cheers.
Come,e, ride the floral carriage.
Congrattions, youve been chosen! Youre the lucky guests,e ride the carriage.
The girls surrounded Lu Yan and Lin Chu, their hopeful eyes shining with excitement. They reached for their hands, trying to pull them towards the carriage. The other tourists looked on with awe and jealousy, as if this were a stroke of good fortune.
Lin Chu shook her head frantically: "No, no, I don''t want to go, please leave me alone."
The girls ignored her pleas, persisting in their efforts to haul her to the carriage. Lu Yan struggled to free himself from their grip. He made a swift move, sending one of the girls tumbling to the ground, then bolted away.
Lin Chu saw his escape and seized the opportunity. She sliced the ribbon of a girl who clung to her hand, shoving her to the ground with force. A gasp of shock rippled through the crowd, as she sprinted after Lu Yan.
"How dare they!"
"They are so rude! If they don''t like it, they should just say so."
The girls wept as they lifted the two who had fallen. The music died, and the flowers in the basket wilted.
**
"Surveince reports that it has breached the third level of space. It''s only a matter of time before the third level ispletely infested."
"Hm... Keep monitoring the situation."
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and
continue reading tomorrow, everyone!