Lovecraftian World, But I Spread Curses

Chapter 1: Forest Cabin Not On Any Map
Yu Lianyun walked along the coastal road of Yonghu Town in Laitai City, head lowered, arms crossed over her chest, moving forward silently in a three-layer thick cotton-padded jacket.
It was the height of summer, during the hottest period, and a large number of tourists seeking respite from the heat had come to this small tourist town in Laitai City. Visitors coming and going around the beach couldn’t help but notice the woman with strange behavior.
In this scorching weather that baked everything, someone dared to dress as if for winter. If it wasn’t mental illness or for filming a video, such attention-seeking behavior was hard to explain.
However, every tourist who passed by the woman frowned. After returning to their companions, some of them spoke of horrifying, similar feelings:
“Is it a psychological effect or something else? Standing next to that madwoman always makes me feel creeped out, from the inside out, so cold it’s scary.”
“Just now, I think I saw that person actually exhale white mist. Isn’t that something you only see in winter?”
Yu Lianyun ignored everyone and walked with her eyes closed until she reached the end of the coastal road.
The noisy sounds by her ears gradually disappeared, but she didn’t feel any sense of relief. Because when human voices faded and the environment became quiet, another sound began to intensify, along with an unexplainable, soul-piercing cold.
“The sun… I need to find that shop before the sun sets.” Yu Lianyun looked at the midday sun, as if she could already see the moment night fell, panic flashing in her eyes.
Crossing the coastal road and then two more streets, she arrived at the foot of a small mountain, where a narrow stone staircase stood. She then put away her phone, which was displaying navigation. Because from this point onward, the navigation had no record; it did not provide directions to her destination.
She could only rely on fragmented information pieced together from netizens online to get a rough idea of the location. After that, she would have to use the most primitive method—searching with her eyes and imagination.
The stone steps had no handrails, and the steps themselves were narrow. If Yu Lianyun climbed normally, only half of her foot could be placed on each step, making it very dangerous. Therefore, she had to climb sideways, like a clumsy plush toy worker, trying to preserve her clothes while maintaining balance.
The stone steps were only about ten meters high, but after climbing them, Yu Lianyun felt as if she had used up most of her energy for the day. However, she didn’t have time to rest. She glanced again at the guiding paper she had written and memorized perfectly, murmuring: “Take the gravel path in the middle, walk 66 steps, then you’ll reach a corner. Turn left, continue for 44 steps, and you’ll see a house with a Sino-Western architectural style.”
Following the directions, she walked onto the gravel path, her heart beginning to count the steps. First, she walked straight for sixty-six steps, then turned left and walked straight for forty-four steps. Looking up, the scenery of the woods had changed dramatically.
In the distance, a large area of pagoda trees grew around the house, providing dense shade. Eight twisted ghost willows were neatly planted by the cold pond in front of the house. The bark of each willow tree was cracked like human skin, revealing faces that looked like they were in distress, as if countless souls who died unjustly were bound within those willow trees.
Yu Lianyun’s legs trembled, and her teeth chattered. Such an ancient and solemn mansion hidden in the deep mountains and old forests was truly frightening. But when she saw a rustic shop sign from the early 2000s placed in front of the mansion, she couldn’t help but doubt the correctness of her journey.
The red tape on the shop sign read in colorful characters such as “Lin Ling’s Magical Wonderful House,” “Tenfold refund for fakes,” “Refund if ineffective,” and “Cured upon administration of medicine.” The shop sign also had built-in neon lights, like those found in disco clubs, making it look very unserious.
Was this a haunted house? A toy store? Or the exorcism magic item shop she was looking for? Why did it look so much like a scam shop?
However, she had already arrived at her destination, and there was no turning back.
As the saying goes, since she was already here, she had to go in and take a look, no matter what.
As she approached, the redwood door was painted with two hideous, fanged masks, one red and one green, looking fierce. A sign reading “Open” hung from the ring-shaped door handle, indicating that customers needed to push the door to enter. Yu Lianyun did as instructed and entered the shop.
Upon entering the old house paved with grey bricks, Yu Lianyun was stunned by the densely packed shelving units. She felt as if she had arrived at a library with a massive collection of books. However, the items on the shelves were not just books but also a variety of sundries: books, antiques, modern appliances, sacred church items, and ordinary everyday goods…
The arrangement of items also seemed to lack any discernible logic. Expensive items like antiques and cultural relics might be placed alongside modern defective items, and objects resembling biological specimens might be displayed next to modern industrial puppets. The pattern of their display was completely baffling.
Strangely, Yu Lianyun felt that the arrangement of these items was not problematic. It was as if they all shared an ineffable commonality, and it was this peculiar commonality that made them appear very harmonious.
Yu Lianyun, dressed in her bulky attire, carefully navigated the narrow aisles between the shelving units, browsing the strange items displayed on the shelves in front of and behind her, while also searching for the shop owner. A strange thought flashed through her mind: “Could all these things be exorcism magic items from this shop?”
After finally passing through the shelving units, Yu Lianyun was exhausted from the journey. She leaned on her knees, panting, and rested on the spot.
“Ma’am, if you’re so tired, why not sit down and rest for a bit?” A clear and gentle voice suddenly broke the silence of the shop.
Yu Lianyun looked up in the direction of the voice and saw a youth, about seventeen or eighteen years old, sitting by a coffee table not far away, smiling at her. His voice and appearance were delicate, and his posture was elegant. He was like a handsome but peculiar wax figure deeply integrated into this strange shop; before he spoke, it was almost impossible for anyone to notice his presence.
Behind the youth was a shrine. Instead of the usual red candles, two white candles were lit on either side of the shrine. The halo of the candlelight cast a glow behind the youth, like two unnerving golden eyes scrutinizing her. Yu Lianyun involuntarily held her breath.
Recently, she had encountered too many inexpressible things, and Yu Lianyun’s heart began to race again. She felt an inexplicable terror.
However, this terror seemed different from the horrifying events she had experienced lately.
Suddenly, a strange cry sounded from behind the youth, and a black figure leaped out from the darkness that the candlelight couldn’t illuminate, standing on the shrine. It was a black cat that had appeared from nowhere, with unusually thick paws, and its breed was indistinguishable.
The cat was probably cute, but it didn’t allow anyone to think so. Its golden cat eyes had black pupils, and a spiritual radiance flowed within those lively eyes.
There is a folk saying that cats are telepathic and have nine lives. Compared to dogs, they have more independent personalities. The older a cat gets, the more it can express human emotions. This cat gave her that impression.
The black cat swayed its tail, standing on the platform, its tail sweeping back and forth over a headless statue in official robes and a statue of a Zen monk covered in bloody yellow cloth. It examined her for a moment, indifferently withdrew its gaze, and quietly retreated back into the darkness, slowly closing its bright golden eyes.
At this moment, Yu Lianyun finally realized that there was no main deity enshrined on the shrine. The two statues were merely broken left and right guardians, and there were no offerings whatsoever.
How strange!
If the shopkeeper did not worship deities, why was there a shrine inside the shop? If they worshipped deities, why treat them with such disrespect?
Yu Lianyun felt that the shopkeeper, like the items in his shop, was not quite normal.
Hearing the youth’s words, Yu Lianyun assumed he was an employee of the shop. She shook her head and asked, “Isn’t the boss here?”
The youth’s brows furrowed, his eyes level, showing a hint of helplessness. He said, “My name is Lin Ling. I’m the boss here.”
Yu Lianyun then realized her misunderstanding and quickly apologized.
“Have a cup of tea and rest. You’re sweating a lot,” Lin Ling said with a gentle smile. He exuded a faint fragrance, one that Yu Lianyun had only smelled in Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries, the scent of incense burning. Yet, Yu Lianyun couldn’t see an incense burner in the room; the smell seemed to emanate from the youth himself, from within.
Yu Lianyun initially wanted to refuse, but recalling the youth saying she was sweating, she couldn’t help but pause. It was then she understood why her body was feeling heavier and heavier. It wasn’t that her recent strange illness that had been plaguing her had worsened, but rather that her sweat had soaked her thick cotton jacket, making it heavy and “muddy,” making it very uncomfortable to wear.
“How could this be…” Yu Lianyun muttered to herself. The confusion did not bring her deeper despair; instead, her eyes gradually began to show a bright light.
She took off her jacket and removed her cotton hat, revealing her proud curves and her slightly disheveled but pitiable and beautiful face.
Regaining a normal sense of her body, Yu Lianyun felt as if she had grasped a life-saving straw. She bowed deeply to the youth and pleaded, “Boss, no, Mr., please help me.”
Lin Ling’s smile remained as gentle as before. “Whatever it is, sit down and have a cup of tea first, then tell me about it when you’ve calmed down.”
Yu Lianyun dared not refuse again. She respectfully sat opposite Lin Ling, took a sip of the fragrant tea, and sighed, “What a good tea.” Then, while greedily caressing the warm temperature of the teacup, she began to tremble as she recounted her unbearable past experiences.
Yu Lianyun spoke eloquently. The terrifying event had happened half a month ago. Even now, the memories still haunted her like a nightmare; every time she closed her eyes, she could recall every detail of that experience.
In line with the era of global unification and the great fusion of world ethnicities, Yu Lianyun, a graduate of a top fifty medical university, became a forensic doctor. She opened a private mortuary in Jiunian City with her father, who had been in the profession for many years.
Their family had a legacy as coroners and morticians, with excellent inheritance and exquisite skills. Combined with their outstanding abilities, their techniques had helped local law enforcement officers solve many major cases, earning them some reputation in the area. Therefore, whenever there was a difficult case related to a corpse, law enforcement officers would come to their family for help.
But just half a month ago, an old acquaintance, Old Chen from the Fourth Brigade of Law Enforcement in Jiunian City, brought an unidentified corpse as usual, asking them to help with the autopsy.
Old Chen said that during a recent operation to apprehend a criminal, a law enforcement officer, while pursuing a suspect, accidentally fell into a sinkhole during a fight with the enemy. Fortunately, the criminal died on the spot, and the law enforcement officer was unharmed. However, it was at this moment that the law enforcement officer made a new discovery at the scene where the criminal died; it appeared to have been a place where some folk ritual was performed, though it seemed long abandoned.
The place where the criminal died happened to break open a hidden cave. There seemed to be something below. When the cave was broken open, everyone discovered that a young girl in a red wedding dress was buried inside.
The girl’s youthful face was visibly preserved; even an amateur could tell how fresh this corpse was, with a maximum time of death no more than two days.
The law enforcement officers assumed the girl was from one of the nearby villages. Moreover, according to an old law enforcement officer who grew up in the area, the girl’s appearance and facial features were very consistent with the characteristics of the local people. Therefore, the law enforcement officers specifically went to the nearby villages to inquire and check if any people were missing. However, they later found that most of the villages had no missing persons recently, and even if there were, their appearance did not match the deceased.
Unable to do anything else, the unidentified girl had to be sent to the mortuary for an autopsy to facilitate further investigation.
Thus, Yu Lianyun and her father began the autopsy of the girl.
However, no one had expected at the time that it was their act of performing the autopsy on the girl that would lead them to discover the horrifying secret hidden within the corpse, a secret that would plunge her and her father into boundless fear and even eternal damnation.
Newbie… old hand, humbly seeking collections and votes.