Chapter 155: Eerie Woods
Chen Xiaolin blinked, staring into Li Duojin’s eyes, and said: “Didn’t I tell you? She died of cancer at home after a sudden illness.”
As she spoke, the quick-witted Chen Xiaolin grabbed Li Duojin’s sleeve nervously and said: “Did you see something on me?”
Li Duojin paused for a second. “No.”
“…You hesitated. You must have seen something!?” Chen Xiaolin exclaimed.
Li Duojin showed a helpless expression, probably knowing he wasn’t good at lying, and said: “Alright, Zheng Yu’s wife is following you right now.”
“Why?” Chen Xiaolin trembled all over. She turned back in confusion and nervousness, looking around suspiciously. “Why are you clinging to me, Shen Lanfang? Did I do something bad to wrong you?”
Li Duojin said to Chen Xiaolin: “It’s no use. She’s not a ghost in the human concept. To be precise, she’s a residual thought-form. If a person’s consciousness has strong fluctuations before death, like obsession or extreme joy or sorrow, it might give birth to a thought-form that looks exactly like the living person. If a person’s mental frequency is at a position where the thought-form can be observed, they will observe the existence of the thought-form, which is what we commonly call a ghost.
However, since the thought-form is not a complete person’s consciousness, with incomplete memories, extremism, and strong desires, most thought-forms basically have no thinking ability, so they won’t pay attention to what you say, let alone listen to you reason with them.”
“I’ve had terrible luck.” Chen Xiaolin held her forehead, then asked Li Duojin pitifully: “What will she do to me?”
“For now, she seems to have some malice toward you, but she hasn’t taken any action…” Li Duojin said, his expression starting to grow heavy as he suddenly realized something terrifying. “But if Zheng Yu’s wife Shen Lanfang is here, was the ritual Zheng Yu performed a success or a failure? Or did Zheng Yu perform the ritual not to rebirth Shen Lanfang at all, but for some other purpose?
What he wants to resurrect isn’t Shen Lanfang, but someone else? Or does Zheng Yu actually know the inside story of the ritual, and what he really wants to summon isn’t his lover’s soul, but the abnormal god ‘Inverted Creator’ that the ritual truly invites to descend?”
Li Duojin’s mumbling threw out a series of questions, but Chen Xiaolin grew more and more chilled as she listened. “Speaking of which, what kind of shell did Zheng Yu place in the ritual set up in the attic at home?”
“First, rule out it being human.” Li Duojin sighed. “If it was a human shell, the traces of fighting left in the attic shouldn’t look like that. That’s something only the forbidden realm can achieve.”
With that, Li Duojin answered Chen Xiaolin’s earlier question about her own safety: “Don’t worry about her harming you. If she makes a move, I’ll protect you right away. After all, you’ve paid.”
Chen Xiaolin was slightly moved and nodded silently.
The deeper they went into the deep mountains, the fewer the paved roads and built stairs became, and the more dilapidated they got.
Unknowingly, the two had already entered the woods.
Without sunlight, the tree shades blocked out the sky, the abundant vegetation brought fresh air and coolness. Chen Xiaolin felt the breeze brushing her back, cooling the sweat on her spine and blowing the chill into her heart.
Although there was no evidence to prove it, Wang Kui Shan was definitely in this woods, but from Li Duojin’s silence starting at some unknown moment and his grave expression, she guessed that Li Duojin, who could see the things hidden under the truth, must have seen something here.
Cold sweat was also breaking out on Li Duojin’s forehead. Although he appeared to walk with firm steps, Chen Xiaolin knew the other was also in fear at this moment.
Chen Xiaolin didn’t know exactly what Li Duojin had seen, but she knew he was holding back his fear and not telling her to avoid worrying or scaring her. She couldn’t help but hold his cold hand, hoping her slight warmth could bring him some comfort, and tried to follow Li Duojin’s line of sight to observe the world.
At least, let her help share some of the fear, even if it wasn’t a good idea.
The two entered a section of road on the mountainside of Jinma Mountain. There were almost no traces of human footsteps here. They entered an undeveloped area in the mountains. Plants grew wildly around them, thorny vines and tree roots intertwined and twisted, growing intricately on this land. Green and black were the main tones of this place, with no flowers blooming and no other plant colors visible.
Noticing that Li Duojin’s gaze swept multiple times over a dark spot between the woods, Chen Xiaolin thought: What exactly is hidden in that black cave entrance wrapped by countless weeds and vines? Why is there a hole here? Did something crawl inside?
With her thoughts racing, Chen Xiaolin felt her scalp tingling more and more. She knew it might be something even more terrifying and eerie than she could imagine. She had unthinkingly and resolutely walked into this taboo forbidden realm that humans shouldn’t touch, so these fears were what she must bear.
Whether due to emotional panic or her brain being controlled by irrational emotions, she suddenly glimpsed in a daze two faint yellow lights flashing in the black hole, like a pair of glowing eyes hidden in the darkness.
Though it was just a fleeting glance, Chen Xiaolin felt the emotion of that pair of faint yellow eyes: absolute cold indifference and the deathly silence of nothingness.
Unknowingly, the tightly gripped hands of Chen Xiaolin and Li Duojin were already intertwined with sweat. Fear was like glue tightly bonding their hands together, without a gap.
Suddenly, Li Duojin stopped. Chen Xiaolin looked at him.
She saw Li Duojin, who hadn’t spoken for a long time, open his tightly closed mouth. The half-dried saliva remaining on his lips stretched like glue as his lips parted. Li Duojin licked his lips and pointed to the narrow path that appeared before them. “Here.”
Chen Xiaolin looked at this path that had obviously been trodden not long ago. Her breathing grew heavy. She noticed the fabric hanging on the plant branches around the path and the unknown black slime. She realized the person they were looking for was really here now. They had come to the right place.
Gritting her teeth, Chen Xiaolin and Li Duojin held hands, one in front and one behind, following the footprints extending along the path.
After passing through the woods like thorns, they followed the footprints to a crevice.
The footprints disappeared at the crevice, where a cold eerie wind was constantly blowing out, as if announcing to the two that someone had jumped down from here.
The two peered down into the crevice, feeling the icy cold of the underground wind brushing their faces. At the same time, whispers of a complicated unknown language repeated, carried by the wind to their ears, like the horn welcoming them to hell.
