Chapter 228: Escape
Watching the blurry, flesh-and-blood smile on the video call, a chill rushed straight to her mind. Misaki Naomi glanced at He Jia’an, who was pale beside her, and her instinctive movement to lean on him paused. Gritting her teeth, she mustered her courage and stepped forward, stomping the mobile phone into two pieces. However, the broken phone continued to work, the damaged screen flickering and playing Miyako’s eerie face, and the ruined speaker intermittently emitting ghostly laughter.
The terror did not fade; instead, it added a few more layers of eeriness.
“If you’re so capable, fix my phone again.” Misaki Naomi said stubbornly, “If you have that skill, why not be a phone repair guy instead of playing tricks to scare people.”
“Hehe.” The weak He Jia’an vaguely heard Misaki Naomi’s words and, despite his exhaustion, was still amused by her.
“Uncle, don’t die.” Hearing He Jia’an’s voice, Misaki Naomi said worriedly. She supported his waist, looking at the desolate, dim surroundings, knowing full well that things were far from over. “Can you still stand up?”
He Jia’an didn’t speak; he just barely moved his feet, using Misaki Naomi’s shoulder to stand up again. He said lowly, “Not dead yet. Let’s go quickly.”
Seeing He Jia’an like this, Misaki Naomi felt her nose sting. While supporting him and walking in the direction he indicated, she said guiltily, “Sorry, it’s all because of me…”
“Yeah… all your fault, so take responsibility. Don’t die here, or my half-life would be wasted.” He Jia’an was walking almost with his eyes closed to save energy, only occasionally lifting his eyelids to check the path. Hearing Misaki Naomi’s words, he knew what she was thinking.
Misaki Naomi pursed her lips, holding back tears, bottling up her sadness inside, her eyes reddening. For a moment, she didn’t dare speak again, because once she did, guilt and spicy breathing would surge into her throat and mind, and the tears would flow uncontrollably.
However, He Jia’an felt his body growing colder, his consciousness gradually blurring, and the pain from the wound on the back of his head slowly weakening. Knowing his physical condition was worsening, he said lowly, “Talk to me, don’t be silent. It feels weird.”
“Mm.” Tears seeped from the corners of Misaki Naomi’s eyes; she quickly wiped them away and said nasally, “Uncle, you looked really cool saving me just now.”
“…My padding is too thin now; didn’t it hurt you?” He Jia’an said, head lowered.
“No, you protected me very well.” Misaki Naomi couldn’t help but grin, then quickly wiped the corners of her eyes again.
He Jia’an: “If it were me a few years ago, you’d definitely feel my firm pecs and get lost in them.”
“Pfft, nonsense, I wouldn’t.” Misaki Naomi was a bit shy and annoyed, her small mouth pouting slightly as she muttered, “Even without those, I’ve already felt Uncle’s charm.”
“…Good taste.”
“Uncle, after we get out, can you wait for me to graduate?”
“Okay.” He Jia’an didn’t lift his head, feeling the tinnitus growing louder, to the point that he suddenly couldn’t hear what Misaki Naomi was saying.
Even though he couldn’t hear now and couldn’t understand, just listening to Misaki Naomi’s voice made He Jia’an feel inner peace. The pain in his body was negligible, and his state of mind was unprecedentedly peaceful.
Misaki Naomi also noticed He Jia’an’s responses growing smaller. The path ahead was getting darker, with eerie echoes coming from the depths. Though afraid, she firmly stepped forward one step at a time, because it was the direction Uncle indicated—he hadn’t said to stop, so she couldn’t.
For her, what He Jia’an said before was her only hope in this aimless situation, even if this hope might lead to a dead end.
Step, step, step…
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Footsteps came from the depths of the dark corridor, and the campus bell tower emitted illusory funeral bells.
The pervasive darkness wrapped around like a dark vulture, waiting for a life to wither.
Misaki Naomi dragged the increasingly heavy He Jia’an forward without stopping. Not knowing what to talk about, a forced smile appeared on her despairing pretty face. “Uncle, how about I sing for you? No matter how it sounds, you can’t say it’s bad.”
Such a big, tall old clock
It’s Grandfather’s clock
It hasn’t stopped for a hundred years
It’s a clock to be proud of
This is the clock bought that morning
When Grandfather was born
And now, that clock won’t move anymore…
Misaki Naomi could no longer hold on; she collapsed to her knees on the ground, covering her face and sobbing.
Step… step… step.
The footsteps grew closer and finally stopped in front of her. Misaki Naomi cried, then hysterically shouted: “Kill me or whatever! I won’t resist! What’s the use! Just die!”
“…Classmate, what are you saying? What are you doing!? Wait, what’s wrong with this Mr.!? Such serious injuries!” Just as Misaki Naomi despaired, a strong flashlight beam stabbed directly into her eyes at close range. The person holding the flashlight shouted at her in shock and flustered panic.
“Eh?” Misaki Naomi was a bit dazed. She opened her teary eyes and looked around, finding the sky dark but the moon outside the window bright and flawless, without any murderous bloodiness. The security guard uncle standing before her was calling companions on his walkie-talkie while checking the injuries of the unconscious He Jia’an.
In that instant, Misaki Naomi couldn’t hold back again and cried out loudly, this time even more intensely and piercingly.
…
“Uh, does this count as dying?” He Jia’an awkwardly touched his head, standing barefoot inside the forest cabin shop, looking at his patient gown. His vision wasn’t blurry, his head didn’t hurt, his injuries were gone. Except for his feet feeling floaty, he was as healthy as if he’d never died.
“Captain He, you didn’t die to begin with.” Wei Jiang, in a red outfit, reached out and patted his shoulder lightly. He Jia’an’s feet then touched the ground solidly, no longer floating.
“Really?” He Jia’an breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. “As long as I’m not dead, things aren’t over. If I died there without understanding, I’d die with eyes wide open.”
“No problem, I can still pull you back.” Wei Jiang smiled faintly and patted the shackles at his waist.
He Jia’an: “Didn’t expect you to be into such pervert stuff now.”
He shook his head painfully, as if seeing a former comrade fall.
Wei Jiang pretended not to understand the joke. “Tell me, what’s your situation now?”
He Jia’an stopped fooling around and explained the ins and outs of the matter to Wei Jiang as they walked toward the counter.
“…It was another close call when the New Year’s red envelope’s ability took effect again, scaring away that eerie muddy swamp so we weren’t eaten. But I used myself as padding to protect the girl and nearly smashed myself to death. Luckily, before losing consciousness, I found a way out, and Naomi, who could still move, dragged me out.” He Jia’an felt emotional recalling that experience—thrilling and a matter of life and death.
At this point, He Jia’an couldn’t help laughing at Wei Jiang: “Getting out like this, I have to thank Xin Junmao and his… pet? If not for their guidance at the last moment, I wouldn’t have found the way out.”
It turned out that while Misaki Naomi’s attention was drawn to Miyako’s video call, He Jia’an noticed Miss Zhao and Xin Junmao suddenly appearing in the darkness—more precisely, their fused form. They appeared and pointed the way for him, perhaps even clearing the “filth” in that corridor secretly; otherwise, he and Misaki Naomi probably wouldn’t have escaped so smoothly.
“Next time I meet him, I’ll try to repay the favor.” He Jia’an smiled, then turned his gaze to Boss Lin, who was watering the shop’s only potted plant, his smile fading a bit. “Boss, can you tell me what’s really going on with Sakura Island now?”
After this ordeal, He Jia’an realized Sakura Island had many highly anomalous aspects now, like Miyako’s Curse—he was now certain it was the “blessing” power that had once appeared on Yu Lianyun. Also, Hanako’s curse might be “blessing” too.
After watering the lycoris radiata on the table, Lin Ling gently waved his hand to shoo away the black cat about to bully the little red flower, then turned to feed the deformed octopus while saying, “There are too many situations. Which one do you want to ask about?”
Hearing this, He Jia’an fell briefly silent, then asked respectfully, “I want to ask why the former ‘blessing’ has reappeared. Logically, the ‘blessing’ has dispersed, and its power shouldn’t regroup to its original state.”
Back then, Yu Lianyun did something that could almost be called harmful to all humanity. To weaken the blessing’s targeting and power on bearers, she released the source of the blessing, spreading it worldwide and even to the entire universe.
This made the blessing almost harmless to bearers with lesser influence. Even someone like Yu Lianyun, who had once directly contacted the blessing power up close, survived when it finally took effect.
Therefore, when Miyako’s Curse appeared, He Jia’an was surprised—how had the blessing grown stronger again, able to kill anew.
To this question, Lin Ling smiled and replied, “If it can disperse, of course it can also converge.”
He Jia’an’s pupils shrank sharply. “Could someone be using the blessing’s power? But… how is that possible? There are people who knew of the blessing even earlier.”
Lin Ling smiled: “Is this surprising?”
Hearing this, He Jia’an was speechless.
Indeed, blessings had existed since ancient times, but previously unrecognized clearly—seen only as spiritual solace, ethereal and illusory. Until Yu Lianyun bought a video tape here, was haunted by the blessing, and witnessed its incarnation firsthand, abandoning fixed cognition to confirm ‘blessing’ as a real power.
But another reason He Jia’an couldn’t believe it was his assumption that the blessing spread from the forest cabin, from Boss Lin—originally, this world shouldn’t have such power.
But now, if so, the timeline didn’t match. Yu Lianyun spreading the blessing was recent years, while Miyako’s Curse and Hanako’s curse dated further back.
“May I ask, Miyako’s Curse, Hanako’s curse, and Yao Zhenzhen’s video tape—are they all essentially forms of blessing? Can they be resolved with the same method?” He Jia’an asked humbly, though not very confident inwardly.
He thought, following the video tape blessing’s solution, Miyako’s and Hanako’s curses should involve finding their spread sources and releasing them to the outside world somehow.
But what were the sources of Miyako’s and Hanako’s curses?
The video tape curse’s source was the final corpse disposal site—relatively easy to infer and find.
But Miyako’s and Hanako’s bones weren’t missing; they were properly buried. The curse sources became untraceable instead.
Lin Ling didn’t give a direct answer: “Whether Yao Zhenzhen, Miyako, or Hanako, they’re all essentially incarnations of blessing, manifestations carrying negative factors related to them—but not necessarily the root.”
He Jia’an was stunned and quickly asked, “Boss, can you say it more clearly and simply?”
“Mm… let me give you an example.” Lin Ling thought for a moment, clapped his hands as if hit by an idea. “Once there was a small town with a famous fool and a renowned scholar—different levels, but childhood friends.
Then one day, the scholar suddenly died, killed by his cheating, vicious wife and her lover. The fool heard about it and slaughtered both families clean… Um, get this example?”
So abstract! He Jia’an complained inwardly but grasped Lin Ling’s meaning, nodding: “I get it, like the fool avenging the scholar. Though the deep grudge should be the scholar’s, it was the fool who acted in the end.”
“I know what to do now. Thanks for the clarification, Boss Lin.” He Jia’an said sincerely.
Lin Ling waved smilingly, saying the most tempting words in a flat tone: “Want to buy something?”
Hearing this, He Jia’an was tempted but remembered buying a New Year’s red envelope—he didn’t know what price he’d pay for its protection. Trading with Boss Lin now would just be courting death.
“Next time.” He Jia’an took a deep breath, resisting the impulse to consume. “Once this is over, I’ll definitely come if there’s a chance.”
“Then I look forward to your visit.” Lin Ling felt no regret and never forced customers to buy.
…
“Hiss.” He Jia’an awoke, first blinded by the bright sun, then feeling full of holes pain throughout his body, especially the tearing sensation at the back of his head, as if his brain would detach from his body.
“He Jia’an, former Shenzhou Region Mysterious Group Twelve Zodiac Squad, Tiger Squad Captain, A-class Mystic Investigator, equivalent to current S-level investigator. Retired due to the Yellow Sand Lord’s anomaly influence, receiving treatment at the Mysterious Group’s mental sanatorium for mental abnormalization cases, escaped two weeks ago… Any mistakes in what I said?”
He Jia’an looked toward the voice and saw a white-haired man smiling like a fox slowly enter his view.
