Ch9 - Will anyone hear his screams for help in this darn place crows won’t even shit on?

In that instant, Qi Chen felt as if he was submerged in a freezer. His heart felt like it’d been tightly gripped by someone that’d forgotten to let go. 

“Liang-zi…….” He opened his mouth but discovered his throat had tightened. He’d obviously used a lot of strength yet only an airy sound came out.  

Xu Liang lowered his gaze to look at his own pocket, then lifted his eyes and stared at Qi Chen without mistake. That pair of eyes were overcast as if they’d been covered by a layer of spider webs. There was no light in them and they were suffused with a deathly air: “You saw everything? Then I don’t need to pretend anymore.” His tone was extremely strange. It was stiff, cold, and hard like an automated voice. Completely unlike the familiar tone from before. 

If Qi Chen could just barely reassure himself like before, Xu Liang’s bloodcurdling smile may have been caused by the phone’s flashlight reflection. But now that Xu Liang said such things, Qi Chen could no longer deceive himself. 

He stood there stiffly, the hand holding the umbrella half falling. The handle of the umbrella pressed against his fingers until they turned white from the pressure and became so cold they seemed numb. His other hand held the phone. A pale light emitted from the back of the phone, illuminating a circle of light on the ground. 

He stood within the circle of light. Xu Liang happened to be standing outside of it. One light, one dark. It seemed like they were standing on both ends of yin and yang.  

After Xu Liang said he ‘didn’t plan to pretend any longer, a smell suddenly diffused from his body. It was like the damp smell of a wooden box that hadn’t been used in many years being opened and mixed with the scent of rust. However, it wasn’t very strong. 

This smell wasn’t too unpleasant yet strangely, Qi Chen felt an unreasonable sense of aversion and disgust towards it. It was almost as if he’d randomly become repulsed if he took an extra glance at anyone with this smell. This sense of disgust came on as suddenly as that smell but it was overwhelming, almost about to cover the sense of fright he should be feeling in his heart. 

Yet it was precisely because of this disgusting feeling that allowed his stagnant thoughts to restart and his limbs to regain feeling. Thus when he saw Xu Liang rushing at him with hands aiming for his throat, Qi Chen abruptly shifted his head, promptly dodging the attack. 

He stepped to the side, waving the propped open umbrella in front of him. He hoped that this extremely flimsy shield would be able to block Xu Liang at least a little. 

In the end, he only heard a ripping sound as Xu Liang directly pierced the umbrella with two hands. The ten fingers shaped into claws were instantly in front of Qi Chen. Those fingertips were obviously not like a human’s already. The nails were curved and sharp like the talons of an eagle, emitting a cold gleam. If he went forward by even a centimetre, Qi Chen’s eyes would be gouged out. 

Qi Chen gasped, raised his head and avoided that pair of sharp claws. Then he forcefully threw that already punctured umbrella forward, turned around and fled. 

He originally wanted to run back to the car parked along the roadside. However, after a few back and forths, their positions had reversed. The road back was blocked by Xu Liang. At such a time he also couldn’t delay so he could only follow this road and run forward. 

Tall and bare trees lined the road. There wasn’t even a place to hide. Running the fastest he’d ever run in his life, he could only rush towards that farmhouse restaurant with its bad quality neon lights on the dirt slope. In any case, it seemed to be one’s instinct to rush towards a crowded place when afraid. 

At this time, the ice and slush on the ground became the biggest hindrance. A moment of carelessness could cause you to slip and fall on your back. Yet, he didn’t have the slightest intention of slowing down. 

He didn’t know if Xu Liang had caught up yet or how far away he was because it was as silent as death behind him. You could only hear the scraping sounds of his own footsteps in the icy water and slush and he couldn’t afford to look back now. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Under the glow of the sunset, the scenery on both sides fell back rapidly. That small grave mound-like dirt slope appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye. The neon lights covered in grey dust flickered between light and dark. They hung along the courtyard gate of that small two-storied building. 

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Qi Chen abruptly skidded to a halt in front of the gate. Only then could he catch his breath and quickly glance over his shoulder, yet there was still no sign of Xu Liang. 

He froze for an instant and soon couldn’t care that much, wanting to enter the house first. Places with more people should be safer after all. If worst comes to worst he could wait until others would leave after they finished eating and follow them out onto the road. 

There was a large brass door knocker on the courtyard gates but currently, Qi Chen couldn’t care about knocking or not. He directly stretched out a hand and straight away pushed the door open. After striding in, he immediately closed the gate with a clang and hurriedly inserted the bolt.  

The dark red-painted door leading to the hall on the first floor of the small building actually wasn’t closed properly, letting a sliver of light slip through. 

Right now, to Qi Chen, the lamplight spilling out from the crack felt like he was seeing his biological mother and father. 

He combined three steps into two and strode to the red-painted door. But just as he was about to lift his hand and open the door, he felt as if a bucket of ice water had been thrown in his face. His whole person stiffened in place. 

Because he suddenly realized that within such a large building, there wasn’t a single voice heard.  

Previously Qi Chen had been anxiously escaping, so apart from the drum-like pounding of his heart and his heavy breathing, all his attention had been focused on carefully listening for movement behind him. He didn’t have attention to spare for anything else. Now that he was standing in front of the door and could open it to find temporary shelter, his heart had finally relaxed slightly. Only then did he have the energy to pay attention to other things. However, now that he’d noticed, his heart was once again at a knife’s edge.

Just as his head began to buzz and once again became completely blank, the hall that was originally opened by a crack was pushed open by someone from the inside. 

Xu Liang, who had been pushed back by an umbrella and been left behind two minutes ago was currently holding the door. Standing under the dim yellow light, he once again revealed a stiff and lifeless smile. 

It’s still not! Fucking! Over!  

In that instant, a strange sense of irritability and anger poured out of Qi Chen’s constricted heart. He actually had the urge to tear off that false smile. He’d always felt that this kind of smile completely contradicted Xu Liang’s original gentle appearance. However, his last bit of reason suppressed his impulse to seek death. 

He only froze for an instant and wanted to turn around and run, yet he heard Xu Liang say in a stiff and undulating tone: “I have already led him here, what’re you dawdling for?” 

Qi Chen was shocked. He was clearly talking to a third person!

If there was one person, fine. If there were two of them grouped together and toying with him, he really wouldn’t be able to run away if he delayed any longer.  

With that thought, his feet turned, and was about to rush out when he felt the back of his neck being ferociously struck by that bastard that should get stabbed by a thousand knives and deserved to get beat up. His vision darkened and his legs became soft. He didn’t even have time to feel the pain before he lost consciousness. 

……

The deep darkness before his eyes had not yet dispersed before the dull pain at the back of his neck gradually became clearer. It came in bursts, the dizzying buzzing of his head and nausea in his stomach made one doubt if even their bones had been dislodged. 

Qi Chen gradually regained consciousness amidst this pain that couldn’t be ignored even if he tried. There was an instant where he couldn’t quite grasp what had happened to him and just as he was about to open his eyes to look, he heard a stiff, almost toneless male voice from not far off: “I don’t have much time. I’m leaving first.”  

As soon as he heard that voice, all those previous strange events that could challenge Qi Chen’s world views finally surfaced in his mind. Thus his eyelids only twitched twice, before he decided against his plan to open his eyes and continued to feign unconsciousness, wanting to hear what the situation was. 

Just as the male voice subsided, a gust of wind suddenly blew. The low creaking sound of the wooden door or a wooden box could be heard before it closed with a bang. Then, something fell onto the ground producing a muffled sound.

Afterward, there were no further movements. Qi Chen could hear the soft grating sounds of peeling as well as something similar to boiling water like when you were stewing something in a pot. It seemed like someone was cooking, using wood for the fire. 

He waited for a long time and at last, couldn’t bear staying still any longer. He moved his eyelids and half-opened his eyes, wanting to see what the remaining person was actually doing.  

It was unknown how long he’d been unconscious. He only felt that when he opened his eyes, his vision was extremely blurry. For a while, he couldn’t see the surrounding scenery clearly. He could only faintly discern a glowing ball of fire flickering not too far away. The flickering light caused his eyes to ache somewhat as they became covered with a layer of moisture. 

He blinked multiple times before the scenery in front of him became distinct. But with this clarity, he realized that he’d met eyes with someone a meter away from him! 

Discovering that someone was motionlessly staring at you with dark half-lidded eyes, with no expression and unknown intentions, anyone would be scared out of their wits. Never mind if it was in this kind of situation. 

Qi Chen felt that his own stomach bile was about to be squeezed out of him.  

He looked at the other with overwhelming shock

It was an extremely gaunt and senile old lady with a stooped back. The pale white hair on her head was swept into a bun. Only it probably wasn’t done carefully enough, leaving out many strands that were tucked behind the ear somewhat messily. Her face was positioned away from the fire, making her features hard to discern. Only her eyes, which contained more white than black, were extremely obvious. And that pair of eyes was currently staring at Qi Chen unwavering. 

The instant Qi Chen saw that pair of eyes, he felt an incomparable sense of familiarity as if he’d seen it somewhere before. Not even two seconds later, he suddenly remembered. It was precisely the pair of eyes that’d appeared in a dark corner behind Qin-jie in one of the photos attached to that news article. 

So WTF was this situation?! Stealing a bracelet caused so many rotten situations! 

Surprise and irritation flooded him full in the face, making Qi Chen really want to explode in a fit of anger. 

He thought, if he as a fully grown adult couldn’t run from an old lady, he would go back, find a rope and hang himself in front of the dormitory for people to admire! 

After settling his heart, he lifted his head and wanted to prop himself up. But at this time, he saw something he hadn’t noticed before…

That old lady who sat with her hands in her sleeve, didn’t have a shadow or feet… 

Qi Chen: “…” Can he still go back to pretending he hadn’t moved and was still unconscious…

After a second, he understood… of course, he frickin couldn’t! 

Because without him having even moved, that old lady took out a hand from her sleeve and beckoned at something. The pot that was cooking on the open fire not far away lifted its lid. On the Eight Immortals Table to the side, a broken bowl that could’ve been used hundreds of years ago whizzed through the air and completely submerged in the pot, scooping up half a bowl of who knows what before it landed in the old lady’s hand. 

That old lady who looked like every step would cause her to tremble, received the bowl. Then she suddenly flashed in front of Qi Chen, squeezing his chin and wanting to pour the contents of the bowl down his throat.  

Only till now did he discover that his entire body had no strength because of who knew what kind of move had been made on him. Other than his head, he could move nothing else. He really couldn’t outrun this old lady!

Qi Chen shook his head, attempting to avoid the thing in the bowl. 

He originally thought that after having been cooked for so long, that liquid would not only be poured down his throat, it would be spilled onto his face from all his struggling. Either way, it would burn off a layer of skin and cause a row of blisters. Who knew that when it spilled onto the edge of his mouth that liquid was shockingly cold. In this weather, it was cold enough to cause goosebumps. More than half the bowl of the unknown liquid pretty much all spilled onto his lips and the edges of his collar. But a little bit was inevitably choked down his throat. 

Suddenly, a heavy fishy smell and taste spread throughout his mouth, almost causing Qi Chen to vomit. Yet his mouth was covered by the old lady, forcing him to swallow it down.  

For a moment, a cold wind erupted from all directions, wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves. Qi Chen didn’t know if the thing he swallowed had hallucinatory effects or if it was really like this. He saw the room suddenly flooded with many dark and miserable faces. There was a woman with withered and messy long hair crawling on the ceiling. Her head spun around backwards, showing Qi Chen a dark miserable smile upon a pale face. The corners of her mouth split to her ear revealing rows of sharp teeth like a shark. 

Qi Chen: “…..” Will anyone hear his screams for help in this darn place where crows won’t even shit on? 

Just when that group of faces, each with mouths bigger than the last, suddenly rushed towards Qi Chen, the whistling sound of a knife pierced through the overlapping ghostly wailing!