[Our world is in trouble.]
The moment Xia Bai opened the [Estranged for Life] group chat, he saw this message. It was from Old Wang.
He stared blankly for a moment, his thoughts a mystery. When he cast his gaze down again to check the group chat, numerous messages had already popped up; nearly all of the group’s oldies had surfaced.
Old Li: [You old fossil, you’re usually so silent. Yet now you spout nonsense as soon as you show up?]
Old Liu: [What’s the problem now? Weren’t there already tons of issues?]
Old Qian: [Just put on my reading glasses. Why are you guys chatting again?]
Old Wang: [I always choose my words wisely and avoid idle chatter! Are you all genuinely oblivious or just playing dumb here?]
After Old Wang’s message, the chat fell into a brief but significant silence.
Xia Bai remained silent, seemingly lost in deep thought.
Old Li: [Old Wang, is it true?]
Old Wang: [Yes, it’s true. The situation is worsening. By tomorrow afternoon at the latest, Quanguang city will be sealed off. We’re all getting on in years, so be careful and try not to get yourselves caught up in incidents.]
Old Qian: [Quanguang city? Doesn’t Old Xia live in Jiangqi city right next to it?]
The old people who knew how to “@” mentioned Xia Bai, while others simply called out his name loudly, urging him to be cautious.
Regaining his senses, Xia Bai responded immediately.
Xia Bai: [I see it!]
Upon hearing about the looming crisis in Quanguang city, their first instinct was to alert Xia Bai, who lived nearby. Only after ensuring he was informed did they discuss the reasons for sealing off Quanguang city.
Sealing off a city was no minor issue; it would undoubtedly cause significant uproar in society.
Old Lin: [I heard that there have been many deaths in Quanguang city lately. Is it being sealed due to some contagious disease?]
Old Li: [Heard? Where did you hear that? Heh, you must’ve smelled the scent of death, huh?]
Old Liu: [What age are we living in? Stop spreading rumors.]
Message after message from the [Estranged for Life] group popped up on Xia Bai’s phone screen. After doing a quick search online about Quanguang city and returning to the group, he noticed that Old Wang seemed to have gone offline, leaving only a link behind.
The rest, likely without even checking the link, began to bicker again.
Xia Bai, accustomed to their antics, clicked on the link to see for himself.
The link led to a forum post titled simply with a date: September 2nd, today’s date.
In the post, the author hadn’t written a single word, only sharing several photos. Everyone else who commented did the same – no words, just images.
Throughout the post, there wasn’t a single character to be found, only pictures.
Using the information he’d recently found about Quanguang city, and identifying landmarks like license plates and distinctive buildings, Xia Bai recognized several photos of the city.
Old Wang was right; Quanguang city might be sealed soon.
The most recent picture, posted just five minutes ago – merely minutes after Old Wang had mentioned the situation – showed a national highway entrance to Quanguang city.
Quanguang, being a historic city, had this entrance designed to resemble an ancient city gate, with two massive archways for entry and exit.
In the darkness of the night, there weren’t many lights illuminating the scene. At the entrance, barriers were already being set up – though there were none at the exit. It was clear that soon, Quanguang city would become a place that people could leave, but not enter.
Captured in the photo were several individuals exiting the city. Some looked indifferent, some excited, and others ecstatic. Every one of them was stained with blood. One individual was soaked in it from head to toe, with even his hair dripping blood.
It was hard to imagine if he bled that much, or if everyone around him did, if they would become mummies. However, every one of them was in perfect condition, without a single scratch.
The second photo was taken at the entrance of a popular restaurant. A group of people were pinning down something, and judging by the visible hand, it looked human. The color of the fingers was a deathly gray-purple, unlike any living person. Someone was injecting something into the wrist.
The third photo was taken outside a wax museum in Quanguang city. People were seen carrying items that looked very much like human bodies wrapped in black bags, making it hard to tell what they really were. One of the photos caught the exact moment blood was dripping from one of the bags.
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.
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These photos, combined with what Old Wang had said, had opened a door for Xia Bai, revealing a world that others were desperately trying to hide to no avail.
Other than those from Quanguang, posts from different places had the same eerie and bloody photos.
From this post, he navigated to the main forum thread. It had a simple name: “September”, and consisted of only two posts. One from September 2nd, which Xia Bai had just seen, and another from September 1st.
The September 1st post was similar, with no words, only photos. The messages in the thread were posted by various people. Some images showed the locations they were taken in, while the rest were unidentified.
Were there forums for August or July too? When did this all start?
Searching online, Xia Bai couldn’t find any traces of the past months.
When he returned to the [Estranged for Life] group chat, it was in an uproar. He calmly and skillfully played mediator.
Old Xia: [It’s not a contagious disease. They’ve stopped people from entering Jiangqi city today, but people from Jiangqi can still leave.]
Old Qian: [Exactly! If that was the case, it should be the opposite: people should be allowed in but not out.]
Old Lin: [Why does Old Xia sound somewhat reliable lately?]
Old Liu: [In that case, Old Xia, you better be prepared.]
Without needing them to tell him, Xia Bai, with those photos fresh in his mind, had already started preparing.
He wasn’t gathering food or water, nor was he setting up defenses. He made a beeline for the innermost room on the second floor.
The room was dark, curtains drawn. Only a faint light from the hallway seeped in, failing to illuminate the room’s depths. The cool air inside carried a unique cinnabar scent.
Xia Bai quickly moved to the bedside and called out, “Grandpa.”
The figure on the bed was stiff, with slight discoloration from decay where the light touched. Naturally, there was no response.
Xia Bai, used to this, wasn’t expecting one.
He lifted his grandfather’s body and ran to the yard, propping him against the wall. Then, he went back inside, dragged out a coffin, and expertly placed the old man inside.
He swiftly entered the room next door and emerged with a shovel.
Holding the shovel, he looked in the direction of Quanguang city in the night sky.
Early September, 9 PM. The stillness of the night was palpable. The moon hid behind a hazy fog, stars barely visible, and a thick darkness threatened to envelop everything.
Gripping his shovel tightly, Xia Bai hurriedly began to dig in the northwest corner of the courtyard.
The soil wasn’t very hard, and much softer compared to the outside, moistened by the mountain village’s night air. Digging was relatively easy.
As the mound beside him grew taller, the shovel suddenly hit something—a dark wooden coffin.
Switching to another spot, he dug for another twenty minutes, only to hit another coffin.
Moving to a new spot, he unearthed another coffin.
Pausing for a few moments, he dug persistently, disturbing yet another.
Xia Bai’s eyes widened, bathed in the moonlight that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. The light shimmered through his lashes, settling on his light brown irises, dispelling the brief haze within. Gripping his shovel tightly, he began digging in another spot.
Under the ghastly white moon in the black sky, the frail young man dug around the yard. Small mounds of earth appeared one after another, and finally, he found a hidden spot left of the gate for his grandfather.
After burying his grandfather, he smoothed out the dirt mounds he’d dug up earlier. To hide the spots, he placed flower pots onto each one. Finally, at some time past 1 AM, Xia Bai let out a sigh of relief.
There were no new messages in the [Estranged for Life] group. The elders, no matter how loudly they bickered, couldn’t stay up past ten and had long gone to bed.
Earlier messages mostly instructed ‘Old Xia’ on what to prepare.
Xia Bai took a glance, pondered for a bit, then decided to head inside, wash up, and sleep.
As he stepped over the threshold, his ears perked up; he heard a rustling sound. But it wasn’t from the bushes or treetops—it was from below.
Turning his head slowly, a breeze brushed past his face. After the wind, the yard was quiet, and the long-standing potted roses and osmanthus plants sat firmly on the ground.
Still uneasy after washing up, Xia Bai moved the tent at the center of his room to the window side. He peered out for a while before slowly crawling inside.
The night was peaceful.
The next morning, before dawn, Xia Bai got up and started rummaging for money.
At the bottom drawer of his wardrobe, there was a paper bag labeled “tuition fees.”
He felt its weight, then returned it and locked the drawer. He then broke open his piggy bank, which had been with him for years, and organized the money, placing it into a small crossbody bag.
Last night, in the [Estranged for Life] group, everyone advised Old Xia to stock up on food and water, just in case.
There was no shortage of food; the house was stocked, and there were vegetables outside.
However, he was about to enroll in school, and it wasn’t feasible to carry all that. So, despite his tight budget, Xia Bai decided to go to town and buy some convenience food. In case of any emergency, food might be more valuable than money.
As Xia Bai meticulously listed out the items to purchase and opened the door, he was taken aback.
With dawn barely breaking and the morning mist still settling at the foot of the mountain, the yard was clearly marked with huge pits. Inside, the coffins were all opened, empty.
Only the pit where his grandfather lay was intact; the corpses in the other coffins had vanished.
In a hurry, Xia Bai ran upstairs and grabbed a string of copper bells, shaking them vigorously out the window. But all around was silence.
There was no response.
That morning, he searched the mountain behind the house and delicately inquired with neighbors nearby, but there was no news of the corpses.
He rode his small electric scooter to town, but not to shop; he went to the police station.
Qiaoyan Town, in Jiangqi City, wasn’t a poor town. Its center was well-developed, boasting supermarkets, hospitals, dining centers, and many two or three-story buildings.
The police station was in a three-story building with gray tiles and white walls.
The building was tall enough that from its second-floor window, one could see the entire street below.
Old Yang sat there sipping tea, observing the young man who had been hesitating outside the station for over half an hour. The poor poplar tree outside had almost been stripped entirely of its bark by the boy’s fidgeting. Yet, he still hadn’t entered.
It was evident he was in some dilemma.
Old Yang, cup in hand, descended the stairs, saying, “Bring that boy inside, and save that old tree.”
Thus, Xia Bai entered the station, sitting before Old Yang and a beautiful lady who looked a little older than him.
She asked him, “Little student, is there something you need our help with?”
Sitting obediently, his hands on his knees and head slightly lowered, not meeting their gaze, Xia Bai nodded.
The pretty officer gentled her tone further after seeing his behavior. “What’s wrong?”
Knowing he’d been hesitant to enter, she reassured him softly, “Don’t be afraid. You can tell us anything. We’ll do everything we can to help.”
Perhaps her words touched him, for Xia Bai finally spoke, “I’ve lost something very important. Can you help me find it?”
“Of course.”
It wasn’t as complicated as the pretty officer had thought. She had assumed that the young man was reluctant to come in because he had been bullied, perhaps harassed by hooligans outside the school, and threatened not to tell anyone.
Warmly, she asked, “What did you lose?”
Xia Bai: “My… got lost.”
The words between were said so softly and swiftly that neither Old Yang nor the officer caught them.
Pretty sister: “Who got lost? A child or an elder? What’s their name?”
Xia Bai rubbed his index and middle fingers on his knee, lowering his head further, “Xi Shen.”
Old Yang didn’t catch on immediately, but the pretty sister patiently asked, “Xi Shen? Is that the name of the missing person? Quite unique. ‘Xi’ isn’t a surname, is it? What’s their surname?”
Xia Bai remained silent.
“Ptuh!”
Suddenly, Old Yang spat out a mouthful of tea. He got rid of the remnants of tea leaves from his mouth, loudly asking, “Xi Shen? You’re saying your… Xi Shen… got lost?”
Xia Bai obediently nodded.
Old Yang widened his eyes, “Where did you last see your Xi Shen?”
Xia Bai: “At home, 152 Minshi Village, in the courtyard.”
Old Yang, speechless, asked, “You kept Xi Shen in the courtyard?”
Xia Bai nodded again, both hands still resting obediently on his knees, looking like a well-behaved elementary student.
Old Yang gave him a puzzled look, “Did your Xi Shen have anything valuable with it?”
Instead of nodding, Xia Bai shook his head this time.
Old Yang asked, “How are you sure that it lost its way instead of being stolen?”
Xia Bai seriously replied, “From the scene, it looked like it left on its own. Plus, there are five Xi Shen. If someone came to steal them, I would’ve heard something.”
The additional information was drowned out by Old Yang’s loud exclamation, “What? You have FIVE Xi Shen?!”
He looked at Xia Bai, at a loss for words.
Pretty Sister had been out of the loop for a while. Finally, she had a chance to interject, “Wait a second, what are you guys talking about? What is this Xi Shen? And why are there five?”
Xia Bai opened his mouth but still struggled to explain.
Pretty Sister tugged at Old Yang’s sleeve, “Teacher Yang?”
Old Yang looked at Xia Bai with a strange expression and then said to Pretty Sister, “Have you heard of corpse herders?”
Pretty Sister nodded, “I’ve heard that Jiangqi City used to have many of them?”
“Mhm.”
Old Yang explained, “Corpse herders from around Jiangqi City would respectfully refer to the corpses they guide as ‘ Xi Shen‘.”
“Wait, what?” The pretty sister couldn’t process it fast enough, and she turned to look at Xia Bai with a stunned expression, “You said your what? Five of what are missing?”
Xia Bai lowered his head even further, “Corpses. My corpses are missing.”
Pretty Sister became even more confused. Her hand, which was on the keyboard, jammed into the gaps, and a series of h’s got typed out, autocorrecting to a string of “hahaha”s on the screen.
TN: Hey everyone! I’ve started a new project – an unlimited flow novel by the same author who brought us the awesome Salted Fish Zombie! Here’s what’s got me hooked:
- Absolutely adorable MC
- Thrilling horror game arcs with unexpected twists
- It’s a rollercoaster of comedy, horror, and feels all rolled into one
If this sounds like your cup of tea, join me in reading! There are currently 44 chapters out in the raw novel, and I’m aiming to update once a week. But, fair warning, some parts might get pretty dark with themes like violence and sexual assault, so read with caution.
I’ll be adding translation notes in the text, so keep an eye out for red/orange text (on PC) or underlined text (on your phone). Just click them for more info!
Lastly, to support the author Zhiyi (芷衣), you can refer to this guide by Shoko or this guide by Books with Qianya and purchase the novel at JJWXC.
This seem really interesting!
Thanks for the chapter ♥️
He’s so cute, he immediately carried his grandpa and buried him!! Such a good boi. And at the police station he’s like a shy and nervous kid, the police had to prompt him 🥺 (#^.^#)
Thanks for the chapter ~~~~~
Haha our MC seems adorable, hope this book continues smoothly💚💜
Thank you so much for taking up this novel. I wanted to read it for so long but I couldn’t find any translation only the synopsis.❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for the chapter . This novel really looks interesting
I’m so excited for this novel, The mc’s adorable ♥️
Ty so much for the translation!
I was supposed to camp until there were more chapters, but I couldn’t help myself 😭
eekkk he’s so cute!!! o(≧∇≦o)
He just cute innocent baby. Look at him being so shy. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰