To be on the safe side, Wu Mabo whispered, “Once we’re inside the coffins, don’t close the lids. In case the Yin energy is fake but the murder is real, and he secretly buries us, it would turn into a real death.”
Tong Xiaosong was startled; he had always been thinking in the direction of supernatural events and never considered whether Gu Xuan might intentionally harm them. Fortunately, Wu Mabo reminded him.
***
After finishing tossing the paint, Gu Xuan returned, seeming eager to continue the ghost game. He urged them to get into their respective coffins in a hurry.
He threatened, “Don’t play any clever tricks, or if the fake death doesn’t work, there might not be another chance.”
After saying that, Gu Xuan got into his own coffin and forcefully closed the lid.
Tong Xiaosong and Wu Mabo still weren’t fully inclined to completely trust Gu Xuan’s words. However, as soon as they lay inside their coffins, the lids automatically slammed shut with a loud bang.
***
Tong Xiaosong lay inside the cold and rigid coffin, staring wide-eyed in panic. His heart thumped loudly, and every cell in his body trembled, sending signals of alertness throughout his nervous system.
The narrow and dark space brought a suffocating sensation. After waiting for a few seconds without any apparent incident, Tong Xiaosong raised his hand and pushed against the coffin lid above.
The coffin lid was airtight and impervious, creating a confined sense of fear. He couldn’t calm down at all. He even uncontrollably thought that someone might be swinging a shovel above, trying to bury him here forever.
Could it be true, as Wu Mabo guessed, that Gu Xuan’s real intention was not some fake death but murder?
His breathing became increasingly rapid and heavy, and the coffin became so narrow that he couldn’t even bend his legs.
For the first time, Tong Xiaosong realized that he also had a fear of confinement. Despite having enough oxygen in the coffin, he felt dizzy in waves and was in extreme panic.
He struggled randomly, contorting his body within the coffin, and, with red eyes, desperately pressed against the coffin lid, but all in vain.
The oxygen inside the coffin was quickly consumed, and Tong Xiaosong felt the temperature rising. Suddenly, a cool breeze rushed up from below.
Tong Xiaosong froze, opening his eyes wide in the darkness. Where did the cool air come from?
The heartbeat gradually slowed, but the fear did not diminish at all.
Something that resembled a human hand climbed onto his ankle…
Wait!
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.
Pa kjrc’a pera gfrfwyilcu!
Pa kjr j mtliis tewjc tjcv!
Kbcu Wljbrbcu, ilxf j vslcu olrt bc atf rtbgf, ujrqfv tfjnlis, tlr fcalgf ybvs raloo ab atf qblca bo jiwbra mbcneirlcu.
Ktf mbiv tjcv obiibkfv tlr ifu, wbnlcu eqkjgvr. Pc atf vjgxcfrr, tf mbeiv jigfjvs rfcrf jc ecrffc oluegf mgjkilcu bcab tlr ybvs.
What was that!?
Tears uncontrollably overflowed from Tong Xiaosong’s wide-open eyes.
Frantically, as if he had gone mad, he pounded on the coffin lid, crying out loudly, “Help! Help! Help, ohhh…”
The shadow had already climbed to his waist. Tong Xiaosong, unable to control himself, let out a scream, twisting his body as if shocked. “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!”
The dark figure paused for a moment, then withdrew.
Before Tong Xiaosong could catch his breath, he felt like there was now a chilly cushion beneath him.
A pair of arms embraced him from behind, forcibly interlocking their fingers with his, placing him in a posture resembling a dead person being buried.
This was the thing that crawled up his legs just now!
Tong Xiaosong, with trembling lips and a pale face, was overwhelmed by fear, causing him to ignore the faint lingering fragrance of sandalwood inside the coffin. At this moment, he couldn’t even utter a scream.
In the narrow darkness, the chilly and hot, sweat-soaked bodies intertwined, folded together like twin fetuses.
He felt that the thing beneath him seemed to tilt its head slightly. The cold lips pressed against his neck, as if placing an affectionate kiss.
This action brought an extremely intense sense of violation to Tong Xiaosong, generating disgust in his heart. Before he could struggle, his consciousness plunged into darkness in the next second.
***
Once again opening his eyes, Tong Xiaosong found himself standing on a dim and eerie street.
There was no wind, no air movement; he seemed to be in a completely static space.
However, there were people on the street. Strangely, some moved slowly, while others remained motionless, creating an unsettling atmosphere.
On both sides of the street were irregular, dilapidated houses with a square and incongruent appearance.
Tong Xiaosong looked up at the sky, finding neither sun nor moon, just a chaotic expanse.
Where was this?
After hesitating for a moment, he walked towards the person closest to him, who had their back turned: “Hello…”
As the words left his mouth, he was startled by his own voice, which had inexplicably become hollow.
It seemed to be floating in space, giving a surreal and unreal sensation.
The person in front turned around, and Tong Xiaosong widened his eyes, taking a frightened step back.
The features of this person were fragmented, sewn together with needle and thread, and their eyes were two hollow bloodshot holes.
Having not noticed before, the person’s clothes were also tattered. Now, up close, Tong Xiaosong could see that they were covered in mottled bloodstains. From the damaged parts of the clothes, he could even see that this person’s body had also been re-stitched.
Everywhere was stained with dark, filthy blood and an aura of death.
Tong Xiaosong covered his mouth and took another step back. The thing in front had noticed him, contorting its body as it slowly moved in his direction.
Tong Xiaosong almost screamed. Looking around for help, he realized that all the other ‘people’ around him had turned to face him at some point.
In his visible surroundings, there wasn’t a single living person—only various kinds of deceased.
They seemed to have noticed Tong Xiaosong’s distinctiveness and were slowly, twistedly moving towards him.
Without hesitation, Tong Xiaosong turned and ran.
The sound of his footsteps echoed loudly in the dim street. His rapid gasps seemed like a lighthouse tempting the undead.
Wherever he went, there were lifeless beings.
Some had pale faces, exuding a sinister aura; others were deformed and grotesque.
Fortunately, these creatures moved very slowly, unable to catch up with Tong Xiaosong as he ran for his life.
Amid the panic and fear, Tong Xiaosong didn’t notice that another set of hurried footsteps appeared on the street.
Just as he reached an intersection, he collided with another person.
Both individuals fell to the ground simultaneously, looking at each other in surprise.
In unison, they exclaimed with astonishment.
“Tong Xiaosong!?”
“Wu Mabo!?”
As the eerie undead gathered around them, the two could only manage to shout each other’s names. Then, without a word, they instinctively got up and ran in the same direction.
Wu Mabo, panting heavily and in a disheveled state, exclaimed, “Damn it! Where the hell are we? Why are there ghosts everywhere?”
Their openly spoken words reverberated in the space, attracting even more attention from the undead.
Tong Xiaosong, breathing rapidly, said, “I don’t know. Could this be the underworld? Where’s Gu Xuan? We need to find him if we want to go back!”
Wu Mabo, on the verge of collapse, looked up and let out a deep sigh, saying, “Didn’t see him…”
Only now did Tong Xiaosong notice that something was wrong with Wu Mabo. He seemed more exhausted than last night.
Wu Mabo was drenched in sweat, as if he had reached the limits of his endurance.
Surprised, Tong Xiaosong asked, “What happened? How long have you been running? Why do you look so tired?”
Wu Mabo, weakly, responded, “I… damn it, I didn’t pay attention at first. I thought these things were all living people, and I didn’t guard against getting bitten by them.”
Tong Xiaosong exclaimed, “Are you injured!?”
“Not really.” Wu Mabo slowed down his running pace, his strength depleting. “They bit me, and I automatically recovered, but I feel so tired, like that feeling of having my soul sucked out last night. Now I understand. The copper basin didn’t collect much reward. These things took a bite, much more than the copper basin ever took. I feel like I’m losing my life.”
While running, Wu Mabo couldn’t help but stop. “Damn it, where the hell did Gu Xuan go?”
Tong Xiaosong stood by, glancing around anxiously. “Since we can encounter them, Gu Xuan must be nearby. Let’s search these streets. We might just run into him.”
Thanks for the chapters!!! 💜💜💜
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞
Aaa I’m worried about the children. It’s going to be okay, right?
Thanks for the chapter
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞
Remember WM’s dream, where he was shown a place that reminded him of “paper mache houses”? That, plus clothes that smell like paper, plus the weird, not-quite-the-underworld vibes of their current location is giving me flashbacks to the model town in Beetlejuice…