(Awaken)
Shen Dongqing tapped a button on the phone, and the screen’s fluorescent light shone on the owner’s face. The house owner had been a simple and honest young man before seeing his family’s death, but now his face was twisted and menacing, with his mouth wide open, as if he wanted to swallow everyone present alive.
“You’re all going to die—”
They couldn’t tell how hard the house owner tried to make his voice thunderous.
Fang Qi, a timid person, was already trembling and looked to Shen Dongqing for assistance.
Shen Dongqing stated solemnly: “It is illegal to use violence. You might wish to reconsider.”
The house owner was stunned for a moment, then laughed uproariously: “If you enter this building, don’t even think about leaving. Human laws cannot restrict us! Nobody, no matter who, can save you.”
“That’s not it; I think you’re mistaken.” Shen Dongqing tilted his head and added, “I mean – I don’t really want to use violence.”
The house owner’s laughter came to an abrupt end. He looked up and down to take measure of this man who uttered such wild words. Shen Dongqing’s body was relatively thin and frail, and he was fair and delicate, giving the impression that he could be lifted with one hand.
“You’re overestimating yourself,” the house owner said with a cruel smile.
“You are alone, but there are so many of us, so I’m not scared of you!” exclaimed Fang Qi, gathering his courage.
The house owner’s expression darkened: “Take a hard look, am I really alone?”
Several weird voices came out from the shadows in the corners as he spoke this, and suddenly figures darker than black bore out one by one, crouching on the ceiling, cabinets, and walls.
Swish—
Many pairs of eyes opened in the cramped kitchen, a crimson light glowing in the depths of their dark pupils. Their eyes were filled with various emotions such as resentment, curses, malice, and so on, and the only thing they had in common was that they were glaring at the living people present.
“Hee hee!”
Ghost Baby that was imprisoned in the pot laughed gloatingly.
Shen Dongqing just turned on the stove, and the laughing changed into a loud shriek once more.
When the owner of the house, as the father, saw that the ghost baby was in “hot water,” he let out a roar that summoned those ghost shadows, who poured forth like a tide.
Wu Jia, who was standing on the far side, was almost dragged into the darkness by the pitch-dark arms, but fortunately, Zhou Wenyan reached out and placed his hand on Wu Jia’s shoulder at this critical moment.
The phantom shadows flinched back, as if they were terrified of something, with such a light touch.
“So there truly are ghosts in this world…” dazedly murmured Wu Jia, who had been given a new lease on life.
“Haven’t you already seen it?” the brat curled his lips and pointed to the one in the pot.
Wu Jia: “I thought it was just an ugly premature baby…”
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.
“Something’s wrong,” said Shen Dongqing over there.
“Qtja’r kgbcu?” Itbe Qfcsjc jrxfv jr tf vgfk tlr tjcv jcv tecu la ys tlr rlvf.
“Ktlr yelivlcu. Pa’r vloofgfca ogbw ktfc kf mjwf lc,” Vtfc Gbcudlcu byrfgnfv.
“Ktlr lr j slc qijmf,” atf ygja rcloofv vffqis.
“Qtja lr slc qijmf?” jrxfv Mjcu Hl.
“Do you think I’m Baidu Baike?” sneered the brat.
Gfrqlaf atlr, tf mbcalcefv ab fzqijlc. Tlc ijcv lr j asqf bo ofcurtel. Ktlr xlcv bo ijcvrmjqf lr oeii bo Tlc fcfgus, jcv qfbqif klii ufa kfjx lo atfs ilnf lc remt qijmfr obg j ibcu qfglbv, jcv fnfc vlf lo la lr rfglber. Po atlr bmmegr, utbrar klii mbcugfujaf lc atf slc ijcv, jcv qfgtjqr j cfk utbra xlcu klii yf ybgc joafg atberjcvr bo sfjgr.
Shen Dongqing smiled and said, “New ghost king?”
The brat shuddered, hurriedly slapping his rainbow fart over: “New ghost king is nonsense, you are the true ghost king…”
“That’s more like it,” Shen Dongqing said quietly.
The disregarded house owner refused to be left out and came out to find a sense of existence: “Kill them!”
The shadows began to move, and they pounced on them once more. Their main target was Shen Dongqing, but before they even got close to him, they noticed something flying through the air.
Bang—
Their eyes tracked the flight path of this object and determined that it was a pot lid.
This pot lid smacked the house owner hard, precisely, and viciously, then dropped on the ground with a “boom” and spun in a circle.
The house owner grew limp and collapsed to the ground at the same time.
The shadows froze.
What about the agreed-upon enlargement trick? You were beaten to the point where you couldn’t take care of yourself right in the middle of a big move, just when the momentum was building?
Shen Dongqing: “Tsk, that’s all?”
“Let’s go,” he said, turning his head and looking at Fang Qi and Wu Jia, who were both equally confused.
Shen Dongqing was the first to walk past the half-dead house owner lying on the ground, and the folks behind him followed suit.
The outer corridor had changed appearance after such a short delay at 401.
The walls were covered in dense cobwebs, the dust on the ground was thick, and there was an indescribable stink in the air. Every step they took kicked up dust all over the place.
Shen Dongqing came down the steps, his nose and mouth covered.
Fang Qi was terrified and tense, fearful of meeting another pregnant woman halfway down the steps. Fortunately, nothing unusual occurred until they exited the passageway on the first floor.
Shen Dongqing put down his hand and fanned his nose to get rid of the strange smell after finally exiting the gloomy passage.
Fang Qi and Wu Jia, who had a completely new worldview, wondered in unison: “Was I really not dreaming just now?”
“Of course not. Look back,” Shen Dongqing said as he turned around.
The others all turned around and peered up at the five-story building.
The structure was 40 to 50 years old, with dense creepers surrounding the outer walls. The dark windows behind the green leaves looked like eyes, gazing coldly at the people outside.
Pop—
It’s unclear who turned on the lights first. Like a plague, all the windows upstairs were lit up, and residents stood behind each glass, smiling out the window.
Room 101 was an elderly couple, room 102 was a little girl wearing a floral skirt, room 201… they looked all the way to 401, where the young couple was leaning together, with the wife stroking her bulging belly, and the two were quite affectionate. Further up stood the woman in 501, her severed neck healed, and she touched her neck.
Each of them had a smile on their face, but they were not smiling in the least. They were cold and ruthless, like crafted puppets.
Fang Qi couldn’t help but take a step back.
He had the impression that everyone behind these windows was dead, but they just stood there, as though woken by his party.
Shen Dongqing said softly: “Awake.”
Fang Qi instantly responded: “Yeah, yeah, I feel the same way. Aren’t they a bit strange?”
The brat reached into his pockets: “It’s nothing strange. They’re all dead, and the dead are this way.”
Once the brat said this, Fang Qi noticed that their faces were all pale, their eyes were dull, and their bodies were stiff, as if they were resting in a coffin.
He took a step back in fright and subconsciously hid behind Shen Dongqing.
“The entire building is alive,” Shen Dongqing observed thoughtfully.
He knew this was a yin land, but he had no idea which expert had utilized trickery to temporarily restrict the Yin energy in it. This expert, however, wasn’t really doing good deeds. Rather, the expert was suppressing Yin energy and waiting for its more violent retaliation. At that time, all of those residents would become nourishment for the yin land.
Zhou Wenyan: “I see.”
Shen Dongqing looked at him: “I got it too!”
Xingyue Bay, like this place, was a yin land, and its yin energy had been sealed in the same way. The yin land there was larger, and the damage would be far greater.
Shen Dongqing was a little puzzled: “But… Why do they want to do this?”
“There must be more than these two yin locations,” Zhou Wenyan stated gravely. He pulled out his phone, read the information supplied by the secretary, and took a quick peek at the small building surrounded by dark energy. “Let’s talk outside.”
Wu Jia and Fang Qi couldn’t wait to raise their hands in agreement. This place was really too unusual.
The party walked towards the community gate, and just as they were about to leave, Shen Dongqing turned his head.
The lights in the haunted building had already been turned out, and it was shrouded in darkness, with not even a single outline left behind.
Fang Qi heaved a sigh of relief after exiting the community area, hesitated for a second, and inquired, “May I go?”
He came to work part-time while he wasn’t in class, but he didn’t anticipate being delayed all afternoon and evening delivering takeout. He’d run into so many unusual things and was wondering if he’d be able to return to school in time.
Wu Jia considered another question: “Should we call the cops?”
The residents of the entire building had been involved in accidents, which was definitely not something they could resolve. It was better to leave things to the professionals.
“No, no one else can handle this situation,” Zhou Wenyan said, looking at the security booth at the community’s gate.
“We are professionals,” added Shen Dongqing.
Fang Qi: “…but I am not.”
“No, you are,” Shen Dongqing interrupted.
“I still have to go to class,” Fang Qi hesitated.
Shen Dongqing looked at Zhou Wenyan.
Zhou Wenyan deployed his standard money bomb: “One thousand a day.”
Fang Qi’s eyes widened.
Meeting ghosts is such a dangerous thing; one small mistake and I’ll lose my little life. How can money weigh…
“I’ll do it!” He said without hesitation.
And this is how a five-person team was formed, with Shen Dongqing serving as the main DPS, Zhou Wenyan serving as the secondary DPS, and some oil bottles.
Zhou Wenyan escorted the gang to his apartment in the city center, opened the information sent by the secretary on a laptop, screened for similar locations, and circled six locations on the map.
Shen Dongqing propped up his chin and looked at the map for a while: “Does this look like a pattern?” He gestured with his hand.
Zhou Wenyan took up the marker and connected the six points. A distorted face appeared on the map when he drew the last stroke.
But the twisted face only appeared for a split second before disappearing without a trace.
This small trick was not enough to cause Zhou Wenyan any misgivings. It didn’t even affect his breathing frequency. “Let’s go here first,” he remarked, pointing to one of the points.
According to the marks on the map, Xingyue Bay was the largest yin land, so if the breakout occurred, it would undoubtedly be the last. It was more dependable to examine the situation at the other small yin locations first.
Fang Qi leaned over to take a closer look and exclaimed, “This is my school!”
Shen Dongqing: “Congratulations, you won the lottery.”
Fang Qi, the grand prize winner, didn’t appear pleased. “Why am I so unlucky?” he sighed in despair.
“Tell us what you know,” Zhou Wenyan urged as he drew a circle around the school.
Fang Qi had been at the school for two years and had heard a lot of rumors. He thought for a minute before saying, “Our school has a thirteen-story building, and people jump off it virtually every year, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. It’s either due to a broken relationship or the crushing blow of failing the graduate program entrance examination, which has nothing to do with the paranormal right…”
School? Postgraduate examination? I thought postgraduate level is master’s degree and higher, but “school” …..
I am a little confused, but thank you for your translation 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
University is also a school, referred as tertiary school in many countries.
It’s strange, but thank you for your explanation 💜
Some of the mystery is lifting!
Though I didn’t get what SDQ meant about “awake” 🤔
Thank you for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter
Is suicide every year really that common? 😥
I wonder if this information is true for Fang Qi in reality or if they’re just automatically given comprehensive memories off the cuff. Given that everyone Shen Dongqing summoned out is living in around the same area it seems more likely that it really is fully fabricated…
Thank you so much for translating! <3