Wei Yao was immediately rendered speechless. He was just about to say something when Xu Muchan interrupted him.
“Stop talking nonsense. Find somewhere to hide first. They’re coming.”
“Seems like there’s nowhere to hide. There’s thick fog everywhere, and the school’s roads have changed too…”
He Jiaqi unconsciously tightened her grip on Xu Muchan’s sleeve. She stared in terror at the newly appeared bluestone road and desperately suppressed the tremor in her voice.
“I remember there wasn’t a bluestone road like this in the school… And there are only three main roads after leaving the cafeteria. When we came out just now, we went left. That was originally the road to the library, but now…”
He Jiaqi’s gaze fell toward the end of the bluestone road.
Beyond the dense fog, they could vaguely see the raised corners of eaves, as well as the sinister-looking crowns of trees sticking out from behind them.
That clearly wasn’t the library.
Neither the ancient-style building with its upturned eaves nor the grotesquely sprawling trees belonged to the school.
After He Jiaqi pointed it out, Wen Dajiang and Wei Yao noticed it as well.
“Fuck, is this even Earth anymore…?”
Wen Dajiang’s voice had already begun to drift with fear.
Wei Yao’s face was deathly pale. He instinctively squeezed closer to Xu Muchan and said with a tremble, “If we walk down this road, can we still come back?”
The more he looked at it, the more he felt that this didn’t look like a road belonging to the world of the living.
Xu Muchan was the calmest one among them. He tilted his head and listened carefully to the increasingly closer murmuring sounds within the fog.
“Other than this road, can we take any of the others?”
He Jiaqi bravely took two steps forward and looked around.
White fog enveloped the entire world. The cafeteria behind them had long since disappeared, and even the supposedly tall Comprehensive Teaching Building was nowhere to be seen.
The only thing visible was the bluestone road spreading out from beneath their feet.
Dark green moss grew between the cracks in the stones, wet and slick, as if it had just rained.
The damp stone road extended forward, backward, left, and right from where they stood, branching into countless paths. They stretched in every direction, as though each one led somewhere different.
But upon closer inspection, one would discover that the scenery visible at the end of every road looked almost exactly the same.
Dense fog.
Faintly visible ancient buildings.
And the crowns of trees twisting and clawing at the sky.
He Jiaqi carefully backed away, her voice beginning to tremble.
“There are a lot of branching roads, but I feel like… they all lead to the same place.”
Xu Muchan understood.
He tightened his grip on his white cane and said, “There’s no other way. Then let’s go.”
His white cane lightly tapped against the stone road as Xu Muchan took the lead and walked forward.
He Jiaqi tightly grabbed one of his arms. She only dared to look at the small patch of ground directly in front of her and didn’t dare look anywhere else.
Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang clung to each other as they followed behind. If there hadn’t been a girl with them, Wei Yao would have shamelessly stuck himself to Xu Muchan.
The two men were practically dragging and pulling each other along, their walking posture extremely twisted.
Wen Dajiang really couldn’t take it anymore. He took a deep breath and said, “Old Wei, loosen your grip. You’ve pinched my arm purple.”
Wei Yao refused to let go and began trembling even harder.
He stammered, “Why does this place look kind of familiar?”
Xu Muchan, walking ahead, stopped and turned around.
“Where does it look familiar?”
By this point, they were almost at the end of the bluestone road. They could vaguely see a half-open vermilion gate.
Wei Yao stretched his neck and took another look. The more he looked, the stranger it seemed.
His voice was bewildered.
“Wait… this looks like my family’s old residence.”
“You’re sure?”
Wen Dajiang also craned his neck to look, but the fog was too thick, so he could only make out the general outline.
He had been to the Wei family’s old residence twice before. It really did have a similar antique architectural style.
“I lived in the old residence until I was twelve. I could recognize it even with my eyes closed.”
Perhaps because they had arrived somewhere familiar, Wei Yao straightened his back slightly after being bent over by fear.
But he quickly remembered last night’s dream.
In the dream, those people had taken him by the hand and tried to lead him deeper into the old residence…
The hairs on Wei Yao’s back immediately stood up one by one. His waist bent again, and he clung to Wen Dajiang while trembling all over.
“Come to think of it… this place looks a lot like what I saw in my dream…”
It was practically as if his dream had become reality.
After hearing this, Xu Muchan had Wei Yao recount the dream again.
Wei Yao said, “I always felt that there was something really bad inside that courtyard. If I went in, I’d definitely die.”
Xu Muchan nodded, confirming his thoughts.
He had also vaguely sensed it—the depths of this building were harboring something extremely terrifying.
But there was no way for them to retreat now.
He licked his dry lips and lowered his voice even further.
“Let’s sneak inside. Don’t go any farther than the courtyard. Judging from Wei Yao’s dream, the big tree in the courtyard should be safe for the time being. We’ll climb the tree and hide for a while.”
The four of them carefully passed through the half-open vermilion gate and slipped into the courtyard.
In the center of the courtyard stood a huge, gnarled tree—the same one they had seen from outside.
Now that they were close, they could only feel that its dense branches were packed tightly together, blocking even the daylight from filtering through. There was an eerie, ghostly atmosphere about it.
Wei Yao realized that this tree was somewhat different from the one in his dream.
The tree planted in the courtyard of his family’s old residence was a large jujube tree, so the tree in his dream had also been a jujube tree.
“Are we really going to climb up there? Why do I also feel like there’s something wrong with this tree?”
He Jiaqi whispered, “It’s a locust tree.”
Wei Yao: “…”
He turned to look at Xu Muchan.
“Locust trees are specifically known for attracting… those things, right?”
Xu Muchan said, “Locust trees gather yin energy. That’s perfect for covering up our scent. Hurry up and climb. Don’t waste time. They’re coming.”
His tone was far too certain.
Wei Yao didn’t dare argue. He could only grit his teeth and climb onto the lowest branch.
Then he whispered, “Wen Dajiang, brace yourself underneath. Xu Muchan goes up first, and I’ll pull you up from above.”
Xu Muchan shook his head and pushed He Jiaqi slightly.
“You go up first.”
He Jiaqi hesitated, but seeing how tense Xu Muchan’s expression was, she didn’t dare waste any more time.
She stepped onto Wen Dajiang’s back, grabbed the hand Wei Yao reached down, and used his strength to climb up.
When it was Xu Muchan’s turn, he handed his white cane to Wen Dajiang to hold for him. Then he grabbed the tree trunk and climbed up with surprising ease.
Wei Yao grabbed him and pulled him onto his own branch.
“You can’t even see. How are you climbing better than me?”
Xu Muchan ignored him.
He made a “shh” sound and tilted his head, listening to the movements below.
At that moment, Wen Dajiang also climbed up.
The four of them carefully spread themselves out across the horizontally growing branches, their bodies concealed by the dense foliage.
“Slow your breathing. Control your heartbeat. Don’t think about anything. If you’re afraid, close your eyes and don’t look.”
Xu Muchan lowered his voice.
After saying this, his own breathing became extremely light and shallow, almost inaudible.
He Jiaqi imitated him and slowed her breathing, trying to make her heartbeat slow down as well.
But her heart pounded inside her chest like a drum, and she couldn’t control it no matter what she did.
In the end, she could only squeeze her eyes shut and desperately recite English vocabulary words to distract herself.
Wei Yao imitated her and closed his eyes.
But once he couldn’t see, his fear of the unknown increased several times over.
After only a few seconds, he opened his eyes and began gasping for breath.
Xu Muchan turned his face slightly toward him and whispered in a breathy voice, “Hold your breath. They’re here.”
Below them, the white fog seemed to be stirred by something and suddenly began to churn violently.
The heavy vermilion gate let out a long, creaking sound as it was slowly pushed open.
Xu Muchan couldn’t see. He could only tilt his head and desperately listen for the slightest movement.
But Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang, who hadn’t closed their eyes, were in an even worse situation.
They clamped their hands tightly over their mouths, barely managing not to scream—
The things that entered through the open door were barely able to maintain human forms, but their proportions were horribly distorted.
Some had necks that were far too long, their heads drooping all the way down to their chests.
Some had one arm longer than the other, swinging back and forth like two limp noodles as they walked…
Even more nauseating was the fact that these things all had exactly the same face as Wei Yao.
But they had no expressions.
Only the corners of their mouths were stiffly pulled toward both sides, forming an exaggerated and incredibly fake smile.
Their mouths didn’t move, yet one voice after another came from them.
“Wei Yao, where are you?”
“Wei Yao, come out quickly. I can see you.”
Wei Yao.
Wei Yao.
Wei Yao…
They kept talking as they wandered around the courtyard searching, like headless flies.
Up in the tree, Wei Yao tightly covered his nose and mouth, carefully breathing through the gaps between his fingers.
He didn’t dare look down anymore.
Instead, he turned his face to look at Xu Muchan beside him.
Xu Muchan lay completely motionless on the branch. There wasn’t much tension or fear visible on his face.
Instead, there was a kind of numb calmness, as if he had already experienced this kind of situation countless times before.
Wei Yao deliberately let his thoughts wander aimlessly so that he wouldn’t be so afraid.
But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the things gathered beneath the tree were gradually moving toward the hanging-flower gate deeper inside the residence, as though they had finally given up searching and were preparing to leave.
He turned his head and quietly observed through the gaps between the branches and leaves, but suddenly, a faint “crack” sounded beside his ear.
Those things that had already been about to leave abruptly stopped in their tracks and turned back.
Then came another “crack.”
Wei Yao cursed inwardly. He turned his head to look at the others, wanting to figure out where the sound had come from, only to see Wen Dajiang and He Jiaqi staring at him in horror, desperately signaling to him with their eyes.
Wei Yao stared at them in confusion. It was not until another “crack” sounded that he finally understood what He Jiaqi and Wen Dajiang were trying to tell him—
The “crack” was coming from the branch he was lying on.
This damn branch had chosen the worst possible moment to fail him. It was about to break.
Those things came back and gathered beneath the tree. Their heads, which had been hanging in front of their chests, slowly lifted. Their upside-down faces happened to be facing upward, their eyes staring straight at the canopy.
Through the gaps between the leaves, Wei Yao locked eyes with one of those things. His scalp immediately tightened, and he almost jumped up.
They had been discovered.
Helplessly, he looked toward the others. Wen Dajiang and He Jiaqi desperately gestured at him, probably wanting him to hurry and climb higher. But when Wei Yao looked down, he saw that those things had clearly realized there were people hiding in the tree. One after another, they began piling themselves on top of each other, preparing to climb up.
Wei Yao looked at those disgusting things that resembled fake humans, then looked at his three companions lying on the tree. He clenched his teeth and whispered, barely making a sound, “They’re coming up. I’ll lure them away.”
Wen Dajiang’s expression changed drastically, and he frantically waved his hands at him.
Xu Muchan also turned his face and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but Wei Yao interrupted him directly. “They’re here looking for me. Later, find a chance to run on your own.”
After saying that, he jumped straight down from the tree.
The branch was only a little over two meters above the ground. After landing, Wei Yao used the momentum to roll twice. He did not even dare to look back. He scrambled to his feet and ran for his life.
The things piled on top of one another behind him let out sharp, piercing shrieks before dropping onto all fours and chasing after him.
“Fuck, this idiot doesn’t want to live!” Wen Dajiang cursed under his breath. He jumped down from the tree and was about to chase after him, but then remembered there were still two people in the tree. Suppressing his voice, he urged, “Come down quickly!”
He Jiaqi did not know how to climb trees, but at a time like this, she had to learn whether she knew how or not. She hugged the tree trunk and slid down, with Xu Muchan following closely behind.
“I’m going after Old Wei. Are you coming? If not, then stay here and wait,” Wen Dajiang said.
He Jiaqi looked at Xu Muchan.
Xu Muchan pulled out the pendant hanging around his neck, clenched his teeth around it for a moment, and said, “Wait. I’ll go with you.”
After saying that, he bit down on the pendant he had pulled out.
It was a wooden plaque hanging from a red cord, about the size of a mahjong tile and very thin. Its surface was covered in strange patterns resembling tree rings.
With the wooden plaque between his teeth, Xu Muchan closed his eyes, pressed his palms together against his forehead, and solemnly bowed toward the north. That was the direction of Guiyi Mountain.
“Please, Mountain God of Guiyi Mountain.”
He silently repeated the sentence three times in his mind. Then Xu Muchan felt a cold and heavy aura settle over his body.
It was a sensation that was difficult to describe, but one thing was extremely clear—
Another consciousness had appeared inside Xu Muchan’s body. That consciousness could sense all of his actions and thoughts. It could even take control of his consciousness and body.
Xu Muchan was extremely resistant to the feeling of being completely controlled, so unless absolutely necessary, he would never invite his older brother to possess his body.
He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, tucked the wooden plaque back inside his clothes, and raised his head, about to speak to Wen Dajiang.
But he suddenly froze and slowly blinked.
—He could see.
Wen Dajiang stood only one step away from him. The outline of his entire body was somewhat unstable, with several black lines wrapped around him. His facial features were difficult to make out.
Xu Muchan turned his head and looked at He Jiaqi. It was the same with her.
Xu Muchan adapted to it after only a brief moment and accepted it. Although it was different from seeing normally, it was still better than being a blind man who only dragged everyone else down.
“Let’s go. We’ll find Wei Yao first, then find a way out.”
After his vision returned, Xu Muchan discovered that the surroundings were filled with these twisted lines. There were even more of them deep inside the old residence. The lines intertwined with one another, forming dense shadows that outlined the enormous figure lying in wait.
That should be the most dangerous thing in the old residence.
Everything inside the old residence had gone after Wei Yao, so the surroundings were extremely quiet. The moving lines floated through the air. After observing them for a while, Xu Muchan discovered that their movements followed a pattern—they were mostly gathering toward the depths of the residence, as if something were drawing them there. A smaller portion was scattered throughout various places, appearing in clusters.
Xu Muchan guessed those were probably the ghosts chasing Wei Yao.
If they found those ghosts, they should be able to find Wei Yao.
Xu Muchan led Wen Dajiang and He Jiaqi after them. Wen Dajiang was careless and worried about his brother, so he completely failed to notice anything unusual about Xu Muchan.
He Jiaqi, on the other hand, glanced at Xu Muchan again and again, but in the end, she still restrained herself from asking.
The three carefully made their way through the enormous antique-style residence, searching for traces of Wei Yao.
By this time, Wei Yao was already almost a dead dog on the roadside.
He was on the school basketball team and had excellent physical stamina, but after being chased by ghosts around and around, he was both exhausted and terrified, and he was beginning to reach his limit. Under the intense exercise, his chest felt as if it were about to explode, and his consciousness had also become somewhat muddled. His two legs were moving entirely on instinct.
When Wei Yao finally came back to his senses, he discovered that, at some point, the ghostly things chasing him had disappeared.
“Fuck, did I outrun them?”
Wei Yao stopped and supported himself on his knees, gasping for breath. It felt as though his heart and lungs were about to explode.
He really wanted to lie down right where he was, but the uneasiness of being alone still urged him to get back up and hurry to find the others.
“Where is this? Why does it look so familiar…”
Wei Yao muttered softly to himself. The moment he saw the familiar building in front of him, he froze completely.
If he remembered correctly, this seemed to be his family’s ancestral hall.
And the ancestral hall was at the very back of the Wei family’s old residence.
What had Xu Muchan said before…?
Wei Yao forcefully slapped his oxygen-deprived head.
Damn it, think!
After being slapped twice, his head cleared up a little. Wei Yao remembered.
Xu Muchan had said: Don’t go into the depths of the residence. There is something very terrifying inside.
The sweat from his frantic running gradually turned cold. Wei Yao felt every hair on his body stand on end. Facing the ancestral hall, he slowly backed away step by step before turning around and running for his life.
He ran with loud, labored breaths, and it seemed as if something above his head was breathing heavily along with him.
Only afterward did Wei Yao realize there was something making noises above his head. His pace gradually slowed, and his head slowly tilted upward—
A dense shadow swept across the edge of his vision. It should have been something enormous.
Just as Wei Yao strained his neck upward, trying to get a clearer look, a pair of hands covered his eyes and forcibly dragged him into the corner of a wall.
“Close your eyes. Don’t look. Do you not want to live?”
Once his vision was blocked, Wei Yao broke free from his dazed state. He grabbed the hand covering his eyes.
“Who are you?”
After a pause, he added shakily, “You’re human, right?”
The person behind him laughed. From the voice, he sounded like a young man.
“I’m human. Your parents found out that something had happened to you, so they specifically asked me to come find you. My name is Yan He.”
Wei Yao was so moved that he almost cried. He felt that after getting out of this haunted place, he absolutely had to get into Tsinghua or Peking University to repay his parents.
With a nasal voice, he mumbled, “Master Yan, you can let go now.”
Yan He released his hand and instructed him, “Whatever you do, don’t look up. Understand?”
Wei Yao nodded. Only then did he finally get a clear look at what his savior looked like. Yan He was wearing a Daoist robe and holding two talismans in his hand. At a glance, he looked extremely professional and gave off an incredible sense of security.
Wei Yao hurriedly grabbed onto him and said, “Master, I still have three classmates who came into this haunted place with me. I was chased by ghosts just now and got separated from them.”
“There are other people?”
Yan He’s expression became somewhat troubled. “Are they also inside the ancestral hall?”
Wei Yao quickly shook his head. “They should still be in the courtyards outside. I was chased by ghosts and somehow ended up running in here without realizing it.”
Only then did Yan He’s expression relax somewhat.
“Then let’s get out first. We’ll look for a way out while searching for them.”
Before leaving the courtyard where the ancestral hall was located, he stuck a yellow talisman onto Wei Yao’s back and instructed him, “Follow my footsteps. Don’t get nervous, and don’t make a sound. Lady Jinhua has already been disturbed. If she notices us, we’re all screwed. Understand?”
Wei Yao nodded repeatedly like a pecking chick and carefully followed while clutching the hem of his clothes.
The two quietly tiptoed out of the ancestral hall. Only then did Yan He relax slightly. He was just about to ask what the three classmates looked like when he saw three vaguely discernible figures sneaking over from not far away.
Yan He narrowed his eyes and had Wei Yao take a look.
“Are those three your classmates?”
Wei Yao took one look and immediately became excited.
“That’s them.”
He did not dare call out to them, so he could only stretch out his hand and wave frantically.
The three of Xu Muchan also saw him. However, when they noticed that there was a stranger beside Wei Yao, they immediately stopped, their expressions becoming wary.
Wei Yao, like a complete idiot, pulled Yan He over and rushed toward them, even asking, “You saw me, so why didn’t you react?”
Xu Muchan sized up Yan He.
“Who is this?”
Wei Yao, meanwhile, looked at him in surprise.
“Your eyes are better?”
Then he said, “This is Master Yan He. He said my parents realized something had happened to me and hired him to come rescue me.”
Yan He was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. To him, these high school students looked like children. He stuck a talisman onto each of them and urged them, “We can talk after we get out. We need to leave quickly. The passage I carved out in the ghost domain won’t last much longer. We have to get out before Lady Jinhua fully wakes up.”
He pointed above their heads.
“Follow me. Keep your eyes on the ground. Don’t look up. No matter what sounds you hear behind you, don’t be afraid. I put concealment talismans on all of you. They won’t be able to detect you.”
After saying that, he took the lead. Wei Yao, Wen Dajiang, He Jiaqi, and Xu Muchan followed behind in a single line.
If you want, I can also keep translating the next chapter in exactly the same American-English style and terminology.
Wei Yao was still wondering how Xu Muchan had suddenly regained his sight. He tried to turn around and look behind him while walking, only to receive a glare from Xu Muchan.
“If you don’t want to die, don’t turn around.”
After the little blind guy’s eyes had recovered, those eyes were unexpectedly beautiful and full of life. After being glared at, Wei Yao instead felt a little secretly pleased. He obediently answered, “Oh,” and turned his head back around.
Xu Muchan had no time to pay attention to him. His entire mind was focused on his brother who had possessed him.
The situation had been urgent earlier, so he had not had time to think too much. But now that he had relaxed, the skin all over his body began to itch and prickle. He constantly felt as though that cold, gloomy aura was like countless hands rubbing against his skin.
This sensation almost made Xu Muchan’s hair stand on end. He forcefully tugged at the little wooden plaque on his chest and called out in his mind, “Big Brother!”
There was no response, but Xu Muchan knew his brother had definitely heard him.
Because he could feel that cold aura covering his body becoming even thicker and heavier. There was even an itchy sensation around his neck, as though something were repeatedly stroking it. The sensation continued downward along his collarbone.
Xu Muchan bit his lip hard. Other than enduring it, he had no other choice.
Yet at this exact moment, the “rustle” of something crawling came from behind again, as if some heavy object were dragging itself along the ground.
Xu Muchan glanced at the people in front of him. They seemed not to have noticed, and no one turned around, so he also suppressed the urge to look back.
The “rustling” behind him drew closer and closer. Occasionally, it was accompanied by the “slap, slap” of palms striking the ground. Above his head, an enormous shadow was cast down, as if some gigantic thing were crawling right behind him.
Yan He’s lowered voice came from the front.
“We’re almost there.”
Xu Muchan desperately restrained his urge to turn around, but his body went against his will. It was as though it were being controlled by another force. He stopped walking and slowly turned around.
The shadow of the enormous creature following behind him was reflected in his eyes.
It was a gigantic humanoid figure, a full two stories tall. Its lowered head was completely covered by long black hair. Its exposed upper body clearly had feminine features, while its lower body was a long, rotten snake tail. Six arms with no skin, their muscles completely exposed, protruded from beneath its ribs, shoulder blades, and other places. They slapped against the ground with loud “smack, smack” sounds, supporting its enormous and cumbersome body as it crawled forward.
Its body was also covered with countless of those inhumanly proportioned fake humans Xu Muchan had seen beneath the locust tree earlier. They crawled up and down its body, going in and out of it, while the surfaces of their skin were covered in oily secretions.
Xu Muchan felt a wave of nausea.
But his body, controlled by his brother, would not allow him to turn away. Instead, it left the group and voluntarily ran toward the enormous monster.
Xu Muchan was so angry that he gritted his teeth and mentally greeted his dear older brother with every filthy curse he could think of.