Chapter 776: A Tip from Fate
He was absolutely certain that that was Chu Renmei. He wasn't able to catch a clear glimpse of her face just now, but those ghastly white eyes beneath that head of inky-black hair struck fear into the deepest part of his heart.
This was truly the personification of his childhood trauma...
"My Lord, that was only an evil ghost just now. Why are your legs trembling so much?"
Qin Ye turned to Ryu Changmin with a vicious glare for speaking out of turn at a time like this. Foreigners like you don't know shit! Show me one person born in the '80s who hasn't trembled in the face of the almighty Chu Renmei? All of you only know Sadako Yamamura and Kayako Saeki, but none of you have heard of the horrors of Chu Renmei! You should be ashamed of yourselves!
"It's alright, there's nothing to be afraid of... Daddy's already an Abyssal Prefect now, not the little kid that was so traumatized that he didn't even dare to go to the toilet and had to sleep with his blanket over his head..." Qin Yu murmured to himself in an inaudible voice as he patted his own chest in a soothing manner, and only then did he raise his head and begin to examine the Huang Clan's earthen building.
The first thing that he saw was a massive locust tree.
The earthen building was very big, roughly comparable in size to a football field. However, this locust tree was four stories tall, and its canopy encompassed the entire earthen building. It had already been growing here for countless years, and it was riddled with burls and blemishes. Its branches and leaves were extremely lush and hung down from above. The veins in its oval leaves were very clear and pronounced, indicating that it had already been growing here for far, far too long.
However, the locust flowers hanging from its branches were of a scarlet color, resembling strings of red lanterns.
There was an enclosure around it that was filled with soil, and this enclosure was surrounded by a circle of orderly and well-arranged bluestone. Outside of this enclosure was the enormous Huang Clan's earthen building.
It was impossible to tell just how many people this first level could house; it seemed to be capable of holding thousands of households. All of the houses had white lanterns hanging outside, but at the moment, only around 30 to 40 of them were currently occupied. There were clothes and blankets being hung up outside to be dried, and Qin Ye even noticed a few beautiful figures washing their hair under the taps.
It was a wonderful scene to behold.
Not a single person paid any attention to him. Well, that wasn't entirely true. In reality, as soon as he walked in, everyone immediately turned their gaze toward him, but they then immediately lowered their heads again, as if nothing could evoke an emotional response within them.
"How strange..." Qin Ye stroked his own chin as he made his way to the center of the plaza. The sunlight was filtering down through the gaps in the locust tree's lush canopy, but due to the excessive density of the canopy, there was barely any light shining through. As a result, the first floor was virtually completely deprived of sunlight all year round, giving it a very cold and eerie atmosphere. Even during the daytime, it wasn't much different from the nighttime.
"According to ancient traditions, planting a tree inside a building forms the '困' character, which is supposed to be extremely unlucky [1]. At their age, they should believe in superstitions like this..." He swept his gaze over all of the surrounding residents, making no attempt to conceal himself, but he was still completely ignored. The more he examined this place, the deeper his brows furrowed.
Firstly, he noticed that the feng shui of the earthen building was so bad that it almost seemed to have been intentionally arranged in such a fashion, and it was very suspicious that no one had tried to change this during all these past years.
Secondly, the living conditions on the first floor were terrible. The residents on the first floor received virtually zero sun exposure all year round, yet they still chose to live on the first floor. Only the third and fourth floors of the building had decent sun exposure, but they were completely devoid of residents.
Thirdly, there were more than just elderly people living here.
In fact, there were far more young people than elderly individuals here, including several women, and thus far, he had only seen three or four elderly people.
Fourthly, the households were all situated extremely far away from one another. This was particularly suspicious as they were constantly living under the shadow of the massive locust tree and were residing in such an ancient building. At night, any normal person would be extremely fearful of this environment, so intuitively speaking, they should be gathering together as close as they could, yet these residents were doing the exact opposite.
It seemed that not only did they reject the outside world, they were guarding against one another as well.
Fifthly... He swept his gaze across the clothes that had been hung up to dry and murmured to himself, "These clothes are from the 90s."
"How do you know that?"
Ryu Changmin and Kwon Kyung-ho were right behind him, and it was clear from their appearance that they weren't humans, but all of the surrounding residents seemed to be accustomed to this, and none of them even bothered to scream out of respect.
Qin Ye pointed his chin toward a certain direction, and Ryu Changmin cast his gaze toward the same direction to find several pieces of clothing drying on a rack. There was a pair of bootcut trousers, a pair of tight-fitting skinny jeans, a ruffled dress, and several shirts bearing certain phrases such as "Don't bother me, I'm upset right now", "I am your father", and "I'm very ugly, but I'm also very gentle".
Qin Ye explained, "The 90s was a decade during which the aesthetic standards of the Cathayan people underwent a massive change. People began to focus more on style and unique individuality. During the first-ever International Clothing & Accessories Fair held in the city of Yenching in 1993, more international clothing brands began to enter the Cathayan market. As a result, there was more diversity in the choice of clothing available to everyone, and these simple shirts with impactful phrases on them became popular during that time. For example, during the period of extreme flooding suffered by the southern region in 1991, shirts that bore the phrase 'We stand as one, reach out a helping hand' quickly appeared on the market. This is the symbol of an era. As for the other clothes, such as the ruffled dress and the bootcut pants, these were also styles symbolic of the 90s. Oh, and look over there; that particular style of leather jacket was greatly popularized in Cathay with the arrival of Hong Kong films."
Ryu Changmin nodded in an enlightened manner, while Kwon Kyung-ho asked, "So what?"
"Well, that indicates a huge problem." Qin Ye slowly cast his gaze around the earthen building before asking, "Do you see clothes from any other eras? The 80s? The 2,000s? In fact, if you look in through their windows, you can see that all of the ornaments and appliances they're using are all in that very same quintessential 90s style."
Ryu Changmin's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. "So you're saying..."
Qin Ye nodded in confirmation as a grim look appeared in his eyes. "This place is frozen in the '90s. To them, there was no '80s, and there will be no 2000s or 2010s. They've lost their past, and they're unable to find their future, relegating them to eternal limbo in the '90s. Why is that? What exactly has happened in the 90s to have led to this?"
No response.
The only reply that he received was the eerie rustling of bone-chilling winds blowing through the canopy of the locust tree.
"Let's keep going." He made his way over to a bedroom before pushing on the door. The door wasn't locked, and it swung open with a gentle creak.
There were several posters on the wall depicting celebrities such as the four heavenly kings of the Hong Kong music industry, and the likes of Lin Qingxia. The bed was of that familiar 90s army green color, and the paint on the outside of the bed frame was already peeling off, revealing the dark brown copper pipes inside. There was a mirror on the desk, and all of the furniture in the room, regardless of whether it was the tables and chairs, or the bookshelf on the side, all belonged to an era that had passed several decades ago.
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What was even stranger was that the room was very tidy, as if it were frequently cleaned. Qin Ye was not convinced that those zombie-like residents of the first floor would be kind enough to clean these rooms for their neighbors.
He didn't sit down. Instead, he began to carefully observe the room.
"My Lord, have you noticed anything?" Kwon Kyung-ho asked.
"The walls have been painted recently," Qin Ye mused as he appraised the wall ahead of him through narrowed eyes. "The painting technology of the 90s was nowhere near as advanced as what we currently have. This is the most basic whitewash paint job, and there's no way it wouldn't have cracked after so many years unless it's been repainted."
He gently placed a hand onto the wall before digging his fingers into the whitewash, which quickly fell away to reveal a dark yellow wall that was riddled with words inscribed in blood!
"Help me! I don't want to die!!"
"I can hear it... I can hear it again! It's that same Cantonese opera song! She's coming for me tonight for sure!"
"Hahaha! All dead... Everyone's dead! It's my turn to die today!"
After the passage of so many years, the words had become quite blurred, but it was still just barely distinguishable.
Qin Ye turned and swept his gaze across the whitewashed walls that resembled the walls of a mourning hall, and even he was starting to grow a little uneasy.
Everything in the Huang Clan's earthen building was far too eerie.
Who could say just how many living people there were here?
Who could say how many evil ghosts were lurking among the residents?
Who could say whether all of these walls were riddled with similar messages written in blood behind the whitewash? Perhaps the foundation of these very walls themselves were the bodies of their past residents.
He didn't continue to dig through the whitewashed walls. Instead, he adopted his Emissary of Hell form. As soon as he completed his transformation, Fate immediately flew out. He spread his robe onto the bed in an orderly fashion and Fate instantly began to write.
"Want to know the meaning of life?"
Qin Ye's expression immediately darkened at the sight of this line of text.
"Want to live... a real life?"
"YES/NO"
Qin Ye turned to stare at fate as if he had seen a ghost. This thing's pulling out classic phrases from Terror Infinity! Looks like I need to teach this thing a well overdue lesson! [2]
"Talk properly!"
Despite Qin Ye's instruction, Fate continued to quickly inscribe more words onto the robe. "Welcome, Host S-001, to the first reincarnation world: A Wicked Ghost."
Holy fuck...
The tension in the air was instantly shattered by Fate, and Qin Ye could feel a million swear words building up at the base of his throat... How could this accursed pen write out something so shameless in such a serious manner?
It had even switched to referring to him as "host"!
"Esteemed Yanluo Qin." Fate finally adopted a more serious tone, perhaps because it had sensed the killing intent in Qin Ye's eyes. "This is not a joke. Even a pitiful pen like myself can sense that your honorable self has entered an extremely dangerous place. This is a forsaken land, right? Forsaken lands are the most perilous places in our two realms, and based on the leads that I've collected thus far, I assign this place a danger level rating of 'A'."
Is there something wrong here? Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly, and he couldn't help but feel that there was something strange about what Fate had just written.
"Please allow this lowly tool of yours to explain. You can view this trip through this forsaken land as a journey in Terror Infinity. This place shares many similarities with Terror Infinity. For example, you'll only be able to continue after finding the right answer. You can also treat this as an escape-room-like experience. Only by solving the mysteries presented to you will you be able to progress in your investigation. In the end, you'll find that heinous Yin spirit you came here to seek out, and during this process, my insignificant self will serve you to the best of my abilities."
Qin Ye finally figured out what was wrong.
This thing was being way too respectful and humble! This was definitely not Fate!
On the last occasion, the pen was throwing around terms like "brat" and "dumb fuck", yet now, it was referring to him as esteemed and noble, while denouncing itself as insignificant and lowly. Its ability to switch facades depending on the situation was truly exceptional!
"Just now, you've already noticed many suspicious points on the plaza. However, you intentionally missed the most important detail. I know that this is a test that you've set for my insignificant self, and as nothing more than a lowly tool, I must provide the best answer."
Holy shit, what kind of pen has Brother Xu passed onto me?! It's even more shameless than me!
After a brief pause, Fate quickly wrote down another line of text. "The problem you intentionally left to me relates directly to Chu Renmei! With your limitless genius, you've already considered investigating her to get to the bottom of the mystery. Indeed, she is closely related to the Huang Clan's earthen building; there is no need for you to test me with the plot of 'A Wicked Ghost'. In order to conserve your precious vocal chords, please allow my pitiful self to do the honors in your stead."
[1] [The character for wood, which represents trees, is 木, and planting a tree in a building is essentially trapping it in a square, hence the character "困", which means to trap or ensnare. This further supports the suspicion that this is indeed a glorified pen meant to trap the people inside.]
[2] [Terror Infinity is an action-thriller novel written in 2007. The translation of the book is actually up on , so feel free to take a look if you want some context on these references.]