Chapter 54#
The Storyteller (Part 6)#
He knew the despair of dying in a story, so he wanted this group of people to experience the fear he once faced—he wanted them to go mad, to be terrified, to suffer, and to die just like him!
These people searched for clues, trying to restore the truth of the bloody events in the haunted house. In reality, it wasn’t that complicated.
“In the end, the female protagonist jumped from the bridge and died in the lake.”
Yes, that’s how it was.
The whole story was that simple.
Forty years ago, “Night Voyage” was soaked in his blood and blurred by her tears.
His head was placed by her on the window of the third floor of the mansion.
He stood where she once stood, watching her, covered in blood, jump into the lake.
The water splashed, washing away grudges, as if in a cycle of reincarnation.
In that instant, Song Zhang seemed to wake up on a lazy spring afternoon in his freshman year of college.
The fan in the lecture hall whirred, and the old professor read from the textbook on the podium.
His roommate crumpled a note into a ball and threw it at his head, while he cupped his face and smiled foolishly at the girl outside the window.
The thirty-six ponds of spring water rippled. She stood on the bridge, holding a camera, and turned back. Her white dress and high ponytail swayed with the wind.
…You stand on the bridge watching the scenery, while the person watching the scenery watches you from the building. The bright moon adorns your window, and you adorn someone else’s dream.
This poem is called “Fragment.”
Because the poet wrote a long poem but was only satisfied with these four lines, he extracted them to form a separate chapter.
In fact, many things are like this; it’s better when they are omitted just right.
For example, between him and Duan Shi.
Cutting off the muddled beginning and the bloody end, it could almost be called perfect.
*
After Ye Sheng finished telling the story, the boat had already reached under the bridge. Algae and water plants intertwined in the water, and black shadows swayed continuously. When they reached this area of water, Ye Sheng could clearly feel the water flow slowing down. A damp, thick smell of blood filled the air, and a huge vortex gathered and spread at the bottom of the boat.
Ye Sheng lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the center of the lake.
A long time later, a hoarse, strange cry came from the bottom of the lake.
“Who are you?” Song Zhang’s throat had been cut, and the sound he made was a rasping noise, like a broken bellows.
Ye Sheng thought to himself, I’m the one who’s here to kill you, but he wanted to get more information about the Story Magazine Agency, so he lowered his eyes, his expression hidden in the darkness, and said in a cold voice: “I am… a relative of Duan Shi.”
Song Zhang let out another strange, rasping laugh.
Finally, he slowly emerged from the vortex. Under the moonlight, only a head, swollen to twice its size, was visible.
Song Zhang was born in extreme fear. His face was swollen and blue, his hair was crawling with black insects, his muscles were rotting and falling off inch by inch, and his eyes were bloodshot, revealing a monstrous killing intent.
“Duan Shi.” Even after so long, the first reaction he had when he said this name was still fear.
After fear came confusion, and then resentment.
“You are her relative?”
Ye Sheng nodded: “Yes, we have the same great-grandfather. My father wants to reopen the Story Magazine Agency, but all the previously published books and periodicals were taken by Duan Shi, and he can’t find the old editions. So I came to Luohu Mansion to try my luck.”
Song Zhang gave a strange smile: “Story Magazine Agency? The moment you said that, I knew you were lying.”
Song Zhang’s head floated on the water, but his body hidden underwater was as huge as an iceberg. His abilities were possession and illusion.
Black, snake-like tentacles clung to the bottom of the boat, crunching and gnawing at the hull.
Song Zhang’s eyes were eerie and bloodthirsty.
“A hundred years ago, on the day the Story Magazine Agency officially closed, a fire broke out in the book warehouse. Her great-grandfather fell and became a vegetable while trying to put out the fire. The whole family was secretive about this matter, so how could they possibly reopen it?”
“You’re lying to me.”
Song Zhang’s “tentacles” suddenly latched onto the bottom of the wooden boat, and he shrieked with hatred: “Die! Die! Everyone go to hell!”
Ye Sheng knew he had gone mad.
The smell of blood on Song Zhang was too strong, his mind had collapsed, and he had lost all reason.
But getting a useful piece of information from a madman was enough.
“In this haunted house, no one should die except you.”
The wooden planks shattered, and lake water seeped into the boat. Ye Sheng’s fingers rested on the edge of the boat. He reached out, grabbed the vital point of a “black snake,” and crushed it.
Under the cold moon, the boy’s clear black and white almond eyes seeped a faint red and blue light.
“You people really like to defile the word ‘story’.”
Song Zhang gasped violently, looked up at Ye Sheng’s eyes, and instantly tensed up, sensing something was wrong. But he was a B-rank anomaly after all, and reacted quickly, breaking free from the Fetus Girl’s “Spirit Calling” control with a strange cry.
Bang! The clear lake water instantly became the most deadly danger, surging two meters high, forming a huge vortex that engulfed Ye Sheng.
The moment the water wall was about to collapse, Ye Sheng took out the diary page he had been clutching in his hand. The high-intensity spiritual value of the B-rank anomaly caused a sharp pain in his chest, and it felt like his ear canals were bleeding. He had always been quite lucky; the Fetus Girl he encountered on the train had also had her power divided by the King of Stories.
Song Zhang was probably the anomaly with the highest spiritual value he had faced directly so far.
Ye Sheng’s voice was very soft.
“Telling stories shouldn’t be a terrifying thing. And stories themselves aren’t that bloody.”
Ye Sheng bent down and placed Duan Shi’s diary page into the lake.
The lyrics written in blood immediately blurred and spread in the water, red threads scattering.
Song Zhang froze in place, looking up.
That piece of paper fell from the sky, like a white butterfly falling into the lake, light and dreamlike.
The elegant and gentle handwriting had become the nightmare of his life.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
[Who watches the past from the screen
And who stops and waits at my door]
The water wall collapsed with a crash, and the heavy rain drenched Ye Sheng. Ye Sheng expressionlessly wiped the water from his face and took out a long silver object from his pocket. The gun was not convenient to carry around, but Ye Sheng found that its magazine could be removed.
Not all anomalies would leave behind a corpse-stitching needle like Xiao Fang.
He needed to try many things.
As Song Zhang screamed in fear and tried to escape, Ye Sheng decisively grabbed his neck, letting the blood drip from between his fingers. A pair of eerie, reddish, cold eyes stared at him.
Duan Shi’s diary had turned this lake into Song Zhang’s hell.
Song Zhang was panicked, pained, confused, and terrified, tears streaming down his face.
But Ye Sheng would not let him escape.
He held the magazine in his other hand, using it as a weapon, and without hesitation, pierced Song Zhang’s temple. The flesh and blood of an anomaly were not flesh and blood, but scattered black shadows and flowing insects.
Hiss!
Blood splattered into the sky.
*
Black Sheep had been following Ye Sheng in the garden all day, so he completely missed the discussion in the front hall.
Later, when he saw Ye Sheng and Ning Weichen go back, he was about to follow, but accidentally missed a step and rolled down a small slope, breaking his leg.
Just as Black Sheep was complaining and about to beg for gifts from his live stream audience, he found that his live stream had been banned?
Banned?!!
Black Sheep was completely stunned, dumbfounded.
Not only was he dumbfounded, but the netizens watching the live stream were also dumbfounded.
[Black screen?? Is it my lag, or is my internet bad?]
[Damn, streamer, what did you do? Why was your live stream banned?]
[Is it illegal to look at handsome guys??]
The netizens were confused and baffled.
However, another group of people who were following the Luohu Mystery knew the answer vaguely.
Master Ri, earning 150,000 a day, was wearing a bathrobe, drinking orange juice, and happily enjoying the breeze on the open-air balcony of a five-star hotel.
“I’m in Huaicheng. But that famous haunted house, Luohu Mansion, what would I go there for? I’m a coward.”
On the other end of the phone was a supernatural being he had met by chance. The Master had friends all over the world, and his life motto was, “Meeting is a top-tier fortune.” Don’t let go of any rich person around you, because you never know when he will become your client.
“That’s a pity. Now there’s a big shot in the group saying that a photo of Luohu Lake from above is worth 10,000 yuan.”
The Master almost spat out his straw and sat up cross-legged at once: “What? A photo for 10,000 yuan?! My god, why didn’t you say so earlier? If you had said so earlier, I would have gone! Oh no, I’m leaving now.”
The person on the other end of the phone suddenly paused and said: “Forget it, no need. Luohu Mansion is already under official intervention. Hanging up.”
The Master had just put on his shoes: “Ahhh? What’s official? Don’t hang up.”
His friend had already hung up the phone.
“Hey!” The Master lost a hundred million and cried bitterly, hugging his phone.
Many of the world’s supernatural abilities are among the common people. Besides those who are not high-level enough to enter the Bureau of Paranormal Affairs, there are also some who dislike being restrained.
After all, in the Bureau of Paranormal Affairs, except for the S-rank executives, the rest are like police officers, deployed in a city in an orderly manner, and dispatched for missions according to Tianshu’s instructions.
No matter how good the treatment, there is no freedom.
The top ten on the supernatural beings ranking are all active executives, but there are also masters among the common people. These masters, after reporting to the Bureau of Paranormal Affairs, all became “bounty hunters.” Supernatural beings above C-rank will not serve the rich, because the Bureau of Paran’t only give money, but also something crucial to them—“biological agents.”
Tianshu can detect spiritual values, but this method is too passive.
Moreover, the higher the level of the anomaly, the more unpredictable its whereabouts.
Besides killing anomalies, the main way for bounty hunters to get rewards is to provide information to the Bureau of Paranormal Affairs.
As soon as the Luohu Mystery activity began, high-level supernatural beings with a little experience noticed something was wrong from Black Sheep’s live stream. But before they could figure it out, Black Sheep’s live stream was banned.
Everyone suddenly felt it was boring. It was probably that the Luohu Mansion anomaly had awakened, Tianshu had detected the spiritual value, and the Huaicheng Bureau of Paranormal Affairs had been dispatched.
Cheng Ze had dealt with this matter after hanging up on Luo Xingyan during the day. The spiritual value was sometimes high and sometimes low, and Tianshu’s marking was also a large area, covering the entire eastern district of Huaicheng.
It wasn’t until night that a point was confirmed.
Luohu Mansion!
Cheng Ze received instructions and led a team to dispatch.
The news of Black Sheep’s live stream suddenly going black disappointed some, confused some, and worried some.
Dr. Liang had cooked a meal for himself, but was in no mood to eat.
He tried to call his daughter, but no one answered.
He finally found a place where he might see his daughter on the Weibo hot search, but it was also banned.
Dr. Liang contacted the organizer of the Xingyun live stream activity. The organizer said that to ensure the authenticity of the program, they only left one host there.
But now the host’s phone couldn’t be reached either.
Dr. Liang slammed down his chopsticks in anger: “You, what are you people doing?!”
He posted on Weibo.
[My daughter participated in this activity. Now her phone can’t be reached, the official live stream has stopped updating, and I can’t hear her voice or see her. For four whole days, a hundred people are in that ghostly place. What if something happens?]
His post immediately received many responses.
Dr. Liang got up, put on his coat, took his keys, and planned to go to Luohu Mansion.