Chapter 259: Do Not Be Afraid! We Are One and the Same!
“Ow… that hurt…!”
Within the thick dust clouds, Lu Yibei rubbed her buttocks back and forth as she winced in pain.
Seeing that the woman with the strange birthmarkcerated across her face was able to magically move from the ground floor to the fourth floor, Yibei had already guessed that there might be something akin to a secret passage within the apartment.
However, never in a million years could she predict that Qin Dalin would dig out arge hole in the centre of the room. She was caught off guard as she started running on air, and she fell straight down.
<em>Damn it… isn’t he afraid that he’ll fall into his own hole on ident? Stupid… </em>she cursed in her heart as she supported herself by the wall. Standing up in the darkness, she began looking around.
The hole that she fell from was, indeed, a 90-degree vertical drop. The drop was about 3 to 4 meters high, and the hole itself was 1.5m long and 1m wide. It resembled the opening of a dry well, and it could easily allow for an adult human to fall through.
Sniffing, the pungent, putrid smell of blood seemed to gush out from the walls. With the cool draft that was blowing through the passage, the wind sounded as if it was whimpering, like it was trying to hold in its sobs.
Using her senses to confirm that the two presences were still upstairs, she found that they had stopped moving once they passed the threshold of Qin Dalin’s door. She then took out her phone and turned on her shlight to illuminate her surroundings. Step-by-step, she explored the passage cautiously.
The surrounding concrete walls were darkened and damp, and she guessed that it might be due to the ambient moisture. Dried blood that appeared to be hastily mopped away stained the ground beneath her, and not far away was a wire that hung tattered, moldy clothes.<em>This must be where Qin Dalin drags his victims to, </em>she thought to herself.
Earlier, she could hear him moving heavy furniture in his bedroom. <em>He must’ve been moving furniture away to open up the hole leading down here.</em>
Soon, she found a secret passage that continued forward. She bent forward along the short tunnel, and after walking a few meters, she was greeted with a rusty iron door.
It was unlocked, and she stopped right in front of it. She used her finger to push it open, then thought that an urban legend might ambush her from the inside. She flicked her copper coin silently to confirm that her next spell would be amplified, and conjured a pir of fire in the palm of her hand. Then, she reached out and pushed the door open fully.
Screech!
The door let out a disgusting screech as it opened, and immediately, her face was greeted with the concentrated smell of mold, dust, rotten food, and blood.
Behind the iron door revealed a dim room of about 30 square meters, and she guesses that it is a room on the third floor that was refurbished. The windows were sealed, and the walls re-ttened. A thick security door was situated by the corner of the room, and old tables and chairs were haphazardly ced by the door.
In the centre of the room was arge, iron cage with two steel basins inside. One of them contained murky water, while the other contained spoiled, rotten food.
Moreover, there seemed to be a bunch of ckened stuff piled up inside the cage. She turned her shlight brighter to see what was inside, only for her face to turn deathly pale.
The light revealed arge mass of tangled hair, and through the hair, she could vaguely make out a skull.
The victims must’ve been imprisoned inside this very cage, and they would soon wither away into cold corpses.
As for where the actual corpses were hidden, perhaps it was as how she felt earlier – hidden in the dark corners of the building where ordinary people would never think to find them.
Underneath the skull and scattered bones, she finally found the source of the smell of blood that seemed to leak out from the wall.
Twisted, scarlet threads, like veins, extended from underneath the cage. They embedded and attached themselves to the ground, and took a firm root within the cold, hard concrete.
It resembled the rooting system of a nt, and faint psychic energy pulsed from the root system.
Yibei stared at the roots in a trance. She then chanted a spell softly underneath her breath, and unleashed a fireball onto the scarlet roots.
Woosh!
The fire zed through the secret room that has never once seen the light of day – through the fire, she could hear faint screams, and the stench of burnt flesh and blood. She watched as the mes continued to burn away at the root system.
<em>Qin Dalin, you… if this had continued, something terrible might have manifested inside this old apartment. No wonder thatdy from earlier warned me to not loiter around here.</em>
<em>She must be worried that I would run into Qin Dalin himself – after he deals with one of his victims, wouldn’t I be the next easiest target?</em>
<em>If you think about it, suppose I was an ordinary girl – if I ran into a big man who had just killed someone, wouldn’t I be scared shitless?</em>
Soon, the scarlet roots were burnt to ash, and she could no longer feel psychic energy pulsing within the ashes. She was then ready to leave.
Before she left, she decided to inspect the tables and chairs. She opened the drawers of the tables one after another, and soon, she found a notebook with yellowed, moldy pages that was hastily stuffed inside.
“Vo.”
She flipped open the notebook and shone her shlight on it, only to find a single [277] scrawled upon it.
“277? What does that mean?”
Turning onto the next few pages, she would then be greeted by more numbers, with each string of numbers getting their own distinct page.
[181]; [205]; [229]…
These numbers had no obvious connection or pattern to them. The only pattern that he could currently discern is that the number is increasing.
She flipped through the notebook in confusion, and it wasn’t until she turned to the first page where she came to an epiphany:
<em>On the very first page, the handwriting wrote [100 days left] … hmm… could this represent the number of days Qin Dalin has left after handing the girls over to this unknown urban legend?</em>
<em>It isn’t a fixed number, it seems. Some give him an extra forty days; some give him only a few extra days.</em>
<em>Were the girls judged by appearance? Age? Psychic potential?</em>
<em>Hell, I wonder how many days I’m worth.</em>
Thinking about it, she put down the notebook and was prepared to leave this hellish ce.
“Agh… no… you-!”
Suddenly, she could hear screaming, like a pig getting ughtered, from the other end of the secret passage, and the screaming seemed to belong to Qin Dalin himself…
…
He was woken up by a strange draft blowing through his apartment.
Waking up, Qin Dalin found that he was tied to a chair. Thinking of the female ghost that had just haunted him, his body trembled unconsciously.
Looking around, however, he couldn’t see her anymore, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This relief onlysted a few seconds before his breath caught itself in his throat again.
The singr light above his head flickered for a moment, and as his room was illuminated, he saw two terrifying figures standing in the dark corners of the room.
One of them waspletely naked, with ghostly-pale skin that folded in upon itself, stacking on top of one another. The figure resembled somebody who was once very obese, but had all of its fat and muscle drained away. If anything, the figure resembled human skin that was sewn onto a skeleton.
The one was very short, perhaps less than 1.4m tall. The figure wore a dirty sack on its head, with scarlet threads sewn onto it to resembles the bag’s “eyes” and “mouth”. It resembled a crudely-made voodoo doll, and maggots could be seen squirming through the holes in the sack.
Immediately, Qin Dalin froze. Fear swarmed through his nerves like countless insects gnawing at his bones. His heart beat against his chest, and his whole body was numb as his brain thud against his head.
“Agh… no… you-!”
The two figures crept closer, and he let out a shrill scream. His mind turned nk, and his vision turned to ck.
<em>What luck I have! That female ghost has no intention of letting me go… she even called on her friends to torture me… </em>
This was thest thought that registered through his mind before he went dark.
…
Inside the secret passage, Yibei had just heard Qin Dalin’s screams. She didn’t know what was going on, but she could sense a sudden surge of psychic energying from him, and her hunger was sated. Many questions started to pop up in her head.
<em>What the hell is going on up there? I don’t even need to lift a single finger, and I get rewarded for it?</em>
As she was thinking, she stretched her fingers out towards the hole from where she fell. She was about to extend her psychic senses to observe the situation from above, and soon, she could hear a conversation from above.
“Skin, are you sure this is the guy that Master Lee wanted us to kill?”
The urban legend named Skin nced at the now unconscious Qin Dalin, whose limp body sat against the chair. “Yes, I am sure. I have seen the photos – it is unlikely that this person is disguised as him.
When Skin spoke, their voice sounded like the amalgamation of voices speaking together, making it hard to make their words out.
“Hmm…” the sack-faced urban legend named Sack scratched the back of their head, catching a bunch of maggots in their palm as they fell to the ground like rain. “Why was he tied up? Do we even need to do anything here? Master Lee could’ve just called two ordinary thugs to kill him!”
“You’re right…” Skin pondered, before an idea came to mind. “Is there a possibility that another urban legend got to him before us? Master Lee must know other urban legends aside from us, correct? After the other urban legend knocked him out, they tied him up, and nned on letting him starve to death, or maybe, they’lle back to torture him.”
“Sick in the head, but cheap,” Sack pouted.
…
<em>You’re the bitch who’s sick in the head and cheap! Your entire family lineage is sick in the head and cheap! </em>The Witch rolled her eyes as she eavesdropped. After regaining herposure, she carefully analyzed the contents of their conversation.
<em>Right. They mentioned a ‘Master Lee.’ Before Qin Dalin fainted, he said something about the ancient sword being in the hands of somebody named Lee… could this be the same Lee?</em>
<em>Lee must’ve known that Qin Dalin was about to reveal the whereabouts of the sword, so he sent two urban legends to silence him, but… isn’t that a little too quick?</em>
As she was trying to piece together the puzzle, her thoughts were interrupted by the chatter of the two urban legends upstairs.
“So… what do we do now? Do we just kill him?”
“I think we should! We can’t squeeze much psychic energy out of him anyways!”
…
Hearing this, her heart skipped a beat as she cursed inwardly.
She still has no idea where the ancient sword is. If this ‘Master Lee’ dude was not the one who took the ancient sword away, and the urban legends killed Qin Dalin, that would mean that all of her clues up to now would be considered null.
<em>I can’t let that happen. I need to…</em>
She no longer had time to think. She came to the hole and held onto the wall with both hands. With a sudden force, she leapt up, and like a gecko, she mbered on the walls.
After desperately climbing up the hole, she steadied herself in the bedroom. Immediately, she gradually released her psychic energy and walked out the bedroom with swagger.
Although she is unable to utilize all of the power in her body without the prerequisite of getting into dangerous situations, after drawing onto her runes and casting spells frequently, she has found some ways to channel her psychic energy.
<em>Take psychic energy fluctuations as an example – it is like casting a spell, but there is no need for incantations. All I have to do is gather a little psychic energy, and not release its power…</em>
<em>Damn it! I said ‘a little’ psychic energy! Why can’t I stop?! Does my stupid amplifying effect work on this too?!</em>
<em>Shit. This isn’t going to cause any trouble, right?</em>
She was frightened, seeing that the psychic energy she was gathering underneath her palm was growing endlessly. As soon as she stepped out the bedroom, however, she was frightened once again.
As soon as she swung open the door, a cold draft blew through the apartment unit, and there was a strange smell present in the air. The lights above flickered, and the shadows that were cast on the wall were distorted by some strange force. They swayed and moved as if they were alive, prepared to lunge out from the wall towards Qin Dalin with their fangs and ws.
In the centre of the living room stood two terrifying figures, who were obviously not human.
<em>Jesus F. Christ. This is way too scary even for me!</em>
<em></em>
<em>If I had known what they looked like, I would’ve hid in the secret passage and waited for them to leave!</em>
Seeing the two figures, she was still frightened by the scene that appeared to have originated from the two urban legends. Her heart jumped as another cold breeze blew across the apartment, but she gritted her teeth and walked forward.
<em>I am no pussy… I’ll just fake it ‘till I make it!</em>
<em>After all, I’m a little stronger than them if I were to pick them out individually. I’ll try scaring them, and if that doesn’t work, I’m using the Divine Horse Armour to get the hell out of here!</em>
Immediately, she raised her hand and shouted, “You animals! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
The two urban legends turned around, immediately attracted by her voice and the terrifying psychic fluctuations that seemed to surround her. Immediately, they felt their cores tremble.
A girl wearing a tattered white dress stood right in front of the bedroom, with her long, fire-white hair swaying behind her. She had a delicate face with a cold demeanor, and her pupils were like ice.
The lights continued to flicker above them, and the sounds of sobbing permeated the entire unit. Faint, illusory currents of red poured out around her, like small rivers of blood.
They flowed with a faint glow, as if they wereva.
The liquid was deformed, sickly, but imbued with a strange, sinister vitality, as if it wanted to pollute and burn through the darkness with evil.
This was simply an evil god revealing itself, bathed in blood and fire!
The two urban legends were frightened, and they froze in ce.
Although this strange Witch’s psychic fluctuations indicated that her strength was about as equal as theirs, the quality of her psychic energy was simply too high. In some way, it invisibly formed a barrier of disparity between the two parties.
Like how a predator separates itself from prey.
What’s worse is that they couldn’t even sense her presence beforehand.
However, with her power, she could be considered one of the best urban legends in the entirety of Huacheng – why is she interested in an ordinary human being?
Skin cursed inwardly, before meekly speaking, “Is this your- no, no… my apologies – Your Highness, is this your prey?”
“…”
<em>Seems like there’s a misunderstanding here.</em>
The Witch was silent for a moment, before her cold voice spoke, “No. I was simply entrusted with a task.”
“Ah…” Skin hesitated in fear. “To be honest, the two of us were <em>also</em> entrusted, uh, with a task. If your task happens to be the same as ours, we will, uh, make our grand esca- I mean, take our leave.”
<em>I knew it. If it really was the person who took the ancient sword away, and I’m lumped into this situation… </em>she cursed inwardly. She was about to speak, but Sack stared forward as they yelled.
“I know what you are! It’s you!”
“…?!”
<em>What the hell? How do you know me? How is this possible?</em>
Skin was visibly horrified, and they wanted to pull their fellow urban legend away. However, Sack wiggled out of their grip and spoke, “You must be the Witch that Zhang Shan mentioned in his podcast! I’m your biggest fan! I didn’t know you were real! Like for real!”
“…”
<em>If I’m not real, am I just a paper doll to you?</em>
She wanted toin to them, but before she could speak her mind, she stared at Sack, whose head was dripping with maggots. Suddenly, she felt as if her scalp was numb, and she was disinterested in arguing.
<em>Wait a minute, did they just say ‘Zhang Shan’s podcast’? The Zhang Shan that </em><strong><em>I</em></strong><em> know?!</em>
<em>What the hell did he say on his damn podcast?! Does he know that urban legends are tuning in to his podcast too?!</em>
She felt a little weirded out knowing that a group of urban legends were eagerly waiting for Zhang Shan to share a new story.
After a moment of silence, she decided not to answer Sack. Instead, she gritted her teeth, and growled, “Tell me – who sent the two of you? Tell me, and I might consider sparing your life!”
Skin trembled when she said this, and blurted out, “M-master Lee! Lee Tang Han! He’s from the Tang Han Arts, Trade, & Transport Co.!”
<em>His surname is Lee, and he runs an arts, trading, and transportationpany… he might be the person who pulled out the ancient sword!</em>
Thinking to herself, she forgot that she was still subconsciously gathering psychic energy on the tips of her fingers. The pressure within the unit was still rising, and the two urban legends felt their cores pounding against their chest.
<em>We’re done for! What did we say to make the Witch angry?! Does she have a grudge against Master Lee?!</em>
Meanwhile, she had no idea that she had already scared the two urban legends in front of her, considering that they didn’t provide her with energy that she obtains from scaring ordinary humans.
She nodded at their answer and responded calmly, “Do not be afraid. We are one and the same.”
…?
<em>What the fuck?! Is Master Lee that powerful that he is able to hire such powerful urban legends? </em>Sack and Skin thought to themselves.
Amidst the suffocating silence, Skin nced at Qin Dalin, then at Yibei, “Since Master Lee hired you, then, you’re free to do as you please to him.”
Although they didn’tpletely believe in her words, her psychic energy fluctuations were enough to convince them that she is telling the truth. If they made her unhappy, the consequences would be disastrous.
<strong>TRANSLATOR NOTES:</strong>
Happy 30th chapter on the new site! Not very happy with today’s trantion, since I was trying to rush to put at least one chapter out this week :v I will make amendments if there are any mistakes, so I hope you bear with me for today’s chapter!
As always, if you’d like to support the trantion, you can do so by clicking the button below! ^.^