The sound of shrill cackling echoed throughout the warehouse and to Qin Ye's surprise, he noticed that the creature had a shadow!
Is this thing a human or a ghost?
"Interesting... It looks like the forsaken lands are even more intriguing than I thought." Qin Ye made an inviting hand gesture, and the mouths of all of the faces on the evil ghost's body opened up as if it felt like it had been provoked. The mouths resembled countless miniature black holes, and he let loose a deranged roar.
However, his voice abruptly cut off as pairs of deathly pale hands had appeared and grabbed him from behind.
The ceiling had already transformed into a sea of blood, Kwon Kyung-ho's upper body emerged from the sea of blood before forcibly dragging Huan Yunqing upward with the help of countless fellow students of his. Their ghostly claws, which were tipped with inky-black nails, had already dug into the evil ghost's flesh, and the faces all over his body screeched with alarm and horror, but he was unable to escape from Kwon Kyung-ho's sea of blood.
This was a tussle between evil ghosts, presenting a hellish scene on the ceiling. Even though Lee Jung-sook had already seen many evil ghosts, her heart was still thumping in her chest as she looked on from down below.
Blood-curdling howls rang out one after another in the warehouse, and the sea of blood on the ceiling slowly descended as a series of crimson threads. Ripples then began to surge over the center of the sea of blood, and with one final dull thump, Huang Yunqing was forced to bid farewell to this world.
Whoosh... The sea of blood shrank as it converged toward the center, then slowly disappeared bit by bit. Qin Ye said, "Don't be in such a hurry to eat him; figure out what he's supposed to be first."
"Rest assured, My Lord... I have a phone on me..." Kwon Kyung-ho replied in a muffled voice, following which a burst of gruesome chewing sounds rang out.
Only after a full three minutes had passed did Kwon Kyung-ho appear behind Qin Ye with his mouth full of Yin energy, and he extended a respectful bow as he said, "I've conducted a full examination. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember anything. He has no recollection of his past. All he remembers is one thing."
Kwon Kyung-ho paused here momentarily before continuing, "That they must come back here once a year. Otherwise, they'll die."
Qin Ye's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this. "When they say die, do they mean becoming that type of monster?"
"Yes. If they don't return in a year, even if they go only an hour over, then that's the fate that'll await them. From his memories, I could see that he last returned to the Huang Clans earthen building on the 17th of October last year, and today is the 18th of October, so it's already been over a year."
Qin Ye nodded with a contemplative expression, while Lee Jung-sook massaged her own glabella and heaved a faint sigh. "Did you see why this is the case?"
"I couldn't find any information on that," Kwon Kyung-ho replied in a respectful voice. "It seems that this has always been the case for him, and on top of that..."
He took a deep breath before continuing, "The same applies to all of the residents in the Huang Clan's earthen building."
Qin Ye drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward the Huang Clan's earthen building. The building was only two to three kilometers away at most, and he appraised it with an intense gaze, as if he were trying to see through its walls.
What exactly were the residents of the Huang Clan's earthen building going through?
Could it be an inherited condition? No, there was no way that such a notion could explain the state that Huang Yunqing had been in. Thinking back to everything that the second King Yanluo had taught him, he concluded that there weren't any special Yin spirits ranked near the top that displayed such characteristics.
Could it be a curse? Could that be why they had isolated themselves?
Hold on... He suddenly raised his head just in time to see Lee Jung-sook raise her eyebrows slightly, and before he had a chance to say anything, Lee Jung-sook spoke first. "Have we arrived at the same conclusion?"
"Let's get out of here first; this place reeks." Qin Ye waved a hand in an attempt to dispel some of the foul odor in the air before exiting the warehouse, and Lee Jung-sook and the bodyguards immediately followed along. The two of them led the front and made their way directly toward the earthen building.
The winter night was very cold.
This was virtually the southernmost region of Cathay, but even here, the winds were freezing and seemed to be capable of blowing right into one's joints.
Everyone was silent as they slowly walked along. The town was brightly lit, and upon arriving at the entrance to the town, they discovered that it had been surrounded by a wire fence. Several hundred meters beyond the wire fence laid the Huang Clan's earthen building in the pitch-black night.
There were no lights. The building was like a coffin that was standing in the darkness. One yellow talisman after another was plastered onto the wire fence in front of them, and they were positioned in pairs.
Qin Ye picked up a pair of talismans for examination to find that the one on the left depicted a stern and gallant general in a vibrant suit of armor, holding a golden halberd. As for the one on the right, it depicted a man in a long black robe, gently stroking a golden-eyed white tiger lying at the foot of his chair. Furthermore, these talismans were already in very bad condition.
Qin Ye gently set down the talismans before casting a grim gaze toward the earthen building in the distance. "I don't think these talismans are here to keep people out."
Lee Jung-sook peered into the boundless expanse of darkness beyond the wire fence as she drew a sharp breath. "Are you saying... that these talismans are here to prevent the things on the other side from coming over?"
She slowly reached out toward the wire fence as she mused, "The fact that even you've come to this place indicates that the situation here is already dire. Can these ragged old talismans really keep out what's on the other side?"
"Don't talk about things that you know nothing about, little girl." Right at this moment, a hoarse voice rang out, and Lee Jung-sook was given a massive fright. Qin Ye cast his gaze toward the direction the voice had come from, and only then did he discover that there was a small pavilion in the corner.
It was a very ordinary pavilion, the type that neighborhood police officers would assemble using plain boards. Beneath the pavilion sat a thin elderly man in a dark azure coat, smoking out of a shisha.
Due to the lack of lighting and the fact that the pavilion was concealed in the shadows, it was very difficult to notice it.
Before Lee Jung-sook had a chance to say anything, all of her bodyguards had already pulled out their guns. She shook her head and indicated for them to stand down before making her way toward the pavilion, followed closely by Qin Ye.
The pavilion wasn't very far away, but they weren't walking very quickly, so it took them close to 20 seconds to arrive before the pavilion. As soon as Qin Ye caught a clear glimpse of the elderly man, his pupils immediately contracted slightly.
The elderly man's eyes were covered.
The dark night, the guardian talismans, the sealed fence, the blindfolded old man hiding in the darkness... All of this painted an extremely eerie picture, and coupled with the fierce winds howling through the nearby trees, it was as if they had already left the mortal realm and descended into the abyss.
"What happened to your eyes?" Qin Ye asked as he feigned calmness.
The elderly man was sitting in the dark, so it was impossible to see his expression. The only thing that could be distinguished was the smoke rising out of his shisha, and he seemed to smile as he replied in an incredibly hoarse voice, "Back then, I was also skeptical of everything like this little girl, and as a result, I paid the price and became like this. I may be a blind old man, but due to my blindness, my other senses, such as my hearing, have become sharper. I can tell that you're no ordinary people..."
Right as the elderly man was speaking, Qin Ye thrust a hand forward like lightning, only stopping less than a foot away from the elderly man's face. He then slowly withdrew his hand, having verified through the elderly man's lack of reaction that he really was blind.
If the elderly man had been lying about his blindness, then he would've instinctively defended himself from Qin Ye's sudden strike. However, he hadn't displayed any reaction, which meant that he was either an Oscar-level actor or he really was blind, and the latter possibility was naturally far more likely.
After that, it became a little disconcertingly quiet, and only after a long while did the elderly man take a deep puff from his shisha before breaking the silence. "Take it from me: you don't want to go into that place. It's... impure..."
His entire body shuddered as he uttered that final word, and he took a moment to compose himself before continuing, "Don't go there no matter what. Perhaps you've come into contact with... those things in the past, but I can assure you that what lies in there is far worse than even your worst nightmares! The more you know, the sooner you die. None of the people who have gone in with an objective have ever come out alive again!"
Qin Ye leaned down as if he were trying to peer through the blindfold into the elderly man's eyes, and he asked, "I'm curious, why is a blind man like you on lookout duty?"
The elderly man smiled as he extended a hand forward.
"In the past, this was the ticket station for the earthen building. I can tell by touch alone the value of the notes handed to me and whether they're genuine or forged. After coming into contact with the hands of so many people, I've naturally come to develop some insights."
He placed his hand onto Qin Ye's hand, which was resting on the table, with unerring accuracy and he murmured, "Humans aren't the only ones who enter through here. Human hands are all warm, just like yo..."
His voice abruptly cut off here.
Immediately thereafter, his hand began to tremble, and soon, his entire body was trembling so violently that it was as if he were suffering from whole-body spasms. Three seconds later, he let loose a sharp scream before falling heavily onto the ground along with the chair beneath him. However, he paid no heed to that and frantically scrambled into a kneeling position before kowtowing over and over again as quickly as he could. "Please spare me! I haven't seen anything! I don't know anything!"
As King Yanluo, Qin Ye's hand was freezing cold to the touch!
"Don't worry, I'm a human." Qin Ye slowly withdrew his hand as he asked, "What have you seen?"
Dead silence.
The elderly man bit down onto his lower lip, then kowtowed heavily onto the ground once again before replying in a trembling voice. "I... I can't tell you... If I do, I'll die right away! Just remember this..."
He raised his head as his entire body continued to tremble, then said in a grim voice, "No matter what you do, don't go in there! That place is the stuff of nightmares!"
Qin Ye didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he returned to Lee Jung-sook's side, and the two of them paid no further heed to the elderly man as they turned their attention toward the earthen building in the distance. Lee Jung-sook was the first one to break the silence. "I was thinking about this before, but why earthen buildings? Earthen buildings are split up into eight categories, namely the square building, the courtyard building, the five phoenix building, the galloping horse building, the gauze cap building, the palace building, the manor building, and the round building. Among them, the most exquisitely crafted ones are the five phoenix buildings, palace buildings, manor buildings, and gauze cap buildings. These buildings were constructed in ancient times primarily for high-ranking officials, while the square buildings, courtyard buildings, and round buildings were more catered toward the wealthy or were constructed by the general public. The round building is also known as the round fortress, and it possesses the best defensive properties among all of the earthen buildings. Why were they built in such a way? What were they anticipating to defend against?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly, while the wind scattered her long hair, and she adjusted it in an absentminded manner as she mused, "Huang Yunqing's memories matched what all of the locals have said. Unless the residents constantly live in this building, they have to return for the Cold Suit Festival every year. I have a feeling that the Huang Clan's earthen building wasn't constructed like this to defend against anything. It was constructed like a pen to keep people in instead! At the same time, they're preventing outsiders from going in. Even if all of the people in this round fortress perish, as long as they don't open the door, no one can go in. Could it be... that they're keeping others safe from themselves? Did you also have the same thought just now?"
Qin Ye nodded in response.
Indeed, Huang Yunqing's transformation had been far too unsettling, to the point that he couldn't think of any other precedent among everything that the second King Yanluo had taught him. Furthermore, just as Lee Jung-sook had said, it seemed like this round fortress had been built to isolate its residents more than anything else.
It had been isolated to become a paradise for evil ghosts, but it was also hell on earth for humans and ghosts.
What exactly had taken place in this glorified pen?