CH 59

Chapter 59: Granny Wen: Bastard, you wait for me

With regard to this kind of circumstance, Wen Jianyan had a particularly rich experience.

The moment he finished cursing, the translucent countdown suspended above his head happened to go to zero.

【Countdown: 00:00】

He smiled and waved at Granny Wen, standing in front of him: “Goodbye.”

In the next second, the familiar, dizzying feeling came again.

When Wen Jianyan opened his eyes again, he found that he had returned to the place he had been before. 

Chains and spells hung silently in the darkness. The room was empty, the door was open, the walls and floor were bare, and the smell of blood permeated the space.

Su Cheng’s deliberately lowered voice came from behind: “…someone is coming!”

Wen Jianyan’s eyes lit up: “Do as we discussed before!”

The two put on their concealment robes and disappeared into the cold, deep corridor, one after the other.

In fact, this was the purpose of Wen Jianyan’s coming to 1316 in the first place.

According to the clues he got in the inner world, the remaining seven altars should all be hidden in 1316. In this case, if there was any unusual movement here, Granny Wen would not let it go.

Of course, it would be even better if he could find some clues in 1316. But even if he didn’t find anything, as long as Granny Wen was attracted, his goal would be achieved.

“Duh, duh, duh.”

The heavy sound of the walking stick hitting the ground sounded at the end of the corridor, and Granny Wen, with her hunched back, slowly walked out of the depths of the shadows. She opened her eyes, which were covered with white shadows, and walked step by step to the widely opened door of 1316 not far away.

Wen Jianyan held his breath and walked lightly.

Using the effect of the robe of concealment, he quietly walked around Granny Wen’s side and then ran straight to Granny Wen’s room!

He had to hurry up!

He bent down, easily pried open the old door lock, and then slipped in silently.

The light in the room was dim, and the air was filled with a strong smell of burning incense. An evil Bodhisattva statue as tall as a person stood in the center of the entire room, with various paper talismans and ritual items on both sides and electronic candles flashing a faint red light.

The room was filled with all kinds of strange artifacts, and weird and distorted lines were drawn on the ground and on the door.

Wen Jianyan quickly rummaged through the cabinet, hoping to find some useful clues.

Soon, he found some newspaper cuttings.

One of them was about a serial murderer who murdered seven people in a row and died suddenly on the day of his arrest.

Wen Jianyan threw away these newspaper clippings.

He was standing in the middle of the space, surveying the small, crowded area in front of him with a rarely-seen dark expression on his face.

Finding things was Wen Jianyan’s forte.

Especially about the kinds of secrets that people didn’t want to reveal and tried hard to keep hidden.

Wen Jianyan understood this kind of human psychology too well, so he could always find the location of such items accurately.

This time, however, was different.

This time, it wasn’t that Wen Jianyan couldn’t find anything; he just found too many things.

Baby bones, magic tools for rituals, weird containers that smell of blood, strange insects and animals that had been dried, small sculptures with weird shapes…

It was almost like an exhibition hall of an evil sect.

In addition, Wen Jianyan also found paper, paste, and dyes, as well as several unfinished paper figurines.

Everything made his scalp tingle, but he had no idea what it was for, let alone where to start.

At this moment, Su Cheng’s deliberately low voice came from outside the door: “…Did you find anything?”

“……not yet.”

Wen Jianyan stood still and responded in a low voice.

At this moment, he suddenly realized something. His eyes paused slightly, and his eyes slowly fell on the statue of Bodhisattva, which was as tall as a person.

Wen Jianyan was taken aback.

……maybe.

Su Cheng’s anxious, urging voice came from outside the door:

“Are you okay? If we don’t leave, the old lady will probably come back!”

Wen Jianyan: “…coming right away!”

As he answered, he walked quickly to the Bodhisattva statue and carefully looked at the brass statue in front of him, which exuded a strong evil meaning.

Brass was solid, so one could hide things, in that case…

Wen Jianyan bent his knuckles and raised his hand to tap the base of the Bodhisattva statue.

Hollow.

Wen Jianyan’s eyes lit up instantly.

Hit the jackpot!

He stretched out his hand, trying to lift the brass statue of Bodhisattva, but the metal statue was too heavy. Wen Jianyan’s face turned red, but he didn’t even raise it a few inches.

He had to let go, giving up the attempt.

Su Cheng’s voice sounded again, he seemed to hear heavy noises in the room, and his voice became even more uneasy than before: “…What are you doing? Hurry up, we should go!”

“…right away!”

Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, lowered his voice, and roared.

While Wen Jianyan was rummaging for things in the room, Su Cheng stood at the door watching the situation as they had done at the beginning, and his whole body was in a tense state of panic.

From time to time, he turned his head and looked at the depths of the corridors on both sides, for fear of seeing that familiar figure appear at the end of the shadow.

“……”

After hearing Wen Jianyan’s reply for the second time, Su Cheng slowly took a deep breath, suppressing the raging desire to beat someone in his heart.

Bah! If this is your right away, the horse will die of old age waiting!

At the end of the corridor, a shadow stirred, and a hunched, slow-moving figure faintly appeared in the field of vision.

Su Cheng gasped and subconsciously pressed his back against the wall.

He could only pray now that their next actions would be quiet and swift and that they would be able to flee before they were discovered by the other party. 

Su Cheng looked into the room and urged in a low voice: “Quick, someone is coming!”

The words of the urging became stuck in his throat.

He stared dumbfounded at the room, his eyes fixed on the statue and Wen Jianyan, who was slowly stepping back. Suddenly, he had an ominous premonition in his heart: “You you you… what do you want to do?” 

The young man didn’t answer but stared intently at the statue of the evil Bodhisattva in front of him, stepping back. Then he stepped back more and more——after a while, he started running in the direction of the statue!

Then he raised his long legs and kicked the statue of the Bodhisattva violently!

Direct and effective, very rough.

The brass Bodhisattva statue collapsed, and the metal and the ground collided with each other, making a deafening roar that echoed in the dark and empty corridor.

“……”

Su Cheng’s brain buzzed from the shock.

His expression was blank and dumbfounded, and he was unable to make any response for a long time.

F*ck, didn’t you say you’d be quiet and quick?

This is you being quiet!

At the end of the corridor, the slow-moving figure with a hunched back suddenly paused, and then sped up its pace at an unbelievable speed, like a rabbit out of the cage, rushing all the way in this direction!

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room: 

[Hahahahahahahaha, I’ve seen the Antai Community instance so many times, but I’ve never seen Granny Wen running so fast!]

[Lmao, what is the fastest way to anger a cultist? Kick over the statue of her god!]

[Hahahahahahahahahaha. Granny Wen: Bastard, you wait for me!]

Wen Jianyan grabbed the thing in the groove of the statue’s base. He didn’t have time to look at what it was, so he put the thing in his pocket and rushed out of the room as fast as he could:

“I’m good, I’m good!”

He dragged Su Cheng, who was still in a daze, and shouted:

“Run, run! They are going to catch up!”

“……”

Su Cheng collapsed.

You are good now! But we are going to be finished!

Wen Jianyan dragged Su Cheng away to run into the distance. The whistling sound of the wind filled his ears, and the dark doors on both sides of the corridor swept by.

While running, he took out the worn paper he had just found in the groove of the base of the Bodhisattva statue from his pocket and carefully distinguished the writing on it under the dim light.

“So, what’s going on in this instance?!”

Su Cheng asked with a raised voice while running, looking at Wen Jianyan.

Ever since they came out of the mirror world, he couldn’t keep up with Wen Jianyan’s train of thought. The other party clearly knew more than he did because the entire action process was carried out without hesitation. This time, Su Cheng finally had the chance to ask this question.

“To put it simply, it is part of Granny Wen’s plan to seal the evil spirit.”

Wen Jianyan quickly glanced at the worn paper in his hand: “To seal it, she needs ten soul-locking altars, and the key to making them is desire and slaughter—I guess, it doesn’t matter whose desire it is, as long as the slaughter can satisfy the desire.”

“She found a puppet full of desires, brainwashed him with her teachings, and made him a serial killer who successfully created seven soul-locking altars. That puppet was arrested in the middle, so for the remaining three, Granny Wen had to figure out a solution herself.”

Su Cheng was stunned.

“So she turned her eyes to the residents in this building?”

Wen Jianyan replied briefly: “Yes.”

His gaze landed on a corner of the paper and stayed on the date for a moment:

“The power of the evil spirit will reach its peak on July 15th, so Granny Wen must make ten soul-locking altars tonight.”

Su Cheng’s face paled for a moment, and he completed Wen Jianyan’s words with some fear: “But the last one failed at 1304, so she used us anchors…”

“That’s right.”

Wen Jianyan put the note back into his pocket and then took out another object that he had taken out of the Bodhisattva’s pedestal.

The moment he saw what it was, his pupils constricted, and he almost forgot to breathe.

It was a mirror shard.

Under the flickering lights, it seemed as if one could still faintly see…

An erratic figure of a man.    

The pitch-black runes covered his pale skin, and his facial features were blurred. He looked like a phantom, soundlessly sleeping in the depths of the mirror.

There was that familiar feeling of fear that made his fingertips feel cold.

The skin on his forearm started to feel hot again.

F*ck, the evil spirit is really you!

“!!!”

Wen Jianyan breathed heavily and turned the mirror upside down reflexively, as if being scalded. His fingertips trembled violently, and he hurriedly stuffed the mirror back into his pocket.

Please, please, keep sleeping, keep sleeping!

Suddenly, Su Cheng stopped abruptly.

Wen Jianyan was taken aback, then quickly stopped his pace and looked ahead.

Numerous people were crammed into the corridor ahead. Under the dim red light, those pale and smiling paper faces appeared not far away, firmly blocking their way.

“These paper figures…” Su Cheng swallowed.

Wen Jianyan lowered his voice and gave an affirmative answer: “That’s right, these paper figurines are all puppets of Granny Wen.”

They were just created by Granny Wen. Those pale monsters sealed in jars and making rattling noises were the real ghosts in this instance.

The two backed away slowly, then turned around abruptly and ran in another direction.

However, before they ran a few steps, they saw figures appearing in the depths of the corridor in another direction.

Under the dark, red light, those smiling paper figurines stared straight at the two human beings in front of them. On their pale faces, the two blushes looked particularly strange and dazzling.

The two were blocked at the corner of the corridor, and with pursuers on the left and right, there was nowhere to escape.

Wen Jianyan abruptly pulled Su Cheng over, lowered his voice, and whispered in the other’s ear: “Wait for my signal, then chant the spell and enter the mirror.”

Su Cheng: “?”

Huh? Isn’t there a third soul-locking altar in the mirror?! Do you want to go in and be hunted down by other anchors?!

Before he had time to ask this question, he saw a path slowly parting among the paper figurines in front, and a stooped old woman slowly came out from behind.

Su Cheng subconsciously closed his mouth.

“Duh, duh, duh.”

The sound of the walking stick hitting the ground echoed in the corridor as it slowly approached the two of them. Every step was like a hammer on their hearts, making them beat fiercely.

Soon, Granny Wen’s face appeared under the light.

She looked very different from before.

Granny Wen’s wrinkled face trembled slightly, the corners of her mouth were drooping tremblingly, and a pair of cloudy eyes fixedly stared at Wen Jianyan. Her previous appearance of being an unfathomable expert had disappeared at some point; she seemed to want to eat the flesh and skin of the young man in front of her in order to relieve her hatred.

Obviously, she had already realized who the culprit of the chaos in her room was.

“Young man, you will pay for your actions.”

Granny Wen’s voice was old and hoarse, swaying in the dark corridor like the hiss of a poisonous snake.

“Tch.” 

The young man laughed. Narrowing his amber eyes with a faint smile on his lips, he took a step forward slowly: “It seems that you haven’t realized who I am yet.”

Su Cheng stared at Wen Jianyan who took a step forward in horror.

…Huh?

What? who are you?

Wen Jianyan rolled up his sleeves unhurriedly, exposing his arms. On his fair skin, the black, spell-like lines stretched out, covering the back of his hands and forearms completely and shining with a strange luster under the light.

The moment she saw the pattern, Granny Wen’s pupils shrank instantly, and she took a step back almost subconsciously.

“That’s right, the evil spirit you want to seal is my only true God.” 

The young man’s face remained unchanged, and the depths of his amber pupils shone with sincerity and enthusiasm, full of devotion and passion like a fanatic. Smiling, he said in a frenzied way: “I have found a way to wake up God the Father, and he will come again tonight! Here, right now!”

Granny Wen was shocked; her eyes flickered, and she looked at his eyes with a vicious expression, as if weighing how true or false his words were.

As Wen Jianyan spoke, he put one hand behind his back and gestured to Su Cheng:

Quick, now!

—Hurry up!

The author has something to say: 

Wen Jianyan, a liar who always forgets about his crow mouth.

Gong: What! My wife is calling me!