Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 87: Unable to Sleep
“She recognized you?” Zhuang Pengdao sat in the front row of the “classroom booth”, asking Fang Xiu gravely. “You’re saying she just greeted you and did nothing else?”
Yan Yan had returned to human form and gave a fairly objective assessment. “Fang Xiu acted convincingly. I didn’t see anything wrong.”
Jiao Jiao added, “He doesn’t have a single habit related to metaphysics. There’s no way she could’ve recognized him at a glance.”
“Don’t get worked up, I’m not saying Fang Xiu is the problem. That woman knows about Disaster Resolvers. She’s definitely not ordinary.”
Zhuang Pengdao smiled. “That’s a major discovery, even more valuable than our exploration so far.”
Zhuang Pengdao’s team had spent an entire day calculating the scope of the sacrificial ritual’s territory…
Taking the office building from which the woman jumped as the center, it expanded outward into a perfect circle. The area almost wrapped around the entire city, sparing only the outskirts.
The roads at the city’s edge were all blocked. Locals said there was a blizzard outside, and only certain vehicles were allowed through. Despite the outskirts being clear and sunny, no one found this odd, as if it were common knowledge.
The whole city was like a strange, isolated island.
“We didn’t attempt to force our way out.” He glanced at Fang Xiu and added, “No matter what kind of ritual it is, crossing the boundary by force is pointless.”
After speaking, Zhuang Pengdao tapped the map in his hand. “The woman’s death site is the center of the ritual area, which makes everything easier to explain.”
The two monks said in unison, “She’s the key to the ritual, definitely tied to the Immortal E.”
“…And she’s not even trying to hide it. That’s very interesting.”
Zhuang Pengdao picked up the thread smoothly. “With that level of confidence, we’d better avoid deeper contact for now. Night has fallen anyway. Let’s go find the Disaster Resolvers who died here.”
He then turned to Fang Xiu to explain, “Knowing how those people died is very helpful in understanding the ritual.”
“What about those mutated characters?” Fang Xiu asked.
“Spiritual contamination. The source is unclear for now.” Zhuang Pengdao explained, “It’s like a fever. You can’t diagnose the illness from one symptom alone. You need supporting tests.”
Compared to Jia Xu, who faked understanding, and Jiang Xun, who acted mysterious, Zhuang Pengdao was willing to explain things outright; definitely acting like a proper “leader”.
Yan Yan looked at Zhuang Pengdao with admiration, then glanced at Fang Xiu’s bag of roast chicken, seemingly trying to rebalance his feelings.
In the end, roast chicken won. He stayed seated at the table next to Fang Xiu and didn’t bring up switching teams again.
……
The sun set and the moon rose. The city entered night.
By day, the city was full of vitality. From Fang Xiu’s experience, this time of evening was prime for nightlife, but the number of people on the street was far fewer than expected.
A few shops had lights on, but their front stalls were empty. It was nothing like the lively nights he remembered. The text on shop signs was oddly distorted, often replaced by incomprehensible characters.
More bizarre still, the number of stray cats had suddenly plummeted. Not even a sparrow could be seen on the roadside.
Bai Shuangying waved his hand to lower their concealment and murmured thoughtfully, “Something’s off. The evil spirits haven’t changed at night, and the yin energy hasn’t increased.”
“I haven’t sensed any karmic distortion either. It might be a taboo that only targets you living humans. Steady your mind. I’ll watch over you.”
After the explanation, the High Immortal Bai did something rare. He asked, “Do you have anything you want to ask me?”
Fang Xiu paused in surprise. “Not at the moment.”
Bai Shuangying stared at him with his pale eyes, not blinking, as if saying, ‘If you don’t ask, I’ll just keep staring.’
Suppressing his confusion, Fang Xiu gave in. “What do you think of Zhuang Pengdao?”
“He doesn’t carry much yin energy. His cultivation is decent,” Bai Shuangying replied in a scholarly tone. “But he’s wearing an artifact that prevents spirits from prying into him, and he’s hiding his karma very carefully. Human hearts are hard to predict. You’d best stay away from him.”
Before Fang Xiu could respond, he continued naturally, “Who is Yuan Yongan?”
Ah, so it was a question-for-a-question setup. So that’s what he was waiting for, Fang Xiu thought with a snort.
His ghost seemed to have picked up some interrogation techniques from the human world but hadn’t quite mastered them. This kind of trick only worked on the thin-skinned. Fang Xiu didn’t consider himself one of them.
Still, he answered obediently, “My brother—another brother, not a cousin.”
“You said you only had a cousin.”
Fang Xiu smiled helplessly. “My parents died early, and I couldn’t just live on the streets. That’s my adopted brother from my new family. We’re not blood related.”
Ah, so a sworn brother. No wonder they seemed so close, able to write out his birthdate from memory.
Bai Shuangying finally relaxed, though even he wasn’t sure why that comforted him. He lifted his head slightly and said in a deliberately formal tone, “This place is strange. Don’t reveal your real name and birth date so as not to let the evil spirits latch onto you.”
Fang Xiu was silent for a moment, then smiled. “Okay. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Bai Shuangying gave a satisfied “Mm” and resumed observing this city with its strange atmosphere.
Up ahead, Zhuang Pengdao led the group with firm steps, like someone born knowing which way to go.
The Luo twins followed with a look of conviction while Yan Yan glanced around nervously and sometimes counted his steps. It didn’t take long for him to give up and just trail after Zhuang Pengdao.
Fang Xiu was struggling more. After a full day of intense activity, his legs were turning to jelly. But seeing Cheng Songyun still moving energetically, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep up at the rear of the group.
“Almost there. Hang in there a bit longer.”
Bai Shuangying steadied him, eyes fixed ahead on Zhuang Pengdao’s back.
He saw it clearly: Zhuang Pengdao was moving using the principles of Qimen Dunjia*, with the office building as the center. They were now heading toward the Death Gate, where evil spirits tended to accumulate the most.
*An ancient form of divination from China.
Dark clouds covered the night sky, and fine snowflakes began to fall. Wind skimmed the ground, cold and damp, licking at their calves.
The farther they walked, the darker the road became. Cracks appeared on the asphalt. The streetlights flickered, and most shopfronts were shuttered, covered with faded “FOR TRANSFER” signs written in corrupted script.
Yan Yan visibly shivered and scooted closer to his teammate. Bai Shuangying pinched the corner of Fang Xiu’s T-shirt with two fingers, ready to grab him at any time.
Finally, Zhuang Pengdao stopped at a crossroads.
Right in front of everyone, he activated a skill. A flash of red light revealed a pitch-black puddle on the pavement. It emitted a foul, fishy stench, and ice chips occasionally struck the surface, but the water remained still and mirror-like.
“Honored predecessors, I come with a request.”
Zhuang Pengdao stepped beside the puddle and bowed solemnly.
“I ask no assistance or solution but only a word. If you would tell me your cause of death today, I will return another day to gather your bones and take you back to the Tower.”
The black water began to ripple in concentric circles.
“That’s a soul-summoning technique. It’s a minor trick of the Underworld,” Bai Shuangying commented casually. “He says he’s seeking instruction, but the sacrificial souls have long since been devoured by evil spirits. What he’s calling up is just a soul fragment, incapable of speech.”
“Just watch the appearance and behavior of those remnants. That should be enough to infer how they died.”
“Got it. Like a death replay.”
Fang Xiu nodded, eyes fixed on the ripples.
Visible external injuries were fine. But if these souls were still physically intact, they’d have much more to worry about.
The wind howled as the dead emerged from the puddle, appearing one by one before the group. Fang Xiu sighed softly. Yan Yan, however, stepped back in fright, his hair standing up unnaturally.
…The good news: the dead all had very distinctive corpses and the features were consistent. There was no need for wild guessing.
…The bad news: they couldn’t make sense of how they died.
These people had seemingly crouched down while hugging their heads, then toppled forward. Their clothes had fused with their skin, forming deep and shallow striped or dotted patterns.
Their bodies curled into an impossible ball, elbows and knees pressed tightly together, forearms and calves crammed into one space, like a grotesque four-legged spider.
These creatures crawled around the puddle. They didn’t breathe or speak. In the dark, only the soft scrapes of palms and soles could be heard as they dragged across the ground.
Fang Xiu looked around but couldn’t find any heads. All he saw were deep gashes at the base of their spines. The flesh was grotesquely turned outward and the inside pitch black.
After a few minutes, they plopped back into the puddle one by one, which then disappeared along with them.
The death reenactment was complete.
Two months of training paid off. Each person on Fang Xiu’s team had their private freak-out, but no one vomited. Instead, they gained a much deeper understanding of why surviving a ritual was enough to become an official Disaster Resolver.
They stood stiffly at the intersection, waiting for someone to interpret the scene. After two full minutes of silence, all eyes turned to Zhuang Pengdao.
Zhuang Pengdao: “…”
Zhuang Pengdao: “…I’ve never seen this type of mutation before. But for so many to die the same way, it has to be the effect of a death taboo.”
He stared at the now-vanished illusion with a grim expression.
Fang Xiu could probably guess why. The more absurd the sacrificial environment, the more dangerous the ritual. The weirder the death taboo and method of death, the harder the ritual. In short, the ritual’s difficulty was directly proportional to how abstract it was.
Compared to this, the earlier death taboos at least stayed within the bounds of physical trauma. This one needed a Resident Evil crossover.
“I knew it! Cyclical rituals are a total scam!” Yan Yan scratched his head furiously.
Fang Xiu rubbed his chilled arms. “Don’t panic. The Underworld sent us here, which means it’s not unsolvable yet. It’s getting late, why don’t we all find a place to rest?”
After a day of walking and stair climbing, he was at his limit. Add freezing temperatures on top, and his whole body ached. Every cell was screaming for a break.
“Yan Yan just gets anxious. He won’t delay the mission.” Even Jiao Jiao’s heavy makeup couldn’t cover her fatigue. “You’re right. I want to rest too…”
Zhuang Pengdao quickly composed himself and calmly agreed.
On the way here, they’d passed a 24-hour KFC. All eleven people marched inside. Warm air greeted them at the door.
Zhuang Pengdao checked the time inside the store, then magically produced some cash and bought everyone hot milk and fried chicken combos. They picked the warmest corner and ate in small groups.
Wrapped in warmth, Fang Xiu finished his milk and leaned softly against his ghost. “I’ll nap for five minutes, then I’ll feed you.”
Bai Shuangying hummed in reply. His cheek rested on the crown of Fang Xiu’s head, fingers idly sketching shapes, perhaps tracing the outline of those earlier monsters.
Fang Xiu closed his eyes with ease. He was great at falling asleep quickly. Just a few minutes of rest, and he’d be sharp again.
Then he realized, he couldn’t fall asleep at all.
It wasn’t tension. It wasn’t vigilance. It was like his body had lost the function of sleep. The exhaustion remained, his head was foggy, but no matter what, he couldn’t squeeze out a shred of drowsiness.
Things were getting tricky.
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