Chapter 22: Stop 21: The Village

Time flew by once more, with Yan Qiling occupying the sofa all to himself.

The two ethereal figures in his memories kept swapping places, their relationship clearly growing closer as time passed.

Suddenly, a hand gently landed on his shoulder.

Yan Qiling brushed it away, his expression unruffled.

"Stay until you're done reading."

The hand didn't attempt to touch her again.

In every subsequent blink, Jin Shuen wore a faint smile. Like a genuine young maiden, she began to savor her fleeting youth.

Despite its brevity, it was a moment to be cherished.

This time, Jin Shuen was still stargazing with the telescope, but she had already mastered using the little gadget on her own.

Li Shien observed her from the side, clearing his throat softly.

"Your class's Teacher Jiang is down with a cold."

Jin Shuen responded nonchalantly.

"Oh, really? You should take care too, or you might catch it."

Li Shien seemed to be contemplating something.

"I'll be taking over his classes as your substitute teacher."

Jin Shuen looked up in disbelief, her grayish-blue eyes shimmering with barely perceptible sparks of light.

Li Shien chuckled at her gaze.

"With me around, those bullies shouldn't dare to bother you, right?"

Jin Shuen gazed at him intently, as if he were a hero from her fantasies.

"Will you protect me?"

"Of course, it's only natural for a teacher to protect their student."

Jin Shuen's radiant smile bloomed, as if whispering to a dandelion, full of hope:

"Then, Teacher, you must keep me safe."

The scene before her eyes dissipated like sand, and darkness replaced the light.

Enraged, the Incarnation of Evernight lunged at the spectator seated on the sofa, but only grasped at twisting golden light in the air.

She screamed in fury, and the observatory's glass shattered into a myriad of celestial shards.

Yet swiftly, her gaping maw twisted into a terrifying smile.

"Don't think... using that woman's power... will allow you... to escape Mother's grasp..."

-

After finding solid ground amidst the dense fog, Yan Qiling caught sight of a distant red glow.

Yao Kunrui, who should have been fearful of the eerie surroundings, instead became his guide, relaying the situation with a trembling and excited tone:

"After we arrived, we came here... Ming, Ming Yiyang, he said it could be a diversionary tactic, so he just went ahead without caring about anyone else's safety."

As he finished speaking, flickering torchlight approached them through the thick fog.

The youth's distinctive silver hair shimmered with a sunset hue, while his profound contours vanished into the dense shadows, casting a cold, statuesque contrast of light and shadow.

The torchlight dispersed the mist around them, and Yan Qiling detected a peculiar scent of blood.

Lowering my gaze, I noticed a fine stream of blood trickling from the wrist lying beside him, weaving its way downward.

Each drop of blood tirelessly dispelled the surrounding mist, revealing the true path beneath.

Even the hanging silver filigree bracelet, adorned with an interlocking heart pattern, was not immune to this crimson stain, exposing the intricate lotus and vine engravings upon it.

Ming Yiyang's tanned skin was indistinguishable in the night as he allowed the blood to drip onto the ground.

"There's more to that station than meets the eye. Let's go."

Yan Qiling pretended not to see the wound and followed his lead, asking,

"What's going on?"

"The Master of Chaos has set an illusionary trap before the station. Ahead lies a village, with only one path leading to a humble cottage. It seems to be Jin Shuen's home."

As they emerged from the mist, a straw cottage indeed stood before them.

Surrounded by a fence made of wooden stakes and stones, there was a modest courtyard in the middle.

From the plants cultivated within the enclosure, it was evident that the owner of the house had put great effort into maintaining it.

Yet, what caught their attention most was...

A cluster of humanoid wooden sculptures, each holding a torch, stood approximately five meters away, encircling the entire cottage, leaving no escape.

Ming Yiyang reinserted the torch back into the wooden figurine's hand.

Si Shuhao and the others stood within the enclosure, waiting for everyone to arrive before daring to explore the house.

Yan Qiling took advantage of this lull to slip the matching bracelet back onto the young girl's wrist.

Following closely behind, Ming Yiyang slightly lowered his silver eyelashes, obscuring his true feelings.

Inside the house, the dining table was covered with a lace-edged tablecloth, exuding a warm, homely atmosphere.

On the main seat sat a female wooden sculpture, dressed in a high-necked white sweater with an orange-yellow apron around her waist, her long hair cascading down in curls.

If it weren't for the lack of facial features and the exposed wooden arms, one might have mistaken it for a real person from a distance.

Yan Qiling was reminded of the woman who had handed him a notebook in Room 1330, and Si Shuhao evidently had the same thought:

"Is it her?"

".... The woman in Room 1330 wore a pink apron and had pins on her face. Apart from that, everything else is the same."

In that instant, the doors and windows were suddenly boarded up from the outside, plunging them into darkness. The woman's laughter echoed, sometimes near, sometimes far.

She didn't explicitly state her intentions, but a faint cracking sound came from above their heads!

Hu Zhicheng exclaimed in alarm,

"The ceiling is descending!"

They were going to be crushed to death!

Si Shuhao clung to Su Bo in panic,

"What rule have we violated? We didn't do anything just now!"

Yan Qiling suddenly remembered something, tore off his bloodstained coat, and fumbled to cover the female wooden statue's face!

The planks sealing the doors and windows began to lower, and the grotesquely twisted wooden statues, holding torches, had somehow squeezed themselves outside the window!

The flames illuminated the room, but the ceiling continued its descent.

Si Shuhao immediately understood:

"Pink apron! Find the pink apron!"

She hastily tied the pink apron around the puppet, and the lowering ceiling finally ceased, though the cramped space still left them feeling suffocated.

They tried to push the door open but found it blocked by puppets holding torches outside.

Ming Yiyang drew his long sword, but this time, the door and windows refused to budge as he wished.

Yan Qiling remained calm, showing no sign of being trapped to death in this place:

"The Master of the Unseen seems to have powers specifically designed to counter you. Since she taught her daughter how to deal with the exorcist in the village, she must know how to handle you."

"..."

Ming Yiyang sheathed his sword back onto his neck and pulled out a chair at the dining table, not exerting any more effort.

Yan Qiling gazed at the flickering flames outside.

"This puppet symbolizes Jin Shuen's mother. The cause of Jin Shuen's death is unclear, but it seems she was burned to death by the villagers outside. Looking at this now, she could have escaped before they surrounded her. Why didn't she run?"

"Does that matter?"

Ming Yiyang pressed his temples in irritation.

After all this time, he was exhausted too.

"What do we do now?"

Hu Gaoming asked, shivering with fear.

Su Bo peered out and let out a scream,

"The torches, they seem to be setting the roof on fire!"

No need for her to point it out, everyone had already noticed the blazing flames illuminating the room, though not in a way they welcomed.

Yan Qiling remained calm,

"Stay calm, Yao Kunrui. You should lead the way out first," Ming Yiyang instructed, his voice steady.

Yao Kunrui touched his chest, whispering,

"I... I seem to have lost my ability."

The room fell into a despairing silence. Ming Yiyang, unperturbed, opened the first aid kit and began wrapping his injured wrist.

His composure spread to the others, and Hu Zhicheng was the first to regain his calm. He suggested,

"Let me and Gao Ming try forcing the door open. Meanwhile, the rest of you search the room for any clues – there might be another exit."

Everyone sprang into action.

Yan Qiling picked up the calendar from the table, casting a thoughtful glance at the wooden female puppet. Unconsciously, his gaze lingered on the person being bandaged.

Ming Yiyang expertly wrapped the bandage diagonally, tucking in the corner that overlapped, then wrapping it diagonally again to form an 'X'. He secured it with a loop through the gap, topping it off with a strip of medical tape, making the dressing look almost decorative.

"What are you looking at?"

"No."

Yan Qiling handed the calendar over with ease.

"She only goes grocery shopping at Jin Shuen's place on weekends, buying enough for an entire week. That's quite unusual."

"I often do that too."

"Her mother is clearly a housewife who stays at home most of the time. They seem to have a close relationship. Would such a mother let her daughter eat last week's food consistently?"

Ming Yiyang's eyes flickered slightly.

"Are you suggesting that there might be a reason she couldn't leave?"

Yan Qiling looked at the eye chart hanging on the wall.

"Hmm, and this reason might somehow be related to Jin Shuen's eyes."

"The school doctor diagnosed Jin Shuen with congenital glaucoma. Her cornea has a milky white opacity with a diameter exceeding 20 millimeters. Normally, she should be blind, but her vision test results are completely normal, even surpassing that of an average person."

Ming Yiyang turned to look at the seemingly lifeless wooden statue and said, "You mean this woman found a way to lend her eyes to her daughter, so it was done through... I understand now."

He then looked at Yan Qiling and continued, "It's the Pen Spirit."

As soon as he finished speaking, the puppets that had been surrounding the small house sprang into action, letting out dull and rigid screams.

"Return my daughter to me!"

"You witch, you've nurtured a murderous madman! Give us back our child's life!"

"We should have burned you long ago! The Jiang family never should have taken you in!"

"Burn her alive!"

The flames intensified, and the suspended ceiling, which had momentarily paused, began to collapse anew at a steady, despair-inducing pace!

But this time, the floor beneath their feet was collapsing too.

Were they going to be buried alive?!

Yan Qiling recalled something amidst the fading light and grabbed Ming Yiyang's hand.

"Activate the Qingdu Ziwu Yin-Yang Eyes and find the keyhole."

Ming Yiyang's body tensed slightly as his pupils swirled with a purple hue. He scanned the room meticulously.

Soon, he crouched down to examine the dining table.

Pushing aside the chair of the female doll, he felt around the nearby floor. With a click, he lifted a hinged wooden plank!

Beneath the plank was a metal plate, upon which hung a tiny iron lock.

Yan Qiling withdrew a key from his sleeve.

It was the key to the diary that he had taken during their first reminiscence in the classroom.

The ceiling groaned under the strain, already looming perilously close to Hu Zhicheng's head – clearly, the floor's sinking was no match for the ceiling's descent.

If they stayed any longer, they would inevitably be crushed!

Just as Yan Qiling unlocked the door, the ceiling's descent suddenly accelerated!

Ming Yiyang quickly rose to his feet, bending to support the descending weight with his back. His eyes shimmered with a purple glow like a tranquil lake.

With an explosion of muscle, he managed to halt the ceiling's descent!

But he knew it wouldn't last, for the pressure on his shoulders was increasing rapidly, making him feel as if a hundred people were sitting on him.

"Yan Qiling," he grated through gritted teeth, "Hurry up!"

The relentless pressure caused the wooden floor beneath his feet to creak and groan.

The freshly bandaged wound on his wrist split open, blood seeping through the taut muscles and staining the gauze red before dripping onto the floor from his bent elbow.

But there was no dissipating black mist here, nor any malevolent entities. The pure mechanical design perfectly restricted his abilities.

Hu Zhicheng and Hu Gaoming also joined him in pushing against the ceiling, and to everyone's surprise, Yao Kunrui lent a hand as well.

Perhaps it was simply a fear of death?

As the lock released, the ceiling grew heavier, and upon lifting the metal panel, an endless abyss lay beneath.

The burdened wooden floor began to splinter, and the men's backs bowed even more. The two girls also raised their arms to assist with the effort.

Yan Qiling called out, "Yao Kunrui."

Everyone watched in stunned disbelief as Yao Kunrui jumped into the abyss without hesitation!

This was truly more inconceivable than the prospect of being crushed into meat pies themselves.