Chapter 101 - Old Spirit Manor
It was all quiet at midnight.
In the remote wilderness, where the surroundings were all primitive mountains and land, everywhere was covered with a blanket of turbid darkness.
Seven identically colored tents stood under a few relatively large locust trees. From a distance, they seemed to be inexplicably integrated with heaven and earth, while also giving off a visually stimulating feeling of raised tombs in a graveyard, very gloomy and spooky.
Those locust trees were very tall, and it was unknown how old they were, but the tree bark appeared so old that it looked like it would fall off in the next second.
In fact, all the surrounding trees were of the same kind, there were no other plants except for the locust trees, not even a single weed. Such a scene was super rare and appalling.
It wasn’t known if the group was unconcerned or reckless, to feel as though there was nothing wrong.
“Kekekeke.”
From the terribly silent night came the sudden laughter of an unknown woman.
The cloudy wind whooshed, like a ghost’s wail or wolf’s howl.
Whoever heard this would tremble all over, backs cold with sweat.
The soundly asleep people were awakened one by one by the horrifying laugh, chills running down their spines.
“Jiejiejiejie—”
The sounds then turned into a man’s grim laugh.
It really made the ends of their hair stand straight up.
“Hehehehe—”
Then there came the joyous laughter of children playing.
Finally, hearing the weird sounds, the group of people couldn’t bear it any longer, and tremblingly poked their heads out of their tents, looking around cautiously.
Coincidentally, the group of people met each others’ gaze in unison. With the awkward silence, no one knew what to do. At close range, the meager moonlight allowed them to see the horror and fear that couldn’t be concealed in their eyes.
“Damn, this place wouldn’t actually be haunted right?” Zhao Junlu spoke out first, his voice carrying a faint tremble.
Du Chonghua thought of something, a strange gleam flashing across his eyes. Voice hoarse, he shouted loudly, “Didn’t we go on this trip just for something like this? Everyone take out your phones and prepare to live broadcast, if there really is something big that’s happening this time, then we will become first-rate celebrities when we get back!”
When he said it like this, the gazes of the originally frightened people lit up, their eyes flashing with traces of greed and desire.
Maybe because their ambitions overshadowed their fear, or because of something else, everyone regardlessly took out their phones, preparing their selfie sticks and organizing their hair and clothes as quickly as possible. The girls even applied makeup powder and lipstick.
“Hey, this is Wang Xueke. Tonight our little death squad has overcome our fears to camp out in the woods on the way to the Old Locust Tree Manor. Although we haven’t reached our destination, we still have some unexpected gains tonight.” The person who was the fastest to open their live broadcast was Wang Xueke, the one who wore a JK uniform earlier. She turned on the phone’s flashlight and shone it on her face.
She opened a sliver of the tent and pointed the camera outside, “You guys can listen to the sounds coming from somewhere nearby.”
“Jiejiejiejie—”
“Kekekeke—”
Countless kinds of laughter intertwined, from men, women, children, and elders. The laughter overlapped, somewhat ethereal, like the whisper of the devil from hell.
[LGBT Robes: Damn, this laughter is really horrifying? What the hell?
I Want To Buy A Boyfriend: ???? The heck? Anchor, don’t swindle me like this, it’s so late at night, the laughter scared me so much I fell off the bed, f*ck.
Camisole: Sorry, I’ve been persuaded by this, I’m leaving now!
Green Forest: ?? Damn, that scared me to death!]
Looking at the comments that were flashing past the mobile phone screen, maybe it was because of that added psychological comfort of a live audience, but Wang Xueke’s originally shaking legs actually stopped.
[Ultra-short Sex: Anchor, go out and take a look, I want to know what’s going on outside.
Sunflower’s Gentle Smile: Yes yes yes! I second!
Slackers Can’t Stay Up Late: Second +1!]
Looking at the insistent comments, Wang Xueke still hesitated for a few seconds, after all, she was actually very scared.
She would never have thought that there was someone who was a few steps ahead of her who’d already started live broadcasting outside.
From outside came the sound of hurried footsteps, followed by a sweet female voice.
Wearing a mask, Annie changed her usual casual live broadcast style, managing to gather up enough courage and boldness to rush outside alone without any fear of death.
Even if her face was disfigured, so what? Just wait for her to go back and patch things up, with some fine adjustments, she’d still be a little fairy.
Rather than death, what she was more afraid of now was losing fans. Then she’d no longer be able to continue being an internet celebrity, and would no longer be able to enjoy the feeling of being revered by her admiring fans.
[Snow White: Vomiting! We already saw what your face looked like during the day, no matter how much you use your mask to cover it now, it’s all useless!
Superman Is Back: Go baby Annie! Mom will always support you!
Cute Kangaroo: F*ck, I can’t take it anymore. I may as well just go and watch the other group members’ live broadcasts. I almost threw up during the day today, really speechless.]
Annie squinted her eyes as she read the comments on her broken phone screen, excluding a sinister aura, only this time she learned to behave well, and didn’t yell at anyone or make any kind of fuss. If it weren’t for the people in the live broadcast room already knowing what happened during the day, they would’ve thought that her temper changed for the better.
Listening to the noise outside, Xiao Chen shifted, about to stand up. The person didn’t even stand up straight before suddenly being grabbed by a man, staggering back into the man’s embrace.
Jing Hezhi bit the tip of Xiao Chen’s nose, and said pitifully, “You don’t care about me anymore, we haven’t even cuddled for that long.”
The man really became increasingly childish the more he aged, firmly grasping Xiao Chen’s weakness. He knew the other party really couldn’t stand him acting coquettishly and sweet-talking, but he still used such tricks.
Seeing this, Xiao Chen pinched the man’s chin with both hands, and tugged unceremoniously from side to side. Looking at the man’s face that had been played to such an embarrassing degree, Xiao Chen was amused, “It was clearly you who proposed to enter these small worlds, yet you’re blaming me now!”
After he spoke, Xiao Chen fiercely bit the man’s neck, as if to vent his anger.
Jing Hezhi just stroked Xiao Chen’s back, pampering the other’s every move with a smile on his face. The love in his eyes was about to overflow.
“Xiao Chen, grab your things, let’s hurry and reach the Old Locust Tree Manor tonight!” came Du Chonghua’s voice.
His footsteps were in a hurry, and he even breathed a little urgently. Panting heavily, he flippantly told Xiao Chen outside of his tent, and then left to go in the direction of another tent.
Xiao Chen’s lips curled up, deciding to let go of the man’s punishment. The man then gently kissed the corner of his eyes, with a bit of lingering tenderness.
Just like how he came, the man quietly disappeared into the darkness and left.
In the narrow tent, Xiao Chen was left alone again.
Xiao Chen put on his mask and sorted out his emotions, preparing to go outside.
It was unknown if it was because of staying with the man for too long, but he found that he, just like the man, enjoyed watching others send themselves to die so that he could dance in front of their grave; really it’s the non-stop courting death behavior.
Although it seemed like a vicious interest, that being said, it’s still really interesting.
Otherwise, the two of them would not have been bored to the point of entering worlds, playing some role-playing games, and trying all different kinds of strange play.
Duan Aoming, the blond man with the lowest sense of presence in the team, together with Su Lele; it was unclear when they hooked up, but when they were woken up by the strange laughter, they were both in a tent, disheveled.
When Du Chonghua opened Duan Aoming’s tent, the two of them were still putting on their clothes. He frowned, with everything pretty much figured out. “Hurry up everyone, whether or not we can skyrocket our popularity all depends on the fate of tonight.”
Annie pointed at the surrounding environment with her phone, and began to explain. “We originally set up our tents under these trees to rest, and were then woken up by this strange laughter. You guys listen.”
[Little Bastard: Are the surroundings just locust trees? Why are there no other trees around?
Little Lollipop Cutie: This flashlight makes her face look so scary…and it’s even accompanied by this kind of bgm….
BMO Nana: No, haven’t any of you noticed that there seems to be something hanging on the locust tree behind the anchor?
Primrose Grass: My god, anchor, hurry up and look behind you!!
Cherry Red Bean Paste: Mom, that white thing moved!]
Annie looked at the comments that flashed across the screen, as well as the swarm of exclamation marks, her heart couldn’t help but thump.
Turning her head stiffly, she timidly looked behind her back.
From the audience’s point of view, only a piece of white square cloth could be seen hanging from the tree, with the wind causing it to sway from side to side.
But that wasn’t the case for Annie!
She could clearly see that it wasn’t just a piece of white cloth, but instead a white dress!
Not to mention….
There was a person hanging on there too!
“Ahhhhhhh —” Annie’s legs softened, and she directly knelt onto the ground. Her pupils shrank, and her whole body seemed to have been exhausted of its strength.
Her voice overlapped with the pervasive laughter around her, screams completely drowned out by the laughter.
“Jiejiejiejiejie—”
“Kekekekeke—”
Annie’s whole body was cold, without any warmth. It was like falling into an ice cellar.
As for the hanging man, his tongue stuck out far, hands and feet hanging limply by his sides, his eyes flipped so that only white showed, face ferociously savage.
Suddenly, its stiff head moved. Whites rolling around, tongue retracted, with a smile, its gaze fixed directly on the completely petrified woman.
It just so happened that Annie’s phone was pointed in that direction.
[Socialism: Ahhhhhhh! Mom, I’ve become blind! I’m blind!
Dry Brush: Wuwuwu, I’m so frightened I’m scared to tears!
Little Fox Patterned Cat: Anchor, quickly spill, are you faking a ghost to trick us? It’s over, I believe it now! There really are ghosts in this world!
Guoji in a Thermos: Prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, law, patriotism, dedication, honesty……
Bye-bye Mary: Prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, law, patriotism, dedication, honesty……
Be A Fairy: Excuse me, I shouldn’t have joined this live broadcast room, goodbye! See you never!!]
The live broadcast room was once again covered by the socialist twenty-four-character maxim.
Xiao Chen stepped out of the tent, seeing the scene in front of him, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and began to muse.
When locust trees face shade, wood ghosts become one.
A corpse is buried under every locust tree, so there are as many ghosts here as locust trees.
Roughly estimating, there were probably hundreds or even thousands of unjust ghosts around.
The fierce ghost head that was happily spinning on the branch turned its head, gaze accidentally falling onto Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen could feel that the other’s body went visibly stiff, even forgetting to move his tongue.
One person and one ghost stared at each other.
“……”
“……”
The ghost seemed to have seen something frightening, the whites of its eyes spun quickly. It rolled down from the tree, and then disappeared in a flash, as if it was running for its life.
“…………”
What, was he really that scary?
I just realized that 安妮 is Annie, while 安娜 is Anna…oh noooo, I’m going to have to go back and change all of that
Sorry for that mistake, here’s not one, but two cookies as compensation!