ebookland Chapter 791 First Choice
Chapter 791 First Choice
The streetlights cast a dim, yellowish glow, making the shadows of the group appear longer and shorter. A cool night breeze rustled the leaves of the trees lining the roadside.
This time, the four women's feelings about the night raid were completely different from the last. Less nonchalance, more of a complex mix of "knowing there are tigers in the mountains, yet still venturing into the tiger's den." Fear was still there, of course, as the memory of that red dress and the mournful song hadn't faded; but also, subtly, a mixture of excitement and trepidation—this time they were "well-prepared," even carrying a touch of excitement at "proving themselves."
Lin Bufan, walking ahead, heard the slightly chaotic footsteps and suppressed breathing behind him and couldn't help but sigh. Without turning his head, he lowered his voice and said, "No... I'm asking you honestly, is anything in your heads...?"
Feeling Chen Nanxing's fingers tighten around his waist, Lin Bufan immediately changed his tune, saying, "Hmm... have you been lacking sleep lately and are you a little drowsy? Knowing this place is haunted, why did you still deliberately come here? What's the point?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Nanxing, who was standing close to Lin Bufan, immediately replied, "What for? To clear our names! That guy Hu Youyu insists that we made up a story, and we won't take the blame for that! We have to make him see for himself!"
Xu Hongdou walked beside Chen Nanxing, her heart pounding, but her tone remained calm: "Besides... after spending these past few days together, I feel that Miss Liu... seems to be quite polite and principled. She's just sticking to her own wishes and hasn't really hurt us. Let's see her again... there shouldn't be any major problems, right?" She herself sounded a little unsure of herself.
Nana chimed in, her voice tinged with self-consolation: "Anyway, we already know how to deal with it. At worst, we can just squeeze in again. It's better than being misunderstood by Hu Youyu!"
Da Mai didn't say anything, but she gripped Nana's clothes tightly and nodded vigorously to show her support for her sisters' decision.
Although the four women's reasons were quite valid, Lin Bufan had a vague feeling that the hunter and the prey seemed to have changed without him realizing it!
Hu Youyu, walking at the very back, heard everything clearly. He snorted, his voice just loud enough for the people in front to hear: "Keep making things up. You're all so polite and principled... I think you're acting like drama queens. Let's see how you explain this when there's nothing to it!"
As they spoke, the familiar dark outline of the guesthouse construction site came into view ahead. A few pale, ever-burning lights still shone, swaying in the night wind and casting shadowy images of the unfinished building, making it appear even more desolate than before.
The group stopped at the edge of the construction site. The night wind howled through the empty window openings. Even the chirping of insects seemed to have thinned out.
Hu Youyu waited a while, and seeing no movement, he grew bolder. He simply took a few steps forward, stood under a swaying ever-burning lamp, put his hands on his hips, raised his chin high, and his voice echoed in the empty construction site:
"Miss Liu? Which one is Miss Liu? Come out and let Hu Youyu pay her respects!"
After speaking, Hu Youyu spun around, spread her hands, and said with a mocking and smug look on her face: "Seriously, ladies, shouldn't this show end here? Where are the people? Where are the ghosts? Where's the red wedding dress? Could it be... that you're hallucinating from eating too many mushrooms?"
Xu Hongdou pursed her lips and remained silent, her hand unconsciously gripping Lin Bufan's arm tightly, her gaze warily scanning the dark corner. Although she had prepared herself mentally, she was still somewhat afraid when the ghost was right in front of her.
Chen Nanxing also restrained his usual carefree attitude, stood close to Lin Bufan, and whispered, "This place... why does it feel even more creepy than the last time we came?"
Nana and Damai linked arms and hid behind Lin Bufan, not daring to breathe loudly. They both hoped that Hu Youyu would be humiliated and were instinctively afraid that the red figure would actually appear.
Seeing that they didn't respond and were just nervously looking around, Hu Youyu became even more convinced that his guess was correct, and was about to continue his "declaration of debunking"—
Lin Bufan silently communicated with the system in his mind: "Alright, System, let me order some little darlings to show up."
Because Lin Bufan couldn't take action himself this time, he had to ask the system for help!
[Received - 50 customization points deducted. The Wraith Manifestation - Basic Awe-Inducing Scene Generation is in progress...]
Almost the instant the system responded, a sudden change occurred!
"Sizzle...sizzle..."
The lamps that had been steadily emitting a pale white light suddenly began to flicker violently at the same time without warning! The light flashed on and off at an eerie frequency, turning the entire construction site into a scene from a horror movie, with everyone's shadows being wildly stretched and distorted on the walls and the ground.
Then, the color of the light began to change, from a pale white to a dark, blood-red hue, as if an invisible hand had splashed thick blood on it, casting a chilling red glow over everything around it.
Temperature plummeted!
A chilling aura that penetrated to the bone swept over us without warning. It wasn't the coolness of the night wind, but a sticky, soul-freezing cold that instantly pierced through our thin clothes, causing everyone to shiver involuntarily and their hair to stand on end.
"Woo...Woo..."
That plaintive, ethereal female voice rang out once again! This time, the voice was no longer elusive, but clear, as if it were right next to the ear. Every turn of the voice carried the sorrow and coldness of time, drilling directly into the mind and making one's scalp tingle.
"It's...it's really here..." Da Mai's voice trembled with sobs as she closed her eyes tightly and buried her face in Lin Bufan's back.
Xu Hongdou and Chen Nanxing tensed instantly, their faces appearing even paler under the blood-red light. Nana bit her lower lip, her hand gripping Lin Bufan's clothes tightly.
Hu Youyu's arrogant smile and words came to an abrupt halt. He turned his head sharply, his eyes wide like copper bells, staring incredulously at the flickering, blood-stained light, feeling the biting chill and hearing the ghostly wailing in his ears. The smugness and provocation on his face froze instantly, then were replaced by immense terror.
Just then, in the relatively flat open space in the center of the construction site—the location where the ancient well had been filled in, according to Lin Bufan's previous "story"—the surface soil suddenly began to churn very slightly without warning. It wasn't an explosion, nor a crack, but rather as if something invisible and intangible, yet incredibly heavy, was slowly rising from the deepest part, causing the surface soil and dust to arch and flow upwards against gravity…
Under the horrified gaze of six pairs of eyes—of course, Lin Bufan's horror was feigned—a dazzling red color slowly emerged from beneath the churning earth.
First came the intricate, ancient hem of the wedding gown, then the wide sleeves, followed by the long, flowing, jet-black hair... There was no disheveled emergence from the ground, no mud stains; that splash of red rose cleanly and eerily, as if emerging from water, smoothly detaching itself from the earth. The entire process was silent, yet carried a suffocating terror that defied all the laws of physics.
Finally, the complete form of "Miss Liu" was revealed. She was still wearing that blood-red wedding dress, her long hair covering her face, her feet hovering a few inches off the ground. The hem and cuffs of the dress were even moving very slowly, without any wind, gently swaying. The direction she was facing was exactly where Hu Youyu was standing.
"what--!!!"
A piercing, distorted scream, completely inhuman, suddenly burst from Hu Youyu's throat! The volume of this scream far exceeded his own provocative shouts just now, filled with the most primal fear, instantly tearing apart the eerie silence that had been present on the construction site.
The color drained from his face, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. His previous fearless demeanor had vanished, replaced by utter terror. He hadn't even seen "Miss Liu's" face clearly; the moment the scream escaped his lips, his body reacted before his mind could process it—
Turn around, take a step, and run!
The speed he unleashed in that instant was comparable to that of a professionally trained sprinter. He even stumbled at the start, nearly falling, due to his panic, but he scrambled to his feet and regained his balance, then fled for his life along the village road he had come from at an astonishing speed! As he ran, his distorted, tearful screams echoed intermittently in the night wind: "Ghosts! There really are ghosts!! Help—!!"
Hu Youyu's shrill, distorted scream was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, startling the four women who were frightened by Miss Liu. However, it also brought them back to their senses.
"Hurry up!" Xu Hongdou was the first to react, lowering her voice and saying urgently, pulling Chen Nanxing beside her and turning around.
Having learned from their previous experience, the four girls, though their hearts were pounding in their throats, ran much more methodically than before. No one screamed uncontrollably anymore; they simply ran headlong toward the village road, their footsteps ringing out clearly in the quiet night.
But Hu Youyu was different. This was the first time he had ever faced such a terrifying scene that completely defied his understanding and struck his soul. His psychological defenses collapsed instantly. Fear unleashed all his potential. He swung his legs like wheels of fire, letting out a wailing cry, and in the blink of an eye, he had darted far away, leaving the four women and Lin Bufan, who had just started moving, far behind.
"My goodness... With that speed, it's a shame he's not participating in the Olympics..." Nana exclaimed breathlessly as she watched Hu Youyu disappear from sight.
"Scared out of their wits, huh?" Chen Nanxing replied, not forgetting to turn around and check if Miss Liu had followed them!
"Serves him right! Let him frame us! Let him keep his mouth shut!" Although Da Mai was also out of breath from running, he still expressed his "righteous" condemnation in a low voice.
Behind everyone, the red figure of "Miss Liu" still hovered quietly in the center of the construction site shrouded in blood-red light, without moving. Only her mournful singing seemed to linger in the night wind, drifting and wafting, sending them "away".
The group had barely run into the village road when a window of a nearby house was suddenly flung open. An old man wearing a coat poked his head out, his eyes still sleepy, and he roared angrily into the darkness, "What are you yelling about in the middle of the night?! Can't a person get any sleep?! Which brat is it?! Do you believe I'll call the police?!"
The four women shrank back and ran even faster, adding another mark to their minds against Hu Youyu's "tricky" behavior.
When they ran back to the windy courtyard, panting, the gate was wide open, and the light from the communal kitchen was blindingly bright. Inside, they found Hu Youyu slumped in a bamboo sofa, her face ashen, her forehead covered in cold sweat, her body trembling uncontrollably, her eyes unfocused, and unconsciously muttering, "A ghost...a real ghost...a red dress...floating..."
Seeing Lin Bufan and the four women enter, Hu Youyu grasped at a straw, but her extreme fear made her incoherent: "Teacher Lin... she... she... did she come back with me? Did you... did you see her?"
Chen Nanxing walked over and kicked him in the shin without any hesitation, though it wasn't very hard: "Now do you believe me, Hu? Do you still think we were just making up a story to fool you?"
Hu Youyu was kicked, but instead of being angry, he seemed to be awakened by the kick. He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, waved his hands repeatedly, and said in a trembling voice filled with lingering fear, "I believe you! I really believe you! I'm sorry, Hongdou, Nanxing, Nana, Damai... I, Hu Youyu, was blind and foolish. I misunderstood you! I apologize, I deeply regret it!"
Xu Hongdou poured a glass of warm water and handed it to Hu Youyu: "Drink some water to calm your nerves."
Hu Youyu took the water glass, his hands trembling so badly that he spilled a lot of water. He took a big gulp, which made him feel a little better, but the fear on his face did not lessen at all: "I have never seen anything so... so eerie in my life! Teacher Lin, what you said before was all true! That Miss Liu... will she... will she hold a grudge against me because of the shouts I made just now? Will she haunt me?"
Nana said irritably, "What are you afraid of? Miss Renliu wants to find a pretty girl to possess so she can fulfill her wish of falling in love. You're a grown man, why would she want to find you? To drain your yang energy?"
Unexpectedly, Hu Youyu's face turned even paler upon hearing this, and he stammered, "Well, you never know! She's been waiting for over three hundred years. What if... what if she can't find a suitable girl and decides to settle for less, thinking that men have more yang energy, and changes her mind to want to absorb my yang energy? Or... what if she's never seen a man as musically talented as me in her life and wants to try something different after death?"
The four women: "..."
That shamelessness is just like Lin Bufan's.
Chen Nanxing was so angry he laughed: "Hu Youyu, can't you be normal for once? 'Sucking your yang energy'? 'Changing your taste'? Why don't you just say she wants you to write a dirge for her?"
Da Mai added in a low voice, "Teacher Hu, I think... Miss Liu's taste shouldn't be that bad... Even if she wanted to absorb yang energy, she would probably choose President Lin first!"